The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-24 00:00:00

nazardousundertaking to accompany an expedition sent
ragssain.s,t_a horde of pirates on the Arab coast, who were a
27Ideable obstacle to British traders, where he success-
fl:ll,l
the
the negociations as interpreter, going up,
lhe heart of the piratical tribe with the naval com-
mander,s_ alone and unarmed, amidst this savage and lawless
*dee, while th
bo b . e
theseuadron was lying in the offing ready for
ardm
b th •
e eir fart.
own, and every moment was expected to
of
6. Mr. Buckingham arrived in the Ganges in command
Perim
f •
Perim*, rlgate described, in the year 1818, after a prosy
Corom "Yage
, along the coasts of Malabar, Ceylon, and
os4,ooaoilinel ; the command then yielding him an income
el. Mad" year. But on being desired to sail to the vast
eenv_ agasca, for the purpose of giving protection and
frigatueYltse some vessels of the Arab Prince, to whom this
elonged, which vessels were engaged in the con-
nio'i:cea of slaves from one part to another of his domi-
the ' °lr. Buckingham remonstrated against this traffic in
v'ail
persons of his fellow-creatures, and being unable to pre-
mantly r
the afre t .
n of the ship to change her
destination, in-
thus
esigued
esaveerifii c.ing his command, with all its emoluments—
a large and increasing income rather than
he , nms countenance to a slavery which from principle
abhorred.
7' This • •
strong disinterested and high principled conduct made so
.an Impression upon the
chants minds of the British mer-
the
ea'nCalcutta, that Mr. Buckingham was invited, by
Journal members of that body, to establish a Public
Gov: on liberal principles ; and as Lord Hastings, the
ts_ on
General of India, had removed the censorship of
13"alltress in that country, and declared his wish that the
conduct of
and public men should be freely examined,
Public opinion honestly and openly pronounced, Mr.
blish Ingharn accepted the invitation made to him, and esta-
papeed the Calcutta Journal in the same year, 1818. This
paher was originally published twice a week—all the other
socrers then in India, appearing once a week only. Its
Buelet!s' however, so far surpassed all expectation, that Mr.
queeslagham was induced progressively, so to increase its fre-
-10".1 of Publication, and so to enlarge its size and aug-
bailE Its sources of information, that it ultimately became a
fors!? gaper' of the largest size and greatest variety of in-
t„
suo, .1s state
ever publishe in India. To bring it, however,
of perfection, and to enlarge the buildings,
e 01,71. increase the stock of materials, and establish the
with-
out
ers_Poi ndcnce and machinery of carrying it on with-
cessaelaxation or intermission, it had cost five years of in-
stir lot and anxious labour and an expenditure of all the
which 13IUS rece.
IPts, to the exient of 20,000/. sterling at least ;
heio expenditure, however, was amply recompensed by its
64 brought to yield a clear net profit ranging between
s7u/. and 8,0 per annum ; and thus to make the con-
; oaf:Vie saleable value of 40,00, 01. sterling, estimating it
isde between five and six years purchase ;at which rate,
p4rjd, about one-fourth of it was actually purchased by
speciteisvelo realized a large annual dividend on their re-
p.s. hares.
Joorh I,lle Public good effected by the publication of this
eonZt: during five years of time—from 1818 to 1823,
sons 27 large quarto volumes—is admitted by all per-
vas who were then in India, to have been greater than
esisteedv, effected by any publication that had previously.
lawins. any part of our Eastern possessions. The fol-
Poser ruow
ever, are worthy of especial mention ;—lt ci-
te 4 great variety of public abuses, which it caused to
rdre_
tel /0. ; and prevented many more from being comm. it.-
strati 'ear of its censures. It greatly improved the admini-
veiten °Jjestice in the native Courts. It was the first to in-
viict s,l)ll°lielY against the horrid practice of burning the living .
