America, with a broad pendant in the Warspite of 76 guns; he was succeeded in the Indian command by Rear-admiral Gage, who arrived there in the month of August following.

The efforts made by our land and sea forces to meet the occasion were singularly great. The ratification, which should have been signed by the Burmese plenipotentiaries, and returned to our head-quarters on the 18th, was withheld in violation of the preliminary treaty, and a farther delay of seven days was demanded, and refused. The deputies were told that they must, in addition to the other articles of the treaty, evacuate Melloone on the morning of the 20th, and farther, that, on the rejection of this proposal, hostilities would immediately comAccordingly the British general, at 12 o'clock that night, (the 18th,) commenced loading his guns, and made every preparation for attacking at daylight the city of Melloone, which Major Snodgrass calls a chef-d'œuvre of Burman fortification.

Our batteries, having 28 pieces of ordnance, were ready at 10 o'clock the next morning, on the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy, extending more than a mile to oppose the enemy's works on the opposite shore. At 11 o'clock the firing began from guns and rockets with fine effect, while the troops were embarking in the boats and flotilla above the camp, prepara tory to the assault. The naval part of the operations was entrusted to Captain Chads.

After the bombardment had continued two hours, the divisions for storming crossed the river, one above, under the command of Brigadier-general Cotton, the other below the town, under Colonel Sale, who was unfortunately one of the first wounded in his boat, when Major William Frith succeeded him in the command. The whole operation was completely successful, and Melloone, in a few hours, was in the hands of our gallant countrymen.

No sooner had this place been taken, than the inhabitants flocked in, and placed themselves under the British protection. The court of Ava now felt the fatal consequences of its perfidy; the fall of Melloone crushed all hopes of farther resistance. The faith of the Burmese court was so little to be relied on, that neither could the great men of that nation be found to undertake the charge of a negotiation, nor would the British general confide in their word. Dr. Price, an American missionary, under confinement at Ava, was taken from his cell, and sent as an ambassador. Dr. Sandford, surgeon of the Royals, who was also a prisoner, was added to the mission, on his parole of honour to return. This he did, on the following day, to the astonishment of the grandees and the people, who

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had no conception of the moral feeling which prompts an honest man to keep his promise. While the conference was going on at Zaynan-oheoun, the Burmese forces were again collecting at the city of Pagahm. A savage warrior, whose name, translated into English, was the " King of Hell," vowed to redeem the honour of his country, and drive away the army of rebellious strangers." Sir Archibald Campbell, however, in person attacked "the King of Hell," with less than 2,000 men, and routed his army with tremendous slaughter; some were left dead on the field, others were drowned in attempting to cross the river; our loss was only two men killed, or missing, and not 20 wounded.

The Golden-footed King now found that no force of his could repel the invaders, or save his capital; he, therefore, gladly consented to the terms dictated by the British general, which were in substance as follows:

To cede in perpetuity the provinces of Aracan, recently conquered by the British, including the four divisions of Aracan, Ramsee, Cheduba, and Sandoway; the provinces also of Yeh, Tavoy, Mergui, and Tenasserim, with their islands and dependencies. The Martaban river was to be the line of demarcation.

To pay one million sterling, as an indemnification to the British Indian Government for the expenses of the war.

To receive a British resident at Ava, and to send a Burman minister to reside at Calcutta.

To abolish all exactions upon British shipping in Burman ports, which are not demanded of the Burmese in British ports, and to enter into a commercial treaty on principles of reciprocal advantage.

The first instalment of the crore of rupees, or million sterling, agreed on to be paid, was sent down the river from Yandaboo to Rangoon, a distance of 600 miles. The sum thus shipped amounted to £250,000, which was conveyed to Calcutta by Captain Chads in the Alligator. Such was the termination of the Burmese war, in which the valour, perseverance, and skill displayed by our land and sea forces were only exceeded, by their kindness and generosity to their vanquished enemies.

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CHAPTER XXVI.

Illness of Lord Liverpool-Partial change in the ministry-The Duke of Clarence Lord High Admiral—State of Greece as connected with the Turkish empire-Observations in Parliament; limits of non-interference arrived at-Sir Edward Codrington appointed to command in the Mediterranean-Treaty of London between France, Russia, and England-Its object-Cruelty of the Turks-Sir Edward's orders to his captains-Treachery of Ibrahim Pacha-Skirmish off Patras-The Turks not allowed to relieve it-The Pacha arrives at Navarin, and revenges himself on the poor inhabitants-Captain Hamilton's letterThe allied squadrons enter the Harbour of Navarin-Sir Edward's answer to an insolent message from the Pacha-The allies anchorThe battle begins-Details-Death of Captain Bathurst-Refutation of absurd and mischievous reports-Remarks of the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Huskisson-Official despatch-Sir John Gore sent out with the 10 Queries: answers thereto-Letter from Sir Edward to Mr. Croker From Lord Dudley to Sir Edward-Motion in Parliament-Vote of thanks refused-The battle of Navarin declared by Sir Robert Peel to be "an untoward event"-In June, 1834, Sir Edward claims head-money for the Turkish fleet at Navarin-DebatesHe is successful-Observations on the battle, and its effects on the policy of Russia-Causes of the recall of Sir Edward-Want of clearness and perspicuity in his instructions from the Foreign Office-Sir Edward's defence in his printed correspondence-Agreement of the French and Russian Admirals with him in the interpretation of the instructions-Attack on Carabusa by Sir Thomas Staines-Suppression of piracy.

