to ourselves. Under Ranjít Singh, 'the Lion of the Punjab,' the Sikh confederacy stood as a barrier between the invading races of Central Asia, and the new British Empire which was consolidating itself during the first half of the present century in Hindustan. The death of that great ruler let loose the passions and ambitions which his iron hand so firmly held down among his military chiefs; and the Sikh leaders forced a war upon the British in 1845.
After their crushing defeat at Sobráon on the 10th February, 1846, Lord Hardinge was merely acting in accordance with the traditions of Indian policy, in attempting to obtain a control over the Punjab without actually saddling himself with its administration. How that attempt failed, in spite of much excellent work which it accomplished, is told with admirable force and fulness of detail, in the lives of the two great brothers, who, during 1846-47, alternately ruled as Resident at Lahore, Henry and John Lawrence. The Treaty of March, 1846, had, after intrigue, conspiracy, and rebellion, to be drawn tighter by the condemnation of the Prime Minister and paramour of the Queen Mother, and by the Treaty of December in the same year. By this treaty Sir Henry Lawrence, as head of the Council of Regency at Lahore, became the ruler of the Punjab until the child Prince should reach the age of majority.
