Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4

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_Second Burmese War, 1852._--On the 15th of March 1852 Lord Dalhousie sent
an ultimatum to King Pagan, announcing that hostile operations would be
commenced if all his demands were not agreed to by the ist of April.
Meanwhile a force consisting of 8100 troops had been despatched to Rangoon
under the command of General H.T. Godwin, C.B., while Commodore Lambert
commanded the naval contingent. No reply being given to this letter, the
first blow of the Second Burmese War was struck by the British on the 5th
of April 1852, when Martaban was taken. Rangoon town was occupied on the
12th, and the Shwe Dagon pagoda on the 14th, after heavy fighting, when the
Burmese army retired northwards. Bassein was seized on the 19th of May, and
Pegu was taken on the 3rd of June, after some sharp fighting round the
Shwe-maw-daw pagoda. During the rainy season the approval of the East India
Company's court of directors and of the British government was obtained to
the annexation of the lower portion of the Irrawaddy Valley, including
Prome. Lord Dalhousie visited Rangoon in July and August, and discussed the
whole situation with the civil, military and naval authorities. In
consequence General Godwin occupied Prome on the 9th of October after but
slight resistance. Early in December Lord Dalhousie informed King Pagan
that the province of Pegu would henceforth form part of the British
dominions, and that if his troops resisted the measure his whole kingdom
would be destroyed. The proclamation of annexation was issued on the 20th
of January 1853, and thus the Second Burmese War was brought to an end
without any treaty being signed.

_Third Burmese War, 1885-86._--The imposition of an impossible fine on the
Bombay-Burma Trading Company, coupled with the threat of confiscation of
all their rights and property in case of non-payment, led to the British
ultimatum of the 22nd of October 1885; and by the 9th of November a
practical refusal of the terms having been received at Rangoon, the
occupation of Mandalay and the dethronement of King Thibaw were determined
upon. At this time, beyond the fact that the country was one of dense
jungle, and therefore most unfavourable for military operations, little was
known of the interior of Upper Burma; but British steamers had for years
been running on the great river highway of the Irrawaddy, from Rangoon to
Mandalay, and it was obvious that the quickest and most satisfactory method
of carrying out the British campaign was an advance by water direct on the
capital. Fortunately a large number of light-draught river steamers and
barges (or "flats"), belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, were
available at Rangoon, and the local knowledge of the company's officers of
the difficult river navigation was at the disposal of the government.
Major-General, afterwards Sir, H.N.D. Prendergast, V.C., K.C.B., R.E., was
placed in command of the expedition. As was only to be expected in an
enterprise of this description, the navy as well as the army was called in
requisition; and as usual the services rendered by the seamen and guns were
most important. The total effective of the force was 9034 fighting men,
2810 native followers and 67 guns, and for river service, 24 machine guns.
The river fleet which conveyed the troops and stores was composed of a
total of no less than 55 steamers, barges, launches, &c.

Thayetmyo was the British post on the river nearest to the frontier, and
here, by 14th November, five days after Thibaw's answer had been received,
practically the whole expedition was assembled. On the same day General
Prendergast received instructions to commence operations. The Burmese king
and his country were taken completely by surprise by the unexampled
rapidity of the advance. There had been no time for them to collect and
organize the stubborn resistance of which the river and its defences were
capable. They had not even been able to block the river by sinking
steamers, &c., across it, for, on the very day of the receipt of orders to
advance, the armed steamers, the "Irrawaddy" and "Kathleen," engaged the
nearest Burmese batteries, and brought out from under their guns the king's
steamer and some barges which were lying in readiness for this very
purpose. On the 16th the batteries themselves on both banks were taken by a
land attack, the enemy being evidently unprepared and making no resistance.
On the 17th of November, however, at Minhla, on the right bank of the
river, the Burmans in considerable force held successively a barricade, a
pagoda and the redoubt of Minhla. The attack was pressed home by a brigade
of native infantry on shore, covered by a bombardment from the river, and
the enemy were defeated with a loss of 170 killed and 276 prisoners,
besides many more drowned in the attempt to escape by the river. The
advance was continued next day and the following days, the naval brigade
and heavy artillery leading and silencing in succession the enemy's river
defences at Nyaungu, Pakokku and Myingyan. On the 26th of November, when
the flotilla was approaching the ancient capital of Ava, envoys from King
Thibaw met General Prendergast with offers of surrender; and on the 27th,
when the ships [v.04 p.0848] were lying off that city and ready to commence
hostilities, the order of the king to his troops to lay down their arms was
received. There were three strong forts here, full at that moment with
thousands of armed Burmans, and though a large number of these filed past
and laid down their arms by the king's command, still many more were
allowed to disperse with their weapons; and these, in the time that
followed, broke up into dacoit or guerrilla bands, which became the scourge
of the country and prolonged the war for years. Meanwhile, however, the
surrender of the king of Burma was complete; and on the 28th of November,
in less than a fortnight from the declaration of war, Mandalay had fallen,
and the king himself was a prisoner, while every strong fort and town on
the river, and all the king's ordnance (1861 pieces), and thousands of
rifles, muskets and arms had been taken. Much valuable and curious "loot"
and property was found in the palace and city of Mandalay, which, when
sold, realized about 9 lakhs of rupees (L60,000).

