some and paternal advice) may enable them to bear it with Christian fortitude. The only worldly feelings I am now possessed of are for their happiness and welfare; but even these, in my present situation, I must endeavour, with God's assistance, to eradicate from my heart, how hard soever the task. I must strive against cherishing any temporal affections. But, my dear sir, endeavour to mitigate my distressed mother's sorrow. Give my everlasting duty to her, and unabated love to my disconsolate brothers and sisters, and all my other relations. Encourage them, by my example, to bear up with fortitude and resignation to the Divine will, under their load of misfortunes, almost too great for female nature to support, and teach them to be fully persuaded that all hopes of happiness on earth are vain. On my own account I still enjoy the most easy serenity of mind; and am, dear sir, for ever, your greatly indebted, and most dutiful, but ill-fated,

"PETER HEYWOOD."

His next letter is to his dearly beloved Nessy.

"Had I not a strong idea that, ere this mournful epistle from your ill-fated brother can reach the trembling hand of my ever dear and much-afflicted Nessy, she must have been informed of the final issue of my trial on Wednesday morning, by my honoured friend Dr. Scott, I would not now add trouble to the afflicted by a confirmation of it. Though I have indeed fallen an early victim to the rigid rules of the service, and though the jaws of death are once more opened upon me, yet do I not now nor ever will bow to the tyranny of base-born fear. Conscious of having done my duty to God and man, I feel not one moment's anxiety on my own account, but cherish a full and sanguine hope that perhaps a few days more will free me from the load of misfortune which has ever been my portion in

this transient period of existence; and that I shall find an everlasting asylum in those blessed regions of eternal bliss where the galling yoke of tyranny and oppression is felt no more.

“If earthly majesty, to whose mercy I have been recommended by the court, should refuse to put forth its lenient hand and rescue me from what is fancifully called an ignominious death, there is a heavenly King and Redeemer ready to receive the righteous penitent, on whose gracious mercy alone I, as we all should, depend, with that pious resignation which is the duty of every Christian; well convinced, that without his express permission not even a hair of our head can fall to the ground.

"Oh! my sister, my heart yearns when I picture to myself the affliction, indescribable affliction, which this melancholy intelligence must have caused in the mind of my much honoured mother. But let it be your peculiar endeavour to watch over her grief and mitigate her pain. I hope, indeed, this little advice from me will be unnecessary; for I know the holy precepts of that inspired religion which, thank Heaven! have been implanted in the bosoms of us all, will point out to you, and all my dear relatives, that fortitude and resignation which are required of us in the conflicts of human nature, and prevent you from arraigning the wisdom of that omniscient Providence of which we ought all to have the fullest

sense.

"I have had all my dear Nessy's letters; the one of the 17th this morning: but alas! what do they now avail? Their contents only serve to prove the instability of all human hopes and expectations; brit, my dear sister, I begin to feel the pangs which you must suffer from the perusal of this melancholy paper, and will therefore desist, for I know it is more than your nature can support. The contrast between last week's correspondence and this is great indeed; but why? we had only hope then; and have we not

the same now? certainly. Endeavour then, my love, to cherish that hope, and with faith rely upon the mercy of that God who does as to him seems best and most conducive to the general good of his miserable creatures.

"Bear it then with Christian patience, and instil into the mind of my dear and now sorrowful sisters, by your advice, the same disposition; and, for Heaven's sake, let not despair touch the soul of my dear mother-for then all would be over. Let James also employ all his efforts to cheer her spirits under her weight of wo. I will write no more. Adieu, my dearest love! Write but little to me, and pray for your ever affectionate but ill-fated brother.

"P.S. I am in perfect spirits; therefore let not your sympathizing feelings for my sufferings hurt your own precious health, which is dearer to me than life itself. Adieu!"

