From His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief to the Right Hon. Sir Henry Hardinge, G.C.B., Governor-General of India, &c.

Head Quarters, Army of the Sutlej, in front of Lahore, Feb. 22, 1846. Right Honourable Sir,-I have now to offer my congratulations on some of the earliest fruits of our victory of the 10th inst. About noon on the 20th, a day henceforth very memorable in our Indian annals, the army under my command pitched its tents on the plain of Myan Meer, under the walls of the Sikh capital. The entire submission of the Maharajah and his advisers to the will of the British Government had been before personally tendered to you, and graciously accepted; and this morning, in filfulment of one of the conditions which your wisdom had dictated for the real interests of the ruler and people of the Punjaub, I had the honour to conduct a brigade of troops to the city, which took formal possession of the Badshahee Musjid and Hoozooree Bagh, forming a part of the palace and citadel of Lahore. I trust, by the observance of a strict discipline, to preserve unshaken that confidence which the people of the city and country around it evidently repose in the generosity, clemency, and good faith of their conquerors. Supplies of all sorts are willingly brought to our camp and punctually paid for; and I believe that by every class of persons in this vicinity the presence of our troops is felt to be a national benefit; none certainly have had real cause to lament it as a calamity.

I have, &c.,

HUGH GOUGH, General, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.

General Order by the Right Hon. the Governor-General of India. Foreign Department, Camp Lahore, February 22, 1846.

The British army has this day occupied the gateway of the citadel of Lahore, the Badshahee Mosque, and the Hoozooree Bagh.

The remaining part of the citadel is the residence of his Highness the Maharajah, and also that of the families of the late Maharajah Runjeet Sing, for so many years the faithful ally of the

British Government. In consideration of these circumstances, no troops will be posted within the precincts of the palace gate.

The army of the Sutlej has now brought its operations in the field to a close by the dispersion of the Sikh army and the military occupation of Lahore, preceded by a series of the most triumphant successes ever recorded in the military history of India. The British Government, trusting to the faith of treaties and to the long subsisting friendship between the two states, had limited military preparations to the defence of its own frontier.

Compelled suddenly to assume the offensive by the unprovoked invasion of its territories, the British army, under the command of its distinguished leader, has in 60 days defeated the Sikh forces in four general actions, has captured 220 pieces of field artillery, and is now at the capital, dictating to the Lahore Durbar the terms of a treaty, the conditions of which will tend to secure the British provinces from the repetition of a similar outrage.

The Governor-General being determined, however, to mark with reprobation the perfidious character of the war, has required and will exact that every remaining piece of Sikh artillery which has been pointed against the British army during this campaign shall be surrendered.

The Sikh army, whose insubordinate conduct is one of the chief causes of the anarchy and misrule which have brought the Sikh state to the brink of destruction, is about to be disbanded.

The soldiers of the army of the Sutlej have not only proved their superior prowess in battle, but have on every occasion with subordination and patience endured the fatigues and privations inseparable from a state of active operations in the field. The native troops of this army have also proved that a faithful attachment to their colours and to the Company's service is an honourable feature in the character of the British Sepoy.

The Governor-General has repeatedly expressed, on his own part and that of the Government of India, admiration and gratitude for the important services which the army has rendered.

The Governor-General is now pleased to resolve, as a testimony

of the approbation of the Government of India of the bravery, discipline, and soldier-like bearing of the army of the Sutlej, that all the Generals, Officers, non-commisioned Officers, and Privates, shall receive a gratuity of 12 months' batta.

Every regiment which, in obedience to its orders, may have remained in posts and forts between Loodiana and Ferozepore, and was not present in action, as in the case of the troops ordered to remain at Moodkee to protect the wounded, and those left in the forts of Ferozepore and Loodiana, shall receive the gratuity of 12 months' batta.

Obedience to orders is the first duty of a soldier, and the Governor-General in affirming this principle can never admit that absence caused by the performance of indispensable duties, on which the success of the operations in the field greatly depended, ought to disqualify any soldier placed in these circumstances from participating in the gratuity given for the general good conduct of the army in the field.

