The heir apparent to the throne of Afghanistan, Abdoollah Jan,
Shere Ali's youngest son, died yesterday week,—an event which may prove fortunate for Afghanistan and for the interests of British India, if his father, Shere Ali, who is eccentric to a point hardly consist- ent with a sound mind, takes the natural course of pardoning his second son, Yakoob Khan, and treating him as the heir apparent for the future. Yakoob Khan is a man of great force of character, and the favourite of many of the Afghan chiefs, who have lately only been kept from rebellion in his favour by the fear that it might lead to his assassination in prison. If Yakoob Khan should now be restored to his father's favour, it would do more to pre- vent civil strife in Afghanistan, and so to put an end to any hopes which may exist of successful foreign intrigue in that country, than any event which the British Government could have brought about, whether by diplomatic or by military measures.
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