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Show THE A31K1K'M KEt'LY. Tbo Text o( (he Auswer to the Urilibli l ltiuiutuui. London, 9. Following is tho text of the letter of tho ameer ot Al-han-iston to tho viceroy ol India, in reply to the ultimatum: Ri' it known to vour excellency that I have received and rcjd from beginning begin-ning to end the friendly letter your excellency sent in reply to the letter I dispatched by Nawab Giiolau liussim Khan. With regard to the expres eious used by your excellency in the beginning of your letter, referring to tbe friendW character of the mission and the good will of the British government, gov-ernment, I loave it to your excel leucy, whose wisdom and justice arc. universally aummcu, iu ueuc whether any reliance can be placed upon good will, il evidenced by words only; but if, on the other hand, good will really consists of deeds, theu it has not been manifested by the various vari-ous wishes expressed, and the proposals pro-posals made by British othcialadunug the latt few years to the officials ol this God-gianted government, proposals pro-posals which, from their nature, il wbb impossible for them to comply with. One of those referred to my undutiful son, the ill-starred wretch, Mahomed Yakoob Khan, and was contained in a letter addressed by the officials of the British gov eminent to the British agent :j: n..l.,l Tf lu.m men residing v ouui. i written iu that letter that il Yakoob Khan shculd be released and set at liberty, our friendship with Afghanistan Afghan-istan will be firmly cemeuttd; other wise it will not. There are several other grounds of complaint of a similar simi-lar nature which contain no evidence of good will, hut which, on the contrary, con-trary, were effective in increasing the avereion and apprehension already entertained by tbe subjects of this God-granted government. With regard re-gard to my refusal to receive the British Brit-ish mission, your excellency has Btated that it would appear from my conduct that I waB actuated by feelings of direct hostility towards tbe British government. I assure your excellency excel-lency that on the contrary, officials of this God-granted government, in repulsing the mission, were not influenced influ-enced by any hostile or inimical feelings feel-ings towards the British government, uor did they intend that auy insult or affront Bhould be oflered; but they I were afraid that the independence of this government might be affected by the arrival of a mission, and that the friendship which has now existed between be-tween tbe two governments for several years might be annihilated. A para ; graph in your excellency's letter corro-' corro-' borated the statements which theyhave made to this government. i.ne ieei-ings ieei-ings of apprehension aroused in the miud3 of the people ol Afghanistan by the mere announcement ol the intention of the British government to send a mission to Oabul, before the mission itself bad actually started or arrived at Peahawur, has subsequently been fully juoLiiied by the Btalement iu your excellency's letter that I would be held responsible for any injury that might befall tribea who 'acted a,s guides to tbe mission, and in a i, i tjuuum uu luhcu upon w compensation for any loss they might have suffered, and that if at any time those tribes should meet with ill-treatment at my hands, the British, government would at once take stepb to protect them. Had these apprehensions appre-hensions proven groundless, and had the object of the mission been really friendly and no force or threatB of violence used, the mission would, as a matter of course, have been allowed free paEsage, as Buch missions are customary and of frequent occurrence between allied state. I am -now Bincerely Btating my own feelingn, when I say that this government has maintained and will alwajs maiutain the former friendship which existed between the two governments, and can cherish no feelings of hostility or opposition towards the British government. govern-ment. It is alio incumbent upon the officials of the British govern ment that, out of respect and consideration consider-ation for the greatness and eminence of their own government, they should not consent tn inflict uny injury upon their well-disuoswd ncih bore, or to impose the burden of a grievous trouble upon the shoulders ol their Bincere friends, but, on tbe contrary, they should exert tbem-titlves tbem-titlves to maintain tha friendly feelings 1 which have hitherto existed towards this God-granted government. Iu order that the relations between the two governments may remain on the same tooting as before, aod if, in accordance with the custom of allied slates, the British government should desire to ecucl a purely friendly and temporary mission lo this country with a email eBcort, not exceeding twenty or thirty member?, similar to that which attended the ItusaUn mission, this servant of God will not oppose its progress. |
