In the annexation of
Pegu--should it be forced upon your Lordship--there would be nothing
revolting to the feelings of its people or to those of the people of
England; on the contrary, both would be satisfied, after the
disposition the people of Pegu have manifested towards us, that the
measure was alike necessary to their security and to the honour and
interest of our Government.
Nor do I think that there would be any ground to apprehend that the
resources of the territory taken would not, after a time, be
sufficient to defray the costs of the establishments required to
retain and govern it. Among the people of Pegu we should find men
able and willing to serve us faithfully and efficiently in both our
civil and military establishments, and the drain for the maintenance
of foreigners would not be large. I have heard the mental and
physical powers of the men of Pegu spoken of in the highest terms by
persons who have spent the greater part of their lives among them;
and a country which produces such men cannot be generally
insalubrious. This early demonstration has enabled your Lordship to
ascertain and expose the determination of the Government of Ava not
to grant the redress justly demanded for wrongs suffered, so as to
enlist on our side the sympathy of all civilized nations, and at the
same time to discover the real weakness of the enemy and the
facilities offered to us, in their fine rivers, for the use of our
strong arm--the steam navy.
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