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 MR. M'NEILL APPEALS TO THE SHAH. 309 loss of influence, and, by means of petty annoyances and vexatious delays, to try whether it could not extort from him the price of more honourable treatment. It was prepared to push this system to the utmost point short of a rupture, and it was convinced that if it should go too far, a mission to England and a few words of expla- nation and apology would satisfy the Government of her Majesty, which could not afford to dispense with the alliance of Persia. In addition to these promptings of avarice, it must be remembered, in explanation of the line of conduct adopted at this time by the Persian government, that the Shah's ruling passion was a desire for military renown, and, connected with this wish, a determination to extend his territories, especially in the direction of Affghanistan. These views were encouraged by Russia and opposed by England, and this circumstance could not fail to raise in the Shah's mind the hope of deriving greater advantage from the cordial cooperation of Eussia, than from intimate relations with England. Such being the spirit which at this time animated the Persian court, we are not surprised to read that it showed itself in several acts which it was impossible for the British Minister to pass over without obtaining redress. The safety of the officiating British resident at Bushire was insolently threatened by the governor of that place ; and a courier of the English mission was stopped, seized and ill-treated in the neighbourhood of Meshed, and then forced to return to the camp of the Shah. In addition to these things, the conclusion of a commercial treaty with England, to which the Shah's Government was pledged, was evaded on frivolous pre- tences. Mr. McNeill obtained from the Shah the admis-