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one hand, and the fears of their few converts on the other, of being molested by the government, that there remained no longer any hopes of success in Rangoon. In 1823, Mrs. Judson returned to Rangoon, where she rejoined her husband, who had come down to receive her, and both proceeded, without delay, to Ava; 'the king's own brother requesting Mr. Judson's speedy return, and to bring with him all the sacred books.' In a letter dated February, 1824, Mrs. Judson expresses herself delighted with the reception they had met with from all ranks, and particularly from some of the higher orders; her old friend, the lady of the former Viceroy of Rangoon, who was now dead, was among the first to welcome her arrival.

We can scarcely hope that these brightening prospects should not have been clouded by the unfortunate war which was just then beginning; although we trust that the lives of this interesting couple may have been spared. Even this, however, is by no means certain; we regret to find that the newspaper statement of their having been sent down to Prome to negociate for peace is entirely without foundation; and by the latest accounts from Calcutta, it appears that no tidings had been received from them for eighteen months, and the greatest fears were entertained for their safety. This war is exceedingly to be lamented; ample provocation may have been given, and we may hope to extend the benefits of civilization to the Burmans in the event of our complete success; but these are distant and contingent prospects, while the loss and danger are heavy, certain and immediate. The destruction of human life has been enormous; we might have lost every thing that we possess in Hindostan, and misery must be entailed on the Burmans for years to come. To say nothing of the expense which it has already involved, or the destruction of an important branch of trade between Rangoon, Calcutta and Madras, this war brought into jeopardy the peace and property of sixty or seventy millions of our Hindostanee subjects, by the temptation which it held out to the native chieftains, to burst forth with their bands of marauders, and spread such terror and desolation over the land, as have not been witnessed since the

Our fears for the safety of Mr. and Mrs. Judson are increased by a very interesting but distressing account in the Missionary Register of June, 1825, of the sufferings of the American Missionaries at Rangoon, from January to May in 1824, from which they were providentially delivered on its capture by the English forces. Some allowance must, perhaps, be made for the highly excited feelings under which the account is written; but after every fair deduction, it must be confessed that it leaves upon our minds an impression of that mixture of cowardice, cruelty and impetuosity in the character of the Burmese, which makes the situation of this poor couple peculiarly perilous -they seem to be rather exposed to tigers, than living among their fellow-creatures. irruption

irruption of Hyder Aly. This is no idle boding. It is but too certain that a combination was forming in the north-west. These men were only waiting for a favourable moment to unite themselves with the deposed Rajahs and Rajpoots, who, shorn of their beams,' are naturally enough disaffected to the present order of things. We scarcely need observe, what is well known to those who have been long in India, that we hold it mainly by the belief in our military superiority; for though in a narrow cirele round the Presidencies, where our system of government, and the strict administration of justice, are practically understood, there is no wish to revert to the old dynasties; yet this is very far from being the case in the more remote parts of the peninsula, where the prejudices of caste, and love of ancient customs, make the natives cling with something like veneration to their former rulers, stripped as they are of all their pomp and power. The Catholic priests possess not a greater influence over the peasantry of Ireland, than the brahmins over the people of Hindostan; and what have not the brahmins to dread from the progress of our language, laws, and religion?

It is hardly fair to suppose that these circumstances were not taken into consideration by Lord Amherst and his advisers; but they certainly made a false estimate of the power and resources of the Burmans, when they so hastily determined on the invasion of their country. They believed perhaps that the military establishment was the same now as thirty years ago; that the regular army did not exceed in all probability two thousand cavalry, armed with spears; and from four to five thousand infantry, ill-disciplined, and irregularly armed; to which might be added a few field-pieces, managed by a mongrel breed from India, on whom the wearing of a hat and a pair of breeches confers the name of Portugueze, and two or three renegade French officers. They could not have anticipated that one city alone, that of Prome, would be found to contain more than one hundred pieces of ordnance, and to have been capable, had not the Burmese leader been killed or deserted his men, of resisting ten times the force that was brought against it. But whatever was the belief as to the actual state of their fortified towns, and the extent of their regular forces, Lord Amherst might fairly consider that neither the one nor the other could long resist his well-disciplined sepoys, led on by the gallantry of British officers. This, however, is not a war merely against the regular army of Burmah; it appears pretty certain, that the Bengal government either did not know, or left out of their calculation, that the whole Burman population, capable of bearing arms, could at once be brought against the invading army; that all the lands in the empire are held on a tenure re

sembling

sembling that of the feud; that a levy of a hundred thousand men could at the shortest notice be brought down to any specified point on the frontier by means of the numerous navigable rivers which intersect the country; and that, in addition to these levies, might be brought into operation, along the whole course of the Irrawaddey, from five hundred to a thousand war-boats, carrying each from forty to eighty rowers, with a piece of ordnance, a nine or ten pounder, in the prow, and having on board, besides the rowers, twenty or thirty men armed with muskets and pikes; the towns on the banks of the rivers being compelled to furnish men for these boats.

