The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-06 00:00:00

are, and in that of troops exposed as our troops would be in ~..` -
sz•--,el
t",.......
to
h lsa
wi as
with
comparedaaa
the open field for military operations. •I feel confidenteNe*, ,- - '''',
however, that the health of the troops would not be Bab! ?effete -77•------ e••
olactceaswio to u
anr..ißtausntgt a
Rangoon
present...enrelvase "v 4
ettharbi
circumstancesc
y ietrtywh the s
former h
disadvantageousrmtere
attacked by surprise, and not more than 17,000 Burmese
were then in Arracan. Rangoon was attacked by 10,000 '
men, and was captured without lose. We then proceeded
to fortify our position and to occupy the great Pagoda,
which at once protected and was the key to it. What is
the case now? By our operations, untoward as they are, we
have indicated the point of attack. We have had a col-
lision with the Burmese on that point, and, without finding
any fault with the officers in command, we have twice most
unfortunately retired, after a collision, Irons the conflict.
Now the mere circumstance of our retiring under such cir-
cumstances must give encouragement to the Burmese. The
town of Rangoon, which we occupied before, is now de-
stroyed, and another town, four miles from the river, is
built beyond the reach of our steamers, and the whole of
the Pagoda to which I have before :Chided, with terraces of
brick each rising 15 feet above the other, now rises to a
height of 200. feet above the level of the river, and com-
mands all the ground in the neighbourhood—a position
which is now fortified and stockaded in every direc-
tion, and defended by 100 guns. It is impossible not to ex-
pect that great loss will be incurred in taking it; and it is
to be attacked, not by 10,000 men as formerly, but by only
7,000 Moreover, the circumstances are particularly un-
fortunate under which we are called on to carry our army
there. The Punjaub is not yet so settled as to enable ns
to withdraw any considerable force from it, and, without
drawing troops from Bengal, we have not three regiments
available to be sent there with safety. I regret, my Lords,
to find that one regiment hss been sent from Fort William—
for there is only one regiment left to supply its place,
and that another has been sent from Fort St.
David, which is left without European troops
at the very moment when we may be about
to engage in another war ; so that in the front
of the Nepaulese we are withdrawing the only regi-
ment which we have to defend Calcutta. There is also ano-
ther circumstance to be considered, which I take to be one of
a very serious nature. In the last war all the operations in
Ava were carried on by the,Madras army, and a number of
the soldiers who compesed it were brought from that presi-
dency owing, as I firmly believe, to the great personal 'influ-
ence and the great personal ability of Sir Thomas Mann. '
Without his influence I think that the Government would
not have been able to withdraw from that presidency 23,000
men. [A Noble Lord said—" 28,000 men."] Yes, 28,000
. men, including Europeans. I remember, with regret, car-
tsin
passages in the recent history of the Madras army,
which make me doubt whether we can dispatch a large •
force of it from that presidency on service beyond the sea; e
The •Bengal soldier is accustomed to leave his wife and -
family in his native village when called into active service,
but the soldiee- of the Madras army take their wives and
eunoren with them into the eseiet, -' 50 sum, wnen tney go
beyond the sea, all their families form a village, which is
left without means of support. When I arrived, some years
ago, at Madras. I found two regiments there—l will not
say in a state of mutiny, but so disinclined to proceed to
China that it became a matter of deep anxiety and appre-
hension to the Government; and the cause of this disincli-
nation was the terrible state of misery and distress in
which the wives and children of the - men of the regiments
which had already sailed for China were left. I see, my
Lords, no alteration in the regulations of the service which
can relieve these persons from the distress which they suffer:
when their husbands and fathers proceed beyond the sea
Notwithstanding allthis, I will assume, for I doubt it not, -
that we have enure success in the war. What will be the
consequence of that success? The result will be the en.'
tire dissolution of the Burmese empire, and then it will be
for our Government in India to consider what it
will do under such circumstances. I know, my Lords, that
the Governor-General will be placed in circumstances under
which a great pressure will be brought to bear on him' at..
