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18 Writing to the Viceroy he said—"You will wait a reasonable time and give the Ameer an opportunity of himself opening fresh negotiations—a proposal which we shall be only too happy to accept, because we are as much interested in a friendly Afghanistan as ever; but if he will not approach us, if he rejects our approaches, then the British Government stands unpledged to any obligations and will be at liberty to adopt such measures for the protection and tranquility of the North West frontier as may be expedient without regard to the wishes of Shore Ali or the interests of his dynasty." (Hear, hear.) My lords, I say that the transaction on the part of Lord Lytton is defensible from beginning to end. (Hear, hear.) It was straightforward. There was no concealment about it, no device to conceal his intention. He told the Ameer what he would do and what he would not do. He said, "I must be supported by political officers of my own on the Afghan frontier, who will tell me what is going on." That there might be no mistake Lord Lytton told the Ameer the terms on which he was prepared to assist him—to acknowledge his dynasty, and to be the friend of his friends and the enemy of his enemies. (Hear, hear.) The noble earl said that his terms were as large as ours. That may be so as to one part of our proposal, but a treaty does not consist of one clause, but of many, and any one who would indicate to an Afghan ruler that he would be responsible for his foreign policy without having a voice in that policy would undertake a grave responsibility, and therefore Lord Lytton took care to provide that that policy should be in harmony with his own. The noble Earl declined further pledges, but the consequence would have been that you would have pledged your honour to a potentate who did not understand the limits and conditions imposed upon him, and the time would come when he would be in distress, and you could not, without in his eyes forfeiture of your honour, fail to assist him; for by dallying about promises which he considered you had made, he might well have cause to conclude that you did not mean to comply with them. (Hear, hear.) So things remained at the close of the conference, and for a certain period there was no intercourse between Lord