The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-13 00:00:00

July in the-same year on the part of the Ameers. By that
treaty the confederacy of the Arruvra was dissolved, and Sinde
was brought by it within the sphe re of their Indian policy;
and even some important places were surrendered by it. This
treaty divided the whole great drama into two periods—the one
including the occupation of Sinde, mid the other the opera-
tions which succeeded. Sir C. Nap;er was chosen to carry
into effect the terms of the treaty, and he took the command
of the troops. When he arrived in the country, he conversed
with the Ameers on the subject of the treaty, and he immedi-
ately reported to the Governor-General that several infrac-
tions of the treaty had taken place on the part of the Ameers.
(The Hon. and Gallant Member here read extracts from the
reports of Sir Charles Napier, complaining of infractions of
the !mtg.) These were the justifications of Sir C. Napier,
iii proceeding as he did to enforce the terms of the treaty.
There was enough in that treaty to justify Sir C. Napier to
proceeding as be did; and the last treaty to which the Hon.
Gentleman who spoke last referred, only rendered more strin-
gent the terms of the treaty of 1839. He would not enter
into the argument of the old man or the young man who
figured in Sinde—(Laughter)—but he rested the defence of
his Gallant Friend on the violation of the treaty of Hydera-
bad, and he was justified in taking every proceeding, even
the havinz recourse to arms, to enforce the terms of that
treaty. He would add his testimony, as a military man, to
the brilliant achievements of that Gallant Officer, and he be-
lieved that if he had acted upon the advice of Major Outrani,'
and dela)ed one hour longer, he would have been lost, for it
was likely the Atneers would have obtained an additional
force of 50,000 men. So distinctly did he perceive the diffi-
culties in which Majour Outran] was placed, that while
he ( Major Outram himself) assured him he had nothing
to fear, the Gallant General saw grounds for great
apprehension, and he determined upon advancing. —( Hear,
hear.) They had the testimony of Major Outram himself to
show that he had been deceived, for shortly after hostilities
commenced by attacking his own regiment. Major Outram,
he knew, was entitled to the character of a brave soldier ; he
knew him well by reputation, and his defence of his residence
was a very distinguished one. Having said this much in justifi-
cation of the conduct of his Gallant Friend, he hoped the House
would permit him, as a military man, to make a few observa-
tions on the battle of Meeanee and a few others. There was a
great disparity of force; he had only one British regiment,
and though he relied on his other troops, his dependence was
mo't upon this corps, which he placed in the front of the battle.
He had no reserve ; he attacked with a combination of all his
force, artillery, infantry, and cavalry. That combination was
apparent in both battles, and had he not adopted this system it
would have been scarcely possible to have succeeded. He
contended that not even the victories of Lord Clive, who laid

the foundation of their military and political power in India,
not even the splendid exploits of the Cornwallises, the Moiras,
and the Wellesleys—not even the first great battle of the Hero
of a hundred fights"—had conduced more to the reputation of
their arms than these actions. Their empire in India was only
raised by military power; he did not ask what took them first
to India; their first places of occupation were trading stations ;
but they could never have been able to have held them but for
the military force. The present actions had confirmed their
power in India, and were, therefore, not less deserving the
thanks of the House than the actions of the illustrious men he
had alluded to.

Mr. B. HA WES said he did not intend to go into the
general policy of the occupation of Sinde ; but he thought
there was no precedent for a vote of thanks on the present
occasion, inasmuch as there had been no declaration of war.
We committed the aggression in the first instance, by invading
the territory of Sinde. We then attempted to enforce one
treaty, and set aside another already existing. He must say.
therefore, it would be hard to find a precedent for a vote of
thanks, under such circumstances. He did not wish to detract
from the military reputation of Sir C. Napier. If they were
merely called on to thank him, as a General Officer, for a
brilliant exploit, he should feel it his duty to-do so. But Sir
Charles was vested with the supreme political command of
Sinde, as well as that of the army. The diplomatic agents
were all removed, and Major Outram was placed entirely under
Sir C. Napier. Had Major Outram's advice been followed,
these battles would not have been fought. It had not hitherto
been the practice to give the thanks of the House for one soli-
tary brilliant exploit ; but, lately, it had become the custom to
do so,—thereby lessening its value. Sir C. Napier had shown
a disposition to carry on his negotiations by force, and if the
House passed this vote of thanks, it would be establishing a
dangerous precedent, one of setting aside the rules of negotia-
tion, and resorting at once to the sword,—thus giving a pre-
mium to war and blood.
