Such are the opinions quoted in favour of some form or other of a Forward Policy; and (setting aside the advance to Quetta), they amount only to advice that we should attempt to extend our influence by legitimate means. Even these opinions do not advise that we should quarrel with the Ameer of Cabul unless he will consent to alter the Treaty of 1857 by admitting European Residents, nor that we should take his territory.

With respect to the acquisition of fresh territory, General Sir Henry Norman has, in his recent article in the Fortnightly Review,' pointed out that there is great weight of opinion against it. His own is as weighty as any. He refers to Lord Sandhurst, Sir Henry Durand, and Sir Herbert Edwardes, as being both soldiers and statesmen of the highest ability and distinction, and intimately acquainted with the people and the countries in question; to Sir John Adye, a soldier of distinction, who had served on the NorthWest Frontier, and to the silence of other responsible persons. We take the liberty of quoting his words on this point:

Accompanying Sir Walter Gilbert's force in 1849 in its pursuit of the Sikhs and Afghans after the battle of Goojerat, until the former had surrendered and the latter had fled before us, first from the fortress of Attock and then through the Khyber Pass, I remained for several years on the frontier, and ever since have taken the deepest interest in it, while I have been acquainted with the views of many of the most eminent persons who served on, or who visited, the frontier. I never, until long after I had quitted that frontier, heard a question raised as to the line taken up in 1843 as respects Sind and in 1849 as respects the Punjab, being not sufficiently advanced and readily defensible. While many opinions have been given as to the folly of advancing our frontier, it seems an undoubted fact that no opposite opinion ever was expressed by any of the able Governors-General who have held sway in India up to the arrival of Lord Lytton, by any Commander-in-Chief in India, by any Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab-the officer through whom, until 1876, all

Cabul affairs used to be transacted, or by any member of the Supreme Council, before which all important questions affecting the Indian Empire come. Many officers in these positions have left on record the strongest possible objections to a forward movement, except as an operation of war. I might, I believe, add that no commander of the Punjab frontier force, and no Commissioner of Peshawur (the functionary who has been charged especially with the duty of watching Cabul affairs), has urged any rectification of frontier.

In fact it may be said that until Lord Lytton reached India armed with instructions to press European Residents on the Ameer, no officer serving in India, and responsible for the safety or good government of the North-West frontier, or of the Indian dominions at large, has advised any extension of our frontier, or, except by peaceable and gentle means, any extension of our political influence.

27

CHAPTER III.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH SHERE ALI, AND THE UMBALLA CONFERENCE.

IT will have been observed that the 9th, 10th, and 11th paragraphs of the last-quoted despatch of the Government of India indicate, not any change of policy, but an opinion that some further steps, quite consistent with the policy of the previous fourteen years, might, under changed circumstances, be usefully taken. Keep a firm, an open, tone with the Russians, they say, and tell them they cannot be permitted to interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan. As for Shere Ali, he has now established himself with reasonable certainty, and there is now a Government in Afghanistan stable enough to be dealt with. Let us therefore assist him with some money and munitions of war, and let us encourage personal intercourse with him. These views led to the Umballa Conference (vide A., pp. 84-88).

In 1868, Shere Ali asked for some further assistance on the ground that his rivals had, when in power, anticipated the revenues of the country; and this was conceded to him, the total gifts amounting to 120,000l., and some thousands of stands of arms.

On January 9, 1869, Lord Lawrence wrote to Shere Ali a farewell letter, in which he again states his policy.

From the Viceroy and Governor-General of India to His Highness the Ameer Shere Ali Khan of Cabul.

I have received and carefully perused your Highness's letter, dated Shaban 12, 1285, and addressed to me.

I have also read your letter to his Honour the LieutenantGovernor of the Punjab of the same date.

From an attentive perusal of these papers, as well as from a constant and careful observation of all the various events which have taken place in Afghanistan during the past few years, I am well acquainted with your Highness's present position and future prospects, and feel satisfied that your Highness desires that the friendship which has hitherto subsisted between you and the British Government should be maintained.

It is the earnest desire of the Government of India, as I have already intimated, to see your Highness's authority established on a basis of solidity and permanency, and to cement the bonds of friendship and alliance which ought to exist between the British power and your Highness as an independent Ruler.

You have been already apprised by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab that a sum of six lakhs of rupees has been placed at your unreserved disposal. For this, the British Government looks for no other return than abiding confidence, sincerity, and goodwill.

I regret that obstacles of an insuperable nature should have prevented my meeting your Highness at some suitable place on the frontier of both kingdoms.

As a further proof of the desire of the British Government, which fears no aggression and which wishes for no conquest, to see a strong, a just, and a merciful government established by your Highness at Cabul and throughout Afghanistan, I have to inform you that, in the course of the next three months, three sums of two lakhs of rupees each, or in all of six lakhs more, will be placed at your entire control, to be applied by your Highness in the manner which you may think most conducive to the furtherance of your interests and to the consolidation of your authority.

For this again the Government of India will expect no return save one of the kind just indicated in the preceding part of this letter.

I am leaving the country almost immediately, and am handing over the high office of Viceroy and Governor-General to my successor.

But the policy which I have advisedly pursued with regard to the affairs of Afghanistan, is one which I have entered on with anxious deliberation, and which has commanded the

assent and approval of Her Majesty the Queen of England; and as long as you continue by your actions to evince a real desire for the alliance of the British Government, you have nothing to apprehend in the way of a change of policy, or of our interference in the internal affairs and administration of your kingdom.

It will remain for the head of the Administration to consider in each succeeding year, what further proofs may be given of our desire to see your power consolidated, and what amount of practical assistance, in the shape of money or materials of war, may periodically be made over to your Highness as a testimony of our good will, and to the furtherance of your legitimate authority and influence.

But be assured that you will never err in shaping your course with a view to British alliance, and in considering Her Majesty the Queen of England and her Viceroy in India as your best and truest friends.

On January 12, 1869, Lord Mayo succeeded Lord Lawrence as Governor-General.

The Conference at Umballa between Lord Mayo and Shere Ali commenced on March 27, 1869. On the 31st Lord Mayo wrote to Shere Ali as follows (vide A., pp. 90, 91) :

From His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General of India to His Highness Ameer Shere Ali Khan, Walee of Cabul and its Dependencies.

Dated, Camp, Umballa: March 31, 1869. As your Highness did me the honour to intimate that some further expression of the sentiments of the British Government in regard to your present visit and to the affairs of Afghanistan would be acceptable, it is with much pleasure and satisfaction that I accede to your Highness's wishes in the following communication.

I am most desirous of expressing to you the sincere gratification which the visit of your Highness has afforded to me and to all the members of my Government.

I regard this visit as a mark of the confidence reposed by your Highness in the Government of the Queen, which will ever be remembered. I earnestly trust that on your Highness's return to your own country you may be enabled speedily to establish your legitimate rule over your entire kingdom;