Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 330, April 1843Various
Science
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 330, April 1843
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
But it is said that such a trophy may give offence to Mahommedans;
and Mr. Mangles tells us, that the Mohommedan population sympathize
strongly with the Affghans, and revere the memory of Mahmoud. If
that be the case, it would have been difficult to bring any trophy
home, or to imprint any mark of the superiority of our arms, without
displeasing this sect. But, in that view, who are the parties
responsible for thus placing our essential interests, and the safety
of India generally, in contrast with the feelings of Mohommedan
subjects? Those certainly who, regardless of all justice, made a
wanton aggression on a Mahommedan power. Those certainly who,
regardless of all prudence, gave occasion to the Affghan massacre
and captivity of British and Indian soldiers; and, by a great
Mahommedan success, kindled a spark which was ready to set the
freemasonry of Islamism on fire "from Morocco to Coromandel." If we
have been placed in a false position, as regards our Mahommedan
subjects, we have to blame the Whigs, whose wanton and unwise
measures created this collision of interests, and not Lord
Ellenborough, who has adopted measures the most natural and the most
humane, to reestablish the ascendancy and the reputation of English
and Indian power.
The proclamation of Simla needs no vindication. It has satisfied
every one but the Whigs, who can never forget and never forgive it.
It is poor pretence to say, that it denounces in an indecorous
manner the errors of the previous governor. It does no such thing.
It speaks, indeed, of errors, but only conscious culpability would
have taken the allusion to itself. There were errors, and grievous
ones. The Whigs themselves must say that; and they have not been
slow to shift to the shoulders of military officers the results that
most people think they should bear themselves. The proclamation of
Lord Ellenborough seems to us to have been framed with a punctilious
desire to reconcile in the eyes of India his own policy with that
which had been avowed by his predecessor, and to ascribe the change
of plans to a change of circumstances, and not of principles. We
speak here of the avowed policy of his predecessor; for Lord Auckland,
at least, pretended that he had no aggressive or hostile views
against the Affghans, and no desire for a permanent occupation of
their country. The real designs of the Whig Government are a
different thing; and with these, as avowed by Lord Palmerston in
Parliament, the intentions of Lord Ellenborough were wholly
irreconcilable.
Let us listen here to one who knows the subject. The Duke of
Wellington tells us the errors that Lord Ellenborough alludes to as
occasioning our military disasters, and he shows us where those
errors lay:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account