The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-16 00:00:00

166 i.

DEATH OF VICE-CHANCELLOR SIR
JAMES PARKER.
Intelligence reached town at a late hour on Satur-
day evening of the death of Vice-Chancellor Sir James
Parker, who suddenly dropped down dead on the
previous night at his country seat, R,othley Temple,
Loughborough, Leicestershire. The Learned Gentle-
man had been for some time labouring under an
internal disease, and for the last few days of remain-
ing in town he had at intervals expectorated blood,
but such a sudden bereavement was not anticipated
by his large circle of relatives and friends. It appears
he was out with a party enjoying the sport of angling
so late as Thursday last, and up to a very brief period
of his decease he betrayed no symptoms to create
alarm among those friends who were immediately as-
sociated with him. His age was scarcely 49, and he
had only enjoyed his preferment to the Chancery
bench ten months. Sir James was the son of the late Mr.
Charles Stuart Parker, of Blockairn, near Glasgow,
and was born at Glasgow in 1803, and married in
1829 the daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Babington,
of Rotbley Temple. He was educated at the Gram-
mar School and College of Glasgow, and graduated
M.A. at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1823 ; he
became the seventh wrangler in 1825, and was called
to the bar by the Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn in
February, 1829. In July, 1844, he obtained a silk
gown, and in the month of October last was appointed
one of the Vice-Chancellors of England, upon rue
extensive alterations which then took place in the
Chancery Courts ; he received the order of Knight
Bachelor on the occasion of his promotion to the
judicial seat. Besides being one of the beechers of
,
Lincoln's Inn, he was in the commission of the peace
for Leicestershire. His town residence was 21,
Chester-terrace, Regent's-ark and many who have
shared his friendship will be deeply pained at this sad
announcement of his loss. h
of Lei-
Sir James Parker contested the boroug
nester on the Tory interest in 1847, when be was de- 1
feated by a very considerable majority. He was a
consistent Tory, and owed his elevation in no respect
p
whatever to political influence. Indeed, it was highly
to the credit of Lord John Russell's Government,
that upon the vacancies on the Chancery benchoc-
curring much about the same time, no less than three
of the promotions were conferred upon political op-
ponents of the Administration, professional fitness
.
being considered more than political partisanship.
Sirs J. Knight Bruce was promoted to be one of the
Lords Justices in the Court of Appeal; Sir Jamm d
Parker was created one of the Vice-Chancellors,
promoted
Sir George Turner, the Conservative M•P•
for
Co-
ventry, another. Sir R. Kindersley,
one, and the principal of a
from being a Master in Chancery, is the third.b r
of
The deceased Vice-Chancellor was 5 member
•
Glasgow, and more recently and to a smaller extentboth
in Liverpool, exercised no small influence
noverthe commercial and social local worlds. —r:
rip.
Chal-
mers was an early friend of the household, and its
SScotch
cipal member at the time of the disruption of the
Church contributed largely to the Free
tt ched
Establish-
ment. Sir James was from a boy strongly a a
oing and
to all manly exercises, particularly
an-
frequent
boating, and when a young man was a rtiocs of
group of families who, in
wanderer in the wildest and most desolate p
- renowned° for
his anecdotal and conversational
the Highlands. In those days he
powers, andcharacter
narration of odd reminiscences of northern character
infinite
and adventure, which he used to tell
h cr that there
drollery and mimetic power—so much
s Al revive in
is a story, which his melancholy death svl _ ..
3 ireman a Highland circle, of a Sutherland h
rise abruptly
Mi-
nister being absolutely obliged to to order
was
for his
from table, and make for the stable-yard
his gig in consequence of his dread
to which the
quences from the paroxysms of laughterle_
, d him. Once 1
stories of the young Parker ert-adies, the High-
fairly embarked, however,
in
le
eg2-s of High-
land trips were given up, and the collection
indeed forgotten
High-
land traits and stories was not
became a devoted
but not increased. Sir James Parker_
___,_ _
of fatal copse-
clear and
and earnest intellect, and a peculiarly
extraneous niroom_
shrewd manner of stripping off efth and kernel of a
lawyer—given up body and soul to lnew's i
stances, and grappling with the
hPe
possessed to a very
a strong
case, were valuable gifts which,
horions and pains-
great degree. He was also
taking in the extreme. He be was a very
putation of a brilliant lawYers,nd his decisions and
sound and trustworthy nevearbautttained to the re-
"e'd the respect and admi-
opinions generally commande
ration of the bar. It
ever had a decision re-
was of the shortest, but be n issue which be
versed; and in the mostis
ortant
his judicial career
hin3isPjudgment was unani-
mously Wagner case—hie,
strictly impartial, and
mously pronounced to be a
light the state of the law
setting forth in the clearest
and the facts.
t mention that Lady Par-
It may be worth while
Mcaulay, the historian, and
ker is the cousin of Mr- . was the brother-in-law
that the late 'Vice-Chancellor
I of Mr. Cardwell.
up true that

THATILE.--"hßeoy"aClhHeaigianneisshtts
Saturday evening. Betweenghness thethe
HER MAJE 7
_.-77--___Ties
came to a termination on
following French
A:
acts
Duchess o f the
Catherine opera
of the
tie s s
Russia
balleta thenßilli del 1
el.m Nationalsil etrramnld
miAi
ainnt Anthem e
and
dw
Di.