Commodore Sir C. NAPIER said, he rose under no ordinary
feelings, to return his thanks to the Right Hon. Baronet for the
eloquent manner in which he had brought forward the services
of his g Ilant relative, and for the honour he had done himself,
by speaking of him in a manner which he certainly did not
expect. The Right Hon. Baronet had mentioned the services
of his gallant relative, beginning at the battle of Corunna, and
following him through all the operations in the Peninsula. But
the Right Hon. Baronet was ignorant of some of the occur-
rences in which his gallant relative had taken part, and he
hoped the House would permit him to mention them here,
as the question under discussion was a vote of thanks to be
given to him. At the battle of Corunna it was perfectly noto-
rious that, when leading on the 50th Regiment, it being the
first time he was in action, he advanced far beyond his men,
something stopped them, and, while trying to bring them on,
he was surrounded by a French corps, was cut down by a sabre
stroke, was pierced in the back by a stab, was shot in the leg
by a ball, and had two of his ribs broken by a musket shot !
Now he really thought that this was a dose enough for any
man 1—( Cheers and laughter.) He was then taken prisoner
and conveyed to the quarters of Marshals Soult and Ney, by
whom he was carefully nursed, and restored to his family
without an exchange. He was sure that there was no man,
either in England or France, who would more rejoice at
hearing of the exploits of his Gallant Friend in India than
Marshal Soult.—(Cheers,) When he returned to England
he obtained permission to join the ai my in Spain, under the
Duke of Wellington, and they first heard of him at the pas-
sage of the Douro, where he had a horse shot under him. He
was afterwards at Busaco, as an amateur.—( Laughter.) He
(Commodore Napier) was also there as an amateur himself.—
(Cheers.) At Busaco his gallant relative was shot through
the nose and jaw while by his side, and fell into his (Commo-
dore Napier's) arms—(Cheers.)—he himself bore him from the
field.—(Cheers.) He was a man of heroic courage, but pos-
sessing also the coolness so requisite in a soldier, and he well
remembered that while watching the movements of the armies,
he observed to his gallant relative that he was dressed in his,
red coat—that he had lon the uniform of his regiment, though
the staff wore blue. He told him that he was doing wrong—
that he would be marked out, and that he ought
to put on his cloak. He said "No ! it is the
uniform of my regiment, and in it I will stand or
fall. "—(Loud cheers.) The words were hardly pro-
nounced before he was struck; he fell into his arms,
and he bore him off the field. As he bore him away they met
the Duke of Wellington, and, the spirit of the soldier being
strong within him, though the frame was weak, he took off his
hat and cheered, saying " I cannot die at a better moment."—
(Cheers.) In the surgical operation he underwent afterwards
he showed the same courage ; he held him while the bail was
extracted, and he minded it no more than if it had been a tooth
drawn ; he said not a word.—( Cheers.) After he recovered
he was present at the battle of Fuentes D'Oaor, where, for
once, he escaped without a wound. He was then at Bidassoa,
where. though he escaped again, he bad two brothers wounded,
and received his promotion. His next service was under
Admiral Sir G. Cockburn. Here, though the fighting was
not quite of so regular a .kind as in Spain, it was quite as
hard. They next found him, as a civil officer in the
island of Cephalonia, and it was well known that no man ever
did more, in a civil situation, for the improvement of a
country than Sir C. Napier did for the island of Cephalonia.
They neat heard of him as Commander of the District of the
North of England, and, Radical as he was, and as he ac-
knowledged he was_( Hear, hear)—he believed that the Noble
Lord then at the head of the Home Department, would tea-
tify that no man could have better commanded the army in
that district at a time when there was considerable difficulty.
—(" Hear, hear," from Sir Robert Peel.) He kept the
whole of that district perfectly quiet, as much so as any man
who was totally and perfectly on the side of the Government.
—( Hear, hear.) He next came to what he had done in India.
