The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-20 00:00:00

1204 Persian Gulf has seized the island of Karrak, and is preparing a descent upon Bushire, while strong re inforcements are marching to the Persians in Herat. Meanwhile, conflicting accounts arrive in relation to the Russian forces on the Persian frontier. Vera cious Vienna and Constantinople letters declare that 50,000 men are concentrated on the frontier eager for the fray; that a powerful squadron lies with steam up on the Russian side of the Caspian; that councils of war are daily held in St. Petersburg, and that General Chruletf and Prince Bariatinski are only waiting for the intelligence of the disembarka tion of the British troops at Bushire to pierce the Persian frontier in three points, and in as many columns advance upon Herat. The truth of all this is that Russia has concentrated a corps of observa tion upon her Persian frontier, as Tinley has done at Erzeroum. THE following is a copy of the Proclamation of War published at Calcutta on the Ist ult PROCLAMATION. Fort William, Foreign Department, Nov. 1, 18:A1. The Right Hon. the Governor-General of India in Council having, under directions from her Majesty's Government, directed the assemblage of a large British force at Bombay for service in the Persian Gull, deems it proper to make known the reasons which have rendered this measure necessary. In the month of January, 15,53, certain articles of agree ment were concluded between Lieutenant-Coloncl Shed, her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo tentiary at the Court of the Shah of Persia, and his High- ness the Sudr Azim, or Prime Minister of the Persian Government. Ry those articles the Persian Government engaged not to send trcops to Herat on any account, unless foreign troops—that is, troops from the direction of Calm! or Can (labor or other foreign country—should invade Herat. In the event of troops being sent, the Persian Government engaged that the said troops should not enter the city of Herat, and that, on the return of the foreign troops to wards their own territory, the Persian troops should be im• mediately withdrawn from the neighbourhood of Herat to Persian soil. The Persian Government also engaged to abstain from all interference whatsoever in the internal affairs of Herat, whether " in taking possession, or occupying, or assuming the sovereignty, or governing, except in so far as inter ference existed between the two parties during the lifetime of the late Tar Maliomed." And, lastly, the Persian Government engaged to relin finish all pretension to and demand for the coinage, or the rending of the Khootbeh, or any other acknowledgment of allegiance or subjection on the part of the people of Herat to the Government ot Persia. It was, at the same time, stipulated that, so long as there should be no interference of any sort whatever on the part of the British Government in the affairs of Herat, the engagements contracted by the Persian Government, as aforesaid, should remain in full force and effect. On the other hand, it was agreed, in the name of the British Government, that " if any foreign power, such as the Affghans or others," should wish to interfere with, or take possession of Herat, the British Government, on the requi sition ot the Persian Ministers, would not object to restrain such foreign power by friendly advice, "so that Herat might remain in its own state of independence." While the British Government has faithfully and con stantly adhered to the obligations which it accepted under the agreement of January, 1843, the Government of Persia has manifested a deliberate and persevering disregard of the reciprocal engagements, by which, at the same time, it became bound, and is now endeavouring to subvert by force the independence of Herat, which was the declared object of the agreement in question. Su far back as December, Iffss, the Persian Govern• ment, by an article in the Teheran Official Gazette, an nounced its intention of despatching a force to Herat, alleging that the Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan, the ruler of Affghanistan, had been instigated by his " neighbours" to possess himself of Candahar; that, having with their assistance succeeded in that enterprise, be meditated an advance upon Herat ; and that au armed demonstration in the direction of Herat was required for the preservation of tranquillity in Khorsssan. This assertion, that the ruler of Affghanistan was in. stigated by his " neighbours " to occupy Candahar, or that he was assisted by them in possessing himself of that city, or that he received advice or encouragement from them to advance upon Herat. was, if by ►hose " neighbours" the British Government is indicated, wholly untrue. No such instigation or assistance, encouragement, direct or indirect, bad been given by the British Government ; nor, so far as the British Government is informed, had there been, when the assertion was made, any act on the part of the Ameer host Mahomed Khan evincing a design to advance upon Herat. Nevertheless, the Persian Government has executed its. intention. Not only ha ve Persian troops invaded the ter d ritory of Herat, although the contingency which alone coul e justify such an act has not come to pass; but they hay laid siege to the city, an d h ave i nter f ere d i n i ts internal affairs, while the Government of Teheran has not only assumed the tight to nominate the ruler of Herat, but, in audiessing the present chief of the city, has declared Herat to be Persian soil. The siege of Het has now been carried