ad no alternative but to treat
the invasion as a formal declaration of war on the part of the Lahore
government, and to take measures for proceeding against the Punjaub
government as a hostile state. On the 2nd of December Sir Henry Hardinge
arrived at Umballah; on the 6th he removed from Umballah towards
Loodianah; and on the 12th his whole force marched towards the Sutlej,
and took up a position at Busseeau, an important point, where the roads
leading from Umballah and Kurnaul meet. It was not till the 13th that
the Sikh army crossed the Sutlej, and on that day Sir Henry Hardinge
issued the following proclamation:--"The British government has ever
been on terms of friendship with that of the Punjaub. In the year 1809 a
treaty of amity and concord was concluded between the British government
and the late Maharaja Runjeet Singh, the conditions of which have
always been faithfully observed by the British government, and were
scrupulously fulfilled by the late Maharaja. The same friendly relations
have been maintained with the successors of Maharaja Runjeet Singh, by
the British government, up to the present time. Since the death of
the late Maharaja Shere Singh, the disorganized state of the Lahore
government has made it incumbent on the governor-general in council to
adopt precautionary measures for the protection of the British frontier;
the nature of these measures, and the cause of their adoption were
at the time fully explained to the Lahore Durbar. Notwithstanding the
disorganized state of the Lahore government, during the last two years,
and many most unfriendly proceedings on the part of the Durbar, the
governor-general in council has continued to evince his desire to
maintain the relations of amity and concord which had so long existed
between the two states, for the mutual interests and happiness of
both. He has shown on every occasion the utmost forbearance, from
consideration to the helpless state of the infant Maharaja Dhuleep
Singh, whom the British government had recognised as the successor to
the late Maharaja Shere Singh. The governor-general in council sincerely
desired to see a strong Sikh government re-established in the Punjaub,
able to control its army and protect its subjects. He had not, up to
the present moment, abandoned the hope of seeing that important object
effected by the patriotic efforts of the Sikhs and people of that
country. The Sikh army recently marched from Lahore towards thu British