ingularly contrasted with the reserve,
seriousness, and quietude of Jay; yet were they akin in the normal basis
of character--in the love of knowledge, in loyalty to conviction, and
that heart of courtesy which harmonizes the most diverse gifts of mind
and traits of manner; even then no common mutual respect must have
existed between them, and difference of opinion elicited both wit and
wisdom. In a letter to the latter of these young friends, written soon
after, Jay speaks of himself as 'ambitious;' but little in his
subsequent life justifies the idea; he had more pride of character--more
need to respect himself--than ambition, as that word is usually
understood; excellence more than distinction was his aim;--no one of the
leaders in the Revolution sought office less, none fulfilled its duties
with more singleness of purpose, or escaped from its responsibilities
with greater alacrity; the instincts of John Jay were mainly for truth,
duty, and success, in the higher acceptation of the term. What he
undertook, indeed, he strove to do well, but it was from an ideal
rectitude and a pride of achievement more than a desire to gain applause
and advancement; his ambition was more scholarly than political or
personal. He graduated with the highest honors on the fifteenth of May,
1764, and delivered the Latin salutatory. His family had gained wealth
and position in commerce, and it is probable that, with his
clear-sighted perseverance, John Jay would have been a most successful
merchant; but his tastes were intellectual; he determined to study
law--at that period, in this country, when Blackstone's 'Commentaries'
had not appeared, before Chancellor Kent had written, or a law school
had been established, a discipline so arduous and uninviting as to be
conscientiously adopted only by the most self-reliant and determined.

For a brief period Jay was the law partner of his friend Livingston,
afterward the chancellor of the State. The evidences of his professional
career, like those of so many eminent lawyers, are inadequate to suggest
any clear idea of his method and ability, except so far as the respect
he won, the practice he acquired, and the style of those state papers
which are preserved, indicate argumentative powers, extensive knowledge,
and finished style: in a few years he had become eminent at the bar, and
while in the full tide of success, the exigencies of public affairs--the
dawn of the American Revolution, called him fr