Therefore, notwithstanding that Bligh was
the victim of two outbreaks against his rule, posterity, without the most
indisputable evidence to the contrary, would have held him acquitted of
the least responsibility for his misfortunes. In the case of the _Bounty_
mutiny the evidence of Bligh's opponents that the captain of the _Bounty_
was a tyrannical officer remains uncontradicted by any authority but that
of the _Bounty's_ captain; in the case of the New South Wales revolt we
can only judge of the probabilities, for the witnesses at the Johnston
court-martial were of necessity upon one side. But the court-martial, a
tribunal not at all likely to err upon the side of mutineers, came to the
same conclusion as we have, and, so far as we are aware, most other
writers acquainted with the subject have been driven to: that Bligh, to
say the least of it, behaved with great indiscretion.
Our references to this matter have been entirely to [Sidenote: 1829]
the minutes of the court-martial and to writers who wrote long enough ago
to have had a personal knowledge of the subject or acquaintance with
actors in the events. The lady whose letter we have quoted in the first
pages of this chapter refers us to Lang's _History_ for a justification of
Bligh, and Dr. Lang, as is well known to students of Australian history,
wrote more strongly in that governor's favour than did any other writer.
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