The adventure with the Glasgow cannot, from the evidence now left, be considered as discreditable to the infant navy of America. The promotion of Jones, by the commander in chief of the navy, to be acting commandant of the Providence, proves, as he states himself, that the officer under whose command he had immediately served approved of his conduct. While conveying military stores and troops between Newport and New York, he appears from his journal to have had several rencontres with the Cerberus frigate and with others. Mr. Clarke,

were from Plymouth; then the brig hailed the Glasgow, and was told who they were. Upon signals being made and not answered, as it was still dark, the Glasgow received a heavy broadside from the brig, killed one man, and slightly wounded another. Then the Alfred came up, and closely engaged her for near three glasses, while the black brig attacked the Glasgow on her lee bow. It was observed by the motion of the Alfred, that she had received some unlucky shot. The sloop of twelve guns fired upon her stern without any great effect. The most of her shot went about six feet above the deck; whereas, if they had been properly levelled, they must soon have cleared it of men. The Glasgow got at a distance, when she fired smartly; and the engagement lasted about six glasses, when they both seemed willing to quit. The Glasgow was considerably damaged in her hull; had ten shot through her mainmast, fifty-two through her mizen staysail, one hundred and ten through her mainsail, and eighty-eight through her foresail; had her spars carried away, and her rigging cut to pieces. On the 6th they got into Rhode Island; early in the morning of the 7th, were fired upon from the shore, cut her cables, and run up to Hope Island, where the hospital ship followed them. The wind shifting to the northward, they went out and joined Commodore Wallace, and after two days sailed for Halifax, where Captain Hawley tarried a fortnight, and on the 7th of April, made his escape with eight others, in a small boat, and came to Old York."

The seventy-fifth number of the same newspaper, of April 17th, 1776, contains the following account under date of Newport, April 8th, which throws light upon the result of the affair with the Glasgow, and from its quaintness may not be uninteresting.

in his Naval History speaks of two "engagements" with the former vessel. Jones does not appear to have deemed them worthy of commemoration in his narrative and letter books. In his "refreshing memorial" to the President of Congress, written from the Texel, he says, when speaking of this period of his service; "The first service I performed in the Providence was to transport a number of soldiers from Providence to New York, which General Washington had lent us at New London to inspire us with courage to venture round to Rhode Island.

"Last Friday the ministerial fleet went a little without the mouth of our harbour, and in the evening they all returned and anchored between Gould island and Coddington's Point, except the Glasgow, of twenty-four guns, and a small tender, which kept out all night. As soon as it was light, the next morning, a party of the troops stationed on the island got down two of their 18 pounders upon the point, and played so well upon these worse than Algerine rovers, that they hulled the Rose two or three times, the Nautilus once or twice, and sent a shot through and through one of the armed tenders, upon which Captain Wallace, of the Rose, sent off a boat to cut away the buoy of his anchor, then slipped his cable, and made off as fast as possible; and the rest of his fleet followed in the utmost hurry and confusion, having fired about fifteen cannon upon our people without the least effect, though they stood in considerable numbers, as open as they could well be, without the least breast-work or other shelter.

"For several hours before, and during the above engagement, a vast number of cannon were heard from the S. E. and about sunrise eight or ten sail of ships, brigs, &c. were seen a little to the eastward of Block island, and indeed the flashes of the cannon were seen by some people about daybreak. These things caused much speculation, but in a few hours the mystery was somewhat cleared up, for away came the poor Glasgow, under all the sail she could set, yelping from the mouths of her cannon like a broken legged dog, as a signal of her being sadly wounded. And though she settled away, and handed most of her sails just before she came into the harbour, it was plainly perceived by the holes in those she had standing, and by the hanging of her ards, that she had been treated in a very rough manner. The other

The Commodore employed me afterwards for some time to es cort vessels from Rhode Island into the Sound, &c. while the Cerberus and other vessels cruised round Block Island. At last I received orders to proceed to Boston, to take under convoy some vessels laden with coal for Philadelphia. I performed that service about the time when Lord Howe arrived at Sandy Hook. It was proposed to send me from Philadelphia by land to take command of the Hampden in Connecticut, but I rather preferred to continue in the Providence, the Hampden being a far inferior vessel to the description that had been given of her to Congress."

He was commissioned to sail from the Delaware on a cruise, "with unlimited orders," as he expresses it in his memorial;

vessels seen off stood up the western sound, and by very authentic intelligence received on Saturday evening, we are fully convinced they were twelve sail of the Continental navy, very deeply laden with cannon, mortars, cannon-shot, bombs, and other warlike stores from the West Indies, so that it is probable their precious cargoes were the sole cause of Mrs. Glasgow's making her escape. Her tender was taken, as also the bomb brig, and a schooner which had been out near a week in search of prey.

