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some American vessels to the Bay of Quiberon; and, on his return to Brest, communicated his plan to Admiral D'Aruilliers, who afforded him every means of forwarding it. He accordingly left Brest, and sailed through the Bristol Channel, without giving any alarm. Early in the morning of the 23d April he made an attack on the harbour of Whitehaven, in which there were about 400 sail. He succeeded in setting fire to several vessels, but was not able to effect any thing decisive before day-light, when he was obliged to retire.

The next exploit, which took place on the same day, was the plunder of Lord Selkirk's house, in St Mary's Isle, near the town of Kirkcudbright. The particulars of this event, and of the action which succeeded, as well as the motives upon which Jones acted, are well given in the following letter, which he addressed to Lady Sel

kirk:

Ranger, Brest, 8th May 1778. MADAM,-It cannot be too much lamented, that, in the profession of arms, the officer of fine feeling, and of real sensibility, should be under the necessity of winking at any action of persons under his command which his heart cannot approve; but the reflec tion is doubly severe, when he finds bimself obliged, in appearance, to countenance such action by his autho

rity.

This hard case was mine, when, on the 23d of April last, I landed on St Mary's Isle. Knowing Lord Selkirk's interest with his king, and esteeming, as I do, his private character, I wish ed to make him the happy instrument of alleviating the horrors of hopeless captivity, when the brave are overpowered and made prisoners of war. It was, perhaps, fortunate for you, Madam, that he was from home, for it was my intention to have taken him on board the Ranger, and to have detained him until, through his means, a general and fair exchange of prisoners, as well in Europe as in America, had been effected.

This, and perhaps the following letter, have been already printed, but not in any durable or accessible repository; none of the other letters, in so far as we know, have ever been printed. The original letters of Franklin and Kosciuszko are now before us, written, as well as addressed, with their own hands.-Editor.

When I was informed by some men whom I met at landing, that his lordship was absent, I walked back to my boat, determined to leave the island. By the way, however, some officers who were with me could not forbear expressing their discontent, observing, that, in America, no delicacy was shewn by the English, who took away all sorts of moveable property, setting fire not only to towns and to the houses of the rich without distinction, but not even sparing the wretched hamlets and milch cows of the poor and helpless, at the approach of an inclement winter. That party had been with me as volunteers the same morning at Whitehaven; some complaisance, therefore, was their due. I had but a moment to think how I might gratify them, and at the same time do your ladyship the least injury. I charged the two officers to permit none of the seamen to enter the house, or to hurt any thing about it; to treat you, Madam, with the utmost respect; to accept of the plate which was offered; and to come away without making a search, or demanding any thing else. I am induced to believe that I was punctually obeyed, since I am informed that the plate which they brought away is far short of the quantity expressed in the inventory which accompanied it. I have gratified my men; and, when the plate is sold, I shall become the purchaser, and will gratify my own feelings, by restoring it to you by such conveyance as you shall please to direct.

Had the earl been on board the Ranger the following evening, he would have seen the awful pomp and dreadaffording ample subject for the penful carnage of a sea engagement; both cil, as well as melancholy reflection for the contemplative mind. Humanity starts back at such scenes of horror, and cannot but execrate the vile promoters of this detested war,

For they, 'twas they, unsheathed the ruthless blade,

And heaven shall ask the havock it has made.

The British ship of war Drake, mounting 20 guns, with more than her full complement of officers and men, besides a number of volunteers, came out from Carrickfergus, in order to attack and take the American continental ship of war Ranger, of 18 guns, and short of her complement

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Though I have drawn my sword in the present generous struggle for the rights of men, yet I am not in arms merely as an American, nor am I in pursuit of riches. My fortune is liberal enough, having no wife nor family, and having lived long enough to know that riches cannot ensure happiness. I profess myself a citizen of the world, totally unfettered by the little mean distinctions of climate or of country, which diminish the benevolence of the heart, and set bounds to philanthropy. Before this war began, I had, at an early time of life, withdrawn from the sea-service, in favour of" calm contemplation and poetic ease." I have sacrificed, not only my favourite scheme of life, but the softer affections of the heart, and my prospects of domestic happiness; and I am ready to sacrifice my life also with cheerfulness, if that forfeiture would restore peace and good will among mankind.

