Page:Sir Henry Lawrence, the Pacificator.djvu/76

Rh would accede to the terms which he and the other four Commissioners should agree upon. He had been told by Major Lawrence on February 3, in a written document, that we appreciated his wisdom in not having taken up arms against us, and that his interests would be taken into consideration. The words of the proclamation, dated February 14, were these: "The extent of the territory which it may be advisable to take will be determined by the conduct of the Darbár and by considerations for the security of the British frontier."

'These words were meant to include any arrangements which would render the hills independent of the plains, which arrangement had been well considered before the battle of Sobráon. It was always intended that Ghuláb Singh, whose troops had not fired a shot, should have his case and position fully considered. What act of treason, then, had he committed against the Lahore State? He had done good service to us, which we had recognized before he was a Sikh commissioner. After the war commenced, were we to abandon our policy and to treat the only man who had not lifted up his arm against us with indifference, because he came to head-quarters specially deputed by the Lahore Darbár to confer with us as one who had not joined in their unprovoked invasion? His forbearance was rewarded, because this forbearance was in accordance with an intended policy, and because the charge of treachery could not be substantiated.'

Briefly put, the Kashmír case was this: — In 1846 the Punjab could not be annexed; consequently Kashmír, lying beyond it, could not be annexed. But its separation from the Punjab was desirable. Ghuláb Singh was a fitter man than any other native to be its ruler; it was therefore transferred to him.