“In a letter from Lahore of yesterday’s date, which reached me

this morning, it is stated that the commanderin-chief has ordered

Brigadier-general Wheeler’s force to join him, but of course, I suppose,

not until after the general has taken Ram Singh. This proceeding has

been rendered necessary and urgent in consequence of her majesty’s 24th,

the 36th, and 58th regiments of native infantry having been rendered

next to useless. Sir Dudley Hill’s reserve force of eight thousand five

hundred men will have to be brought into active service yet, as troops

are required not to proceed against, and be the aggressors of the enemy,

but to act on the defensive, and hold our active, brave, and courageous

foe in check until General Whish’s force joins, to enable the whole army

to advance to Peshawur.

“Our government appear now to be so afraid of the issue of our contest

with the Sikhs (as they have neither troops sufficient to conquer them

and hold the country, nor money to pay the enormous expenses of this

prolonged campaign), that I should not be at all surprised they will do

their utmost to patch up a peace, which will, to say the least, be not

only humiliating to our arms, but disgraceful to British feelings. I am

perfectly certain, however, that the Sikhs will entertain no terms with

us, except they are based on our quitting the Punjaub, and retiring

across the Sutlej; this is a _sine qua non_ with them.” The same letter

from Lahore mentions, “You have, no doubt, heard of the late awful

butchery of human life. As usual, the troops advanced without order

or any arrangement. The 14th Dragoons led the advance, and, on the

Goorchurrahs advancing, the brigade of cavalry, it is said, retreated,

afraid, apparently, of being led into another trap like the Eumnuggur

one. The cavalry brigade overthrew the artillery, and, galloping right

through them, was the cause of our loss of six guns, two of which,

however, were since retaken. Brigadier Pope was mortally wounded (since

dead), and the cavalry were only brought up by the Doolies at the

general hospital. Of the 24th foot, four field-officers, one captain,

and seven subalterns, were killed, together with four hundred men.

The 30th, the 36th, and 56th regiments behaved well, but lost so many

officers, killed and wounded, that they must be sent back, and some

other corps sent to supply their place. There were twenty-four officers

buried the day after the fight, and many more since. The chief was

strongly advised to defer the engagement until next day, but it was of

no use. Two shots fell near him, and he ordered an immediate attack,

left his position, and joined the _mêlée_, and was not to be found

anywhere to give directions. A more undisciplined attack, or less

tactics, was never heard of. He swears that the first officer who

presumes to give advice, he will put in close arrest! Poor Eikins was

killed in endeavouring to rally the 14th Dragoons. The artillery have

demanded a court of inquiry, but I suppose the business will be hushed

up, as it it was in the 62nd foot.”

A second letter, dated Lahore, the 18th, gave the following extract of a

letter from camp Chillianwallah, 16th January:—

“On the 12th we marched to Dingee, on the 13th we marched again, and

at 11 a.m. came upon one of the enemy’s outposts. The 3rd light

field-batteries and heavy guns were brought to the front to drive them

in, which they did in about five minutes. The infantry was then brought

up, and each regiment deployed into line. The commander-in-chief meant

to have encamped here, and sent for quartermasters of corps to mark the

ground. The enemy, however, about two o’clock, fired a few shots, which

came in beyond our flags, and the commander-inchief resolved to attack

them at once. The whole line then advanced, getting into thicker and

thicker jungle every minute; all this time our heavy guns, which were

in the centre, opened their fire, and were answered by every one of the

enemy’s, about sixty in number. It would be impossible to describe the

action. There was no plan of attack. The three light field-batteries

were at one time close to the enemy without any support near them. These

were at last ordered to advance at a gallop to support Hoggan’s brigade,

and the 46th regiment of native infantry assured the officers of these

light field-batteries that their fire alone saved them. The action

lasted until dark.

“At four o’clock in the afternoon we were completely surrounded by the

enemy, and our artillery firing at the same time to the front, to the

rear, and to the flank. Our loss has been tremendous—one thousand nine

hundred killed and wounded: we have taken twelve guns and lost six (two

of which have been recovered). The loss of our guns was owing to the

cowardice of —— who (you will hardly believe it) ran away from a

party of the enemy’s cavalry right through Christie’s and Huish’s troops

of horse-artillery, knocking over every one of Christie’s waggons,

horses and all! They were so crowded among the guns, that the gunners

could not unlimber. The result was that the enemy’s cavalry got among

our guns, and cut our men down right and left. The —— never drew reign

until they got right through the general hospital in the rear, knocking

over the Doolies and everything that came in their way. What caused this

panic no one knows.

“Of the above one thousand nine hundred killed and wounded, nine hundred

and fifty are Europeans. Above thirty-six officers have been buried.

Her majesty’s 24th foot lost their regimental colour. The 25th regiment

native infantry lost a colour. The 30th regiment native infantry lost a

colour—some say two colours. The 56th regiment native infantry lost

the standard they took at Gwalior. Her majesty’s 24th foot lost thirteen

officers killed, including every one in the list above the junior

captain. The enemy are now encamped at Eussool, four miles only from the

commander-in-chief’s camp. A letter that I have just seen states that

Major Loftie, of the 30th native infantry, was not killed but only

wounded, and that Major Ramfield, commanding the 56th regiment native

infantry, was killed. In the 2nd Europeans, which behaved nobly, one

officer was severely wounded, Lieutenant Nightingale.”

Another letter, dated camp, the 15th January, stated:—

“I dare say you will have heard of the battle fought by our army on the

13th instant. It commenced about 1 p. m., and fasted till after dark. It

was a devil of a battle, and many hard knocks and wounds were received,

as the casualty list will show. The Sikhs fought with the greatest

gallantry, and, as for our men and infantry generally, they were quite

heroes. The 2nd Europeans displayed great bravery; they advanced to the

charge and drove the Sikhs back at the point of the bayonet; and after

this found another body of Sikhs, a regularly organised battalion, armed

and dressed like our troops, in their rear. There were also some of

the enemy on the right flank. This regiment had to right-about-face and

charge to the rear, which they did, killing and wounding a great many

of the Sikhs, and took and spiked four of their guns. Nightingale was

wounded when about to do this, and Gaynor, who did it, had a most

narrow escape. The former is the only severely wounded officer in that

regiment, but I trust not dangerously, the ball having passed out in

coming round the head, but the bone is fractured. One or two officers

had narrow escapes. The 2nd Europeans had but fifty men wounded, and

five killed; the cases of the former, some of them very severe, are

mostly in the body and legs. There has been a fearful mortality in the

24th foot, thirteen officers killed and eight wounded, while the men

said to be killed and wounded amount to four hundred. The 29th foot also

suffered much, and the artillery a good deal. All our wounded are doing

well, I rejoice to say. The doctors were at one time quite within range

of the enemy’s shot, and a bheestie of the 2nd European regiment had

his arm knocked off just behind where the surgeons of that corps were

riding: a spent ball rolled under my horse’s feet. Lieutenant Weston

and Godby, of the 36th native infantry, were wounded, but not severely.

Brigadier Pennycuick and his son both killed. I believe we have gained a

regular victory, though at first it was doubtful. I hear Pope’s brigade

of cavalry got a kind of panic at one time, and came to the rear,

but afterwards moved up in good style: there was something wrong with

the —— for they drove us in from the rear and dispersed all the

doctors, &c., at the field hospital, where I had just arrived to see if

any assistance was required. There was an alarm of the Sikhs being in

our rear, and then there was a regular ‘bolt.’ Such a night we all

passed is better imagined than described—it was so very cold and rainy,

with a high wind blowing, enough to cut one in two. Several Doolies were

captured by the enemy, and the band instruments of the 2nd Europeans are

missing.

“All letters agree in stating that a panic overtook the —— when

ordered to charge. I hear on all sides that it would be a wise and

prudent measure on the part of the governor-general to recall Lord Gough

from the Punjaub, and restrain his ill-judged valour within our peaceful

provinces. His lordship fancied himself at Donnybrook Fair, and was in

the thick of it, in the _mêlée_, and lost to sight!

“P.S.—The 56th regiment native infantry was brought out of action with

three hundred men, under the command of its junior captain, a cadet of

1840!”

These communications, although affording intelligence which was,

unfortunately, too true, were in several respects erroneous. They placed

matters in a gloomy aspect, which was not justified by the facts. The

battle of Chillianwallah, however doubtful as a victory, and however

disastrous as to the loss which we experienced, neither perilled the

existence of British rule in India, nor shook the hold of the English

upon the Punjaub. The arrival of the despatches, and the issue of an

extraordinary gazette, in some measure reassured the public; and as Lord

Gough was decidedly and deservedly a favourite, people became anxious

that before Sir Charles Napier should arrive out and take the command of

the army, his lordship might be enabled to revenge Chillianwallah by a

well-fought battle and decided victory. The friends of Lord Gough even

entertained the hope that he might conclude the campaign by the entire

dispersion of the Sikh army, and the reconquest of the Punjaub. It was

very generally felt that the ministry, whatever their private feeling

and private intentions, had shown too much eagerness to disclaim him,

and to signify, by making their only measure for the emergency in India

the appointment of a new commander-in-chief, that they supposed the

blame of any misfortunes there to have been exclusively with Lord Gough.

Military men pointed out that the previous policy of Lord Hardinge,

and the immediate policy of Lord Dalhousie, both as it regarded their

military and political management, invited the resistance to our power

which had been awakened. The chief apprehensions entertained arose

from the course which Gholab Singh and Dost Mohammed might pursue. The

former, with his Sikh soldiery, occupied positions that kindled some

suspicion of his intentions, while he had, as an ostensible ally,

omitted to strike a single blow in our favour. He had collected, it was

alleged, one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon; and he was represented

as having declared that his control over his own soldiers was imperfect,

and that their sympathy was wholly with the troops of Chuttur and Shere

Singh. As it was not uncommon for the native princes, when hesitating

between the British and their enemies, to represent their soldiers as

untrustworthy and dangerous to themselves, Gholab’s account of himself,

his province, and his army, caused him reasonably to be suspected.

Dost Mohammed rendered substantial aid to Shere Singh; at least twelve

thousand Affghans were encamped under the command of that general, and

fresh levies were said to be descending the passes from Peshawur and

from Candehar towards Scinde. Reports had arrived in England that all

the Affghan chieftains were in arms, and that the war of the prophet

was proclaimed. The Affghan infantry were without discipline, and out

of their own fastnesses it was presumed that they would not display

courage; but some supposed that, subjected to the Sikh discipline, and

led by Sikh officers, as well as by their own chiefs, they would prove

formidable, being physically a fine race, and naturally brave. The

reinforcements sent by them, however, were chiefly composed of cavalry,

and their efforts as auxiliary to our enemies were too tardy to

influence materially the fortunes of the war; by degrees these facts

became known at home, and the absence, in Lord Gough’s despatches,

of any alarm, and the entire confidence breathed through them and the

official tidings from the Indian government, at last wholly reassured

the English public.

The following is the list of ordnance and ordnance stores captured from,

the enemy in the action of the 13th of January:—

Six of these guns had carriages and limbers, and six were without

limbers; all of the pattern nearly in use with our field-pieces.

Two ammunition carriages (one partly destroyed by explosion), one

platform-cart, one hundred and forty-four cartridge-liners fixed to

shot, sixteen cartridges unfixed, and eighteen port-fires, were also

taken.

_Assault of Dullah by General Wheeler_.—Lord Gough was unable

to undertake any active operations after the severe losses at

Chillianwallah, until he should receive reinforcements. These he

expected from Mooltan, under Whish, and also a brigade of Wheeler’s

force, which had been actively engaged in another direction, where he

had been detained by the obstinacy of a rebel chief named Earn Singh.

