The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume VI Part 9

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Amsterdam, July 17th, 1781.

Sir,

Since my letter of the 26th of June last, the Memorial of the Deputies of the City of Amsterdam, of the 8th of June, has appeared entire, and is conceived in the following terms.

"Most Serene and Ill.u.s.trious Prince and Lord,

"The gentlemen, the Deputies of the City of Amsterdam, in the name and by the order of the gentlemen, their const.i.tuents, have the honor to represent to your Most Serene Highness, that the said const.i.tuents having learnt, with much uneasiness the discontent, that your Highness had taken, on the subject of their last proposition, made in the a.s.sembly of their n.o.ble and Grand Mightinesses, although it had been contrary to their intention to give your Highness the least offence, or to offer him any insult or displeasure, they have seized with great satisfaction, an opportunity to give your Highness the most sincere a.s.surances of it; that they flatter themselves, that, from what they shall have the honor of laying before you your Highness will be able to deduce the reasons, for which they have not previously acquainted him with the contents of the said proposition, before it hath been remitted to the a.s.sembly of their n.o.ble and Grand Mightinesses; that they should feel a real chagrin, if your Highness attributed this silence to any particular distrust towards his person; they declare, that they are absolutely divested of it, and that they have nothing so much at heart as to excite and cherish between your Highness and their City that confidence, that the well-being and advancement of the public cause render inevitably necessary; that by their proposition they have only wished to open a way to find out and carry into execution, such measures as the critical situation of affairs most pressingly requires for the safety and preservation of their dear country.

"That placed at the head of the government of a very populous city, in which the lower cla.s.s of the people begin already to feel that indigence, which results from a want of business, they are obliged to show in effect, and in the best manner possible, that they desire not to let any opportunity escape of encouraging and promoting the well-being of the country, and of its good citizens, unless they would run the risk of entirely destroying the proper authority, and the good order, which in a popular government are founded only upon the confidence of the people, and of the Burgesses in its Regents, and of seeing in a little time a total anarchy, that they had thought that affairs had, for a long time, and particularly since the rupture with England, appeared in the eyes of the whole nation, and not without reason, to be administered in a strange and inconceivable manner, seeing, that notwithstanding the extreme condescendence to the wishes of England, we had only experienced from that kingdom, each year contempt, affronts, and insults, which have been lately crowned by an open war, commenced by the capture of a considerable number of our vessels, and the invasion of our foreign possessions, and that, nevertheless, we had remained in a defenceless state, and taken no sufficient steps to place the Republic in a situation to protect its liberty, its well acquired rights, its extensive navigation, and its lawful commerce.

"That, nevertheless, it is an incontestible truth, that the members of government have for a long time been of opinion, that it is princ.i.p.ally by sea, that it is necessary to place themselves upon a respectable footing, as it evidently appears by the different resolutions taken in the year 1778, and following, by different reports, pet.i.tions, and a.s.sents to augment and reinforce the equipages of vessels of war, and particularly by the report of the 30th of March, 1779, that notwithstanding the said opinions and resolutions of the confederates, to equip all the vessels of war of the State, and to construct new ones, yet at this moment, after so much time has elapsed, and some things have taken so disadvantageous a turn, there hath not been put to sea the thirtytwo vessels stipulated in the month of April, 1779, much less still the fiftytwo, whose armament had been resolved upon the last year, so that to this moment none of the precautions proposed in the month of March, 1779, to the generality for the defence of our coasts, and the mouths of our rivers, have been taken.

"That the regency of our city, with all the good citizens of the Republic, who discover the best disposition possible to pay the ordinary and extraordinary imposts, has been much surprised at the little prompt.i.tude and at the slowness in the executions of resolutions so important for the Sovereign; for it is impossible to believe that the situation in which the respective admiralties found themselves, should be so bad that they could not effect in two years the equipments that they themselves had proposed; as they had no want of money, and as the necessity of them became more and more pressing daily; that in consequence, one could not conceive what were the causes of this slowness and inactivity no more than of the non-execution of the resolutions and orders to secure the coasts and harbors, and above all, one could not form an idea of the unforeseen obstacles and difficulties which have prevented the sailing of few vessels, which had been supposed perfectly in a state of putting to sea, even when your Highness after a suitable examination of things, had given the necessary orders to this effect.

