maltreatment of one of his Persian servants, he allowed 3 days for the acceptance or refusal of his demand, at the expiration of which time he withdrew the Mission. Under provocations which your Lordship will admit to have been no less serious, I accorded a delay of a fortnight, not because I did not feel that I was entitled to immediate compliance with my demand, but because I had not, like my above-named able predecessor, the advantage of 20 years' experience in Persia, and I was resolved that an undue precipitation should not be urged either against Her Majesty's Government or its Representative. There are so many remarkable points of resemblance between the two cases, that it is scarcely possible that it should have escaped your Lordship's notice: the tone of correspondence, the prevarication and falsehood of the Persian Minister, the profuse professions of friendship for the British Government, accompanied by acts of annoyance to the British Mission, all have been repeated so exactly, that in referring to the despatches of that period, I could almost imagine that the present Sadr Azim had copied and improved upon the subterfuges of his predecessor. Permit me to refer your Lordship to a sentence in one of Sir John McNeill's despatches to Lord Auckland, dated the 25th June, 1838" Persia has systematically pursued a course which has continually tended to depress the British Mission, and to destroy British influence, not only in the Court, but in the country. From these petty acts of annoyance, she has proceeded to an invasion of Affghanistan, in opposition to the views of England, and disre garding the formal intimation that such a course, if adopted, might diminish the cordiality between the States. Not content with this, she seizes the first opportunity to offer a public insult to the British Mission and Government, by the treatment which was inflicted on the messenger," &c. Substituting the word "Meerza" for "Messenger," every word of the above sentence is applicable to the present rupture. There is, however, this remarkable difference, that whereas Mahomed Shah and his Minister always wrote to Sir John McNeill in the highest tone of courtesy, I have received official letters written by the present Shah and his Minister, more indecorous and offensive than were ever addressed, even by this Court, to any foreign Representative. The whole of Sir John McNeill's despatch to Lord Palmerston, dated the 25th June, 1838, is so singularly descriptive of my own position in relation to the Persian Court, previous to the rupture, that I can scarcely believe it to have been written 18 years ago. Nevertheless, as I have before observed to your Lordship, though the policy of the Persian Court may then have been as false and treacherous to England as it has been this last year, there was then at least a show of courtesy and respect for the British Minister. It is true they seized and maltreated his messenger, and the Sadr argued that the Persian Government had the right to seize, at pleasure, any Persians in the employ of the British Mission (a doctrine which Sir John McNeill indignantly repudiated), but they released the messenger immediately on demand. They did not on this occasion imprison a member of his familty for successive months, in spite of reiterated reclamations, neither did they venture upon a threat, such as the present Sadr Azim uttered against the Mission on the day that I left Tehran, and officially notified to the French and Ottoman Missions, namely, that if Meerza Hashem Khan was among my suite when I left the town, the Government servants should drag him from his horse, secure and imprison him. Your Lordship already knows that it was from a desire to avoid an unseemly street-broil, and the possibility of bloodshed, that I prevented the execution of this threat by ordering the Meerza not to accompany me on that occasion. The Earl of Clarendon. CH. A. MURRAY. No. 90.-Mr. Murray to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. May 23.) (Extract.) Ooroomiah, April 7, 1856. I HAVE the honour to inclose, for your Lordship's information, translated substance of a letter which I have received from Meshed, containing several items of news regarding Herat, and the proceedings of the Persian authorities with reference to that principality. I have learned from another source, that the Prince Governor of Khorassan, who had halted for some time at Toorbet-e-SheikhJam, had marched from that place in the direction of Herat, after hearing that Sam Khan had been refused admittance into the city. My informant also states that Dost Mahomed Khan had not advanced from Candahar. From the province of Asterabad, the Agent reports that since the arrival of Jaffer Koolee Khan, the newly-appointed Governor, the greatest tranquillity prevailed, and the incursions of the Toorkomans, from which the inhabitants have lately suffered so severely, have, under his administration, been entirely repressed. The Earl of Clarendon. CH. A. MURRAY. (Inclosure.)—Substance of a Report from Meshed. (Translation.) February 20, 1856. THE Prince Governor of Khorassan has sent one of his people to the Sirdar of Seistan, Ali Khan, to inform him that troops consisting of the Affshar Regiment, with two guns, had been ordered to proceed to Berjen, in Kaïn, to repel any attack which might be made by Dost Mahomed Khan from Candahar, and requesting him him to afford all the assistance in his power to the Governor of Kain, for the defence of his district; money has been promised to him for this purpose. Pasha Khan, Colonel, has proceeded towards Herat as far as Toorbet-e-Sheikh-Jam, where be was joined by Sam Khan with 400 horsemen. Pasha Khan afterwards moved on to a place near the Herat frontier, and Sam Khan advanced to Herat, where he encamped outside the town, the Affghans in the city having refused to allow his people to enter the town. The Prince Governor himself has advanced to Toorbet-e-Sheikh-Jam with two regiments of infantry and all the Khorassan horsemen, with 5 guns, and he intends to await in that place intelligence from Sam Khan. Meer Afzul Khan, a nephew of Dost Mahomed Khan, had arrived at Ferrah, with 5,000 horsemen, and had brought with him a large quantity of grain; other supplies of provisions were on the road to that place. It Three regiments have since arrived in Meshed from Tehran. is said that after a few days they will follow the Prince Governor to Sheikh-Jam; and 140 camel-loads of ammunition have been forwarded to his Royal Highness. A great scarcity of provisions prevailed in Pasha Khan's camp. One of Dost Mahomed Khan's sons had also come with a large force to Ferrah; and it is rumoured that another of his sons had been dispatched against Herat by the Meimana road, in order to attack Herat simultaneously with Dost Mahomed Khan. No. 91.