The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-29 00:00:00

ADMIRAL SIR EDJTOYD LYONS AT

CLIBISTCHUIZOIL

®___

Yesterday, at noon, Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons was
presented, in public, with au address of congratulation
by the inhabitants of Christchurch, Hampshire, on the
occasion of vi,iting that tew of which be is a native,
aid where he was born on then, 21st of Nov., 1790. The
gallant admiral, accompaeliel by some of the members of
his family, arrived ;it Winktoe' in the inunediete vicinity
of the' town, the residence -of Admiral Walcott,.M.P.,
his cousin, on -the afternoon of Sunday, 'and 'remained
there over night. Shortly before 12 o'clock yesterday be
proceeded in an open carriaze, in the company of Ad-
miral Waleett and Mrs.` and the Misses Walcott, under
an escort of 16 men, - furnished- by the _Royal Horse Ar-
tillery, in command of Mr. Torii:um, and preceded by a
baud of music, to a platform erected in the centre of the
town, where the ceremony of presenting the address was
to take place. Lord Arundel and Surrey, the son-in-law
of Sir Edmund, Lord Maltravers, his grandson, Mr.
Bickerton Lyons, his eon, Mr. Algernon Lyons, his
flag-lieutenant and the Rev. Mr. Mackenzie Walcott,
also formed-part of the company. The day was singularly'
auspicious, the neighbourinu: gentryfor miles round were
attracted to the scene, and-the town presented au almost
endless series of banners and triumphal arches.
On arriving at the hustings Admiral WALCOTT pro•
ceeded to present the address to Sir Edmund. - He said
—ln doing so, he had to offer a tribute of admiration on
the part o the inhabitants of that town and neighbour•
hood, and which was in itself the echo of the acclama-
tions of his country. (Cheers.) They now stood side
by side in a position which they never could have ex-
pected to occupy when as boys they trod the streets of
Christchurch. He (Admiral Walcott) could not but re-
collect the anecdote related of a great and most successful .
commander, that in the height of his eminence he never
could be prevailed upon to forego the sight of his
father's house, lest he should loose the object of his eyes
and the memory of his chiidbood. He (Sir Edmund),
by his presence among them that day, showed that he
partieipated in the same feelirg. Born in the same
month, natives of the same hamlet, reared in the same
school, and serving their country in the same profession
—these were no oldinary. ties, and they could both tes-
tify that they bad cemented, through many years of life,
a fraternal affection, unbroken by absence and deepened
at every meeting. Time would be the best commender
of his (Sir E. Lyons') public acts. No words be (Ad-
miral Walcott) could utter would be deemed the expres-
sion of a too partial regard, when the annals of England
would record him his country's friend, who showed that
the way to peace lay, not in seeming desires to avoid
war, hut in making that demonstration of firmness and
resolve which was the most certain means to hasten its
inning and better its conditions. (Cheers.) The gallant
Admiral then read the address, which congratulated Sir
Edmund on revisiti.ig the scene of his birth after an
eventful life, spent chiefly abroad in the service of his
country. It also related his rise, step by step, in his pro-
fession until he succeeded to the command of the Eng-
lish fleet in the Black Sea, and how, among other ex-
ploits, without the loss of a single ship or a single life,
he succeeded in conveying the army from Varna and
landing it in the Crimea, where again be performed
essential service to the country by the unanimity of his
co-operation with the land forces, by the emulation he
inspired, and.the example he gave, and by the cordiality
of his intercourse with our allies. It likewise compli-
mented him for the heroic devotion which he isreathed
nte the officers and seamen of the fleet, whom lie never
•d but to victory, as at Kerteh and Kinbourn. The
aling of the addrc.Ss was frequently interrupted by the
acc'amations of the crowd.
The Earl of MALMESBURY then addressed the meeting
in a speech of seine length, in which he recounted in de•
tail the various public services rendered by Sir Edmund
in the ceurse of his life, and eulogised his gallantry while
in'eorninand of the fleet in the Black Sea.
Sir E. LYONS approached the front of the hustings
and was received with a round of enthusiastic cheering.
He said, ho must, in the first place, express his deep re-
gret for the inconvenience which they had experienced
from the postponement of his visit ; but, as had been
already explained to themethat had arisen from circum-
stances which were beyond his coil trol. The gallant ad-
miral, whom he was proud to call his friend and relative,
had apprised him of their kir;d intentions towards him,
and he had naturally thought of sonic expressions in
which to convey to them leis • deep sense of the honour
proposed to be conferred upon him. But their surpass-
ing kindness and the enthusiastic welcome they had given
him had gone straight to his heart and filled it with
grateful feelings, and he candidly confessed he could not
rimemher anything he intended to have said. He must,
therefore;,ask them to allow him to express his emotion.s
spontaneously as they arose. (Cheers.) Ile was anxious
to say to them, what he felt molt deeply, that this was
to him the proudest and ma,t, interesting day of a some-
what eventful life. To feel ;0= he did a man must have
been abroad and employed in the service of his country
for nearly a 0 consecutive years. He must have returned,
as he did now, not only to his native country, but to his
native town, the place of his birth and the scene of his
childhood, where everything he saw around. bins was iiSSO-
ciated with his earliest and dearest reeelleetions. But,
above all, such a man must feel, as he did now, the
hearty and generous welcome, fer which he was now im-
perfectly endeavouring to tkaiik them, and which he
should cherish to the latest hour of his life. He could
assure them that both soldiers and sailors, officers as well
as men, who were abroad in their country's service, were
sustained by nothing so much as by the approbation of
their countrymen at home ; and he could conscientiously
say that the proud gratifi'cation whieli he experienced
would be shared by thousands now under his command
in the Mediterranean. The compliment they were now
:tying him would he reflected on every. man in the fleet,
and he was quite sure that on the day when they
received the news of the welcome given by the people of
Christchurch to himself one
.common sentiment of gra-
titude would animate the whole-of them. (Cheers.) [The
emotion of the gallant admiral for a moment stifled his
utterance.] He was not ashamed—far from it—to con-
fess his inability adequately to express all he felt on this
interesting occasion. He should be something less than
man if be was not sensibly affected by the scene before
him. To express what he felt in words was utterly im-
possible, and he would only add that, although the cor-
dial welcome they had gives him, would vibrate on his
ears but once, it would dwell on his memory for ever.
(Loud cheers.)