"That seeing it is to this state of inactivity and incapacity of defending themselves, that it is necessary to attribute in the greatest measure the evils and calamities which have happened to the Republic, and which still threaten it, and that to this moment we have not been able to observe that any vigorous measures are taken to prevent future misfortunes, and to repair those already suffered, (without which we ought soon to expect the total ruin of the Republic,) we have judged it the indispensable duty of the brave regents, and that they cannot dispense themselves from searching out to what one ought to attribute this inexcusable negligence? And by what means one may remedy it, and direct and re-establish still affairs, as much as possible, for the safety of the State?

"That this having been attempted from time to time, privately, but in vain, and affairs becoming more and more disadvantageous and critical, it was so much the more necessary to take vigorous resolutions, and one could not longer defer the concerting of suitable measures; that from a mature and deliberate consideration of the whole of this had resulted the proposition, made by order of the Regency of Amsterdam the 18th of May last to the a.s.sembly of Holland, and submitted to the judgment and deliberations of the other members, to the end that these deliberations might give rise to resolutions the most useful and the most salutary to the country; that the said Regency are still of opinion, that duty to themselves, to their country, and to its good citizens, who for a long time had expected a similar measure on their part, required them to make the said proposition.

"That, nevertheless, it was very far from their intention to give your Highness any uneasiness or discontent, or to introduce innovations, or to diminish and circ.u.mscribe in more narrow limits the authority lawfully acquired of my Lord the Stadtholder; that on the contrary, they could a.s.sure solemnly, that they would a.s.sist constantly with all their power, to maintain the present const.i.tution of government with which they judge the well-being of the Republic is intimately connected; that they considered at the same time, that in the present circ.u.mstances of affairs nothing would be more necessary or more useful, for the direction and execution of the operations of the present war, and for to combine them with more secrecy and despatch than to form and establish a small council or committee, composed of the regencies of the respective Provinces, to a.s.sist your Highness with the advice and labors, and to co-operate conjointly to the preservation of the country.

"That this proposition, (founded perhaps upon former examples,) proceeded not from any motive of distrust of the good intentions and designs of your Serene Highness, of which there is no reason to suspect their purity, although according to the information of the Regency of that city, some evil minded persons have endeavored to insinuate the contrary to your Serene Highness.

"That such a distrust fell only upon him, whose influence over the mind of your Serene Highness is regarded as the first cause of the slowness and indolence in the administration of affairs, and as that cannot but be very prejudicial to the general good, one had in vain expected for a long time, that the dangerous circ.u.mstances in which the Republic finds itself at present, would at length have given rise to serious deliberations upon the measures necessary to be employed in future, and with more vigor than the past; but that this expectation having been vain to the present moment, and as the question in agitation was concerning the preservation of the country, of its dear bought liberty, of your Serene Highness, of his ill.u.s.trious House, in one word, of everything dear and precious to the inhabitants of the Republic, it is for these reasons that the Regency of Amsterdam have judged that they could no longer by silence be wanting in their duty, but saw themselves forced, although with regret, to the present measure.

"It is therefore with all the respect that they owe to your Serene Highness, but at the same time with the candor and honest freedom that the importance of the affair requires, that they represent to your Serene Highness, and declare to him expressly, that, according to the general opinion, the Lord the Duke is regarded as the princ.i.p.al cause of the deplorable state of weakness in which the Republic finds itself at this day, of all the negligence which hath had place, of all the false measures that have been taken for a long time, and of all the fatal consequences that have resulted from them; that your Serene Highness may be a.s.sured that the aversion and hatred of the nation against the person and administration of the Duke, are arisen to such a degree that one ought to dread an event the most grievous and the most disagreeable for the public tranquillity.

"That without doubt your Serene Highness has been already informed by others of all these things; but in case your Serene Highness is still ignorant of them, it is necessary to attribute it solely to a fear of the effects of the resentment of the Duke. We dare, nevertheless, to appeal with confidence upon everything now advanced, to the testimony of all the honest and sincere members of the Regency, that your Serene Highness shall deign to interrogate, after granting them full liberty of speech, and summoning them to answer according to their duty and their conscience.

"That they had heard many times with much regret, M. the Counsellor Pensionary, complain, in presence of divers members of the Province of Holland, of the misunderstanding which existed between him and the Lord the Duke, as well as of the ascendancy that the said Lord has over the mind of your Serene Highness, whereby all his effects for the good of the country were rendered fruitless.

