, we have better right to be proud of the deeds of our great naval
hero of the Revolutionary War, with his rotten old ship and poor little
guns, but with his stout heart behind them all.

This hero was the sturdy John Paul Jones, one of the boldest and bravest
men that ever stood on a ship's deck. And his great sea fight has never
been surpassed in all the history of naval war. I cannot tell you the
story of the Revolution without telling about the great ocean victory of
the bold-hearted Paul Jones.

Ships poor enough were those we had to fight with. A little fleet of
seven or eight small vessels, whose heaviest guns threw only nine-pound
balls, and the most of them only six-pound. You could have thrown these
yourself with one hand, though not so far. These were all we had at
first to fight more than seventy British ships, with guns that threw
eighteen-pound balls, and some still heavier. Do you not think it looked
like a one-sided fight?

But the Americans had one great advantage. They had not many merchant
ships and not much to lose upon the seas. On the other hand, the ocean
swarmed with the merchant ships of England, and with the store ships
bringing supplies of guns and powder and food to the armies on shore.
Here were splendid prizes for our gallant seamen, and out of every port
sailed bold privateers, or war-ships sent out by their owners, and not
by the government, sweeping the seas and bringing in many a richly-laden
craft.

Some of the best fighting of the war was done by these privateers. While
they were hunting for merchant ships they often came across war-ships,
and you can be sure they did not always run away. No, indeed; they were
usually ready to fight, and during the war no less than sixteen
war-vessels were captured by our ocean rovers. On the other hand, the
British privateers did not capture a single American war-ship. As for
merchant vessels, our privateers brought them in by the dozens. One
fleet of sixty vessels set out from Ireland for the West Indies, and out
of these thirty-five were gobbled up by our privateers, and their rich
stores brought into American ports. During the whole war the privateers
took more than seven hundred prizes. I might go on to tell you of some
of their hard fights, but I think you would rather read the story of
Paul Jones, the boldest and bravest of them all, the terror of the seas
to the British fleet.

Paul Jones, you should know, was born in Scotland. But he mad