The Ameer of Afghanistan is not dead, though he is
admitted to be ill, and has ordered Hyder Khan, the General he most trusts, to hurry up to the capital. It is stated, also, that an arrangement has been made, in which Sir Salter Pyne has confidence, for securing the safety of the Europeans in Cabul. That is reassuring ; but though Sir Salter Pyne is a very able man, his intercourse has been rather with artisans, who are decent folk everywhere, than with the scum of a fanatical Mahommedan capital. The tradition of Cabal is massacre, and if, when the breath leaves Abdurrahman Khan, there are not three days of anarchy, Oriental history will be falsified as it has rarely been. There are enough of the Europeans, if they are armed, to defend a building or make a good running fight of it to the Khyber, especially as they will now have less than ninety miles to march or ride; but the ladies, Miss Hamilton excepted, ought to ask for leave. Miss Hamilton as a hakeem would, we suppose, be be- yond attack, and indeed could be protected by the ladies whom she has so greatly benefited. Even English criminals avoid attacking doctors on duty ; and a lady doctor ought to be safe, even in a city like Cabul, which justifies the existence of a ruler like Abdurrahman Khan.
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