The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-15 00:00:00

Since that time he has been in command of the force in Ro
hilcund. That force has been signally successful. I think
the house will be of opinion that in the case of an officer who
has; done good service, and who has steadily and faithfully
discharged his duty, the mere accident of a single reverse—a
reverse such as that which has repeatedly occurred to the
ablest generals,. and such as the ablest generals have not
been ashamed to acknowledge L-ii no reason why he should
not share in_the thanks of this house. (Cheers.) I will' now
comment on, with a little more particularity, the great and
effective services rendered by Sir Robert Napier. Sir
Robert Napier having marched to Lucknow at the head of
part' of the relieving force, remained in a defensive position
till the final relief of the place in November. Lord Clyde
writes as follows The success of the troops has been in
no small, degree promoted by the incessant and self-denying
devotion' of • Colonel Napier, who has never been absent
many hohrs by day or night from any one of the points of
operation ; whose advice has, ever been readily tendered and
gratefully accepted by the executive offietrl3, whose earnest-
ness and kind cordiality have stimulate& 'and encouraged
all ranks and grades amidst their harassing difficulties and
dangerous labours." .Again, on a later occasion, referring
to the part which Sir Robert Napier took in the capture of
Lucknow, the Commander-in-Chief says :—" It would be
difficult to give an adequate idea of the zeal and activity
which he displayed." Since that time Sir Robert Napier
has commanded in the Gwalior district, and among many
other achievements which he performed with signal eclat
was that of defeating, with a very small force of cavalry, a
large force of the enemy after the capture of Gwalior, and
taking from them 24 guns. (Cheers.) Sir, I believe I
have now gone through the list of those officers whose
names are included in this vote ; and if I have done so with
any unnecessary detail, or if I have gone into details which
are to some extent unavoidably dry, being limited to a mere
enumeration of the principal exploits performed, I hOpe the
house will feel that, standing here in the position that I
occupy, I had a duty to perform in relation to these officers
which I could not neglect. (Cheers.) lam anxious now,
before I sit down, to explain briefly what is the principle
on which these votes have been framed. Happily, in-
stances'of gallantry, of devotion, and of military skill have
not been rare. To recognise all these separately and
individually even in the case of officers holding compa-
ratively high and responsible situations, would, from the
very nature of the case, be impossible. To draw a line, and
decide who should be included and who should not be in-
cluded, would in any case be a somewhat invidious task.
But the course which is sanctioned by precedent, and the
course which on the whole appears the least invidious one
that can be followed, is to take as a test the military rank of
the individual and the importance of the operations in which
he has been engaged, including, as we have done here,
those who have had the independent command of
a division, and who have also been actively engaged
in the field. (Hear, hear.) There is another rule
which has been laid 'down by us in selecting names for
this vote, and I wish to advert to it, because it will explain
the omission of some names which some hon. gentlemen may
think ought to have appeared. We have not thought it
right to go back to the operations of 1857, that is, to some of
those operations which were within the cognisance of the
Government of the day at the time when the last vote was
passed in this house, because it seemed to us that nothing
could be more improper, nothing could be more unsound,
than for any Government in a matter of this kind to attempt
to revise, and so possibly to alter the decision of a previous
Government. I mention this, because there are one or two
names which, but for the necessity of a limitation of this
kind, I should very gladly have included. Some of the ser-
vices performed in 1857 by Sir Patrick Grant were of a nature
which may well excite the national pride. Sir Patrick Grant
held the chief command in India previous to the arrival of
Lord Clyde; but he was not actively engaged in the field
during any part of last year; and therefore, though it was
done with regret, his name was omitted. Neither was it
possible, consistently with the rule I have noticed, to men-
tion the name of Sir John Jones, who commanded
for a time in Rohilcund ; or the name of Brigadier Chain-
berlayne, than whom, I am told on the highest authority, no
man did more to organise the Punjaub force—(hear hear)—
or thename of Sir Sidney Cotton, who rendered modeffective
and valuable service in some expeditions against certainwild
tribes of India. Sir, when we are paying the tribute which
is due to those who are living, it is not fitting, I think, that
we should pass away from the contemplation of this matter
without`recognising the services of the dead. (Hear, hear.)
