John Paul Jones "But thou, brave Jones, no blame shalt bear, For these you dare the greedy waves. W ITHIN the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, is interred the ashes of John Paul Jones. For one hundred thirteen years, from his death until 1910, they rested in a Paris cemetery. The spirit of this man, the first great American naval officer, has been with us always. His cry, "I have not yet begun to fight," is unforgotten. It will go ringing on through the centuries like a clarion call to battle. Its thrill is found in the triumphant message from Perry, "We have met the enemy and they are ours;" its indomitable power was felt in the words of the dying Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship;" its unconquerable force was in Stephen Decatur when in the Tripolitan harbor he sank the pirate craft. In the turret of the Monitor it pulsed through the sturdy Ericson; its throb was in Dewey's men in far-off Manilla Bay, following the calmly-spoken words, "When you are ready, Gridley, fire." It fixed forever the high standard of courage of our navy-a navy that in all the wars from the days of Jones to those of Simms has never failed to conquer. Who was this man whose spirit now stands on the bridge of every American ship, is within every boiler room, behind every gun and aloft on every fighting top that carries the Stars and Stripes? He was born in County Kircudbright, Scotland, in 1747, his lineage obscure, his outward opportunities few. But there was that within him that made opportunities. His name was John Paul. In later life he took that of John Paul Jones. Unaided even by a christening, he made that name, common though it was, a synonym for indomitable will and unyielding pluck. At twelve he was a sailor, at nineteen a chief mate, and at twenty-one a captain. When twentysix years old, he left the sea and settled in Virginia. In 1775, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Continental navy. On the little ship "Alfred" he pulled the halyards that hoisted to the breeze our first naval flag. It was the "Rattlesnake flag," bearing those warning words, "Don't tread on me." He knew one trade well; he was a skillful sailor and navigator. He had diligently improved his boyhood years before the mast. In 1775 he was placed in command of the brig "Providence," with a crew of seventy and armament of twelve four-pounders. In four months he had captured sixteen enemy ships. Later, with other commands he burned enemy transports and captured munitions, gaining supplies for Americans and destroying them for the British. In June, 1777, he was given the "Ranger," a vessel of three hundred tons, armed with eighteen six-pound guns. On July 4th he ran to her masthead the first flag of Stars and Stripes that was ever flown in the American navy. From then until 1779 he was in European waters, fighting and harrying enemy shipping. In the latter year he converted a rotten, condemned merchantman in a French harbor to an American man-of-war. In honor of Benjamin Franklin he named it the "Bonhomme Richard." With this as his flagship, he cruised about England and Scotland, striking terror wherever he appeared along shore or upon the seas. With two vessels of his squadron accompanying the "Good Richard," he fell in with the British Baltic convoy led by the staunch new frigate "Serapis." Then ensued what was perhaps the most desperate naval battle ever fought in the history of the world. With his ship riddled, his prisoners at the pumps, his magnificent crew suffering and many dead and dying, he fought his stronger foe. For hours the battle lasted. When in desperate straits Jones was asked if he surrendered. He made his memorable reply. At the close of the contest, though the American ship sank, the victors were possessed of the British man-ofwar, and in it made their way to France. The story of his life and of his death in Paris in 1792 are well known. The one great event in his career that stands supreme is the battle on the North Sea. He believed in initiative, and expressed that belief thus: "I do not wish to have command of any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way." Though born in Scotland, and his youthful days spent at sea, he was a real American. His patriotism was proved by his deeds. He worded it in the sayings, "I can never renounce the glorious title of a citizen of the United States," and "I have ever looked out for the honor of the American flag." Never in all his fights did he have a good ship, never did he have a full crew. His weaknesses in equipment and men were always overbalanced by his skill and bravery. Whether he dreamed in his youth that some day his name would stand among the first of the world's naval heroes, we do not know. That history would call him the "Father of the American Navy," he probably never dreamed. To wish for immortality in the memories of men may be vanity; it is not vanity, however, to wish to serve so well that the service shall be enduring. In a few short hours one September day John Paul Jones wrote his name forever in the earthly records of great deeds. It was no sudden burst of genius that gave him the power so to do. In his early youth, though he then did not know when or where, he was preparing for those four hours of glory. In the night on a yard-arm of a reeling ship how often had he stored up materials of physical |