265 |
Important consequences of Colonel
Stanhope’s proceedings—His attacks on me—The Greek Committee
invited to investigate them—He engages in opposition to the Greek government—Goes
to Greece to regenerate it—His qualities for a legislator—Greece to be regenerated
on Mr. Bentham’s principles, and by force—Engages individuals
to write against the British government, and implicates the committee and the Greeks in the
same hostility—Does what he can to involve them in disputes with the Holy
Alliance—His favourable opinion of Mavrocordato—Attachment of
the Greeks to the prince—Change in Colonel Stanhope’s
opinion—Source of the change—His abuse of the prince—The prince opposes his
whims—Former situation of Odysseus—An object of suspicion to
the government—Is favored by Capt. Trelawney and Col.
Stanhope—Sudden change in the opinion of the
latter—Odysseus flatters Colonel
Stanhope—The Colonel wants to put power into his hands—Intrigues to
break up the brigade—Suspicions entertained of Colonel
Stanhope—Intercepted letter of
Sophianopulo—Captain Trelawney’s
recommendation to break up the brigade—Colonel Stanhope’s
order for this purpose—In what respect opposed to the wishes of Lord
Byron—Letter of Mavrocordato—Colonel
Stanhope sets up a new race of Pachas—Colonel
Stanhope’s right to break up the brigade questioned—Formed by
Lord Byron, and placed by him and the committee under Prince
Mavrocordato—My instructions on this head—Insulting language of
Colonel Stanhope—Source of our authority for being in
Greece—Conclusion that Colonel Stanhope had no right to break up the
brigade—His improper mode of transmitting orders for this purpose
266 | COLONEL STANHOPE’S PROCEEDINGS. |
In the last chapter I shewed what an immeasurable distance there was
between Lord Byron and the soldier who has censured him.
That soldier was, however, the agent of the Greek committee, and could scarcely differ from, or
ill-treat the most enlightened and zealous friend of the Greek cause without injuring that
cause; and that he did injure it is what I mean now to shew. It is impossible that the people
of England, who so generously subscribed their money to aid the Greeks, can see with
indifference the manner in which that has been employed. It is impossible, also, that this
country, which, by supplying the Greeks with money as a loan, has become deeply interested in
their success, can see with indifference any man or set of men amongst ourselves pursuing a
series of measures, calculated in my apprehension to ruin Greece. I am personally concerned in
this matter, for it was through me and through the brigade I commanded, that Colonel Stanhope both insulted the memory of Lord
Byron, and injured the cause of the Greeks. It was not enough, also, for this
doughty Colonel to impugn the Greeks
HIS ATTACKS ON ME. | 267 |
I quote these passages to shew that I am not the original assailant; I do
not, however, mean here to enter into any vindication of my conduct; if my employers, the Greek
committee, are not satisfied with it, and with the account I have given them of the money
intrusted to me, they have redress in their power. I have asked for investigation, I have
supplicated them to meet me. Why have they not done it? Mr.
Bowring can probably answer; but neither he nor any other person can say that I
have avoided investigation, or refused to enter into the fullest explanation of my proceedings.
Colonel Stanhope is a member of that committee; why has
he not procured a public investigation, and caused a public exposure? Why has he, in the
insidious passage quoted above, and
268 | ACCUSATIONS REFUTED. |
The second accusation, of blustering and swaggering, is one of Colonel Stanhope’s usual vague assertions. It is precisely
the same accusation he makes against Lord Byron; so that I
only find myself honoured by his attributing to me a trait of character, common also to that
great man. Lord Byron and myself were, I suppose, among the few persons
who had the skill to see through the charlatanism of Colonel
Stanhope’s political regulations and pretensions, the good sense not to
natter his egregious vanity, and the courage to resist his usurpations. Borrowing a feature,
probably, from his own character, he has on this account attributed bullying to one and
blustering to the other. He will find, however, as he has already
A CONSPIRACY IN GREECE. | 269 |
As to his accusation that I said there was a conspiracy, and he was at the head of it, I have since, unfortunately, seen no reason to alter the opinion I then had formed; on the contrary, I here repeat what I then said, and shall state the grounds of my opinion. I trust I shall shew that there was such a conspiracy, that it was conducted by intrigues, that Colonel Stanhope lent his aid to it, and that its object was to destroy the influence of Prince Mavrocordato; I trust I shall also shew that Colonel Stanhope, by his conduct in this whole business, did incalculable injury to the Greek cause. If I shew this, the public, or at least all that portion of it interested in the success of the Greeks, and who have subscribed to assist them, will call on the Greek committee to account for that vote of approbation with which they hailed the return of Colonel Stanhope to England. To trace the whole business, I must go a little into detail, and begin at a period antecedent to my arrival in Greece.
