The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, Vol. II

Reflections of that sort occurred to Lord Dundonald again and again, as, passing round from Trinidad, he visited all the principal British West India Islands, the last at which he called on his way back to Halifax being Jamaica. "No doubt," he said, "the generous and noble act by which, in the reign of his late Majesty, slavery was abolished, produced a prejudicial change in the economy of the sugar plantations, notwithstanding the large amount awarded to the proprietors, as the sums so paid were for the most part immediately transferred to mortgagees, leaving the proprietors in possession of the soil, but without the means of paying the expense of its cultivation by free labour. This is an evil which time has not remedied, and, of course, in the estimation of those who are, in consequence, losers, furnishes the pretext for imputing to the black population a degree of reluctance to labour far exceeding the reality. Those who pay a reasonable price for work, and are punctual in their payments, do not fail to get as many labourers as they require. I assert this not from any vague hearsay, but from various unquestionable and authentic documents, amongst which are the examinations taken by Committees of the House of Assembly appointed to inquire into the causes and difficulties alleged to exist in the cultivation of estates. Whilst the poverty of the planters and the destitution of the labouring population is so universal, it seems most extraordinary on inspecting the Custom House returns to find almost every article of necessary consumption brought from abroad paying high duties on entry; whilst the concession of small patches of land to the negroes, whom there is no capital to employ, would, if accorded, produce food, and in a great measure dispense with such injurious importations. Is it reasonable to instruct the negroes in their rights as men, and open their minds to the humble ambition of acquiring spots of land, and then throw every impediment possible in the way of its gratification? I perceive by the imposts and expenses on the transfer of small properties, that a barrier almost insurmountable is raised to their acquisition by the coloured population. I have learnt that small lots of Crown lands are scarcely ever disposed of, though three-fourths of these lands are still in the hands of Government.

"It is lamentable to see the negroes in rags, lying about the streets of Kingston; to learn that the gaols are full; the penitentiaries incapable of containing more inmates; whilst the port is destitute of shipping, the wharves abandoned, and the storehouses empty; while much, if not all, of this might be remedied. It may be asked, how is this to be effected? and I answer – by justice, resolution, patriotism, and disinterestedness. Never can this wretched state of affairs be remedied so long as taxes on the necessaries of life are heaped on an impoverished population. Never can the peasantry raise their heads with a contented aspect, whilst every animate and inanimate thing around them is taxed to the utmost. Not only is there a tax on land, and on the shipment of its produce, on houses, outhouses, and gardens, on horned cattle and horses, but on asses and pigs; and the severest penalties are enacted for concealment or suppression in the returns. Officials are employed for the gathering of pittances which do not defray the expense of collection. The harbour dues and exactions are such that no vessel, when it can be avoided, is brought into the Port of Kingston; consequently, though Jamaica is admirably situated, even more favourably than St. Thomas, the former port is abandoned, whilst that of the latter is filled with the shipping of all nations."

Lord Dundonald detailed the substance of these opinions in a letter to Earl Grey, the Secretary for the Colonies. "I have to thank your lordship," Lord Grey replied, "for your letter. The observations of a person of your lordship's knowledge and experience upon the present state of our colonies are most interesting and useful to me. I am aware that there exists much distress in the West Indies at present; but I am sorry to say I do not see what Parliament can do towards removing it, beyond freeing their trade from the remaining restrictions by the repeal of the Navigation Laws, which I hope will now be soon accomplished. I own I quite differ from your lordship as to the propriety of restoring to the planters the monopoly in the British market they formerly enjoyed, and I believe that the permanent interests of these colonies would be injured instead of being advanced by doing so."

CHAPTER XXIX

LORD DUNDONALD'S RETURN FROM AMERICA. – HIS ARGUMENTS FOR THE RELIEF OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES AND THE WEST INDIA TRADE. – THE TRINIDAD BITUMEN. – LORD DUNDONALD'S OTHER SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS AND VIEWS.

[1851-1853.]

