LORD COCHRANE'S DEPARTURE FOR GREECE.—HIS VISIT TO LONDON AND
VOYAGE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.—HIS STAY AT MESSINA, AND AFTERWARDS
AT MARSEILLES.—THE DELAYS IN COMPLETING THE STEAMSHIPS, AND THE
CONSEQUENT INJURY TO THE GREEK CAUSE, AND SERIOUS EMBARRASSMENT
TO LORD COCHRANE.—HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH MESSRS. J. AND S.
RICARDO.—HIS LETTER TO THE GREEK GOVERNMENT.—CHEVALIER EYNARD, AND
THE CONTINENTAL PHILHELLENES.—LORD COCHRANE'S FINAL DEPARTURE, AND
ARRIVAL IN GREECE.
[1826-1827.]
Lord Cochrane, having passed from Brussels to Flushing, sailed thence
in the _Unicorn_ on the 8th of May, 1826. Before proceeding to the
Mediterranean, he determined, in spite of the personal risk he would
thus be subjected to through the Foreign Enlistment Act, to see for
himself in what state were the preparations for his enterprise in
Greece. He accordingly landed at Weymouth, and hurrying up to London,
spent the greater part of Sunday, the 16th of May, in Mr. Galloway's
building yard at Greenwich.
He found that the _Perseverance_ was apparently completed, though
waiting for some finishing touches to be put to her boilers. "The two
other vessels," he said, "were filled with pieces of the high-pressure
engines, all unfixed, and scattered about in the engine-room and on
deck. The boilers were in the small boats, and occupied nearly one
half of their length, Mr. Galloway having, through inattention or
otherwise, caused them to be made of the same dimensions as the
boilers for the great vessels, which, by the by, had been improperly
increased from sixteen feet, the length determined on, to twenty-three
feet." The inspection was unsatisfactory; but Mr. Galloway pledged
himself on his honour that the _Perseverance_ should start in a day or
two, that the _Enterprise_ and the _Irresistible_ should be completed
and sent to sea within a fortnight, and that the other three vessels
should be out of hand in less than a month.
Trusting to that promise, or at any rate hoping that it might be
fulfilled, and after a parting interview with Sir Francis Burdett, Mr.
Ellice, and other friends, Lord Cochrane left London on Monday, and
joined the _Unicorn_, at Dartford, on the 20th of May. It had
been arranged that he should wait in British waters for the first
instalment of his little fleet, at any rate. With that object he
called at Falmouth, and, receiving no satisfactory information there,
went to make a longer halt in Bantry Bay. At length, hearing that the
_Perseverance_ had actually started, with Captain Hastings for its
commander, and that the other two large vessels were on the point of
leaving the Thames, he left the coast of Ireland on the 12th of June.
He vainly hoped that the vessels would promptly join him in the
Mediterranean, and that within four or five weeks' time he should
be at work in Greek waters. The journey, however, was to last nine
months. The mismanagement and the wilful delays of Mr. Galloway and
the other contractors and agents continued as before. The urgent
need of Greece was unsatisfied; the funds collected for promoting her
deliverance were wantonly perverted; and the looked-for deliverer was
doomed to nearly a year of further inactivity—hateful to him at all
times, but now a special source of annoyance, as it involved not
only idleness to himself, but also serious injury to the cause he had
espoused.
He passed Oporto on the 18th, Lisbon on the 20th, and Gibraltar on the
26th of June. He was off Algiers on the 3rd of July, and on the 12th
he anchored in the harbour of Messina. There, and in the adjoining
waters, he waited nearly three months, in daily expectation of
the arrival of his vessels, Messina having been the appointed
meeting-place. No vessels came, but instead only dismal and
procrastinating letters. "We deeply lament," wrote Messrs. J. and S.
Ricardo, the contractors for the Greek loan, in one of them, dated the
9th of September, "that, after all the exertions which have been used,
we have not yet been able to despatch the two large steam-vessels.
Everything has been ready for some time; but Mr. Galloway's failure
in the engines will now occasion a much longer detention. We leave to
your brother, who writes by the same opportunity, to explain fully to
your lordship how all this has arisen, and what measures it has been
considered expedient to adopt. In the whole of this unfortunate affair
we have endeavoured to follow your wishes; and our conduct towards Mr.
Galloway, who has much to answer for, has been chiefly directed by
his representations." "Galloway is the evil genius that pursues us
everywhere," wrote the same correspondents on the 25th of September;
"his presumption is only equalled by his incompetency. Whatever he has
to do with is miserably deficient. We do not think his misconduct has
been intentional; but it has proved most fatal to the interests of
Greece, and of those engaged in her behalf. On your lordship it has
pressed peculiarly hard; and most sincerely do we lament that an
undertaking, which promised so fairly in the commencement should
hitherto have proved unavailing, and that your power of assisting
this unhappy country should have been rendered nugatory by the want of
means to put it in effect."
