The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-25 00:00:00

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deratood, so ludicrously spoken of as having in his latter
days been overcome with childish tintidity and imbecility
of mind and purpose—that the advice; thus
.given by the
noble and illustrious duke, so clear, so' vigorous, entirely
confirmed the Government as to the course which it was
desirable and expedient for them to take ; and they accord-
ingly transmitted those instructions to the Governor-Ge-
neral of India in consequence of which the annexation of
Pogs took place, and in further consequence of which,
unless an arrangementess
contraryas instructions made
with
ere transmittedthe sovereign
by
P egu,o
those who were now responsible for the management of
Indian affairs, a further advance into the Burmese terri-
tories would take place, with means and appliances he
r unless
w
Hvra.3 quite satisfied, from his knowledge and reliance
upon the Governor-General, amply adequate to all
the emergencies of the case. He was not prepared to
discuss with his noble friend the questions of military
tactics he had raised, or possible defects of judgment,
in env of the officers employed. He was not compement
and not called upon to do so ; but he must take the liberty
of saying, that he had heard with some astonishmant the
statement of his noble friend that a large portion of our
army in the district was suffering from sickness. His noble
healthfriendw hen mighthe
eef
the quittedht somearveeenpffie eoffice
nigtal
ga hadet later
ihbeen
etihieainformations:eurrr on
oe e the
fandm so uos :fit
it ehLlet
than he himself possessed ; but certainly up to the moment
feigned satisfaction to himself and his colleagues to receive,
by each successive mail, reports of the increasing good
singularly small proportion of invalids in the hospitals.
(Hear, hear.) Upon the information he himself possessed,
he had no hesitation iu expressing the conviction that the
forces at the present disposal of the Governor-General
were quite adequate for the purpose of occupying that pro-
vince, which, with the good will of the great bulk of the
population, had already been annexed. Whatever the dis-
advantages of any extension of our Indian empire, it must
be admitted that this particular annexation would have the
good effect of facilitating the communication between our
provinces of Tenasserim and Arracan, and of strengthening
their frontiez s, especially those of the latter district. With
reference to larger operations, should these be found neces-
sary, he had the fullest confidence that the Governor-
General would be quite prepared with all the means and
appliances for their vigorous and effective execution.
(Hear, hear.)
Lord WHARNCLIFFE said the noble earl at the head
of the Government spoke of a treaty with the King of Ava
as a feature in the instructions sent out to the Governor-
General, but in the proclamation of the Governor-General
there was no mention made of any such treaty. Would
the papers to be produced by the Government comprehend
the despatches with reference to this treaty ?
The Earl of ABERDEEN replied in the affirmatite. - -
The papers were then ordered to be laid onthe table, and
their lordships adjourned at a quarter past seven o'clock,

[ PRICE 6D .

the, iProceedings in Ava. He readily admitted to the noble
earl opposite, while he rejoiced that he did not differ in
opinion from the late Government, that for that policy and
course of proceeding the noble earl and his colleagues were
in no respect responsible, but that ho (the Earl of Derby) and
his colleagues were alone distinctly and directly responsible
for that policy. They were not responsible, indeed, for the
Commencement of those operations, or for the original cause,
since it had taken place previously to their accession to
office ; but he had no hesitation in entering into an exami-
nation of thojustifieation which his noble friend the Gover-
nor-General had sent of his first proceedings, in sanctioning
the course which he had felt it necessary to adopt, and in
coming to the conclusion that, reluctantly as he had been
compelled to undertake hostile operations against Ava, the
amount of insult, if not the extent of individual injury
dhne to British subjects was such, that if it were felt ne-
cessary to maintain the prestige of the British character
in India, and to guard ourselves from future insult and in-
jury, they must not be allowed to pass unnoticed. His
noble friend had stated very truly that this was not the
first offence which had been offered by the Burmese. It
was not because a loss had been sustained by a British
merchant to the extent of 9001. that we had been com-
pelled to demand of the governor of Rangoon, first, and of
the King of Ava afterwards, reparation for the in-
sult and injury which had been inflicted upon a British sub- '
ject ; but it was because, from the year 1826, a succession

of encroachments and insults had gradually deprived us of
all the benefits which had resulted from the last war with
Burmah, had driven our Minister from that post which he
had been directed to hold, and had gradually deprived us
of all the advantages which we had won. Each successive

