the empress, who conferred
upon him the coveted rank of rear-admiral, to the intense irritation of
many of the English officers in the service of Russia, who looked upon
Jones as a red-handed pirate. In June Catherine wrote to her favorite at
the time: "I am sorry that all the officers are raging about Paul Jones.
I hope fervently that they will cease their mad complaints, for he is
necessary to us." In 1792, long after the war in which Jones had played
a part, Catherine said, with a different accent: "Ce Paul Jones etait
une bien mauvaise tete." Certainly Jones's diplomacy, which was of a
direct character, was not equal to his present situation, unfamiliar to
him, and for success demanding conduct tortuous and insincere to an
Oriental degree. Jones, in comparison with his associates in Russia, was
remarkably truthful,--a trait which involved him in humiliating
difficulties, and which was a source of irritation to the empress and to
all concerned.

IX

IN THE RUSSIAN SERVICE

Paul Jones left St. Petersburg on May 7, to take command of the Russian
squadron in the Black Sea. Before his departure he requested of the
empress "never to be condemned unheard." This, one of the most modest
demands Jones ever made, was, as the sequel will show, denied him. He
arrived on the 19th at St. Elizabeth, the headquarters of Prince
Potemkin, the former favorite of the empress and the commander in chief
of the war against the Turks. Potemkin, under whose orders Jones stood,
was of a thoroughly despotic type. As Potemkin was a prince, Jones was
at first disposed to flatter him extravagantly, but the commodore was by
nature averse to being dictated to, particularly by those whom he deemed
his inferiors, and it was not long before they began to quarrel.

Paul Jones was put in command of the squadron which was to oppose the
fleet of the Capitan Pacha, and thus help the Russian army to take
Oczakow, a town lying at the junction of the Bog with the Knieper, which
had been strongly fortified by the Turks. Unfortunately, Jones was not
only subject to the orders of Prince Potemkin, but the immediate command
of the fleet was divided between him and a thoroughly incompetent and
arrogant adventurer, the Prince of Nassau. Jones commanded the heavier
ships, forming the squadron, while Nassau was in charge of a
considerable force of Russian gunboats and barges, composing what was
called the flotilla. Between Jones and Nassau existed extreme