oved to be a 44 on two decks; the best I can
do toward keeping my word of two years ago, is to place in your hands
the sword of the brave officer who commanded the English 44. I have the
honor to surrender to the loveliest woman the sword surrendered to me by
one of the bravest of men,--the sword of Captain Richard Pearson, of his
Britannic Majesty's late ship the _Serapis_."

[Illustration: "I HAVE THE HONOR TO SURRENDER TO THE LOVELIEST WOMAN
THE SWORD SURRENDERED TO ME BY ONE OF THE BRAVEST OF MEN."]

The Royal Order of Military Merit with the title of Chevalier and the
gift of a gold-mounted sword were conferred upon him by the king of
France. Upon returning to America, he was given the rank of Head of the
Navy.

Remarkable as was the career of Paul Jones, the winds did not always set
in his favor. Many times was his life bark driven through the waters of
bitter disappointment. But "all that he was, and all that he did, and
all that he knew, was the result of self-help to a degree unexampled in
the histories of great men."

The flag of the _Ranger_, saluted by the French fleet, was transferred
by Jones to the _Bon Homme Richard_, and, says he, in his journal as
given by Buell, "was left flying when we abandoned her; the very last
vestige mortal ever saw of the _Bon Homme Richard_ was the defiant
waving of her unconquered and unstricken flag as she went down. And as I
had given them the good old ship for their sepulcher, I now bequeathed
to my immortal dead the Flag they had so desperately defended, for their
winding sheet." Here was: "the only flag," says one, "flying at the
bottom of the sea, over the only ship that ever sunk in victory."[1]

And everywhere,
The slender graceful spars
Poise aloft in the air
And at the masthead
White, blue, and red,
A flag unfolds, the Stripes and Stars.
Ah, when the wanderers, lonely, friendless,
In foreign harbors shall behold
That flag unrolled,
'Twill be as a friendly hand
Stretched out from native land,
Filling his heart with memories
Sweet and endless.

LONGFELLOW.

[1] In Preble's "History of the Flags of the United States," it is
given that when the _Bon Homme Richard_ was sinking the flag was
transferred to the _Serapis_, and was afterward presented by the
Marine Committee to James Bayard Stafford of the _Bon Homme Richard_
for meritorious services.

WH