Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/34

 with full support from his political chief, Mr. Disraeli, who, when announcing to the Buckinghamshire electors the appointment of his friend to the office of viceroy and governor-general of India, declared that 'a state of affairs so dangerous was never encountered with greater firmness, but at the same time with greater magnanimity.' 'Upon that nobleman, for his sagacity, for his judgment, fine temper, and knowledge of men, her majesty has been pleased to confer the office of viceroy of India, and as viceroy of India I believe he will earn a reputation that his country will honour.' The resignation of the ministry had actually taken place before the governor-generalship became vacant; but the appointment was not interfered with by Mr. Gladstone's government, and Lord Mayo was sworn in as governor-general at Calcutta on 12 Jan. 1869.

Under Sir John Lawrence the attention of the government of India and of the subordinate governments had been mainly devoted to internal administrative improvements, and to the development of the resources of the country. With the exception of the Orissa famine no serious crisis had taxed the energies or the resources of the state, and Lord Mayo received the government in a condition of admirable efficiency, with no arrears of current work ( Minute on the Administration of the Earl of Mayo, 30 April 1872). But clear as the official file was, and tranquil as was the condition of the empire, several questions of first-rate importance speedily engaged the consideration of the new viceroy. Of these the most important were the relations of the government of India with the foreign states on its borders, and especially with Afghanistan, and the condition of the finances, which, notwithstanding the vigilant supervision of the late viceroy, was not altogether satisfactory.

The condition of Afghanistan from the time of the death of the amír, Dost Muhammad Khán, in 1863, up to a few months before Lord Mayo's accession to office, had been one of constant intestine war, three of the sons of the late amír disputing the succession in a series of sanguinary struggles which had lasted for five years. Sir John Lawrence had from the first declined to aid any one of the combatants in this internecine strife, adhering to the policy of recognising the de facto ruler, and at one time two de facto rulers, when one of the brothers had made himself master of Cabul and Candahar, and the other held Herat. At length, in the autumn of 1868. Shír Ali Khán having succeeded in establishing his supremacy, was officially recognised by the governor-general as sovereign of the whole of Afghanistan, and was presented with a gift of 20,000l., accompanied by a promise of 100,000l. more. It was also arranged that the amír should visit India, and should be received by the viceroy with the honours due to the ruler of Afghanistan. This position of affairs had been brought to the notice of Lord Mayo before his departure from England. While fully realising the difficulties by which the whole question was encompassed, he appears to have entertained some doubts as to the policy which so long had tolerated anarchy in Afghanistan, but cordially approving of the final decision to aid the re-establishment of settled government in that country, he lost no time on his arrival in giving effect to the promises of his predecessor. A meeting with the amír took place at Amballa in March 1869. The amír had come to India bent upon obtaining a fixed annual subsidy, a treaty laying upon the British government an obligation to support the Afghan government in any emergency, and the recognition by the government of India of his younger son, Abdulla Ján, as his successor, to the exclusion of his eldest son, Yakub Khán. None of these requests were complied with. But the amír received from Lord Mayo emphatic assurances of the desire of the government of India for the speedy consolidation of his power, and of its determination to respect the independence of Afghanistan. He was encouraged to communicate frequently and fully with the government of India and its officers. Public opinion differed as to the success of the meeting. The intimation that the government of India would treat with displeasure any attempt of the amír's rivals to rekindle civil war was by some regarded as going too far, and by others as not going far enough; but the prevalent view was that good had been done, and that Shír Ali had returned to Cabul well satisfied with the result of his visit.

On the general question of the attitude of the British government towards the adjoining foreign states, Lord Mayo held that while British interests and influence in Asia were best secured by a policy of non-interference in the affairs of such states, we could not safely maintain 'a Thibetian policy' in the East, but must endeavour to exercise over our neighbours 'that moral influence which is inseparable from the true interests of the strongest power in Asia.' Regarding Russia, he considered that she was not 'sufficiently aware of our power; that we are established, compact, and strong, whilst she is exactly the reverse, and that it is the very feeling of our enormous power that justifies us in assuming