Adams Papers

C. W. F. Dumas to John Adams: A Translation, 3 March 1781

C. W. F. Dumas to John Adams: A Translation

The Hague, 3 March 1781

Sir

The enclosed will tell you all that is new here. Our friends are hardly content with the Russian memorial.1 As for me, I do not think that Russia is to blame for not rushing in to save the republic until it is evident that the republic is well-armed. Otherwise the entire burden will be on the navy merely to hold its defensive position. All of this will drag things out and the only action will be that of the couriers going back and forth between here and St. Petersburg. I am impatient to learn news of your loan. Russia is asking for one also, for 3 million florins. I implore you to tell me of any news from America. I have the honor to be with very great respect, sir, your very humble and very obedient servant

Dumas

RC (Adams Papers).

1. The enclosure has not been found, but it may have been Dumas’ letter of 22 Feb. to the president of Congress, which he intended JA to send on to America (Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Washington, 1889; 6 vols. description ends , 4:264). The final paragraph of that letter, dated 2 March, reported that the Russian ambassador had presented a memorial to the States General containing an offer to mediate the Anglo-Dutch war.

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    C. W. F. Dumas to John Adams: A Translation, 3 March 1781
    Author
    Dumas, Charles William Frederic
    Recipient
    Adams, John
    Date
    3 March 1781

    Reference

    Cite as
    “C. W. F. Dumas to John Adams: A Translation, 3 March 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-11-02-0119-0002. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 11, January–September 1781, ed. Gregg L. Lint, Richard Alan Ryerson, Anne Decker Cecere, Celeste Walker, Jennifer Shea, and C. James Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, pp. 173–174.]

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