From Mandalay, General Prendergast seized Bhamo on the 28th of December.
This was a very important move, as it forestalled the Chinese, who were
preparing to claim the place. But unfortunately, although the king was
dethroned and deported, and the capital and the whole of the river in the
hands of the British, the bands of armed soldiery, unaccustomed to
conditions other than those of anarchy, rapine and murder, took advantage
of the impenetrable cover of their jungles to continue a desultory armed
resistance. Reinforcements had to be poured into the country, and it was in
this phase of the campaign, lasting several years, that the most difficult
and most arduous work fell to the lot of the troops. It was in this jungle
warfare that the losses from battle, sickness and privation steadily
mounted up; and the troops, both British and native, proved once again
their fortitude and courage.

Various expeditions followed one another in rapid succession, penetrating
to the remotest corners of the land, and bringing peace and protection to
the inhabitants, who, it must be mentioned, suffered at least as much from
the dacoits as did the troops. The final, and now completely successful,
pacification of the country, under the direction of Sir Frederick
(afterwards Earl) Roberts, was only brought about by an extensive system of
small protective posts scattered all over the country, and small lightly
equipped columns moving out to disperse the enemy whenever a gathering came
to a head, or a pretended prince or king appeared.

No account of the Third Burmese War would be complete without a reference
to the first, and perhaps for this reason most notable, land advance into
the enemy's country. This was carried out in November 1885 from Toungoo,
the British frontier post in the east of the country, by a small column of
all arms under Colonel W.P. Dicken, 3rd Madras Light Infantry, the first
objective being Ningyan. The operations were completely successful, in
spite of a good deal of scattered resistance, and the force afterwards
moved forward to Yamethin and Hlaingdet. As inland operations developed,
the want of mounted troops was badly felt, and several regiments of cavalry
were brought over from India, while mounted infantry was raised locally. It
was found that without these most useful arms it was generally impossible
to follow up and punish the active enemy.

BURN, RICHARD (1700-1785), English legal writer, was born at Winton,
Westmorland, in 1709. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, he entered the
Church, and in 1736 became vicar of Orton in Westmorland. He was a justice
of the peace for the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, and devoted
himself to the study of law. He was appointed chancellor of the diocese of
Carlisle in 1765, an office which he held till his death at Orton on the
12th of November 1785. Burn's _Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer_,
first published in 1755, was for many years the standard authority on the
law relating to justices of the peace. It has passed through innumerable
editions. His _Ecclesiastical Law_ (1760), a work of much research, was the
foundation upon which were built many modern commentaries on ecclesiastical
law. The best edition is that by R. Phillimore (4 vols., 1842). Burn also
wrote _Digest of the Militia Laws_ (1760), and _A New Law Dictionary_ (2
vols., 1792).

BURNABY, FREDERICK GUSTAVUS (1842-1885), English traveller and soldier, was
born on the 3rd of March 1842, at Bedford, the son of a clergyman. Educated
at Harrow and in Germany, he entered the Royal Horse Guards in 1859.
Finding no chance for active service, his spirit of adventure sought
outlets in balloon-ascents and in travels through Spain and Russia. In the
summer of 1874 he accompanied the Carlist forces as correspondent of _The
Times_, but before the end of the war he was transferred to Africa to
report on Gordon's expedition to the Sudan. This took Burnaby as far as
Khartum. Returning to England in March 1875, he matured his plans for a
journey on horseback to Khiva through Russian Asia, which had just been
closed to travellers. His accomplishment of this task, in the winter of
1875-1876, described in his book _A Ride to Khiva_, brought him immediate
fame. His next leave of absence was spent in another adventurous journey on
horseback, through Asia Minor, from Scutari to Erzerum, with the object of
observing the Russian frontier, an account of which he afterwards
published. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, Burnaby (who soon afterwards
became lieut.-colonel) acted as travelling agent to the Stafford House (Red
Cross) Committee, but had to return to England before the campaign was
over. At this point began his active interest in politics, and in 1880 he
unsuccessfully contested a seat at Birmingham in the Tory-Democrat
interest. In 1882 he crossed the Channel in a balloon. Having been
disappointed in his hope of seeing active service in the Egyptian campaign
of 1882, he participated in the Suakin campaign of 1884 without official
leave, and was wounded at El Teb when acting as an intelligence officer
under General Valentine Baker. This did not deter him from a similar course
when a fresh expedition started up the Nile. He was given a post by Lord
Wolseley, and met his death in the hand-to-hand fighting of the battle of
Abu Klea (17th January 1885).

