The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-21 00:00:00

their duty as subjects or their gallantry as men, would
be received there with the greatest satisfaction. He there-
fore proposed the health of " Her Majesty the Queen,
Duchess of Lancaster—(Tremendous cheering)—aml may
she long be the grace and ornament of the Court which
she now aderm."—(Renewed cheering.) " God save the
Queen" was sung by the professional singers, the band
and whole company joining in the chorus. When the
words "confound their politics" were repeated, an attemrt
was made to get up a cheer, but it was speedily sup-
pressed.

The CHAIRMAN rose again and begged to propose the
health of Prince Albert and the Princess Ro}al.—(Three
times three.)
Glee—" Hai% smiling morn."

The CHAIRMAN after-wards gave " The be elth of her
Nlaje'y the Queen Dowager and the other branches of
the Royal Fatuily."-( Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN called again for a bumper. The next
toast, he sail, which he would have the honour of pro-
posing was one rel.dch related more immediately to the
binincs; of the evening, which was to receive with hearty
congratuLtiens the distinguished gentleman whom they
had the honour to entertain.— (Loud cheers.) They vv.,re
honoured that evening with the company of Commodore
Sir Charles Napiee (Tremendous cheering.) His
achievements in the East were fresh in their recollection,
and were more like witchcraft than the action of a human
being. lie had achieved, in the period of one short
month, what in former wars required years to accomplish.—
( Cheers. ) He believed he had been forty years in the ser-
vice of his country—( Loud cheers)—and from his youth
upwards he had been distinguished for bravery, for
coure.g,, and for an enterprise which would carry his
name down to posterity as one of the greatest commanders
the British nation could boast of.--( Loud cheers.) He
had attained paramount victories in the West Indies,
Cape St. Vincent, the coast of Portugal, and more re-
cently in taking of Beyrout, Sidon, and Acre.—(Tre-
mendous cheering.) Although he (the Chairman) in
the abstrrct and individually was not favourable to
war, yet if occasion arose, for the honour of the coun-
try and for the interests of the country, which made it
necessary for them to take up the sword, be hoped that
thcir arms would be conducted by men like the dis-
tinguishei gentleman they had then the honour of meet-
ing with.—( Applause.) In past periods, end in periods
in the recollection of most persons present, they had
bad Nelson in the navy, Mocre in the army, and they
had then living the Duke of Wellington—( Reiterated
chre.ing)—and their guest, Commodore Napier.—
( Trerneadous cheering.) Ile was proud in enumerating
those distinguished commanders, because it justified the
hope that, whenever occasions arose, there would be found
good and true men to take the places of those who had
gone before them.—( Applause.) Their friend was cor-
rect in his habits, possessed of an acute and decisive
judgment, well acquainted with the modern arts of war,
and wherever occasion has arisen, in the discharge of his
duty, with that knowledge, that skill, that decision, be
has been permitted to being the resources of his mind to
act, and commenced those under him with a success
which has accomplished the late victories, however im-
possible they might have appeared. In addition to these
qurlifications, he (the Commodore) had a higher
claim upon them for his excellent good sense as a nego-
tiator. With a sound and enlarged judgment, not wish-
ing to make tine most of the persons he had vanquished,
and with just and considerate views, he had proposed
plans which had been confirmed by the parties; and as
the end of all wars was peace, and as a very short war
had brought about peace, when they had been threatened
with t 6 e beginning of a long and expensive war—that
consideration would fully justify them in thinking that
that country was greatly indebted to the discretion and
bravery of their guest who acted on that momentous ec-
casion. With retesrd to the Pacha of Egypt, although
an opponent en that occasion, be (the Chairman) might
be
.justified in alluding to the generous act which that in-
dividual permitted to be performed, and from which the
country derived great benefit, lie alluded to the gene-
rous conduct in permitting the mails to go to India whilst
they were at war with him, and which entitled him to the
admiration of every Briton, and ever: just and noblc-
minded man in the country.—( Applause.) In enume-
rating a very fes of the nets and <f the conduct of the
distinguished intivideal whom be had the honour of in-
troducing, be was conscious that he was unworthy of ren-
dering justice to the nie•i•s of the great commander, and
he was sorry chi:A the chair was not filled by one who could
do greater justice to the guest who now honoured them,
but however unworthy he might regard his he
evo&d yield to none in sincerity and thankfulness for the
peat services which be Ore Commodore) had performed,
and which entitled him not only to the gratitude of every
person present, but of every individual in the country. He
(the Chairman) might scorn niggardly in his praise, but
he was not so in his heart, and tie Irlj;el they would a:-
tribute any defect on his part to his being unaccustomed
for any length of tints to express his sentiments in public.
The hearty manner in which they had received the distin-
guished Commodore must be highly gratifying to that ta-
lente.igentleman, especially so as there were so many ladies
the. e to do him honour.—( Applause.) if an opportunity oc-
curred of those ladies expressing their opinions they would
have a flood of elequenee.—(Cheers.) He would not
invi.e an invidious comparison, which would annihilate him
altogether, but would join in the siceero thanks they were
about to (act- to their guest. He begged to propose
" Our distmguished guest, Commodore Sir Charles Na-

„ .
pier. May cur commanders ernukte his courrge in bat-
tle, and his hill and decision in the ;civic:” of his cour-
t,y ; and may their effiJts, like his, ever terminate in the
right rebuq of war—honourable peace. '—(Tremendous
and reiterated cheering.)

