July 26, 2025 • 40 mins
Immerse yourself in the thrilling tales of Lord Cochrane, a renowned sea captain from the Napoleonic era, whose life was rich with high-seas adventures that later inspired numerous naval fiction series. This second volume of his biography, penned by his secretary and son, completes the unfinished Autobiography of a Seaman. Discover how Cochrane valiantly assists the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire, marks his presence in the House of Lords, regains his knighthood, and makes a striking comeback to the Royal Navy.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty two of the Life of Thomas Lord Cochrane,
tenth Earl of Dundonald completing the Autobiography of a Seamen,
Volume two by Henry Richard Foxbourne and others. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Recording by Timothy Ferguson,
Chapter twenty two, eighteen twenty eight to eighteen twenty nine.
(00:20):
Lord Cochrane's absence from Greece was longer and less advantageous
than he had anticipated. Arriving in London on the nineteenth
of February eighteen twenty eight, he found that the English
Philhellenes were tired out by the bad faith and the
unpatriotic conduct of the Greeks, and that the English government,
which he had hoped to influence so far as to
obtain an alteration in the Foreign Enlistment Act which would
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enable him to secure the services of a well trained
force of British seamen, was determined to give no help
in the matter. He found too, that the steam vessels
yet to be furnished in accordance with the old contract
with mister Galloway, were still unfinished, and that there would
be no little trouble and delay added to all that
had already been endured before their completion could be hoped for.
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Not disenheartened, however, he went almost immediately to Paris, there
to see what could be expected from the Philhellenes of
the continent. I have taken steps, he wrote to Monsieur
Enard from Paris on the second of March, to cause
one of our small steam vessels to be fitted with
proper engines, the expense of which I shall find means
to defray. I hope the President will favor me with
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the communication at an early date, at least to say
whether he has means to pay and victual a few
hundreds of foreign seamen, and thus put my mind at rest,
for he must depend on foreign aid to support him
in his government, protect commerce, and enable a revenue to
be derived from the latent resources of Greece. The Greeks
themselves will do nothing towards these objects, though there will
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not be wanting individuals who will endeavor for their personal
views to persuade them to the contrary of this. My
mind is not yet sufficiently tranquil to give detailed reasons
for my opinion that things will not succeed in Greece.
That troops and other foreign aid. But such time will
prove the case were the three great powers, he said
in another letter to Monsieur Ainard, dated the seventeenth of March,
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Please to aid the President with funds to a small amount.
They would accomplish more for their own benefit and that
of Greece than by great fleets and armies. Four thousand
troops under the Greek government and five hundred seamen would
terminate the affair. But never will anarchy cease or piracy
be put down, nor will Capadistrius be secure unless he
has under his own authority the means of enforcing obedience
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to the laws and regulation for the public good by
sea and land. I have told you that the Greek
seamen cannot be used to suppress piracy, and I may
truly add that no Greeks of age to bear arms
can become soldiers, though they learn readily enough to perform
the military exercises there. Neither is, nor has yet been,
since my arrival in Greece, one single company, not even
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the Marines, with which so much pains was taken, that
deserves the name of regular Their ideas are quite repugnant
to everything it constitutes the military character. Lord Cochrane, who
it will be remembered, was chiefly instrumental in the election
of Count John Capodistrius as the President of Greece in
April eighteen twenty seven. Had hoped much from his government.
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His confidence was not little shaken by the long delay
which the President had shown in entering on his office,
and when Capodistrius arrived in Greece only a few days
after Lord Cochrane's departure, his first arts were calculated to
shake that confidence yet more. He introduced many solid reforms,
but in other respects clung to the old and bad
traditions of the people, and which was yet worse, allowed
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himself to be guided by some of the worst place
hunters and most skillful abuses of national power, whom he
ort to have more carefully avoided. Lord Cochrane began to
perceive this before he had been six weeks out of Greece.
He yet hoped, however, that wise counsels and good government
would prevail, and he tendered his advice while he reported
his own movements in a second letter which he addressed
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to Capadistrius, quote the information which your excellency must have
acquired since your arrival in Greece, he wrote to him
on the twenty second of March. May have convinced you
of the facts briefly touched on in the letter which
I had the honor to address to you on the
first of January, and may also have proved to you
the impossibility, under existing circumstances of my rendering service to
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Greece otherwise than by the course I have pursued. Although
on my arrival in England I was disappointed at finding
other ministers than those I expected in the councils of
His Britannic Majesty, yet I had the opportunity of making
facts known to influential individuals in proof that the interests
of England would be best promoted by a liberal policy
towards Greece, and by placing that country, without loss of time,
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in the rank of an independent state having boundaries the
most extensive that could be conceded. Since then, I have
had several conversations here with the gentlemen of the Paris
Greek Committee, and I have advised them to assure the
ministers that large naval and military armaments are not required
for the expulsion of the turk Kish and Egyptian forces.
From Greece, or to protect that country from father attempts
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at invasion by the before mentioned powers, that for speedy
regulation of the internal affairs of Greece and the support
of your authority, it would be far preferable and infinitely
less costly for the mediating powers to place in your
hands the means of maintaining four or five thousand troops
together with five hundred seamen, and apply a portion of
the vast sums they will save to the education of
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the rising generation of Greeks abroad and at home, and
to the encouragement of whatever will tend to direct the
talent and genius of the young people most speedily into
the course which will entitle Greece to rank amongst the
civilized nations of Europe. Whether this advice shall be listened
to or not, I am satisfied that my opinion is correct,
and that a multitude of foreign troops in the pay
of rival foreign nations would contribute less to the objects
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these nations profess to have in view than a much
smaller force under your own authority, more especially when it
is considered that these troops could in no way interfere
with the internal arrangement and police of the country, unless
by usurping or at least suspending, the authority which ought
to be exclusively vested in your excellency as chief of
the Greek government. Besides, knowing as I do, the jealous
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character of your countrymen, the facility with which they listen
to surmises and reports, the diversity of interests among the
rival chiefs, and the intrigues practiced by base and worthless individuals,
I have no doubt but that such mixture of troops
of different nations would give rise to a state of
anarchy more injurious to Greece than that which at present exists.
Whether such anarchy might be prevented by one nation alone
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taking upon itself the internal arrangement of Greece seems doubtful.
For to enforce laws, however just and necessary, by troops
in foreign pay, against the opinion and habits of a
people who have no just notion of the reciprocal duties
of civilized society, would be in their estimation, to erect
a military despotism, and would call forth resistance on their part,
even to the most salutary changes. I have also recommended
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as additional security against a multitude of evils and immediate
ye demarcation of the boundaries of Greece, or at least
an acknowledgment of your excellency as President. The outfit of
two or three steam vessels, still unfinished, is going on,
and I shall find means to accomplish this object in
a way that will render them equal, if not superior,
in velocity to most of the steamboats in general use.
But as no pecuniary means could be obtained in England
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to procure seamen and purchase provisions, calls and other necessaries,
I came to Paris in the hope that the Greek
Committee might enable me to give orders regarding these arrangements
so indispensable to the navigating of these vessels to Greece.
The Paris Committee, however, intimate that they have no funds,
and the Chevalier Aynard ensures me that the moneyes collected
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by him are exhausted. I therefore await with anxiety your
answer to the letter which I had the honor to
address to you previous to my departure from Greece. No
answer came from Capodistrius. He sent a message to Lord
Cochrane asking him to sell the Little Unicorn, which had
conveyed him to England, but said nothing about his own return.
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Believing that the Allied powers would do for him all
that was necessary in naval resistance of Turkey, he was
not sorry to be deprived of an associate in the
actual service of Greece as powerful as Lord Cochrane. This
Lord Cochrane began to suspect. Everything is arranged regarding the
engines for the two steamboats, he said in a letter
to Marshal Ainard on the twenty fourth March, but circumstances
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do not enable me to accomplish more, especially without the
sanction of the President, from whom I shall no doubt
shoutly hear on the subject, unless indeed he shall be
persuaded by the primates of the islands that he can
do better without a regular naval force, or at least
without me, which I know is the opinion of Condouryotes
and also of Mavra Macalis, the great licenser and patron
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of pirates, so loudly and justly complained of. I am
very low, and I do not feel at all well.
I cannot free myself from the oppression of spirits occasioned
by seeing everything in the lamentable state in which all
must continue in Greece unless some effectual steps are taken
put an end to the intrigues and rivalships headed by
unprincipled chiefs and backed by their savage followers. Believe me,
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there is nothing I believe undone to serve the cause.
