I venture again upon the Score of Your Candour and Friendship, at the Commencement of another Session of Congress, to draw upon you, for some Share of that Time, which I hope more important Concerns, will suffer You to bestow;—at least I solicit for the Crumbs which may fall from the political Table.— During the Recess from the last Sessions, the Ship has been tossed by violent Gales, and the Crew have been roughly handled.— The very Captain has been threatned;— His Zeal, Knowledge Prudence, Power, nay His very Heart and Intentions have been questioned, in a Cause wherein His own Honor, Fortune and Life have been interested, equally, if not more than all the People on Board1 But the Ship has nearly weathered the Storm, and those who blew it up, begin to sink in Their Hopes, and fall back into the Cloud They had produced.— It is to be lamented that after Days spent, wavering upon a Question of Decisiveness,—The Executive and the Senate, should not find Themselves more decidedly supported;—and every Hope destroyd of Jacobin self created Societies. I hope however they may not derive much Courage from the Manner in which the Subject has been handled, or in which it finally stands— If Chief Justice Jay should be mainly successful; I think the Enemies to Our Peace, will be totally overthrown.— The Convention of France seem to be drawn into a Necessity, of soon comeing to a full Tryal with the Jacobins.— The Decission must be most important;—more so than any Battle fought against the foreign Powers opposed to Them.—

Pray may we learn what are the true Features of Judge Jays Negotiation;—may we expect a satisfactory Settlement of the Posts?—And in the Issue of legal Decissions, if Captors,—Their Bondsmen &c are unable to render Satisfaction,—or Tricks shall have been played off, by inadequate Valuations of Property condemned &c, will the Government of Britain yeild the Satisfaction justly due?—

If at any Time I ask improper Questions, You will answer them or not, or in such Manner as you please:— No improper Use however will be made of them;—Nor Your Name committed—

A British Subject files a Libel before a Court of Admiralty here, setting forth that on the 27th. day of July 1794. He was Owner of a certain Brig & Cargo. That on the high Seas duly prosecuting her Voyage; She was chased and taken into Custody by the Master, Mariners and Marines of two armed Vessells, by Persons to them unknown— That afterwards on the2     day of     the sd. Brig was brought into the Dist: of     under the Care of J. B. as Master thereof,—That the said Brig was afterwards on the     day of     sold at     within said Dist: for the sum of     by order of the sd. J.B. and the neat Proceeds thereof put into the Hands of W.P. and are now remaining in His Hands;—and even further, that since the 5th. day of June 1794. one of the said Vessells called the S. was wholly and originally fitted out, and that the Force of the other of said Vessells called the S.P. was increased and augmented by adding to the number of Guns and Gun Carriages on Board the same at the Port of C. in the Dist: of S. C. with an Intent to be imployed in the Service of the Reps. of France to cruise and commit Hostillities upon the Subjects of the King of G. Britain, with whom the U. S. are at Peace; And on the same 27th. day of July 1794. there was on Board the said armed Vessells as Mariners and Marines diverse Citizens of the U.S. to wit on Board the Vessell called the S.P. 12, and on Board the sd. Vessell called the S. 21. all of whom were entered on Board the same Vessells at sd. C, since the sd. 5th. day of June 1794. and were aiding and assisting in the taking of the said Brig;—And praying Restoration out of the Proceeds arising from the sd. Sale, and that the sd. W.P. be compelled to give Caution to pay the Money, if Restoration shall be adjudged &c

Upon the foregoing Statement, is the same Cognizable by the Admiralty Courts of the U.S.— And if Cognizable, and the Facts should be well supported, ought Restoration to be adjudged?—3

