The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-07 00:00:00

SION-HOUSE.

BANQUAT A

Last night the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor gave his
usual annual dinner to the aldermen and other dignita-
ries of the city at the Mansion-house. The proceeoings
on the occasion derived their chief, if net their only in-
terest, from the circumstance that among the guests in-
vited to the dinner were the Earl of Cardigan and Ad-
miral Sir Charles Napier, who each delivered speeches
relating to the war, in which they have both taken
active and leading parts. Lord Cardigan attended
attired in the identical uniform which, we under-tood,
he wore in the desperate cavalry charge at Balaklava.
Upwards of 100 ladies and gentlemen were present at
the banquet.
The cloth having been removed, and the customary
loyal toasts duly honoured,
The LORD MA.TOE briefly proposed " the Navy and
the Baltic service," coupling with the toast the names
of Sir Charles Napier and Captain Lynch, R.N. (Drunk
with enthusiasm.)
Sir CHARLES NAPIER then rose to return thanks, and
was received with applause. The gallant Admiral, who
was very indistinctly heard, was understood to speak al
follows :—My Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, ladies and
gentlemen, if an officer having returned from a foreign
service like my noble friend, if he will allow me to call
him so (the Earl of Cardigan), after having performed
prodigies of valour, and been received in the manner in
which lie has been this day, must feel proud on this oc-
casion, how must I feel, who have returned from my com-
mand having scarcely performed any service at all, and
been censured by the Government, and dismissed from
my command ! (Cries of " No, no.") I repeat, dis-
missed from any command. I have ao doubt it will be
expected by the present company that some account
' should be given of the very small sereices.performed in
the Baltic by that magnificent feet which was sent out
from this country. (Hear, hear.) That fleet was mag-
nificent, certainly, to a degree. It was very badly
manned, and worse disciplined ; but, however, we ma-
naged
to take it to the Baltic without pilots, without
charts—all the officers being perfectly unacquainted
the Baltic and the difficulties of the navigation ; and we
succeeded in getting there in perfect safety. Now, the
first object I bad in view was to endeavour, if possible,
to satisfy the wishes of the people of this country. I was
quite aware, when I went there, that one-tenth part of
what was expected could never be performed ; hut,
nevertheless, I was determined to do the best I pos-
sibly could under the circumstances. 'When we first
went out my view was to give the Russians every chance
of putting to sea. I divided my fleet into two i.quad-
rons—l left one in the Gulf of Finland, and the other
not very far off from the island of Gothland. However,
the Russians did not think proper to come out. Our
next object was to go to Cronstadt and see what was to
be done there. We accordingly proceeded, with the as-
sistance of a French squadron, to do all that we possibly
could, in order to attack the enemy. But we found the
thing totally impracticable. Ia the first place, there
was not depth of water enough for the ships, and in the
next place the batteries were of such strength that it was
impossible to attempt to attack the place without the
certainty almost of destruction to our fleet. I think,
therefore, that I acted the prudent part in the course I
pursued. The French Admiral entirely concurred in
my opinion, and we therefore returned to our former
anchorage, and thence went to Bomarsund. I had
written before to the English Government, proposing to
attack Bomarsund. I wanted no other troops to enable
me to go there. I had troops enough ; but the French
Admiral thought it mere proper to have some. The
French Government sent out 10,010 troops accordingly.
I repeat that I did not want them—they would much
better have Lees employed at Sebastopol. I only asked
for one or two thousand men to make the thing more
sure ; but I could have done without them ; and I wrote
home to that effect. However, they sent us out 10,000
men. It is needless for me to say how quickly the
thing was accomplished. (A. laugh.) Bomarsund was
taken in so time, with little loss, and a great fortifica-
tion was destroyed—or rather a series of fortifications
which extended a considerable distance over the Baltic.
I now come to a matter of greater consequence, and I
think it my duty to make it known as much as I can do
here, because I am not in Parliament. I have been
very much censured by the Government. Great clamour
has been raised against me, and instead of the Govern-
ment discountenancing that clamour, they have actu-
silly supported and encouraged it. The moment it was
known in England and France that the French army
intended to return horse seeing that it was perfectly
impossible at that season Of the year to perform any fur-
ther service without risking her Majesty's fleet, the Go-
vernment became dissatisfied, and they ordered a council
of war to be held. I dare say nobody ever heard yet of
a council of war fighting. (Laughter.) However, we
did not want that to drive us en. But the whole sub-
ject was carefully and thoroughly examined by a Mar-
shal of France, a French admiral, a general of French
engineers, and also by no less than three British admi-
rals ; and they all unanimously decided that it was per-
fectly impossible to proceed further; and that bad we
done so we should have encountered the risk of almost
certain defeat and loss. The British Admiralty was not
satisfied with that, but they listened to the advice of an
officer of engineers, and I was ordered to hold another
council of war, to ascertain whether French admirals and
English officers would abandon their own opinion and
adopt that of the Admiralty. The English officers felt
insulted at the proposal. Had I been desirous to con-
sult the opinion of a Brigadier-General of English En-
gineers, and to give np my opinion when the other
members had expressed their opinion, they thought it
was not necessary toehold another council of war, aid
the French Admiral very properly refused to join in
such a proceeding. He said, " I have already given my
opinion, and it is not the opinion of any General of En-
gineers, whether he be English, French, German, or any
other country, that will make rue change ray opinion of
au attack purely naval in its character." The
rr-
mint at home was not satisfied with that. The French
General of Engineers sent home another report, still
more bare than the first, and it is unnecessary for me to
say that we all concurred in condemning that opinion
also, and the French army returned to Francs. 1 be-
lieve, and have no hesitation in saying, that had they
gone up the Gulf of Finland again, instead of returning
home, our fleet would have been totally lost. Not satis-
fied, however, with that, I went up, determined to have
another survey of that fortification, which is one of the
strongest in Europe. That was in the month of Sep-
tember, and that month in the Baltic corresponds in
se rerity with November here and among the Channel
Islands. I then sent home a report of the survey I had
taken with great care and deliberation, and with the
determination to do all that a man could d• to satisfy,
if possible, the expectations of the people of England.
The moment it was first reported (erroneously) that Se-
bastopol was taken, it was also said, " Wby does not
Admiral Napier go and take Cronstadt and St. Peters-
burg !" In fact, I was asked, " Why don't you go and
take Moscow ?" (Laughter.) Now, I never did ex-
pect that the Admiralty would join in that clamour. I
say I certainly never expected that they would have
been so mean and despicable as to join in that clamour
in order to bring odium on a naval officer who had done
all in his power to bring honour and credit to his coun-
try. (Hear, hear.) What did I do ! Why, I sent
home to the Admiralty a clear and detailed account,
stating my opinions and what appliances were necessary
in order to take Sweaborg. You will not expect me to
state what those opinions were. (Hear, hear.) Suffice
it to say that I gave two separate opinions, one of which
if followed I believe was certain to insure success, and
the other certain to bring destruction on the fleet.
What did the Admiralty then do ? I mention this in
order that there may be no mistake whatever, because
if the Government have the least spirit about them they
will immediately discharge me, and turn me out of the
service. (Laughter.) I say that the Admiralty per-
verted my language. They not only did that, but
they sent to me the most goading letters which
they possibly could write. They asked me why
I did not take Sweaborg, and why I did not
do this, that, and the other ? They received my
letter, giving them an account of how Sweaborg might
be taken, on the 4th of October, the very day on which
the first intelligence reached England of the capture of
Sebastopol. On the 9th of October—five days after-
wards—the news arrived that Sebastopol was not taken;
but the Admiralty had not the plain, straightforward
dealing, or the honesty, to write to rim and apologise.
No ; but what they did was this—they perverted what
I had written, giving them a plan for the taking of
Sweaborg. My lord, I was not going to stand that.
(Laughter and cheers.) lam not the man to put up
with an insult. I remonstrated most strongly, but after
all my remonstrances they still persisted in saying that I
had led them astray. Well, what could I do ! I was
not going to he driven into all this, particularly as Sir
J. Graham during the whole period I was in the Baltic
had written to me admonishing me to g
fleetbeware
against
of stone
walls ; telling me not to risk her Majesty
them ; that these stone walls were not to be trusted ;
and reminding me that when I
first known to be
going out to the Baltic
wasn accused by certain
persons of want of discreltibona,dbbueteassuring me that now,
in his opinion, I had proved myself a consummate com-
mander-in-chief. After that came the most insulting
mind degrading letters to me ever addressed to an offi-
eel--; and I mention this particularly in the hope that
it will go forth to the world, and that Sir J. Graham
will be prevented from ever sitting in the Administra-
tion again as First Lord of the Admiralty. I state it to
the public, and I wish them to know that had I followed
the advice of Sir J. Graham I should most inevitably
have left the fleet behind me in the Baltic. I will prove
this before the world ; and if Sir J. Graham has one
single spark of honour in him he will never again take
his seat at the Admiralty until this matter is cleared up.
On the other hand, I will say that I have no right to be
ever employed-again, and I ought, in fact, to be scratched
off the Navy List" if lam not telling the truth in
what I now state. (Cheers.) lam taking the first or-
portunity of making this statement publicly, and I am
perfectly ready to answer for my conduct before the
House of Commons whenever they choose to call upon
me to do so. (Cheers.) The gallant Admiral then con-
cluded by again thanking the company for the honour
they had done him in drinking his health.
The Loan MAYOR gave, as the next toast, " The
Army," coupiing with it the names of the Earl of Car-
digan and of Captain Maxse, his lordship's aide-de-camp,
and took occasion to pass a high eulegium upon the
gallant deeds of the noble Earl in the Crimea, and spe-
cially upon his heroic conduct in the disastrous catary
charge at Balaklava. (The toast, at the suggestion of
Alderman Cubitt, was given upstanding, with three
times three vociferous cheers.
The Earl of CARDIGAN then rose to acknowledge the
compliment that had been paid him. He
said—MY
I
Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, ladies, and gentlemen,
feel considerably embarrassed in rising to return you my
sincere thanks for the high honour tliat you have done
me, because there are several conflictinglam here reminded
feelings which
now weigh heavily upon my mn
, of what has recently eccurrediincitie Ettt: and I feel cer-

tarn that a late engagement in which I was an actor ire
that part of the wer:d is the cause of the handsome an
flattering reception which I have met with this day.
But, coupled with that, there are other feelings which
press on my mind—among others, the recollection of the
sad and disastrous loss that occurred on that fatal day,
and the number of brave officers and soldiers whose lives
were then unfortunately sacrificed. (Hear, hear.) I
Lave further to remember that it is very difficult to say
anything connected with the war which is now waging
in the Crimea without touching inadvertently upon some
of those subjects which now so much engross the public:
attention, and which are also under the full considera-
tion of both Houses of Parliament ; and I think, there.
fore, that you must clearly see that it would by no means
be fitting er proper for me, in the situation which I hol,i
—that of a high staff position in the army—to enter into
that question on this occasion. (Hear.) My Lord Mayor,
my services in the Crimea having been alluded to by you.
perhaps I may be allowed to inform you how I have been
employed since I was sent out to the east. (Hear, hear.)
It was my good fortune, when in Turkey, in the SPA
instance, to be cent forward by the Commander of
the Forces towards the enemy's outposts with the light
cavalry. It was net well known where the Russians
were at the time the siege of Silistria was proceeding.
1 was, therefore, ordered to ascertain the position of
their army and its outposts. I had to patrol the whole
the under
morning
i 9 mr
nyi
n command. raorrn iea n
day,el.
of the country by means of detachments of the troop•
Shortly after this, very early in
I received from head-quarters a
very peremptory order, which was by no menus unsa-
tiqictory to me, that I should immediately proceed.
with a strong
body of cavalry to discover what had be-
come of the Russian army ; for the siege of Silistria had
then been raised, and the British Commander-in-Chief
was totally ignorant whether the Bussians were about
to proceed tawards Varna to attack our position, or in.
tended to retreat towards their own country. You can
easily imagine that this was rather an anxious undeetek-
ing, and one that required the exercise of considerable
caution on my part. We might have come at any moment
upon the Russian army—upon the Russian outposts. We
travelled over the country, which I may call a perfectly
wild desert, for a distance of nearly 300 miles. My orders
were to proceed 130 miles as far as Trajan's Wall, on the
confines of the Dobrudsclia. We did so, and marched 120
miles without ever seeing a human being. There was not
a single house in a state of repair or that was inhabited
along all this route, nor was there an animal to be seen
except those that exist in the wildest regions. Having
ascertained that the Russian army had returned
by Babadagh, and given information to the Com-
mander-in-Chief upon that subject, I then proceeded on
a very interesting march, patrolling along the banks of
the Danube to Rustchuk and Silistria, and returned
thence by that great fortress Schunela, which has been
oft.en attacked, but never taken— it being, in fact, as I
believe, perfectly impregnable. (Hear.) After our return
from these quarters to Varna, then came the order to
proceed to the Crimea ; and here I must say that that
expedition was a noble undertaking, and bad in view an
object worthy of the ambition of two great nations.
(Cheers.) On our first landing in the Crimea, I was em-
ployed within two hours afterwards, with a strong body
of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, in endeavouring to cut
off some Russian cavalry, which were supposed to be
marching towards Simpheropol.' lam sorry to say that
I did not succeed in this tack, for I never could find the
Russians. (Laughter.) A. few days afterwards came that
glorious affair, the battle of the Alma ; and here I must
say, that, according to my humble judgment, nothing
could be so perfect as the preparations which were made
by a great army for that attack. The columns of our in-
fantry, which bad marched in perfect order for the attack,
instantly deployed into three lines, and advanced straight
down the hill, crossingand fording the river, then ascended
the hill on the opposite bank, and marching straight into
forts and batteries which appeared to be impregnable, they
drove out at the point of the bayonet a Russian army of
45,000 men in the short space of two hours and a half.
The arm of the force in which I served had not the honour
of being engaged in anything important on that occa.
sion. We sat upon our horses under a heavy fire for a
long -period, and in that position we witnessed the
glorious exploits of our brother soldiers. Shortly after
this was fought the Battle of Balaklava, and unfortu-
nately our allies, the Turks, abandoned their position in
a very short time, without maintaining any contact with
the enemy. It was late in the afternoon when I received
an order to attack the Russian forces posted in the
valley, which consisted of a long line of guns drawn up
in the form of batteries. I received that order, my
Lord Mayor, and I obeyed it. (Loud cheers.) I de-
livered that order myself to the brigade under my com-
mand. I ordered them to march. I ordered them to
advance. I ordered them to attack the Russians in the
valley ; but, my Lord, I must say this, that on that
occasion, it being my duty to give the order to my
men, I did give it, though I deeply regretted it at the
time, and I am sure I should have much more deeply
regretted it afterwards if anything had prevented my per-
forming the rest of my duty, which was to share the
dangers that those brave men so boldly faced. (Cheers.)
My lord, whatever danger those men incurred, I shared
it with them. (Renewed cheering.) We advanced dower
a gradual descent of more than three-quarters of a mile
with the batteries vomiting forth upon us shells and shot,
re zed and grape, with one battery on our right flank and
another on the left ; and all the intermediate ground
covered !with the Russian riflemen ; so that when we
carne to within a distance of 50 yards from the mouths
of the artillery which had been hurling destruction upon
us, we were, in fact, surounded and encircled by a blaze
of tiro, in addition to the fire of the riflemen upon our
flenks. As we ascended the hill the oblique fire of the
artillery poured upon our rear; so that we had thus
A strong fire upon our front, our flank, and our rear.
We entered the battery—we went through the bat-
tery—the two leading regiments cutting down a great
number of the Russian gunners in their onset. (Cheers.)
