Journal, is not
altogether
convincing, and the testimony of John
Adams in his old age counts for little.
Adams in his old age counts for little.
Byron
He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral
of the Blue in 1814, and died, December 7, 1817.
In his _Narrative_ Bligh describes the mutiny as "a close-planned act of
villainy," and attributes the conspiracy not to his own harshness, or to
disloyalty provoked by "real or imaginary grievances," but to the
contrast of life on board ship, "in ever climbing up the climbing wave,"
with the unearned luxuries of Tahiti, "the allurements of dissipation
. . . the female connections," which the sailors had left behind. Besides
his own apology, there are the sworn statements of the two midshipmen,
Hayward and Hallet, and others, which Bligh published in answer to a
pamphlet which Edward Christian, afterwards Chief Justice of Ely, wrote
in defence of his brother Fletcher. The evidence against Bligh is
contained in the MS. journal of the boatswain's mate, James Morrison,
which was saved, as by a miracle, from the wreck of the _Pandora_, and
is quoted by Sir John Barrow, Lady Belcher, and other authorities. There
is, too, the testimony of John Adams (Alexander Smith), as recorded by
Captain Beachey, and, as additional proof of indifference and tyrannical
behaviour, there are Bligh's own letters to Peter Hayward's mother and
uncle (March 26, April 2, 1790), and W. C. Wentworth's account of his
administration as Governor of New South Wales (see _A Statistical
Description_, etc. , 1819, p. 166). It cannot be gainsaid that Bligh was
a man of integrity and worth, and that he was upheld and esteemed by the
Admiralty. Morrison's Journal, though in parts corroborated by Bligh's
MS.
Journal, is not altogether convincing, and the testimony of John
Adams in his old age counts for little. But according to his own
supporters he "damned" his men though not the officers, and his own
_Narrative_, as well as Morrison's Journal, proves that he was
suspicious, and that he underrated and misunderstood the character and
worth of his subordinates. He was responsible for the prolonged sojourn
at Tahiti, and he should have remembered that time and distance are
powerful solvents, and that between Portsmouth Hard and the untracked
waters of the Pacific, "all Arcadia" had intervened. He was a man of
imperfect sympathies, wanting in tact and fineness, but in the hour of
need he behaved like a hero, and saved himself and others by submission
to duty and strenuous self-control. Moreover, he "helped England" not
once or twice, "in the brave days of old. " (See _A_ _Narrative, etc. _,
1790; _The Naval History of Great Britain_, by E. P. Brenton, 1823, i.
96, _sq. _; _Royal Naval Biography_, by John Marshall, 1823-35, ii. pp.
747, _sq. _; _Mutineers of the Bounty_, by Lady Belcher, 1870, p. 8;
_Dictionary of National Biography_, art. "Bligh.
of the Blue in 1814, and died, December 7, 1817.
In his _Narrative_ Bligh describes the mutiny as "a close-planned act of
villainy," and attributes the conspiracy not to his own harshness, or to
disloyalty provoked by "real or imaginary grievances," but to the
contrast of life on board ship, "in ever climbing up the climbing wave,"
with the unearned luxuries of Tahiti, "the allurements of dissipation
. . . the female connections," which the sailors had left behind. Besides
his own apology, there are the sworn statements of the two midshipmen,
Hayward and Hallet, and others, which Bligh published in answer to a
pamphlet which Edward Christian, afterwards Chief Justice of Ely, wrote
in defence of his brother Fletcher. The evidence against Bligh is
contained in the MS. journal of the boatswain's mate, James Morrison,
which was saved, as by a miracle, from the wreck of the _Pandora_, and
is quoted by Sir John Barrow, Lady Belcher, and other authorities. There
is, too, the testimony of John Adams (Alexander Smith), as recorded by
Captain Beachey, and, as additional proof of indifference and tyrannical
behaviour, there are Bligh's own letters to Peter Hayward's mother and
uncle (March 26, April 2, 1790), and W. C. Wentworth's account of his
administration as Governor of New South Wales (see _A Statistical
Description_, etc. , 1819, p. 166). It cannot be gainsaid that Bligh was
a man of integrity and worth, and that he was upheld and esteemed by the
Admiralty. Morrison's Journal, though in parts corroborated by Bligh's
MS.
Journal, is not altogether convincing, and the testimony of John
Adams in his old age counts for little. But according to his own
supporters he "damned" his men though not the officers, and his own
_Narrative_, as well as Morrison's Journal, proves that he was
suspicious, and that he underrated and misunderstood the character and
worth of his subordinates. He was responsible for the prolonged sojourn
at Tahiti, and he should have remembered that time and distance are
powerful solvents, and that between Portsmouth Hard and the untracked
waters of the Pacific, "all Arcadia" had intervened. He was a man of
imperfect sympathies, wanting in tact and fineness, but in the hour of
need he behaved like a hero, and saved himself and others by submission
to duty and strenuous self-control. Moreover, he "helped England" not
once or twice, "in the brave days of old. " (See _A_ _Narrative, etc. _,
1790; _The Naval History of Great Britain_, by E. P. Brenton, 1823, i.
96, _sq. _; _Royal Naval Biography_, by John Marshall, 1823-35, ii. pp.
747, _sq. _; _Mutineers of the Bounty_, by Lady Belcher, 1870, p. 8;
_Dictionary of National Biography_, art. "Bligh.
