Our Home Letter.

Otago Witness, Issue 1418, 25 January 1879, Page 19

Our Home Letter.

4> ENGLAUD. London, December sth, 1878. - " We are safely through November, and ''••have survived its two greatest inflictions — liord Mayor's Day and the fogs. On the former the annual show took place with more silly pageantry than usual. There followed the Guildhall banquet, memorable for the Earl of Beaconsfield's great epeeob, declaring that the Berlin Treaty must be mpheld, aud justifying the Government policy' in Afghanistan. The cable und the Brindisi mail, however, will have taken to you the substance of that speech, as it was spoken only two days after the departure of 4he November San Francisco mail ; so I forbear from further details, save to say that the Premier's uncompromising words carried dismay' into the Liberal cam).-, and reassured file whole Continent, which for days had been waiting to hear the head of the English Government speak. Of the fog 3we Aave had more than enough, thick and thick -for days together. Off the Mersey, at Liverpool, whole fl jets of veeselsongregated unable to enter the harbour, and on one of the worst <of the days a ferry-boat was sunk and mauy iives lost. In the Channel, the mail steamer 'jpomerania, from America, was run^ into Iby an iron sailing vessel, and immediately aaahu Owing to the high discipline maintained by her splendid captain, nearly all board were saved, and out ef a freight of :230, 180 escaped in the boats. The captain jefased to leave his vessel, and, standing on -the quarter-deck, went down with her ; but • Providence befriended so brare a fellow, «nd, to the great delight of everyone, next rmprning's news announced he had beeu .picked up by a passing vessel. Then we iiave the attempted assassination of the King • of Italy ; the Afgh»n agitation, followed by the Afghan war ; the serious nature of affairs in South Africa, demanding large reinforcements irom the Mother Country ; the 'Summoning of a winter session of Parliament; and, on the kst day of the month, a great speech by Mr Gladstone, at Greenwich.' Altogether, a not uneventful month. ' "The all-absorbmg question of the day ie the Afghan war, aud aotual operations in the .field were preceded, and are now accompanied, by a verbal (campaign at Home. This Was opened by Lord Beacons&eld's speech at •Ouildhall, in which the Premier stated there -was no intention to annex Afghanistan, but <merely, to "rectify" the present frontier, ■which Was a " haphazard and not a scientific ><one."." This euphemism set all the critics by the ears. Lord Northbrook, ex-Viceroy, at 4k: banquet at Winchester, declared that he had ever been opposed to the occupation' of < •Quettah and other suggestions for the rectification of the JS.W. frontier. He believed ib unassailable as it was, especially as a further advance would involve us with the independent tribes ; and ridiculed the idea of a Russian invasion. Mr Fawcett, another .jjjreat Indian authority, speaking at Hackney, attacktd the Government policy of interference with Afghanistan. Mr Gladatone "followed, in a letter in reply to an address from the Bedford Liberal Association, with a severe criticism on the Guild•hall speech, ridicuUog the " rectification" of the frontier ; for he adds, *• I do not quite 'Comprehend in what manner a foe ia to •embarrass and disturb ub oa » frontier which sit is impossible for him to invade." A few ■days afterwards Lord Lawrence, who has •spoken against the Government policy on ■every possible occasion, and others formed an " Afghan Coinmittte,'! the .objects of which Lord Lvwrence set forth in a letter to 4he Premier asking him to receive a deputation, who wouH ask him to telegraph out to India forbidding a declaration of war until specific instructions were sent from England ; to publish all papers on the Afghan and Central Asian questions, and to call Parliament together immediately. The Premier rtpiied, in a characteristic letter, ■administering a severe enob to Lord Lawrence and his Committee: — "Your opinions will not fait to receive the attention of the Cabinet, but I confess I am at a loss to perceive what useful purpose would be served by a more extended expression of those opin« ions from a deputation, especially as the Oorernraent aud the country have already *o frequently and so rtcently had the advantages of copious explanations of them irom your Lordship. . . Her Majesty's ■Government in the event of hostilities, will make such, communication to Patliament as the Act of 1858 requires. This would appear to be a not less satisfactory and scarcely less constitutional mode of meeting $he occasion than a process of memorials «nd deputations. . :' . The papers are About to be published. " Thus uiy Lord Beaconstield, severely and sarcastically, to the intense disgust of the self-important , Afghan Commitcee, who have been most -effectually snuffed out by his