The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-27 00:00:00

COMMODOTO

'APIRR IN MANCHESTER

On Wednesday last a public dinner was given to Commo-
dore Napier in Manchester, at which the Mayor p

and many gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood were
present. After the Commodore's health had beep proposed,
he spoke as follows :—Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, when I
last had the honour of being in Manchester, some three or
tour years ago, with that distinguished warrior, Marshal
Soult,—to whom you, in common with Liverpool and Bir-
mingham, paid that attention so worthy of the English cha-
r racter, I little thought, that, in a few years afterwards, I
. should be here myself, and be received by you and others in
[ the very kind and handsome manner in which I have now
been received, both in Liverpool and here this day. (Cheers.)
[ Your mayor, gentlemen, has complimented rue very much—
. I might almost say undeservedly—(cries of " No, no")—on
. the services which I have performed. Gentlemen, I found
myself in Syria under very peculiar circumstances. The
general officer who came out to Syria to take the command
was on his arrival, in such extremely bad health, that he was
obliged to return ; and Admiral Sir Robert Stopford (I sup-
pose for a want of a better) offered me the command of the
Turkish troops entrusted to his charge. Certainly it was a
new command to me, to find myself entrusted with that of a
Turkish army—(hear)—and the Turks had not only an Eng-
lishman commanding their army, but they had also an Eng-
lishman commanding their navy [Rear-Admiral Walker.]—
(Hear.) It is well known, that it was of the utmost import-
ance to affairs in Syria, that the war should be settled as soon
as possible. We were threatened with a war by France ; we
did not know but that at any moment the French fleet might
appear off Alexandria, and combine with the Egyptian fleet
there to attack us. We landed 5000 troops ; and we found
ourselves surrounded by 20,000 Egyptian troops, who were
north, south, east, and west of us. We thought it was ne-
cessary at once to do something. They allowed me to form
my own plans, and I followed the example of the illustrious
Duke of Wellington, under whose banner I had the honour
of serving. (Great cheering.) We were opposed in Syria,
by Ibrahim ,Pacha, and a large army. In four days we were
ready to receive their forces. The pacha had always been
noted as a very great general, as well as Suleiman Pacha ;
and we therefore thought it necessary to act with the great-
est circumspection. We were perfectly unacquainted with
the roads of that country, and the first ten days were em-
ployed in acquainting ourselves with the different positions
where Ibrahim Pacha's army was stationed. He had then
upon our right 4000 or 5000 men under Suleiman Pacha ;
and after looking for them to attack us, for eight or ten days,
it may naturally be supposed that we began to get impatient ;
and as he would not come to us, why, as was the natural
result, we went to him. (Loud cheers and laughter.)
It was our first affair ; and having with us 500 marines, and
not knowing how the Turkish troops would fight ; knowing
that the marines were accustomed to war, we sent the ma-
rines forward to attack him ; but, long before we could get
near the Egyptian troops, the pacha marched them off in
double quick time, and we had the pleasure of taking 600 or
700 prisoners in the course of about half an hour. (Cheers
and laughter.) Our position we saw was a dangerous one,
and we were obliged to come back again, double quick, and
we returned to our former position at D'Jouni, where we
arrived safe that night. This took place on the 24th Sep-
tember. On the 26th, it was determined to attack some of
their fortified places ; we went by sea to Sidon, and took
that city in 24 hours, and brought hack with us 3,000 pri-
soners. (Loud cheers.) It was a very new thing for our
Turkish troops to fight with a regular army ; the old Tut kish
troops, the janissaries, having been destroyed by the late
sultan. These new troops were, for the second time, brought
into action on the heights of Syria; and I must do them the
justice of saying, that I never saw men behave better than
those young soldiers. After the capture of Sidon, it was ne-
cessary to do something with the fleet. Beyrout was not yet
taken ; there was a strong force in it ; the place was doubt-
ful, for the inhabitants were the sultan's subjects, but it still
remained doubtful which side they would espouse,. when we
determined to attack it. We marched from D'Jouni upon
the heights of , with the intention of joining the prince
of the mountains, and so to descend upon Beyrout; but we
found ourselves opposed to such a large force of the Egyp-
tians, under Ibrahim Pacha, that it became necessary to at-
tack them. I made myself acquainted with the tactics of
Ibrahim Pacha, which were always to turn to the enemy's
left; at night, I passed over some troops into his rear, and
the next night we attacked him both front and rear • and
