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diff --git a/old/7york10.txt b/old/7york10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16ba6c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7york10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8583 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of +Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N., by Lady Biddulph of Ledbury + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. + A Memoir + +Author: Lady Biddulph of Ledbury + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7192] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 26, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES P. YORKE, IV *** + + + + +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 graves dans mon cour et dans mon esprit d'une +maniere a 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 _levee_, 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 Lubeck 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 _Espiegle_, 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 _eclat_ 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 +L30, 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 _debut_ with +so much _eclat_ 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 _passee_, 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 e +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 _entree_ 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 Interprete et Lieutenant a 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 L300 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'hote_ 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 Trolhatta 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 L1250 sterling of silver per ann. Sixty miners +are employed at L14 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 +L150,000. 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 a 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. _Voila 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. Resiere was +there also. This Mons. Resiere 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 Resiere 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 L10 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 L100,000. 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 L500,000, 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 facade, 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 +Furstenwald. + +'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 facade +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 Fete, 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 _fete_ 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 theatre_ 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 Konigsberg, 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 Konigsberg 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 Konigsberg 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 Konigsberg 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 roue +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'etat_. + +'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 +_acharne_.' + +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 regime_ 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 mediaval 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 _forcats_ +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 _tete-a-tete_ 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 depeches tres importantes a vous communiquer. Si ce n'est +pas une indiscretion je vous prierai de passer un moment ici d'autant +plus que j'espere le Sindic de la ville voudra y venir aussi ainsi que +je l'ai invite. + +'Votre tres humble serviteur, + +'ALPHONSE LA MARMORA.' + + * * * * * + +Letter from the Syndic of Genoa to Lord Hardwicke. + +'MILORD, + +'Le Syndic de la Ville de Genes s'empresse a votre demande de vous +envoyer les copies des projets de capitulation entre les representants +de la Ville sousdite et le General La Marmora contr[e]-signees par vous +a l'original, et cela d'une maniere toute confidentielle et sans aucun +caractere d'autenticite, le Municipe ne pouvant pas, (des que tout est +rentre dans l'ordre,) se meler d'aucune chose qui directement ou +indirectement puisse avoir trait a la politique. + +'Agreez, Milord, les sentimens de haute estime et de reconnaissance que +nous et la Ville entiere vous devons par la part genereuse que vous avez +pris pour la conciliation de nos differences. + +'De V Se Milord, + +'Tres-humble et tres obeissant serviteur + +'le Syndic + +'A. ROFUMOTTI.' + +GENES: 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. + +SECRETAIRERIE D'ETAT POUR LES AFFAIRES ETRANGERES. + +TURIN: le 22 Avril, 1849. + +'MILORD, + +'J'ai eu l'honneur de faire connaitre au Roi, mon auguste Souverain, les +importans services que vous avez rendus a Son Gouvernement pendant les +graves evenemens qui ont afflige la ville de Genes et l'empressement +efficace avec lequel vous avez puissamment seconde Mr le General de La +Marmora pour y ramener l'ordre. Sa Majeste, prenant en bienveillante +consideration l'activite que vous avez deployee pour empecher toutes +nouvelles bandes de factieux de penetrer dans la place et de se joindre +aux rebelles, ainsi que les mesures promptes et energiques que vous avez +adoptees pour prevenir la mise en liberte des forcats, detenus dans le +bagne, que les revoltes voulaient armer, a pris la determination de vous +donner, Milord, un temoignage eclatant de Sa satisfaction Royale, en +vous conferant la croix de Commandeur de Son Ordre religieux et +militaire des Saints Maurice et Lazare. + +'Persuade que vous trouverez, Milord, dans cette marque flatteuse de la +bienveillance du Roi, une preuve du prix que Sa Majeste attache au +service important que, suivant les intentions toujours si amicales de +l'Angleterre, Son ancienne et fidele alliee, vous avez rendu a Son +Gouvernement dans les circonstances penibles ou il s'est trouve, je +m'empresse de vous envoyer ci-joint la decoration qui vous est destinee. + +'En me reservant de vous transmettre votre diplome aussitot que la +Grande Maitrise de l'Ordre de St Maurice me l'aura fait parvenir, je +vous prie d'agreer, Milord, les assurances de ma consideration tres +distinguee. + +'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 Leon 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 a Son Gouvernement pendant les graves +evenemens qui ont afflige la ville de Genes et l'empressement efficace +avec lequel vous avez puissamment seconde M. le General 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 L100 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 L1; 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 L100,000 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 +Konigsberg + +La Marmora, General + +Liddell, Hon. Susan (Countess of Hardwicke) +Liverpool, Earl of + +Magnesia +Maitland, Sir T. +Mansfield, Lord +Marienberg +Massena +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 + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLES P. YORKE, IV *** + +This file should be named 7york10.txt or 7york10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7york11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7york10a.txt + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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