John Jay to Philip Schuyler, 20 June 1777

Esopos 20 June 1777

Dear Sir

It would have given me Pleasure to have ^ sooner ^ acknowledged the Rec t of your Letters of the 10 & 14 Ins t . 1 before they [ illegible ] I returned a few Days ago on Tuesday last from Fish Kill & postponed writing till I could make the Enquiries neceess collect the Materials necessary to pass Judgment of the Matter alluded to in your L ^ proper a little Information. ^ The Elections in the three lower Counties ^ Middle District ^ have taken such a Turn as that if a tolerable Degree of unanimity shd. prevail in the upper Counties, I have ^ there will be ^ little Doubt of having –€™ere long the Honor of addressing a Letter to your Excellency. Clinton by being picked for both Offices may miss have neither, he has many Votes for the first & not a few for the second, Scott has [ illegible ] ^ how[eve]r ^ he carried a considerable number from his Lists ^ from him of the former ^ & you are by no Means without a Share. I came ^ The Conclusions to be drawn from ^ such Divisions ^ are ^ obvious. [ illegible ] ^ A report that Albany designed Gen. Ten Broeck ^ of for L t Gov r . excited ^ disagree ^ Jealousy. unfriendly [ from a Tendency ?] What Influence it may have had is hard to say ^ difficult to conjecture ^ . I believe not very great as as there was ^ it had ^ not Time for it to spread wide & ^ or ^ take Root deep. 2

I have casually hinted at holding the first Session of the Legislature at Albany, & find a general Disinclination to it. 3 ^ Some [ illegible ] object to ^ The Expense of living [ is regarded ?] ^ [called?] ^ ^ there as most ^ intolerable ^ by some ^ , & others say that should Albany succeed in having both the great officers, Care ought to be taken [ illegible ] ^ the next step will be ^ to make it the Capital of the State. In my opinion the Election sh d . be determined before it will be proper to say much on this Subject, and then perhaps sh d . the Gov r only, come from Albany, and s d . assurances be given that the Members might live as cheap there as here, so a Removal may be ^ [ illegible ] both ^ practicable ^ & prudent ^ . For sh d . such a measure be carried ^ occasioned ^ by a Coalition of the upper Counties ^ & carried by a slender Majority ^ without the concurrance of the lower it w d . be productive of more Evil than its advantages w d probably compensate.

You may rely on receiving by Express the earliest notice of every ^ the ^ Event interesting to the public as the one you alluded to.