Class p 7 % ,3 Book : Copyright }j^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. / MEMORIALS OF PETER A. JAY Sixty copies printed for private circulation PETER A. JAY 1833. Ace 57 III the jiosstssion of the New York Hospital Memorials of Peter A.Jay Compiled tor his Descendants By his Cifcat-grandson [olin |ay •' Deo ducc pcrscverandum " Family Motto ne Printed tor IVivutc Circulation 1905 04^ LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Roceivmt NOV 29 1905 Cepyriirht Entry CLASS (\ XXc. No, COPY B. Copyright, 1905, by John Jay THE DE VINNE PRESS CONTINTS 1776-1782 Birth ami parentage of IVtcr A. Jay. i. Early lite at Liberty Hall, 2. Apix)intmcnt of John Jay to the Spanish mission. 2. Removal of the Jay family froiTi Rye to Fishkill. 3. John Jay and Mrs. Jay sail for Europe, 4. Little Peter engaged in study, 5. Death of Grandfather Jay, 6. 1 782-1 794 John Jay in Paris, 7. TIk- Anglo- American Treaty concluded, 8. Life at Chaillot. 8. John Jay's fam- ily. 8. Return to America, 9. John Jay builds him- self a house. 9. I becomes Secretary of Foreign Af- fairs, 10. Young Peter's early school-days. 11. Death of Mr. and Mrs. Livingston, 11, 12. Charac- ter of Governor Livingston, 12. 13. Death of .\nna Maricka Jay, 14. Peter enters Columbia College, 14. His classmates, 14, 15. John Jay made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the I'nitcd States, 15. 1 794- 1 795 Unfriendly feeling Ix'tween Great Britain and the United States, 16, 17. John Jay goes to England CONTENTS as Envoy Extraordinary, 17. Peter accompanies him as private secretary, 19. Peter sees many places of interest and is entertained in English houses, 19-24. Visit to Sir William Herschel, 24. His forty-foot telescope, 24. In Copley's studio, 25. Father and son meet Mr. Pitt, 25. Young Jay dines on Lord Mayor's Day with the Skinner's Guild, 25. Signing of the Treaty, 25, 26. Peter attends an English court of law, 26. Makes a trip into Scot- land and sees the north of England, 26, 27. Is in- troduced to Dugald Stewart and hears him lecture, 27, 28. Impressions of York Minster by night, 28. Peter rides to hounds, 29, 30. Sees Mrs. Siddons and Mr. Kemble at Drury Lane, 30. Father and son return to the United States, 31. > 1795-1798 Peter goes to Philadelphia to settle accounts of Eng- lish mission, 32. John Jay is elected Governor of New York, 33. Marriage, at the Government House, of "Kitty" Ridley to John Livingston, 33, 34. Gov- ernor Jay declines re-election, 34. Peter commences the study of law, 34. New York excited by revolu- tionary doctrines, 34, 35. Extracts from correspon- dence with Judge Woodward of Virginia, 35-43. Peter joins the militia, 43. Becomes president of a Literary Society, 44. Is admitted to the Bar, 44. Licensed to practise in Supreme Court of New York, 44. Receives honorary degree from Yale College, 44. Superintends survey of land, 45. vi CONTENTS I 798- I 80 I Yellow fever in New ^'()rk City, 45. 46. Peter re- ceives Mayor's Court License, 46. His life in town, 47. His sister Maria's marriage, 47. The Jays es- tablish a country home, 48. Description of the Bed- ford place, 49. Family life at Bedford, 50, 51. Death of Mrs. John Jay. 51. Deaths of John Jay's two brothers, Augustus and Frederick, 52. Sketch of the latter. ^2. S3. 1801-1803 Peter begins the practice of law. 53. 54. (iocs abroad for his health, 54. His letter to his sister, Mrs. Banyer. 54-56. Extracts from his diary, 56-65. A Mediterranean cruise, 59-61. Italy, 62-71. Paris, 72. 73. The Louisiana Purchase, 74. Peter de- scribes the birthplace of his ancestors, 75, 76. His return to New York, 76. 1803-1807 Peter spends a winter in Bermuda. 77-79. Returns to Bedford, 79. Corresiwindence with Judge Territt, 80. Peter retires to Ikdford, 80, 81. Ogden Hoff- man . 81, 82. Death of Mr. P. A. Jay's brother-in- law. Goldsborough Banyer, 82. vii CONTENTS 1807-1810 Marriage of Peter A. Jay to Mary R. Clarkson, 82-84. Interchange of congratulatory letters between the fathers-in-law, 84-86. Birth of John Clarkson Jay, 88. Peter A. Jay becomes identified with various philanthropic and religious organizations, 88, 89. The " Trinity Church Riot," 89-92. 1810-1812 Oration on Washington, 92-96. Death of Eve, eldest child of Peter Jay and Mary Van Cortlandt, 96. Sketch of her husband, Henry Munro, 96, 97. Re- moval to Pine Street, 97. Birth of a daughter to the Jays, 97. Mr. Jay nominated for Congress, 97, 98. Elected, but election declared void, 98, 99. Nomi- nated again and defeated, 99. Mrs. Banyer, on the death of her father-in-law, moves to New York from Albany, 100. She moves again to Bedford, 100. Difficulties of provincial living in those days, 100- 102. 1812-1815 Difficulty in investing money at this period, 102, 103. The War of 1812, 104. The Treaty of Ghent, 105. Jay takes prominent part in endeavor to establish savings-banks, 106-108. Legislature defeats the movement, 108, 109. The Bank for Savings, 109. viii CONTENTS Dcatli of jay's hVuul uiicK- IVti-r. no. Jay's first j(.urnc-y hy steamhoai. in. Skrtcli of Sir James Jay, I ij, 1 13. His (Iratli, 1 13. 1815-1816 P.irtli 01 a i.iurUi cliil-l. 113. J.iy becomes meml)cr of the House of Assembly. 113. II4- Canal Navigation Hill. 114. (Apposed, but finally passed. 115-I17. Covernorship offered to Mr. Jay, but declined. 118. Rufus King nominated. 1 18, 119. Jay's speech. 120- 127. Governor Daniel D. Tompkins re-elected. 127. 1816-1821 Slavery abolished in the State of New York. 128. Mr. Jay builds himself a house, 130. 131. Another daughter born. 131. Correspondence between Jay and Dr. Robert Mare. 132-136. Jay appointed Re- corder, 136. Is succeeded by Richard Riker. 140. Testimonial from New York P>ar Association on Jay's retirement from the Recordership, 140-142. 1821-1822 Revision of the Constitution of the State of New York, 14-^. .Account of the Convention and its various acts, 143-150. Ratification of the new Constitution. 151. Jay resumes his law practice. 152. Birth of his second son. Peter .Augustus Jay. 152. ix CONTENTS 1822-1825 The Rye Estate, 152, 153. Yellow fever in New York, 153. Letter of Jay to Captain White of the Royal Navy, 154-157. Visit of La Fayette to United States, 158, 159. Death of General Clarkson, 160. 1825-1827 Life at Rye, 161-163. J. Fenimore Cooper, 163. Foundation of his story " The Spy," 164-166. Cooper goes abroad, 166. Meets Sir Walter Scott, 168, 169. Mr. Jay has various social and philan- thropic offices offered him, but accepts none, 169, 170. Death of Governor Clinton, 171. Birth of eighth child to the Jays, 172. 1827-1830 Founding of New York Law Institute Library, 172- 174. Marriage of Jay's daughter Mary Rutherfurd Jay, 175. Death of John Jay, 176. A comparison of Jay and Hamilton, 177-181. Letter to J. Fenimore Cooper, 181-183. Founding of " The Club," 184- 186. 1830-1832 Letters from J. Fenimore Cooper concerning political state of Europe, and various social matters there, 186-198, 199-201, 202-205. Mr. Jay's reply, 205- 208. General Jackson's election, 207. conti:nts Letters from James I. Roosevelt. Jr., in Taris, 209-212, 213. 214. Harvard University bestows degree ui)on Mr. Jay. 214, 215. President of Public School So- ciety. 215. Marriage of John Clarkson Jay, 216. Letter from Mr. Jay to J. I-'cnimorc Cooper, 217- 222. * 1832-1833 Anti-Slavery Society represses kidnapping of ncgrrx-s, 222. Peter A. Jay as churchman, 222-224. .\siatic cholera in New York. 224. 225. Jay resigns presi- dency of New York Hospital, 225. Correspondence following his resignation. 226-228. Jay settles boun- dary dispute between New York and New Jersey, 230-233. Letter from Jay to Cix)pcr. 235 237. 1833-1838 Early railway travel, 2yj. Exi^eriences of Mrs. Peter A. Jay and Mr. William Jay, 2^7-241. Death of Peter Jay Munro. 241. Sketch of his life, 241. 242. Hospitality in tin- Jay mansion, 242, 243. Lists of guests, 243-245. Death of Mrs. Frederick Prime, 245. The Great I'irc. 246. 247. Marriages of Helen and Sarah Jay. 247. Description of home at Rye, 247. 248. Letter from Jay to his sister. Mrs. P.an- yer, in England. 249 251. I 838- I 840 New house at Rye finislu-d. 251. Mrs. Jay's health grows worse. 251. The family go to Madeira. 252. The voyage. 252, 253. Description of the home at Funchal. 253. 254, Mrs. Jay grows still worse, 254. xi CONTENTS Her death, 254. Mr. Jay on the people and religion of Madeira, 255, 256. His description of the island, 256, 257. Letters, 258-262. 1840-1842 Jay's estimate of his father's character, 262, 263. Elec- tion of W. H. Harrison, 263. Views of Jay on the situation, 264, 265. Death of the President, 265. " The Northeastern Boundary Question," 265, 266. Jay writes to his English cousin on the subject, 266, 267. The Public School Society, 268. Contention over school funds by Protestants and Catholics, 268, 269. Marriage of Anna Maria Jay, 269. Mr. Jay to his brother William, 270-272. Dinner to Lord Ashburton, 272. Mr. Jay invited to preside, 272, 273. Lord Ashburton's speech, 275, 276. 1842-1843 Mr. Jay becomes president of the New York Histori- cal Society, 277. A permanent home erected for the Society, 278, 279. Jay delivers an inaugural address at Columbia, 280. A resume of the character of Peter A. Jay, 281-285. Death of Mrs. Banyer and Miss Ann Jay, 286. Sketch of Judge William Jay, 286, 287. His death, 287. Death of Peter A. Jay, 287-289. Resolutions and memorials upon the death of Mr. Jay, 290-296. Last Will and Testament of Peter A. Jay 297 Notes 303 xii LIST ()!• IIJA.srKA rioNS Petkk a. J av. I '^33. .\iiv ^7 . . ■ Frontispiece In the possession of the New York Hospital. PACING PACK John Jay 8 Mrs. John Jay 10 In the possession of Mr. Hanyer Clarkson. John Jay. Circ. 1794. Age 49 26 In the possession of Dr. John C. Jay. Peter .\. Jay. 1797. Age 21 34 Maria Jay. I79J^. .\gc 1^'. .Xftorward Mrs. Baiiycr 46 Peter \. Jay 82 In the possession of Mr. John Jay I'lcrrcpont. Matthew CLARKSf>N. 1823. Age 64 ... . 160 In the possession of the family of Mr. and Mrs. David Garkson. Mrs. Peter \. Jay 242 Residence at Rye 2^2 In i8j8 wbcD bouse waa finished. PRI-FACF In the followinij^ paq"cs little more has been at- teiii|)te(l than to put on record siicii Memorials oi' Mr. Jay as his ])ul>nc services, his addresses and his correspondence fnrnish; and to these have I)een added ^tnie acconnt of hi.s otherwise personal and family history. There are those who have not I'orp^otten the refininj^ influence of Mr. Jay's character upon the men anr of ihi> hall. The property liad been jnirchased in 1771 by Mr. Livini^^ston and the hall was erected by him in the f«»llr American lnth or JOth of ( ktober. 1776, that the family left Rye. C^n reaching b'ishkill, they occupied a house which belonged to Dr. PETER A. JAY Van Wyck. This house is described as stand- ing on a gentle elevation in the midst of a beau- tiful region; near by flowed the Wiccopee, a mountain stream making its way among green meadows. One night in the month of April, during the residence here of the Jays, the cow-boys crossed the mountains and stole from the house a large quantity of silver plate and money. The tramp of their horses as they came over the bridge was long afterward re- membered. It was in this house that Mr. Peter Jay's wife, Mary Van Cortlandt, a daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt and Eva Philipse, died on April 17, 1777. Here, too, on the eve of his appointed mission to Spain, John Jay parted from his father, never to see him again. Mr. Jay and his wife embarked from Ches- ter, below Philadelphia, October 26, 1779, on the Continental frigate Confederacy. They were to proceed to Madrid by way of Paris, In the party of the Envoy were Mrs. Living- ston's brother, Brockholst Livingston, as Jay's private secretary, and the Hon. William Car- michael as Secretary of Legation. Violent storms disabled the vessel; being dismantled she split her rudder on the 7th of November, and on the i8th of December put into ]\Iarti- 4 YOUTHFUL STUDIKS nico, whence llic voyaj^c was cniuiiuicd in a FrtMicli sliij), the .luroru. It was not until ilic jj(l i^i janiiar\-, 17S0, tliat ilic American party arrived at Cadiz. It is also related that before reachin^^ the Spanish coast, they narrowly es- caped capture hy a Heel of six linglish ships of the line. The mission re(|uired a .sojoiUMi in hntli Sj)ain and hVance. Meanwhile through letters from home the Jays were kei)t informed of the wel- fare and progress of younu^ Peter. Now and then it was reported that he had been taken to PouL^dikeepsic. whither the family had removed from h'ishkill. to see his ^grandfather Jay, with whom he soon became as threat a favorite as with his .qrandfather Li\ ini^^ston. One of the letters states that, except for a >lij^ht defect in his utterance, he could sj)eak and read as well as any boy of six years, and still another letter, written a year later, says: " lie i^ very ambi- tious to write as well as his aimt .*^usan. his in- structress "—and tlie writer continues, " Peter lookinij over his cojjy for the day. 'commend virtiKuis deeds.* I must do more than tliat." said the young student. *" 1 must imitate them."" \\ hen the family came to I'ouglikeepsie. they resided with Mr. Frederick [a v. better known PETER A. JAY among his intimate friends, as " Fady," a bro- ther of John, Little Peter was always a wel- come visitor there. In writing to him, in De- cember, 1783, his grandfather Livingston said, — " My dear Peter Jay, — I hear that when you were in the church in New York, and the min- ister prayed for King George, that you shooked your head, as much as to say, you did not like it. It was right in those people to pray for their King, because, he is their King, but you not thinking of that, and being a good Whig, have got great honor by shaking your head, and grandpapa is always pleased when his dear lit- tle Peter gets honor." Later letters carried across the sea the sad intelligence of the death of Mr. Peter Jay at Poughkeepsie. In his letter Frederick writes: " It gives me great pain to inform you that it pleased God to take him from us on the morn- ing of the 17th inst. (April, 1782) and was yes- terday interred (April 19) in the vault of Gysbert Schenck, Esq., at Fishkill. It is very re- markable that he expired on the same day and month and the very hour that our poor mother did five years before." Peter Jay was eighty years of age at the time of his death. He was the only son of Augustus Jay, the Huguenot, 6 JOHN j.W IN PARIS aiul Anna Maria llayanl. .Mr>. Jay was the dauj^hlcr of IJahliazar I'ayard and L^rand- daughter of Colonel Nicholas Bayard, of Al- ])1k'ii, near Leyden, 1 lolland ; — the latter mar- ried a sister of Governor Stuyvesant. I'eter Jay was the sole survivor of his father's family. Judith, his eldest sister, had married Cornelius J. \'an Home. Mary married Teter \'allete, and l-Vanccs married hVederick \'an Cortlandt. The death, in her seventy-ninth year, of the last of ilie>-c ihrec sisters, occurred at the \'an Cortlandt Manor House, Lower Vonkers, eigh- teen months before her brother's death. The only other member of the family was Ann, the youngest, who died in infancy. The estate at Rye now liccame the property of Peter's son Peter, the younger of the two blind children. On the 23d June. 17S2. John Jay arrived in Paris, where he had been aj)iiointed to act in conjunction with l^Vanklin, Adams. Laurens, and JefFer.son. in negotiating, under the advice and ai)i)roval of the French government, the de- finitive treaty of peace with F-ngland. Of these four only bVanklin was now in Paris. I^aurens was a prisoner in the Tower of London and Jefferson was in .\mcrica. Before long, how- ever. Adams returned from Holland and the PETER A. JAY negotiations were begun, being continued with more or less interruption until the 3d Sep- tember, when the Provisional Articles were adopted and signed as the final treaty between England and the United States. In Adams's diary is found this item: "The French call me * Le Washington de la Negociation,' a very flat- tering compliment indeed, to which I have no right, but sincerely think it belongs to Mr. Jay." In the autumn Mr. Jay took a house at Chail- lot, near Passy, and there Mrs. Jay and the younger children spent several months while Jay himself went to England to try the waters of Bath for his health. About this time Gov- ernor Livingston writes to Mrs. Jay: *' My sweet little Peter is now standing at my elbow. He is really and without flattery one of the handsomest boys in the country." Three daughters had been born to them on the foreign soil, — Susan, Maria, and Ann. Susan, an infant, died at Madrid, in 1780, and was buried in a vault at the Flemish chapel in that city. Maria also was born in Spain, Feb- ruary 20, 1782, and the younger, Ann, in France, August 13, 1783. With the Spanish birthright of the elder of these two daughters there were certainly no ancestral sympathies, ■ i ; I/tJ Krcf/Znuy JOIIN AK>i P/Y/n/f/U ty'(WuOY/s (HMnit//rr7*/ffiy>,'fYfi/tan^/h^m {h/t^/s at J//rf the mission being accomplished, the Jay family returned Ikmuc. They embarked from Dover in a vessel which arrived at Xew York, July 24, 17S4. |(ihn |a\- rcccixcd a warm welcome on his return. Ik- was presented l)y the city fa- thers with an address and the freedom of the city in a j^olden box — " as a i)ledj.(e of our affec- tion and of our sincere wishes for your hap- piness." Soon after his arrival Mr. Jay be.c:an to build for himself a house which was then known as Number S I'roadway. It stood on the east side, a little south of the street now known as Ex- chant^e Place. John Quincy Adams telN us. " W hen 1 fust set foot in Xew York, in 17S5. the j^resent j^reat city of the Rm|)ire State had but iS.ooo inhabitants, and while 1 tarried ai John Jay's, that crentleman was layinj^ the foundation of a house in I'roadway at a distance of a (|uarter of a mile from any other dwelling:." From a conversation referrin.i^ to the early PETER A. JAY history of the city, reported in ''The Talisman " for 1829-30, between Mr. GuHan Verplanck and Mons. Villecour, this house is described as " a square, three-story house of hewn stone, as substantially built within as without, dura- ble, spacious, and commodious; and, like the principles of the builder, always useful and ex- cellent, whether in or out of fashion. . . ." " No remaining object," said Mons. Villecour, ''brings Mr. Jay to my mind so strongly as the square pew in Trinity Church, about the center of the north side of the north aisle. . . . That pew was the scene of his regular, sober, unos- tentatious devotion and I never look at it with- out a feeling of veneration." Mr. Jay was now Secretary for Foreign Af- fairs, an office to which he had been appointed by Congress a short time before he came back from England, and the duties of which he con- tinued to discharge until Jefferson's return from France in 1790. In the " stone house," Mrs. Jay, who, by natu- ral graces and knowledge of the world, was so admirably fitted for social life, entertained at her table her numerous personal friends, Amer- ican statesmen and distinguished foreigners. We have no authentic information about 10 4/^ MRS. JOHN JAV IMmul llHmltitft*tt III till- |>(iu EARLY SCHOOL-DAYS young Peter diirinjT^ llic inlcrval wliich elai^scd l)Cl\\ccn ihc return of his parents from luirope, when he was eight years old, and his matricula- tion at Columbia College — an interval which embraced a period of six years, from 1784 to 1790. Previous to this time he had ])een at school in Elizabeth Town and in Toughkeepsie. His early diligence in study and his ambition to excel can leave little doubt that the same as- siduity and the same desire to gain success were continued at some school in the city, the name of which unfortunately has not come down to us. When eleven years (ild. T'eter received from his ever faithful and devoted grandfather, Governor Livingston, a letter expressing the wish that l^eter would send to him " two lines in Latin, to be of your own composition, with- out the least consultation with any one else " ; and the governor sends love to his Spanish and French granddaughters. In another letter to Peter his grandfather tells him to " honor yi^ur parents. For, thank Lleaven, we have no king to honor, — love the United States and your books." The deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Livingston brought great sorr(nv to tlic Jav-;. Mrs. Liv- 1 1 PETER A. JAY ingston's death occurred on the 17th of July, 1789, and her husband survived her but a httle over a year, his death taking phice July 25, 1790. Mrs. Livingston was the daughter of Philip French and Susanna Brockholst, whose father, Anthony Brockholst, became governor of the Province of New York. The family of Brockholst was very ancient and wealthy in Lancashire, England. Mrs. Livingston had three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and Mary, who married respectively David Van Home, David Clarkson and William Brown. " The death of Mrs. Livingston," says her biographer, " was a severe shock to her children. The noticeable features in her life were sound sense, devotion to her husband, sympathy in all his pursuits, maternal tenderness and a singular freedom from every tincture of selfishness. Her hus- band's grief at the separation from her who had shared in all the anxieties of a long and toilsome life never abated, and, it is said, accel- erated the progress of his own disease. What the vicissitudes of fifty years had not effected, heartfelt sorrow at one stroke accomplished. In his family Governor Livingston was a fond husband and a generous father, ready to make every sacrifice which the welfare of his children 12 GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON denianclcd. Tlic i)rnmiiR'iU teature of his char- acter appears to have been irulhfuhiess, taken in its widest and most ennobhng sense— ena- l)lini;- him to form a just conception of the va- rious and harassing duties imposed upon him and at the same lime giving him the power to execute them rightly. His straightforward in- dependence neither l)ent before the turbulence of i)ublic. nor yielded to the blandishments of l)rivale life. These ([ualities and others which belonged to him," says his biographer, " sprang from that love of religion which unostenta- tiously, but intimately was incorporated with his whole character. The period of his death was fortunate for himself: lie li\ed long enough to see the last seal set to the indepen- dence of the country in its new constitution, and the guidance of its energies in the hands of the in(li\i(lua] w horn he most esteemed. 1 le did n< >l li\e to see the unprecedented \iolence of that storm which so long con\-ulsed the republic, rending asunder old friendships, uprooting reputations apiiarently the best founded and which would ])rol>ablv have swept ////// tr(im the eminence that, as it was, he occupied till the time of his death. Me died in possession of the honors he iiad receixed : all it was in the ])ower 1.^ PETER A. JAY of the State to bestow, and with a character un- sullied, even by the breath of faction." The "New York Daily Advertiser" of the fol- lowing year (September 9, 1791) contains this notice: "On Sunday evening last (Sept. 4) departed this life, in the 54th year of her age, at her brother Peter Jay's seat at Rye, Miss Anna Maricka Jay, a lady whose excellent un- derstanding and uniform beneficence and piety rendered her very estimable. Although she en- joyed a handsome income, far beyond her wants and was frugal : yet she never added to her estate, but constantly employed the resi- due in doing good. Among other legacies dic- tated by humanity and benevolence, she has bequeathed one hundred pounds to the Episco- pal Church at Rye." Young Peter Jay was now to enter, at the early age of fourteen, Columbia College. His father had been a graduate of the same college, under its former name of King's College, and in 1764 delivered the Latin Salutatory address, which was then regarded as the highest colle- giate honor. Among the classmates of the younger Jay in his Junior year was Peter G. Stuyvesant, a lifelong and intimate friend, and Cyrus King, member of Congress; and in the 14 CHIEF-JUSTICE JOHN JAY classes immediately below him were Daniel D. Tompkins, later Governor of New York and Vice-President of the United States, and Ed- ward P. Livingston, of Clermont, subsequently Lieutenant-Governor of New Y'ork. During Jay's freshman year, among the students in the Junior class was John Randolph of Mattoax, Virginia, better known afterward as Randolph of Roanoke. William Samuel Johnson, son of the first president of King's College, was at this time president of Columbia— being the first one to hold that position after the Revolution- ary W^ar. From 1789 to 1795 John Jay was Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He writes in 1791 to his son Peter in college: "You have read the ancient history; now. therefore, is the time to read more in detail the histories of the great men that have figured in it. Among biographers, Plutarch is certainly entitled to the first place. To eni(\v the experi- ences of otiiers witlioul j)aying the i)ricc which it often costs them, is pleasant as well as ])rohl- able. Manhood is the same in all ages, how- ever diversified by color, manners, or customs. To regulate our conduct wisely relative to men is the most difficult task we have to perform in 15 PETER A. JAY the course of our lives. To know them is neces- sary, but not easy. History will teach us much, but unremitted observation more; both assist each other. Habituate yourself to trace actions up to their motives." As a lad, Peter had shown talent in drawing and painting, some early sketches by him being still extant, and his father, evidently to en- courage him to develop this taste, writes to him at Rye from Boston, while on circuit: "Your mama mentions your having gone to Rye and that the family are well. . . . Remember me to your uncle and aunt. You have now a fine op- portunity to try your hand at Landscape, es- pecially if you visit the rocks on the bank by the waterside when the tide is up." The theatre of war had now changed. The struggle with the American Colonies was at an end and for a time quiet prevailed in Europe. There were mutterings, however, of a coming storm which in a few years would burst in the French Revolution. Irritation and agitation had also broken out between Great Britain and the United States; — the complaints which in- vited consideration were many and compli- cated. To harmonize the unfriendly feeling and to adjust the differences which were as- i6 JOHN JAYS MISSION TO ENGLAND suminy a scrit)iis aspect rtviuirccl the attention of this governiiR'iU. Mr. jay in a letter to his wife dated I'hiladelphia, A])ril 15, 1794, writes: *' I ex])eel, my dear Sahy, to see you sooner than we expected. Tliere is here a serious de- termination to send me to Ent^'-land. if possihle to avert a war. Nothing- can he much more distant from every wish on my own account. I feel the imi)ulse of duty stronj^dy and it is prob- a])le that if on the investi.c:ation I am now makiuL;'. mv mind should he convinced that it is m\ duty to go. you will join with me in think- ing that in an occasion so im])ortant, I ought to follow its dictates and commit myself to the care and kindness of that Providence in wliich we have both the highest reason to rejjose the most absolute confidence." His commission as Envoy Extraordinary follows in a day or two. Again writing to Mrs. Jav. he says: " ^'our own feelings will best sug- gest an idea of mine. God's will he di>nc — in him [ confide: do the like — any other philoso- phy ai)j)lical)le to this occasion is delusive. Away with it. Your indisposition affects mc. Resist despondency— hope for the best." In reply to his letters Mrs. Jay writes to her husband : 17 PETER A. JAY " New York, 22 April, 1794. "My dear Mr. Jay: " Yesterday I received your two kind letters of Saturday and Sunday. I do, indeed, judge of your feelings by my own and for that reason forbore writing while under the first impres- sion of surprise and grief. "Your superiority in fortitude as well as every other virtue I am aware of : yet I know too well your tenderness for your family to doubt the pangs of separation. Your own conflicts are sufficient: they need not be augmented by the addition of mine. Never was I more sensible of the absolute ascendency you have over my heart. When, almost in despair, I renounced the hope of domestic bliss, your image in my heart seemed to upbraid me with adding to your trials. That idea alone roused me from my de- spondency. I resumed the charge of my family and even dare hope that, by your example, I shall be enabled to look up to that Divine Pro- tector from whom we have indeed experienced the most merciful guardianship. " The children continue well. They were ex- ceedingly affected when they received the ti- dings and entreated me to endeavor to dissuade PETER SAILS Will I HIS FATHER you from accepting- an aj^poinlnicnt that sub- jects us to so painful a separation. " Farewell, my best beloved. Vour wife till death, and after that a ministering^ spirit, " Sar.mi Jay." John Jay took witli him as jirivate secretary his son Peter, who had just received his degree at Columbia. They sailed on the 12th of May, 1794, in the shij) Ohio, arriving at Falmouth on the 8th (^f June. Mr. Jay's secretary, Trum- bull, tile artist. wrcHe that they must have been near, almost within hearing, of the decisive na- val battle between the British and French fleet which was fought on that day. The English in this year had met with little success on land, but had been triumphant at sea. On arrival at Falmouth they were met by the American consul, Mr. Fox, and for the next few pages we shall have an opportunity of learning from a Journal kei)t by the younger Jay. now a lad of eighteen, of his experience and the impressions he received during a visit to England and Scotland. Among the first ob- jects which arrested the young man's attention on his way up to London in the mail-coach from Falmouth, was an old castle at Launceston 19 PETER A. JAY which, he says, " was formerly of great extent and which before the invention of firearms must have been as impregnable as Gibraltar is now." Then he adds, " almost every view of this venerable ruin is singularly picturesque, — the immense elevation of the works, the walls covered with ivy and the contrast they form with the adjacent town and country around it altogether formed a scene which was to me as novel as it was delightful." Of Taunton on the same route he relates, "The country round Taunton, especially on this side, is beautiful be- yond expression — formed by nature in gentle slopes and extensive vales and in the highest possible stage of cultivation — the eye dwells upon it with pleasure and the more so since it is the evidence of thrift and prosperity." Con- tinuing his journey, he visits the Cathedral at Exeter and at length reaches Wells. At the latter place he seemed lost in admiration of its cathedral. He calls it " a magnificent build- ing " and is surprised " how these people whom we call ignorant and who certainly were among the most contemptible of statuaries could give that light and finished appearance to stone which bafiies the skill of the modern artist." He alludes, at the same time, to " the vast size 20 AKK1\.