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Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice Admiral R.N.

L >> Lady Biddulph of Ledbury >> Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice Admiral R.N.




'This mine returns about £1250 sterling of silver per ann. Sixty miners
are employed at £14 a year each! Bears, wolves and reindeer abound in
this vicinity. There is plenty of iron, not worked, and gold has also
been found in Kongsberg. From thence to Topam(?) we were surprised to
find ourselves driven up to the door of a gentleman's place, out came
Jack Butler, and the master of the house, pressing us to walk in; after
excuses and proper hesitation we accepted, and found ourselves in a room
with people at supper, ladies pretty ones too, who spoke English!

'The fact is that Topam, of which we had heard so much, is a gentleman's
place; after dinner we were shown to our room (one only was vacant).
Walrond had a bed and I slept in my cloak.'

Next day they engaged a well-organised _chasse_. My father
pronounces Topam (?) the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. 'Mr.
Benker of Berlin, their host, purchased it from the King of Sweden for
£150,000. It is the only thing on this scale in Europe.'

The travellers now returned to Christiania, apparently to be received by
the King. They intended dining with their old friend Count Plater, but
the King commanded them to dine with him. After waiting some time they
were ushered in by Baron Lamterberg, the head Chamberlain, and after a
few minutes the King entered--(here follows the interview in Captain
Yorke's own words):

'I apologised for being in plain clothes instead of uniform or court
dress; he replied, "I do not want to see the dress but the man, I am
glad to see you both." He then addressed his conversation in different
topics, viz.: policy of Sweden, change of ministry in England, the navy,
the country, and the mines of Sweden; all of which he enlarged much on.

'He remarked, speaking of England, "That she must have a strong
government or things would not go right in a turn of affairs which he
seemed to think must soon come. A strong government is absolutely
necessary for England." He asked me if _I_ thought that much order
or signals could be attended to after a naval fight had once begun? I
answered, "I thought it depended much on the weather, and which fleet
had the weather gage. With a strong wind and the weather gage I thought
a well-conducted fleet could keep in good order, as long as spars
stood." We stayed with the King for an hour before dinner which was
served at half-past five, after taking schnapps and anchovies, &c. (at
which preparation the King did not appear, they being served at side
tables). The company, about thirty generals, Colonels and Officers of
State, were scattered about in different rooms; the King suddenly
entered and took his seat; everyone did the same, nothing was said; he
fell to work, a very good dinner. I sat opposite the King who never
spoke, or even changed his countenance, or his knife and fork, which
were of gold, and wiped them himself on bread.

'He ate of many dishes, and drank claret and Seltzer water. The plate
was silver except what he had, the glass plain except his, and the
knives and forks were wiped and given to us again. Dinner over, coffee
was served and he talked to me, hoped to see me at Stockholm, bowed to
the company and retired. The King is a perfect gentleman and man of the
world, elegant in his manners and dress, the most intelligent
countenance, and very upright, and good looking in feature.'

I have before noted that my father had really no evening dress or
uniform and was sorely put to it what to do, when he remembered he had
given his servant Jack Butler an old black coat, so he borrowed it for
the occasion, Butler remarking 'that it looked as good as new, as he had
blacked the seams with ink.' This was told to the Chamberlain, who
repeated it to the King, who went into a paroxysm of laughter.

June 13.--We now come to the parting with Walrond, faithful friend and
companion, and sad was the leave-taking. Both were sorry to part, my
father with a long and dreary journey before him alone in a strange
land. As before, he seems to have been most hospitably treated wherever
he halted. Excellent rooms and good food were provided. Between this and
Brejden (? Trondhjem) he passed by the wooden monument erected to
Sinclair, who was there shot. The Norwegians say that silver bullets
were cast on purpose to kill him. Here also they murdered forty Scots,
prisoners, in cold blood. Between Brejden (?) and Langan Pass, the spot
where the action was fought, 700 Scots fell. The pass is, even with a
good road, very narrow, and the mountain above and below nearly
perpendicular; at the foot runs the Langan, a rapid stream. The
Norwegians held the heights, and with them a handful of men might defeat
the enemy.

