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should he be elected, will be chiefly felt in the domestic administration of the government: that of Mr. Calhoun, on the contrary, would be most operative upon the foreign relations of the American people.

Mr. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, the present Secretary of State (premier,) son of the former President Adams, and the third candidate, is one of the ablest statesmen, and most profound scholars of the age. The chief objections to him are, that he is the son of a distinguished federalist, that he is an apostate from the federal party,-that his father was a President before him, which, in a country so very republican as that of the United States, in its horror of any thing hereditary, is, or ought to be, an insurmountable objection to the son, although three other Presidents, and a whole generation, have already intervened between the reign of the father, and the pretension of the son; and that he is the present Secretary of State, occupying an office

from which the President has been taken so frequently, that it is come to be considered as a certain steppingstone, and the very next one to the Presidential chair. These are formidable objections to a jealous people, whose theory of government is about the finest that the world ever saw; and it is quite possible that they will outweigh all other circumstances practical virtue and great talent-in the day of trial.

Mr. Adams has represented his country at several European courts; and it is known that his influence has been felt and acknowledged in the most unequivocal manner by that of Russia. He is a fine belles-lettres scholar; was a lecturer on judicial and popular eloquence in Harvard university, (New England;) and has published a very valuable work, on the subject of Rhetoric and Elocution. The most unlucky and most unworthy thing that he has ever done, to my knowledge, is one that he can never be justified for having done. He consented, some years ago, to deliver the fourth of July oration at the Capitol in Washington; and in delivering it, forgot that he was no longer John Quincy Adams, an

American citizen, justly exasperated at the indignity with which the genius, and literature, and hospitality of his countrymen had been treated here, and fully justified in expressing his indignation--he forgot that he was no longer. a private citizen, in whom such a thing would be justifiable and did not recollect that he was the Secretary of State for the United States-the chief organ of the government, in whose language on such an occasion, all philippic, reproach, and recrimination, would be undignified and mischievous; a perpetual precedent for other and humbler men. I could applaud the spirit of the man-but cannot help pitying that of the politician and statesman, while so employed. As the oration of Mr. John Quincy Adams, the polite scholar and accomplished gentleman, it was pleasant to read; but as the work of a statesman,-the deliberate manifestation of sentiment, by the Secretary of State for the United States, it was undignified and indiscreet.

In a time of peace, Mr. Adams would be better calculated to advance the reputation of his country abroad, than any other of the five candidates. Literature, and literary men, would be more respectable under his administration than they ever have been; and the political negotiation of the country would continue to be, what it has been, during his occupation of the office which he now holds in the cabinet, profound, clear, and comprehensive.

Let any one imagine the effect of his presence and manner upon some foreign ambassador, (no matter from what country of Europe he may come,) who should see him for the first time as I have often seen him-The gentleman from abroad, familiar with the pomp and circumstance of royalty at home, and through all the courts of Europe, it may be, and full of strange misapprehension of republican simplicity-imagining it to be what it generally is, either rude and affected,worn for the gratification of the mobor the natural manner of uneducated people, who are not so much superior to, as they are ignorant of, courtly parade, yet prone to imitation nevertheless, has prepared-we will suppose,

for an introduction to the President of the United States :—a single attendant announces him. He is ushered into the presence-chamber, without any ceremony, into a very plain room, furnished not so handsomely as it is common to see that of a respectable tradesman in England.

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He sees a little man writing at a table-nearly bald, with a face quite formal and destitute of expression ; his eyes running with water; his slippers down at heel-fingers stained with ink; in warm weather wearing a striped seersucker coat, and white trowsers, and dirty waistcoat, spotted with ink; his whole dress, altogether, not worth a couple of pounds; or, in a colder season, habited in a plain blue coat, much the worse for wear, and other garments in tion; not so respectable as they may find in the old-clothes bag of almost any Jew in the street. This man, whom the Ambassador mistakes for a clerk of the department, and only wonders, in looking at him, that the President should permit a man to appear before him in such dress, proves to be the President of the United States himself. The stranger is perplexed and confounded; he hardly knows how to behave toward such a personage. But others arrive, one after the other-natives of different countries, speaking different languages. Conversation begins. The little man awakes. His countenance is gradually illuminated--his voice changes. His eyes are lighted up with an expression of intense sagacity, earnestness, and pleasantry. Every subject is handled in succession-and every one in the language of the stranger with whom he happens to be conversing, if that stranger should betray any want of familiarity with the English language.-What are the opinions of this Ambassador here? what does he know of the address and appearance of Mr. Adams? Nothing. He has forgotten the first impressions; and when be has returned to his house, it would be difficult to persuade him that the President of the United States is either dirty in his dress, little, or poorly clad.

