CHAP. XII.
TEHERAN.

The details of the subsequent progress of the negociation were daily minuted in my journal; but they involve so many personal considerations that they could not be fairly published, even if I had not acquired the information by confidential and official opportunities. I sacrifice, therefore, but with deep regret the power of doing that justice to the merits of the British Envoy which the simple narrative, without one comment, would have afforded. I must content myself with adding, that Sir Harford Jones succeeded in his great object; and concluded a treaty with Persia (where the French influence had already baffled and driven away one English agent) by which the French, in their turns, were expelled, and our influence was restored; at a time when, instead of co-operation, he experienced only counteraction from the British Government of India, and encountered all the rivalry of the active and able emissaries of France.

On another motive I regret the omission of these notes. They would have characterized, I believe with fidelity, the habits and modes of thinking of a Persian statesman, and added an amusing document to the annals of diplomacy. The conferences of the Plenipotentiaries were carried on at times with the warmest contentions, at other times interrupted by the loudest laughter on the most indifferent subject. One night the parties had sat so long, and had talked so much without producing conviction on either side, that the Plenipotentiaries by a sort of un-official compact, fell asleep. The Prime Minister and the Ameen-ed-Dowlah snored aloud in one place, and the Envoy and I stretched ourselves along in another. Though on the very first night of the discussions, the parties had separated with a full conviction that every thing was settled; and though the Prime Minister himself, laying his hand on the Envoy’s shoulder, had said to him, “You have already completed what the King of England himself in person could not have done;” yet the very next conference, they came forwards with pretensions alike new and extravagant. At the close of that meeting however, the Chief Secretary was appointed to bring the Treaty written fair to the Envoy on the following morning. Instead of this, the Prime Minister sent a large citron, and inquired after the Envoy’s health. On another occasion, the Persian Plenipotentiaries swore that every thing should be as the Envoy wished, and instantly wrote out a corresponding form of Treaty, to which (rather than start a difficulty about indifferent words) he assented. They were then so anxious that he should immediately attend them to the King’s Summer Palace to sign, that they would not give him time to translate it into English: he however refused to sign a Persian treaty, till the English copy was ready. They so little expected this refusal, that they had already, by the King’s desire, sent thirty mule-loads of fruits, sherbets, and sweetmeats to celebrate the event at the new palace; and were of course displeased and disappointed. At another time, in the middle of a very serious conversation, the Prime Minister stopped short, and asked the Envoy very coolly to tell him the history of the world from the creation. This was intended as a joke upon one of the Secretaries, who was then writing the annals of the reign of the present King. On another occasion, in which the same Minister was deeply and personally interested, and in which he invoked every thing sacred to attest his veracity, and convince the Envoy, (now, “by the head of the King;” then, “by Mecca;” then, “by the salt of Fath Ali Shah”) he turned to me in a pause of his discourse, and asked if I were married, and begun some absurd story.

These circumstances, however characteristic of the people, may appear trifling in themselves, or at least indicative of minds, over which an European Negociator might easily attain an ascendancy. It is necessary therefore to premise, that the real difficulties of our situation were never diminished by any deficiency of address and diplomatic finesse in the Persian Plenipotentiaries. Every fresh dispatch which the French received from Europe, while it contributed to raise the spirits and activity of our rivals themselves, enabled the Persians also to assume a higher tone of decision between our contending interests, while the only communications from his own countrymen which Sir Harford Jones received in Persia, were those which would have baffled the hopes and discouraged the enterprize of almost any other man. In the alternation of the dispositions of the court of Persia, he retained the same firm and unbending policy, and when the influence of the French appeared to be regaining all its preponderance, he made no one concession which he had not offered in more favourable circumstances, and finally succeeded in concluding a treaty almost on his own original terms, while the French were signing every demand which the Persians made.

As a more detailed specimen however of the conduct of the negociation, I can reserve a portion of the concluding scene.

At length a night was fixed in which the Treaties were to be signed. The Envoy and I repaired to the house of the Ameen-ed-Doulah, where we found him and his Nazir or Superintendant, the Prime Minister, the Chief Secretary, and the Persian Agent for English affairs at Shiraz. The conversation after a short time fixed on learned subjects. The Persians are extremely fond of history and geography, though in general they are profoundly ignorant of both. The Prime Minister went through in a breath the whole history of Russia. We then entered on matters of chronology, which introduced a discussion on the relative antiquity of particular remains, as Persepolis and Nakshi Rustam. The Chief Secretary, who seemed to have read much Persian history, knew that part which related to Shapour, and mentioned that he had carried his arms into Syria, and had taken prisoner a Roman Emperor. Yet the subject of the sculptures at Nakshi Rustam had still escaped their observation; and they had still, according to the popular belief, substituted Rustam for Shapour, as the hero of those representations. To this conversation, supper succeeded; as usual it was short.

