To John Jay from Robert Morris, 26 July 1783
From Robert Morris
Philada. July. 26th. 1783
Dear Sir
Mr. Darby & Mr. Grigby have severally delivered your introductory letters of the 8th of April and I flatter my self that they will think themselves obliged to you. they are very deserving young Gentln. & make an agreable addition to our Circle of Society, this how ever will be of short duration as their own pursuits will very soon seperate us.1 Mr & Mrs. Carter, & Colo. Wadsworth will soon add to the American Circle in Paris;2 they are too well known to Mrs. Jay & yourself to need recommendation from me. Kitty Livingston has left us about a Month. She is at Elizabeth Town and very well and I am told all the Family are so— Mrs Morris always thinks & speaks of Mrs Jay & yourself, through that Medium of esteem & respect which You never fail to impress so strongly on Your Friends & Acquaintance.
My situation as a Public Man is distressing. I am Cursed with that worst of all political Sins, Poverty. My engagements & Anticipations for the Public amount to a Million of Dollars—it racks my utmost invention to keep pace with the demands, but hitherto I have been able to preserve that Credit which kept our affairs alive untill you had the opportunity of Concluding a Glorious Peace, and now a little exertion on the part of the States would enable me to make payment & quit the Public Service with reputation, the want of that exertion may ruin the Public Credit and involve the Country in New Convulsions. I hope my Dear Friend ^that^ you and our other Ministers, will be able to procure me some further assistance from France & Holland, it is as important at this as ^it has been at^ any other Period, but less will do.3 Our Government is yet too Weak, bad Men have too much sway, there are evils afloat which can only be avoided or cured by wise & honest measures, assisted by the lenient hand of time. I am ever, my Dr Sir Your Affectionate hble Servt.
Robt. Morris
His Excy John Jay Esqr Minister &c Paris
ALS, NNC (EJ: 7016). Marked “(Private)”. Endorsed.
1. Joshua Grigby Jr. (c. 1759–1829), scion of a prominent Whig family in Suffolk, England, and John Darby, an Irish-born relative of the Vaughans and of Vice-Admiral George Darby, were wealthy young men traveling from Britain on business and considering settlement in America. They were recommended to JJ and to BF by Benjamin Vaughan, among others. See JJ’s draft letter of introduction for Grigby, NNC (EJ: 9330); his letter of recommendation for Darby has not been found. , 7: 682; Gentleman’s Magazine 99 (Jan.–June 1829): 373–74; and, for a report of Darby’s visits, , 8: 343n.
2. Jeremiah Wadsworth and John Carter had been contractors for the French army in America, and for supplying West Point and the Moving Army from 16 Oct. to 31 Dec. 1782. They sailed for Lorient on the Favorite on 27 July. See , 6: 565–73, 8: 342; and Hamilton to JJ, 25 July 1783, above.
3. No further funds were obtained from France, but the last of Morris’s financial obligations on public account were eventually covered by a Dutch loan secured by JA. See , 8: 343n2, 387–97.