Dres°,;,s °f the Hindoos, and ultimately forced on the sup-
°n of of that frightful and murderous rite. It con-
/srn-e' the equally revolting practice of the Indian Go-
sath, ent deriving a revenue from the superstitions of the
Juss'es' in drawing large profits from the Pilgrimages to
sst7's ernaut
• oe
, and accelerated the abolition of that iniquitous
theisi gain. It defended the Christian Missionaries
qa holy and benevolent labours. It advocated the
°P: -°n and the elevation of the Indian population. It
130sUsea itself to every act of despotism ; and it advocated
tilestY, earnestly, and unceasingly, the three great reforms
required for India ,
Itites all of which have been since hap-
calevdom of Settlement for all persons in the
ititb-oar of ed—._.Freedom
country, safe from liability to banishment
Aosallt trial, to which all British subjects were then ex-
hilite--Preedom of Publication, subject only to responsi-
awarYt, the laws, and to such punishment as might be
with aT °Y the verdict of a Jury—and Freedom of Trade
9, Parts of the world, which it now happily enjoys.
BessJl4,.e advocacy of these principles, and the great sue-
and which attended it, made both the Journal and its bold
lleor ire°lllpromising Conductor the object of especial
re- earn°ng the old and bigotted servants of the East
‘te‘'clia -taraPanY ; and accordingly, Mr. Buckingham was
the I"atsY threatened with banishment, without trial, for
totartzeles from time to time published in his paper. While
howllHastings remained at the head of the Government,
ter, 1,
determined that the Courts of Law should
d
th,tine only tribunal of judgment to be resorted to :—an
,kattZ years of time,—amidst all the excitement of
I,`leas f anaults—virulent abuse—and even criminal imputa-
tkipm enemies and rivals,—the several articles of Mr.
the iel,harn's Journal which were remonstrated against by
that n'an Government, were defended and explained by
the,
sFentlernan to Lord Hastings' entire satisfaction ; and
eals, lagle indictment at law, which was framed against the
s, article
''"ate ;i I brought to trial, by the united Secretaries of
ndia, before a Court of Law, ended in aninstant
io.t of acquittal by a British jury.
few t length Lord Hastings left India, in 1823, some
hve.eek s only before his successor, Lord Amherst ar-
s_eealtiss4hig Premature departure being forced on by ill
7nlPos's and no sooner had he quitted Calcutta, than his
ths-srY sueesessor, Mr. John Adam, the senior servant
oho b-sPdia Company, and the old censor of the press,
pinto -' an especial hatred of all liberal men and liberal
Nee 111,3 s Seized the first occasion that presented itself to
IshezolB decree of banishment against Mr. Buckingham,
Ilia], bee ordered to quit India within two months, without
11, ,s?'ling, investigation, or defence.
aal de 'he alleged ground of this arbitrary and tyranni-
oussesriee,was the appearance of an article in the Calcutta
4rotly,—'4,Which treated, with good humoured banter and
blade the appointment which Mr. Adam had himself
the Set a Presbyterian minister, Dr. Bryce, the head of
llirkitiittell Church in India, to be Clerk of the. Stationery_
4ttend ee•—an office which would require daily and hourly
Ithieh an", if its duties were faithfully discharged—and
isetali therefore, Mr. Buckingham represented as wholly
tjeltjatible with the due discharge of the reverend gen-
'lel% 8 more important sacred functions. For this ar-
Itora 4tilldfor this alone, in which there was not a single
l'oan at any jury in England, or in India, could was
ad like
tan' te to be lib 11 e ous, or even harsh, Mr. Buckingham was
hOa the se a felon—(nay worse, for a felon would have
is Naanunetit of a trial, a hearing, a defence,)—torn from
s°, break
„e Property and extensive connections, and obliged_
great
expense,
his domestic establishment, recently completed
!Name
ly,l,)erlse, and with great comfort,—and, with
Painful _;a' who had just joined him from England, after
glen ex2:osenee of ten years, while their children were
nloy the eted to be on their voyage out from England, to
Oven igosoeeletY and protection of their parents,—he was
suable
had so
_mlniously from the house and the home which
gable UnXiOUSly formed, and compelled to leave his va-
tav,e, ttleildr°PertY under the guidance of others, with all his
'ell excitecounts uncollected and unpaid—a cruelty
tWhish itisd almost universal indignation in India ; and
teiPented,
as he the perpetrator of himself soon deeply
Ile felt himself compelled to publish a pamphlet
I'ever afterw
nth ,:adaend defence, to appease the public feeling ; but
o strong an impression against him,. that. he
11°nth, ards recovered his spirits, and died within a.few
:lent of onfessin. to those who were most in the enjoy-
'ever be c(lnfislesnee
12, s,-.entione _ • . .
