as of civil service,
and so far as directly responsible he seems to have maintained the
principle of dismissing no one for political reasons.

The closing days of Jay's public life included an act for the gradual
abolition of domestic slavery. It cannot be called an important
feature of his administration, since Jay was entitled to little credit
for bringing it about. Although he had been a friend of emancipation,
and as president of an anti-slavery society had characterised slavery
as an evil of "criminal dye," his failure to recommend emancipation in
his messages emphasises the suggestion that he was governed by the
fear of its influence upon his future political career. However this
may be, it is certain that he resigned the presidency of the abolition
society at the moment of his aroused ambition immediately preceding
his nomination for governor in 1792. His son explains that the people
of the State did not favour abolition; yet the reform apparently
needed only the vigorous assistance of the Governor, for in 1798 a
measure similar to the act of 1799 failed in the Assembly only by the
casting vote of the chairman in committee of the whole.

One thing, though, may be assumed, that a man so animated by high
principles as John Jay must have felt amply justified in taking the
course he did. Of all distinguished New Yorkers in the formative
period of the government, John Jay, perhaps, possessed in fullest
measure the resplendent gifts that immortalise Hamilton. Nevertheless,
it was the purity of his life, the probity of his actions, the
excellence of his public purposes, that commended him to the
affectionate regard of everybody. "It was never said of him," wrote
John Quincy Adams, "that he had a language official and a language
confidential." During a political career of eight and twenty years, if
he ever departed from the highest ideal of an irreproachable
uprightness of character, it is not of record. His work was
criticised, often severely, at times justly, but his character for
honesty and goodness continued to the end without blemish.

It is difficult to say in what field Jay did the best work. He
excelled in whatever he undertook. He had poise, forcefulness,
moderation, moral earnestness, and mental clearness. Whether at home
or abroad the country knew his abiding place; for his well-doing
marked his whereabouts as plainly as smoke on a prairie indicates the
presence of a camp. He has been called the draftsman