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.[24]
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 o'clock 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
carpenter's 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[25] (faithfully brought up to the preceding day),
and to whom I also gave every information in my power. I could
do no more; for at the first time we were at Otaheite it was
impossible for me, watched and suspected as I was, to separate
from the ship. My information to Captain Edwards was open,
sincere, and unqualified, and I had many opportunities given
me at different times of repeating it. Had a track been open
to my native country, I should have followed it; had a vessel
arrived earlier, I should earlier with the same eagerness have
embraced the opportunity, for I dreaded not an inquiry in
which I foresaw no discredit. But Providence ordained it
otherwise. I have been the victim of suspicion, and had nearly
fallen a sacrifice to misapprehension. I have, however,
hitherto surmounted it, and it only remains with this Court to
say, if my sufferings have not been equal to my indiscretion.
'The decision will be the voice of honour, and to that I must
implicitly resign myself.
'P. HEYWOOD.'
_Mr. Morrison's Defence_
Sets out by stating that he was waked at daylight by Mr. Cole the
boatswain, who told him that the ship was taken by Christian; that he
assisted in clearing out the boat at Mr. Cole's desire, and says, 'While
I was thus employed Mr. Fryer came to me and asked if I had any hand in
the mutiny; I told him No. He then desired me to see who I could find to
assist me, and try to rescue the ship; I told him I feared it was then
too late, but would do my endeavour; when John Millward, who stood by
me, and heard what Mr. Fryer said, swore he would stand by me if an
opportunity offered. Mr. Fryer was about to speak again, but was
prevented by Matthew Quintal, who, with a pistol in one hand, collared
him with the other, saying, "Come, Mr. Fryer, you must go down into your
cabin"; and hauled him away. Churchill then came, and shaking his
cutlass at me, demanded what Mr. Fryer said. I told him that he only
asked me if they were going to have the long-boat, upon which Alexander
Smith (Adams), who stood on the opposite side of the boat, said, "It's a
d--d lie, Charley, for I saw him and Millward shake hands when the
master spoke to them." Churchill then said to me, "I would have you mind
how you come on, for I have an eye upon you." Smith at the same time
called out, "Stand to your arms, for they intend to make a rush." This,
as it was intended, put the mutineers on their guard, and I found it
necessary to be very cautious how I acted; and I heard Captain Bligh
say to Smith, "I did not expect you would be against me, Smith"; but I
could not hear what answer he made.'
He says that, while clearing the boat, he heard Christian order
Churchill to see that no arms were put into her; to keep Norman,
M'Intosh, and Coleman in the ship, and get the officers into the boat as
fast as possible; that Mr. Fryer begged permission to stay, but to no
purpose. On seeing Mr. Fryer and most of the officers going into the
boat, without the least appearance of an effort to rescue the ship, I
began to reflect on my own situation; and seeing the situation of the
boat, and considering that she was at least a thousand leagues from any
friendly settlement, and judging, from what I had seen of the Friendly
Islanders but a few days before, that nothing could be expected from
them but to be plundered or killed, and seeing no choice but of one
evil, I chose, as I thought the least, to stay in the ship, especially
as I considered it as obeying Captain Bligh's orders, and depending on
his promise to do justice to those who remained. I informed Mr. Cole of
my intention, who made me the like promise, taking me by the hand and
saying, "God bless you, my boy; I will do you justice if ever I reach
England."
'I also informed Mr. Hayward of my intention; and on his dropping a hint
to me that he intended to knock Churchill down, I told him I would
second him, pointing to some of the Friendly Island clubs which were
sticking in the booms, and saying, "There were tools enough": but (he
adds) 'I was suddenly damped to find that he went into the boat without
making the attempt he had proposed.'
He then appeals to the members of the Court, as to the alternative they
would themselves have taken:--'A boat alongside, already crowded; those
who were in her crying out she would sink; and Captain Bligh desiring no
more might go in--with a slender stock of provisions,--what hope could
there be to reach any friendly shore, or withstand the hostile attacks
of the boisterous elements? The perils those underwent who reached the
island of Timor, and whom nothing but the apparent interference of
Divine Providence could have saved, fully justify my fears, and prove
beyond a doubt that they rested on a solid foundation; for by staying in
the ship, an opportunity might offer of escaping, but by going in the
boat nothing but death appeared, either from the lingering torments of
hunger and thirst, or from the murderous weapons of cruel savages, or
being swallowed up by the deep.
