Paul Jones wore a splendid new uniform of an American commodore, and looked every inch a great man.
All along the road to Versailles, which was crowded with magnificent equipages, with horsemen superbly mounted, and with a great and merry populace, the carriage containing the two Americans was pointed out with the utmost interest. They drove slowly down the grand avenue, and at last the palace of Versailles burst upon their sight in glittering beauty. The terraces were of velvety greenness, the fountains sparkled brilliantly in the noonday sun, and the trees were in their first fresh glory of the May.
A crowd of great people—courtiers and court ladies superbly costumed, ministers and statesmen, naval and military officers in dazzling uniforms—crowded the grand staircase; but all made way for the venerable Dr. Franklin and Paul Jones, for the word had sped from mouth to mouth who they were. Respectful greetings met them on every side, and when they entered the anteroom they were the cynosure of all eyes.
Paul Jones and Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI.
Presently the great folding doors of the audience chamber were thrown wide, and an instant hush fell upon the vast crowd of nobles and gentlemen. The king and queen, seated in armchairs on a dais, over which there was a canopy, and surrounded by members of the royal family and their suite, were seen at the end of the vast and splendid hall. By a silent motion the gentleman usher, one of the greatest nobles in France, singled out Dr. Franklin and Paul Jones. Both of them rose at once and entered the audience chamber, after which the doors slid noiselessly into their grooves until the two reappeared at the end of half an hour.
Within the hall Franklin and Paul Jones approached the king and queen with dignified composure. They were respectful but not awed, and were much more at their ease than half the great people who surrounded royalty.
On reaching the dais upon which sat Louis XVI, whose mild and frank countenance expressed the honest man and the gentleman much more than the king, Dr. Franklin bowed profoundly, and said:
“Sire, I desire to present to your Majesty Commodore Paul Jones, of the American navy.”
“And I am heartily glad to see so great a hero,” responded Louis. Then the same ceremony was gone through with the queen, whose grace and beauty were then at their zenith.