Excerpts from Col. Jonathan P. Miller, The Condition of Greece

Mr. Johnathan P. Miller,
Sir: The Executive Committee for the relief of the Greeks, in the city of New York, having appointed you their agent for the distribution of the provisions and clothing composing the cargo of the ship Chancellor, Barker, master, now lying in the port of New York, herewith encloses a copy of the invoice and Bill of lading of said cargo, and begs leave to call your attention to the following instructions:

You are aware, that this cargo is the result of contributions made by benevolent individuals and association in this country. These contributions have been received by the Executive Committee, under the distinct pledge that their best intentions should be used to appropriate them, without diminution or abatement, to the sole object of feeding, and clothing the necessitous inhabitants of Greece. As it is not the object of the Executive Committee to take part in any controversy between the Greeks and Turks, these provisions and clothing are not designed to supply the garrisons of the former, but are intend-ed for the relief of women, children and non-combatants of Greece.

Believing that the donations entrusted to their care would not reach the objects for whose relief they were made, without an agent of known intelligence and fidelity to superintend, as far as practicable, their distribution, the Executive Committee, relying upon your knowledge of the country of Greece and your intimate acquaintance with the condition of its inhabitants, derived from many months residence among them and, above all, upon the highly honourable [sic] testimonials, to your private worth, which they have received, have deputed you to the execution of this high trust.

The Chancellor has cleared for the port of Napoli di Romania, because it is believed that this port would be found, on the arrival of the ship, in possession of the Greeks, and that by landing the cargo there, superior facilities would be afforded to its distribution, agreeably to the wishes of the Committee. Should it appear, however, from information you may receive on your passage out, at any of the intermediate ports at which the ship may touch for information or refreshment, that these objects would not be best answered by making the port of Napoli di Romania the port of discharge, you are at liberty to alter her destination to any other port in the Morea, or Grecian islands, where the cargo can most easily be distributed among the destitute women, children, and old men, and all other Grecians not actually engaged in the war.

Captain Barker will, under your direction, touch at Cerigo, Hydra, or any other places that you may designate as the most suitable for acquiring information relative to the object of your mission.

On arrival at your port of discharge, you will immediately, if practicable, consult with our countrymen, Dr. Howe and Mr. Jarvis, and such other individuals of known intelligence and fidelity to the cause of liberty in Greece, as may be within your reach, upon the most feasible method of distribution, in conformity with the views of the committee; and after such consultation, you will proceed, without delay as to the distribution, giving to it as much of your personal attention as is practicable. You will, of course, avail yourself of every facility the existing government of Greece may be disposed to lend you in the execution of your trust; but it is recommended to you to preserve at all times, if practicable, a controlling interest over the property intrusted [sic] to your care, until it reach the sufferers for whose relief it was designed. The Committee are aware that you may find it difficult to pursue, in the distribution of these provisions and clothing, that distinction which might commend itself to the fastidious observance of national neutrality, but they do not wish to limit your discretion by anything beyond reasonable diligence.

The Committee would impress on you the importance of keeping a detailed account of all your proceedings, after your departure from the port, noting the plans adopted by you, the advice received, and the agents you may find it necessary to employ; this request is made with the more earnestness, as the Committee are desirous of laying before the donors who have intrusted [sic] to them the sacred fund for the relief of a suffering people, a minute account of the mode of its distribution.

As the Executive Committee expect to dispatch a second cargo of provisions to Greece within a few days, they have to request that you will remain in that country until further advised by them; and in the meantime, they hope to receive intelligence from you by every opportunity for communication.

Wishing you entire success in the discharge of the interesting and important trust which you have nobly assumed, and hoping that your voyage may be as pleased as its object is benevolent, the Executive Committee have the honour [sic] to subscribe themselves, most respectfully,

Your obedient servants

(Signed) Lynde Catlin, Stephen Allen, Preserved Fish, Peter Sharpe,
George Griswold, James I. Jones, Fred’k Sheldon, F. Vandenburg, Hiram Ketchum

To Mr. J. P. Miller,
Sir:
We bid you a welcome return to Greece. As the Gen'l Government is actually here, and as you ought to address yourself to it, according to the instructions which you have received from the Philanthropic Society of Philadelphia* we invite you to come here, as soon as possible, with your vessel, without discharging any part of the cargo at Napoli.

