aid
without interest after the war, will be of use to you, they are at
your service. Only do not say that you had it from _us_."

This was indeed, under the doubtful circumstances, a very generous
offer. It was at this dark hour that the noble Lafayette decided to
consecrate his fortune, and to peril his life, for the cause of
American freedom. It was proclaimed that Burgoyne's expedition was
fitted out to rouse the slaves to insurrection, and to lay the
mansions of the planters in ashes. Arthur Lee was very much alarmed.
These splendid estates were generally situated in romantic spots, upon
the banks of the navigable rivers, where the dwellings, often quite
magnificent, could easily be demolished by shot and shell thrown from
any frigate.

The Reprisal, Captain Wickes, was the first American vessel of war
which ventured into European waters. The channel swarmed with British
vessels. The Reprisal took prize after prize, and conveyed them into
Nantes. As France was not at war with England, Count de Vergennes was
compelled to order the Reprisal, with her prizes, to leave the harbor.
Captain Wickes took some of the Nantes merchants on board his vessel,
and, just outside the port, sold the prizes to them. The French
merchants then returned, with their property, into the harbor.

Captain Wickes soon united with him the Lexington of fourteen guns,
and a cutter, the Dolphin, of ten guns. With this little fleet the
hero sailed completely around Ireland, capturing or destroying sixteen
prizes. The British were astounded at this audacity. Merchants and
under-writers were quite terror-stricken. They had never dreamed that
the despised Americans could strike _them_ any blows. And when, soon
after, Paul Jones, one of the noblest of all naval heroes, appeared in
their waters, it is not too much to say that _consternation_ pervaded
the coasts of both England and Ireland.[31]

[Footnote 31: The wonderful achievements of this patriot are fully
recorded in one of the volumes of this series.]

It requires many and aggravated wrongs to rouse a naturally amiable
man to the highest pitch of indignation. But when thus roused, he is
ready for any vigor of action. Franklin's blood was up. England was
bribing slaves to murder their masters; was rousing the savages to
massacre the families of poor, hard-working frontiersmen; was wantonly
bombarding defenceless seaports, and with inhumanity, rarely known in
civilized warfare, was laying vill