endent
on chances which I cannot foresee, and over which I should have no
control."

Thus temperately rebuked, the Greek deputies did not urge their
proposal any further. They only wrote to promise all possible
expedition in completing the steam-vessels. Lord Cochrane, however,
voluntarily acceded to one of their wishes. Hearing that the largest
of the steamers, the _Perseverance_, was nearly ready for sea, and
that Mr. Galloway had again solemnly pledged himself to complete the
others in a short time, he determined not to wait for the whole force,
but to start at once for the Mediterranean. It had been all along
decided that the _Perseverance_ should be placed under Captain
Hastings's command; and it was now arranged that he should take her to
Greece as soon as she was ready, and that Lord Cochrane should follow
in a schooner, the _Unicorn_, of 158 tons. It was not intended, of
course, that with that boat alone he should go all the way to Greece;
but it was considered--perhaps not very wisely--that if he were
actually on his way to Greece, the completion of the other five
steamships would be proceeded with more rapidly; and he agreed that,
as soon as he was joined in the Mediterranean by the first two of
these, the _Enterprise_ and the _Irresistible_, he would hasten on
to the Archipelago, and there make the best of the small force at his
disposal. Not only was it supposed that Mr. Galloway and the other
agents would thus be induced to more vigorous action: it was also
deemed that the effect of this step upon the Hellenic nation would
be very beneficial. "As soon as the Greek Government know that your
lordship is on your way to Greece," wrote the London deputies on the
13th of April, "their courage will be animated, and their confidence
renewed. We may with truth assert that your lordship is regarded by
all classes of our countrymen as a Messiah, who is to come to their
deliverance; and, from the enthusiasm which will prevail amongst the
people, we may venture to predict that your lordship's valour and
success at sea will give energy and victory to their arms on land."

With the new arrangements necessitated by this change of plans the
last two or three weeks of April and the first of May were occupied.
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 you