Go. Mavromichalis, I. Nakos, J. M. Milaitis, Go. Glarakis, Secretary of State

*[Author's Note] The Tontine from Philadelphia, having arrived before me, they presumed I came from the same place, and under the same instructions.

To The Members of The Legislature and Executive Departments of the Government of Greece:

Gentlemen: I received your letter of the 14th inst. and have lost no time in repairing to Poros, and laying before you the instructions of the Executive Greek Committee of the city of New York, whose agent I have been appointed. In doing this, I beg leave to call your attention to a few remarks on the feeling of my countrymen towards your cause, and the more fully to unfold to you my responsibility for a faithful application of the property committed to my care, to the objects for which it has been raised in the United States. At this late period of your contest there exists a most lively interest in your behalf on the other side of the Atlantic. Among the many in that quarter of the world, who have heard of your manlike resistance against the combined forces of the Ottoman Empire and the unprecedented state of wretchedness to which a most barbarous warfare has reduced many of your countrymen, the Executive Greek Committee of New York are not the least conspicuous. Belonging, however, as they do, to a neutral power, the policy of whose government is never to be the first aggressor, the Committee have con-fined themselves to the object of relieving the sufferings of the women, children and old men, noncombatants of Greeece [sic]. My instructions are strictly to this effect; and I have pledged myself to fulfil them to the utmost of my power. However urgent may be my own wishes to relieve the wants of those brave men with whom I have passed so many days in the camp, or however well I amy [sic] be convinced of the present need of the Government to have provisions placed in their hands, and at their disposal, yet I can by no means listen to any other disposition of the provisions and clothing in my charge than that contained in my instructions, in the execution of which, Gentlemen, I trust that I shall have your support and approbation. No pleasure of an earthly nature can be greater than that which I enjoy, in again visiting your country, and of having it in my power to administer in some measure towards relieving the suffering of its inhabitants. I am rejoiced to find things in relation to your country's salvation looking more prosperous than when I left Greece a year ago. Who knows but a few more showers of blood poured from the hearts of your sons and your daughters shed by infidel hands, may not thaw the icy policy of Europe, so far as to compassionate your sufferings. But if this fails, let not your friends in Europe and America, ever have the mortification of hearing of your having again submitted to the Turks. Imitate your brethren of Scio, Ipsara and Missolonghi, and if your independence is not achieved, your extinction will at least be glorious; and your reward in heaven that of martyrs for the religion of Christ and the liberty of your country.

With respectful consideration, I am your humble servant

J. P. MILLER, agent, etc.

My Dear Miller.—I send by the Captain of the boat, a cargo of empty barrels which I wish you to take and store in the best manner possible ... I have distributed within four days, ninety barrels of meal and twenty-two tierces of rice to above five thousand souls, most of whom have escaped from the Turks.

They thank God and the good people of the United States, for this which prolongs for a short time their existence. I am not able to detail the whole affair for want of time. Though I have spent two or three most troublesome and laborious days, yet they have been the most satisfactory to my feelings, on account of the happiness of distributing the bounty of Americans, and the heart-felt gratitude with which it was received.

I can assure you that Corinth is in great danger, the dervans (or passes) being open, and the soldiers in great want of bread.

If it please God I shall see you within two or three days, and referring you to that time, I remain your sincere friend.

GEORGE JARVIS

To Mr. J. P. Miller.

New York, May 12, 1827

DEAR SIR,-Since your departure for Greece, our committee have been diligent in procuring means in aid of the sufferers of that country, and have succeeded in making up a second cargo, which they now send forward by the ship Six Brothers. About one third of this cargo has been collected at Albany, and this shipment is a joint one by Albany and New-York. The canals are but just opened, and there will yet come forward the contributions of the inland towns. We shall therefore have another shipment to make, either by taking another whole ship, or uniting with Philadelphia or Boston for that purpose. This cargo, by the Six Brothers, is consigned to Mr. John R. Stuyvesant, who goes as Supercargo, and yourself. I enclose a copy of the Committee's letter of instructions, and a duplicate bill of lading.

