applied to nobody but to Mr. Stewart and myself; and by this order of Churchill, therefore, was vented from going with the captain in the boat.

pre

"The foregoing appear to me the most material points of evidence on the part of the prosecution. My defence being very full, and the body of evidence in my favour too great to admit of observation in this concise manner, I shall refer for an opinion thereon to the minutes of the court-martial.

(Signed)

"P. HEYWOOD."

6

There is a note in Marshall's Naval Biography,* furnished by Captain Heywood, which shows one motive for keeping him and Stewart in the ship. It is as follows:-"Mr. Stewart was no sooner released than he demanded of Christian the reason of his detention; upon which the latter denied having given any directions to that effect; and his assertion was corroborated by Churchill, who declared that he had kept both him and Mr. Heywood below, knowing it was their intention to go away with Bligh; in which case,' added he, what would become of us, if any thing should happen to you; who is there but yourself and them to depend upon in navigating the ship?" It may be suspected, however, that neither Christian nor Churchill told the exact truth, and that Mr. Heywood's case is, in point of fact, much stronger than he ever could have imagined; and that if Bligh had not acted the part of a prejudiced and unfair man towards him, he would have been acquitted by the court on the same ground that Coleman, Norman, M‘Intosh, and Byrne were, namely, that they were detained in the ship against their will, as stated by Bligh in the narrative on which they were tried, and also in his printed report. It has before been observed, that many things are set down in Bligh's original manuscript

* Vol. ii. p. 778.

journal, that have not appeared in any published document; and on this part of the subject there is, in the former, the following very important admission. "As for the officers whose cabins were in the cockpit, there was no relief for them; they endeavoured to come to my assistance, but were not allowed to put their heads above the hatchway." To say, therefore, that in the suppression of this passage Bligh acted with prejudice and unfairness is to make use of mild terms; it has more the appearance of a deliberate act of malice, by which two innocent men might have been condemned to suffer an ignominious death, one of whom was actually brought into this predicament;-the other only escaped it by a premature death. It may be asked, how did Bligh know that Stewart and Heywood endeavoured, but were not allowed, to come to his assistance? Confined as he was on the quarter-deck, how could he know what was going on below? The answer is, he must have known it from Christian himself; Churchill, no doubt, acted entirely by his leader's orders, and the latter could give no orders that were not heard by Bligh, whom he never left but held the cord by which his hands were fettered till he was forced into the boat. Churchill was quite right as to the motive of keeping these young officers; but Christian had no doubt another and a stronger motive: he knew how necessary it was to interpose a sort of barrier between himself and his mutinous gang; he was too good an adept not to know that seamen will always pay a more ready and cheerful obedience to officers who are gentlemen, than to those who may have risen to command from among themselves. It is indeed a common observation in the service, that officers who have risen from before the mast are generally the greatest tyrants.* It was

* Some few captains were in the habit of turning over a delinquent to be tried by their messmates, and when found guilty it invariably

Bligh's misfortune not to have been educated in the cockpit of a man of war, among young gentlemen, which is to the navy what a public school is to those who are to move in civil society. What painful sufferings to the individual, and how much misery to an affectionate family might have been spared, had Bligh, instead of suppressing, only suffered the passage to stand as originally written in his journal!

The remarks of young Heywood above recited were received and transmitted by his sister Nessy in a letter to the Earl of Chatham, then first lord of the Admiralty, of which the following is a copy:

"Great Russell-Street, 11th Oct. 1792.

"My Lord,

"To a nobleman of your lordship's known humanity and excellence of heart I dare hope that the unfortunate cannot plead in vain. Deeply impressed as I therefore am with sentiments of the most profound respect for a character which I have been ever taught to revere, and alas! nearly interested as I must be in the subject of these lines, may I request your lordship will generously pardon a sorrowful and mourning sister for presuming to offer the enclosed [remarks] for your candid perusal. It contains a few observations made by my most unfortunate and tenderly beloved brother, Peter. Heywood, endeavouring to elucidate some parts of the evidence given at the court-martial lately held at Portsmouth upon himself and other prisoners of his majesty's ship Bounty. When I assure you, my lord, that he is dearer and more precious to me than any object on earth-nay, infinitely more valuable than life itself—that, deprived of him, the word

happened that the punishment inflicted was doubly severe to what it would have been in the ordinary way. This practice,-which, as giving a deliberative voice to the ship's company, was highly reprehensible,it is to be hoped, has entirely ceased.

misery would but ill express my complicated wretchedness and that on his fate my own and (shall I not add?) that of a tender, fond, and alas! widowed mother depend, I am persuaded you will not wonder, nor be offended, that I am thus bold in conjuring your lordship will consider with your usual candour and benevolence the "observations" I now offer you, as well as the painful situation of my dear and unhappy brother.

"I have the honour, &c.

"NESSY HEYWOOD."

Whether this letter and its enclosure produced any effect on the mind of Lord Chatham does not appear; but no immediate steps were taken, nor was any answer given: and this amiable young lady and her friends were suffered to remain in the most painful state of suspense for another fortnight. A day or two before the warrant was despatched, that excellent man Mr. Graham writes thus to Mrs. Heywood :

"My dear Madam,

"If feeling for the distresses and rejoicing in the happiness of others denote a heart which entitles the owner of it to the confidence of the good and virtuous, I would fain be persuaded that mine has been so far interested in your misfortunes, and is now so pleased with the prospect of your being made happy, as cannot fail to procure me the friendship of your family, which, as it is my ambition, it cannot cease to be my desire to cultivate.

"Unused to the common rewards which are sought after in this world, I will profess to anticipate more real pleasure and satisfaction from the simple declaration of you and yours, that "we accept of your services, and we thank you for them,” than it is in common minds to conceive; but, fear ful lest a too grateful sense should be entertained of the friendly offices I have been engaged in (which,

however, I ought to confess I was prompted to, in the first place, by a remembrance of the many obligations I owed to Commodore Pasley), I must beg you will recollect, that by sending to me your charming Nessy (and if strong affection may plead such a privilege, I may be allowed to call her my daughter also) you would have overpaid me if my trouble had been ten times and my uneasiness ten thousand times greater than they were, upon what I once thought the melancholy, but now deem the fortunate, occasion which has given me the happiness of her acquaintance. Thus far, my dear madam, I have written to please myself. Now, for what must please you; and in which, too, I have my share of satisfaction.

"The business, though not publicly known, is most certainly finished; and what I had my doubts about yesterday I am satisfied of to-day. Happy, happy, happy family! accept of my congratulations; not for what it is in the power of words to express, but for what I know you will feel, upon being told that your beloved Peter will soon be restored to your bosom with every virtue that can adorn a man, and ensure to him an affectionate, a tender, and truly welcome reception."

At the foot of this letter Nessy writes thus:"Now, my dearest mamma, did you ever in all your life read so charming a letter? Be assured it is exactly characteristic of the benevolent writer. What would I give to be transported (though only for a moment) to your elbow, that I might see you read it? What will you feel, when you know assuredly that you may with certainty believe its contents? Well may Mr. Graham call us happy! for never felicity could equal ours! Don't expect connected sentences from me at present, for this joy makes me almost delirious. Adieu! love to all-I need