Those letters, and others written before and after, did not reach Lord
Cochrane till the end of October. In the meanwhile, finding that the
expected vessels did not arrive at Messina, and that in that place it
was impossible even for him to receive accurate information as to the
progress of affairs in London, he called at Malta about the middle
of September, and thence proceeded to Marseilles, as a convenient
halting-place, in which he had better chance of hearing how matters
were proceeding, and from which he could easily go to meet the vessels
when, if ever, they were ready to join him. He reached Marseilles
on the 12th of October, and on the same day he forwarded a letter
to Messrs. Ricardo. "I wrote to you a few days ago," he said, "from
Malta, and, as the packet sailed with a fair wind, you will receive
that letter very shortly. You will thereby perceive the distressing
suspense in which I have been held, and the inconvenience to which
I have been exposed, by remaining on board this small vessel for a
period of five months, during all the heat of a Mediterranean summer,
without exercise or recreation. This situation has been rendered
the more unpleasant, as I have had no means to inform myself, except
through the public papers, relative to the concern in which we are now
engaged. My patience, however, is now worn out, and I have come here
to learn whether I am to expect the steam-vessels or not,—whether
the scandalous blunders of Mr. Galloway are to be remedied by
those concerned, or if an ill-timed parsimony is to doom Greece to
inevitable destruction; for such will be the consequence, if Ibrahim's
resources are not cut up before the period at which it is usual for
him to commence operations. You know my opinions so well, that it is
unnecessary to repeat them to you. I shall, however, add, that
the intelligence and plans I have obtained since my arrival in the
Mediterranean confirm these opinions, and enable me to predict, with
as much certainty as I ever could do on any enterprise, that if the
vessels and the means to pay six months' expenses are forwarded, there
shall not be a Turkish or Egyptian ship in the Archipelago at the
termination of the winter. It may have been expected that I should
immediately proceed to Greece in this vessel. I might have done so at
an earlier period of my life, before I had proved by experience that
advice is thrown away upon persons in the situation and circumstances
in which the Greek rulers and their people are unfortunately placed.
Having made up my mind on this subject, I must entreat you to let me
know by the earliest possible means what I am to expect in regard to
the steamships. I see by the 'Globe' of the 2nd of last month that the
holders of Greek stock were to have a meeting. I conclude they came
to some resolution, and this resolution I want to know. I wish I could
give them my eyes to see with—they would then pursue a course which
would secure their interests. This, however, is impossible; therefore
they must, like the Greeks, be left to follow their own notions.
I have, however, no objections to your stating to these gentlemen,
either publicly or privately, that I pledge my reputation to free
Greece if they will, by the smallest additional sacrifice that may be
required, put the stipulated force at my disposal."[A]
[Footnote A: This letter, like some others of this nature, is partly
written in cypher, the key to which is lost. Its concluding sentences,
therefore, are not given.]
At Marseilles, Lord Cochrane received information, disheartening
enough, though more encouraging than was justified by the real state
of affairs, with reference to his intended fleet. On the 14th of
October he wrote to explain his position, as he himself understood it,
to the Greek Government. "By the most fortunate accident," he said, "I
have met Mr. Hobhouse here, who, from his correspondence with Messrs.
Ricardo and others in London, enables me to state to you that the two
large steamboats will be completed on the 28th day of this month, and
that they will proceed on the following day for the _rendezvous_ which
I had assigned to them previous to my departure. You may, therefore,
count on their being in Greece about the 14th of next month. The
American frigate is said to be completed and on her way, and I feel a
confident hope that I shall be able here to add a very efficient ship
of war to the before-mentioned vessels.[A] It is probable," he added,
"that many idle reports will be circulated here and through the public
prints, because, under existing circumstances, I find it necessary to
appear now as a person travelling about for private amusement. I can
assure you, however, that the hundred and sixty days which I have
already spent in this small vessel, without ever having my foot on
shore till the day before yesterday, has been a sacrifice which I
should not have made for any other cause than that in which I
am engaged; but I considered it essential to conceal the real
insignificance of my situation and allow rumours to circulate of
squadrons collecting in various parts, judging that the effect would
be to embarrass the operations of the enemy."
[Footnote A: It should here be explained that the building and fitting
out of the two frigates contracted for in New York, at a cost of
150,000£, having been assigned to persons whose mismanagement was
as scandalous as that which perplexed the Greek cause in London, one
of them had been sold, and with the proceeds and some other funds the
other had been completed and fitted out, more than 200,000£ having
been spent upon her. She reached Greece at the end of 1826, there to
be known as the _Hellas_.]
That concealment had to be maintained, and the wearisome delays
continued, for three months more. All the promises of Mr. Galloway and
all the efforts, real or pretended, of the Greek deputies in London,
were vain. The completion of the steam-vessels was retarded on all
sorts of pretexts, and when each little portion of the work was said
to be done, it was found to be so badly executed that it had to be
cancelled and the whole thing done afresh. In this way all the residue
of the loan of 1825 was exhausted, and all for worse than nothing.
