CHAPTER LI. HOW AN IDLE PROPHECY CAME TO PASS
Captain Clapsaddle not being at his lodgings, I rode on to the CoffeeHouse to put up my horse. I was stopped by Mr. Claude.
"Why, Mr. Carvel," says he, "I thought you on the Eastern Shore. Thereis a gentleman within will be mightily tickled to see you, or else hisprotestations are lies, which they may very well be. His name? Now, 'Ponmy faith, it was Jones--no more."
This thing of being called for at the Coffee House stirred up unpleasantassociations.
"What appearance does the man make?" I demanded.
"Merciful gad!" mine host exclaimed; "once seen, never forgotten, andonce heard, never forgotten. He quotes me Thomson, and he tells me ofhis estate in Virginia."
The answer was not of a sort to allay my suspicions.
"Then he appears to be a landowner?" said I.
"'Ods! Blest if I know what he is," says Mr. Claude. "He may beanything, an impostor or a high-mightiness. But he's something tostrike the eye and hold it, for all his Quaker clothes. He is swarth andthickset, and some five feet eight inches--full six inches under yourown height. And he comes asking for you as if you owned the town betweenyou. 'Send a fellow to Marlboro' Street for Mr. Richard Carvel, my goodhost!' says he, with a snap of his fingers. And when I tell him the newsof you, he is prodigiously affected, and cries--but here's my gentlemannow!"
I jerked my head around. Coming down the steps I beheld my old friendand benefactor, Captain John Paul!
"Ahoy, ahoy!" cries he. "Now Heaven be praised, I have found you atlast."
Out of the saddle I leaped, and straight into his arms.
"Hold, hold, Richard!" he gasped. "My ribs, man! Leave me some breaththat I may tell you how glad I am to see you."
"Mr. Jones!" I said, holding him out, "now where the devil got youthat?"
"Why, I am become a gentleman since I saw you," he answered, smiling."My poor brother left me his estate in Virginia. And a gentleman musthave three names at the least."
I dropped his shoulders and shook with laughter.
"But Jones!" I cried. "'Ad's heart! could you go no higher? Has yourimagination left you, captain?"
"Republican simplicity, sir," says he, looking a trifle hurt. But Ilaughed the more.
"Well, you have contrived to mix oil and vinegar," said I. "A landedgentleman and republican simplicity. I'll warrant you wear silk-knitunder that gray homespun, and have a cameo in your pocket."
He shook his head, looking up at me with affection.
"You might have guessed better," he answered. "All of quality I haveabout me are an enamelled repeater and a gold brooch."
This made me suddenly grave, for McAndrews's words had been ringingin my ears ever since he had spoken them. I hitched my arm into thecaptain's and pulled him toward the Coffee House door.
"Come," I said, "you have not dined, and neither have I. We shallbe merry to-day, and you shall have some of the best Madeira in thecolonies." I commanded a room, that we might have privacy. As hetook his seat opposite me I marked that he had grown heavier and morebrowned. But his eye had the same unfathomable mystery in it as of yore.And first I upbraided him for not having writ me.
"I took you for one who glories in correspondence, captain," said I;"and I did not think you could be so unfaithful. I directed twice to youin Mr. Orchardson's care."
"Orchardson died before I had made one voyage," he replied, "andthe Betsy changed owners. But I did not forget you, Richard, and wasresolved but now not to leave Maryland until I had seen you. But I burnto hear of you," he added. "I have had an inkling of your story from thelandlord. So your grandfather is dead, and that blastie, your uncle, ofwhom you told me on the John, is in possession."
He listened to my narrative keenly, but with many interruptions. Andwhen I was done, he sighed.
"You are always finding friends, Richard," said he; "no matter whatyour misfortunes, they are ever double discounted. As for me; I am likeFulmer in Mr. Cumberland's 'West Indian': 'I have beat through everyquarter of the compass; I have bellowed for freedom; I have offered toserve my country; I have'--I am engaging to betray it. No, Scotlandis no longer my country, and so I cannot betray her. It is she who hasbetrayed me."
