The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-04 00:00:00

J

' unanimous. The other members of the Durbar were fully
acquitted of all participation in the guilt. The chiefs were
told that they were at liberty to proceed as they thought fit,
but that the British Government could no longer recognise
Lall Singh as Vuzeer, or communicate with the Government
over which he presided. The Ministers and chiefs having
deliberated on the subject, determined immediately to depose
the Vuzeer, and to entrust the Government to a commission
consisting of j'ej Singh, Shere Singh, Dewan Deenanath. and
Kaleefa Noor-ood- Dec,s) until some permanent arrangement
could be made. On the afternoon of the 4th, Mr. Currie,
Colonel Lawrence, and the Seikh Ministers,:proceede,l to
the palace and announced the result to the Queen. Two
thousand of the principal retainers of Lall Singh had just
before been removed from the fort, where they acted
as garrison, and their places been taken by a correspond-
ing number of the Lahore troops, they next day received
their arrears of pay, and were disbanded without express-
ing a murmur or complaint. The deposed Minister mean-
while was conducted to his private " residence in
the city by Lieutenant Edwardes, assistant agent to the
Governor-General, under an injunction that he should
not cross the threshold or attempt to communicate with
any one. It was a singular illustration of the perfect good
understanding and tranquillity that prevailed, that some
delay having occurred In the arrival of the regular guard,
Lieut. Edwardes availed himself of the services of the re-
tainers of the Vuzeer to conduct their master a prisoner to
the place of his confinement, and that the duty was per-
formed with as much alacrity and cheerfulness as if it had
been an occasion of ceremony wherein they were engaged in
doing him honour. He was a few days afterwards on his way
to Ferozepore, under an escort of native infantry. His life,
had he remained in the eapital, would in all likelihood
speedily have been sacrificed to the anger of his countrymen.
He will hereafter live under our protection somewhere in
Bengal, without requiring to endanger his life, the character
of his sovereign, or peace of his country, by returning to the
Punjaub. The new Ministers took possession of office in the
midst of an immense concourse of people, without the aid of
a single company of our troops. The retainers of the insur-
gent chief, like those of the confederates, were paid up and
disbanded in quietness and peace. During the whole of those
momentous transactions, which little more than a twelve-
month since would have been attended by weeks of violence,
rapine, and murder, the most profound tranquillity reigned
throughout Lahore, where not one single act of riot or dis-
turbance marked the change of a dynasty. For some months
our entreaties that the chiefs would give us some definite
answer as to the arrangements in contemplation on our retire-
ment had been met by the most contradictory replies. Now
they hesitated, now equivocated—the grand object obviously
being to obtain delay, and trust to the chapter of accidents,
each faction hoping, on the withdrawal of cur troops, to
obtain the ascendancy. The events just detailed induced us
to press the point with more earnestness than ever on the
consideration of the chiefs. Hitherto the promptitude with
which our demands had been complied with was due to the
circumstance that we could compel, had we so chosen it,
what we condescended to ask; and to the mildness and
equity with which, under our auspices, the domestic affairs of
the state had been administered. It now became apparent
that no provision had been, or could be made. to ensure the
good government of the state, or tranquillity of the frontier,
on our retirement; and the Seikhs admitted that to their
own hands the concerns of the nation could by no chance be
committed with any hope of advantage. They were, on this
avowal, assured of the determination of the Governor-General
to carry out the provisions of the treaty of the 9th of March,
and to withdraw the whole army from Lahore in the course
of the month of December, unless some new arrangements
were come to, and some other,
.agreement than that which
existed entered on, the terms of which must be entirely in
accordance with our wishes before we could accept of it.
The first request made of us on the 13th was that our
Resident, with a small body of troops, should be suffered
to remain, to enable them to conduct the Government
in safety and in their own fashion. This was promptly
and decidedly declined, as introducing the system from which
so much mischief has arisen of strengthening the hands of
the rulers so as to enable them to oppress the people with
comparative impunity. These matters had been before the
Durbeer ens the 11th and 12th, but no conclusion was arrived
at. ThiiQueen was so frantic for the loss of her paramour
as to be incapable of attending to business. Meanwhile the
" march of one of our regiments, and the issue of the order for
the others to retire on Ferozepore, left no doubt as to the
sincerity of our purposes. The whole of the filth was spent
in deliberation. • On the following day, on witnessing the
arrangements for the abandonment of Lahore, the hearts of
the Sirdara failed them, and they repaired in a body to the
tent of Mr. Currie, to confess their inability to form a Go-
vernment, and intimate the determination they had arrived
at. A long and interesting conference ensued, at which all
the details were fully and formally arranged. On the 16th
of December, twelve days after the deposition of the Vuzeer,
a meeting of Council was assembled, at which upwards of 70
chiefs and high state officials were present. Mr. Currie,
Colonel Lawrence, and his assistant, Lieutenant Edwardes,
were present as repressnting the British Government. It
was announced that the determination had been unanimously
arrived at, with the full and entire concurrence of all parties
concerned, that the Governor-General should be entreated
to permit a force of ten thousand men to remain at Lahore
during the minority of the Maharaja—the British Resident
virtually to become the Vuzeer. For the maintenance of
these, twenty-two lace of rupees—nearly a quarter of a mil-
lion sterling—was to beallowed annually, a sum considerably
under the entire expense of the force, but fully covering the
total extra charge to which Government would be put for
their maintenance. There was to be no Vuzeer and no Regent,
even in name. The entire civil administration of the king-
dom is to be vested in our hands; each departmont of the
Government is to be presided over by a Seikh Sirdar—Dewan
Deenanath having the revenue department, Tej Singh com-
manding the army, &c.—all under the authority of Colonel
Lawrence, than whom no more able or upright representative
could have been found for the British Crown. The Queen is
to be allowed 15,0001. a year for her private expenditure.
