The Eventful History Of The Mutiny And Piratical Seizure by Sir John Barrow

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'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.

CHAPTER VII

THE KING'S WARRANT

Well, believe this--
No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,
Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace,
As mercy does.

It was a very common feeling that Heywood and Morrison, the former in
particular, had been hardly dealt with by the Court in passing upon them
a sentence of death, tempered as it was with the recommendation to the
king's mercy. It should, however, have been recollected, that the Court
had no discretional power to pass any other sentence but that, or a full
acquittal. But earnestly, no doubt, as the Court was disposed towards
the latter alternative, it could not, consistently with the rules and
feelings of the service, be adopted. It is not enough in cases of mutiny
(and this case was aggravated by the piratical seizure of a king's ship)
that the officers and men in his Majesty's naval service should take no
active part;--to be neutral or passive is considered as tantamount to
aiding and abetting. Besides, in the present case, the remaining in the
ship along with the mutineers, without having recourse to such means as
offered of leaving her, presumes a voluntary adhesion to the criminal
party. The only fault of Heywood, and a pardonable one on account of his
youth and inexperience, was his not asking Christian to be allowed to go
with his captain,--his not _trying_ to go in time. M'Intosh, Norman,
Byrne, and Coleman were acquitted because they expressed a strong desire
to go, but were forced to remain. This was not only clearly proved, but
they were in possession of written testimonies from Bligh to that
effect; and so would Heywood have had, but for some prejudice Bligh had
taken against him, in the course of the boat-voyage home, for it will be
shown that he knew he was confined to his berth below.

In favour of three of the four men condemned without a recommendation,
there were unhappily no palliating circumstances. Millward, Burkitt, and
Ellison were under arms from first to last; and Ellison not only left
the helm to take up arms, but, rushing aft towards Bligh, called out,
'D--n him, I'll be sentry over him.' The fourth man, Muspratt, was
condemned on the evidence of Lieutenant Hayward, which, however, appears
to have been duly appreciated by the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, and in consequence of which the poor man escaped an
ignominious death.

The family of young Heywood in the Isle of Man had been buoyed up, from
various quarters, with the almost certainty of his full acquittal. From
the 12th September, when the court-martial first sat, till the 24th of
that month, they were prevented, by the strong and contrary winds which
cut off all communication with England, from receiving any tidings
whatever. But while Mrs. Heywood and her daughters were fondly
flattering themselves with everything being most happily concluded, one
evening, as they were indulging these pleasing hopes, a little boy, the
son of one of their particular friends, ran into the room and told them,
in the most abrupt manner, that the trial was over and all the prisoners
condemned, but that Peter Heywood was recommended to mercy; he added
that a man whose name he mentioned had told him this. The man was sent
for, questioned, and replied he had seen it in a newspaper at Liverpool,
from which place he was just arrived in a small fishing-boat, but had
forgotten to bring the paper with him. In this state of doubtful
uncertainty this wretched family remained another whole week, harassed
by the most cruel agony of mind, which no language can express.[26]

The affectionate Nessy determined at once to proceed to Liverpool, and
so on to London. She urges her brother James at Liverpool to hasten to
Portsmouth: 'Don't wait for me, I can go alone; fear and even despair
will support me through the journey; think only of our poor unfortunate
and adored boy, bestow not one thought on me.' And she adds, 'yet, if I
could listen to reason (which is indeed difficult), it is not likely
that anything serious has taken place, or will do so, as we should then
certainly have had an express.' She had a tempestuous passage of
forty-nine hours, and to save two hours got into an open fishing-boat at
the mouth of the Mersey, the sea running high and washing over her every
moment; but, she observes, 'let me but be blessed with the cheering
influence of _hope_, and I have spirit to undertake anything.' From
Liverpool she set off the same night in the mail for London; and arrived
at Mr. Graham's on the 5th October, who received her with the greatest
kindness, and desired her to make his house her home.

The suspense into which the afflicted family in the Isle of Man had been
thrown, by the delay of the packet, was painfully relieved on its
arrival in the night of the 29th September, by the following letter from
Mr. Graham to the Rev. Dr. Scott, which the latter carried to Mrs.
Heywood's family the following morning.

'_Portsmouth, Tuesday, 18th September_.