He fell into a short mood of dejection. And, indeed, I could not butreflect that much of the character fitted him like a jacket. Not thebetrayal of his country. He never did that, no matter how roundly theyaccused him of it afterward.
To lift him, I cried:
"You were one of my first friends, Captain Paul" (I could not stomachthe Jones); "but for you I should now be a West Indian, and a miserableone, the slave of some unmerciful hidalgo. Here's that I may live torepay you!"
"And while we are upon toasts," says he, bracing immediately, "I giveyou the immortal Miss Manners! Her beauty has dwelt unfaded in my memorysince I last beheld her, aboard the Betsy." Remarking the pain in myface, he added, with a concern which may have been comical: "And she isnot married?"
"Unless she is lately gone to Gretna, she is not," I replied, trying tospeak lightly.
"Alack! I knew it," he exclaimed. "And if there's any prophecy in mybones, she'll be Mrs. Carvel one of these days."
"Well captain," I said abruptly, "the wheel has gone around since I sawyou. Now it is you who are the gentleman, while I am a factor. Is it thebliss you pictured?"
I suspected that his acres were not as broad, nor his produce assalable, as those of Mount Vernon.
"To speak truth, I am heartily tired of that life," said he. "There islittle glory in raising nicotia, and sipping bumbo, and cursing negroes.Ho for the sea!" he cried. "The salt sea, and the British prizes. Giveme a tight frigate that leaves a singing wake. Mark me, Richard," hesaid, a restless gleam coning into his dark eyes, "stirring times arehere, and a chance for all of us to make a name." For so it seemed everto be with him.
"They are black times, I fear," I answered.
"Black!" he said. "No, glorious is your word. And we are to have anupheaval to throw many of us to the top."
"I would rather the quarrel were peacefully settled," said I, gravely."For my part, I want no distinction that is to come out of strife andmisery."
He regarded me quizzically.
"You are grown an hundred years old since I pulled you out of the sea,"says he. "But we shall have to fight for our liberties. Here is a glassto the prospect!"
"And so you are now an American?" I said curiously.
"Ay, strake and keelson,--as good a one as though I had got my sap inthe Maine forests. A plague of monarchs, say I. They are a blotch uponmodern civilization. And I have here," he continued, tapping his pocket,"some letters writ to the Virginia printers, signed Demosthenes, whichMr. Randolph and Mr. Henry have commended. To speak truth, Richard, Iam off to Congress with a portmanteau full of recommendations. And I wasresolved to stop here even till I secured your company. We shall sweepthe seas together, and so let George beware!"
I smiled. But my blood ran faster at the thought of sailing under sucha captain. However, I made the remark that Congress had as yet no army,let alone a navy.
"And think you that gentlemen of such spirit and resources will lackeither for long?" he demanded, his eye flashing.
"Then I know nothing of a ship save the little I learned on the John," Isaid.
"You were born for the sea, Richard," he exclaimed, raising his glasshigh. "And I would rather have one of your brains and strength andhandiness than any merchant's mate I ever sailed with. The moregentlemen get commissions, the better will be our new service."
At that instant came a knock at the door, and one of the inn negroesto say that Captain Clapsaddle was below, and desired to see me. Ipersuaded John Paul to descend with me. We found Captain Daniel seatedwith Mr. Carroll, the barrister, and Mr. Chase.
"Captain," I said to my old friend, "I have a rare joy this day inmaking known to you Mr. John Paul Jones, of whom I have spoken to youa score of times. He it is whose bravery sank the Black Moll, whosecharity took m
e to London, and who got no other reward for his faiththan three weeks in a debtors' prison. For his honour, as I have toldyou, would allow him to accept none, nor his principles to take thecommission in the Royal Navy which Mr. Fox offered him."
