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This caused the editor to make further investigations, as it was apparent that if Fanning was not, possibly Midshipman Groube was, the writer of the logs, particularly as he had been considered competent to act as judge-advocate of a number of courts martial, and, inferentially, was a better scholar than other officers under Jones' command.

Upon comparison of the penmanship of this letter with that of the logs, it was established, beyond any possible doubt, that Midshipman Groube was the scribe of all three logs, the handwriting being identical.

Miss Taylor also presented to a relative the original certificate of Jones' membership in the Society of the Cincinnati, signed by Washington, dated October 31, 1785, which is now owned by Colonel N. Arnott of Edinburgh, a descendant of the Paul family. The original commission of Jones authorizing him to arrange the difficulties with the Barbary powers is in the remarkable collection of Mr. Grenville Kane, of New York. Eighteen autograph letters from and to Jones are now offered for sale by a London dealer for the modest sum of ,000; these evidently escaped from the Taylor family.

The editor has deemed it not uninteresting, although not immediately connected with the principal object of this publication, to refer to the dispersion of Jones' letters and public documents, and to print in the Appendix an interesting letter to Commodore Esek Hopkins, also a letter from Captain James Nicholson to Commodore John Barry relating to Jones' efforts before Congress to be placed at the head of the navy, both of which are in the editor's collection of manuscripts. In the Appendix will also be found a copy of a letter of Jones, addressed to John Wendell--which as a composition may be considered as one of the most remarkable of all his epistolary effusions. The original letter is now in the possession of the Wendell family. None of these letters have ever been published.

In concluding this preamble to the logs, it will be noted that the editor has supplemented the ship's stories by drawing largely upon the accounts of the events, barely touched upon in the remarks to be found in the numerous biographies of John Paul Jones, and upon the papers relating to his career now deposited in the Congressional Library. This has been done because it was possible that, as the biographies are out of print and rather scarce, they might not be readily available to many of the readers.

The first authentic "Life of Jones," throwing aside the numerous so-called chap-books, was that of Andr?, published in French in Paris, 1798, translated and republished in "Niles' Register" for the year 1812. Following the discovery of Jones' letters, Sherburne produced his first edition in 1825. The manuscript of this first edition he sent also to John Murray in London, who caused it to be edited by Disraeli, later the Earl of Beaconsfield, and published the book in the same year, 1825. The preface of this book, according to the editor of the "Life of Disraeli," was the earliest appearance of Disraeli as an author. Sherburne was aware of the existence of the papers in the possession of the Taylor family, and endeavored to obtain them; but his request was refused, as they were already in the hands of the author of the Edinburgh "Life of Jones," published in 1830.

Then followed the "Life of Jones" by Robert C. Sands, from the original letters and manuscripts in the possession of Miss Jeanette Taylor--New York, 1830. Mackenzie's "Life," in 1845, and Cooper's "Life," in 1846--both based upon Sands and Sherburne--contain but few additional matters of interest. Sherburne's "Life," published in 1825, was so freely criticized that a second edition, corrected and enlarged, was published in 1851.

The history of the logs here reproduced may be thought somewhat obscure, being founded upon some conjectures, deductions, and probabilities, as well as absolute facts. The editor purchased the log-book at the sale of the library of Mr. S. L. M. Barlow, of New York, in 1889, it being item No. 2760 in the catalogue prepared by Mr. J. O. Wright. Mr. Wright states that Mr. Barlow acquired the book through Mr. Harrisse or Mr. Stevens, of London, some time previous to 1869.

The portrait by Charles W. Peale, now in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, was executed seven years later, and has been reproduced many times. A comparison of the two with the Houdon bust demonstrates at once that the Moreau le Jeune portrait is by far the more faithful likeness, and of a greater personality than Peale's painting, with which we are more familiar. The great number of engraved contemporaneous so-called portraits of Jones attest the interest attached to his career in Europe. Many of them are purely imaginative, and exist in all forms of engraving from the grand folio mezzotint to the absurd caricature, and have formed the special object of pursuit by many collectors of Americana, with the result of extraordinary values for the rare ones, including the one here reproduced.

The most remarkable collection of Jones' portraits, and pictures relating to Jones' career, is that of Mr. Grenville Kane, of New York.

The picture of the engagement is a rare print, and has been selected instead of the more familiar one taken from the painting by Richard Paton.

The original painting by Paton is owned by the heirs of Lord Amherst, whose ancestral estate included Flamborough Head, off which the famous battle was fought. It has recently been offered for sale for the sum of ?3000.

In concluding this introduction to the logs, it has been the editor's purpose to avoid repeating the incidents of Jones' life related in his numerous biographies or quoting literally from his voluminous correspondence, but he has referred to them only in so far as they seemed to be connected in some measure with the log stories. The letters given in the Appendix have been copied from the originals and have never before been printed, while the extracts from Fanning's narrative are taken from a book of which very few copies are in existence.

A reprint of this narrative has been contemplated by the executive committee as one of the future publications of the Society, it being the only known autobiography of a man and officer who served under Jones in European waters.

It remains for the editor to express his acknowledgments to Mr. Robert W. Neeser, the secretary of the Society, for his very able assistance in the preparation of this volume for the press, in correcting and revising the proof-sheets, and in verifying the references.

To Mr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of the Congressional Library, and his able assistants Mr. Gaillard Hunt and Mr. J. C. Fitzpatrick, the editor's thanks are due for their interest and assistance, as well as to Mr. Charles W. Stewart, the Librarian of the Navy Department.

The absence of Rear-admiral Goodrich, at whose instance the Naval History Society was organized, this publication undertaken, and whose co?peration was expected, has contributed to the delay in the publication, for which the editor begs the indulgence of the members of the Society.

THE LOGS OF THE SERAPIS--ALLIANCE--ARIEL

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