Section 20 of 28 - Table of Contents
CHAPTER VII
THE KING'S WARRANT
Well, believe this--
No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,
Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace,
As mercy does.
It was a very common feeling that Heywood and Morrison, the former in
particular, had been hardly dealt with by the Court in passing upon them
a sentence of death, tempered as it was with the recommendation to the
king's mercy. It should, however, have been recollected, that the Court
had no discretional power to pass any other sentence but that, or a full
acquittal. But earnestly, no doubt, as the Court was disposed towards
the latter alternative, it could not, consistently with the rules and
feelings of the service, be adopted. It is not enough in cases of mutiny
(and this case was aggravated by the piratical seizure of a king's ship)
that the officers and men in his Majesty's naval service should take no
active part;--to be neutral or passive is considered as tantamount to
aiding and abetting. Besides, in the present case, the remaining in the
ship along with the mutineers, without having recourse to such means as
offered of leaving her, presumes a voluntary adhesion to the criminal
party. The only fault of Heywood, and a pardonable one on account of his
youth and inexperience, was his not asking Christian to be allowed to go
with his captain,--his not _trying_ to go in time. M'Intosh, Norman,
Byrne, and Coleman were acquitted because they expressed a strong desire
to go, but were forced to remain. This was not only clearly proved, but
they were in possession of written testimonies from Bligh to that
effect; and so would Heywood have had, but for some prejudice Bligh had
taken against him, in the course of the boat-voyage home, for it will be
shown that he knew he was confined to his berth below.
In favour of three of the four men condemned without a recommendation,
there were unhappily no palliating circumstances. Millward, Burkitt, and
Ellison were under arms from first to last; and Ellison not only left
the helm to take up arms, but, rushing aft towards Bligh, called out,
'D--n him, I'll be sentry over him.' The fourth man, Muspratt, was
condemned on the evidence of Lieutenant Hayward, which, however, appears
to have been duly appreciated by the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, and in consequence of which the poor man escaped an
ignominious death.
The family of young Heywood in the Isle of Man had been buoyed up, from
various quarters, with the almost certainty of his full acquittal. From
the 12th September, when the court-martial first sat, till the 24th of
that month, they were prevented, by the strong and contrary winds which
cut off all communication with England, from receiving any tidings
whatever. But while Mrs. Heywood and her daughters were fondly
flattering themselves with everything being most happily concluded, one
evening, as they were indulging these pleasing hopes, a little boy, the
son of one of their particular friends, ran into the room and told them,
in the most abrupt manner, that the trial was over and all the prisoners
condemned, but that Peter Heywood was recommended to mercy; he added
that a man whose name he mentioned had told him this. The man was sent
for, questioned, and replied he had seen it in a newspaper at Liverpool,
from which place he was just arrived in a small fishing-boat, but had
forgotten to bring the paper with him. In this state of doubtful
uncertainty this wretched family remained another whole week, harassed
by the most cruel agony of mind, which no language can express.[26]
The affectionate Nessy determined at once to proceed to Liverpool, and
so on to London. She urges her brother James at Liverpool to hasten to
Portsmouth: 'Don't wait for me, I can go alone; fear and even despair
will support me through the journey; think only of our poor unfortunate
and adored boy, bestow not one thought on me.' And she adds, 'yet, if I
could listen to reason (which is indeed difficult), it is not likely
that anything serious has taken place, or will do so, as we should then
certainly have had an express.' She had a tempestuous passage of
forty-nine hours, and to save two hours got into an open fishing-boat at
the mouth of the Mersey, the sea running high and washing over her every
moment; but, she observes, 'let me but be blessed with the cheering
influence of _hope_, and I have spirit to undertake anything.' From
Liverpool she set off the same night in the mail for London; and arrived
at Mr. Graham's on the 5th October, who received her with the greatest
kindness, and desired her to make his house her home.
The suspense into which the afflicted family in the Isle of Man had been
thrown, by the delay of the packet, was painfully relieved on its
arrival in the night of the 29th September, by the following letter from
Mr. Graham to the Rev. Dr. Scott, which the latter carried to Mrs.
