He said all he could to induce me to waive my objection; but finding me resolute, he became very grave, took the little muslin kerchief containing the case from me, as I held it towards him, and handed me back at the same time the case containing the watch, saying that ‘if a Secretary of the Embassy cannot receive a little token of friendship on going away, from a man who no longer holds any appointment, neither can I, a retired Governor, accept this chronometer from the Ambassador; have the goodness to make this known to his Excellency, with my best thanks and excuses.’ As I felt that Sir Stratford would be excessively annoyed if the gift were returned, and might think I had not managed to present the gift in a proper manner, I came (after some parley) to a compromise with the Pasha, that he should retain the chronometer and I his gift; that I should write a note at once to the Ambassador explaining all that had happened, and dispatch it to his Excellency by the ‘kaik’ that brought me; that if the Ambassador disapproved of my accepting the gift I should be allowed to return it to the Pasha, with a letter of explanation, and in such case he would retain the chronometer; but if his Excellency approved, there was an end of the matter, and under any circumstances, I told the Pasha, I was much pleased and most grateful for his kind intention.
I sent off the ‘kaik’ to the Embassy, and proceeded in another to the French steamer, which was about to leave. On getting into the ‘kaik,’ I opened the little leather case. It contained a small gold ‘finjan’ encrusted with rose diamonds, worth about £70.
Just as the steamer was on the point of leaving, the Ambassador’s ‘kaik’ came alongside, with a messenger bringing a note from Lady Stratford Canning. The note stated that the Ambassador entirely approved all I had done, and directed that I should keep the Pasha’s gift.
On my way to England I stopped at Paris for a few days to make the acquaintance of Admiral Lalande, who had commanded the French fleet which had been sent to Besika Bay during the Egyptian question in 1840. He was married to the sister of my brother-in-law, the late M. Mauboussin.
The Admiral received me very cordially. He was looking ill, and told me it was probable that he would be in his grave before the end of three weeks, as he was suffering from an internal disease and lived entirely upon milk. He was not confined to his couch but walked about the room whilst conversing, as if full of vigour both in mind and body. He asked me if I should see, whilst in London, Lord Ponsonby; saying he was very anxious to send him ‘the message of a dying man.’ I replied that I should make a point of calling on his Lordship, from whom I had received much kindness. The Admiral then observed that he entertained the highest opinion of Lord Ponsonby, though he was aware that he had successfully opposed French views and projects in Egypt, and had assumed an ascendency over the minds of the Sultan and his advisers which redounded to his credit as a diplomatist, though antagonistic to France.
‘From the fact,’ said the Admiral, ‘of my having such a high opinion of the character of your Ambassador, it has been very painful to me to have learnt, from communications which have been imparted to me by my Government, that Lord Ponsonby is under the impression that I took a prominent part in inducing the Turkish Admiral to be a traitor to his sovereign and deliver over the Turkish fleet to Mehemet Ali. It was of course,’ he said, ‘an event to which much importance was attached by those who had desired to support Mehemet Ali’s independence; but,’ he added, ‘no possible advantage to French interests would ever have induced me to advise or encourage any man to turn traitor to his sovereign, and I hold the Turkish Admiral in utter contempt for that act of infamy. I am now,’ he continued, ‘as I have told you, a dying man; in a few days you will hear I have passed away, and I desire that you should convey to Lord Ponsonby the following message:—“I swear, as a dying man, that whatever may have been done by other French officials, I took no part in the matter, nor indeed was I aware, until the Turkish fleet was delivered over to Mehemet Ali, of the intention of the Turkish Admiral.”
‘It is my anxious desire, as I have the highest opinion of Lord Ponsonby as an honourable man, that any erroneous impression on this subject should be removed from his mind before I die, and that he should give me credit also for being an honourable man, and incapable of counselling any one to turn traitor to his sovereign.
‘Take his Lordship,’ he added, ‘this message, and let me know before I die whether he gives credence to my declaration.’ This I promised to do.
Admiral Lalande related to me that, during the time the French and British fleet lay together in Besika Bay, he had become very intimate with Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, that they dined frequently together and had become fast friends.
He observed that I was no doubt aware that it was then expected, at any moment, that a declaration of war would take place, and that an engagement would follow between the two fleets. ‘It is all settled now,’ he said, ‘and we are at peace, so I can tell you confidentially that we two old men talked over the probability of a sudden declaration of war one evening after dinner, and as we each expressed a sincere desire that no undue advantage should be taken by either through receiving earlier tidings of a rupture, we concerted that a private signal should be hoisted on our respective flagships, the object of which should be unknown to the officers of our fleets, when either of us received tidings that war was declared, so that each might be prepared, without undue advantage, to take measures for a fair fight. Every morning and evening we were wont to look for this signal. At that time,’ the admiral continued, ‘the French fleet was in first-rate order, and we had one vessel more than the English at anchor, as the latter had a vessel or two on the coast of Egypt.