, his desire that the subject should
th on again in his presence.
leadat the very 15tickingham's arrival in England, he found
bee
ends Y appointment for gently censuring which he
mans.forcibly banished from his property, his
G: India c home, was so entirely disapproved of by
de-r.'eral Ass°elnPanY, by the Board of Control, and by the
vi• nig it t ,xubly or Scotland, that all three united in or-
-Ito
°.tle instantly annulled, as wholly incompatible
Nsb?
was oatuttibees of a Christian Minister—and especially one
4(3' Mr, head of the Presbyterian Church in India.
eolueis_a-uockingliam was encouraged to hope—from
ttlties ee of sentiment, between the public audio-
urn_ to Jodi.. and himself—that he might be allowed to re-
isss_ less
sr, to resume his pursuits ; though, even then,
letrot, Calcotorim and money would have been considerable,
rtae
it
watshis
od recover his original position. But though
fo sued
for
single act of justice, in the most humble
th poard
of
r.9..fused by the India Company—denied by
e last. eentroul-
-14, and this refusal persisted in to
t, e Shortl f
Gove_ Yea ter this, intelligence reached England, that
3,a_cvkinghal",s flt_ in India, not content with banishing Mr.
seed d proceeded, by a series of wanton and ag-
e u
sise4 sestrey it. Pon his Property, utterly to annihilate
private Their first step was to give legal force to
‘4lt whieL . regulations for the Press, for an alleged breach
tiosinit banuAisihrt;
el3,n,ckingham was banished ; for, at the time
tisr Precise]these regulations had not the force of law,
°ugh innse condition of a Bill that is in progress
Mrs goeirname, but has not received the Royal assent.
4ase• th agham did not. even violate these regulations, be-
„e article f
sro, ,3,r which he was banished, did
bons their not come
13-ntlaW"e noPt Prohibitions. But even if he had, the regula-
_ passed into a law, until some weeks after Mr.
1504 Isllmen,7, wear banished for having violated them ; the
ed bein • erefore preceding, and the law said to be vio-
extre •Z made ass
, arts afterwards, and this punishment, though so
„ante indivisae%sre, inflicted at the mere will and caprice of a
u:sawitbot`L_nal, bolding the temporary possession ot power,
" s of law
__',"lY form of trial investicration proof, or other pro-
Oatever. Their 'next stepb was to' make anew regu-

lation or by-law, which had no existence when Mr. Bucking.
ham left the country, giving themselves power to suppress any
of the existing Journals at pleasure : a regulation which the
the King's Judges at Bombay refused to sanction, as being
illegal and unnecessary ; and no sooner was this regulation
passed in Bengal, than the Calcutta Journal was wholly
suppressed and annihilated at a blow. Nay, so vindictive
was the spirit in which this persecution was conducted, that
though Mr. Buckingham was then absent in England, and
had been refused leave to return, the Indian Government
not only annihilated his property in his absence, but decreed
that even the type, presses, and other materials, should
never be used by any other person so long as Mr. Bucking-
ham was to derive any benefit from such use ; first, there-
fore, trampling on his person, then destroying his property,
and inflicting on him utter ruin, without the least power of
appeal, or the least hope of redress!
15. On learning this heart-rending intelligence of the
breaking up of all his splendid establishment, from which,
even if not permitted to return to India, he might have
fairly expected an honourable income of 3,0001. or 4,0001.
