{GEORGE IV. 1823—1825}
Meeting of Parliament..... Affairs of Agriculture and
Commerce..... The Supplies..... The Catholic Question.....
Affairs in Ireland..... Motions to Reform the Criminal
Law..... Motion to Reform the Scotch Representation.....
New Loudon Bridge Bill..... Motion respecting the Duty on
the Leeward Islands..... Expenses of the Coronation.....
Munificence of George IV...... Irish Tithe Commutation Bill,
&c.—Prorogation of Parliament..... State of the Country.....
Meeting of Parliament..... Attack on Ministers with
Reference to Spain, &c. Financial Statements..... The
Trade Question..... Alien Bill, &c. Discussion on the
Revolt in Demarara,&c. State of the British
Colonies..... East India Affairs.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
{A.D. 1823}
Parliament reassembled on the 4th of February. It was opened by
commission; and in the speech his majesty declared that he would be no
party to those proceedings at Verona which sanctioned the interference
of France with the internal affairs of Spain; and that he would
endeavour to avert the calamity of war between those countries. This
declaration elicited general approbation; but it was thought by some
that more energetic measures should be taken than those adopted by
ministers. During the session Lord Ellenborough moved in the upper house
for an address to his majesty, expressing, in high terms, a condemnation
of the conduct of France and other allied powers, as well as of the
British cabinet, in requiring Spain to alter her constitution at their
dictation. The majority of the lords, however, seemed to consider that
ministers had used every judicious and practicable effort to prevent
the attack on Spain; and the motion was rejected. A similar disposition
prevailed in the commons. Some few thought further interference
necessary, and Mr. Macdonald introduced a motion to that effect, but it
was lost by a majority of three hundred and seventy-two against twenty.
So Spain was left to the mercy of the despots: soon after despotism was
restored in that country, together with Ferdinand VII.
AFFAIRS OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE.
The distress of the landed interests was early discussed in the commons,
and it led to a proposition made by Mr. Whitmore for reducing the
import price of grain two shillings a year till it should fall to sixty
shillings. This was negatived; but government manifested a disposition
to open the trade in corn. At the same time the foreign committee was
re-appointed, and further steps taken to free commerce from restrictions.
THE SUPPLIES.
The new chancellor of the exchequer brought forward his budget on
the 21st of February. The total revenue of the year was estimated at
£57,096,988, and the expenditure, at £49,852,786. This left a surplus
of above £7,000,000, and Mr. Robinson proposed to relieve the burdens of
the country by a repeal of assessed taxes to the amount of £ 2,000,000,
retaining the other £5,000,000 toward the liquidation of the national
debt. His views and statements obtained much applause, so that he
carried his estimates for the year triumphantly.
THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.
A motion was made on the 17th of April for a committee on the Catholic
claims by Mr. Plunkett The discussion on this subject was chiefly
remarkable for an attack made by Mr. Brougham on Mr. Canning. After
praising the conduct of Mr. Peel, who had never swerved from his
opinions, and who had not taken office with the secret understanding to
abandon the question in substance, while he continued to sustain it in
words, alluding to Mr. Canning, he remarked that when the point was,
whether he should submit to a sentence of transportation to India, or
be condemned to hard labour at home—when his fate depended on Lord
Chancellor Eldon, and his own sentiments on the Catholic question, he
had exhibited the most incredible specimen of monstrous truckling
for office, which the whole history of political tergiversation could
furnish. At this moment Mr. Canning suddenly started up and exclaimed
“It is false.” A deep silence ensued; after which the speaker called on
the right honourable secretary to retract an expression which he must
know violated the rules and orders of the house. Mr. Canning replied
that though he was sorry to have used any word which might violate
the decorum of the house, yet he would not retract the sentiment. This
declaration was repeated; and as Mr. Brougham would not explain till Mr.
Canning had retracted, Mr. Bankes moved that both members be taken into
custody by the serjeant-at-arms. All parties, however, were extricated
from their situation by the suggestion made by Sir Robert Wilson, of
an hypothetical and mutual explanation. Mr. Bankes then withdrew his
motion, and the belligerents declared that they would forget their
recriminations. The motion which gave rise to this scene was lost.
