Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-11-15
Lytton and the Ameer as Poets.

LONDON, October 10, 1S78-We are
jtst now at the commencement of the
season of civic and municipal ban
quets, when public men favor their
constituents and the world at large
with their ex-Parliamentary utter
ances on affairs in general and the
questions of the hour in particular.
The foreign policy Of the government
naturally comes in for large share of
attention, the ministerialists naturally,
almost to a man, playing the part Of
apologists, as set off to the devils ad-
vocacy of the liberals, who are almost
ruthless in their criticism of the gov
ernment policy. There is somewhat
of lull in the Afghan imbroglio, and
the leading liberal members of the
House of Commons are taking the
opportunity of enlightening the peo-
pie on the position Of affairs as viewed
from their standpoint. The govern
ment does not come out of the scru-
tiny first best, for after all, SO far, the
Ameer appears not to have insulted
England. During the interview be-
tween the representatives in the
Khyber Pass the Afghan commander
was rerfectly courteous and reason
able. Nevertheless war stories are
being collected at Peshgwur and re-
ports thereof sent on here to excite
and disturb. Meanwhile, when and
where the first blow is to be struck
if to be struck at all-is not yet
known. Beyond this heaping up of
l1imy material nobody appears to
really know, as Light says, what the
inspired poet at the helm yonder and
the inspired poet at the helm here in
tend to do.
THE AFGHAN AMEER POET.
Indeedin this coming war it seems
we shall have nothing but poets and
literary people to deal with. Queen
Victoria is among the latter. Lords
Beaconsfeld and Lytton are poets
and, to crown all, the Ameer himself
is poet, and by no means so uncul-
| tured and uncivilized as was supposed.
| Read this and Judge for yourselves
"The Ameers father, Dost Muham-
med, like the Prophet himself, was, il
the early part of his life, excessively
| illiterate By devotional vow Of his
| Kuzzilbash mother he was consecrated
to the lowest menial service-that of
sweeper at the zarut, or shrine oi
Lamech, the father of Noah, near Jel.
| lalabad, where, according to Afghan
tradition, that antediluvian is buried
| At twelve years of age he was already
warrior and attached as peshkhid-
NUT, or personal attendant, to his
eldest brother, Futteh Khan. In
\ latter life he became aware Of the dis
advantages attending a want of educa-
| tion, especially to ruler of men, and
he set to work to acquire sufficient
knowledge of reading, writing and
arithmetic in order to be independent
of secretaries, mollahs and revenue
collectors. Shere Ali goes in heavily
for Oriental culture, in its pedantic
schools Of dialectics and metaphysics
especially, and is conceited withaI
over his attainments therein. He i.
also writer of Indifferent verses, in
which respect he and Lord Lytton are
not badly matched, but his most am
| bilious efforts are only weak imita
tions Of the baldest platitudes OF
| Hafz or Ferdusi. When the learned
ones get too much bored over the
| lAmeer's illusions, translation Of
| Bellows Kandahar Book is pro.
| duced, and sets them all laughing over
the doctors estimate of themselves
| their manners and their customs.
Some Of the English papers accps,
Beacons6eld of possessing even NOR,
| than a mind influenced by 0rienta
romantic ideas. There is arumor cir
culating to the effect that it is thC
Ipremier who wants the Hindoo l{oosl
ceded to England, this being general,
regarded as the cradle of the Aryal
race; and Lord Beaconsfeld owes s.
much to the splendid opportunitie
which that race has afforded him fol
self -glori6cation that he would fail
rescue it from the hands of its presen
lMohammedan holders.