With his ambition of succeeding to the governorship of Prince of Wales Island thwarted, and the prospect of returning to Bengkulu empty-handed, Raffles’s usually buoyant spirits flagged, and he expressed his despondent feelings in a letter to Charlotte, Duchess of Somerset, on 27 December 1819.210 He had written to her in the previous month on board the Favourite in the Bay of Bengal stating that he saw an opening for extending his “views and plans to the Eastward”, but that it would be the last effort he would make: “if I succeed I shall have enough to occupy my attention while I remain in the East – and if I do not I can only return to Bencoolen and enjoy domestic retirement in the bosom of my family”.211 Having failed to secure the Governor-General’s support for these plans, and nursing a bitter disappointment at not having succeeded Bannerman at Pinang, he now wrote to her:
I have had enough of sorrow in my short course, and it still comes too ready a guest without my bidding – but I drive it from the door whenever I can and do my best to preserve my health and spirits that I may last a few years longer and contribute as far as I can to the happiness of others – But away with this melancholy strain, I fear I am getting almost as bad as those to whom I would preach, and in truth I am at this moment heavy and sick at heart; I could lay me down and cry – and weep for hours together and yet I know not why except that I am unhappy – but for my dear Sister’s arrival I should still have been a solitary wretch in this busy Capital –.
Figs. 30, 31
Captain William Flint (1781–1828), married to Raffles’s sister, Mary Ann (1789–1837), became the first Master Attendant of Singapore.
He sent the Duchess a copy of the paper he had prepared for Hastings on the administration of the Eastern settlements, but added that he did not set his heart on achieving his objective, “or indeed on any thing else, except returning to England as soon as possible; I am almost tempted to say that this is becoming every day more and more the sole object of my desires”.212
Raffles suffered from “a severe and trying illness” in Calcutta, and during the last month of his stay he was confined to his bed and forbidden to write letters.213 This contributed to his general sense of depression, but he was cheered by the arrival of his sister Mary Ann, her husband, Captain William Flint, R.N., and their child, William Charles Raffles Flint, on the private ship Rochester (D. Sutton).214 He immediately arranged for them to accompany him back to Bengkulu on the Indiana (James Pearl), along with Lady Raffles’s younger brother, Robert Hull,215 and Dr. William Jack.
During the voyage his health improved. “The sight of Sumatra and the health-inspiring breezes of the Malayan Islands”, he wrote to the Duchess of Somerset on 12 February 1820, “have effected a wonderful change and tho’ I still feel weak and am as thin as a scarecrow I may fairly say that I am in good health and spirits”.216 The Indiana reached Bengkulu on 11 March and, judging by an entry in the Journal of Captain Travers, Raffles appears to have exaggerated his achievements in Calcutta:
From his own account it would appear that the Supreme Government entirely approved of the plan of placing all our Eastern possessions under one Government and giving it to him, and the business had been recommended in the strongest terms to the authorities in Europe. But it would, of course, take considerable time before any decision from home could be received, and during this time it was Sir Stamford’s intention to remain quiet at Marlbro.217
Laying politics entirely aside, Raffles threw his energies into assembling large natural history collections for shipment to England, and in encouraging agricultural pursuits at Bengkulu. “As I have left the Dutch and our wise Ministers to settle their disputes as well as they can”, he wrote to the Duchess of Somerset on 2 June 1820,
my time is now principally occupied in agricultural pursuits, and if I don’t move to Singapore, I hope to do much for the advantage of this part of Sumatra – I have established an Agricultural Society which is in full activity and our Waste Lands are gradually coming into cultivation – a new Spirit has been infused into the population and I really begin to have some hopes of the place –.218
He wrote to her again on 9 October 1820:
After having drawn together all the wild animals of the Forest and … collected the rich plants of the mountains I am now endeavouring to tame the one and cultivate the other and have undertaken the arduous task of converting a wilderness into a garden – … I am making new Roads and Water Courses, regulating the police of my villages, abolishing Slavery and Bond Service, forcing the idle to be industrious and the rogues to be honest …
Fig. 32
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (1780–1863), 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1806–1807, and later Lord President of the Council; introduced to Raffles by the Duchess of Somerset in 1817.
However, he admitted that he seriously felt the effects of the climate, and that if there were no other inducements he would return home:
In a public point of view all I wish is to remain long enough to see my new Settlement at Singapore firmly established, and lay something like a substantial foundation for the future civilization of Sumatra –.219
In the previous April, he had informed her that he had received “a very kind letter” from the Marquess of Lansdowne, and that he had taken the opportunity “of sending his Lordship a slight sketch of my political views” and would “be happy to learn that he generally concurs in them”.220 She had been responsible for introducing him to Lansdowne in 1817, and he had been invited to his seat, Bowood House in Wiltshire, on 11 September, shortly before his departure for Sumatra. He seems to have impressed Lansdowne sufficiently for him to defend his Sumatran policies in a debate in the House of Lords on 1 February 1819, when he criticised the Government’s decision to restore Java to the Netherlands and praised Raffles’s administration of the island: “That gentleman established wise regulations, by which industry and commerce were protected and full security given to the natives”.221
On 15 April 1820 Raffles wrote to him:
I feel much flattered by your Lordship’s kind notice of my exertions in the interior of Sumatra – they were well intended, and at one time promised very satisfactory results but the check which I have received from the Ministry and the occupation of Padang by the Dutch has thrown a damp over all the fair prospects which I had once indulged for the improvement and civilization of this noble Island – Not having met with that support for the extension of our influence in Sumatra which I had calculated upon, my attention has for some time turned in another direction and your Lordship will doubtless have heard of the important position I have been fortunate enough to establish at Singapure[,] the ancient Maritime Capital of the Malays – The rapid rise of this important Station during the year that it has been in our possession is perhaps without its parallel – When I hoisted the British flag the population scarcely amounted to 200 souls, in three months the number was no less than 3000, and it now exceeds 10,000[,] principally Chinese – No less than 173 sail of vessels of different descriptions, principally Native, arrived & sailed in the course of the first two months, and it already has become a Commercial Port of importance–.222
In a further letter to Lansdowne dated 19 January 1821 he repeated the story of Singapore’s success as a free port:
Singapore which instead of a minor Station has turned out on experiment to be the most important in the Eastern Seas, … and I am happy to say our Establishment there has succeeded beyond all possibility of calculation – In point of Commercial importance it already rivals Batavia, and its whole charge scarcely exceeds £10,000 a year, ten times which amount might be collected were I to allow of the Collection of even moderate duties – but I am so satisfied that all our more Eastern Settlements should be in the strictest sense of the word free Ports that I will not admit of even the shadow or supposition of a Custom House restriction or duty – The fate of Singapore however now rests with abler heads and no doubt in better hands than mine, and we must trust to the Wisdom[,] foresight and energy of H M. Ministers to retain for us what to the Dutch is of no value but to us is invaluable indeed –.223
In March of the following year he again described the continuing progress of Singapore:
I have much satisfaction in reporting that my Settlement of Singapore still continues to advance, steadily but yet rapidly – The certainty of its permanent retention by us is alone wanting to ensure its prosperity – … hitherto it has been merely a Port for Barter and Exchange, and Merchandize has not been stored on the Island to any extent, but as Capital accumulates and Mercantile Establishments are formed, Store Houses will be built & the Trade of course encrease in proportion to the additional facilities that will be afforded – It is my intention to go round to Singapore in the course of a few months in order to make such general arrangements as will admit of the expansion and rise of the Settlement without endangering the principle on which it is established –.224
