Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/145

 for Persian in 1849 and for Arabic in 1851. In the last year he obtained his company, and was promoted assistant-adjutant-general of the Nagpur subsidiary field force. Shortly after, thanks to the influence of General John Jacob [q. v.], Goldsmid entered the civil service, first as deputy collector and then as assistant-commissioner for the settlement of alienated lands in the newly acquired province of Sind.

On his return to England in 1855 he volunteered for active service in the Crimea, and was attached to the Turkish contingent at Kertch under General Sir Robert Vivian [q. v.]. Here he soon acquired a knowledge of Turkish. In recognition of his services he received the Turkish war medal, the order of the Medjidie (4th class), and a brevet majority in the army. He returned to India in 1856, and took up judicial work at Shikarpur. Subsequently he served on the staff of Sir Bartle Frere [q. v.], then chief commissioner of Sind, and during the Mutiny he distinguished himself in various dangerous missions.

In 1861 Goldsmid first became connected with the great scheme for linking up East and West by telegraph. In that year he arranged with the chiefs of Baluchistan and Makran for telegraph construction along the coast of Gwadar; his success in the negotiations was acknowledged by the Bombay government. In 1863 he was promoted brevet lieut.-colonel. In 1864 he was selected to superintend the gigantic task of carrying the wires from Europe across Persia and Baluchistan to India. He accompanied Col. Patrick Stewart when laying the Persian Gulf cable, and later proceeded by way of Bagdad and Mosul to Constantinople. There, after protracted negotiations, he carried through the Indo-Ottoman telegraph treaty. In 1865, on the death of Col. Patrick Stewart, he was appointed director-general of the Indo-European telegraph, and at once started for Teheran to assist in negotiating a telegraph treaty with the Persian government. For his services in securing the Anglo-Persian convention he was made a C.B. in 1866, and received the thanks of the government of India. From Teheran he travelled overland to India and back again to Europe to settle the terms of admission of the Indo-European telegraph to the European system. Subsequently Goldsmid personally superintended the construction of the telegraph line across the whole extent of Persia. Of that arduous work he gave an interesting and characteristically modest account in 'Travel and Telegraph' (1874).

After resigning the directorship of the Indo-European telegraph in 1870, Goldsmid was appointed in the following year a commissioner for the delimitation of the boundary between Persia and Baluchistan, and his award was eventually accepted by the Shah's government. In the same year Goldsmid was entrusted with the even more delicate task of investigating the claims of Persia and Afghanistan to the province of Seistan. A full account of the proceedings of the commission is contained in the voluminous collection of papers, entitled 'Eastern Persia' (1870-72), which was edited with an introduction by Goldsmid, and published under the authority of the India office in two volumes in 1876. It was a singular testimony to Goldsmid's tact and ability that despite the determined procrastination of the Persian commissioners a temporary settlement of this thorny question was reached, but not till the British commissioners had twice visited the disputed territory. The arbitral award was published at Teheran on 19 Aug. 1872; Persia was confirmed in the possession of Seistan, while a section of the Helmund was left in Afghan territory. The strict impartiality of the award satisfied neither party, but it had the desired effect of keeping the peace. For his services Goldsmid was created a K.C.S.I. in 1871, and received the thanks of the government of India. He retired from the army on 1 Jan. 1875 with a special pension and the rank of major-general.

Goldsmid's public career was not ended. In 1877 he was appointed British representative on the international commission to inquire into Indian immigration in Reunion. A joint report was issued in February 1878, and a separate report in the following April. In 1880 Goldsmid accepted the post of controller of crown lands (Daira Sanieh) in Egypt, and witnessed the outbreak there in September 1881. In June 1882 he was despatched by Lord Granville [q. v.] on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople; and on his return to Alexandria he rendered useful service in the campaign of 1882 by organising the intelligence department, for which he received the thanks of Viscount Wolseley and the war office. On his resigning the control of the crown lands on 1 May 1883 the Khedive bestowed on him the Osmanie decoration of the second class and the bronze star.

On leaving Egypt, Goldsmid accepted