526 KING'S COMMISSION 1788 et nientem mnrulia tangunt. ere this hour to-morrow I shall have quitted this vale of wi-etched- ness to enter into an unknown and endless eternity. I will not distress your tender maternal feelings by any long comment on the cause of my present misfortune. Let it therefore suffice to say that, impelled by that strong propensity to evil, which neither the virtuous precepts nor example of the best of parents could eradicate, I have at length fallen an unhappy though just victim to my own follies. Too late I regret my inattention to your admonitions, and feel myself sensibly affected by the remembrance of the many anxious moments you have passed on my account. For these and all my other transgressions, however great, I supplicate the Divine for- giveness ; and encouraged by the promises of that Saviour who died for us all, I trust to receive that mercy in the world to come which my offences have deprived me of all hope or expectation of in this. The affliction which this will cost you I hope the Almighty will enable you to bear. Banish from your memory all my former in- discretions, and let the cheering hope of a happy meeting hereafter console you for my loss. Sincei-ely penitent for my sins ; sensible of the justice of my conviction and sentence, and firmly relying on the merits of a blessed Redeemer, I am at perfect peace with all mankind, and trust I shall yet experience that peace which this world cannot give. Commend my soul to the Divine mercy. I bid you an eternal farewell. Your unhappy, dying son, To Mrs. Peyton, London. Samuel Peytoit. Lieutenant- Governor. KING'S COMMISSION AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF NORFOLK ISLAND. George Eex. George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To our trusty and well-beloved Lieutenant Philip Gidley King, greeting : We^ reposing especial i rust and confidence in your loyalty, courage, and experience, do by these presents constitute and appoint You to be Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean. You are therefore, as Lieutenant-Governor, to take the said Lsland into your care and charge and carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of Lieutenant-Governor thereof, by doing and performing all and all manner of things thereunto belonging : And we do hereby strictly charge and require all our officers and soldiers who shall hereafter be in our said island, and all others Digitized by Google