In the first place, it is quite evident that Colonel
Stanhope went out to Greece with the idea of regenerating that country. He
almost says as much. “Money is what I want here; a little from the committee, a little
from the Quakers, schools, presses, posts, hospitals; all will then flourish;
270 | COLONEL STANHOPE A REFORMER. |
Colonel Stanhope carried in his head plans for organizing
the army, regulating the government, establishing schools, setting up newspapers, forming
utilitarian societies, running mails, instructing the people, reforming the rulers, changing
the religion, framing codes of law, regulating judicial proceedings, and in short, for doing
every thing. He had a constitution ready cut and dried; and he set about all these mighty
projects without any of that previous acquaintance with the Greeks which one might expect would
at least be possessed by any man who proposed to legislate for them. He had indeed been in
Hindostan, and had such a correct idea of the mode of treating the Greeks, that he recommended
the Greek committee to consult Anglo-Indians, in order to ascertain the best means of treating
the Greeks. “In all things connected with Greece,” he says,
WISHES BENTHAMISM ESTABLISHED. | 271 |
But mere regeneration was not enough for Colonel Stanhope, it was to be regeneration according to Mr. Bentham’s principles. His doctrines were recommended to the Greeks on every occasion; he is called “the first jurist of the age,” “the most enlightened man of the most enlightened period of the world,” and his books and his writings are pointed out to the Greeks as the guides of life and the sanctuaries of wisdom. I know nothing of Mr. Bentham’s principles, and can therefore say nothing of them; but I do know that they have never yet been reduced to practice. However just they may be abstractedly, they never can be fit for the adoption of any people, (unless they are to be governed by the will of Mr. Bentham instead of their own will,) till they know and appreciate them. It is tyranny to impose any code of laws, however admirable in themselves, on any country. Mr. Bentham’s principles are not known and appreciated by the Greeks, and therefore are not proper for their immediate adoption.
272 | COL. STANHOPE AN IMPROPER AGENT. |
Never was there a visionary, therefore, less fit to legislate for such a
rude country as Greece than Colonel Stanhope, loaded and
primed with the legislative tenets of Mr. Bentham, and
ready to enforce them on the most approved Hindostanee method. This single circumstance would,
in every rational man’s estimation, have been quite enough to induce the Greek committee,
which had nothing whatever to do with reforming Greece, and did not require a resident there,
such as the East India Company maintains at the courts of its tributary sovereigns, to pause
before they sent such a man as their representative. It is, however, to be apprehended, that
their own plans too much resembled those of Colonel Stanhope. In addition,
also, to his being a visionary and a theorist, he was a soldier—a man bred up in habits
of severe command and rigid obedience. He was a sort of Mussulman legist, ready to thrust
freedom down the throats of the common herd of mankind at the point of the sword, and ready
both to expound and enforce his theories. It was scarcely possible to have selected a worse
description of person to intrust with power. After he had proved by his conduct what were the
objects he had in view, the influential and managing members of the Greek committee, being
either visionaries like himself, or ignorant of the most common characteristics of human
nature, and in either case unfit
STANHOPE ATTACKS THE IONIAN GOVERNMENT. | 273 |
As proofs of his unfitness, which must have been known to the Greek
committee, for I take them from his own letters addressed to the honorary secretary of that
committee for its information, I shall quote a few specimens of his conduct. At Milan, he
engages a Monsieur M. to write a short historical pamphlet on the conduct
of our government in the Ionian islands. “I have recommended
him,” he says, “to select a number of strong facts, and
to state them in so soft a tone that even the sensitive nerves of delicate politicians may
not shrink from their perusal. This pamphlet will be sent over to the Greek committee for dispersion in the newspapers,” p. 18. “All
public bodies, and eminent men I have conversed with, agree in the expediency of changing the character of the government of the Ionian
Islands”, p. 23. From Ancona, he tells Mr.
Bowring, that a Greek settled there is to send him (of
course for the Greek committee) all the acts of mal-administration in the
Ionian Islands. Here, then, before we have reached the twentieth page in Colonel Stanhope’s book, before he has arrived at Greece,
we find him engaging in intrigues against the government of the Ionian Islands, and implicating
the Greek committee in the same sort of conduct. They were to
274 | HIS HOSTILITY TO THE HOLY ALLIANCE. |
When Colonel Stanhope was so little
inclined to be prudent towards his own government, which had much power to hurt him, though he
probably relied on his family influence for protection, it cannot be expected that he should be
more kindly disposed towards Austria, Russia, and the Holy Alliance. Every page of his book
shews his hostility to these governments. To that hostility no man can object, but it was
acting in a most unfriendly manner to the Greeks, to send, as the representative of the English
committee, a man who was sure to involve them in disputes with these powers; who was prompt to
act on those feelings of hatred towards the Holy Alliance, which, however justifiable in an
Englishman, are quite unsuitable to the Greeks. After seeing such proofs of Colonel
Stanhope’s hostility to the Austrians, as his book contains, and when we
know that the press at Missolonghi was under his control, we are at no loss to account for the
origin of
HIS ATTACHMENT TO REVOLUTION. | 275 |
At page 63, we find him recommending the committee to send authors out to Greece; “men,” he says, “who could speak French, German, or Italian, and who could write strong articles in plain language, would do incalculable good here.” The press was not, therefore, for the Greeks to speak their sentiments to one another, but for foreigners to endoctrine them with those strong articles in plain language, which have stirred up so much strife in some parts of Europe. At page 89, he recommends “the committee to send out a few men of political acquirements to write for the public journals.” At another place, they are desired to send out the articles ready written; so that Colonel Stanhope thought every thing might be done by using the political jargon which is common to political declaimers.
