a veil of mist, no bigger than a man's hand, floated over the distant mountain tops in Kábul. The questions of the moment were, the practical application of the decision as to English education which had been arrived at in the previous year; the progress of the work of the Law Commission in drafting a Penal Code; ways and means for providing the newly created class of native civil judges with a suitable rate of remuneration; steam communication with England; reform in the copper currency; and the perennial misgovernment of Oudh. For many months after he assumed office, the Private Secretary had to get up such of these matters as he was imperfectly acquainted with, and to coach his chief in all. Space does not admit of dealing with them; but a few brief lines are necessary as to the relation of the Government in 1836 with the several States adjoining it. Throughout Lord Auckland's administration they occupied much of his time, and he recurs to them in every page of his papers. Mr. Colvin's Diaries show how many were the hours which he passed in studying them: and few are probably aware, how in later days, in the midst of the Kábul enterprise, it seemed at one or another time inevitable that we should be forced into conflict with the Court of Ava, or be called on to repel an invasion of Gúrkhas from Khátmándu.
For the moment, however, 'the Burmese are quiet,' wrote the Governor-General to Sir John Hobhouse, 'and apparently friendly. We propose to give the