You will recollect that, at your departure it was our expectation to have sent Lieut. Carpenter, as Supercargo, but his peculiar situation in the Navy prevented his going. The Committee then made an engagement with Lieut. Breese, also of the Navy, to go in the same capacity, but we have been deprived of his services, by his being ordered, yesterday to go on board the Lexington sloop of war, under sailing orders for the Mediterranean. This greatly embarrassed us, the Six Brothers being laden and ready to depart, but Mr. Stuyvesant very promptly acceded to our request to accompany the shipment, and to be associated with you as consignee and distributor.

Mr. Stuyvesant is a decendant [sic] of Governor Stuyvesant, (one of the original settlers of this place.) His family and connections are most respectable and estimable. His stay with you will be no longer than is necessary for your aid in landing and putting the cargo in train for distribution, and rendering you such assistance as you need. Your stay may be prolonged, as the Boston Committee may ask your aid, in relation to the cargo to be sent from that port. With my best wishes for your health and happiness in Greece, I am most respectfully yours,

LYNDE CATLIN, Chairman,
Ex. Gr. Com. N. York.

ADDRESS
New-York, January 10, 1827.
The Committee for the relief of the Greeks, appointed at a meeting of Citizens, convened in this city on the evening of the 6th instant, take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of their appointment. You are, no doubt, aware of the information received some weeks since in this country, from the most authentic sources, that the barbarous foe of Greece has left her no agriculture, no commerce, no arts. That while her able-bodied men are keeping at bay an enemy, the fruits of whose final success will be brutal violence and indiscriminate massacre; her women, and children, and old men are feeding on acorns in the mountains, and unless promptly relieved by their Christian brethren of other nations, will be driven to experience the horrors of famine.

Impelled by circumstances of this urgent character, the inhabitants of Greece appeal to all Christian nations, not for arms, nor munitions of war, but for a grant of the bare necessaries of life. They who make this appeal are Christians, who have been subjected to the most arbitrary and capricious tyranny for centuries, because they would not abandon their own religious faith, and adopt that of their masters. They are contending for civil and religious liberty. The exertions they have made, the sufferings and sacrifices to which they have submitted in a war, nearly as long already as our own revolutionary struggle, prove them worthy the object for which they con-tend; and, above all, they are hungry and naked.

In applying to their Christian brethren of this republic, they appeal to a people whose liberty was won by exertions and sacrifices of the same character with those they are now making, but of far less amount— to a people, who, as a consequence of the freedom thus won, abound in all the necessaries and comforts of social existence. Shall this appeal be in vain?

You will please to give this subject as much publicity as you conveniently can; and the propriety of calling a public meeting in your city or town, in aid of the main object, is respectfully submit-ted to your consideration.

The committee hope to have it in their power, within a short time, to despatch [sic] one or more vessels to Greece, laden with provisions and clothing, as it is not their intention to send any money out of the country. Should you think proper to forward to the undersigned, or any of the, a contribution of provisions, clothing, or money, they pledge themselves to use their best exertions to appropriate it, without diminution or abatement, to the sole object of feeding and clothing the necessitous inhabitants of Greece.

The effect of this appeal was immediate and sensible, for in the course of the month of January more than six thousand dollars were collected, principally in the city of New York, and information was received that exertions were making in all parts of the country to raise contributions in provisions, clothing, and money. They were therefore led to believe that there would soon be means at their disposal to load a vessel with provisions and clothing to be sent to the suffering inhabitants of Greece.

It was an object of solicitude with the Committee to have the donations properly applied to the suffering women, children, old men, and non-combatants of Greece, and not delivered to the government nor the military. With this view it was necessary to send out the donations in charge of an agent, who should attend to the personal distribution, and be able to satisfy the Committee and the donors on his return, of the faithful application of their gifts. The Committee addressed themselves to the Hon. Messrs. Webster and Everett of Boston, then in Congress at Washington City, and in addition to information touching the points of inquiry about supplies for Greece, they received a strong recommendation in favour [sic] of J. P. Miller of Vermont, to be requested to undertake the agency.

The Committee accordingly applied to Mr. Miller, and in the latter part of February received his reply, accepting the invitation. He arrived in New York on the 5th March, and sailed in the ship Chancellor, as supercargo, on the 10th.

A second vessel was despatched [sic] on the 12th May, 1827. This was the brig Six Brothers, in which Mr. John R. Stuyvesant, of New York, went out as supercargo, and to act conjointly with Mr. Miller in the distribution.

