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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of
+Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N., by Lady Biddulph of Ledbury
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N.
+       A Memoir
+
+Author: Lady Biddulph of Ledbury
+
+Posting Date: November 1, 2014 [EBook #7192]
+Release Date: December, 2004
+First Posted: March 26, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES PHILIP YORKE, FOURTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tonya Allen, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo,
+Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES PHILIP YORKE
+
+FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE
+
+VICE-ADMIRAL R.N.
+
+A MEMOIR
+
+
+
+BY HIS DAUGHTER
+
+THE LADY BIDDULPH OF LEDBURY
+
+
+
+WITH PORTRAITS
+
+
+
+DEDICATED
+
+TO HIS GRANDCHILDREN
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+It is with great diffidence that I lay this memoir before the public;
+it is my first experience in such work, but my reasons for so doing
+appear to me unanswerable. It was to my care and judgment that my
+father, by his will, committed his letters and journals, and my heart
+confirms the judgment of my mind, that his active and interesting life,
+so varied in the many different positions he was called upon to fill,
+and the considerable part he played in the affairs of his time, deserve
+a fuller record than the accounts to be found in biographical works of
+reference.
+
+It has been a labour of love to me to supply these omissions in the
+following pages, and to present in outline the life of a capable,
+energetic Englishman, for whom I can at least claim that he was a loyal
+and devoted servant of his Sovereign and his country.
+
+In fulfilling what I hold to be a filial obligation I have made no
+attempt to give literary form to a work which, so far as possible, is
+based upon my father's own words. Primarily it is addressed to his
+grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to whom, I trust, it may serve
+as an inspiration; but I have also some hope that a story which touches
+the national life at so many points may prove of interest to the
+general public. I am greatly indebted to my son, Mr. Adeane, and to my
+son-in-law, Mr. Bernard Mallet, for the help and encouragement they
+have given me; and I have also to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. W.
+B. Boulton in editing and preparing these papers for publication.
+
+ELIZABETH PHILIPPA BIDDULPH.
+
+LEDBURY: January 1910.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I. THE YORKE FAMILY
+
+II. ALGIERS. 1815-1816
+
+III. THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION. 1817-1822
+
+IV. GREEK PIRACY. 1823-1826
+
+V. A HOLIDAY IN NORTHERN REGIONS. 1828
+
+VI. GREEK INDEPENDENCE. 1829-1831
+
+VII. COURT DUTIES AND POLITICS. 1831-1847
+
+VIII. GENOA. 1849
+
+IX. POLITICS AND LAST YEARS. 1850-1873
+
+INDEX
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF PORTRAITS
+
+
+CHARLES PHILIP, FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE From a painting by E. U. Eddis
+
+
+THE HONBLE. CHARLES YORKE SOLICITOR-GENERAL From a painting by Allan
+Ramsay (?)
+
+SIR JOSEPH SYDNEY YORKE As A MIDSHIPMAN, R.N. From a painting by George
+Romney
+
+SIR JOSEPH SYDNEY YORKE As A LIEUTENANT, R.N. from a painting by George
+Romney
+
+CHARLES PHILIP, FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE From a chalk drawing by E. U.
+Eddis
+
+SUSAN, COUNTESS OF HARDWICKE From a chalk drawing by E. U. Eddis
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES PHILIP YORKE
+
+FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE YORKE FAMILY
+
+
+The family of Yorke first came into prominence with the great
+Chancellor Philip Yorke, first Earl of Hardwicke. This remarkable man,
+who was the son of an attorney at Dover, descended, it is claimed, from
+the Yorkes of Hannington in North Wiltshire, a family of some
+consequence in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was born in that
+town in the year 1690, and rose from a comparatively humble station to
+the commanding position he held so long in English public life.
+
+My object in this chapter is to recall some of the incidents of his
+career and of those of his immediate successors and descendants.
+
+Philip Yorke was called to the bar in 1715, became Solicitor-General
+only five years later, and was promoted to be Attorney-General in 1723.
+In 1733 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of England, and received
+the Great Seal as Lord Chancellor in 1737, and when his life closed his
+political career had extended over a period of fifty years.
+
+Lord Campbell, the author of the 'Lives of the Chancellors,' 'that
+extraordinary work which was held to have added a new terror to death,
+and a fear of which was said to have kept at least one Lord Chancellor
+alive,' claimed to lay bare the shortcomings of the subjects of his
+memoirs with the same impartiality with which he pointed out their
+excellences. He mentions only two failings of Lord Chancellor
+Hardwicke: one, that he was fond of acquiring wealth, the other, that
+he was of an overweening pride to those whom he considered beneath him.
+Neither of these is a very serious charge, and as both are
+insufficiently corroborated, one may let them pass. He acquired immense
+wealth in the course of his professional career, but in an age of
+corruption he was remarked for his integrity, and was never suspected
+or accused of prostituting his public position for private ends. In his
+capacity of Attorney-General Lord Campbell remarks of him:
+
+'This situation he held above thirteen years, exhibiting a model of
+perfection to other law officers of the Crown. He was punctual and
+conscientious in the discharge of his public duty, never neglecting it
+that he might undertake private causes, although fees were supposed to
+be particularly sweet to him.'
+
+But it was as a judge that he won imperishable fame, and one of his
+biographers observes: [Footnote: See Dictionary of National Biography.]
+'It is hardly too much to say that during his prolonged tenure of the
+Great Seal (from 1737 to 1755) he transformed equity from a chaos of
+precedents into a scientific system.' Lord Campbell states that 'his
+decisions have been, and ever will continue to be, appealed to as
+fixing the limits and establishing the principles of that great
+juridical system called Equity, which now, not only in this country and
+in our colonies, but over the whole extent of the United States of
+America, regulates property and personal rights more than ancient
+Common Law.'
+
+He had a 'passion to do justice, and displayed the strictest
+impartiality; and his chancellorship' is 'looked back upon as the
+golden age of equity.' The Chancellor is said to have been one of the
+handsomest men of his day, and 'his personal advantages, which included
+a musical voice, enhanced the effect of his eloquence, which by its
+stately character was peculiarly adapted to the House of Lords.'
+[Footnote: Ibid.]
+
+This is not the place for an estimate of Lord Hardwicke's political
+career, which extended over the whole period from the reign of Queen
+Anne to that of George III, and brought him into intimate association
+with all the statesmen of his age. It was more especially as the
+supporter of the Pelham interest and the confidant and mentor of the
+Duke of Newcastle that he exercised for many years a predominant
+influence on the course of national affairs both at home and abroad.
+During the absence of George II from the realm in 1740 and subsequently
+he was a member, and by no means the least important member, of the
+Council of Regency. 'He was,' writes Campbell, 'mainly instrumental in
+keeping the reigning dynasty of the Brunswicks on the throne'; he was
+the adviser of the measures for suppressing the Jacobite rebellion in
+1745, he presided as Lord High Steward with judicial impartiality at
+the famous trial of the rebel Lords, and was chiefly responsible for
+the means taken in the pacification of Scotland, the most questionable
+of which was the suppression of the tartan! Good fortune, as is usually
+the case when a man rises to great eminence, played its part in his
+career. He had friends who early recognised his ability and gave him
+the opportunities of which he was quick to avail himself. He took the
+tide at its flood and was led on to fortune; but, as Campbell justly
+observes, 'along with that good luck such results required lofty
+aspirations, great ability, consummate prudence, rigid self-denial, and
+unwearied industry.' His rise in his profession had undoubtedly been
+facilitated by his marriage to Margaret Cocks, a favourite niece of
+Lord Chancellor Somers, himself one of the greatest of England's
+lawyer-statesmen. There is a story that when asked by Lord Somers what
+settlement he could make on his wife, he answered proudly, 'Nothing but
+the foot of ground I stand on in Westminster Hall.' Never was the
+self-confidence of genius more signally justified than in his case. Not
+only was his own rise to fame and fortune unprecedently rapid, but he
+became the founder of a family many of whose members have since played
+a distinguished part in the public and social life of the country. By
+Margaret Cocks he had, with two daughters, five sons, the eldest of
+whom enhanced the fortunes of the family by his marriage with Jemima,
+daughter of the Earl of Breadalbane, heiress of Wrest and the other
+possessions of the extinct Dukedom of Kent, and afterwards Marchioness
+Grey and Baroness Lucas of Grudwell in her own right. Of his next son
+Charles, the second Chancellor, something will presently be said.
+Another son, Joseph, was a soldier and diplomatist. He was aide-de-camp
+to the Duke of Cumberland at Fontenoy; and afterwards, as Sir Joseph
+Yorke, Ambassador at the Hague. He died Lord Dover. A fourth son, John,
+married Miss Elizabeth Lygon, of Madresfield. The fifth son, James,
+entered the Church, became Bishop of Ely, and was the ancestor of the
+Yorkes of Forthampton. I had the luck many years ago to have a talk
+with an old verger in Ely Cathedral who remembered Bishop Yorke, and
+who told me that he used to draw such congregations by the power of his
+oratory and the breadth of his teaching, that when he preached, all the
+dissenting chapels in the neighbourhood were closed!
+
+It was in 1770, only six years after Lord Hardwicke's death which
+occurred in London on March 6, 1764, that his second son Charles (born
+in 1722) was sworn in as Lord Chancellor. His brilliant career ended in
+a tragedy which makes it one of the most pathetic in our political
+history. Although unlike his father in person he was intellectually his
+equal, and might have rivalled his renown had he possessed his firmness
+and resolution of character. He was educated at Cambridge, and before
+the age of twenty had given evidence of his precocity as the principal
+author (after his brother Philip) of the 'Athenian Letters,' a supposed
+correspondence between Cleander, an agent of the King of Persia
+resident in Athens, and his brother and friends in Persia. Destined to
+the law from his childhood, Charles Yorke was called to the bar in
+1743, and rapidly advanced in his profession. Entering the House of
+Commons as member for Reigate in 1747, he later succeeded his brother
+as member for Cambridge, and one of his best speeches in the House was
+made in defence of his father against an onslaught by Henry Fox. But in
+spite of his brilliant prospects and great reputation he always envied
+those who were able to lead a quiet life, and he thus wrote to his
+friend Warburton, afterwards Bishop of Gloucester:
+
+'I endeavour to convince myself it is dangerous to converse with you,
+for you show me so much more happiness in the quiet pursuits of
+knowledge and enjoyments of friendship than is to be found in lucre or
+ambition, that I go back into the world with regret, where few things
+are to be obtained without more agitation both of reason and the
+passions, than either moderate parts or a benevolent mind can support.'
+
+Charles Yorke was an intimate friend of Montesquieu, the famous author
+of the 'Esprit des Lois' and the most far-seeing of those whose
+writings preceded and presaged the French Revolution, who wrote, '_Mes
+sentiments pour vous sont gravés dans mon cœur et dans mon esprit d'une
+manière à ne s'effacer jamais_.'
+
+On the formation of a government by the Duke of Devonshire in 1756,
+Charles Yorke was sworn in, at the early age of thirty-three, as
+Solicitor-General, and retained that office through the elder Pitt's
+glorious administration. In 1762 he accepted from Lord Bute the
+Attorney-Generalship, in which position he had to deal with the
+difficult questions of constitutional law raised by the publication of
+John Wilkes's _North Briton_. In November of that year, however, he
+resigned office in consequence of the strong pressure put upon him by
+Pitt, and took leave of the King in tears. Pitt failed in his object of
+enlisting Yorke's services on behalf of Wilkes in the coming
+parliamentary campaign, and the crisis ended in an estrangement between
+the two, which drove Yorke into a loose alliance with the Rockingham
+Whigs, a group of statesmen who were determined to free English
+politics from the trammels of court influence and the baser traditions
+of the party system. When, however, this party came into power in 1765,
+Yorke was disappointed of the anticipated offer of the Great Seal, and
+only reluctantly accepted the Attorney-Generalship. The ministry fell
+in the following year, partly in consequence of Pitt's reappearance in
+the House of Commons and his disastrous refusal of Rockingham's
+invitation to join his Government, though they were agreed on most of
+the important questions of the day, including that of American taxation
+and the repeal of the Stamp Act; and Pitt, who then (August 1766)
+became Lord Chatham, was commissioned to form a new government in
+which, to Yorke's mortification, he offered the Lord Chancellorship to
+Camden. Yorke thereupon resigned the Attorney-Generalship, and during
+the devious course of the ill-starred combination under Chatham's
+nominal leadership--for during the next two years Chatham was
+absolutely incapacitated from all attention to business, his policy was
+reversed by his colleagues, and America taxed by Charles Townshend--he
+maintained an 'attitude of saturnine reserve,' amusing himself with
+landscape gardening at his villa at Highgate, doing its honours to
+Warburton, Hurd, Garrick and other friends, and corresponding among
+others with Stanislas Augustus, King of Poland, to whom he had been
+introduced by his brother Sir Joseph. Gradually, however, Chatham made
+a recovery from the mental disease under which he had been labouring,
+and in January 1770 he returned to the political arena with two
+vigorous speeches in the House of Lords. His first speech spread
+consternation among the members of the Government and the King's party,
+led by the Duke of Grafton, who had assumed the duties of Prime
+Minister; and one of the first effects of his intervention was the
+resignation of Lord Camden, who had adhered to Chatham, and openly
+denounced the Duke of Grafton's arbitrary measures. This event placed
+the Court party in the utmost difficulty, and no lawyer of sufficient
+eminence was available for the post but Charles Yorke, who thus
+suddenly found within his reach the high office which had been the
+ambition of his life. The crisis was his undoing, and the whole story
+is of such interest from a family point of view, that, although it is
+well known from the brilliant pages of Sir George Trevelyan's 'Life of
+Fox,' I may be excused for telling it again, mainly in the words of two
+important memoranda preserved at the British Museum.
+
+One of these was written by Charles Yorke's brother, the second Lord
+Hardwicke, and dated nearly a year later, December 30, 1770; the other,
+dated October 20, 1772, by his widow Agneta Yorke; and the effect of
+them, to my mind, is not only to discredit the widely believed story of
+Charles Yorke's suicide, which is not even alluded to, but also to
+place his action from a public and political point of view in a more
+favourable light than that in which it is sometimes presented.
+
+Both the 'Memorials' to which I have alluded give a most vivid and
+painful account of the struggle between ambition and political
+consistency which followed upon the offer of the Chancellorship by the
+Duke of Grafton to one who was pledged by his previous action to the
+Rockingham party. Lord Hardwicke wrote:
+
+'I shall set down on this paper the extraordinary and melancholy
+circumstances which attended the offer of the Great Seal to my brother
+in January last. On the 12th of that month he received on his return
+from Tittenhanger a note from the Duke of Grafton desiring to see him.
+He sent it immediately to me and I went to Bloomsbury Square where I
+met my brother John and we had a long consultation with Mr. Yorke. He
+saw the Duke of Grafton by appointment in the evening and his grace
+made him in form and without personal cordiality an offer of the Great
+Seal, complaining heavily of Lord Camden's conduct, particularly his
+hostile speech in the House of Lords the first day of the Session. My
+brother desired a little time to consider of so momentous an affair and
+stated to the Duke the difficulties it laid him under, his grace gave
+him till Sunday in the forenoon. He, Mr. Y., called on me that morning,
+the 14th, and seemed in great perplexity and agitation. I asked him if
+he saw his way through the clamorous and difficult points upon which it
+would be immediately expected he should give his opinion, viz. the
+Middlesex Election, America and the state of Ireland, where the
+parliament had just been prorogued on a popular point. He seriously
+declared that he did not, and that he might be called upon to advise
+measures of a higher and more dangerous nature than he should choose to
+be responsible for. He was clearly of opinion that he was not sent for
+at the present juncture from predilection, but necessity, and how much
+soever the Great Seal had been justly the object of his ambition, he
+was now afraid of accepting it.
+
+'Seeing him in so low and fluttered a state of spirits and knowing how
+much the times called for a higher, I did not venture to push him on,
+and gave in to the idea he himself started, of advising to put the
+Great Seal in commission, by which time would be gained. He went from
+me to the Duke of Grafton, repeated his declining answer, and proposed
+a commission for the present, for which precedents of various times
+were not wanting. The Duke of Grafton expressed a more earnest desire
+that my brother should accept than he did at the first interview, and
+pressed his seeing the King before he took a final resolution. I saw
+him again in Montague House garden, on Monday the 15th, and he then
+seemed determined to decline, said a particular friend of his in the
+law, Mr. W. had rather discouraged him, and that nothing affected him
+with concern but the uneasiness which it might give to Mrs. Yorke.
+
+'On Tuesday forenoon the 16th, he called upon me in great agitation and
+talked of accepting. He changed his mind again by the evening when he
+saw the King at the Queen's Palace, and finally declined. He told me
+just after the audience that the King had not pressed him so strongly
+as he had expected, that he had not held forth much prospect of
+stability in administration, and that he had not talked so well to him
+as he did when he accepted the office of Attorney-General in 1765; his
+Majesty however ended the conversation very humanely and prettily, that
+"after what he had said to excuse himself, it would be cruelty to press
+his acceptance." I must here solemnly declare that my brother was all
+along in such agitation of mind that he never told me all the
+particulars which passed in the different conversations, and many
+material things may have been said to him which I am ignorant of. He
+left me soon after to call on Mr. Anson and Lord Rockingham,
+authorising me to acquaint everybody that he had absolutely declined,
+adding discontentedly that "It was the confusion of the times which
+occasioned his having taken that resolution." He appeared to me very
+much ruffled and disturbed, but I made myself easy on being informed
+that he would be quiet next day and take physic. He wanted both that
+and bleeding, for his spirits were in a fever.'
+
+Up to this point Mrs. Yorke's account, written apparently to explain
+and vindicate her own share in the transaction, tallies with that of
+her brother-in-law, except that she states that Lord Hardwicke had been
+much more favourable to the idea of Charles Yorke's acceptance than the
+above narrative leads one to suppose; according to her the family felt
+'it was too great a thing to refuse.' Lord Hardwicke's wife, the
+Marchioness Grey, indeed, had called upon Mrs. Yorke to urge it, saying
+among other things that 'the great office to which Mr. Yorke was
+invited was in the line of his profession, that though it was
+intimately connected with state affairs, yet it had not that absolute
+and servile dependance on the Court which the other ministerial offices
+had; that Mr. Yorke had already seen how vain it was to depend on the
+friendship of Lord Rockingham and his party; that the part he had acted
+had always been separate and uninfluenced, and therefore she thought he
+was quite at liberty to make choice for himself, and by taking the
+seals he would perhaps have it in his power to reconcile the different
+views of people and form an administration which might be permanent and
+lasting; that if he now refused the seals they would probably never be
+offered a second time ... and that these were Lord Hardwicke's
+sentiments as well as her own.'
+
+Lord Mansfield's advice had been more emphatic still. 'He had no doubt
+of the propriety of his accepting the Great Seal, indeed was so
+positive that Mr. Yorke told me he would hear no reason against it.'
+Mrs. Yorke herself was at first opposed to the idea; but influenced by
+such opinions and by her husband's extreme dejection after refusing the
+offer, she ended by strongly urging him to accept, and was afterwards
+blamed for having encouraged his fatal ambition. Lord Rockingham alone,
+who had been greatly dependent upon the advice and assistance of Mr.
+Yorke, 'to whom,' as Mrs. Yorke remarks, 'he could apply every moment,'
+and 'without whom he would have made no figure at all in his
+administration,' put the strongest pressure on him to decline, for
+selfish reasons as appears from Mrs. Yorke's story. It was therefore
+against the advice of his own family and 'the generality of his
+friends,' including Lord Chief Justice Wilmot, that Charles Yorke, in
+obedience to his own high sense of political honour, at first refused
+the dazzling promotion, and this fact must be recorded to his credit.
+
+The decision, however, brought no peace to his mind, and ambition
+immediately began to resume its sway. He passed a restless night, and
+said in the morning to his wife 'that he would not think of it, for he
+found whenever he was inclined to consent he could get no rest, and
+want of rest would kill him.' But after another day, Tuesday, spent in
+conference 'I believe with Lords Rockingham and Hardwicke,' he was
+persuaded, by what means does not appear, to go again to Court. Lord
+Hardwicke, who, as Sir George Trevelyan observes, played a true
+brother's part throughout the wretched business, thus continues:
+
+'Instead of taking his physic, he left it on the table after a broken
+night's rest, and went to the _levée_, was called into the closet, and
+in a manner compelled by the King to accept the Great Seal with
+expressions like these: "My sleep has been disturbed by your declining;
+do you mean to declare yourself unfit for it?" and still stronger
+afterwards, "If you will not comply, it must make an eternal break
+betwixt us." At his return from Court about three o'clock, he broke in
+unexpectedly on me, who was talking with Lord Rockingham, and gave us
+this account.
+
+We were both astounded, to use an obsolete but strong word, at so
+sudden an event, and I was particularly shocked at his being so
+overborne in a manner I had never heard of, nor could imagine possible
+between Prince and subject. I was hurt personally at the figure I had
+been making for a day before, telling everybody by his authority that
+he was determined to decline, and I was vexed at his taking no notice
+of me or the rest of the family when he accepted. All these
+considerations working on my mind at this distracting moment induced
+me, Lord Rockingham joining in it, to press him to return forthwith to
+the King, and entreat his Majesty either to allow him time till next
+morning to recollect himself, or to put the Great Seal in commission,
+as had been resolved upon. We could not prevail; he said he could not
+in honour do it, he had given his word, had been wished joy, &c. Mr.
+John Yorke came in during this conversation, and did not take much part
+in it, but seemed quite astounded. After a long altercating
+conversation, Mr. Yorke, unhappily then Lord Chancellor, departed, and
+I went to dinner.
+
+'In the evening, about eight o'clock, he called on me again, and
+acquainted me with his having been sworn in at the Queen's house, and
+that he had then the Great Seal in the coach. He talked to me of the
+title he intended to take, that of Morden, which is part of the Wimple
+estate, asked my forgiveness if he had acted improperly. We kissed and
+parted friends. A warm word did not escape either of us. When he took
+leave he seemed more composed, but unhappy. Had I been quite cool when
+he entered my room so abruptly at three o'clock I should have said
+little--wished him joy, and reserved expostulation for a calmer moment.'
+
+Mrs. Yorke's account of these 'altercating conversations' between the
+brothers, at the second of which, on the evening of the 17th, she was
+herself present, is naturally much more highly coloured. Charles Yorke
+was evidently terribly discomposed by it, speaking of Lord Hardwicke's
+language as 'exceeding all bounds of temper, reason, and even common
+civility.' 'I hope,' he said to his wife, 'he will in cooler moments
+think better of it, and my brother John also, for if I lose the support
+of my family, I shall be undone.'
+
+I need not pursue the subject of this distressing difference between
+the brothers, which no doubt assumed an altogether exaggerated
+importance in the sensitive and affectionate, but self-centred, mind of
+poor Charles Yorke, shaken as he was by the strain and struggle of
+these days, but which was probably the immediate cause of his fatal
+illness.
+
+'We returned home' (from St. James's Square), writes Mrs. Yorke, 'and
+Mr. Woodcock followed in the chariot with the Great Seal. The King had
+given it in his closet, and at the same time Mr. Yorke kissed his
+Majesty's hand on being made Baron of Morden in the county of
+Cambridge. Not once did Mr. Yorke close his eyes, though at my entreaty
+he took composing medicines.... Before morning he was determined to
+return the Great Seal, for he said if he kept it he could not live. I
+know not what I said, for I was terrified almost to death. At six
+o'clock I found him so ill that I sent for Dr. Watson, who ought
+immediately to have bled him, instead of which he contented himself
+with talking to him. He ordered him some medicine and was to see him
+again in the evening. In the meantime Mr. Yorke was obliged to rise to
+receive the different people who would crowd to him on this occasion,
+but before he left me, he assured me that when the Duke of Grafton came
+to him at night, he would resign the seals. When his company had left
+him, he came up to me, and even then, death was upon his face. He said
+he had settled all his affairs, that he should retire absolutely from
+business, and would go to Highgate the next day, and that he was
+resolved to meddle no more with public affairs. I was myself so ill
+with fatigue and anxiety that I was not able to dine with him, but Dr.
+Plumptre did; when I went to them after dinner I found Mr. Yorke in a
+state of fixed melancholy. He neither spoke to me nor to Dr. Plumptre;
+I tried every method to wake and amuse him, but in vain. I could
+support it no longer, I fell upon my knees before him and begged of him
+not to affect himself so much--that he would resume his fortitude and
+trust to his own judgment--in short, I said a great deal which I
+remember now no more; my sensations were little short of distraction at
+that time. In an hour or two after he grew much worse, and Dr. Watson
+coming in persuaded him to go to bed, and giving him a strong opiate,
+he fell asleep.
+
+But his rest was no refreshment; about the middle of the night he
+awaked in a delirium, when I again sent for Dr. Watson; towards the
+morning he was more composed, and at noon got up. In about an hour
+after he was up, he was seized with a vomiting of blood. I was not with
+him at the instant, but was soon called to him. He was almost
+speechless, but on my taking his hand in an agony of silent grief he
+looked tenderly on me, and said, "How can I repay your kindness, my
+dear love; God will reward you, I cannot; be comforted." These were the
+last words I heard him speak, for my nerves were too weak to support
+such affliction. I was therefore prevented from being in his room, and
+indeed I was incapable of giving him assistance. He lived till the next
+day, when at five o'clock in the afternoon, he changed this life for a
+better.'
+
+Lord Hardwicke meanwhile had decided to follow the very friendly and
+right opinion of Dr. Jeffreys, 'that he would do his best to support
+the part which his brother had taken,' and came to town with that
+resolution on 'Friday in the forenoon' but he found that Charles Yorke
+had been taken very ill that morning.
+
+'When I saw him on the evening of the 19th he was in bed and too much
+disordered to be talked with. There was a glimmering of hope on the
+20th in the morning, but he died that day about five in the evening.
+The patent of peerage had passed all the forms except the Great Seal,
+and when my poor brother was asked if the seal should be put to it, he
+waived it, and said "he hoped it was no longer in his custody." I can
+solemnly declare that except what passed at my house on the Wednesday
+forenoon, I had not the least difference with him throughout the whole
+transaction, not a sharp or even a warm expression passed, but we
+reasoned over the subject like friends and brothers.... In short, the
+usage he met with in 1766 when faith was broke with him, had greatly
+impaired his judgment, dejected his spirits, and made him act below his
+superior knowledge and abilities. He would seldom explain himself, or
+let his opinion be known in time to those who were ready to have acted
+with him in the utmost confidence. After the menacing language used in
+the closet to compel Mr. Yorke's acceptance and the loss which the King
+sustained by his death at that critical juncture, the most unprejudiced
+and dispassionate were surprised at the little, or rather no notice
+which was taken of his family; the not making an offer to complete the
+peerage was neither to be palliated nor justified in their opinion. It
+was due to the _Manes_ of the departed from every motive of humanity
+and decorum. Lord Hillsborough told a friend of mine, indeed, that the
+King had soon after his death spoke of him with tears in his eyes and
+enquired after the family, but it would surely not have misbecome his
+Majesty conscious of the whole of his behaviour to an able, faithful,
+and despairing subject, to have expressed that concern in a more
+particular manner, and to those who were so deeply affected by the
+melancholy event.
+
+'A worthier and better man there never was, no more learned and
+accomplished in his own profession, as well as out of it. What he
+wanted was the calm, firm judgment of his father, and he had the
+misfortune to live in times which required a double portion of it.
+Every precaution was taken by me to prepare him for the offer, and to
+persuade him to form some previous plan of conduct, but all in vain. He
+would never explain himself clearly, and left everything to chance,
+till we were all overborne, perplexed and confounded in that fatal
+interval which opened and closed the negotiation with my brother. With
+him the Somers line of the law seems to be at an end, I mean of that
+set in the profession who, mixing principles of liberty with those
+proper to monarchy, have conducted and guided that great body of men
+ever since the Revolution.'
+
+Fever, complicated by colic and the rupture of a blood-vessel, caused
+Charles Yorke's death, the consequence of the extreme nervous tension
+which he had undergone, of which his widow has left a most touching and
+graphic description. I wish I could have found room for the whole of
+her account of those days. The circumstances of his physical
+constitution and the mental struggle he had suffered are quite
+sufficient to account for his death without the gratuitous assumption
+of suicide, which there is nothing in the family papers to support.
+There is no doubt that this idea was prevalent at the time, and
+allusions to it are to be found in many subsequent accounts, down to
+that in Sir George Trevelyan's 'Life of Fox.' Perhaps it is not too
+much to hope that this allegation may be at last disposed of in the
+light of the papers by his brother and his wife. We have two clear and
+positive declarations in these papers: first, that in the beginning of
+his illness he declined his physic, and afterwards took an opiate;
+second, that there followed the rupture of a blood-vessel. When Lord
+Hardwicke saw him for the last time on the 19th he was 'extremely ill';
+'there was a glimmering of hope on the 20th in the morning, but he died
+that day about five in the evening.'
+
+This is the summary of the evidence, which to my mind is conclusive.
+Unless one assumes a conspiracy of silence between Lord Hardwicke and
+Mrs. Yorke, I do not see that I can reasonably admit any other
+hypothesis. I therefore claim that phrase of his brother's as a
+solution of the supposed mystery of Charles Yorke's death.
+
+If hereafter the vague rumours which have so long been current should
+be supported by any real evidence, my judgment will be disputed, but I
+am glad to have this opportunity of asserting my own firm conviction
+that the version of the unhappy affair given in the family papers is
+correct, and that Charles Yorke's death was due to natural causes.
+
+Charles Yorke was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of
+Williams Freeman, Esq., of Aspeden, Hertfordshire, by whom he had a son
+Philip. This son succeeded his uncle as third Earl of Hardwicke, he
+inherited the Tittenhanger and other estates (which passed away to his
+daughters on his death in 1834) from his mother, and he is still
+remembered for his wise and liberal administration as the first
+Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland after the Union (from 1801 to 1806), the
+irritation and unrest caused by which measure he did much to allay.
+[Footnote: A recent publication, _The Viceroy's Post Bag_, by Mr.
+MacDonagh, gives some curious details of his correspondence from the
+Hardwicke Papers at the British Museum.] As a Whig he had always been
+in favour of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland, and though he agreed to
+postpone it on joining Addington's Administration, he adhered to the
+cause till its triumph in 1829; and he gave a qualified support to the
+Parliamentary Reform Bill in 1831. He was created a Knight of the
+Garter in 1803, [Footnote: Lord Hardwicke married in 1782 Elizabeth,
+daughter of James, fifth Earl of Balcarres, the sister of Lady Anne
+Barnard, the authoress of _Auld Robin Gray_.] and had the misfortune to
+lose the only son who survived infancy in a storm at sea off Lübeck in
+1808 at the age of twenty-four. The succession to the peerage was thus
+opened up to his half-brothers, the sons of Charles Yorke's second
+wife, Agneta, daughter of Henry Johnston of Great Berkhampsted: Charles
+Philip (1764-1834) who left no heir, and Joseph Sydney (1768-1831),
+father of the subject of this memoir. I have already alluded to the
+public career of their half-brother, the third Lord Hardwicke; and it
+is interesting to see how the tradition of political and public work
+was maintained by the two younger brothers, who both, and especially
+the younger of the two, added fresh laurels to the distinguished record
+held by so many of the descendants of the great Chancellor. The Right
+Honourable Charles Yorke represented the county of Cambridge in
+Parliament from 1790 to 1810, and joined Addington's Government at the
+same time as Lord Hardwicke, first as Secretary at War in 1801, and
+then as Secretary of State for the Home Department, till the return to
+office of William Pitt (to whom he was politically opposed) in 1804. In
+1810 he became first Lord of the Admiralty under Spencer Perceval, with
+his younger brother Joseph as one of the Sea Lords, and retained office
+till Perceval's assassination broke up the ministry; and when in 1812
+Lord Liverpool became Prime Minister he left the Admiralty and never
+afterwards returned to office, retiring from public life in 1818. The
+splendid breakwater at Plymouth was decided on and commenced while he
+was at the Admiralty, and a slab of its marble marks his tomb in
+Wimpole Church.
+
+With Joseph Sydney Yorke, afterwards Admiral and a K.C.B., opens a
+chapter of family history with which this volume will be mainly
+concerned; and the navy rather than the law or politics henceforth
+becomes the chief interest of the story in its public aspect. Sir
+Joseph, indeed, may be looked upon as a sort of second founder of the
+family. Although Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, which the Chancellor
+purchased from the Harleys, Earls of Oxford, was for many generations
+the principal seat of the family, Sydney Lodge, on Southampton Water,
+[Footnote: Attached to Sydney Lodge on the shore of Southampton Water
+is a white battery containing guns taken from a French frigate and
+bearing an inscription, written by my father, commemorating his last
+parting with my grandfather, Sir Joseph. The battery encloses a well,
+known as 'Agneta's Well,' which has refreshed many a thirsty fisherman.
+The inscription is as follows:--
+
+IN MEMORIAM
+
+THESE GUNS WERE THE FORECASTLE ARMAMENT OF THE DUTCH FRIGATE 'ALLIANCE'
+
+OF 36 GUNS
+
+CAPTURED ON THE COAST OF NORWAY IN 1795
+
+AFTER A CLOSE ACTION WITH H.M.S. 'STAG' OF 32 GUNS
+
+COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN YORKE
+
+OF SYDNEY LODGE
+
+THE FATHER OF THE FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE WHO ON THIS SPOT IN 1829
+
+PARTED FROM HIS BELOVED PARENT FOR THE LAST TIME
+
+AND SAILED IN COMMAND OF H.M.S. 'ALLIGATOR'
+
+FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN.
+
+HE PLACES THIS STONE TO HIS FATHER'S MEMORY
+
+September 4th, 1871] the charming house which Sir Joseph built out of
+prize-money earned during the French wars, has all the associations of
+a home for our branch of the family, and the love of the sea is an
+inheritance which we all derive from him. His professional ability is
+shown by the position he won in the service. Entering the navy in 1780
+when he was fourteen, he had plenty of opportunity of active service in
+those stirring times. After serving on board one or two other vessels,
+Joseph Yorke joined the _Duke_ commanded by Sir Charles Douglas, whom
+he followed to the _Formidable_. That vessel was one of Rodney's fleet
+in the West Indies, and the boy fought in her at the famous action of
+April 12, 1782 in which that admiral completely defeated the French
+under De Grasse. He remained in the _Formidable_ until she paid off in
+1783, and spent the years 1784-1789 on the Halifax station. In the
+latter year he was promoted Lieutenant in the _Thisbe_ under Captain
+Sir Samuel Hood and returned in her to England. Promotion followed
+rapidly. Yorke became a Commander in 1790 and Captain in 1793, in which
+capacity he served continuously on the home station, taking part in the
+blockade of Brest, until the Peace of Amiens.
+
+During this time he had the good fortune to capture several large
+privateers from the enemy; he also took the _Espiégle_, a French
+corvette, close to Brest harbour and in sight of a very superior French
+squadron. In 1794 Captain Yorke was given command of the _Stag_, 32,
+and cruised in the Channel later off the coast of Ireland, and later
+still, with the North Sea Fleet under Lord Duncan.
+
+'On the 22nd of August 1795, Captain Yorke being in company with a
+light squadron under the orders of Captain James Alms, gave chase to
+two large ships and a cutter. At 4.15 P.M. the _Stag_ brought the
+sternmost ship to close action, which continued with much spirit for
+about half an hour, when the enemy struck, and proved to be the
+_Alliance_, Batavian frigate of 36 guns and 240 men. Her consorts the
+_Argo_ 36, and _Nelly_ cutter, 16, effected their escape after
+sustaining a running fight with the other ships of the British
+squadron. In this spirited action, the _Stag_ had 4 men slain and 13
+wounded, and the enemy between 40 and 50 killed and wounded.'
+
+He was at the Nore during the dangerous mutiny of 1798, and he left
+among his papers a very stirring address made to his crew on the day
+that the mutineers were hung at the yard-arm. When the war broke out
+again in 1803 he was again employed in the Channel, and after
+commanding the _Barfleur_ and the _Christian VII_ he was appointed a
+junior Sea Lord in May 1810, when his brother was First Lord. In this
+year he was knighted when acting as proxy for Lord Hardwicke at his
+installation as a Knight of the Garter; on July 31 he was promoted to
+the rank of Rear-Admiral; and in the following January, with his flag
+in the _Vengeur_, he was sent out with reinforcements for Wellington to
+Lisbon. These were landed on March 4, 1811, and on the news being
+received, Massena broke up his camp in front of the lines of Torres
+Vedras and began his retreat. This was Sir Joseph's last service
+afloat. In 1814, while still a member of the Board, he was appointed
+First Sea Lord under Lord Melville as First Lord, and held that high
+post till 1818, a period of office which covered Lord Exmouth's
+expedition against Algiers in 1816. He became Vice-Admiral and Knight
+Commander of the Bath on January 2, 1815, when he also received the
+freedom of the borough of Plymouth, and he was made a full Admiral on
+July 22, 1830. He had been member for Reigate since 1790, with an
+interval as member for Sandwich, from 1812 to 1818.
+
+Sir Joseph married in 1798 Elizabeth Weake Rattray and had a family of
+four sons and one daughter, afterwards Lady Agneta Bevan. Lady Yorke
+died in 1812, and in 1815 he married Urania, Dowager Marchioness of
+Clanricarde and daughter of the twelfth Lord Winchester, who survived
+him. During his later years he lived mostly at Sydney Lodge, occupied
+with family interests, and in the administration of various charities,
+naval and other. My grandfather was a fine type of English sailor, very
+handsome in his youth, as Romney's portraits show, affectionate and
+high-spirited; altogether one of the most attractive figures in our
+family history. Some following chapters will show him in his relations
+with his son, and mention the peculiar circumstances attending his
+accidental death by drowning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ALGIERS. 1815-1816
+
+
+Charles Philip Yorke was born on April 2, 1799, at Sydney Lodge,
+Hamble, and like his father, was destined from the first for a naval
+career. He must have been quite a small boy when Sir Joseph presented
+him to Lord Nelson, and the family tradition is that the hero accosted
+him with a kind smile and said, 'Give me a shake of your daddle, my
+boy, for I've only one to shake _you_ with.'
+
+The boy was sent to Harrow, and after a few years at that school was
+entered, in his fourteenth year, at the Royal Naval College at
+Portsmouth, where he formed a friendship with John Christian Schetky,
+then drawing master at the college, and later Marine Painter to Queen
+Victoria, and a man of note in his profession. What little is known of
+young Yorke's career at Portsmouth points to diligence and capacity,
+for he gained the gold medal in his second year after little more than
+eighteen months at the college, a distinction which ensured his
+immediate entry into the service. On May 15, 1815, he was appointed
+midshipman on board the _Prince Regent_, 98 guns, the flagship at
+Spithead, and a training which stood him in good stead in after life
+was begun under the commander of this vessel, Captain Fowke. A month
+later he was transferred to the _Sparrowhawk_, a brig of 18 guns
+commanded by Captain Baines, then under sailing orders for the
+Mediterranean.
+
+There was no coddling in the navy in those days, and those who survived
+its rigorous life were probably the fittest. I have heard my father say
+that at this period the middies' soup was served in the tin boxes which
+held their cocked hats, and that one of their amusements was provided
+by races round the mess table of the weevils knocked out of the biscuit
+which was a part of their daily fare. Young Yorke, however, accepted
+this life and its hardships with all cheerfulness; and the spirit with
+which he entered the service and the interest he took in his profession
+from the first are, I think, abundantly clear from a letter he wrote
+home to his father on July 15, 1815 from the Mediterranean, off
+Celebrina, after he had been a little more than a month at sea.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I am afraid you will be surprised at my not writing to you oftener but
+I have had no opportunity of sending letters home, as we have spoken no
+ships bound for England. I am happy to say that I am in perfect health
+and have been so ever since I left you, and the hot country does not at
+all oppress me, or make me uncomfortable, as I expected it would at
+first, and I have not had a moment's sickness since I have been out. I
+can only say that I am in every way so comfortable on the _Sparrowhawk_
+that I have no desire to quit her at all. Perhaps you may think I am
+comfortable in her through idleness and not having much duty put upon
+me; but I am one of the three Mids in the ship and the duty is heavy,
+there being only one Mid in each watch, and he has the duty of Mate of
+the watch, there being none; but I like my messmates, and we have a
+capital berth. Captain Baines is also a kind friend to me in every way;
+whatever may be said of him is nothing to me, his advice and friendship
+to me is good and kind; he keeps me in practice with my navigation, for
+I work all the observations for the ship and take them also. It is, as
+you may perceive by my writing, my wish to remain in her, but to the
+will of my Father I submit; and I am also certain that seamanship and
+my profession I shall learn by being six months in a brig. When we get
+to Genoa I shall see Lord Exmouth, but I will not give your letter
+until I hear from you again, but I shall tell him I have written to you
+concerning the _Sparrowhawk_, and beg to remain in her till I hear from
+you.
+
+'I shall now give you some short description of our voyage. We sailed
+from England on the Tuesday after I left you and tided it down channel,
+at Yarmouth we went ashore with the Captain and Officers to play
+cricket and had an excellent match, _Sparrowhawks_ against Rosarios. In
+general we have had calms and fine weather, now and then a few puffs.
+Cape St. Vincent was the first land we made, that was on the 9th July,
+we anchored off the rock of Gibraltar on the 12th. Captain B. took me
+ashore with him to see the place, it is a most extraordinary thing. It
+is dreadfully hot, the reflection of the sun being so great; from
+thence we sailed the following day and are now off Celebrina in a dead
+calm. I think I shall see much of the Mediterranean in this ship, for
+she will be always kept cruising and likely to stay out some time.
+Yesterday we cleared for action for a large brig that was bearing down
+upon us, but to our great disappointment, it proved to be an English
+brig from Santa Maria to London with fruit. There is on board the
+_Sparrowhawk_ a carpenter by the name of Beach who sailed with you on
+the _Stag_, and he wishes to be shifted into a larger ship; if you
+could at any time have a thing of that sort in your power, you will be
+doing him the greatest kindness. He did not apply to you, because when
+he was with you he refused a warrant, not thinking himself fit to hold
+that situation. If you could do this, let me know, for I should like to
+see him get a larger ship, for he is a most excellent man.
+
+'17th.--Here we are still in the same place off Celebrina detained by
+calms and light breezes, just now a breeze has sprung up which is
+likely to last. Last night we all went overboard and had a delightful
+bath.
+
+'29th.--We have just arrived at Genoa after a tedious and unpleasant
+voyage, the last six days squalls and heavy gales of wind and
+lightning. Genoa is a most beautiful city, and situated most
+delightfully. Last night I was at the Opera, and it is exactly the same
+as our own in England, it is much larger and a most magnificent
+theatre. The houses are mostly of marble and beautifully ornamented,
+they are immensely high but the streets very narrow. There are no ships
+here and we sail for Marseilles as soon as we have watered. Pray give
+my best love to Lady C. and all hands on board.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is of interest to note the mention in this letter of Charles Yorke's
+first visit to Genoa, and the impression that beautiful city, 'Genova
+la superba,' made upon his youthful imagination. As will appear further
+on in this memoir, he visited it again some thirty-five years later in
+very different circumstances, and that Genoa exists to-day, with much
+of its beauty unimpaired, is mainly owing to the part played by Charles
+Yorke when, as Lord Hardwicke, he again appeared in a British
+man-of-war off that port.
+
+The boy's wish to stay on the _Sparrowhawk_ expressed in this letter to
+his father was not fulfilled, for a month after his arrival in the
+Mediterranean he was transferred to the _Leviathan_, of 74 guns,
+commanded successively by Captains F. W. Burgoyne and Thomas Briggs. In
+her he remained a little less than a year, during which he had a
+serious attack of scarlet fever followed by rheumatism, which left him
+very weak, and raised a question as to whether he should be invalided
+home. He was, however, exceedingly popular with his superiors, who were
+most kind and attentive to him through his illness, and he was lucky
+enough to recover without having to return to England. In August of
+1816 he was again transferred, to the _Queen Charlotte_, Captain
+Brisbane, a ship of the line of 120 guns, and the flagship of Admiral
+Lord Exmouth, commanding in the Mediterranean.
+
+The young midshipman was most fortunate in being stationed under that
+command, for it was the one place in the world at that moment where
+there was any probability of seeing active service. The supremacy of
+the British navy which had been established over the fleets of France
+and Spain at Trafalgar, and the recent peace which had followed the
+defeat and surrender of Buonaparte, had removed any possibility of
+collision with a European State. But, as a matter of fact, the naval
+Powers, England in particular, had long been waiting an opportunity to
+settle a long-standing account in the Mediterranean with a set of
+potentates established on the north coast of Africa, who had for years
+availed themselves of the dissensions between the Great Powers to carry
+on a system of piracy and rapine of the most insolent and atrocious
+character. During the naval wars which had lasted with short intervals
+for half a century, the fleets of England, France, Spain, and Holland
+had been so much occupied in fighting each other that they had been
+unable to bestow much attention on the doings of these petty rulers,
+who were known collectively as the Barbary States, individually as the
+Deys of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. All of these owned nominal
+allegiance to the Sultan of Turkey at Constantinople when it suited
+them, but in reality claimed and exercised complete independence when
+such was convenient to any purpose they had in hand.
+
+For half a century at least, the depredations of these barbarians had
+made the Mediterranean a sea of great peril for the merchant vessels of
+all nations, and even for the fighting ships of the smaller
+Mediterranean powers like Naples and Sardinia, whose weakly manned
+vessels were often no match for the galleys and feluccas of the Barbary
+corsairs. The ruffianly Deys made little attempt to conceal the
+piratical nature of their proceedings, and became a perfect scourge not
+only to the mariners of all nations in the Mediterranean, but also to
+the unfortunate inhabitants of its shores. They ravaged the islands and
+coastline of the mainland wherever there was plunder to be gained or an
+unprotected town to be raided, impudently hoisted the flags of one or
+other of the great naval powers then at war, and preyed upon the
+commerce of the rest, plundered and burned their shipping, and, worst
+of all, consigned the crews of the vessels they captured or destroyed
+to all the horrors of slavery in a Mohammedan country.
+
+Among these Barbary Powers the Deys of Algiers had long been the most
+powerful and the most truculent. During a lull in the fighting between
+France and England in the middle years of the eighteenth century,
+Admiral Keppel, [Footnote: Admiral Keppel, second son of the second
+Earl of Albemarle, created Viscount Keppel for his gallant services;
+died unmarried in 1786. He was the eponymous hero of so many public
+houses.] then a very youthful-looking captain, had been sent with a
+squadron to curb the insolence of the Dey of that period, which he
+effected without the firing of a shot. Keppel demanded an interview
+with the Dey, and went ashore to the palace without a guard, and stated
+his business in very plain terms. The Dey wondered at the presumption
+of King George in sending a beardless boy as his ambassador. 'The King
+my master,' replied Keppel, with a glance at the Dey's hairy
+countenance, 'does not measure wisdom by the length of the beard, or he
+would have sent a he-goat to confer with your Highness.' The Dey raged
+at this bold repartee, and began to speak of bowstrings and the
+ministers of death. 'Kill me, if you will,' replied Keppel, pointing
+through the open window to his squadron riding in the roadstead, 'and
+there are ships enough to burn your city and provide me with a glorious
+funeral pile.' Keppel's firmness had the result of checking the
+Algerian piracies for a time, but during the long wars between the
+Powers which were shortly resumed, these were overlooked in the press
+of matters of more urgency, and it was only with the return of a
+permanent and general peace, as already noted, that the Powers had
+leisure to turn their attention to a state of things in the
+Mediterranean which had long been intolerable.
+
+In view of her established supremacy at sea, England was generally
+regarded as the police-constable of Europe in naval affairs, and upon
+her fell the chief duty of chastening the Dey of Algiers, though on
+this occasion the Dutch Government also lent its assistance. Quite
+early in the spring of 1816, Lord Exmouth placed himself in
+communication with the Dey, and stated the terms of the British
+demands. These were that the Ionian Islands, long a hunting-ground for
+the Barbary pirates, should be henceforth treated as British territory;
+that the British Government should be accepted as arbitrator between
+the Barbary Powers and Naples and Sardinia, who had a long list of
+claims and grievances against them; and that the Barbary Powers should
+enter into a definite undertaking to abolish all slavery of Christians
+within their dominions, and to treat all prisoners of war, of whatever
+nation, in accordance with the customs of civilised nations. The Dey
+agreed to the first two demands and released the Ionian slaves as
+British subjects, but declined all promises as to the abolition of
+slavery. Leaving that matter in abeyance, Exmouth sailed on to Tripoli
+and Tunis, whose Deys he found more amenable to reason, and who
+consented to make declarations in the form demanded by the British
+Admiral upon all three points.
