1From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, August 1775 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d your Letter of the 28 th Ult. and take the earliest opportunity wh. has offered of answering it. The Principles on which you account for hav g delayed Notices of Tryal on the West Chester Causes merit my Acknowledgm ts You need be under no apprehension of Non Suits in case you sh d . prevail upon yourself to postpone the Tryal which I confess I cant forbear wishing may be the...
Your Letter of the 26 Instant was this Evening delivered to me. When I was called last from Convention, a Clause in the Report of the form of Government had been by a [ illegible ] very great Majority agreed to, instituting a Council for the appointm t of military and many civil Officers, including Clerks of Courts ; and tho’ I publicly advocated and voted for that Clause, you express much...
3From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 21 July 1777 (Jay Papers)
The Situation of Tryon County is both shameful & deplorable Such abject Dejection & Despondency as mark the Letters we have rec d . from thence disgrace human Nature. God knows what to do with or for them. Were they alone interested in their Fate, I should be for leaving their Cart in the Slough till they w d . put their Shoulders to the Wheel. Be more cautious in your Letters to the Council....
4From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 17 March 1778 (Jay Papers)
Your Favor of the 1 st . Feb y came to Hand last week. It gives me Pleasure to hear you was then at H d Q rtrs . especially on Business so important & perplexed. It is Time that Inquiries and I may add ^ as well as ^ Punishments sh d . become more frequent. I wish better, or rather more use was made of Courts Martial. Why is the the Inquiry directed to be made into the Causes to which
5From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 14 April 1778 (Jay Papers)
Your Favor of the 16 Ult o . was delivered to me two Days ago by Maj r . Morris— it makes the third I have had the Pleasure of recieving from you since your Departure, altho the Letters I have written to you amount to double that Number. The Session of the Legislature is at an End, a weak perplexed wrangling one it has been. No Wonder—little application within or without Doors but you know...
6From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 29 April 1778 (Jay Papers)
My last to you was written ab t a Week ago— I am now engaged in the most disagreable part of my Duty—trying Criminals— They multiply exceedingly. Robberies become Frequent. The Woods afford them Shelter & the Tories Food. Punishments must of Course become certain, & Mercy dormant—a harsh System repugnant to my Feelings, but nevertheless necessary. In such Circumstances Lenity would be Cruelty,...
7From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 20 May 1778 (Jay Papers)
Accept my thanks for the last letter I received from you, and the papers inclosed in it. The report of Congress on the subject of Lord North’s Bills was too strikingly marked with Morris not to be known by his friends to have been produced by his pen. Your history of that business gives me pleasure, as it acquits you of certain paragraphs which I could not understand the propriety of,...
8From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 3 June 1778 (Jay Papers)
Your two letters of the 28 th . April were delivered a few days ago on my return from Albany—another of the 23 d . of May came to hand last night. On the future conduct of a certain General towards this State, will depend the countenance he may meet with in it. My endeavours shall not be wanting to render his situation as happy and agreeable as his behaviour may merit; and I am with you of...
9From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 29 August 1778 (Jay Papers)
Your friendly letter of the 16 th . instant was delivered to me yesterday. I am well apprized of the situation of the gentleman you mention, and sincerely hope that his conduct may, on inquiry, be found such as to justify the opinion which I have long entertained of him. I wish for many reasons to have a personal interview with him. It will probably be long before the duties of my office will...
10From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 13 September 1778 (Jay Papers)
My last to you was from the White Plains and was dated the 29 th . August. I know not who was the bearer, and consequently cannot conjecture whether you have received it. It was in answer to yours of the 16 th . of the same month. Inform me from time to time of the dates of such of my letters as you receive, I shall do the like. The resolution of Congress on the report of inquiry respecting...
11From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 21 October 1778 (Jay Papers)
Your favors of the 8 th ., 22 d & 27 th . of September and last of all, of the 26 th . Aug st . by Doct r . M c Knight are come to hand. While the far greater part of mankind derive pleasure from discord between friends, you derive credit from feeling and acting differently. What your information may have been, or from whom received I cannot conjecture. It was not entirely well or ill founded....
I address this Letter to you both because I have not time by this opportunity to write to each separately. In a few Days I shall write you both particularly. M r . Gerards being about to sail happily prevailed upon Congress to proceed rapidly & unanimously in arranging their foreign Affairs— Young Coll Laurens is going Secretary to Doct r Franklin, and had the general approbation of Congress...
13From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 5 November 1780 (Jay Papers)
Three of your Letters have reached me— The last was of the 12 July— Some of mine to you were worth little, and their Miscarriage ^ was ^ of little other ^ no ^ Consequence, than you having there was one however from Madrid which I wish may come to your Hands—it was interesting— I had heard of your misfortune and felt it— A Gentleman in France wrote me that M rs
14From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 28 September 1781 (Jay Papers)
My last to you was of the 24 th . Ult.— Triplicates have been sent I have rec d . none from you later than 10 July by Maj r . Franks— Yours of the 2 d . Jan y . & 4 March never reached me— there is Reason to believe that the minister prime minister here has them — Tell me what you think of my Letter, to
15From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 13 October 1782 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your festina lente Letter, but wh wish it had been, at least partly, in Cypher; you need not be informed of my Reasons for this wish, as by this Time you must know that Seals are, on this Side of the Water, rather Matters of Decoration, than of use— It gave me nevertheless great Pleasure to recieve that Letter; it being the first from You that had reached me the Lord knows when:...
16From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 17 July 1783 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your two Letters from you—one of the 29 Ap r . by Col. Ogden—the other of 30 May by Cap t . Barney— I am glad to see the Col. and shall readily do him any Service in my power, as well on acc t . of your Recommendation as his own Merit— By this Time I suppose there is much canvassing for foreign appointments— I thank you for thinking of me—but as I mean to return in the Spring,...
17From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 24 September 1783 (Jay Papers)
The Sight of y r friendly Letter of the 25 of July last, an of & of those it recommends, gave me much Pleasure. Marks of Remembrance from old Acquaintances, & the Society of [ deserving ?] fellow fellow Citizens in a foreign country, excite agreable Sensations. I have as yet met with neither men nor things on this Side ^ of the water ^ which abate my Prediliction or if you please my Prejudices...
18From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 10 February 1784 (Jay Papers)
Your Letter of the 25 Sep. came to my Hands in England on the 8 Dec r last, and since my Return I have rec d yours that of the 7 Nov. w h . tho containing only three Lines I prefer to most of y r . others Letters —perhaps you have forgot it “It is now within three minutes of the Time when the mail is made up & sent of[f]. I cannot therefore do more than just to assure you of the Continuance of...
19From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 21 September 1812 (Jay Papers)
I rec d . on the 19 th . your Letter of the 11 th . Inst.— The Diminution of my health since I left you, leaves me very little Reason to expect a Return of such a Degree of it, as would enable me to attend to any Business like that in Question— To undertake a Task without a Prospect and probability of performing it properly, is to deviate from the Path of prudence. The last is the only week,...
20From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, 28 October 1816 (Jay Papers)
Having heard much of your Discourse before the New York Historical Society, it gave me pleasure to recieve a Copy of it; and to find from the Direction that I owed it to your friendly attention. It abounds in interesting Remarks— The Diction is elevated throughout— perhaps in some Instances beyond the proportion which the Topics bear to each other. In Landscape we prefer Hill and Dale to a...