o_199m9vaui14ib1cnu10di10pocoj4h.pdf

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PREPARATIONS FOR COURTS-MARTIAL 247
took him on shore. He was removed to Maidstone jail,
with other prisoners from the Sandwich, and remained
there until the time of his trial. l
In the meantime the officers in Sheernesswere occupied
in the difficult but congenial work of making straight
the confusion caused by the mutiny. The recollection of
the second outbreak at Spithead may have caused them
some anxiety, but any fears that they may have experienced
on this account were not realized. Probably the
great majority of the seamen who remained on the ships
were as weary of the mutiny as the officers were themselves.
Most of the men of a rebellious spirit were either
in prison or on the further side of the Channel.
Not the least important part of the work to be done
after the collapse of the mutiny was the collection of
evidence against prisoners. Keith and Captain Knight
had visited the ships as they made their submission, and
had taken away such papers as had not been destroyed by
the mutineers. Magistrates in Sheerness and the neighbouring
towns were constantly engaged in examining
witnesses. The commanding officers were preparing for
the trials of Parker and of many other prisoners, and the
other officers were ordering the affairs of their ships.
It was a foregone conclusion that Parker would be
condemned. The order for his court-martial was issued
on 19 June, 2
and together with the order Nepean sent a
private letter to Admiral Pasley, who had been appointed
the president of the court. In this letter he said
" You may prove almost anything you like against him,
for he has been guilty of everything that's bad. Admiral
Buckner will be a material evidence to state the proceedings
which took place on his visit to the Sandwich, and
which, indeed, of itself appears to be enough to dispose
of a dozen scoundrels of Parker's description." 3 And
after the trial Pasley wrote back to Nepean : " My
1. Cunningham, p. 80; Schomberg, vol. iii, p. 29.
2. A.S.I. 727, C 395.
3. Ibid.