After a few days in St. Petersburg, Paul Jones hurried on to the Black
Sea to take command of his fleet. But he again met with disappointments.
He was not given the command of the whole fleet, as he had expected.
Instead, he was given only half, Prince Nassau commanding the remainder.
Both of these men were under a still higher authority, Prince Potemkin.
Potemkin was as fond of glory as was Paul Jones. He and Nassau were
both jealous of the foreigner, and Potemkin finally succeeded in having
Paul Jones recalled to St. Petersburg.
He arrived there, full of sorrow, because he had achieved no fame. More
trouble was in store for him. Some jealous conspirators so blackened his
character that the empress would not allow him to appear at court.
Even after proving his innocence to the satisfaction of the empress, he
could not regain his former position.
About this time his health began to fail. Sick, both in body and mind,
he went back to Paris in 1790, having been in Russia about eighteen
months.
It was nearly a year afterward, before he gave up all hope of regaining
a position in the Russian service. When the empress refused him this, he
quietly waited for death.
This occurred on the 18th of July, 1792, in his lodgings in Paris. His
pride and love of titles had left him. He told his friends that he
wished no longer to be called Admiral or Chevalier.