{"id":112800,"date":"2021-03-18T18:11:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T01:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112800"},"modified":"2021-03-18T18:11:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T01:11:45","slug":"an-american-journal-1851-highlights-massacres-of-the-sinhalese-and-horrors-perpetrated-in-1848-under-the-administration-of-lord-torrington-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/18\/an-american-journal-1851-highlights-massacres-of-the-sinhalese-and-horrors-perpetrated-in-1848-under-the-administration-of-lord-torrington-2\/","title":{"rendered":"An American Journal (1851) highlights massacres of the Sinhalese and horrors perpetrated in 1848 under the administration of Lord Torrington"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States Magazine and Democratic Review (May 1851)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

In 1851, An American Journal \n(The United States Magazine and Democratic Review), at a time (1851) when they\nI.e. USA, did not have imperial ambitions that dovetailed with that of British\nimperialism, highlighted and exposed the genocidal crimes committed on\nthe Sinhalese people in British occupied Ceylon, under the administration\nof the then Governor Lord Torrington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the concluding phase of\nthe Journal article having the caption \u2018 The English in Ceylon\u201d ( May 1851<\/strong>)\n, the author of the article says as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201d The history of Lord\nTorringtons administration in Ceylon affords an epitome of English rule,\nwherever throughout the world, by force, or fraud, or violence, she has\nsucceeded in planting her guilty flag. The horrors perpetrated during 1848 in\nthe island-gem of the East, are the counterpart of those of which, from time to\ntime, during a period of seven centuries, the green isle of the West has been\nthe victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have reproduced this Ceylon\ntragedy, because it contains a moral upon which it behooves the Democracy of\nAmerica, at the present moment, seriously to reflect. The flag which sanctioned\nthe massacres of the Cingalese, and has witnessed the devastation of Celtic\nIreland; the flag which, usurping every advantageous commercial and political\nposition throughout the globe, has been the harbinger everywhere of desolation\nand death this flag, which in two wars, our fathers levelled in the dust, now\nflaunts us in the face on the southern portion of this our continent ;\nout-spreads its crimson folds over republican soil, insulting our manhood,\nblighting our commercial prospects, and dimming the lustre of the stars and\nstripes. Shall Central America share the fate of Ceylon ? Shall our sister\nRepublics on this continent, whose independence, hy every principle of honor,\nof interest, and of duty, we are bound to protect, be consigned to the tender\nmercies of a Torrington ? Shall the island of Ruatan become the Ceylon of the\nWestern Hemisphere, and the Isthmus of Central America be made, on a smaller\nscale, a second Hindostan ? We submit these questions, in all earnestness, to\nthe consideration of the Democracy of America, confident that they will be\nanswered in a manner worthy of those, whose pride it is, that they inherit the\nprinciples of a Jefferson, a Madison, a Monroe, a Jackson and a Polk\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The United States\nMagazine and Democratic Review (May 1851)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Article below<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The English in Ceylon.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

May 1851.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/books.lakdiva.org\/moa\/cornell\/1851_english_in_ceylon.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRITISH policy, or that system\nwhich the British Government has for ages systematically pursued, and by which\nit has acquired its vast colonial empire, is hut very imperfectly understood by\nthe mass of the American people. Deriving our knowledge of English affairs, for\nthe most part, from English sources, we are too apt to he dazzled by the\ncontemplation of an empire upon which the sun never sets, and to ascribe to\nDivine destiny, that which, in reality, is the result of a system<\/em>,\nmore fiendish, and more detestable, because more extending and more extended in\nits operation, than that of Machiavelli. The conquests of old Rome were\nattended, at least, with glory; and, in modern times, those of our own country\nwere laden with fruits, not alone of glory and renown to the conquerors, but\nbetter far, of freedom, of happiness, and of civilization to the conquered.