The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald Volume I Part 13

All the chieftains are good bottle-men; but this one excels them so much that 'tis confidently a.s.serted he drinks three bottles of rum per day.

STAIKOS.--A Moreot captain who took part early with the Hydriot party from jealousy of Kolokotrones. When that party gained the ascendency, not finding himself sufficiently rewarded, he joined the captains.

MOMGINOS.--A Mainot chieftain, a rival of Petro-Bey; is undistinguished, except by his colossal stature and ferocious countenance.

GOURA.--A Romeliot captain; was a soldier of Odysseus, and employed by him in various a.s.sa.s.sinations, and thus he rose to preferment and supplanted his protector, and at length a.s.sa.s.sinated him. This man possesses courage and extreme ferocity, but is remarkably ignorant.

In the hands of a similar master, he would have been a perfect Tristan l'Hermite. To supplant Odysseus, he was obliged to range himself with the Hydriot party.

CONSTANTINE BOTZARES.--A Suliot captain; nephew to the celebrated Makrys, who, from all accounts, was a phenomenon among the captains.

This man bears a good character.

KARASKAKES, RANGO, KALTZAS, ZAVELLA, &c. &c.--Romeliot captains; all more or less opposed to order, according as they see it suits their immediate interest.

That estimate of the Greek heroes--in the main wonderfully accurate--was certainly not encouraging to Lord Cochrane. He determined, however, to go on with the work he had entered upon, and in doing his duty to the Greeks, to try to bring into healthy play the real patriotism that was being perverted by such unworthy leaders.

Great benefit was conferred upon the Greeks by his entering into their service from its very beginning, in spite of the obstacles which were thrown in his way at starting, and which materially damaged all his subsequent work on their behalf. No sooner was it known that he was coming to aid them with his unsurpa.s.sed bravery and his unrivalled genius than they took heart and held out against the Turkish and Egyptian foes to whom they had just before been inclined to yield.

And his enlistment in their cause had another effect, of which they themselves were ignorant. The mere announcement that he intended to fight and win for them, as he had fought and won for Chili, for Peru, and for Brazil, while it caused both England and France to do their utmost in hindering him from achieving an end which was more thorough than they desired, forced both England and France to shake off the listlessness with which they had regarded the contest during nearly five years, and initiate the temporizing action by which Greece was prevented from becoming as great and independent a state as it might have been, yet by which a smaller independence was secured for it.

Hardly had Lord Cochrane consented to serve as admiral of the Greeks than the Duke of Wellington was despatched, in the beginning of 1826, on a mission to Russia, which issued in the protocol of April, 1826, and the treaty of July, 1827--both having for their avowed object the pacification of Greece--and in the battle of Navarino, by which that pacification was secured.

The Duke of Wellington pa.s.sed through Brussels, on his way to St. Petersburg, in March, 1826. Halting there, he informed the hotel-keeper that he could see no one _except Lord Cochrane_, which was as distinct an intimation that he desired an interview as, in accordance with the rules of etiquette, he could make. The hotel-keeper, however, was too dull to take the hint. He did not acquaint Lord Cochrane of the indirect message intended for him until the Duke of Wellington had proceeded on his journey. Thus was prevented a meeting between one of England's greatest soldiers and one of her greatest sailors, which could not but have been very memorable in itself, and which might have been far more memorable in its political consequences.

The meeting was hindered, and, without listening either to the personal courtesies or to the diplomatic arguments of the Duke of Wellington, Lord Cochrane continued his preparations for active service in Greek waters. The details of these preparations and their practical execution, as has been shown, he was forced to leave in other and less competent hands, and their actual supervision was still impossible to him. Gradually the irritating and wasteful obstacles for which Mr. Galloway was chiefly responsible induced him to resolve upon following the advice tendered in December by Mr. Hobhouse and Captain Hastings--that is, to go to Greece with a small portion only of the naval armament for which he had stipulated, and which his most cautious friends deemed necessary to his enterprise. To this he was driven, not only by a desire to do something worthy of his great name, and something really helpful to the cause which he had espoused, but also by the knowledge that the tedious delays that arose were squandering all the money with which he had counted upon rendering his work efficient when he could get to Greece.