This redoubtable chieftain was ascendant in the Baree Doab, and he

occupied a strong fortified position on the heights of Dullah. In the

middle of January Wheeler attacked this position, but so inaccessible

was the fastness that the most he could, do, and that with considerable

loss, was to drive out Ram Singh and his followers, whereas the gallant

general hoped to accomplish either his capture or destruction. On the

11th, Wheeler ordered the 4th native infantry to take up a position to

the northward of the enemy’s post, so as to intercept him in case he

should be obliged to evacuate the fort, and retreat in that direction;

the main force tarried at Shorpore, where they had been in quarters,

until the 13th, the sappers, pioneers, and labourers being engaged

in making a practicable road through an exceedingly difficult country

consisting of defiles and “ghauts.” This road was laid for about seven

miles, as far as the village of Cote on the course of the Ravee, about

three miles distant from Ram Singh’s position. On the 14th, the little

army of General Wheeler took up ground under the Dullah heights. That

day and the next was occupied in cutting roads, transporting guns and

mortars upon elephants, and making arrangements for storming the fort.

On the morning of the latter day, Captain Hicks, of the 3rd native

infantry, was dispatched with four companies of that regiment, and Mr.

Hodgson, with two companies of the Guide corps, to take post west of the

Dullah heights, on the opposite bank of the Ravee. The precautions taken

by detaching these bodies of men were necessary from the topographical

character of the neighbourhood. The Ravee, debouching from the

mountainous region in which it has its birth, flows through a beautiful

valley, where a series of hills runs from east to west, presenting an

unequal ridge; on this ridge, overlooking the river, the little village

of Dullah was situated, in which Ram Singh had so cleverly fortified

himself. In every direction from the village the rock dipped almost

perpendicularly, beside being protected by the river, which wound partly

around it. Access was by paths, partly lying in hollows formed by former

streams, and partly cut through the rock. These paths were circuitous,

and nearly covered with brushwood, admitting only by single file of an

approach to the platform on which the village rested. On either side

of the path were precipices from twenty to eighty feet deep, and huge

boulders lay profusely across the way. A few men could defend such

a position against very many. The 4th native regiment was to advance

against the face of this defence, from the direction where it had taken

post some days, and the signal was to be the firing of a gun from the

British camp. The 3rd and the Guides were at the same moment ordered to

advance, at the same signal, against the west of the ridge, and crown

a height visible from head-quarters. As soon as the success of this

detachment was ascertained, the remainder of the 3rd regiment, and two

hundred men of the 2nd irregular cavalry, who, with Lieutenant Swinton,

had volunteered to serve on foot, were to advance upon another face of

the ridge, from the little village of Chulbarah, where they had been

posted; this party, ascending a spur of the hill on its left, was to

co-operate opportunely with the advance of the other detachments. Major

Fisher, at the head of a body of regular native infantry and irregular

cavalry, with guns mounted upon elephants, were in support, and

to ascend (the cavalry, of course, dismounting) when the various

detachments had come well into action. There was yet another point upon

which an ascent was to be attempted—that which was in front of the camp

of the British. Major Davidson, with a few hundred Sikh auxiliaries,

regular and irregular, supported by two companies of the 1st Sikh light

infantry, under Lieutenant Peel, was ordered to make this attempt.

At the moment for action, the signal gun was fired, but no one appeared

to take any notice of it—no men were seen to make their way along the

ridge. There was a long pause on the side of the British, the guns of

the enemy at the same time firing. None of the detachments appearing

on the ridge, Major Butler was ordered to attempt to storm it, in

conjunction with the other party already appointed to ascend in front:

this was happily accomplished, after a very sharp conflict. Major

Davidson was shot through the hand, Lieutenant Peel was mortally

wounded, and Lieutenant Christie killed. The detached parties, trusting

to native guides, were purposely misled, and thus could not come into

action. Ram Singh had by this means the way kept open for his retreat

when resistance was no longer possible, and all the skilful arrangements

that had been made to catch the eagle in his eyrie were thwarted by the

treachery of the natives, who had been, unfortunately, too implicitly

trusted in an important service.

_Retreat of Shebe Singh from Chillianwallah._—On the 12th of February

Shere Singh struck his tents, and retired from the strong positions

which he had so skilfully occupied. Lord Gough threw forward his

cavalry, but the Sikh general interposed the whole of his mounted

force, covering effectually his retreat. On the 15th the English general

learned that the Sikhs were at Wuzeerabad, and his spies informed him

that the sirdar was marching upon Lahore. It is probable that these

reports were correct, but the approach of a portion of General Whish’s

army defeated the project. The cavalry of Whish were pushed on to the

Chenab, preventing the passage of the ford of Wuzeerabad. The sirdar

swept the whole district of supplies, and sent messengers to Chuttur

Singh informing him of his dangers, and intimating that he would take

post at Goojerat. Chuttur Singh hastened to the support of Shere, and

their united forces constituted a splendid army of eighty thousand men,

with fifty-nine pieces of cannon, most of them of large calibre, and

worked by a choice body of artillerymen. While Whish guarded the fords

of the Chenab, Wheeler hastened to join Lord Gough, having cleared the

Baree Doab of Ram Singh and his adherents. On the 16th his lordship left

Saporee, and arrived at Sundalpoor, a village only a few miles from the

Chenab, which separated his army from that of the victor of Mooltan.

The latter skilfully fabricated a bridge of boats at Hurreke Puttum, and

joined the commander-in-chief. While this was being accomplished, a body

of Affghans from Dost Mohammed Khan, who professed to be neutral,

joined the enemy. The entire number of Lord Gough’s army, after every

accession, scarcely exceeded twenty-five thousand men. The enemy, when

joined by the Affghans, nearly quadrupled the forces of the British

general. Lord Gough, however, determined to attack him, and on the 20th

reconnoitred his position with that object. Shere Singh made the village

of Goojerat his head-quarters: this place lay between the Jhelum and the

Chenab, nearer to the former; a small river ran nearly around it, but

was at that juncture very low, so that its bed was in some places nearly

dry. Between this river and the city, the enemy had taken his position.

Lord Gough resolved upon his plan of attack, and early on the 21st put

it into execution.

_Battle of Goojekat_.—Lord Gough’s artillery was in excellent order,

and an overmatch for that of the enemy. He determined upon using this

arm of offence to the uttermost, and opened along his line a murderous

cannonade. His chief danger lay in the difficulty of passing his troops

over the “nullah” (or dry bed of the river) under the enemy’s fire; for

it was impossible for his infantry to enter the bed of the stream in any

direction without being exposed to their musketry; his guns kept those

of the enenry hotly engaged. The numerous cavalry of the foe threatened

his flanks, and exposed him, inferior as he was numerically in this arm

of the service, to another peril. Both these risks he provided against

with skill, and conquered them with resolution and energy. The array of

battle was superb; the order of the engagement scientific; and all its

parts conducted with obedience and alacrity by those to whom they were

committed.

The first fault of the enemy was opening his artillery practice at too

great a distance; this indicated the number and position of his guns,

as well as their range, and enabled the British general to make his

calculations accordingly. He advanced his right wing under cover of his

superior artillery fire; the infantry dashed into the nullah, cleared

it, and stormed a village on its banks, where a strong body of infantry

was posted. The enemy’s left and centre were thus separated, and while

the British right pressed upon the Sikhs’ left centre, the British left

cleared the nullah, stormed another strong infantry post in a village,

and completely doubled up the centre of the sirdar’s army. His cavalry

made various efforts to fall upon the flanks of the victorious infantry,

but the British horse-brigades, with horse artillery, prevented the

success of these movements, and punished the rash approach of the Sikh

troopers. The Khalsa soldiers fled through their own tents, Brigadier

Campbell and the Honourable Major-general Dundas, sweeping round

the town or village of Goojerat, drove them in confused flight.

Major-general Gilbert followed the fugitives with the cavalry; the

defeated Sikhs cast away their arms and accoutrements in the utmost

panic. Never was victory more complete, and seldom did victorious

battle redound to the honour of a victorious general so signally as at

Goojerat.

The loss of the British was three officers killed and twenty-four

wounded, the total killed of men and officers did not exceed one

hundred, and the killed and wounded of the whole army did not reach in

number one thousand men. The Sikhs lost thousands in slain, all their

guns but two were captured, and many thousand men were left wounded and

prisoners in the hands of the pursuers. The following extracts from

Lord Gough’s despatch will throw additional light on the course of the

conflict:—

“With my right wing I proposed penetrating the centre of the enemy’s

line, so as to turn the position of their force in rear of the nullah,

and thus enable my left wing to cross it with little loss, and in

co-operation with the right to double upon the centre, the wing of the

enemy’s force opposed to them.

“At half-past seven o’clock the army advanced in the order described,

with the precision of a parade movement. The enemy opened their fire at

a very long distance, which exposed to my artillery both the position

and range of their guns. I halted the infantry just out of the fire, and

advanced the whole of my artillery covered by skirmishers. The cannonade

now opened upon the enemy was the most magnificent I ever witnessed, and

as terrible in its effects.

“The Sikh guns were served with their accustomed rapidity, and the enemy

well and resolutely maintained his position; but the terrific force of

our fire obliged them, after an obstinate resistance, to fall back. I

then deployed the infantry, and directed a general advance, covering the

movement by my artillery, as before.

“The village of Burra Kabra, the left one of that name, in which the

enemy had concealed a large body of infantry, and which was apparently

the key of their position, lay immediately in the line of Major-general

Sir Walter Gilbert’s advance, and was carried in the most brilliant

style by a spirited attack of the 3rd brigade, under Brigadier Penny,

consisting of the 2nd Europeans, and the 31st and 70th regiments of

native infantry, which drove the enemy from their cover with great

slaughter. A very spirited and successful movement was also made about

the same time against a heavy body of the enemy’s troops in and about

the Chota Kabra, by part of Brigadier Harvey’s brigade, most gallantly

led by Lieutenant-colonel Franks, of her majesty’s 10th foot.

“The heavy artillery continued to advance with extraordinary celerity,

taking up successive forward positions, driving the enemy from those

they had retired to, whilst the rapid advance and beautiful fire of

the horse artillery and light field-batteries, which I strengthened by

bringing to the front the two reserve troops of horse artillery

under Lieutenant-colonel Brind (Brigadier Brooke having the general

superintendence of the whole of the horse artillery), broke the ranks of

the enemy at all points. The whole infantry line now rapidly advanced,

and drove the enemy before it; the nullah was cleared; several villages

stormed; the guns that were in position carried; the camp captured;

and the enemy routed, in every direction—the right wing and

Brigadier-general Campbell’s division passing in pursuit to the

eastward, the Bombay column to the westward, of the town.

“The retreat of the Sikh army, thus hotly pressed, soon became a perfect

flight—all arms dispersing over the country, rapidly pursued by our

troops for a distance of twelve miles, their track strewn with the

wounded, their arms, and military equipments, which they threw away to

conceal that they were soldiers.”

At dawn next day Major-general Sir Walter Gilbert took the command of

a corps of the army, principally consisting of cavalry, in pursuit. The

retreat of the Sikhs, or rather their flight, was covered by fifteen

hundred Affghan horse, who had arrived just before the battle. These,

however brave, constituted a very irregular force, and soon became mixed

with the mass of the fugitives. The flight of the Khalsa army was in the

direction of the Khoree Pass. At the entrance General Gilbert halted,

with the Bombay division, and sent General Mountain through the gorge to

Pooran. It was necessary to secure this pass, as, if the enemy had been

able to hold it, considerable difficulties might have been thrown in the

way of the pursuers, especially as torrents gushed from the mountains,

and the weather was wet and tempestuous.

