The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-15 00:00:00

moment arrives

En”-`

ii such a man live long enough it

arrive ; for there is a time in the existence of
every nation when she throws aside the frivolous
courtiers who have amused her leisure, and seizes
instinctively the strong arm which can avert the
threatening danger. Lord Clyde's early fortune
led him to the West when the Waterloo campaign
was about to ennoble its heroes, and to consign the
Peninsular soldiers who were not present with them
to a long oblivion and obscurity. But he was
known even to those who stood in his way as a
master of his profession, and he loved it so well
that slight and the sense of wrong could not force
him to neglect his duty. Duty was to him a sen-
tient, warm-blooded principle, not a cold, pas-
sionless, brutish idol, and her first rule was in
his mind, "obedience." The struggle to obey left
some traces of its influence on his spirit. He could
not help at times long ago comparing his position
and his services with those of men above him,
though he rarely spoke of himself, and there was a
loftier independence in his words when he thought
of these things, which might have been mistaken
for anger. The more he was neglected the greater
became his attachment to the soldier. No man
ever studied so thoroughly and knew so intimately
the character, the virtues, and the failings of that
strange human aggregate which is to so many offi-
cers a mere locomotive creature, to be drilled and
wheeled, and reviewed, to be paraded, and black-
celled, and be-striped, to be " kept in his proper
place "—to be cursed at on occasion too—as Lord
Clyde. His rugged brow knitted fiercely and his eye
flashed no doubtful fire if he heard a word spoken
to the soldier's disparagement, or detected any ac-
tion to his detriment. Though he did not call them
his children, they were dear to the childless old
chief; and, if he addressed them, his words flowed
with an eloquence and sympathetic charm which de-
serted his lips when he had to speak to less congenial
audience. When in India the authorities determined
on transferring the European soldiers of the Company
to the army of the Crown, without seeking their
consent, he pointed out to them the injustice ana
the consequences of the step, and resisted it by every
means in his power ; but when the Government had
resolved to adhere to its policy he repressed the in •
subordinate outbreaks he had prophesied with
vigour and determination. A nature like his must
be earnest in love and in hate, and he dwelt little
on the neutral ground which lies between them.
But his affections were ineradicable by anything
but ingratitude, and that stung him like a serpent's
tooth. If he was gratified with the honours he had
learned, he felt their value was for him well nigh
buried in the graves of those for whose sakes he
would have exulted to have won them. They had
come too late for full fruition.

In person Lord Clyde was well knit, symmetrical,
and graceful; but of late years his shoulders became
somewhat bowed, though he lost little of the acti-
vity which was remarkable in so old a man. To the
last his teeth remained full and firm in the great
square jaws, and his eye pierced the distance with
all the force of his youthful vision. His crisp, grey
locks still stood close and thick, curling over the
head and above the wrinkled brow, and there were
few external signs of the decay of nature which
was, no doubt, going on within, accelerated by so
many wounds, such fevers, such relentless, exacting
service. When he so willed it, he could throw into
his manner and conversation such a wondrous charm
of simplicity and vivacity as fascinated those (A er
whom it was exerted, and women admired and men
were delighted with the courteous, polishea, gallant
old soldier. In the other mood he could be quite
as effective.

The nation will, doubtless, accord to his remains
the mark of respect and gratitude due to their most
faithful servants. No better soldier has ever been
borne within the sacred walls of our Christian
Pantheon. When England needs one to defend her
flag, to vindicate her honour, and to uphold the
renown of her arms, may she ever find a champion
as trusty, as pure, and as true as Colin Campbell
Lord Clyde !—Times.