AFFAIRS IN IRELAND.
A large portion of this session was wasted in discussing the insolence
exhibited by the agents of the ascendant party in Dublin. Lord Wellesley
had prohibited the Orange faction to dress up the statute of King
William in College Green: a ceremony which perpetuated animosity and
frequently led to strife and bloodshed. This gave the Orangemen great
offence; and on one occasion, when his lordship visited the theatre, a
bottle was thrown at him from the gallery. Three persons were taken into
custody, and the attorney-general indicted them for a misdemeanour; but
the grand jury would only find bills of indictment against two of them,
and as two persons cannot commit a riot, the finding released them all.
Mr. Plunkett then filed an ex-officio information against those persons,
whom he, on evidence received, believed guilty; but the petty jury would
not agree in their verdict, and the prisoners were discharged. This
matter was investigated in parliament; but the result merely showed in
what a daring manner juries were packed, and the name of justice was
abused in Ireland.
MOTIONS TO REFORM THE CRIMINAL LAW.
On the 21st of May Sir James Mackintosh renewed his efforts to reform
our criminal code. He moved a series of resolutions on the subject; and
though these were rejected, four bills were afterwards brought in to the
same effect by Mr. Peel. By these bills government was enabled to
employ convicts in hard labour, and the judges were relieved from the
obligation of passing sentence of death on certain malefactors, except
in case of murder. Subsequently Mr. Lennard obtained leave to bring in a
bill to abolish the old and barbarous law which sentenced the corpse of
one guilty of _felo de se_ to be buried at two cross-roads with a stake
driven through it; leaving the burial to be performed in private,
without the ceremonies of the church.
MOTION TO REFORM THE SCOTCH REPRESENTATION.
On the 2nd of June, Lord Archibald Hamilton proposed five resolutions on
the state of the Scotch representation, the last of which went to pledge
the house to take the subject into its serious consideration during
the next session, with a view to effect some extension of the number of
votes, and to establish some connexion between the elective franchise
and the landed property of the country. His lordship invited the
attention of Mr. Canning to this subject, as one with which he had
not grappled, and as perfectly different from the question of English
reform; but he failed in securing his approbation, and the motion was
negatived by one hundred and fifty-two against one hundred and seventeen
voices.
NEW LONDON BRIDGE BILL.
Mr. Brogden brought up the report of a bill on the 6th of June, by
which the sum of £150,000 was to be advanced by government toward
the construction of New London Bridge. Mr. Hume objected against this
advance in the shape of a gift, and Mr. Ricardo agreed with him. Mr.
Alderman Wood, however, argued that the work was one of great national
utility, and not intended exclusively for the benefit of the city of
London; that the money was to be paid by instalments, extending over
a time of seven years; and that the corporation were ready to give up
nearly £200,000 that was in their hands, and to raise £400,000 more on
mortgage. The report was received, and the resolution for the proposed
advance carried.
MOTION RESPECTING THE DUTY ON THE LEEWARD ISLANDS.
On the 9th of June Mr. Creevey called the attention of the house to a
grievance under which the Leeward Islands were oppressed, by what was
called the four and half per cent. duty. He held petitions in his hands
from five of these islands, setting forth their distress, stating their
utter inability to bear such a tax, and throwing themselves on the
liberality of parliament. Mr. Creevey proposed the abolition of this
impost; an impost on which were saddled so many pensions granted to the
aristocracy. He thought it hard that these five islands should maintain
so many ladies and gentlemen in England. He was, he said, the last man
to interfere with the private arrangements of the royal family, but
the king had given pensions to two of his sisters at the expense of the
unfortunate Leeward Islands, and why these islands were singled out for
such a purpose he could not conceive. Then there were pensions of £500
each to the Misses Fitzclarence; and there were also gentlemen high in
office who condescended to allow the Leeward Islands to support their
families. Right honourable gentlemen, he continued, could not say
that they were ignorant of the colonies; their own acts proved their
knowledge of the fact. They could support the colonies and urge their
distress in a particular way; they could tax East India sugar, and the
consumer of West India sugar in England; but they could not abate that
tax out of which their own pensions were derived. Mr. Canning, who
received one of these pensions, replied at great length, objecting
to this motion as affecting the right of the crown to this branch of
revenue, and its right of appropriating the same in any manner deemed
suitable by his majesty’s government. With respect to his own case, to
which Mr. Creevey had made allusion, he remarked:—“It was true that
many years ago he had held an office; on retiring from which, by uniform
practice, and that sanctioned by law, he became entitled to a pension
of £1200 per annum. He had waived his claim to that annuity; and it was
true that such right was afterwards commuted for a pension of half the
amount for a person who had direct claims on him for protection. It was
certainly open to parliament to deliberate on particular instances in
the disposal of this fund, and he would not complain of the manner
in which the right honourable gentleman had exerted his right in the
present instance; yet he well knew that he could be taunted with the
names of persons in the same situation, and connected with parties whom
he highly respected. That mode, however, was too invidious to follow:
the house had a right to examine into supposed abuses as to the
application of this as well as any other branch of the revenue; but the
honourable gentleman had not made out any case calling for censure.”