Reductions in the Seikh army, and in other departments
where economy can easily be introduced, will enable the
Treasury to meet the additional drafts expected to be made
on it for carrying out the new arrangements. The new
treaty is to be ratified at Umritsir, betwixt the Governor-
Genera? and the Maharaja in person. The Commander-ie-
Chief is expected to be present. The day appointed is the
22d of December—the anniversary of the battle of Feroze-
shah. Thereafter Lord Hardinge will accompany his youth-
ful charge to the capital, and under the new order of things
again see him re-seated on his throne, as holding regal
authority by a far more safe and tranquil tenure than any
his own chiefs could have conferred. New cantonments for
our troops have already been designed, and their site marked
out ; and Lahore hereafter is likely to become a favourite, as
it seems a healthy, and will be a well-regulated station.
Dhuleep Singh is at present seven
_years old: for ten or
twelve years the country of the Five Rivers will be controlled
by British troops, and ruled over by an English resident. It
is needless to speculate on the events that may occur, or po-
sition our Government may assume, before the year 1857.
The much-censured peace policy of Lord Hardinge has thus
been maintained in all its integrity, truth, and uprightness,
to the end. Commencing with an act of unusual generosity,
neither fraud nor force, violence nor equivocation, has been
resorted to. We have shown no symptoms of regret for the
magnanimous moderation of our proceeding in March, or
the slightest desire to recal what we had promised, or modify
what we had undertaken to perform. The country which
might then have been legitimately seized, but could not have
been conquered without cost, danger, and abundant obloquy,
has now, by the spontaneous act of the people themselves,
become ours. A people accustomed to the government of
England for the space of twelve years is little likely either to
desire or to be able to revert to the native rule; and the Dur-
bar, doubtless,
_in adopting the step so unanimously resolved
upon, were perfectly aware that they were making over the
country to our power. A case such as this has never before
occurred to us. We may learn from it how little need we
have to resort to fraud or violence—that we may safely abide
our time to have the Potentates of the East at our feet.
One excuse for the invasion of Sinde was, that if we did not
dethrone its rulers now, we should by and bye have occasion
to do so, when the operation might be less convenient for
us. With equal propriety might we have anticipated a legacy
likely to fall due, by shortening the life of the testator ! We
have on the present occasion waited the course of events,
and the possession so eagerly coveted has been placed in our
hands. The following troops have been ordered up to take
the place of those who have so well maintained tranquillity
during the past ten months :—Her Majesty's 10th Foot; the
7th, 31st, 32d, 38th, 51st, 54th, 65th, and 67th Regiments
Native Infantry ; llth Irregular Cavalry ; two companies of
Sappers and Miners ; 4th troop 2d brigade Horse Artillery ;
and 3d and 4th companies 3d battalion Foot Artillery. The
conduct of the Governor-General has throughout been most
ably seconded in all his noble efforts by his assistants, Mr.
Currie and Colonel Lawrence. If there have been blunders
in the field in abundance to deplore, there have been no acts
in the department of diplomacy we have cause to blush for.
The Seikhs have spontaneously taken on themselves the
charges of an army, which we must at any rate have
maintained, and paid--as most right, but most unlikely,
they should—for the preservation of tranquillity on our
north-west frontier. So much has been said in dis-
paragement of Ghsolab Singh, that there seems nothing
too monstrous to be believed against him, and it is doubtful
whether anything staved to his advantage will obtain credit
with his enemies. It is with no small measure of gratifica-
tion that we have been assured of the deference he pays to
the counsels of the British Government in all things, and
that, in conformity with our wishes, he has set his face
against infanticide and suttee, which will hereafter cease
throughout his dominions.
The Delhi Gazette suipplies us with the following items of
intelligence :—" We have to record that Lord Hardinge
'
ar-
rived
at Kangra on tibe 13th of November, and remained
there until the 16th, paying a visit during his stay to the
proposed sanatorium at Dhurumsala; but such appeared the
difficulties of access, and so great the distance from the
plains, that his Lordship is understood to have negatived the
proposition for making it either a station for troops or a sa-
natorium, on the plan of Landour."