Embark on a thrilling journey through the life of Lord Cochrane, a legendary Napoleonic-era sea captain. This volume brings to life his daring exploits as he aids the Chilean navy in defeating Spain and takes command of Brazils fleet. Cochranes extraordinary journey doesnt end there - he sails to Greece, joining the fight for their liberation from the Ottoman Empire. This is not just a biography, its an unfinished autobiography completed by his son and a renowned naval historian.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fifteen of the Life of Thomas Lord Cochrane, tenth
Earl of Dundonald, Volume one by Henry Richard fox Bourne.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by
Timothy Ferguson eighteen twenty six to eighteen twenty seven. Lord Cochrane,
having passed from Brussels to Flushing, sailed thence in the
Unicorn on the eighth of May eighteen twenty six. Before
(00:24):
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 sixteenth of May in mister
Galloway's building yard at Greenwich. He found that the Perseverance
(00:47):
was apparently completed, though waiting for some finishing touches to
be put to her boilers. The other two vessels, he said,
were filled with pieces of the high pressure engines, all
unfixed and scattered about the engine room and on deck.
The boilers were in the small boats and occupied nearly
one half of their length, mister Galway having through inattention
(01:07):
or otherwise caused them to be made of the same
dimensions as the boilers. For the great vessels, which by
the buyer had been improperly increased from sixteen feet the
length determined on to twenty three feet. The inspection was unsatisfactory,
but mister Galway pledged himself on his honor that the
Perseverance should start in a day or two, that the
Enterprise and the Irresistible should be completed and sent to see
(01:27):
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, mister Elise, and other friends, Lord Cockman left
London on Monday and joined the Unicorn at Dartford on
the twentieth of May. It had been arranged that he
(01:48):
should wait in British waters for the first installment of
his little fleet. At any rate. With that object he
called at Formouth, 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 twelfth of June. He
(02:10):
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 wilful delays
of mister Galway and 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
(02:34):
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 passed a Porteaux on the eighteenth, Lisbon on the twentieth,
and Gibraltar on the twenty sixth. Of June. He was
off Algiers on the third of July, and on the
(02:55):
twelfth he anchored in the harbor 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. Quote. We deeply lament, wrote
Messrs Jandice Ricardo, the contractors for the Greek loan, in
(03:17):
one of them, dated the Unite of September, that after
all the exertions which have been used, we have not
yet been able to dispatch the two large steam vessels.
Everything has been ready for some time, but mister Gorway's
failure in the engines will now occasion a much longer detention.
We leave to your brother, who writes by the same opportunity,
to fully explain to your Lordship how all this has arisen,
(03:38):
and what measures it has been considered expedient to adopt
in the whole of this unfortunate affair. We have endeavored
to follow your wishes, and our conduct toward mister Galway,
who has much to answer for, has been chiefly directed
by his representations. Galway is the evil genius that pursues
us everywhere, wrote the same correspondence on the twenty fifth
of September. The resumption is only equaled by his incompetency.
(04:03):
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 lordship, it
has pressed peculiarly hard, and most sincerely do we lament
that an undertaking which promised so fairly in the commencement
(04:24):
should hitherto have proved unavailing, and that your power of
assisting this unhappy country should have been rendered nuggetry by
the want of means to put it in effect. Those
letters and others written before and after did not reach
Lord Cochrane until the end of October. In the meanwhile,
finding that the expected vessels did not arrive at Messina,
(04:44):
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 Marseilles as a convenient
holding place in which he had better chance of hearing
our 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 Marseilles on the twelfth
(05:06):
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 that distressing suspense in
which I have been held, and the inconvenience to which
I have been exposed by remaining on board this small
(05:27):
vessel for a period of five months, during all the
heat of the Mediterranean summer, without exercise or recreation. The
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
(05:49):
steam vessels or not, whether the scandalous blunders and mister
Galway are to be remedied by those concerned, or if
an ill timed parsimony is to doom Greece to inevitable
des instruction, 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
(06:09):
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 ever I 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
(06:31):
or Egyptian ship 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 proved by experience that advice is thrown away upon
persons in the situation and circumstances in which the Greek
rulers and their people are unfortunately placed. Having made up
(06:55):
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 steamships. I see
by the globe of the second 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
(07:15):
my eyes to see with they would then pursuer 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
(07:38):
force at my disposal. Reader's note footnote. This letter, like
some others of this nature, is partly written in cipher,
the key to which is lost. Its concluding sentences therefore
are not given in footnote. At Marseilles, Lord Cochran received
information disheartening enough, though more encouraging than was justified by
(07:59):
the real state of affairs with reference to his intended fleet.
