Thomas Cochrane

“ If Lord Cochrane had felt himself a guilty man, he would not have denied this man when he suggested that he could be of use to him in this cause, but you will find from Lord Cochrane's letter, he says, "I should have hoped, that circumstanced as I am, and attacked by scoundrels of all descriptions, that a gentleman of your understanding might have discovered some better reason than that of silent contempt." ”

“ Enough has been said to show Lord Cochrane's position in relation to this deplorable state of affairs, and to exonerate him from all blame in the matter. That he should have been blamed at all is only part of the wanton injustice that attended him nearly all through his life. ”

“ They are a light-hearted people. I wish I could join in their fun. I was hopeful that I should; but the cursed recollection of the injustice that has been done to me is never out of my mind; so that all my pleasures are blasted, from whatever source they might be expected to arise."
That last sentence fairly indicates the state of Lord Cochrane's mind during these painful years. Weighed down by troubles heavy enough to break the heart of an ordinary man, he fought nobly for the thorough justification of his character and for the protection of others from such persecution as had befallen him. ”

“ Gentlemen, is Lord Cochrane to be believed or not? have you any ground for saying, that this noble Lord has been guilty, not of perjury in the common sense of the word, but of perjury of a much higher kind, in my view, for which he must be accountable, for which he knows he [Pg 299] must be accountable, if he has sworn that which he knows to be false, and which he cannot have done without being one of the most worthless men in the world. Gentlemen, what has he said? and I beg your particular attention to it, because the evidence of the brokers will not tally with the statement at all ”

“ In such pursuits nine months of the unjust imprisonment were passed. "Lord Cochrane has hitherto borne all his hardships with great fortitude," wrote one of his most intimate friends on the 10th of November, "and, if there are any more in store for him, I hope he will continue to be cheerful and courageous." "His lordship always hopes for the best, and is never afraid of the worst," said the same authority on the 9th of December, "and therefore he is in good spirits." ”

“ Lord Cochrane put to sea on the 8th of May. "As a Greek citizen," one of the deputies in London, Andreas Luriottis, had written on the 17th of April, "I cannot refrain from expressing my sincere gratitude towards your lordship for the resolution which you have taken to depart almost immediately for Greece. This generous determination, at a moment when my country is really in want of every assistance, cannot be regarded with indifference by my countrymen, who already look upon your lordship as a Messiah. Your talents and intrepidity cannot allow us for a moment to doubt of success. ”

“ No sooner was the joyful intelligence conveyed to the inhabitants that Lord Cochrane, the long-expected deliverer of Greece, had actually arrived, than all the leading men who happened to be in Poros at the time hurried on board the Unicorn to welcome their champion and to give personal assurance of their devotion to him. The first to arrive was Jakomaki Tombazes, who was now acting with Dr. Gosse as superintendent of marine affairs, having surrendered the chief command of the fleet into the hands of Andreas Miaoulis. ”

“ Having transferred the Mercury, which brought him out, to the President, Lord Cochrane had to ask for a vessel to take him from Egina, where he was then staying, to the Ionian Islands, or, if he could not there find suitable conveyance, to Toulon or Marseilles. The brig Proserpine was grudgingly placed at his disposal. "I pray you, my lord," wrote Mavrocordatos, on the 8th of December, "if you are obliged to take her to Toulon or Marseilles, not to detain her at Navarino or Zante, but to enable her to return with as little delay as possible to her work on the shores of Western Greece." ”

“ JOHNSTONE, ANDREW JAMES COCHRANE (fl. 1814) , adventurer, born on 24 May 1767, was eighth son of Thomas Cochrane, eighth earl of Dundonald, by Jane, eldest daughter of Archibald Stuart of Torrence, Lanarkshire (Burke, Peerage, 1890, p. 455) . On 10 June 1783 he was gazetted cornet in the 23rd regiment of light dragoons, then stationed in India (Army List, 1785, p. 55) , and became lieutenant in the 19th regiment of light dragoons on 6 Dec. 1786 (ib. 1790, p. 53) , and captain lieutenant and captain on 10 Nov. 1790 in the 60th or royal American regiment of foot. ”

