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486 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.

]\Iarine was unnoticed. He had heard it said, that the IMarine
deserved to be so treated for not joining the Army. If so, it
would serve as a lesson in future to regulate the claims of
militar}^ bodies, and teach the just value (jf demands imaided
by power. Now for patriotism. In 1799, a subscription was
set on foot towards carrying on the war, as a test of public
opinion. It was liberally supported in this country, and was
also effectively carried on in India. Most of their servants,
Civil, Military, and IMarine, subscribed towards it ; but Captain
Selby, of the Bombay Marine, subscribed the whole of his pay
during the war. He stood a solitary exanjple of such devotion
in the Company's Service ; and continuing to serve, he sacri-
ficed his life in their employ. He would not tire them with a
detail of the numerous instances of gallantry and devotion
which he could adduce of your Marine officers under such
evident disadvantages and discouragement ; suffice it to say the
repeated testimonies of His Majesty's officers in favour of their
good conduct, afforded some consolation to their wounded feel-
ings ; and the existence of those testimonies on the Company's
records could not be denied. He would now assert, without
fear of being denied, what might be justly deemed a proud
proof of devotion by any njilitary body in the world. In no
one solitary instance had the British colours ever been lowered
from the peak of one of their miserably ill -manned cruisers to
any enemy of inferior, or even of equal force, while they
liad often proved successful when combating a superior foe.
But supposing such military ardour and patriotism of no
value in the estiniation of the Company, he would address
them simply as merchants, and ask if disinterestedness on
the part of their Marine officers in preferring the Company's
interests to their own, could establish any claim 'f
Captain Maxfield then recounted the circumstances, already
detailed, under which Commodore Hayes, with the noble
disinterestedness for which he was remarkable, refused to
permit the captains of his flag-ship, the ' Malabar,' and of the
' Mornington,' to make prizes of two large Chinese junks,
bound from Batavia to Amoy, having on board Dutch property
to the value of £000,000, but directed their release on the
grounds that their retention might be prejudicial to the interests
of the State. After citing this order. Captain Maxfield con-
—
tinued : "Now the above order afforded a good illustration of
the injpolic}^ of the orders of the Court of Directors in 1804.
Suppose for one moment that Conjmodore Hayes had not been
present, but that one of their regular ships had been in com-
pany, it was not possible to believe that the commander would
have presumed to issue such an order, and still less likely any
captain of their Marine would have attended to it if they had.
The man who made such a sacrifice to promote their interests