Captain Daniel rose, his honest face flushing with pleasure. "Faith, Mr.Jones," he cried, when John Paul had finished one of his elaborate bows,"this is well met, indeed. I have been longing these many years for achance to press your hand, and in the names of those who are dead andgone to express my gratitude."
"I have my reward now, captain," replied John Paul; "a sight of you isto have Richard's whole life revealed. And what says Mr. Congreve?
"'For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And tho' a late, a sure reward succeeds.'
"Tho' I would not have you believe that my deed was virtuous. And you,who know Richard, may form some notion of the pleasure I had out of hiscompanionship."
I hastened to present my friend to the other gentlemen, who welcomed himwith warmth, though they could not keep their amusement wholly out oftheir faces.
"Mr. Jones is now the possessor of an estate in Virginia, sirs," Iexplained.
"And do you find it more to your taste than seafaring, Mr. Jones?"inquired Mr. Chase.
This brought forth a most vehement protest, and another quotation.
"Why, sir," he cried, "to be
'Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot,'
is an animal's existence. I have thrown it over, sir, with a right goodwill, and am now on my way to Philadelphia to obtain a commission in thenavy soon to be born."
Mr. Chase smiled. John Paul little suspected that he was a member of theCongress.
"This is news indeed, Mr. Jones," he said. "I have yet to hear of thebirth of this infant navy, for which we have not yet begun to makeswaddling clothes."
"We are not yet an infant state, sir," Mr. Carroll put in, with a shadeof rebuke. For Maryland was well content with the government shehad enjoyed, and her best patriots long after shunned the length ofsecession. "I believe and pray that the King will come to his senses.And as for the navy, it is folly. How can we hope to compete withEngland on the sea?"
"All great things must have a beginning sir," replied John Paul,launching forth at once, nothing daunted by such cold conservatism."What Israelite brickmaker of Pharaoh's dreamed of Solomon's temple?Nay, Moses himself had no conception of it. And God will send usour pillars of cloud and of fire. We must be reconciled to our greatdestiny, Mr. Carroll. No fight ever was won by man or nation contentwith half a victory. We have forests to build an hundred armadas, and Iwill command a fleet and it is given me."
The gentlemen listened in astonishment.
"I' faith, I believe you, sir," cried Captain Daniel, with admiration.
The others, too, were somehow fallen under the spell of this remarkableindividuality. "What plan would you pursue, sir?" asked Mr. Chase,betraying more interest than he cared to show.
"What plan, sir!" said Captain John Paul, those wonderful eyes of hisalight. "In the first place, we Americans build the fastest ships in theworld,--yours of the Chesapeake are as fleet as any. Here, if I am notmistaken, one hundred and eighty-two were built in the year '71.They are idle now. To them I would issue letters of marque, to harryEngland's trade. From Carolina to Maine we have the wood and iron tobuild cruisers, in harbours that may not easily be got at. And skilledmasters and seamen to elude the enemy."
"But a navy must be organized, sir. It must be an unit," objectedMr. Carroll. "And you would not for many years have force enough, ordiscipline enough, to meet England's navy."
"I would never meet it, sir," he replied instantly. "That would be theheight of folly. I would divide our forces into small, swift-sailingsquadrons, of strength sufficient to repel his cruisers. And I wouldcarry the war straight into his unprotected ports of trade. I can namea score of such defenceless places, and I know every shoal of theirharbours. For example, Whitehaven might be entered. That is a town offifty thousand inhabitants. The fleet of merchantmen might with thegreatest ease be destroyed, a contribution levied, and Ireland's coalcut off for a winter. The whole of the shipping might be swept out ofthe Clyde. Newcastle is another likely place, and in almost any of theIrish ports valuable vessels may be found. The Baltic and West Indianfleets are to be intercepted. I have reflected upon these matters foryears, gentlemen. They are perfectly feasible. And I'll warrant youcannot conceive the havoc and consternation their fulfilment wouldspread in England."