As the feelings of your gentle bosom cannot, in that respect, but be congenial with mine, let me intreat you, madam, to use your soft persuasive arts with your husband, to endeavour to stop this cruel and destructive war, in which Britain never can succeed. Heaven can never countenance the barbarous and unmanly practices of the Britons in America, which savages would blush at, and which, if not discontinued, will soon be retaliated in Britain by a justly enraged people. Should you fail in this, (for I am persuaded that you will attempt it, and who can resist the power of such an advocate?) your endeavours to effect a general exchange of prisoners will be an act of humanity, which will afford you golden feel ings on a death-bed.

I hope this cruel contest will soon

be closed, but, should it continué,→→ I wage no war with the fair!-I ac knowledge their power, and bend be fore it with profound submission! Let not, therefore, the amiable Countess of Selkirk regard me as an enemy,-F am ambitious of her esteem and friendship, and would do any thing consist ent with my duty to merit it.

The honour of a line from your hand, in answer to this, will lay me under a very singular obligation; and, if I can render you any acceptable service, in France or elsewhere, I hope you see into my character so far, as to command me without the least grain of reserve. I wish to know exactly the behaviour of my people, as I determine to punish them if they have exceeded their liberty.

I have the honour to be, with much esteem, and with profound respect, madam, your most obedient, and most humble servant,

(Signed) PAUL JONES.

To the Right Honourable the Countess of Selkirk, St Mary's Isle, Scotland.

The correctness of the facts here

stated is confirmed by the following account given at the time in the Scots Magazine:

"Between ten and eleven, a servant brought word, that a press-gang had landed near the house. This the party from the privateer had given out, in order, as was supposed, to get out of the way all the servants and others who might oppose them. Presently between thirty and forty armed men came up; all of whom planted themselves round the house, except three, who entered, each with two horse-pistols at his side; and, with bayonets fixed, they demanded to see the lady of the house; and, upon her appearing, told her, with a mixture of rudeness and civility, who they were, and that all the plate must be delivered to them. Lady Selkirk be haved with great composure and presence of mind. She soon directed her plate to be delivered; with which, without doing any other damage, or asking for watches, jewels, or any thing else, (which is odd,) the gen tlemen made off. There is reason to think that there were some people a◄ mong them acquainted with persons and places, and, in particular, one fel

low, supposed to have been once a waiter at an inn in Kirkcudbright. The leader of the party, who was not the captain of the vessel, told, that their intention was to seize Lord Selkirk, who is now in London."

It appears, accordingly, that Paul Jones actually purchased the plate, and embraced the first opportunity, after peace, to transmit it to Lord Selkirk, accompanied by the following letter:

Paris, February 12, 1784.
MY LORD,

I have just received a letter from Mr Nesbitt, dated at L'Orient the 4th instant, mentioning a letter to him from your son, Lord Daer, on the subject of the plate that was taken from your house by some of my people, when I commanded the Ranger, and has been for a long time past in Mr Nesbitt's care. A short time before I left France to return to America, Mr W. Alexander wrote me from Paris to L'Orient, that he had, at my request, seen and conversed with your Lordship in England respecting the plate. He said you had agreed that I should restore it, and that it might be forwarded to the care of your sisterin-law, the Countess of Morton, in London. In consequence, I now send orders to Mr Nesbitt to forward the plate immediately to her care. When I received Mr Alexander's letter, there was no cartel or other vessel at L'Orient that I could trust with a charge of so delicate a nature as your plate; and I had great reason to expect I should have returned to France within six months after I embarked for America. But circumstances in America prevented my returning to Europe during the war, though I had constant expectation of it.

The long delay that has happened to the restoration of your plate has given me much concern, and I now feel a proportionate pleasure in fulfilling what was my first intention. My motive for landing at your estate in Scotland was to take you as an hostage for the lives and liberty of a number of the citizens of America, who had been taken in war on the ocean, and committed to British prisons under an act of Parliament, as "traitors, pirates, and felons." You observed to Mr Alexander, that my idea was a mistaken one, because you were not (as I had supposed) in fa

VOL. I.

your with the British ministry, who knew that you favoured the cause of liberty. On that account, I am glad that you were absent from your estate when I landed there, as I bore no personal enmity, but the contrary, towards you. I afterwards had the happiness to redeem my fellow citizens from Britain, by means far more glorious than through the medium of any single hostage.

