The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-05 00:00:00

THE LATE SIR CHARLES NAPIER.

On the death-roll of our heroes, so lately augmented
with the names of Saltoun and Cockburn, must now be
inscribed that of Napier. His death took place in the
fulness of his years, and was therefore in the ordinary
course of nature ; but it has left a void in the national
regard which cannot easily be filled, because it has
broken one of the remaining links that connected the
present generation with the most brilliant period of our
later history.
It is creditable to the people of this country that with
discerning gratitude they should have recognised in the
late Sir Charles Napier the man who stood next in the
hierarchy of honour to the Duke of Wellington. Over-
looking the great claims of some living officers, they
fixed on his marked individuality of character, his versa-
tility, and his rough soldier-like qualities, with a tena-
cious admiration, which was evinced also by more dis-
criminating minds in respect to his higher merits as a
commander and an administrator.
Sir Charles Napier lived to be the most distinguished
member of a family so eminent as to have called forth a
parliamentary tribute from a Minister who was usually
sparing of eulogy. In reverting to his calker, we are
struck with the extraordinary contrasts in his character.'
Personally brave even to heroic intrepidity, and seem-
ingly courting danger for the " rapture of the strife,"
his earlier military life in the Peninsula and elsewhere
discloses a series of acts of personal daring and endur-
ance for which we must seek a parallel in the deeds of
the fabulous heroes of romance. When, in later years,
he was removed to a sphere of action where different
qualities were demanded, Sir Charles Napier proved
that dashing bravery and daring intrepidity are not in-
compatible with the coolness and calculation of a mili-
tary chief. His career in Scinde stamped him as pos-
sessing a rare military genius. Every General-in-Chief
on a distant mission must be a dictator and a.proconsul.
Sir Charles Napier was eminently qualified thus to con-
centrate in his sole person the various elements of
government. He could negotiate as well as conquer,
and administer the territory he conquered. Heroic
as he was in his personal bravery and passion for danger,
he was equally so in his justice and clemency to the
fallen enemy. He achieved by his civil rule a second
victory over those who had yielded to his military
prowess. Like Wellington, he was great in peace as
well as in war ; and it is difficult to say in which he
most excelled—as a soldier, a commander, a negotiator,
or an administrator.

Called from his retirement by the general voice to go
to India at a moment when our empire was threatened,
he arrived only to see his destined work accomplished
by others ; but there was much to be done in the reform
and reorganisation of the army of India ; and he set
himself to the task. He was a disciplinarian of the
right school, holding that duty and subordination level
all distinctions, and demanding from the officers the
same rigorous submission to rule that was exacted from
the privates. In his eye, too, bravery in the field equally
levelled distinctions ; and in hts dispatches he did justice
to the valour and good conduct of the common soldier
as well as of his superior. His rigid regulations as to
matters of discipline, his resolute war against the luxu-
rious impediments of an Indian marching force, and his
plain, blunt reproof of the vices that had crept into the
service, recal in their spirit, if not in their language,
some of the memorable proceedings of Wellington in the
Peninsula. In his dispatches and general orders he
dashed at truth through conventional language, as in
the fight he dashed at the enemy through all impedi-
ments.

Sir Charles Napier was of an order of men necessary
to great states. It is often their fate not to be fully
appreciated by their contemporaries ; but it is well for
mankind that their memory should be cherished and
honoured. The fame of their deeds is the heritage of
posterity, who profit alike by the fruits of their valour
and wisdom, and by the emulation they inspire.—
Press.

CHURCH RATES AND CHURCHES IN ST. PANCRAs
g .—By
s
a return made to the House of Commons relating to
the churches in the parish of St. Pancras, it appears that
from the time of the establishment of the Church Trust
in the year 1810 to 1841, a period of twenty-five years,
tha sum of 183,334/. 19s. 2d. was raised in the parish
by church rates, and two new churches only were built
at the expense of the parish, and two by the Church
Building Commissioners. Since church rates have been
discontinued in the parish; a period of twelve years,
seven new churches have been built, including two re-
built and enlarged, which afford accommodation for
nearly 8,000 persons, and which has been effected by
voluntary contributions, aided by grants from Church
Building Societies, free of cost to the parish.
THE LIGIITERMEN'S STIIIKE.—On Saturday a meet-
ing of master lightermen was held at the court of the
company to consider what steps should be pursued in
the present state of strike of the employed. A long
discussion ensued, but no definite course of action was
come to. Many of the principal lightermen are suffer-
ing seriously from the turn out, particularly those whose
business is confined to the quays, as the trade is being
taken to other parts, where the men have not struck.
It is calculated that there are about 5,000 lightermen
and 1,000 apprentices engaged on the River between
Windsor and the Med way.
The office of Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Inver-
ness, vacant by the death of the Earl of Seafield, has
been bestowed upon Lord Lovat.