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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd September 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 844, Untitled Article

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      disasters of Cabul and Guznee , by the attacks of the Hill Beloochcs , the defeat of Colonel England , and the isolated position of General Nott , besieged in Candahar . But Sir Charles wrote , " Danger from their warfare , I can see none . I can beat all the princes in Scinde . " Gradually arranging his plans , for the campaignsettling his points of defence and selecting his points of attack , but still" negotiating with the treacherous Ameers—Sir Charles at length brought matters to a head . Leaving , for the present , the Ameers' troops unmolested , lie pushed through a wild countrynearly desert — to a mysterious fortification called Emaura Ghnr , which no European had ever seen , and

      which he ultimately reached with fifty cavalry , two howitzers , and 300 Irish infantry . With his handful of men he mined the whole place , blew it up , and returned across the desert withouthaving lost , a single man . A hostile army—ten times the number of the British , hung upon his flank , but did not venture to attack him . His next fight was with the Belooches , at Meanee . They were 35 , 000 in all , and he had but 2600 ; their cavalry numbered ten thousand , and his but eight hundred . They were also strongly posted in the bed and on the bank of a dried-up river . Finding that he could not turn their flank , he , as daring as Wellington at Assaye , attacked them in front . The enemy fought behind their fortifications . In their wall there was one

      opening , through which the outnumbering enemy was preparing to rush , but Napier ordered eighty men of the 22 nd to block it up with their bodies . Many of the brave fellows died at their post , but six thousand of the enemy were stopped by the firm front of eighty men . The vast multitude of Belooches , after a first fire , rushed upon the 22 nd with a terrific cry , waving their swords , and coverin g themselves with their shields . With shouts as loud and arms as strong , the gallant Irish 22 nd met them with that " queen of weapons the musket , and sent their foremost mosses rolling back in blood . " During this struggle , the English Sappers

      fought gallantly > protecting the artillery , which , havin g gained the flank , swept diagonally with grape the crowded masses of the Beloochcs , who " gave their breasts to the shot , and leaping at the guns were blown away by twenties at a time . " This horrible slau ghter absolutely lasted for three hours and a half , when Sir Charles , seeing that the battle must bu won or lost within twenty minutes , directed a desperate charge of cavalry on the right of the Belooches , whilo the infantry made one more final dash at the enemy , who at length gave way ,- the grapeshot still pouring into their dense masses , and the soldiers still usinpr their bayonets with

      the ferocity of men actually steeped in blood and maddened by the fury of the fight . This famous battle of Meanee was fought on the 17 th of February , 1843 . We lost two hundred and fifty-six men , and the enem y six thousand . In a few days the army took possession of Ilydrabad ; but Shore Muhommedj " tho Lion / ' the best of the Ameers , still held out , and after some manoiuvrings Napier met him . Even more- than Meanee , the contest which ensued was a pitched battle . The two 'armies were drawn out in regular military order facing ciich other , the Bolooches persevering in their usual tactics of concealment . The battle was long and

      obstinately maintained ; but , after much licrce and sanguinary lighting , the desperate charges of ininntry and cavalry , and the well-served artillery , at length * produced their efle . et—the Belooches giving- way after about three hours of contest . Seventeen . standards and fifteen guns were the trophies of the light . The " . Lion" retired to the desert , and a few dnys after the battle , the general was in tho palace of thu Ameers , and niustefr-of Seinde ; having in sixteen days , with 5000 men , defeated more than 25 , 000 in battle , captured two

      groafc fortresses , Oiuercote and Hydralmd ( which had been retaken during his absence ) , and inarched two hundred mile ,- ! under a Scindian , sun . This was his last battle in India . The two years of ( his campaign wen ? crowded " thick with great , actions . " In thai , time he had made the march to lOnia . nn ^ lnir in tlie great , desert , gained two great , battles , reduced four larLfe- and many smaller fortresses , captured six sovereign princes , and subdued a great Icin ^ doin .

      The disasters of tho Sikh win' caused Sir diaries Napier to be again sent to India . The Diiko of Wellington said to him , " Kither you must go , or I must . " IJe went , but found ilia Sikhs conquered . As ii military reformer Sir Charles Napier was severe , considerate , and judicious , During his first service ii . l , Monthly , ho induced the Sepoys to use ( , he musket instead of the nintchloek , and abolished the cumbrous p . ersonul baggage ) of the soldiers , llo did not kc . c 1 , 1 ml , the soldier wanted anything beyond " a clean whirl , a change of shoes , a piece of soap , and a . toothbrush . " In 1 S 1 * . ) , niter reviewing the iroops at Lahore , lie . sharply ruled some commanding oOiceis for the inefliciene . y of their men . lit ) said : " Tho reviowm which the Connnundor-iii-Clucf maked of the trooiw iiro not to

