gratulate you. I have taken the liberty of writing to Lord Melville on this subject. Believe me to be, my dear Sir, your sincere friend.
“To Lieut. Thomas Ussher.”
In justice to the other officers who were to have been employed on the same hazardous service, we shall here insert a copy of Captain Puget’s letter, recommending them to the favorable notice of the Admiralty.
“My Lord,– As the plan for attempting to destroy the enemy’s fleet in Brest appears for the present abandoned, I think it my duty to state to your Lordship the readiness with which the following officers volunteered their services on that occasion – Lieutenants Graves, Ussher, Milne, and Mends; and though their expectations were a little damped from the circumstance of my being deprived of the principal command, yet even holding a secondary situation, these officers did not shrink from their original offer, but came forward still, under my auspices, to execute that service.
“The unwearied diligence they bestowed in every stage of that undertaking, and their anxiety to execute it with honor and credit to themselves, deserve every recommendation I can give them, not exactly on that account, but for the secrecy they observed. I feel fully convinced, had it been our good fortune to have conducted that enterprise, these officers would have merited your Lordship’s countenance and protection: as it is, I think it but common justice to mention their spirit and alacrity. I have the honor to be, &c.
“To the Right Hon. Viscount Melville, &c. &c. &c.”
ANSWER.
“Sir,– I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and I have much satisfaction in observing the favorable testimony which you bear to the zeal of Lieutenants Graves, Ussher, Milne, and Mends, in their voluntary offer to accompany you on a particular service, and to their diligence and discretion during the whole period that the execution of the project was in contemplation.
“For the zeal which you yourself manifested in suggesting this project, and for the ability with which you appear to have directed and detailed the means of carrying it into effect, you are fully entitled to, and have my entire approbation. I am, &c.
“To Captain Paget, R.N.”
From a memorial subsequently presented to the Admiralty by Captain Puget, we find that it was originally intended to
