manding anything 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 which is 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 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, "The British ship of war Drake, mounting twenty 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 continental ship of war Ranger, of eighteen 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 favor 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 a spacious grave, with the honors due to the memory of the brave. "As the feelings of your gentle bosom cannot, in that respect, but be congenial with mine, let me entreat you, madam, to use your soft persuasive arts with your husband, to endeavor 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 you will attempt it—and who can resist the power of such an advocate?) your endeavors 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 anything consistent with my duty to merit it. "The honor 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 service. I wish to know, exactly, the behavior of my people, as I am determined to punish them if they have exceeded their liberty. "I have the honor to be, with much esteem and with profound respect, madam, your most obedient and most humble servant, PAUL JONES. "To the Right Hon. the countess of Selkirk, St. Mary's Isle, Scotland." COMMODORE SAMUEL TUCKER, CONTINENTAL NAVY. FROM THE EAStern Argus, Portland, Me., Dec. 12, 1820. "Though I have drawn my sword in the present generous struggle for the rights of men, yet I am 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 hap- OF MASSACHUSETTS. His services in thE piness. 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 favor of calm contemplation and poetic ease. I have sacrificed, not only my favorite 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. It is with great satisfaction that we have it in our power to state, that the venerable commodore TUCKER has been appointed, by the unanimous votes of the electoral college of this state, a special messenger to carry the votes for president and vice president to the seat of government. And a gratifying event it must be to this war-worn veteran, now in the seventyfourth year of his age, to be the bearer of the unbought suffrages of a free people for another revolutionary worthy to fill the highest office in their gift. Commodore Tucker was | hindermost vessels, when two strange sail among the most distinguished naval com- were seen bearing down upon them directly manders in the war of the revolution. Though ahead. A signal was made for the fleet to disit is not our intention, at this time, to give an perse, and soon after, Tucker having come outline of the interesting adventures of this within hailing distance of one of the foremost officer through our eight years' struggle for vessels, discovered that it was the fleet of which independence, it may not be unacceptable to he was in the pursuit. He instantly made a our readers to be reminded of some of the im- signal for the Confederacy to bear down upon portant benefits which our country derived from and attack the windward sail, while he wore his skill and courage in the time of her great- ship and prepared to engage the vessels at the est need. We are apt in the unbroken flow of leeward. The enemy, however, though supeprosperity, to forget the merits and achieve- rior in force, declined meeting him. He fled to ments of those to whom we are indebted for it. New-York, where the commander, after a sham In March, 1776, after the British army had trial, was acquitted on the excuse that his crew been driven from Boston in shameful flight, and was mutinous; and the American commodore were lying with the fleet at Long Island point, led his fleet in triumph into the harbor of Phila transport, loaded with powder, for use of the adelphia, without the loss of a ship. The safe troops, was captured by a vessel under the arrival of this fleet was a most important event orders of Commodore Tucker, and commanded to the country. by one of his officers, just before she arrived within the protection of the British guns. The merits of the arrangements for the capture belonged to the commodore, and he received, if we are not mistaken, the thanks of general Washington. Though Boston was then evacu-chosen men, in addition to the usual crew. He ated, it will be recollected by those who are conversant with that period of our history, that the enemy had been driven from his post by a band of freemen, armed only with fowling pieces, and without powder or ball. The ammunition at the disposal of the American commander at one time, was not more than sufficient to furnish his army with more than four or five rounds to each man. The capture of this vessel, though not an event calculated to attract attention by the dazzling lustre of military glory, was, in fact, one of the most important naval occurrences of the war. Another event, of superior interest, and which displayed the gallantry of the commodore in a stronger light, was the preservation of the Eustatia fleet in 1779. The American agents had contracted in Holland for a large quantity of clothing for the army. It was deposited by the Dutch merchants in Eustatia, and put on board a fleet of merchantmen to be transported to our ports. Commodore Tucker was ordered to sail with the Boston frigate and Confederacy | to meet this fleet and convoy it safe, at all events, into port. The salvation of the army and of the country, depended on the safe