European as well as Asiatic. The numbers of the home army of England are so small, and its organisation so faulty and inelastic, that India must obviously be prepared to defend herself against attack from without, and for this defence the fighting population of the Punjab, and notably the Sikhs, will be sufficient if reserves are formed in time and if the military spirit of the people is not allowed to fall asleep.
It is no use to expect from the Sikh more than he can give. His value to the British Government was shown in the Mutiny, when the Rájás of the Trans- and Cis-Sutlej, Patiála, Nábha, Jind and Kapúrthala, on the very first alarm and without waiting to discover whether the omens were auspicious or hostile, placed themselves at the head of their troops and marched to Delhi to fight against the enemies of the English Government. Their gallant example was followed by the Sikh people throughout the province, and India was recovered for the Queen as much by the loyalty and devotion of her Punjab subjects as by the bayonets of her English soldiers. But the Sikh is not of much value in the office or the municipal committee, as will be hereafter shown when the practice of Ranjít Singh in the choice of his ministers is described. In school and college he is outstripped by students of almost all other races. But academic success is not, in the East, a test of fitness for high office. The smooth-tongued, supple Bengali would probably rank first in such a competition, although he has neither the physical courage to fight nor the moral courage to
