The Sun.
London, England, 1833-07-27 00:00:00

PUBLIC TESTIMONIAL TO ADMIRAL

NAPIER.

21IEETING THIS DAY.

A public meeting was held to.day at the City of London
Tavern, pursuant to a requisition signed by a great number of
highly respectable individuals, for the purpose of determining
on the most appropriate manner of manifesting the public
admiration of the conduct of Admiral Napier, and of ex-
pressing in some substantial form the public approbation of the
exploit of that gallant officer.
Besides the illustrious Chairman (the Puke of Sussex) we
noticed the following public men :—Sir Edward Codrington,
Chevalier de Lima, Col. Hodges, Mr. Macleod, 'M.P., Colonel
Evans, Mx., Mr. T. Duncombe, Sir F. Burdett, and Dr.
D. Bowring. _ _

On the entrance of the Duke of Sussex and the Committee
they were received with loud cheers.

His ROYAL HIGHNESS, on taking the chair, said,—" Gentle-
men, permit me, in the first instance, to express my gratifica-
tion at seeing the present meeting so numerous, and also my
unmixed pleasure at taking the chair on such an occasion.
Indeed, when it was proposed to me to become the chairman, I
consented without the least hesitation, feeling convinced that
I could do nothing better to uphold the security and honour
of this country than by doing whatever might promote
the safeguard of Britain's best bulwarks.—(Hear, and cheers.)
Gentlemen, we have now lived in a comparative state of peace
for nearly twenty years, and during that period no great op-
portunity has occurred to show that the improvements in our
navy are not unaccompanied by the continued bravery of our
seamen ; if I except only the occasion in which the bravery of
the Hon. and Gallant Officer on my right (Sir E. Codrington)
was evinced; besides this, the result of which we are this day
assembled to mark with some solid proofs of our approbation.
—(Cheers.) I shall leave to those Hon. and Gallant Officers
who are present, to detail the high character of Captain
Napier's achievement, and shall only say on that point, that
I believe it to be unexampled, if we take into account the
weakness of the force employed; the small number of guns
his vessels employed; the weight of the cannon, and the dis-
proportionate number of men as compared with the force by
which he was opposed. It might be said that the opposition
which he had to encounter, would detract from the merit of
his victory; but we must remember that he carried into effect
a plan on which he had determined to act, without a knowledge
of what opposition might be offered, and had, in spite of what
the danger might be, like a true British sailor, run the risk of
boarding and carried all before him. Gentlemen, it speaks
much for the gallantry of Captain Napier that he even now
regrets that he did not take all the vessels to which he was

opposed. I have seen a letter from him on the subject, in
which, with the natural feelings of a British sailor, he apolo_

gises for having left two small vessels of the line to escape.
It is not alone the mere immediate consequences of that action
which we have to contemplate; for we must see that besides
being a great naval victory, it is an important step towards
the emancipation of Portugal. Gentlemen, having in view this
appreciation of the bravery displayed by Captain Napier, it is
for us to adopt some distinguishing mark of approbation—some
solid mark by which himself and his gallant seamen may be
rewarded. The application of this, Gentlemen, it is
proposed shall be left to his discrimination and that of
the committee, by whom a correspondence will be opened;

and it is to be hoped that this will be followed up by some mea-
sures to effect a repeal of the Foreign Enlistment Bill, the
existence of which is one of the causes by which the gallant
officer has been suspended from his employment in the British

nary. For my own part, I shall be highly gratified to see the

gallant officer restored to his honours and rank in that navy
to which he has been so distinguished an ornament.—(Cheers.)
I shall now sit down to afford an opportunity for the pro_
posal of such resolutions as will convey our opinion

of the services of Captain Napier, and their consequences, and
shall take the sense of the meeting on each.— (Cheers.)
Sir F. BURDETT, who was received with much applause,
expressed his gratification at the respectable and numerous at-
tendance he witnessed,—more particularly at their being
honoured by the presence of his Royal Ilighness, who was
always ready to affbrd his support, whenever he might pro-
mote the true principles of liberty, or mark his sense of op_
pression. He knew not which most to admire, the skill or
intrepidity that had been shown by Capt. Napier ; and whilst
marking his approbation of the skill and gallantry displayed on
behalf of the Portuguese, and the happy result likely to fol..
low those exertions, he could not but lament that equal good
fortune had not attended the gallant and unexampled efforts
of the unfortunate Poles. It would be much to be lamented
if the services of one of our most gallant nava! officers should
be lost to this country, in consequence of his having sought an
opportunity still further to advance the glory of a British sea-
man. The resolution he had to propose was in substance to show
the necessity for the emancipation of Portugal, in order that
the commercial relations between that country and this might
be renewed under a more liberal form of government. Be-
fore, however, proposing this resolution, he should say
that the exploit of Captain Napier was not only of conse-
quence as regarded the question at issue in Portugal, and
the upholding the name of a British sailor, but it was
equally well-timed in aiding the views of those who, whether
under the present or any other Ministry, were desirous of
maintaining and extending liberal views of Government.
The present proceedings, he was sure, would gratify the
feelings of his countrymen, and besides that, would most pro-
bably tend to restore the gallant officer to the rank he had
held in our service. Whether that would depend upon the
repeal of the unconstitutional and ungenerous Act