Heywood's family the following morning.
'_Portsmouth, Tuesday, 18th September_.
'SIR,--Although a stranger, I make no apology in writing to
you. I have attended and given my assistance at Mr. Heywood's
trial, which was finished and the sentence passed about half
an hour ago. Before I tell you what that sentence is, I must
inform you that his life is safe, notwithstanding it is at
present at the mercy of the king, to which he is in the
strongest terms recommended by the Court. That any unnecessary
fears may not be productive of misery to the family, I must
add, that the king's attorney-general (who with Judge Ashurst
attended the trial) desired me to make myself perfectly easy,
for that my friend was as safe as if he had not been
condemned. I would have avoided making use of this dreadful
word, but it must have come to your knowledge, and perhaps
unaccompanied by many others of a pleasing kind. To prevent
its being improperly communicated to Mrs. or the Misses
Heywood, whose distresses first engaged me in the business,
and could not fail to call forth my best exertions upon the
occasion, I send you this by express. The mode of
communication I must leave to your discretion; and shall only
add that, although from a combination of circumstances,
ill-nature, and mistaken friendship, the sentence is in itself
terrible, yet it is incumbent on me to assure you that, from
the same combination of circumstances, everybody who attended
the trial is perfectly satisfied in his own mind that he was
_hardly guilty in appearance, in intention he was perfectly
innocent_. I shall of course write to Commodore Pasley, whose
mind, from my letter to him of yesterday, must be dreadfully
agitated, and take his advice about what is to be done when
Mr. Heywood is released. I shall stay here till then, and my
intention is afterwards to take him to my house in town, where
I think he had better stay till one of the family calls for
him: for he will require a great deal of tender management
after all his sufferings; and it would perhaps be a necessary
preparation for seeing his mother, that one or both his
sisters should be previously prepared to support her on so
trying an occasion.'
On the following day Mr. Graham again writes to Dr. Scott, and
among other things observes, 'It will be a great satisfaction
to his family to learn, that the declarations of some of the
other prisoners, since the trial, put it past all doubt that
the evidence upon which he was convicted must have been (to
say nothing worse of it) an unfortunate belief, on the part of
the witness, of circumstances which either never had
existence, or were applicable to one of the other gentlemen
who remained in the ship, and not to Mr. Heywood.'[27]
On the 20th September Mr. Heywood addresses the first letter he wrote,
after his conviction, to Dr. Scott.
'HONOURED AND DEAR SIR,--On Wednesday the 12th instant the
awful trial commenced, and on _that_ day, _when in Court_, I
had the pleasure of receiving your most kind and parental
letter,[28] in answer to which I now communicate to you the
melancholy issue of it, which, as I desired my friend Mr.
Graham to inform you of immediately, will be no dreadful news
to you. The morning lowers, and all my hope of worldly joy is
fled. On Tuesday morning the 18th the dreadful sentence of
death was pronounced upon me, to which (being the just decree
of that Divine Providence who first gave me breath) I bow my
devoted head, with that fortitude, cheerfulness, and
resignation, which is the duty of every member of the church
of our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Christ Jesus. To Him alone
I now look up for succour, in full hope that perhaps a few
days more will open to the view of my astonished and fearful
soul His kingdom of eternal and incomprehensible bliss,
prepared only for the righteous of heart.
'I have not been found guilty of the slightest act connected
with that detestable crime of mutiny, but am doomed to die for
not being active in my endeavours to suppress it. Could the
witnesses who appeared on the Court-martial be themselves
tried, _they_ would also suffer for the very same and only
crime of which I have been found guilty. But I am to be the
victim. Alas! my youthful inexperience, and not depravity of
will, is the sole cause to which I can attribute my
misfortunes. But so far from repining at my fate, I receive it
with a dreadful kind of joy, composure, and serenity of mind;
well assured that it has pleased God to point me out as a
subject through which some greatly useful (though at present
unsearchable) intention of the divine attributes may be
carried into execution for the future benefit of my country.