      be taken as so many "' chips in porridge . ' They are made for the . purpose of ascertaining what officers are fit to command battalions ; and there being no want of such in the Indian army , he will feel it to be his bounden duty to remove those who are not ; and whenever he finds a regiment ' fire / ' shout , ' or ' charge / without orders from its com man dei' , . he-will , after this Warning , remove the . latter from his « bmmand . The Commander-in-Chief does not hereby call on commanding officers to torment those under their orders by long and harassing drilling ; but he does call upon them to instruct their officers and to instruct themselves , and also their supernumerary ranks , that they are to seize any man in their front who dares to shout , or talk , or fire , or run , without orders . General officers

      commanding divisions and brigades in this army are called upon to see that commanders of regiments do their duty on those points . " As a judicious and active administrator of Civil affairs , Sir Charles Napier was also a great man . After the peace , in 1815 , he was appointed governor of Cephalonia . He was recalled by the Home Government ; but to the day of his death the memory of his-government was cherished by the people . ' The Cephalonese , " says Sir William Napier , in his Conquest of Scinde , " still call him ' Father / and still cultivate and remit to . him the profits of a small patch of vines , Sir Charles

      being ignorant even of the names of his attached friends . " At Bombay , shortly after his landing , he sharply criticized the government of Lord Auckland , and heartily welcomed Lord Ellenborough instead . In his negotiations with the Ameers of Scinde , he showed himself skilful , and in his decisive action against Shere Mohammed , he proved himself bold in policy as well as in war . When appointed Governor of Scinde , he worked hard at improving the province and raising the circumstances of the people . He created and'put in activity a permanent civil administration in all its branches , conciliated the affections of the different

      races inhabiting Scinde , seized all the points of an intricate foreign policy , commenced a number of military and other well-considered public works , and planned still greater ones , not only suited to the exigencies of the moment , but having also a prospective utility of aim . He also managed , by means of the strong influence which he possessed over the minds of the population , to change the feudal system of landholding into a landlord and tenant system , and then published one of his last manifestoes , which concludes as follows : — " My motives for this step , " he said , " are that the host of poor ryots hitherto slaves , not only to the Ameers , but

      to the jagheerdars , will be enfranchised , and enabled to live in comfort if industrious ; and I know that the nobles can never be good or contented subjects unless we give them public employment , and honour them . Had I left them in possession of their enormous ja « v heers , and their military tonures , and their royalties , they would have always been dangerous subjects ' . Even under my system they will become very powerful ; but I have established a counter-check by opening a way to raise a race of independent fanners attached to tho Government . This is all I can now do for Scinde and its fine people . "

      In personal appearance Sir Charles was a strange —almost a wild-looking warrior . He wore a long board , and from behind his spectacles his piercing eyes glittered out . He had an eagle nose , and was small in stature . He was capable of enduring- < . > -rcat physical and mental toil . He worked very hard in carrying out his great campaign and gigantic reforms in Seinde . During two years he travelled on camels and on horseback , at the bead of troops , more than two thousand mile : ;; wrote , received , studied , and decided on between four and five thousand official despatches and reports—many very elaborate- —besides his private correspondence , which was extensive , because be never failed to answer all persons who addressed him however humble or however

      unreasonable . He besides read , not hastily , but attentively , all ( hi ; diaries of the collectors and . sub-collector ' s , and most anxiously considered llio evidence in all capital trials . And these immense labours were Nuperadded to the usual duties imposed by tho command of a large army belonging to dillereut ( Jovornnuuits namely , of Umyland , Calcutta , Bombay , and Madras . They ' were sustained without abatement under . severe attacks of illness , m , ( , tho »<>•() oiV . sixl . y-

      three , by a man covered with wounds , and in a climate when : tho mercury rises to . l . 3 ii degrees in nrtiliciiilly-cooled Lents . For the last two years of bis stay in Midland , he lived in retirement , his health being weak . Ifo attended Wellington to his national grave at St . Paul's , lie then looked ill and wan , and appeared to walk with pain and dillieulty . Seventy-one years , and nearly it score of wounds , or neeidentH which were equivalent to wounds — fiftylour yours of the long period in question having been

      spent in almost unremitting labour , mental physical , in every climate—such a life m ht au < j have exhausted nature , even before the no * three-score and ten . period of He died at Oaklands , near Portsmouth at fi o ' clock on the morning of last Monday ! As h getting , weaker ,, his son-in-law . snatched nn' ? colours of the 22 nd Eegiment , and placed " them t the head of the bed . Under the shadow of « , folds the old hero died . tlleir

