say, in their evidence, that they did not, any of them, see me armed; and the boatswain and the carpenter further say, in the most pointed terms, that they considered me to be one of the captain’s party, and by no means as belonging to the mutineers:  and the master, the boatswain, the carpenter, the gunner, all declare that, from what they observed on my conduct during the mutiny, and from a recollection of my behaviour previous thereto, they were convinced I would have afforded them all the assistance in my power, if an opportunity had offered to retake the ship.

’Third.  That, upon being called to by the captain, I laughed.—­If this was believed by the Court, it must have had, I am afraid, a very great effect upon its judgement; for, if viewed in too serious a light, it would seem to bring together and combine a number of trifling circumstances, which by themselves could only be treated merely as matters of suspicion.  It was no doubt, therefore, received with caution, and considered with the utmost candour.  The countenance, I grant, on some other occasions, may warrant an opinion of good or evil existing in the mind; but on the momentous events of life and death, it is surely by much too indefinite and hazardous even to listen to for a moment.  The different ways of expressing our various passions are, with many, as variable as the features they wear.  Tears have often been, nay generally are, the relief of excessive joy, while misery and dejection have, many a time, disguised themselves in a smile; and convulsive laughs have betrayed the anguish of an almost broken heart.  To judge, therefore, the principles of the heart, by the barometer of the face, is as erroneous as it would be absurd and unjust.  This matter may likewise be considered in another point of view.  Mr. Hallet says I laughed in consequence of being called to by the captain, who was abaft the mizen-mast, while I was upon the platform near the fore hatchway, a distance of more than thirty feet:  if the captain intended I should hear him, and there can be no doubt that he wished it—­if he really called to me, he must have exerted his voice, and very considerably too, upon such an occasion and in such a situation; and yet Mr. Hallet himself, who, by being on the quarter-deck, could not have been half the distance from the captain that I was, even he, I say, could not hear what was said to me:  how then, in the name of God, was it possible that I should have heard the captain at all, situated, as I must have been, in the midst of noisy confusion?  And if I did not hear him, which I most solemnly aver to be the truth, even granting that I laughed (which, however, in my present awful situation I declare I believe I did not), it could not have been at what the captain said.  Upon this ground, then, I hope I shall stand acquitted of this charge, for if the crime derives its guilt from the knowledge I had of the captain’s speaking to me, it follows, of course, that if