to the policy. ,which he ought to adopt. First, - there
are certain enteprising British merchants, who having
exhausted all the forests on one bank of the- river and its tri-
butaries, are very desirous of possessing the teak fere.sts on
the other side, for the purpose of carrying on and extending
their trade by Rangoon ; and they are in concert and cone
nexion with the press of Calcutta, the movements of which I
view with anxiety and distrust. They say that in conse-
quence of our occupying the whole Burmese empire an over-
land intercourse with China may be established, and that
great advantage would accrue to our trade from its extension
along that Burmese frontier. That is a feeling which actuates
the press of Calcutta. I hope that my Right Honourable
Friend the Governor-General of India will treat that press
with the disregard which it deserves. But, my Lords,
there is also another serious pressure which my Right
Honourable Friend ought to disregard, and which it will
be more difficult I am afraid for him to resist; that is the
pressure of a part of the civil and of the whole military
service. They have before their eyes the occupation
of Affghanistan, which produced a complete revolution
in the army of Bengal. That will always be the case where
a great territory is to be occupied even for a time, and still
more where a new territory is to be annexed to, and brought
under our dominion. Young officers are then placed in com-
mand of districts—others are placed in political employ-
ments, where they actually direct the operations of troops
under the command of their superiors. Great rewards and
distinctions are obtained—great talents exhibited; and every
man, with a natural ambition, looks forward to the promo-
tion he may attain ; and thus the idea of a new war, likely
to terminate is new conquests, is dear to that army—an
army full of enterprise, and of those feelings which naturally
excite military men, to great actions. Under each circum-
stances, I view with great alarm the annexation to our em-
pire of a large portion—ay, or even of any portion—of the
Burmese territory. It is essentially a false position. My
Lords, you must have seen before now that, with great
ability on the part of our generals, with great courage on
the part of our soldiers, and with the most perfect equip-
ment on the part of our army, it is very difficult to retain
an eminently false position. A false position is as danger-
ous to an empire as it is to an army, and always ultimately
vindicates its power over those who sin against the first
principles of true policy. I feel, my Lords, perfectly satis-
fied that the annexation of Ave, drawing in that direction a
I..gt, purtiuu or um vast resources of tee British empire in
India, will naturally impair both its civil and military
strength. It is because I entertain these apprehensions of
the consequences of the military occupation of Ava, and of
the fatal effects of our most complete success, that I request
you, my Lords, to call on her Majesty's Ministers to produce
such papers on this subject as can be produced without detri-
ment to the public service, for the purpose of making us
acquainted with the causes of this war. I have not heard
that any trustworthy military officer on the part of the Go-
vernment has been sent to Rangoon to ascertain the facts out
of e hich it has aria-n. They rest entirely on the authority
of persons who went with Colonel Ogle to that country.
What value is to be auribuied to their statements we
know net; for it is stated, with a degree of con-
fidence almtst inclining ns to treat it as a certain-y, that
the total amount of the indemnity which we require from
the Government of Ave is only 9001. ' • and yet to obtain that
sum all these public dangers which I have recounted are to
be encountered. Now, my Lords, when I look at the cha-
racter of the trade carried on at Rangoon, I cannot help
looking with suspicion at the statements made. One of
the most considerable traders at Rangoon is a person of
That man, as soon as he knew of
the name of Crisp.
war, freighted a schooner with arms
the probability of
and sold it to the Governor at Rangoon. When the Gover-
nor refused payment Commodore for them he went toLam-
bert and complained of the injury inflicted upon him, and
requested him to put it down in the bill to be paid by the
Burmese
Governor of Rangoon offered ine
Burmese Government. The ,o
this mans head, and I confess, for one,
that 1001. for
deeply grieved if he had
that I should not have beengot it.—
Dais is a descriptionof
("Hear," and a laugh.) one of the
t b o e and I
persons for whom this a . great war
matter is
of grea anger undertaken t
d ' '
therefore, look to it as . If our
reputation and honour be at stake, no matter how-
how-
ever small the injury, war must be ,submitted to, and we
mast endure it; but if there
sity for our interference at present, for the reasons I have
'
stated, .I think we. ought not to interfere. The services of
the Madras army, we neard several months ago, were likely
to be engaged in a different affair with the Nizam. W e
beard that the Indian Government, as a creditor of the
1 Nizem, bad required him to pay a certain sum of money, and
that if he did not pay it by a certain day his territory was
to be occupied and Lis troops put down. I think that the
Governor-General should not have made such a demand
without having a certainty that he had the Madras army in
hand; for the town of Hyderabad is in the hands of the
Arabs, and so are all the for in •
forts the neighbourhood. They
will defend them with bravery, and, unless we postpone the
demand for that payment, it will be difficult for the Madras
army to carry into effect two distinct and distant operations
at the same time. I hope, my Lords, that my Noble Friend
opposite will not think it inconsistent with his duty to lay
the papers to which I have referred on the table, in order
that we
may
know on what grounds the British Govern-
ment is proceeding in this war.
