LIEUTENANT-GENERVL SIR WILLIAM MAYNARD GOMM, K.C.B., K.S.A., &c.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 508, 26 February 1851, Page 3

LIEUTENANT-GENERVL SIR WILLIAM MAYNARD GOMM, X.C.8., K.S.A., &c.

As Sir \V. M. Gomm has been appointed to sncced Sir Cliailes Napier as Commander in-Chief in India, it may interest our readers to know something of him as a military officer :— "Sir William Gomm is( son of Lieutcnant-Coloue 1 William Gomm and M:ss Maynard ; born 1754 ; married first Sophii. dan_jh*pr of Gran/iMp Pc i> Esq., of Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire, which lady died in 1827 ; and secondly, in 1830, Elizabeth Anne, eldest daugter of Colonrl Lord Robert Kerr, fourth son of William John fifth Marquis of Lothian. Lady Gomm'i mother, Lady Robeit Kerr, was the daughter of the Rev. Edmund Gilbert of Windsor House, Cornwall, Ticar of Conhtantine, and official of the Archdeaconiy of Cornwall, and sister to Major-General Sir W. j R. Gilbert, G.C.B ; andhence the relationship alluded to in the public papers as existing between Sir William Gomm and Sir Walter Gilbert; Lady Gomm, who was born in 1807» beiug niece to the latter gallant general, and not his sister, as incorrectly stated by Moff. &c. Sir William Gomm entered the army in 1794, when only ten years of age, and served in the expedition to theHelderin 1799. inrtuding the action of the 19tli Sep'ember at Bergen ; in the expedition to the coabt of France and Spain, under Sir James Pultency, in 1800; expedition to Hanover in 1805; and that to Stralsund and Copenhagen in 1807. Campaign of 1808 and 1809 in the peninsula including the battles of Roiei.i, 17tli August, Vimicra 2lst August, 1803, and Corunna 16th January 1809 ; expedition toWalchereu and siege of Flushing in 1809. Proceeded again to the Penintula in 1810, where he served during the remainder of the wur, the principal part of the time as an assistant quartermaster-general; including the battles of Busaco, 27th September, 1810; and Fuentes d'Onoro, sth May, 1811 ; assault and capture of Badajoz, I lth March and 6th April, 1813; battle of Salamanca, 22nd July; action at Villu-Muriel, and battle of Vittoria, 2htJune, 1818; siege, assault, and capture of San Sebastian, in August and Sept.; and battle of the Nive, 9th to 13th December, 1813. Ha also served in the campaign of 1815, including the battle of Waterloo —for his services ai which, wi'h his corps, the Coldstreum Guards, Lieutenant Colonel Gomm received from the Emperor Alexander the Russian order of St. Anne, 2nd class; on the 2nd January previoui he had been nominated by his own soveieign a Kuight Commander of the Bath, for the services he had rendered during the Peninsular campaign, chiefly as assistant quartermaster-general; and was also decorattd with a medal and clasp tor Band-i.-joz, Salamanca, Vntoria, Sau Sabastian, and Nivelle, and aUo wears the Waterloo medal. His regiment he did not obtain until 1816.

Tun Cause op Sir Charles Napier's Resignation.— Major-General Sir William Napier, in a letter addressed to the editor of a morning journal, after ai.ludmg to the various reports current here and in India as to the cause of Sir Charles Napier's resignation of the Indian command, " begs, in defence of an absent brother, to state that it is true Sir Charles Napier has tendered his resignation on account of a difference between him and Lord Dalhousie ; but it is not true that this difference arose about barrack-butiding —or from any desire to make war —or because he disbanded the 66th regiment —or that his language was intemperate and unbecoming—or that he resigned peevishly. The real cause of that step was a difference between him and the Governor-GeneraL on a. vital point of public interest, accompanied by circumstances which rendered it imperative upon S*r Charles Napier to resign the high office conferred on him by bi» Sovereign ; and he is prepared to justify his conduct to that gracious Sovereign and to the public, proudly confident that he has served both well, and would have served them better, if he had been permitted to combine such service with that self-respect which no man can. relinquish without dishonour,"

Scotch Mechanics.— What have evening hours done for mechanics who had only ten hours toil ? What in the uiOral, whaL in the religious, what in the scientific world ? Harken to mere facts. One of the besl editors of the Westminster Review cou'd ever boait, and one of the most brilliant writers of the passing hour, was a cooper, in Aberdeen; one of the editors of a London daily journal was a baker it) Elgin.— Perhaps, the best reporter in the Times was a weaver in Edinburgh. The editor of the Witness was a stonemason. One of the ableit ministers in London was a blacksmith in Dundee; another was a watchmaker in BaufF. The late Dr. Kylne, of China, was a herd boy in Hhytre; the Principal of the London Missionary Society's College at Hong Kong) was a saddler an Fluntley ; and one of the best missionaries that evec went to India was a tailor in Keith. The leading machinist en the London and Birmingham railway, with a year, was a mechanic id Glasgow; and, parhaps, the richest iron-fouuder in England was a working man in Moray. Sir James Clarke, Her Majesty's physician, was a druggist in Baufi'. Joseph Hume was a sailor first, and then a labourer at the pestle and mortar, at Montrosa. Mr. Macgregor, the member for Glasgow, was a poor boy in Itoss-shue. James Wilson, the member tor Westbury, was a ploughman in H,addington ; and Arthur Anderson, the member foe Orkney, earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, in the Ultima Thule.

The Secret of Longevity.—The means known, so far, of promoting longevity hive been usually concentrated in short pithy sayings, as ' Keep your hend cool, and your feet warm'—' Work much, and eat little,' &c. just at if the whole science of human life could be summed up and brought out in a tew words, while its great principles were kept out of sight. One of the best of these sayings is given by an Italian in his 116 th year, who, being asked the means of his ]ivmg so long, replied with that improvisation for which his country is remarkable: ' When hungry, of the best I eat, And dry and warm I keep my feet, I screen my head from sun and rain, And let few cares perplex my bram.' The following is about the best theory of the matter :— Every man is bom with a certain stock of vitality, which cannot be increased, but may be husbanded. With this stock he may live fast or slow —catty live extensively or intensively —may draw his little amount of life over a large space, or narrow it into a contracted one ; but when this stock is exhausted, he has no more. He who livei extensively drinks pure water, avoids all inflammatory diseases, i-xercises sufficiently, but iioC too laboriously, indulges no exhausting passious, feeds on no exciting mateual, pursues no debilitating pleasures, avoids all laborious and protracted sludy, pieserves a steady minil, and thus husbands his quantum of vitality—will live considerably longer than he otherwise would do, because he lives slow ; while he, on the other hand, who lives intensely—who beverages himtelf on liquors and wines, exposes himself to inflammatory diseases, or causes that produce them, labours beyond his strength, visits exciting scenes, and indulges exhausting passions, lives on stimulating and highiyee^soned food, is always debilitated by his pleasures.-* Chicago Dollar Newspaper.