The
first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, appointed by George
Washington, was also president of the American Bible Society.
Who was he? John Jay, who died MAY 17, 1829.
John Jay was one of the Presidents of the Continental Congress.
"In
governments raised on the generous principles of equal liberty...rulers
of the state are the servants of the people, and not the masters of
those from whom they derive authority...
The ungrateful despotism
and inordinate lust of domination, which marked the unnatural designs
of the British king and his venal parliament, to enslave the people of
America, reduced you to the necessity of either asserting your rights by
arms, or ingloriously passing under the yoke."
As Chief Justice of the State of New York, John Jay charged the Grand Jury of Ulster County, September 8, 1777:
"The
infatuated sovereign of Britain, forgetful that kings were the
servants, not the proprietors, and ought to be the fathers, not the
incendiaries of their people...
What...can appear more unworthy
of credit than...a prince should arise who, by the influence of
corruption alone...to reduce three million of his most loyal and
affectionate subjects to absolute slavery...binding them in all cases
whatever, not even excepting cases of conscience and religion?...
Will
it not appear extraordinary that thirteen colonies...without
funds...without disciplined troops, in the face of their enemies,
unanimously determine to be free, and, undaunted by the power of
Britain, refer their cause to the justice of the Almighty..."
John
Jay signed the Treaty of Paris with Franklin and Adams which ended the
Revolutionary War. The Treaty began: "In the name of the Most Holy and
Undivided Trinity."
John Jay noted in 1777:
"This glorious
revolution...distinguished by so many marks of the Divine favor and
interposition...and I may say miraculous, that when future ages shall
read its history they will be tempted to consider a great part of it as
fabulous...
The many remarkable...events by which our wants have
been supplied and our enemies repelled...are such strong and striking
proofs of the interposition of Heaven, that our having been hitherto
delivered from the threatened bondage of Britain ought, like the
emancipation of the Jews from Egyptian servitude, to be forever ascribed
to its true cause...and kindle in them a flame of gratitude and piety
which may consume all remains of vice and irreligion.
Blessed be
God! The time will now never arrive when the prince of a country in
another quarter of the globe will command your obedience, and hold you
in vassalage...
Nor will you in future be subject to the
imperious sway of rulers instructed to sacrifice your happiness whenever
it might be inconsistent with the ambitious views of their royal
master."
Jay, together with Madison and Hamilton, helped ratify the Constitution by writing the
Federalist Papers.
John Jay wrote in 1777:
"The
Americans are the first people whom Heaven has favored with an
opportunity of...choosing the forms of government under which they
should live. All other constitutions have derived their existence from
violence or accidental circumstances...
Your lives, your
liberties, your property, will be at the disposal only of your Creator
and yourselves. You will know no power but such as you will create; no
authority unless derived from your grant; no laws but such as acquire
all their obligation from your consent...
Security is also given
to the rights of conscience and private judgment. They are by nature
subject to no control but that of the Deity...Every man is permitted to
consider, to adore, and to worship his Creator in the manner most
agreeable to his conscience..."
John Jay wrote in
Chisholm v. Georgia, 1793:
"The people are the sovereign of this country."
With
the support of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, he negotiated
the Jay Treaty which resulted in ten years of peaceful trade with
Britain while France was going through a bloody Revolution.
When
America's currency was losing value, giving rise to the idiom "not
worth a Continental," John Jay, as President of the Continental
Congress, wrote September 13, 1779:
"Depreciation
of the currency has...swelled the prices of every necessary
article...Depreciation is to be removed only by lessening the quantity
of money in circulation...A distrust...by the mass of the people...in
the ability...of the United States to redeem their bills, is the cause
of it...
A
bankrupt faithless republic would...appear among reputable nations like
a common prostitute among chaste and respectable matrons...It has been
already observed, that in order to prevent the further natural
depreciation of our bills, we have resolved to stop the press."
John Jay stated in 1777:
"The
constitution, however, has wisely declared, that the 'liberty of
conscience thereby granted shall not be so construed as to excuse acts
of licentiousness'...
The convention by whom that constitution
was formed were of opinion that the gospel of Christ, like the ark of
God, would not fall, though unsupported by the arm of flesh...
But
let it be remembered that whatever marks of wisdom...may be in your
constitution, yet like the...forms of our first parents before their
Maker breathed into them the breath of life, it is yet to be
animated...From the people it must receive its spirit...
Vice, ignorance, and want of vigilance will be the only enemies able to
destroy it...Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to
study the constitution...By knowing their rights, they will sooner
perceive when they are violated, and be the better prepared to defend...
Hence it becomes the common duty...to unite in repressing the licentious...and thereby diffusing the blessings of peace."
On April 15, 1818, John Jay wrote to his Quaker friend, John Murry:
"Natural
Laws and Morality are given by the Sovereign of the Universe to all
mankind...It is true that the law was given to Moses, not however in his
individual or private capacity, but as the agent or instrument, and by
the authority of the Almighty.
The law demanded exact obedience,
and proclaimed: 'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them.'
The
law...by requiring perfect obedience, under a penalty so inevitable and
dreadful, operated as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ for mercy.
Legal
punishments are adjusted and inflicted by the law and magistrate, and
not by unauthorized individuals. These and all other positive laws or
ordinances established by Divine direction, must of necessity be
consistent with the moral law.
