1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 179
2 battle, in which the fate of the Sikhs would, in all oe ee
3 probability, be decided, and a death-blow given to os hon xi
4 a war of their own seeking. He had the proud braon.
5 satisfaction of thinking, that he had long and
6 scrupulously avoided war as a great evil, with a
7 forbearance that few statesmen would have been
8 inclined to practice; but when the collision was
9 forced upon him, his energy, zeal, and courage,
10 could not be surpassed. In the military. operations
11 of the army of the Sutlej, the Commander-in-chief
12 found in Sir Henry an inestimable coadjutor, and Theinvalusble
13 he was not insensible of the great advantage. His Seraenie:
14 Excellency expresses himself thus on the subject :— tedjed by the
15 “TY cannot describe the support which I derived (eur
16 from the circumstance of its (the plan of attack)
17 details meeting your approbation. When a soldier
18 of such sound judgment and matured experience
19 as your Excellency, assured me that my projected
20 operation deserved success, &c. Nor did your assur-
21 ance stop here. Though suffering severely from
22 the effects of a fall, and unable to mount on horse-
23 back without assistance, your uncontrollable desire
24 to see the army once more triumphant, carried you
25 into the hottest of the fire, filling all who witnessed
26 your exposure to such peril, at once with admira- The Governor-
27 tion of the intrepidity that prompted it, and eaten
28 anxiety for your personal safety, involving so tt eee
29 deeply in itself the interests and happiness of ee forhie
30 British India. I must acknowledge, also, my obli-
31 gations to you, for having, whilst I was busied with
32 n2