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

VATERAL OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL
SIR CHARLES J. NAPIER.

41e The Athenians of old were justly reproached for
' indifference they exhibited to their great men
while living, and for the profuse adulation they
frbestowed on their memfaies when dead. Judging
/11 history, however4S96bn would think that in
the minds of those wheselved the State the latter
quality made full amends for the former, and cer-
ranlY there never was a time when heroes, legisla-
rs, Politicians, and philosophers were found want-
fg, when required by the exigencies of the times,
r lead the armies, the Senate, and the popular
lasenallies of the Republic, content as it seems
with contemporaneous obloquy, and looking with
confidence to the award of a just posterity. The
voicesfat of the sons reversed the decision of the
ere, and men in their old age saw with clear
attclu
undisturbed vision those virtues and lofty at-
tributes to which they had been blinded by the
Passions and jealousies of youth. We are not
4het to draw any comparison between ancient
ns and modern England, but sure it is, that as
star after star dies out from among that bright
coonstellation that has irradiated the paths of
"DIY and navy in that " war of the
6.'°3118" which shook the civilised world, we act
with
ithough we felt some regret that while its
Jut Was still left to us we did not regard it
adrawitla, greater attention, and pay it a tribute of loftier
_ 'ration. The people, so long as its brains are
4Ot bound up with cotton-twist:
.its heart stuffed
with calico, and its eyes blinded by steam, knows its
great men by instinct, but too often the recognition
:taade as it beholds their funeral obsequies. War,
flat terrible necessity which is co-existent with the
individualities of states and empires, and which is
°llly to be destroyed by the obliteration of all the•
ge.°graphical definitions which mark their limits, is
~
the ultima ratio of nations, and he who can
trenchant
use the weapons of that dreadful and most
~rlnehant rhetoric, will so long be invested with the
t"4 heroic grandeur in the minds of his fellow-coun-
ZYlnen. We recognise in the warrior who vindicates
• honour or defends the liberties of his native
112 d one whom Heaven has gifted with special qua-
...hies
for the holiest of objects. Whether he be
clothed in the steel-plate of Sidney or the scarlet
coat of a Napier, we do homage to the generous cou-
rage, the chivalresque spirit, the grand and simple
characteristics of those fulminabelli which have cleft
their fiery way through the enemies of our name
• and nation, and have broken down their legions
and turned the tide of victory around our banners.
The moment the people of Portsmouth heard of the
Movement which was made to surround the simple
and unostentatious funeral of the conqueror of
rade with some sort of popular sentiment, and to
,re it a public character, which the wishes of the
deceased and of his friends seemed to forbid—at all
events, to deprecate—they joined in it with the
for
enthusiasm. It was no small matter
-r 80 great a number of people in " a nation of
I)shopkeepers" to give up their business for a day,
and to forego all the pleasures and profits of the
counter, ase a mark of respect to the stern old
!oldie; who was not much " in fashion " of late
Ye, and who certainly was never very popular
among; our enemies, or "the universal friends of
t mankind " either at Manchester or in India.
lit the town of Portsmouth acted warmly and
ready the instant that the officer commanding
+te garrison at the time gave them the initiative.
"V of us who were present at the funeral of the.
Feat Captain in St. Paul's at the close of last year
cart forget the " sensation" of sympathy and re-
!Peet which ran through that vast multitude as they
beheld the veteran lieut.-general who had borne so
i liatinguished a share in the most daring and gal-
ant of the many daring and gallant actions em-
blazoned on the colours of our Peninsular regiments
hobbling stiffly up the aisle, all seamed and scarred
and battered by bullet, bayonet, sword, and mus-
ket-butt, and bearing about him the traces and
~.13reofs of his long and desperate service.
.There
',•as a murmur at the moment—" There is Sir
‘-laarles Napier !" and as one saw that eagle face,
that,, bold stprong eye--caught, in fact, the ‘h‘ aqui-
line" expression of the whole countenancele-7, feltbeefore
there was indeed a "mighty man o
The feeling that he was so indeed—that he
lv,oas_at great soldier and an excellent citizen, no
ub
tprompted the people of Portsmouth to ob-
serveq
day of his funeral with all honour, and
it must h
be e said that they have kept it befittingly.
Por two hours before the cortege yesterday was ap-
Pointed to pass nearly all the shops in the High-street
and along the route to the burial-ground were
closed, and all had their shutters up. The inhabi •
tants of the remoter parts of the town of Gosport,
of the island of Southsea, and of villages and towns
all along the coast, left their houses and poured
into the streets, or procured seats in the windows
of houses commanding the view. All along High-
street the houses were crowded from the ground to
the roof, and in many instances, indeed, even the
house-tops were occupied by men and children.
