Affairs of the 26th November, one of which contains a rescript from the Shah respecting the imputation upon Mr. Murray, and declaring in the same letter that no such further rescript from the Shah as that inclosed herewith in copy was communicated, directly or indirectly, to any of the foreign Missions at Tehran. A copy of this letter to be communicated officially by the Sadr Azim to each of the foreign Missions at Tehran, and the substance of it to be made public in that capital. The original letter to be conveyed to Mr. Murray at Bagdad by the hands of some high Persian officer, and to be accompanied by an invitation to Mr. Murray, in the Shah's name, to return with the Mission to Tehran, on His Majesty's assurance that he shall be received with all the honours and consideration due to the Representative of the British Government, another person of suitable rank being sent to conduct him, as Mehmandar, on his journey through Persia. Mr. Murray, on approaching the capital, to be received by persons of high rank, deputed to escort him to his residence in the town. Immediately on his arrival there, the Sadr Azim to go in state to the British Mission, and renew friendly relations with Mr. Murray, leaving the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to accompany him to the Royal Palace, the Sadr Azim receiving Mr. Murray, and conducting him to the presence of the Shah. At noon on the following day the British flag to be hoisted under a salute of 21 guns, and the Sadr Azim to visit the Mission immediately afterwards, which visit Mr. Murray will return, at latest, on the following day before noon. Satisfaction being thus given, and friendly relations restored, the settlement of the questions of Herat, of Meerza Hashem and of his wife, remain to be stated. Should Herat be occupied by the Shah's troops, His Majesty to engage to withdraw them without delay. Should that city be in any way menaced, though not occupied, by the Shah's troops, His Majesty to engage not to allow them to occupy it on any account. In either case, the engagement being solemnly given, the British Mission to defer to His Majesty's wish, if renewed, respecting Meerza Hashem, by not insisting on his appointment at Shiraz, the Meerza's wife, however, to be restored to him, and himself to enjoy the security, emoluments, and position offered by the Persian Government in a former stage of the question. The whole of the correspondence respecting Meerza Hashem may then be mutually withdrawn and cancelled, it being to be understood that no objections will be made by the Persian Government to the appointment, as heretofore, of a British correspondent at Shiraz, till that and other matters can be finally arranged by a suitable Convention. No. 105.-Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to the Earl of Clarendon. (Received July 10.) (Extract.) Constantinople, June 28, 1856. I HAD another meeting yesterday with the Persian Chargé d'Affaires and Malcum Khan. I placed in their hands the memorandum of terms. A Persian translation was added. The Earl of Clarendon. SIR, STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE. No. 106.-The Earl of Clarendon to Mr. Murray. Foreign Office, July 11, 1856. I THINK it right to furnish you with copies of a letter which I have addressed to the Sadr Azim respecting Herat, and of an instruction in regard to the delivery of that letter, which I have given to Mr. Consul Stevens. I send you these papers, however, only for your own information, and not that you should take any steps whatever with reference to them. C. A. Murray, Esq. I am, &c. CLARENDON. No. 107.-The Earl of Clarendon to the Sadr Azim. Foreign Office, July 11, 1856. THE Undersigned, &c., has the honour to recal to the recollection of the Sadr Azim the Articles of Agreement respecting Herat, which were concluded in the month of January, 1853,* between his Excellency and Lieutenant-Colonel Sheil, then Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of the Shah. By those Articles the Persian Government engaged not to send on any account troops to Herat, unless when foreign troops invaded Herat, that is (troops) from the direction of Cabul or Candahar, or other foreign country. In the event, too, of troops being sent in that case, the Persian Government engaged that the said troops were not to enter the city of Herat; and whenever the foreign troops returned towards their own territory, the Persian troops were immediately and without delay to return to the Persian soil. The Persian Government also engaged not to interfere in any way whatsoever in the internal affairs of Herat, such as in taking possession, or occupying, or assuming the sovereignty, or in governing, unless in so far as it interfered during the lifetime of Yar Mahomed Khan. The Persian Government also engaged to abandon the pretension and demand for the coinage and the "khootbeh," or any other mark Vol. XLV. Page 726. whatsoever of the people of Herat being subjects or under the Government of Persia. The British Government have been informed that since the beginning of the present year Persian troops have not only invaded the territory of Herat, but have laid siege to the city of Herat, and have interfered in the internal affairs of Herat, and that the movements of troops in different parts of Persia indicate a determination on the part of the Persian Government to persist in its aggression on Herat, and in its disregard of solemn engagements contracted with the British Government. Such conduct on the part of Persia is considered by the British Government to constitute an act of open hostility against Great Britain; and the object of the Undersigned in now addressing the Sadr Azim is to make known to the Persian Government that unless reparation is promptly made by it for this breach of engagement and for this act of hostility, and unless the Persian troops are forthwith withdrawn from the city and territory of Herat, the British Government will adopt such measures as a regard for its own honour and its own interests may prescribe, and will hold itself absolved from any responsibility for the consequences of those measures, however disastrous to Persia they may prove. H.E. the Sadr Azim. The Undersigned, &c. CLARENDON. No. 108.