But it is essential that more time shall not be
wasted in endeavoring to accomplish objects of vital importance by
inadequate means. While Lord Cochrane was endeavoring to hasten the
arrangements for his return to Greece, he was annoyed by
a letter forwarded to him by Sir Francis Burdett. The
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letter was from Andreas Luriotes, one of the two Greek
deputies who had requested Lord Cochrane two years and a
half before to enter the service of Greece, and who
now claimed a restitution of the thirty seven thousand pounds
paid to him on the plea that by leaving Greece
he had broken his contract before writing to Sir Francis,
said Lord Cochrane, in the indignant letter which he addressed
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to this person on the twentieth of April, you ought
to have informed yourself for facts and circumstances. You might
have learned that I continued to serve until the Greek
government had assumed to themselves the powers vested in me
as naval commander in chief to regulate the distribution of
armed vessels, and until they had covered the seas with
piratical craft. You might have informed yourself that I remained
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at my post until the neutral admirals refused old communication
with a government which had so misconducted itself, and with
which they considered it would have been disgraceful to correspond,
even on subjects of a public nature. You might have
informed yourself that I remained on board the Hellas until
the temporary government had sold and applied to other purposes
the revenues of the islands allotted for the maintenance of
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the regular naval service, and deprived me of the means
to satisfy the claims of the officers and seamen. That
I continued until the seamen had abandoned the frigate, plundered
the fire ships, and fitted out pirate vessels before my eyes,
all of which I had no power to punish or
means to prevent. If you or others infer that my
endeavors in the cause of Greece are to be judged
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by naval operations carried out against the enemy by open force,
you are mistaken. It is essential that you hold in
mind that there are no naval offices in Greece who
were acquainted with the discipline of regularships of war. That
the seamen would submit to no restraint, that they would
not enlist for more than one month, and they would
do nothing without being paid in advance, nor continue to
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serve after the expiration of the short period for which
they were so paid. That by this determination of the
seamen the Hellas was detained for months in port or
occupied in collecting amongst the island's poultry means to satisfy
their demands, And that at last, when money was found,
half the period of the seamen's engagement was consumed in
proceeding even to the nearest point at which hostile operations
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could be carried on, whence it became necessary to return
almost at the moment of our arrival. It is not
for me to speak except when I am attacked of
the services I have rendered, both in my professional capacity
in otherwise, those who were in Greece knew my exertions
to reconcile the national assemblies in April eighteen twenty seven,
to suppress the animosity amongst the chiefs and save the
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country from civil discord. They know that I double the
National marine by captures from the enemy. They know that
by desltry operations I paralyzed the efforts of fleets we
could not oppose. They know that the attack on Vassiladi
and Lapanteau in September last induced the Turkish and Egyptian
fleets to follow to that quarter in violation of the armistice,
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and that this act produced their wren contra and dispute
with the British admiral, and ultimately led to the destruction
of those fleets in the port of Navarino. A few
days after writing that letter, Lord Cochran returned to London
from Paris, where he had been staying for nearly two
months in frigate communication with the members of the phil
Hellenic committees of that city and other parts of the continent.
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The growing dissatisfaction which the bad conduct of the Greeks
had awakened in many of their best friends, and still more,
the silence of Capadistrius prevented his doing all that he
had hoped to do. He succeeded, however, in exciting some
fresh interest, and found that one of the steamboats. At
any rate, the Mercury was at length in a fair
way of completion, though this and subsequent equipment were only
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affected by an advance of two thousand pounds which he
himself made. This was the business which took him to London,
where he was busily employed during May and the first
few days of June. He then went back to Paris
for nearly three months more, and made further efforts, though
in vain, to procure the substantial assistance for Greece on
which his hut was set. As soon as the Mercury
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was ready for sea, he directed that she should proceed
to Marseilles, where she arrived on the thirteenth of September.
On the eighteenth, determined to make the best use of
her in his power, he again set sail for Greece.
He reached Poros on or near the last day of September.
He found that the internal arrangements of Greece had wonderfully improved. Capadistrius,
during the last eight months had been ruling with an
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iron hand over all those districts which the previous conquests
of Turks and Egyptians had not taken out of his control,
and all those conquests were just being finally abrogated. The
full effects of the Battle of Navareno were now appearing.
Ibrahim Pasha, having deported many of his troops to Alexandria,
chiefly because there was not enough food to be found
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for them in the Maria, had refused to surrender his
authority or to abandon any of the numerous fortresses of
which he was master. The President, with Sir Richard Church
and the worn out refuse of the so called army
for his only support, could do nothing to expel him,
but he gladly accepted the profit aid of France in
compliance with the protocol signe on the nineteenth of July.
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Fourteen thousand soldiers under General Maison landed at Petelidi on
the thirtieth of August, and within a week Ibrahim had
been forced to sign a convention pledging himself to prompt
evacuation of the peninsula. Half of the residue of his
army quitted Navarino on the sixteenth of September. The rest
was preparing to about at the time of Lord Cochrane's arrival,
and actually started on the fifth of October. The ensuing
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weeks were worthily employed by the French army in clearing
out the pestiential garrisons and making it possible for wholesome
rule to succeed to the seven weary years of strife. Thus,
the primary work which Lord Cochrane had been engaged to do,
and which he vainly strove to do under the miserable
circumstances of his position, had been affected by others. The
Ottoman fleets had been dispersed and destroyed, and as far
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as they were concerned, Greece was free. At last. There
was work yet to be done, troublesome but most important
work in converting the disorderly and piratical vessels and crews
which constituted the Navy of Greece into an efficient agent
for protecting the state and extending its boundaries. This, in
spite of all previous annoyances Lord Cochrane was prepared to
do if the Greeks were willing, But they did not
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will it. Capadistrius had laid his plans for governing Greece
and for their performance. He had no need of a
foreigner as wise and honest as Lord Cochrane. The plans
were not altogether reprehensible, as starting, they were perhaps the
best that could be adopted. The new president, the president
whom Lord Cochran had nominated as the likeliest man to
beat down the factions and override the jealousies that had
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hitherto wrought such grievous mischief to Greece, began by acting
up to the anticipations which had induced his selection. Schooled
in Italy and Russia, he practiced both torturous to primacy
and straightforward tyranny in attempting to turn divite de Grease
into a united nation in which a hundred rival claimants
for power should be made humble instruments of the authority
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of their one master. Thereby, the state was unable to
assert its existence, and it was made possible for good
government to be introduced. When, however, the time came for
inaugurating that good government, Capadistrius sought to continue the method
of rule, which, if allowable at first, was no longer
right or likely to succeed. Young Greece was to be
kept in subjection for his own aggrandizement and for the
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aggrandizement of his few favorites and advisers. These favorites and
advisers were the leaders of the old Fernariot Party, Prince
Mavrocond'ortos and his brother in law, mister Trecoupez, men whose
policy Lord Cochrane had opposed on his first arrival in Greece,
and who accordingly became even more inimical to himself than
he was to their purposes and plans. Therefore, it was
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that when Lord Cochrane returned to Greece in the autumn
of eighteen twenty eight, he was coldly received, and his
officer of further seenis t Us, though not openly rejected,
were not accepted. Throughout ten weeks, he was treated with
contemptuous indifference or formal compliments, the hollowness of which was transparent.
On his arrival, the President found it difficult to grant
him an interview. When the interview was granted, the only
subject allowed to be discussed was the accuracy of the
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accounts that had been drawn up by Doctor Goss as
Commissary General of the Fleet during the nine months of
the previous year, in which Lord Cochrane had been an
active service. Nearly two months were spent in tedious and
vexatious examination of these accounts and correspondence, thereupon ending, however,
in the partial satisfaction which Lord Cochran derived from the
knowledge that, after the most searching investigation, they were admitted
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to be correct in every particular. More than once during
this waiting time, Lord Cochran threatened to leave Greece immediately
without waiting for the settlement of the accounts. He was
only induced to remain and submit to the insults offered
to him by the consideration that his hasty departure might
cause an indefinite postponement of this settlement, and so prove
injurious to his subordinates, if not to himself. This being done, however,
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he lost no time in resigning his office as First
Admiral of Greece, and that measure was accompanied by a
rare exhibition of generosity, the direct and active interference of
great European powers having decided the glorious contest for the
freedom of Greece, he said in a letter to Count Capi,
a distress written at Poros on the twenty sixth of November,
and its independence being formally acknowledged by accredited agents. From
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these powers, no means now presents themselves to me, whereby
I can professionally promote the interests of this hitherto oppressed people.
I beg therefore, that I may be permitted, as an
individual to alleviate their burdens by presenting the state with
my share as admiral of the Corvette Hydra and the
schooner of War Athenian captured from the enemy, and further
by absolving the state from any and every obligation whereby
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the sum of twenty thousand pounds was to be paid
to me on the acknowledgment of the independence of this country,
If Your Excellency shall be pleased co jointly with the
National Assembly to appropriate any part of the said amount
to the relief of the seamen wounded and of the
families of those who have fallen during the contest, it
will be a high gratification to my feelings, and I
hope will be admitted as a testimony of my satisfaction
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at the introduction of useful institutions and of the pleasure
I experience at the rapid advancement towards order which has
taken place even during the short period of your Excellency's presidency.
I have only to add that if at any future
time your Excellency shall deem my services useful, I shall
be delighted at an opportunity to prove my zeal for
the welfare of Greece more fully than circumstances have hithertofore permitted.
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The President's reply, dated the fourth of December, was complimentary
quote the Government of Greece. He said, thanks you, my Lord,
for the services you have rendered, and for the new
proof of your interest and your benevolence which you have
shown in your letter of the twenty sixth of November.
As you observe Greece having been taken under the protection
of the Great Powers of Europe, the Provisional Government can
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engage in no warlock operation worthy of your talents and
your station. It regret es, therefore, that it cannot offer
you an opportunity of giving further proof of the noble
and generous sentiments which animate you in favor of Greece.