The Earl of Dundonald's time of service as Admiral of the West Indian and North American Stations expired in April, 1851. On the 31st of December, 1850, Sir Francis Baring wrote to inform him that Sir George Seymour had been appointed his successor. "It is with some regret," said Sir Francis, "that I have performed this duty, as it has been my pleasure to have been in communication with you, and to feel that an important command has been placed in the hands of an officer of your lordship's high professional character and merits. You must permit me, in making this announcement, to add my sincere thanks for the manner in which you conducted the duties of your position, and particularly for the valuable information you have communicated to the Board, and the attention you have paid to the many points you had brought before you."

On the 14th of May Lord Dundonald left Halifax, and he reached Portsmouth in the beginning of June. During the next few years his mind was much occupied with the further consideration of various topics suggested by his observations and explorations on the other side of the Atlantic. It will be enough to make brief allusion to the most important of these.

Subjects of hearty regret to him, repeatedly brought under his notice during his three years' stay in the North American and West Indian waters, were the great depression of the British fisheries in the neighbourhood of Newfoundland, and the yet greater depression of trade consequent on the remission of slavery in the more southern colonies. For both he sought to provide a remedy. He urged, as has already been shown in the extracts from his journal, which was published, and attracted much attention, in the summer of 1852, that special help should be given to these colonies, not only by the removal of all restrictions upon their commerce and manufactures, but by protective enactments in their favour.

His reasons for this view, as regards the Newfoundland fisheries, in which he thought not alone of the interests of the colonists, were set forth by him in a letter addressed to the "Times," in August, 1852. "Were not the question of maintaining our nurseries for seamen," he there said, "more important than commercial considerations, I should not venture, through your favour, to trespass on public attention regarding the North American fisheries; but, perceiving that impressions are likely to be made by writers, avoiding responsibility for erroneous opinions by withholding their names, I feel it a duty explicitly to state that it is not to the amount of fish caught and cured, to the price at which it can be sold at home or abroad, or to the number of persons employed in the fishery, but to their nationality and vocation, to which I attach importance, in order that our fisheries shall form hardy British seamen in oceanic vessels, like those employed under the bounties paid by North America and France. These being the considerations, the question is not whether it is consistent with the enlightened theory of free trade to pay a premium which shall transfer capital from the pockets of one class to those of another, but whether it is wiser and more economical for the community at large to uphold such nursery, or to maintain even a skeleton of warlike establishments – perhaps to build, equip, and employ additional ships of war, squadrons, or fleets, to watch, perchance to contend with, power thus cheaply developed by rival nations. I ask whether the bounty given to enable steam-packets to cross the ocean is more consistent with free-trade principles than a bounty awarded to our fisheries as a nursery for seamen. A colonial premium is indeed talked of, and by those unacquainted with facts, who do not foresee its operation, it may be deemed a substitute for a bounty by the parent State; but I advisedly assert that such colonial premium would not rear one disposable seaman for our naval service, and that even the colonial fishermen would derive no commensurate advantage, such is the impoverishing effect of the inveterate system of truck-dealing that boat fishermen, even from the harbour of the capital of Newfoundland, are chiefly paid by daily wages; the advantages derived from the employment of two half-idle fishermen being greater to the truckmaster, in the absence of an available market, than the like amount of fish caught by one customer. It is manifest, by the true theory of free trade, that it is unimportant whether the French and Americans obtain their bait and catch fish within our limits or not, or even whether the world is supplied by them or by us; but it is not so if foreign nations thereby rear, employ, and maintain in time of peace fifty thousand seamen, who, in the event of war, are at the beck of their respective Governments, while Britain, the rightful owner, has not one available seaman from the fisheries. On subjects of such vital importance it is essential that general theories, however good, shall not be supported in detail by false reasoning, or by captivating appellations inconsistent with truth. Nine-tenths of our western colonies are still taxed on every article of food, and on all existing property, animate and inanimate; a state of things alike adverse to production and trade. Is it reasonable to imagine, if the interests of colonists are not considered jointly with those of the parent State, that they can continue to administer to our wants, comforts, and luxuries – above all, to our commercial nursery for seamen, the source of our national greatness? A Parliamentary investigation is indispensable to afford a chance of escape to these noble possessions of the Crown from impending ruin."