BURNAND, SIR FRANCIS COWLEY (1836- ), English humorist, was born in London
on the 29th of November 1836. His father was a London stockbroker, of
French-Swiss origin; his mother Emma Cowley, a direct descendant of Hannah
Cowley (1743-1809), the English poet and dramatist. He was educated at Eton
and Cambridge, and originally studied first for the Anglican, then for the
Roman Catholic Church; but eventually took to the law and was called to the
bar. From his earliest days, however, the stage had attracted him--he
founded the Amateur Dramatic Club at Cambridge,--and finally he abandoned
the church and the law, first for the stage and subsequently for dramatic
authorship. His first great dramatic success was made with the burlesque
_Black-Eyed Susan_, and he wrote a large number of other burlesques,
comedies and farces. One of his early burlesques came under the favourable
notice of Mark Lemon, then editor of _Punch_, and Burnand, who was already
writing for the comic paper _Fun_, became in 1862 a regular contributor to
_Punch_. In 1880 he was appointed editor of _Punch_, and only retired from
that position in 1906. In 1902 he was knighted. His literary reputation as
a humorist depends, apart from his long association with _Punch_, on his
well-known book _Happy Thoughts_, originally published in _Punch_ in
1863-1864 and frequently reprinted.

See _Recollections and Reminiscences_, by Sir F.C. Burnand (London, 1904).

BURNE-JONES, SIR EDWARD BURNE, Bart. (1833-1898), English painter and
designer, was born on the 28th of August 1833 at Birmingham. His father was
a Welsh descent, and the idealism of his nature and art has been attributed
to this Celtic strain. An only son, he was educated at King Edward's
school, Birmingham, and destined for the Church. He retained through life
an interest in classical studies, but it was the mythology of the classics
which fascinated him. He went into residence as a scholar at Exeter
College, Oxford, in January 1853. On the same day William Morris entered
the same college, having also the intention of taking orders. The two were
thrown together, and grew close friends. Their similar tastes and
enthusiasms were [v.04 p.0849] mutually stimulated. Burne-Jones resumed his
early love of drawing and designing. With Morris he read _Modern Painters_
and the _Morte d'Arthur_. He studied the Italian pictures in the University
galleries, and Duerer's engravings; but his keenest enthusiasm was kindled
by the sight of two works by a living man, Rossetti. One of these was a
woodcut in Allingham's poems, "The Maids of Elfinmere"; the other was the
water-colour "Dante drawing an Angel," then belonging to Mr Coombe, of the
Clarendon Press, and now in the University collection. Having found his
true vocation, Burne-Jones, like his friend Morris, determined to
relinquish his thoughts of the Church and to become an artist. Rossetti,
although not yet seen by him, was his chosen master; and early in 1856 he
had the happiness, in London, of meeting him. At Easter he left college
without taking a degree. This was his own decision, not due (as often
stated) to Rossetti's persuasion; but on settling in London, where Morris
soon joined him at 17 Red Lion Square, he began to work under Rossetti's
friendly instruction and encouraging guidance.

As Burne-Jones once said, he "found himself at five-and-twenty what he
ought to have been at fifteen." He had had no regular training as a
draughtsman, and lacked the confidence of science. But his extraordinary
faculty of invention as a designer was already ripening; his mind, rich in
knowledge of classical story and medieval romance, teemed with pictorial
subjects; and he set himself to complete his equipment by resolute labour,
witnessed by innumerable drawings. The works of this first period are all
more or less tinged by the influence of Rossetti; but they are already
differentiated from the elder master's style by their more facile though
less intensely felt elaboration of imaginative detail. Many are pen-and-ink
drawings on vellum, exquisitely finished, of which the "Waxen Image" is one
of the earliest and best examples; it is dated 1856. Although subject,
medium and manner derive from Rossetti's inspiration, it is not the hand of
a pupil merely, but of a potential master. This was recognized by Rossetti
himself, who before long avowed that he had nothing more to teach him.
Burne-Jones's first sketch in oils dates from this same year, 1856; and
during 1857 he made for Bradfield College the first of what was to be an
immense series of cartoons for stained glass. In 1858 he decorated a
cabinet with the "Prioress's Tale" from Chaucer, his first direct
illustration of the work of a poet whom he especially loved and who
inspired him with endless subjects. Thus early, therefore, we see the
artist busy in all the various fields in which he was to labour.