\L 1\ LONDON ol liic buildiIl^^ ihc iii;i>>ivciic>s and yd Hglil appearance of llic columns, ilie loftiness of the arches. The knowledge <>i' liu-ir anti(|uity and the idea that you are lrani|)lin_L,^ upon ihc dust of kiuL^^s. of heroes, and of saints ctjnsjjire to diffuse a solemn stillness over the soul and fill it with veneration and re\erence. while the nioidderini;' monument ^ nf im-n wiio were once illustrious and reverenced, hut who^e names are now i)reserved hy mere inscrijjlions on decayin*^ stones tell that even I-'ame must die."' lie pursues his journey to P.aili. thence to W indsor, and arrives at the I'.ath Hotel in London on the 15th of June, havinj^; travelled with his father from I\'dmoulh about three lumdrecl miles. At liath thev were welcomed hy the American minister, Mr. Thomas I'inck- ney, with whom they dined on reachini^ Lon- don the next day. The fashionable hour for dinner at that time in London, says Jay, was half-past five or six. ( )n the followini^ day he. throut^h the courtesy of Mr. Paradise, had the n])])ortunitv of heincT present at one of the ses- sions of the trial of Warren I lastiuLTs. jay tells Us in hi^ Journal that " he had the i)leasure of hearini,^ Mr. I'dmund I'urke conclude his ar- ginnent at this trial, the most remarkable which J I PETER A. JAY has ever taken place in the Enghsh nation" — and in continuation he adds, " it has already lasted seven years, and as the Lords have de- termined to take time to consider before they pronounce judgment, its final close is still at a distance." " Mr. Burke," says Jay, " was vastly eloquent, but not sufficiently so to awaken the attention of their Lordships, who seemed far more inattentive than the surround- ing audience." In the meantime the American Envoy Extra- ordinary had removed his lodgings from the Bath Hotel to the Royal Hotel, from which he sends the following letter to Lord Grenville : " Pall Mall, Hotel Royal, "June 15, 1794. '' My Lord: " I arrived here this morning. The journey has given me some health and much pleasure, nothing having occurred on the road to induce me to wish it shorter. Col. Trumbull does me the favor of accompanying me as secretary, and I have brought with me a son who I am anxious should form a right estimate of what- ever may be interesting to our country. Will 22 INTERVIEW WITH LORD GRENVILLE you be so obliging, my Lt)rd, as lo permit mc to present them to you and to inform me of the lime when ii will be most agreeable to your Lordship that 1 should wait ui)on you and as- sure you of the respeet with which I have the honor to be. my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant, "John Jay." By appuinimenl. on the iSih of June. Mr. Jay, his son, and the Secretary, Mr. Trumbull, were introduced by Mr. I'inckney to Lord Gren- ville, the Foreign Secretary. Upon his inter- view with Lord Grcnville, Jay suggested that the subject which inviletl discussion should not be regarded as a trial of diplomatic fencing, but a solemn question of peace or war between two peoples in whose veins flowed the blood of a common ancestry. "Happily," says a writer, " for America, for Lngland. for the world, we may say, not only did Jay carry with him that spirit into the negotiation, but in the British secretary. Lord Grcnville. found a man of con- genial disposition." On the day following his introduction to Ix)rd Grenville, young Jay dined with Mr. Church in company with Mr. Charles James 23 PETER A. JAY Fox, of whom Jay writes, " this gentleman, though so highly celebrated, has certainly not the appearance of either talent or gentility." Numerous breakfasts and dinners followed during the stay of Peter and his father in Lon- don, at which his father was sometimes guest, sometimes host, and young Jay almost always one of the company. In this way the latter made the acquaintance of many of the most eminent men in the kingdom, both in church and state, as well as of representative members of the British aristocracy. On the 2d of July John Jay had an audience with the King (George III) and on the next day with the Queen. " I began to read Blackstone," was Peter's record for the 9th of July. The public interest taken in Sir William Herschel's great telescope attracted the atten- tion of the Jays, and they readily accepted an invitation from Lord Grenville to visit the as- tronomer. Jay described the instrument as forty feet long and five feet in diameter. He says, ''we actually walked through it." Through the power of this telescope, which was only finished in 1789, Herschel made men re- alize as they had never realized before, the im- 24 FATHER AND SON MEET MR. PITT mensity of the universe. Early in the lollow- ing month father and son (hned with the Lord Chancellor at llanipstead and here met Mr. Pitt, Mr. Windham, the Master of the Rolls, the Advocate-General, and Lord Mansfield. At Mr. Copley's a few days later, they saw on the easel of the artist an unfinished portrait of Charles the P'^irst. This picture and the Gil)ral- tar, by the same artist, at the Guildhall, were much admired by young Jay. It was also his good fortune to he present at the Royal Acad- emy when Benjamin West, as president, — hav- incT succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds. — delivered the Iliennial Discourse. We read next in the Journal that young Jay had accepted an invitation to dinner on Lord Mayor's Day with the Skinners Company, one of the trade companies or guilds, many of them of very ancient date, at which some tw^o or three hundred guests were present. Toasts fol- lowe(l the dinner, and all standing" and with three cheers drank to the sentiment. "Pros- perity to the United States of .\merica and to Mr. Ia\-. their minister." On this occasion Pe- ter's father dined at the Lord Mayor's. The nineteenth of November. IJ*^, wit- nessed the signing of "The Treaty of Amity, -5 PETER A. JAY Commerce and Navigation " between Great Britain and the United States, by John Jay and Lord Grenville. Following the Journal, we find that in this same month took place at the Old Bailey the trial of John Home Tooke for high treason, and it was a source of much regret to Peter that the acceptance of a dinner invitation de- nied him the pleasure of hearing Erskine in his opening speech for the defence. He was able, however, to be present at the trial afterward, and was much impressed with the conduct of the court and of the counsel on both sides, which he describes as in the highest degree pa- tient, candid and impartial. Of the counsel, he says more particularly, " they were all men of ability and eloquence, particularly Erskine, but none of them orators as great as I had expected, or the superiors of Burr and Harri- son of New York." An opportunity now oc- curred which must have ofifered much pleasure to young Jay, namely : to make a visit to Edin- burgh. He started in the mail-coach on the 1 2th of December, leaving his father in Lon- don. On the following day he arrived at York, and spent the next day, Sunday, in that city. An entry in his account-book reads, " Paid for 26 SImfrt *m^ Tmmt-uil JOHN JAY CiKc. 1794. Age 49 In the ptnsrainn of Dr. )olu ' PETER VISITS EDINBURGH seat in mail cuach to York 197 miles, £3. 13. 0.'" He tells us that the Minster was the noblest Gothic Cathedral he had yet seen, *' I really think it more elegant," he continued, " that is to say more suitable to the jjurpose for which it was founded, than S. Pauls, which is much larger." In resuming now his journey he ex- changes the mail-coach fur a post-chaise. Durham Cathedral in his view was inferior to that of York. At Alnwick he regretted he had not the time to visit the modern castle of liic Xorlluimberlands and he added. " though 1 am exceedingly fond of Gothic buildings, when really antique, yet I think it is as absurd to rear edifices in the present day to resemble ancient structures, as it would be to wear the dress of our ancestors who built them. Indeed this sort of architecture owes much of its effect to the ideas which it conveys of extreme an- tiquity." He arrived at Edinlmrgh on the 17th of December. The beauty of the new part of the town immediately attracted his attention — as well as the charming view to be obtained in walking around Gallon Hill. At the Uni- versity, where the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws had been conferred <»n his father in 1792, young jay was introduced to Dugald 27 PETER A. JAY Stewart, at that time professor of moral phi- losophy, and to Doctor Playfair, professor of mathematics. Three hundred and fifty students attended Mr. Stewart's lectures. His eloquence much impressed Jay, who made one of Mr. Stewart's guests at dinner a few days later. On his return journey to London, he again rested at York, and visited the Minster by night. He writes: "I found it lighted with about a dozen candles;— the effect of this par- tial and faint illumination was very grand. The immense masses of shade, the vast and gloomy arches, the indistinct view of crowded and enormous columns, the solemn stillness of all around and the hollow echo of footsteps which alone disturbed the silence of the place, all conspired to impress one's mind with senti- ments of veneration and awe." Leaving York, he was back again in London on the last day of the year. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Gren- ville. Lord Amherst and a number of the other Cabinet Ministers dined with John Jay soon after his son's return from Scotland, and on the following day they both breakfasted with the Marquis of Lansdowne ; a few days afterward the Marquis invited them to dinner. Here they 28 PETRR HUNTS IX ENGLAND fouml tlic liltrary \cr v elc<^aiil, aiul llic l)<)oks and manuscripts invaluable. Two other incidiiit^ <•!' travel remain to he told before we close these extracts from younj^ Jay's Journal. The one L;;ave him an oj^portu- nity of testinic his skill in ridinj^ to hounds. It was ihrouoh tiie courtesy of Sir Clement and Lady Cottrell that this i)leasure was afforded the youth. The account reads: "This morn- ingf"— it was the iith of bVbruary — " thou,t;h the weather was very unfavorable Sir Clement orn June 16, 1789; two daughters, Maria and .\iiii. already mentioned: and Sarah Louisa, Ixjrn PETER A. JAY February 20, 1792. All survived Mr. Jay but his wife, and the youngest daughter who never married. The following autumn young Jay went to Philadelphia to settle the accounts of his fa- ther's mission to England. On the 20th of No- vember, 1795, he set out in the stage-coach, stopping at Princeton and Trenton on the way. That he combined pleasure with business and was entertained in a cordial manner at the Capital, the following brief entries in his note- book show: " Sunday 22 — not finding Mr. Woolcot, left the letter. "Monday 23 — Saw Mrs. Woolcot. Waited on President U. S. (John Adams), and dined with him. "Tuesday 24— Dined Mr. Chew— Wed- nesday 25 — dined Mr. J. Vaughan. Thursday 26— Dined President U. S. — Friday 27— Got account through Auditor's Office, dined with Mr. Morris and went in the evening to draw- ing-room. "Saturday 28— [no entry]. Sunday 29— Dined with Mrs. Chew. Monday 30— Dined with President of the U. S. Tuesday Dec. i — After much delay I at length received the ac- 32 JOHN JAY AS GOVERNOR count stated from Comptroller's Office, and pre- pared to depart." The election of John Jay as Governor made other arrangements for a home for his family immediately necessary. Whether he rented his dwelling, " the stone house," at No. 8 Broad- way, cannot now be ascertained, but it is known that shortly after the term of office of Gov- ernor commenced on July i, 1796, the Jays moved into the Government House on lower Broadway, lately occupied by the preceding Governor, George Clinton. The site of this building has lately been chosen for the new Custom House. Mr. Jay made this house his residence until the spring of 1797 when the Legislature commenced its sittings at Albany, in which city he rented Mr. James Caldwell's handsome house, No. 60 State Street. The newspapers of November, 1796, chroni- cle a marriage and reception at the Governor's mansion in New York as follows: " Married on the 3d at his Excellency's, John Jay, Governor, Government House, John Liv- ingston, of the Manor of Livingston, to Mrs. Catharine Ridley, daughter of the late Gover- nor William Livingston. The bride was Mrs. Jay's accomplished and piquant sister. Kitty 33 PETER A. JAY Livingston, who in 1787 became the wife of Matthew Ridley of Bahimore, and after brief wedded happiness was left a widow." Governor Jay's term expired on the ist of July, 1 80 1, but he refused the reelection that was offered him, for he was making plans, in which he had the assistance of his son Peter, to seek rest and retirement in the country. A paragraph written to his wife when about re- tiring from the position he was holding well discloses the nature of the man : " A few years," he writes, " will put us all in the dust and then it will be of more importance to me to have governed myself than to have governed a State." Soon after his return from Europe young- Jay commenced his legal studies in the office of Peter Jay Munro, with whom he subsequently became associated in business. Munro and Jay were first cousins. During the absence of the family at Albany, Jay was in lodgings in Broadway at a Mr. West's, where occasionally he had the pleasure of meeting his old friend and his father's former Secretary, Colonel Trumbull. The city, which had scarcely recovered from the paralyzed condition in which it was left by 34 I'KIKR A. JAV 1797. Ace 21 J.W-WOODWAKl) COKRESI'OXDENCE its recent occupation l»y iIk- liriti>li and ihc rav- ai^^es of lire, was now excitc-(l 1»\ revoliilionarv doctrines pronnils^ated anions^ the people. Tlic condition of alTairs in Iuiro|ie. particularly the outbreak of the I'rench Revolution and the sub- se{|ucnt Reit^ of Terror, liad created a state of unrest here, intlaniiui^ hatred between the i>o- litical parties not only of the city and Stale but throuL^hout the country. The discussion of this state of thinc^s is evidently the occasion of tlie followin.i^ correspondence between Mr. Jay, now twenty-two years of aj^e. and his friend, Mr. Woodward, a judj^e of X'ir^inia: " RocKHRincr CorNTV. \'iRr,i.\i.\, ■■ March lo. 1798. "Sir: "... 1 lavins^ but arrived in the last week and the present beinj:;^ the first moment of which I could avail myself to acquaint you with my return, I shall be hai)py if by an early ac<|uies- cence with the i)roi)o.sal of a renovation of our former and l)y me never to l)e forjjotten inti- niai\ 1 shall im|)art a conviction of the value which I alTix to your friendshij). "Since I had the pleasure of seeinj^ you 35 PETER A. JAY ( 1793) I have been gratified with a second con- ference both with Mr. Jefferson at Philadel- phia and with General Washington at Mount Vernon. The former displayed a frankness in his conversation in political topics which I did not expect and which was extremely engaging. I still delight to contemplate him as a man of virtue, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to find the same impression still left on your mind. I am afraid, however, that from real or imaginary causes the esteem which he once claimed has been much diminished in the heart of many of his friends in Northern and Eastern States. I am certain that I ob- served myself a change there too great to be ac- counted for by any causes that are obvious to me. The uncomfortable prospect is still held out of a want of harmony in our public councils, an evil, the continuance of which I dread. " I am not a convert to the opinion that par- ties are either necessary or salutary, in our government. " Where the rights of the people are insecure and principles are still doubtful, they may be found advantageous, but where the fundamen- tal maxims of a government have attained that stability and apparently general acquiescence which seem to characterize those of the people 36 J.\V-\\()( )1)\\.\1c can llic aniinosiiics of j)arty answer, hul. to inllanic the niiiuls of tile people and to weaken the ener^^y of the gov- ernment. It was happy for the latter character that such a uniform veneration and contulencc was attached to his administration as ensured the Union and trancjuillity of the United States It a period when they were most precarious, and I shall never ct)nsider them ai^^ain secure hut with the extinction and absence of that vio- lence of party spirit which has so much and so loiii^' endan_jTered the existence of the j^^overn- ment and that acrimony of contest which has embittered the depositaries of its authority. I calletl likewise on Mr. James Madison of Oran.tfe County, who once sustained so con- spicuous a character in the theatre of American politics. It was not until the jSth of February that 1 reached my own residence after these [)rotracted detentions. My first duty has been to apprise you of my arrival and to claim the favor of as early a communication from you as more imjxirtant avocations will jiermit. "With .sentiments of unalterable req^ard, "Your friend and hmnble serv't. 1^ Woodward. " Pktkr AiT.i'STrs J.w. Ks(|., " P.roadway, \cw N'ork." 37 PETER A. JAY ''New York, March 20, 1798. ''Dear Sir: "... Our State Legislature has been and still is exceedingly occupied, indeed they have passed so many laws that I am induced to fear they have legislated too much to have legislated well. Though more equally divided with re- spect to parties than of late has been usual, their session has been remarkably peaceable and calm. . . . The late instances of indecency in Congress are here as they probably are with you, frequent topics of conversation, and it is generally and greatly regretted that party spirit, always so violent, should be rendered still more virulent by personal insult — that cir- cumstances have happened so indecorous in themselves, disrespectful to the house, and dis- reputable to the nation — and that expressions continue to be used which instead of concili- ating, excite irritation, instead of producing unanimity, inflame animosity. That such be- havior should be tolerated and such divisions exist in such a body and at such a period is, I think, no evidence that the Age of Reason has arrived. Standing as we are on the brink of a war, threatened from without, and convulsed 38 JAV-VVOODWARD CORRESPONDENCE aiiioiii^ ourselves, tiic inali^naiu attacks which arc daily made iii)nii our L;<>verninenl by those wlio arc clioscii t«» he its g^uardians, are new and unfortunate proofs of tlie fraiUy of tlie human mind, or, wliat is still worse, of the corruption of the human heart. " r.ul I t'lnd I am enterin.L;;' with vehemence into political discjuisilion. The ardor of youth is always too apt to seduce us from more pleas- ing, hut. less illustrious pursuits, and this is particularly true in the present moment of uni- versal agitation when the shouts of the Paris- ians, like the blasts of Alccto's trumpet, have filled all Europe with discord and war, have even been heard over the ocean and echoed from the Alleghany Mountains. " ^'our sincere friend, '* Pktkr Augustus Jay. " E. Woodward, Escj., "Rockbridge County. X'irginia." ■■ Xi \s- N'oKK. Marcii jS, 1798. " Dear Sir: "You are not mistaken when you supiK)se the character f)f Mr. JetTcrson has greatly de- preciated in this |)art of the Union. I le is sus- 39 PETER A. JAY pected by many of designs inimical to the inde- pendence and happiness of his country and of being the author and secret conductor of a sys- tem which if successful cannot fail of reducing it to subjection, or at least dependence on the will of a foreign nation. Of a nation, too, which in its conduct towards others seems ever carefully to have avoided all that was generous or friendly, which despises the obligations of morality and honor, sets at defiance the pres- ent and future opinions of the world and pos- terity and sacrifices everything to its insatiable appetite for aggrandizement and universal domination. What degree of credit these sus- picions deserve, or how far they are counte- nanced by the many contradictory and mysteri- ous passages which are supposed to exist in this gentleman's public conduct, I will not pre- tend to decide — certain it is that they exist and that they have rendered him in a high degree unpopular — they are of so criminal a nature that for the honor of my country I most sin- cerely hope they may prove unfounded. The reputation of a nation like that of a family de- pends greatly upon the good or ill fame of the principal persons who compose it, and on this account also I should rejoice as much as your- 40 JAV-WOODVVARD CORKIiSPONDENCE self to liiul every >Vd\u reiiiully larnislied. would allix to it so j^reat a hlot. Ihe l)eriod. however, seems fast arrivinj^ when every douhl must he dispelled and the integrity or depravity of the jiersonagc in (jucstion for- ever established. If in that period he shall op- pose the artful yet oj)en and contemi)tuous vio- lence of hVance with as much decision as he formerly comhatted the insidious machination of Britain; if he shall ap])ear to he guitled in his conduct t(»wards our country by no motives of envy, hatred, or malice, or towards the other by love, favor, affection, or ho[)e of reward; if he shall sincerely defend the Constitution he has sworn to sup|)ori ; if. in tine, he shall prove to be a true and indei)en(lent American, all sus- picirn our i)ath. but when the distant thunder foretells an apprcxich- lUi:; storm, we can attend to nothinj^ but the course of the wind, the blackness of the clouds and the nearest ])lace that can at'ford shcher. . . I am with oteem. your obed. serv't, " Pktkr Augl'stus Jav. " 1",. W'OODW.VKI), Escj.. " Rockbridi^e County, Xirj^inia." In this condition of affairs it is not surpris- in<; to learn that Jay took out a commission as I'jisiipi of a Comj)any in the Third Rei^iment of Militia in the city and county of New York, of which Jacob Morton was LieiUenant-Colonel Commandant. The commission bears the date .\j)ril 1 1. I7«/). and passed the Secretary's otlice on -April 20. Subsequently he i^aincd a Cap- taincy and had in his volunteer company as first lieutenant, his lifelonj^ friend. Mr. David S. Jones, 43 PETER A. JAY Jay was now President of a Literary So- ciety; it apparently had no particular designa- tion, but it included among its members such well-known names as William A. Duer, Philip Church, Gouverneur Ogden, David S. Jones, William Bard, Beverley Robinson, John Duer, and the first Philip Hamilton. On the 1 8th of December, 1797, he was ad- mitted to practice as an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas for Westchester County, at White Plains, and on the 19th of August, 1798, he was licensed to practise in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In this sum- mer he also received from Yale the honorary degree of " Master of Arts." The latter bears the signature of Timothy Dwight, President. At the outset of his professional career it must have been a great advantage to this young man to have the advice and guidance of his dis- tinguished father. In August, 1798, John Jay writes to him from Albany : " I am so pressed by applications, etc., that I can hardly find a leisure moment to write to you. Among the reasons which oppose your coming here soon, the circumstances of the Westchester Court ap- pear to me to have weight, for whether you take license in the Mayor's Court a few weeks 44 SI ri:ui.\'ii-:.\i)S sik\i-:v ()I< land S(ioncr or later is n..t \ct\ important, i think it advisahlo for yon to attend the Westcliesler Conrt and tlierefore to i)osti)one your visit to us until after that period. Hut it is my wish and (K'sire tliat yi in will pass as ninch of the in- terveninj^ time witii yonr nncle at Kye as tlie business of your Mayor's Court license will ])er- niit." In the autumn jay went to the southern part of the State to visit a tract of land in Chenango, purchased by his father, and to suj)erintend its survey. He accompanied the surveyor in run- ning the lines and slei)t with him in the woods. Passing the night in the open air proved much more agreeable than he had imagined. A clearing was selected for a camp, a shelter ex- tcmjiorized with crotched sui)ports of hemlock, and a fire built to last till morning. Wrapped in blankets, with their feet to the fire. lay and his companion w ent to bed on drv. elastic hem- lock boughs, and though t)ne night it had snowed considerably, they slept warm and com- fortably. On his return home he relates in .i letter these experiences to his Cncle Peter at Rye. In the •^lnnmer of I7<)0 \ew York was vis- ited by an epidemic of yellow fever. Jay re- 4.S PETER A. JAY mained in the city until September, when he went to Rye and later to Bedford, where the County Court was then sitting. On September 8, he writes to his sister Maria at Albany: " It was hoped that the long continuance of cool weather would have checked the progress of the fever. But the fact has been exactly the reverse, and proves how little we yet know con- cerning the nature and causes of the disease. Aunt Cortlandt is determined to remain here. General Clarkson has removed from his own house to Mr. Le Roy's. Most of our other friends have quitted the city or are preparing to do so. Our situation, however, is not so dis- tressing as it is probably represented. People are free from that panic which formerly ag- gravated a calamity sufficiently dreadful of itself. Business is still carried on in Greenwich Street, whither most of the merchants have re- moved their counting houses." Earlier in the year Jay had obtained his Mayor's Court license. In March his sister Maria wrote: "We hear from New York that you have passed a very handsome examination in the Mayor's Court." This was afterwards known as the Court of Sessions. Jay kept up his interest in the militia during this period, 46 MAKIA ].\\ I 798. A(;t 16 At"tcr>vird Mrs. Banvcr HIS I.IFK IX TOWN having been a|)|)<»inii(l l-'irst Adjutant of the Sixtli Regiment on March S, itSoo. He was also made Inspector of llrigade of Mihlia in the City of New York and County of Kicliniond l>y ( icncral jaim-- M. 1 luglies. In Sei)teniber, iSoo, Jay gives liis sister Ma- ria a ghnipse of liis hfe in town at tliat period. He says: " 1 have taken uj) my hiw l)ooks and laid them down again. C(>i)ied and recopied dec- larations and pleas, and attended the courts that happened to he sitting, without seeing any- thing of what is called Comi)any, unless when I have now and then drank tea at some of my neighbors." During the residence of the family in Al- bany. Maria Jay had made the acfiuaintancc of Goldsborough Banyer. Mr. lianyer's father bore the same name. He was born in England but came in early life to this country, where he ever after resided. For many years prior to the Revolution he was nejmty Secretary of the Province. NOung Mr. Iianycr's acquaintance with Mis^ lav ripenrd into .in attachment, and before tlie family left .Albany. Maria Jay be- came Maria I'.anyer. The marriage took j)lace on April 22, iSoi. In the meanwhile arrangements were 47 PETER A. JAY making for building a home for the family in the country. The site selected for this purpose was at Bedford, in Westchester County, an es- tate which the Governor had inherited through his mother, and which her father, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, had purchased in 1703 from the In- dian Sachem, Katonah. The plan of the dwelling having been deter- mined. Jay, visiting Bedford in the early sum- mer of 1801, writes to his sister, Mrs. Banyer, at Albany, that the frame of the new building had already been raised. " Building in the country," he adds, " proceeds with a far slower pace than in cities. In the latter materials are purchased on the spot in a state of preparation and nothing is to be done but to put them to- gether. In the country the stones are to be broken, the bricks and the lime to be burnt, the timber to be felled and hewed and everything to be drawn from a distance. Besides, work- men are scarce, sensible of their own impor- tance, extortionate and lazy, but the building progresses." During this visit Jay says he attended church on a Sunday, when Bob, poor dog, as unaccus- tomed to the place as his master, thought it no harm to mount the pulpit and scrape an ac- 48 THE JAV HOME AT BEDFORD (luainlancc with the minister, wliich he did. to tlie j^rcat disconi|)osurc of llic countenances of the c«»nt;re<^^•lti<)n. In tlie followin*^ suninier the house was suf- ficiently finished to a(hiiit of its occupancy by tlie family. Mr^. Jay's health did not permit her to conic until all the work had been fi- nally completed and the workmen harl left the huildinq-. She was now stayiiii;' with her sister, Mrs. John Livinf^ston, at Oak Hill on the I ludson. near what is at present known as the C'atskill railroad station. On her arrival at I>edford, she wrote: " I can trulv sav I have never enjoyed so much comfort as I (1<» here." The house at Bedford is described as delight- fully situated on a p^cntle slope backed with high and luxuriant woods; the surrounding scenery is exceedingly picturesque : particularly in the west overlooking the Kisco and Croton valleys and the hills bordering on the Hudson, among which is the bold Dunderberg. This became the permanent home of the Governor. Its retirement and seclusion were particularly grateful to him after years of unrest and dis- quiet. Its distance from \ew York — fifty miles— can now be traversed in one hour, but 49 PETER A. JAY it then required two days, and the mail came but once a week. In answer to an inquiry from a friend how he could occupy his mind in such a wilderness, the Governor's smiling reply was, " I have a long life to look back upon and an eternity to look forward to." This conversation took place after Mr. Jay had long been a resident at Bed- ford, and from a guest at the house we get this record of his visit : " I scarcely remember to have mingled with any family where there was a more happy union of quiet decorum and high courtesy, than I met beneath the roof of Mr. Jay. The venerable statesman himself is dis- tinguished as much now for his dignified sim- plicity as he was formerly for his political sa- gacity, integrity and firmness. During my short stay beneath this hospitable roof several of the yeomanry came to make a visit of re- spect, or of business, to their distinguished neighbor. Their reception was frank and cor- dial, each man receiving the hand of the Gov- ernor, as he was called, though it was quite evi- dent that all approached him with the reverence a great man only can inspire. For my own part, I confess I thought it a beautiful sight to see one who had mingled in the council of na- 50 DI-.ATH ( )!•" MKS. J( )IIX ] W lions, who Iiad inslruclcd a t\)rcij^n niinisk-r in liis own policy and wlio liad borne himself with hii;h honor and lastin<^ credit in the courts of niij^hty sovereigns, soothing- the evening of his days hy the>e lillle aits of Mand courtesy, which while i1k'\' eK'\atfd olhers. in no respect subtracted from his own J4l<»ry." The pleasures which Mr. jay had anticii)ated from his new home were denied him. Mrs. Jay's health continued t<» fail, and after a short illness she died at tiie early age of 45, on the 28th of May. iSoj. Her remains were taken to New ^'ork and placed in the Jay family vault. We are indebted to her grandson, the late Mr. John Jay of Bedford, for this tribute to her memory. Si)eaking of her character, he says: ** However nuich of its erjuaniiuity was due to the example and influence of her husband, her letters show that with a singular delicacy of feeling and sensibility of organization was com- bined a strength oi nn'nd based upon Christian princi|)le, which enabled her to face danger without fear and to endure hardships and dis- appointments without a murnuu". 