The Treaties were then brought in, and read and approved. The date was still wanting. Sir Harford Jones desired them to insert the usual form, commencing, “In witness whereof,” &c. This however the Persians could not understand, and objected strenuously to the word “witnesses,” who were never introduced except into a court of justice. At length the Envoy produced the precedent of treaties signed at Constantinople, where the form is invariably used. They acquiesced immediately: but another difficulty succeeded, “Should the year of our Lord precede the Hejera?” The Secretary proposed that in our copy of the Treaty, our era should stand first, and that the order should be reversed in that which they were to keep. At last the Minister, who suspected that the Secretary was inclined to create difficulties, finished every argument by declaring that “as Jesus Christ lived before Mahomed, there could be no doubt but that his tarikh should stand first.” The Secretary, who is esteemed one of the first composers, and one of the best penmen in Persia, resisted the plainness of the language, which Sir Harford dictated for the insertion of the date, and produced something so unlike a diplomatic style, and so full of figurative expressions, that it was rejected totally on our parts. Mirza Sheffeea then took up the pen, and drew up a simpler formulary, which, with a few emendations, was admitted. The Secretary was then desired to copy it into the Treaty; but he seemed indignant to find that a date was only to be plain matter of fact, and begged hard to make it a little finer. Mirza Sheffeea however desired him to write as he had written, and this was at length accomplished with great difficulty. Then came the business of signing. The Prime Minister, Mirza Sheffeea, first took up the pen, and put down his own name and that of his brother Plenipotentiary, who was unable to sign himself. After signing, came sealing. The Secretary applied the seals, Mirza Sheffeea crying out to him, Bezun, Bezun, or, “strike, strike,” as if he had been striking a bargain in the bazar. In the act of signing and sealing the parties made frequent exclamations, such as, “God grant the friendship between the two states may be binding!” “May this prove a fortunate day.” “Let us hope that nothing may ever break this bond.” To all which every one present emphatically and repeatedly resounded “Inch Allah! God grant it!”

It had been agreed, that we should severally exchange the Treaties which each had written. When all was over, the Envoy took up our copy, and desired the Mirza to take up the other, that a formal exchange might be made. At this moment circumstances arose which closed the conference abruptly. The nature of those circumstances called forth all the dignified firmness of the Envoy, which in their future intercourse produced the most striking courtesy and attention from the Persian Ministers. The business was subsequently renewed on the evening of the 15th, and in that meeting the Treaties were finally exchanged.

On the 18th, the Envoy received a letter from an officer of high distinction at Tabriz. It is singular in itself, but it may have a new interest in the translation, which was made for me by a Persian (Jaffer Ali Khan), and which is given in his own unaltered words:

“May you, the high in station, exalted in dignity, clothed with splendor, the great magnificent in rank, distinguished for friendly disposition, cream of the nobles of the Christian faith, and the select among the great of the worshippers of the Messiah. May your honour increase, and may you be always in safety from the evil world, and always under the protection of God Almighty. And may He grant you all the happiness belonging to this world and the next, and (may you) be ever merry by the blessing of God. I write you as follows:—1st. I don’t know what complaint I am to make of my bad fortune, that, notwithstanding the great desire I had to see you, the Creator of the Universe had brought you to this country at a time when I am not present there. 2d. I don’t know what excuse to make to you, that while you are there, owing to my being engaged to the Russian affairs, I can’t prove myself useful to you in order to please myself. 3d. I have no remedy, as there are no fine articles at Aderbigian that I may send you, in order to prove of my regard to you; but the state of England and Russians are enemies to one another, therefore I employ my nights and days to do injury to the Russians, which is the only content I have at present. I hope that, in the course of a short time, I may be able to send you some Russian heads as rarities, and as a fine present from me to you, and I hope to be able to meet with some opportunity to repair to the King’s Court, where I may be happy to see you, and I will have a verbal conversation with you.”

A chatter, belonging to one of the gentlemen of our party, having stolen some money, the silver head of a kaleoon and other ornaments, was ordered to receive the bastinado on the soles of his feet. He was first thrown on his back, and his feet inserted through a cord, which fastened them to a long pole, and then exposed horizontally. Four stout feroshes then bastinadoed his feet until he confessed that another fellow had been his accomplice, who was also punished in the same manner. If the criminals had been delivered up to the King’s Nasakchee Bashee, they would have lost their lives; for the King never pardons theft, and orders a convicted thief to be executed instantly. The mode is as follows: two young trees are by main strength brought together at their summits, and there fastened with cords together. The culprit is then brought out, and his legs are tied with ropes, which are again carried up and fixed to the top of the trees. The cords that force the trees together are then cut; and, in the elasticity and power of this spring, the body of the thief is torn asunder, and left thus to hang divided on each separate tree. The inflexibility of the King in this point has given to the roads a security, which, in former times, was little known.

The King sent by one of his feroshes a present of two mountain goats to the Envoy. The man was offered one hundred piastres for bringing them, which he rejected as an inadequate reward; former Missions indeed had taught him to expect more profusion.

The 20th of March was the eve of the Norooz; and as a part of the ceremony of the season, the Ameen-ed-Doulah sent the Envoy a present. It consisted of two plates of money, one of silver coins, and the other of gold; several trays of sweetmeats, one of which was decked out in flowers and gilded ornaments like a temple; and two wax candles, which were accompanied by flowers exquisitely imitated in wax. The whole present amounted, by our computation, to six hundred and fifty piastres, for which, according to the return which we made, we paid most dearly. The wretched traffic of presents places the Persian character in a very unfavourable light. The meannesses and obligations to which they will submit for the sake of a present, and their jealousies and anxieties about its amount, are at least very ridiculous. The presents which the King distributes on the Nooroz are costly; to each of the chief men and officers of his court he sends a kalaat, (a dress of honour, consisting of a complete suit of brocade with a shawl); and he sometimes gives a horse and its caparisons. The kalaats indeed are furnished in specified contributions, by particular cities, (Yezd, Shiraz, and Ispahan,) and by the Ameen-ed-Doulah; and each kalaat is the means of paying the servant who may bear it; as the present, which he invariably receives as a perquisite in return is deducted from his wages. The number of the kalaats is reckoned at nine hundred; and their value, on an average of three hundred piastres, will amount to two hundred and seventy thousand. Besides this, the King distributes handfuls of money at his public Dewan to those who attract his favour. A large vase of gold and silver coins mixed stands at his elbow; in this he puts his hand, and taking out as much as he can grasp, pours it into the two extended palms of the man who is lucky enough to engage his notice.

On the 21st, the weather, which had been unfavourable, cleared up, and a fine morning was enlivened by three discharges of artillery in honour of the Norooz.

This festival is one of those which have remained in opposition to Mahomedanism, and was one of the first kept sacred in Persia in the ages of the worship of fire. Richardson says, “that their chief festivals were those about the equinoxes; the next were those of water at Midsummer, and of fire at the Winter solstice. The first was the Norooz, which commenced with their year in March, and lasted six days, during which all ranks seem to have participated in one general joy. The rich sent presents to the poor: all were dressed in their holiday clothes, and all kept open house: and religious processions, music, dancing, a species of theatrical exhibition, rustic sports, and other pastimes presented a continued round of varied amusement. Even the dead and the ideal things were not forgotten; rich viands being placed on the tops of houses and high towers, on the flavour of which the Peris and spirits of their departed heroes and friends were supposed to feast.”38 To this day the festival of the Norooz retains many of these ceremonies, though it has changed its character since the rise of Mahomedanism in Persia, and ceases to be connected with the religion of the country. It commences when the sun just enters Aries, and lasts three days; it begins the spring of nature, though it no longer commences the civil year of the Persians, who, like all other Mahomedans, have adopted the lunar calculation. It is still the most solemn of the Persian festivals, as it was in the day of Chardin. Mr. Bruce informed me of a singular fact, that it was not observed at all on the coast of the Persian Gulph. At Teheran, however, we saw it celebrated with great festivity. It differs from the Norooz of ancient Persia in the diminution of its duration; and in the absence of all religious observance: there are no processions and still less any offerings of viands to the dead. But all on meeting in the morning embrace and say, “Ayd mobarek; happy festival!” as in England we wish our friends a merry Christmas. The rich still send presents to the poor, all are still dressed in their holiday clothes, and sports of every kind are preserved in the season.

