tion to support Herat against the Persian invasion would not
take the shape of war against Persia, but would be simply a de- fensive act, leaving the responsibility of consequences to the aggressors on the spot. There would have been some advan- tages in that course, but it would probably have involved incon- veniences with reference to other powers. Certainly it would have facilitated assistance given by other European states, Rus- sia for example, to Persia ; and the proclamation of war is at all events more regular. The proceeding is based upon the articles of the agreement of 1853, making various stipulations to secure the neutrality of Herat, which Persia has now invaded. The writer of the war proclamation controversially defends the rulers of Af- ghanistan against the charge of an aggressive advance. It is consi- dered a settled principle, that Herat is the portal to the North of India ; and that our Government must keep it out of the hold of Persia, lest she should act as the agent of Russia. But the pro- clamation in the Calcutta Gazette supplies no explanation whatever as to the necessity, the policy, the limits, or the probable extant of the war. The expedition to the Persian Gulf had departed from Bombay ; and our Indian dependency is entering into hostilities, about which we are told nothing. England is thus involved in a conflict without the slightest information respecting its neces- sity, justice,. or policy.
