Colonel Leake's knowledge of events in Greece following Independence: the Finlay

correspondence
Author(s): Malcolm Wagstaff
Source: British School at Athens Studies, Vol. 17, SCHOLARS, TRAVELS, ARCHIVES: GREEK
HISTORY AND CULTURE THROUGH THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS (2009), pp. 27-38
Published by: British School at Athens
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40960669 .
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 3
ColonelLeakesknowledgeofevents
in Greecefollowing
Independence:
theFinlaycorrespondence
MalcolmWagstaff

INTRODUCTION modernEuropeanstateshouldbe like.Centralisation

ofpowerand decision-making continuedthepolicy
The 'EasternQuestion framedpoliticaleventsin
of IoannisKapodistrias(1776-1831),thePresident
Greeceduringthenineteenth century. A weakening
OttomanEmpirestruggled withan expanding Czarist
oftheprovisional government (1828-31),whichhad
preceded Ottos accession. Conflict withtheold ways
Empirefordominancein south-eastern Europeand
andvestedinterests continued. nepotism
Inefficiency,
thewiderNear and Middle East. At thesame time
andcorruption, unrestrained evennominally bya con-
variousnationalgroupsclaimedtheirindependence,
stitution, eventually resultedin a coupd'etatin 1843.
whilepowerful individuals soughttoextendtheirown
power.TheothermajorEuropeanstatesintervened in Although produceda constitution,
this Ottowas able
to continuehis autocraticwaysuntilhe was finally
pursuitoftheirowninterests. Contingency wasimpor-
tantto howeventsactuallyunfolded, whileboththe deposed in 1862.Throughout Otto'sreign,popular
circumstances underwhichGreekindependence attention was diverted fromtheshort-comings ofhis
was
securedandtheconditions underwhichitwas main- government bypopulist moves to extend thefrontiers
tainedweresignificant forthepoliticalevolution of the country to includemoreand eventually, itwas
ofthe
all
hoped, oftheGreekOrthodoxChristiansofthe
country.
Christianslivingon the Balkanpeninsulasouth OttomanEmpireintoa singleGreekstate.Although
ofa linefromtheGulfofArtato theGulfofVolos therewas continualfriction alongan unsatisfactory
and in theAegeanislandsofthe Sporades,Euboea frontier,major criseswere seizedupontotrytoexpand
thestate, as in 1840-41whentheenosisofCreteseemed
(Ewia) andtheCycladessecuredtheirindependence
fromtheOttomanEmpirein 1829-30aftera bloody possible.
theethniccleansing' oftheMuslim Cretehadjoinedintheuprisings of1821,whichcre-
uprisinginvolving
FranceandRussiaguaranteed ated the Greek state,but the movement therewasput
population. Britain, the
ofthenewstate.In May1832,withthe downwithgreatbrutality in 1824bytheEuropean-
independence
oftheGreekleaders,theyimposed stylearmy of Mehmet Ali/Muhammad Ali Pasha,an
generalagreement
a youngprince, Albanianadventurer fromKavalla,who had seized
Otto,thesecondsonofKingLudwigof
in and become recognisedas itsgover-
Bavaria,onthenewstateas King.Hisfather appointed power Egypt
Ottosadvisersand evenwhenhe gainedhismajority norbytheSultan.HishelpinCreteandthatofhisson,
in 1835,mostofhiscounsellors wereforeigners, IbrahimPasha,intheMorea(1825-27)wasrewarded
while
severalofhisministers werePhanariotes71 orhadlived withthegovernment oftheisland.MuhammadAli
abroad.Neither sethadmuchexperience ofconditions was not satisfied with his rewardand soughtto seize
inthenewcountry, buttheyhadstrong ideasofwhata more territory from theSultan. Underthecommand
ofIbrahimPasha,theEgyptianarmymovedintothe
Syrianprovinces in 1832,andpushedacrossAnatolia
as faras Kiitahya andBursathefollowing year.Russian
71. GreeksfromthePhanar(Fener)district
ofIstanbul,where for theSultan halted theadvance,and
military support
theOecumenicalPatriarch
lived,whowereoftenemployedinthe
diplomatic pressure confined MuhammadAlis ruleto
Ottomancentraladministration.

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28 MALCOLM WAGSTAFF

queredintheseemingly endlesswarsbetweenthetwo
empires. The southwards advanceofRussiancontrol
and influence in theBalkansand acrosstheCaucasus
wasa constant elementintheEasternQuestion.Con-
cernaboutitinLondonandParisledeventually tothe
CrimeanWar(1854-56).Francebegancolonising the
Maghreb, whileretaining important commercialand
interests
political in theeasternMediterranean.
Aus-
triahad territoriesadjacentto thoseoftheOttoman
Empire in theBalkans andsoughtbothtoexpandthese
andalso tocontainplan-Slavism.

