The English, and later British, settlement of Bencoolen was first established in 1685 and remained in British hands, barring French wartime occupation, until 1825, when it was handed over to the Dutch in a territorial exchange. Bencoolen was even elevated to the status of a Presidency in the second half of the eighteenth century. Why did the English East India Company and British officials maintain a presence in Bencoolen for so long? This article makes the case that multiple, overlapping visions of commercial and agrarian transformation, including projects focused on pepper and sugar cultivation, sustained British efforts to govern and maintain Bencoolen as part of a larger, trans-oceanic network of territories. Such visions of Bencoolen's economic and imperial potential evolved in sync with equally persistent concerns about Bencoolen's failure to become a thriving settlement. Yet even amid constant anxieties about producing enough pepper, maintaining a sizeable population, and generating sufficient revenue, numerous British imperial agents located in London and Calcutta as well as Sumatra argued over whether the settlement was likely to remain a permanent failure and how the problems that dogged it might be resolved. Thus, even in moments when Bencoolen appeared to be a failed outpost on the periphery of a growing British Empire, its success or lack thereof commanded the attention of British ministers and East India Company servants. In calling for Bencoolen's elevation, subordination, or even abolition as a settlement, Britons contributed to a wide-ranging discussion of what constituted a valuable colony and, indeed, empire.

英国人和后来的英国人在明古连的定居点最初于 1685 年建立，除非法国战时占领，否则一直保留在英国人手中，直到 1825 年通过领土交换将其移交给荷兰人。十八世纪下半叶，明古连甚至被提升为总统。为什么英国东印度公司和英国官员在明古连停留这么久？本文阐述了商业和农业转型的多重、重叠的愿景，包括专注于胡椒和糖种植的项目，支撑着英国将明古连作为更大的跨洋领土网络的一部分进行管理和维护的努力。对明古连经济和帝国潜力的这种愿景与对明古连未能成为繁荣定居点的同样持续的担忧同步发展。然而，即使在对生产足够的胡椒、维持相当数量的人口和产生足够的收入持续焦虑的情况下，位于伦敦、加尔各答以及苏门答腊岛的许多英帝国特工仍在争论这一解决方案是否可能永远失败，以及这些问题如何解决。坚持下去可能会得到解决。因此，即使在明古连看起来是不断壮大的大英帝国边缘的一个失败的前哨基地的时候，它的成功与否仍然引起了英国大臣和东印度公司仆人的关注。英国人呼吁将明古连提升为附属地位，甚至废除明古连作为定居点，这引发了一场关于什么构成有价值的殖民地乃至帝国的广泛讨论。