Captain-General sends to the troops to march. He orders the marches,
provides for the garrisons, and changes them at his pleasure. The
ordinances and military regulations proceed from him alone; it is he,
who constitutes and authorises the High Council of War of the United
Provinces, and who, as Captain-General of each Province, disposes of
all military offices as far as that of Colonel, inclusively. The
highest posts, as those of Field Marshals, of Generals and
Lieutenant-Generals, are given by the States-General, who choose those
to fill them whom his Highness recommends. It is he also, who gives
the governments, commandants, &c. of cities and places of arms of the
Republic, and those of the barrier. The persons named, present their
acts to their High Mightinesses, who provide them with commissions. In
disposing of civil employments, which are in their departments, the
States-General have always a great deal of regard also to the
recommendations of his Highness. The power of the Stadtholder, as
Grand Admiral, extends itself over everything which regards the naval
forces of the State, and the other affairs of the departments of the
Admiralties. These councils, called the Admiralties, preside over the
perception [?] of the duties of entries, inwards and outwards, and
have the direction of the custom-house, as well as that of the
Admiralty. He presides here in person or by his representatives; and
as chief of all these councils in general and of each one in
particular, he is able to cause to be observed and executed their
instructions, both by themselves, and what concerns them. He disposes
of the employs of Lieutenant-Admirals and others, who command under
him, and creates also the captains (_de haut bord_). The Grand
Admiral, who has his part in all the prizes which are made, both by
the vessels of the State and by privateers, establishes, when it is
necessary, maritime councils of war, who do right in the name of their
High Mightinesses, and of his Highness, but whose sentences are not
executed until after he has approved and confirmed them. It is the
same in those of the High Council of War of the United Provinces.
"Here follows the COMMISSION of the Prince, exactly translated from
the Dutch.
"The States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, to
all those who shall see or hear these presents, greeting. We make
known, that it being necessary to authorise and establish one person
capable and qualified as Captain-General and Admiral-General of the
people of war, by sea and land, who are in our service, for the
maintenance of the State and of the government of this country, and
for the direction of the affairs of war; for these causes, considering
the good qualities and the capacity of his Highness, the Prince
William Charles Henry Friso, by the Grace of God, Prince of Orange and
of Nassau, Earl of Catzeneltebogen, Vianden, Dietz, &c. &c. &c. and
relying upon his firmness, valor, and inclination, for the prosperity
of these countries, we have established and authorised, and we do
establish and authorise his Most Serene Highness, the said Prince
William Charles Henry Friso, Captain and Admiral-General over the
people of war, who are in our service by sea and by land, giving to
his Highness full power and authority to command, in that quality, all
the said troops, and order them all that is convenient for the
conservation and the maintenance of the union, for the safeguard and
the defence of the State, for the tranquillity, the rights and the
privileges of the country, both in general, and of each Province in
particular; and for the protection of the inhabitants, as also for the
conservation of the true reformed religion, in the manner that it is
at present exercised, and under the public authority in the associated
Provinces and cities; in fine, for the maintenance of the present form
of government; the whole with the authority, the rights, the honors,
and pre-eminence, thereto annexed. We have, moreover, conferred on his
Serene Highness, as we hereby confer upon him, by these presents,
until we shall have made known that we have disposed otherwise, the
free power to dispose of patents and other things which relate to war,
as the Lords, Princes of Orange, glorious ancestors of his Serene
Highness have done, in quality of Stadtholders with relation to the
troops. We command and ordain, most expressly, to all and every one,
particularly to the officers of the troops, Colonels, Captains of
Cavalry and of Infantry, and of other people of war in our service
and pay, to acknowledge, respect, and obey his Serene Highness in
that quality, giving him all succor, favor, and assistance, in
executing his orders. His Serene Highness, as Captain-General of the
State, shall take the ordinary oath to us, or to those whom we shall
depute for that end, upon the instructions[9] which we shall judge
proper to prepare in this respect. Done, in our Assembly at the Hague,
the 4th of May, 1747.
[9] No such instructions exist.
"The Sladtholder grants likewise, letters of grace, of pardon, and
abolition, both of the crimes which they call _communia delicta_, and
of military offences. In Holland and Zealand, these letters are made
out for the former, in the name of the States, with the advice of his
Highness; in cases of common crimes, he consults the courts of
justice, the counsellors deputies of the Provinces, the Council of
State, and the tribunals of justice of the cities respectively,
according to the nature of the case, and concerning the others, the
High Council of War, &c.