Of this he received frequent and clear intimation from all his friends in London, though from none so emphatically as from the Greek deputies, Orlando and Luriottis, who, being themselves grievously to blame for their peculations and their bad management, threw all the blame upon Mr. Galloway and the other defaulters. Finding that the proceeds of the second Greek loan were being rapidly exhausted by their own and others' wrong-doing, they were even audacious enough to propose to Lord Cochrane that, not abandoning his Greek engagement, but rather continuing it under conditions involving much greater risk and anxiety than had been antic.i.p.ated, he should return the 37,000_l._ which had been handed over to Sir Francis Burdett on his account, and take as sole security for his ultimate recompense the two frigates half built in America, acknowledged to be of so little value that no purchaser could be found for them. "Our only desire." they said, "is to rescue the millions of souls that are praying with a thousand supplications that they may not fall victims to the despair which is only averted by the hope of your lords.h.i.+p's arrival."

To that preposterous request Lord Cochrane made a very temperate answer. "I have perused your letter of the 18th," he wrote on the 28th of February, "with the utmost attention, and have since considered its contents with the most anxious desire to promote the objects you have in view in all ways in my power. But I have not been able to convince myself that, under existing circ.u.mstances, there is any means by which Greece can be so readily saved as by steady perseverance in equipping the steam-vessels, which are so admirably calculated to cut off the enemies' communication with Alexandria and Constantinople, and for towing fire-vessels and explosion-vessels by night into ports and places where the hostile squadrons anchor on the sh.o.r.es of Greece.

With steam-vessels constructed for such purposes, and a few gunboats carrying heavy cannon, I have no doubt but that the Morea might in a few weeks be cleared of the enemy's naval force. I wish I could give you, without writing a volume, a clear view of the numerous reasons, derived from thirty-five years' experience, which induce me to prefer a force that can move in all directions in the obscurity of night through narrow channels, in shoal water, and with silence and celerity, over a naval armament of the usual kind, though of far superior force. You would then perceive with what efficacy the counsel of Demosthenes to your countrymen might be carried into effect by desultory attacks on the enemy; and, in fact, you would perceive that steam-vessels, whenever they shall be brought into war for hostile purposes, will prove the most formidable means that ever has been employed in naval warfare. Indeed, it is my opinion that twenty-four vessels moved by steam (such as the largest constructed for your service) could commence at St. Petersburg, and finish at Constantinople, the destruction of every s.h.i.+p of war in the European ports. I therefore hold that you ought to strain every nerve to get the steam-vessels equipped. For on these, next to the valour of the Greeks themselves, depends the fate of Greece, and not on large unwieldy s.h.i.+ps, immovable in calms, and ill-calculated for nocturnal operations on the sh.o.r.es of the Morea and adjacent islands. Having thus repeated to you my opinions, I have only to add that, if you judge you can follow a better course, I release you from the engagement you entered into with me, and I am ready to return you the 37,000_l._ on your receiving as part thereof 72,500 Greek scrip, at the price I gave for it on the day following my engagement (under the faith of the stipulations then entered into), as a further stimulus to my exertion, by casting my property, as well as my life, into the scale with Greece. This release I am ready to make at once; but I cannot consent to accept as security, for the fruits of seven years'

toil, vessels manned by Americans, whose pay and provisions I see no adequate or regular means of providing. But should the 150,000_l._ placed at the disposal of the Committee not prove sufficient for the objects _I have required_, I will advance the 37,000_l._ for the pay and provisions necessary for the steamboats on the security of the boats themselves. Thus you have the option of releasing me from the service, or of continuing my engagement, although I shall lose severely by my temporary acceptance of your offer."

In that letter Lord Cochrane conceded more than ought to have been expected of him. In a supplementary letter written on the same day he added: "I again a.s.sure you that I am ready to do whatever is reasonable for the interest of Greece; but it cannot be expected that for such interest I ought to sacrifice totally those of my family and myself, as would be the case were I to give up both the means I possess to obtain justice in South America and my indemnification, on so slender a security as that offered to me. Believe me, I should have tendered the 37,000_l._, without reference to the Greek scrip I had purchased, had it not been evident to me that, under such circ.u.mstances, the security of your public funds would be dependent on chances which I cannot foresee, and over which I should have no control."