In a letter to his mother he assures her of the perfect tranquillity of his mind; advises her not to entertain too sanguine hopes, but at the same time not to be uneasy; and he adds, "A minister of the gospel, who now attends me, has advised me not to say too much to any of my dear relations, but now and then I cannot avoid it." To his dearest Nessy, who encourages him to take hope, he says, "Alas! it is but a broken stick which I have leaned on, and it has pierced my soul in such a manner that I will never more trust to it, but wait with a contented mind and patience for the final accomplishment of the Divine will. . . . . Mrs. Hope is a faithless and ungrateful acquaintance, with whom I have now broken off all connexions, and in her stead have endeavoured to cultivate a more sure friendship with Resignation, in full trust of finding her more constant." He desires her to write through her brother James, who is with him; and says that the reason

for his having desired her not to write much was lest she might hurt herself by it; and he adds, "from an idea that your exalted sentiments upon so tender a subject ought not to be known by an inquiring world;" but, he continues, "do just as you like best: I am conscious that your good sense will prompt you to nothing inconsistent with our present circumstances." To this she replies, in the true spirit of a character like her own, "Yes! my ever dearest brother, I will write to you; and I know I need not add, that in that employment (while thus deprived of your loved society) consists my only happiness. But why not express my sentiments to yourself? I have nothing to say which I should blush to have known to all the world;-nothing to express in my letters to you but love and affection; and shall I blush for this? Or can I have a wish to conceal sentiments of such a nature.for an object who I am so certain merits all my regard, and in whom the admiration of surrounding friends convinces me I am not mistaken. No, surely; 'tis my pride, my chiefest glory, to love you; and when you think me worthy of commendation, that praise, and that only, can make me vain. I shall not therefore write to you, my dearest brother, in a private manner, for it is unnecessary, and I abhor all deceit; in which I know you agree with me."

To her sister Mary, in the Isle of Man, she says, "With respect to that little wretch Hallet, his intrepidity in court was astonishing; and after every evidence had spoken highly in Peter's favour, and given testimony of his innocence, so strong that not a doubt was entertained of his acquittal, he declared, unasked, that while Bligh was upon deck, he (Hallet) saw him look at and speak to Peter. What he said to him Hallet could not hear (being at the distance of twenty feet from Bligh, and Peter was twenty feet farther off, consequently a distance of forty feet separated Mr. Bligh and my brother); but he added

that Peter, on hearing what Mr. Bligh said to him, laughed, and turned contemptuously away. No other witness saw Peter laugh but Hallet; on the contrary, all agreed he wore a countenance on that day remarkably sorrowful; yet the effect of this cruel evidence was wonderful upon the minds of the court, and they concluded by pronouncing the dreadful sentence, though at the same time accompanied by the strongest recommendation to mercy. Assure yourselves (I have it from Mr. Graham's own mouth), that Peter's honour is, and will be, as secure as his own; that every professional man, as well as every man of sense, of whatever denomination, does and will esteem him highly; that my dear uncle Pasley (who was in town the night before my arrival) is delighted with his worth; and that, in short, we shall at length be happy."

From this time a daily correspondence passed between Peter Heywood and his sister Nessy, the latter indulging hope, even to a certainty, that she will not be deceived, the other preaching up patience and resignation, with a full reliance on his innocence and integrity. "Cheer up then," says he, "my dear Nessy; cherish your hope, and I will exercise my patience." Indeed so perfectly calm was this young man under his dreadful calamity, that in a very few days after condemnation his brother says, "While I write this, Peter is sitting by me making an Otaheitan vocabulary, and so happy and intent upon it, that I have scarcely an opportunity of saying a word to him; he is in excellent spirits, and I am convinced they are better and better every day."

This vocabulary is a very extraordinary performance; it consists of one hundred full-written folio pages; the words alphabetically arranged, and all the syllables accented. It appears from a passage in the "Voyage of the Duff," that a copy of this vocabulary was of great use to the missionaries who were first sent to Otaheite in this ship.