\nEngland alone, of all the nations, ancient or modern, is the only one whose\nsword, while entwined with wreaths of cypress for the vanquished, has failed to\nreap one pure laurel to deck the victor\u2019s brow. Survey her colonial empire ;\nglance your eye athwart those boundless plains made fruitful by the young\nembraces of the god of day and point, if you can, to one rood of territory,\nwhose acquisition was not conceived in selfishness and iniquity, and\nconsummated in treachery, in perfidy and fraud. As the subject, however, of\nEngland\u2019s colonial empire is one which could not properly be treated within the\nlimits of a review article, we shall confine ourselves, for the present, to a\ncondensed expose<\/em> of certain occurrences of which the island of\nCeylon has recently been the theatre and which have startled the propriety even\nof that most fastidious assembly, the British House of Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Placed at the western entrance\nof the Bay of Bengal, Ceylon is separated by a narrow strait from the mainland\nof Hindostan. In size, it is nearly as large as Ireland; and it possesses a\npopulation of about a million and a half of souls, made up of various tribes of\nnative Cingalese, Malabars, Mahometans, Coolies, Dutch and English, and their\nmongrel descendants. Once the abode of civilization, as is evidenced by the\nruins of ancient cities, canals, bridges, aqueducts, &c., in which the\ninterior of the island abounds, its geographical position, and natural\nadvantages of soil and climate, should make of Ceylon, in our day, the chief\nmart of Eastern commerce. That it does not occupy this position, can only be\nattributed to that system, as short-sighted as vicious, by which the island has,\nfor half a century, been governed, for the immediate profit of the mother\ncountry. In 1796, Ceylon was taken possession of by the English, and the Dutch\nexpelled from its shores. From that period, down to so late as 1819, the native\nchiefs boldly resisted the usurped authority of the invaders, and were finally\nreduced to subjection only after a desperate struggle, and by such agencies as\nEngland alone is skilled to employ for the accomplishment of her darling\nobjects. Since 1819, the government of the colony has been administered by a\nGovernor, appointed by the Colonial Secretary, for the time being, at home,\nassisted by a council composed entirely of European civil and military\nservants, who are described by MeCulloch as being, from their tenure of office,\ntotally subservient to the will of the Governor. The religion of the island is\nthat of Buddha, as established by the following clause of the treaty of the 2nd\nof March, 1815, between the British government and the native chiefs The\nreligion of Buddha, professed by the chiefs and inhabitants of these provinces,\nis declared inviolable; and its rites, ministers and places of worship, are to\nbe maintained and protected. The period embraced between the years 1819 and\n1846, was not remarkable for any extraordinary occurrences in Ceylon; suffice\nit to say, that the history of the island during this interval, is made up of\npatient suffering and distress on the part of the natives, and of heartless\ntyranny and exaction on the part of their foreign rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1846. Lord Torrington was\nappointed by Earl Grey, Whig Colonial Secretary,to the lucrative office of\nGovernor of Ceylon. Arrived at the seat of government, his lordship is\nsurprised to find the financial affairs of the colony in an embarrassed\ncondition; and, accordingly, in virtue of the wide discretionary powers vested\nin him, proceeds to meet the difficulty off-hand by the imposition of severe\nnew taxes of his own invention. These taxes, though decidedly original<\/em> in\ntheir way, were yet of that character, that any one at all acquainted with the\ncolony might have foreseen that they could never by any possibility be\ncollected. The most obnoxious of them were, a road-tax, a shop-tax, a gun-tax,\nand a dog-tax. The first ordained, that every male resident in the island,\nbetween the ages of fifteen and fifty-five, should either labor for six days in\neach year on the public roads, or pay three shillings sterling, in lieu of such\npersonal service. The second enacted, that every occupant of a shop, the rental\nof which amounted to \u00a3 5, should take out a yearly license on a \u00a3 1 stamp. The\nthird directed, that on a certain day in each year, the Cingalese should repair\nto the chief towns, armed, and apply for licenses for their fire-arms, at a\ncost of 2s. 6d. for each gun. The fourth, imposed a tax of ir. on every dog\nkept in the island, and sentenced to death all puppies above three months old\nwhose proprietors could not produce the protecting shilling. Now, it is\nnecessary to understand that in Ceylon, as in all countries subject to the\nBritish flag, the bulk of the population are extremely poor; hence, the payment\nof these taxes was to them an impossibility. Those, moreover, upon dogs and\nguns, were imposed upon what were to them absolute necessaries of life.