immediately by our embarrassments in the Soudan, and generally by the whole tenor of Indian administration under our present Government, whose course has been persistently to minimise, if not to repudiate, our responsibilities in Afghanistan as in other parts of the world. A cruel fate seems to pursue Mr Gladstone. His inclinations and first decisions have always been to retreat from everything; but every retreat has been invariably followed by an advance again, undertaken under more adverse conditions; and the English taxpayers will discover, from their experiences in every part of the world, that the general "fall back" policy of the Liberal Government does not pay. In India, Mr Gladstone stopped the construction of our nearly completed railway leading towards Kandahar, which Lord Beaconsfield had commenced, and has already been obliged to stultify himself by resuming the prosecution of his rival's work. He gave up all claim to our having a resident envoy at Cabul; and he abandoned Kandahar when in our possession, which city we may shortly be obliged to reoccupy. In justice it must be said, however, that our present influence with the Afghans and our general position in their country, will probably be all the stronger now than if we had continued to hold that fortress even with the consent of their ruler. It is worthy of note here, that it was a Liberal Government that withdrew the yearly subsidy England had paid to Shere Ali a – brilliant piece of economy, which threw that ruler into the arms of Russia, and occasioned our last Afghan wars. And a Liberal Government has now been obliged to restore the subsidy to Shere Ali's successor.
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