Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
https://books.google.com/books?id=jZxBAAAAYAAJ
(Harvard University)
COMMODORE PAUL JONES.
Paul Jones
COMMODORE
PAUL JONES
BY
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY
AUTHOR OF
REUBEN JAMES, A HERO OF THE FORECASTLE;
THE GRIP OF HONOR; STEPHEN DECATUR; ETC.
WITH PORTRAIT AND MAPS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1912
Copyright, 1900,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THIS STORY
OF THE LIFE OF ONE OF THE
GREAT FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO
GEORGE CLIFFORD THOMAS,
A NOBLE EXEMPLAR
OF ITS CITIZENSHIP.
PREFACE.
In preparing this work I began, I admit, with an ardent admiration forJohn Paul Jones, born of long study of his career. I have endeavored,however, so far as possible, to lay aside my preconceived opinions andpredisposition in his favor, and I have conscientiously gone over theimmense mass of material bearing upon him, de novo, in an attempt tobe absolutely and strictly impartial. Perhaps I have not altogethersucceeded, but if it be found that I have erred in Jones' favor, Ishall be glad that I have followed the impulses of affection ratherthan those of depreciation. I have not, I trust, been blind to thefaults in the character of the great sailor, nor to the mistakes hecommitted, nor to the wrongdoings in his career to which I have calledattention; but, in spite of these things, which I have mostreluctantly recorded, I am happy that renewed investigation, carefulstudy, and much thought have only endeared him the more to me. I laydown the pen with a higher respect, with a more affectionate regard,with a greater admiration for him than ever.
In Miss Seawell's fine phrase, "It may be said of him as of the greatCondé: 'This man was born a captain.'" His place among the great seakings as a strategist, a tactician, and a fighter is now unquestionedby the most calumnious of his defamers; but the wound he inflictedupon British pride still rankles after the lapse of more than acentury, and his professional status and personal character are stillbitterly aspersed. So doth prejudice blind the eyes of truth. I havedevoted some space to the old charge that he was a pirate, which wasrenewed recently in an article in the London Academy, one of theleading journals of England, and I trust that the reader will findthat I have finally disposed of that absurd statement, and the otherslanders concerning him, in these