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Mutiny on the Bounty
'Captain Bligh in his narrative acknowledges that he had left some
friends on board the _Bounty_, and no part of my conduct could have
induced him to believe that I ought not to be reckoned of the number.
Indeed from his attention to and very kind treatment of me personally,
I should have been a monster of depravity to have betrayed him. The
idea alone is sufficient to disturb a mind where humanity and
gratitude have, I hope, ever been noticed as its characteristic
features; and yet Mr. Hallet has said that he saw me laugh at a time
when, Heaven knows, the conflict in my own mind, independent of the
captain's situation, rendered such a want of decency impossible. The
charge in its nature is dreadful, but I boldly declare,
notwithstanding an internal conviction of my innocence has enabled me
to endure my sufferings for the last sixteen months, could I have laid
to my heart so heavy an accusation, I should not have lived to defend
myself from it. And this brings to my recollection another part of
Captain Bligh's narrative, in which he says, "I was kept apart from
every one, and all I could do was by speaking to them in general, but
my endeavours were of no avail, for I was kept securely bound, and no
one but the guard was suffered to come near me."
'If the captain, whose narrative we may suppose to have been a detail
of every thing which happened, could only recollect that he had spoken
generally to the people, I trust it will hardly be believed that Mr.
Hallet, without notes, at so distant a period as this, should be
capable of recollecting that he heard him speak to any one in
particular; and here it may not be improper to observe that, at the
time to which I allude, Mr. Hallet (if I am rightly informed) could
not have been more than fifteen years of age. I mean not to impeach
his courage, but I think if circumstances be considered, and an
adequate idea of the confused state of the ship can be formed by this
Court, it will not appear probable that this young gentleman should
have been so perfectly unembarrassed as to have been able to
particularize the muscles of a man's countenance, even at a
considerable distance from him; and what is still more extraordinary
is, that he heard the captain call to me from abaft the mizen to the
platform where I was standing, which required an exertion of voice,
and must have been heard and noticed by all who were present, as the
captain and Christian were at that awful moment the objects of every
one's peculiar attention; yet he who was standing between us, and
noticing the transactions of us both, could not hear what was said.
'To me it has ever occurred that diffidence is very becoming, and of
all human attainments a knowledge of ourselves is the most difficult;
and if, in the ordinary course of life, it is not an easy matter
precisely to account for our own actions, how much more difficult and
hazardous must it be, in new and momentous scenes, when the mind is
hurried and distressed by conflicting passions, to judge of another's
conduct; and yet here are two young men, who, after a lapse of near
four years (in which period one of them, like myself, has grown from a
boy to be a man), without hesitation, in a matter on which my life is
depending, undertake to account for some of my actions, at a time,
too, when some of the most experienced officers in the ship are not
ashamed to acknowledge they were overcome by the confusion which the
mutiny occasioned, and are incapable of recollecting a number of their
own transactions on that day.
'I can only oppose to such open boldness the calm suggestions of
reason, and would willingly be persuaded that the impression under
which this evidence has been given is not in any degree open to
suspicion. I would be understood, at the same time, not to mean
anything injurious to the character of Mr. Hallet, and for Mr.
Hayward, I ever loved him, and must do him the justice to declare,
that whatever cause I may have to deplore the effect of his evidence,
or rather his opinion, for he has deposed no fact against me, yet I am
convinced it was given conscientiously, and with a tenderness and
feeling becoming a man of honour.
'But may they not both be mistaken? Let it be remembered that their
long intimacy with Captain Bligh, in whose distresses they were
partakers, and whose sufferings were severely felt by them, naturally
begot an abhorrence towards those whom they thought the authors of
their misery,--might they not forget that the story had been told to
them, and by first of all believing, then constantly thinking of it,
be persuaded at last it was a fact within the compass of their own
knowledge.