"In the Provinces of Holland and Zealand, the Stadtholder makes every
year an election of the magistrates of the cities, upon a
representation or nomination of a double number, which the cities
themselves send to him. He has the choice of two, and in some cases,
of three candidates, whom the States of Holland name to fill the
offices, which their Noble and Grand Mightinesses, and formerly the
Chamber of Accounts of their dominions had the disposition or election
of, when there was no Governor. In some cities, the Stadtholder elects
only the sheriffs, in others the burgomasters and sheriffs, and in
some, the counsellors of the cities also. The magistrates, in taking
possession of their offices, promise by oath, to maintain the rights,
privileges, and immunities of their cities and citizens; and they take
an oath also of fidelity to the States of Holland and Friesland. In
1672, the magistrates of Dort, added 'as also to his Serene Highness,
the Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Province,' and the same thing
was done in 1747, but only in Dort. When the States, in extraordinary
cases which require it, judge proper to invest him with an act of
authority, he can dismiss all these magistrates and replace them by
others. This was done upon this footing, in 1672 and 1748. 'Saving
their honor, and without its being permitted to suspect them of having
ill conducted in the exercise of their offices, the Stadtholder
promising to take, in case of need, their persons and their families
under his protection and safeguard, &c.' The Prince of Maurice having
changed in 1718 the magistrates of the greatest part of the cities,
was thanked for it by the States of Holland, who, by their resolution
of the 16th of November of the same year, approved unanimously of what
his Excellency had done.
"There are some few offices, which, by the constitution, the States
have the disposal of, but in effect, the Stadtholder disposes of all
offices, and is by this means in a capacity to oblige and attach to
him, the magistrates of the cities, and other persons whom he pleases
to gratify with them. He elects the counsellors and inspectors of the
dykes of Rhynland, of Delfland, and of Schieland, &c. upon a
presentation of three persons which these Colleges, established in
Holland for many centuries, send directly to him. Philip the Good,
Duke of Burgundy, in an old ordinance, calls these officers
Counsellors of the Dykes. Their offices are for life; and besides
these three Colleges, there are still several others in Holland, but
the three abovementioned are the most considerable.
"In virtue of the regulations made in 1674 and 1675, and renewed since
the accession of the Prince to the Stadtholdership, he has a great
power in the Provinces of Guelderland, Utrecht, and Overyssel. The
decision of the differences, which may there arise among the
respective members and quarters belong to him; all the offices and
commissions, which are exercised both in the Provinces and without.
The States of Guelderland had, in 1748, conferred on the Prince
Stadtholder the power of correcting, changing, and augmenting the
regulation of the Regency of the year 1675, as his Highness should
judge necessary for the good and advantage of the Province, in case
that in this regulation he should find articles, which, according to
the constitution of the present form of government, have occasion to
be altered. But his Highness, in re-establishing it, did not judge
proper to avail himself of this concession, which he nevertheless
accepted in 1750. See the last article of the regulation published
that year. In 1748, the Quarter of Nimeguen made a present to the
Prince of the Earldom of Culembourg, and the States of Overyssel did
the same with regard to the lands, which they possessed in the Earldom
of Bantheim. By this he is the First Member of the States, and
Sovereign Lord of the Lower Earldom.
"He has at his disposal all the offices and commissions in the
Provinces of Groningen and Ommelanden, since the regulation of the
year 1748, and the Prince Stadtholder has also acquired the greatest
prerogatives in Friesland, by the regulation of December, 1748. As
Stadtholder of the country of Drenthe and of the territory of the
Generality, he has also very fair prerogatives, and annual
appointments. The Council of State of the United Provinces, as well
as the Councils Deputies of Holland and West Friesland, have, of their
own motion offered, and at last conceded to his Highness all the
employments which were in their disposal. By the articles ninth,
sixteenth, and twentyfirst of the Treaty of Union of Utrecht, the
Stadtholders of that time had been named provisionally, arbiters of
the differences, which contrary sentiments and opposite views might
occasion among the confederates, who, in thus submitting to an
arbitration of points so important, had considered no doubt, that in
fact there could not be any union or confederation among allies, who
united themselves so closely, without agreeing upon means of coming to
a conclusion, in cases, in which the plurality of voices did not take
place.
"Since the re-establishment of the Stadtholdership on the footing
where it is at present, similar differences between the Provinces are
no longer to be feared; the Prince Stadtholder, being fortified with a
power sufficiently great to maintain the union, by preventing the
consequences of all which might disturb it, or being a prejudice to
the State in general, or to the Provinces, or their Quarters, or their
members in particular; finally to take and put in execution the
measures and resolutions necessary, &c. His Highness presides in the
Court of Holland, and in the Courts of Justice of the other Provinces,
and his name is placed at the head of their commandments, ordinances,
and bills. In Overyssel and in the Province of Utrecht, the fiefs are
held in the name of the Prince Stadtholder. He is supreme curator of
the Universities of Guelderland, of Friesland, and Groningen, Grand
Forrester and Grand Hunter in Guelderland, Holland, and other places.