+
+Exmouth then returned to Gibraltar, where his squadron was assembled,
+and at once resumed negotiations with the Dey with the intention of
+procuring his adhesion to the all-important undertaking to abolish
+Christian slavery. The Dey, after many evasions, at length repeated his
+refusal on the ground that he was a subject or vassal of the Sultan,
+and could not consent to so important a stipulation without his
+authority. Exmouth granted a delay of three months accordingly, and
+himself lent a frigate, the _Tagus_, to convey the Dey's envoy to
+Constantinople.
+
+Meanwhile, however, the Dey committed an unpardonable atrocity. A coral
+fishery at Bona worked under the British flag was suddenly and
+treacherously destroyed by an attack of the Algerines. The fishermen
+engaged at their work were, without warning of any kind, almost
+annihilated by artillery fire from the fort and by the musketry of 2000
+Algerian infantry, their houses and goods were given over to the
+looting of the soldiery, the company's stores and magazines were
+rifled, and their boats either seized or sunk. This atrocity, of
+course, put an end to all negotiation, and the Admiral, who had sailed
+for England, was at once directed by the British Government to complete
+the work which he had initiated, and to exact the most ample
+satisfaction and security for the future. He was offered any force that
+might be necessary, and surprised the naval authorities by his opinion,
+which was the result of observation upon the spot, that five
+line-of-battle ships, with frigates, bomb vessels and gun brigs, would
+be sufficient for a successful attack on the formidable defences of
+Algiers. In less than two months Lord Exmouth commissioned, fitted,
+manned and trained his fleet, and on August 14, 1816, the expedition,
+including his own flagship the _Queen Charlotte_ of 120 guns, the
+_Impregnable_ of 98, three vessels of 70 guns, the _Leander_ of 50,
+four smaller frigates and several armed vessels of lesser tonnage,
+sailed from Gibraltar. One of these, a gunboat, towed by the _Queen
+Charlotte_ from that port, was placed under the command of Charles
+Yorke, who had just completed his seventeenth year. The English
+admiral's force was joined at Gibraltar by a Dutch squadron of five
+frigates and a sloop under Admiral Baron von de Capellan.
+
+On the very eve of the sailing of this powerful force, young Yorke
+wrote home a letter to his father which shows the spirit of the young
+sailor and the enthusiasm which animated the fleet.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'MY DEAR FATHER,
+
+'We are hove to for a Packet, and she is coming up fast, so my stave
+will be short, with a strong breeze, which is to say I am quite well.
+We have a great deal to do, shall be at Gibraltar to-morrow if the wind
+holds. We clear for action there, and leave all our chests, bulkheads,
+and everything we have except guns, powder, shot, &c. &c. of which we
+have not a little.
+
+'I have the honour to command one of H.M.S. _Queen Charlotte's_ boats
+on service, and if there is any work, expect to cut no small caper. I
+have seen the plan of attack; all our fire is to be on the mole head.
+Us, the _Leander_, _Superb_ and _Impregnable_ are to be lashed together
+and as near the walls as possible. _Minden_ engages a battery called
+the Emperor's Fort, and _Albion_ stands off and on to relieve any
+damaged ship. As soon as the Mole is cleared, we are to land; glorious
+enterprise for the boats.
+
+'Give my love to dearest Uranie and Lady C. [Footnote:
+Dowager-Marchioness of Clanricarde, his stepmother.] &c. &c.
+
+'Your affecte.
+
+'C. YORKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The British fleet with its allied Dutch squadron arrived off Algiers on
+August 21. Lord Exmouth had sent in advance a corvette with orders to
+endeavour to rescue the British Consul, a humane effort which, however,
+succeeded only in rescuing that gentleman's wife and child, and
+resulted, on the other hand, in the capture of the boat's crew of
+eighteen men. The captain of the corvette reported that the Dey refused
+altogether to give up that official, or to be responsible for his
+safety, and also that there were 40,000 troops in the town, in addition
+to the Janissaries who had been summoned from distant garrisons. The
+Algerine fleet, he said, consisted of between forty and fifty gun and
+mortar vessels, as well as a numerous flotilla of galleys. Works had
+been thrown up on the mole which protected the harbour, and the forts
+were known to be armed with a numerous artillery and to be of excellent
+masonry with walls fourteen to sixteen feet thick. The Dey, thinking
+himself fairly secure behind such defences, was prepared with a
+determined resistance.
+
+On August 27, Lord Exmouth sent a flag of truce restating his demands
+and giving a period of three hours for a reply. Upon the expiration of
+that term and on the return of the flag of truce without an answer, he
+anchored his flagship just half a cable's length from the mole head at
+the entrance of the harbour, so that her starboard broadside flanked
+all the batteries from the mole-head to the lighthouse. The mole itself
+was covered with troops and spectators, whom Lord Exmouth vainly tried
+to disperse before the firing began by waving his hat and shouting from
+his own quarter-deck as the flagship came to an anchor at half-past two
+in the afternoon.
+
+'As soon as the ship was fairly placed,' writes Lord Exmouth's
+biographer, 'the sound of the cheer given by the crew was answered by a
+gun from the Eastern Battery; a second and a third opened in quick
+succession. One of the shots struck the _Superb_. At the first flash
+Lord Exmouth gave the order "Stand by," at the second "Fire." The
+report of the third gun was drowned by the thunder of the _Queen
+Charlotte's_ broadside.'
+
+Thus opened an engagement which is memorable among the attacks of
+fleets upon land fortifications, and which fully justified Lord
+Exmouth's opinion that 'nothing can resist a line-of-battle ship's
+fire.' The Algerine tactics were to allow the British squadron to come
+to an anchor without molestation, and to board the vessels from their
+galleys while the British crews were aloft furling sails, for which
+purpose they had thirty-seven galleys fully manned waiting inside the
+mole. To the surprise of the enemy, however, the British admiral had
+given orders for the sails to be clewed from the deck, instead of
+sending men aloft for the purpose, and the British ships were thus able
+to open fire the moment they came to an anchor. The result of this
+smart seamanship was an instant disaster for the Algerines; their
+galleys were all sunk before they could make the few strokes of the oar
+which would have brought them alongside, and tremendous broadsides of
+grapeshot from the _Queen Charlotte_ and the _Leander_ shattered the
+entire flotilla, and in a moment covered the surface of the harbour
+with the bodies of their crews and with a few survivors attempting to
+swim from destruction.
+
+On the molehead the effect of the British fire was terrible; the people
+with whom it was crowded were swept away by the fire of the _Queen
+Charlotte_, which had ruined the fortifications there before the
+engagement became general, and then crumbled and brought down the
+Lighthouse Tower and its batteries. The _Leander's_ guns, which
+commanded the principal gate of the city opening on the mole, prevented
+the escape of any survivors.
+
+The batteries defending the mole were three times cleared by the
+British fire, and three times manned again.
+
+'The Dey,' wrote a British officer on the _Leander_, 'was everywhere
+offering pecuniary rewards for those who would stand against us; eight
+sequins were to be given to every man who would endeavour to extinguish
+the fire. At length a horde of Arabs were driven into the batteries
+under the direction of the most devoted of the Janissaries and the
+gates closed upon them.'
+
+Soon after the battle began, the enemy's flotilla of gunboats advanced,
+with a daring which deserved a better fate, to board the _Queen
+Charlotte_, and a few guns from the latter vessel sent thirty-three out
+of thirty-seven to the bottom. Then followed the destruction of the
+Algerine frigates and other shipping in the port, which were set on
+fire by bombs and shells and burned together with the storehouses and
+the arsenal.
+
+The Algerines, none the less, made a most determined resistance, and
+maintained a fire upon the squadron for no less than eleven hours.
+Young Charles Yorke was in command of a tender of the flagship which
+was moored near to his parent ship, and was consequently in the midst
+of the hottest fire, within sixty yards of the mouths of the enemy's
+guns, throughout the engagement. Long before that period had elapsed,
+however, he found himself running short of ammunition, and taking one
+marine in his dinghy, pulled in her to the _Queen Charlotte_, climbed
+her side and made his way to the quarter-deck, where, saluting Lord
+Exmouth, he said, 'Sir, I am short of ammunition.' 'Well, my lad,'
+replied the admiral, 'I cannot help you, but if you choose to go below,
+and fetch what you want yourself, you are very welcome.' Charles Yorke,
+wishing for nothing better, again saluted and withdrew. He then
+descended into the flagship's magazine, and single-handed brought up
+1368 lbs. of ammunition, which he lowered over her side to his single
+marine in the dinghy, and in her returned to his gunboat to resume his
+firing until the close of the action, when, by the aid of a land
+breeze, which turned about half-past eleven into a tremendous storm of
+thunder and lightning, the fleet was able to draw out from the
+batteries. Nothing had been able to resist the concentrated and
+well-directed fire, and the sea defences of Algiers, with a great part
+of the town itself, had by this time been shattered and reduced to ruin.
+
+This success was only purchased at heavy cost, for the British
+casualties, considering the size of the squadron, were enormous, the
+_Impregnable_ being the chief sufferer. One hundred and twenty-eight
+men were killed and 690 wounded, while the Dutch lost thirteen and
+fifty-two respectively. The _Leander_ had every spar injured and her
+rigging cut to pieces, and when her cables were at last shot away, was
+unable to set a single sail, and so was drifting helplessly ashore,
+when a fortunate change of wind allowed her boats to bring her to a
+second anchorage. On the flagship the enemy's fire was so hot that Lord
+Exmouth himself escaped most narrowly, being slightly wounded in three
+places, and the skirts of his coat were shot away by a cannon-ball.
+
+When the morning broke, the admiral found that he had brought the Dey
+to reason. Having first beheaded his prime minister, that potentate
+released the British Consul and the boat's crew he had detained before
+the action, handed over the ransom money he had extorted from captured
+subjects of Naples and Sardinia in exchange for their freedom,
+amounting to no less than 382,000 dollars, and undertook, 'in the
+presence of Almighty God,' to release all Christian slaves in his
+dominions, to abandon the enslavement of Christians for the future, and
+to treat all prisoners of war with humanity until regularly exchanged,
+according to European practice in like cases. About 1200 slaves, the
+bulk of them Neapolitans and Sicilians, were embarked on the 31st,
+making, with those liberated a few weeks before, more than 3000 persons
+whom Lord Exmouth thus had the satisfaction of delivering from slavery.
+He sailed away from the city without leaving a single Christian slave,
+so far as could be gathered, in either of the Barbary States.
+
+Charles Yorke's conduct at this engagement was fully recognised by
+Captain Brisbane, who, when the young midshipman came to leave the
+_Queen Charlotte_ a few months later, wrote his certificate in the
+following terms:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'These are to certify the principal officers and commissioners of His
+Majesty's navy that Mr. Charles Philip Yorke served as midshipman on
+board H.M.S. _Queen Charlotte_ from the 11th day of July to the 16th
+October 1816, during which time he behaved with diligence and sobriety,
+and was always obedient to command. His conduct at the battle of
+Algiers was active, spirited, and highly meritorious.
+
+'(Signed) JAMES BRISBANE,
+
+'_Captain._'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Charles Yorke's share in this action, together with his later services,
+is recorded on a tablet, next to a similar one to Lord Exmouth, in the
+English chapel at Algiers, by his daughter, the writer of the present
+memoir.
+
+It may be added that he always cherished the memory of the
+distinguished admiral under whom he served on this occasion, and that
+in later years he purchased from Sir William Beechy's studio a portrait
+of Lord Exmouth on his quarter-deck at Algiers, in full dress and
+orders as the naval fashion then was, which hung on the great staircase
+at Wimpole.
+
+Still in his seventeenth year, Charles Yorke had not yet served long
+enough for promotion, and was transferred on October 17 of the same
+year, 1816, to the _Leander_, commanded by Sir David Milne, who had
+been second in command at Algiers, and was then under orders for the
+North American station at Halifax, where the _Leander_ shortly sailed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION. 1817-1822
+
+
+A few letters which my father wrote home from the Halifax station,
+covering a period of about twelve months from July 1817, I set out here
+as giving better than any comment of my own an account of his life and
+experiences in Nova Scotia at that time. They present a self-reliant
+character, and the young midshipman who was so early recognised by his
+superior officers as efficient and capable was found worthy of a small,
+but most important, command soon after joining this station. His
+father, Sir Joseph Yorke, who lost no opportunity of watching his son's
+progress in his profession, was a little nervous at his undertaking a
+responsibility of the kind, but how well his superiors' confidence was
+justified will be evident from his letters. Young Yorke was full of
+pride in his little sloop the _Jane_, and there is no hint in his
+letters of the risk and danger of this service. As a fact, she was an
+exceedingly difficult craft to handle, and if not unseaworthy, was, to
+say the least, an unpleasant vessel in a sea, with decks constantly
+awash, and the character she bore in the service appears in her
+nickname the _Crazy Jane_. I have often heard my father describe this
+as a most arduous and dangerous service, and say that life upon the
+_Jane_ was 'like living on a fish's back.' In her he made voyages to
+Bermuda from Halifax and back with despatches and ships' mails in very
+heavy weather, and I find the following note referring to this service
+in my mother's handwriting:
+
+'C. commanded the _Jane_ at the age of nineteen, carrying mails from
+Bermuda to Halifax during winter months when ordinary mail was struck
+off, during which perilous service he had not a man on board who could
+write or take an observation. This _crazy Jane_ was hardly seaworthy,
+and he finished her career and nearly his own by running her into
+Halifax Harbour in the dark, all hands at the pump.'
+
+His certificate from Sir David Milne contains the following passage:
+
+'Mr. Charles Philip Yorke, Midshipman of H.M.S. _Leander_, commanded
+the _Jane_, Sloop, tender to the said ship bearing my flag, from the
+23rd of December 1817 to the date hereof, during which time he took her
+twice in safety from Halifax to Bermuda, and from Bermuda to Halifax,
+and was at sea in her at different other periods, and conducted himself
+at all times so as to merit my entire approbation.' Dated 28th December.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX:
+
+July 10, 1817.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I almost fear my letters have not reached you, for the May packet has
+arrived, and no letters. But silence I always take in a favourable
+light, so I conclude you are all well and happy; indeed I had a letter
+from Lady St. Germans which informed me so.
+
+'I am, thank God, very well and like my station very much; it is really
+a very pleasant place, and the inhabitants attentive and hospitable. I
+am now very well acquainted all over Halifax thanks to Captain Lumley's
+kindness; pray tell him so, for the family he introduced me to is very
+pleasant and kind, so that it is a great comfort to go on shore, and to
+be able to spend your evenings among friends instead of being obliged
+to go to a dirty tavern.
+
+'I have been on several very delightful fishing parties, and have never
+returned with less than three or four dozen fine trout. This will make
+the English sportsmen stare, but the fishing here is beyond everything
+I could have imagined. The shooting has not come in as yet, and does
+not until August, and then it will be very fine.
+
+'The way I go fishing is this. I have got an Indian canoe, and I just
+jump into it with my gear, paddle on shore, shoulder it, and carry it
+to the lakes. I am become quite an Indian in the management of this
+canoe, and with the expense of only one ducking. I was upset in the
+harbour, but swam on shore and towed the canoe and all with me quite
+safe. I can paddle this canoe much faster than any gig in the fleet.
+
+'We are now just on the point of sailing for Shelburne with Ld. and
+Lady Dalhousie, and I fancy shall be absent about ten days. The _Jane_
+has not yet arrived, so I am still a mid, not a captain, but expect her
+hourly. Last Monday we mids of the _Leander_ gave a grand entertainment
+to the inhabitants of Halifax and officers of the fleet; a play, ball,
+and supper, which went off remarkably well. _The Iron Chest_ was the
+play; the _Wags of Windsor_ the farce. I did not perform being steward
+of the supper, but merely spoke the prologue. Our stage was very large
+and scenery very good, and on the whole, nothing could go off with more
+_éclat_ than it did.
+
+'The girls of Halifax are pretty, generally speaking, and certainly
+rather ladylike in their manners, but not very accomplished, but there
+is one thing very formidable in their structure, which is tremendous
+hoofs, so that a kick from one of them would make you keep your bed for
+a week. But they certainly are 50 degrees better than the Bermudians,
+they are very affable and agreeable, which is the great point to an
+indifferent person.
+
+'Now I have tired your patience with lots of nonsense, which in fact is
+all the news I have to tell, so you must excuse it. Give my kindest
+love to Lady Clanricarde, Urania, and all the boys, not forgetting
+little Agneta, who by this time must be grown and improved much.
+
+'I remain, my dear Father,
+
+'Your most affectionate son,
+
+'C. P. YORKE.'
+
+SIR J. S. YORKE,
+
+_Admiralty._
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX HARBOUR:
+
+Aug. 8, 1817.
+
+'MY DEAR FATHER,
+
+'I have received your letter by this packet, and am very sorry to find
+you disapprove of my commanding the Admiral's tender, and am also
+astonished to find that you can imagine I have so little command of
+myself that I cannot keep from what you term "low company." This is a
+thing which since I have been at sea I have never kept, and especially
+at a time when I had charge of a vessel and the safety of men's lives.
+I am happy to say I took care of myself and of the vessel, and pleased
+the Admiral as much as I could wish. I have not got the large tender,
+as I expected, on account of a prior application having been made,
+which I am now glad of, as you disapprove of the sort of thing, and it
+certainly will deter me from accepting any offer of the kind made to
+me, though at the same time I consider myself perfectly capable in
+every sense of the word.
+
+'I am very glad to hear Grantham has so well got over the measles.
+
+'We have had a very pleasant trip along shore to Shelburne, Liverpool
+and Mirligash(?), all of which ports you knew well in their former
+state. Shelburne now is miserably fallen off, not above 200 inhabitants
+in that once populous town, and more than half the houses falling to
+the ground, having no owners. I asked the price of a good house and
+about 40 acres of land, and they said the most they could ask for it
+would be £30, a cheap place to settle, for provisions also are cheaper
+than anywhere I have been. Liverpool is a very flourishing little town,
+and on the contrary with Shelburne, a rising place with a vast deal of
+commerce and trade which keep the place quite alive. At these two
+places I had capital fishing both salmon and trout. I caught one day at
+Liverpool three very fine salmon and two or three dozen trout. In this
+country they take most with the fly, and it does not matter of what
+description. I am now become a very expert fly fisherman, make my own
+flies, &c. Pray next season send me out a good assortment of fly gear
+which is rather difficult to get here and not good.
+
+'I am going to-morrow to Salmon River, a very fine river about seven
+miles inland on the Dartmouth side. I was there last week with two of
+our officers, and between the three of us we caught eleven dozen salmon
+trout. Fine sport, and all with the fly. Do not forget to send me a
+flute as soon as possible and some music; let it be new. Give my
+kindest love to Lady C., Urania, and all hands. How delightful the
+Lodge must look. I suppose the Urania is by this time ready for sea,
+and Henry fighting captain. I must say I envy your circle, but Adieu!
+
+'I remain, my dear Father,
+
+'Your most affectionate son,
+
+'C. P. YORKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Aug. 14.
+
+'I imagined that the packet was just going to sail, but I am happy to
+say I am disappointed because I have a little news to tell you. I am
+just returned from a cruise of rather a curious sort. I have been sent
+along the coast with a party of armed men to take some smugglers who
+ran from the _Leander_. I landed at Chester, and marched and rode just
+as I could to Lunenburg, but without success, and then back, and so
+about twenty miles to the eastward. It gave me a good opportunity of
+seeing the country, and made it very pleasant, from the kindness and
+hospitality of the inhabitants. I have no doubt I shall have many of
+these trips from being in the admiral's and captain's notice. This
+letter I send by Moorsom, whom you may recollect when I was at college.
+Now I shall conclude with love and best wishes to all.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX: Novr. 12, 1817.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I received both your most kind letters by the _Forth_ and packet,
+which as you may suppose, gave me great pleasure and satisfaction. I
+return you my most grateful thanks for your great kindness in attending
+to my little wishes, and hope the things will arrive quite safe. I have
+written as you wished to Lady St. G. and told her all the news I could
+think of, which I shall now relate to you.
+
+'We have not been out of harbour since the cruise to the east, so I got
+leave of absence and accepted the invitation of Judge Wilkins (Lumley's
+friend) to go and spend some time with him at Windsor, a small town
+about forty-five miles N.E. of Halifax, where I assure you, I passed my
+time very pleasantly in shooting, fishing, &c. In that part of Nova
+Scotia the country is beautiful, completely cleared of wood, very well
+cultivated, and yields to its owners immense crops of grain. I am now
+returned to the ship, and we sail for Bermuda in about a fortnight or
+three weeks. This I am rather sorry for, for Halifax is very pleasant
+during the winter, and Bermuda always very much otherwise. But Sir
+David Milne dreads the cold, so we go.
+
+'I am remarkably well in every point, and find the climate agrees with
+me very well indeed. I am glad to hear Urania made her _début_ with so
+much _éclat_ in the _beau monde_ at Winchester, pray let me also hear
+of her in town. I am glad to hear all the boys are well and getting on
+so fast in their respective schools. Agneta [Footnote: Agneta,
+afterwards Lady _Agneta Bevan_.] by this time must be a very fine
+little girl; does she ever talk of me? I really have no news to tell
+you worth mention, but the service is very stale for want of war, every
+day the same story. Adieu, my dear Father.
+
+'Your most affectionate son,
+
+'C. P. YORKE.
+
+'Tell my uncle Mr. Yorke I will write to thank him for his present as
+soon as I have it in my possession.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. SLOOP 'JANE,' BERMUDA:
+
+Jan. 23, 1818.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I sit down to write to you after rather a long silence, but I have
+been quite well and by no means ill employed. I did not hear from you
+by the last packet, so by your silence I consider all is well and right
+in England.
+
+'I have the satisfaction to communicate to you I am honoured by the
+command of the _Jane_ Sloop on this station, which command I shall in
+all probability keep till my return to England. The young man who
+commanded her before and whom I superseded, was obliged to invalid from
+her after he brought her from Halifax. She sailed in company with us
+and we experienced a heavy gale of wind, and the poor _Jane_ was nearly
+lost, but escaped with the loss of her bulwarks. She really is a
+beautiful vessel; was a Yankee clipper in the war; 80 tons and 12 men.
+I am remarkably happy in her, as you may suppose. I anticipate much
+pleasure going up the St. Lawrence in her next summer. I am sure you
+will be happy to hear of my good luck, but pray do not have any more
+dreads of my inability to command. I positively would not accept it if
+I thought myself in the least inadequate to undertake it. I have now
+again fitted her at the dockyard at Ireland where I saw much of your
+friend Commissioner Lewis, who really is to me a very kind and
+affectionate friend; I like him exceedingly.
+
+'The packet is just arrived, and I have received your letter of the
+26th ult, and likewise one from Lady St. G. You may believe your letter
+gave me sincere gratification to find that I am giving you all
+satisfaction; it is the first wish of my heart to be a credit to my
+friends and an honour to my country. It is not my wish to be expensive
+in the least beyond what it is necessary for a gentleman to be, to pay
+my debts, have a good coat on my back, and sufficient in my pocket
+never to be made look foolish. Now that I keep house for myself I
+shall, I fear, be a little more expensive, for reasons which you must
+well know, and the first fit out is the worst and greatest, after that
+all is regular, and I am sure you do not wish me to live on His
+Majesty's own altogether. Bermuda is a terrible dear place.
+
+'This vessel you may know something of by hearsay, Mr. Brett, the 1st
+Lieut. of the _Wye_ had her up the Bay of Fundy.
+
+'You may rely on it I will express your gratitude to Lord Dalhousie for
+his attentions to me the very first time I have an opportunity. I need
+not express to you how much I regret the loss of your departed friend
+Mrs. Rattray, but her great sufferings in this world made it rather a
+blessing than otherwise, especially to one I believe to have been so
+truly good. Your advice of the prudence of keeping a ship's head off
+shore when near the land at night is a point of my profession I have
+long seen the absolute necessity of, especially on the coast of Nova
+Scotia where the fogs are so intense, and the shore so dangerous. But
+if ever there was in my humble opinion a lubberly series of accidents
+from the time she got on shore to the time she was on her beam ends
+alongside the wharf, it was on board H.M.S. _Faith_. The first thing
+she did after getting on shore was to anchor in Halifax harbour with
+her B.B. anchor without a buoy on it, slipped her cable and never
+buoyed it, took in moorings, unshipped her rudder and let it go to the
+bottom; slipped her anchors without a buoy on them, and to cap the
+whole, let three of her guns fall overboard in getting them out
+alongside the wharf. Sir D. Milne was furious, no wonder. I am sure I
+can with pleasure meet you halfway in your wishes to establish a free
+intercourse of sentiment between us, for I am perfectly sure, my
+dearest Father, I can nowhere find a better friend and adviser.
+
+'I am exceedingly happy to hear so favourable accounts of the
+youngsters, and of Lady Clanricarde and her fair daughter.
+
+'Bermuda is a dull place. I am perfectly at my ease and my own master,
+and the only things which annoy me are the tremendous gales of wind
+which blow here, and which I, of course, feel much in the _Jane._ The
+admiral did think of sending me to the West Indies for a cruise, but I
+believe that is dropped, as he now and then uses me to sail him about
+for his health. I am a very good pilot for Bermuda, what with the
+schooner and sloop _Jane_.
+
+'Remember me most kindly to all; I shall answer Lady St. G. immediately.
+
+'Adieu, my dear Father,
+
+'Your affectionate son,
+
+'C. P. YORKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'JANE,' HALIFAX: June 16, 1818.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'... I am still in the _Jane,_ and continue in every way to give
+satisfaction. I brought her from Bermuda, parted company from the
+squadron in a fog, and got in before the admiral; you may suppose I was
+not a little pleased with my navigation. I have pretty often the honour
+of presiding at my own table, as Sir David often takes trips with me
+along shore, on fishing excursions, &c. &c., which makes it exceedingly
+pleasant.
+
+'... I have been somewhat uneasy about some drafts upon you--heavier
+than usual--and I fear you will be led to think I am getting into an
+extravagant turn, but it is not so, I assure you. In this vessel I am
+obliged to find everything, and Bermuda charges are so extravagant that
+nothing can equal them. At any time you please to call for my bills and
+receipts they are at your service, but mark, I have no debts. I never
+leave a port that I do not pay every shilling. Pray let me know what
+you wish; if Sir D. Milne goes home, shall I return with him or not? I
+have not quite a year more to serve; or shall I remain with Ld. --- who
+I understand will supersede him?...
+
+'C. P. YORKE'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'JANE,' HALIFAX:
+
+Aug. 19, 1818.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'It is with the greatest pleasure I received your most kind and
+affectionate letter from St. James's St. I am delighted to see by your
+letter you are recovering your spirits and that you have been elected
+for Reigate, for I should have been very sorry for both you and my
+uncle to give up.
+
+'I am happy to inform you that I am in perfect health and enjoying all
+the happiness that that invaluable blessing brings, and all the little
+comforts which your bounty affords me, together with the happiness
+which the perfect approbation of my superiors and respect of my
+inferiors can alone give a man. I feel your great kindness and
+generosity more than I can express; by the way you speak on money
+matters I hope to God I never may offend you by an absurd extravagance.
+
+'I am excessively delighted with all you say of my kind family,
+particularly Lady St. G. who I am truly rejoiced to hear is so much
+better. Say everything that is kind from me to her, and my apology for
+not writing is that my right hand is very weak, as you may see from my
+writing, from an inflammation I have had in it occasioned entirely by a
+slight scratch on the knuckle of the fore finger; but it is now quite
+well, but still weak.
+
+'You are now enjoying the sweets of Sydney Lodge and its appendages,
+the _Urania_ by no means the smallest of the inanimate sort, on board
+of which ship I hope your 1st Lieut. that gallant officer Mr. H. Yorke
+continues to give perfect satisfaction, and also the mate of the decks,
+Mr. E. Y. mid. continues to improve his mind in those studies which a
+young gentleman of his abilities should attend to. I am very happy to
+hear Urania is grown up so fine a young woman; I most sincerely hope
+that all the wishes of her fond and amiable mother may be perfectly
+fulfilled. Pray give my love to her, if I may say so much now, if not,
+my esteem and regard. Pray give my love to Lady C. and tell her that I
+look forward with extreme pleasure to the time when I shall see her and
+all the family. Among my remembrances do not forget Nurse Jordan.
+
+'Now I will tell you the little or nothing I have been doing since I
+arrived. I sailed on the [ ] of June on a cruise of pleasure having the
+honour of the company of Sir D. Milne and Col. Duke. We sailed up the
+Muscadobit, or Bank's Inlet, to fish, in which river the pilot ran us
+ashore three times; each time obliged to shore up, being left almost
+dry at low water, and on one night about eleven, all in bed, down she
+came bumpus on her bilge; in consequence of our shores being made of
+trees with the bark on, the bark and lashings went together. We
+returned to Halifax where I refitted, and have not been out since, but
+sail on Monday on a cruise to the eastward in company with _Leander_
+and _Dee_, which will be very pleasant, as we touch at every harbour
+where there is lots of sport. Oh, I quite forgot to thank my uncle and
+yourself for the books that are coming....
+
+'C. P. YORKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'JANE,' HALIFAX:
+
+Octr. 19, 1818.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'... We had a very agreeable cruise of six weeks and on my return I am
+now fitting for Bermuda, to which place we sail next Sunday in company
+with _Leander_ and _Belette_. I have not time to give you an account of
+our cruise, so I must defer it to my next; suffice it to say I have
+enjoyed most perfect health and my little command now in high order and
+beauty....
+
+'C. P. YORKE'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+My father got his first promotion as acting lieutenant on the
+_Grasshopper_ early in 1819 at the age of twenty, and was confirmed in
+that rank by commission bearing date of August of the same year. In the
+following October he joined the _Phaeton_ frigate, on which vessel he
+served during the rest of his service on the North American station
+until 1822, when he got a second step.
+
+There is no doubt he learned his profession very thoroughly during
+those years in the North Atlantic; he deplores the absence of the
+excitement of war in one of his letters, but he had ample opportunity
+of graduating in the details of seamanship, which, like other
+professions, can be best learned at an early age, and by those whose
+hearts are in their work and are diligent in their business. In those
+qualities my father was certainly not lacking, though he managed to
+procure a share of enjoyment, which is the privilege of youth and high
+spirits. There are many anecdotes told of him at this time. On one
+occasion he swam across the harbour at Halifax, a feat which, in the
+circumstances, I have heard described with great admiration. On
+another, a lady giving a ball and wishing to prolong the pleasures of
+the evening, consulted Lieutenant Yorke as to the best way. She
+suggested putting back the clocks, but he advanced a step or two on
+that proposal, and while dancing was going on vigorously, stepped away
+and hung all the ladies' cloaks on a large tree not far from the front
+door. Imagine the confusion and merriment! I have often heard him tell
+the story.
+
+His next appointment, in 1822, was to the command of the brig
+_Alacrity_, where I shall be able to follow him in some interesting and
+important service on the Mediterranean station.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+GREEK PIRACY. 1823-1826
+
+
+Charles Yorke, having attained the rank of commander in May of 1822,
+was in August of the same year appointed to the command of the sloop
+_Alacrity_, and in her sailed to the Mediterranean in the autumn,
+anchoring at Gibraltar on November 29. He was dispatched to that
+station to take up some important duties in the Greek Archipelago,
+which arose out of the Greek War of Independence, then in full progress.
+
+Until the year 1821, the Greeks, though often ready to rebel against
+the Turkish government at the instigation of the agents of foreign
+Powers like Russia or France, had shown little capacity for any really
+national movement. But the gradual spread of liberal ideas which
+followed the French Revolution; the bravery which distinguished the
+resistance of certain sections of the Hellenic peoples, such as the
+Suliotes, and Spakiots of Crete; the aspirations of Ali Pacha, who
+conceived the idea of severing his connection with the Sultan and
+assuming the independent government of Albania; the impunity with which
+the Klephts or pirates pursued their calling in the Levant, all
+combined to demonstrate the real weakness of the Turkish rule, and at
+last brought about a national rising.
+
+This is not the place to enter into any detailed account of the War of
+Independence which followed, but its main events must be mentioned in
+order to make clear the letters which my father wrote from the scenes
+of the disturbance. The insurrection was begun in 1821 by Prince
+Alexander Hypsilantes, who crossed the Pruth in March of that year, but
+his efforts failed and he fled to Austria three months later; and other
+movements in the northern provinces had a similar fate. But the rising
+in the Peloponnesus under Germanos, the Archbishop of Patros, was more
+successful; his forces drove the Turks before them, and the
+independence of the country was proclaimed in January of 1823. The
+Greeks, however, displayed little power of combination, and their
+partial success was followed by internal dissensions which greatly
+weakened their cause. Mavrocordato was elected president, but the
+aspirants for honours and leadership were numberless, the various
+factions were continually quarrelling with each other, and there was at
+length open civil war inspired by Colcotronis.
+
+Meanwhile the aspirations of Greece had excited great sympathy
+throughout Europe; a Greek Committee was formed in London; the
+Philhellenes became very powerful in most countries on the continent,
+as well as in America, and many volunteers, of whom Lord Byron was a
+notable example, enlisted in the cause of Greek liberty.
+
+The Greek fleet, led by Miaoulis from 1823 onward, was exceedingly
+active; the Greek seamen inspired the Turks with great terror, and did
+immense damage to their fleets. The Turks retaliated by taking
+vengeance on the unprotected islands of the archipelago, and committed
+unspeakable atrocities on the inhabitants of Chios in 1822, and two
+years later upon those of Kasos and Psara. In 1824 the Sultan invoked
+the aid of Mehemet Ali, Pacha of Egypt, whose stepson, Ibrahim, landed
+in the Peloponnesus and with his Arab troops carried all before him,
+when the Greeks lost most of what they had acquired. The war, however,
+was continued for many years; Lord Cochrane became admiral of the Greek
+fleet and Sir Robert Church took command of the land forces. The action
+of Navarino, which occurred in 1827 almost by accident, had a great
+effect upon the fortunes of the struggle. The fleets of England,
+France, and Russia were cruising about the coasts of the Peloponnesus
+to prevent the ravages of the Turkish fleet on the islands and
+mainland, and selected a winter anchorage at Navarino, where the
+Turkish and Egyptian fleets lay. The Turks thinking they were menaced
+opened fire upon the combined fleets, and were annihilated in the
+engagement which followed. In the following year the Greeks had the aid
+of the French, who cleared the Morea of Turkish troops, and by the end
+of the year Greece was practically independent. Some anarchy followed
+the assassination of the President Capodostrias in 1831, but at length
+Otho of Bavaria was crowned king, and in 1832 a convention was signed
+by which the protecting Powers of Europe recognised the new kingdom and
+assigned its limits; and Greece attained an independence which she has
+since maintained.
+
+Among the results of this long period of anarchy and insurrection was
+an outbreak of piracy among both Greeks and Turks. Individual
+chieftains called their followers together, established their
+head-quarters in out-of-the-way creeks, and preyed upon the commerce of
+the Levant without any interference from their Government. As in the
+case of the Barbary Powers, the depredations of these pirates became at
+length so intolerable that the Governments of Europe were obliged to
+interfere for the protection of their subjects.
+
+Commander Yorke's part as representing his country in the mission he
+undertook, to put down this state of things, appears fully in the
+letters written to his father at intervals, which follow, and we there
+see the important position he had to fill. He was, as he says, in those
+eastern waters in the double capacity of warrior and diplomatist, or in
+other words to command a neutral armed vessel, act impartially between
+Greek and Turk, and protect trade from the piracies of both nations.
+This was no easy task, and it appears that though his sympathies were
+with the Greek cause, of the two he preferred the Turk as by far the
+best to deal with.
+
+It will be seen that he had to go round visiting the chief islands,
+Corfu, Cephalonia and Zante, and ascertain from the governors if they
+had any grievances to be remedied. He had no positive orders for his
+guidance, but only 'act as you think most fit.' Often he found himself
+in difficulties without even an interpreter, and so obliged to make
+himself understood, if he could, in French. His short but graphic
+description of Lord Byron at Missolonghi and his rencontre with Colonel
+Leicester Stanhope will interest many readers.
+
+From a journal kept by Commander Yorke during this service, which he
+heads 'A few Miscellaneous Remarks. H.M. Sloop _Alacrity_,' beginning
+in 1823, and now with the Hardwicke MSS. at the British Museum, I find
+a few facts which supplement those of the letters. He records receiving
+much civility from Lord Chatham at Gibraltar, and sailed from that port
+on December 2 in company with the _Sybella_ for Malta, a passage which
+occupied about fourteen days. After ten days at Malta refitting, he was
+ordered to proceed to the Ionian station. He describes with great
+admiration the beauty of the scene at sunrise on New Year's Day of 1824
+as the _Alacrity_ made the coast of Epirus, the snow-covered mountains
+of Albania contrasting with the green and fertile shore of Corfu with
+its olive gardens reaching down to the water's edge. At Corfu he dined
+with commissioners, generals, and at messes; and records meeting Lord
+Byron's 'Maid of Athens,' 'who is now rather _passée_, but certainly
+has remains of a fine face and a bad figure; large feet, of course,
+that all the Greeks have,' he writes. There are accounts of other
+diversions, including a week's shooting with a Mr. P. Steven and the
+officers of the 90th Regiment, which he describes as 'a marvellous
+slaughter of woodcocks,' after which he sailed to Missolonghi, where he
+arrived on January 23. The letters describe his further experiences.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'Alacrity,' Gibraltar:
+
+Nov. 29, 1823.
+
+'My dearest Father,
+
+'I this morning at six o'clock anchored under the cloud-cap't top of
+this extraordinary rock, and found that _Alacrity_ had made a better
+passage by some hours than either _Ganges_ or _Sybella_ who are all
+here. I paid my devoirs to Lord Chatham who asked after you, also your
+old Teetotum G--- who I found in the very act of entertaining the
+ladies of Gib with breakfast, music and a trip to Algeciras in the
+_Tribune's_ boats to spend the day. He seems in great force and sorry
+to leave this part of the world, indeed, they say that love has much to
+do in the case. I afterwards paid my devoirs to the American Commodore,
+Jones, who is here in the _Constitution_, and went over his ship; I
+felt proud to see the ship that had captured our frigate--she is
+enormous. Her cable and rigging in inches the same as the _Ganges_ by
+level measurement, for they have taken the pains to examine, but she is
+now in what I should call a state of nature as bad as I could wish to
+see a Yankee in, with 450 men on board who look as if they were tired
+of their work, and the officers say so.
+
+'I have met a very intelligent man just left Cadiz, and have seen and
+conversed with some of the Spanish Constitutionalists. Spain is in a
+dreadful state; anarchy, confusion, highway robbery and assassination
+daily take place. The game is up, if France has got and will keep
+military possession of Cadiz. The French are disgusted with the whole
+thing--the country and the people.... Officers and nobles are on the
+highway.
+
+'I shall sail for Malta on Monday. I am engaged in taking big guns up.
+_Alacrity_ is the most comfortable vessel I have ever been in.
+
+'Adieu. Love to all.
+
+'Your affectionate and dutiful son,
+
+'C. YORKE.
+
+'I sailed without my Government chronometers, they were so bad I would
+not take them, but the one C--- has on board is capital and we made the
+rock to a mile.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+GIBRALTAR:
+
+March 9, 1824.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'It is a long while since I have had an opportunity of putting pen to
+paper to address you, not having been in any Christian Port for some
+time, nor have I received a single line from any one since I left you.
+
+'I am just arrived at this port having brought Convoy from Malta, and
+now I am here I think I had better begin at the other end of my story,
+and so come down to the present time, instead of going back; relating
+all the little matters just as they are and how H.M. sloop and her crew
+have been employ'd since I last address'd you from the same place.
+
+'I sailed from Gibraltar to Malta in company with my friend Capt.
+Pechel, and after remaining at that Island for ten days to put a little
+to rights I proceeded to the Ionian Islands and there, as I believe I
+before told you, to act in the capacity of warrior and diplomatist, or
+in other words, as an arm'd neutral vessel between the Turks and
+Greeks, to protect our trade from the piracies of both Nations, I
+assure you no very easy task, but certainly of the two the Turk is the
+best by far to deal with. I visited the Islands of Corfu, Cefalonia and
+Zante, inquiring of the Governors and if they had any abuses to be
+remedied, and I soon had over ten Petitions from Merchants whose boats
+had been plundered and pillaged by both parties.
+
+'Now we are on this station placed in rather awkward circumstances,
+having no positive orders how to act in cases of refusal and obstinacy
+on the part of these People, but only, _to act as you think most fit_;
+how the Government would bear us out in any act of violence such as
+taking by force that which they will not give up I know not; even with
+justice on your side, I question much whether they would support you.
+
+'I ask'd and consulted Sir T. Maitland on the mode I should adopt, but
+he seem'd to advise that where they had captured a vessel, or property,
+and refused to give it up on a fair review of the case, to take "vi et
+armis" an equivalent or the vessel that committed the act. Thus armed
+with his opinion it was not long before an opportunity offered, and
+one, take it all in all, which was to me most interesting. A vessel of
+the Greek fleet had captured an Ionian vessel coming from Patras to
+Zante with a cargo "_as the Petition stated_" worth 400 Dollars, and
+having plundered her and ill used the crew, permitted the vessel
+herself to depart. This petition is put into my hands by Col. Sir F.
+Steven the resident of Zante, for here a Capt. of a man of war is a
+species of Penang Lawyer, and whenever a petition comes to any of these
+gentlemen they always say "Oh! give it the Capt. of the Brig or
+Frigate, &c. he will soon settle it, and do it by _Club Law_." However
+away I went to Missolonghi, and anchored off the Town on the 23rd of
+Jany. observing ten sail of Turkish men of war to leeward, went on
+shore, and with much difficulty we poked our way through the narrow
+channels of this extraordinary place, there being a low flat of sand
+turning out from the land about seven miles; it seems to be the only
+defence the town has. Had an interview with Mavrocordato who received
+me of course, with civility, on Divan, supposing that I came to do him
+no good, having with me two or three officers and an arm'd boats crew.
+When I landed I met with a face that put me in mind of Hyde Park,
+Balls, Parties, Almacks, &c. This was no one more or less than Col.
+Leicester Stanhope come out with Jeremy Bentham under his arm to give
+the Greeks a constitution.
+
+'Powerful in strength must he be who can manage this; long in pocket,
+with a head filled up with every talent that man is capable of
+possessing and a pair of loaded pistols in his belt, with no more words
+than are absolutely necessary to warn people, if they do not do this,
+that they will have a chance of being sent to sleep with their Fathers.
+
+'St. James's Street and English notions must be abolish'd, so must all
+Romance of Liberty and the children of the antient Greeks struggling to
+shake off the yoke of the bloody Turk; Lord Byron knows all this, and
+is in fact the only man that has ever come out to them who understands
+the people. He was at Missolonghi, living in every way like a great
+Chief; and in fact he is so, arm'd to the teeth with 500 Suliotes, the
+bravest and best troops the Greeks have, and twenty German Veterans,
+besides a certain Count Gamba, a beautiful Albanian Page, an Italian
+Chasseur, and an old Scotch butler, making in all about 530 well arm'd
+men, besides the Suliotes from all parts of Greece flocking to him
+daily, he could if he liked set up a Govt. in Missolonghi, but as he
+hates governments, and likes this sort of life where his nod and beck
+are a law, he will have nothing to do with their legislation altho'
+they come and offer to place him at the head of the Government
+victorious. He however has pay'd their fleet for them, who immediately
+landed their Admiral and sailed away the Lord knows where. 'The first
+interview I had with this Prince Mavrocordato I could do nothing, as I
+plainly saw they were detaining me while they made out a case and that
+Stanhope's wits were put in requisition. In addition to which I had no
+interpreter, and so I was obliged to speak French, the only other
+language Mavrocordato understood besides Greek. So I broke up the
+interview by saying it was late and that I should wait on him again
+to-morrow. This however I did not effect, as it blew a gale on the
+following day, but the next I again saw him, and having previously put
+a few questions to the purpose on paper I defeated his quibbles, and
+made him refund in hard dollars the value of the cargo, threatening
+that if he did not I should burn, sink and destroy immediately. I gave
+him four hours to consider of it, and stay'd with Ld. Byron until the
+time elapsed, much amused by all his sayings and anecdotes, firing
+pistols at a mark, eating, &c. &c.
+
+'The time pass'd and the money came; thus ended my diplomatic Mission
+at Missolonghi. I have just seen some English papers, they talk of
+Missolonghi having sixty pieces of Cannon and a large garrison.
+
+'I can only say from personal knowledge that if it has sixty pieces of
+Cannon they are all on the wrong side, or where the Dutchman had his
+anchor. The garrison consisted of about 1000 arm'd men 500 of whom were
+Lord Byron's Suliotes. The only defence towards the sea is what
+bountiful Nature has given it, and a small fort on an island with two
+guns, one dismounted, much more like a pig stye than a fort. In short
+there seem'd to me to be nothing to prevent the Turkish Admiral from
+landing men and destroying every soul in the place, but their style of
+warfare is very harmless (except now and then, when they catch some
+poor devil alone, then they murder him). The Greeks talked much of a
+fine ship, and Ld. Byron recommended Mavrocordato to take boat with him
+in the evening and "smoke a cigar against the Turkish fleet" which
+however he declined. I was obliged soon to return to Zante for water,
+intending to go up to Lepanto and be present at the storming of that
+place by the Greeks. Ld. Byron and myself had agreed, he was to lead
+the attack and indeed had undertaken the Enterprise entirely, and as he
+jocosely observed to me a very fit man he was as he could not run if he
+wished, alluding to his club foot; but it was otherwise ordained, for
+to my great grief news one evening was suddenly brought me as I was
+dining at the Mess of the 90th Regt. of the loss of H.M. sloop
+_Columbine_ at Sapienza, my friend Abbot's ship. I lost no time in
+being at sea and was with him on Saturday the 31st of Jany. having put
+to sea from Zante with a gale from the N.W. and had much ado to keep
+clear of the Coast of the Morea. On my arrival in Porto Longue, I found
+my friend and his crew all well having only lost two people; the brig's
+tops just above water; she was lost by parting her S.B. cable, and had
+not room to bring up; she soon bilged on the rocks, and the people had
+much ado to save themselves; little or no property was saved, they had
+tents on shore and miserable enough, as the rain was almost constant.
+The Pasha of Modon é Aron supplied them with provisions and was most
+attentive to them. Abbot and myself pay'd our respects to the old boy,
+he regaled us with Pipes and Coffee: and acknowledgement was made him
+for his attentions to the shipwreck'd crew by a salute of twenty guns
+from H.M. sloop, four of my cut glass tumblers as sherbet glasses, and
+1 lb. of Mr. Fribourg's and Palets' best snuff. I think you will laugh
+at our presents to him, but I assure you it was thought much of, and
+highly valued. I think the Turks, tho' they speak seldom, yet when they
+do are more profuse in their compliments and fine speeches and
+questions than any people I have ever seen.
+
+'I am obliged to close my discourse as I am ordered to take another
+convoy, and a ship is this moment weighing for England.
+
+'So with affte. Love to Lady C.: and all haste,
+
+'Believe me most sincerely,
+
+'Your affte. Son,
+
+'C. YORKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'ALACRITY,' MALTA:
+
+May 24, 1824.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I am once more in this part after divers peregrinations and events
+which in due time I shall narrate. But first of all I am in despair at
+hearing from no single soul in the land of Roast Beef. One solitary
+letter from yourself is all I have received since I sailed from
+England. You last heard from me from Gibraltar where I was waiting to
+take Convoy to Cape St. Vincent having brought four sail to that place.
