'To be brief--having remained here till the latter end of
March, 1791, on the 26th of that month, his Majesty's ship
_Pandora_ arrived, and had scarcely anchored, when my messmate
and I went on board and made ourselves known; and having
learnt from one of the natives who had been off in a canoe,
that our former messmate Mr. Hayward, now promoted to the rank
of lieutenant, was on board, we asked for him, supposing he
might prove the assertions of our innocence. But he (like all
worldlings when raised a little in life) received us very
coolly, and pretended ignorance of our affairs; yet formerly,
he and I were bound in brotherly love and friendship.
Appearances being so much against us, we were ordered to be
put in irons, and looked upon--oh, infernal words!--as
_piratical villains_. A rebuff so severe as this was, to a
person unused to troubles, would perhaps have been
insupportable, but to me, who had now been long inured to the
frowns of fortune, and feeling myself supported by an inward
consciousness of not deserving it, it was received with the
greatest composure, and a full determination to bear it with
patience.
'My sufferings, however, I have not power to describe; but
though they are great, yet I thank God for enabling me to bear
them without repining. I endeavour to qualify my affliction
with these three considerations, first, my innocence not
deserving them; secondly, that they cannot last long; and
thirdly, that the change may be for the better. The first
improves my hopes; the second, my patience; and the third, my
courage. I am young in years, but old in what the world calls
adversity; and it has had such an effect, as to make me
consider it the most beneficial incident that could have
occurred at my age. It has made me acquainted with three
things which are little known, and as little believed by any
but those who have felt their effects: first, the villany and
censoriousness of mankind; secondly, the futility of all human
hopes; and thirdly, the happiness of being content in whatever
station it may please Providence to place me. In short, it has
made me more of a philosopher, than many years of a life spent
in ease and pleasure would have done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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