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ceffary to call upon the StatesGeneral for the performance of their engagements. The fifth article of the perpetual defenfive alliance between our crown and the States General, concluded at Westminster the 3d of March, 1678, befides the general engagements for fuccours, exprefsly ftipulates, That that party of the two allies that is not attacked, fhall be obliged to break with the aggreffor in two months after the party attacked fhall require it :'-Yet two years haye, paffed, without the least alliftance given to us, without a fingle fyllable in answer to our repeated demands.

So totally regardlefs have the States been of their treaties with us, that they readily promifed our enemies to obferve a neutrality, in direct contradiction to those engagements; and whilft they have withheld from us the fuccours they were bound to furnish, every fecret affiftance has been given the enemy; and inland duties have been taken off, for the sole purpose of facilitating the carriage of naval ftores to France.

In direct and open violation of treaty, they fuffered an American pirate to remain feveral weeks in one of their ports, and even permitted a part of his crew to mount guard in a fort in the Texel.

In the Eaft-Indies, the fubjects of the States-General, in concert with France, have endeavoured to raise up enemies against us.

In the Weft-Indies, particularly at St. Euftatia, every protection and affiftance has been given to our rebellious fubjects. Their privateers are openly received in the Dutch harbours; allowed to refit there; fupplied with arms and am-,

munition; their crews recruited; their prizes brought in and fold; and all this in direct violation of as clear and folemn ftipulations as cau be made.

This conduct, fo inconfiftent with all good faith, fo repugnant to the fenfe of the wifett part of the Dutch nation, is chiefly to be afcribed to the prevalence of the leading magiftrates of Amfterdam, whofe fecret correfpondence with our rebellious fubjects was fufpected, long before it was made known by the fortunate difcovery of a treaty, the first article of which is:

"There fhall be a firm, inviolable, and univerfal peace, and fincere friendship, between their High Mightineffes the States of the Seven United Provinces of Holland, and the United States of North-America, and the fubjects and people of the faid parties: and between the countries, islands, cities, and towns, fituated under the jurifdiction of the faid United States of Holland, and the faid United States of America, and the people and inhabitants thereof, of every degree, without exception of perfons or places."

This treaty was figned in September, 1778, by the exprefs or der of the Penfionary of Amfterdam, and other principal magiftrates of that city.-They now not only avow the whole tranfaction, but glory in it, and exprefsly fay, even to the StatesGeneral, that what they did was what their indifpenfable duty required.'

In the mean time, the StatesGeneral declined to give any anfwer to the Memorial prefented by our Ambaffador; and this re

fufal

fufal was aggravated by their proceeding upon other bufinefs, nay upon the confideration of this very fubject to internal purposes; and, while they found it impoffible to approve the conduct of their fubjects, they ftill industriously avoided to give us the fatisfaction fo manifeftly due.

We had every right to expect, that fuch a difcovery would have roufed them to a juft indignation at the infult offered to us, and to themselves; and that they would have been eager to give us full and ample fatisfaction for the offence, and to inflict the fevereft punishment upon the offenders. The urgency of the bufinefs made an inftant answer effential to the honour and fafety of this country. The demand was accordingly preffed by our Ambaffador in repeated conferences with the minifters; and in a fecond Memorial it was preffed with all the carneftness which could proceed from our ancient friendship and the fenfe of recent injuries; and the answer now given to a Memorial on fuch a fubject, delivered above five weeks ago, is, That the States have taken it ad referendum.'- Such an anfwer, upon fuch an occafion, could only be dictated by the fixt purpofe of hoftility meditated, and already refolved, by the States, induced by the offenfive Councils of Amterdam thus to countenance the hoftile aggreffion, which the magiftrates of that city have made in the name of the Republic.

