come to our knowledge, that, notwithstanding the strong and serious
advertisements and publications against the composition, sale, and
distribution of lampoons, scandalous pamphlets, or libels, and
defamatory writings of whatever sort, or in whatever form they may be,
to the prejudice of the high sovereignty of these Provinces, and of
those who are placed in any administration or direction of public
affairs already, heretofore, and lately promulgated, both by the
Lords, the States of this Province, and by others, and the rigorous
penalty therein decreed against transgressors; nevertheless, the
spirit of discord, of wickedness, of calumny, and of sedition has
burst forth, and spread itself in this State so far, that it has not
been possible, hitherto to restrain it by such advertisements, but, on
the contrary, it has arrived at such a height, that there has been
printed and dispersed within a few days a most pernicious libel, under
the title of Aan het Volkvan Nederland, (to the people of the Low
Countries) containing a great number of wicked and slanderous
imputations against the Most Serene Person of his Most Serene
Highness, our Lord, the Prince of Orange and Nassau, Hereditary
Stadtholder, Captain and Admiral-General of these Provinces, against
his Most Serene father and mother of glorious memory, as also our
Lords, the Princes of Orange, William the First, Maurice, Frederick,
Henry, William the Second, and William the Third, illustrious
predecessors of his Most Serene Highness, and interspersing efforts
the most seditious, tending to overturn not only the present form of
the Regency, but even to introduce, instead of the Regency in the
State, which also is therein painted, in the most hateful manner, a
democracy, or Regency of the people, and thus to cause the Republic to
fall into an entire anarchy, which would increase and multiply still
more extremely, the dangers to which the dear country is exposed at
present by a foreign war, joined to an intestine division; and taking
into consideration that such most detestable wickedness, if not
restrained, can have no other consequences, than the total ruin and
destruction of the dear country, if God by his grace does not prevent
it, and that it is incumbent on us to employ all the means possible to
hinder it, and to punish offences according to their demerit; for
these causes, we renew that which has been heretofore and lately
ordained in this respect by the publication of their Noble
Mightinesses, of the 4th of July of the present year, 1781, and not
only the punishments by fine, but also of discretionary correction,
according to the exigence of the case against the transgressors there
mentioned, to discover the author or the authors, and the distributor
or the distributors of such a dangerous libel as that before
mentioned, and to the end that they be punished, as examples to
others, according to the magnitude of such a crime, tending to the
ruin of the country; we have thought fit to promise, as we do by these
presents, a premium of a hundred ryders (fourteen hundred guilders) in
favor of those who may discover or make known, the author or authors,
distributor or distributors, in such manner that they may be
juridically convicted and punished, concealing the name of the
informer if he requires it. And we ordain, moreover, to all the
officers and judges in the city, cities, and countries of this
Province, to make all possible search, and to endeavor, without any
negligence, dissimulation, or connivance, to discover and arrest the
aforesaid malefactor, or malefactors, and to proceed and to cause to
be proceeded, as is convenient, against them, as seditious persons,
and disturbers of the public repose, guilty of overturning the
foundations of the government of these Provinces, and of the
sovereignty of the Lords, the States of the Provinces respectively,
and as the enemies the most dangerous of the country; and to the end,
that no man may pretend ignorance, these presents shall be published
and posted up in convenient places.
"Done at Utrecht, the 3d of October, 1781.
I. TACTS VAN AMERONGEN.
"By order of the said Lords Deputies,
C.A. VOS."
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Amsterdam, October 18th, 1781.
Sir,
The Committees of the Fisheries of Vlaardingen and Maaslleys have
presented to their High Mightinesses a petition to give them to
understand, "that they learned with the most lively sensibility that
the gentlemen, the committees of the respective colleges of Admiralty
had proposed to their High Mightinesses to permit the free navigation
of the ports of the Republic, with or without convoy, excepting,
nevertheless, until further order, the vessels destined to the greater
and lesser fisheries. The petitioners represent the inevitable losses,
with which they are more and more threatened, in case that all the
fishery, without exception, remain longer suspended; that they might
very well find a remedy in a certain manner by excepting from this
prohibition the ships employed in taking fish for salting, and in the
fishery of fresh cod. They solicit, that it may please their High
Mightinesses to revoke in this regard the placard of the 26th of
January, 1781, or at least to make in it such alteration as their High
Mightinesses may find convenient."
This petition, accepted by the Province of Holland, has been rendered
commissorial, and sent to the colleges of the Admiralty respectively.
ANOTHER PETITION,
_From divers Merchants, Bookkeepers, and Owners of Ships of Amsterdam,
containing in substance_,
"That the petitioners having caused their vessels and cargoes, for the
most part loaded beforehand, to sail under the escort of the convoy,
there has resulted from it on the 5th of August, the famous
rencounter between this convoy, commanded by the Vice Admiral Zoutman,
and the British Vice Admiral Parker; a rencounter, which in truth had
covered the naval forces of the Republic with immortal glory, but at
the same time given to commerce a terrible blow, the merchant vessels
having seen themselves obliged to return into the ports of the State.
