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

DR. WOLFF.

TO ALL THE PHILANTHROPISTS OF
EUROPE.
Bokhara, July, 1844.
_ _ _

My dear Friends,—The blood of the gallant officers,
Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly, Englishmen
by birth ; and that of Fodderwise, a German ; of Na-
selli, an Italian nobleman ; and of a Greek gentleman
has been shed at Bokhara by order of its ruler ! and
I do not know whether I shall not also fall! and what
is more, two hundred thousand Persians sigh in
slavery in the land of Bokhara !

Philanthropists of Europe ! be roused to activity—
free the Persian slaves from captivity !
Bokhara is a beautiful country. Give liberty to the
slaves, and religion and civilisation to its inhabitants !
Noble Bavarians, Prussians, people of Baden, and
Austrians, join with England and Russia to effect that
great work of redemption from slavery, and plant the
cross of Jesus Christ in the streets of Bokhara.

JOSEPH WOLFF.

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
insult 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 Bukhara
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
am.—l have the honour to be, &c.,
" JOHN GROVER, Captain Unattached.
"I would send the British 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 Lord High Commissioner of
the lonian Islands, and also for the Governors of
Malta and Gibraltar.