Paul Jones gave up the command of the Ranger in order to take command of a larger ship, promised him by the French Government. But he had a long discouraging period of waiting for the new ship.
It was then that he wrote to a French official, those famous words:—
“I will not have anything to do with ships which do not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.”
After months of desperate waiting and after writing many letters, Paul Jones chanced to be reading a copy of Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanack.” These words caught his eye:—
If you would have your business done, go—if not, send.
So he stopped sending letters, and hastened to Paris to plead his own cause.
With the help of Franklin himself, Paul Jones got his ship at last. He named it Bon Homme Richard, or The Poor Richard.
It was while commanding The Poor Richard, that Paul Jones gained his famous victory over the British ship, the Serapis.
MICKLE’S THE MISCHIEF HE HAS DUNE
With seven ships in all—a snug little squadron for Jones, had the different commanders been subordinate—he set sail in the Richard from France, and steered for the coast of Ireland. The want of proper subordination was soon made manifest, for in a week’s time the vessels, one after another, parted company, to cruise by themselves, till Paul Jones had with him but the Alliance, Pallas, and Vengeance.