The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-19 00:00:00

iutnin itzitlL

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1849.

As a crowning homage to the military genius of
Sir CHARLES NAPIER, the hero of Meanee and Hyder-
abad, the conqueror of Sinde, and Commander-in-
Chief of the European and native forces in British
India, the splendid banquet given to him on Saturday
evening, at the London Tavern, by the Directors of
the East India Company, is worthy of more than a
passing consideration. It completes in the most ap-
propriate and significant manner possible the tributes
of respect recently paid to that illustrious warrior.
Deested with his present grand responsibilities by
the confidence of her MAJESTY, by the advice of the
Government, by the recommendation of his
Grace the Duke of WELLINGTON, with the
applause of Parliament, and with the universal
approbation of the country, Sir CHARLES NAPIER
has now not only been formally confirmed in his ap-
pointment by the consent of the Court of Directors
in Leadenhall-street, but has received their cordial
felicitations prior to his departure for Hindostan.
N ever has any General been entrusted with the
supreme command of the Indian army under circum-
stances of such marked and honourable enthusiasm ;
not even when the great Lord CLIME was hurriedly
dispatched to Asia, to save the settlement at Bombay
from the rapacity of the Nabob of OUDE, to avenge
the atrocities perpetrated on his countrymen by
the infamous MEER CossiM, and to crush
beneath the weight of his " iron courage and vehe-
ment will" the portentous coalition of the Affghans
and Mahrattas. But the very earnestness of the
enthusiasm now evinced towards Sir CHARLES
NAPIER is attributable to its extraordinary tardi-
ness. And it i 3 not difficult to recognize through the
ardour of the popular admiration the consciousness of
a glaring oversight. As, however, the mere recollec-
tion of any misunderstanding has, by general consent,
been buried in the capacious grave which has closed
over the heroic men killed in the great battle. of
Chillianwallah—so we are satisfied that the long
want of a proper appreciation of his ser-
vices has been by this time altogether forgotten by the
distinguished soldier who ruled during six years
over the immense province of Sinde, in the double
capacity of its Conqueror and Governor. All that
has recently occurred:must be immeasurably more
than a compensation for preceding grievances. A
great fault has been nobly expiated. England has
proved upon a remarkable occasion, that she is not
blind to the dictates of that national gratitude which
constitutes the best incentive to valour, to glory, and
to patriotism.
The eulogiums passed upon the newly-appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian army were
as little tinged with the characteristic of after
dinner compliment, as the convivial assembly was
elevated above the level of mere ordinary festivities.
And it was in a spirit of genial frankness that those
Panegyrics were pronounced successively by the lips
of Lieutenant-General Sir JAMES LAW LUSHINGTON,
the Chairman of the Board of Directors (who, from
his official rank, presided on the occasion), by those
of his Grace the interan
of Command of the Forces,
of Sir GEORGE GREY,
and of Viscount H.Aaniziesir JlovHN CAM HOBHOUSE,
hen the guests were
reminded by the Right Hon. the President of the
Beard of Control of the tremendous campaignsvance
of the Mysore, of the expected
of the Nepaulese upon Benares, and of
the almost insurmountable difficulties which at
13hurtpore obstructed the onward progress of oe,_
TERLONY, when he called to mind, moreover, how all
those dangers had been parried, and all those enemies
vanquished, by the zeal, the energy, the perseverance,
and the skill, of the military servants of the Com-
pany--it could not but have been felt by his hearers
that there is now every reason for hope rather than
for trepidation. Especially must this have been the

feeling of those who listened to the opinions expressed
by the different orators, on Saturday evening, after
the emphatic expressions employed by his
Grace the Duke of WELLINGTON in reference
to the position of affairs and to the conduct of Lord
GOUGH between the Sutlej and the Jhelum. "It is
well known," said the Duke—" it is well known that
I do not consider the existing period as one of extra-
ordinary emergency." After alluding to the almost
bloodless triumph of our arms at Moultan,- his
Grace resumed—" A battle has since been fought,
where it is true, that great losses have been sustained;
and, my Lords and Gentlemen, I must say, that if we
are to fight great battles, and if great risks are to be
incurred, we must expect to incur losses in the attain-
ment of great actions. If such actions should be
fought and such victories gained without loss, it would
be considered that little honour would be acquired in
gaining such victories." With this lenient and even
eulogistic view of the triumphant progress of the
British forces under Lord GOUGH in the Punjaub,
the Commander of the Forces coupled an expression
of satisfaction at the nomination of the Victor of
Meanee to be the successor of the brave old warrior of
Sobraon. On accepting that 'appointment few could
have said, as Sir CHARLES NAPIER was enabled to say on
Saturday, when addressing the distinguished company
that had just greeted his name with acclamations—" I
go to India at the command of her MAJESTY, by the
recommendation, I believe, of his Grace tha Duke
of WELLINGTON, and I believe I go also with the
approbation of my countrymen." Invested with
this immense and nobly-deserved popularity, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army will, in a
few days, leave England for those remote countries
in which he has already acquired an imperishable
celebrity, and in which, by the presentiment of the
nation, he will, both as a captain and as a statesman,
enhance yet more the lustre of bis glorious reputa-
tion. Speaking of the fulfilment of these hopes of a
great people, the Right Hon. the President of the
Board of Control, towards the conclusion of his
eloquent and felicitous remarks, uttered an aspiration
such as already existed—though till then unexpressed
—in the soul of the nation. " I pray," said Sir
JOHN CAM HOBHOIISE, "that when he does return,
to resign into your hands the command with which
you have this day invested him, it may be said to him '
in the words which one of your Governors-General—
Lord W. BENTINCE, then Governor of Madras—
addressed to the Duke of WELLINGTON—you leave
the command of the army with the regrets of
all—of all, both civilians and military—of
all, both Europeans and natives. That that
may be the result, and that it will be the result of the
Gallant General's exploits, I entertain the most san-
guine expectations. This is true fame—this is fame
unmixed with any regrets, and that it will be his I
believe from the bottom 'of my heart, and that you
who have given the impulse will be the persons best
rewarded by it." Our allusions to this interesting
and memorable banquet could not terminate with a
more pertinent ejaculation ; nor could we more expli-
citly articulate the wishes which will accompany the
great Captain from the shores of England to the
inland jungles of the Punjaub. May he return to us
in health and glory to enjoy the realisation of all the
presages of his illustrious destiny.

