To John Jay from Jacob Read, 12 June 1786
From Jacob Read
Charleston 12th; June 1786—
Dear Sir
I am obliged to you for the Pamphlets which Accompanied your favour of the 16th; March last I found much pleasure in Readg so Complete a Refutation of the Calumnies published against you by one Whom I must now Consider as the Most finished Rascal & wretched Ingrate I ever heard of—I put the Spare Copies of those Pamphlets into the hands of Such Friends here as I Regard & some Who I know Respect you.1 they all express much pleasure in seeing your Vindication.
With you I believe that every Innocent Man has within himself a Specific against Calumny but as A great deal of time is Consumed before his Innocence is made appear merely from his actions—an Honest Mind must experience great anxiety between the Rise of such falsehoods and the period at which the public mind Rejects them, I am happy that in your Various Voyages & Journeys no accident deprived you of the papers you have Submitted to the World—with your friends & those Who know you, you were Secure from Censure but there are a Class of human beings in Society Who not possessing Souls Capable of any thing generous! any thing great! are for draging down every Character that they see above them in Virtue & Integrity to their own despicable Level—among these I must place the Friends Patrons and abettors of Mr; Lewis Littlepage—this Continent is well rid of such a monster—in Europe he may probably find a herd of his own Class to Associate with but for the Credit of my own Country I trust there are few Such within it—
Mrs Read (who enjoys the best health & who is pleased with the Country & Inhabitants)2 joins in a tender of our best Compliments to Mrs Jay—If the Multiplicity of business in your Office does not prevent I Wou’d be happy to hear from you and to know the State of our political Machine as far as Consistent with my private Station—My Voice in Our Legislature is ever for fœderal Measures—I am Sorry to Say however that in the last Assembly I cou’d Effect nothing in favour of Congress as to Money Matters; We hope more Success When our Real Situation is made known—the late Spirited Address did not Come to hand before our Legislature Rose—Doctr; Ramsay arrived Yesterday3 I am with very great Respect & Regard Sir Your most Obedt; & Most Humle; Servant,
Jacob Read
the Honle: Mr. Jay Esqr. Secty for: aff;s
ALS, NNC (EJ: 7070). Endorsed: “… Littlepage”.
1. See above, JJ to Read, 16 Mar. 1786; and “Lewis Littlepage Redivivus” (editorial note), above.
2. In 1786 Read returned to South Carolina upon the death of his mother, Rebecca Bond (Mrs. James) Read. He was the sole executor of her will and guardian of two minors, and an inheritor of an estate that included the plantation “Hobcaw” in Christ Church Parish, a residence in Charleston, and lands in Georgia and South Carolina.
3. Dr. David Ramsay (1749–1815), historian and physician, served as a South Carolina delegate to Congress, 1782–83 and 1785–86. In the absence of president-elect John Hancock, he was elected chairman of Congress on 23 Nov. 1785, and served until 12 May 1786. His History of the Revolution in South Carolina was published in 1785. 8: xcvii; 29: 883; 30: 264; ANBO.