I have a Petition upon your Table4 lodged at the last Sessions:— This Application was very disagreable to me, but I found an absolute Necessity for it, unless I would either beggar my Family, or reduce myself to a Condition of living, not only much below the Œconomical Prudence of former Times, but lay myself under a denial of every social Friend to my Table.— I did hope to preserve my hard Earnings in my Profession, for the small Advancement of my Family, or Their Support when I should be called from Them;—but I have been obliged to spend every Farthing of the Profits of my private Interest in the Expences of my Family, restricted in Our Expences more than it ever 348 had been. And how moderate that had ever been, Our Members in Congress well know.— Every Person living by Salaries, must have experienced the rapid Rise of the necessaries of Life to, at least 25 per Cent:— Unhappy is the State of Widows and Orphans and those who live by the Interest of Their Money or on Salaries;—And I expect, what with the unmerited Abuse, and the Neglect experienced by the Servants of the Publick, all who are honest and do not speculate, or peculate, will be driven from Their Offices. This I will endeavour to bear up against, while I have any good Company with all the Fortitude in my Power. But my Petition is not grounded on the general Evil or Calamity; but in what I presume was a Mistake, or for want of Information at my first Appointment, or rather when the Salary for the Judge of this District was first fixed.— We had no Members in Congress,—This State was under a Cloud; It’s Productiveness to the Revennue was not properly conceived of;—Nor the Proportion of publick Business which It’s Officers would have:—Yet the House of Representatives at that Time put the Salary at 1000 Dollars:— A mere Motion in the Senate without the least Argument or Discussion reduced it to 800 Dol: as appears by Your Journals.— I wish Your perusal of that Petition and Your Opinion of its Merits and Success.— If the Principles I have stated in it are right, there is the most forcable Reason as I conceive, that I should be considered for the past, as well as the future.— Should it be said I ought to have applied before, Our Members can answer, that my Application to Them, was made long ago; but such has been the Multiplication of Business publick and private, that They modestly from Time to Time gave way under the Apprehension, it would finally make no Odds on that Score.— However the Matters stated in my Petition may strike Others; They are Facts, and strike my Mind (interested indeed) very forcably— If I can be placed upon a just Proportion as to living with my Brethren;—I will struggle with Them as before observed in the general Disadvantages, till I find I cannot live by what the publick may afford me, with my own Resources:—But I wish Congress to sever the partial Situation I am in, as I conceive from a Want of proper Information and Representation at first, from the general Inconvenience all Officers under Salaries are under.—

You will kindly excuse this disagreable Subject.— I have hitherto been sparing upon it; and do not mean to repeat it.— If Mrs. Adams is with You, I beg You to present mine, and my Familys Respects to Her.— With unremitted Regard and Respect I am dear Sir, your sincere / Friend and Servant

I hear of a vessel to sail in two or three days from the Texel,1 and cannot lose any opportunity to write you directly from hence at this time; as the severity of the season will in all probability soon close the rivers and suspend the expedition of any more vessels for a month or two.

But I have nothing very material to say. In my letters as well to the Secretary of State (which I am afraid have been longer if not more frequent than he will think was necessary) as to yourself hitherto, I have endeavoured to give a view of the present state of parties, opinions and measures of this Country at the present moment. Upon this subject there is nothing to add, and as to the article of 350 news, I shall soon cease writing any thing relative to it; since I find that the intelligence which might be supposed to bear the best marks of authencity is as frequently erroneous as any other.

We have at this moment a rumour which has darted like lightening through the whole Province of Holland, and which is propagated in such a manner, that there can be no doubt but it is indirectly countenanced by the Court. It is that two Commissioners are appointed to proceed immediately to Paris for the negociation of a peace and Mr. Brantzen the former Ambassador extraordinary in France, and Mr: Repelaar a burgomaster of Dort, are named as the persons. This intelligence is probably not true; but it is affirmed with the most undoubting confidence by people connected with the court, and has given great Spirits to the Orange partizans.2

I say it is probably not true, because it is hardly conceivable that Britain should consent to a separate negociation on the part of this Country, or that she should join in a general negociation as yet. and it is equally difficult to suppose that the Court here, that is the governing power should so far disencumber itself from british thraldom, as to negociate separately and in a public manner for peace without their consent.

