NO SYMPATHY WITH THE MUTINEERS.

the only hope of the mutineers was in the sup-
port and co-operation of other ships at the home
station. But instead of encouragement, they
received addresses from the crews of the ships at
Portsmouth and Plymouth, desiring them to return
to their duty, and reprobating their conduct as a
'scandal to the name of British seamen.' It
became known, also, that a resolution had been
adopted, that no man engaged in the mutiny
should be employed in the merchant service; and
they found no sympathy in any class of their
countrymen. But when the recent Acts of Parlia-
ment, and the King's proclamation, which the
leaders of the mutiny in vain endeavoured to sup-
press, were promulgated through the ships, the
men who had been coerced into the mutiny, or
who had reluctantly joined it, loudly declared for
immediate submission. Five of the ships slipped
their cables, and deserted the piratical squadron.
The Repulse, and the Leopard, followed the
lead; but the former, a frigate of the first rate,
having grounded, was exposed to the broadsides
of the nearest ships for an hour and a half, before
she could be got off. Three other ships made
good their escape to the Medway in the night.
The remainder of the insurgents then separated
into two divisions; the one professing to hold out
to the last; the other willing to surrender upon
terms. Flags of truce were sent on shore; but
the Government being advised that the mutiny was
breaking up, remained inflexible. The men, there-

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Execution of

Parker.

SUPPRESSION OF THE MUTINY.

fore, determined to give way. Their first act of repentance was to remove the blockade from the mouth of the Thames. The revolted ships dropped off one by one; and on the 15th of May, after the mutiny had lasted five weeks, the Sandwich, herself slowly left her moorings, and anchored under the battery of Sheerness.

Parker, the ringleader, was taken into custody the same day. In a few days, he was tried by Court Martial, and his guilt being established, he was condemned to death; and the sentence was executed at the yard-arm of the Sandwich. Parker was a man of decent parentage, and good education. He had been bred to the naval profession, and, at the close of the American war, was an acting lieutenant in a man of war. Having come into some property, he retired from the service, and married a Scotch girl, with whom he is said to have received a portion. He appears, however, to have dissipated his fortune; and, to avoid a prison, he entered himself as a common seaman on board a tender in Leith Roads. From thence he was transferred to the flag-ship at Sheerness. He was a bold, unprincipled adventurer, full of arrogance and conceit; but well fitted by education and address to exercise a dangerous influence over ignorant and discontented men. He styled himself, and was addressed by the crews as, Admiral Parker. He fell short, however, of those high qualities which enable a man, without the advantage of position, or early

CHARACTER OF PARKER.

training, to maintain authority and command. The possession of power disturbed the balance of his mind; and instead of the skilful leader of rebels, of whom he appears to be the comrade, while he is really their dictator, this man vaunted himself like any vulgar tyrant, who claims a legitimate right to the abuse of power. Parker affected to establish a discipline, not less severe than that which was hardly submitted to without murmuring when practised by an officer with a regular commission. His only notion of rule was force and terror. If a ship was suspected of disaffection to the cause, she was kept within range of the guns of the Sandwich, or one of her consorts. If she attempted to return to her duty, she was fired into. On his trial, this man, who had behaved with such insolence and defiance to his superiors, endeavoured to set up a character for moderation; attempted to shift the blame of commencing the mutiny to a ship in which he had no control, insinuated that he had acted under duress, and finally asserted that it was owing to his influence, the fleet was not carried into the enemy's port. He was persuaded that by this line of defence he should save his life. But the proof was too strong for such pretences; and the only effect of putting them forward, was to deprive his well-merited fate of that commiseration which it would otherwise have received from his generous, though misguided, followers. Parker was thirty years of age when he suffered. Not more than four

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179 7

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1797

Ill-usage of the seamen, common.

MUTINOUS DISPOSITION

or five persons were capitally punished. Sentences of more or less severity were passed on other ringleaders; but the punishments were not numerous.

The disturbances in the fleet were not confined to the Channel and the mouth of the Thames. A bad spirit pervaded the whole service. We have seen that Admiral Duncan was deserted by a portion of his fleet; he was, in fact, left with only two ships to blockade the Texel. The promptitude and wise severity of Lord St. Vincent suppressed the first rising of a dangerous revolt in the squadron off Cadiz. At the Cape of Good Hope, it was necessary to point the guns of the batteries at Simon's Town, and to prepare red hot shot for the destruction of his Majesty's ships in open mutiny. In another sea, the crew of the Hermione rose, put the captain and his officers to death, and took the frigate into a Spanish port.

But

Convulsions like these happening almost simultaneously, proved the existence of evils which demanded searching enquiry. The more palpable grievances of the service had been hastily redressed under dangerous and disgraceful pressure. there remained behind deep-seated and wide-spread mischief which could not be so readily removed. The decks of a man of war do not admit of luxury; nor does a seaman require to be pampered. But rough as he is, he knows and feels the difference between a well and an ill-regulated ship. He does not expect to have his faults overlooked; but he knows the difference between a good and a bad officer.

THROUGHOUT THE NAVY.

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Ch. 37.

Generally, the health and comfort of the crew were but little regarded. The ventilation of a ship was unfit for the necessities of animal life; the food was frequently bad; the sick were often cruelly neglected. But more harassing and demoralizing even than these hardships, was the conduct of the officers, among whom it was a too prevalent notion, that to keep the men up to their duty, and make them smart, it was necessary to be continually cursing them, never to address them without an oath, to call them foul names, and never to let them be at rest. The lesson which these great mutinies taught was not forgotten. The Admiralty became more circumspect in their appointments. A lad, who was fit for nothing else, was no longer considered eligible for the navy. It ceased to be considered a sufficient qualification for the command of a ship, that the candidate was recommended by the proprietor of a borough, or a woman of fashion. Midshipmen were admonished, that it would be as well to treat bearded men something better than dogs; and captains and first lieutenants began to doubt, that the service would go to perdition if experienced hands were not constantly turned up for exercise and drill. Even contractors for beef and rum were taught to think, that some little attention ought to be paid to the quality of the commodities which they supplied; and ship's pursers obtained an inkling that there was a limit to peculation. A more wholesome spirit was diffused throughout the

1797