The empress paid no attention whatever to this petulance. Admiral Jones treated it with profound contempt. In writing to Lafayette, in reference to his treatment by the Russian court, he says: “This was a cruel grief to the English, and I own that their vexation, which was generally in and about St. Petersburg, gave me no pain.” The empress with her own hands wrote to the admiral. In her letter she probably refers, though slightly, to this unmanly opposition of the English. We give her letter. “SIR—A courier from Paris has just brought from my envoy in France, M. Simolin, the enclosed letter to Count Besborodko.[F] As I believe that this letter may help to confirm to you what I have already told you verbally, I have sent it, and beg you to return it, as I have not even made a copy be taken, so anxious am I that you should see it. I hope that it will efface all doubts from your mind, and prove to you that you are to be connected only with those who are most favorably disposed toward you. I have no doubt but that on your side you will fully justify the opinion which we have formed of you, and apply yourself with zeal to support the reputation and the name you have acquired for valor and skill on the element in which you are to serve. “Adieu. I wish you happiness and health. “CATHERINE.” ----- Footnote F: Russian Minister for the Home Department. ----- CHAPTER XIV. _The Russian Campaign._ Admiral Jones repairs to the Black Sea.—Designs of Catherine II.—Imposing Cavalcade.—Turkey Declares War against Russia.—Daring Conduct of Admiral Jones.—A Greek Officer Alexiano.—The Prince of Nassau Siegen.—Annoyances of Admiral Jones from Russian Officers.—Battle in the Black Sea.—Jones yields the Honor to the Prince of Nassau. At the same time when Chevalier Jones received his flattering letter from the empress, her prime minister sent to him a despatch, requesting him to repair to the naval headquarters on the Black Sea, that he might take part in the opening of the campaign. The minister also assured him, in the name of the empress, that everything possible should be done to make his situation agreeable, and to furnish him with opportunities for the exercise of his valor and skill. It is not surprising that the admiral, receiving such marks of attention from her imperial highness, should have formed a high estimate of the excellence of her character. He wrote to Count Segur at this time, saying: “I shall write to the empress, who hath sent me a letter full of goodness. But I shall never be able to express how much greater I find her than fame reports. With the character of a very great man, she will be always adored as the most amiable and captivating of the fair sex.”