sail under the orders of the persons asserted therein to have illegally and by force dispossessed the said Captain William Bligh of the government of New South Wales; and did not improperly strike the broad pendant of the said Captain William Bligh; that it appears that the said Lieutenant W. G. C. Kent, under the extreme and extraordinary difficulties in which he was placed, shewed every disposition to obey any orders which the said Captain William Bligh might have thought fit to have given him; that he was actuated by a sincere wish to perform his duty for the good of His Majesty’s service, and that be was justified in the conduct he pursued on such occasion: and the Court is further of opinion, that the said third charge has not been proved against the said Lieutenant W. G. C. Kent, and doth adjudge him to be acquitted of the whole of the above charges; and the said Lieutenant W. G. C. Kent is hereby acquitted accordingly. – Signed by the Court.
So satisfied were the Lords of the Admiralty of the correctness of Lieutenant Kent’s conduct, that they not only directed him to be paid as commander of the Porpoise, during the whole period of his confinement, although Captain Porteous was also paid, but they also noted his name for promotion. From the long and rigorous imprisonment he had undergone, however, his health was not sufficiently re-established for active service, until April, 1812, when he applied for employment, and was immediately appointed to the Union, 98, fitting out for the Mediterranean station. In this ship he served under Captains Samuel Hood Linzee, William Kent, and Robert Rolles, until December following; when, having had the misfortune to lose his uncle, (who had ever been his patron and protector[2]), and wishing for a more active employment, he was removed by Sir Edward Pellew (now Viscount Exmouth) into the Sparrowhawk sloop, Captain Thomas Ball Clowes, with whom he continued, as first lieutenant, until promoted to the rank of commander, June 15th, 1814.
- ↑ For further particulars of the transactions at Sydney, in 1808, see the “Proceedings of a General Court-Martial, held at Chelsea, in May and June, 1811, for the trial of Lieutenant.Colonel Johnston, on a charge of Mutiny &c.” Published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, London.
- ↑ See p. 157.
