The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

arrival of Mr. Ellice he wrote to his isioble Friend an
account of an interview which he had' had with two of
the MinisterS of the Shah of Perea. That interview
took place in consequence of Mr. Ellice having been in-
structed to inforin the Ministers of the Shah that the
English Government could not encourage his pretensions
to dombaions beyond his own empire, and that the
Affghans were to be •:Xma..idered as an independent
State. On his making thisistatement both the Ministers
protested against considering the Affghans as a Govern-
ment cr. a consolidiated State ; they declared that a
large portion of Affghan belonged to the Shah
of Persia, and they stated that they considered
that the, domirdnn .of Persia extended to Ghuznee.
• Commenting upon this letter, in'lB36, he wrote stating.
that he felt that the Government could not permit
the extension of the Persian Government further east-
ward, with a due regard to the Indian Empire of
England. .Count Simonovitch was recalled, and the
unhappy plan employed, in all these intrigues was beard
of 'no more. The rumour was that he put an end to
his own. existence. Dost Mahomed Khan received a
letter frz;nn the Russian empire, accompanied by presents,
in which way all matters of importance were transacted;
and at the same time that he received that letter he
received u nether from Count Simonovitch, thus open-
ing a political correspondence. Every body knew the
pretensis?n to power that had arisen in these very ter-
ritories, which they were then adverting to. Was the
Governor-General of India to pass this over without
explanation? Was the Noble Lord (Palmerston) to treat
such a ding as this as a trifling matter? The time
was; come when they were called upon to show to
the Shah of Persia, that the permission of England
was at least as valid as the permission of Russia.
They did show it, and an effect was produced
At once.—(Hear.) A great deal had been said
about the opinion of Sir Alexander Burnes, of which he
wished to speak with the greatest respect. He (Sir J.
C. Hohhouse) had had the honour of corresponding with
him, and he considered him an honour to his station.
But, supposing Sir Alexander Burnes had given an opi-
nion contrary to that upon which Lord Auckland had
acted, was that a charge against Lord Auckland .? Was
the Governor to act uniformly on what one man said?
Was he not to consult others, and act upon what he con-
sidered as the best opinion ? He would tell the House
what the opinion of Sir Alexander Burnes was. But, in
the first place, he must say that there had been no garb-
ling whatever. There were certainly parts of the cor-
respondence suppressed, but that was for a very good
reason. They never, in arsy way, attempted to conceal
the epinions of Sir Alexanuer Burnes. One great pro-
lect in this affair was, whether there should have been any
intervention at all. Now, what was Sir A. Burnes'
opinion upon. that point ? In a letter to Lord Aulkland,
in 1839, he stated that having laid before his Lordship
the strong demonstrations on the part of the Russians,
and, considering the affairs of the country, he thought
that the Government ought to interfere. On the sth of
March, 1838, in a letter, also published, he stated that
the circumstances were in full justification of that move-
ment. In another letter, dated June 3, 1838, he stated
that theßritish Government could not, with credit to
itself, permit the present state of affairs in Caubul to con-
tinue, and he considered that they ought to demand an
explanation from the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh. The
letter went on to state that if it was the object of a Go-
vernment to destroy the power existing in Caubul it
might he done by means of the brother of Shah Soojah,
but that it was necessary to complete success that
the British Government should take the question up,
and that it should not, be left to the chiefs themselves.
The letter then gave reasons why the Sultan Dost Ma-
homed lihan should net be chosen. He stated that he
had no ability to rule ; that he was a very good man,
but incapable of acting for himself ; and the letter con-
cluded by stating that it would be only to send two re-
giments. with the Shah Soojah, and nothing further
was required to fix him for ever on h:s throne. Now,
this was the opinion "of the very man whose opinion
was taken as being in contradiction to that which was
stated to have been followed by Lord Auckland. He
(Sir J. C. Hobhouse) thought it necessary to read these
statements to the House, to prove that many parties
were deceived. He thought, if they quoted authorities,
and told him that Lord Auckland did not follow au-
thorities, when they told him that he had the means of
forming a right judgment and did not du so, he (Sir
J. C. Hobhouse) said that they were wrong. Now, the
Hon. Gentleman had quoted another authority—
Mr. 3. 11. .BAILLIE—I quoted from the published
documents.
Sir J. C. HOINIOUSE—It was no less an authority
than Colonel Wade, who wrote in a most decisive way
in favour of Lord Auckland's policy. He might quote
twenty other authorities on the subject. Did Lord
Auckland rush headlong into this enterprise ? fio ; he
maturely censidered all the perils and the magnitude of
the scheme, and in undertaking it he had a full know-
, ledge, of the awful responsibility which he took
upon himself:—(Hear.) In a letter addressed to
the Secret Committee, dated the 20th of June, 1838,
be stated that there was nothing in the appearance
of Russia, to alarm him, and he believed that the
Russian agent was not to be trusted. On the 12th May
following, ho wrote to say that circumstances had oc-
curred which would materially modify his views, for the
Russian. agents put themselves prominently in aid of
Persia, and that opposition must be resorted to.
Extra.oulinary excitement was produced in the pub•
lic mind throughout the Atighan States, and in a
letter, dated the 13th October, he said that of the justice
of the course which had been adopted, there could be no
reasonable doubt. In another letter, Lord Auckland
said that he was' fully aware of the responsibility of his
situation. It was dated June 12, 1838, and he again stated
his conviction of the hostile proceedings against Russia.
