THE COURT-MARTIAL
If any person in or belonging to the
fleet shall make, or endeavour to make, any mutinous
assembly, upon any pretence whatsoever, every
person offending herein, and being convicted
thereof, by the sentence of the Court-martial,
shall suffer DEATH.
Naval Articles of
War, Art 19.
The Court assembled to try the prisoners
on board his Majesty’s ship Duke, on
the 12th September, 1792, and continued by adjournment
from day to day (Sunday excepted) until the 18th of
the same month.
PRESENT
Vice-Admiral Lord Hood,
President.
Capt. Sir Andrew
Snape Hamond, Bart.,
" John
Colpoys,
" Sir
George Montagu,
" Sir
Roger Curtis,
" John
Bazeley,
" Sir
Andrew Snape Douglas,
" John
Thomas Duckworth,
" John
Nicholson Inglefield,
" John
Knight,
" Albemarle
Bertie,
" Richard
Goodwin Keats.
The charges set forth that Fletcher
Christian, who was mate of the Bounty, assisted
by others of the inferior officers and men, armed
with muskets and bayonets, had violently and forcibly
taken that ship from her commander, Lieutenant Bligh;
and that he, together with the master, boatswain,
gunner, and carpenter, and other persons (being nineteen
in number), were forced into the launch and cast adrift; that
Captain Edwards, in the Pandora, was directed
to proceed to Otaheite, and other islands in the South
Seas, and to use his best endeavours to recover the
said vessel, and to bring in confinement to England
the said Fletcher Christian and his associates, or
as many of them as he might be able to apprehend,
in order that they might be brought to condign punishment,
&c. That Peter Heywood, James Morrison, Charles
Norman, Joseph Coleman, Thomas Ellison, Thomas M’Intosh,
Thomas Burkitt, John Millward, William Muspratt, and
Michael Byrne, had been brought to England, &c., and
were now put on their trial.
Mr. Fryer, the master of the
Bounty, being first sworn, deposed
That he had the first watch; that between ten and eleven oclock Mr. Bligh
came on deck, according to custom, and after a short conversation, and having
given his orders for the night, left the deck; that at twelve he was relieved by
the gunner, and retired, leaving all quiet; that at dawn of day he was greatly
alarmed by an unusual noise; and that, on attempting to jump up, John Sumner and
Matthew Quintal laid their hands upon his breast and desired him to lie still,
saying he was their prisoner; that on expostulating with them, he was told,
Hold your tongue, or you are a dead man, but if you remain quiet there is none
on board will hurt a hair of your head; he further deposes, that on raising
himself on the locker, he saw on the ladder, going upon deck, Mr. Bligh in his
shirt, with his hands tied behind him, and Christian holding him by the cord;
that the master-at-arms, Churchill, then came to his cabin and took a brace of
pistols and a hanger, saying, I will take care of these, Mr. Fryer; that he
asked, on seeing Mr. Bligh bound, what they were going to do with the captain;
that Sumner replied, D n his eyes, put him into the boat, and let the see
if he can live upon three-fourths of a pound of yams a day; that he
remonstrated with such conduct, but in vain. They said he must go in the
small cutter. The small cutter! Mr. Fryer exclaimed; why her bottom is
almost out, and very much eaten by the worms! to which Sumner and Quintal both
said, D
n his eyes, the boat is too good for him’; that
after much entreaty he prevailed on them to ask Christian
if he might be allowed to go on deck, which, after
some hesitation, was granted. When I came on
deck, says Mr. Fryer, Mr. Bligh was standing by the
mizen-mast, with his hands tied behind him, and Christian
holding the cord with one hand, and a bayonet in the
other. I said, ’Christian, consider what
you are about.’ ‘Hold your tongue,
Sir,’ he said; ’I have been in hell for
weeks past; Captain Bligh has brought all this on himself.’
I told him that Mr. Bligh and he not agreeing was
no reason for taking the ship. ‘Hold your
tongue, Sir,’ he said. I said, Mr.