COLONEL LEAKE
ColonelMartinLeake(1777-1860),thesoldier, travel-
lerandtopographer ofancientGreece, wasfamiliar not
only with the widerpolitical context in which inde-
pendent Greeceexisted, butalsowithconditions onthe
ground in theNear East.As a youngartillery officer he
had beensecondedto theBritishMilitary Missionto
Turkey (1799-1802). This took him to Istanbul, Syria,
Fig.3.1: ColonelMartinLeake;NationalPortraitGallery, Egypt and, for
thefirst
time, to Greece (July-September
London.
1802).Between1804and 1807,he travelled widelyin
Greeceas a military advisorto theOttomanauthori-
SyriaandtheC^ukorova. TheSultansattempt torecover
ties.WithFrenchcomplicity hewasarrested as a Brit-
histerritoriesbeyondtheTaurusMountainsfailedat ishspyat Salonicain February1807,and spentnine
Nezib,north-east ofAleppo(24 June1839).Alarmed
monthsinconfinement. In 1808-10,LeakewasBritish
bythepossibleramifications, anddespiteFrenchsup- ofthe
residentatthecourtofoneofthemostpowerful
port forMuhammad Ali, theotherEuropeanpowers in EuropeanTurkey, Ali
semi-independent governors
soughttopreserve theOttomanEmpire.Austrian and
PashaofIoannina,and travelled in Epirusand Thes-
Britishpressurein 1840involved the navalblockade of
saly.One ofhismoreonerousdutieswastolookafter
theSyrian andEgyptian coasts,as wellas thebombard- LordByronand JohnCam Hobhouse,andto arrange
mentofBeirutandAcre.IbrahimPashawasforcedto
thefamousmeeting betweenthepashaandthepoet.
withdraw. Theresulting settlement saw Muhammad
ServicewiththeOttomanArmyduringthe 1801
Ali deprivedofSyriaand Crete,butconfirmed as the
invasionofEgyptalmostcertainly brought acquaint-
Sultansviceroy inEgypt. a contin-
ancewithMuhammadAli,whocommanded
Sea powersupported Britishdiplomacy intheNear in thecampaign.Leakes
but gentofAlbanianirregulars
EastfromthebattleofNavarino(1827) onwards,
travelsin Greecea decadeor so beforetheoutbreak
Britain a
had territorialpresence in theregion as well.
oftheGreekRevolutionbroughtcontactwithmany
Shewastheprotector oftheSeptinsular Republic, the
ofthelocal Greekleaderswho cameto prominence
constituentislandsofwhichvirtually enclosethe west- onthe
duringthewarandremained significantplayers
ernand southernsidesofGreeceand whoseinhab- after Active serv-
politicalstage independence. military
itantswerelargelyGreekspeakingand Orthodoxin ice endedforLeakein 1816,whenhe returned from
religion,despitegenerations ofruleby Venice.The the Swiss inthe
duty with army JuraduringNapoleons
Czar ruledterritoriescontiguouswiththeOttoman 'HundredDays',thoughhedidnotretire fromtheBrit-
Empirearoundthenorthern andeasternshoresofthe
isharmyuntil1823.AlthoughLeakedevotedhimself
BlackSea, someofthemcomparatively recently con-
to researchand publicationaboutancientGreece,he

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 COLONEL LEAKE AND THE FINLAY CORRESPONDENCE 29

alsoplayedimportant roleson thePublications' Com-

mittee oftheSocietyofDilettanti, inthefoundation of
theRoyalGeographical SocietyandtheRoyalSociety
ofLiterature, and in theestablishment oftheTravel-
lers'Club.Leakeneverreturned totheNearEastafter
1810, but he retained a livelyinterest intheregionand
specificallyin Greece.
Leakewasa Philhellene. Hisfirstbook,Researchesin
Greece, wasdesigned topromote knowledge oftheVer-
naculartongues'usedin Greece,particularly Modern
Greek, becausethiswouldleadto'a better understand-
ingofthephysicaland naturalpeculiarities ofGreece
and its inhabitants'.72 Leake'sAn HistoricalOutline
oftheGreekRevolution providedbackgroundto the
Greekuprising andwasintended tocounter both'those
mixedcompilations oftruthanderrorcalledHistories
or MemoirsoftheRevolutionand also 'thestreams
ofmisrepresentation reaching LondonandParisfrom
variousquarters'.73 EvenLeake'smassivetravelbooks,
so oftenquarriedforinformation on ancienttopogra-
aimed to a ofthe and Finlay;Finlay1877' vol.I,frontispiece.
Fig.3.2:George
phy, present picture Peloponnese
Northern Greeceas theywerewhen'nomorethanthe
thinly peopledprovince [s]ofa semi-barbarous empire, tionwhichresulted in 'theabasementofGreece'.
presenting the usual results of Ottoman bigotryand
- His letters
toGeorgeFinlay(1800-75),theScottish
despotism',74 and to show sadly,as Leake evidently
- historian ofGreece,displaythesamesentiments. Leake
thought how littleconditions had been changed'by
thenewpoliticalstateofa partofGreece'.75 hoped thatGreececould become'an improvedand
flourishing state'77
and was concernedaboutits'mis-
Leake noted,however,the efforts of the Greeks
government' underOtto.78 As he also wroteto Finlay,
underOttomanruleto liftthemselves fromthestate
he had 'alwaysconcededa good opinionofthepeas-
ofdegradation intowhichtheyhad beenplungedby
thefollyofOttomanadministrators and thelaziness antryand had hopedfortheirimprovement physical
andmoralas oneoftheprincipal benefitstobe derived
oftheMuslimpopulation.Wealthy individuals,often
fromtheregeneration ofGreece'.79Thenorthern fron-
merchants, foundedandendowedschools,sponsored
tierwas'bad'becauseitexcluded'thepeaceful, indus-
translations intomodernGreekand supportedcom-
ofwestern trious,and theentirely-free-from-Turks districtsof
pilations philosophical andscientificwork.
Leake'slaterpoliticalpamphlet,Greeceat theEnd of AgrafaandMountPelion'80 andhebelievedthat'there
mustatlastbe an independent Greekstate,extending
threeYearsofProtection,76
Twenty- is a bittercondemna-
as farNorthas thelanguageisspoken',81 butwarnedthat
tionofBritish
policytowardsindependence
in which
theGreeks''modestproposal'inclaiming Constantino-
heaccusedgovernmentsofallhuesofshowing'a pref-
erenceofincurable
barbarismtoprogress
andcivilisa- ple as thecapitalofa state'comprehending European

72. MartinLeake1814,i andii. 77. FinlayPapersA42(l 1); Hussey1995,537-40.

73. MartinLeake1825,6-7. 78. FinlayPapersA42(44,76); Hussey1995,631-3,753-5.
74. MartinLeake1830,1,v. 79. FinlayPapersA42(47);Hussey1995,649-50.
75. MartinLeake1835,1,vi. 80. FinlayPapersA42(47);Hussey1995,714-5.
76. MartinLeake1851. 81. FinlayPapersA42(70);Hussey1995,723-5.

