The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume V Part 42

I have been advised to do nothing, in consequence of my commission, to the States at present, for fear of throwing before the people new objects of division and dissension. I have, however, communicated to their High Mightinesses, and to the Ministers of Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and France, the resolution of Congress, of the 5th of October, relative to the principles of the neutral confederation. The memorial and letters I have transmitted to Congress.[15]

[15] See the Memorial and these Letters above, pp. 448, 449, 450.

Whenever I shall communicate to their High Mightinesses the full powers of Congress, the course will be this. They will lie long upon the table, then taken _ad referendum_, that is, sent to the several Provinces, cities, and bodies of n.o.bles, who compose the sovereignty, or as some say, the deputies of the sovereignty; these will deliberate, and deliberate, and deliberate, and probably some will be for, and some against making a treaty, at least it is supposed that Zealand and one or two other Provinces will be against it. But in the meantime, there will be much communication and negotiation among individuals at least, between this country and Russia, Sweden and Denmark upon the subject; and if it is true, as I am informed in a letter from Mr Gerry, that a Minister is appointed to the Court of Petersburg, as I hope it is, and that the same Minister, or some other, is empowered to treat with Sweden and Denmark, it is not impossible, I think it indeed probable, that we may succeed with these four nations at once; for let me add, there is not in my apprehension the least prospect of a general peace. England is at her old game of seduction and division, and is laboring under the pretence of employing the Emperor of Germany and the Empress of Russia in mediations for peace, insidiously to embroil all Europe in the war.

From motives of philanthropy, I hope she will not succeed, unless the same feelings of humanity should prompt me to wish all mankind at war with that nation, for her humiliation, which is at this time, if ever one was, _Hostis humani generis_.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Leyden, March 29th, 1781.

Sir,

The Baron de Lynden, Envoy Extraordinary from their High Mightinesses at the Court of Stockholm, had, about the 28th of February, a conference with the Count Ulrich Scheffer, to whom he presented, on the part of his masters, a Memorial too important to be omitted. It is as follows.

"The subscriber, Minister Extraordinary of their High Mightinesses, the States-General of the United Provinces, to his Majesty, the King of Sweden, by express orders received from his masters, has the honor to propose to his Majesty,

"That their High Mightinesses, by their resolution of the 20th of November, having acceded to the confederation of the armed neutrality, according to the invitation given by the powers of the North, placing the most perfect confidence in the power, the magnanimity, and the fidelity of their Imperial and Royal Majesties, for fulfilling their engagements, and maintaining their dignity, by completing a work so gloriously undertaken, to wit, the liberty of the seas for neutral nations, did not suffer themselves to be diverted by the consideration of the consequences, which this accession and this declaration might draw upon the Republic from the part of the belligerent powers; but their High Mightinesses declared themselves for this accession and this declaration, relying, without reserve, upon the sentiments of their Imperial and Royal Majesties, which they manifested in the season, by the steps taken in this respect.

"That the event has entirely justified the instances of their High Mightinesses in regard to the British Court, since its Minister, after several vain attempts tending to impede the accession to the alliance in question, resolved, from the time when he had the first intimation of it, to speak a language altogether unheard of, and such as is scarcely agreeable to those respects, which sovereigns respectively owe each other, without allowing to the Republic the time necessary to take the affair into deliberation, conformably to a political system, which his Britannic Majesty fully understands; the Minister, nevertheless, insisting on a prompt and immediate satisfaction, and the punishment of a pretended offence, occasioned by the discovery of a negotiation with North America, without being satisfied by the provisional answer, or by the formal disavowal of their High Mightinesses touching the said negotiation, in which, as his Britannic Majesty has acknowledged, they had in nowise partic.i.p.ated, nor had any knowledge of it; a negotiation relative to a pretended treaty, which, at the first glance of the eye, indicates sufficiently by its proper terms, to be nothing more than a project of an eventual treaty made by certain individuals, without being formally authorised thereto by the magistrates of Amsterdam, as a body, nor by the States of the Provinces of Holland, and still less by the States-General, who alone are authorised to contract engagements in the name of the Republic.

The Minister in question refused even to accept the resolution, which enjoined on the Court of Holland, (the Province, which alone this affair concerns,) to deliberate, whether the laws of the country could authorise to pursue in justice the persons accused, and to punish them? A formality, without which no punishment can be inflicted, either in England, in this Republic, or in any other country. This Minister added menaces, that his Sovereign would procure for himself the satisfaction demanded; he was, at the same time, determined to attack the Republic by surprise, and to precipitate so violently the measures taken to commence hostilities, that my Lord Stormont, making use of vain pretences, would not even accept, on the part of the Count de Welderen, the said declaration, and answered him in writing, that he could not consider him any longer as the Minister of a friendly power, after having announced to him officially the manifesto of the King; while the same manifesto, which is remarkable, was sent to the Count do Welderen one hour before the time fixed the evening before by Lord Stormont, after repeated requests to have a conversation with him.

