there. But the mission had proved abortive, owing to the Dutch having anticipated the move. Deeming that no other positions were then open, the Penang Government had resigned itself to the apparently inevitable supremacy of the Dutch at the eastern end of the Straits a supremacy which would become more marked when the arrangements for the retrocession of Malacca. were carried out. Their fatalistic attitude tended to rouse in Raffles the spirit of energy which had dictated his protest against the abandonment of Malacca in 1811. On his own initiative, he proceeded to Calcutta to represent to the authorities there, in the most forcible way he could, the grave impolicy of permitting the Dutch to squeeze the British out of the eastern end of the Straits. The Marquess of Hastings, the then Governor-General, lent his ear to the strong representations which were made to him by Raffles in favour of immediate action. He was impressed, as he could hardly have failed to be, with the earnestness of his visitor, and his mature judgment told him that there was the fullest cogency in his arguments as to the dangers of drifting. The outcome of the interviews was that history repeated itself—that as Light had been despatched by Sir John Macpherson in 1786 to occupy Penang as a buttress against Dutch exclusiveness, so Raffles now, thirty-two years later, was entrusted by Lord Hastings with a mission having for its object the occupation of another position in order to counteract the monopolistic tendencies of the Hollanders.

The lines of policy which were settled between Lord Hastings and Raffles were that Dutch pretensions in Sumatra should be conceded, and that they should also have the exclusive command of the Straits of Sunda, but that the right should be asserted of free trade

with the Archipelago and China through the Straits of Malacca. To achieve the ends aimed at, it was recognised that some post to the southward of Malacca would have to be secured, and in general terms Raffles was empowered to secure this. A commission to act as the Governor-General's agent gave powers to the envoy which were to prove of the highest value in the execution of his plans. Thus once more the official hand was forced by the importunities of a patriot who, more far-seeing than his countrymen on the spot, recognised that a moment had come which called for energetic action. But for his intervention, we might have been lamenting to-day the decadence of British power in a region in which it is all-powerful, and from which it is ever extending its ramifications to external areas hitherto uncontrolled by us.

CHAPTER VIII

OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE

Raffles's mission to the Straits-Opposition of the Penang Government-British flag hoisted at Singapore-The home authorities antagonistic to the occupation-Final settlement of the question -Raffles plans the new Singapore-Major Farquhar superintends the building of the Settlement-Raffles's administrative measures- His departure from Singapore-His death and character.

RAFFLES left Calcutta on January 19, 1819, with a full determination to plant the British flag at some strategic point in the Straits, which, besides acting as a barrier against Dutch pretensions, would supply a rallying point for trade in the Eastern seas. His keen patriotism, strengthened as it had been by his term of service in Java, stimulated his energies, while his shrewd judgment told him that the opportunity which now presented itself of carrying out a long-cherished design of giving Great Britain a substantial "place in the sun in the Middle East must be seized if his country was not to be permanently relegated to a back position. A touch of sentiment mingled with the more practical considerations which urged him forward. Not long previously he had, in his "History of Java," painted in eloquent passages the glories of ancient Malayan civilisation, and spoken with the glow of enthusiasm of the great region of the Archipelago, which

had in all ages excited the attention and attracted the cupidity of more civilised nations, and whose valuable and peculiar productions "contributed to swell the extravagance of Roman luxury," while he had hazarded the speculation that the region, perhaps in the earliest period amongst the Italian States, "communicated the first electric spark which awoke to life the energies and the literature of Europe." That Britain should seat herself in this historic area and spread over islet and peninsula the beneficent influence of her civilisation was an aspiration which he had long treasured, not from a love of aggrandisement, but because he firmly believed that his country alone could revive to the full extent the commercial splendours of the past. He was in no sort of doubt as to the precise locality in which it was desirable to establish the new Settlement. Before he quitted Bencoolen, he had indicated Bintang, or Bentan, in the Rhio Straits, about thirty miles from Singapore, as a likely spot for the purposes in view. Afterwards, in Calcutta, he had put forward a definite request for permission "to anchor a line of battleship and hoist the English flag at the mouth either of the Straits of Malacca or of Sunda." At the last moment, when he had the final instructions of the Governor-General in his possession, and had started on his voyage, he actually particularised the centre which was ultimately occupied. Writing from "The Sandheads," the pilot station at the mouth of the Hooghly, on December 12, 1818, he said: "We are now on our way to the eastward in the hope of doing something, but I much fear that the Dutch have hardly left us an inch of ground to stand upon. My attention is principally turned to Johore, and you must not be surprised if my next letter to you is dated from the site of the ancient city of Singapura."

It was afterwards said that the honour of discovering, or, more properly speaking, rediscovering, Singapore was not Raffles's, but belonged to Major Farquhar, with whom he was associated in the mission; but the communication quoted is conclusive evidence that Raffles had Singapore in his mind from the outset. Saturated as he was with Malayan history and traditions, he doubtless needed no reminder of the advantages of this historic spot.

It was a great thing for Raffles to have what may be termed a roving commission, with powers which enabled him to take independent decisions. But to the position attached the notable disadvantage that official jealousy was aroused by the procedure of the Governor-General in dealing directly with the matter. The Penang Government at that period was in the hands of Colonel Bannerman, an experienced official who had seen long service in India, and had for a period served on the Court of Directors at home. In many respects Colonel Bannerman made an admirable administrator, but he was opinionated and dictatorial, and, having made up his mind that the Dutch had closed all avenues to the establishment of a new Settlement to the eastward, was not content to see a junior official trying his hand at the business of finding an opening. His reception of Raffles was marked by a scarcely veiled hostility. His very first letter to the Governor-General's envoy contained an emphatic expression of opinion as to the futility of the enterprise in view of the failure of Major Farquhar's mission to Rhio and the activity of the Dutch in that and other quarters. Raffles, in replying to the letter on January 1, 1819, remarked that although Rhio was preoccupied, "the island of Sincapore and the districts of Old Johore and the Straits of Indugeeree on Sumatra offer eligible points for establishing the required