knowledge of the written pledge, formally delivered by Governor Bligh to the acting government, he had himself put an end to any doubt, by desiring me, when he refused to take the despatches I brought from Norfolk Island, to inform Major Johnstone that such refusal had taken place, and that Governor Bligh wished me to state, his conduct arose from the engagement he had entered into that he would assume no command, nor in any manner interfere in the affairs of the colony.
“I appeal to this Court, whether this recognition of his suspension, contrasted with clandestine efforts to gain possession of his lost authority, in utter breach of his public pledge, was not calculated to destroy all my confidence in Captain Bligh, and to warrant me in requesting either written instructions, or orders in the presence of such witnesses as might hereafter be called in my vindication. Had I, from mere desultory and unattested suggestions of Captain Bligh, fired on the town of Sydney, and its inhabitants, or had I refused to convey provisions to Port Dalrymple, to relieve the pressing wants of His Majesty’s subjects there, and my conduct had been offensive to my sovereign, what defence could I hare urged to vindicate my character? How could I, without an order to produce from Captain Bligh, have exculpated myself? or how could I have excused myself for neglecting the official and pressing applications for my assistance, from the acting government?
“This Honorable Court will do me the favour to remember, that when Captain Bligh asked me if I would proceed to Port Dalrymple without his order, I instantly told him, ‘No, certainly, if he wished otherwise:’ yet Captain Bligh abstained from giving me any order, and positively refused to give me written instructions.
“I have since learned, indeed, that Captain Bligh transmitted his wish through Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, but that wish was not only not then conveyed to me, but I was utterly ignorant of its existence until after my return, when I was put under an arrest; and of this fact Captain Bligh was apprised by a letter from Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, on the 26th of October, 1808. Yet is my sailing to Port Dalrymple, this second time, made the chief ground of my trial, after a rigorous and close confinement of almost two years.
“As Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux has done me the favour to attend here as a witness, the Court will learn from him, most distinctly, that the letter he received from Captain Bligh, forbidding me to leave the Cove, never reached me. Colonel Foveaux will also inform the Court, that as Captain Bligh had solemnly pledged himself, on the honor of an officer, not to interfere in the affairs of the colony until His Majesty’s pleasure was known on his arrest, that he considered such an order, issuing from Captain Bligh, as a direct violation of his pledge, and therefore deemed himself at liberty to suppress it. But the motives which actuated Colonel Foveaux, he will, if necessary, explain. All I wish is, to prove that the order never reached me, and that Captain Bligh, if he did not distinctly