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30 MALCOLM WAGSTAFF

Turkey'was 'folly'sinceitwouldrequireall Europe thoseoccasionswhenhe was ambassadorin London

to go towarwiththeTurks'.82 Leake'sphilhellenism is (1835-38,1841-43,1850-61).Leakemayhaveknown
confirmed in twootherways.First,Finlaydedicated the Trikoupisfamilyfromhis visitto Mesolonghi
thethirdvolumeofhis HistoryofGreeceunderFor- in March1809.88 Finally, Leakehad a network ofcor-
eignOccupation to Leake,'whoselongand laborious respondents, ofwhomthemostimportant in Greece
exertions clearedtheancienthistory ofGreecefrom wasGeorgeFinlay.He keptFinlay's andclearly
letters,
obscurity and themodernfrommisrepresentation'.83valuedthem.In 1854,he evenwrotespecifically to
Second,shortly afterLeake died,SpyridonTrikoupis Finlay that 'he was much for
obliged your communi-
(1788-1873),an important politicianand historian of cations'.89
Finlay's letters provided information which
theGreekWarofIndependence, theninhisthirdterm Leakecouldnoteasilyacquireotherwise.
as GreekAmbassador toLondon,wroteto Finlay GeorgeFinlaywas settledin Athens.Following ill-
Our lamentedfrienddied as he livedan ness while serving in the Greek War of Independence
ardent Hislastwordstothepub-
Philhellene. (1823-24), he had returnedto Britainto complete
lic,I meanthepreface tothethirdvolumeof his legal studies,butwentto Greeceagainin 1826,
NumismataHellenica,areexclusively dic- and madehishomethere.Finlayacquireda country
tatedbyhisnoblesympathies forGreece.No estateatLiosiaandproperty in theAthensarea,some
Greekwillreadthemwithout feelinga great ofwhichwas subsequently expropriated to buildthe
respectforhismemory.84 royalpalaceandarmybarracks. Histown house wasin
Leake'scorrespondence withFinlayrevealsthevariety AdrianouStreetinthePlakadistrict ofthecity.Finlay
ofsourcesuponwhichhe drewforinformation about was wellinformed abouta rangeofeventsin Greece
events inGreece. FromtimetotimeLeakereceived Greek - archaeological, economicandpolitical- partlyas
bulletins andnewspapers85 andhe readtheSpectateur a naturalconsequenceofprolongedresidencein the
derOrient.*6 Lettersandreports intheLondonnewspa- country, butalsofromtheemployees on hisestates.In
TheTimesandTheMorning Chronicle, the1830she travelled in thePeloponnese, touredthe
pers,specifically
wereothersources,as werearticles injournalslikethe islands and went on a military expeditionto central
Leake Greece.During1834,he was briefly one ofthecom-
Edinburgh Review,includingsomebyFinlay87
clearlyreadmoresubstantial publications as well,for missioners involved in the planning Athens.
of Hussey
in Crete(1837) and noted Finlay'sgenius' for picking up information and
example,RobertPashley'sTravels
Frederick Greeceas a Kingdom(1842),both his alertnessto politicaldevelopments.90 The historian
Strong's
specificallymentioned inhiscorrespondence. TheBlue William Miller pointedoutthatFinlay's personalgriev-
thepaperscalled the
ancesagainst government 'should be considered
Books,official containing
publications
forbytheHousesofParliament, wereanothersource, in estimating hisimpartiality as a historian ofhisown
atleastatparticular timesandon specific issuessuchas time'and noted that he became increasingly embit-
British claimsagainstGreeceinthe1840s.Moreanec- tered.91PetropulosobservedthatFinlaywas severely
dotalinformation camefrom Leake'spersonalacquaint- critical of'virtually everyelement thatplayedan influ-
ancesamongtheincreasingly numeroustravellers to entialrolein Greekpolities',attributing inadequate
Greece.ThereissomeevidencethatLeakealsometvis- performance by the authorities almost entirelytomoral
atleaston failingsanda lackofstatesmanship.92
itingGreeks, including Spyridon Trikoupis,
Thesurviving correspondence betweenFinlayand
Leakebeginswitha letter fromFinlaydated1-2 April

82. FinlayPapersA42(67);Hussey1995,705-7.
83. FinlayPapersB7(37);Hussey1995,679. 88. Leake1835,III, 531-2,540-1.
84. FinlayPapersA42(81). 89. FinlayPapersA42(68);Hussey1995,714-5.
85. FinlayPapersA42(68);Hussey1995,714-5. 90. Hussey1995,xxiv,xxx.
86. FinlayPapersA42(70,71); Hussey1995,723,725-6. 91. Miller1924.
87. FinlayPapersA42(2,72); Hussey1995,468-9,729-31. 92. Petropulos1968,596.

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 COLONELLEAKEAND THE FINLAYCORRESPONDENCE 31

Table.3.1: ofLetters
Number byFinlayandLeakey
exchanged byyear;1829-60.

1829,and endswithone fromhimdated5 January tohavesurvived,eightofthemfromFinlaytoLeake.95

1860,a day beforeLeake died, whichthe Colonel Thereare othergaps,too. In some cases Finlayand
obviouslycouldnothaveseen.Theyspanaboutthirty Leakesimplydid notwriteto each otherand neither
years.Thereare144letters ofwhich79 (54.9
altogether, offeredanyexplanation,forexampleduringeightand
percent)arefromLeake.Thegreatmajority (123 or a halfmonthsin 1837-38.Thelongbreakin thecor-
85.4percent)areinthearchives oftheBritishSchool respondence between1845and thefirst halfof 1847
atAthens, to whichtheyweredonatedin 1899.93 The Leakeattributed whileFin-
to hisown 'negligence',96
remaining 21 letters
fromFinlay(14.6percent ofthe laysaid thethirteen
month gap between 22 July1856
total)are amongsttheLeake,or strictlytheMartin and 13August1857resulted from'thelazyroutineof
Leake,papersintheCountyArchives atHertford and thebusinesslifehere'(in Athens)which'mademe of
consistoflettersfromFinlayto Leakebeginningon lateneglectmycorrespondence withEngland.WhenI
27 July1852.The wholecollectionwas transcribed thought writing,alwaysappearedtomethatI had
of it
and editedby ProfessorJoanHussey.94 As Hussey nothing tosayoftheslightest
interest'.97
Thelackoflet-
noted,evidencein thesurvivingletters
showsthatwe
do nothavea completerunoftheentirecorrespond-
ence(TABLE3.1). Atleastninelettersdo notappear
95. FinlayPapersA42(3,19,21,22,36,43,67); Hussey1995,470-2,
577-9,581-3,583-4,611-2,623-4,705-7;FinlayPapersB7(41);
Hussey1995,692.
93. Hussey
1995,xii. 96. FinlayPapersA42(42);Hussey1995,621-2.
94. Hussey 459-773.
1995,xvi-xvii, 97. LeakePapers85708;Hussey1995,744-5.