The brig Jane sailed with the third cargo on the 14th September, 1827. Mr. Henry A. V. Post, of New York, went supercargo of the Jane with instructions to act conjointly with the other agents.

These agents have all returned, and Mr. Miller who acted as principal and remained in Greece longer than the others, and who also assisted in the distribution of the cargoes sent from Philadelphia and Boston, has kept and presented a detailed account of his proceedings in the form of a journal, which gives a satisfactory account of the time, place, and manner, in which the provisions and clothing were distributed.

The Committee being highly pleased and satisfied with the various reports from their several agents, and with their faithful performance of the difficult and delicate trust reposed in them, take this opportunity of expressing their thanks and the thanks of the donors, to the said agents generally and severally.

Mr. Miller having been advised to publish his journal, this Committee take pleasure in recommending it to all who have contributed to the Greek fund, as it will thereby become evident to them, that this Committee has been fortunate in the selection of their agents, and that the donations shipped from New York to the suffering inhabitants of Greece, have been mainly distributed to the women, children, and old men, as far forth as the agents were able to accomplish their instructions; and that for the exceptions they are by no means censurable.

Having now settled all the expenses attendant upon their trust, the Committee have closed their accounts by paying over the balance in their hands to the Greek Committee of 1828, of which Mr. George Griswold is Chairman.

For the satisfaction of the contributors to the Greek fund of 1827, the Committee hereunto annex an account current of the receipts and expenditures, and also a particular list and statement of the contributions in money, clothing and provisions, from different parts of the country.

Before closing, it is but justice to add, that they owe an acknowledgment to the proprietors of some of the Canal boats, on the New York Canals, for the gratuitous transportation of donations from the interior, and of the steam boats on the Hudson river, of transportation from Albany to New York. The Committee owe a similar obligation to several gentlemen in New, York, for the free use of their stores in storing the donations in goods until they were shipped: and also to the Editors of the several papers in the city, for advertising without charge. The expenses which would have occurred, if charges had been made, would have amounted to several hundred dollars, and may be considered as so much added to the donations.

Respectfully submitted,
LYNDE CATLIN, STEPHEN ALLEN, GEO. GRISWOLD, JAMES I. JONES, PRESERVED FISH, PETER SHARPE, HIRAM KETCHUM, F. VANDENBURGH, FRED. SHELDON.

To Lynde Catlin, Esq.
Chairman of the Executive Greek Committee.

New-York, 17th February, 1827.

Sir,-I send you the following extract of a letter which I have received from a gentleman in Boston.

"If a vessel should sail from New York with provisions for the Greeks, I wish some one would put on board 10 barrels of flour, for which I will pay immediately on knowing the cost. Now I shall rely on your seeing that this commission is executed; for the request comes from ten ladies, who wish to send a barrel a-piece to feed the hungry and relieve the oppressed."

Messrs. De Forest and Son have kindly offered to put the ten barrels spoken of on board without delay.

Yours respectfully,

J. C. BRIGHAM,
Assist. Sec. Amer. Bib. Soc.

U. S. Military Academy, West Point, Feb. 21, 1827.

SIR,— Enclosed you will receive a check for $sis, which sum was collected by us, a committee appointed by the corps of Cadets, to obtain subscriptions for the relief of the Greeks. Sympathising [sic] as much as we do for the sufferings of the gallant people, our charity has been limited alone by our circumstances. Such as it is, we place it at your disposal, with the hope that it may be speedily and profitably invested for their benefit.

We are, with high consideration,

Your obedient servants,
J. A. J. BRADFORD, of Ky., G. W. HUGHES, of N. Y., W. B. GUION, of Miss.,
RoBt. E. TEMPLE, of Vt., CHARLES MASON, of N. Y. (committee.)

TO STEPHEN ALLEN, Esq.
Chairman, Greek Committee, New-York.

Colchester, Conn., February 28, 1827.

DEAR SIR, — A number of the citizens of the 1st Society, in Colchester, Conn. Sympathizing with the distressed Greeks, and being desirous of contribution to their pecuniary wants, have, by subscription, collected a small box of-clothing, cloth, &c. for their benefit, which we take the liberty to transmit to you, with a request that it may be forwarded to Greece, by the first conveyance. An invoice of the articles contained in said box the value amounting to $116.61, estimated by a disinterested committee, is enclosed. We regret that it is not in our power to forward an amount commensurate with the importance of this benevolent object, and the dignified charity which appears to be animating the citizens of our sister states in behalf of the oppressed and suffering Greeks.