In crossing the summit and then the descent of the Dovrefeld Range, he
suffered much fatigue both to the eye and limb, 'for never did my eye
wander over so desolate a waste as the summit of these mountains, the
peaks covered with snow, and spots of deep snow in the valleys.' Not a
vestige of herbage or tree to be seen on the northern summit, nor for
one Swedish mile of the descent; then begins the stunted birch, next the
Scotch fir, and 'towards the end of the day our eyes were cheered by the
sight of pines.'

'The inhabitants of the Post-houses are the cleanest people I have seen,
and one is surprised by meeting clocks, carved, painted and gilded, and
walls covered with inscriptions or rudely painted figures. All their
utensils are well scrubbed, and as white as wood can be made. They wear
plaid and recall in their delivery the people of the Scotch Highlands.'

Here comes another description of meals, the table at the latter being
covered with 'glass, flowers and sweets,' _Diner à la Russe_, now
so completely our own fashion. 'A general welcome to the board is first
given, and on rising from table we shake hands all round and the words,
"much good may it do you" often accompanies this greeting.' This again
reminds one of the German _gesegnete Mahlzeit_.

Captain Yorke continues his inquiries by visiting the Arsenal at
Trondhjem which he finds in good order with stores and gunpowder in
small quantities. Twenty gunboats are here laid up in houses built for
the purpose, everything connected with them in good repair. They have a
large lug sail with a mast that falls down. How quaint all these
descriptions must appear to sailors of modern times!

'Besides the Arsenal, the King's Regalia was inspected with laudable
curiosity. It distinctly belonged to Norway, but was made at Stockholm
for the coronation of the present King in the old Church. A very
gorgeous affair, the jewels (pearls) no diamonds, and the other stones
in the crown chiefly amethysts. The Bernadotte family, on the whole, is
not popular in Norway. Sport is always mingled with hospitality and
entertainments; a vast quantity of eider duck is everywhere on the
water, and to take a boat and go out on the Fiord with a gun, is one of
the delights of this most delightful tour. It is curious to see the
affection of the old ones for the brood, which they never will forsake
and so fall an easy prey to the fowler.'

Trondhjem was left with much regret. The pictures, the old town with its
hospitality, the fishing for trout and shooting of eider duck with the
gorgeous scenery left an indelible impression, but night beginning to
darken at twelve put the traveller in mind that time was passing with
rapidity and that to effect the journey before him he must depart.

The next point of general interest is a visit to a family of Laplanders
a mile up the mountains. Herick Anderson, the head or chief of his
family, received the whole party, consisting of Captain Yorke, a friend
(Mr. Charter), and their servants, with 'great delight.'

They were milking the deer, so the travellers could not have arrived at
a more fortunate moment. Five hundred of these animals were enclosed in
a circular space with birch trees cut down and made into a temporary
fence, so giving a good opportunity for looking at the animal. It is
about the height of our common fallow deer, but much stronger and larger
in make, large necks and feet, large-boned legs, with immense antlers
covered with flesh and skin, a dark mouse colour, coat thick, most even
and beautiful to look at. The milk is rich beyond any ever tasted. They
dined with the Laps on reindeer soup and bouillie, scalded milk and
cheese--a characteristic meal. The scalded milk was delicious, but so
rich they could hardly eat it.

They also had a fine sight of Lapland deer dogs, and bought one for
10s.; I suppose that quarantine was not invented then!

After a good deal of brandy drinking the travellers departed with some
difficulty, for the Finns got so riotous that it was with force they got
them from the horses' heads, holding on to the bridles to prevent their
departure.

The Diet at Stockholm (November 1828) was opened with great pomp and
ceremony. My father was present and went in the suite of Lord
Bloomfield, our Minister at the Swedish Court. The ceremony began at 10
A.M., the King and Crown Prince going in state to the church where
divine service was performed. From there a procession to the palace.

The nobles, Ministers of State, &c., with bands of music met them, the
King and Crown Prince walking under a canopy with their crowns on their
heads. Then followed Foreign Ministers with their suites, then twelve
men in armour with large helmets (a bodyguard established by Charles
XII), and more burghers, clergy, and peasants; guards on one side,
artillery on the other, and on entering the square of the palace, the
Horse Guards lined the way. The King took his seat on the throne at the
upper end of the Riks Salon, the Crown Prince on his right a little
below him; the Ministers of State at the foot of the throne, behind
officers of the household, below in a semicircle the guards in armour.
At each side on seats the members of the Diet, in a gallery on the left
sat the Queen and Princess Royal with their ladies. In another gallery
opposite the throne sat the Foreign Minister and strangers of
distinction. The King then delivered his speech to the Crown Prince, who
read it, silence being obtained by the chief minister striking his baton
three times on the ground (which reminds one of a beadle in a Roman
Catholic ceremony!).