arrival of these supplies, the soldiers being not only without pay, but destitute of clothing, and, as soldiers always will be in such cases, irritated, refractory, and mutinous. The moment of the commodore's meeting this fleet was most critical. Two British frigates were then in the pursuit, and were now within gun-shot of the Soon after, the British commander fitted out a vessel for the express purpose of cruising for Tucker, and bringing the rebel into the harbor of New York. His ship was again somewhat superior to the Boston, and manned with fifty an soon had the good or ill fortune to meet with Tucker. Such was the skill and adroitness with which the American commander manœuvred, that he brought his ship within half pistol shot under the quarters of the British vessel, before the captain discovered that it was enemy, the commodore having English colors flying. He then sent up the stars and stripes, and summoned the enemy to surrender. Such was the commanding position that the American frigate had obtained, that the British captain thought it prudent to surrender before a gun was fired on either side. Commodore Tucker's enterprise and naval talents were in constant requisition, and he was in active service during the whole war. He took from the enemy seventy five prizes, and more than SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY mounted cannon, a greater number, we believe, than was captured by any other naval commander. When the venerable patriot arrived at Washington with the electoral votes, it was contemplated to pass a resolution to admit him within the bar of the house of representatives. But it is a standing rule of the house, that all persons to whom a vote of thanks has been passed, may use that privilege, and it was found that commodore Tucker might claim it from a vote of the old congress—and the house had too much sensibility on the subject, in any manner to depreciate so honorable a claim, by acting on the case, except to permit him to take a seat as a matter of right. His presence at Washington gave rise to a publication of the following correspondence QUINCY, January 18, 1816. SIR-Samuel Tucker, esq. a member of our Massachusetts legislature, has a petition to government for justice or customary favor to meritorious officers, which will be explained before the proper judges. I cannot refuse his request to certify what I know of his character and history. My acquaintance with him commenced early in the year 1776, when he was first appointed to a command in the navy, in which he served with reputation and without reproach, to the end of the year 1783. His biography would make a conspicuous figure even at this day, in the naval annals of the United States. I can be particular only in one instance. In 1778, he was ordered to France in the Boston frigate. He sailed in February, and soon fell in with three British frigates, sent from Rhode Island expressly to intercept him. Fighting of one against three was out of the question. In a chase of three days and three nights, he baffled all the inventions, and defeated all the manoeuvres of the enemy, and was separated from him, at last, in the Gulf Stream by a furious hurricane, which, for three days more, threatened him with immediate destruction. Nor was this his last danger from seas or from enemies. He had two other storms, and two other detach ments of British men of war to encounter; one in the English Channel, and another in the Bay of Biscay. He arrived in Bordeaux in April. Nothing but vigilance, patience, and perseverance, added to consummate nautical skill, could have preserved that ship through so many dangers at that equinoctial season, and such a succession of irresistible enemies. I heartily wish captain Tucker success; and beg the favor of you, sir, to communicate to any committee, who may be charged with the examination of his application, this letter from your friend and humble servant, Hon. Mr. Crowninshield, JOHN ADAMS. this was the fact. Captain Tucker then commanded the Boston frigate, and was charged with the important duty, at that difficult time, of carrying Mr. Adams out as ambassador to France. About fifteen days before their arrival at Bordeaux, there hove in sight a large English ship, showing a tier of guns. Tucker immediately held a conversation with Mr. Adams, assured him he could take her, and wished to obtain his consent to run down for her; this was granted.-The Boston bore down: Mr. Adams being a non-combatant, was desired to retire into the cock-pit, below water. He descended, at this request, into the cabin. Tucker returned immediately to his duty, and in fifteen minutes the Boston was within hail of the English ship, which proved to be the Martha, and had been lying to, to meet her enemy. Upon Tucker's hailing the British ship, she answered by a broadside, which shot away a piece of the mizen yard of the Boston, which fell upon Tucker's shoulder, and brought him flat on the deck. This, for a moment, prevented the order to return the fire; but as he leaped from the deck and gained his legs, he found the colors of the Martha hauled down; and looking forward, observed Mr. Adams among the marines, with a musket in his hand, having privately applied to the officer of the marines for a gun, and taken his station among them. At this sight captain Tucker became alarmed; for he was responsible for the safety sador desired to know how he came there? of Mr. Adams; and walking up to the ambasupon which the other