"Besides, although in the manifesto in question, they make no mention of the accession of the Republic to the armed confederacy, (which it was necessary most carefully to pa.s.s over in silence,) it appears, however, distinctly to the penetrating eye of your Majesty, as well as to that of all Europe, if they will compare together the whole progress of this action, the time and the manner, in which the Manifesto was published, that the hatred occasioned by the accession of the Republic to the armed neutrality, is the true motive of the resentment of his Britannic Majesty, and has prompted him to a manifest aggression against the Republic, by capturing immediately a great number of merchant vessels belonging to her subjects, as well as some vessels of war. Besides, that this same Manifesto, known to your Majesty, discovers sufficiently the original of this hatred; considering, that among the pretended causes of offence serving to justify the hostile measures against the Republic, they there allege, that she has declared herself neuter. The Cabinet of St James, disdaining to observe, that this answer ought to offend the Powers of the North, to whom the treaties subsisting between England and the Republic are perfectly known, and that these powers could not be taxed with concluding a treaty of neutrality with a power, which they had not judged to be lawfully neuter in the present war, and without observing, that this liberty of negotiating has been by England herself put out of all doubt, since by her suspension of the treaty of 1674, made the 17th of April, 1780, she has declared, that she would hereafter regard the Republic as a neutral power, not advantaged by any treaty.

"That in virtue of the reasons alleged, the hatred of Great Britain pierces, still more visibly, through the reproach inserted in the said Manifesto against the Republic, that she has advanced and favored the transportation of naval stores to France, by the suspension of duties upon those effects; at the same time, that it appears, that this suspension has never taken place, and that the Republic has a well founded right to make this transportation, not only during the continuance of the treaty of 1674, but also according to the principle prescribed to the neutral powers by the convention of the confederation; that a further examination of this manifesto should be superfluous, since his Majesty may himself estimate its value, and must, moreover, be convinced, that the conduct of their High Mightinesses, observed from the commencement of the troubles in regard to America, has evidently proved, that they have in nowise favored the revolted Colonies of America; witness the condescension in favor of England, to which the Republic was not obliged by the shackles imposed upon the commerce of her Colonies, by the prohibition to take under convoy vessels loaded with ship-timber, and by the recall of the Governor of St Eustatia, upon the ill founded complaints of the British Ministry; condescensions, which have been rewarded by the attack and capture of the convoy sailing under the command of Count de Byland, by a violation of the territory of the Republic, and by the capture of American ships under the cannon of St Martins. That since their High Mightinesses have faithfully observed this system of moderation, it is manifest, that the resentment of his Britannic Majesty cannot be regarded, but as an effect of a resentment occasioned by the engagement taken for the neutrality, and to this effect their High Mightinesses are well founded to claim the tenor and the sense of the articles seventh, eighth, and ninth of that alliance, which forms the basis of the union of the neutrality contracted with their Imperial and Royal Majesties; that thus, there ought not to exist any further difficulty in fulfilling towards their High Mightinesses, become allies, the engagements, which are contracted in virtue of the known convention, of which they ought to be regarded as members, at the very moment even when this convention has been formed and concluded by their High Mightinesses at the Hague, and when their declaration has been despatched to the belligerent powers, conformably to the said accession and convention.

"That if their High Mightinesses had occasion to complain of a single act of offence, or attack committed against them, and liable to be redressed upon general representations to their allies, they would have demanded their intervention for the redress of such a grievance, rather than to have recourse to arms; but as at present their High Mightinesses see themselves positively attacked by his Britannic Majesty, on occasion and in resentment of the aforesaid alliance, they find themselves obliged to defend themselves, and to repel the attack in the same manner in which it has been made, by returning hostilities for hostilities; being moreover persuaded, that the allied powers will not make any difficulty to make common cause with them, to procure to the Republic the satisfaction and indemnification of the losses sustained, by an attack as unjust as it is violent, and that the allies will concur with their High Mightinesses, in taking such further arrangements as the present circ.u.mstances require. This is what their High Mightinesses solicit earnestly, expecting it with so much more confidence, as they are intimately convinced that the generous and equitable sentiments which animate their Imperial and Royal Majesties will prevent them from suffering the Republic to become the victim of a political system as glorious as it is equitable, conceived for the maintenance of the safety and the right of neuters, while the Republic alone exposed to all the violence of this unjust attack of England, might with difficulty make head against it, and thereby run the risk of becoming entirely useless to the confederation.

