In these Volumes is recounted the public life of my late father from the period to which the narrative was brought down by himself in his unfinished "Autobiography of a Seaman." The completion of that work was prevented by his death, which occurred almost immediately after the publication of the Second Volume, eight years and a half ago. I had hoped to supplement it sooner; but in this hope I have been thwarted.
My father's papers were, at the time of his death, in the hands of a gentleman who had assisted him in the preparation of his "Autobiography," and to this gentleman was entrusted the completion of the work. Illness and other occupations, however, interfered, and, after a lapse of about two years, he died, leaving the papers, of which no use had been made by him, to fall into the possession of others. Only after long delay and considerable trouble and expense was I able to recover them and realize my long-cherished purpose.
Further delay in the publication of this book has arisen from my having been compelled, as my father's executor, to make three long and laborious journeys to Brazil, which have engrossed much time.
At length, however, I find myself able to pay the debt which I owe both to my father's memory and to the public, by whom the "Autobiography of a Seaman" was read with so much interest. At the beginning of last year I placed all the necessary documents in the hands of my friend, Mr. H.R. Fox Bourne, asking him to handle them with the same zeal of research and impartiality of judgment which he has shown in his already published works. I have also furnished him with my own reminiscences of so much of my father's life as was personally known to me; and he has availed himself of all the help that could be obtained from other sources of information, both private and public. He has written the book to the best of his ability, and I have done my utmost to help him in making it as complete and accurate as possible. We hope that the late Earl of Dundonald's life and character have been all the better delineated in that the work has grown out of the personal knowledge of his son and the unbiassed judgment of a stranger.
A long time having elapsed since the publication of the "Autobiography of a Seaman," it has been thought well to give a brief recapitulation of its story in an opening chapter.
The four following chapters recount my father's history during the five years following the cruel Stock Exchange trial, the subject last treated of in the "Autobiography." It is not strange that the harsh treatment to which he was subjected should have led him into opposition, in which there was some violence, which he afterwards condemned, against the Government of the day. But, if there were circumstances to be regretted in this portion of his career, it shows almost more plainly than any other with what strength of philanthropy he sought to aid the poor and the oppressed.
His occupations as Chief Admiral, first of Chili and afterwards of Brazil, were described by himself in two volumes, entitled, "A Narrative of Services in Chili, Peru, and Brazil." Therefore, the seven chapters of the present work which describe these episodes have been made as concise as possible. Only the most memorable circumstances have been dwelt upon, and the details introduced have been drawn to some extent from documents not included in the volumes referred to.
There was no reason for abridgment in treating of my father's connection with Greece. In the service of that country he was less able to achieve beneficial results than in Chili and Brazil; but as, on that ground, he has been frequently traduced by critics and historians, it seemed especially important to show how his successes were greater than these critics and historians have represented, and how his failures sprang from the faults of others and from misfortunes by which he was the chief sufferer. The documents left by him, moreover, afford abundant material for illustrating an eventful period in modern history. The chapters referring to Greece and Greek affairs, accordingly, enter with especial fullness into the circumstances of Lord Dundonald's life at this time, and his connection with contemporary politics.
Eight other chapters recount all that was of most public interest in the thirty years of my father's life after his return from Greece. Except during a brief period of active service in his profession, when he had command of the British squadron in North American and West Indian waters, those thirty years were chiefly spent in efforts—by scientific research, by mechanical experiment, and by persevering argument—to increase the naval power of his country, and in efforts no less zealous to secure for himself that full reversal of the wrongful sentence passed upon him in a former generation, which could only be attained by public restitution of the official rank and national honours of which he had been deprived.
This restitution was begun by his Majesty King William IV., and completed by our present most gracious Queen and the Prince Consort. By the kindnesses which he received from these illustrious persons, my father's later years were cheered; and I can never cease to be profoundly grateful to my Sovereign, and her revered husband, for the personal interest with which they listened to my prayer immediately after his death. Through their gracious influence, the same banner of the Bath that had been taken from him nearly fifty years before, was restored to its place in Westminster Abbey, and allowed to float over his remains at their time of burial. Thus the last stain upon my father's memory was wiped out.