That the petitioners seeing themselves disappointed of their just and
equitable expectation, of being able to obtain an escort sufficient
and seasonably ready, found themselves forced to submit to necessity,
and consequently to call back their ships, which without running the
greatest danger, could not remain longer in their then station; that
the petitioners could not refrain from representing to their High
Mightinesses in the most pressing manner, the enormous prejudice which
resulted from it to the petitioners and the freighters of vessels,
who, after having for so many months held their vessels and crews
ready, must now pay the expense of equipping them, the wages, the
monthly pay and subsistence of their crews, as well as all the other
charges that result from them.
"But as all these disbursements are lost, the petitioners for the
causes alleged, and others particularised in the petition, pray that
it may please their High Mightinesses to assign to the petitioners,
and especially to the proprietors and freighters of vessels, a
convenient indemnification and sufficient for the cost, damages, and
interest borne and suffered, because the said convoy has not set sail;
from whence it has resulted, that they have detained the vessels
belonging to the petitioners, who, at the first requisition, are ready
to produce the particulars to their High Mightinesses, that it may
also please their High Mightinesses to give the necessary orders, to
the end that the convoy destined for this purpose may be ready early
enough to be able to set sail next spring, even by the month of March,
to the end that by accelerating their departure, the loss of time
suffered in the current year may be, at least in some degree,
compensated, and that there may be an opportunity that the ships which
are now in Norway and at Elsinore; supposing they should be obliged to
pass the winter there, may then profit of this convoy for their
return. Finally, that they would please to give, concerning all these
objects, precise orders, and such as their High Mightinesses may judge
the most proper to fulfil the wishes of the petitioners, and for the
greatest utility of commerce."
This petition has been rendered commissorial for the respective
Admiralties.
ANOTHER PETITION.
"The undersigned, merchants trading to the Levant, living at Amsterdam
and Rotterdam, give respectfully to understand, that the petitioners
acknowledge with the most lively gratitude the paternal care which
your High Mightinesses have always manifested for the prosperity of
the commerce of the Levant, and particularly the advantages procured
to the Belgic navigation by the resolutions of your High Mightinesses
of the 21st of May, 1770, and of the first of April, 1776; the first
of which authorises the directors of the commerce of the Levant, and
of the navigation of the Mediterranean, besides the accustomed
imposition of six per cent of freight, to require of all foreign
vessels coming from the Levant, five per cent of the value of the
effects; and the second of which tends to raise considerably the
tariff, after which they always tax the abovementioned effects; which
has also fully answered to the salutary end of your High Mightinesses,
to wit, to inspire a general aversion in foreign ships to suffer
themselves to be employed in the transportation of productions from
the Levant into the ports of these countries. But, the situation of
the navigation of this country by the unfortunate and cruel war, which
the King of England unjustly makes upon our dear country, is in fact
entirely changed, and almost entirely interrupted and ruined, in such
sort, that by the present impossibility to make use of those ships
which have not been taken, business in general, and that of the Levant
in particular, is in the deplorable condition, even for the account of
neutral foreigners, (for that upon our own account is entirely
stopped) either to be wholly abandoned, or to be carried on by the
means of foreign vessels.
"The petitioners think it unnecessary to enumerate, particularly the
disadvantages of the first points alleged, that is to say, the
abandoning of this commerce, because in all times the considerable
importance of the Levant trade has been universally acknowledged, and
your High Mightinesses yourselves have always shown that you have been
intimately persuaded of it. It is then manifest, that in the present
situation of affairs there remains only the second means, which is to
employ foreign ships; nevertheless, as the small quantity of these
vessels joined to the inclination on all sides to employ them, has
already occasioned an enormous rise of their freights, and since
moreover they cannot be ensured, but by paying a premium three times
larger than in past times, we encounter here obstacles the most
discouraging and invincible, considering, that besides all this, the
extraordinary imposition beforementioned of five per cent of the
value of the merchandises calculated after the augmented tariff
renders almost impracticable this manner of negotiating, and deprives
it of all advantage; which in this critical situation of affairs, must
ruin absolutely the commerce of the Levant; for since at this time it
cannot be carried on, but for the account of neutral foreigners, it is
incontestible that their enterprises being in all cases so much
confined, they will find themselves in the indispensable necessity to
suspend this commerce with us, and to transmit it to other places;
besides this, there will be found many foreigners, who for these
causes will excuse themselves from remitting to the petitioners what
they justly owe because at present, by the enormous rise of bills of
exchange this cannot be effected but by sending merchandises, which
still augments and extends, in an aggravating manner, the risk of the
petitioners.