on by the Per sian army for many months. Before its commencement, and during its progress, the unfriendly sentiments of Per sia towards the British Government have been scarcely veiled; and, recently, the movements of troops iu different THE PRESS. parts of Persia, have indicated a determination to persist iu an aggression which is as unprovoked as itis contrary to good faith. - - The conduct of the Persian Government has been pro nounced by her Majesty's Government to constitute an act of open hostility against Great Britain. Reparation has been sought, but without success. The withdrawal of the Persian troops from the neighbourhood of Herat to Persian soil has been demanded, as a preliminary to the adjust ment of differences to which the acts of Persia alone have given rise ; but the demand has been evaded, and, accord ing to the most recent accounts, a Persian army still in vests Herat. Friendly remonstrance having failed, and a reasonable requisition having been rejected or put aside, it becomes incumbent on the British Government to take measures by which the Persian Government shall be convinced that solemn engagements contracted with Great Britain may not be violated with impunity, and by which effectual guarantees against continuous breach of faith shall be secured. To this end a force has been directed to assemble at Bombay, and will embark as soon as the necessary arrange ments shall have been completed. The further cperations of the force, after it shall have reached the Persian Gulf, will be guided by such instructions as the progress of events, and the policy of the British Government, may demand. By order of the Right Hon. the India in Council. G. F. EDMONSTONE, Secretary to the Government of India. The Indian papers do not regard the British expedi tion as at all equal to any serious operations towards Teheran from Bushire. The Bombay Times main tains that the Baltic is the more appropriate scene for naval operations if the advance of Russia really be the object of English apprehension:— It is but indifferent generalship to send troops from their base of operations and supplies to meet an enemy still within his own frontier, and who may choose the time for attack when we are most at his mercy. We do not require to prove that we can send five or fifty thousand men, wherever our fleets can carry them, when it suits our pleasure. It has not yet been shown that we have either men or baggage cattle that can live on air or sleep in snow ; until such are provided we can just as little force our way into the interior of Persia as into that of Russia itself. Already the commissariat and quartermaster-general's departments report that supplies must ail be sent from Bombay, that our troops can be subsisted only from our ships, and that the villagers have only to retire before us, when we starve before we are a hundred miles from the shore. The Times Constantinople correspondent writes upon the subject : A war with Persia ought not to be considered as a trifling expedition, and it may well be asked, before beginning it, whether no means could be found to arrange a quarrel in which, turn it as we may, English Government agents were in the wrong, at any rate in the beginning. The whole question has been very much envenomed in England by the idea that Persia is a tool of Russia, who, defeated in her attempts on Europe, has begun a series of intrigues which led to a breach with the British Govern ment. Nothing can be more wrong. All impartial per sons know that the system pursued in Persia by the English mission was in itself sufficient reason to account for the decline of English and the rise of Russian influ ence. I bare often before remarked that one ought never to lose sight of the fact that the Persian Government is, as everybody knows, feeble, and placed between too strong powers—England and Russia. It is a natural physical law that where there is pressure from one side Persia must lean towards the other. This is the explanation of the present Russian influence. To think thatthe Persians have sympathies for Russia is an absurdity; they have no sympathies either one way or another; they want to live as quietly as they can. If the pressure on our side were withdrawn only fbr a year, all those who kur•w Persia will have no hesitation in saying that every Persian would be with the English, as those furthest off. It ought likewise not to be forgotten that the siege of Herat was begun in consequence of the rupture with England, and that the Persians have, even after the capture. declared themselves ready to retire from Herat and to offer a compensation to the Heratees. The Persians are likewise said to be ready to give full and entire satis faction in the Murray affair. If this be true, as I am assured it is by well-informed persons, why push things to an extreme? The Paris papers take much interest in the whole affair. The Pays remarks— None can doubt that Persia, if left to her own resoarees. will be speedily compelled to treat with England; there- fore the serious part of the question lies in the attitude of the allies of Persia. The Russian journals recently told us that Russia was labouring to effect a reconciliation between the two belligerent powers, but the conditions which it advocated are unknown. In the event of these conditions not being accepted, it remains to be seen whether Russia will remain inactive. In a few hours the Russian flotilla on the Capsian could transport a Russian corps (Fannie to Astrabad, that is, between Teheran and Herat. Such a demonstration would render the success of the