As I have endeavoured to serve the cause of liberty through every stage of the American revolution, and sacrificed to it my private ease, a part of my fortune, and some of my blood, I could have no selfish motive in permitting my people to demand and carry off your plate. My sole inducement was to turn their attention and stop their rage from breaking out, and retaliating on your house and ef fects the too wanton burnings and desolation that had been committed against their relations and fellow citizens in America by the British; of which, I assure you, you would have felt the severe consequence, had I not fallen on an expedient to prevent it, and hurried my people away before they had time for further reflection. As you were so obliging as to say to Mr Alexander, that my people behav ed with great decency at your house, I ask the favour of you to announce that circumstance to the public. I am, my Lord, wishihg you always perfect freedom and happiness, your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant,

(Signed) PAUL JONES, To the Right Honourable the Earl of Selkirk, in Scotland.

After his combat with the Drake, Paul Jones sailed round the north of Scotland, and, on the 5th September, was seen off Lerwick. He did no damage, however, except carrying off a boat and four men from the island of Mousa. He then proceeded along the east coast of Scotland. In the middle of September he sailed up the Firth of Forth, and on the 17th was seen nearly opposite to Leith, below the island of Inchkeith. A violent south-west wind, however, having risen, drove his squadron so rapidly down the Firth, as to be soon out of sight. He had taken and plundered a few prizes. He sailed next to the

Texel, into which he carried, as prizes, two British vessels of war, the Serapis, and the Countess of Scarborough, which, after an obstinate engagement, he had captured near Flamborough Head. On this occasion, the British minister made urgent demands that the prizes, as well as Paul Jones himself, and his squadron, should be delivered up to his government. The Dutch, however, on the 25th October, came to this resolution: "That they could not pretend to judge of the legality or illegality of the actions of those who had taken, on the open sea, vessels not belonging to themselves; that they had merely given them shelter from storms, and would oblige them to put to sea, so that the British might themselves have an opportunity of taking them." To this resolution they adhered, notwithstanding the warmest remonstrances of the British minister.

During the course of Jones's stay at the Texel, he addressed the following letters to the Dutch Admiral, Baron Vander Capellen:

America has been the country of my fond election from the age of thirteen, when I first saw it. I had the honour to hoist, with my own hands, the flag of freedom the first time it was displayed on the Delaware; and I have attended it with veneration ever since, on the ocean. I see it respected even here in spite of the pitiful Sir Joseph (Yorke ;) and I ardently wish and hope very soon to exchange a salute with the flag of this republic. Let but the two republics join hands, and they will give peace to the world.

Highly ambitious to render myself worthy of your friendship, I have the honour to be, my lord, your very obliged and most humble servant.

On board the Alliance at the Texel,

Nov. 29, 1779.

MY LORD,-Since I had the honour to receive your second esteemed letter, I have unexpectedly had occasion to revisit Amsterdam; and having changed ships since my return to the Texel, I have, by some accident or neglect, lost or mislaid your letter. I rememOn board the Serapis at the Texel, ber, however, the questions it conOct. 19, 1779.

MY LORD, Human nature, and America, are under very singular obligations to you for your patriotism and friendship; and I feel every grateful sentiment for your generous and polite letter.

Agreeable to your request, I have the honour to inclose a copy of my letter to his Excellency Dr Franklin, containing a particular account of my late expedition on the coasts of Britain and Ireland; by which you will see that I have already been praised more than I have deserved. But I must, at the same time, beg leave to observe, that, by the other papers which I take the liberty to inclose, (particularly the copy of my letter to the Countess of Selkirk, dated the day of my arrival at Brest from the Irish sea,) I hope you will be convinced that in the British prints I have been censured unjustly. I was indeed born in Britain, but I do not inherit the degenerate spirit of that fallen nation, which I at once lament and despise. It is far beneath me to reply to their hireling invectives; they are strangers to the inward approbation that greatly animates and rewards the man who draws his sword only in support of the dignity of freedom.

