95 



of its being tributary i otherwise Siam, which 

 sends the like iiuwer to China, must be consi* 

 dered tributary to the latter, a moiistroua ai^ser- 

 tion which no one has as yet ventured to put 

 forth ; and, secondly that ihe British received 

 the grant of Pulo Pinang from the King of 

 Kediih as an independent prince, and that, if we 

 now declare hin^ to be a subject of Siam^ we 

 are bound to restore Pinang to that power, a a 

 Kedah had no right whatever to bestow iipnn 

 us that which wns not his own. These two 

 points are so palpable that the utmost inja^enuity 

 of sophistry cani^ot shake a tittle of them. I 

 will now briefly review the terms on which 

 Pulo Pinang was^ ceded to the BriLish, On the 

 application of Mr. Light, under the authority 

 of the Supreme Government, for a settlemeut 

 on this island, amongst other stipulations made 

 by the king, ns a remuneration for the grant, 

 we find these three; firstly, a compensation of 

 30(000 dullar? per annum tor the abstraction of 

 the trade ; secondly, that the Company should 

 consider all the external and internal enemies 

 of Kedah as their own, fight them, and bear 

 all the expences of the wars; and thirdly, that 

 present assistance should be rendered in the 

 sinews uf war, — men, arms, ammunition, anQ 

 money* to aid in the struggle then existing to 

 expel the Siamese. These were the principal 

 points insisted on by the King of Kedah as an 

 equivalent for the grant. 



Sir John Macpherson, the Governor General, 

 closed with the propo^iitioos, although they cer* 

 tainly were considerably modified. With regard to 

 the first, the amuial amount for Pulo Pinang was fix- 



