The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume VI Part 33

Their High Mightinesses have at length received their instructions from all the Provinces, and I have this day been in conference with the Grand Committee, who communicated to me the remarks and propositions on their part. To this, I shall very soon give my replication, and I hope the affair will be soon ended.

I was received in State by two of the Lords at the head of the stairs, and by them conducted into the committee room, where the business is transacted. The committee consisted of one or more Deputies from each Province, together with the Grand Pensionary, Bleiswick, and the Secretary f.a.gel.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JOHN ADAMS.

Philadelphia, August 29th, 1782.

Dear Sir,

Near five months have elapsed, since I have been favored with a line from you. Your letter of the 4th of March, is the last that has as yet found its way to America.

Let me entreat you, Sir, to reflect on the disgrace and discredit it brings upon this department, to be kept thus in the dark relative to matters of the utmost moment, and how impossible it is, without better information, to declare the designs or wishes of Congress, since they must be in some measure directed by the state of their affairs in Europe; and, yet, Sir, they have hitherto been left, in a great measure, to collect that state from private letters, common newspapers, or the communications of the Minister of France.

There is another circ.u.mstance, in which the reputation of our Ministers themselves, is materially concerned. Letters, announcing a fact, that is well known before their arrival, lose half their force and beauty. They cease to be interesting, and are read with indifference. You have done yourself great injustice frequently in this way, for though your letters have generally been particular, yet, from not being sufficiently attentive to the means of conveyance, we frequently have had the facts they related, published in the newspapers a month before their arrival. As one instance out of many, we received with your letter of the 11th of March, Amsterdam papers of the 30th, which informed us of the determination of Holland relative to your reception. We are told that you were received in your public character the 19th of April, and yet, Sir, we have not to this hour had any official information on that head. I am ready to make every allowance for the miscarriage of letters; but this should only urge our Ministers to multiply the number of their copies, particularly where the subject of them is important. I feel myself so hurt at this neglect, Congress are so justly dissatisfied at seeing vessels arrive every day from France without public letters at this very critical period, from any of our Ministers, that I fear I have pressed the subject further than I ought to have done. If so, be pleased to pardon my earnestness, and to impute it to my wish, as well to render this office more useful to the public, as to enable you to give Congress more ample satisfaction.

The advantages, which will be derived to these States from the acknowledgment of their political existence, as an independent nation, are too many and too obvious, not to be immediately and sensibly felt by them. I sincerely congratulate you on having been the happy means of effecting this beneficial connexion. We may reasonably hope, that your official letters will detail the progress of so interesting an event, and thereby enable us to form some judgment of the nature and principles of the government of the United Provinces. From the zeal they manifest to us, I should hope, that you would find no great difficulty in the accomplishing of one great object of your mission, the procuring a loan, which neither the probability or the conclusion of a peace will render unnecessary. On the contrary, I am inclined to believe, that our wants will be more pressing at the close of the war, when our troops are to be paid and disbanded, than at any other period; and as it seems to have been your sentiment hitherto, that money could be procured when our political character was fully known, I venture to hope, that you have availed yourself of your present situation to obtain it.

General Carleton and Admiral Digby, presuming, I suppose, that our Ministers were not the most punctual correspondents, have been pleased to inform us, through the commander-in-chief, that negotiations for a general peace are on foot. If so, I presume this will find you in France. In addition to the great objects, which will become the subjects of discussion, and on which you are fully instructed, I could wish again to repeat one, that I have mentioned in my last to you, which materially interests us. I mean the procuring a market for lumber and provisions of every kind in the West Indies. Should France pursue her usual system with respect to her Colonies, and England follow her example, the shock will be severely felt here, particularly in the States, whose staples are flour, beef and pork. But should either of them be so fully apprised of their true interest as to set open this market, at least for these articles, the advantage, they will derive from it must compel the others to adopt the same system.

I need only mention this matter to you. The arguments to show the mutual advantage of this commerce to this country, the Colonies and the parent States will suggest themselves readily to you, and be suggested by you to those we are interested in convincing. The turtle and fruit of the Bahama Islands have formed powerful connexions among the good eaters and drinkers of this country. I recommend their interests to your care. They flatter themselves their friends, the Spaniards, will not interrupt their ancient alliance, if these islands should remain in their hands.

I have already transmitted you an account of the evacuation of Savannah. The enclosed papers contain a proclamation of General Scott, announcing that of Charleston, and generously offering to provide for the transportation of the royalists to East Florida, where the climate will doubtless aid administration, in the proposed reduction of the list of pensioners. The fleet under the Marquis de Vaudreuil has unfortunately lost a seventy four, by striking a rock in the harbor of Boston. Congress have endeavored to compensate this loss, by presenting His Most Christian Majesty with the America.

