THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE 1821 TO 1833 BY W.ALISON PHILLIPS 1897

350 THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE
lives of the Powers, with a view to discovering how
far he could reckon upon their support To his questions
the French minister replied by suggesting insidiously
the occupation of Nauplia by French troops.
Mr. Dawkins, the English Resident, answered that he
failed to see that the demand of the Opposition for the
assembling of the Congress was ill-timed,
or that the
Congress in itself would be harmful in the present
state of the country. The Eussian representative on
the other hand told the President that he should
'
stamp on the head of the '
viper of revolution at once,
and promised him the active sympathy of Russia if he
should take this course. 1 Capodistrias
followed the
advice which appealed most to his own prejudices and
convictions. He took up the only weapon which lay
immediately to hand; he refused to issue to the Hydriots
their ships' papers, without which they were liable
to be treated as pirates;
and, at the same time, he applied
to the admirals of the three Powers to support
him, by preventing the Hydriot ships from keeping
the sea without their legal warranty. Admiral Ricord,
who commanded the Russian squadron, at once acceded
to this request.
The French and English admirals
on the other hand said that they had no authority
to prevent the Hydriot vessels from sailing,
i
Mendelssohn, ii. 232.