are told that the war was undertaken with a view to European interests, I utterly deny the position. If Ave had no empire in India, we might have been perfectly indifferent whether Persia succeeded or did not succeed against Afghánistán. The course we pursued was entirely with a view to the security of our Indian Empire, and it was not an European but entirely an Indian question[1].' If measures could not be taken from the West to recover at Teherán the ground lost in 1828, India must look to herself for protection from attack. To that end she must secure her north-west frontier. The system of 'buffer-States' must be initiated. It was for the Indian authorities to look to their own safety, and to enter into an understanding to that end with the several States which adjoined India.
Scarcely had Lord Auckland embarked when Lord Palmerston installed at Teherán as Minister a man who might be relied upon to keep the Government of India up to the mark. In 1836 there had appeared in London a pamphlet entitled 'Progress of Russia in the East.' The pamphlet was anonymous, but it was known to have been written by Mr. McNeill, formerly a medical officer in the Company's service.
'Few and indifferent are the regards bestowed by most European statesmen on the countries eastward of the Caspian,' wrote Mr. McNeill, 'or even on the more known and less savage realms of Persia; yet it is there notwith-
- ↑ Debate of June 23, 1842, on Mr. Baillie's motion; Lord Palmerston's speech.