The motion was lost by a majority of one hundred and three against
fifty-seven.
EXPENSES OF THE CORONATION.
During this session the expenses of the coronation came under
consideration. Mr. Hume inveighed not only against the length of time
which had elapsed before they were laid on the table, but against their
enormous extent. The chancellor of the exchequer, he said, had promised
that they should not exceed £100,000; but they were £238,000, the
surplus having been taken from French indemnities. Estimates at variance
with the expenses were a farce. And of what service, he asked, was it to
attempt the relief of public burdens by cutting down small clerks, and
inflicting distress on other individuals, when such sums were expended
for such purposes as the decoration of Westminster-hall, which cost
£111,000, and the habiliments of his majesty, for which the master of
the robes was paid £27,700? Mr. Hume also reproached the ministry with
bad faith, in calling for a smaller, and expending a larger sum. He
also accused the chancellor of the exchequer and his colleagues with
violating the public faith, by taking money to which they had no right
in order to pay the difference. He thought the house would fail in
its duty to the public, if it did not call for an examination into the
profligate extravagance of this affair: and he concluded with a proposal
for a committee for such purpose, and more especially to inquire by
what authority the sum of £138,000 had been applied to the coronation
expenses without the previous sanction of the house. This motion was
negatived; and the house next went into committee, in which the sum of
£160,000 was proposed toward the civil contingencies of 1823. This
gave Mr. Hume an opportunity of exhibiting the extravagant system of
expenditure pursued, particularizing items as proofs. He moved for a
reduction of £52,799 from the sum required; but Mr. Canning defended
the expenditure, and satisfied the house, so that this motion also was
negatived.
MUNIFICENCE OF GEORGE IV.
This year the king gave an instance of royal munificence, calculated to
benefit not only the present age, but to extend its advantages to remote
generations. By a letter addressed to Lord Liverpool he signified his
intention of presenting the valuable library collected by his father
to the British nation. This letter, with certain resolutions of the
trustees of the British Museum on the subject, was by his majesty’s
command laid before the house of commons. The letter and resolutions
were referred to a committee, and on the 16th of April this committee
made a report which noticed the great value and extent of the library,
and expressed an opinion that if his majesty’s magnificent donation
were placed under the care of the trustees of the British Museum, the
greatest benefit would accrue to the public. The report recommended
that a building should be raised for its reception, and that successive
grants should be made to effect the purposes above specified. In
consequence of this report the house voted a sum of.£40,000 to commence
the work, and the foundation of the structure was forthwith laid. The
building was completed in 1827, and the following summer this valuable
library was transferred to the Museum. It is a splendid monument of the
good taste and patriotic spirit of George IV., and will to the latest
ages redound to his honour.
IRISH TITHE COMMUTATION BILL, ETC.—PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
During this session an act was passed for the commutation of tithes in
Ireland. A motion was made in the upper house by Lord Lansdowne for the
second reading of the dissenters’ marriage bill, which might enable
them to perform the ceremony of marriage in their own chapels. This was
warmly supported by Lords Ellenborough, Calthorpe, and Liverpool; but
if, was thrown out by a majority of twenty-seven against twenty-one. The
session was closed by commission on the 19th of July.
STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
During this year the prosperity of the country appeared to advance, and
the confidence of the people in the government to be established.
This feeling was chiefly attributable to the altered tone of the
administration, and the tenor of their measures. From their measures
commerce and manufactures revived, and, by a natural consequence,
agriculture was improved. Unfortunately this revival of prosperity gave
a dangerous activity to enterprise, and generated a spirit of headlong
speculation, which produced disastrous consequences in a subsequent
year. It was during this year, indeed, that the memorable era of
joint-stock schemes commenced, which ended in the ruin of many families.
They that will be rich often fall into a snare.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
{A.D. 1824}
Parliament reassembled on the 3rd of February. It was opened by
commission, and one of the leading topics of the speech was, the general
prosperity of the country; which congratulations were echoed back in the
addresses of both houses.
ATTACK ON MINISTERS WITH REFERENCE TO SPAIN, ETC.
Early in this session the affairs of Spain occupied the attention of
both houses. In the upper house Lord Lansdowne deplored the fate of that
country, which was occupied by French troops, and thought that a greater
advance should have been made towards our complete recognition of South
American independence. In the commons, Mr. Brougham attacked the tyranny
and particular cruelties of the Austrians in one peninsula and of
Ferdinand in the other, and denounced the impotent efforts of government
to ward off the blow from the constitutionalists. Subsequently our
foreign policy was discussed, on motions made by Lords John Russell and
Nugent, but Mr. Canning successfully vindicated it. He showed that the
conduct of Great Britain had been regulated by a due regard for her
own interests and dignity, as well as by an honourable attention to
the first principles of international law; and that while we preserved
peace, we had by bold remonstrances paralysed schemes formed by the holy
alliance for extending their system of interference from the government
of Spain to the internal condition of her colonies. These explanations
were satisfactory to the house, and the motions were not pressed to a
division. Before the close of the year, ministers gave a pledge of their
sincerity by admitting the South American colonies into the rank of
independent powers. Treaties of amity and commerce were concluded with
Mexico, Columbia, and Buenos Ayres, which gave a fresh impetus to trade
and commerce.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
With the prosperity of the country the public revenue improved.
Taxes had been remitted last year to a considerable amount, but
notwithstanding this the revenue had increased. It produced £57,672,999,
leaving a clear balance of £1,710,985 over the expenditure, besides the
established sinking-fund of £5,000,000. The chancellor of the exchequer
proposed to employ a part of this surplus in a grant of £500,000 for
the erection of new churches; of £300,000, for the renovation and
improvement of Windsor Castle; and of £60,000 for the purchase of the
Angerstein pictures, in furtherance of a design to establish a national
gallery for the fine arts. In his financial calculations for this year
the chancellor of the exchequer anticipated a continued surplus, on the
strength of which he proposed a further repeal of taxes to the amount
of more than £1,000,000; and as an auxiliary measure, he suggested the
discontinuance of certain bounties on fisheries and manufactures, which
he considered no longer necessary. In his arrangement an extension
of the scheme for reducing the interest of the national debt formed a
prominent feature. He proposed to convert the old four per cent, stock,
amounting to £75,000,000, into a new fund, bearing interest at three and
a half per cent.; and giving the holders the option of being-paid off
at par, or of acceding to the new plan. This arrangement met with the
decided approbation of parliament, and was carried into execution
with great facility. It may be mentioned that during this year Austria
unexpectedly repaid £2,500,000 for loans advanced by the British
government during the late war. This was but a small dividend on the
debt due to England, but it enabled the ministers to be liberal, as they
were disposed.
