Chapter 22

by Herman Melville

　　Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends andthe orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors,but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? Sowith sanity and insanity. In pronounced cases there is no question aboutthem. But in some supposed cases, in various degrees supposedly lesspronounced, to draw the exact line of demarkation few will undertaketho' for a fee some professional experts will. There is nothing namablebut that some men will undertake to do it for pay.Whether Captain Vere, as the Surgeon professionally and privatelysurmised, was really the sudden victim of any degree of aberration, onemust determine for himself by such light as this narrative may afford.That the unhappy event which has been narrated could not havehappened at a worse juncture was but too true. For it was close on theheel of the suppressed insurrections, an aftertime very critical tonaval authority, demanding from every English sea-commander twoqualities not readily interfusable -- prudence and rigour. Moreoverthere was something crucial in the case.In the jugglery of circumstances preceding and attending the eventon board the Indomitable, and in the light of that martial codewhereby it was formally to be judged, innocence and guilt personified inClaggart and Budd in effect changed places. In a legal view the apparentvictim of the tragedy was he who had sought to victimize a manblameless; and the indisputable deed of the latter, navally regarded,constituted the most heinous of military crimes. Yet more. The essentialright and wrong involved in the matter, the clearer that might be, somuch the worse for the responsibility of a loyal sea-commander inasmuchas he was not authorized to determine the matter on that primitive basis.Small wonder then that the Indomitable's Captain, though ingeneral a man of rapid decision, felt that circumspectness not less thanpromptitude was necessary. Until he could decide upon his course, and ineach detail; and not only so, but until the concluding measure was uponthe point of being enacted, he deemed it advisable, in view of all thecircumstances, to guard as much as possible against publicity. Here hemay or may not have erred. Certain it is, however, that subsequently inthe confidential talk of more than one or two gun-rooms and cabins hewas not a little criticized by some officers, a fact imputed by hisfriends and vehemently by his cousin, Jack Denton, to professionaljealousy of Starry Vere. Some imaginative ground for invidious commentthere was. The maintenance of secrecy in the matter, the confining allknowledge of it for a time to the place where the homicide occurred, thequarter-deck cabin; in these particulars lurked some resemblance to thepolicy adopted in those tragedies of the palace which have occurred morethan once in the capital founded by Peter the Barbarian.The case indeed was such that fain would the Indomitable's Captainhave deferred taking any action whatever respecting it further than tokeep the Foretopman a close prisoner till the ship rejoined thesquadron, and then submitting the matter to the judgement of his Admiral.But a true military officer is in one particular like a true monk.Not with more of self-abnegation will the latter keep his vows ofmonastic obedience than the former his vows of allegiance to martial duty.Feeling that unless quick action was taken on it, the deed of theForetopman, so soon as it should be known on the gun decks, would tendto awaken any slumbering embers of the Nore among the crew, a sense ofthe urgency of the case overruled in Captain Vere every otherconsideration. But tho' a conscientious disciplinarian, he was no loverof authority for mere authority's sake. Very far was he from embracingopportunities for monopolizing to himself the perils of moralresponsibility, none at least that could properly be referred to anofficial superior, or shared with him by his official equals or evensubordinates. So thinking, he was glad it would not be at variance withusage to turn the matter over to a summary court of his own officers,reserving to himself as the one on whom the ultimate accountabilitywould rest, the right of maintaining a supervision of it, or formally orinformally interposing at need. Accordingly a drum-head court wassummarily convened, he electing the individuals composing it, the FirstLieutenant, the Captain of Marines, and the Sailing Master.In associating an officer of marines with the sea-lieutenants in acase having to do with a sailor, the Commander perhaps deviated fromgeneral custom. He was prompted thereto by the circumstance that he tookthat soldier to be a judicious person, thoughtful, and not altogetherincapable of grappling with a difficult case unprecedented in his priorexperience. Yet even as to him he was not without some latent