to preserve the relations of amity; if not, he was to commence offensive operations; having previously demanded, in case of their detention, the Ambassador and his suite, together with all the persons connected with the British factory; and, in the event of that demand not being complied with, he was to proceed to measures of hostility against the city. Should the result of his communications with the Ambassador be such as to render necessary the commencement of hostilities, he was to demand the surrender of the Turkish fleet, with a supply of stores sufficient for its equipment. This demand was to be accompanied with a menace of the immediate destruction of the place; and should any negotiation be proposed by the Turks, as it would probably be only with the view of preparing means of resistance, and of securing their ships, it was not to be continued more than half an hour. In the event of an absolute refusal on the part of the Turks, Sir John Duckworth was to cannonade the town, or attack the fleet wherever it might be; holding it in mind, that the getting the possession, and next to that, the destruction of the fleet, was the first object of consideration.
Having received his final orders, the Vice-Admiral proceeded off Tenedos, where he found Rear-Admiral Louis’s division at anchor off the Hellespont; and Mr. Arbuthnot, the Ambassador, residing on board the Canopus, from whence he afterwards removed into Sir John’s flag ship the Royal George, and remained during the subsequent operations[1]. On the morning of the 19th Feb. the fleet passed the Darda-
- ↑ Sir Thomas Louis had been sent to the Levant some weeks previously to the arrival of the expedition, in consequence of a request from Mr. Arbuthnot to the Commander-in-Chief, for the presence of a naval force in aid of his negotiations; in conformity to which idea, the Rear-Admiral anchored between the outer and inner castles of the Dardanelles, and sent the Endymion frigate up to Constantinople. She had not been long there, before the Ambassador, under the impression of alarm for his personal safety, produced by secret information, that the Turkish government meant to confine him in the Castle of the Seven Towers, went on board, and prevailed on her Commander, Captain Capel, to send a sudden invitation to the whole of the British factory, to meet Mr. Arbuthnot at dinner. They were no sooner arrived, than the Endymion’s cable was cut, her anchor left behind, and the company carried off, en masse, to the Dardanelles.
