The conduct of Captain Maxwell on this trying occasion, justly endeared him to all on board the Alceste, from the ambassador to the lowest seaman. By his judicious arrangements, the crew was preserved from all the horrors of anarchy and confusion. His measures inspired confidence and hope, whilst his personal example in the hour of danger gave courage and animation to all around him. To adopt the words of the sentence of the court martial, by which he was afterwards tried, "his coolness, self-collection, and exertions were highly conspicuous; and every thing was done by him and his officers within the power of man to execute." |