Her Imperial Highness the Grand
b the comny.
Duke George ;of Mecklenburgh-btrelitz honoured the per-
the Baroness Brunow and Mdlle. de
Gforraranda Duchess with
was h e
attended r e sene eb.y
de Koucheff. Anlongst the noble
thisge indi-
viluala also present in th.e theatre on . occasion were the
—The of Bath, his Excellency the
Branum Lord Ernest Bruce, Lord Fitzroy Somerset and
IV' I's Viscount
t Serene Anson,g h tbHitgGhhee-i-r
the Hon. Miss Somerset, Lord George Lennox, Captain De
party, Mrs. and Miss
neral 'Sir Alexander Woodford, Bart., Lady and Miss
Horsey, Mr. Alfred gentgomery, th
Edward and
Richards, Woodford
rr iiR, A
isly.i sAus : Caroline ILIniA.
N Bellew
orEßaAn.d
ness the Grand Duke George of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz and
her Imperial Highness the. Grand,Duchess Catherine of Rus-
sia, a tended by Count.Wielhorskoff, honoured the by
of Saxe Weimar were also present, and among the
apfir
ecseesnacte.t e R
Theiroy Serenel tlia n
11 Operaghn
eosns
es Saturday
Prince night
general company we remarked the Duke and Duchess of
Bedford, the Duchess of Richmond and Lady Cecilia Gordon
Lennox, the Blarchioness of. Conyngham, the Marchioness
Brancaleone and the Marchioness Amelia Brancaleoni, the
Earl of Besborough. the Earl of Munster, the Countess
(Dowager) of Harrington and
.Lady Jane St. Maur Stanhope,
the Countess Powlet and Miss Dormer, Viscount Clifd
Viscount Exmouth, Lord Ernest Bruce, SIX., Lord Herr'
Gordon LenuVg~ 14'1'9 Lord W. Vowlett, M.P., &c., &e. 17

THE BURMESE WAR.
We have received by express from Marseilles our
dispatches in anticipation of the overland mail, which
left Calcutta, on the 2d and Bombay on the 4th ult.
The following is the letter of our Bombay corre-
spondent :
"1-1- M. steamer Sphinx having arrived at Calcutta
on the .15th of June, with accounts from Burmah
extending to the Bth of that month, Government im-
mediately circulated the following abstract of the
dispatches :
"' Martaben was attacked on the 26th of May by a
Burmese force of 1,000 or 1,200 men, who wore gallantly
beaten back by the 40th M. N, 1., in garrison there, un-
der the command of Major Hall. Our loss was 1 sepoy
killed, 1 scobandar, 1 naikh, and 11 sepoys wounded.
" An expedition of 230 troops, viz., 100 men of her
Majesty's 80th Regiment, under the command of Capt.
Ormsby, 100 men of the 67th Native Infantry, under
the commend of Captain Hicks, and 30 Sappers and
Miners, Madras Army, under Lieut. Mackintosh, with
Lieut. Mayne, ti,.ld en4ineer, left Rangoon on the 3i of
June to attack the city of Pegu.
• They embarked on board the Hon.
Company's
steam-vessel Pnlegethon, and were accompanied
hyee
boats of her Mujesty's ship Fox, under the command of
Captain Tarleton.
• • They stormed the pagoda at Pege, after some
heavy skirmishing, on the 4th, with a loss of one seaman
killed, three seamen, two aepoys, and one camp follower
wounded.
The force, after destroying the fortifications, re-
turned to Rangoon on the sth.
Everything quiet round Bassein. The enemy had
left the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants were coming
in numbers to seek protection under our rule.
• The troops were all very healthy.'
