760 Lieut. -General TJie Hon. Sir Andrew Clarke [May 27, 



British trade and to place a check on the excluding policy of the 

 Dutch. He thus resumed, in a different form, the task he had 

 crowned with success in Java, of obtaining on the road to the Far 

 East a free port and a naval station adequate for the expansion and 

 security of British trade. In the first act he had been beaten by the 

 force of circumstances, and by the fact that the political requirements 

 of Europe never allowed the local arguments in favour of retention 

 to be impartially considered ; but now, in the second act of his duel 

 with the Dutch, there was a reasonable chance of success, because 

 the Governor- General, at least, had become alive to the necessity of 

 doing something. Thus, for the second time in his career, Baffles 

 brought a Governor-General of India round to his views, and made 

 the policy of the country conform to his views of the situation. 



On 28th November and 5th December, 1818, Raffles received his 

 instructions to proceed to the Straits of Malacca. In the former it 

 was laid down that " the proceedings of the Dutch authorities in the 

 Eastern Seas leave no room to doubt that it is their policy to extend 

 their supremacy over the whole Archipelago." To counteract the 

 injury to British trade from this policy it was proposed to arrange 

 " the establishment of a station beyond Malacca such as might command 

 both the Straits of Malacca and of Singapore." 



The port of Rhio was suggested as the most likely place, and as 

 one where the Dutch had no rights. In the second despatch, pro- 

 vision was made for the Dutch having forestalled the British in the 

 occupation of Rhio. In that event an arrangement was sanctioned 

 with the Sultan of Johore. The significance of this reference lay in 

 the fact that the port of Johore was the old Zion City of the Malays, 

 Singapura or Siugaj^ore, and how thoroughly Raffles's mind was fixed 

 on this point may be inferred from his saying in a letter written, a 

 few days after he received his instruction, on board ship at the mouth 

 of the Hooghley, " do not be surprised if my next letter to you is 

 dated from the site of the ancient city of Singapura." 



We have now reached the point at which Raffles has not only 

 obtained the highest sanction for his measures to counteract the 

 spread of Dutch influence to the exclusion of British, and the very 

 moment when he had practically fixed in his mind the place, Singa- 

 pore, by the acquisition of which he intended to defeat their policy. 

 I do not intend to enter into the question of the rival pretensions of 

 Colonel Farquhar. Mr. Boulger's researches and the official docu- 

 ments have settled that dispute. But having just quoted Raffles' 

 letter from the Sandheads, let me follow it up by saying that at once 

 on his arrival at Penang, on 1st January, 1819, Raffles wrote to the 

 Governor-General, " the island of Singapore appears to me to possess 

 peculiar and great advantages " for the desired station. In his own 

 mind, as recorded on the official records, Raffles had fixed on the 

 position of Singapore long before he saw it. His Malay studies had 

 made him acquainted with its past history, and he entertained a 

 reasonable hope that it would be possible to revive its ancient 