If the divine power of genius ever made itself felt, 'twas on that Mayevening, at candle-light, in the Annapolis Coffee House. With my owneyes I witnessed two able and cautious statesmen of a cautious provincethrilled to the pitch of enthusiasm by this strange young man of eightand twenty. As for good Captain Daniel, enthusiasm is but a poor word toexpress his feelings. A map was sent for and spread out upon thetable. And it was a late hour when Mr. Chase and Mr. Carroll wenthome, profoundly impressed. Mr. Chase charged John Paul look him up inCongress.
The next morning I bade Captain Daniel a solemn good-by, and rode awaywith John Paul to Baltimore. Thence we took stage to New Castle onthe Delaware, and were eventually landed by Mr. Tatlow's stage-boat atCrooked Billet wharf, Philadelphia.
A BRIEF SUMMARY, WHICH BRINGS THIS BIOGRAPHY TO THE FAMOUS FIGHT OF THE BON HOMME RICHARD AND THE SERAPIS
BY DANIEL CLAPSADDLE CARVEL
Mr. Richard Carvel refers here to the narrative of his experiences inthe War of the Revolution, which he had written in the year 1805 or1806. The insertion of that account would swell this book, alreadytoo long, out of all proportion. Hence I take it upon myself, withapologies, to compress it.
Not until October of that year, 1775, was the infant navy born. Mr.Carvel was occupied in the interval in the acquirement of practicalseamanship and the theory of maritime warfare under the most competentof instructors, John Paul Jones. An interesting side light is thrownupon the character of that hero by the fact that, with all his supremeconfidence in his ability, he applied to Congress only for a firstlieutenancy. This was in deference to the older men before that body. "Ihoped," said he, "in that rank to gain much useful knowledge from thoseof more experience than myself." His lack of assertion for once cost himdear. He sailed on the New Providence expedition under Commodore Hopkinsas first lieutenant of the Alfred, thirty; and he soon discovered that,instead of gaining information, he was obliged to inform others. Hetrained the men so thoroughly in the use of the great guns "that theywent through the motions of broadsides and rounds exactly as soldiersgenerally perform the manual exercise."
Captain Jones was not long in fixing the attention and earning thegratitude of the nation, and of its Commander-in-Chief, GeneralWashington. While in command of the Providence, twelve four-pounders,his successful elusions of the 'Cerberus', which hounded him, andhis escape from the 'Solebay', are too famous to be dwelt upon here.Obtaining the Alfred, he captured and brought into Boston ten thousandsuits of uniform for Washington's shivering army. Then, by the bunglingof Congress, thirteen officers were promoted over his head. Thebitterness this act engendered in the soul of one whose thirst fordistinction was as great as Captain Jones's may be imagined. To hiseverlasting credit be it recorded that he remained true to the countryto which he had dedicated his life and his talents. And it was not until1781 that he got the justice due him.
That the rough and bluff captains of the American service should haveregarded a man of Paul Jones's type with suspicion is not surprising.They resented his polish and accomplishments, and could not understandhis language. Perhaps it was for this reason, as well as a reward forhis brilliant services, that he was always given a separate command. Inthe summer of 1777 he was singled out for the highest gift in the powerof the United States, nothing less than that of the magnificent frigate'Indien', then building at Amsterdam. And he was ordered to France incommand of the 'Ranger', a new ship then fitting at Portsmouth. CaptainJones w
as the admiration of all the young officers in the navy, and wasimmediately flooded with requests to sail with him. One of his firstacts, after receiving his command, was to apply to the Marine Committeefor Mr. Carvel. The favour was granted.
My grandfather had earned much commendation from his superiors. He hadsailed two cruises as master's mate of the Cabot, and was then servingas master of the Trumbull, Captain Saltonstall. This was shortly afterthat frigate had captured the two British transports off New York.
