rigates would raise us more in the estimation of Europe,
where we now most of all need countenance, than could the defeat or even
capture of one of their armies on the land here in America. And at the
same time it would fill all England with dismay. If we show to the world
that we can beat them afloat with an equal force, ship to ship, it will
be more than anyone else has been able to do in modern times, and it
will create a great and most desirable sentiment of respect and favor
towards us on the continent of Europe, where really, I think, the
question of our fate must ultimately be determined.

"Beyond this, if by exceedingly desperate fighting, one of our ships
shall conquer one of theirs of markedly superior force, we shall be
hailed as the pioneers of a new power on the sea, with untold prospects
of development, and the prestige if not the substance of English
dominion over the ocean will be forever broken. Happy, indeed, will be
the lot of the American captain upon whom fortune shall confer the
honor of fighting that battle!"

Jones was that happy captain, for both the events mentioned as highly
desirable he brought to pass.

In the report on the qualifications of naval officers Jones showed
himself to be quite abreast of our own times in the philosophy of naval
organization, and, moreover, possessed of a pen quite capable of
expressing, always with clearness and dignity and sometimes with
elegance, the full maturity of his thought. George Washington, one of
whose great qualities was the power to know men, read this report of
Jones and said: "Mr. Jones is clearly not only a master mariner within
the scope of the art of navigation, but he also holds a strong and
profound sense of the political and military weight of command on the
sea. His powers of usefulness are great and must be constantly kept in
view."

Jones was appointed first lieutenant in the navy on the 22d of December,
1775. He was sixth on the list of appointees, the other five being made
captains. Subsequent events showed that Jones would have been the best
man for the first place. He thought so himself, but hastened on board
his ship to serve as lieutenant, and was the first man who ever hoisted
the American flag on a man-of-war,--a spectacular trifle that gave him
much pleasure.

II

CRUISES OF THE PROVIDENCE AND THE ALFRED

The infant squadron of the United States, under the command of Ezek
Hopkins, consisting of the Alfred, of whic