The Press.
London, England, 1857-02-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Behind him appeared, plainly attired in the national
" chop," an old man, worn and wizened, but with hic beard
dyed a fine black. This was the Ameer of Catul. A
likenes of the Dost, taken in 1811, may be seen in Sir A.
Burne's " Cabal." It is from a drawing by a Bengal offi-
cer, and is pronounced by Sir Alexander to be an excellent
likeness. In his train was seen a litter slung between two
ponies, in which was carried a notable prisoner of the
Bost's, not to be trusted out of his presence, the ex King
of Balkh. Arrived at the Durbar tent, Dost Mohammed
was received with a royal salute, and the troops formed in
column and marched past in review. Sir John and he
then proceeded to open the conferences; but our news
only coming down to the day after the meeting, we as yet
know nothing of what has passed at them. It may be easy
to guess whet the chief will ask for—it is less so to know
how much the commissioner is empowered to grant. But
if au advance through the passes is decided on, it must
soon be known here.

Of Herat, we only hear from Cabul, whither the
information was sent by Hyder Khan at Candahar,
that the Persians are busy strengthening the defences,
mounting fresh guns, and laying in large stores with
a view to further advance into Affghanistan. In the
direction of the Bolan Pass, or Southern Affghanis•
tan, we learn that fa portion of the money and ammu-
nition sent to the A tneer by that route had reached
Quettah. And of the Khan of Khelat it was reportel
at Shikarpoor that he had told the English that he
was both willing and able to defend the Bolan Pass
against any attempt of the Persians.
Le Nord of Monday pub:ishes the subjoined letter
from a correspondent at Teheran, dated Jan. 10 :
Preparations for war are being made with the greatest
activity. All the resources of the country are laid under
contribution; the troops are being concentrated, the irre-
gular militia convoked, and, finally, a levy en masse has been
decided upon. A "Holy War" is preached. The foreign
representatives advised the Government to abstain from this
appeal to fanaticism, but the Government persisted in its
intention, while giving assurances that public order should
be untroubled, and that the life and property of Christians
should be respected. All the functionaries, as %ell as the
clergy and the sadrarcon, assembled in the mosque of the
Shah—more than 30,000 people covering the court and
terraces. The meeting lasted nearly the whole of the day,
and concluded with the reading of the firman of the Shalt
iu four different parts of the mosque, so that the document
might be heard by the entire assembly. This production,
long and prolix, according to Oriental fashion, speaks first
of the peace and friendship which reign between Persia and
the other powers, with the exception, unhappily, of England ;
then gives an exposé of the circumstances which led to the
rupture ; and the people, in conclusion, are exhorted to fight,
and sacrifice life and fortune, if necessary•, in the defence of
their religion and country. The assembly dispersed tran-
godly, but it is feared thatsome badly-disposed persons will
profit by the excitement to create disturbances. The firman
will be read with similar solemnities in the forty principal
towns. Unfortunately, scenes of disorder are much more
likely to occur in the provinces than in the capital.
Accounts from the shores of the Caspian state that
the 13th Division of Rus-.ian Infantry, under the
orders of General Chruleff, took position on the 28th
of January at Djabal, at the confluence of the Araxes
and the Knur. On the following day Abberad Khan,
sent by the Governor of Farsistan on a privati mis-
sion, had a long cool< r!nce with General Chruleff at
the headquarters of the latter.