John Jay Papers
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From John Jay to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Robert R. Livingston), 22 April 1783

To the Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Robert R. Livingston)

Paris 22 Ap. 1783—

Dear Sir

I wrote to you so lately by Mr Mason1 and there is such a Dearth of news that I now write less to give you Information, than as a mark of Attention.

There are several of your Letters which on acct. of their Length, the Importance of their Subjects, and the Manner in which those Subjects were treated, demanded of me more minute answers than my Situation admitted of.2

Mr Hartley is not yet arrived but is daily expected. I am told (by Mr Laurens) he will propose that the [illegible] people of the two Countries shall have all the Rights of Citizens in each.3 The Instruction of Congress on this important point is much to be desired—for my Part I think a temporary Stipulation of that sort might be expedient—they mean to court us, and in my opinion we should avoid being either too forward or too coy— I have no Faith in any Court in Europe, but it would be improper to discover that Sentiment. There are circumstances which induce me to believe that Spain is turning her eyes to England for a more intimate Connection— They are the only two European powers which have continental possessions on our Side of the Water; and Spain I think wishes for a League between them for mutual Security against us. Perhaps this Consideration should lead us to regard the present Fervour of british Advances with the less Indifference.

On looking over one of my former Letters, containing my Propositions to Spain,4 I find that I had omitted to explain the Reason of the one for a Guarantee of our Possessions in North America. That we should so guarantee the spanish Possessions as to fight for them, was as distant from my Design, as it could be from that of Congress. A common Guarantee means nothing more than a Quit Claim, to which we certainly could have had no Objection— When more is intended provisional and express Stipulations become necessary—to any such I never would have consented. A Confidant of the Minister (and I believe by his Direction) had assured me, that unless a Guarantee was offered any other Propositions would not induce the Minister to negociate for a Treaty—5 To meet that objection I made the offer in the general Terms you have seen— I had no Doubt but that the Minister was acquainted with my Instructions, and I considered this Objection as a Pretext for Delay. My opinion as to a certain proposed Cession was known, and uses not advantageous to us or to me had been made of it— It appeared to me adviseable that the Intention of Spain with Respect to us should have a full Tryal, and such a one as would convince Congress that I was entirely guided by their Views and Wishes— I therefore endeavoured so to frame those Propositions as that they should not afford the Minister any Pretence for refusing to commence the negociation. The Issue you are acquainted with—

I hope nothing will be done by the States for the Tories, until the british Forces shall be withdrawn, and then I confess it would be in my opinion for our Honor to forgive all except the perfidious and the cruel.

After the definitive Treaties are finished I hope I shall be excused in trying the Waters of Spa or Bath (which are recommended to me) before I proceed to Spain. Whatever may be their Effect, I shall not loiter at either place. After my Business at Madrid shall be finished, I wish to devote my Care to the Recovery of my Health and the Concerns of my Family; which must greatly interfere with the Duties of my Commission— Besides, as my Country has obtained her Object, my motives for entering into public Life are at an End. The same Principles which drew me from the private Station I formerly occupied, bid me to return to it. Actions are the only Proofs of Professions, and if I live mine shall not want that Evidence— I am Dear Sir with great Esteem & Regard Your most obt. Servt.

John Jay

P. S. I am told that a Vessel which went last Year from our Country, on the Ohio down that River, & thro’ the Missisippi to the Havanna, took passports from the Count de la Luzerne— This if a Fact appears to me a singular one— I mention it merely as a matter of Information—6

J. J.

The Hon’ble R. R. Livingston Esqr Secy for Foreign Affairs &ca.

ALS, DNA: PCC, item 89, 2: 464–66 (EJ: 11916). LbkCs, DNA: PCC, item 110, 3: 3–6 (EJ: 4246); NNC: JJ Lbk. 2.

1See JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 7 and 11 Apr. 1783, above. George Mason Jr. sailed from Nantes sometime before 13 June. See JJ to Washington, 13 June 1783, LbkC, DLC: Washington (EJ: 10386).

2These letters have not been identified, but may have been among the dispatches carried by the General Washington, Joshua Barney, who had left Philadelphia on 7 Oct. 1782 and arrived in early Nov. 1782, or by the chevalier de Chastellux, who left Baltimore in early Jan. 1783 on the Romulus and reached France by 24 Mar. See the editorial note “The Preliminary Articles: Second Draft,” on p. 204n15; and RRL to JJ, 4 Jan., above, and 1 May 1783, below.

3Hartley arrived on 24 Apr. For Laurens’s discussions with British Foreign Secretary Charles James Fox, see his letter to RRL, 5 Apr. 1783, PHL description begins Philip M. Hamer et al., eds., The Papers of Henry Laurens (16 vols.; Columbia, S.C., 1968–2003) description ends , 16: 174–76.

As early as mid-December 1782, BF had proposed that the definitive treaty include an article specifying that subjects of the United States and of the British king should not be deemed “Aliens in the dominions of either, but enjoy the same Rights of Citizenship” as in 1750. The tenth article of the supplemental treaty proposed to the American commissioners by Hartley on 27 April, 1783, stipulated: “Neither shall the independence of the united States be construed any further than as Independence absolute & unlimited in Matters of Government as well as Commerce; not into Alienation; and therefore the Subjects of his Britannick majesty & the citizens of the united States shall mutually be considered as Natural born Subjects, & enjoy all rights & privileges as such, in the respective dominions and territories in the manner heretofore accustomed.” This concept reappeared in the articles agreed to by the negotiators on 29 Apr., but was not incorporated into the definitive treaty. See the editorial note “Negotiating a Trade Agreement” on pp. 373–86; the American Peace Commissioners’ propositions for the Definitive Peace Treaty, c. 1 July 1783, below; the editorial note “Signing the Definitive Treaty,” on pp. 462–65; PBF description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (40 vols. to date; New Haven, Conn., 1959–) description ends , 38: 434; PJA description begins Robert J. Taylor, Gregg L. Lint, et al., eds., Papers of John Adams (16 vols. to date; Cambridge, Mass., 1977–) description ends , 14: 367n5; and Giunta, Emerging Nation description begins Mary A. Giunta et al., eds., The Emerging Nation: A Documentary History of the Foreign Relations of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1780–1789 (3 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1996) description ends , 2: 95.

4See JJ’s propositions for a treaty with Spain, 22 Sept. 1781, on which JJ commented in his letter to the President of Congress of 3 Oct. 1781, JJSP, 2 description begins Elizabeth M. Nuxoll et al., eds., The Selected Papers of John Jay, Volume 2, 1780–82 (Charlottesville, Va., 2012) description ends : 566–72, 596–98.

5Bernardo del Campo. See JJ to the President of Congress, 20 Sept. 1781, JJSP, 2 description begins Elizabeth M. Nuxoll et al., eds., The Selected Papers of John Jay, Volume 2, 1780–82 (Charlottesville, Va., 2012) description ends : 562, 563n4.

6No further information on this vessel has been found.

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