after half an hour's hard fighting, we destroyed nearly the
whole of its force. (Hear.) The consequence of that was
the evacuation of Beyrout and the whole of the mountains
of Lebanon, and the total liberation of the peasantry of the
country. (Cheers.) After that it was necessary to do
something further; and it was determined by the com-
mander-in-chief to take the whole naval force, together with
three thousand or four thousand troops, to Acre, the result
of which you know. (Cheers.) That result was owing en-
tirely to the skill of British seamen. In former wars many
actions were of course fought by our seamen with ships ; but it
had been very rare for them to fight batteries. One exception
was the taking of Algiers under Admiral Lord Exmouth, and
Acre was the next. There they showed such skill, that, from
the superiority and excellence of their firing, the place was
taken in three hours with hardly any loss at all. (Hear.)
I now come to a subject which you have complimented me a
great deal upon—my negotiations with Mehemet Ali. I was
sent off to Alexandria. It was then towards the end of the
season, and the beginning of winter. We had only 10,000
Turks in Syria for the defence of Sidon, Beyrout, Jerusalem,
Joppa, and Acre. Ibrahim Pacha had collected 50,000 men;
and, knowing the vicissitudes of war, and that delays are
dangerous, I took upon myself the responsibility of propos-
ing to Mehemet Ali peace. (Most enthusiastic cheering.)
I was quite aware that I was treading on delicate and dan-
gerous ground, because I was poaching on the province of
the diplomatists ; nevertheless I attempted it, and accom-
plished it. The diplomatists thought their trade was at au
end ; they protested against my convention, and upset it ;
the chiefs in Syria upset it also; so that there was fearful
odds; the Turkish admiral, four ambassadors, and a com-
mander-in-chief against me—(hear. hear)—still I was satis-
fied I had taken a clear view of the subject ; and I felt satis-
fied, that, by the time the despatches reached this country,
they would be better understood ; and I am happy to say,
that I received most complimentary letters from both Lord
Palmerston and Lord Minto, highly approving of the con-
vention which I had entered into. (Great cheering.) I had
the satisfaction of being sent to Alexandria to see that condi-
tion carried out; and I must do Mehemet Ali the justice of
saying, that, from the beginning to the end of the business,
he acted in a fair, open, straightforward manner. He gave
orders for the immediate evacuation of Syria ; he gave 'up
Turkish fleet ; he paid that fleet—not to the whole extent,
for he had not the money—but still he paid them what he
could ; he victualled them, and sent them back, with his
own officers, to Constantinople. lam excessively sorry to
say (perhaps it may not please at all points, but it is best to
tell the truth), that the Turkish government did not act with
good faith in this business ; they sent orders to their officers
in Syria to examine into the state of Ibrahim Pacha's army,
and, if it was found to be weak, to attack him, but, if strong,
to let him alone. They even went so far as—[we could not
hear the few following words]—contrary to the protest of
that gallant brother officer of mine; Sir C. Stuart, and Col,
Mitchell, both of whom protested very strongly against the
shedding of more blood. I will go further and say, that the
officer who was employed, by the interest of Lord Ponsonby,
was protested against by the Turkish government for taking
this course. The dragoman of the porte, sent by Lord Ponson-
by, ourambassador, handed his protest to the Turkish officer,
for not breaking the convention, and acting against the Pacha.
I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that the Eastern question is
still unsettled. After Mehemet Ali had acted in the best
manner possible ; after the sultan had got the fleet out of his
hands, he then sent him conditions which it was morally im-
possible that he could accept. He accepted the liberal part
of them ; he accepted the hatti scheriff to abolish slavery and
give up his monopolies ; but it was impossible for him to let
the porte appoint which of his sons they thought proper to
rule Egypt after his death. Another condition which the
porte wished to impose upon him was what he could never
accede to—that of taking away from him the power of ap-
pointing his officers to command his troops. Mehemet Ali
did me the honour of consulting me on the subject ; it was
a tender and delicate one ; but I certainly could not advise
him to accept the terms offered. (" Hear," and a voice,
" certainiy not.") Gentlemen, the very instructions that
we had from home were to carry on the war in Syria with as 1
little loss of life as possible—hear, and cheers) ;—but, though
we endevoured to observe this as much as possible, the Eng-
lish army sent to the other world not less than ten thousand
human beings. (Hear.) Gentlemen, I will not further de-
tain you, but again, thanking you, wish all prosperity to the
town of Manchester. (Great applause.)