THE TRADE QUESTION
During this session important steps were taken towards a more
unrestricted system of trade. One important measure consisted in a
repeal of what were still left of the protecting duties between Ireland
and Great Britain. Enactments were also passed tending to withdraw
British silk manufacturers from the protection of laws which prohibited
the importation of foreign silks. The plan adopted for this was to lower
the import duties on raw and thrown silk; to repeal all bounties on the
exportation of this article of manufacture; and to substitute a duty
of thirty per cent, on foreign silks, instead of prohibiting their
importation. This scheme met with the opposition of partial interests,
but it was carried by a large majority. Among other important measures
of relaxation passed this year was the immediate removal of all unequal
restrictions on the import and export trade of wool, with a gradual
approach to the same system in the linen manufactures. All these
measures greatly tended to increase the trade and commerce of England,
and to benefit the community at large. The British silk trade is
increased twofold since their enactment, although utter ruin was
predicted by the silk manufacturers, and the articles manufactured,
though lower in price, vie in beauty with the silks produced by and
Indian looms.
ALIEN BILL, ETC.
The alien bill was renewed this session. It was vehemently opposed by
Mr. Hobhouse and Sir James Mackintosh; and from their opposition, the
act, though carried, henceforward operated with less stringency than
before. Much discussion arose on the subject of the abuses in the church
of Ireland, but it led to no legislative enactment. Much attention
was also given to the state of Ireland; a committee of inquiry being
appointed in both houses. But nothing effectual was done to improve
the condition of that country. The close of this year, indeed, saw
the establishment of a political engine of extraordinary power in the
Catholic Association. Mr. O’Connell, a barrister of eminence, soon
became the acknowledged leader of the disaffected party, and encouraged
them to effect by union and agitation what had been denied to petition.
This association subsequently extended its correspondence, and appointed
agents for every Roman Catholic parish in the kingdom, and then levied
a large revenue under the denomination of Catholic rent, for the support
of the demagogues who were at its head. This “rent” continues to be
collected to this day, and Mr. O’Connell and his party divide it among
them, promising great things in return, but failing to perform their
promises from utter, inability. Ireland, therefore, is still hoodwinked
by interested agitators: stop the “rent,” and then they would be
silent. Their patriotism depends upon the amount they receive from their
miserable, poor, and suffering countrymen.
DISCUSSIONS ON THE REVOLT IN DEMARARA, ETC.
During this session Mr. Brougham called the attention of the commons to
the circumstances of a revolt in Demarara. The negroes of that
island had been led to believe that their freedom had been granted by
parliament, and was withheld by the colonial assemblies. This delusion
caused an insurrection; and a missionary, named Smith, was tried by
martial law, on a charge of exciting the negroes to revolt, and was
condemned to death. His case was sent to England for the consideration
of the privy-council; but he died in prison before the pardon extended
to him could arrive. Mr. Brougham moved that the court-martial held
on him was illegal, and the sentence unjust; and it was with great
difficulty that ministers could procure a small majority to acquit his
judges. This discussion, however, led to beneficial results. Government
formed plans for abolishing the habitual use of the lash; for regulating
the punishment of refractory slaves; for preventing the separate sale
of husband, wife, and children; for protecting the property of slaves,
admitting their evidence, and facilitating their manumission; and for
providing them religious instruction, and a regular ecclesiastical
establishment, with two bishops at its head; one presiding over Jamaica,
and the other over the Leeward Islands, These were the principal
measures of parliament during the present session.
STATE OF THE BRITISH COLONIES.
At this time our settlements at the Cape of Good Hope were greatly
disturbed by the unpopularity of the governor, Lord Charles Somerset.
Another part of the great African continent was also the scene of more
tragical events. The administrators on the Gold Coast having taken
part in the quarrels of the natives, and violated the terms of a
treaty concluded some years before with the Ashantee monarch, he led
a well-appointed army against them. Sir Charles Macarthy, Governor
of Sierra Leone, advanced against him with a few Europeans and some
thousands of barbarian allies; but the King of the Ashantees was
victorious. Sir Charles Macarthy was slain, and his forces were defeated
with dreadful carnage. Alarm was entertained for the safety of the
principal settlements at Cape Coast Castle; but the “Thetis” frigate
having arrived with a few troops, and the garrison being strengthened
by some auxiliaries from Acra, the enemy were repulsed. They were
afterwards overthrown in several engagements by Colonel Sutherland, and
compelled to desist from hostilities. In North America our colonies were
in the enjoyment of great commercial prosperity, though in Lower
Canada dissensions had commenced, which portended future important
consequences. From the continent of Australia, also, the most pleasing
prospects continued to be unfolded. In New South Wales and Van Diemen’s
Land the population, from emigration, had doubled itself; and important
returning cargoes of wool, &c., began to compensate for the expenditure
of the mother country. A brisk trade was also carried on from thence
with India and the remotest regions of the world. Similar pleasing
features were unfolded in the Society Islands and the Sandwich Isles; in
the former of these Christianity was established. In New Zealand, also,
there was a marked improvement in the manners of the natives: they began
to eat potatoes, which they derived from trafficking with New South
Wales, instead of human flesh. These improvements were the elements of a
new order of things, to be developed fully in the lapse of time.