The Government will make it its duty to convey to
the National Congress or offer to seed your rights in
the corvette Hydra and the schooner Athenian and in the
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twenty thousand pounds which Greece was to pay you on
the acknowledgment of her independence. It doubts not that the
Congress will value at its true worth all the nation's
debt to you, and that it will adopt the measures
which you propose for succoring the families of the Greek
seamen who have fallen in the war. The future of
Greece is in the hands of God and of the
Allied powers. You have taken part in her restoration, and
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she will reckon you with sentiments of profound gratitude among
her first and generous defenders. A day had not passed, however,
before Lord Cochrane had fresh proof of the worthlessness of
that pretended gratitude. Information having reached Messrs J. And S. Ricardo,
the contractors for the Greek Loan of eighteen twenty five,
that the new government contemplated repudiating the debt, they had
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written to Lord Cochrane begging him to bring the matter
before Capia Distress and represent to him the injustice to
the stockholders and the discredit to Greece that would result
from such an act. Lord Cochrane accordingly had an interview
with the President and his two chief advisers on the
fifth of December, when the subject was discussed, and though
repudiation was only threatened, attempts were made to justify it
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on the plea that the two million pounds forming the
loan had nearly all been squandered in England and America,
much having disappeared in unexplained ways, the rest having been
absorbed in ship building and engine making from which Greece
had derived no benefit. Both in the personal interview and
in the long letter which he addressed to the President
on the following day, Lord Cochrane indignantly resented the proposed repudiation.
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He admitted there had been gross mismanagement, but showed that
the chief blame for this attached to the Greek deputies
Orlando and Luriotis, who had been sent to England to
raise the money and to see that it was properly expended,
but who, as was well known, had sought only their
own advantage and enjoyment, and pilfering themselves set allowed others
to pilfer without restraint. He urged that the innocent holders
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of the Greek's stock ought not to suffer on this account.
Had showed also that if there had been great abuse
of the loan, it had enabled the Greeks to tide
over their worst time of trouble. Quote Your excellency must
be aware. He wrote that there was no worship belonging
to the state which was not bought, taken, or obtained
by the aid of this loan, and that all the guns, mortars, powder,
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and other military stores would serve to maintain the liberties
of Greece during these later years were chiefly procured by
the help of this same fund. It enabled you to
carry on the war until independence was secured by the
intervention of the Allied powers. The debt was not repudiated,
but Lord Cochrane's arguments, through its acknowledgment, gave an opportunity
for exhibition of the long smothered jealousy with which he
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was regarded by the counselors of Capiadistras, if not by
Capiadstras himself. The exhibition certainly was contemptible, as Lord Cochrane
was about to leave Greece and indeed eager to do so.
The spite could only be shown in the arrangements made
for his departure. Having transferred the Mercury, which brought him
out to the President. Lord Cochrane had to ask for
a vessel to take him from Agena, where he was
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then staying, to the Ionian Islands, or, if he could
not there find a suitable conveyance to Toulon or Marseilles.
The brig posephone was gradually placed at his disposal. Quote.
I pray you, my lord, wrote Mavro Cordatos, on the
eighth of December, if you are obliged to take her
to Toulon or Marseilles, not to detain her at Navarino
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or Zante, but to enable her to return with as
little de la as possible to her work on the
shores of western Greece. Lord Cochrane accordingly embarked in this
vessel on the tenth. No sooner was he on board, however,
than he found himself treated with studied rudeness by her
captain an Oly Bauti, exposed, as he said, to privations
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and insults which would not be allowed in the conveyance
of convicts. He had to put in at Poros on
the same evening, and thence address a complaint to the government.
Then lodged in that island four days passed before he
received a written answer to his letter, and then it
conveyed nothing but a formal intimation that another captain would
be appointed in lieu of the obnoxious officer. Many personal communications, however,
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had passed in the interval, by which was confirmed the
suspicion formed by Lord Cochrane from the first that the
captain's misconduct had been dictated by his superiors, and that
it had been a preconceived plan to try and scend
the First Admiral of Greece, for both title and functions
still belonged to him from her shores, with every possible degradation.
He naturally resented this indignity. He claimed that while he
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remained in Greece and until his officer, First Admiral was abrogated,
he should be treated with the respect due to his rank.
All he asked, he urged, was that he might be
allowed to leave Greece at once, if with such a
show of honor from the people whom he had done
his best to serve as would free him from insult
and the government from disgrace. Quote. I assure your Excellency,
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he wrote to the President, that I regret at the
occurrence of any circumstance, the occasion's uneasiness to you. But
I believe that on reflection you will clearly perceive that
all which has occurred has been the work of others
whose acts I could neither control nor foresee. I weigh
my right to insist at present on any explicit recognition
of my authority, And though there is ample justification for
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my seeking more than I desire. All that I demand
of your Excellency is for the sake of Greece not
to suffer not to sanction your ministers in an endeavor
to force me on to public explanations by persevering in
the scandalous line of conduct which they pursue. Surely your
Excellency cannot be aware of the importance which naval men
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attached to the continuance of the insignia of office whilst
actually embarked within the limits of their station, or you
would not for an instant tolerate the attempt made to
degrade me in the estimation of the high authorities and
numerous offices he At present in the port of Poros,
I respectfully await your Excellency's official commands and warrant to
strike my flag not found on reasonings or on assumptions
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which may prove fallacious or incorrect, but dictated in explicit terms,
such as an officer can such as he ought to
obey that Lord Cochrane was not fighting with a shadow
appears from a letter addressed to Doctor Goss on the
fifteenth of December by Count Hayden, then commanding the azof
as representative of Russia in the Bay of Porros, quote
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as the affairs of etiquette a delicate, he said, I
beg that you will inform me whether his Lordship is
still serving as First Adminal of Greece, or whether he
has received his conjure. If he is still in her
service and employer, I shall rejoice to render him all
the honors due to his rank. In the other case,
I will pay him all the honors except the salutive canon.
I beg that you will favor me with an answer,
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in order that I may show his Lordship all the
honor that is due to him. Doctor Goss's answer, though
longer than Lord Hayden expected, claims to be here quoted
as it furnished an important tribute to Lord Cochran's worth,
and was all the more valuable in that the Russian officer,
glad to do all in his power to render homage
to a man whom the Greek government was now treating
with childish insolence, made it his own by publishing it
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in the Naval Archives of Russia. Quote. Lord Cochrane wrote,
Doctor Goss, having arrived in March eighteen twelve, was in
the National Assembly at Troesesine elected first Admiral and Commander
in chief of the Naval Forces of Greece with independent
and unlimited powers. Subsequently, and after the election of Count
Capodistress as president, the Assembly decided that the Admiral should
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be under the authority of the government until the arrival
of the President. During the year eighteen twenty seven, Lord
Cochrane fulfilled his duties with all the zeal, all the accuracy,
and all the talent for which he is renowned, but
he found it impossible to achieve anything of importance, isolated
as he was, without sufficient funds, and without support from
others except that of the phil Hellenic committees, and without
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the co operation of the Greeks themselves. At length, having
pledged himself not to interfere in internal politics, he considered
his presence in Greece useless until a firm government could
be organized, and deemed that he could render best service
to the nation by advocating its interests in Western Europe.
He departed early in January after two months, vainly awaiting
the arrival of Count Cabiard Distress, whom he informed of
(28:20):
his expedition and asked for instructions. He returned to France
and England, used all the means in his power to
obtain fresh aid for Greece, fitted out one of the
steamboats that were being prepared in London, took steps for
the completion of the other two, and, after writing a
second letter to the President, which like the first one,
received no answer, returned to Greece, resolved to devote himself
to her cause. He was received with coldness and indifference.
(28:43):
Neither lodging, nor provisions nor employment were offered to him.
He was asked that discounts might be examined. Ignorant or
evil minded commissioners were entrusted with their investigation, and the
government only took it in hand very tardily. Objections and disputes,
difficulties and contradictions accumulated, and it was only after a
delay of sixty days that his accounts were publicly and
officially declared to be correct, all that while he remained
(29:06):
like a private person on board his steamboat, manned only
by six sailors. In all the audiences that he had
with the President, he asked for instructions as to the
position and work that he should assume, but he could
never receive any definite answer. During one interview which he
had with Prince mavrocond'otos on board the Mercury in the
port of Pauros on the first of December, the anniversary
(29:26):
of the coronation of the Emperor of Russia, he announced
his intention of hoisting his flag on board of one
of the national vessels as a public compliment to that sovereign,
and asked Monsieur Mavro cond'ortos to inform the President of
that intention, but he received no answer. He had during
this period received numerous letters from the government addressed to
him as First Admiral and Commander in chief of the
(29:47):
naval forces of Greece. He afterwards went to a Gina
with Messrs tre Coupez and Mavrikan d'ortus to receive part
of the money due to him and to hand over
to the Commission of Marine the steamboat Mercury. That done,
he he was embarked in a national vessel, a miserable
brig which had been seized as contraband badly repaired, which
had been sent to convey him to Navarino, Zanti, Toulon
(30:09):
or Marseilles. This vessel was under the orders of a
Hydriot Bruletier, an ignorant and coarse man, who long before,
at the expedition against Alexandria, had acted in direct violation
of the Admiral's orders, and the crew was on par
with the captain. Lord Cochrane was insolently received by these people.
No place of safety was found for his baggage and
his money. No food was provided even for the voyage
(30:31):
from Aegina to Poros will. Lord Cochran wished to take
leave of the President at Puros. The captain repeated his insults.
