sible for him to pledge himself to six or any other number of days. The Lord Chief Justice said the Court would exercise its discretion. A good deal of time had been wasted in dealing with trifling topics, but, as long as the learned counsel dealt with important facts and material issues, there would be no disposition to curtail or abridge his address. After some further discussion on this point, Dr. Kenealy continued his speech, returning to the Wapping witnesses for the Crown, who, he contended, had no sufficient opportunities of knowing Arthur Orton, and ought not, therefore, to be relied upon by the jury. He also argued that the evidence of Donna Maria Hayley, of Melipilla, who recognized the defendant as Orton, had been coloured by the handsome sum she had received from the prosecution, and was in other respects unsatisfactory. The learned counsel then dealt with the other witnesses called to support the Orton theory; in most instances quoting their evidence, and pointing out where it was open to doubt or suspicion. Passing next to Mr. Purcell, he said he did not say anything against that gentleman, as great allowance was to be made for him, as, being a stranger in Melipilla, and knowing hardly anything of Spanish, he was at the mercy of the people by whom he was surrounded, and naturally fell into grievous errors. Regarding the personal appearance of Orton, he reminded the jury that he had produced forty-nine witnesses who deposed to his having high cheekbones, ears like those of a kangaroo, and bored for earrings, none of which peculiarities were to be found in "our fat friend," as he styled his client. A sitting was occupied with reading tables compiled by Mr. Cooper Wyld, showing how many witnesses had sworn to the extreme size of Orton's hands and feet, his pockmarks, his height, and his slovenly appearance. Dr. Kenealy next read abstracts of the evidence of each witness, and illustrated them with running comments. Except one brief remark from Mr. Hawkins, and one or two almost as brief from the Judges, the learned Doctor was now uninterrupted save by the somewhat pertinent queries and observations of one or two of the jury, who followed with the closest attention all that was said. On the last day of the year Dr. Kenealy was still continuing his speech for the defence, his observations during the greater part of the day being directed to an analysis of what is known as the Orton evidence in this case. Dr. Kenealy reverted to the foreman's statement about earring marks being eradicable, when the foreman stated that his own ears had been pierced and showed no marks. In referring to his client the learned counsel instanced his independent treatment of his friends as a proof of patrician recklessness. "Though," exclaimed the Doctor, "I have worked for that man as I should work for my own flesh and blood, he has never said 'Thank you!"" "You should take that for granted," interposed the claimant. And so the third year of the Tichborne case ended, leaving Dr. Kenealy speaking. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AND STATE PAPERS. I. CORRESPONDENCE WITH RUSSIA RESPECTING CENTRAL ASIA. No. 1. EARL GRANVILLE TO LORD A. LOFTUS. Foreign Office, October 17, 1872. MY LORD,-Her Majesty's Government have not yet received from the Cabinet of St. Petersburg communication of the Report which General Kaufmann was long since instructed to draw up on the countries south of the Oxus which are claimed by the Ruler of Afghanistan as his hereditary possessions. Her Majesty's Government have awaited this communication in full con fidence that impartial inquiries instituted by that distinguished officer would confirm the views they themselves take of this matter, and so enable the two Governments to come to a prompt and definitive decision on the question that has been so long in discussion between them. But as the expected communication has not reached them, and as they consider it of importance both for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in Central Asia, and for removing all causes of misunderstanding between the Imperial Government and themselves, I will no longer delay making known through your Excellency to the Imperial Government the conclusion at which her Majesty's Government have arrived after carefully weighing all the evidence before them. In the opinion, then, of her Majesty's Government, the right of the Ameer of Cabul (Shere Ali) to the possession of the territories up to the Oxus as far down as Khoja Saleh is fully established, and they believe, and have so stated to him through the Indian Government, that he would have a right to defend these territories if invaded. On the other hand, her Majesty's authorities in India have declared their determination to remonstrate strongly with the Ameer should he evince any disposition to overstep these limits of his kingdom. Hitherto the Ameer has proved most amenable to the advice offered to him by the Indian Government, and has cordially accepted the peaceful policy