      Untitled Article

      THE HOME SECRETARY AT HOME . Lobd Palmeeston " , like Master Fenton , "ixu holiday , " even when hard at work in the House * of Commons , but more appropriately when he gets fat the country among familiar friends , and on holicL ° festivities . On Saturday he laid the first stone of the Melbourne Athenaeum , a new institution , compris " an infant-school , a mechanics' institute , and a bank fo savings : three in one . Lord Palmerston ' s new property , derived from Lord Melbourne in right of his wife , lies near the town , and as a friend and neighbour he was heartily welcomed by the good people of the stirring little town . In return for their hospitality , he gave them some speeches , singularly agreeable even from the happiest orator of the day . He spoke first in laying the foundation-stone , and afterwards at a cold collation laid out in the National School-room

      Our " foreign relations" were briefly alluded to ; the popular address and the Chairman ' s speech having referred to them . He said : —• "Allusion has been made in the address to the foreign policy which , her Majesty ' s Government pursued while I held the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs . Whilst I had the honour of filling that situation , it was my object to use every effort in my power to preserve to this country and to Europe the inestimable blessings of peace . But I felt that the best security fpr the continuance of those

      blessings was to make foreign Governments understand that while , on the one hand , this country would never willingly or knowingly inflict ; wrong upon a foreign nation , on the other hand we would never jsubmit to the infliction of any wrong from them . In these endeavours I was nobly supported by the people of this country . I am convinced that as long as the Government of this country know that they are supported by the generous feelings of the British , nation , we shall maintain that respect in the minds of foreign Governments which is the best security for the maintenance of peace . "

      But with ample eloquence and very felicitous phraseology , he commented upon the objects of the institution they had founded that day . He first pointed out the importance of infant education , showed the permanent advantage and beauty of intellectual pleasures , and then gave a clqar and spirited summary of tho discoveries of science and the achievements of art completed in the present day : — "We have in theso days invented railways , which facilitate and increase the intercourse between towns , ana

      provinces , and countries — which tend , as it were , to render Europe one vast city , and to confer upon different nations thoso advantages of easy communication which heretofore Averc enjoyed only by tho inhabitants of separate ( owns . That is a great improvement—a great invention—and one which is likely to conduce much to tho prosperity , the happiness , and welfare of mankind . Wo have in those days applied the power of steam to do navigation of the wido ocean , and have thereby brought countries nearer to each other , which hcrotoibro wcro separated by passages of many months , acco mpanied nlso by great perils and dangers . Wo liavo also , gontlomon , in those days , hud an invention—ono of tho most splm "' triumphs of human genius , because it was not by ( iccidon that it was discovered—it was tho result of laborious investition and patient inductionI mean tho ouM n iiihih / ii ttiL \ l

      ga ; m' . » ' ^ irtlliH . 7 l . lv 1 IU 1 UA'I'll / A * > •* - , " « ' * " « , telegraph—sin invention which brings tho most < us ¦ ¦<}" parts of the world within minutes of ouch other , and wl" ^ will probably , at no distant day , enable us to hold convey with our fellow-subjects in India as quickly as ]> M » recently could do in adjoining rooms . But , gontIcl ! ; £ former ages have also had their great and irnportan . ventions and discoveries . Tho mugnotie neodlo ona » ^ men , who used before to creep timidly along the suor ; n jI 1 HcsaH , to launch into the wide ocean , with tho eoi . security of attaining directly the object of their nt ) i • That was a great invention , and it laid fcl ><^ ' »»» " r " lMir viifit improvements in the existence of mankind . l < l > I ] iS (! . ages invented also the art of printing—an art w ' "'? " ,, y fulness it would bo childish in me to point out- to j ol' l . lmsiii whom I 1 ., 1 ., / . i .,. lv l . lw . linnOlir of IW «'_ r <' ' j . ¦

      I'Wmer ago : ) uIho invented , gunpowder , whi < 'h , < i , . apparently an instrument of more rapid dentri 1 ( ' |' j ^ gave to civilization a neeuro protection uganinf , bar ' and it may be wifely uflinnod that , if tho . UoiniuiH " ™ J 0 ]) n hosmwI a knowledge of this implement of w ' [" ' . . ' ,. junf ) would not have been overrun by those- hordes "'" ,, jn (\ w who involved' the moat civilized portions of the ^ "'f ^ Jo . . darkest ignorance for many centuries , by ''" t > ir , jU not to mention men of science and of literature , ~* ^ go "over since boon surpassed , yet in 1-hoHo tunes ! " ^ d gii way confined to a few . Now , however , happily > y ; , 1 () tru t ! " in at the command of nil , and books for improving # lion oi every kind are aeeessiblo at price * win ¦ nicli ' them within " the reach of all ; whilst , also ' ¦ hwH A' , L ' tfi <> »*" institutions enable the working classes to prom- iy ; ny * iorliwiH , bodily and intellectual , of thoso who aro

      Untitled Article

      844 _ _ __ -- ; . ' Tfl'E LEADER . _ [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 844, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2002/page/4/