GENERAL JACKSON is the next candidate. He is a man of a very resolute and despotic temper: so determined and persevering, that, having once undertaken a measure, he will carry it through, right or wrong; so absolute, that he will endure neither opposition nor remonstrance. He has a powerful party in his favour; but his enemies are also very powerful, and ready to go all lengths in preventing his election. He has gone through every stage of political and active service.He has been successively a judge, a general, a governor, and a senator. He is a man of singular energy, decision, and promptitude-a good soldier, and would have been a great captain, had he been educated in the wars of Europe. His countrymen hold him to be the greatest general in the world; but he has never had an opportunity to show his generalship. His warfare with the Indians; and his victory at New Orleans, though carried on with sufficient skill for the occasion, were of a nature rather to develope his talent as a brave man, than as a great general.

His countrymen give a bad reason for desiring to promote him to the Presidency. They admit the great ability of Mr. Adams and Mr. Člay in the cabinet; but then they contend that Gen. Jackson has no rival in the field.

Granted, if they please-but what does that prove? In case of war, General Jackson's services would be wanted in the field, not in the Presidential chair. And in a time of peace, his talents as a general would be useless. It would have been a better reason to give for his election to the war office; and yet it would have been a bad one there. In a time of peace, the manner of General Jackson, who is a very erect, stiff, tall, military man, about six feet high, would be less likely than that of any other of the five candidates, to make a favourable impression upon foreigners. It is dignified to be sure, and conciliatory; but then, it does not appear natural, and is far from being easy or graceful.

If General Jackson should be elected, there would be a thorough revolution in the present system of things. He would, probably, do a great deal of

good-but might do a great deal of harm, in his thorough-going, revolutionary, and absolute spirit. His of ficers would all resemble himself: his influence would assemble all the rash and adventurous material of the nation about him—and honest as he undoubtedly is, lead the country into many a situation of peril. A man who, after having received the fire of his adversary, where the parties were permitted to fire when they pleased, walked deliberately up to him, and shot him through the head (a story that is generally told, and generally believed in America :)-a man who ventured to reform the judgment of a courtmartial, and order two men to execution, because he thought them worthy of death; a man who suspended the Habeas Corpus act, of his own free will, at New Orleans, and, I believe, actually imprisoned, or threatened to imprison, the judge for issuing a writ; a man who imprisoned, or arrested, the governor of Florida-invaded a neighbouring territory, of his own head, with an army at his backand publicly threatened to cut off the ears of sundry senators of the United States, for having ventured to expostulate with the government, on account of his high-handed measures, however he may be fitted for a time of war, is not very well calculated, I should think, to advance the political reputation, or interests of his country, in time of peace.

The last of the candidates, Mr. CLAY, one of the American Commissioners at Ghent, and for many years Speaker of the House of Representatives, a situation of great influence and authority, is better known in Europe, than any of the others, except Mr. Adams. He is a plain-looking man, with a common face; light hair; about five feet ten; talks with great animation, and declaims with surprising fluency and boldness. He exercises a very commanding influence over a a powerful party in his country; and if elected, will contribute greatly to extend the reputation of the government. He is neither so profound, nor so comprehensive, as Mr. Adams in his political views; but he is an able and honest

politician; with friends a thousand times more enthusiastic than are those of Mr.Adams; but they are neither so numerous,so thoughtful,nor so respectable.

