Sir,
Since my letter of the 26th of June last, the Memorial of the Deputies of the City of Amsterdam, of the 8th of June, has appeared entire, and is conceived in the following terms.
"Most Serene and Illustrious Prince and Lord,
"The gentlemen, the Deputies of the City of Amsterdam, in the name and by the order of the gentlemen, their constituents, have the honor to represent to your Most Serene Highness, that the said constituents having learnt, with much uneasiness the discontent, that your Highness had taken, on the subject of their last proposition, made in the Assembly of their Noble and Grand Mightinesses, although it had been contrary to their intention to give your Highness the least offence, or to offer him any insult or displeasure, they have seized with great satisfaction, an opportunity to give your Highness the most sincere assurances of it; that they flatter themselves, that, from what they shall have the honor of laying before you your Highness will be able to deduce the reasons, for which they have not previously acquainted him with the contents of the said proposition, before it hath been remitted to the Assembly of their Noble and Grand Mightinesses; that they should feel a real chagrin, if your Highness attributed this silence to any particular distrust towards his person; they declare, that they are absolutely divested of it, and that they have nothing so much at heart as to excite and cherish between your Highness and their City that confidence, that the well-being and advancement of the public cause render inevitably necessary; that by their proposition they have only wished to open a way to find out and carry into execution, such measures as the critical situation of affairs most pressingly requires for the safety and preservation of their dear country.
"That placed at the head of the government of a very populous city, in which the lower class of the people begin already to feel that indigence, which results from a want of business, they are obliged to show in effect, and in the best manner possible, that they desire not to let any opportunity escape of encouraging and promoting the well-being of the country, and of its good citizens, unless they would run the risk of entirely destroying the proper authority, and the good order, which in a popular government are founded only upon the confidence of the people, and of the Burgesses in its Regents, and of seeing in a little time a total anarchy, that they had thought that affairs had, for a long time, and particularly since the rupture with England, appeared in the eyes of the whole nation, and not without reason, to be administered in a strange and inconceivable manner, seeing, that notwithstanding the extreme condescendence to the wishes of England, we had only experienced from that kingdom, each year contempt, affronts, and insults, which have been lately crowned by an open war, commenced by the capture of a considerable number of our vessels, and the invasion of our foreign possessions, and that, nevertheless, we had remained in a defenceless state, and taken no sufficient steps to place the Republic in a situation to protect its liberty, its well acquired rights, its extensive navigation, and its lawful commerce.
"That, nevertheless, it is an incontestible truth, that the members of government have for a long time been of opinion, that it is principally by sea, that it is necessary to place themselves upon a respectable footing, as it evidently appears by the different resolutions taken in the year 1778, and following, by different reports, petitions, and assents to augment and reinforce the equipages of vessels of war, and particularly by the report of the 30th of March, 1779, that notwithstanding the said opinions and resolutions of the confederates, to equip all the vessels of war of the State, and to construct new ones, yet at this moment, after so much time has elapsed, and some things have taken so disadvantageous a turn, there hath not been put to sea the thirtytwo vessels stipulated in the month of April, 1779, much less still the fiftytwo, whose armament had been resolved upon the last year, so that to this moment none of the precautions proposed in the month of March, 1779, to the generality for the defence of our coasts, and the mouths of our rivers, have been taken.
"That the regency of our city, with all the good citizens of the Republic, who discover the best disposition possible to pay the ordinary and extraordinary imposts, has been much surprised at the little promptitude and at the slowness in the executions of resolutions so important for the Sovereign; for it is impossible to believe that the situation in which the respective admiralties found themselves, should be so bad that they could not effect in two years the equipments that they themselves had proposed; as they had no want of money, and as the necessity of them became more and more pressing daily; that in consequence, one could not conceive what were the causes of this slowness and inactivity no more than of the non-execution of the resolutions and orders to secure the coasts and harbors, and above all, one could not form an idea of the unforeseen obstacles and difficulties which have prevented the sailing of few vessels, which had been supposed perfectly in a state of putting to sea, even when your Highness after a suitable examination of things, had given the necessary orders to this effect.
"That seeing it is to this state of inactivity and incapacity of defending themselves, that it is necessary to attribute in the greatest measure the evils and calamities which have happened to the Republic, and which still threaten it, and that to this moment we have not been able to observe that any vigorous measures are taken to prevent future misfortunes, and to repair those already suffered, (without which we ought soon to expect the total ruin of the Republic,) we have judged it the indispensable duty of the brave regents, and that they cannot dispense themselves from searching out to what one ought to attribute this inexcusable negligence? And by what means one may remedy it, and direct and re-establish still affairs, as much as possible, for the safety of the State?
"That this having been attempted from time to time, privately, but in vain, and affairs becoming more and more disadvantageous and critical, it was so much the more necessary to take vigorous resolutions, and one could not longer defer the concerting of suitable measures; that from a mature and deliberate consideration of the whole of this had resulted the proposition, made by order of the Regency of Amsterdam the 18th of May last to the Assembly of Holland, and submitted to the judgment and deliberations of the other members, to the end that these deliberations might give rise to resolutions the most useful and the most salutary to the country; that the said Regency are still of opinion, that duty to themselves, to their country, and to its good citizens, who for a long time had expected a similar measure on their part, required them to make the said proposition.
"That, nevertheless, it was very far from their intention to give your Highness any uneasiness or discontent, or to introduce innovations, or to diminish and circumscribe in more narrow limits the authority lawfully acquired of my Lord the Stadtholder; that on the contrary, they could assure solemnly, that they would assist constantly with all their power, to maintain the present constitution of government with which they judge the well-being of the Republic is intimately connected; that they considered at the same time, that in the present circumstances of affairs nothing would be more necessary or more useful, for the direction and execution of the operations of the present war, and for to combine them with more secrecy and despatch than to form and establish a small council or committee, composed of the regencies of the respective Provinces, to assist your Highness with the advice and labors, and to co-operate conjointly to the preservation of the country.