On the 24th the pursuers resumed their march, but by that time the Sikhs

had crossed the river, and the British did not succeed in getting sight

of them until reaching Noorangabad. During this march, Major Lawrence

joined the camp of Sir Walter Gilbert; Chuttur Singh, whose prisoner

he was, permitting him on parole to proceed to the camp of the

commander-in-chief with proposals from Shere Singh. Akram Khan, with

part of the Affghan auxiliaries to the Khalsa army, retreated upon

Attock.

On the 27th and 28th, Sir Walter Gilbert brought his forces over the

Jhelum, compelling Shere Singh, with the relics of his army, to retire

with precipitation. Gilbert was obliged to leave a portion of his forces

behind in consequence of the high waters in the river, but by the 5th of

March these followed. Before these detachments effected their passage,

the armies of pursuers and pursued were nearly equal in number; but the

Sikh chief wisely concluded that if he could not, with nearly four times

the number of the British, prevent the latter from storming his strong

position near the Chenab, he was not likely to hinder them, when their

numbers were superior, from crossing the Jhelum. Gilbert was speedily

reinforced, and at the head of an army of about twenty thousand men,

with nearly fifty pieces of cannon, he so menaced the Sikh general, that

the latter intimated his intention to lay down his arms.

On the 8th of March terms of submission were personally discussed, Shere

Singh having come over to General Gilbert’s camp. The English general

demanded an unconditional surrender; and as the rajah hesitated, the

English advanced to Hoormuk. Chuttur Singh and Shere, with several great

sirdars, came over to the British camp, followed by the guns taken at

Chillianwallah. The surrender of the whole army was arranged to take

place the next day. It was not, however, until the 14th that all the

Sikhs had laid down their standards and their arms, which they did with

the greatest reluctance, their countenances and tones being expressive

of the deepest anguish. The conduct of the British was most generous.

Each Sikh soldier received a rupee to enable him to reach his home; the

cavalry were allowed to retain their horses—a boon which was highly

appreciated, many of them expressing, and really feeling, the deepest

gratitude. The artillery surrendered amounted to forty-one guns, and a

number of tumbrils and carriages: the artillery horses were retained by

the English. During the short campaign the enemy had lost one hundred

and fifty-eight pieces of cannon, many of them of larger calibre than

any in the English army. The detention of General Gilbert in negotiating

and securing the surrender of the Sikhs, was favourable to the escape

of the Affghans. Chuttur Singh had given up to them the fort of Attock,

which they precipitately abandoned, their main force marching rapidly

for the Indus. Gilbert endeavoured to intercept them, but was only in

time to witness their success in making good their passage, and the

destruction of the bridge of boats by which pursuit would have otherwise

been made. The Affghans were reduced to less than half the force with

which they joined Chuttur Singh, but they drew up on the bank of the

river, and offered an artillery fire, to which the British replied in

a manner that soon cleared the bank of the Indus of every trace of the

enemy. Detachments were sent to take possession of Attock, and also of

Hyderabad, on the right bank of the river. The British did not succeed

in crossing the Indus until the 20th, when the Affghans had very far

distanced their pursuers. They continued their march unmolested, either

by Sir Walter Gilbert’s or any other force, entered the Khyber Pass, and

proceeded to. Cabul. The sensation produced in that city by the total

destruction of the Sikh army was very great. The Affghan fugitives,

after the manner of orientals, gave the most absurd exaggerations as to

the prowess of the British soldiers, especially of the officers, many

of both being described as fiends, who proved their infernal nature by

deeds of superhuman daring and strength. An alliance with “Shatan” was

of course a mode of accounting for defeat which saved the honour of

the fugitives, and satisfied the denizens of Cabul, as well as the wild

clans _en route_ thither, that a retreat was wisdom. The government of

Cabul became uneasy for the consequences, and Dost Mohammed Khan took

measures to placate the British government, whose policy was not to

pursue the war into Affghanistan. The government of Calcutta annexed

the Punjaub to British India, and thus terminated the Sikh war.

The governor-general issued, on the 29th of March, the following

proclamation:—

“For many years, in the time of Maharajah Runjeet Singh, peace and

friendship prevailed between the British nation and the Sikhs. When

Runjeet Singh was dead, and his wisdom no longer guided the counsels

of the state, the sirdars and the Khalsa army, without provocation and

without cause, suddenly invaded the British territories. Their army was

again and again defeated. They were driven, with slaughter and in

shame, from the country they had invaded, and at the gates of Lahore the

Maharajah Dhuleep Singh tendered to the governor-general the submission

of himself and his chiefs, and solicited the clemency of the British

government. The governor-general extended his clemency to the state of

Lahore; he generously spared the kingdom which he had acquired a just

right to subvert; and the maharajah having been replaced on the throne,

treaties of friendship were formed between the states.

“The British have faithfully kept their word, and have scrupulously

observed every obligation which the treaties imposed upon them. But

the Sikh people and their chiefs have, on their part, grossly and

faithlessly violated the promises by which they were bound. Of their

annual tribute, no portion whatever has at any time been paid, and large

sums advanced by the government of India have never been repaid. The

control of the British government, to which they voluntarily submitted

themselves, has been resisted by arms. Peace has been cast aside.

British officers have been murdered when acting for the state; others

engaged in the like employment have been treacherously thrown into

prison. Finally, the army of the state, and the whole Sikh people,

joined by many of the sirdars of the Punjaub who signed the treaties,

and led by a member of the regency itself, have risen in arms against

us, and have waged a fierce and bloody war for the proclaimed purpose of

destroying the British and their power.

“The government of India formerly declared that it desired no further

conquest, and it proved by its acts the sincerity of its professions.

The government of India has no desire for conquest now—but it is bound,

in its duty, to provide fully for its own security, and to guard the

interests of those committed to its charge. To that end, and as the

only sure mode of protecting the state from the perpetual recurrence

of unprovoked and wasting wars, the governor-general is compelled to

resolve upon the entire subjection of a people whom their own government

has long been unable to control, and whom (as events have now shown) no

punishment can deter from violence, no acts of friendship can conciliate

to peace. Wherefore, the governor-general of India has declared, and

hereby proclaims, that the kingdom of the Punjaub is at an end; and that

all the territories of Maharajah Dhuleep Singh are now and henceforth a

portion of the British empire in India.

“His Highness the Maharajah shall be treated with consideration and with

honour. The few chiefs who have not engaged in hostilities against

the British shall retain their property and their rank. The British

government will leave to all the people, whether Mussulman, Hindoo, or

Sikh, the free exercise of their own religions; but it will not permit

any man to interfere with others in the observance of such forms as

their respective religions may either enjoin or permit. The jagheers,

and all the property of sirdars and others who have been in arms against

the British, shall be confiscated to the state. The defences of every

fortified place in the Punjaub, which is not occupied by British troops,

shall be totally destroyed, and effectual measures shall be taken to

deprive the people of the means of renewing either tumult or war.

“The governor-general calls upon all the inhabitants of the Punjaub,

sirdars and people, to submit themselves peaceably to the authority of

the British government, which has hereby been proclaimed. Over those who

shall live as obedient and peaceful subjects of the state, the British

government will rule with mildness and beneficence; but if resistance

to constituted authority shall again be attempted—if violence and

turbulence be renewed, the governor-general warns the people of the

Punjaub that the time for leniency with them has passed away, and that

their offence will be punished with prompt and most rigorous severity.”

As soon as matters were placed on a footing of order as to the

government of Lahore, Moolraj was brought to trial before a special

military commission, consisting of four British and two native officers,

and a colonel of the Sikh army. The charges against him were:—“1.

Having aided the murderers of Mr. Van Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson; 2.

Having been an accessory to that crime before the fact; 3. Having been

an accessory after the fact.”

The object of pressing the one charge of murder in a threefold form was

to prevent the captive obtaining a verdict of not guilty, if only

the first form expressed the charge. He was allowed the service of an

advocate; Captain Hamilton performed that office in a very able and

ingenious manner. After a trial which lasted fifteen days, he was found

guilty on all the charges, and sentenced to death. The sentence was

commuted by the governor-general into imprisonment for life at Singapore.

This was not accepted by the captive as a favour, who demanded rather to

die like a soldier than live a captive. He had borne up with the noblest

manhood, and received with a slight smile and composed countenance,

but without any bravado, the announcement that he must die; but the

commutation of his sentence caused the most passionate lamentations.

He desired to be shot at Mooltan, or, if he must he a captive, there

to spend his captivity; but to be a prisoner, and expatriated, was

intolerable, and he craved to die. The orders of the governor-general

were not, however, affected by the patriotic desires of the

murderer—for such Moolraj was. His heroic conduct in honourable war

won the admiration of the British officers, civil and military, but

they could not forget that he murdered in cold blood their brethren.

Intelligence of these events caused much joy in England, for the

disturbed state of the continent, the distressed and agitated state of

Ireland, and in part of England, caused apprehensions that a foreign war

might possibly break out, and this at such a time would render conflict

with the Sikhs a perilous matter to the empire, as they were the only

remaining power dangerous to British interests in India. There were,

however, many unfavourable reports raised of the mode in which the

negotiations were conducted which closed the war under Lord Hardinge, as

well as that which had just terminated. These created dissatisfaction in

England, and led to inquiries in parliament; the questions which excited

most attention in the country referred to the appropriation of the

celebrated Koh-i-noor diamond, and the new regulations about _batta_,

which caused discontent in the Sepoy army.

On the 3rd of July, in the House of Lords, the Earl of Ellenborough

moved for papers explanatory of the circumstances under which the crown

had granted to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, or

to the army in India, property conquered from the enemy; the question

involved being with reference to the confiscation of the property taken

in the district of Lahore, including the Koh-i-noor diamond, which the

governor-general had agreed by treaty should be appropriated to the

liquidation of the accumulated debt due by one of the states to the

Indian government, instead of devolving to the crown as booty, such

booty having always been granted to the armies since the year 1758, as

then decreed by patent. The noble earl concluded his speech in favour of

inquiry, by stating that, for every battle in India previous to those in

the Punjaub, a pecuniary reward, under the name of batta had been given,

but not so in the latter cases; and he implored their lordships and the

government, if they desired to retain the Indian territory, above all

things to do justice to the army.

The Marquis of Lansdowne detailed the circumstances under which the

property was acquired, explaining that Dhuleep Singh was not a prisoner,

but was treated as sovereign prince when the treaty was made, and

doubtless the governor-general considered himself at liberty to conclude

such a treaty, and dispose of the property obtained from the state of

Lahore in any way which he thought best for the government of India.

The subject, however, should be reconsidered in reference to its legal

matters.

The Duke of Wellington defended the governor-general from, the implied

suspicion of a want of attention to the merits of the Indian army,

entered into some technical explanations as to the treaty, and suggested

that the subject should be left in the hands of the government at home,

and the governor-general in India, to settle the question of booty

(there being immovable as well as removable property involved, which

could not, strictly speaking, come under the designation of booty), who

were most anxious to do full justice to the Indian army.

_State of India after the Annexation of the Punjaub_.—The peace of

India was not entirely secured by the termination of the Punjaub war;

the hill tribes in the neighbourhood of Peshawur gave uneasiness, more

or less, throughout the year. The enemies of Gholab Singh continued

their intrigues, and in considerable numbers had recourse to amis. It

was supposed that the English would not again interfere on his behalf,

as he had acted more like the ally of Chuttur and Shere Singh, and the

other sirdars, previous to the battle of Goojerat, than as the ally of

the British. Gholab had, however, the address to engage the Company’s

civil servants, and the military men acting in that capacity, on his

side; and he managed to hold up the English name _in terrorem_ to his

refractory subjects, so as to keep them from maturing, or at all events

effectuating, a decided revolt. The Affghans were also troublesome

on the Scinde frontier, and by their agents sought to stir up the

Beloochees to predatory and desultory warfare.