1 Ur biogra- phy and corresj)ondence, should they be pub- lished, would illustrate in no slight degree the earlv davs of the Republic and disclose the tem- 51 PETER A. JAY per of the men and women whose virtues secured the independence of their country and whose characters and accomphshments sus- tained its dignity at home and at the Courts of Europe. Her memory may be cherished as that of one who exhibited from her youth amid trial and hardship a steadfast devotion to her coun- try; who, amid the gay society of Paris and New York, preserved unimpaired her gentle- ness, amiability and simplicity; and who throughout her life, fulfilled with Christian fidelity and womanly affection, the duties of a daughter, sister, wife, and mother." Before Mrs. Jay's death, two other deaths occurred that touched this family very closely — those of Peter's paternal uncles — Mr. Fred- erick and Mr. Augustus Jay. Augustus died on the 23d of December, 1801, at the age of 71. He had not married. Of his father's family he was the eldest son and next to the eldest child. Frederick was born April 19, 1747, and his death occurred in his 53d year, on the 14th of December, 1799, two years earlier than the decease of his brother. Frederick was twice married, but had no issue. His first wife was Ann Margaret Barclay, who died in 1791. He subsequently married Euphemia Dunscomb, a 52 FREDERICK JAY niece of liis Ijiothcr Teter's wife (Mary Duyckinck). I'rcdcrick jay was api)()inle(l dur- ing the Revolutionary struggle one of the Com- mittee of Safety for Rye. to serve for one year from May, 1776. This was when Westchester had been threatened witli invasion, and when the county was suffering, as we iia\e already seen, from the incursion of " the Queen's Rangers." who ravaged the country without restraint or remorse. Frederick Jay had al- ready done active service in "the New York Battalion of Independent P^oot Companies," known as "The Corsicans," of which Edward Fleming was Captain; Nicholas Roosevelt, ist Lieut. : h^rederick Jay. 2d Lieut. ; John I'errian, 3d Lieut.; and I'Vederick de Peyster, 4tli Lieut. Their uniform consisted of short green coats, and small round hats, with a cock on one side, a red heart of tin with the words, "God and our Right," and on a band around the crown, ** Liberty or Death." From 1777 to 17S3 he was a member of the Assembly from New York, and it will be re- membered it was at his house at Poughkeejisie, during the slorm\ time of the Revolution, that the family took refuge. Peter .\. Jay was now established in the city S3 PETER A. JAY in the active practice of his profession. How long he remained in partnership with Mr. Munro is not definitely known, but the Su- preme Court at Albany had admitted him as " Counsellor at Law," by license dated October 31, 1800. The license was signed by John Lansing, Jr., Chief Justice. On June 15, 1801, he was licensed to practise as Solicitor in the Court of Chancery of New York State, this license being signed by Chan- cellor Robert R. Livingston and Maturin Liv- ingston. Jay was rather tall, and slender of person, quick in his movements, with a face which indi- cated great refinement, intelligence and be- nevolence, and a manner that was gracious and engaging. There was something about his ap- pearance which would always arrest attention. His health, however, was not vigorous, and the recent deaths of his mother and uncles had saddened him. Some relaxation from business seemed to be desirable; he therefore decided to spend the winter abroad. A letter dated No- vember 4, 1802, bidding farewell to his sister, Mrs. Banyer, shows the frame of mind he was in before his departure : " The doctors state that this measure is expedient but not necessary, 54 HIS LETTER TO MRS. BANYER and llaltcr nic lliat I shall rcLTain inv f«»riiKT health; whether this is more tlian tlatlery lime will show. W hen I j^nve the reins to my ima.L,M- nalion she sometimes sketciies Init a j^doomy prospect. I see myself about to leave. i)erhaps never to revisit, all whom I love. resj)ect. es- teem, or care for in the world, to l^o to a land of strant^a^s. where every face will be un- known, and every sound unintellit^ible — where I may lang^iish unheeded and unpilied: and perhaps die unre.!^^'lr(led and unlamented. with not a friend to close my eyes. To drive away these dreary and uni)roritable retlectious I re- verse the medal and view myself in the most luxuriant and lau.L,diing country of Kuropc, where the fertility of the soil emulates the be- nignity of the air ; where the labors of .\rt rival the production of Nature: where I tread on classic g^round and where every stej) brinies to my remembrance some poet. j)hilosoi)her or hero. I think of the joy with which I shall return to my native shore, and the transports I shall feel when at^Min embracing- my father and my beloved sisters. lUii it i-. my duty to check as well the wild exuberances of hope as the ^doomy cxtravap^ancies of frii^htenefl fancv. It is my part to acquiesce without a murnmr in 55 PETER A. JAY the dispensations of Him in whose hand are my days, and who in this world seldom dis- penses either evil or good without a mixture. Resigning myself to His Providence and im- ploring His protection, I endeavor to preserve an equal, cheerful mind, neither vainly and presumptuously elated with hope; nor de- pressed by melancholy forebodings or despond- ing thoughts." From a diary which Mr. Jay kept we have the following account of his trip abroad, which lasted about nine months : " Oct. 1802.— Towards the end of this month, on account of a pulmonary complaint under which I had long labored, Drs. Charlton and Tillary advised me to avoid an American win- ter and to pass that season in some milder cli- mate. They recommended the South of Eu- rope, Madeira, Bermuda, or New Providence. I preferred the first but was unable to obtain a passage on board any vessel that pleased me till the end of the next month, when I engaged one in the four-masted ship L'Invention, Peter Tardifif, master, for Leghorn. Messrs. Mur- ray & Son supplied me with a credit on Mr. Sansom of London and Messrs. Philip & An- thony Felicchi & Co. of Leghorn, and Mr. John 56 KXTRACTS FROM HIS IM ARV R. Murray. wIim had ju'^l rt,iuriK-(l innu a t<>ur of ICuiopc. wliicli lie liad performed witli sin- p.ilar lasic and jud.i;iiiciit, j^avc nic a few let- ters of introduction to (jenoat with iiis l)ill of health and soon after returned with permission to enter. It heinjj^ then late and the wind failini;-, ten men in a l)oat came oft and offered to tow us in. Their offer was accepted and we reached our station at dusk. As ves- sels from the I'nited States since the a[)i)ear- ance there of the yellow fever are ohlij^ed lo ride (juarantine. a i^iard l)elonL{:in!.^ lo the I'ra- lick I louse accompanied the Captain when he returned from the shore and another was sent on hoard soon after we had reached the mole. " Thus ended our voyaj^e. which had heen far more pleasant than the advanced season had piven us rea.son to expect. I'Votu the time we sailed to the present I did not find it necessary to wear a great coat on deck durini;: more than three days. The Captain and hoth the mates were skilful in their profession and showed me every attention. I have reason to he perfectly pleased with them. I was seasick for three days only. Dr. Seaman sulTeretl much — he was sick near three weeks. 63 PETER A. JAY "Jan. 8th. — This morning a boat belonging to the Pratick House came alongside, and a phy- sician who was in it inquired into the health of the crew ; the nature of the cargo, etc. All on board were then ordered to show themselves at the ship's side that it might appear whether their number corresponded with our bill of health ; and afterwards to beat our breasts with our right hands to ascertain, I presume, that we were alive. Several acquaintances of the Captain came alongside and informed us that our quarantine would be 14 days, but that on the petition of the consignees it would probably be reduced to 12. "Jan. 9th. — This day being Sunday, we had an opportunity of seeing the different flags dis- played by the vessels in the mole. The Danes, Ragusans and British appeared the most nu- merous. There were also several Greeks and Turks and 6 or 7 Americans. "Jan. loth. — This day a circumstance hap- pened which serves to show the disposition of the Italians for extortion. I have mentioned that a boat with ten men assisted us in getting into the mole. This service was performed in an hour and a half or at most two hours and they demanded for it Sj4 sequins (about 18 64 \ 1>1 1> IIALIAX ( )l'l'.kA dollars), which ihc (."aiJlain refused to pay. This day a scUlcinciU took i)lacc; the boatmen fell to 4'/j seciuins. which beiii}^ also refused tiiey at lenj^th accepted tzi.'0 and an half in full for their trouble. "Jan. I5lh. — We learn that a royal order has been issued conii)ellin.i^ all ships from the United States to i)erforni 20 days (piarantine instead of 14 as heretofore. Tliough the Kin.i^'s order u ilh respect to us is ex f^ost facto ue find to our vexation that we shall be oblii^ed t(> obey it. "Jan. _'7lh.- We at length obtained our re- lease. The i'ratick I louse boat came alonj^sidc and the ofTicer havini^ ai^ain counted our num- bers and ordered us to beat our breasts as at his first visit told us we had I'ratick. We went im- mediately ashore, and having presented our- selves at the I'ratick House received i)ermis- sinn to enter the city, where we took lodi^ings at the Albergo Reale. which w c found an ex- ceeding g(KKl inn." The remaining days of the month were spent seeing tlie sights of Leghorn, and .Mr. jay had liere his first experience of Italian ()j)era. lie writes: "In the evening I went to the ( )|)era with Mrs. Fclicchi. Understanding neither 6s PETER A. JAY the language nor the music I was but Httle en- tertained. The Opera house is spacious and pretty. There are five rows of boxes above each other. These are totally separate and form little rooms — even the front can be closed by means of a curtain. They are private prop- erty and in the best situations are worth $3000. In these boxes they converse, play cards or chess, pay and receive visits ; in short, do any- thing but attend to the performance." "Jan. 31. — Mr. Felicchi, having informed us that he intended going to Florence to-morrow, invited us to be of the party. We determined not to neglect the opportunity. Dr. Seaman and myself purchased a carriage for 80 sequins and we prepared for our journey. "Feb. I.— We set out at 8 o'clock a.m. and arrived at Florence (64 miles) at half-past 8 in the evening. Mr. Felicchi, Mr. Bayley, Mr. Amory, of Boston, and Signor Baragazzi, an advocate of Leghorn, accompanied us." A week was spent at Florence. From that city Mr. Jay writes : " I have found here as much magnificence as I expected to find even at Rome. There are at least ten palaces in Flor- ence better built and embellished than St. James's at London." Of the Ufiizi he remarks : 66 SKTS OUT I"()R KOMI-: " Tlic taiiious j^allcry did not siiri)ass my ex- pectations. csi)ccially as tlic l)csl pieces both of paintini,^ and ^culi)lurc liavc l)ccn sent to I*a- lernio to save llR-ni fr<»ni tlie l-'rench," nor did he see the collection formerly at the Palazzo Pilti, since it had been ransacked by Xajjoleon and the paintins^s taken to I'aris. The follow- ing item proves that the shops of Florence were no less enticing one hundred years ago than at present — *' The P.rolhers Pisani have here a grand manufactory of alabaster vases, etc. I purchased a few for my sisters." "Feb. 5. — Our friends Ict'l I )r. Seaman and myself. W'e parted with great regret froui Mr. Felicchi and Mr. I'ayley, who had been un- wearied in their attentions to please us. ( )ur fellow passenger, Mr. Thompson, also returned to Leghorn and his absence gave us much less pain." As the weather at this time was very cold, Mr. Jay and Dr. .^caman determined to go to Rome, and on I'\-b. <;th ^et out. in a carriage drawn by a team of mules, on what i)roved to be a rough and tedious journey. They liad travelled only twenty miles when the road became so obstructed witli snow that thev were compelled U) return to the village of 67 PETER A. JAY Tavernelle, where the night was passed in a miserable inn. "Feb. loth. — We were detained all day at Tavernelle. Two couriers, being in like man- ner detained, applied to the Commandant of the place, who ordered the inhabitants to open the road. They went out for that purpose, but soon returned, saying it was too cold to work. Indeed, for this climate the weather was very severe. The snow did not melt even at noon- day on the roofs most exposed to the sun. We endeavored in vain to persuade the people to break the road, as in America, with horses and oxen — they had no idea of opening it except by shovelling the snow out of it." The following day they were finally able to proceed and arrived at Sienna late in the even- ing. After leaving Sienna the roads became very rough, which made travelling difficult and slow. Near Ponte Centino they had to ford the river Rigo six times in the course of a mile to reach the house where they were to sleep. At Lake Bolsena they were interrupted by a squad of the Pope's cavalry " who endeavored to per- suade us to hire an escort to Montefiascone to protect us from the Banditti, who they said in- fested the road and had lately robbed the Flor- 68 Tin: j( )rkNi:v to naim.ks ence Courier. Hut, as ihcy tlicMUselvcs had UK^rc the ai)i)caraiKc of liau(htti thau soldiers, wc dcchucd tlio honor of thi-ir Company." After s|)cn(hn<^ a week at I\ome. they were ohh^tjed to j^o furtlier soiuli on accoiuit of the contiiuied cold. Just hefore leavini^. Mr. Jay made this eiury : " 1 was near heinj; killed here by the fume.s of charcoal in a brasscro." The journey to Naples was made by the post route. At Portella. the entrance to the Kintj- dom of Xaples, Mr. Jay's servant was arrested for having no passport, and as ari^uments and persuasion availed not. he had to be left behind at Terracina. The servant, who was called " P.ill." proved more than a match for the XeajKilitan g^uards. for on March Jd Mr. Jay writes: " My servant who was sent back to Ter- racina fortunately found there a felucca bound to Xaples, and trf)ini^ on board, arrived at this place the day after we did." Two weeks were spent at Xaples. from which base the two travellers visited nearly all the surrounding places of interest, including Pompeii and the crater of \'esuvius. C)n these excursions Mr. W'oolaston. an English gentleman whom they had met on the wav. generallv accompanied them. 69 PETER A. JAY At Naples Mr. Jay had an opportunity to at- tend court and observe the Itahan methods of judicial procedure. He remarked that the corps of advocates amounted to 8,000, and the notaries, clerks, scriveners and other retainers of the law, to nearly 12,000 more, — a proof, perhaps, that the laws were not the best pos- sible. He also saw something of Neapolitan society, having been a guest at a magnificent ball given by Madame Falconet, formerly Miss Hunter of Boston. By the middle of March, the weather becom- ing warmer, Mr. Jay and his friend decided to return to Rome. Eight days were spent in sight-seeing, including an excursion to Tivoli. Mr. Jay speaks of Rome as " this superb Me- tropolis, superb even amidst its present misery and desolation." St. Peter's seemed to impress him most of all. Beginning their journey northward, they drove from Rome to Florence, by way of Pe- rugia. Being anxious to get letters from America awaiting them at Leghorn, they passed through Lucca and Pisa. As the road from Leghorn to Genoa was impassable for carriages, they resolved to go thither in an English brig which was to sail in a few days. 70 FURTHl'R IKWICLS I\ ITALY Reports n\ a war l)cl\vccii luic^laiul and I'Vancc. however, prevented lier departure, so tliey finally hired the cabin of a felucca and made the voyage in twenty-two Iii»nrs. Mr. jay writes from (ienoa : " The passage would have been aqrceahle hut for the extreme nastiness of the boat, which swarmed with vermin. These fe- luccas are open boats which carry merchandise from place to place alonj^; the coast and sail or are rowed as occasion retjuires. On the aj)- proach of roui^h weather they instantly run for the shore. They have commonly two latteen sails and ten oars, riie master is called Pa- drone. That which they call the cabin is a place abaft the mainmast covered with a small awn- ing." Leaving Genoa. I )r. Seaman and Mr. lay en- gaged a carriage to cross the Apennines by the Hochetta Pass. The road was wild and in- fested with robbers, but the travellers got through safe to Turin. Mr. Jay writes that Turin is without exception the mo>i beaiuiful city he has seen, .\bout the middle of April he left for Lyons, and on this stage Mr. Jay had his first experience of the Alps. He crossed Mont Cenis on nnile!)ack, at a height of 6,260 feet, in a violent wind-storm, and the ground 71 PETER A. JAY covered with snow. The journey from Lyons to Paris, a distance of about 354 miles, was made in four days and a half over excellent roads. At Paris, Mr. Jay took lodgings in the Rue Vivienne, Dr. Seaman going on to London. Mr. Jay met a number of friends here, among them Mr. and Mrs. Higginson and Dr. Bruce, with whom he made many excursions about the city in the course of the following five weeks. "The palaces in Paris," Mr. Jay remarks, " are magnificent but of much inferior architec- ture to those of Rome and Florence. The Tui- leries are inhabited by the French Consul ; the Luxembourg is now the palace of the Senate, the Legislative Body occupy the Palais Bour- bon, and the Tribunate hold their sittings in the Palais Royal. Notre Dame, the cathedral, is a large and ancient Gothic church, but not to be compared with the Duomo at Florence or to the Minster at York, or the Cathedral at Wells." At this time the population of Paris was 600,- 000. '' The streets," he says, " are not well paved nor are they very clean, and having no sidewalks are inconvenient for foot passen- gers." He greatly admired the boulevards on which formerly stood the ramparts of the city; 72 I'AKIS AM) \i:iul:( )( iii.i.i.F-: forefathers. Mons. I'iorrc Uordc. \ ice (. oin- niercial Aj^^enl of tlie L'nited States, informed him that a respectahle Iluj^iienol family of the name of Jay, — various meml)ers of wliicli liad once held oftices under the fjovcrnmenl and had afterwards fled on account of their reli- gion, — was still rememl)ered there. " lie told me further," says Mr. Jay, "that ahout twenty years ago he had known a Mr. Jay who was a memher of the Parliament of Paris, and was of a Rochelle family, hut he was ignorant what had hecome of him during the Revolution." Mr. fav continuo — " La Roclielle i■^ a mel- ancholy place. ICverything testifies decline and ])overty. The port contains not a single vessel which is receiving or discharging a cargo. Not a gentleman's carriage is to he seen in the city and the grass grows in the midst of the streets. This place formerly contained up- wards of 60,000 souls; the pritish ; partly to the destruc- tion of their African conunerce. which was de- PETER A. JAY stroyed during- the last war ; and partly by the Revolution, which ruined the men of property and capitalists; but more than all to the su- perior advantages of situation enjoyed by Bor- deaux, which is seated on one of the finest rivers of France, while all inland trade with Rochelle must be carried on only by land. The port is very small but perfectly secure. It re- sembles more a large dock than a harbor. The city had formerly been surrounded by an old- fashioned stone wall, strengthened with round towers, part of which is still standing. New and exceeding strong fortifications in the mod- ern style have since been erected. The streets are tolerably wide, and straight, the houses of stone and old-fashioned. In most streets the second story projects over the first and is sup- ported by pillars, forming a convenient foot- walk. There is a large square and a public walk on the ramparts." After considerable delay they sailed from La Rochelle on July loth. Again the Oliver Ells- zvorth was boarded from no less than four Brit- ish frigates, but as in the first instance Mr. Jay was allowed to proceed, with apologies. His arrival in New York with the treaty on August i8, 1803, was announced in the papers the fol- 76 SAILS FOR nKKMlDA lowing (lay. In liis passport Iroiii Havre Mr, Jay is (lcscril)c'(l as " zj years old. oval face, acjuiliiic nose. I»luc eyes, cheslnui hair. 5 fl. 10 in. lii,L;li. accompanied by his valcl, \\ illiani Kendall." Durinj.^ the next leu months his assiduity — always a dislinL^aiishint;: trait of his char- acter — found him ajL^ain amoni,^ his law books and as intent as ever in huildini.,^ U]) the char- acter which in time gave him such an enviable ])osition in his profession. It was no little dis- tinction for him to learn thai when Chancellor Kent was solicited to appoint some one to make a valuation and report in a case of maL,niitude and nicety. — "let it be referred," said the Chancellor, to Mr. Jay: " if there ever was an honest man. it is Peter A. Jay." It was at Dr. Charlton's su.c^j^estion that Mr. Jay the foUowinj^ autumn ai^ain made arranu^e- ments to seek a more j^enial climate. He se- cured from He Witt Clinton, the Mayor, a pass- port for himself and his servant. William Kendall, to visit foreij^n countries. I le decided to jTfo to Bermuda and make his residence at St. Georges. On Dec. 16. 1S03. he sailed on the sloop Blachbirl Mr. Territt. lately appointed Judge of the Nice Admiralty Court at Her- PETER A. JAY muda, was a fellow passenger. Mr. Jay writes : "I found him a learned and agreeable man. His baggage and the sloop's provisions so filled the cabin that we were unable even to sit up- right in it. On the 17th, i8th and 19th it blew a storm and we alternately lay to and scudded before it, sometimes under bare poles. The rest of the voyage was uncommonly disagree- able, on account of the rough and wet weather which confined us to the cabin, filled, as I have described it. The dead lights were put in be- fore we sailed and never taken out, and the skylight having no glass in it was obliged to be covered whenever it rained. I suffered much from sea-sickness. On making the land we very nearly escaped running on the rocks called the Long Reef." On his arrival at St. Georges Mr. Jay pre- sented the letters of introduction given him by Mr. Barclay, the British Consul General at New York. These procured him great at- tention and hospitality, especially from Mr. Tucker, the President of the Council and, in the absence of the Governor, Commander-in- Chief. But it was, as he writes to his sister Mrs. Banyer, a gloomy and uncomfortable sea- son. " Instead of a land of perpetual spring as 78 RETURNS To IIKDFORD 1 liad liDpctl lo tiiul il. il proved to be during most of the lime 1 spent there a region of con- tinued storm and rain. As for public diver- sions tliere are none of any kind except lliat sometimes they amuse themselves willi running horses or with boat racing, in llie last of which they excel — their vessels being as good as their horses are bad. If ilie P.ermudians," he con- cludes, " were as fond of tlowers as you are, they might have very beautiful gardens with little trouble." ( )n the »)th of May. 1S04. Mr. Jay writes in hi- biurnal : " Being anxious to leave this place, wIktc 1 have passed some very disagreeable months, 1 engaged a ])assage in the sloop Cedar Tree, Captain Pcnniston. for Philadelphia." And on May J^d. " we succeeded in getting to sea and I bade adieu to IJcrmuda without re- gret. The inhabitants were hospitable and showed me a very great degree of attention, but disagreeable weather, absence from friends, inactivity and exceeding bad health concurred to make my time i)ass heavily and gloojnily away." lie arrived home at I>edford on June 1 2th. In the autumn he received the following letter from Judge Terr it t : 79 PETER A. JAY " St. Georges, Bermuda, "Nov. loth, 1804. ^' Dear Sir: *' My servant has preserved for you some seeds of that blue flower you were so partial to when you visited this Island, and he begs me to mention in my letter that he is in want of many seeds, particularly cantaloupe, melons, cucumbers, horse-radish and celery. " If you will deign to visit us again this Win- ter I shall be able to receive you in a better manner than when you were here before; but, though I should be particularly happy to see you, I hope that ill health will not be the cause of our meeting ; I have too much reason at the same time to fear that nothing but the appre- hension of suffering from the cold at New York can induce you to return to this dreary and un- comfortable spot. . . . Begging to be particu- larly remembered to Judges Benson and Kent, to Mr. King, Mr. G. Morris and Col. Barclay when you see them, I am, dear Sir, " Most sincerely and truly yours, "W. Territt." ]\Ir. Jay remained at Bedford for the next two years, being still in poor health. He could 80 IXTKRCKDKS FOR OGDHN MOIFMAX n }^erniu(la, youni^ Hort'nian. I h'tViiiau, ilun a midshipman serving on hoard the /'resident. Commodore Decatur, which was captured a\id Clarkson, llic iinincdialc descendant of this family and Ixuii in N'orksliire, was a j^raduatc of Trinily Collei;e, Canibridj^^e, and su1)m'- (jucntly made London his residence, lie ii»(»k a prominenl i)arl in ilie rcliL;i"»u> cnntroversies of the time and was as nuicii esteemed ior his ** j^odly n])rij.^ht life" as for his c^reat scholar- shij). lie was the father of Matthew Clarkson who came wilii his half-hrttiher. or stepbrother, Charles Lodwick. to llosion in i^S;. I»ut went back to luiL^land soon after his father's death, and who. on his later visit to America, came with the Royal Commission of Secretary of the l*r<»\ince of New ^^t^k. This Matthew was the grcat-^reat-grand father of Mary Clark- son. Mary's mother was a woman of i^real beauty, and of amiability of temper which made her ex- ceedinj^ly pojndar. She was the only daiij:fhtcr of Walter Rulherfurd and Catherine Alexan- der. Mary's uncle, her mother's brother, was an only son and was a Senator of the United States from New Jersey durintif the administra- tion of Cieneral Washinj^ton. 1 Kr i^rand- father. Walter Rutherfurd. had entered the S3 PETER A. JAY British service at an early age and served in Flanders as a Lieutenant in the Royal Scots, and in 1760, under Sir Jeffrey Amherst, commanded the Grenadiers at the invasion of Canada. On the termination of the French and Indian War he retired from the army and re- sided in New York and New Jersey. The Rutherfurds have always been classed amongst the most ancient and powerful families in Tevi- otdale, Scotland. The marriage was preceded by the following correspondence : " Bedford, July 3, 1807. "Dear Sir: "My respect for your family and my con- stant esteem for your parents and yourself ren- der the connection, which I understand, is about to take place between two of our children, perfectly agreeable to me. The reason there is to believe that their mutual affection will be protected and secured by mutual esteem, af- fords me particular satisfaction. *' My son is not a little gratified by the man- ner in which your approbation was given, and I flatter myself he will omit no opportunities of evincing the sense he entertains of it. 84 JAY-CLARKSON CORRRSPOXDENCE " \\ ilh the most sincL-rc \vi>lics for your and tlicir prosperity. I am. dear sir, " ^'oll^ (•ln-(liciii servant. '■ John Jav. " (leiieral Mattiikw C'i-AkK>()N." This letter elicited the followinj::^ reply: " Nr:\v ^'(1RK. liiK leasure, and this is much increased by the satisfaction you express on the subject. The real esteem I bear your son for his great worth, and the warm affection I feel for the best of daughters, assures me that their mutual atTection is not misplaced, but that they are. in every resi)ect. deserving of each other. " Tlieir marriage, whicii I understand will soon take place. I sincerely hope it will be con- venient for you and vour familv to witness. ' «5 PETER A. JAY "With every sentiment of esteem and re- spect, I am, dear sir, " Your obedient servant, "M. Clarkson. " Hon. John Jay/' The wedding took place on July 29 at the Clarkson house, on the southeast corner of Whitehall and Pearl streets. The company as- sembled on Wednesda}^ evening, in the draw- ing-room on the north side of the house, its three windows looking out upon Pearl Street. The ceremony was performed by Doctor Moore, Bishop of the diocese. Among the guests were Governor Jay, the Rutherfurds, Bayards, Leroys, Van Homes, Munros, Wallaces, and Miss Anne Brown. The bride wore white silk covered with white gauze, and her ornaments were pearls. She was attended by six brides- maids, in white muslin Empire gowns: the Misses Ann Jay, Helen Rutherfurd, Anna Ma- ria Clarkson, Susan and Catherine Bayard and Cornelia Leroy. The groomsmen were Robert Watts, Jr., John Cox Morris, Dominick Lynch, George Wickham, Benjamin Ledyard and B. Woolsey Rogers. On the following day Mr. and Mrs. Jay visited the latter's uncle, the Hon. 86 MARRIAGE AND WRDDIXG TRir Jolin kmhcriurcl of I'-dj^cr.slttii, on llic I'assaic, a lilllc above P)cllcvillc, where tlie l)ri(lal parly were cnterlained at a breakfast. Mr. jay re- ceived bis friends in llie nu)rninj.;s of the suc- ceedini;^ Tuesday, \\'e(biesday and Tbursday, wliile Mrs. Jay's receptions were in tlie even- ings of I "bur^day. I'ritlay ami Saturday. Soon afterwards lliey went on tlieir wedding trip, visiting among otber i)laces ilallslon Spa, near Saratoga. In a letter to Mrs. P)anyer. written in i«So7, Mrs. [ay says, ** In tbe summer we expect to move into \'escy St. next to Uncle Rutber- furd's." Tbe bouse was immediately in tbe rear of .Mr. Rutlierfurd's. wbicb stood on tbe nortbwest corner of Broadway and \'esey Street. No. 2 V'esey Street was an inberitance from Mrs. Jay's molber. Ilousekeei)ing and attendance at " \ en- due's," for tbe purchase of suitable articles, form tbe subject of many of tbe letters to Bed- ford. 'rbi> ^^imumi" .Mr. ja\"^ l>i<»iher William was graduated from \'ale witb tbe class of 1S07, and began tbe study of law at Albany. Owing to improvements making in tbe city of Xew York in 1S07 and tbe opening of new f^7 PETER A. JAY streets, the Jays were obliged to abandon the use of their former vault for burial, which was somewhere near the site of the present St. Mark's Church, described in old papers as " at Mr. Stuyvesant's." The remains of several of the earlier members of the family were taken to Rye for sepulture in a new vault built on the Jay estate. On September ii, 1808, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jay, and named John Clarkson. Shortly after his birth Mrs. Jay writes to her husband, who is visiting at Bedford: "This winter we shall receive an additional source of delight from our dear little boy. He grows every day, and is and has been perfectly well since you left us. His eyes are still blue; in- deed I am almost confident he will be like his father, which will, if possible, endear him still more to me. Aunt Van Home thinks John has grown since she last saw him, and says he is an uncommonly fine child, though I hear that from every one, and all think him like you ex- cept Mrs. Cortlandt, who says he is the picture of what William was." Mr. Jay now commenced to take part in the benevolent, educational, political and religious activities of his community, a part which, whe- 88 HIS VARIKI) ACTIVITIKS llicr as director or co-wurkcr in llic ranks, not only left tlic impress of his sturdy cliarac- tcr uj)on the- nicn of liis own j^ciu-ralion. hut pcniiaiuiuly links his name with llie j^aowth antl uj)buil(hnL; of many of tlic institutions of Xcw \'ork. both pul)hc and i)rivatc. Ahlioupli at this time he was not a perma- nent resident at Rye. the records show tliat as early as April. 1S02. he was one of the wardens of Christ Church in that villa.i^e. In ie. or men reseniblini; these, be opposed to the renown of the man who foui^hl and lived for his country only? Who led his fellow-citizens throuj^h all the perils of a lonj^ and uiK(|ual combat to victory, liberty, and safety — who was the instrument of tlie Most High, not to scourge a guilty world, but to dispense to this our native land the blessings of freedom, independence, security and order. " Mow then shall I perform the task which you re(|uire; how shall 1 pronounce a eulogy on him whose merits are above comi)arison? " My brethren, 1 will not ; he needs no eulogy. Garlands of flowers might hide, but could not adorn, a statue by Praxiteles. \\ here all is per- fect, what more can be desired than to expose it distinctly to the view? . . ^'et his military talents form but a small part of the materials which comi)ose ilie ]»erennial monument of his fame. Skill in a particular act denotes the great artist, not al- ways the great man. Able captains alx)und in every age, while a man truly great is almost a prodigy. 