Cochrane (54 page)

In the summer, the steamship
Mercury
was at last ready, and Cochrane decided to return to Greece to see what use could be made of her. On his Mediterranean journeys he was not universally applauded as the hero of democracy and liberty. Crauford Tait Ramage, the young tutor to the sons of the British consul at Naples, wrote to his mother in
1826
that the authorities of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were so alarmed at the air of subversion of established order which attended Cochrane, that they refused to let him land.
⁵³

None the less, he reached Poros at the end of September
1828,
prepared to resume the fight against the Turks until they and their allies had been cleared from Greece. By now Greece was under the firm, though authoritarian, rule of Capodistrias, which was an improvement militarily. Ibrahim's troops held only a few remaining strongpoints and were soon to be driven from these by a French army under General Maison, an operation which was almost completed when Cochrane arrived.

There was, in truth, nothing left for him to do except to hand over the
Mercury
to the provisional government and spend tedious months in going through the naval accounts of the war to satisfy his masters that every payment could be justified. Had he failed to do so, payment to his subordinates was to be withheld. At last, on
4
December, Capodistrias accepted the gift of Cochrane's
£20,000
and of all his rights in prizes taken during the war, adding that "the Provisional Government can engage in no warlike operation worthy of your talents and your station". Accordingly, his employment was at an end.
⁵⁴

The rule of Capodistrias degenerated into tyranny, culminating in his assassination three years later. But Cochrane was no longer in Greece to witness these events. On
20
December
1828,
he left Poros for the last time. Count Heiden, commanding the Russian squadron, was anchored off the island in the
Azoff.
Hearing of Cochrane's departure, he wrote to Dr Gosse to inquire whether Cochrane was still First Admiral and what honours it would be appropriate to pay him on his leaving Poros. Gosse replied, listing the "coldness and indifference" shown by the Greek government on Cochrane's recent return from Paris, the failure to provide him with lodging, provisions, or employment. At every turn he had met "the insolence of servants of the Government".
⁵⁵

Count Heiden replied, assuring Cochrane that he might "send back to their kennels these miserable causes of his annoyance". A Russian corvette would be put at his disposal to take him to Malta, and the crews of the Russian ships would man the rigging in salute as he passed them. So it was that, in the Imperial corvette
Grimachi,
he embarked at last for Malta. Waiting for him on his arrival there was Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who as Captain Pulteney Malcolm had been one of the few witnesses to support Cochrane in their evidence to the Gambier court-martial. Malcolm put a Royal Navy ship at his disposal for the voyage to the European mainland. After a long overland journey as well, he arrived in Paris to rejoin his family at the beginning of March
1829.

His dedication to the ideal of democracy and the struggle for national liberty did not require him to suppress his feelings about the state of affairs in Greece. He wrote to the Chevalier Eynard of the Philhellenic Committee in Paris, describing the government of Greece as depending on "bands of undisciplined, ignorant, and lawless savages". Such sentiments might have horrified Shelley and the romantic Philhellenes of the early rebellion as being the rhetoric of a reactionary. Cochrane, at least, had shed the delusion that the society of Plato and Demosthenes, as enshrined in its literature, bore some resemblance to the Greek culture of the
1820s.
To Eynard, he suggested that the alternative to the gloomy expedient of letting the revolution "work itself out" was to station six regiments of troops from friendly powers there, until the return of new leaders, educated elsewhere, or the growth of a new generation should make the country fertile for democracy.
⁵⁶

In this mood, he returned home, reaching England in September
1829.
It was widely said that he had enriched himself by speculating in the Greek loan. Hobhouse even wrote that Cochrane's aim was to "establish himself in the sovereignty of Greece". He had been paid
£37
,000
for his four years' service, to cover his own pay and the expenses of his campaign. He invested this sum in Greek bonds at a time when the price, like the expectations of Greek victory, stood low. If anything, it was a gesture of support quite as much as "speculation". He then used his own money for the costs of the campaign. As a partial consequence of his own exertions, the hopes for Greek freedom and the value of the bonds rose. To that extent, he made money out of them. Against this must be set the sum of
£20,000,
due to him at the end of the war, which he returned to the Greek government.
⁵⁷