'SIR,--Although a stranger, I make no apology in writing to
you. I have attended and given my assistance at Mr. Heywood's
trial, which was finished and the sentence passed about half
an hour ago. Before I tell you what that sentence is, I must
inform you that his life is safe, notwithstanding it is at
present at the mercy of the king, to which he is in the
strongest terms recommended by the Court. That any unnecessary
fears may not be productive of misery to the family, I must
add, that the king's attorney-general (who with Judge Ashurst
attended the trial) desired me to make myself perfectly easy,
for that my friend was as safe as if he had not been
condemned. I would have avoided making use of this dreadful
word, but it must have come to your knowledge, and perhaps
unaccompanied by many others of a pleasing kind. To prevent
its being improperly communicated to Mrs. or the Misses
Heywood, whose distresses first engaged me in the business,
and could not fail to call forth my best exertions upon the
occasion, I send you this by express. The mode of
communication I must leave to your discretion; and shall only
add that, although from a combination of circumstances,
ill-nature, and mistaken friendship, the sentence is in itself
terrible, yet it is incumbent on me to assure you that, from
the same combination of circumstances, everybody who attended
the trial is perfectly satisfied in his own mind that he was
_hardly guilty in appearance, in intention he was perfectly
innocent_. I shall of course write to Commodore Pasley, whose
mind, from my letter to him of yesterday, must be dreadfully
agitated, and take his advice about what is to be done when
Mr. Heywood is released. I shall stay here till then, and my
intention is afterwards to take him to my house in town, where
I think he had better stay till one of the family calls for
him: for he will require a great deal of tender management
after all his sufferings; and it would perhaps be a necessary
preparation for seeing his mother, that one or both his
sisters should be previously prepared to support her on so
trying an occasion.'

On the following day Mr. Graham again writes to Dr. Scott, and
among other things observes, 'It will be a great satisfaction
to his family to learn, that the declarations of some of the
other prisoners, since the trial, put it past all doubt that
the evidence upon which he was convicted must have been (to
say nothing worse of it) an unfortunate belief, on the part of
the witness, of circumstances which either never had
existence, or were applicable to one of the other gentlemen
who remained in the ship, and not to Mr. Heywood.'[27]

On the 20th September Mr. Heywood addresses the first letter he wrote,
after his conviction, to Dr. Scott.

'HONOURED AND DEAR SIR,--On Wednesday the 12th instant the
awful trial commenced, and on _that_ day, _when in Court_, I
had the pleasure of receiving your most kind and parental
letter,[28] in answer to which I now communicate to you the
melancholy issue of it, which, as I desired my friend Mr.
Graham to inform you of immediately, will be no dreadful news
to you. The morning lowers, and all my hope of worldly joy is
fled. On Tuesday morning the 18th the dreadful sentence of
death was pronounced upon me, to which (being the just decree
of that Divine Providence who first gave me breath) I bow my
devoted head, with that fortitude, cheerfulness, and
resignation, which is the duty of every member of the church
of our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Christ Jesus. To Him alone
I now look up for succour, in full hope that perhaps a few
days more will open to the view of my astonished and fearful
soul His kingdom of eternal and incomprehensible bliss,
prepared only for the righteous of heart.

'I have not been found guilty of the slightest act connected
with that detestable crime of mutiny, but am doomed to die for
not being active in my endeavours to suppress it. Could the
witnesses who appeared on the Court-martial be themselves
tried, _they_ would also suffer for the very same and only
crime of which I have been found guilty. But I am to be the
victim. Alas! my youthful inexperience, and not depravity of
will, is the sole cause to which I can attribute my
misfortunes. But so far from repining at my fate, I receive it
with a dreadful kind of joy, composure, and serenity of mind;
well assured that it has pleased God to point me out as a
subject through which some greatly useful (though at present
unsearchable) intention of the divine attributes may be
carried into execution for the future benefit of my country.
Then why should I repine at being made a sacrifice for the
good, perhaps, of thousands of my fellow-creatures; forbid it,
Heaven! Why should I be sorry to leave a world in which I have
met with nothing but misfortunes and all their concomitant
evils? I shall on the contrary endeavour to divest myself of
all wishes for the futile and sublunary enjoyments of it, and
prepare my soul for its reception into the bosom of its
Redeemer. For though the very strong recommendation I have had
to his Majesty's mercy by all the members of the Court may
meet with his approbation, yet that is but the balance of a
straw, a mere uncertainty, upon which no hope can be built;
the other is a certainty that must one day happen to every
mortal, and therefore the salvation of my soul requires my
most prompt and powerful exertions during the short time I may
have to remain on earth.

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