+Made short work of the Cape St. Vincent trip having a gale of wind
+through the Gut of Gib. And not able to show a stitch of canvas, so
+next day I was able to haul my wind again having made the Cape. The
+letter which I hope you received was sent by one of the ships. On my
+return to Gib. I again three days afterwards took convoy to Malta where
+I did not remain more than six hours being called on to perform a
+service of some delicacy; different are the opinions of the way in
+which I acquitted myself but I feel conscious of having strictly done
+my duty, and if I have done wrong, all that I have to say is that the
+laws of nations were not the groundwork or capital of my education, but
+it has made me take books up a little in that way. The fact was a
+vessel under English colours received on board at Rhodes 250 Algerians
+to take passage to their native city (among whom was the brother-in-law
+of the Dey) with all their money and effects; on this passage they hear
+of the war between their country and our own, the master of the vessel
+wishes to bear up for Malta but the Turks will not allow it, and he is
+obliged to use the stratagem of cutting his main topmast rigging and so
+let the mast go overboard for his excuse. He cannot reach Malta, but he
+gets into Messina, the Consul for our Government there was applied to
+in this matter by the Sicilian Authorities, & as by the salutary laws
+of that country no barbarians can perform quarantine in any of their
+ports, it became their desire to get her away. The master of the
+_Crown_ refuses to go, stating that his life was in absolute danger
+from the people. I arrived in Malta from Gib with Convoy and in six
+hours after I sailed for Messina with orders and that caused his
+untimely end.
+
+'Give my kindest love to Lady Clanricarde and if she wants Turkey
+carpets, shawls, &c. &c. now is the time. Affectionate love to all. I
+wish Hy. was with me, I think if he would read as he travelled he would
+make good use of his time.
+
+'Your affectionate son,
+
+'C.Y.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M.S. 'TRIBUNE,'
+
+In the Channel off Corfu, on the coast of Epirus:
+
+July 16, 1824.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I am here with G--- under sail and about to eat the gouty old
+Commodore's dinner, _Alacrity_ in company. We start together for Zante,
+Cephalonia, Cerigo, &c. though I leave him to take command in the
+Archipelago.
+
+'He is, as you well know, all that a kind and affectionate friend can
+be. I wrote you a few days ago a very short letter and one that I know
+you will abuse much when you receive it, but I promise a long one when
+I am in for the Station and business that will naturally occur
+therefrom. I have already one affair in hand with a Greek corvette for
+plunder which will be acted on by me in a burning manner, for these
+fellows require it.
+
+'All the Algerian business is settled and the Admiral has expressed
+himself well pleased with my conduct. Hamilton of the _Cambria_
+promised me to see you and acquaint you with all particulars of the
+affair.
+
+'Love to all.
+
+'Your affectionate son,
+
+'C. Y.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+H.M. SLOOP 'ALACRITY,' SMYRNA:
+
+Sept. 17, 1824.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'I received your kind letter of the 1st of May a few days ago at
+Spezzia on the Gulf of Napoli di Romania (Nauplia) by H.M.S. _Martin_
+which arrived from Malta. Capt. Eden commands our little squad (for
+squadron I will not call it as there are only 46 guns among three of
+us) and being my senior officer has of course taken possession of the
+Green Bag, & my command in these seas has expired after having held it
+nine weeks. 'I believe before I go further it will be wise of me to
+explain to you what this "Green Bag," as I call it, is, and when you
+hear I rather think you will be a little amused.
+
+'From the present state of Greece and the islands in the Archipelago
+some Greek, some Turk, some both, and some neither, much piracy and
+murder goes on against all the flags of Europe; and of course we fall
+in for our share, and hardly a week passes but some appeal to humanity
+or justice is brought to the Senior Officer, or any cruizing ship in
+the Archipelago, indeed of late owing to the small force up this
+country these papers have so accumulated that a large bag became
+necessary to hold them, and when I gave up my command to Eden of the
+_Martin_, up the side after me came the "awful Green Bag." The Senior
+Officer here is in himself an Admiralty Court for all the Archipelago,
+and a most difficult and delicate service it is, for _"truth is never
+to be got at"_ and the Ionian who is always the person aggrieved is as
+bad as the Greek. I foresee myself getting into a discussion, but I
+must say a little of my opinions to you, faulty as they most likely
+are, yet such has been the impression made on my mind by what I have
+seen and heard; but I shall not break out here as I wish to give you an
+outline of what I have been about since I left Malta.
+
+'I had a passage of five weeks to Smyrna touching at Corfu and Milo and
+delivering at the former 120,000 Dollars for the Government, found our
+friend Guion there as much the ladies man as ever. I gave you a line
+from _Tribune_ myself, I parted from her two days afterwards. After
+remaining a few days at Smyrna I sailed on a cruizer leaving the _Rose_
+there for the protection of the Trade. But before I weigh and make sail
+I shall say something of John Turk, who has always stood rather well
+with me until you take him into the field, and there he is bloody,
+cruel, ferocious and desperate but _not brave_. In the drawing room he
+is polish'd, well bred, and from the pomp and magnificence of style in
+which he lives he cannot fail at first to impose on the stranger a good
+opinion of at least his gentlemanly manners, and courtlike behaviour.
+On my arrival at Smyrna I did not fail as soon as I was able to gain an
+interview with Hussan Pacha, the Governor. This man gain'd his
+Government by some merit of his own; marching thro' Smyrna on his way
+to take possession of his Pachalick with his troops, he was called on
+by the Authorities and Consuls of foreign powers to exercise his
+military authority in restoring order to the town which was at this
+time (1821) in a state of anarchy, massacre and cruelty, against the
+Greeks; he undertook the task and succeeded in restoring order and
+stopping the slaughter in twenty-four hours, after which service, in
+consequence of a representation from the Consuls, the Porte confirm'd
+him to the Government.
+
+'My party on the visit consisted of Capt. Dundas, Mr. Whitehead (the
+Admiral's son who has been with me from Malta) Lt. Trescott and Mr.
+Forester Wyson, with the Dragoman; we were received with all due
+respect and pomp and after many compliments, pipes, coffee, sherbet,
+&c. &c. we took our leave. The conversation that took place is not
+worth relating, as it was of that nature which such a visit might be
+supposed to produce.
+
+'I afterwards went a round of visits to the Turkish nobles and
+principal officers of the Town, Delibash Beys, Beys, Agas, &c. &c.
+Smyrna is a large town, and like all other Turkish towns has narrow
+streets, low dirty houses, and long Bazaars; the people from their
+costume and arms forming the most amusing and picturesque objects of
+the whole. Here and there you saw strong symptoms of firing in the
+dominions of the Porte, doors full of shot-holes, and now and then a
+random ball whizzing over your head. Above the town on an eminence is a
+very picturesque old castle built by the Genoese, now in ruins and
+nothing more than a very beautiful object, and one of the finest
+roadsteads in the Mediterranean. The country at the back of Smyrna is
+rich and beautifully wooded.
+
+'I rode out one evening with Capt. Dundas to the Consul's, the roads
+infamous and my horse stumbling exceedingly I did not quite enjoy the
+beauties of Asia, and the romance of the ride thro' the burying-place
+of the Turk, studded with the Turban [Footnote: The Turks at the top of
+the tombstone have the turban of their rank] or stone and Cypress, as
+much as I ought.
+
+'On the 4th of July, I sailed from Voorla, a watering place on the
+south side of the Gulf of Smyrna, for Psara and arrived there on the
+5th. The Turks having attacked the place on the 3rd, which they carried
+in about twelve hours, excepting a strong work on the west end of the
+Island which did not fall till the following day. I thought at first
+that this had been a decided and bloody blow struck at the root of the
+Greek revolution, but the Turk has gone to sleep since, or nearly. I
+have myself little doubt that the French had much to do with the
+capture of this island, for I learnt from many that a Frigate had been
+at Psara on the 22nd of June, and for four successive days had sounded
+round and round the Island and then sailed for Mytilene where the Capt.
+Pacha was. Moreover when I was on board the Pacha's ship he show'd me a
+Chart or plan of the Island, which the moment I saw it, I exclaimed
+"This is done by a Frank," and he said, yes that it had been done for
+him. The attack was made on the north side, the only place in this
+Island that Turkish troops could land on with safety, and even here the
+pass was so narrow up the mountain that only one man could pass at a
+time. To shew the difficulty of gaining ground, and how easily this
+place might have been defended, one Greek who was near the spot asleep
+on hearing a noise jumped up, and with his single arm killed seven
+Turks, one after the other as they came up; and then fled.
+
+'As soon as I anchored on the roadstead, I sent to say I wished to pay
+my respects to the Captain Pacha, who returned a very civil answer, and
+I went _en grande tenue_, to see this mighty conqueror and Royal
+Prince. Our interview was truly amusing. I began with saying that
+having anchored in the road, and finding his fleet there (which
+consisted of one 80 gun ship, seven frigates and about eighty
+Corvettes, Brigs and Transports) I had come to pay my respects to him
+and to congratulate him on his successes over his enemies; he whimpered
+and simpered, like an old woman, thank'd me, but pretended to be
+excessively sorry for the loss of life on the part of the Psariotes,
+_he_ having taken very good care that not a _man_ on the Island should
+have his head left on his shoulders; but the women would not give him a
+chance, they did that which would do honor to the Antient Hist: of
+Greece! throwing their children from the precipices into the sea, and
+then following themselves. The Pacha told me he had not taken a single
+woman, and only a few children, that some of the boats pick'd up
+floating. We conversed on different topics, but more particularly on
+the politics of Turkey and Greece. I ask'd him if he meant to strike
+the iron while it was hot, and get on to Hydra, and strike a blow
+there, telling him at the same time that I was going to the Naval
+Islands on business and should tell all I had seen. He replied, "No, I
+love the Hydriotes." The crafty old dog loves them like a cannibal
+"well enough to eat them." After having sat above an hour (for I was
+determined to see all I could) he was called out by the Admiral who
+whispered in his ear; out he went, I was curious, and walked to the
+front part of the cabin opening a little of the Door; I saw him on the
+deck surrounded with Turkish soldiers who were each producing their
+day's work, in the process of extermination. Each head got the
+possessor a few Liqueurs. After he came into the cabin again, I tax'd
+him with what he had been at. He smiled and ask'd me should I like to
+see it. I told him I had read of these things among Eastern nations,
+but was not quite sure before that it was true, upon which he not
+knowing that I had seen a great deal, ordered the head of a Greek
+Priest just taken off, and still reeking with gore, to be brought in to
+me, which was accordingly done. After this I took my leave of the Old
+Turk, who pressed my hand cordially; I ask'd his permission to go on
+shore, but he would not give it, saying that it was a horrid sight and
+that most likely I should be shot myself. The Turks here killed about
+8000 Greeks and lost themselves by their own account about 3000, but
+the fact is they cannot tell, for they never know the number of people
+they have on board.
+
+'Ismail Pacha had one of his Captains wounded, and he ask'd me to allow
+my surgeon to visit him, which I did. This Ismail Pacha is an Albanian
+and served under the old lion Ali for a long while and was by him
+raised to a Pachalick which was confirm'd to him by the Porte after the
+death of Ali; he commanded the 12,000 men that landed at Psara. Another
+desperate act of heroism took place in the strong fort situated on an
+eminence at the West End of the Island, it held out till the last and
+was not destroy'd until everything was lost. The Turks had made a
+forlorn hope to storm it, the Greeks allowed them easy access, then
+fired the magazine. Thus perish'd 1000 Greek men, women and children
+and 400 Turks. I sailed in the evening after saluting the Pacha with
+twenty guns, and saw them fire the Town, the Plunder being finish'd.
+
+'From Psara to Hydra where I had a grievance to try to redress, but
+from its being a year old, I had much fear that with my small force I
+should not be able to effect that which a larger ship would have
+immediately succeeded in, with nothing more than threats. I intended to
+try _those_ first and ultimately to do more and take my chance of what
+the Govt. might think.
+
+'But the _Martin's_ arrival has taken the "Green Bag" away from me. I
+will now relate that on my arrival off Hydra, I found Miaoulis the
+Greek Admiral on his way to assist Psara. I hailed his vessel and
+invited him on board, he came and I made him acquainted with the
+capture and massacre at the place, (since I left Psara I found that
+about twenty-five sail of vessels had escaped, with some women and
+children). He seem'd much distressed, but said he would push on and see
+what was to be done. I afterwards heard that he kept aloof until the
+Captain Pacha quitted, he then attack'd the gun boats in which about
+2000 [Footnote: The garrison left at Psara] Turks were attempting to
+escape and destroyed nearly the whole of them. Now the Island is
+desolate and _neutral_ having neither Greek nor Turk on it; but I hear
+that the Captain Pacha is going to adopt the miserable and contemptible
+policy of destroying its harbour, and then taking no more regard of the
+Island. I must say the want of unanimity in the Greek against the
+common enemy is here too perceptible. The Hydriotes well knew that
+Psara was soon to be attack'd and it was in their power to have saved
+it, but its having been in former days a rival island in commerce, and
+was now a rival island in achievements in war, they delay'd sending
+their ships until it was too late. There were also traitors among their
+own people, no doubt of it!
+
+'My business at Hydra was a case of piracy, against a British merchant
+of Alexandria, and all the property was stolen and the vessel burnt,
+&c. &c. I called off the island and as _they_ wish'd to refer back to
+the affair before they would give an answer, I passed on to Napoli di
+Romania (Nauplia) where the Greeks have set up an attempt at a
+government, for a government I cannot call it that has neither laws or
+courts, not even a national assembly is yet instituted; but anarchy
+seems to reign among them, and until something like a strict union
+among the chiefs of this people takes place I fear their cause is not
+likely to be progressive, or their means effective.
+
+'The people who are now at the head of what they style the Provisional
+Government of Greece are men who under the Turks were merchants, or
+masters of merchant ships. The Chief or Primate of this Government
+(Condenotti by name) is an Hydriote (his Brother is now Primate of
+Hydra) who during his life has amassed a fortune of Five million of
+dollars, having had for twenty-three years the Trade, I may say, of the
+whole of the northern part of the Archipelago; himself a ship owner,
+having no less than eighteen or twenty fine Brigs and ships from 180 to
+300 tons burthen. This man has never given a Para to the cause of his
+country; what can you expect with such a beginning? The Govt. have in
+their pay about 10,000 men, ragamuffins of all sorts. This is that part
+of the population of Greece that our Committee in London send money to.
+
+'Are the Greek Committee such fools as to suppose that they are
+honourably dealt with, and that this money is all put to the uses they
+would wish to see it put to, or that the money sent from England will
+ever do any good to the Greek cause, unless they appoint proper
+Commissioners to receive it, and to dole it out, in such a way as to be
+of service to those who merit it? Is the Provisional Govt. of Greece
+such a Committee? Or are they who have been tricking and trafficking to
+make money all their lives fit people to be entrusted with such a
+Commission? _There is not one Patriot among them!_ And they are
+accountable to no one by law, for there are no laws in the land.
+
+'Money has arrived lately from the Greek Committee and it was put into
+the hands of the Provisional Govt. What they have done with the _whole_
+of it I do not know; some they have given to Odysseus. When he heard
+that money was coming from England to Napoli he left his stronghold in
+Parnassus and came down with the small retinue of 300 men to demand of
+the Govt. some remuneration for his services, he had expelled the Turks
+from Livadia, and he now required that they would pay 5000 men for him.
+This Odysseus is the only man whom I should call a Patriot among them.
+So different in style is the free Mountain Chief from the Lowland long
+enslaved Greek, that you would hardly believe them to belong to the
+same nation. Odysseus ever called and thought himself free, and his
+family before him never own'd the dominion of the Turk, living in
+inaccessible holds no Turkish turbaned head was ever near them. This
+man tho' wild and untaught is patriotic, brave, devoid of superstition,
+and last and most rare among the Greeks, has an utter contempt for
+money. He has talents for war or peace, and the most moderate in his
+principles of any of them. If there is a man in Greece who is to be
+depended on _he_ is the man. He maintains that one of the greatest
+steps towards the well-being of Greece is the putting down the
+ascendancy of the Priests, with that you will put down intolerant
+avarice and much crime. At first the Govt. would not give much ear to
+his demands, but he goes to them in person, stripped of his arms,
+telling them he is no longer a soldier, that he would turn barber for
+he could shave; he said he would get an honest livelihood as a poor man
+but not pilfer &c. _as some of his friends did_ who had neither
+patriotism or virtue, and who thought of nothing but aggrandizing and
+enriching themselves. Such was his opinion of this Govt., and he
+assured me himself that not one of their heads should be on their
+shoulders in ten days if they did not distribute this money in such a
+way as to ensure something like a successful campaign against the
+Turks. They have however given what I suppose they could not keep from
+him and what he _had before_; the command in _Livadia_, and pay 5000
+men for him.
+
+'I had some very amusing excursions with this Chief and we became great
+friends, he is in person one of the handsomest and finest men I ever
+saw, and had Maria seen him manage his horse she would never have
+forgotten it. I could give very interesting accounts of our picnics and
+rides, when his Albanians roasted the sheep whole stuffed with almonds
+and raisins, &c. &c. but it will take more time than I can spare, and I
+fear by this time you will be nearly tired, but you must bear with me
+up to the date I write from before I give up. The other Chiefs of Note,
+Mavrocordato and Colcotronis, are men of perfectly different characters
+but both by their different means attempting to aggrandize themselves.
+The former's weapons are his talents and his tongue, the latter's his
+courage and his sword. Colcotronis rebelled and try'd to overthrow the
+provisional Government, he blockaded Napoli and was for some weeks
+fighting with the Govt. Corps in the Plains of Argos, but Odysseus
+appearing on the mountain, neither knowing which side he would take,
+they suspended their arms and a reconciliation was brought about. I
+think of late there has been a little more apparent conduct in the
+Chiefs than before. I see in our papers great puffs about the fighting
+in Greece. The warfare, in fact, is desultory and next to ridiculous
+excepting in the passes of the Mountains, and when Turkish cavalry are
+caught there the Greeks always kill them all. As yet the campaign is
+rather against the Greek by the loss of Psara, their chief Naval
+Island, which from its situation much annoy'd the Turk.
+
+'But to the Greek Committee! Great as the respect is which I feel for a
+set of men who have wished to give assistance to that cause so dear to
+every Englishman, yet I regret much the material and money that has
+been wasted and frittered away to no purpose. Had the Greek Committee
+fully understood the business they were about to take in hand they
+would not have sent out the quantities of valuable yet useless stores
+which are now I believe in the possession of the people of Missolonghi.
+If instead of sending out surveying instruments, sextants, telescopes
+and numberless instruments used by our artillery and engineers, they
+had caused to be manufactured musquets, yataghans and pistols in the
+fashion of the country together with powder and ball, and had taken
+care that a proper commission was there ready to receive it and take
+care that they were properly distributed, I would have given them some
+credit; but as yet I think what they have sent has created bad blood
+among the people and rivalry among the Chiefs who should possess the
+whole. When Odysseus heard that supplies of stores had arrived from
+England at Missolonghi he sent 300 men and a captain to get some, he
+demanded a share and it was refused; he then forcibly took away four
+field guns and forty barrels of powder on mules and carried them safe
+to Parnassus. The man who did this was Mr. Trelawney from whom I had
+the circumstance. Of the money the Committee have just sent out, a
+little comes back to us, for the Greeks always allege they cannot pay
+for the piracies committed on our Flag until the money arrives from
+England! This is too great a farce! I have actually been once to Napoli
+for money, which has been owing for this year pass'd and which they
+never would pay until they were able to pay it in English sovereigns.
+
+'Greece has the name of fighting but with the present sort of warfare
+that goes on, unless some interference is made or the one party or the
+other gets weary, it may continue without progression towards the grand
+end, peace, until doomsday.
+
+'After leaving Napoli I went to Hydra where I had some piratical
+business to settle. On pulling into the port in my boat I saw a vessel
+there under British colors that informed me they had that morning been
+captured by an Hydriote corsair, I desired that she should be instantly
+given up to me which they refused doing; I that evening cut her out
+with the _Alacrity's_ Boats; I put half my crew and all my marines into
+the three boats going myself in my gig, making Trescott in the brig
+stand slap into the port with her guns loaded with round shot and
+grape. The shores of the harbour (which is not more than two cables
+lengthward) lined with about 12,000 men, her guns would have made
+dreadful havoc. In three minutes from the time we got on board, the
+Greeks had jumped overboard and her cables were cut, and out she came
+without the loss of a single man. They have protested against me to the
+Govt. at Napoli but _it's all right_, and I did what was perfectly
+proper in all points. These rascals must not be allowed to capture
+British vessels on any pretence whatever; if they are allowed to do so,
+even on pretences of assisting their enemies, no vessel but a man of
+war will be able to sail in these seas.
+
+'From Hydra hearing that Samos was about to be attacked by the Turks I
+sailed thither, and on the first day of their attack (in which they
+were repulsed) I took off 106 women and children with their property,
+_being British subjects_, and carried them to Smyrna. From there on my
+way to Napoli I fell in with the _Martin_ and returned to Smyrna, where
+I found _Euryalus_. He went to sea and has left me Gardo here. Finding
+that for a time my sea trips were suspended I set off for Magnesia and
+much delighted I have been with my trip, suffice it to say that nothing
+can be kinder than the great Turks are to me, and in a few days I
+return to Magnesia to hunt with Ali Bey the Governor of that Town. But
+I must reserve a description of these trips until another letter, as I
+am sure you will be heartily tired by the time you have got through my
+_griffonage_.
+
+'I have enjoy'd all this summer most excellent health, and the climate
+has completely left off its baneful influence upon me, thank God.
+
+'Tell Lady C. I have collected for her a quantity of antient Greek,
+Roman and Egyptian pottery, the greater part of which is most
+exceedingly valuable, and some that I dug myself at Samos.
+
+'I have also collected a quantity of very fine Coins (Greek) which _if_
+I get a safe conveyance, I shall send Uncle Charles. Tell him so! This
+letter I know he will see, so if he will, take it as written as much to
+himself as you and indeed all the family, To whom individually &
+collectively give my afftn. love.
+
+'Don't show my letters to any but the family Pray!
+
+'You will be amused to hear I wear the Turkish dress on these
+excursions.
+
+'Your most afftn. Son
+
+'C. YORKE.
+
+'PS.--Affectionate Love to U. K. and Agneta an affectionate Embrace to
+H. Y., E. Y. and G. Y.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+ALEXANDRIA:
+
+Dec. 27, 1825.
+
+'MY DEAREST FATHER,
+
+'Although I cannot write as long a letter as I intended and wish, for
+lack of time, yet, as there are several vessels in this harbour on the
+point of sailing for England, I must, after so long an interval, put
+pen to paper in your behalf.
+
+'By the finish of my last letter to you which I trust was prolix enough
+I was at Smyrna, and had informed you of my visiting in this country
+its nobles and princes: and I think mentioned something of a visit I
+paid to Ali Bey, the Governor of Idun a country to the Nd. of Smyrna,
+whose capital is Magnesia, where the residence of the Governor is. I
+twice visited this Prince, and, so much was he pleased the first time,
+that he invited me to come a second when there was to be a hunt of
+birds and beasts. On the 13th of September, Forrester the Surgeon,
+Weatley my 2nd Lieutenant, and myself with a young Armenian as an
+interpreter and a Janissary for a "Garde du corps," started "au point
+du jour" from Smyrna, and arrived in the afternoon at Magnesia, one of
+the prettiest Turkish towns I have seen. Our journey slow, over bad
+roads, did not afford any circumstances much worth relating. We found
+our new acquaintances Turk and Christian, both in their way agreeable;
+the Armenian, young, sensible, and an extraordinary linguist, speaking
+nine languages though not twenty years of age. The Old Turk, funny, fat
+and good-natured. The latter part of our journey lay thro' a pass in
+the mountains from the summit of which the Valley of Magnesia suddenly
+burst on our view, with the town on the eastern side at the foot of a
+perpendicular rocky mountain very like the rock of Gibraltar, but if
+anything higher, more craggy, and bold: the valley that lay before us,
+bounded on the W. by a ridge of regular round topped hills, and to the
+Nd. the eye could not reach the extent of this immense plain, which is
+covered with vines, and fig trees, corn, and tobacco, the best in
+Natolia. On my arrival, I sent my Janissary from the Kane I put up at
+to say I was arrived, when an officer from the Bey came, and marched us
+thro' the street till we stopped at one of the best looking houses I
+had seen; we were ushered in, and I was then informed we were to live
+here and that if I did not like it and was not comfortable that I
+should have another. But I soon found out we could not be better off;
+the Bey having sent us to the house of the Primate of the Greeks, who
+was obliged to receive us whether he liked it or not, it being
+sufficient that a Turk orders it. But in truth, I believe the old
+Patriarch was very proud of the honor for no hospitality could outdo
+his: the fatted calf was killed and we feasted sumptuously. Fingers
+were now called into requisition as knives and forks are no part of the
+necessaries of these Oriental nations. Such tearing of fowls and
+tucking up of sleeves! After dinner the water, and then the Alpha and
+Omega of all oriental visitings, mornings, noons, and nights, "Coffee
+and Pipes." During the evening some pretty girls, the daughters of the
+Old Man, danced before us, those dances which the women of the country
+are so famous for: tho' none of the most decent yet very curious, some
+young men playing the guitar and singing, for the song always
+accompanies the dance. My Janissary was so delighted, that, he swore if
+he had only had two glasses of wine he would fire his pistols right and
+left. I felt rather satisfied he had not had the wine he spoke of. We
+were all fagged enough to find our beds on the floor capital; and the
+next day we visited the Bey.
+
+'January 16, 1825.--I am now at sea and had intended this letter from
+Alexandria, and, as I said before, it was to be short; but now I shall
+send it from Malta, and it is to be long.
+
+'But to resume my story. When we arrived at the palace he was dining in
+the Kiosk with some of his friends, and we had to wait a little while
+until the repast was ended when we were ushered in. He received us very
+haughtily, and in a manner not at all consistent with the kind messages
+he had sent us. Pipes and Coffee were served, and the conversation was
+rather slack. At his feet sat one of the most extraordinary figures I
+ever saw in my life; a countenance more devilish was never given to
+Dervish before. After we had been seated some time, this man, who had
+never opened his lips but had eyed us with the greatest attention and
+ferocity, at length began to mutter, "Kenkalis, Kenkalis, taib ben"
+("English, English, I hope you are well"). This was one of those
+privileged people which in these countries are called Dervishes, who
+are dreaded and respected by the superstitious, and who afford
+amusement by their extraordinary antics to others. They have the
+_entrée_ of all houses great or small, rich or poor, and are never
+refused food or raiment: it being in itself a crime, to insult or
+offend all who are in any way extraordinary: the more mad, the more
+sacred the person. Madness in Turkey is an excellent trade.
+
+'At length I soon discovered how it was that my new friend the Bey was
+thus: his friends (Turks) rose to depart, so did I but he desired me to
+sit down again. The moment the Turks had departed he was a new man. I
+have never been so pleased with any Turk in my life as with Ali Bey.
+His affability and kindness were European, which, when blended with the
+handsomest form and face the costume of a Turk and pomp of a prince,
+made a most agreeable acquisition to my Eastern acquaintance.
+
+'He now began to make his attendants play all sorts of tricks with the
+Dervish to draw him out; who seemed to be a perfect prince in the art
+of buffoonery. We were amazingly amused. He now told me he had a grand
+_chasse_ in twenty-five days' time, and desired that I would come to
+him on that day, bring my gun, and stay with him a week; nothing could
+have pleased me more than this offer. And as I lay Gardo in Smyrna,
+twenty-five days afterwards I again found myself in Magnesia, housed
+with the old Greek Patriarch a second time. He now sent us down to the
+village of Graviousken (?) (Infidel Village) where we were well lodged:
+his cook and household chief accompanied us, and the following day he
+came himself. Our hunt, tho' not much sport to English taste, yet was
+most amusing. The magnificence of the horses and riders; their equipage
+and management of the animal; riding at speed, as tho' they were on the
+point of being dashed to pieces, against a wall or down a precipice, at
+once coming to a dead stop. Riding at each other, delivering the
+jareed, firing their pistols and wheeling short round in an instant,
+and at speed in the opposite direction. We had greyhounds and killed a
+few hares. The following days were unfortunately wet; we returned to
+Magnesia.
+
+'The first visit I paid the Bey this time, I honored him with my full
+dress for reasons very good, he was not quite sure who I was. It was
+also necessary that his people should have outward shew, to satisfy
+them: this I was nearly paying dear for. There is a horrid custom in
+this country, of paying a certain sum to the attendants of these great
+people every visit you make. A few piastres had heretofore satisfied,
+but on leaving, after this Golden Visit, they seized my interpreter the
+moment he took his purse out, tore it away from him took all he had
+saying, "they should never see such a man again" and returned him the
+empty purse. He fortunately had been prepared for such an attack and
+had a proper sum and no more in his purse, but had it not been for this
+sagacity, I might have lost all the money I had with me. Our dinner at
+Graviousken was capital, he had wine for us; fingers were again in
+requisition, and we were obliged to eat of twenty-six dishes, each
+brought separately on the table, one after the other, which you had no
+sooner begun to think good, than it was immediately snatched away and
+disappeared. After having given to my old Greek some presents of silks
+for his wife, and caps for his daughters, we returned to Smyrna, where
+I found H.M.S. _Cyrene_, Captn. Grace, and soon after arrived Clifford
+in the _Euryalus_, who most kindly gave me an opportunity of seeing a
+great deal of other countries by an order to visit the coast of Syria,
+&c. &c.
+
+'Oct. 24, 1825.--We passed thro' the Straits of Scio, and on the 25th
+anchored at Scala Nova. I shall not trouble you with nautical details,
+as all my remarks, bearings, soundings, &c., which I have carefully
+taken in this voyage I keep in a distinct remark-book. It is a small
+town, governed by an Aga, situated on an elevated promontory, with a
+small island and fort off the point, bad shelter for a winter
+anchorage. Scala Nova had much interest to me, as I was completely able
+to appreciate the conduct of the Captain Pacha with regard to his
+pitiful attempt on the island of Samos, which is distant about twenty
+miles. This Pacha had 100,000 men at Scala Nova, with a sufficient
+number of boats and transports to convey them, and about eighty sail of
+men of war to protect them. Yet he made the attempt to land 3000 men,
+which I myself was a witness, and they nearly all perished by the
+musketry of the Greeks. No further attempt was made on the island, the
+fleet remains to the Northward of Samos, under sail for fourteen days,
+(fine weather) the Greeks thirty-five sail of small vessels and
+fireships in the little Bogaz, which separates the island from the
+main. At length the fleet sail for Mytilene. The troops at Scala Nova
+know not what to think, no provisions, no water, 25,000 die of famine,
+the rest in a most pitiable condition, receive orders to return to
+their homes, massacre, pillage, and plunder the whole way back.
+Nevertheless, the Turks contrived to lose two small frigates by the
+fireships of the Greeks. The conduct of the Pacha, and his disgraceful
+mode of entering Constantinople with about fifty sail of small Greek
+Boats for the occasion, with a Greek hanging at each mast head, you
+might have seen from the public prints. My business with the Governor
+of Scala Nova being settled (having obliged him to release an Ionian
+Vessel one of his cruizers had captured), Ephesus three hours distant
+became the next object. Little is now left of this once celebrated
+city, and the site of Diana's huge temple I think is not to be found.
+One splendid relic still remains. A part of a fluted Corinthian column,
+of Parian marble, about 111 feet long, broken; the remainder is gone;
+but from the diameter, the block forming that part could not have been
+less than fifty feet; a part also of a huge cornice which was
+immediately over this column remains, of marble also, weighing about 15
+tons. The carved work on the capital and cornice is as fresh as the day
+the artist finished it, tho' most likely above 2000 yrs. old. Ephesus
+is thought by many to have been latterly destroyed by an earthquake,
+and this small relic certainly tends to prove the assertion. On
+examining this column carefully, I found that the fluting, about half
+way down, was finished and polished, and a part in the rough. The
+ancients always finished and polished, after the column was erect.
+Certainly, some sudden accident must have occurred to have prevented
+the artist from completing so fine a piece of work, and the manner in
+which it is broken leads me to suppose an earthquake, without doubt, to
+have been the cause of the abrupt departure of the chisel from its
+occupation.
+
+'Leaving Scala Nova, we sailed thro' the little Bogaz, by Patmos when
+we fell in with some Greek cruizers, on the look out for the Egyptian
+fleet under Ibrahim Pacha, whom we found at Bodrum (?) where we next
+anchored. Nothing whatever of antient Halicarnassus, or the wonder of
+the world, here remains! Not a trace, not a vestige! One tower more
+modern, the base of which appears Roman with a Turkish superstructure,
+and one block of granite on which is an inscription stating that Caesar
+mounted his horse from this stone: I would have carried this relic
+away, but Mr. Arbro, Premier Interprète et Lieutenant à son Altesse
+Ibrahim Pacha, informed me that he had laid hands on it. Here I no
+sooner anchored than a number of Maltese captains of merchant vessels,
+in the employ of the Viceroy of Egypt, came on board to beg my
+interference with the Pacha as to some grievance they had suffered. I
+was quite determined I would have nothing to do with these blackguards
+in the Turkish service; but, on going on shore I could not help feeling
+immensely enraged at seeing upwards of twenty large Red Ensigns
+(English), flying on his fleet of Transports, loaded with Turkish
+soldiers going to carry them to the Morea! I presume the British
+subject is free to trade as he pleases but, at the same time, that he
+must take the consequence of his speculations. Whether this large
+national flag was to be displayed at sea, in a rencontre with the Greek
+fleet, became a question with me? Whether our ensign was to be borne by
+vessels actually engaging Greek ships, was also a question I asked
+myself. And the reply instantly was, "_No_, it cannot be neutrality." I
+determined to take the ensigns from them which was done, and having cut
+the Unions out I gave them back, which I have since been sorry for. In
+short, I should have taken all the vessels as they were all sailing
+under false papers, or have taken the flags away altogether and have
+considered them as they really were, Turkish transports. But I felt it
+a very delicate affair as Ibrahim Pacha, when I waited on him,
+declared, that I should be the means of his losing his expedition, and
+that he trembled for the consequences. He had previously sent his
+Secretary on board me, to try and talk me over to give back the flags.
+But it would not do, I saw thro' the whole thing. The fact was, these
+mercenaries employed in the Egyptian service had refused to proceed any
+further, their contract having expired. He having exhausted five months
+in reaching Bodrum (?) from Alexandria wished to throw the whole of the
+revolt of the Maltese on me, as having taken their colors; they
+declaring that they could not go to sea in safety under any other flag.
+He wished to be able to use this pretext to his father, the Viceroy.
+After about four hours' conversation we parted as we begun, I would not
+return the colors. We parted however the following day better friends,
+the revolted vessels were moored in a line before the loyal ones so
+that those who were willing could not go to sea. He sent for me, and
+begged me to speak to the Maltese which I did, and desired them to move
+their ships to let the other Transports pass out. What he said to the
+Viceroy of Egypt I know not, but be that as it may the old man was very
+civil afterwards to me in Egypt. I daresay you will think me a great
+fool for having troubled my head in this affair at all; but really,
+whether I am right or wrong, I could not bear to see the flag under the
+Turk, and the vessels bearing it conveying troops to the conquest of
+the Morea. Much as I dislike the Greek character, yet I love the cause.
+
+'I was not sorry to get clear of Ibrahim and his expedition, as I
+inevitably saw difficulties would increase and that from the situation
+of the British subjects violence might be resorted to by the Turk, and
+that my presence only added fuel to the fire. For while I was there the
+Maltese grew more and more impudent. However, all since has ended well.
+The Maltese have been honorably paid off by the Viceroy of Egypt.
+
+'Passing between Stanco(?) and the main on the 2nd of Novr. we anchored
+in the Harbour of Marmorico (?), certainly the finest in the
+Mediterranean. Here we remained in consequence of bad weather, but we
+managed to wood and water. After leaving this port I visited Rhodes, so
+famous an island requires me to give some description. Keeping the Brig
+boxing about between the island and the main, I made my visits leaving
+her early in the morning, she standing in the evening to pick me up.
+The Port here I by no means considered safe for the _Alacrity_. Small
+merchant vessels do go into the Port, and often pay for their temerity
+by being totally wrecked. Here you see the remains of what the island
+was, with some of the Knights, but nothing more ancient except the
+remains of a temple to Apollo. The works and fortifications are very
+like Malta on a diminished scale, and the great Street of the Knights
+with their arms and devices over each door. To see a turban'd head
+sticking out of the window is a provoking proof of the triumph of the
+Mussulman over these deserted Christian Knights.
+
+'January 28th, 1826.--I am just anchored in the Quarantine Harbour at
+Malta; I find the packet for England on the point of sailing so I
+cannot finish my letter, but I think it already too long. In my next I
+shall take up my proceedings from Rhodes, going into Cyprus,
+Scandaroon, Beirut, Tyre, Sidon, St. Jean D'Arc, Deir-il-Kamr in the
+Mountains of Lebanon, Lady Hester Stanhope with whom I stayed one week,
+Alexandria, Cairo, &c. and back to Malta after a cruize of eight Months.
+
+'I must now finish with a little Turkish politics. The whole
+arrangement of the Greek War is put into the hands of the Viceroy of
+Egypt. The Captain Pacha does not go afloat this year but is I fancy in
+great disgrace. The Constantinople and Egyptian fleets are to be
+combined under Ibrahim Pacha, who is now at Marmorico, waiting for
+reinforcements to go to the Morea. I fancy the divided Councils of the
+Greeks now gives a fine opportunity of success. Colcotronis has
+secretly sided with Mehemet Ali, and it is supposed that Albania is
+bought with Turkish gold. The Greeks are quite capable of this. The
+only way in which the Turk will do anything in the Morea is by
+corrupting the Greeks: if it is to be a contest, I prophesy the
+Egyptian army _will never return_. The conduct of the French to the
+Turks has been most decided. The King of France wrote to the Viceroy of
+Egypt, complimenting him on his genius, and wishing him all possible
+success. The bearer of this letter was General Boyer who has come out
+to discipline the Turkish army, has assumed the Turkish dress, being
+installed in his command with the title and allowance of a Bey and a
+salary of 10,000 Dollars per annum. He brought out also two most
+beautifully manufactured carpets, and 500 stand of arms and
+accoutrements complete, as a present from the King to the Viceroy. The
+Turks of the country do not know what to make of this gracious like
+conduct, but they say he has formed an alliance with France either to
+stop, at any time they wish, our overland intercourse with India, or to
+strengthen himself so that he may be better able to shake off the
+Turkish yoke of Istamboul. His views are certainly most ambitious; but
+as yet have not sufficiently developed themselves for anyone, I think,
+decidedly to form an opinion.
+
+'Dr. Father, Adieu!'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The letter from Vourla which follows is that promised to his father in
+the preceding letter from Alexandria, and is strictly of an earlier
+date as it takes up the story of his experiences in the later months of
+1824. The narrative requires no comment, as it speaks for itself, and
+the description of Captain Yorke's visit to Lady Hester Stanhope at
+Djoun will be read with interest. He attained the rank of Captain on
+June 6, 1825.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'... After a tedious passage from Larnica we anchored at Beirut, once
+the capital of the Druses but conquered in the time of Daher Prince of
+Acre by the Turks. The place is supposed to be the ancient Baal Berith.
+Here we stay a week. Beirut is a curious town. The architecture is
+substantial, perfectly different from any seen in other parts of Asia
+until you arrive in Syria; quite Saracenic, arches in abundance and
+curious tesselated pavements of coloured stones. But this is not
+Turkish, though now in possession of the Turks, but the architecture of
+its former inhabitants remains. I made short excursions into the
+country with some English and Armenian missionaries who have resided
+some years in the country, but except the beauties of nature little
+else remarkable is to be seen. For the best information in a small
+compass of this part of Syria Mr. Hope's "Anastasius" will give it. But
+within the compass of a letter I cannot enter into very great detail
+unless I were to write it on the spot and take more time and pains than
+my disposition inclines to. As far as professional remarks go, I have
+as much as a boat and lead line and bearings will give.
+
+'Here I was in some distress, for the pilot, a Greek, that I got at
+Rhodes declared he knew nothing of the coast, so I discharged him. A
+Turk now undertook to pilot us to Seyden, though on our arrival there I
+determined to have no more pilots, as they rather confused the
+navigation, not being able to give positive information at any time.
+
+'After leaving Beirut we next let go anchor at Saida (Sidon) once so
+famed, and now a very tolerable Turkish town. Here no relic of
+antiquity is visible except a large block of marble about a mile to
+southward of the town with a Greek inscription (which _I_ did not see;
+Mandiel gives a sufficient account of it, and my friends who visited it
+say it appears to be in precisely the same state that he saw it in)
+with some remains of a galley mole, which the Turks in their profound
+policy have blocked up so that it is with difficulty that a small boat
+can get in. Here my attention was greatly diverted from examining much
+of the town and its contents by the circumstance of my dispatching a
+civil line "with Captain Y's compts to Lady H. Stanhope" offering my
+services in any way to take letters &c. to Malta or elsewhere that I
+might be going. Lady Hester for some years has refused to see English
+people, therefore I had not a hope that she would give me an interview;
+but to my surprise, on the evening of my writing, her Armenian
+interpreter came on board with a kind note by which I found that a
+horse and escort were at Saida waiting to conduct me when I might
+please to Djoun her residence in Libanus, about three hours from Saida.
+Accordingly on the following morning, with Luca my Armenian interpreter
+whom I have mentioned in company, we started for the residence of her
+ladyship. The ride, uninteresting from any circumstance but that of
+actually being on Mount Libanus, deserves no remark, sterile, and but
+little cultivated in this part. Her residence is on an eminence about
+ten miles from the sea which it overlooks; on the other side it does
+not look into the bosom of the Valley of Bernica, yet it is high enough
+to enjoy the beautiful verdure of the mountain rising on the opposite
+side, whose tops are the most lofty of Libanus. The air is pure and the
+scenery bold. On a hill about a mile to the southward of her habitation
+is a village which flourishes in the sunshine of her favour and
+protection. Her house is a neat building, a mixture of Oriental and
+English. From the entrance gate a passage (on either side of which is a
+guard room and some apartments for soldiers and servants) leads to a
+square yard, half way across which is a terrace with three steps, round
+which terrace are the different apartments of servants, interpreters,
+as also spare rooms for visitors. On the left side of the terrace under
+a lattice work of wood woven with rose and jessamine I was ushered, and
+shewn into a small apartment furnished in the Eastern style. The
+chiboque and coffee were instantly brought me by a French youth in the
+costume of a Mameluke, with compliments from my lady begging I would
+refresh myself after my fatigue. On my ablutions being finished I was
+sent for. Passing through several passages I was shewn into a room
+rather dark with a curtain drawn across, which being withdrawn I found
+myself in the presence of a Bedouin Arab chief who soon turned out to
+be Lady Hester. She expressed great joy at seeing the son of one of the
+most honest families in England, so she was pleased to express herself.
+She received me as an English lady of fashion would have done. I at
+once became delighted with her, with her knowledge, and I must say her
+beauty, for she is still one of the finest specimens of a woman I ever
+saw. She spoke much of Uncle Charles; her conversation beyond any
+person's I ever met; she was in fine spirits. Her dress, which well
+became her gigantic person, very rich. I shall pass over our
+conversation which was full of liveliness, of marvels and wonders,
+manners and customs of the people, plagues, troubles, and famines &c.
+&c. I went back to the brig the following day and returned in the
+afternoon to Djoun, taking with me Mr. Forrester, my surgeon, who she
+requested I would allow to arrange her medicines which were in
+confusion and disorder.
+
+'In the evening she sent for me; she smoked the chiboque, her mind was
+wrought to a high pitch of enthusiasm, she talked wildly and was much
+distressed in mind, in short her intellects were much disordered and it
+was very distressing.
+
+'However, she arranged that I should next morning start for
+Deir-el-Kamr, the capital of the Druses, with a letter to the Emir
+Bashire, the prince of that nation. I perceive that, were I to begin a
+description, I should waste much good paper without stating any thing
+that is new. The Druses are a most extraordinary people; the Palace of
+the Emir superb, the country richly cultivated by the greatest labour
+being all in ridges on the sides of the mountains, but I shall refer
+you to Mr. Hope's "Anastasius" for a good description and for all that
+is supposed, for nothing is known of their religion. The Emir treated
+us with much kindness and I stayed two days in his palace where we had
+apartments, visited him in the forenoon after which he did not
+interfere with our pleasure; excellent living, about fifty dishes
+served to about four people for dinner.
+
+'On a visit to the Emir was a son of the Pacha of Damascus, who offered
+me to accompany him back to that city where, he said, I should reside
+in the palace of his father and see all that was to be seen. Such an
+offer almost tempted me to cut the _Alacrity_. I suppose a Christian
+hardly ever had such an opportunity which he was obliged to lose. Lady
+Hester said it was my djinn or star which got me into such favour. On
+the third morning we breakfasted at Deir-el-Kamr, the town about one
+mile distant from Petedeen the palace, and returned to Djoun arriving
+late that night. She made me several presents, the most valuable of
+which I sent home to your charge by _Euryalus_. She has written to me
+once since.
+
+'I wrote a letter to Lord Chatham about her as I know her family knew
+little or nothing about her; in a manner I found myself called on.
+
+'Much more could I write, but really just now my attention is so much
+called off by continual calling from Capt. Hamilton, who sends for me
+on every occasion, that this despatch will be curtailed, but I trust
+that more particulars will come _viva voce_.
+
+'Tyre was the next place where we anchored; no vessel of war with
+English colours had visited this port in the memory of any inhabitant
+living at the place, which to be sure is not many; it is little better
+than the prophecy states it should be "a rock for fishers to dry their
+nets upon." There are here some superb remains of antiquity,
+Alexander's isthmus and Solomon's cisterns. Alexander's famous siege of
+this place is too well known and it is quite out of my power to say
+anything new of it, but his work will remain for ever; the isthmus he
+made to connect the island on which Tyre stood with the mainland is
+perfect to this day and has no appearance of being a work of art, but
+of nature. It is 200 fathoms wide in its narrowest part. The most
+ancient relic in the town of Tyre is the east end of a Christian church
+which is mentioned by Mandiel; this stands nearly as he left it. Tyre
+itself is a wretched place; any little attempt that the people have
+lately made to improve themselves has been thwarted by the Pacha of St.
+Jean d'Acre, who squeezes them so for money that they never have a para
+in their pockets. Filth, misery and starvation are the legacy of a
+Tyrian. The country around is rich and superb, its produce might be
+enormous, but so it is with all Syria that I have seen.
+
+'Solomon's cisterns, which are situated about three miles from Tyre to
+the south east, are of an octagonal form built of gravel and cement
+that form a solid stone. The elevation of the largest above the level
+is twenty-seven feet on the south side, and eighteen on the north; a
+walk round on the top eight feet wide, a step below twenty-one feet
+broad, a stream leaves it turning four mills. There are two smaller
+ones turning two mills at a small distance to the northward of the
+large one. Their original shape appears to have been square, but now
+much disfigured. The large one is thirty-three yards deep, the people
+believe it has no bottom and that the water is brought there by genii.
+Where it comes from no one knows, but it is always full. I think these
+cisterns originally supplied Tyre with water; I traced the remains of
+an aqueduct from them nearly to the walls but better than half way
+across the isthmus, so that I think they are of a later date than the
+time of Solomon because the aqueduct could not be built over the
+isthmus before the isthmus was made. They are on the whole the most
+curious relics of antiquity I have seen, they must at least be 2300
+years old and they are in no way injured, but the supply of water is
+constant even in the wannest weather. The country for seven miles round
+is a perfect level: I think the water must be brought by some
+underground drain from the mountains in the distance to the eastward.
+The story is that Solomon among the presents made to King Hiram for his
+assistance in building the Temple built for him these cisterns, but
+they are not mentioned in the Bible, and I think the story improbable
+for reasons before mentioned, and that Solomon certainly had not such
+good artificers as King Hiram himself.
+
+'By the bye there are considerable remains of the old port, a mote, by
+the ruins of which you can easily trace its extent.
+
+'Haipha and St. Jean d'Acre, Mt. Carmel and the river Kishon "that
+ancient river" became next the objects of my amusement. I bivouacked
+one night on the banks of the river at Mt. Tabor and Carmel in sight.
+At this time an alteration in the weather took place, the gales of wind
+began to blow here and the coast consequently became exceedingly
+dangerous. I thought it prudent to quit it and arrived in Alexandria in
+fourteen days after leaving Haifa, having had a contrary gale nearly
+the whole time.
+
+'During my stay in Egypt I was four days in Cairo, eight days on the
+Nile, two days at Sakkara and one day at Gizeh. Salt lent me his house
+and his boat with twenty men, and I saw all that was to be seen.
+Mehemet Ali gave me a Turk to attend me and I play the traveller here
+for a few days; time for description I have none. You will be sorry I
+have hurried over the latter part of this despatch but I assure you it
+is unavoidable. The vessel that takes our letters to Malta I expect
+will put herself in quarantine every hour.