Captain Jones has been at pains to mention in his letters the servicesrendered him by Mr. Carvel in fitting out the Ranger. And my grandfathergives a striking picture of the captain. At that time the privateers,with the larger inducements of profit they offered, were getting all thebest seamen. John Paul had but to take two turns with a man across thedock, and he would sign papers.
Captain Jones was the first to raise the new flag of the stars andstripes over a man-o'-war. They got away on November 14, 1777, with afair crew and a poor lot of officers. Mr. Carvel had many a brush withthe mutinous first lieutenant Simpson. Family influence deterred thecaptain from placing this man under arrest, and even Dr. Franklin foundtrouble, some years after, in bringing about his dismissal fromthe service. To add to the troubles, the Ranger proved crank andslow-sailing; and she had only one barrel of rum aboard, which made themen discontented.
Bringing the official news of Burgoyne's surrender, which was to causeKing Louis to acknowledge the independence of the United States, theRanger arrived at Nantes, December 2. Mr. Carvel accompanied CaptainJones to Paris, where a serious blow awaited him. The AmericanCommissioners informed him that the Indien had been transferred toFrance to prevent her confiscation. That winter John Paul spentstriving in vain for a better ship, and imbibing tactics from the Frenchadmirals. Incidentally, he obtained a salute for the American flag.The cruise of the Ranger in English waters the following spring was astriking fulfilment, with an absurdly poor and inadequate force, of theplan set forth by John Paul Jones in the Annapolis Coffee House. Hisdescent upon Whitehaven spread terror and consternation broadcastthrough England, and he was branded as a pirate and a traitor. Mr.Carvel was fortunately not of the landing party on St. Mary's Isle,which place he had last beheld in John Paul's company, on the brigantineJohn, when entering Kirkcudbright. The object of that expedition, as iswell known, was to obtain the person of the Earl of Selkirk, in order tobring about the rescue of the unfortunate Americans suffering in Britishprisons. After the celebrated capture of the sloop-of-war Drake, PaulJones returned to France a hero.
If Captain Jones was ambitious of personal glory, he may never, atleast, be accused of mercenary motives. The ragged crew of the Rangerwas paid in part out of his own pocket, and for a whole month hesupported the Drake's officers and men, no provision having been madefor prisoners. He was at large expense in fitting out the Ranger, and hebought back at twice what it was worth the plate taken from St. Mary'sIsle, getting but a tardy recognition from the Earl of Selkirk for sucha noble and unheard-of action. And, I take pride in writing it, Mr.Carvel spent much of what he had earned at Gordon's Pride in a likehonourable manner.
Mr. Carvel's description of the hero's reception at Versailles isgraphic and very humorous. For all his republican principles John Paulnever got over his love of courts, and no man was ever a more thoroughcourtier. He exchanged compliments with Queen Marie Antoinette, who wasthen in the bloom of her beauty, and declared that she was a "good girl,and deserved to be happy."
The unruly Simpson sailed for America in the Ranger in July, CaptainJones being retained in France "for a particular enterprise." Andthrough the kindness of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Carvel remained with him. Thenfollowed another period of heartrending disappointment. The fine shipthe French government promised him was not forthcoming, though CaptainJones wrote a volume of beautiful letters to every one of importance,from her Royal Highness the Duchess of Chartres to his Most ChristianMajesty, Louis, King of France and Navarre. At length, when he wassitting one day in unusual dejection and railing at the vanity of courtsand kings, Mr. Carvel approached him with a book in his hand.
"What have you there, Richard?" the captain demanded.
"Dr. Franklin's Maxims," replied my grandfather. They were greatfavourites with him. The captain took the book and began mechanically toturn over the pages. Suddenly he closed it with a bang, jumped up, andput on his coat and hat. Mr. Carvel looked on in astonishment.
"Where are you going, sir?" says he.
