“Mrs. Crowe has a clearness and plain force of style, and a power in giving reality to a scene, by accumulating a number of minute details, that reminds us forcibly of Defoe.”—_Aberdeen Banner._ MRS. GORE’S WORKS. In fcap. 8vo, price Eighteenpence each, boards, or in cloth, 2_s._ HEIR OF SELWOOD (The). DOWAGER (The). PIN MONEY. SELF; or, the Narrow, Narrow World. MONEY LENDER (The). “Mrs. Gore is one of the most popular writers of the day; her works are all pictures of existing life and manners.” * * * * * * BURMAH AND THE BURMESE. In Two Books. by KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE, Editor of “Lepsius’s Discoveries in Egypt and Ethiopia.” London: George Routledge and Co., Farringdon Street. 1853. PREFACE. In offering the following historical and social account of Burmese policy and importance, it may be permitted me to make a few remarks on the subject of the war now proceeding in that country. Unfortunate as any war always is, and must be, yet in contending with an unprincipled and tyrannical government like that of Burmah, there is a grain of satisfaction in knowing that we thereby shake the despotic thrones of the East, and thus add something to the cause of liberty and peace. Such, too, is the only advantage of a contention with the king of Ava. If we cannot humanize by fair means,—of course, under fair means I do not intend to comprehend many of the so-called missionary labours, which cause more harm in a short while than all diplomatic fiddling will do in the course of years,—we must, _vi et armis_, carry civilisation into the country, and openly defy the custom-house of tyranny. The two courses to be adopted with respect to Burmah seem to be these;—the one is to erect the Pegu province into a kingdom; the other, to annex the country ourselves, placing it under Anglo-Indian rule; and I cannot help believing that any fair investigation of the subject will produce the above conviction; but time and the diplomatists must decide on the precise course. For the cause of religious truth and civil liberty, it is to be hoped that the missionary system at present pursued may be altered; for the sake of peace, it is to be hoped that the utmost caution will be pursued in framing laws for these countries, which must at last, in some way, become allies or tributaries of the imperial crown of Great Britain.