From John Jay to Robert Morris, 12 September 1783
To Robert Morris
Passy 12th. Septr. 1783
Dr. Sir
The Definitive Treaty is concluded, and we are now thank God in the full Possession of Peace & Independence—if we are not a happy People now it will be our own Fault.
We daily expect the Commission for a Treaty of Commerce. I wish ^that^ the Sentiments of our Country on that important Subject may ^be^ fully stated in the Instructions wh. will accompany it. I think all our Treaties of Commerce should be temporary— The Circumstances of our Country may be greatly changed in twenty or Thirty Years, and what may now be advantageous may possi^bly^ ^be^ then inconvenient. Besides as we increase in wealth and Power, we shall find it less difficult to mould Treaties to our minds. In my opinion we should Constantly look forward to a Commercial Intercourse with all the Ports and Places on the american Continent and american Islands to whomsoever belonging.—perpetual Treaties of commerce now made, would probably exclude us from that Prospect.
In a Late Letter to G. Morris I enclos’d him an account of the Invention of Globes where with men may litterally soar above the Clouds— I here with send you two Prints containing Representations of the Rise and Descent of one of them—1
I hear your Boys go on exceedingly well at Geneva, and there is ^have^ reason to beleive ^that^ they are in very good hands—
Mrs. Jay has another Daughter—both of them are doing well except that the Child has a bad Cold. I hope next Summer to see you and to brighten at the Hills the Chain which I flatter my[self] will always connect us— Let not therefore any Idea of Keeping me longer in Europe be encouraged— Be pleased to assure Mrs. Morris of our constant regard and believe [me] to be Dear Sir Your aff Friend
(Signed) John Jay
Honb Rob Morris Esqr.
C, NNC (EJ: 9334). Endorsed: “ . . . by Mr Thaxter”.
1. JJ had forwarded Gouverneur Morris an account of the unmanned hot air balloon demonstration held by Joseph Michel Montgolfier (1740–1810) and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier (1745–1810) at Annonay, France, 4 June 1783, in his note of 20 July 1783 (Dft, NNC, EJ: 8341). There is reason to believe the two prints (not found) sent by JJ are of the rise and fall of the subsequent hydrogen balloon constructed by Anne-Jean and Nicholas-Louis Robert under the guidance of physicist Jacques Alexandre César Charles (1746–1823) and launched on 27 Aug. Charles was an associate of Franklin and was promoted by Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond, later author of La Description des expériences de la machine aérostatique de MM de Montgolfier et de celles auxquelles cette découverte a donné lieu (Paris, 1784). See , 27–33. For internal evidence for this attribution, see JJ to RRL of this date (below), and to William Livingston, Dft, NNC (EJ: 8284), printed in , 5: 44–45. JJ sent prints not only to Morris, RRL, and William Livingston, but to several other correspondents. See, for example, to Charles Thomson (below); and to Frederick Jay, Dft, NNC (EJ: 6343), both of this date; and to Philip Schuyler of 16 Sept., Dft, NNC (EJ: 9353). For Robert Morris’s response, see his letter of 27 Nov. 1783, below. On the 27 Aug. flight, see also BF to Sir Joseph Banks, 30 Aug.[–2 Sept.] 1783, , 40: 543–52. For correspondence on subsequent balloon ascensions in 1783 by the Montgolfiers, and by J.-A.-C. Charles with the Roberts brothers, see Peter Jay Munro to JJ, 16 Oct. (below), 4 (EJ: 380) and 30 Nov. (EJ: 385), and 2 (EJ: 379) and 4 Dec. 1783 (EJ: 386), all in NNMus; SLJ to JJ, 27 Nov. (below), and 2 Dec., ALS, NNC (EJ: 6509); JJ to SLJ, 8 Dec., ALS, NNC (EJ: 8043), and to Peter Jay Munro, 10 Dec. 1783, ALS, NNMus (EJ: 389); and Charles Thomson to JJ, 14 Jan. 1784, ALS, NNC (EJ: 7674).