The Hague, August 17th, 1778.

Sir,

I have had the honor of informing you, that I intended answering your
favor of the 31st of July last, wherein you did me the honor of
charging me to send to the Plenipotentiaries of the United States of
America, in Paris, the testimony of the satisfaction that had been
given to the honorable Regency of your city and to you in particular,
by the transmission of a copy of their treaty of amity and commerce
with France. Not only has your request been complied with, by
transmitting to those gentlemen a copy of your letter, but I did
more; for having occasion at the same time to write to America
directly, I have added another copy for Congress. That body,
therefore, will, without delay, be informed of the benevolent sympathy
which the Republic in her turn feels for her worthy sister, as also of
the happy effects which this sympathy cannot fail to produce, when the
obstacle unfortunately attached to the ship shall have lost the power
of obstructing her progress. Meantime, continue, Sir, by your
patriotic efforts, to clear away difficulties, to provide means, and
to hasten the moment of a connexion so desirable on both sides, and
present and future generations will bless your name and your memory.

You will have seen by the gazettes, and especially by that of Leyden,
with what unanimity and dignity the United States disdained the
propositions, injurious to their good, great, and august ally, as well
as to their own majesty, made to them by the British Commissioners. I
have in hand and will show you the authentic proofs of this, as well
as of the horror, which the Americans have, of ever returning under
the iron sceptre they have broken. This confounds the falsehoods, that
have been uttered and kept up with so much complacency in this
country. Will they never cease to give credit to such impudent
assertions? I cannot forbear to transcribe what a friend[31] has
written to me. This friend does not know in detail what I have been
doing here. He had asked me how I advanced. I had told him _festino
lente_.

"In general," says he, "I am not disposed to precipitation, especially
in important affairs. But I cannot help saying, that there may be
some danger of the good people in Holland losing some advantages in
commerce with America by their too great caution. I have reason to
believe, that the British Ministry have already sent orders to their
commissioners to give up the point of