The Express.
London, England, 1856-01-28 00:00:00

OUR DISPUTE WITH PERSIA.

(71011 001 own C011111PONDINT.)
TREBIZOND, Jaw. 8.
After a quick passage of rather less than four days
from Constantinople, I reached this on the sth ; end.
though my last year's visit to Trebizond leaves me
nothing to say now by way of description of the town
itself, its comparatively close neighbourhood equally
to the camp of Omer Pacha and to Kars makes it in
a great measure the centre to which all intelligence
from both points speedily converges, and enables me,
therefore, to send you the latest news that can reach
Europe from either of those scenes of recent action,
as well as some rather still more important new,
brought by the last courier from Persia.
The fact of the rupture of our relations with the
Shah will doubtless be known at home before this letter
can reach London; but, as it is not likely that the
Foreign-office will be more than usually communi.
cative as to the immediate causes of this inopportune
quarrel, your readies may be interested by the fol-
lowing explanatory details. Of the melancholy de-
clension in British influence in Persia towards the
close of 1854, during the interval between the depar-
tore of Colonel Shiel and the arrival of Mr:
Murray, I had occasion to say much at the time,
though nothing that I then wrote from Tabreez at
all adequately described the humiliating reality; for
under the worse than feeble diplomatic administration '
of Mr. Thompson, the acting charge daffaires, our po-
litical ascendancy of nearly half a century's growth
had gone down to zero, and the Persians—ably per-
suaded thereto by the clever minister of the Czar—
were fast taking to the belief that our boasted power
was, after all, a mere bugbear, which, to be overcome,
needed only to be defied. The presence, indeed, of a
couple of heavily-armed Indian frigates at Bushire
kept the Shah and his ministers from giving overt
effect to their newly induced estimate of our national
character and importance; but even during the pe.
riod of my own visit to the country, more than 12
mouths ago, their then active antagonism to our
consular influence at Tabrees—the second city in
the empire—showed plainly enough the extent of the
falling off in their respect for British power. Ao.
eordingly, on his arrival in the beginning of last
year, Mr. Murray found things in as pretty a state
of diplomatic u pickle "as it had ever fallen to the
lot of en unfortunate envoy to set right. Mr. Stevens,
oar consul at Tabreez, had most injudiciously been
transferred to Teheran—which amounted to the vii.
teal shelving "of one of the ablest members of our
whole eastern oonsular service—and I speak from
no limited observation of the body ; and the
new minister was left to perform single-
handed the equally difficult and important
task of repining our lost hold upon the minds of
Nezuradeen-Shah and his divan. The stable-claming
feat of the Theban was child's-play in comparison;
for, having won so many "tricks" from the charge,
M. Anitchicoff, the Russian envoy, was not the man
to play a worse game when pitted against his super-
seding superior. Thus the diplomatic battle of action
and counteraction went on between the two nibs&
skis throughout the greater portion of last year with
fluctuating success, the result being—much like that
in course of accomplishment on the scene of a sterner
strife elsewhere--on the whole unfavourable to the
interests of the Czar. Still, the star of our lost
ascendancy travelled but slowly up from the nadir
where it had fallen towards the zenith where it had
formerly shone with so steady and unrivalled a
lustre; and if Mr. Murray had been in any way
disposed to over-rats his suocese, an occasion soon
arose to plus the matter beyond doubt. In the
month of November last he deemed it desirable to
' appoint an agent at Shiraz, and for this purpose fixed
on a native mina, who, though he had been formerly
in the Persian service, had for two yeah past been
employed about the British mission in Teheran. On
being apprised of the appointment, the government
' objected, and, without any needless waste of courtesy
' in the intimation, declared that they would throw
the mina into prison if he attempted to set out for
his post. In further proof of their energetic resolu-
' don on this point, and before Mr. Murray had time to
open discussion on such a procedure, they seized and
placed in confinement the mirrn's wife, who is her-
self a relative of one of the Shah's conjugal stud, and
threatened to compel a divorce from her husband,un-
less the latter at once withdrew from the British ea-
vice. Now, according to established prescriptive
right, if not indeed by express terms of treaty, the
families of natives employed by the foreign missions
at Teheran are, ipso facto, under the protection of
the embassy_ in whose service they may be ;
and Mr. Murray promptly protestad, therefore,
' against so glaring a violation of the established pri-
vilege, and demanded the restoration of the lady to
her husband within forty-eight hours—alterwards
extended to ninety-six—threatening, in the event of
non-compliance at the end of that period, a mu-
, pension of his diplomatic{ relations. The allotted
time passed, and, the divan still persisting in their
refuel, Mr. Murray carried his threat into execution.
This was on the 20th of November. Not satisfied
with the indignity they had put upon him thus far,
the Persian authorities followed up their defiant pro-
cedure by writing the British minister several most
of letters, and by circulating scandalous ru-
moors in explanation of his interest on behalf of the
imprisoned lady—imputations, I need hardly say,
which were without the shadow of toundation in fact.
For this aggravated addition of private to public
insalta, Mr. Murray demanded the amplest apology
sad reparation; but failing to procure either, left
Teheran, with the entire personnel of the mis-
sion, on the Bth alt. for Tabreez, en route
for Bagdad or Trebizond, as circumstances might
determine. It remains, however, to be seen in what
way this very inopportune quarrel will terminate;
Personally, I venture to predict that the Shsh will
deem it his best policy to make the needful ameride;
for, open as his sonth-western coast is to the broad-
sides of an Indian squadron—to easy nothing of the
still rougher lesson that might be taught him by •
rapidly transported land force of ten or twelve thew
send troops from Bombay or Madras—it would be no
difficult matter to administer a few corrective hint.
that coo:d hardly fail to Improve his Majesty's poli-
tical manners. We shall see.