" This second attack of the Buitnese on Martaban
took place on the 26th of May, at six a.m. A Bur-
mese force, said to amount to 1,000 men, with an
equal number in ;reserve, attacked our outlying
pickets, and drove them in. A party of the 49th,
being sent out to reconnoitre, was met by a heavy
fire, and returned with several men wounded. The
Burmese force then advanced to within 200 yards of'
the camp, and kept up a smart fire. The artillery
opened on them with grape, and, after a few rounds,
they dispersed and took up a position on the Pagoda-
hill, above the town, where they set up a flag, as if
with the intention of making a stand, or of driving
our troops out of camp. A well-directed fire of
round shot ;being opened on them, they took down
their flag and ret
retired. Commodore Lynch, with
three of the cutters of the F er.oze, proceeded up the
Salween to intercept them, while Captain Tapley, in
his armed cutter, with a boat of the Medusa and
the marines of the Feroze and M
beat edusato , has
the westward
oceeded
south of Martaban, and will
to gain such intelligence as he can of them. The
e is said to have been commanded by
attacking
the ex-Governor
seof Martaban, and to have marched
post called Shoay Gyn. It is
from a
stated thalltuitrinwas a military blunder that we did not
the post instead of Martaban ; it
take an
be desirable to occupy both Shoay
would, ndo. occupy_c!
ioeughut„
but General Godwin has not at
Gyn 1-
troo_p.s to spare for distant detachments.
present any.
"I mentioned in my last that the Peguese, having
defeated the Burmese garrison of Pegu, and driven
all Burmese detachments from their neighbourhood,
the ex-Governor of Rangoon had marched on Pegu
with a strong and retaken the place. The
atrocities inflicted on the Peguese by the Burmese
after the recapture of Pegu are described as dreadful.
Whether or not hopes of support had been held out
to the Peguese is not known, but their cry of despair
at last induced the General to send an expedition to
drive out the Burmese ruffians. This expedition con-
sisted of about 250 troops. It was intended to send
double that number, but sufficient carriage (boats)
could not be procured in time. The force was 'ably
assisted by about
3,000 Talians' (the Burmese culti-
vating caste), who joined close to Pegu. When our
troops arrived in the neighbourhood of the Burmese
position, the sun was still high, and they halted,
intending to defer the attack until the evening. The
Burmese, however,
marched out with two gold um-
brellas and a strong body of cavalry to attack us.
They were allowed to approach quite close, and
then dispersed with a volley, and pursued into and
through their works.
They ran too fast to suffer
much loss.
"It was considered doubtful whether the Peguese
and Talians would be able to prevent the Burmese
pegu, most of their leaders
from re• occupying
having been massacred after its recapture, and many
thousands of the survivors having taken refuge in
Rangoon. It is much to be regretted that General
Godwin could not afford troops for its permanent
occupation.;
"The health reports of our troops in Burmah are
most satisfactory. They have as few sick as they
would have had at this season of the year at their own
cantonments in their respective presidencies. The
Englishman's correspondent (an officer on the staff of
tae., ..paaitioe)writes as follows regarding the health
of the European troops ;
" At the present time the European regiments here
have much fewer sick than they would have had at this
season in Fort William or St. George. How we ell
wish the rains were over, and, with them, the life of
inactivity wo now lead, and that the time for an onward
move had arrived. We feel like the pieces on a chess-
board, remaining inactive and motionless till the hand
that directs us shall advance us a square or two. We
heartily wish that the game played between the two
parties was not such a slow one, and that either side
would take less time to think of his move.'
" Twelve of the new barracks at Rangoon are
already roofed, and four or five more are nearly as
forward ; but the men are already so comfortably
housed and thoroughly sheltered that the barracks
are considered scarcely necessary. The officers have
nearly completed a shooting gallery and theatre. The
troops at Bassein like their quarters much, and say it
is in every way far superior to Rangoon. The enemy
have deserted the neighbourhood altogether, and the
natives are very grateful to us for having driven
them off.
" The Proserpine is on a reconnoitring expedition
up the river. When last heard of she was a few miles
below Prome. The native river boats keep up her
com-
munications with head-quarters. The course of the
river was found to be free from stockades and Bur-
mese detachments. The natives everywhere are
friendly, and desirous of assisting us; they bad volun•
tarily stacked fuel along the river for the supply of
the steamboats in our expected advance on Prome.
" The Burmese policy seems to be to avoid meeting
us on the ground we have chosen for ourselves, and
to carry the war into our own districts by invading
the Assam frontier and the territories :of our ally the
Raja of Munipoor. The measure is not ill-judged.
To defend so extensive and intricate a frontier at all
would require more troops tbah we could well spare,
and the malaria of the frontier jungles was found last
war to be of the most deadly description. The best
way of meeting such an attempt would be that suc-
cessfully adopted in the last war under similar cir-
cumstances—to make a rapid advance on Ave from
Rangoon. The Burmese troops on the northern
frontier would, in that case, be immediately recalled
to the defence of their country.
" The following is the latest news from the terri-
tories of our ally Raja Keertee Sing of Munipoor,
dated the 28th of May :
" The Burmese have commenced stockading the
Kubboo Valley, and large bodies of armed men are col-
lecting to invade us, and, if successful, to push on to
Cachar. There will be a good fight before we are
beaten, as Raja Keertee Sing and his his adherents are
determined to hold their country with their life's blood.
