And that, further, as to arrangements to be made for the future, which may require more particular detail, and which cannot be adjusted with the expedition which the present perilous state of the navigation of the neutral powers in general, and of this Province in particular demands, M. de Swart will reserve all this for a separate article, of which her Imperial Majesty of Russia made mention in the above named explanations, and that he will declare in regard to this that their High Mightinesses have given thereon their final and precise orders, in which they will constitute one or more Plenipotentiaries who will be able to treat of the necessary arrangements on this subject with the neutral powers.
That said constituents, to give greater weight to their present advice, add further to the above, that if this advice was rejected, and if the affair was negotiated on the basis of the previous opinion, exhibited on the 23d of June last, in the Assembly of Holland, the consequence of it will be that the Russian squadron, which, according to orders of her Imperial Majesty of Russia, must have already put to sea, will appear in the seas bordering on this country, without giving any protection to the commerce of this country; while, on the other side, though commerce has been a long time charged with double duties, their High Mightinesses, meantime, grant it no protection, because the Colleges of Admiralty of this country profess themselves unable to do it, or at least to put to sea sufficient convoys to avoid affronts like those which the squadron under the orders of Rear-Admiral de Byland had lately endured.
That from this total failure of protection to the navigation of this country, on the one side, and from the continual insults of which their High Mightinesses every day receive grievous complaints on the other, there must naturally ensue an entire suspension of the commerce of this country; and thence, it is easy to foresee, that this commerce will be diverted and take its course by other European channels, and that the burdensome impositions with which it is charged, in order to obtain means for its protection being continued, will precipitate its ruin.
That in this confusion of affairs, and in the extreme necessity in which they find themselves, to take advantage of an offer of assistance and succor so generously and magnanimously made and proposed by her Imperial Majesty of Russia to this State, on a footing so easy and so little burdensome; the Lords Constituents will leave posterity to judge of the weight of the reasons alleged by some members of the Assembly of their Noble and Grand Mightinesses in the deliberation on this subject, as if the acceptance of said means for the necessary protection of the commerce of this country, and in particular of foreign succor, could be considered a means of drawing on a war on the part of those, against whom it is found necessary to defend ourselves, in making use of said means to all lawful purposes; and as if we ought, for this reason, to decline the said offer of assistance, unless her Imperial Majesty of Russia, beside her said magnanimous plan of re-establishing the liberty of the seas, will also engage with the other neutral powers to guaranty to this nation all its possessions fixed and immovable, both in and out of Europe.
That the Lords Constituents will only remark, that in order that such an attack on the fixed and immovable possessions of the Republic may appear likely, it would be necessary at least, to allege some plausible reasons or pretexts to defend it, in the eyes of all Europe, from the most manifest injustice and violence; whereas it is clear that such hostilities could not have any foundation on a protection of commerce to which their High Mightinesses find themselves absolutely forced by the open violation of the treaty of commerce concluded with England in 1674; that thus the probability of an attack of this sort, seeing the manifest injustice of such an enterprize, must vanish; and this especially, if we consider the great number of enemies that England has drawn upon her, and that it would be madness to increase the number; that such being the case, the said suppositions are of too small weight and too far removed from all probability to refuse the means which are offered of protecting the commerce of the subjects of the State, and that to refuse an aid so powerful while it is not in a condition to protect its commerce by its own unaided forces, will be evidently to renounce all protection possible, while the burdensome imposts under which commerce, in expectation of some protection, has a long time groaned, and still groans, would, against all reason, remain in their rigor.
That in addition to this the Lords Constituents will remark further, that it appears by the successive despatches of M. de Swart to their High Mightinesses on this affair, that he insists strongly on hastening the business, and on sending, the sooner the better, necessary instructions for this purpose, after the example of Sweden, who has already instructed her Minister to conclude the said convention. That this is the more necessary because we know that all sorts of indirect means are set to work to deprive the Republic of the advantage of an alliance so beneficial, and to involve it in a war with France.
From this it is clear that such pernicious views will be accomplished, if not only they put off the completion of the convention, but also, as is but too apparent, if they evade it altogether by making her Imperial Majesty of Russia propositions of guaranty, which not only are entirely foreign to the plan which this Princess has laid before the eyes of Europe, but which her Majesty, in the explanations she has given, has roundly declared she would never listen to.
In fine that the Lords Constituents are of opinion, that it is necessary to satisfy the wishes of her Imperial Majesty of Russia, by making the declaration in question on the part of their High Mightinesses to the belligerent powers, and by assuring her Majesty that as soon as said convention shall be signed, their High Mightinesses will make the said declaration to the Courts of the belligerent powers.
Meantime the committee referred thereon to the better advice of the honorable Council. On which, having deliberated and the voices having been taken, the Burgomasters and Counsellors thanked the committee for the trouble they had taken and agreed to the above advice.
A. VAN HINGELANDT.