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the Native envoys the opinion of one who is capable of forming a judgment on the joint. Sir Bartle Frere says:—
"I judge them only from the abstracts of their correspondence, which are, I conclude, weeded of much extraneous and trifling matter before they are printed and sent home, but even in the shape in which these abstracts reach us I find a vast portion of durbar gossip in proportion to the important items of intelligence, &c. I find no scale of proportion by which to estimate the relative value and probability of the important and unimportant, the undoubted, the doubtful, and the mere hearsay; … still less do I find any discriminating description of persons such as may assist the Viceroy and his advisers in judging of men and events. A man in the Ameer's position knows well that he can trust almost any English officer who comes to him as a representative of the English Government."
Well, the noble earl (Lord Northbrook) as Viceroy, in the exercise of his discretion, did not think the time had arrived when the demand for the admission into Afghanistan of such officers should be made. The question was how long we ought to wait. The noble earl thought that the Russians had not approached near enough to cause any danger. The noble earl said that if they advanced to Merv it would become necessary to take action. If they had been at Merv, within twelve marches of Herat, I have no doubt that the noble earl would have thought it a good thing to have a British officer there—perhaps to receive them. (A laugh, and "Hear, hear.") The country from Merv to Herat is a well watered one, and without saying that I regard Herat as the "key of India," there can be no doubt that it has always been recognized as a place which might be made to exercise a considerable influence in frontier policy. But the noble earl apparently wished to follow his own way, and the time passed. There is such a time in politics as too late (cheers), and I hope that here, at least, the question of the present time will not be argued as it has been argued elsewhere. I hope it will not be argued as if we were dealing with the state of things which existed ten years ago. (Hear.) Events are crowding upon each other in Europe and Asia, and to speak of the policy of 1868 as the policy of 1878 would be what, if it were, not
