1 The wealthy
2 Sirdars not
3 likely to re-
4 spond to fur-
5 ther demands
6 for money.
7 A renewal of
8 war likely to
9 occur.
10 Present posi-
11 tion and fu-
12 ture prospects.
13 264 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
14 Sirdars have been left almost untouched, though for
15 form’s sake, they were called upon to contribute in
16 raising the indemnity which Deena Nath, Chuttur
17 Singh, Bhaee Ram Singh, or Tej Singh, could readily
18 have paid out of their own coffers!
19 If the government of Lahore found so much dif-
20 ficulty in raising half a million of money, at a time
21 when the repeated overthrows of its troops left no
22 alternative, how much more will this difficulty be
23 increased when a similar sum is demanded? The
24 government itself will not be in a condition to re-
25 spond to the call, and the Sirdars will turn a deaf
26 ear to the renewed demands made on them. They
27 will rather trust to the fortune of war, and stake
28 their wealth on the hazard of the die, than yield it
29 for the support of a weak and imbecile govern-
30 ment.
31 The war cry has ceased for the present; there is
32 an ominous lull; the recollection of their loss
33 weighs heavily on the Sikhs at this moment, and
34 may continue to do so for ‘some months, or even
35 until the withdrawal of the British force which now
36 garrisons at Lahore, but sooner or later the day
37 must come when the British standards will be again
38 unfurled, and the Indus, and not the Beas, become
39 the frontier barrier of her possessions in the east.
40 Such is the present position of the Punjab, and
41 such the shadows of the future, and it therefore
42 becomes a subject of the first importance, to consi-
43 der how the latter are to be guarded against; in
44 other words, how the British are to hold possession