ment of half the monthly wages, to every person under my command, who may leave wives or attorneys behind them, to receive it in their absence, as it afterward becomes due, provided they enter for the term of twelve months, otherwise I am authorised to advance no more than one month's pay, besides slops to persons who enter only for one cruize. I wish to see every person about me happy and contented, and will do every thing in my power to make them so. The conditions of the hand bills, will be strictly complied with, and I am, Sir, Your very obedient and most humble servant. JOHN PAUL JONES. The above is a true copy from the original in my posses sion. ELIJAH HALL. Portsmouth Sept. 29th, 1824. Captain Jones was now on the eve of his departure for France. During his stay at Boston, in the month of May, he wrote a letter to Stuart Mawey, Esq., which places his character in a new light. It would seem from that letter,. that he had once been a merchant in Tobago, and that he had pecuniary resources in that island as well as in England, from which, by untoward circumstances, he had been cut off; what these were he does not reveal. They probably arose from that misfortune at which he hinted in a letter to the Hon. Mr. Morris, as being known to the Hon. Mr. Hewes. According to his own account, he was in extreme distress when he joined the standard of America. But the letter to Mr. Mawey contains no expressions of regret for the part he had taken in the revolution. On the contrary, he declares his unshaken determination to adhere to the fortunes of America. The letter does infinite credit to the heart of Capt. Jones; and, after reading it, no impartial mind will venture to denounce him as illiterate, vulgar, unfeeling, or unprincipled. The sentiments which he expresses for his mother are true to nature, tender, and touching, and show that the profession of arms had not estranged his bosom from the more refined and affectionate sensations: Boston, May 4th, 1777. STEWART MAWEY, Esq. Tobago. DEAR SIR, After an unprofitable suspense of twenty months, (having subsisted on fifty pounds only during that time,) when my hopes of relief were entirely cut off, and there remained no possibility of my receiving wherewithal to subsist upon from my effects in your island, or in England, I at last had recourse to strangers for that aid and comfort which was denied me by those friends whom I had entrusted with my all. The good offices which are rendered to persons in their extreme need, ought to make deep impressions on grateful minds. In my case, I feel the truth of that sentiment, and am bound by gratitude as well as honor to follow the fortunes of my late benefactors. I have lately seen Mr. Secaton, (late manager on the estate of Archibald Stuart, Esq.) who informed me that Mr. Ferguson had quitted Orange Valley, on being charged with the unjust application of the property of his employers. I have been, and am extremely concerned at this account:I wish to disbelieve it, although it seems too much of a piece with the unfair advantage which, to all appearance, he took of me, when he left me in exile for twenty months, a prey to melancholy and want, and withheld my property without writing a word in excuse of his conduct. Thus circumstanced, I have taken the liberty of sending you a letter of attorney by Capt. Cleaveland, who undertakes to deliver it himself, as he goes for Tobago via. Martinico. You have, enclosed, a copy of a list of debts acknowledged, which I received from Mr. Ferguson when I saw you last at Orange Valley. You have also, a list of debts contracted with me, together with Ferguson's receipt,* and there remained a considerable property unsold, besides some best Madeira wine, which he had shipped for London. By the state of accounts which I sent to England on my arrival on this Continent, there was a balance due to me from the ship Betsey, of 9097. 15s. 3d. sterling; and in my account with Robert Young, Esq. of the 29th of January, * Copies of these lists are enclosed in the copy which Capt. Jones retained of this letter, and are now in the possession of the author of this volume. They are written in a fair hand, and the sums put down in counting-house order. 1778, there appeared a balance in my favor of 2811. 1s. 8d.. sterling. These sums exceed my drafts and just debts together, so that if I am fairly dealt with, I ought to receive a considerable remittance from that quarter. You will please to observe, that there were nine pieces of coarse camlet shipped at Cork, over and above the quantity expressed in the bill of lading. It seems the shippers, finding their mistake, applied for the goods, and, as I have been informed from Grenada, Mr. Ferguson laid hold of this opportunity to propagate a report that all the goods which I put into his hands was the property of that house in Cork. If this base suggestion has gained belief, it accounts for all the neglect which I have experienced. But, however, my connexions are changed-my principles as a man of candor and of integrity are the same; therefore, should there not be a sufficiency of my property in England to answer my just debts, I declare that it is my first wish to make up such deficiency from my property in Tobago; and were even that also to fall short, I am ready and willing to make full and ample remittances from hence, upon hearing from