Christian, you and I have been on friendly terms during
the voyage, therefore give me leave to speak, let
Mr. Bligh go down to his cabin, and I make no doubt
we shall all be friends again; he then repeated, Hold your tongue, Sir; it is
too late; and threatening me if I said anything more. Mr. Fryer then
asked him to give a better boat than the cutter; he said, No, that boat is good
enough. Bligh now said to the master, that the man behind the hen-coops
(Isaac Martin) was his friend, and desired him (the master) to knock Christian
down, which Christian must have heard, but took no notice; that Fryer then
attempted to get past Christian to speak to Martin, but he put his bayonet to
his breast, saying, Sir, if you advance an inch farther, I will run you
through, and ordered two armed men to take him down to his cabin. Shortly
afterwards he was desired to go on deck, when Christian ordered him into the
boat: he said, I will stay with you, if you will give me leave.
No, Sir, he replied, go directly into the boat. Bligh, then on the
gangway, said, Mr. Fryer, stay in the ship. No, by G d, Sir,
Christian said, go into the boat, or I will run you through. Mr. Fryer
states, that during this time very bad language was used by the people towards
Mr. Bligh; that with great difficulty they prevailed on Christian to suffer a
few articles to be put into the boat; that after the persons were ordered into
the boat to the number of nineteen, such opprobrious language continued to be
used, several of the men calling out Shoot the ,’
that Cole, the boatswain, advised they should cast
off and take their chance, as the mutineers would
certainly do them a mischief if they stayed much longer.
Mr. Fryer then states the names of those who were
under arms; and that Joseph Coleman, Thomas M’Intosh,
Charles Norman, and Michael Byrne (prisoners), wished
to come into the boat, declaring they had nothing
to do in the business; that he did not perceive Mr.
Peter Heywood on deck at the seizure of the ship.
On being asked what he supposed Christian
meant when he said he had been in hell for a fortnight?
he said, from the frequent quarrels that they had,
and the abuse he had received from Mr. Bligh, and that
the day before the mutiny Mr. Bligh had challenged
all the young gentlemen and people with stealing his
cocoa-nuts.
Mr. Cole, the boatswain, deposes, that he had the middle watch; was
awakened out of his sleep in the morning, and heard a man calling out to the
carpenter, that they had mutinied and taken the ship; that Christian had the
command, and that the captain was a prisoner on the quarter-deck; that he went
up the hatchway, having seen Mr. Heywood and Mr. Young in the opposite berth;
that coming on deck he saw the captain with his hands tied behind him, and four
sentinels standing over him, two of which were Ellison and Burkitt, the
prisoners; that he asked Mr. Christian what he meant to do, and was answered by
his ordering him to hoist the boat out, and shook the bayonet, threatening him
and damning him if he did not take care; that when he found the captain was to
be sent out of the ship, he again went aft with the carpenter to ask for the
long-boat; that they asked three or four times before he granted it; that he saw
Mr. Peter Heywood, one of the prisoners, lending a hand to get the fore-stayfall
along, and when the boat was hooked on, spoke something to him, but what it was
does not know, as Christian was threatening him at the time; that Heywood then
went below, and does not remember seeing him afterwards; that after the few
things were got into the boat, and most of the people in her, they were trying
for the carpenters tool-chest, when Quintal said, D n them, if we let them
have these things they will build a vessel in a month’;
but when all were in the boat she was veered astern,
when Coleman, Norman, and M’Intosh, prisoners,
were crying at the gangway, wishing to go in the boat;
and Byrne in the cutter alongside was also crying;
that he advised Mr. Bligh to cast off, as he feared
they would fire into the boat.
The Court asked if he had any
reason to believe that any other of the prisoners
than those named were detained contrary to their inclinations?
Answer ’I believe Mr. Heywood was;
I thought all along he was intending to come away;
he had no arms, and he assisted to get the boat out,
and then went below; I heard Churchill call out, ‘Keep
them below.’ The Court ’Do
you think he meant Heywood?’ ’I have no
reason to think any other.’