"In the Province of Utrecht, his Highness, by virtue of the regulation
of the year 1674, disposes of the provostship, and other benefices,
which have remained attached to the chapters, as also the canonical
prebends, which have fallen vacant in the months which were formerly
called Popish.
"Conformably to the first article of the instructions of the Council
of State of the United Provinces, the Stadtholder is the first member
of it, and has there the right of suffrage, with an appointment of
twentyfive thousand florins a year. In virtue of a resolution of the
States-General, of the 27th of February, the Prince of Orange had
enjoyed it before his elevation to the Stadtholdership, having been
placed, from the year 1670, in the Council of State. The 26th of July,
1746, their High Mightinesses granted the same appointments to the
Prince Stadtholder.
"He assists also, whenever he judges proper for the service of the
State, at the deliberations of the States-General, there to make
propositions, &c. and sometimes also at the conferences held by the
Deputies of their High Mightinesses in the several departments,
according to the order established at the Assemblies of the States of
particular Provinces, and at those of their Counsellors, or States
Deputies. In Guelderland, in Holland, and in the Province of Utrecht,
his Highness participates of the sovereignty, as Chief, or President
of the body of Nobles; and in Zealand, where he possesses the
Marquisate of Veere and of Flessingue as First Noble, and representing
alone all the nobility. In his absence, he has in Zealand his
representatives, who hold the first place, who have the first voice in
all the councils, and the first of whom is always First Deputy from
this Province at the Assembly of their High Mightinesses. The three
quarters of the Province of Guelderland conferred the dignity of
Chief, or President of the Body of Nobles, on his Serene Highness, in
1750. None of his predecessors had it, but Basnage says, in his Annals
of the United Provinces, that the Prince William the Second, a little
before his death, had a design to get himself elected First Noble in
Guelderland, where the nobility had been at all times devoted to him.
"The Body of Nobles of Holland, having prayed in 1635, the Prince
Frederick Henry to do them the honor of being their Chief, his
Highness, who as Stadtholder had neither seat nor voice in the
Assembly of the States of the Province, graciously accepted of this
offer, and became thereby a permanent member of it. The Body of Nobles
have done the same with regard to the successors of this Prince.
"Veere and Flessingue are two of the six cities, which, with the First
Noble compose the Assembly of the States of Zealand. The councils in
Zealand, in which the Prince or his representatives have the first
voice, are the Assembly of the States, and of the Counsellors
Deputies; in the Council of the Admiralty, in the Chambers of
Accounts, and in the Assembly, that they name the States of Walcheren,
a College, which has the care of the dykes of this part of the
Province. It appears, that under the precedent Stadtholders, the
Assembly of the States of Zealand, composed, as at present, of the
First Noble, and the six cities, disposed of all provincial offices
and commissions, and one may see, by the resolution of the States of
Zealand of the 15th of June, 1751, how this affair has been
regulated.
"In 1749, the Prince Stadtholder was created by the States-General,
Governor-General and Supreme Director of the Companies of the East and
West Indies, dignities which gave him a great deal of authority and
power, and which had not been conferred upon any of his predecessors.
They have not yet been rendered hereditary. He has his representatives
in the respective chambers, and chooses the Directors of the two
companies, upon a nomination of three persons, who have the
qualifications necessary to be elected. From his elevation to the
Stadtholdership, the Prince enjoyed in Zealand this prerogative. His
Serene Highness enjoys, without paying taxes, as the precedent
Stadtholder might have enjoyed, the thirtieth part of all the
divisions, which the East India Company makes; that is to say, the
dividends of sixtysix actions and two thirds, each action being
reckoned at three thousand florins, old capital. See the resolutions
of their High Mightinesses, of the twentyseventh of November, 1747,
when the company gives to the interested a dividend of fifty per cent,
the portion of the Stadtholder amounts to fifty thousand florins. The
Prince Stadtholder represents the dignity and the grandeur of the
Republic, and without bearing the name of sovereign, and doing all in
the name of the States, of which he is the Lieutenant-General, he
enjoys in several respects, even the effects of the sovereignty. We
have already seen what are his principal prerogatives, his authority,
his great credit, and his influence in all affairs.
"The Ambassadors and other Ministers in foreign Courts hold their
commissions and receive their instructions from the States-General,
who nevertheless do not name to these employs, excepting such as are
agreeable to the Prince Stadtholder, and recommended by his Highness.
These Ministers address their despatches to their High Mightinesses,
or to their Register, and correspond also with the Counsellor
Pensionary of Holland. They also render an account to the Prince
Stadtholder of the negotiations with which they are charged, and of
all important and secret affairs.
