301From John Jay to Silas Deane, 27 October 1780 (Jay Papers)
Your Favor of the 9 th . Inst has come to my Hands, hav g as usual been inspected— spain want[s] mississippi — true they are participatin in it ^ sat verbum ^ — Whenever you write to me do it in full Expectation that your Letter will be opened before I recieve ^ get ^ it, this being the Case with almost all I recieve—
302From John Jay to Silas Deane, 1 November 1780 (Jay Papers)
I have just rec d . your Letter of the 16 Oct r .— How happens it that you do not yet know me ? Time and opportunity have not been wanting— I suspect You sometimes see double — If my Regard for my Friends be measured by the Length of the Letters I write them, I confess they have often Reason to complain, especially as a constant Attention to Matters of public Concern, leaves me little Leisure...
303From John Jay to Silas Deane, 28 March 1781 (Jay Papers)
My last to you was of the 10 Inst. and I concluded it with a Promise of a Continuation, which I now set down to perform. The more I enquire and hear about your Contract, the more I become convinced that it will never be ratified. The Prices affixed to the several Articles are thought exorbitant, and I am well persuaded that the Conduct of those Affairs will be referred to the Person I before...
304The Committee of Secret Correspondence: Certificate for Silas Deane, [2 March 1776] (Franklin Papers)
DS : Connecticut Historical Society; DS : Library of Congress; copy: South Carolina Historical Society; copy: Yale University Library We the underwritten, being the Committee of Congress for secret Correspondence, do hereby certify whom it may concern, that the Bearer, the Honourable Silas Deane Esquire, one of the Delegates from the Colony of Connecticut, is appointed by us to go into France,...
305From John Jay to Silas Deane, 5 December 1781 (Jay Papers)
Your favor of the 26 Sept. did not reach me until the 29 ulto, altho’ you mention that it was to have been dispatched in a packet of Doctor Franklin’s the subsequent Saturday. From your long silence I suspected that you had not yet returned from the journey mentioned in your former letter. I am glad to find that I was mistaken, and that you still continue mindful of your friend. It gives me...
306From John Jay to Silas Deane, 22 February 1783 (Jay Papers)
Your letter of the 10th inst. was delivered to me a few days ago. The reason to which you ascribe my not having answered the other you wrote me was the true one, viz. that it was unnecessary. The time has been, when my writing to you would not have depended on such a circumstance, for you are not mistaken in supposing that I was once your friend. I really was, and should still have been so,...
307The Committee of Secret Correspondence to Silas Deane, 2 October 1776 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Haverford College Library; letterbook copy: National Archives We have this day received from the Honorable Congress of Delegates of the United States of America the important papers that accompany this letter being, These papers speak for themselves and need no Strictures or remarks from us, neither is it our business to make any. You will observe, that in case of the absence or...
308From John Jay to Silas Deane, 10 March 1781 (Jay Papers)
I had Yesterday the Pleasure of rec g yours of the 23 d Ult o . Much Time has elapsed since the Date of my last Letter advising you of the arrival of the Papers about which you enquire. It is true that I have in the Interim rec d . several long and acceptable Letters from you, and that I have not replied to any of them. I do not wonder that you thought my Silence very singular; I should have...
Your Favors of the 2 d . 8 th : & 10 June have been rec d . & Copies transmitted to the Committee. The Subject of them certainly Merits their Attention, and I hope your Advice will be litterally complied with. As I have not now the Honor of a Seat in Congress, having been called to an office which will confine me in this State, any Information I can give You will be far less satisfactory than...
310From John Jay to Silas Deane, 26 October 1780 (Jay Papers)
At Length your first Letter contrary to my Expectations, has arrived been deliverd to me ^ arrived ^ , and my Attentions to the object of it shall not be wanting— I have also rec d . your Favor of the 18 th : Sept r . since which more of my Letters than one have I hope reached you, this being the fourth— I have read considered and reconsidered the Facts & reflections you communicate, & am...
