The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-06 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir
Charles Napitr,X.G.B. By Major-General
Elers Napier, author of " Reminiscences of
Syria." Two Vols. Hurst and Biackett.
These volumes will probably be received with
cordiality by a public that is always attracted by
deeds of naval daring, and which generally makes
amends to its naval heroes for the coldness of
officials or the jealously of rivals by the readiness
of its approval and the warmth of its admiration.
Sir Charles Napier, the subject of these volumes,
had many of the qualities which fit a man to saine in
the profession which he chose, and had circumstances
been more favourable to him in the earlier part of
his career, there is little doubt that he would have
won even greater distinction. The victor of Cape
St. Vincent, Boharsef, and Acre was no common
commander, and it must always be a matter of
regret that seventeen of the best years of his life
were passed in retirement and inaction. It was,
indeed, impossible for so energetic and fiery a spirit
to remain in total idleness, and, unfortunately
for himself, he became engaged in a pro-
ject for establishing iron steamboats on the Sane,
which resulted in the loss of the greatest part of
' his private property. Even in his early years the
same energy and daring were remarkable. When
only twenty-two he was in command of a small
frigate in the West Indies, and was mainly in-
strumental in capturing a French line-of-battle ship.
The French Admiral, on surrendering his sword,
asked the name of the little vessel that had ham-
pered his movements so much, and on being told
that it was the " Recruit," replied with a melan-
choly smile, " Recruit ! no, that no conscript, that
one very old soldier !" In testimony to his ser-
vices on that occasion, Captain Napier was imme-
diately removed into the captured "D'Haupoult"
by Sir Alexander Cochrane, but the Admiralty, as
usual, undid the work, and suspended him hi his
command, although confirming him in his rank.
This was the first of many similar mortifications. In
later years Sir Charles provoked the antagonism of
a large and prejudiced party by the invaluable
assistance he rendered to the constitutional cause in
Portugal. His brilliant services on that occasion
form one of the brightest pages in his history, and
excited the warmest enthusiasm among the Portu-
guese. Many years later the gallant sailor was
appointed to command the expedition to Syria,
where he won fresh laurels at Boharsef and Acre.
These memorable days rank him among our naval
heroes, and, whatever mistakes or faults of temper
may have chequered his later career, they must
render his name illustrious in those annals of
triumphs on the deep that are among an English-
man's proudest possessions. After the conclusion
of the Syrian expedition, Admiral Napier added but
little to his fame. He entered Parliament, where
he did good service in exposing the corruptions of
the navy, until 1854 when he accepted the com-
mand of the Baltic fleet. Upon this vexed question
we will not enter, since it reflects but little credit
on any of the parties concerned. The editor of these
volumes, Major-Gen. Napier, the stepson of the
lamented Admiral, is well qualified to enter upon a
somewhat arduous undertaking. With a sincere
admiration and affection for his adopted father, he
combines an intimate acquaintance with all the in-
cidents of his career and a power of narrating
events with true soldierlike simplicity and straight-
forwardness. The daring " Black Charles" who
was a terror to the enemy, is shown to have been
as remarkable for his kindness and affectionate care
at home as for his dashing courage abroad. In one
respect these memoirs fully realise the popular idea
of the Napiers, who are generally as quick with
the pen as with the sword, and carry out their
famous motto, " Ready, aye Ready," in literary
controversy as well as in the field of battle. Gen.
Napier admits that his hero was always quick to
resent an insult whether real or imaginary, and
some of the extracts from his correspondence prove
him a formidable antagonist on foolscap no less than
on board a ship of the line. It may be questioned,
however, whether Sir Charles always did himself
justice on these occasions, or, whether the substan-
tial merits of his cause did not sometimes suffer
from injudicious advocacy. Many of the most
important events in these volumes are narrated in
his own words, and we learn from the appendix
that the editor has been compelled to omit much
interesting material. Some of these papers he has
inserted in the appendix, and others he hopes to
introduce in a future edition. The official letters
are often highly important. The Premier's gay
style and unfailing tact carry him safely even
through a correspondence with a Napier. We trust
he will act upon one of his own observations. While
writing to the Admiral he compliments him upon
the efficiency of his, squadron. "'While our ships
are in such good order," he goes on to say, " and
we have enough of them at sea, our neighbours
across the Channel will take care to keep quiet.