+
+'I have returned to Malta, refitted, and am again up the Archipelago
+with Captain Hamilton who has just joined company. We have been the
+last forty-eight hours rather harassingly employed routing out a nest
+of pirates which we have done nearly to a man. Our boats have been away
+all night and the brig under way. My marines took the men under Lieut.
+Weately, and my men took two Greek boats with nine men each on board
+one of which was the Captain of the Pirates; the _Fury's_ boats took
+the vessels and their prizes, eleven in number. There was no fighting.
+Captain Lethaby in the _Vengeance_ and _Alacrity_ brought the Bey of
+Rhodes to his senses the other day; the Consul had been insulted, he
+would give no satisfaction, so we took the old way and began at him,
+when he came to terms. One 18 lb. shot through his palace made him know
+that we did not always bark and never bite. _Alacrity_ was near enough
+the battery to receive a heavy fire of stones from the Turks which,
+with a few muskets discharged at us, was all the return made by the
+Turks before the thing was amicably arranged....
+
+'Love to all; I wish Lady Elizabeth Stuart (de Rothesay) would write to
+me, I do sincerely love that cousin of mine; Grantham's letter I will
+answer next opportunity, I am delighted with it.
+
+'Adieu,
+
+'C. YORKE'
+
+VOURLA, GULPH Of SMYRNA:
+
+June 10, 1825.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A HOLIDAY IN NORTHERN REGIONS. 1828
+
+
+My father appears to have had a long leave between the two commands, in
+the _Alacrity_ (1826) and the _Alligator_ (1829), during which commands
+he was employed in the Mediterranean, with a roving commission--a free
+lance, in short--to put down piracy and watch the War of Independence
+between the Greeks and the Turks. He never let the grass grow under his
+feet, so off he started with his friend Walrond on a roving tour
+through the greater part of Scandinavia, and his journals contain a
+daily record, extending over nearly six months. He crossed the
+Dovrefeld Range between Norway and Sweden (a journey seldom undertaken
+to-day), and in 1828 the lack of travelling facilities was exceptional.
+
+The energy and resource of my father's character and his great powers
+of observation appear to great advantage in these journals, and there
+are many facts which I shall endeavour to relate as far as possible in
+his own graphic words.
+
+He was greatly impressed by the kindness and hospitality he received
+from all classes in both countries with the exception of one district
+near Gottenborg, where he met with some outrageous conduct on the part
+of a postmaster, who either thought he was robbed, or else fully
+intended to rob his guest.
+
+He was honoured by interviews with King Charles John IV, better known
+as Bernadotte, Napoleon's Field-Marshal and founder of the present
+royal dynasty of Sweden, and it is worthy of note that as far back as
+1828, Norway was chafing under the Union with Sweden which was brought
+about by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 and has so lately been dissolved.
+
+On the 10th of May 1828, Captain Yorke started from the Customs House
+Wharf on the Thames, in a small steamer of 300 tons. Steam navigation
+being then in its infancy the vessel was of great interest to the
+traveller, who notes that she had 'two very fine engines of 40 horse
+power!'
+
+The passage to Hamburg took exactly fifty-five hours. It is curious in
+the light of eighty years' commercial progress to read that 'The
+commerce on the Elbe has no comparison with that of the Thames.' Then
+follows a difficulty with the Customs officer, who, unaware of the
+habits of British sportsmen, was horrified to find gunpowder among the
+captain's baggage, a discovery which necessitated an appeal to the
+British Consul and entailed a delay of several days.
+
+Kiel was reached on 14th of May, and after exploring the pretty little
+town the two friends took the Caledonian steam packet for Copenhagen.
+This little steamer was built as a pleasure boat for James Watt, and
+had run nine years making much money for her owner though a very 'bad
+boat.'
+
+At Copenhagen Captain Yorke was much impressed by the royal palace of
+Frederiksborg, with its chapel where are crowned the Kings of Denmark,
+and its pane of glass on which Caroline Matilda [Footnote: Sister of
+George III, Queen of Christian VII. She was entrapped into a confession
+of criminality to save the life of her supposed lover Struensee, who
+was afterwards beheaded. She was condemned to imprisonment for life in
+the Castle of Zell, and died there aged twenty-four in 1775.] had
+scratched, 'O keep me innocent; make others great.' His professional
+interest was kindled by the Trekroner Battery which he visited in a
+boat, and of which he noticed both the strong and the weak points. He
+failed to get into the dockyard, though here again he was careful to
+note the number of ships of the line, frigates, and launches afloat;
+but the royal stud of 700 horses and the riding school struck him most.
+On the 20th of May our travellers reached Elsinore, and crossing over
+in an open boat to the Swedish coast they landed at Helsingborg.
+
+My father was a good sportsman, and fishing was his favourite sport. It
+was combined with that love of scenery which was one of his
+characteristics, and his first fly was thrown in a beautiful river at
+Falkenborg, rented by two Englishmen who paid £300 a year for it. Here
+he remarks that the Swedes 'are poor, honest, and exceedingly good
+natured.'
+
+'I believe,' he wrote, 'that much of the great civility we received
+arose from our travelling as we did, without speaking or understanding
+the language, with no servant and no carriage, taking the common
+conveyances of the country. Our fare, chiefly fish, black bread, and
+brandy. The country round Falkenborg is barren, with cultivated spots
+here and there.
+
+'After leaving Falkenborg we experienced a great change in the
+character of the people. Kindness and honesty were changed for
+ill-looks and petty extortions. On a bridge between Moruss and Asa, the
+woman who kept it and our drivers charged a double toll, and drank the
+overplus in schnapps before our faces! Our vehicle is changed from four
+wheels to two, so we now travel in little wooden gigs and four horses,
+forming a pretty cavalcade.
+
+'We arrived at Gottenborg about 1 P.M., dined _table d'hôte_ and left
+at four. We passed along the banks of the Wener, a superb river. The
+vessels that trade from Gottenborg to the Wener See pass up this river.
+To pass the falls a canal is cut through the solid rock, with two
+locks. I saw a vessel of 80 tons go through. Considerable saw mills are
+erected here, the timber cut up, the lumber is just marked, launched
+down and the owners look out for themselves.
+
+'The Wener shows one of the finest works of art perhaps in the world!
+To navigate this river at the falls it has been necessary to cut a
+canal for one English mile at least through mountains of solid rock,
+and has eight locks. The mountains are granite and basalt. There is a
+cut through the rock also parallel with the river. This cut is useless,
+for there is in it a fall of sixty feet perpendicular, so that what it
+was made for it is difficult to conceive.'
+
+Between Trolhätta and Gottenborg our travellers were detained four
+hours on the road. The reason for this detention is fully explained in
+a letter my father wrote to Sir Joseph Yorke a month or two later, from
+which I make the following extract:
+
+'While the servants were shifting our luggage at Gottenborg I went into
+the house to get change for a three dollar Banco Note. On receiving the
+change I found it was only two Dollar Rix Geld, a depreciated currency,
+after which I offered, with a remonstrance, a two dollar 'Banco' note.
+The woman took it, and was then possessed of five dollar Banco, for
+which I could get no further exchange than the two Rix Geld before
+mentioned, neither would she return my money. I took the first
+opportunity of snatching it from her, first the two dollar note and
+then the three, and pushing the small change lying on the table towards
+her, walked out of the house. Having managed to pay the horses we
+wished to proceed but the driver refused to go, under the plea that I
+had taken three dollars from the woman of the house, and they would not
+move till I returned it. Neither threats nor entreaties prevailed, and
+we remained about two hours till the Postmaster arrived in person. I
+appealed to him, it was useless, and I saw no alternative but to offer
+him the three dollars, making him understand as well as I could, that
+he being Postmaster was responsible, and that I should acquaint the
+authorities at Gottenborg of his conduct in taking from me three
+dollars which neither belonged to him nor the woman of the house. He
+looked at the note and threw it on the table, then left the inn, and in
+a minute returned with a pair of screw irons to which was attached a
+chain, himself and another laid hold of me, and attempted to force my
+hands into them.
+
+'By this time we had all come out of the house. I struck right and left
+and effectually released myself. We were set on by the seven or eight
+men standing by, and though successful in repelling their attack,
+seeing my servant badly wounded and that iron instruments were
+beginning to be used, I thought it better to suffer myself to be
+secured, which was done by screwing my hands into the irons and making
+me fast by padlocking the chain to a part of the room. In this
+situation I remained for about half an hour, the Postmaster preparing
+to accompany us, which he did taking me with him in his car as a
+prisoner. On a remonstrance from Walrond on the tightness of the screws
+from which I suffered dreadfully, he took off the irons before getting
+into the car, but he was armed.
+
+'On arriving at Lilla Edet, we were taken before a magistrate, showed
+our passports and were dismissed, after refusing to compromise the
+affair for five dollars. This is the story and a very strange one it
+is. The King has ordered a process to be begun against the men. I can
+make no comment upon it. The reason for such treatment it is impossible
+to conceive.'
+
+But on arriving at Gottenborg, I find my father called on the Governor,
+and found him justly very indignant, and he declared the Postmaster
+should go to prison for three years with hard labour, exclaiming at the
+same time, '_Nous ne sommes pas des Barbares, monsieur._'
+
+Changing vessels of passage twice, my father arrived at Christiania.
+
+'Xtiania fiord is deep and the town is situated at the head of it. Part
+of the passage of the fiord is very narrow among the small islands, and
+the water very deep. Though Christiania is but a poor town compared
+with other northern towns, yet its environs may boast of more beauty
+than perhaps any capital in the universe.'
+
+My father finds the politeness of the inhabitants expensive, and says,
+'in walking the streets of northern towns, you can wear out a good hat
+in three days.'
+
+In return they received the greatest civility from two
+fellow-passengers who took them to call on Count Plater, the
+Stadt-Holder or Governor of Xtiania, who was an admiral in their navy
+and spoke excellent English; also on Count Rosen.
+
+'Went to see the Storthing in the morning. Strangers were admitted to
+the Gallery on requesting a ticket from the Police!'
+
+My father writes:
+
+'The origin of this Constitution, (now such a thorn in the side of the
+King,) was in the reign of the Danish Prince Christian, who himself
+assembled a body of the people to consult on the affairs of State at
+the moment previous to Norway and Sweden falling under the power of
+France. The body thus met, constituted themselves into a perpetual
+assembly for the government of the country, and by their prudence and
+independence, it is now permanently established (1828) and never were a
+people more attached to their constitution.' Dining with Count Plater
+the Viceroy of Norway, at 3 P.M., he met forty people, all the
+Ministers of State and great officers in full dress with their 'orders'
+on; also three peasant Labour Candidates in the costume of their
+country, being Members of the Storthing. He also met Count Videll, a
+'most fascinating person' who, being asked as to the purchase of a
+carriage, replied politely, 'I will give you one'; and he sent it,
+saying, 'It is nothing, I have plenty.' The valley of the Drammen he
+beheld from the mountain of their descent, 'charm and awe' by turns are
+the sensations of the travellers, and this led them on to Kongsberg, at
+one time famous for its silver mines, but the mines not being worked
+and the timber trade also decreasing, the population went with it and
+was then only 4000. The travellers went down the only silver mine then
+worked, in the dress of a miner, walked through a horizontal gallery a
+mile long till they came to the shaft, and descended two storeys but
+could not proceed, the fire being just lit below.
+
+'This mine returns about £1250 sterling of silver per ann. Sixty miners
+are employed at £14 a year each! Bears, wolves and reindeer abound in
+this vicinity. There is plenty of iron, not worked, and gold has also
+been found in Kongsberg. From thence to Topam(?) we were surprised to
+find ourselves driven up to the door of a gentleman's place, out came
+Jack Butler, and the master of the house, pressing us to walk in; after
+excuses and proper hesitation we accepted, and found ourselves in a
+room with people at supper, ladies pretty ones too, who spoke English!
+
+'The fact is that Topam, of which we had heard so much, is a
+gentleman's place; after dinner we were shown to our room (one only was
+vacant). Walrond had a bed and I slept in my cloak.'
+
+Next day they engaged a well-organised _chasse_. My father pronounces
+Topam (?) the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. 'Mr. Benker of
+Berlin, their host, purchased it from the King of Sweden for £150,000.
+It is the only thing on this scale in Europe.'
+
+The travellers now returned to Christiania, apparently to be received
+by the King. They intended dining with their old friend Count Plater,
+but the King commanded them to dine with him. After waiting some time
+they were ushered in by Baron Lamterberg, the head Chamberlain, and
+after a few minutes the King entered--(here follows the interview in
+Captain Yorke's own words):
+
+'I apologised for being in plain clothes instead of uniform or court
+dress; he replied, "I do not want to see the dress but the man, I am
+glad to see you both." He then addressed his conversation in different
+topics, viz.: policy of Sweden, change of ministry in England, the
+navy, the country, and the mines of Sweden; all of which he enlarged
+much on.
+
+'He remarked, speaking of England, "That she must have a strong
+government or things would not go right in a turn of affairs which he
+seemed to think must soon come. A strong government is absolutely
+necessary for England." He asked me if _I_ thought that much order or
+signals could be attended to after a naval fight had once begun? I
+answered, "I thought it depended much on the weather, and which fleet
+had the weather gage. With a strong wind and the weather gage I thought
+a well-conducted fleet could keep in good order, as long as spars
+stood." We stayed with the King for an hour before dinner which was
+served at half-past five, after taking schnapps and anchovies, &c. (at
+which preparation the King did not appear, they being served at side
+tables). The company, about thirty generals, Colonels and Officers of
+State, were scattered about in different rooms; the King suddenly
+entered and took his seat; everyone did the same, nothing was said; he
+fell to work, a very good dinner. I sat opposite the King who never
+spoke, or even changed his countenance, or his knife and fork, which
+were of gold, and wiped them himself on bread.
+
+'He ate of many dishes, and drank claret and Seltzer water. The plate
+was silver except what he had, the glass plain except his, and the
+knives and forks were wiped and given to us again. Dinner over, coffee
+was served and he talked to me, hoped to see me at Stockholm, bowed to
+the company and retired. The King is a perfect gentleman and man of the
+world, elegant in his manners and dress, the most intelligent
+countenance, and very upright, and good looking in feature.'
+
+I have before noted that my father had really no evening dress or
+uniform and was sorely put to it what to do, when he remembered he had
+given his servant Jack Butler an old black coat, so he borrowed it for
+the occasion, Butler remarking 'that it looked as good as new, as he
+had blacked the seams with ink.' This was told to the Chamberlain, who
+repeated it to the King, who went into a paroxysm of laughter.
+
+June 13.--We now come to the parting with Walrond, faithful friend and
+companion, and sad was the leave-taking. Both were sorry to part, my
+father with a long and dreary journey before him alone in a strange
+land. As before, he seems to have been most hospitably treated wherever
+he halted. Excellent rooms and good food were provided. Between this
+and Brejden (? Trondhjem) he passed by the wooden monument erected to
+Sinclair, who was there shot. The Norwegians say that silver bullets
+were cast on purpose to kill him. Here also they murdered forty Scots,
+prisoners, in cold blood. Between Brejden (?) and Langan Pass, the spot
+where the action was fought, 700 Scots fell. The pass is, even with a
+good road, very narrow, and the mountain above and below nearly
+perpendicular; at the foot runs the Langan, a rapid stream. The
+Norwegians held the heights, and with them a handful of men might
+defeat the enemy.
+
+In crossing the summit and then the descent of the Dovrefeld Range, he
+suffered much fatigue both to the eye and limb, 'for never did my eye
+wander over so desolate a waste as the summit of these mountains, the
+peaks covered with snow, and spots of deep snow in the valleys.' Not a
+vestige of herbage or tree to be seen on the northern summit, nor for
+one Swedish mile of the descent; then begins the stunted birch, next
+the Scotch fir, and 'towards the end of the day our eyes were cheered
+by the sight of pines.'
+
+'The inhabitants of the Post-houses are the cleanest people I have
+seen, and one is surprised by meeting clocks, carved, painted and
+gilded, and walls covered with inscriptions or rudely painted figures.
+All their utensils are well scrubbed, and as white as wood can be made.
+They wear plaid and recall in their delivery the people of the Scotch
+Highlands.'
+
+Here comes another description of meals, the table at the latter being
+covered with 'glass, flowers and sweets,' _Diner à la Russe_, now so
+completely our own fashion. 'A general welcome to the board is first
+given, and on rising from table we shake hands all round and the words,
+"much good may it do you" often accompanies this greeting.' This again
+reminds one of the German _gesegnete Mahlzeit_.
+
+Captain Yorke continues his inquiries by visiting the Arsenal at
+Trondhjem which he finds in good order with stores and gunpowder in
+small quantities. Twenty gunboats are here laid up in houses built for
+the purpose, everything connected with them in good repair. They have a
+large lug sail with a mast that falls down. How quaint all these
+descriptions must appear to sailors of modern times!
+
+'Besides the Arsenal, the King's Regalia was inspected with laudable
+curiosity. It distinctly belonged to Norway, but was made at Stockholm
+for the coronation of the present King in the old Church. A very
+gorgeous affair, the jewels (pearls) no diamonds, and the other stones
+in the crown chiefly amethysts. The Bernadotte family, on the whole, is
+not popular in Norway. Sport is always mingled with hospitality and
+entertainments; a vast quantity of eider duck is everywhere on the
+water, and to take a boat and go out on the Fiord with a gun, is one of
+the delights of this most delightful tour. It is curious to see the
+affection of the old ones for the brood, which they never will forsake
+and so fall an easy prey to the fowler.'
+
+Trondhjem was left with much regret. The pictures, the old town with
+its hospitality, the fishing for trout and shooting of eider duck with
+the gorgeous scenery left an indelible impression, but night beginning
+to darken at twelve put the traveller in mind that time was passing
+with rapidity and that to effect the journey before him he must depart.
+
+The next point of general interest is a visit to a family of Laplanders
+a mile up the mountains. Herick Anderson, the head or chief of his
+family, received the whole party, consisting of Captain Yorke, a friend
+(Mr. Charter), and their servants, with 'great delight.'
+
+They were milking the deer, so the travellers could not have arrived at
+a more fortunate moment. Five hundred of these animals were enclosed in
+a circular space with birch trees cut down and made into a temporary
+fence, so giving a good opportunity for looking at the animal. It is
+about the height of our common fallow deer, but much stronger and
+larger in make, large necks and feet, large-boned legs, with immense
+antlers covered with flesh and skin, a dark mouse colour, coat thick,
+most even and beautiful to look at. The milk is rich beyond any ever
+tasted. They dined with the Laps on reindeer soup and bouillie, scalded
+milk and cheese--a characteristic meal. The scalded milk was delicious,
+but so rich they could hardly eat it.
+
+They also had a fine sight of Lapland deer dogs, and bought one for
+10s.; I suppose that quarantine was not invented then!
+
+After a good deal of brandy drinking the travellers departed with some
+difficulty, for the Finns got so riotous that it was with force they
+got them from the horses' heads, holding on to the bridles to prevent
+their departure.
+
+The Diet at Stockholm (November 1828) was opened with great pomp and
+ceremony. My father was present and went in the suite of Lord
+Bloomfield, our Minister at the Swedish Court. The ceremony began at 10
+A.M., the King and Crown Prince going in state to the church where
+divine service was performed. From there a procession to the palace.
+
+The nobles, Ministers of State, &c., with bands of music met them, the
+King and Crown Prince walking under a canopy with their crowns on their
+heads. Then followed Foreign Ministers with their suites, then twelve
+men in armour with large helmets (a bodyguard established by Charles
+XII), and more burghers, clergy, and peasants; guards on one side,
+artillery on the other, and on entering the square of the palace, the
+Horse Guards lined the way. The King took his seat on the throne at the
+upper end of the Riks Salon, the Crown Prince on his right a little
+below him; the Ministers of State at the foot of the throne, behind
+officers of the household, below in a semicircle the guards in armour.
+At each side on seats the members of the Diet, in a gallery on the left
+sat the Queen and Princess Royal with their ladies. In another gallery
+opposite the throne sat the Foreign Minister and strangers of
+distinction. The King then delivered his speech to the Crown Prince,
+who read it, silence being obtained by the chief minister striking his
+baton three times on the ground (which reminds one of a beadle in a
+Roman Catholic ceremony!).
+
+The marshal of the ceremony also struck his baton three times on the
+ground--the signal for the speakers from the Diet to deliver their
+respective addresses, after which the whole procession left the Riks
+Salon as it came.
+
+'Carl Johan did the King to admiration, though he looked weary and
+distressed.
+
+'The Prince was more at his ease, he put one in mind of the pictures we
+see of our old Saxon Kings, the crown being made to that shape.'
+
+On November 17 my father received a summons from the King at 7 P.M.,
+and was most kindly received.
+
+'He first conversed on Norway, and asked about the new road between
+Norway and Sweden. "You, I think, have been in Egypt," said he, "the
+Pasha is a most extraordinary man?" I replied, "One of the most
+extraordinary men in the world." "Egypt is well governed, is it not?"
+"Perhaps so, sire, to answer the Pasha's own ends, but horridly
+tyrannised over, and the people dreadfully oppressed." "But they are a
+barbarous people, and must be ruled with severity, are they not?"
+"True, sire, barbarous, yet his system of Government must militate
+against his own wishes; for example, he would fain contend with your
+manufactures in the market, yet he will not allow the manufacturer to
+work for himself, and do his best to get the best price, but will have
+the article made for his own sale, paying only so much a day for his
+labour." "Perhaps," said the King, "in Egypt the people are slaves, but
+in Europe, Kings are the only slaves. In England and Sweden, your King
+and I myself are the only slaves. Eh? is it not so?"
+
+'"If your Majesty will use any other word than slave, I shall be happy
+to agree."
+
+'"What word can I use?" he said. "It is true, I am the only slave in
+Sweden. Now, Captain Yorke, do you suppose that Egypt could be governed
+by a representative government?"
+
+'My answer was immediate, "Impossible, sire."
+
+'"There, Count Welterdick, do you hear that?" Turning to the courtiers
+and Lord Bloomfield, he ejaculated with considerable force, "There,
+there, you are right, sir--you are right!" During all this conversation
+the King seemed considerably excited. The Diet had just met and things
+had not gone there so as to please him. After a few more commonplace
+observations he said, "Good evening. The Queen wishes to see you below,
+go to her, and dine with me before you leave us."'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GREEK INDEPENDENCE. 1829-1831
+
+
+In letters written from Stockholm to his father and brother in the
+autumn of 1828, Captain Yorke expresses very urgently his desire to
+find himself again on active service. 'I see the Lord High Admiral is
+out,' he wrote to Sir Joseph in September of that year, 'and whoever
+comes in, pray try and get me to the Mediterranean if it is possible.'
+A month later his brother, the Rev. Henry Yorke, is reminded of the
+same wish. 'Since the Russians have blockaded the Dardanelles and old
+Melville has again taken up the cudgels, I do not know what to think,
+and I anxiously await a line from England. Employment is what I most
+wish, and now more than ever, for England will be at war ere long. I
+trust in God my friends will stir for me.'
+
+Captain Yorke's anticipation of a war in which England should be
+involved was not fulfilled, but the chafing at a life of inaction by
+the ardent sailor which appears so clearly in his letters was soon
+relieved by his appointment to the command of the brig _Alligator_ in
+November or December of 1828.
+
+After some short service in home waters, during which he visited the
+Orkneys, Captain Yorke was ordered to take the _Alligator_ to the
+Mediterranean station, where it doubtless occurred to the authorities
+that the energy and ability he had shown when in command of the
+_Alacrity_ in Greek waters a few years earlier would be of service in
+the new circumstances which had arisen in that part of the world. The
+Greek War of Independence, which was in full progress when Captain
+Yorke was engaged in suppressing the piracy of which it was a chief
+cause in 1823-26, was now drawing to a close. In 1827 Great Britain,
+France, and Russia were all united in securing the independence of the
+country, which was recognised by a treaty between the three Powers in
+that year, and in January following Count Capo d'Istria was elected
+President of the new republic. There remained, however, the difficulty
+of extracting the same acknowledgment from the Sultan, and from his
+powerful and practically independent vassal, Mehemet Ali Pacha of
+Egypt, whose aid he had invoked, and whose son Ibrahim held much of the
+revolted country. But in 1828 the Allies at last came to an arrangement
+with Mehemet, and by a convention concluded by Sir Edward Codrington,
+that potentate agreed to evacuate the Morea and to deliver all
+captives. There then remained the difficult work of fixing boundaries,
+of taking over such parts of the country as were occupied by the
+Turkish and Egyptian forces, and of reconciling the inhabitants of
+those portions of the Hellenic territory which had not been allowed by
+the Powers to attain their independence to a continuance of the Turkish
+rule. Of these the island of Crete with its heroic Spakiotes, who had
+never acknowledged the Sultan as their sovereign, was perhaps the most
+troublesome and difficult. There remained also the incidental
+suppression of the piracy which still continued. This duty, as before,
+fell mainly to the share of Captain Yorke in the _Alligator_.
+
+From a journal among the Hardwicke MSS. at the British Museum, I am
+able to trace my father in that service from September 1, 1830,
+onwards. He was then ordered to visit Volo, Salonica, and the
+neighbourhood, 'owing to the reports of piracies lately committed, and
+to express all manner of good will to all parties excepting such
+pirates, whom I am ordered to destroy should I fall in with them.' On
+his arrival at Napoli at the end of August he found the admirals of
+France and Russia and the Commissioners for settling the boundaries of
+the new republic. 'The work goes slowly on,' he records; 'Russia makes
+difficulties and throws obstacles in the way.' He reports that Capo
+d'Istria was generally unpopular, an opinion which was confirmed by his
+assassination only a year later. He found the islands of the
+Archipelago much dissatisfied with the result of their rebellion, many
+of them apparently preferring to remain under the Turk; others with a
+grievance because they had not been included in the transfer; all of
+them intensely jealous of each other. 'The islands are particularly
+dissatisfied,' he says. 'Their situation is much changed. Under the
+Turk the islander was freer and was rich and had great trade; now,
+ruined by the war, he has lost his ships and his commerce.' On
+September 3 he sails along the coast of Negropont, about to be
+evacuated by the Turks, and hears of piracies committed by them in
+leaving that country. 'It is not to be supposed,' he says, 'that these
+reckless ruffians would desist from insulting Greek boats and vessels
+when they fall in with them.' Going on to Volo, the Aga of that town
+assured him that no piracies had taken place recently in the district,
+and 'that a small boat might now go in safety to Constantinople,' but
+of this the captain evidently had his doubts. On the 6th he fell in
+with the _Meteor_, Captain Copeland, and anchored with her near Zituni,
+between Negropont and the coast of Thessaly. His impression of this
+part of the world is of interest.
+
+'In this part of Thessaly,' he says, 'an English ship had never been
+before seen to anchor. I was greeted by the natives. The Greek
+population are armed, and the number of Turks in the surrounding
+district does not exceed fifteen. Opposite to us is the pass of
+Thermopylae, of which pass there is now no remains, the sea having
+receded and a considerable plain of alluvial soil now exists where the
+Pass must have been. The part of Thessaly opposite the Negropont is the
+ancient Myseria and the first scene of the memorable Argonautic
+Expedition. Volo was Iolcos, from which Jason embarked his band of
+adventurers. Pelion is seen from the gulf.'
+
+While lying near Zituni, Captain Yorke received news of a pirate named
+Macri Georgio, who two days before had plundered a schooner, and was
+apparently at large in two boats with sixty armed ruffians in the Gulf
+of Salonica. He immediately set sail for Cape Palliouri, anchored his
+brig by lantern light just round that point on September 11, and at
+moonrise led an expedition of five boats with sixty men and three days'
+provisions in search of the pirate. There followed many interviews with
+the Agas of different districts, who gave him much conflicting evidence
+about the doings of Macri Georgio, but with no result, and the
+_Alligator_ was finally brought to an anchor at Salonica, where he
+prosecuted further inquiries. Salonica, which to-day promises to become
+a bone of contention among some of the Powers of Europe, he found 'a
+clean town, containing about 70,000 inhabitants. The walls are in the
+Turkish style of fortification and without a ditch; the city stands on
+an inclined plain gently sloping to the sea, the sea wall is flanked by
+two towers at either end. The surrounding country is plain with
+mountains rising at the back.' He already noticed a great change in the
+attitude of the Turks, owing to the long struggle they had sustained
+with the Greeks and with Russia during the late war.
+
+'As it is, the empire is weakened, and the Turks know not what to make
+of it. They say the Sultan is a Giaour. The Turks, too, seem to have
+lost all their former pride, the lower orders are afraid, and the upper
+classes are quite disaffected. The change has been most wonderful, nor
+is it quite possible to reconcile to oneself how it has been brought
+about. The Koran is no longer the law of the land, and therefore you
+can hardly say they are any longer Turks. In Salonica this day, an
+independent Greek was seen beating an armed Turk in the streets.'
+
+From Salonica Captain Yorke, hearing of another clue, started in search
+of the elusive Macri Georgio, whom he thought he had at last located in
+the Peneus. So there is another expedition in the boats with sixty men
+and a twelve-miles pull to Platamona. At a village, Karitza, they hear
+of an atrocity of the pirates, who had burned a boat and killed all the
+crew, leaving one poor fellow only, dead on the beach with his right
+arm missing, as witness to the outrage. So the little force bivouacs on
+the beach, and at 4.30 next morning chase and fire on some men whom
+they see hauling a boat over a sandbank into the river Peneus, with
+others retreating into the forest. There followed another chase up the
+river with the lighter boats, which after rowing up stream as far as
+they would float found only the small boat seen the day before,
+abandoned and with no one in sight. In these expeditions the name of
+Lieutenant Hart is frequently mentioned by my father. When in later
+years Captain Yorke succeeded to the earldom of Hardwicke, he
+remembered this gentleman, found him a place as agent of his estates,
+and had in him a second right-hand for many years at Wimpole.
+
+On October 30, 1830, Captain Yorke had taken the _Alligator_ to
+Karabusa, and as from that point onward his journal is of great
+interest, I print it in his own words. It shows, I think, the qualities
+of firmness and energy which have appeared so fully in all that he did,
+as well as diplomatic talents of a high order in circumstances of some
+difficulty. His orders were to take over Karabusa from the insurgents
+and hold it pending the settlement. There is a gap in the journal of
+some six months at the end of the year 1830, and on the 2nd of June
+1831 he records leaving the _Alligator_ for England. In nothing that he
+wrote does his love of the sea and of his profession appear so
+convincingly as in the touching words in which he records leaving his
+crew and his ship. These require no comment, and I set them out as he
+left them, together with some reflections on the home voyage which help
+to display his character, and some remarks upon the steamer in which he
+reached England, which have a peculiar interest in showing the
+difficulties of the early days of steam navigation.
+
+'Oct. 13, 1830.--Arrived and moored to the shore at Karabusa (off Cape
+Busa in Crete). I am sent here to take possession of the fortress from
+the Greeks, and to hold it in the name of the Allies until I am ordered
+to surrender it to the Turks. It is an extraordinary rock very high and
+difficult of access on the western side. Its face to the sea is
+perpendicular. The Venetians fortified this height, and it is a perfect
+Gibraltar. A small garrison could defend it as long as the necessaries
+of life remained within. The anchorage is bad, the bottom being rocky;
+but it is a perfect harbour, being open to view only to the west and
+here a breakwater of rock runs across--on this breakwater the _Cambria_
+was lost. I communicate on my arrival with Mons. Le Ray of the brig
+_Grenadier_ and Captain Maturkin of the brig _Achilles_, my colleagues
+for France and Russia.
+
+'Oct. 15.--Arrived at Karabusa and desired to see me three Candiotes
+(Spakiote chiefs) professing to be a deputation from the Cretans
+requesting to know what we meant to do with Karabusa; speaking of their
+forlorn condition, of the Turks being about to break the armistice, and
+praying me to give protection to those who wished to fly to Karabusa.
+In reply I said that my power was limited, that I had my orders and
+they were, to receive the Island of Karabusa from the Greeks, and to
+hold it in the name of the Allies until I received orders to surrender
+it to the Turks. _Voilà tout!_ After this I said, "I now may speak my
+own private opinion and give my advice. That is that Candia belongs _in
+toto_ to the Turks, and you had better submit." I used all the
+arguments I was master of to induce them so to do, and said that on
+their heads would rest the blood that might be spilt by deceiving the
+people, and inducing them to resist; that the Pacha of Egypt had made a
+proclamation, the most gracious. They said they had never seen it, but
+on producing a copy of it we found they were well acquainted therewith.
+Sent for the Russian and French captains to give their opinion and
+advice, which precisely tallied with mine. Mons. Le Ray was for
+requesting the Turk to extend his armistice, which expired to-day and
+give more time for the surrender of arms, but I differed with him on
+this point, for you "must be cruel to be kind," and in prolonging the
+time of their submission you prolong hope, the Greek will after such
+time is expired only ask for more.
+
+'Three chiefs Chrisaphopulo and Anagnosti and another whose name I did
+not know are the same who made the attempt to retake the island sixteen
+days ago.
+
+'They are pirates and were then in Crete and had much to do in Karabusa
+formerly; I expect that the proclamation of Mohammed Ali has been
+prevented reaching the ears of the Spakiotes by them.
+
+'Oct. 16.--Arrived here a secretary of a Greek chief in Candia and
+tried by intrigue to gain what he thought would turn to his advantage,
+the opinion of the Russian captain as to our future intentions and
+proceedings here: he tried to persuade him to give them some ammunition
+&c. &c. He expressed his abhorrence and hatred of the English, saying
+that in Candia all said we had sold the island to the Turks and had
+undone them. He declared that the Greeks had not yet lost all hope of
+gaining Karabusa but when they had they would carry their women and
+children to Spakia.
+
+'Yesterday received news from Canea the Egyptians have established a
+good police in the town and two councils have been established, one
+Greek and the other Turk. Also, a proclamation of Mustapha Pacha, most
+affectionate in its language, offering protection to those who
+surrendered and denouncing vengeance on those who still held their arms.
+
+'Oct. 20.--During the night a brisk fire of musketry began, about
+half-past one; went to quarters, went on shore with marines. At
+daylight took seven prisoners of which Chrisaphopulo was one, two of
+the others were Candiote captains.
+
+'I consider that as there were about 100 [Footnote: Proved afterwards
+to have been 800.] men on the opposite side that it was an excursion
+made by them during a dark and tempestuous night to reconnoitre.
+Chrisaphopulo came to the house of Apostolides and said I had come with
+ten men, on which the said Apostolides sends a corporal to inform the
+garrison; after which every stone they saw was a man. Query: if
+Chrisaphopulo had said I came with 100 what would he have done?
+To-morrow we mean to quarter the prisoners. I think that D'Aubigny has
+surrendered Karabusa and not his lieutenants.
+
+'Chrisaphopulo presses me to receive petitions of the inhabitants. He
+when alone with me said the Candiotes would fain be in the service of
+the English. I think this will follow, that he will offer to give
+Karabusa to the English and assist them to defend it if I will protect
+their families.
+
+'It is necessary that something should be done for the Greeks at
+Karabusa, also, that the President should do something for those Greek
+families who are about to leave Greece.
+
+'Oct. 22.--Canaris interfered with the commandant of the garrison in
+the affair of Wednesday night. He came out here to-day and I met him,
+Captain Maturkin, and M. D'Aubigny. I said I had nothing to do with
+this affair, as the Greek flag was flying on the fortress, that what
+had passed was purely a Greek affair, but that should they wish me to
+assent to the examination of the prisoners I should be most happy.
+Canaris wished that I and Maturkin would not remain in the room; we
+consequently went away, after expressing a desire to have a report of
+the decision, as it must be a matter of great interest to me.
+
+'They were allowed to depart with their arms. From all I have been able
+to make out it must have been an attack which was intended but which
+failed owing to their not getting over quick enough. They had 150 men
+on the other side. These seven got over in a row boat, passed my sentry
+on the beach running, a few minutes after the firing began from the
+fortress the _Alligator_ was at quarters with her ports lit up, and a
+rocket was thrown from the ship. All this showed that there was no hope
+of a surprise, the others consequently went back.
+
+'The next morning, thinking that their chiefs were slain or taken, they
+upbraided each other, quarrelled and fought; many were killed and
+wounded; among the former two captains, one of whom was a man that was
+tried at Malta for piracy but escaped. I told those that came over that
+if I caught them again here, they would be shot.
+
+'Oct. 27.--Left the ship (on the information that the Pacha was about
+to march) in the gig with a great chief, for Kesamos; on my arrival was
+received by all the chiefs on the beach, and conducted with my
+companion (Simpson) to Castelli (a small fortress about a musket shot
+from the sea, the interior of which is a perfect ruin), where I was
+ushered into a room up a ladder and followed by the chiefs, and the
+armed population of the place, who quietly began plying me with
+questions not one of which I understood, until a Greek of Milo appeared
+who spoke a little English. Various were the questions asked: "Might
+they fire on the Turks"; "could I get for them more time"; "why do the
+Turks make war on us"; "might they hoist the English colours?" A great
+deal of excitement was visible among this _canaille_ of a population
+and I was in considerable apprehension of consequences, particularly as
+there were present three or four of the captains whom I had ordered to
+be shot if they put foot in Karabusa. At length after much detention,
+terms were procured and I was permitted to depart saying that I would
+do my possible to stop the march of the Turks for a few days. I left
+Castelli as I had entered it under a salute of three guns. In five
+hours we reached Gonia, a monastery situated on the coast of the Gulf
+of Canea where we were most hospitably entertained, good fare and good
+beds; our party was very talkative on Greek affairs. There were among
+the party the Spakiote chiefs Vanilikeli and Chrisophopulos.
+
+'The next morning we proceeded, and as it was raining heavily we were
+obliged to stop for two hours in a ruined house. Here in a few minutes
+little streams became torrents carrying before them trees and lands, in
+four hours we reach the Greek lines. The country we passed through was
+level and rich in oil and wine; yesterday the country was rugged and
+mountainous. When we advanced from the Greek lines across the neutral
+ground towards the Turkish lines, considerable anxiety was apparent in
+the Turkish advanced post; we were about twenty horsemen, the chiefs
+well mounted and armed to the teeth, and took post on a level rising
+ground, where we dismounted, and lit our pipes as a preliminary to
+conversation. The Turkish vedettes now advanced to about musket shot,
+when I mounted my horse and rode over to them, desiring to be taken to
+Mustapha Pacha; a young Greek chief named Leuhouthi accompanied me. We
+were soon joined by Hafir Aga, a stout good-natured Turk who, after
+giving us a good luncheon, accompanied us on our journey to Canea where
+in about three hours we arrived sending a courier to the camp. In one
+hour more found myself in the tent of Mustapha Pacha, and was addressed
+with "_Asseyez-vous je vous prie_" by Osman Bey. After having conversed
+on the affairs of Karabusa, at which the Turk complained bitterly of
+our policy in keeping his men from landing, I requested him to stay his
+march against the Greeks for a few days as my crew at Karabusa was weak
+and I feared his first movement would be a signal for a second attack;
+but, as I expected a reinforcement of French, he might then march as we
+should be efficient for the defence of Karabusa. I saw at once this
+would not do and next morning again tried my hook, but the fish would
+not bite; when on the point of marching, three Greeks were brought into
+the tent with the information that the Greeks had made a display of the
+three flags of England, France and Russia.
+
+'I immediately said that the Pacha could not with propriety march
+against those flags until I had in person visited the position and had
+ascertained how the case stood. The Pacha gave me a horse and throwing
+his own cloak over my shoulders (for it rained hard) I started off with
+my Greek friend and a few Turkish guards whom I requested might return,
+as I wished to go alone, my mission being perfectly pacific. In about
+eight hours I reached Cambus (? Kampos), a prodigiously strong position
+in the mountains, and on approaching afar off I beheld the three Greek
+flags flying on the pinnacle of the highest mountain in sight. The pass
+to the position of Cambus is most narrow and difficult, and then at the
+summit it is a plateau of fine soil with large trees and gardens. It is
+a most beautiful spot and well worth fighting for. I was soon ushered
+into an assembly of the chiefs who were Spakiotes, and Mons. Resière
+was there also. This Mons. Resière was originally a physician of Canea;
+born in Crete and having received a good education and speaking
+European languages, he was considered by the President of Greece as a
+fit man to govern Crete. He now wishes to keep up the shadow of that
+power which he once had, and has established a council, at Milopotamos
+in Crete, of which he is president, for the government of the Greeks
+and arrangement of the future plans of operation. In quietly conversing
+with Resière I found by his own confession that the object was to gain
+time, and he beseeched me to use my endeavours for that purpose. To be
+sure comments may be made of the conduct of the allies towards the
+Candiote Greeks this year, for the sale of property does not expire
+until February and the enemy has been permitted to march against the
+Greeks; their olives are ripe and they wish time to gather their crop
+and reap the advantages of it, for though the Greeks love liberty they
+love money better. As matters were I had used my endeavours for that
+purpose and without success. I now spoke publicly, and the captains and
+troops were assembled in a large room. I desired the flags of the three
+nations to be immediately surrendered to me. There was now a long
+silence, during which time the captains eyed one another, apparently to
+read in the countenance of each what was to be done. At length the
+headmost and best speaker (his words coming out like drops of water
+from an exhausted supply) "You may send and take away that of your
+nation, but the others we will not give up." I replied I had made a
+demand and required an answer; after much consideration they gave one
+in the negative. I on this made a verbal protest against the colours of
+the allies being hoisted in opposition to the Governor and departed. On
+my journey over the mountains, it rained hard, and enveloped as I was
+in the cloak or mantle of the Pacha, I feared I should be taken for a
+Turk and shot at, or that my neck would be broken in the difficult
+passes of the mountains; but in this case the excellent animal I rode
+served me most faithfully and never made a blunder. Oh Maria [Footnote:
+His stepsister.]! and ye lovers of horseflesh, how you would have
+praised and petted this animal had you ridden him; pitch dark on my
+return, nearly perpendicular flights of stone and not a false step!
+Excellent beast, your master the Pacha knows your value. I got back
+about 10 P.M. wet through nearly--the Pacha's cloak served me well
+though. The tent of Osman Bey received me and we found some excellent
+rum to season my sherbet with. The next day about one o'clock we
+started on horse-back to attack the strong position of Gambus, two
+regiments of regulars, 1000 each, had gone on in the morning. My object
+in going with the Turks was a mixed one, curiosity and hope of doing
+some good in preventing bloodshed. But there was no need for any
+personage of that humane disposition, the Greeks themselves were so
+full of humanity that they decamped bag, baggage, and colours a quarter
+of an hour before the leading Albanians entered the place of Cambus. I
+shall only remark that it stood on the top of a mountain; only to be
+reached by the most narrow and difficult passes, and had the Greeks
+intended to fight at all, they never could have had a better
+opportunity.
+
+'The day after I left Canea in a small boat I had hired to take me to
+Karabusa. It was a fine calm morning, but when we had gone about two
+miles along shore a very heavy gale came on, our sails were blown away
+and with great difficulty we reached Cape Spada, rowing for two hours
+within fifty yards of the shore, and could not reach it. We lay in a
+level with a rocky headland this night with but little to eat. The next
+day we tried to get round Cape Spada but could not; the wind then
+shifted to the northward and blew a hard gale. We were now wrecked
+among the breakers at the bottom of the bay of Gonia. Thank God I
+reached the dry land and was well taken care of at the monastery. There
+I found Chrisophopulos and Vanilikeli, who escorted me to Castelli and
+from thence to Karabusa.
+
+'December 12.--At Canea. Find the Greeks here well contented with the
+Turks. No taxes or impositions get laid on, in fact at present the
+Greeks are better off than the Turks. The Spakiotes have not all
+submitted. Three Spakiotes taken prisoners with their arms are made
+Primates of their respective villages and members of the Council.
+
+'December 13.--Left the ship in the cutter, in company with Signor
+Capogropo and Mons. Corporal. Landed at Celivez, a surf on the beach,
+all got wet, it was _sauve qui peut_ and we left our cloaks behind us,
+which to people on the point of bivouacking for the night was not
+really pleasant. But Signor Capogropo, though eighty-two years of age,
+seemed to make so light of the matter that it was out of the question
+to complain. Here we found horses sent for us to the camp, where I
+arrived about ten o'clock having passed through a rich and beautiful
+country to the village which, like all in Candia, gives a good idea of
+the ravages of civil war. Here I found the Pacha and Osman Bey had
+established their head-quarters. I was treated like a Pacha, boys
+attended to wait on me with pipes, coffee, a barber, &c. I made my
+toilet in the morning attended by seven or eight servants. Nothing can
+be better than the manner in which these chiefs are conducting affairs
+in this country.
+
+'June 2, 1831.--Left Malta for England, left my ship in Malta harbour
+in the hands of new officers. Poor _Alligator_, I did not know I had so
+much of the love of ships, no not ships, I knew that, but of men, in
+me. I could have kissed every man jack of them to death--and have cried
+over every blue jacket on parting, and my dear Mids, they I believed
+were surprised; they did not think I cared so much about them till I
+took leave of them.
+
+'My loss is great. God's Will be done. God only knows whether I shall
+return to my ship again, but I think I have love enough for her to make
+it no difficult task on my part.
+
+'Nine o'clock at night, blowing strong from the N.W. course in the
+dirtiest steamboat I ever was in, nevertheless she wears a pendant.
+
+'June 23.--Foul wind--cold dark day--making little progress, that is
+100 miles a day. What a change in seamen's distances, 100 miles a day,
+right in the wind's eye, and call that doing ill. What would Benbow say
+if one could tell him that? I will tell you, "You lubberly dog, you
+lie."
+
+'Nevertheless I go fast towards home or--God knows what! What part in
+the play am I to act, I wish my mind was made up on this cursed Reform
+question. It will be carried, but I should like to do what I think
+right and honourable towards myself, that is act and vote as I really
+think. We must become republican England as well as republican France
+(damn France, she is the root of all evil and the branch of no good).
+It matters little how; whether by Reform which will produce national
+bankruptcy, or by a starving population which will produce rebellion
+and civil war. Reform certainly means No taxes and cheap bread. Have
+been reading Moore's Byron. Poor Byron, quite what I believe him to be
+in many things and more than I believe him to be in others. I saw him
+at Missolonghi.
+
+'June 6.--This day six years I was made a Post Captain, had my poor
+father lived to-day he would have completed his sixty-third year.
+Strong winds and contrary--directly in our teeth. Nevertheless we make
+good more than four miles per hour. Yesterday hove to under the lee of
+Gibraltar all day. I finished Byron's Memoirs by T. Moore. Many
+sentences in his latter letters from Missolonghi which he word for word
+said to me when I saw him there. Our passengers are a gentleman in the
+government of Corfu and a young officer of the _Britannia_ said to be
+dying of a consumption--eats like the devil--very obstinate--will do as
+he pleases, seems determined to do what is quite right--send the doctor
+to the devil. Learn that a horse power in steaming is 32,000 lbs.
+
+'June 9.--Fell in with the _St. Vincent_ bearing the Flag of E.A. Sir
+H. Hotham on his way to relieve Sir P. Malcolm. Received letters from
+my uncles, &c. &c. Melancholy enough and politically disagreeable.
+Shall rejoin my dear _Alligator_ again. Nothing can be more kind than
+the conduct of the Admiralty. Allow ship to come home if I please, &c.
+&c.
+
+'Steam boilers leak. Put fires out, lose seven hours--obliged to empty
+boilers--the Devil and all! At least the men here are devils
+incarnate--two of them entered the boilers and drove rivets with the
+thermometer 160 in there.
+
+'Sir H. Hotham wrote me a kind note in answer to my request to allow
+Hart to bring the ship home after me.
+
+'June 20.--At sea hove to off the coast of Portugal in the steam
+packet. Sailed from Gibraltar (the 2nd time having put back once in
+consequence of the coals being bad Welsh). On the 15th called at Cadiz.
+On the 16th went on shore, Consul B--y pompous, &c. Daughters, music,
+painting, &c. William the Conqueror, &c. &c. Last night the Jew groaned
+heavily in his sleep, woke him--he was dreaming of being robbed of his
+money.
+
+'June 23.--Put into Vigo Bay for coals and left it in the evening of
+the 24th. Beautiful Bay, fresh day; St. John's market a beautiful
+sight, if fine women constituted that. The steamboat all day crowded
+with strangers. Heard that Don Pedros had left Brazil and been received
+in London.
