Heywood Manuscript
I have worked my way through letter No. 76. No. 77 is from Peter Heywood to family friend Dr. Patrick Scott, written on September 20, 1792. The court-martial ended on the 18th, and Peter is a bit put out. An excerpt:
“& all my Hope of worldly joy is fled far from me! On Tuesday Morning the 18th Inst. the dreadful sentence of Death was pronounced upon me! — to which (being the just Decree of that divine Providence who first gave me Breath) I bow my devoted Head, with that Fortitude, Chearfulness & resignation, which is the Duty of every Member of the Church, of our blessed saviour & redeemer Christ Jesus! — To him alone I now look up for succour; in full Hope, that perhaps a few Days more will open to the View of my astonished & fearful soul his Kingdom of eternal & incomprehensible Bliss, prepared only for the righteous of Heart. — I have not been found guilty of the slightest Act of the detestable Crime of Mutiny — But — am doom’d to die! — for not being active in my Endeavours to suppress it. — Cou’d the Evidences who appeared on the Court Martial be tried, they wou’d also suffer for the same & only Crime of which I have been guilty — But I am to be the Victim! — Alas! — my youthful Inexperience,…”
For ‘evidences’ read ‘witnesses.’
The work is a tad teejus, and the weather isn’t helping. It’s 10 AM, 92 degrees, & humidity 51%; so much for a dry heat. It’s headed for 113 today.
