The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-26 00:00:00

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EVENING SUN.
SUN.
COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.
Yesterday a Special Court was held at the Mansion-
house for the purpose of presenting to Major-General
Sir Charles Felix Smith the freedom of the City for his
gallant conduict in Syria. The Court was unusually
crowded. It was stated on the paper of businese that the
Court would not proceed to any of the ordinary topics.
Deputy Gonsox requested to be informed whether ap-
plication had been made to Prince Albert to lay the first
stone of the new Royal Exchange.
The LORD MAYOR said, he believed that application
had been made, and that his Royal Highness had been
pleased to acquiesce.—(Hear, hear.)
PRESENTATION OF THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY OF LONDON

TO MAJOR-GENERAL SIR CHARLES F. SMITH.
Major-General Sir Charles Felix Smith having entered
the Court amidst loud cheers,
The CHAMBERLAIN (Sir James Shaw, Bart.) rose, and
with the usual forms swore in the new citizen, In pre-
senting the freedom in the magnificent box, the counte`r-
part of those presented by the Corporation to Sir Robert
Stopford and Commodore Napier, Sir James addressed
the gallant new member of the Corporation in a short
speech.

S'_r C. Sminr, who was frequently interrupted by
cheers, said—" I have to offer my unfeigned and most
grateful acknowledgments for this especial mark of your
favour. On this Syrian affair so m lich of miarepresentation
has gone forth to the world, that it becomes essential—a
duty I owe to you—to clear up one point, lest my fellow-
citizens (for such I presume I may now have the honour
of designating you)—lest,l say. my fellow-citizens might
imagine that they had conferred a signal mark of their
approbation upon one who had done little to deserve
it. I will pass over the amusing fictions with which
the British public have been diverted, and come at
once to the report in the newspapers of Sir Robert
Stopford's speech at the Mansion-house. A peru-.
sal of that report would lead an otherwiFe uninformed
person to suppose that I was only " intended" to
command the land forces at the siege of Acre, and
that my health was such as to prevent the from parti-
cipating largely in the operations of the campaign. I
have an assurance from the lips of my respected friend,
the Gallant Admiral, that such was not a faithful re-
presentation of what it was his Excellency's inten-
tion to impart. It is true that I was taken seri-
ously ill the day after I left Gibraltar, and that I ar-
rived on the Syrian coast in a state of health far from
satisfactory—so much so, indeed, that I could not take a
very active part on shore in the establishment of our
first depot station for the distribution of arms to the na-
tives ; but, like the Admiral, I issued my orders from the
flog-ship, and I gave my counsel t 4 him, being held by
his Excellency as jointly responsible with himself. I
was absent for eighteeen days, having gone to Con-
stantinople for the purpose of seeking instructions
from the British Ambassador as to general operations,
and to define all that had theretofore been ambiguous or
eqnivocal in our respective positions ; for it will
hardly be credited that my instructions from . her
Majesty's Government were only dated in LonclOn'
on the 10th of September, the day on which (although
contrary to the orders then in the Admiral's possession)
we bombarded Beyront, and were received by me the
10th of October, the day on which I took possession of
that place, after having returned from Constantinople
with the Sultan's firman, empowering me- to com-
mand the whole of his Imperial Majesty's troops
in Syria, coupled with an instruction, giving
me the control over the Turkish squadron in
all matters connected with military movements.
That I so continued to command, having to con-
tend with unparalleled obstructions and diffi-
culties, is shown by the official despatches of the time;
hut if more be required, I have the unfortunate evidence
of a severe wound, disabling one limb, which will remind
me of Acre at every future step in life. I have been 32
years on foreign service, for the most part contending
against the climate of the tropics, or actively engaged
with the enemies of our country ; I am now about to
return to my station abroad, but, if ever I come back
to England again, it shall be my earnest endeavour su
to qualify myself as to cultivate and improve my ac-
quaintance with the citizens of London.—(Cheers.)
The Gallant Officer then shook hands most cordially
with the Lord Mayor and several of the members of the
Corporation, and left the Court amidst loud acclamations.