"For these causes, the undersigned insisted upon the motives alleged above, fully convinced that the ratifications of the treaty signed at Petersburg will be made as soon as possible, and he has the honor, in the name and by the express order of his masters to demand the accomplishment of the articles seventh, eighth, and ninth of the said treaty, and to require in virtue of it a prompt and sufficient succor of his Majesty, whose equitable and magnanimous sentiments, known to all Europe, will not permit him to abandon a work worthy of all praise.

"The friendship and affection of your Majesty towards their High Mightinesses, appear to a.s.sure them beforehand of the succors which they expect from his Majesty, and to promise to the subscriber an answer as prompt as satisfactory, which he ought to press with so much the more zeal, as every moment of delay occasions great and irreparable losses to the Republic.

D. W. VAN LYNDEN."

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Leyden, March 29th, 1781.

Sir,

It is of importance to the people of America to observe how much lighter their own burthens are than those of their enemies, and for this reason I have every year since I have been in Europe taken notice of the new taxes laid, annually, in perpetuity upon the people of Great Britain by Parliament, in support of tyranny, in addition to all former debts and taxes. One sixth part of the new taxes of this year would be more than sufficient to pay the interest of the whole sum which America will expend this year in support of liberty. The new taxes consist in an additional duty of five per cent upon all articles subject to the duty of excise, except malt, soap, and candles, and green leather,

valued at 150,000 sterling.

Seven per cent upon the drawbacks at the custom-house, 167,000

An additional duty of one penny three farthings upon each pound of tobacco, 61,000

A duty of a halfpenny upon each pound of sugar, 326,000 ------- 704,000

The interest of the new loan is said to amount only to 660,000 ------- Which leaves a surplus of 44,000

There cannot be a more striking contrast than that between the conduct of Lord North and M. Necker. The abilities of the former as a financier consist wholly in laying new taxes without end; those of the other lie in finding resources for vast expenses, without laying any new burthens on the people. M. Necker is laying a foundation for a credit in France as solid as that of Great Britain, by stating to the public the expenses and revenues. This is the only solid foundation of public credit. America will never obtain a credit of any consequence in Europe until she has a credit at home. It is demonstrable that the people of America are able to lend to Congress every year more than money enough to carry on the war, and pay all expenses. What is the reason they do not. The reasons are plain; first, they have not known that their public money was expended by any fixed rule, so that they could judge how much it amounted to; secondly, they did not see any certain prospect of the punctual payment of interest or princ.i.p.al at a fixed value. All the art of financiering in America lies in ascertaining with precision by a fixed standard, how much our expenses are; next ascertaining what our income is; thirdly, how much must be borrowed; fourthly, how to a.s.sure the payment of interest and princ.i.p.al.

If taxes could be laid by Congress upon exports and imports, and upon the consumption of articles of luxury, convenience, and necessity, as they are in Europe, America would be able to raise more every year in taxes than she has ever spent in one year. Nay, we might oblige foreigners to pay all the expenses of the war, and establish a credit much more solid than that of Great Britain, because we have not such a debt to begin with. But without recurring to this system, which might injure our commerce as well as our liberties, it is unquestionably owing entirely to regulations of prices, embargoes, and stamping an arbitrary value upon what had no value, that has. .h.i.therto ruined our credit. But when all these systems shall be totally abolished in the several States, and measures shall be taken to lay annual taxes of a certain value, and these taxes mortgaged for the payment of interest, there is not a doubt but every State may obtain credit enough for the necessities of its own inhabitants.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

TO THE DUC DE LA VAUGUYON.

Leyden, April 16th, 1781.

Sir,

I have the honor to acquaint your Excellency, that I have received from Congress full powers and instructions to treat with the States-General, and to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce consistent with the relations already formed between the United States and France; and that I have also received a letter of credence, as a Minister Plenipotentiary to their High Mightinesses, and another to His Most Serene Highness the Prince of Orange.

With the greatest respect, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

MEMORIAL TO THE STATES-GENERAL.

To their High Mightinesses, the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries.

High and Mighty Lords,

The subscriber has the honor to propose to your High Mightinesses, that the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled, have lately thought fit to send him a commission (with full powers and instructions) to confer with your High Mightinesses, concerning a treaty of amity and commerce; an authentic copy of which he has the honor to annex to this memorial.

At the time, when the treaties between this Republic and the Crown of Great Britain were made, the people who now compose the United States of America, were a part of the English nation; as such, allies of the Republic and parties to those treaties; ent.i.tled to all their benefits, and submitting cheerfully to all their obligations.