Tae official correspondence relative to Burma was laid before Parliament on, the 21st January. It embraces the period since the accession of Theebaw, and a despatch to Lord Dufferin from the Secretary of State for India gives a brief history of the misgovernment and bad faith towards England of the late When Theebaw became King tious between the Government t of Mandalay were unsatisfactory; life and property with. in Burmese territory wore insecure applications for redress of wrongs against British subject wore disretreaties were not respected ish commercial interests in the Irrawaddy valley were seriously ins jared, That is the beginning of what we may call the indiotmout of former Burmese rulers. An improvement was hoped for from the young King who had been educated into some knowledge of Western people and of what good government should be. But he early manifested a dislike to the British alliance; be permitted outrages on Englishmen to go unpunished; his ministers behaved with outrageous ins soleuce to the British Resident, who was denied personal access to the King, until his position became so difficult that the Government of India deemed it prudent to withdraw him from Mandalay in Ovtober 1879. The Gov. ernment of Burma grew more hostile after that; an unprovoked attack on a British steamer on the Irrawaddy was left unpunished, and the demands for justice of the Indian Government were ill received by the King. Soon afters wards Thoobaw sent an Envoy to Parma to propose new Treaty rol with India, but the King's overtures were found 60 insincere and the provisions of the draft instrument borne by the Envoy so illusory that the Huvoy was not allowed to proceed to Rangoon, By 1882 the state of affairs as des. cribed by Lord Ravdulpi Churobhilt was this:—"The relations between the two Governments remained at a deadlock; fresh atrocities took place at Mandalay; bands of armed dacoits roamed at will; raids were made into British territory; Upper Burmah be" came completely disorganized." Barly in the spring of 1882 an Envoy was sent from Mandalay to India, and notwithstanding all (hat had previously passed he was well reosived by Lord Ripon. Theebaw, however, suddenly recalled his Envoy. The Court of Ava, the despatch says, " developed its pol of menace and hostility to the Gover: ment of India by the despatch of a mission to Europe, secking alliances mith foreign Powers'for the purpose of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.