losses have hurt him and the failure at Constantinople, tho' no blame
attached to him. He sent out one third more force than the Government
considered necessary and they were at the Dardanelles when they were
supposed to be with him; but the defences of Constantinople, both
natural and of art, were little known, the Castles as strong as Cannon
can make them and of that particular kind the Turks use and from which
they fire balls of granite or marble;--those would not go far, but
they do very well for a passage which is so narrow their object cannot
be far of. One which passed through the _Windsor Castle_ weighed
800 pounds. He thinks there will be an active campaign in Italy--
Sicily their object.


On December 19th, Marianne Stanhope retailed--


Papa has this instant received a most delightful account from Lord
Collingwood of William, everything that is satisfactory. He says
everything that we could wish both of his health, disposition and
capacity, the letter is dated October 13th, off Sicily. He mentions
his hopes of being able to catch the French if they come to Sicily,
but the difficulty will be, from the extent of the coast they will
come from all quarters. He said that the Sicilians finding that we
take the part of the Court who are most completely detested will make
for relief from any quarter. The Turks, he says, detest the Russians,
and lament much the misunderstanding with us, but are completely in
the power of the French past all relief. The Buenos Ayres expedition,
he says, he always blamed, and that it turned out exactly as he
predicted, and that we are most completely detested by the people who
formerly respected us.