Mr. Peckover the gunner’s
evidence is similar to that of Mr. Cole’s, and
need not be detailed.
Mr. Purcell, the carpenter,
corroborated, generally, the testimony of the three
who had been examined. The Court asked, ’Did
you see Mr. Heywood standing upon the booms?’
’Yes; he was leaning the flat part of his hand
on a cutlass, when I exclaimed, In the name of God,
Peter, what do you with that? when he instantly dropped
it, and assisted in hoisting the launch out, and handing
the things into the boat, and then went down below,
when I heard Churchill call to Thompson to keep them
below, but could not tell whom he meant; I did not
see Mr. Heywood after that.’ The Court ’In
what light did you look upon Mr. Heywood, at the time
you say he dropped the cutlass on your speaking to
him?’ Witness ’I looked
upon him as a person confused, and that he did not
know he had the weapon in his hand, or his hand being
on it, for it was not in his hand; I considered him
to be confused, by his instantly dropping it, and
assisting in hoisting the boat out, which convinced
me in my own mind that he had no hand in the conspiracy;
that after this he went below, as I think, on his
own account, in order to collect some of his things
to put into the boat.’ The Court ’Do
you, upon the solemn oath you have taken, believe
that Mr. Heywood, by being armed with a cutlass at
the time you have mentioned, by anything that you
could collect from his gestures or speeches, had any
intention of opposing, or joining others that might
oppose, to stop the progress of the mutiny?’
Witness ’No.’ The
Court ’In the time that Mr. Heywood
was assisting you to get the things into the boat,
did he, in any degree whatever, manifest a disposition
to assist in the mutiny?’ Witness ’No.’
The Court ’Was he, during
that time, deliberate or frightened, and in what manner
did he behave himself?’ Witness ’I
had not an opportunity of observing his every action,
being myself at that time engaged in getting several
things into the boat, so that I cannot tell.’
The Court ’Putting every circumstance
together, declare to this court, upon the oath you
have taken, how you considered his behaviour, whether
as a person joined in the mutiny, or as a person wishing
well to Captain Bligh?’ Witness ’I
by no means considered him as a person concerned in
the mutiny or conspiracy.’
Lieutenant Thomas Hayward,
late third lieutenant of the Pandora, and formerly
midshipman of the Bounty, deposes, that
he had the morning watch; that at four o’clock
Fletcher Christian relieved the watch as usual; that
at five he ordered him, as master’s mate of his
watch, to look out, while he went down to lash his
hammock up; that while looking at a shark astern of
the ship, to his unutterable surprise, he saw Fletcher
Christian, Charles Churchill, Thomas Burkitt (the prisoner),
John Sumner, Matthew Quintal, William M’Koy,
Isaac Martin, Henry Hillbrant, and Alexander Smith,
coming aft, armed with muskets and bayonets; that
on going forward, he asked Christian the cause of such
an act, who told him to hold his tongue instantly;
and leaving Isaac Martin as a sentinel on deck, he
proceeded with the rest of his party below to Lieutenant
Bligh’s cabin; that the people on deck were Mr.
John Hallet, myself, Robert Lamb, Butcher, Thomas
Ellison (prisoner) at the helm, and John Mills at
the conn; that he asked Mills if he knew any thing
of the matter, who pleaded total ignorance, and Thomas
Ellison quitted the helm and armed himself with a
bayonet; that the decks now became thronged with armed
men; that Peter Heywood, James Morrison (two of the
prisoners), and George Stewart, were unarmed on the
booms; that Fletcher Christian and his gang had not
been down long before he heard the cry of murder from
Lieutenant Bligh, and Churchill calling out for a rope,
on which Mills, contrary to all orders and entreaties,
cut the deep-sea line and carried a piece of it to
their assistance; that soon after Lieutenant Bligh
was brought upon the quarter-deck with his hands bound
behind him, and was surrounded by most of those who
came last on deck.
