ber of their body. Governor Clayton (who was himself an eminent physician) seeing that he was fixed in his determination, conferred upon him the clerkship of the supreme court of the state of Delaware, for the county of Kent.

In this office he continued for some time, but the sedentary nature of its duties was uncongenial with his health and habits; he longed to mingle in more active scenes, and possessed that ardent spirit of enterprise that can never rest contented with the tranquil ease of common life. With a certain bravery of resolution, therefore, or rather a noble unconcern, he turned his back upon the comforts and emoluments of office; and resolved upon a measure, as indicative of the force of his character, as it was decisive of his future fortunes. This was to enter as a midshipman into the service of his country, in the year 1799, when menaced with a war with France.

He was at this time almost twenty-nine years of age, highly respected for the solidity of his understanding and his varied acquirements; it may readily be imagined, therefore, how greatly his friends were dissatisfied at seeing him in a manner taking a retrograde step in life, entering upon that tedious probation which the naval service peculiarly requires, and accepting a grade which is generally allotted to boys and striplings. It was in vain, however, to remonstrate against a resolution, which, once formed, never vibrated. Jones had determined on embracing the profession; he had weighed all the peculiar inconveniences and sacrifices incident to his determination, and had made up his mind to encounter and surmount them all. His friends could only console themselves with the reflection, that, if courage, activity and hardihood could ensure naval success, Jones was peculiarly fitted for the life he had adopted; and it is probable they felt some degree of admiration for that decision of character, which, in the pursuit of what he conceived a laudable object, could enable him to make such large sacrifices of personal pride and convenience.

The first cruises which he made in his new capacity were under the father of our infant navy, the late Commodore Barry, from whom he derived great instruction in the theory and practice of his profession, and experienced the utmost kindness and civility. He was a midshipman on board the frigate United States, when

she bore to France Chief Justice Ellsworth and General Davie, as envoys extraordinary to the French Republic. He was next on board of the Ganges, as midshipman, and during the whole intervening period between his appointment and the war with Tripoli, he was sedulously employed in obtaining that nautical skill for which he at present is celebrated.

On the breaking out of the war with Tripoli, he was stationed on board of the frigate Philadelphia, under the command of the gallant Bainbridge. The disaster which befel that ship and her crew before Tripoli, forms a solemn page in our naval history; atoned for, however, by the brilliant achievements to which it gave rise. Twenty months of severe captivity among a barbarous people, and in a noxious climate, neither broke the spirit nor impaired the constitution of our hero. Blest by nature with vigorous health and an invincible resolution, when relieved from bondage by the bravery of his countrymen, he returned home full of life and ardour. He was soon after promoted to a lieutenancy. This grade he had merited before his confinement in Tripoli, but older warrant officers had stood in the way of his preferment.

He was now for some time employed on the Orleans station, where he conducted himself with his usual judgment and propriety, and was a favourite in the polite circles of the Orleans and Mississippi Territories. He was shortly after appointed to the command of the brig Argus, stationed for the protection of our commerce on the southern maritime frontier. In this situation he acted with vigilance and fidelity, and though there were at one time insidious suggestions to the contrary, it has appeared that he conformed to his instructions, promoted the public interest, and gave entire satisfaction to the government.

In 1811, Capt. Jones was transferred by the secretary of the navy to the command of the sloop of war the Wasp, mounting eighteen twenty-four pound carronades, and was despatched, in the spring of 1812, with communications from our government to its functionaries at the courts of St. Cloud and St. James. Before he returned from this voyage, war had been declared by the United States against Great Britain. Capt. Jones refitted his ship with all pos sible despatch, and repaired to sea on a cruise, in which he met with no other luck than the capture of an inconsiderable prize. VOL. II. New Series.

10

He again put to sea on the 13th of October last, and on the 18th of the month, after a long and heavy gale, he fell in with a number of strongly armed merchantmen under convoy of his Britannic Majesty's sloop of war the Frolic, Capt. Whinyates.

As this engagement has been one of the most decidedly honourable to the American flag, from the superior force of the enemy; and as the British writers, in endeavouring to account for our successes, and to undervalue our victories, have studiously passed this battle over in silence, and seemed anxious to elbow it into oblivion, we shall take this occasion to republish a full and particular account of it, which has already appeared in the Port Folio, and which we have reason to believe is scrupulously correct.