'It is the more natural to believe it is so, from Mr. Hallet's
forgetting what the captain said upon the occasion, which, had he been
so collected as he pretends to have been, he certainly must have
heard. Mr. Hayward, also, it is evident, has made a mistake in point
of time as to the seeing me with Morrison and Millward upon the booms;
for the boatswain and carpenter in their evidence have said, and the
concurring testimony of every one supports the fact, that the mutiny
had taken place, and the captain was on deck, before they came up, and
it was not till after that time that the boatswain called Morrison and
Millward out of their hammocks; therefore to have seen me at all upon
the booms with those two men, it must have been long after the time
that Mr. Hayward has said it was. Again, Mr. Hayward has said that he
could not recollect the day nor even the month when the _Pandora_
arrived at Otaheite. Neither did Captain Edwards recollect when, on
his return, he wrote to the Admiralty, that Michael Byrne had
surrendered himself as one of the _Bounty's_ people, but in that
letter he reported him as having been apprehended, which plainly shows
that the memory is fallible to a very great degree; and it is a fair
conclusion to draw that, if when the mind is at rest, which must have
been the case with Mr. Hayward in the _Pandora_, and things of a few
months' date are difficult to be remembered, it is next to impossible,
in the state which every body was on board the _Bounty_, to remember
their particular actions at the distance of three years and a half
after they were observed.
'As to the advice he says he gave me, to go into the boat, I can only
say, I have a faint recollection of a short conversation with
somebody--I thought it was Mr. Stewart--but be that as it may, I think
I may take upon me to say it was on deck and not below, for on hearing
it suggested that I should be deemed guilty if I stayed in the ship, I
went down directly, and in passing Mr. Cole, told him, in a low tone
of voice, that I would fetch a few necessaries in a bag and follow him
into the boat, which at that time I meant to do, but was afterwards
prevented.
'Surely I shall not be deemed criminal that I hesitated at getting
into a boat whose gunnel, when she left the ship, was not quite eight
inches above the surface of the water. And if, in the moment of
unexpected trial, fear and confusion assailed my untaught judgement,
and that by remaining in the ship I appeared to deny my commander, it
was in appearance only--it was the sin of my head--for I solemnly
assure you before God, that it was not the vileness of my heart.
'I was surprised into my error by a mixture of ignorance,
apprehension, and the prevalence of example; and, alarmed as I was
from my sleep, there was little opportunity and less time for better
recollection. The captain, I am persuaded, did not see me during the
mutiny, for I retired, as it were, in sorrowful suspense, alternately
agitated between hope and fear, not knowing what to do. The dread of
being asked by him, or of being ordered by Christian to go into the
boat,--or, which appeared to me worse than either, of being desired by
the latter to join his party, induced me to keep out of the sight of
both, until I was a second time confined in my berth by Thompson, when
the determination I had made was too late to be useful.
'One instance of my conduct I had nearly forgot, which, with much
anxiety and great astonishment, I have heard observed upon and
considered as a fault, though I had imagined it blameless, if not
laudable--I mean the assistance I gave in hoisting out the launch,
which, by a mode of expression of the boatswain's, who says I did it
voluntarily (meaning that I did not refuse my assistance when he asked
me to give it), the Court, I am afraid, has considered it as giving
assistance to the mutineers, and not done with a view to help the
captain; of which, however, I have no doubt of being able to give a
satisfactory explanation in evidence.
'Observations on matters of opinion I will endeavour to forbear where
they appear to have been formed from the impulse of the moment; but I
shall be pardoned for remembering Mr. Hayward's (given I will allow
with great deliberation, and after long weighing the question which
called for it), which cannot be reckoned of that description, for
although he says he rather considered me as a friend to Christian's
party, he states that his last words to me were, "Peter, go into the
boat," which words could not have been addressed to one who was of the
party of the mutineers. And I am sure, if the countenance is at all an
index to the heart, mine must have betrayed the sorrow and distress he
has so accurately described.
'It were trespassing unnecessarily upon the patience of the Court, to
be giving a tedious history of what happened in consequence of the
mutiny, and how, through one very imprudent step, I was unavoidably
led into others.
'But, amidst all this pilgrimage of distress, I had a conscience,
thank heaven, which lulled away the pain of personal difficulties,
dangers, and distress. It was this conscious principle which
determined me not to hide myself as if guilty. No--I welcomed the
arrival of the _Pandora_ at Otaheite, and embraced the earliest
opportunity of freely surrendering myself to the captain of that ship.
'By his order I was chained and punished with incredible severity,
though the ship was threatened with instant destruction: when fear and
trembling came on every man on board, in vain, for a long time, were
my earnest repeated cries, that the galling irons might not, in that
moment of affrighting consternation, prevent my hands from being
lifted up to heaven for mercy.
