1 82 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 feelings he was careful to conceal, for he was de-
3 termined, if the English wanted his assistance, to
4 make them pay for it.
5 The reply to the deputation, however unsatis-
6 factory it may have seemed to the Malwa chiefs,
7 caused no little anxiety to Ranjit Singh, and he
8 hastily summoned the Phiilkian Rajas to his own
9 court, where he did his best to convince them of
10 his goodwill, and to induce them to break off their
11 connection with the British. Their conference was
12 still in progress when intelligence was received of
13 the approach of an envoy from the British Govern-
14 ment, whose mission, as Ranjit Singh was fully
15 aware, was to conclude a defensive alliance against
16 the supposed designs of Napoleon. It was arranged
17 that the meeting should take place at Kasur, on
18 the banks of the Sutlej, and there the Maharaja
19 encamped, surrounded by a large army.
20 The envoy to whom these negotiations had been
21 entrusted was Mr. C. T. Metcalfe, then a young man
22 of twenty-three, but, as subsequent events proved,
23 a born diplomatist. His reception by the Maharaja
24 was marked by courtesy not amounting to cordiality.
25 He lost no time in stating the object of his mission,
26 and Ranjit Singh declared himself ready to enter
27 into the proposed alliance on condition that the
28 Jumna was recognized as the eastern limit of his
29 territory. With such a condition Mr. Metcalfe had
30 no power to comply ; nor was he able to hold out
31 any hope that his Government would view it with
32 favour. As the negotiations proceeded, the attitude
33 of Ranjit Singh grew less uncompromising; and