These partisan feelings, so conspicuous in Colonel Stanhope’s book, must have been known to the committee before he
reached Missolonghi, and yet they appear to have encouraged him in all his wild schemes; but
particularly in that wildest of all schemes, setting up a press in Greece, by which all the
defeated partisans of revolution, by
276 | XARTIES IN GREECE. |
With such mighty projects in his head, it was to be expected that
Colonel Stanhope would not agree very well with those who had most
influence in Greece, and who would like least to be dictated to. The parties in Greece,
although every chief had a party of his own, were principally two. A party that sought, by
organizing and consolidating civil institutions and civil power, in the manner most suitable to
the situation and wants of Greece, to ensure government, and order, and military strength. At
the head of this party was and is Prince Mavrocordato.
It engages in many intrigues, as every body admits; it would like to make Greece a monarchy and
perhaps have a foreign sovereign, who would be obliged to rule through the individuals who are
its chiefs. It liked no rival, and of course dreaded that influence which
MAVROCORDATO THE CHIEF OF ONE PARTY. | 277 |
Of all the chiefs, however, no one was more generally respected than
Mavrocordato. He was the best known in Europe, and
the most relied on. To him, in conjunction with that body called the general government, though
it had but little power, had Lord Byron united himself. To him, also, as
the most efficient executive organ of this government, had the Greek committee consigned the
stores intended for the use of the Greeks. By his influence also and his name, more than those
of any other individual, was the loan negotiated in England. Unquestionably he was and is the
first statesman in Greece, though, from not having any armed hordes at his command, living on
plunder, he has not been so much distinguished as a military leader, as some of the other
chiefs. If there is one individual in Greece, capable by his knowledge of appreciating the
general wants of his countrymen, and by his skill of uniting them under one form of government,
that individual is Mavrocordato. He was destitute, however, of money
278 | ATTACHMENT OF THE GREEKS TO THE PRINCE. |
The general estimation in which the Prince was held, may be known by the
following extracts from Colonel Stanhope’s own
work:—“The Hydriots and Spezziots, in virtue of a promise formerly made
them, wished to settle their families at Napoli di Romania. Colocotroni, it seems, opposed this measure, upon which the islanders
refused to act. Mavrocordato was, in consequence,
sent to Hydra to conciliate them, and to persuade them to equip their fleet. He succeeded;
they set sail, had a naval engagement with the Turks, between Tenedos and Mitylene, and
took or burnt five or six vessels” page 20. “The Hydriots and Spezziots
are also much attached to Mavrocordato. In short, the whole nation
seem to look up to him as their friend”, page 35.
“Mavrocordato is a favourite
SOURCE OF STANHOPE’S QUARREL WITH HIM | 279 |
Before Colonel Stanhope had been six
weeks at Missolonghi, the following scene occurred. It is described by Colonel
Stanhope, and therefore he will not object to its
authenticity:—“The press is not yet in motion; I will explain to you the
cause. When I arrived here I found
280 | ARROGANT PROCEEDINGS OF THE COLONEL. |
SCOLDS BOTH THE PRINCE AND HIS SERVANTS. | 281 |
From his interview with Colonel
Stanhope,
282 | STANHOPE THANKED FOR CONCILIATION. |
At this time Mavrocordato depended
on the supplies of that committee to maintain himself at Missolonghi, and preserve this
important post. Was it generous, or was it prudent in Colonel
Stanhope to humiliate the prince in this manner, or to make use of the power
which circumstance gave him to enforce a whim of his own? Was it not an evidence, and a strong
evidence, that our pretensions to assist the Greeks were only founded on a wish to obtain
influence in their country? From that time forward, as might be expected, there was a coolness
and opposition between Colonel Stanhope and
Mavrocordato. The prince constantly objecting to his violence, and
endeavouring, by those arts of intrigue so common among all classes of the Greeks, to check the
circulation of writings he had not the power to suppress. On the other
HIS CALUMNY OF MAVROCORDATO. | 283 |
284 | SOURCE OF THE CHANGE IN HIS OPINION. |
From these passages, it is plain a complete change had been effected in
Colonel Stanhope’s sentiments towards Prince Mavrocordato; and for this change there was no reason
whatever, but the discovery made by Colonel Stanhope that the prince was
not as great an enthusiast and visionary as himself. He does not, he cannot, alledge one act
against him. He does not attribute to him any loss of popularity or power. He does not say that
the islanders had ceased to love and respect him. He convicts him of no intrigues, and does not
even prove that he was guilty of any follies. The prince still remained at the post he occupied
when Stanhope went to Greece, and was engaged in the same pursuits as when
he described him as the general favourite, and as ready to engage in every good work. The whole
course of the change in the Colonel’s mind is as clear as if it were a stream lying at
our feet. He respects Mavrocordato at
INJURY EFFECTED BY HIS CALUMNY. | 285 |
Had the accusations of Colonel
Stanhope been only breathed into the ear of the secretary of the Greek
committee, however much this might have been lamented, and whatever harm they might have done
the Greek cause, they would not have been noticed here; but they are published to the world;
and after Colonel Stanhope has been one of the instruments for
transferring that portion of the loan into the pockets of the Greeks, which was ever destined
to enter them, he puts forth statements calculated to deprive the most capable man in Greece of
confidence, and thus by injuring the Greek cause, to take from the Greek government the means
of fulfilling its engagements. Had Colonel Stanhope’s opposition
been confined to what he printed in the newspapers in Greece, and what he published in his
book, I should have left to far abler pens than mine the task of punishing him and defending
the Greeks. He has exposed his conduct so completely in his own book that every
286 | LORD BYRON’S ADVICE |
Now for the proofs of his improper proceedings. It has been already
mentioned, that the Greek government, Prince
Mavrocordato, and Lord Byron, were all
apprehensive of what would be the conduct of Ulysses,
Colocotroni, and the other military leaders, if they
had power. It was Lord Byron’s opinion, which he signified to the
government, that as small a portion of the loan, and as few of the stores as possible, should
be placed at the disposal of these chiefs. Such an opinion was fully justified by their
previous character and conduct. Ulysses had been a servant of Ali Pacha, and a captain of an organized band of plunderers.