As a mercenary admiral, it might seem that he expected too much of the Chileans, even more of the Brazilians, and far too much of the Greeks. The Chileans, at least, he felt had been trained to an acceptable level of righting ability, the Brazilians rather less so. But Brazilian independence was a less clear-cut matter than that of Chile. It was separate government under the same royal house as that of Portugal, with a strongly pro-Portuguese faction in the "independent" government at the time of Cochrane's employment. The Greeks, demoralised as a subject race and dependent on leaders who owed part of their loyalty to other interested powers, were no better placed. Their sailors, with no tradition of naval service, drew the line between prize-taking and piracy at a different point from Cochrane. Disorganisation, made worse by a variety of languages, was a greater problem than faintheartedness. And if they seemed more cowed by their traditional conquerors, it is only fair to remember how much more easily and effectively the Turks could hold Greece than the Spanish or the Portuguese could police the distant hinterland of South America.

The truth is that whatever Cochrane's criticisms of the Greeks, however justified they might be and however valiantly he had striven for their cause, his anger was made all the more savage by knowing that, almost for the first time in his fighting career, he had accomplished less than the world expected of him. He had, however, helped to keep the struggle alive and, as a British subject fighting the Turks, traditional allies of his own country, he had assisted in involving the great powers in the conflict to the final and decisive advantage of the Greeks.

On his return from the Greek war, at the age of fifty-four, he still had a long span of life ahead of him, almost as long as the period from his first command of the
Speedy
until the present date. But after all his wars in the service of other powers, there was one rather different battle whose issue had still not been decided. It was that battle to which he devoted his energy and determination for the next thirty-one years, seizing whatever weapon came most easily to hand.

9

See, the Conquering Hero Comes!

The
long remainder of Cochrane's life was devoted, in various ways, to the fight for personal justice. He had made his first moves during his temporary return from Greece in
1828
by addressing a memorial on
4
June to the one man of influence who might hear him favourably. His choice fell on the Duke of Clarence, who was then Lord High Admiral and was to succeed his brother in
1830
as "the Sailor King" or "Silly Billy", according to one's taste. At Windsor, or St James's, or Brighton, with the motherly figure of Queen Adelaide and the brood of illegitimate Fitzclarences, the court was to acquire an easy
-
going dowdiness which contrasted strongly with the self-conscious sophistication of George IV. As Duke and as King William, Clarence showed an amiable and simple nature, for though he could be petulant he was not vicious, and though his naval manners and country gentleman's behaviour lacked refinement, he showed a sense of justice and fair play.

To the future king, Cochrane addressed a long and impassioned protest of his innocence of the Stock Exchange fraud, referring to himself in the third person as "your memorialist". In solemn terms he insisted on this.

He asserts it now, most solemnly, as in the presence of Almighty God, and certain he is, if every doubt be not dissipated in this world, that when summoned to enter more immediately into that Awful and Infinite Presence, he shall not fail, with his last breath, most solemnly to assert his innocence.
¹

The Duke of Clarence forwarded the memorial to the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, and it was considered by the cabinet. Wellington returned a brisk reply, to the effect that the cabinet had considered it and "cannot comply with the prayer of the memorial".
²

Cochrane left England and made no further attempt for the time being. He had never greatly admired the Wellesleys. To petition again, while Wellington was in office, would be "to debase myself in my own estimation, and, I think, in that of every man of sense and feeling". He remained abroad, in France and Italy, partly for the sake of Kitty's health. Yet there were signs that England had not forgotten him. His eldest son was introduced to the Duke of Clarence at Portsmouth, and when the Duke heard the Cochrane name, he at once offered to enter the boy at the naval academy so that the new generation might emulate its predecessor.
³

Those who met Cochrane during his voluntary exile in Italy found his enthusiasm and his democratic belief unaltered by experience. Charles Greville encountered him at Florence in the spring of
1830.

23rd
March. . . . To-night at a child's ball at Lady Williamson's, where I was introduced to Lord Cochrane, and had a great deal of talk with him; told him I thought things would explode at last in England, which he concurred in, and seemed to like the idea of it, in which we differ, owing probably to the difference of our positions; he has nothing, and I everything, to lose by such an event.