Then why should I repine at being made a sacrifice for the
good, perhaps, of thousands of my fellow-creatures; forbid it,
Heaven! Why should I be sorry to leave a world in which I have
met with nothing but misfortunes and all their concomitant
evils? I shall on the contrary endeavour to divest myself of
all wishes for the futile and sublunary enjoyments of it, and
prepare my soul for its reception into the bosom of its
Redeemer. For though the very strong recommendation I have had
to his Majesty's mercy by all the members of the Court may
meet with his approbation, yet that is but the balance of a
straw, a mere uncertainty, upon which no hope can be built;
the other is a certainty that must one day happen to every
mortal, and therefore the salvation of my soul requires my
most prompt and powerful exertions during the short time I may
have to remain on earth.
'As this is too tender a subject for me to inform my unhappy
and distressed mother and sisters of, I trust, dear Sir, you
will either show them this letter, or make known to them the
truly dreadful intelligence in such a manner as (assisted by
your wholesome and paternal advice) may enable them to bear it
with Christian fortitude. The only worldly feelings I am now
possessed of are for their happiness and welfare; but even
these, in my present situation, I must endeavour, with God's
assistance, to eradicate from my heart, how hard soever the
task. I must strive against cherishing any temporal
affections. But, my dear Sir, endeavour to mitigate my
distressed mother's sorrow. Give my everlasting duty to her,
and unabated love to my disconsolate brothers and sisters, and
all my other relations. Encourage them, by my example, to bear
up with fortitude and resignation to the Divine will, under
their load of misfortunes, almost too great for female nature
to support, and teach them to be fully persuaded that all
hopes of happiness on earth are vain. On my own account I
still enjoy the most easy serenity of mind; and am, dear Sir,
for ever your greatly indebted and most dutiful, but
ill-fated,
'PETER HEYWOOD.'
His next letter is to his dearly beloved Nessy.
'Had I not a strong idea that, ere this mournful epistle from
your ill-fated brother can reach the trembling hand of my ever
dear and much afflicted Nessy, she must have been informed of
the final issue of my trial on Wednesday morning, by my
honoured friend Dr. Scott, I would not now add trouble to the
afflicted by a confirmation of it. Though I have indeed fallen
an early victim to the rigid rules of the service, and though
the jaws of death are once more opened upon me, yet do I not
now nor ever will bow to the tyranny of base-born fear.
Conscious of having done my duty to God and man, I feel not
one moment's anxiety on my own account, but cherish a full and
sanguine hope that perhaps a few days more will free me from
the load of misfortune which has ever been my portion in this
transient period of existence; and that I shall find an
everlasting asylum in those blessed regions of eternal bliss,
where the galling yoke of tyranny and oppression is felt no
more.
'If earthly Majesty, to whose mercy I have been recommended by
the Court, should refuse to put forth its lenient hand and
rescue me from what is _fancifully_ called an ignominious
death, there is a heavenly King and Redeemer ready to receive
the righteous penitent, on whose gracious mercy alone I, as we
all should, depend, with that pious resignation which is the
duty of every Christian; well convinced that, without His
express permission, not even a hair of our head can fall to
the ground.
'Oh! my sister, my heart yearns when I picture to myself the
affliction, indescribable affliction, which this melancholy
intelligence must have caused in the mind of my much honoured
mother. But let it be your peculiar endeavour to watch over
her grief and mitigate her pain. I hope, indeed, this little
advice from me will be unnecessary; for I know the holy
precepts of that inspired religion, which, thank heaven! have
been implanted in the bosoms of us all, will point out to you,
and all my dear relatives, that fortitude and resignation
which are required of us in the conflicts of human nature, and
prevent you from arraigning the wisdom of that omniscient
Providence, of which we ought all to have the fullest sense.