letter, at which even his. opponents can hardly refrain a smile. To appease thtir wounded spirits, a day or two afterwards was issued from the .India Office a most important State paper, being a long dispatch from Lord Cranbrook t4o the Viceroy, in which the Government .recapitulates all the m-ure prominent events of late years, and fully explains its policy •as regards Afghanistan. It shows that the Ameer has beea sullen to the British, but 'Ostentatiously received the Russian missions sent to his capital for two years, and has broken all hta engagements to successive Viceroys, whose varied negotiations with Idm are succinctly summarised, from Loud Jjawrenoe to Lord Northbrook. The Indian ■Secretary then deals mure largely with the course of affairs since L >rd Lytton went out as Viceroy, noting his instructions from the <3overnmeut to offer Shere Ali active countenance and protection, provided he would allow a permanent British envoy to be resident at Herat or Candahar. The Ameer refused this courtesy, aod on Lord Lytton exhorting him seriouely to consider the consequences of an attitude which might make the British Government look upon him as a prince who voluntarily desired to ißolato his interests from theirs, replied with a list of grievances, which resulted in the Government agreeing to the Peahawur Conierej&ce. That Conference, however, bad no positive result, the Ameer's ' representative having no instructions to ac- j «est the British terms. Tno years ago the

Ameer dechned to .receive a British^ envoy on the ground that he would uot then be able to decline a Russian one ; yet a short time afterwards he had ostentatiously received General Abramotf. Upoa this Lord Lytton determined to send the Chamberlain mission, the hiitory of which is fresh to ali. Such is a briaf summary of this most able dispatch, which is of unusual length, and the accuracy of which has been questioned in no respect but the now famous •' Paragraph 9." That paragraph relates how Shere Ali, alarmed at the Russian advance to Khiva, wished to ascertain how far he might rely on the pledgeo given him by Lord ,Mayo, aud sent a special envoy to the Viceroy to ascertain definitely if tne British would help him if his territories were threatened by Russia. Lord Northbrook was prepared to assure him that under certain conditions the Government of India would assist him to repel unprovoked aggression. But Mr Gladstone's Caoinet did not share the Ameer's alarm, and Lord' Northbrook was ordered by the Ouke of Argyll, then Indian Secretary, Co lefrain from any decisive answer. The Ameer was highly displeatei at the evasive reply of the Viceroy, and replied in terms of ill-disguised sarcasm; took no notice of the Vic&roy's proposal to depute an officer to examine the j northern frontier of Afghanistan, refused permission to Sir Douglas Forsyth to return } from Kashgar through India, and left un1 touched a sum lodged by the Indian Government to his credit. l It was at this moment that the Conservative reaction placed Lord Beaconsfield- in | power, and it is the Conservative argument that the hesitation of the Gladstone Government, at the critical moment of Russia's I advance to reassure the Ameer, has utterly hampered all their attempts to regain ground with him, and has really led to the present troubles. The famous No. 9 paragraph at once drew from Lord Northbrook a letter denyiug its complete accuracy a3 a fair summary of what really took place, and a similar retort fro en his Grace ©f Argyll. The ex- Viceroy defends himself in a long memorandum from Lord Crahbrook's interpretation of his policy, and Lord Oranbrook refers him to the official papers. Matters had gone so far when the Queon returned from Scotland on the 23rd, war having already ' broken out. After the sitting of the Cabinet Council on that day, the Earl of Beaconsfield took train to Windsor and had an audience with her Majesty. As the result, a notice appeared in the London' Gazette summoning Parliament for December sth. This was followed by tbe issue of a tremendous Blue-book, containing all the official correspondence concerning Afghanistan since the accession of Ameer Shere Ali, so that when the Houses meet members^ of both may have the whole facts , of the case well weighed and studied. To attempt to give even the roughest precis of this formidable volume would far exceed the limits of a letter, Lord Cranbrook's summary of it, sketched above, extending over several columns of the Times. In addition to these contributions to the question of the day, we have a bitter attack on the Government by Mr Childers, and the great speech of Mr Gladstone. The ex-Premier came to Greenwich to bid farewell to the constituency he has represented for 10 years. After being entertained at & luncheon, he in the evening addressed a crowded meeting of his constituents and others, chiefly Liberals, and whatever may be each