In considering the naval estimates for the ensuing
year which have just been brought before Parliament,
it should not be forgotten that the " actual" is much
greater than the " apparent" reduction in the number
of men. Nominally, 3,000 men, "brought up to the
service, and who wished to remain in it," are to be
turned adrift, and allowed to suffer the privations in-
cidental to the want of employment. This, however,
is less than one-half of those experienced and well-
disciplined men who are to be thus discarded
and consigned to misery and wretchedness until
they can enter into the service of our
maritime rivals, who will cordially welcome and wil-
lingly:receive the invaluable treasures which we, with
such reckless prodigality, are now casting aside. It
was last year decided by Parliament that " 43,000
men should be employed in the sea service for thir-
teen lunar months, to the 31st day of March, 1849."
We learn, however, on the unquestionable authority
of the Secretary to the Admiralty that there was " an
averago excess of 3,969 men more bornA on tho honks
than voted for the financial year." The numbers
actually employed, therefore, were no less than
46,969, and as 40,000 only have been demanded for
the ensuing year, and as we cannot suppose that it is
the intention of the Board of Admiralty to deceive
the Legislature by continuing excesses which
their Secretary described as being to him " a source
of perpetual anxiety;" that had " continually weighed
upon his mind," and were " incessantly disturbing all
his calculations," we must assume the actual reduc-
tion to be no less than 6,969 men who are to be thus
turned adrift in quest of employment. The total
saving to be effected by this wholesale reduction will
be " for wages to seamen and marines 69,9601., and
for victuals 115,0411." A considerable portion of the
latter saving, however, is to be ascribed to the " fall
in the price of provisions during the present year."
The total saving, therefore, consequent upon the re-
duction will not exceed 140,0001., or at the outside
150,0001., and for such a sum we are to be deprived
of the services of 6,969 tried and faithful men, and our
naval establishment is to be brought beneath the level of
that at the disposal of the AUTOCRAT of the Blasius.
This, then, is the real point for the consideration of
Parliament, and of the country in general. Is Eng-
land prepared to relinquish the maritime superiority
which she has maintained inviolate for so many
ages ? Is the honour of the British flag to be en-
dangered for a paltry saving—a saving so insignifi-
cant, when the magnitude of the interests involved is
taken into account ? We cannot believe that such is
the desire of the nation, or that it would be a wise
or prudent economy to do so.
We shall not now speak of the distress and misery
that must inevitably fall upon those gallant men thus
turned adrift, or the claims which they possess upon
the national gratitude. They possess no Par-
liamentary influence, and although some commise-
ration may be expressed for their unmerited suffer-
ing, no real sympathy is exhibited. None beneath
the rank of post captain have any real claim upon
the country. It would be little better than a
downright swindle to deprive Captain WILLIAM
PEEL, the Commander of 1846, the Lieu-
tenant of 1844, of his prospects of promo-
tion, to rob him of his chances of a flag by
diminishing the number of Admirals, or making the
number of flag officers suitable to the wants and re-
quirements of the service. That would be something
so atrocious that it could not for a moment be con-
templated by the tender-hearted officials, but
the casting adrift of 6,969 seamen, who have no
half-pay to look to—no wealthy friends or re-
latives from whom they could hope for assistance, is
merely a painful necessity, a sad alternative but
one which cannot be avoided ; Mr. COBDEN must
Thisou issly not, we
desired
by repeat,th
ethe
community
economy that be propitiated, and no patronage is forfeited thereby.
eniesraslo.
anxiously
There is no reduction, or indication of a future re-
duction, in the "non-effective" branch of the ser-
vice. The full number of Admirals are still to be
retained. A list of 150 Flag officers must be
kept up in order that " My Lords" may have a wide
field from which to select the thirteen or fourteen
whose services may actually be required. Why one-
third of the number were never wanted when our
naval force was at its very height. Mr. WARD tells
us that in 1814, when we had 140,000 men, 99 ships
of the line, 131 frigates, 364 sloops and sixth-rate,
and 50 troop ships, there were employed
afloat, Flag-
officers 42, out of a total of 204 ; Captains 282, out of
a total of 798 ; Commanders 240, out of a total of
628 Lieutenants; 1,607 out of a total of 3,285. Com-
pare the proportion which then existed between the
effective and non-effective branches of the service
with what it now is, and say how can the present
scale be justified for a moment.
Let it not be supposed that we would withhold
from the veterans the rewards that have been justly
merited for past services. No, far from it ; we would
gladly see them enjoy their otium cum dignitate ;
but new claims should not be suffered to arise. The
promotions should be scrupulously watched. No
favour or influence, not even of present or quondam
Cabinet Ministers, should be sufficient to place a new
man on the list until the number has been reduced
within proper limits. 50 Admirals, 250 Post-Captains,
and 300 Commanders would be amply sufficient for
any emergency that could arise. The reduction to