ommissioners to give Jones the Indien,
a fine strong frigate building secretly at Amsterdam. But this proved to
be one more of Jones's many disappointments, for the British minister
to the Netherlands discovered the destination of the vessel and
protested to the States-General. The result was that the commissioners
were forced to sell the ship to France, to keep her out of the hands of
England, and Jones was compelled to make his invasion in the Ranger.

While proceeding in this little sloop to L'Orient, for the purpose of
fitting her out, he met the great French fleet and demanded and obtained
the first salute ever given the United States flag by the war vessels of
a foreign power. He wrote to the Marine Committee triumphantly: "I am
happy in having it in my power to congratulate you on my having seen the
American flag, for the first time, recognized in the fullest and
completest manner by the flag of France.... It was in fact an
acknowledgment of American independence." As the secret treaty between
France and the United States was signed about that time, it perhaps
needed less than the pertinacity of Paul Jones to extract a salute from
the imperial fleet. Shortly before sailing on his first famous cruise,
the restless man sent Silas Deane a letter proposing a plan of
operations for the French fleet in the coming war with England. The
scheme was for the superior French fleet to attack the English fleet
under Lord Howe, and destroy it or block it up in the Delaware. Jones
said in his journal that the plan, which was adopted, would have
succeeded if it had been put in immediate execution, and complained
because the credit of the scheme had been given to others.

This was only one of the bits of business which the energetic Jones
transacted before he sailed in the Ranger to harass England. He wrote,
as usual, innumerable letters, proposing, condemning, recommending. He
had trouble with an insubordinate first lieutenant. He began, too, his
social career in France. It was then that he met the Duchesse de
Chartres, great-granddaughter of Louis XIV. and mother of Louis
Philippe, who at a later time called Jones the Bayard of the Sea, and
whom Jones at that time promised "to lay an English frigate at her
feet." He kept his word in spirit, for years afterwards he gave her the
sword of Captain Pearson, commander of his famous prize, the Serapis.

III

THE CRUISE OF THE RANGER

Jones started on his cruise in the Rang