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BRIDPORT'S POLICY 23
The delegates were duly elected, and met in the
Admiral's cabin on board the Queen Charlotte. There
at length the inchoate suggestions were formed into a
definite plan of action ; and rules were drawn up for the
conduct of the fleet.
The mutiny was now fairly afoot. The fact that it was
begun without violence wras due to Bridport, who saw
no hope of regaining his authority by any other method
than conciliation. He had allowed the men of the Queen
Charlotte to board all the other ships with impunity, and
he had raised no objection when the delegates met in the
admiral's cabin. He explained his position clearly in
the letters he wrote to the Admiralty on this day :—
" With respect to the usingvigorous
and effectual measures
for getting the better of the crews of the ships at Spithead,
their Lordships will see that it is impossible to be done, or
securing the ringleaders. I therefore see no method of
checking the progress of this business but by complying in
some measure with the prayer of the petitions." l "
. . . . I
trust vigorous measures will not be necessary, as the men
on board the Royal George, Queen Charlotte and several other
ships have no objection to go to sea, provided an answer is
given to their petitions." 2
On his own initiative Bridport took a step towards an
agreement with the seamen. He ordered each of the
captains to ask his ship's company for a statement of
their grievances, and received in reply some interesting
particulars of the conditions of life in the fleets He also
sent Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Morice Pole to London,
to give to the Admiralty a full account of the outbreak
of mutiny.
Bridport's opinion was quite right.
If the officers had
tried to put down the mutiny by their own efforts, the
only result would have been a series of conflicts in which
1. A.S.I. 107, J 202, 16 April. This letter is Bridport's answer to
the order of the 15th. (See above, p. 18.)
2. A.S.I. 107, J 205, 16 April.
3. See below, Chaps, xviii—xx.