_Troubles in the Gwalior Territory_.—The withdrawal of troops for

service elsewhere left Gwalior with but few military detachments,

this circumstance encouraged the disaffected there, and a partial

insurrection took place. Two leading chiefs were implicated.

Lieutenant-colonel Graves collected troops, and successively stormed a

series of forts, thus putting an end to the power of the insurgents.

The arrival of Sir Charles Napier was hailed with satisfaction, as the

prestige of his name had spread all over India. Lord Gough’s departure

was, however, a subject of regret, for the venerable and glorious old

general had by his heroism, urbanity, and goodness, won every heart.

Enemies respected and esteemed him; his soldiers, and all connected with

the government of India, respected and loved him. During the autumn

long conferences were held at Simla, between the governor-general, the

commander-in-chief, and the ex-commander-in-chief. Sir Charles Napier

there imbibed impressions unfavourable to the government of India in

many respects, and previous prejudices, which he was known to entertain,

were strengthened. His views of the constitution and management of the

Bengal army, and of the way in which the armies of all the presidencies

were officered, were such as to excite in his mind alarm for the

fidelity of the Bengal Sepoys, and the safety of our Indian possessions.

He subsequently left Simla on a tour of inspection through the Punjaub

to Peshawur; various suggestions were made by him which were not

attended to; the reforms which his subtle mind saw to be necessary,

and his vigorous habits required to be immediately put in force, were

obstructed by both military and civil authorities; and it soon became

obvious that he could not long co-operate with the authorities of India,

either there or at home. He had hardly assumed the command-in-chief when

prognostications were indulged concerning his early resignation, which

were, unfortunately for India and for England, fulfilled.

In the Madras presidency, disturbances were occasioned by Mohammedan

fanatics. Wherever in India Mohammedans resided, they were disloyal. No

kindness conciliated them; and in some places, such as Delhi, where they

were numerous, an unarmed European was always in danger. In the Bengal

and Madras presidencies, the army was to a great extent recruited

from that sect, and in the former provinces much to the hazard of the

government, for that soldiery united to the fanaticism of Mohammedanism

all the pride of caste characteristic of the heathens, and these united

peculiarities fostered a deadly enmity to the government whose salt

they eat and whose arms they bore. In the Madras presidency, a sect of

Mohammedans existed known as Moplahs. It was the custom of these Moplahs

to gather together and perpetrate some sanguinary outrage, and then

shut themselves up in a strong place, and sell their lives as dearly as

possible. By this course they hoped to kill as many Giaours as possible,

and obtain a large reward in the paradise of the prophet. During the

month of August a body of these fanatics pursued a course of violence

and depredation, but were pursued by the police. The fugitives shut

themselves up in a temple, a very strong place, from which the police

either could not or would not dislodge them. Captain Whyte, at the head

of a detachment of the 43rd native infantry, was sent to perform this

service; but his men, after firing a volley, fled as if panic-struck,

leaving the captain and a few other men, Europeans and Hindoos, to the

will of the Moplahs. Their “tender mercies were cruelty,” for they cut

the captain and his few brave followers to pieces. The conduct of the

native troops was treated as unaccountable—a sudden fear for which

they could give no reason; the fact being that they sympathised with the

assassins whom they were sent to assail. Afterwards a detachment of

the 94th European regiment attacked the temple, and, after some severe

fighting, were repulsed; a second onset was more successful, and the

murderers who made it their garrison were put to the bayonet.

There were many trials for India during the year 1849. Cholera raged

fearfully, sweeping away a large proportion of the population of many

villages and large towns, and also laying its cold hand upon many a

European.

At a great heathen festival at Trichinopoly, during an outburst of

fanaticism, four hundred persons were trampled to death, and a vast

number injured. These mad assemblages for idolatrous purposes not only

received too much tolerance from the government, but sometimes were

favoured with encouragement.

During the rainy season, the country was deluged, and the region of the

five rivers, the theatre of such sanguinary war, especially suffered.

The floods were so overwhelming, that they were said to have rushed up

the rivers at the rate of seventy miles a day, until the whole country

was inundated. The torrents which poured along the course of the

Chenab swept away the great fortress of Mooltan, so long the prize of

conflicting armies. The Sikh nation was exposed to much suffering, as

well as signal defeat, and their humiliation was only beginning, for the

native princes were on every occasion reminded, at Calcutta, of

their fallen fortunes. This may be exemplified in an extract from the

“American Merchant Abroad,” by G. F. Train, who attended a ball at

Government House, Calcutta, long after the conquest of the Punjaub, just

before Lord Dalhousie retired; he thus records his impression of the

scene:—“There, too, were the brave Sikhs of the mountain dens, Shere

Singh and Chuttur Singh, who held their passes, those bold chieftains

who fought like tigers in their country during that memorable campaign

of 1848–9, and finally, overpowered by the superior force brought

against them, after going through the celebrated battles of

Chillianwallah and Goojerat, were brought to bay at Raweel Pindee,

where, after the most obstinate war, they surrendered their sabres

to Sir Walter Gilbert, the able general, who was made a G.C.B. and a

baronet for his bravery and judgment on that occasion. It was pitiful

to see brave warriors so painfully humiliated, for they moved about the

room in their stockinged feet like so many automatons, shrinking and

cringing before their conquerors, evincing the greatest pleasure in

receiving the least attention from the civilians in the room. Their

appearance without shoes is by order of the governor-general, to remind

them of their disgrace, and to show proper respect to those that hold

the sway: this, I am told, is the custom of the land. This last tax upon

their pride might at least have been passed over, for why strike them

while they are down? These princes, it will be remembered, were the

chieftains of the Punjaub, and their surrender was the signal of

annexing that great kingdom to the British empire. The ameers of Scinde,

I believe, are also among the dark faces opposite. Other warriors

as brave as they have been unfortunate—the captives, or rather the

victims, of Sir Charles Napier.”

The ameers were of course subjected to similar indignities: these things

could but inspire hatred among the native princes, which broke out

malignantly soon after Lord Canning’s Indian career commenced.

CHINA.

The governor and garrison of Hong-Kong were startled by a deed of

atrocity and perfidy on the part of the Chinese. On the 22nd of

August the governor of Macao, who had acted more firmly towards

the commissioner at Canton than his predecessors, was waylaid and

assassinated. Proofs arose that the Chinese authorities were concerned

in the outrage, and a conflict of a serious nature ensued between the

Chinese and the Portuguese troops. The British, French, and American

naval officers on the station brought up their war-ships to protect the

residents at Macao who belonged to their respective countries, and

to render such assistance as might be possible to the Portuguese

authorities. But for this, the Europeans resident at Macao would

probably have all been massacred.

At the same time, the chief commissioner of his Chinese majesty at

Canton issued very stringent edicts against smuggling, and the English

merchants and marine were subjected to repeated insults. No conflict,

however, occurred; but the seeds were sowing for future contest. After

laborious negotiations, and many minor outrages, a peace between

the Portuguese of Macao and the Chinese was ultimately arranged. The

Portuguese themselves were as little to be trusted or respected as

the Chinese; probably, where religion was concerned, less bigotry was

exhibited by the Pagan Chinamen. An instance in proof of this occurred

at the very juncture when Englishmen were offering their assistance

to the Portuguese authorities, and preserving the lives of Portuguese

subjects, which their own government had not force sufficient to do. On

the 25th of August, Mr. Summers, an English missionary, was cast into

prison because he did not take off his hat to the procession of _Corpus

Christi_ in the street. The Englishman excused himself by a declaration

that his conscience would not allow him to do any act of religious

reverence in such a case; but that he meant no disrespect, and regretted

that he did not think of passing into some other street, thereby

avoiding the procession. These reasonable explanations and polite

statements did not mollify the Portuguese civil and ecclesiastical

authorities; and an English Protestant subject was incarcerated for not

performing an act of Roman Catholic worship in the public streets of a

city which English arms were saving from pillage and massacre! Captain

Keppel, of her majesty’s ship _Meander_, however, demanded Mr. Summers’s

release, which was refused, when he gallantly landed a party of

marines, and took him out of prison. The Portuguese resisted with

fierce fanaticism, and some loss of life ensued; but the English officer

accomplished his purpose, and inflicted humiliation upon the bigots

whose tyranny compelled his prompt and manly act.

BORNEO.

Sir James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak, whose heroic efforts to suppress

piracy in the Indian Seas have been noticed on a former page, continued

his exertions in clearing those seas of the pirates, and in building

up settlements on the coasts of Borneo. July was generally the

expeditionary season for the pirate chiefs, and Sir James resolved this

year to prepare for their severe chastisement, and, if possible, for

their extirpation. Accordingly, Commander Farquhar, in command of her

majesty’s brigs _Albatross_ and _Royalist_, the celebrated steamer

_Nemesis_, belonging to the East India Company, and the steam-tender

_Ranee_, were joined by the rajah himself in command of a native

flotilla. The squadron entered the mouth of the Sarrebas river, as

the rajah had certain information that the pirates intended to inflict

pillage and massacre upon the people of that neighbourhood. On the

evening of the 30th, tidings reached Sir James that the pirates were

attacking a place called Palo. The next day one of the look-out boats

brought in tidings that the pirates were advancing in full force. The

_Nemesis_ first put to sea; and being seen by the pirates, they made for

the Kaluka river. The boats under the command of Lieutenants Wilmshurst

and Everest, with the native boats under Sir James, intercepted the

pirate flotilla, the men-of-war’s boats opening a sure and destructive

fire upon them. The night had already fallen, and the naval officers

were anxious lest they should fire into the rajah’s boats instead of

those of the enemy. A pass-word had been agreed upon to avert this

danger—the word “rajah;” but the occupants of the native boats

never ceased screaming this word, rendering it difficult for the naval

officers to determine in what quarter there was an enemy, in which a

friend also was not in danger of their fire. This state of hesitation

favoured an effort to escape on the part of the piratical prahus, two of

which made sail seaward. The steam-tender pursued, but the larger prahu

made again for the river, was run down by the _Nemesis_, and her crew,

sixty in number, were destroyed. The other prahu kept seaward, pursued

by the tender, who fired into her a large congreve-rocket, by which

she was destroyed. The boats of the squadron then rowed up the Sarrebas

river, and destroyed a few prahus, some pirate villages, and a town

which seemed to be the head-quarters of the pirates in that direction.

The flotilla next proceeded up the Rejanz river, and severely handled

the natives indiscriminately; for it was known that such as were not

pirates themselves aided them in every practicable way. Several hostages

and prisoners were taken; among others a little child, very fair, and

apparently having belonged to European parents who were murdered by the

Dyaks. It was found that, during the night conflict, a very extensive

destruction had been inflicted upon the prahus and their crews. Dead

bodies lay in great numbers washed upon the shores, with shattered

boats, presenting a scene of wreck and slaughter terrible to

contemplate. Of one hundred and twenty prahus which constituted the

force of the piratical expedition, eighty were destroyed; about twelve

hundred men of their crews perished. Most painful scenes were presented

to the British in the course of their proceedings, horribly verifying

all that had been heard of the cruelty of the natives of these regions.

They had taken many captives, and before putting to sea decapitated

them, and gashed their bodies with knives: many who had been thus

treated were women. When the news of these proceedings reached England,

there was a great public outcry; Mr. Hume, Mr. Cobden, and many members

of the Peace Society, alleging that Rajah Brooke had instigated these

measures for his personal interests; that the inhabitants of these

coasts were not pirates; that their armed prahus were their fleets, by

which they desired to protect themselves from the rajah’s aggressions;

and that England was dishonoured by the sanguinary destruction of

harmless and unoffending natives. Evidence was adduced, on the other

hand, to show that the persons destroyed were not inoffensive seafarers,

but bloodthirsty barbarians and pirates. This evidence failed to

convince those who raised and sustained the outcry, and ultimately the

rajah had to return to England and defend, himself. He satisfied the

government and the general public; but the party which had attacked him

conceded little or nothing, and continued to denounce the proceedings

of Sir James, in Borneo, as unjust and aggressive, with the ostensible

object of abolishing the piracy alleged to be so prevalent on those

coasts.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

An event occurred which disturbed the loyalty of this colony. The home

government felt considerable difficulty in dealing with its convicts,

and, among other places, the Cape of Good Hope was selected for

experiment in the establishment of convict colonisation. The inhabitants

resisted with the greatest determination; and the haughty manner in

which Earl Grey, the colonial minister, bore himself, exasperated the

colonists, and inflamed their animosity against the proposed measure.

