no; believe me, no earthly power could have persuaded us that it was possible for you to do any thing inconsistent with strict honour and duty. So well did we know your amiable, steady principles, that we were assured your reasons for staying behind would turn out such as you represent them; and I firmly trust that Providence will at length restore you to those dear and affectionate friends who can know no happiness until they are blest with your loved society. Take care of your precious health, my beloved boy. I shall soon be with you; I have written to Mr. Heywood (your and our excellent friend and protector) for his permission to go to you immediately, which my uncle Heywood, without first obtaining it, would not allow, fearing lest any precipitate step might injure you at present; and I only wait the arrival of his next letter to fly into your arms. Oh! my best beloved Peter, how I anticipate the rapture of that moment!-for alas! I have no joy, no happiness, but in your beloved society, and no hopes, no fears, no wishes, but for you. I hope you have, ere this time, received a letter from me which I wrote before we had your letter from Batavia, and sent to the care of Mr. Hayward, of Hackney; but as he informed me he could not get it transmitted to you from the difficulty of communication, I took the liberty of requesting Mr. Heywood would send for it, and after reading it, forward it to you. I sent

him also your two last letters, scarcely allowing ourselves time to read, much less (oh! how great would have been the satisfaction!) to keep them. I have ten thousand things to tell you, my dear Peter, that have happened since our mournful separation, but my mind is at present occupied solely with your idea, and my brother and sisters desire to add a few words. Farewell, for a little while. Recommending you to the care of that kind Providence who has hitherto, in his merciful goodness, protected your innocence, I remain, with the fondest love, your most affectionate sister,

'NESSY.'

Mr. Heywood's sisters all address their unfortunate brother in the same affectionate, but less impassioned strain; and a little trait of good feeling is mentioned, on the part of an old female servant, that shews what a happy and attached family the Heywoods were, previous to the melancholy affair in which their boy became entangled. Mrs. Heywood says, 'My good, honest Birket is very well, and says your safe return has made her more happy than she has been for these two and forty years she has been in our family.' And Miss Nessy tells him, Poor Birket, the most faithful and worthiest of servants, desires me to tell you that she almost dies with joy at the thought of your safe arrival in England. What agony, my dear boy, has she felt

on your account! her affection for you knows no bounds, and her misery has indeed been extreme; but she still lives to bless your virtues.'

The poor prisoner thus replies, from his Majesty's ship Hector, to his beloved sisters all :'—

'July 12, 1792.

This day I had the supreme happiness of your long-expected letters, and I am not able to express the pleasure and joy they afforded me; at the sight of them my spirits, low and dejected, were at once exhilarated; my heart had long and greatly suffered from my impatience to hear of those most dear to me, and was tossed and tormented by the storms of fearful conjecture-but they are now subsided, and my bosom has at length attained that long-lost serenity and calmness it once enjoyed: for you may believe me when I say it never yet has suffered any disquiet from my own misfortunes, but from a truly anxious solicitude for, and desire to hear of, your welfare. God be thanked, you still entertain such an opinion of me as I will flatter myself I have deserved; but why do I say so? Can I make myself too worthy the affectionate praises of such amiable sisters? Oh! my Nessy, it grieves me to think I must be under the necessity, however heart-breaking to myself, of desiring you will relinquish your most affectionate design of coming to see me; it is too long and tedious a journey, and even on your arrival, you would not be allowed the wished-for happiness, both to you and myself, of seeing, much less con

versing with, your unfortunate brother; the rules. of the service are so strict, that prisoners are not permitted to have any communication with female relations; thus even the sight of, and conversation with, so truly affectionate a sister is for the present denied me! The happiness of such an interview let us defer till a time (which, please God, will arrive) when it can be enjoyed with more freedom, and unobserved by the gazing eyes of an inquisitive world, which in my present place of confinement would of course not be the case.

'I am very happy to hear that poor old Birket is still alive; remember me to her, and tell her not to heave aback, until God grants me the pleasure of seeing her.

And now, my dear Nessy, cease to anticipate the happiness of personal communication with your poor, but resigned brother, until wished-for freedom removes the indignant shackles I now bear, from the feet of your fond and most affectionate brother,

'I

'P. H.'

In a previous letter, dated July 5, to his eldest sister Mary, Peter says, I had a letter yesterday from Mr. Fryer, late master of the Bounty, in answer to one I wrote him, who says, Keep up your spirits, for I am of opinion, no one can say you had an active part in the mutiny, and be assured of my doing you justice when called upon." I had the honour of a visit from a Mr. Delafons, (a friend of

my uncle Pasley's,) who, after inquiring into the particulars relative to my situation, advised me to write a petition to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to grant me a speedy trial, the form of which he was so good as to draw up and send me on Tuesday. I hope it may have the desired effect of speedily making my guilt or innocence known to the world, and of relieving me from the miserable state of anxiety and suspence I am now in.'

His uncle Pasley was indeed most active and kind in his service, as will best be testified by the following letters :

To Mr. P. HEYWOOD.

• Sheerness, July 6, 1792. 'I have letters, my dear Sir, from Sir A. Hammond and Captain Montague in answer to mine. I had desired the former to supply you with money, or whatever else you might want, on my account; but by his letters it would appear that Captain Bertie has already taken care on that head. Capt. M. writes me that he has delivered a memorial from you to the Lords of the Admiralty. Mr. Delafons, my friend, who has been with you, is a very sensible, judicious man; consult him on every step you take, as no person can be a better judge of the proper mode of defence. I have seen Mr. Fryer the master, and Cole the boatswain, both favourable witnesses. To-day I set off for Woolwich and Deptford to endeavour to see the gunner and car