misgiving,for withal he was an extremely goodnatured man, an enjoyer of hisdinner, a sound sleeper, and inclined to obesity, a man who tho' hewould always maintain his manhood in battle might not prove altogetherreliable in a moral dilemma involving aught of the tragic. As to theFirst Lieutenant and the Sailing Master, Captain Vere could not but beaware that though honest natures, of approved gallantry upon occasion,their intelligence was mostly confined to the matter of activeseamanship and the fighting demands of their profession. The court washeld in the same cabin where the unfortunate affair had taken place.This cabin, the Commander's, embraced the entire area under thepoopdeck. Aft, and on either side, was a small state-room; the one roomtemporarily a jail and the other a dead-house, and a yet smallercompartment leaving a space between, expanding forward into a goodlyoblong of length coinciding with the ship's beam. A skylight of moderatedimension was overhead and at each end of the oblong space were twosashed port-hole windows easily convertible back into embrasures forshort carronades.All being quickly in readiness, Billy Budd was arraigned, CaptainVere necessarily appearing as the sole witness in the case, and as such,temporarily sinking his rank, though singularly maintaining it in amatter apparently trivial, namely, that he testified from the ship'sweather-side, with that object having caused the court to sit on thelee-side. Concisely he narrated all that had led up to the catastrophe,omitting nothing in Claggart's accusation and deposing as to the mannerin which the prisoner had received it. At this testimony the threeofficers glanced with no little surprise at Billy Budd, the last manthey would have suspected either of the mutinous design alleged byClaggart or the undeniable deed he himself had done.The First Lieutenant, taking judicial primacy and turning toward theprisoner, said, "Captain Vere has spoken. Is it or is it not as CaptainVere says?" In response came syllables not so much impeded in theutterance as might have been anticipated. They were these: "Captain Veretells the truth. It is just as Captain Vere says, but it is not as theMaster-at-arms said. I have eaten the King's bread and I am true to theKing.""I believe you, my man," said the witness, his voice indicating asuppressed emotion not otherwise betrayed."God will bless you for that, Your Honor!" not without stammeringsaid Billy, and all but broke down. But immediately was recalled toself-control by another question, to which with the same emotionaldifficulty of utterance he said, "No, there was no malice between us. Inever bore malice against the Master-at-arms. I am sorry that he isdead. I did not mean to kill him. Could I have used my tongue I wouldnot have struck him. But he foully lied to my face and in presence of myCaptain, and I had to say something, and I could only say it with ablow, God help me!"In the impulsive above-board manner of the frank one, the court sawconfirmed all that was implied in words that just previously hadperplexed them, coming as they did from the testifier to the tragedy andpromptly following Billy's impassioned disclaimer of mutinous intent --Captain Vere's words, "I believe you, my man."Next it was asked of him whether he knew of or suspected aughtsavoring of incipient trouble (meaning mutiny, tho' the explicit termwas avoided) going on in any section of the ship's company.The reply lingered. This was naturally imputed by the court to thesame vocal embarrassment which had retarded or obstructed previousanswers. But in main it was otherwise here; the question immediatelyrecalling to Billy's mind the interview with the afterguardsman in thefore-chains. But an innate repugnance to playing a part at allapproaching that of an informer against one's own shipmates -- the sameerring sense of uninstructed honor which had stood in the way of hisreporting the matter at the time though as a loyal man-of-war-man it wasincumbent on him, and failure so to do if charged against him andproven, would have subjected him to the heaviest of penalties; this,with the blind feeling now his, that nothing really was being hatched,prevailed with him. When the answer came it was a negative."One question more," said the officer of marines now first speakingand with a troubled earnestness. "You tell us that what theMaster-at-arms said against you was a lie. Now why should he have solied, so maliciously lied, since you declare there was no malice betweenyou?"At that question unintentionally touching on a spiritual spherewholly obscure to Billy's thoughts, he was nonplussed, evincing aconfusion indeed that some observers, such as can readily be imagined,would have construed into involuntary evidence of hidden guilt.Nevertheless he strove some way to answer, but all at once relinquishedthe vain endeavor, at the same