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Monopolies, Cruelties, and Oppressions in India.

the price at which it ought to sell, which falls, of course, as a tax on the

consumer.

2

Opium is also monopolized, on the frivolous pretext of its being a poisonous drug, though not more so than either brandy or wine, each being capable of the same abuse; but these scrupulous guardians of the public morals have no objection to this poisonous drug being introduced, contrary to the law, into China: nor of its being taken in such quantities by the Malays, as to lead to the bloody massacres and assassinations of which we read with so much horror, as happening constantly in their islands. Both these monopolies of opium and salt were established in iniquity, in the days of old Lord Clive, by the Company's servants abroad, and have since been maintained by the Company itself, and perpetuated for their benefit; being greatly increased in amount, and extended wherever the Company can extend them. The monopoly of salt (one of the most essential ingredients of a wretched Hindoo's meal, for he has little else than rice and salt to form it) has been thus extended into the upper provinces of Hindoostan, where it was before unknown: and that of opium has been extended even to the territories of Sindia and Holkar, who have been prevailed on by the money or the influence of the Company, to systematise this shameful infliction on their subject cultivators and consumers; who, instead of deriving benefits from our ruling India, are made to feel the most grinding exactions, and to hold our name and power in execration as a curse.

As to judicial taxation, it exists to an extent of which persons in England are scarcely at all aware, and the receipts from this unholy source form a large item in the revenue accounts of the East India Company every year, bearing on its brazen front, the disgraceful title of revenue drawn from the miseries and distresses of the people. Every proceeding is taxed by stamps, to a degree incredibly oppressive in so poor a country, or rather, it should be said, among so poor and destitute a people; for the country is rich enough, but the people do not participate in its wealth. Every contract, of the humblest kind, every written transaction of commerce, that is to be binding in an Indian Court, is taxed with a stamp, that not only impedes, but often amounts to a denial of justice altogether; for such transactions as will not afford to pay the tax, are necessarily executed without it, subjecting the parties to be made the prey of the designing without the possibility of a remedy.

Well may the benevolent inquirer call the exaction of "surplus revenue a political and economical monstrosity. It is fully entitled to the term; and must be accompanied with cruelties and horrors wherever it is wrung from the suffering people. If the Legislators of England were but as wise, as even this writer deems the present Ministers at least to be,

As the writer from Oxford wishes to be referred to the best authorities on these subjects, we may name the admirable work of Colebrook and Lambert on the Resources and Husbandry of Bengal, and Mr. Bolt's on the Government and Affairs of India, for particulars as to these points; and the excellent work of Mr. Mill, for more enlarged views of the evils of Monopoly in general. The latest and best book on the subject is, however, that reviewed in the sixth Number of the Oriental Herald, entitled "An Inquiry into the expediency of applying the principles of Colonial Policy to the Government of India," to which we would refer all who desire to obtain comprehensive and accurate opinions on this great subject...

such a system would not be permitted to endure for another year. The Company might be permitted to retain their charter; but they should be compelled to govern their territories well-to admit the fullest development of the resources of India-to encourage the freest commerce-to pay their debts to remit taxation so as to bring the revenue to the level of the disbursements-to spend the principal portion of these in the improvement of the country, and the elevation of its inhabitants from brutes and slaves to rational and intelligent freemen; and, in short, to act upon the principle of producing the greatest happiness to the greatest number. Never was there a finer opportunity for trying this great experiment in government, than on the fertile, highly peopled, and submissive provinces of India: but if neither the East India Company, nor the Ministry, will agitate this great question, it behoves the public of England, of whom our Oxford Correspondent must acknowledge himself to be one, to force it upon the attention of the Legislature in such a manner as to compel their attention to it, before rebellion shall have torn the country from our possession, and the opportunity of governing it usefully and equitably be lost for ever.

THE STAR IN THE WEST.

THERE's a star in the west, that shines lovely in light,
Through its veil of soft azure, when evening appears;
There's an eye at that hour,-as lovely-as bright-
That turns to its rising,—but meets it in tears.

Time was, when its ray beamed the signal of bliss;

When the heart throbbed exulting, to see it ascend;
When the prayer of that heart was, "Be heaven like this!"
In rapture that Hope whispered never should end.

But swift flew those hours; and false, with them fled
The promise of Hope;-and soon evening came on,
And that star had departed,-the sweetness it shed,
Like its lustre from heaven, was faded and gone.