The marshal of the ceremony also struck his baton three times on the
ground--the signal for the speakers from the Diet to deliver their
respective addresses, after which the whole procession left the Riks
Salon as it came.

'Carl Johan did the King to admiration, though he looked weary and
distressed.

'The Prince was more at his ease, he put one in mind of the pictures we
see of our old Saxon Kings, the crown being made to that shape.'

On November 17 my father received a summons from the King at 7 P.M., and
was most kindly received.

'He first conversed on Norway, and asked about the new road between
Norway and Sweden. "You, I think, have been in Egypt," said he, "the
Pasha is a most extraordinary man?" I replied, "One of the most
extraordinary men in the world." "Egypt is well governed, is it not?"
"Perhaps so, sire, to answer the Pasha's own ends, but horridly
tyrannised over, and the people dreadfully oppressed." "But they are a
barbarous people, and must be ruled with severity, are they not?" "True,
sire, barbarous, yet his system of Government must militate against his
own wishes; for example, he would fain contend with your manufactures in
the market, yet he will not allow the manufacturer to work for himself,
and do his best to get the best price, but will have the article made
for his own sale, paying only so much a day for his labour." "Perhaps,"
said the King, "in Egypt the people are slaves, but in Europe, Kings are
the only slaves. In England and Sweden, your King and I myself are the
only slaves. Eh? is it not so?"

'"If your Majesty will use any other word than slave, I shall be happy
to agree."

'"What word can I use?" he said. "It is true, I am the only slave in
Sweden. Now, Captain Yorke, do you suppose that Egypt could be governed
by a representative government?"

'My answer was immediate, "Impossible, sire."

'"There, Count Welterdick, do you hear that?" Turning to the courtiers
and Lord Bloomfield, he ejaculated with considerable force, "There,
there, you are right, sir--you are right!" During all this conversation
the King seemed considerably excited. The Diet had just met and things
had not gone there so as to please him. After a few more commonplace
observations he said, "Good evening. The Queen wishes to see you below,
go to her, and dine with me before you leave us."'




CHAPTER VI

GREEK INDEPENDENCE. 1829-1831


In letters written from Stockholm to his father and brother in the
autumn of 1828, Captain Yorke expresses very urgently his desire to find
himself again on active service. 'I see the Lord High Admiral is out,'
he wrote to Sir Joseph in September of that year, 'and whoever comes in,
pray try and get me to the Mediterranean if it is possible.' A month
later his brother, the Rev. Henry Yorke, is reminded of the same wish.
'Since the Russians have blockaded the Dardanelles and old Melville has
again taken up the cudgels, I do not know what to think, and I anxiously
await a line from England. Employment is what I most wish, and now more
than ever, for England will be at war ere long. I trust in God my
friends will stir for me.'

Captain Yorke's anticipation of a war in which England should be
involved was not fulfilled, but the chafing at a life of inaction by the
ardent sailor which appears so clearly in his letters was soon relieved
by his appointment to the command of the brig _Alligator_ in
November or December of 1828.

After some short service in home waters, during which he visited the
Orkneys, Captain Yorke was ordered to take the _Alligator_ to the
Mediterranean station, where it doubtless occurred to the authorities
that the energy and ability he had shown when in command of the
_Alacrity_ in Greek waters a few years earlier would be of service
in the new circumstances which had arisen in that part of the world. The
Greek War of Independence, which was in full progress when Captain Yorke
was engaged in suppressing the piracy of which it was a chief cause in
1823-26, was now drawing to a close. In 1827 Great Britain, France, and
Russia were all united in securing the independence of the country,
which was recognised by a treaty between the three Powers in that year,
and in January following Count Capo d'Istria was elected President of
the new republic. There remained, however, the difficulty of extracting
the same acknowledgment from the Sultan, and from his powerful and
practically independent vassal, Mehemet Ali Pacha of Egypt, whose aid he
had invoked, and whose son Ibrahim held much of the revolted country.
But in 1828 the Allies at last came to an arrangement with Mehemet, and
by a convention concluded by Sir Edward Codrington, that potentate
agreed to evacuate the Morea and to deliver all captives. There then
remained the difficult work of fixing boundaries, of taking over such
parts of the country as were occupied by the Turkish and Egyptian
forces, and of reconciling the inhabitants of those portions of the
Hellenic territory which had not been allowed by the Powers to attain
their independence to a continuance of the Turkish rule. Of these the
island of Crete with its heroic Spakiotes, who had never acknowledged
the Sultan as their sovereign, was perhaps the most troublesome and
difficult. There remained also the incidental suppression of the piracy
which still continued. This duty, as before, fell mainly to the share of
Captain Yorke in the _Alligator_.