time turning an appealing glance towardsCaptain Vere as deeming him his best helper and friend. Captain Vere whohad been seated for a time rose to his feet, addressing theinterrogator. "The question you put to him comes naturally enough. Buthow can he rightly answer it? or anybody else? unless indeed it be hewho lies within there," designating the compartment where lay thecorpse. "But the prone one there will not rise to our summons. Ineffect, tho', as it seems to me, the point you make is hardly material.Quite aside from any conceivable motive actuating the Master-at-arms,and irrespective of the provocation to the blow, a martial court mustneeds in the present case confine its attention to the blow'sconsequence, which consequence justly is to be deemed not otherwise thanas the striker's deed."This utterance, the full significance of which it was not at alllikely that Billy took in, nevertheless caused him to turn a wistfulinterrogative look toward the speaker, a look in its dumb expressivenessnot unlike that which a dog of generous breed might turn upon his masterseeking in his face some elucidation of a previous gesture ambiguous tothe canine intelligence. Nor was the same utterance without markedeffect upon the three officers, more especially the soldier. Couched init seemed to them a meaning unanticipated, involving a prejudgement onthe speaker's part. It served to augment a mental disturbance previouslyevident enough.The soldier once more spoke; in a tone of suggestive dubietyaddressing at once his associates and Captain Vere: "Nobody is present-- none of the ship's company, I mean -- who might shed lateral light,if any is to be had, upon what remains mysterious in this matter.""That is thoughtfully put," said Captain Vere; "I see your drift.Ay, there is a mystery; but, to use a Scriptural phrase, it is 'amystery of iniquity,' a matter for psychologic theologians to discuss.But what has a military court to do with it? Not to add that for us anypossible investigation of it is cut off by the lasting tongue-tie of --him -- in yonder," again designating the mortuary stateroom. "Theprisoner's deed, -- with that alone we have to do."To this, and particularly the closing reiteration, the marinesoldier knowing not how aptly to reply, sadly abstained from sayingaught. The First Lieutenant who at the outset had not unnaturallyassumed primacy in the court, now overrulingly instructed by a glancefrom Captain Vere, a glance more effective than words, resumed thatprimacy. Turning to the prisoner, "Budd," he said, and scarce in equabletones, "Budd, if you have aught further to say for yourself, say it now."Upon this the young sailor turned another quick glance towardCaptain Vere; then, as taking a hint from that aspect, a hint confirminghis own instinct that silence was now best, replied to the Lieutenant,"I have said all, Sir."The marine -- the same who had been the sentinel without thecabin-door at the time that the Foretopman followed by theMaster-at-arms, entered it -- he, standing by the sailor throughoutthese judicial proceedings, was now directed to take him back to theafter compartment originally assigned to the prisoner and his custodian.As the twain disappeared from view, the three officers as partiallyliberated from some inward constraint associated with Billy's merepresence, simultaneously stirred in their seats. They exchanged looks oftroubled indecision, yet feeling that decide they must and without longdelay. As for Captain Vere, he for the time stood unconsciously with hisback toward them, apparently in one of his absent fits, gazing out froma sashed port-hole to windward upon the monotonous blank of the twilightsea. But the court's silence continuing, broken only at moments by briefconsultations in low earnest tones, this seemed to arm him and energizehim. Turning, he to-and-fro paced the cabin athwart; in the returningascent to windward, climbing the slant deck in the ship's lee roll;without knowing it symbolizing thus in his action a mind resolute tosurmount difficulties even if against primitive instincts strong as thewind and the sea. Presently he came to a stand before the three. Afterscanning their faces he stood less as mustering his thoughts forexpression, than as one inly deliberating how best to put them towell-meaning men not intellectually mature, men with whom it wasnecessary to demonstrate certain principles that were axioms to himself.Similar impatience as to talking is perhaps one reason that deters someminds from addressing any popular assemblies.When speak he did, something both in the substance of what he saidand his manner of saying it, showed the influence of unshared studiesmodifying and tempering the practical training of an active career.This, along with his phraseology, now and then was suggestive of thegrounds whereon rested that imputation of a certain