Lord Cochrane requested the President to dismiss him, but received
no answer. Monsieur Trocoupees even came on board and declared
that the captain should continue his voyage and proceed to
his destination. Lord Cochrane then said that he would be
(30:51):
master on board a vessel from whose mast fluttered his
admiral's flag, and that he would yield to nothing but
the written orders of the President, in order, as he said,
that he might protect himself from the insolence of the
servants of the government who sought to annoy him by
their exhibition of paltry jealousy, or to force him into
a quarrel with the President. The day before yesterday, in
(31:12):
the afternoon, he had an interview with the President, and
Messrs Tricoupez and mavuchan Datus being present. He openly pointed
out to him the intrigues of these officials and the
dangers of the course in which they were leading him.
Warmly and with the boldness of a good conscience, he
exposed their policy and expressed his views upon the organization
of the Greek Navy. He then repeated his wish to
(31:33):
depart as soon as possible, although he declared himself willing
at any future time to serve Greece if she had
need of him. He also announced that he would at
once take down his flag of authority if the President
officially and directly required it, but that if any charges
were brought against him, he should be compelled to remain
in Greece until he had exculpated himself before the nation
and obtained the punishment of the unworthy servants of the President,
(31:55):
for whom personally he declared that he had a profound respect.
While he commiserated his difficult and painful position. In this interview,
Lord Cochrane appeared to me to have a great advantage
over his antagonists. Yesterday, the Admiral's flag was still floating.
In the evening, the President wrote him a letter, in
vague terms and contributing nothing to the end he had
(32:15):
in view. This morning, Lord Cochrane, in his reply, has
again asked for authority to lower his flag, if that
is the will of the President, but no orders have
been received. This precise statement of facts which have come
under my own knowledge, will, I think, make it easy
for your Excellency to arrive at conclusions comporting with the
laws of etiquette. Quote. I have read your letter with
(32:39):
pleasure and with pain, wrote Admiral Hayden in answer on
the same day, for I am certain that Lord Cochrane
must have suffered greatly from the treatment to which he
has been exposed. In proof of my esteem, I beg
that he will send back to their kennels these miserable
causes of his annoyance, and proceed to Malta or Tisante,
if he wishes, in one of my corvettes, taking with
(33:00):
him as large a sweet as he likes. It cannot
be too numerous. As regards his salute, I shall receive
him with the honors due to his rank, and with
musical honors. And at his departure I will man the yards.
But the salute of guns I cannot give him, as
he is not in naval authority. Vice Admiral Mealus never
received from me the honors which I hope to offer
Lord Cochrane. I did not man the yards and did
(33:23):
not give him a salute. I hope I shall have
the pleasure of seeing his lordship, and that I can
provide him a passage more agreeable than that proposed for
him by Greece. Not content with sending that friendly message
to Lord Cochrane, Admiral Hayden took prompt occasion to reprove
Capodistras for his unworthy conduct. Cabotistras thereupon used his influence
(33:43):
of doctor Gross in bringing about, at any rate a
formal reconciliation between himself and Lord Cochrane, the result of
which was that the latter received the official discharge that
he desired, and even offered to find him in another ship,
a better passage than would have been expected on board
the Proserpine. Lord Cochrane, however, preferred to accept Admiral Hayden's
more generous invitation quote. It is gratifying, he said in
(34:05):
a letter to Doctor Gross on the eighteenth of December,
that even the authority to which wicked men refer in
proof of the rectitude of evil deeds fails to sanction
infamous conduct alas if Capiodistrs suffers and he seems not
inclined to oppose, I say, if he suffers, the base
intrigues of the faena to be introduced as the means
(34:26):
of ruling a nation. Greece must forebak, if not into
a dark estate, yet into a worse condition, insomuch as
suspended anarchy is preferable to civil war. These prognostications proved correct. Kapadistrius,
allowing others to direct him in ways of bad government,
entered on a policy which very soon led to his assassination,
(34:46):
to be followed by the milder rule of King Otho.
On the twentieth of December, Lord Cochran left Puros in
the Russian corvette Gramachi, honorably placed at his disposal by
Admiral Hayden, and proceeded to Malta. There he was worthily
received the British Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who offered him
immediate conveyance to Naples in the Racer or in a
week's time a passage direct to Marseilles in the Etna.
(35:11):
Believing that he would save time, he chose the former alternative.
From Naples, however, he found it impossible to proceed to
Marseilles and was obliged on the twenty ninth of January
to embark in an English merchant vessel to Leghorn. Eleven
days were spent in the short voyage, and on reaching
Leghorn he had to submit to fifteen days of quarantine
before being allowed to proceed to Paris, there to rejoin
(35:31):
his family. The whole journey occupied nearly ten weeks. From Leghorn,
he wrote on the fifteenth of February to Chevalier Aynard,
respecting Greece and her still unfortunate condition. Quote civilization and
internal order, he said, can make no steady progress in
Greece unless the government can be supported otherwise than by
the present bands of undisciplined, ignorant and lawless savages. Under
(35:54):
existing circumstances, Greeks who have attained the age of maturity
are incapable of military organization. You have long known my
opinion as to the necessity of sending foreign troops to
Grees to maintain order. You know that I preferred Swiss
Bavarian soldiers to those of the great pacificating powers, because
the latter cannot with propriety interfering matters of police whilst
(36:15):
paid by foreign countries. It is now, however, too late
to sense more military establishments such as would have sufficed
on the arrival of Capia distress, because now they would
be considered a suppressors. Then they would have been received
as allies and friends. The alternatives that must be pursued
in the conduct relative to grease now are to let
the revolution work itself out as in South America, or
(36:36):
to live six regiments in the country until the young
men who are abroad shall be educated and the rising
generation at home shall be somewhat civilized. It is of
no use to attempt to do good by half measures
under the present circumstances of Greece. Calicatrons is ready on
the spot to take possession of Patras the moment it
is evacuated. Petro Bay, who has been prosecuted in the
(36:59):
court of Admiralty Piracy, is prepared to avenge himself by
taking authority in Mana. Conduriotes, Zamez and all the other
chiefs anxiously await the meeting of the Assembly, which they
hail as the final hour of the President's authority. Capadistrius
as ministers too, who are no fools, but on the contrary,
cunning men undoubtedly have similar views, for they have taken
(37:21):
every means to discredit, disgust and drive away every foreigner who,
by his conduct, counsel or friendly intimation, could avert the evil.
Thus things are fast tending towards a discreditable close of
the President's administration. Thank God, wrote Lord Cochran three months later,
on the seventeenth of May to doctor Goss, who in
the interval had also left Greece. We are both clear
(37:45):
of a country in which there is no hope of
amelioration for half a century to Carmonness. Indeed, immigrations shall
take place to a great extent under some king or
competent ruler appointed and supported by the governments of the
mediating powers. The mental fever I contracted in Greece as
not yet subsided, nor will it probably for some months
to come. Lord Cochrane might well be suffering from a
(38:06):
mental fever. Nearly four years of his life had been
spent in efforts to serve Greece, and with very poor result.
To himself, the issue had been wholly unfortunate, even the
pecuniary recompense to which he was entitled having been so
reduced as to not meet the expenses to which he
had been put, partly through his generous surrender of the
twenty thousand pounds which he was to receive on the
(38:27):
completion of the work, partly through the depreciation of the
Greek's stock in which, out of sympathy for the cause,
he had invested the thirty seven thousand pounds paid to
him on his engagement and to Greece. These issues had
been far less beneficial than he had hoped. The tedious
and wanton delays to which he had been subjected at
starting whereby that starting was prevented for a year and
(38:48):
a half had hindered his arrival in Greece till it
was too late for him to do much of the
work that had been planned. The want of money, and
still more the want of patriotism, courage, and even common
honesty on the part of nearly all the leads with
whom he was to co operate and the officers and
crews whom he was to command, had caused his ten
months active service in Greece to compromise little more than
(39:08):
a series of bold projects, and projects which, if they
had been aided by brave men, would have been as
easy as they were bold, in which he received none
of the support that was necessary, in which accordingly all
his energy and genius could not make successful. When after
his visit to England and France he returned to Greece,
eager and able to render invaluable assistance in the organization
(39:28):
of the navy, he was treated only with neglect and insolence,
from which at last he was enabled to escape through
the generous sympathy of a Russian admiral. Much, however, he
had done for Greece to his persistent entreaties were due
all the meager displays of patriotism by which the government
of the country was maintained and Capiadistras accepted as president,
(39:50):
and all the feeble efforts by which the war was
carried on and the triumph of the port was averted
until the direct interference of the Allied Powers. That interference
had been in great measure induced by the report that
he had entered the service of Greece, so that to
him was due not a little of the benefit that
accrued from the whole course of diplomacy by which her
independence was secured, and the independence was made more prompt
(40:13):
and complete than could have been expected by the fortunate
circumstance of his having occasioned the collision between the forces
of Turkey and those of the Allied Powers which issued
in the Battle of Navarino. Much more he would have achieved,
had his arguments been listened to, and his plans supported
His failures, No less than his successes bespeak his worth.
(40:33):
End of Chapter twenty two, recording by Timothy Ferguson GLKOST,
Australia
Chapter twenty two of the Life of Thomas Lord Cochrane,
tenth Earl of Dundonald completing the Autobiography of a Seamen,
Volume two by Henry Richard Foxbourne and others. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Recording by Timothy Ferguson,
Chapter twenty two, eighteen twenty eight to eighteen twenty nine.