From a journal among the Hardwicke MSS. at the British Museum, I am able
to trace my father in that service from September 1, 1830, onwards. He
was then ordered to visit Volo, Salonica, and the neighbourhood, 'owing
to the reports of piracies lately committed, and to express all manner
of good will to all parties excepting such pirates, whom I am ordered to
destroy should I fall in with them.' On his arrival at Napoli at the end
of August he found the admirals of France and Russia and the
Commissioners for settling the boundaries of the new republic. 'The work
goes slowly on,' he records; 'Russia makes difficulties and throws
obstacles in the way.' He reports that Capo d'Istria was generally
unpopular, an opinion which was confirmed by his assassination only a
year later. He found the islands of the Archipelago much dissatisfied
with the result of their rebellion, many of them apparently preferring
to remain under the Turk; others with a grievance because they had not
been included in the transfer; all of them intensely jealous of each
other. 'The islands are particularly dissatisfied,' he says. 'Their
situation is much changed. Under the Turk the islander was freer and was
rich and had great trade; now, ruined by the war, he has lost his ships
and his commerce.' On September 3 he sails along the coast of Negropont,
about to be evacuated by the Turks, and hears of piracies committed by
them in leaving that country. 'It is not to be supposed,' he says, 'that
these reckless ruffians would desist from insulting Greek boats and
vessels when they fall in with them.' Going on to Volo, the Aga of that
town assured him that no piracies had taken place recently in the
district, and 'that a small boat might now go in safety to
Constantinople,' but of this the captain evidently had his doubts. On
the 6th he fell in with the _Meteor_, Captain Copeland, and
anchored with her near Zituni, between Negropont and the coast of
Thessaly. His impression of this part of the world is of interest.

'In this part of Thessaly,' he says, 'an English ship had never been
before seen to anchor. I was greeted by the natives. The Greek
population are armed, and the number of Turks in the surrounding
district does not exceed fifteen. Opposite to us is the pass of
Thermopylae, of which pass there is now no remains, the sea having
receded and a considerable plain of alluvial soil now exists where the
Pass must have been. The part of Thessaly opposite the Negropont is the
ancient Myseria and the first scene of the memorable Argonautic
Expedition. Volo was Iolcos, from which Jason embarked his band of
adventurers. Pelion is seen from the gulf.'

While lying near Zituni, Captain Yorke received news of a pirate named
Macri Georgio, who two days before had plundered a schooner, and was
apparently at large in two boats with sixty armed ruffians in the Gulf
of Salonica. He immediately set sail for Cape Palliouri, anchored his
brig by lantern light just round that point on September 11, and at
moonrise led an expedition of five boats with sixty men and three days'
provisions in search of the pirate. There followed many interviews with
the Agas of different districts, who gave him much conflicting evidence
about the doings of Macri Georgio, but with no result, and the
_Alligator_ was finally brought to an anchor at Salonica, where he
prosecuted further inquiries. Salonica, which to-day promises to become
a bone of contention among some of the Powers of Europe, he found 'a
clean town, containing about 70,000 inhabitants. The walls are in the
Turkish style of fortification and without a ditch; the city stands on
an inclined plain gently sloping to the sea, the sea wall is flanked by
two towers at either end. The surrounding country is plain with
mountains rising at the back.' He already noticed a great change in the
attitude of the Turks, owing to the long struggle they had sustained
with the Greeks and with Russia during the late war.

'As it is, the empire is weakened, and the Turks know not what to make
of it. They say the Sultan is a Giaour. The Turks, too, seem to have
lost all their former pride, the lower orders are afraid, and the upper
classes are quite disaffected. The change has been most wonderful, nor
is it quite possible to reconcile to oneself how it has been brought
about. The Koran is no longer the law of the land, and therefore you can
hardly say they are any longer Turks. In Salonica this day, an
independent Greek was seen beating an armed Turk in the streets.'

