Honorable Arthur Lee was a disappointed and angry man. He had quarrelled with his associates, and was returning to America in very ill humor. The Alliance was crowded with freight of the utmost importance to the struggling colonies. Mr. Lee insisted upon large accommodation for himself and family, for room for his carriage, and for a vast amount of baggage. This would have demanded space which was needed for transportation of the soldiers’ clothing. Commodore Jones, with his soul absorbed in devotion to the public interests, and who scarcely allowed chest-room for himself, objected to the surrender of so much space to the commissioner and his family. This grievously offended Mr. Lee, and added to his discontent. Commodore Jones gives the following account of the difficulty: “I am convinced that Mr. Lee has acted in this manner merely because I would not become the enemy of the venerable, the wise, the good Franklin, whose heart as well as head does, and will always do, honor to human nature. I know the great and good, in this kingdom, better perhaps than any other American who has appeared in Europe since the treaty of alliance. And if my testimony could add anything to Franklin’s reputation, I could witness the universal veneration and esteem with which his name inspires all ranks, not only at Versailles and all over this kingdom, but also in Spain and Holland. And I can add from the testimony of the first characters of other nations that, with them, envy itself is dumb when the name of Franklin is but mentioned.” Upon the day of the mutiny which put Landais in possession of the Alliance, Paul Jones dined with the French admiral. He was keenly sensible of the disgrace to our nation should two commissioned officers, in a foreign port, each perhaps leading two hundred men, have a bloody battle on the deck of one of our war-ships. Such an untoward event would have disgraced our country, and the holy cause in which we were engaged, in the eyes of all Europe. And it would but add to our reproach that, in this deplorable conflict, the commissioners, sent to Paris to win France to our cause, were divided, Mr. Lee being on the one side and Dr. Franklin on the other. The Alliance was in a French port, and consequently under French law. When the commissioners were in antagonistic opinion whether Jones or Landais was the legal commander of the ship, the sailors might well be excused for being also honestly divided in their views. Commodore Jones, a humane man, a lover of peace and justice, could not bear the thought of strewing the deck of the ship with the bloody corpses of these ignorant men. He preferred to submit the question to the arbitration of the laws, rather than to brutal violence.