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will sometimes continue to darken the transaction. In the present instance, the person most level to the aim of suspicion was Shere Singh, and if he really compassed the tragedy at the gateway, we may discover the grounds of that otherwise unaccountable hatred with which his powerful minister, Dhyan Singh, ever continued to regard him. It may not be worth while to dwell on the difficulties which beset Shere Singh at the outset. He had to contend against the friends of a Ranee, who was, or pretended, to be with child. These obstacles were ultimately removed and Shere Singh was acknowledged the undisputed sovereign of Lahore. Any one reasoning theoretically on human nature would undoubtedly conclude that a man who, like Shere Singh, had exhibited an insatiable tite for power, would afterwards, when in possession, delight in its exercise. But Oriental despots are rarely skilled in the art of wielding authority. Once possessed of it, therefore, they hasten to delegate it to another, while they, its nominal possessors, devote themselves to the enjoyment of amusement and pleasure, which they might have tasted with the additional zest of innocence, could they have been content to forego the vanity of being called sovereigns. Shere Singh once on the throne suffered all the offices of royalty to devolve on Dhyan Singh, and betook himself to the bottle and the chase. Ranjit Singh himself could drink when it suited his purpose, but his revelry was rather politic than otherwise, because it seems generally to have been undertaken for the purpose of discovering the inclinations of his guests. In this way he seems to have made Sir Alexander Burnes transparent, together with many other individuals, whom it is unnecessary to enumerate here. But Shere Singh was a genuine unsophisticated sot, who drank for drinking sake. His minister has generally obtained credit for very great if not transcendant abilities. We doubt the justice of his claims. That he was shrewd and clever may be admitted; but it is impossible to acknowledge him to have been a great statesman with the facts before us that he embarrassed the finances of the country, neglected the army, over which his son, Heera, held the chief command, and at the same time omitted to provide against the ill-effects of its resentment by distributing it over distant points of the empire.

A law by this time appeared to have established itself in the affairs of the Punjab, according to which the excitement of a periodical revolution seemed necessary to the health of the state and the comfort of those who managed it. There had now been a somewhat too long cessation from intestine troubles. The rule of Shere Singh was becoming antiquated; for he had been nearly three years on the throne. A plot was consequently formed for delivering the country from the perils of stagnation. At its head

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were the minister, Dhyan, and a discontented prince commanding a portion of the army named Ajeet Singh. These formed part of a school of politicians not extinct perhaps in Europe, but most widely prevalent in the East, where they act with an ingenuous frankness truly wonderful. Several of these statesmen have acquired what is denominated an European reputation, and it may not therefore be a work of supererogation to present the public with a sketch of their characters.

No doubt the fame in store for them will, at any rate, be short lived; but if we can impart temporary vitality to the imperfect records we possess of their acts and idiocyncrasies, it will suffice for political purposes. It should be remarked at the outset, that the court of Lahore, and all who frequented it, received from Ranjit Singh much of the peculiar impress which they exhibited. He modified their principles and opinions, and exercised a powerful influence over their tastes and manners. His spirit, therefore, may still be said to survive in the Punjâb, operating variously for good or for evil, according to the quality of the mental channels through which it flows.

Two only of the Sirdars who rose to distinction under the old Lion of Lahore, could be said, in the European sense of the word, to possess any education. Of those the first was Lena Singh Sindanwallah, a man of considerable natural abilities, who understood a great deal of mechanics, and had applied himself to the study of astronomy, according to the Ptolemaic system. He was master of the ordnance, and an adept in the casting of shrapnell shells, a store of which Ranjit Singh had been always anxious to possess since his interview with Lord William Bentinck at Rupar, in 1831, when he first became acquainted with the use of them. Lena likewise understood the practice of gunnery, and exhibited great skill in the adapting of carriages to howitzers, fitting them for vertical fire. His conversation often turned on abstract subjects; he would, for instance, strenuously resist the doctrine of the earth's motion, and bring instances to prove his argument, saying: If the earth move, and you are moving on its surface in a ship, the stick you throw into the water should move parallel with you, but it remains behind, therefore,' and so on. This chief was distinguished among the Sikhs for his gentlemanly appearance and manners. He was dignified and quiet in his demeanour, expressed himself clearly and concisely, and undoubtedly stood highest among the Sirdars, in the estimation of Ranjit, after the minister. He was not, however, much employed out of his own departments save in complimentary missions. There was a jealousy between the minister and him, which accounts for his siding with Ajeet Singh.

Ajeet Singh, who has not without reason been denominated the

arch-murderer, was a man so remarkable for beauty of countenance that he appeared to be modelled after a Greek statue. His large dark eyes were full of intelligence, his forehead was spacious and lofty, and over his round handsome chin curled a black beard, imparting to his countenance an air of peculiar manliness. But there was in his expression a ferocity indicating itself chiefly through the form of the mouth, which often startled those who beheld him. He had read some of the Goolistan, and on occasions, when the sayer of fine sayings, Fakir Aziz-ud-din, had talked himself hoarse or dry, this chief used in a clumsy way to make the rose of friendship bloom in the garden of esteem, and connect the hearts of inclination with the chain of fidelity.' He was the nephew of Uttur Singh, an old and influential chieftain, remarkable for being a violent anti-English partisan, and expressing his sentiments on the subject with bluntness and energy, even in public durbar. Ajeet Singh possessed, as has been observed, some literary accomplishments, and being a favourite with the maharajah, and of his own blood, with prepossessing exterior and tolerable address, he was on several occasions put at the head of political missions wherein the real agent was Fakir Aziz-ud-din. He always appeared to have an infinite opinion of himself, and the small amount of knowledge he possessed, however useless it may have been, conferred on him some consequence among his ignorant countrymen. This perhaps inspired him with the belief that his talents were adapted to the management of public business, more especially for that of diplomacy. His residence at Calcutta, after the death of Ranjit, as agent for the Ranee Chund Koor, is still remembered. His diplomatic talents on that occasion were, however, employed to no purpose; he therefore re-ingratiated himself with the durbar, and his bold, busy turn of mind soon connected him intimately with those who sought to compass the downfall of Shere Singh. They who counted on him as a passive instrument discovered their mistake when too late. He cut off his enemies and rivals with ruthless imperturbability, sparing neither age nor youth, nor even the infant at the breast. Caught at length in his own sanguinary toils he perished in the confusion which he had himself created.