In the two regiments which I had the honour to lead
every officer, with one exception, was either killed or
wounded, or bad his horse shot under him, or injured,
Those regiments proceeded, followed by the second line,
consisting of two more regiments of cavalry, which con-
tinued to perform the duty of cutting down the Ru=sian
gunners. Then came the third nee, formed of another
rel;iment, which endeavoured to complete the duty assigned
to our brigade. I believe that this was acieved with great
success, and the result was that this body, composed of
only about 670 men, succeeded in passing throng the mass
of Russian cavalry of (as we have since learned) 5,200
strong; and having broken through that mass, then went
according to our technical military expression " threes
about," and retired in the came manner, doing as much
execution in their course as they possibly could upon
the enemy's cavalry. Upon our returning up the hill
which we bad descended in the attack, w• had to
run the same gauntlet and to incur the same risk from
the flank fire of the Tiralleure as we bad encountered
before. Numbers of our men were shot down—men
and horses were killed, and ninny of the soldiers who had
loet their horses were also shot down while endeavour-
jug to escape. But what my lord, was the feeling and
what the bearing of those lave men who returned to
the position. (Here the noble and gallant officer's voice
faltered, and he spoke with very evident emotion.) Of
each of these regiments (he continued) there returned
but a small detachment, two-thirds of the men engaged
having been destroyed ; and those who survived having
arrived at the summit of the hill, whence they had com-
menced the attack but a short time before, could not
ref) ain from giving three ringing cheers of triumph and
rejoicing at the exploit which they themselves had per-
formed—(cheers) —for they had ridden over a formid-
able Russian battery and attacked a countless body of
Russian cavalry in the rear. My lord, I understand
it has been stated that the British cavalry are of a very
inferior description, and require a thorough reform ; that
they are badly officered, being commanded by gentlemen
of too high a rank in the country, and that they ought to
he better officered. I can only say that Ido not think
you will find any body of officers more careful of their
men than those officers who now exist, and perform
their duties better in the cava'ry regiments, or that
you will find any regiments in the world where there is
such a mutual attachment between officers and men, as
is the case in the British cavalry. The officers are
at all times perfectly ready to assist and to attend to
the comforts of their men. The men, likewise, are so
attached to their officers that, wherever those officers
lead them in the cause of honour and glory, there those
men are always sure to follow them. (Cheers.) In con-
clusion, my lord, I will oily say that, in the minds
of those who escaped the dangers of that terrible attack
to which I have referred, there exist reflections of
which they cannot divest themselves. I think that every
man who was engaged in that disastrous affair at Bala-
klava, and who was fortunate enough to come out of it
alive, must feel that it was only by a merciful decree of
Almighty Providence that he escaped from the greatest
apparent certainty of death which could possibly be con-
ceived. (Loud cheers.) The noble earl (who was also
very indistinctly heard) sat down by repeating his
acknowledgments for the honour that had been done
him.

The health of the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress,
and the other customary civic toasts, then followed, after
which the company separated.

The Peruvian Government steam screw frigate Apuri-
mac, 50 guns, which has been fitted out by Mr. Green,
in the East India Docks, and also the Tombez, steam
screw gun-boat, built for the same Government, were
hauled into the river yesterday morning, with an admi-
ral's pennant flying at the main, and will take their
departure for the Brazils in the course of to-day or to-
morrow.

TRADE OF THE PORT OF LONDON. —The several dock
companies of London lately resolved upon applying to
P,rliarnent for a repeal of certain clauses in their acts of
incorporation, whereby they are prevented from making
charges for dock dues on lighters and other craft enter-
ing their docks. In consequence of this movement, the
I anktrA, merchant'', traders, and others interested iii the
trade and port of London, have combined to oppose the
bills now before Parliament for repealing those exemptory
causes, and a petition to the House of Commons is now
in course of signature in the City praying their rejection.
PRICR OF Goan.—Tho quotation of gold at Paris is
but at par (according to the last tariff), which, at the
; and, the exchange
English Mint price of 31. 17e. 101 d. per ounce for stand-
it follows that
addoes from Hamburg the price of gold is 423
an
'g
stand-
ard
lild'gaiorsli gold,
bogonui vite4Bo".a4B° London
at
htcaseningote.r short
feba2crisez rgili2ns;asr 'is than in Lon•
which,. at the English Mint price of 31. 17s.
dipOeorind.7pßrekyr, ounce for standard gold, gives au exchange of
13.31 ; and, the exchange at Hamburg on London at
short being 13'31, it follows that gold is 0.06 per ee nt.
dearer in Hamburg than in London. The course of ex -
cl ange at New York on London for bills at 60 days'
sight is 1081 per cent., and, the par of exchange between
England and America being 109 23-40 per cent., it fol
lows that the exchange is nominally 0.83 per cent.
against England ; but, after making allowance for
charges of transport and difference of interest, the
present rate leaves no profit on the transmission of gold
either way between we countries.