I.--ANCESTRY--BIRTH--EARLY YEARS--PROFESSION--SUCCESS--CHANGE OF NAME II.--COMMISSIONED IN THE NAVY--HOISTS THE FIRST FLAG--EXPEDITION TO NEW PROVIDENCE--ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GLASGOW III.--THE CRUISE OF THE PROVIDENCE IV.--THE CRUISE OF THE ALFRED V.--SUPERSEDED IN RANK--PROTESTS VAINLY AGAINST THE INJUSTICE--ORDERED TO COMMAND THE RANGER--HOISTS FIRST AMERICAN FLAG VI.--THE FIRST CRUISE OF THE RANGER--SALUTE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG VII.--THE SECOND CRUISE OF THE RANGER--THE DESCENT ON WHITEHAVEN--THE ATTEMPT ON LORD SELKIRK--THE CAPTURE OF THE DRAKE VIII.--STANDING AND WAITING IX.--THE CRUISE OF THE SQUADRON X.--THE BATTLE WITH THE SERAPIS XI.--AFTER THE BATTLE--REMARKS ON THE ACTION XII.--UPHOLDING AMERICAN HONOR IN THE TEXEL XIII.--THE ESCAPE OF THE ALLIANCE XIV.--HONORS AND REWARDS--QUARREL WITH LANDAIS--RELINQUISHES THE ALLIANCE XV.--THE CRUISE OF THE ARIEL XVI.--CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES TO THE CLOSE OF THE WAR XVII.--PRIZE AGENT IN FRANCE AND DENMARK--LAST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES--A BLOT ON THE ESCUTCHEON--FAMOUS PASSAGE OF THE BALTIC XVIII.--IN THE RUSSIAN SERVICE--OTCHAKOFF AND THE CAMPAIGN IN THE LIMAN XIX.--SLANDERED IN RUSSIA--A SLAVONIC REWARD FOR FAITHFUL SERVICES XX.--LAST YEARS AND DEATH XXI.--PERSONAL APPEARANCE--CHARACTERISTICS--WAS HE A PIRATE?--FAREWELL APPENDICES INDEX COMMODORE PAUL JONES. CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY--BIRTH--EARLY YEARS--PROFESSION--SUCCESS--CHANGE OF NAME. Of the three great captains whose magnificent fighting has added such glorious chapters to the history of our naval campaigns, but one, George Dewey, the last of them all, is purely an American by birth and generations of ancestors. Farragut, the greatest of the three, was but one remove from a Spaniard. John Paul Jones, first of the group in point of time and not inferior to the others in quality and achievement, was a Scotsman. Only the limitation in means necessitated by the narrow circumstances of his adopted country during his lifetime prevented his surpassing them all. He remains to this day a unique character among the mighty men who trod the deck and sailed the ocean--a strange personality not surpassed by any in the long line of sea fighters from Themistocles to Sampson. In spite of, nay, because of his achievements, he was among the most calumniated of men. What follows is an attempt to tell his story and to do him justice.