EAST INDIA AFFAIRS.
During this year a serious war broke out between the East India Company
and the Burmese sovereign. For some years a misunderstanding had existed
between the two powers, arising from a mutual claim to the countries of
Chittagong and Dacca, Moorshedabad and Cassimbazar. These, the Burmese
monarch said, did not belong to India; and on several occasions he had
demanded them of the company, threatening to destroy their country if
the revenues were not given up. It was the Rajah of Ramere who actually
laid claim to them; but he could do nothing without the aid of
the Burmese king; and the latter took up his quarrel. Under the
administration of Lord Teignmouth and Lord Hastings various petty
encounters with the Burmese troops had been sustained, as well as
with other predatory hordes of India. The contest between the British
government and the Burmese empire did not actually commence till
the present year. The Burmese forces had advanced for the purpose of
restoring the deposed Rajah of Cachar, who had sought refuge in the
Burmese dominions, and whose successor was supported by the British. For
this and other acts committed by the Burmese sovereign, it was resolved
to chastise him. Early in this year orders were given for equipping a
force of about six thousand men at the presidencies of Forts William
and St. George; and the two divisions were directed to assemble at Port
Cornwallis, in the Great Andaman island, whence the combined forces
were to proceed to attack Rangoon, the principal sea-port in the Burmese
territories. The command was given to Major-general Sir Archibald
Campbell; and the total number of troops under him was 8,071, about half
being British. The expedition put to sea on the 5th of May, at Calcutta;
and a part of the force was detached, under General McCreagh, against
the island of Cheduba, and another, under Major Wahab, against Negrais.
The rest of the fleet sailed up the Rangoon river on the 11th of May,
and anchored off the town. As the place was not prepared for resistance,
the governor, after a few shots had been fired from the principal
battery, which was quickly silenced by one of the ships, directed the
inhabitants to retire into the recesses of the jungle. The city, with
its mud houses, was abandoned to the invaders, and everything that could
serve for provision was removed far beyond their reach. It had been
imagined that the capture of Rangoon, or any part of the enemy’s
maritime possessions, would induce the king to accept the terms of
government. It was soon found, however, that not only the Burmese
monarch, but the people of Pegu, whose co-operation had been reckoned
upon, were preparing for decided hostilities. Distress soon prevailed
among the British troops, for there were no provisions near, and the
boatmen of the Rangoon had removed every serviceable vessel out of their
reach. To add to the distress of the army, the rainy season set in;
and it was also kept in continual alarm by the nightly irruption of the
enemy into its lines. The chief command, however, had been given to an
officer of ability and zeal; and every obstacle was finally surmounted.
On hearing of our offensive operations, the court of Ava lost no time
in making preparations for our expulsion. Every town and village within
three hundred miles of Bangoon was obliged to send its complement of
armed men, under their respective chiefs; and the Irrawaddy was covered
with fleets of warriors from all the towns on its banks, proceeding to
the general rendezvous of the army. The Burmese monarch had said that
the English should not disturb the women cooking their rice at Rangoon;
and now that they had not only been disturbed, but driven from their
homes, he resolved to be revenged on them. The first conflict took place
on the 16th of May, when Captain Birch dislodged the enemy from the
village of Kemmendine, a war-boat station three miles above Rangoon.
Nothing daunted, however, the enemy, as their numbers increased,
gradually approached the British position, and threw up stockades in the
jungle within hearing of our advanced posts. Of this work the British
commander took no notice, as it was his wish to come into close contact
with his antagonists, he being unable to attempt any distant operation.