93 PETER A. JAY " Indeed, military glory, though of all kinds the most seductive, is seldom entitled to our es- teem or approbation. When the fancy figures an immense multitude arrayed in arms, all obe- dient to the voice of one man, ready to endure toil, to encounter danger, and to sacrifice their lives at his command, we are struck with awe at the imposing picture of irresistible power. But power, when it is the agent of malignant passions or inordinate desires, should be re- garded with abhorrence, and not with venera- tion. It suggests the idea of the great enemy of mankind seeking to destroy. Do we honour the lightning that blasts, the conflagration that devours, the inundation that sweeps away, in an hour, the labour of years? Do we sing praises to the hurricane, the earthquake, or the pestilence? It is the glorious sun which vivifies and illumines; the genial warmth that invigo- rates; the kindly rain that fertilizes and re- freshes ; the peaceful river, that, like the majes- tic Hudson, enriches its shores, and wafts upon its bosom the tributes which agriculture and commerce render to each other. It is the useful agents of nature that we regard with affection, and for which we offer our thanksgiving to the Father of Mercies. The union of wisdom and 94 ORATION OX WASHINGTON virtue with power can alone eiilille il lu venera- tion, riius united, it must necessarily be em- ployed in acts of beneficence, and il tlien ex- hibits a lively image of the Deity. "The power entrusted to W .ishingiMii \^,l-^ always thus united, and thus employed. . . . ■' The history of all republics has shown, that when >uch a >tate has completed a revolution by means of an army, it is easy for the master of that army to command the State. Wash- ington resisted the glittering temptation, and listened solely to the dictates of duty; lie promptly and indignantly repressed the fust movements of treason among the troops; he soothed, he dispersed, and by degrees dis- banded them; he resigned his command; he ex- erted every honest act to compose the puldic disorders; and with unwearied zeal and dili- gence promoted every design which could give stability to the government, and preserve peace and harmony to the people, till his lal)ours were finally consummated in a free constitutinn. " My I)rethren, the heart warms at the recol- lection of this disinterestedness. Does it not discover more magnanimity, and confer more true glory, than all the bl(M)d-stainetl trophies of the concjueror of luirope? 95 PETER A. JAY " In the eyes of reason and philosophy his resignation, in the circumstances that accom- panied it, is alone sufficient to entitle him to im- mortality." Fast following the deaths of her brothers, Frederick and Augustus, came the death of Eve, eldest child of Peter Jay and Mary Van Cortlandt. Eve was born November 9, 1728, and on the 31st of March, 1766, mar- ried Henry, or, as he always wrote his name, Harry, Munro. Mr. Munro was a widower and a Scotchman. He had been educated at the University of Edinburgh, studied for the ministry, and in 1757 was admitted to Holy Orders in the Kirk of Scotland. He was soon after appointed chaplain of the 77th regiment of Highlanders, which was specially raised for service in America during the " French War." After his arrival in America he was admitted into the Episcopal Church and for nine years served as rector of St. Peter's, Albany. His rectorship closed the colonial era. The trou- blous period of the Revolution followed and the doors of the churches were shut against those of the Anglican clergy who were not in sympa- thy with the movement and rebelled against the new order of things. For his resistance to 96 ki:m()\.\i. r< > I'lSE strket autliorily Mr. Munit) was imprisoned, l)iil made Ills escape \)\ nij^lit. and after much sutTerin)^, as he relates, readied Diamond Island in Lake George. Tiience he went tn iiconderoj^a and to Canada, and in the summer of 177S sailed from Quel)ec for ICni^land. never returning to America. 1 le died at i^dinburgh May 30, 1801. In the winter «»f I7e(lford, and numerous little services are performed by him in the city to promote the comfort of the family there. bVequently the letters are addressed to his father and his bro- ther, William, and at other times to his sister. Mrs. Banyer; writing to the latter, in one of his letters he says : '* To use a Spanish proverb, may you live a thousand years and enjoy the hapj)iness which your disposition promises and deserves." A mural tablet in St. Peter's Church at W- bany may be seen as one enters the building. PETER A. JAY which bears this inscription: "Sacred to the memory of Goldsbrow Banyar, who died in this city November 4, 181 5, aged 91 years. He was a zealous advocate of the doctrines and wor- ship of the Protestant Episcopal Church." The death of her father-in-law, old Mr. Ban- yer, ended Mrs. Banyer's cares and self-deny- ing duties in Albany. She removed to the city of New York, and bought a house 89 Liberty Street, which she and her younger sister, Sally, continued to occupy until the death of the latter on the 22d of April, 1818. Under this further bereavement Mrs. Ban- yer broke up housekeeping and again sought comfort in the endearments of her father's house at Bedford. Later she built on Broad- way adjoining her brother Peter's, and here she and her sister, Nancy, lived until, with a view of securing a more quiet residence, Mrs. Banyer purchased as the future home for her- self and surviving sister, 20 Bond Street, where the closing years of their united lives were spent. Communication with Bedford in those days was by no means as easy as its comparative proximity to the city would lead one to suppose. A stage ran at intervals, but was hardly 100 SENDS SUPPLIES TO HEDFORD adapictl lo iiiriii.sli a cuiivciiiciit .service lur ire- (jiK'nt intercourse l)et\veeii the two places. .\s Mr. Jay \v^il^.•^ l<> liis sister: '"It i> uniMriuiiatc llial tlie stai,^e i;<>es out the same day tliat your letters are deliveretl. 1 am ol)lit;'ed to answer them instantly, and as it is in ottice hours that they couK', 1 ha\e lt> do st) in tiie midst of an hundred interruptions." No one. however, ap- |)recialed the situation more than her hrother, and he adds: " 1 hej^' you will not hesitate to give me commissions whenever I can he of use to you. There are sca.sons when 1 am inces- santly emi)k)yed. hut there are ahso others when 1 have leisure and which 1 can not employ m«)re aj^reeahly than in heini^ of service to you and the family." The resources of a small Westchester villaufe were practically nil. and Mr. Jay was only too glad to do what he could hy way of purchasing some of the household supplies in town. Get- ting them u|) to lied ford was another question. Was it a hook, or sonic stationery, or some medicine that Peter would kindly send up. they would go hy stage, hut then the stage would often not run at all ff)r days at a time when the snow was deep in winter. And in the summer- time, when provisions and heavy freight were lOI PETER A. JAY to be laid in, such as " fotir barrels of flour," or " a quarter cask of good dry Lisbon wine — perhaps such may be had of Mr. Farquhar, or of Judge Benson's nephew," as writes the Gov- ernor, they would be sent by the sloop Volun- teer for '" Sinsing," in care of Squire Wood, but even this means of transportation sometimes failed to give satisfaction. Perhaps the " light, bafliing airs " of the Tappan Zee, together with a pleasant aroma from that cask of good dry Lisbon, tempted the Captain of the Volunteer to linger awhile under the shadow of Verdrie- tege Hook to taste the quality of the foreign vintage, he doubtless replenishing in full with Hudson's sparkling fluid. At any rate, suspi- cion lies heavily against him, for we have the Governor's word that " the wine last sent dif- fers from that which we had before," and again he writes, " The spinning machine you sent for Nancy has not yet come to hand from Sinsing." In addition to a very large law practice Mr. Jay had constant employment in investing funds for his clients, as well as for members of his family. The channels for investment were then exceedingly few, being limited to United States Stock, Bank and Fire Insurance Stock, Mortgages and Real Estate. Among the 1 02 i: M I 'LO YKI ) I \ I X V HSTM ENTS sliaro whicli wiTc well tlmu^lil <•!' I)\ Mr. fay were lliosc<»t' llu- .MiMcliants iJank. Manhattan Company and I'.ank of America, and llic (ilobe and Wasliini^ton Insurance Comj)anics. An order such as the follow inij from his father is typical of many received hy him: " I lavinji; last week received a little more than five hundred dollars, and expecting; soon to receive further sums. I wish you to purchase for me with the money in your hands, to the amount of ei.e^ht hundred dollars. ank Stock, and therefore desire you to sell as many of my shares in the Merchants P.ank as from circum- stances may. in your opinion, he prudent, and invest the proceeds in stock of the United States. I am apprehensive that the State Tax on dividends may eventually, and jierhaps soon, diminish the value and |)rice of the one, and increase that of the other." 103 PETER A. JAY The War of 1812 had now broken out, and while it lasted the problem of getting any re- turn at all on money by investment was a very serious one. Business in New York was al- most at a standstill, and idle capital accumu- lated at that centre. The fear of a visit from the British was an additional source of alarm, and on account of it many people actually moved out of the city. Mr. Jay writes to his sister in September, 1814: " There is less alarm here than I expected to find, and I begin to hope that the English do not intend to visit us from their delay in coming. I think they would at least be collecting their strength near this if they meant to attack us and not remain in the Chesapeake. However, I shall take Papa's advice on the subject, and am going with Mary to Rye to-day and to Bedford to- morrow." A week later he writes : " It is said the British have been beaten at Baltimore and General Ross killed. If so, we shall, I think, be safe here till next year." Matters appa- rently grew worse, for on January 21, 181 5, he again writes: "We are all anxious to hear from New Orleans. Property to a large amount is owned by merchants here and stored in that place. One of the Ogdens, it is said, has 104 PlilACE Willi (iREAT BRITAIN' cotton ihtTo In llic aiiiMuni of $l20,cxxj, and tJK' wlmif (|uanlily of cotton at New ( )rlcans is supposed to be of the value of many millions of dollars. lUit the worst conse{iuencc of its beinj;" taken will he the prohahle continuance of the war. " Little (lid he think that while he was writings these words, the country was at ])eace with Great Britain, the treaty of Ghent having been signed on Christmas day, 1S14, and the battle of New ( )rlcaiis ha\ ing been won by General Andrew Jackson several days later. The news of the battle did not reach New York until P^bruary 6, 1S15. nor did the people hear that the treaty of peace had been signed until Feb- ruary 14. On the following day Mrs. Jay in a letter to Mrs. Banyer, at Albany, says: "Were you not overjoyed at the news of peace? ^'ou cannot imagine the change it has made in the countenances of people here; every eye spar- kles and congratulations are continually ex- changed. G<»odhue. who had determined to give up his house, has taken a lease of it for three years. When the treaty is ratified we arc to have a grand illumination and. 1 am t«»ld. fireworks." At that time tlK-ic unr no ^a\ lIlg^-l)anks or PETER A. JAY other institutions allowing interest on deposits, and the inconvenience of having funds unin- vested can be seen from the following, written by Mr. Jay to his sister in 1814 : "I have not yet disposed of your money. If there were any reasonable hopes of peace I should purchase bank stock. But in the present state of things I think that would be risking too much, and have agreed to lend it to Trinity Church. They do not want it immediately, and I have agreed to keep it till they do want it, which will prob- ably be in about two months. By this means you lose interest in the interval, but I preferred this arrangement as being upon the whole the most secure." It is interesting to note here the part which Mr. Jay took in establishing the savings-bank system in New York. Doubtless his knowledge of investments and experience among investors impressed him and others — notably John Pin- tard and Thomas Eddy — with the need of a savings-bank to benefit the working classes, encourage thrift, and help such as might not be able to make safe investments for themselves. On November 29, 1816, a number of citizens, most of whom belonged to the " Society for the Prevention of Pauperism," met in the assembly 106 FAVORS SAVINfiS-BANK SYSTEM r(K)ms of the City lloid (»n r.r«»:i(lway lo dis- cuss the advisability of establishing a saviiiL^s- b.iiik. I'Vom thai niectiiii^^ dates the origin of tile r»ank f<»r Savings, the oldest institution «)f the kind in New \'ork State, and. with one ex- ception, in the L'nited States. The account of the nieetinj^ as it appeared in the ne\vspai)ers the next day is as follows: "Thomas Kddy was called to ihc ehair and j. 11. Co^^eshall appointed secretary. The ob- ject of the nieetini^ was stated and the princi- ples of the j)roposc(l institution briefly and i)er- tinently exjilained by James Ivistburn. seconded by Dr. Watts. It was resolved that it is exi)C- dient to establish a Savinj^s I»ank for the City of New ^ oik. .\ constitution was submitted by Zachariah Lewis, which, havinj^ been read and its principles discussed, was unanimously adopted. The followinj.,^ were ai)i)ointetl direc- tors: Henry Rutj^jers. Thomas R. Smith, Thomas C. Taylor. He Witt Clinton. Archibald Ciracie. Cadwallader 1). Colden. William l'\*w, John Ciriscom. Jeremiah Thompson. I'rancis B. Winthrop, Duncan P. Campbell. Josej)h II. Copfgeshall. James Eastburn, John Tintard. Jonas Mapes. P.rockholst l,ivinj.;;ston. W illiam Bayard. William II. llirrison. Rensselaer 107 % PETER A. JAY Havens, William Wilson, Richard Varick, Thomas Eddy, Peter A. Jay, John Murray, Jr., John Slidell, Andrew Morris, Gilbert Aspin- wall, Zachariah Lewis, Thomas Buckley, and Najah Taylor." At a meeting of the directors several com- mittees were appointed, one of which was to ap- ply to the Legislature for an act of incorpora- tion. This committee was headed by Peter A. Jay. It proved no easy task to convince the committee of the Legislature which considered the application of Mr. Jay, and after months of deliberation they reported as follows to the General Assembly : " The committee submit the following as the result of their investigation on the subject: "That, however desirable it may be to en- courage the poorer classes of the community to save their hard earnings, and to produce habits of industry and economy by holding out motives of interest to them so to do, still the committee are not convinced that under the present state of society in this country, an institution like this, which may be beneficial under other cir- cumstances and in older countries, can be put into operation with advantage. The expense necessarily attendant on such an establishment io8 TIIK BANK FOR SAVINGS will lessen il n<)l dclcal llic bciicvolcni views of the petitioners. And the ajinmittee have yet to learn wlieliier the (thjecl nii.L,du not he aec<»ni- l)lishecl with a i^reater i)rosi)ecl of success, and at the same lime avoid a new corporation, hy makinLi^ an arranj^'^emenl with one of the hanks in New \aid in the sail boats conipensaterk. in a letter of Deceniher 31, iSij. to his wife, wrote: 'Sir James Jay has ju^t left me after havinj^ favored me with <»ne of his most interesting tliscourses. He is an extraordinary man — to cross the ocean, to travel hy land and to walk and ride about the world as he does at the a.ije of more than fourscore." ( )n hiiie II. iSi 5. tlie fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. Jay was horn in New ^'ork. A month later Mr. Jay remarks in a letter to his sister: " The little j^irl, too, is very fat and very hearty. She has been l)ai)tized Catherine 1 lelena after old Mrs. Walter Rutherfiud and .Mr<. John Rutherfurd." Tlie next year a committee, consisting" of Messrs. \V. Xeilson. Jr.. Win. Henderson ami David B. Opfden called uj)on Mr. Jay to inform him of his selection hv the (ieneral Committee of the I'Y'deral Kepuhlicans as one of the candi- dates for the House of Assembly, expressing the hope that nothing; would induce him to de- cline it. Mr. Jay did not decline, and beint:^ I I "^ PETER A. JAY elected, attended the session which was con- vened at Albany on the 30th of January, 181 6, and adjourned on the 17th of April, 1816. Among his colleagues representing the city of New York were Philip Brasher and Gen. Ed- ward W. Laight. Daniel D. Tompkins, Re- publican, was Governor at the time. At this session the most prominent Federal speakers^ says the report, were William A. Duer, Peter A. Jay, Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, James Van- derpoel and James Lynch, all gentlemen of con- ceded ability and influential members of the party. Various subjects invited the attention of the house, but none of more importance than a measure recommending the construction of the Erie Canal. Mr. De Witt Clinton was a zealous advocate of the project. A large pub- lic meeting was also held in Albany to help ad- vance the object, and in furtherance of this en- terprise an act was passed by the Legislature entitled " An act to provide for the improve- ment of the inland navigation of this State.'^ This measure met with the warm support of Mr. Jay. In Dr. David Hosack's Memoir of De Witt Clinton, we read : " Another class of benefactors to the system of canal navigation may still be added, consist- 114 FAVORS liRIK CANAL I'K* )Jl!:rT ing of those who mainly c«)nlril)Utc(l to its uhi- niatc success. In- ubsiatinj^ llic ihllicuhics and iiiipcihinenls which were accidentally or initii- tionally ihmwn in ilie way to opjKJse its prog- ress, or entirely to deleat and frustrate the un- dertaking ; for even after the subject had been well understood by the members of the Legisla- ture and the bill was in its passage through the two houses, obstacles were still presented at every step, which re(|uired all the genius and energy of the friends to the project to meet and counteract. "To the ll.»n. C'adwallader Colden. Martin \'an lUiren. Jacob Rutsen \'an Rensselaer, James Lynch, Teter A. Jay, William Ross, and William A. Duer. the State owed a debt of gratitude for their patriotic exertions in behalf of the Canal." On the },(\ of April. iSi6, the house, as the first business of the day, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole upon the bill. Mr. Oner was in the chair. The consideration of the bill was resumed in Committee of the Whole on the 5lh, and taken up again on the loth. On the nth the Committee of the Whole was discharged from further consideration of the bill, which was referred to a select committee 1 1^ PETER A. JAY consisting of Mr. Oakley, Mr. Peter A. Jay, Col. Leavenworth of the Army, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Vanderpoel of Kinderhook. The fate of the bill seemed now more critical than ever : "The selection of the Committee was pecu- liarly fortunate, since, being a member of the Committee, and an ardent friend of the project, it brought Mr. Jay out more actively in the cause, than he would otherwise, perhaps, have deemed it his duty to engage. The command- ing talents and high personal character of Mr. Jay, the wisdom of his remarks, and the afifa- bility and courtesy of his demeanor, w^ere cir- cumstances eminently calculated to favor the cause which he now vigorously espoused — and the force of his powers was soon felt. The consideration of the bill, in its amended form, was resumed in Committee of the Whole on the 13th in the morning: when, after an animated debate, the first section was adopted." In the evening session which followed, it was proposed to impose a local tax on the neighboring lands along the middle section. This proposition, adopted, tended very much to soften and abate the fear of the opposition, and things once more assumed a brighter aspect. A great variety of amendments were made to the bill: the date 116 ERIE CANAL I-()RM ALLY OPENED when llic canal wa.s lu he cnninicnccd, ils cx- j)cncliturc, commissions aj)i)ointe(l, etc. In this siiape suhstantially it parsed the Asscmhly hy a vt)le of S3 to ih and was sent to the Senate for concurrence. Might years were spent in cnn>iructini^ the Erie Canal. ( )n October 2(), 1SJ5, it was for- mally oj)cned from lUitTalo to Alhany. The first canal-l)oat to jj^o thr()Uj.;h.the Seneca Chief, had on hoard Governor Clinton. Joshua I^'ore- man. Chancellor Livinq^ston, Thurlow Weed, Col. W. L. J^toiK- and ( ien. !^lei>hen \'an Rens- selaer. The arrival of the parly in Xew York harbor on November 4 was the occasion of an immense public celebration. While the Lej^islature was in session Mr. Jay. with his son John, stayed with his sifter, Mrs. r.anyer. at .Albany. .Mrs. jay remained w ith the other children in Xew \'ork. The lat- ter took a ^reat interest in the (juestions of the day and followed closely the debates in the Leg- islature as repf)rted in the ' Courier." On one fK'casion she writes to Mr. jav: " 1 cannot ex- press to you the pleasure 1 felt at seeinj^ your speech so hij^hly complimented. All your friends are gratified and I hear your praises re- peated continually. A day rarely passes with- 117 PETER A. JAY out my seeing your name and that of your father highly spoken of in the ' Courier.' " In February, 1816, the nominations for the New York gubernatorial election in April were made. Mr. Jay was asked to be the Federal candidate, but declined. Writing to him on this subject, Mrs. Jay says : " I hear you spoken of for the next Federal candidate for Governor. I can only say I hope it is not so, for though I feel flattered to hear your praises and to see justice done to your talents, I yet think our do- mestic fireside preferable to all the fame, and can almost venture to say that it is your opin- ion, but you are actuated by a nobler motive — love of your country." Again she writes: '' What you tell me of their wishing to nominate you for the office of Governor is nothing new. I have already heard it from several who have regretted you would not accept." On February 16, Mr. Jay wrote to Senator Rufus King offer- ing him, on behalf of the nominating commit- tee, the Federal nomination for Governor. A few days later Judge Morris S. Miller of Utica writes to Mr. Jay : " You express doubts as to Mr. King's acceptance. You probably will have his answer before this reaches you. I 118 .\( TI\I-: I.\ STATF. CAMPAIGN hope he will iiol decline lluil would make 'confusion worse confounded.' You ask what is to he dune if Mr. Kinj^ dcchnes. I ask what can he done, hut in have a mcetinj^ at Alhany, and nominate somehody else, and I think every day's delay will do us injury, 'ilie sus[)ense in wliich ihe Tarty has licen kept will certainly <)j)erate against us; the longer it is continued the worse it will i)e. \ Ou will. I have no douht, excuse mc for sayint;;^ that I hoj)e one day to see you Governor, and I therefore liope you will not consent to he the candidate now." .Mr. Kinj^ accepted the nomination, however, and ("onL,n-essman CJeor^^e Tihhits was nomi- nated for Lieutenant-Governor. The Rei)uhli- can candidates opposed to them were Daniel 1 ). Tompkins, for Governor, and John Taylor, for Lieutenant-Governnr. In the course of the en- suiujL^ cami)aij^n Mr. jay made a speech in wliich he vip^orously aslcrf(l it. W liy ihcii were llicy dismissed ? " It was because you were promised slill jifreater |)r(>s])erity by those who were eai^er to occupy llie oltices which had been filled by \\'ashin.u:ton and his disci|)les. " How have they fulfilled these ])romises? "They told you that the fundiiijj^ system was an eiiorinous evil and that the ])ul)lic debt should be discharjL^ed. and they have themselves increased that debt by one hundred and fifty millions of dollars. " They told you that a standinij^ army was dan- R"erous to your liberty, and they keep on foot a standinjj^ army of lo.ooo men in time of peace, and their present candidate for the Presidency has recommended that double that number should be maintained. ** They told you that the taxes were unneces- sarily heavy and promised that the citizens should no lonj^'^er behold the face of the tax- j.;;atherer. and that nothins^ should be taken from the mouth of labor to supply the necessi- ties of the state. They have multiplied tax- jjatlierers tenfold— tluy have doubled tlu- du ties on imports and more than trebled the amount of the other taxes. 121 PETER A. JAY " Has their conduct in relation to foreign af- fairs been more wise or more beneficial than their domestic administration ? " Complaining of enormous injuries com- mitted by Great Britain, they determined to re- taliate by an embargo on American commerce. At a time when none but the British and American flags floated upon the ocean they thought to destroy the British commerce by prohibiting ours, as if the English trade must be ruined for want of a rival. A blockade of our ports, such as our enemies afterwards maintained at so enormous an expense and so great a risk, was instituted by our own rulers and enforced by a series of oppressive laws executed by Custom-house officers. Well might such a measure extort sarcasm instead of submission from the English ministry. "When this expedient failed, they substi- tuted for it a system of non-importation, their own sense of which is to be found in the com- mercial convention which they have lately rati- fied, in which they expressly stipulate they will not again resort to it. " But they now claim your confidence on ac- count of the wisdom they displayed in the con- 122 SPF.IiCH ON POLITICAL SITUATION tlucl oi the late war and in iMiK-ludiiig llic treaty wliicli icriiiinatcd it. " W c will say nothinj^ of tiic- prudence w hicli coninieiiced an otTensive war before any prepa- rations were made for carrying it on, nor of the errors committed in the cause of it. Xor will we remiixl you of the arbitrary lone which the administration assumed, nor of their recom- mendation to t'lU the army by conscription and to man the navy l)y imi)ressment— nor of the suppression of the liberty of speech in Con- gress,— but we will ask what have the j)eoi)le gained by the war? •* Has (Ireal I'.ritain renouncetl her claim to impress her seamen from on board our vessels? Has she renounced lur doctrine of blockades? Has she promised com|)ensalion for the inju- ries complained of under her Orders in C'oun- ciP ' W'c have lost by the war the rii^ht of fish- ing on the shores of Newfoundland. We have left the I>ritish in fxissession of a i)art of the ancient territory of the United States, and we have submitted to arbitration boundaries that had been solemnly settled at the peace in lyf^^. Hut. we repeat it. what have we trained? An addition of at least one hundred and twenty 1^3 PETER A. JAY millions of dollars to the national debt and a load of taxes which will probably descend to the latest posterity. " Has Great Britain lost anything by the war? If so, what is it? Does any one doubt that before hostilities were commenced she would joyfully have assented to a treaty pre- cisely like that of which our administration boasts? For what, then, has so much blood been shed and so much treasure expended ? '' This war, like every other, has afforded op- portunities of displaying the conduct of those who were engaged in it, and we acknowledge with gratitude and pride the valor and the pa- triotism which our countrymen have shown upon the ocean and the land. But it is to be re- membered that a soldier may acquire glory on the same field where his commander is dis- graced, and that a commander may gather lau- rels while obeying the injudicious orders of a weak administration. " If neither the war nor the peace has pro- duced any solid advantage, those who conducted the one and negotiated the other can derive from them no right to demand our applause. " Upon examining the situation of our own State, we shall find its finances dilapidated, a 124 SPFRCH 0\ POLITICAL SITUATION licavy (lcl)l iiKiirrcd. it> ordinary expcMises j^rcatly increased and its ordinary revenues di- niinislied — we sliall lind a sjjirit of |)arly ani- mosity cherished and encouraj^ed and made tlie very foundation to support the i)<)\ver of tliose in oflice. We shall find that they who have most loudly and inii)oriunately i)roclaimed their attachment to the people, ready to violate their rit^dits whenever it may he necessary to gratify a sordid aj)petite for the emoluments of ortice. We rememher when ihcy hurned the volumes of whole counties, and we have re- cently seen them apjKMnt in effect the whole Magistracy of the State hy the vote of a man who they knew had received from the ])cople no authority whatever. "We heseech you. fellow citizen^, to reflect and examine for yourselves whether we have advanced anything in this address unsujjported by facts; and if not, whether the warnings of experience and the counsels of reason do not equally show the necessity of a change in the administration of your affairs. ** Pieing ourselves fully i)ersuaded of that ne- cessity, we respectfully i)ropose to you, as a person proper for the office of Governor, the Honoral)le Rufus King. I lis known modera- i-'5 PETER A. JAY tion, his long and eminent public services both at home and abroad, his acknowledged talents and his misuspected integrity are pledges that, if elected, he will not be the mere instrument of party, but the able and impartial Chief Magis- trate of the State. Unconnected with local poli- tics, he has no resentments to gratify nor par- tialities to indulge, and we may reasonably hope that his administration will add to the pros- perity and reputation of this great and respect- able State. " We also recommend to you for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, the Honorable George Tibbits, whose experience in Congress and in the Senate of this State has qualified him for that situation and whose services and character are generally known. "We will only add our confident hope that every elector, by whatever political denomina- tion he may be known, shutting his ears against the malevolent calumnies which too often dis- grace our elections and resisting every attempt to influence his passions, or to bind him, against his convictions, by party engagements, will act according to the dictates of his own cool and deliberate judgment. " It is thus only that we can preserve our lib- 126 DAN 1 1.1. I). TOMPKINS RR-KLECTFD (Ttic's. or rciulcr lliciii a l)lcssiii^, thus only llial wc can dischari^c the duties which \vc owe to our puslerily. tn «»ur country, and t<> the g^reat Author of all the |)rivilcj;cs we enjoy." The l\e[)ul)licaii party was already in |)ower. Governor Tompkins, wlio had hccn in office since i^j, presided over llie atTairs of tlie State ihrouj^hout the war. Tlie party was (h- vided into two wini^s — the Madi.sonians in fa- vor of the war antl supported by Gov. Tomp- kins,— and the (lintonians. op|)ose(l to the war in the heJ.