to which he had alluded—(Loud cheering)—he knew

not ; but he took shame to himself that he had been so long a
Member of the House of Commons, and had not proposed
its repeal. Ile felt confident, however, that the present Mini
sters who had so well deserved the gratitude of the country,
not only for what they had done, but for the prospect
they had opened to the country—(Great cheering)—
would not oppose its repeal. It had been suggested
that the necessity for striking Captain Napier from the list of
the English navy was not altogether owing to the Foreign En-
listment Act, but that there were regulations of the Admiralty
which made that step necessary, even if that Bill were repealed.
If there were, those regulations were as revocable
as an Act of Parliament. He was sure, however, that there
would be no backwardness on the part of the English people to
take such steps as were necessary, and he had no doubt that it
would not be long before Captain Napier would again
grace the lists of English officers, believing, as lie
did, that what that gallant officer had already done tended
very much to improve the solid interests, and increase the
prosperity of this country. The Hon. Baronet concluded amidst
loud cheers, by moving his resolution.

Mr. R. THORNTON said, as a British merchant, intimately con.

fleeted with the City of London, he begged to offer his tribute
of admiration of the conduct of the hero whose fame they had
met to celebrate.—(Hear, hear.) The victory which that
gallant officer had achieved would be the means of restoring
that commerce of which for six years this country had been de-
prived—(Loud cheering)—and it was a gratifying subject to
contemplate that it had been achieved by a British officer, who
had been nobly supported by those under his command.—

(Cheers.) He hoped it wculd have the effect of restoring to
Portugal that which she so much wanted—a free and happy
government.—(Cheers.) He seconded the resolution.
Carried unanimously.

Mr. TRACY, in proposing the second resolution, said it was

impossible to conceive any action more brilliant than that
which they had now met to commemorate, and as it was im-
possihle, under present circumstances, for the Government to
do justice to the laurels so bravely won by Captain Napier, he

trusted the Gallant Officer would receive them at the hands of
his countrymen.—(Loud cheers.) He concluded by moving
a resolution to the eflbct that the meeting viewed with satis-
faction the recent change in the political aflairs of Portugal,
tending as it did to the destruction of the present cruel sys-
tem of despotism, to the termination of a faithless usurpation
and most unnatural conflict, and thereby contributing to the
happiness of Portugal and the general cause of public liberty.—
(Cheers.)

Mr. STEVENSON, in seconding the resolution, expressed his
approbation and enthusiasm towards the character of a British
sailor fighting in the cause of liberty.—(Cheers.) He hoped
this meeting would teach a lesson to certain parties in this
country who were upholding the last dregs of the prin_
ciples of the detestable Holy Alliance.—(Loud cheering.)
That faction had been teasing the Government with questions
as to why had not Captain Napier been struck off the list, and
why had they not put upon that officer some mark of reproba.
lion, while that desperate faction had been doing the very
same thing, and employing persons to fight apinst those prin-
ciples that this country had long been struggling for.—(Cheers.)
It was disheartening to see legislators so far forget the prin.
ciples they sought to maintain, and so far forget what was
due to the character of a Bi itish sailor, as to endeavour to
throw odium upon so brave a man as Capt. Napier. He hoped
the resolutions of to-day would teach that miserable faction a
lesson, and show that they would find no repose in the breast of
Englishmen at large.—(Cheers.) They might find it in some
of their own rotten corporations, but not in the country at
large. He concluded by seconding the resolution.
The resolution was carried amid loud cheers.

Sir EDWARD CODRINGTON rose to propose the third resolu-

tion, amidst the most deafening plaudits, which lasted for
several minutes. The Gallant Admiral observed that he ac-
ceded to every word that had been stated, and begged to assure
the meeting that he was not master of language to express the
high admiration he entertained of the gallant conduct of Capt.
Napier, well knowing the difficulties he had had to contend with.
He would put it to the meeting to conceive the almost impossibi-
lity of a vessel bearing down and boarding a vessel twice its size,
and that too from the rigging. He did not know which most to
admire, the boldness of the undertaking or the firmness with
which it had been carried into execution. The meeting were per_
haps not aware that Captain Napier was suffering under the
effects of a broken thigh from a gun shot, which, he was
sure, was the cause of his being third, instead of first in
boarding the vessel. The effects of the victory obtained would be
the restoration of commerce between that country and Eng-
land, and he gloried in a tenfold degree that that great object
had been effected by a friend of his, and an officer of his own
profession.—(Loud cheers.) As to the erasure of Captain
Napier's name from the navy list, he had long been
of opinion that such a right ought not to be assumed by the
Admiralty. The taking away of the half.pay, was it,
his opinion highly objectionable, as he thought
it quite sufficient to deprive a man of getting promo.
tion. Captain Napier's half-pay would only amount to about
50/. a year, and when it was recollected that other person:
who had served the Government were not deprived of their
half-pay, he thought it extremely unjust that so strict
a rule should be adopted with respect to nava;
officers. By the regulations as they now stood,
the First. Lord of the Admiralty could erase the name