22d. We visited the Ameen-ed-Doulah. He was seated in his dewan khonéh, dressed in the kalaat which he had received from the King. His mujlis or assembly was crowded by Khans of the neighbouring districts, who had repaired to the city to pay their compliments to their superior on the Norooz. These, indeed, were far from conforming to the custom of displaying their holiday clothes, and whether through policy or through want, bore on their dress all the marks of poverty and misery.

On the 24th, the Envoy was invited to an entertainment, which the King gave. We proceeded to the palace, and having gone through the great gate, leading into the Ark, or more immediate residence of the King, we dismounted at the gate which opens into the Maidan and the first great court of the palace. Opposite to this gate is another; in an open room at the summit of which, the King was seated. We walked across the court, and were led through many passages, and ascended many intricate flights of steps, until we reached the roof of the buildings on the right of the Shah. Over this roof, which in many places was of difficult access, we scrambled, until we came to a little tent prepared for us, which was pitched on the summit of a door-way, close to the King’s room.

The court, in which the different exhibitions were to take place, appeared to us to be near two hundred feet square. On each side of the great gate were sixteen arched compartments, each of which opened into a small room. In the centre was a high pole, with a truck at the top, and small projections for the convenience of ascending it. This pole is for the purpose of horse exercises, and shooting at the mark. Close under the room in which the Shah was seated, was a basin of water, on the other side of which were erected the poles and ropes of a rope-dancer. In a circle round these, were fire-works placed in various forms and quantities. Four figures of paper and linen dressed like Europeans were erected on high, and surrounded with fire-works. At a distance were elephants of paper, stuck all over with rockets; on all the walls were rockets; and, in short, fire-works were placed in every direction. Opposite to the Shah in two lines were the new raised troops, with drummers standing in a row at the furthermost extremity. In the centre of these was the Nasakchee Bashee, who appeared as the director of the entertainment. He had a stick in his hand, and wore on his head a gika, a distinguishing ornament borne by particular people only, to whom the King grants the liberty.

The first ceremony was the introduction of the presents from the different provinces. That from Prince Hossein Ali Mirza, Governor of Shiraz, came first. The Master of the Ceremonies walked up, having with him the conductor of the present, and an attendant, who, when the name and titles of the donor had been proclaimed, read aloud from a paper the list of the articles. The present from Prince Hossein Ali Mirza, consisted of a very long train of large trays placed on men’s heads, on which were shawls, stuffs of all sorts, pearls, &c.; then many trays filled with sugar, and sweetmeats; after that many mules laden with fruit, &c. &c. &c. The next present was from Mahomed Ali Khan, Prince of Hamadan, the eldest born of the King’s sons, but who had been deprived by his father of the succession, because the Georgian slave who bore him was of an extraction less noble than that of the mothers of the younger Princes. His present accorded with the character which is assigned to him; it consisted of pistols and spears, a string of one hundred camels, and as many mules. After this came the present from the Prince of Yezd, another of the King’s sons, which consisted of shawls and the silken stuffs, the manufacture of his own town. Then followed that of the Prince of Mesched; and last of all, and the most valuable, was that from Hajee Mohamed Hossein Khan, Ameen-ed-Doulah. It consisted of fifty mules, each covered with a fine Cashmire shawl, and each carrying a load of one thousand tomauns.

The other offerings had been lodged in the Sandeck Khona, (literally, Trunk Office). This was conveyed in a different direction to the Treasury. Each present, like the first, contained a portion of sugar and sweetmeats. When all the train had passed in procession, one by one before the King, the amusements commenced.

First came the rope-dancer: a boy about twelve years old, ascended the rope, and paced it backwards and forwards. The same rope was continued to the roof of the room in which the King was seated, making first an angle of forty degrees, and then, in a second flight, an angle of fifty degrees, with its horizontal extension. The boy balancing himself with his pole, walked up the first steadily, and with very little more difficulty ascended the second, while the music below animated him in his progress. He then, with the same steadiness descended, walking backwards, and safely reached the horizontal rope. After this a man in a kind of petticoat began a dance of the most extravagant attitudes. A large elephant which had been in waiting amid the crowd, was next brought forward, was made to give a shriek, and then to kneel down, paying as it were his selaam to the King. A company of wrestlers succeeded; and every one, who threw his antagonist on his back, ran before the King and received a tomaun. When ten such feats had been successively performed, a man led in a bear, with which in his turn he wrestled. But the bear always had the advantage; and when his antagonist attempted to throw him into the basin of water, the bear got so much out of humour, that if he had not been deprived of his teeth, he would probably have demolished the unlucky assailant. Then rams were brought into the arena, and in several couples fought for some time with much obstinacy. A poor ox was next introduced, and after him a young lion. The scene, which we had witnessed at Shiraz, was here repeated. The ox was scarcely suffered to walk, before the lion was let loose upon him; twice was the lion dragged off, and twice permitted to return to the charge, which he always made in the rear, and of which the success was secure and easy. A less bloody display succeeded; a bear was brought forwards by a company of looties or mountebanks, and danced for some time to the rude noise and music of its leaders. Then came a man who, on his bare head balanced, among other things, two high vases full of water, which another was to break with his cane.