English expedition extremely doubtful, but it would give rise to most serious complications, and perhaps lead to an open rupture between Russia and England. It must not be dissimulated that the solution depends above all on the Cabinet of St. Petersburg. Persia, in taking possession of the town of Herat, has certainly failed in all her engage. SATURDAY, ments with England, and she cannot reestablish those relations without abandoning her conquest. This policy depends entirely on the advice that the Shalt may receive from Russia, and it is consequently to the Emperor Alexander that we must look for the immediate cessation of complications, the extent of which cannot now be defined. Le Nord during the week has discussed the question of the recent statement that a Russian army, 50,000 strong, was prepared to march on the Persian frontiers. Le nord doubted, but alluded to an article in the treaty of liulistan, wherein Russia engaged herself to defend Persia in any case of urgent necessity, and thus states the intentions of the Russian Government Doubtless the Shah of Persia might, in the event of his being attacked, claim the execution of Article 4 of the treaty of Galistan, and we are convinced that Russia would exercise her influence in order to establish a good understanding, in which all parties have an equal stake. We, moreover, believe that this result is now what she is seeking to bring about at Teheran. The menace which is said to be directed against England by Russia on the Persian frontiers could therefore alone become a reality in the event of England forgetting her ancient relations of good friendship towards Persia, and maintaining towards the latter a threatening and hostile attitude. Then, and then alone, do we believe that Russia might be forced to till with loyalty towards the Shah the part which England has pretended to play in the Eastern war with respect to the Sultan. On Thursday Le Nord followed with an article denying that Russia had any ambition to acquire possessions in Central Asia, or to threaten our In dian empire. The accusation of the Post and other papers that Russian intrigue was altogether at the bottom of the present Persian complications, Le Nord meets with the assertion that Rus-,ia'A sole political interest is in the maintenance of peace ; and that she has never ceased fur the last few months to use all her influence at Teheran to induce Persia to forego the expedition to Herat and to renew amicable relations with England. ARCHDEACON DENISON'S friends are relying upon a point for overthrowing the Bath judgment. It ap pears that Burn, in his "Ecclesiastical Law," vol. i., page 69, has this sentence :—" Archdeacons, by the 13th and 14th c. t 2, c 4, are to read the Common Prayer, and declare their assent thereunto, as other persons admitted to ecclesiastical benefices, and also must subscribe the same before the ordinary ; but they are not obliged, by the 13th Elizabeth, to sub scribe and read the Thirty-nine Articles ; for, al though an archdeaconry be a benefice with cure, yet it is not such a benefice with cure as seems to be intended by that statute, but only such benefices with cure as have particular churches belonging to them." The archdeacon's friends will rely upon the non-applicability of the statute to the office of an archdeacon to vitiate the whole judgment of the archbishop. A committee, consisting of the Earl Nelson, Mr. A. J. Beresford Hope, Mr. T. Gambier Parry, Mr. F. H. Dickenson, and the Rev. J. Keble, has been formed for the purpose of collect ing and disbursing the funds required for the prosecution of the archdeacon's defence in its future stages. BICHERSTETH, who has been appointed to the bishopric of Ripon, will be consecrated shortly after Christmas. The ceremony will be performed at York Cathedral by the Archbishop of York, who will be assisted by the Bishops of Durham, Manchester, and Carlisle. Bishop Bickersteth will not be entitled to sit in the House of Lords until a vacancy arises in one of the dioceses other than Canterbury, York, London, Durham, and Winche‘lter, the incumbents of which are not subject to th? system of rotation under the Manchester Bishoprics Act, which applies to the bishops of the other sees. The new bishop has appointed as his examining chaplain the Rev. Charles Clayton, senior fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, one of the leaders of the Evangelical party in the Church. "'FIE SCHOLARS OF Sr. PAUL'S SCHOOL delivered their winter speeches on Thursday morning iu the presence of the master and wardens of the Merchant Taylor's Company, who attended as usual in their robes of office. The prizes of hooks were accorded with appropriate addresses by the principal of the school, Dr. Kynaston, to Messrs. Thomas Nolan Miller, Walter John Lawrence, and Edmund Fuller Griffin, the three young gentlemen who had the most distinguished themselves in turning into Latin Sap phics James Montgomery's poem the " Christian Soldier." The speeches of the day were then recited by Messrs. Monkhouse, W. C. Monkhouse, Hand, Key, Little, Griffin, Greenhill, How, Harris, Law rence, P. E. Monkhouse, Williams, Sweeting, and Butler, all of whom acquitted themselves well. MR. BODKIN AND MR. CHAMBERS, M.P., AND MR. ALEXANDER PULLING, are candidates for the Common Sergeantship. The office of Common Sergeant will not, we believe, be actually vacant till St. Thomas's Da), when the new Recorder will be sworn in, and the election will take place on Plough Monday. The contest is likely to become a close one. , "on- ..1-.Nommikvor4. rgaimmiemenimPir-.