"ملف ٦/ ١ المصالح الأجنبية: الإرسالية الأمريكية في مسقط" [و‎‎٨‎٤] (٢١٠/١٦٧)

5. I will not weary you with the details of the
negotiations in which I assumed the role of a friend of
both parties* but I spent a good many hours extending over
a number of days interviewing alternately agitated
Missionaries and a disgruntled Council* I naturally
adopted a sympathetic attitude to each* which was the easier
as I was on friendly terms with both.
6. finally being sure of my ground by the result of your
telegram quoted above, (though of course I informed neither
party of the exchange of our telegrams) I had a final
interview (separately) with both sides* I informed the
Missionaries that - though I saw their point of view - the
charge of American interests ;.hich I hold did not warrant
me bringing any pressure to bear on the Council on behalf
of a Muscat subject - the widow in question - whether
Christian or not, and that ultimate action of the Council
must depend on the will of the latter* To the Council
- i.e* Saiyid Said, for Haji Zubair merely echoes the latter -
I said that while I quite appreciated his feelings on the
subject, I was not empowered to force the Americans to give
up the woman* But the latter was undoubtedly a Muscat subject
whether Christian or no, and that he could do ae he liked in
&
the matter* But that briefly: every—thing that v as right
vas not expedient* That it was most inadvisable at the
present juncture when the state was in negotiation with the
United States for there to be any incident’^between the
State and the American Missionaries, who would doubtless send
a report to their headquarters in New York from which it would
find its way to Washington* I pointed out that he had not
committed himself to any direct, or written order, to the
Missionaries to the effect that the woman should undergo her
mourning, and that if he finally decided - on grounds of
larger policy - not to press the matter, all he had to do was
to let the matter drop: and that in a week* s time the incident
would be forgotten ( I had ascertained that the case so far
had excited little interest in the town)* That in fact it