The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 14, 1861

hon. friend, at the time at the head of the War De-
partment, in recommending to her Majesty that
Lord Clyde should be the person appointed to that
command. (Cheers.) I never for a momol, doubted
that my gallant friend would at once accept the im-
portant and delicate post, and not only did he do
so, but he said he would be ready to start at 24
hours' notice—(cheers)—and he did start within 24
hours for India, and there brought to a close his
noble military career in that manner with which
we are all so well acquainted. (Cheers.) Ido
not think it too much to say that to
the intelligence and determination which
he evinced during the whole of his campaign in
India, and to the spirit of gallantry he was able to
inspire into the troops serving under him, it is to be
attributed that not only was our great Indian em-
pire restored to us, but our hold over it rendered
more firm and secure than it was before the mutiny
took place. (Cheers.) For this happy result we are
chiefly indebted to my illustrious friend ; but while
I make this statement, I must do him the justice to
say that he invariably said he could not do all that
he had achieved had it not been for the assistance
and support which he received from every person
with whom he was connected in India. Lord Clyde
was one of those modest men who desire to attribute
the merit of their successes to others; but I think
he understood his powers, never seeming to take
into account that it is one of the marks of great
capacity to be able so to select as to sur-
round oneself with the most competent men
in the performance of any great work. But there
are other lessons which we may learn from the
career of Lord Clyde. It is a glorious thing for
this great empire that a man in the lowest rank of
life among us, if he only possess the necessary
talents and acquirements, may aspire to and reach
the highest positions in the State. The State has,
therefore, a right to expect to be well served, for
she holds out to those who serve her faithfully and
well the prospect of a splendid reward. The career
of Lord Clyde also teaches us that in the military
profession we must not forget to attend to matters
of detail, and that although not engaged in war we
must keep our army in such a state of efficiency as
to be at all times prepared to meet any emergency
which may arise, and it is to men who perform their
ordinary duties with ability and conscientiousness
that we are—as in the case of Lord Clyde—chiefly
indebted for the existence of that efficiency. I would
therefore impress it upon the officers of the
army that it is by the display of such qualities
as those to which I am alluding that this distin-
guished man was able at the end of his career to
do so much honour to himself and to confer such
lasting benefits on his country. (Cheers.) I hive
perhaps addressed you at greater length than I
ought—(cheers)—but I felt it impossible to remain
silent on a subject in which in my public capacity,
as well as for private reasons, 1 take so deep an in-
terest. I could not refrain from coming forward
to pay my humble tribute to the memory of an
illustrious soldier, whose loss I in common with you
all so deeply and so heartily deplore. (Loud

cheers.)
Earl DE GREY and RIPON then proposed the
first resolution :—" That in order to commemorate
the signal services rendered to the country by Field-
Marshal Lord Clyde, this meeting is of opinion
that a statue be erected to his honour in the metro-
polis." In doing so the noble earl said,—The
speech which you have just heard described in
terms so forcible and eloquent the public services
of Lord Clyde that I feel it unnecessary to detain
you more than a few moments in moving the reso-
lution which has been placed in my hands. I wish,
however, before I sit down to bring under your
notice some characteristics of the man to do honour
to whose memory we are assembled here to-day,
which have come under my own personal notice,
or have been mentioned to me by those who were
intimately acquainted with him. His Royal High-
ness stated just now that Lord Clyde—then Lieut.
Campbell—was wounded at St. Sebastian, and that
he immediately after received another wound at the
passage of the Bidassoa ; but there is connected
with the short period between the two actions a
story with which, perhaps, the great majority of
you have not heard. Lard Clyde was at the time
lying in hospital at St. Sebastian with an open
wound, when he happened to ascertain that nn
engagement was soon likely to take place with the
enemy. He thereupon, with another companion
similarly circumstanced, joined his regiment—l am
sorry, for the sake of military discipline, to have to
add—without leave—(a laugh)—and went through
tho battle of the Beclassoa with great distinction,
receiving there a second wound. He was
on that occasion told that his breach of
discipline rendered him liable to be severely punished,
but that the offence would be passed over because of
the eminent gallantry which he had displayed.
(Cheers.) It is true that, after this war in the Pen-
insula, a long time elapsed during which the public
heard but little of Colonel Campbell, but he was
nevertheless during that time engaged in the perfor-
mance of a great work, for there are few public duties
more important than those which devolve on the
commanding officer of a regiment, and to the admi-
rable manner in which he discharged those duties
his royal highness has borne ample testimony. And
when at length he was chosen, most wisely by the
Government of the day, to fill the high position of
Commander-in-Chief in India at a moment of great
peril, most nobly did he justify the confidence
which was reposed in him, and prove the value of
that regimental training which he had undergone
in the earlier portion of his career. The result of
his proceedings in India speaks for itself. He con-
tributed in an eminent degree to preserve to us our
Indian empire ; and I believe I shall be borne out
by the opinions of men more competent than myself
to form a judgment on the point, when I say that
his campaign in that country will long remain a
worthy model for the contemplation of the students
of military science. (Hear, hear.) I am told that
when Sir W. Mansfield, his chief of the staff, who
at the time of his appointment occupied an impor-
tant diplomatic position at Warsaw, was leaving
that capital, Prince Gortschakoff said to him, "I
have no doubt the revolt will be put down by force,
but when that is accomplished it will be a very
difficult task to deal with the population of the con-
quered provinces." This remark can scarcely be re-
garded as unnatural coming from such a source, but
I believe I am right in saying that Lord Clyde dis-
played not only great ability but singular modera-
tion in the execution of his arduous task. Acting
upon the policy which had been laid down by the
Government of India and by the Governor-General,
Lord Canning, whose name naturally rises to one's
lips on this occasion—(cheers)—in particular, for
whom, all who had the honour of his acquaintance
well know, Lord Clyde, from the moment when on
hwis arrival in India he saw the spirit in which he
friendship,
at his post, entertained the warmest
throughhiot', l'
that ' fri.endship which was maintained
their intercourse—acting, I repeat, upon
seut,h, policy,,() he heartily co-operated with those who
a soldier, hepten.
so Z:o4'
depended on his qualifications, not only as
in tiineßotee sense as a statesman, and he
remarkable powers, of his task great and
jury which ultimately during the campaign
.We now know that it was
India he received that in•
his valuable life ; aut. Yholed to the termination of
were aware in the
the time, that with
midst of the stirring „etwitafew
been scarcely set,
on :et. t superintended
({;beers.) It was in this nearlte
a dislocated shoulder, which a:he:aid
held by the
he the very day after this
in his palanquin an attack
his brilliant
tt that he
tions. But there was another secret in ceonnedilluyc.ted to a successful issue
his life
which he achieved—it is the secret of the successace
which contributed to earn for him the
eminence
If
possessed a len-
to h;in the men under his
all great military commanders. H©
sin-
gular power of attaching
command. (Hear, hear.) He was very cereful of the
lives of his soldiers. He did not burl them recklessly
on the enemy, thinking solely of obtaining victory
for himself. (Cheers.) He guarded them against dan-
ger, as far as was consistent with the attainment of
tho object which ha had in view. They knew,
there-
fore, that when he called upon them to make un-
usual exertion it was because he was convinced of
the necessity of the occasion, and they went for-
ward to victory with the confidence which was jus-
tifivd by experience. (Cheers.) Such was the public

career of Lord Clyde ; but by his intimate acquaint-
ances he was valued perhaps more for those great pri-
vate virtues which attached to him so many friends,
than for his eminent qualification as a commander.
(Hear, hear.) His character was one of remark-
able simplicity and modesty—(cheers)--simple in his
manner, simple in every act of his life, he was ever
ready to give to others that praise which was his own
due, and to associate with him his subordinates in his
success. Those who knew him well can also bear
testimony to the fact that he was of a nature the
most generous and open. (Hear, hear.) I happen
to be acquainted with a trifling circumstance which
will serve to illustrate his character in this respect.
When I held the office of Under-Secretary of War
a young officer who served under him had, owing
to a financial regulation of the department, to
submit to a disallowance of a certain portion
of his pay. He was a man of moderate means,
and Lord Clyde came to the office and pleaded his
cause ; but when matters were explained to him he
found that the disallowance must, consistently with
the regulations, be continued. " Then," said he,
" I will pay the money myself, and there will be
an end of the disallowance ;" nor have I any reason
to know that the officer in question ever became
aware how he obtained this relief. (Cheers.) Such
was the manner in which Lord Clyde delighted to
spend his fortune, and I believe it may with troth be
said that his right hand knew not that which his
left hand did. (Hear.) The man who did such deeds
and performed services in such a spirit is well de-
serving to have his name preserved in the recollec-
tion of a great nation. (Cheers.)
The Duke of WELLINGTON, in seconding the
resolution, said he was proud to take part
in any proceedings which had for their object
tc do honour to a great military commander,
who, owing to the reputation which he had ac-
quired throughout a long professional career, had
been selected by his Sovereign, with the approba-
tion of his country, as the soldier the most worthy
of their confidence at the moment of pinching need.
(Hear, hear.)
The resolution was then put from the chair, and
agreed to unanimously.
The Duke of ARGYLE then proposed the second
resolution :—" That a public subscription be opened,
to which all classes of her Majesty's subjects be
invited to contribute, and that a committee of
the following noblemen and gentlemen be formed
for the purpose of carrying out the foregoing
objects." [Tice list of the committee comprises
the names of the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of
Somerset, the Doke of Newcastle, the Earl of
Derby, Lord Palmerston, Viscount Gough, Lord
Elcho ; and some fifty other noblemen and gentle-
men, including a large number of Lord Clyde's
brother officers.] The noble Duke, in moving the re-
solution, said—l wish at the outset to explain why it is
I hold the position which I occupy here to.day, I
have probably been asked to second this resolution
because I represent, or am supposed to represent
the country and the clan which has had the high
honour of giving Colin Campbell to the British
army—(cheers)---the country and the clan which
were proud of his position while he lived, and are
now prouder than ever of his memory and his name.
(Cheers.) And before I go further you will perhaps
allow me to correct an erroneous impression which
I find has arisen from a statement made in one of the
most popular sketches of Lord Clyde's life, and that
is that he was a Highlander only through one of
his parents. Now, it is well known to most of you
that Colin Campbell, like so many other persons in
this country, bore the name, not of his father, but
of his mother. It was, however, only a few years
ago, as it seems to me, that I had the pleasure of call-
ing on his venerable father, and I can say with since-
rity that a finer or a more gentlemanlike High-
lander I never saw. (Cheers.) It is known, I may
add, to many of us that the old feeling of clanship
which existed in so remarkable a degree in the
Scottish Highlands is regarded as being upon the
decline, and it is no doubt true that that, like other
feelings which date from an earlier period, has
undergone a change. Be that, however, as it may,
I can safely state that I never saw that feeling
so strongly developed in any man as in Lord
Clyde, who never failed to experience the utmost
pleasure and pride and the most unmistakable
gratification whenever he learnt that his services
were recognised and appreciated by any of those
connected with his country and race. (Cheers.)
Having said thus much, I would observe that no
one feels more strongly than myself that public
appeals for memorials to public men ought to
be made with great caution. In proportion as such
materials become common do they become less
valuable. (Hear, hear.) Before, therefore, we call
upon you to subscribe for such a purpose we ought,
I think, to be able to show that he whom we seek
to honour had set some splendid example to his coun-
try or performed some great service to the State.
There will, I imagine, be little difficulty in doing
this in the case of Lord Clyde. He has presented
us with an example of untiring devotion in his pro-
fession through a long, a laborious, and for a consi-
derable period a comparatively obscure life. (Hear.)
It is very easy to be attached to a profession in which
one earns early and rapid success; the merit is in
being attached to it through years of comparative
discouragement,and this was the case of Colin Camp-
bell. I do not refer to this circumstance for the pur-
pose of casting for one moment blame on those
under whom Lord Clyde served, or on the sys-
tem by which their conduct was governed. Success
depends very much on what men are accustomed
to call accident, and this is perhaps more appa-
rent in the profession of arms, in which the oppor-
tunities for distinction occur at more remote inter-
vals than in others. I do, however, think it remark.
able that, notwithstanding that long list of glorious
services to which his Royal Highness has to-day
referred, Lord Clyde should no longer than 10 years
ago have been a comparatively obscure man. But
the moment the Crimean war broke out the great
qualities of the commander were called into action,
and looking back to that time, it seems astonishing
to me that those qualities were not better known to
those who were connected with him. For my part
I think the very appearance of the man was suffi-
cient to tell you what he was. (Hear, hear.) I

never saw a man whose countenance was more
strongly marked by kindness, intelligence, benig-
nity, and power. (Hear, hear.) lam sure those
who had the honour of enjoying his private friend-
ship, and heard him relate his experiences of war
with that modesty which so well became him, and
with an enthusiasm at the same time which
showed how much he loved his profession, must feel
surprise that it could ever have entered into the
head of any man to doubt that Lord Clyde was
something more than a good general of division or
a good officer of brigade, or that he was fitted for
the highest command in the British army. (Cheers.)
It is no secret, indeed, to many that in India the
impression very generally prevailed that his opera-
tions in suppressing the mutiny were unneee3sarily
slow, and showed that he rated too highly the
enemy with which ho had to contend. It so
happens, however, that Lord Clyde did me the
honour of calling on me the evening before he left
for India, and I can state with the most per-

feet confidence that he looked forward to the eup

pression of the mutiny with a certainty which sub-
sequent events completely justified. He did not
over-estimate the power of the Sepoys. He told me,
on the contrary, that regiments composed of Sepoys
not under the command of European officers were
no better than a Hock of sheep, and could never
withstand the charge of the British bayonet in the
open field, though they might offer a steady resist-
ance when placed behind stone walls. His opera-
tions, therefore, were deliberately planned, with a
view to the saving of European lite, and not less
for the purpose of pacifying the country and not
merely conquering it for a time. (Cheers.) We
must recollect that the duty which he was sent to
India to perform was not simply to overcome
mutinous regiments—it was to reconquer and to
r.e.ss ettie that country, and it was to that end that
operations were directed. I would before I sit
down add one other reason to those which I have
already adduced a memorial in support of the proposal for
la' to this illustrious soldier, and
that is that he isathe last of the school which
w
learnt the art of
under the Duke of Welling-
ton whom we are likely to see assume the command
of our armies in the field On all these grounds I

should wish to see this memorial raised, and I feel
assured posterity will say that we have done right
in erecting it, that we have done right in laying
Lord Clyde with our most illustrious citizens in
Westminster Abbey, and that among those whose
remains are mingled with its sacred dust there lies
no nobler soldier. (Cheers.)
The Esrl of LUCAN seconded the resolution, ob-
serving that for Lord Ciyde he entertained the sin-
c2rest affection, and for his military talent the
highest admiration. He was, moreover, a good
comrade, and should, as Ink as he lived, look back
with pleasure and satisfaction on the months of
cordial friendly intercourse which he enjoyed with
that distinguished man while serving in the Crimea.
(Hear, hear.)

The resolution was abut to be put from the
chair, when
Sir J. MAXWELL rose, as a member of the sister
profession, to express his disappointment at the
manner in which it was worded. The highest
honour ought, he thought, to be paid to Lord Clyde,
but the best way of conferring that honour was not,
in his opinion, through the medium of a public sub-
scription. It would be preferable that the expense
of the proposed testimonial should be defrayed by
Parliamentary grant.