Oh, Memory! now the sad fiat is given,

Joy's flowers all blighted, and sorrows decreed;
And the bonds of affection thus rudely are riven,

Oh! why dost thou linger and point to the dead?
That orb now, again, through the twilight is gleaming,
But dead is the heart to the radiance it bears;
And the eye that so fondly had watched for its beaming,
Now turns from the ray it in mockery wears.

-Oh, weep not, beloved! the hour shall come,

When the prayer of that heart shall, in bliss, be possessed;
When, bright as this planet that shines through the gloom,
Thy spirit shall smile from the world of the blessed!

And the promise of Hope shall be given!-and he
Who shared in that promise, and mourned it as gone,
Shall, in mercy, be called there there, welcomed by thee,
Shall be hailed to a heaven-for ever his own!

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SKETCH OF THE HISTORY, POWER, AND RESOURCES OF THE BURMESE NATION, UP TO THE COMMENCEMENT

OF THE PRESENT WAR.

A VERY general disposition appears to prevail, even among those who are conversant with the affairs of the East, to underrate the power and resources of the Burmese nation, and the resistance which they are capable of making to our arms. As these are now, for the first time, about to be put to the trial, in a contest with our Government, although hostile indications have heretofore on several occasions oc curred between the two powers, such an account of the Burmese as may tend to give a more just and adequate idea of their past and present condition, than that which is commonly entertained, will probably at the present moment possess peculiar claims on the attention of our readers. The sources from which information on the subject is to be derived, are, it is true, far from numerous, but they are at least authentic, and we shall, in the course of the present article, quote with unhesitating confidence the statements of Colonel Symes and Dr. Buchanan, Captains Cox and Canning, who have all at different periods visited the capital of the Burman Empire, and given to the public the results of their researches and observations in that interesting country.

Extending from the mountains of Thibet, on the north, to the Siamese dominions on the south; bounded on the west by the Bay of Bengal, and by the British possessions in India; from which, however, it is in part separated by the interposition of one or two petty states, of doubtful independence; and on the east by Cambodia, Laos, and China; it yields in extent, population, and importance, to the last-mentioned empire alone among the native governments of the east of Asia. Its limits reach from the 12th to the 26th degree of north latitude, and from the 92d to the 104th degree of east longitude, comprehending a space of 794,000 square miles, and a population of at least 17,000,000; and it must not be forgotten, in the estimate of its resources, that this formidable empire has attained its present commanding height in the short space of seventy years, by an almost uninterrupted series of brilliant successes over the neighbouring states, which it has successively subjugated and incorporated with itself. In order to exhibit this important consideration in the clearest point of view, we cannot do better than give a brief sketch of the Burman history, for a considerable portion of which, Colonel Symes's Narrative fortunately supplies us with the necessary materials.

Of the early history of the further peninsula of India, we are entirely ignorant; it is, undoubtedly, the Aurea Chersonesus of Ptolemy, the limit of his geographical knowledge of the East; and the title of Emporia, bestowed by that author on several places on the coast, proves that even in those days, its ports were the seats of commerce and the resort of foreign merchants. It is to the Portuguese, who made themselves masters of Malacca in the early part of the sixteenth century, that we are indebted for a knowledge of its political subdivision at that period. It appears from them, that the territory, the greater part of