Woongees and Keewons have been sent from Avis to the
Northern Shan Country, where they are collecting men
to invade Assam also. Several Shanchiefs have gone to
Ava to receive mandates direct from the King to com-
mence attacking the English in Assam.
" The Calcutta Englishman states that the ar-
rangements for converting the Rangoon expedi-
tionary force' into the army of Burmah' are in a
forward state, and names the troops that are to be
added to the present force for the purpose. The re-
giments so named all belong to the Bengal army, and
this circumstance has occasioned much dissatisfac-
tion among the armies of Bombay and Madras, par-
ticularly in the latter. It is alleged by the Madras
papers, that owing to Calcutta being the seat of the
Supreme Government, the troops of that presidency
are systematically favoured at the expense of the ar-
mies of Madras and Bombay.
" The following is from a letter of an officer with
the force at Rangoon
There is one universal feeling throughout the camp,
that the Governor-General cannot escape annexation.
He is ' the victim of circumstances. The facts are these:
—We storm and take Rangoon, and ere the white smoke
of our musketry has curled away, the inhabitants who
had deserted it, driven out by our shells and by the burn-
ing of their homes, return to find shelter within the
range of our guns. Within two months of thisiwriting
20,000 to 30 000 persons have flocked in and rebuilt the
ruins of Rangoon! The river banks are lined with boats
for four or five miles along, containing men, women, and
children, who feel themselves most secure when in sight
of a steamer! Some designing person spread the reple'
that the English were going tollow
poor creatures prepared at once to decamp or
that
wen,
to leave the country Le
us out to sea if they could. The expedition
sealion-
to a village 40 miles off a month ago had thre:
from
ladders carried to the attack by inn 61
The
very place against which the force
in
on
steamers that went to Bassein saw and
the banks waving their hands
signalling good speed' to thlave fought against
utePheeptebdeitiorniyear'gain against
their arms and
that place. The troops w
• "down
us and have come in,
laivdrhile their families were
owned that they only fought and on their release they
in hostage for their braveryo,ause. The very last expedi-
came to join the Eng.lcishb hoe not returned yet, was sent
tion against Pogo, whit of its inhabitants to save them
at the earnest entrees Y
Barman Government. The come
from the cruelty of now threading her way up to
mander of the Proserpt
f the river, reports that he finds
Prome on a surve-tV„ banks, even so far up, afford him
the villagers o_ll They pre ready with supplies, and the
every asslatt'

inhabitants are stacking filial for the steamers they are
expecting to advance upon Prome with all our troops on
hoard. The head men of the villages and districts, fifty
and sixty miles off Rangoon, have come in and begg: d
for protection against their own Government. The culti-
vators entreat us to say the word, 6 Will the Englirh pro-
tect them if they sow their fields, this season?' The Karen
Christians are watching us with the greatest interest—
they have prayed for the English to come and take their
country and give them liberty—and is this an answer at
last to their prayers? Curious enough, too, the very
courtiers round the King have whispered now, in their
cups, to ears noi7 here We shall be glad if the len&lish
would take the country • we are sick of this tyranny,
where life,
~,
fame, property, and families, are not worth
five minutes' purchase.'
" The general opinion throughout India is that an-
nexation, even were it not, as it is, most desirable
in a political and commercial point
of view, would,
nevertheless,, be unavoidable. The only question is,
how much of the country it would be necessary to
annex to protect the inhabitants who have espoused
our cause from the reprisals of the Burmese, and
Ito anticipate the king of Ava from putting us to
the expense of another war. I pointed out in
my I3st that the annexation of the country south
of a line drawn from the Aing Pass to the
northern extremity. ofTennasseeim would, instead
of extending our frontier to the Burmese, actually
reduce it by nearly 100 miles, and we might
render such line one only frontier to the Bur-
•
mese, by reeking over to our ally of Munipoor two
strips of Burmese territory to the north and south
~
of his present possessions. rom the Aing Pass to
the southern extremity of Munipoor our province
of Arracan at present presents a frontier of consider-
ably upwards of 100 miles to the Burmese, but
by making over to Munipoor the triangle of Burmese
territory, bounded by the eastern frontier. of
.Arracao,
the southern of Munipoor, and the kiayncuan and
Irrawadi Rivers, we might eliminate the portion of
hostile frontier altogether. North of this the allied
State of Munip cor forms the frontier of the company's
territories for 400 miles ; the Burmese then come in
again, and possess about 100 miles of frontier to-
wards Ao. .
ssam, which might similarly be made over to
Munipoor. By these alterations of boundary the size
of Munipoor would be not quite doubled, and the King
of Ava would still be left a territory more than twice
the extent of the kingdom of Nepaul."