,) "directed the city of Ghazni, with the citadel and the
whole of its works, to be destroyed;" and this order appears, from the
engineer's report, to have been rigorously carried into effect. The mace
of Mamood Shah Ghaznevi, the first Moslem conqueror of Hindostan, and
the famous sandal-wood portals of his tomb, (once the gates of the great
Hindoo temple at Somnaut,[32]) were carried off as trophies: the ruins
of Ghazni were left as a monument of British vengeance; and General Nott,
resuming his march, and again routing Shams-o-deen Khan at the defiles
of Myden, effected his junction with General Pollock, on the 17th of
September, at Cabul; whence the united corps, together mustering 18,000
effective men, were to take the route for Hindostan through the Punjab
early in October.

[32] The value still attached by the Hindoos to these relics
was shown on the conclusion of the treaty, in 1832, between
Shah-Shoojah and Runjeet Singh, previous to the Shah's last
unaided attempt to recover his throne; in which their
restoration, in case of his success, was an express
stipulation.

Such have been the principal events of the brief but brilliant campaign
which has concluded the Affghan war, and which, if regarded solely in a
military point of view, must be admitted to have amply vindicated the
lustre of the British arms from the transient cloud cast on them by the
failures and disasters of last winter.

The Affghan tragedy, however, may now, we hope, be considered as
concluded, so far as related to our own participation in its crimes and
calamities; but for the Affghans themselves, "left to create a
government in the midst of anarchy," there can be at present little
chance of even comparative tranquillity, after the total dislocation of
their institutions and internal relations by the fearful torrent of war
which has swept over the country. The last atonement now in our power to
make, both to the people and the ruler whom we have so deeply injured,
as well as the best course for our own interests, would be at once to
release Dost Mohammed from the unmerited and ignominious confinement to
which he has been subjected in Hindostan, and to send him back in honour
to Cabul; where his own ancient partisans, as well as those of his son,
would quickly rally round him; and where his presence and accustomed
authority might have some effect in restraining the crowd of fierce
chiefs, who will be ready to te