"But finally to ward off this misfortune in season, if possible, the
petitioners take the liberty respectfully to address themselves to
your High Mightinesses, praying that you would please, during the
course of this war, consequently as long as the Belgic vessels cannot
be employed, to exempt the effects, loaded upon foreign ships and
coming from the Levant to the ports of this country, from the said
extraordinary imposition of five per cent of their value, and that you
would also give the same advantages to the merchandises loaded on
board the Pisano, a Venetian vessel, commanded by Captain Antonio
Ragusin, from Smyrna, and lately arrived at the Texel; to the end that
this branch of Commerce, so important, may not perish entirely, and
that it may be preserved for the general well-being of the dear
country.
"Divers freighters and part owners of vessels, fitted out for the
Colony of Surinam, by the proprietors of plantations, merchants, and
others interested in this commerce, as well as that of Curacao, have
addressed a petition to their High Mightinesses, and laid open the
"deplorable condition of the two Colonies; that in consequence of the
Resolution of the 14th of last June, in virtue of the petition, which
they then presented, they equipped their vessels with despatch, and
that in two months they had put in order a fleet of seventeen vessels,
armed with four hundred guns, and manned with twelve hundred men,
expecting a suitable convoy; but that several circumstances having
without doubt hindered it from being ready, they pray first, their
High Mightinesses, that they would prepare as soon as possible a
convenient convoy, to go out with their ships, at a certain day, and
conduct them to the West Indies; secondly, that their High
Mightinesses, in case of delay, would be so good as to grant them an
indemnification; thirdly, that their High Mightinesses, upon the
exhibition of a certificate, as it was stipulated by their resolution
of the 31st of July last, would be so good as to cause to be given to
those who shall have made the armaments required, the bounties which
they shall judge convenient, the petitioners being ready to give
convenient sureties, and even to engage their vessels, in case they
are not ready to sail at the time appointed."
At the requisition of his Highness, the request has been rendered
commissorial in the respective Admiralties.
The representative and the directors of the East India Company have
notified to their High Mightinesses, "that their finances are
diminished, and that they are in the indispensable necessity of
demanding of their High Mightinesses a succor of at least 550,000
florins; adding, that if some favorable change does not take place,
they will soon be obliged to have again recourse to their High
Mightinesses."
This petition has been rendered commissorial.
These papers will sufficiently show Congress how much the trade of
this country is affected by the war, and what discontents must arise
from it. Yet the British Ministry are amusing the government with
their delusive ideas of mediation, armistices, Congresses, peace, and
anything to lay them asleep.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN ADAMS.
Philadelphia, October 23d, 1781.
Dear Sir,
The enclosed resolution will inform you that Congress have thought it
advisable to new model their department of foreign affairs, by the
appointment of a Secretary, through whose hands the communications
with their Ministers abroad are to pass. Though they did me the honor
to elect me so long since as August last, I but lately determined to
accept, and did not enter upon business till two days ago, so that you
must not expect those minute communications, which I shall think it my
duty to make to you when I have had leisure to arrange my department,
and to acquaint myself more fully with the sentiments of Congress,
which must upon the whole be my direction.
I can only say in general, that we consider your situation as
extremely delicate, the state you are in, divided by powerful parties,
and the bias that every man has to his own country, naturally gives
him a predilection for that which most favors its interests. But this,
though the child of virtue, is often the greatest obstacle to
successful negotiations; it creates distrust and jealousies; it
excites prejudices, which unfit us for conciliating the affections of
those whose assistance we require, and induce too fond a reliance upon
the information of those who wish to serve us. Aristocratic
governments are, of all others, the most jealous of popular
commotions; the rich and the powerful are equally engaged to resist
them, and nothing will, in my opinion, so soon contribute to a peace
between England and the United Provinces as the commotions which now
clog the government of the latter.
You must, Sir, be infinitely better acquainted with the interior of
the State you are in than I can pretend to be, and I rely much on your
information for light, which I cannot attain here. If I venture to
give you my sentiments, it is with the hope that you will correct my
errors when I have discovered them by my freedom.
The United Provinces appear to me one of those governments whose very
constitution disposes them to peace; the ambition of making conquests,
either is or ought to be unknown to them. A war for the extension of
commerce is a solecism in politics, since the shocks that the
established trade sustains, infinitely overbalance any new accession
that may be made by it. War, then, while the true interest of the
United Provinces is considered, will be the child of necessity. That
necessity happily exists at present, and will exist till Great Britain
ceases to be the tyrant of the ocean. We are greatly interested in its
continuance; but let us always bear in mind that the moment Great
Britain makes the sacrifices, which prudence and justice require, the
United Provinces will be drawn by the interest of commerce and the
love of peace to close with them. Their acknowledgment of our
independence would be an important and a leading object. Success here,
and the injustice and cruelty of the British may affect it, but do not
let us appear to be dissatisfied if it is delayed. They have a right
to judge for themselves; from the very nature of their government,
they must be slow in determining. Every appearance of dissatisfaction
on our part, gives room to the British to believe the United Provinces
disinclined to us, and paves the way to negotiations, which may end in
a peace, which we are so much interested in preventing.