\nBesides, the road-tax was a direct outrage upon that religion which, as we have\nshown above, the English had bound themselves by treaty to protect<\/em>,\nsince the native priests are restricted by it, both from labor and from\ntouching money. The promulgation of the decree announcing these new taxes\nnaturally created great excitement throughout the island. Petitions, memorials,\nremonstrances, from all classes of the inhabitants, were laid before the\nGovernor. They were disregarded. By any<\/em> means, Lord Torrington was\nresolved to carry out his object. The assembling of the people in large masses\nwas encouraged by the government agents, in the hopes that a collision between\nthem and the British troops would occur. It did occur. A British soldier is\nslightly wounded, whether by any of the native inhabitants or not, does not\nappear from the evidence taken before the Parliamentary Committee, which is the\nonly authority which we shall quote. But the collision, so anxiously sought for\nby Lord Torrington, had taken place; and martial law is at once proclaimed.\nProclamations are issued, confiscating the lands and properties of all those\nwho, terrified at the atrocities they had before seen committed under martial\nlaw, had fled into the jungles. Courts martial, composed of subaltern officers,\nignorant of the language of the country, tried, convicted, sentenced, and put\nto instant death, hundreds of the innocent inhabitants; and this, not only in\nviolation of all law, human and divine, but in utter contempt of the 7th\narticle of the treaty, to which we have already referred, which stipulates that\nNo sentence of death can be carried into execution against any inhabitant,\nexcept by the written warrant of the British Governor or Lieutenant Governor\nfor the time being. But what cares Lord Torrington for treaties, or for the\nlaws of humanity ? Must he not govern<\/em> ? And what means\ngovernment in the vocabulary of a British aristocrat, but confiscation and\nmurder ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much has been said of the\nmagnanimity of the British soldier. Let the following letters, addressed by the\ncommandant of Kandy, to the presiding officer of one of the courts martial,\nhounding him on in his bloody career, serve as a specimen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n My dear Watson:\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n You are getting on swimmingly.\n Impress on the court that there is no necessity for taking down the evidence\n in detail; so they are satisfied with the guilt or innocence of the\n individual, that is sufficient for them to find and sentence. This\n is the law and the mode.<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Yours, T. A. DROUGHT, Col.\n Commanding.\n <\/td><\/td><\/tr>
\n August 16, 1848.\n <\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

Well were these magnanimous\ninstructions obeyed. For a period of nigh three months, confiscations,\nburnings, massacres, were the order of the day in Ceylon: and this, be it\nremembered, notwithstanding that subsequent to the imposition of martial law,\nnot a single offense was pretended ever to have been committed by the\ninhabitants. Amongst those who suffered during this period, was one whose\nexecution is thus mentioned by Lord Torrington in a dispatch to Earl\nGray___\u201d An influential priest who was convicted of administering treasonable\noaths, was shot at Kandy in full robes<\/em>. This priests trial took\nplace at Kandy, and he was arraigned\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First<\/em>, For\nhaving directly or indirectly held correspondence with rebels, and Cur not\ngiving all the information in his power which might lead to the apprehension of\na proclaimed rebel, Kaddapolla Unanse, professing to know his place of\nconcealment on or about 17th August, 1848. Second<\/em>, For\nadministering, or conniving at the administration<\/em> (!)\nof a treasonable oath to one Kerr Bande, on or about the 17th August, 1848.