This witness then states, that on
the arrival of the Pandora at Matavai Bay,
Joseph Coleman was the first that came on board; that
he was upset in a canoe and assisted by the natives;
that as soon as the ship was at anchor, George Stewart
and Peter Heywood came on board; that they made themselves
known to Captain Edwards, and expressed their happiness
that he was arrived; that he asked them how they came
to go away with his Majesty’s ship the Bounty,
when George Stewart said, when called upon hereafter,
he would answer all particulars; that he was prevented
by Captain Edwards from answering further questions,
and they were sent out of the cabin to be confined.
He then describes the manner in which the rest of
the mutineers were taken on the island. Having
stated that when he went below to get some things he
saw Peter Heywood in his berth, and told him to go
into the boat, he was asked by the Court if
Heywood was prevented by any force from going upon
deck, he answered, ‘No.’ The Court ’Did
you, from his behaviour, consider him as a person
attached to his duty, or to the party of the mutineers?’
Witness ’I should rather suppose,
after my having told him to go into the boat, and
he not joining us, to be on the side of the mutineers;
but that must be understood only as an opinion, as
he was not in the least employed during the active
part of it.’ The Court ’Did
you observe any marks of joy or sorrow on his countenance
or behaviour?’ Witness ’Sorrow.’
Lieutenant Hallet, late midshipman
of the Bounty, states, that he had
the morning-watch; that he heard Lieutenant Bligh call
out murder, and presently after saw him brought upon
deck naked, excepting his shirt, with his hands tied
behind him, and Christian holding the end of the cord
which tied them in one hand, and either a bayonet or
a cutlass in the other; that the cutter was hoisted
out, and Mr. Samuel, Mr. Hayward, and myself ordered
to go into her; but the boatswain and carpenter going
aft, and telling Christian they wished to go with the
captain rather than stay in the ship, and asking to
have the launch, it was granted. On being asked
if he saw Peter Heywood on that day, he replied, once,
on the platform, standing still and looking attentively
towards Captain Bligh; never saw him under arms nor
spoke to him; does not know if he offered to go in
the boat, nor did he hear any one propose to him to
go in the boat; that when standing on the platform,
Captain Bligh said something to him, but what he did
not hear, upon which Heywood laughed, turned round,
and walked away.
Captain Edwards being then
called and sworn, was desired by the Court to state
the conversation that passed between him and Coleman,
Peter Heywood, and George Stewart, when they came
on board the Pandora.
Edwards ’Joseph
Coleman attempted to come on board before the ship
came to an anchor at Otaheite; he was soon afterwards
taken up by canoes and came on board before the ship
came to an anchor; I began to make inquiries of him
after the Bounty and her people. The next
who came on board were Stewart and Peter Heywood;
they came after the ship was at anchor, but before
any boat was on shore. I did not see them come
alongside. I desired Lieutenant Larkin to bring
them down to the cabin. I asked them what news;
Peter Heywood, I think, said he supposed I had heard
of the affair of the Bounty. I don’t
recollect all the conversation that passed between
us; he sometimes interrupted me by asking for Mr.
Hayward, the lieutenant of the Pandora, whether
he was on board or not he had heard that
he was; at last I acknowledged that he was, and I
desired him to come out of my state-room, where I had
desired him to go into, as he happened to be with me
at the time. Lieutenant Hayward treated him with
a sort of contemptuous look, and began to enter into
conversation with him respecting the Bounty,
but I called the sentinel in to take them into custody,
and ordered Lieutenant Hayward to desist, and I ordered
them to be put into irons; some words passed, and
Peter Heywood said he should be able to vindicate his
conduct.
Lieutenant Corner, of the Pandora,
merely states his being sent to bring the rest of
the mutineers on board, who were at some distance from
Matavai Bay.
The prisoners being called on for
their defence, the witnesses were again separately
called and examined on the part of the prisoners.
Mr. Fryer, the master, called
in and examined by Mr. Heywood -- ’If
you had been permitted, would you have stayed in the
ship in preference to going into the boat?’
