day. 2nd. That on my return home, I would accept of a military safeguard from outside as far as the limits of Bencoolen. 3rd. That I would immediately with draw the British colours hoisted on the Sultan's palace.-Shortly after sunset in the evening, a number of the natives, who were in the palace with us, informed me of the circumstance of an armed party having surrounded the same, and prevented further ingress or egress; and they were represented to be the partisans of the ex-Sultan and Rajah Ahbib, of Siak. I immediately directed inquiry to be made at the outer gate by whose orders they were placed there; to which they replied, Mr. Muntinghe's, and that they would oppose any one that attempted to pass them. I then wrote to Mr. Muntinghe on the subject, and was informed, in reply, that not having acceded to the abovementioned requisitions, he was called upon to take these measures to maintain the rights of his majesty the king of the Netherlands; and that, in addition to the former requisitions, he now added that of demanding our arms and ammunition, and putting myself and suite under the safeguard of the Netherlands government, or it would become unavoidable to repel, what he was pleased to term our hostile measures; to which, of course, I refused to comply. I soon afterwards received another letter from Mr. Muntinghe, principally on political points, to which it was unnecessary for me to reply, and concluded upon insisting upon his first offer. In answer I

referred him to my former letter. At half-past three A. M. on the 5th, I was awoke, and found that three officers with an armed party were come to the palace, and, upon their entrance, they presented a letter from Mr. Muntinghe to surrender myself and suite. I objected to deliver over the arms, but told the officers that I would parade the Bugguesses, and if they thought proper, they might take them, which they did, when an armed force of Europeans were brought in front, and we were immediately escorted to the water-side by an armed party of Europeans and natives, and conveyed over here. The side arms of myself and Bugguesse officers were left us.-My political functions being at an end, I have written a private letter to lieutenant Haslain, recommending him to return with the escort to Moarro Bulliti to wait your further orders, and beg to inform you that I consider it as impossible for them to land here, or even to proceed down the river, if opposed, which it is most probable they would be by the vessels of war of his majesty the king of the Netherlands now at anchor off the fort."

Capt. Salmond having ascertained that the Sultan had in no way committed himself to the Netherlands government by any legal act, the following are the articles of the treaty entered into on the 4th July, 1818:

"This is a solemn treaty this day entered into between his highness Ratoo Achmed Najemudin, Sultan of Palembang, on the one side, and captain Francis

Salmond,

Salmond, as the representative of the hon. sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, lieut. governor of Fort Marlbro', on the other:-1. His highness being desirous of the protection of the British government, and of excluding all other European nations from his dominions, the lieut. governor of Fort Marlborough hereby agrees to furnish such military establishment as shall be adequate. 2. The Sultan, on his part, agrees to reeeive the said military establishment, and to provide for the expenses thereof. Signed, sealed, and delivered, in duplicate, at Palembang, this 4th day of July, 1818."

It may not be unnecessary to remark, that the first application of the Sultan for the advice and assistance of the lieut. governor of Bencoolen was received on the 17th June; and that on the 21st June his highness was informed that the British government would render him the protection required; that in the interim, and while informed of the preliminaries between Palembang and Bencoolen, the Dutch commissioner commenced his measures of coercion; and that on the 4th of July the engagements between the court of Palembang and the lieutenantgovernor of Bencoolen were confirmed and proclaimed by the hoisting of the British flag on the walls of the fort.-In explanation, it would appear, that on the 24th of June, only ten days previous to the arrival of captain Salmond, and while it was publiely known that a British agent was on his way to Palembang, rafts and provisions having been provided by the Sultan for the

convenience of the party on their way down the river, the unfortunate Sultan was compelled to resign his authority, and to deliver over his palace. On that day the Dutch commissioner stated that he obtained seals and signatures to a treaty, which nominally transferred all authority to the Dutch; but it is not proved in what manner the same was obtained. That they were obtained in an unlawful manner, that is to say, vi et armis, and by intimidation, cannot be denied; and, indeed, the letter from the Sultan above quoted, and the act of his immediately hoisting the British flag, would be sufficient evidence, were not the details which could be produced conclusive on this head. The Sultan is understood to be at this moment a close prisoner; and, not to introduce into this paper any particular which might be construed into a desire to lower the character of these proceedings below a fair standard, it may be sufficient to insert the following extracts from the commissioner's statement, in order that it may be contrasted with the evidence above adduced :

"I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your official letter, dated Fort Marlborough, the 24th of June last. If the information which has reached you with regard to the measures I was pursuing at Palembang, under the authority of the commissioners-general, has been able to raise your surprise and astonishment, it was on the other hand with no less degree of regret and consternation that I was affected on the perusal of your letter, and on being apprised of the further [202]

measures

measures you had determined upon, if you allow me to say, on such a slight foundation.The natives, on whose reports only every information depended that could have reached Fort Marlborough at the date of your dispatches, left Palembang at a period when I myself had not yet arrived at that place, when no overtures of any nature had as yet been made to the court of Palembang, when the military force stationed at Palembang was still far below the usual rate of that garrison, and when of consequence every intelligence sent off with regard to the demands I had to make, and to the military force I should station there, could only be conjectural and premature, and naturally would be exaggerated and erroneous. So they have in fact proved to be. The military force even now collected at Palembang falls short of what a usual garrison ought to be, and does certainly not exceed the limits of a mere protection to a settlement where not a single entrenchment nor place of safety is to be found. If, therefore, the usual means of self-preservation have been able to raise the apprehensions and anxiety of a pusillanimous court, it is a mere accident, not to be imputed either to me or to the higher powers under whose authority I was acting.-Nor did my instructions say to use threats or military force against any of the Sultans. It was not these warlike means that were depended upon for the success of my mission. A hope for this success was raised on a better foundation: on the natural force of truth in con