I have caused two quarters' salary to be remitted to Dr Franklin on your account, for which you will be so obliging as to send me your receipt. I must again press you to appoint an agent to receive your money here, as I act without any authority at present, which I must decline the hazard of doing in future.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

The Hague, September 4th, 1782.

Sir,

Your triplicate of the 5th of March, No 5, triplicate of the 22d of May, No. 6, duplicate of the 29th of May, No. 7, and duplicate of May the 30th, No. 8, together with the despatches for Mr Dana, came to hand yesterday.

The judicious inquiries in that of the 5th of March, are chiefly answered by the enclosed pamphlet, which I have caused to be printed, in order to be sent into England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as America. You will find most of your questions answered by great bodies of merchants, manufacturers, and others, in the first instance, and by the States of the several separate Provinces in the next place, and lastly by their High Mightinesses.

I wish the truth would warrant a more satisfactory account of the ships prepared, and preparing for sea. Those prepared are employed by concert with France, in the North Sea, where they make a useful diversion, having lately obliged Lord Howe to detach a considerable number of ships, and the last accounts say, to go himself with fourteen ships of the line, in order to protect their trade from the Baltic, which has certainly r.e.t.a.r.ded, possibly wholly prevented, the relief of Gibraltar. This, however, is not certain. I cannot a.s.sure Congress of more than twelve Dutch ships of the line, ready for sea.

Some of that number are not in a good condition; not more than two or three can be depended on to be added, in the course of this season.

As to the leading members of the Great Council, we must distinguish between the a.s.sembly of the Deputies of the States-General, and the a.s.sembly of the Deputies of Holland and West Friesland. The Grand Pensionary of Holland, who is always a member of the a.s.sembly of their High Mightinesses, is const.i.tutionally the most leading member. M. Van Bleiswick is the present Grand Pensionary. With him I have frequent conferences, and they have always been agreeable; but the situation of this Minister is at present extremely critical and embarra.s.sing. In former times, when there was no Stadtholder, or at least when his authority was less extensive, the Grand Pensionaries of Holland have been in effect Stadtholders. They have been a centre of union for all the Provinces; but being more immediately connected with, and dependent on, the Province of Holland, they have been suspected by the other Provinces to give too much weight to that, which has caused them to attach themselves to the Stadtholders, as a more impartial support to the whole States.

To speak candidly, a compet.i.tion between these two great interests and these two high offices, seems to have been the cause of the violent storms in this country; but as the Stadtholders have had the military power by sea and land at their disposal, and by the pomp and splendor of a Court, have had the means of imposing more upon the nation, they have by decrees prevailed. At critical, dangerous times, tragical scenes have been exhibited, and Barnevelt's head was struck off at one time, Grotius escaped by a kind of miracle, and the De Witts were torn in pieces, it is scarcely too bold to say by the open or secret commands, or connivance of the Stadtholders. The Stadtholder's power, since 1758, until this year, has been so augmented, and the Grand Pensionary's so diminished, that M. Van Bleiswick is to be pitied.

More is expected of him than he can perform. He is between two fires.

The Stadtholderian party on the one side, and the Republican on the other. The consequence is, that he manages both as well as he can; is extremely cautious and reserved, never explains himself, but in cases of absolute necessity, and never attempts to a.s.sume the lead. If he were to attempt to act the part of some former Grand Pensionaries, the consequence would be, either he would not be supported, and would perish like Barnevelt, or De Witt, or being supported, the Stadtholdership must give way, and the Prince fly to his estates, in Germany. M. Van Bleiswick is a great scholar, linguist, natural philosopher, mathematician, and even physician; has great experience in public affairs, and is able and adroit enough in the conduct of them; but not having a temper bold and firm enough, or perhaps loving his ease too much, or not having ambition, or patriotism, or zeal, or health enough, to a.s.sume a great and decided conduct, he is fallen in his reputation. They suspect him of duplicity, and in short, measures are prepared and brought into the States of Holland without his consent, or previous knowledge, and there carried; a thing unknown until these days.

Another great officer of state, who const.i.tutionally has influence in the a.s.sembly of their High Mightinesses, is the Secretary M. f.a.gel.