Lord Cochrane would never have been able to proceed to Greece at all,
had the Greek deputies, Orlando and Luriottis, who had contracted for
his employment, been his only supporters. Fortunately, however, he had
other and worthier coadjutors. The Greek Committee in Paris did
much on his behalf, and yet more was done by the Philhellenes of
Switzerland, with Chevalier Eynard at their head, of whom one zealous
member, Dr. L.A. Gosse, of Geneva, "well-informed, very zealous, full
of genuine enthusiasm for the cause of humanity, and an excellent
physician," as M. Eynard described him, was about to go in person
to Greece, as administrator of the funds collected by the Swiss
Committee. Lord Cochrane's disconsolate arrival at Marseilles, and the
miserable failure of the plans for his enterprise, had not been known
to M. Eynard and his friends a week, before they set themselves to
remedy the mischief as far as lay in their power. As a first and
chief movement they proposed to buy a French corvette, then lying
in Marseilles Harbour, and fit her out as a stout auxiliary to Lord
Cochrane's little force expected from London and New York. Lord
Cochrane, being consulted on the scheme, eagerly acceded to it in a
letter written on the 25th of October. "As I have yet no certainty,"
he said, "that the person employed to fit the machinery of the
steam-vessels will now perform his task better than he has heretofore
done, I recommend purchasing the corvette, provided that she can be
purchased for the sum of 200,000 francs, and, if funds are wanting, I
personally am willing to advance enough to provision the corvette,
and am ready to proceed in that or any fit vessel. But I am quite
resolved, without a moral certainty of something following me, not
to ruin and disgrace the cause by presenting myself in Greece in a
schooner of two carronades of the smallest calibre."
The corvette was bought and equipped; but in this several weeks
were employed. In the interval, for a week or two after the 8th of
December, Lord Cochrane went to Geneva, there to be the guest of
Chevalier Eynard, to be introduced to Dr. Gosse, and to become
personally acquainted with many other Philhellenes.
Neither Lord Cochrane nor his friends could quite abandon hope of the
ultimate completion of the London steam-vessels. They felt, too,
that with nothing but the new vessel, the American frigate, and the
_Perseverance_, Lord Cochrane would have very poor provision for his
undertaking. "I have this moment received a letter from his lordship,"
wrote M. Eynard to Mr. Hobhouse on the 12th of January, 1827, "wherein
he appears rather disappointed with respect to the scantiness of the
forces and the means placed at his disposal. He informs me that he has
no officers, few sailors; and that, in case the steamers should
not arrive, he will not feel qualified to encounter the Turkish and
Egyptian naval forces, as well as the Algerines, who of all are the
best manned. 'I therefore shall not be able to undertake anything
of moment,' continues his lordship. 'Thus to stake my character and
existence would be a mere Quixotic act. I will put to sea, however,
but still with a heavy heart; yet not until I have with me all
requisites, and my stores and ammunition be embarked likewise.'
Discouragement appears throughout his lordship's letter."
The discouragement is not to be wondered at. It is hardly necessary,
however, to give further illustration of it, or of the troubles
incident to this long waiting-time. Enough has been said to show Lord
Cochrane's position in relation to this deplorable state of affairs,
and to exonerate him from all blame in the matter. That he should have
been blamed at all is only part of the wanton injustice that attended
him nearly all through his life. He had consented, in the autumn
of 1825, to enter the service of the Greeks, on the distinct
understanding that six English-built steamships should be placed at
his disposal, and to facilitate the arrangements he did and bore
far more than could have been expected of him. For the delays and
disasters that befel those arrangements he was in no way responsible:
he was only thereby a very great sufferer. But his sufferings would
have been greater, and he would have been really at fault, had he
consented to go to Greece without any sort of provision, as a few
rash friends and many eager enemies desired him to do, and afterwards
blamed him for not doing.
As it was, he greatly increased his difficulties by at last proceeding
to Greece with the miserable equipment provided for him. In his little
schooner, the _Unicorn_, he left Marseilles on the 14th of February,
1827, and proceeded to St. Tropezy, where the French corvette, the
_Sauveur_, was being fitted out under the direction of Captain Thomas,
a brave and energetic officer. Thence he set sail, with the two
vessels, on the 23rd of February. He reached Poros, and entered
upon his service in Greek waters, on the 19th of March. "He had been
wandering about the Mediterranean in a fine English yacht, purchased
for him out of the proceeds of the loan, in order to accelerate his
arrival in Greece, ever since the month of June, 1826," says the
ablest historian of the Greek Revolution.[A] The preceding paragraphs
will show how much truth is contained in that sarcastic sentence.
[Footnote A: Finlay, vol. ii., p. 137.]