From John Jay to Robert Morris, 20 July 1783
To Robert Morris
Passy 20 July 1783
My dear Sir,
By Capt. Barney I was favored with Yours of the 31st. May.1 By this Time I hope you will have recd. several Letters for from me wh. were then on the way.2 Want of Health here has long made much writing painful to me, so that my Letters in general are short.
My Jaunt to Normandy3 did me some Service, but less than I expected— The
pure air of this Place has been very useful to me— The pain in my breast is abated and I have had no fever since I came here, which was abt. six weeks ago.
Mr Barclay having called upon me for my Accounts I have written to Mr. Carmichael to come here with the Books & Papers— As yet I have ^not^ recd. no ^his^ answer—before I left Spain I requested him to make out a State of them and to send it to You— I am anxious to have this Matter settled.4
I hear Kitty is abt. to return to Elz. Town—& I am sorry for it for I think she will be less happy there. But5 her Health continues so delicate— I believe every word that you tell me about her and indeed abt. any body else, for in no one’s Sincerity do I repose more Confidence ^than^ in yours.
Gouv. is happy in your Esteem—it confirms ^adds to^ mine for him [illegible]. I have long been attached to him, and sincerely wish that our Friendship may be constant ^instead of being diminished^ may continue to gain Strength with Time.
Your ^intended^ Resignation alarmed me, and wd. have been followed with ill Consequences to our affairs— I rejoice that you continue in office, and by no means Regret that it will be less in your power than Inclination to retire soon.6 I am well aware of the Difficulties that you have will continue to experience— Every man so circumstanced must expect them. ^[In margin] Your office is neither an easy nor a pleasant one to execute and, but it is elevated & important and therefore Envy with her inseparable Companion Injustice will not cease to plague you—remember however that^ Triumphs do not precede Victory, and ^that^ Victory is not to be found in the seldom found in the smooth Paths of Peace and [illegible] Tranquility— Your Enemies wd. be happy to drive you to resign, and in my opinion [illegible] ^both^ your Interest and that of our Country [that you sd] oppose ^your^ gratify^g^ them. Sully had also his Difficulties, and ^but^ had he turned his back upon them, the name of Sully would not have been so illustrious as it is.7 You have Health Fortune Talents and Fortitude—and you have Children too—each of these Circumstances recommend to Perseverance.
As to Money—this Court will afford you no further Supplies— The Minister ^has^ said it was easy to be a Financier, [illegible] ^&^ draw Bills, when others provided the Funds to pay them—at another Time he expressed his Dissatisfaction ^he intimated that the Court was^ his Court was not treated with ^a^ proper Respect ^Degree of Delicacy^ on that Subject—^&^ said “^that^ you treated them as your Cashier—”8 A french officer from America ^who is a friend^ of yours9 told me that La Luzerne and Marbois were not pleased with the Manner of your applications ^to them^ about
Money Matters— I mention these Facts because it may be useful for you to know them—
The Loan in Holland goes on, and from that Quarter your Bills must be saved if at all—Grand has recd advices from ^Mr. Adams returned to ^^went^^ set out for^ amsterdam the Day before Yesterday, and will push on that Business— If the Dutch began to draw Benefit from our Trade they wd. lend more chearfully—
The British Ministry have not yet authorized Mr. Hartly to consent to any Thing as to Commerce— They amuse him & us and decieve themselves ^I told him yesterday that they wd: find us like a Globe—not to be overset^ America must[illegible] that Britain has a right to regulate her Trade as she pleases and that we have a right to regulate ours— I believe they expect that the States will never agree to a They [illegible] ^wish^ to be the only Carriers between their Islands & us ^other^ Countries, ^& tho’^ they are apprized of our Right to regulate our Trade as we please, yet I suspect they flatter themselves that the Different States possess too little of a national or continental Spirit ever to agree in any one National System and I think they will be ^find themselves^ mistaken. It is [illegible]
Young Bache10 came here two Days ago from Geneva and left your Sons there ^in good Health^—^my former Letter informed you that^ I am was satisfied with their Situation there [I think you may be well assur’d of do?] ^am glad you are^ ^& that^ Mr. Ridley[’s] conduct in that Business is ^was^ ^was in my opinion both judicious &^ meritorious—[illegible]
What is to be done with the Bills to which the Papers herewith enclosed relate?11
Mrs. Jay is writing to Mrs. Morris— Be pleased to present my Compts. to her & believe me to be Dr Sir—your afft. Friend.
The Hon’ble R. R. Morris Esqr
Dft, NNC (EJ: 9333).
1. Morris to JJ, 31 May 1783, above.
2. See JJ to Morris, 10 Mar., above, and 8 and 21 Apr. 1783, Dfts, NNC (EJ: 9330, 9331); and , 7: 682, 729–30.
3. On JJ’s brief visit to Normandy, see his letter to SLJ, 18 Jan. 1783, above; and : 487–88.
4. See JJ to Morris, 21 Apr., cited in note 2 above; to Carmichael, 1 July, Dft, NNC (EJ: 7710); and the editorial note “Settling the Spanish Accounts” on pp. 550–54. On Thomas Barclay’s appointment as commissioner to settle the accounts of American agents abroad, see , 7: 168–75.
5. Catharine W. (Kitty) Livingston had been residing with the Morrises in Philadelphia.
6. On Morris’s resignation as superintendent of finance in January 1783, a decision he reversed temporarily in May to provide pay to the disbanding American army and to cover obligations contracted in his official capacity, see , 7: 361–71, 767–81.
7. Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (1560–1641), financial superintendent under Henry IV of France.
8. Vergennes had just refused a request for further aid in a letter to the American Peace Commissioners of 5 July 1783, FrPMAE: CP-EU, 25: 16 (EJ: 5084). On French criticism of Morris’s overdrafts on French loans and his request for additional funds, see also JJ to Gouverneur Morris, 17 July, above; and , 7: 317–22; 8: 303–4. For Morris’s response, see his letter of 4 Nov., below.
9. Probably François Jean de Beauvoir, chevalier de Chastellux, who had recently returned to France. See , 8: 321.
10. Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769–98), son of Sarah Franklin Bache, had accompanied his grandfather to Europe, and like Morris’s two sons Robert and Thomas was being educated in Geneva. On the arrangements made by Ridley at Geneva, see , 8: 729–34.
11. Probably bills of exchange drawn in 1780 on JJ as minister of Spain that JJ had refused to accept since they had been negotiated through British channels, and consequently, he believed, either captured or used in illicit trade with the British. See Morris’s letter of 4 Nov., below; and , 8: 676, 677n5.