On the 28th of May an advanced corps was stockaded within little more
than musket-shot distance from our piquets; and Sir Archibald Campbell,
with four companies of Europeans and four hundred native infantry, with
two field-pieces, moved out to reconnoitre. His advanced guard soon
came on the first stockade thrown across the path; but the work
being incomplete its defenders retired after exchanging a few shots.
Continuing its march, after a progress of about five miles, the column
came to a narrow wooden bridge over a morass, where the enemy was
beginning to form. This bridge had just been forced by the fire of the
artillery, when one of those tempests which usher in the south-west
monsoon came on; and as the field-pieces could be dragged no further,
the general left them in charge of the native infantry, and advanced
with his European troops. They moved on by _échellon_ of companies; and
the left flank, which passed close to the jungle, found some villages
defended in front by two stockades, whence proceeded shouts of defiance
from the enemy. These stockades were attacked at the point of the
bayonet; and a fierce and sanguinary conflict took place, in which great
numbers of the enemy were slain. During this attack on the stockades the
Burmese general in the plain made no movement for their defence; but as
soon as the British were seen in possession of the works, a horrid yell
was heard, and the whole line of Burmese troops was seen to advance
towards them. They were checked by a company which had not yet been
engaged, and by the appearance of those troops which had carried the
works, who moved forward to receive these new opponents. An attempt at
negociation was now tried by the enemy; but it was rather to gain time
than to seek peace. They were, in fact, still occupied in erecting
fortifications; and our troops were obliged again to attack the war-boat
station of Kemmendine, as well as other stockades in different parts.
Before the end of June, however, the enemy recovered from their panic;
and, having received large re-enforcements, advanced again, under Sykia
Wongee, third minister of state. The jungles were animated with
living masses, and their tumultuous preparations for battle contrasted
strangely with the stillness and quiet of the British lines. Our troops
at this time had been much diminished by sickness and death; but they
were recruited by the eighty-ninth British regiment from Madras, and the
detachments that had been sent to the capture of Cheduba and Nagrais,
places which soon fell into their hands. Early in July a battle took
place round the great pagoda, in which the Burmese were signally
defeated. Sykia Wongee was recalled in disgrace; but his successor,
Soombe Wongee, was not more successful. This latter general lost his
life, with eight hundred men, in the fortification; and the jungles
and villages around were filled with unhappy creatures who were left to
perish. Soon afterward the rains were at their height, and operations
ceased in this quarter; but an expedition was sent eastward, under
Colonel Miles, who reduced the whole coast of Tenasserim. During the
season of tranquility the princes of Tonghoo and Irmwaddy joined the
Burmese army, in order to inspire them with confidence, and to keep the
officers to their duty. They were accompanied by numerous astrologers,
as well as by a corps called “Invulnerables:” men curiously tattooed,
and accustomed to exhibit the war-dance of defiance, and to expose
themselves to the hottest fire of an enemy, that they might inspire the
rest with courage and confidence. The astrologers were some time before
they could mark out a propitious day for attacking the British position.
At length, however, they fixed on the night of the 30th of August. The
invulnerables promised to assault and carry the great pagoda, that the
princes and grandees might celebrate the grand annual festival in that
sacred place. On the night in question, therefore, this body advanced
with swords and muskets, uttering clamorous imprecations against the
invaders. They advanced toward the northern gateway; but they were
greeted with showers of grape-shot and successive volleys of musketry,
which made such havoc in their masses, that they were compelled to seek
shelter in an adjacent jungle. At length the Burmese monarch determined
to repair the loss of honour which his troops had sustained. He had sent
his most celebrated general, Maha Bandoola, to take the command of the
Arracan army, destined for the invasion of Bengal. Maha Bandoola had
routed a detachment of native infantry at Ramoo, and was busied in
erecting stockades as the basis of future operations, when an order
arrived for him to return to the defence of the golden empire. His
return to Ava not only restored confidence to the Burmese troops opposed
to the British, but acted as a spell to draw the reluctant people round
his banners. In the meantime, whilst a large fleet of war-boats, with a
train of artillery was preparing to fall down the river, and orders were
issued for the various detachments to join Bandoola on his progress, the
British ranks were thinned by the endemic fever of the rainy season, and
a severe dysentery. It was determined to remove the sufferers to Mergui
and Tavoy, two towns on the coast of Tenasserim, where they rapidly
recovered, and were soon restored to their comrades. In the early part
of November, the rains having ceased, and the men again become fit
for action, they anticipated with joy a forward movement. At this time
re-enforcements were received from Calcutta; and a regiment of cavalry,
a troop of horse-artillery, and a rocket corps were ordered to join.