His manner is very unpretending, and very awkward: he has a good deal of electioneering expedient-but it is easily seen through. I remember having seen him enter the city of Washington, alone, and unattended by a servant, on horseback, with his portmanteau or valise, stuffed behind the saddle, two or three days before the elec tion of Speaker. He had been reported sick and dying for several successive weeks-and was, finally, said to be actually a dead man. And when he appeared, it was in the manner which I have described, although the issue of his election as Speaker, was generally believed to be, in one alternative, conclusive upon his chance for the Presidency; that is-if he were not elected Speaker, it was believed that he had no chance for the Presidency, although, if he were elected Speaker, his election to the Presidency was not by any means, certain to follow. These reports, and the republican entry, were, probably electioneering tricks: the first (for Mr. Clay had never been sick at all) was got up by his friends to try the pulse of the peogle; and the latter was his own.

I have now described the five Presidents and five candidates; but I forgot to mention, that nine out of the whole ten, were either educated for the bar, or actual practitioners of the law, at some period or other of their lives. In fact, I believe, that all but Washington were originally destined for that profession, although I am not certain about Mr. Munroe, Mr. Calhoun, and Mr. Crawford. The law is seldom or never studied in America, as an accomplishment; and until lately, has never entered into their plan of collegiate education. But, for nearly half a century, it has been the favourite profession of ambitious fathers, and needy young men of talent, as the only highway to political distinction, and as the most respectable and certain means of obtaining a livelihood without capital or mechanical labour. A. B.

I

Original Anecdotes, Literary News, Chit Chat, Incidents, &c.

PAUL JONES.

To the Editor of the London Magazine.

CAN add some little to your information on the subject of Paul Jones. That little is authentic; and moreover I am enabled to give you an original account (from his first, and indeed only lieutenant), of the action with the Serapis, the Gazette account of which appeared in your last number.

In the year 1891, two of the largest frigates in the world lay near each other in the Bay of Gibraltar. It was a question which was the largest. Some gave it that the American President (Commodore Dale) had it in length, and the Portuguese Carlotta (Commodore Duncan) in breadth. Each commander had a wish to survey the vessel of the other, and yet these gentlemen could never be brought together. There was a shyness as to who should pay the first visit. There is no more punctilious observer of etiquette than a naval commander, jealous of the honour of his flag, on a foreign station. A master of ceremonies, or a king at arms, is nothing to him at a match of precedency. The wings of a ship are the college in which he obtains this polite acquirement, and when he comes to run up his pennant we may be sure that a very professor in the courtesies flaunts upon the quarter deck. Dale was a good humoured fellow, a square strong set man, rather inclined to corpulence, jolly and hospitable. His pride in the command and discipline of his squadron, and the dignity of his diplomatic function, as the paramount of his nation in the Mediterranean, for med a very gentle bridle on his easy intercourse and open-heartedness. Now he thought that the Portuguese Commodore should "cale vurst" (Parson Trulliber has it so), as having been earliest at the station. This was mentioned to Duncan (a fine hard bitten little old seaman by the way), and he forthwith laid down his punctilio in a manner that put an end to all hopes of an intimacy, or of a friendly measureent of the two ships.-"Sir," said he, as Commodore Duncan of the Portuguese navy, I would readily call first pon Commodore Dale of the Amer41 ATHENEUM VOL. 1. new series.

ican navy, but as Lieutenant Duncan of the British navy, I cannot call upon a gentleman who served under the pirate Paul Jones."

This awoke my curiosity, and the next time I was in company with Commodore Dale, he, perceiving that my conversation led that way, readily met me in it. He had been with Jones in the Ranger, as well as in the Bon' Homme Richard. What follows is from his recital.

Paul Jones wanted (as the Bowstreet runners say) Lord Selkirk, to try upon him the experiment practising on President Laurens in the Tower; and if Laurens had suffered, Lord Selkirk, or any other great man they could get hold of, would have been put to death." Lord Selkirk was only preferred as being considered by his supposed residence to be the readiest for capture.— Jones was surprised and displeased at the family plate being brought on board, but the returning it would have been too serious a displeasure to his crew. It was sold by public auction at Cadiz, bought in by Jones, and sent back, as we have known.