one's political convictions, no man will deny the magnificence of this oration. The clear voice rang through the crowded rink with all the old force and eloquence, as tbe orator painted in glowing words tbe disastrous effects, as they appear to him, of the policy of the present /Government — at Home, in the East, in India. He held Lord Beaconsfield and his Cabinet up to scorn, and scathed them with his satire, and covered them with his ridicule : airaigned them before the justice of God and the country, as the enemies of freedom and the makers of an unjust war : accuced them of encroaching upon the liberties of the people and the prerogatives of the Crown — even of betraying the English nation. Bo formidable aud- fierce an indictment has rarely been drawn up against a Government in Mich rare power of language. Lord Beaconbfirld may perhaps be able to answer it, but from him can hardly be expected the solidity and telling force of argument which is the gift of his. great rival. While acquitting the Queen, whom he extolled as the very pattern of a constitutional sovereign, from any blame, Mr Gladstone exclaims againßt the personal government of the present Executive as the beginning of a system intended to narrow the liberties of the people, j and trespass upon the prerogatives of Parliament Treaties were made and wars declared without consulting Parliament, and secrecy was the concomitant of every Government action. Turning to the Rus&oTurki&h war, Mr Gladstone indignantly repudiates the Tory cry that he is a " friend of Russia," and not of bis own country : rather is the Government the friend of Russia, who gave her Kara, and the Danube, and Bulgaria, from which the liberals drove her in 1854-56. The Government, throughout the Eastern Question, had done everything that right, and justice, and freedom would not have had them do. Turning then to the Afghan Question, the speaker took the famous paragraph 9 in hand, and eloquently protested against its covert meaning. "It is all true, absolutely true. Ido not say a word in it is not Bat this I say. that the impression it conveys is absolutely false, absolutely untrue." And he then went on to show how utterly unfounded was the insinuation that the Government, of which he was Premier, had ever refused to protect the Ameer against "unprov.keil aggression," and brings Lord Not tb brook's dispatches as evidence of his own straightforward policy. To the present Government, and Lord Lytton,- "their obedient political agent," he attributes all the present mischief, and paints a powerful picture of the natural effect upon the Ameer of the imperious demands addressed to him to receive a British Envoy, demands which Loid Northbrook and his Government refused to j send. He taunts the Government that they do not take Russia to task. It w*s tbe ; Rnsßians who seat the mission to Cabal j which led to the present war. Why mot : take vengeance upon her, instead of upon

the " poor, trembling, shuddeiing Ameer"? Finally, Mr Gladstone lays upuntlie Government the terrible accusation of plunging into an unjust wai*, and leaves the misery ot it to i their conscience, and, in a moat eloquent peroration, pots before them the picture of Lady Macbeth, ever troubled by conscience for her sin, and his dread that, as "unjust war is a tremendous sin," and, as " ie ia written in tbe eternal laws of the Universo of God that sin shall be followed by suffering," if this be an unjust war, suffering will f >.'low upon sin, and " the day will arrive when the people of England will discover that national injustice is the, surest road to national downfall." So grand a speech as this must be road to be appreciated as it ought to be. It closes for the present the home history of tho Afghan business, soon to be re-opened in Parliament, for, although dozens of other public men have sDoken on the burning question, their utterances fade into insigin- ( ficance before the thundering invective of this intellectual giant. " I have endeavoured to trace the more important developments of tbe present stata of affairs, for, as nothing else is talked of in Englaud, all Englishmen must necessarily take interest in it. ■ Turning now to the actual battle-field, we haye led off with a series of successes, and 1 have been checked by a Bevere repulse. The 20th .November was the last day gh'en the Ameer to answer the ultimatum of tho Viceroy, and as' that eventful Thursday rolled by, there was wild excitement among all . our gallant fellows on the frontier. Groupa of soldiers sat round the camp fires eagerly diacusbing the chances of a reply yet coming. A shout is raißed, "Horsemen are coming down the Paßs." A groan of disappointment goeß round. Surely they hear the Ameer's tardy apologies. No. " They are only scouts Hurrah !" and the Ghoorkas draw. .their knives and try the edges vengefullyj L> there will be use for them to-morrow after all. Midnight