by the marine treaty between the two Powers, concluded at the Hague, in 1667, all the subjects and inhabitants of the United Provinces may, with all safety and freedom, sail and traffic in all the kingdoms, countries, and estates, which are, or shall be in peace, amity, or neutrality with the States-General, without any hinderance or molestation from the ships-of-war, gallies, frigates, barques, or other vessels belonging to the King of Great Britain, or any of his subjects, upon occasion or account of any war, which may hereafter happen between the King of Great Britain and the above said kingdoms, countries, and estates, or any of them, which are, or shall be, in peace, amity, or neutrality with the States-General; and this freedom of navigation and commerce shall extend to all sorts of merchandize, excepting contraband goods. That this term of contraband goods, is to be understood to comprehend all sorts of fire-arms, their appurtenances, and all other utensils of war called in French, "servans à l'usage de la guerre," and that under this head of contraband goods, these following shall not be comprehended: corn, wheat, or other grain, pulse, oils, wine, salt, or generally any thing that belongs to the nourishment or sustenance of life, but they shall remain free, as likewise all other merchandize and commodities not comprehended in the foregoing article, and the transportation of them shall be permitted even into places at enmity with Great Britain, except such places are besieged, blocked up, or invested. Masts, yards, shiptimber, and hemp, the articles now in dispute, are not contraband by this treaty, or by the law of nations. Yet Great Britain, in the hours of her insolence and madness, which are not yet at an end, makes no scruple to seize, condemn, and confiscate them. She pretends, that as the Dutch refuse to her the aid she demands by treaty, she has a right to seize upon masts, timber, and hemp, which are not prohibited by treaty. Not to enter into the enquiry, whether the present case is such, as by the treaties obliges the Dutch to furnish her aid, but admitting for argument's sake it is so, yet the consequences will not follow. It would only follow that Great Britain was absolved from the obligation of the treaty, not by any means that she is discharged from the obligations of the law of nations. I have the honor to be, with great respect, &c., JOHN ADAMS. COUNT DE VERGENNES TO JOHN ADAMS. Translation. Versailles, March 30th, 1780. Sir, I have received the letter which you did me the honor to write on the 21st instant. I remember very well to have said to you, that your presentation should be inserted in the Gazette of France; but, from the information I have since obtained, it seems that the presentations, whether of Ambassadors or Ministers Plenipotentiary, are not thus announced in our Gazette, and it would have the appearance of affectation to insert yours. As a substitute, I will have it mentioned, if you wish, in the Mercure de France, and you can take measures to have the notice repeated in the foreign gazettes. I have the honor to be, &c., DE VERGENNES. P. S. I enclose a draft of an article, which I propose to send to the Mercure de France. It will not be sent till I learn your opinion of it. "Mr. Adams, whom the Congress of the United States has designated to assist at the conferences for a peace, when that event shall take place, arrived here some time ago, and has had the honor to be presented to the King and the royal family.” TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES. Paris, March 30th, 1780. Sir, I have the honor of your Excellency's letter of this day, in answer to mine of the 21st of this month. Until the receipt of it, I had taken it for granted, that the presentation of every Ambassador was regularly inserted in the Gazette of France, and until very lately, several days since the date of my letter to your Excellency of the 21st of this month, I had supposed that the presentation of Ministers Plenipotentiary was constantly inserted likewise. The information your Excellency has given me, that the presentation of neither Ambassadors nor Ministers Plenipotentiary have ever been inserted, has perfectly satisfied me, and I doubt not will equally satisfy my countrymen, who have heretofore been under the same mistake with myself. I approve very much of your Excellency's proposition of inserting my presentation in the Mercury of France, and shall take measures to have it repeated in the foreign gazettes. I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS. TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Sir, Paris, March 30th, 1780. I have the honor to enclose to Congress copies of certain letters which I have had the honor to write to the Count de Vergennes, and others which I have received from him. It seems that the presentations of the American Commissioners and Ministers Plenipotentiary have not been inserted in the Gazette, which occasioned some uneasiness in the minds of some of our countrymen, as they thought it a neglect of us, and a distinction between our sovereign and others. The enclosed letters will explain this matter and show that no distinction has been made between the representatives of the United States and those of other