The Anxieties of Empire British Debate on the Failure of John Crawfurd’s Mission to Siam, c. 1820-1830
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May 14, 2021
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Abstract
The failure of John Crawfurd’s mission to Siam in 1821-2 to gain significant concessions over trade sparked a debate in the press and journals. The focus of this article is on the rhetorical strategies that British authors used to describe Siam and where they thought Siam was located in the hierarchy of civilizations. The Siamese were represented as too low in the scale of nations to see the benefit of trade with the British. Behind this posturing, the East India Company was fighting to retain its monopoly privileges.
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Ithi Sophonpanich. (2021). The Anxieties of Empire: British Debate on the Failure of John Crawfurd’s Mission to Siam, c. 1820-1830. The Journal of the Siam Society, 109(1), 119–138. Retrieved from https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/248870
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References
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Philosophical Magazine (London), “Some Account of the Trade of Siam,” February 1805, 25-26.
John Crawfurd, Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1967 [1828]), 589-590.
Thomas Stamford Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xv-xvii.
Crawfurd, 174.
Crawfurd, 302-303; Asiatic Journal , “Singular Occurrence in Siam,” July 1823, 1-6.
George Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, 1821-1822 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988 [1826]).
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘Finlayson, George (1790–1823),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9468 (accessed 5 March 2011); Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué.
Finlayson, 201.
Finlayson, 169, 172.
Finlayson, 172-73.
Finlayson, 119-120.
Finlayson, 162-65.
Finlayson, 201-202.
Finlayson, 124.
Finlayson, 176.
Finlayson, 122-23.
Finlayson, 166.
Gerrit W. Gong, The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
Gong, 14-15.
For other works on the “standard of civilization,” see Richard S. Horowitz, “International Law and State Transformation in China, Siam, and the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century,” Journal of World History 15, no. 4 (2004): 445-486 and Thongchai Winichakul, “The Quest for ‘Siwilai:’ A Geographical Discourse of Civilizational Thinking in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century Siam,” Journal of Asian Studies 59, no. 3 (2000): 528-549.
Roy Bridges, “Exploration and Travel outside Europe (1720-1914)” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 54-56, 60.
Bridges, 62.
Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xv.
Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xviii.
Pratt, 3.
Bridges, 56-58.
Spurr, 76-91.
Finlayson, 123.
Spurr, 79-82.
Finlayson, 103.
Finlayson, 130.
Finlayson, 126-7.
Spurr, 83, 85.
Finlayson, 177.
Finlayson, 174.
Bridges, 56, 62-63.
Walter Graham, English Literary Periodicals (New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1930), 207-208.
Graham, 208-210.
Graham, 233-39.
Joanne Shattock, Politics and Reviewers: The Edinburgh and the Quarterly in the Early Victorian Age (Leicester, University of Leicester Press, 1989), 1-2, 9-10.
Margarita Barns, The Indian Press: A History of the Growth of Public Opinion in India (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1940), 89-115.
Asiatic Journal, vol. 1 (January to June 1816), title page.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 573-74.
Eclectic Review, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, June 1826, 488.
Monthly Review, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, January 1826, 40-41.
Jean Harris Slingerland, ed., Epitome and Index…, vol. 5 of The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989), 54.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘‘Barrow, Sir John, first baronet (1764–1848),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1544 (accessed 5 March 2011).
John Barrow, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, Quarterly Review 23, no. 65 (December 1825): 133.
Eclectic Review, 488-89.
For example, see Finlayson, 174.
Eclectic Review, 484.
Mark Philip, “Introduction: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815,” in Resisting Napoleon: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815, ed. Mark Philip (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), 8.
J. R. Dinwiddy, From Luddism to the First Reform Bill: Reform in England 1810-1832 (Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1986), 10-30.
Eclectic Review, 489.
Monthly Review, 41.
Monthly Review, 41-42.
Barrow, 124.
Barrow, 124-25.
Barrow, 126.
Monthly Review, 43.
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John Keay, The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company (London: HarperCollins, 1991), 453.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 54-55.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 53-76.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 30.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 27-28.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 16, 31.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 30-32.
Finlayson, 46.
Finlayson, 48.
Finlayson, 158.
Anthony Webster, “The Political Economy of Trade Liberalization: the East India Company Charter Act of 1813,” Economic History Review, 2nd ser., XLIII, 3 (1990): 404-419.
Anthony Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company: the Evolution of Anglo-Asian Commerce and Politics, 1790-1860 (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2009), 41-42.
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 73-75.
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 75-77.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 569.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 573, original italicization.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 569.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” July 1823, 30.
Asiatic Journal, “Siam and Cochin China,” August 1823, 109.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 128-29.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 142-43.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘Crawfurd, John (1783–1868),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/ 6651 (accessed 5 March 2011)
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 98-99.
Crawfurd, 144-45.
Crawfurd, 141.