Rajah Dhyan Singh has, on all hands, been regarded as a remarkable man, for the country in which he lived. He was the second brother of the three chiefs of Jumboo, and served Ranjit Singh in the capacity of first minister. He always stood very high in his master's favour, and, in some respects, deserved the rank he held. He was active, able, and intelligent, possessed unbounded influence over the Sikh people; and, but for his impatience, might, in all probability, have been ultimately sovereign of Lahore. He was devotedly attached to his master, Ranjit, whom

Gholab and Heera Singh.

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he treated with a degree of respect that was singular and even affecting. While his son, Heera Singh, occupied a silver chair near the maharajah, Dhyan Singh either stood or sat on the ground somewhat behind Ranjit, with his shield at his back, and his sword across his knee, like a soldier as he was. He was never seen without them. The shield was an ordinary one of rhinoceros' hide, the sword a plain close-handled talwar. His dress was plain and manly, consisting of a green silk quilted chupkun, except on state occasions, when he dressed very splendidly in armour, the present of Louis Philippe of France. His features were highly intellectual and expressive of a thoughtful cast of mind, but bearing a look of strong determination. He seldom smiled, and when he did, it was sadly. He spoke little, but it was always well and to the purpose. As may be supposed, he was shy and reserved with Europeans; but no one could be long in his company without perceiving his superiority to most about him. He was considerably above the middle height, well made, save in the singular deformity of a double thumb on both hands from above the second joint. In his habits of business he was indefatigable. Orders were given to wake him at all hours of the night, in the event of important despatches arriving. He rose altogether above the excesses common at the court of Lahore.

Gholab Singh, the elder brother of the minister, is a man of unprepossessing appearance, heavy and sinister looking. His character, however, has been misrepresented, or misunderstood, by most of those who have spoken of him. If he does not possess that perfect acquaintance with business for which his brother, Dhyan was remarkable, he can scarcely be said to be his inferior in natural abilities. He has always kept aloof from the durbar, and lived much among his own subjects in the hills; first, because he has been greatly dreaded at Lahore; and, secondly, because he has been himself apprehensive of treachery. He has been accused of extreme cruelty; and, it has been said, that a British officer, travelling through his territories in 1839, arrived at a village where a hundred of the inhabitants had recently been flayed alive for non-payment of all demands of revenue. Cruelty such as this is perfectly in keeping with the character of Asiatic princes, who seem often to excel in it in proportion to the greatness of their genius. Timour and Jenghis Khan were prodigies of cruelty, yet their mental energy was so great, that it enabled them to shake the whole of Asia; and Gholâb Singh, though neither a Jenghis nor a Timour, has yet displayed, in the midst of difficulties and dangers, a degree of foresight, circumspection, and intrepidity, by no means common in any part of the world.

Heera Singh was, in his early youth, more like a Delhi beau than

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a Sikh. He looked as unlike as well could be his father's son, in manners, dress, and style; but there was a strong family likeness of feature between them. He was undoubtedly of superior intelligence. Under the cloak of petulance and frivolity, he concealed considerable shrewdness, and his confident manners and licence of tongue enabled him to say much that had sense or meaning in a tone of careless indifference. His father, no doubt, depended greatly upon him, and he was early schooled under the most able masters of the Eastin that science which among them passes for the science of government. He has been thrown, at the age of barely three-and-twenty, into a position of singular difficulty. Whether he will prove equal to its exigencies, remains for time to show, though every fresh mail which arrives from India supplies fresh proofs of his ability and successful policy. An anecdote is related illustrating the extraordinary influence which, even in early youth, he exercised over the mind of Ranjit Singh. On one occasion, when the annual tribute had arrived from Kashmér, consisting of shawls, arms, jewels, &c., to the value of upwards of thirty thousand pounds, and was, according to custom, spread upon the floor for the inspection of the maharajah, the youthful favourite addressing the prince, observed petulantly, Your highness cannot need all these things; give them to me.' To which Ranjit, with equal coolness replied, You may take them.'

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Such, at the period of which we are now speaking, were the political leaders of the Punjab, all ambitious, all intensely selfish, but capable some of them of occasional acts of self-devotion, and a generous disregard of personal interest. Shere Singh had rently alienated from himself the minds of most of these men, partly, perhaps, by insults, but more by the mere fact of standing in their way. In himself, he was not entirely destitute of good qualities. He could bear and forbear. When Dhyan Singh reproached him, in open durbar, with his neglect of business, drunkenness, and other excesses; instead of giving way to the impulse of revenge, by which most princes, perhaps, would have been actuated, he honestly confessed his faults, and promised amendment. But the minister, conscious of the intemperateness of his own proceeding, and arguing like Calchas, that they who possess superior power will be sure, in the long run, to discover some means of avenging themselves, readily entered upon machinations for extirpating the seeds of such vengeance. It was, in one word, agreed between Ajeet and Dhyan Singh, that the maharajah should be cut off, after which they might settle between them the plan upon which public affairs were to be conducted. There are five versions of the history of this conspiracy, but that which appears to be best authenticated is this: the maharajah was invited to witness a