s, has rescued the Republic from the
perils which threatened it, and re-established it in its former
lustre. It is not to be doubted, that the welfare and safety of the
Republic depend on the preservation of that form of government, which
has so happily subsisted for two centuries, and of the Stadtholderate,
which is inseparable from it. Every good Dutch patriot must feel
persuaded of the truth of this. All the neighboring powers appear
equally convinced of it, and are able to see that dissensions, not
less dangerous than inexcusable, the consequences of which may prove
not less ruinous to this Republic, than they have been to other States
under similar circumstances, subsist and constantly increase in
violence in the bosom of the United Provinces. These powers are all
equally interested in the maintenance of the Dutch Republic. The King
is more particularly so, both from his consanguinity to the Most
Serene House of Orange, and from his being the nearest neighbor, and
the constant and sincere friend of the Republic. His Majesty is
persuaded he knows it from the most positive assurances, that the
Prince Stadtholder has the purest and most salutary views of the good
of the Republic, and the support of the present constitution; that if
evil disposed persons attribute to him any other intentions, it is an
insinuation as destitute of all probability, as it is injurious to his
character and his enlightened policy; that the Prince will follow and
execute undeviatingly the principles adopted and established by the
sovereign power of the United Provinces, and will for the future
remove even a suspicion of the contrary.

The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary, has the honor to submit all
these important considerations to their High Mightinesses, the
States-General of the United Provinces. He is directed by the most
precise orders of the King, to recommend them to their most serious
reflections, and to urge their High Mightinesses to reject and repel
all propositions and opinions calculated to diminish the lawful
prerogatives of the Stadtholderate, and change the form of their
government, so long established and so happily preserved; but on the
other hand, to take effectual measures to quiet the internal troubles,
to check the attempts of the factious, to put a stop to their
calumnies, and to restore not only the harmony of the State, but also
the authority and respectability of the Prince Stadtholder, and of all
engaged in the go