Paul Jones' Career

Miss Molly Elliot Seawell hasasketc'i )f John Paul Jones in the Century lii hicli she hrings out many new ft.eta :o;:crning tlie gre?t Araorican naval ;on..riander. Cor.eerring his ear! . ca ■ei . . before the capture of the So ai -.. Miss Seawell writes: On Deceml r 2 , 1775, was made the Hginning Oi tte imerican navy; and from this point :hn tree hisiory of Pau' Jones begias. Hte v.as Uien 2S years old, of the mi ' 11 - aeigiii, Lis fifciire slight, but graceiui, md of "a dashing and omcer-like apSearance." His complexion was dark uiil weather-beaten; his black eyes weie expressive, but melancholy. Hls manners were easy and dignified with the great, but Ue was wühout doubt ïascinating to women. He often fancied dimself in love, and, like Washington ioniatimes even wrote bad verses to laiies; but it is unlikely that any woman ever had the real mastery of his heart. Ie was deterred by the greatness o! 'the Fair," as he called them when the;pleased him, and made love to ver;. ?rnat ladies quite as boldly when with the wrelched Bon Komme Richard tie laid aboard the stout Serapis. lío had a peculiarly persuasivo way witL sailors as v.'ith women; and if he wished to enïist a sailor would walk 'jp and down the pier with him by thfncur, and he never failed to get hh man. lie was a tireless letter writer v,i when Paul Jones wrote as Paul Jones spoke riothing could exceed tht 'orce and simplicity of his style. Bui he w?-s subject to attacks of the liter jry d íil, and his productions then wer. luíuü.abíy fiVê. He_ wrote and spok-: Frenh respectably", ancí KTs hand'vTiiing, (rammar and speüing are" all muci; abèvu the average of his day. Hls fiioi Mity was as flrst lieutenant of the Al fred, Commodore Hopkins' flagship. Or 'Jus vessel he hoisted for the flrst tiuu tbe originjU fiag of the revolution - th. ■attlèsnake flag. ín á letter to Roben Morris in 1783 Paul Jones says: 'ï was my fortune, as the enior ft th' árst liêutenants, to oist, myself, the lag of America (I Chocse to do it wit":1 ai y own Hands) the first time it wa:. jisplayed. Tiiough this was but r ight circumEtsucé. yet, I feel for it '■ Honor more 'han I íiínk I conld have Celt had it - so hapiíened." The servces he was aged in under Commo lore Hopki' ere far from brilliant The comm e had a strong disin :lination to go "in harm'e way" - to us; i favorite expression of Paul Jones- md within a year was dismlssed the ïavy. Paul Jones' flrst command was ittla sloop of war. the Providence; aru' 'rom a memorandum among his papers n the handwriting of the secretary o he congress, we learn that his uniform vs: "blue cloth with red lappels, slasv uffs, stand up collar, flat yellow bií ons; blue britches, red waistcoat with ïarrow lace." The uniform for th:unior otftcers was also prescribed, an. ill were commanded to wear "blui oritches." The marino officers, how jver, were to wear "h,-itches edged wit ■ ;reen, black gaiters and garters." Pau Tones' conduci, during the cruise hr aade in the Providence, and afterwar n command of a stnall squadron ir 1776, won him great credit, especial lv vith Washington. His employmea; vas the conveying of men and store? "rom Rhode Island to Washington al New York. Long Islanci sound swarmeu ith the cruisers of Lord Huwe's neet. md Paul Jones' address in eludinr, ,ham, especiaüy the Cerberus frigate vvhich tracked him for weeks like a iloodhound, marked him as a man of ;reat enterprise. His next cruise with t. üttle squadron maintained his repu.ation, and from that on the requests ;i oflïcers who wished to serve undei nm were frequent. Paul Jones' replie :o these are quaint reading. He always protesta a disinclinatlon to "entice' Dfficers awav from other commanders but never f ai Is to note the good poinuot his own ship, and to give a forecr j1 Df is ilaring schemes very captivatine ■.o an ambitious young ofücer. Therf was great confusión in the tables ol rank first adopted in the navy, and thence proceeded in grievance t:ut Paul Jones never ceased to proteit 9gainst bitterly, until in 1781, many vears afterward, he became, by the unanimous election of congress, th.1 injp-'olficer of the American navy. By the personal cacelessness of Presi ent Hancock, Paul Jones' originn ommission as captain - the first com m granted under "the Unitc# ;"- vas lost. When a new one wac ;iven him, he found, to his natural auon, that thirteen of his junior? ■.r.ead of him on the list of cap How infuriating this was to í L-.sn ss greedy of distinction as Pau! iones, Jiay be imagined. He al way: peiled rank with a capital, and wrote )f it as "Rank, which opens the dooi :o O'.oi y." He sore he would never ïerv? xcder any of the men thus unusüj airen precedence of him. Con 7'í. ■■:, while negligtr.t in doing hiir usti'je, was w!se enough, nevertheless o : . ë him always a separate com 'i was determined to send him o Jarope in the Ranger sloop of war md in Europe to give him the finest ;oL.imand then at the disposal of the onyress. This was a splendid frigate -th Indien - building at Amsterdam