OCR Text |
Show Paul Jones and the Frivatecr. The French embassador, the Dno de Vauguyon, committed the astounding faux pas of suggesting to Paul Jones that he take command of a French privateer pri-vateer and thus escape from his dangerous danger-ous situation in the Texel. Paul Jones' reply to this was an instant and haughty demand for an apology, which was promptly forthcoming. No man hated privateering and its "infernal practices," prac-tices," as he calls them, more cordially than Paul Jones. He wrote of privateers as "licensed robbers," and was naturally natural-ly indignant at the affront offered him Some years afterward in a French port he had an amusing controversy on the subject with Captain Trnxton, afterward after-ward the celebrated commodore. Trux-ton Trux-ton was then in the humble capacity of captain of a private ship bent on plunder. plun-der. He had the assurance to raise a pennant in the presence of Paul Jones without asking his permission and in defiance of the act of congress forbidding forbid-ding a privateer to hoist a pennant under un-der such circumstances without the permission per-mission of a naval ship's commander. They had a tart correspondence, and Commodore Trnxton was evidently mightier with the sword than with the pen, as Paul Jones writes of him that there are in his letter "several words 1 do not understand and cannot find in the dictionary. " Paul Jones sent him "a polite message" to haul down the pennant. This being disregarded, another an-other polite message and Lieutenant Richard Deal with two armed boats were sent, and the pennant came down. "Paul Jones," by Molly Elliot Sea-well, Sea-well, in Century. |