New York, 2 June 1785
"A revealing report on a discussion Lee had with Mr. van Berkel,1 Minister from the United Netherlands, in which Lee expressed his `surprise that the Dutch who in former times had so great a share of the Trade of Virginia, should now make no efforts to recover their lost commerce. He said that it was entirely owing to an apprehension of the want of punctuality on our part, & the delays that obstructed the recovery of justice in our Courts.' Lee protested this negative assessment of the new nation's commercial reliability, and persuaded van Berkel to entertain formally drawn-up plans of business; if found acceptable by van Berkel, they would be recommended to the wealthy houses of Holland. Lee invites Fitzgerald,2 a Virginia merchant and member of the Potomac Company, to present such an outline to van Berkel."
Reprinted from description and extract in Sotheby's Catalog, November 1, 1993, item 125.
1 No record of President Lee's interview with Dutch minister Pieter Johan van Berckel has been found.
2 Fitzgerald was identified in these Letters, 20:315n.1. For Lee's May 4 letter to Fitzgerald, see ibid., 22:374.