Friesland has taken so decided a part, and the other Provinces, especially Holland, are animated with such a spirit, that I cannot but flatter myself such a proposition would now run with rapidity through the seven Provinces, and contribute very much to accelerate the period of this bloody and ruinous war.
I have the honor to request your Excellency's sentiments upon the subject, and to be, with the most sincere and inviolable attachment, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,
JOHN ADAMS.
A 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, a Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, has the honor to lay before your High Mightinesses, as one of the high contracting parties to the Marine Treaty, lately concluded, relative to the rights of neutral vessels, a resolution of Congress of the 5th of October last, concerning the same subject.
As the American revolution furnished the occasion of a reformation in the maritime law of nations, of so much importance to a free communication among mankind by sea, the subscriber hopes it may not be thought improper that the United States should become parties to it, entitled to its benefits and subjected to its duties. To this end, the subscriber has the honor of requesting that the resolution of Congress may be taken into the consideration of your High Mightinesses, and transmitted to the Courts of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark.