Historically Upper Burma is a land of great interest. It was all that remained of the once powerful Burmese empire, which in the early part of this century was strong enough to menace our Indian territory, and extended from Siam, in the south, to the confines of Bengal, in the north, and from China to the Bay of Bengal. Each of the three Burmese wars has arisen in a similar way, and has been marked by the same features on the part of the Burmese Government,—viz., an unwillingness to listen to reason, with much bluster and ignorant self-sufficiency at the outset, and inferior military qualities in the performance,—and each has resulted in the annexation of some part of the kingdom to British territory. Arakan and Tenasserim were acquired by treaty after the first Burmese war in 1824-26; the province of Pegu was occupied and retained, consequent on the second war in 1852-53; this gave us the command of the Irrawaddy, with Rangoon for a seaport; the third and last war, in 1885, took away all that remained of Burmese rule, and the kingdom of Burma became a thing of the past. Much may be said against war in the abstract, and against wars of this description in particular. It would be easy to represent such a war as this, so far away from England, as aggressive and unjustifiable. I am no advocate for war of any kind, and I am not anxious to defend this action of England in conquering and annexing the last remnant of the Burman kingdom. But I can see that a question of this kind is not to be so summarily settled as may appear on the face of it. England long ago embarked in India on a career of empire, prompted rather by the force of circumstances than of set purpose; and now it often seems difficult to decide when to go forward and where to stop. I will not attempt to unravel this tangled skein, but will merely say that, leaving aside the questions of how England came by her vast power and influence in the East, and whether she ought ever to extend it, and if so under what circumstances, it seems to me that ultimately and finally the verdict must turn on the use she makes of this unique position, and what she accomplishes with her unrivalled opportunities in the material, intellectual, social and moral advancement of the many races and nations that she rules or protects. Coming now to the immediate causes of the Burmese war of 1885, the following is the official account of them from the British standpoint:—