"That this disunion and this diversity of sentiments and views between the princ.i.p.al Counsellor of your Serene Highness and the first Minister of this Province must have not only consequences the most fatal, but furnished also a sufficient motive to make the strongest instances to remove the source of that distrust and of that discord; seeing it is only a previous re-establishment of confidence and concord that can save the Republic; that nothing is also more necessary for the happiness of your Most Serene House, for the support of your authority, the preservation of the esteem and confidence of the nation, and of your consideration among the neighboring powers; for we can a.s.sure your Serene Highness, and we are obliged to apprise him, that he might indeed lose one day the esteem and confidence of the people, instead of being and continuing the worthy object of the love and the veneration of this people, and of its Regents; which we pray and wish ardently that your Serene Highness may ever experience, seeing upon that depends, in a great measure, the preservation and the happiness of our dear country and of the House of Orange.

"That as well persuaded as we may be, that the members of the sovereignty have always the liberty, and that it is sometimes even their duty to communicate to your Serene Highness and to the other members, their sentiments upon the state and administration of public affairs, we should have preferred, nevertheless, to have abstained from the present measure, if we had been able to conceive any hope, amelioration, and change; but since we can no longer flatter ourselves with that, for the reasons above alleged, and the danger has arisen to its highest degree, there remains no other part to take than that of laying before your Serene Highness the true state of things, of praying him, in the most solemn manner, to reflect seriously upon them, and of no longer listening to the councils and insinuations of a man loaded as he is with the hatred of the great and the small, regarded as a stranger dest.i.tute of a sufficient knowledge of the form of our government, and not possessed of a true affection to our country.

"That we are very far from wis.h.i.+ng to accuse this Lord of what he is but too openly charged, or of considering as founded, the suspicions circulated against him of an excessive and illicit attachment to the Court of England, or of bad faith and corruption; that we believe, that a Lord of so high a birth and so distinguished a rank, is incapable of such baseness, but that we think, that the unhappy ideas that have been unfortunately entertained of him, and which have caused a general distrust, render him totally unuseful and pernicious, even to the service of the State and of your Serene Highness, that he consequently be removed from the direction of affairs, and from the Court of your Serene Highness, as being a perpetual obstacle to the re-establishment of the good intelligence so necessary between your Serene Highness and the princ.i.p.al members of the State; seeing that on the contrary, his presence cannot but for the future, occasion the distrust conceived, whether with or without reason, of his counsels to fall upon your Serene Highness.

"That these representations do not spring from a principle of hatred or of ill will against the Lord, the Duke, who has formerly had occasion to be well satisfied, even with the benevolence and the real marks of affection of the Regency of Amsterdam, but that we protest before G.o.d and the whole world, that the only motives which have dictated them to us, are the preservation of the country and of the ill.u.s.trious House of your Most Serene Highness, and to prevent their approaching total ruin; that the Regency of our city have seen themselves obliged to take this measure, both in quality of inhabitants of this country, and as a member of its sovereign a.s.sembly; to the end to make by this means the last effort, and to point out, perhaps, yet in time, a means of saving, with the blessing of the Almighty, the vessel of State from the most imminent danger, and of conducting it into a safe port, or of acquitting themselves at least in every case of their duty, and of exculpating themselves in the eyes of their fellow citizens and posterity.

"That, in truth, it is not necessary to despair of the safety of the country; but that, nevertheless, affairs appear to have arrived to such an extremity, that it cannot be saved without the use of extraordinary means, and that for this reason, we ought still, with the approbation of your Serene Highness, to take the liberty to submit to his consideration, if the best means of managing hereafter affairs with success would not be, that your Serene Highness should a.s.sociate to himself a small number of persons, chosen from among the most distinguished and the most experienced citizens born in the country, to concert a.s.siduously with them everything which should be the most necessary or the most useful for the preservation and the service of the country during the present war, with such powers and such restrictions, as should be judged requisite to fulfil effectually the object of this commission; that we expect therefrom the two following effects, as important as useful.

"1st. That, in a conjuncture like the present, in which every moment is precious, no delay occasioned by deliberations of long duration shall take place, and the requisite despatch would be given to the execution of that which shall have been resolved.

