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132 Secretary. No man who has held such office, is at liberty publicly to discuss confidential matters which have relation to the discharge of his former duties. But the man who knows this, also knows that while he holds his office he is still less at liberty to tamper with sources of information to which his chief may address himself. The action attributed to Mr. Colvin may have seemed venial to those who made it their business to circulate the tale. In his own eyes, as in the eyes of all who have preceded or have succeeded him in the post which he then occupied, it would have been an act of unpardonable treachery. Sir John Kaye was wise in declining to vouch for the truth of a story which carries disproof on the face of it. But he exposes the absurdity of his hypothesis when he admits that his only positive evidence is evidence which he himself will not vouch for.

Before parting company with Mr. Masson, correction must be made of an attempt made by him to discredit the devoted and brilliant Chief Secretary who was to forfeit his life for his convictions. Mr. Macnaghten, it had been decided, should accompany the expedition as envoy. 'Mr. Macnaghten,' says Mr. Masson, 'volunteered his services for the occasion, on the ground that Burnes could hardly be depended upon in so important an affair.' Then he goes on to jeer and flout at Macnaghten in words which need not be transcribed. The truth is that on May 26, when on his way to Adínanagar, Mr. Macnaghten, in a, letter before the present writer, proposed to Lord