C. W. F. Dumas to John Adams, 1 December 1784
From C. W. F. Dumas
Lahaie 1er. Dec. 1784.
Monsieur,
Je continue de rendre compte à V. E., ainsi qu’au Congrès, que j’ai donné une seconde Déclaration pour servir de Lettre de mer portant,—“that Mr. Theod. Gallois, Ship-Brooker for the American trade at Amst. has sent to me and exhibited in Original, the legal Transport or Deed, passed in Oct. 28th. before Mr. E. M. Dorper, public Notary of Holl. at Amst., by Mr. L. M. Graves for himself & for his Partners Mess. Graves & Co: Merchts. at Amst., by which they have sold & transported in full property, to Mess. Vos, De Vyver & Graves Merchts. at Charlestown in Sth. Carolina, the Brig of late called Vry van Dwinglandy & com̃anded by Mr. Jan Schram, with all her appurtenances, and so as she lyes actually before the City of Amsterdam— And that he has also exhibited to me in Original, the Certificate of their Lordships the Burgomasters and regency of Amstm., by which on Nov. 18 has appeared before them Mr. Isaac De Vyver, and declared upon Oath so M. G. A. h. h, that the aforesaid Brig, now called the Purpoise, of the Burthen of about 65 lasts,1 and com̃anded by Mr. Miles Cosson of Boston, is the full property of him Isaac de Vyver and of his aforesaid Company established at Charlestown in S. Carolina, and of them alone; and that she is actually bound from Amst. to Charlestown in S. Carolina laden with Goods and Merchandises. &c. &c.[”]2
En même temps je me suis fait signer par Mr. Gallois—“that he has received gratis from Mr. Dumas a Declaration to serve as a Sea-Letter for the Brig the Purpoise, com̃d. by Mr. Miles Cosson of Boston, and being the property of &c. Merchts. at Charlestown, without pretending or accepting any reward for it what so ever, in behalf of Mr. Dumas, who has also returned him the Deed & Certificate mentioned in the aforesaid Declaration.”
Ce Brig doit avoir actuellement fait voile d’Amstm.
On continue d’être ici dans l’incertitude quant à la paix ou guerre. Cela se développera pourtant avant la fin de l’an. Le 26 Nov. les Et. d’Holl. ont pris une résolution finale très mortifiante pour le Conseil d’Etat, & qui aura des suites importantes.3
On ne tardera pas de me talonner de nouveau de la part de Mr. Thulemeyer, pour une réponse aux Lettres, que j’ai acheminées de sa part à l’honble. Commission sous l’adresse de Mr. D. Humphrys, & dernierement à Votre Exce. J’espere qu’Elles n’ont point été interceptées, & que V. E. a aussi reçu celle que j’ai fait passer par les mains de Mr. Storer.4
De Votre Excellence / Le très-humble & très- / obéissant serviteur
C.w.f. Dumas
J’ai bien reçu une Lettre que S. E. Mr. Jepherson m’a fait l’honneur de m’écrire; & j’attends d’avoir exécuté sa principale com̃ission, pour lui en rendre compte.5
TRANSLATION
The Hague, 1 December 1784
Sir
I continue to account to your excellency as well as to Congress for how I gave a second declaration to serve as a sea letter, to the effect “that Mr. Theod. Gallois, Ship-Brooker for the American trade at Amst. has sent to me and exhibited in Original, the legal Transport or Deed, passed in Oct. 28th. before Mr. E. M. Dorper, public Notary of Holl. at Amst., by Mr. L. M. Graves for himself & for his Partners Mess. Graves & Co: Merchts. at Amst., by which they have sold & transported in full property, to Mess. Vos, De Vyver & Graves Merchts. at Charlestown in Sth. Carolina, the Brig of late called Vry van Dwinglandy & com̃anded by Mr. Jan Schram, with all her appurtenances, and so as she lyes actually before the City of Amsterdam— And that he has also exhibited to me in Original, the Certificate of their Lordships the Burgomasters and regency of Amstm., by which on Nov. 18 has appeared before them Mr. Isaac De Vyver, and declared upon Oath so M. G. A. h. h, that the aforesaid Brig, now called the Purpoise, of the Burthen of about 65 lasts,1 and com̃anded by Mr. Miles Cosson of Boston, is the full property of him Isaac de Vyver and of his aforesaid Company established at Charlestown in S. Carolina, and of them alone; and that she is actually bound from Amst. to Charlestown in S. Carolina laden with Goods and Merchandises. &c. &c.”2
At the same time I had Mr. Gallois sign for me “that he has received gratis from Mr. Dumas a Declaration to serve as a Sea-Letter for the Brig the Purpoise, com̃d. by Mr. Miles Cosson of Boston, and being the property of &c. Merchts. at Charlestown, without pretending or accepting any reward for it what so ever, in behalf of Mr. Dumas, who has also returned him the Deed & Certificate mentioned in the aforesaid Declaration.”