To all these different performers, the King threw different sums, as he was severally pleased with their tricks and feats. At sun-set his Majesty retired to say his Namaz, (prayers) when his Nokara Khanah, that is his trumpets and drums, played as usual. At this moment the Envoy retired, happy to escape the noise and smoke of the fire-works, which were to close the entertainment.

25th. The King held the races, at which also the Envoy was desired to be present. From the Casvin gate, at which we left the city, we proceeded about half a mile to a fine even part of the country, where a tent was pitched for the King. All his new raised troops were arranged on the right and in front of it. On the left, facing the tent, we stood in a line, near the Ministers, Mirza Sheffeea, and the Ameen-ed-Doulah. Directly opposite his Majesty were eight of his sons, richly dressed in velvet and gold-brocade coats, all glittering with gold and jewels. One of these carried by his side his father’s bow and his quiver thickly set with precious stones. The Master of the Ceremonies, in the field, was a young Persian who carried an ornamented and gilded spear. One or two of the Princes were mounted on white horses, the legs, belly, and lower parts of the buttock of which were dyed a rich orange colour, terminated at the top by little flowers. The Persians much admire this species of disfigurement, nor in the East is their taste singular. At about fifty paces distance from the Princes, stood the King’s band of music with a troop of looties and their monkies. The state elephants were on the ground, on the largest of which the King, seated in a very elegant howdar, rode forth from the city.

When he alighted he was saluted by a discharge of zombooreks; the salute indeed is always fired when the King alights from his horse or mounts. In one of the courts of the palace at Shiraz we had previously noticed this artillery. The zomboorek is a small gun mounted on the back of a camel. The conductor from his seat behind guides the animal by a long bridle, and loads and fires the little cannon without difficulty. He wears a coat of orange-coloured cloth, and a cap with a brass front; and his camel carries a triangular green and red flag. Of these there were one hundred on the field; and when their salute was fired they retreated in a body behind the King’s tent, where the camels were made to kneel down. Collectively they make a fine military appearance. This species of armament is common to many Asiatic states, yet the effect at best is very trifling. The Persians, however, place great confidence in their execution; and Mirza Sheffeea, in speaking of them to the Envoy, said, “These are what the Russians dread.”

No exhibition could be more miserable than the races, the immediate object of our excursion. They are intended to try rather the bottom than the speed of the horses. The prize is what the King may be pleased to give to the first jockies. On this occasion there were two sets, that came severally from a distance of twelve and twenty-one miles; each consisted of about twelve ill-looking horses, mounted by boys of ten or twelve years old, who were wretchedly dressed in a shirt and pair of breeches, boots and cap. In each race the King’s horses won, of course. Horses are trained in this manner for a reason sufficiently obvious, in a country where the fortunes of the state and of every individual are exposed to such sudden changes. Every one likes to be prepared with some mode of escape, in case of pursuit; now horses thus inured to running will continue on the gallop for a day together, whilst a high conditioned and well-fed animal would drop at the end of ten miles. For this reason the King always keeps himself well supplied with a stud of this description, as a resource in the event of an accident. When, on the death of his uncle, Aga Mahomed Khan, He was summoned (by Hajee Ibrahim, the Minister of the late King) to assume as the heir the sovereignty, he thus travelled from Shiraz to Teheran, a distance of five hundred miles in six days.