There is an end of the faith of all treaties with them, if Amfter dam may ufurp the fovereign power, may violate thofe treaties with impunity, by pledging the

States to engagements directly contrary, and leaguing the Republic with the rebels of a fovereign to whom he is bound by the clofeft ties. An infraction of the law of nations, by the meaneft member of any country, gives the injured State a right to demand fatisfaction and punishment:how much more fo, when the injury complained of is a flagrant violation of public faith, committed by leading and predominant members in the State? Since then the fatisfaction we have demanded is not given, we must, though moft reluctantly, do ourfelves that juftice which we cannot otherwife obtain: we must confider the States-General as parties in the injury which they will not repair, as tharers in the aggreffion which they refufe to punish, and must act accordingly. We have therefore ordered our Ambaffador to withdraw from the Hague, and fhall immediately purfue fuch vigorous meafures as the occafion fully juftifies, and our dignity and the effential interests of our people require.

From a regard to the Dutch nation at large, we wish it were poffible to direct those measures wholly against Amsterdam; but this cannot be unless the States-General will immediately declare, that Amferdam fhall, upon this occafion, receive no aflistance from them, but be left to abide the consequences of its aggreflion.

Whilft Amfterdam is suffered to prevail in the general councils, and is backed by the ftrength of the State, it is impoffible to refift the aggreflion of fo confiderable a part, without contending with the whole. But we are too fenfible

of

of the common interefts of both countries not to remember, in the midft of fuch a conteft, that the only point to be aimed at by us is to raise a difpofition in the councils of the Republic to return to our ancient union, by giving us that fatisfaction for the paft, and fecurity for the future, which we fhall be as ready to receive as they can be to offer, and to the attainment of which we shall direct all our operations. We mean only to provide for our own fecurity, by defeating the dangerous defigns that have been formed against us. We fhall ever be difpofed to return to friendship with the StatesGeneral, when they fincerely revert to that fyftem which the wifdom of their ancestors formed, and which has now been fubverted by a powerful faction, confpiring with France against the true interefts of the Republic, no less than against thofe of Great Britain.

St. James's, December 20, 1780.
G. R.

houfe, that it may be embarked
without any hindrance. As foon
as this is done, the faid vcffel will
fail for Margate, whither I fhall
repair by land with the Countess
of Welderen.
I alfo beg your

excellency to furnish me with the
neceffary paffports for my voyage,
and likewife with two paffports
for two Dutch expreffes, named
J. Paux, and Augent Kohler, by
the way of Harwich.

I cannot help at the fame time, to exprefs my furprife to your lordship, in receiving back from your excellency's office the letter which I had the honour to fend there: nor was I lefs aftonished when my fecretary, whom I had fent to your lordship's office, to inquire the reafon of returning the faid letter without being opened, acquainted me therewith. Give me leave to obferve to your lordfhip, that it is impoffible to know whether a propofition is admiffible or not, before it has been feen and examined. Their High Mightineffes have given me exprefs orders to deliver unto the British

Letter from Count Welderen to miniftry, before I should withdraw

I

Lord Stormont.

My Lord,

AM much obliged to your excellency for your attention and offer of fending a packet boat to Margate, for my paffage to Oftend. I fhall have no occafion for the fame, having already engaged a veffel from Oftend, named Le Courier de l'Europe, for that purpose. This veffel is now lying at the Tower, ready to take in my baggage. I beg your excellency will be pleafed to caufe the neceffary orders to be iffued from the Treafury and the Cuftom

from this court, the papers which I had the honour of addrelling to your excellency yesterday morning.

How can I execute thefe orders, if you will not permit me to fee you, nor accept any letters from me? I flatter myfelf that, convinced of the juftice of my remarks, you will be pleafed to accept the letter which I fent yesterday, and to fend me a line in anfwer, informing me of your intentions in that respect.

I have the honour to be, &c.
Signed,

V. WELDEREN,
London, Dec. 29, 1780.

Letter

kingdom, being paffed, we enter

Letter from Lord Stormont to Count ed immediately upon the execution

SIR,

Welderen.

NTIL the conduct of the

of the powers thereby vefted in us; we took the oath prescribed, and ́ fettled the neceflary arrangements of office and forms of proceed

UNT; the conduct of the of

of friendship which fubfifted between the two nations, and which the king has conftantly defired to preferve, I have always been, as you know very well, Sir, ready and willing to confer with you on all occafions, and upon all objects concerning your miniftry; and have always received what came from your part with due attention. But fince all connection between the two nations is broken off by the aggreftion of your's, and fince I have officially notified unto you the king's manifefto, and orders given in confequence thereof, I can no longer behold you as the minifter of a friendly power. You cannot, therefore, Sir, attribute the return of your packet without my opening it, but to the execution of indifpenfable duty in the prefent circumstances. After an open rupture, all minifterial communication between us must neceffarily ceafe and anterior orders are no longer applicable to the prefent ftate of affairs.