The Earl of DERBY—With regard to all military opera-
tions in India, my Noble Friend speaks with a knowledge
that gives him great advantage over us. Whatever may be
the difficulties attending the operations now going on in Ava
—which I am afraid I must agree with my Noble Friend in
characterising as a war—l am sure my Noble Friend would
be the last man to desire, if protection were required by her
Majesty's subjects, that war should not be engaged in if
may ne-
cessary for that object.—(Hear, hear.) Whatever
the pressure of the Calcutta press, or of any portion
of those
ius of fresh
enterprising merchants, or of that army nee
laurels, I am sure that the Noble Earl himself is not more
anxious than the GovernoreGeneral is to avoid any accession
of territory.—(Hear.) I agree with the Noble Earl in
alluded to, so far
thinking that such an accession as that
from being an advantage, would be a disadvantage. To a
certain extent I shall be able to produce the papers required
by the Noble. Earl; and when they are produced, I hope he
will be satisfied that, as on the one side there has been no
desire to incur the hazards of a war, but, on the contrary, a
unanimous desire to try all means to avoid it; so, on the
other hind, the measures taken by the Governor-General
have been so prompt and effective as to lead to
the very reasonable conclusion that no protracted
hostilities will take place with the Burmese empire ; and
that no such consequence as the disruption of the Burmese
empire is • likely to follow from what the Noble Earl calls the
complete success—but which, in that case might be con-
sidered the lamentable, success—of our forces employed.
There is no doubt we were justified in making our claims.
I am not in a position to enter into a discussion of the, merits.
of those Claims. But the justice of thein was repeatedly
pressed upon the King of Ava by former GovernophepA_w__
u°';°
King of Ave. not only accpli o
esced in the justice of Z
claims, but he admitted the justice of them by °
wrehatever
one Governor and substitutiug another. So that
case
may be the policy of the matter, here is a prima
not unrecog-
to prove that our claims of 9,000 rupees were commodore
nised nor unfounded. About the 6th of Januaryoproceeded up
Lambert, in the execution of his instructt
with the new
ng
the river for the purpose of commumcauuniations were not of
Govern of Rangoon. These comm a deputation from
an unfrieddly character, and he received
though the parties were
the Governor on board his vessel,
ra
.Commander Fishbourne
not of high rank. He then se
y comliancethe .
O deman d
to the Governor, formall c t
eminasder Fishp
bourne ,
and the -
terms sent to werehi subjected to insults and in-
officer with him •• b officer acting under the
no Buns r orders
dignities, which.
could submit to. Whether these
of his Sovereigrirom a mistaken sense of dignity on the
indignities arose of Rangoon I Willnot
Governor say, but the
part of the
British officers
were kept waiting outside the village and
were subjecte
.
dto lean is and indignities Q which - '
than lee, could be
taken in n
o other sense as premeditated. A refusal was
~ ,
givemmunic to t
• ash nto the ith t
d w offi-ers e effect that they could not be
•
coate he Governor was asleep. The
whole of the communications from the Burmese were those
eea superior to an inferior; the language in which the ,
communications were couched altogether claimed supe-
riority for the Burmese, though I sensi-
tive as to dignity and forms than the Burmese. On re-
ceiving a letter of instructions, Commodore Lambert, in re-
taliation for the insults from the Burmese, took upon him-
self—without, however, having received precise instructions
—to seize on a vessel belonging to the King of Ava, which
him. While engaged in
he carried with - •this proceeding,
the commodore's
ship was fired at from a stockade, and as
violent hostilities had commenced on the part of the Btu-raw
it Tfltil the imperatiTe duty of Commodore Lambert AM
- ' •