Crawfurd, 133.
Crawfurd, 306.
Daniel R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981).
Philosophical Magazine (London), “Some Account of the Trade of Siam,” February 1805, 25-26.
John Crawfurd, Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1967 [1828]), 589-590.
Thomas Stamford Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xv-xvii.
Crawfurd, 174.
Crawfurd, 302-303; Asiatic Journal , “Singular Occurrence in Siam,” July 1823, 1-6.
George Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, 1821-1822 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988 [1826]).
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘Finlayson, George (1790–1823),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9468 (accessed 5 March 2011); Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué.
Finlayson, 201.
Finlayson, 169, 172.
Finlayson, 172-73.
Finlayson, 119-120.
Finlayson, 162-65.
Finlayson, 201-202.
Finlayson, 124.
Finlayson, 176.
Finlayson, 122-23.
Finlayson, 166.
Gerrit W. Gong, The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
Gong, 14-15.
For other works on the “standard of civilization,” see Richard S. Horowitz, “International Law and State Transformation in China, Siam, and the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century,” Journal of World History 15, no. 4 (2004): 445-486 and Thongchai Winichakul, “The Quest for ‘Siwilai:’ A Geographical Discourse of Civilizational Thinking in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century Siam,” Journal of Asian Studies 59, no. 3 (2000): 528-549.
Roy Bridges, “Exploration and Travel outside Europe (1720-1914)” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 54-56, 60.
Bridges, 62.
Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xv.
Raffles, introduction to Finlayson, The Mission to Siam and Hué, xviii.
Pratt, 3.
Bridges, 56-58.
Spurr, 76-91.
Finlayson, 123.
Spurr, 79-82.
Finlayson, 103.
Finlayson, 130.
Finlayson, 126-7.
Spurr, 83, 85.
Finlayson, 177.
Finlayson, 174.
Bridges, 56, 62-63.
Walter Graham, English Literary Periodicals (New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1930), 207-208.
Graham, 208-210.
Graham, 233-39.
Joanne Shattock, Politics and Reviewers: The Edinburgh and the Quarterly in the Early Victorian Age (Leicester, University of Leicester Press, 1989), 1-2, 9-10.
Margarita Barns, The Indian Press: A History of the Growth of Public Opinion in India (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1940), 89-115.
Asiatic Journal, vol. 1 (January to June 1816), title page.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 573-74.
Eclectic Review, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, June 1826, 488.
Monthly Review, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, January 1826, 40-41.
Jean Harris Slingerland, ed., Epitome and Index…, vol. 5 of The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989), 54.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘‘Barrow, Sir John, first baronet (1764–1848),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1544 (accessed 5 March 2011).
John Barrow, review of The Mission to Siam and Hué…, by George Finlayson, Quarterly Review 23, no. 65 (December 1825): 133.
Eclectic Review, 488-89.
For example, see Finlayson, 174.
Eclectic Review, 484.
Mark Philip, “Introduction: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815,” in Resisting Napoleon: The British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815, ed. Mark Philip (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), 8.
J. R. Dinwiddy, From Luddism to the First Reform Bill: Reform in England 1810-1832 (Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1986), 10-30.
Eclectic Review, 489.
Monthly Review, 41.
Monthly Review, 41-42.
Barrow, 124.
Barrow, 124-25.
Barrow, 126.
Monthly Review, 43.
“Substance of a Memoir on the Administration of the Eastern Islands, by Sir Stamford Raffles, in 1819,” Raffles Library, Singapore. http://sgebooks.nl.sg/opendoc.aspx?doc=shc/nlbhb/020000584.pdf (accessed February 26, 2011). This appears to be same pamphlet as the one at the India Office Records in London, cited in Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 81n113.
John Keay, The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company (London: HarperCollins, 1991), 453.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 54-55.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 53-76.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 30.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 27-28.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 16, 31.
Raffles, “Substance of a Memoir,” 30-32.
Finlayson, 46.
Finlayson, 48.
Finlayson, 158.
Anthony Webster, “The Political Economy of Trade Liberalization: the East India Company Charter Act of 1813,” Economic History Review, 2nd ser., XLIII, 3 (1990): 404-419.
Anthony Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company: the Evolution of Anglo-Asian Commerce and Politics, 1790-1860 (Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2009), 41-42.
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 73-75.
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 75-77.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 569.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 573, original italicization.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” June 1823, 569.
Asiatic Journal, “Embassy to Siam,” July 1823, 30.
Asiatic Journal, “Siam and Cochin China,” August 1823, 109.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 128-29.
Webster, Gentlemen Capitalists, 142-43.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, s.v. ‘Crawfurd, John (1783–1868),’ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/ 6651 (accessed 5 March 2011)
Webster, The Twilight of the East India Company, 98-99.
Crawfurd, 144-45.
Crawfurd, 141.
Crawfurd, 133.
Crawfurd, 306.
Daniel R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981).