a year, to be remitted to him by his agents, under whose
protection and management it was placed,—he again humbly
asked leave to be permitted to go to India for ever so short
a period, to gather up the fragments that might be left from
the wreck—wind up his concerns—prevent the further ac-
cumulation of loss and injury, and leave the country for
ever. Even this simple and just request was unfeelingly
and obstinately denied to him
16. Amidst all this overwhelming series of calamities,
Mr. Buckingham, with a calmness, a fortitude, and an
energy, which it is rare to find under circumstances that
would send most men broken-hearted to their graves, con-
templated new efforts for the .improvement of India, and
the benefit of his fellow-countrymen ; and accordingly,
with this view, he established, in London, in the be-
ginning of 1824, a monthly journal, entitled the Orien-
tal Herald, the main object of which was to diffuse
authentic information throughout Great Britain re-
specting sthe actual state and condition of India—to
create, if possible, an interest in the public mind of
this country in behalf of the oppressed natives of that
remote region—and to advocate in England what he had
been banished and ruined for advocating in India—Frey
dom of Settlement—Freedom of Publication—and Free-
dom of Trade. This work was conducted by Mr. Buck-
ingham for six years, from the beginning of 1824 to the
end of 1829 : during which it completed 23 large octavo
volumes, which, with the 27 still larger quartos of the
Calcutta Journal, made 50 volumes of about 600 pages
each, besides 30 other volumes of Oriental Travels, Po-
litical, Parliamentary; Literary, and Critical Essays and
Reviews, making a total number of 80 large volumes in
the space of 18 years. The greater part of these were
written by Mr. Buckingham's own hand ; and in the case
of the Oriental Herald, considerable expense was incurred
fbr the latest and best intelligence on all Indian af-
fairs, and the most accurate report of all proceedings
connected with Indian interests. The sale of this
work in England was, however, necessarily very
limited, from the difficulty of awakening the public
interest to a sufficient extent : but many hundreds
of copies were freely distributed, throughout these
five years, in the principal towns of the Provinces, and these
entirely at Mr. Buckingham's cost. The copies sent to
India, were prevented from being publicly sold, though all
the expense of producing them was incurred here : and a
sum of more than 6,0001. was sunk, from all these causes,
by the continuance of this publication, through six years of
persevering labour, which, however, was attended with great
moral success, notwithstanding We vast pecuniary loss, by
its greatly preparing the public mind for the future fa-
vourable reception of Mr. Buckingham's labours in ano-
ther sphere.
17. As the period was now drawing nigh for the renewal
of the East India Company's exclusive Charter, by which
the despotic government of India, and their monopoly of
trade with China, were both upheld—Mr. Buckingham de-
termined on leaving London, in order to make a personal
tour through all the provinces, to stir up an effective oppo-
sition to this renewal, and to demand a better form of
government for India, and an equally free trade with
China for all classes of his Majesty's subjects. In fur-
therance of this plan Mr. Buckingham left London for the
country; and, during the years 1829, 1830, 1831, and
1832, he visited personally all the towns of any size, or im-
portance, at all connected with mercantile, manufac-
turing, or shipping affairs, in England, Scotland, and Ire-
land, traversing the kingdom in every direction, enduring
immense fatigue, incurring considerable expense, breaking
up his establishment in London, depriving himself of the
comforts of domestic enjoyment at home, and encountering
the fiercest opposition, and the most virulent abuse, from
the defenders and hired agents of the East India Company,
in most of the principal towns. He persevered, however,
to the end, through good report, and through evil report ;
and succeeded in addressing, (luring these four years of
almost incessant journeying, not less than a million of
people in all his career, and in forming upwards of a hnndred
Associations in different towns, composed of the most in-
fluential persons in each, who bound themselves to use their
labour, their purses, and their united influence to oppose
the renewal of the East India monopoly of government and
trade, and to throw both India and China open to the free
intercourse and enterprise of British subjects of every class.
The result of all this was, an array of public feeling and
public power in favour of Mr. Buckingham's views, which
no Ministry and no Company could withstand.
18. Mr. Buckingham was then invited to become the
Representative of the town of Sheffield, where he was
wholly unknown, until his public appeals on the subject of
the India monopoly, won for him the general favour of the
inhabitants. He was triumphantly returned, after a severe
contest, without his having personally canvassed for a
single vote, without his possessing either local influence, or
even personal acquaintance in th town or neighbourhood,
and without his being subjected to a single sixpence of ex-
pense. He thus lived to be placed in the House of Com-
mons by a free and independent constituency—there to
advocate, in the Senate of his country, the very reforms
he had been banished and ruined for merely suggesting in
India.; and, more than all, to see his principles recognised,
and his views adopted, in the new Charter, by which, what
were deemed treasons against the Majesty of the East
India Company in India, were now, in his own pre-
sence, in the British House of Commons, eulogized
and adopted as the law of the land ! Never, perhaps, in
the history of any publicly persecuted man, was a greater
moral triumph than this achieved by Mr. Buckingham, and
won only by perseverance through a series of persecutions,
sufferings, losses, and calamities, which would have broken
the spirits and the heart of most ordinary men, and termi-
nated their struggles in penury, despair, and death.