Thus temperately rebuked, the Greek deputies did not urge their proposal any further. They only wrote to promise all possible expedition in completing the steam-vessels. Lord Cochrane, however, voluntarily acceded to one of their wishes. Hearing that the largest of the steamers, the _Perseverance_, was nearly ready for sea, and that Mr. Galloway had again solemnly pledged himself to complete the others in a short time, he determined not to wait for the whole force, but to start at once for the Mediterranean. It had been all along decided that the _Perseverance_ should be placed under Captain Hastings's command; and it was now arranged that he should take her to Greece as soon as she was ready, and that Lord Cochrane should follow in a schooner, the _Unicorn_, of 158 tons. It was not intended, of course, that with that boat alone he should go all the way to Greece; but it was considered--perhaps not very wisely--that if he were actually on his way to Greece, the completion of the other five steams.h.i.+ps would be proceeded with more rapidly; and he agreed that, as soon as he was joined in the Mediterranean by the first two of these, the _Enterprise_ and the _Irresistible_, he would hasten on to the Archipelago, and there make the best of the small force at his disposal. Not only was it supposed that Mr. Galloway and the other agents would thus be induced to more vigorous action: it was also deemed that the effect of this step upon the h.e.l.lenic nation would be very beneficial. "As soon as the Greek Government know that your lords.h.i.+p is on your way to Greece," wrote the London deputies on the 13th of April, "their courage will be animated, and their confidence renewed. We may with truth a.s.sert that your lords.h.i.+p is regarded by all cla.s.ses of our countrymen as a Messiah, who is to come to their deliverance; and, from the enthusiasm which will prevail amongst the people, we may venture to predict that your lords.h.i.+p's valour and success at sea will give energy and victory to their arms on land."

With the new arrangements necessitated by this change of plans the last two or three weeks of April and the first of May were occupied.

Lord Cochrane put to sea on the 8th of May. "As a Greek citizen," one of the deputies in London, Andreas Luriottis, had written on the 17th of April, "I cannot refrain from expressing my sincere grat.i.tude towards your lords.h.i.+p for the resolution which you have taken to depart almost immediately for Greece. This generous determination, at a moment when my country is really in want of every a.s.sistance, cannot be regarded with indifference by my countrymen, who already look upon your lords.h.i.+p as a Messiah. Your talents and intrepidity cannot allow us for a moment to doubt of success. My countrymen will afford you every a.s.sistance, and confer on you all the powers necessary for your undertaking; although your lords.h.i.+p must be aware that Greece, after five years' struggle, cannot be expected to present a very favourable aspect to a stranger. Your lords.h.i.+p will, however, find men full of devotion and courage--men who have founded, their best hopes on you, and from whom, under such a leader, everything may be expected. Your lords.h.i.+p's previous exploits encourage me to hope that Greece will not be less successful than the Brazils, since the materials she offers for cultivation are superior. With patience and perseverance in the outset, all difficulties will soon vanish, and the course will be direct and unimpeded. The resources of Greece are not to be despised, and, if successful, she will find ample means to reward those who will have devoted themselves to her service and to the cause of liberty."

CHAPTER XV.

LORD COCHRANE'S DEPARTURE FOR GREECE.--HIS VISIT TO LONDON AND VOYAGE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.--HIS STAY AT MESSINA, AND AFTERWARDS AT Ma.r.s.eILLES.--THE DELAYS IN COMPLETING THE STEAMs.h.i.+PS, AND THE CONSEQUENT INJURY TO THE GREEK CAUSE, AND SERIOUS EMBARRa.s.sMENT TO LORD COCHRANE.--HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH MESSRS. J. AND S.

RICARDO.--HIS LETTER TO THE GREEK GOVERNMENT.--CHEVALIER EYNARD, AND THE CONTINENTAL PHILh.e.l.lENES.--LORD COCHRANE'S FINAL DEPARTURE, AND ARRIVAL IN GREECE.

[1826-1827.]

Lord Cochrane, having pa.s.sed from Brussels to Flus.h.i.+ng, sailed thence in the _Unicorn_ on the 8th of May, 1826. Before proceeding to the Mediterranean, he determined, in spite of the personal risk he would thus be subjected to through the Foreign Enlistment Act, to see for himself in what state were the preparations for his enterprise in Greece. He accordingly landed at Weymouth, and hurrying up to London, spent the greater part of Sunday, the 16th of May, in Mr. Galloway's building yard at Greenwich.

He found that the _Perseverance_ was apparently completed, though waiting for some finis.h.i.+ng touches to be put to her boilers. "The two other vessels," he said, "were filled with pieces of the high-pressure engines, all unfixed, and scattered about in the engine-room and on deck. The boilers were in the small boats, and occupied nearly one half of their length, Mr. Galloway having, through inattention or otherwise, caused them to be made of the same dimensions as the boilers for the great vessels, which, by the by, had been improperly increased from sixteen feet, the length determined on, to twenty-three feet." The inspection was unsatisfactory; but Mr. Galloway pledged himself on his honour that the _Perseverance_ should start in a day or two, that the _Enterprise_ and the _Irresistible_ should be completed and sent to sea within a fortnight, and that the other three vessels should be out of hand in less than a month.