insult had beeja tamely acquiesced in, perhaps from neces-
sity, by the Government of the day. But it was the con-
tinued succession of those injuries and insults which had
at length made it incumbent upon the Governor-General
not to pass them over. Without discussing the merits of
this particular case, he did not hesitate to say, that when
the papers should be produced, they would completely bear
out the assertion that, unwilling as the Governor-General
had had recourse to hostilities, it was impossible for him to
have avoided them, and that, having entered upon them,
it was necessary to carry them vigorously forward. At
the commencement of these hostilities, the troops, with
very little difficulty and delay, occupied successively the
the forts of Rangoon and Martaban, and a further advance
made upon Pegu. Our troops were regarded by the po-
pulace, not as enemies, but as deliverers, come to
rescue them from an oppressive yoke. They were received
as guests and friends, and every necessary was supplied to
them. The period then arrived at which it was ne-
cessary for the Governor-General to come to a deter-
mination as to how far he should consider that suffi-
cient reparation had been taken from the King of
Ava, and what should be the further operations to
be undertaken. The Governor-General, in a dispatch,
which he presumed the noble earl would immediately lay
on the table of the house, entered very largely into the
various measures which it might be practicable for him to
pursue in order to obtain sufficient reparation for the past
and security for the future. There were three courses
which appeared to be open to the Governor-General, the
nature of which he transmitted for the opinion and advice
of her Majesty's home Government. The first was, with-
drawing from the advanced position which he then occu-
pied, and doing nothing more than taking possession of
Martaban and Rangoon, thereby occupying the forts at the
entrance of the two great rivers, the Irrawaddy and the
Thaleain, and thus exercising a great and important in-
fluence over the commerce of the country: To that course
of proceeding several objections manifestly presented them-
selves. In the first place, according to the feeling of all
Indian nations, a retreat from a position once occupied was
never regarded as a proof of moderation, but as an evidence
of fear and inability to hold our own. A second objection
was, that the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood
of Pogu, who had welcomed us as deliverers, would be,
when deserted by us, immediately exposed to the san-
guinary vengeance of the Burmese. The third objection
was, that the occupation of those forts of Martaban and
Rangoon would require as large an amount :a military
force as the occupation of the whole province, presuming
upon the friendly disposition of the inhabitants. That,
then, was the first course which was open. The second
course was the annexation of Pegue up to the town of
Prome, without seeking to have that annexation confirmed
or assented to by any treaty on the part of the King of
Ave.. The third course was that of annexing that which
we had already occupied, insisting on the confirmation of
that annexation by a treaty with the King of Ara, and,
failing such treaty, then to proceed to ulterior measures,
even amounting to an advance upon the town of Ava
itself, or to Amerapoora. His noble friend stated that

HOUSE OF COMMONS-(YESTERDAY.)

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from Col.
Dickson, complaining of the withdrawal of the petition
against the return of the sitting members for the borough
of Norwich. The hon. member then proceeded to call
the attention of the house to a question of privilege. His
attention was drawn to this subject by an advertisement
in the Times newspaper, in which Colonel Dickson stated
that he was ready to prove at the bar of the house that
a breach of privilege had been committed by" Mr. Brown,
a parliamentary agent, in withdrawing this petition.
Brown was no agent at all of the petitioners, and had no
right to withdraw the petition, and if that wore the case, a
decided breach of privilege had been committed. He
would therefore move[that Colonel Dickson and Mr.
Brown be summoned to the bar and questioned on the
subject of the petition. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. HUME deprecated the course his hon. friend had
taken in bringing forward this motion without notice.
Mr. W. PATTEN had no wish to strangle the mo-
tion of the hon. member, but considered that the matter
would be better disposed of by a select committee.
Lord J. RUSSELL considered that the petition
should be printed, and then it could be considered by
the house.

Mr. DITNCOMBE consented to withdraw his origi-
'al motion, and moved that the petition be printed, with
he votes, with the view of founding a motion upon it
tereafter.

The original motion was accordingly withdrawn, and
Le motion for printing the petition was agreed to.
THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

Sir J. PAKINGTON hoped the house would not consider
that he trespassed upon their time, or that any apology
was necessary from him, when he now begged permission
to call their attention to the condition of our Australian
colonies, and to the policy which appeared to him right to
be adopted by the Imperial Government towards those
colonies under the extraordinary and unexpected circum-
stances in which they had been placed. Since he had had
the honour of a seat in that house, he had never observed
that there had been any unwillingness on the part of the
house to give attention to colonial affairs when brought be-
fore them. On the contrary, he thought that all persons
interested in colonial affairs must admit that for some
years past there had been a growing inclination on the
part of the house to give attention to that subject, and
there was no part of the colonial dominions of her Majesty
which had excited greater interest, either among hon.
members or in the country generally, than the colonies
situated in Australia. These colonies had been always free
from the difficulties which had occurred in the case of de-

for the operations of that campaign no fitting provisions
had been made ; that no proper force had ben brought
together ; and, above all, that there were no means of
transport provided. All he (the Earl of Derby) could
say was, that in the dispatch to which he had re-
ferred the Governor-General distinctly stated the amount
of force which he would require for the different opera-
tions, and added, that he had 'already given directions for
levying a sufficient force to be applied to either of the three
contingencies which her Majesty's Government should de-
termine upon having recourse to ; that it would not be ne-
cessary in the first instance to levy the whole of that force,
but that he should, in the first instance, levy sufficient to
secure the annexation and occupation of the province of
Pegu, and that he taken steps for the further levy of
forces, and for the supply of elephants and the proper
means of transport of the larger expedition, should the
home Government think it necessary to direct an advance
upon Amerapoora. Her Majesty's Government received
that dispatch, containing the views entertained by the
Governor-General and his Council, and the arguments pro
and con, about the 17th or 18th of August, and, inasmuch
as it was stated that no military operations could be taken
before the latter end of November, there was ample time
to receive instructions from home. He the more dwelt upon
this, because he had seen it industriously circulated, in
the Indian newspapers especially, that for any apparent
inaction or delay, which some persons were disposed to
charge upon the military authorities, her Majesty's late
Government and the Court of Directors and the Secret
Committee were mainly and exclusively responsible • that
active measures had been pressed upon them by the Indian
Government, but that they had been positively prohibited.
That was not only not true, but was directly the reverse
of true. The dispatch in question he had already stated
had been received about the 18th of August, and, as the
Government then had fortunately for them the means
of referring to the advice and counsel of that great
authority to whom his noble friend had referred in terms

pendencies of the Crown acquired by conquest ; they had
been peopled entirely by emigrants going from these
islands; their career had been one of very great prosperity;
they had had the advantage of a remarkably favourable
climate, upon several occasions they had attracted the at-
tention of that house. No longer ago than last session the
house had devoted very considerable attention to the affairs
of the colony of New Zealand when brought before them,
and in 1850 the Government and both houses of Parliament
devoted verygreat time to arranging the constitution for the
colonies of Australia, unconscious at that time of the im-
portant discoveries which were then impending in those
colonies. Towards the close of the year 1850 those extra-
ordinary discoveries of gold took place which had brought
about a new state of things in that country, which had
stimulated the prosperity of the country to a most remark-
able extent, which had led to a very extensive increase in
its population—emigrants from these islands and from
other parts of the world—and whatever interest might
have been felt by Parliament and this nation generally in
the Australian colonies previously must have been, and had
been, very greatly increased by those discoveries. There
were no statistics which enabled him to state what had
been the exact amount of gold which these colonies had
produced, but ho believed he should not overrate the extent
of the discovery of the precious metal in the short period of
one year that had elapsed, if he said that not less than
10,000,0001. sterling had been produced from these colonies
in that time. Of course, this immense discovery had causcid
a great rush of the population of this country to those
colonies, and had greatly tended to conduce to their mate-
rial prosperity. But he wished to guard himself against
any intention, either of exaggerating the state of pros-
perity which these discoveries had led to, or of stimulat-
ing emigration from this country. On the contrary, it
seemed to him very desirable that the truth should be
known in this respect—(hear, hear) —it was very desirable
that it should be generally known that, so far from emi-
grants having met with universal success, they had in many
cases had to encounter very great suffering and very great
misfortunes. He did not now refer to the very great sick-
ness and mortality which had prevailed, he was sorry to
say, on board some of the emigrant ships in the course of
last year. This was a subject to which the attention of
Parliament had been called, and which was well worthy
the attention of the Government. (Hear.) But, irres-
pective of the sufferings which prevailed on board these •
ships, the emigrants had landed in a state of very great
sickness and very great privation, and found they wore
unable to contend with the fatigues and hardships which
the gold mines involved. Groat sickness had followed the
pursuit of the precious metal, and in many cases the emi-
grants found they were destined to return without the re-
alisation of those expectations in which they had indulged.
Ho had no intention of saying anything either to stimulate
unduly, or unduly to discourage the emigration which
flowed from this country towards these attractive colonies.
It was the misfortune of the late Government to hold
office during the year when the first effect of these
extraordinary discoveries upon the colonies in which
they took place began to be felt. It was during last
year that the full effect of the discovery of gold, with its
increased prosperity and its rapidly increasing population,
was felt throughout those colonies and this country. He
must simply say that in his endeavour to discharge the
dqties of the arduous post in the late Government which it
was his fortune to hold, nothing gave him more anxiety
than that the remarkable crisis which had arisen should be
met in a generous, liberal, wise spirit, calculated to pro-
mote the interest both of the colonies and of the mother
country. His object therefore was on this occasion to state
—and he meant to state it in no boastful spirit--the
policy
which the late Ministry thought it their duty to adopt
with regard to the future government of these colonies, and
to call, in no spirit of distrust or suspicion, upon the Go-
vernment of which. the.noble lord was the leader in • that
house to state whether or not it was theirintention for the
future to pursue the
policy which theirdee
predecessors
had
commenced, or, if they intended to
t
policy, to state what would be the extent and fnamtmurtelsof
their deviation. In taking this course he should not de-
t
Austraain thlie house by entering into the early history of these
an colonies. The house was well aware that the
colony of New South Wales was originally entirely a con-
vict colony. He begged leave to
the rapid
show the house
*ogress of New South Wales from the period when it
might be said to have ceased to be altogether a convict.
colony. In the year 1830 the imports into the colony of
New South Wales amounted to 420,480/. and the exports
to 141,461/. the
being 55 ,000. He passed Population o
ulation of the colony' in that year
In that year the importsver 20
of New years, to the year 1850.
South Wales had in-
creased to 1,333,4131., and the exports to 1,357,7841.
(Hear.) He thought the house would admit that this
showed a very great and very rapid increase of material
prosperity. The gold discoveries took place towards the
close of the year 1851, and the imports in that year had
risen to 1,563,9311., and the exports to 1,796,012/.,
the population, which in 1830 was only 55,000 had
ati.
min-
creased to 197,163—in round numbers, 200,000. n
ports in 1851 amounted to 8/., and the exports
91., per head of the population. This to about
.vas a rate of pros-
perity which, he believed, had hardly b
increase
had, Anaincrease
©quelled by
any other community. A still moreext
so
had, however, taken place in the colony of Victoria. Only
18 years ago that colony
was
an untouched wilderness—
ttler had then fixed
not a single civilised European se
him-
self in that groat colony. But house
the would allow him
perhaps to state another which he mentioned with no
degree of censure upon fact,
thes atesmen to whom it referred,t
of showing how little human
foresight and wisdom had
but rather with the objec
to do in reality with these great
changes. About the year 1834, some persons
who were
anxious to establish a settlement at Port Philip, applied to
the Government of the day on the subject, and Lord Aber-
deen
who was then at the head of the Colonial-office,
wrote a dispatch, which was followed up by another writ-
ten by Lord Glenelg, who succeeded the noble earl, in both
of which dispatches it was stated that no settlement could
be allowed at Port Philip—that such a settlement would
be opposed to the policy of England, which was rather to
concentrate than to extend the population of those colo-
nies—that it would involve expense, and not be worth the
while of this country. Happily for the colony, the British
enterprise and spirit had anticipated the decision of those
statesmen. Before their answers were received, some l'ao
tive and energetic men had established themselves at Port
Philip. That was in 1835. In 1845--ord.y 10 years hav'