"There was a heavy swell in the sea, and the weather was boisterous. The topgallant yards of the Wasp were taken down, her topsails were close reefed, and she was prepared for action. About 11 o'clock the Frolic showed Spanish colours, and the Wasp, Immediately, displayed the American ensign and pendant. At thirty-two minutes past eleven, the Wasp came down to windward on her larboard side, within about sixty yards, and hailed, The enemy haled down the Spanish colours, hoisted the British ensign, and opened a fire of cannon and musketry. This the Wasp instantly returned; and coming nearer to the enemy, the action became close, and without intermission. In four or five minutes the maintopmast of the Wasp was shot away, and, falling down with the maintopsail yard across the larboard fore and foretopsail braces, rendered her head yards unmanageable during the rest of the action. In two or three minutes more her gaft and mizen-topgallantsail were shot away. Still she continued a close and constant fire. The sea was so rough that the muzzles of the Wasp's guns were frequently in the water. The Americans, therefore, fired as the ship's side was going down, so that their shot went either on the enemy's deck or below it, while the English fired as the vessel rose, and thus her balls chiefly touched the rigging or were thrown away. The Wasp now shot ahead of the Frolic, raked her, and then resumed her position on her larboard bow. Her fire was now obviously attended with such success, and that of the Frolic so slackened, that Capt. Jones did not wish to board her, lest the roughness of the sea might endanger

both vessels; but in the course of a few minutes more every. brace of the Wasp was shot away, and her rigging so much torn to pieces, that he was afraid that his masts, being unsupported, would go by the board, and the Frolic be able to escape. He thought, therefore, the best chance of securing her was to board, and decide the contest at once. With this view he wore ship, and running down upon the enemy, the vessels struck each other, the Wasp's side rubbing along the Frolic's bow so that her jib-boom came in between the main and mizen rigging of the Wasp, directly over the heads of Capt. Jones and the first lieutenant, Mr. Biddle, who were at that moment standing together near the capstan. The Frolic lay so fair for raking, that they decided not to board. until they had given a closing broadside. Whilst they were loading for this, so near were the two vessels, that the rammers of the Wasp were pushed against the Frolic's sides, and two of her guns went through the bow ports of the Frolic, and swept the whole length of her deck. At this moment, Jack Lang,* a seaman of the Wasp, a gallant fellow who had been once impressed by a British man of war, jumped on a gun with his cutlass, and was springing on board the Frolic: Capt. Jones, wishing to fire again before boarding, called him down, but his impetuosity could not be restrained, and he was already on the bowsprit of the Frolic; when, seeing the ardour and enthusiasm of the Wasp's crew, Lieutenant Biddle mounted on the hammock cloth to board. At this signal the crew followed, but Lieutenant Biddle's feet got entangled in the rigging of the enemy's bowsprit, and Midshipman Baker, in his ardour to get on board, laying hold of his coat, he fell back on the Wasp's deck. He sprang up, and as the next swell of the sea brought the Frolic nearer, he got on her bowsprit, where Lang and another seaman were already. He passed them on the forecastle and was surprised at seeing not a single man alive on the Frolic's deck, except the seaman at the wheel, and three officers. The deck was slippery with blood, and strewed with the bodies of the dead. As he went forward, the captain of the Frolic,

John Lang is a native of New-Brunswick, in New-Jersey. We mention, with great pleasure, the name of this brave American seaman, as a proof that conspicuous valour is confined to no rank in the naval service.

with two other officers, who were standing on the quarter deck, threw down their swords, and made an inclination of their bodies, denoting that they had surrendered. At this moment the colours were still flying, as, probably, none of the seamen of the Frolic would dare to go into the rigging for fear of the musketry of the Wasp. Lieutenant Biddle, therefore, jumped into the rigging himself and haled down the British ensign, and possession was taken of the Frolic in forty-three minutes after the first fire. She was in a shocking condition; the birth-deck, particularly, was crowded with dead, and wounded, and dying; there being but a small proportion of the Frolic's crew who had escaped. Captain Jones instantly sent on board his surgeon's mate, and all the blankets of the Frolic were brought from her slop-room for the comfort of the wounded. To increase this confusion, both the Frolic's masts soon fell, covering the dead and every thing on deck, and she lay a complete wreck.

It now appeared that the Frolic mounted sixteen thirty-two pound carronades, four twelve-pounders on the main-deck, and two twelve-pound carronades. She was, therefore, superior to the Wasp, by exactly four twelve-pounders. The number of men on board, as stated by the officers of the Frolic, was one hundred and ten-the number of seamen on board the Wasp was one hundred and two; but it could not be ascertained, whether in this one hundred and ten, were included the marines and officers; for the Wasp had besides her one hundred and two men, officers and marines, making the whole crew about one hundred and thirty-five. What is, however, decisive, as to their comparative force is, that the officers of the Frolic acknowledged that they had as many men as they knew what to do with, and in fact the Wasp could have spared fifteen men. There was, therefore, on the most favourable view, at least an equality of men, and an inequality of four guns. The disparity of loss was much greater. The exact number of killed and wounded on board the Frolic could not be precisely determined; but from the observations of our officers, and the declarations of those of the Frolic, the number could not be less than about thirty killed, including two officers, and of the wounded between forty and fifty; the captain and