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Sir, I have duly received from the hand of Mr Stanley your Honour's Letter of the 17th Inst the contents whereof I found to be Such as apparently concerned the intire Government of this Island.

When Vague, general and uncircumstanced report prevail tending to disturb that Harmony which ought to subsist between the commanding officers of the respective Governments, reports perhaps industriously propagated to undermine (if possible) that Friendship and cordiality, which have long Subsisted and I hope will long continue to Subsist, between His Brittanick Majesty, and Their High Mightinesses the Lords States General of the united Netherlands, my Masters; when I Say Such Reports prevail it might be expected that one commander in chief Should mention them to another, always in hope that Facts have not been represented in their true Light and a reasonable Expectation of having every Just cause of National offence prevented or removed; But that Such an application Should be ushered in with assurances of it's being in every respect founded upon the most authentick Informations is a Subject demanding very particular consideration.

The Government of this Island disavows being in any wise acquainted which [sic with] such unwarrantable Proceedings as the following, namely, that the Inhabitants are daily and openly employed in furnishing warlike Stores and other materials for offensive and piratical purposes: That warlike and piratical Vessels are either owned or fitted out and equipped in this port for the declared purpose of piratically cruizing against and making captures of the Ships and Properties of the peaceable Subjects of His Brittannick Majesty or in short, that the daily and publick Business transacted here is for the avowed Intent of carrying on a Scene of piracy and depredation such as it has been described.

And as the Same Government is entirely Ignorant of Such criminal practices prevailing here, and is not only disposed to prevent them, but likewise offers upon every regular and well founded application to punish the Persons, who upon a legal Trial should be found guilty of the charge, it is by, and with the advice of the Council of the Island, that I beg leave to require the Proofs from the most authentic Information of such illicit proceedings to be particularized, the Facts stated, and well attested against Such Individuals as may have been or are censureable, which I must to be allowed to say, ought in this respect to have accompanied your Honour's application, Since it is impossible for me to proceed against any part of the community upon a general charge, and neither my Commission nor the Laws of the Land allow me to prosecute without Evidence or to condemn Without Proofs.

And your Honour may be perfectly assured that as soon as the Government of this Island should receive such complete Information touching any illegal Proceedings as may be Sufficient for a Discovery and conviction of the Supposed offenders, all the Satisfaction which the Nature of the complaint require, shall be given.

With respect to the capture of a Brigantine by an armed Sloop called the Baltimore Hero; as upon friendly application I had the honour of receiving from his Excelly Governor [Thomas] Shirley in behalf of the Sufferers, I had their case brought before the Council for the purpose of making the strictest Enquiries in order to investigate the Truth. I flatter my Self that I have it in my power to inform my Lord and masters upon how slender a foundation that affair, with all its circumstances hath been represented in the light we have Seen, But there is another particular touching which, I beg leave to request Proofs, from the most authentick information your honour is pleased to mention namely; that the Government of this Island hath openly and publicly allowed, countenanced, abetted and promoted such illicit proceedings as are before mentioned. — This I apprehend to be a Piece of Justice due from one private man to another, much more have I cause to expect it from a Commander in Chief, of whom I have had the honour of receiving heretofore the assurances of his reciprocal endeavours for promoting a good understanding between the respective Governments.

Not concious of having in any respect Violated the Treaties, or that knowingly and willfully any indignities have been offered to the king your master; I don't know of any attonement I have to make, and I always have been, and am still so far from betraying any partiality upan the occasion of these unhappy Disturbances between Great Britain & her North American Colonies, that I sincerely wish they were happily terminated to the Satisfaction of both. But it must not therefore be expected that without receiving any express orders from the Power under whom I preside, I should take upon me to lay any restraints upori such a Trade and Navigation as I am confident their High Mightinesses will not suffer to be interrupted and thus injure the Colonies under my Direction and that part of the commercial Interest of the Dutch Nation committed to my care by the Lords Directors of the Honble West India Company.

As to the Treatment or Reception which the Fortresses of the Island under my command have given to any Vessels whatsoever I flatter my Self that when my Masters require it, I shall be able to render such an account as will show how far the Informations your Honour may have received are authentick, or founded upon matter of fact.

And here I cannot avoid mentioning to your Honour the Liberties which a noted publisher of many kinds of Informations has of late taken, not only with my Person and this Government, but likewise with a Nation from which I shall ever deem it an Honour to be sprung, I mean in a Paper, printed in an Island under your Honor's Command, and of your constant residence — Knowing that the Liberty of the Press in no other civilized Goverment tolerated to Such a degree, is the usual plea upon Such occasion. I have hitherto been Silent, though not insensible to Such injurious and unmerited reproaches; but an illiberality of this kind hath been aggravated by the addition of Threats and menances of Hostilities against a settlement of the Dutch Nation in a time of profound peace and amity: I shall Submit to the wisdom of my Masters, when their Lordships are duly informed of it, for curbing Such Insolencies offered, I may Say without provocation.

Before I conclude, I must observe that as I don't recollect ever to have been backward, or to have refused giving your honour satisfaction upon a regular and well founded application, I have preferred the mode of transmitting your Honour my answer in writing only to that of entering with Mr Stanley (without any disparagement to the respectableness of that Gentleman's character and Station in your Government) in to any discussion touching either the subject matter of your Honor's letter, or my conduct in any shape; choosing to say no more about the propriety or impropriety of this Step, as having relation to the tenor of the latter part of your honour's Letter, which I conceive to have the appearance of calling me to an account within my own Government, which none upon Earth put my Lords and Masters have a right to do. I am &ca