IN the month of February an important change was made in the Cabinet arrangements, by the sudden and afflicting illness of that amiable nobleman, and truly honest man, the Earl of Liverpool. He was seized with paralysis, and died a few months afterwards.

Mr. Canning was appointed to the vacant office, after encountering difficulties of an unusual nature in the new formation of the Cabinet, from which most of his former colleagues withdrew. Among these, the most important to my subject was Lord Melville, who, for so many years, had held the situation of first Lord of the Admiralty. That board was now entirely dissolved, and the office of Lord High Admiral again revived, and conferred on his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, who had a council appointed to assist him.

One of the earliest measures of his Royal Highness was the introduction into our service of the rank of second captain.

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This was an act unpopular with many, but certainly one of justice, as well as policy, since it called into action a set of men, who, having gained that intermediate rank by their own intrinsic merit, had been passed by and lost to the service for want of friends to procure them the command of sloops of war. The bloody contest carrying on between the Greeks and the Turks in the Morea had been prosecuted with the most relentless cruelty by the latter power against their former subjects, whom, for a series of ages, they had considered their slaves, and treated accordingly, adding, on every occasion of revolt provoked by oppression, penalties and insults still harder to be borne; until, at length, human nature could endure it no longer, and a general rebellion of the Greek provinces of the Turkish empire drew the serious attention of the Courts of Europe to the unhappy state of the Peloponnesian peninsula.

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The first outbreaking of this rebellion commenced about the year 1821, and the enthusiastic admirers of liberty in this country were eager that the Government should at once go to war with Turkey, and even proposed driving the whole of the Mahommedan race out of Europe. The folly of such a crusade was justly exposed by Lord Castlereagh in the House of Commons. The Turks," said his lordship, "comprise (on this side the Hellespont) about 5,000,000 of souls; and I do not conceive it very easy to carry the sentence of transportation into execution." Negotiation had been carried as far as it could go, but his lordship very wisely observed, that neither the Government nor the country were prepared to go to war, or to take up arms, with a view to the more impartial administration of justice in Turkey. Sir James Mackintosh was the advocate of the Greeks in the House of Commons, as was Earl Grosvenor in the Lords; both equally unsuccessful. His lordship contended, that we had allowed a Turkish frigate to be refitted in the dockyard at Deptford, and to be navigated home by British sailors; but this charge was very ably refuted by the Earl of Liverpool, who observed, that the frigate had arrived in this country previously to any acts of hostility between the Greeks and the Turks. She had even come in the character of a merchant ship, partly laden with antiquities for the British Museum; under these circumstances the Government could not do less than permit her to be refitted and navi gated back, as far as Malta only, by British sailors; in other respects, said his lordship, the impartiality of the British Government was proved by its refusal to supply this vessel with arms, or to permit the Pacha to purchase two frigates in this country, which he was most desirous of doing. Referring with

indignation to the horrible butchery of the Sciote hostages, his lordship still contended, that the British Government was excluded from all right of interference by the universally adImitted rule that one Government could not interfere in the internal regulations of another, except in cases where its own security was menaced. Thus far in 1821; but the ferocious contest having been carried on till 1827, outraged humanity could allow it to continue no longer. The squadrons of Great Britain, France, and Russia, which were at first quiet spectators, received orders to take a more active part in the cause of Grecian liberty. No important event of a maritime nature connected with this country took place between the years 1821 and 1826, but, at the latter period, Vice-admiral Sir Edward Codrington was selected for the Mediterranean command. The vast importance of that station I have always insisted on, as one which requires in the officer who holds it a combination of talent and bravery, firmness and conciliation, rarely to be met with.

Vice-admiral Sir Harry Neale, the immediate predecessor of Sir Edward Codrington on this station, had been superseded in consequence of his term of three years having expired; his task had been arduous, and he had gone through it with credit to himself and his. country. Sir Graham Moore, who had preceded Sir Harry Neale, had only occasion to exercise vigilance. Thus, from the year 1821 to the present time, our admirals on that station uniting, in a great degree, the diplomatic and executive offices, required, as they were to fulfil, instructions received both from the Board of Admiralty and the Foreign Office.

The treaty of London, signed in the year 1826, between Great Britain, France, and Russia, had for its object the pacification of Greece, and the suppression of piracy and anarchy in the Archipelago, which continually offered impediments to British, and indeed to European, commerce in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. The Greeks, at the same time, sent a pressing request to the above-named courts to interpose their mediation with the Ottoman Porte, and save them from threatened extirpation, or intolerable slavery. Our interference, therefore, to use the diplomatic language of the treaty, was called for as much by humanity as by the interests of Europe.

An immediate armistice between the contending parties was an indispensable condition to the opening of any negotiation for the final settlement of their differences. The treaty also contained secret articles to compel the observance of the armistice, and the naval commanders-in-chief, bearing the flags and fur