I have the honour to be, &c.,
F. A. Hastings.
P.S.—May I beg of you, my lord, to furnish me with a commission of lieutenant for Mr. Darby, the only officer doing duty as a sailor on board—in truth, he is no sailor, and does not pretend, but he is brave, diligent, and a gentleman, and has served with me for about four months?
IX.
Karteria, Poros, April 30th, 1827.
My Lord,
I had the honour to receive your orders of the 28th inst. Your lordship will have observed, by the letters I had the honour of transmitting to you, that the condition of this vessel is such as to render it impossible for her to put to sea immediately. Dr. Gosse last night was occupied sending you off 68-pounders, and I am happy to hear this morning that the monastery has fallen without them. I must again repeat how indispensable it is that this fleet should be in readiness to encounter the Turks, who cannot now delay long their departure.
It is with deep regret I see the extreme discontent existing on board the Sauveur brig, which seems to me to be greatly augmented, if not entirely owing to the Greeks being paid in advance and the English being in arrears of wages. In this country, my lord, I must repeat, nothing can be done without regular payments. By paying out of my own funds, when others could not be obtained, I have established the confidence of the Greeks and English in this vessel, as far as money is concerned; but I cannot continue to pay out of my own pocket. If funds are not forthcoming for the wages of this vessel, I must beg leave to resign. Whilst I am on board my people will always consider me personally responsible for their wages; and I must again remark I have suffered already much too severely in my private fortune to admit of my making further sacrifices. Besides wages for the crew, I have various expenses here to repair damage sustained by the vessel.
I have the honour to be, &c.,
F. A. Hastings.