“I am extremely sorry that the young English lady you mention should have imbibed the national hatred against me. I have had proofs that many of the first and finest ladies of that nation are my friends. Indeed I cannot imagine why any fair lady should be my enemy, since, upon the large scale of universal philanthropy I feel, acknowledge, and bend before the sovereign power of beauty. The English nation may hate me, but I will force them to esteem me too.” Jones was exceedingly distressed that his sailors had not received one single dollar of prize money. They blamed him, and he could not make it clear to their impassioned minds that he was not to blame. The prizes, which had been sent into the French ports, had now been sold. But legal technicalities seemed to render it necessary that the money should be paid in America. Even Dr. Franklin could not deny that such was the proper interpretation of the statute. The money was consequently remitted to the French minister, M. Chaumont, to be forwarded to this country. Commodore Jones wrote pleadingly in behalf of the suffering sailors. “By virtue of the authority I had received from the government,” he wrote, “my honor was pledged to see these men justly paid. I have already suffered many reflections on their account. I beseech your excellency to order them immediate payment.” The spirit of Dr. Franklin was in a state of great perturbation in view of these wrongs, which seemed to paralyze all the sinews of action. From a sick bed, upon which it is not improbable that trouble had thrown him, he wrote to the Court, strongly soliciting, under the circumstances, the payment of the money. It was not until the 18th of December that the shattered, heavily laden Ariel was again prepared for sea. In his journal, Jones writes: “On this day I bade adieu to the beloved nation of France; where, though I have met with some difficulties, have many reasons to be satisfied. I am charmed with the courteous behavior that so nobly marked the character of that generous minded people.” As he had important despatches on board, which he was directed to sink rather than allow to fall into the hands of the enemy, and as the cargo he carried was of inestimable value to the colonies, he resolved to seek no prizes, but to cross the ocean as rapidly as possible, by an unfrequented track, taking the southern passage along the edge of the trade winds.