In the autumn of 1857 Burne-Jones joined in Rossetti's ill-fated scheme to
decorate theh walls of the Oxford Union. None of the painters had mastered
the technique of fresco, and their pictures had begun to peel from the
walls before they were completed. In 1859 Burne-Jones made his first
journey to Italy. He saw Florence, Pisa, Siena, Venice and other places,
and appears to have found the gentle and romantic Sienese more attractive
than any other school. Rossetti's influence still persisted; and its
impress is visible, more strongly perhaps than ever before, in the two
water-colours "Sidonia von Bork" and "Clara von Bork," painted in 1860.
These little masterpieces have a directness of execution rare with the
artist. In powerful characterization, combined with a decorative motive,
they rival Rossetti at his best. In June of this year Burne-Jones was
married to Miss Georgiana Macdonald, two of whose sisters were the wives of
Sir E. Poynter and Mr J.L. Kipling, and they settled in Bloomsbury. Five
years later he moved to Kensington Square, and shortly afterwards to the
Grange, Fulham, an old house with a garden, where he resided till his
death. In 1862 the artist and his wife accompanied Ruskin to Italy,
visiting Milan and Venice.

In 1864 he was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in
Water-Colours, and exhibited, among other works, "The Merciful Knight," the
first picture which fully revealed his ripened personality as an artist.
The next six years saw a series of fine water-colours at the same gallery;
but in 1870, owing to a misunderstanding, Burne-Jones resigned his
membership of the society. He was re-elected in 1886. During the next seven
years, 1870-1877, only two works of the painter's were exhibited. These
were two water-colours, shown at the Dudley Gallery in 1873, one of them
being the beautiful "Love among the Ruins," destroyed twenty years later by
a cleaner who supposed it to be an oil painting, but afterwards reproduced
in oils by the painter. This silent period was, however, one of unremitting
production. Hitherto Burne-Jones had worked almost entirely in
water-colours. He now began a number of large pictures in oils, working at
them in turn, and having always several on hand. The "Briar Rose" series,
"Laus Veneris," the "Golden Stairs," the "Pygmalion" series, and "The
Mirror of Venus" are among the works planned and completed, or carried far
towards completion, during these years. At last, in May 1877, the day of
recognition came, with the opening of the first exhibition of the Grosvenor
Gallery, when the "Days of Creation," the "Beguiling of Merlin," and the
"Mirror of Venus" were all shown. Burne-Jones followed up the signal
success of these pictures with "Laus Veneris," the "Chant d'Amour," "Pan
and Psyche," and other works, exhibited in 1878. Most of these pictures are
painted in gay and brilliant colours. A change is noticeable next year,
1879, in the "Annunciation" and in the four pictures called "Pygmalion and
the Image"; the former of these, one of the simplest and most perfect of
the artist's works, is subdued and sober; in the latter a scheme of soft
and delicate tints was attempted, not with entire success. A similar
temperance of colours marks the "Golden Stairs," first exhibited in 1880.
In 1884, following the almost sombre "Wheel of Fortune" of the preceding
year, appeared "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid," in which Burne-Jones
once more indulged his love of gorgeous colour, refined by the period of
self-restraint. This masterpiece is now in the National collection. He next
turned to two important sets of pictures, "The Briar Rose" and "The Story
of Perseus," though these were not completed for some years to come. In
1886, having been elected A.R.A. the previous year, he exhibited (for the
only time) at the Royal Academy "The Depths of the Sea," a mermaid carrying
down with her a youth whom she has unconsciously drowned in the impetuosity
of her love. This picture adds to the habitual haunting charm a tragic
irony of conception and a felicity of execution which give it a place apart
among Burne-Jones's works. He resigned his Associateship in 1893. One of
the "Perseus" series was exhibited in 1887, two more in 1888, with "The
Brazen Tower," inspired by the same legend. In 1890 the four pictures of
"The Briar Rose" were exhibited by themselves, and won the widest
admiration. The huge tempera picture, "The Star of Bethlehem," painted for
the corporation of Birmingham, was exhibited in 1891. A long illness for
some time checked the painter's activity, which, when resumed, was much
occupied with decorative schemes. An exhibition of his work was held at the
New Gallery in the winter of 1892-1893. To this period belong several of
his comparatively few portraits. In 1894 Burne-Jones was made a baronet.
Ill-health again interrupted the progress of his works, chief among which
was the vast "Arthur in Avalon." In 1898 he had an attack of influenza, and
had apparently recovered, when he was again taken suddenly ill, and died on
the 17th of June. In the following winter a second exhibition of his works
was held at the New Gallery, and an exhibition of his drawings (including
some of the charmingly humorous sketches made for children) at the
Burlington Fine Arts Club.