(00:20):
Lord Cochrane's absence from Greece was longer and less advantageous
than he had anticipated. Arriving in London on the nineteenth
of February eighteen twenty eight, he found that the English
Philhellenes were tired out by the bad faith and the
unpatriotic conduct of the Greeks, and that the English government,
which he had hoped to influence so far as to
obtain an alteration in the Foreign Enlistment Act which would
(00:44):
enable him to secure the services of a well trained
force of British seamen, was determined to give no help
in the matter. He found too, that the steam vessels
yet to be furnished in accordance with the old contract
with mister Galloway, were still unfinished, and that there would
be no little trouble and delay added to all that
had already been endured before their completion could be hoped for.
(01:05):
Not disenheartened, however, he went almost immediately to Paris, there
to see what could be expected from the Philhellenes of
the continent. I have taken steps, he wrote to Monsieur
Enard from Paris on the second of March, to cause
one of our small steam vessels to be fitted with
proper engines, the expense of which I shall find means
to defray. I hope the President will favor me with
(01:26):
the communication at an early date, at least to say
whether he has means to pay and victual a few
hundreds of foreign seamen, and thus put my mind at rest,
for he must depend on foreign aid to support him
in his government, protect commerce, and enable a revenue to
be derived from the latent resources of Greece. The Greeks
themselves will do nothing towards these objects, though there will
(01:47):
not be wanting individuals who will endeavor for their personal
views to persuade them to the contrary of this. My
mind is not yet sufficiently tranquil to give detailed reasons
for my opinion that things will not succeed in Greece.
That troops and other foreign aid. But such time will
prove the case were the three great powers, he said
in another letter to Monsieur Ainard, dated the seventeenth of March,
(02:11):
Please to aid the President with funds to a small amount.
They would accomplish more for their own benefit and that
of Greece than by great fleets and armies. Four thousand
troops under the Greek government and five hundred seamen would
terminate the affair. But never will anarchy cease or piracy
be put down, nor will Capadistrius be secure unless he
has under his own authority the means of enforcing obedience
(02:32):
to the laws and regulation for the public good by
sea and land. I have told you that the Greek
seamen cannot be used to suppress piracy, and I may
truly add that no Greeks of age to bear arms
can become soldiers, though they learn readily enough to perform
the military exercises there. Neither is, nor has yet been,
since my arrival in Greece, one single company, not even
(02:52):
the Marines, with which so much pains was taken, that
deserves the name of regular Their ideas are quite repugnant
to everything it constitutes the military character. Lord Cochrane, who
it will be remembered, was chiefly instrumental in the election
of Count John Capodistrius as the President of Greece in
April eighteen twenty seven. Had hoped much from his government.
(03:13):
His confidence was not little shaken by the long delay
which the President had shown in entering on his office,
and when Capodistrius arrived in Greece only a few days
after Lord Cochrane's departure, his first arts were calculated to
shake that confidence yet more. He introduced many solid reforms,
but in other respects clung to the old and bad
traditions of the people, and which was yet worse, allowed
(03:36):
himself to be guided by some of the worst place
hunters and most skillful abuses of national power, whom he
ort to have more carefully avoided. Lord Cochrane began to
perceive this before he had been six weeks out of Greece.
He yet hoped, however, that wise counsels and good government
would prevail, and he tendered his advice while he reported
his own movements in a second letter which he addressed
(03:57):
to Capadistrius, quote the information which your excellency must have
acquired since your arrival in Greece, he wrote to him
on the twenty second of March. May have convinced you
of the facts briefly touched on in the letter which
I had the honor to address to you on the
first of January, and may also have proved to you
the impossibility, under existing circumstances of my rendering service to
(04:18):
Greece otherwise than by the course I have pursued. Although
on my arrival in England I was disappointed at finding
other ministers than those I expected in the councils of
His Britannic Majesty, yet I had the opportunity of making
facts known to influential individuals in proof that the interests
of England would be best promoted by a liberal policy
towards Greece, and by placing that country, without loss of time,
(04:41):
in the rank of an independent state having boundaries the
most extensive that could be conceded. Since then, I have
had several conversations here with the gentlemen of the Paris
Greek Committee, and I have advised them to assure the
ministers that large naval and military armaments are not required
for the expulsion of the turk Kish and Egyptian forces.
From Greece, or to protect that country from father attempts
(05:03):
at invasion by the before mentioned powers, that for speedy
regulation of the internal affairs of Greece and the support
of your authority, it would be far preferable and infinitely
less costly for the mediating powers to place in your
hands the means of maintaining four or five thousand troops
together with five hundred seamen, and apply a portion of
the vast sums they will save to the education of
(05:25):
the rising generation of Greeks abroad and at home, and
to the encouragement of whatever will tend to direct the
talent and genius of the young people most speedily into
the course which will entitle Greece to rank amongst the
civilized nations of Europe. Whether this advice shall be listened
to or not, I am satisfied that my opinion is correct,
and that a multitude of foreign troops in the pay
of rival foreign nations would contribute less to the objects
(05:48):
these nations profess to have in view than a much
smaller force under your own authority, more especially when it
is considered that these troops could in no way interfere
with the internal arrangement and police of the country, unless
by usurping or at least suspending, the authority which ought
to be exclusively vested in your excellency as chief of
the Greek government. Besides, knowing as I do, the jealous
(06:11):
character of your countrymen, the facility with which they listen
to surmises and reports, the diversity of interests among the
rival chiefs, and the intrigues practiced by base and worthless individuals,
I have no doubt but that such mixture of troops
of different nations would give rise to a state of
anarchy more injurious to Greece than that which at present exists.
Whether such anarchy might be prevented by one nation alone
(06:33):
taking upon itself the internal arrangement of Greece seems doubtful.
For to enforce laws, however just and necessary, by troops
in foreign pay, against the opinion and habits of a
people who have no just notion of the reciprocal duties
of civilized society, would be in their estimation, to erect
a military despotism, and would call forth resistance on their part,
even to the most salutary changes. I have also recommended
(06:56):
as additional security against a multitude of evils and immediate
ye demarcation of the boundaries of Greece, or at least
an acknowledgment of your excellency as President. The outfit of
two or three steam vessels, still unfinished, is going on,
and I shall find means to accomplish this object in
a way that will render them equal, if not superior,
in velocity to most of the steamboats in general use.
But as no pecuniary means could be obtained in England
(07:19):
to procure seamen and purchase provisions, calls and other necessaries,
I came to Paris in the hope that the Greek
Committee might enable me to give orders regarding these arrangements
so indispensable to the navigating of these vessels to Greece.
The Paris Committee, however, intimate that they have no funds,
and the Chevalier Aynard ensures me that the moneyes collected
(07:40):
by him are exhausted. I therefore await with anxiety your
answer to the letter which I had the honor to
address to you previous to my departure from Greece. No
answer came from Capodistrius. He sent a message to Lord
Cochrane asking him to sell the Little Unicorn, which had
conveyed him to England, but said nothing about his own return.
(08:01):
Believing that the Allied powers would do for him all
that was necessary in naval resistance of Turkey, he was
not sorry to be deprived of an associate in the
actual service of Greece as powerful as Lord Cochrane. This
Lord Cochrane began to suspect. Everything is arranged regarding the
engines for the two steamboats, he said in a letter
to Marshal Ainard on the twenty fourth March, but circumstances
(08:22):
do not enable me to accomplish more, especially without the
sanction of the President, from whom I shall no doubt
shoutly hear on the subject, unless indeed he shall be
persuaded by the primates of the islands that he can
do better without a regular naval force, or at least
without me, which I know is the opinion of Condouryotes
and also of Mavra Macalis, the great licenser and patron
(08:44):
of pirates, so loudly and justly complained of. I am
very low, and I do not feel at all well.
I cannot free myself from the oppression of spirits occasioned
by seeing everything in the lamentable state in which all
must continue in Greece unless some effectual steps are taken
put an end to the intrigues and rivalships headed by
unprincipled chiefs and backed by their savage followers. Believe me,
(09:07):
there is nothing I believe undone to serve the cause.