Witness ’Yes.’ Prisoner ’Had
you stayed in the ship in expectation of retaking
her, was my conduct such, from the first moment you
knew me to this, as would have induced you to intrust
me with your design; and do you believe I would have
favoured it, and given you all the assistance in my
power?’ Witness ’I believe
he would: I should not have hesitated a moment
in asking of him when I had had an opportunity of
opening my mind to him.’
The same question being put to Mr.
Cole, the boatswain, Mr. Peckover, the
gunner, and Mr. Purcell, the carpenter, they
all answered in the affirmative.
Mr. Heywood asked, ’What was
my general conduct, temper, and disposition on board
the ship?’ Witness ’Beloved
by everybody, to the best of my recollection.’
To the same question, Mr. Cole answers, ’Always
a very good character.’ Mr. Peckover ’The
most amiable, and deserving of every one’s esteem.’
Mr. Purcell ’In every respect
becoming the character of a gentleman, and such as
merited the esteem of everybody.’
Mr. Cole being examined, gave
his testimony, that he never saw Mr. Heywood
armed; that he did not consider him of the mutineers’
party; that he saw nothing of levity or apparent merriment
in his conduct; that when he was below with Stewart,
he heard Churchill call out, ’Keep them below,’
and that he believes Heywood was one of the persons
meant has no doubt of it at all; that Bligh
could not have spoken to him, when on the booms, loud
enough to be heard; that Hayward was alarmed, and Hallet
alarmed; that he by no means considers Heywood or Morrison
as mutineers.
Mr. Purcell being examined,
states, that, respecting the cutlass on
which he saw Mr. Heywood’s hand resting, he does
not consider him as being an armed man; that he never
thought him as of the mutineers’ party; that
he never heard Captain Bligh speak to him; that he
thinks, from his situation, he could not have heard
him; that he was by no means guilty of levity or apparent
merriment; that he heard the master-at-arms call out
to keep them below; that Mr. Hallet appeared to him
to be very much confused; and that Mr. Hayward likewise
appeared to be very much confused.
The Court asked, ’As
you say you did not look upon the prisoner as a person
armed, to what did you allude when you exclaimed, “Good
God, Peter, what do you do with that?"’ Witness ’I
look upon it as an accidental thing.’
Captain Edwards, being asked
by Heywood ’Did I surrender myself
to you upon the arrival of the Pandora at Otaheite?’
Witness ’Not to me, to the
Lieutenant. I apprehend he put himself in my power.
I always understood he came voluntarily; our boats
were not in the water.’ Prisoner ’Did
I give you such information respecting myself and the
Bounty as afterwards proved true?’ Witness ’He
gave me some information respecting the people on
the island, that corroborated with Coleman’s.
I do not recollect the particular conversation, but
in general it agreed with the account given by Coleman.’
Prisoner ’When I told you
that I went away the first time from Otaheite with
the pirates, did I not at the same time inform you
that it was not possible for me to separate myself
from Christian, who would not permit any man of the
party to leave him at that time, lest, by giving intelligence,
they might have been discovered whenever a ship should
arrive?’ Witness ’Yes,
but I do not recollect the latter part of it, respecting
giving intelligence.’
Mr. Fryer again called in and
examined by Mr. Morrison -- Mr. Fryer states,
he saw him assist in hoisting out the boats; that he
said to him (Fryer), ‘Go down below.’
The Court asked, ’Whether it might not
have been from a laudable motive, as supposing your
assistance at that time might have prevented a more
advantageous effort?’ Witness ’Probably
it might: had I stayed in the ship, he would have
been one of the first that I should have opened my
mind to, from his good behaviour in the former part
of the voyage’: states his belief, that
he addressed him as advice; and that, in hoisting
out the boat, he was assisting Captain Bligh.
Mr. Cole, the boatswain, states,
that he ordered Morrison to go and help them with
the cutter; that he told him the boat was overloaded;
that Captain Bligh had begged that no more people should
go in her, and said he would take his chance in the
ship; that he shook Morrison by the hand, and said
he would do him justice in England; that he had no
reason to suppose him concerned in the mutiny.
