An Address of Thanks, with a farther Petition.

To the noble, great, and venerable lords, the great council of the city of Leyden,

The undersigned manufacturers, merchants, and other traders, interested in the manufactures and fabrics of this city, give respectfully to understand,

That a number of the undersigned, having taken, the 18th of March, the liberty to present to your noble and great Lordships, a respectful request to obtain the conclusion of connections of commerce with United America, "the petitioners judge that they ought to hold it for a duty, as agreeable as indispensible, to testify their sincere gratitude, not only for the gracious manner in which your noble and great Lordships have been pleased to accept that request, but also for the patriotic resolution that your noble and great Lordships have taken upon its object; a resolution, in virtue of which the city of Leyden (as the petitioners have the best reasons to suppose) hath been one of the first cities of this province, from whose unanimous co-operation has originated the resolution of their noble and grand Mightinesses, of the date of the 28th of March last, to direct things on the part of their noble and grand Mightinesses, in the assembly of the States General, and to make there the strongest instances, to the end that Mr. Adams may be admitted and acknowledged as Minister of the United States of America."

That the petitioners regard, with all honest-hearted citizens, the present epoch as one of the most glorious in the annals of our dear country, seeing that there has been manifested, in a most signal manner, on the one hand, a confidence the most cordial of the good citizens towards their regents, and on the other hand a paternal attention and deference of the regents to the respectful but well-founded prayers of their faithful citizens; and, in general, the most exemplary unanimity throughout the whole nation, to the confusion of those who, having endeavoured to sow the seeds of discord, would have rejoiced if they could say, with truth, that a dissention so fatal had rooted itself to the ruin of the country and of the people.

That the petitioners, feeling themselves penetrated with the most pleasing emotions, by an harmony so universal, cannot pass over in silence the reflection that your noble and great Lordships, taking a resolution the most favourable upon the said request, have discovered thereby, that they would not abandon the footsteps of their ancestors, who found, in the united sentiments of magistrates and citizens, the resources necessary to resist a powerful oppressor, who even would not have undertaken that difficult, but glorious task, if they had not been supported by the voice of the most respectable part of the nation.

That encouraged by this reflection, the petitioners assure themselves, that your noble and great Lordships will honour, with the same approbation, the step which they take to day, to recommend to your noble and great Lordships, in a manner the most respectful, but at the same time the most pressing, the prompt and efficacious execution of the aforesaid resolution of their noble and grand Mightinesses of the 28th of March last, with every thing which depends thereon; a proceeding which does not spring from a desire, on the part of the petitioners, to raise themselves above the sphere of their duties and vocations, or to interfere, indiscreetly, in the affairs of government, but only from a conviction that it cannot but be agreeable to well intentioned regents (such as your noble and great Lordships have shewn yourselves by deeds to your good citizens) to see themselves applauded in their salutary efforts and patriotic designs, and supported against the perverse views, and secret machinations of the ill-disposed, who, however small their number, are always found in a nation.

That although the petitioners may be convinced that their noble and grand Mightinesses, having taken a resolution so agreeable to all true patriots, will not neglect to employ means to carry it to an efficacious conclusion among the other confederates, and to procure to the good citizens the real enjoyment of the commerce with United America, they cannot, nevertheless, dissemble that, lately, some new reasons have arisen, which make them conceive some fears respecting the prompt consummation of this desirable affair.

That the probability of an offer of peace, on the part of Great-Britain, to United America, whereof the petitioners made mention in their former request, having at present become a full certainty by the revolution arrived since in the British ministry, they have not learned without uneasiness the attempt made, at the same time, by the new ministers of the court of London, to involve this state in a negociation for a separate peace, the immediate consequence of which would be (as the petitioners fear) a cessation of all connections with the American Republic, whilst that in the mean time our Republic, deprived on the one hand of the advantages which it reasonably promises itself from these connections, might, on the other hand, be detained by negociations, spun out to a great length, and not effect till late, perhaps after the other belligerent powers, a separate peace with England.

That, in effect, the difficulties which oppose themselves to a like partial pacification are too multiplied for one to promise himself to see them suddenly removed, such as the restitution of the possessions taken from the state, and retaken from the English by France, a restitution which is become thereby impracticable, the indemnification of the immense losses that the unexpected and perfidious attack of England hath caused to the Dutch nation in general, to the petitioners in particular; the assurance of a free navigation for the future, upon the principles of the armed neutrality, and conformably to the law of nations; the dissolution of the bonds which, without being productive of any utility to the two nations, have been a source of contestations, always springing up, and which, in every war between Great-Britain and any other power, have threatened to involve our Republic in it, or have in effect done it; the annihilation, if possible, of the act of navigation, an act which carries too evident marks of the supremacy affected by England over all other maritime people, not to attract attention at the approaching negociation of peace; finally, the necessity of breaking the yoke that Great-Britain would impose on our flag, to make her's respected in the Northern Ocean, as the seat of her maritime empire; and other objects of this nature, which, as the petulant proceedings of the court of London have given rise to them, will certainly furnish matter for claims and negociations.

That as, by these considerations, a speedy consummation of a separate peace with England is out of all probability, especially when one compares with them the dubious and limited manner in which it is offered; on the other hand, a general peace appears not to be so far distant, as that to obtain a more prompt reconciliation with England, the Republic hath occasion to abandon its interests relative to North America, seeing that the British government hath resolved, upon the request of the national assembly, even to discontinue offensive hostilities against the new Republic; and that, even under the present administration of the new ministers, it appears ready to acknowledge positively its independence; an acknowledgment which, in removing the principal stumbling block of a negociation of a general peace, will pave the way to a prompt explication of all the difficulties between the belligerent powers.

