“Insulted freedom bled: I felt her cause, And drew my sword to vindicate her laws From principle, and not from vain applause I’ve done my best; self-interest apart And self-reproach a stranger to my heart, My zeal still prompts, ambitious to pursue The foe, ye fair, of liberty and you; Grateful for praise, spontaneous and unbought, A generous people’s love not meanly sought; To merit this, and bend the knee to beauty Shall be my earliest and my latest duty.” In a subsequent letter the same lady wrote, “Since my last, Paul Jones drank tea and supped here. If I am in love with him, for love I may die. I have as many rivals as there are ladies. The most formidable is Lady Lavendahl, who possesses all his heart. This lady is of high rank and virtue, very sensible, good-natured and affable. Besides this, she is possessed of youth, beauty, wit, and every other female accomplishment.” Commodore Jones had but just left L’Orient, on the all-important mission to Versailles, when Landais went to that port to get his trunks and to take passage in the Luzerne for America. Finding the commodore absent, and the crew almost in a state of mutiny, he resolved to make an attempt to recover the command of the Alliance. He represented that Jones, leaving the crew in their destitution, had gone to Paris to enjoy the feasting and adulation which were lavished upon him there. He insinuated that they had been robbed of their prize money, and that Jones and his confederates had appropriated it to their own luxurious indulgence. He also represented that Jones was regarded by the European courts, and would be regarded by Congress, simply as a privateersman, sailing on his own account, and that consequently his seamen, when they arrived in America, would be deserted by him, and that they could expect no wages from Congress. This was very artful malice. It shows that Landais possessed very considerable powers of wicked intrigue. He even succeeded in winning over to his side Commissioner Lee, who was to return in the Alliance, and who was not on very good terms with the other members of the Congressional delegation. Captain Landais obtained from Commissioner Lee an opinion containing the following statement, under date of May, 13th: