LITERARY NOTICES.
The Life of John Jay: with Selections from his Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers. By his Son, William Jay. In two volumes. pp. 1015. New-York: Harper and Brothers.
It is a striking and a lamentable fact, that the present generation have, in a great measure, forgotten the great principles of liberty, which were the object of the revolution; are very ignorant of their importance, and insensible to their violation; and are equally uninformed of the elevated character, and as little animated by the pure spirit, of the men by whom our rich inheritance was achieved. Among the foremost of these, was John Jay. It may safely be said, that next to Washington, no one man can be pointed out, who had so much to do in originating the great measures of the revolution; so eminent an agency in their prosecution to their ultimate glorious success; a more distinguished part in giving them efficacy and permanence, in the construction and establishment of the federal constitution; or a more honorable share in carrying them into that operation which gave such prosperity and eminence to our country, under its early administration. A refugee of distinguished character, and his former friend, in a letter to Mr. Jay, written from England in 1782, says: 'What a great theatre are you acting upon, and what a conspicuous part do you sustain! I have always considered you as one of the most formidable enemies of this country.' Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to him of April 11, 1783, observes: 'I congratulate you on the singular happiness of having borne so distinguished a part, both in the earliest and latest transactions of this revolution.'
The biography before us throws much light on a matter which has been the subject of great speculation; the transactions at Paris, in the negotiations for peace. It forcibly exhibits the part taken by all the public functionaries of the three nations; the selfish and faithless conduct of the French court, in relation to the interests of this country, on that occasion; and the grounds of the large claims she has made on our national gratitude. This may be deemed severe language; but to justify it, we refer to the following extract:
