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

Lord Cochrane wrote to the same effect to the Governor of Zante. "I have left the piratical vessel with a petty officer and sufficient crew to blockade Prodana, until you can send and seize the pirates, should you think proper, as they have been plundering and annoying the trade of the Ionian Islands. I send two of the pirates in irons, in order that, obtaining further information, you may deal with them and with the others according to the law of nations."

That instance of the policy adopted by Lord Cochrane will help to show how he set himself to put down piracy. The work was not easy, as the lawless conduct was secretly authorised by the Government, and practised with very little secresy by great numbers of the national vessels. It was in vain that he issued the proclamation of the 27th of October, that has been quoted; in vain, too, that he sent two gunboats to visit all the principal ports, with fresh injunctions against piracy and with authority to compel obedience to those injunctions, if necessary, by force. Good work, however, was done by these gunboats, in conjunction with two brigs detached for the purpose, in escorting neutral trading vessels through the waters most infested by the sea-robbers.

Slowly and painfully the conviction was forced upon Lord Cochrane that, after all his previous failures in attempting to turn the lawless Greeks into honest patriots and to convert their ill-manned ships into members of an efficient navy, his labours were now more useless than ever. After a fortnight's cruising about Navarino, he retraced his course and anchored, on the 3rd of December, off Egina, where the so-called Government was then located. To it he wrote on that day, asking for directions as to his mode of procedure. "The squadron under my command," he said, "has been in the blockade of Coron, Modon, and Navarino, and I have to inform your excellencies that there yet exists in the port of Navarino a naval force, under the Turkish flag, superior to the force under my command. I have, therefore, felt it my duty to repair to this port, in order that I may obtain instructions for my guidance, more especially as the Turkish squadron is ready for sea, and said to be destined for Candia, with ten thousand men, intending there to repeat the barbarities which the want of provisions in the Morea renders it impossible they can longer perpetrate in that quarter. There is also a great number of captive women and children about to be transported as slaves, and the only force of the allied powers off Navarino consists of a small brig, the Pelican, which is totally inadequate to impede the naval operations of the Turks. Under these circumstances, I beg to be explicitly informed whether I am to consider that 'the armistice de facto' continues, and if you have any doubt on the subject that you will be pleased candidly to inform me, that I may not be led into error and so increase the evils by doing anything in opposition to the intentions of the allied powers."

That letter was answered by a personal visit from the members of the Government, when Lord Cochrane was informed that the triumvirate was so embarrassed by the demands of the allied powers for restitution on account of piracies committed with its approval that it could neither do nor sanction anything at all. He was told that even the scanty means that he had had for supporting the fleet out of the revenues of the islands could no longer be allowed to him, as every dollar that could any how be collected would be required for other purposes.

Still, however, the Government expected him to continue his work, and he was even asked to do work from which, both for his own honour and in the interests of Greece, he felt bound to abstain. "I have received your letter," he wrote to the Secretary, about ten days afterwards, from Poros, "informing me that it is the desire of the Government that a national vessel shall be despatched to Chios, in the event of my being prevented from personally proceeding in the Hellas to that island. In reply to this intimation, I have to state to you that it is impossible for me, consistently with the duties which I owe to Greece, to place the national squadron, whilst it shall continue under my command, or any part thereof, under circumstances to be treated by the ships-of-war of the allied powers after the manner set forth in the letter of the 24th of October, addressed by the three admirals to the Legislative Assembly, – a determination which is even more painful to me than the grief I feel at finding myself involved, notwithstanding all my precautions, in the restrictions and penalties justly laid upon privateers and pirates. I cannot trust myself to say more on this subject, lest I should be led by my feelings to pass the bounds which I prescribe to myself as an officer when treating of the conduct of the Government which he serves. If Chios remains unprotected, if Candia is deprived of the aid it might receive from the national marine, and if the ships-of-war are incapacitated from extending the bounds of Greece, I have the consolation of knowing that I have used my utmost endeavours to prevent the evils I foresaw. One of these, however, I was far from anticipating, – namely, that the revenues which I was authorised to collect for the service of the marine would have been withdrawn from my control and expended for other purposes; more particularly that sums so diverted should be placed to the account of the marine, without the objects for which they were employed having received my sanction or even been known by me.

"I have struggled during eight months in the service of Greece against difficulties far greater than all I ever encountered before; and I would most willingly continue to contend with these, did I find the slightest co-operation in any quarter. But, as the Government has withdrawn de facto the resources decreed, and the seamen decline to embark without pay in advance, and the funds, arising from the philanthropy of other European nations, which supplied the navy with the means of subsistence, are wholly exhausted, I have no alternative but to lay the ships up in port, until means to defray the expenses of the navy shall be found. I have myself, during the last month, paid the Greeks in the naval service; but whilst I see that even the share of prizes claimed by Government is diverted from its proper use, I shall not continue to be answerable for future expenses, nor for the liquidation of the just claims of the foreign officers, which they have had the patience to leave in arrears for many months."

It had come to this. Lord Cochrane had been devoting all his energies to the service of Greece; and now he found himself deserted by his employers, or only retained in the hope that he would be an unpaid agent in piratical and lawless proceedings.

That last circumstance was to him the most painful of all. Having done his utmost to restrain the piracy that was rife, he was still regarded by the governing triumvirate as only the most powerful instrument for achievements that were little better than piratical; and the same cruel misrepresentation of his functions was common among his enemies in England and other parts of Europe. Colour for this misrepresentation appeared in the celebrated letter written by the three admirals on the 24th of October, which, describing the national fleet as a mere crowd of "Greek corsairs," by implication included Lord Cochrane and his English supporters in the same opprobrium. This had not at first been perceived by him. On his detecting the insult, he wrote to the representatives of the three powers three letters, which here need to be quoted in his justification.

The first was addressed, on the 13th of December, to Captain Le Blanc, commander of the Junon. "The silence respecting the regular forces under my orders," he said, "observed in the letter of the admirals of the mediating powers, dated October the 24th, 1827, appearing to make no distinction between them and the mere pirates, hanging over both the same accusations, and subjecting consequently the former to the restrictions wisely adopted towards the latter, makes it my duty, both towards the country which I serve, towards the officers under my command, and towards myself, to protest publicly and in the face of Europe, against the interpretations to which such a document seems to give foundation. The detailed account of the conduct of those ships of war which are under my immediate orders, and which compose the national squadron of Greece, will prove that no neutral vessel whatever has been seized, driven out of its course, or stopped by them under any pretext whatever, with the exception of such as have broken the blockade of Lepanto, the detention of which is legalized by the act above mentioned. These facts are undeniable. The conduct of the officers of the national squadron has been conformable, in all points, to the laws of nations and to the instructions issued by the admirals, in their character of representatives of the mediating Powers. No hostility has been committed by the national vessels against the territory or the forces of the Turco-Egyptian Government, placed beyond the prescribed limits of Lepanto. But, if such be the state of things, I have the right of sending on a mission, for the public service, ships of war beyond these limits, and, availing myself of that right, I have despatched two (the one to Corfu, and the other to Syra), the destination of which relates to the finances of the navy. Be pleased, sir, to communicate the contents of this letter to Admiral de Rigny, with whom you have communicated verbally on the subject, and explain to him the propriety of this step, to avoid explanations with which it is not necessary that the public should intermix."

The second letter, dated the 5th of January, 1828, was to the commander of the Russian frigate Constantine. "Although I am aware," wrote Lord Cochrane, "that his excellency, Count Heyden, when he affixed his signature to the letter of the Admirals, addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Greece, dated the 24th of October, could not attest, of his own knowledge, the truth of the imputations contained in the said document; yet, as the public may not recollect that the recent arrival of the Count precluded the possibility of his being in the slightest degree acquainted with facts regarding the regular naval service under my command, I expect from the Count, that so soon as he shall have informed himself on the subject, he will take the necessary steps to remove an evil impression which he unconsciously has contributed to produce, and thus save me, in as far as the Count is concerned, the necessity, always disagreeable, even of a satisfactory refutation of the imputations cast upon me as Commander-in-Chief of the Greek fleet."

The third letter was to Commodore Hamilton, of the Cambrian, who had been left by Sir Edward Codrington to represent the British squadron in the Archipelago. "The Government of Greece having acquiesced in the offer made by the three Powers to mediate in her behalf," wrote Lord Cochrane, "it became my duty to obey the decision of the admirals representing those Powers, when duly communicated. But whilst my official situation demands acquiescence on points of a public nature, it is far otherwise when the Admirals give reasons affecting the character of the regular naval service of Greece, in justification of restrictions imposed by them on the movements of the squadron I command, accompanied by threats to destroy the Greek vessels of war, in order to prevent asserted piracy. You, sir, who are accurately acquainted with facts, and now possess ample means of ascertaining the truth here upon the spot, must know, or may learn, that no neutral vessel has been seized or disturbed in her course by the national squadron on the high seas, nor any vessel detained, except those acting in violation of the blockades acknowledged by these very Admirals. Is it not then extraordinary that such limitations and menaces on false grounds should originate with persons whose high official situations would seem to sanction imputation under their signatures? I have told the French and Russian commanders, and I hope you will assure the British Admiral, that I shall be loth to trespass on public attention with explanations, to refute their joint letter of the 24th of October, in justification of those under my orders; but it will become me so to do unless a satisfactory interpretation shall be given to expressions which, at present, seem even more particularly personal to myself."

That was almost the last letter written by Lord Cochrane in Greece for many months. Finding his position as First Admiral of the Greek navy, without work to do or crews to direct, unbearable, he had resolved upon a fresh expedient for attempting to improve the state of affairs. Before that, however, he made a last attempt to gain support from the nominal Government, and uttered a last protest against its mode of procedure. "I have strenuously endeavoured," he wrote on the 18th of December, "to avoid laying before you any complaint, more particularly concerning acts done by your excellencies; but there is a point at which such forbearance on my part would become a dereliction of my duty as an officer in the service of Greece, amounting even to treason against the State. So long as the evils extended no further than the depriving the ships-of-war of their crews, and preventing the brulottes from being equipped for service; so long as the injury occasioned by the granting of numerous licences to privateers only prevented naval operations from being carried on against the enemy, I remained silent. But now that the conduct of those privateers has brought down upon the Greek nation a threat of being placed out of the law of nations, and has involved the national squadron, unmeritedly, in the disgrace attached to those who have been guilty of unlawful acts, it is my duty to notify to your excellencies that I consider all authorities given without my intervention to armed vessels, of any description, for belligerent purposes, to be illegal, and that I have given orders to the national vessels under my authority to seize them, wherever they may be found, that they may be judged according to the law of nations." "I have been waiting with anxiety," he wrote in another letter, a few days later, "for the occurrence of events which would have rendered it unnecessary for me to enter into any correspondence with your excellencies on pecuniary matters; but, unfortunately, my anticipations on this head having been disappointed, and the squadron being without even the provisions necessary for the maintenance of the few men required on board the ships when at anchor, it has become an imperious duty no longer to delay calling upon your excellencies to fulfil the engagement entered into relative to the appropriation of two-thirds of the revenues of the islands, which you have thought fit to apply to other purposes."

To neither letter was any satisfactory answer sent by the authorities, and Lord Cochrane, after all his previous troubles, believed that none would ever be obtained. He therefore suddenly resolved to leave Greece for a time, to go himself to England and France, and there, by personal communication with the leading Philhellenes, to describe the actual condition of Greece, and to see if any better state of affairs could be brought about. This resolution he announced on the 1st of January, 1828, to Count Capodistrias, who, having been elected President of Greece nearly nine months before, and having accepted that office, had not yet thought fit to enter upon it or to do anything towards repairing the shattered fortunes and retrieving the violated honour of the State of which he was nominally the head.

"On my return home from Brazil," said Lord Cochrane, in this memorable letter, "I was pressed by various friends of Greece to engage in the service of a people struggling to free themselves from oppression and slavery. My inclination was consonant to theirs. It was stipulated that, for the objects in view, six steam-vessels should be rapidly built, and that two old vessels of war, or Indiamen, should be purchased and manned with foreign seamen. The engines for the steam-vessels were to be high-pressure, these being the easiest constructed and managed; and two American frigates, when finished, were also to be placed under my authority. The failure of the engineer, through disgraceful ignorance or base treachery, in the proper construction of the engines – the want of funds to procure the old vessels of war or Indiamen with foreign seamen – and the retention of one of the frigates built in North America, deprived me of the whole of the stipulated force, except the Hellas. It is needless to remark that with one frigate I was unable to effect that which has since required eleven European ships of the line, aided by many frigates and smaller vessels, to accomplish. Under these circumstances, it became my duty to confine myself to desultory operations, secretly conducted against the enemy.

"The difficulties I have had to contend with, even in these excursions," he continued, "can best be appreciated by the few foreign European officers who accompanied me. The obstinate refusal of the Greek seamen to embark or perform the smallest service without being paid in advance – the contempt with which the elder portion of the seamen treated every endeavour to promote regularity and maintain silence in exercising the great guns and other evolutions, rendered their improvement hopeless; and the enlistment of young seamen, whilst the old were rejected, has been rendered extremely difficult by reason of the influence of the latter, and by the prejudice excited against a regular naval service by influential individuals, whose power and importance are thereby diminished in the maritime islands. The frequent mutinies or resistance to authority, and the numerous instances in which I have been obliged to return to port or abstain from going to sea are recorded, as to dates and circumstances, in the log-book of the Hellas, together with the disgraceful conduct of the crew in the stripping and robbing of prisoners, and their want of coolness in the presence of an enemy – exemplified on our attacking a small frigate and a corvette near Clarenza, and by the firing of upwards of four hundred round shot, on a subsequent occasion, at the corvette now named Hydra, without hitting the hull of that vessel four times, although she was within a hundred yards of the Hellas. Such was the confusion excited by the contiguity even of so inferior an enemy. It is not my intention to trouble you at present with detail; yet I cannot suffer to pass unnoticed that certain commanders, and the seamen of the majority of the fireships – in the use of which vessels rested my last hopes – failed in their duty on the only two important occasions when their services were required; once at Alexandria in the presence of the enemy, as the brave Kanaris can well testify; and again by the crews abandoning their duty and embarking in privateers, many of them after having received pay in advance for their services. Indeed – encouraged by privateering licenses – insubordination, outrage, and piracy have arrived at such a pitch that these very national fireships, stripped not only of their rigging, but of their anchors and cables, are now drifting about the harbour of Poros. A neutral boat, detained by the Hellas for violation of blockade, has been plundered by those sent in charge of her; and scarcely a vessel can pass between the islands, or along the shore, without the passengers and property being exposed to brutal violence and plunder. A darker period is yet approaching if decisive measures are not adopted for the suppression of outrages like these.

