of the whole Kingdom, so that it may truly be said that the British empire is crumbling to pieces like a rope of sand, insomuch, that if the war should continue, I shall not be at all surprised if even Scotland should become discontented with the union, and the disputes between the Ministry and the East India Company should terminate in the independence of Asia; nay, it would be no miracle if the West India Islands should request the protection of France and Spain, or the United States. I will take the first opportunity to write upon the subject of Lord North's loan, which, together with the other ways and means, amounts to the amazing sum of £20,674,000 sterling. I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS. Sir, TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Paris, March 26th, 1780. On the 2d day of March the news of the Royal consent to the bill, which the British Parliament has passed for granting to Ireland a free commerce with the American Colonies, the West Indies, and the coast of Africa, was celebrated in Dublin by public rejoicings; the guns of the Lark were discharged, the garrison made a feu de joie, the Castle and other public buildings were illuminated as well as some private houses. The Government were probably encouraged to these demonstrations of joy by the motion, which was made the day before, that is, the 1st of March, by Mr. Dennis Doly in the House of Commons, for an address of thanks to the King, to which both parties unanimously consented, not excepting the principal patriots, such as Mr. Ogle, Mr. Hussy Burgh, and Mr. Grattan. The address contains an assurance of their attachment to the royal person and Government of the King; a profession of gratitude for his Majesty's uninterrupted attention to the interest of Ireland, and for the happy alteration which the wisdom of his councils, and the liberal sentiments of the British Parliament have effected in the situation of their affairs. They express a double satisfaction for the benefits which have been granted them, because they appear to them to be an efficacious remedy for the poverty of that country, and because they furnish an unquestionable proof of that fraternal affection which they think they have a right to expect from Great Britain, and which they will constantly endeavor to cultivate and augment to the most perfect degree of mutual confidence. They profess the sincerest pleasure in finding that the ties which have ever united the two Kingdoms have been bound faster than ever by the conduct of their fellow subjects; and they assure his Majesty that on their part they will never fail to make the greatest efforts for the maintenance of that close connexion between the two Kingdoms, which they firmly believe to be inseparable from their happiness and prosperity. The next day the House of Peers, even at the motion of the Duke of Leinster, followed the example of the House of Commons. Their address is in substance the same, with this addition, that the benefits received afford a remedy proportioned to their distress, and that they will discountenance with all their power all attempts that deluded. men might make to excite ill-founded apprehensions in the people, and to turn their attention to the commerce which has been granted them in a manner so extensive. To these additions, however, there was an opposition, and finally a protest, signed by Lord Carrisford, the Earls of Charlemont and Arran, and the Viscounts Powerscourt and Mountmorris, and by the proxies of the Earl Moira, and the Lords Eyre and Irnham. The Duke of Leinster, however, has brought upon his reputation by this motion suspicions all over Europe that he has been gained by the King, which a little time and his future conduct will either dissipate or confirm. The next day Parliament adjourned to the 11th of April. Congress will be able to put a just interpretation upon these addresses by the account I gave in my last of the instructions of the city of Dublin to their representatives, and their answer, as well as by those of the county of Dublin, which remain to be communicated. On the 7th of March there was held at Kilmainham an assembly of the freeholders of the county of Dublin, when the following instructions to their representatives were agreed on: "We, your constituents, desiring to acknowledge, as we ought, the advantages our commerce will derive from the particular attention which his Majesty has given it, from the integrity of our Parliament, the firmness of our countrymen, and the justice which the English nation begins to render us, we declare to you that what follows is the principal cause of our joy upon this occasion. It appears to us that the desire of monopolizing commerce was the only motive which could make England imagine that she had a right to usurp a legitimate authority over this Kingdom, and from the moment when she renounced this monopoly, she has taken away the principal obstacle which opposed our liberty, and consequently the British nation will not continue to itself an arbitrary power, from which she can derive nothing but reducing this Kingdom to slavery. We desire to know, moreover, whether the united efforts of the Parliament and people of Ireland ought to confine themselves, so as to leave this island in a state of dependence and submission to laws, to which the nation has never consented, to laws dictated by a Parliament in which she has no representatives? Let it not be said this power attributed to the English Parliament is chimerical. We may see the proofs of it even in the repeal of several of the acts and in this, that several persons declare, however falsely, that this power is founded upon law. Having an equal right to political liberty and to commerce, but deprived of both, and nevertheless content to be restored to the enjoyment of a free commerce alone, will it not appear that we absolutely