'I have had all my dear Nessy's letters; the one of the 17th
this morning, but alas! what do they now avail? Their contents
only serve to prove the instability of all human hopes and
expectations; but, my dear sister, I begin to feel the pangs
which you must suffer from the perusal of this melancholy
paper, and will therefore desist, for I know it is more than
your nature can support. The contrast between last week's
correspondence and this is great indeed; but why? we had only
hope then; and have we not the same now? certainly. Endeavour
then, my love, to cherish that hope, and with faith rely upon
the mercy of that God who does as to Him seems best and most
conducive to the general good of His miserable creatures.
'Bear it then with Christian patience, and instil into the
mind of my dear and now sorrowful sisters, by your advice, the
same disposition; and, for heaven's sake, let not despair
touch the soul of my dear mother--for then all would be over.
Let James also employ all his efforts to cheer her spirits
under her weight of woe. I will write no more. Adieu, my
dearest love! Write but little to me, and pray for your ever
affectionate but ill-fated brother.
'P.S.--I am in perfect spirits, therefore let not your
sympathizing feelings for my sufferings hurt your own precious
health, which is dearer to me than life itself. Adieu!--'
In a letter to his mother he assures her of the perfect tranquillity of
his mind; advises her not to entertain too sanguine hopes, but at the
same time not to be uneasy; and he adds, 'A minister of the gospel, who
now attends me, has advised me not to say too much to any of my dear
relations, but now and then I cannot avoid it.' To his dearest Nessy,
who encourages him to take hope, he says, 'Alas! it is but a broken
stick which _I_ have leaned on, and it has pierced my soul in such a
manner that I will never more trust to it, but wait with a contented
mind and patience for the final accomplishment of the Divine will....
Mrs. _Hope_ is a faithless and ungrateful acquaintance, with whom I have
now broken off all connexions, and in her stead have endeavoured to
cultivate a more sure friendship with _Resignation_, in full trust of
finding her more constant.' He desires her to write through her brother
James who is with him; and says that the reason for his having desired
her not to write much was, lest she might hurt herself by it; and he
adds, 'from an idea that your exalted sentiments upon so tender a
subject ought not to be known by an inquiring world; but,' he continues,
'do just as you like best: I am conscious that your good sense will
prompt you to nothing inconsistent with our present circumstances.' To
this she replies, in the true spirit of a character like her own. 'Yes!
my ever dearest brother, I _will_ write to you, and I know I need not
add, that in _that_ employment (while thus deprived of your loved
society) consists my only happiness. But why not express my sentiments
to yourself? I have nothing to say which I should blush to have known to
all the world;--nothing to express in my letters to you but love and
affection, and shall I blush for this? Or can I have a wish to conceal
sentiments of such a nature for an object who I am so certain merits all
my regard, and in whom the admiration of surrounding friends convinces
me I am not mistaken. No, surely; 'tis my pride, my chiefest glory, to
love you; and when you think me worthy of commendation, _that_ praise,
and _that_ only, can make me vain. I shall not therefore write to you,
my dearest brother, in a private manner, for it is unnecessary, and I
abhor all deceit; in which I know you agree with me.'
To her sister Mary in the Isle of Man she says, 'With respect to that
little wretch Hallet, his intrepidity in court was astonishing; and
after every evidence had spoken highly in Peter's favour, and given
testimony of his innocence, so strong that not a doubt was entertained
of his acquittal, _he_ declared, unasked, that while Bligh was upon
deck, he (Hallet) saw him look at and speak to Peter. What he said to
him Hallet could not hear, (being at the distance of twenty feet from
Bligh, and Peter was twenty feet farther off, consequently a distance of
forty feet separated Mr. Bligh and my brother); but he added that Peter,
on _hearing_ what Mr. Bligh said to him, _laughed_ and turned
contemptuously away. No other witness saw Peter laugh but Hallet; on the
contrary, all agreed he wore a countenance on that day remarkably
sorrowful; yet the effect of this cruel evidence was wonderful upon the
minds of the Court, and they concluded by pronouncing the dreadful
sentence, though at the same time accompanied by the strongest
recommendation to mercy. Assure yourselves (I have it from Mr. Graham's
own mouth), that Peter's honour is and will be as secure as his own;
that every professional man, as well as every man of sense, of whatever
denomination, does and will esteem him highly; that my dear uncle Pasley
(who was in town the night before my arrival) is delighted with his
worth; and that, in short, we shall at length be happy.'
