"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.