"I am ready to serve Greece, and to aid in any way in the accomplishment of the arduous task you have undertaken; but, on the fullest consideration of circumstances, I feel that I should practise a deception were I to contribute to the belief that the few foreign officers in the naval service can put a stop to these disorders, which must finally involve the character of that very service, already prematurely brought in question by the conduct of vessels unlawfully commissioned by the temporary Government. I have, in consequence of this opinion, come to the resolution to exert myself to procure adequate means to execute the duties of an office in which my efforts hitherto have been all counteracted; and I the more readily adopt this resolution as, during the winter months, it is impossible to navigate the Hellas in these narrow seas with a crew of young inexperienced Greek seamen, and still more impracticable to manage her with old ones of Turkish habits. I may, indeed, add that, until the communication addressed on the 24th of October by the three admirals to the Legislative Assembly shall be cancelled, it is hopeless to attempt any naval enterprise in favour of Greece, even had Admiral de Rigny not super-added his commands 'that all Greek vessels, armed for war, found beyond twelve miles from the shores of continental Greece, between Volo and Lepanto, shall be destroyed.' I repeat that I have taken my determination, not from any private feeling of disgust at the above disgraceful restrictions brought by the temporary Government; nor from their misappropriation of the revenues allotted to maritime purposes, and the consequent want of pay, stores, and even provisions for the ships of war; nor from the painful feeling that the crippled ships of the enemy are thereby enabled to depart in security, dragging with them four thousand Grecian captives to slavery; nor from the impossibility of reducing their maritime fortifications, while the Greeks, unpunished, are the chief violators of the blockade; but I have resolved to proceed to England without loss of time, that I may render better service to Greece. If you aid me with means, my object as to seamen will be ensured. Sober, steady men can be obtained from the northern nations, who will do their duty, and, since precept is useless, teach the Greeks by example. Then piracy may cease and commerce may flourish. Be your intention in regard to the steam-vessels still in England what it may, foreign seamen are indispensable to the interests of Greece and to your own; and the expense of bringing them here will be little increased if these steamers, fitted under my inspection, shall become the means of their conveyance. The hardship of a winter's voyage to the North, in a small vessel, I shall deem amply repaid if I can accomplish these objects, expose the injustice and impolicy of certain measures, and bring the real wants of Greece to the knowledge of a liberal and enlightened administration."

On the same New Year's Day Lord Cochrane wrote, explaining his resolution, to Dr. Gosse, who, of all the Philhellenes in Greece, had rendered him most efficient service in his thankless task, and most zealously encouraged him, throughout a long series of failures for which he was in no way answerable, to persevere in struggling for success. "My dear friend and fellow-sufferer," he said, "in conformity with your wish and opinion, I have tolerated my mental load of grievances until the new year; but as it is essential to commence it well in order that measures may prosper to the end, I have resolved to put my intention in execution, regardless of the officious tongues of those of microscopic views who may deem that my time might be well employed in balancing the rivalships of barbarous seamen or protecting the movable stores of the immovable Hellas. In my present state of official insignificance I could render no other service. I have stated a few of my reasons in a letter to Capodistrias, for his private information, when he shall assume the office of president. I hope these will suffice, and that he will communicate his desire, which shall be duly attended to."

In accordance with his new resolution, Lord Cochrane transferred the command of the Hellas, and such control of the whole navy as was possible, to Admiral Miaoulis. He left Poros in the little schooner Unicorn, on the 10th of January, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 11th of February. "The anxiety and disappointment," he said, writing to M. Eynard from Portsmouth on the following day, "which I experienced in regard to the steam-vessels and other means that were to have been placed at my disposal are trifling, when compared to the distress I have felt at finding my only remaining hope of rendering effectual service to Greece destroyed by the impossibility of inducing the Greek seamen to submit to the slightest restraint on their inclinations, or to render the most trifling service without being paid in advance, or to perform such service after being so paid, if it suited their interest or convenience to evade the fulfilment of their engagement. More than six crews have passed under my review on board the Hellas in the course of as many months, exclusive of those in other vessels, and, notwithstanding all that has been written to praise the courage of the Greek seamen, they are collectively the greatest cowards I have ever met with. No service of any difficulty or danger can be undertaken with such men without the greatest risk of being compromised by the confusion they create, and the impossibility of causing orders to be obeyed. Indeed, though styled Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Naval Forces, I have, since the 12th of April last, when I hoisted my flag, been, in truth, under the control of wild and frantic savages, whose acts are guided by momentary impulses or heedless avidity to grasp some immediate pecuniary or petty advantage, regardless of any prospect of future benefit, however great, to their country or to themselves. To give you an idea of the character of men suddenly emancipated from a state of the most degrading and abject slavery, in which state cunning, deception, and fraud, if not absolutely requisite, were convenient and profitable, of their present arrogancy, ignorance, despotism, and cruelty, when safe opportunity offers for revenge, would require that a diary should be laid before you of events which have actually occurred. The confidence you were pleased to repose in me, and the friendly offices for which I am indebted to you would have imposed upon me the task of transmitting to you such detail, had the state of my mind, harassed by constant contrarieties, permitted.