Lieutenant Thomas Hayward states,
that Morrison appeared joyful, and supposed him to
be one of the mutineers; on being asked by Morrison
if he could declare before God and the Court that
what he stated was not the result of a private pique?
Witness ’Not the result of
any private pique, but an opinion formed after quitting
the ship, from his not coming with us, there being
more boats than one; cannot say they might have had
the cutter.’ This witness was pleased to
remember nothing that was in favour of the prisoner.
Lieutenant Hallet states, he
saw Morrison under arms; being asked in what part
of the ship, he says, ’I did not see him under
arms till the boat was veered astern, and he was then
looking over the taffrail, and called out, in a jeering
manner, “If my friends inquire after me, tell
them I am somewhere in the South Seas."’
Captain Edwards bore testimony
that Morrison voluntarily surrendered himself.
Mr. Fryer did not see Morrison
armed; he was in his watch, and he considered him
a steady, sober, attentive, good man; and acknowledged,
that if he had remained in the ship, with the view
of retaking her, Morrison would have been one of the
first he should have called to his assistance.
Mr. Cole gave testimony to
his being a man of good character, attentive to his
duty, and he never knew any harm of him.
Mr. Purcell bore witness to
his good character, being always diligent and attentive;
did not see him under arms on the taffrail; never heard
him use any jeering speeches. Respecting the prisoner
Muspratt, Mr. Cole’s evidence proves
that he had a musket in his hands, but not till the
latter part of the business; it is also proved that
he assisted in getting things into the launch. Mr.
Peckover saw him standing on the forecastle doing
nothing he was not armed.
Lieutenant Hayward saw Muspratt
among the armed men: was asked, when Captain
Bligh used the words, ’Don’t let the boat
be overloaded, my lads’ ’I’ll
do you justice’; do you understand the latter
words, ’My lads, I’ll do you justice,’
to apply to clothes or to men, whom he apprehended
might go into the boat? Witness If
Captain Bligh made use of the words “my lads,”
it was to the people already in the boat, and not
to those in the ship.’ The Court ’To
whom do you imagine Captain Bligh alluded: was
it, in your opinion, to the men in the boat with him,
or to any persons then remaining in the ship?’
Witness ’To persons remaining
in the ship.’
Against the prisoners Ellison, Burkitt,
and Millward, the evidence given by all the witnesses
so clearly and distinctly proved they were under arms
the whole time, and actively employed against Bligh,
that it is unnecessary to go into any detail as far
as they are concerned.
The Court having called on the prisoners, each separately, for his defence,
Mr. Heywood delivered his as follows:
’My lords and gentlemen of this
honourable Court, Your attention has
already been sufficiently exercised in the painful
narrative of this trial; it is therefore my duty to
trespass further on it as little as possible.
’The crime of mutiny, for which
I am now arraigned, is so seriously pregnant
with every danger and mischief, that it makes
the person so accused, in the eyes, not only of military
men of every description, but of every nation,
appear at once the object of unpardonable guilt
and exemplary vengeance.
’In such a character it is my
misfortune to appear before this tribunal, and
no doubt I must have been gazed at with all that horror
and indignation which the conspirators of such a mutiny
as that in Captain Bligh’s ship so immediately
provoke; hard, then, indeed is my fate, that
circumstances should so occur to point me out
as one of them.
’Appearances, probably, are against
me, but they are appearances only; for unless
I may be deemed guilty for feeling a repugnance
at embracing death unnecessarily, I declare before
this Court and the tribunal of Almighty God, I am
innocent of the charge.
’I chose rather to defer asking
any questions of the witnesses until I heard
the whole of the evidence; as the charge itself, although
I knew it generally, was not in its full extent, nor
in particular points, made known to me before
I heard it read by the Judge Advocate at the
beginning of the trial: and I feel myself
relieved by having adopted such a mode, as it enables
me to set right a few particulars of a narrative which
I had the honour to transmit to the Earl of Chatham,
containing an account of all that passed on the
fatal morning of the 28th of April, 1789, but
which, from the confusion the ship was in during
the mutiny, I might have mistaken, or from the
errors of an imperfect recollection I might have mis-stated;
the difference, however, will now be open to correction;
and I have great satisfaction in observing, that the
mistakes but very slightly respect my part of the
transaction, and I shall consequently escape the
imputation of endeavouring to save myself by
imposing on my judges.