26th
March. .
..
Then rode to Lord Cochrane's villa, where we found them under a matted tent in the garden, going to dinner. He talks of going to Algiers to see the French attack it. He has made
£100,000
by the Greek bonds. It is a pity he ever committed a robbery; he is such a fine fellow, and so shrewd and good humoured.
⁴

Three months exactly after this encounter, George IV died and the Duke of Clarence became William IV. But Wellington remained Prime Minister and there was no more to be done as yet. In one of his letters, Cochrane remarked that other men who had offended the old regime were being pardoned, "But I, who protested against the forging of charts and public waste of money, have had no mercy shown!" It was on
15
November
1830
that Wellington's government resigned and a liberal Whig ministry under Lord Grey came into office. Within a few months the country was stimulated to new political enthusiasms as the Reform Bill began its first slow progress through parliament. Europe waited to see if "things would explode" or not, in Greville's terms.
⁵

Cochrane returned to England with a "review" of his case prepared for publication. In Earl Grey's g
overnment, his old friend Henry
Brougham had been raised to the peerage as Lord Chancellor. Surely there was hope of justice at last. A further reason for his return was an invitation to stand as parliamentary candidate for the borough of Southwark. As the battle for reform began, Cochrane had every intention of playing his part in it.

First of all, he addressed copies of his published case to members of the cabinet and sent a copy to the King. On
12
December, he received a personal reply from Grey.

I need not say that it would give me great satisfaction if it should be found possible to comply with the prayer of your petition. This opinion I expressed some years ago in a letter which, I believe, was communicated to you. To the sentiments expressed in that letter I refer, which, if I remember aright, acquitted you of all blame, except such as might have been incurred by inadvertence and by having suffered yourself to be led by others into measures of the consequences of which you were not sufficiently aware.
⁶

Cochrane had handed the King's copy of his printed
Review
to the Home Secretary, Lord Melbourne, accompanied by a short informal petition. William handed the pamphlet back to Melbourne without comment. This was not the correct form in which a petitioner was required to present his case to the monarch.

Throughout
1831
the negotiations continued. On
25
April, Cochrane met his friend Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, at an evening party given by Lord Lansdowne. Brougham warned him ominously that there would be "a battle to fight" over his case. He also learnt that Brougham's brother was standing as candidate at Southwark. Cochrane decided to withdraw his candidacy. He had no wish to oppose Brougham's family and he thought it best not to be a parliamentary supporter of a government from whom he sought personal vindication.
⁷

It mattered very little, in fact, because on
1
July, at his Paris lodging in the Rue Vaurigard, the old Earl, who disowned his son's activities two decades before, died at the age of eighty-three. Thomas Cochrane was now
10th
Earl of Dundonald in succession to his father and, of course, disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons. He held the title for almost thirty years, but it was as "Cochrane" that he remained best known. His inheritance was little more than a title, and such titles were nothing in his estimation by comparison with the claim to honour and reputation.

One of Cochrane's advantages was that he had, quite simply, outlived so many of the old naval officers and politicians who were his greatest enemies. Among the new generation, he enjoyed the friendship of such political figures as Brougham, Lord John Russell, and Lansdowne. Lord Auckland, who was twice to be First Lord of the Admiralty, was another sympathiser. The press admired him, particularly the more liberal
Times,
from
1841
under the famous editorship of John Thadeus Delane. His politics, which had seemed so revolutionary and dangerous thirty years earlier, now enshrined some of the most precious beliefs of government in a more democratic age. Above all, the revelations of his adventures marked him as a great naval hero and perhaps the most brilliant naval commander of a single ship.

For all that, there were rumours that his case was not universally sympathised with. Two members of the cabinet had refused to give way. Admiralty reports on Chile were being quoted against him and when Cochrane asked the First Lord, Sir James Graham, for a chance to refute these private allegations, he was told that the contents of such records were confidential.

