REVIEW OF FOREIGN POLICY.
The foreign policy of Mr. Canning occasioned difficulties with which his successor was not able to contend. At this time, not only the commerce of the Levant was destroyed, but all Christendom was shocked by the atrocious cruelties exercised by the Turks in a war with the Greeks. Such a state of things could not be suffered long to exist; and when it was found that the Turkish court was resolved to pursue its own course, Great Britain, France, and Russia resolved to interfere. A treaty was signed between these three powers on the 6th of July, in this year, to defend Greece from the Sultan’s power. One of the articles of this treaty provided, that if the Ottoman Porte did not accept their intervention, the high contracting powers would establish commercial relations with Greece, and order the admirals commanding their naval forces to impose an armistice on the belligerents. Instructions were drawn up, which authorized those commanders to prevent the transmission of troops and supplies from Turkey or Egypt to Greece; but enjoined them to avoid hostilities unless the Turks should endeavour to force a passage. Despatches were sent at the same time to Constantinople and to the Greek government: and Colonel Cradock was sent to Alexandria to endeavour to persuade the pacha to withdraw his Egyptian army. It was arranged that a combined fleet should give effect to these resolutions, and two line-of-battle ships were sent to re-enforce Sir Edward Codrington. The French government, also, sent four ships of the line into the same seas, and Admiral Siniavin arrived at Spithead with a Russian squadron of eight sail of the line and eight frigates; half of which only, however, joined the confederates. But although thus menaced, the Reis Effendi would not listen to any terms. He would not even deign to receive such a communication as the treaty of the 6th of July; and when a copy was left on his sofa, he refused to answer it, or to admit any explanations. The Russian minister now proposed to starve the Divan into compliance by a joint blockade of the Bosphorus and Hellespont. The French minister entered into his views; but Lord Dudley objected on the part of England to such a step, as too violent. Negociations were in this state, when suddenly ominous sounds proceeded from the Bay of Navarino. In that harbour the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were blockaded by the combined squadrons of England, France, and Russia, under the chief command of Sir Edward Codrington. The Greeks had readily accepted an armistice under the treaty; but Ibrahim Pasha not only refused its terms, but aggravated the miseries of war by devastating the country of Greece. The inhabitants were massacred; villages, vineyards and olive-trees, in which the principal riches of the nation consisted, destroyed. Irritated by such barbarity the allied admirals determined to enforce the armistice on Ibrahim. Their plan was to enter the harbour and renew their demands of an armistice, under the alternative, that, if he refused, they would attack and destroy his fleet. Their first movement towards the harbour was an hostile act. About noon on the 20th of October the combined fleets passed the batteries to take up their anchorage, formed in the order of two sailing lines: the British and French squadrons forming the starboard line, and the Russian squadron the lee line. As it was Admiral Codrington’s object only to have the enemy’s fleet within his grasp, and then, before laying hold of it, to make his propositions anew to Ibrahim, orders were given that not a gun should be fired unless the Turks should begin. These orders were strictly obeyed; but on seeing the approach of the allies, the Turkish commander concluded that they had come to attack them without any further ceremony, and therefore prepared for battle. As they approached, the Capitana Bey observed,—“The die is now cast; I told you the English would not be trifled with.” Their flotilla was drawn up in a crescent with springs on its cables, and it consisted of seventy-nine ships of war, armed with 2,240 guns, beside those in the formidable batteries on shore. In point of strength the Turks had the advantage over the allies, as their ships amounted only to twenty-six, carrying 1,324 guns. The Turks, however, had only three two-deckers, while the allies had ten sail of the line, which greatly compensated for the discrepancy of strength. The fire commenced on the enemy’s side; for when the British admiral despatched one of his pilots to the flag-ship of the Turkish commander, expressing an earnest desire to avoid all effusion of blood, the messenger was shot at and killed. The same vessel also soon after fired into the “Asia,” and the conflict then became general. The battle continued with fury during four hours; the English bearing the brunt of the engagement. At the end of that time the Turkish and Egyptian fleets had disappeared: the Bay of Navarino was covered with their wrecks, and only a few of the smaller vessels escaped into the inner harbour. The carnage on board the Turkish ships was dreadful: nearly six thousand men had perished in the action. On the part of the allies the severest loss was sustained by the British squadron; having seventy-five killed, including Captain Bathurst of the “Genoa,” and one hundred and ninety-seven wounded. The French, who emulated the skill and valour of the English, had forty-three killed and one hundred and seventeen wounded; and the Russians fifty-seven killed and one hundred and thirty-seven wounded. The scene of wreck and devastation on the side of the Turks was such as had not been witnessed since the battle of Lepanto: of about one hundred men-of-war and transports, about half were burnt, sunk, or driven on shore. The allies took no prizes, and detained no prisoners; and in the hour of vengeance they showed mercy by saving many of the Turkish sailors. At the time of the battle Ibrahim Pasha, was absent on a military excursion; but he returned in time to see the smoking remains of his fleet. It is said that he looked on the catastrophe with complacency, as it extricated him from the dilemma in which he was placed between the sultan’s orders and the mandates of the three great European powers. After the battle, the admiral entered into a fresh correspondence with the commanders; and after agreeing that hostilities should cease, the allied fleet quitted Navarino. The news of the disaster was received by the sultan as though he submitted to the will of fate: he heard it without dismay or loss of temper. He demanded, indeed, reparation for what he called a violation of the law of nations; but instead of sending the ambassadors to the Seven Towers, as had been the usual custom, he permitted them to return to their respective courts in safety. In Europe the news of the victory was heard with joy and gladness; but the feeling of exultation was in England confined to a minority. The Tories loudly exclaimed against this aggression upon the forces of an ancient ally, as a wanton act of perfidy, and as forwarding the designs of the Russian autocrat. As for the ministry, they appeared paralysed by the event; for they were afraid to take a manly line of defence, and were uncertain as to what course they ought to pursue. Finally, they virtually pronounced an opinion on the victory by rewarding the officers who achieved it; but they marred this action by despatching Admiral Sir John Gore to the Mediterranean, for the purpose of collecting information. By this vacillating conduct they gave their opponents an opportunity of taunting them with inconsistency. Before parliament met, however, and therefore before the question could be debated, the administration of Lord Goderich had become dissolved. At its dissolution it left England at war with the sultan, together with France and Russia; but the two former powers though united against him were still at heart his friends. Though Russia had been working through a long course of never-changing policy, to accomplish his ruin, they, though at present apparently the instruments of this ambition, were deeply interested in counteracting its designs.