311The Committee of Secret Correspondence to Silas Deane, 7 August 1776 (Franklin Papers)
LS : Maine Historical Society; letterbook copy: National Archives The above is a Copy of our last, which went by the Dispatch Captain Parker. The Congress have since taken into consideration the heads of a Treaty to be proposed to France, but as they are not yet concluded upon, we cannot say more of them per this conveyance. You will see by the Newspapers which accompany this, that the...
312The Committee of Secret Correspondence: Instructions to Silas Deane, 2 March 1776 (Franklin Papers)
Copy: Connecticut Historical Society; copy: Yale University Library; copy: South Carolina Historical Society These instructions, which were probably drafted by Franklin, are the first to an American agent in a foreign country. They mark an important step toward the assumption of sovereignty, and the committee of secret correspondence seems to have taken that step on its own initiative. The...
313The Committee of Secret Correspondence to [Silas Deane], 8 July 1776 (Franklin Papers)
Reprinted from The North American and United States Gazette (Philadelphia), October 12, 1855. With this you will receive the Declaration of the Congress for a final separation from Great Britain. It was the universal demand of the people, justly exasperated by the obstinate perseverance of the Crown in its tyrannical and destructive measures, and the Congress were very unanimous in complying...
314From John Jay to James De Lancey, 2 January 1778 (Jay Papers)
Notwithstanding the opposition of our Sentiments & Conduct relative to the present Contest, the Friendship which subsisted between us is not forgotten, nor will the good Offices ^ formerly ^ done me by yourself & Family cease to excite my Gratitude. How far your Situation may be comfortable & easy I know not. it is my Wish & shall be my Endeavour that it be as much so as may be consistant with...
315The Committee of Secret Correspondence to Samuel and J. H. Delap, 10 July 1776 (Franklin Papers)
Letterbook copy: National Archives You will receive this by the Brigantine Dispatch Capt. Peter Parker and with it some letters for Silas Deane Esqr. which being of Considerable Consequence We beg you will cause them to be sent or delivered to him with the utmost Expedition and we make no doubt he has left his address with you shou’d he have left Bourdeaux. You will find herein an Invoice and...
316From John Jay to Charles Gerrit De Witt, 18 August 1823 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your Letter of the 4 Inst, informing me that you are a Grandson of the late Col l . Charles DeWitt, and contemplate preparing a Memoir of his Life; and requesting me to communicate to you such Documents & anecdotes illustrative of his public Services during the Revolution, as I may possess. This mark of Attention to the memory of your worthy Ancestor, is commendable; and I wish...
317From John Jay to John Dickinson, 22 March 1779 (Jay Papers)
Your Election to a Seat in Congress is an Event for many Reasons pleasing to me. I have for some time past flattered myself with soon having the Pleasure of again seeing you in a Place which you formerly filled with advantage to your Country and Reputation to yourself. Permit me to hint that your State is unrepresented, & that were you apprized of the very important Affairs now under...
318From John Jay to John C. Dongan, 27 February 1792 (Jay Papers)
Accept my thanks for your obliging letter of this morning, which I this moment received. My answer to the gentleman who applied to me was, that if my fellow-citizens did me the honor to elect me, I would with pleasure serve them; but that I conceived it would be improper for me to make any efforts to obtain suffrages. They approved of this line of conduct, and in conformity to it I made it a...
319From John Jay to John Drayton, 1 March 1794 (Jay Papers)
I was this Morn g favored with your obliging Letter of the 29 of Jany, together with the Cotton ^& seed^ mentioned in it, and for which accept my thanks This nankeen Cotton appears to me to be a valuable acquisition and I hope care will be taken to [ illegible ] ^keep^ it pure and unmixed— there are many plants of the same Genus but of different Species, which ^as I observed to you when here,^...
320From John Jay to John Drayton, 6 September 1797 (Jay Papers)
on reading The Letter which you was so obliging as to write to me on the 21 July 1795, it appeared however prudent to delay excited no other Surprize than that certain Gentlemen had forgotten the Respect which they owed both to themselves and ^as well as^ to me It was foreseen that any Treaty with Great Britain would be violently opposed by the Debtors to that Country, by the Enemies of the...
