[Illustration: PAUL JONES.]
John Paul Jones was born at Arbingland, in Scotland, July 6th 1747.
His father was a gardener, whose name was _Paul_; but the son assumed
that of _Jones_ in subsequent life, for what reason is not known.
Young Paul early evinced a decided predilection for the sea, and, at
the age of 12, was bound apprentice to a respectable merchant of
Whitehaven, in the American trade. His first voyage was to America,
where his elder brother was established as a planter. He was then
engaged for some time in the slave-trade, but quitted it in disgust,
and returned to Scotland, in 1768, as passenger in a vessel, the
captain and mate of which died on the passage. Jones assumed the
command, at the request of those on board, and brought the vessel safe
into port. For this service, he was appointed by the owners master and
supercargo. While in command of this vessel, he punished a sailor who
afterwards died of a fever at the island of Tobago――a circumstance
which gave rise to an accusation against Jones, of having caused his
death, by the severity of the punishment upon him; but this has been
completely refuted. Jones was afterwards in command of the Betsy, of
London, and remained some time in the West Indies, engaged in
commercial pursuits and speculations, by which it is said he realized
a handsome fortune. In 1773, he was residing in Virginia, arranging
the affairs of his brother, who had died intestate and childless, and
about this time took the name of _Jones_. In Virginia he continued to
live until the commencement of the struggle between the colonies and
mother country. He offered his services to the former, and was
appointed first of the first lieutenants, and designated to the
Alfred, on board of which ship, to use his own language in one of his
letters, ‘he had the honor to hoist, with his own hands, the flag of
freedom, the first time it was displayed on the Delaware.’ Soon after
this, we find Jones in command of the Providence, mounting 12
four-pounders, with a complement of 70 men, cruising from the Bermudas
to the Gut of Canso, and making 16 prizes in little more than six
weeks. In May, 1777, he was ordered to proceed to France, where the
American commissioners, Franklin, Deane and Lee, were directed to
invest him with the command of a fine ship, as a reward of his signal
services. On his arrival in France, he was immediately summoned to
Paris by the commissioners. The object of this summons was to concert
a plan of operations for the force preparing to act against the
British in the West Indies, and on the coast of America. This plan,
which certainly did great honor to the projector, though untoward
delays and accidents prevented its immediate success, was afterwards
openly claimed by Jones as his own, without acknowledging the
assistance or participation of the American commissioners or the
French ministry. The Ranger was then placed under his orders, with
discretion to cruise where he pleased, with this restriction, however,
that he was not to return to France immediately after making attempts
upon the coasts of England, as the French government had not yet
declared itself openly as the ally of the U. States. April 10th 1778
he sailed on a cruise, during which he laid open the weakness of the
British coast. With a single ship, he kept the whole coast of
Scotland, and part of that of England, for some time, in a state of
alarm, and made a descent at Whitehaven, where he surprised and took
two forts, with 30 pieces of cannon, and set fire to the shipping. In
this attack upon Whitehaven, the house of the earl of Selkirk, in
whose service the father of Jones had been gardener, was plundered,
and the family plate carried off. But the act was committed without
his knowledge, and he afterwards made the best atonement in his power.
After his return to Brest with 200 prisoners of war, he became
involved in a variety of troubles, for want of means to support them,
pay his crew, and refit his ship. After many delays and vexations,
Jones sailed from the road of St. Croix, August 14th, 1779, with a
squadron of seven sail, designing to annoy the coasts of England and
Scotland. The principal occurrence of this cruise was the capture of
the British ship of war Serapis, after a bloody and desperate
engagement, off Flamborough head, September 23d, 1779. The Serapis was
a vessel much superior in force to Jones’ vessel, the Bon Homme
Richard, which sunk not long after the termination of the engagement.
The sensation produced by this battle was unexampled, and raised the
fame of Jones to its acme. In a letter to him, Franklin says, ‘For
some days after the arrival of your express, scarce any thing was
talked of at Paris and Versailles, but your cool conduct and
persevering bravery during that terrible conflict. You may believe
that the impression on my mind was not less strong than on that of the
others. But I do not choose to say, in a letter to yourself, all I
think on such an occasion.’ His reception at Paris, whither he went on
the invitation of Franklin, was of the most flattering kind. He was
every where caressed; the king presented him with a gold sword,
bearing the inscription, _Vindicati maris Ludovicus XVI remuneratur
strenuo vindici_, and requested permission of congress to invest him
with the military order of merit――an honor never conferred on any one
before who had not borne arms under the commission of France. In 1781,
Jones sailed for the U. States, and arrived in Philadelphia February
18 of that year, after a variety of escapes and rencounters, where he
underwent a sort of examination before the board of admirality, which
resulted greatly to his honor. The board gave it as their opinion,
‘that the conduct of Paul Jones merits particular attention, and some
distinguished mark of approbation from congress.’ Congress passed a
resolution, highly complimentary to his ‘zeal, prudence and
intrepidity.’ General Washington wrote him a letter of congratulation,
and he was afterwards voted a gold medal by congress. From
Philadelphia he went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to superintend the
building of a ship of war, and, while there, drew up some admirable
observations on the subject of the American navy. By permission of
congress, he subsequently went on board the French fleet, where he
remained until the conclusion of peace, which put a period to his
naval career in the service of the U. States. He then went to Paris,
as agent for prize-money, and, while there, joined in a plan to
establish a fur-trade between the north-west coast of America and
China, in conjunction with a kindred spirit, the celebrated John
Ledyard. In Paris, he continued to be treated with the greatest
distinction. He afterwards was invited into the Russian service, with
the rank of rear-admiral, where he was disappointed in not receiving
the command of the fleet acting against the Turks in the Black sea. He
found fault with the conduct of the prince of Nassau, the admiral;
became restless and impatient; was intrigued against at court, and
calumniated by his enemies; and had permission, from the empress
Catharine, to retire from the service with a pension, which was never
paid. He returned to Paris, where he gradually sunk into poverty,
neglect, and ill health, until his death, which was occasioned by
jaundice and dropsy, July 18th 1792. His last public act was heading a
deputation of Americans, who appeared before the national assembly to
offer their congratulations on the glorious and salutary reform of
their government. This was before the flight of the king. Jones was a
man of signal talent and courage; he conducted all his operations with
the most daring boldness, combined with the keenest sagacity in
calculating the chances of success and the consequences of defeat. He
was, however, of an irritable, impetuous disposition, which rendered
him impatient of the authority of his superiors, while he was, at the
same time, harsh in the exercise of his own; and he was deficient in
that modesty which adorns great qualities and distinguished actions,
while it disarms envy and conciliates jealousy. His early education
was of a very limited kind. It terminated when he went to sea, at the
age of twelve, but he supplied its defects by subsequent study, so as
to enable himself to write with fluency, strength and clearness, and
to sustain his part respectably in the polished society into which he
was thrown. In his letters, he inculcates the necessity of knowledge
for naval officers, and intimates that he had devoted ‘midnight
studies’ to the attainment of that information which he deemed
requisite in his situation. His memorials, correspondence, etc., are
quite voluminous. He also wrote poetry, and in Paris was a great
pretender to _ton_, as a man of fashion, especially after his victory
over the Serapis, which, of course, gave him great _eclat_ amongst the
ladies of the French capital. At this period, he is described by an
English lady then resident of Paris, as ‘a smart little man of
thirty-six; speaks but little French, and appears to be an
extraordinary genius, a poet as well as a hero.’ An account of his
life has been written by J. H. Sherburne (Washington, 1828).