The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-14 00:00:00

NOTE BY CAPTAIN GROVER.

The above letter was received open by Colonel Shiel
at Tehran, and only reached me on the sth instant.
When Dr. Wolff wrote that letter he considered him-
self in great danger. Had its import been known to
the Ameer, the good Doctor would have undoubtedly
been sacrificed ; he was, however, incapable of prac-
tising a deceit to save his own life, but was willing to
offer himself up as a sacrifice to others. The circum-
stance of his sending this remarkable letter open, by
averting suspicion, probably saved him. Many months
previous to receiving the above document, I thought
it my duty to address the following letter to the Earl
of Aberdeen :

" Army and Navy Club, Aug. 1, 1844.

"My Lord—At the interview with which your:Lord-
ship honoured me on Saturday last, I was about to say
a few words on the outrage committed by the King of
Bokhara, when we were interrupted by (I believe)
the Chancellor of the. Exchequer ; I therefore presume
to submit the following observations for your Lord-
ship's consideration :

" An opinion appears to prevail that the King of
Bokhara is beyond the reach of our vengeance ; I
think, however, that I shall be able to show that he
may be reached, and punished without difficulty.

" Fearing that at the present day the question of ex-
pediency must be first discussed, I will endeavour to
establish that point.
" There is no principle in diplomacy more generally
admitted than this :—The greatest injury—the greatest
inquit a nation can suffer, is the murder or imprison-
ment of an ambassador.
" All jurists are agreed on this point, and I think no
one would dare even to hint that it would be ' expe-
dient' that the British nation should submit to this
degradation.
"After the Cabul disaster, I am aware that it was
not thought 'expedient' to attempt to punish the mur-
derer of our envoy, but rather to save our rupees,
abandon the prisoners to their wretched fate, and sa-
crifice the honour of the British army.
" Now, my Lord, had this disgraceful decision been
acted upon, I have no hesitation in saying the result
would have been the ultimate loss of our Indian
empire.
" Have the rupees General Sale's expedition cost
the nation been advantageously employed ? I am sure
your Lordship will say, ' Had the cost been tenfold,
the murder of the envoy ought not to have passed un-
avenged.'
" Assuming, therefore, that it is expedient' to
maintain the national honour, I will endeavour to
show, how, in my humble opinion, this may be
achieved. _ _

" The employment of a British force I place out
of the question.
" Your Lordship is aware that both Khiva and
Kokan are at war with Bokhara.

" I had the honour of submitting to your Lordship
a letter from the Asof-ood-Dowlah, uncle to the
King of Persia, Governor of Khorassan, from which
it appeared that he had assembled between Mero and
Meshed the most powerful tribes of Sarakhs, Mashal,
Mero, &c., and that he was ready to march to
Bokhara to punish the Ameer, with the permission
of the Schar, if he had the authority of Great Britain.
" The King of Bokhara being such a horrible
tyrant, and considered by his subjects as a madman,
they might possibly reflect upon Cabul, and save us
the trouble of deposing him.
" Now, the plan I propose is this :
" England should proclaim to all nations her in-
tention of punishing the Ameer of Bokhara for the
murder or imprisonment of her Ambassador, and to
set at liberty all English, Russian, and Persian slaves,
the number of which is enormous. _

" To carry this resolution into effect, your Lord-
ship will only have to say the word to put a Persian
army in motion. This army should be accompanied
by a British officer, as her Majesty's Commissioner,
and he ought to have one or two squadrons of British
dragoons or Company's cavalry, with a few light
guns as an escort, which would give an English cha-
racter to the expedition. In case of success (of which
I can entertain no doubt), England would reap the
honour—should it fail, of course the blame would lie
with the Persians.
" The expedition should be directed against the
Ameer alone, our policy requiring that Bokhara
should be strengthened instead of weakened.

" I trust your Lordship will not consider me pre-
sumptuous in offering these remarks ; at all events, I
feel that I am merely doing my duty ; and, in con-
clusion, I beg leave, through your Lordship, to make
a tender of my dutiful service to her Majesty to be
employed in any way in this glorious enterprise, al-
though I am sure your Lordship will find many
officers quite as willing, and better qualified than I
have the honour to be, &c.,
" JOHN GROVER, Captain Unattached.
"I would send the 13ritish force from Bombay to
Bushire dismounted, and purchase the horses in
Persia."

This proposition was declined by the Earl of
Aberdeen.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, WEDNESDAY.—The unfavourable state
of the weather, both yesterday afternoon and also this
morning, prevented the Royal Family from being
taken their accustomed walks and rides in the pleasure-
grounds of the Castle.

The Duke of Cambridge went out shooting on
Tuesday. His Royal Highness left Kew yesterday
morning for town, and visited her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Gloucester, at Gloucester House. Her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge also ar-
rived in town from Kew in the afternoon.
A deputation of the East Dereham and Norwich
Railway Company, consisting of Mr. R. J. Harvey
(Norwich), chairman ; Mr. Clay, Mr. Drake,
and Mr. Bush, had an interview with the Earl of
Dalhousie; yesterday, at the office of the Board of
Trade.
Dispatches were sent off last evening from the
Colonial-office for the Lerd High Commissioner of
the lonian Islands, and also for the Governors of
Malta and Gibraltar.

------
PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
A new comedietta was produced here last night,
and one could readily perceive, from its light and
gauzy texture, that it came from a French workshop.
The title of this little piece is the Widow Bewitched.
The imbroglio is trifling, but it serves to bring out
seeks to obtain his hand for
some very happy scenes.. Mr. Eustace
. Lorimer (Mr.
Granby) leaves his wife (Mrs. Stirling), and is re-
ported to be dead. Mr. Clement. Furnival (Mr. W.
Lacy) fancies that the supposed widow is in love with
hhiemr.nieScehe('
Honner). The husband returns
in the meantime, and . his jealousy is excited
at the intimacy which exists
. between his
wife and Furnival.. Her object being to cure
(Miss E.
part,
her husband of his unreasonable
. jealousy, and
As might be from this the intended husband of her niece of his coxcombry,
plays off tours d' habilzte upon
anticipatedboth, and succeeds in
both objects. A
lewteithmastery of
out-
line, the piece afforded some very effective scenes, in
which the high excellencies of that talented actress,
Mrs. Stirling, were brought out to great advantage.
a perfect
She worked a vicenda upon the jealousy of her hus-
band,
nhde. her lover,
eoinp
kbannodw,laedngdeoonfthheersipolliwneesrss
her art. Like the famous
.winners. in the boat-race,
she triumphs, because she is conscio.us. of her power.
The piece was announced for repetition till farther
notice.

IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.......There are now only
110 persons in Whitecross-street Prison, about the same
number in the Queen's Prison, and only 25 in Horse-
monger-lane Gaol, making the number of persons con-
fined for debt in the metropolitan prisons about 250.
Some time ago, nearly 400 were confined in Whiteeross-
street Prison. It is understood that the country prisons
are in a somewhat similar position.