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 was believed by the Court it must have had, I am afraid, a very great effect upon its judgment; for if viewed in too serious a light, it would seem to bring together and combine a number of trifling circumstances, which by themselves could only be treated merely as matters of suspicion. It was no doubt, therefore, received with caution, and considered with the utmost candour. The countenance I grant, on some other occasions, may warrant an opinion of good or evil existing in the mind; but on the momentous events of life or death, it is surely by much too indefinite and hazardous even to listen to for a moment. The different ways of expressing our various passions are, with many, as variable as the features they wear. Tears have often been, nay generally are, the relief of excessive joy, while misery and dejection have many a time disguised themselves in a smile; and convulsive laughs have betrayed the anguish of an almost broken heart. To judge therefore the principles of the heart by the barometer of the face, is as erroneous as it would be absurd and unjust; This matter may likewise be considered in another point of view. Mr. Hallet says I laughed in consequence of being called to by the Captain, who was abaft the mizen-mast, while I was upon the platform near the fore hatchway – a distance of more than 30 feet. If the Captain intended I should hear him, and there can be no doubt that he wished it, if he really called to me, he must have exerted his voice, and very considerably too, upon such an occasion, and in such a situation, and yet Mr. Hallet himself, who, by being upon the quarter-deck could not have been half the distance from the Captain that I was – even he, I say, could not hear what was said to me: how then, in the name of God, was it possible that I should have heard the Captain at all, situated as I must have been, in the midst of noisy confusion? And if I did not hear him, which I most solemnly aver to be the truth, even granted that I laughed (which, however, in my present awful situation, I declare I believe I did not), it could not have been at what the Captain said. Upon this ground, then, I hope I shall stand acquitted of this charge; for if the crime derives its guilt from the knowlege I had of the Captain’s speaking to me, it follows of course, that if I did not hear him speak there could be no crime in my laughing. It may, however, very fairly be asked, why Mr. Hallet did not make known that the Captain was calling to me? His duty to the Captain, if not his friendship for me, should have prompted him to it; and the peculiarity of our situation required this act of kindness at his hands. I shall only observe further upon this head, that the Boatswain, the Carpenter, and Mr. Hayward, who saw more of me than any other of the witnesses, did say in their evidence that I had rather a sorrowful countenance on the day of the mutiny.

“Fourth, That I remained on board the ship, instead of going in the boat with the Captain. – That I was at first alarmed, and afraid of going into the boat, I will not pretend to deny; but that afterwards I wished to accompany the Captain, and should have done it, if I had not been prevented by Thompson, who confined me below, by the order of Churchill, is clearly proved by the evidence of several of the witnesses.