Your first object, then, if I may venture my opinion, is to be well
with the government; your second, to appear to be so, and to take no
measures, which may bring upon you a public affront. You will
naturally treat the friends we have with the politeness and attention
that they justly merit, and even with that cordiality which your heart
must feel for those who wish your country well, but your prudence will
suggest to you to avoid giving offence to government, by the
appearance of intrigue. I know nothing of the refinements of politics,
nor do I wish to see them enter into our negotiations. Dignity of
conduct, the resources of our country, and the value of our commerce,
must render us respectable abroad. You will not fail to lay the
foundation of your alliances in these, by displaying them in the
strongest point of view. The spirit of injustice and cruelty, which
characterise the English, must also afford you advantages, of which I
dare say you avail yourself.
I make no apology for the length or freedom of this; it is of the last
importance to you (and I am satisfied you will think it so,) to be
intimately acquainted with the sentiments entertained on this side of
the water. In return, Sir, you will let me know, minutely, everything
that can in any way be of use to us, particularly if either of the
belligerent powers takes measures that may tend to establish a partial
or general peace. At your leisure, acquaint me with the interior of
the government you are in, and everything else interesting, which you
may learn relative to others. Remember that Ministers are yet to be
formed in this country, and let them want no light, which your
situation enables you to afford them.
I would submit it to you, whether it would not be most advisable to
spend as much time as possible at the Hague, and to form connexions
with the Ministers of the powers not interested in our affairs. They
are frequently best informed, because least suspected, and while your
public character is unacknowledged, and you can visit without the clog
of ceremony, I should conceive it no difficult task to engage the
friendship of some among them.
But it is time to let you breathe; this I shall do without closing my
letter, reserving the remainder of it for the communication of the
most agreeable intelligence you ever received from America. The
enclosed prints will announce one important victory to you, and we are
in hourly expectation of the particulars of another, which will enable
you to open your negotiations this winter with the utmost advantage.
_October 24th._ I congratulate you, Sir, upon the pleasing
intelligence which, agreeable to my hopes, I am enabled to convey to
you; enclosed you have a letter from General Washington to Congress;
the terms granted to Lord Cornwallis, his fleet and army, and the
letters that passed previous to the surrender of both. I make no
comments upon this event, but rely upon your judgment to improve it
to the utmost; perhaps, this is the moment in which a loan may be
opened with most advantage. The want of money is our weak side, and
even in the high day of success we feel its pressure.
As you may not perhaps be fully acquainted with the steps that led to
this important victory, I enclose also an extract of my last letter to
Dr Franklin. The British fleet consisting of twentysix sail of the
line, including three fifties as such, with five thousand land forces,
and General Clinton himself on board, sailed the 19th for the relief
of Cornwallis. Count de Grasse is also out with thirtyfour sail of the
line. I shall keep this open as long as possible, from the hopes of
communicating an interesting account of their meeting.
_November 1st._ I am under the necessity of closing this without being
able to give you any other account of the fleets, than that the
British have not yet returned to New York; nor are we certain that the
Count de Grasse has yet left the Chesapeake. If anything in the nature
of a Court calendar is published at the Hague, you will be pleased to
send me one or two impressions of it, as it may be of use to us.
I am, Sir, &c.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
* * * * *
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Amsterdam, October 25th, 1781.
Sir,
I see in the London Courant, which arrived today, an advertisement of
a translation into English of the address to the people of the
Netherlands; so that this work is likely to be translated into all
languages, and read by all the world, notwithstanding the placards
against it. I have before sent that of Utrecht; that of Holland is as
follows.
"The States of Holland and of West Friesland, to all those who shall
see these presents, or hear them read, Greeting. As it is come to our
knowledge, that notwithstanding the placards and ordinances, from one
time to another, issued against the impression and dissemination of
seditious and slanderous writings, there has been lately dispersed in
various places of this Province, a certain very seditious and
slanderous libel, entitled _Aan het Volk van Nederland_, (To the
People of the Low Countries) in which the supreme government of this
country, his Most Serene Highness, our Lord the Prince Hereditary
Stadtholder, as well as his illustrious predecessors, to whom under
God, we are indebted for the foundation and maintenance of our
Republic, as well as of its liberty, are calumniated in the most
scandalous and enormous manner, and in which the good people are
invited to an insurrection and to seditious commotions.