But it is essential that more time shall not be
wasted in endeavoring to accomplish objects of vital importance by
inadequate means. While Lord Cochrane was endeavoring to hasten the
arrangements for his return to Greece, he was annoyed by
a letter forwarded to him by Sir Francis Burdett. The
(09:27):
letter was from Andreas Luriotes, one of the two Greek
deputies who had requested Lord Cochrane two years and a
half before to enter the service of Greece, and who
now claimed a restitution of the thirty seven thousand pounds
paid to him on the plea that by leaving Greece
he had broken his contract before writing to Sir Francis,
said Lord Cochrane, in the indignant letter which he addressed
(09:48):
to this person on the twentieth of April, you ought
to have informed yourself for facts and circumstances. You might
have learned that I continued to serve until the Greek
government had assumed to themselves the powers vested in me
as naval commander in chief to regulate the distribution of
armed vessels, and until they had covered the seas with
piratical craft. You might have informed yourself that I remained
(10:09):
at my post until the neutral admirals refused old communication
with a government which had so misconducted itself, and with
which they considered it would have been disgraceful to correspond,
even on subjects of a public nature. You might have
informed yourself that I remained on board the Hellas until
the temporary government had sold and applied to other purposes
the revenues of the islands allotted for the maintenance of
(10:30):
the regular naval service, and deprived me of the means
to satisfy the claims of the officers and seamen. That
I continued until the seamen had abandoned the frigate, plundered
the fire ships, and fitted out pirate vessels before my eyes,
all of which I had no power to punish or
means to prevent. If you or others infer that my
endeavors in the cause of Greece are to be judged
(10:50):
by naval operations carried out against the enemy by open force,
you are mistaken. It is essential that you hold in
mind that there are no naval offices in Greece who
were acquainted with the discipline of regularships of war. That
the seamen would submit to no restraint, that they would
not enlist for more than one month, and they would
do nothing without being paid in advance, nor continue to
(11:11):
serve after the expiration of the short period for which
they were so paid. That by this determination of the
seamen the Hellas was detained for months in port or
occupied in collecting amongst the island's poultry means to satisfy
their demands, And that at last, when money was found,
half the period of the seamen's engagement was consumed in
proceeding even to the nearest point at which hostile operations
(11:33):
could be carried on, whence it became necessary to return
almost at the moment of our arrival. It is not
for me to speak except when I am attacked of
the services I have rendered, both in my professional capacity
in otherwise, those who were in Greece knew my exertions
to reconcile the national assemblies in April eighteen twenty seven,
to suppress the animosity amongst the chiefs and save the
(11:53):
country from civil discord. They know that I double the
National marine by captures from the enemy. They know that
by desltry operations I paralyzed the efforts of fleets we
could not oppose. They know that the attack on Vassiladi
and Lapanteau in September last induced the Turkish and Egyptian
fleets to follow to that quarter in violation of the armistice,
(12:14):
and that this act produced their wren contra and dispute
with the British admiral, and ultimately led to the destruction
of those fleets in the port of Navarino. A few
days after writing that letter, Lord Cochran returned to London
from Paris, where he had been staying for nearly two
months in frigate communication with the members of the phil
Hellenic committees of that city and other parts of the continent.
(12:36):
The growing dissatisfaction which the bad conduct of the Greeks
had awakened in many of their best friends, and still more,
the silence of Capadistrius prevented his doing all that he
had hoped to do. He succeeded, however, in exciting some
fresh interest, and found that one of the steamboats. At
any rate, the Mercury was at length in a fair
way of completion, though this and subsequent equipment were only
(12:57):
affected by an advance of two thousand pounds which he
himself made. This was the business which took him to London,
where he was busily employed during May and the first
few days of June. He then went back to Paris
for nearly three months more, and made further efforts, though
in vain, to procure the substantial assistance for Greece on
which his hut was set. As soon as the Mercury
(13:18):
was ready for sea, he directed that she should proceed
to Marseilles, where she arrived on the thirteenth of September.
On the eighteenth, determined to make the best use of
her in his power, he again set sail for Greece.
He reached Poros on or near the last day of September.
He found that the internal arrangements of Greece had wonderfully improved. Capadistrius,
during the last eight months had been ruling with an
(13:39):
iron hand over all those districts which the previous conquests
of Turks and Egyptians had not taken out of his control,
and all those conquests were just being finally abrogated. The
full effects of the Battle of Navareno were now appearing.
Ibrahim Pasha, having deported many of his troops to Alexandria,
chiefly because there was not enough food to be found
(14:00):
for them in the Maria, had refused to surrender his
authority or to abandon any of the numerous fortresses of
which he was master. The President, with Sir Richard Church
and the worn out refuse of the so called army
for his only support, could do nothing to expel him,
but he gladly accepted the profit aid of France in
compliance with the protocol signe on the nineteenth of July.
(14:21):
Fourteen thousand soldiers under General Maison landed at Petelidi on
the thirtieth of August, and within a week Ibrahim had
been forced to sign a convention pledging himself to prompt
evacuation of the peninsula. Half of the residue of his
army quitted Navarino on the sixteenth of September. The rest
was preparing to about at the time of Lord Cochrane's arrival,
and actually started on the fifth of October. The ensuing
(14:42):
weeks were worthily employed by the French army in clearing
out the pestiential garrisons and making it possible for wholesome
rule to succeed to the seven weary years of strife. Thus,
the primary work which Lord Cochrane had been engaged to do,
and which he vainly strove to do under the miserable
circumstances of his position, had been affected by others. The
Ottoman fleets had been dispersed and destroyed, and as far
(15:04):
as they were concerned, Greece was free. At last. There
was work yet to be done, troublesome but most important
work in converting the disorderly and piratical vessels and crews
which constituted the Navy of Greece into an efficient agent
for protecting the state and extending its boundaries. This, in
spite of all previous annoyances Lord Cochrane was prepared to
do if the Greeks were willing, But they did not
(15:26):
will it. Capadistrius had laid his plans for governing Greece
and for their performance. He had no need of a
foreigner as wise and honest as Lord Cochrane. The plans
were not altogether reprehensible, as starting, they were perhaps the
best that could be adopted. The new president, the president
whom Lord Cochran had nominated as the likeliest man to
beat down the factions and override the jealousies that had
(15:47):
hitherto wrought such grievous mischief to Greece, began by acting
up to the anticipations which had induced his selection. Schooled
in Italy and Russia, he practiced both torturous to primacy
and straightforward tyranny in attempting to turn divite de Grease
into a united nation in which a hundred rival claimants
for power should be made humble instruments of the authority
(16:08):
of their one master. Thereby, the state was unable to
assert its existence, and it was made possible for good
government to be introduced. When, however, the time came for
inaugurating that good government, Capadistrius sought to continue the method
of rule, which, if allowable at first, was no longer
right or likely to succeed. Young Greece was to be
kept in subjection for his own aggrandizement and for the
(16:30):
aggrandizement of his few favorites and advisers. These favorites and
advisers were the leaders of the old Fernariot Party, Prince
Mavrocond'ortos and his brother in law, mister Trecoupez, men whose
policy Lord Cochrane had opposed on his first arrival in Greece,
and who accordingly became even more inimical to himself than
he was to their purposes and plans. Therefore, it was
(16:54):
that when Lord Cochrane returned to Greece in the autumn
of eighteen twenty eight, he was coldly received, and his
officer of further seenis t Us, though not openly rejected,
were not accepted. Throughout ten weeks, he was treated with
contemptuous indifference or formal compliments, the hollowness of which was transparent.
On his arrival, the President found it difficult to grant
him an interview. When the interview was granted, the only
subject allowed to be discussed was the accuracy of the
(17:16):
accounts that had been drawn up by Doctor Goss as
Commissary General of the Fleet during the nine months of
the previous year, in which Lord Cochrane had been an
active service. Nearly two months were spent in tedious and
vexatious examination of these accounts and correspondence, thereupon ending, however,
in the partial satisfaction which Lord Cochran derived from the
knowledge that, after the most searching investigation, they were admitted
(17:37):
to be correct in every particular. More than once during
this waiting time, Lord Cochran threatened to leave Greece immediately
without waiting for the settlement of the accounts. He was
only induced to remain and submit to the insults offered
to him by the consideration that his hasty departure might
cause an indefinite postponement of this settlement, and so prove
injurious to his subordinates, if not to himself. This being done, however,
(18:00):
he lost no time in resigning his office as First
Admiral of Greece, and that measure was accompanied by a
rare exhibition of generosity, the direct and active interference of
great European powers having decided the glorious contest for the
freedom of Greece, he said in a letter to Count Capi,
a distress written at Poros on the twenty sixth of November,
and its independence being formally acknowledged by accredited agents. From
(18:23):
these powers, no means now presents themselves to me, whereby
I can professionally promote the interests of this hitherto oppressed people.
I beg therefore, that I may be permitted, as an
individual to alleviate their burdens by presenting the state with
my share as admiral of the Corvette Hydra and the
schooner of War Athenian captured from the enemy, and further
by absolving the state from any and every obligation whereby
(18:45):
the sum of twenty thousand pounds was to be paid
to me on the acknowledgment of the independence of this country,
If Your Excellency shall be pleased co jointly with the
National Assembly to appropriate any part of the said amount
to the relief of the seamen wounded and of the
families of those who have fallen during the contest, it
will be a high gratification to my feelings, and I
hope will be admitted as a testimony of my satisfaction
(19:08):
at the introduction of useful institutions and of the pleasure
I experience at the rapid advancement towards order which has
taken place even during the short period of your Excellency's presidency.
I have only to add that if at any future
time your Excellency shall deem my services useful, I shall
be delighted at an opportunity to prove my zeal for
the welfare of Greece more fully than circumstances have hithertofore permitted.
(19:34):
The President's reply, dated the fourth of December, was complimentary
quote the Government of Greece. He said, thanks you, my Lord,
for the services you have rendered, and for the new
proof of your interest and your benevolence which you have
shown in your letter of the twenty sixth of November.
As you observe Greece having been taken under the protection
of the Great Powers of Europe, the Provisional Government can
(19:55):
engage in no warlock operation worthy of your talents and
your station. It regret es, therefore, that it cannot offer
you an opportunity of giving further proof of the noble
and generous sentiments which animate you in favor of Greece.