321From John Jay to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, [4 October 1784] (Jay Papers)
To the worshipful the Mayor Alderman & Commonalty of the City of NYork Gent accept my warmest Thanks for your affect e . Congratulation and ^ on ^ my Return to my native Country, and ^ for ^ the particular mark of approbation with w h . you have honored my Endeavours to do my Duty in promoting its Welfare. I consider the Day on w h . I again landed on these Shores, as one of
322From John Jay to James Duane, 14 October 1779 (Jay Papers)
Your obliging Favor by M r . Phelps it has remained thus long unanswered, because till to very lately I promised myself the Pleasure of seeing you, but that has now become very improbabl ly e as we expect to sail in a few Days— If I leave Congress with Regret and Your Reelection and ^ Consent to ^ Return to Congress are Circumstances which I consider as fortunate in the present Situation of...
323From John Jay to James Duane, 14 December 1777 (Jay Papers)
Your obliging Letter of the 2 d . Inst did not reach me till two Days ago. I am very sensible that Your Time must have been greatly engrossed at Congress, & the more so as the Treasury Department was I believe almost wholly under your particular Inspection. I ardently wish to see the Time when Matters of general Importance will cease to deny us Leisure for regular Correspondence; & be assured...
324From John Jay to James Duane, 30 September 1785 (Jay Papers)
Permit me to request the Favor of you to obtain a Decision this Evening respecting the proposed Regulations of New Street and the Broad Way—The Season will now admit of digging Cellars & preparing Foundations for Houses; and nothing prevents my beginning with mine, but the want of Information respecting the Intention of the Corporation to make or not to make the proposed Amendments to those...
325From John Jay to James Duane, [11 October 1785] (Jay Papers)
Before your Return I agreed in thinking with the Agents of Massachusetts ^ that such Letters ^ should be written to the Judges as you will find herewith enclosed. We have on both Sides vacant places to fill up, and in my opinion a little Delay will not hurt us, for we expect important papers from England, and tho they will doubtless arrive this fall, yet the exact Time when cannot be...
326From John Jay to James Duane, 16 September 1795 (Jay Papers)
I read your kind and affectionate Letter of the 31 July last with great Satisfaction and Sensibility, and I thank you for it. It is pleasing to see Friendship like an Evergreen, bid Defiance to the vicissitude of Seasons.— The opposition to which you allude, except as to its Degree of malignity, was not unexpected. When the mission to England was pressed upon me, it was percieved that there...
327From John Jay to James Duane, 29 May 1776 (Jay Papers)
Since my last I have had the Pleasure of recieving your Letter of the 25 th : Inst. and am obliged to you for the Intelligence contained in it. So great are the Inconveniences resulting from the present Mode of Government, that I believe our Convention will almost unanimously agree to institute a better, to continue till a Peace with Great Britain shall render it unnecessary. The Proceedings...
328From John Jay to James Duane, 6 January 1776 (Jay Papers)
As I intend to leave this City Tomorrow I take the Liberty of sending you the inclosed. I have just rec d a Letter from H.B. Livingston & his Brother John. Harry informs me that his Major has quitted the Service & that his Coll. has also resigned. These Places being vacant I think Harry sh d be made a Lieu t . Coll immediately, for as the Lieut. Coll. continues in the Service he certainly...
329From John Jay to C. W. F. Dumas, 9 March 1789 (Jay Papers)
Among other Letters w h . I have had the pleasure of rec g . from you, there is one of the 27 th Aug t . Aug last, in which at the Request of the Chargé des affaires of the Court palatine and of Bavaria, you inclosed a Memorial & Contract to be conveyed to Congress, & thro’ them to the Governm t . of Pennsylvania, in order to obtain Justice for a palatine Subject from a Person settled at...
330From John Jay to John Dumont, 27 February 1790 (Jay Papers)
I was favored with yours of the 28 th . Ult. just as I was preparing to go out of Town— it was not untill last Evening that I returned, or I should have taken an earlier opportunity of answering your Letter— Accept my Thanks for your friendly Congratulations. I am convinced of ^believe^ them Sincere ity and value them accordingly— It would give me great Pleasure to have opportunities of...
