Tuesday Decr. 1st. A pretty full Levee to day—among the Visitors was the Vice President and all the Senators in Town.
Exercised on Horseback betwn. 10 and 12.
Read the Papers relative to our Affairs with the Emperer of Morocco and sent them to Mr. Jay to prepare answers to them.
Presumably GW is referring to papers submitted by Jay 1 Dec. concerning United States relations with the emperor of Morocco (DNA: RG 59, Misc. Letters). In 1788 the emperor had granted special privileges to American vessels, permitting them to pay only a 5 percent duty on the importation of merchandise into Morocco, and from time to time he had used his good offices to aid American shipping in the area. With his letter to GW, Jay submitted letters of 25 April and 18 July 1789 from Giuseppi Chiappe, United States agent at Mogadore, intimating that the emperor felt that his concessions had not received sufficient recognition from the United States (DNA: RG 59, George Washington’s Correspondence with the Secretaries of State). Jay also submitted the draft of a letter from GW to the emperor, 1 Dec., expressing the United States’s appreciation (owned by Forbes Magazine). Also included were drafts of letters dated 1 Dec. from Jay to Giuseppi Chiappe and Francisco Chiappe, United States agent in Morocco, attributing the seeming neglect of the emperor to the exigencies of establishing the new government (DNA: RG 59, George Washington’s Correspondence with the Secretaries of State).