The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-16 00:00:00

own brother, and so the nervous Lord Wellesley was
relieved from the fears of Affghan invasion.

TII9 noble Govertior_Geneital next directed his ambition
to an alliance with Persia, a country with which we had
held no diplomatic relations since the days of King James
the First, and yet went on very well without them. This
was in 1799, and the necessity alleged was the same French
invasion of India by way of Egypt, which St. John of Acre
and Sir Sydney Smith had stopped before it had even set
out on its march. tr.,. la 1808, a permanent legation was for
the first time established in Persia, the same which still
subsists, and the spring of diplomatic woes unnumbered.
The object in this ease was to counteract the very poetical
project of the First Consul of the French republic to invade
and conquer India, and this time not through Egypt, but
Pers;st. This legation has now existed for the Icng period
of near half a century, and we may safely defy any human ,
being to point out a single benefit which England or India
ever derived from it, while the evils of which it has been
prolific have been flsgraet and manifold. Its very begin-
ning was ominons of mischief. The Crown sent its env .y
from England, and the Lieutenant of the East India Com-
pany must needs send his at the very sense moment from
India, and the two great men meeting in Persia, they squab-
bled meet indiscreetly, almost under the very beard Of the
king of kinzs.
Dawn to the year 1811, all our fears of Indian invasion
were directed to France, but as this chimera could no longer
he indulged in, we conjured a new one unheard of bathe, a
Russian invasion. In order to lay this politica! ghr'st, we
made a most indiscreet treaty with Persia, in which we cove-
nanted that, in the event of that kingdom being attacked
by a European power (Russia being meant although not
named), such power, and not Persia, being the aggressor,
we should furnish our ally either with an army for his
defene a or in lieu of it, with warae stores, aid a yearly
contribution in money of 100,0001. In twelve. years' tints
the obligations of the treaty came into operation, by the
fact. of Russia seizing a Persian province, which led to a
' war disastrous to Persia. Pleading some ugly subterfuge,
we violated the inconvenient and indiscreet convention, for
we furnished neither army, munitions, nor money. The
enraged King threatened to put our envoy to death for the
bad faith of his masters, but our diplomatist had the good
fortune to escape with his head on his shoulders. In
virtue of the contract the King of Persia now claims a
debt of .0300,000.
he quarrel, however was patched up, and our dis-
credited legation was restored. That legation in 1838
sounded the false tocsin of " Reran in danger," " Herat the
key of India,"and this led to the Afghan war with all its
disgraces, horrors, and disasters. War was, of course de-
clared against Persia, and our envoy left the country in
dudgeon, all on account of the imaginary key, although
700 in;les distant from the leek it was to open.
. And now once more we are at war with Persia, caused by
the same legation, the grounds being " the chimerical key,"
Fnaughty woman and her antlered husband, both of
them natural bora subj 'etc of Persia, the British Legation
on their behalf having been converted into a sanctuary foe
the disaffected, as churches were for criminals in the dark
ages.
(tLet us take a glance at the pecuniary costs of our Persian
diplomacy, as far as they are ascertainable. Our first mis-
sions from ladi i to Persia were on a most extravagant
footing ; but of the cost of these, and of various
considerable sums paid to Persia from time to time,
we have no account. Most of the charges of the Persian
Legation are paid from the Indian revenuse, and
these amount yearly to the net sum of £12,000. Eng-
land pays only the diploin tie pensions, and these on an
average amount to about 3,0001 a year. These disburse-
ments Seem to have been going on for about fifty years, and
of course have amounted in all to three quarters of a
million sterling. To the Persian I"gation must be charged
the whole cost of the Affghan war, for assuredly,
without its active •instigation, that disastrous conflict
never would have taken place. The war is admitted to
have cost a round sum of 16,000,0001, just exactly the
amount of our present income tax. He is a sanguine
speculator that will estimate the cost of our present
contest at less than from three to four millions, and taking
it only at this amount, our Persian diplomacy within the
last sixty years will have cast us a round sum of twenty
mill ions ! .
_ _ .

