Manuscript of Persia and the Persian Question (Continued) [‎328r] (655/690)

fare at a tremendous distance from our base, with
every disadvantage of position and resource, and
against an enemy long and firmly intrenched,
the last time that such a contingency might have
been discussed was during the Crimean war, when
Persia was quite willing to throw in her lot with
Great Britain on condition of the restitution and
7 ° f , her , ] ° st Princes. But Ic jeune
uilait pas la chandelle then, and still less can it
do so now. We can undertake no responsibility
for provinces which Persia has been so weak as to
Jose, and which she is no longer strong enough to
keemj for the bargain would be a one-sided one,
and the reciprocal advantage to ourselves woulci
be small. But by dint of a friendly alliance, by
the exeidse of prudent advice, by encouragement
of the flow of capital eastwards, and by its appli
cation to purposes of ascertained stability, having
for their object the reinvigoration of the country;
we can help to place her in a position which may
render the hostile schemes of her neighbours, if
not impossible, at least precarious. - _
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f
six'
TEn 7 w^tf Trf that ’ w J la t ( ver destiny befall
our possible interferenc^dliw^Sf ^ Sphere of
th^ntre and south i^d be Ilf 6 lnV1 ° Iate
.jffvaderThus f^ r ’ be abl o to say to an
«*«»W^ re 13 d .S S&r i:; it ;f h
on ‘1 v h mi ha '? mor . e tl ' ,a1 ' once
WHht tolerated?
privileges, exercises no ^, a * ts foi ‘ 110 ex clusive
threats. She will not romr' t3 ° + ’ am Gni P Io y s no
^f-need never fire l ^ ^ve a soldier*
I’cnjdehs Jopo« and
future triumphs that „c may g" n In^ersif 3
aS ,"V i. ^
buirylngrnot^v^trthe or
^osiSSKsSstssi
dustriat dcvCopmcntauL^e'^err i “-
If it be asked whether the omens are propitious
foi such a policy, an affirmative answer can, I
think, unhesitatingly be returned. Natural incli
nations might be expected to impel the Persians
towards a British alliance ; but, remembering the
extent to which they are a prey to their fears, and
the manner m which those apprehensions are
labitually played upon by adversaries in a
superior position, I own 1 have been surprised to
find British influence so powerful at Teheran as I
take it to be. But a short time ago this claim
could not have betm made with any scrupulous
regard for truth. For more than 30 years Great
Britain has pursued a policy towa'rds Persia
which, under the familiar disguise of masterly
non-interference, has assumed the dimensions of
unpardonable neglect. As the Grand Vizier said
to me, A little more, and British influence
would have betn dead in Persia.’’ That this
fatality did not occur and that so notable a re-
viVal has taken place is to be attributed in part
to the tactical blunders of our rivals, in part to
a juster estimate of British policy by the Persians
themselves, but in a higher degree to the remark
able energy and wholesome influence of the pre
sent British Minister in Persia, Sir H.^Wolff
The value ef his servicesmay, perhaps, b/judged
better from the frantic oiVtcry of the Russian Press
than from the interested encomiums of a country
man, and I will, therefore, do no more than refer
n 7 o reat £ rs to h * 16 w eekly delirium of the scribes
j ,. * Petersburg and Moscow. Personally 1
believe the impression to be gaining ground in
1 ersia that British counsels are framed, not with
a purely selfish object, but with an honest desiie
for the country’s gain. The Shah has given prac
tical evidence of his sympathies in the ^cnces-
sions with regard to the Kurun river/r?fn3 the Im
perial Bank. His recognition of the commercial
aspect of English influence was shown by the in
terest with which he scrutinized the operations
and productions of our manufacturing industries
when on his tour in the summer-through tire
smoky capitals of the Midlands anct the North.
U ith the bulk of his subjects I believe that the
i English are personally popular, except when
they adopt tlie browbeating tone, a line of con
duct which is in the last degree abhorrent to a
people who pride themselves on civility of de
portment, and possess a natural dignity. To the
question propounded by myself in my opening
hrttor as to the impression produced in Persia by
the great teception given to the Shah in England
the reply may be made that in the absence of
newspapers means of transmitting foreign intel-
igence,the majority of his people are probably igno-
rantof it altogether; that the minor officials,who in
Persia are among the most conceited and intoler
able of the human race, would be disposed to re-
ard it as a symptom of British weakness and of
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