by Daniel Defoe
would never reproach them with it; but that I thought itwas necessary their judgments should be convinced how much they wereimposed upon, as well as their tempers be reduced by my kindness tothem. That I was of the opinion that they had been abused in the accountgiven them of what I had designed to do, and of the reasons I had togive for doing it; and I would desire them to let me know afterwards,whether they had been faithfully informed or not; and whether in theirown judgment, now when they were freed from the prepossessions they wereunder, they could object anything against it or no.
This I did with respect to the other men whom I had made prisoners inthe steerage, whom I had the same design to be kind to as I had tothese; but upon whom I resolved to work this way, because, after all, Imight have this work to do over again, if I should meet with anydisappointment or miscarriage in the voyage; or especially, if we shouldbe put to any difficulties or distresses in the pursuing it.
In order to this I caused the voyage itself, and the reasons of it, thenature of the trade I was to carry on by it, the pursuit of it to theSouth Seas, and, in a word, everything just as we had argued and settledit in the great cabin, to be put into writing and read to them.
The fellows, every one of them, declared they were fully satisfied inthe voyage itself, and that my reasons for it were perfectly good; andthat they had received a quite different account of it; as that I wouldcarry them into the island of the Moluccas, which was the most unhealthypart of the East Indies; that I would go away to the south for newdiscoveries; and that I would go away thence to the South Seas; whichwas a voyage of such a length, that no ship could victual for; that itwas impossible to carry fresh water such a length; and, in a word, thatit was a voyage that would destroy us all.
It was the chief mate and the midshipman who took them all down thescuttle, that brought me this account from them: so I made him take twoof those penitent mutineers with him, and go to the men in the steerage,whom he had made prisoners at first, and see whether their delusionswere of the same kind, and what kind of temper they were in;accordingly, he went to them directly, for this was not a business thatadmitted giving them time to club and cabal together, and form othersocieties or combinations which might have consequences fatal to usstill.
When he came to them, he told them, the captain was willing to do allthe justice possible to his men, and to use them, on all occasions, withequity and kindness; that I had ordered him to inquire calmly what itwas had moved them to these disorders, and what it was which they hadbeen made to believe was doing, that they could enter into measures sodestructive to themselves, and to those who had intrusted them all withthe ship and cargo; for that, in a voyage, every foremast-man, in hisdegree, is trusted with the safety of the whole ship.
They answered it was the second mate; that they had never shownthemselves discontented, much less disorderly, in the ship; that theyhad, on all occasions, done their duty through the whole voyage tillnow; and that they had no ill design upon any one, much less had theyany design to destroy the voyage, or injure the captain; but that theywere all told by the second mate, that the captain had imposed uponthem, by proposing a mad voyage to the south pole, that would be thedeath of them all, and that they were to lay aside the trading andcruising voyages which they came out upon, and were now to spend thewhole voyage in new discoveries; by which the men could propose nothingto themselves but hardships, and perhaps perishing with hunger and cold;whereas, had they gone to the South Seas as was intended, they might allhave been made; and that the hazards, with that prospect, had someconsolation in them; whereas, in this project, there was nothing butcertain destruction.
The mate delivered them a copy of the scheme I had proposed, the reasonsof it, the trade I had designed, the return I was to make, andeverything, as I have already mentioned, and bade them take it andconsider of it.
