Tempo:
CHAP. V
THE PROTECTED SIKHS
129
requires to be remodelled and made the subject of a isog-is. legislation at once wise, considerate, and comprehensive. In the Sikh states ignorance has been the main cause of mistakes and heart-burnings, and in 1818 Sir David Ochterlony frankly owned to the Marquis of sir David Hastings ^ that his proclamation of 1809 had been Ochterbased on an erroneous idea. He thought that a few ^""y'^ great chiefs only existed between the Sutlej and a^mls
Jumna, and that on them would devolve the mainten- of t^g false ance of order; whereas he found that the dissolution basis of his of the 'Misals', faulty as was their formation, had original almost thrown the Sikhs back upon the individual po^'^^yindependence of the times of Ahmad Shah. Both in considering the relation of the chiefs to one another, and their relation collectively to the British Government, too little regard was perhaps had to the peculiar circumstances of the Sikh people. They were in a state of progression among races as barbarous as themselves, when suddenly the colossal power of England arrested them, and required the exercise of political moderation and the practice of a just morality from men ignorant alike of despotic control and of
regulated freedom,In a private communication, dated 17th May, 1818. In the Sikh States on either side of the Sutlej, the British Government was long fortunate in being represented by such nfen as Capt. Murray and Mr. Clerk, Sir David Ochterlony, and Lieut. -Col. Wade so different from one another, and yet so useful to one common purpose of good for the English power. These men, by their personal character or influence, added to the general reputation of their countrymen, and they gave adaptation and flexibility to the rigid unsympathizing nature of a foreign and civilized supremacy. Sir David Ochterlony will long live in the memory of the people of Northern India as one of the greatest of the conquering English chiefs; and he was among the very last of the British leaders who endeared himself both to the army which followed him and to the princes who bowed before the colossal power of his race. Nevertheless, the best of subordinate authorities, immersed in details and occupied with local affairs, are liable to be biassed by views which promise immediate and special advantage. They can seldom be more than upright or dexterous administrators, and they can still more rarely be men whose minds have been enlarged by study and reflexion as well as by actual experience of the world. Thus the ablest but too often resemble merely the practical man of the moment; while the supreme authority, especially when absent from his councillors and intent upon some great undertaking, is of necessity dependent mainly upon the local representatives of the Government, whose notions must inevitably be partial or one-sided, for good, indeed, as well as for evil. The author has thus, even during his short service, seen many reasons to be thankful that there is a remote deliberative or corrective body, which can survey things through an atmosphere cleared of 1
-
—
THE PROTECTED SIKHS
129
requires to be remodelled and made the subject of a isog-is. legislation at once wise, considerate, and comprehensive. In the Sikh states ignorance has been the main cause of mistakes and heart-burnings, and in 1818 Sir David Ochterlony frankly owned to the Marquis of sir David Hastings ^ that his proclamation of 1809 had been Ochterbased on an erroneous idea. He thought that a few ^""y'^ great chiefs only existed between the Sutlej and a^mls
Jumna, and that on them would devolve the mainten- of t^g false ance of order; whereas he found that the dissolution basis of his of the 'Misals', faulty as was their formation, had original almost thrown the Sikhs back upon the individual po^'^^yindependence of the times of Ahmad Shah. Both in considering the relation of the chiefs to one another, and their relation collectively to the British Government, too little regard was perhaps had to the peculiar circumstances of the Sikh people. They were in a state of progression among races as barbarous as themselves, when suddenly the colossal power of England arrested them, and required the exercise of political moderation and the practice of a just morality from men ignorant alike of despotic control and of
regulated freedom,In a private communication, dated 17th May, 1818. In the Sikh States on either side of the Sutlej, the British Government was long fortunate in being represented by such nfen as Capt. Murray and Mr. Clerk, Sir David Ochterlony, and Lieut. -Col. Wade so different from one another, and yet so useful to one common purpose of good for the English power. These men, by their personal character or influence, added to the general reputation of their countrymen, and they gave adaptation and flexibility to the rigid unsympathizing nature of a foreign and civilized supremacy. Sir David Ochterlony will long live in the memory of the people of Northern India as one of the greatest of the conquering English chiefs; and he was among the very last of the British leaders who endeared himself both to the army which followed him and to the princes who bowed before the colossal power of his race. Nevertheless, the best of subordinate authorities, immersed in details and occupied with local affairs, are liable to be biassed by views which promise immediate and special advantage. They can seldom be more than upright or dexterous administrators, and they can still more rarely be men whose minds have been enlarged by study and reflexion as well as by actual experience of the world. Thus the ablest but too often resemble merely the practical man of the moment; while the supreme authority, especially when absent from his councillors and intent upon some great undertaking, is of necessity dependent mainly upon the local representatives of the Government, whose notions must inevitably be partial or one-sided, for good, indeed, as well as for evil. The author has thus, even during his short service, seen many reasons to be thankful that there is a remote deliberative or corrective body, which can survey things through an atmosphere cleared of 1
-
—
©
2026
Lehal.net