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Show (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) No. 1 U. S. Naval Hero rjOR more than 30 years the body ! of John Paul Jones has rested in a marble tomb in the crypt of the United States Naval Academy chapel chap-el at Annapolis. Recently a precious pre-cious relic was placed in front of his sarcophagus. It is a plaster bust of America's No. 1 naval hero, made more than 150 years ago by Jean Antoine Houdon, the famous French sculptor. This bust, one of only Ave of its kind known to be in existence, was presented to the Naval Academy museum by an organization known as the Friends of the United States Navy. Back of this gift is an interesting interest-ing story. In 1779 Capt. John Paul Jones was placed in command of the American frigate Bon Homme Richard. Rich-ard. Upon his arrival in Paris, Jones, who had been a Mason since 1770, applied for affiliation with La Loge des Neuf-Souers or the Lodge of the Nine Sisters (meaning the nine Muses). This lodge, besides being be-ing a fraternal organization, was also a club for artists, writers and other intellectuals. Benjamin Franklin Frank-lin was its worshipful master and among its members was Houdon, the sculptor. Before the lodge could act upon Jones' application, he had sailed away to challenge the power of the "Mistress of the Seas." On September Septem-ber 23, 1779, occurred his historic victory over the stronger British man-of-war, the Serapis, during Bust of John Paul Jones by Houdon. Hou-don. (Photo, courtesy United States Naval Museum.) which he uttered his immortal words of defiance "I have not yet begun to fight!" When Jones reached Paris the t next spring, all France was eager to honor him. Not only did the Lodge of the Nine Sisters welcome him and initiate him into its membership, mem-bership, but it commissioned one of its members, Houdon, to make a bust of the victor for the lodge. King Louis XVI was so delighted over the defeat of the British frigate by the Bon Homme Richard that he gave Jones the Cross of Military Merit, the first time it had ever been pre . sented to a foreigner. Jones was proud of this honor and asked Houdon to depict it on the lapel of his coat when the sculptor made the original terra cotta bust of him in 1780, even though congress had not authorized him to accept a decoration dec-oration from a foreign monarch. Between 1786 and 1791 Houdon made 16 plaster copies of the bust on orders from Jones, who presented present-ed them to Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Lafayette, Robert Rob-ert Morris, John Jay and others. The one presented to Jefferson was owned by the Boston Athenaeum for many years. But some time before 1900 it mysteriously disappeared from that museum and has never been found. Today the whereabouts of only five of the plaster copies of the original terra cotta, including the one recently presented to the Naval museum, are known, but several sev-eral scholars are trying to find out what became of the other eleven. In 1791 Jones ordered Houdon to make a plaster replica of the bust and on it, besides the Cross of Military Mili-tary Merit, show the Order of St. Ann. which Catherine the Great, empress em-press of Russia, had given him in recognition of his services during the Russian war with Turkey. Soon afterwards aft-erwards Jones wrote to Jefferaon, then secretary of state, asking Jefferson Jef-ferson to obtain for him authority from congress to keep the decoration. decora-tion. At this time he stated that a congressman from North Carolina, his adopted state, had asked for ? bust of him and that he had directed Houdon to prepare one, showing the Cross of St. Ann, and forward it to North Carolina. The state has no record of having received it and some of its historians are trying to determine what became of it because be-cause of the celebration in honor of Jones which is planned for 1942. Houdon's bust of Jones was declared de-clared by some of his contemporaries contempo-raries to be a remarkably accurate likeness, President Jame Madison wrote to one of Jones' first biographers: biogra-phers: "His bust by Houdon is an exact likeness, portraying well the characteristic features stamped on the countenance of the original." In criticizing a portrait which this same .iographer had chosen for his book. President Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Houdon's bust of him is an excellent likeness. Why have they not taken a side face of him fr--m that? Such a one would be perfect." |