This gentleman is of a family, which has ever been zealously attached to the Stadtholder, and consequently to England, and strongly prejudiced against France. His ancestor was made Grand Pensionary, in place of the murdered and immortal De Witt; and from that time to this, the family have been invariably friends to the Princes of Orange, and to England, and enemies to France. The present Secretary does not belie his lineage. He is supposed to be the least satisfied with the new conventions with us and with France, of any man. I have had several conferences with him. He is a venerable man of seventy, is polite, and has always been complaisant enough to me; but Congress will easily see, from this sketch of his character, that he is not the man for me to be intimate with. There is a new President of their High Mightinesses every week. I have had conferences with several, M.

Ija.s.sens, M. Van Citters, M. Boreel, M. Van den Sandheuvel, and the Baron Lynden de Hemmen; but this continual variation prevents any one from acquiring esteem and weight from the office; so that they are to be considered only as common members of the a.s.sembly.

There is a n.o.bleman, the Baron de Lynden, who belongs to the Province of Zealand, and who was formerly Amba.s.sador in Sweden, and afterwards appointed to Vienna, but refused to go. I have had the pleasure of a great deal of conversation with him, and his advice has been useful to me. He is a sensible and worthy man, and his sentiments are very just.

He has been now for some months in Zealand, and the world has seen several striking effects of his presence in that Province. He is much in opposition to the Duke of Brunswick, and consequently to the Court, to whose cause this n.o.bleman's rank, former offices, and connexions, have done much damage. There are several other members of the a.s.sembly of their High Mightinesses, that I have some acquaintance with, the Baron Van Schwartenbourg, M. Kuffeler of Friesland, M. Brantzen of Guelderland, and others, whom it is not necessary to name at present.

But Holland, being full half the nation, the a.s.sembly of that Province gives always, sooner or later, the tone to the whole. The Pensionaries of the cities are the princ.i.p.al speakers, and most active members of this a.s.sembly, for which reason I have cultivated the acquaintance of these gentlemen, and will continue to do so more and more. There are three among them, with whom I have been the most conversant, M.

Gyzelaer of Dort, M. Visscher of Amsterdam, and M. Van Zeeberg, of Haerlem.

M. Gyzelaer is a young gentleman of about thirty; but of a genius and activity, a candor and prudence, which, if his health is not too delicate, must make him the man of the first consideration in this Republic. I am happy in a friendly and familiar acquaintance with him, and shall certainly continue it, because his abilities and integrity, his industry, his great and growing popularity, and his influence in the a.s.sembly of the States of Holland, as well as in all the provinces and cities, will render him an important man, in spite of all the opposition of the Court.

Nevertheless, although I cultivate the friendship of the patriots, I shall not give offence to the Court. The friendship of this Court we never had, and never shall have, until we have that of England. This gentleman's friendship has already been of vast service to the cause of Congress as well as to me, and will continue to be so. There is no intelligence in a political line, which I ought to know, but what I can easily obtain in this way. To detail the conversations, would be to relate all the measures taken or proposed, relative to the negotiations for a separate peace, to the concert with France, the general peace, &c. as well as from step to step, the advancement to the acknowledgment of our independence. There are some of these conversations, which ought never to be put on paper, until the measures and events, which are the fruit of them, have taken place.

M. Visscher is a respectable character, an amiable man, and steady in the good system. With him also, I have been invariably upon good terms; but I cannot but lament the absence of M. Van Berckel, an excellent character, of solid judgment, sound learning, great experience, delicate honor, untainted virtue, and steady firmness, sacrificed to the most frivolous whimsies, and miserable intrigues of private pique, the jealousy and envy of weak, I cannot here add wicked old age, and individual ambition. Van Berckel and Visscher together would be n.o.ble Ministers for Amsterdam; but the elder of the "_Par n.o.bile fratrum_" is wanting.

M. Van Zeeberg is another excellent character; of great reputation as a lawyer, a man of integrity, and a patriot, with whom I have been, and am, upon the best terms. It is odd enough, that most of these Pensionaries have been deacons of the English church in this place, Dr Mc Lane's. _En pa.s.sant_, young lawyers seek an election to be deacons in the churches, as a first step to advancement in their profession, as well as in the State. M. Van Berckel, M. Van Zeeberg and others, have been deacons of this church, yet neither speaks English; nor is any of them less an enemy to England for having pa.s.sed through this stage in their career of life, and I shall be the more so, for hearing once a week, an admirable _moral_ lecture in the English language, from one of the best preachers in Europe.

I hope this will be sufficient at present as a sample of sketches of characters that you demand of me, among the leading members of the a.s.sembly. I might mention several Burgomasters, as M. Hooft, of Amsterdam, Van Berckel, of Rotterdam, &c. &c. &c.; but I must not give too much at once.

