True Democrat. (Paulding, Miss.) 1845-18??, 1846-05-06
From the Charleston Mercury.
THE HEIRS OF PAUL JONES.


The claims of these persons to The payment
OF certain sums of money alleged % be owed to
Paul Jones, are now before Congress- They
have been often before it, and in various ways
have met with respectful notice but nothing
more. The Committee on Naval affairs, in
! the House, has recently repoLed it is under.
stood, unanimously in favor of tie acknowIdg-
ment and payment ofthese claims The report
sets forth the nature Of these chims, authenli-
Gates them beyond caviI, and ehorces them by
brief sketch Of the brilliant caper of the hero,
during our Revolution. 70 he evidence of
their justice. nothing need be aided and it is
! hoped that Congress, under Transportation of
some good angel may be moved to postpone
the qualification of one or other of their darling
sins just for the single session, and so provide
means for paying the debts due to great man,
Tor the ll!ustrlouS services in the cause of our
Indrpcndrnce
The fate Of Paul Jones. living and dead, has
been strange and hard one, and contains as
many items OF Justice as ever tell to one mans
lot Among the foremost and most devoted,
he plunged INTO the struggle of our Revolution,
and threw into the common treasury "A soul as
heroic, as adventurous, as exhausless of resour.
ces, as ever lived-cndcss Iabor-and money
TO the IaStdOlar of his fortune. The only na
val officer in the service who showed the in.
tultIve genius OF great chief, be not only was
not placed where he belonged at the head of the
Navy, but was in rank to a long string OF men
who had no reputation and never acquired any
Engaged in the most active and successful ser.
vice, for seven year, he not only received no.
dollar of pay, and no rations, bat he was al
noSt the Who'll time in ad vanca IN tho COnurosc
for money paid out in repairing his ship and
feeding his crew. From time to time he occu-
pied himselfin giving to the navy department.
his views fall Of sounl sense ana comprchcn.
siye system, Of the organization Of the navy.
But while time has confirmed his veIws and led
to their adoption it was not all the world had
forgotten who was their author
But far the most heinous wrong done to Paul
Jones is found in the popular notion of his char
acter, which seems to have been borrowed from
the coarse ISLANDERS Of the British press. at the
time when he frightened the isles from their
propriety, and put Mistress Brutania in par.
oSlsm ofterror and rage. For half century
he existed IN the popular mind as little better
than successful rnffian--a big fcrocions saw.
age, with diaboIlcal eye, whose voice 10 battle
was that OF an enraged tiger, whose soul exuit-
ed IN killing men, sinking ships and burning
towns The friend, correspondent and conpan-
ion of Franklin rnliiinI The idolized hero
Of the Court of Versailles, a Savagel Never
was there more rascaly caricaure. Paul
Jones was a slender man, dclicatey moulded
aud organized handsome, courtly in manner,
with great love of refined society and with
qualities to adorn il. given TO writing poetry,
and as Distinguished through lite Tor his hu.
mainly as his hcroism And if we consider
that, excepting The lion courage and inlutvp
genius that God gave him. be- was m all re-
specs a self made mantle refinement of his
manners, the cultivation Of his mind. his com
prehcnsyc and profound knowledge of his pro.
fession and his power oil developing his ideas in
logical order and with rare clearness Of expires
sion, will seem hardly less marvellous than the
Successful pairing Of his action We cannot
find in all naval history a hero with highcrand
more various claims to admiration than John
Pdnl Jones
But to the people ofthe United States he is
more Gle their first naval hero
he more than any other, deserved to BE- honor,d /
as the founder Of our navy aud the lount Of It's I
utear genius Of our wooden I
walls lie first showed that success was vosS- I
ble aud so unexpected and astounding was the /
proof that all Europe rang with the capture Of I
Tho Scraps as lit had been the downfall ofan /
empire. It was in fact the birth Of a rival to I
the proud Mistress Of the Ocean. Such is the .
man to whose memory the Congress Of the Z. /
States are called on 10 DO simple justice.