pedantry sociallyalleged against him by certain naval men of wholly practical cast,captains who nevertheless would frankly concede that His Majesty's Navymustered no more efficient officer of their grade than Starry Vere.What he said was to this effect: "Hitherto I have been but thewitness, little more; and I should hardly think now to take anothertone, that of your coadjutor, for the time, did I not perceive in you,-- at the crisis too -- a troubled hesitancy, proceeding, I doubt not,from the clash of military duty with moral scruple -- scruple vitalizedby compassion. For the compassion, how can I otherwise than share it?But, mindful of paramount obligations I strive against scruples that maytend to enervate decision. Not, gentlemen, that I hide from myself thatthe case is an exceptional one. Speculatively regarded, it well might bereferred to a jury of casuists. But for us here acting not as casuistsor moralists, it is a case practical, and under martial law practicallyto be dealt with."But your scruples: do they move as in a dusk? Challenge them. Makethem advance and declare themselves. Come now: do they import somethinglike this? If, mindless of palliating circumstances, we are bound toregard the death of the Master-at-arms as the prisoner's deed, then doesthat deed constitute a capital crime whereof the penalty is a mortalone? But in natural justice is nothing but the prisoner's overt act tobe considered? How can we adjudge to summary and shameful death afellow-creature innocent before God, and whom we feel to be so? -- Doesthat state it aright? You sign sad assent. Well, I too feel that, thefull force of that. It is Nature. But do these buttons that we wearattest that our allegiance is to Nature? No, to the King. Though theocean, which is inviolate Nature primeval, tho' this be the elementwhere we move and have our being as sailors, yet as the King's officerslies our duty in a sphere correspondingly natural? So little is thattrue, that in receiving our commissions we in the most important regardsceased to be natural free-agents. When war is declared are we thecommissioned fighters previously consulted? We fight at command. If ourjudgements approve the war, that is but coincidence. So in otherparticulars. So now. For suppose condemnation to follow these presentproceedings. Would it be so much we ourselves that would condemn as itwould be martial law operating through us? For that law and the rigourof it, we are not responsible. Our avowed responsibility is in this:That however pitilessly that law may operate, we nevertheless adhere toit and administer it."But the exceptional in the matter moves the hearts within you. Evenso too is mine moved. But let not warm hearts betray heads that shouldbe cool. Ashore in a criminal case will an upright judge allow himselfoff the bench to be waylaid by some tender kinswoman of the accusedseeking to touch him with her tearful plea? Well the heart here denotesthe feminine in man is as that piteous woman, and hard tho' it be, shemust here be ruled out."He paused, earnestly studying them for a moment; then resumed."But something in your aspect seems to urge that it is not solelythe heart that moves in you, but also the conscience, the privateconscience. But tell me whether or not, occupying the position we do,private conscience should not yield to that imperial one formulated inthe code under which alone we officially proceed?"Here the three men moved in their seats, less convinced thanagitated by the course of an argument troubling but the more thespontaneous conflict within.Perceiving which, the speaker paused for a moment; then abruptlychanging his tone, went on."To steady us a bit, let us recur to the facts. -- In war-time atsea a man-of-war's-man strikes his superior in grade, and the blowkills. Apart from its effect, the blow itself is, according to theArticles of War, a capital crime. Furthermore-""Ay, Sir," emotionally broke in the officer of marines, "in onesense it was. But surely Budd purposed neither mutiny nor homicide.""Surely not, my good man. And before a court less arbitrary and moremerciful than a martial one, that plea would largely extenuate. At theLast Assizes it shall acquit. But how here? We proceed under the law ofthe Mutiny Act. In feature no child can resemble his father more thanthat Act resembles in spirit the thing from which it derives -- War. InHis Majesty's service -- in this ship indeed -- there are Englishmenforced to fight for the King against their will. Against theirconscience, for aught we know. Tho' as their fellow-creatures some of usmay appreciate their position, yet as navy officers, what reck we of it?Still less recks the enemy. Our impressed men he would fain cut down inthe same swath with our volunteers. As regards the enemy's navalconscripts, some of whom may even share our own abhorrence of theregicidal