You inquire whether there is no intercourse between the French Amba.s.sador and me? I answer, there is a constant, uninterrupted harmony and familiarity between the Duc de la Vauguyon and his family, and me. I visit him, and he visits me. I dine with him, and he and his family dine with me as often as you can wish; and he is ever ready to enter into conversation and consultation with me upon public affairs.

He is an amiable man, whom I esteem very much. He is able, attentive, and vigilant, as a Minister; but he has been under infinite obligations to the United States of America and her Minister, for the success he has had in this country. Nothing on this earth but the American cause, could ever have prevented this Republic from joining England in the war, and nothing but the memorial of the 19th of April, 1781, and the other innumerable measures taken in consequence of it by the same hand, could ever have prevented this Republic from making a separate peace with England. The American cause and Minister have done more to introduce a familiarity between the French Amba.s.sador and some leading men here, than any other thing could; and if anybody denies it, it must be owing to ignorance or ingrat.i.tude. It is at the same time true, and I acknowledge it with pleasure and grat.i.tude, that our cause could not have succeeded here without the aid of France. Her aid in the East Indies, West Indies, and upon the barrier frontiers, her general benevolence, and concert of operations, as well as the favorable and friendly exertions of her Amba.s.sador, after the decisive steps taken by me, contributed essentially to the accomplishment of the work. I have an opportunity of meeting at his house, too, almost as often as I desire, the other foreign Ministers; but of this more hereafter.

You desire also to know the popular leaders I have formed acquaintance with. The two n.o.blemen, the Baron Van der Capellan de Pall, of Overyssel, and the Baron Van der Capellan de Marsch, of Guelderland, I have formed an acquaintance with; the former, very early after my first arrival. I have had frequent and intimate conversations with him, and he has been of the utmost service to our cause. His unhappy situation, and unjust expulsion from his seat in government, the opposition of the Court, and of his colleagues in the Regency, make it delicate to write freely concerning this n.o.bleman. He has an independent fortune, though not called rich in this country. His parts and learning are equal to any, his zeal and activity superior. I dare not say in what a mult.i.tude of ways he has served us; posterity will, perhaps, know them all.

Two years ago, upon my first arrival at Amsterdam, I fell acquainted, at M. Van Staphorst's, with M. Calkoen, the first gentleman of the bar, at Amsterdam; a man of letters, well read in law and history, and an elegant writer. He desired to be informed of American affairs.

I gave him a collection of our const.i.tutions, and a number of pamphlets and papers, and desired him to commit to writing his questions. In a few days, he sent me thirty questions in Dutch, which show him to be a man of profound reflection and sagacity. I got them translated, and determined to seize the opportunity to turn his attention to our affairs, and gain his confidence. I wrote him a distinct letter upon each question, and endeavored to give him as comprehensive an insight into our affairs as I could.[8] He was much pleased with the answers, and composed out of them a comparison between the American and Batavian Revolutions, which he read with applause to a society of forty gentlemen of letters, who meet in a club at Amsterdam. I lent him Burgoyne's and Howe's pamphlets in vindication of themselves, which he communicated also. By this means, this society, whose influence must be very extensive, were made hearty converts to the opinion of the impracticability of a British conquest, and the certainty of American success; points very dubious in the minds of this nation in general, when I first came here, as I can easily prove. With this gentleman, I have ever preserved an agreeable acquaintance. It was he who drew up the pet.i.tion of the merchants of Amsterdam in favor of American independence.

About the time of presenting my memorial, I became acquainted with another lawyer at the Hague, M. Van Zoon, who has been also from time to time active in our favor, and drew up the pet.i.tions of Rotterdam.

The gazetteers of this country are not mere printers, they are men of letters; and as these vehicles have a vast influence in forming the public opinion, they were not to be neglected by me, whose only hopes lay in the public opinion, to resist the torrent of a court and government. I therefore became naturally acquainted with the family of the Luzacs, in Leyden, whose gazette has been very useful to our cause, and who are excellent people. M. John Luzac, drew up the two pet.i.tions of Leyden to their Regency.

At Amsterdam, my acquaintance with M. Cerisier enabled me to render the _Politique Hollandais_, and the French Gazette of Amsterdam, useful on many occasions; and by means of one friend and another, particularly M. Dumas, I have been able to communicate anything that was proper to the public, by means of the Dutch gazettes of Amsterdam, Haerlem, and Delft. By means of these secret connexions with printers and writers, I have had an opportunity to cause to be translated and printed, many English pamphlets tending to elucidate our affairs, particularly those valuable doc.u.ments of Howe and Burgoyne, than which nothing has contributed more to fortify our cause. They are considered as the decisive testimonies of unwilling witnesses and cruel enemies.

