Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/171

of mind and a thorough knowledge of the affairs of India. The conduct of the war being referred to him, he declared his entire approbation of the manner in which it had been conducted, especially the attack upon Rangoon, a point on which our enemies were most virulent, and which in fact drew the Burmese from the eastern frontier, which we had not then the means of defending, to Rangoon, the source of all the trade we possessed, the only seaport . . . The Cabinet then refused to be a party to Lord Amherst's recall, which was agitated by the Directors the 22nd of last December, 1825. To this day, December the 31st, 1826. Lord Amherst has not received a line from these gentlemen, notwithstanding all the great and glorious events which have occurred. ... I used to try to console Lord Amherst by saying so long as it pleases God to grant our children and ourselves tolerable health, we must be thankful. That great luminary, truth, must in time bring all things to light; but the heavy and awful visitation of the sudden and very unexpected removal of our beloved Jeff overset us. This death was the bitterest pang I ever felt and shall continue to feel as long as I live.'