s arrival at
Nantes, Jones was grievously disappointed to learn that the British
Government had so vigorously protested against the building of a
vessel-of-war in France for the Americans, that the French Government
had been obliged to notify the American agents that their plan must be
abandoned. France was at this time at peace with Great Britain, and,
though inclined to be friendly with the rebellious colonies, was not
ready to entirely abandon her position as a neutral power. Later, when
she took up arms against England, she gave the Americans every right
in her ports they could desire.

Jones thus found himself in European waters with a vessel too weak to
stand against the frigates England could send to take her, and too
slow to elude them. But he determined to strike some effective blows
for the cause of liberty. Accordingly he planned an enterprise, which,
for audacity of conception and dash in execution, has never been
equalled by any naval expedition since.

This was nothing less than a virtual invasion of England. The "Ranger"
lay at Brest. Jones planned to dash across the English Channel, and
cruise along the coast of England, burning shipping and towns, as a
piece of retaliation upon the British for their wanton outrages along
the American coast. It was a bold plan. The channel was thronged with
the heavy frigates of Great Britain, any one of which could have
annihilated the audacious Yankee cruiser. Nevertheless, Jones
determined to brave the danger.

At the outset, it seemed as though his purpose was to be balked by
heavy weather. For days after the "Ranger" left Brest, she battled
against the chop-seas of the English Channel. The sky was dark, and
the light of the sun obscured by gray clouds. The wind whistled
through the rigging, and tore at the tightly furled sails. Great green
walls of water, capped with snowy foam, beat thunderously against the
sides of the "Ranger." Now and then a port would be driven in, and the
men between decks drenched by the incoming deluge. The "Ranger" had
encountered an equinoctial gale in its worst form.

When the gale died away, Jones found himself off the Scilly Islands,
in full view of the coast of England. Here he encountered a
merchantman, which he took and scuttled, sending the crew ashore to
spread the news that an American man-of-war was ravaging the channel.
Having alarmed all England, he changed his hunting-ground to St.
George's Channel and the Irish Sea, wher