smiled, gave up his gun, and went immediately below. COMMODORE JOSHUA BARNEY, OF MARYLAND, CONTINENTAL NAVY. INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF HIS CAPTUre of the BRITISH SLOOP OF WAR "GENERAL MONK," APRIL 8, 1782. By a misprint, we presume, the late commodore Barry was said to have captured the British ship "General Monk," in 1782. The error brought forth in the Washington City Gazette, of June, 1820, the following explanations and remarks, in a letter addressed to the editor: Connected with this letter is an anecdote of the now venerable writer, which we do not I have observed in your Gazette, taken from recollect to have before seen in print. From a Philadelphia paper, an account of a gallant the unaffected simplicity with which the letter action performed by the late commodore Bar. is written, it would not appear that Mr. Adamsney, during the revolutionary war. I allude to was on board the vessel commanded by captain the action between the American vessel Hyder Tucker, in the cruise of which he speaks: but Ally, captain Barney, and his Britannic Majesty's sloop of war General Monk, captain Rogers, in | voted to captain Joshua Barney, for the gal 1782. "Honor to the brave." My only object | lantry displayed in the action with his Britanin addressing you this letter, is to correct an nic Majesty's ship General Monk. error as to the name of the commander of the I can readily account why the name of capHyder Ally. It was not captain Barry, as is tain Barry should have been inserted instead of erroneously stated in the papers. It was the captain Barney. Captain Barry, about the same late commodore Barney who commanded the time, commanded a brig of 16 six pounders, Hyder Ally, the same who received a severe called the Hibernia, and was fortunate in capwound at the battle of Bladensburg, and who | turing several British armed vessels. He afterlately died at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. I was wards commanded the frigate United States, then in Philadelphia, quite a lad, when the now in our service, and then on the West India action took place. Both ships arrived at the station, and was very successful during our lower part of the city with a leading wind, short war with the French republic. He died immediately after the action, bringing with in Philadelphia in 1803. I feel the more disthem all their killed and wounded. Attracted posed to set this matter right, as commodore to the wharf by the salute which the Hyder Barney was an intimate friend of mine. If you Ally fired, of thirteen guns, which was then the think these items of information worthy of incustom, (one for each state) I saw the two sertion in your Gazette, they are at your service. ships lying in the stream, anchored near each I am, respectfully, yours, etc., Co. other. In a short time, however, they warped into the wharf to land their killed and wounded, and curiosity induced me, as well as many others, to go on board each vessel. The Hyder Ally was, as stated, a small ship of 16 six pounders. The Monk, a king's ship of large On the 8th April, 1782, an action took place dimensions, of 18 nine pounders. The difference at the entrance of the Delaware bay, between in the size and equipments of the two ships an American sloop of war, commanded by was matter of astonishment to all the beholders. captain Barney, called the Hyder Ally, mountThe Gen. Monk's decks were, in every direc-ing 16 six pounders, and carrying 110 men; tion, besmeared with blood, covered with the dead and wounded, and resembled a charnel house. Several of her bow ports were knocked into one-a plain evidence of the well directed fire of the Hyder Ally. She was a king's ship, a very superior vessel, a fast sailer, and coppered to the bends. I was on board during the time they carried on shore the killed and wounded, which they did in hammocks. I was present at a conversation which took place on the quarter deck of the General Monk, between captain Barney and several merchants in Philadelphia. I remember one of them observing, "why, captain Barney, you have been truly fortunate in capturing this vessel, considering she is so far superior to you in point of size, guns, men and metal." Yes, sir, he replied, I do consider myself fortunate when we were about to engage, it was the opinion of myself, as well as my crew, that she would have blown us to atoms; but we were determined she should gain her victory dearly. THE "GENERAL MONK." and the British sloop of war General Monk, under captain Rogers, of 20 nine pounders, and 136 men. The former had four men killed and eleven wounded; the latter twenty killed and thirty-three wounded. In the navy department at Washington is a representation of this action. On the left of the painting appears Cape Henlopen light-house, and on the right, the point of Cape May. In the centre is seen the Hyder Ally and General Monk engaged, the latter in the act of striking her colors. In front is the frigate Quebec, which, not finding sufficient water in Cape May channel, was obliged to go around the Overfall Shoals to get into the bay. It was during this time that the action took place. To the right of the fighting ships, the English brig Fair American, of 16 guns, is seen chasing and firing at one of the Hyder Ally's convoy, which escaped under the Jersey shore. At a distance is seen the vessels convoyed by the Hyder Ally steering up the bay. RECAPITULATION. guns p. One of the wounded British sailors observed- guns p. |