CONCLUSION
The Alliance put into Corunna, where Conyngham saw again
representatives of the house of Roderigo, Hortalez and Company, and
learned that the money received for the prizes had been forwarded to
the commissioner’s agent at Paris.
Although he had been treated as an officer of the regular service
by John Paul Jones, and had been summoned to attend a court-martial
as such, Conyngham decided to return as soon as possible to his own
country and sailed in the Experiment for Philadelphia. But most
unfortunately his hard luck followed him. When but a few days on the
voyage the vessel was captured by the British Admiral Edwards, and
within three weeks Conyngham was back once more at Mill prison. But
his treatment this time was very different from that which had been
accorded him before; and though his spirit chafed at the delay and the
confinement, still he was not forced to endure such bodily suffering.
In prison, however, he stayed for the rest of the war, and upon his
release returned to the United States.
[Illustration: Facsimile of Conyngham’s petition to Congress, December
26, 1797.]
Almost immediately he sought to have an inquiry made and an accounting
rendered for his prize-money and reimbursement for his services, but
owing to the condition of affairs that existed at that time it was
difficult to get Congress to take any action. There was indeed but
little money in the Treasury, and so he was forced to go upon a voyage
in a merchant vessel, from which he returned to begin institution
of his long suit against Congress for remuneration and redress. And
now the tragedy of his life began. For year after year he prayed and
petitioned Congress to listen to his plea. Before the matter came
actually to trial, good Dr. Franklin was dead. Many witnesses could not
be procured, and some of his earlier acquaintances and friends who had
not behaved in good faith toward him now deserted him completely.
The missing commission would have proved his position, and the search
for it became almost the business of his life. A voyage to Europe and
a personal investigation of all clues failed to show any trace. It had
disappeared as completely as if it had never existed--a fact which some
of his enemies asserted to be the case.
In this chapter we print a facsimile of his petition to Congress,
signed by himself and dated ten years after his first services were
rendered. It shows how much hope he had, and yet there is a note almost
of despair that rings throughout it. The claim was first submitted
to Benjamin Walker by Alexander Hamilton, then at the head of the
Treasury, and Mr. Walker failed to perceive any proof of Captain
Conyngham’s having been a regularly appointed officer in the service,
and for this reason recommended that the claim be not acknowledged.
But yet we find him again in 1793 petitioning Alexander Hamilton for
redress. In fact, to the day of his death he attempted in every way
to have his claim, that he had left to the justice of his country,
adjusted and closed up.
During the _quasi_ war with France, Conyngham commanded an armed brig
named the Maria, and in the War of 1812 he again sought to go to sea,
but his health prevented him taking an active part.
[Illustration]
Conyngham died in Philadelphia, November 27, 1819, in the
seventy-second year of his age, and was buried in St. Peter’s
churchyard, and on his grave is an odd epitaph in the form of an
acrostic built on the name “Gustavus.”
[Illustration: The “lost commission.”]
But now appears the strangest part of the whole story--one of those
remarkable instances that so well prove the old adage of “facts being
stranger than fiction.” It is the tragic epilogue to the play--the
bitter end of the thread that runs through the whole of the relation.
It does not take long to tell, and surely it speaks for itself.
Only a short time ago there appeared in the catalogue of M. Charavay,
an autograph and print-seller in Paris, among hundreds of other
notices, the following:
143 Hancock (John), celebre homme d’Etat américain,
gouverneur du Massachusetts, signataire de la Déclaration
de l’Indépendence,--Pièce signe comme président du congrès;
Baltimore, 1 mars 1777, 1 p. in-fol. obl. Rare.
The connection of names and dates of course would attract the attention
of any collector. It would be seen that most possibly it had something
to do with Franklin’s sojourn in France. It was only the price asked
for John Hancock’s signature--in fact, much less than his signature
usually brought in the autograph market--ten francs. But what was
the joy and surprise of its present possessor, upon opening his new
purchase, to find that it was nothing more nor less than the missing
commission of the Surprise! Where it had been, what has been its
history since it was delivered at Versailles, how it came at last into
the possession of a little print-shop, no one can tell; but that it had
much to do with the foregoing story any one can see. It lies before the
author as he writes, and is reproduced in these pages for the first
time, that the court of public print may decide the question. That bold
Gustavus Conyngham was badly treated by his country and hardly handled
by Fate the reader can perceive. He had helped the cause in the way
it most needed help, but, notwithstanding, unrewarded, the man who
flew the flag in the Channel went broken-hearted to his grave, and now
out of the past, too late, comes the authentic proof of his cause and
asseverations. The world is a small one and strange things happen in
it, can be the only comment.
THE END
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Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
End of Project Gutenberg's With The Flag In The Channel, by James Barnes