American statesman and jurist, born in New York, was admitted to the bar in 1768. Elected to the Continental congress in 1774 and 1775, he drafted the constitution of New York state in 1777, of which he was appointed Chief-justice; was elected president of congress in 1778; and in 1779 was sent as minister to Spain. From 1782 he was one of the most influential of the peace commissioners. In 1784–89 he was Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and ere long became Chief-justice of the supreme court. In 1794 he concluded with Lord Grenville the convention known as “Jay’s treaty,” which, though favourable to the United States, was denounced by the Democrats as a betrayal of France. Jay was governor of New York from 1795 to 1801. There is a Life (1833) by his son, William Jay (1789–1858), a notable anti-slavery leader. See also his “Writings and Correspondence,” ed. by Prof. Johnston (4 vols. 1890–93,) and Lives by Whitlock (1887) and Pellew (1890).
Personal
The venerable, the patriotic, the virtuous John Jay, died on Tuesday last, at his seat, Bedford, Westchester County, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. The Supreme Court (which is now in session) adjourned at its hour of opening, as did the other courts now sitting. This delicate mark of respect was alike honourable to the feelings of the gentlemen constituting the several courts, as reverential to the memory of the illustrious deceased.
The general learning and ability, and especially the prudence, the mildness, and the firmness of his character, eminently fitted Mr. Jay to be the head of such a court. When the spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it touched nothing less spotless than itself.
A distinguishing trait in Mr. Jay’s character was modesty; not an affectation of inferiority to others, or a distrust of his own powers, but a total absence of all endeavour to attract admiration. He assumed no importance, claimed no deference, and boasted of no merit. Extraordinary as it may seem, a stranger might have resided with him for months together, without discovering from his conversation that he had ever been employed in the service of his country. Whenever the important scenes in which he had been engaged were alluded to, he changed the conversation as quickly as politeness would permit. It was with difficulty that even his own children could occasionally induce him to converse on these interesting topics. Yet he cheerfully took his part in general conversation, enlivening it with anecdotes, and a wit which amused without wounding. He was fond of conversing on religious subjects, and particularly on biblical criticism, but it was the expression of opinions, not of feelings, in which he indulged. He had had full experience of the pleasures and the pains of public life, and his advice to his sons was, never to accept an office, except from a conviction of duty.
Jay was decidedly an able man—a man of extensive attainments and erudition—a vigorous writer, and a sound thinker. He was more—he had a healthy, temperate, and well-balanced mind—a clear, sound, and comprehensive judgment—an admirable prudence and caution. And withal he was a conscientious and a just man—just to his neighbours, as well as to his family, just to his political opponents, as well as to his friends. The caution of Jay was a quality not resulting from timidity or irresolution. Few men were capable of acting a bolder or more determined part, when occasion demanded.
He was seeking reinforcement from hope, not resolution from despair. He was eminently a man of prudence and caution. He was not sagacious of the future. His watch, unlike Talleyrand, did not go faster than his neighbour’s. He seldom placed himself in the van of events. No fiery, burning zeal dwelt in his bosom. But when he assumed a position, the solid ground was not more immovable. He performed his duty under all circumstances, with steadiness, resolution, and undiverted attention. But neither his opinions nor conduct were in the smallest degree the result of impulse or enthusiasm. His perceptions were strong rather than quick. He was more remarkable for logic than intuition. Thus constituted, we might naturally infer that he would embrace the views of the moderate party, rather than those of more eager and impetuous character.
Governor Jay, one of our purest and most illustrious statesmen.
The mind of the first chief justice was vigorous, well balanced, and governed by enlightened moral faculties: hence his judgment was exact, logical, and discriminating. His deficiencies were, perhaps, a want of imagination,—the efficient handmaid to reason,—and a lack of that humour which gives zest to the driest logic. In the correspondence and other papers emanating from his pen, we seldom find a figure of speech employed to illustrate his meaning, and discover no trace of wit to enliven his familiar discourse. His great characteristic was superior wisdom in seeing clearly the right as distinguished from the expedient, and following it firmly and patiently. He was not a full man, in the sense of Lord Bacon, his knowledge having been mainly acquired from intercourse with others: neither was it deepened by study, nor broadened by culture. He was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of truth and loyalty to duty, as was manifested in all his public positions and private relations. Without guile, he could yet hide what should be concealed; but what was revealed carried with it, to truthful men, the conviction of truth. This straightforwardness baffled the jugglery of the Spanish and French diplomats, won Oswald and Shelburne to his views, and led sturdy John Adams to exclaim, “When my confidence in Mr. Jay shall cease, I must give up the cause of confidence, and renounce it in all men.”
Jay’s principles of conduct were so unvarying, and his actions so consistent with them and with one another, that the most careless reader of his life, if it has been fairly presented, must be already familiar with the dignified and simple character of the man. Everything he did seems to have been inspired by a keen sense of impersonal moral duty. He might for a time be uncertain as to what this duty was, but the moment it was clear to him, he acted accordingly, promptly, fearlessly, without regard to personal considerations, undeterred by the consequences to his friends or his family. It was this singleness and uprightness of purpose, and the firmness with which he adhered to it, that made Adams call him “a Roman.”
General
The literary reputation of Jay is incidental to his political career, and attaches to the national state papers which he sent forth from the Continental Congress, which did much to prepare the way for American liberty, and to his contributions to the Federalist, by which he assisted in permanently securing that liberty which he was one of the first to promote. His “Address to the people of Great Britain,” in 1774, called forth the admiration of Jefferson. It is marked by moral earnestness and patriotic fervor, qualities shared by his address to the inhabitants of Canada and the people of Ireland. The appeal of the Convention of the State of New York to the people in 1776, and the address of Congress to the country in 1799, meeting the financial condition of the times, and his Address to the people of the State of New York, in support of the adoption of the Constitution, are his other chief productions of this kind. He wrote five papers of the Federalist; the second, third, fourth, and fifth, on Dangers from foreign force and influence, and the sixty-fourth on the treaty-making power of the senate. He would have furnished others had he not received an injury in the interim, in his vindication of the law in the Doctors’ mob of the city of New York.
As Chief-Justice, both of his own State and of the United States, he impressed grand juries and all concerned with the necessity of encouraging a profound respect for law and constitutions in the new order of things, and at the outset, through his own personal dignity and integrity, gave character to our highest courts since traditionally preserved. And again, in his native State of New York, he proved himself invaluable as a member of Provincial bodies and committees in providing the sinews of war, in suppressing conspiracies, in drafting laws, in organizing the machinery of the new State, in urging, through the “Federalist” and in the New York Convention, the adoption of our common Constitution, and finally, in twice filling the office of Governor. As Congressman, diplomatist, jurist, and State leader, seeking in each sphere of action to secure substantial results without display or effect, he was pre-eminently a man for his times. Perhaps, also, as nearly as any one in our civil history, he filled the ideal of a public servant.
Jay, whose short and terse sentences, straightforward and clear as crystal, with scanty illustration, manifest the lucidity of his mind and the sincerity of his convictions.
He was the third and last of the eminent trio who contributed to the “Federalist,” five of the essays in which are from his pen. Though his mind was not properly imaginative, the intensity of his sentiments sometimes gave to his compositions a quality of lofty imagery.
