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42 THE NAVAL MUTINIES OF 1797
The men of the Queen Charlotte, who had been
throughout the prime movers and supporters of the
mutiny, were determined that the advantage that had
been won should not be lost by trickery. When Admiral
Pole read the proclamation of pardon to them it
was not
received with cordial applause as it had been in most of
the other ships. The delegates were summoned and
they demanded the original draft of the proclamation.
It was brought from the Royal George, and they were
allowed to see for themselves the imprint of the King's
seal. Then at length both delegates and crew were
satisfied. They gave three cheers, and the yard-arms
from which, for a week past, the threatening ropes had
hung, were now manned with sailors in their uniform of
blue and white. 1 So the mutiny ended, 2 and it remained
with the Lords of the Admiralty to put into practice the
promised revolution in naval administration.
There is little more to be said of this mutiny. Indeed,
very little is known even of the events that happened in
the fleet while the mutiny was in progress. 3 But the
business of the fleet must have been carried on very much
as usual, as there is no evidence to the contrary. To the
common seaman the mutiny must have seemed a very
tame affair. He kept his usual hours, did his customary
work, and ate his ordinary rations.
Many seamen may
have resented the restrictions imposed by the wisdom of
the delegates, for the transactions in which they had such
a vital interest were carried on over their heads, and they
had passively to await the result.
The delegates in drawing up the rules at their first
1. Papers of Queen Charlotte, A.S.I. 5125.
2. According to the Times (25 April) the mutiny did not actually end
until six o'clock on the twenty-third. Probably the last yard-ropes were
pulled down at that hour.
3. The Admirals' letters are few and short, because the lords of the
Admiralty were at Portsmouth, and had their information by word of
mouth. And the delegates deliberately prevented the seamen from
publishing any news of the mutiny. It was doubtless good policy, but
one would be grateful at the present time if some account of life
in the fleet at one of the most interesting periods of its existence had
been left on record.