Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-03-19
GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF EARLY
LIFE.

The guiding principle If his early NE
was an implacible hostility 10 his uncle,
Am,er Shere ali Khan whom he never
fcrcave for having, first. supplautei his
father Mohammed Afzul Wf whom Sh"r"
Ali was a Younger brother, In the sue
Ccssion: and. secondly. for having be-
traycd his oath upon tho Koran in order
to entrap the same Afzul ana cast him
into prison. To aVeuse this iniienl,y
Abiurrahman fought against Shere ia
with an impetuo~ity that knew no slack
enng; hc defeated that strange shuttle
cock Of fortune times without number'
he was the Noritabla Warwick. who
placed first his father, Afzul, and after
ward his uncle Aim on the throne. From
1861 10 1879 be was necessarily lighting
and when, NJ the beginning Of that year
his father. AfZul. having died in 1871. ana
his uncle Aim having succumbed 10 the
victorious arms Of Shere Ali. he ielt
that for while the game was up and
hel from his country into ten years
exile. IL was with the CONVICTION, Whlch
he never abandoned. that his services
would again be called Tor. and That ne
would a-suredly return.
1T WAS for this purpose that he ac-
ceptel the Russian pension Ohe greater
part Of which was. he told me. systemati-
callv hlchel from him by pcculauon). ana
resided at Samarcanl, IN order That ne
might De near 10 Afghan frontier when
ever the emergency should arise.
Never before have the Afghan tribes
been reduced 20 such compete SUM- C.
ZION as since he recovered the thioh''
never have, crimes and deeds Of violence
dwindlal to so low a figure; never have
the highways been SO safe. FROM one ehi
r. tho other Of Afghanistan the Amer Il
unqueSti9ntd King. AMI every man qddkeS
q. his nod For any ruler 10 invest 50 ne
terogeneous and parcelled a dominion
with the outward scmblancl Of unity anu
Nationality is no mean achievement
TRUE LOVER OF HIS COUNTRY.
"Ouite apart from what ne has done
10 man who knows him would / be-
Neve. deny 10 Ahdurrahman the crellt
Of heinz q true lover Of his country. In
other and earlier times he might have
carried the name Of that country far and
have imprinted his own, perhaps IN let
ters Of blood upon the page Of Asian
history. Unable by reason Of his physical
position between two powerful and Jell-
aus neighbors 10 draw his sword with
immunity. and precluded thereby from
any dreams Of personal or national ag-
grandiZement, he has sought 10 make his
country compact by wedding out trom
IL the elements Of disloyalty or sedltlon,
no Afghan sovereign has done for 10
vears-an undivided inheritance. II is for
the same reason-and neither from any
particular gratitude TO those who were
only too glad 10 place him upon the
throne. nor from any priori attachment
To the British racc-that he has in recent
years, more especially. manifested 30 I'M
concealed a regard for the British ALL
ance. 1t may be said thai England sub
sidizes him literally. So. also, We may
be sure. would the Russians be ,nly 700
delighted to do If they had The chance.
II may he said that We have demarcated
and guaranteed his domlnlons. Might not
the Russians, however. ne able 70 brand
ish IN his eyes the even superior bride OF
Peshawur? Thirdly. IL may be said that
at times certain enlargement has
marked the relations between the Amer
and the Indian Government.
ITO any one, however, who can appre-
cate the difficulty of the double position
occupied by him-on the one hand accept
ing a large allowance from India; on the
other hand. posing as an independent
sovereign before his own people-It would
not be surprising that such troubles
should sometimes have occurred. The
notable thing is that at no time since 1850
is there any reason 10 believe that the
Ameer has waVered from his opinion as
To the true direction In which the In
terests Of his country lie. that at all times
Of emergency he had proclaimed them
with unfalierng accents. and that II
Is TO cement what he often described TO
me as the membership OF one body be-
tween Afghanistan and Gre~t Britain that
he so ardently desires to visit our shores.
He sees clearly what DOst Mohammed
also saw. but was prevented by the faulty
OF an Indian viceroy from realizing at
an earlier date-namely. that the sole
hope for the continued Independence and