The Right Hon. Baronet had so well described the whole of
his conduct there, from the time he took the command, that
it would be neeeaary for him to say but every little on the
subject. Still the House, he hoped, would excuse him if he
dwelt a little complacently on his relative's services,
manneraoandthethgeuestionof
in which he had performed them.—
(Hear, hear.) They had nothing to do with the policy that
dictated these movements, but only with his conduct as a
general officer in the command of an army. If the policy was
bad, let them try and punish him, if they. pleased; but as a
tfgThreohanmet the Sir
number
ulofi yhocer, lie was sorry that the Noble Lord bad touched
policy at all. In the first reports that came
home of the battle of Meeanee he said that he had 2,800 men
to meet an enemy 20,000 strong. But on examining the
army it was said that he had 2,000 men. He, however, had it
bChralroelfe
number
tuhhmi
embseeenrl
enemy
oint
fhyaht
shaes forcehsa stt
stated
eonlyd only
a 1
t,a7mo 002
amounted
ea yd o n;teo 2
t s,, 0
anotheroand.
report gave it as 25,000; but he (Commodore Napier)
knew that it amounted to 30,000 men.—(Cheers.) He
knew not in ancient or modern history anything like an officer
with so small a body of men overcoming so enormous a dis-
parity of numbers. These 30,000 men were posted in a strong
position; and in such a position he was perfectly astonished
that the Ameers had not driven the English army into the
Indus or anywhere else.—(Laughter.) The Sepoys were
broken ou that occasion, and Sir Charles wrote home
that they were rallied by their officers; but he did not state
what was the fact, that they were rallied by himself.—(Cheers. )
He now came to the battle of Hyderabad ; there Sir Charles
had a force of 5,000 men, and with the prestige of the former
battle with him, he could have beaten a hundred thousand.
The Ameers had the experience of their former defeat to teach
them, and yet they were beaten there with more facility than
at first. He had heard gallant officers in India speak of the
nullahs of that country, and the one which Sir C. Napier carried
was 40 feet broad, and 72 feet deep. His gallant relation was
riding his horse " Red Rover"—(Laughter)—and when he
came to the brink of the nullah, he started at the sight, bat the
spirit which animated the man was communicated even to the
horie—(Cheers)—and carried him through it. But nothing
could have done it except great excitement—the sama
sort of excitement as he felt in Imiting in the fields
of Leioestershire, -- (Laughter.) He believed it was
generally admitted, that had Sir Charles Napier waited
twenty-four hours longer before he made the attack, he would
have been surrounded by 50,000 or 60,000 men. One of the
Ameers admitted, on the evening in which the battle was
fought, that 12,000 fresh troops were assembled in the neigh-
bourhood of Hyderabad, This, he thought, Ives a sufficient
Justification of his gglant relative for having fought the battle
when he did. He would now make a few observations on the
mspueestchsaoyf
thatthe be
NobilreeaLtolyrdd,ifftheereMd efrmobmerhfiomr. SaTndheerlNanodb,leanid6hrde
said that Sir C. Napier must have bean a diplomatist, since
he corresponded with Major Outram, though he did not follow
the Major's advice, Now he begged to say that he approved as
much of the diplomacy of his noble relative as he did of his
fighting propensities.—(Laughter.) He went to Snide with
distinct and positive orders from Lord Ellenborough, and had
he not carried out the instructions he received,
he presumed that Lord Ellenborough would have found
fault with him. But the Blue Book showed slog,
PR I Ellenborough ePProve4 of what ha had done, and if
if "ha was wrong in so doing, the blame must rest with Lord
Ellenborough, and not with his gallant relative. They were
here passing a vote of thanks to him for his conduct as a milt-
st
ha roywonflincoe
rr ae
r,l oin,4e
0.
ma nbda4he b
et hdoruregihrtetdhane
yNroebnil ea
rlifirodu erg: igde
nhearsrael
policy of the question till a future opportunity, which it seemed
was to be afforded them. The Noble Lord admitted that the
Ameers plotted against us. Now he should like to know what
the limitation of plotting was? How felt* wpve they to be
tc! go qq Ple'stir.g 7 Wore they to be allowed to plot to
cut our throats, for instance ?_( Laughter.) That was to him
a sort of thing which he eould not at all understand.—
(Laughter.) Then the Noble Lord brought forward a 1041
of Mr. Eastwick's. But bad Mr, 414104 all s
—( Hear, hear. )jt was epy kilns to say, after all was sayer,
olkt Itoph4lel ?Samar dope this or that, things
would have been Otherwise. But if anything had gone wrong,
was 111r.IEastwick in any way responsible ?—( Hear, hear.)
Had Sinde been an ordinary climate like that of Europe. and
had his gallant relation an army of 10,000 men, it might be
perfectly right for him to temporise and go on slewlyt.hut
When they knew that in the infense heat of the elltlsareof..*Mde
rise webk or foriniglit"Mipi clestiOy nhop army, ha sheaga
111,Ce a;ii; coikt'arlY eoromguaer of au army in such circum-
stances' defer his movements? The Noble Lord also made a
comparison of the battles of Meeanee and Hyderabad with the
battle of Xavirino. Nowt he should like to know, in the name