Lord Palmerston on February 11th 1851 wrote to Sheil that '... Her Majesty's Government approve of your having called the attention of the Ameer-i-Nizam ... to the acts of violence committed by the Persian Troops against Zenjan.'[15] And finally, here is the last report of Sheil on the episode of Zanján. It is dated January 6th 1851. 'I have the honor to report to Your Lordship that Zenjan has been at length captured--Moolla Mahomed Ali, the leader of the insurgents, had received a wound in the arm, which terminated in his death--His followers dismayed by the loss of their chief, yielded to an assault which their relaxation in the energy of their defence encouraged the commander of the Shah's troops to make--This success was followed by a great atrocity--The pusillanimity of the troops, which the events of this siege had rendered so notorious, was equalled by their ferocity--All the captives were bayonetted by the soldiers in cold blood, to avenge ... the slaughter of their comrades--Religious hatred may have conspired with the feelings excited by a blood feud, which among the tribes are very strong, to cause this ruthless act--Four hundred persons are said to have perished in this way, among whom it is believed were some women and children--Of the fact itself there can be no doubt, as it is admitted by the Government in its notification of the reduction of the city, though it may be presumed that in the number there is exaggeration.'[16] APPENDIX 6 LORD PALMERSTON'S ENQUIRY Lord Palmerston wrote to Sheil on May 2nd 1850: 'I have to instruct you to furnish me with a more detailed account than that contained in your despatch No. 20, of the 12th of February, of the difference between the tenets of the new sect of Bab, and those of the established religion of Persia.'[1] Sheil answered Lord Palmerston on June 21st: 'In conformity with Your Lordship's instructions I have the honor to enclose an account of the new Sect of Bab--The statement contained in the enclosure numbered No. 1 is taken from an account given to me by a disciple of Bab, and which I have no doubt is correct. The other is extracted from a letter from a chief Priest in Yezd, and cannot be trusted-- 'This is the simplest of religions. Its tenets are summed up in materialism, communism, and the absolute indifference of good and evil, and of all human actions.'[2]