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8 a letter congratulating him on his successes over Shere Ali. It was not until the latter was again on the throne of Cabul and seemed to be permanently seated there that the noble lord wrote to him offering that assistance which would have been so useful to him when he was struggling for that throne. (Hear, hear.) Shere Ali felt that. He accepted the acknowledgment of the Viceroy. Why? Because the first thing which he or any person who aspired to the rule of Afghanistan wished to obtain was the acknowledgment and recognition of the British Government. That recognition gave the title of the ruler of Afghanistan a validity which he could not otherwise obtain for it. That was the position of the Ameer just before the noble lord left India, and Shere Ali, being prudent in his generation, though he felt sore and was much vexed at what had been done in respect of his competitors, proposed to meet the noble lord and offered to make a treaty with him. But the noble lord refused to enter into any treaty engagement with him. He would give him "present assistance," but no definite promises. Shere Ali was engaged in trying to establish his dynasty and wished that our Government should recognize the successor of his choice. The noble lord conveyed to him that so long as he was content to maintain friendly relations with Her Majesty's Government so long might he rely on our assistance and friendship. No doubt that was valuable, but it was not what the Ameer wanted. Well, the noble lord was succeeded by my noble friend Lord Mayo; but let me for a moment turn to something which occurred, and which has reference to that policy which has been before alluded to. I believe there was a very general impression at the time to which I have now come that it would be very undesirable to enter into any treaty binding ourselves in any way to the Ameer in the future. That was a policy supported by many who held very different views on other public questions, and was not confined to one party. But in 1867 there was a paper written by Sir Henry Rawlinson treating of Russian advances in Central Asia, and which everyone will admit to be a paper of great ability. In that paper the writer called attention to the measures which in his judgment were necessary for maintaining for England a dominant position