As I was justly provoked to see how I had been abused and misrepresentedto the men, so they were astonished when they read my scheme, and sawwhat mischiefs they had been led into, for they knew not what, andwithout any reason or just consideration: and, after they had debatedthings awhile among themselves, they desired the chief mate might cometo them again, which he did; then they told him, that as they had beenthus grossly abused, and drawn into mischiefs which they never designed,by such plausible pretences, and by being told such a long story full oflies, and to carry on an infernal project of the second mate's, theyhoped their being so much imposed upon would a little extenuate theirfault; that they were convinced the captain had proposed nothing butwhat was very rational, and a voyage that might be very profitable tothe owners and to every individual; and they entirely threw themselvesupon the captain's mercy, and humbly begged pardon; that, if I pleasedto forgive them, they would endeavour to merit such forgiveness by theirfuture behaviour; and that, in the mean time, they submitted to whatpunishment I pleased to lay upon them: and, particularly, that, as theyhad forfeited, by their conspiracy, all the claims they had upon theship, and might justly have been turned on shore at the first land theycame to, they were willing to sign a discharge for all their wages dueto them, which was now near eight months a man, and to be considered forthe rest of the voyage as they deserved: that they would all take asolemn oath of fidelity to me to do their duty, to go wherever I wouldcarry them, and to behave with the greatest submission and diligence, inhopes to regain my favour by their future behaviour, and to show theirgratitude for the pardon I should grant them.
This was, indeed, just as I would have it, for I wanted nothing morethan to have something offered, which I might give them back again; forI ever thought, and have found it by experience, to be the best way; andmen were always secured in their duty by a generous kindness, betterthan by absolute dominion and severity: indeed, my opinion was justifiedin all the measures I took with these men; for as I found they weresufficiently humbled, and that I had brought them low enough, I let themknow that it was not their punishment but their amendment I desired;that I scorned to make a prey of them, and take that forfeiture they hadoffered, by putting the wages due to them for their labour in my pocket.I then sent them word I was very glad to hear that they were sensiblehow much they had been imposed upon; that, as it was not my design tooffer anything to them which they or any honest men ought to refuse, soit was not my desire to make any advantages of their follies but whatmight tend to bring them back to their duty; that, as I had no prospectthat was inconsistent with their safety and interest, so I scorned tomake an advantage of their submission; that as to their wages, thoughthey had forfeited them by their mutiny, yet God forbid I should convertthem to my own profit; and since forgiving their offence was in mypower, the crime being in one particular an offence against me, theyshould never be able to say I made a gain of their submission, and, likethe Pope, should sell them my pardon; that, upon their solemnly engagingto me never to offer the least disturbance of any kind in the ship forthe future, but to do their duty faithfully and cheerfully, I wouldforget all that was passed; only this I expected, that two of them, whowere particularly guilty of threatening the life of Captain Merlotte,should be punished as they deserved.
They could not deny but this was most just; and they did not so much asoffer to intercede for those two; but, when one of the two moved therest to petition for them, they answered they could not do it, for theyhad received favour enough for themselves, and they could not desireanything of the captain for their sakes, for they had all deservedpunishment as well as they.
In a word, the two men were brought upon deck, and soundly whipped andpickled; and they all proved very honest ever after: and these, as Isaid at first, were two-and-thirty in all.
All this while Captain Merlotte with his Frenchmen were in arms, and hadpossession on the quarter-deck to the number of twenty-three stout men;I had possession of the main-deck with eighteen men and the sixteenDutchmen, and my chief mate with the midshipman, had possession of thecook-room and quarter-deck; the Dutch captain, our supercargo, thesurgeon, and the other captain, kept the great cabins with a guard
oftwelve musketeers without the door, and about eight more within, besidesservants. Captain Merlotte's man also had a guard of eight men in theroundhouse. I had now nothing to do but with my men who were on shore;and of these, six were no way culpable, being men not embarked in thedesign, but carried on shore by the chief mate, with a design to engagethem with him; so that, indeed, they fell into a punishment before theyfell into the crime, and what to do with these men was a nice point tomanage.
The first thing I did, was to dismiss my visitor, the Dutch captain,whom I had a great deal of reason to think myself exceedingly obligedto: and, first, I handsomely rewarded his men, to whom I gave fourpieces of eight a man; and having waited on the captain to the ship'sside, and seen him into his boat, I fired him twenty-one guns at hisgoing off; for which he fired twenty-five when he came on board hisship.
The same afternoon I sent my pinnace on board him for my drunkencockswain, and with the pinnace I sent the