“The garrison of Jaffa marched into Acre the other day, and 500 irregular horse are come in from Marash; I believe if Ibrahim was attacked with vigour, we should get all the Egyptian army; after another fortnight nothing more can be done, because the rains will set in. Should anything turn up at Alexandria I shall not fail to keep your Lordship informed. It is generally believed here that the French squadron are gone to Toulon, in that case we shall probably go to Malta; they are, I dare say, about something,—at least it looks like it,—or they may have determined on war, and are concentrating their squadron, which will be stronger than ours, till the arrival of the Britannia and Howe. The Admiral, for the present, talks of going to Marmorice Bay, and the ships from home are ordered to rendezvous there. “Believe me, &c., “CHARLES NAPIER.” “To the Right Hon. Lord Ponsonby.” This letter I followed up by one to Lord Palmerston:— “Powerful, Beyrout, Nov. 14, 1840. “My Lord, “By this time your Lordship will have known of the defeat of Ibrahim Pacha, and the total evacuation of Lebanon. Since then, Acre has fallen; but no military operations have taken place. Troops are arriving every day from Constantinople, and we cannot now have less than 12,000 men. Ibrahim Pacha is two days’ march from here, and is watched by the mountaineers only; and they are so neglected by the Pacha, that sometimes they are without provisions for three days. I send you the translation of the last letter I received from the Grand Prince; this is not the first, second, or third time. The Pacha here is the worst person that can be; and unless he is removed, there will be mischief. I have written fully to Lord Ponsonby on the subject. Nothing would give England so much influence here as giving Lebanon the same government as Samos. The Grand Prince ought to be a Pacha; Sidon, Tripoli, and Beyrout ought to be added to his government; and, if possible, the Bekaa and Anti-Lebanon. This would be a prosperous country; but agreeable to the present system, they are almost shut out from the sea. God knows how the Sultan is to govern the other provinces; but if his Pachas are all like the man here, they will be worse off than they were under Mehemet Ali; and I verily believe, should the war last, he will have a party in his favour, the Turks treat them so ill. If Mehemet Ali was a wise man, he would do with the mountains what I have stated, and he would get a strong party in his favour. “I am going to Alexandria, which I am sorry for. I have great influence here at present, and can make them do what I like; and would have been of much more service here than off Alexandria, where nothing can be done at this season.