Page:The Afghan War (Hardy).djvu/13

9 in Afghanistan. The proposition that England should have such a position has, I think, remained unchallenged, although it has been made the subject of much writing, and the paper to which I allude has been reviewed in a great many other papers. One says, "We must use diplomatic measures;" another says, "We must use conciliatory measures;" but all look forward to a state of things when we must forbid any further advance, if it should be attempted, and, to use the words of the noble Lord near me, the Viceroy of that time, even he thought that, if a certain line is passed, Russia must be prepared for war with us in all parts of the world. (Cheers.) But when Lord Mayo arrived in India questions on foreign affairs were not in the ascendant. The question uppermost in the mind of the Ameer was that of his dynasty. This appears from despatches sent home by Lord Mayo and from a despatch from the Duke of Argyll, in which fault was found with what Lord Mayo had said and written But that was not the case outside the conference which took place between the Ameer and Lord Mayo. You find by the papers that outside the conference conversations passed on various subjects, and at that time it appeared that the Ameer would have raised no difficulty to the residence of British officers in certain parts of Afghanistan, excluding Cabul. These things are, I repeat, to be gathered from what took place outside the conference, and records appear among the papers on the table. In the interviews with Lord Mayo personally, the Ameer was concerned about his dynasty. It was said that a course of action had been laid down. I look in vain for any instructions in despatches to Lord Mayo on those points. The noble lord (Lord Lawrence), who had taken his seat in this House, spoke on the 19th of April, 1869. He and the Duke of Argyll addressed the House on that occasion, and I find no other indication of their opinions; and the noble duke said:—

"I think it would be an extremely dangerous thing to govern by telegraph, or even to reply in Parliament upon telegraphs but I have every reason to believe that Lord Mayo has consistently pursued the same policy of non-intervention and of the avoidance of entangling engagements which was pursued by Lord Lawrence. So far as my own instructions to Lord Mayo are concerned, they certainly have been to avoid all entangling