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    facility and protection . But what is this care and activity in the Consular department save a part , and a very small part , of the energy which combines close attention to details with the most prompt and resolute conduct of the general administration of the foreign affairs ; and to whom is that character of administration to be imputed

    if not to " Mr . Pierce" himself ? In short , it is by his boldness , foresight , and national feeling , that Franklin Pierce has identified his own name with that of his glorious country , insomuch that at this moment he , as well as the republic , is the object of the fear and machinations of the servants of absolutism , from the Danube to the

    Neva , from the Black Sea to the Atlantic . The Times might almost have complained that the second speech of the President was based on only one idea ; it may be said to have been , from beginning to end , a strain of generous compliment to England , and of aspiration for the cordial union of the two countries . _ The attempted disparagement of the Times does not express the English feeling . TJiat is shown by the cheers of the South Shields seamen , when they resolved that Americans should lish

    be considered the same as Eng seamen . In society the strongest annoyance and sur-. prise has been felt and expressed at the first article in the Times , and perplexity to divine the motive of a composition _ that could serve no purpose except to disgust Americans with England , and to divide from us that ally which is the great counterpoise of Russia . The second article , complimentary to the republic , probably marks a sense * hat English feeling had been outraged , and that to reconcile the readers to the journal , it was necessary for the journal to set ' itself right with the republic .

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    COBDEN ON THE RANGOON . The Judge who said that he never felt any difficulty in deciding a case until he heard the other side , would have delighted in Mr . Cobden as leading counsel ; especially , if , as in the _ case of his new pamphlet , professing to give an account of the way in which the Burmese war was got up , the other party were kept out of court . The Burmese war is one of the most cumbrous and costly follies into which subordinate officers ever dragged this country , even in India ; and the case on that head is clear enough . Certain British dealers were subjected in Rangoon to every species of oppression and extortion—imprisoned and fined on the most ridiculous pretences—such as that of ill-using men at sea , those men being themselves of a piratical genus ; of disobeying local regulations ; or even of having unfaithful wives ! If a " British subject" could be got to trump up the story , so much the better ; and the Lascars , Coolies , or mongrel Mongols that frequented that port well knew where a charge might be welcomed for the sake of the fine . These practices were long a nuisance , and

    Lord Dalhousie at last interfered ; but instead of Bending a force to break the heads of a few officials and soldiers , and seize property enough to compensate the aggrieved Englishmen , ho sent an expedition with instructions to use no " hostilities ; " but to prefer a pompous claim for redress . Thus instructed , but reading his instructions by the light of tho binnacle , with a sense that your steering must depend partly on wind and tide , Commodore Lambert paid little heed to the landsman ' s chart . Ho first became

    entangled in Chinoso-liko " negotiations , " in which tho invisible Governor was ever promising redress , but nevor giving it ; and then , in a fit of spleen ho began thoso forbidden " hostilities " which dragged us into a war and the occupation of a territory that tho King of tho Golden Foot will neither defend resolutely , nor surrender formally . All this is very-foolish , and very wrong , and very mischievous ; and it did not need Mr . Cobdon ' a pamphlofc to mako us . think

    8 O . But , indeed , when wo look into that notablo production , wo aro struck with tho skill that an able ono-siclod man may have in damaging a oaso by lopsided arguments and " proofs . " To Mr . Cobdon all that is Burmeso is venial , fairspoken , bond jido , and commendable . Tho English grievances aro no grievances . Tho clamagOB claimed by tho sea captains whoso injury caused tho intervention woro pared down by one-half—a common fato with damages ; yot 3 M . V . Cobden insinuates thut thoro was no caso .

    A man who had some mineral of alchemic virtues , and who refused to give it to the Governor , was charged with theft and flogged so that he died . Another was fined 150 Z . for the alleged faithlessness of his wife . A third was fined 100 ? . for an irregularity committed by his men in digging for some buried money ; he haying detected and

    reported the offenders . Mr . Cobden calls this an " absurd list of grievances ; " evidently confounding the grounds of the original charge with the result , and slighting the tragedy on account of the farce with which it began ; or on account of the Burman authorities being against the list . [ For , throughout , he receives almost without question the Burman statements .