For the relief of the West Indian colonies Lord Dundonald was also anxious to obtain the intervention of Parliament; but he believed that he had himself discovered one source of possible advancement for them. His remarks concerning the pitch lake of Trinidad have already been partly quoted. Having first explored that lake in the beginning of 1849, he at once recognized the importance of its stores of bitumen, and much of his leisure from official duties was employed in observations and experiments with a view to its being utilized. He was soon convinced as to its great and various importance. The decomposed bitumen that lay in vast beds around the lake he found exceedingly valuable as a manure; and he perceived that the liquid mass, of which boundless supplies might be obtained, could be put to many very valuable uses. Here he discerned the presence of a new material of commerce which might prove of incalculable benefit not only to Trinidad but also to all the other West India Islands; therefore he urged its employment, and, though but little heed was paid to his advice, the successful results of the few cases in which it was adopted fully justified his opinions.

After his return to England he also sought zealously to make his discovery beneficial to himself. He was to a great extent baffled by the obstacles common to new projects; but his projects afford curious illustration of the activity of his mind and the fertility of his inventive powers. "Used as a mastic," he said in a concise enumeration of the uses to which he found that the bitumen might be put, "it is peculiarly suited to unite and ensure the durability of hydraulic works. It renders the foundations and superstructure of buildings impermeable to humidity. It is admirably adapted, by its resistance to decomposition by the most powerful solvents, to the construction of sewers, and, being tasteless, it is an excellent coating to water-pipes, aqueducts, and reservoirs. When masticated and prepared, it is a substitute for costly gums as applied to numerous purposes. Combined with a small portion of ligneous matter, it constitutes a fuel of greater evaporating power than coal, and, when pulverized and scattered over growing potato-plants or other vegetables, it prevents their destruction by insects or blight, and acts also as a fertiliser of the soil. Essential and viscid oils are obtained by various well-known processes from bituminous substances, but from none in such abundance and possessing such valuable properties as the oils extracted from the bitumen of the lake of Trinidad, as well as from the petroleum of springs still in activity."23

While thus urging the importance of bitumen, and initiating many mechanical operations which have quickly and extensively been turned to the great advantage of society, Lord Dundonald was not unmindful of his older inventions and the arguments by which he had long sought to promote the naval strength of England. Of these inventions one in particular – that of his improved steam-boilers – had been largely adopted, and found highly beneficial during his absence from England, and its use continued after his return. From them he hoped, and not in vain, that good would result to the general extension of naval science. He was cheered during the last years of his life by seeing the adoption of many of the views on these matters which he had advocated long before. Others have yet to be enforced.

CHAPTER XXX

THE RUSSIAN WAR. – LORD DUNDONALD'S PROPOSALS TO EMPLOY HIS SECRET PLANS AGAINST CRONSTADT, SEBASTOPOL, AND OTHER STRONGHOLDS. – HIS CORRESPONDENCE THEREUPON WITH SIR JAMES GRAHAM AND LORD PALMERSTON. – THEIR REJECTION. – LORD DUNDONALD'S APPOINTMENT AS REAR-ADMIRAL OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. – PRINCE ALBERT'S INVITATION TO HIM TO BECOME AN ELDER BROTHER OF THE TRINITY HOUSE. – HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH LORD PALMERSTON RESPECTING THE RESTITUTION OF HIS HALF-PAY. – HIS LAST WORK. – HIS DEATH AND BURIAL. – CONCLUSION.

[1851-1860.]

When in June, 1851, he returned to England and surrendered his office as Commander-in-Chief of the North American and West Indian squadron, the Earl of Dundonald was in his seventy-sixth year. That he was still young and vigorous in mind is sufficiently shown by the illustrations of his inventive genius and philanthropic earnestness that have been given in the last chapter. The most striking proof of this, however, so far as he was allowed to prove it, has yet to be given.