The CHAIRMAN, having observed that that was
not a question which the meeting had assembled to
t which was carried.
discuss, put the resolution

Sir C. WOOD then presented himself to the meet-
ing, and moved—" That with reference to the mort
recent services of Lord Clyde in India, the commu-
nities of the three Presideneieb be invited to
contribute." He said—Looking at the fact that the
last and crowning services of Lord Clyde were ren-
dered in India, it is, I think, becoming that the
people of that country should take a more prominent
part in the erection of a memorial in his honour than
would seem to be assigned to them if they were

simply included within the scope of a general reso-
lution embracing the British Empire. Connected,
I may add, as I am officially with India, I should not
be doing justice to my own feelings if I did not say
that I am glad I have been invited to take part in
the proceedings of this day. The early services of
Lord Clyde in the Sikh war, and when still more
prominently employed in the North-Western dis-
trict of India, marked him as the man who was best
fitted to take the command of the British army when
tha mutiny broke out, and more brilliant services
than he then rendered his country in relieving the
beleaguered garrison of Le cknow, and in the general
dispersion of the mutineers were, I believe, never
performed in the East. It is unnecessary for me to
dwell on the efficient part which he played in sup-
porting Lord Canning's conciliatory policy. I learnt
from Lord Canning himself that from no one did he
receive more able assistance than from Lord Clyde,
and being myself aware how enlightened his views
were on all questions of Indian administration,
I am able fully to appreciate the confidence which
Lord Canning reposed in him during the time
he remained in India after the suppression
of the mutiny was accomplished. The people of
that country, too, will, I am sure, appreciate the
mode in which he discharged his arduous duties,
and will, I am convinced, willingly do their part in
raising a statue to one who wus so largely their
benefactor. (Cheers.)
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGII, in seconding
the resolution, said—l feel it would be ungra-
cious to the British residents in India if I were
to express the slightest doubt that the appeal
which it is proposed to make to them will be re
ceived by them otherwise than with the warmest
sympathy. They have at all times, and in matters
not specially concerning India, shown their sympa-
thy with their kindred in this country, and have
come forward with the most liberal subscriptions
even in those cases in which the interest inspired
was rather of a domestic than of an im-
perial character. I entertain no doubt, therefore,
that they will be found ready to respond to the ap-
plication which we are now about to make. It is
to Lord Clyde, under Providence, that they owe the
position which they at this moment occupy in India.
(Cheers.) It is to the fortunate union in him of the
most extreme prudence with the most extreme dar-
ing in his operations that the late war was carried
on with success. For my own part, I honour the
prudence mere tha❑ the daring. (Hear, hear.) It
is less popular, but in a war in which a false step
might have lost an army, and with it an empire, it

would be a crime not to take from the domain of
fortune everything which could be secured by fore-
sight and preparation. What Lord Clive was at
Plassy, Lord Clyde was at Lucknow. He for the
second time restored our dominion in India. I think
there is very great utility in the public recognitio❑
which it is now proposed to give such services. To
those who have rendered them this recognition it is
an act of justice ; for ourselves it is an act of the
highest policy. Honours conferred on the dead ani-
mate the living. I have always thought that the
first of all professions is that of the soldier, and the
first of all rewards military honour. I think so
because, unlike the honours which may be achieved
by persons serving in other professions, those won
by the soldier are from the first undisputed realities.
Nu matter how the services of a statesman may be
regarded by those who agree with him in opinion,
he may live far beyond the ordinary life of man be-
fore it becomes in the least degree probable that
there will be anything like a general acquiescence as
to the propriety of the measures ou which he founds
his claim to distinction. Nay, more, it is probable
that the contest on the subject commenced by his
contemporaries now will be continued after his
death in history. There is hardly a single man
who has seri ed the public in civil life during the
last 160 years whose claim to honour is not still dis-
puted, with the single exception of Lord Chatham
—and he constitutes an exception because his claim
to our gratitude partakes more of a military than
of a civil character. It is, therefore, the reality
in the honour obtained by the soldier that
gives it its chief value. There can be no doubt as
to the merit of the man who defended Balaklava
during the winter of 1854, and protected the com-
munications of the British army. 'there can be no
doubt as to the services of the man who in the face
of such diffinilties and dangers as those with which

