ter some hesitation, was made on the
advice of the British government. It was hoped that this evident
self-abasement by Persia would appease even the Russian bureaucracy.

But it now seems that a compliance with Russia's demand was exactly
what was not desired by her, since it removed all possible pretext for
taking more drastic steps against Persia's national existence. Hence,
at the very moment when the Persian Foreign Minister, in full uniform,
was at the Russian legation complying with this first ultimatum, based,
as it was, on absolutely false reports, the St. Petersburg cabinet was
formulating new and even more unjust and absurd demands, which, as some
of the public know, have resulted in the expulsion of the fifteen
American finance officials and in the destruction of the last vestiges
of constitutional government in the empire of Cyrus and Darius.

Russia called for my immediate dismissal from the post of
Treasurer-General; she required that my fourteen American assistants
already in Persia should be subject to the approval of the British and
Russian legations at Teheran; that all other foreign officials in
future employed by Persia be subjected to the approval of those two
legations; that a large indemnity should be paid to Russia for the
expense of moving her troops into Persia to hasten the acceptance of
these two ultimatums; and that all other questions between Russia and
Persia should be settled to the satisfaction of the former.

The acceptance by Persia of these demands meant, of course, a virtual
cession of her sovereignty to Russia and Great Britain. It should be
noted, also, that in this Russian ultimatum the name of the British
government was freely used, although the British minister took no part
in the presentation of the same. Sir Edward Grey was subsequently asked
in the British Parliament as to this point, and explained, in effect,
that he agreed with the Russian demands, with the possible exception of
the indemnity.

The Russian minister informed the Persian Government that this
ultimatum was based on the following two grounds: First, that I had
appointed a certain Mr. Lecoffre, a British subject, to be a tax
collector in the Russian sphere of influence; and, second, that I had
caused to be printed and circulated in Persia a translation into
Persian of my letter to the London _Times_ of October 21, 1911, thereby
greatly injuring Russian influence in northern Persia. These grounds
might be cl