The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-22 00:00:00

LORD NAPIER.

~!

A banqUet in honour of Lord Napier wee. epwm
at Ike Manion-house last evening. The Meal "loyel
scdpabietie tomb having been gime, •
• .7ain Duke of Canneinoe, in returning. thin* for e
&nay, said they had ail reason to rejoice at any ndatiO
Mae and dieffinpaishedeerlitee of the army,' and
laxly at Me resent peeffreamies dada the
of • general who had Been &emaciated
a..-tranybrilliant deeds on fonder occasions. They
been fortunate enough to seam Has mi-dittort:
of Lord Napier but of several other
had distlngnihed theeseelvei hr former 'and great
Fa earwigs. He had only' to meiffiela theme ids
noble and pint friend Lord fite ander whom
Hegira N fernierly give& also of. ha gallant
Maid lair ape Grant, who hid also had the bonder of
=tding Sur Rohest Nelda:, and. who hod perfeemed
b and Important bermes in India and WAIL
nen a proud thing for an giber situated as la seest6
feel Mat be was reywsnbi. for men of etch .pantiai ad
Mending, who had on great occasion', shown themselves
worthy of the nation to* which they belonged, and of the
merrier to which they were attached.
Captain Fa ewes emended for the navy.
Lientenaid-Colond Wvm reepaided for the volunteer..
The Loan Brice then proposed the toast of the . even-
Health
times three. Lord Napier," which was drunk
•
lewd Nernst, who was received with load NOR lama-
edigased clears, ramped thanks;. he said,—lt has been
a Mom of great gratification ain age
to. ,1117,iteather of the Abyesinien • bt 1101 tket
our swage have been received so favourably among-
bylaw, and that by ail classes we have lain oonitHered
Wave done car duty. For the great agistaigi we have
kofed I hawe to express oar to the -
the coupplied% by. whom we ware
d. att
tkpueveritiVir fondNortheo)our aohnowledgmeate are peculiarly due, art I
svrla opportunity of—mentioning" the names o the
=lc—Hamm! Sir H: Virden, • names
and
'Lee, 'and liMjer-Generall Rea, ~to
*beg we are greatly indebted for
.their
OM for the promptitude and tiffigment with
rapeemended that our waste should be at
Wren also greatly indebted to his Royal Highness the
Duke of Cambridge, who al readily WM regard to pre-
cedence, conceded anything tied I solicited, and gave me
?bytecitrasrgee whom I regard, and whose Mill
I had Tritoessid. before, and whose
I eatiddered it highly desirable to obtain.
I Mgt also express the debt of gratitude' I feel towards
tfie -Viceroy of Egypt, who came to our assistance when
Tee wire in greet difficulty, and 'applied us with maey
theleneade .ed clunill and mule drivers, without whom we
rtscarcely have advanced es we did into that:Lula;
ymeinia. To Me excellent governor of
nre.heaoured namesake, Lord Napier of Merchieton, who
with. suet tneellish kindnese conceded to us all that we
could desire, my acknowledgments are oleo due.. I have
111311. to =prams siry. acknowledgments to the Governor of
libeehey for the .1121310105 labour he hallowed on the
Zlrgt of the expedition, and the pest atilatence
ed to us on every panibla oceitekin: • I have
nteg a word to say in reference to the teethe. et the
expeditio which was moat ansupplesty All : the
Members on,
f the force vied with each glier All
do their
duty. It was not the first time I have seen the British
soldier labour zealously, but nave never seen him labour
I babe,- It Trogkl be difficult to my white .Biramdt of Rae
I mliplitwehaserbeitt. Where ell behaved well t ALI
to &law dietinctions, The Wire 'sob
rd. Mancenthees, "aid vied with the
ks:Fe . of their argYi •
sitge.
the regiment of
ef see--cionie ell thn'
ZtAre • -i:whg I retie' woe
aide; a ttnees
, relforwarda, and wit=ae
officers salted the reason, they were . told that
wee joy that the— rsaamandeviaeadef had come
amongst them. It is impossible to do toe much justioe to
the Beloathes regiment. illlard), w_he)wpre not mfr to
en reggae* in' the artiste •ih MW•llevlitiorl• to their
Idu . I may also mention,
hri: Mlle Regiment of Bombay
