the victim of two outbreaks against his rule, posterity, without the most
indisputable evidence to the contrary, would have held him acquitted of
the least responsibility for his misfortunes. In the case of the _Bounty_
mutiny the evidence of Bligh's opponents that the captain of the _Bounty_
was a tyrannical officer remains uncontradicted by any authority but that
of the _Bounty's_ captain; in the case of the New South Wales revolt we
can only judge of the probabilities, for the witnesses at the Johnston
court-martial were of necessity upon one side. But the court-martial, a
tribunal not at all likely to err upon the side of mutineers, came to the
same conclusion as we have, and, so far as we are aware, most other
writers acquainted with the subject have been driven to: that Bligh, to
say the least of it, behaved with great indiscretion.

Our references to this matter have been entirely to [Sidenote: 1829]
the minutes of the court-martial and to writers who wrote long enough ago
to have had a personal knowledge of the subject or acquaintance with
actors in the events. The lady whose letter we have quoted in the first
pages of this chapter refers us to Lang's _History_ for a justification of
Bligh, and Dr. Lang, as is well known to students of Australian history,
wrote more strongly in that governor's favour than did any other writer.
Dr. Lang tells us that the behaviour of certain subordinates towards
MacArthur was highly improper, and that MacArthur's speech in open court
was "calculated to give great offence to a man of so exceedingly irritable
disposition as Governor Bligh." Again, Dr. Lang says that Bligh by no
means merited unqualified commendation for his government of New South
Wales, and that the truth lies between the most unqualified praise and the
most unqualified vituperation which the two sides of this quarrel have
loaded upon his memory.

Judge Therry, who came to New South Wales in 1829, in a judicial summing