1 The weakness
2 of the Lahore
3 government
4 before the in-
5 vasion.
6 Favourable
7 opportunity
8 for Goolab
9 Singh’s inter-
10 ference,
11 258 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
12 events, discord and anarchy must soon result front
13 the present condition of the Punjab: there may be a
14 king at Lahore, but how far does his power extend ?
15 Can he leave that fortress, and trust himself to his
16 own troops, or can his mother retreat from her
17 stronghold without the risk of being murdered ?
18 Goolab Singh appears, at present, a firm ally of
19 the Lahore government, and sincere in his endea-
20 vours to arrange matters between it and the Bri-
21 tish ; but such mediation is only nominal on his
22 part. Had the Lahore government been guilty of
23 instigating the Sikhs to their invasion of the Bri-
24 tish territories, the heads of it might justly have
25 dreaded the displeasure of the latter. But we
26 have shown, and the government well know, that
27 neither the Ranee, nor her son, had sufficient con-
28 trol over the soldiery, to restrain their desire to
29 invade India. Had it been otherwise—had they
30 instigated the hostility of the Sikhs, the Governor-
31 general would have entered into no treaty with
32 them. The opportunity was favourable to Goolab
33 Singh’s intervention as a mediator, since there was
34 no other influential person who could undertake
35 tlte task with any prospect of success; for the
36 Sirdars were all, more or less, implicated in the
37 invasion; whereas Goolab Singh had stood aloof
38 throughout the contest. He was thus the only
39 person connected with Lahore, that could be
40 called to the aid of the Ranee and her son, at a
41 time when the safety of both, as well as the exist-
42 ence of the Lahore government, was at stake. The