From Salonica Captain Yorke, hearing of another clue, started in search
of the elusive Macri Georgio, whom he thought he had at last located in
the Peneus. So there is another expedition in the boats with sixty men
and a twelve-miles pull to Platamona. At a village, Karitza, they hear
of an atrocity of the pirates, who had burned a boat and killed all the
crew, leaving one poor fellow only, dead on the beach with his right arm
missing, as witness to the outrage. So the little force bivouacs on the
beach, and at 4.30 next morning chase and fire on some men whom they see
hauling a boat over a sandbank into the river Peneus, with others
retreating into the forest. There followed another chase up the river
with the lighter boats, which after rowing up stream as far as they
would float found only the small boat seen the day before, abandoned and
with no one in sight. In these expeditions the name of Lieutenant Hart
is frequently mentioned by my father. When in later years Captain Yorke
succeeded to the earldom of Hardwicke, he remembered this gentleman,
found him a place as agent of his estates, and had in him a second
right-hand for many years at Wimpole.

On October 30, 1830, Captain Yorke had taken the _Alligator_ to
Karabusa, and as from that point onward his journal is of great
interest, I print it in his own words. It shows, I think, the qualities
of firmness and energy which have appeared so fully in all that he did,
as well as diplomatic talents of a high order in circumstances of some
difficulty. His orders were to take over Karabusa from the insurgents
and hold it pending the settlement. There is a gap in the journal of
some six months at the end of the year 1830, and on the 2nd of June 1831
he records leaving the _Alligator_ for England. In nothing that he
wrote does his love of the sea and of his profession appear so
convincingly as in the touching words in which he records leaving his
crew and his ship. These require no comment, and I set them out as he
left them, together with some reflections on the home voyage which help
to display his character, and some remarks upon the steamer in which he
reached England, which have a peculiar interest in showing the
difficulties of the early days of steam navigation.

'Oct. 13, 1830.--Arrived and moored to the shore at Karabusa (off Cape
Busa in Crete). I am sent here to take possession of the fortress from
the Greeks, and to hold it in the name of the Allies until I am ordered
to surrender it to the Turks. It is an extraordinary rock very high and
difficult of access on the western side. Its face to the sea is
perpendicular. The Venetians fortified this height, and it is a perfect
Gibraltar. A small garrison could defend it as long as the necessaries
of life remained within. The anchorage is bad, the bottom being rocky;
but it is a perfect harbour, being open to view only to the west and
here a breakwater of rock runs across--on this breakwater the
_Cambria_ was lost. I communicate on my arrival with Mons. Le Ray
of the brig _Grenadier_ and Captain Maturkin of the brig
_Achilles_, my colleagues for France and Russia.

'Oct. 15.--Arrived at Karabusa and desired to see me three Candiotes
(Spakiote chiefs) professing to be a deputation from the Cretans
requesting to know what we meant to do with Karabusa; speaking of their
forlorn condition, of the Turks being about to break the armistice, and
praying me to give protection to those who wished to fly to Karabusa. In
reply I said that my power was limited, that I had my orders and they
were, to receive the Island of Karabusa from the Greeks, and to hold it
in the name of the Allies until I received orders to surrender it to the
Turks. _Voilà tout!_ After this I said, "I now may speak my own
private opinion and give my advice. That is that Candia belongs _in
toto_ to the Turks, and you had better submit." I used all the
arguments I was master of to induce them so to do, and said that on
their heads would rest the blood that might be spilt by deceiving the
people, and inducing them to resist; that the Pacha of Egypt had made a
proclamation, the most gracious. They said they had never seen it, but
on producing a copy of it we found they were well acquainted therewith.
Sent for the Russian and French captains to give their opinion and
advice, which precisely tallied with mine. Mons. Le Ray was for
requesting the Turk to extend his armistice, which expired to-day and
give more time for the surrender of arms, but I differed with him on
this point, for you "must be cruel to be kind," and in prolonging the
time of their submission you prolong hope, the Greek will after such
time is expired only ask for more.

'Three chiefs Chrisaphopulo and Anagnosti and another whose name I did
not know are the same who made the attempt to retake the island sixteen
days ago.

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