st as he is brave. Besides, he felt that his work was by no
means finished in the far East, for, as has been shown, there was need
of delicate diplomacy, prudence and statesmanship. He asked to be
allowed to stay, and he did so, until, the main difficulty being passed,
and his health feeling the result of the tremendous strain that was
never relaxed, he finally set sail in the _Olympia_ for home, leaving
Hong Kong in May, and, one year after his great victory, proceeding at a
leisurely rate that did not bring him to his native shores until the
cool breezes of autumn. On the long voyage hither he was shown the
highest honors everywhere, and Washington or Lincoln could not have
received more grateful homage than was paid to him by his countrymen,
whom he had served so long, so faithfully and so well.

Meanwhile, it should be added, that the rank of full Admiral of the
navy, hitherto borne only by David Glasgow Farragut and David Dixon
Porter, was revived and bestowed, in February, 1899, upon George Dewey,
and of the three none has worn the exalted honor more worthily than the
Green Mountain Boy, who has proven himself the born gentleman and
fighter, the thorough patriot and statesman and the Chevalier Bayard of
the American navy.

THE REVOLUTIONARY BATTLES.

CHAPTER IV.

Birth of the American Navy--The Privateers--Capture of New Providence,
in the Bahamas--Paul Jones--A Clever Exploit--A Skilful Escape--Fine
Seamanship--An Audacious Scheme.

When, on April 19, 1775, the battle of Lexington opened the Revolution
the Colonies did not possess a single ship with which to form the
beginning of a navy. They had for many years been actively engaged in
the coasting trade and some of their vessels did valiant service on the
side of England in the wars against France and Spain. We had a good many
hardy, skilled seamen, who formed the best material from which to man a
navy, and before long Congress undertook the work of building one. That
body ordered the construction of thirteen frigates--one for each
State--and some of these did noble work, but by the close of the war few
of them were left; nearly all had been captured or destroyed.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES.]

It was far different with the privateers, which were vessels fitted out
by private parties, under the authority of Congress, to cruise the seas
wherever they chose and capture English vessels wherever they could.
When a prize was take