1 Continued,
2 -
3 198 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
4 unprovoked invasion of the British provinces shall
5 have been exacted. These objects will include full
6 indemnity for all expenses incurred during the war,
7 and such arrangements for the future goverment
8 of the Lahore territories, as will give perfect secu-
9 rity to the British government against similar acts
10 of perfidy and aggression.
11 “ Military operations against the government
12 and army of the Lahore state, have not been under-
13 taken by the government of India from any desire
14 of territorial aggrandisement. The Governor-
15 general, as already announced in the proclamation
16 of the 13th December, ‘ sincerely desired to see a
17 strong Sikh government re-established in the Pun-
18 jab, able to control its army and protect its sub-
19 jects.’ The sincerity of the professions is proved
20 by the fact, that no preparations for hostilities had
21 been made, when the Lahore government, sud-
22 denly and without a pretext of complaint, invaded
23 the British territories. This unprovoked aggres-
24 sion has compelled the British government to
25 have recourse to arms, and to organize the means
26 of offensive warfare ; and whatever may now befall
27 the Lahore state, the consequences can alone be
28 attributed to the misconduct of that government
29 and its army.
30 “No extension of territory was desired by the
31 Government of India; the measures necessary for
32 providing indemnity for the past, and security for
33 the future will, however, involve the retention, by
34 the British government, of a portion of the country