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32 MALCOLM WAGSTAFF

tersbetween30 August1838and 17 August1839,on To unravelexactlywhatLeakeknewoftheseevents

theotherhand,wasexplained, atleastinpart,because and how muchinformation he derivedfromFinlay
Leakewas on hisweddingtourin Italy,98 whileFinlay comparedwithotherpossiblesourcesis complicated
explained two other breaks in the correspondence as and mayultimately proveto be impossible,though
theresultofhisbeingillfroma longandtroublesome myresearchis stillincomplete.I will,therefore,
focus
livercomplaint." on just two setsofeventswhereLeake'sknowledge
Husseyremarked thattheletters 'affordan admira- of eventsin Greeceled him to tryto shape British
ble illustrationofthetwomen'sfarreachinginterests policy.
and activities',100
whilesimplecontentanalysisshows
that,thoughtheywroteabouttheeconomyand soci- THE CRETAN UPRISING, 1840-41
etyofmodernGreece,as wellas Greekarchaeology FinlaywrotetoLeakeon 5 April1841 tosaythathehad
andhistory andancientGreekcoins,whichLeakecol- been asked'bythechiefCretansresidingin Greece'
lected,threetopicsdominatedtheircorrespondence to drawhis'attention to thepositionand demandsof
- Greektopography (13.6percent),theirpublication theircountrymen nowin arms'andto entreat him'to
activities(25.8 percent)and Greekpolitics(31.1 per takean interest in thecauseoftheinhabitants ofthe
cent).Discussionoftopography tendedto dominate island'.102
He hadalsobeenaskedtowriteto'Mr.Pash-
in theearlydayswhenLeakewaspreparing his Trav-
ley'in similarterms.As faras we know,Leakenever
elsin theMoreaand TravelsinNorthern Greece,and visitedCrete.RobertPashley(1805-59), however,
again when he was working on the second editionof had travelledin theislandeightyearsbeforeand in
his Topography ofAthens.Theycommentedon each 1837publishedhis Travelsin Crete,whichdescribed
other's publicationsanddescribedprogress withtheir theatrocitiesanddestruction aboutwhenthe
brought
ownwork,makingitpossibleto tracedevelopments was
1821uprising suppressed.
frominitialidea to finalpublication, as withthesec- the1840-41uprising to thedeci-
Finlayattributed
ondeditionofLeake'sTopography ofAthens. Leakefirst sionofMustaphaPasha,MuhammadAli'sgovernor in
mentioned ittoFinlayon 28 November1836andthen Crete,toarmtheChristians tocounterthestrength of
toldhimon 2 November1840thattheprinting ofthe theMuslims, so thathisownpositionwouldbe secured
first on was
part, Athens, complete.101 following recentdefeatoftheOttomanarmyat
the
Politics,however,was the most recurringtopic NezibinJune1839.WhentheEgyptians wereforced to
- particularly, but not exclusively, Greekpolitics. evacuateSyria,MustaphaPashawas surprised to find
Although variousdevelopments arecovered,perhaps himself confirmed as governor ofCretebytheSultan.
thefourmostimportant are He immediately setabouttrying to disarmtheChris-
1. thebuild-up to thebloodlesscoupd'etat tians,buttheywereunwilling tosurrender theirweap-
of3 September 1843, ons and demanded'a legalsettlement oftheirrights
2. theCretanUprising of1840-41, underthestipulations ofthetriplealliance.Therebels
in
claimson Greece,culminating
3. British calledon theircountrymen thenin Greeceforassist-
and
thePacificoAffair, anceandcollectedmilitary supplies.Theyrecognised,
4. theCrimeanWar. though, thattheir realhopelaynotin military action
butin theintervention oftheallies.Theirdemandfor
independence, though beyondtheirhopes',Finlay
'far
thought, wasmadeprecisely withtheintent ofsecuring
98. FinlayPapersA42(17); Hussey1995,568-9; FinlayPapers outsidesupport.Therebels'Manifesto, whichFinlay
B7(15);Hussey1995,569-71.LeakemarriedMrsElizabethWray enclosedforLeake,was castin termsoftherightsof
Marsdenon 18September 1838. man,andclaimedthattheywishedtoestablish
99. FinlayPapersA42(17); Hussey1995,568-9; FinlayPapers
B7(15);Hussey1995,569-71.
100. Hussey1995,xvii.
101. FinlayPapersA42(10,24); Hussey1995,519-21,584-7. 102. FinlayPapersB7(18);Hussey1995,588-91.

