judiced persons, or such as are
capable of weighing evidence, that the two young midshipmen, Stewart and
Hey wood, were perfectly innocent of any share in the transaction in
question; and yet, because they happened to be left in the ship, not
only contrary to their wish and intention, but kept down below by force,
the one lost his life, by being drowned in chains, and the other was
condemned to die, and only escaped from suffering the last penalty of
the law by a recommendation to the royal mercy. The only point in which
these two officers failed, was, that they did not at once demand
permission to accompany their commander, while they were allowed to
remain on deck and had the opportunity of doing so. The manly conduct
of young Heywood, throughout his long and unmerited sufferings, affords
an example of firmness, fortitude, and resignation to the Divine will,
that is above all praise; in fact, nothing short of conscious innocence
could have supported him in the severe trials he had to undergo.

The melancholy effects which tyrannical conduct, harsh and opprobrious
language, ungovernable passion, and a worrying and harassing temper, on
the part of naval commanders, seldom fail to produce on the minds of
those who are subject to their capricious and arbitrary command, are
strongly exemplified in the cause and consequences of the mutiny in the
_Bounty_, as described in the course of this history. Conduct of this
kind, by making the inferior officers of a ship discontented and
unhappy, has the dangerous tendency, as in the case of Christian, to
incite the crew to partake in their discontent, and be ready to assist
in any plan to get rid of the tyrant. We may see in it, also, how very
little credit a commander is likely to gain, either with the service or
the public at large, when the duties of a ship are carried on, as they
would appear to have been in the _Pandora_, in a cold, phlegmatic, and
unfeeling manner, and with an indifference to the comfort of all around
him,--subjecting offenders of whatever description to unnecessary
restraint, and a severity of punishment, which, though strictly within
the letter of the law, contributes in no way to the ends of discipline
or of justice.

The conduct of Bligh, however mistaken he may have been in his mode of
carrying on the duties of the ship, was most exemplary throughout the
long and perilous voyage he performed in an open boat, on the wide
ocean, with the most scanty supply