Machine transcription
130
at this critical moment. The Shah (Fateh Ali) was, therefore, obliged to address a letter to Napoleon, then at the zenith of his triumphant career, seeking the aid of the great conqueror to stem the tide of Russian encroachment in Georgia. Napoleon seized the opportunity with vigour and in 1805 sent Monsieur Jaubert to Persia to conclude a commercial treaty. The French envoy was received with great respect. This paved the way for a splendid embassy, which Napoleon proposed to dispatch to the Persian Court. The Shah was very pleased to get this news and threw himself entirely in the support of the French. He was prepared to listen to any proposal of theirs, not excluding an invasion of India if the French were prepared for that.
This aroused the British to action and they saw the necessity of sending a similar mission to the Court of Tehran. To their embarrassment they found that a French embassy, under General Gardanne, an officer of high reputation, was already there to secure an offensive and defensive alliance. The embassy also brought a large number of French officers, both civil and military, to instruct and drill the Persian troops
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.