Very soon after his return he sought to impress upon Sir James Graham, then First Lord of the Admiralty, under the Earl of Aberdeen's administration, the value of his secret war-plans, and before long a special reason for advocating their adoption arose. Their efficacy had been frequently acknowledged by the highest authorities, but as England was at peace, nothing more than an acknowledgment was made. The outbreak of our war with Russia induced Lord Dundonald to bring them forward again in 1853. At first Sir James Graham declined to entertain the subject. The Government believed that Russia would be easily and promptly defeated by the ordinary means of warfare, and therefore contented itself with them. In this decision Lord Dundonald acquiesced perforce; but, on its appearing that the fight would be harder than had been anticipated, he again claimed a hearing for his proposals, believing that by their acceptance he could not only bring his own career as a British seaman to a glorious termination, but also – a yet dearer object to him – by so doing render inestimable service to his country.

In this spirit he wrote again to Sir James Graham on the 22nd of July, 1854. "Important aggressive enterprises," he said, "being now suspended by Russia, whose armies, on the defensive, may indefinitely prolong the war, and thereby expose our country to perilous consequences, resulting from protracted naval co-operation, I am desirous, through you, respectfully to offer for the consideration of her Majesty's Cabinet Ministers a simple yet effective plan of operations, showing that the maritime defences of Cronstadt, however strong against ordinary means of attack, may be captured, and their red-hot shot and incendiary missiles, prepared for the destruction of our ships, turned on those they protect; a result of paramount importance, now that the forces in the Black Sea have been diverted from the judiciously-contemplated attack on Sebastopol, compared to the success of which any secondary enterprise in the Baltic would prove of very small importance to the successful result of the war. Permit me, therefore, in the event of my plans being approved, unreservedly to offer my services, without command or authority, except over the very limited means of attack, the success whereof cannot fail in its consequences to free and ensure, perhaps for ever, all minor states from Russian dominion. Personal acquaintance with Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier and Rear-Admiral Chads warrants my conviction that no feeling of rivalry could exist, save in the zealous performance of the service."

Sir James Graham's reply was complimentary. "You offer for the consideration of her Majesty's Government," he wrote on the 26th of July, "a plan of operations by which the maritime defences of Cronstadt may, in your opinion, be captured; and in the most handsome manner you declare your readiness to direct and superintend the execution of your plan, if it should be adopted. When the great interests at stake are considered, and when the fatal effects of a possible failure are duly regarded, it is apparent that the merits of your plan and the chances of success must be fully investigated and weighed by competent authority. The Cabinet, unaided, can form no judgment in this matter, and the tender of your services is most properly made by you dependent on the previous approval of your plan. The question is a naval one, into which professional considerations must enter largely. Naval officers, therefore, of experience and high character are the judges to whom, in the first instance, this question ought to be submitted. Let me therefore ask you, before I take any further step, whether you are willing, in strict confidence, to lay your whole plan before Sir Bryan Martin, Sir William Parker, and Admiral Berkeley, who, from his place at this Board, is my first naval adviser? If you do not object to this measure, or to any of the naval officers whom I have named, I should be disposed to add Sir John Burgoyne, the head of the Engineers, on whose judgment I place great reliance. I am sure that you will not regard this mode of treating your proposal as inconsistent with the respect which I sincerely entertain for your high professional character, resting on past services of no ordinary merit, which I have never failed to recognise. But my duty on this occasion prescribes caution and deliberate care; and you will do justice to the motives by which this answer to your request is guided."