And in another part he said the seige of Herat had much
occupied the minds of the people of India and our
shrewdest observers, including Mr. Sutherland, Colonel
Skinner, &c., have concurred in describing the fever of
restlesness as beyond anything that had ever been seen
—" religion, and circumstances attendant upon the Rus-
sian name, had of cted the minds of all." The Hon.
Member, had affected to laugh at the effects of these
matters upon the minds of the, people. Did the Hon.
Member know more than Lori Auckland—did he know
more than Mr. Sutherlanqs or Col. Skinner ?—(Cheers.)
He must
_say that wish' these opinions before him, he
could not but think that Lord Auckland exercised a
sound discretion in the part he undertook.—(Cheers.)
He now turned to that part of the Hon. Member's charge
wl*.ih referred to the necessity that there was of warning
Persia off Affenanistan. He thought thatthe opinion of
Sir Alexarater Burnes on this subject would be sufficient,
who said. that Persia should be kept back—thus far
shalt t'aou go, and no futher. Then came the question
as to whether a judicious choice had been made with re-
spect to Shah Soojah. They knew nothing against
Shah Soojah. At the very time the insurrection was
brewing against
,Sir Alexander Bnrnes and Sir W. Mac-
naghten, they were warned of the mischief that was to be
anticipated by that very Shah Soojah himself. In 1814
we made a treaty with the Affghans, and made them an
independent State ; the whole of that treaty was meant
for the protection of India, and when Persia showed
-herself willing to be backed by Russia in the aggression
of our empire, of course we treated her in the same way
as when she was backed by France in 1809. For whe-
ther hacked by Franco or Russia it mattered not ; it was
the face of Persia, backed by a powerful ally, approach-
ing so near,the frontier of India as to unsettle men's
minds. It was not the first time that we had gone to
Central Asia. In 1814, 'when Hindostan was attempted
to be taken, Lord Wellesley- entered into a treaty with
the Persians to prevent India being attacked. In 1809
the Government of India counteracted an attack upon
India Mach in the same way. It sent Air. Elphinstone
to Caubul to 'persuade the Affghans that they should
make common cause with us, and attack or act with
Persia as the case might be. The threatened invasion
did not' take place—but it was this mode of acting that
prevented it. The Hon. Gentleman thought fit to say
that he did not think it at all likely that the States would
rise up against us, and he laughed at the Nepaulese.
He (Sir J. Cam Hobhouse) was of opinion that those
States should be watched closely, and with a jealous eye.
Be was of opinion, too, notwithstanding the opinion of
the Hon.' Gentleman to the contrary, that the success
of the Affghan -campaign in 1839 was attended with
very beneficial results ; and he could tell the
Hon. Gentleman that the disasters in Alfghanistan,
great -as they were, had not produced the same
feeling in India as they had here.--(Hear, hear,)
He knew it. It was only this morning that
he had • seen a gentleman from Calcutta, and he was
quite surprised at the feeling it seemed to excite here.
He had " no doubt there bad been a great loss of valu-
able life, but as fur thinking that the loss of the Indian
empire was concerned, ur that the disasters were such as
had never occurred before, or never were likely to occur
agaiu, he thought it was ridiculous." He (Sir J. C.
Wobhouse) differed entirely from the Hon. Member.
He thought all Lord Auckland's policy would and must
be carried out. He believed no Governor would dare to
alter its Was a great disaster to turn them from perse-
vering. in their policy ? He trusted not. The Hon.
Gentleman had talked of this war as if nothing had yet
been gained from it. It was lamentable to see the igno-
rance that existed on Indian affairs. The Indus at this
Moment was navigated by English steam ships, and a
British, flag hung there ; and at this.moment the Ameers
of Schide, where, a few years ago, an Englisnman dare
not show himself, were now as much under the con-
trol of the English as it was possible for a tributary
State to be. The Right Hon. Gentleman said that the
commerce of the. Indus had fallen off. From 1840 to
1841, the exports to the Indus rose from 5 lass in
1840; to 43 lees of rupees in 1841. There was a fact for
the Hon. Gentleman. The Hon. Gentleman said com-
tnerce, was falling off,, and then spoke something,
about cotton twist. Now he could tell the Hon. Gen-
tleman that the export and the import duties in Calcutta
had both considerably increased during the ,last com-
mercial rear. The exports had increased 801,090 L, and
the inipjrts 1,300,00 d. The Hon. Gentlemansaid this
had been productive of many pernicious effects. He
should like to ask, wi-at was not productive of pernicious
effects to a certain extent ? The Hon. Gentleman made
nit the whole charge upon India to be 20,000,00(2 A
.:apex which he hi li in his hand made the return
17,000,000/. sterling. .The charges occasioned by the
war amounted to only 2,700,0001., and the revenue only
'ell off 467,00 a, and that falling off was occasioned in
onsequence of the discontinuance of the opium trade.
io much fur the finances of India. And besides, 52,000
were added to the Indian army durir.g the administra-
ion of Lord Auckland. There were only 11 steam
oats in India, but 131 steamers were added since.—
.Bear.) And was it nothing that the British flag
MIS seen where it 'lever appeared before, on the Tigris
• -. nd Euphrates ? • The best moral effect was pro-
.lced.in:Europe by their policy in
India, and lie hoped
he Right Hon. Gentleman would not give way to any
groundless alarm, but would follow out the same policy
suth respect to India. History proved that their Indian
111 Vtginpire possessed an elasticity which always caused it
'Ji rise after temporary depression.—(Hear, hear.) If
would
have an
they trusted to Parliament they never
o
. [plea empire. at pg. The same otac4o pry was aisva.s
s sided when they met with reverses:iulndia. The Hon.

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