which is now incorporated into the Burman empire, was then divided into four principal kingdoms, exclusive of numerous petty states, which could hardly be considered as completely independent of the more powerful, which were Arracan, Ava, Pegu, and Siam. We learn from Mendez Pinto and Faria de Souza, that soon after the settlement of the Portuguese in the peninsula, the Burmese, or natives of Ava more particularly, who had in former times been subject to Pegu, threw off the yoke, and with the assistance of the Europeans, succeeded, not only in rendering themselves independent, but also in acquiring the supremacy over their former masters, which they maintained during the whole of the seventeenth, and the first forty years of the eighteenth century, When the Portuguese empire in the East fell before the accumulated crimes of its possessors, and the superior fortune of the Dutch, the latter, as also the English, obtained settlements in various parts of the Burman empire, which were afterwards forfeited by their misconduct, and Europeans of all nations were banished from Ava. The English were, however, at length reinstated in their factories at Syriam and Ava, and also took possession of the Island of Negrais, on which the Government of Fort St. George established a settlement. About the year 1740, the Peguers threw off their allegiance to the Burman Government, and a civil war ensued, which was prosecuted on both sides with savage ferocity, the issue long remaining doubtful; during its continuance the British fac tory at Syriam fell a sacrifice to the indiscriminating fury of the contending parties. The Peguers at length gained the superiority, and in the year 1752, the capital of Ava surrendered at discretion; the Burman monarch was made prisoner, and carried in triumph to Pegu, while the brother of the conqueror was left in the government of the subjugated kingdom, which at first bore the appearance of tranquil submission. But this flattering prospect was not of long continuance; Alompra, or as the name is written by Dr. Buchanan, Aloungbura, a Burman of low extraction, then known by the humble designation of Aumdzea (the huntsman), who held the petty chieftainship of Monchaboo, at that time an inconsiderable village, possessed a spirit of enterprise equal to the most arduous undertakings, and secretly meditated on the means of emancipating his country. While the Peguers slumbered in imaginary security, this extraordinary man, at the head of only a hundred faithful followers, in the autumn of 1753, threw off the yoke of the conquerors, and after having put to the sword the Peguan garrison of Monchaboo, and defeated a considerable body of troops who were sent against him, boldly marched to attack the capital itself. His little band had by this time acquired a considerable accession of strength, and so great was the terror inspired by his prowess, and by the sudden and unexpected nature of the revolt, that the Viceroy, on hearing of his advance, at once abandoned the city, and fled with all speed to Pegu. An expedition was immediately fitted out at Syriam to suppress this dangerous insurrection, which was quickly met, and totally defeated by Alompra, whose successes now excited in the bosom of the Peguers a spirit of revenge, which in the event proved highly detrimental to their interests. They alleged that a conspiracy had been formed by the dethroned Monarch of the Burmans, and the chief men of that nation, against the Government of Pegu; and without waiting for the formality of a trial, they rose in a body, and inhumanly slaughtered the unhappy King, the last of his dynasty, together with several hundred Burmans,

sparing neither age nor sex. The immediate consequences of these sanguinary proceedings were, to confirm in his assumed power the object of their alarm, and to exasperate the Burmans in some of the frontier towns (which had not yet thrown off their authority) to such a degree, that they flew to arms, and with a barbarity, nothing inferior to that of the Peguers, exercised a severe retribution. Prome, Deenobew, Loonzay, and several other places of importance, in consequence changed hands, and the whole of Ava was liberated from the yoke of Pegu. At this juncture, the eldest son of the deceased Monarch, who had fled to Siam, returned to Ava, and assumed the insignia of royalty as his hereditary right; but the conduct of Alompra soon convinced him of the imprudence of such a step, and he again found it convenient to take refuge among the Siamese, and leave the victorious chieftain to rule over the country of which he had so well deserved.

The English and French had now re-established their factories at Syriam, and each, as might be expected, adhered to different interests; the French favouring the Peguers, while the English leaned to the Burmese hitherto, however, nothing had occurred to induce them to give open or efficient assistance to either party. Towards the close of the year 1754, the Peguers, under the command of their King in person, once more invaded the kingdom of Ava, and were again repulsed by Alompra, after a desperate struggle, in which the utmost personal courage was evinced on both sides. The Pegu King, and his attendants, fled first to Bassien, where also the English had a small factory, and from thence to Pegu, whither he was speedily followed by the shattered remains of his army. The Peguers had no sooner evacuated Bassien than it was taken possession of by the Burmese. As it now appeared probable that the war would in future be confined, in a great measure, to the mouths of navigable rivers, Alompra, whose policy seems to have equalled his bravery, soon perceived the advantage which would be derived in such a species of warfare, from the co-operation of vessels of burden, armed with guns, and worked by Europeans; he accordingly sent a deputation of Negrais, to engage, if possible, the assistance of the English, or at least to stipulate for their neutrality. While his deputies were absent on this mission, he again attacked the Peguers, who were assembled in considerable force under the former Viceroy of Ava, and gained a decisive victory. The disheartened Peguers fled to Syriam; and many, among whom was their commander, did not stop until they reached Pegu. At this crisis, it appears to have become a special object with both parties, to interest the principals of the English and French factories at Syriam on their side, and it became absolutely necessary, in order to avoid being treated as a common enemy, to adopt a decided line of conduct. Neither French nor English, however, acted on this occasion with policy or candour; the former endeavouring, while they rendered every assistance in their power to the Peguers, to keep also upon terms of friendship with the Burmese; while the latter appear to have acted throughout without concert or subordination; thus, while the Resident at Negrais was professing, and probably with sincerity, the most friendly disposition towards the Burmese, the British vessels in the river were co-operating with the Peguers in their attacks upon Rangoon, to which the attention of the latter was now particularly turned.

In the summer of 1755, Alompra was called away from the defence

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