When our common Liberties are invaded, our dearest Rights in Danger, and a whole Continent loudly called upon to defend and secure themselves against high handed Oppression: the Confidence reposed in us as Delegates of your respectable County is a distinguished Honour, which excites our most affectionate Esteem and demands our most grateful Acknowledgments. While we lament that our Talents are...
332From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 16 December 1802 (Jay Papers)
I take the Liberty of addressing you on a Subject w h . is not a little interesting to me— on leaving Albany I committed to the Rev d . M r Ellison the Care & Education of a Son whom I think a good & promising Boy, and who is now ab t . 13 Years old. That ^On that^ Gentleman’s Death he returned to me— I have tried to ^As was my wish to have him^ placed here in a proper Situation near
333From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 11 January 1803 (Jay Papers)
I had the pleasure of recieving by the last post your obliging Letter of the 4 th . Instant— The Explanations contained in it are perfectly satisfactory, and I thank You for the Information relative to M r Davis, and the Terms on which he would take my Son into his Family and prepare him for College— my Confidence in your Judgm t . and Candor induces me to rely on your Recommendation of that...
334From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 10 February 1803 (Jay Papers)
In a Letter written you the 11 Ult. by the post, in answer to the one I had the pleasure of rec g . from you, I mentioned that in pursuance of y r . advice I sh d . send my Son to M r Davis, in the course of this month— If the Weather be fair he will set out Tomorrow, & I have directed him to wait upon you with this Letter. On this subject I can express no sentiments w h . will not occur to...
335From John Jay to John Eliot, 8 October 1799 (Jay Papers)
On reading the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society for the Year 1798, which you was so obliging as to send me, I observe a mistake, which I will take the Liberty of mentioning. The Report of a Committee of the Board of Correspondents of the Scots Society for propagating Christian Knowledge, who visited the Oneida and Mohekunuk Indians in 1796, is one of the Papers published in...
336From John Jay to Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish, 24 July 1787 (Jay Papers)
I am this moment employed in transmitting a Letter from Congress to his Majesty the Emperor of Morocco with a Ratification of the Treaty concluded by him between him & the United States. It gives me great Pleasure ^ to obey ^ ^ in obedience to ^ the Orders of Congress to take this opportunity of assuring ^ of informing ^ you that they are much pleased with and will remember the
We have rec d. the Letter w h you did us the Honor to write on the 18 th. Inst, together with the Passports mentioned in it. His britannic Majesty’s Proclamation of the 14 th. Instant has our entire approbation, and we have the honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a Declaration perfectly correspondent with it. It appears to us important to both Countries that a System be speedily...
338The American Peace Commissioners to Alleyne Fitzherbert, [20 February 1783] (Franklin Papers)
AL (draft): Massachusetts Historical Society We have recd. the Letter wh you did us the Honor to write on the 18th. Inst, together with the Passports mentioned in it. His britannic Majesty’s Proclamation of the 14th. Instant has our entire approbation, and we have the Honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, a Declaration perfectly correspondent with it. It appears to us important to...
339From John Jay to Floridablanca, 28 October 1781 (Jay Papers)
M r . Gardoqui informs me that his Majesty was pleased in the Month of March last to order “that when a prize taken by a French or Dutch Vessel should arrive in a Port of Spain, the Marine Judge of the District, should reduce to writing the Evidence of the Capture, and deliver it to the French or Dutch Consul (as the case might be) to be by him transmitted to the Admiralty from whence the...
340From John Jay to Floridablanca, 11 August 1780 (Jay Papers)
M r Jay presents his respectful Compliments to his Excellency the Count D’Florida Blanca, and has the Honor of informing him, that since the Date of his last, Bills to the Amount of six thousand six hundred Dollars, have been presented to him for acceptance. M r Jay has prevailed upon the Holders of these Bills, to wait six or Eight Days for his Answer, on a Promise that the Time for their...