    No doubt such grievances should be " received with caution , " but Mr . Cobden receives them with disbelief : and the same affectionate partiality haunts him , even in discussing perfectly authenticated statements . The Governor of Rangoon is told that a deputation from Commodore Lambert is coming to wait upon him ; whereupon he straightway goes "to sleep ! " Quite naturally , says Mr . Cobden . The ceremonious ideas of the natives rendered it an important question how to receive persons of rank , especially on horseback ,

    or on an elephant ; and so the Governor , to avoid that embarrassment , went to sleep—the custom of the country at the hour improperly selected for the visit ; and to say that he was slumbering was equivalent to the English courteous evasion of saying " not at home" to an unwelcome visitor . That the Governor should tell a white lie rather enhances him in Mr . Cobden's view ; but that the English officers should " ride into the Governor ' s compound " ' ( courtyard ) shocks his sense of decorum ; which is thoroughly naturalised to the Burmese , standard . The Governor reported

    to his Majesty that " the British officers were drunk ; " a charge which Mr . Cobden passes by " as unworthy of notice ; " but " they had no right , being subordinate in rank , to a formal reception ; " he blames them for want of " tact and temper , " and , finally , warming with his subject , he finds an excuse for the aspersion : " What should we think of an American deputation which required us to dispense with our Lord-Chamberlains , Gold-sticks , and beef-eaters , and to receive them after the simple fashion of the White House at Washington ? Might we not probably doubt

    if they were sober ? " Captain Eishbourne had the choice of standing in the sun , or in a shed allotted to common people , and the Anglo-Burmese pamphleteer is amused that this can be made a grievance . This is evidence of his thoroughly Burmanized view : being " subordinate in rank , " why should the outside barbarians object to standing with honest Burmese ; and as to sun , what is it to stand a quarter of an hour in its glare P Nothing to a Burman , when he is used to it , or compelled ; and evidently the goldenfooted Cobden cannot perceive the hardship .

    But in vengeance for thoso insults , the British seized " tho yellow ship , " belonging to the King of Ava , and blockaded his ports ; and whon the Burmese attempted to impede the removal of tho vessel , four days later , the British squadron retaliated , doing " great execution" among tho 3000 of tho resisting force . At this Mr . Cobden is thoroughly outraged . Tho Burmese resisted , but they did so in fear of their heads , should they let a king ' s ship be towed off ; a lino of argument which implies that at Waterloo , for oxamplo , notwithstanding tho British fire , Napoleon ought to have withhold a return , bocauso if our men had not done their duty , most assuredly

    they would have boon brought to court-martial , and probably shot . Tho Burmeso Jired upon us , which was venial ; moreover , they killed nobody ; but whon wo returned tho firo , Mr . Cobdon says , that " in tho eyes of God , " every life sacrificed must bo regarded as " a case of murder . " To bo bad soldiers rodeoma what thoro was of questionable right in tho Burmese hostility , but to do effective execution is a crime . This is the Peace version of tho complaint , libollously and unjustly ascribed in ridicule to tho Neapolitan soldiers , that " the French soldiers firodwith real bullots ,

    and actually killed ! Mr . Cobdon would agrco with tho Neapolitans , quite seriously . JIo harps much upon tho supposed American parallel , bul ; it does not apply . Tho United States aro a civili / od and powerful people , ablo to command respect ; the Burmese are a rude , barbarous pooplo , who have no right to tho roBpect which must bo bIiowii to tho Americans . It is a part of civilized politics to estimate rolativo

    powers , and to come to a conclusion upon the estimate without the trouble or cost of using those powers ; but the Burmese have not attained that point , and force must be used against them in its raw state . But let us Tetort the . American parallel . Suppose great complaints at Washington of injury on American fishers about the Bay of Fundy , Mr . Cobden being Governor of New Brunswick . A Commodore Wilkes is sent out with a squadron to ask restitution , and a semi-official goes before to tell Governor Cobden that the Commodore is

