NOTICE OF BLIGH. 53 
In token of tins important service, and as a 
tribute to his merit, Captain Bligh, in 1794, 
received a large gold medal from the Society of 
Arts. This valuable relic is in the possession 
of his daughters. 
On his arrival in England, from his second 
and successful voyage to Otaheite, he found that 
the Court-Martial on the mutineers had taken 
place in his absence, and that Edward Chris- 
tian, Fletcher Christian's brother, a barrister of 
eminence, had put forth a quarto pamphlet, 
entitled, " Minutes of the Proceedings of the 
Court-Martial, &c., with an Appendix, &c." 
These Minutes are stated to have differed from 
those lodged at the Admiralty ; and the ten- 
dency of the publication was to palliate Fletcher 
Christian's conduct, at the expense of Captain 
Bligh' s character. Edward Christian naturally 
feared, that his brother's life, should he have 
lived to return home, would have been forfeited 
to the laws of his country. 
In December of the same year Bligh issued 
an answer to the allegations which had been 
published against him, and replied with much 
calmness to what he styled Mr. Edward Chris- 
tian's defence of his brother. In the preface to 
his Answer, which consists chiefly of original 
documents, by way of proofs, he said ; " One of 
the hardest cases which can befall any man is to 
be reduced to the necessity of defending his cha- 
racter by his own assertions only. As such fortu- 
nately is not my situation, I have rested my 
defence on the testimony of others, adding only 
such of the written orders issued by me in the 