Operations like those of the last 18 months could not be con-
ducted without a great and lamentable loss of life. Unfor-
tunately the loss of the public service in this war is not one
which you can measure by any numerical test that it is pos-
sible to apply, because it is always the best and bravest offi-
cers who go to the front, who at a period of extraordinary
difficulty and danger doubly expose themselves, and who
therefore undergo a more than ordinary amount of risk.
Among the many brave men who have fallen in these cam-
paigns there are two whom, without exposing myself to the
charge of invidiousness, I may, I think, be allowed espe-
cially to name. Major Hodson of the Guides—(cheers)—
in a short but brilliant military career, displayed every
quality which is manifested by a first-rate cavalry officer in
the field. There is nothing more remarkable than the va-
riety of services in which he was employed, unless it be the
energy and versatility with which he turned from one to
another. Employed first against the desperate Sikh fana-
tics, then transferred to the civil service, and labouring there
as if he had passed all his life in it ; then organising and
commanding the corps of Guides ; and, lastly, in the ope-
rations before Delhi volunteering for every enterprise in
which life could be hazarded or glory acquired, he crowded
into twelve eventful years the services of a long life, and
died with the warrior's crown. (Cheers) He attained
what was no doubt to him the highest reward in the con-
sciousness of a duty nobly discharged, and the assurance of
an enduring military renown. (Loud cheers.) Sir, the
other deceased officer to whom I wish to advert bore a name
in which we must all feel a special and peculiar interest.
No word of mine can add to the glory of the short career of
Sir William Peel. (Cheers.) Sir William bore a name
which was inseparably connected with the parliamentary
history of his country ; and it was ?iot,- I think, without
feelings of personal pride and persofial pleasure that the
members of this house heard the news of his achievements.
(Cheers.) His career had an untimely end. (Hear, hear.)
For his own reputation, indeed, ho had lived long enough—
no future act could enhance that reputation ; it is England,
it is his country that has cause to deplore his loss. (Hear,
hear.) The last resolution which stands on the paper is
one which I am sure requires no words of mine to recom-
mend it to the house—l refer to the acknowledgment
of " the valour, self-devotion, and brilliant services of
the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers."
• Never, before, I believe, was there courage more brilliant,
never was there. greater energy or endurance. (Cheers.) I
had intended to include in the vote—l imagined that the
words as they stood would cover them—the services of the
petty officers, seamen, non-commissioned officers, and
marines employed with the naval force. (Cheers.) Sir, I
think that if the people of this country pay, as I believe
they do, one and all, high and low, rich and poor, honour
and respect to the courage of the Engilsh troops, that
honour and that respect are not paid merely in consideration
L of the results which the courage of those troops has
achieved—are not paid merely because we feel that to them
we owe the restoration of our power in India, and the en-
hancement of our military reputation abroad—but are paid
for other and deeper reasons, because we feel that those
qualities of courage and endurance which have been so sig-
nally displayed in the operations of the war are qualities
• which lie at the very root of our national character, and that
if they ceased to form part of the national character, not
only the military glory, not only the possessions abroad,
i but the honour, the independence, the safety—nay, the very
existence of this great and world-wide empire, could no
longer be for a single day secure. (Cheers.) Sir, without
further comment, and regretting that I should have de-
tained the house so long, I beg to move the resolutions
which stand on the paper. (These resolutions will be found
in our Lords' report.)