On the fourteenth 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 mister
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 twenty
(08:19):
eighth day of this month, and that they will proceed
on the following day for the rendezvous which I had
assigned to them previous to my departure. You may therefore
count on them being in Greece around the fourteenth 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 ship of war to the before mentioned vessels. It
(08:41):
is probable, he added, that many idle reports will be
circulated here and through the public prints, because under existing
circumstances I find it necessary to appear now as a
person traveling about for private amusement. I can assure you, however,
that the one hundred and sixty days which I have
already spent in this small vessel, without ever having my
foot on shore till the day before yesterday. Has been
(09:02):
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 rumors to circulate of squadrons collecting
in various parts, judging that the effect would be to
embarrass the operations of the enemy. Reader's note footnote It
(09:24):
should be here explained that the building and fitting out
of two frigates contracted for in New York at the
cost of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, having been
assigned to persons whose mismanagement was as scandalous as that
which perplexed the Greek cause in London, one of them
having been sold, and with the proceeds and some other
funds the other having been completed and fitted out more
than two hundred thousand pounds having been spent upon her.
(09:47):
She reached Greece at the end of eighteen twenty six,
there to be known as the hellass footnote ends that
concealment had to be maintained, and the wearisome delays continued
for three months more, all the promises at mister Galway,
and all the the efforts, real or pretended, of the
Greek deputies in London were in vain. The completion of
the steam vessels was retarded on all sorts of pretexts,
and when each little portion of the work was said
(10:09):
to be done, it was found to be so badly
executed that it had to be canceled and the whole
thing done afresh. In this way all the residue of
the loan of eighteen twenty five was exhausted, and all
for worse than nothing. Lord Cochrane would never have been
able to proceed in Greece at all had the deputies
Orlando and Luriotis, who had been contracted for his employment,
(10:30):
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 phil
Hellenes of Switzerland, with Chevalier Ainard at their head, of
whom one zealous member doctor L. A. Goss of Geneva
quote well informed, very zealous, full of genuine enthusiasm for
(10:52):
the cause of humanity, and an excellent physician as Monsieur
Ainard described him was about to go in person to
Greetes as administrator of the funds collected by the Swiss committee.
Lord Cochrane's disconsolate arrival at Marseilles and the miserable failure
of the plans of his enterprise had not been known
to Monsieur Anard and his friends a week before. They
(11:13):
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 Marseilles
Harbor 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 twenty fifth October.
(11:37):
As I have yet no certainty, he said that the
person employed to fit the machinery of the steam vessels,
while now perform his task better than he has hittofore done.
I recommend purchasing the corvette, provided that she can be
purchased for the sum of two hundred thousand francs, and
if funds are wanting. I am personally willing to advance
enough to provision the corvette, and am ready to proceed
(11:58):
in that or any other 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 with two carronades of the
smallest calibo. The corvette was bought and equipped, but in
this several weeks were employed in the interval. For a
week or two after the eighth of December, Lord Cochran
(12:18):
went to Geneva, there to be the guest of Chevalier Aynard,
to be introduced to doctor Goss, and to become personally
acquainted with many other phil Hellenes. Neither Lord Cochrane nor
his friends could quite abandon the 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
(12:39):
his undertaking. Quote I have this moment received a letter
from his lordship, wrote Monsieur Ainard to mister Hobhouse on
the twelfth of January eighteen twenty seven, 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 steamer should not arrive, he will not feel
(12:59):
qualified to been acount of 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 lordship. Thus, to state my
character and existence would be a mere chaotic act. I
will put to sea, however, but still with a heavy heart.
Yet not until I have with me all requisites and
(13:20):
my stores and ammunition be embarked. Likewise, discouragement appears throughout
his Lordship's letter. This discouragement is not to be wondered at.
It is hardly necessary, however, to give further illustration 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
(13:42):
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 eighteen twenty five
to enter the service of the Greeks on the distinct
understanding that six English built steamships should be placed at
his disposal and to facilitate the arrangements. He did and
bore far more than could have been expected of him.
(14:04):
For the delays and disasters that befell 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 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
(14:26):
proceeding to Greece with the miserable equipment provided for him
in his little schooner, the Unicorn. He left Marseilles in
the fourteenth February eighteen twenty seven and proceeded to San Trapeze,
where the French corvette the Salver, 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
twenty third of February. He reached Poros and entered upon
(14:49):
his service in Greek waters. On the nineteenth of March.
He had been wandering around the Mediterranean in a fine
English yacht purchased for him out of the proceeds of
the loan, in order to accelerate his rival in Greece,
ever since the month of June eighteen twenty six, says
the ablest historian of the Greek Revolution. The preceding paragraphs
will show how much truth is contained in that sarcastic sentence.