    coming . " I would rather transact all the business through you , " says the governor to the messenger . " Impossible , " replies the messenger ; " Governments like those of America do not dispose of these matters by verbal messages ; besides , the Commodore is on his way . " Now , Cobden is perplexed how to receive the Commodore . Shall he wear a shooting-jacket or a civil uniform ? If he wear a uniform , it will be , perhaps , too profound a reverence to Wilkes , especially as Cobden does not know his standing in the American navy . If he wear a

    shootingjacket it may be an unpoliteness , and these questions are the essentials of international relations ; the fishermen being low people , whose complaints are always absurd . But Governor Cobden hits upon a bright expedient : when Wilkes comes , he is kept in the court of Government-house , and told that Cobden is " Not at home . " " Not at home ! " cries Wilkes , enraged ; " well , then , show me into a room , and I will wait for him . " "No ; Cobden is a great man , and you cannot enter his parlour without leave ; these ceremonies must be considered . " " Well , " cries Wilkes ,

    with an eye to practical considerations , " it is awfully cold , this early winter day , and it sleets cats arid dogs ; you don't mean to keep me a quarter-of-an-hour in the sleet ? " - " Oh ! no . You see those poor people in that shed ; you may stand up there . Wilkes , however , thinks a * wet ' skin not so bad as compromised dignity , so ho waits a quarter-of-an-hour , goes away in a rage , and seizes an English ship . " Good gracious !" writes Cobden to his Sovereign : " what could he take offence at P I only sent out word that I was not at home—the custom of the country , you know . He positively complains that I kept him sort

    a quarter-of-an-hour in the rain : a pretty of complaint for a man ! But tho fellow was drunk ; and having , like a thief , taken your Majesty ' s property , he had the brutality to kill some of your unoffending pooplo who made a show of resisting . However , there is no fear that the Americans will go to war with us on these frivolous pretexts ; they must be satisfied now . But if they should , do not be under any fear , for I can make speeches at them till they are tired out . " Mr . James Buchanan is coming to England , and we have no doubt that if Mr . Cobden asits tho question , that excellent authority can tell him whether or not Commodore Wilkes would contentedly wait a quarter-of-anhour in wind and rain , while Mr . Cobden was

    being " Not at home . " As Mr . Cobden totally objects to the Lambert mode of treating Burmese , wo may infer tho course which he would pursue . Had ho been tho Commissioner in lieu of tho Commodore , ho would , of course , have treated tho complaints of British subjects as they deserved . Ho would have received tho Burmese excuses in allgoodfaith , and , of course , ho would not have neglected ceroniony . Quito alivo to tho customs of tho country , ho would not have gone in tho middle of tho day ,

    but perhaps at nine o ' clock in the morning - ; ho would not have riddon into the governor's compound , either on a horso or an elephant ; for thoro is a time for all things , and every true Burmeso knows when to put an elephant between his legs , and whon not to do so . Having won his way into tho governor ' s presence on some appropriate animal , ho would perform tho Burwhich is not to bo

    mese equivalent ; of thoko-tou , confounded with , to &ulon , ~ o . thing not in Mr . Cobdcn ' s province . Tho Burmese , however , do not , like tho Chinese , knock their foreheads against tho floor , and Mr . Cobdon , of course , would know bettor than to put such an aflront upon tho Burmeso governor . Wo aro not so vorsod in tho ceremony iw ho is , but , probably , some honourable member will ask him , whether

    tho fitting observnnco is not to stand upon one leg with the arms stretched out liko tho wings of a soa gull , and three times to touch the outer corner of tho loft eye with tho little too of the right

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    wtmi ^^ s ^ mmm ^^ m ^ ,.,,,,.-,,-r .,, ; ,..., „ . _ , .:.,,.,... .,,..- ., „ ,,.,..., ^ . ^ . i . .,.,-...,,..,,..,..........., , „„ , .,., August 6 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 757

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1853, page 757, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1998/page/13/