Colocotroni was a mere adventurer, who had been guilty of all sorts of
oppression in the Morea, and
COLONEL STANHOPE’S LIKING FOR ULYSSES. | 287 |
288 | THE ROBBER CHIEF’S FLATTERY. |
Only a fortnight after leaving Missolonghi, and after knowing Ulysses or Odysseus, about half that time,
he writes of him thus, “I have been constantly with Odysseus. He
has a very strong mind, a good heart, and is brave as his sword; he is a
doing man; he governs with a strong arm, and is the only man in Greece that can
preserve order. He puts, however, complete confidence in the people. He is for a strong government, for constitutional rights, and for vigorous
efforts against the enemy. He professes himself of no faction, neither of Ipsilante’s, nor of Colocotroni’s, nor of Mavrocordato’s, neither of the primates, nor of the Capitani, nor of
the foreign-king faction. He speaks of them all in the most undisguised manner. He likes good foreigners, is friendly to a small body of foreign troops,
and courts instruction. He has established two schools here, and has allowed me to set
the press at work. He complains that the press at Missolonghi does not insert articles
that do not suit the politics of the editor.” Five days after this
Colonel Stanhope writes as follows:
ITS INFLUENCE ON COLONEL STANHOPE. | 289 |
Here is strong and decisive evidence of Colonel
Stanhope embracing, with all the warm feelings of a partisan, the party of the
mountain robber; and of the man who had refused to give up Athens to a weak
government. Odysseus was at that very moment
opposed to the party with which Lord Byron was
united,—the party of the government and Prince
Mavrocordato, (as is evident from Colonel Stanhope’s
own shewing) and what is more, the party with which the committee was connected, the party with
which the loan had been negotiated, the party to which the artisans, and all the stores, had
been sent. For taking this decided part, Colonel Stanhope appears to have
had no reason whatever, but that he was flattered by Odysseus. The very
language and opinions he puts into the mouth of this chief, were the language and opinions he
himself held. “He promotes public liberty; he has allowed me to set the press at work;
he has established two schools; he complains of the press at Missolonghi; and, withal, he
possesses great power, does this
290 | A DEMAND FOR STORES. |
The first practical result of this new attachment of Colonel Stanhope’s, was a demand on Lord Byron to send powder, guns, shot, and other stores, from Missolonghi to
Athens; that is, to take them from the government to which they had been sent, and consign them
to Odysseus. When
INTRIGUE AT MISSOLONGHI. | 291 |
The next result was, that intrigues were set on foot to seduce some of
those from our service whom Lord Byron would not send. I do
not say that Colonel Stanhope himself engaged in this low
dirty business: but I am sure, lending himself to the party of Odysseus gave it a credit at Missolonghi it would not otherwise have acquired,
and enabled his partisans to use Stanhope’s name, in a way they
would not otherwise have dared to do. Soon after the request for stores arrived, in consequence
of the numerous saint and holy days on which the Greeks would on no account work, I procured,
through Lord Byron, permission) from the clergy, for the Greeks in the
arsenal to work on Sunday, to which generally they had no objection. They were to receive
292 | INTERCEPTED LETTER. |
By Colonel Stanhope embracing so
openly the party of the latter, he gave an opportunity to the partisans of Odysseus, to represent him as wholly attached to the
Athenian Chief. Thus Sophianopulo, one of Odysseus’s friends, writing
from Athens to Demetrius Ipsilanti, says, “The
English took the part of the Cranidi people in the first instance, only because they were
deceived by Mavrocordato, but having been since
persuaded that Mavrocordato, and those of Cranidi, instead of seeking
the independence of Greece, are endeavouring without the consent of the people, to invite kings and to demand the protection of
foreign SUSPICIONS IT GENERATED. 293 powers, they have
quitted the party of Mavrocordato and those of Cranidi, and now
panegyrize the conduct of the Tripolitza people, with whom they are desirous of entering
into a correspondence, seeing that they desire only a national assembly, union, and a
cessation of faction. Mavrocordato had so prejudiced the English
against Ulysses, Niketas, and
Colocotroni, that they could not listen to their
names with pleasure; but the conferences of Col. Stanhope with
Ulysses, although very brief, and his acquaintance with
Goortho, and other persons of good sentiments, have compelled him to declare that the fall of Mavrocordato
, the introduction of D. Ipsilanti into the national government,
and the reinforcement of the government with Colliopulo and Goortho, are the only means of securing