In behalf of the Greek Committee
Of the 1st Society in Colchester, Con.

I am, very respectfully, yours,
JOHN TURNER Ch'n

STEPHEN ALLEN, Esq.
Chairman of the Greek Committee, N. Y.

Lansingburgh, March 6, 1827.

DEAR SIR, — As Chairman of a Committee appointed by a public meeting of the inhabitants of this village, to call into action their sympathies for the suffering Greeks, I have great pleasure in announcing a collection, in money, to the amount of $531, besides some small donations in pro- visions, &c. &c. The money, in a draft on the City Bank of New York, is herewith enclosed, and the other articles will be forwarded to the Executive Committee in New York, on the opening of the navigation.

It may not be improper to add, for we deem it highly creditable to the character of the people here, that their contributions were made up in less than two days from the time their Committee entered upon the duties assigned them. Our best wishes accompany them, with a fervent prayer, that the good intended may be fully realized, and the Greeks come speedily into the enjoyment of liberty and independence.

I am, very respectfully,
Dear sir, your ob't. servant,
GERRIT PEEBLES

TO LYNDE Catlin, Esq. .

Brooklyn, L. I. 12th March, 1827.

SIR, — The inhabitants of the town of Brooklyn participating largely in the general sympathy for the sufferings of the oppressed and destitute Greeks, held a public meeting on the 16th January last; and appointed a Committee to receive contributions for their relief; and to invite the inhabitants of other towns on Long Island to co-operate in this work of benevolence.

The result of their exertions enables us to transmit, herewith, as the donation of Long Island, a check on the Long Island Bank, for $2,675.

An order on Mr. Robert Speir for five barrels of navy bread.
An order on Mr. William Thompson, waterman, for a supply of water to the vessel or vessels taken up for the purpose of conveying food and clothing to the Greeks.
An order on Mr. James Titus, butcher, for a barrel of beef.
A quantity of ready-made linen; and a package of dry goods.
Collected in the following towns, viz.

By order of the Executive Committee of Brooklyn,

To LYNDE Catlin, Esq.
Chairman of the Executive Committee, New-York.

Cherry Valley, 20th December, 1827.

GENTLEMEN, — A few inhabitants of this village casually assembled this evening, in talking over the cheering news of the destruction of the Turkish fleet in the harbour [sic] of Navarino, formed themselves into a meeting, by choosing a Chairman and Secretary, and appointing the under, signed a Committee to address you on the subject of the glorious, and now hopeful struggle of Greece for independence; and to inform you that, should you deem it expedient to make further efforts in the cause of humanity, and send out to that devoted country another ship freighted with supplies of provisions, you can draw on A. St. John, Cashier of the Central Bank, and one of the Committee, for $150. The sum is small; but the pittance will, it is hoped, be attended with the blessing promised the donation of the cheerful giver. Your draft on him for the amount will be honoured [sic] at sight. Accept the felicitations of the undersigned on the heart-cheering prospect that the sufferings of that gallant people are fast approaching a close; and their prayers that the classic soil of Greece may soon cease to be stained by the bloody footsteps of infidel and relentless tyrants.

With great respect,
Your obedient servant,
LEVI BEARDSLEY, Ch'n

To the Chairman and Secretary of the Greek Committee, New York.

To the Scholars of Messrs. Borland and Forest's School, New-York.
YOUNG GENTLEMEN, — The Committee for the relief of the Greeks have the greatest pleasure in acknowledging your very acceptable contribution.

Your generous spirit gives to your fellow citizens a gratifying assurance of your continuing to emulate the glorious examples of self-devotion your Committee so fitly mention. The appropriation of your means of amusement to the relief of suffering humanity is worthy of all imitation. You have thus connected yourselves most honourably [sic] with a cause of the greatest interest in Christendom, and you will surely reflect on this act with ever increasing satisfaction.

As parents, this Committee would exhort you to cherish the generosity of temper which has thus brought you before your fellow citizens, and to remember that no true greatness in public, nor endearing excellence in private life, can ever be attained without it. It is the very soul of that high ambition, which ever aims to be most eminently useful in promoting the welfare and happiness of the whole human race.

