Star.
London, England, 1819-03-02 00:00:00

PALEAfBANG AND BANCA.

Übe folksy/hi Ardde Alras sent to us some weeks ago; but
from the press of other matte we could not smear insert It.]
TO TUE EDITOR- OF MR STAR. '
&s:—l have been a good deal surprised on the
peruse] of the leading .article in your Paper of Sa-
turd:" last (I6th January), respecting Palembang
and lianca, at the mistaken opinions which you, in
^common with moat of the other Journalists, have been
led Into with regard to the late proceedings at Palem-
bang. As I suppose your object is to give the public
a fair opportunity of judging what are the realmerits
of the case, and not intentionally to propagateerro-
neous impressions, I take it for granted you will per-
mit me to obtrude a few remarks upon your notice.,
Having recently returned from the Eastern Islands,
and concerned with persons well qualified to inform
me on the "abject, I may Oe excused for so doing.
Yon say, that " the scene whicia has ban brought
,to leew ..by Sir' THOMAS RAP/VW hie protest
against the Dutch aggressions and-positive insults of-
fered to the sovereignty of Greet Britain, has excited
a lively indignation in the bosom of all who feel for
the dignity of his country." Now, befbre too much
indulgence is given to such angry feeling, I would
recommend it to your Readers to reserve their judg-
ment until they hear something-more about the matt
ter than what SirThomaatafies has been telling them.
The aggressions and insults seem to me very plainly to
have been committed by nobody but Sir Thomashitn-
self. The Dutch Government, in'its administritioa
'of one of its own insignificant Dependencies, is in-
truded upon, and, I may very fairly say, insulted,
by the gentleman alluded to, presuming, without the
least authority or knowledge of. its proper Sovereign,
to send an Embassy to the dependent State in question,
and to cause the English colours to be hoisted in its
capital, three years after the English Government
'had formally restored it to its ancient Lord, the Dutch
' Government. This Circumstance, you observe, with'
the strong animaddersions it has occasioned in Eng-
land, has " alarmed the Agents of the Netherlands'
Government." Here you are greatly mistaken—that
Government has no Agent so silly as to be alarmed
at any of the Quixotic menaces of Governor Raffles-
-1 they know enough of him, by his deeds at Java, to
feel very confident he can never do them much mis-
chief: they have sufficient confidence in the liberal
and enlightened views of the British cabinet, to be
certain they will not allow themselves to be commit-
ted by the artful designs of their aspiring agent.
The point for which that modest Gentleman would
have his Government to contend is shortly this, shall
Mr. Raffles or the Government of the Netherlands,
be considered Sovereigns of the Malay Islands?—
When Mr. Raffles himself was in authority at Java,
he did-not scruple to dethrone Princes and to raise
subjects in their places, every month in the year. The
Palembang Chief is only one of a dpzen that were
deposed by him the very first year he was left in
power at Batavia. But now a new face of things
appears--theseupstarts are to be independent Powers,
towards whom the Dutch Govefnment is to observe
the utmost deference and respect. No matter what
the man's crimes or . qualities may be, if Governor
Raffles made him, he must continue Sovereign. Yon
must know, Mr. Editor, that the aggression for
which Governor Raffles is so anxious to embroil his,
Gqvernment with that of the Netherlands, consists in
their restoring to the throne of Palembang, the law-
ful sovereign—the regular lineal male descendant of
a long line of ancestors, who, after many years peace-
ful and popular reign, was deposed by the said-Go-
vernor Raffles. And why did he depose him ? Be-
cause he was said to have ordered the murder of the
Dutch Resident and Factory, who had the misfor-
tune to be there when the English were going against
Java. If this pretence was a just one, who so fit to
punish the offender as the countrymen of the victims,
who now have the offender in their power ? That it
was only a pretence to cover other designs of the
scheming Lieutenant-Governor of Java, may fairly
be inferred from the Dutch spontaneously restoring
him to his throne. Lieutenant-Governor Raffles sent
Mr. Robinson and other Gentlemen, as Commis-
sioqers to Palembang, after deposing the old Sultan,
in consequence of the' country being torn to pieces
by the dissentions and murders "that his hasty mea-
sure occasioned, and they all reported just as the
Commissioner (Muntingire) now reports, that the new
Sultan was not fit to govern Palembang—they all
cornpassionated the fallen Chief, whom they thought
wrongfully deposed; and the Resident endeavoured
to effect an arrangement for bringing him !lack and
re-establishing him, with a more limited authority,
at Palembang ; but it did not answer the views of
'the Lieutenant-Governor of Java to permit such a
measure, and the consequence has been, a continua,l
tion of distress and misery at Palembang, winch has
it last compelled the new government of Batavia to
mishit the imprudent arrangements of Mr. Raffles& •
We are told that Banca was ceded to England
tin condition that she should maintain the iedependence
of Palembang—hence result engagements wisich she
M bound to fulfil. Now, I deny that any such en-
gagement ever was entered into: a cowardly
wretch, who Red from his elder brother, the heredi-
nary Sovereign of the country, was raised to a title,
of which the English coul4 only establish him in the
name; and the-conditions imposed as the price of his
elevation to that name was, that he should cede
Banca (ivhich never belonged to him) to the English,
and pay 900,000 dollars to the military that assisted
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