opportunity." The suspected chief was old and infirm, and his connection with the royal family gave him a position in itself some guarantee for his being circumspect, if not cordial. Another British official had called him "a harmless old fool." Captain Abbott, however, refused all personal communication with him, and took up his residence at thirty-five miles' distance. A portion of the Churrunjeet regiment of horse having mutinied, the Resident charged their general, Chundah Singh, with wholesale conspiracy, and drew forth the rebuke from Sir F. Currie that such charges were "without foundation;" and that the Sikh commander "had closely and scrupulously obeyed his orders;" in a despatch to the Governor-General he also complains of the "ready disposition of Captain Abbott to believe in conspiracies, treasons, and plots; suspicion of everybody far and near, even of his own servants, and a conviction of the infallibility of his own conclusions, which was not shaken by finding, time after time, that they were not verified." A small portion of the Pukli brigade of troops, stationed near the residence of Chuttur Singh, avowed an intention of joining the malcontents at Mooltan; but they were few in number, were wholly unsupported by their officers, who strove to quell the mutiny, and there was nothing to substantiate the idea that the Sirdar Governor approved or encouraged the movement. Captain Abbott, however, chose to regard it as a formal participation in the revolt at Mooltan, and appealing to fanatical instincts of men of a different race and creed, he called out the Mohammedan militia of the district in great numbers, surrounded the town of Horripore, where Chuttur Singh resided, and made such hostile demonstrations as forced that chief to dispose his troops, in order to repel the attack which 1 Punjab Papers, p. 285.

1

the mutineers should be punished, and offered to lend the aid of the subsidiary troops for the purpose. The offer was declined by the Regent, on the very reasonable ground that such interference would inevitably awaken national suspicions and jealousies that had long slumbered. He undertook that discipline would be restored by other methods; but in this he unfortunately failed, through want of influence rather than inclination, and in the attempt he was compelled to withdraw from the seat of Government. One form of disorder followed another, and British troops, collected at Agra and elsewhere, were removed towards the disturbed districts. The Viceroy repaired to the headquarters of Sir Hugh Gough, then Commander-in-Chief, and from his camp issued a proclamation, which set forth that the tranquillity of neighbouring provinces was threatened by the turbulence and disorder in the State of Gwalior, and that he was about to interpose by arms for their suppression and the re-establishment of the authority of Scindia's Government. The Mahratta chiefs besought him to forbear, alleging that the disquietude would prove but temporary, and pointing to the uncontested fact that in no case had the evil overpassed their confines. The army notwithstanding received orders to advance, and when approaching Mahrajpore, the General unexpectedly found himself in presence of the main body of Scindia's forces. On the 29th December was fought a sanguinary battle, in which, though victorious, the loss on the side of the English was unusually severe. A new treaty dictated by the Viceroy was then imposed, in which the subsidiary force was increased, and certain districts ceded

for its support. The minority of the Prince was to expire on his completing his eighteenth year, and in the interim the affairs of the State were to be conducted by a

Council of Regency, who not only in all affairs of moment, but generally, were to act upon the advice of the English Resident, who should be instructed from time to time by the Governor-General. The Maharanee was to be consoled for the extinction of her pretensions to any influence over the administration, by an annual allowance of three lacs. It is almost superfluous to note that for a period of ten years the whole executive authority was by these stipulations transferred from Gwalior to Calcutta. It was a tentative step towards annexation, and but for events then unforeseen, it might have been followed up to completion.

Lord Ellenborough's policy was so much disapproved by the Directors, that they resolved he should be recalled. The act was warmly disapproved by the Duke of Wellington, and the Board appeased his dissatisfaction by immediately proceeding to nominate Lord Hardinge Governor-General.

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CHAPTER XXIV.

PUNJAB AND PEGU.

1845-1852.

Many believe that a really Christian empire would obtain world-wide sovereignty by the voluntary and eager resort of all nations under the shadow of its wings. Whether by such means as these Great Britain shall accomplish the dominion of the East, remains to be seen. We have not, I fear, made an auspicious beginning. But if we are to gain no more by virtue, let us not lose what we have by injustice. Let us hasten to wipe out the awful rebuke passed by the natives on their Christian conquerors, as they were led away into captivity,Now, we perceive that there is no hope for us of judgment or justice until God Almighty shall sit in the last great Adawlut.'"

WHE

-LORD SHAFTESBURY,1

WHEN Lord Hardinge reached India the Sikhs were in commotion. The Maharajah had fallen by the hand of an assassin; and his brother, but ten years old, had been recognised as the lawful heir of Runjit Singh. As a child, he was full of excellent promise; and the Sirdars, though divided by internecine enmities, agreed to rally in defence of his endangered throne; for, reckless and illiterate though they were, they could not be unconscious of the imminency of danger. The spectacle of Afghanistan wantonly overrun, and only emancipated by the stern pertinacity of resistance on the part of its people, and the yet more recent spectacle of Seinde brow-beaten, overborne, and at length reduced to unqualified vassalage, warned them of

1 Speech of Lord Ashley. Debate in the House of Commons on the Amirs of Scinde, February 8, 1844.

what they had to expect so soon as their turn should come. How could the most trusting, credulous, or peaceful amongst them believe that they were safe? Already their subjugation had been publicly discussed in the British Parliament as a question only of time. Within two years from the annexation of Scinde, it had been openly foretold that the Country of the Five Rivers would be ours. The forecast had not been uttered by official lips, indeed, for such candour would have been without precedent; and Sir Robert Peel, above all men, trod faithfully in the way of Parliamentary usage. But the assertion made by Mr Roebuck' was not repudiated; and whatever may have been the confidential counsel given by his colleagues to Sir Henry Hardinge, it would be vain to pretend that his approval, as a soldier of experience and repute, for the post of Governor-General, was likely to tranquillise the misgivings of the Sikhs. The new Viceroy would gladly have deferred the apprehended collision, and those who knew him well will probably contend, with excellent reason, that he was of a nature too just and generous to incur the terrible responsibilities of a sanguinary conflict through any motive of military ambition or personal vainglory. Like the great master of strategy he had served so long, he had seen too much of the realities of war to wish to see any more of them. Had there been any man among the Sikhs of ascendant intellect and capacity for great affairs, he might have led them to restrain their fears, consolidate their resources, and wait for events; in which case, it is by no means clear that they would have been early molested or easily reduced. But it was not to be so; and the first duty of Sir H. Hardinge was to organise prepara

Debate on Lord Ashley's motion for liberation of the Amîrs of Scinde, February 1844.