partments of these arts, without an acquaintance with the highest. From one source only can the genuine stream be derived-although when once obtained, it may be diffused through innumerable channels.

But I begin to fear that I shall be misunderstood, and that in thus insisting on the direct advantages derived to a country from the cultivation of the fine arts, I shall be accused of treating the subject in a manner unworthy of you and of myself. I shall perhaps be told, that it is only in a commercial or manufacturing place that an idea could have occurred of seizing upon those arts, whose province it is to delight the imagination and to elevate the mind, and of chaining them down to labour in the dull round of pecuniary profit. My exculpation is very brief. If these arts are cultivated at all, the result which I have stated is unavoidable. If you will protect the arts, the arts will, and ought to remunerate you. To suppose that they are to be encouraged upon some abstract and disinterested plan, from which all idea of utility shall be excluded, is to suppose that a building can be erected without a foundation. There is not a greater error, than to think that the arts can subsist upon the generosity of the public. They are willing to repay whatever is devoted to their advantage; but they will not become slaves. If, in the infancy of their progress, some assistance should be requisite, such a necessity cannot long exist. The arts can only flourish where they command. Till an artist can produce a work of such merit, as to induce some individual to prefer it to its value in money, he ought not to expect a reward. It is a bounty and a degradation; and in its effects tends to mislead, and not to encourage the art. What should we think of giving a premium to the author of a worthless poem, by way of encouraging poetry? And yet it is generally from this class, both in arts and literature, that the complaints of the want of public patronage proceed. It was not thus with the great masters of former times. I speak not of those whose productions, stand on the summit of art, which add to their intrinsic value the incidental merit of rarity, and are, when met with, estimated beyond gold and gems-of a Raffaelle or a Lionardo da Vinci-I allude only to those whose works are numerous and well known-a Titian-a Guido-a Rubens-a Rembrandta Vandyke, and a long train of other eminent artists in Italy, in Flanders, and even in France, who dispensed a favour as often as they finished a picture, and by upholding the dignity established the utility of the art.

The grace that seems with beauty's queen to vie;
The mild suffusion of the languid eye;

Till with the Painter's proudest works at strife,
The fragile paper seems to glow with life!

Fragment of a MS. Poem on Engraving.

THE

ART. VII.-Correspondence of Paul Jones.

HE readers of this work will find on reference to the 8th volume of our series, a biography of this extraordinary character given at considerable length, and allusion made to certain letters which passed, soon after his descent upon the coast of Scotland, in 1778, between him and Lady Selkirk, respecting a transaction in which he was involved, with a view to carry off her husband, the Earl, from his house on St. Mary's Isle, in order to detain him as a hostage until terms should be agreed upon between Great Britain and America. We have now a copy of these letters, in a recent Edinburgh Magazine, with some others, relative to this daring captain, particularly one of Dr. Franklin, and another of the cele brated Polish patriot Kosciusko, as also one from the empress of Russia, which never before appeared in print.

The two letters of Jones were inserted in the newspapers at the time, but not in any durable or accessible Repository.

The name of Paul Jones is remembered with terror at this day He was the son of a small farmer, along the Scottish coasts. a few miles from Dumfries (Scotland;) and, impelled by that love of enterprize which is so frequently to be met with amongst the peasantry of that country, eagerly embarked in the cause of the Whether he was actuated by colonies against the mother country. a sense of the injustice of Britain towards America, at the outset of his career, or a hope of availing himself of the opportunities in which revolutionary warfare so greatly abounds to rise from his original obscurity, it is now perhaps impossible to determine, and unnecessary to inquire. But, it will be seen from the following letters, that, in the progress of his adventurous life, he was well inspired with the language that flows from a mind enthusiastic in the cause of liberty; and that he was honoured by some of its warmest friends in both hemisphere. It is impossible not to admire the kind and gentle feelings that influenced his conduct towards Lady Selkirk, so opposite to the character he was represented to be, and the very handsome manner in which he repaired the injury entailed by the policy adopted for securing the person of the Earl. There are probably few instances, especially among adventurers who have risen from the condition in which Paul Jones was originally placed,—of more enlarged views-more generous feelings,-and a more disinterested conduct, than these letters exhibit, combined as they are with sentiments of relentless hostility towards the claims of his native country. Such a picture, of which the view is at all times refreshing, ought to be held up to the eyes of those who are now engaged in similar struggles on an adjacent theatre. Good policy, in the absence of higher motives, may induce those who direct and regulate the movements of revolutionary warfare, as well as those who are impelled by the storm, to atone, in some measure, by acts of forbearance and generosity, for the injuries to which the helpless and the innocent are peculiarly exposed in the infuriate contests between a people and their rulers.

In the progress of the revolutionary war, Paul Jones obtained the command of a squadron, with which, in 1778, he undertook to annoy the coasts of Great Britain. On the 2d December, 1777, he arrived at Nantes, and in January repaired to Paris, with the view of making arrangements with the American ministers and the French government. In February he convoyed 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 transaction which took place on the same day, was the invasion of St. Mary's Isle, near the town of Kirkcudbright, where Lord Selkirk's house is situated. 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 Selkirk:

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 reflection is doubly severe, when he finds himself obliged, in appearance, to countenance such action by his authority.

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 wished 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.

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 shown 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 sea

men 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 dreadful carnage of a sea engagement; both affording ample subject for the pencil, 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 of officers and men. The ships met, and the advantage was disputed with great fortitude on each side for an hour and five minutes, when the gallant commander of the Drake fell, and victory declared in favour of the Ranger. His amiable lieutenant lay mortally wounded, besides near forty of the inferior officers and crew killed and wounded.

A melancholy demonstration of the uncertainty of human prospects, I buried them in the spacious grave, with the honours due to the memory of the brave.

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 insure 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 goodwill 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 practi

ces 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 feelings on a death-bed.

I hope this cruel contest will soon be closed,-but, should it continue,-I wage no war with the fair!-I acknowledge their power, and bend before it with profound submission! Let not, therefore, the amiable Countess of Selkirk regard me as an enemy,-I am ambitious of her esteem and friendship, and would do any thing consistent 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 pressgang 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 behaved 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 gentlemen made off. There is reason to think that there were some people among them acquainted with persons and places, and, in particular, one fellow, 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: