JONES 



3171 



JONSON 



of his men. When he invaded British waters 

 in 1777 in command of the Ranger, he took 

 advantage of his familiarity with the scenes of 

 his boyhood to make a hostile cruise along the 

 shore of the Solway Firth and landed and at- 

 tempted to burn Whiteham. 



In 1779, as commander of the Bon Homme 

 Richard, he captured the British sloop-of-war 

 Serapis, after one of the most desperate and 

 spectacular of the world's sea fights. The Bon 

 Homme Richard and Serapis drew so close to 

 each other that their rigging became entangled 

 and Jones attempted to board the British ship. 

 After a short fight Jones was repulsed and the 

 vessels separated, but remained so close to- 

 gether that the muzzles of their guns touched. 

 Both vessels caught fire, and after a terrible 

 hand-to-hand encounter the tall mast of the 

 Serapis fell, and Pearson, commander of the 

 vessel, surrendered. For this victory Congress 

 gave Jones the nation's thanks, a gold medal 

 and a commission as commander of the 

 America, a ship-of-the-line which was presented 

 soon afterwards to France. The French king 

 made Jones a knight of the Order of Merit. 



Captain Jones (for he never received a higher 

 title from the United States) was destined for 

 other command, but the Peace of 1782 put an 

 end to that opportunity. In 1787 he entered 

 the service of Russia as rear-admiral, and was 

 made vice-admiral and was knighted after a 

 victory over the Turks. He resigned from the 

 Russian army and was appointed consul of the 

 United States at Algiers in 1792, but died be- 

 fore the commission reached him. His death 

 occurred in Paris on July 18, 1792. In July, 

 1905, his burial place was discovered beneath 

 a four-story building in that city, and by con- 

 sent of France his body was brought to the 

 United States by a squadron of battleships 

 and interred at Annapolis. A.B.H. 



Consult Brady's John Paul Jones, in the Great 

 Commander's Series ; Taylor's (editor) Life and 

 Battles of John Paul Jones., Written by Himself. 



JONES, SAMUEL PORTER (1847-1906), a 

 Methodist minister, popularly known as SAM 

 JONES, who was for years a picturesque figure 

 in evangelistic work throughout the United 

 States. He was born in -Alabama, where he 

 began his career as a successful lawyer. Hav- 

 ing ruined his prospects through his craving 

 for drink, he sought the help of religion, was 

 converted, and in 1872 was ordained as a min- 

 ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

 As an evangelist and Chautauqua lecturer he 

 became widely known for his unconventional 



and witty sayings. His characteristic habits 

 of speech are suggested by the titles of various 

 books published by him ; among these are Ser- 

 mons and Sailings by Sam Jones, Music Hall 

 Sermons, Quit Your Meanness, Sam Jones' 

 Own Book and Lightning Flashes and Thunder- 

 bolts. 



JONQUIL, jon'kwil, a delicate, sweet-scented, 

 yellow species of narcissus, native to Southern 

 Europe and Northern Africa, but cultivated in 

 other countries. From bulbs planted in 

 autumn, four inches deep in well-drained, 

 rather rich soil, 

 foot-high flower- 

 stalks appear, 

 which in April 

 bear clusters of 

 three to six 

 dainty flowers. 

 Each consists of 

 an inch-long 

 yellow tube, sur- 

 rounded by yel- 

 low petals. Most 

 species are 

 sweetly fragrant, 

 and are used in 

 the manufacture TfIE JONQUIL 



of perfume. The flower-stem is leafless, but 

 glossy, dark green leaves, very narrow and 

 rushlike, spring from the ground and surround 

 each stalk of flowers. The name jonquil is 

 from the Latin juncus, meaning rush, and was 

 suggested by the shape of the leaves. The 

 trumpet daffodil is often incorrectly called 

 jonquil. Jonquils are readily grown in con- 

 servatories for January blooming. See DAFFO- 

 DIL; NARCISSUS. 



JONSON, BEN (about 1573-1637), an Eng- 

 lish dramatist and lyric poet, the friend of 

 Shakespeare and one of the commanding fig- 

 ures among the writers of the Elizabethan Age. 

 The world's estimate of him is chiseled in four 

 words on his tomb in Westminster Abbey "O 

 rare Ben Jonson." 



Of all the Elizabethan dramatists he alone 

 adhered to the standards of the Greek and 

 Roman classics, and, he fought unflinchingly 

 though unsuccessfully against the romantic 

 tendency of the period. His plays are histori- 

 cally accurate, even in the smallest details, and 

 are logically constructed, and his characters are 

 presented with extraordinary realism. Jonson 

 was born at Westminster, was educated at 

 Westminster Grammar School, and, according 

 to an unsupported tradition, at Cambridge Uni- 