His son and successor in the baronetcy, Sir Philip Burne-Jones (b. 1861),
also became well known as an artist. The only daughter, Margaret, married
Mr J.W. Mackail.

Burne-Jones's influence has been exercised far less in painting than in the
wide field of decorative design. Here it has been enormous. His first
designs for stained glass, 1857-1861, were made for Messrs Powell, but
after 1861 he worked exclusively for Morris & Co. Windows executed from his
cartoons are to be found all over England; others exist in churches abroad.
For the American Church in Rome he designed a number of mosaics. Reliefs in
metal, tiles, gesso-work, decorations for [v.04 p.0850] pianos and organs,
and cartoons for tapestry represent his manifold activity. In all works,
however, which were only designed and not carried out by him, a decided
loss of delicacy is to be noted. The colouring of the tapestries (of which
the "Adoration of the Magi" at Exeter College is the best-known) is more
brilliant than successful. The range and fertility of Burne-Jones as a
decorative inventor can be perhaps most conveniently studied in the
sketch-book, 1885-1895, which he bequeathed to the British Museum. The
artist's influence on book-illustration must also be recorded. In early
years he made a few drawings on wood for Dalziel's Bible and for _Good
Words_; but his later work for the Kelmscott Press, founded by Morris in
1891, is that by which he is best remembered. Besides several illustrations
to other Kelmscott books, he made eighty-seven designs for the _Chaucer_ of
1897.

Burne-Jones's aim in art is best given in some of his own words, written to
a friend: "I mean by a picture a beautiful, romantic dream of something
that never was, never will be--in a light better than any light that ever
shone--in a land no one can define or remember, only desire--and the forms
divinely beautiful--and then I wake up, with the waking of Brynhild." No
artist was ever more true to his aim. Ideals resolutely pursued are apt to
provoke the resentment of the world, and Burne-Jones encountered, endured
and conquered an extraordinary amount of, angry criticism. In so far as
this was directed against the lack of realism in his pictures, it was
beside the point. The earth, the sky, the rocks, the trees, the men and
women of Burne-Jones are not those of this world; but they are themselves a
world, consistent with itself, and having therefore its own reality.
Charged with the beauty and with the strangeness of dreams, it has nothing
of a dream's incoherence. Yet it is a dreamer always whose nature
penetrates these works, a nature out of sympathy with struggle and
strenuous action. Burne-Jones's men and women are dreamers too. It was this
which, more than anything else, estranged him from the age into which he
was born. But he had an inbred "revolt from fact" which would have
estranged him from the actualities of any age. That criticism seems to be
more justified which has found in him a lack of such victorious energy and
mastery over his materials as would have enabled him to carry out his
conceptions in their original intensity. Representing the same kind of
tendency as distinguished his French contemporary, Puvis de Chavannes, he
was far less in the main current of art, and his position suffers
accordingly. Often compared with Botticelli, he had nothing of the fire and
vehemence of the Florentine. Yet, if aloof from strenuous action,
Burne-Jones was singularly strenuous in production. His industry was
inexhaustible, and needed to be, if it was to keep pace with the constant
pressure of his ideas. Invention, a very rare excellence, was his
pre-eminent gift. Whatever faults his paintings may have, they have always
the fundamental virtue of design; they are always pictures. His fame might
rest on his purely decorative work. But his designs were informed with a
mind of romantic temper, apt in the discovery of beautiful subjects, and
impassioned with a delight in pure and variegated colour. These splendid
gifts were directed in a critical and fortunate moment by the genius of
Rossetti. Hence a career which shows little waste or misdirection of power,
and, granted the aim proposed, a rare level of real success.

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