Lord PALMERSTON—Sir, in rising to second the
motion of the noble lord opposite, I do not hope, nor will I
attempt, to add anything to those glowing and manifestly
heart-felt commendations which the noble lord, in a speech
which I am sure we all heard with the greatest sympathy and
admiration pronounced on the conduct of those distinguished
men, civil, military, and naval, who are the subjects of the
vote which he has proposed. But I cannot refrain from ask-
ing the permission of the house to have the honour of
coupling my name with the tribute of gratitude and respect
which the noble lord has now proposed that we shall offer to
the persons who are included in the vote. Sir, the occasion
on which we are now assembled is connected with one of
those bright memories which from time to time arise amid
the hostile conflicts of party politics in this house. There
are occasions on which this house is permitted to lay aside
party contests, and to remember only that it is the repre-
sentative of the nation whi.:ll sent us here, when it unites
in offering a tribute of honour and gratitude to those men
who have had the good fortune to perform great services for
' their country. These occasions are not only gratifying to
us and honourable to this house, but there are occasions
upon which more than at any other time this house is the
organ and expression of the feelings of the people of this
country. Sir, there never was, perhaps, an occasion more
deserving than the present of the expression of the thanks
of Parliament ; for I may say, without fear of denial, that
the great struggle which is brought to a termination in
India was one of the most remarkable events, not only in
the history of this country, but of any country which has
ever existed in the world. There was never an occasion on
which a danger of such immense and fearful import broke
out so unexpectedly ; there was never an occasion in which
a greater danger was met by more wonderful ability and
resources:those by which this had been overcome with com-
plete success. The noble lord has so eloquently and so
well offered to those persons who are mentioned in this
vote the appropriate terms of p raise belonging to their vol
cation, that it would be almost impertinent for me to add to
those praises ; indeed, by attempting to do so, I might,
perhaps, be detracting from the well-merited praise which
he has given. It is, however, impossible for me not to add
a word of concurrence to the well-deserved praise which he
has awarded to Lord Canning. He has well said that there
is, perhaps, not a man who has been placed in a more diffi-
cult position. There is not a man who, placed in a like
situation, has displayed greater temperance, greater courage,
greater moderation, or greater firmness when the moment
had arrived to act sternly and decisively. When we on this
side reflect that it is we who thought right t• appoint Lord
Canning to the Governor-Generalship of India, we must
feel some gratification in finding the ad vice we tendered to
the Sovereign has led to" the happy results which have now
come about. With regard to Lord Elphinstone, whom also
I had the honour of naming, the noble lord has bestowed a
just tribute to the ability which that noble person has dis-
played. It is needless for me to attempt to add to the just
praises which have been bestowed on that most
eminent and distinguished public servant, Sir John
Lawrence, or upon those other civilians to whom
allusion has been made. But with regard to Lord
Clyde and Sir H. Rose—two of the officers whose services
have been so well sketched out—l certainly feel glad and
thankful to the noble lord for the manner in which he has
alluded to the circumstance of their having been appointed
by the late Government; but this .I must say, in justice
to the Commander-in-Chief, that in all those appointments
his royal highness was consulted, and concurred with her
Majesty's Government in the appointments which they
made. (Hear, bear.) Undoubtedly it is not too much to
say of Lord Clyde that he has shown all the great quali-
ties which combine to make a great commander. (Ilear,
hear.) He has shown extraordinary skill, courage, and
moderation, care in the management of his soldiers, and a
power of combined movement. (Hear, hear.) There is, in
fact, nothing which makes a good commander which Lord
Clyde has not had the opportunity of showing, and, having
that opportunity, has not shown. I trust that his health
has not suffered by what he has undergone, but that when
his period of service is over he may return in possession of
his full vigour to receive from his countrymen that recep
tion which he so well deserves. (Hear, hear.) With re-
gard to Sir H. Rose, I had many years ago the happiness
to employ Sir H. Rose, and he then gave evidence of those
abilities, the promise of which has been fulfilled in all
places where he has been engaged, whether in Egypt, Syria,
or the Crimea. Those abilities have had an opportunity
of further development in India, and Sir H. Rose has
justly attained, the distinction which entitles him to the
thanks of this house. (Hear, hear.) With regard to Sir
James Outran and the other officers to whom the noble
lord has awarded a just tribute, I can add nothing to what has
fallen from him. This, however, I may mention with regard
to Six R. Groat, that trust we may one du see adorniu. g