JAY, SIR James, American phisician, brother of John Jay (q.v.) : b. New York, 27 Oct. 1732; d. Springfield, N. J., 20 Oct. 181 . He studied medicine and established himself as a physician. He was associated with Rev. Dr. William Smith in 1755 in securing an endowment for the pres ent University of Pennsylvania; and in 1762, while on a visit to England, he represented to George III the need for higher education in the colonies, and was successful in securing funds for the endowment of King's College, now Columbia University. He was knighted in 1763. He was prominent in the passage of the New York act of attainder, and was imprisoned dur ing the British occupation of .New York, but was released in 1782 upon the arrival of Sir Guy Carleton. Author of two pamphlets con cerning the collections of funds for colleges (n the 1771, 1774 Gout> (London 1772) ; and 'Reflections and Observations on .
JAY, John, American statesman and jurist: b. New York, 12 Dec. 1745; d. Bedford, West chester County, N. Y., 17 May 1829. His father was a wealthy merchant of Huguenot stock, and his mother a daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt. His father,— early discovering, to use his own words, that Jay was of very grave disposition, and took to learning exceed ingly well"— sent him to a school in New Ro chelle similar to Dotheboys Hall in 'Nicholas Nickleby.' Three years at school were fol lowed by study under a tutor until he entered King's College at 14. He was graduated in 1764, the subject of his oration being the bless ings of peace, of which he was to have still keener appreciation. Two weeks later, on pay ment of 1200, he entered the office of Benjamin Kissam, a prominent lawyer of New York, as an apprentice bound'to serve five years, the last two years to be devoted to the study of the law. Admitted to the bar in 1768, he soon attained prominence in the profession, forming a part nership with Robert R. Livingston, afterward chancellor of the state, and secretary of foreign affairs. In 1773 he began his public career, as secretary to the Royal Commission to determine the boundary between New York and Canada; and for the following 28 years his public serv ices were constant, varied and of supreme im portance to the country so fortunate in being his birthplace.
Bound by no ancestral ties to England, and having married in 1774 a daughter of the famous Whig and Revolutionary governor of New Jersey, William Livingston, many would suppose that in the conflict impending between the colonies and mother country, Jay's voice, like those of James Otis and Samuel Adams, would have been from the first "still for war." But he was constitutionally so calm and con servative that he was unwilling to be too pre cipitate in determining upon a change in the mode of government. When, however, the colonists decided that their only safety lay in separation, Jay was found to be as staunch and aggressive a patriot as any, and represented the citizens of New York on the committee to settle the question arising out of the Boston Port Bill. Jay drafted the suggestion of that com
mittee that "a Congress of Deputies from the Colonies in be convoked in fact, the convocation of the Continental Congress. He was a member of that Congress, and met with it in Philadelphia on 5 Sept. 1774. Congress at once appointed a committee to "state the rights of the colonies in general," of which Jay was made a member. This committee desig nated him to draft an address to the people of Great Britain, which was so satisfactory that it was at once reported to Congress, and adopted by it. _Jefferson, without knowing who was the author, pronounced it "a production cer tainly of the finest pen in America." Jay was also sent.to the 2d Continental Con gress, but in the interim devoted himself to shaping the public mind in the direction of obedience to Congress and in hostility to en forcement of Parliamentary taxation. When the 2d Congress convened, the signal shot "heard round the world"— had been fired at Lexington, and Congress, realizing that a condi tion of war existed, deputed Jay to draft an address to the people of Canada, which was prepared and adopted, and circulated in that country. He also wrote an address to the peo ple of Jamaica and Ireland by request of Con gress, but the second petition to the king that he prevailed upon Congress to make was written by Dickinson. Other important and effective work by him in that general direction might be cited, but I shall be content with the assertion I deem supported by the facts, that as a creator and molder of public opinion at that particular juncture Jay stands unrivaled; and all this was in the main accomplished through the wise use of his pen, the efficacy of which was strongly presented by John Adams when he wrote re garding it to Jefferson, aI never bestowed much attention to any of those addresses, which were all but repetitions of the same things; the same facts and arguments; dress and ornaments rather than body, soul or substance. I was in great error, no doubt, and am ashamed to con fess it, for these things were necessary to give popularity to the cause, both at home and abroad." Jay's contribution to the debates in Congress, like all his public work, showed that he followed in all things and upon all questions the path illuminated by the light of his well balanced judgment, and his conscience, thinking not of personal popularity, but simply of the right. He served actively upon the committee that carried on negotiations with foreign powers friendly to America and inimical to England. Indeed, during the year 1775 he was a member of so many committees, each having different and important objects, that it is diffi cult to understand how he was able to accomz plish so much important and laborious work.