making the acquaintance of the young Maharajah
Dhuleep Singh.[45] It is not without mixed feelings of pain and
sympathy that the Queen sees this young Prince, once destined to so
high and powerful a position, and now reduced to so dependent a one
by her arms; his youth, amiable character, and striking good looks,
as well as his being a Christian, the first of his high rank who has
embraced our faith, must incline every one favourably towards him, and
it will be a pleasure to us to do all we can to be of use to him, and
to befriend and protect him.

It also interested us to see poor old Prince Gholam Mohammed, the last
son of the once so dreaded Tippoo Sahib.

We both hope that Lord Dalhousie's health is good, and the Prince
sends him his kind remembrance.

[Footnote 45: This young Prince was born in 1838, and was a
younger son of Runjeet Singh, Chief of the Sikhs, who, after a
loyal alliance with England for thirty years, died in 1839.
In 1843 Dhuleep Singh was raised to the throne, which had been
occupied successively by Runjeet's elder sons. After the Sikh
war in 1845, the British Government gave to the boy-king the
support of a British force. In 1849, after the destruction of
the Sikh army at Gujerat, and the annexation of the Punjab,
a pension was bestowed on the young Maharajah on condition
of his remaining loyal to the British Government. He became a
Christian and was at this time on a visit to England.]

[Pageheading: MILITARY APPOINTMENTS]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Hardinge._

OSBORNE, _6th August 1854._

The Queen has received Lord Hardinge's letter of the 4th.[46] She
would for the future wish all papers for signature to be accompanied
by a descriptive list showing at a glance the purport of the
documents, as is done with papers from other Government offices.

The Queen has looked over the lists of Major-Generals made by the last
brevet which Lord Hardinge submitted, and must confess that it does
not afford a great choice; yet, leaving out the cavalry officers and
those disqualified by age or infirmities, there remain some few whom
she has marked with an "X," for whose exclusion no adequate reason
is apparent. An exclusion of officers who have served in the Guards,
_merely on that account_, the Queen would not wish to see adopted as
a principle, and the selection of Colonels of the Line (because there
are no Generals fit), in preference to Genera