the independence of Greece, and the consolidation of her laws, by putting a stop to civil
war and intestine disturbances,” p. 308. This letter was intercepted by the government and sent to Missolonghi, where it arrived shortly after we
had discovered the intrigues set on foot, in Colonel Stanhope’s
name, to seduce our people, and shortly after he had made those requisitions which, if complied
with, would have put Missolonghi in the power of any body who chose to attack it. These
circumstances, which all occurred shortly before Lord Byron’s death,
begot an opinion at Missolonghi, that Colonel Stanhope was openly lending
himself to
294 | STANHOPE IN A CONSPIRACY. |
That Sophianopulo was engaged in a
conspiracy to destroy the power of Mavrocordato is
admitted. That Colonel Stanhope had fully lent himself to
the views of this man, whom his own friends describe as a detestable character, is evident from
his recommending, in the passage already quoted, p. 246, two of the very measures which this
Sophianopulo wished to have executed, viz., the introduction of
D. Ipsilanti and Colliopulo into the government. The opinion that Colonel
Stanhope was engaged with Odysseus in his
rebellious projects against the government was strengthened, also, by what this letter said of
Colonel Stanhope’s opinions, as to Prince
Mavrocordato wishing to invite a King, and place the Greeks under the protection
of foreign powers, because it was known that Colonel Stanhope, however
unjustifiable such opinions were by any circumstances in the conduct of
Mavrocordato,
CORRESPONDS WITH MY SUBALTERNS. | 295 |
* This extract is part of a letter from Messrs. Hodges and Gill, two persons under my orders at Missolonghi: it bears no date, but it is mentioned in a letter written by the Colonel from Salona, on April the 18th, and is described as having been just received. The independent and upright-minded Colonel Stanhope, had engaged my subalterns therefore to write to him, and the tenour of their correspondence is somewhat remarkable. This letter begins. “In respect to what has been done since our arrival, as we cannot say what we wish, we will decline saying any thing.” So that Colonel Stanhope did not choose to be informed of what was doing, or of what had been done, by Lord Byron, Count Gamba, or me; no, he had recourse to my subalterns, whom he thus employed and encouraged to transmit reports of the conduct of their superiors. That was the sort of information Stanhope asked and wanted. |
296 | RECOMMENDATION OF CAPT. TRELAWNEY. |
After Colonel Stanhope had been
informed of the suspicions excited by his conduct, it might have been expected that he would
have taken some steps to remove them. He persevered, however, in giving power to the robber
chief, who has since been obliged again to take to the mountains; and, in weakening Mavrocordato and the government, thus he identified his views
with the conduct of Odysseus. He had been warned of the
consequences, he knew of the suspicions, knew of the imputations which had been made against
him, and yet he persevered in breaking up the establishment at Missolonghi. On April the 28th,
not ten days after Lord Byron’s death, his friend, and
the friend of Odysseus, Captain
Trelawney writes to Colonel Stanhope from Missolonghi,
thus: “Every one here, I mean the English artificers and brigade, now wish to join
Odysseus; or, at least, to leave this hole; I know you will say I
have seduced them.” On the 29th he writes, “Every one says, Gamba and all, that neither Byron,
nor any one else, has given the committee’s stores to
Mavrocordato. I have ascertained, that you are legally and
indisputably now in full possession, and full power. Hodges and Gill will not stay here.
All the English wish to be off. Do, my dear Sir, take some prompt and decisive steps. I
will, if you like, execute them. You know the wants of Eastern Greece. Could you not
consign some portion of
ORDER SENT BY STANHOPE. | 297 |
In consequence of such representations seconding his own wishes, Colonel Stanhope wrote from Zante, under date May 18th, to Mr. Hodges, one of those subalterns with whom he had previously been corresponding, desiring him “to deliver over to Captain Trelawney’s charge, who, be it remembered, had no official character whatever, one howitzer and three three-pounders, with cartridges and every thing complete for field service. These guns and this ammunition he will place in the custody of General Odysseus, during the pleasure of the general government of Greece. You will also be pleased to deliver to Captain Trelawney, a spy glass and a map of Greece, for General Odysseus. Unless Mr. Gill’s presence is necessary or useful at Missolonghi, of which he must be the best judge, I wish him to proceed to Athens with Captain Trelawney. He will take such working tools with him as he may consider necessary.” p. 214.