"To Paris, sir," says the captain. "Dr. Franklin has taught me morewisdom in a second than I had in all my life before. 'If you wish tohave any business faithfully and expeditiously performed, go and do ityourself; otherwise, send.'"
As a result of that trip he got the Duras, which he renamed the 'Bonhomme Richard' in honour of Dr. Franklin. The Duras was an ancientIndiaman with a high poop, which made my grandfather exclaim, when hesaw her, at the remarkable fulfilment of old Stanwix's prophecy. She wasperfectly rotten, and in the constructor's opinion not worth refitting.Her lowest deck (too low for the purpose) was pierced aft with threeports on a side, and six worn-out eighteen-pounders mounted there. Someof them burst in the action, killing their people. The main battery,on the deck above, was composed of twenty-eight twelve-pounders. On theuncovered deck eight nine-pounders were mounted. Captain Jones againshowed his desire to serve the cause by taking such a ship, and notwaiting for something better.
In the meantime the American frigate 'Alliance' had brought Lafayette toFrance, and was added to the little squadron that was to sail with the'Bon homme Richard'. One of the most fatal mistakes Congress ever madewas to put Captain Pierre Landais in command of her, out of complimentto the French allies. He was a man whose temper and vagaries hadfailed to get him a command in his own navy. His insulting conduct andtreachery to Captain Jones are strongly attested to in Mr. Carvel'smanuscript: they were amply proved by the written statements of otherofficers.
The squadron sailed from L'Orient in June, but owing to a collisionbetween the Bon homme Richard and the Alliance it was forced to put backinto the Groix roads for repairs. Nails and rivets were with difficultygot to hold in the sides of the old Indianian. On August 14th John PaulJones again set sail for English waters, with the following vessels:Alliance, thirty-six; Pallas, thirty; Cerf, eighteen; Vengeance, twelve;and two French privateers. Owing to the humiliating conditions imposedupon him by the French Minister of Marine, Commodore Jones did not haveabsolute command. In a gale on the 26th the two privateers and the Cerfparted company, never to return. After the most outrageous conduct offthe coast of Ireland, Landais, in the 'Alliance', left the squadronon September 6th, and did not reappear until the 23d, the day of thebattle.
Mr. Carvel was the third lieutenant of the 'Bon homme Richard', tho'he served as second in the action. Her first lieutenant (afterwards thecelebrated Commodore Richard Dale) was a magnificent man, one worthy inevery respect of the captain he served. When the hour of battle arrived,these two and the sailing master, and a number of raw midshipmen, werethe only line-officers left, and two French officers of marines.
The rest had been lost in various ways. And the crew of the 'Bon hommeRichard' was as sorry a lot as ever trod a deck. Less than threescore of the seamen were American born; near four score were British,inclusive of sixteen Irish; one hundred and thirty-seven were Frenchsoldiers, who acted as marines; and the rest of the three hundred oddsouls to fight her were from all over the earth,--Malays and Malteseand Portuguese. In the hold were more than one hundred and fifty Englishprisoners.
This was a vessel and a force, truly, with which to conquer a fifty-gunship of the latest type, and with a picked crew.
Mr. Carvel's chapter opens with Landais's sudden reappearance on themorning of the day the battle was fought. He shows the resentment andanger against the Frenchman felt by all on board, from cabin-boyto commodore. But none went so far as to accuse the captain of the'Alliance' of such supreme treachery as he was to show during theaction. Cowardice ma
y have been in part responsible for his holdingaloof from the two duels in which the Richard and the Pallas engaged.But the fact that he poured broadsides into the Richard, and intoher off side, makes it seem probable that his motive was to sink thecommodore's ship, and so get the credit of saving the day, to thedetriment of the hero who won it despite all disasters. To account forthe cry that was raised when first she attacked the Richard, it must beborne in mind that the crew of the 'Alliance' was largely composed ofEnglishmen. It was thought that these had mutinied and taken her.