I have the honour, &c.
Signed,

STORMONT.

Report of the Commiffioners appointed to examine, take, and flate the Public Accounts of the Kingdom.

Tconftitutes us
HE act of parliament that
us commiffion-
ers for examining, taking, and
fiating the public accounts of the

The legislature not having left to our difcretion, which of the various fubjects referred to our confideration we fhould begin our enquiries with, but on the contrary having expressly directed us, 'in the first place, to take an account of the public money in the hands of the feveral accountants; and for that purpose to call upon them to deliver in a cash account; and to confider what fum it might be proper to leave in the hands of each accountant refpectively, for carrying on the fervices to which the fame is er might be applicable, and what fums might be taken out of their hands for the public fervice;' we, in obedience to the act, immediately applied ourselves to that subject.

The public accountants may be diftinguished into three claffes.

ft, Those who receive public money from the subject, to be paid into the Exchequer.

zdly, Those who receive public money from the Exchequer by way of impreft, and upon account.

3dly, Thofe who receive public money from certain of this clafs of accountants, fubject to account, and who may be called fub accountants.

We began our enquiries in the firft clafs, and of that clafs, with the Receivers general of the landtax. To come at a knowledge of their names, and of the balances of public money in their hands, we procured from the tax office the

Jag

laft certificate of the remains of the land-tax. By that certificate it appeared, that of the land-tax, window, and house-tax, to Ladyday laft, the arrears in the hands of the Receivers-general, upon the 14th of July laft, amounted to the fum of three hundred and ninety-eight thousand feven hundred and forty-eight pounds nine fhillings and five-pence halfpenny.

As this certificate was grounded upon returns not made to us, but to the tax-office, we iffued our precepts to every Receiver general of the land-tax, and to the reprefentatives of those who are dead, requiring them forthwith to tranfmit to us an account of the public money in their hands, cuftody, or power, at the time they fhould each of them receive our precept. Returns were accordingly made to all our precepts; and from thefe it appears, that the balances for the taxes on land, windows, and houses, fervants, and inhabited houses, remaining in their refpective hands upon the days therein mentioned, amounted together to the fun of fix hundred and fiftyfeven thousand four hundred pounds thirteen fhillings and fourpence.

We proceeded in the next place, pursuant to the directions of the act, to enquire to what fervices thefe fums were or might be applicable, in the hands of the reIpective accountants.

And we find, that by the militia act of the fecond of his prefent majefty, the Receiver-general of the land tax for every county is required to pay to the commanding officer of every company of the militia of that county, being or

dered out into, or being out in actual fervice, one guinea for each private man belonging to his company, upon the day appointed for marching; and that by the act of the twentieth of his prefent majefty, for defraying the charge of the pay and cloathing of the militia, he is ordered to pay to the clerk of the general meetings five pounds five fhillings for each meeting, and to every of the clerks of the fub-divifion meetings, one pound one, thilling for each meeting and, except the charges of collecting, receiving, and accounting, we do not find, that, when the militia is embodied, the du ties collected by thefe receivers are liable to any payments, or appli cable to any other fervices whatfoever.

In the returns made to us by Receivers general, fuch fums as are ftated to have been paid for thefe fervices of the militia, for the year 1779, are different in different counties; but, as these payments cannot, from the nature of them, amount in any county to a confiderable fum, we conceive they may be made out of the cur rent receipts of these taxes.

As the Receiver-general is required by the land-tax act, within twenty days at fartheft after he has received money for that duty, and by the acts which grant the duties on houfes, windows, fervants, and inhabited houses, within forty days after he has received thofe duties, to pay the fame into the Exchequer; it becomes neceffary for us to enquire upon what grounds, and for what purpofes, the Receivers-general retained in their hands fo confiderable a part of thefe duties, fo long after the

fame

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