s, which are
sufficient to raise a question, but I think none of them are
conclusive, and upon the whole I have little doubt of its
authenticity. I shall be much mortified if it proves a fiction, not on
account of the importance of the letter, but the stain that a practice
so disingenuous will bring upon America. When I first left America,
such a fiction, with all its ingenuity, would have ruined the
reputation of the author of it, if discovered, and I think that both
he and the printer would have been punished. With all the freedom of
our presses, I really think, that not only the government but the
populace would have resented it. I have had opportunities of an
extensive acquaintance with the Americans, and I must say, in justice
to my countrymen, that I know not a man that I think capable of a
forgery at once so able and so base. Truth is indeed respected in
America, and so gross an affront to her I hope will not, and I think
cannot go unpunished.

Whether it is genuine or not, I have no doubt of the truth of the
facts, in general, and I have reasons to believe, that if the secret
correspondence of Bernard, Hutchinson, Gage, Howe, and Clinton could
all be brought to light, the world would be equally surprised at the
whole thread of it. The British administration and their servants have
carried towards us from the beginning a system of duplicity, in the
conduct of American affairs, that will appear infamous to the public
whenever it shall be known.

You have seen Rodney's account of the battle of the 17th of April. The
sceptre of the ocean is not to be maintained by such actions as this,
and Byron's, and Keppel's. They must make themselves more terrible
upon the ocean, to preserve its dominion. Their empire is founded only
in fear--no nation loves it. We have no news.

I have the honor to be, &c.

JOHN ADAMS.

* * * * *

PROTEST OF THE CITY OF AMSTERDAM.

_Extracted from the Resolutions of the Council of that City of the
29th of June, 1780, and inserted in the Acts of the Provincial
Assembly of Holland, at the Hague, July 1st, 1780._

The Deputies of the city of Amsterdam, in the name and on the part of
their constituents, in order to justify themselves to posterity, have
declared in the Assembly of their Noble and Grand Mightinesses that
their Committee is of opinion that it is necessary, without loss