of eulogy, which he could only share with every man in
this kingdom, they took the opportunity of consulting
with that illustrious man as to the course of proceed-
ing which he would advise, and of submitting to his
consideration and judgment the whole of the papers, with
the suggested plan of operations winch had been trans-
mitted by the Indian Government. That period was within
three weeks of the lamented death of that illustrious man,
and he believed that this memorandum upon this very sub-
ject was almost the last document which had been prepared
by him upon any public matter. It was addressed to him
(the Earl of Derby) upon the 24th of August, and contained
an explanation of the policy which he recommended to be
pursued. He was sure, after the statement which his
noble friend had made, and his reference to the high au-
thority of the Duke of Wellington in 1829, that their lord-
ships would not think he was improperly trespassing on
their time and attention if he read to them that which had
been given to him in the form of a memorandum by the
noble and gallant duke,—now, alas ! no more. (Hear,
hear.) In the first place his noble friend had commented
very strongly upon the insufficient cause and origin of the
war, and had contended that it had been unjustly and im-
properly engaged in. The first paragraph of the illustrious
duke's letter said,—" It appears to me that the war could
not be averted." It then went on,—
" That the operations fixed upon were judicious, have been
ably carried into execution, with great gallantry, by the
officers and troops ; and that a commencement has been made
to require from and enable the Government to consider of the
means to be adopted for the restoration of peace, and the
terms on which peace should be restored. I concur with
the Governor-General in thinking that it will be absolutely
necessary to retain possession of all that has fallen into the

hands of the Britishyoops; that is, Rangoon, Martaban, and

,
even Bassein, Pegu; and the whole province so called. My
opinion is, that it will be necessary to continue the prepara-
tions for carrying on the operations of the war till the Sove-
reign of Ava shall be convinced of the necessity of signing a
treaty by the provisions of which all these dominions will be

ceded to the British Government, or till the state of Ava
shall be destroyed. A mere military possession of these dis-
tricts would be but an inglorious and little secure result of
these successful operations. I confess that lam inclined to .
expect that the means adopted to cut off from Ava the sup-
plies of corn usually received by import by sea will have the
effect of producing efforts to obtain peace by negotiation ;
but, if not, the British Government ought to be in a state of
military preparation to advance upon Ava, to enforce the
abandonment of the capital, and even of Amerapoora. It
may be relied upon that the natives of the East aro not better
prepared than we are to abandon their dwellings in the winter,
and to live in the jungles and mountains. The Government
suspected of intending to take such a course would be aban-
doned by all its followers. At all events, the military pos-
session and tenure of provinces and possessions upon the sea
coast would be considered in a very different light, the Go-
vernment of Ava being there seated in strength, as under
existing circumstances ; or being driven out and weakened
towards Ameerapoora, or further on in the mountains, as is
supposed in the printed papers. I conceive, therefore, that
it will be necessary to assemble the large force proposed, even
though it should be determined to insist upon the cession of
all the maritime posseagons of the state of Ava. These must
be ceded by the stipulations of a treaty of peace, or the State
must be destroyed. If, after all, the Sovereign should treat
for peace in order to save his State, he must be made to pay
the expenses of the war. The necessity for providing ape_
cially for the security of the people of Pegu, discussed in the
minutes of the members of Council, appears to me to be dis-
posed of; but it may be relied upon that that point will have
much effect in both houses of Parliament. It appears to me
that the people of Pegu have already, by their conduct, ac-
quired the right to claim protection by stipulations of treaty,
if the province should be restored to the Government of Ava,
however objectionable all such provisions of tieaties, as lead-
ing to, and rendering necessary, interference in the internal
affairs of a foreign nation. The demand of the session would
certainly be preferable to restoration with a stipulation of
amnesty to the people of Pegu, of which it would be neces-
sary for the British Government to enforce the execution."
He had read this memorandum for the purpose of showing
that with a full knowledge of all the facts of he case—
with all
sallprtehvelopuaspers of every
the Duke of Welling-todescription before him—with
that war could not knowledgehave been
of Indian habits and manners
rations came t theseaverted
;conclusions
next,
that
pwroeproespederfweermreedjudiwictihougres ;
at
egxalt,latnhtaryt the measures
adopted
well as in
and, lastly, that in honour to the inhabitants of Pegu, as
—t
h success Fe
r so
p et
;-
policy, we were bound not to stop short, but,
unless the King of Ava ceded to us by treaty the territory
we had already adopted, to advance for those larger ope-
rations which had been indicated by the Governor-General.
• He ought not, perhaps, to speak of the views entertained
by himself and the other members of his Government, but
he might venture to say that the advice so given by the
) noble and illustrious duke,—by him (who had been, he un-