19. The public victory being achieved, Mr. Bucking-
barn's labours might well have terminated here ; and a
benefitted and a grateful country might, with honour to it-
self and justice to its benefactor, have rewarded him at
least with the re-payment of what he had spent and sacri-
ficed in her service, if she had done no more ; so that, after
the well-fought fight, through such painful struggles and
vicissitudes, and prolonged through so many years of
time, he might have passed the evening of his troubled day
in the enjoyment of well-deserved honour, competency,
and repose.
20. Mr. Buckingham was left, however, to fight his own
battle, as well as that of the people ; and to win for him-
self, or not enjoy it at all, that justice which had hitherto
been so cruelly and vindictively denied to him. Accor-
dingly, when the question of the new India Charter was
settled, but not till then, and in the second session of his
sitting in Parliament, Mr. Buckingham obtained the appoint-
ment of a Select Committee of the House of Commons, to
take into consideration the circumstances of his banish-
ment from India, and the subsequent suppression of the
Calcutta Journal, in order to ascertain what was the
amount of loss inflicted on him by these acts, and
whether any and what amount of compensation should be
made to him for the same. This Committee consisted of
thirty-seven individuals, comprising men of the greatest
eminence from both sides of the House—Lord Althorp,
Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Lord Granville So-
merset, Mr. Charles Grant, Mr. William Wynn—includ-
ing three Cabinet Ministers, and two members of the Board
of Control ; and after taking into consideration the volu-
minous evidence produced by Mr. Buckingham, from wit-
nesses examined, and documents put in, as well as the evi-
dence presented by the East India Company, they came to
an unanimous resolution that compensation ought to be
made to Mr. Buekingham, for the losses occasioned to him
by the measures of the Government in India ; leaving the
amount open, in the hope that the India Company would
take the matter into their favourable consideration, and
make such compensation as would be satisfactory to all
parties ; but reserving also to Parliament the right to in-
terfere and fix such amount, if the India Company should
refuse so to do.
21. These resolutions of the Parliamentary Committee
were communicated to the India Company, accompanied by
a letter from Mr. Buckingham, expressing his perfect readi-
ness to abide by any award, as to the amount, which might
he made by the joint decision of the Chairman of the
India Company, the President of the Board of Controul,
and any third person they might select to assist them ; but
the reply to this humble proposition was, a refusal to en-
tertain the question in any shape, or to grant any compensa-
tion whatever!
22. In the Session of 1835, accordingly a Bill was intro-
duced into Parliament by Mr. Tulk, to enforce by law the
payment of the compensation which the Select Committee
of 1334 had unanimously declared to be due. It was
carried on a first reading by a majority of 47 to 12—or
nearly 4to 1. It passed a second reading without a divi-
sion : and was only prevented from passing the House of
Commons by a merely technical objection being raised
against its being considered a public instead of a private
Bill, in which latter shape it was said it ought to have been

introduced. It was tlerefore deferred, on this ground
alone, till the ensuing Session.
23. In the Session of 1836, the same measure exactly
was introduced under the forms of a private Bill, and now
came with the advantage of numerous Petitions from all
parts of the country in its favour, these Petitions being in
general the spontaneous expression of public feeling and
public opinion on the case, formed after a careful perusal of
its details. It was read a first time without opposition ;
but on the second reading, from its coming on at an earlier
hour than was anticipated by those who were friendly to the
measure ; and from the accidental predominance of a Tory
majority in the House at that particular moment, when
only 206 members, or less than one-third of the whole
House were present, it was thrown out by a majority of 125
to 81, or about 11 to 1. The three objections raised by its
opponents were these-Ist. Mr. Lawson complained that
the Petitions had been got up by sending Circulars through
Members, and therefore, without saying a word to dis-
prove the cruelty and hardship of the case, he moved
that the whole claim should be rejected, because there
had been a breach of etiquette ! 2nd. Mr. Robinson,
himself a Proprietor of the East India Company—denied ,
the competency of Parliament to compel that Corn-
pany
to pay any thing but what it chose to do 3rd.