“ Although you have worked miracles, we can never be justified in expecting them, and still less in requiring them."
Following that sound advice, Lord Cochrane resolved to wait until, at any rate, a good part of his fleet was ready. He wrote to that effect, and in as good spirits as he could muster, to Mr. Hobhouse, who in the answer which he despatched on the 5th of February acknowledged the wisdom of the decision. "I am very glad to perceive," he said in that answer, "that you have good heart and hope for the great cause. ”

“ Lord Cochrane replied that "a British nobleman was a free man, and therefore had a right to assist any country which was endeavouring to re-establish the rights of aggrieved humanity." "I have," he added, "adopted the cause of Chili with the same freedom of judgment that I previously exercised when refusing the offer of an admiral's rank in Spain, made to me not long ago by the Spanish ambassador in London." ”

“ De Berenger, but in point of law or common sense are no evidence against Lord Cochrane; but I will dispose of this man for the sake of the country, that he may never be sent out of the country in any office. I will shew you that he is a man utterly unworthy of credit, for I will prove to you by his own letters that he comes forward to-day, because Lord Cochrane has refused to lend him money; gentlemen, I have a letter of his, in which he desires to have an interview with Lord Cochrane; he has admitted his own hand-writing to the letters, which I will by and by put in. ”

“ Lord Cochrane watched their proceedings from the deck of the Unicorn, General Gordon and Mr. Finlay, who was then serving as a volunteer on Gordon's staff, being by his side. "All those men will be murdered!" exclaimed Mr. Finlay, pointing to the retreating Turks. Lord Cochrane, not yet initiated in all the depths of Greek treachery, turned in horror to General Gordon and said, "Do you hear what he says?" "My lord," answered Gordon, "I fear it is too true." ”

“ The court has deliberated upon the case, and the court cannot, in this instance, feel itself justified in measuring out justice to one by a different measure from that in which justice would be measured out to others; the sentence therefore of the court upon you, the several defendants now upon the floor, is, That you, Sir Thomas Cochrane, otherwise called Lord Cochrane, and you Richard Gathorne Butt, do severally [Pg 600] pay to the King a fine of one thousand pounds each ”

“ Such a man, and foremost among such men, always generous, wise, and earnest, was Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Cochrane's oldest and best political friend, his readiest adviser and stoutest defender all through the weary time of his subjection to unmerited disgrace and heartless contumely. Another leading member of the Greek Committee was Mr. John Cam Hobhouse, afterwards Lord Broughton, Lord Byron's friend and fellow-traveller, now Sir Francis Burdett's colleague in the representation of Westminster as successor to Lord Cochrane. ”

“ Gentlemen, I ask you what evidence you have upon which you are to find this noble person, not only guilty of a foul conspiracy, but also of the still higher crime of wilful and corrupt perjury? Gentlemen, I am quite satisfied, you will not feel that there is any evidence in this cause, which can weigh down the testimony which my learned friend has thought proper to put in. I say the oath of Lord Cochrane makes the evidence offered on the other side kick the beam; that there is nothing to put in competition with the affidavit which my learned friend has himself given in evidence. ”

“ Lord Cochrane's Hydriots, however, rushed to the rescue. Other Turkish troops came up, to be met by other Greeks, and the battle became general. Lord Cochrane, with nothing but his telescope in his hand, gathered the Christian troops round him, and, with encouraging words, led them on in an orderly attack upon the entrenchments about the monastery of Saint Spiridion. ”

“ Wright's evidence, and say if any thing can more strongly evince Lord Cochrane's [Pg 276] consciousness of his innocence, than the publication of this affidavit. Gentlemen, you have been told, and truly told that Lord Cochrane is a public character. From the high station in which he was born, and the still higher place in the eyes of his countrymen to which his public services have raised him, his lordship may, without indulging any blameable vanity, one day expect to fill one of the proudest situations in the country. ”

