“I have received, my dear commodore, the letter you have addressed to me. I perceive, with pain, that you do not view your situation in the right light. I can assure you that the ministers of the king have no intention to cause you the least disagreeable feelings, as the honorable testimonials of the esteem of his majesty, which I send you, ought to convince you.” Every eminent man must have rivals and enemies. There were scores of French officers hungering for high command. They envied the renown of Jones. They complained that they were neglected, while a _foreigner_ was intrusted with the command of French ships. Many of these complainants were nobles of great wealth as well as illustrious rank. The French ministry thus had great embarrassments to encounter. They appreciated highly the services of Commodore Jones. They were very desirous of immediately giving him new employment. And yet they felt under the necessity of leaving him, for a time, in idleness, greatly to his chagrin. The impatience he manifested under these circumstances reflect honor upon his patriotic enthusiasm. He wrote to the Duke of Vauguyon, on the 25th of December, 1779, as follows: “You do me great honor as well as justice, my lord, by observing that no satisfaction can be more precious to me than that of giving new proofs of my zeal for the common cause of France and America. And the interest you take to facilitate the means of my giving such proofs, by essential services, claims my best thanks. I hope I shall not, through any imprudence of mine, render ineffectual any noble design that may be in contemplation for the general good. Whenever that object is mentioned, my private concerns are out of the question. “With a deep sense of your generous sentiments of personal regard toward me, and with the most sincere wishes to meet that regard by my conduct through life, I am,” etc. The Dutch Government, goaded by the menaces of England, though it dared not command the _French_ ships to leave its ports, insisted that the _American_ commodore, whose government Holland had not yet recognized, should immediately, with the American frigate the Alliance, leave the Texel. But there, were twelve British men-of-war, at the mouth of the harbor, watching for him. Eight were at the northern entrance of the port, and four at the southern. Commodore Jones, for I shall henceforth give him the designation to which I consider him justly entitled, kept the banner of the Stars and Stripes proudly floating from the mast-head of the Alliance. He also unflinchingly declared that he never bore any commission but that which he received from the Congress of the United States of America. It was said that there were, in all, forty British men-of-war cruising in the German Ocean, so as to render the escape of Paul Jones impossible. The Dutch admiral, on the 12th, informed him they must insist upon his sailing with the first fair wind.