give up the former? This idea would be absurd. It is, then, our duty to declare to the universe that we are of right a free nation, not to be subjected to any laws but such as are made by the King and Parliament of Ireland. "Desirous of nothing so much as to live always in good intelligence with the British nation, on account of the union of the two Crowns, our instructions are, that you shall make the greatest efforts to obtain an act which shall establish forever the independence of the legislative power of Ireland. We wish, moreover, that you would endeavor to qualify Poyning's law, by taking away from the Privy Council the legislative power. In accomplishing these important. objects, you will acquire honor to yourselves and give satisfaction to the nation. "It is not to be doubted that you will also fall upon some plan of economy, by making savings, which are become necessary to increase the revenue of the Crown and improve the commerce of the nation." It seems now very plain that the Irish nation aspires to an independence of Great Britain the most unlimited, and acknowledges no other connexion with her but that of affection and subjection to the same King. The troops already raised by associations amount to between sixty and seventy thousand men, which are to be forthwith. augmented by ten thousand more, who are to be formed of countrymen; each officer is to furnish four, who will be clothed and paid out of the funds that each regiment will establish for this purpose. The principal objects of these armed associations are said to be a free and unlimited commerce to all parts of the world, except only the East Indies. The repeal of Poyning's law, passed under Henry the Seventh, and another under George the First, which restrains the legislative authority of the Irish Parliament, with an express clause that the Parliament of Ireland ought, and shall be forever and wholly exempt from all kind of control and dependence of the British Parliament, in all cases whatsoever. That students shall no longer be obliged to go to the Temple in London and other seminaries in England to study law. But in future they shall study in the University of Dublin, under proper professors, and shall be admitted to the bar in Ireland by the Lord Chancellor and the other judges, after a proper examination; the judges to be natives, except the Chancellor; the bishops also to be natives. In the mean time, the slightest circumstances may blow up the flames of war between the two Kingdoms, which would have been done some weeks ago if the regular officers of the King's troops had not given way to the Dublin volunteers. 1 have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS. TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Paris, March 29th, 1780. Sir, I think it my duty to lay before Congress what may occur in Holland relative to the present war, at least until the arrival of Mr. Laurens, whose presence is much desired there. Many appearances make it probable that the grasping and vindictive temper of the English will compel the Republic into the war. If they do take a part it is very certain it will be against England. As plunder and revenge are the present ruling passions of the English, it is probable that a war with Holland is rather wished for than otherwise, because the Ministry and their principal supporters seem to have no idea that it is possible to make things worse, and all the plunder they can get will be so much clear gain. The Dutch are so much alarmed and aroused that it is very certain the Prince finds it necessary to give out that he has been deceived by the English, that he has changed his sentiments, and that he will promote with all his influence unlimited convoys. It is certain that they are fitting their men-of-war with a great deal of activity, and it is confidently affirmed that they have made a treaty with Russia and Sweden, who are to make a common cause. The States of the Province of Friesland have come to a resolution that it was certain Byland was not the aggressor, but that Fielding had not hesitated to make use of force to visit the Dutch ships under convoy, to stop those that were loaded with hemp, and to insult the flag of the Republic. That this proceeding shows that the complaisance hitherto shown to England, in depriving the ships loaded with masts and ship timber of the protection of the State, in leaving them to sail alone and without convoy, has had no effects, and consequently the States judge that a similar condescension ought no longer to take place, but, on the contrary, all merchandise whatsoever, which the treaties do not expressly declare to be contraband, ought, without the least difficulty, to be admitted under convoy and enjoy the protection of the State, and to this effect his Most Serene Highness ought to be requested to give orders to the commanders of the men-of-war and of the squadron of the Republic to protect, as heretofore, all merchandise. This resolution was taken the 29th of February, and laid before the States-General, who, after debating upon it, determined to require the deputies of the other Provinces to obtain, as soon as possible, the decision of their Provinces upon the same subject. These two Provinces, Holland and Friesland, have already decided for unlimited convoys. Sir Joseph Yorke, on the 21st of March instant, laid before their High Mightinesses another memorial, insisting on the aid which he had demanded before, upon condition, in case of refusal, that his master would, after three months, consider all treaties between the two countries as null, and in which he contends that the protection afforded to Captain Jones, whom he calls a pirate, in the Texel and in Amsterdam, was a violation of the treaties. In order more clearly to comprehend the dispute between Great Britain and the States-General, it may not be amiss to observe, that |