ntent, which would have put me on my guard; but the ease was
far otherwise. Christian, in particular, I was on the most friendly
terms with: that very day he was engaged to have dined with me; and the
preceding night he excused himself from supping with me, on pretence of
being unwell; for which I felt concerned, having no suspicions of his
integrity and honour.'

Such is the story published by Lieutenant Bligh immediately on his
return to England, after one of the most distressing and perilous
passages over nearly four thousand miles of the wide ocean, with
eighteen persons, in an open boat. The story obtained implicit credit;
and though Lieutenant Bligh's character never stood high in the navy for
suavity of manners or mildness of temper, he was always considered as an
excellent seaman, and his veracity stood unimpeached. But in this age of
refined liberality, when the most atrocious criminals find their
apologists, it is not surprising it should now be discovered, when all
are dead that could either prove or disprove it, that it was the tyranny
of the commander alone, and not the wickedness of the ringleader of the
mutineers of the _Bounty_, that caused that event. 'We all know,' it is
said, 'that mutiny can arise but from one of these two sources,
excessive folly or excessive tyranny; therefore'--the logic is
admirable--'as it is admitted that Bligh was no idiot, the inference is
obvious.'[6] If this be so, it may be asked to which of the two causes
must be ascribed the mutiny at the Nore, etc.? The true answer will be,
to neither. 'Not only,' continues the writer, 'was the _narrative_ which
he published proved to be false in many material bearings, by evidence
before a court-martial, but every act of his public life after this
event, from his successive command of the _Director_, the _Glatton_, and
the _Warrior_, to his disgraceful expulsion from New South Wales,--was
stamped with an insolence, an inhumanity, and coarseness, which fully
developed his character.'

There is no intention, in narrating this eventful history, to accuse or
defend either the character or the conduct of the late Admiral Bligh; it
is well known his temper was irritable in the extreme; but the
circumstance of his having been the friend of Captain Cook, with whom he
sailed as his master,--of his ever afterwards being patronized by Sir
Joseph Banks,--of the Admiralty promoting him to the rank of commander,
appointing him immediately to the _P