432
commanders.
“In the month of March, 1825, I addressed o letter to Mr. Hume, as Chairman of the Greek committee, to inform him that I had a plan to communicate to him, which I had no doubt would materially benefit the Greek cause, if he should think proper to recommend it. Mr. Hume, in a very polite note, referred me to Mr. Ellice, to whom, as that gentleman was not at home when I called, I forwarded nearly the same plan which was afterwards sent to Lord Cochrane, accompanied with a written offer, either to take the command of the expedition myself, or (to prevent Jealousy on the part of the Greek officers) to serve in it under the command of a Greek admiral. Mr. Ellice, in reply, told me that the Greek committee had no power to treat with me on this subject, but at the same time gave me a letter of introduction to the Greek deputies, and advised me to present my plan to them. To these gentlemen I then made my application, and begged them (in writing) to inform the Greek Government that I was willing either to take the command myself, or to serve under the command of any one of their officers; and promised, if they would give me the opportunity, that I would be the first to go in, and the last to return. These gentlemen, who, like the Greek committee, had no power to treat with me themselves, promised to forward my application to the Greek Government; but I was convinced, by the reception they gave me, that they were determined to throw cold water on my proposal. Out of politeness, of course, they professed to believe that, of all the numerous plans that had been submitted to them, mine was by far the best; but told me, at the same time, that the Turks were now so completely dispirited by repeated defeats, that they never would be found at an anchor, or suffer themselves to be found in such a situation as my plan seemed to require. This point they insisted upon to the last; and I could not, by any means, make them understand that Turkish ships, as well as those of all other nations, could not be always at sea, but must occasionally go into harbour to refit and take in supplies; and it was at those times, if my plan should be adopted, that they would have it in their power to destroy, not only a few out of the great many of their shipping, as they have hitherto done, but a great part, if not the whole, of all the ships that would be collected in the same port. They still persisted that the Turks never would afford the Greeks an opportunity of putting my plan into execution; but their prophecy was very speedily falsified. A very short time afterwards, the Egyptian fleet, under the command of Ibrahim Pacha, anchored in the harbour of Modon. The Greek admiral had the opportunity, and did make a night, (instead of a day
steam-vessels; to which must be added more than £100,000 which was laid out in America for the purchase of two large frigates, of which only one was forwarded to Greece. In one word. Lord Cochrane’s plans and appointment cost upwards of £300,000, while mine, which must, at least, have been equally effective, would not have cost more they the hundredth part of that sum.