’When first this sad event took
place I was sleeping in my hammock; nor, till
the very moment of being awakened from it, had
I the least intimation of what was going on. The
spectacle was as sudden to my eyes, as it was
unknown to my heart; and both were convulsed
at the scene.
’Matthew Thompson was the first
that claimed my attention upon waking: he
was sitting as a sentinel over the arm-chest and my
berth, and informed me that the captain was a
prisoner, and Christian had taken the command
of the ship. I entreated for permission
to go upon deck; and soon after the boatswain and
carpenter had seen me in my berth, as they were
going up the fore-hatchway, I followed them,
as is stated in their evidence. It is not
in my power to describe my feelings upon seeing
the captain as I did, who, with his hands tied behind
him, was standing on the quarter-deck, a little
abaft the mizen-mast, and Christian by his side.
My faculties were benumbed, and I did not recover
the power of recollection until called to by
somebody to take hold of the tackle-fall, and
assist to get out the launch, which I found was to
be given to the captain instead of the large
cutter, already in the water alongside the ship.
It were in vain to say what things I put into
the boat, but many were handed in by me; and in
doing this it was that my hand touched the cutlass
(for I will not attempt to deny what the carpenter
has deposed), though, on my conscience, I am
persuaded it was of momentary duration, and innocent
as to intention. The former is evident, from
its being unobserved by every witness who saw me upon
deck, some of whom must have noticed it had it
continued a single minute; and the latter is
proved by the only person who took notice of
the circumstance, and has also deposed that, at the
moment he beheld me, I was apparently in a state of
absolute stupor. The poison, therefore, carries
with it its antidote; and it seems needless to
make any further comment on the subject, for
no man can be weak enough to suppose, that if I
had been armed for the purpose of assisting in the
mutiny, I should have resumed a weapon in the
moment of triumph, and when the ship was so completely
in the possession of the party, that (as more
than one witness has emphatically expressed it)
all attempts at recovering her would have been impracticable.
’The boat and ship, it is true,
presented themselves to me without its once occurring
that I was at liberty to choose, much less that
the choice I should make would be afterwards deemed
criminal; and I bitterly deplore that my extreme youth
and inexperience concurred in torturing me with
apprehensions, and prevented me from preferring
the former; for as things have turned out, it
would have saved me from the disgrace of appearing
before you as I do at this day it would
have spared the sharp conflicts of my own mind
ever since, and the agonizing tears of a tender
mother and my much-beloved sisters.
’Add to my youth and inexperience,
that I was influenced in my conduct by the example
of my messmates, Mr. Hallet and Mr. Hayward,
the former of whom was very much agitated, and the
latter, though he had been many years at sea,
yet, when Christian ordered him into the boat,
he was evidently alarmed at the perilous situation,
and so much overcome by the harsh command, that
he actually shed tears.
’My own apprehensions were far
from being lessened at such a circumstance as
this, and I fearfully beheld the preparations for
the captain’s departure as the preliminaries
of inevitable destruction, which, although I
did not think could be more certain, yet I feared
would be more speedy, by the least addition to
their number.
’To show that I have no disposition
to impose upon this Court, by endeavouring to
paint the situation of the boat to be worse than
it really was, I need only refer to the captain’s
own narrative, wherein he says that she would
have sunk with them on the evening of the 3rd
May, had it not been for his timely caution of
throwing out some of the stores, and all the clothes
belonging to the people, excepting two suits for each.