That the petitioners should exceed much the bounds of their plan, if they entered into a more ample detail of the reasons which might be alleged upon this subject, and which certainly will not escape the political penetration of your noble and great Lordships; among others, the engagements recently entered into with the Court of France, and which will not be violated by our Republic, which acknowledges the sanctity of its engagements, and respects them: but which will serve much rather to convince the Empress of Russia of the impossibility of entering, in the present juncture of affairs, into such a negociation as the court of London proposes, when even it will not be permitted to presume but that Sovereign will feel herself the change of circumstances which have happened with regard to America since the offer of her mediation, by the revolution in the British ministry, and that she ought even to regard a separate peace between our State and England, as the most proper mean to retard the general tranquillity, that she hath endeavoured to procure to all the commercial nations now in war.

That from these motives the petitioners respectfully hope that the aforesaid offer of England will occasion no obstacle which may prevent that the resolution of their noble and grand Mightinesses to acknowledge the independence of North America, and to conclude with that power a treaty of commerce, may not have a prompt execution, nor that even one only of the other confederates will suffer itself to be diverted thereby from the design of opening unanimously with this Province, and the others which have declared themselves conformably with Holland, negociations with the United States, and of terminating them as soon as possible.

That the favourable resolutions already taken for this effect in Zealand, Utrecht, Overyssel, and at present (as the petitioners learn) in the Province of Groningen after the examples of Holland and Friesland, confirm them in that hope, and seem to render entirely superfluous, a request that, in every other case, the petitioners would have found themselves obliged to make with the commercial Citizens of the other Cities, to the end that, by the resistance of one Province, not immediately interested in commerce and navigation, they might not be deprived of the advantages and of the protection, that the sovereign Assembly of their proper Provinces had been disposed to procure them, without it; but that, to the end to provide for it, their noble and grand Mightinesses, and the States of the other Provinces in this respect, unanimous with them, should make use of the power which belongs to each free State of our federative Republic; at least in regard to treaties of commerce, of which there exists an example in 1649, not only in a treaty of redemption of the toll of the Sound, but also in a defensive treaty concluded with the Crown of Denmark, by the three Provinces of Guelderland, Holland, and Friesland.

But as every apprehension of a similar dissension, among the members of the confederation, appears at present absolutely unseasonable, the petitioners will confine themselves rather to another request, to wit, that after the formation of connections of commerce with North America, the effectual enjoyment of it may be assured to the commercial Citizens of this country, by a sufficient protection of their navigation; without which the conclusion even of such a treaty of commerce would be absolutely illusory. That, for a long time, especially the last year, the petitioners have tasted the bitter fruits of the defenceless state in which the Dutch flag has been incessantly found; as they have already said, conformably to the truth, in their first request, "that by the total stagnation of the navigation, and of expeditions, they have felt, in the most painful manner, the effects of the hostile and unexpected attack of Great Britain, and that they feel them still every day." That, in the mean time, this stagnation of commerce, absolutely abandoned to the rapacity of an enemy greedy of pillage, and destitute of all protection whatever, hath appeared to the petitioners, as well as to all the other commercial inhabitants; yes! even to all true Citizens, so much the more hard and afflicting, as they not only have constantly contributed, with a good heart, to all the public imports, but that, at the time even that the commerce was absolutely abandoned to itself, and deprived of all safeguard, it supported a double charge to obtain that protection which it hath never enjoyed; seeing that the hope of such a protection (the Republic not being entirely without maritime force) hath appeared indeed more than once, but always vanished in the most unexpected manner, by accidents and impediments, which, if they have given rise, perhaps wrongfully, to discontent and to distrust among the good Citizens, will not nevertheless be read and meditated by posterity without surprize.

That, without intention to legitimate, in any manner, the suspicions arising from this failure of protection, the petitioners believe themselves, nevertheless, with all proper respect, warranted in addressing their complaints on this head, to the bosoms of your noble and great Lordships, and (seeing that the commerce with North America cannot subsist without navigation, no more than navigation without a safeguard) in reckoning upon the active direction, the useful employment, and prompt augmentation of our naval forces, in proportion to the means which shall be the most proper effectually to secure to the commerce of this Republic the fruits of its connections with United North America.

For which reasons, the petitioners, returning their solemn thanks to your noble and great Lordships, for the favourable resolution taken upon their request the 18th of March last, address themselves anew to you on this occasion, with the respectful prayer, "That it may graciously please your noble and great Lordships to be willing to effectuate by your powerful influence, whether in the illustrious assembly of their noble and grand Mightinesses, whether among the other Confederates, or elsewhere, there, and in such manner, as your noble and great Lordships shall judge most proper, that the resolution of their noble and grand Mightinesses of the date of the 28th of March last, for the admission of Mr. Adams, in quality of Minister of the United States of America, be promptly executed; and that the petitioners, with the other commercial Citizens, obtain the effectual enjoyment of a treaty of commerce with the said Republic, as well by the activity of the marine of the State, and the protection of commerce and navigation, as by all other measures, that your noble and great Lordships with the other members of the Sovereign Government of the Republic, shall judge to tend to the public good, and to serve to the prosperity of our dear country, as well as to the maintenance of its precious liberties."

So doing, &c.