his time the Burmese had no reasonable cause for complaint. Nevertheless, such was their eagerness to avenge themselves on what they considered their wrongs, that they fulminated a declaration of war against the Supreme Government in 1818, when the Maráthá crisis had reached a climax; but they miscalculated their power, for before they could move, their allies had been subdued and they themselves had been defeated by the Siamese. The Governor-General accordingly put an end summarily to their arrogant pretension to destroy the British Empire in India, and 'evaded the necessity of noticing an insolent step' by treating the hostile message as a forgery[1].
It may be interesting to remark that Ceylon about this time (1818-19) was finally subjugated, and the whole island, with the assistance of Indian troops, placed under the British authority.
During Lord Minto's administration in India, the settlements in Java were conquered by an expedition from Bengal, but they were shortly afterwards (1814) restored to the Dutch, so unconditionally, that no provision was made to maintain the treaties which had been contracted with the native powers for the benefit of British trade. The Dutch immediately attempted to exclude all foreign competition in the archipelago, and had it not been for the activity of Sir Thomas Raffles (Governor of a small colony in Sumatra), their efforts would probably have been successful.
- ↑ Malcolm's History of India, i. 549, &c.; Private Journal, ii. 341; Summary, &c, p. 18.