comes, and the Ameer's last day of grace is passed. All is in complete readiness —the troops ready to march at a moment's notice ; but no message has come from th« | Viceroy. A whisper runs round that a telegram in cypher has arrived. Staff officers > hurry to the General's tent. There are five .minutes of torturing anxiety, and then the order comes for the forces to advance. Loud cheering greets it, caps and helmets are thrown in the. air, and the Afghan scouts put spurs to their horses at the sound of the British hurrah ! Before daylight the 10th Hussars crossed the river and took Ports Xapigoog and AhmedI shana, with the, help of a company of the 29 th Native Infantry, without resistance, thegarri- ! son disappearing with promptitude at the first sight of our troops. At the same time the Quettah column moved forward, and Sir Samuel Browne's division entered the Khyber Pass. Next day appeared the Viceroy's proclamation, declaring war. It begins by reciting the favours of the British Government to the Ameer, and. goes on to say how he requited them. He refused English subjects intercourse, plundered and maltreated them, tortured and killed subjects suspected of communication with the British Govern, ment, preached a religious war after excluding English officers from his dominions, refused to receive the British Mission, and ostentatiously welcomed the Russian. The Indian Government offered him friendship, treated him courteously. The Ameer mistook their long forbearance for weakness, and insulted the Empress of India, With the people of Afghanistan the Government had no quarrel ; but the Ameer must be punished, and the majesty of the British name upheld. The glory of the first brush with the enemy fell to Sir S. Browne's brigade, and tbe hearts of the men beat high as the advanced guard enter' the formidable defile of the Khyber, knowing that in front of them, barring the way, was the almost impregnable fortress of Ali Musjid, which they knew to be strongly fortified and garrisoned. Early in the morning General MPherson had started with the first and second brigades by a hill path, iatending to occupy KalaKushtia, a village in the rear of All Muf jid, and to storm the heights of Kohtos Koh, which dominate the fort. The 81st, 51st, and Native Regiments, under General Browne, with horse and mountain aitillery, marched direct up the Pass. For some distance no enemy was seen except a cavalry outpost, which at once retired, and not a shot was fired till the troops had reached a ridge fronting the fortress, where they halted to allow M'Pherson time to execute his flanking movement. Presently the guns of Ali Musjid opened fi**e, their practice being so good that the infantry drew away under cover, leaving the horse .artillery to reply to the Afghan gunners, and a lively artillery duel went on until our ,40ponnders came up and considerably astonished the enemy. Early in the afternoon the order to advance was welcomed with loud hurrahs, and the British and native' soldiers swarmed np the heights, firing as they climbed, until there waß not n rock or a bush from behind which one could not see a puff of smoke, while the musketry cracked from the fortress, and the big gone boomed through the valley. Here and there, too, cur men began to fall, and the war was begun in earnest Gradually our skirmishers crept on, until they weie abreast of tbe fcrt itself; bnt still tbere were no signs of M'Phereon's brigades having accomplished thtir object aud got behind and above Ali Musjid, and to attempt to storm the fortress from below would have entailed tremendous loss of li c. The troops therefore bivouacked where they stood, and the order was given to cease firing. Ali Mui-jid followed our example, and in a short time there was uo eonod to tell that two armies had just fought a buttle. Vigilunc gnard was kept all night, and before daybreak the advance was cautiously continued. But not a rifle-shot came frcm the fortress, not a shell from the bg gUBB. The impatient soldiers, rushing on, found Ali Musjii deserted. M'Phe^sou had ia tha night-time gained the Kohtas Koh, the second brigade had taken the Afghans in the rear, and the garrison, endeavouring to escape under cover of night, were nearly all captured by Colonel Tytlur's force ; bo the key of the Khyber was oars on the second day of the war. But not : blondksßly had we won our first great aweS csßa. M<njor Birob. and Lieutenant Fits-

