Page:Sir Henry Lawrence, the Pacificator.djvu/22

Rh the termination of the war Lawrence was appointed Agent for the Punjab; but towards the end of 1846 a fresh treaty enlarged his powers of control over the Council of Regency and invested him with the practical rule of the Province. Before December 1847, however, when all was working well, his health again broke down, and he had to leave for England.

In a few months a rising, nominally against the Sikh Durbar, but really against the English control over it, broke out at Múltán, and gradually spread through the Sikh community; the siege of Múltán growing into the Punjab Campaign, or Second Sikh War, which ended with the crushing defeat of the Sikhs at Gujrát and the annexation of the Province by Lord Dalhousie.

Sir Henry Lawrence, though his health was still far from restored, had hastened out to India, and was present at the siege at Múltán and at some of the later engagements in the war; and, though averse to the annexation, had accepted the post of the head of the Council or Board which governed the Province after it was annexed in April, 1849. His special part in the work of the Administration lay in the political and military departments and the pacification and conciliation of the people.

Here he remained till the end of 1852, by which time the Province was thoroughly settled, contented, and prosperous; when Lord Dalhousie, having decided that the time had now come to place the Province under the sway of a single responsible head,