AWFUL COLLIERY_ EXPLOSION.-THIRTY-TWO

LIVES LOST.

An explosion, attended by a deplorable sacrifice of human
life, and involving an almost inconceivable amount of suffer-
ing, occurred at Willington, four miles east of Newcastle, a
few minutes after one in the afternoon of Mondaylast. " Bigge
Pit"—for so the scene of the catastrophe is named—is one of
the several series of workings at Willington colliery, the pro-
perty of Matthew Bell, Esq., and Co., and was for a con-
siderable time closed, having been brought into active opera-
tion only a very short time ago. The workings are, there-
fore, comparatively, not extensive, the east headway running
220 yards, and the west headway 280 yards, while that to the
north is even much shorter. The shaft is sunk to the depth
of 140 fathoms, the High Main Seam being passed through,
and the working of the Bensham seam fairly carried on.
There were employed in the pit at the time of the explosion
35 men and boys, and the first intimation which those at the
bank received of their fellows' danger, was a tremendous re-
port, accompanied by a dense volume of smoke. The effect
upon the earth for a considerable distance round, is said, in
some degree, to have resembled that produced by the shock
of an earthquake, the whole surface appearing, as it were,
to quiver. The noise was heard far in every direction, more
especially eastward, the wind at the time blowing strong
towards that quarter; and the melancholy tidings were
thus proclaimed throughout the whole neighbourhood by
the very agency which wrought the mischief. Relatives,
and all in any way connected or sympathizing with those
engaged in the work were drawn to the spot, manifest-
ing in every look and action the dismal anxiety, the gloomy
forebodin, or the intense sorrow, with which the occur-
rence had overwhelmed them. Two men—Michael Ranson
and Henry Dunn—and George Charlton, a boy, all sinkers,
were employed at some distance in the east headway, and
were made sensible of their danger by the dust and wind
which came upon them. Fortunately the after-damp was
spent, and they reached the shaft without being injured : there
they found that stones and wood-work at the bottom were
torn from their places and had fastened the " cage," but,
after much labour, they were rescued from their perilous
position and conveyed to the top in safety. Without loss of
time, and with a readiness which, while it bespoke their feel-
ing, displayed their courage, a body of workmen descended
and forthwith commencd their melancholy work. The la-
bour, exhausting though it was, was continued unremittingly,
until the bodies of the 32 sufferers were recovered. Two
horses, in the nnorthern division, were found quite dead ; and
in the same direction where the three survivors were, was
found an old pony, which, though nearly starved, was unhurt.
The stable was burnt down, and an unknown amount of other
injury was effected.—Durharn Advertiser.

THE ARMY.—A general order has been issued from the
Horse Guards on the subject of the punishment of a soldier
of the 11th Hussars in the Riding House at Hounslow on
Sunday fortnight, under the direction of the Earl of Cardi-
gan. The conduct of the noble earl is condemned in terms
of well-merited censure, such as we trust will prevent any
repetition of the offence.
ARREST OF A M ANCHESTER ANTI-CORN LAW LEAGUER
FOR BRIBERY AT THE WALSALL ELECTION.—At the late
Stafford assizes, the grand jury found a true bill against Ed-
ward Hall, " late of Walsall, gentleman," as therein des-
cribed, but better known in this neighbourhood as the son of
Mr. James Hall, Sunneyside, a member of the Society of
Friends, and late Boroughreeve of Salford, for " unlawfully,
wickedly, and corruptly attempting and endeavouring to
one of the candidates to serve the said
bribe and corrupt one James Lynx, a voter of the said bo-
rough, to give his vote, as such voter at the said election, for
booneroßugehnjainm ipnaSmith,
nt., Upon this indictment a bench
warrant was issued by Mr. Justice Coleridge, and on Thurs-
day last Mr. Edward Hall, " late of Walsall, gentleman,"
was taken before the magistrates at the New Bailey, to an-
swer the charge at the next Stafford assizes. Mr. Maude,
who presided on the occasion, ordered the defendant to enter
into his own recognizances in £250, with two sureties in
£lOO each. Mr. Rawson and Mr. R. P. Livingstone having
entered into the required bond, Mr. Hall was set at liberty.
The consternation amongst the party who did the dirty work
of the league at Walsall is beyond description. Each of them
is expecting that his turn will come next ; and it is well known
that there are many in Manchester whose merits far exceed
th of Dlr. Edward Ha11..-Manchester Chronicle.