^innin.i,^ led hy I )e Witt Clinton. The I'\'deralists, on the other hand, represented llie peace party. Since iSoo the I'ederalists had slowly declined in power, and as their patron- at^c gradually fell away they had nothinj^ with which to sustain their adherents. They made a determined stand against the war, hut oi)iK)si- tion to it, however viewed in later times, was then unpopular. When peace was declared, Governor Tom|)kins became more in favor than ever; and in the ^^eneral enthusiasm which fol- lowed, the Re|)ublicans were victorious at the polls in iSi6. Early in the followinjj year Governor Tomi)kins rcsij.|^ned. 1 le was now to succeed t«» the \'ice-IVesidency. and He Witt 1-7 PETER A. JAY Clinton was elected Governor in his place. The ascendancy of Clinton practically marked the end of the Federalist organization, some of their best element subsequently going over to his side. Mr. Jay was again selected as one of the can- didates for the ensuing election for the House of Assembly, but while expressing his grateful feelings for this renewed proof of the confi- dence of the committee, he stated that circum- stances constrained him to decline a re-elec- tion. On the 226. of April John Jay wrote to him : " I am glad that your legislative labors are ter- minated. Your having declined being a candi- date at the next election meets with my ap- proval. In my opinion, your duty does not at present either require or authorize a sacrifice of that kind." At the first session of the following year, Governor Tompkins, in his message, recom- mended the entire Abolition of Slavery in the State on and after the 4th of July, 1827. The recommendation was favorably received and an Act to provide for its adoption passed, thus removing forever this iniquitous institution from the State. The energetic action of such 128 AGAINST SLAVERY men as I'clcr A. Jay. \\ illiain jay, Cadualladcr CoUlcii and ( jovcrnor rninpkiiis. as \vc learn from iK'w sp.ipcrs i\\ ilu- ])tritiiuril)ulc(l to tliis roiill. W ritiiiL,^ (Hi llii> sul)jc'Ct, McMastcr says: " Tlic status ot .slavery had loiij^ been re- garded as settled. No one, at least at the North, supposed for a iiionifiil that aiiollier ^lave State could ever he added to the I'nion. liven the lit- erature of anti-slavery ceased to aj)pear. The moment, therefore, the Missouri struggle, fol- Nnving upon the Louisiana Purchase, brought uj» tile (juestion of the further extension of slavery, the North was violently excited. A great meeting was held in the I'.oston State House to protest against any such action. The rhiladelj)hia meeting took the ground that the slavery of human lieings was the greatest evil in the I'nited States, that it was at variance with the Declaration of ln(lei)endence and with the principles of universal lil)erty and iiuman rights. .\t L.altimore the citizens gave expres- sion to like sentiments." The subject of slavery and the sujipressiou of the slave trade always interested Mr. Jay. An article which we find in the " I'.vening Lost " for November K). iSk). seems peculiarly fitting to 120 PETER A. JAY be introduced here. The article recites: " Last evening a general meeting of the citizens, con- sisting of at least tzvo thousand, was held at the Assembly Room, in the City Hotel, for the pur- pose of expressing their sentiments of the dan- ger to be apprehended from the toleration of slavery in any new State or Territory that may be hereafter admitted into the Union. " Matthew Clarkson, Esq., was called to the chair and John T. Irving appointed Secretary. '' The meeting being thus organized, Peter A. Jay, Esq., rose and addressed those present in a neat and impressive speech, pointing out in a feeling manner the cruelty of slavery and the evils which would ultimately result to this country if it were not prohibited. He con- cluded by offering a set of resolutions. Among- those present were William Bayard, Henry Rutgers, Archibald Gracie, Jonathan Goodhue, Charles Walker, George Newbold, Thomas Addis Emmet, Richard Varick and Samuel L. Mitchill." Mr. Jay was now engaged in making ar- rangements for building a home for himself. His new residence was No. 398 Broadway, at the southeast corner of Broadway and Walker 130 REM()\'.\L in I;K().\1)\VAY Si reel. Acconlini; lo llic cniiiracl. ihc liousc was U) he of l'hiladeli)liia hrick, willi >U)Uc trinimini(s. jS feel froiil. three sU^ries and j^ar- rel, with slahle in the rear. caUini^ for a total expenchture ()f $i3.7cxj. lie moved into the new house in iSkj, and continued lo occupN it until iii> death. W alker Street at that time was very far out of town. A writer of the pe- riy Mrs. lianyer. widow of Goldshoroui^h lianyer. and by f'eler A. Jay." Soon after movini; into their new house, a daut^hter was horn to Mr. and Mrs. Jay. 1 he date of her hirth was Sei)teml)er u, iSi<^. and her name Anna Maria. Amoni^ the Jay i)apers we find the followini^ correspondence, with later letters, hetween Mr. Jay and 1 )r. Rohert Hare, the distinj^^uished physicist and chemist of Philadelphia: I U PETER A. JAY "May 31, 1819. ''Dear Sir: " I regret my being absent when you did me the honor to call on me at the hotel. As I shall probably return to Philadelphia early in the morning, there will be no opportunity, I fear, of making any acknowledgments personally. I take this mode therefore of making them both for this and former civilities, and at the same time send you some of my recent productions, which I shall feel much more satisfied with my- self should they meet your approbation. With great esteem and respect, " I am yours sincerely, " Robert Hare. "PeterA. Jay, Esq." "New York, June, 1819. "^ Dear Sir: " I am much obliged to you for the pamphlets you were so kind as to send me, particularly for that on the ' Calorimotor.' Though my ac- quaintance with the physical sciences is very superficial, it is not difficult to convince me of 132 I \V H AkK CORRESPONDENCIi: llicir f\lcn-^i\c utility. I licii- arc tew wlio can boast r to speak of attraction, be- tween the mere atTeclions of boflies. seems to be scarcely sense. \n\\ will ex[)lain the rationale of some mysterious ojierations of nature, and may be ultimately led to discoveries of as much PETER A. JAY consequence as the lightning rod. I hope you win not desist till you have demonstrated the fact of this affinity, which you have already rendered highly probable, and that you will pursue the enquiries which it suggests. Should there be any electricity in the sunbeam? Is there any connection between the facts you mention and the cause of the thunder showers which occur at the close of a hot summer day, or of the sudden abstraction of heat from the rain drops which occasion hail, or of what is termed heat lightning? Do they tend to ex- plain some of the ordinary effects of lightning, such as the destruction of the unhatched chicken, or the souring of milk, etc. ? " If I might venture on a verbal criticism, is not this word, ' Calorimotor,' too nearly allied in sound to * Calorimeter,' and might not an- other be found free from this objection? If I am not mistaken, your new doctrine is to make a noise, and to be written and talked of, and in such case even names are of some con- sequence. " I am, dear sir, " Yours very sincerely, " Peter Augustus Jay. " Doctor Hare." 134 I \V II ARl'. CORRMSPONDENCE Doctor Marc, before he was twenty, discov- crctl wliat he called "a hydroslalic i)l()W-i)ii)e." — it was also known as "the compound blow- pipe." Sillinian says it was the earlicsl and perhaps the most remarkable of Doctor Hare's orij^inal contributions to science. In iSi^ he invented the " ( alorimoior," which forms one of llie subjects of the correspondence. This in- strument was a form of battery by which a lart^e amount of heat was produced. About two years later he a^ain called i>u .Mr. jay and sub- secjuently wrote him the follow ini,^ letter: " June 22. i8jl. " 1 called at your former residence last even- ing, but found you had removed without beinj^ able to learn whither. ■ 1 ouirht sooner to have made my acknnw- Icdginents for your favor of the 6th, but it has been mv intention to do it when I have leisure to reply more fully. Would you allow me to hand your letter to Professor Silliman for his Journal ? It is my expectation to discuss in that work the preliminary properties or nature of heat, or electricity, r^n which the hypothesis in •35 PETER A. JAY my memoir is founded. I might do it by way of reply to you. " I am, sir, with esteem and respect, " Yours sincerely, " Robert Hare. " Peter A. Jay, Esq." " In answer to your objections to the word, ' Calorimotor ' I beg leave to observe that, as Volta had used the term ' Electromotor,' not- withstanding the previous word ' Electro- meter,' I had a high authority in favor of that name. I was unwilling to lose the possible in- fluence of the analogy in aid of the discrimina- tion of my hypothesis — thus, the uses in which words of less difference in sound have distinct meaning are numerous in language." In 1820 Mr. Jay received the appointment of Recorder of New York. That he should have been selected from among all the Federal- ists, spontaneously and without solicitation, by the Governor, De Witt Clinton, who was not in political sympathy with him, manifested in a marked degree the respect and esteem which Mr. Jay evoked. 136 DK WITT CLINTON TO MR. JAY The saim- sciuimcnts. jirohably, suj^j^estcd tlic Itttrr which wc subjoin, and uc also insert Mr. ja\ > J'cply : " Alhanv. January JS, 1S20. ** Petkr a. JAV. Rffnrdcr. " Pear Sir: " I will receive with q^real pleasure any com- munication from you respectint:^ appointments in New ^ ork. It is no conii)liment to say that I rej>ose cMitire confidence in your candor and in the purity of your views. '* I am. dear Sir, " Yours truly. '■ I )i Witt Cmnton." "i\iA\ \ oKK. lehruary R. 1820. "Governor Clinton. "Dear Sir: " 1 have had the honor of receivinpf your let- ter of the jSth ult.. and out^dit to have thanked you for it before. A short absence from the 137 PETER A. JAY city and a desire to state what had been done on the subject of Senator, etc., has induced me to delay it, but nothing is yet decided on that point. " I am sensible of the honor you do me by al- lowing me to write on the subject of appoint- ments. I shall avail myself of this permission sometimes, but shall do so sparingly because I know the multitude of applications with which you must be harassed and that you are yourself well acquainted with this city. "With my best respects to Mrs. Clinton, I have the honor to be, " Your obedient servant, '' Peter Augustus Jay." At about the same time. Bishop Hobart, of the diocese of New York, a representative High Churchman, wrote to Mr. Jay to inform him that he had been appointed by the convention a Vice-President of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Society. Mr. Jay declined the of- fice. Mr. W. W. Van Ness, whose career as a Judge was most brilliant, had been a Federalist leader in the Assembly. He writes to Mr. Jay in 1820: 138 W. W. \AX NESS TO MR. JAV " Ai.HAN V. January 4. iSJO. *• PiiTER A. Jay. I^s(|. " Pear Sir: " Willi j^acal pleasure 1 announce to you «»ur first victory over jacoi)inisni, Aposlacy and Faction. John C Spencer is elected Speaker; not more than four or five men who have been considered as Federalists iiave gone over to the enemy. I am warranted. I think, in saying that you will he the Recorder of New \'ork for an- other year at least. Mr. Kufus King will be the Senator, though a strong effort is making to prevent it. " Helieve me to be. " \'erv sincerelv vours, **\V'\V. Van Ness." "New ^'oKK. January 14. iSjo. "lion. W. W. \-. V... " Pear Sir: " I am much obliged to you for your letters of the 4th :ind iith in^i Il.id the opj)osition really op[K)sed Mr. Rufus King's election, I should have thought it the most singular inci- 139 PETER A. JAY dent which has occurred. I am particularly- happy to learn that the Federal gentlemen are nearly unanimous. To the Federal party our country owes its prosperity. I have been edu- cated in their principles, and though it is prob- able that in future they will only occasionally, and as it were by accident, have the ascendant^ I should be exceedingly unwilling to detach my- self from them. " I earnestly hope they may continue to act together. If they divide, the little strength which remains to them will be withered. " I am, dear Sir, " Your very obedient servant, "Peter Augustus Jay." Judge Van Ness's predictions were not veri- fied. The Council of Appointment, elected at the extraordinary session in November, 1820, was not called together until the 12th day of January following. The proceedings of this Council, as we read, beside many others, re- moved Cadwallader D. Colden from the May- oralty of New York to make room for Stephen Allen, and Richard Riker was appointed Re- corder in the place of Peter A. Jay. Upon his retirement Mr. Jay received from 140 TESTIMONIAL I K( )M NI-:\V V( )Inr own. ** Many causes of great and general im|>or- tance have been decided by you during your administration. The P>ar, conscious of the in- telligence and legal ability which have charac- terized your decisions and placing full confi- dence in their accuracy, are an.xious to annex 141 PETER A. JAY them to the general fund of professional learn- ing. We have, therefore, been instructed by our constituents, while thus presenting to you their expressions of approbation and regard, to request that those decisions may be placed under their control for publication. "We have the honor to be, etc., "John Anthon, " E. W. King. " New York, March 30, 182 1." "New York, March 30, 1821. "John Anthon, Esq., ) ^ -',,„_ ^_ ^^ _^' } Committee. &E. W. King, Esq. ^ "Gentlemen: " Permit me through you to express my hearty thanks to the New York Bar for their kind approbation of my conduct which you have so politely communicated. In returning to the practice of my profession it is exceed- ingly gratifying to find that I possess the es- teem of my brethren. This new and unex- pected proof of their friendship has added to the gratitude I have already felt for their de- portment towards me while I was upon the Bench. 142 AT CONSTI riTloN \L CONVENTION ■ In rc-lalinii to ilu- I )ccisions of wliich llicir partiality lias induced llicin to sjjcak in Mich (lattcrinj^ terms, 1 cannot tliink tlicni of sulti- cicnt iinj)ortancc to justify an addition to tlic mass of Ici^al i)ul)lications wliicli is cf ( liaiircrN . uikKt l.ivinj^- stnii and l.aiisiiis^-. Iiad acliicwd a prcstij^c, the consummation of wliicli was realized u\)nn tlic flcvation of Kent to the chancellorshii) in 1S14. The hrilhancv of Kent's career was not compro- mised hy any innovations, hut. wliilc content to ahide hv the constitutional limitations of his olVice. he nevertheless jealously t^iarded. to the \ery end, all the powers that were q^ranted to iiim as a heritajj^e. perhaps, from the ICn<^lish chancery system. \\ hen. in iSjo. the Demo- cratic party of revision passed a hill for a con- vention to amend the Constitution, the Council of Revision proiuptly vetoed it. the oi)inion hein*^^ handed down hy Chancellor Kent. This veto met with a storm of disapproval, heini;; re- Ljarded as a typical exam])le of the power of the judiciary to defeat the will of the people. The following; year the rpiestion was finally suh- mitted to a f>opular election and carried by an overwhelming^ majority. The convention, to which Mr. jay had been summoned as a member, met at Albany on Au- LfUst j8, 182 1. One hundred and ten dcleu^ates were present, (uit of a total of one hundred and wenty-five. reprcsentinpf all parties. Republi- PETER A. JAY cans (now called Democrats), Federalists, Clin- tonians and Bucktails. Although the conven- tion was organized along strict party lines, yet the coming contest was one between the forces of restless American progression, as opposed to those of the landed and legal interests which represented the old order of things; the inde- pendent rural element against the established citizenship of the urban communities. This may have been caused by the recent settlement in many of the newer central and western coun- ties of the State, of pioneers from New Eng- land pushing westward towards the Ohio coun- try. These people naturally brought with them the Puritanical ideas of government surviving in New England, and were not at all in sympa- thy with those prevailing in the older parts of New York — the outgrowth of colonial times. The representatives in the convention of this new element found a champion in Ex-Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, who was called "the fa- vorite farmer's son." Uniting with the Demo- cratic revisionists, they elected him President by a vote of 94 to 16. The chairman of each of the ten committees was, with but one ex- ception, a Democrat. The key-note for what should follow in the next two months was thus 146 A r CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (Icfiiiitcly struck. Not that c-vctn (jucstinn could l>c and 62 to 53; hut from the outset the revisionists knew their strength and i)resse(l their advantage to the ut- most. On the other hand, the oi)iM)sition. although decidedly in the minority, was only the more de- termined, and the dehates called forth the abil- ity and eloquence of its most distinguished members. I'rom Albany, and the other coun- ties of the lluds(Mi valley, such men as Chan- cellor James Kent. Chief justice Ambrose Spencer, (ieneral Stephen \'an Rensselaer, Peter .\. jay. judges Jonas I'latt and William W . \'an Ness, all stanch upholders of the exist- ing Constitution, met the attacks of the New \'ork and Western delegations, among whom were Senators Rufus King and Nathan San- ford, John Duer. General Erastus Root, Martin \'an lUiren and Rx-Ciovernor Daniel D. Tomp- kins. The debates which followed were as bit- terly contested as any which the history of the State records. "Our prospects here grow more unpleasant." writes Mr. Jay to his father on October 10. " The more violent members of M7 PETER A. JAY the convention begin to act more in a body and to gather strength. Upon the whole, there is a good deal of bad feeling, and I should not be surprised if something very violent should be attempted in relation to the Judiciary. . . . We have had a long and latterly angry con- test about the appointment of Justice of the Peace. The dominant party, who gave up the Council of Appointment with great reluctance, were anxious to retain the power of appointing these magistrates at Albany, and Mr. Van Buren proposed a plan for this purpose which he openly urged on party grounds ; others, very desirous that the minority should not be utterly excluded from office, proposed to elect Justices by the people. This enraged the Jacobins ex- ceedingly, who were obliged to argue in contra- diction to their own principles and professions. I voted against both plans and both were lost. The contest ended in the adoption of a scheme by which the power of appointing is lodged in the Supervisors and County Court. The dis- cussion has produced violent animosity be- tween the followers of Mr. Van Buren and the New York delegation, and the latter seem to me to be alarmed and to be acting feebly." The great question of extending the right of 148 A r CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION suliraj^c, as anlaj^^oiiistic lo llic properly or frccliold (lualilicalion, was dislinclly prcscnlcd and argued with f(|ual talt-m and ability l)y those who favored, and by those opposed lo, its adoj)tion. Tlie j)lan ultimately acce|>tcd \sas a compromise, the basis of the franchise beinj^ considerably enlarj^ed. Mr. Jay was averse to niakinj^ the sutTraj^e universal, but favored its extension to the colored pojjulalion. introduc- mi:; his views on this subject in one of the most elo(|uent speeches made durinij the ci>nvention. His motion was carried by a vote of (y^ to 59, but its etTect was null i lied later, when the whole «|uestion of the elective franchise wa-> referred to a select committee of thirteen. Anionfj the other acts of the convention, the abolition of the Council of Revision, vestini^ a limited veto power in the (jovernor. assumed far-reaching imj)ortance. So also did the aban- donment of the Council of Appointment, willi its enormous j)atrona_{;^e of over six thousand civil oflicers. The term of office for the Gov- ernor was hxed at two years instead of three. W hen the Judiciary (|uestion came up for dis- cussion, there arose a wide diveri^ence of o|)in- ion in the convention as to the reforms to be made. Some of the rachcal members even went 140 PETER A. JAY so far as to suggest overthrowing the Court of Chancery and the Supreme Court. Here it was that the counsel of prudent men hke Chancellor Kent, Mr. Van Vechten and Mr. Jay carried such weight with the opposite party that no such revolutionary plan was put through. Only minor changes were made in the powers of some of the Judges, while the Supreme Court was reduced to three Justices. The convention adjourned on November lo, having adopted the amended Constitution. Mr. Jay was one of the eight members who voted against it. Fifteen other members, including Chancellor Kent, Chief Justice Spencer, Judge Piatt and General Van Rensselaer, withheld their signatures. " Many of the Democratic members were dissatisfied with it," wrote Mr. Jay to his father, " but did not dare to separate from their party. I think its chief defects are making the right of suffrage universal, render- ing the Judges of the Supreme Court depen- dent, and vesting the power of appointment, in almost all instances, in the Legislature. There seems to be a passion for universal suffrage pervading the Union. There remain only two States in which a qualification, in respect of property, is retained. When those who possess 150 NEW CONSTITUTION RATIFIED no proiicrly sliall l)c more nuincrous than those Nvlio have it. I lie consequence of this alteration will. 1 fear, he severely felt The new Constitution wa> raiiiied m January, iSjj. hy a j)oi)ular vole of 75,4-i- aj^ain^l 41,- 41^7. Althouj^h considered revolutionary at the time, the etTects of the amendments proved beneficial and of great importance, and in 1S29 led to a revision of the statutes. The Court of Chancery had been diveste6i), by I'eler Jay. .NLirch J5. 1745. and on tlie succeedini^ day lie obtained a release for ilic- same, i'our acres of nieadovv- land on Men Island were purchased Scj)leniber 4, IJ"'*. 'Hitl other purchases have made addi- tions to the orii^inal j^rant, increasini^ the num- ber of acres till they now reach alniut four hun- dred. In the autumn ot iSjj. beini:: tiien owner of the estate. I'eter A. Jay. durinj^^ a visit to Rye— the widow of his uncle Peter ( NLiry Duyckinck ) still roiiiimiinj^^ her residence there — planted the tliree elm trees which, from their symmetry and threat size, have since attracted nuich attention. They stood on the lawn east of the house, and were set out to take the place of some venerable locusts w hicli the year before had been destroyed. At the preseiu time two of the three trees remain standini^. In the summer of this year, New NOrk had ajjain been visited by yellow fever. lu'erybody who could do so tied from the citv; the banks, custom-house, and other business houses moved to Cireenwich X'illai^e. Mr. J.iy sent Mrs. Jay ^53 PETER A. JAY and the children to stay with his father at Bed- ford. The Whites, of England, cousins of the Jays, occasionally made transatlantic voyages to visit their mother, Mrs. Henry White, and their relatives and friends. Mrs. White, then a widow, resided in New York, at Number 1 1 Broadway, on the west side, opposite Bowl- ing Green. She was a daughter of Frederick Van Cortlandt and Frances Jay, the latter a sister of Peter Jay, father of the Governor. Mr. and Mrs. Van Cortlandt had resided at the Manor-house, Lower Yonkers — the house Mr. Van Cortlandt built in 1748. General Fred- erick White, a son of Mrs. Henry White, seems, by the letter which follows, to have come over on a visit. Mr. Jay's letter is addressed to the General's brother, John Chambers White, then a Captain in the Royal Navy, but subsequently knighted and made Admiral. "New York, Oct. 9, 1822. ''My dear Sir: " Your letter of the 22d August last ar- rived at a time when the yellow fever had ■driven my family from the city, and either 154 letti:r to ]. c. wniTi:. r. n. throiij^li ;ui-i(U'iit <>r carelessness it was not for- warded lo inc. NO lli.il I only received it last week when 1 returned, ll sh(»uld otherwise have heeii earlier an.swered. "The disease has now entirely ceased, as it always does upon the first ai)i)earance of ice. Thouj^h its ravages have not heen j^^reat. it has occasioned much distress and still more incon- venience. While it continued ycnir mother took refutj"e with her hrotlier at N'«>nkers. Mrs. jay and myself visited her there and were {^ratified at seeini;^ her so cheerful and so well. We found Mr. \'an C'ortlandt in hed with fever and ajTfue. but still in excellent spirits. He had not lived, he said, for ninety-six years to be frij^^ht- ened with an a.en.ie. He was old cnoutrh to know how to take care of himself. I lis physi- cian was not so easv on the subject, but he re- covered and is in L^ood liealth. lie and your mother have wonderful constitutions and seem relatif>ns, and the season of the year beini^' that when our citizens are dispersed through the count r\-. i>revented his receiving PETER A. JAY all the attentions which so many would have been happy to show him. Besides, his habits, if as you say they are Germanized, must have led him to consider our manners as wanting in that polish which he certainly possesses in a high degree. Yet a longer acquaintance would, I think, have made him better pleased, and in- deed it appeared to me that upon the whole he liked the Country and its Inhabitants better than he had expected. The manners of the up- per classes here are certainly less polished than those of the same rank in England, but in re- turn the common people are less vulgar. The Democracy under which we live, to a certain extent amalgamates all classes ; but if this mix- ture imparts some rusticity to the highest, it also communicates a good deal of civility to the lowest. " I am exceedingly happy to learn that you intend seeing us again. Be assured you will find many who will rejoice at your arrival. Let me hope that your coming will not be long post- poned ; several of your relations and friends are aged. My father and family continue as when you saw them. The old Lady at Rye, whom you kindly remember, is still cheerful and happy. The Mamaroneck family are all well. '56 letti:r to j. ( . wiiiTi:. r. n. Mr. and Mrs. (K- I.ancc-v arc M-llk-d al Thila- >ent our resjjects to Mrs. White. ■' 1 am. dear sir, " ^'our very oht. Serv't, " Pf.ti:r Augustus J.w. ••(apt. I. C". W iini . K. \.. *■ Cecil L()d*jc, Ahhots Lanc^ley. " I lertfordshire. ICnj^dand." The \'an Cortlandt rel'erred to in the letter was .\u.5411stu.s, a hrotlicr of Mrs. I lenry W hite. and then the occupant of the house at \'onkers. He died Dccemher 20. 1S23. in his ninety-sixth \ear. "The old Lady at Rye." ai>out whom Cap- tain White makes in(|uiry. was the widow of I'eter Jay, Mary Ouvckinck. who continued to <)CCU|)V the house at Kye until her j)e. however, that he will be r< |t<\.<| -nirl that a life » « . \KKSt)N In ihr |Mt\srMion nfihr family <>(' Mr. .-ind Mrs. I)a%id Clarkson TRIiaTI-: TO GENERAL CLARKSON business and liis dtii^lil lo afford coiisolatic^n lo llic distressed, to relieve the wants of tlie needy, to instruct the ij^niorant, to reclaim ilic vicious, to visit the fatherless and the widow in their aOhclion and to keej) himself unspotted from the world. Such a jxtrtrait is not to be drawn from all the records of heathen anti- quity. It i)resents an elevation of moral Li:rh thai Mr. jay enuld enjoy it all the lime with u^; 1 ri>e at half-past five or six o'clock, but we do not breakfast until seven th at school and at ^'ale, had been a classmate and friend of Wil- ■63 PETER A. JAY Ham Jay. Their friendship continued through hfe. Cooper was for some time a resident at Rye. In 1811 he had married into the Hugue- not family of the de Lanceys, who resided at Mamaroneck, in the immediate neighborhood of Rye. This intimacy extended to other mem- bers of the family, and Mr. Cooper was fre- quently a visitor at the city house of the Jays and, later, at their house in the country. After spending a number of years at Cooperstown, New York, he returned to Westchester and took up his residence on a farm at Scarsdale, about five miles from Mamaroneck. It was while living on this farm in the year 1820 that Cooper commenced to write. His first serious attempt at novel-writing was " The Spy," pub- lished in 1 82 1. The principal character in ^' The Spy " was suggested to Cooper by John Jay, and one of the scenes of the novel is gen- erally believed to be laid on the Jay farm at Rye. Professor Thomas R. Lounsbury, in his **Life of J. Fenimore Cooper," gives an in- teresting description of how Cooper came to write "The Spy," in the course of which he says: "He naturally turned for his subject to the Revolution, with the details of which he was familiar by his acquaintance with the men 164 now cooricK vvkotk -tmm si'V wlio liad shared i)r<»iiiiiR-iuly in il> cuiiducl and had I'ck all ihc keenness of a i)ers()nal iriuniph in its success. TIk- \ery country, nK)re«)ver, in which lie had made \u> home was full of recol- lections. Westchester had been the neutral ground helween the h".n.<4;lish forces stationed in New N <»rk. and the American army encamped in the hij^dilands of the Hudson. Ui)on it more, |)erhai)>. than upon any other portion of the soil of the revolted coK^nies had fallen the curse of war in its heaviest form. IJack and forth over a lar^e i)art of it had i)er|)etually ehhcd and flowed the tide of balllc. Not a road was there which had not been swept attain and attain by columns of infantry or squadrons of horse. Every thicket had been the hidings-place of refugees or sj)ies ; every wood or meadow the scene of a skirmish; every house that survived tile struggle boasted its tale of thrilling scenes that had taken place within its walls, riiese circumstances determined Cooper's choice of the place and period, ^\•ars before, while at the residence of John jay, his host gave, one summer afternoon, the account of a spy that had been in his service during the war. The coi)lc arc now ahundanl. In tlic nicantinic, <»ur minister lias been ohli^-d Id clerkship both ai^reeable and useful to him." The foUowuiL; year Mr. J.i\ w.i'^ apjjointed Counsel lo the Chatham Insurance Company and elected a director of the Mohawk and Hud- son Railroad Company. 1 le was also proposed as candidate for the ottice of Chancellor, which was then vacant; but he declined the nomina- tion on the unround that the salary (Sj.cxx)) did not equal the income derived from his practice and would be insutVicient for the support of his family. His friend Samuel Jones was made Chancellor in Jamiarv. iSjh. The death of (iovernor Clinton occurred suddenly on February il, 1828. While dilTer- injj in his political views from Jay. Clinton al- ways respected jay's judi^ment. and enter- tained a personal friendship for him and his family. Only the previous year .Mr. jay re- ceived from Ciovernor Clinton the follow ini^ letter: 171 PETER A. JAY ''Albany, Jan. 6, 1827. " P. A. Jay, Esq. '' Dear Sir: " Your letter certainly required no apology. Any recommendation of yours for any friend will always be acceptable and treated with mer- ited attention. " I embrace this occasion to tender to you all the kind wishes usual on the opening of the year, and I beg you to present them also to Mrs. Jay, as we ought to open the New Year with good dispositions. Tell the young lady who charges me with being under female— or, rather, uxorious — government that I forgive her and hope that her only punishment will be a good and obedient husband who will submit his neck to the yoke (as in duty bound) with entire submission. " I am, very sincerely, "Your friend, " De Witt Clinton." On November 29th of this year Mr. Jay's eighth and last child, Susan Matilda, was born. The library of the New York Law Insti- tute was founded in February, 1828, mainly 172 THE NKW YORK LAW INSTITl TK tlir<>iiL:li tin- efforts of Clianccllor Kent. 1 Icrc- toforc ilic only collections of law books of any extent or value in nr near llie city of New Vt)rk were the i)rivale libraries of Chancellor Kent and of Chief-Justice Jay at I>c(iforcl. The ])uri)ose of the New ^«)^k i.aw Institute was to provide a library which should Jj^ive to the members of the bar access to the law reports and literature of all countries. At its first meetintj there were i)re^ent ( )L^den Hoffman, Thomas Addis Rmmet. HuLi^h Maxwell, James W. Gerard, and many other leadiui^ members of the bar. James Kent was elected President, and Peter .