The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-06-01

TO Great Britain. We may add that. II he ha
pursued what was obviously his personal in
forest, and refused the last-named post at
iuncture when he foresaw the impossibilty o
making n treaty With Great Britain whicl
would DO acceptable to the American people
John jay and not John Adams, would In al
likelihood have been the second President o
the United States.
This now biography OF Jay by Mr.. GEORGE
PELLEw is based partly on the Life and Letters
formerly published by Judge William Jay. and
partly on materials not accessible or moi
thought proper for publication at the time
when that work was prepared. The author
has pro1ted by the assistance OF his relative
the Hon. John Jay, and by the opportunity Of
consulting the Jay MSS a selection from
which will. 1t Is expected. soon see the light.
On the whole the author mas produced a strong,
pleasing, and q useful book. He has enabled
the roader to see the subject Of the memoir as
he was. and to appreciate his intimate rela-
tions to important events during the quarter
OF n century that followed the year 1774. SO
closely interviewer is jays public life with the
history Of the United States during the period
Just mentioned. that this narrative might
easily, and perhaps not unacceptably. have
been expanded to a much greater length.
moro WOulu nave DeeD, lnueeu, IN our opinion
more ground for allotting two volumes to John
Jay than to Henry Clay. In the 3G6 pages
at his disposal the author has boon
forced TO conlne himself to strictly
biographical study, and has had to
omit discussing some incidents and public
questions which might have cast side lights
upon Jays career 1t Is, OF course. to highly
praise book to say that we wish 1t had been
longer Within tho limits. however. which
have been fixed by the author or. 1t may be.
imposed upon him. he has given us q thorough
~ painstaking and conscientious piece OF work.
which deserves to be classed with the best men,
bers Of the series to which 1t forms tho latest
contribution. That the author has an ade-
Quate knowledge OF men as we'll as books Is
shown by his preliminary admission that the
spotess character OF jay was exceptional In
his own time. and that there never was
golden age in American politics. We have
never had House OF REPRESENTATIVES SO gan
Erened with baseness and corruption as was
the Continental Congress. and there Is no trick
or fraud in the modern manipulations OF ballot
box and returning board which was unknown
TO the partisans Of George Clinton and Aaron
Burr 1t must nevertheless. be said that, for
reasons probably connected with the extension
OF the franchise, man known to be as austeve
and uncompromising as was John Jay could
not now gain the ascendancy in tho State OF
New York and in the nation which he attained
a hundred years ago. The politicians. on both
Sides would feel that they had no use for
him."
John Jay. like most OF his brother Federaists. |
was accused by the Jeffersonian Republicans |
OF sympathizing with Great Britain and Of
preferrinG the institutions OF that country to
those OF the French republic. In the case OF
Jay. at all events, such preference must have |
been founded on conviction. for he could not
have been prompted by any instinct OF clinical |
affinity. There was apparently not drop of |
English blood in his veins. or his eight great
grandparents. not one was English. three be-
ing French and five Dutch His mother was
daughter OF Jacobus Van Courtlandt. and his !
father, PeterJay. West Indian merchant. was
the son OF a Huguenot refugee who settled In |
New York in 1885, whore he married Anna |
Bayard also descendant OF French Protes- |
tant exile. Replying to his defamers In 1896. |
Jay himself pointed out that. not being OF |
British descent, l cannot be Influenced by |
that tendency toward their national charac-
ter nor that Partially for it which might |
otherwise be supposed to be not unnatural"
Mr.. Pellew is unquestionably right in suggest
ing that the notorious absence OF any British
strain in jays lineage had much to do with |
the acquiescence of the New York popular
party in his leadership during the revolu-
tionary period. Notwithstanding the equally |
well-known conservatism Of his temper and |
opinions. The ruder sort OF patriots believed |
that. so far as his principles would permit him |
to CO. they could entirely trust him and they
viewed him with none Of the suspicion which |
attached to some Of the large landowners, |
whose adhesion to the popular cause was |
thought to be prompted quite as much by jeal- |
ousy OF the Delanceys as by patriotic sentl-
Ments.
IL.