The Government will make it its duty to convey to
the National Congress or offer to seed your rights in
the corvette Hydra and the schooner Athenian and in the
(20:16):
twenty thousand pounds which Greece was to pay you on
the acknowledgment of her independence. It doubts not that the
Congress will value at its true worth all the nation's
debt to you, and that it will adopt the measures
which you propose for succoring the families of the Greek
seamen who have fallen in the war. The future of
Greece is in the hands of God and of the
Allied powers. You have taken part in her restoration, and
(20:39):
she will reckon you with sentiments of profound gratitude among
her first and generous defenders. A day had not passed, however,
before Lord Cochrane had fresh proof of the worthlessness of
that pretended gratitude. Information having reached Messrs J. And S. Ricardo,
the contractors for the Greek Loan of eighteen twenty five,
that the new government contemplated repudiating the debt, they had
(21:02):
written to Lord Cochrane begging him to bring the matter
before Capia Distress and represent to him the injustice to
the stockholders and the discredit to Greece that would result
from such an act. Lord Cochrane accordingly had an interview
with the President and his two chief advisers on the
fifth of December, when the subject was discussed, and though
repudiation was only threatened, attempts were made to justify it
(21:25):
on the plea that the two million pounds forming the
loan had nearly all been squandered in England and America,
much having disappeared in unexplained ways, the rest having been
absorbed in ship building and engine making from which Greece
had derived no benefit. Both in the personal interview and
in the long letter which he addressed to the President
on the following day, Lord Cochrane indignantly resented the proposed repudiation.
(21:47):
He admitted there had been gross mismanagement, but showed that
the chief blame for this attached to the Greek deputies
Orlando and Luriotis, who had been sent to England to
raise the money and to see that it was properly expended,
but who, as was well known, had sought only their
own advantage and enjoyment, and pilfering themselves set allowed others
to pilfer without restraint. He urged that the innocent holders
(22:07):
of the Greek's stock ought not to suffer on this account.
Had showed also that if there had been great abuse
of the loan, it had enabled the Greeks to tide
over their worst time of trouble. Quote Your excellency must
be aware. He wrote that there was no worship belonging
to the state which was not bought, taken, or obtained
by the aid of this loan, and that all the guns, mortars, powder,
(22:28):
and other military stores would serve to maintain the liberties
of Greece during these later years were chiefly procured by
the help of this same fund. It enabled you to
carry on the war until independence was secured by the
intervention of the Allied powers. The debt was not repudiated,
but Lord Cochrane's arguments, through its acknowledgment, gave an opportunity
for exhibition of the long smothered jealousy with which he
(22:49):
was regarded by the counselors of Capiadistras, if not by
Capiadstras himself. The exhibition certainly was contemptible, as Lord Cochrane
was about to leave Greece and indeed eager to do so.
The spite could only be shown in the arrangements made
for his departure. Having transferred the Mercury, which brought him
out to the President. Lord Cochrane had to ask for
a vessel to take him from Agena, where he was
(23:11):
then staying, to the Ionian Islands, or, if he could
not there find a suitable conveyance to Toulon or Marseilles.
The brig posephone was gradually placed at his disposal. Quote.
I pray you, my lord, wrote Mavro Cordatos, on the
eighth of December, if you are obliged to take her
to Toulon or Marseilles, not to detain her at Navarino
(23:31):
or Zante, but to enable her to return with as
little de la as possible to her work on the
shores of western Greece. Lord Cochrane accordingly embarked in this
vessel on the tenth. No sooner was he on board, however,
than he found himself treated with studied rudeness by her
captain an Oly Bauti, exposed, as he said, to privations
(23:51):
and insults which would not be allowed in the conveyance
of convicts. He had to put in at Poros on
the same evening, and thence address a complaint to the government.
Then lodged in that island four days passed before he
received a written answer to his letter, and then it
conveyed nothing but a formal intimation that another captain would
be appointed in lieu of the obnoxious officer. Many personal communications, however,
(24:14):
had passed in the interval, by which was confirmed the
suspicion formed by Lord Cochrane from the first that the
captain's misconduct had been dictated by his superiors, and that
it had been a preconceived plan to try and scend
the First Admiral of Greece, for both title and functions
still belonged to him from her shores, with every possible degradation.
He naturally resented this indignity. He claimed that while he
(24:36):
remained in Greece and until his officer, First Admiral was abrogated,
he should be treated with the respect due to his rank.
All he asked, he urged, was that he might be
allowed to leave Greece at once, if with such a
show of honor from the people whom he had done
his best to serve as would free him from insult
and the government from disgrace. Quote. I assure your Excellency,
(24:58):
he wrote to the President, that I regret at the
occurrence of any circumstance, the occasion's uneasiness to you. But
I believe that on reflection you will clearly perceive that
all which has occurred has been the work of others
whose acts I could neither control nor foresee. I weigh
my right to insist at present on any explicit recognition
of my authority, And though there is ample justification for
(25:19):
my seeking more than I desire. All that I demand
of your Excellency is for the sake of Greece not
to suffer not to sanction your ministers in an endeavor
to force me on to public explanations by persevering in
the scandalous line of conduct which they pursue. Surely your
Excellency cannot be aware of the importance which naval men
(25:39):
attached to the continuance of the insignia of office whilst
actually embarked within the limits of their station, or you
would not for an instant tolerate the attempt made to
degrade me in the estimation of the high authorities and
numerous offices he At present in the port of Poros,
I respectfully await your Excellency's official commands and warrant to
strike my flag not found on reasonings or on assumptions
(26:02):
which may prove fallacious or incorrect, but dictated in explicit terms,
such as an officer can such as he ought to
obey that Lord Cochrane was not fighting with a shadow
appears from a letter addressed to Doctor Goss on the
fifteenth of December by Count Hayden, then commanding the azof
as representative of Russia in the Bay of Porros, quote
(26:25):
as the affairs of etiquette a delicate, he said, I
beg that you will inform me whether his Lordship is
still serving as First Adminal of Greece, or whether he
has received his conjure. If he is still in her
service and employer, I shall rejoice to render him all
the honors due to his rank. In the other case,
I will pay him all the honors except the salutive canon.
I beg that you will favor me with an answer,
(26:47):
in order that I may show his Lordship all the
honor that is due to him. Doctor Goss's answer, though
longer than Lord Hayden expected, claims to be here quoted
as it furnished an important tribute to Lord Cochran's worth,
and was all the more valuable in that the Russian officer,
glad to do all in his power to render homage
to a man whom the Greek government was now treating
with childish insolence, made it his own by publishing it
(27:11):
in the Naval Archives of Russia. Quote. Lord Cochrane wrote,
Doctor Goss, having arrived in March eighteen twelve, was in
the National Assembly at Troesesine elected first Admiral and Commander
in chief of the Naval Forces of Greece with independent
and unlimited powers. Subsequently, and after the election of Count
Capodistress as president, the Assembly decided that the Admiral should
(27:34):
be under the authority of the government until the arrival
of the President. During the year eighteen twenty seven, Lord
Cochrane fulfilled his duties with all the zeal, all the accuracy,
and all the talent for which he is renowned, but
he found it impossible to achieve anything of importance, isolated
as he was, without sufficient funds, and without support from
others except that of the phil Hellenic committees, and without
(27:56):
the co operation of the Greeks themselves. At length, having
pledged himself not to interfere in internal politics, he considered
his presence in Greece useless until a firm government could
be organized, and deemed that he could render best service
to the nation by advocating its interests in Western Europe.
He departed early in January after two months, vainly awaiting
the arrival of Count Cabiard Distress, whom he informed of
(28:20):
his expedition and asked for instructions. He returned to France
and England, used all the means in his power to
obtain fresh aid for Greece, fitted out one of the
steamboats that were being prepared in London, took steps for
the completion of the other two, and, after writing a
second letter to the President, which like the first one,
received no answer, returned to Greece, resolved to devote himself
to her cause. He was received with coldness and indifference.
(28:43):
Neither lodging, nor provisions nor employment were offered to him.
He was asked that discounts might be examined. Ignorant or
evil minded commissioners were entrusted with their investigation, and the
government only took it in hand very tardily. Objections and disputes,
difficulties and contradictions accumulated, and it was only after a
delay of sixty days that his accounts were publicly and
officially declared to be correct, all that while he remained
(29:06):
like a private person on board his steamboat, manned only
by six sailors. In all the audiences that he had
with the President, he asked for instructions as to the
position and work that he should assume, but he could
never receive any definite answer. During one interview which he
had with Prince mavrocond'otos on board the Mercury in the
port of Pauros on the first of December, the anniversary
(29:26):
of the coronation of the Emperor of Russia, he announced
his intention of hoisting his flag on board of one
of the national vessels as a public compliment to that sovereign,
and asked Monsieur Mavro cond'ortos to inform the President of
that intention, but he received no answer. He had during
this period received numerous letters from the government addressed to
him as First Admiral and Commander in chief of the
(29:47):
naval forces of Greece. He afterwards went to a Gina
with Messrs tre Coupez and Mavrikan d'ortus to receive part
of the money due to him and to hand over
to the Commission of Marine the steamboat Mercury. That done,
he he was embarked in a national vessel, a miserable
brig which had been seized as contraband badly repaired, which
had been sent to convey him to Navarino, Zanti, Toulon
(30:09):
or Marseilles. This vessel was under the orders of a
Hydriot Bruletier, an ignorant and coarse man, who long before,
at the expedition against Alexandria, had acted in direct violation
of the Admiral's orders, and the crew was on par
with the captain. Lord Cochrane was insolently received by these people.