By now this brig must have sailed from Amsterdam.
We here continue to be in a state of uncertainty regarding peace or war. That will be cleared up, however, before the end of the year. On 26 November the States General of Holland adopted a final resolution, very mortifying to the Council of State, which will have important ripples.3
I will soon be hounded anew by Mr. Thulemeier for a response to the letters that I sent for him to the honorable commission in care of Mr. David Humphreys and most recently to your excellency. I hope that they have not been intercepted at all and that your excellency also received the one that I sent by way of Mr. Storer.4
Your excellency’s very humble and very obedient servant
C.w.f. Dumas
I indeed received a letter that his excellency Mr. Jefferson did me the honor of writing to me. I am waiting to carry out its principal commission before accounting to him for it.5
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “A S. E. M. Adams M. P.”; endorsed: “Mr Dumas / Decr. 1st. 1784.”
1. An obsolete measure of a ship’s burden equaling two tons ().
2. For previous correspondence regarding the issuance of sea letters and other documents for vessels trading with the United States, see Dumas’ 26 Oct. letter to JA and JA’s reply of 3 Nov., both above. For copies of the sea letter for the Porpoise and Theodore Gallois’ certificate regarding it, both of which Dumas sent to Congress with his letter of 1 Dec., see , 3:532–534. The Vos and Graves of “Vos, De Vyver and Graves” were probably Andrew Vos, a Charleston merchant, and Jan Boonen Graves, who served as Dutch consul for North Carolina and Georgia but lived in New York City (ScCoAH:South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732–1872, Inventories, Appraisements and Sales Books, 1783–1846, D:426–427; [Joseph Alfred Scoville], The Old Merchants of New York City, 5 vols., N.Y., 1885, 4:287).
3. In his 1 Dec. letter to the president of Congress, Dumas reported that the States of Holland had adopted a resolution exposing the negligence of the Council of State and ordered a circular letter to be sent to the other provinces urging immediate action on “plans for repairing the lines and water defences” and “for improving the artillery” (, 3:532–533). For the content of the resolution, which, according to Dumas, had been under consideration for over a month, see the Gazette d’Amsterdam of 26 November. The resolution was significant because it indicated the ascendency of the Patriot Party and struck directly at the powers of the stadholder over the Dutch Army and Navy, echoing the 1783 demands of the States of Holland for an explanation from William V concerning the Dutch Navy’s unpreparedness for operations in the Anglo-Dutch War (vol. 14:250).
4. The Baron von Thulemeier’s letter to the commissioners sent under cover to David Humphreys was of 8 Oct. 1784, while that to JA was of 12 Nov. and was enclosed with Dumas’ letter to JA of the same date, all above. Dumas’ letter sent by way of Charles Storer was that of 7 Nov., above.
5. Thomas Jefferson had written to Dumas on 20 Nov., enclosing letters of 5 and 20 Nov. to John Christian Senf and G. K. van Hogendorp, respectively. Also included, presumably Jefferson’s “principale com̃ission,” was a piece concerning the treatment of American news in British newspapers that he intended for publication in the Gazette de Leyde and London’s Courier de l’Europe. Dumas sent copies to the Gazette, which printed it on 7 Dec., and to the Courier, in which it did not appear (, 7:462, 539–546).