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On these absurd and\nunintelligible charges the poor Buddhist priest was dragged before a military\ntribunal; tried by military judges, not one of whom understood the language in\nwhich the evidence against him was given; convicted and shot! Several attorneys\nwho were present at the trial; and who did<\/em> understand the language,\nfelt satisfied that the witnesses for the prosecution had perjured themselves\nfor the purpose of currying favor with the Governor, and that the priest was\ninnocent. Under this impression they besought the Governor to postpone the\nexecution. In vain Lord Torringtons answer was By G, sir, if all the lawyers in\nCeylon said that the priest was innocent, he should be shot tomorrow morning.\nAnd shot he was. More, Earl Grey, in answer to Lord Torringtons dispatch\nannouncing the execution, pronounced the death of the Buddhist priest to\nbe highly satisfactory!<\/em> Again, in a subsequent dispatch,\nEarl Grey, in the name of the Queen, complimented Lord Torrington, and declared\nhis complete approval of his decision, promptitude, and judgment. Thus\nsustained by the Home Government, and having triumphed<\/em> over\nthe refractory<\/em> inhabitants of Ceylon, surely Lord\nTorrington must feel proud and happy! But no: after all the massacres,\npillages, burnings and confiscations after he had made a desert, and called it\npeace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Torrington discovered that\nhis severe taxes were inapplicable to the island, and could not be collected.\nThey were accordingly every one repealed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These proceedings had now begun\nto attract popular attention in England, and in the session of 1849, a\nparliamentary committee was appointed to investigate then-i. Upon the evidence\ntaken before that committee, we have based our statements. Their authenticity,\ntherefore, cannot be impeached. And this is England. England of the World\u2019s\nFair, and the Peace Congress ; England of George Thompson, and the Abolition\nSocieties! What matters it, that a few men, Cobden and Bright, and their\nassociates, should denounce these atrocities, and that the London Quarterly\nReview should stigmatise them as a disgrace to the English name they have been\nsanctioned by the British government, and are the consequences of the policy by\nwhich, in its foreign and colonial relations, that government has invariably\nbeen directed. The history of Lord Torringtons administration in Ceylon affords\nan epitome of English rule, wherever throughout the world, by force, or fraud,\nor violence, she has succeeded in planting her guilty flag. The horrors perpetrated\nduring 1848 in the island-gem of the East, are the counterpart of those of\nwhich, from time to time, during a period of seven centuries, the green isle of\nthe West has been the victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have reproduced this Ceylon\ntragedy, because it contains a moral upon which it behooves the Democracy of\nAmerica, at the present moment, seriously to reflect. The flag which sanctioned\nthe massacres of the Cingalese, and has witnessed the devastation of Celtic\nIreland; the flag which, usurping every advantageous commercial and political\nposition throughout the globe, has been the harbinger everywhere of desolation\nand death this flag, which in two wars, our fathers levelled in the dust, now\nflaunts us in the face on the southern portion of this our continent ; out-spreads\nits crimson folds over republican soil, insulting our manhood, blighting our\ncommercial prospects, and dimming the lustre of the stars and stripes. Shall\nCentral America share the fate of Ceylon ? Shall our sister Republics on this\ncontinent, whose independence, hy every principle of honor, of interest, and of\nduty, we are bound to protect, be consigned to the tender mercies of a\nTorrington ? Shall the island of Ruatan become the Ceylon of the Western\nHemisphere, and the Isthmus of Central America be made, on a smaller scale, a\nsecond Hindostan ? We submit these questions, in all earnestness, to the\nconsideration of the Democracy of America, confident that they will be answered\nin a manner worthy of those, xv hose pride it is, that they inherit the principles\nof a Jefferson, a Madison, a Monroe, a Jackson and a Polk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Courtesy:\nThe United States Magazine and Democratic Review (1851)  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The United States Magazine and Democratic Review (May 1851)\u00a0\u00a0 In 1851, An American Journal  (The United States Magazine and Democratic Review), at a time (1851) when they I.e. USA, did not have imperial ambitions that dovetailed with that of British imperialism, highlighted and exposed the genocidal crimes committed on the Sinhalese people in British occupied Ceylon, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crimes","category-politics","category-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}