unpardonable liberty in thus attempting to make you tbe umpire between us; but if you will put yourself, for a moment, in my situation, I am sure, that, as a well-wisher to the Greeks, you will find a sufficient excuse in your own feelings; for this seeming ebullition of mine. Though I have not been so fortunate as his Lordship, I have never intentionally missed an opportunity of distinguishing myself in the service of my Country; and whatever may be the distance between us, my rank, as a commander in His Majesty’s navy, entitles me to the privilege of being treated like a gentleman. My plan may possibly be a very silly one, or at least his Lordship may think so; but my offer to serve under him, in a cause which he professes to have so much at heart, deserved at least to be treated with that politeness, which, in all civilized society, is supposed to be due from one gentleman to another. Man, Sir, is but a man, whatever may be his rank and condition in life; and if his Lordship’s plan of operations should turn out to be no better than mine, the honor of having even Lord Cochrane to command them will hardly make amends to the Greeks, for a delay of nearly twelve months, during which time they have constantly been losing ground. Fifteen months ago, (quite time enough to have prevented all the disasters that have befallen the Greeks since the landing of Ibrahim Pacha in the Morea) I presented this plan to the Greek committee, and offered, at the imminent risk of losing my commission in His Majesty’s service, to go, at once, without further preparation, to put it in execution; and that without putting the Greek Government to any further expence than that of furnishing me with a conveyance to the scene of action: his Lordship, on the contrary, required very nearly twelve months to prepare for his expedition, during which time the Greek cause has been all but annihilated; and then sails with an overwhelming force, (that has been collected at a very great expence) which would ensure to any seaman the command of those seas, let his talents be what they may. If my offer had been accepted, the Egyptian fleet might have been destroyed at Modon, and Ibrahim Pasha cut off from all supplies, without robbing the treasury of more than £2,000 or £3,000 at the utmost. My offer, however, was declined by the Greek committee, on the plea that they had no power to treat with me, though it appears that, only three months afterwards, they possessed full powers to appoint, or, at all events, to recommend, Lord Cochrane to a chief command on his own terms, which amounted, by the way, to an expensive preparation, accompanied with a tedious delay, which, under existing circumstances, was tantamount to a defeat: and, if report speak true, the ample compensation for the sacrifice he has made of his interest in the service of the Emperor of Brazil[1].
- ↑ By a statement, which has been copied from the Etoile, French newspaper, it appears that Lord Cochrane received £37,000 as an equivalent for what he gave up by quitting the Brazilian service; and that £123,000 were laid out, in England, for the purchase and equipment of six
