Title
[Document, 1816 October 28]
Library Location
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University
Name
Jay, John, 1745-1829 (Author)
Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816 (Addressee)
Format
correspondence
Digital Project
Papers of John Jay
Date
October 28, 1816
Language
English
Physical Description
2 pages
Subjects
United States--History--1809-1817; Jay, John, 1745-1829
Summary
Has received a copy of Morris's address to the New York Historical Society. Doubts the correctness of saying that Franklin averted thunderbolts from protected dwellings. The sight of steam boats would probably make "the Genius of Asia" bow reverently toward the inventive spirit of America. His strictures on the defects of history are well founded. There is not nor will there be more than one history free from error. Has often wished that history had given more particular account of primitive ages as we know little of them. When we join our ancestors we shall learn from them all we wish to know of their days. It is consoling to reflect that we are informed where and how we may go and settle in perpetuity, and that our possessions will be certain and permanent.
Identifier
columbia.jay.08354