!Native Infantry, a graft 'on of ' *Nom were Hindoe-
tenses, and I will say they were quite as forward as
other races, and that they did baleen to thar presidency.
I cannot speak in too high tame pf the services of the
cavalry. Ibed on one waken to tell an officer of mine,
a. imbue cellar Who wee of my escort, ki direct the '
lirGee go to a wr pads. mid that ie your •
" Very Fell, mid ,‘ • Rtes gist piece at
it." and offi May went. It sou a dope owerhill,oo,
san angle ofis forty-five degrees. Of the British infantry
is
it hardly necessary to speak. Their eertiate
were, as they have ever been, excellent and in-
valuable. Their labours were extremely hard ; they '
had to carry heavy loads, and afterwards they had to do
the work of picket duty ; but they bqpi op, inspired by
the hope of accomplishing the task Hutt was eet before
them. Each man had sufficient consideration and reflec-
tion to understand the end they had in view. (Hear,
bear.) I should add that we were greedy indebted to the
officers of the intelligence • dvarent, who discharged
their laborious duties meet satisfactorily, although they
were often left in the rear necessarily when their wish
would have carried them to the front. Although
I mention them last, it is not because I
think of the navy least. (Cheers.) The officers
and men of that service assisted me in every potable
way with the greatest possible zeal. The spirits
of the commander of the navy was excellent, and was
shared in by the whole of his men. (Cheers.) They made
such excellent volunteer soldiers, such capital marchers,
such fine cavalry troops, and took such care of their
mules, that I believe they will enlist in the lancers or in
the artillery—(laughter)—and my gallant friend Captain
Fellowes seemed so much at home on horseback that I have
doubts about his going on board ship again. (Renewed
laughter.) My lords and gentlemen, when our task wan ac-
compliabed we received a telegram from her most gracious
Majesty the Queen, who is always ready to encourage her
soldiers when they are ins position of difficulty. We
also received a telegram from his Royal Highness the
Duke of Cambridge, and one from the Secretary of Beats
—all containing congratulationa on the accomplishment
of the work of the expedition. I can scarcely sulloiently
exprees the pleasure which I feel at the welcome that
we have received this evening. I cannot but feel that
the honour is due to the force under my command—the
officers and soldiers, to whose exertions I am indebted for
many of the favoun I hag reeeived at the heads of my
countrymen. We all felt Wafted that, without the
zealous and cordial co-operation of every officer and
soldier under my command, our gown could not
lure been complete. His royal highness has been
pleased to allude to my having served under two gallant
bikers who are in this room this evening. I well remem-
ber when I served in Central India under my noble and
gallant friend, Lord Straithneirn—(cheers)—a soldier who
thoroughly understood how to deal with an Asiatic
enemy—by gang straight at their heads on every coca-
eon--a method of proceeding which invariably resulted
m his triumph over all difficulties. lam also proud to
remember that I served under my gallant friend,. Sir
Hope Grant, whose determination to take the grwA city
of Pekin Iso well remember. Allusiott has been made
to the volunteer force, and although Ism not a very young
soldier, lam • young volunteer, as have been
this day requested to become commander of the 3rd regi-
ment of the London Ride Volunteers, and have accepted
that posinon. England
From what I have been, the
volunteers of are deserving of all support. I
aware you, my l and gentlemen, that I shall memem-
bor es long as I live the great honour which has been ma-
fared on me this day, and the cordial welcome which I ;
have received in this ball this evening. (Cheers.)
The Loan Maws neat proposed " The House of Lords
and Cosuncos."
, Lord Cinamsecom returned thanks for the House of
Yards.

MUSIC ,