'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎586] (653/714)

586
PERSIA
experiment was a complete failure and was sooner or later aban
doned; nor would it be worthy of mention, even among the for
gotten episodes of history, had not one of this French contingent
been General Ferrier, who, after leaving the Shah's service, made
the journey through little-known parts of Persia and Afghanis
tan, that resulted in his interesting work ' Caravan Journeys,'
wherein may be found one of the most notable tributes to British
rule ever paid by a rival pen. The estimate of the material with
which they were called upon to deal entertained by the French
officers may be judged from the saying of one of their number
quoted by Binning :— 1
Les soldats n'ont ni'discipline, ni respect, ni obeissance pour leurs
chefs. Ces derniers n'ont aucun sentiment de leurs droits, de leur
devoir, de leur dignite, et sont incapables de guider ou de reprimer
convenablement leurs subordonnes.
The French having disappeared, the Persians in their search
tor military pastors and masters descended a little lower in the
«. Italians, i^ernational scale; and about the middle of the century
ills,"Aus- ^ ie militar y science of Europe was represented at Tehe-
^d'p' rari ^ a num ^ )ei ' Italian officers, refugees from Naples
and Venice, and by a few Hungarians and Austrians, lent
to the Shah by the Emperor of Austria. The latter appeared upon
the scene in I 852, in the person of four officers, a doctor, a chemist,
and a mineralogist. Iwo died in Persia ; the rest vanished in
1858 aud 18o9, The Italian refugees arrived in 1854, six in
number, and lasted a longer time; for between the years 1865 and
18/0, Mr. Mounsey speaks ot them as appearing in plain clothes,
without swords, but armed with stout sticks, with which they
belaboured the men ; a spectacle calculated to draw tears even from
a civilian. In 1859 another French mission turned up, under
Major Brognard, who brought with him four commissioned and
four non-commissioned officers, a bandmaster, and a mechanician
for the arsenal. All left in 1861.
Dissatisfied with these experiments, and disgusted at the
calamitous defeat experienced by a Persian army at Merv in the
autumn ot 1860, the Shah now bethought himself again of his
ancient allies and once more applied for British assistance. It was
characteristic of the attitude of the British and Indian Governments
1 Journal of Two Years' Trare I, vol. ii. p. 294.