Sikh army. He saw, we believe,
the inevitable collision and the inevitable issue. With an infant on the
throne, and a woman as prime-minister, the barrier to the torrent was a
shadow. And so it happened. The voice of authority was drowned by the
thundering tread of thousands and tens of thousands on their march to
the Sutlej. Goolab Singh, folding himself in the cloak of neutrality,
crouched, cat-like, to watch the vicissitudes of the contest.

The condition of the Punjaub necessarily attracted the anxious attention
of our Indian government. The horizon grew blacker every hour, as the
total inability of the authorities at Lahore to subdue or restrain the
refractory and warlike spirit of the Sikh army, was made more and more
manifest in unmistakable characters of blood and violence. Upon the 22d
of last November, the Governor-General of India, while moving from Delhi
to join the Commander-in-Chief in his camp at Umballah, received from
the political agent, Major Broadfoot, an official despatch, dated the
20th November, detailing the sudden intention of the Sikh army to
advance in force to the frontier, for the avowed purpose of invading the
British territories. This despatch was succeeded by a private
communication of the following day, stating the same facts, and
inclosing news, letters, and papers of intelligence received from
Lahore, which professed to give an account of the circumstances which
had led to the movement, which would appear (if these papers are to be
depended upon) to have originated with the Ranee and certain of the
sirdars, who felt the pressure of the demands of the army to be so
urgent, and its present attitude and temper so perilous to their
existence, that they desired to turn the thoughts of the troops to
objects which might divert their attention from making extortionate
demands for higher pay, by employing their energies in hostile
operations against the British government.[13]

We shall quote the substance of Major Broadfoot's letters, presenting,
as they do, a curious picture of the chaos of matters on the other side
of the Sutlej, and forming, likewise, important links in the narrative.
The following extracts are taken from his communications on the 20th and
21st of November to the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief:--

"I have received Lahore letters of the 18th instant (morning).

"During the night of the 17th the chiefs had agreed on, and the
Durbar had ordered i