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 COLONEL LEAKE AND THE FINLAY CORRESPONDENCE 33

a nationalunion,to securedomesticpeace, tionsincetheWhig-orientated Morning was

Chronicle
topromote thegeneral happiness, toprevent consideredtobe the'Go[vernmen]t Doubtless
paper'.
injusticeandviolence, toestablish equallaws theyhoped thatthegovernment wouldsupportthe
throughout Crete, promotethelong-
all to rebels.Underthetitle'Insurrection in Crete(froma
neglected educationofourchildren, andto Leakesarticleregretted
correspondent)', 'therevivalof
consolidateallthe benefits from
arising these eventhesemblanceofthatcruelwaroftherevolution
as wellas forourselves
institutions, as forour and thendrewon Finlayforan accountofhow the
descendents. We desirethatall theinhabit- insurrectionhadstarted,beforeoutlining theCretans'
antsofCrete,ofwhateversector religion He wentontoarguethattheCretansshould
objectives.
theymaybe,shallbe partakers ofthesesame obtainthenecessary supportfromburowncabinet, as
and the
advantages, particularly Ottomans, wellas fromthoseofourallies,intheEasternQuestion
whom,as nativesofCrete,weconsidertobe and remindedhis readersthat,butforBritishinter-
Hellenesas wellas ourselves.103 ventionin 1830,Cretewould'neverhavebeenagain
Leakewas awareofrecentdevelopments in theeast- subjectedeitherto theSultanor to MehmetAli' and
ernMediterranean, andhadevenwritten to Finlayon thattheTurkswouldeitherhaveabandonedtheisland
14August1839,beforeBritish intervention forcedthe or haveperishedin it'.Leake concludedbyremind-
Egyptian withdrawal fromSyria,thatifMuhammad inghisreadershowassuranceshad beengivento the
Ali'sprincipaldemandsweresecured, thealliesshould Christians, byEngland,thattheruleoflaw
especially
guarantee themonlyon conditionofliberating Crete. wouldprevailin theisland,and reminding themthat
Buthow muchLeake alreadyknewabouteventsin thesehad notbeenhonouredunderMuhammadAli
Creteitselffollowing itsreturnto theSultanin 1840 and wouldbe achieved'undertherestoreddomina-
is notclear,thougha fewmoreorlessdetailedreports tionofthePorteonlythrough theinterventionofthe
appearedintheBritish press,oftentakenfromforeign Europeanpowers'.
newspapers. Finlay s letter
arrivedon 9 May 1841,'an ThethirdstepwhichLeaketook,wastotranslate the
unpropitious moment'in Leakesviewbecauseboth Cretanmanifesto andhaveitpublished in TheMorning
Parliament andpublicwereyetagainpreoccupied with Chronicle on 18May1841,without themultipleepithets
the'Cornquestion.Nonetheless, Leakeundertook to andrepetitions butwithsomeexplanatory notesfrom
do whathe couldfortheCretancause.His actionsare Pashley's book.Finally,Leake'attacked'
(hisword)his
outlinedinletters dated21 and30 May1841.104 friends inParliament.He persuadedLordTeignmouth,
LeakegavetheForeignSecretary,
First, LordPalm- theMP forMarylebone whereLeakelived,tointerro-
erston(1784-1865),'an abstract'oftheinformation gatetheForeignSecretary intheHouseofCommons,
whichhehadreceived fromFinlayso thathewouldbe but'we havenotyetquitedecidedhowthisquestion
awareoftherealexpectations oftheinsurgents andin is to be framed.Thedoubtis whether theResolution
thehopethatitmightprevent himfromtaking'severe oftheLondonConference of20thFebruary1830can
measures... fordoubtlesshe is nota littledispleased be madeapplicabletothepresentstateofCrete'. Leake
attheinsurrection, as percontrato thesuccessful ter- thought itcouldapply.
minationofhis Syrianpolicy'.Second,Leakewrote Teignmouth raisedthequestionintheHouseon Fri-
an articlewhich,withPashley'shelp,was insertedin 28
day, May1841, he gotno answersincePalmer-
but
TheMorningChronicle for15 May 1841,a dayafter stonwasnotpresent.105 Leakeinterpreted thistomean
an articleheaded'The Greeksin Crete(latestintel- thattheCabinetwas'notyetagreedontheorderstobe
ligence)'appearedin itsrival,TheTimes.Leake and givenon thesubjectto ministers and otherofficersin
Pashleythoughtthiswas 'thebestmode ofpublica- theMediterranean andthattheAllieswerebeingcon-
sulted.Teignmouth triedagainonthefollowing Friday,

103. Leakestranslation,
Morning 18May1841.
Chronicle,
104. FinlayPapersA42(25,26) Hussey1995,591-4. 105. Hansard,28 May1841,891-2.