French Directory, it is the same on our side. War looks but tothe frontage, the appearance. And the Mutiny Act, War's child, takesafter the father. Budd's intent or non-intent is nothing to the purpose."But while, put to it by these anxieties in you which I can not butrespect, I only repeat myself -- while thus strangely we prolongproceedings that should be summary -- the enemy may be sighted and anengagement result. We must do; and one of two things must we do --condemn or let go.""Can we not convict and yet mitigate the penalty?" asked the juniorLieutenant here speaking, and falteringly, for the first."Lieutenant, were that clearly lawful for us under thecircumstances, consider the consequences of such clemency. The people"(meaning the ship's company) "have native-sense; most of them arefamiliar with our naval usage and tradition; and how would they take it?Even could you explain to them -- which our official position forbids --they, long moulded by arbitrary discipline have not that kind ofintelligent responsiveness that might qualify them to comprehend anddiscriminate. No, to the people the Foretopman's deed, however it beworded in the announcement, will be plain homicide committed in aflagrant act of mutiny. What penalty for that should follow, they know.But it does not follow. Why? they will ruminate. You know what sailorsare. Will they not revert to the recent outbreak at the Nore? Ay. Theyknow the well-founded alarm -- the panic it struck throughout England.Your clement sentence they would account pusillanimous. They would thinkthat we flinch, that we are afraid of them -- afraid of practising alawful rigour singularly demanded at this juncture lest it shouldprovoke new troubles. What shame to us such a conjecture on their part,and how deadly to discipline. You see then, whither, prompted by dutyand the law, I steadfastly drive. But I beseech you, my friends, do nottake me amiss. I feel as you do for this unfortunate boy. But did heknow our hearts, I take him to be of that generous nature that he wouldfeel even for us on whom in this military necessity so heavy acompulsion is laid."With that, crossing the deck he resumed his place by the sashedport-hole, tacitly leaving the three to come to a decision. On thecabin's opposite side the troubled court sat silent. Loyal lieges, plainand practical, though at bottom they dissented from some points CaptainVere had put to them, they were without the faculty, hardly had theinclination, to gainsay one whom they felt to be an earnest man, one toonot less their superior in mind than in naval rank. But it is notimprobable that even such of his words as were not without influenceover them, less came home to them than his closing appeal to theirinstinct as sea-officers in the forethought he threw out as to thepractical consequences to discipline, considering the unconfirmed toneof the fleet at the time, should a man-of-war's-man's violent killing atsea of a superior in grade be allowed to pass for aught else than acapital crime demanding prompt infliction of the penalty.Not unlikely they were brought to something more or less akin tothat harassed frame of mind which in the year 1842 actuated theCommander of the U.S. brig-of-war Somers to resolve, under theso-called Articles of War, Articles modelled upon the English MutinyAct, to resolve upon the execution at sea of a midshipman and twopetty-officers as mutineers designing the seizure of the brig. Whichresolution was carried out though in a time of peace and within not manydays' of home. An act vindicated by a naval court of inquirysubsequently convened ashore. History, and here cited without comment.True, the circumstances on board the Somers were different from those onboard the Indomitable. But the urgency felt, well-warranted orotherwise, was much the same.Says a writer whom few know, "Forty years after a battle it is easyfor a non-combatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. Itis another thing personally and under fire to direct the fighting whileinvolved in the obscuring smoke of it. Much so with respect to otheremergencies involving considerations both practical and moral, and whenit is imperative promptly to act. The greater the fog the more itimperils the steamer, and speed is put on tho' at the hazard of runningsomebody down. Little ween the snug card-players in the cabin of theresponsibilities of the sleepless man on the bridge."In brief, Billy Budd was formally convicted and sentenced to be hungat the yard-arm in the early morning watch, it being now night.Otherwise, as is customary in such cases, the sentence would forthwithhave been carried out. In war-time on the field or in the fleet, amortal punishment decreed by a drum-head court -- on the field sometimesdecreed by but a nod from the General -- follows without delay on theheel of conviction without appeal.