Powers. I ought to confess to Congress that the delicacy of the Count de Vergennes about communicating my powers is not perfectly consonant to my manner of thinking, and if I had followed my own judgment I should have pursued a bolder plan by communicating, immediately after my arrival, to Lord George Germain my full powers to treat both of peace and commerce; but I hope Congress will approve of my communicating first to this Court my destination, and asking their advice, and then pursuing it, because I think no doubt can be made that it is my duty to conduct my negociations at present in concert with our ally, as I have hitherto done. I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS. Sir, TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Paris, March 30th, 1780. There is an anecdote which causes a great speculation at present, because it is supposed to show the tendency of things in Ireland, and what is to be expected by Great Britain if the Ministry should oppose themselves to the wishes of the Irish nation. On the 23d of February, three bodies of volunteers, those of Dublin, commanded by Colonel John Allen, those of the Liberties, commanded by Sir Edward Newingham, and another body commanded by Mr. Taylor, assembled at the Exchange, from whence they made a long march in a circuit of four miles, accompanied with other volunteers on horseback, to the Park, the avenues of which were guarded by five other corps of volunteers. There they went through the manœuvres and firings with as much celerity and precision as any regular troops. They were there reviewed by the Duke of Leinster, as General and Commander-in-Chief, accompanied with four aids-de-camp, and they all rendered to this nobleman military honors almost equal to those which are rendered to a King. Returning from the review the volunteers met in Barrack street a detachment of the royal troops marching to the Castle. These required that the volunteers should turn out of the way, and endeavored to break their ranks; but the volunteers, with their bayonets fixed and charged, stood their ground and discovered such a resolution, that the commanding officer of the King's troops ordered them to halt, and desired to speak with the Duke of Leinster. They entered into a conference. The regular troops pretended they had a right to the pavements as the troops of the King. The volunteers thought they had a right to keep it as free citizens, voluntarily armed for the defence of their country, and consequently superior to mere mercenaries. They supported these arguments by preparations for battle; the people declared themselves in favor of the volunteers by collecting together a sufficient quantity of stones to overwhelm the troops, who at last gave way in order to avoid a scene of blood. The next day the volunteers sent to the Viceroy an excuse, but couched in terms which justified their conduct as necessary to maintain the liberty, independence, and dignity of the nation. I have seen so much of the spirit of the King's troops in several contests between them and the citizens of Boston, as to know very well what all this means. The volunteers must have great confidence in their own strength, and the King's troops equal diffidence of theirs before an altercation of this kind could terminate in this manner. I have the honor to be, &c., JOHN ADAMS. Sir, TO ARTHUR LEE, AT L'ORIENT. Paris, March 31st, 1780. I have received yours of the 26th, and that of the 15th of this month. I enclose a copy of the letter you desire. M. Garnier is gone into the country, and I have not seen him since I arrived here. Mr. Izard, however, has seen him, and will give you a satisfactory account of what he says. If I were to apply to the other gentleman you know what would be the consequence. It would fly very soon to, you know where, and I should have only the credit of meddling unnecessarily with disputes, which I have kept out of as much as I could, and which it is certainly now the public interest, and consequently my duty to keep out of as much as I can. I had, therefore, rather be excused. The gentleman himself would probably give you the same answer to a letter from you directly to him as he would give to me, unless I should use arts with him, which would be unworthy of you, as well as of me, and which I cannot use with any body. I shall have enough to do to steer my little bark among the rocks and shoals. I shall have perplexities enough of my own, which I cannot avoid, and dangers too. These I shall meet with a steady mind, and perhaps none of them will be greater than that, which I think iny duty, of avoiding things that do not belong to me. Scarcely ever any Minister executed a commission for making a peace, without ruining his own reputation, in a free Government. No Minister that ever existed had a more difficult and dangerous peace to make than I have. The gentleman you mention has hitherto been very still, but he has been well received by all that I have learnt. Adieu, JOHN ADAMS. TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. Paris, April 3d, 1780. Sir, The Prince of Orange, Stadtholder, is not only supposed to have ambitious views of allying his family to that of Great Britain, but is very much influenced by the Duke of Brunswick, who is a field |