This order broke up the brigade, and completely blighted the fruits of
all Lord Byron’s exertions. In consequence of it three
long three-pounders, two short three-pounders, mountain guns, and the howitzer complete, were
sent to Odysseus, under the charge of Captain Trelawney. This was in fact the decisive measure which
this gentleman recommended Colonel Stanhope to order, and
298 | NOT APPROVED BY LORD BYRON. |
NOT APPROVED OF BY THE GOVERNMENT. | 299 |
I had received orders from Lord Byron, at my peril, not to deliver any article whatever, unless the delivery was sanctioned by the general government. Col. Stanhope in his letter does mention the general government, but it is impossible that this government could have given permission to remove these stores, or to place them under the control of Odysseus, whom at that very moment it suspected of hostility. It is very amusing, also, to see with what facility this robber chief is transformed by Colonel Stanhope into General Odysseus. I am persuaded that under no circumstances would the government have sanctioned the plan of strengthening its opponent Odysseus, at the expense of its friend Mavrocordato. At least the measure would never have been adopted without his sanction. About the same period however, on May 22d, Mavrocordato wrote to Mr. Blaquiere, who was then at Zante, objecting in the strongest manner to sending any artillery from Missolonghi, or in any way weakening that important post. He also complains of wanting ammunition, and he says the people will not see the removal of these things from Missolonghi with indifference.
At the time this letter was written Colonel
300 | MAVROCORDATO’S SENTIMENTS. |
There is indeed reason to believe that it was written either with a view of its being shewn to him, or of being made public in some way or other; and it casts much too clear a light on the manner in which the friend of Lord Byron and the first statesman of Greece was treated by a few meddling and overbearing captains and colonels, not to have all the publicity possible given to it; I shall insert it, therefore, in the Appendix, under the letter F. A letter containing similar sentiments was also addressed to Count Gamba, and it also will be found in the appendix marked G.
The reader will see by these letters, how completely the above order of
Colonel Stanhope was in opposition to the wishes of
Prince Mavrocordato, and of the general government
of Greece; he will learn, too, how completely the colonel took the arrangement of every thing
of this description on his own responsibility; and from Colonel
Stanhope’s own book, he may learn how sincerely he despised and condemned
that government and people he, and others like him were calling on the British people to
subscribe their money to support. Col. Stanhope’s conduct on this
occasion may be considered,—as to his right
COLONEL STANHOPE’S POWER QUESTIONED. | 301 |
As to Colonel Stanhope’s right
to break up the brigade, I may observe that it was very doubtful to me whether Captain Trelawney’s information as to the extent of
Colonel Stanhope’s power to dispose of the stores was correct;
setting aside the remarkable circumstance of Colonel Stanhope,
302 | ORDER OF THE GREEK COMMITTEE |
The instructions and orders given to me by Mr. Bowring, the secretary to the Greek committee, (and it will be recollected
that the whole of the guns and stores were placed immediately under my care) were, first, to
obey the orders and directions of the chief commissioner Lord
Byron; secondly, to deliver an account of the stores to Prince Mavrocordato, governor of Western Greece, who would be responsible that the stores should be ex-SANCTIONED BY LORD BYRON. 303 pended for the service of Greece.” On my
arrival, I obeyed these instructions, and from that time till the time of my leaving Greece,
the whole expense of carrying on the service was defrayed by Lord Byron.
Not one farthing had the committee supplied; not one farthing was at the command of the Greek
government; so that, in point of fact, the expense of all our labours, from the time of our
arrival in Greece, was defrayed by Lord Byron. This nobleman not only
sanctioned my placing myself, agreeably to Mr. Bowring’s
instructions, under the orders of Prince Mavrocordato, but his whole
conduct shewed that he placed the greatest confidence in the prince. The money which he had
laid out he had placed at the disposal of the prince, and unquestionably Colonel Stanhope had no power to take it, or the stores which had
been preserved at Lord Byron’s cost, (for they would have fallen a
prey to the Suliotes, but for him,) out of the power of Mavrocordato. Even
if he had, common decency—common respect for the wishes and intentions of Lord
Byron, whose views he said he came to further,—should have taught
Colonel Stanhope to have abstained from insulting Lord
Byron’s friends, and from diverting the supplies he had given, to a
purpose he would have condemned. But while that corpse was yet un-buried, which he afterwards
followed to the grave as a mourner, did he insult Lord Byron’s
friend,
304 | SOURCE OF COLONEL STANHOPE’S POWER. |
At Zante, he asked me who gave me authority to call Mavrocordato a prince. So far did this passively-obedient soldier carry his democratical notions, that he could not bear, I suppose, to hear any man called prince in his presence. He seems to have forgotten that from this very prince did he, as well as I, derive any right we possessed to be in Greece, in any other capacity than as mere travellers; and but for his sanction and the sanction of the government which he chiefly administered, we both deserved to be treated as common buccaneers. The instant Colonel Stanhope rejected that authority, he divested himself of all right to serve Greece. The committee could give him no power whatever in that country, and he was there either as the servant of the government, or he had no right there whatever. He had not even over those warlike stores the common right of property, and could have no business to take them from under the control of that government which alone could legally use them.