Diplomatists and protocols are very good things,
but there are no better peace-keepers than well-
appointed three-deckers." The work is one of great
interest, and can sparcely fail to meet with the
attention it deser,,ves. Unfortunately for Sir
Charles Napier, the l last years of his life were not
the most brilliant. ' Had he died after securing
Donna Maria on the throne, or fallen during the
Syrian expedition, the winner of the action off
Cape St. Vincent, oil, still more, the captor of Acre
would have been belvailed as the worthy successor
of Nelson and Dundonald. But though his latter
days were passed in a mismanaged and ill-fitted ex-
pedition and in angry controversy with officials, we
must not forget that it was the same old sea lion
who once established constitutional government in
Portugal, and dictated terms to the terrible Mehe-
met Ali. We must pay him the honour due to those
exploits, and it must be a matter of gratification to
all interested in our naval history that one who was
so great an ornament to his profession has now a
worthy chronicle of his achievements.

Forest Creatures. By Charles Boner, author of
" Chamois Hunting in Mountains of Bavaria."
Longman and Co.
This volume contains some very curious particu-
lars concerning certain denizens of the woods with
which the author has been on intimate, though per-
haps not friendly terms. The animals treated of are
few, but then they are those of note, and rank ampeg
the highest order of game. The first on the list is
the boar, which is allowed by all to be one of, if not
the boldest and most gallant animals of the chase,
both in the extensive forests of Northern Europe
and in the tangled jungles of tropical India. After
describing the habits of the Knight of Bristles,
and the mode in which he is hunted in Ger-
many, the author goes on to describe certain pecu-
liarities which are not very creditable to the
" Knightly beast," as he has always been termed
by true lovers of wood craft and writers on " the
noble art of venery." Writing of the female, he
informs us, that " she is a good mother, though, on
,
occasions, she devours her young, and strangely
enough such unnatural conduct grows epidemic.
Hardly has one mother thus trespassed against
nature, when others begin to follow her
I example, and litter after litter is
thinned by the like atrocity." The only
way to put a stop to this unnatural depravity
seems to be to exterminate the evil-doers root and
branch, and so end at once the allurement and
example. It would seem that this taste for canni-
balism is not confined to the mothers, for the males
have sometimes a penchant for little porkers. A
forester, who had been watching their proceedings
from his look-out, informed the author that an old
boar would knock down some little sucking-pig and
then bite it, when the rest would join in the scuffle
and devour it. One old boar be observed ap-
proach a troop of young pigs, and taking one in his
mouth, as a pointer would carry a partridge, trot
off with it. As the boar was retreating he fired
and wounded it, but, nothing daunted, it returned
the next night, when another bullet put an end to
its systematic infanticide. The vast forests of
Germany afford excellent shelter, and although at
the present time the boars are very numerous, their
number cannot be compared to what it must have
been a few centuries ago. " From the game-
booko kept by Duke William the Fourth,
Ann
Domini 1545, still preserveearnd in t
that e archive s
ightty-
afoonf
udr
t,wildh Uppere Bavaria,bloaasrts
were
day
we lilled between as er
ofk the Carnival.E In
Duke Albert
olbfegratmthe,esFl ibftoha,rslwssesr-e
t1151€379d,i
besides
ysidlp
ecse
allshot in one year, in 1576, 107; and in 1577, 104, all
obtyh el:
with his own hand. The greater part of the
volume is devoted to the various species of the deer
tribe, and it is curious to note to -what excesses the
mania for field sports carried the princes, nobles and
even the ecclesiastics of olden times. 'William the
Conqueror enacted that " whosoever should slay
stag, hart or hind, him man should blind." This was,
however, mild punishment, for in Germany death
was the penalty for poaching. - The clergy were
not behind hand in vindicating:their rights. "In
1537, the Archbishop Michael of Salzburg had a
peasant who took possession of a stag which he
found dead in his own corn, sewed up in the
animals skin and worried to death by his hounds, he
himself looking on the while. In 1562 a poacher
was taken in Hesse. The Landgrave, in his great
mercy, remitted the sentence of death ; but the man
was tortured, his right eye put out, and a stag's
antlers branded on his forehead." The above are
but a few of the barbarities practised to ensure the
preservation of game. The stags' antlers possess
a peculiarity not to be found in the bovine race.
The stag sheds his antlers annually, and each year
the new ones possess an additional point, the num-
ber of which determines his age and tlenomina: _
Thus he is first a brocket, when at two becomesn,
receives his brow Antlers ; a year later he