which they have recommended him to adopt, because the Indian Government have been able to accompany their advice with an assurance that the territorial integrity of Afghanistan would in like manner be respected by those Powers beyond his frontiers which are amenable to the influence of Russia. The policy thus happily inaugurated has produced the most beneficial results in the establishment of peace in the countries where it has long been unknown. Her Majesty's Government believe that it is now in the power of the Russian Government, by an explicit recognition of the right of the Ameer of Cabul to these territories which he now claims, which Bokhara herself admits to be his, and which all evidence as yet produced shows to be in his actual and effectual possession, to assist the British Government in perpetuating, as far as it is in human power to do so, the peace and prosperity of those regions, and in removing for ever by such means all cause of uneasiness and jealousy between England and Russia in regard to their respective policies in Asia. For your Excellency's more complete information I state the territories and boundaries which her Majesty's Government consider as fully belonging to the Ameer of Cabul, viz. : (1.) Badakshan, with its dependent district of Wakhan from the Sarikal (Woods Lake) on the east to the junction of the Kokcha River with the Oxus (or Penjah), forming the northern boundary of this Afghan province throughout its entire extent. (2.) Afghan Turkestan, comprising the districts of Kunduz, Khulm, and Balkh, the northern boundary of which would be the line of the Oxus from the junction of the Kokcha River to the post of the Khoja Saleh, inclusive, on the high road from Bokhara to Balkh. Nothing to be claimed by the Afghan Ameer on the left bank of the Oxus below Khoja Saleh. (3.) The internal districts of Aksha, Seripool, Maimenat, Shibberjan, and Andkoi, the latter of which would be the extreme Afghan frontier possession to the north-west, the desert beyond belonging to independent tribes of Turcomans. (4.) The western Afghan frontier between the dependencies of Herat and those of the Persian province of Khorassan is well known and need not here be defined. Your Excellency will give a copy of this despatch to the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs. I am, &c., St. Petersburg, December 7, 1872. M. LE COMTE,-Your Excellency has already received copy of Lord Granville's despatch of the 17th October, which was communicated to us by Lord A. Loftus by order of his Government. It refers to the affairs of Central Asia. Before answering it, it becomes necessary for me to recapitulate the different phases of the negotiation between us and the English Cabinet upon this question. The two Governments were equally desirous to forestall any cause of disagree. ment between them in that part of Asia. Both wished to establish such a state of things as would secure peace in those countries, and consolidate the relations of friendship and good understanding between the two Governments. They had consequently come to an agreement that it was expedient to have a certain "intermediary" zone, for the purpose of preserving their respective possessions from immediate contact. Afghanistan seemed well fitted to supply what was needed; and it was consequently agreed that the two Governments should use all their influence with their neighbouring States towards preventing any collision or encroachment one side or the other of this "intermediary" zone. All that remained, in order to make the agreement between the two Cabinets as complete in fact as it already was in principle, was to trace the exact limits of the zone. It was here that a doubtful point arose. The founder of the Afghan State, Dost Mahommed Khan, had left behind him a state of confusion which did not allow of the territorial extension which Afghanistan had acquired at certain moments of his reign, being accepted as a basis. It was consequently agreed that no territories should be taken into account, but such as having formerly recognized the authority of Dost Mahommed were still in the actual possession of Shere Ali Khan. It thus became necessary to ascertain, with all possible accuracy, what were the territories in his actual possession. For this purpose it was requisite to have positive local data, which neither Government possessed, with reference to these distant and imperfectly-known countries. It was agreed that the Governor General of Turkestan should be instructed to take advantage of his residence in the proximity of and his relations with the neighbouring Khanates, to collect all the information necessary to throw light upon the question, and to enable the two Governments to come to a practical decision with the facts before them. Such was the point, M. le Comte, as your Excellency will recollect, at which our negotiations with the English Cabinet had arrived. In conformity with this decision, M. l'Aide-de-Camp Général de Kaufmann had taken every possible