personal example in the hour of danger gave courage and animation to
all around him.' Nor ought we to omit the high and well deserved
praise which Captain Maxwell bestowed upon the ship's company in his
examination before the court martial.

'I should be trespassing far too long upon the time of this court,'
said Captain Maxwell, 'were I to bring all before them whose conduct
merited applause; but I can with great veracity assure the court, that
from the captain to the smallest boy, all were animated by the spirit
of Britons; and, whatever the cause was, I ought not to regret having
been placed in a position to witness all the noble traits of character
this extraordinary occasion called forth; and having seen all my
companions in distress fairly embarked, I felt in walking off to the
boat that my heart was lifted up with gratitude to a kind Providence
that had watched over us.'

Captain Murray Maxwell commenced his naval career under the auspices
of Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, and obtained his first commission as
lieutenant in 1796, and was subsequently promoted to the command of
the Cyane, in December, 1802.

In the following year he was appointed to the Centaur, and received
his post commission on the 4th of August, in the same year. In 1804,
Captain Maxwell distinguished himself at the capture of Surinam, and
for his conduct on that occasion was highly mentioned in the
dispatches.

This officer was constantly employed in the late war, and
distinguished himself on so many occasions, that we can only briefly
allude to one or two instances where his gallantry was most
conspicuous. In 1806, he was appointed to the Alceste, and on the 4th
of April, 1808, whilst that vessel, in company with the Mercury,
Captain James Alexander Gordon, and the Grasshopper, 18-gun sloop, lay
at anchor near Cadiz, a large convoy under the protection of several
gun-boats, was seen coming close in shore from the northward.

Captain Maxwell determined to attempt their capture, and accordingly,
the Alceste and Mercury attacked the gun-boats, whilst the
Grasshopper, stationed close to the batteries of Rota, by a well
directed fire, succeeded in driving the Spaniards from their guns. The
gun-boats being thrown into confusion, the first-lieutenant of the
Alceste, Mr. Allen Stewart, and Lieutenant Watkin Owen Pell of the
Mercury, volunteered to board the enemy in the boats. They accordingly
dashed in among the convoy, boarded and brought ou