From this time a daily correspondence passed between Peter Heywood and
his sister Nessy, the latter indulging hope, even to a certainty, that
she will not be deceived,--the other preaching up patience and
resignation, with a full reliance on his innocence and integrity. 'Cheer
up then,' says he, 'my dear Nessy; cherish _your hope_, and I will
exercise _my patience_.' Indeed so perfectly calm was this young man
under his dreadful calamity, that in a very few days after condemnation
his brother says, 'While I write this, Peter is sitting by me making an
Otaheitan vocabulary, and so happy and intent upon it, that I have
scarcely an opportunity of saying a word to him; he is in excellent
spirits, and I am convinced they are better and better every day.'
This vocabulary is a very extraordinary performance; it consists of one
hundred full-written folio pages, the words alphabetically arranged, and
all the syllables accented. It appears, from a passage in the _Voyage of
the Duff_, that a copy of this vocabulary was of great use to the
missionaries who were first sent to Otaheite in this ship.
During the delay which took place in carrying the sentence into
execution, Commodore Pasley, Mr. Graham, and others, were indefatigable
in their inquiries and exertions to ascertain what progress had been
made in bringing to a happy issue the recommendation to the fountain of
mercy: not less so was Nessy Heywood: from Mr. Graham she learnt what
this excellent man considered to be the principal parts of the evidence
that led to the conviction of her unhappy brother, which, having
understood to be the following, she transmitted to her brother:--
_First_. That he assisted in hoisting out the launch.
_Second_. That he was seen by the carpenter resting his hand upon a
cutlass.
_Third_. That on being called to by Lieutenant Bligh, he laughed.
_Fourth_. That he remained in the _Bounty_ instead of accompanying
Bligh in the launch.
On these points of the evidence, Mr. Heywood made the following
comments, which he sent from Portsmouth to his sister in town.
'Peter Heywood's Remarks upon material points of the evidence
which was given at his trial, on board the _Duke_, in
Portsmouth Harbour.
'_First. That I assisted in hoisting out the launch._--This
boat was asked for by the captain and his officers, and
whoever assisted in hoisting her out were their friends; for
if the captain had been sent away in the cutter (which was
Christian's first intention), he could not have taken with him
more than nine or ten men, whereas the launch carried
nineteen. The boatswain, the master, the gunner, and the
carpenter say, in their evidence, that they considered me as
helping the captain on this occasion.
'_Second. That I was seen by the carpenter resting my hand on
a cutlass_.--I was seen in this position by no other person
than the carpenter--no other person therefore could be
intimidated by my appearance. Was the carpenter intimidated by
it?--No. So far from being afraid of me, he did not even look
upon me in the light of a person armed, but pointed out to me
the danger there was of my being thought so, and I immediately
took away my hand from the cutlass, upon which I had very
innocently put it when I was in a state of stupor. The Court
was particularly pointed in its inquiries into this
circumstance; and the carpenter was pressed to declare, on the
oath he had taken, and after maturely considering the matter,
whether he did, at the time he saw me so situated, or had
since been inclined to believe, that, under all the
circumstances of the case, I could be considered as an _armed
man_, to which he unequivocally answered, No; and he gave some
good reasons (which will be found in his evidence) for
thinking that I had not a wish to be armed during the mutiny.
The master, the boatswain, the gunner, Mr. Hayward, Mr.
Hallet, and John Smith (who, with the carpenter, were all the
witnesses belonging to the _Bounty_), say, in their evidence,
that they did not, _any of them,_ see me armed; and the
boatswain and the carpenter further say, in the most pointed
terms, that they considered me to be one of the captain's
party, and _by no means_ as belonging to the mutineers: and
the master, the boatswain, the carpenter, the gunner, all
declare that, from what they observed on my conduct during the
mutiny, and from a recollection of my behaviour previous
thereto, they were convinced I would have afforded them all
the assistance in my power, if an opportunity had offered to
retake the ship.
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