is acres and his slaves, there is no evidence that he led a lazy life.
He seems to have been partly occupied in continuing the important
acquaintances he had made at the intervals between his voyages and in
watching the progress of events leading to war with England. Jones was
given to gallantry, and while on the plantation he carried on the social
affairs which he afterwards continued, as recognized hero and chevalier
of France, on a magnificent scale. He resisted, as he did all through
his life, any benevolent efforts on the part of the colonial dames to
marry him off, and as the war grew nearer his activity in promoting it
grew greater. He made frequent visits to his patriot friends, met,
besides Joseph Hewes, whom he had already known, Thomas Jefferson,
Philip Livingston, Colonel Washington and the Lees, and was later, if
not at this time, in an intimate official relation with Robert and
Gouverneur Morris. In Jones's intercourse with these men he showed
himself one of the most fiery of Whigs. In a letter to Joseph Hewes
written in 1774, he tells how a British officer made a remark reflecting
on the virtue of colonial women. "I at once knocked Mr. Parker down,"
he adds, in a style that suggests the straightforward character of his
official reports.

Although dueling was at that time the conventional method of settling
affairs of that nature, no personal encounter resulted between Jones and
Mr. Parker. Jones, indeed, did not seem averse to such an issue, for he
sent a friend to propose pistols, with which he was a crack shot. It is
nevertheless a striking fact that Paul Jones, the desperate fighter, who
was certainly as brave as any one, and was often placed in favorable
situations for such settlements, never fought a duel. Add to this that
his temper was quick and passionate, and that he had to the full the
high-flown sentiments of honor of the time, and the fact seems all the
more remarkable. The truth is that Jones was as cautious as he was
brave. He acted sometimes impulsively, but reflection quickly came, and
he never manifested a dare-devil desire to put his life unnecessarily in
danger. When there was anything to be gained by exposing his person, he
did it with the utmost coolness, but he consistently refused to put
himself at a disadvantage. When, on at least one occasion, he was
challenged to fight with swords, with which he was only moderately
skillful, he demanded pistols. Fame was Jones's end, and he knew t