Public meetings were called, in which the ministers of religion took

a very prominent part; and it was resolved neither to sell to the

government nor the convicts. The ship having arrived which bore the

unwelcome freight, every form of opposition previously determined upon

was put into execution, and the government was at last compelled to give

up its purpose, and the convict-ship was ordered away to Van Diemen’s

Land. The Colonial-office had long projected making the Cape a penal

colony, and it was supposed that political convicts would not be

objected to. The colonists believed that this was merely the plan of

insinuating the thin edge of the wedge, which would ensure the whole

being driven home. John Mitchell was among the convicts; that gentleman

having suffered at Bermuda from the climate, the government desired in

mercy to place him in one more salubrious for persons afflicted with

pulmonary disease. The colonists of the Cape were willing to receive him

as a settler, but not as a convict, and expressed themselves concerning

him in terms of sympathy and respect. The plan of the government to make

it a place for political prisoners, was as unsuccessful as the project

of making it a general penal settlement: and in the end the people of

the Cape obtained, by their obstinacy and energy, a complete victory

over the Colonial-office.

The contest in the parent country between the principles of protection

and free-trade affected the political and social condition of the

West Indies. Jamaica, being the principal colony, its example had a

beneficial or baneful influence upon all the other West-Indian colonies.

The Governor of Jamaica, Sir Charles Grey, was very unpopular, and

his instructions from the Colonial-office were neither wise nor

conciliatory. Those instructions, however, being necessarily made in

the free-trade spirit then ascendant in the British legislature, would

hardly have pleased the planters, however well intended or judiciously

ordered. In that particular, the _suaviter in modo_ would never have

compensated for the _fortiter in re_. The new Assembly was hostile

to the governor, and its votes showed its hostility, especially in

reference to the supplies. Throughout the year, this state of things

continued. The negro population sympathised with the government, and

boasted of their willingness to turn out and fight for the queen. The

parish of St. Ann elected a black representative. Agitation of almost

every kind that could afflict a West-Indian colony prevailed in Jamaica.

The other colonies in that region were generally discontented,

although in most the crop of sugar was good; in some however it failed,

increasing the dissatisfaction which the prevalence of free-trade

opinions in England created. At Antigua and St. Kitts the chief cause

of complaint was the want of rain. In Demerara, the political aspect of

affairs was more favourable to the government—the combined Court,

which had refused the taxes, having, by a small majority, retraced

their steps, and effected an understanding with the governor, which

facilitated his administration.

CANADA.—POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.—OPPOSITION AND INSOLENT PROCEEDINGS

OF THE BRITISH PARTY.

The state of Canada during 1849 was most unhappy, and the policy of the

English ministry most unjust. The discontent existed chiefly in Upper

or Western Canada, and amongst the population, which was British, or of

British origin. In 1837–8, when nearly all Lower or Eastern Canada was

in open rebellion, only partial insurrection existed in the Western

province, where people armed in behalf of the government. During

the rule of Lord Metcalfe, a bill of indemnity passed the Canadian

legislature, on behalf of the loyalists of Western Canada, who had

suffered loss of property in consequence of their loyalty. As soon as

Lord Elgin became governor-general, claims were set up for the loyalists

who had incurred losses in Lower Canada. This seemed to be reasonable

and just; but the portions of that province which had suffered at all

had been the foci of rebellion, and the sufferers were those who had

perilled life and property in opposition to the government; it was

therefore a trick on the part of the Lower Canadians, who had been the

rebels, to reimburse themselves at the expense of the loyal population.

The proposal therefore excited in Upper Canada, in portions even of

Lower Canada, and in Great Britain, warm indignation, and a formidable

opposition was organised. During the Canadian session of 1848, the

colonial ministry was obliged to resign in consequence of a vote of want

of confidence; that ministry had belonged to the British party, but the

vote constrained the governor to choose his ministers from the Lower

Canadian, or French party. This ministry was of course favourable to

the scheme of their own party, and encouraged those whose rebellion had

caused their losses, to prosecute the demand, which practically amounted

to a tax upon the loyal, for the especial advantage of the disloyal. In

consequence of the opposition, by the English party, the bill actually

brought in provided that no person who had been guilty of treason after

the 1st of November, 1837, should be allowed to claim under the act of

indemnification. This concession, which appeared to comprehend all that

was necessary, and to place the measure on an equitable basis, did not

satisfy the British party, who declared they had no confidence in

the ministry, whose sympathies were wholly French, and who would find

pretexts for indemnifying their own party by ignoring the proofs

of their treason. The bill, however, passed through the Canadian

parliament, after a fierce struggle from the opposition. The British

party still remained quiet, in the hope, faintly entertained, that

the queen’s representative would refuse the royal assent, dissolve

parliament, and take the sense of the colony on the question. The

governor, either on his own judgment, or by the directions of the

Colonial-office, instead of taking that course, which under such

circumstances would have been the most just and constitutional, gave his

sanction to the measure, as well as to some other bills which were not

palatable to the Western settlers. The ministry had, at the same time,

exasperated the Protestant and British Canadians, by various acts which

savoured of hostility to them, and of partiality to the French and Roman

Catholic Canadians. After the governor-general gave the royal assent,

his carriage was stoned by a mob consisting mainly of gentlemen, and

the parliament house itself was broken open while the members were in

debate, the building fired and destroyed, the members being permitted

to retire unmolested. The governor, Lord Elgin, in his despatch to Earl

Grey, described the population of Montreal as numbering fifty thousand

inhabitants, of whom he gave on the whole an indifferent character, as

belonging to secret societies, and “having other agencies of mischief,”

with only two policemen in the service of government, and seventy in the

service of the corporation. If, however, no complaints of the disloyalty

or disorder of Montreal had been customary, and a few police were

sufficient to maintain peace, it is presumptive proof that his lordship

was influenced more in using this language by the feelings excited in

his own mind, from the opposition and indignation of the most loyal and

respectable citizens of the place, than by any demerits on the part of

the Montreal citizens. The parliament met in the Market Hall, and by a

large majority voted an address of confidence to the governor-general.

The citizens met in the open air, in the Champs de Mars, and voted with

acclamation an address to the queen, begging her to refuse her assent to

the Indemnity Bill, which they indignantly designated “an insult and a

robbery to every man who, in the time of trial stood forth to defend her

majesty’s crown and dignity.” The memorial also prayed, in very earnest

terms, for the recall of the Earl of Elgin.

On the 31st of May, the governor-general prorogued the parliament, but

the governor took no measures to soothe the English settlers, while

his ministry, proud of their triumph, offered them many gratuitous

affronts. The British party, on the other hand, conducted itself

with much arrogance and violence, to which it was moved as much by the

free-trade measures of the imperial parliament as by any grievance

it felt in connection with the Lower Canada Indemnity Bill, or the

ascendancy of the French party in the local government. An assembly had

been convened from all parts of Canada, and other portions of the North

American colonies, which called itself the “British League;” this body

was ostensibly formed to consider the interests of the country, which it

was assumed were neglected by the parliament and government. The

League assembled on the 25th of July, and broke up after six days’

deliberations, on the day when parliament was prorogued. It was

the intention of those who formed it to alarm the government by an

impression that a movement would be made for annexation with the United

States, and many were really in favour of such a measure. There were

objections which, however, weighed against such a step in the minds of

the British party generally. One was the antipathy felt to negro slavery

under any circumstances, but more especially as tolerated in the United

States. Another was the hostility generally entertained in the latter

to the principle of an Established Church, whereas nearly all the

Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodists of the party were in favour

of state establishments of religion, which had been one of the most

fertile sources of party dispute in both the Canadas. It was generally

supposed that the United States’ policy would be more in favour of

the protective system than Great Britain; and that Canada could form

stipulations on that basis which would render her annexation a mutual

advantage. This, however, was denied strongly by many of the party,

and doubted by more. Before the League closed its labours, it issued a

manifesto to all the colonies of Great Britain in America, and passed

the following resolution, which sufficiently sets forth the spirit

of the manifesto itself:—“Resolved—That a president, six

vice-presidents, secretaries, a treasurer, and an executive committee of

ten, be appointed by the convention for the purpose of conducting at the

seat of government the general business of the league. Every township,

village, town, and city in the province will have its branch; and in

each district the presidents and vice-presidents of its Branch Leagues

will form an executive body for district business; and all these

officers, together with those first named as the general executive, will

constitute the Central League. Protection to home industry, with

the view of encouraging the establishment of domestic manufactures;

retrenchment in the expenditure of the government, or the better

apportionment of that expenditure to the existing means of the province,

and an extension of our home market, and the consolidation of British

interest, by the union of the colonies—these present specific objects

worthy the employment of our highest efforts for their attainment.”

This was the last act of the convention. The demonstration was on the

whole loyal, contrary to the expectation of both its promoters and

government. That the general public of British birth or extraction did

not meditate rebellion at this juncture was evinced by the following

record in a Montreal journal, of an occurrence which took place on

the very day that the parliament was prorogued, and the British League

adjourned its sittings:—“A public meeting of the citizens of Montreal

was held on the 31st ult., at which it was all but unanimously agreed

to lend the credit of the city to the extent of five hundred thousand

dollars to the completion of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway,

which will connect Montreal with Portland (Maine), and open out the

splendid intermediate county. This, with two hundred thousand dollars

from other sources, it is expected will execute one-half the work, and

then the guarantee of the legislature under a general act comes in; and

an expectation is entertained that the other half may be borrowed in

England, on the joint security of the railroad and the province.”

A very large party, however, contemplated the peaceable separation of

the Canadas from the mother country; others supposed that Great Britain

would consent to the union of all the North American provinces, and,

after a time, recognise the independence of the new province thus

formed. These agitations showed how deeply laid, and how extensively

prevalent was the discontent among the most industrious, enterprising,

and respectable colonists. Religious animosities amongst the colonists

themselves embittered the social condition of the country. At a place

called Bytown, during the autumn, there were repeated conflicts between

Protestants and Roman Catholics, which left lasting acrimony and

dissatisfaction among the former, from the fact that Lord Elgin’s

government appeared to favour the latter party. This circumstance

renewed the desire for annexation, and a petition containing twelve

hundred signatures of persons of respectability, of British birth or

lineage, was got up for presentation to the queen. This petition would

have been far more numerously signed, but for the impression that it

could not be received, being unconstitutional. At the close of the

year the division of parties, especially “Annexationists” and

“Anti-annexationists,” ran high, and a new element of discord was

introduced by the projected removal of the seat of government from

Montreal to Toronto or Kingston. This subject was discussed with heated

temper, even by those who were for separating the Canadas altogether

from the mother country, and who might be supposed without interest in

the question.

At home a certain party in the commons and the country favoured

the views of those who would separate the colony from the crown. The

speeches of these gentlemen encouraged dissatisfaction in Canada, and

contributed largely to the elements of disturbance there. The Irish

Roman Catholic members of parliament, and the newspaper organs of that

party, were singularly inconsistent; they argued for the separation of

the colony, yet they denounced the disloyalty of the party in Canada

which promoted it, because that party was chiefly formed of Protestants,

and were adverse to the French and Catholic sections of the colonists.

