sentiments of a sanguinary Penal Code - Eden v. Legare — Judg- ment in a case of Personal Freedom-Hall v. Smith-Scott v. Scott -Death of his Wife-Domestic in his habits-His hatred of Great Britain - Opinions of the French Revolution - Takes part in a Procession-Anecdote of the French Consul-General Gadsden- Sympathy for the French Revolution in Charleston-Opposes Jay's Washington offers Rutledge the Chief Justiceship - He accepts it- Jay's Treaty arrives at Charleston — Rutledge's opinion of- Ex- citement in Charleston-Public meeting called-Rutledge addresses it-Merits of his Speech-Causes that inflamed opposition to Jay's Treaty in Charleston - Mr. Thomas Pinckney's opinion of the Treaty-Indignation of the Federal party at Rutledge's Speech- Hamilton replies to it-Wolcott's comments on Rutledge's appoint- ment Unpopularity of his appointment-Letter of Ellsworth- Rutledge holds a Term of the Supreme Court His judgment in the case of Talbot v. Janson His Judicial bearing-Goes to Au- gusta-The Court adjourns-Sets out for North Carolina-Is sick - Is rejected by the Senate Effect upon him- His public life is THE LIFE OF JOHN JAY. CHAPTER I. HIS ANCESTRY. THE year 1685, memorable for the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, found Pierre Jay, the first of his family of whom we have any distinct information, a thriving merchant in the old town of Rochelle. A Protestant in his principles, he could not fail to discover, from the temper of the times, that expatriation from his native land, or the adoption of a worship which he abhorred, was the distressing alternative presented to him. But that virtue which is founded on religion, and that fortitude which derives its support from the same exalted source, are seldom allured from the path of duty by the suggestions of interest, or the desire of repose. The steadiness and fidelity with which the Protestants of France adhered to their denounced and despised creed, amid all the violence of persecution, stands, and will for ever stand, a testimony to their moral greatness and to the innate worth of human nature itself. Louis XIV., regardless of the wise and tolerant maxims of the illustrious Colbert, whose great abilities reflected lustre upon his reign, had long resolved to extirpate from his dominions the religion of dissent. The penal laws against the Protestants, which were in force anterior to the Edict of Nantes, were revived and executed with unsparing severity. And to render effectual the work of intolerance, new ones were devised, of the most rigorous and cruel character. The ordinance which formally revoked the Edict of Nantes, was announced on the 22d of October, 1685. But for months previous to that fatal act, religious freedom had been struck down. Every means that bigotry could suggest to overcome the conscience and subdue the wills of the recusants, arbitrary power had freely employed. Their churches were demolished, their pastors banished, their schools prohibited, and the peace, security, and happiness of their families destroyed. The dragonnades were revived. In the summer of 1685, troops were introduced into Rochelle and quartered upon the Protestant inhabitants. Dragoons were placed in the house of Mr. Jay, to live and act at their discretion.'1 The subject of our biography left behind him an unfinished history of his ancestors, written in the latter part of his life. Several extracts from that history, written in a very chaste and pleasing style, are inserted in the memoir of him by his son, Hon. William Jay. Vide Life of J. Jay, vol. i., pp. 1-9. From these extracts the facts stated in the text have been chiefly derived. It will not be inappropriate to quote in this place one or two passages in extenso. They will explain the circumstances under which Mr. Jay wrote, and, at the same time, illustrate the serious and reflective turn of his mind. He thus commences his narrative:— You have often expressed a wish that I would reduce to writing what information I have respecting our ancestors. I was pleased to find that you desired it, and have often regretted that a succession of affairs more immediately important constrained me from time to time to postpone it. My life has been so much a life of business, that idle time has not been among my burdens. In this place of peace and retirement, which a kind Providence has provided for me in my declining years, I for the first time enjoy the sweets of rest and tranquillity. Leisure hours begin to increase, and I purpose to employ some of them in giving you the information you request. The persecution had become too intolerable to be borne. The future disclosed nothing but additional calamity, and Mr. Jay determined to abandon a country which, like an unnatural mother, no longer protected her own offspring. His family at this time consisted of his wife, a daughter of Mons. François, a merchant in Rochelle, and three children, viz., two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Augustus, was born on the 23d day of March, 1665. At the age of twelve, he was sent to England to be educated. He remained in that country six years. He was then recalled by his 6 When and where we were born, and who were our progenitors, are questions to which certain philosophers ascribe too little importance. It becomes us to be mindful that the great Creator has been pleased to make men social beings; that he established between them various relations, and, among others, those which arise from consanguinity; and that to all these relations he has attached particular and corresponding duties. These relations and duties promote the happiness of individuals and families; they pervade and harmonize society, and are subservient both to public and personal welfare. How fleeting, how forgetful, how frail is tradition! There are families in this State who are ignorant even of the names of the first of their ancestors who came to this country. They know not whence, or why, or how they came. Between those days and the period of our Revolution, the field for biography has become barren. Little has been written, and of that little much has been lost by the destruction of papers during the war. The time, however, is approaching when this barren field will be cultivated by genius and by pride; and, under the auspices of obscurity, (ever friendly to fiction,) become fertile in fables. My faith in the generality of historical relations of every kind has been gradually declining for these thirty years. On various occasions I have seen accounts of events and affairs which I knew to be incorrect. Not a few of the common and current opinions respecting public men and public transactions are common and current mistakes, designedly countenanced by demagogues to promote party or personal purposes. The time, however, will most certainly come when the world and all that therein is, will be purified in a refiner's fire. It will then be of little importance to us whether our ancestors were splendid or obscure, and whether events and characters have been truly or partially represented, or not represented at all.' |