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LETTER FROM H.R.H. DUKE OF CLARENCE.

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session of. The mild forbearance of the English law is not applicable to the circumstances of the war carrying on here; and I contemplate being called upon to act with a rigour which nothing but a strong sense of the absolute necessity of it would induce me to adopt. As I intend proceeding to that part of my station so soon as those despatches reach me which are now, I hear, on their way from Mr. Stratford Canning, I need not enter more at large into the subject at present. I need only say, that of the several vessels sent here with their crews for adjudication, although those crews have acknowledged the acts of which they are accused none have been or are likely to be found guilty, owing to the facilities of escape afforded by the provisions with which the laws of piracy are clogged. In the meantime officers and men, and indeed ships also, have been detained in this port, when the very evil we are trying to destroy has been increasing in consequence of their absence.

With grateful respect, your R.H.'s faithful and obliged, EDWARD CODRINGTON.

From H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence to Sir E. C.

Pembroke: July 24, 1827.

DEAR SIR,-On my arrival here from Plymouth I find yours of 9th June, from Malta, and must approve of the sentiments contained in your letter on the extraordinary and heterogeneous service on which you are now particularly employed. You were not then aware of the two ships of the line ordered up to join you, nor of the treaty entered into by Great Britain, France, and Russia respecting the Turks and Greeks. Your position is neither agreeable nor easy to fulfil. Indeed, the situation of Greece at the very moment of signing this treaty at London may be past redemption. But prudence will, I am sure, guide your actions. I believe Stratford Canning an able man. But both you and he have to deal with. . . . . But you must be on your guard, and the contending interests of these various Powers may give you useful information.

I shall be anxious to learn the events as they arise where you will now be employed. It is impossible to form any conjecture as to the result of affairs so strangely situated. Prudence and moderation will be your best guides, and we must hope for the best.

God bless you, and ever believe me

Yours sincerely,

WILLIAM.

From Sir E. C. to Mr. S. Canning.

H.M.S. 'Asia,' at Malta: June 16, 1827. SIR, I have had the honour of receiving, last night, your letters of the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th of May, by courier from Corfu, by way of Florence and Naples. Some repairs of this ship, now in progress, will not be finished until Thursday morning the 19th, when I shall immediately put to sea.

Piracy, which is increasing in brutality, requires that I should pursue my intention of having a short communication with Sir F. Adam personally, in my way; but you may rely upon my complying with the wish expressed in your letter as speedily and as effectually as possible. If the measures which I have to propose to Sir F. Adam on the one part respecting the Ionians, and to the Greek Government on the other part, respecting the vessels guilty of piracy, can be carried into execution, I shall, I hope, be more fully able to act up to your proposals; for you may rest assured that I am fully impressed with the difficulties of your situation and anxious to use all the means in my power to diminish them. As to Lord Cochrane, as far as I have entered upon his subject with those under my command, I have instructed them to consider him as a Greek: and I am not aware of any law which can control his going as a passenger in an unarmed English vessel. I have not been unprepared for the ill-will towards us on account of his proceedings, from the Porte and all its different states; and it was my intention to have taken advantage of an insult offered to the 'Glasgow' at Alexandria, to place this matter in its right point of view to the Pacha of Egypt, through our consul, whenever I should be informed of the result of the complaints which have been made of it. Although we are now much nearer the crisis, I shall still catch at any opening I may find for explaining firmly to the Pacha the possible consequences to his own ships of insults being offered to those of his Majesty in Turkish ports, on account of this erroneous impression. For it is my conviction, that the best way, if not to dispel the error, at least to avert the consequences of it, is to place ourselves on high ground and to show our disposition to maintain it. I beg you to understand that, in thus setting forth my opinions and meditations, I have no wish to act upon them in defiance of your better judgment. On the contrary, I only divulge them on this occasion that you may be able to anticipate my proceedings when distance may prevent your ascertaining them; and to subject them to

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your guidance, if they should not accord with the views of the British Government with which I am not made acquainted. As I have put the whole of the ships and vessels eastward of the Adriatic under Captain Hamilton's command, I doubt not he has already collected as strong a force as he was able in the neighbourhood of Smyrna.

I have the honour, &c.,

EDWARD CODRINGTON.

Sir E. C. to his eldest daughter, at Florence.

In sight of Mount Etna, this June 20, 1827, proceeding
slowly towards Corfu.

It is all very well, young ladies, your filling up your spare time for writing by keeping journals, but unless I am to have extracts from these journals, or some other evidence of your being able to write, I shall not be satisfied. I am now, moreover, single-handed, having sent our dear Harry into the Philomel,' to learn to keep a lieutenant's watch. I think I see him mustering up courage to give his orders distinctly, and then rejoicing in the effect of his first efforts; and I hope the self-satisfaction which will arise out of it will also produce the good effect of making him hold up his head at least during his watch upon deck, in order to make up for the doubled-up form he must necessarily adopt when he is moving about below. The Philomel' is to be the companion of the Asia'; so that I shall see if her sails are well trimmed, and so forth. This is rather a better way for said Hal to begin than in the cutter.

Perhaps you think that as I have left you in charge of your mother, she alone is to give me an account of you. But remember I have also left her in charge of you, and from you therefore I expect an account of her. Nay, I also expect that you will take care of her by making her take care of herself. You believe, I doubt not, that you know her value. But I assure you, justly as you venerate her, you will never know her full value until time, in the course of nature, takes her away from you; which period I hope and trust will be prolonged, not only until you no longer require that fostering care, that devotion to your well-doing, which has made your lives thus far a scene of almost uninterrupted happiness; but even until you shall yourselves have had the gratification of returning to her, in her old age, that filial affection which I am sure it will be no less your pleasure to show than her delight to receive. As this is the light in

which it is most gratifying to me to contemplate you, I will here say, with the warm affection of a father, may God bless you in it.

Corfu June 25.

This is indeed a beautiful island, and I hope one of these days to show it to you, when the heat is not so oppressive as it is liable to be at this time of the year. I should enjoy my visit to it much more if I were not obliged to undergo so much ceremony. Yesterday was the Fiesta of St. Onorio, and all the Corfu world went to that place, some ten miles off. The groups of merry people, on foot or on horseback, most horses having a man and woman on each, passing through so beautiful a country, have an extremely pleasant effect. I never saw such subjects for pictures. Every village has its different costume, and all were in high dress; and there were specimens of many others, Continental Greeks mixed with the rest.

You are to write when you have time, and your letter will catch me in due course.

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It is very pretty sailing between Corfu and Albania, and I wish you were all here to enjoy it and thereby double my pleasure in it.

With such bold fine mountains as I see, I cannot but think their inhabitants ought not to be conquered. But, in fact, the Albanian soldiers are some of the best troops in the Turkish army; and disunion and dissension are greater enemies than the Porte itself. I cannot say I promise myself much pleasure from this visit, because I shall not have time to see enough to balance the disagreeable business of being landed in high form, as I find I am always to be on coming to Corfu.

June 25.

A ride with Adam on the 23rd, and another yesterday morning, from half-past four to half-past eight, gave me views which are hardly to be surpassed in any part of the world. There is one shortcoming, the want of large trees. Even the brother of Capo d'Istria cut down oaks to sell for a few dollars. Athens has fallen. The Turkish fleet is in this neighbourhood. Lord Cochrane is gone to collect what force he can, and try what he can do. I doubt if the Greeks can offer any effectual opposition now, and we shall see what other Powers do.

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