March 15, 1841.
“I am desired by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, that whatever may have been the political considerations which induced Her Majesty’s Government to sanction a Convention entered into under the circumstances in which you felt yourself placed, their Lordships fully concur in my opinion of the injury and inconvenience to which Her Majesty’s service may be exposed by a junior officer taking upon himself such a responsibility, which can only be justified by the event as in the present instance.
| “I am, &c., “Robert Stopford, Admiral. |
“Commodore Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B.,
H.M.S. Powerful.”
“Sir,
“H.M.S. Powerful,
Malta, March 28, 1841.
“Had I not received a letter from the Admiralty direct, together with private ones from Lords Minto and Palmerston, approving of the Convention I entered into with Mehemet Ali, which Convention was based on the Treaty of the 15th of July, and approved of by the great Powers of Europe, who are now carrying it out, I should have considered your letter of the 15th of March, communicating their Lordships’ opinion, as intended to convey a sort of censure.