Kitty, as the new Countess of Dundonald, sought an interview with Lord Grey who "expressed his readiness to do all he can". But still there was "something in the way". Cochrane himself appealed once more to William IV, asking for a private audience. The King was at Brighton, where the audience was granted at the Royal Pavilion on
27
November. William listened attentively to Cochrane's claim for a chance to hear and answer whatever charges were now being privately uttered against him over the Stock Exchange affair or his service in Chile, or any other matter. He asked for a fair investigation. Whatever the King's more obvious failings, his naval experience and allegiance had given him a natural admiration for Cochrane's achievements. He promised to see that the case was "fairly looked into".
⁸

The early weeks of
1832
passed, and still nothing was done. Burdett, one of the most loyal of Cochrane's friends, offered to raise a campaign in parliament over the way in which an allegedly sympathetic government was dragging its heels. But it was Kitty who went first to Lord Grey and then to the King himself. From Grey she learnt that "there are two individuals in the Cabinet who will not give in". But, even without consulting his government, William had the power to grant a free pardon and it was this for which Kitty, with Cochrane's reluctant consent, at length asked.
⁹

His reluctance was a symptom of chronically sensitive pride. A pardon, he thought, implied forgiveness of an offence. But it was his claim that he had never been guilty of any offence in the first place. To the world at large, it meant simply that he had been innocent, that his innocence was now recognised, that Lord Ellenborough and all those who had sought the downfall of the hero in
1814
were now rebuked by the powers of a more enlightened age.

For the moment, the attention of the world was diverted to the momentous fate of the Reform Bill, which would extend the vote into the middle classes of society and abolish forever the corruption of rotten boroughs and their attendant political patronage. As the Bill passed the Commons for the last time, Cochrane wrote:

It is a rare felicity for a nation to be governed by men having the liberality and justice which induce them to confer free institutions peacefully on the country; institutions which merit the gratitude of all who now exist, and will receive the unqualified applause of future generations. The page of history affords no parallel to the present event.
¹⁰

A fortnight after the letter was written, on
2
May, the Privy Council bowed to royal command and Cochrane received his free pardon. Six days later, the public read that the new Earl of Dundonald had been restored to the Navy List, and that he was now gazetted as Rear-Admiral of the Fleet. The tables were turned with a vengeance on his dead persecutors. The Mulgraves and the Melvilles were generally consigned to oblivion; Ellenborough was soon held up to criticism by Lord Campbell's famous
Lives;
Liverpool and his creatures were subjects of derision as the weak and frightened ministries of a sick and hated king. The port
r
ait of George IV which ruled the Victorian imagination was not that of the boisterous Regent, but of Thackeray's bilious ogre in
The
Four
Georges.

On the day after his appointment, Cochrane was summoned to a royal levee at St James's where, as on other occasions, "congratulations poured in from all quarters". As the reputations of his old enemies rotted and withered, it seemed that for him the promise of his own election ballad had at last come true.

The laurels of fame, that encompass his head, Shall bloom when the triumphs of warfare are fled; For the friend of REFORM and of FREEDOM at home, More immortal shall make him in ages to come.
¹¹

The dawn of the newest and greatest reign of the nineteenth century, with Victoria's accession in
1837,
saw
in
Cochrane every admirable quality. He was the sailor-hero, the liberator of oppressed nations, the champion of freedom in his own land, and that most appealing of popular legends - the brave man wrongly accused and condemned, to whom justice is at length done. To add to his other honours, the new King Otho of Greece had made him Grand Commander of the Order of the Saviour of Greece.

He was sixty-two years old when the Queen came to the throne and had no intention whatever of becoming a mere ornament to the naval profession. There would be wars to fight and actions of one sort or another in which the Royal Navy would be engaged. In the present interval of peace, he turned his attention to his inventions, particularly the application of steam power to naval warfare. One of the more bizarre applications was the curing of fevers among his men in tropical or sub-tropical regions. In Greece, the unfortunate Dr Gosse had contracted fever and visited Cochrane on the steamship
Mercury
while still suffering the effects. Cochrane had devised a curative bath, using steam from the ship's boilers. He lifted Gosse up and put him into the currents, making him perspire copiously. "My illness disappeared as by enchantment," wrote the surprised patient.
¹²