NAVAL OFFICERS AS DIPLOMATISTS.
[TO THE EDITOR. OF THE " EFECTATOR.".1 SIR,—Lord Salisbury paid a high tribute to the conduct of Admiral Noel in Crete at the Mansion House, and, com- menting on this, several papers have spoken of what they call "the display of unexpected diplomatic qualities in a British Admiral." But why "unexpected " ? If the writers for the public Press would study naval history they would find plenty of examples of the same sort in the old wars. It is only within recent times, when naval officers have come to be regarded as mere marine policemen, and treated as such, that the opportunities for the display of diplomatic qualities have ceased. But what of St. Vincent P—of Coiling- wood ?—of Sidney Smith ? The "unexpected diplomatic qualities" displayed by the latter officer, if they had been sanctioned by his jealous superiors, would have saved England the expedition to Egypt, with all its expense and great loss of life. Hear what the author of "The Crescent and the Cross" says of Sidney Smith's conduct of affairs :—" The spirit that dictated the British sailor's act was understood in the deserts —a voice went forth among the tents of the Bedouin and the palaces of the despot, that England preferred honour to advantage. The memory of that noble truthfulness remained, expanding into a national characteristic : and at this hoar in the streets of Cairo our countrymen may hear the Arabs swear by the honour of an Englishman.'" Then what does Kinglake say ? In "Eothen," describing a conversation with a person well-versed in dealing with the Arabs [i.e., Lady Hester Stanhope], he says that "a downright manner, amounting even to brusque- ness, is more effective than any other with the Oriental : and that amongst the English, of all ranks, and all classes, there is no man so attractive to the Orientals—no man who can negotiate half so effectively, as a good, honest, open-hearted, and positive naval officer of the old school" And let me remark, in parenthesis, that the prophe- cies with regard to Egypt presented by the two writers above- mentioned are working out in a very striking way, and deserve careful study at the present time. Then take Sir Charles Napier. Have we forgotten the Convention he negotiated with Mehemet Ali, to the intense vexation of all the " diplo- matists " ? The meeting between those two great men was a singular one. The Pasha began by asking for credentials, to which the British officer replied promptly "that the double-shotted guns of the Powerful,' with the squadron under his command to back him, his honour as an English- man, and the knowledge he had of the desire of the four Great Powers for peace, were all the credentials he possessed." The answer so delighted the old Pasha "that from that moment they were friends; and the Commodore, with much ingenuity, induced him to comply with the terms he pro- posed." And in reporting to his superiors, the Commodore wrote : "I do not know whether I have done right or not in settling the Eastern question but six sail-of-the- line has proved no bad negotiator." The Corps Diplomatique were dumbfounded. "I think their astonishment is not un- mixed with envy," wrote his cousin from Vienna, describing the sensation caused by this coup de main ; "you can't think what a quandary your nimble movements threw them into here." At the present time Great Britain is the only country which treats her Admirals as if they were incapable of every duty except fighting.—I am, Sir, &C.,
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