you the true state of my affairs. As I hope my dear mother is still alive, I must inform you that I wish my property in Tobago or in England, after paying my just debts, to be applied for her support. Your own feelings, my dear Sir, make it unnecessary for me to use arguments to prevail with you on this tender point. Any remittances which you may be enabled to make, through the hands of my good friend, Capt. John Plainer, of Cork, will be faithfully put into her hands. She has several orphan grand-children to provide for. I have made no apology for giving you this trouble: my situation will, I trust, obtain your free pardon. You can, if you please, correspond with me via. any of the French or Dutch islands, by addressing your letters to John P. Jones, and care of the Hon. Robert Morris, Esq. Philadelphia, or I can hear from you through the hands of my friend, Capt. Plainer; he is frequently at Grenada, and perhaps may be there when this reaches your hands. I am always, with perfect esteem, &c. The Ranger at length put to sea, and, on the 2d of December 1777, arrived at Nantes in France. From that port Capt. Jones proceeded, on the 13th of February 1778, to Quiberon Bay, and Brest, where he saluted the French F Admiral, Count D'Orvilliers, with thirteen guns, which was returned with nine. This was the first salute of honour that the American flag had received from a foreign manof-war. Jones delayed his salute, until assured from authority, that the compliment would be reciprocated. Whilst at Nantes, Capt. Jones was favored by the American Commissioners with a letter of credit for 500 louis d'ors, which proves that he acted in concert with the public authorities of the United States, both at home and abroad. As a document establishing this fact, it is deemed proper to embody it in this account of his life. Passy, Jan. 10th. 1778. We desire you would advance to Capt. Paul Jones, of the Ranger, five hundred louis d'ors, for which your draft upon us will be paid. Your most obedient servants, We are, Sir, After considerable delay and many obstacles, most of which he attributed to the want of cordiality in the first lieutenant of the Ranger, and a spirit of mutiny among the crew, he sailed from Brest on the 13th of April, on a cruize in the Irish Channel, entered upon a very hazardous enterprise against Whitehaven, and spread great terror along the shores of Great Britain and Ireland. On the same day of the descent at Whitehaven, another memorable occurrence took place, which contributed, for a time, to add greatly to the odium which the first had brought on his character, but which in the end enabled him to prove that he was possessed of the most disinterested and heroic qualities. In cruising off the coast of Galloway, it occurred to him, that, if he could get into his power a man of high rank and influence in the state, he should be able, by retaining him as a hostage, to ensure to the American prisoners of war more lenient treatment from the British government. Knowing that the Earl of Selkirk possessed a seat in St. Mary's Isle, a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Dee, and being ill-informed with regard to the political connexions of that nobleman, he destined him for the subject of his experiment. It was in this adventure that he permitted the seizure of the plate of Lord Selkirk, at St. Mary's Isle, which he afterward purchased and restored. National prejudice has misrepresented this transaction; and in order to heighten the popular indignation against Jones, it has been common to state, that his attempt on the person, and as it was supposed, the property of Lord Selkirk, was aggravated by ingratitude, his father having eaten of that nobleman's bread. Nothing can be more false. Neither Mr. Paul, nor any of his kindred, ever was in the earl's employ, or had even the most distant connexion with his lordship, or his family; and in a correspondence which took place betwixt Jones and Lady Selkirk, relative to the restitution of the plate, a most honorable testimony was gratefully paid by Lord Selkirk to the Captain's character. In connexion with the attempt upon Whitehaven, was the capture of the British ship of war Drake, of 20 guns. Captain Jones has given so particular an account of these exploits in a letter to the Commissioners of the United States, at Paris, that it will be preferred to any narrative of them that could be framed by another hand: LETTER TO THE AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS AT PARIS. Brest, May, 27, 1778. GENTLEMEN, I now fulfil the promise made in my last, by giving you an account of my late expedition. my I sailed from Brest 10th of April. My plan was extensive. I therefore, did not, at the beginning, wish to encumber self with prisoners. On the 14th I took a brigantine between Scylla and Cape Clear, bound from Ostend with a cargo of flaxseed for Ireland, sunk her, and proceeded into St. George's Channel. On the 17th I took the ship Lord Chatham, bound from London to Dublin, with a cargo consisting of porter and a variety of merchandise, and almost within sight of her port; the ship I manned and ordered for Brest. Towards the evening of the day following, the weather had a promising appearance, and the winds being favorable I stood over from the Isle of Man, with an intention to make a descent at Whitehaven. At 10 o'clock, I |