Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TO JAY. - The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, vol. 4 (1794-1826)

Return to Title Page for The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, vol. 4 (1794-1826)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TO JAY. - John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, vol. 4 (1794-1826) [1893]

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. 4 (1794-1826).

Part of: The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 4 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TO JAY.

Philadelphia, August 30, 1794.

My Dear Sir:

Your letter of the 23d of June, from London, and duplicate, have both been received; and your safe arrival, after so short a passage, gave sincere pleasure, as well on private as on public account, to all your friends in this country, and to none in a greater degree, I can venture to assure you, than it did to myself.

As you will receive letters from the Secretary of State’s office, giving an official account of public occurrences as they have arisen and progressed, it is unnecessary for me to retouch any of them; and yet I cannot restrain myself from making some observations on the most recent of them, the communication of which was received this morning only. I mean the protest of the governor of Upper Canada (delivered by Lieut. Sheaffe), against our occupying lands far from any of the posts, which, long ago, they ought to have surrendered, and far within the known, and until now, the acknowledged limits of the United States.

On this irregular and high-handed proceeding of Mr. Simcoe, which is no longer masked, I would rather hear what the ministry of Great Britain will say, than pronounce my own sentiments thereon. But can that government, or will it attempt, after this official act of one of their governors, to hold out ideas of friendly intentions towards the United States, and suffer such conduct to pass with impunity?

This may be considered as the most open and daring act of the British agents in America, though it is not the most hostile or cruel; for there does not remain a doubt, in the mind of any well-informed person in this country (not shut against conviction), that all the difficulties we encounter with the Indians, their hostilities, the murders of helpless women and innocent children along our frontiers, result from the conduct of the agents of Great Britain in this country. In vain, is it, then, for its administration, in Britain, to disavow having given orders which will warrant such conduct, while their agents go unpunished, while we have a thousand corroborating circumstances, and indeed almost as many evidences (some of which cannot be brought forward), to prove that they are seducing from our alliances (endeavouring to remove them over the line) tribes that have hitherto been kept in peace and friendship with us, at a heavy expense, and who have no cause of complaint, except pretended ones of their own creating; while they keep in a state of irritation the tribes who are hostile to us, and instigating those who know little of us, or we of them, to unite in the war against us; and while it is an undeniable fact that they are furnishing the whole with arms, ammunition, clothing, and even provisions to carry on the war, I might go further, and if they are not much belied, add men also, in disguise.

Can it be expected, I ask, so long as these things are known in the United States, or at least firmly believed, and suffered with impunity by Great Britain, that there ever will or can be any cordiality between the two countries? I answer, no; and I will undertake, without the gift of prophecy, to predict, that it will be impossible to keep this country in a state of amity with Great Britain long, if the posts are not surrendered. A knowledge of these being my sentiments would have little weight, I am persuaded, with the British administration, nor, perhaps, with the nation, in effecting the measure; but both may rest satisfied that if they want to be in peace with this country, and want to enjoy the benefits of its trade, etc., this is the road to it—withholding them, and the consequences we feel at present continuing—war inevitably.

This letter is written to you in extreme haste, while the papers respecting this subject are copying at the Secretary of State’s office, to go by express to New York, for a vessel which we have just heard sails to-morrow; you will readily perceive, therefore, I had no time for digesting and as little for correcting it. I shall only add that you may be assured always of the sincere friendship and affection of

Your obedient humble servant,

George Washington.