JOHN JAY TO GOVERNOR WILLIAM LIVINGSTON. [2]
"Passay, 9th April, 1783.
"The tories will doubtless cause some difficulty; but that they have always done; and as this will probably be the last time, we must make the best of it. A universal, indiscriminate condemnation and expulsion of those people would not redound to our honour, because so harsh a measure would partake more of vengeance than of justice. For my part, I wish that all, except the faithless and cruel, may be forgiven. That exception would indeed extend to very few; but even if it applied to the case of one only, that one ought, in my opinion, to be saved."
JOHN JAY TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
"Passay, 12th September, 1783.
"Europe hears much, and wishes to hear more of divisions, seditions, violences, and confusions among us. The tories are generally and greatly pitied; more, indeed, than they deserve. The indiscriminate expulsion and ruin of that whole class and description of men would not do honour to our magnanimity or humanity, especially in the opinion of those nations who consider, with more astonishment than pleasure, the terms of peace which America has obtained."
Footnotes:
1. See Life of Hamilton, Vol. I., p. 316
2. Jay's Works, Vol. I., p. 128.