The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-02

Sea.
 For some years the seamen of the British navy had complained of their treatment. and as was afterward gem erally acknowledged, with just cause. Their pay and their prospective pen sions from Greenwich Hospital, had re- ceived no increase since the time of charles II; prize money went almost wholly to the officers, and the captains and the lieutenants often displayed much cruelty toward the men. In the month of March. 1797, petitions from four ships of war were sent to Lord Howe. who commanded the channel fleet. entreatmg him as the seaman's friend' to intercede with the Admir- alty TOT the sailors as a means of ob- ta1n1ng better treatment for them.
 Petitions Deemed MutinOus.
 The petitions were deemed rather mutinous in tone, but no special notice was taken of them. In April, 1797, the government was startled to hear that a mutiny had been planned at Spithead The fleet was ordered hastily out to sea as the most prudent course, but the seamen took things at once into their own hands. The officers were deposed and guarded. Delegates from all the ships in the channel fleet met in the state cabin of the Queen Charlotte. These delegates drew up an oath of fidelity, which all the men accepted.
 The proceeding was. of course. un- lawful. but their wrongs were griev- ious and their general conduct in other ways was admirable. correspon- dence was opened by the Admiralty. offers in petty. narrow spirit were made. These offers were accepted by the mutineers on April 23. although not without some distrust. Mutiny broke out on May 2. because the men found that royal pardon was not ac- companied by an effectual redress of grievances. Again the Inutfneers dis played surprising dignity and forbear- ance. deposing their officers. it Is true. but maintaining admirable discipline on board the several ships.
 The British government. now thor | oughly alarmed. hastily obtained an act of Parliament for increased pay and food, prize money and pension to the seamen of the royal navy. MT. Pitt. Prime Minister. displayed extreme modification when asking the House of Commons to vote f46O.O0O for this
 purpose. and urged the members to
 pass the bill with as few comments as
 possible. Lord Howe, the best man
 who could have been selected for the duty. went down to Portsmouth with
 the act of Parliament and the royal
 pardon in hM pocket. On May l5. he
 had the pleasure of seeing the muti- neers return to their duty.
 Parker Chosen as Leader.
 All was not over. however. The
 Nore fleet mutinied May 20. and called | themselves a Floating republic" un-
 ,,e-r the presidency of Richard Par
 Ker, a sailor of some education and
 much ambition. This was a muntiny
 that obtained little public sympathy
 It was not a. demand for redress of i grievances so much as an attempt to
 republics nizs the ileet. The seamen
 at the Nore shared all the advantages of the new arrangements and could | only make new demands which the
 government fully believed itself justi- | fled in resisting. Batteries served
 with redsnot were planted along the | Kent and Essex shores to shoot them.
 The seamen at Spithead made it known
 that they had no sympathy with Par ker's proceedings at the Nore. Dis
 sensions broke out in the ships of | the mutinous fleet. Many of the sea men hoisted the national flag on June | 4. in honor of the Kings birthday | against the wish of Richard Parker. who felt that power was rapidly | slipping through his hands. The ships left the rebel fleet one by one. ac- | cording as their crews felt the con
 
 At length, on June 14, 1797. the | crisis arrived. Parker exercised his presidency on board the Sandwich ninety guns. from which he had ex- pelled Vice Admiral Buckner. The | crew of that ship. in spite of his re- montsrances. carried it under the guns at Sheerness and delivered him up to guard of soldiers. All the ships re- turned to their duty. Very few of the men were punished and soon after ward a royal pardon was issued. Some of the more active leaders were tried and executed
 Execution Follows Trial.
 Parkors trial on board the Neptune lasted three days. He was cool and collected and acknowledged the jus tice of the fatal sentence passed on him. His wife, woman far superior to the general class of sailors wives. made a strenuous effort to gain admis- sion to Queen Charlotte to beg for her husbands life. offering a large reward to some of the attendants at the palace if they would further her cause. All failed and Parker was executed. Circumstances which transpired dur ing the trial brought to light the fact that many men had entered the navy whose anteCedents were inconsis- tent with a sailors life. Disqualified attorneys. cashiered excisemen, dis missed clerks wanting the means of daily support were enticed by high bounty into the service. while dele gates or agitators from political socie- ties, influenced by the excitement of the times, became seamen as a means of revolutionizing or republicanizing the royal fleets. It was said that Richard Parker probably belonged to one of these classes, perhaps to both.