All regiments and individuals ordered to the frontier and forming part of the army of the Sutlej, which may have reached Loodiana or Busseean before the date of this order, will be included as entitled to the gratuity.

By order of the Right Hon. the Gov.-Gen. of India,

F. CURRIE,

Secretary to the Government of India with the Gov.-Gen.

Arrangements were fast making for the occupation of the conquered country, which is exceedingly fertile, and will yield an annual revenue of 400,000%. The chief town is Jullinder, with 40,000 inhabitants; Phulloor, Pugwarra, and Sultanpore are also of note. The cantonments of the British will not be far distant from Lahore, so as to be able to keep down all attempts at insurrection.

THANKS TO THE ARMY IN INDIA-VICTORIES OF MOODKEE AND FEROZESHAH.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

The resolutions which follow the report of the speech of the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., in the House of Commons, were proposed in the House of Lords by the Right Hon. the Earl of Ripon, in a most effective speech; but which, in a great measure, was to the same purport as that of the Right Hon. Bart. at the head of her Majesty's Government-the motion was seconded by the Right Hon. the Marquis of Lansdowne who was succeeded in the debate, in the following words, by his Grace

The DUKE of WELLINGTON:-My Lords, I could not hear a motion of this description discussed without adding to what has been stated my unqualified approbation of the conduct of the troops on this occasion, and also of the officers who commanded them; and particularly of my right hon. and gallant friend the Governor-General, who, after having made all the arrangements appertaining to his duty as Governor-General, in order to collect all the resources of the country for the purpose of the great contest impending, having collected all the troops and made all the arrangements for the security of the country, volunteered his services in his rank in the army, in order to give his assistance to the officer commanding the army in chief in carrying on those operations which remained for him to carry on in order to secure the public interests and the possession of the country. There is no obligation on an officer placed in his situation to take that course; you can hardly point to a single instance of a man being placed in that situation; but he has given us an example which I hope will always be followed. When he found his services could be useful, he laid aside his position and even his power as Governor-General; for it should not be forgotten that he would have carried with him into the field the power over the military operations of the army; he laid that aside-which indeed it is true, according to the usual practice, could not in that way be exercised, and most particularly in his case could not, because her Majesty,

when he went to India, and the Court of Directors, gave him his commission to succeed the command of the army after the death or coming away of the present Commander-in-Chief; but he volunteered his service and his assistance to the Commander-in-Chief in the great contest which was impending. But it has been said truly, that all exerted themselves and did everything in their power to obtain the great result which has crowned their efforts. It is not generally known, my Lords, but I know it, that the enemy's position was completely closed in by intrenchments, so closed around, that it deserved rather the name of a fortress than a fortified position; and notwithstanding the advantages our troops in India have, of having water carriages and persons attached to each company whose duty it is to supply them with water, they laboured in this action under the singular disadvantage of being deprived even of that refreshment for nearly twenty-four hours, because the country happened to be so much dried up, and the villages so distant. Under these circumstances it was that the troops carried this position, certainly with very great loss, but which I hope has not left them in a state otherwise than efficient, if their services should be called for on military duty. I really must say, that I have not for a length of time heard of an action that has given me so much unqualified satisfaction as this, excepting in one particular. I have read with pain of one regiment. to which the word "panic" was applied; and I considered it my duty, in the position in which I am placed, to examine particularly into the circumstances. I see, in the returns, that that regiment is stated to have lost five-twelfths of its number, and a vast number of officers and non-commissioned officers. I have seen an account which states, that in the first quarter of an hour from the time when the regiment first entered into action, one third of its officers fell. I cannot question the accuracy of the report of the operations made by the commanding officer, but I wish that this officer, when he sat down to write an elaborate report of the conduct of the troops under his command, had referred to the list of killed and wounded; and if he had inquired into the loss sustained by that regiment, I believe he would have found that they were absolutely