It certainly was not the design of
the law...to encourage a spirit of personal or private revenge. On the
contrary, there are express injunctions in the law of Moses which
inculcate a very different spirit."
Writing to John Bristed, April 23, 1811, John Jay recounted:
"I
was at a large party, of which...several...spoke freely and
contemptuously of religion...An atheist very abruptly remarked that
there was no God, and he hoped the time would come when there would be
no religion in the world.
I very concisely remarked that if
there was no God there could be no moral obligations, and I did not see
how society could subsist without them."
John Jay told the New York Convention, December 23, 1776:
"Let
a general reformation of manners take place...united in preparing for a
vigorous defense of your country...When you have done all things, then
rely upon the good Providence of Almighty God for success, in full
confidence that without his blessings, all our efforts will inevitably
fail...
The Holy Gospels are yet to be preached to these western
regions, and we have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty
will not suffer slavery and the gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it
will not be."
On April 15, 1794, John Jay wrote to his wife, Sally, from England:
"If
it should please God to make me an instrument to the continuation of
peace, and in preventing the effusion of blood and other evils and
miseries incident to war, we shall both have reason to rejoice...Let us
repose unlimited trust in our Maker; it is our business to adore and to
obey."
On May 28, 1802, John Jay wrote to his children after his wife's death:
"Now
if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of the dead?...Behold I show you a
mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed....Death is
swallowed up in victory. (I Corinthians 15)"
On October 12, 1816, John Jay stated:
"Providence
has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty,
as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select
and prefer Christians for their rulers."
On January 1, 1813, John Jay penned a letter to Jedediah Morse:
"Whether
our Religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a
question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have
generally received, either from the clergy or the laity.
It
appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his
attachments to Ahab ('Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that
hate the Lord?' 2 Chron. 19:2) affords a salutary lesson...
Public
measures may not be a proper subject for the pulpit, yet, in my
opinion, it is the right and duty of our pastors to press the observance
of all moral and religious duties."
John
Jay, at the age of 14, was admitted to King's College in New York
(Columbia University), which had as a requirement translating the first
ten chapters of the Gospel of John from Greek into Latin.
From it inception in 1816, John Jay was the first vice-president of the American Bible Society.
In 1821, John Jay, though in poor health, accepted the position as the second President of the American Bible Society. He wrote:
"They
who regard these Societies as deriving their origin and success from
the author and Giver of the Gospel, cannot forbear concluding it to be
the duty of Christians, to promote the purposes for which they have
been established; and that is particularly incumbent on their officers
to be diligent in the business committed to them."
On May 13, 1824, he addressed the American Bible Society:
"By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced, we certainly do them a most interesting kindness.
We
thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed
in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was subjected to
the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since
experienced.
The Bible will also inform them that our gracious
Creator has provided for us a Redeemer, in whom all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed;
that this Redeemer has made atonement
'for the sins of the whole world,' and thereby reconciling the Divine
justice with the Divine mercy has opened a way for our redemption and
salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and
grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve."
John Jay stated:
"In
forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of
Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on
careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible...
At a
party in Paris, once, the question fell on religious matters. In the
course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ? I answered
that I did, and that I thanked God that I did."
John Jay stated:
"God
is great, and therefore He will be sought: He is good, and therefore He
will be found. If in the day of sorrow we own God's presence in the
cloud, we shall find Him also in the pillar of fire, brightening and
cheering our way as the night comes on.
In all His
dispensations God is at work for our good: in prosperity, He tries our
gratitude; in mediocrity, our contentment; in misfortune, our
submission; in darkness, our faith; under temptation, our steadfastness,
and at all times, our obedience and trust in Him.
God governs the world, and we have only to do our duty wisely, and leave the issue to Him."
John
Jay was sent a letter from the Corporation of the City of New York,
asking him to join with them in the celebration of America's 50th
anniversary. John Jay, at 82 years of age, replied on June 29, 1826:
"Earnest
hope that the peace, happiness, and prosperity enjoyed by our beloved
country may induce those who direct her national counsels to recommend a
general and public return of praise to Him from whose goodness these
blessings descend...
The most effectual means of securing the
continuance of our civil and religious liberties is, always to remember
with reverence and gratitude the Source from which they flow."
Get the book American Minute-Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They OccurredIn his Last Will and Testament, John Jay wrote:
"Unto
Him who is the Author and Giver of all good, I render sincere and
humble thanks for His merciful and unmerited blessings, and especially
for our redemption and salvation by his beloved Son. He has been pleased
to bless me with excellent parents, with a virtuous wife, and with
worthy children.
His protection has accompanied me through many
eventful years, faithfully employed in the service of my country; and
his providence has not only conducted me to this tranquil situation, but
also given me abundant reason to be contented and thankful.
Blessed
be His Holy Name. While my children lament my departure, let them
recollect that in doing them good, I was only the agent of their
Heavenly Father, and that He never withdraws His care and consolations
from those who diligently seek Him."
On MAY 17, 1829, John Jay
was drawing near death after a life of serving his country. As recorded
by his son, Judge William Jay, John Jay was asked if he had any words
for his children, to which he responded:
"They have the Book."
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