gerald, of the 27ih Native infantry, wore shot dead while gallantly leading on their men ; and Captain M'Lean, of tho 14:h Bikhp, has since died of his wounds. Thirty to forty of the rank and file were killed and wounded, but, considering tho tremendous natural strength of Ali Musjid, our loss ia wonderfully email. Everything in the fort was taken, including 22 guno and a large munbei of rifles. Many of the defenders were killed by the artillery of tho batierua, and the deadly Martini-Henry of Appleyard's men. Sir S. Browne halted only long enough io rest hia men, and at once pushed on up iLe Pasa, and occupied Dacca without opposition, part of the Afghan forces retiring from Jellahbad on his advance. The enemy, however, closod in on the Khyber P^.ss when the troops had gone through, and in spite of every effort to preserve communications, caused endless trouble, firing upi»a and atopping convoys, and blocking the road. The. Afridis, who have not forgiven the chastisement we inflicted on them kat year, aro tho chief sinners, and s*re likely to get cons:derably more punished for their present behaviour. In fact. Major Cavagn-iri has already, with a small force, hit them hard in several places. Meanwhile the Khuram Valley column was advancing steadily, and Geatral Roberts, after overcoming great difficulties on the road, reached on tha second day to within 20 miles of Mahomed Aziin's fort — a stronghold of some itoportance — the people of the ■ country proving very friendly, and bringing ia large supplies. On advancing against the fort, artillery was brought to bear, and the works were Bpeedily damaged very considerably. The garrison fled, and the invading army occupied the place with trifling loss, and coniiuued the ad vauce up the valley. So far, all had gone as wdl aa possible, bnt disasters were to follow. In a reconnaissance towards the Peiwar Pass at the end of the valley, the General ascertained that the Afghans wore getting guns into position, Hu accordingly determined to push forward with all possible speed to anticipate them, and for some distance up the Pass no active enemy was seen, Bnt just as the troops were preparing to encamp for the night, a tremendously hot and accurate tire was opaned upon them from a commanding ridge of the Pass, and shell and round * shot tell thick and fast. Our artillery at once replied vigorously, but tho enemy's position was all ia their favour, and in spite of our shells they continued to make the posilion tco hot for ua, and General Roberts was reluctantly compelled to order a retreat down the Pass, from every rock in which the Afghans fired incessantly. The retrograde march was made in excellent order, but in bitterness of heart, the troops being most unwilling to turn tbeir backs on an Afghan fores. But in tho face of such tremendous difficulties of position, and with inaccessible batteries ploughing among our men, Goneial Roberts was doubtless right, although it is rather a bitter pill to swallow to know that we have to retreat at all ; the only consolation being that the General was misled by falee and treacherous intelligence given him by the Turis, who denied that there were any Afghan forces in the Pass at all. At the mo neat of writing, General Koberts has again advanced, and a battle is proceeding alone; the whole line. The independent native princes of India continue to offer their aid most freely to the Afghan expedition, and from Scindiah, Holkar, the Nizan, and the Maharajah of Cashmere the warmest applications are made to be allowed to share in the glory of maintaining the British raj. The goodwill of the last-named potentate is particularly valuable, as his State marches with Afghanistan, and he has undertaken to guard that portion of the frontier. So far, disaffection amongst the Hindoos is conspicuous by its absence, and if we can only carry the Afghan war to a swift and triumphant conclusion, our prestige will be greater than ever in India. On the Continent the war is almost as eager'y scanned and discussed as in England, and at Paris, Barlin, Rome, and Vienna the le»ding papers give up colamns to articles and comments on our policy, our strategy, and our troops. The Russian journals are terribly annoyed at our marked success, and openly advise the active iuterference of Russia. Injdeed, General Kaufmann, iv bidding farewell to the Ameer's envoy, presented him with a magnificent sword for his master, assuring him that Russia would allow no power to hurt a hair of the head of anyone whose oause Bhe espoused, and that tho great Afghan nation • might safely truat to the magnanimous Czar. So blatant was the language of this Russian commander— the Terror of the Turcomans, as he is called— that the British Cabinet -have demanded explanations from St Petersburg, which have ao far availed that General K«uimann has, according to a telegram from Orenbirg, betn recalled to St. Petersburg. Continental opinion fears England and Russia muab certainly become embroiled over the Afghan war, and bases its fijreoißts on that asbumption. But while foeteeing imminent troublo, the general voice ot the "European capitals is decidedly in oar favour, aud they are loud in their praise of the energy, skill, and success which have followed our first advance. I believe the war is creating even greater interest than the Kuhho Turkish, to judge from the foreign papers.