“ COCHRANE, Sir WILLIAM, of Cowdon, first Earl of Dundonald (d. 1686) , was the second son of Alexander Blair, of the ancient family of Blair of Blair, who, on his marriage to Elizabeth Cochrane, of the ancient family of Cochrane of Cochrane, assumed the name of Cochrane. By prudent management he came to be one of the largest proprietors in the counties of Ayr and Renfrew, and was returned member of the Scottish parliament for Ayrshire in 1644 ('Members of Parliament for Scotland' in Foster's Collectanea Genealogica, i. 7) . ”

“ Lord Cochrane judged, with good reason, that that welfare could only be promoted by placing at the head of affairs a man who had hitherto had no share in party strife, who had proved himself to be possessed of great abilities and of generous love for the nation of which, as a native of Corfu, he was in some sort a citizen. ”

“ Gentlemen, the only part of the evidence which has the least tendency to connect my Lord Cochrane, by means of the notes, with Mr. De Berenger, is the evidence that was given by a person of the name of Lance; there is not one other witness that attempts to state, that a single note traced from the hands of Lord Cochrane, ever was found in the hands of Mr. De Berenger ”

“ If he had lessened the resources of the Association for the Belief of the Manufacturing and Labouring Poor, he was thanked even for this, since it was believed to be a good thing for shallow charity to be stayed, in order that the cause of real justice might be promoted.
The thanks were all the heartier because of the fresh persecution to which Lord Cochrane was subjected on account of his patriotism. This persecution was in the shape of legal proceedings instituted against him by the Marshal of the King's Bench Prison for his escape therefrom on the 10th of March, 1815. ”

“ Is a man so circumstanced likely to commit so sordid a crime as that with which he is charged? No prospect of gain could hold out any temptation to Lord Cochrane to put in hazard what he now possesses. ”

“ I solemnly declare that it is my opinion that a thousand men who would obey orders and do their duty are more than are necessary to perform the task at which your excellency hesitates. I shall be oppressed with grief if, after the scene of yesterday, I am compelled to return, first, to the seat of Government, and next to Europe, without having witnessed any deed that can tend to obliterate the stain thereby affixed on the Grecian people."
"I am making my last effort," wrote Lord Cochrane to Dr. Gosse, "to get Karaïskakes to advance. ”

“ It was so freely talked of among all classes of the English public and so openly discussed in the newspapers before the middle of August that by it Lord Cochrane's last relations with the Brazilian envoy were seriously complicated. "Lord Cochrane is looking very well, after eight years of harassing and ungrateful service," wrote Sir Francis Burdett on the 20th of August, "and, I trust, will be the liberator of Greece. ”

“ I believe no man would say of Lord Cochrane, that he had so utterly thrown off all regard to religion, to the sanction of an oath, properly so called, and to the responsibility he stands under in conscience, as that he would go before a magistrate and make an affidavit, because he could not be prosecuted. ”

“ Sir Richard Church feared to undertake the exploit without the co-operation of Karaïskakes, and, on again consulting him, he was informed that a fresh supply of entrenching tools was necessary. Lord Cochrane immediately sent messengers to procure them, but was none the less annoyed at what seemed to him an unnecessary excuse, and again threatened to take his ships where they could do good work for Greece. "You have done everything in your power," wrote Sir Richard to him on the 3rd of May, "and so have I. The soldiers will not embark without the entrenching tools. ”

“ Gentlemen, that Lord Cochrane would have been incapable of deliberately engaging in any thing so wicked some time ago, I am [Pg 440] sure I as earnestly hope as I am desirous to believe; but you must see in what circumstances men are placed, when they do these things; Lord Cochrane had first found his way to the Stock Exchange, he had dealt largely in these speculations, which my learned friends have so liberally branded with the appellation of infamous; he had involved himself so deeply, that there was no way, but by this fraud of getting out of them ”