'But though it cannot fail deeply to interest the humanity of this
Court, and kindle in the breast of every member of it compassion for
my sufferings, yet as it is not relative to the point, and as I cannot
for a moment believe that it proceeded from any improper motive on the
part of Captain Edwards, whose character in the navy stands high in
estimation both as an officer and a man of humanity, but rather that
he was actuated in his conduct towards me by the imperious dictates of
the laws of the service, I shall, therefore, waive it, and say no more
upon the subject.
'Believe me, again I entreat you will believe me, when, in the name of
the tremendous judge of heaven and earth (before whose vindictive
Majesty I may be destined soon to appear), I now assert my innocence
of plotting, abetting, or assisting, either by word or deed, the
mutiny for which I am tried--for, young as I am, I am still younger in
the school of art and such matured infamy.
'My parents (but I have only one left, a solitary and mournful mother,
who is at home weeping and trembling for the event of this day),
thanks to their fostering care, taught me betimes to reverence God, to
honour the king, and be obedient to his laws; and at no one time have
I resolutely or designedly been an apostate to either.
'To this honourable Court, then, I now commit myself.
'My character and my life are at your disposal; and as the former is
as sacred to me as the latter is precious, the consolation or settled
misery of a dear mother and two sisters, who mingle their tears
together, and are all but frantic for my situation--pause for your
verdict.
'If I am found worthy of life, it shall be improved by past
experience, and especially taught from the serious lesson of what has
lately happened; but if nothing but death itself can atone for my
pitiable indiscretion, I bow with submission and all due respect to
your impartial decision.
'Not with sullen indifference shall I then meditate on my doom as not
deserving it--no, such behaviour would be an insult to God and an
affront to man, and the attentive and candid deportment of my judges
in this place requires more becoming manners in me.
'Yet, if I am found guilty this day, they will not construe it, I
trust, as the least disrespect offered to their discernment and
opinion, if I solemnly declare that my heart will rely with confidence
in its own innocence, until that awful period when my spirit shall be
about to be separated from my body to take its everlasting flight, and
be ushered into the presence of that unerring Judge, before whom all
hearts are open and from whom no secrets are hid.
'P. HEYWOOD.'
His witnesses fully established the facts which he assumed in this
defence. He then delivered to the president a paper, of which the
following is a copy:--
'My Lord,--the Court having heard the witnesses I have been enabled to
call, it will be unnecessary to add anything to their testimony in
point of fact, or to observe upon it by way of illustration. It is, I
trust, sufficient to do away any suspicion which may have fallen upon
me, and to remove every implication of guilt which, while unexplained,
might by possibility have attached to me. It is true I have, by the
absence of Captain Bligh, Simpson, and Tinkler, been deprived of the
opportunity of laying before the Court much that would at least have
been grateful to my feelings, though I hope not necessary to my
defence; as the former must have exculpated me from the least
disrespect, and the two last would have proved past all contradiction
that I was unjustly accused. I might regret that in their absence I
have been arraigned, but, thank heaven, I have been enabled, by the
very witnesses who were called to criminate me, to oppose facts to
opinions, and give explanation to circumstances of suspicion.
'It has been proved that I was asleep at the time of the mutiny, and
waked only to confusion and dismay. It has been proved, it is true,
that I continued on board the ship, but it has been also proved I was
detained by force; and to this I must add, I left the society of those
with whom I was for a time obliged to associate, as soon as possible,
and with unbounded satisfaction resigned myself to the Captain of the
_Pandora_, to whom I gave myself up, to whom I also delivered my
journal[25] (faithfully brought up to the preceding day), and to whom
I also gave every information in my power. I could do no more; for at
the first time we were at Otaheite it was impossible for me, watched
and suspected as I was, to separate from the ship. My information to
Captain Edwards was open, sincere, and unqualified, and I had many
opportunities given me at different times of repeating it. Had a track
been open to my native country, I should have followed it; had a
vessel arrived earlier, I should earlier with the same eagerness have
embraced the opportunity, for I dreaded not an inquiry in which I
foresaw no discredit. But Providence ordained it otherwise. I have
been the victim of suspicion, and had nearly fallen a sacrifice to
misapprehension. I have, however, hitherto surmounted it, and it only
remains with this Court to say, if my sufferings have not been equal
to my indiscretion.
