JAY TO GENERAL SCHUYLER. - John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, vol. 3 (1782-1793) [1891]
Edition used:
The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, ed. Henry P. Johnston, A.M. (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890-93). Vol. 3 (1782-1793).
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JAY TO GENERAL SCHUYLER.
New York, 10th June, 1785.
Dear Sir:
What you say on a certain subject argues a degree of confidence and friendship which excites my warmest acknowledgments, and which shall always be returned on my part.
I sincerely and frankly declare to you that my being and having long been employed by Congress, whose attachment and attention to me as been uniform, and who, in my absence and without my knowledge or desire, gave me the place I now fill, will not permit me to quit their service, unless their conduct towards me should change, or other circumstances occur which might render such a step consistent with my ideas of propriety. This is my deliberate and mature opinion: a servant should not leave a good old master for the sake of a little more pay or a prettier livery. Were I at present to accept the government if offered, the world would naturally be led to say, and to believe, that I did it from some such paltry motives.
Although I apprehend that this my answer will not correspond with the wishes which your friendly partiality for me suggests, yet when you put yourself in my stead, and consider what you would do on such an occasion, I think the same reasons which operate upon me would have a similar influence upon you. The conduct of men is so generally (and so often with reason) imputed to interest or ambition that they who are actuated by neither must expect such imputations, whenever circumstances expose their principles of action to doubt and question; the present case strikes me in that point of light. The place I hold is more laborious, requires more confinement and unceasing application, and is not only less lucrative but also less splendid than that of the government. To exchange worse for better does not seem very disinterested; and when professions and facts give opposite evidence, it is easy to foresee which will obtain the most credit.
If the circumstances of the State were pressing, if real disgust and discontent had spread through the country, if a change had in the general opinion become not only advisable but necessary, and the good expected from that change depended on me, then my present objections would immediately yield to the consideration that a good citizen ought cheerfully to take any station which, on such occasions, his country may think proper to assign him, without in the least regarding the personal consequences which may result from its being more or less elevated; nor would there then be reason to fear that Congress might consider my leaving their service as being inconsistent with that degree of delicacy and gratitude which they have a right to expect, and which respect for myself as well as for them demands from me.
With sentiments of great and sincere regard, I am, dear sir,
Your obliged and affectionate friend,
John Jay.
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