Commodore Dale thus related the action with the Serapis. The "Bon Homme Richard" was an old East Indiaman, bought and fitted out at a French port, and so christened out of compliment to Franklin, then in Paris, one of whose instructive tales is conveyed under such a title. Having originally no ports in her lower deck, six were broken out (three on a side) and fitted with six French elevenpounder guns. On the upper deck she had twenty-four or twenty-six of smaller calibre. She had a numerous crew, to which were added some recruits of the Irish Brigade commanded by a lieutenant-now a general officer in the British service." Fontenoy was one instance, and this action was another, of the gallantry of these unfortunate gentlemen, whom an invincible hereditary feeling had driven into the service of the French monarch. When the last of their protectors was dethroned, honour brought them gladly over to

In

the standard of their country. this vessel with the Alliance American frigate of 36 guns (a fine regular ship of war), and the Pallas French frigate of 32, Paul Jones started on a marauding expedition, only differing from that of Whitehaven, as being on a larger scale. It was his intention to amerce our north eastern ports in hea vy pecuniary ransoms, or to destroy the shipping and buildings as far as could be affected. He had intelligence, or believed so, of the exact number of troops stationed in these different places. Leith was the first great object. Entering the Firth they seized upon a Scotch fishing boat. The owner was refractory, but they terrified him into the office of Pilot. The wind became adverse; they reached Inchkeith, but could not weather it, and had to stand out again. Making the land next to visit Whitby and Hull, they fell in with a large convoy, which dispersed while the ships of war (Serapis 44, Capt. Pearson, and Percy 20 guns, Capt. Piercy) which protected it, stood right out to engage them. The determination was mutual; there was a deal of hailing from the Serapis to the really strange ship which approached her. They closed, and the Bon Homme, by Jones's order, was made fast to the Serapis. While these were thus closely engaged, the Alliance worked round the two ships, pouring in raking broadsides, which Paul Jones finding equally injurious to his own ship, as intended for the Serapis, put an end to by ordering the Alliance off, and she lay by during the rest of the action, while the Pallas was engaged with the British sloop of war. The cannonade was to the advantage of the Serapis, and gradually silenced the fire of the Bon Hom

me.

The latter wished and expected once to be boarded, the British boarders were about to enter, but returned deterred at the superior number lying waiting for them, and purposely concealed as far as might be under the gangway. Lieutenant Dale, on going below, found two of the three guns on the fighting side silenced, and the crew of the other vying with the crew of a British gun opposite which should fire first. The British were quickest, and

that gun was knocked over also. He returned slightly wounded and much fatigued to the upper deck, and was seated on the windlass, when the explosion which blew up the upper deck of the Serapis all aft from the main hatchway, gave the victory to the Bon Homme. For this success they were indebted to the officers and party of their marines. Seated out on the yard, grenades were handed along, dropped by the officer into the hatchway of the Serapis, and at last caught to some ammunition.

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Paul Jones, crippled and afflicted with the gout, was seated during the affair in a chair on the quarter deck. Dale boarded the Serapis with a few men. As he made his way aft he saw a solitary person leaning on the tafferil in a melancholy posture, his face resting on his hands. It was Capt. Pearson." He said to Dale, "The ship has struck." While hurrying him on, an officer came from below and observed to Capt. Pearson, that the ship alongside was going down. "We have got three guns clear, Sir, and they will soon send her to the devil." The Captain replied, "It's too late, Sir, call the men off, the ship has struck." "I'll go below, Sir, and call them off immediately;" and he was about to descend, when Dale interfering said, "No, Sir, if you please, you'll come on board with me." Dale told me, that if he had let that officer go below, he feared that he would have sunk them, as the Bon Homme was old, settling in the water, and in fact went to the bottom that night.

Paul Jones was, in Commodore Dale's opinion, a very skilful enterprizing officer, but harsh and overbearing in disposition.

He was afterwards, as your correspondent in the last number has related, taken into the service of the Empress of Russia, and was to have had an important command against the Turks. Greig, however, and the other British officers in her service, memorialized against it.

They would neither associate nor serve with him, and, if she had not got rid of him, would have left her fleets.

Wherever Paul Jones was born, I

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