The ramparts at the Landport, the Platform Bat-
tery, and the ramparts by the beach, near the church,
Were all covered by a dense mass of people. Pub-
licans and others hoisted flags half-mast high. In
fact, but for the attire of the ladies in the windows
and balconies, a stranger might easily have believed
that the town was sharing in some great national
calamity, or keeping a day of public humiliation,
and the silence of the soldiery who lined the streets,
and of the expectant thousands who thronged the
footpaths, would in itself have gone far to justify
the notion.
The troops who took part in the proceedings were
Understood to be volunteers. No compulsion of
I,..anY. kind was used to secure their attendance.
4n-ost of them came from Gosport, and it is just
aufficient to say that the little trip to Portsmouth
Must have cost each of the privates nearly all, if
not the whole, available portion of his day's pay
for the ferry ! And yet between 2,500 and 3,000
men of these much-abused and reviled privates of
by British army, who are called such hard names
3r the mealy-mouthed " Congressers," made the
sacrifice
:, cheerfully to do honour to one whose great
ieeds and name were known to most of them only
"Y,lalearsay.
following is a copy of the garrison order
WhLeh was issued on the occasion :
"On e occasion of th funeral of the lat General
fir Charle th s
James Napier,e G.C.8., to-morrow,e the non-
ranfissioned officers and men not previously directed
by Wednesday's orders will parade, under their captain
4
subaltern of the day, in full dress, with side arms
atids without instruments), and line the streets from
4andport-gates to the Garrison Chapel, to be formed at
iaal!-Past 1 o'clock p.m.
Face outward as the procession passes down the
streets. Countermarch inwards, form four deep, and
follow, abreast in that order, re-forming afterwards on
theA , governor's field before returning to their barracks.
iter the funeral service the Royal Artillery, with their
Zght resting on the Landport-gates ; the 35th Regi-
e''t on their left, on the south side of High-street ;
thenkthe Royal Marines and Artillery Company's Royal
QB'"nes, their left resting on the entrance gate to the
.4rrison Chapel.
.‘:` The Rifle Brigade, with their right on the Main
; then the 79th Regiment, on the north side of
I,,Fa-street ; and 42d Regiment, with their left on the
F3,4dPort Guard ; each corps will extend in .single file
,eiently to unite with those of their right and left.
at' The 42d Regiment will cross by the floating-bridge
a, a quarter before 1 o'clock, and the Royal Marines at
quarter-past 1 p.m.
Ati:,; The adjutants of each corps will attend the Town-
contVs-office at 1 o'clock to-morrow, to receive and
',e3r any other necessary instructions.
the
reference to the orders of yesterday (respect-
t-rue an'angements of the funeral), officers will meet
001 Laentenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief at
jr 11,.'nt Barracks, instead of outside Landport-gates,
4"- Past 1 o'clock."
Abst
be ruse as this order may appear, it seemed to
ti most faithfully carried out, and punctual to the
Ineve, appointed the measured tread of the soldiery
114,11'1g down the streets and spreading their dimi-
he columns along the side of the causeway was
lhr°e, and soon brought the people in greater masses
Prmelpal thoroughfare. All along High-street,
the G • b c•
there e arrison Chapel to the Landport-gates,
ziaeao_was soon formed a living wall of regimental
've.ri_ 'l7 in green and red and blue and white, with
i..eoloured facings and feathers brightening up
andrs l• • , „ ,
of eiv„. , re 'eying the sombre hues of the Dank
4,, mans at the rear. At the artillery barracks a
fer.._ °cm of naval and military officers in full uni-
%rll!_jate_ena_bled in order to join the procession ; and
_,_ts,,tilteeucfn.,aus.atk=i-tri;aeham and the Lords of the Admiralty
same place till the cortege arrived.
hox_t_f:Levoarbld was dressed in a suit of mourning,
Lordsued were in uniform. They were
Commodore Schroeder and the
vetcers the Prussian frigate Gefion and cor-
wo,,i
y•ek azona, and by M. Vandenbergh, the
Por7, 14 and respected Prussian Consul at the
kneerayv ho was attired in his consular costume. The
cortege left the seat of the deceased General
ink,4n mailer, 12 o'clock in a very quiet and unpretend-
Npe- "lanner. The hearse and mourning coaches
folio
oevyilain and unostentatious, nor was they© any
Gro,„_roads
of private. vehicles, but all along the
Landtig of
the route, from the mansion to the
131)11.ortiacia,eDviive:r Portsmouth, a distance of seven
country people had collected, and with
"' the oliads waited till the carriages had
across
017 and, then returned to their homesteads to
across the he history of " the General," or ran
heyearri Ue fields to get another view of the sombre
IvilZages. The townspeople, too, poured out far
i_ct thee limits of their moats and ditches to
:6...i..,,,,tv_.easutzstutvirhsni:::;%h,raoeticznimoaicld. the testimony to their good
the carriage containing the
g coaches arrived at Land-