With these persons, and others whom I could not have conversations with, I have had correspondence as frequent as my time would allow.

At Amsterdam, I was acquainted with several mercantile houses, M. de Neufville & Son, M. Crommelin & Sons, Messieurs Van Staphorsts, De la Lande & Fynje, Madame Chabanel & Son & Nephew, M. Hodshon, M. Van Arp, M. Teagler, and several others, who, in their several ways, were useful to our affairs.

I come now to the most difficult task of all, the description of the foreign Ministers. The Minister of the Emperor is ninety years of age, and never appears at Court, or anywhere else. I have never seen him or his secretary. The Ministers from Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Sardinia, and Liege, I see every week at Court, where I sup regularly when the others do, though it is very visible that I am not the guest the most favored by the Prince. I dine with them all, sometimes at the French Amba.s.sador's and Spanish Minister's, but have not dined at any of their houses, nor they at mine. Not one of them would dare to give or receive an invitation, except France, Spain, and Liege. The Minister from Sweden, the Baron d'Ehrenswerd, is lately removed to Berlin, to my great regret, as he appeared to me a very good character, and behaved very civilly to me several times when I met him at Court and at the French Amba.s.sador's. The Secretary of Legation does the business, now M. Van Arp, who appears to be a worthy man, and is not afraid to converse with me. The Minister from Prussia, M. de Thulemeyer, is very civil, attacks me, (as he expresses it) in English, and wishes to meet me on horseback, being both great riders; will converse freely with me upon astronomy, or natural history, or any mere common affairs; will talk of news, battles, sieges, &c.; but these personages are very reserved in politics and negotiations. They must wait for instructions.

M. de St Saphorin, the Envoy from Denmark, is a personage of very odd behavior; a Swiss by birth, but an open and not very discreet advocate for England. It should be observed, that the Queen Dowager of Denmark, is sister to the Duc Louis de Brunswick; and as the King is not a distinguished character among crowned heads, she is supposed to have much influence at Court, and the Minister here may be complaisant to her. But neither that power nor its Minister is able to do more than influence a gazette or two, to publish some very injudicious speculations. I am not the only foreign Minister that converses or corresponds with gazetteers; though it at least is certain, that I never give them money. I hope I am not singular in this. This gentleman has been much with another since his arrival, M. Markow, the adjoint Minister from Russia, another advocate for the English, without being able to do them any service. He was never more than a Secretary of Legation before. He has been here formerly in that character, and in the part.i.tion of Poland. He was preceded here, by reports of his great talents at negotiations and intrigue, and it was said, that he had never failed of success; but his residence here has made no sensation or impression at all. He talks in some companies indiscreetly in favor of England, but is not much attended to. His behavior to me, is a distant bow, an affected smile sometimes, and now and then, a "_Comment vous portez-vous?_" One evening at Court, when the Northern Epidemy was here, he put me this question after supper, in great apparent good humor; "_terriblement afflige de l'influenca_,"

said I; "_C'est en Angleterre_." says he, laughing, "_qu'on a donne ce nom, et il ne feroit point du mal, si vous voudriez vous laisser gagner un peu par l'influence de l'Angleterre_." I had at my tongue's end to answer, "_C'est a.s.sez d'etre tourmente de l'influence qui vient de Russie!!_ but I reflected very suddenly, if he is indiscreet, I will not be; so I contented myself to answer, very gravely, "_jamais, Monsieur, jamais_."

The Prince de Gallitzin, his colleague, is of a different character; a good man, and thinks justly; but his place is too important to his family to be hazarded; so he keeps a great reserve, and behaves with great prudence. Knowing his situation, I have avoided all advances to him, lest I should embarra.s.s him. The Sardinian Minister is very ready to enter into conversation at all times; but his Court and system are wholly out of the present question. The Portuguese Envoy Extraordinary, D. Joas Theolonico d'Almeida, is a young n.o.bleman glittering with stars, and, as they say, very rich. He has twice, once at Court, and once at the Spanish Minister's, entered familiarly into conversation with me, upon the climates of America and Portugal, and the commerce that has been, and will be between our countries, and upon indifferent subjects; but there is no appearance that he is profoundly versed in political subjects, nor any probability that he could explain himself, until all the neutral powers do, of whom Portugal is one.