t knowledge of that
loyalty of spirit in which he justly confided, that he consented to
receive from the Prince George one of the worst of the mutineers in
that ship, who was to have been tried for his life. The seasonable
admonition which this man received from Sir James, and the attention
paid to his situation and feelings, had the desired effect of working
a complete change in his conduct, and from being one of the most
hardened of the mutineers, he soon became one of the most loyal, as he
was one of the bravest of English sailors. It was only three days
after he came on board that the signal was made for a boat from each
ship to attend the execution of three of the mutineers on board the
Prince George; which Earl St. Vincent, by a well-timed decision, had
ordered to take place very soon after the sentence, and while the
in-shore squadron were actually engaged with the enemy. He directed,
moreover, that this duty should be performed entirely by their own
ship's crew.

Sir James availed himself of this trying occasion to work out the
man's full conversion. Instead of sending him, as it is customary to
send culprits, in the boats to witness the execution of his shipmates,
he ordered him into his cabin, and having represented in the mildest
and most feeling terms the heinousness of the crime which he was known
to have committed, he assured him that it was his intention to spare
him the anguish he must endure of beholding his late companions
suffering the last penalty of the law for the very crime of which he
had been guilty.

This well-timed exhortation had the desired effect. The penitent man
fell on his knees, and with tears in his eyes acknowledged the
heinousness of his offence, and expressed the strongest protestations
of future loyalty, and of gratitude as well as attachment to his
humane commander. What followed was most creditable to both. The man
not only kept his word, but highly distinguished himself: at the
battle of the Nile he was captain of a gun, and, after the action, was
very instrumental, from his exertions and ability as carpenter's mate,
in saving the Peuple Souverain, which struck to the Orion. Being one
of those who took possession of the former ship, he was slung over the
side, and successfully employed in stopping the shot-holes under water
as the vessel rolled in the opposite direction;--a dangerous service,
which requires much intrepidity and address.

It is, indeed, by no means surprising