The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-14 00:00:00

Tbz

et
;-41

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1853.

Another province has been added to our enor-
mous possessions in Hindostan. Pegu, on -the
20th of last December, was formally announced
by proclamation to be annexed to the British do-
minions. It was declared to be incorporated with
our Eastern Empire by order of the Governor-
General, and the event has since been celebrated
by a Royal salute fired in each of our more im-
portant Asiatic Presidencies. It is nothing more
than the old story with a new illustration. It is
the continuation of the romance of Oriental con-
quest by the Anglo-Sakons—simply by another
incident. A war provoked by one of the petty
sovereigns has led, as usual, to the dismember-
ment of his territories. At least the dismember-
ment has commenced. A single province has been
seized and declared to be a portion of our posses-
sions. The rest will, of course, follow in due
time according to the customary scale of territorial
absorption. In earnest of this, a threat has been j
already held out over the head of the fated King
of Ava--that threat being uttered by the Gover-
nor-General in Council, and communicated through
the medium of the already mentioned proclama-
tion. It is in the closing paragraph of that docu-
ment that the Court of Ava receives the
warning intimation that if the King of that
ilk shall fail to renew his former relations
of friendship with the British Government,
and if he shall recklessly endeavour to dis-
pute its tranquil possession of the province, it has
now announced to be its own, the Governor-Gene-
ral in Council will again put forth the power
he holds, and will visit with full retribution
aggressions which, if they be persisted in, must of
necessity lead to the total subversion of the Bur-
man enTire "—an intimation to all intents and
purposes sufficiently significant. Were we not
therefore, in
correct, asserting that the recent oc-
cupation and subsequent annexation of Pegu is
literally nothing more than the old story with a
new illustration. Pegu is taken, and in the very
process of its capture we remind the Court of Ava
of our invariable policy under such circumstances,
by informing the KING that in the event of his
not acting in such and such a manner, we
shall feel under the necessity of advancing
upon the residue of his dominions, and
thereupon formally annexing them to our
already stupendous possessions. The enemies
of British power in the East designate our policy
in this respect to be consistent at least in the pro-
gressive grandeur and unblushing boldness of our
spoliations. History fortunately comes in to
exonerate the Anglo-Saxon race in that quarter
from the odium of aggression and the consequent
crime of robbery. The annals which tell of our
extraordinary advancefromArcot to Seringapatam,
and so on from the southern limits of the Carnatic
to the northern boundaries of Affghanistan—show
in facts so undeniable as to command the recog-
nition of all impartial writers, from Oasin to
MILL, that the origin of each successive struggle
in the East has been some event in which the
British Government has be en the assailed, and
some neighbouring power the
assailant. Hitherto
upon these oecayions the Anglo-Saxons have
acted with astounding promptitude. They
have appalled their anta •
goniat into submis-
sion by marching an army forthwith over his
frontiers, seizing his chief cities and fortification,