The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-26 00:00:00

_e 4n-which the war had taken' is origin appeared of A
'kind wholly unworthy to justify :measures of so serious •
a desCription. It appeared that in 1851 the Governor-
General of India had no definite policy with regard to our
relations with the Court of Ave. As it was, it appeared •
that a war which began with a demand of indemnity
amounting to less than 1,0001. from the Burmese, had
already resulted in the annexation of one of the most
valuable provinces of their empire. The party originally
charged with the negotiations for redress was Commodore
Lambert, and this, he thought was the first error into
which we had fallen. Barbarous as the Court of Ave was,
it at first showed itself disposed to grant redress, and to
this effect Commodore Lambert wrote on then 2d January.
The Burmese Governor of Rangoon was rivalled, and
matters seemed in a favourable train, until on the 6th of
January a quarrel as to etiquette arose, which resulted
in the seizure of a ship belonging to Burmese traders, by
order of the British commodore. He contended that the
Governor-General of India had no right whatever to*
make an aggressive war out of India. The present, he
apprehended, would turn out a second edition of the
Kafir war—however brave with the sword our troops ,
were, they fell victims to the climate. What, he asked,
was to be the end of the course on which we had
entered ? Were we going to annex the Burmese empire
to our own in India ! It would be impossible to defend
the frontier without stationing 15,000 or 20,000 men in
an unhealthy district for this express purpose. With re-
spect to the efficiency of the military officers in command,
he did not think we had, in this country sufficient data
for forming an opinion, but it was quite clear that there
must be vacillation in our policy, because we had taken
towns and then abandoned them. It appeared to him
that this war had orignated in a hasty act on the part of
Commodore Lambert, in seizing the Burmese ship, which
put an instant end to diplomatic intercourse.
Sir C. WOOD thought the house would not deem this
a convenient opportunity for discussing the question to
which his hon. friend had called their attention, on an
evening set apart for the army estimates. With respect
to the motion made, he had already given notice to lay
on the table of the house papers in contirmation of those
already produced, bringing down the information respect-
ing the occurrences of the war to the annexation of the
province of Pegu, which appeared to constitute ail epoch
in its transactions. The present hostilities did not ap-
.pear to him to have arisen out of any isolated fact,
but rather from a series of indignities offered to Bri-
tish subjects by kthe Burmese, of which that which
had given occasion for hostile proceedings was the
last. It was true that it was one of a particularly of- _
fensive description ; but though every opportunity was
given to the Burmese to retract it there was not the least
disposition evinced to, offer any apology or atonement.
The Governor-General had been most anxious to avoid
annexation, and every step he had taken in this direc-
tion had been forced upon him by circumstances. He
should content himself with observing that he concurred
in the approbation with which the Governor-General's
policy throughout had been viewed by his predecessor in
office. The papers would probably he in the possession
of honourable members in the course of three or four
days, and they would then be in a better position to
judge of the operations which had been pursued.
Mr. HUME agreed that the present was not the
most convenient time for discussing the subject. The
honourable baronet opposite should know that the re-
sponsible Minister for India was the President of the
Board of Control, and that everything that place in re-
ference to peace or war was by his authority. At this
moment the court of directors were not in possession of
a single dispatch to show the origin of the war, and
were as ignorant of it as he was himself. In like man-
ner, with regard to the first Burmese war, the Indian
Government had been obliged to pay 13,000,0001. fomits
expenses without having before them a single dispatch.
He agreed with his hon. friend that this war might have
been avoided. Commodore Lambert had sent on shore
an officer to obtain an interview with the governor of
the fort at Rangoon, who probably thinking that the
affair ought to have been arranged in an interview be-
tween the commodore and himself, deemed himsel
improperly treated, and redress was, in consequence, re-
fused, which led to the seizure of the Burmese ships.
What should we think if the French or Americans sent
an ambassador here, whom we refused to receive on the
ground of his credentials being informal, and proceeded in
consequence to seize British ships in their own waters ? In
speaking of Lord Dalhousie he must say he had a diffi-
cult duty to perform, and was as anxious to avoid war
as any person ; but by the course that had been adopted
the Government of Ave was called upon to deal with a
man who had taken and kept one of their ships. But
though the King of Ave had to send a message to a man
who had, as he thought, violated the law, the most com-
plimentary mode of sending it was adopted by him, as
indicated by the number of attendants, that being the
mode resorted to by the native princes of evincing their
desire to pay a compliment. As far as his (Mr flume's)
impression went, Commodore Lambert was the cause of
the war, though he perceived that he had already re-
ceived a pension of 1501. a year for good services on the
Irrawaddy. He hoped that these events would lead to
the adoption of a different course with regard to the go-
vernment of India. He differed from many persons who
tiipught that the court of directors might be dispensed
with. He thought they could exercise most useful
powers in examining the details of the revenue and of the
army, and to enable them to do so effectively they
should be made acquainted with the facts. The whole
of the government of India was placed in the hands of
two individuals, the chairman and deputy-chairman, and •
the Board of Control and other parties were not allowed
to communicate the objections they might entertain. 'He
had a strong opinion that there were men in the court
of dfrootors whoselo al exi.iiezice., and co_netant atten-
tion and devotion to the affairil of India wotifd make - -- -
them an able council for any Government to carry on
' the affairs of India. He wished to see a Minister for
India in that house, instead of having a board that never
sat, and commissioners that never acted. All that was
a perfect mockery, and an insult to common sense, but
he hoped the result of the inquiry now going on would
lead to a better state of things. (Hear, hear.)