"As soon as the Glasgow got in, the Rose, Captain Wallace, the Nautilus, Captain Collins, the Swan, Captain Ascough, with several tenders, and pirated prizes, stood out to sea, leaving the Glasgow, a large snow, and two small sloops at anchor, about three quarters of a mile from Brenton's point. The ensuing night, a party of troops carried one eighteen pounder, one nine, one six, and two four pounders, on said point, and early yesterday morning saluted the Glasgow with such warmth that she slipped her cable and pushed up the river without firing a gun, under all the sail she could make, and the others followed with great precipitation. By the terrible cracking on board the Glasgow, the noise and confusion among her men, it is thought the cannon did good execution. The wind shifting to the northward about noon, those vessels ran down the back of Conanicut and stood out to sea, supposed to have gone in quest of Captain Wallace, to make a woful complaint of the incivility of the Yankees."

and this was certainly the sort of trust which he test loved to execute. Some extracts from his letters to the marine committee of Congress, relative to his adventures in this cruise of "six weeks and five days," so briefly mentioned in his journal, will probably be acceptable to the reader.

"GENTLEMEN,

"Providence, at sea, in N. Lat. 37° 40′, S. W. Longitude, 54°, Sept. 4th, 1776.

"I had the honour of writing to you the 27th August, per the brigantine Brittannia, which I sent under the care of Lieutenant Wm. Grinnell. Since that, I have been to the southward, near the parallel of Bermuda, and brought to four sail of French, Spanish, and Danish ships, homeward bound, but without gaining any useful information. On the first current, I fell in with a fleet of five sail, one of them being very large, it was the general opinion here, that she was either an old Indiaman, outward bound, with stores, or a Jamaica three-decker, bound homewards. We found her to be an English frigate, mounting twenty guns upon one deck. She sailed fast, and pursued us by the wind, till, after four hours chase, the sea running very cross, she got within musket shot of our lee-quarter. As they had continued firing at us from the first, without showing colours, I now ordered ours to be hoisted, and began to fire at them. Upon this, they also hoisted American colors, and fired guns to leeward. But the bait would not take, for, having every thing prepared, I bore away before the wind, and set all our light sail at once; so that, before her sails could be trimmed, and steering sails set, I was almost out of reach of grape, and soon after out of reach of cannon shot. Our hair-breadth escape,' and the saucy manner of making it, must have mortified him not a little. Had he foreseen this motion, and been prepared to counteract it, he might have fired several broadsides of doubleheaded and grape shot, which would have done us very material damage. But he was a bad marksman; and, though within pistol shot, did not touch the Providence with one of the many

shots he fired.* I met with no other adventure till last night, when I took the Bermuda built brigantine Sea Nymph, &c."

He concludes this letter by observing that he did not expect much success in his cruise, as it was too late for the season; a remark which he repeats in his next letter, dated three days after, when sending in the brigantine Favourite laden with sugar, from Antigua, for Liverpool, which he had captured on the evening of September 6th, being his third prize.

The following characteristic letter, giving an account of the manner in which he ridiculed the Milford frigate, (as he expresses it in a subjoined précis of his cruise,) and took or destroyed the shipping in Canso Harbour, seems worthy of being inserted entire.

"Providence off the Isle of Sable, 30th Sept. 1776.

"GENTLEMEN,

"From that time [of despatching the Favourite,] I cruised without seeing any vessel. I then spoke the Columbus' prize, the ship Royal Exchange, bound for Boston. By this time, my water and wood began to run short, which induced me to run to the northward, for some port of Nova Scotia or Cape Breton. I had, besides, a prospect of destroying the English shipping in these parts. The 16th, and 17th, I had a very heavy gale from the N. W. which obliged me to dismount all my guns, and stick every thing I could into the hold. The 19th, I made the Isle of Sable, and on the 20th, being between it and the main, I met with an English frigate, with a merchant ship under her convoy. I had hove to, to give my people an opportunity of taking fish, when the frigate came in sight directly to windward, and was so good natured as to save me the trouble of chasing him, by bearing down, the instant he discovered us. When he came within cannon shot, I made sail to try his speed. Quar

*This is Jones' own account of what is called in the Naval Chronicle his "action of six hours" with the frigate Solebay, of 28 guns, from which he saved himself by a "desperate" manœuvre. "Skilful" seems to be a more appropriate term.