....... .
Once more, we ask, what service has our diplomacy
rendered in return for such a monstrous waste of public
money ? Did it avert French invasion through Egypt
or through Persia? Such invasion will now be readily
admitted to have been nothing better than a
dream of the disordered brain of diplomacy. Did it
avert the encroachments of Russia upon Persia ?
Not a bit of it. On the contrary, eighteen years after
our legation had been established at the Persian court, the
Russians d Tested Persian armies organised by British
officers,. wrested whole provinces from the Persians, and
acquired additional influence in the Persian councils, in the
very teeth of our mission, which was itself proportionally
depreciated. The Russians are a power of Central
Asia, and their territories are conterminous with
those of the Persians. A • legation at the Persian
court is therefore with them natural and necessary, and
they ensure respect to it by the neighbourhood or
1 their armies. Our position is wholly different %V
are not a Central Asiatic power, for we have no Indian
territory nearer the Persian frontier than 700 miles, or
nearer the seat of the Persian government than 1,400, At
Tcherau our lega LAI is 3,000 miles from London, the
seat of metropolitan, and equally distant from Calcutta, the
seat of provincial governme❑t. It is planted among a bar,
harous people, ignorant of the European law of nations ;
it is isolated, unsupported, impotent for good, but potent ter
mischief. The present is a fair opportunity for i s with-
drawal. We are in virtual possession of the whole maritime
coat of Persia, obtained at comparatively small cost. Let it
be held until s►tisfactory explanations be given, and after
those explanations lot our legation be abandoned. Oar
apprehension of a Russian invasion of India is now when. ted
by every politician of sense and experience to be a pure
phantom of tbc imaginatian. The abandonment of our
Persian legation we :Id demonstrate that our Indian power
his a stability which requires no factitious props for its
support, while the continuance of the establishment gives
our real strength the aspect of feebleness.
We see by the eatitnates that the cost of the present war
with Persia is estimated at £1,500,000. Bat this is only
the English portion of the burden. Add an equal sum for
the share of the Indian government, and the total will be
£3,000,000, which just agrees with our conjecture in the
above remarks.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

The 82d and 90th Regiments, which lately went
into garrison at Portsmouth -from the camp at
Aldershot, and received orders to hold themselves
in readiness to embark for India, will not go until

June. They were inspected on Friday on South-
sea common by Major-General Breton, the Com-
manderin-Chief of the south-west district, who was
much pleased with their efficient appearance. The
Duke of Cambii Ige has approved the transfer of
438 volunteers from various corps to the Bth 35th,
531, 61st, 70th, 78th Highlanders, 83d and filth
Indian depots at the Provisional Battalion,
' Chatham. The regiments which have furnished
this large number of volunteers are the 4th King's
Own ; 6th, 14th, 21st, Royal Fusiliers ; 28th, 31st,
65th, 66th, and 67th. _ _ ,

The Conflict, 8, screw corvette, Commander Cochran.
arrived at Spitnead on Friday from the Mediterranean ;
she left Malta on the 22.1 d ult. ; Gibraltar, Feb. 2 ; and
Lisbon, 7th. The Cmsar, 91, Captain Robb, and the
Colossus, 81, left Lisbon for England on the sth instant.
The Sanspareil, 80, and the Exmouth. 91, were to follow
in a few days. The Conflict left at Lisbon, in addition
to the two last named, the Duke of Wellington. 131 flag
ship of Rear Admiral Sir Richard Derides, K.C.B. ; the
James Watt, 91, Captain Anson ; and the Princess Royal,
91, Captain George Gillard, C.D. The Conflict left on
Friday afternoon for Devonport, to be paid off
The Hastings, 60, screw blockship. was taken into dock
on Friday for repairs, and to be made available for the
e-mstguard service.
The Thetis, 36, Prussian frigate, having refitted in
Portsmouth Harbour, has got up lower yards and top-
gallantmasts, and bent sails in readiness for going to
Spithead.
We have reason to believe that the following is a correct
list of her Majesty's ships and gunboats ordered home
from the stations specified :—From the Mediterranean—
the Cressy, Majestic, Dauntless, Miranda, Desperate,
Boxer, Cracker, Fancy, and Grinder. From the West
Indies—the Nile, Euryalus, Arrogant, Archer, and Arab.
From Lisbon—the Caesar.
Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Gascoigne, of the Portsmouth
division of Royal Marines, has made an exchange of
division with Lieutenant Colonel H. C. Tate, Chatham
division.
Colonel S. R. Wesley, Deputy Adjutant General of the I
Royal Marines, is to have the good service pension vacant
by the promotion consequent on the death of General G.
Jones.
The Pylades, 21 screw steam corvette, Master W. H
Sharp in charge, was put out of No. 3 dry dock at Sheer'
ness on Friday. She is to besplaced in the first class
steam reserve here.
The Driver, 6, paddlewheel steam sloop, Commander
Innis Chambers, was paid off on Thursday at Sheerness.
She is to be placed in the second class squadron- of
reserve.

The Terrible, 21, paddlewheel steam frigate, is ordered
to be taken into No. I dry dock at Sheerness.
The Nimrod, 6, screw steam despatch vessel at Sheer-
ness, has been ordered to proceed to Portsmouth.
The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty :—Commander G. F. Burgess, to the Hecate,
vice Commander Gordon, deceased; Lieut. A. A. D.
Onslow and Lieutenant C. P. Ryder, to the • Herald ;
Alexander Brown, Master, to the Edinburgh ; Richard
Mumford, Second-master, to the Ajax ; Oscar Samson:
Acting-second-master, to the Victory; L.M. Mallet, Mid
shiptnan, to the Dragon ; J. Patterson and F. W. B. Jones,
Naval Cadets, to the Vixen.