The influence of the Irish newspaper articles, and of the speeches of

those who partook of the opinions, expressed by them, were mischievous

in Canada, where even’ expression of opinion pronounced at home was

watched and reproduced. Some of the disloyal papers in Ireland, while

abusing the Canadian Protestants with bitterness, expressed their

hope that they would settle the dispute by an appeal to arms, forcibly

severing the colony from the sceptre of Victoria. These treasonable

wishes were published with impunity. The year 1849 closed sadly

in Canada: blood had been shed, incendiarism had been perpetrated,

disloyalty had spread; and the main causes of this state of things were

the infatuation of the colonists in favour of commercial protection,

and the inability of the governor-general of the Canadas, and of the

ministry at home, to descry the policy which was most calculated to

serve the interests of the mother country and the colony together.

AUSTRALIA.—DISCONTENTS CREATED BY THE TRANSPORTATION QUESTION.

The Australian colonies were generally prosperous in 1849; few new

incidents of any kind occurred, and none to make the year peculiar

in history. The convict question, however, caused uneasiness. In Van

Diemen’s Land horrible outrages were committed by “ticket-of-leave men,”

and some parts of the island resembled pandemonium.

At New South Wales, much discontent was created by the English

Colonial-office violating an existing compact with that colony, to

send them no more convicts, and the Assembly passed the following

resolutions—“1. That, considering the arbitrary and faithless manner

in which this colony has been treated by the Right Honourable Earl Grey,

this meeting most humbly prays her majesty to remove that nobleman from

her majesty’s councils.—2. That it is indispensable to the well-being

of this colony, and to the satisfactory conduct of its affairs, that its

government should no longer be administered by the remote, ill-informed,

and irresponsible Colonial-office, but by ministers chosen from,

and responsible to, the colonists themselves, in accordance with the

principles of the British constitution.—3. That this meeting, having

unanimously agreed to the preceding two resolutions, the following

humble address to her most excellent majesty the queen, embodying them,

be adopted, and that such address be signed by the chairman on behalf of

the meeting. [The address was a mere transcription of the resolutions,

placed in the ordinary form.]—4. That, considering the discourtesy

shown by his excellency the governor to the former meeting, and to its

deputation, this meeting abstains from appointing a deputation to wait

upon his excellency with the preceding resolutions and address; but

requests the chairman to transmit them to him, with a written request

that his excellency will be pleased to forward it to her majesty the

queen for her gracious consideration.”

With reference to the arrival of convicts which had just taken place,

the _Sydney Morning Herald_ had the following:—“All the convicts will

be removed from the ship this morning. They have all been engaged.

In addition to those previously mentioned, a large draft was sent to

Paramatta on Saturday. The forty-five sent to Moreton Bay were forwarded

at the expense of the government, not being under any engagement, but

merely sent to the district in order that the settlers may have the

opportunity of hiring them. All the rest have been taken from the ship

at the expense of the employers. We believe that the only restrictions

are that the men shall not be landed in Sydney, and that they shall not

be employed in the county of Cumberland.”

The policy of Earl Grey was, for the time being, carried out.

CEPHALONIA.

The disturbances which prevailed in 1848 were continued in 1849,

and revived again and again, fitfully, when they seemed to have been

suppressed. An attempt was made to assassinate the governor of the

island, and a soldier was shot by his side, and several others near him

were wounded. Murder and incendiarism prevailed everywhere, and open

revolt where there was any chance of even temporary success. The

same cause which existed in 1848—the desire for annexation to

Greece—produced these proceedings; but certain banditti chiefs took

advantage of the feeling, in order to promote their own predatory

designs. The musket and the gallows suppressed these outrages. The

public trials of the chief offenders betrayed a state of dishonesty,

treachery, treason, and bloodthirstiness among the population generally,

disgraceful to the Greek race.

The colonial history of the British empire during this year involved no

other incidents that were remarkable—in general it was discontented and

disturbed; but the energy of the military and civil officers, and the

fidelity and valour of the troops, subjugated all opposition, or held

adverse interests at bay, and kept down disaffection, until future

opportunities allowed of more signal success. India was the scene of

more striking events, which had their full share of peril and glory.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION UNDER SIR J. ROSS.

Perhaps no subject engaged the mind of the British people more

sympathetically and powerfully than the fate of the brave men who

formed the great Arctic expedition. Sir John Franklin was popular, and

eminently deserved to be so; and the public desired that every effort

should be made, and every risk incurred, for his deliverance—or, at all

events, a satisfactory solution of the doubts which prevailed concerning

his existence. For this purpose an expedition was sent out under Sir

James Ross, with specific instructions to prosecute the search in a

certain direction, which would not interfere with efforts elsewhere, so

as to determine, at all events in one great field of exploration, if he

yet survived. Sir James and his gallant crews arrived off Scarborough

on the 3rd of November, and on the 5th the gallant officer presented

his report at the Admiralty. The following account of that report, from

official authority, will afford sufficiently full information of the

result:—

“It is Sir James Ross’s confident opinion that neither Sir John

Franklin, nor any of his brave companions, are eastward of any navigable

point in the Arctic regions; and if there be any chance of their

existence, it is in the supposition that he proceeded in a westerly

direction, and in such case we can only expect to hear from the missing

adventurers by the Mackenzie detachment, or by her majesty’s ship

Plover, Commander Moore, by way of Russia.

“Sir James traversed at least two hundred and thirty miles on the

ice, the bergs of which were frightful, much more so than any of the

experienced Arctic voyagers had seen before. Sir James and his party

penetrated as far as the wreck of the _Fury_, where he found the

old tent standing, and everything about it in a state of the best

preservation. At this point Sir James deposited a large quantity of

provisions, and also the screw-launch of the _Enterprise_. The march of

Sir James across the boundless regions of ice is truly stated as a most

unparalleled feat in exploration. We are sorry to find, however, that it

was in no way successful. The captain, officers, and ship’s company have

worked together most harmoniously—a spirit of emulation having animated

every one in the great philanthropic task of endeavouring to cany help

and succour to their long lost friends. In the whole courses of his

researches it is said Sir James Ross never met with a single Esquimaux.

“Sir James speaks most highly of all those who have been connected and

associated with him. He is fully satisfied that all is done that could

be done by the Admiralty, in the appropriation of the vessel, the

selection of the crew, and the extensive equipment of each vessel, in

stores, provisions, &c.”

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

A glance at the state of Continental Europe is necessary for a clear

view of the relation of England to other states. The revolutionary

spirit of 1848 had not passed away, yet already symptoms of reaction

appeared in several of the continental states. The daring and dissolute

doctrines of French, German, and Italian socialists created universal

alarm, among all who regarded, with any sacredness, the ties of family

and the rights of property. It was seen that, however hateful despotic

monarchy, and the ascendancy of a bigoted and superstitious church,

these oppressions were far preferable to the levelling and loathsome

tyranny of socialism, in any of the forms in which it presented itself

in England, France, or Germany. Whatever was abhorrent to the natural

sense of justice, and the dear claims of kindred, was propagated by

socialism; and which the socialists, whether called Owenites, St.

Simonians, or red republicans, were ready by force to establish.

Enlightened men were therefore in doubt, during the early part of 1849,

what part to take; their aspirations were for liberty; but the multitude

preferred license, and, without the multitude, nothing could be enforced

upon despotic governments and ecclesiastical systems. It was now hoped

that governments had been warned; that kings would never again venture

to violate political promises to their people; that constitutions would

never again be revoked by princes; and that, consequently, little was

to be apprehended from the governing powers: whereas, everything dear

to social order, happiness, and sacredness, was to be feared from the

social and political fanatics that to so great an extent guided the

peoples,—exciting false hopes, stimulating violent action, propounding

doctrines destructive of social order, and menacing a tyranny more

formidable than had ever before been witnessed in the world. With

these feelings, the good and true rallied round the centres of ordinary

government and order—but, alas! they were deceived; they did not take

the Scripture warning, “Put not your trust in princes.” Pledges and

promises were made by the foreign despots and their ministers, more

profusely than even during the war of 1812; but all this was only

destined to exemplify the necessity for the warning given by Him who

best understood human nature—“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his

nostrils.” The friends of order, peace, and rational liberty believed

the protestations of potentates, and used their influence, and armed on

the side of governments in the conflicts of 1849. The result was, they

unconsciously abetted a reaction by which the old chains were riveted

upon the people, and new ones forged still further to fetter them.

The state of France most interested England, because all great changes

in that country influence the whole of Continental Europe, and, in fact,

affect more or less the whole civilised world. France, throughout the

year, was rent by the violence of party. Three royal factions, the

Buonapartists, the Orleanists, and the Bourbons, _par excellence_,

were sowing broadcast the seeds of social dissension. The two

great-republican parties—that of the socialists (or “reds”), and

that of a philosophic and rational republicanism, led by Cavaignac and

Lamartine—were ardent in their appeals for popular support. The party

of the church watched all the others, ready to exert its influence

wherever it could serve itself, by preventing any political sect

from settling into power, except under such conditions as, in its own

interest, the church should prescribe. The party of the president (the

Buonapartists) gradually and steadily gained over all the others; the

soldiery and the peasantry were Napoleonist; the church saw this, and

threw its weight into the presidential scale. The union of peasant

proprietary, the army, the church, the Buonapartists proper, and the

friends of order, who believed in the oath of the prince-president,

constituted the will of France;—the policy of Napoleon was accepted

by many because it was his: it was his, because he knew it would be

acceptable to many as the only safeguard against anarchy, and the only

form of absolutism that could be substituted for liberty, or impose upon

its friends.

While revolution raged everywhere, Rome was in arms, the pope was a

fugitive, and a provisional government ruled the estates of Romagna,

Bologna, and Ferrara, in the name of freedom. The Romans conducted

themselves justly and heroically, but the Austrian government, whose

successes in Italy and Hungary, as well as in the duchy of Austria,

gave her confidence, was anxious to restore the pope and enforce

his government by the bayonet. This was not acceptable to either the

governments of England or France. The latter resolved to interfere, and

the question arose and was anxiously mooted in England, what, under such

circumstances, was the true policy of Britain? Lord Palmerston, who

was strongly opposed to Austrian ascendancy in Italy, was favourable to

French intervention; and there were persons who asserted that the

idea itself originated not at the Tuileries, but in the English

Foreign-office. At all events, no opposition was offered, and a French

expedition to Rome resulted. The Romans fought in a way worthy of

Romans, but, borne down by the superior power of France, their proud

city yielded to the invader, and the pope, under joint French and

Austrian protection, returned to rule his reluctant people at the

Vatican. It then became necessary for France to modify and restrain the

fiery persecution which the restored pontiff visited upon his temporal

subjects, at the instigation of Austria and Naples. In this, however,

the French were not as zealous as in restoring the pontifical tyranny;

and, as in the misrule of Louis Philippe, his chief agent of corruption

and wrong was a protestant, M. Guizot, so in the agency of French

despotism at Rome, a protestant general, D’Hilliers, was the most active

instrument.

Meanwhile the socialists, under Ledru Rollin, attempted to upset the

presidential government, but were beaten by General Changarnier, at

the head of the troops and national guards, Ledru Rollin becoming a

fugitive. The president of the French republic worked his will.

The general condition of Europe was well described by M. Mauguin in

the French Assembly, as under arms from the line of the Ural to the

Atlantic. The attitude, however, which the president resolved to

maintain, was one of peace with foreign powers, and, except in the

instance of Rome, of non-interference. This exception he justified on

the grounds of the necessity of counteracting the ascendancy of Austria

in Italy, and of the Catholic feeling of the French nation, which forbid

the deposition of the head of the church.