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34 MALCOLM WAGSTAFF

Thatwasvirtually theendofthematter. Thenews-

papersdulyreported what Palmerston said,107 butthey
didnotpressure theGovernment forurgent action,as
Leakehad hoped.Leakealso failedto persuadeLord
Aberdeen, whomheknewsociallythrough theSociety
ofDilettanti, totakethesubjectup intheLords.Mean-
while,theBritish pressbegantocarryfullerandmore
frequent reports eventsin Crete.
on
A further letterfromFinlaydated 8 June1841
toldLeakethatBritishintervention had nowbecome
urgent.108He seemed to be optimistic in hisnextlet-
terof22 July1841,reporting thata considerable sub-
scription had been raised in Greece and four ships
hadbeenboughtin HydratohelptheCretans, though
therehadbeenproblems ingetting themoff.109 A week
later,however,Finlaywrote:'I regretto informyou
thattheCretaninsurrection is at an end'.110 Thebasic
reason,accordingly to Finlay, was thattheTurkshad
a
'displayedgood dealof energy' - morethanhadbeen
expected. Theyhadactedrapidly, brought a largeforce
totheislandandputpressure on theGreekfrontier in
Thessaly,whilethelocalandGreekforces inCretehad
simply been too few.King Otto had failed to deliveron
Map.3.1:Mapshowing ofCerviandSapienzarelative
position hispromisesofassistance. TheCretans, fortheirpart,
toGreeceand theIonianIslands.
hadput'toogreathopesontheimmediate interference
oftheAllies'. Critically,
Finlaythought, LordPonsonby,
4 June1841,whenhe sawtheForeignSecretary in his
theBritish Ambassador to thePorte,had failedtoput
place. He asked Palmerston directlyifhe had 'taken
pressureon theOttomangovernment and had been
anymeasures, inconformity withthedeclaration ofthe
tooeasilypersuadedbyitsassurances aboutthefuture
AlliedPowers, topreventtheperpetration the
by Turks,
governance oftheisland.In fact,Ponsonby hadsimply
ofcrueltieson theChristianinhabitants of Candia'.
followed Palmerston s instructions. The integrity ofthe
Palmerston replied thathe did not know to whatdec-
OttomanEmpirewastobe preserved, andPalmerston
larationTeignmouth referred,butthatas soon as the
wasreluctant, inPetropulos'words, tostrengthen 'a state
government had receivedinformation aboutthe'trou-
whichappearedto serveRussianinterests in theNear
bles'in Candia,theBritish Ambassadorin Constanti-
East'.Instead,PonsonbyproposedthatCreteshould
noplehad been directedto prevailupontheTurkish have autonomywithinthe OttomanEmpireunder
government 'toenterintosomearrangement withthe
a Christianruler,a regimesimilarto thatenjoyedby
of
Greekpopulation Candia,which, while on theone
Samosatthetime.In Petropulos' view,thiswouldhave
handitshouldbe satisfactory to theTurkishGovern-
amounted toa British protectorate, givenBritain's naval
ment,should,on theother, givetheGreekpopulation intheeasternMediterranean.111
ofCandiafullsecurity fortheirpersonsandproperties' supremacy
TheAmbassador also been directed'to urgethe
had
Turkish Government nottohaverecourse tomeasures 107. FinlayPapersA42(27);Hussey1995,596-7.
moreseverethanshouldbe absolutely necessary'.106 108. FinlayPapersB7(19);Hussey1995,594-5.
109. FinlayPapersB7(20);Hussey1995,597-8.
110. FinlayPapersB7(21);Hussey1995,598-601.
106. Hansard,4 June1841,1120-1. 111. Petropulos1968,350-1.

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 COLONEL LEAKE AND THE FINLAY CORRESPONDENCE 35

BRITISH CLAIMS ON GREECE On 12 February 1850Palmerston agreedto French

arbitration, and Wyse was ordered to suspendthe
FollowingPalmerstonsreturnto theForeignOffice
in 1846 theBritishgovernment blockadeandnegotiate withtheFrenchambassador in
made a numberof
claimson Greeceforcompensationand apologies Athens. The negotiations in Athens proved difficult
and
on behalfofa fewofitsown subjects,together eventually broke down. In London, however, an agree-
with
a handfulofIonian Islanders.The claimsincluded ment was reached on 19 April.Wyse was informed
one by Finlayhimself.He wanted indemnifying that a dealwas nearing conclusion, buthe orderedthe
forthe seizurein 1836 of some of his propertyin resumption of the blockade before official
confirma-
tionarrived. Greececapitulated twodayslater.A major
Athensbythebuildersoftheroyalpalace. Another
diplomatic row with France ensued,andtherewasthe
claim,themostnotoriousofall,was putforward on
behalfofDavid Pacificofordamageto his houseby possibility ofwar.British publicopinionwas divided.
Thegovernment losta voteofcensureintheHouseof
an anti-Semitic Athenianmob at Easter1847,and
Lordson 17June1850,butnarrowly wonintheCom-
theconsequentloss ofdocumentsconnectedwitha
monsjustovera weeklater, following a longspeechby
legalcase in whichhe said he was engaged.Pacifico
maintained Palmerston defending British foreignpolicyintheEast
thathewasborna British subject,despite
withitsrousingperoration:
beinga naturalisedcitizenofPortugaland a former
consulin Athens. as theRoman,in daysofold,heldhimself
Portuguese
Linkedwiththesepersonalclaimswas a territo- freefromindignity whenheshouldsayCivis
rialone. Britaindeclaredthattheoffshore islandsof Romanussum;so also a Britishsubject,in
Cervi(nowknownas Elafonisos) nearCapeMaleaand whatever land he maybe, shallfeelconfi-
whichliestothesouthofModon dentthatthewatchful eyeand strongarm
Sapienza(Sapientza),
of will him
England protect againstinjustice
(Methoni),belongedto theIonianStatesand notto
Greece.In theviewof TheTimesthiswas 'themost and wrong.113
important anddangerous ofthedemandsmadeinthe Although thedetailofwhathappenedduringthedis-
nameofthiscountry'.112 pute was contained intheofficial correspondence pub-
Leakepublished a pamphlet,whichrefuted theBrit- lishedbythetwogovernments, Finlays lettersnotonly
ishcase.TheGreekgovernment refusedtoconcedesov- providedLeakewiththebackground tohisownclaim
ereigntyovertheislands,wouldnotapologise(except forindemnity, butalsogavehimtheGreekreactionto
inthePacificocase) andwasreluctant topaycompen- the claims and the bullying tacticsemployed byBritain
sation.On 3 December1849Palmerston orderedthe togetitsway.
BritishAmbassador toAthens,ThomasWyse(laterSir Immediately aftertheimpositionoftheblockade,
Thomas), tousetheBritish Mediterraneanfleettopres- 'thepatrioticcryagainstEnglandwas veryviolent
suretheGreekgovernment inwhatevermannerhesaw fora fewdays',FinlaytoldLeakeon 28 January 1850.
fit.Thefleetarrivedon 15 January 1850and nextday Indeedyesterday', he continued, 'wasthefirst daythat
Wysedeliveredan ultimatum, demandingthewhole a dawn of reflection began. A snow stormthatI never
compensation sum within four
twenty- hours.Failureto saw equalled in violence with the thermometer at 26
comply wouldleadtonavalaction.TheGreekrequests has done more damagethantheblockadeand made
forarbitration and timeto paywererefused.Piraeus thepeoplethinkthatheavenjoinsthebarbarians'. The
wasclosedtoGreekvessels,andthentheblockadewas Greek Parliament had notcalledfora voteofconfi-
extended toPatrasandotherGreekports.Attheendof dencein thegovernment, andministers had notbeen
January,WyseorderedtheseizureofGreekmerchant blamed for the situation. On thewhole,theGreekpress
ships.Protestscame from the ambassadorsoftheother was 'by no means very violent'.114
In general,according
powersinAthensandLondon.