'The decision will be the voice of honour, and to that I must
implicitly resign myself.
'P. HEYWOOD.'
_Mr. Morrison's Defence_
Sets out by stating that he was waked at daylight by Mr. Cole the
boatswain, who told him that the ship was taken by Christian; that he
assisted in clearing out the boat at Mr. Cole's desire, and says,
'While I was thus employed Mr. Fryer came to me and asked if I had any
hand in the mutiny; I told him No. He then desired me to see who I
could find to assist me, and try to rescue the ship; I told him I
feared it was then too late, but would do my endeavour; when John
Millward, who stood by me, and heard what Mr. Fryer said, swore he
would stand by me if an opportunity offered. Mr. Fryer was about to
speak again, but was prevented by Matthew Quintal, who, with a pistol
in one hand, collared him with the other, saying, "Come, Mr. Fryer,
you must go down into your cabin"; and hauled him away. Churchill then
came, and shaking his cutlass at me, demanded what Mr. Fryer said. I
told him that he only asked me if they were going to have the
long-boat, upon which Alexander Smith (Adams), who stood on the
opposite side of the boat, said, "It's a d--d lie, Charley, for I saw
him and Millward shake hands when the master spoke to them." Churchill
then said to me, "I would have you mind how you come on, for I have an
eye upon you." Smith at the same time called out, "Stand to your arms,
for they intend to make a rush." This, as it was intended, put the
mutineers on their guard, and I found it necessary to be very cautious
how I acted; and I heard Captain Bligh say to Smith, "I did not expect
you would be against me, Smith"; but I could not hear what answer he
made.'
He says that, while clearing the boat, he heard Christian order
Churchill to see that no arms were put into her; to keep Norman,
M'Intosh, and Coleman in the ship, and get the officers into the boat
as fast as possible; that Mr. Fryer begged permission to stay, but to
no purpose. On seeing Mr. Fryer and most of the officers going into
the boat, without the least appearance of an effort to rescue the
ship, I began to reflect on my own situation; and seeing the situation
of the boat, and considering that she was at least a thousand leagues
from any friendly settlement, and judging, from what I had seen of the
Friendly Islanders but a few days before, that nothing could be
expected from them but to be plundered or killed, and seeing no choice
but of one evil, I chose, as I thought the least, to stay in the ship,
especially as I considered it as obeying Captain Bligh's orders, and
depending on his promise to do justice to those who remained. I
informed Mr. Cole of my intention, who made me the like promise,
taking me by the hand and saying, "God bless you, my boy; I will do
you justice if ever I reach England."
'I also informed Mr. Hayward of my intention; and on his dropping a
hint to me that he intended to knock Churchill down, I told him I
would second him, pointing to some of the Friendly Island clubs which
were sticking in the booms, and saying, "There were tools enough": but
(he adds) 'I was suddenly damped to find that he went into the boat
without making the attempt he had proposed.'
He then appeals to the members of the Court, as to the alternative
they would themselves have taken:--'A boat alongside, already crowded;
those who were in her crying out she would sink; and Captain Bligh
desiring no more might go in--with a slender stock of
provisions,--what hope could there be to reach any friendly shore, or
withstand the hostile attacks of the boisterous elements? The perils
those underwent who reached the island of Timor, and whom nothing but
the apparent interference of Divine Providence could have saved, fully
justify my fears, and prove beyond a doubt that they rested on a solid
foundation; for by staying in the ship, an opportunity might offer of
escaping, but by going in the boat nothing but death appeared, either
from the lingering torments of hunger and thirst, or from the
murderous weapons of cruel savages, or being swallowed up by the deep.
'I have endeavoured,' he says, 'to recall to Mr. Hayward's remembrance
a proposal he at one time made, by words, of attacking the mutineers,
and of my encouraging him to the attempt, promising to back him. He
says he has but a faint recollection of the business--so faint indeed
that he cannot recall to his memory the particulars, but owns there
was something passed to that effect. Faint, however, as his
remembrance is (which for me is the more unfortunate), ought it not to
do away all doubt with respect to the motives by which I was then
influenced?' And, in conclusion, he says, 'I beg leave most humbly to
remind the members of this honourable Court, that I did freely, and of
my own accord, deliver myself up to Lieutenant Robert Corner, of
H.M.S. _Pandora_, on the first certain notice of her arrival.'
