DUMAS.

* * * * *

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

The Hague, October 11th, 1781.

Sir,

On the 12th of September the Baron Lynden wrote a letter to the Prince
of Orange, telling him, that after he had so much complied with the
wishes of his Highness, as to withhold for a considerable time his
letter from their High Mightinesses, he had expected from the honor of
his Highness, that the Embassy for Vienna would not be disposed of in
behalf of another, till there was a greater necessity for it than
there is at present, and till his own motives for refusing a post,
which in every other respect would have been very delightful to
himself, had been attended to; but seeing himself not fairly treated,
by another's (the Count of Waffenaar Twickels, who, however, has not
yet dared to accept it) being appointed to it, he should be obliged if
his Highness should go on, without paying regard to the present
letter, to publish it with the foregoing ones that had passed between
his Highness and him, together with what he knew from the late Counts
of Rhoon and Bentinck, concerning a secret _Act_, by which his
Highness, when of age, had promised the Duke, that he should ever be
his _only counsel_.

A very unfaithful account having since been circulated of this letter,
the Baron makes no difficulty of showing it to those whom he wishes to
be undeceived, and probably he will at last publish it with the
others. In the meantime, I have seen the original draft. Several very
violent Dutch pamphlets have been published within a few days, not
only against the Duke, but even against the Stadtholder and against
the Stadtholdership in general, and the whole Orange dynasty, the last
of which is a masterly performance, but too large for me to translate.
There is more moderation in the _considerations_ herewith enclosed;
and therefore I have consented without difficulty to get them printed,
at the request of some very good people, as your Excellency will see,
by the annexed copy of my letter to their society at Rotterdam.

The States of Holland have met again this morning. I have not heard if
any of the Provinces, besides Holland and Friesland, have consented to
the loan proposed by France, in the manner I told your Excellency in
my last. They are too much taken up at present with their domestic
quarrel