BY
MOWBRAY MORRIS.
London:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1878.
[All rights reserved.]
The following pages pretend to give nothing morethan a short summary of events already recordedby recognised authorities.
It was in the year 1808, when the power of Napoleonwas at its height, that diplomatic relations werefirst opened between the Courts of Calcutta andCabul. Napoleon, when in Egypt, had meditatedon the chances of striking a fatal blow at Englandthrough her Indian dependencies; some correspondencehad actually passed between him and TippooSaib on the subject, and subsequently, in 1801, hehad concluded a treaty with the Russian EmperorPaul for an invasion of India by a force of 70,000men, to be composed of equal parts of French andRussian troops. The proposed line of march wasto lie through Astrakhan and Afghanistan to theIndus, and was to be heralded by Zemaun Shah,who then ruled at Cabul, at the head of 100,000Afghans. There was but little danger indeed to beapprehended from Afghanistan alone, but Afghanistanwith Russia and France in the background wascapable of proving a very troublesome enemy. Insuch circumstances the attitude of Persia was of the[2]last importance, and Marquess Wellesley, then Viceroyof India, at once proceeded to convert a possibleenemy into a certain and valuable ally. A youngofficer who had distinguished himself under Harris atSeringapatam was selected for this delicate service.How the young captain, whom Englishmen rememberas Sir John Malcolm, fulfilled his mission ismatter of history. A thorough master of all Orientallanguages, and as skilful in council as he was bravein the field, Malcolm soon pledged the Court ofPersia to the interests of England, and not only wasit agreed that the two contracting parties shouldunite to expel any French force that might seek togain a footing on any of the islands or shores ofPersia, but the latter Government bound itself to"slay and disgrace" any Frenchman found in thecountry. This treaty, which may be thought tohave somewhat dangerously stretched the bounds ofdiplomatic hostility, was, however, never formallyratified, and internal dissensions, culminating in thedeposition of Zemaun Shah by his brother Mahmoud,removed all danger from our frontier for a time.
But the idea still lived in Napoleon's restlessheart. The original treaty with Paul was discussedwith his successor Alexander, and in 1808 a Frenchmission, with the avowed design of organizing the[3]proposed invasion, was despatched, not to Cabul,but to Teheran. The magic of Napoleon's namewas stronger even than British eloquence and Britishgold, and Malcolm, once all-powerful in Iran, whenhe sought to renew the former pledges of amity, wasturned back with insult from the Persian capital.A second mission, however, despatched direct fromLondon under the guidance of Sir Harford Jones,was more fortunate. Napoleon had been defeatedin Spain, and the news of his defeat had spread.Russia was something less eager for the Frenchalliance than she had been in 1801, while betweenthe Muscovites and the Persians there had longexisted a hereditary feud, which the proposed leaguehad by no means served to extinguish. The Englishenvoy, skilfully piecing together these broken threadsto his own ends, was enabled with little loss of timeto con