ummed it up in this official letter of April 17, 1866, sent to the
Governor of the Punjab:--

It should be our policy to show clearly that we will not interfere in
the struggle, that we will not aid either party, that we will leave the
Afghans to settle their own quarrels, and that we are willing to be on
terms of amity and good-will with the nation and with their rulers _de
facto_. Suitable opportunities can be taken to declare that these are
the principles which will guide our policy; and it is the belief of the
Governor-General that such a policy will in the end be appreciated[283].

[Footnote 283: Parl. Papers, Afghanistan, No. 1 (1878), p. 10. For a
defence of this policy of "masterly inactivity," see Mr. Bosworth
Smith's _Life of Lord Lawrence_, vol. ii. pp. 570-590; also Mr. J.W.S.
Wyllie's _Essays on the External Policy of India_.]

The Afghans did not appreciate it. Shere All protested that it placed a
premium on revolt; he also complained that the Viceroy not only gave him
no help, but even recognised his rival, Ufzul, when the latter captured
Cabul. After the death of Ufzul and the assumption of authority at Cabul
by a third brother, Azam, Shere Ali by a sudden and desperate attempt
drove his rival from Cabul (September 8, 1868) and practically ended the
schisms and strifes which for five years had rent Afghanistan in twain.
Then, but then only, did Lord Lawrence consent to recognise him as Ameer
of the whole land, and furnish him with L60,000 and a supply of arms. An
act which, five years before, would probably have ensured the speedy
triumph of Shere Ali and his lasting gratitude to Great Britain, now
laid him under no sense of obligation[284]. He might have replied to
Lord Lawrence with the ironical question with which Dr. Johnson declined
Lord Chesterfield's belated offer of patronage: "Is not a patron, my
lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the
water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help?"

[Footnote 284: The late Duke of Argyll in his _Eastern Question_ (vol.
ii. p. 42) cited the fact of this offer of money and arms as a proof
that Lord Lawrence was not wedded to the theory of "masterly
inactivity," and stated that the gift helped Shere Ali to complete his
success. It is clear, however, that Lord Lawrence waited to see whether
that success was well assured before the offer was made.

The Duke of Argyll proves one thing, that the action of Lord Lawren