+
+'June 30.--Arrived in sight of Falmouth and anchored in 30 fm. having
+burnt the guts and bulwarks to bring her thus far. Went to town the
+next day by mail.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COURT DUTIES AND POLITICS. 1831-1847
+
+
+On the voyage home from the Mediterranean in the steamship _Meteor_,
+which is described in the journal I have quoted in the last chapter, my
+father received the sad news of the death of Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke,
+an event to which he makes no allusion in the journal. Admiral Sir
+Henry Hotham, who had just been appointed to the command of the
+Mediterranean station, and had sailed in the _St. Vincent_ from
+Portsmouth, was the bearer of a last letter written by Sir Joseph to
+his son on the 3rd of April 1831. The _St. Vincent_ met the _Meteor_ at
+sea, and Sir Henry, in handing the letter to Captain Yorke, had also to
+announce Sir Joseph's death, which occurred only two days after he had
+finished the letter. This letter was found among my father's papers,
+and I set it out at length; it is quite typical of others which display
+the affection which existed between father and son, and it shows very
+convincingly the success which attended Captain Yorke's career in the
+Mediterranean. The circumstances of the accident in which Sir Joseph
+lost his life appear, so far as they can be known, in a note to Sir
+Joseph's letter written by my brother John, the late Earl of Hardwicke.
+[Footnote: He died from influenza, March 1909.] From this it will be
+seen that Sir Joseph was returning from a visit to the St. Vincent,
+which he had made in order to hand his letter to Sir Henry Hotham, when
+he met his death. It appears also from the annotation by my father that
+Sir Henry sailed without hearing of the accident, and only learned of
+Sir Joseph's death by subsequently reading a notice of it in
+Galignani's _Messenger_.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+14 NEW BURLINGTON STREET, LONDON:
+
+April 2, 1831.
+
+'MY DEAREST CHARLES,
+
+'Your last note to me enclosing your long recital of occurrences in
+Candia, addressed to your brother Henry, was duly received about a
+month ago, and has made us all equally happy and highly interested in
+your fortunate and successful mission. I proceeded to the Admiralty as
+you desired, and looked over the whole of the correspondence there, and
+I was much struck with the encomiums passed on you by my friend Sir
+Philip Malcolm, and of the coincidence, of the Admiralty minute and all
+the observations made by that chief, on your conduct. It runs thus,
+"acquaint Sir P. M. that their Lordships entirely concur with him in
+the opinion he has formed of the conduct of Capt. Yorke during his
+service at Karabusa." I see by the _United Service Journal_, that you
+sailed for Smyrna on the 8th of January, two days after your letter to
+me, and that you were at that port on the 18th, of course this
+acknowledgement of your correspondence will go by the Admiralty bag,
+but I doubt whether I shall save the packet. It will however be
+conveyed by your new Chief, Sir Henry Hotham, who is very desirous to
+render you all attention, for in a note I had from him, about a Middy I
+asked him to take with him in the _St. Vincent_, he says, "had I been
+able I would have fulfilled your wishes with much pleasure in this
+instance, as I shall have the pleasure in doing in regard to the
+captain of the _Alligator_, and if you have anything to send to him I
+will take the charge of it with pleasure." Thus you see, my dear
+Charles, that Sir Henry Hotham will be as much interested about you as
+any of his predecessors if you desire it, which I am sure you will.
+
+'You may indeed say, or rather exclaim, What changes! The chances now
+are that our order in the State (to make use of Lord Grey's words about
+his own order), instead of being Lords of the Admiralty will be hewers
+of wood and drawers of water, that is, if the Reform Bill passes in its
+present shape. For it cannot be denied that it must give a
+preponderating bias to that class, namely the £10 householder, which
+are by far the most numerous, active, and republican class, who by
+living in towns, can be collected for any political purpose at a
+moment's notice; who are shopkeepers, citizens, manufacturers,
+possessing great intelligence and spirit, and whose business it will be
+to have the chief government, and bring down the interests of the
+funds. This will, of course, straiten most severely all those who at
+present derive any income therefrom, and as the small sums into which
+the said funds are divided, are spread over a widely extended
+population of humble but respectable persons, it will totally ruin a
+great many. However, there seems to be an opinion that the Bill will be
+greatly modified. For the sweeping away of sixty boroughs (amongst
+which Reigate goes at once) and taking one member from four more, is a
+measure of such violent disruption, as to create a resistance that may
+be fatal to the public peace of the country. Persons are much excited
+all over the land, particularly the class of householders I have
+already mentioned.
+
+'With regard to foreign affairs, it appears still problematical whether
+France will take part in defending by force of arms revolutionary
+movements and doctrines in other countries than her own. You will of
+course know pretty readily, how these matters are to go in the Italian
+States, or those of the Church.
+
+'With respect to my family in domestic matters, we continue to remain
+without change, or much appearance thereof. Your brother Grantham,
+however, is rather an exception to this rule, for he has been so very
+ill of a rheumatic fever, that a great change has taken place in his
+appearance. He is however considered convalescent, but up to yesterday
+remained quite helpless. Eliot went yesterday to see him for the first
+time, and comes up to-day to dinner from Hampton Court Palace where
+Lady Montgomery, as you have heard, has apartments and where your
+brother and Emily his spouse have been residing for the last six or
+seven weeks. I have been also very much indisposed for the last three
+months, but have according to my own practice abstained from medical
+advice, and am now fast convalescing. It was a cough and of asthmatic
+tendency which bothered me, off and on, for some time, and which I got
+at Xmas attending the grand jury at Winchester on the Special
+Commission. But my own opinion is rather that at sixty-three age brings
+about such changes in one's bodily organs, as renders these attacks
+necessary in order to hasten on the great events of life, namely, Old
+Age and Death.
+
+'Lord Hardwicke is wonderfully well, your Uncle Charles but so so, Lady
+H. and Mrs. Charles Yorke and all their tribe very well. Lady
+Clanricarde better than usual, not very strong, Henry fit for a monk in
+point of appearance. Eliot, for him very well, Grantham I have
+described, and last and least A. Y. [Footnote: Agneta Yorke, his only
+daughter, afterwards Lady Agneta Bevan.] who is very well indeed,
+except when hot rooms and late hours come on, and then she is but so so.
+
+'We always look out with very serious desire to hear from you, every
+post, as you are an interesting object and rather a lion to be looked
+at. But I am thankful to know you are well and busy, business generally
+makes you well. I am going down for two or three days to Sydney Lodge
+on some business--and I shall send this to Sir H. Hotham to take care
+of and forward. The whole of us here and elsewhere unite in every good
+wish. For myself I can only say that you may rely on my regard and
+affection and believe me always dear Charles, your affectionate Father
+and sincere friend,
+
+'J. S. YORKE.'
+
+Finished April 3, 1831.
+
+'This was my dear father's last letter. He lost his life on the 5th,
+visiting the _St. Vincent_ at Spithead, which ship had Lord Hotham's
+flag bound for the Mediterranean. This letter was given to me at sea by
+Sir H. Hotham on my way home, having read in _Galignani_ my Father's
+death.
+
+'(Signed) H.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following note by my late brother gives all that is known of the
+accident:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I have no record of the accident that caused Sir Joseph Yorke's death,
+but I know he was in his small sailing yacht coming over from
+Portsmouth with Captain Bradby and Captain Young and one or two men of
+the crew, when the boat was struck by a heavy squall in a thunderstorm
+somewhere off the Hamble river, and they are all supposed to have been
+struck by lightning. Sir Joseph's body was found floating, the boat was
+picked up derelict in the West Channel. No one was left to tell the
+tale; the tablet in Hamble church, which is the only record I know of
+it, merely states he was drowned by the upsetting of a boat. I believe
+he had a blue line going down his body, and the fact of his being found
+floating gives the impression that he was killed by lightning, as I
+suppose all the other occupants shared the same fate.
+
+'HARDWICKE'
+
+SYDNEY LODGE, HAMBLE:
+
+October 14, 1908.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+I may perhaps add that on the day Sir Joseph Yorke was drowned, Miss
+Manningham, the sister of Mrs. Charles Yorke, was at one of the Ancient
+Music concerts in the Hanover Square Rooms, and during the performance
+fainted and was carried out. On coming to herself and being questioned
+as to the cause, she said she had seen before her the dripping form of
+a man whose body was covered with a naval cloak, and although she could
+not see his face, she knew it to be the body of Sir Joseph Yorke. There
+were of course neither telegraph nor daily posts in those days, and the
+news of his death only reached the family some two days later, when it
+was found that the day and hour corresponded with the vision Miss
+Manningham had seen.
+
+From certain remarks in his letters from Sweden it appears that Captain
+Yorke had long the intention of entering politics so soon as there was
+any interruption of his active service at sea, and shortly after his
+arrival in England in 1831, he carried out this intention by offering
+himself as candidate for Reigate, for which borough he duly took his
+seat. In October of the same year, however, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of Cambridgeshire upon the resignation of one of the
+sitting members, Lord F. G. Osborne. Captain Yorke at once decided to
+offer himself as the representative of a county with which his family
+had been long and closely associated. His opponent was Mr. R. G.
+Townley, who was the Ministerial candidate and had the support of Lord
+John Russell on his committee and at the hustings.
+
+The politics of those strenuous times of the Reform Bill are well
+known, and need no more than a passing reference here. The election
+began on October 27, only a little more than a fortnight after the
+Ministerial bill had been rejected by the House of Lords. It is
+needless to say that Captain Yorke stood in the Tory interest. In his
+address and speeches he expressed himself in favour of a moderate
+scheme of reform which would abolish such constituencies as were proved
+to be saleable and corrupt, and as ready to support a proper extension
+of the franchise. But he refused altogether to sacrifice the
+agricultural interest to that of the manufacturer, and took his stand
+upon the necessity of affording protection to the farmer by the
+maintenance of the existing Corn Laws. Lord John Russell declared that
+he and his party had no objection to Captain Yorke as a man, but
+exhorted his hearers to bear in mind that this was no personal contest,
+but one which would decide the question of Reform or no Reform. There
+were the usual hearty proceedings which we associate with the elections
+of that period at the hustings on Parker's Piece, Cambridge; Captain
+Yorke was escorted by a body of freeholders on horseback, and there was
+the customary cheerful fighting to celebrate the conclusion of the
+poll. This resulted in the captain's defeat.
+
+He was not long excluded from Parliament. Upon the passage of the great
+Reform Bill in the following year he was again nominated, and taking
+his stand upon his old principles, and declaring himself resolutely
+opposed to the poisonous and revolutionary ideas which France was
+promulgating in Europe, he was returned by a large majority and took
+his seat in the first reformed Parliament, where he represented his
+county until called to the House of Lords by the death of his uncle.
+
+Meanwhile, Captain Yorke had been most happily married on October 18,
+1833, at Ravensworth Castle, Durham, to the Hon. Susan Liddell,
+daughter of the first Lord Ravensworth, and sister to the Countess of
+Mulgrave, Viscountess Barrington, Lady Williamson, Mrs. Trotter, and
+the Hon. Georgiana Liddell, afterwards Lady Bloomfield.
+
+By the death of the third Earl of Hardwicke on November 18, 1834,
+Captain Yorke succeeded to that earldom, to which he had long been
+heir-presumptive. As already mentioned, the third earl's elder son,
+Viscount Royston, had been lost in a storm in the Baltic in 1808, and
+two younger sons had died in infancy. Captain Yorke therefore succeeded
+to the estates in Cambridgeshire and to the historic mansion of
+Wimpole. These came into the possession of his family by purchase, the
+Lord Chancellor having acquired them from Edward Lord Harley,
+afterwards Earl of Oxford, for £100,000. I print here a letter
+describing Wimpole in 1781, written by the Countess of St. Germans to
+her aunt Lady Beauchamp, [Footnote: Wife of Sir William Beauchamp of
+Langley Park, Norfolk, sister of Mrs. Charles Yorke.] as illustrating
+life at a country house at that period.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'MY DEAR AUNT (writes Lady St. Germans from 'Wimple' October 1781), We
+came to this place last Monday about half-past three o'clock; just time
+enough for dinner and found all the good family in perfect health. Lady
+Bell Polwarth is now here, also my brothers. P. Y. had been here
+before, Charles came yesterday on purpose to meet Mama, and goes away
+again to-morrow. He is not at all the worse for his journey but looks
+remarkably well. Here is likewise an unhappy victim of a clergyman on a
+visit. His name is Rouse and he is minister of some place near Wrest.
+This is the society here at present, and now I shall tell you of our
+journey, and how I like the place. Mama had desired my brother Phil as
+he passed through Hertford to order four horses to come to Tytten after
+six o'clock and four more to be ready at the Inn to change, but knowing
+the forgetfulness of the young gentleman, Mama and I were in a peck of
+troubles lest he should forget the horses, and then we could not have
+gone. However, they did come, and at eleven o'clock after various
+directions and orders given we packed off and got to Hertford safely.
+Changed horses without alighting and proceeded to Buntingford, where we
+changed again. As we passed by Hammells we saw the new Lodges which are
+built at the entrance of the Park, and look very pretty; at present
+they are only brick, but are to be painted white. When we entered
+Cambridgeshire, I confess I was not struck with the beauties of the
+country, but thought it very ugly, disagreeable, and uninteresting.
+However, when we approached the environs of Wimple, I was in some
+measure repaid by the delightful appearance of the Park and country
+round it, for the ugliness of that we had passed through. I assure you
+I was very much pleased with the beauty of the grounds and the grandeur
+of the house itself. Most part of it is furnished in the old style, as
+for example, Mama's and my apartment are brown wainscots, and the
+bed-curtains and hangings are crimson damask laced with gold most
+dreadfully tarnished. The rooms below stairs are excellent, and very
+handsomely furnished. Lady Grey, the Marchioness, has just fitted up
+some new apartments, that are beautiful, particularly the new
+dining-room which is very elegant indeed. Her Ladyship was so kind as
+to take us yesterday morning to see the new park building, which is
+very pretty. It commands a very fine and extensive prospect and is seen
+at a great distance. I have not yet seen the ruined tower which I can
+behold from my window. Everything here is quite new to me, as though I
+had never seen it before, for you know it is at least seven years ago
+since my brother drove us over at full gallop, all the way from
+Hammells. The State Bed, which you may remember stood below stairs, is
+now moved upwards into one of the new rooms. The paper with which the
+walls are covered is common and white to match the bed, and there are
+two dressing-rooms belonging to it. In short, I like the place
+exceedingly. Lady Grey is very kind to me, and I am much obliged to her
+for permitting me to come. One thing here, however, is disagreeable to
+me as I have never been used to it, and that is, the sitting so long
+after breakfast and dinner. We breakfast at ten o'clock and sit till
+twelve. Then if the weather is fine, which it is not to-day, we take a
+walk, if not, retire to our own apartments. From half-past two till
+four is spent in dressing. From four till past six at dinner. Then
+coffee, afterwards working, looking at prints, talking and preaching
+till ten. Then I go to bed, and supper is announced. Everybody is in
+bed at eleven; before breakfast Mama and I have some little time, as we
+get up at eight. I always take a walk in the garden before breakfast.
+Before that time everyone but Lady Grey and my Lord go into the
+Library, which is a noble apartment.
+
+'My brother has come home delighted with having found in Ireland a hard
+name to puzzle everybody to death with. This was the name of a young
+lady at Limerick, not more than 6 foot 4 inches without her shoes. What
+do you think of Miss Helena Macgillokilycuddy? This name is always in
+his mouth, but I believe he has added four syllables to the real word.
+As to Charles, he was charmed and captivated with another young lady at
+Limerick, a Miss Fitzgerald, whom he danced with and thought the most
+amiable of the company. In short, they are much pleased with their
+journey, and are ready to break a lance with anyone in favour of the
+Irish. I must not forget to tell you that they ran away from Dublin
+with two new coats, without ever paying for them. I have no news to
+send you.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lady Grey mentioned in this letter married the second Lord Hardwicke,
+who had no son.
+
+There is an interesting allusion to Wimpole and its associations in one
+of Lord Melbourne's published letters to Queen Victoria. After giving
+Her Majesty some particulars of the place, and mentioning incidentally
+that he was 'very partial to Lord Hardwicke,' Lord Melbourne says:
+
+'The cultured but indolent Lord Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had
+married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, who brought him £500,000, most
+of which he dissipated. Their only child Margaret, "the noble, lovely
+little Peggy" of Prior, married William Bentinck, second Duke of
+Portland. Lady Oxford sold to the nation the Harleian Collection of
+Manuscripts, now in the British Museum (to hold which the gallery at
+Wimpole was built). There is much history and more poetry connected
+with it. Prior mentions it repeatedly, and always calls the first Lady
+Harley, daughter of the Duke of Newcastle, "Belphebe." If Hardwicke
+should have a daughter he should christen her "Belphebe." The Lady
+Belphebe Yorke would not sound ill.'
+
+Thus Lord Melbourne to Queen Victoria. I may perhaps add that my father
+had three daughters, but it did not occur to him to give either of them
+that name. Prior died at Wimpole in 1721, and his portrait was hung in
+the library, and on the table are framed the following lines by the
+poet:
+
+  'Fame counting thy books, my dear Harley,
+    shall tell
+  No man had so many who knew them so well.'
+
+At Wimpole accordingly my father, after an active life at sea which had
+continued with scarce an interruption for sixteen years, settled to the
+quieter life of a country gentleman; he was a good agriculturist,
+identifying himself with all the interests of the land, and resolutely
+opposing any changes which he considered detrimental to the prosperity
+of the country. I should add that he became a successful breeder of
+shorthorns, and that he was President of the Royal Agricultural Society
+in 1845, when the show was held at Derby.
+
+In 1834 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Sir Robert
+Peel recommended his name to King William, as he explained in a letter
+to Lord Hardwicke, as an exception to the rule 'which disinclines the
+minister to continue a member of the same family in succession in the
+office of Lord-Lieutenant of a county ... a rule by which in ordinary
+cases I should wish to abide, but not for the purpose of depriving me
+of the real satisfaction of making an exception in the case of the
+present vacancy in the county of Cambridgeshire, and naming you to His
+Majesty, which I have done this day for the appointment of
+Lord-Lieutenant.' Upon the return of Sir Robert Peel to power in 1841,
+Lord Hardwicke's great influence and loyal principles were recognised
+by his appointment as Lord-in-Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
+
+It was in that capacity that my father was appointed to attend King
+Frederick William IV of Prussia, the elder brother of the Emperor
+William I, upon his visit to England in the early months of 1842. An
+interesting letter from Mr. John Wilson Croker to my father shows that
+Lord Hardwicke took pains to inform himself as to the character and
+tastes of his Prussian Majesty before entering upon his period of
+waiting. Mr. Croker was staying with Sir Robert Peel, where the
+minister was entertaining the Duke of Cambridge:
+
+'I have as I promised you' he writes, 'turned the conversation on the
+subject of the K. of Prussia, and as the Duke of Cambridge happens to
+be here, we have heard a good deal on the subject of H.M. The sum is
+that H.M. is a good and enlightened man, well read in books and well
+versed in current literature and affairs; a Christian in heart and
+rather fond of theology, so much so, that he has read twice over, they
+said, Gladstone's book on the Church.
+
+'I am not surprised at the "twice over," if H.M. really wished to
+understand the author. I found that one reading left me as much in the
+dark as I was at the first, and I only doubt whether a second perusal
+would have made me any wiser.'
+
+As illustrating the King's religious feeling I may mention that among
+His Majesty's experiences with Lord Hardwicke was a visit they made
+together to Newgate, where they were present in the chapel at a service
+Elizabeth Fry was holding for the prisoners. The King knelt and was
+deeply affected, and my father always described the scene as 'deeply
+touching' and said that he left the prison with an ideal memory of that
+great and holy woman.
+
+The King of Prussia became much attached to Lord Hardwicke during this
+visit to England, and made him promise a return visit to Prussia. This
+took place in June of the same year, when my father went to Berlin and
+accompanied the King on a visit he made to the Czar Nicholas at St.
+Petersburg. My father wrote a series of letters to my mother while upon
+this journey, describing much that he saw and did, and as these give
+many interesting particulars of the Czar and his Court, and describe
+some of the old towns in North Germany in a way which may tempt many a
+wanderer to visit some of them even to-day, I here print some extracts
+from them.
+
+The first of these is dated June 20, 1842, from Hamburg, where my
+father was detained by a short illness, during which he had the help of
+Mr. Schetky, the marine painter to Queen Victoria, whose acquaintance
+he had made years before at the Naval College at Portsmouth. It gives
+some interesting particulars of the great fire which raged in that city
+on May 4, 1842, and two days following, and destroyed 2000
+dwelling-houses as well as many churches and public buildings.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I send you some little sketches of parts of the dilapidated town
+showing the ruins of the great church of Saint Peter. The history of
+the fire is told in a few words; no one knows how it began, the want of
+order, power, and a commanding head was the cause of the great
+devastation ... the mob said "in a free town we can do what we like."
+They pumped spirits from the engines instead of water by mistake, and
+thus a scene of devastation and plunder was begun which ceased only
+from the exhaustion of the people and a shift of the wind.
+
+'Then came in some troops from Prussia and Denmark, and order was
+restored. The number of lives lost is not known, but not above two
+hundred it is believed.
+
+'As you well know, Hamburg is a free town and a republic of itself,
+governed by the Burgomaster and a senate. It is one of the three
+remaining Hanse towns.... The loss suffered here is to be now stated,
+it is fairly computed at 12,000,000 pounds sterling; of this 8,000,000
+falls on individuals and foreign and British insurance offices;
+4,000,000 on the city of Hamburg. The foreign insurance offices have
+paid very well; the Hamburg, that is the individual who had such an
+office, is ruined and can pay nothing; the city of Hamburg will borrow
+4,000,000, and raise the interest by a tax on the houses of the city
+throughout. The cause of this is that Hamburg allowed no foreign
+insurance to be made for a house, but the whole city is an insurance
+office against the destruction of a house by fire. What the house
+contains as furniture, &c., the city has nothing to do with. So each
+individual will receive for his house destroyed by fire its value from
+the city, but he will be taxed to pay the interests of the money. This
+may not be quite clear, it requires rather more words to make it so. I
+hope to find a letter from you in Berlin.--Yours,
+
+'CHARLES.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next letter was written from Berlin.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I arrived here this morning at four o'clock from Hamburg to
+Boitzenburg, where we slept.
+
+'I went down to the King (at Sans Souci) by railroad; he was at dinner,
+I got some brought to me by his old servant. The King soon came out of
+his dining-room to me and gave me a most hearty welcome, and took me
+into the garden, where all the court ladies and gentlemen were
+gathered; presented me to the Queen, both asked after and about you and
+were very kind. I can hardly say how much interest I felt in being for
+a few moments at Sans Souci again; it is a most beautiful place. It is
+wonderful to think of its creation, but there will be speedy decay and
+dissolution, if it is not ere long repaired. The Palace is small, and
+not worthy the name of a Palace, but beautiful. I am not expected to
+remain long I think, from what I gather.
+
+'As I was staring about the town yesterday evening after my return from
+Sans Souci, I was tapped on the shoulder and informed that the King
+desired that I would come to sup with him at nine, so as it was half
+past eight, off I went to dress. By the by I did not tell you that
+after our dinner at Sans Souci the whole Court moved up to Berlin by
+railroad, thus I was at the Palace at nine. The supper was served at
+six small tables, without any covering, the plate and glasses standing
+on the mahogany. At one table sat the King and Queen, the Princess of
+Prussia and the Duke of Brunswick; the rest of the party and his
+household were at the other tables. A seat of honour was kept for me by
+the great lady of the Court, but I had already found myself seated by a
+maid of honour whose sweet smiles had attracted me and I did not think
+it worth while to move. You need not be alarmed, for the stock of
+beauty here is small. The King and Queen both crossed to speak with me
+before and after supper, and on taking leave for the night the King
+kindly shook me by the hand. The King is gone, he visits some of his
+provincial towns on his way, and takes no one with him but one
+Aide-de-camp and no escort. I go tomorrow in my own carriage, thank
+God; a route is given me, a number painted on the carriage, and all
+paid, so I go like the devil without anything to pay. I shall be at
+Dantzic before the King.
+
+'The road from Hamburg to Berlin lies through a portion of the Danish
+territory and the territory of the grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin
+and the Prussian, the whole way the country is cultivated, the Danish
+territory of Holstein is sandy and little done with it. That of M.
+Schwerin is of a better quality, though what we should call moderate
+soil but very fairly cultivated. I never saw better farming in my life,
+or a country more cared for, the crops looked well and not a weed to be
+seen, the road-side planted, and every tree that was young staked and
+tied, the side of the roads mowed and trimmed, and stone gutter on each
+side of a fairly macadamized road. I felt humbled after my boasting
+thoughts of England, as this pattern they have no doubt followed, but
+the Prince of Mecklenburg Schwerin deserves well of his people for his
+superior copy. The people are well clothed, and I have not been asked
+for a farthing since I came to this country.
+
+'Then in Prussia on crossing the frontier the authorities were most
+civil, cast an eye at the carriage, made a bow, and would not look at
+an article; the regulations of Prussia are in all departments most
+excellent, and a painstaking discipline exists everywhere, which makes
+the position of the traveller quite charming. Here only one side of the
+road is macadamized, the other half is the soil, but the road is very
+wide, so down hill you take the soil, very safe. All through Prussia,
+as far as I have been, the farming is very good, the land very clean,
+but the soil very, very poor; it is a great desert in fact, made
+habitable by the perseverance and industry of the people; round this
+town it is wonderful to see what can be done by the hand of man. This
+town stands in a desert of driving sand, but the town has created a
+soil round it which is now pushing the desert back every year, and it
+is now in the centre of a large circle of fine green fields and corn
+lands; of course the produce is not great but the labour is small, and
+the improvement progressing. The accommodation is very fair even to an
+Englishman. The innkeepers are a very respectable class, and though I
+have not seen a bed that is larger than a child's crib without
+curtains, yet they are clean, soft, and well made with lots of pillows
+for the head.
+
+'Up to this time I have seen nothing but what I may call the outside of
+Berlin, my impression is that on the whole it is a very fine city. The
+public buildings are numerous. The architecture is fine, with more of
+the florid ornament than the style permits; much statuary and grouping
+of figures in marble and bronze. Streets wide, buildings low and large;
+but more of this bye and bye.
+
+'My friend Schetky has been very useful to me in killing much "ennui"
+and comforting me when sick. He is an extraordinary fellow,
+sixty-three, with the spirits and fun of a boy, and the appetite of a
+horse. He is bent on going to Dantzig, so puts himself into the
+mail-post or public conveyance. He thinks he can make a picture
+[Footnote: Now at Sydney Lodge.] of the King's embarkation; I hope he
+may succeed, for he is a worthy soul.
+
+'I have passed my morning in the museum of statues and pictures. The
+museum was founded in 1830 from designs by Schinkel; it is pure Greek
+Doric (I don't like it), a double column façade, up a great flight of
+steps; before the entrance stands a basin of polished red granite
+twenty-two feet in diameter, one block; it was a boulder that lay
+thirty miles from Berlin called the Markgrafenstein, it lay at a place
+called Fürstenwald.
+
+'The collection of the museum consists of vases and bronzes, sculpture
+and pictures. My view was so very cursory, and without a catalogue,
+that I must not say much about it. It is very large and the statues are
+mostly antique, and I should say fine. The pictures are numerous and
+many very fine, but on the whole the collection I should say was not
+first rate, indeed if it were it would be the finest in the world from
+its number.
+
+'There is a very curious collection of very old church pictures by very
+ancient masters of the art, but the Italian school of its best day is,
+I think, small, as well as the Dutch. But I must not be supposed to
+give judgment on the gallery, I must have a long day at it on my
+return, and another some day with you, my love.
+
+'I find that I am not even to pay for a potato on my journey, my beds,
+breakfasts, dinners, horses are everywhere ordered. And apartments were
+ready for me at Sans Souci, had I arrived sooner, and this morning I
+was ordered to the Palace for to-day and to-night, but I begged off,
+the Hof-Marshall not thinking my rooms here good enough; surely this is
+enough honour. But it is given to the Queen's servant, to an
+Englishman, and not to myself, so I do not take it all. I dine with
+Westmorland to-day at five.
+
+'Your devoted,
+
+'CHARLES.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+KONITZ: June 25, 1842.
+
+'I have arrived at the end of my second day's journey towards Dantzig,
+where I meet the King, who went by another road for the purpose of
+paying a visit to the frontier town of Posen, where he was to be
+entertained by the inhabitants. As I told you, I had a route given me
+and thus far am I advanced, post horses standing ready at each station,
+the authorities waiting on me and showing me every attention that a
+Pacha might require. I must say more could not be done to make all most
+agreeable to me, I have come 100 miles in twelve hours on the most
+excellent road without a jolt, very good accommodation and eating.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+DANTZIG: June 26.
+
+'I am safe and sound at the ancient Port of Dantzig, the corn exporting
+place, the terror of English farmers. I found that I was quartered on
+arrival at the English Consul's, where I have an excellent apartment
+and was most kindly received by him and his family, the lady being a
+Prussian, and from what I have seen of her a most excellent and
+charming person.
+
+'My journey to-day has been less agreeable than the two previous ones
+from heavy rain all day, country passed through of the same general
+character, the land improving in quality as we approach Dantzig.
+Between Konitz and (?) Pral Rittelm we cross a small stream called the
+Pral, full of salmon and fine trout. I thought of my absent fishing
+tackle, but it is better I had it not, as I should have got wet to a
+certainty, but I mark him for some other day.
+
+'The country is a Catholic country, wooden images of the crucified
+Saviour on the road-sides, and the greater part of cottages here built
+of timber log, and the people in an inferior condition.
+
+'As soon as I had dined with the Consul I took my way to the shore of
+the Vistula. The sight of its banks was to me most interesting, covered
+with sheaves of wheat covering acres of ground, while the river is
+covered with rafts of timber and large boats built for the voyage down,
+but being broken up for fire wood as soon as the cargo of wheat is
+landed. Here the grain remains till sold to the merchant, when it is
+carried to the granaries in the town, or rather to an island in the
+middle of the town called Speicher Insel. On this island there is no
+other building but granaries. The corn contained is 500,000 or 600,000
+qrs. of wheat. On a fine day on the shore of the river are to be seen
+the figures of two hundred men and women, Poles, working the wheat by
+turning it over and over with shovels till it is dry, as the voyage
+down the river is sometimes five or six weeks, and the corn heats and
+grows; thus it requires much turning on its arrival.
+
+'The Poles who come down with it, are the most savage and uncouth
+looking people I ever saw, excepting Finns and Esquimaux; indeed, they
+are very like them. But their character here is that they are a most
+inoffensive race, suffer much fatigue and privation, and gain but
+little by their voyage. They are in the hands of Jewish supercargoes,
+one of which nation is to be seen in every regiment and in every boat.
+These poor people, after the cargo is sold, walk home again 600 or 700
+miles. Price of wheat on the shore 55s. per qr. That won't hurt us. The
+King is expected tomorrow late in the evening. Good-night.
+
+'Monday night, ten o'clock.--The day is past and I have returned for
+the night. The King arrived at six o'clock, I waited on him directly he
+was in the room; he had me to dine with him, and seated me next him at
+table. The Prince Menschikoff, the head of the Russian Navy, was there;
+he has come to take the King to Russia with two steam ships.
+
+'I visited to-day the lions of Dantzig--the Exchange, the Cathedral,
+and the Armoury. The Exchange is a most curious building of great
+antiquity, and the hall is certainly the most curious and grotesque
+room in the world. The walls are covered with large pictures and wooden
+statues painted in colour. It is a Gothic edifice built in 1379, and
+the roof of the hall is supported by four slender pillars. The most
+singular picture on the wall is a representation of the church under
+the form of a ship sailing to heaven full of monks, who are throwing
+out ropes and hooks to haul on board a few miserable sinners, who but
+for this timely assistance would be drowned.
+
+'In front of the building is a fine fountain ornamented with a bronze
+figure of Neptune drawn by sea-horses. The whole effect of the hall is
+most curious and beautiful. Near this building is the Town Hall, in
+which is the room in which the old Senate, now the Corporation, sit.
+Its beauty is difficult to describe, the ceiling is richly carved in
+wood, in each compartment is a fine and brilliant picture by some old
+master.
+
+'The church, of which I send a sketch, is one of the most curious in
+Europe; the Lutherans have preserved it exactly as it was; rich to a
+degree in painting, sculpture, and brass, though not of the highest
+order, yet, to the eye, rich in effect. The two great objects in it are
+a picture by Van Eyck, and a crucified Saviour in wood as large as
+life. It is called the "Marien Kirche," and was begun in 1343 by the
+grand master of the Teutonic Knights. The architect was Ulric Ritter of
+Strasburg. The vaulted roof is supported by twenty-six slender brick
+pillars, ninety-eight feet from the pavement; around the interior are
+fifty chapels, originally founded by the chief citizens for their
+families. The great ornament is the picture by John Van Eyck known as
+the Dantzig picture. It was painted for the Pope, and while on its way
+to Rome was taken by pirates. It was retaken by a Dantzig vessel and
+deposited in the cathedral, where it remained till 1807, when the
+French took the town and it was carried to Paris. On its return after
+the war, the King of Prussia wished to retain it in Berlin, and offered
+the town 40,000 dollars as a compensation, but they would not part with
+their picture. I think it a wonderful picture, it is as fresh as the
+day it was painted, and the colour bestowed on it is amazing; but, like
+all this class of pictures, to me it is only wonderful.
+
+'The Crucifix is fine, and the story goes that the artist crucified his
+servant that he might make a good article.
+
+'Fahrenheit, who invented the thermometer, was born here. The great
+street of the town is the most beautiful I ever saw, the houses with
+the gables to the street no two alike, richly ornamented with elaborate
+cornices and carving of figures and flowers. Flights of steps from the
+door, some projecting more than others into the street, some with stone
+rail, some iron, some brass. Most curious, antique, and beautiful. It
+is a fine and interesting old town. So much for Dantzig.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the Entrance of the Gulf of Finland, on board the Emperor of
+Russia's Steam Frigate _Bogatir_:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+June 30, 1842.
+
+'Since I despatched my letter from Dantzig I have made progress thus
+far towards my ultimate and extreme point, and to-morrow evening I
+expect to be safe under the roof of the Emperor of all the Russias. I
+closed my letter to you on the 27th, and I shall resume the thread of
+my story from that time. At nine o'clock on the 28th the King reviewed
+the Garrison of Dantzig, a small army of about 2000 men, consisting of
+two regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and eight guns. I
+accompanied him on horseback; the turn-out was very good indeed, the
+men small but healthy and active, and moved very well, in all points
+extremely well equipped. Afterwards His Majesty drove about the town
+and visited everything, not only the public buildings that I have
+described to you, but also wherever a bit of old carving, or old
+wardrobe, or the façade of a house that was curious was to be found,
+there he paid a visit. He gave a great dinner at two o'clock to 100 of
+his chief people and officers. During the repast a regiment of infantry
+sang national songs in parts most beautifully, the choruses, with 800
+or 1000 voices, very fine. We embarked at seven in a small steam boat
+which took us down the Vistula and aboard the frigate. Throughout the
+day I have been struck with the position of this Monarch and his people.
+
+'No guards, no escorts, not even a guard of honour or police, all
+affection and order. He walked about amongst thousands of his people,
+like a father among his loving children. He was remarkably well
+received everywhere and it made him very happy. He is very familiar
+with his officers, and talks to his servants with kindness and good
+humour, frequently making them laugh and laughing in return. In short,
+I am much struck with the difference of forms in the constitutional and
+despotic country, and with the pomp of the former and familiarity and
+freedom of the latter. In parting with his officers he pressed many of
+them with warmth and affection to his heart.
+
+'The two Russian steam ships that convey us to St. Petersburg are very
+fine vessels, the one we are on board of is the smallest of the two,
+being about 1000 tons and 200 horse power, the other 1800 tons with 600
+horse power. This vessel, the _Bogatir_, is superbly fitted and quite
+equal in all points to any I have seen in England.
+
+'July 1 (Friday, 5 P.M.).--I was obliged to leave this scrawl of mine
+yesterday, for really what with the engine, the eating and the talking,
+I could do little in the way of writing; moreover, I have had no bed,
+though a very good cabin, but have slept three nights in my clothes on
+the sofa. Well here I am well lodged with a suite of apartments in the
+Palace of Peterhoff with the Emperor and the Court. It has been a day
+of great interest, and ought to have been one of excitement, but I find
+that nothing of this sort excites me; so much the better, I can profit
+more, though I do not enjoy so much.
+
+'This morning at four o'clock I was on deck and we passed a division of
+the Russian Fleet under sail, one three-decker and eight two-deckers of
+80 and 74 guns, four frigates, two corvettes, and three or four brigs;
+the line-of-battle ships formed the line of battle on the larboard tack
+and bore up with us, but the wind being light they did not keep long in
+company. At equal distance were placed, for the purpose of
+communication by signal, vessels of war, frigates, and brigs, who gave
+the Emperor early information of our approach. Of course we were
+everywhere received with a cannonade from every vessel.
+
+'On approaching Cronstadt the Emperor, Empress, and all the Court came
+out to meet us in a steam yacht; there was also on board the Prince of
+the Netherlands and his Princess. At Cronstadt another division of the
+Fleet was at anchor, nine sail of the line and six or seven frigates.
+Of the Fleet I shall speak another time.
+
+'After passing the batteries at Cronstadt we anchored, and the Emperor
+pushed off in a boat from his yacht and fetched the King, his suite
+went on board in another boat. The meeting between the King and the
+Imperial family was most affectionate, and after the hurry and
+excitement of this event had subsided, I was presented by the King to
+the Emperor.
+
+'You cannot conceive anything more frank, noble, open, and kind, than
+the bearing of this great man, he put me at once at my ease, and talked
+to me both in French and English, on such commonplace matters as best
+suited the occasion.
+
+'He then presented me to the Empress, her manner was most kind and
+gentle, but her beauty is gone, and she looks very thin. Luncheon was
+served on deck, the Imperial family and the King at one table, as they
+sat down the Emperor called out "Lord Hardwicke these are my daughters,
+they speak English." I of course went off to the two most lovely women,
+Olga and Alexandrina, most charming in every way, their beauty is
+surpassed by their sweetness of manner and address. An old lady of the
+court took me under her protection during luncheon, but I have not yet
+found out who she is. After luncheon the yacht which had anchored got
+under way and stood over from the roads of Cronstadt to Peterhoff,
+accompanied by six sail of small ships. The Emperor came up to me and
+pointing to them he said, "These are my boys," explaining that they
+were the pupils for the navy under his own eye. They live on board
+these six vessels during summer and are always at work. Two little boys
+were on deck in uniform, and I said, "And these are yours, are they
+not?" The Empress was standing by and the Emperor replied in English,
+"Yes, they are our own fabrique, are they not, Madame Nicolas?" placing
+his large hand all over her face, she rejoined in Russian, "How you do
+talk." This made me laugh, and the Emperor and Empress did so in a
+manner that showed the joke was a good one. On landing, I, in company
+with the Prussians, paid visits to the hereditary Grand Duke, to the
+Prince of Prussia, to the Grand Duke Michael and his Duchess, a most
+charming person, and two or three officers of state. I should tell you
+that on the reception of the King there is a Guard of Honour before the
+Palace of about 200 men, not more on the ground. I was struck with the
+manner of the Emperor; he ordered what words of command should be
+given, and as they broke into sections to march before the King, the
+Emperor placed himself on the left of one of the companies, and
+marching with them, saluted the King, and then fell out. The whole
+manner of this man is most remarkable, and quite unlike anybody I ever
+saw.
+
+'He is one of the finest and best-looking men in the world, and his
+bearing corresponds. At four o'clock we went to dine, the Imperial
+family dine at the Palace of the Grand Duchess Helena close by, and the
+Court dined here in the Palace. I sat between Count Menschikoff, whom I
+like very much (he is, as I told you, the head of the Navy) and a
+little Court lady from Moscow, who might fascinate easily a heart that
+was free. Dinner is over and I sit down to write this to you. As to
+myself I am quite well, and shall profit all I can by this trip, but I
+shall be heartily tired of it, I assure you; it is no joke. I would not
+be tied to one of these Courts for all the world could give, it is such
+a continued business of eating and dressing.
+
+'I shall say nothing of Peterhoff or St. Petersburg, which I have not
+seen. I see before me in all directions from the windows frames of wood
+of enormous dimensions and various shapes for lighting up the gardens
+of the Palace on the night of the Fête, although there is no night, so
+it must be going through the forms of illumination only. However, we
+shall see when it takes place, no doubt it will be most magnificent.
+
+'All about me is most strange, a mixture of East and West, such as can
+be nowhere else seen: savage and civilised life is here blended
+together, blackies and turbans and laced footmen all wait at table
+together.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+PETERHOFF: July 2, 1842.
+
+'I find myself most completely provided for here. I have a
+sitting-room, bedroom, and servant's room with all comforts....
+
+'I must now give you some description of this place, but shall wait
+till to-morrow that I may profit by my ride with the young ladies, who
+will show me all the gardens.
+
+'The Palace of Peterhoff with a front to the main building of 510 feet,
+is situated on the top of a terrace which runs to a certain distance
+along the left or north bank of the mouth of the Neva opposite
+Cronstadt. The terrace overlooks the wide expanse of the Neva to
+Cronstadt and St. Petersburg and far towards the sea; the distance from
+the terrace to the sea is about half a mile. This part is planted with
+trees of various kinds, fir, elm, ash, common kinds, and having
+attained no great size, about the size of thirty years' growth in a
+tolerable soil in England--these are cut into avenues or vistas at
+right angles to one another, in which are statues, fountains, and
+canals, and this at once gives you the character of the place. I
+neither rode nor wrote yesterday evening, but fell asleep till I was
+called to dress at half-past eight. By the bye, I have dressed six
+times to-day. I must leave my description of Peterhoff to be continued
+till another time, as I wish to relate to you what has passed here
+since nine o'clock P.M. till this time. Your letter was delivered to me
+yesterday evening by one of the Emperor's aide-de-camps in the middle
+of a game of romps such as I've not enjoyed since I was a boy. At nine
+o'clock I was in the receptions room of the Palace according to orders,
+all the Court were assembled, but no strangers; the company might
+amount to about sixty, the Emperor, Empress, the three Grand Duchesses,
+their daughters, the Czarewitch, the Prince of the Netherlands, and
+many others, with the King of Prussia. After some little formality the
+doors of a large apartment were thrown open, in which was no furniture
+but a few chairs. In the room adjoining was a full band. The Empress
+said to me, "You must come with us and not play cards, we are going to
+play some innocent games." All formality was now at an end, the
+Imperial family joined with the Court and the game began. It was the
+game with a rope, which I daresay you have seen. All take hold of it
+and one is in the middle, the one in the middle must strike the hand of
+anyone holding the rope, who then takes his place in the middle. I
+think you must have seen this game, a very innocent one, and makes fun.
+After this had gone on for some time, the Emperor takes hold of the
+cord, pushed it and the company into a corner of the room, and the game
+became more vivacious, and a general romp ensued, some fell, some
+rushed into the Emperor's arms, who stood like a colossus at the end of
+the room with open arms to receive those who sought shelter there. This
+could be seen nowhere else. We then supped at round tables, the ladies
+sending for the gentlemen they chose to make the party. After supper
+the Imperial family retired. It was a most delightful evening.
+
+'Words cannot convey an idea of the affability and kindness, the
+sweetness and amiability of this great family. I shall put by my pen
+just now and write the details of the day to-night, if not too sleepy.
+But it is not a Sunday passed as it ought to be, though we have been to
+church.
+
+'Monday, 10.30 A.M.--I am waiting for a message from the Emperor, who
+yesterday told me that I was to go to Cronstadt with him this morning,
+and warning me at the same time that he would do all he could to tire
+me completely. We yesterday had a very hard day. At eleven o'clock we
+went to the Greek chapel in the Palace, the whole Court attending
+divine service. Of the ceremonial of the Greek Church I shall only say
+that its forms are in appearance more absurd than the Romish. The music
+and chanting was most sublime and beautiful, nothing could exceed the
+excellence of this performance. The chapel is small but highly
+decorated in the interior with paintings of rather a high finish and
+gold, in the style of Louis XIV, though the form of the chapel does not
+much vary from the same date, yet its proportions do, for it is three
+times as lofty as its area is broad, with a domed ceiling. After church
+a parade, here the Emperor and the King of Prussia played soldiers for
+an hour and a half. Suffice it to say, without relating all the
+marching and counter-marching of the troops, that the King of Prussia's
+regiment (for he is a colonel in the Russian Army) was drawn up, the
+King inspected the men and then put himself on the right of the line,
+the Emperor then went up to him and, taking him in his arms, kissed
+both his cheeks, then the King marched past the Emperor at the head of
+his regiment. The Empress was on the ground.
+
+'Monday.--I dined with the Royal Family, 150 sat down; we did not go to
+Cronstadt to-day, I am not sorry, for it rained. The dinner was good
+for a Russian and not long. The service on the table all china from
+Berlin, given by Frederick the Great to Katharine.
+
+'After dinner to the St. Peterburg Gate, about three miles off, where I
+found a horse ready for me to attend a review of the military cadets.
+It was a very interesting sight, 3000 boys in heavy marching order with
+eight guns, a small body of light horse, and a small body of Circassian
+Horse, forming a complete little army. Their marching and evolutions
+were most excellent, no troops can move better than these boys. The
+Emperor and his staff rode so as to cut the column off three times,
+then they passed in review three times before him, and were dismissed.
+As soon as they had time to disarm, the youths came rushing out in all
+directions. The Emperor dismounted and was at once surrounded by them.
+He lifted one, took another in his arms, passed two or three under his
+legs, and spoke with frankness and affection to all. The love and
+enthusiasm of these children for him is such as is found only in the
+breast of youth, but must grow in time; and what a power this one
+institution must give him. These boys are all of good family, and go
+from this training to the army as officers. After this, at nine, a ball
+at the Emperor's cottage.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lord Hardwicke remained in St. Petersburg for a fortnight, leaving that
+city on the 13th of July for Memel, in attendance on the King of
+Prussia, who was returning to Berlin by way of Silesia.
+
+As long as he was in Russia at the Court of the Emperor Nicholas, he
+experienced (as the foregoing letters show) the most generous, nay
+lavish, hospitality. In this connection the following anecdote may be
+recorded. An allowance, consisting of one bottle of brandy and one of
+champagne, was placed on a tray in his room each morning. He rarely
+touched it, but when at the end of his visit the servant in waiting
+brought him a bill for the champagne, he sharply turned and said, 'Very
+well, I shall show this bill to the Emperor myself,' at which the
+servant turned deadly pale and replied, 'I beg you will do no such
+thing, or I shall certainly be sent to Siberia!'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+MEMEL: July 18, 1842.
+
+'This will be a short letter as the time passed since I wrote is small.
+We arrived here about noon to-day, having had a good passage and are
+all well. You will by this time feel that I am returning, and that my
+face is towards home. The King has pressed me to stay and go to the
+Rhine with him, but I have decided the point, and have declined his
+great kindness, thus I shall keep my word and hope to be at home again,
+at the time I stated.
+
+'I believe I told you that the _fête_ passed off well, our promenade
+amongst the lamps in the garden was stupid enough. I tried to stir the
+Maids of Honour up a little, but it was hard work even to make them
+laugh, and the people looked glum, being as it were a sort of
+contradiction to the illuminated garden. The last day was a day of
+repose. The next day being Saturday, the Imperial Family received us to
+take leave, and nothing could be more truly kind and affectionate in
+manner than they all were to me. I say to me, for I know not what was
+said to others, but I have no doubt they were so to all the Prussians.
+The Emperor and Empress both gave me special messages to the Queen. I
+then, when the audience was over, drove to visit the Grand Duke Michael
+at Orienbaum, about six miles from Peterhoff, an ancient palace, and a
+very fine one, I think. The Grand Duchess Helena, his wife, is a most
+charming lady and very lovely; she took me all over the house, and
+showed me how little by little she was making it comfortable.
+
+'The Grand Duchess Marie did not see me, and I was very sorry for it.
+At twelve o'clock the King and Emperor came on board the _Bogatir_ and
+we got under way immediately. At about one we passed Cronstadt; at
+half-past one we had passed the last ship of the fleet. I was standing
+on the paddle-box near the Emperor and King, when on a rocket being
+thrown up from the _Bogatir_, all the fleet, mounting 3500 pieces of
+cannon, discharged all the guns at once, and the Emperor at the same
+moment took the King in his arms and embraced him. This bit of stage
+effect took me by surprise and affected me exceedingly; there was
+something very imposing and touching in this _coup de théâtre_ and the
+King was much affected. After this the boat was manned for the Emperor
+to depart, and he stood some time on deck without speaking, the King
+and all of us standing near him. I saw he was much moved. At last he
+pressed the King in his arms and kissed him; after he embraced the
+Prussians. When he came to me, he held out his hand; I gave him mine
+and bowed, but he said, "No, no; you must do so," and taking me round
+the neck kissed me most affectionately.
