1 270 HISTORY OF tHE SIKHS.
2 independence; arid though their weakened condi¬
3 tion forbids even a chance Of their regaining their
4 freedom, we see the bold and indomitable spirit
5 of the Poles kindle up at intervals, unhappily how¬
6 ever with no other effect than that of making 'their
7 yoke.heavier. Again, in Circassia, though Russia-
8 has for years endeavoured to deprive her of her in¬
9 dependence, the bloody struggles against her over¬
10 bearing foe'have convinced the latter that the love
11 of freedom is yet undiminished.
12 The catastrophe in Afghanistan, whereby the
13 British troops who had overcome the Afghans,'and
14 marched through the different defiles of the Boltin
15 Pass, ascended the Kojack heights, and in short,
16 conquered the country from the Indus to Cabiik
17 were destroyed, shews clearly the risk, to which in¬
18 vaders are exposed, even when everything appears
19 to be tranquilly settled. A brave people will never
20 submit quietly to invasion, however powerful the’
21 invading foe may be, and the result is for the most
22 part disastrous to the latter. The more recent
23 attempt of the Sikhs to invade British India is, per¬
24 haps, the most daring feat on record. At the out¬
25 set they had vast advantages on their side, suffi¬
26 cient to raise the hopes of a semi-barbarous people
27 to the highest pitch, and yet, in how short a space
28 of time was their army almost annihilated, and
29 their very kingdom placed, at the disposal of the
30 people against whom they had dared to wage war!
31 It was not the least of the Sikh advantages, that, f lic
32 people of the country were already under a foreign