1 tHfi COURT OF THS SIKH SOVEREIGNS. 103
2 A. — ^Very well, your Highness.
3 (The pundit arrives, and takes out the stone ;
4 the Maharajah rises, and rubs it on his face.)
5 .M. — Misher, bring 1,000 rupees, and put
6 them at the pundit's feet, and give him also ten
7 rupees a day for his expenses.
8 Pundit — I don't want any of your rupees. 1
9 have Mahadeo's orders to return to Benares when
10 you are well ; don't hold your court for a day or
11 two*
12 After some days the Maharajah hears that the
13 holy pundit has fallen in love with a dancing girl,
14 and is accordingly an impostor ; his only remark
15 is — " these are holy men, and are privileged to do
16 such things if they like."
17 It is evident from the foregoing dramatic scenes
18 that there was no lack of wealth at the court of
19 the first Maharajah ; but no accurate idea can be
20 formed of the extent to which it could be dis-
21 played excepting from a perusal of the descriptions
22 of the great meetings which took place between
23 the Ruler of the Punjaub and the Governor-
24 General of India. Several of these interviews
25 distinguished the intercourse of the two powers
26 in later years, each characterized by a greater or
27 lesser degree of pomp. The author selects the
28 following from Stocqueler's Memorials of Aff^
29 ghamstariy because it refers to the most superb of