Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/168

160 expediency of punishing after fair and legal trial, or of pardoning, and most particularly in cases of mutiny. These men have had a fair trial by a Court-martial composed of Native Officers, and it is but [right?] to allow the Local Government to decide what shall be done with those convicted by legal sentence.

'I say then in answer to your queries Nos. 1 and 2, that not only we ought not to remove Lord Amherst on account of the Mutiny, or for any of the acts preceding that misfortune, or following it; but we ought to do everything in our power to support him in the performance of the duty. Neither is there anything in my opinion in the state of the war which ought to induce the Government to recall Lord Amherst.

'We ought not to have commenced the war without knowing a little more of the enemy he had to contend with; he ought not possibly to have sent Sir Archibald Campbell to Rangoon till he could co-operate with him from other quarters. But even this last opinion might be doubted; as it is certain there has been no alarm in Bengal, since the enemy has found himself under the necessity of detaching troops to oppose Sir A. Campbell. But whether the war was originally right or wrong, or whether the detaching Sir A. Campbell was right or wrong, it is quite clear to me that the Bengal Government are now in the right road, and that nothing but the season will prevent them from putting an end to the war in a very short time.

'It must be observed however that the rains begin in May or June, and that their effects are felt in the country till towards the end of December. I am aware of the power of the Court of Directors to remove the Governor-General. But in my opinion it would be better, both for the public interest and for the honour of individuals concerned, that they should remove him against the will of the Government