ss rule of
their own petty officers. Hardly a day passed in which he did not
complain bitterly to Lord Cochrane of the obstructions thrown in his
way; and Lord Cochrane had to take upon himself the thankless functions
of a mediator between a good-hearted commander-in-chief and his
disaffected subordinates.

This state of things would at any time have been irksome to him. It was
especially so in the condition of affairs represented to him. Each day
fresh reports were brought of the desperate state of the Acropolis. "The
affairs of the fortress of Athens," we read in one document, signed by
seven leaders of the besieged, and dated the 22nd of April, "have
arrived at a very critical height, and no longer any remedy is expected
from within, and therefore the besieged are obliged to address
themselves to the Government of Greece and to the commanders of her
forces, and to urge them to adopt the best, the speediest, and the most
efficient measures to relieve the citadel. The Government and the
commanders have always replied with promises of the most positive kind
to raise the siege in a very few days. We can no longer believe their
word. To give you further intelligence, we send now five men, who will
tell you verbally what we cannot describe. If, however, they do not
persuade you, we tell you this is our last letter. We will wait five
days longer, and we can hold out no more. We have been brothers, and
remain so during dearth, sickness, and all evils. Our nature is like
that of all men: we can suffer no more than others. We are neither
angels nor workers of miracles, to raise the dead, or do impossible
things. If any evil should happen, we are not to blame, nor has God to
condemn us in anything." The bearers of this letter, and others who
brought a like report, were carefully examined by Lord Cochrane, and by
them he was solemnly assured that the garrison of the Acropolis,
destitute of provisions and every other necessary, could not possibly
hold out more than five days longer.

He and all others were deceived; but he alone thoroughly felt the urgent
need of instant action. "As I perceive the ruin of Greece," he wrote to
Karaiskakes on the 23rd of April, "in the delay now taking place, and as
I have every reason to believe that intrigues are carrying on by persons
of desperate fortune and worthless character, with a view to promote
their private ends, they not being aware that the subjection of Greece
to a foreign power wi