Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-16 00:00:00

DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM NAPIER.

Another renowned member of the family that
has furnished this country with so many-great
men has been called away. Sir William Napier,
the gallant, soldier and the brilliant author, has
been called from the scene of his varied triumphs,
though not till he . had reached an age after
which his death can only be regarded with the
calm sorrow felt on hearing of ,an event, which,
however keenly to be regretted, can scarcely be
called unexpected.
He was born in 1785, at Castletown, in Ireland,
and *as the son of Colonel the Hon. George
Napier by the celebrated Lady Sarah Lennox,
daughter of the second Dtike of Richmond. He
is brother of the illustrious conqueror Of Schick:
Sir William, having entered the army in' 1800,
' served at the siege of Copenhagen, and fonght at
the battle of Kioge in 1807. He served with Sir
John Moore in 1808, and continuing in the.P.enin-
snla throughout the subsequent campaigns, com-
manded the 43rd Regiment at Salamanca; Nivelle,
and Nice, and was several times'severely wounded
during the war. • ' He was Lieutenant-Governor of
Guernsey from 1842—t0" 1848.;, and in the latter
year was created a military knight, and becanie
olotiel of the 27th Regiment. He was raised in
1851 to the rank of Lieut.-General. Meantime,
' Sir William had proved that he could use the pen
as forcibly as he had wielded the sword. In
1828 he commenced his' publication of " The
History of the War in the Peninsula and in the
South of France, from the year 1807 to 1814."
This work, which consists of six volumes, is
justly regarded as the most valuable record
of the scenes it narrates; and the acuteness,
accuracy, and knowledge of the art of war,
displayed in its pages, are beyond all question.
It has been cited as a strong testimony, not
only to the fidelity of Sir William's narrative,
but to hik genius for military description, that his
work is highly prized by soldiers of every grade,
from the private to the general. He has been
described as less-the historian of the study than
the camp—passages of his book aro said to have
been recounted round watchfires and told in the
trenches before Sebastopol,: • and never without
warning the soldier's heart, firing his mind, and
nerving his arm; Sir W. Napier-is also author of
"The Conquest of Schick," and "Life and Opinions
of Sir Charles Napier," besides treatises on the Poor
Law and on the Corn. Laws, and some reviews,
and works of fiction. If we .say that the active
service of Sir William' Napier was commensurate
with the services of the Light Division in the
Peninsula, we shall have said quite enough to de-
fine and establish his claims as a working soldier.
It is true that he was in the expedition to Copen-
hagen in 1807. and.that he was not on the retired
list in 1815 ; but the Peninsula is the sphere pf
his duty and his' experience nor did he as an
effective member of his .profession ever overstep
the capacity of a regimental officer. At' first his
promotion was rapid ; but, though he entered the
war a captain, he left it only a lieutenant-colonel,
and it was this rank_ alone, and upon the half-pay
establishment of the 43rd Foot, that he made his
first appearance before the
.public in the new
character of a military historian.
Though he entered the army in the last cen-
tury, and fought his last fight almost fifty years
ago, he was only 74 .when he was overtaken by
death on the 12th of this month at Scinde
Clapham-park.
It may be interesting to give the dates of his
vario•fs commissions. He was ensign on the 14th
March, 1600; lieutenant, 18th, 1801; captain, 2nd
June, 1804; major, 30th May, 1811 ; lieutenant-
colonel, 22nd Nov. 1813 •, colonel, 22nd July,
1830; major-general, 23rd Nov., 1841; lieutenant- -
general,. 11th .Nov., ; and. colonel, -22nd
regiment, 19th Sept., 1853

