The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-07-23
Continued from page L.,
CLAIMS TO RENOwN.


Had Jones never won the victories
| winch have made his name especially
lllustrious, he would still have made
memorable figure in American history.
He was the first man to hoist the
American flag, and he was also the first
to obtain salute for it by a foreign
power.
1t was on the flagship Alfred that
Jones first displayed from the mast
head the Stars and Stripes. He had
received his first commission, that of
first lieutenant, on December %, 1775,
and the historic duty was assigned to
him by Commodore Esek Hopkins For
this reason the flag was peculiarly
dear to him, and even the sight of it,
after he left America and lived in
Paris, would always bring tears to his
eyes. His love for it may be seen in
"a letter to Baron Van der Capellan, in
which he said:
Il was born a Britisher, but I do not
inherit the degenerate spirit of that
fallen nation. which I at once lament
and despise. America has been the
country of my fond election from the
age of thirteen when I first saw it. I
had the honor to hoist, with my own
hands, the flag of freedom the first
time it was displayed on the Delaware,
and have attended it with generation
ever since on the ocean,"
The way in which Jones obtained the
first salute for the flag illustrates his
firmness of character and it also throws
a bit of light on his fondness for the
dramatic and picturesque. When acptain
- r l. L
French fleet in command of Commo-
dore Lamette-R iquet. The question &C
cordingly arose as to how many guns
should be fired in recognition of the
new Republic. Jones demanded that
as the chief representative of his coun>
try he should have as many guns fired
for him as he fired for the commodore
He wanted gun for gun, and he would
not come within saluting distance un-
til he had learned the facts. At first
the French commodore hesitated about
giving him any salute at all. Mes
sages went back and forth between
the two officers for some time, till the
Frenchmen at last decided to give
Jones nine guns. the full number ac-
corded at that time to republic and
four less than he wished for himself,
as the representative of a king.
Il won't bubble over Details said
Jones to his lieutenant on learning of
this decision. IF he will give us the
full recognition of a republic I can't
ask more Accordingly, he sent word
that nine guns would be satisfactory.
The French waited for him, but ne did
not STIR He then explained that it
was so late in the afternoon that the
salute would not be seen to the best
1t was not until the next
that in the bright sunshine
he sailed his ships right into the mid
die of the French fleet and fired his
guns; and in return was given the first
salute to the American flag.
ENGLISH DIsLIKED HIM.
Jones was judged by the men of his
own time in various ways. In England
he was regarded as pirate; in GER
tain court circles of France as a So |
ciety man; in America as a military
genius Yet even in the land which !
should have regarded him only with
love he was treated both with respect
and disrespect The populace idolized !,
him. for it knew him only as the hero
of battle, but there We're few who
had hoped to succeed like him, but |
failed, and who, accordingly, hated |
him. They called him braggart and
q, poser They, like the British, stig-
matized him as traitor saying that
he fought for America. as the politi-
clans of today would put it, Just for
what was in it, Before he had won
MS first fight these same vilifers kept
that he was only spy,
md at the right moment he would go
over to the British.
That John Jaul Jones was no pirate,
out a man of honor, both in war and
peace. is proved, say his admirers, in
manifold ways. His attacks on the
British coast. where whenever posi-
Die he burned ships or set fire to ware
houses. were in no way prompted by
he instincts of a buccaneer He did
aot do it to enrich himself. but to de-
noraliZe the enemy. The British navy
vas too big to tackle face to face, anu
Jones operated his ships
Is a true mosquito fleet. to worry, not
1ill, his antagonist. AS he wrote to
he United States commissioners at
Paris:
I'VE cannot yet fight with their
navy. as their numbers and force are
ar superior to ours. Therefore, it !
seems to be our most natural province
o surprise their defenceless places, and
hereby divert their attention and draw
t from our coasts.
The raid by Jones and his men on
he estate of the Earl of Selkirk, when
lie took away quantity of plate, used
o be mentioned as striking illustra-
ion of Paul Jones's piracy Leaving
Vhitehaven. near his home in Scot
and. where in the early morntpg ne
lad made daring. though practically
unsuccessful, attack, it occurred to
lin to capture some English lord for
hostage In this way he would COM
,el the English to treat American pris-
.,.o..s. rronarorSl,- or hiring about their |