THE DARDANELLERS.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 281, 16 February 1878, Page 2

THE DARDANELLERS.

A correspondent sends us the following extract from Miss Martiueau's "Introduction to tho History of the Peace " :— "Before the end of 1806 Russia had driven Selim into the arms of prance, and Alexander was filled with alarm. He be* sought the British to undertake another of those diversions which began to sound so disagreeably in the cars of Englishmen—to send a fleet of theirs which was cruising in the JSgcan Sea up to Constantinople, and to compel Selim to relinquish his alliance with France and in ike terms with Russia and England. The Grcnrille (Cabinet was rather glad of an opportunity

of obliging Alexauder, to whom they had refused both money aud soldiers, and whose friendship it was important to retain, and they gave orders to Sir John Duckworth, then cruising off Ferrol, to join Admiral Lous at the mouth of the Dardanelles. Mr Arbuthnot, the British Ambassador at the Porte, offered the final terms of the two Courts to Selim as soon as he heard of the jane* tion of the two squadrons offTenedos, on the 26th of January, 1807. They were declined, and from certain threats about making hostages Mr Arbuthnot feared for his own safety and that of all the English in the place. He arranged with the captain of the Endymion, which lay at hand, to invite all the English merchants and the whole Legation to dinner on board his ship on the 19th of January. They went, wholly unaware that they were not to land again. When sitting in their dinner dresi they wore told that their wires, children, and merchandise must be left to the mercy of the Turks and the generosity of Sebastiani. They had little appetite for the dinner before them. No communication with the shore, however, was allowed, and by 8 in the evening, when it was Very dark, the Endymion was under way. The Turks did not find it out nor,molest her passage down the Dardanelles, and she arrived m safety at the rendezvous at Tenedos. The strong and rapid current makes the passage of the narrow and intricate passage comparatively easy that way. The difficulty is m passing the other way up to Constantinople. A strong south or south-west wind is necessary for this, and the fleet had to wait for this till the 19th of February. A terrible fire had destroyed the Ajax of 74 guns, in the interval, with the loss of 250 lives. Seven line of-battle ships remained and followed each other at intervals into the mouth of the Strait. Neither the efforts of Sebastiani nor the explosion of the Ajax nor any other warning that the English were coming had roused the Turks to make the slightest preparation. The ships sailed proudly up the Strait, undelayed by the fire of the forts at the narrowest part of the channel, •and belching out flame and cannon balls as they went. They took and burnt some Turkish ships and appeared before Constantinople to the horror of the whole population, who were absolutely without the means of defence. The Divan would have yielded at once, but Sebastiani would have prevented it, arid instituted a negotiation which proved a fatal snare to Sir | John Duckworth, notwithstanding express warnings and instructions from Lord Cols lingwood. He was unwilling to destroy the city and shoot down the defenceless inhabitants, and he allowed himself to be drawer on from day to day, exchanging notes and receiving, promises, instead of fulfiling his threats.^feantime, not a moment was lost by the Turks. Women and children worked day and night at the defences, and in a fewdaya the whole coast was bristling with artillery, and the chance was over.. The British officers had seen through their glasses the placing of the cannon, the arrival of the ammunition, the lining of the coast with spirited troops, and the lodgment of garrisons in the towers, and they chafed under the intolerable disgrace of their inaction. But Sir John Duckworth had been negotiating during the whole of that fatal week; at the end of which there was nothing to be done but to get away as safely as best might. The wind had not changed, and it did not change till March 1, and the further delay thui caused gave time for charging the forts at the Dardanelles with men and ammunition. For thirty miles, reckoning the windings of the Channel, the ships ran the gauntlet of an incessant fire, and such a fire as was never seen before. Stone balls, weighing 7001b or 8001b, broke down the masts, crushed in the decks, snapped the rigging, and amazed the hearts of the sailors. The hills smoked from end to end; and the roar of the artillery rolled from side to side. In another week Sir John Duckworth declared in his despatch any return would have been impossible. The news of this singular affair spread fast over Europe."