much less to write, on matters so delicate as those in which the Harem is concerned?

I have yet to add, that only yesterday the Sadr addressed to me a despatch most offensive and unbecoming, in which allusion, or rather insinuation, respecting the same subject occurs, and a threat is held out that if I strike my flag his Highness will be compelled to make certain disclosures, &c.

I

appeal to your Lordship whether, under these calumnies, these personal affronts to myself, and these insults to the Mission, above all, under the threat above alluded to, I should have been worthy to hold the charge intrusted to me if I had hesitated to strike a flag which had been so grossly and unjustifiably insulted?

The despatch in which the offensive passage above alluded to occurs, is not inclosed in this despatch, because the Prince and another messenger from the Court have been here this morning to inquire whether there are no means of accommodating this dispute and arranging it so that the flag may be rehoisted before the departure of the courier to-morrow. I have replied that after what has passed, the dispute admits of no arrangement, unless as preliminary steps the Meerza's wife be restored to her husband, and the Sadr Azim comes to the Mission in person to withdraw his yesterday's despatch and to make me an apology for writing it. On these. conditions I have agreed to rehoist the flag and not to forward to your Lordship a copy of the aforesaid despatch.

To-morrow I will not fail to send to your Lordship the latest, progress of this affair.

accounts of the

The Earl of Clarendon.

CH. A. MURRAY.

No. 53.-Mr. Murray to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. Jan. 1, 1856.)

(Extract.)

Tehran, November 21, 1855.

I HAVE the honour to inform your Lordship that yesterday, after I had finished my preceding despatch, M. Bourée dined and spent to make a last effort to accommodate the pending dispute, so that the evening with me; before leaving, he entreated me to allow him

my fag might be rehoisted before the departure of the courier to-day I told him those mentioned in the conclusion of my despateh of at 12, and he asked me what terms I had proposed or could propose. yesterday to your Lordship. He said that the liberation of the Meerza's wife was indeed a necessary preliminary measure, but that he thought that the forcing the Sadr to come here in person on such scort notice, to withdraw and apologize for his offensive despatch, was a humiliation somewhat hard to exact, and one to which the Persian Government could hardly be expected to submit; and he asked if I would not be satisfied if the Sadr Azim, in lieu of coming in person wrote to me officially this morning to retract and with

draw his offensive despatch, and to apologize for having written it. I replied that I should not be satisfied, because in this city, when the British flag was lowered, the Sadr Azim coming in person with 50 attendants, to make reparation, would be a fact known to every one; whereas, his written despatch would be known to few, and among Persians he would not scruple to deny having apologized at all.

M. Bourée entreated me to accept the written apology if it was sent. Thus appealed to, I could not refuse his request, and I promised him that if, before noon to-day, the Meerza's wife was restored to her husband, and I received a full written retractation of, and apology for, the offensive despatch, I would not forward the latter to your Lordship, and I would resume diplomatic relations with the Persian Court.

2 P.M.-M. Bourée has just returned from a long interview with the Sadr, and has brought with him a letter of retractation and apology for the offensive despatch, which I might have accepted if the Meerza's wife had been restored to her husband, which I had insisted on as a preliminary measure. Instead of this M. Bourée was bearer of a proposal that the Government should place the lady in the house of her mother-in-law. To this I have replied that I can no more admit the transfer of the wife from one relative's house to another without her own consent, or that of her husband, than I can admit the right of the Persian Government to imprison her where she now is, and that I renew my demand for her restoration to her husband in his own house as the sole basis of the resumption of negotiation. M. Bourée wished me to wait while he wrote again to the Sadr, to renew a demand on this last head. I told M. Bourée that I appreciated his well-intentioned endeavours, but as this very proposal of the Sadr's had already been made and refused twice, it proved to me that it was a mere pretext to gain time, and that the courier must leave immediately. I would beg him simply to inform the Sadr that I had declined the proposal, and that therefore his attempt at mediation has failed.

The Earl of Clarendon.

CH. A. MURRAY.

P.S.-Under the existing circumstances, it is my duty to forward to your Lordship the offensive despatch I have alluded to.

(Inclosure.) The Sadr Azim to Mr. Murray.

November 19, 1855.

(Translation.) I HAVE received your Excellency's letter of the 17th instant. I have been greatly surprised and puzzled to imagine why you have unjustly interfered in and pressed an affair of such delicacy and danger that even I, the moment I perceived it had reference to the

Royal harem, and nad given great offence to His Majesty, immediately shunned, and avoided the matter completely. Far less, then, ought a person who represents a foreign Government and country to interfere on such a point. The question regarding Meerza Hashem Khan himself, which has been under discussion between us, has not yet been terminated; and the Persian Ministers have never admitted that he is a servant of the British Mission, nor will they ever admit such a thing. They still consider him as a refugee Persian officer who has taken sanctuary in the Mission, like Meerza Hassan, who is still within the precincts of the Mission, and whom your Excellency unjustly protects. How, then, can the right to protect the dependents of Meerza Hashem Khan be recognized? Moreover, no

answer has yet been received from you to my last letter of the 15th instant; and under these circumstances by what right and on what grounds has a new question been mooted, in which is involved the honour of His Majesty the Shah? All that was necessary in the shape of explanation and just arguments was advanced by me with regard to Meerza Hashem Khan, and if you will examine them with the eyes of justice, they are not without reason.