measure towards carrying out this preliminary investigation. Owing, moreover, to difficulties arising out of the distances involved, the excessively complicated nature of the points to be elucidated, the absence of genuine sources of information, and the impossibility of a direct inquiry, he was unable to accomplish his task as speedily as we, no less than the Government of her Britannic Majesty, would have desired. Hence the delay pointed out in Lord Granville's despatch. We have, however, already drawn attention to the fact that the cause of the delay is to be found in the serious attention which the Imperial Cabinet devoted to this affair. It would have been easy to rest content with hastily-collected notions, which later would have given rise to misunderstandings. We preferred to study the question conscientiously, since it was one of giving a solid and durable basis to the political organization of Central Asia, and to the good and friendly relations, present as well as future, which the two Governments aimed at establishing between them on that basis. At the beginning of last October the Imperial Ministry was able to announce to Lord A. Loftus and to your Excellency that the Councillor of State Struve, to whom these inquiries had been entrusted, had at last just arrived at St. Petersburg, and that, as soon as the materials he had collected had been put into shape, the result would be communicated to the Cabinet in London. It was whilst this work was going on that Lord Granville's despatch was communicated to us, informing us of the opinion which her Britannic Majesty's Government has thought fit to form upon the points under discussion. The Imperial Cabinet, having in view the spirit of the agreement arrived at in principle between the two Governments, none the less thinks it its duty to transmit to the Government of her Britannic Majesty the particulars collected on the spot by order of the Governor-General of Turkestan, and to lay before them most frankly the conclusions which, in its opinion, are their natural consequences. These particulars and conclusions are contained in the letter, copy of which is inclosed, which M. l'Aide-de-Camp Général de Kaufmann has just addressed to me, and in the Memorandum which forms its inclosure. I will sum them up: The question to be settled had two sides 1. To ascertain the real state of possession at this moment, so far as it is possible to prove it in those countries. 2. Starting from this status quo as a basis, to seek for a line of demarcation, to be traced, which will best answer the object of the present negotiations; that is, to remove as far as possible all cause of conflict or mutual encroachments between the neighbouring Khanates, and consequently assure, as far as can be done, the state of peace which, henceforward the two Governments should respectively use all their influence to cause to be respected. Looking at the question from these two points of view, its study led to the following conclusions: I. That to the north, the Amou Daria, forms, in fact, the proper frontier of Afghanistan from its confluence with the Kouktcha, as far as the point of Khodja Salek. So far our data confirm the opinion of the Government of her Britannic Majesty, and the frontier in question seems the more reasonable, that it can give rise to no disputes on the part of the inhabitants of the banks of the Amou Daria. 2. To the north-east, the data we have collected give the confluence of that river with the Kouktcha as the limit of the districts over which Shere Ali Khan exercises actual undisputed sovereignty. Beyond that limit, and especially with regard to Badakshan and Wakhan, it has been impossible to find any traces of such a sovereignty; on the contrary, all our information upon the subject goes to prove that these districts should be regarded as independent. In the communication from her Britannic Majesty's Government, which was made to us in November last, it is seen that, according to the testimony of Major Montgomery, the Ameer of Cabul has "considerable authority" in Badakshan, and that the Afghans have "assisted Mahmood Shah to upset the Emir or Chief of this country, Jehandar Shah." But these facts themselves seem to point rather to the real independence of Badakshan than to its absolute subjection to the Ameer of Cabul. The information collected by M. Struve, and contained in his Memorandum, supports this conclusion. Mention is made, it is true, of interference by the Afghan Ameer in the internal disputes of Badakshan, and of attempts on his part to get his assistance paid for by a kind of tribute; but nowhere are the signs to be found which, in Asia, accompany the exercise of the rights of sovereignty; for instance, the presence in the country of Afghan officers, and of officials to collect the taxes. The Chiefs of Badakshan looked upon themselves, and were looked upon by their neighbours, as independent Chiefs. It follows that, from these facts, at the most it may be granted that the Ameer of Cabul has on various occasions attempted to bring Badakshan under his dominion; that he has several times profited by internal discord to exercise over the country considerable control, based on his position as a neighbour and the superiority of his forces; but that it is impossible to deduce from them the existence of a real and uncontested sovereign power. As to Wakhan, that country seems to have remained up to the present moment even more outside the circle of the direct action of the Chiefs of Afghanistan. 