[ARABIA / ADEN / BRITAIN] ALS to Henry Labouchere, Secretary of State for the Colonies, [.] the Governor of Aden [.] the Imam of Muscat”, discussing [.] merchants asking for “Indian [.] European speculations” in the Gulf...

VERNON, ROBERT (1800-1873), Manuscript, 28 December 1856.

COMPLETE TITLE: Autograph historical manuscript letter signed, to Henry Labouchere, Secretary of State for the Colonies, sending a letter from the Governor of Aden, insisting on the importance of “our friend, the Imam of Muscat”, discussing the greed of the Liverpool merchants asking for “Indian revenues to pay for their European speculations” in the Gulf, the priorities of the Navy in India, etc.

A moderately legible handwritten letter on a watermarked “J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1833” which is the finest paper of its time. 18,5 x 12 cm. [4] p.

A lengthy, newsy, and historically significant autograph letter signed including 62 lines, addressed to Henry Labouchere (1798-1869), 1st Baron Taunton, and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, sending a letter from the Governor of Aden, insisting on the importance of “our friend, the Imam of Muscat”, discussing the greed of the Liverpool merchants asking for “Indian revenues to pay for their European speculations” in the Gulf, the priorities of the Navy in India, etc.

When the Liberals (as the Whigs were now known) returned to office in 1855 under Lord Palmerston, Vernon was appointed President of the Board of Control, with a seat in the cabinet, a post he retained until the government fell in March 1858. The Indian Mutiny which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown took place during his tenure. “I hope we shall not get into any embarrassment with these Arab tribes just now. They are very difficult devils to deal with – and we want every assistance in that quarter not only in the Persian Gulf but in the Red Sea. The Imam of Muscat too is very necessary to us and might not like to be embroiled in rights of sovereignty with his neighbours. Add to which every vessel we have, we want for service or transport, and by the last mail [Charles] Canning wrote me to implore(?) he might have more at Calcutta.”