Uniting with yourselves in the wishes that animate you in the cause of the suffering Greeks, and acknowledging as this Committee does the very handsome manner with which your Committee have fulfilled the duty assigned them, this Committee renew their pledge of faithful application of your gift to the interesting objects of your gratitude and commiseration.

By order of the Committee,
STEPHEN ALLEN.

To the Students of Union Hall Academy, at Jamaica, Long-Island.
YOUNG GENTLEMEN, — The Greek Committee of the City of New York, have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your very generous donation for the relief of that distressed people. By the appropriation of your private funds to this benevolent object, rather than apply them to the purposes of your amusement, you have performed an act worthy of all praise, and associated yourselves with a cause of increasing interest and importance, not only to the Christian world in general, but to all the friends of liberal principles in particular.

The Committee have viewed this pledge of your disposition to do good, as a proof of your future usefulness in the several stations you may hereafter be called to fill, and they sincerely hope, that the generous sentiment which has prompted your young minds to the performance of this noble act, so honourable [sic] to yourselves, so reputable to the respectable principal and teachers of your academy, and so grateful to all your connections, as well as to this Committee, may continue to be cherished by all of you during life.

With our best wishes that your health my be preserved, your studies completed, and the anxious hopes of your parents and friends realized, I have the honour [sic] to subscribe myself, in behalf of the

Committee, your friend,
And humble servant,
STEPHEN ALLEN, Ch’n.

To James A. J. Bradford, Geo. W. Hughes, Walter B. Guion, Robert E. Temple, and Charles Mason, Esgrs. a Committee of the corps of Cadets at the United States Academy, West Point.

New York, Feb. 24, 1827.

GENTLEMEN, — It is with the purest satisfaction that I have the honour [sic] of acknowledging the receipt of your munificent donation of five hundred and fifteen dollars, collected by you, as a committee appointed by the corps of Cadets, for the relief of the Greeks.

The important studies you are prosecuting, considered in a national point of view, together with the fact of your coming from several different states in this union, gives to this transaction a greater degree of interest than it otherwise would, inasmuch as it furnishes additional evidence, that the study of the art and science of war is by no means incompatible with the softer sensations of pity and compassion for the distressed; and that this amiable quality of the mind is not confined to any one section of our country, but equally pervades the whole.

By appropriating your private funds to the relief of these heroic but suffering people, you have performed an act that will ever redound to your honour [sic], and ultimately to the advantage of objects worthy of your commiseration; and you may reflect on it with pride, and so it will be viewed, as connected with a cause in some respects similar to that in which our father bled and died, in order to secure to us the inestimable boon of freedom and independence, the preservation of which, it may be our peculiar province to preserve sacred and undefiled.

Be pleased to convey to your colleagues in this beneficent transaction, the sincere and unfeigned thanks of the Committee, of whom I have the honour [sic] to be the chairman, and assure them, that no care or exertions shall be spared on our part to have the proceeds of this liberal charity proper-ly invested; and as speedily and as safely conveyed to the shores of Greece as time and circum-stances will permit.

Accept, Gentlemen,
My most respectful consideration,
STEPHEN ALLEN.

Rev. WILLIAM S. HEYER, Fishkill-landing, N. Y.

Rev. Sir,— I have the honour [sic] to acknowledge the receipt of your very interesting letter of the 12th instant, together with the donation of 40 dollars from the Female Benevolent Society of your congregation, for the relief of the suffering inhabitants of Greece.

In the progress of our duty as a Committee, we have had frequent occasion to notice with approbation, the honourable [sic] feelings of sympathy which this subject had excited in all classes of our fellow-citizens, and there is no portion of them so much entitled to our respect and admiration as the females of our highly favoured [sic] land; for we have found in every instance, that the extent of the relief afforded by them has only been limited by their ability to perform and to give.

In the present instance the Committee feel great pleasure in recording this additional proof of the benevolent and philanthropic disposition of their fair countrywomen; and they beg that you will assure them, that the liberal donation they have intrusted [sic] them with shall be invested with the utmost economy, in articles of food and raiment for the distressed wives and children, and the aged sires, of the heroic Greeks, who are contending for civil and religious liberty, against a foe who is equally the enemy of God and man.

With unfeigned respect,
I am your obedient servant,
STEPHEN ALLEN.