From John Jay to James Morris, 18 January 1799
To James Morris
Albany 18 Jany 1799.
Dr. Sir
It gives me pleasure to find by various and concurrent accts. from ^New^ York that your appointment has given general Satisfaction, and excited sanguine Expectations ^that the^ office ^will be executed^ in an exemplary manner. My Sollicitude that ^you may derive no less Honor than Proffit from it, urges^ me to take the Liberty of observing, that in my opinion—— your Deputies should be selected with ^great^ Care, and their conduct superintended with ^unremitted^ vigilance1
Experience has abundantly proved that then^ir former^ allowance ^was^ incompetent; for public opinion has ^imputed^ their Extortions from ^to^ the Scantiness of that allowance; and fixd the odium on the Sheriff, whose Parsimony on ^in^ that Respect has been ^and severely^ greatly censured. Let me advise you to consult with your best ^and most judicious^ Friends upon these Subjects. ^By all means^ let your Deputies be paid so ^amply^ as to find no Excuse for Exactions ^in their being held to hard^ & un ^becoming^ Terms— It is better to make two thousand a Year with Reputation, than ^any greater Sum^ without it.
Execute the office with as much Tenderness & Humanity as ^may consist with^ your Duty, But ^firmly refuse all^ Indulgencies incompatible with it— Your Station will attract Notice, and Curiosity, & perhaps Jealousy.—To please every body is impossible, & not to be attempted; To give no ^every^body ^just^ Reason to complain ^be satisfied^ is possible, and proper, and never to be omitted. ascribe these Remarks to the Regard with which I am Dr. Sir
Dft, NNC (EJ: 08984). This document contains numerous excisions of varying lengths, most of which are not recorded here. James Morris (1764–1827) of Morrisania, a lawyer, was the son of Lewis Morris and Mary Walton Morris, and nephew of GM.
1. In December 1798, the Council of Appointment selected James Morris to replace J. J. Lansing as sheriff for the City and County of New York. Described as a man of “unbridled” avarice, Lansing was removed from office because of the “exactions” committed by his deputies, who acted like “extortioners” due to their meager pay. Lansing had also been the subject of complaints about his leaving town and neglecting his duties during the yellow fever epidemic in New York City. Richard Varick to JJ, 10 Jan. 1799, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09295); JJ to Robert Troup, [29 Dec. 1798], ALS, NNC (EJ: 00983); PJM to JJ, 13 Jan. 1799, Dft, NNMus (EJ: 00467).
JJ wrote the above letter in response to a report received from PJM contending that Morris intended to employ several of Lansing’s deputies. Even though these officials were reputed to be “perjured rascals long habituated to infamous practices,” Morris kept them on because they were “willing to work cheaper than better people.” PJM therefore suggested that JJ write Morris “a friendly letter upon the manner in wh the office ought to be executed.” Such a letter, he contended, would “check his passion for money with wh I suspect you are not sufficiently acquainted.” PJM to JJ, 13 Jan. 1799, Dft, NNMus (EJ: 00467).
For more on Lansing and Morris as sheriffs, see Richard Varick to JJ, 24 Sept. 1798, , 6: 698, and 699 n5; JJ to Varick, 3 Oct. 1798, , 6: 699; JJ to PJM, 14 Dec., [29 Dec. 1798], and 18 Jan. 1799, all ALS, NNMus (EJ: 00465; EJ: 00492; EJ: 00466); JJ to James Morris, 31 Dec. 1798, ALS, NNGL (EJ: 90552); PJM to JJ, 27 Jan. 1799, Dft, NNMus (EJ: 00469); Albany Centinel, 1 Jan. and 22 Feb. 1799; and the editorial note “John Jay and the Yellow Fever Epidemics,” , 6: 354.