John Jay to George Washington, 29 March 1781
From John Jay
Madrid 29 March 1781
Dear Sir
There has long been something about my Heart which urged me to write to You, but I thought it selfish to diminish your few Leisure Moments by an additional Correspondent, especially as your Punctuality & Attention would probably have led you to consult my Wishes rather than your own Convenience.
The Time I hope will come when the Return of Tranquility will give me an Opportunity of conversing with you on several interesting Subjects. I have however concluded to allow myself the pleasure of writing you a few Lines now & then—Indeed—I ought to have recollected that while I was giving myself Credit in my own Mind for self-denial, you might have been charging me in your’s with Inattention; and therefore that it might have been more prudent & perhaps not less generous, to have troubled you with Letters, than with Inducements to suspect that my Heart, like a Feather, would with equal Ease stick to or quit any Man whom the Breath of Whim or Interest might blow it on or off.1
The Firmness and Delicacy observed in the Case of Majr Andre is exceedingly admired here. I am happy that Col. Beverley did not succeed in renewing his Acquaintance with you.2 You have really been very fortunate in having so long resisted the Attacks of open Enemies, and escaped the Snares of secret ones.
I take the Liberty of sending you a Cask of Pakaretti, the favorite wine of our late friend Dn Juan, whose Death I much lament.3 His Place will I believe be soon filled by a Gentleman who will probably deliver you a Letter of Introduction from me.4
Mr Harrison, a worthy kinsman of your Secretary, is shipping from Cadiz the Cloathing taken by Admiral Cordova & presented by France & Spain to Congress. I have desired him to send you Invoices of each parcel.5
Mrs Jay has more than usual Health and seems as much interested in your Health and Safety, as if you6 was her own Father as well as that of her Country.7 be pleased to present our best Wishes to Mrs Washington—and when you write to your honest Friend Col. Harrison remember me to him—I hope Arnold has not spoiled his Mill Dam.8 God bless you my Dear Sir—I am with perfect Esteem & Regard Your Friend & Servant
John Jay
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Jay last wrote GW on 14 Oct. 1779 about his recent appointment as minister to Spain.
2. Jay alludes to Loyalist colonel Beverly Robinson (see Document III with Major John André’s Capture and Execution, 23 Sept.–7 Oct. 1780, editorial note; see also The Discovery of Major General Benedict Arnold’s Treachery, 25 Sept.–24 Nov., editorial note).
3. For the death of Don Juan de Miralles, Spain’s unofficial ambassador to the United States, see GW to La Luzerne, 28 April, source note.
4. Contrary to Jay’s expectations, Spanish officials replaced Miralles with Francisco Rendon (see Rendon to GW, 26 Feb. 1781; see also Rendon to GW, 29 July 1780).
5. French and Spanish warships had captured sixty-one British merchant vessels (see Rochambeau to GW, 23 Oct., n.3, and , 193–94). Richard Harrison, apparently a cousin of GW’s former secretary Robert Hanson Harrison, forwarded clothing apparently taken from those vessels (see Richard Harrison to GW, 12 March 1781, and n.1 to that document; see also Lafayette to GW, 21 Dec. 1784, in 2:226–28, and Richard Harrison to GW, 8 May 1789, in 2:229–32).
Luis de Córdova y Córdova (1706–1796) was born in Seville, Spain, to a nautical family. He entered Spanish naval service as a 15-year-old and ascended the ranks to lieutenant general in 1775. He later obtained the Spanish navy’s highest rank of captain general.
6. Jay wrote “your” for this word.
7. Sarah Livingston Jay (1756–1802), daughter of New Jersey governor William Livingston, married Jay in 1774. She bore him five children.
8. Jay refers to the threat that British forces under Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold posed to Robert Hanson Harrison’s property in Maryland (see Harrison to GW, 14 April, and n.3 to that document).