Trusting to that promise, or at any rate hoping that it might be fulfilled, and after a parting interview with Sir Francis Burdett, Mr.

Ellice, and other friends, Lord Cochrane left London on Monday, and joined the _Unicorn_, at Dartford, on the 20th of May. It had been arranged that he should wait in British waters for the first instalment of his little fleet, at any rate. With that object he called at Falmouth, and, receiving no satisfactory information there, went to make a longer halt in Bantry Bay. At length, hearing that the _Perseverance_ had actually started, with Captain Hastings for its commander, and that the other two large vessels were on the point of leaving the Thames, he left the coast of Ireland on the 12th of June.

He vainly hoped that the vessels would promptly join him in the Mediterranean, and that within four or five weeks' time he should be at work in Greek waters. The journey, however, was to last nine months. The mismanagement and the wilful delays of Mr. Galloway and the other contractors and agents continued as before. The urgent need of Greece was unsatisfied; the funds collected for promoting her deliverance were wantonly perverted; and the looked-for deliverer was doomed to nearly a year of further inactivity--hateful to him at all times, but now a special source of annoyance, as it involved not only idleness to himself, but also serious injury to the cause he had espoused.

He pa.s.sed Oporto on the 18th, Lisbon on the 20th, and Gibraltar on the 26th of June. He was off Algiers on the 3rd of July, and on the 12th he anch.o.r.ed in the harbour of Messina. There, and in the adjoining waters, he waited nearly three months, in daily expectation of the arrival of his vessels, Messina having been the appointed meeting-place. No vessels came, but instead only dismal and procrastinating letters. "We deeply lament," wrote Messrs. J. and S.

Ricardo, the contractors for the Greek loan, in one of them, dated the 9th of September, "that, after all the exertions which have been used, we have not yet been able to despatch the two large steam-vessels.

Everything has been ready for some time; but Mr. Galloway's failure in the engines will now occasion a much longer detention. We leave to your brother, who writes by the same opportunity, to explain fully to your lords.h.i.+p how all this has arisen, and what measures it has been considered expedient to adopt. In the whole of this unfortunate affair we have endeavoured to follow your wishes; and our conduct towards Mr.

Galloway, who has much to answer for, has been chiefly directed by his representations." "Galloway is the evil genius that pursues us everywhere," wrote the same correspondents on the 25th of September; "his presumption is only equalled by his incompetency. Whatever he has to do with is miserably deficient. We do not think his misconduct has been intentional; but it has proved most fatal to the interests of Greece, and of those engaged in her behalf. On your lords.h.i.+p it has pressed peculiarly hard; and most sincerely do we lament that an undertaking, which promised so fairly in the commencement should hitherto have proved unavailing, and that your power of a.s.sisting this unhappy country should have been rendered nugatory by the want of means to put it in effect."

Those letters, and others written before and after, did not reach Lord Cochrane till the end of October. In the meanwhile, finding that the expected vessels did not arrive at Messina, and that in that place it was impossible even for him to receive accurate information as to the progress of affairs in London, he called at Malta about the middle of September, and thence proceeded to Ma.r.s.eilles, as a convenient halting-place, in which he had better chance of hearing how matters were proceeding, and from which he could easily go to meet the vessels when, if ever, they were ready to join him. He reached Ma.r.s.eilles on the 12th of October, and on the same day he forwarded a letter to Messrs. Ricardo. "I wrote to you a few days ago," he said, "from Malta, and, as the packet sailed with a fair wind, you will receive that letter very shortly. You will thereby perceive the distressing suspense in which I have been held, and the inconvenience to which I have been exposed, by remaining on board this small vessel for a period of five months, during all the heat of a Mediterranean summer, without exercise or recreation. This situation has been rendered the more unpleasant, as I have had no means to inform myself, except through the public papers, relative to the concern in which we are now engaged. My patience, however, is now worn out, and I have come here to learn whether I am to expect the steam-vessels or not,--whether the scandalous blunders of Mr. Galloway are to be remedied by those concerned, or if an ill-timed parsimony is to doom Greece to inevitable destruction; for such will be the consequence, if Ibrahim's resources are not cut up before the period at which it is usual for him to commence operations. You know my opinions so well, that it is unnecessary to repeat them to you. I shall, however, add, that the intelligence and plans I have obtained since my arrival in the Mediterranean confirm these opinions, and enable me to predict, with as much certainty as I ever could do on any enterprise, that if the vessels and the means to pay six months' expenses are forwarded, there shall not be a Turkish or Egyptian s.h.i.+p in the Archipelago at the termination of the winter. It may have been expected that I should immediately proceed to Greece in this vessel. I might have done so at an earlier period of my life, before I had proved by experience that advice is thrown away upon persons in the situation and circ.u.mstances in which the Greek rulers and their people are unfortunately placed.