he had to contend rescued the captives in tha resi-
dency at Lucknow. (Cheers.) Still less can there
be any doubt as to the military combinations of the
man who took possession of Lucknow. These are
realities which will for ever remain stamped on the
romantic history of one of the most extraordinary
of wars. In asking your aid to-day, we state what
no man can controvert. In Lord Clyde we have
lost one of the greatest men we have produced.
(Cheers.) Death has lately been very busy among
the great men of this country. Their places are all
vacant, and no one knows how, within any short
period of time, the place of any one of them is to be
supplied. But, of all the great men whom we re-
cently lost, he whose place it will be the most
difficult to fill is Lord Clyde. (Hear, hear.) He
stood in a position different from any one else. He
had more varied and extensive experience of war,
not only than any general in England, but in
Europe. He saw the great Peninsular war, war i❑
America, in India, in the Crimea. He served in
every capacity. He in early youth distinguished
himself by great daring and self-devotion. At a
later period he was a most exemplary colonel of a
regiment, and when raised to the command of a
division he was the support of his superior officer.
Having obtained the command in chief of an army,
it was not only by the direction of 20,000 men under
his own hand that he signalised himself, but by the

skilful and able manner in which he managed the

operations of the whole of the troops in India. Same
people find great fault with the composition of the
army, and say it is a place for great vices. That may
be so to some extent, but it is also the chosen place
for the exhibition cf great virtue'. (Cheers.) Depend
upon it it is the tendency of danger to call forth all
the nobler qualities of the mind. The truest friend-
ships are formed in the military service ; the most
remarkable instances of heroic virtue are those re-
corded in the field of battle. They embrace, above
all, the virtue of humanity ; and for that virtue, for
kindness to all men, for an earnest desire to preserve
in the best possible st,te the troops under his com-
mand—for every military virtue of which we read,
or which danger evokes, so far as we know—and I
knew him well—no man was more remarkable than
Lord Clyde. Every one of those virtues was con-

centrated in the mind and heart of that thorough
English soldier, to whose memory we may now ask
you to erect a monument. (Loud cheers.)
After a few words from Sir W. Gomm, who ad-
verted to his having served with Lord Clyde in the
early part of his career in Spain, and who spoke of
him as a noble soldier and stalwart servant of the

State,
The resolution was put and unanimously carried.
Lord STANLEY then proposed a vote of thanks to
the chairman, and in doing so took occasion to say
that what had struck him most in Lord Clyde was
the singular simplicity and directness of his mind.
He had, he might add, since he entered the room
heard an anecdote of him which showed how strong
was his military spirit. It seemed that he had by',
his gallantry at the battle of Barossa attracted the
notice of Sir T. Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch,
who asked him if he had any request to make of
him ? Young Campbell was ready with his request,
and it was to be allowed to command the next
storming party. (Cheers.) He did so, and out of,
121 men who engaged in the hazardous enterprise
only one returned without a wound. He might say,
in conclusion, that for the mere pecuniary rewards
of his profession no man cared less than Lord Clyde.
He literally knew of no other use for his money
save to employ it for the benefit of men of merit less
fortunate than himself. Such a man was one of the
few public servants who were worthy of having
statues erected to them in our public places, and if
he had his wish the statwe of Lord Clyde should
stand beside those of his two old companions in arms,
Napier and Havelock, while if a fourth were want-
ing to complete the Series, he would have its place
kept vacant until it could be filled—and he hoped
that day might be far distant—by the honoured
name of Lawrence. (Cheers.)
Sir R. MURCHISON, in seconding the vote of
thanks to the chairman, said that, though now en-
gaged in the pursuit of science, he was proud to
think that he had served with Lord Clyde as a sub-
altern at the outset of his career in the Peninsular
IVar.

The Duke of CAMBRIDGE having acknowledged
he compliment paid, the proceedings terminated.

NOMINATION OF SHERIFFS.

(From the Gazette of last evening.)

The names of those who were nominated for Sheriffs by
the Lords of the Council at the Exchequer on the morrow
of St. Martin, in the 27th year of the reign of Queen Vic-
toria, and in the year of our Lord 1863 :