+
+'I assure you it was a very striking scene and I shall never forget it;
+he was no more the Emperor, but a warm-hearted man. He was most
+affected at parting with the King, and this had softened him towards
+all, and his heart was uppermost. I was glad to see him thus. I did not
+think before he was a man of feeling, but he has a warm and
+affectionate heart. I shall not easily forget this evening.
+
+'Our voyage was too good a one to produce any anecdote worth relating.
+As I passed the bar I remembered that I was indebted to its broken
+waves for my present station. The King spoke to me of Royston's death;
+he was at Memel when it happened and remembered all the circumstances
+of it. He knew Mrs. Potter very well. We start to-morrow on our way to
+Silesia, our first day's journey is to Tilsit....
+
+'CHARLES.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+ERDSMANSDORFF: July 27.
+
+'I arrived here last night about six o'clock after a prosperous journey
+of four days and one night from Königsberg, from which place my last
+letter is dated. The Queen is just arrived, the King is expected about
+four in the afternoon. From Memel to this place the whole country is
+flat and tame. Erdsmansdorff is situated at the foot of a large
+mountain that separates Silesia from Bohemia, called Riesengeberg,
+which means "Great Mountain"; the chief of the chain is opposite my
+windows, the highest in Germany, being 4983 feet above the level of the
+sea. The outline of this chain is undulating but not bold. The valley
+is lovely, and the King is building a house here; the grounds are
+partially laid out, we are living in a building which will form a part
+of the offices of the new house. My apartment is on the ground floor,
+and the King and Queen are above me. The people are an industrious
+race. Here is a colony of Tyrolese the King received and gave lands to;
+they were persecuted by the Catholics on the other side of the
+mountains, and he said, "Come here, and I will give you rest." So here
+they are 300, and have built themselves houses after the fashion of
+their country, which has much added to the beauty and picturesqueness
+of this land.
+
+'I cannot say how well I am treated everywhere, you cannot conceive the
+civility and attention that I have received from all and everyone, poor
+and rich, a proof how much the King is loved; for the poor know me as
+the King's friend.
+
+'I must now go back a little to Königsberg and say something of the
+Palace of that place. It is a most ancient structure of enormous size,
+being built round a quadrangle with round towers at the corners. It is
+not beautiful, but ancient and large, towers above all other buildings,
+and stands on the edge of a hill that overlooks a great part of the
+town.
+
+'The town of Königsberg was once the capital of Prussia proper, and a
+long time the residence of the electors of Brandenburg. It is the third
+city in the Prussian dominions and contains 70,000 inhabitants. It is
+not fortified, but is going to be.
+
+'After the battle of Jena, the Royal Family of Prussia took shelter in
+this town, the present King being then twelve years old. The Palace is
+now chiefly used for provincial offices, and a suite of apartments is
+kept furnished for the King. There are some very ancient archives kept
+here which must contain a fund of interest; I looked at several letters
+from our Sovereigns both of the Plantagenet and Tudor line to the
+Teutonic Grand Masters, thanking them for falcons sent from Prussia.
+
+'As I told you, I was to go in search of an elk and kill one if I
+could. Accordingly I started at 3 P.M., accompanied by the master of
+the forest, to a forest about seven English miles from the town, and
+without making the story long, I had the good fortune to see, but not
+to kill, six of the enormous animals; only one passed within shot, and
+this was a female with her calf. I was desired to fire at the calf, and
+I missed. I will not make the excuse that I might for so doing; my only
+bag will distract Eliot when he hears it, a fox, on the death of which
+all present raised their hats. It made me laugh and think of the old
+proverb, "What's one man's meat...." I returned to Königsberg at 9.30
+and at 10 started for this place.
+
+'I arrived at Marienberg at nine next morning, and stayed there an hour
+to see the Palace, and breakfast. The Palace is the most interesting
+building in Prussia, and is very fine of its kind. The King, with his
+love of architecture, has restored a great part of it, and will, by
+degrees, restore the whole to its original state. This was the seat of
+the Knights of the Teutonic order, they, in fact, were the founders of
+the Prussian kingdom, after fifty-three years' struggle. The oldest
+part of this Castle was built in 1276, the middle Castle in 1309. The
+rooms in the interior and the great hall are built in a singular way:
+the rooms are square, the hall is in three cubes. The ceiling of each
+room, which is arched, is supported by a single slender column of
+granite, in the centre hall by three columns in the same way.
+
+'The King and Queen have arrived and dinner is over, they are both very
+happy and are gone to drive together quietly, and we shall not see them
+again this evening. He has been through part of Poland, where his
+reception has been most enthusiastic.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+ERDSMANSDORFF: 31st July.
+
+'Here I have abode quietly with the King and Queen since I last wrote
+to you, and should have been quite content if I had only your company
+in addition, but although all ought to be charming to me, yet the want
+of employment or excitement after the first view of environs was over
+leads me to wish my stay shortened. I have, however, walked hard though
+not far and looked about the country for fear I could not go, as the
+dinner-hour at three cuts the day in twain. Life has been quite devoid
+of form or uniform for all, even the King has been what is called here
+_en bourgeois._ After dinner we usually drive to some hill or dale,
+some favourite haunt to take tea, returning late to supper and to bed.
+The Queen is a sweet woman, the very best of her sex, most plain,
+modest, and unaffected, but doing the Queen perfectly when necessary.
+Yesterday we had a full dress day at Fubach, the residence of the
+King's uncle, Prince William. His daughter, about to be married to the
+Prince Royal of Bavaria, was confirmed in the parish Church. A great
+exhibition. The church was crammed and the Princess at the altar
+underwent a two hours' catechising and examination, which she bore with
+great talent and conduct. To-day she receives the sacrament. She is a
+lovely girl of seventeen, and her future husband is the future King of
+Bavaria, a roué of 30. He was there, arrived the night before. There
+was a great gathering of the Prussian Royal Family, who live in this
+valley and neighbourhood....
+
+'11 P.M.--I have just seen the King, and he has allowed me to go
+to-morrow morning, and meet him at Sans Souci on Saturday.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+BERLIN: 5 August.
+
+'I arrived here yesterday at 6 P.M. by railroad from Dresden, having
+quitted that town at 6 A.M.; a very good railroad and well conducted.
+On my arrival I was greeted by your letter of the 27th; a very good
+cure for blue devils. The news you give me of all things at Wimpole is
+very satisfactory. The offices in size and appearance of the east wing
+corresponding with the library I was aware of, and I am of opinion that
+it will not be noticeable to any degree, and if it is, can be easily
+remedied when I build the conservatory. On the subject of chimneys we
+shall agree.
+
+'To-morrow I go to Sans Souci, the King arrives for dinner, and
+apartments are prepared there for me. Now my object will be to get away
+from my kind and excellent friend, for I cannot find another word so
+proper, but I must at the same time consult his wishes.
+
+'My journey from Erdsmansdorff to Dresden was very prosperous, though
+it rained all day. I found my horses ready and paid to the frontier of
+Saxony, and no one would take money from me. I stopped at the residence
+of General Bon-Natzmer for breakfast, he lives about sixteen miles from
+Erdsmansdorff, a very nice residence with pretty scenery, and his wife
+a perfect lady; they gave me an excellent English breakfast. I arrived
+in Dresden, having been twenty hours performing the journey.
+
+'I saw all that was worth seeing in Dresden, and well worth the journey
+it was, if it had only been to look at the face of the Madonna di San
+Sisto, which I think surpasses anything I have seen in nature. It has
+left a deep remembrance on my mind, the copy here conveys only an idea
+of the original. It lives and breathes, the eyes look as if moving, and
+it is perfectly true that I was riveted to the spot with wonder at the
+performance of the beyond all famous master. If he had never painted
+any picture but this, he must have died the greatest painter that ever
+lived. After looking through this fine gallery I again returned to the
+Madonna, and feel now that I had not exaggerated to my own mind the
+wonder and power of this picture. The face of the child, too, carries
+all that the strongest imagination can picture of wisdom and childish
+innocence. I grieve to say this _chef d'oeuvre_ is going to ruin. Your
+Father's copy is of great value, for it is excellent, nay wonderful,
+and will in fifty years be what the great picture now is, for much of
+the expression of the countenance is caused by the softness which time
+has given to the tone of the picture. The Gallery wants weeding and
+repairing, the pictures are going faster than they ought, and the
+effect of the Gallery is injured by a quantity of inferior pictures and
+copies. It now contains 2000 pictures, if it was reduced to 1500 it
+would be more valuable. The museum of History is well worth a visit,
+the quantity of beautiful and valuable things here collected are most
+interesting, a suit of gold and silver armour by Benvenuto Cellini
+would hold a high place in your estimation, a collection of various
+costumes within 150 years would amuse you.
+
+'The great fair annually held here in August has just begun. I spent my
+two evenings in the booths, very idly, but very much to my amusement. I
+dined with our minister, Mr. Forbes and his sisters, Lady Adelaide and
+Lady Caroline, two ancient maids, old friends of mine twenty-four years
+ago.
+
+'The King and Royal Family are at the fair taking part in the games of
+the people, shooting with the cross-bow at the bird on the top of a
+pole; large tents are pitched for their reception, and they spend the
+evening; the court ladies came the second evening. You would have
+enjoyed it much. The Germans are a more rational people in these
+matters than we are, the best society enjoy this fair, and sit out
+under tents taking their coffee and meals and enjoying the sight with
+their families and wives. All the musicians from Bohemia, Tyrol and
+various other districts of Germany were here playing on various
+instruments and singing the national ballads. Two or three women take
+harps like our Welsh harps, with the voices in parts, and sing together
+Tyrolese and Bohemian songs. Perfect order, and I did not see one
+person drunk. Whatever may be the secret faults of the Germans they are
+a decent and orderly people. The weather is very warm, the thermometer
+eighty-four in the shade. I dined with Westmorland and drove out with
+him in the evening, to-day I go to Sans Souci. I must be two days in
+London before I go to Wimpole.
+
+'CHARLES.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+SANS SOUCI: 6th August.
+
+'My hope of being with you as soon as the 15th is at an end. It is with
+feeling of the greatest sorrow that I feel I am compelled to make a
+sacrifice of a few days and arrive later. This evening we all went,
+that is the King and Queen, and Prince Charles of Prussia with his
+wife, to drink tea in one of the beautiful spots of this most lovely
+place. The King called me to his table. When we sat down he said,
+"Pray, when do you mean to leave me?" I said, "I intend to do the only
+painful thing I have done since I've been in Prussia, and that is to
+ask His Majesty's permission to take my leave on Monday." He said, "I
+will not ask you to do what is contrary to your duty, but I must beg
+you to stay with me a little longer. I must ask you to remain with me
+at least till after the 15th." This was said in so kind a manner, with
+the Queen looking me full in the face, that I at once said, "So much
+honour was done me by the desire expressed that I could not refuse."
+
+'They both at once expressed most unfeigned pleasure, but it is a
+sacrifice. I now leave Berlin on the 16th, and shall be in London on
+the 21st, please God, without fail. You cannot conceive how
+affectionately I am treated by this great family. I never have received
+so much real attention from out of my own family in my life. I feel
+sure you will approve of what I have done, and think after all this
+kindness I was bound to make a sacrifice, if asked. The King said to me
+at supper this evening, "I cannot think what became of you one morning
+on board the steamer. I went three times to your cabin to look for you,
+and could not find you. I asked for you, and no one had seen you; and
+then the horrid idea came over me that you had fallen overboard or were
+ill." I mention this to show the sort of feeling he must have for me. I
+believe I was asleep on the sofa with a table before it, and he did not
+see me, being very nearsighted. I am most charmingly lodged here, the
+walls of my room are all marqueterie and they have put sofa and bed,
+&c., as the Chamberlain told me "like it is done at Windsor."'
+
+It is clear from these letters that Lord Hardwicke's character and
+personality were much appreciated both by the King of Prussia and by
+the Emperor Nicholas. He was indeed so great a favourite with the
+latter that when the Emperor paid a visit to Queen Victoria in 1844 he
+was appointed to attend His Majesty, and took command of the _Black
+Eagle_ steam yacht which carried the Czar from Woolwich to Rotterdam on
+his leaving this country. As a memento of this service and of his
+esteem, the Emperor presented Lord Hardwicke with a snuff-box of great
+value, bearing his Majesty's miniature mounted in brilliants.
+
+In 1843 Lord Hardwicke had the honour of receiving Queen Victoria and
+the Prince Consort at Wimpole, upon the occasion of the Prince's visit
+to Cambridge to receive the degree of LL.D., and the following mention
+of the event occurs in one of the Queen's letters to the Queen of the
+Belgians:
+
+'We returned on Saturday highly interested with our tour, though a
+little done up. The Royal party went by road from Paddington to
+Cambridge, and stayed at the Lodge at Trinity. On the following day
+Prince Albert was made LL.D. The party then went to Wimpole. At the
+ball which was given at Wimpole, there was a sofa covered with a piece
+of drapery given by Louis XIV. to the poet Prior and by him to Lord
+Oxford, the owner of Wimpole before its purchase by Lord Chancellor
+Hardwicke.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lord Hardwicke rode out to meet her Majesty at Royston at the head of a
+large cavalcade which included the gentry and yeomanry of the county.
+After an inspection of that little town, the party started for Wimpole,
+and on arriving at the House in the Fields the Queen's escort of Scots
+Greys filed off at Lord Hardwicke's request, their places being taken
+by a troop of the Whittlesea Yeomanry Cavalry, the Lord-Lieutenant
+roundly declaring that 'the county cavalry was well able to guard her
+Majesty so long as she might stay in Cambridgeshire.' On the following
+day Lord Hardwicke gave a dinner in honour of her Majesty, followed by
+a ball, of which the Queen makes mention in her letter, to which three
+hundred guests were invited.
+
+I may perhaps print here another reference by Queen Victoria to my
+father. Writing to Lord Melbourne in 1842 her Majesty said:
+
+'Lord Hardwicke the Queen likes very much; he seems so straightforward.
+He took the greatest care of the Queen when on board ship. Was not his
+father drowned at Spithead or Portsmouth?'
+
+Lord Hardwicke, as commander of the _Black Eagle_ yacht, had taken her
+Majesty to Scotland.
+
+He was in waiting during a visit of the King and Queen of the Belgians
+to Windsor, and wrote on that occasion to my mother:
+
+'Our Court news is not filled with much interest; to-morrow the King
+and Queen of the Belgians go back to their own country, and yesterday
+at dinner the Queen of the Belgians told me her father (King Louis
+Philippe) was so fond of English cheese that he had sent to her to
+procure for him a "Single Gloster," I could not refrain from offering a
+Wimpole cheese that she graciously accepted and which I must now beg
+you to give.'
+
+I find a reference to this little incident in the Queen's Letters, vol.
+ii, p. 28. In a letter to her Majesty during King Louis Philippe's
+visit in 1844, the Queen of the Belgians wrote:
+
+'If by chance Lord Hardwicke was in waiting during my father's stay,
+you must kindly put my father in mind to thank him for the _famous
+cheese_, which arrived safely, and was found very good.'
+
+Queen Victoria's conversation with my father upon this occasion I find
+related at length in a copy in my mother's handwriting of a letter he
+wrote to Sir Robert Peel. This letter is of so private a character as
+to preclude its publication, but I may say that it is clear that the
+Queen (though, as Lord Hardwicke says, 'in very good humour; I never
+saw her so gracious to all as she was during her stay at Wimpole') was
+still quite ready to state in very plain terms her objection to certain
+points of the policy of the Tory party, which, as she said, she could
+'forgive but not forget.' All this Lord Hardwicke reported at length to
+the Prime Minister for his information and instruction.
+
+Several letters from Sir Robert to my father at this period show him
+very anxious to learn from Lord Hardwicke the details of the proper
+arrangements for receiving the Queen at Drayton Manor. 'I have the
+prospect,' he wrote, 'not only of one but two royal visits, for I must
+arrange that Queen Adelaide should meet the Queen each with her several
+suites. If you have any device for making stone walls elastic,' he adds
+humorously, 'pray give it to me. Did Lord H. new furnish the rooms
+allotted to H.M.? How many apartments did H.M. require? Did he observe
+anything especially agreeable to the Queen's wishes, and did Lord H.
+attempt to keep any order among his mounted farmers, and if so how?'
+
+Lord Hardwicke and his brother, Mr. Eliot Yorke, though both pledged to
+the maintenance of the Corn Laws, refused to oppose the government of
+Sir Robert Peel upon the rumours of the minister's intentions which
+became rife in the course of the year 1845, when the Irish Famine
+forced the question to the front. By that time the Anti-Corn Law League
+had done its work of educating the country, and under its great
+leaders, Cobden and Bright, had organised a strenuous campaign
+throughout the kingdom, collected large funds, and united the great
+body of employers and operatives in favour of Free Trade. There were
+counter organisations of farmers' societies, of which those in the
+eastern counties were, perhaps, the most active, and at a meeting of
+one of these, the Cambridge Agricultural Society, Lord Hardwicke and
+Mr. Yorke met with some criticism. A letter from Lord Hardwicke to the
+chairman, however, made his position perfectly clear:
+
+'I believe the meeting is intended to follow others that have taken
+place in the agricultural districts of England, owing to certain
+reports of contemplated changes on the opening of Parliament affecting
+agriculture.
+
+'I have endeavoured to learn what these are, and have failed; I have
+heard various opinions, but no facts, and I have no knowledge of the
+intentions of the Government. I therefore feel, were I to attend your
+meeting, that I could give no advice, neither could I combat or support
+any plans. I think it best to hear and know what is intended.'
+
+Acting upon this determination, Lord Hardwicke waited for the
+announcement of the Government policy. At the opening of the session of
+1846 Sir Robert Peel then made it clear, that as Lord John Russell had
+been unable to form a ministry, he himself intended to propose the
+abandonment of the Corn Laws, and to follow this up by the gradual
+removal of protective duties, not only upon agriculture, but also upon
+manufactures, and thus to place himself in opposition to the sentiment
+and principles of the party of which he was the leader. Lord Hardwicke,
+as might have been expected, was among those 'men of metal and large
+acred squires,' as Disraeli called them, 'the flower of that great
+party which had been so proud to follow one who had been so proud to
+lead them, whose loyalty was too severely tried by the conversion of
+their chief to the doctrines of Manchester,' and early in February he
+wrote to Sir Robert to resign his post as Lord-in-Waiting, on the
+ground that as he could not support the measures of the Government and
+act up to his own opinion, he thought it not respectful to her Majesty
+to oppose her minister and hold an office in her household. Some
+correspondence followed, which shows the regret of Sir Robert Peel at
+the loss of a friend and colleague, and testifies to the cordial
+personal relations between the minister and Lord Hardwicke. Here is one
+of the letters, two or three of which were earnest attempts to persuade
+Lord Hardwicke to reconsider his decision:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,
+
+'If anything could tend to diminish the pain with which I contemplate
+separation from you in public life, it would be the kind terms with
+which you accompany your tender of resignation.
+
+'I should indeed deeply regret it, if the termination of official
+relations were to cause any interruption of private friendship and
+regard.
+
+'Most faithfully yours,
+
+'My dear Hardwicke,
+
+'ROBERT PEEL.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+So ended Lord Hardwicke's political connection with the great minister,
+and it is pleasant to me to know that the aspirations of Sir Robert's
+letter were fulfilled, and that their personal friendship continued
+unbroken until it was brought to a close by the tragic death of the
+statesman on Constitution Hill in 1850. At a time when that same great
+question of Free Trade or Protection is again dissolving many political
+alliances, it is, perhaps, worthy of mention that my father came to
+change his view of the policy which had led to his political severance
+with Sir Robert Peel. In a speech delivered at a meeting of the Western
+Cambridgeshire Agricultural Association in 1858, twelve years after his
+resignation, he said:
+
+'The last agricultural meeting I had the pleasure of attending was in
+the golden days of protection, when we all thought we could not do
+without it. I am happy to find however, now that the legislature has
+thought fit to abolish those fiscal duties, that I formed a wrong
+opinion on the subject.'
+
+Meanwhile, however, Lord Hardwicke's political severance from his old
+leader was complete and final, as appears very fully from letters from
+such uncompromising opponents of the minister as Lord George Bentinck,
+Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. John Wilson Croker, which I find among his
+papers. 'Pray come up and fire a double shotted broadside into these
+fellows,' wrote Lord George in 1848, in soliciting Lord Hardwicke's
+assistance for Lord Desart in the House of Lords on the debate on the
+Copper Duties, who as that ardent spirit complained was 'grossly
+insulted by Grey, Clanricarde and Granville.' A few months later,
+again, upon his resignation of the leadership of the irreconcilables in
+the House of Commons, Lord George wrote: 'I come to you, therefore, as
+a private and independent member of the House of Commons, with none but
+such as you who admire consistency "so poor to do me reverence."'
+
+All of Mr. Disraeli's letters to my father are written in very cordial
+terms, and express much gratitude for the support which was so valuable
+at that period of his career. Lord Hardwicke is 'his dear and faithful
+friend'; 'I am shaken,' he says in October of 1848, 'to the core, and
+can neither offer nor receive consolation. But in coming to you I know
+that I come to a roof of sympathy, and to one who at all times and
+under all circumstances has extended to me the feelings of regard by
+which I have ever been deeply honoured and greatly touched.' Two years
+later he wrote: 'I am pained that you should have been so long in
+England without my having seen or heard from you, my first, my best,
+and most regarded supporter and friend.--DISRAELI.'
+
+I may perhaps look forward a few years in order to quote another letter
+of Mr. Disraeli of December 30, 1851, which contains an interesting
+reference to Lord Palmerston, who had just been dismissed by Lord John
+Russell for having given a semi-official recognition to Louis Napoleon
+and the _coup d'état_.
+
+'If he had not committed himself in some degree by approbation of the
+"massacre of the boulevards" as it is styled, I hardly think Lord John
+would have dared to dismiss him. He said to a person the other day, "I
+was not dismissed, I was kicked out."'
+
+Five days later, on January 4, 1852, Mr. Disraeli wrote:
+
+'That my last letter should not mislead you, I just write this to say
+that I have authentic information that Palmerston's case is a good one;
+that the Government cannot face it; that Johnny has quite blundered the
+business, and that P., whatever they may say at Brooks's, is _acharné_.'
+
+Mr. Disraeli was a true prophet. On February 27 following, the Whig
+Government fell, mainly owing to Lord Palmerston.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+GENOA. 1849
+
+
+In spite of the many interests of his position as a great landowner and
+the distractions of politics at a time of great political unrest, Lord
+Hardwicke had never wavered in his love for his true profession of the
+sea. In his own words, 'in piping times of peace he was loth to take
+the bread out of his brother officers' mouths after he became a peer,'
+by applying for active employment in the navy. He had, nevertheless,
+always placed himself at the disposal of the Admiralty, where his wish
+to serve his country at sea was well known. To his family he made no
+secret of his ambition to resume his career in the service which had
+been interrupted by his succession to the peerage. I have often heard
+him say that his ideal of a happy death was to be killed by a round
+shot on his own quarter-deck.
+
+This longing for active service was, perhaps, a little relieved, but
+was scarcely satisfied, by a short voyage he made in 1844 in command of
+the _St. Vincent_, line-of-battle ship of 120 guns. That vessel formed
+one of a small squadron which included also the _Caledonia_, _Queen_
+and _Albion_, and sailed under Admiral Bowles upon an experimental
+cruise of six weeks in order to determine the respective merits of
+those ships.
+
+It was, perhaps, the menacing aspect of European affairs which followed
+the revolutions of 1848 which decided Lord Hardwicke again to seek
+active service. He had certainly become restless, and his craving to
+resume the profession which lay nearest his heart and once more to
+command a battleship was daily growing stronger. Most of his friends
+were opposed to that step; he had done so well and showed such aptitude
+for politics, had lived so energetic and useful a life in his own
+county of Cambridgeshire, that they felt so great a break in that life
+as was involved in service abroad was a mistake. Moreover, Lord
+Hardwicke had now a family of seven children, the eldest being only
+about twelve years of age. Many were the counsels heard by his friends
+to dissuade him from the step. His old friend John Wilson Croker was
+among those who sought most urgently to persuade him to abandon the
+idea, and the esteem and admiration in which he held Lord Hardwicke and
+his devotion to Lady Hardwicke and to 'Lady Betty' (who often sat on
+his knee) are plain in several letters of advice he wrote at this
+juncture. But all was unavailing; Lord Hardwicke applied to the
+Admiralty for a ship, and was given command of the _Vengeance_. Mr.
+Croker rather unwillingly acquiesced in this course in the following
+letter:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+WEST MOLESEY: 9th Novr. '48.
+
+'MY DEAR CHARLES,
+
+'I cannot say that I like losing you from home at so important a
+crisis, and I fear the good ship _Wimpole_ will have cause to regret
+the absence of the padrone, and all the world will say that this is
+proving the love of the profession with a Vengeance. But seriously,...
+if dear Lady Hardwicke not only does not object, but becomes the
+accomplice and partner of your exile, no one else has anything to
+object, not even political friends, as you can leave a proxy. It may
+also be an advantage to all the children, for it will perfect the young
+ones and indeed all in the languages, and the two elder young ladies
+will have opportunities of seeing what all the world desires to see.
+Whatever you do, and wherever you go, you will be followed by the
+affectionate solicitude of your old constant and most attached friend,
+
+'J. W. CROKER.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lord Hardwicke sailed early in 1849 to join the Mediterranean Fleet
+under Sir William Parker who was in command at that station. Lady
+Hardwicke and her family were installed at Malta, where a hotel in the
+Strada Forni was engaged for them.
+
+In order to understand the insurrection at Genoa in April 1849, in the
+quelling of which H.M.S. _Vengeance_ and its captain, the Earl of
+Hardwicke, took so notable a part, it is necessary to take a short
+retrospect of the history of Italy.
+
+At the end of the Napoleonic Wars the opinion of Prince Metternich that
+Italy is only a geographical expression was true enough. This cynical
+minister of the Austrian Empire was the embodiment of the reaction
+which set in after the fall of Napoleon.
+
+Europe, worn out by the struggles first of the Revolution and then of
+its conquering offspring, had one idea only--the reorganisation of the
+different States and the suppression of all revolutionary movements.
+The Powers therefore stood aloof from all interference in Italy and
+Austria had a free hand.
+
+By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, Savoy, Genoa and Nice were assigned to
+Piedmont. This was not popular in Genoa which, hitherto a Republic, was
+now handed over to Victor Emmanuel I, a reactionary of the most extreme
+type. The old privileges of the Church and nobility were restored to
+them. The Jesuits were allowed to overrun the country and were given
+the control of education, and in the army all those who had served
+under Napoleon were degraded. In fact the _ancien régime_ was restored
+with interest to all those who had lost their privileges since 1793.
+The hatred of France on the part of the reigning sovereigns of Italy
+was a great strength to Austria. It was to the latter country that they
+looked for their ideal of government. Such was the position when, in
+1821, a rising took place in Piedmont for reform and a constitution,
+and for the expulsion of the Austrians. It was not aimed at the King,
+on the contrary the insurrectionaries professed the greatest loyalty.
+Victor Emmanuel I, though a lover of his people, was not a lover of
+their liberties, and the hopes of the Reformers lay in the Prince of
+Carignano, a nephew of Victor Emmanuel, who afterwards ascended the
+throne as King Charles Albert. This prince, though in sympathy with
+reform, refused to go against the wishes of the King, who abdicated,
+appointing the Prince of Carignano Regent. The constitution of Spain
+was granted 'pending the orders of the new King.' This monarch, Carlo
+Felice, Duke of Genoa and brother of Victor Emmanuel I, lost no time in
+repudiating the constitution, which was also opposed by the Russian and
+Austrian Governments.
+
+Santarossa, who had been appointed Minister of War by the Regent, and
+who was at the head of the insurrection, issued a proclamation in which
+he expressed the views of the promoters of the movement. 'A Piedmontese
+King in the midst of the Austrians, our inevitable enemies, is a King
+in prison. Nothing of what he may say can or ought to be accepted as
+coming from him. We will prove to him that we are his children.'
+Liberty and freedom from Austrian influence was the cry, not disloyalty
+to the ruling House of Piedmont. The rising of 1821 was not supported
+in Lombardy, and was finally put down by the Austrian power.
+
+Carlo Felice, the new King, suppressed all movement for reform and
+maintained all the old prerogatives of class and caste. He, however,
+proclaimed the Prince of Carignano his heir and successor, and the
+latter succeeded to the throne as Charles Albert in 1831.
+
+In every part of Italy there was revolt against mediæval government and
+Austrian supremacy. In Naples after 1815 the Bourbon King had been
+restored. Here the same demand for a constitution was put forward as in
+Piedmont and accepted insincerely by the King. An Austrian force of
+43,000 men soon relieved his conscience of any concession, and the
+constitution was withdrawn.
+
+Sicily, which under English influences during the Napoleonic War had
+acquired a certain amount of constitutional freedom, was on the
+restoration of the Bourbons thrown back, so far as government was
+concerned, into the Middle Ages; with the same result as in the other
+Kingdoms of Italy, insurrection, finally suppressed by Austrian power.
+The same movement occurred in all the different States of Italy and in
+all the basis of revolt was the same--a desire for unity, demand for a
+constitution, and hatred of the Austrian power made more odious by the
+severity of Metternich.
+
+The forces of insurrection were stirred not only by the revolutionary
+instigations of Mazzini, but also by the contributions of literary men,
+the most notable of whom were Gioberti, Cesare Balbo, and D'Azeglio.
+Gioberti aimed at unity, independence and liberty; the first two to be
+obtained by a confederation of the various States under the Presidency
+of the Pope, the last by internal reforms in each State. The ambitions
+of Balbo were for a Kingdom of Italy. A confederation of States was to
+him, as to Gioberti, the only practical solution. D'Azeglio, who
+preached peaceful methods instead of violence, interviewed the King in
+1845, and received the following reply: 'Let these gentlemen know that
+they must keep quiet at present, there is nothing to be done, but tell
+them that when the time comes, my life, the life of my children, my
+army, my treasury, my all, will be spent in the Italian cause.' From
+this time the King of Piedmont was regarded as the leader of the
+Italian movement.
+
+King Charles Albert, now a convert to liberalism, said: 'I intend to
+make a form of government in which my people shall have all the liberty
+that is compatible with the preservation of the basis of the Monarchy.'
+
+In 1848, the King's hand was forced by the revolution in Vienna and the
+five days' insurrection in Milan to declare war on Austria. At Milan
+the liberal committees prohibited the use of tobacco which was a
+monopoly of the Austrian Government. This led to a fracas which was the
+immediate cause of the insurrection, and the Austrians were driven out
+of Milan. Simultaneously with the movement in Lombardy there was a
+rising in Venice, the Austrians were driven out and a Republic was
+proclaimed. This proclamation was a great mistake, as it created
+distrust between Venice and Piedmont. The war with Austria was carried
+on with the utmost inefficiency by Charles Albert; he wasted every
+opportunity and gave himself up to fasting and prayer, and defeated, he
+had to submit to the terms of Radetzky to obtain an armistice which
+stipulated for the evacuation of Lombardy, the Duchies and Venetia.
+
+The Piedmontese Constitution was proclaimed March 1848. It established
+two Chambers, gave a veto to the King, the prerogative of making peace
+or war, and to the Chambers the control of expenditure.
+
+The armistice ended March 12, 1849, and hostilities were renewed, and
+the Italians were completely defeated at Novara. Charles Albert, who
+had struggled bravely but incompetently, abdicated in favour of his son
+Victor Emmanuel II. The new King signed the Treaty of Peace on March
+26, 1849.
+
+The war though disastrous was remarkable. For the first time an Italian
+army had fought under the Italian flag with the distinct purpose of
+establishing Italian unity.
+
+The Venetian Assembly resolved that fusion with Piedmont was desirable.
+The Assembly at Milan came to a similar resolution.
+
+Nowhere was the armistice, signed by Victor Emmanuel after the battle
+of Novara, more unpopular than at Genoa. A deputation from the city
+waited on the King immediately after Novara, urging the continuation of
+the war. On March 27 a rumour that the Austrians were in the
+neighbourhood and intended to enter the city lit the fires of revolt
+which, fanned by the municipality and the clergy, broke out into open
+insurrection on the 29th. Arms were distributed and a Committee of
+Defence was formed composed of Constantino Rata, David Morchio, and
+Avezzana. It was stated that the movement was not republican in its
+nature, but sprang from a feeling of indignation with the King for
+having concluded what the Genoese thought a disgraceful peace with
+Austria.
+
+The foregoing pages dealing with the history of Italy were necessary in
+order to show the position of affairs in that country at the time when
+the episode took place of which the following is the narrative. Three
+of Lord Hardwicke's letters remain giving an account of his action at
+Genoa. Simple, straightforward, clear, they give not only an admirable
+picture of the events of those exciting days, but also show the
+character of the man who, having to act on his own initiative, cast all
+feeling of self-interest aside and did what he conceived was his duty,
+with, as will be seen, the happiest results to the city of Genoa. This
+heroic action--because an act undertaken in a good cause without fear
+of consequences and at great personal risk is heroic--gained nothing
+for Lord Hardwicke in his profession; indeed it militated against his
+promotion in the service to which he was devoted; and though his
+application for active service in the Baltic during the Crimean War was
+refused on technical grounds, his action at Genoa was sedulously used
+by certain parties against him. All the more honour to the man who
+could risk so much for a great cause. He saved lives, he preserved from
+destruction Genoa with its palaces and treasures, and he did indirectly
+help forward the unity of Italy. In these days of quick communication,
+independence of action is almost impossible. The nervous man at home
+may spoil the bold man at sea; but it was not formerly so, and it has
+been by the initiative and on the responsibility of the man on the
+spot, that most of the great deeds have been done by our
+fellow-countrymen. If Nelson had not had a blind eye at Copenhagen the
+history of our country might have been different. If Lord Hardwicke had
+been in closer communication with Sir William Parker, Genoa might have
+been destroyed.
+
+Lord Hardwicke had no sooner joined his ship in the Mediterranean than
+difficulties arose in Italy, and it fell to the duty of the fleet to
+protect the interests of Her Majesty's subjects living in the different
+ports. In February 1849, owing to the unrest in Tuscany and the Roman
+States, he was ordered to proceed in the _Vengeance_ to Leghorn.
+
+The following were his instructions from Admiral Sir William Parker:
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'The Grand Duke of Tuscany having quitted Sienna for the Port of San
+Stefano, and a Provisional Government established itself at Florence,
+
+'The Roman States having also declared themselves a Republic and
+apprehensions being likewise entertained that some change of Government
+is contemplated in the Kingdom of Sardinia--it is desirable that
+British subjects and their property in those quarters should be duly
+protected.
+
+'It is therefore my direction that your Lordship proceeds in H.M. ship
+_Vengeance_ under your command, to Leghorn where you may expect to find
+the _Bellerophon_, and will learn from Captain Baynes the state of
+affairs in that vicinity, and the latest intelligence from Genoa.
+
+'If you find that fears are entertained of any disturbance threatening
+the safety of the persons or property of Her Majesty's subjects at
+Leghorn, you may prolong the stay of the _Vengeance_ there for a few
+days, to give them additional confidence and security, unless you have
+reason to apprehend that commotions are also expected at Genoa, in
+which case, you should lose no time, weather permitting, in repairing
+off that Port, where you may place the _Vengeance_ within the Mole
+provided you deem her presence necessary for the protection of the
+English and that the position is secure for Her Majesty's ship.
+
+'You will apprise his Excellency Mr. Abercromby, H.M. Minister at
+Turin, of your arrival off Genoa, and the nature of your orders,
+acquainting his Excellency that _it is not desirable you should remain
+longer than may be absolutely necessary for affording due protection to
+British subjects._ And you will throughout carefully abstain from any
+interference with the political affairs of the Kingdom of Sardinia or
+any other foreign Power.
+
+'Her Majesty's Consul, Mr. Yeates Brown, will, of course, visit your
+Lordship on your arrival.
+
+'If you consider the Mole at Genoa an objectionable position for Her
+Majesty's ship you will make the best arrangement in your power for the
+safety of the English, and then repair to Leghorn or the port of
+Spezzia, as I hope it may be in my power shortly to send a steamer to
+Genoa.
+
+'If you find the services of the _Vengeance_ are not required at
+Leghorn or Genoa, you are to rejoin my flag at this anchorage, unless
+any increase of the smallpox in the _Bellerophon_ should render it
+desirable for the latter to proceed to Malta to land the patients, in
+which case you will relieve Captain Baynes in the duties at Leghorn and
+direct him to join my flag as he passes to the southward.
+
+'Your Lordship is to keep me informed of your proceedings and of the
+passing events in your vicinity, by any opportunities that offer during
+your absence, sending the state and condition of the _Vengeance_
+monthly, and on returning to the south you will supply any of the ships
+which may remain at Leghorn with such provisions as you can spare.
+
+'(Signed) W. PARKER.'
+
+NAPLES: 14th Feb. 1849.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Later in February the following letter was addressed to Lord Hardwicke
+giving him further instructions and remarking on the general unrest in
+Tuscany and the Roman States.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Private._
+
+'HIBERNIA,' NAPLES: 28th Feb. 1849.
+
+'MY DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+'The _Bulldog_ will join you after delivering the provisions which she
+takes for the _Bellerophon_, and I hope will find Piedmont in a quieter
+state than is rumoured here, and that your fever patients are recovered.
+
+'You are to keep Commander Key if you think the presence of the steamer
+necessary, and then send him back to Naples, touching on his route at
+Leghorn.
+
+'The Grand Duke of Tuscany has, I fear, made a fatal mistake in
+quitting his dominions. He is now quartered in a very indifferent inn
+at Mole and rests his hopes on being restored by the combined Catholic
+Powers after they shall have reseated the Pope at Rome, but there are
+as yet no signs of a military movement.
+
+'The Romans threaten daggers if the Austrians, Neapolitans or Spaniards
+enter their States, and if overpowered mean to burn the Quirinal, &c.,
+I have not, however, much opinion of their prowess.
+
+'I hope King Ferdinand has at last had the prudence to moderate his
+terms of adjustment with the Sicilians, at least so far as to afford a
+chance of their acceptance. Admiral Biuder and myself will proceed in 2
+or 3 days to convey the ultimatum; I fear they will still be obstinate,
+but if it is rejected the armistice will be denounced by the Neapolitan
+General, and the Sicilians must trust to their own resources.
+
+The _Prince Regent_ is expected at Mette to get a new Main-Yard. Sir
+Charles Napier was at Gibraltar with his squadron on the 8th, and had
+been joined by the _Rodney_ and _Vanguard._
+
+'Believe me, dear Lord Hardwicke,
+
+'Very truly yours,
+
+'W. PARKER.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+A memorandum of the same date from Sir W. Parker informed Lord
+Hardwicke that H.M. steam-sloop _Bulldog_ was to co-operate with his
+Lordship in the event of any disturbances in Piedmont.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Memo._
+
+'HIBERNIA' AT NAPLES: 28th Feb. 1849.
+
+'Having ordered Commander Key of H.M. steam-sloop _Bulldog_ to proceed
+to Leghorn with a supply of provisions for the _Bellerophon_, he is
+directed, after he shall have delivered them, to join your Lordship for
+the purpose of rendering any protection or refuge that may be
+desirable, to British subjects in the event of disturbances occurring
+in Piedmont.
+
+'You will therefore take Commander Key under your orders and employ the
+_Bulldog_ accordingly as long as her presence appears necessary,
+sending her back to Naples whenever you think her services can be
+dispensed with, directing Commander Key to call at Leghorn on his
+route, for the purpose of conveying any communications which his
+Excellency Sir George Hamilton, H.M. Minister at Florence, or Captain
+Baynes, the Senior Naval Officer may have to forward.
+
+'W. PARKER, _Vice-Admiral_.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+On March 4, 1849, Sir W. Parker tells Lord Hardwicke to remain at Genoa
+or at Spezzia.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Private._
+
+H.M.S. 'HIBERNIA,' NAPLES:
+
+4th March 1849.
+
+'MY DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+'Accept my thanks for your two acceptable letters of this 24 and 28
+ult. I wish I could send you an answer more deserving of them but we
+are now getting under weigh for Palermo with the _Queen_, _Powerful_,
+and _Terrible_ in C°., carrying the King's ultimatum of the terms of
+adjustment with the Neapolitans, on which we have obtained some
+favourable and necessary modifications altho' I doubt whether the
+Sicilians will accept them. I think however that they ought to do so
+and I shall do my best to induce them.
+
+'I think it will be better that you should remain at Genoa or Spezzia
+for the present, resorting to either place at your discretion.
+
+'My family left me three days ago by the _Antelope_ for Malta or they
+would unite in every kind wish with, my dear Lord Hardwicke,
+
+'Yours very faithfully,
+
+'W. PARKER.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+On March 12, 1849, the armistice with Austria ended, and the following
+proclamation clearly shows with what eager hope the Genoese welcomed
+war.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'GENOESE!
+
+'Our brothers, who for seven months, have been groaning under the
+Austrians, are waiting for us: Italy for many centuries has been called
+the "Servant of the Stranger": banishment to the words! Perhaps the
+country will desire great and terrible sacrifices from us; let us
+prepare ourselves. Let us assist our brave Army which is about to renew
+the wonders of her courage: remember that this is the second trial and
+that it ought to be the last. Conquer or die.
+
+'And now, Genoese, my work is finished, I am preparing to depart in a
+short time; presenting myself to the King and parliament, I can tell
+them with safety without being contradicted: Genoa is tranquil.
+
+'DOMENICO BUFFA,
+
+'Minister of Agriculture, &c. &c., for the City of Genoa.'
+
+GENOA: 14th March 1849.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The renewal of hostilities was quickly followed by the crushing defeat
+of Piedmont at the battle of Novara. On the abdication of Charles
+Albert and the succession of Victor Emmanuel to the throne, the new
+King signed the Treaty of Peace on March 26, 1849. The terms of this
+treaty were considered disgraceful by the Genoese and were the
+immediate cause of the rebellion in that city.
+
+From this point Lord Hardwicke's letters tell the tale.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+GENOA: April 12, 1849.
+
+'MY BELOVED S.,
+
+'I may quote the old ditty of "Now the rage of battle endeth" and find
+time to sit down and collect my thoughts, to write to you my dearest
+wife. I shall always consider myself most fortunate in having been the
+means of ending this serious conflict, saving from ruin a beautiful
+city and its inhabitants from all the calamities of civil war. Whatever
+may be said or thought hereafter of this affair I shall invariably feel
+that it is _the best act of my life_.
+
+'April 11.--The forces of the King of Sardinia did on Wednesday make a
+public entry into the town and presently took possession of it to the
+satisfaction of the citizens, who now look (as they feel) that a load
+of terror has been taken from them, and that the tyranny that hung over
+them is removed. There are, no doubt, some honest and dreamy minds that
+feel and imagine that Italy is still to groan under the yoke of the
+oppressor, but ere long that dream will dissipate when the true
+position of Genoese affairs is known, and that the city was on the
+point of being reduced to a heap of ruin because a few blackguards had
+deceived the Genoese that they might profit by the confusion and misery
+of its inhabitants.
+
+'I have many anecdotes to tell, and you may easily imagine that in such
+a state of things, a fierce attack being made on the town by shot,
+shell and troops, I passing from side to side, sometimes standing in
+batteries under fire and firing, sometimes on horseback to find the
+General, landing at night &c., could not do this without some risk.
+Moreover the _Vengeance_ being in the Mole was directly between the
+batteries engaged, and all the shot passed over or fell round her. Then
+shell burst over her and tore up her decks, musketry was at times
+bestowed on us sufficiently to make me order the sentries on board and
+the officers of the watch under cover; but no one was hurt, and it is
+all over, so you will have your fear and your anxiety immediately put
+under, by the joy for the safety of all.
+
+'(We never know here when to have letters ready, for conveyances start
+out every moment. I find I _can_ send you a line, so I shall, but no,
+on second thoughts I believe I'd better wait for the regular packet,
+ten to one the person going to Malta will only take the regular
+packet.) I believe I'd better write you a little narrative of myself
+and the old ship--"Britannia's Pride and France's Terror."
+
+'For some time past (as you will have learnt from my previous
+correspondence) matters in the city had been drawing towards that point
+on which decisive measures are forced on both parties. What was
+believed by some good citizens in Genoa to be _buffonata_, was in
+reality working up the public mind to revolutionary feelings against
+all law and authority. A national or civic guard existed in the town
+under the new Constitution of Sardinia (for they had a constitution and
+free institutions) composed of the citizens of all grades and numbering
+about 8000 men.
+
+'The municipal council with the Syndic or Mayor at their head, together
+with the General of the Civic Guard carried on the Government of the
+town, and put themselves at the head of a movement, which had for its
+pretence the support of the King in a war against Austria, and a
+preparation of the City of Genoa for defence against the common foe.
+
+'After the defeat of the King of Novara by the Austrians and the
+conclusion of an armistice, the articles of a Treaty became known which
+the Genoese thought disgraceful. There was now the sacred pretence for
+keeping up and augmenting a spirit of disaffection towards the
+Government, and a demand was made by the municipality on General Asarta
+(who commanded for the King here with a garrison of about 5000 men) to
+give up the forts and defences of Genoa to the Civic Guard, and serve
+out arms to the people; this was said to be for the purpose of
+resisting all who joined in the aforesaid Treaty, and to defend the
+city against the Austrians. General Asarta appears throughout the whole
+of this affair to have conducted himself with great weakness. He gave
+up Bigota and Specola, the two most important forts, to the National
+Guard and distributed to the people 1400 muskets.
+
+'This was about the state of affairs when I began to interest myself in
+the state of Genoa. Seeing the populace in large numbers armed and
+giving up their work, the National Guard assuming an air of more
+importance, and constant drumming and parading and reviewing going on,
+I saw clearly what all this was fast coming to. And on calling on La
+Palavacini I seriously spoke of the prospects of Genoa, she laughed and
+called it _Buffonata_; but as you will see in the sequel the laugh of
+the lady was shortly changed, as were all smiling faces in Genoa.
+
+'On the morning after, I paid a visit to my friend the old Admiral (who
+is a Genoese), and on enquiring "What news have you to-day?" he
+answered with a gloomy look that it was bad; that the acts of the
+General were great faults, and he feared much that having once dealt
+with the insurrectionists on terms of equality, they would acquire
+confidence, &c. On the following morning the British Consul came on
+board to me and begged me in the name of General Asarta and the
+Intendente Generale, or Civil Governor of the Dukedom of Genoa, to come
+at once to the ducal palace to consult with them on the state of
+affairs. (By the bye I have omitted to mention that the day previously
+the National Guard had seized the Civil Governor and General Fenetti,
+the second in Command, in the streets and cast them into prison, but a
+few hours after, released the Civil Governor.)
+
+'I am of opinion that the advice of a foreigner is always offensive
+even if asked for, and not likely to be taken; I therefore determined
+to give no advice, but to go to them, and state, that I held them
+responsible for the security and peace of the town.
+
+'Before, however, going I determined to see the old Admiral (whom I had
+a good opinion of, but I found I was in error). I told him what I
+thought of advice by a foreigner on such occasions and that my English
+ideas were decided in such a case, to defend all the property of the
+Crown to the last, and make no further concessions.
+
+'He said, "Go for God's sake." I went and gave no advice, but formally
+stated to the King's officer that I held them responsible; they begged
+me to put down in writing what I said, which I did.
+
+'That very afternoon General Asarta fled from the ducal palace to the
+military arsenal, and withdrew his troops from the outposts and
+concentrated his fire in and around the arsenal, leaving his wife and
+three daughters in the hands of the Municipality.
+
+'On the following morning I went on shore, and on landing at the
+dockyard I met the old Admiral, he was very low in spirits and informed
+me that he had information that an attack was intended (immediately) on
+the dockyard for the purpose of getting hold of the shot and cannon and
+instruments of war. I expressed a hope that he had made all necessary
+arrangements for defence of the dockyard, and that he was prepared to
+defend it to the last. He answered that he was ready and would do his
+duty, he was then dressed _en bourgeois_. After leaving the dockyard I
+went to visit General Asarta at the military arsenal. I found him with
+2000 men in and about the building, and two howitzers mounted on a
+terrace which overlooks the street leading to the dockyard.