No place of safety was found for his baggage and
his money. No food was provided even for the voyage
(30:31):
from Aegina to Poros will. Lord Cochran wished to take
leave of the President at Puros. The captain repeated his insults.
Lord Cochrane requested the President to dismiss him, but received
no answer. Monsieur Trocoupees even came on board and declared
that the captain should continue his voyage and proceed to
his destination. Lord Cochrane then said that he would be
(30:51):
master on board a vessel from whose mast fluttered his
admiral's flag, and that he would yield to nothing but
the written orders of the President, in order, as he said,
that he might protect himself from the insolence of the
servants of the government who sought to annoy him by
their exhibition of paltry jealousy, or to force him into
a quarrel with the President. The day before yesterday, in
(31:12):
the afternoon, he had an interview with the President, and
Messrs Tricoupez and mavuchan Datus being present. He openly pointed
out to him the intrigues of these officials and the
dangers of the course in which they were leading him.
Warmly and with the boldness of a good conscience, he
exposed their policy and expressed his views upon the organization
of the Greek Navy. He then repeated his wish to
(31:33):
depart as soon as possible, although he declared himself willing
at any future time to serve Greece if she had
need of him. He also announced that he would at
once take down his flag of authority if the President
officially and directly required it, but that if any charges
were brought against him, he should be compelled to remain
in Greece until he had exculpated himself before the nation
and obtained the punishment of the unworthy servants of the President,
(31:55):
for whom personally he declared that he had a profound respect.
While he commiserated his difficult and painful position. In this interview,
Lord Cochrane appeared to me to have a great advantage
over his antagonists. Yesterday, the Admiral's flag was still floating.
In the evening, the President wrote him a letter, in
vague terms and contributing nothing to the end he had
(32:15):
in view. This morning, Lord Cochrane, in his reply, has
again asked for authority to lower his flag, if that
is the will of the President, but no orders have
been received. This precise statement of facts which have come
under my own knowledge, will, I think, make it easy
for your Excellency to arrive at conclusions comporting with the
laws of etiquette. Quote. I have read your letter with
(32:39):
pleasure and with pain, wrote Admiral Hayden in answer on
the same day, for I am certain that Lord Cochrane
must have suffered greatly from the treatment to which he
has been exposed. In proof of my esteem, I beg
that he will send back to their kennels these miserable
causes of his annoyance, and proceed to Malta or Tisante,
if he wishes, in one of my corvettes, taking with
(33:00):
him as large a sweet as he likes. It cannot
be too numerous. As regards his salute, I shall receive
him with the honors due to his rank, and with
musical honors. And at his departure I will man the yards.
But the salute of guns I cannot give him, as
he is not in naval authority. Vice Admiral Mealus never
received from me the honors which I hope to offer
Lord Cochrane. I did not man the yards and did
(33:23):
not give him a salute. I hope I shall have
the pleasure of seeing his lordship, and that I can
provide him a passage more agreeable than that proposed for
him by Greece. Not content with sending that friendly message
to Lord Cochrane, Admiral Hayden took prompt occasion to reprove
Capodistras for his unworthy conduct. Cabotistras thereupon used his influence
(33:43):
of doctor Gross in bringing about, at any rate a
formal reconciliation between himself and Lord Cochrane, the result of
which was that the latter received the official discharge that
he desired, and even offered to find him in another ship,
a better passage than would have been expected on board
the Proserpine. Lord Cochrane, however, preferred to accept Admiral Hayden's
more generous invitation quote. It is gratifying, he said in
(34:05):
a letter to Doctor Gross on the eighteenth of December,
that even the authority to which wicked men refer in
proof of the rectitude of evil deeds fails to sanction
infamous conduct alas if Capiodistrs suffers and he seems not
inclined to oppose, I say, if he suffers, the base
intrigues of the faena to be introduced as the means
(34:26):
of ruling a nation. Greece must forebak, if not into
a dark estate, yet into a worse condition, insomuch as
suspended anarchy is preferable to civil war. These prognostications proved correct. Kapadistrius,
allowing others to direct him in ways of bad government,
entered on a policy which very soon led to his assassination,
(34:46):
to be followed by the milder rule of King Otho.
On the twentieth of December, Lord Cochran left Puros in
the Russian corvette Gramachi, honorably placed at his disposal by
Admiral Hayden, and proceeded to Malta. There he was worthily
received the British Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who offered him
immediate conveyance to Naples in the Racer or in a
week's time a passage direct to Marseilles in the Etna.
(35:11):
Believing that he would save time, he chose the former alternative.
From Naples, however, he found it impossible to proceed to
Marseilles and was obliged on the twenty ninth of January
to embark in an English merchant vessel to Leghorn. Eleven
days were spent in the short voyage, and on reaching
Leghorn he had to submit to fifteen days of quarantine
before being allowed to proceed to Paris, there to rejoin
(35:31):
his family. The whole journey occupied nearly ten weeks. From Leghorn,
he wrote on the fifteenth of February to Chevalier Aynard,
respecting Greece and her still unfortunate condition. Quote civilization and
internal order, he said, can make no steady progress in
Greece unless the government can be supported otherwise than by
the present bands of undisciplined, ignorant and lawless savages. Under
(35:54):
existing circumstances, Greeks who have attained the age of maturity
are incapable of military organization. You have long known my
opinion as to the necessity of sending foreign troops to
Grees to maintain order. You know that I preferred Swiss
Bavarian soldiers to those of the great pacificating powers, because
the latter cannot with propriety interfering matters of police whilst
(36:15):
paid by foreign countries. It is now, however, too late
to sense more military establishments such as would have sufficed
on the arrival of Capia distress, because now they would
be considered a suppressors. Then they would have been received
as allies and friends. The alternatives that must be pursued
in the conduct relative to grease now are to let
the revolution work itself out as in South America, or
(36:36):
to live six regiments in the country until the young
men who are abroad shall be educated and the rising
generation at home shall be somewhat civilized. It is of
no use to attempt to do good by half measures
under the present circumstances of Greece. Calicatrons is ready on
the spot to take possession of Patras the moment it
is evacuated. Petro Bay, who has been prosecuted in the
(36:59):
court of Admiralty Piracy, is prepared to avenge himself by
taking authority in Mana. Conduriotes, Zamez and all the other
chiefs anxiously await the meeting of the Assembly, which they
hail as the final hour of the President's authority. Capadistrius
as ministers too, who are no fools, but on the contrary,
cunning men undoubtedly have similar views, for they have taken
(37:21):
every means to discredit, disgust and drive away every foreigner who,
by his conduct, counsel or friendly intimation, could avert the evil.
Thus things are fast tending towards a discreditable close of
the President's administration. Thank God, wrote Lord Cochran three months later,
on the seventeenth of May to doctor Goss, who in
the interval had also left Greece. We are both clear
(37:45):
of a country in which there is no hope of
amelioration for half a century to Carmonness. Indeed, immigrations shall
take place to a great extent under some king or
competent ruler appointed and supported by the governments of the
mediating powers. The mental fever I contracted in Greece as
not yet subsided, nor will it probably for some months
to come. Lord Cochrane might well be suffering from a
(38:06):
mental fever. Nearly four years of his life had been
spent in efforts to serve Greece, and with very poor result.
To himself, the issue had been wholly unfortunate, even the
pecuniary recompense to which he was entitled having been so
reduced as to not meet the expenses to which he
had been put, partly through his generous surrender of the
twenty thousand pounds which he was to receive on the
(38:27):
completion of the work, partly through the depreciation of the
Greek's stock in which, out of sympathy for the cause,
he had invested the thirty seven thousand pounds paid to
him on his engagement and to Greece. These issues had
been far less beneficial than he had hoped. The tedious
and wanton delays to which he had been subjected at
starting whereby that starting was prevented for a year and
(38:48):
a half had hindered his arrival in Greece till it
was too late for him to do much of the
work that had been planned. The want of money, and
still more the want of patriotism, courage, and even common
honesty on the part of nearly all the leads with
whom he was to co operate and the officers and
crews whom he was to command, had caused his ten
months active service in Greece to compromise little more than
(39:08):
a series of bold projects, and projects which, if they
had been aided by brave men, would have been as
easy as they were bold, in which he received none
of the support that was necessary, in which accordingly all
his energy and genius could not make successful. When after
his visit to England and France he returned to Greece,
eager and able to render invaluable assistance in the organization
(39:28):
of the navy, he was treated only with neglect and insolence,
from which at last he was enabled to escape through
the generous sympathy of a Russian admiral. Much, however, he
had done for Greece to his persistent entreaties were due
all the meager displays of patriotism by which the government
of the country was maintained and Capiadistras accepted as president,
(39:50):
and all the feeble efforts by which the war was
carried on and the triumph of the port was averted
until the direct interference of the Allied Powers. That interference
had been in great measure induced by the report that
he had entered the service of Greece, so that to
him was due not a little of the benefit that
accrued from the whole course of diplomacy by which her
independence was secured, and the independence was made more prompt
(40:13):
and complete than could have been expected by the fortunate
circumstance of his having occasioned the collision between the forces
of Turkey and those of the Allied Powers which issued
in the Battle of Navarino. Much more he would have achieved,
had his arguments been listened to, and his plans supported
His failures, No less than his successes bespeak his worth.
(40:33):
End of Chapter twenty two, recording by Timothy Ferguson GLKOST,
Australia
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