"I
really do not know, sir," he replied; "but I hope you do not think me so
mean as to be guilty of stealing yours.
really do not know, sir," he replied; "but I hope you do not think me so
mean as to be guilty of stealing yours.
Byron
?
?
[A)po/lolen,
a)ndro\s a)reta/]," Plutarch's _Scripta Moralia_, 1839, i. 230. ]
[fq] {621} _To people in a small embarrassment_. --[MS. D. erased. ]
[401] {622} [Fletcher Christian, born 1763, was the fourth son of
Charles Christian, an attorney, of Moreland Close, in the parish of
Brigham, Cumberland. His family, which was of Manx extraction, was
connected with the Christians of Ewanrigg, and the Curwens of Workington
Hall. His brother Edward became Chief Justice of Ely, and was well known
as the editor of _Blackstones Commentaries_. For purposes of
verification (see _An Answer to certain Assertions, etc. _, 1794, p. 9),
Bligh described him as "aged 24 years, five feet nine inches high,
blackish or very dark brown complexioned, dark brown hair, strong made,
star tatowed on the left breast," etc. According to "Morrison's
Journal," high words had passed between Bligh and Christian on more than
one occasion, and, on the day before the mutiny, a question having
arisen with regard to the disappearance of some cocoa-nuts, Christian
was cross-examined by the captain as to his share of the plunder.
"I
really do not know, sir," he replied; "but I hope you do not think me so
mean as to be guilty of stealing yours. " "Yes," said Bligh,
"you ---- hound, I do think so, or you could have given a better account
of them. " It was after this offensive accusation that Christian
determined, in the first instance, to quit the ship, and on the morning
of April 28, 1788, finding the mate of the watch asleep, on the spur of
the moment resolved to lay violent hands on the captain, and assume the
command of the _Bounty_. The language attributed to Bligh reads like a
translation into the vernacular, but if Christian kept his designs to
himself, it is strange that they were immediately understood and acted
upon by a body of impromptu conspirators. Testimony, whether written or
spoken, with regard to the succession of events "in moments like to
these," is worth very little; but it is pretty evident that Christian
was a gentleman, and that Bligh's violent and unmannerly ratings were
the immediate cause of the mutiny.
Contradictory accounts are given of Christian's death. It is generally
believed that in the fourth year of the settlement on Pitcairn Island
the Tahitians formed a plot to massacre the Englishmen, and that
Christian was shot when at work in his plantation (_The Mutineers,
etc. _, by Lady Belcher, 1870, p. 163; _The Mutiny, etc. _, by Rosalind A.
Young, 1894, p. 28). On the other hand, Amasa Delano, in his _Narrative
of Voyages, etc. _ (Boston, 1817, cap. v. p.
a)ndro\s a)reta/]," Plutarch's _Scripta Moralia_, 1839, i. 230. ]
[fq] {621} _To people in a small embarrassment_. --[MS. D. erased. ]
[401] {622} [Fletcher Christian, born 1763, was the fourth son of
Charles Christian, an attorney, of Moreland Close, in the parish of
Brigham, Cumberland. His family, which was of Manx extraction, was
connected with the Christians of Ewanrigg, and the Curwens of Workington
Hall. His brother Edward became Chief Justice of Ely, and was well known
as the editor of _Blackstones Commentaries_. For purposes of
verification (see _An Answer to certain Assertions, etc. _, 1794, p. 9),
Bligh described him as "aged 24 years, five feet nine inches high,
blackish or very dark brown complexioned, dark brown hair, strong made,
star tatowed on the left breast," etc. According to "Morrison's
Journal," high words had passed between Bligh and Christian on more than
one occasion, and, on the day before the mutiny, a question having
arisen with regard to the disappearance of some cocoa-nuts, Christian
was cross-examined by the captain as to his share of the plunder.
"I
really do not know, sir," he replied; "but I hope you do not think me so
mean as to be guilty of stealing yours. " "Yes," said Bligh,
"you ---- hound, I do think so, or you could have given a better account
of them. " It was after this offensive accusation that Christian
determined, in the first instance, to quit the ship, and on the morning
of April 28, 1788, finding the mate of the watch asleep, on the spur of
the moment resolved to lay violent hands on the captain, and assume the
command of the _Bounty_. The language attributed to Bligh reads like a
translation into the vernacular, but if Christian kept his designs to
himself, it is strange that they were immediately understood and acted
upon by a body of impromptu conspirators. Testimony, whether written or
spoken, with regard to the succession of events "in moments like to
these," is worth very little; but it is pretty evident that Christian
was a gentleman, and that Bligh's violent and unmannerly ratings were
the immediate cause of the mutiny.
Contradictory accounts are given of Christian's death. It is generally
believed that in the fourth year of the settlement on Pitcairn Island
the Tahitians formed a plot to massacre the Englishmen, and that
Christian was shot when at work in his plantation (_The Mutineers,
etc. _, by Lady Belcher, 1870, p. 163; _The Mutiny, etc. _, by Rosalind A.
Young, 1894, p. 28). On the other hand, Amasa Delano, in his _Narrative
of Voyages, etc. _ (Boston, 1817, cap. v. p.