Having made up my mind on this subject, I must entreat you to let me know by the earliest possible means what I am to expect in regard to the steams.h.i.+ps. I see by the 'Globe' of the 2nd of last month that the holders of Greek stock were to have a meeting. I conclude they came to some resolution, and this resolution I want to know. I wish I could give them my eyes to see with--they would then pursue a course which would secure their interests. This, however, is impossible; therefore they must, like the Greeks, be left to follow their own notions.

I have, however, no objections to your stating to these gentlemen, either publicly or privately, that I pledge my reputation to free Greece if they will, by the smallest additional sacrifice that may be required, put the stipulated force at my disposal."[A]

[Footnote A: This letter, like some others of this nature, is partly written in cypher, the key to which is lost. Its concluding sentences, therefore, are not given.]

At Ma.r.s.eilles, Lord Cochrane received information, disheartening enough, though more encouraging than was justified by the real state of affairs, with reference to his intended fleet. On the 14th of October he wrote to explain his position, as he himself understood it, to the Greek Government. "By the most fortunate accident," he said, "I have met Mr. Hobhouse here, who, from his correspondence with Messrs.

Ricardo and others in London, enables me to state to you that the two large steamboats will be completed on the 28th day of this month, and that they will proceed on the following day for the _rendezvous_ which I had a.s.signed to them previous to my departure. You may, therefore, count on their being in Greece about the 14th of next month. The American frigate is said to be completed and on her way, and I feel a confident hope that I shall be able here to add a very efficient s.h.i.+p of war to the before-mentioned vessels.[A] It is probable," he added, "that many idle reports will be circulated here and through the public prints, because, under existing circ.u.mstances, I find it necessary to appear now as a person travelling about for private amus.e.m.e.nt. I can a.s.sure you, however, that the hundred and sixty days which I have already spent in this small vessel, without ever having my foot on sh.o.r.e till the day before yesterday, has been a sacrifice which I should not have made for any other cause than that in which I am engaged; but I considered it essential to conceal the real insignificance of my situation and allow rumours to circulate of squadrons collecting in various parts, judging that the effect would be to embarra.s.s the operations of the enemy."

[Footnote A: It should here be explained that the building and fitting out of the two frigates contracted for in New York, at a cost of 150,000_l._, having been a.s.signed to persons whose mismanagement was as scandalous as that which perplexed the Greek cause in London, one of them had been sold, and with the proceeds and some other funds the other had been completed and fitted out, more than 200,000_l._ having been spent upon her. She reached Greece at the end of 1826, there to be known as the _h.e.l.las_.]

That concealment had to be maintained, and the wearisome delays continued, for three months more. All the promises of Mr. Galloway and all the efforts, real or pretended, of the Greek deputies in London, were vain. The completion of the steam-vessels was r.e.t.a.r.ded on all sorts of pretexts, and when each little portion of the work was said to be done, it was found to be so badly executed that it had to be cancelled and the whole thing done afresh. In this way all the residue of the loan of 1825 was exhausted, and all for worse than nothing.

Lord Cochrane would never have been able to proceed to Greece at all, had the Greek deputies, Orlando and Luriottis, who had contracted for his employment, been his only supporters. Fortunately, however, he had other and worthier coadjutors. The Greek Committee in Paris did much on his behalf, and yet more was done by the Philh.e.l.lenes of Switzerland, with Chevalier Eynard at their head, of whom one zealous member, Dr. L.A. Gosse, of Geneva, "well-informed, very zealous, full of genuine enthusiasm for the cause of humanity, and an excellent physician," as M. Eynard described him, was about to go in person to Greece, as administrator of the funds collected by the Swiss Committee. Lord Cochrane's disconsolate arrival at Ma.r.s.eilles, and the miserable failure of the plans for his enterprise, had not been known to M. Eynard and his friends a week, before they set themselves to remedy the mischief as far as lay in their power. As a first and chief movement they proposed to buy a French corvette, then lying in Ma.r.s.eilles Harbour, and fit her out as a stout auxiliary to Lord Cochrane's little force expected from London and New York. Lord Cochrane, being consulted on the scheme, eagerly acceded to it in a letter written on the 25th of October. "As I have yet no certainty,"

he said, "that the person employed to fit the machinery of the steam-vessels will now perform his task better than he has heretofore done, I recommend purchasing the corvette, provided that she can be purchased for the sum of 200,000 francs, and, if funds are wanting, I personally am willing to advance enough to provision the corvette, and am ready to proceed in that or any fit vessel. But I am quite resolved, without a moral certainty of something following me, not to ruin and disgrace the cause by presenting myself in Greece in a schooner of two carronades of the smallest calibre."

