They were all made to disgorge the
Company's notes and jewels found upon them, but the King visited
Gholam Ruza the day before his departure, and treated him with great
kindness, and seemed very sorry to part with him.]
On the 10th, I had written to Captain Bird to mention the distinction
which he appeared to have overlooked in his zeal to get the fiddlers
removed. The offence with which these persons stood charged in this
case was a personal affront to the King, or an affront to his
understanding, and not any interference with the administration of
the Government; and the first Assistant was requested by the Resident
to wait upon his Majesty, merely with a view to encourage him in his
laudable resolution to banish them, and to offer his aid in doing so
should his Majesty manifest any wish to have it; and not to demand
their punishment on the part of the British Government. In the one
case, if the King promised to punish the offenders and relented and
forgave them, we could only regret his weakness; but in the other, if
he promised to punish them and failed to do so, we should consider it
due to the character of our Government to insist upon the fulfilment
of his promise. On the evening of the 11th I got the above report of
his interview with the King from Captain Bird; and, on the 12th, I
wrote to tell him, that I considered him to have acted very
indiscreetly; that he had brought this vexation and mortification
upon himself by his overweening confidence in his personal influence
over the King; that he ought to have waited for instructions from me,
or at least for a reply from me to his letter, regarding the former
interview at Court; that I could not now give him the support he
required, as I could neither demand that his requisitions should be
complied with, nor tell the King that I approved of them that he had
been authorized by me to act on his own discretion in any case of
great emergency, but this could not be considered of such a
character, for no evil or inconvenience was to be apprehended from a
day or two's delay, since the question really was, whether his
Majesty should have a dozen fiddlers or only ten.
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