We had very soon proofs of the efficacy of these war-boats. When we had taken Rangoon, several hundred of them were brought down to arrest our advance up the river, which, with the aid of immense fire-rafts, completely succeeded for the first year of the campaign in stopping our progress. Severe conflicts were constantly had between our gunboats and those of the Burmans, but the latter invariably beat ours in speed, and generally effected their escape. On one occasion a squadron of about forty, thinking themselves safe, by the protection of an extensive raft stretching across the river, maintained their ground for some time; but there was fortunately attached to our squadron a steam-boat, which a private individual had fitted up in India. The lieutenant who commanded her, seeing an opening on the right, got up the steam to the highest pitch, dashed forward, and in a moment was in the midst of the Burman boats; a desperate conflict ensued, which ended in our capturing thirty out of the forty so assembled. The splashing of the wheels, turning round without the appearance of human aid, the hissing noise from the safety-valve, and the dense column of smoke, must have astonished the Burmans, who, in fact, were seen in great numbers to plunge into the stream, in which many no doubt perished. These numerous boats and the fire-rafts seem to have kept our gallant little squadron constantly on the alert.

If the Governor-general did duly appreciate the power and resources of the Burmans, and came to the conclusion, probably the just one, that their forces could make no stand against disciplined troops, it seems at least to have escaped him, as it did a greater general in another hemisphere, that, though his soldiers were sure to conquer those of the enemy, they were by no means so sure of conquering the elements; that the Burmans had only to retreat to their strong holds in the mountains, and lay waste their towns and villages, which they could rebuild in a month, drive the cattle from the plains, and leave disease and famine to do the rest, which, with the assistance of swamps, jungles,

forests,

forests, and the rainy season, they would speedily and surely accomplish.

The Burmans, however, did not act thus; they met us bravely and resolutely, disputed every foot of their territory, and checked effectually the progress of the invading army, which in twelve months was unable to push forward twelve miles. They are, indeed, not only a brave, they are also an intelligent race, and in a higher degree of civilization than the people of any of the surrounding nations; in disposition they are the very reverse of the quiet and tranquil Hindoo; impatient of insult, yet by no means disinclined to listen to reason and argument. The Indian government had a memorable instance of this in the year 1795, when three notorious robbers fled for refuge to the province of Chittagong. The emperor ordered an officer, with three or four thousand men, to march into the province, and not to leave it, on any account, without bringing back the delinquents, dead or alive. Á force was immediately dispatched from Calcutta to prevent this, under the command of General Erskine. The Burman chief, on crossing the river, had informed the magistrate of Chittagong, that he had no intention of commencing hostilities against the English, but that he was determined not to depart until the fugitives were given up, and, to confirm this menace, he surrounded his camp with a stockade.

On the approach of General Erskine, the Burman chief sent in a flag of truce, stipulating for the surrender of the robbers. The general replied, that he could enter into no terms so long as the Burmans continued on British ground, but that as soon as they had retired within their own position he would listen to their complaints, and that if they did not retreat within a limited time, recourse must be had to force. On this the Burman chief, with a manly confidence, came in person to the general, and the whole business was at once amicably arranged; it was observed that the retreat of their troops was conducted in the most orderly manner, nor was a single act of violence committed in the course of it, or during their continuance on the British territories. It is greatly to be lamented that, previously to the present hostilities, the commander of the British forces had not been instructed, as General Erskine was, to try what negociation might effect, instead of rushing into a war which, splendid as have been the achievements of our troops, and to whatever termination they may lead, can confer no advantage on either party, and has inflicted a deplorable loss on both.

ART.

ART. III.-1. A Vindication of 1 John v. 7. from the Objections of M. Griesbach. The Second Edition, to which are added, a Preface in Reply to the Quarterly Review, and a Postscript in Answer to a recent Publication entitled Palæoromaica. By Thomas Burgess, D.D. F.R.S. F.A.S. and F.R.S.L. Bishop of St. David's.

2. A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of St. David's, on a Passage of the Second Symbolum Antiochenum of the Fourth Century, as an Evidence of the Authenticity of 1 John v. 7. By the Bishop of St. David's.*

1825.

3. Three Letters addressed to the Editor of the Quarterly Review, in which is demonstrated the Genuineness of the Three Heavenly Witnesses, 1 John v. 7. By Ben David. 1825. WE wish to inform our readers, in the outset of this Article,

that the greater part of it was written a considerable time ago; and has lain by us unpublished, from a reluctance to persevere in controversy with a prelate of our own church. The Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of St. David's,' and the Three Letters to the Editor of the Quarterly Review,' having very recently fallen into our hands, the subject on which they treat has again engaged our serious attention. We have, in consequence, once more determined to avow our sentiments on the matter in debate, and this we shall do fully and finally. Our hope is, that what we have now stated, as well as the great importance of the subject, will be accepted as an apology for the extent of our ob

servations.

'There cannot be better service done to the truth, than to purge it of things spurious; and therefore, knowing your prudence and calmness of temper, I am confident I shall not offend you by telling you my mind plainly: especially since it is no article of faith, no point of discipline, nothing but a criticism concerning a text of Scripture, which I am going to write about.'Such was the dignified language in which Sir Isaac Newton addressed his friend, when sending him a treatise, On the Testimony of the Three in Heaven.' We earnestly request that the Bishop of St. David's will do us the honour to accept this sentence, from the pen of our great philosopher, as an indication of the disposition of mind in which we would endeavour to state the result of our inquiries into the same subject. Something, we fear, like

We have to congratulate Bishop Burgess, and the public, ou his lordship's translation to the see of Salisbury. These works, however, having been published, and almost the whole of this article written, previous to his translation, we have retained the title of the Bishop of St. David's, in preference to that of the Bishop of Salisbury. a feeling

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