’Now what clothes or stores could
they have spared which in weight would have been
equal to that of two men? (for if I had been
in her, and the poor fellow, Norton, had not been
murdered at Tofoa, she would have been encumbered
with our additional weight), and if it be true
that she was saved by those means, which the
captain says she was, it must follow that if
Norton and myself had been in her (to say nothing of
Coleman, M’Intosh, Norman, and Byrne, who,
’tis confessed, were desirous of leaving
the ship), she must either have gone down with
us, or, to prevent it, we must have lightened her of
the provisions and other necessary articles, and
thereby have perished for want dreadful
alternative!
’A choice of deaths to those
who are certain of dying may be a matter of indifference;
but where, on one hand, death appears inevitable,
and the means of salvation present themselves on the
other, however imprudent it might be to resort to those
means in any other less trying situation, I think
(and hope even at my present time of life) that
I shall not be suspected of a want of courage
for saying, few men would hesitate to embrace
the latter.
’Such, then, was exactly my situation
on board the Bounty; to be starved to
death, or drowned, appeared to be inevitable if
I went in the boat; and surely it is not to be wondered
at, if, at the age of sixteen years, with no
one to advise with, and so ignorant of the discipline
of the service (having never been at sea before)
as not to know or even suppose it was possible
that what I should determine upon might afterwards
be alleged against me as a crime I
say, under such circumstances, in so trying a
situation, can it be wondered at, if I suffered
the preservation of my life to be the first, and
to supersede every other, consideration.
’Besides, through the medium
of the master, the captain had directed the rest
of the officers to remain on board, in hopes of
retaking the ship. Such is the master’s
assertion, and such the report on board, and
as it accorded with my own wishes for the preservation
of my life, I felt myself doubly justified in staying
on board, not only as it appeared to be safer than
going in the boat, but from a consideration also
of being in the way to be useful in assisting
to accomplish so desirable a wish of the captain.
’Let it not for God’s
sake let it not be argued that my fears
were groundless, and that the arrival of the boat at
Timor is a proof that my conduct was wrong.
This would be judging from the event, and I think
I have plainly shown that, but for the death
of Norton at Tofoa, and the prudent order of the
captain not to overload the boat, neither himself nor
any of the people who were saved with him, would
at this moment have been alive to have preferred
any charge against me, or given evidence at this
trial.
’If deliberate guilt be necessarily
affixed to all who continued on board the ship,
and that in consequence they must be numbered
with Christian’s party in such a strict
view of matters it must irrevocably impeach the
armourer and two carpenter’s mates, as
well as Martin and Byrne, who certainly wished
to quit the ship. And if Christian’s first
intention of sending away the captain, with a
few persons only, in the small cutter, had not
been given up, or if even the large cutter had
not been exchanged for the launch, more than half
of those who did go with him would have been obliged
to stay with me. Forgetful for a moment
of my own misfortunes, I cannot help being agitated
at the bare thought of their narrow escape.
’Every body must, and I am sure
that this Court will, allow that my case is a
peculiarly hard one, inasmuch as the running away
with the ship is a proof of the mutiny having been
committed. The innocent and the guilty are
upon exactly the same footing had
the former been confined by sickness, without
a leg to stand on, or an arm to assist them in opposing
the mutineers, they must have been put upon their
trial, and instead of the captain being obliged
to prove their guilt, it would have been incumbent
upon them to have proved themselves innocent.
How can this be done but negatively? If all
who wished it could not accompany the captain, they
were necessarily compelled to stay with Christian;
and being with him, were dependent on him, subject
to his orders, however disinclined to obey them,
for force in such a state is paramount to every
thing. But when, on the contrary, instead of
being in arms, or obeying any orders of the mutineers,
I did every thing in my power to assist the captain,
and those who went with him, and by all my actions
(except in neglecting to do what, if I had done,
must have endangered the lives of those who were
so fortunate as to quit the ship) I showed myself
faithful to the last moment of the captain’s
stay, what is there to leave a doubt in the minds
of impartial and dispassionate men of my being
perfectly innocent? Happy indeed should
I have been if the master had stayed on board, which
he probably would have done, if his reasons for
wishing to do so had not been overheard by the
man who was in the bread-room.
’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 (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.