+
+'He told me that he had thought it better to concentrate his forces,
+and that as the arsenal contained a large quantity of arms, he had made
+it his headquarters, that concession had gone to its limit, and that he
+was determined if attacked to defend his position, but that he would do
+nothing to provoke an attack.
+
+'I, considering the present position of affairs, commended the course
+he proposed, more particularly as General La Marmora with 20,000 men
+was advancing on the City; and that he with his advanced guard was not
+more than twenty-four hours' march from Genoa.
+
+'From this time matters took a more serious and determined course. The
+Genoese had by degrees screwed themselves up to do something, but they
+did not know what. The mob, now armed, soon began to feel that they
+must either work or plunder, and as they had arms in their hands, with
+the municipality and the General of the Guards committed to revolt
+against the authority of the Crown, they were easily worked on to begin
+the affair. Whilst reading the newspapers at the public room, I was
+roused from my ease by the _generale_ being beat through the streets. I
+took my way to the dockyard, where, on arriving, I found a fieldpiece
+brought up against the gate. At this moment the gates were opened and
+the mob rushed in, a few muskets were fired, I have since found by
+people looking out of the windows, and the pillage of arms and shot
+began. I met the Admiral, still out of uniform. I was ashamed to look
+at him; I put my hands before my face and passed him without speaking.
+
+'I went on board the ship and from her deck witnessed the attack of the
+National Guards and mob on General Asarta's headquarters. Their easy
+victory over the Admiral stimulated them to act against the General; a
+fire of musketry and cannon was opened from both sides and was
+maintained for nearly an hour, when the city party retreated leaving
+the guns in the hands of the General and twenty-one men dead--how many
+women was never known.
+
+'The General lost two killed and three women. Among the killed was a
+colonel of one of his own regiments. The city was now fairly up, the
+tocsin was rung, everybody took up arms, barricades were thrown up
+everywhere, and troops bivouacked in the streets. Sentinels, both male
+and female, stood at the barricades, and priests in their proper
+garments shouldered the musket. This evening a barbarous murder of a
+Colonel of Carbineers was committed by the armed populace; he after the
+attack on the arsenal put on a plain coat, and walked out to see his
+wife who was alone at his home in the town. He was recognised by the
+people, they led him to a church where twenty-one bodies of the slain
+were laid out, they ordered him to count the bodies audibly. He did so.
+They then said, "We want twenty-two and you shall be the
+twenty-second." With that he was pierced with bayonets and shot at.
+From this mode of treatment he was an hour and a half before death
+released his sufferings. His wife was hunted from house to house till
+she found shelter on board the _Vengeance_.
+
+'There have been, of course, a number of similar and even more
+revolting crimes committed, but I shall not speak of this more. General
+La Marmora has shot all his men that have taken the lead in plunder or
+rapine, and imprisoned the remainder, and I hope and believe that
+nothing of this sort now goes on.
+
+'In this state of affairs I next morning went to visit General Asarta,
+having previously called at the ducal palace to see his wife and
+children. I got access to them, but found her carefully guarded, and,
+in fact, a hostage in the hands of the mob for the conduct of her
+husband. It was a painful interview, the manner of her guards towards
+her was in my presence respectful, but cold and severe; she and her
+children have escaped all personal injury but have been plundered of
+all they possess.
+
+'I was met at the gate of the arsenal by Captain Cortener, an artillery
+man that I knew, in tears; from him I learnt the disgraceful surrender
+of the troops, and that the General with 5000 men was to evacuate the
+town in 24 hours. I found the General had lost his head, he hardly knew
+me, and so I rendered him the last service in Genoa, that of sending a
+carriage to take him the first stage to Turin, leaving his wife and
+three daughters in the hands of General Avezzana, the head of the
+revolt.
+
+'Every preparation was now made by the Municipality and National Guards
+for the defence of the place against the King's Forces, approaching
+under the command of a young and energetic General. I amused myself
+with visiting all their posts, and observed that in the affairs of war,
+there were very few among them who knew anything about it.
+
+'Great importance was given to barricades--the word seemed to be
+ominous of security--they reconstructed them now, building them of the
+fine paving stones of the Place, with sand filled between the stones.
+They had embrasures in them in which they mounted one or two heavy
+pieces of ordnance; but all this time they were neglecting the forts
+and walls of the town--their real defence; and I saw what would happen,
+and it did happen, viz. that the town wall was carried easily by
+escalade.
+
+'The man now holding the military command was one General Avezzana, a
+Piedmontese, of low origin I should think; he was an adventurer, had
+been concerned in former revolutionary affairs in Italy, and had about
+twenty years ago gone to America, where he married a Miss Plowden, an
+Irish emigrant in New York. He seems, between the two avocations of a
+military and a commercial life, to have made some money. Last year when
+Italy and France began this revolutionary concord, he, loving troubled
+waters, came over to Genoa and by some means got the King of Sardinia
+to give him the appointment of General of the _Guardia Civica_ of
+Genoa, a force of nearly 10,000 men of all arms, having cavalry and
+artillery included in the force. This force included the noble, the
+shop-keeper, and the small trader, and even people having no stake in
+the town beyond the occupation of a lodging. It was under the orders,
+constitutionally, of the Crown in the first place, and then of the
+Mayor, or Syndic, and his council.
+
+'Genoa now stood alone with its own Government and its own army, at war
+with its legitimate Monarch the King of Sardinia. They hoisted the
+Sardinian flag nevertheless, but without the Royal Arms in the centre.
+
+'In addition to this force there were in the town persons who had been
+by degrees arriving for a long time past, people who form the _Guardia
+Mobile_ of Italy, and have gone from town to town exciting discontent,
+about 2000 in number of all nations, under officers French and Poles.
+In addition, about 30,000 muskets with ammunition in abundance had
+fallen into the hands of the Genoese on the taking of the arsenal, so
+that women and boys were armed. This was the state of things early on
+the morning of the 3rd of April; during the 2nd, a Provisional
+Government had been formed for the Duchy of Genoa and the Genoese flag
+paraded through the streets. This Government consisted of Albertini, a
+scoundrel and a blackguard, Reta, and Avezzana.
+
+'I contemplated the state of things with deep interest. On the
+afternoon of the 3rd, as I was walking slowly from post to post towards
+the Porta della Lanterna I heard the crack of a musket, followed by
+eight or nine in rapid succession; there was great stir in the streets
+immediately and the _generale_ was beat, and the tocsin began to sound.
+I passed on rapidly towards the Porta della Lanterna from which point
+the firing had now become rapid, and meeting a man who had received a
+musket ball flesh wound, I asked him the news; he said that La
+Marmora's _bersaglieri_ or light troops, had got over the wall.
+
+'I now turned back towards the town and was much questioned at the
+first barricade by the people; when I told them that General La Marmora
+had got into the suburb, there was a universal flight from the
+barricade, which made me laugh exceedingly, and did not give me a very
+high opinion of the valour of the Genoese insurrectionary troops, but
+it was only the first panic, and they recovered from it.
+
+'At this moment a gun was fired from the head of the old Mole, and as
+its direction was towards the _Vengeance_, I went on board.
+
+'Now to give you an idea of the powers I had as a spectator of the
+coming conflict, I must tell you that the Mole of Genoa is
+semicircular, all the land rises in hills and terraces from the water,
+and the ship lay in that part of the semicircle next the Porta della
+Lanterna, and not above 300 to 400 yards from the whole field of
+battle. You will see what a good view I had of all the affair, and that
+all the shot from the opposing batteries passed over, or round the ship.
+
+'On arriving on board, I saw that the light troops of General La
+Marmora were carefully and slowly descending from the heights, and
+driving in the outposts of the citizens; it was very pretty to see the
+way in which these men conducted the proceedings. First of all, they
+are very picturesque troops, having on their heads a hat which has a
+long flowing feather (which is a gamecock's tail dyed green); figure to
+yourself the rifle men in the _Freischutz_, and you have the men before
+you. Singly and silently did these men advance, peeping over every
+wall, making every bank a cover, and killing or wounding at almost
+every shot; while the citizens were crouching in confused groups, and
+as a man of the group fell from the unseen shot, the rest ran away,
+fired on from ten to twelve points, and thus dispersed. On all this I
+looked as upon a map. The consequence of all this was, that in about
+three hours 120 light troops, the general, La Marmora in person, which
+was all of his army that had arrived, took possession of the suburb of
+Genoa up to the first barricade of the town; but behind, and cut off,
+was the fortress of the gate, the key of Genoa, which the National
+Guards still held.
+
+'About this time as the troops of La Marmora were seen on the heights,
+the town battery on the Mole had opened its fire, but no reply could be
+made to it; as yet La Marmora had no guns over the wall.
+
+'About 1 o'clock P.M. three cheers and a shot from a gun showed that he
+had mounted his first piece of ordnance on the height above the gate.
+During the night the fire was kept up between this one gun and the guns
+on the town mole head.
+
+'I must now pause to let you know that many refugees were on board, and
+as the fight thickened, I had no doubt that the morrow would fill the
+ship with folks of all nations and both sexes.
+
+'During the night a portion of La Marmora's advanced guard had arrived,
+and a battalion of light troops as well as one of infantry had got over
+the wall. He now made his attack on the gate, which was soon taken;
+some few escaped to the seaside and hid themselves in the rocks, but
+the greater part were killed. He also pressed forward along the road
+towards the city's first strong position, but his men got on but
+slowly, for the houses and points that afforded cover were well
+contested, and he lost many men.
+
+'However, now he had got possession of the batteries of the Lanterna,
+mounting 19 guns, 68- and 32-pounders, with which he began to thunder
+away about 1 o'clock on the town. Before dark La Marmora had possession
+of all between the Lanterna and the Doria Palace, but here his
+difficulties increased; the fighting was severe during the whole of
+this day, and for the last five hours General La Marmora did not
+advance a foot. At about two o'clock in the afternoon General La
+Marmora sent an aide-de-camp to me, to beg to see me.
+
+'I was on shore at the time looking at how the rebels got on at their
+advanced post, but as soon as I was informed I went to him. He was out
+on horseback at his attacking point, so asking for a horse, I mounted
+and rode towards his post of attack. I met him returning. We were very
+well fired on with round shot on our return, but as he and I rode
+together two shots struck on each side of us, which led me to remark to
+him that they fired well; he told me that that battery was commanded by
+a deserter from their artillery.
+
+'In this ride back with him I got at all his intentions with regard to
+the city.
+
+'He told me he had 25,000 men coming up, that there was no mode of
+warfare that he would not visit on the city, shot, shell, night attack,
+and I added, "What say you to pillage," he replied, "I cannot guarantee
+the contrary."
+
+'After dismounting at his headquarters, a room in the gateway, he
+begged me to look out for the Sardinian fleet expected, and to deliver
+to the Admiral two letters.
+
+'I then, after visiting his batteries, went on board. Whilst standing
+in the battery of the Lanterna his men, after begging me to bob under
+the parapet and then trying to pull me down, were surprised to hear
+that on board ship, bobbing was tabooed to me, and therefore we were
+not accustomed to do so, but, as I told them, I had not the least
+objection to their doing so. Both sides fired very well and with great
+rapidity, and at this time La Marmora had thirty guns and mortars
+bearing on the town, to which the town was replying with about forty,
+so there was a very respectable cannonade carried on.
+
+'At about 6 P.M. he took the Doria Palace, the fire from his artillery
+forcing the city people to leave it. He now established his advanced
+posts for the night in the Doria Palace. This day had put more than 120
+refugees on board the ship, but she was not so comfortable as we
+expected. I was full; and for three nights never pulled off my clothes,
+indeed I could not find a square foot to rest on, in either cabin.
+
+'I really, my dear, must leave out all the interesting details of my
+arrangements and difficulties with your sex, the state of things such
+as this beggars description! I was anxious to give shelter to all, and
+in the afternoon, before I saw the General, it began to grow rather
+warm in Genoa. I called at the house of my Genoese lady friends, and
+such as had not already fled I induced to take shelter on board. At one
+lady's house the fair owner was in such a state of indecision I could
+bring her to no resolution, as a shell passed or fell near her house
+she would wring her hands and cry out, "What shall I do? My beautiful
+furniture! My beautiful house!" but she never said one word about her
+husband who was in a fort above the town, which fort I knew must soon
+be attacked, or her infant child who was with her. At last on my
+telling her I must go, as I had much to do, she came and was taken on
+board; but I must leave this part of the play to be told _viva voce_.
+
+'At about half-past eight this evening, having served the poor
+frightened refugees with the best fare I could give them, finding that
+La Marmora's fire was very serious against the city, and that to-morrow
+it would be twice as severe, seeing the wretched state of the poor
+Genoese women on board, and the more dreadful state in prospect for
+them in the town, I took the resolution of, at all hazards to myself
+and without consulting anyone, to try and stop this state of things; I
+ordered my gig to be manned.
+
+'I must here, my love, break off my narrative till next post; the
+steamer will wait no longer and my dispatches must go on board.
+
+'Adieu, my love.
+
+'I am, ever your devoted
+
+'CHARLES.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+GENOA: April 20, 1849.
+
+'MY BELOVED S.,
+
+'I have no sooner dispatched my letter to you this afternoon than I
+again take up my pen to carry on the narrative of the recent events
+here.
+
+'I left off at the point where I determined to interfere and start for
+the shore in my boat. It was fortunately a fine night, a few low light
+clouds floated in the atmosphere, the roar of artillery, so close that
+the ship shook at every discharge, the roaring hiss of the shot, the
+beautiful bright fuse of the bomb-shell, as it formed its parabola in
+the air, sometimes obscured as it passed through a cloud and again
+emerged, gave an active and anxious feeling to my mind. I could not but
+feel that I had a great and a good work in hand, I was soon on shore,
+the only gate in the city that was guaranteed to be open I pulled for;
+it was directly under the fire of the Boys' Home, two round shots
+struck the ground as I landed passing close over our heads. Desiring my
+coxswain to pull the boat back among the shipping and out of the line
+of fire, I walked to the gate and beat against it with the butt end of
+my sword; it was opened by one of the few officers of the Civic Guard
+who now wore his uniform. Saying a few civil words to him I passed on
+up the street to the ducal palace. This city was at this moment worth
+contemplating.
+
+'Usually crowded with both sexes in rapid motion and gay laughing
+conversation, it now was like the city of the dead, its silence only
+disturbed by the explosion of the shells or a wall struck by shot, and
+the occasional reports of musketry in quick succession.
+
+'I had to pass three barricades before reaching the Palace, the two
+first were deserted, on passing the third a bayonet was presented to my
+breast. On looking up I found the other end was in the hands of a
+pretty delicate woman. I pushed the weapon aside and giving her a
+military salute, passed on. I got easy access to the Municipal Body.
+
+'It is not easy to give in writing a perfect idea of this night's
+scenes. You must carry in your head the state of Genoa; the people who
+formed the municipality were persons who had only read of war, they had
+never seen its terrors before; they were fathers and husbands, men of
+property, all within the city walls; they were the heads of the revolts
+in the first instance, about soon to become the followers or slaves of
+the armed rebel, or die.
+
+'The present state of things favoured my plan. I was received by four
+of the good people who sat quietly waiting for others, and about twenty
+people, among whom was the Bishop of Genoa, were soon in the room. I
+opened my mission to them and drew as strong a picture as I was able,
+obliged to speak French, of the position, and then asked them if they
+agreed to my view of that part of this case. They concurred in all I
+said.
+
+'It was to the effect that the military power was outside and inside.
+That the one inside was most to be feared, and that no question existed
+at this moment to warrant a resistance which would destroy the city,
+give the wives and children to rapine, and their homes to pillage,
+without a chance of success on their side.
+
+'I next put before them their duty, which was at once to set a good
+example; to rally the respectable people, and people of property in the
+town, and separate themselves from foreigners and niggards; next, to
+surrender the city to the King's general, and not to sit to see it
+destroyed without a struggle to save themselves from ruin and disgrace.
+To all this they gave a ready assent; but how to act was the question.
+
+'I said, "If you have confidence in me let us act together," and moving
+to the table I took up a pen and began to write on a sheet of paper,
+when lo! a visitor made his appearance that aided me much in my
+intentions. A shell knocked off the top of the chimney and perforated
+the wall, exploding in the chimney of the ante-room to the one we were
+in. The effect was great, but I coolly said, "Oh pooh, only a
+shell--let us go on," and the fear and excitement which had for a
+moment prevailed subsided, my words and manner restoring confidence and
+stopping observations. La Marmora's messenger did me good service, for
+on finishing my draft of a treaty it was generally approved of; but
+they added an additional clause giving an amnesty to all for recent
+offences. This clause I objected to, but being in haste to see what
+General La Marmora would say to me, I deferred all discussion till my
+return.
+
+'I got quickly down to my boat and pulled across the mole to the Porta
+della Lanterna, and found no interruption from the sea to the works
+above, till I came to the gate; here of course I had to wait till all
+the forms were gone through which state of war required. I found the
+General had gone to St. Pierre de la Regina, two miles off for the
+night; no wonder, for nineteen 68- and 32-pounders were firing from the
+lantern battery, and a fire of ten or twelve guns returning the salute
+from the town on this point alone.
+
+'Away I trudged, and, after some lost time, found the General in his
+bed. He had been up like me three nights, this was my third, and was
+ill with fatigue and anxiety. I prefaced all I had to offer by an
+apology for putting myself forward in such a case. I made my proposals
+for the surrender of the city. He was most frank and manly in his
+answer. He said he thought all I said and offered was most fair, and if
+I would add a clause for the disarming of the population he would sign.
+This was a great step; I saw the man liked me and that I could deal
+with him. I saw too that he was a gentleman, a soldier and a humane
+man. I now determined in my own mind that the city should surrender,
+and I hoped on my own terms. So I went to work with a good will. I was
+soon back again with the municipality, and sat in their room till four
+in the morning fighting in debate clause by clause of my articles.
+
+'By this time the lawyers had come, Avezzana the general had arrived,
+and it was hard work. I got all the clauses passed even to the
+disarming of the people, but the great tug was a general amnesty which
+they demanded. On this point I was determined.
+
+'Imagine my debating this with the proscribed whose case was life and
+banishment, or death!
+
+'First fury and anger and threats were used against me; then
+supplication and tears. I was firm. I said I could never ask of any one
+that which I myself would not grant; that I thought the city of Genoa
+highly criminal; that some punishment must be and ought to be inflicted
+on it; but that I would be fair and merciful in what I did, and that I
+would find out from the General La Marmora what his most lenient views
+were in regard to the leaders of the revolt. At five I was at the
+landing place of the Porta della Lanterna, when as soon as I landed,
+the Piedmontese sentry fired right at me at about three yards'
+distance, and ran as fast as he could, the ball passed quite close to
+my right. I came up with him, and took his musket from him, shaking it
+I found it had just been discharged. I taxed him with firing at me, he
+owned it saying his regiment had arrived in the night and he was just
+put on as sentry. He heard he was surrounded with enemies so he fired
+at the first man he saw. I frightened him by pretending to drag him
+before the General, but laughing let him go. The fact was, as he
+stated, he was in a devil of a funk, and so thinking to make short work
+did not challenge before firing. I was surprised at finding a sentry on
+this spot, he had been put there since I was last there.
+
+'I found La Marmora at the Lanterna; he now drew up a paper in
+accordance with mine, giving life and property to all, with a promise
+to intercede with the King to-morrow; the punishment of the leaders to
+as few as possible; with this I again returned to the ducal palace.
+
+'Before leaving him he proposed to cease his fire on the city till my
+return. I told him in reply I did not ask him to do so, however as soon
+as I left him his fire ceased. This was most humane on his part, for it
+was full an hour and a half before I got the town batteries to cease
+their fire. La Marmora, however, began a fierce attack with musketry,
+&c., on the advance post of the town.
+
+'This my last visit to the Municipality was the most painful of all,
+for I had to sit apart and allow them to fight among themselves. I
+stated that what I had laid before them was the ultimatum, that I could
+and would ask no more, and that if they did not agree to this I should
+take my leave; that the fire would be resumed with increased vigour and
+that the destruction of the city and blood of its inhabitants must lie
+at their door.
+
+'They then proposed to me, finding I was inexorable, to go in a body to
+the General if I would go with them. I consented and took them over in
+the barge. On my way I informed them that I would not help them in
+their appeal to General La Marmora with regard to entire amnesty, but
+that I would join them in gaining time; on which it was agreed to press
+for 48 hours of cessation of arms, and that a deputation from the city
+might go to the King at Turin.
+
+'On going into the presence of the General I drew aside and sat on a
+bed, whilst the deputation urged their claims, and as in Italy
+everybody is eager and full of gesticulation, the noise and confusion
+was tremendous. I had not seen this for we were treating under fire and
+all were silent, those who had the best nerves were the speakers. If
+you want to make peace treat under fire; for me it will become a maxim.
+However after about two hours' wrangle, the General came up to me and
+said, "Are you not 'accord' with me? that you do not speak," so much
+had I gained of his mind that he would not act without me. In short I
+may now say, the 48 hours were granted. The deputation went to Turin,
+they got 48 hours more, and the city was surrendered on my treaty, the
+King granting an amnesty to all but twelve persons named, and they had
+been allowed to escape.
+
+'During all this time a severe engagement had been carried on at the
+advanced posts. The Doria Palace had been taken by the King's troops
+the evening before. Batteries had been erected against it by the rebels
+and the contest was most fierce, all the morning batteries were firing
+on both sides with high guns. An attack by escalade was preparing
+against Fort Bogota, a sally had been made from it to destroy La
+Marmora's works, more troops were coming up, and occupying ground on
+the east side of the town. My business now was to exert myself to make
+the fire to cease on all sides.
+
+'My love, I must leave my narrative for another letter, I find it takes
+more time even to relate it shortly than I thought. I must write my
+despatch to the Admiral and write to you a short note.
+
+'H.
+
+'Excuse faults, I've no time to read it over.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+GENOA: April 27, 1849.
+
+'MY DEAREST S.,
+
+'I have so long neglected to pursue the narrative of events at this
+place, that I fear you will think I had forgotten both you and it, but
+in truth since the troubles have ceased, I have been so well employed
+in writing and disciplining this ship, this each day takes me till 1
+P.M., that I have not found the days too long. But now I am out of the
+port, for I weighed this morning with _Prince Regent_ for a little
+exercise, I shall finish this short narrative of past events.
+
+'I think I had acquainted you of the completion of the armistice and
+terms, signed by all parties, for surrendering and accepting the
+surrender of the town. Having therefore seen the deputation of the town
+off for Turin, my next most anxious endeavour was to cause the battle
+to cease, which had been carried on at the advanced posts with great
+smartness. I therefore once more took to my boat to begin the arduous
+duty of separating the combatants. General La Marmora sent
+aide-de-camps, but it took time before they could reach all points from
+which cannon were firing, not on the town but all the points of attack.
+The first stop I put on the firing was by landing on the mole and
+taking a 32 lb. gun that was being worked against the Doria Palace. I
+landed with my six gigs, and they drove them with their swords from the
+gun, which I ordered to be drawn and all the ammunition to be thrown
+into the sea. But my coxswain thought the powder too good, and when I
+again got into the boat I found it all stowed away in her. Of course a
+body of muskets mustered against us to drive us away, in turn, with
+fixed bayonets. I walked quietly up to them, and after being informed
+how the case stood, with a little grumbling they went quietly away.
+
+'From hence I went to the naval arsenal; here I was warned at the
+entrance, by sentry, to take care, for the houses that commanded the
+basin and storehouses were full of armed men, placed there in readiness
+to attack the arsenal with a view to release the galley slaves. I went
+in, however, and saw the Commander of the Bagnio, and looked at the
+means of defence that might be offered if attacked; he told me he was
+quite deserted, but if matters came to the worst he would make an
+attempt to defend the prison. From the Arsenal I went directly to the
+headquarters of the rebel General. Here elbowing my way amid a host of
+armed brigands and people of the lower and lowest class of Genoese I
+found the general, Avezzana, seated at a table in a moderate sized
+room. As soon as I was offered a seat at his table, a crowd of armed
+folk filled the room and pressed hard upon us. He was haughty and
+distant in his manner; I said that I had just seen the deputation off
+for Turin and that as an armistice was agreed on for forty-eight hours
+I begged he would at once do all in his power to cease the firing on
+his side; he was out of humour and said: "When General La Marmora
+does!" He then charged me with being a partisan. I said I feared I was,
+and belonged to a party in the world that loved order and government.
+"Oh ah!" said he, "but you have taken on you and thrown the ammunition
+of the people into the sea"--on which there was a shout as he raised
+his voice in finishing his sentence. I saw my ground was critical and
+that much depended on myself, so I quietly but audibly said, "Yes, I
+did so, and shall do the same whenever I find the like; I have not
+toiled for two nights and days to save the property of the poor, the
+widow from affliction, and the orphan from wretchedness (I might have
+said more) and now for the sake of a few cartridges to allow more blood
+to be shed, when you have signed a peace." This was a blow he did not
+expect, for he had not told the people he had signed, but on the
+contrary went out and harangued at the barricades talking stuff about
+liberty, death, patriotism and all other fine things. He quietly
+listened though, and began to question me as to many things he said I
+had done against the people. On this I rose, took up my hat and in a
+haughty tone said, "I don't come here to be questioned, but to make
+peace, so I wish you good morning."
+
+'There was a murmur, and then a civil speech from those about me to
+pray I would be seated, when suddenly the tone of questioning was taken
+up by a young man in a blue and red uniform, standing close to the
+General in a most intemperate manner. To him I civilly said I would not
+be questioned, and rose, took my hat and departed. They made a lane for
+me; the young man followed me and grasping my hand said, "I beg your
+pardon, I know I was very hot, but I have had two horses killed under
+me this morning." I said I thought that ought to make him cool, on
+which he laughed and said, "I am not a Genoese, I am a Frenchman." He
+then told me he was sent by the Republicans in France to aid the cause
+of liberty in Italy.
+
+'I said, "Well, if you wish to see me, come on board to-morrow at 9." I
+never saw him again.
+
+'I remained on shore visiting several points where the fire had been
+most active, and about 3 P.M. all was silent, the battle was over, and
+I came on board to my crowd of women and children. You may suppose I
+was well tired. I had not had my clothes off for 3 nights, and only a
+plank and an hour or two the nights previous to the last. I, however,
+took the head of my table at 6 o'clock; it was a beautiful evening, and
+with the Genoese ladies and Captain Tarlton to take care of me I sat
+out in the stern gallery till 10 P.M., when Tarlton told me he had a
+bed made for me in a spare cabin below. In this I got a good night's
+rest in spite of the diabolical witlow; the witlow is so unromantic a
+wound that I shall leave it out of the narrative for the future. The
+next morning I was with General La Marmora at daylight and from him I
+went to the municipality. I found them in a sad plight, full of terror.
+The Syndic, or Mayor had been threatened in the night. Albertini, a
+leader of the revolt, one of the worst of ruffians I am told, entered
+his bedchamber at midnight with money orders and proclamations ready
+drawn out, and with a pistol to his head forced him to sign them. I had
+a long conversation with them on the state of affairs, I found that the
+Red Republicans had shown themselves in reality.
+
+'I advised them to send out confidential emissaries to all the National
+Guards of a respectable character that could be found, to come to the
+ducal palace; to get the mob on pretences of various kinds out of it,
+and at once begin to endeavour to rally the better spirits within the
+town. They promised me they would do so. They then showed me an
+excellent paper they had drawn up, containing the truth in regard to
+the armistice and present position of affairs. They were afraid to
+publish it, for Avezzana had told another story. I suggested that such
+a paper, published with the signatures of all the European Consuls,
+would have an excellent effect. They thought it the best, but again
+were afraid of being thought the authors; so I then offered that it
+should be mine and I could at once try and get the consuls to sign it.
+You can hardly conceive the relief even this small act, and truth
+having a chance of being told, seemed to give them. I went straight to
+the French Consul and found him at home, showed him the paper which he
+seemed to approve, said I might leave it to him and he would summon the
+Consuls and do the needful. He did nothing. Leon Le Favre, brother to
+Jules Le Favre, editor of the _Nationale_, Red Republican; but more of
+him by and bye.
+
+'I now went on board to breakfast, having the day previous had a letter
+from Sir William Abercromby, our Minister at Turin, begging me to do
+all I could for the King of Sardinia in his distress; and the letter
+containing a positive request that I would prevent all the Sardinian
+vessels from entering Genoa, as they are bringing more Reds and
+Lombards to assist the revolt; and having had one of my cutters fired
+on with grape in relieving guard the evening before, I determined to
+move the _Vengeance_ into the inner mole, where I could work the ship
+effectually, if I chose, to prevent the entrance of anything into the
+harbour for disembarkation. While in the act of moving the ship I
+received the serious news from the Municipality, that it was the
+intention of the Reds, with Albertini and Campanelli at their head, to
+at once open the Bagnio and let loose the galley slaves; begging at the
+same time that I would take it on myself to prevent this, as it could
+only be in contemplation for purposes easily conceived, though dreadful
+to contemplate.
+
+'I now placed the ship in a position to command with her guns the
+dockyard and houses opposite to it. She had opposed to her a 20-gun
+battery in the dock-yard and Bagnio, and a 20-gun battery on the
+opposite side to the dockyard, one of 15 guns on the bow, and various
+small masked batteries on various heights about the ship; not naming
+the great forts on the heights. But be it remembered that these works
+were ill-manned, and none provided with trained artillery men. Having
+secured the ship and got her ready for action, not loading guns, I
+never loaded a gun while at Genoa, I went on shore and found that the
+Governor of the prison had received his summons to open the doors, and
+had refused. He was glad to see me, we now settled his plan of defence
+as far as he was able, and to my astonishment he struck chains off
+fifty _forçats_ and put a musket into their hands. He made excellent
+arrangements for defence, and assured me he could rely on these men. I
+had them drawn up and found they all understood the weapon. I told them
+if they behaved well, &c. &c. &c. I now informed him that at the first
+report of a musket fired from a point agreed on, I should land with 150
+marines, and my gun boats would enter the mole and would sweep with
+grape the houses and wharfs, while the ship could do as she pleased. I
+am praised in a public letter from Sir William Parker for this, the
+only act that was not neutral and that would, had the Reds acted, have
+brought the _Vengeance_ into the whole affair. To end the affair at
+once these acts of mine stopped the whole thing, and broke up the Red
+gang in Genoa.
+
+'It also had another effect; it cleared my ship of every soul. As soon
+as we anchored and prepared for battle, every soul fled the ship and
+got away through Marmora's army to St. Pierre de la Regina, where they
+were quite safe.
+
+'Just after the sun had set this evening and it was growing dark enough
+not to know green from blue, a steamer at full speed was seen entering
+the port, and to my horror La Marmora's nineteen gun battery at the
+lighthouse, while she was passing close under _Vengeance's_ bows,
+opened fire upon her, putting two 30 lb. shots through her hull. In an
+instant all the batteries opened on him, I thought all my efforts in a
+moment destroyed. In a fit I jumped into the first boat, and shoved on
+board the Frenchman, sending an officer to La Marmora's batteries to
+beg them to leave off firing. To end this story, the officer at La
+Marmora's battery had mistaken the French for the Sardinian flag, and
+fired on it. The mistake cleared up, to my joy the volcano ceased
+vomiting, but here was more fat in the fire. I sat down to my dinner at
+six once more in peace and _tête-à-tête_ with Tarlton talking over our
+affairs with the gusto given by a superior appetite to a shocking bad
+dinner, when in burst the two French captains, one of the _Tonnerre_ a
+frigate in the port, and the other the captain of the packet.
+
+'I won't try to paint with my poor pen the scene, but I was highly
+amused and in such imperturbable good humour, that even the captain of
+the _Tonnerre_, calling me a party man and attacking me as if I had
+fired at his nasty flag, did not make me call him what I might with
+truth have done, a Red. He would not eat, or drink, or do anything but
+fume. At last I coolly said "_Eh bien, Monsieur, c'est votre faute_."
+"Why, how, what you mean, Monsieur?" "That you have set the example of
+_Tricolor_, and desire all the world to adopt it, and are now angry
+because blue and green are so much alike, that after the sun has set
+one colour cannot be known from the other"; on which the Captain of the
+packet said _Bon!_ and laughed heartily; he was a good little man and
+made light of the whole affair. The French have insisted on the extreme
+of satisfaction in this case.
+
+'The next morning I was with the municipal body at 5 A.M. I found them
+in the lowest possible state of despondency and terror, although there
+was a change for the better in the appearance of the National Guard.
+They with anxious looks led me to their chair, shut the doors and then
+revealed to me in low tones that the state of affairs was worse. Of
+this I felt sure that it would either end in a pillage and a massacre,
+or cease from that moment.
+
+'They placed before me a letter of Avezzana's addressed to the
+municipal body, threatening them with energetic measures if they did
+not advance the revolt by more activity. I found he and Albertini had
+instituted a tribunal, Albertini as president, with power of life and
+death with instant execution. Guillotines were built; these poor devils
+were waiting their doom. I sent for him, by a civil message, of course,
+I taxed him roundly with his intentions and bad faith. He, cowed,
+answered in a subdued tone. In short, the game was up, he that day
+tried to put an insult on me through the flag, failed again, got aboard
+an American ship and fled that night.
+
+'I can't go on with this story any longer, I have written it to its
+positive finish to amuse you, my dearest wife. I have told it very ill,
+it may form, when we meet, a subject for an evening's conversation,
+when I can fill up gaps, explain incongruities, but not read my own
+handwriting.
+
+'If you show it to anyone, take care it is only to a mutual friend or
+sister; it is not fit to meet the eye of a critic or indeed of anyone,
+but it is a note of the time from which a statement might with some
+further details be made.
+
+'I have not said a word of loss of life. The King of Sardinia has about
+100 killed, 15 officers and 300 wounded. What the loss on the side of
+the revolt is, no one can tell. My surgeons attended the wounded, sent
+by me; all the time the hospitals were full, but they said more were
+carried home than went there. They must have buried their slain in the
+night, for I have seen many women who have never seen their sons or
+husbands since the day the firing began.
+
+'The Doria Palace and houses round it show the chief destruction. The
+town has suffered little, it did not last long enough to make
+impression on stone and marble houses. Five shell fell into the Ducal
+Palace, and six into the great hospital, the rest are scattered about,
+so that the damage only meets the eye here and there.
+
+'I have a satisfaction in feeling that I shortened the punishment of
+the beautiful city.
+
+'Its frescoes and its pictures, given to the bomb and the sack, would
+have been forgotten in Europe, and its ancient splendour might only
+have been talked of as existing before the bombardment of 1849.
+
+'I say this to you only, and now shall hold my peace for the future.
+
+'Yours ever,
+
+'H.
+
+'PS.--Packet sails at 6; hour 5 P.M. April 30.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+These graphic letters, which were never intended to see the light,
+clearly show the important part taken by Lord Hardwicke as mediator
+between the insurgents and the King's army. They show him cool under
+fire and intrepid in action. Humane he certainly was, and it was the
+feeling for the city and its inhabitants which prompted him to take
+action outside the strict limits of his duty. Nothing succeeds like
+success, and all this was accomplished without a gun being loaded on
+board the _Vengeance_. If Lord Hardwicke had had to 'sweep with grape
+the houses and the wharfs' as he threatened to do, the fat would have
+been in the fire and the question of interfering in the affairs of a
+foreign nation might have been raised. The knowledge, however, of his
+determined character, and that he would not hesitate to shoot should
+the necessity arise, was sufficient to deter the rebels from carrying
+out their threat to open the prison doors and let loose the convicts on
+the town.
+
+A striking proof of the part the _Vengeance_ took in foiling the
+schemes of the rebels is afforded in the pages of a little book written
+at the time by one who was in sympathy with the Revolution. It is
+entitled 'Della Rivoluzione di Genova nell April del 1849. Memorie e
+Documenti di un Testimonio Oculare. Italia 1850.' 'The capitulation
+which shortly took place,' says the author, 'was his [Lord Hardwicke's]
+work (_opera sua_) and that of the English Consul in concert with the
+municipality.' He had accomplished a great work to the satisfaction of
+all parties with the exception of a few agitators.
+
+The fact that a few days after these events Lord Hardwicke was able to
+gather at his board in convivial entertainment not only the Generals
+and Staff of Victor Emmanuel's army, but also the Syndic and Municipal
+Body of Genoa, is a proof of the complete success of his undertaking.
+
+'I gave a grand dinner to 73 persons, consisting of the English
+residents, General de la Marmora and 6 of his generals, all his
+colonels of regiments and his staff. The two Admirals, all the Captains
+of the Sardinian Navy, the Syndic and Municipal Body of Genoa, 4
+Judges, all the following Consuls and some of my officers.
+
+'It was admirably done, an excellent dinner very well served indeed.
+The room was decorated with the Queen's arms and naval trophies,
+together with two Bands of music. When the Queen's health was drunk at
+9 o'clock, the ship was brilliantly illuminated, the yards manned and
+she fired a royal salute. The whole gave great satisfaction here, the
+heads of the revolt, the Conqueror and Mediator dined together, and La
+Marmora gave as his toast, "Success to the City of Genoa."'
+
+So it was a day of shaking hands and conviviality under the shade of
+the British flag.
+
+It was not until August 6, 1849, that a treaty of peace between
+Piedmont and Austria was finally settled; by its terms the Piedmontese
+had to pay a war indemnity of 75,000,000 francs. The National
+Parliament, however, hesitated to ratify the treaty, and the King was
+obliged to dissolve Parliament and make a personal appeal to the
+country. The result was satisfactory and the treaty received the
+necessary ratification. Piedmont was not in a condition to renew
+hostilities with so powerful a foe as Austria, and for the moment had
+to play a waiting game. In the meantime the King, in spite of the
+reactionary spirit which was abroad, honourably maintained the
+liberties of the country, and in the courageous appeal to his people he
+gave a pledge of his intentions.
+
+'The liberties of the country run no risk of being imperilled through
+the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, for they are protected by
+the venerated memory of my father, King Charles Albert; they are
+entrusted to the honour of the House of Savoy; they are guarded by the
+solemnity of my own oath: who would dare to have any fear for them?'
+
+The liberty which was now firmly rooted in Piedmont gave umbrage to the
+other states of Italy, especially in Naples, where Ferdinand II
+established a tyranny. It was at this time that Mr. Gladstone, after
+having visited Naples, published his famous letters to Lord Aberdeen
+summing up the position as 'The negation of God created into a system
+of government.' Under the influence of Cavour, Piedmont became the
+centre of the movement for Italian unity and Garibaldi took for his
+watchword, 'Italy and Victor Emmanuel.'
+
+Every endeavour was made by the leaders of the Italian movement to
+interest Europe in their cause. Much had been done in this direction at
+the Paris Congress of 1856. Piedmont had taken part in the Crimean War
+by contributing 15,000 men to the allied army. Napoleon was known to be
+sympathetic to the Italian cause, and in 1859, on Austria calling on
+Piedmont to disarm, war was declared.
+
+The successes of Magenta and Solferino, as far as Northern Italy was
+concerned, gave Lombardy to Piedmont, but left Austria in the
+possession of Venice. Napoleon, who was by no means a whole-hearted
+supporter of Italian Unity, had designs of his own, and therefore did
+not press the campaign to its ultimate conclusion which, as Cavour had
+hoped, should have been the total exclusion of Austria from Italian
+territory. A great step, however, had been gained, and Victor Emmanuel
+showed his accustomed wisdom in accepting the position for what it was
+worth and waiting on events. This course was soon to be justified.
+Cavour did not live to see the success of his policy. He died in 1861,
+five years before the war between Germany and Austria, in which Italy
+took a part against her ancient foe, gave the opportunity of freeing
+the Peninsula from Austrian rule. On the outbreak of the war attempts
+were made through the mediation of Napoleon to sever Italy from her
+alliance with Germany, Austria offering to voluntarily cede Venice.
+Victor Emmanuel, however, wisely stood firm to his alliance, and the
+war ended in the complete discomfiture of Austria, and Sadowa must rank
+with Magenta and Solferino as one of the decisive battles in the
+Liberation of Italy. By the Peace of Prague Venetia was ceded through
+Napoleon to Italy, and on November 7, 1866, Victor Emmanuel made his
+entry into the city as King.
+
+Rome was still a difficulty; there the Pope, supported by French
+bayonets, held out for his temporal powers against free Italy which
+wanted Rome for its capital, and Garibaldi's expedition of 1867 was a
+failure. 'In the name of the French Government, we declare that Italy
+shall never take possession of Rome,' were the brave words of the
+President of the French Ministry on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War.
+
+In 1870, after his first defeat, Napoleon failed to secure the help of
+Italy, and Rome being denuded of foreign troops fell an easy prey to
+the army of the King. Thus it was through the agency of Prussia that
+Italy secured Liberty. The statecraft of Cavour and the patience and
+self-control of Victor Emmanuel gained what the impetuous bravery of
+Garibaldi and the revolutionary efforts of Mazzini could never have
+realised. Each, however, had done his part. The spirit of a people to
+accomplish great things must be aroused to create the energy which the
+master-hand must hold in check.
+
+The force must be there, ready to propel the State when times are ripe.
+The discontent which showed itself at Genoa after the battle of Novara,
+the ideals which animated the thousand who sailed with Garibaldi to
+free Sicily, were both of them valuable assets to the nation.
+
+That there were men who for their own ends took advantage of the
+situation cannot be doubted, and the revolutionaries in Genoa were of
+this kind. The ruin they might have brought on the city of Genoa and
+the difficulties they would have put in the way of Victor Emmanuel had
+they been successful are easily imagined.
+
+APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII
+
+In view of the reflections made upon Lord Hardwicke's conduct at Genoa
+which I have considered in the preceding chapter, I have thought it
+well to print, without further comment, copies of certain documents
+which were found among his papers. These, I think, leave no doubt as to
+the light in which that conduct appeared to those best able to judge of
+it.
+
+A letter from General La Marmora: dated 'La Lanterna,' 9 April, '49.
+Three o'clock.
+
+  STATO MAGGIORE,             QUARTIER GENERALE,
+     della 6° Divisione,             addi    1849.
+              OGGETTO.
+
+'MILORD,
+
+'J'aurai des dépêches très importantes à vous communiquer. Si ce n'est
+pas une indiscretion je vous priérai de passer un moment ici d'autant
+plus que j'espère le Sindic de la ville voudra y venir aussi ainsi que
+je l'ai invité.
+
+'Votre très humble serviteur,
+
+'ALPHONSE LA MARMORA.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Letter from the Syndic of Genoa to Lord Hardwicke.
+
+'MILORD,
+
+'Le Syndic de la Ville de Gênes s'empresse à votre demande de vous
+envoyer les copies des projets de capitulation entre les représentants
+de la Ville sousdite et le Général La Marmora contr[e]-signées par vous
+à l'original, et cela d'une manière toute confidentielle et sans aucun
+caractère d'autenticité, le Municipe ne pouvant pas, (dès que tout est
+rentré dans l'ordre,) se mêler d'aucune chose qui directement ou
+indirectement puisse avoir trait à la politique.
+
+'Agréez, Milord, les sentimens de haute estime et de reconnaissance que
+nous et la Ville entière vous devons par la part généreuse que vous
+avez pris pour la conciliation de nos différences.
+
+'De V Sè Milord,
+
+'Très-humble et très obéissant serviteur
+
+'le Syndic
+
+'A. ROFUMOTTI.'
+
+GÊNES: 12 Avril, 1849.
+
+A MILORD HARDWICK,
+
+Commandant le Vaisseau
+
+de S. M. Britannique,
+
+_La Vengeance_.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Letter from General de Launay, Minister for Foreign Affairs to Victor
+Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia, conferring the Cross of the Order of St.
+Maurice and St. Lazarus upon Lord Hardwicke.
+
+SECRÉTAIRERIE D'ETAT POUR LES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES.
+
+TURIN: le 22 Avril, 1849.
+
+'MILORD,
+
+'J'ai eu l'honneur de faire connaître au Roi, mon auguste Souverain,
+les importans services que vous avez rendus à Son Gouvernement pendant
+les graves évènemens qui ont affligé la ville de Gênes et
+l'empressement efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment secondé Mr le
+Général de La Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre. Sa Majesté, prenant en
+bienveillante considération l'activité que vous avez déployée pour
+empêcher toutes nouvelles bandes de factieux de pénétrer dans la place
+et de se joindre aux rebelles, ainsi que les mesures promptes et
+énergiques que vous avez adoptées pour prévenir la mise en liberté des
+forçats, détenus dans le bagne, que les révoltés voulaient armer, a
+pris la détermination de vous donner, Milord, un témoignage éclatant de
+Sa satisfaction Royale, en vous conférant la croix de Commandeur de Son
+Ordre religieux et militaire des Saints Maurice et Lazare.
+
+'Persuadé que vous trouverez, Milord, dans cette marque flatteuse de la
+bienveillance du Roi, une preuve du prix que Sa Majesté attache au
+service important que, suivant les intentions toujours si amicales de
+l'Angleterre, Son ancienne et fidèle alliée, vous avez rendu à Son
+Gouvernement dans les circonstances pénibles ou il s'est trouvé, je
+m'empresse de vous envoyer ci-joint la décoration qui vous est destinée.
+
+'En me réservant de vous transmettre votre diplôme aussitôt que la
+Grande Maîtrise de l'Ordre de St Maurice me l'aura fait parvenir, je
+vous prie d'agréer, Milord, les assurances de ma considération très
+distinguée.
+
+'G. DE LAUNAY.'
+
+A LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+Commandant le Vaisseau
+
+Anglais '_Vengeance_,' &c. &c.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Despatch from Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, commanding the
+Mediterranean Fleet, to Lord Hardwicke.
+
+'CALEDONIA' AT MALTA:
+
+26 April, 1849.
+
+'MY LORD,
+
+'I have this morning received your Lordship's letters Nos. 11 and 12,
+of the 18th and 20th insts. detailing your proceedings with reference
+to the late events of Genoa, reported in your despatches of the 2nd,
+7th and 10th April.
+
+'I am satisfied that your Lordship's energies and personal exertions
+have been anxiously exercised for the preservation of order, and the
+humane object of preventing destruction, pillage and other atrocities
+in the City, and I fully appreciate the advantages which the Community
+has derived by their deliverance from a state of anarchy and the
+lawless acts of an unprincipled rabble.
+
+'I therefore freely approve the arrangements made by your Lordship at
+the request of the Municipality, to protect the town as well as Her
+Majesty's subjects from brigandage. And also your commendable
+intercession with the Sardinian General on behalf of the individuals
+compromised for political acts, trusting that there has not been any
+actual infraction of the neutral position of Her Majesty's ship, or
+undue interference in the political contention of the opponents.
+
+'I am, My Lord,
+
+'Your very humble servant,
+
+'W. PARKER, _Vice-Admiral_.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Letters from Viscount Palmerston, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the
+Lords of the Admiralty, enclosing copy despatch from the Marquis of
+Normanby, Her Majesty's Ambassador in Paris.
+
+FOREIGN OFFICE: April 24, 1849.
+
+'SIR,
+
+'I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to transmit to you for the
+information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty a copy of a
+despatch from H.M. Ambassador at Paris, stating that the French
+Minister for Foreign Affairs has expressed his conviction that during
+the late insurrection at Genoa, that City was in a great measure saved
+from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude assumed by
+H.M.S. _Vengeance._
+
+'I am, Sir, &c.
+
+'(Signed) H. A. ADDINGTON.'
+
+H. G. WARD, ESQ.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+FOREIGN OFFICE: April 30, 1849.
+
+'Sir,
+
+'I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to request that you will acquaint
+the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that his Lordship has received
+from H.M. Minister at Turin, a copy of a despatch addressed by the Earl
+of Hardwicke to Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, dated the 18th inst.,
+giving an account of the measures which he took to promote the
+surrender of Genoa to the Forces of the King of Sardinia, and I am to
+state to you at the same time for the information of their lordships,
+that Lord Hardwicke's conduct on this occasion seems to Lord Palmerston
+to have been highly praiseworthy, and Lord Palmerston is of opinion
+that the Earl of Hardwicke, by his promptitude, energy and decision
+saved the City of Genoa from the calamities of further bombardment, and
+prevented a great effusion of blood and much destruction of property
+and life.
+
+'I am, &c.,
+
+'(Signed) H. A. ADDINGTON.'
+
+H. G. WARD, ESQ.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+PARIS: April 19, 1849.
