he
attack upon the Embassy, he most certainly made not the slightest
effort to stop it or to save the lives of those entrusted to his
care, and throughout that terrible day showed himself to be, if not
a deliberate traitor, a despicable coward. Again, his endeavours to
delay the march of my force for the sole purpose of gaining sufficient
time to organize the destruction of the army to whose protection he
had appealed deprived him, to my mind, of the smallest claim to be
treated as an honourable ally.

My doubts as to what policy I ought to pursue with regard to Yakub
Khan were all solved by his own action on the morning of the 12th
October. He came to my tent before I was dressed, and asked for an
interview, which was, of course, accorded. The only chair I possessed
I offered to my Royal visitor, who seated himself, and then and there
announced that he had come to resign the Amirship, and that he was
only carrying out a determination made before he came to Kushi; he had
then allowed himself to be over-persuaded, but now his resolution was
fixed. His life, he said, had been most miserable, and he would rather
be a grass-cutter in the English camp than Ruler of Afghanistan; he
concluded by entreating me to allow his tent to be pitched close to
mine until he could go to India, to London, or wherever the Viceroy
might desire to send him. I placed a tent at his disposal, ordered
breakfast to be prepared for him, and begged him not to decide at
once, but think the matter over for some hours, adding that I would
see him again at ten o'clock, the hour appointed for him to accompany
me to the Bala Hissar in order that he might be present at the reading
of the Proclamation. At this time, it must be remembered, the Amir did
not know what the terms of the Proclamation were, and was entirely
ignorant of my intentions regarding his Ministers.

As arranged, I had another interview with Yakub Khan at ten o'clock,
when I found him unshaken in his resolve to abdicate, and unwilling,
under the circumstances, to be present at the ceremony which was about
to take place. He said, however, that he would send his eldest son,
and that all his Ministers should attend me. I begged him again to
reconsider the decision he had come to, and to think well over the
results to himself; but finding that he had finally[2] made up his
mind, I told His Highness I would telegraph his determination to the
Viceroy and ask for instructions; that he would not