Sir J. HOGG declared that the last question he had
expected to have heard raised in that house was a ques-
tion as to the justice of the Burmese war. He might
have expected that various commentaries would have
been made as to the mode and manner of carrying on
that war, but to hear the justice of the origin of the war
questioned, and that by a member who had an oppor-
tunity of reading the papers that had been laid upon the
table of the house, did, he confessed, excite his astonish-
ment. It was true it had been said that the propriety of
this war, and the operations, so far as they had proceeded,
had been censured by three Governments—the Govern-
ment of the noble lord the member for the city of Lon-
don, who was at the head of the Administration when the
discussion first arose ; the recent Government, presided
over by Lord Derby • and the present Government ; but
there was authority alluded to that was greater than any
one of them, or greater than even all of them united, and
that was the authority of the illustrious man who was
now no more. (Hear, hear.) In a discussion that had
recently taken place, a memorandum was produced and
read by the noble lord at the head of the Government,
proceeding from that illustrious man, which seemed to
answer by anticipation everything that had been said there
or elsewhere. After Lord Derby had laid every document
and military paper, from the commencement of the war to
the month of August, before the Duke of Wellington,
the following memorandum was written by him
three weeks before his lamented -death :—" It appears
to me that this war could not have been averted ;
that the operations fixed upon were judicious, and
they have been carried into execution with great gal-
lantry by the officers and by the troops." (Hear, hear.)
With testimony such as that, not only as to the plan of
operations and -the success attending them, but also as
to the necessity for the war, he thought it would be use-
less on his part to occupy the time of the house by offer-
ing further observations on those points. His honour-
able friend must be as well aware as he was that by a
series of acts the dignity of the Government of India had
been outraged, and that a system was at length brought
to a climax and crisis which had been carried on for
many years. Did not the honourable gentleman know
that the Burmese Government had permitted a British
ambassador to reside at Ava, but. that Colonel Burney,
when he visited Ave, was treated with contempt ? Was
he not also aware that when Colonel Benson was sent to
Ave he was treated much worse. The outrages and in-
dignities heaped upon him exceeded belief, his life was
in danger, and he was obliged to retire. (Hear, hear.)
At last matters were brought to a close, and the course
pursued by Lord Dalhousie throughout showed that his
e
of life,pbel loawtnh,de
laßantudtr
Burmese
least
pose desire was to obtain compensation for the past, and
security for the future, at the least possible expense of
money, at the least possible risk
possible necessity for the extension of the territory He
pthoosusegshstfotnhaotf bys
Rangoon, ri k i gh
ea
might vigorous oc uo
ms
come to an immediate settlement. (Hear.
true that the Burmese said they had removed
nor, but it was merely to gain time, and it wttE:angooqtvuteihWie
nolitdiebsuutptohne
tnheewm.goolveernaro.)r
sthoaftahr heaped those indig-
dispossaitiontahfrfdoormwearo,mhme
hodadorwel!iAtamten-
bert having shown any
to the Governor-General to
to hope and believe that he would
tkhi ehhriandgevre
matterreasoa
to a satisfactory conclusion and to an amicable close.
His hon. friend, the member
spoken
of the usages of the BurmeseforMontrose had
empire, and of the manner
in which they had treated Commodore Lambert ; but
the fact was that he had received a deputation of inferior
officers, and the act of sending them to Commodore
Lambert was in itself an insult. But Commodore Lam-
bert did not refuse to receive them- Though he was
aware of the insult that was offered to him by sending
those persons to wait upon him, he received them with
great courtesy, and sent a message in return to
told to
governor by the second in command, who was t_oyiestot,
wait in a shed, as the governor was asleep. a
hear.) They could afford in India to do much andu to
lose much, but they could not afford to submitto the
to retain
in
slightest indignity or insult, if they meant
policy their power, authority, and empirethat
e country. It
was said that the Governor-General had no in the
He
was clear, distinct, and, step by step, consecutive.
• upon territory
course adopted by him, but the fact was that his policy
and when that object
to insure the payment of expenses,
but when lie
proceeded with the intention of seizing
amicable 't was impossible to effect an
found
was effected, to make restitution of it ;
contemplated the mighty
Pegu. (Hear.)
.had arrange-
ment, he came to
Hethhe d_ enfienvietre conclusion of occupying
project of conquering a great empire, but merely to ob-
tain possession o
sea coast ; and, in point of fact, in place of extending
their empire, it amounted more to a consolidation
of what they had than to any extension. (Hear,
hear.) Amongst the animadversions cast upon Lord
Dalhousie, it had been said that nothing so pre-
posterous had ever been done as to take possession
of Pegu without having an abundance of animals and •
carriages for the purposes of transport. (Hear, hear.)
He would tell them what vas necessary for the purposes
of Lord Dalhousie's occupation of Pegu, and what he
had done. It was necessary to have the means of trans,