Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. Part 4

'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 G.o.d 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 ash.o.r.e three times; each time obliged to sh.o.r.e up, being left almost dry at low water, and on one night about eleven, all in bed, down she came b.u.mpus on her bilge; in consequence of our sh.o.r.es 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 _Gra.s.shopper_ 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 h.e.l.lenic 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 a.s.suming 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 Philh.e.l.lenes 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 a.s.sa.s.sination 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 a.s.signed 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 pa.s.sage 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 sh.o.r.e 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 _pa.s.see_, 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 woodc.o.c.ks,' 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 anch.o.r.ed under the cloud-cap't top of this extraordinary rock, and found that _Alacrity_ had made a better pa.s.sage 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 _Const.i.tution_, 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 Const.i.tutionalists. Spain is in a dreadful state; anarchy, confusion, highway robbery and a.s.sa.s.sination 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 n.o.bles 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 a.s.sure 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 Pet.i.tions from Merchants whose boats had been plundered and pillaged by both parties.

'Now we are on this station placed in rather awkward circ.u.mstances, 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.