(15:12):
End of Chapter fifteen. Recording by Timothy ferguson Gold Coast, Australia,
Chapter fifteen of the Life of Thomas Lord Cochrane, tenth
Earl of Dundonald, Volume one by Henry Richard fox Bourne.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by
Timothy Ferguson eighteen twenty six to eighteen twenty seven. Lord Cochrane,
having passed from Brussels to Flushing, sailed thence in the
Unicorn on the eighth of May eighteen twenty six. Before
(00:24):
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 sixteenth of May in mister
Galloway's building yard at Greenwich. He found that the Perseverance
(00:47):
was apparently completed, though waiting for some finishing touches to
be put to her boilers. The other two vessels, he said,
were filled with pieces of the high pressure engines, all
unfixed and scattered about the engine room and on deck.
The boilers were in the small boats and occupied nearly
one half of their length, mister Galway having through inattention
(01:07):
or otherwise caused them to be made of the same
dimensions as the boilers. For the great vessels, which by
the buyer had been improperly increased from sixteen feet the
length determined on to twenty three feet. The inspection was unsatisfactory,
but mister Galway pledged himself on his honor that the
Perseverance should start in a day or two, that the
Enterprise and the Irresistible should be completed and sent to see
(01:27):
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, mister Elise, and other friends, Lord Cockman left
London on Monday and joined the Unicorn at Dartford on
the twentieth of May. It had been arranged that he
(01:48):
should wait in British waters for the first installment of
his little fleet. At any rate. With that object he
called at Formouth, 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 twelfth of June. He
(02:10):
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 wilful delays
of mister Galway and 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
(02:34):
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 passed a Porteaux on the eighteenth, Lisbon on the twentieth,
and Gibraltar on the twenty sixth. Of June. He was
off Algiers on the third of July, and on the
(02:55):
twelfth he anchored in the harbor 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. Quote. We deeply lament, wrote
Messrs Jandice Ricardo, the contractors for the Greek loan, in
(03:17):
one of them, dated the Unite of September, that after
all the exertions which have been used, we have not
yet been able to dispatch the two large steam vessels.
Everything has been ready for some time, but mister Gorway's
failure in the engines will now occasion a much longer detention.
We leave to your brother, who writes by the same opportunity,
to fully explain to your Lordship how all this has arisen,
(03:38):
and what measures it has been considered expedient to adopt
in the whole of this unfortunate affair. We have endeavored
to follow your wishes, and our conduct toward mister Galway,
who has much to answer for, has been chiefly directed
by his representations. Galway is the evil genius that pursues
us everywhere, wrote the same correspondence on the twenty fifth
of September. The resumption is only equaled by his incompetency.
(04:03):
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 lordship, it
has pressed peculiarly hard, and most sincerely do we lament
that an undertaking which promised so fairly in the commencement
(04:24):
should hitherto have proved unavailing, and that your power of
assisting this unhappy country should have been rendered nuggetry by
the want of means to put it in effect. Those
letters and others written before and after did not reach
Lord Cochrane until the end of October. In the meanwhile,
finding that the expected vessels did not arrive at Messina,
(04:44):
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 Marseilles as a convenient
holding place in which he had better chance of hearing
our 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 Marseilles on the twelfth
(05:06):
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 that distressing suspense in
which I have been held, and the inconvenience to which
I have been exposed by remaining on board this small
(05:27):
vessel for a period of five months, during all the
heat of the Mediterranean summer, without exercise or recreation. The
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
(05:49):
steam vessels or not, whether the scandalous blunders and mister
Galway are to be remedied by those concerned, or if
an ill timed parsimony is to doom Greece to inevitable
des instruction, 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
(06:09):
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 ever I 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
(06:31):
or Egyptian ship 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 proved by experience that advice is thrown away upon
persons in the situation and circumstances in which the Greek
rulers and their people are unfortunately placed. Having made up
(06:55):
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 steamships. I see
by the globe of the second 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
(07:15):
my eyes to see with they would then pursuer 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
(07:38):
force at my disposal. Reader's note footnote. This letter, like
some others of this nature, is partly written in cipher,
the key to which is lost. Its concluding sentences therefore
are not given in footnote. At Marseilles, Lord Cochran received
information disheartening enough, though more encouraging than was justified by
(07:59):
the real state of affairs with reference to his intended fleet.
