New-York tribune., 1878-10-10
THE ANGLo-AFGHAN STRIFE.

WITH HONOR OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 70
LTTICAL EXIGESCIEs.
lFRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
LONDON, Sept. 26.-Before l go on to state the
reasons which seem account for Lord BeacOnSelGs
effort 70 get up an Indian war, must say word on
the fresh evidence which has come TO light this
morning touching the processes and pretex;s OF his
Obedieut servant Lord LyttOD. l commented yes
terday on his obvious intent to precIptate COLI
sion an intent shown by his launching the military
embassy Of Sir Neville Chamberlain without
waiting for an answer 10 the letters by which per-
mission for an embassy to enter the AmeeTs terri
tory was said 20 have been solicited We now have
the letters themselves-and what letters They are
in no sense what they were said TO be. The Cal
cutta correspondents OF the London papers
who are supposed to derive their facts and
impressions from the Government House at
Calcutta have told from the beginning
that the Vlceroy had asked Shere Als leave for the
entrance of mission into his domnlons. IL was
not true No leave has been asked. Lord Lyttons
letter to shere Ali announces in peremptOry tone
that Sir Neville Chamberlain "will visit your HIGH
ness immediately The messenger who bore it waste
explain all the necessary details the time andmauner
of the Envoys visit and to asknot leave or license
for the embassy to enter Afghanstan, but " that
your Highness may be pleased 60 issue commands to
your Srdars and all the other authorities of Afghan
istan upon the route between Peshawur and Cabul,
and will make without delay, whatever aranges
ments may be necessary and proper for securing
TO my Envoy, as the representative of friendly
Power, due safe conduct and suitable accom-
mediation according TO his dignity, while passing
with his retinue through the dOminions of your
HiRhness"
Ii is not necessary 20 be familiar with the elabo-
rate courtlness Of Oriental etiquette to feel how
nah ~ hat
dependent Oriental sovereign. | apprehend that 1t
was wholly within Shere Alfs discretion to receive.
orrefuse TO receive the mission which the Niceroy
desired 90 send The proprietcs and niceties OF
diplomatic intercourse are we'll understood at Cal
cutta If they are deliberately violated, they must
be violated with some distinct purpose If this let
ter be- as take 1t to be, insulting, or sure to be
deemed insulting by the Ameer, his neglect to
answer lis sufficiently explained and must have
been foreseen. That carries one step further back
the arrangements of which the later were described
yesterday, for securing refusal that might be
made to look like IA vanton insult.
Well, then, what is the object of all thisi To put
the question as you hear II put ten times day col
loquially What is Dizzy up to now I" IsuPpose
Il is plain to most men that tue transports with
which the British plenpotentiaTies were welcomed
home from Berlin have pretty much subsided. The
organized enthusiasm-for organized 1t was-did IT'S
work for the moment. and has died out. VIII stop
to remark that the accounts which l read at the
time of the Charing Cross reception were greatly
exaggerated. saw the whole of that performance,
inside and outside the station IL was clevery con-
trived. but the popular response to the Conserva-
tive wire-puling was IN way remarkable. But
there was-whch is more to the point-a wide
spread feeling at the time that the net result OF the
Berlin Congress and Of the secret treaties between
England and Russia and between England aud Tur-
key might fairly enough be claimed personal
triumph for Lord BeacOnsfed The feeling was
even then fsT from universal. and 1t has not proved
lasting On the Continent the shouts and Deans
that were heard in England mostly laughed
at. They died away in England as soon as it was
found that Lord Beaeonsfeld himself, after launch
ing his one clever phrase of peace with nonor' |
(which be borrowed from Dover Alderman) took
up an apoOgetic tone. 1t was presently seen that
he cried peace where there was no peace The Rho
dope disturbances the obstinate and bloody resist
anee in Bosnia to the Austrian work of pacfcation,
the outbreaks in Albania eliminating in the mur-
der OF Mehemet ALI the gathering storm in Crete and
on the Greek frontier stirred by the impudent Iefu-
sal Of Turkey obey the mandates of the Berlin Con-
aress and ths swift decay Of the Sultans authority
throughout the territory where it said to have
been strengthened by the partition and mutilation
ID had undsrRone-these and other things brought
home to the English mind the hollowness of Lord
Beaconsfeld's peace. They even reminded some
people that If peace had before been in danger
IL had been endangered By the very man who now
boasted Of preserving it. As for the honor which
Lord Beaconsfield coupled with his peace, Sir Will
frid Lawson laughed it away CervaBtes did
SPANS chivalry. The garters 20 Lord Beaconsfeld
and Lord Salisbury the crosses and promotions to
his subaterns the promised peerages each one gave
point TO the sneer that it was peace with hOnors
that the returning hero meant Then the Cyprus
bubble burst. 1t was discovered that the island
had no harbors, but plenty of fevers and
was miserably poor. The attempt to deny
the accuracy of Mr.. FOrbes's account Of the
sickness among the troops broke down
hopelsssy the Governments own medical
officers confirming Mr.. Forbes in every point. Ii was
seen that there never was any excuse for landing
great force on the islandthat this too part of
the misc ca seine on which Dizzy relied for the daz
cling Of the popular mind; that there was nothing
to do on the island which a corporaPs guard-or, If
You Ike a couple of battaliOns-might not do and
that AZ a military or naval post it was valueless;
whether With reference to Asia Minor, which had
been the pretext for its acquisition, OF anywhere
else. Lastly, it began to be seen that the conven-
ton for the better government of Asia Minor itself
was the sham which Mr.. Gladstone called it, at the
cost of much personal abuse bestowed on him by
Lord Beaconsfeld aud Lord Beaconstelds Hatterers.
There remained little or nothing with which TO hide
the nakedness Of the defeat Lord BeacOnsheld had
endured at Berlin OF to darken the diplomatic vic
tory OF Russia.
But Lord BeaconSfeld is a man of great tenacity
of mind and Of almost infinite resource He has no
notion of renOuneng his position. He will not
surrender without struggle an inch of the ground
he has gained He has an invincible conviction of
his own superiority to the slow-witted islanders
.vIo ho IN a