Mr. Roebuck contended that no claim to compensation
could be admitted, because Mr. Buckingham had been
guilty of a violation of the law (which was wholly untrue),
and he also insisted that the Hindoos ought not to be taxed
to pay this compensation, under an entirely erroneous im-
pression as to the fund from whence it would have come, as
it would not have added a farthing to the taxes upon any
Hindoo, or any other native of India or England ; but
have come from the reserved surplus fund specially set aside
for the liquidation of the East India Company's debts, of
which this might justly be regarded as one.
24. The Bill to enforce the decision of the Parliamentary
Committee being thus thrown out, by a combination of
causes that left the teal merits of the question altogether
untouched ; and both the Claims of Justice, the Report of
the Committee, and the Petitions of the People, being
alike treated with scorn ;—Mr. Buckingham's constituents
at Sheffield called a public meeting of the inhabitants of
that town, which assembled in the Town Hall on the 29th
of February (the Bill having been thrown out on the 24th)
and there passed a series of spirited resolutions—William
Ibbotson, Esq., of Endcliffe Hall, in the chair, approving
in the warmest terms of the public and private conduct of
their Honourable Representative, and adopting the recom-
mendation of Mr. Tulk, the Member who introduced the
Bill, and Mr. Ebenezer Elliott, their fellow-townsman,
both of whom had written public letters strongly recom-
mending an Appeal to the whole country, to raise a Na-
tional Subscription, for the purpose of indemnifying Mr.
Buckingham for those services and sacrifices in the public
cause, which the India Company had treated with con-
tumely, and a Tory majority of the House of Commons had
rejected with disdain. _ _ . .

25. This Appeal has been already responded to with
promptitude and zeal, from various parts of the country ;
and as the object of the National Subscription is to pur-
chase an Annuity on the joint lives of Mr. and Mrs. Buck-
ingham, so as to secure to them an honourable competency
for the remainder of their days, all the best feelings of our
nature arc appealed to for assistance and support. The
lover of political freedom, who rejoices in the progress of
reform ; the philanthropist, who watches the progress of
knowledge and civilization with interest ; the merchant, the
manufacturer, and the shipowner, who profit by extended
commerce ; and the numerous individuals of every class,
who abhor oppression, and who love justice for its own sake ;
will thus have an opportunity of testifying the sincerity of
their professions, and proving the soundness of their prin-
ciples, by contributing towards an object which all honest
minds must honour and approve.
26. It has been somewhat unreasonably objected to Mr.
Buckingham's Claims, that he has undertaken, in England,
several experiments which have failed, and that he has
already received assistance from the contributions of friends.
A brief answer to these objections will show how utterly

groundless they are ; as far as they are urged as reasons
against the present Appeal. Mr. Buckingham's undertak-
ings, since he has been in England, have been confined
chiefly to the establishment of several publications, the main
object of which was, to propagate his views respecting the
emancipation of India, from the despOtism and monopoly
by which she was enthralled. The first of these publica-
tions, the Oriental Herald, required, and received, the very
liberal support of some forty or fifty friends, who came for-
ward voluntarily, to sustain it, when in danger of beinc, dis-
continued for want of funds. This assistance was confined
to a very limited circle indeed, certainly not exceeding the
number named ; the sum contributed by them did not,
however, equal in the whole the amount which Mr. Buck-
ingham has himself contributed to the same object, from
his own private purse ; and the whole of the joint
amount was applied strictly and exclusively to the
support of this publication,—and had no reference
whatever to Mr. Buckingham's private emolu-
ment, or individual support. Another occasion, in
which assistance was afforded, was this :—Mr. Buckingham
had formed the plan of a Voyage of Expedition to the
Eastern Seas, intending to circumnavigate the globe, by
India, China, Japan, and the Pacific Ocean, for the united
purposes of hydrographical discovery, commercial inves-
tigation, and the collection and diffusion of useful know-
ledge, in those slightly visited and almost unknown coasts
and seas. The proposition was honoured with the most
favourable reception, and announced under the most dis-
tinguished auspices. The Duke of Sussex and the Duke
of Somerset—Lord Durham and Lord John Russell—
Sir Sydney Smith, Sir Alexander Johnstone, and other