113. Hansard1850,quotedRidley1972,524.
112. TheTimes,15April1850,4,a-b. 114. FinlayPapersB7(29); Hussey1995,646-9.

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36 MALCOLM WAGSTAFF

toFinlay, theGreekpublicknewlittleabouttheissues and oppose theclaimofEnglandwithout

in thedisputebuthad theirattention directedto the joiningFranceorRussia.122
progressofthe quarrel'ratherthanto itscauses.He Leakeproducedthefirst editionofhispamphlet, On
thought, however, thatBritaincut'a wretched figure' theClaimtotheIslandsofCerviand Sapienza,before
in Greece.115 ThecourthatedBritain, Finlayreported, 16February 1850.123He arguedthatsincebothislands
andwaslookingforan alliancetoannoyit.116 After the werewithingunshotofthemainlandtheywouldnor-
indemnities hadbeensettled, he toldLeakethatKing mallybe considered tobe attached toitunderinterna-
Ottohad no wishto 'conciliate' Britainorto establish tionallaw,unlessspecificexceptions had beenmade
friendly relations.117 by particulartreaty. exceptions been made
No had
Surprisingly,Finlayhadvirtually nothing tosayspe- bytherelevantinternational treaties, thoughLeake
cificallyaboutthelocal reactionto thePacificoaffair, admittedthattherewas an ambiguity becauseitwas
though hesummarised forLeakethesettlement agreed notclearexactly whichislandswereactually possessed
inAthens.118 Leakethought theclaimswereexaggerat- orclaimedbyVeniceas constituting theIonianIslands
Finlaywasfairly
ed.119 reticentabouthowhisowncase beforetheTreaty ofCampoFormioof1797,whenthe
wasperceived, preferringto outlinethedevelopment IonianIslandspassedto France.He arguedthatthe
ofthedisputeoverthepreviousdecade.He thought actofthesupremelegislative bodyoftheSeptinsular
theGreekauthorities had triedthroughout to avoid Republic of 22 January 1804,which namedCerviand
reachinga settlement or had offered whathe consid- Sapienzaas components oftheIonianIslandsand on
eredtobe inadequateterms. Aftertheclaimshadbeen whichtheBritish government's caseultimately rested,
settledhe commented that,considering howhisaffair had no validity.Itwas notan international but
treaty
was unavoidably linkedwiththatofPacifico,'he had had onlylocal application; theOttomangovernment
escapedwonderfully wellfromthepressin England was nota partyto itand probably didnotknowofits
andwastreated withgreatliberalityandrespectbythe existence;Venicedid notbestowtheislandsofCervi
pressin Greecewhichneversaid an insultingword andSapienzaandtheyhadnotbeenspecifically ceded
concerning me'.120 to theSereneRepublicbytheTreatyofPassarowitz
Theclaimto theislandsofCerviand Sapienzawas (1699),whichwas based on theprincipleofutipos-
notpressedbyBritain. To do so,Finlaythought, would sidetis;and that,in anycase,the 1804 act had been
makeBritainlook 'ridiculous'and Palmerstonhad made underRussianpressurewhenRussiantroops
plentyofgood groundsfora quarrelwithouttaking garrisoned theIonianIslands.
up a bad one likethis.121Palmerston s geography was Finlay nottheonlyonetothinkthatLeakehad
was
as bad as hisstatesmanship,Finlaywrote, forheplaced Veil exposed'thelack offoundation fortheBritish
Salamis,Aeginaand Hydrain the Cyclades.None- claim.TheTimesdidso as well.
theless,Finlaythoughtitworthwhile havingLeake's On thissubjectwe havenowthetestimony
pamphlet on the questiontranslated into Greekfor ofa witness whoseauthority isabovealldis-
publication intheAthena.He commented: pute on such a point,ifit is to be decided
It is ofsomepoliticalimportancethatwe bygeography andjustice,and notbypetu-
haveyournameonthissubject, as itenables lanceand men-of-war. Wehavebeforeus a
theliberalsto keepthisan open question shortstatement ofthiscase,drawnup and
published by Colonel Leake,whosepersonal
Knowledgeoftheterritory ofGreece,and
115. FinlayPapersB7(32);Hussey1995,662-4. whoseprofound researches intotheancient
116. FinlayPapersB7(36);Hussey1995,672-5. andmoderntopography ofthatcountry, are
117. FinlayPapersB7(30);Hussey1995,651-4.
118. FinlayPapersB7(32);Hussey1995,662-4.
119. FinlayPapersA42(50);Hussey1995,656-7.
120. FinlayPapersB7(34);Hussey1995,668-9. 122. FinlayPapersB7(33); Hussey1995,666-7.
121. FinlayPapersB7(32);Hussey1995,668-9. 123. FinlayPapersA42(47);Hussey1995,649-50.

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 COLONEL LEAKE AND THE FINLAY CORRESPONDENCE 37

familiar tothewholeworld.Expressed with Kingor Coletticouldhaveeffected'.128 ThomasWyse