"2dly. That thereby the confidence of the nation would be re-established, an universal tranquillity and content promoted, and each one would be encouraged and animated to contribute with joy everything in his power to the execution of the measures of the sovereign, whilst, that at present, we see the contrary take place, and hear everywhere of the general complaints of the division and of the inactivity of the government.

"That this proposition appears of the highest necessity, not only to the Regency of Amsterdam, but we have reason to think, that it is considered in the same point of light by the princ.i.p.al members of this Province, and of all the others.

"Besides, nothing is more necessary than to adopt a fixed system and plan of conduct, seeing that the Republic ought to choose between two conditions; either to re-establish the peace with England, or to prosecute the war with all our forces, to the end to accelerate by this means an honorable peace; which ought to be the sincere wish of every good citizen, and to which alone, without any further views, (as we can a.s.sure your Serene Highness in the most serious manner) has tended the overture made by our proposition of concerting with France the operations for this campaign. We desire nothing more ardently on our part, than to deliberate seriously with your Serene Highness upon the option between the two conditions alleged, and what means it will be necessary to employ to arrive at the end which shall be chosen; but we are absolutely of opinion, that above all things, we must never lose sight, although a reconciliation may be preferred, that nothing ought to be neglected or omitted, to place in every respect, the Republic in such a position that it has nothing to fear from its enemies, but, on the contrary, that it may be in a state to force them to wish the re-establishment of that peace, which, without any lawful cause, they have so unjustly and wickedly broken.

"That the above piece is word for word the same without any addition or omission, as that which has been read to his Serene Highness, the 8th of June, 1781, by the order of the gentlemen, the Burgomasters, by the Pensionary Vischer, in presence of the Counsellor Pensionary of Holland, and which is written with the hand of the said Pensionary, is that which we attest.

"Amsterdam, June 12th, 1781.

E. DE VRY TEMMINCK, } _Reigning_ J. RENDORP, } _Burgomasters._ C. W. VISCHER, _Pensionary._

"Deposed in the cabinet of the gentlemen, the Burgomasters, the said 12th of June, 1781."

"The original of this memorial, which after the reading has been put into the hands of his Most Serene Highness, but taken back during the audience, has been sent, the 14th of June, to the Counsellor Pensionary, accompanied with a letter in the name of the Burgomasters, written by the Burgomaster Rendorp to the said Counsellor Pensionary."

"By a resolution of the 6th of this month, the States-General have revoked the order, that their High Mightinesses had given, at the beginning of the war, to all captains or patrons of merchant-s.h.i.+ps belonging to the subjects of this Republic, to remain in the ports where they found themselves, and not to make sail from them, either for their destination or to return into this country. Their High Mightinesses have this day given to the proprietors and captains of these vessels, the liberty of navigating and employing them in such a manner, and when they shall judge proper.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS.

Translation

Versailles, July 18th, 1781.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write to me the 13th instant. It was owing to the confidence I placed in your judgment and zeal for your country, that I intrusted to you the propositions of the two Imperial Courts, and requested that you would make such observations as you might think them susceptible of. Things are not yet sufficiently advanced to admit of communicating them to the two mediating Courts. As you have seen in the sketch of our answer, there are preliminaries to be adjusted with respect to the United States, and until they are adjusted you cannot appear, and consequently you cannot transact anything officially with respect to the two mediators. By so doing you would hazard and expose the dignity of the character with which you are invested.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Paris, July 18th, 1781.

Sir,

I have received the letter, which your Excellency did me the honor to write me this day. I a.s.sure your Excellency, I never had a thought of appearing upon the scene, or of taking ministerially or otherwise any step towards the two mediators. I must confess to your Excellency that I have too many jealousies of the motives, and too many apprehensions of the consequences of this negotiation to be willing to take any part in it, without an express vocation. The English are tottering on such a precipice, and are in such a temper, that they will not hesitate at any measure, which they think can move every latent pa.s.sion, and awaken every dormant interest in Europe, in order to embroil all the world. Without looking much to consequences, or weighing whether the quarrels they wish to excite will be serviceable to them or not, they seem to think the more confusion they can make the better; for which reason my fears from the proposed mediation are greater than my hopes.

Nevertheless, if properly called upon, it will be my duty to attend to every step of it; but there are many questions arise in my mind, upon which in due time I should wish to know your Excellency's opinion.