The corvette was bought and equipped; but in this several weeks were employed. In the interval, for a week or two after the 8th of December, Lord Cochrane went to Geneva, there to be the guest of Chevalier Eynard, to be introduced to Dr. Gosse, and to become personally acquainted with many other Philh.e.l.lenes.

Neither Lord Cochrane nor his friends could quite abandon hope of the ultimate completion of the London steam-vessels. They felt, too, that with nothing but the new vessel, the American frigate, and the _Perseverance_, Lord Cochrane would have very poor provision for his undertaking. "I have this moment received a letter from his lords.h.i.+p,"

wrote M. Eynard to Mr. Hobhouse on the 12th of January, 1827, "wherein he appears rather disappointed with respect to the scantiness of the forces and the means placed at his disposal. He informs me that he has no officers, few sailors; and that, in case the steamers should not arrive, he will not feel qualified to encounter the Turkish and Egyptian naval forces, as well as the Algerines, who of all are the best manned. 'I therefore shall not be able to undertake anything of moment,' continues his lords.h.i.+p. 'Thus to stake my character and existence would be a mere Quixotic act. I will put to sea, however, but still with a heavy heart; yet not until I have with me all requisites, and my stores and ammunition be embarked likewise.'

Discouragement appears throughout his lords.h.i.+p's letter."

The discouragement is not to be wondered at. It is hardly necessary, however, to give further ill.u.s.tration of it, or of the troubles incident to this long waiting-time. Enough has been said to show Lord Cochrane's position in relation to this deplorable state of affairs, and to exonerate him from all blame in the matter. That he should have been blamed at all is only part of the wanton injustice that attended him nearly all through his life. He had consented, in the autumn of 1825, to enter the service of the Greeks, on the distinct understanding that six English-built steams.h.i.+ps should be placed at his disposal, and to facilitate the arrangements he did and bore far more than could have been expected of him. For the delays and disasters that befel those arrangements he was in no way responsible: he was only thereby a very great sufferer. But his sufferings would have been greater, and he would have been really at fault, had he consented to go to Greece without any sort of provision, as a few rash friends and many eager enemies desired him to do, and afterwards blamed him for not doing.

As it was, he greatly increased his difficulties by at last proceeding to Greece with the miserable equipment provided for him. In his little schooner, the _Unicorn_, he left Ma.r.s.eilles on the 14th of February, 1827, and proceeded to St. Tropezy, where the French corvette, the _Sauveur_, was being fitted out under the direction of Captain Thomas, a brave and energetic officer. Thence he set sail, with the two vessels, on the 23rd of February. He reached Poros, and entered upon his service in Greek waters, on the 19th of March. "He had been wandering about the Mediterranean in a fine English yacht, purchased for him out of the proceeds of the loan, in order to accelerate his arrival in Greece, ever since the month of June, 1826," says the ablest historian of the Greek Revolution.[A] The preceding paragraphs will show how much truth is contained in that sarcastic sentence.

[Footnote A: Finlay, vol. ii., p. 137.]

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PROGRESS OF AFFAIRS IN GREECE.--THE SIEGE OF MISSOLONGHI.--ITS FALL.--THE BAD GOVERNMENT AND MISMANAGEMENT OF THE GREEKS.--GENERAL PONSONBY'S ACCOUNT OF THEM.--THE EFFECT OF LORD COCHRANE'S PROMISED a.s.sISTANCE.--THE FEARS OF THE TURKS, AS SHOWN IN THEIR CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. CANNING.--THE ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN HASTINGS IN GREECE, WITH THE "KARTERIA."--HIS OPINION OF GREEK CAPTAINS AND SAILORS.--THE FRIGATE "h.e.l.lAS."--LETTERS TO LORD COCHRANE FROM ADMIRAL MIAOULIS AND THE GOVERNING COMMISSION OF GREECE.

[1826-1827.]