If your Excellency, for certain reasons, has overlooked the first question, and persists in urging the second-which I have neither the power nor permission to argue or touch upon; nay, if as stated in your letter under acknowledgment, you should endanger the friendship which has endured for so many years between Persia and England, I distinctly state to your Excellency that even this will be for the Persian Ministers easier than, by agreeing to your unjust proceeding, to submit to the serious confusions which would arise, and which would endanger the independence of Persia; nay, even the security of all and sundry of its inhabitants.

In such an event, the Persian Ministers will have nothing for it but to state what they have not yet considered it suitable to record in an official note, that is, the true reason. They will then, being forced to the announcement, let the foreign community in this country know, what they have not hitherto understood, the laws of the Mahomedan religion, and the chaste desires of the Persian people. They will refer the case to the justice of the British Ministers, and hold your Excellency responsible for the conse

quences.

C. A. Murray, Esq.

SADR AZIM.

P.S. The British Ministers, as was once intimated to us, are desirous that the Persian Government should adopt measures for treating their subjects and dependents in accordance with the principles of justice and equity, so that people should not be forced, from injustice and oppression, to have recourse to the sanctuary of

the Mission, and to give rise to so much trouble; but they were no aware of the fact that persons seek the asylum of the Mission -premises, not against injustice, but to procure an increase of pay, o station, or with some other idea, and in this way caused annoyance "At all events I am always ready to discuss, in this present case or in any other, either verbally or in writing, when your Excellency has just arguments to advance, and I am prepared to trouble you with verbal communications.

(Extract.)

No. 5.-The Earl of Clarendon to Mr. Murray.

Foreign Office, January 4, 1856. I HAVE received your despatches of the 17th and 20th of November, reporting in detail your differences with the Persian Government on account of their refusal to acknowledge Hashem Khan as British Agent at Shiraz; and I have to acquaint you that Her Majesty's Government approve of your striking your flag and no longer listening to the request for delay before resorting to that

measure.

C. A. Murray, Esq.

CLARENDON.

No. 55.-Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to the Earl of Clarendon. (Received January 14.)

MY LORD,

Constantinople, January 3, 1856. THE Persian Chargé d'Affaires, acting under the instructions of his Government, sought an interview with me the day before yester day. His object was to deliver a letter and accompanying note addressed to me by the Persian Grand Vizier, with reference to Mr. Murray's late proceedings and their present termination in his departure from Persia. He had no authority to enter into the merits of the question with me, and your Lordship is aware that I have no such authority myself. He expressed the deepest regret that any misunderstanding should have taken place between his Government and Her Majesty's Representative. It was evidently expected that I should interfere to effect a reconciliation without any surrender of the Persian pretension. It would, indeed, be highly gratifying to me if I could in any becoming way be instrumental to the re-establishment, on proper grounds, of a good understanding between the estranged parties; and I am persuaded that the French Ambassador would willingly assist in the accomplishment of so good a work. Having occasion to see his Excellency yesterday, I found the Persian Chargé d'Affaires engaged in talking subject with him, and I availed myself of the opportunity to repeat what I had stated before to the latter, namely, that I had no control over Mr. Murray's proceedings, that I joined with him in regretting an incident which was anything but opportune, and could only hope

over the

that the Persian Government would prove the sincerity of its assurances by enabling Mr. Murray to return to Tehran with satisfaction, reserving the power, if necessary and desirable, of appealing to Her Majesty's Government for a final decision on the point in dispute.

Inclosed herewith, in copy, are the letters which I have received from the Persian Sadr Azim. A rumour prevails that Mr. Murray is on his way to Samsoon. I have, &c. The Earl of Clarendon.

STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.

(Inclosure.)-The Persian Prime Minister to Lord Stratford de

(Translation.)

Redcliffe.

18 Rebiul-evvel, 1272. (November 29, 1855.)

THE intelligence of your Excellency's personal well-being, and the reputation of your distinguished qualities, have encouraged me, who from my first entrance upon the duties of my high office up to the present time, have been constantly and most cordially endeavouring to strengthen the relations of friendship between the Governments of Persia and England, to bring those circumstances to your notice which I have deemed hostile to the continuance of that friendship, and which must appear most critical in the eyes of every thinking and intelligent person; and in this sense I beg to appeal to the sagacity of your Excellency for assistance. I had previously communicated to you the conduct of former British Agents, and to that representation answer was made that a new English Minister had been appointed: from this nomination I had entertained strong hopes of compensation for the past and improvement for the future. Indeed, upon Mr. Murray's arrival in Tehran, his conduct, as long as he was actuated by his own sincerity, justified your Excellency's promise; but a change speedily took place under the influence of interested followers, and the line of conduct above alluded to became but more pronounced. On the 18th Zilhidgé I addressed a second document, being an instruction to Meerza Ahmed Khan, the Persian Chargé d'Affaires at Constantinople, in which he was directed to bring these particulars to the notice of your Excellency. For our part, in conducting ourselves in a spirit of acquiescence towards Mr. Murray, and in acting upon his representations, we used the utmost exertions in our power to avoid the possibility of any injury occuring to the friendship of the 2 countries from the hardness with which that Minister bore upon us; but, alas! all these endeavours of mine have proved fruitless. Whatever difference former Agents may have had with us, their coldness never was such as to close the path of satisfaction; the present Minister, however, will not meet our advances in the course of reconciliation, but, by his violent and untenable propositions, which it is impossible for this country to accept, as being in many ways ruinous to its