3. We have next to inquire whether or not, in this state of things, and in view of our common object—that is, the establishment in those regions of a permanent place guaranteed by both Governments, it is well to recognize the rights claimed by the Ameer of Cabul over Badakshan and Wakhan, and to comprise these two countries within the territorial limits of Af. ghanistan. Such is not the opinion of M. l'Aide-de-Camp Général Kaufmann, and the Imperial Cabinet arrives at the same conclusions. In the present state of things there is no dispute between Badakshan and her neighbours. Bokhara puts forward no claim to that country. The two States are, besides, too weak, too absorbed in their own affairs, to wish to quarrel. England and Russia would consequently have nothing to do but to maintain this state of peace as well between these Khanates as between Afghanistan and Badakshan; and this task would not seem beyond their power. Far otherwise would it be the day that the Ameer of Cabul should extend his authority over Badakshan and Wakhan. He would find himself in immediate contact with Kashgar, Kokand, and Bokhara, from which he is now sepa rated by those two countries. From that moment it would be far more difficult to avoid contests, due either to his ambition and consciousness of power, or to the jealousy of his neighbours. This would give a most precarious basis to the peace which it is sought to establish in those countries, and compromise the two Governments who would be called upon to guarantee it. This arrrangement would consequently seem to us to go directly counter to the object which they have in common. It would appear to us much more in keeping with that object to allow the present state of things to continue. Badakshan and Wakhan would thus form a barrier interposed between the Northern and Southern States of Central Asia; and this barrier, strengthened by the combined action which England and Russia are able to bring to bear upon such of those States as are accessible to their influence, would effectually prevent any dangerous contact, and would in our opinion secure, as far as anything could do so, the peace of those countries. 4. As for the boundaries to be recognized as those of Afghanistan on the North-west, starting from Khodja-Saleh, the information we have received equally throws doubts upon the de facto possession by the Ameer of Cabul of the towns of Aktchi, Seripool, Meimané, Chibirgan, and Andkhoi, which it is a question of comprising within the acknowledged boundaries of Afghanistan. These districts, however, being divided from Bokhara by deserts, would not, if annexed to the Afghan territory, offer the same dangers of contact that we have pointed out on the north-east; and their annexation would not, consequently, be open to the same objections. If the Government of her Britannic Majesty adheres to its opinion of the expediency of comprising these places in the limits of the Afghan territory, we will not insist upon the principle from which we started, namely, that no districts should be acknowledged as part of Afghanistan, but such as had been under the rule of Dost Mohammed Khan, and were, at this moment, in actual subjection to Shere Ali Khan. In deference to the wish of the Government of her Britannic Majesty, the Imperial Cabinet would be disposed, as far as this portion of the boundary is concerned, to accept the line laid down in Lord Granville's despatch. Such, M. le Comte, are briefly the conclusions which we think the materials in our hands justify us in forming. Be so good as to lay them before the Chief Secretary of State of her Britannic Majesty. Our intention, in communicating them to his Excellency, is not only to fulfil our promise. We believe that, in attempting the rational solution of a question which interests the two Governments equally, we are best carrying out the purpose which has animated both ever since their first friendly interchange of ideas. Receive, &c., Inclosure 1 in No. 2. GENERAL KAUFMANN TO PRINCE GORTCHAKOW. (Translation.) St. Petersburg, November 29, 1872. I HAVE the honour to submit to your Highness herewith a Memorandum on the question of the northern frontier of Afghanistan. This Memorandum has been compiled on the basis of such data and materials as I have succeeded in collecting in the course of the last two years, on the subject of the state of affairs on the frontier of Afghanistan and Bokhara, and the independent States on the upper course of the Amou-Daria. |