the unusual course of speaking immediately
after the seconder of the Address, and in his peroration,
after laying stress on the responsibilities he was incurring,
proceeded: "I do not desire to be Minister of England; but
while I am Minister of England I will hold office by no
servile tenure; I will hold office unshackled by any other
obligation than that of consulting the public interests and
providing for the public safety."]

[Footnote 2: He explained that the attitude of Lord Grey made
the difficulties attending the formation of a Whig Ministry
insuperable.]

[Pageheading: EXTENSION OF INDIAN FRONTIER]

_Sir Henry Hardinge to Queen Victoria._[3]

CAMP, LULLIANEE, 24 miles from LAHORE, _18th February 1846._

The territory which it is proposed should be ceded in perpetuity to
your Majesty is a fine district between the Rivers Sutlej and Beas,
throwing our frontier forward, within 30 miles of Amritsar, so as
to have 50 miles of British territory in front of Loodiana, which,
relatively with Ferozepore, is so weak, that it appeared desirable to
the Governor-General to improve our frontier on its weakest side, to
curb the Sikhs by an easy approach towards Amritsar across the Beas
River instead of the Sutlej--to round off our hill possessions near
Simla--to weaken the Sikh State which has proved itself to be too
strong--and to show to all Asia that although the British Government
has not deemed it expedient to annex this immense country of the
Punjab, making the Indus the British boundary, it has punished the
treachery and violence of the Sikh nation, and exhibited its powers
in a manner which cannot be misunderstood. For the same political
and military reason, the Governor-General hopes to be able before the
negotiations are closed to make arrangements by which Cashmere may be
added to the possessions of Gholab Singh, declaring the Rajpoot Hill
States with Cashmere independent of the Sikhs of the Plains. The Sikhs
declare their inability to pay the indemnity of one million and a
half, and will probably offer Cashmere as an equivalent. In this case,
if Gholab Singh pays the money demanded for the expenses of the war,
the district of Cashmere will be ceded by the British to him, and the
Rajah become one of the Princes of Hindostan.

There are difficulties in the way of this arrangement, but considering
the military power which the Sikh nation has exhibited of bringing