Before Colonel Stanhope began to
break up the brigade at Missolonghi, he should have recollected that all the commissions and
appointments had been issued by the prince; without them, all the foreigners must be considered
as mere land-pirates; and removing it from his
OUR RIGHT TO CARRY ARMS. | 305 |
306 | STANHOPE’S CONDUCT TO ME. |
I was at Zante when Colonel Stanhope
gave the orders; and when I found out that he was breaking up the brigade at Missolonghi, and
sending away stores, without consulting me, in whose power they had been placed, I thought it
was time to take precautions for my own security, under such sort of conduct no man was safe,
and under so many masters it was impossible to serve with credit and honour. Colonel
Stanhope had even the impudence, I can give it no softer name, to appropriate to
other purposes the money I had received from Lord Byron, for
carrying on certain parts of the service at Missolonghi; and for which I alone was responsible,
having given receipts for it to Laga, Lord
Byron’s Secretary. He thus placed it out of my power, either to carry on
the service, or even to serve at all under the Greek committee, its numerous agents, and
contradictory proceedings, and at once, I shook myself clear of any dependence on so assuming
and imprudent a man. I wrote to Prince Mavrocordato,
stating all the particulars of Colonel Stanhope’s proceedings, and
informing him, that under such
COMPELS ME TO RETURN. | 307 |
Colonel Stanhope persisted in sending, by Captain Trelawney, the guns and stores to Odysseus. Since that period, this chief, elated probably by
these additional means of warfare
308 | CHARGE SUBSTANTIATED. |
I trust I have now fully made out my charge against Colonel Stanhope. He went to Greece, an admirer of Prince Mavrocordato, and he returned home his decided
opponent, and the patron of a man, whom he himself describes as having been the chief of a band
of robbers. Because he was not permitted by Prince Mavrocordato to
establish a press, and abuse all the governments of Europe after his own fashion; because he
was not allowed to govern Greece, as the representatives of the India Company govern the
tributary states in which they reside; and, because Lord
Byron resisted this assumption of power, and supported Prince
Mavrocordato, in opposing the wild schemes of Colonel
Stanhope, he did whatever he could to ruin Mavrocordato,
and injure the reputation of the man he called his friend, and whose corpse he followed to the
grave. In the pursuit of his own schemes, he broke up the brigade Lord
Byron had been at so much pains
REASONS FOR WITHHOLDING THE LOAN. | 309 |
I say nothing of the loan being withheld, by the recommendation of
Colonel Stanhope, after it had been contracted for and
sent out to Zante, as that probably may be explained by the circumstance of Lord Byron’s death invalidating the commission for issuing
the money. It is a remarkable circumstance, however, that Colonel Stanhope
says, “his reasons for recommending that the
310 | EFFECTS ON GREECE. |
But Col. Stanhope also objects to the
want of organization in the government; and what individual, so much as Col.
Stanhope, by embracing first of all one party, and then another, had impeded
this organization? I am entitled to conclude, that the two reasons on which Col.
Stanhope grounds his objections to deliver the loan would never have had any
existence but for his own conduct. Be this as it may, the fact is certain and well known that
the Greeks, relying on this loan, had not adopted any other means of endeavouring to obtain a
supply of money, and, consequently, had none for fitting out their fleet. The strongest
representations were made on this point, both to
THE LOSS OF IPSARA. | 311 |
Unfortunate men will sometimes be unjust; the Greeks, therefore, may do Col. Stanhope wrong; but when they knew the first instalment of the loan had arrived at Zante, when they saw him on the spot, when he went away without making it over to them, and when they afterwards suffered the terrible disaster at Ipsara, which the loan would have enabled them to avert, they did not hesitate to affirm, that the whole guilt of that belonged to
* What was expected from Colonel Stanhope may probably be inferred from the following extract of a letter from the government to Mavcorordato:— Extract de la lettre du Government. “Nous avous reçu votre lettre en date du 18, ainsi que les pièces y incluses. “Monsieur Palyroides est encore à Hydra, et l’honorable Colonel Stanhope n’a pas paru jusqu’à present, nous esperons qu’il ne tardera pas d’arriver, persuadé qu’il est que son retard ameneroit les plus grands entraves aux operations militaires, et des resultats bien malheureux pour cette campagne. Nos batiments sont deja prets; mais il est impossible d’y embarquer un seul homme, sans que la solde soit prealablement payée. La flotte Turcque est, en attendant, arrivée à Negropont, et le blocus par terre de cette place s’est immediatement levè. La flotte ennemie est composee de cinquante et quelques batiments. Nous n’avons aucune nouvelle de Salone. Ulysse en addressant au Gouvernement des lettres ecrit |
312 | OPINION OF THE GREEKS. |
The proceeding may probably be justified, but it appears very strange to promise money to a nation, to transmit it till it is almost within their grasp, to know they had relied on it for preparing
