ave
them, until we were led on to speak of hope and of faith; of Him who
"willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from
his wickedness and live;" and then the Saviour's remonstrance seemed to
arrest them--"Ye will not come to me that ye might have life;" until at
length the influences of the Holy Spirit were supplicated with
earnestness and solemnity. These instructions and such conversations
were daily repeated; and henceforth each time I saw them, I perceived a
gradual but distinct unfolding of the affections and the understanding.

"August.--The wounded men are much recovered, and the whole of the
mutineers are now confined together in a large ward of the jail. They
have long received extreme kindness from the commandant, and are
literally bewildered at finding that even this last act has not
diminished the exercise of his benevolence. That anybody should care for
them, or take such pains about them after their violent conduct excited
surprise at first almost amounting to suspicion; but this at length gave
place to the warmest gratitude. They were, in fact, subdued by it. They
read very much, are extremely submissive, and carefully avoid the
slightest infringement of the prison regulations. At first, all this was
confined to the three men I have mentioned; but their steady consistency
of conduct, and the strange transformation of character, so evident in
them, gradually arrested the attention of the others, and eventually led
to a similar result.

"They will be detained here until the case has been decided by the
authorities in Sydney. They will probably be tried by a commission sent
from thence to the island for the purpose. Formerly, however, prisoners
charged with capital offences here were sent up for trial; but (it is a
horrible fact) this was found to lead to so much crime, that, at much
inconvenience and expense, it was found absolutely necessary to send
down a judicial commission on each important occasion, in order to
prevent it. The mere excitement of a voyage, with the chances connected
with it, nay, merely a wish to get off the island even for a time, led
many men to commit crimes of the deepest dye in order to be sent to
Sydney for trial.

"Two months, therefore, at least must intervene between the perpetration
of the offence and their trial; and this interval is usually employed in
similar cases in arranging a defence but too commonly supported by
perjury. In the present inst