-The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Stevens. SIR, I also inclose a copy of that letter, from which you will cause an accurate translation to be made, and you will deliver such translation, together with the sealed letter, to the Sadr Azim as soon as possible. You will hold no further communication, direct or indirect, or of any kind whatever, with the Sadr Azim, or any person whatever at Tehran, on the subject of that letter; but you may state verbally, on delivering the letter, that the messenger who brought it to Tehran will return to Constantinople when he has had time to rest from the fatigues of his outward journey; and you may specify the day on which he will set out, and to which you will adhere. Except as regards the execution of this instruction, the restriction placed by my despatch of the 15th of May on your intercourse with the Persian Government remains in full force. R. W. Stevens, Esq. I am, CLARENDON. No. 109.-The Earl of Clarendon to Mr. Vernon Smith. (Extract.) Foreign Office, July 19, 1856. HER Majesty's Government are of opinion that the Shah has clearly shown that he is determined to persevere in the policy on which he has rashly entered as regards Herat; and as the success of that policy would be opposed to the interests of Great Britain, it appears necessary to lose no time in providing means for compelling the Shah, by coercive measures, to desist from his present schemes of aggrandizement. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, consider that instructions should at once be sent to the Governor-General of India to collect at Bombay an adequate force of all arms, and provided with the necessary means of transport, for occupying the Island of Karrack and the city and district of Bushire; and to hold such force in readiness to depart from Bombay at the shortest notice. But the Governor-General should be informed that the expedition is not actually to set out until the receipt of further orders from Her Majesty's Government. V. Smith, Esq. CLARENDON. No. 110.-Consul Stevens to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Rec. July 22.) (Extract.) Camp near Tehran, June 4, 1856. I REGRET having to report to your Lordship the particulars of a gross outrage committed upon Meerza Mootallib, the Persian writer of Her Majesty's Consulate, by a person holding a high position, named Syed Morteza, brother of the late, and uncle, as well as locum tenens, of the present, Imaum-o'-Jooma (Chief Priest) of Tehran. On the 23rd ultimo I received the information. I repaired to town early on the 24th, and learnt that, in the night of the 22nd, while visiting Syed Morteza, as is customary during the fast month, the Meerza was invited to partake of dinner. A conversation took place between the Syed and some other Persians on the impropriety of Mahomedans serving Europeans. Syed Morteza, throwing some meat to a cat, remarked that feeding cats and dogs was far more meritorious than giving food to Mahomedans who degraded themselves and their religion by taking service with Christians. Upon this the Meerza inquired whether Syed Morteza had invited him to the repast to insult him, or to reproach him for earning his bread with the English; which bread, he observed, was as good as any other. The Syed threw a book at his head, and ordered the attendants to beat him; whereupon the Meerza withdrew from the house, and went to his lodgings in the Consulate. The outrage which followed is detailed in an inclosure, to which I shall presently refer. A sincere desire to avoid increasing the difficulties already existing between the two Governments induced me, before giving the matter an official character, to afford the Persian Ministers an opportunity of spontaneously granting some sort of reparation, and thus render an appeal to your Lordship unnecessary. With this view, I sent the Mission Treasurer, Mollah Sauleeh, with a verbal message to the Sadr Azim, acquainting him with what had occurred, and expressing a hope that he would do what was needful to prevent a repetition of such disgraceful proceedings. His Highness sent me an assurance, through the Treasurer, that proper satisfaction should be given to me. Seven days having elapsed without my hearing further from the Sadr Azim, I desired Mollah Sauleeh to write and remind him of his promise. I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation of his reply, and of its inclosure, an original letter, written to his Highness by Syed Morteza. The Prime Minister, in his note, affects to treat the whole matter lightly, and declares the Government has no control over the Ulemahs. He advises hushing up the affair, and winds up (as he invariably does when Persians in the British service do not act in accordance with his own views) by attributing improper conduct to Meerza Mootallib. The letter from the Syed accuses Meerza Mootallib of publicly reviling the Mahomedan religion, a thing perfectly incredible, when it is considered that the pretended offence was given at a religious meeting held in the sacred month of Ramazan; and highly improbable as regards the Meerza, a Syed himself, and a remarkably quiet, inoffensive, and timid man. Syed Morteza's letter, after admitting quite enough to warrant our believing Meerza Mootallib's statement, terminates with an allusion to popular disturbances which may arise if I do not drop the affair, and the danger to which I, consequently, might be exposed. This threat is written in a different hand to the rest of the letter, and was evidently an afterthought. I would here beg leave to remark, that, had Meerza Mootallib been really guilty of any improper conduct, custom required that it should be referred to me through the Persian Foreign Office. On the 31st ultimo I addressed a letter (copy inclosed) to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, containing an outline of the outrage committed on the 22nd, and adding that, as the Prime Minister had distinctly asserted his inability to grant it, my making any demand for reparation would be a useless waste of time; that I should, therefore, submit the case for the consideration of Her Majesty's |