To this suggestion Lord Dundonald readily acceded, and his secret war-plans were once more referred to a committee of investigation. Nothing, however, was gained by this step. "I have received," wrote Sir James Graham on the 15th of August, "the report of the committee of officers to whom, with your consent, the plan for the attack on Cronstadt was submitted. On the whole, after careful consideration, they have come to the unanimous conclusion that it is inexpedient to try experiments in present circumstances. They do full justice to your lordship, and they expressly state that, if such an enterprise were to be undertaken, it could not be confided to fitter or abler hands than yours; for your professional career has been distinguished by remarkable instances of skill and courage, in all of which you have been the foremost to lead the way, and by your personal heroism you have gained an honourable celebrity in the naval history of this country."

That letter was disappointing to Lord Dundonald; but, as the value of his plans was not disputed, he hoped that he might yet be allowed to put them in execution. "Be pleased," he said in his reply to Sir James Graham, "to accept the sincere assurance of the high estimation in which I hold the kind and favourable expression of your sentiments towards me. It is indeed gratifying to perceive that the experienced admirals to whom you referred the professional consideration of my secret plan have not expressed any doubt of its practicability."

The report of the admirals, however, had as unfavourable an effect as could have resulted had they declared openly against the project. Week followed week without any successful issue to the efforts of the Baltic fleet; and added to Lord Dundonald's chagrin at not being permitted to achieve the desired success, was his distress at finding unmerited blame thrown by the Government, and by nearly all classes of the public, upon a brave and skilful seaman, for not doing what, with the means at his disposal, it was impossible for him to do. Admiral Sir Charles Napier had failed, through no fault of his own, in the project for attacking Cronstadt, a fortress of almost unrivalled strength, and, by reason of the shallow water surrounding it, unapproachable by the heavy line-of-battle ships and frigates which constituted all his force; and during the months of his necessary inactivity, and after his return to England, Lord Dundonald was almost his only defender. "In justice to Admiral Napier, against whom 'the indignant dissatisfaction of the nation' is said to be directed," he wrote in a letter to the "Morning Post," on the 21st of September, "permit me to say that success could not have attended the operations of ships against stone batteries firing red-hot shot, however easily unresisting walls may be leisurely demolished. There is but one means to place these parties on an equal footing, and that I confidentially laid before the Government."

"The unreasoning portion of the public," he wrote to Sir James Graham on the 11th of November, "have made an outcry against old admirals, as if it were essential that they should be able to clear their way with a broadsword. But, my dear Sir James, were it necessary – which it is not – that I should place myself in an arm-chair on the poop, with each leg on a cushion, I will undertake to subdue every insular fortification at Cronstadt within four hours from the commencement of the attack." And Sebastopol, he urged, could be as easily captured, if he were only allowed to put his plans in operation. But it was not allowed. "Nothing new can be attempted at the present moment," answered Sir James Graham. "Winter will put an end to all active operations in the Baltic; and I still venture to hope that at Sebastopol our arms will be triumphant."

Lord Dundonald, though pained, not so much on his own account as in the interests of the nation, at the way in which his offers were treated, persevered in making them. It was now too late in the season to effect anything in the Baltic; but the siege of Sebastopol was being carried on without any immediate prospect of success; and he yearned, with all the ardour that he had displayed half a century before, for an opportunity of rendering success both certain and immediate.

To this end he wrote again to Sir James Graham, and also for the first time to the Earl of Aberdeen, on the 30th of December. "The pertinacious resistance made at Sebastopol, and the possibility of events that may still further disappoint expectation," he said to Sir James, "have induced me to address Lord Aberdeen, saying that 'if it is the opinion of the Cabinet, or of those whom they consult on military affairs, that, failing the early capture of Sebastopol, the British army may be in danger, I offer to the discernment of the Cabinet my still secret plans of attack,' whereby the garrisons would be expelled from the forts or annihilated, in defiance of numerical force, and possession obtained, at least during sufficient time to enable the chief defences to be blown up and the harbour fleet to be destroyed. If you will so far favour me, I should be gratified by having an opportunity of demonstrating to your strong mind, free from professional bias, the fact that combustible ships may be not only placed on a parity with stone forts fitted to fire red-hot shot, but secured from injury more effectually than if incased in iron."