“I am quite aware, when an officer takes upon himself the responsibility I did, there must be strong reasons to justify him; I took the same responsibility at Sidon and Boharsof, and had I been defeated I incurred the same risk of censure, and I trust, as long as I can benefit my country by incurring responsibility[responsibility], I shall always possess strength of mind to do it.
“I take this opportunity of observing how much I regret that you should have found it necessary, in disapproving of my Convention, to have expressed yourself in such harsh terms of me to Mehemet Ali, which placed me in a most unpleasant situation at Alexandria.
| “I have, &c., “Chas. Napier, |
“To Admiral the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford,
G.C.B., G.C.M.G., Malta.”
“Sir,
“Princess Charlotte, at Malta,
March 23, 1841.
“I do not intend to enter[to enter] into the political merits of your Convention with Mehemet Ali, which has been subsequently sanctioned by Her Majesty’s Government, but as Commander-in-Chief upon this station I think I should have signally failed in my duty if I had not represented to the Admiralty any act of an officer under my command which I considered to be contrary to the rules and customs of the naval service.