One of the most remarkable incidents in French history during the year,

and that in which the English people undoubtedly took most interest, was

the assemblage of a Peace Congress of all nations at Paris. Deputations

from England and America were the most conspicuous persons in the

assembly, which met on the 22nd of August, in the Salle St. Cécille,

a music-hall in the Chaussée d’Antin, M. Victor Hugo in the chair. The

vice-presidents were Messrs. Cobden, Vesschères, Coquerel, Degnore,

and Durkee. The secretaries were Messrs. Joseph Gamier, Alochin, Elihu

Burrit, the celebrated American blacksmith, editor of the _Olive Leaf_,

and Henry Richards, secretary to the English Peace Society. The two

principal speakers were the Reverend John Bennet, a congregational

minister, residing at Camberwell, near London, a very eloquent orator,

and Victor Hugo, who said he believed the object they had at heart was a

religious one, and not only desirable, but practicable and realisable:—

“Four centuries ago, the different provinces of France made war against

one another; and he expected to see the day arrive when that which took

place with respect to the provinces of one country would mark the whole

of Europe; and that, as Normandy and other provinces formed one France,

at peace with itself, so the different nations of Europe could dwell in

harmony as one country. Then would be no longer war, but civilisation;

and cannon would only be seen as curiosities shut up in museums.” M.

Hugo proceeded to descant on the vast expense of keeping up standing

armies, and the great advantages that would arise if such money were

thrown into the channels of labour, by which commerce would be promoted

and intelligence advanced. M. Hugo concluded by announcing that 500

francs would be given for a peace essay, and 500 francs for the best

collection of facts showing the horrors of war. The Archbishop of Paris

gave his adhesion to the objects of the assembly. The president of the

republic looked coldly upon the gathering, having no cordial feeling

to the chairman. The meeting was got up by the English peace party, and

chiefly under the auspices of Mr. Cobden. They regarded it as peculiarly

well-timed, whereas it is almost inconceivable how any number of men of

ability could suppose the occasion suitable, or that the state of

Europe offered the smallest hope of producing any influence by such

a convention. The resolutions submitted to the congress show how

impracticable they were at that juncture, and events in Europe have

since proved how uninfluential was the congress itself, and the opinions

it expressed. Tire resolutions proposed were adopted, and were as

follow:—

“1. As peace alone can secure the moral and material interests of

nations, it is the duty of all governments to submit to arbitration all

differences that arise among them, and to respect the decisions of the

arbitrators whom they may choose.

“2. It is advisable to call the attention of governments to the

necessity of entering, by a general and simultaneous measure, upon a

system of disarmament, for the purpose of reducing national expenditure,

and of removing, at the same time, a permanent cause of disquietude and

irritation from among the nations.

“8. The congress recommends all the friends of peace to prepare public

opinion, in their respective countries, for the formation of a congress

of nations, whose sole object should be to frame a code of international

laws, and to constitute a supreme court, to which should be submitted

all questions relating to the rights and reciprocal duties of nations.

“4. The congress condemns all loans and taxes intended to aid the

prosecution of wars of conquest and ambition.

“5. The congress recommends all its members to endeavour to eradicate

from the minds of all in their respective countries, both by means of

a better education of youth, and by other methods, those political

prejudices and hereditary hatreds which have so often been the cause of

disastrous wars.

“6. The congress addresses the same invitation to all ministers of

religion, whose sacred mission it is to encourage feelings of goodwill

among men; as well as to the various organs of the press, which exercise

so powerful an influence over the development of civilisation.

“7. The congress earnestly hopes for the improvement of the means of

international communication; for the extension of postal reform; for

the universal adoption of the same standard of weights, measures, and

coinage; and for the multiplication of peace societies, which shall keep

up a correspondence with each other.

“8. The congress decides that the committee be instructed to draw up an

address to all nations embodying the resolutions of the congress; and

that this address shall be presented to the various governments of

Europe and America, and particularly to the president of the French

republic.”

There was one political effect produced by the assemblage; the fact

that the French government allowed it, and that the Archbishop of Paris

patronised it, led to a general impression in Europe that the policy

of Louis Napoleon would be peaceful. It is probable that in giving his

permission for the convention he calculated upon such an effect, which

suited the purpose of the hour, and comported with the necessities of

his _régime_. The policy of the French president towards Great Britain

was peaceful and friendly. In various minor matters he endeavoured to

gain the confidence of the English government. He had implicit faith in

the honesty and goodwill of the English foreign minister, who believed

Napoleon to be a necessity, and counselled his cabinet to maintain amity

with him. The British ambassador to the French republic was treated with

more marked respect than the minister of any other power delegated to

it, and citizens of the United Kingdom were treated with the most

marked consideration in France whenever the emperor found opportunity of

showing it. As a proof of his goodwill, a _souvenir_ of his residence in

London, and the courtesies which, when an exile, he had received there

from the Army and Navy Club, he presented that body with a superb

piece of Gobelins tapestry, and a letter couched at once in the most

respectful and cordial terms. In greater matters, he appeared anxious

to secure the sympathy of Great Britain: difficulties arose in the East,

which engaged the attention of English politicians very much, and the

English Foreign-office was officially led to consider that reliance

might be placed upon the co-operation of France. Events, in a few years,

brought this feeling more thoroughly and practically to the test.

STATE OF GERMANY.

The condition of Germany much interested the English government and

people. The contests between the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and

Denmark threatened to call for the interference of Germany on the one

hand and Russia on the other, and to involve England in embarrassing

questions. The attempt of the German democracies, triumphant in 1848,

to fuse the powers of Germany into a whole, a new Germanic empire, also

involved questions of great intricacy, and which, however England

might desire to keep aloof, tended to affect treaties in which she was

concerned. The union of all Germany as one authority would introduce a

new element into European relations, disturbing the balance of power.

Russia and France had much to apprehend from such a union; England but

little, so long as the united German power abstained from invading the

territory or independence of the Scandinavian nations. United Germany,

possessing popular liberty, would be a natural ally of England, and

a counterpoise to France, whose ambitions England had had so often to

check, and a counterpoise to Russia also, whose aggrandising policy was

so menacing to England and to Europe.

The disagreements of the German people as to the respective merits of

monarchy and republicanism, but more especially on social questions,

rendered the union of Germany politically impossible. The jealousies of

Austria and Prussia were equally fatal to such a project. The houses

of Hapsburg and Hohenzollern were competitors for the prize of German

empire; and this, rather than the welfare or union of Germany, engaged

their subtlety and energy. An Austrian archduke became vicar of the

German unity, and, unless so far as there appeared any probability of

his securing the supreme authority for the royal family of Austria, his

object was to humour the German parliament at Frankfort, and gradually

to wear it out, restoring things to their original condition. When the

royal houses of Austria and Prussia found that neither could obtain a

permanent supremacy, they concerted together for the purpose of breaking

up the parliament, and in the meantime, of practically preventing any

invasion of the independence or separate prerogative of the individual

states and their governments by the central representative power which

the revolution had set up. Accordingly, on the last day of September

a convention was signed at Vienna, by Austria and Prussia, for the

establishment of a provisional central power for Germany. This was

shortly after ratified by both courts. The first article was for the

purpose of giving the archduke vicar an opportunity of resigning his

authority to the provisional central power.

“1. The government of the Germanic confederation, in concert with the

vicar, agree on a provisional form or interim, during which time Austria

and Prussia assume the administration of the central power for the

German confederation, in the name of all the governments of the

confederation, until the 1st of May, 1850, unless this power cannot be

transferred to a definite power before that period.

“2. The object of the interim is to maintain the German confederation

as a union founded on the right of the states appertaining to the German

princes and of the free cities, to having preserved the independence

and the integrity of their states comprised in the confederation, and to

having maintained the internal and external security of Germany.

“3. So long as the interim lasts, the affair of the German constitution

is left to the free concertation of the individual states.

“It is the same with those affairs which by art. 6 of the federative

act, belong to the full assembly of the diet.

“4. If, at the expiration of the interim, the German constitutional

question should be not yet settled, the German government will come to

an understanding with respect to the prolongation of the present treaty.

“5. The affairs hitherto carried on by the provisional central power,

in so far as, according to the legislation of the confederation, they

came within the competency of the late assembly, are transmitted for

the entire duration of the interim to a dietary committee, to which

Prussia and Austria appoint each two members, to sit at Frankfort. The

other governments can be represented by plenipotentiaries accredited to

the said committee, either by each individual state or by several

states conjointly.

“6. The committee of the confederation carries on affairs in an

independent manner, but are responsible to the powers that respectively

nominate them. It forms its resolutions after deliberation in common.

If the members cannot agree, the decision takes place by means of

negotiation between the governments of Prussia and Austria, and which

latter, in case of need, will refer to a judgment of arbitration. This

judgment is pronounced by three governments of the confederation. In

such case, Austria will nominate each time one of the arbiters, and

Prussia the other. The two governments thus designed have to decide

upon a third arbiter for completing the tribunal of arbitration. The

members of the committee of the confederation divide the affairs

assigned to them in this mode, that according to the legislation of the

existing confederation, and especially according to the military

constitution of the confederation, they either personally carry them

on, or else direct and superintend the carrying of them on.

“7. As soon as the ratification by the governments aforesaid of the

great proposition shall have taken place, the archduke vicar will

renounce his dignity and depose the rights and duties of the

confederation that have been confided to him into the hands of the

Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia.”

DEMANDS OF THE RUSSIAN AND AUSTRIAN EMPERORS UPON THE SULTAN OF TURKEY.

—INTERPOSITION OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

Varied and important as the changes and conflicts were in Western

and Central Europe during this year, none of these events menaced the

general peace of Europe so much as a demand made by the czar and the

kasir upon the sultan for the extradition of certain Hungarian refugees.

During the general convulsion of Europe, Hungary flew to arms, and the

Austrian empire was in danger of dismemberment from the success of the

Hungarian revolt. Russia, however, joined her armies to those of the

great German power, and the result was the suppression of the Hungarian

revolution. The chiefs of that movement took refuge within the Turkish

territory. This circumstance led to a demand by the ambassadors of

Russia and Austria at the Porte, for the surrender of all Polish and

Hungarian refugees into the hands of the governments to which they

owed allegiance. The sultan refused, and the ambassadors demanded their

passports. The alarmed sultan consulted the learned doctors of the

Koran, and received for reply that the abandonment of the refugees would

be contrary to the law of Mohammed. The English and French ministers

counselled resistance, and the sultan increased his armies, and ordered

remnants of troops towards the Austrian frontier. The terms and tone in

which the communications of the ministers of the czar and the kasir were

made, were insulting to the sultan, and aroused the indignation of

the French and British governments, whose interposition was of such a

character as to lead Austria and Russia to believe that a war with the

western powers would ensue if the haughty requisition was persisted in.

The communications between the English ambassador at St. Petersburg and

the czar’s minister for foreign affairs, although maintaining the forms

of courtesy, were pervaded by an indifferently concealed acrimony, which

showed that a bad feeling between the two governments underlayed the

ceremonies of diplomatic civility. A special minister from the Porte was

sent to St. Petersburg with a conciliatory note from the sultan to the

emperor, and this, with the firm tone of the French ambassador, and

the energetic exertions of the English minister, caused the emperors to

relax their demands, and to insist only upon the removal of certain of

the refugees from the territory contiguous to that which had been

the theatre of their revolt. The ill feeling which sprung up on this

occasion between the governments of Vienna and St. Petersburg, on the

one hand, and those of England and France, on the other, continued until

events arose still more grave for Turkey, and for all these powers.

Through another year of grave occurrences, and political difficulties

and involvements such as Europe had seldom Been, Great Britain pursued

the even tenor of her way, by her moral influence everywhere aiding

liberty and checking excess, maintaining her own prestige and

international rights, yet pursuing a policy of non-interference.