'I have endeavoured,' he says, 'to recall to Mr. Hayward's remembrance a
proposal he at one time made, by words, of attacking the mutineers, and
of my encouraging him to the attempt, promising to back him. He says he
has but a faint recollection of the business--so faint indeed that he
cannot recall to his memory the particulars, but owns there was
something passed to that effect. Faint, however, as his remembrance is
(which for me is the more unfortunate), ought it not to do away all
doubt with respect to the motives by which I was then influenced?' And,
in conclusion, he says, 'I beg leave most humbly to remind the members
of this honourable Court, that I did freely, and of my own accord,
deliver myself up to Lieutenant Robert Corner, of H.M.S. _Pandora_, on
the first certain notice of her arrival.'
_William Muspratt's Defence_
Declares his innocence of any participation in the mutiny; admits he
assisted in hoisting out the boat, and in putting several articles into
her; after which he sat down on the booms, when Millward came and
mentioned to him Mr. Fryer's intention to rescue the ship, when he said
he would stand by Mr. Fryer as far as he could; and with that intention,
and for that purpose only, he took up a musket which one of the people
had laid down, and which he quitted the moment he saw Bligh's people get
into the boat. Solemnly denies the charge of Mr. Purcell against him, of
handing liquor to the ship's company. Mr. Hayward's evidence, he trusts,
must stand so impeached before the Court, as not to receive the least
attention, when the lives of so many men are to be affected by it--for,
he observes, he swears that Morrison was a mutineer, because he assisted
in hoisting out the boats; and that M'Intosh was not a mutineer,
notwithstanding he was precisely employed on the same business--that he
criminated Morrison from the appearance of his countenance--that he had
only a faint remembrance of that material and striking circumstance of
Morrison offering to join him to retake the ship--that, in answer to his
(Muspratt's) question respecting Captain Bligh's words, 'My lads, I'll
do you justice' he considered them applied to the people in the boat,
and not to those in the ship--to the same question put by the Court, he
said they applied to persons remaining in the ship. And he notices some
other instances which he thinks most materially affect Mr. Hayward's
credit; and says, that if he had been under arms when Hayward swore he
was, he humbly submits Mr. Hallet must have seen him. And he concludes
with asserting (what indeed was a very general opinion), 'that the great
misfortune attending this unhappy business is, that no one ever
attempted to rescue the ship; that it might have been done, Thompson
being the only sentinel over the arm-chest.'
_Michael Byrne's Defence_
was very short. He says, 'It has pleased the Almighty, among the events
of His unsearchable providence, nearly to deprive me of sight, which
often puts it out of my power to carry the intentions of my mind into
execution.
'I make no doubt but it appears to this honourable Court, that on the
28th of April, 1789, my intention was to quit his Majesty's ship
_Bounty_ with the officers and men who went away, and that the sorrow I
expressed at being detained was real and unfeigned.
'I do not know whether I may be able to repeat the exact words that
were spoken on the occasion, but some said, "We must not part with our
fiddler"; and Charles Churchill threatened to send me to the shades if I
attempted to quit the cutter, into which I had gone for the purpose of
attending Lieutenant Bligh': and, without further trespassing on the
time of the Court, he submits his case to its judgement and mercy.
It is not necessary to notice any parts of the defence made by Coleman,
Norman, and M'Intosh, as it is clear, from the whole evidence and from
Bligh's certificates, that those men were anxious to go in the boat, but
were kept in the ship by force.
It is equally clear, that Ellison, Millward, and Burkitt, were concerned
in every stage of the mutiny, and had little to offer in their defence
in exculpation of the crime of which they were accused.
On the sixth day, namely, on the 18th of September, 1792, the Court
met,--the prisoners were brought in, audience admitted, when the
president, having asked the prisoners if they or any of them had
anything more to offer in their defence, the Court was cleared, and
agreed,--
'That the charges had been proved against the said Peter Heywood, James
Morrison, Thomas Ellison, Thomas Burkitt, John Millward, and William
Muspratt; and did adjudge them, and each of them, to suffer death, by
being hanged by the neck, on board such of his Majesty's ship or ships
of war, and at such time or times, and at such place or places, as the
commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of Great
Britain and Ireland, etc., or any three of them, for the time being,
should, in writing, under their hands, direct; but the Court, in
consideration of various circumstances, did humbly and most earnestly
recommend the said Peter Heywood and James Morrison to his Majesty's
mercy; and the Court further agreed, that the charges had not been
proved against the said Charles Norman, Joseph Coleman, Thomas M'Intosh,
and Michael Byrne, and did adjudge them, and each of them, to be
acquitted.'
The Court was then opened and audience admitted, and sentence passed
accordingly.