The army of the Indus having achieved the object for which it had been sent to the north-western extremity of India, by seating Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk on the throne of Cabul, and by storming the fortresses of Ghuznee and Khelat, commenced its retrograde march in the middle of October. 1839. The army marched in two divisions, one to Bengal, under Sir J. Keene and the other to Bombay, by the Bolau Pass and Scinde. At this time Dost Mohammed seemed shorn of his power; he had retired across the Hindoo Koosh, the passes of which were guarded, and the chiefs of Balkh and Bokhara refused to join him. But although the prowess of British arms had wrested from him the throne of Afghanistan, Shah Soojah was by no means secure of it a moment longer than he was supported by European aid, The precarious tenure by which he held his power was seen early in this year, when Syed Hoshein, the chief of Koona, sent a letter to his majesty, couched in the most insulting terms, and stating that, as he had heard the Russians were advancing, it was his intention to join them. On hearing this Sir Willoughby Cotton, who commanded one division of the force which was returning to Bengal, despatched Colonel Orchard from Jellalabad, with a body of troops to attack the fort of Pooshat, where the Koona chief resided. Pooshat was captured, but Syed Hoshein escaped. The state of Affghanistan, however, still remained unsettled, for Dost Mohammed was employed with restless activity in intriguing among the native princes, with a view to recovering the throne which he had lost; and at the close of the year the British troops which had been left to support Shah Soojah imperatively demanded refreshment and repose. In testimony of the services of the army of the Indus, Lord Auckland resolved that all the corps, European and native, in the service of the East India Company, which proceeded beyond the Bolau Pass, should have on their regimental colours the word “Affghanistan,” and such of them as were employed in the reduction of the fortress of that name the word “Ghuznee” in addition. In the same general order he stated, on behalf of the queen’s regiments, that he would recommend to her majesty that the same distinction should be granted to them. Besides this complimentary notice, Lord Auckland ordered that a donation of six months’ full or field batta should be given to officers and men of every rank attached to the army who advanced beyond the Bolau Pass.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN.
Her most gracious majesty Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha on the 10th of February. This event gave great satisfaction to the people generally, both in the dominions of her majesty and in the duchy of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha.
STATE OF THE CONTINENT.
During this year the Carlists in Spain were compelled to give up the contest which they had so long carried on against the queen regent. All the principal places held by the chiefs of that party still remaining in the country, fell into the hands of the Christino generals; and Cabrera and Balemaseda took refuge in France, while Borso, another Carlist leader, was captured and shot. In the spring of this year a question arose with the Neapolitan government and the British cabinet, which led to hostilities on the part of England, and at one time threatened to involve other powers in Europe in a general quarrel. This question related to the “sulphur monopoly.” A treaty existed which gave certain commercial advantages to England in respect of sulphur, and the treaty set forth that the Neapolitan government was not to grant any state mercantile privileges hostile to the British interests. But notwithstanding this distinct stipulation, the King of Naples granted some natives of France, in 1838, as well as others of different countries, a monopoly of all the sulphur produced and worked in Sicily. Great Britain naturally considered this grant to be a direct infraction of the stipulation of the existing treaty; and Lord Palmerston called on the Neapolitan government for the immediate termination of the monopoly, and full indemnity for all losses sustained by British subjects arising therefrom. The king professed to comply: Prince Cassaro, the minister for foreign affairs, wrote a note to Mr. Kennedy, stating that the monopoly should be abolished, and that the King of Naples acted thus in deference to England. Shortly afterwards, however, his Neapolitan majesty signified to the British minister that he had determined not to consent to the demands of Great Britain, he not considering the sulphur contract a violation of the treaty of 1816. The British government now proceeded to enforce its demands: orders were sent to Admiral Sir R. Stopford, in the Mediterranean, to hold himself in readiness to commence active hostilities against the Neapolitan flag. Hostilities commenced on the 17th of April by the British ships of war in the vicinity of Naples; an embargo was laid on all in the ports of Malta that bore the Sicilian flag. At first the king prepared to resist: but he was induced finally to accept the proposed mediation of France, in adjusting the quarrel, on the principle that the monopoly should be dissolved, and an indemnity given to the contractors. Early in May amicable relations between the courts of England and Naples commenced. In the month of July this year, the affairs of the Levant were brought to a crisis. A convention was signed at London between England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia—France declined to concur in it; whereby the following ultimatum was offered to the viceroy of Egypt. He was to have the hereditary sovereignty of Egypt, and the possession of the pashalic of St. Jean d’Acre for life. If within ten days from the notification of these terms the pasha should not accept them, the Sultan was to offer him Egypt alone; and, if he still persisted in refusing, the four powers were to compel him by force to accede to the proposed settlement. Disliking the terms, Mehemet Ali endeavoured to gain time by offering a negociation with the Porte: Rifat Bey was sent to Constantinople with certain proposals; but these were not deemed satisfactory; and the Sultan, acting upon intemperate advice, pronounced the formal deposition of the Sultan of Egypt from his pashalic, and sent a firman to Alexandria to notify that event. Mehemet Ali intimated his intention of repelling force by force; and it was then resolved by the four powers that the ports of Syria and Egypt should be declared to be in a state of blockade. Captain Napier immediately captured some Egyptian vessels off the coast of Syria; and on the 9th of September, Admiral Stopford appeared off Beyrout, and the next day made preparations for bombarding and taking that town and fortress. Beyrout was captured, and the troops of Ibrahim Pasha, which consisted of 14,000 men, subsequently dispersed, while he himself fled to Damascus. The ports of Syria and Alexandria were now strictly blockaded, and in a short time after, Tripoli, Tortosa, and Latakia were evacuated by their Egyptian garrisons, St. Jean d’Acre was next captured, and the Egyptian garrisons in Caiffa and Jaffa immediately evacuated those places; and while they were endeavouring to force for themselves a passage through Palestine into Egypt, were taken prisoners of war. The Syrian tribes, which had hitherto been in the interest of the Pasha of Egypt, now declared in favour of the Sultan, and on the 19th of November the Seraskier was informed that the garrison and inhabitants of Jerusalem had returned to their allegiance to the Porte. About this time negociations were commenced between Commodore Napier and the Pasha of Egypt, but the year closed before a convention was ratified. In Holland, this year was signalized by the abdication of its monarch, William I. In the month of October he voluntarily laid down the crown, and was succeeded by his eldest son, the Prince of Orange, who ascended the throne by the title of William II. In Prussia there was also a change in the monarchy: Frederick William III. expired at Berlin on the 7th of June, and he was succeeded by his son Frederic William IV.
CHAPTER LII.
VICTORIA. 1841—1842