greatly accelerated his restoration to liberty, which took place Oct. 27, 1792.
The King’s free and unconditional pardon having been read to Mr. Heywood by Captain Montagu, he addressed that officer in the following terms, the sincerity of which has been amply proved by his subsequent conduct:
“Sir,– When the sentence of the law was passed upon me, I received it, I trust, as became a Man; and if it had been carried into execution, I should have met my fate, I hope, in a manner becoming a Christian. Your admonition cannot fail to make a lasting impression on my mind. – I receive with gratitude my Sovereign’s mercy, for which my future life shall be faithfully devoted to his service.”
Digressing for a moment from our “straight forward” course, we shall here introduce an extract from a letter written by one of Mr. Peter Heywood’s brothers, describing his serenity of mind during the awful period of five weeks and four days, that elapsed between his trial and liberation.
“While I write this, Peter is sitting by me, making an Otaheitean vocabulary, and so happy and intent upon it that I have no opportunity of saying a word to him. I assure you he is at present in excellent spirits, and I am perfectly convinced they get better and better every day[1].”
It will be seen by the foregoing statement of undeniable facts, that Mr. Peter Heywood’s professional debut was a most unpromising one; yet, ultimately, the misfortunes of his youth proved highly beneficial to him. The greater part of those distinguished officers who had sat as members of the court-martial, justly considering him much more unfortunate than criminal, extended their patronage to him immediately after his release, and through their good offices and
- ↑ The vocabulary alluded to by Mr. James Heywood, proved highly useful to the missionaries who were afterwards sent to Otaheite, and is thus spoken of at p. 13 of the “Duff’s Voyage.”
“An ingenious clergyman of Portsmouth kindly furnished Dr. Haweis and Mr. Greatheed with a manuscript vocabulary of the Otaheitean language, and an account of the country, which providentially he preserved from the mutineers who were seized by the Pandora, and brought to Portsmouth for their trial, which was of unspeakable service to the missionaries, both for the help which it afforded them to learn before their arrival much of this unknown tongue, and also as giving the most inviting and encouraging description of the natives, and the cordial reception which they might expect.”