To say that the Government of Great-Britain has great influence over the counsels of this Country, would be inaccurate. The observation that Louis the fourteenth had great influence in France, or Frederic the Great in Prussia would be thought ridiculous.

In my Letter to the Secretary of State (N. 13.) I have stated the motives which operate to maintain this british efficacy, at a time when the circumstances of the Country so imperiously command a peace with the french republic: and have explained as clearly as I can the singular concurrence of events which has reconciled the policy of the ruling power with the most ardent wishes of the patriotic party.3

But the adherents of the Stadtholder who are not immediately dependent upon him or his family, and those whose principal property is not in the british funds, are not satisfied with that extreme devotion to an ally which would involve their ruin in the continuance of the war. They loudly call for Peace, which necessarily implies the abandonment of their present alliance; and it is found expedient to amuse them with expectations, which in all probability it is never intended to realize.

The report of a truce upon the Waal, at the request of General Pichegru is connected with that of the Commissioners to go to 351 Paris, and is equally suspicious.4 About ten days since, an attempt was made by the french army to cross that river in several different places but without success. The season begins to grow severe; the canals through the country are already closed; the weather still continues cold, and a few more such days as the present may construct a bridge for the french army which will make it impossible to prevent their passage. In that case there is little doubt but they will advance as far as Utrecht.

Among the difficulties with which the Government is compelled to struggle, the want of money, is one of the most important. The weight of taxation with which these Provinces are burdened in ordinary times is well known to you. It has already been aggravated to the extremity of sufferance, yet the public treasury is empty. The public credit of course is proportionably impaired. The obligations of the Province of Holland, which you have always known at par and generally higher, have depreciated to 55 and even 50 per cent. New loans have been attempted and totally failed. The dangerous and extreme resource of a paper currency has already been resorted to, and an emission of five millions of guilders has taken place to supply the impending contingency of public payments. The circulation of this paper it is said will be voluntary as to the people in general, and compulsive only upon the persons in office. But this regulation must be intended only to facilitate the introduction of the paper to the public, and there is little reason to doubt that its acceptance in all payments will be enforced very soon by the sanction of the Law.

But if this republic is so much exhausted, that of France appears to be nearly in the same condition. The price of several necessary articles of life published in the Paris papers proves the fact, even with every proper allowance for the depreciation of the Assignats. The scarcity of bread at this early period after the produce of the Harvest, is unquestionably great in many parts of that Country; probably in all. The parties in the Convention, become more and more inveterate against each other. The Jacobins though suppressed have left a powerful party behind them. Peace upon honourable terms with all the combined powers except Britain is professedly the object of the moderates, and amid the discordant symptoms of the public opinion, their system appears upon the whole to be the most popular.

I have as yet received no Letters from America. As the present situation of this Country may perhaps in some measure interrupt a 352 direct communication from thence, I must urgently solicit you to write me by the way of England. Please to enclose your letters under cover either to Mr: Pinckney or Mr: Johnson our Consul at London. As long as the present state of affairs continues, that will probably be the most expeditious mode of conveyance.

I perceive that the Dutch Resident at Philadelphia does not write to his constituents so frequently, nor give them so particular accounts of American affairs, as would be necessary to give them entire satisfaction. If he is well disposed towards our Country, and would be likely to make a just representation of things I could wish he had some friend who should in a delicate manner intimate this circumstance to him. It would certainly render him a service, and might be useful to the interests of the United States. If he has prejudices against us, it may be as well to let him receive the knowledge of this fact from his employers. I shall submit to your judgment whether it is proper that it should be known to the President, and the Secretary of State from me. I have not mentioned it in my official Letters, nor confidentially to any person but yourself, from the consideration which I think is due from me to the person holding the station in America, correspondent to my own in this Country. If you think the communication can be of any public utility, I must request of your goodness to make it, and can only add the assurance that I am with invariable duty and affection / Your Son