LETTER FROM CAPTAIN JONES. 377 
time in erecting a battery within musket shot* 
without my permission* and even without having 
consulted me on the subject; which is not only 
taking up arms against his own country (Den¬ 
mark)* but a disrespect to my pendant. I feel 
myself called upon* therefore* to notice his con¬ 
duct* which no attachment or zeal that gentleman 
may have for Great Britain can countenance ; 
neither would it* I am sure* meet the approbation 
of government. I now most earnestly recommend* 
either that you do not leave the whole power in the 
island in the hands of that gentleman alone* until 
his Majesty’s pleasure is known (however qualified 
or respectable his character may be)* or* that you 
immediately restore the former mode of govern¬ 
ment* giving the supreme command to some of 
the most respectable of the inhabitants of the 
island. It was indispensably necessary* and was 
your duty* long since to have sent an account of 
your proceedings to government* which I now 
recommend you not to delay. I also recommend 
your destroying the battery now erecting, taking 
the guns off the island* and desisting from train¬ 
ing the inhabitants to arms* which can only tend 
at present to their disadvantage, they being still 
the subjects of our enemies* therefore not liable to 
be attacked by those* and may hereafter enable 
them to turn against Great Britain. Nor can I 
conceive from the statement you have made of 
their attachment to you* that such measures are 
