The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-04 00:00:00

THE PENINSULAR MAII),

SOUTHAMPTON, TUESDAY, 5 Aiir
The Peninsular and Oriental Company's stel;
Tagus, Captain J. K. Joy, has just arrived
with the usual Peninsular mails, and dates fc4
Gibraltar 25th, Cadiz 26th, Lisbon 29th, OP°
and Vigo 30th ult.
The Tagus brings 37 passengers, and on ftd
7
specie, value 3,025/., 455 half-I
boxes raisens, 1,836 boxes graPes'n
?
quinces, lemons,i)ack agie7ss
boxespom4eo boxesgranat ees,3g4gs,bolx, boxes
sotxoems astaoffesr,onl,slli
packages general merchandise. ti
On the 20th ult., at 2 p.m., the Tagus pass,,
steam ship City of London, about 22 miles J:4'
e" W
E. of Cape Roca, hound for Lisbon.
aTnacgllilosreledftalit Lisbon.M. il
o n steam-frigatethe 29thOudiitn. : ?IN sl,
Scott, anchored
French steam sloop Petrel. nOic
The Lisbon exchanges for bills at three 111,-,,f0
are quoted by this packet at SAI on London ;rt."
532 ; Amsterdam, 43 ; Hamburgh, 48k ;
and
530. Something has been done on Paris an' iff
burg, as also on London, although inonek
scarce upon the latter except at 541. Net te
per Cent. Stock was dull at 40-i to 414 ; Bane
Portugal shares, 147 to 142 milreis discountl
share : these rates being Lisbon bank notes,4
jest to 21 per cent. discount. Oporto Bank SP 0
remained firm at 5 to 6 per cent. premieo
metal. 10
29th

Our Lisbon _ .pens of the 0,
do not contain any news of political importailef
The Board of Health was about to declare,"-:fer
castle an infected port, and it had decreed
pool to be a suspected one, in consequence c' of
vices sent out by the Portuguese Consul on f
19th ult., by the Gannet steamer. It N"Pne
petted that all subsequent vessels from Live g",
would be subject to quarantine in Porttiv
ports, and that susceptible cargoes will
ebureee?
esl3llv.d
at the Lazaretto. The Norwegian and SW
ports were all held at Lisbon to be
whilst Gothenburg and some others were dcc
infected.
cle
The Portuguese Railway Company had 0.3 tie.
second call of 2/. per share, to be paid ill
months from the 29th ult.
Oporto letters, of the 29th ult., state that es•GIJ
on London, at 90 days, was quoted 54g °f t)"
with the usual routine of business. Many ,cPrico
merchants were in the Alto Dom.() wino
where the vintage partially commenced last tp
Accounts relative to the wine crops were 1.9'04'
conflicting, but the weather was fine and 41,0 t"
and very propitious for saving the vintage.
ever may be the quantity, most accounts agrvoti
stating that the quality of the wine will be
fair.

letters and pw,

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS•

R. LONDON AND SOUTH-EASTERN itAILWAY.—Tro,74
turn for the week ending Oct. 1, 1853 £20,11' 6
Corresponding week last year l226Yi
Increase in 1853 91.2 d i
A TOW'
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST r -L..--
Traffic return for the week ending Oct. 1, 1
1853 £14,236 0
Corresponding week last year 14,4 10 i;
Total or the half-year to tliii: date, 1853 216941P) 1 '
J.',,tai t..f• thy 43,1f-pms tQ tbil tlikto, W".i..:,„„, icit;324ry

THE LATE SIR CHARLES NAPIER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BUN.