-Mr. Murray to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. May 23.) (Extract.) Ooroomiah, April 7, 1856. I HAVE the honour to inclose, for your Lordship's information, a translation of a letter addressed to Mr. Stevens by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I understand that the allusion in the first sentence is to the circumstance of Mr. Stevens having referred to the King as His Majesty the Shah, and not having used the word Shahen-Shah, or King of Kings; but it has not been the custom of this or other European Missions to use the latter phrase when speaking of the Persian Sovereign. The attempt of the Foreign Minister to represent the rupture now existing as entirely personal, and not compromising the relations of the two countries, is a stale subterfuge in the history of Persian diplomacy; and a reference to the archives will show, that never at any period was the Persian Government more profuse in its expressions of regard and friendship for that of England than at the time when they were besieging Herat, and, by the maltreatment of one of Sir John McNeill's messengers, had compelled him to haul down the flag and withdraw the British Mission from the Persian Court. The Earl of Clarendon. CH. A. MURRAY. (Inclosure.)—The Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to Consul (Translation.) Stevens. March 22, 1856. I HAVE received your letter, some expressions in which are not suitable to the Royal dignity; but I attribute them to the incapacity of the (Persian) writer. With regard to your statement that you returned the sweetmeats which, according to custom, were sent to the Mission on the part of His Majesty the Shah, and his Highness the Sadr Azim, although it has not been (the practice) for the Agents of allied Governments to return Royal presents, still, since you have acted thus, of course you have done what you thought proper, and you have justified such conduct on the misunderstanding between the Persian and British Governments. This (however) the Persian Ministers will never admit, for the personal interruption of relations by his Excellency the Minister Plenipotentiary of your Government, as has repeatedly, and in various ways, been stated on the part of the Persian Government, and is in this letter again distinctly repeated, has not injured the friendship existing between the two Governments; and the Persian Ministers consider that this friendship continues as formerly, and does not depend upon his Excellency's personal conduct. No. 92-Consul Stevens to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. May 23.) I HAVE the honour to inform your Lordship that orders were yesterday issued by the Persian Government for the dispatch to Herat of 6 regiments of infantry, 1,000 irregular horse, and 30 pieces of artillery, in the following order: On the 11th instant Agha Khan, Meer Sing (Général de Division), will leave Tehran with 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. On the 16th, Abdul Alee Khan, Serteep (Brigadier), will leave with 3,000 Infantry, and 30 pieces of artillery; and on the 21st instant, Mehmed Reza Khan, Serteep, will leave with the remaining 1,000 infantry. These regiments form part of the army intended to be sent against Dost Mahomed Khan at Candahar, but they will not go beyond Herat until the latter is in possession of the Persians. The Government has learned that the Heratees succeeded in collecting a considerable quantity of grain and provisions before the Persian army reached that place, and it may therefore hold out longer than was recently supposed. [1856-57. XLVII.] The Mufti of Herat, whose arrival in the Persian camp I reported in the inclosure of my despatch of March 31, has been seized and sent a prisoner to Meshed, his entry into that town being attended with every possible insult. He was mounted on a common baggage-horse, having his hands tied behind his back. Such an indignity to a man of his rank will not fail to increase the opposition on the part of the Heratees to anything like submission to the Persians. The Prime Minister has again declared his opinion, that by occupying Herat he will secure a means of easily arranging hi quarrel with the British Mission, since it would enable him, i necessary, to offer the withdrawal of the Persian army from tha place, as a set-off against any demand for redress connected with Mr. Murray's departure from Tehran. The Earl of Clarendon. I have, &c. No. 93.-The Earl of Clarendon to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. (Extract.) Foreign Office, May 24, 1856 YOUR Excellency will tell the Persian Chargé d'Affaires that i Persia occupies Herat, it will be another and distinct cause o quarrel with England, and that negotiations for settling existing differences will be useless. H.E. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. CLARENDON No. 94.-Consul Stevens to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. May 30.) (Extract.) Tehran, April 20, 1856 I HAVE the honour to report, for your Lordship's information that, according to authentic intelligence lately received here, i would appear that the Persian army, under Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza, did not reach the vicinity of Herat without encountering some opposition. A battle was fought near Ghorian, which ended in the entire defeat of the Heratees, their commander, Ahmed Khan, with several hundred men, remaining prisoners in the hands of the Persians, whose loss, on the occasion, if their returns are to be believed, only amounted to 4 men killed, and 20 or 25 wounded. The Prince reports that 1,400 men, from the garrison of Herat, had deserted and joined his forces. Ghorian has been garrisoned by the Persians. The Sadr Azim has led the Shah to expect the receipt of news announcing the fall of Herat by the 10th proximo. He calculates more on the dissension which is said to prevail among the Heratees themselves, than on the prowess of Sultan Moorad Meerza's army. On the other hand, the Envoy from Herat, now in Tehran, ridicules the idea of the place being so easily captured. |