against, as will appear by the accompanying letter from the Captain-General the Marquis de la Solano; and which is the more gratifying, as I was unacquainted with such intention until the letter was very handsomely conveyed to me by our late Consul-General, Mr. Duff.
“I am informed by the agent for prisoners of war, that an exchange will soon take place; after which I shall lose no time in bringing the officers and people to your lordship; and, in the interim, beg leave to assure you, that misfortune will not make me lose sight of my duty; and that in a great national object, which I know your lordship to have in view, I hope to make myself useful. I have the honor to be, &c.
[translation of enclosure.]
“Sir,– By the next post I shall forward to the Captain-General of Catalonia, the letter you sent me in your’s of the 8th instant, for Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, since it only contains the loss of the English brig of war Raven, whose captain, in honor to truth, I must acknowledge, from what I saw myself, and what I heard from the most intelligent men employed upon the naval service of the King my master, used all efforts imaginable that depended upon great exertion and good seamanship, to save the vessel, and manoeuvred with the greatest skill and judgment.
“To James Duff, Esq.”
Unfortunately for Commander Layman, he was advised by Lord Nelson, as an act of humanity, to cancel what he had written respecting the pusillanimity of his boatswain, the negligence of the master of the Raven, and the still more reprehensible conduct of the officer who had charge of the first watch on the night of Jan. 1805. “You will not be censured,” said Nelson; “but it will give an opportunity for ill-natured people to say you had no occasion to make this official statement; and, as it is the business of the president of the court-martial, by which you are to be tried, to find out all these things, I wish you would omit the passages reflecting on their conduct; but particularly that part relative to the misbehaviour of the officer of the watch, who will be sentenced to death, if your narrative, worded as it is at present, is laid before the Court.” To Commander Layman’s infinite astonishment, the Court declared that there had been a great want of necessary caution on his part, in approaching
