We have at last some explanation of the Pupture between
the Persian Court and the British Mission at Teheran ; but the ex- planation is still imperfect. Mr. Murray is blamed for having suffered a rupture to occur when politic reasons essentially de- manded that his official communication with the Court should be kept up. It is, however, impossible to adopt a judgment in the absence of more complete information. Mr. Murray was called upon to protect a servant of the Embassy whom the chief Minis- ter was pursuing with vindictive brutality out of a personal spite. It is true that in Western Europe it, would be very im- proper for an ambassador to become embroiled in disputes be- tween the government and its subjects, although in all civilized countries certain privileges are recognized as attaching to the servants of a ministry. In the East, the firm establishment of such immunities is necessary, not only for the smooth working of the ambassador's household, but for the maintenance of his dig- nity before the public opinion of an Oriental community. The minister who gives in, and cedes a question of prerogative or patronage, will seldom be much respected by the minister who overmasters him, or the court that connives at his defeat. It is, speaking generally, most undesirable that the representative of a state should suffer his course to be turned aside by personal con- siderations; but we are not fully prepared to assume that Mr. Murray could have served his country better by submitting to the arbitrary insolence of a factious Prime Minister.
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