"Treaties, alliances, conventions, &c. are negotiated, signed, and
ratified in the name of the States-General, after having been
communicated to the Provinces and ratified by them. The name of the
Prince Stadtholder does not appear, but he can, when there is a
question concerning his particular affairs, enter into negotiation
with foreign Courts, and conclude with them treaties, as it was done
with Spain in 1646 and 1647.
"Some of the foreign Ministers who reside at the Hague, are also
accredited with the Prince Stadtholder. The prerogatives of the Prince
Stadtholder of the Republic are at present sufficiently fixed; but
they are not precisely the same in all the Provinces. The appointments
and revenues of the Stadtholder and Captain-General, to consider them
even in proportion, cannot be put in parallel with those of a King of
England. Nevertheless, it is reckoned that the revenues of the
Stadtholdership of the Seven United Provinces, of the country of
Drenthe and the Territory of the Generality, comprehending the
twentyfive thousand florins which the Prince enjoys annually as First
Member of the Council of State, and the dividends of the company of
the East Indies, amount to three hundred thousand florins a year. The
Stadtholder pays neither imposts nor taxes, excepting those which they
call in Holland _Odinarés Verponding_, which is raised in this
Province upon the lands and upon the houses, &c. The body guards and
the aid-de-camp of his Most Serene Highness are entertained at the
expense of the union. Holland alone pays the company of a hundred
Swiss, and makes good the hire of the houses, which the Prince
Stadtholder and some of the principal officers of his house occupy at
the Hague, who enjoy also a freedom from excises. On some occasions,
the Counsellors Deputies of Holland and West Friesland, dispose, upon
the proposition of the Stadtholder, or of the Counsellor Pensionary in
his behalf, of certain sums necessary for the service of the State;
and upon an act of this Council, they pass them in account at the
Receiver-General of the Province.
"As Captain-General of the union, his Highness has a hundred thousand
florins of appointments a year, besides twentyfour thousand from
Friesland, and twelve thousand from Groningen, in quality of
Captain-General of these two Provinces. In time of war, the State
grants extraordinary sums to the Captain-General, for the expense of
each campaign.
"The Prince Stadtholder, as the eminent head of the Republic, is
revered, honored, and respected by all the world. The Princes of
Orange, by the great revenues of their patrimonies, both of their
principalities and of their signorial lands in France, Germany, and
Burgundy, and in divers places of the United Provinces, have
frequently been a great support to the State. William the First, the
father of his country, who always preferred the prosperity of the
Republic to his own and that of his house, raised twice, and led an
army, in a great part at his own expense, as we may see by the public
declaration, which the States-General made of it, in the inscription
of the mausoleum, which they raised to the memory of this great man,
in one of the churches of Delft.
"Offers the most tempting for them and for their houses have been made
to the Stadtholders, provided they would depart ever so little from
the engagements which they had taken with their country; but they have
rejected them all with disdain, and would not have other friends nor
other enemies than those of the Republic. As she was in some sort
their daughter, they could not but have a lively affection for her, to
such a degree as to be at all times ready to sacrifice their lives and
all things to her defence. Thus they have been the authors and
conservators of her liberties, in the first place against the Spanish
tyranny, and since against an enemy still more formidable, who opened
to himself in 1672 a passage into the heart of the Republic. The same
thing was near happening in 1748."
I have translated this from the French, because it is not often to be
found, and is the shortest and best account of the Stadtholdership I
can find. It is full of instruction to the United States of America,
and will serve to explain many political phenomena. As all these
powers are in possession of a family connected by blood and by ancient
habits and political alliances to that of Hanover, we may easily see,
that the American cause will meet with powerful obstacles. I am still,
however, of opinion, that it would be good policy to send a Minister
Plenipotentiary here, accredited both to the States-General and to the
Prince Stadtholder, without this even a loan of money will scarcely
succeed. Mr Laurens is taken and carried to England.
I have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
TO B. FRANKLIN.
Amsterdam, October 14th, 1780.
Sir,
The extracts of letters you were so good as to send me, have been
inserted in the papers, and I should be obliged to you for future
communications of the same kind. Notwithstanding the flow of spirits,
and the vigorous exertions of our countrymen this year, I am sorry to
say I cannot see a prospect of anything decisive this campaign. The
fatal defect in the plan of the campaign in not sending a sufficient
number of ships with M. de Ternay, or soon after him, will render
abortive all the great exertions and immense expenses of the year.
And, at the same time, Cornwallis will spread too much devastation at
the southward, where the want of numbers of whites, the great numbers
of blacks, and above all the want of discipline and experience, will
make the people long unhappy and unfortunate.
The ill luck of Carolina, pursues her citizens even to sea, and to
Europe, I think. Can nothing be done for the relief of Mr Laurens.
Will you be so good as to apply to Court, and see if they will send us
somebody suitable to exchange for him? After exchanging so many
military men as prisoners of war, it is pitiful to use Mr Laurens as
they do.