“I further knew that the French Consul-General, and other French agents at Alexandria, were doing all they could to prevent Mehemet Ali from submitting, still holding out hopes of assistance from France. “Under all these circumstances I thought I was serving my country, and the cause of the Sultan, in tying down Mehemet Ali to immediately evacuate Syria, and give up the Turkish fleet when acknowledged, and I knew perfectly well that the Convention did not tie down the Sultan; and I firmly believe that if Thiers’ ministry had not fallen, all I have done would have been approved, and I think it still will be approved. I have thought it necessary to make these explanations to your Lordship, and I beg at the same time to observe, that it appears to me that your Lordship has assumed a tone, in the latter part of your letter, that you are by no means authorized to do. I know my duty to Her Majesty full as well as your Lordship, and I have always done it, and it is the Commander-in-Chief alone who has the right to point out to me how I am to act, and I trust, should your Lordship have any further occasion to address me, it will be done in a different style. “I have sent a copy of this to Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, and I trust your Lordship will send a copy to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. “I have, &c. (Signed) “CHAS. NAPIER, _Commodore_.” “The Right Hon. Lord Ponsonby.” I also insert the Admiral’s letter to Mehemet Ali, acquainting him that he had disapproved the Convention, couched in no very measured terms. An admiral may disapprove of the acts of a junior officer, even with severity if he pleases, but I believe it is not usual in addressing a foreign prince, to convey to him the opinion he has formed of his second in command. “Princess Charlotte, St. George’s Bay, Beyrout, December 2, 1840. “Highness, “I am sorry to find that Commodore Napier should have entered into a Convention with your Highness for the evacuation of Syria by the Egyptian troops, which he had no authority to do, and which I cannot approve of, or ratify. “Your Highness’s Envoy, Abdel Amen Bey, has consulted with the General, commanding the troops, as to his best manner of proceeding to Ibrahim Pacha. The General having good reason to suppose that Ibrahim Pacha had left Damascus, (a great part of his army having left it a few days since going to the southward, upon the Mecca road,) could not guarantee a safe conduct for your Highness’s Envoy further than Damascus. He therefore returns to Alexandria, having done all in his power to execute your Highness’s instructions.