public men of the highest eminence for rank and talent,
moved the resolutions at the Royal Institution, by which
the Expedition was recommended to public sanction and
support, and Mr. Buckingham named as its best and most
appropriate Commander. The sum required was 20,000/. ;
but owing party to the injudicious limitation of the amount
of each contribution to 51. only, and still more to the
political excitement occasioned by the French Revolution
of 1830, the cry for Parliamentary Reform, and other
topics that then wholly absorbed the public mind, no larger
a sum than 1,3661. 18s. was actually subscribed. The utter
inadequacy of this amount was the only cause of the Expedi-
tion not being carried forward ; but though no less a sum than
779/.175. 3d. had been already expended on the object, under
the direct sanction and authority of the Committee appointed
for that purpose ;—the offer was made by circular to
every individual subscriber to return the full amount cf his
contribution, without even deducting his fair share of the
expenditure. A great number of the subscribers accepted
this offer, and their money was repaid. Others preferred
not withdrawing their deposit, but proposed its application
to the purchase of an Annuity for Mr. Buckingham, in con-
sideration of the time he had sacrificed, and the pains he
had taken to carry forward this great public undertaking- ;
but when those who accepted the offered return of the
money had been paid, when all the expenses of the under-
taking had been discharged, and a deficiency occasioned by
the bankruptcy of the Banker and Treasurer, Sir George
Duckett, had been deducted, there remained only 3001. so
to invest in Annuity proposed, which has been deposited in
the Government Securities for that purpose ; and ever
since has been applied to the insurance of Mr. Bucking-
haves life, for the benefit of his surviving family,—the
amount being only 21/. per annum, which he has never once
touched, and which is all the amount ever received by him
for his own personal use and benefit, amidst all that 'he
has lost, and suffered, and endured ; and as it is proposed
to add this Annuity of 21/. to whatever may be the amount
of the National Subscription now proposed to be raised, it
is to be hoped that the joint-aggregate of this small sum
and the larger one now to be raised, will be more worthy
of the public spirit of the nation to give, and of the object
of its bounty and of its gratitude to receive.
27. Although the catalogue of Mr. Buckingham's public
I services might here be permitted to close, it is but justice
to him to mention the following, as additional efforts made
by him for the promotion of great public objects, in which
the whole country are deeply interested. Mr. Buckingham
was the first public writer in England who commenced the
advocacy of the immediate emancipation of the West India
slaves. In the early part of the year 1824, he opened this
this subject in the Oriental Herald, and laboured with the
same view in succeeding numbers—though all other writers
then contended for gradual emancipation only ; and the
Anti-Slavery Society itself did not, until four or five years
afterwards, come forward to demand that immediate aboli-
tion which Mr. Buckingham was the first to advocate, and
which was ultimately demanded by the country at large.
Mr. Buckingham's successful labours for the abolition of the
Impressment of British Seamen are well known ; and to
him is mainly owing the impression made on the House
of Commons and the nation generally, which has led to
the passing an Act for the registration of our merchant
seamen, and another for the encouragement of volun-
tary enlistment, by which Impressment has received
its death blow. Mr. Buckingham's public and private
exertions in the great cause of Temperance and Edu-
cation, are as well known as all his other labours. In the
House of Commons, by obtaining a Committee of Inquiry,
be has brought to light and given publicity to the most im-
portant facts connected with this subject ; and in his jour-
nies, lectures, addresses, and practice, he has done as
much to advance that important cause—the reformation of
the intemperate, and the abatement of the crime, disease,
and poverty of which they were the victims—as any man in
the kingdom. Mr. Buckingham's writings as a traveller in
the countries of the East, are admitted, by all who are ac-
quainted with them, to rank among the highest of those
that treat of the countries he describes ; an assertion which
is best proved by the fact, that in all the publications re-
cently issued for the illustration of the Scriptures—includ-
ing Burder, Keith, Cauater, Horne, Murray, and the seve-
ral compilations on the countries of the Oriental World—
Mr. Buckingham's volumes have been more largely drawn