\. Jay. Smith Thompson and Bev- erley Robinson. \'ice- Presidents. The bcLrin- nin^s of the library were made by the i)urchase of the library of I\ob(?rt Tillotson. Many of the members made d<»nations, Chancellor Kent presentine: a set «»f his "Commentaries "U American Law." Referrinu^ to this subject in the " History of the liench aiul P.ar." Mr. Wil- liam H. Winters says: " Many of the old clas- sics of the law, rare and valuable reports and commentaries, were the fififts of the accom- plished scholar, Peter A. Jay, the eldest son of Chief-Justice Jay. In the future, upon the Paw In>titute' to re- main ij^iioranl of the arrival and departure of the most distint^uished persons. I remain, with esteem, " Respectfully yours. " RoBKRT Hari:. "Petkk A. Jav. Esq." We have now to record the first weddings in the family, that of Mr. and Mrs. Jay's eldest dauL^hter. Marv Rutherfurd. to Mr. I'Vcderick IVimc. I'he fM ATIC, AND DISTINGUISHED IN THEM ALL UY HIS ABILITY, FIRMNESS, PATRIOTISM AND INTEGRITY. HE WAS IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS DEATH AN EXAMPLE OF THE VIRTUES, THE FAITH AND THE HOPES OF A CHRISTIAN 1 1 were indeed a ta>k to draw into C()nii)ari- son ilie relative merits of Jay and Ilamilton, and yel it is a study not without interest. A writer who has made a sketcli of the cliaracler of Jay has also left us his estimate of the dis- tin^^uishiiii^ traits of the tw'O men, whicli is here presented: " They were, undoubledly, ' par ttohilc fra- trum,' and yet not ' twin brothers' ; 'pares sod impares.' like, but indike. In patriotic attach- ment etiiial, for who would venture therein to assiqii to either the superiority: yet was that at- tachnKiit. iliMiidi ((lual in dcLrri*- v «>t far dif- ^77 PETER A. JAY ferent in kind. With Hamilton it was a senti- ment, with Jay a principle ; with Hamilton en- thusiastic passion, with Jay duty as well as love; with Hamilton patriotism was the para- mount law, with Jay a law 'sub graviori/ Either would have gone through fire and water to do his country service, and laid down freely his life for her safety, — Hamilton with the roused courage of a lion. Jay with the calm friendliness of a man; or, rather, Hamilton's courage would have been that of the soldier. Jay's that of the Christian. Of the latter it might be truly said : " ' Conscience made him firm. That boon companion, who her strong breast- plate Buckles on him that fears no guilt within, And bids him on and fear not.' " The same writer says : " In intellectual power, in depth and grasp and versatility of mind, as well as in all the splendid and brilliant parts which captivate and adorn, Hamilton was greatly, not to say immeasurably, Jay's supe- rior. In the calm and deeper wisdom of prac- tical duty; in the government of others, and 178 JOHN JAY slill iiKtri' ill tlif _L;uvcTnim-nt *>( liiiiiscll'; in sce- m^ clearly the rij^ht and lullowiii^ it whither- soever it led, firmly, patiently, self -deny in.i^ly. Jay was attain j^reatly. if nut immeasurably, Hamilton's su|)erior. In statesmanlike talent llamilton's mind had in it more of ' construc- ti\e' power. Jays of 'executive.' Hamilton had (ienius. Jay had Wisdom. We would have taken Hamilton to plan a j^overnment and Jay to carry it into execution ; and in a court of law we would have had I lamilton for our adv->ed to W illiam Jay, who continueper, who was then in Italy, under date of May 26, 1829. Mr. Jay says: "My jjood old father has paid the debt of nature. lie died on the 17th instant. I need not tell you how much he was loved and ven- erated by his children. His departme was at- tended by every circumstance which can lii^hten aftliction for such a loss. \q{ the separation is very |)ainful. and I am not yet in a ukhkI to iSi PETER A. JAY write with levity. William will continue to re- side at Bedford. The estate there is left to him. I have the ' stone house ' at New York ; and the rest of my father's property, except some legacies, is to be divided equally among all his children. Your friend Mary is married to Frederick Prime. My other girls are growing up around me, and teach me, without looking in the glass, that I am growing old. Still I must labor on to maintain them, while you are enjoying all that can render Europe agreeable. I rejoice in the laurels you are winning, and trust they produce golden fruit. We should re- joice still more if you should repose under their shade in Westchester. Your ' Batchelor,' ex- cept that it paints us too favorably, is an excel- lent book, and the predictions it contains are infinitely less improbable than an Englishman could by any means be made to believe. Capt. Basil Hall, we are told, is going to lash us. Few men have been better received here than he was, yet he left us, I believe, in a sore hu- mour. His condescension and desire to in- struct us, though meant to show humility and kindness, were felt as arrogance, and his wife indulged herself in criticisms upon the Ameri- can ladies which justly displeased the latter. 182 LHTTF.K TO j. 11,M.\H>K1-. L()()ri,K " Vou will lind at ytur rclurn our Society much chaui^cd ; ^oiiic whom you knew are dead, some bankrupt, many al).sent, some are married, ci few ^r(>wn rich, and numl)ers of new faces apjjcar daily on the stage. If ycju stay away much longer, you will he almost as much a stranj^er here as at I'aris. Come back wliile you liave some t)ld friends left. We are long- ing to see your new novel with the odd name, and your travels in Switzerland will, I doubt nt)t. be instructive as well as anuising. It is a country, after all. which, if you e.\cei)t the scenery. I think I should not admire; liowever, you are a l)ctier judge and I sliall accjuie.scc in your decision. We have no j)oliticaI news which will interest you. There are a great many ap|M)intmeiUs and (hsapj)ointments. Of course, some are gratified and many displeased. W'liat are to be- the distinguisliing features of General Jack.^^on's administration cannot yet be determined. Hitherto there has been nothing to denote great ability nor j^erhaps the reverse. It i*^ probable that things will go on pretty much in the old way." On July 4. i.^Jf). a short time after his fa- ther's death, William Jay wrote to his brother as follows: " I have found the address of the i<^3 PETER A. JAY Corporation to Papa on presenting him with the freedom of the city, and his answer. These papers, together with the gold box, ought and no doubt will descend as heirlooms in the fam- ily, and on various accounts you are the proper depositary of them. I shall send them by Helen, and I beg you to accept them. In this request Maria and Nancy concur." The gold box is now in the possession of Mr. Jay's grandson. Dr. John C. Jay, and to him also be- longs the teapot, a gift from Benjamin Frank- lin to John Jay. The Marquise de La Fayette presented two chairs to Mrs. Jay on her leaving Paris, the cushions of which are enriched with the needlework of the Marquise. These chairs are now the inheritance of the families of two of Mr. Jay's daughters, Mrs. Pierrepont and Mrs. Clarkson. A society, known as "The Club," of which Columbia College was the centre, and which is called, in " The Memorial History of New York," "a charming literary coterie," but whose fame has almost disappeared, was now established. An account of this Society, written by Dr. John Augustine Smith in the letter of invitation to Mr. Gallatin to join the com- 184 "THK CLUB" pany, Xovcmlx.! j. iSj<;. dc-^crvcs tn he re- corded: " Nearly two years ap^o some nt ilie literary gcnllcnien of the eity, feehng severely the al- most total want of intercourse anion^ them- selves, determined to estahlish an association which should hrins^ them more fre(|uently into contact. Accordinj^ly they founded ' The Cluh,' as it is commonly called, and wliich I helieve I mentioned to you when I iiad the j)leasurc of seeincT you in I'ond Street. Into this 'Club' twelve persons only are ailmitled. and there are at present three gfentlemen of the bar, Chan- cellor Kent, Messrs. Johnston and lay; three professors of Columbia CollcLi^e. Messrs. Mc- \'ickar, Moore and Renwick; the Rev. Drs. W'ainwric^ht and Mathews, the former of the Episcopal, the latter of tlie I'resbyterian Church ; two merchants, Messrs. liosworth and Goodhue; and 1 have the h\ manufactures, and d«> much towards changing the sceptre of the seas. Still. I think she w the only lliinj^ by whicli we are known, or throujj^h whidi we are respected. Two or three inilhons a year more would be of the last inipnriance to our streni^th and our in- fluence. These people arc so much accustomed to see everylhint^ on a j^rand scale, that they will mn believe we keej) our resources in re- serve. I have made a curious set of calcula- tions by which it is arithmetically demonstrated that the V. S. can man anfl maintain fifty sail of the line in the event of a war. taking: the premises from the past. If the illiberals of Eu- rope get the ascendancy, we shall have to strug- gle for our existence. They cannot even now contain their exultation at the slii,ditest rumor that is unfavorable to the perpetuity of our in- stitutions. 1 am fully persuaded that luigland is, at this moment. intriLTuint:^ in the Southern States in order to separate the l^iion. It is a common topic in all Rnglish society, and they scarcely affect to conceal their hopes. Vou will see the interest they take in this question, when you reflect that their ascendancy de|>ends on our downfall. These thing*^ should be gravely considered at home, and a remedy applied. I 193 PETER A. JAY have great confidence in the perpetuity of the Union, but then we may have to fight for it. " I have met, abroad, one of the Cruger fam- ily who is a CaroHnian. He has a good deal of talent, and I take it he is well acquainted with the intentions of the leaders of the present anti- Union party in his State. There is much more of feeling than of reason in their politicks, though their argument is far from bad in all that respects the general merits of the question of State Rights. I go with him, for I can see no greater danger than to endeavor to stretch the Constitution of the U. S. by construc- tion over the powers of the States. It is very well to wish to see improvements going on, but they are bought too dear at the price of internal harmony and at the sacrifice of the compact of union. The great error at home appears to me to be a wish to apply European theories to our state of things. We are unique as a government, and we must look for our maxims in the natural corollaries of the Constitution. The real strength of the Union is its apparent weakness ; for were we to wish to legislate as they do in England, for instance, we should soon draw the whole fabric about our ears. There is no motive for such legisla- 194 J. FENIMORE COOPER TO Mk. JAV lion, since ilic (icncral (jovcrnuKMU is not a govcriinicnt ol territory, Ijut (MIc of dclinilc objects. The elVects of lliis ( JoverninetU. i)roi)- crly consiilered and rij^hlly adnuni!>lered, ap- ])r()acli as near sul)liniily as can be hoped for in any human institution. Internally, it gives us uniformity anwer. " (ruger complains bitterly of the t<)ne of the Northern States on the subject of slavery. Is he not right ? Reverse the case, and place our- selves in their situation, with proj)erty and even life in jeo|)ardy at any moment — we should not like tf» see or hear what is constantly written and proclaimed at the North. He carries his 195 PETER A. JAY resentment too far, no doubt. He tells me that his State will retire for a time if Congress does not repeal the tariff. I asked him when she meant to return, and whether she was sure of being received? He thought the separation would not be long, and that it would serve to settle many constitutional principles. He was of opinion that she would open her port. I asked him how many sloops of war it would take to shut it ! He seemed struck with the last question, and wished to know if I thought Mr. Jackson would resort to such an expedient? How could he doubt it ! The man would be a traitor to the Country to do otherwise. You see, this simple expedient would effectually throw the onus of proceeding offensively on the State. Now whom would they attack? Their neighbors? They wish them for friends. I believe I convinced him that it was easier to invent theories on this subject, than to contend with a force like that which the Constitution gives the Executive. " An article lately appeared in the ' Courier ' (English paper) which was quoted from a pa- per in Carolina. It laid down the ground that the Union could easily be divided into five parts, viz. : New England, the Middle States, the 196 J. FFA' I MORK COO IT. R TO MR. JAV Souihcrn Atlantic Stales, tlic Western and Soutli-W cslcrn. riiis liccl in South Cart)lina, l)Ul it is not an American idea. Tlie lCnj.^Iisli have a most overweening opinion of their moral inlUiencc, and they helieve they can throw u will sec that a simple division of the country in moieties is not cn(»uj.;h for ICm;land; tiie fraj^iuents would be too larj^e. She wishes to cut us up in pieces to suit her own views! Xo American would have conceived such a j)lan, for no man at all ac(|uainted with the country would, for instance, think of separating^ New England from New ^'ork. X'ermont and Connecticut are just as nuich natural dci)cndents of New ^*ork, i^eoj.jrai)hically speakini^. as (Jtsei^o and Ontario counties. Pennsylvania, Xew \>>vk and Ohio are. ajj^ain, indissoluhly united, and each of them hrincfs its own train of dej)endents alontj'. The idea was F.nt^^lish. rely on it. and it is part of a systematized plan that is as viij- orously acted on as Kngland dare act in her present enfeebled state. If she f)crscverc, slie will drive us into another war. There i*; no safer means, less exj)ensive. or more honorable or more constitutional way of pivinqf an im- 107 PETER A. JAY posing aspect to the Union than by an exhibi- tion of its naval force. In the event of a Euro- pean war, — and it is not distant, — I think we shall have to arm in defence of our maritime rights. " Of one truth I am deeply convinced. Nei- ther the Government nor the people of the U. States are sufficiently apprized of what is doing in this hemisphere in matters connected with these our dearest interests. " Very truly yours, " J. Fenimore Cooper. "P. A. Jay, Esq." In 1775 an American wrote upon a window of an inn in England the following lines : " Hail, happy Britain ! Freedom's blest retreat, Great is thy power, thy wealth, thy glory great. But wealth and power have no immortal day, For all things only ripen to decay : And when that time arrives, the lot of all, When Britain's glory, wealth, and power must fall. Then shall thy sons — for such is Heaven's decree- In other worlds another Britain see, And what thou art, America shall be." 198 J. i-i-..\iM()Ki-: (■()()Im:r k ) mk. jav America is now witiicssinj^^ and luij^land is also realizinjT^ the tuHilIinj^ of this j)r()i)lH'cv, and \vc must look to luij^land's continuous and persistent efforts tln<»u^di years to avert this resuh to t'lnd tlu- cause of Cooper's indii^nation in hi^ letter. " DuiMii .\. jui\- j'>. 1S30. / 'car Mr. Jay: " J •^'•t your letter at \ enice on our way up from lower Italy into (Jerniany. We (juitted Florence the last of July, iSj(), and went 1)\ sea to Naples, touchintj at the island of I^lha. Our stay in and about Xaj)les rather exceeded four months, when we went to Rome. I hired a house, or rather a castle, at Sorrento, in the Bay of Xai)les. where we ])assed three months very delij^htfuUy. The huildini^ stands on the clitTs and actually overhant^^s the water. The house is the one in which Tasso is said to liave heeii horn, and I refer you to a description of its view in the ni">uth of Seadrift, one of the ])rincij)al characters in a tale called * The Water Witch,* which is already printed. . . . "Of Rome it is unnecessary to speak. It is still Rome in its ruins, its position .uid its recol- lections \s to the society of Rome, it is H)0 PETER A. JAY now a mixture of all nations, in which the Eng- lish rather predominate. The Buonapartes are at Rome in great numbers. I saw them all ex- cept Lucien, who lives at his estate of Canino. He is much impoverished, though he has lately discovered in his grounds a cemetery of those who preceded the Romans, — the Etruscans, — and he has collected a superb museum of vases which he will probably sell for more than $ioo,- ooo, and some of them are valued as high as $2000 apiece. Jerome lives in a good deal of style, and enjoys his ancient reputation, which is none of the best. His wife, a sister of the reigning King of Wiirtemberg, is a good-na- tured, fat personage, who has much merit for her domestic virtues, but is a little absurd on account of her airs of royalty. She is protected by the different Courts on account of her fam- ily. We saw the Mother of Buonaparte two or three times. She is a plain, unaffected, mo- therly old woman, much wrapt up in her chil- dren and without the least pretension to ele- gance of manner, or to any extraordinary quality. She may have been handsome in youth, but the character of the Buonaparte face, which is certainly fine, is as certainly de- rived from old Carlo Buonaparte the Father, 200 J. l-KXlMOkl-: COOPER To MR. JAY wlio. ju(l.L,Mn<^^ from a bust, was a handsome moclcl for all his sons. Madame- still speaks I'Vcnch like an Italian, and Italian like a Cor- sican. In >hori. she is a mean resemblance of Aunt Jay in exterior; neither so handsome nor so nohle. and a very everyday woman in man- ner and Ianj4iiai4;e. The absurdity is in trying" to make her a heroine. Hortcnse is an atTable, good-hearted woman of fifty, with n>lie not known I was an .\merican, she miii^ht have suj)j)osed I was an luirojiean. Most of those who meet me believe I am an luif^lishman naturalized. The Grand Duke of Tu.scany asked me ])lainly. 'Of what country arc you. in fact? ( He es to whicli we are unaccu^tomed, render many i)arts of it wonderfully pic- tures(jue. N«iu have skimmed over Murope, alii^^htini; anil renewing; your tlij^du like a bee, not only sii)ping the sweets, hut, 1 hope, c rctcr . } It Justus Jay. /i.srinfj streets. The gales of tile market and the doors and windows of the sht)|)S were instantly closed, in a few minutes the smrrcii^fis came retreating into the scjuare, with a iroii|)r of soldiers charging bayonets at their heels. No harm. Iiowever, was done, unless it might have been to the lungs of s«ime of their majesties. This scene being over, the market gates were reopened and we issued forth in search of further adven- tures, r.ut T find I have no room for further descriptions. The result of all is that the City of I\'iris, after exhibiting for four days the ap- pearance of the camp (►f an inuncnse army on the eve of battle, is at length (Saturday) as quiet, to all a])pcarance. and as orderly as Xew ^'ork itself. The agony, it is generally sup- posed, is over, so far as France is concerned. In consef|uence of the troubled state of Hol- land, which I intended lo have visited ne.xt. 1 am inclined to think 1 shall take a trip to Italy in the course of two r)r three weeks, and leave my visit to the land of my ancestors until spring. ** In F.ngland I was delighted. My friends there, particularly the two legal gentlemen en- gaged in the Wallis Estate, were all kindness 211 PETER A. JAY and attention, and, had it not been for the death of a relation, would have joined me in my travels. " In France I have found a great number of American acquaintances, and my vanity has been in no small degree gratified by the atten- tion and, I may add, the retainers of La Fay- ette. All this, however, cannot make me for- get for a moment my relations and friends at home. The further I remove myself from them, the more strongly I become attached to them. Even the strong excitement of a con- stantly occupied curiosity cannot always keep from my mind the feeling of loneliness which, in spite of all my efforts to get the better of it, will at times come over me when I think of some of those I loved in New York, particularly yours and Mr. Clarkson's families. There are no such domestic circles here. One cause is sufficient : there is no religion in Paris. Re- member me to Mrs. Jay, and believe me, " Yours affectionately, "'James I. Roosevelt, Jr." Mr. Roosevelt writes again, this time giving some account of the discussion of the Reform Bill: 212 J. I. KC)( )SI\ !i;|-, JR.. TO MR. JAV " London. Jiil\ i i. 1S31. " .1/ V iU\ir Sir: " \\)uv kiiul Ktltr \\a> n<»i rcccix «.•(! l)y mc until a tew ilays aj;u; it liad made a lour to Rome, tlu'iicc hack to I'ari^. and from I'aris to London. . . . ■' riic discussion, in Conuniticc of llic W hole, on the ' Reform Ihll,' commenced last ni^ht. AllhouL;;h the evening; heftjre. hy the politeness of the Sjjeaker. 1 was admitted on the tloor of the House. 1 thoui^ht it would he rather tres- passing to ask the favor a second lime, es- pecially when so many hetler entitled were ne- cessarily excluded. I. therefore, contented myself with listening to the Lords. (J wing to an exi)ccted sf)arring hetween Lord Lon- donderry and Lord IMunket. the Upper House was unusually crowded. I find these high dignitaries are (piite as disorderly as the Mem- l)crs of a certain Body of which I had once myself the honor of forming a comj)onenl part : and as to the House of Commons, even a very loyal h'nglish gentleman, who sat alongside of mc the previous evening, observed, in reply to my remarks on the aj)parent confusion, that it was in truth a perfect hear-garden. I think PETER A. JAY they act wisely in making little or no provision for the accommodation of spectators. " Wednesday noon : My brother-in-law Mr. Ouseley has just come in. He was in the House of Commons last night. He says they did not adjourn till after seven this morning. The Bill will, no doubt, pass that Body, but its fate in the House of Lords is yet uncertain. Some new Peers are to be created, but some say that seventy will be necessary. Every- thing, externally, is as yet quiet ; no crowds in the streets, nor even in the vicinity of the Par- liament House. Should the Lords, however, reject the Bill, an explosion, I apprehend, is in- evitable. " You may tell the ladies that we were at the celebrated Almack's the other night, but saw nothing very extraordinary, except Dom Pe- dro. A New York Assembly and an Almack's Ball are pretty much alike. " Yours most sincerely, "James L Roosevelt, Jr. "Peter A. Jay, Esq." The University at Cambridge sends Mr. Jay a diploma : 214 n\K\ \Iv'I) WlJ LULLMliiA Dil'l.OMAS " 1 lAia \ui» L'NiVKRsn V. " ( .\.mhkiik;k. Sci)tcinlKT J4, 1^31. "My dear Sir: " I have the honor to transmit a 1 diploma of the (k'j^rcc made inc so licartily asliaincd t)l luy^cll' thai I sil down inuuctlialcly to an- swer ii. N'ou are mistaken abtnil Mrs. Jay's opinion of llie i)ai)er, ihouj^^li I confess llial her un.i^raleful silence jjavc you a very plausiljle reason for sui)i)osing llial il was not lo her ia>te. 1 1 was ))ut up in llie l-'all. and is much admired. She hkes it mucli, and will thank you for it herself as soon as she is able. At present she is sick with a bilious remitliiijL^ fever wiiicii has reduced her to a state of great weakness. We ai)i)rehend no dani^er, but still she is (|uite -ick. though getting better. " Some years ago, our Sui)reme Court being unable lo get through its business, a new court, calletl the Superior Court, was established for this city. Mr. Samuel [ones is Chief Justice, and Mess. J. Ogden IlotTman and T. J. Oakley the other Judges. This Court sits every month, and though it has proved very convenient to the merchants, it is excessively annoying to the lawyers, who have no longer any vacation. Three years ago we entered into an agreement 217 PETER A. JAY to try no causes in August, that we might have one month in the year for relaxation. The first year I went to Niagara and returned through upper Canada, and the next year to Boston. Last summer Mrs. Jay, Sarah and I went to Quebec. Basil Hall's prejudices never ap- peared to me more ridiculous than when I passed through upper Canada. In lower Can- ada the people appeared to me much better off than I expected to find them. There is much faction and discontent in both provinces. I bought a great many of their pamphlets to learn, if I could, something of their politics. On reading them, I could find nothing to occa- sion so much excitement. Their Governors are not always wise, but the policy of the English Government has been conciliatory. The griev- ances of which they complained are petty af- fairs, and I suspect the truth to be that their ambitious men have no other way to distin- guish themselves than by making a figure in the opposition. This very circumstance will prob- ably lead them, sooner or later, to independence. But they have little love for us, and I could dis- cover no desire to be incorporated in our Union. Another cause of dissatisfaction is that the officers of the Army, of whom there are many, 218 \iK' I \>' I<> I 1 I MMURL CUUi'LK ciuciiaiii a .sovereign ctJiitcmpt for the Cana- dians and arc at no pains U) conceal it. " In our domestic politics there is nothinj^ re- niarkal)Ie. ( ieneral Jackson's re-election is con- sidered as nearly certain. It is mooted whether the rejection of Mr. \'an lUiren's appointment will do him more i^ood or harm. 1 incline to the former opinion. I lis i)arti/ans are exerting themselves to make him \ ice- 1 'resident. There is. however, a hitler hostility to him at the South, which renders his success douhlful. In Congress the only (juestion in which the puhlic take much interest is the tariff. The revenue is more than is wanted, and to levy taxes solely to compel the Southerners to huy dear of the Kastern manufacturers what they could huy cheap of Europeans is revoltinir. .\11. ilierc- f(Tre. agree that the duties should l)c reduced, hut they cannot agree in the mode of reducing them; and, unfortunately, the Southern i)eoj)lc are so violent and unreasonahle. and insist ujKin doctrines .so inconsistent with the powers of Congress anci with the I'nion of the States, that they drive from their standarrl very many and very influential persons in the Middle and iCast- ern States who would gladly rally round it. "In Europe a dark cloud is hovering on the 219 PETER A. JAY horizon. When, or where, the storm will break I cannot foresee. But it would be wonderful if the sky should clear up without a storm. A spirit of discontent seems to pervade a great part of that quarter of the world, and it is min- gled with so much rancor and malevolence that I look for its effects with as much fear as hope. The present governments are, I suppose, bad enough; but is there reason to expect that the revolutionary governments which may succeed them will be better? Is it not strange that, from the time of Charlemagne till this day, France was never better governed than under Louis XVIIL and Charles X. ? They did right to dethrone the latter for breaking the charter ; but if they mean to break it themselves and put to sea anew without knowing where they shall land, they may find that they have gained little by the glorious three days. I cannot think that a Republic can stand in France. " Your Dresden letter was very interesting and shows that you possessed no small degree of prescience. " I thank you for your kind offer respecting the wine and for the specimens you promise. I will speak to some of our friends, and we shall probably trouble you to send us some. Your 220 MK. ].\\ r( ) j. ii:.\iM()Ki': coof^hk licallli lias often been driiiik anionj^ us, and I promise you it shall uol i)e !or_i(otlen when every .i,'lass will remind us of you. . . . " \'()ur ' r.ravo * is threat ly admired amonp^ us as well as in lun-oi)e. N'our new novels and your travels will all he looked for anxiously and read with j)leasure. Toor Sir Walter Scott ! his last hook made me sorrowful. I am ^lad to hear such <^ood news of our friend Morse. I helieve he is a worthy man as well as a efood artist. I hear that Greenout^h is to he emj)loyed to make a statue of \\ ashini.^ton. The exhihition of your cherubs has, 1 fear, hrouL^fhl him hut little money. It is surj)risin.e^ how few people here know or care about sculp- ture. ■■ I hear, from others as well as yourself, the most p^ratifyini::;' accounts of the Miss Coopers. . . . " My sisters returned froni Charleston with- out nuich chanj^e in Mrs. I-)anyer's health. . . . She was pleased, as you may suppose, by your kind expressions concerninj^ her. and she and Xancy often talk of you with nuich re.L::ard. In one of your letters you complained of your countrymen. You have really no reason. ^'otIr cr)untrv is jjrnnd of you. and nobody 221 PETER A. JAY seems desirous in the least to lessen your fame —unless, perhaps, some of your brother au- thors who are jealous. They write reviews. But the public read your books and are pleased, and you need not trouble yourself about re- views — you are above them. " I hope that, long before this reaches you, Mrs. Cooper will be restored to health. Be pleased to remember us all most respectfully to her and the young ladies. " Very truly yours, " Peter Augustus Jay. "J. Fenimore Cooper, Esq." The kidnapping of negroes in the city had lately created no little excitement, and Mr. Jay, now President of the Society for the Manumis- sion of Slaves, was invited by the Anti-Slavery Society to co-operate with it to repress these in- iquitous proceedings. Reference should be made here to Mr. Jay's activities as a churchman. In his earlier life he had been a member of Trinity Church and one of its vestrymen. In later years he attended the Church of the Ascension, situated on the north side of Canal Street between Broadway 222 AtTl\ITll-,> .\> (Hl'KCIIMAX and I-lin Slrcct, of which ihc Kcv. Maiiton Masihiini. afterwards I'ishopof Massachusetts, was rector. 1 Icrc also Mr. Jay wiis vestryman. Indeed, tlie estal)hshnient oi lliis church— for it formed a new i)arish — was the resuU, in no small dcL^'^ree. oi the influence exerted hy Mr. jay and hy his relatives and friends, all of wh«>m promoted its success by liberal c«)ntril)U- tions. r»esides his lej^al attainments, a wide prac- tical knowledt^e of affairs made Mr. Jay con- stantly the counsellor of his friends, and IJishop ( )nderdonk fre(|uently consulted him alK)Ut matters pcrtaininq^ to the diocese. He was sent from the Church of the ;\scen- sion as a delcijate to the Diocesan Convention, and hy that body as a Deputy to the General ('onvention. In tlie former convention in iS,^J he was made a Trustee of the General Theo- l«><^rical Senn'nary. of the Protestant Rpiscopal Church in the I'nited States, and also served on a committee to revise the canons of the dio- cese. He was a member of both conventions on several occasions, and took an active part in their deliberations as well as in the work of the committees. 