341From John Jay to Floridablanca, 16 August 1780 (Jay Papers)
The Letter which your Excellency did me the Honor to write on the 12 th . Inst: was delivered to me Yesterday. The kind Concern you are pleased to express for the Delay, which suspends my recieving a positive Answer respecting the Bills, demands my Acknowledgements, and is an additional Proof of that generous Sensibility, which enduced your Excellency to tell me, “that your Friendship for...
342From John Jay to Floridablanca, 6 March 1780 (Jay Papers)
I have been honored with your Excellency’s favor of the 24 th . Ult., which did not come to my Hands ’till some time after its arrival. The Sentiments which his Majesty is pleased to entertain of me, together with the polite manner in which your Excellency has been so obliging as to express them, demand my warmest Acknowledgements; and give additional Force to the many motives, which render me...
343From John Jay to Floridablanca, 28 June 1781 (Jay Papers)
Agreable to your Excellencys Request I have now the honor of again submitting to your Consideration a particular State of the Case of the unfortunate Americans, who after Capturing the Dover Cutter and bringing her safe to Santa Cruz in the Island of Teneriff the 15 th April 1780 have ^ not ^ as yet reaped the Fruits they expected from that successful tho’ dangerous Enterprize. Your...
344From John Jay to Floridablanca, 22 June 1780 (Jay Papers)
I have received the Note which your Excellency did me the honor to write on the 20 th Instant, and I take ^ the ^ earliest opportunity of expressing my thanks for your Excellencys permission to accept the bills mentioned in it, which I have accordingly done. Agreable to your Excellencys recommendation in the first conference, I have turned my thoughts very seriously to the objects which were...
345From John Jay to Floridablanca, 2 March 1782 (Jay Papers)
M r Gardoqui informed me yesterday that he had recieved an order to pay to M r Cabarrus on my acc t . 26000 Dollars, being somewhat more than the Ballance due on the 150.000; and for which be pleased to accept my thanks and acknowledgments. As the Residue of the Bills drawn upon me by Congress does not amount to a great sum, and as M r Cabarrus had generously offered to furnish it, provided...
346From John Jay to Floridablanca, 20 June 1780, enclosing the Humble Petition of Thomas Shuker Native of New Hampshire, 27 … (Jay Papers)
M r : Jay has the Honor of representing to his Excellency the Count D’ Florida Blanca, that Thomas Shuker a Native of the State of New Hampshire, and Captain of an american armed vessel, was captured by the Enemy in September last, and finally carried to England. That in January last he shipped himself on Board the Dover Cutter of London, then lying in Yarmouth Road. That on the 13 th . of...
347From John Jay to Floridablanca, 22 September 1781 (Jay Papers)
I have the honor of transmitting herewith enclosed the propositions requested by Your Exe y . on Wednesday Evening last I have endeavoured to render them as short & simple as possible & I flatter myself that the unreserved frankness with which they are written will be no less agreeable to your Exey than I am sure it is consistent with the desire & disposition of my Constituents As the issue of...
348From John Jay to Floridablanca, 14 September 1780 (Jay Papers)
The information I received yesterday from your Excellency, by M r Gardoqui, has drawn the affair of the Bills of Exchange to a conclusion. He told me that the Exigencies of the State would not permit his Majesty to provide for the payment of more of those bills than were already accepted, amounting to about 14′000 dollars. As it is important that every Nation at war should know exactly the...
349From John Jay to Floridablanca, 28 June 1780 (Jay Papers)
I have the Honor of transmitting to your Excellency herewith enclosed a Copy of an Act of the State of Connecticut just come to Hand, in which are recited certain Resolutions of Congress passed the 18 th March last. These Resolutions are calculated to put the american Finances on a permanent Footing. They direct, among other Things, that Bills be issued, redeemable in Specie with Interest, at...
350From John Jay to Floridablanca, 9 October 1781 (Jay Papers)
The Letter which your Excellency did me the Honor to write on the 8 th Instant, arrived this Morning. I consider myself much obliged by the Communication of the Facts mentioned in it, especially as it affords me an opportunity of manifesting to his majesty and to Congress, my attention to his Rights, and to their orders. I perfectly agree in Sentiment with your Excellency respecting the...