Commodore Sir CIIARLES NAPIER arose amidst a re-
newal of the animated applause, and of the waving of
ladies' handkerchiefs, and said that it was a very usual thing
for persons, wile.] placed in a position similar to that in
which he then stood, to say that they could not find words
to express their feelings, end to thank the company for the
hohour conferred upon them ; but when he looked around
him, and saw 600 gentlemen villa had done him the ho-
nour to receive bins in that distinguished manner; and
when he looked, too, at that circle of Lancashire witches

(Cheers)—who had thrown around their spells to charm
the hearts of all—aye, (sr en the hearts of the deaf and
dumb—n ho could wonder that he should be unable to find
words to express his feelings, to make known his gratifi-
cation at the manner in which he had been received in this
commercial town, and to thank the company present that
eseaing for the mariner in which they had received his
health ?—( Cheers.) This, however, was not the first time
that he had been in Liverpool. He had the honour of
paying a visit to the town, some years ago, in company
with Marsh al Soult, that illustrious warrior, who had
been fighting all his life against England, but who, when
the sword was sheathed, was received in England
with that enthusiasm which so distinguished the
English character. He did not think that he should be
going too ler in saying that the .manner in which Liver-
poi l received Marshal Soult was one of the chief causes
of the preservation of peace between France and Eng-
land.—(Very marked applause.) But if this town had
received in such a trimmer Marshal Soult, wbo had been
fighting all his life against this country, it was not sur-
prising that they should receive him (the Commodore) in
the manner they had done, considering that he had been
fighting all his life in the service of this country.—
He had been placed within the last few months in a very
peculiar position. He was in the Mediterranean at the
time the insurrection began. It was an insurrection against
his friend, Mehemet Ali. He might u:e that term, for he
was proud to say thet Mehemet Ali was his friend. The
Pacha did not understand the proper way of governing
and managing Syria. He did not receive proper instruc-
tions a.d information; and the consequence was, that he
managed them in the oriental way, which was not exactly
the way in which our brother Christians in Syria liked to
he managed. They rebelled, and Mehemet Ali, a vigo-
rous and resolute man, determined to put them down.
He therefore sent a great force against them, and, spite of
our Ministers and bureaus succeeded in putting down the
insurrection. This was done in the most moderate man-
ner that he (Commodore Napier) over saw. Nocruelty was
practised, with the exception of one day. He did not be-
lieve that a single act of outrage was committed against the
inhabitants of Syria. That insurrection was certainly pro-
ductive of benefit ; it expedited the Ministers of this and
other countries in the signing of the treaty of the, 15th
July, for the liberation of the Syrians from the tyranny'—
for so be must tail it--of Mehemet Ali. He then hap-
pened to be senior naval officer on the coast of Syria. The
treaty arrived on the 10th of September, and there was little
time to lose; it was necessary to carry the thing through
at once—( Cheers)—for the greatest of all evils
nasan European war. They had double tides to work.
He was placed in the position of both Admiral and General,
and was obliged to act up to the best of his knowledge and
ability ; and he was happy to say that in the course of one
short month they succeeded in driving a large force,
amounting to about 100,000 men, from Syria, and in
liberating the inhabitants of Lebanon.—( Applause.)
But the business was not then over. They bad a very
small force—there were about 10,000 Turkish men—
whilst Mehemet Ali mustered between 50,000 and 60,000
troops. Shortly after the taking of Acre, he sent six sail
cf the lice to Alexandria. The winter was then coining
on ; and he took on himself what was truly a very great
responsibility, for he was destitute of instructions or advice
from the Gevermnent at home, or from his superior
officer, and proposed to Mehemet Ali peace. After
three or four days' discussion—not like the usual dis-
cussions in such cascs—(Laughter and chcers)—terms
were settled, and in four days peace was made, and an
agreement signed. He then thought that the war in
Syria and Egypt was at an end. But when the treaty
agreed to between him and Mehemet Ali was sent to
Constantinople, it was repudiated by the Porte; it was
protested against by the Eloglish Ministers, and upset
by the authorities in Syria,—denounced as hasty and
unauthorised by the Commander-ir! Chief, and abandoned
without reflection, and all the business was obliged to be
done over egain from the beginning. But be hoped
and trusted that he might be permitted to cleim that
Syria had been evacuated—perfectly evacuated; and this
notwithstanding the improper terms sent to iVlehemet Ali
—terms that it was impossible he could accede to 'Without
setting the whole country into rebellion and discord, creat-
ing dissension in his family and mutiny in his army and
navy, and be was right in rejecting the terms with scorn,but
the liberal part of the terms he received ; he abandoned his
monopolies, and gave up slavery--(Cheers)—and all that
he asked was that he should be left in quiet possession of
. order that he might devote his whole energies to
its civilization : " For," said Le, " I have given up all ideas
of conquest." It ens his (Com. Napier's) duty to say
that lie believed the Pacha was honest and straight-
forward in his conduct ; that from the beginning he acted
wish the most perfect sincerity. He surrendered the
Sultan's ships, he victualled the fleet; he ordered his
army to evacuate Syria, and put the country in a po-
sition to obey the Sultan. But the Porte was ili-advised
in the matter. Their commander had secret instructions
to examine into the strength of the army of the Pacha,
and if it were feund uesk to attack him, and if strong to
let him alone. A brother officer of his (the Commodore's)
named Stuart, and Calonel Mitchell, protested against
the act of the Porte, and fortunately it was not carried
into effect. Syria was evacuated, Mehemet Ali ret;red
into his country, and certainly had a right to expect jus-
tice at the hands of the Sultan, and of the foreign Powers