no politicalbias,butwithscientific preci-
sion,ColonelLeakesopinioncarrieswith
itthegreatest possibleweight,and itanni-
hilatesthepretensions rashlybasedon the
loosestatements oftheIonianauthoritiesby
boththeColonialandForeigndepartments
ofthehomeGovernment.124
Thereis an ironyherefortheharewas setrunningin
1839byGeneralSirHowardDouglas(1776-1861)fol-
lowingan inspection ofthe'Southern Islands'during
histimeas HighCommissioner in theIonianIslands
(1835-41).125He and Leakeformed a life-long
friend-
shipwhiletheywerecadetsattheRoyalMilitary Acad-
emy,Woolwich.126
CONCLUSION
Finlayand LeakebelievedthatBritain,as one ofthe
guarantor powers,hada righttointervene inGreece.It nothingabout 'thegreatnaturalproductionscorn,
wasthemannerandobjectives whichconcerned them. wineand oil'.133
Bothweredisappointed atthewaythingsevolvedfol- oupis
andthought thatBritainshould
lowingindependence,
haveplayeda moreconstructive rolein thecountry.
Finlaywason thespot,a participant observer, andhis
withLeakegavetheLondon-based
correspondence
scholara personalcommentary on economic,social
and aboveall politicaldevelopments in Greecedur-
ingthe1840sand 1850s.Finlays comments informed
Leakesviewofthesituationin Greeceand theinter-
ventionistrolesofsuccessiveBritishambassadors, as
wellas thepartplayedbytheKingand hisministers.
AdmiralSirEdmundLyons,claimedFinlayin 1844,
was evenmoreignorantofadministrative business
thantheKing'.127Fiveyearslater,afterLyonshadbeen
recalled,he pointedoutthattheover-restless ambas-
sadorwas 'morehostileto GreecethantheTurkish
Minister'andthat'hisfurious conduct. . . inducedhis
partyto do theconstitutionmore harmthaneitherthe
124. TheTimes,15April1850,4, a-b.
125. British
ParliamentaryPapers1863,932-73.
126. Marsdenl864,2.
127. FinlayPapersB7(24);Hussey1995,625-7.
wasa 'complete contrast'.129
Morecircumspect thanhis
predecessor, he sawmatters in Greecein whatFinlay
thought was 'the right However,
light'. hewas'veryslow
andlazyto a considerable degree', butno lessbullying
thanLyons.130
Leakedrewon Finlays materialforhispamphlet,
Greeceat theEnd of Twenty-three YearsofProtec-
tion,publishedearlyin 1851.131 The debtis particu-
larlynoticeablein Leakescomments on theneglectof
agriculture and the failureto attract Greeklabourers
fromtheOttomanprovinces, as he acknowledged in
a subsequent lettertoFinlay.132Ambassador Trikoupis
in London,however,objectedto Leakes assertion,
baseduponFinlay'sinformation, thatagriculture was
lessproductive thanbeforetheWarofIndependence
and instancedthegreatincreasesin currantand silk
production, though- as Leakepointedout- he said
Finlayreplieda monthlaterthatTrik-
knew well thattheGreekgovernment had done
'allthedamagepossiblebothto thecurrant tradeand
the silk',134
alluding no doubt to his view that thefiscal
system wasdestructive ofagriculture.135
Finlay also informedLeake thatGeorgePsyllas
(1794-1879), journalistand politician,had readthe
pamphletandpronounced
strongly in itsfavouras a correctviewof
thestateofGreece.The curranttradewas
a presentfromLord P[almerston]when
he took offthe differential dutyand as
forsilkproduction,it is a disgraceto the
government]thatit is not ten timesas
muchas itis.136
128. FinlayPapersB7(28); Hussey1995,641-3. IoannisKolettis
(1773-1847),PrimeMinister ofGreece,1844-47.
129. LeakePapers85695;Hussey1995,701-3.
130. LeakePapers85706;Hussey1995,737-9.
131. FinlayPapersA42(57);Hussey1995,685-6.
132. FinlayPapersA42(57);Hussey1995,685-6.
133. FinlayPapersA42(57);Hussey1995,685-6.
134. FinlayPapersB7(39); Hussey1995,688.
135. See forexample,
LeakePapers85695;Hussey1995,701-3.
136. FinlayPapersB7(39); Hussey1995,688.

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38 MALCOLMWAGSTAFF

In a subsequentletterhe toldLeakethathe thought PUBLICATIONS

Psyllas,one ofthefew'politicalmen who consider BritishParliamentary Papers39 (1849-50).London.
truthofprimaryimportance, wouldprobablypub- Hansard(ed.)Parliamentary Debates.1841,28Mayand4June.
lishthepamphlet, but'notone oftheleadingpoliti- Hussey,J.M.(ed.), 1995. The JournalsandLettersofGeorge
cal newspapers',whateverpartyitsupported, would Finlay.Camberley.
publisha translation.137
Leake,then,acceptedFinlays Marsden,J.H.,1864.A Brief MemoiroftheLifeand Writings
information anduseditto criticise
theGreekgovern- ofthe Late Lieutenant-Colonel Leake.London.
he musthave thatitagreedwith MartinLeake,W.,1814.Researches inGreece.London.
ment,though thought - , 1825.AnHistorical Outline oftheGreekRevolution.
London.
materialcomingfromhisothersources.Finlay, inturn,
- , 1830.Travels intheMorea.London.
used Leake- his authority, lettersand publications
- , 1835.Travels inNorthern Greece.London.
- intheAthenian struggleagainsttheGreekgovern- - , 1841.TheTopography ofAthens. London.
mentand in supportofthe'English'party.Bothmen - , 1850.On theClaimtotheIslandsofCerviandSapienza.
gainedbenefit fromtheircorrespondence, as indeed London.
fromtheirlongfriendship.
-,1851. Greeceat theEnd ofTwenty-three YearsofProtec-
tion.London.
Miller,W., 1924. 'The Finlaypapers',EnglishHistorical
Review34:386-398.
Morning Chronicle, (15 and 18May1841).
REFERENCES Pashley,R.,1837.Travels inCrete.London.
Petropulos, J.,1968.Politics andStatecraftintheKingdom of
MANUSCRIPTS Greece,1833-1843.Princeton N.J.
SchoolatAthens).A42 Leakesletters
FinlayPapers(British Ridley,J.,1972.LordPalmerston. London.
toFinlay.Thenumberinbrackets is thenumberofthe Strong, F.,1842. Greece as a Kingdom.On A Statistical
letter. to Leake
B7 Finlays letters Description of thatCountry fromtheArrivalofKing
LeakePapers(Hertfordshire CountyArchives, Hertford). OthOy in 1833,DowntothePresent Time.London.
85695-85711:Finlays lettersto Leake TheTimes,(20 April1841;3 May1841;15Apr.1850).

137. FinlayPapersB7(41);Hussey1995,692.

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