22 ^ PETER A. JAY Towards the end of his life, in 1842, Mr. Jay was again elected to the Vestry of Trinity Church. In the autumn of 1832, New York was for the first time visited by the Asiatic cholera. From June 25 until the middle of September of the same year, there were 5,835 cases in the city, and 2,996 deaths. On the 7th of August Mr. Jay writes to his brother : " I came to town yesterday to attend meet- ings of the trustees of the College and gover- nors of the Hospital and to see to some business of my own. I shall return to Rye to-morrow. Sister's house is safe, and her woman looks the very picture of good health. Her garden is in pretty good order. Mine is completely over- grown with weeds. Dr. Stevens tells me he thinks the cholera is on the decline, and that it will soon be as safe for prudent people to return to the city as to remain in the country. At Philadelphia the disease is spreading rapidly. Though there are fewer people in the street than usual, yet the difiference is much less than I had expected to find it. I have, however, been scarcely out of Broadway, thinking it pru- dent to expose myself to as little risk as pos- sible. Business of all kinds is interrupted, and 224 Till-: \i:\V YORK Ilosri lAL as niuliiuulcs will liavc cxiJcndcd llicir .'ill, there will, I k'.ir. l)c a great deal of .sutlering next winter. W e have enj(n'ed so much prosperity, and ha\e. I I ear, al)U>ed it ^o much, that tliis chastisemeiU may he as useful as it is deserved. Many will despi>c it, l)ut 1 trust that many will lay it to heart. " A writer of this period says: " 1 he conduct of the i^entlenicii of the city in this time of dis- tress was heyond all praise. Ihc New York Hospital, which then ()ccui)ied its beautiful grounds on Broadway between Readc and Duane streets, o|)posite the opcinnL; <»f Tear! Street, was under the management of a board of governors, to belong to which was one of the most esteemed honors of a New Yorker. Daily throughout this season they attended personally to their volumary duties, and 1)\- their stead- fastness greatly encouraged the ^ulTering citi- zens." Mr. jav had been |)resi(lenl of the .\ew N oik Hospital since iSjj; but in the year iS.vv hnd- ing that his avocations were such that he could no longer perform his duty to the Institution with convenience or in a manner satisfactory to himself, lie sent in his resignation to the gov- ernors. Mr. Thomas I^ddy preceded him in 225 PETER A. JAY office as president, and Mr. Jay's successor was Mr. George Newbold. As a member of the board of governors, Mr. Jay had served the hospital since 1809, a period of twenty-four years. Soon after his resignation, Mr. New- bold sent him the letters and resolution which are given below : " New York Hospital, June 8, 1833. " Peter A. Jay, Esq. "Dear Sir: " I have the pleasure to hand you enclosed a copy of a resolution unanimously adopted by the board of governors of the New York Hos- pital at their meeting on Tuesday last, express- ing their thanks for your long and faithful ser- vices as President of the Society, and I have the additional gratification to request in behalf of the board that you will sit for your portrait for the use of the Institution. Permit me, Sir, to express the hope that you will be pleased to favor us by a compliance with this request, and I shall be happy if you will advise me accord- ingly. " I am very respectfully " and sincerely yours, "Geo. Newbold, Pres't. 226 TIIK .\i:\V V( )KK IK )SI'ir.\L "At a iiionihly mcclinj^ <»f the governors of the New NOrk I lospii.il held <»n Tuesday, llic 41I1 day ol juiK'. i'"^.vv it was " Rcsoh'cd, tliat tlic tlianks <»l' tliis lioard l)c presented to Peter A. Jay, ICs(|., tor his loiij^ and laitlil'ul services as President of tlie Society of the Xcw \'ork Hos|)ital. and tlial the Presi- dent communicate tlie same and re(|uest Mr. Jay to sit for lii^ jiortrait for ihe u^e of tliis Institution. " l^.xtract from the minutes of the LC(>vernt)rs. "For RoHKKT |. Ml KUAV, " Secretary. ■' Joii N W. Stkrunc, " Clerk of tlic N. Y. Hospital." **Xi:\v N'ouK. June S, iS^^. " Dear Sir: "I have received your letter enclitsiuL: the resolution of the L;o\ernor^ of the New NOrk Hospital, passed on the 4th inst. P.e pleased to assure them of the sensihility with which I receive this mark of ap|)rol)ation. the sincere rej^ard and esteem which I feel for each of them indivitiually. and my undiminished attachment to tlie excellent Institution over which they preside — and accept, .^ir, my acknowledi^ments PETER A. JAY for the manner in which you have been pleased to communicate their resolution. '' With great respect and regard, " I am, dear Sir, " Your obed't serv't, " Peter Augustus Jay. " Geo. Newbold, Esq." "New York, June ii, 1833. *' Dear Sir: " I am pleased to believe that you will afford the governors of the New York Hospital the opportunity to obtain your portrait for the use of the Institution; and wishing to employ the artist to take it that may be most agreeable to yourself, I will esteem it a favor if you will in- form me who you prefer. " With great regard I am, dear Sir, " Very sincerely yours, " George Newbold. "Peter A. Jay, Esq." The portrait was painted by A. B. Durand, and a copy has lately been made and presented, at its request, to the New York Historical So- ciety. From this picture the plate is taken which appears in this volume. 228 MRS. BANYKR TO MR. j W On accoiiiil ol cniiiiiuR-(l iiuliruTcnl hc.illli and to escape the incleniencv of the chniate at linnR'. .Mrs. IJanver and her sister Miss Ann Jay spent tlie winter of iS^j^ at Santa Cruz. Mrs. P.anycr writes to lu-r l)rotlR-r: " S.wiA Ckiz, January j-^, 1S33. " My rcry dear Hrothcr: " We were truly rejoiced to receive so many letters by the Hucnos Ayrcs and heartily thank one and all of the dear friend-^ who conferred on us the j^reatest i)leasure we can enjoy while absent from them. . . . " \'ou were not forLTotlen. dear brother, at the season t'or mutual L^ratulalioii and kind wishes, which were ai;ain fell. tIioUL,di they could not be ex|)ressed. on your birthday. Lonj^ may your precious life be sj)ared to bless, as you have ever done, all around you; and. finally, mav our belovefl father's wish be ful- filled— to meet all his children in 1 lea\ en. "We are seriously concerned for the fate of the I'liion; thoui^h Carolina cannot do much harm to other States in any other way, it is no small injurv to disturb tin- harmom- of our happy confederacy, and may lead to trouble. I 229 PETER A. JAY sincerely pity the minority in that unhappy State. . . . " The Governor here gives a grand ball next week in honor of the King's birthday. . . . The Governor is a perfect Viceroy, and I am told the Government House vies with the Pal- ace at Copenhagen. Every one wonders that we can decline his invitation to the ball. An in- vitation to one of his subjects is considered as a command; happily, we are Republicans, free and independent. He was so polite as to send his Secretary to say that he would send his car- riage for us. His salary amounts to $50,000 a year. . . . " I am, my very dear brother, " Yours most afTec'y, "M. Banyer. " Peter A. Jay, Esq., "New York." In the spring of 1833, Mr. Jay was appointed by Governor Marcy one of three commissioners from New York State to settle the boundary be- tween New Jersey and New York. The letter of appointment is given below : 230 AS BOUNDARY COMMISSIONER "Albany, March 5. iS^^^^. r.y ail Aci passctl al ihc present session ul llie Lej^islalure il is made my duly to ajjpoint three Commissioners to meet a similar number from the State of New Jersey to settle the con- troversy between that State and New York in relation to the boundary and jurisdiction (A them, riie importance of the duty to be j)er- formed has induced me to consider well the (lualifications which the ( tunniissinners should possess, and to feel a solicitude to select persons who have them in the hit^hest dec^ree. X'arious considerations, to which 1 need not allude, in- duce me to wish that you would consent to act as one of them. 1 olTer you the aj)pointment and shall be q^ratified to learn that you are will- ing to accept it. Mr. lUitler will be one of your associates. I have not fully determined to whom I shall ofTer the other appointment. " T have received information from the Kx- ecutive of Xew Jersey that Mr. Frelini^huysen. now in the I'nitcd States Senate; Mr. b'lmer, now or lately .Vttorney-General of that State; and .Mr. Parker, of Perth .\mboy. h.ive been selected Commissioners for Xew Jersey. 231 PETER A. JAY " I should be pleased to be informed of your determination on this subject at as early a day as it will be convenient for you to make it known to me. " I am, with great respect, " Your obed't serv't, "W. L. Marcy. ''Peter A. Jay, Esq." Mr. Jay replied with the following letter of acceptance : "New York, March 9, 1833. ''Sir: " I have received your letter of the 5th inst., and cannot but be flattered by the offer it con- tains and the manner in which it is conveyed. If you think that I can be useful as one of the Commissioners to meet those of New Jersey, I will accept the appointment. I could not have a colleague more agreeable than Mr. Butler. " I am. Sir, with great respect, " Your very obed't serv't, "Peter Augustus Jay. " Governor Marcy." Henry Seymour was the third commissioner appointed by the Governor. Soon after his ap- 232 AS MOUXDARY COMMISSIONKR poinliiiciU. Mr. ilciijamin !•. Ilulkr wroic U> Mr. Jay in rct^ard to tlic various mailers lo be discussed l)y tlic coiiiinissjon. and concluded l)y sayinp^: " In arranginj.^ ihese delails, we shall very greatly rely on your sui)erior knowledge of what is ilue lo the commerce, health, police and improvemenls of your city, all which are to be carefully considered in tlu- propositions we may submit or receive." After numerous sessions held during the summer of iS^j^. an agreement was made and entered into by the joint connnissioners, on September i6, defining in particular and with the nn'nutesl detail the boundary line between New Jersey and New York, the rights of prop- erly and exclusive jurisdiction of each State, etc. This agreement was confirmed by the Legislatures of the two Stales in b\*l)ruary, 1834. and apjiroved by Act of Congress. June 2S! 1S34. Mr. Sedgwick, having finished his " Memoir of Governor I,i\iiig J. I*I-:XIM()RE COOPER '* N'kw ^"<)ll)o. .111(1 <)Ui;lit ti> l»c .ilmndaiuly iiumc lliank- lul than \vc- arc f<»r ihc blcssinj^s wo receive from a bencticent rrovidence. " Mrs. Jay l)C}^s you lo accept her lliaiik^ lor llie l)eautifiil box you sent her l)y Mr. 'I'horne. She ami all the family hej;^ to be remembered to you. Mrs. L'ctopcr and llie \Muni^ ladies and i^emleman. . . . " \\ lu'U -hall we see " ihc I leadsniati *>l ijeriie " : " rielie\e me. my dear sir. with sincere re- gard. " ^''lll^ friend and servant, " Pktkr Augustus J.\y. "J. F. CooricR, Escj." In the earlier pap^es of this volume Mr. Jay has i^iven us his experiences of travel in boats propelled by steam soon after their introduction on the Hudson. An opportunity now presents itself of learnin*:^ from Mrs. Jay -AUi] Mr. Wil- liam Jay their ex|)eriences of railway travelliu}^ with a locall- slon on ihc Kailzoay. ll is an cxpcdilious inude of travcHini;;. I)iit for i)leasiire I prefer a coach and four on a j^ood turnpike. We set utf in a train of cii^lit cars, each containing seats for ei,i;;hteen i)ers()ns, toj^ctlier witli three heavy haj^j^ai^e-watjons. The monientuin of sucli a mass niovin*^ witli tlie velocity of nearly twenty miles an hour is, indeed, fearful, and your una- voidable rellcctions on the trenRiin the 23d of Scp- tcTiiber, Mr. Peter Jay Munro died. He was, as we have already seen, a former law j)artner of Mr. Jay and his first cousin. Mr. Munro was the only child of Rev. Dr. Harry Munro l)v his wife. Kve Jay. and was l)orn January 10. 1767. At the age of thirteen 24 T PETER A. JAY he was taken by his uncle, Mr. Jay, on the lat- ter's mission to Spain. On his return with Mr. Jay, he studied law in the office of Aaron Burr, subsequently representing Westchester (in 1 8 14-15) in the State Assembly and (in 1821) in the Constitutional Convention. He gained lucrative practice and prominence as a lawyer, but in 1826 paralysis disqualified him for fur- ther active business, and the residue of his life was spent in retirement. His wife was Mar- garet, the third daughter of the Hon. Henry White, of the Governor's Council of New York. Mrs. Henry White was Eve Van Cortlandt, a daughter of Frederick Van Cortlandt and Frances Jay of Yonkers. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Munro— four sons and eight daughters. Henry married Anne Mar- garet Bayley, and he alone of all the sons had issue. Frances married Bishop de Lancey. Harriet became the wife of Augustus Freder- ick Morris (afterwards Van Cortlandt), great- grandson of Frederick Van Cortlandt and Frances Jay. Anne Maria became Mrs. Elias Desbrosses Hunter, and Sarah Jay became Mrs. Asa Whitney. All of Mr. Munro's mar- ried daughters had issue except Mrs. Whitney. Mr. and Mrs. Jay were very hospitable ; their 242 MK^. PKIKR A JAN SOCIAL FUNCTIONS parloiN in llic 1 1 road way house wc-rc conslaiuly filled with friends. Ilieir dinners were func- tions of more tlian u^ual interest. Al sucli times tlie quests liad an <>i»i)ortunity of listening to the hrilliant conversation of manv who had lari^e anil varied experiences and were delii^ht- ful in their way of relatinj^ them. There is a list extant. tlioui^Ii unforiuiialcly without date, which refers to a tlinner i^iven by Mr. jay to which the followiiiL,'' LTcntlemen were invited: The .May.r. Mr. IMniip Hone. .Mr. I'hilip Schuyler. Mr. W ashiiiLjton ir\inL;-. .Mr. Wil- liam jay, Mr. \\ alter Smith of IJaltimore, Mr. J. {''enimore Cooi)er, Mr. Ponaldson. Mr. (ias- ton of North Carolina. Mr. Robert Kay, Com- modore Ridj^ely. Mr. James Lenox. Mr. Jona- than Goodhue. Mr. Peter Schermerhorn. Chan- cellor Kent. Mr. I'eter ( i. Stuyvesant. Mr. (i. M. Wilkins. Mr. Philip \'an Rensselaer. Rev. Dr. \\'ainwri<..,'^ht, Mr. David S. Jones. Mr. Daniel Webster. Mr. Merman Leroy, Mr. W'il- liam P. \ an Rensselaer. Mr. Campbell P. White, Mr. Joseph White <)f P.altimore. Mr. O'Donnell of Paltimore. Mr. Albert (iallatin. Dr. J. Aut^istine Smith. Mr. j. de I'eyster C)^- den. Commodore Chauncey, Mr. Rufiis Prime, Mr. Prinu'. Mr. Gilmore of Haltimore. -M3 PETER A. JAY Records also exist of another dinner at which Mr. Jay had for his guests all the bishops com- prising the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church, then in session in the city; and from numerous other records in the same note-book, all without dates, are lists of names of the persons present at dinners, balls and evening parties. We give but one other list — these were the guests at a tea-party: Mr. Clem- ent Moore, Rev. Dr. Bethune, General Robert White, Mr. Robert Emmet, Mr. Theodore Sedgwick, Mr. and Mrs. Charles King and daughters, Mr. William P. Van Rensselaer, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Wainwright, Mr. J. Laurie, Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt, Messrs. de Peyster, Mr. D. J. Costar, Colonel Trumbull, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lenox, Messrs. Hamersley, Chan- cellor and Mrs. Kent, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Gracie, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Berrian, Mr. Meri- deth, Mr. and Mrs. W. Beach Lawrence, Dr. and Mrs. Delafield, Colonel and Mrs. Fish, Misses Livingston, Mr. Philip Schuyler, Miss Huger, Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson, Mr. and Mrs. James P. Van Home, Bishop and Mrs. Onder- donk, Mr. S. F. B. Morse, Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Wilkins, Mr. Kemble, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris, Messrs. Coit, Mr. Stephen C. Williams, 244 DKATH OF MRS. I'KIMK Mr. and Mr>. Jacob Lcioy, .Miss Douglass. Mr. aiul Mrs. I'ctcr ScluTmcrhorn, Mr. and .\irs. William Sc-toii. .Mi-. Ilamiiinii I'ish. Miss Hd- j^ar. Mr. Xcwlxild. Dr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mr. and Mrs. James Kinj;. Mr. and Mrs. iiard. Messrs. Kutherl'urd. Mr. and Mrs. Ledyard. Misses de Lancey. Mr. Uowdoin. l\t\. 1 )r. Muhlenl)erJ.^^ Mr. William Dawsnn, .\lr. and Mrs. Henry Laij^hl. Mr. and Mrs. Ileyward. Mr. Ulis, Dr. J. Augustine Smith and (lanj.^h- ter, Mr. Corhin. Dr. Wilkes. The list comi)rises, besides other members of the above families, members also of the fami- lies following: The C"«)nstables. .Mc\ ickars. Joneses, I>a- kcrs, Roj^^er.ses, F'almers. (arys. .Monti^^omerys, Primes, i^hihpses. Kearne\s, W atises, Thomp- sons. Cuttini^s, Wilsons, Davises. Callenders, Crugers, W'ellses, Posts, Piersons, llotVmans, Goelets, Fords, Hayleys. Lows, Dorrs, Stough- tons. Baldwins. \"an WaLTcnens. W inlhrops. P.runells, Oppenheimers. The death of Mrs. Prime, which (»ccurred on September 9, i}^35, at her husband's residence. Hell Gate, was the first death in the home cir- cle, and a severe affliction. When Mary was only thirteen, Mrs. P>anyer wrote to her bro- -45 PETER A. JAY ther : " Your daughter Mary, as Papa often says, ' is one of a thousand.' If her principles and good sense were not equal to her beauty and accomplishments, I should almost tremble for her ; but I delight to contemplate the loveli- ness of her person and the endowments of her mind deriving increased lustre from her virtue and piety." These qualities were still further developed in her womanhood, making her a great favorite in society. Mrs. Jay, already feeble in health, never re- covered from the sorrow which the death of her daughter produced ; and, indeed, it was thought that this sorrow tended to increase her feeble- ness and, perhaps, to accelerate the pulmonary trouble with which she was threatened. Mr. Jay, in a letter to his sister, Mrs. Banyer, said: " There is no love so strong as a mother's, and my wife suffers more than any one else " ; then he adds: "We have infinite cause for thanks- giving, and though we cannot but feel the smart, it would be impious to murmur." December of this year (1835) was one of the coldest known for many years. On the six- teenth day of the month occurred a fire which for its extent and destructiveness will ever be memorable in the annals of the city. All the 246 gri-:at fire in nkw ycjkk lower puriioii of New \ Ork was cnvclopctl in flames. Six liuiulrcd and fifty l)uiklings, in- volving a loss of ciglUccn millions of dollars, were destroyed before the conflagration could he arrested. All business was paralyzed, in- surance companies could not meet their obliga- tions, and in ilie next year the banks suspended specie payments. The effect of this calamity was felt in l)usiness circles for many years. Every family shared more or less in the losses which this ruin had created, yet two pro- jected marriages in .Mr. Jay's family UK)k place notwithstanding. ( )n the day after the out- break of the fire (December 17. 1S35). Cath- erine I lelena was married to 1 )r. i lenry A. Du Bois; and two months later. I'ebruary 11. 1S36. her sister Sarah married William Daw.son. Mr. [ay had now made the house at Rye his summer residence for many years, and under his direction and the taste of his wife the place had l)een greatly improved. Its farm-like character had given way to great rural beauty; fences were removed and haw-haw;, when nec- essary, were substitiUed for them; fields of grain or stubble, under the skilful hand of the gardener, were succeeded by a lawn of luxu- riant verdure, undidating .and reaching to the 247 PETER A. JAY water's edge. To produce a pleasing land- scape, trees of various kinds were planted, be- tween which glimpses could be had of the Sound and the shores beyond. The house itself had undergone but little change — it was still a long, low building of two stories with its gables and chimneys; its rooms were numerous, but small, and the ceilings low. The house and the piazza on the eastern front were eighty feet in length ; it was a picturesque, but not an impos- ing structure. There were two doors of en- trance, one on the east side and the other on the west; each was divided into two parts — the upper part could be opened while the lower part remained closed. The sitting-room was in the north end of the house, having three windows opening towards the Sound and one towards the road. In this room some of the family with their guests were constantly gathered, for the house was nearly always full of company ; and during those drear and anxious days of the cholera season in New York, in 1832, a little paper known as "The Rye Budget" was im- provised by the guests, which contained, in prose and verse, comic and tragic, the inspira- tion of young and old, and to which Mr. Jay himself was an occasional contributor. 248 MK. JAN' ro MRS. IJANYER Already plans were hcin^ considered and arranj^enienls inakin.i^ for reniovinj^ llie <>ld house and hnildin^ a new one on the same site. Tlie plan |)r()posed was a si met n re of wood having a front of ahoul eij^hly feel, with a pro- ject in.i^ l)orlict) supi)orted hy columns on the side nearest to the approach from the road, and a spacious veranda on the Sound side. Iliis plan was finally ad7. '■ My dear Sister: "... The commercial emharrassmcnls are Pffcater than 1 have ever known them. Many who have s|)eculated in land will he ruined. The credit of merchants has suffered, and much alarm prevails. . . . A son of Lady Hayes has arrived here, hut 1 have not yet seen him. . . . Our last accounts fr<^m I'Vederick (Prime) arc of the Qtli I'ehruary lie was then at Rome, hut meant soon lo Ka\i- it, and -MO PETER A. JAY expected to be in England in April or May, where I hope he will find you out and see you. His health and spirits have improved. ... I am surprised to hear that Mr. Wilberforce's sons are very High Churchmen. It has ap- peared to me, for many years, that the English High Church clergy were undermining the foundations of their own Church. Instead of adapting the Establishment to the altered cir- cumstances of the country, they have, to every ancient regulation and even to every abuse, taken pains to irritate the dissenters, who al- ready form a large number of the nation, and who, if different measures are not pursued, will become the majority. While the population of the Kingdom has doubled, the number of churches has scarcely been increased. A Pres- byterian may erect a Meeting House and col- lect a congregation at pleasure, but a clergy- man of the Church may do nothing of the kind. Neither can a new parish be established, un- less with the greatest difficulty, lest the tithes of the actual Rector should be diminished; so that a large portion of the people are excluded from the churches and must go to Meeting or not worship at all. If they prefer the former, they are railed at as schismatics. The right of 250 M:\\' llOl'SK AT RYK I-TNISHKD l)alrona{^c <>r of ai)|>(iiinin^^ Ministers lOr dis- tant con^rejifations is openly sold and is lK)ught as a i)n»visi()ii for youiii^cr sons. ( )\ course, improper jjcrsoiis are often intro(lucelii[) rolled excessively. ^ )n the iSih of October we lost our tnrclopniasl. which wriil over the side, and in its tall broke olV the head of the fore- mast and the head of the niaintoj)niasl. A jury topmast was j^ot up in a couj)le of days, but we could not afterwards carry topj^allant sails." riu- city of I'^mchal had no harbor — not even a wharf or (|uay. The ship lay half a mile from the shore, and a landiuL;- had to be made in a small boat throuq^h the surf which broke ui)on a pebbly beach. " Mrs. Jay was lowered into the boat in a chair swuni:;" on the yard- arm." continued Mr. Jay. "When we ap- proached the shore the boat was turiuul round and pushed sic-rn foremost throui^h the surf. and then the boatmen. iumpiiiL; <»iit. drew her a little way on the beach. A roj)e was instantly fastened to the stern, bv which a yoke of oxen that were held l)y oilier niemhers of ihe faiiiiiy; he was therefore, as he writes, lookiiii^ forward to the result with much anx- iety. After all was over, he wrote to his wife's uncle. Mr. kiitherfurd: " My fears that the ex- periment had been made in \ain have been veri- fied." The i.ivinj^stons were neii^hbors of the Jays at Funchal. Matilda Livini^ston's health failed to improve, and. like Mrs. Jay, she did not live to go home. An immediate retiHMi to Xew ^'ork proved inijjracticahle. Mrs. 1 )u liois had just c^iven hirth to a son. and there was no vessel to facili- tate the home trij). Mr. Jay. moreover, was not well. During- the four months and upwards of the residence of the family at Funchal they found the climate pleasant. Of the common people Mr. Jay writes: "They were remarkably civil and even ceremonious to one another, as well as to their superiors. They had received no education, and could neither write nor read. They were a p^ood-huniored, lijjht-hearted race. We heard of no murders, or robberies, or riots, or f)fFenccs accoiupanied with violence. lUit 255 PETER A. JAY cheating- and lying are so much matters of ccnn-so that tlicir detection occasions no shame. The cahins of the i)casants were about ten or twelve feet sc[uare. The walls w'ere of stone, without mortar, six feet high, and thatched. They have no chimneys, and often no windows, and the floor was of earth. They were dirty within, but the ground around them was kept neat and almost always contained flow^ers." Mr. Jay thought "the Romish religion had become imbecile; no one seemed to care any- thing about it; even its forms were not ob- served. There was no preaching in the churches, except on particular occasions. No jealousy of the Protestant religion seemed to exist, nor any curiosity about it." When he ap- plied for seats in the English chapel, he was re- ferred to a Roman Catholic, who w^ent wnth him to the church, showed him the vacant seats, and agreed with him for the rent. The sexton was a Roman Catholic. The government collected the tithes and undertook to support the clergy, but they were wretchedly paid. Many churches were closed, but open churches were very nu- merous, some of them large, but none hand- some. Of the island Mr. Jay wrote, describing the "-'56 HIS uicsckii'iiox ' '!■ ^i.\i)i:iK.\ ascent of one of llic numnlaiu.^; ' 1 said llial we saw the sea, l)iit in irutli wc looked down on white, tleecy clouds which covered the sea, un- less where an occasional opening allowed us to perceive the dark waters of the ocean. Over our heads the sky was perfectly clear, and of a light, deep hlue. We were 5500 feel above the sea. The clouds I have mentioned filled the bot- toms of the ravines and the (urral into which we looked down. The prospect was irre}.;:ular and errand. We were now in the centre of what seems to have been the princii)al theatre of the convulsions and fiery eruptions by wliich this island has prol)al)ly been formed, and were im- pressed with the astonishiiiL^ power of the tre- mendous aq^ents which had ])een at work. The rent and shattered mountains cloven by abysses, api)arently lx)ttomless. the rocks cracked and the earth parched by fire, larp^e tracts sunk down and peaks thrust up thousanrls of feet into the air. reminded one of that day when the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The scene of itself was excecdin.c:ly p^rand. and by the ideas which it su^^pjested became sublime and even awful." The island, only thirty-two miles hmij;, is an irre^ilar mass of mountains divifled by im- 257 PETER A. JAY mensely deep and precipitous ravines. It is traversed by zigzag roads, making easier ap- proaches to distant places practicable, though requiring much time in accomplishment. The time at length arrived for a vessel to sail, and the Jays, accompanied by the Livingstons, embarked on the Mexican on March i6, 1839, and arrived at New York after an uneventful voyage of thirty-six days. Hearing of his brother's arrival, Mr. Wil- liam Jay writes : "Bedford, April 24, 1839. ''Dear Peter: "A letter from Augusta received last even- ing informed me of your arrival. I shall hasten to town as soon as possible to see you. " You return with many painful recollections, but you have also many present blessings, and there are many, I trust, still in reserve for you. Your trial has been great, and so also has been your consolation. " I am, dear Peter, " Your very affectionate Brother, " William Jay. " Peter A. Jay, Esq." 258 MR. \.\\ li) JLUGI-, JUNES Mr. Jay was at tliis lime in Xcw N'ork. as we sec by llie l\)llo\\ iiij^ leller, but was j)rei)arinf^ to go into the country. He is writinjj^ to liis old and uinch valued friend, judi^e Jones, bcgj^inj^ liini and Mrs. Jones to make him a visit at Kye. Mr. Jones was a man of i)ure and lofty feelini(, of refined character, and of warm, t^cnerous affections. Mrs. Jones was the eldest dauj^^iitcr of I )e Will Clinton. *' Ni-:\v York. May 30. 1S30. " Dear Jones: "... 1 don"l know when 1 shall be able to comply with your kind invitation. 1 have not yet been to see my brother. Xexl week my chil- dren will all be collected around me at Rye, and I meant, as soon as we were settled there, to entreat you and Mrs. Jones to pass some lime with us. As soon as possible after next week do come. Alas ! she for whose sake, principally. I have been buiklinj.:;; and iinprovins^^, and who would have delighted to welcome you both,— and in her you have lost a sincere friend. — is not there. I'ul my daughters will endeavor to make it agreeable to you. I take a melancholy pleasure in recollecting an excursion to Mon- 259 PETER A. JAY tauk. Happy is it that we cannot penetrate the future. How it would have poisoned my enjoy- ment if I had then foreseen that in a few months I should behold the commencement of that disease which was to prove so fatal ! But I shall not trouble you with my unavailing re- grets. As my old friends drop off, I value the more those w^ho remain ; for new acquaintances, however estimable, cannot supply the places of those who were the companions of our youth. When I observe how few of these survive, I am reminded of an observation in one of my father's letters, that ' as we are here mere birds of passage, this is not the place to build our nests.' But I won't preach. Come and see me, and you shall find that I can still be a cheerful companion. " I am sorry to hear that Mrs. Jones has been indisposed. T trust that her health is now re- stored. Remember me to her very respectfully, and believe me, dear Jones, " Very sincerely your friend, " Peter Augustus Jay. " D. S. Jones, Esq." Mr. Jay returned to the city from Rye for the winter. He was broken in spirit, but resumed 260 MK. J.\\ H ) Jl I )(.!•: JONKS lii.s law practice-, and anionj^ oilier avocations took up his duties as Cliairniau of the Board of Trustees of Colunil^ia College and as Trustee of the (leneral Theological Seminary. Ant)ther letter to his friend Judi^a- Jones. Iiowever. intimated that the jjursuit of his pro- fession would prohahly not he of very lonj^ con- tinuance: ** New ^'oRK. December 3. 1S39. "Dear .hmcs: " I lia\e received \»tur letter of the J9th ulto. ... I have nt)t yet decided to i^ive uj) my oflice, and think 1 shall keej) it another year. "The times are indeed out of joint. . . . Should \nii return to your profession, you nuisl not be disapj)ointed or discouraged if you tnid it less profitable than formerly. lUisiness aban- doned, like water spilt, is very diflicult toji^ather again. However. I cannot but think that com- mercial affairs will, in the course of another year, assume a better aspect, that money will be more plenty, and that the value of property will airain increase. \\\]\ Stale, county, nr town. " I he \\ liij^s, whose hfMid <»i ninon has been a common enemy, will |)r<)l)ahly (hvide, and what measures will he pursued cannot he fore- seen. rerhaj)s to do nothinij; will he more cx|)e- ditious than anything else ; the dread of innerva- tions and the iniixjssibility of calculating.;; their effects has liad a most pernicious influence on all husiness. Let peoi)le alone, and thinj.;s will gradually recover. Unhaj)j)ily we have no statesmen in whom imich confidence can he placed. " I .am. dear W'il'iam, " \'our most afTectionale hrolher, *' Pkter Augustus Jay. ■■ \\'lI.l.I.