tained, viz. 1st, Whether I ever had
any obligation to Lord Selkirk? 2d,
Whether he accepted my offer? and
3d, Whether I have a French com-
mission? I answer, I never had any
obligation to Lord Selkirk, except for
his good opinion; nor does he know
me or mine, except by character.
Lord Selkirk wrote me an answer to
my letter to the Countess, but the
ministry detained it in the general
post-office in London for a long time,
and then returned it to the author,
who afterwards wrote to a friend of
his, (Mr Alexander,) an acquaintance
of Dr Franklin's, then at Paris, giving
him an account of the fate of his let-
ter to me, and desiring him to acquaint
his Excellency and myself, that
the plate was restored by Congress,
or by any public body, he would ac-
cept it, but that he could not think of
accepting it from my private genero-
sity." The plate has, however, been
bought, agreeable to my letter to the
Countess, and now lays in France at
her disposal. As to the third article,
I never bore, nor acted under any
other commission than what I have
received from the Congress of the
United States of America.

if

I am much obliged to you, my Lord, for the honour you do me by

proposing to publish the papers I sent you in my last; but it is an honour which I must decline, because I cannot publish my letter to that Lady without asking and obtaining the Lady's consent, and because I have a very modest opinion of my writings, being conscious that they are not of sufficient value to claim the notice of the public. I assure you, my Lord, it has given me much concern to see an extract of my rough journal in print, and that too under the disadvantage of a translation. That mistaken kindness of a friend will make me cautious how I communicate my papers. I have the honour to be, my Lord, with great esteem and respect, &c. &c.

Paul Jones continued in the Ameri can service during the remainder of the war, and, on the 14th April 1781, the Congress voted to him an address of thanks, and presented him with a gold medal. At the peace of 1783, it was agreed that Jones should return some of the prizes taken during the war, but should receive a pecuniary indemnification. To arrange this transaction, he sailed for France, and arrived at Paris, where he was received with great cordiality. In the course of his residence there, he received the follow ing letter from Dr Franklin:

Havre, July 21, 1785. DEAR SIR,-The offer, of which you desire I would give you the particulars, was made to me by Mr Le Baron de Walterstorff, in behalf of his Majesty the King of Denmark, by whose ministers he said he was authoriz'd to make it. It was to give us the sum of ten thousand pounds Sterling, as a compensation for having deliver'd up the prizes to the English. I did not accept it, conceiving it much too small a sum, they having been valued to me at fifty thousand pounds. I wrote to Mr Hodgson, an insurer in London, requesting he would procure information of the sums insur'd on those Canada ships. His answer was, that he could find no traces of such insurance; and he believ'd none was made; for that the Government, on whose account they were said to be loaded with military stores, never insur'd; but, by the best judgment he could make, he thought they might be worth about sixteen or eighteen thousand pounds each, With great

esteem, I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, B. FRANKLIN.

Hon. Paul Jones, Esq.

We have also in our possession an original card of invitation to dinner from La Fayette, which shews the esteem in which he was held by that eminent character. He was satisfied as to his claims, and returned to America. But, in 1788, we find him offering his services to the Empress Catherine, by whom they were readily accepted. The following is the copy of a letter addressed to him by her Imperial Majesty upon this occasion: Copie de la lettre de sa Majesté l'Imperatrice de toutes les Russies au Contre-Amiral de Paul Jones.

Monsieur le Contre-Admiral

PAUL JONES,

UN Courier de Paris vient d'aporter, de la part de mon envoyé en France M. de Simolin, la lettre si-jointe au Cte. de Besborodka. Comme je crois que cette lettre peut contribuer à vous confirmer la verité de ce que je vous ai dit de bouche, je vous l'envoye, et vous prie de me la renvoyer parceque je n'en ai pas fait tirer de copie tant je me suis hatez de vous la faire parvenir. J'espere qu'elle effaçera tout doute de votre esprit, et qu'elle vous prouvera que vous allés avoir affaire à quelqu'un qui est très-favorablement disposé à votre egard. Je ne doute nullement que de votre coté vous ne tachiés de remplir parfaitement l'opinion que nous avons de vous, et que vous vous appliqueré avec zêle à soutenir la reputation et le nom que vous ont acquis votre valeur et votre habileté très reconnue sur l'element sur lequel vous allés servir. Adieu.-Je vous souhaite bonheur et bon santé.

(Signed) CATHERINE.

A Czarskocelo, 11th May 1788.

What were the circumstances which disgusted Jones with the service of her Imperial Majesty, we have not yet been able to learn; but it appears that, in 1790, he was'engaged in a negocia tion for entering into the service of her enemies. This is proved by the following very curious document, an original letter from Kosciuszko, addressed to "The Honourable ViceAdmiral Paul Jones, Amsterdam," written more politely than elegantly in English;

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