The company then repaired to the King's Arms Ho-
tel, where luncheon was prepared, and at which Lord
Malmesbury presided. The cloth having been removed
and the usual loyal toasts drun'A,
The Ci4AIRMAN gave "The health of Admiral Sir Ed-
mund Lyons and the heroes of the Crimea and the Black
Sea." He said, in doing so, they. would recollect the
position of Enr;land when this war begun, and ho trusted
the p'ople of this country had deduced a lesson and a
warnincr from the events of the last two years, and had
resolved that England should never be in such a position
again. At the outbreak of the war, lie spoke with a
knowledge of the facts when he said that at one periud
this country stood upon a v,dcano. Since the close of
the last war successive Governments had neglected to
keep up the armaments of the country, and he believed
that none of the gentlemen who composed those Govern-
"nents could throw stones at one another, for all had

like neglected their duty. They neglected it, moreover,
despite the repeated warning and advice of the greatest
man of the age—the Duke of Wellington ; and as he
went down to the grave full of honours and of years, he
sat down in sullen silence, weary of warning and weary
of giving advice. In 1852. when he (Lord Malmesbury)
had the honour to hold office, it came to his knowledge
that in this country, surrounded as it was by nations, not
perhaps its enemiee, but many of them envious of its great-
ness, we were in this position—that, with respect to the
artillery—he would quote only one instance--there were
not 50 guns fit for service. That, ha believed, was also
recently stated by Lord Hardinee, the Cornmandcr-in-
Chief. But that was not all. The carriages of those
guns were in such an imperfect state that, at the funeral
of the Duke of Wellington, when it was necessary that
an escort of 17 guns should attend his obsequies as a
deceased field-marshal, it was some considerable time
before that number could be found in a sufficient state of
repair to travel safely the requisite distance over the
streets of London. It was not Governments so much
as the people themselves who were to blame for such a
state of things. If they were again deceived by those
who spoke or wrote volumes on false economy the same
thing would happen again, and at a time, perhaps, when
they might not have a strong and faithful ally, by whose
valour and co-operation they might be enabled to brave
the world in arms. Such was the state of this country
when the war begin, and yet, by the extraordinary
exertions of our officers, soldiers, and seamen, in 20
months we had reduced the colossal power of Russia to
a point of humiliation which we never could have ex-
, petted to attain in so short a period. Ile sincerely
trusted that the services of the army and navy would not
again be required. He hoped the peace which was
about to be made would be a statesmanlike peace, and
ono which England could not only. coeclucie with honour
to herself, but accept as a guarautee for security in the
future. Front the beginning there seemed to have been
the greatest confidence reposed in Sir Edmund Lyens,
and yet he must have bad moments of deep anxiety and
'eat
e hardlyot to did
justice in this country to
menfight our enemies, charged
were with immense responsibility, and subjected
revythroounibl wee.
sentN Vf
as they
sometineee to an amount of fatigue and privation which
we could scarcely imagine. The position of such
and
riftTlll'iey resist have many
gilfliore;iwt ith Itall
was trot
illooenno u
rwaans() d
sleepless ni ;lite and many harassing days of mental
fatigue and exertion. They had, too, occasionally the
ignorant calumny of some aid the personal pique and
cruel jealoin ies of others to contend with ; and to resist
such adverse infiu.:nces required a stout heart and a con-
fident reliance that justice would be done at last. 13ut
it wanted no small amoivE of fortitude to support a man
under such circumstances and such cruel attacks, and
without t hat fortitude a weak man might believe the%
all the we nid and all destiny were against him. They
might look forward to elistinctions and decorations such
it bad be. to accorded to the gallant and distinguished
racer at .aie Bide—they might hope that temporary fail-
ures might be in future turned into great victories ; but
all :hose c onviderations would scarcely support them.
The only consolation they could have in moments like
those was ;in approving conscience, which should say to
them, as 'he said now to hie gal4krit friend, " Von have
done y our duty." (Clime.)
The toast was drunk with acclamation.
Arlin Sir EMIUND LYONS acid,—My lords, ladies,
and ge‘ittomeri, you have done me the honour of associ-
atiug .
in.se to with the names of those who have distin-
guiefeeev themselves in the Criwean campaign. I only
wisl chest 1 relt myself deserving of the praise that you
have ta( ).i-indly bestowed upon me. But all I pretend to
s as b orsest and earnest desire to do my duty to my
Slaver/ and my country to the best of my humble
ability ((sheers.) The statue of the preEent war is