Many useful and salutary lessons of
conduct may be drawn from this eventful history, more
especially by officers of the navy, both old and young,
as well as by those subordinate to them. In the
first place, it most strongly points out the dreadful
consequences that are almost certain to ensue from
a state of insubordination and mutiny on board a ship
of war; and the equally certain fate that, at one time
or other, awaits all those who have the misfortune
to be concerned in a transaction of this revolting
nature. In the present instance, the dreadful
retribution which overtook them, and which was evinced
in a most extraordinary manner, affords an awful and
instructive lesson to seamen, by which they may learn,
that although the guilty may be secured for a time
in evading the punishment due to the offended laws
of society, yet they must not hope to escape the pursuit
of Divine vengeance. It will be recollected that
the number of persons who remained in the Bounty,
after her piratical seizure, and of course charged
with the crime of mutiny, was twenty-five; that these
subsequently separated into two parties, sixteen having
landed at Otaheite, and afterwards taken from thence
in the Pandora, as prisoners, and nine having
gone with the Bounty to Pitcairn’s Island.
Of the sixteen taken in the Pandora:
1. Mr PETER HEYWOOD,
midshipman, } sentenced to death,
but
pardoned.
2. JAMES MORBISON,
boatswain’s mate, } do.
3. WILLIAM MUSPRATT,
commander’s steward,} do.
4. THOS. BURKITT,
seaman } condemned and executed.
5. JOHN MILLWARD,
do. } do.
6. THOS. ELLISON,
do. } do.
7. JOSEPH COLEMAN,
armourer } do.
8. CHARLES NORMAN,
carpenter’s mate } tried and acquitted.
9. THOS. M’INTOSH,
carpenter’s crew } do.
10. MICHAEL BYRNE,
seaman } do
11. Mr. GEORGE
STEWART, midshipman } drowned in irons
12. JOHN SUMNER,
seaman } when the
13. RICHARD SKINNER,
seaman } Pandora
14. HENRY HILLBRANT,
cooper } was wrecked.
15. CHAS. CHURCHILL,
master-at-arms, murdered by Matthew
Thompson.
16. MATTHEW THOMPSON,
seaman, murdered by Churchill’s
friends
in Otaheite.
Of the nine who landed
on Pitcairn’s Island:
1. Mr. FLETCHER
CHRISTIAN, acting-lieut. } murdered by the
Otaheitans.
2. JOHN WILLIAMS,
seaman } do.
3. ISAAC MARTIN,
do. } do.
4. JOHN MILLS,
gunner’s mate } do.
5. WILLM.
BROWN, botanist’s assistant } do.
6. MATTHEW QUINTAL,
seaman, put to death by Young
and
Adams in self-defence.
7. WILLIAM M’KOY,
seaman, became insane, and killed
by
throwing himself from
a
rock.
8. Mr. EDWAKD YOUNG,
midshipman, died of asthma.
9. ALEX. SMITH,
alias John Adams, seaman, died in 1829.
Young officers of the navy, as well
as the common seamen, may also derive some useful
lessons from the events of this history. They
will see the melancholy results of affording the least
encouragement for seamen to depart from their strict
line of duty, and to relax in that obedience to the
orders of superiors, by which alone the discipline
of the service can be preserved; they will learn how
dangerous it is to show themselves careless and indifferent
in executing those orders, by thus setting a bad example
to the men. It ought also to enforce on their
minds, how necessary it is to avoid even the appearance
of acting in any way that can be considered as repugnant
to, or subversive of, the rules and regulations of
the service; and most particularly to guard against
any conduct that may have the appearance of lowering
the authority of their superiors, either by their
words or actions.
No doubt can remain on the minds of
unprejudiced persons, or such as are capable of weighing
evidence, that the two young midshipmen, Stewart and
Hey wood, were perfectly innocent of any share in the
transaction in question; and yet, because they happened
to be left in the ship, not only contrary to their
wish and intention, but kept down below by force,
the one lost his life, by being drowned in chains,
and the other was condemned to die, and only escaped
from suffering the last penalty of the law by a recommendation
to the royal mercy. The only point in which these
two officers failed, was, that they did not at once
demand permission to accompany their commander, while
they were allowed to remain on deck and had the opportunity
of doing so. The manly conduct of young Heywood,
throughout his long and unmerited sufferings, affords
an example of firmness, fortitude, and resignation
to the Divine will, that is above all praise; in fact,
nothing short of conscious innocence could have supported
him in the severe trials he had to undergo.
The melancholy effects which tyrannical
conduct, harsh and opprobrious language, ungovernable
passion, and a worrying and harassing temper, on the
part of naval commanders, seldom fail to produce on
the minds of those who are subject to their capricious
and arbitrary command, are strongly exemplified in
the cause and consequences of the mutiny in the Bounty,
as described in the course of this history. Conduct
of this kind, by making the inferior officers of a
ship discontented and unhappy, has the dangerous tendency,
as in the case of Christian, to incite the crew to
partake in their discontent, and be ready to assist
in any plan to get rid of the tyrant. We may see
in it, also, how very little credit a commander is
likely to gain, either with the service or the public
at large, when the duties of a ship are carried on,
as they would appear to have been in the Pandora,
in a cold, phlegmatic, and unfeeling manner, and with
an indifference to the comfort of all around him, subjecting
offenders of whatever description to unnecessary restraint,
and a severity of punishment, which, though strictly
within the letter of the law, contributes in no way
to the ends of discipline or of justice.
The conduct of Bligh, however mistaken
he may have been in his mode of carrying on the duties
of the ship, was most exemplary throughout the long
and perilous voyage he performed in an open boat, on
the wide ocean, with the most scanty supply of provisions
and water, and in the worst weather. The result
of such meritorious conduct holds out every encouragement
to both officers and men, by showing them that, by
firmness and perseverance, and the adoption of well-digested
measures, steadily ursued in spite of opposition,
the most hopeless undertaking, to all appearance,
may be successfully accomplished.
And lastly The fate that
has attended almost every one of those concerned in
the mutiny and piracy of his Majesty’s ship Bounty
ought to operate as a warning to, and make a deep
impression on the minds of, our brave seamen, not
to suffer themselves to be led astray from the straightforward
line of their duty, either by order or persuasion of
some hot-brained, thoughtless, or designing person,
whether their superior or equal, but to remain faithful,
under all circumstances, to their commanding officer,
as any mutinous proceedings or disobedience of his
orders are sure to be visited upon them in the long
run, either by loss of life, or by a forfeiture of
that liberal provision which the British government
has bestowed on its seamen for long and faithful services.
P.S -- Just as this last
sheet came from the press, the editor has noticed,
with a feeling of deep and sincere regret, a paragraph
in the newspapers, said to be extracted from an American
paper, stating that a vessel sent to Pitcairn’s
Island by the missionaries of Otaheite has carried
off the whole of the settlers to the latter island.
If this be true and the mention of the
name of Nott gives a colour to the transaction the
‘cherubim’ must have slept, the ‘flaming
sword’ have been sheathed, and another Eden
has been lost: and, what is worse than all, that
native simplicity of manners, that purity of morals,
and that singleness of heart, which so peculiarly
distinguished this little interesting society, are
all lost. They will now be dispersed among the
missionary stations as humble dependents, where Kitty
Quintal and the rest of them may get ‘food for
their souls,’ such as it is, in exchange for
the substantial blessings they enjoyed on Pitcairn’s
Island.