Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/87

 mese had the discretion to retire. The Governor-General had expressed his willingness to appoint Commissioners to determine the question of ownership; an offer which was only interpreted at Amarápura as a proof of conscious weakness. Lord Amherst, however, who was still painfully anxious not to be led astray like his predecessor, and to abide by the pacific instructions of the Directors, was careful to keep the door of reconciliation open. Even in the Declaration of War he 'retained an unfeigned desire to avail himself of any proper opening which may arise for an accommodation of differences with the king of Ava.' But he made 'the tender of an adequate apology, and the assurance of such terms as are indispensable to the future security and tranquillity of the Eastern frontier' a condition. As well might Jack the Giant Killer have sent up a conciliatory message when he knocked at the door of the Giant's Castle. The Viceroy of Pegu, who had acted previously as the mouthpiece of the Court, replied. He claimed Dacca and Chittagong for his master; asserted that Sháhpuri was indisputably Burmese, and graciously recommended the presumptuous person at Calcutta to say whatever he had to say by way of petition to Maha Bandúla.

The die was cast. The Company was at war again, and the operations promised to be of a more than usually expensive kind. Lord Amherst—still new to the ways of administration—had to face the responsibilities of conducting a peculiarly difficult campaign.