GREAT BPJTIAN AND IRELAND. 



405 



then pledged her word that Afghanistan was 

 outside her sphere, the House would under- 

 stand that the Government could not look 

 with indifference on the acts which had recent- 

 ly been done in Central Asia. The Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer said that when the Indian 

 Government heard of the establishment of a 

 Russian mission at Cabool, the most obvious 

 step was to send a mission of correspond- 

 ing weight and dignity. Undoubtedly it was 

 the duty of English and Indian statesmen to 

 watch all that was going on in those quarters, 

 and the Government were fully alive to their 

 responsibility in the matter. 



When the news came in the latter part of 

 September that the Ameer had refused to re- 

 ceive the British embassy, an impression was 

 produced that the Government had been treat- 

 ed with indignity. The popular irritation was, 

 however, appeased by the publication of a let- 

 ter from Lord Lawrence, a former Viceroy of 

 India, arguing that the Ameer as an indepen- 

 dent sovereign had an indisputable right to 

 refuse to receive an embassy, and that the Gov- 

 ernment had tolerated the exercise of that 

 right once (1857) in the case of Dust Moham- 

 med, and twice (1869 and 1876) in the case of 

 the present Ameer. Moreover, it seemed to 

 him a mistake to have organized the mission 

 before ascertaining whether Shere AH was 

 prepared to receive overtures, and a greater 

 mistake to have dispatched the mission before 

 receiving his consent for doing so. Had these 

 precautions been observed, the affront would 

 not have seemed so flagrant as it now did. He 

 urged that the Government should accept an 

 apology from the Ameer, rather than involve 

 the country in a war. The letter of Lord Law- 

 rence was followed by letters from Earl Grey 

 and Sir Charles Trevelyan taking a similar view, 

 and from Sir James Stephen defending the pol- 

 icy of the Government in seeking to strengthen 

 the Indian frontier. An extensive correspon- 

 dence ensued, in which the case was fully re- 

 viewed on its merits, and in its various bearings 

 by writers having the best acquaintance with the 

 subject. Public opinion was modified by the 

 reception of more accurate reports of events, 

 which showed that the conduct of the Ameer 

 had not been so rude as had been represented 

 at first, so that a clear division of opinion was 

 reached in a few weeks. 



On the day that the war was begun, No- 

 vember 20th, a Cabinet council was held. Lord 

 Cranbrook's dispatch explaining the policy of 

 the Government with regard to Afghanistan 

 (see AFGHANISTAN) was approved and sent to 

 the papers, and was published on the 21st. 

 On the 25th a royal proclamation was issued 

 summoning Parliament to meet on the 5th of 

 December. On the 26th the official papers 

 and correspondence relating to Afghanistan, 

 from 1855 to Lord Cranbrook's dispatch of 

 the 20th, were given to the public. On the 

 assembling of Parliament, December 5th, the 

 Queen sent in the following message : 



MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN : I regret that I have 

 been obliged to call for your attendance at an unusual, 

 and probably, to most of you, an inconvenient sea- 

 son. The hostility toward my Indian Government 

 manifested by the Ameer of Afghanistan, and the 

 manner iu which he repulsed my friendly mission, 

 left me no alternative but to make a peremptory 

 demand for redress. This demand having been dis- 

 regarded, I have directed an expedition to be sent 

 into his territory, and I have taken the earliest op- 

 portunity of calling you together, and making to 

 you the communication required by law. I have 

 directed that papers on the subject shall be laid be- 

 fore you. I receive from all foreign Powers assur- 

 ances of their friendly feelings, and I have every 

 reason to believe that the arrangements for the pacifi- 

 cation of Europe made by the treaty of Berlin will 

 be successfully carried into effect. 

 ^ GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS : The es- 

 timates for the ensuing year are in course of prepa- 

 ration, and will in due time be submitted to you. 



Mr LORDS AND GENTLEMEN : I propose that after 

 full deliberation upon the matters which have led 

 me to anticipate your usual time of meeting, and 

 after a suitable recess, you should proceed to the 

 consideration of various measures for the public 

 benefit which will then be laid before you. 1 confi- 

 dently commit to your wisdom the great interests 

 of my empire, and I pray that the blessing of Al- 

 mighty God may attend your counsels. 



Lord Cranbrook in the House of Lords, and 

 Mr. Stanhope in the House of Commons, gave 

 notice of resolutions consenting to the applica- 

 tion of the Indian revenues toward defraying 

 the expenses of the military operations beyond 

 the frontier. The debate on the address to the 

 Crown was lively in both Houses; but Lord 

 Hartington in the House of Commons, while 

 he denied that there was any justification for 

 the war, said that it had been entered upon by 

 a Government which had been fully empow- 

 ered by Parliament to exercise the preroga- 

 tive, and he would not oppose the voting of 

 supplies. The address was amended so as to 

 meet an objection made by Mr. Gladstone to 

 the use of language committing the House to 

 the opinion that the conduct of the Ameer 

 left no alternative but to declare war, and was 

 adopted. On Monday, December 9th, Lord 

 Cranbrook in the House of Lords moved his 

 resolution "that the Queen having directed a 

 military expedition of the forces charged on 

 the Indian revenues to be dispatched against 

 the Ameer of Afghanistan, the House of Lords 

 consents that the revenues of India shall be 

 applied to defray the expenses of the military 

 operations which may be carried on beyond 

 the external frontiers of her Majesty's Indian 

 possessions." Lord Halifax moved in amend- 

 ment that, "while ready to consent to pro- 

 viding the means necessary for bringing the 

 war in which we are unhappily engaged to a 

 safe and honorable conclusion, the House ot 

 Lords regrets the conduct pursued by the Gov- 

 ernment, which has unnecessarily engaged this 

 country in the contest." A division was taken 

 on the next day, and resulted contents, 201 ; 

 not contents, 65 ; showing a majority of 136 

 for the Government. 



In the House of Commons, on the report of 

 the address being brought up, Mr. Whitbread 