+
+LORD,
+
+'Monsieur Drouyn De Lhuys has more than once expressed to me his
+conviction that during the late troubles at Genoa that City was in
+great part saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude
+assumed by the British Naval Force in that port. The Minister read to
+me extracts both from Monsieur Bois le Conte and from Monsieur Léon
+Favre the French Consul at Genoa, stating that there were moments when
+the lives and properties of the peaceable inhabitants would have been
+in great danger but for the dread inspired by the position taken up by
+H.M.S. _Vengeance_ and the efficient support given by Lord Hardwicke to
+the Consular Authorities. Monsieur Drouyn De Lhuys said there had been
+no distinction whatever between the two Commanders of the two nations
+except inasmuch as the British Naval Force at that time in the Port of
+Genoa was of so much more commanding a character.
+
+'I am, &c.,
+
+'(Signed) NORMANBY.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extracts from 'An Episode of Italian Unification' by General Alfonso la
+Marmora.
+
+'Lord Hardwicke conducted himself to me like the honourable man that he
+is, expert in dealing with men and circumstances. He did not propose
+unacceptable conditions to me; indeed, he charged himself with the task
+of persuading the Municipality to submit to the conditions which I
+might impose, for the welfare of Genoa itself, and the permanent
+re-establishment of order.
+
+'On the 9th another complication developed. I have said that the
+English Captain placed his ship opposite the docks to prevent the
+liberation of the convicts. Avezzana allowed two days to pass without
+protesting against this menace: then he addressed to the aforesaid
+commander a letter of truly radical insolence, ordering him to vacate
+the harbour before 6 P.M. and declaring that _if by that hour he were
+not gone he should be sunk by the batteries of the people, and so teach
+the Queen of Great Britain that it did not suffice to entrust her
+men-of-war to men of high lineage unless they were also men of
+judgment._
+
+'Lord Hardwicke, like a man of sense and good feeling, contented
+himself with acknowledging the receipt of the insulting letter, being
+determined not to stir a finger to leave his drawn position.
+
+'He submitted copies of the correspondence to me and to all the
+representatives of the friendly powers.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+POLITICS AND LAST YEARS. 1850-1873
+
+
+Having resumed the profession to which he had always been devoted, it
+was the ambition of Lord Hardwicke's life to continue his naval career,
+and to complete a period of active service afloat which would have
+entitled him to promotion to flag rank. He was encouraged in this
+desire by all his friends, even by those who, like John Wilson Croker,
+had opposed his return to active service. In a letter written by that
+gentleman to Lady Hardwicke in 1849, he said: 'I never was very
+favourable to his going to sea, but I am now decidedly against his not
+going through with it, and I cannot but believe that his services are
+appreciated, if not at their full value at least with respect, on the
+part of the Whigs. But however that may be, and however glad I shall be
+to see you all again at Wimpole, I earnestly advise him to play his
+hand out.'
+
+Unhappily, Lord Hardwicke was prevented from carrying out his intention
+by the very serious illness of Lady Hardwicke, which caused him the
+gravest anxiety, shortly after the termination of his arduous
+responsibilities at Genoa. Lady Hardwicke was brought to death's door
+by an attack of fever at Naples, and he immediately resigned his
+command of the _Vengeance_, and hurried to her bedside. She happily
+recovered, and after her convalescence the whole family returned to
+England.
+
+Apart, however, from this urgent private trouble, it is doubtful
+whether Lord Hardwicke would have continued his service in the
+Mediterranean. He felt, indeed, that the approval of his conduct at
+Genoa by the Whig Government was less hearty than Mr. Croker believed
+was the case, confined as it was to the barest official acknowledgment
+of services which to everyone else appeared not only creditable to Lord
+Hardwicke as a captain of a British ship of war, but of the highest
+value to Italy, to the cause of good order, and, by the havoc and
+bloodshed his tact and firmness had certainly prevented, to humanity
+itself. As the documents set out in the appendix to the last chapter
+fully show, all this was highly appreciated abroad. King Victor
+hastened to confer on Lord Hardwicke the order of St. Maurice and St.
+Lazarus for what were described by General de Launay, his foreign
+secretary, as 'les importans services que vous avez rendus à Son
+Gouvernement pendant les graves évènemens qui ont affligé la ville de
+Gênes et l'empressement efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment
+secondé M. le Général de La Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre'; Lord
+Normanby, the British Ambassador at Paris, reported to his government
+that the French Minister at Turin had more than once expressed his
+conviction 'that during the late troubles at Genoa that city was in
+great part saved from pillage and destruction by the energetic attitude
+assumed by the British naval force in that port, and that the French
+consuls had stated to him that there were moments when the lives and
+properties of the peaceable inhabitants would have been in great
+danger, but for the dread inspired by the position taken up by H.M.S.
+_Vengeance_, and the effective support given by Lord Hardwicke to the
+consular authorities.' There was less value perhaps in the thanks given
+by 'the Count and Colonel, Director of the Bagni Maritim,' whose
+gratitude was mingled with a sense of favours to come, in the possible
+exertion of Lord Hardwicke's good offices with King Victor Emmanuel for
+clemency for the convicts under the Count's charge, whose conduct had
+added so much to the dangers of the situation. But of the foreign
+testimony to Lord Hardwicke's service at Genoa perhaps the most
+eloquent was that of Mazzini, who admitted to Lord Malmesbury that his
+career in Italy had been spoiled 'by one English sailor at Genoa called
+Hardvick.'
+
+This universal approbation of the part played by Lord Hardwicke was of
+course perfectly well known to the Government; it was also more or less
+known to the public from the letters written by the _Times_
+correspondent at Genoa. 'But for the decision and judgment Lord
+Hardwicke manifested,' he wrote, 'Genoa would, in all probability, have
+been at this moment a ruined and pillaged city. The very worst
+vagabonds were hired to mount guard and man the walls, since the
+National Guards had retired for the most part to their own dwellings.
+It was indeed a reign of terror, and it was most fortunate for Genoa
+that the _Vengeance_ was in the port to prevent its being a reign of
+blood.'
+
+Under these circumstances Lord John Russell's government could scarcely
+withhold official recognition of Lord Hardwicke's success in having
+virtually saved a great and historic city from destruction. His
+conduct, moreover, was such as would certainly appeal to Lord
+Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, who took the occasion to inform the
+Admiralty 'that Lord Hardwicke's conduct seemed to him highly
+praiseworthy, and that he was of opinion that the Earl of Hardwicke by
+his promptitude, energy and decision saved the city of Genoa from the
+calamities of further bombardment, and prevented a great effusion of
+blood and much destruction of property and life.'
+
+This official approval, as we have seen, was conveyed to Lord Hardwicke
+by his admiral, Sir William Parker, who had already indicated his own
+rather tepid approval accompanied, however, by the hope that there had
+been 'no actual infraction of the neutral position of Her Majesty's
+ship, or undue interference in the political contention of the
+opponents.'
+
+But it seems clear that both political and professional influences were
+already at work against Lord Hardwicke. On the happy conclusion of the
+trouble at Genoa by what he truly described in a letter to Lady
+Hardwicke as 'the only English interference that has been successful in
+Europe since the affair began,' he had already detected a certain
+faintness in the praise he received from Admiral Parker: 'The good
+admiral gives me negative praise,' he writes, 'but I leave it all to
+him to judge my acts. I have no fear of results; I have a good reason
+for all I did.' But from a memorandum written by Lady Hardwicke after
+his death, it appears that he felt very acutely the grudging spirit in
+which his services had been received by a section, at least, of the
+Cabinet. Upon reporting himself at the Admiralty on his arrival in
+London he was greeted by Sir Francis Baring, the First Lord, with these
+words: 'Well, Lord Hardwicke, you certainly did do well at Genoa, and
+it was lucky that you succeeded, for if you had failed you certainly
+would have been broke.' He made no complaint, however, but returned to
+Wimpole, resumed his life of a country gentleman, and renewed all his
+interest in the affairs of his estate and his county.
+
+He was called at length from this retirement by the return of his own
+party to power. In March of 1851 Lord John Russell had announced the
+resignation of the Government owing to their defeat on the franchise
+question; Lord Stanley was sent for by Queen Victoria, but found
+himself unable to form a ministry, and upon the advice of the Duke of
+Wellington the Queen had requested her ministers to resume office. But
+this arrangement lasted less than a year. On the 27th of February
+following Lord Stanley, by that time Earl of Derby, became prime
+minister in the new Government with Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Spencer Walpole,
+Lord Malmesbury and Sir John Packington, among his colleagues, and in
+this cabinet Lord Hardwicke sat as Postmaster-General. It was a short
+term of office, which lasted less than a year, during which time,
+however, Lord Hardwicke's energy and powers of organisation were much
+appreciated in his department, where he came to be known as 'Lord
+Hardwork'; but his official life came to an end with that of the
+Government upon the return to power, in December 1852, of the Aberdeen
+administration, which included Lord John Russell as Foreign Secretary
+and Sir James Graham as First Lord of the Admiralty.
+
+A characteristic souvenir of the immortal Duke of Wellington occurs to
+me in connection with this first administration of Lord Derby, well
+known as the 'Derby D'Israeli Ministry,' which may find a place here. A
+great many new men necessarily composed it, and when they were all
+mustered before being 'sworn in' the Duke began chaffing them 'as
+somewhat _raw recruits_,' and then taking his stick he put them into
+line and said, 'You will require a little drilling' and he flourished
+his stick about, imitating a sergeant, and amused them all very much.
+Such was the great man's way of putting a _home truth_.
+
+The fall of Lord Derby's government was the occasion for a letter to my
+father from Mr. Croker, in which that gentleman appears to admiration
+in the characteristic role of candid friend. I print this, not only as
+a typical effort of that critical spirit, but because it contains a
+very just appreciation of my mother's great qualities, to which her
+husband and her children owe so much.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dec. 31, 1852.
+
+'... As for the party, I cannot but feel with you, that a party without
+a spokesman in the House of Commons is as nothing, but with such a
+spokesman as Disraeli, it is worse than nothing. In Opposition, his
+talents of debate would be most valuable, if there was any security for
+his principles or his judgment. I have no faith in either.
+
+'But after all, nobody is so much to blame as Derby; why did he not
+take higher and surer ground. Why are you all turned out on--neither
+you nor anyone else can say what? You had not even hoisted a flag to
+rally round. You have been like some poor people I have read of in the
+late storm, buried under the ruins of your own edifice, but whether you
+were stifled or crushed, killed by a rafter or a brick, nobody can
+tell. You have died a death so ignoble that it has no name, and the
+Coroner's verdict is "Found Dead."
+
+'Why did you not die in the Protestant cause; on something that some
+party could take an interest in? Why did you spare Cardinal Wiseman?
+Why butter Louis Buonaparte thicker than his own French cooks? Why did
+you lay the ground of the confiscation of landed property by a
+differential income tax and by hinting at taxing property by
+inheritance? "You have left undone the things you ought to have done,
+and you have done those things which you ought not to have done, and
+there is no help for you."
+
+'My own grief is this, that Disraeli's vanity, or as he would say, his
+character, was committed by his electioneering speeches and addresses,
+and that you all, half generosity and half prudence, resolved to stand
+by him rather than break up the Government, which his resignation would
+have done. That's my solution of the greatest political riddle I ever
+encountered.
+
+'I know not what to say about your going to sea, I fear observations on
+your resigning the ship abroad and taking one at home for the mere
+purpose of making up a little time. Pray think well of it. I daresay
+you would receive a civil answer, perhaps get a ship, but _cui bono_.
+What is your flag to you? [Footnote: He was promoted to the rank of
+Vice-Admiral in November 1858.] I wish you were on the Admiral's list
+for the sake of the country if we are to have a war, but I see no
+advantage in it if there is no prospect of distinguished service.
+
+'Give my best love to all the dear people round you and, above all, to
+the dearest of all, whose solid good sense and natural sagacity, quite
+equal to her more charming qualities, will be your best guide in the
+topic last treated. Indeed, if I knew her opinion on any of those
+topics, it would have a prime chance of becoming my own.
+
+'Ever most affectionately hers and yours,
+
+'J. W. CROKER'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Aberdeen Government will always be remembered as that of the period
+of the Crimean War, and it was in connection with that great struggle
+and his wish to serve his country afloat that Lord Hardwicke found just
+reason to complain of more than the mere belittling of his services at
+Genoa which had been his sole reward upon his return to England in 1849.
+
+Lord Hardwicke's desire to obtain active employment at sea so soon as
+hostilities with Russia appeared probable was well known at the
+Admiralty, but political rancour as well as professional jealousy were
+both employed in a secret but active agitation to prevent his obtaining
+that employment. The entirely honourable distinction he had received
+from the King of Sardinia by the bestowal of the order of St. Maurice
+and St. Lazarus was made the opportunity of a series of slanderous
+suggestions which caused him the greatest pain. It was perfectly well
+known that a regulation in force at the English Court forbade the
+acceptance of foreign distinctions of that kind without the express
+permission of the Crown. Yet it was stated that 'The English Government
+had desired that the order should be returned on the ground that Lord
+Hardwicke had acted at Genoa without orders.' Further than this, as
+Lady Hardwicke records, 'Much jealousy was created by his successful
+diplomacy at Genoa, and his enemies disseminated a report that he had
+disobeyed Admiral Sir William Parker's orders, and "made the
+Mediterranean sea too hot to hold him."'
+
+These injurious statements, however, did not reach Lord Hardwicke's
+ears until some time after they were first made--'he was of course
+ignorant of what was going on to defame his professional character and
+stop his career in a service to which he was devoted and in which he
+had spent the best years of his life.' They at length, however, came to
+his notice under more responsible authority than that of mere rumour at
+service clubs, and at a moment when their acceptance by a member of the
+Government was allowed to stand in the way of Lord Hardwicke's
+selection for an important command.
+
+By a recent regulation of the Admiralty, Lord Hardwicke with many other
+senior captains who had failed by a short period to complete the active
+service afloat necessary to entitle them to the rank of rear-admiral,
+was placed upon the retired list. In his case, the regulation took
+effect upon January 28, 1854. Meanwhile, however, the probability in
+1853 of a declaration of war between this country and Russia had led to
+great naval activity, and Lord Hardwicke had applied for active
+employment. 'Sir Charles Napier,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'who fully
+appreciated his courage and ability, applied for him as his
+flag-captain.' His offer, however, as well as Admiral Napier's wish for
+his assistance, were both disregarded by the Admiralty, and his
+appointment as flag-captain refused.
+
+There was, perhaps, no legitimate grievance in this refusal, but at
+this moment information reached Lord Hardwicke through Lord Clarendon,
+that the refusal had been accompanied by a revival at the Admiralty of
+the injurious suggestions, already mentioned, of his having exceeded
+his instructions from Sir William Parker at Genoa.
+
+'I believe it to have been at this juncture,' writes Lady Hardwicke,
+'that his friend Lord Clarendon, feeling acutely his position, informed
+him of the slanders which had been spread abroad. ... This statement
+was made use of by Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty and
+successor to Sir F. Baring, and carried by him to the ears of his best
+friends, the Queen and the Prince Consort.'
+
+It will be readily understood that the adoption of these injurious
+reports by a cabinet minister, and their repetition by him in his
+official capacity to the Queen and Prince Albert, placed the whole
+matter upon a different footing. Queen Victoria, almost from the
+beginning of her reign, had honoured my father with her regard and
+confidence, and so recently as his return from Genoa he had received a
+letter which shows very plainly the terms upon which he stood with his
+Sovereign.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+BUCKINGHAM PALACE: March 4, 1850.
+
+'MY DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+'The Prince is anxious that you should resume your seat at the Council
+of the Duchy of Lancaster which you resigned when you went abroad. I
+hope that you will be willing to do so as it is important for the
+Queen's interest that the persons upon that Council should be well
+acquainted with the peculiar details of the Duchy business, as well as
+generally accustomed to the management of property, and it would be a
+considerable time before any person could acquire the knowledge of the
+subject which you have gained. The change in the Chancellor of the
+Duchy will not, I hope, make the working of the Council less easy.
+
+'Sincerely yours,
+
+'C. B. PHIPPS'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+In such circumstances, and apart altogether from any question of the
+refusal of employment by the Admiralty, it is obvious that the matter
+could not be allowed to rest where it was, and a letter received by
+Lord Hardwicke in September 1853 from Lord Clarendon makes it clear
+that he lost no time in seeking an explanation from Sir James Graham.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+September 30, 1853.
+
+'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,
+
+'I hope you will excuse me for not having answered your letter by
+return of post as I ought to have done, but I assure you that the last
+two days, I have been unable to do anything but fight against an
+extraordinary pressure of public work. My firm belief is that the
+_personal errors_ into which Graham had fallen are now quite removed.
+"Hardwicke is a good sailor, and an officer of real ability and
+merit"--is an extract from a letter of Graham's in answer to mine about
+you; but I see that the bar to your being employed, is your own
+position in the Service and your having one year and eleven months to
+serve afloat before you can render yourself eligible for the Flag.
+There are only three captains above you and if when your turn arrived
+you were in command of a ship, and your full period of requisite
+service was not accomplished, I suppose that a question, which has not
+yet arisen, would then arise, respecting your right to promotion to the
+Active Flag. This I take to be the real difficulty, and your
+professional knowledge will enable you to judge of its value. I sent a
+copy of your note to Graham, and as far as I am concerned I hope you
+will now take any course you may think most expedient, only bearing in
+mind that Graham has no unfriendly feeling towards you. I have said to
+you upon that point, nothing more than what he told me, but I should be
+sorry that he thought I had said less. I fear that all endeavours to
+keep the peace are exhausted or nearly so, and I don't anticipate much
+active hostility at this time of year, if hostilities we are to have.
+The Emperor of Russia is quite without excuse, he persists in asking
+what the Turks cannot concede, and he wants a power in Turkey which
+would be useless to him, except for overturning the Ottoman Empire, the
+independence of which he declares must be maintained.
+
+'Ever yours truly,
+
+'CLARENDON.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+From this letter it is clear that Lord Clarendon as a friend of both
+parties did all he could to explain the conduct of Sir James, but his
+mention of 'personal errors' into which the First Lord had fallen seems
+an ample confirmation of that gentleman's indiscretion in giving an
+official countenance to the rumours of which Lord Hardwicke complained.
+In any case, Lord Clarendon's letter was obviously an explanation
+thoroughly unsatisfactory to Lord Hardwicke, who, as Lady Hardwicke
+writes, 'immediately wrote to Sir William Parker and obtained from him
+the following memorable credential.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+SHENSTONE LODGE, LICHFIELD: 14 Nov., 1853.
+
+'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+'I fully enter into your feeling of mortification and disappointment in
+not obtaining professional appointment in the present threatening
+aspect of affairs; I am much grieved that a fallacious impression
+should for a moment have obtained that the slightest approach to a
+misunderstanding between your Lordship and myself had ever occurred. I
+am indeed at a loss to conceive on what pretence such an idle and
+mischievous rumour could have originated. Sir Francis Baring intimated
+to me the astonishment and annoyance you had expressed to him at such a
+fabrication; I assure you my reply quite corresponded with your
+sentiments. I can truly say that the _Vengeance_ was very
+satisfactorily conducted under your command, while attached to my flag,
+and all your proceedings manifested genuine zeal for the Service. I
+cannot forget with what anxiety your Lordship withdrew your application
+to be relieved in the command of that ship, when on the Squadron being
+ordered to the vicinity of the Dardanelles, there appeared a temporary
+prospect of more active service. I truly regret it that on our
+departure from the East you again felt yourself compelled to resign
+your ship, in consequence of the illness of Lady Hardwicke at a time
+when I believe you were within a short period of completing the
+requisite servitude for your active Flag.
+
+'I remain faithfully and cordially yours,
+
+'W. PARKER, _Admiral_.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'Armed with this letter,' continues Lady Hardwicke, 'he sought an
+audience of the Prince Consort, and stated his case, placing the
+refutation of these calumnies in the Prince's hands. Upon reading this
+generous and truthful statement, Prince Albert expressed his
+satisfaction at having seen it, and his astonishment at the falsehoods
+that had been circulated, and requested Lord Hardwicke that he might
+place it in the hands of the Queen, which he accordingly did and
+returned to express Her Majesty's gratification on its perusal.'
+
+All this took place at the end of 1853: meanwhile Sir Charles Napier
+was unwearying in his applications to the Admiralty to obtain Lord
+Hardwicke's assistance in the expedition which was shortly to sail for
+the Baltic. In January Lord Hardwicke was placed upon the retired list,
+but Sir Charles was still anxious to secure him as one of his admirals,
+as is very clear from a memorandum of a conversation by Lord Hardwicke
+which he left among his papers.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+March 6, 1854.
+
+'I met Sir Charles Napier in the United Service Club. He took me aside
+and told me that Sir James Graham had consulted him as to whom he would
+select as 3rd Divisional Admiral for the Baltic Fleet. He answered Sir
+James Graham by saying that he would have asked for Lord Hardwicke as
+Captain of the Fleet as he preferred him, but he thought he would have
+no chance of having him. But now he was again to select an Admiral, he
+should ask for Lord Hardwicke as he should prefer him to anyone. Sir
+James Graham said, "Very well, I will appoint him, but in this peculiar
+case, I must apply to the Cabinet." The result was the refusal of the
+Cabinet to appoint me, in consequence of their fearing to excite
+emotion in the officers of the Active List; but that although at the
+beginning there was this ground of refusal, yet by and by it might be
+done. Sir Charles Napier added, "I shall want one more Admiral and I
+shall again apply for you."
+
+'H.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The controversy with Sir James Graham perhaps affords a sufficient
+explanation of the failure of Sir Charles's repeated efforts in behalf
+of Lord Hardwicke, though there is no doubt the Government had an
+answer in the Admiralty regulation which had placed him upon the
+retired list.
+
+'Lord Hardwicke's application for employment was brought before the
+Cabinet,' writes Lady Hardwicke, 'but the Admiralty declaring that an
+order in Council to make this exception would bring the whole retired
+list upon their shoulders, his request was politely declined, with the
+feeling that the late enactment had fallen cruelly upon his
+professional career.'
+
+'Few but myself,' concludes Lady Hardwicke, 'who have seen the anguish
+of disappointment caused by such a termination of the cherished
+ambition of a whole life, can at all appreciate the severity of this
+blow. This statement of facts engraven on the tablet of my heart I have
+drawn up with a view of placing in the hands of my dear children the
+means of vindicating their beloved father's memory in case upon any
+future occasion they should be called upon to do so. Let them remember
+that "the Lord nourisheth with discipline" and accept the trials and
+disappointments of life with the same spirit of resignation which their
+beloved father always exhibited, to my great and endless consolation.'
+
+To me, his daughter, it has seemed that the occasion of which my mother
+speaks, for the vindication of my father's memory, has arrived with the
+publication of this memoir of his life, and I have therefore set out
+the facts as she wrote them down.
+
+The long period of Whig rule, which had lasted with the single break of
+a few months in 1852 since the year 1846, was at length terminated by
+the return of Lord Derby's second administration to power in 1858, and
+Lord Hardwicke took office as Lord Privy Seal with a seat in the
+Cabinet. His energy and professional zeal, however, had been fully
+employed since 1856 as the Chairman of a Royal Commission which had
+been appointed to inquire into the question of the manning of the Navy.
+The negative results of the expedition to the Baltic during the late
+war with Russia had brought the question into public notice, and the
+great changes which were taking place in the design and construction of
+ships of war by the invention of the screw propeller and the evolution
+of the ironclad battleship had given a more than ordinary urgency to
+the question of national defence.
+
+Lord Hardwicke entered upon his duties with the greatest energy. One of
+the instructions to the Commission was to 'determine in case of need
+the means necessary to man at short notice thirty or forty sail of the
+line.' In a speech at Cambridge in 1858 he pointed out some facts
+regarding the Navy of which the public were quite ignorant, and which
+pointed to a serious decrease in the naval power of the country which
+caused much uneasiness. Lord Hardwicke reminded his hearers that though
+during the period of the American, Revolutionary, and Napoleonic wars
+we had maintained an establishment of from 105,000 to 140,000 seamen
+and marines, and had experienced little difficulty in manning a fleet
+of ships of the line which averaged 120 sail, yet during the recent war
+with Russia the Admiralty had with difficulty found crews for the
+thirty-three vessels which took part in the operations in the Baltic.
+'These ships,' he said, 'went to sea in such a condition as to inflict
+a positive injustice on the brave officers in command of them, and if
+it had not been for the efficiency of the latter and the way their
+crews were disciplined, they might as well have stopped at home.'
+
+Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort both took great interest in this
+important question, and the Prince in the following letter showed his
+practical knowledge of the subject by urging the importance of the
+training-ship as a source of an efficient personnel for the Navy.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'My DEAR LORD HARDWICKE,
+
+'In your position as chairman of the Manning Committee I wish to draw
+your attention to a point, which I consider of the utmost importance.
+
+'We have two brigs, the _Rollo_ and the _Nautilus_, at Portsmouth and
+Plymouth for apprenticing boys for the Navy. You are perfectly
+acquainted with their excellent system, and the fact that, after having
+completed their time of instruction, these boys form the best sailors
+in the Queen's service, having acquired a taste for the Man-of-War
+service early in life, and are free from any connection with the
+Merchandise. But these two ships give the Navy only about 200 seamen a
+year. What are 200 annually to a fleet of 50,000? Why should not each
+of the Coast Guard Ships have a brig attached to them on their
+respective stations for receiving boys? The brigs are worth nothing to
+the service, and I am told that the applications for the entry of boys
+is always far beyond the present means of receiving, whilst men are
+frequently not to be had. If 2000 boys so trained were added every year
+to the Navy for ten years' service, it would be none too many. It would
+only give us 20,000 men at the end of ten years; but these would be
+permanently added to the stock of seamen of the country, which I am
+sorry to say appears to be gradually falling below our wants.
+
+'Ever,
+
+'Yours Truly,
+
+'ALBERT.'
+
+OSBORNE: July 24, 1856
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The labours of Lord Hardwicke and his colleagues were received with
+general approbation on all sides, although his own declared opinion of
+the advisability of reviving the Press-gang in certain circumstances
+was not generally accepted.
+
+I must here mention that although Lord Hardwicke was debarred by the
+regulation in force from accepting the decoration from King Victor
+Emmanuel of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, his Majesty was still
+determined to mark his sense of my father's services to Italy at Genoa.
+Six years after the revolution of Genoa he caused a medal to be struck
+bearing the national arms and inscribed with the words:
+
+'Al Valore Militare. Lord Conte di Hardwicke, commandante il vascello
+_Vengeance_. Distinti servizii pel Ristabilmento del Ordine. Genova,
+1849.'
+
+Queen Victoria's permission to wear this medal was accorded to Lord
+Hardwicke by the following letter from Lord Clarendon.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+GROSVENOR CRESCENT: July 24, 1855.
+
+'MY DEAR HARDWICKE,
+
+'The Queen's permission has been duly received for you to wear the
+medal conferred upon you by the King of Sardinia and I have
+communicated the same officially to the Admiralty.
+
+'Very truly yours,
+
+'CLARENDON.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+The end of every life is the hardest to describe. The time of rest must
+come, and with it retirement from public work. The parent begins life
+again in his children, and in making place for them in the world. We
+have followed the career of an active and energetic man, who thoroughly
+lived his life, and enjoyed it. We have seen his first great
+disappointment in the profession that he loved, when an opportunity
+offered itself for service under Sir Charles Napier in the Baltic Fleet
+during the Crimean War. To die in action, fighting for England, was his
+ambition, and the failure of an opportunity for its fulfilment brought
+with it much depression.
+
+Meanwhile, however, he lost no time in vain regrets, or ceased from
+active and useful work on his estate and in his county. We have read a
+letter describing old 'Wimple' in 1781; I shall now try to carry on the
+description in few words from 1855. It was a beloved home; we 'were
+seven,' and in the adjoining rectory lived my uncle the Hon. and Rev.
+Archdeacon Yorke, Canon of Ely, with six cousins, a merry party in
+holiday time. The house was big and the furniture, books and pictures
+fine, but my father's life would have satisfied the severest of
+socialist critics by its simplicity. Our own dress was scrupulously
+simple. Our boots I well remember, they were all made by a little
+hump-back cobbler who lived at New Wimpole, and used to come by the
+avenue to the 'Big House,' as it was always called, to measure us.
+These substantial thick boots and leather gaiters from the village
+shop, with short linsey skirts, formed our walking attire. And in the
+Christmas holiday we all tore about the muddy fields in 'paper-chases.'
+
+Later on I remember writing a paper for my friends on how to dress on
+eighty pounds a year, which was my allowance at eighteen.
+
+The cottages were beautifully clean and the furniture solid, all the
+men wore smock-frocks and very thick boots with large nails that lasted
+a year: no such thing as a blue suit and yellow boots would have been
+tolerated then. The best dressed wife wore a red cloak and neat black
+bonnet. The family Bible was found in every cottage, and my uncle gave
+two cottage Bible-readings every week of his life. There was no attempt
+at Cathedral services in country churches. The Communion service was
+reverently given once a month, and on the great feast-days my uncle
+preached in a black gown. And such a fuss was made when the black
+waistcoat now commonly worn by the clergy was introduced: it was called
+the _M. B. Waistcoat_ (mark of the beast).
+
+My uncle ultimately adopted it, when promoted to a canonry at Ely. What
+changes since those days, what luxury has crept in everywhere, and how
+often one sighs over the simplicity of the past, which certainly
+produced a stronger, if not a better race.
+
+My father was very courteous, especially to ladies, cheery, full of
+life and spirits; liberal in heart though a strong Conservative in
+politics. If anything pleasant or amusing was on hand, such as a dance
+or our 'private theatricals,' he would wave his hands and say, 'Clear
+the decks! Clear the decks!' We often used to 'clear the decks' for
+games of _Post_ and Magical Music!... Evenings at Wimpole were never
+dull. We attempted to keep up old traditions, and intellect and
+vitality were not wanting. There was always a sprinkling of rising men
+in all the practical departments of life among the guests at Wimpole,
+statesmen, agriculturists, shipbuilders and owners, besides intimates
+and relations; dear old 'Schetky' with his guitar among the most
+popular, and the delight of the children after dinner when he would
+sing his favourite ballad 'When on his Baccy Box he viewed.' Amateur
+music was greatly encouraged, not that it came up to the requisitions
+of the present day, but it was very pleasant. My mother's ballad
+singing was exceptional, and without accompaniment very interesting.
+
+'Annie Laurie' and all Lady John Scott's ballads, besides 'Caller
+Herrin''--the Scotch cry for fresh herring--were her favourites and
+brought tears to one's eyes. Nothing was spared where education was
+concerned, and music and languages were among the great advantages
+afforded to myself and my sisters. To the latter I attribute one of the
+greatest enjoyments of my life, especially when in later years I often
+lived in Paris. Histrionic art also was cultivated in the holidays
+under the able management of uncle Eliot Yorke, M.P. The 'Wimpole
+Theatre' opened in 1796 with 'The Secret,' with Lady Anne, Lady
+Catherine and Lady Elizabeth Yorke and Viscount Royston as the caste.
+It was reopened in 1851 with the 'Court of Oberon: or The Three
+Wishes,' by the Dowager Countess of Hardwicke, with Viscount Royston,
+the Hon. Eliot Yorke, Mr. Sydney Yorke, Lady Elizabeth Yorke, the Hon.
+John Manners Yorke, Lady Agneta Yorke, the Hon. Victor Yorke, and the
+Hon. Alexander Yorke in the caste, and the Hon. Eliot Yorke, M.P., as
+stage manager. This company in 1853 repeated the 'Court of Oberon' with
+'The Day after the Wedding.' In 1854 'The Day after the Wedding' was
+again given with a comic interlude 'Personation' by Charles Kemble and
+a popular farce 'Turning the Tables.'
+
+In 1855 'Personation' and 'Popping the Question' were given before
+their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary. A
+very smart party was invited to meet their Royal Highnesses, and a
+great deal of merriment was our reward.
+
+The excellent training of 'Uncle Eliot' during the dull winter evenings
+made the winter holidays a real joy; we rehearsed and acted in the
+Gallery, originally built to hold the Harleian Manuscripts, and divided
+by columns into three parts, making an admirable theatre and a handsome
+proscenium. On one great occasion we had Frank Matthews as prompter,
+and we none of us forget seeing him initiate Lady Agneta in the art of
+making a stage kiss. Oh! how we laughed. He cried so much during the
+performance that he prompted badly; but perhaps the dear man was
+touched by the family talent! A letter from Tom Taylor recommending
+plays suitable for our company will be read with interest.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'There is a play called "Hearts are Trumps" which I think would suit
+your friends, from what you tell me of their troupe and requirements.
+We played a piece at Canterbury called "Palace and Prison" adapted by
+Simpson from "La Main gauche et la main droite" which, as far as I
+remember, is unobjectionable. I think Palgrave Simpson had it printed,
+though I do not think it has been acted in London. My little comedietta
+"Nine Points of the Law" is free from all critical situations and
+language, but perhaps Mr. Sterling's part may be too old for your
+_jeune premier_.
+
+'There is a piece called the "Secret Agent" well suited to drawing-room
+theatricals; you might look at it. "You can't marry your Grandmother"
+is a good one-act piece, free from objectionable situation and
+dialogue. See also "Time tries all," "A Match in the Dark," and "Kill
+or Cure."
+
+'Ever yours truly,
+
+'TOM TAYLOR.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+In 1857 the Wimpole Theatre reopened with the same company and gave
+'Sunshine through the Clouds' and 'Only a Halfpenny'; and in 1860 for
+the last time with 'The Jacobite' by Planche; a scene from 'King John';
+and 'Helping Hands' by Tom Taylor. The last was a beautiful play, but
+too refined for the ordinary theatre, and consequently did not have the
+run it deserved.
+
+All these performances were strictly confined to the family, including
+the painting of the scenery and the composition of Prologues,
+Epilogues, &c. As we said in one of those compositions, 'We are no
+London stars; we're all of Yorke.'
+
+While we were play-acting, my father would continue persistently the
+work of his estate and county. It was his habit to hire his own
+labourers for the estate and home farm, and these, well and carefully
+chosen, were secure in their posts from year to year, and loved him. He
+also made a rule every Saturday of passing elaborate accounts at the
+estate office with his steward. He dined at Cambridge once a year with
+all his tenants; never was a landlord more beloved. The old-fashioned
+harvest home was celebrated in the spacious coachhouse cleared for the
+occasion; my mother and 'all of us' went down to welcome the labourers
+and hear my father address them. He settled things in his own way,
+sometimes differing considerably from ordinary routine, but he was
+scrupulously just, liberal and kind, with a most attractive sense of
+humour.
+
+My father had seen and felt acutely the harm raw spirits had done in
+the Navy. This made him very careful when at Wimpole. According to old
+custom, beer was brewed twice a year, and he kept the key of the cellar
+and punctually opened it every morning before breakfast to give out the
+'measure' for daily consumption. I remember so well a new butler
+arriving with a pompous manner and _very red nose_. Shortly after
+arrival he was taken ill and retired to his bed for several days, the
+family doctor from Royston attending him. On his recovery, going into
+luncheon with us all, my father with his usual courtesy said, 'I hope
+you are better.' Answer: 'Oh yes, thank you, my Lord, it was only _the
+Change of Beer!'_
+
+I remember the average doctor's bill for domestic servants at Wimpole
+was £100 a year. May I be allowed for once to speak of self? Mine, with
+a more or less teetotal home, comes on an average to £1; I give extra
+wages and no strong drink, and this system works admirably, except for
+the _poor Doctors_, whom I fear sometimes find their incomes sadly
+diminished by the Temperance movement!
+
+My father made great additions and improvements at Wimpole House. He
+found it needing repair, and after releading the extensive roof, he
+built offices on the left side, and later restored the large
+conservatory on the right, besides entirely rebuilding the stables, and
+placing the handsome iron gates at the Arrington entrance. A group of
+sculpture by Foley in the pediment of the stone porch over the front
+door greatly improved the centre of the house, which was very flat. In
+round numbers he spent £100,000 in these improvements. There were
+twelve reception rooms _en suite_, including the beautiful chapel
+painted by Sir James Thornhill, and no sooner had No. 12 been done up
+than No. 1 began to call out! It was always beginning, never ending.
+
+In 1867 came the first home bereavement, the first heart-breaking loss,
+from which my father never recovered; he kept to his daily work, but
+gaiety forsook him, and the trouble no doubt told upon his
+constitution, which was threatened with a serious form of rheumatic
+gout, and with gradual heart failure. His beloved third son, Victor
+Alexander, Queen Victoria's godson, died suddenly whilst assisting at a
+penny reading at Aston Clinton, the residence of Sir Anthony and Lady
+de Rothschild, to whom he was devoted. Victor was a lad of great
+promise; he was in the Horse Artillery, and a bad accident in Canada is
+supposed to have left some injury to the back of the head and spine. He
+had been suffering from pains in the head, but was in the highest of
+spirits the day before he died. An accomplished fellow, fond of music
+and poetry, he was reading 'The Grandmother' by Tennyson, and at verse
+three--
+
+  Willy my beauty, my eldest born, the flower of the flock,
+  Never a man could fling him, for Willy stood like a rock'--
+
+he fell forward on his face and never spoke again.
+
+The tenderness and sympathy shown by Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild
+on this occasion made a deep impression on our bereaved hearts. It was
+quite beyond words, and from it sprang that happy marriage between my
+brother Eliot Yorke, Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and Annie
+de Rothschild, their daughter. It was founded on the truest love, and
+admiration of great qualities which have stood the test of many years.
+The marriage took place in Wimpole Church in February 1873.
+
+It was about June in the same year that my father left Wimpole for the
+last time in an invalid carriage. The fatigue of the journey brought on
+a severe attack of heart failure, and as he reached his house in
+Portman Square, we feared it was his last. But not so. A few weeks
+later he reached his beloved Sydney Lodge, where his room was arranged
+on the ground floor and a young doctor always in attendance. His
+patience and fortitude were heroic. Unable to lie down, he sat for
+weeks in an armchair, supported at night by his two attendants. Nothing
+could be more sad than to witness his lingering end. Sometimes he
+rallied sufficiently to be wheeled into the drawing-room and be
+refreshed by our singing hymns to him in parts. He was a firm believer
+in Christ, and constantly asked for St. Paul's Epistles to be read to
+him: 'Read me my St. Paul,' he would say. The conclusions of the great
+Apostle to the Gentiles as to the divinity of Christ supported him
+through all his troubles.
+
+His last letter, dated September 7, 1873, was written to his friend Tom
+Cocks.
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I send my Banker's Book and beg you will return it made up with a
+balance. I am a dying man, and shall be glad when it pleases God to
+call me home.
+
+'Yours truly, my dear Cocks,
+
+'HARDWICKE.'
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+On September 17 he expired at Sydney Lodge, Hamble, conscious to the
+last, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Wimpole. These lines,
+'to his beloved memory,' were written by his widow and engraved on a
+stone cross erected in the grounds of Sydney Lodge overlooking the
+Southampton Water:
+
+  'To thee, the fondly loved one I deplore,
+  I dedicate this spot for evermore.
+  Here, 'neath the shade of spreading beech, we sought
+  Some brief distraction to overburdened thought,
+  Some balm for pain, immunity from care,
+  To lift thy soul and for its flight prepare.
+  Here forest glade and wat'ry flood combine,
+  To stamp on nature the impress divine;
+  The sluggish murmur of retiring tide
+  Whispers "Much longer thou can'st not abide";
+  The trembling light of sun's retreating ray
+  Suggests th' effulgence of more perfect day,
+  And soothing warblers of the feathered tribe
+  Hymning their orisons at eventide,
+  Point to the "Sun of righteousness which springs,"
+  Saviour of souls, "with healing in its wings."
+  Hallowed by sacred musings be this ground
+  Where last we sat, and consolation found.
+  Brief be the space which binds me here below,
+  Thy spirit fled, all life has lost its glow.'
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abercromby, Sir W.
+  Addington, Rt. Hon. Henry
+  Algiers, Dey of; expedition against;
+    Bombardment of; slaves released
+  Anaguasti
+  Ancestry
+  Anson, Mr.
+  Asarta, General
+  Avezzana
+
+  Barbary pirates
+  Baring, Sir Francis
+  Berlin
+  Bermuda
+  Bernadotte
+  Bevan, Lady Agneta
+  Brisbane, Captain
+  Bute, Lord
+  Byron, Lord; 'Maid of Athens'
+
+  Cambridge, Duchess of, and
+    Princess Mary
+  Camden, Lord
+  Campbell, Lord
+  Canea
+  Capellan, Admiral von der
+  Capo d'lstria
+  Carlo Felice
+  Cavour
+  Charles Albert
+  Chrisaphopulo
+  Clanricarde, Marchioness of
+  Clarendon, Earl of
+  Cochrane, Lord
+  Cocks, Margaret (Lady Hardwicke)
+  Coleotronis
+  Corfu
+  Corn Laws, repeal of
+  Croker, J. W.
+
+  Dantzig
+  D'Azeglio
+  De Launay, General
+  Derby, Earl of
+  Devonshire, Duke of
+  Disraeli, Mr.
+  Dover, Lord
+  Druses, the
+  Dundas, Capt.
+
+  Exmouth, Admiral Viscount
+
+  Fox, Henry
+
+  Garibaldi
+  Garrick
+  Genoa
+  George III
+  Gladstone, Mr.
+  Grafton, Duke of
+  Graham, Sir James
+  Greek Committee, the
+  Grey, Marchioness
+
+  Hamburg
+  Hardwicke, first Earl of
+    Lord Chancellor
+    character as a judge
+    political influence
+    marriage and children
+  ------second Earl of
+  ------third Earl of
+    Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
+  ------Charles Philip, fourth
+  Earl of,
+    birth, education, enters navy
+    first ships
+    letters from Mediterranean
+    visits Genoa
+    joins _Queen Charlotte_, Lord Exmouth's flagship
+    letter
+    commands gunboat at bombardment of Algiers
+    sails for Halifax
+    _Crazy Jane_ sloop
+    letters from Halifax
+    lieutenant
+    commander
+    anecdotes of
+    commands _Alacrity_ in Mediterranean,
+    mission to suppress Greek piracy
+    at Malta
+    Corfu
+    Gibraltar
+    visits Lord Byron
+    the 'Green Bag,'
+    at Smyrna
+    massacre at Psara
+    visit to Pasha
+    opinion of the Greek Committee
+    Odysseus
+    visit to Ali Bey at Magnesia
+    Ephesus
+    Malta again
+    Beirut
+    Sidon
+    visits Lady Hester Stanhope
+    account of Tyre
+    goes to Alexandria and Cairo
+    holiday in Sweden and Norway: Kiel
+    Copenhagen
+    Gottenborg, incident at
+    Christiania
+    the Storthing
+    dinner with Bernadotte
+    the Doverfeld
+    Trondhjem
+    Diet at Stockholm
+    conversation with Bernadotte
+    desire for active service
+    returns to Mediterranean in _Alligator_
+    diplomatic duties in connection with Greek settlement
+    chases pirate Macri Georgio
+    proceeds to Crete
+    grief at leaving _Alligator_
+    voyage home; Reform question
+    Sir Joseph Yorke's death
+    his last letter
+    elected M.P. for Reigate
+    for Cambridgeshire
+    marriage
+    succeeds to Earldom
+    country gentleman
+    President of the Agricultural Society
+    Lord-Lieutenant
+    Lord-in-Waiting
+    attends on King of Prussia
+    visit to
+    fire at Hamburg
+    Berlin and Sans Souci
+    goes with King to Court of St. Petersburg, Dantzig
+    Cronstadt
+    impressions of Emperor of Russia
+    and Russian Royal Family
+    Peterhof and Court life at St. Petersburg
+    review of military cadets
+    takes leave of Emperor
+    at Erdmansdorf with King of Prussia
+    and Konigsberg
+    Marienberg
+    Dresden pictures
+    Dresden fair
+    Sans Souci
+    attends Emperor of Russia in England
+    the Queen and Prince Consort visit Wimpole
+    Her Majesty's opinion of him
+    Wimpole cheese for King Louis Philippe
+    correspondence with Sir R. Peel
+    attitude on repeal of Corn Laws
+    resigns Court appointment
+    relations with Mr. Disraeli
+    wish for naval employment
+    Mr. Croker's opinion
+    appointed to command the _Vengeance_ under Sir W. Parker;
+      ordered to Leghorn
+    his instructions
+    at Genoa
+    letters to Lady Hardwicke describing his action during the
+      Genoese crisis
+    letters commending his conduct in having saved Genoa from
+      pillage and ruin from La Marmora, Syndic of Genoa, Sir
+      W. Parker, Lord Palmerston, &c.
+    but official approval somewhat grudging
+    joins Lord Derby's Cabinet as Postmaster-General
+    applies for command in the Baltic under Sir C. Napier
+    refusal
+    controversy with Sir James Graham
+    Lord Privy Seal in Lord Derby's second Cabinet
+    Chairman of Royal Commission on manning of the Navy
+    King of Italy's medal
+    life at Wimpole
+    evening amusements and society
+    music and theatricals
+    estate work
+    improvements at Wimpole
+    death of Hon. Victor Yorke
+    marriage of Hon. Eliot Yorke
+    his own illness and death at Sydney Lodge
+  Hardwicke, seventh Earl of
+  ------Countess of, Margaret. See Cocks.
+  ------Countess of, Susan. See Liddell.
+  Hotham, Sir H.
+  Hurd
+  Hydra
+  Hypsilantes, Prince Alexander
+
+  Independence, War of
+  Ismail Pacha
+  Italian unity, movement for
+
+  Karabusa in Crete
+  Keppel, Admiral
+  Königsberg
+
+  La Marmora, General
+
+  Liddell, Hon. Susan (Countess of Hardwicke)
+  Liverpool, Earl of
+
+  Magnesia
+  Maitland, Sir T.
+  Mansfield, Lord
+  Marienberg
+  Masséna
+  Matthews
+  Mavrocordato
+  Mazzini
+  Mecklenburg Schwerin, Duke of
+  Mehemet Ali
+  Melbourne, Viscount
+  Miaoulis, Admiral
+  Milne, Sir D.
+  Missolonghi
+  Montesquieu
+  Morden, Barony
+
+  Napier, Sir C.
+  Nauplia
+  Navarino
+  Nelson, Lord
+  Newcastle, Duke of
+  Nore, mutiny at the
+  Normanby, Marquis of
+  Novara, battle of
+
+  Odysseus, the Chief
+  Otho, King
+  Oxford, Harley, Earls of
+
+  Palmerston, Viscount
+  Parker, Sir W.
+  Peel, Sir R.
+  Perceval, Rt. Hon. Spencer
+  Pitt, William (Lord Chatham)
+  Pitt, William
+  Plumptre
+  Prince Consort
+  Prior
+  Prussia, King of
+  Psara
+
+  Rattray, Elizabeth Weake (Lady Yorke)
+  Reform Bill
+  Rockingham, Lord
+  Rodney, Lord
+  Rothschild, Sir A. and Lady de
+  Royston, Lord
+  Russell, Lord John
+  Russia, Emperor of (Nicholas I)
+
+  Sadowa, battle of
+  St. Germans, Countess of
+  Schetky, John Christian
+  Smyrna
+  Somers, Lord Chancellor
+  Stanhope, Lady Hester
+  Stanhope, Col. Leicester
+  Stanislas, King of Poland
+  Stanley, Lord. See Earl of Derby
+  Sydney Lodge
+
+  Taylor, Tom
+  Trevelyan, Sir George's 'Life of Fox'
+  Tyre
+
+  Victor, Emmanuel I
+  Victor, Emmanuel II
+  Victoria, Queen
+
+  Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester
+  Watson, Dr.
+  Wellington, Duke of
+  Wilkes, John
+  Wilmot, Lord Justice
+  Wimpole
+
+  Yorke, Lady Agneta
+  ------Agneta (Hon. Mrs. Charles)
+  ------Hon. Alexander G.
+  ------Archdeacon
+  ------Hon. Charles (second Chancellor)
+  ------Rt. Hon. Charles Philip, M.P.
+  ------Hon. Eliot
+  ------Lady Elizabeth
+  ------Hon. Grantham (Dean of Worcester)
+  ------James, Bishop of Ely
+  ------Hon. John
+  ------Hon. Sir Joseph (Lord Dover)
+  ------Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney, K.C.B.
+  ------Hon. Victor A.
+  Yorkes of Forthampton
+  ------of Hannington
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of
+Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N., by Lady Biddulph of Ledbury
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