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

THE WAR WITH PERSIA.

THE progress of this "little war" excites a great
deal of attention, not only in England, but through-
out Europe. The capture of Herat by the Persians
is now confirmed ; and should Persia determine to
retain possession of the post, a frontier war appears
inevitable. That preparations are being made in
India in anticipation of such an event is confirmed
in some measure by the fact that vast quantities of
ammunition are being conveyed to, and stored at,
Moultan ; that certain regiments are under orders for
the Affghan frontier, and that negotiations are being
pressed with Dost Mohamed for a combined move-
ment against Herat.
A proclamation of war has been issued by the
Governor-General declaring war against Persia for
the violation of the treaty of 1853, an 1 a counter-
proclamation, it is said, has been issued by Persia,
accepting the war. The British expedition in the

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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 have Persian troops invaded the terd
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, and have interfered in its 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.

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