\M I AY. h'sfj. ■' I'edf'ird." General Harrison remained in office just one moiuh. his death occurring on April 4, 1S41. Mr. Jay was invited by the committee of ar- rangements to be one of tlie twenty-six pall- l)earers. a number chosen to correspond with tlie number of States in the l^nion. Tt nnist not be forgotten that at this period great excitement prevailed throughout the 265 PETER A. JAY country relating to a dissension which had lately arisen about the boundary-line between the State of Maine and the British province of New Brunswick, commonly known as " the Northeastern Boundary question." The sub- ject, agitated for a long time, threatened dan- ger to the peaceful relations which subsisted be- tween the United States and Great Britain. Eventually it was settled by a treaty dated Au- gust 20, 1842. The negotiations were con- ducted at Washington by Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State for the United States, and by Lord Ashburton for Great Britain. The letter which follows takes its color from the times in which it was written; it was ad- dressed by Mr. Jay to his cousin, formerly Captain, now Admiral, White of the Royal Navy: "New York, March 8, 1841. ''My dear Sir: "... I hope, as you do, that peace will be preserved between our countries; and it is so much the interest of both that I cannot yet be- lieve that it will be disturbed. One regiment would, in one year, cost as much as the whole value of the land in dispute on our north-east- 266 MK. ]\\ Ti) ADMIRAL W H 1 li:. K. N. crn I'ronlicr. lly-ilK- liyr. I jicrccivc tiial llic Knglish i)a|)crs take for ^ranlcd llial <»ur claim is uiijusl and frauduk-nl. This is certainly not so. I have in my jxxssession a larj^e map, for- merly helonj^in.i^ to my father, which was used by the Ministers who si.Lcned the Treaty of Peace, on which llu- r.<»iin(lary Line, as marked by Mr. Oswald, the Jhitisit Minister, is laid down exactlv in accordance with the American claim. "As to the business of the Caroline, both parties are in tiie wroni;". When our j)eoplc committed hostile acts on your side of the line, you hani^ed or transjiorted them, and we did not complain. Xow you threaten us with war for imilaiin:^ your example. If the ofticers of Don Carlos had attacked and destroyed, in an Knijlish harbor, a transport havinq; on board Colonel ICvans and his trooi)s, avowedly i^oinj^ to assist his enemies, w hat would your Ciovern- nient have said? . . . " That you may lon^^ enjoy health anlc'ncc ui lil'ly ycar> and ni)\var(ls, was in 1S53 dissolved by an Act <•! ilic Legis- latnrc. This year ( 1S41 ). on llic i.sl oi 1 ->fccinl)cr, tlic lionsc in Uroadway was made cheer fnl by the niarriaj^e of anollier dan^hier of Mr. Jay — Anna Maria — to I Icnry ICvelyn I'icrrcixtni. Mr. jay had now nearly attained his sixty- sixlli year. ( )f eiL,dit children only three re- niainctl at home with him, and these were the younp^est, — all the others havinj^ married. Af- ter his death. I'eler Au,ti^nstus married Miss Josej)hine Pearson, and Susan Matilda married Matthew C'larkson. IClizaheth remained un- married. All his children survived him hut his eldest daut^hter. .Mr--. I 'rime, whose death has already been recorded. Occasionally durinj^" the summer. Mi-, jay, with his daui^hters, would take a trij» to Sara- totja Sprinpi-s. Philadel|)hia. or elsewhere. Fre- quently he would exchane^e visits with Judj^e Jones, whose home was at Massapecjua. l>on,c^ Island. In the '^prinp^ of 1842, takini^ with him I'llizal)eth, he went to Xewton Falls. ( )hio, to visit his dauj^hter Helen I )u \\<>\<. 269 PETER A. JAY On his return, he writes to his brother Wil- Ham : " New York, May 7, 1842. "Dear William: " I have made a visit to Helen, going by- way of Buffalo and Lake Erie and return- ing through Pennsylvania. I found Dr. Du Bois very much improved in health, and Helen better than when she went to Ohio, though still weak and troubled with pain in her chest. "The State of Ohio is more improved than I expected. It is full of flourishing villages, and the soil, so far as I saw it, is excellent. " The State of Pennsylvania, south of the mountains, is also very fertile and extremely well cultivated. North of the Alleghanies and all through Ohio there is an abundance of bitu- minous coal of excellent quality. It can usu- ally be purchased at the pits for five cents the bushel, and is in very general use even where the trees are burned upon the ground to get rid of them. But in both States they are suffering for want of currency. The banks have re- 270 MK. j \V K ) HIS HROTHKR sumccl >i)ccic i)aymcnl>. Inil ha\c withdrawn their hills from circulation, so thai scarcely any money can he ohtained except the notes of non-specie hanks in Indiana and other States where there has heen no resumi>tion and which are at a j^reat discount. I had no ditliculty in passini^ New York money, and ihoHL^h 1 took ^old with me. l>roUL;ht almost all ot it hack. "Mr. (iiildini^s was a day and a ni.^hl in a canal-hoat with me on his return to Cone^ress. His election took i)lace while I was at Xewton Falls. There was no excitement; the election was over in one day. and was very {[uiet. The constituents are nearly all opi)oscd to slavery and Southern j)olicy. ]'(nt are (|uite popular there. . . . "The journey has improved my health, which tor the past six months has heen very indilTerent. A month later it would have heen more aj^reeahle. 1 made it earlier in order to have the company of 1'. IViiiie. who went with me to the Doctor's, hut K-ft u-^ there. "The Pennsylvania Canal. I am satisfied, cannot rival ours. Nevertheless, their line of Canals and Railroads is a j^reat work, hut w ill 271 PETER A. JAY never, I think, pay interest on the money it cost. " Our love to all your family. '' I am, dear William, " Your affectionate brother, " Peter Augustus Jay. " William Jay, Esq., " Bedford." Ten days after the Ashburton Treaty had been signed, a public dinner was given to Lord Ashburton in New York, at which Mr. Jay pre- sided. The invitation to preside was tendered to him by letter and in person: " New York, August 25, 1842. "Dear Sir: " The undersigned, a committee of arrange- ments, request, as a favor, that you will consent to preside at the public dinner to be given to Lord Ashburton on the ist of September. "We will not, and do not, anticipate a re- fusal. At the same time, we may be allowed to say that there appears to us a peculiar fitness in having the son of that Revolutionary father who signed the first Treaty with Great Britain 272 -r% ASHBURTON DINMIK CORRESPONDENCE aiUT uur ln(lf]i. " Lortl Ashhurton, on rising to speak, was re- ceived with great applause, hi a felicitous way he referred to tlie occupant of the cliair as " the immediate descendant of a man whose name, as long as honor or virtue or |)alriolism is prized, will he forever venerated. 1 mean," he said, '■ -Mr. j.iy, wh«> in his day was eminently successful in his mission of peace and concilia- tion, — a mission, now closed, having the same objects in view, being lately entrusted to me." l.nnl AsliburiiMi dwell on the early i)arl i>\ his Hfe, speiu in commercial jnirsuits, and said he had hoped to spend the remainder of it in that quiet and peace which a life of industry had secured for him; but when an opi)ortunity of- fered In keep in harmony two great countries on the verge of hostilities, this object |)recluded all thoughts of jiersonal comfort. Again al- luding to the elder Jay. he added that the task allotted to him was a more arduous task, under- taken as it was under circumstances which ren- dered the voice of a messenger of peace difhcult 275 PETER A. JAY to be heard ; yet, nevertheless, he supported the independence of his country, and at the same time kept it aloof from the great war which was then raging in Europe. In concluding, Lord Ashburton desired to express his homage to that great man, Mr. Webster, who was so largely instrumental in the settlement of the difficulties. The next toast was " Daniel Webster," Mr. Webster being ill and unable to be present. The toast was responded to by the Hon. David E. Evans. The giant intellect and noble patri- otism of the Secretary of State was Mr. Evans's theme. Other toasts were responded to by Philip Hone, Commodore Perry, James de Peyster Ogden, General Tallmadge, James W. Gerard, Lord John Hay, Robert H. Morris, Mayor of New York, and Thomas C. Grattan. A letter of regret from John Quincy Adams was read, and after a few remarks by Lord Ashburton expressing the great pleasure he had experienced during the day and evening, the meeting adjourned at twelve o'clock. Lord Ashburton (formerly Mr. Alexander Baring) was at that time senior member of the great banking house of Baring Brothers and 276 NKW \<>In. Mr. Joshua r.alcs of Massacluisclls was also a proiiiincnl mciuher of the firni. I-or«l Aslilmrton received many ci\ihiic> in ihi^ coiiniry. wliidi no douhl liclped to hL;lUfn \\\v la>k that occupied him. In tlie year iS(j5 ilie New N'ork Historical Society was incorporated, with l\L;heri Benson as its first President. Occupyini,^ this oflice. a ^ have loved eacli other have been kej)! asunder by prejudices which, in truth, owed tlieir origin to ignorance. . . . ■ I )o any refuse to join us because we (hfTcr t"rom them in tlie interpretation of tlie Scrij)- tures? Let them remember th.it we distribute those Scriptures without any interpretation. Is it right to make known the Word of God? 'I'hen let them assist ns in doing so. Are we friends or enemies? If friends, why refuse to do good in our company? Are we enemies? Then are liiey not commanded to do i^ood to us/ And if so. will they refuse to do good with usf " It has been seen that Mr. j.iy was averse to holding political office, and only yielded at times in that respect out of deference to his friends. To one as closely associated as he was with the leaders of the Federalists, the de- cline of that parly in the beginning of the cen- tury and the subsec|uent bitter partizan strifes rendered political activity distasteful to him. Although preferring the (piieter jiursuits of his PETER A. JAY profession, he occasionally did throw himself into the political whirl, and then, as Judge Wil- liam W. Van Ness once said in speaking of his bearing in the legislative debates, " he was his father all over again." In the Constitutional Convention of 1821 Mr. Jay displayed great restraint and consist- ency of character. It may, indeed, be said that " there were giants in the convention in those days," and no more difficult task was per- formed than that of the unswerving minority in that body, of whom, with Chancellor Kent and Chief Justice Spencer, Mr. Jay made one in preventing the " ancient landmarks " of the Constitution from being swept away. But it is not our purpose to review here the achievements of a life spent in the service of State, of Church and of Humanity. No higher tribute to Mr. Jay's character could be paid than that by the Hon. Benjamin D. Silliman when, advanced in years and having earned the title of "Nestor of the Bar," he said of Mr. Jay: " In the nearly sixty years that I have been at the bar, no man has had a more exalted standing. His great learning and strength of intellect, his masterly reasoning, his wisdom 284 MRS. [{ANYER AND MISS JAY .111(1 liis i)rc'-cniitu'nt niDral excellence, combined with his ini; rained ihoroni^h refmenienl and diL,niily as a j^enllenian, made him a very marked and remarkahle jurist and member of society. In every ([uestion of ethics or moral rij^hl hi> word was law. I believe that his ar- i^mnents and written (»|)ini()ns were marked not onlv by threat lei^al erudition and lo<^ical |)ower, l)Ut by broad and rare j.;^eneral learninj^. illus- trating^ the history of the law involved in the case and its ai)i)lication to the (|uestions in- volved. Such was the character of his opinions which I have read." Mr. Jay'.s two sisters, Mrs, Banyer and Miss .\iin |a\-. and his brother William survived him. " The sisters were widely known and as widely honored. They were so much one in all their fcclinp^s and efforts, their two lives so blended and flowed on to«.;;ether. that what we mij.:;ht say concernintj each would be true of both" — so wrote the Rev. Or. Cooke of St. Bartholomew's, then in La I'ayette l^lace, tlie church which the sisters attended. In a memo rial sermon Dr. Cooke added : " They were not, however, entirely alike; and if as Christians we PETER A. JAY were to compare them, for the sake of gaining a nearer view of their characters, with any of the saints whose Hves are famihar to us, we sliould say that the one first called [Ann Jay] had more the characteristics of St, Paul, and the other [Mrs. Banyer] of St. John. Both were noble witnesses for Christ, and the world is darker now that their lights are quenched. Thus lived, and thus almost together died, these two sisters." Miss Ann Jay's death occurred on Thursday, November 13, 1856, and Mrs. Banyer died on Friday of the next week. William Jay was a stanch champion of the cause of negro emancipation ; his name is indis- solubly connected with it. He was also very active in the promotion of many other public and worthy interests, being a lifelong worker in the cause of temperance, and for a number of years a member and President of the Peace Society. " His philanthropy," says his biogra- pher, " was religious in its motive and practical in its activity." Quoting from a letter of Bishop Coxe, who was a frequent visitor at Bedford in his youth, the same authority writes : " There was much of the Huguenot in the piety of the Judge, but nothing of the Puri- 286 jrnci-: wii.ijam jav t;m. I k- was little seen. !)iil greatly felt." I'or more llian l\\ enty-fivc years lie exercised the duties of jiul.i;e of Westchester County. Marly in life Mr. Jay married Auj^usta, daughter of |<»hn McX'ickar. a merchant of New York. "She li\e(l to he Ikt hushand's sympathetic conii)anion," writes Mr. luckerman. the hiog- rapher. " imlil 1X5^. when he himself was near his end. Her accomplishments added much to the happiness of jay's life." *' I ler sweet sim- ])licity and dignity." said the late T.ishop Pot- ter, "hespoke a peaceful and elevated spirit, and made an impression on the most transient visitor never to he effaced." Judge Jay died at Bedford, ( )ctol)er 14. 1S5S. I'eter A. |a\ had for many years heen con- nected with the Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergymen, etc. As Treasurer of this Society, and to protect its property, he made a journey to Schenectady in midwinter. The cold was intense, and when it is rememhered that the conveniences and i)ro- lection from the weather which now attend travelling did not then exist, it will he .seen that the discomforts must have been great. After an ab.sence of eight days. Mr. Jay returned to the citv, apparentlv well, though owning to fa- PETER A. JAY tigue. He met, at a dinner given by Mr. Stuy- vesant, many of his friends. On Wednesday, the 15th of February, while writing in his h- brary, a chill came, which was followed by an- other chill on the next day. He refused to see a doctor until Friday. Dr. Watts was then sent for, and other medical aid afterwards se- cured. On Saturday he remained in bed. On Sunday he realized his illness, seeming to un- derstand perfectly his condition and the treat- ment of the doctors. His breathing was la- bored and occasioned much suffering, and he asked his daughter Eliza to pray for him. The disease — pneumonia — now made rapid prog- ress. On Monday his strength began to fail. In the afternoon his children gathered around the bed and asked him to say something to them, for he was apparently in possession of all his faculties. With great difficulty, owing to his labored breathing, he replied, " I cannot say much," and after an interval he added, " My children, read your Bible and believe it." A lethargic sleep followed. Later he awoke, sent a kiss to his daughter Helen (Mrs. Du Bois), recognized his sisters, Mrs. Banyer and Miss Ann Jay, and his brother-in-law, Mr. Goodhue, but did not speak again. The Rev. Mr. Balch offered a prayer. Mr. Jay seemed to DFCATH OF I'KTKR A. J \V be lislcnini;; wiili tlio ci()n oi llie prayer, his brcatliiii}^ died ini|)ercei)tibly away. \\\> dealli Mciin Tfd al lii> residence, No. 398 liroadway, on Monday, l-'ebrnary 20, 1843, in llie sixty-eij^htli year of his a^e. I lie inneral >er\ iee> were held in Si. Jolni's Chapel. St. John's Park, nn iIr- aflerncxin of the J2i\, and the hnrial took place on the next day in the Jay cemetery at Rye. The remains were |)laced in a j^rave next to that of Mrs. Jay. .\n obelisk n\ white marble restini^ on a stone base, which .Mr. Jay caused to be erected on the occasion of his wife's death, now bears the following;" commemorative in- scriptions : HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF M.\RV RrTHERFURD J.W. PETER .AUGUSTUS JAY. SHE WAS BORN JULY 2. 1786, AND DIED BELOVED, HONORED AND LA.MENTED AND VOID OF FEAR. DECE.MUER 24, 1 838. AT FUNCHAL IN THE ISLAND «»F MAI>KIRA. 289 PETER A. JAY HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF PETER AUGUSTUS JAY, ELDEST SON OF JOHN JAY, BORN JANUARY 24, 1 776, DIED FEBRUARY 20, 1 843. HE DIED AS HE HAD LIVED, AN HUMBLE, DEVOTED AND CONSISTENT CHRISTIAN. HIS LATEST WORDS WERE, " MY CHILDREN, READ THE BIBLE AND BELIEVE IT." Peter Augustus Jay had many friends, and the pubHc announcement of his death carried with it much sorrow^. The press with great unanimity extolled his virtues and regretted the loss the community would suffer in his decease. The law courts immediately adjourned after appropriate remarks by the judges. The proceedings at the Court of General Ses- sions, over which Mr. Jay had formerly pre- sided as Recorder, were concluded with re- marks on the death of Mr. Jay by James R. Whiting, District Attorney of New York, who offered the following resolutions: 290 RESOLUTIONS ON 11 IS l)i:.\lli ■ Kcsoh'Cii, Thai lliis Couri liavc licanl with nn ordiiiar) t'ccliIl^^s of regret of the decease of Peter A. Jay, so lon_t( known as one of those oc- cujninj^ the first rank in the ic.nal profession. " KcsolzcJ, That Mr. Jays distinj^uished po- sition durinjj the early periods of our national and State existence, his upriL^htness and integ- rity in private life, his ac(|uircnicnls as a scholar, and his lont^ continuance with honor and credit in the field of puhlic service and as presidini:;' Judi^e of thi> (niinty. demand from the Court the expression of their regret for iiis death, their synij)athy with his survivini,'^ rela- tives and their resi)ect for his memory. " Resolved, That the Clerk enter these reso- lutions on tlu- minutes of this Court, and trans- mit a coj>y, duly authenticated, to the family of the deceased." At the opening of the Superior Court. Chief- Justice Jones addressed the Court as follows: " U|xni the amiouncement of the death of our estimahle friend and brother. IVter A. Jay, I cannot forbear to exj)ress my deep sense of the loss we have sustained in his decease. I have known him most intimately from the ear- liest fieriod of life, and from that jicriod to the -'91 PETER A. JAY lamented hour of his decease I have ever loved and respected him. The name of Peter A. Jay has ever been associated with all that was lofty and honorable. He was among the most tal- ented, high-minded and purest of men, and one of the most distinguished members of the Bar. He commanded through life the respect, esteem and high regard of all who knew him. He was the lawyer, the scholar and the gentleman." A meeting of the Bar was called at the Su- perior Court room on the morning of the 226. of February. A large attendance was present and Ex-Chancellor Kent presided. After a few appropriate and eloquent remarks by the Hon. David B. Ogden, the following resolu- tions were offered : " Resolved, That we receive with deep regret the communication of the death of our la- mented friend and brother, Peter A. Jay, long an esteemed and distinguished member of the New York Bar, and one of its brightest orna- ments. ''Resolved, That the members of the New York Bar, in common with their fellow citizens, feel that by this melancholy event they have sus- tained a loss to be deplored and exciting feel- 292 RKSOLL'TIONS OX HIS DEATH ings of impressive- ami aliidinj^ iiiicrfsi. Tlie professional and social iiilcrcourscof <»ur vener- able and highly cslccnied hrollicr with ihc mem- bers of the Uencb and ilu- liar, his nniformly inj^cnuiHis, just and honorable course in all his relations tu them, had endeared him to all who knew him; while the hi.ijh order of his intellect secured him their admiration and re.L,^■lrd. In a \on^ course of professional, and durmi;^ the brief but brilliant term of his judicial life, both as a jurist and as a judj^e his eminent abdities, the simplicity and purity of his character, and the estimal)le (jualities of his heart trained him the warmest affections of his friends and the respect, esteem and confidence of the whole cir- cle of his fellow citizens. In him was seen the diq^nified. the intellectual and respectful advo- cate, with the courtesy of the j^entleman, and the |)ure. disinterested friend and adviser. It may be most truly said of him that those who knew him best admired, esteemed and Inved him most. " Kcsolrcd, That the members of the liar, as a token of respect for the memory of their de- ceased friend, will wear the customary badc^e of mournine: for thirty days, and v. ill attend his funeral this afternoon. PETER A. JAY "Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this meeting, signed by the Chairman and Secretary, be transmitted to the family of the deceased and pubhshed in the daily papers of this city." Chancellor Kent then made an impressive address, and upon the passage of the above resolutions the meeting adjourned. As an accompaniment to what has preceded it, that which is subjoined invites attention as further testimony of Mr. Jay's worth and influence. The following resolutions were passed at a large public meeting of colored citizens, held at Philomathean Hall, on the evening of February 27, " for the purpose of expressing sentiments of condolence with the family and friends of the lamented philanthro- pist, Peter Augustus Jay " : "Resolved, That in the demise of Peter Au- gustus Jay, Esq., society has lost an invaluable member, humanity an undeviating advocate, the man of color a firm and tried friend, his country a true patriot and the world a philan- thropist, "Resolved, That when we look at the pub- lic acts of the late Hon. Peter A. Jay, his sin- cere and philanthropic maintenance of our po- litical rights, his early and unremitted exer- 294 RESOLUTIONS ON HIS DICATH tions in the Manumission Society, liis interest in nur educational and religious advancement, we feel cause of thankfulness to Almighty God for the gift antl the life of such a great and good man. such a benefactor of our despised race, such a sincere and impartial rej)ul)lican; and now that he has departed from the scenes of mortal existence, we esteem it a privilege to linger gratefully and mournfully around his fresh-turned sod and breathe our blessing on his honored memory. " Rcsoh'Cci, That we sincerely condole with the family and friends of the lamented Peter Augustus Jay in their severe bereavement, and tender them this humble token of our esteem. " Rcsok'cd, That Messrs. Aart^n L. Poyer, Ik)ston Crummell and P. A. Bell be a commit- tee to convey to the family of Hon. Peter A. Jay the above resolutions. (Signed) "WM. .\. Tyson, Chairman, "Jno. J. Qrii.i.K. Secretary." Before closing these memorials of Mr. jay's life, it seems fitting to add the resolutions pas.sed in the little church at Rye. which for long years he so constantly attended, and whose rector was P. S ( "b luncy, a >^'•n of ('(un- inodore Chauncy. 295 PETER A. JAY At a meeting of the Vestry of Christ Church, Rye, convened, at the request of the Rector, on Wednesday, the ist of March, 1843, the follow- ing" resolutions were adopted : "Resolved, That we have heard with un- feigned regret of the death of our venerable and esteemed associate, Hon. Peter Augustus Jay. "Resolved, That while we desire to recog- nize in this heavy dispensation the hand of God, and to submit to his blessed will, we cannot but express our sense of the loss which has been sustained by this vestry, church and community in the death of one whose example and precepts both tended to the glory of God, the honor of his church and the happiness of mankind. "Resolved, That we will ever entertain the most grateful recollection of the interest mani- fested by Mr. Jay in the prosperity of our church and the purity of life by which he adorned his Christian profession. " Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be entered on the minutes of this vestry, and that another copy, signed by the Rector and Secretary, be sent to the family of the deceased. " P. S. Chauncy, Rector. " James D. Halsted, Sec'y." 296 mi-. I.ASr WILL AM) riCSTAMKXT OF PETER AUGUSTUS jAV. LATE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, DKCD I, Peter Augustis Jay, make tliis my I^st Will and Testament as follows : I'trst. 1 return humble and hearty thanks to Al- mighty God for the happiness I have enjoyed and the numerous hlessijigs which He has lx>unti fully l)est«>wed xiytun me. but alx>ve all for His inestimable love in the Redemption of mankind through our Ix)rd Jesus Christ, and for the means of grace, and for the Iiojk* of glory. I disjxjsc of my worldly estate as follows : I give and devise to my son John Clark son Jay and his heirs, all my real estate, situate in the town of Rye in the county of Westchester. I give and devise to my son FVtcr Augustus Jay and his heirs my lot or parcel of land in the city of New ^'ork, bounded easterly in front by Broad Street, southerly by Stone Street, northerly by land of my brother William Jay. I have nriihcr the power iht inti-ntion to render the PETER A. JAY parcels of property above devised inalienable ; but there are recollections and circumstances connected with them which make me desirous that they should remain in the family. The lot in Broad Street was purchased by my great- grandfather about 1720, and was the first land owned by our family in America. At Rye repose the bones of my ancestors, of my wife and my dear daughter, I earnestly request my sons not to sell or mortgage these lands. I authorize and empower my brother William Jay to sell and convey in fee my real estate in the county of Broome, and I direct that the proceeds thereof be considered as part of my personal estate and be divided and disposed of accordingly. I give and devise all the residue of my real estate which I may be seized of or entitled to at the time of my death to such of my children as shall be then living, and to the child or children then living of every child of mine who shall have died before me, as ten- ants in fee; the child or children of a deceased child of mine taking the same share only as his, her or their parent, if living, would be entitled to. I give to my son John my brooch or breast-pin con- taining the hair of General Washington, and to my son Peter Augustus my Spanish fowling-piece and my gold watch. I give to my excellent brother my sett of the Ency- clopaedia, and I desire each of my dear sisters to take from my library such and so many books as she shall choose as tokens of my affection, 298 LAST WILL AND TliSTAMENT I direct luy debts u, Ik- pai'l out of my jHTSonal es- tate. I give to my son I'ltrr Augustus one thousand dollars. I give to my druit^hter I'.li/alM-th threr thousand dol- lars. 1 givi- ii>iii_\ ii.uiL;iitii .^ll-^.lIl .M.itu'i.i tmcr thousand dollars. I give to my son-in-law Henry A. I )ii Hois one thousand dollars. 1 release to m\ son John tin- money for wliirh I now hold his promissory note^ I give to ("liles Clrcen. who has In-en long in my employment and has served me faithfully, if he shall survive me, two hundred and fifty dollar^- 1 give to Caesar Valentine, a black man, long a servant in my family, an annuity of forty-eight dol- lars a year during his life, which annuity I charge upon my estate at Kye. by the owner of which it is to be paid ; and I recjuest my children not to let him suffer if. through age or infirmity, he shoulti be un- able to supjiort himself with comfort. I give and lx(|ueaih all the residue of my i)or.sonal estate to such of my children as shall be living at the time of my death and to the child or children of any child of mine who shall then be dead, the child or children then living of a deceased child of mine taking the same share only which his, her or their parent, if living, would be entitled to. In consideration of the advances I have already maersonal 2<)<) PETER A. JAY estate with the sum of twelve thousand dollars, to be paid by him in one year after my decease, and to be divided and disposed of as part of the said residuary personal estate. I direct that the share of the children of my dear deceased daughter Mary R. Prime in my residuary personal estate be paid to their father, Frederick Prime, to be managed by him for their benefit. I authorize my executors to lease and demise any part or parts of my undivided residuary real estate for any term or terms of years not exceeding twenty years, at such rents, on such condition as they shall think expedient, and out of the rents and profits thereof to keep the same in repair and to pay the taxes and assessments and the expenses incidental therto, and to divide the rest among the persons entitled to the prop- erty, itemized in proportion to their respective interests therein. I authorize my executors to make partition of my real estate which at the time of my death I may be seized of or entitled to, in common with any other per- son or persons, and to execute all proper deeds and conveyances for that purpose, and every such partition shall be binding on all persons claiming under me. I authorize my executors, during the minority of any child of mine, to sell and convey the interest of such child in any part or parts of my real estate, and to pay over the proceeds of such sale to the guardian of such child for the child's benefit ; and such sales may be made at auction or at private sale, for cash or on credit, or partly for cash and partly for credit, as my executors shall think best. 300 LASr WILL AND TKSTAMENT I autliorizo my son-in-law P'rcclfrick Prime to sell and convey the interest of his minor children in any part or parts of my residuary real estate in like maimer. I authorize my brtUher William Jay to represent any child of mine who shall be under lawful age. for the purpose of makinp partition of all or any of my rcsidu- ar>- estate among the jK-rsons entitled thereto, and to make such partition in behalf of such minor children, and to execute proiH*r deeds and conveyances for that purpose. And I authorize the said Frederick Prime in like manner to represent each of the minor children of my deceased daughter Mary for that like purpose and with the like |)owers. And every partition so made shall be as effectual and binding on all persons claim- ing under me as if it had Ix'en made by the child or children so represented when of full age. Such parti- tion may be made from time to time of any parts or parcels of my said residuary estate. I authorize my executors to submit to arbitration or umpirage all claims and demands by or against them, and to j)erform the awards which shall be made thereon, and also to compromise and compound debts due to my estate, and any claims and demands they may have against others, and tt) accept less than the wluile for the whole, and property or securities of any kind in lieu of money : and also to compromise and compdhue and had issue; David. marrie