Her foreign relations at the close of 1849 were in all respects

satisfactory, but it required all the skill and vigilance of the

remarkable man then at the head of the foreign office to maintain at

once peace and the honour of the country.

CONTINUED DISTRESS IN IRELAND—CRIME AND OUTRAGE—POLITICAL

AGITATIONS EFFORTS OF GOVERNMENT TO MEET THE EXIGENCIES OF THE COUNTRY.

The state of Ireland during this year was a continuation of the want,

misery, criminality, and sedition which made up its history for so many

previous years. The causes already noticed so fully in previous chapters

operated in producing famine and its attendants, disease and

social discontent. Notwithstanding all the efforts of government by

parliamentary aid, and of the people of Great Britain by their generous

subscriptions, the poor in Ireland continued to die of starvation, and

where death did not immediately happen from that cause, it arose from

it mediately, through the instrumentality of famine, fever, cholera,

dysentery, or gradual decay. The efforts of the government were still,

to a great extent, rendered abortive by the frauds committed upon the

funds devoted to Irish relief, not only in Ireland, but in England; much

that was supposed to be applied for the relief of the Irish famishing

poor never reached Ireland, and much more that did arrive in that

country never found its way to the objects for whom it was intended. The

failure of the potatoe crop had so impoverished the people, that,

during the spring of 1849, the destitution in some parts of the country

equalled that which had been known even during the three previous years.

The queen, in her speech at the opening of the session, referred to

the failure of the potatoe crop, and recommended her parliament to

make further provision to relieve the destitution which prevailed.

In pursuance of this recommendation, parliament voted £50,000 for

the relief of distressed unions, a sum utterly disproportioned to the

necessities of the case. A bill was brought in for levying “a rate in

aid,” as it was termed, the object of which waa to levy a rate upon

solvent parishes to aid insolvent parishes. This was both inequitable in

its conception and application, and was one of those make-shifts of the

government which, while it raised opposition, failed in accomplishing

the object contemplated. A vote of £100,000, in anticipation of “the

rate in aid,” was proposed and carried, but this also waa inadequate to

the purpose for which it was designed. Some idea of the magnitude of the

miseries of Ireland at this juncture may be formed from the fact that

the poor-law guardians of Kilrush expended £1000 per week in support

of the paupers of that union. Kilrush is a remote and not particularly

populous district, and was a specimen of the general expenditure to

which the distressed unions were exposed.

The terrible distress prevailing brought on a state of social calamity

and discord such as has seldom been witnessed in the history of the

world. As the year went on, the prospects of an abundant harvest

inspired hopes that peace and plenty would at last smile upon unhappy

Ireland, but these hopes were doomed to disappointment. The growing

crops became objects of contention between the miserable tenant, and, in

many cases, almost equally miserable landlord. The tenants sought to cut

and remove the crops clandestinely. Suddenly the corn would be cut over

a vast area of land, and carried away, as if by magic, beyond the bounds

to which any existing legal process on the part of the landlord might be

applicable. Rents were refused. Many of the farmers were unable to

pay, many were unwilling from dishonesty, and many considered that the

tenants had as good a right to the land as those from whom they rented

it. They talked of themselves as descended from the old families, the

natural lords of the soil, and of those who then claimed the rents as

the seed of the invader and the spoiler, whom it was just to deprive

of what he had no right to, unless conquest and force could confer

the right,—a doctrine that did not suit the popular interests. The

landlords, on the other hand, sternly evicted the tenantry; whole

town-lands were depopulated, the expelled tenants died of starvation on

the public roads, or crowded the workhouses, where they were supported

by rates levied on the industrious occupier. The poor-law was continued

upon a plan which protected the property of the rich English absentee,

and threw the burden upon the resident landlords who cultivated their

own land, and upon the farmer who rented land. The agents of these

absentees exacted the rents with bitter severity, and often the dwelling

of the wretched occupier was pulled down about his sick and starving

children, who frequently perished within the roofless walls. It was

civil war, without any of the redeeming manhood which strips even that

of its aspects of misery and horror. Frequently the police, armed as

regular cavalry and infantry, were called out to seize the corn in

process of clandestine removal, or to execute an eviction. On these

occasions, sometimes, the unarmed peasantry, maddened by despair, would

resist, and a conflict ensue in which victory did not always determine

on the side of arms and discipline. The military were often in

requisition to seize carts of corn under process of removal, or to

enforce the expulsion of some tattered, hungry, sick, woe-stricken

family from their miserable holding into the “wide wide world,”

houseless and hopeless. Frequently the parish allowed an outcast of this

description at the rate of seven-eighths of a penny per day to sustain

existence. An English periodical writer truly and compassionately

remarked, “nothing like Irish misery exists under the sun.” Whatever

the disturbances generally prevailing, a very great number of the people

offered no resistance to the law; they obeyed and died. Mr. P. Scrope*

truly observed that the people bore these hardships “with a patience

and resignation which it is heart-breaking to witness, and which one

scarcely knows whether to praise or to blame.”

* “Notes of a tour in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with a

view to inquire whether our labouring population be really

redundant.”

Yet Mr. Crope, while he denounced the state of the law in Ireland as

affecting landlord and tenant, in terms which attracted the attention

of the country, and of foreign lands, described the difficulties of

landlords in a way just to the class and to his subject. “A moment’s

consideration,” he says, “will show the futility of expecting any mercy

to be shown to these poor people by those whom the law at present arms

with the power of destroying them. It sounds very well to English ears

to preach forbearance and generosity to the landowners. But it should

be remembered that few of them have it in their power to be merciful or

generous to their poor tenantry. They act under compulsion, usually

of the severest kind. They are themselves engaged in a life and death

struggle with their creditors. Moreover the greater number of

the depopulators are mere agents for absent landlords or for the

law-receivers under the courts acting for creditors, and bound by the

established rules and avowed practice of the Court of Chancery itself

(the fountain and head of justice) to make the utmost of the property

entrusted to them, without regard to any other consideration than the

pecuniary interest of the parties, which is committed to their care.

Those landlords who have yet some voice in the management of their

estates, seeing the highest court of judicature in the realm sanction

this principle of action, think themselves justified—most of them,

indeed, are compelled by the overwhelming pressure of their own

difficulties—to follow the example. It is vain to expect mercy to be

shown under such circumstances. All is done in the sacred name of the

law. The sheriff, the representative of the majesty of the law, is the

actual exterminator. The officers of the law execute the process. The

constabulary, acting under the orders of the magistracy, stand by to

prevent resistance; and if any is expected, the queen’s troops are

brought to the spot, to quell with all the power of the throne what

would amount to an act of rebellion. It is absurd, then, to cast the

blame of these foul deeds, and their horrible results, upon a few

reckless, bankrupt, wretched landlords. It is to the law, or rather to

the government and legislature which uphold it, and refuse to mitigate

its ferocity, that the crime rightly attaches; and they will be held

responsible for it by history, by posterity—ay, and perhaps before

long, by the retributive justice of God, and the vengeance of a people

infuriated by barbarous oppression, and brought at last to bay by their

destroyers.” It is difficult to read such statements and wonder that

agrarian outrage prevailed extensively in Ireland, and that all over the

land murder stained the soil with blood.

It is impossible to write the history of Ireland in any given year

without having to record assassinations springing from religious

discord, and 1849 was no exception.

Political disturbance was only kept down by the arm of the law. Early in

the session, Earl Grey moved in the house of lords for a renewal of the

“suspension of the _Habeas Corpus_ act,” and in doing so he stated that

although there was no reason to fear an insurrection, yet disaffection

existed extensively, and especially in the districts which had been the

scenes of insurgency in the previous year. His lordship never knew

much of Ireland in any respect—her people, the philosophy of her

turbulence, or the policy which ought to be pursued towards her; had he

formed acquaintance with such subjects he would hardly have spoken

of disaffection existing in certain districts, for it is chronic in

Ireland. The masses of the people have been disaffected since the

English first obtained the ascendancy in Ireland; but independent of

any hostility of race or nationality, a deep-rooted religious animosity

towards the creed of England rankles in the hearts of all in Ireland who

differ from that creed.

The Young Ireland party was not extirpated by the events of 1848,

although as a public organized body, suppressed. Its writers continued

to write, although there was little public speaking. Charles Gavan

Duffy, more fortunate than his fellows, was enabled to escape the legal

penalties attached to his undoubted treason; juries would not convict,

notwithstanding the plainest evidence. The Roman Catholics in the juries

were obstinate in refusing a conviction. This circumstance deepened the

general distrust existing among Protestants in the fidelity of Roman

Catholic jurors on any question in which they took a political or

ecclesiastical interest. There is no reason, however, to suppose that

this spirit of inequitable partizanship was confined to Roman Catholics.

Such incidents never justified the government in refusing them

alterations in the jury laws, popularly demanded, and in exercising

so sternly the right of challenge which belonged to the crown in such

prosecutions. Mr. Duffy resumed his place at the office of the _Nation_

newspaper, affecting to believe that there was no hope of achieving what

he called Irish independence by political agitation; that the country

needed material improvement in the first instance, and that in

proportion as it increased in wealth would it be likely to obtain a

national existence. Mitchell, in his exile, denounced this doctrine;

and when he afterwards escaped to the United States, he impugned these

opinions of Mr. Duffy as dangerous to freedom, and as a cover to

his retreat from the patriotic advocacy of Irish nationality. The

recriminations of these two champions of Young Irelandism showed what

little prospect there ever had been of any harmony existing in an Irish

provisional government, if success had attended the efforts of these

men. Mr. Duffy, while for a time persisting in his new course, and

making his paper more an organ of the ultramontane priesthood, took

every opportunity of inciting the people to treason, at first covertly,

but gradually in a more open manner. This the government permitted, to

the disparagement of the loyal, and the injury of peace and improvement

in Ireland. The Old Ireland party continued to agitate, but their

agitation assumed still more of a sectarian character. Yet the name of

O’Connell had lost much of its spell, and at an auction of his library

in Dublin, his books, even with his autograph, barely fetched the prices

which the same volumes would have brought at any other public auction if

the property of an unknown person.

The winter of 1849 smote Ireland with fresh accumulations of suffering.

Gaunt famine stalked abroad; pestilence lurked in the hovels of the

country, and the cellars and garrets of the great towns; cholera ravaged

as fiercely in some places as if no other destroyer visited the unhappy

realm; crime lurked by the wayside, and sedition and bigotry muttered

their curses everywhere. It seemed as if a wide-wasting ruin covered

all.

The queen’s visit to Ireland made this year memorable in her history.

An account of this will appear in the narrative of the court in another

page.

POLITICAL STATE OF ENGLAND.

Notwithstanding the humiliation of the Chartists in 1848, they still

continued blatant. Some rioting occurred, and but for the conviction

that the people at large would support the government in strong

measures, the tendency to disturbance would have been still more

decidedly manifested. The anti-free-traders were still a large and

powerful party, and, led by Mr. Disraeli, formed an imposing array both

in and out of parliament. The free-traders were also active and resolute,

giving to the government a very general support. The agitations in

the country assumed no new phases, and almost all political questions

assumed a politico-economical aspect from the temper in which men

discussed them, and the prevailing tone of the time. The alteration

—virtually the repeal—of the navigation laws caused much excitement

in the sea ports, as the agitation of the subject did the previous year;

but the government and the free-trade party mustered all their strength,

and succeeded with the measure. The government was not popular, but was

accepted as a political necessity. Lord John Russell had great weight in

parliament, “in the city,” and with the old whig party everywhere; but

the more advanced liberals had lost confidence in him, and some of

his colleagues were unpopular. Foreign politics engaged much of the

attention of the nation, and the tide of reaction which began to roll

back over the continent, sweeping away so many newly acquired liberties,

was a cause of abundant regret, and even alarm to the English people.

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