_William Muspratt's Defence_
Declares his innocence of any participation in the mutiny; admits he
assisted in hoisting out the boat, and in putting several articles
into her; after which he sat down on the booms, when Millward came and
mentioned to him Mr. Fryer's intention to rescue the ship, when he
said he would stand by Mr. Fryer as far as he could; and with that
intention, and for that purpose only, he took up a musket which one of
the people had laid down, and which he quitted the moment he saw
Bligh's people get into the boat. Solemnly denies the charge of Mr.
Purcell against him, of handing liquor to the ship's company. Mr.
Hayward's evidence, he trusts, must stand so impeached before the
Court, as not to receive the least attention, when the lives of so
many men are to be affected by it--for, he observes, he swears that
Morrison was a mutineer, because he assisted in hoisting out the
boats; and that M'Intosh was not a mutineer, notwithstanding he was
precisely employed on the same business--that he criminated Morrison
from the appearance of his countenance--that he had only a faint
remembrance of that material and striking circumstance of Morrison
offering to join him to retake the ship--that, in answer to his
(Muspratt's) question respecting Captain Bligh's words, 'My lads, I'll
do you justice' he considered them applied to the people in the boat,
and not to those in the ship--to the same question put by the Court,
he said they applied to persons remaining in the ship. And he notices
some other instances which he thinks most materially affect Mr.
Hayward's credit; and says, that if he had been under arms when
Hayward swore he was, he humbly submits Mr. Hallet must have seen him.
And he concludes with asserting (what indeed was a very general
opinion), 'that the great misfortune attending this unhappy business
is, that no one ever attempted to rescue the ship; that it might have
been done, Thompson being the only sentinel over the arm-chest.'
_Michael Byrne's Defence_
was very short. He says, 'It has pleased the Almighty, among the
events of His unsearchable providence, nearly to deprive me of sight,
which often puts it out of my power to carry the intentions of my mind
into execution.
'I make no doubt but it appears to this honourable Court, that on the
28th of April, 1789, my intention was to quit his Majesty's ship
_Bounty_ with the officers and men who went away, and that the sorrow
I expressed at being detained was real and unfeigned.
'I do not know whether I may be able to repeat the exact words that
were spoken on the occasion, but some said, "We must not part with our
fiddler"; and Charles Churchill threatened to send me to the shades if
I attempted to quit the cutter, into which I had gone for the purpose
of attending Lieutenant Bligh': and, without further trespassing on
the time of the Court, he submits his case to its judgement and mercy.
It is not necessary to notice any parts of the defence made by
Coleman, Norman, and M'Intosh, as it is clear, from the whole evidence
and from Bligh's certificates, that those men were anxious to go in
the boat, but were kept in the ship by force.
It is equally clear, that Ellison, Millward, and Burkitt, were
concerned in every stage of the mutiny, and had little to offer in
their defence in exculpation of the crime of which they were accused.
On the sixth day, namely, on the 18th of September, 1792, the Court
met,--the prisoners were brought in, audience admitted, when the
president, having asked the prisoners if they or any of them had
anything more to offer in their defence, the Court was cleared, and
agreed,--
'That the charges had been proved against the said Peter Heywood,
James Morrison, Thomas Ellison, Thomas Burkitt, John Millward, and
William Muspratt; and did adjudge them, and each of them, to suffer
death, by being hanged by the neck, on board such of his Majesty's
ship or ships of war, and at such time or times, and at such place or
places, as the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High
Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland, etc., or any three of them, for
the time being, should, in writing, under their hands, direct; but the
Court, in consideration of various circumstances, did humbly and most
earnestly recommend the said Peter Heywood and James Morrison to his
Majesty's mercy; and the Court further agreed, that the charges had
not been proved against the said Charles Norman, Joseph Coleman,
Thomas M'Intosh, and Michael Byrne, and did adjudge them, and each of
them, to be acquitted.'
The Court was then opened and audience admitted, and sentence passed
accordingly.