en même tems aux Generaux Colocotroni, Coliopulos, et Nikita; on decouvre dans ses lettres le stile obscur et malin de Monsieur Negri . “Des Moulins de Napoli, le 27 Avril, (9 Mai). “G. Condouriotti, “C. Botaichi, “J. Colletti, “A. Spiliotachi. “P.S. M. Palyroides vient d’arriver en ce moment de retour d’Hydra.” (TRANSLATION.) “We have received your letter, dated the 18th, as well as the enclosed communications. Mr. Palyroides is still at Hydra and the Honourable Colonel Stanhope has not yet made his appearance. We hope he will not be long in arriving, persuaded as he is that his delay will very much hamper the military operations, and produce the most unfortunate results during the present campaign. Our vessels are ready, but it is impossible to put a single man |
COLONEL STANYHOPE’S FEAR OF CENSURE. | 313 |
on board them unless the wages is previously paid. The Turkish fleet has in the mean time arrived at Negropont, and the blockade of that place by land was immediately raised. The enemy’s fleet consists of upwards of fifty sail. We have no news from Salona. Ulysses has addressed copies of letters to the government, which he has sent at the same time to Generals Colocotroni, Colliopuli, and Nikitas; in these letters the obscure and malignant style of M. Negris is discernible. “Mills of Napoli, April 26, (May 9.) “G. Conduriottis, “C. Botaki, “J. Colletti. “P. S. Mr. Palyroides has arrived this instant, on his return from Hydra.” |
314 | REPORT. |
I say nothing of Colonel Stanhope
empowering half a dozen adventurers, such as Captain
Trelawney, Mr. Humphreys, Captain Hastings, &c. to dispose of the committee’s
stores, to form plans for the regulation of Greece, and to dictate to the Greek government;
moreover, I say nothing of the committee itself sending out agent after agent, and controller
after controller; they are answerable on these points to the public they represent, but I am
certain that the little assistance we have given has assumed too much the appearance of
interference, and that our pecuniary aid has lost the character of generosity, by being coupled
with too many recommendations and conditions. Independent of any agents sent out by the
committee, there were persons on the spot who might have supplied them with correct
information, I was accustomed to state to Mr. Bowring
such facts as fell under my notice, and the reader will see in the Appendix H. the copy of a
letter or report, addressed to Mr. Bowring, on March 20th, which received
Lord Byron’s approbation, and is referred to by
him in a note appended to a letter of Colonel Stanhope’s, to be
found at page 127 of that gentleman’s work on Greece. I shall also place in the Appendix
some letters from different persons in Greece, which may serve to throw light on Colonel
SUMMARY. | 315 |
If the view I have given be correct, the conduct of Colonel Stanhope was highly wrong from the very commencement of
his embassy, and continued during the whole time he was in Greece to be guided by most improper
principles. The Greek committee were in the first instance to blame, for empowering a man of
his opinions and habits to represent them in Greece. They were still more to blame when every
communication of his brought evidence of his improper interference with the internal affairs of
that country, and of his dictating to its government, for not then recalling him and protesting
to the Greek deputies here, and to every authority in Greece, against being implicated by his
rash and presumptuous proceedings. After he had committed all these errors, the Greek committee
made his cause their own, by publicly approving of his conduct; and thus did they, too, take on
themselves the character of officious meddlers, and under the name of friends, swell the long
list of the enemies of the long-suffering and deeply-oppressed Greeks. This appears to me such
a consummation of silliness, that I hardly expect the reader will credit my assertion. To
convince him, and satisfy him as to my veracity, I shall here
316 | VOTE OF THANKS. |
“JOHN SMITH, Esq. M.P. in the Chair.
“Colonel Stanhope’s Report was read.
“Resolved,
“That the Honourable Colonel Stanhope is entitled to the most grateful thanks of the committee, for the unwearied zeal, sound discretion, and extensive benevolence, manifested by him, while acting as their agent in Greece; and that the committee anticipates great benefits to Greece from the exertions and suggestions which distinguished his visit to that country, and desires particularly to record and to communicate its high approbation of his efforts to promote harmony and a good understanding among the different leaders in Greece: a result greatly advanced by his conciliatory spirit and superiority to party considerations.
With these remarks, I shall now lay down the pen. What I have said of the
conduct of other persons has seemed to me necessary, either in my own vindication, or in
vindication of the memory of my highly-valued and deeply-lamented patron
CONCLUSION. | 317 |
Since this sheet was sent to press, Mr. Blaquiere’s second narrative has appeared. From this we learn that he also was an authorized independent agent of the Greek Committee, making the third representative or ambassador this mighty body had in Greece; and all of whom they meant should be there at one time. If any thing more were required to shew the injudicious nature of their proceedings, particularly in approving of the conduct of Colonel Stanhope, it may be found in the circumstance that this conduct was at the time disapproved of by Mr. Blaquiere. The work just published by that gentleman justifies, I am happy to say, all which I have stated of the conduct of Colonel Stanhope and of the Greek Committee.
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