On the fourteenth 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 mister
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 twenty
(08:19):
eighth day of this month, and that they will proceed
on the following day for the rendezvous which I had
assigned to them previous to my departure. You may therefore
count on them being in Greece around the fourteenth 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 ship of war to the before mentioned vessels. It
(08:41):
is probable, he added, that many idle reports will be
circulated here and through the public prints, because under existing
circumstances I find it necessary to appear now as a
person traveling about for private amusement. I can assure you, however,
that the one hundred and sixty days which I have
already spent in this small vessel, without ever having my
foot on shore till the day before yesterday. Has been
(09:02):
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 rumors to circulate of squadrons collecting
in various parts, judging that the effect would be to
embarrass the operations of the enemy. Reader's note footnote It
(09:24):
should be here explained that the building and fitting out
of two frigates contracted for in New York at the
cost of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, having been
assigned to persons whose mismanagement was as scandalous as that
which perplexed the Greek cause in London, one of them
having been sold, and with the proceeds and some other
funds the other having been completed and fitted out more
than two hundred thousand pounds having been spent upon her.
(09:47):
She reached Greece at the end of eighteen twenty six,
there to be known as the hellass footnote ends that
concealment had to be maintained, and the wearisome delays continued
for three months more, all the promises at mister Galway,
and all the the efforts, real or pretended, of the
Greek deputies in London were in vain. The completion of
the steam vessels was retarded on all sorts of pretexts,
and when each little portion of the work was said
(10:09):
to be done, it was found to be so badly
executed that it had to be canceled and the whole
thing done afresh. In this way all the residue of
the loan of eighteen twenty five was exhausted, and all
for worse than nothing. Lord Cochrane would never have been
able to proceed in Greece at all had the deputies
Orlando and Luriotis, who had been contracted for his employment,
(10:30):
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 phil
Hellenes of Switzerland, with Chevalier Ainard at their head, of
whom one zealous member doctor L. A. Goss of Geneva
quote well informed, very zealous, full of genuine enthusiasm for
(10:52):
the cause of humanity, and an excellent physician as Monsieur
Ainard described him was about to go in person to
Greetes as administrator of the funds collected by the Swiss committee.
Lord Cochrane's disconsolate arrival at Marseilles and the miserable failure
of the plans of his enterprise had not been known
to Monsieur Anard and his friends a week before. They
(11:13):
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 Marseilles
Harbor 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 twenty fifth October.
(11:37):
As I have yet no certainty, he said that the
person employed to fit the machinery of the steam vessels,
while now perform his task better than he has hittofore done.
I recommend purchasing the corvette, provided that she can be
purchased for the sum of two hundred thousand francs, and
if funds are wanting. I am personally willing to advance
enough to provision the corvette, and am ready to proceed
(11:58):
in that or any other 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 with two carronades of the
smallest calibo. The corvette was bought and equipped, but in
this several weeks were employed in the interval. For a
week or two after the eighth of December, Lord Cochran
(12:18):
went to Geneva, there to be the guest of Chevalier Aynard,
to be introduced to doctor Goss, and to become personally
acquainted with many other phil Hellenes. Neither Lord Cochrane nor
his friends could quite abandon the 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
(12:39):
his undertaking. Quote I have this moment received a letter
from his lordship, wrote Monsieur Ainard to mister Hobhouse on
the twelfth of January eighteen twenty seven, 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 steamer should not arrive, he will not feel
(12:59):
qualified to been acount of 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 lordship. Thus, to state my
character and existence would be a mere chaotic act. I
will put to sea, however, but still with a heavy heart.
Yet not until I have with me all requisites and
(13:20):
my stores and ammunition be embarked. Likewise, discouragement appears throughout
his Lordship's letter. This discouragement is not to be wondered at.
It is hardly necessary, however, to give further illustration 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
(13:42):
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 eighteen twenty five
to enter the service of the Greeks on the distinct
understanding that six English built steamships should be placed at
his disposal and to facilitate the arrangements. He did and
bore far more than could have been expected of him.
(14:04):
For the delays and disasters that befell 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 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
(14:26):
proceeding to Greece with the miserable equipment provided for him
in his little schooner, the Unicorn. He left Marseilles in
the fourteenth February eighteen twenty seven and proceeded to San Trapeze,
where the French corvette the Salver, 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
twenty third of February. He reached Poros and entered upon
(14:49):
his service in Greek waters. On the nineteenth of March.
He had been wandering around the Mediterranean in a fine
English yacht purchased for him out of the proceeds of
the loan, in order to accelerate his rival in Greece,
ever since the month of June eighteen twenty six, says
the ablest historian of the Greek Revolution. The preceding paragraphs
will show how much truth is contained in that sarcastic sentence.
(15:12):
End of Chapter fifteen. Recording by Timothy ferguson Gold Coast, Australia,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.