Excerpt

On the first outbreak of hostilities with the mother country Jones offered his services to the Continental Congress, and his name headed the list of thirteen first lieutenants in the navy appointed in December 1775.

Perhaps no man had stronger natural and personal inclinations toward the revolutionary cause than Jones.

In his native country he was poor, obscure, and perpetually barred out by his low estate from those high places to which his vast ambition aspired.

In America, under a republican form of government, he was as good as any man, provided only he were worthy; and the fixed rank of a naval officer would give him standing in Europe among those very persons who would otherwise have regarded him with contempt.