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

LEMORIAL TO LORD CLYDE.

A. 'meeting, convened by advertisement, was yes-
ten- lay afternoon held at Willis's Rooms, King-
street, St. Jam es's, for the purpose of taking mea-
su res for the erection of a memorial to the late Lord
Clyde. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cam-
bridge prosided, and among those who were present
were the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Argyll,
Earl de Grey and Ripon, the Earl of Ellenborough,
the Earl of Cardigan, the Earl of Donoughmore,
the Earl of Malmesbury, the Marquis of Harting-
ton, Sir C. Wood, Lord Stanley, Sir R. Murchison,
Gets. Sir W. Gomtn, Gen. Eyre, and several other
gallant officers who had been the companion in
arms of the deceased Field Marshal. There were
also several latlies in the body of the room.
The Deco of CAMBRIDGE, in introducing the
business of the meeting, said—My lords, ladies,
and gentlemen, I feel that in opening our proceed-
ings on this occasion I need offer to you no apo-
logy for: assembling youhere, because there is, I am
sure, nobody either in this room or throughout the
whole empire who will not agree with me and those
'whci have called this meeting in thinking that the
painful loss which the country has sustained in the
cleat!' of Lord Clyde ought to be commemorated in
a manner which should do honour and justice to the
services of that great and illustrious soldier. (Cheers.)
In honouring him, believe me, we do honour to our-
selves, and I am sure you will be of opinion that it
is unnecessary for me to apologise for takirg the
chair here to-day when you recollect that I enjoy the
privilege of being at the head, through the favour of
my Sovereign, of the noble profession of which my
late lamented friend was so distinguished an orna-
ment. I am happy to be able to boast that I had the
advantage, the gratification, the satisfaction, and the
pleasure of being, I may say, the intimate friend and
associate of Field-ISlarshal Lord Clyde. (Cheers.)
In both a public and a private capacity, there-
fore, I feel I am justified in appearing before you
in order to ask you to join with ate and those gee.
Vemen by whom I am surrounded in showing
honour to his memory. (Cheers.) The facts of this
case are so simple that I do not think it will be re-
quisite to say much to convince you of the advan-
tage and advisability—l might also add the neces-
sity—of doing honour to that great man, (Cheers.)
The feeling on the subject is so general that it per-
vades all, classes, from the highest to the lowest;
an I Am aware that her Majesty herself, even in
the distress and sorrow which has for so long a time
surrounded her, was the very first to express the
strongest desire that honour and justice should be
done the illustrious soldier—(cheers)—who
hi o,n
had
shown such devotion in her servic , and
de-
voting himself to the service ofe
tthehe M,e
eae Crown,country
hadat
performed such signal services to
large. Born a soldier, Lord Clyde from his earliest
,years veears gave himself
up to his profession, which he
entered, I believe I am justified in stating, with-
outany friends or supporters, save his own good
right arm, his honest heart, and his noble beating.
lie had the advantage of joining the army at a period
when a great continental war was being waged, at
the period when England first embarked on the
great Peninsular contest which terminated so glori-
ously for her and for that army with which Lord
Clyde was immediately connected. I find that in
the first engagements in which the troops under the
:Duke of Wellington's command were concerned my
late noble friend took part. Following his career
we find him at Vimiera, Corunna, Barossa, Vittoria,
and at San Sebastian,on which occasion he received
two severe wounds. He was again seriously wounded
at the passage of the Bidassoa, and learnt those ru-
diments of his profession which can only be
learnt on active service in that great contest which
eventuated in the advancement and prosperity of
his country, and in contributing to raise her
position in the eyes of other nations. With that
contest the active career of my gallant friend for
the moment ceased, and here it is, perhaps, well we
should ask, why such was the case ? It did not cease
because there was any desire to keep back that dis-
tinguished officer, but from the fact of our having
had a long peace, an event which we cannot de-
plore, however much we may regret that an oppor-
tunity was not in consequence afforded for men
like Lord Clyde to distinguish themselves for a
series of years. But when this country again be-
came again involved in war we find my gallant
friend once more in the field, taking part in the ex-
pedition to China. Now, the duties to be performed
in that country in 1842 may not be considered very
glorious, but they were, nevertheless, very arduous,
and my gallant friend showed then, as on all other
occasions, that he was made of the right stuff for
a soldier. (Cheers.) It is well:kuewn that the care
and attention which he devoted to those under his
command were of a character which always brought
him prominently under the notice of his supe-
riors. I recollect well having seen the 98th Regi-
ment, previous to its going to China, in Dublin,
when it was pointed out to me—then quite a be-
ginner in the art of soldiering—as being peculiarly
well adapted for service, because of the able man-
ner in which it was commanded by Lord Clyde.
That regiment went from China to India, where my
noble friend was selected to command a division
under Lord Gough, and where he greatly distin-
guished himself at Itimnuggur, Chenab, Chillian-
'wallah, and Goojerat. There are many of those
'whom I see around me who could bear testimony to
the fact that at Clailliauwallah no officer was more
greatly distinguished than my noble friend.
(Cheers.) But that great contest came to a close,
and
_c,.lserd Clyde was placed in command of an im-
portant post in the North-Western Provinces, and
it is well
veil)
of a known that at Peshawur his exertions
nature the most important and valuable
to the country,
praise for 17, and that he received the highest
tis services on that occasion. This
brings me down
to England in 18oeethe period when he returned
fectly a stranger to to which time he was per-
mute:, for, although I had seen, as
I have mentioned,
regiment which he com-
manded in Dublin,
chieesuperlac_e was supplied by his
second in command—
will b© the first to acknowlelperre—who, I am sure,
g that the admirable
condition in which the
dt was attribu-
table not to him, but to Lordci
;oran thed , before
servicesl
proceed further in the enumeration
Onlyofthatwould
dutiesobserve
mistake. It higls
officer are those which devolve epee him in time of
war, and that other maatgtreerastare
nf
slightimportance.
That, however, is
necessary that attention should be paid to details,
and it is the power of grasping and dealing
efficiently with those details while mastering the
great principles of the profession, and doing one's
duty ably in the field, that constitutes the good
soldier. It is well known that when a man has got
his regiment into such a state of efficiency as that
in which the 98th was under Lord Clyde, he will
be sure to distinguish himself whenever an oppor-
tunity might arise, and in my noble friend's own case
it may with truth be said that he never was placed
in a position of responsibility that he did not fully
answer the anticipations which had been formed
of his professional capacity. (Cheers.) But to re-
turn to the history of his military career, we find
that, when in 1354 the war with Russia broke out,
one of the first officers selected to go out in com-
mand of a brigade was my noble friend. It is un-
necessary for me, I am sure, to dwell on the great
service which, in the campaign that ensued, he
rendered his country. Whether we look at his
conduct at the battle of the Alms, or when defend-
ing with a handful of men the important landing
port at Balaclava or at any other period through-
out the war, we always find him not only perform-
ing his duty, as
I trust every British officer would
do when called upon,
but exhibiting the talents and
acquirements of a great commander. (Cheers.)
No long period elapsed
before an opportunity was
afforded him of justifying the anticipations which
were then formed of his great military abilities.
Shortly after the close of the Crimean IN ar new
troubles in India broke out, and it was felt that
it would be a tedious work to restore order and
tranquillity to that portion of
our empire. Her
Majesty's Government felt called upon, under the
circumstances, to send out a general officer
who
should he well qualified to assume the command of
our army in India, and I am happy to say that,
holding then the position which I have now the
honour to occupy, I was associated With my right