"De mortuis nil nisi bonum vitiis nemo sine nasci

tur."
Sin,—lt was with feelings of profound regret that I
read the most ungenerous, unfeeling, and unjust remark,
as the concluding paragraph of an obituary "on the death
of Sir Charles Napier," in Allen's Indian Mail of the
20th instant. The writer of the article in question,
after making some slight comment on the decease
of that illustrious and immortal hero, most uncere.
moniously and coolly remarks, that "he (Sir Charles)
WAS a turbulent, headstrong, and vindictive man. The
assertion of his claim to a larger portion of the Scinde
booty than was at first assigned to him, and which could
be realised only at the expense of his comrades in arms,
shows that he was not a disinterested one. His nepotism
was the more reprehensible, seeing that it was his prac-
tice to accuse all persons of power or influence of abus.
ing their opportunities. His career in Scinde was, in
a military point of view, one of the most glorious in
modern history ; but the cause was rotten ; the con-
quest of Scinde was unjust, and all the splendour of vic-
tories achieved, not by chance, but by profound military
skill, cannot wash out the original stain which marks
the quarrel. The general's brother laboured as hard to
defend the conquest of Scinde, as did the general him-
self! to achieve it. Indeed, the whole family of the
Napiers seem to have entered into a solemn league and
covenant' to puff themselves and to revile all the world
beside. Nothing could be in worse taste than the at-
tempt of Sir William Napier to make a speech on the
solemn occasion when the bones of his deceased relative
were consigned to that dim abode to which all must at
some time descend. It was, moreover, an indecorum
without any pfecedent, as we believe, to give it a colour.
No one stepped forth under the dome of St. Paul's to
pronounce a panegyric on the Great Duke ;' and mag-
nificent as was Sir Charles Napier's military fame, it was
not enough to excuse the ill-considered step attempted
by his brother."

It is, I boldly assert, as malicious and shameful a
libel 'as ever was written by a man styling himself an
Englishman, and calls forth from your readers generally
the loudest condemnation. Now, Mr. Editor, with
your wonted impai Liality, allow me to make a few brief
remarks, which will, lam sure, convince your readers
and yourself, that the statements above alluded to are as
I have represented them. I cannot conceive why such
words were printed by the Editor of Allen's Indian Mail,
that if he wished to please the Court of Directors of the
Honourable East India Company, under whose patron-
age he is living, he has greatly mistaken that honour-
able body, as they are all too generous to approve
of such illiberal criticism, and they appreciate the ines-
timable services of the deceased too well to allow them-
selves to be prejudiced by such controverse statements.
Even had Sir Charles possessed the failings imputed to
him, surely as the grave has closed over his remains they
should be for ever buried in oblivion.
The following extract from the Lahore Chronicle, dated
Sept. the 24th, 1850, relative to Sir Charles Napier, will
serve as a preamble to the refutation I am about to
make :

"The period of his Excellency the Commander-in-
Chiefs stay in India is now rapidly drawing to a close,
and although his career has been but short, it has been
in many respects beneficial to the army at large. Indeed,
it is a question if any of his predecessors have
been distinguished by the same unbending firmness
and perseverance in the cause of reform. He
has in a great measure rid the army of some who,
wearing the garb of authority, exhibited the conduct of
rogues and impostors, and bore the character of drunkards
and gamblers, oppressing the weak and misleading the
simple, by awarding them the punishment which justice
and law inculcate, thus displaying in full and indelible
colours as a beacon to others the errors and consequences
of their course.

"That the name of his Excellency will go down to
posterity with the; glow of affection and the breath of
applause, none but the prejudiced reproved will deny."
The attempt of the editor of the Mail, if I rightly de-
signated him, is like that of a pack of hounds barking on
the appearance of the moon, which does not prevent its
lustrous beam ; or that envious set who attempted to
lessen the powerful rays of the sun by throwing dust at
it. To return to Sir Charles. During his residence in
India he was beloved by all honest and good men, although
he certainly was a terror to the wicked.