vincing the Sultan Naya Moedin of his wrongs, and of the acts of hostility which he had committed, or allowed to be committed, by his subjects, as well on our own territories as on those of our allies, and on the irresistible influence which the principles of a liberal and humane administration would have on the hearts of all the people of Palembang, as soon as they were tendered to them, in lieu of that state of bondage and oppression to which they had been degraded by the unwarrantable conduct of their Sultan, Naya Moedin, and his adherents. And, instead of threats snd warlike force, I have the greatest satisfaction to acquaint you, that it was by mere peaceful and persuasive means, not only without drawing a sword or firing a shot, but without a single affray, without any individual being hurt, or even restrained or curtailed in his personal rights or liberty, that I was fortunate enough to establish a new state of affairs in this country, and to obtain the free assent of both the reigning and the exSultan to arrangements which, according to my own view of the subject, and under the orders under which I acted, most certainly I had a right to make; and from the operations of which, it may be expected, that the whole population of Palembang, from the very low state of want and oppression to which they have been reduced, will make a rapid stretch towards the enjoyment of ease and plenty, and of all those rights and comforts which are dependant on a state of personal security and civilization. It was by the warlike rumours of your mi

litary detachments descending from the mountains that my messengers were stopped on their way, going up to the poor inha bitants of the country, to announce to them the abolition of their Tiban and Tookon, of every kind of forced labour and delivery of produce, and, above all, of the abominable custom of enslaving, not only individuals, but whole families and generations of them, for the trifling amount of a civil debt.-But how could it be the fate of these humane principles, to be stopped in their course by a friend to humanity, by excellence? how could the patron of these principles rise up in opposition to the accomplishment of his own system, and the lieut.governor of Fort Marlborough oppose, what it was, and ever will be, the glory of the late lieut.governor of Java to have first proclaimed?-I am sensible, hon. Sir, you would want here to put a stop to my argument; you would remind me that it is on a right by contract that you found your claims, and, pointing to the final clause of the treaty you allude to, propose your system, that the Sultan of Palembang was an independant prince, under the protection of the British government, where former rights were to be left untouched, even should humanity suffer by it.-As it seems that on these points a difference of opinion has existed between the commissioners-general and the late British authorities on the island of Java, it perhaps might be my duty to withhold from entering on the subject: and confining myself to the orders under which I am bound to

act, I refer you for explanations to the higher authorities at Java; but considering the decisive measures you have already entered upon, and the circuitous way by which any explanation could reach you from Java, I will take it upon myself to enter into some explanation, though always with due deference, and save the different view my superiors might take of the subject * *

On the tone in which the Netherlands government are determined to maintain their system, some idea may be formed by the following additional extract from the letter of the commissioner at Palembang :

"Of the facts constituting such a breach of faith (on the part of the Sultan) they, the Netherlands. government, are naturally, as an independent power, the sole judge in these quarters of the earth; and it would be highly improper to enter into any justification of them but before their higher authorities at home, who have a right to call for it, and to whom a reference lies open on the sub. ject."

On the act of publicly arresting the person of the British representative, after that officer was publicly accredited and recognised in that capacity by the Dutch commissioner, and while he was sleeping under the protection of the British flag, hoisted by an independent prince in alliance with Great Britain, there can be but one opinion; but so little is an act of the kind now thought of by the Dutch authorities, that the commissioner, though voluminous in his correspondence on other points, does

not

not even condescend to offer an explanation, much less an apology, on this. Whatever measures might have been found necessary for the support of the authority that thus had so unjustifiably been wrested from the hands of an unfortunate prince, under the immediate protection of the British government, it is to be regretted that nothing less than open insult, and the degradation of the British character in the eyes of the natives, and this on a spot where British valour had recently been so conspicuous, and where the Dutch gratitude was so imperiously called for, would have been resorted to.

Justly indignant at conduct so unjustifiable on the part of the representative of a nation at peace and friendship with Great Britain, and desirous to check the progress of a system of which it is to be feared this will not be found a solitary instance, I do hereby most solemnly and publicly protest-First, Against the whole of the proceedings of the Netherlands government at Palembang, as unjustifiable, and in direct violation of the rights and treaties which it is incumbent on them to respect; by which proceedings, not only the character of the British government is seriously involved, but its proceedings with regard to Banca rendered questionable. Secondly, I protest against the general proceedings of the Netherlands government, in disregarding the solemn protests made by the British authorities before they quitted Java, and do declare null and void all arrangements, not provisional in their nature, which may have been

made in defiance of those pro tests.-Thirdly, I further protest against any military force being sent by the Netherlands government to any place within the Archipelago, with which the English are in alliance and carry on trade, in which the Dutch flag did not actually fly on the first of Jan. 1803, with the exception of such as may have been in the charge of the British government at that date, and which may be regularly transferred.Lastly, and in the strongest manner, I protest and appeal against the insult offered to the representative of the British government, in the arrest of the person of captain Salmon, the British agent at Palembang, holding the representatives of the Netherlands government in these seas responsible for all the acts of aggression and insult connected therewith, and which will hereafter be made known in another place, unless prompt and adequate satisfaction is given.

In conclusion, I deem it necessary to state, that the object of this protest is not directed against the minor measures of their excellencies the commissioners-gen., nor of the commissioner at Palembang, nor is it intended to affect the personal good understanding and harmony which happily prevails. I have reason to respect and esteem them. It is against the political system which, as representatives of the Netherlands government, they have felt it their duty to adopt, that I protest; a system by which the interest of the Netherlands government appear to be exclusively considered, without the least re

ference