Before, however, the British could advance, they had to dispose of
the whole military force of Ava, This force now consisted of 35,000
musketeers, 700 Cassay cavalry, and other troops, amounting in the whole
to 60,000 men. On the 30th of November this great force assembled in the
forest of Rangoon, fronting the great Shoedagon pagoda. On the following
night the low hum of voices proceeding from the encampment suddenly
ceased, and it was succeeded by the distant but gradually increasing
sounds of a multitude moving stealthily through the woods. The British
commander soon became aware that the enemy’s masses had approached to
the edge of the jungle, ready to rush from their cover at break of
day. A great number of war-boats had been seen in the morning, by
the “Teignmouth,” coming down the river; and in the evening they came
forward with fire-rafts. The post was left open to a furious attack by
land and water; but it was courageously defended by the garrison under
Major Yates, supported on the river by a small naval force. Hostilities
commenced on the morning of the 1st of December with a heavy fire of
musketry and cannon at Kemmendine, where the “Teignmouth” was again
driven from her station by fire-rafts. The yells of the assailants were
distinctly heard by our troops at the great pagoda; but when the firing
ceased, and the smoke dispersed, the masts of our ships were still seen
at their old station off the fort. In the course of the morning, Burmese
columns appeared on the west side of the river, marching in five or six
divisions; and when they reached the bank of the river opposite Rangoon,
they commenced stockades and batteries for the destruction of our
shipping. Later in the day columns were seen issuing ont of the forest,
with flags and banners, about a mile in front of the eastern face of the
pagoda; and the different corps, successively taking up their positions
along a sloping woody ridge, formed the left of the line, the centre
of which extended from the pagoda to Kemmendine. When this position
was taken, the troops began to apply their intrenching tools with such
activity and skill, that, in about two hours their moving masses were
concealed behind a mound of earth. A detachment of the British army,
however, soon forced these intrenchments, and drove the whole line from
their cover. The intrenchments were discovered to be a succession of
holes, capable of receiving two men each, and so excavated as to shelter
their occupants from the weather as well as from the enemy. Every hole
contained a supply of water, rice, and fuel, and a bed of brushwood,
on which one man could sleep while the other kept watch. The Burmese
re-occupied these trenches in the evening, which they protected by a
strong corps; and on the next day they intrenched themselves within
musket-shot of the northern face of the great pagoda. As their fire
could now be brought to bear on the barracks of the soldiers, it became
necessary to dislodge them from various points; and a series of attacks
and combats commenced which lasted seven clays. Great spirit was
manifested by the Burmese troops; for when their left wing was defeated,
it merely retreated on the right, and the struggle was renewed until
that division also was routed, with the loss of 5,000 men. Still
undismayed, the Burmese general intrenched himself within four miles of
the great pagoda, at the village of Kokeen, but he was driven from his
post after several brilliant exploits, in which the operations of
the army were powerfully seconded by the flotilla. This was the last
conflict during this year: after it had taken place the Burmese general
retired to Donoobew, about fifty miles up the river. After their defeat
the Burmese had recourse to negociations; but they were found to be not
sincere, and therefore were unheeded. As a great number of inhabitants
had returned to Bangoon, they introduced incendiaries into that town,
who lighted up a conflagration which was not extinguished until more
than a fourth part of the place was destroyed. During the whole of this
campaign the British vessels and their boats were occupied in destroying
fire-rafts, most of which were about one hundred feet square, and
composed of dry wood piled up, with oil, turpentine, gunpowder, and
other combustibles.