There are such innumerable instances of his liberality,
humanity, and strict impartiality, that to narrate all of
them would fill volumes ; therefore, I will content my-
self with mentioning a few of them, the truth of which
I can vouch for, and no doubt many of your readers
were eyewitnesses of the facts I am about to mention.
A native commissioned officer, in consequence of ill
health, resigned the service of the Hon. East India
Company, with marks of distinction and medals.
Being a young man and used to active service, when he
recruited his health he went to Lahore in search of a
situation, and tried all his friends, but he found it was
impossible to obtain access either through them or his
own resources to the authorities, who were constantly
surrounded by a host of myrmidon Chuprasees ; he was
consequently at the brink of starvation, and in total
despair of obtaining the means of subsistence. At this
time Sir Charles Napier arrived, and with his followers
encamped at Lahore. The young man, with a me-
morial, waited in the way of his Excellency, who, seeing
a petitioner, drew in the rein of his charger,
took the memorial, and, without any ceremony, desired
the petitioner to follow his Excellency to the tent,
where he not only heard all he had to say, but obtained
him a suitable appointment, which he stills fills, with
credit to himself and satisfaction to his superiors, at
Lahore, and thus rescued him from degradation and
misery. Mr. Editor, this is one amongst thousands o
instances. Sir Charles, without pomp or ostentation,
habituated himself to go through the encampments, lis-
tened to the grievances of the soldiers, checked their de-
predations and extortion on villagers, and did not at
any time allow their bad actions to go unpunished ; he
stopped them from taking away the! fowls, eggs, fue!,
and other provisions of the peasantry without payment;
he was ever accessible to all, and never considered any-
thing too troublesome or inconvenient, if he could pro-
mote the happiness of others by attending to it. The result
was obvious, and there are myriads who will never think
of him without regretting his loss to the greatest possible
extent. His courage was unbounded, he never enter-
tained the least fear of being assassinated ; and in time
of war was frequently known to venture into the very
teeth of the enemy.
He prevented poor Indian travellers and merchants
from being assaulted and whipped by young military
officers, and made an example of one or two of the latter
at Lahore.

He often assisted cashiered and unfortunate officers in
a pecuniary point of view, from his own private purse,
although he was compelled to dismiss them from the
service by law and honour ; and in instances where men
had transgressed, he nobly forgot all private resentments,
and if he could do them no good by speaking of them,
their faults were sunk in oblivion rather than he would
be the one to expose them to the world.
I am afraid I am taking up too much of your valu-
able tithe, and that of your numerous readers, therefore
I will conclude by assuring you, Mr. Editor, that I have
never in any way been personally connected with Sir
Charles Napier, nor did I ever receive any favour in my
life from him. The only occasion on which I was in his
company was for a few moments in London, when I
went with a native friend of Sir Charles's to interpret to
him ; am unacquainted with his relatives, and therefore
I am as disinterested in the affair in making these ob-
servations as the man in the moon bimself.—l am yours
very obediently,

AN INDIAN OBSERVER.
London, Oct. 1, 1853.
[We gladly give insertion to these generous words of
indignation and homage--homage for an illustrious hero,
and indignation against his most base and despicable
traducers. Thz- tath in every syllable penned by our
correspondent.—ED. or THE SUN.]

DEATH FROM OBESITY. —The Savannah News says :
"One of our city physicians has handed us the following
extract from a letter written to him by a professional
brother in the up-country, describing a somewhat sinr
gular case, we believe of rare occurrence in medical prac-
tice : -----` I mus put in a slip to give you a lar in-
stance of death from the rapid accumulation off at. We
had a young man residing 13 miles from this place, who
was one of the miracles of nature. At the age of 22
Years he weighed 565 lbs. He continued gradually to
increase in flesh until he reached a little over 6001bs. ;
VI himself,
able to get about with tolerable ease and comfort
° 'iniself, and attended to his planting interest ; he had
asofironce
restate, and looked after it with care and interest.
ve our weeks ago he commenced increasing in flesh
„ZfraPidly, and gained at first I.llbs. per day, then it
Week he cl he gained a little over 21bs. per day. Last
muiati endired suddenly in his chair, I think from accu-
h- °— 0, fat around the heart. Three days prior to
-is death he
' hed
the day of *weighed 643 lbs., and had he been werg
6601b5. no ou .
ihilisavdeath d bt he would have gone over
few moths e often seen him, an v• e dvisited his famil a
Advertisn ago
er. professionally.---N ew York Commercial
GLOUCESTER BARTON FAlR.—This famous agricultural
celebration Was held on Wednesday and Thursday.
attls and gtock of every description have been selling
''t cry high Pric(4, particularly store pig., which IT ore
CICWiNir Cit Kr. Cli itt: 0413 (I.l:ll.gicic.