A WorIAN MURDERED IN COIIOF.S.—On the 20th of
January, a woman named Caroline Callochan was killed
at Cohoes, N.Y. She was very near the period of her
confinement at the time. An affray had occurred at her
house, growing out of the use of liquor, during which
she was brutally kicked in the abdomen by a young man
named James Meighan. Soon after she was taken ill,
and; after suffering the most horrible agonies,,died. The
child is also dead. The murderer fled after the death of
the woman, and had not been arrested at last accounts.
A correspondence has passed between General Shirley
and Mr. E. James, originating in the trial " Beatson v.
Skene." Mr. James, as General Beatson's counsel, had
spoken of General. Shirley as a " man of desperate cha-
racter," who would "stick at nothing to crush General
Beatson," He also charged him with " vindictive feel-
ing," and with having been guilty of "anonymous
slander." After the trial General Shirley wrote to Mr.
James :—" I hold myself atliberty to tell you publicly
that you have stated a deliberate falsehood ; and, more-
over, that you so stated it knowing at the time that it
was utterly false."—Mr. James replied :—" I have
placed your correspondence in the hands of my solicitor,
Mr. W. R linobel, 3, Camion-row, Whitehall; and beg
that you will not address me again upon the stbject."
THEATRES ELSEWHERE.—The Boston theatre will be
opened on 'Tuesday week, with Mrs. John Wood as the
star. Mr. James' R. Anderson, who, with Miss 'Els-
worthy, has been playing at Mobile, has essayed
a new line of business, and, according to the
Register, made a great hit as Sir John Falstaff.
At the New Orleans Varieties the season „had
been a very successful one. " Dot" was played
during six weeks. 'Mr. Sam Cowell's benefit and
last appearance at the Boston Museum was announced
for Friday. Mr. Cowell was to play, with Mr. W.
Warren, in " Box and Cox." The California papers
announce the debut of Mr. Hackett, who appeared
at the American theatre, San Francisco, on the
3rd of January, and was enthusiastically' received by
a crowded house. At Philadelphia, last week, the public
was regaled with the French Opera (Darcy premire
ch,an.leuse) at the Academy. A Miss Wissler made her
debut, which, the Press says :—" Was waited for with
intense anxiety. Of her voice and method we have often
spoken—grand, .majstic, and expansive, it soared over
the house in delicious melody. Miss Wissler looks
exceedingly well in male attire, walks well, and for one
who for the first time trod the boards, displayed great
self-possession." At the Walnut the Cooper Opera
troupe (English) sang the " Trovatore' " Miss Annie
Milner as Leonora. Mr. Bowler, as the Troubadour,
sang very sweetly.
SWINDLING IN FRANCE.—A case of swindling, of a
very extraordinary character, was submitted to the Tri-
bunal of Correctional Police on Saturday, 'An old wo-
man named Legendre, 70 years of age, stated that four
years ago she was concierge of a house in. the Rue
Bourbon-Villeneuve, and that she there made the ac-
quaintance of a woman named -Moreau, concierge of
another house situated in the same street. Ws woman,
after borrowing Several sums of money, told her that
she (Moreau) belonged to the seeret police of the Em-
Peror, and had rendered such great services to his-Ma- '
testy that he intended to make her fortune ; and on the
strength of that representation she borrowed more
money. She afterwards got other sums on the pretext
that they were for a certain General Caesar, of Poland,
an old general of the First .Empire, who, though
more than a hundred years old, was actively
engaged in the confidential services of the Em-
peror, and who, she said, would recompence
the lender liberally on his arrival in France, which
was shortly' expected. She subsequently obtained
more money by a, tale to the effect that she had been
put to expense by the discovery of a plot against
the Emperor at St. Denis ; and in connection With this
plot she alleged that the Emperor himself, disguised
as a postillion, had gone with her to St. Denis,
and had arrested . forty Spaniards!' She told 'other
tales scarcely less absurd, in which she introduced
the names of the Ministers of War and of the
Interior, and other eminent personages. The end of
the affair was that the-old woman had given to the pre-
tended police agent 3,0001'., all the money she had saved
up in .the course of her long life, she not only did not
obtain the liberal,recompences promised her, but could
not even get any portion of her advances repaid. Some
witnesses stated that they had endeavoured to convince
the old woman that she was being shamefully duped,
but in vain. The tribunal- condetnnefl the prisoner to
two year* imprisonment end 50f. fine.—Oallynani.

CONVOCATION OF THE. CHURCH.