In the interval of the race, the King sent the Master of the Ceremonies to desire the Envoy and his suite to come before him. We dismounted from our horses, and proceeded with the Prime Minister and the Ameen-ed-Doulah, before the King’s presence, making low bows as we advanced. When we were about twenty steps from his Majesty we stopped and made our final low bow. The King was seated on a high chair under a canopy, the sides of which were formed of gold cloth, and of looking glasses. The chair itself was beautifully embroidered with enamelled flowers and other ornaments; on one of the arms was a pot of flowers, and on the other a vase of rose-water. On one side was spread a velvet and gold cloth carpet with the pearl pillow. The King was in his riding dress, a close coat of purple velvet embroidered in pearl, the sheep-skin cap, and a pair of Bulgar boots. As he was placed in a good light, we had an excellent view of him. His manners are perfectly easy and unconstrained, with much dignity and affability. He first inquired after the Envoy’s health, of whose good qualities the two Ministers then entered into an immense eulogium, praising him in terms the most extravagant. Then the names of all the party were mentioned to the King, and each was asked how he did. All the conversation was complimentary; and when the comparison was made between us and the French, the King said, “they were haivans, beasts, wild men, savages. These are gentlemen.”

After the whole was over we returned to our horses. The King then mounted, and the salute was fired from the zombooreks. His infantry first marched off the ground; they were dressed differently in black or in crimson-velvet jackets, in loose breeches of crimson or yellow silk, black sheep-skin caps and light boots. The King passed us at a distance on horseback, and we made our bows. He was preceded by a body of chatters, who are dressed with fantastical caps on their heads, and lively coloured clothes. No other person was near him, nor indeed is any other permitted. The King of Persia is an insulated being, alone in his court. How different is the state of the Sultan at Constantinople, who is almost concealed by the crowds of his attendants. The Princes followed, and then the mob. After this we repaired to a tent, where the Ameen-ed-Doulah had prepared a Persian breakfast for us.

On the 26th, the negotiating parties met to discuss a point reserved in the Treaty. The conference terminated without any decision: and in this state of uncertainty the question remained for three days, when we were told that it had been decided to our satisfaction; and that I was to see the King on the 30th, and to depart for England as soon after as possible.

On the 30th, accordingly the Envoy and I breakfasted with the Minister, in the expectation of our introduction to the King. His Majesty, however, had gone to ride to Shem-Iroun (“the Candle of Persia,”) a village under the mountain, celebrated for the beauty of the situation and the salubrity of its air. We remained with the Minister all the morning. The Ameen-ed-Doulah was there; his spirits were depressed by the intelligence which he had received from Ispahan, (the government of his son) that the melting of the snow and rain had so swoln the Zaiande-rood, that it had overflowed and injured the country to the amount of three lacks of piastres. It had destroyed, besides many houses and buildings, a large bund or dam, nearly opposite to the Chahar Bagh No. The bund was the work of Abbas, and had cost about twenty times the labour of that at Kohrood. The whole damage was reckoned at thirty lacks of piastres. Kanauts were filled up, and large tracts of rich and productive land were rendered useless for the year. At Ispahan, the water filled the under arches of the fine bridge of Aliverdy Khan, that goes into the great Chahar Bagh. This inundation extended over many districts. An express announced that the river at Pool Dallauk was over the bridge: and that the country was in many places so inundated as to be only passable with much danger and difficulty. The great salt swamp was particularly deep.

The 13th of the month Sefer is looked upon as most unlucky among the Persians; they do not keep in the house on this day, but rather walk out into the fields, in order that nothing may disturb their humours, for a quarrel with any one on this day will entail misfortune through the remainder of the year.

On the 31st we went to the King. At this audience He was seated in a room in a square court called the Gulistan, a name derived from the roses, with which (intermixed with cypress and chenar trees) it was planted. We were introduced into it by the two Ministers, through a door small and mean, like those in other parts of the palace, and which are obviously adapted for more easy defence in the event of any sudden alarm. In the centre of the garden is a Koola-frangee, built by Aga Mahomed Khan. The garden itself was arranged in squares, with some miserable palings. Peacocks and hens, great favourites in Persia, were every where walking about. After having paraded through the garden in various directions, (for this also is a part of the ceremonial) we finally approached the presence. We took off our slippers at some distance, and walking on the bare stones, stepped up a difficult staircase into a small and elegant room, in which his Majesty was seated. At the foot of the staircase was a row of eunuchs; and at the top several officers. At our entrance the King desired us to be seated, but we excused ourselves and stood. His Majesty’s throne was that on which he had appeared at our first audience. The Envoy had complained to the Minister, that on that occasion we had no favourable opportunity of seeing the King; and his Majesty had probably been informed of the disappointment, and had condescended in consequence to gratify our curiosity by transfering his throne to a more favourable position, and displaying himself upon it in all the magnificence of his state. He was dressed in a light coat of scarlet and gold cloth; on his shoulders were large layers of pearl and precious stones. On each of his arms were three rows of jewels called the bazebunds; these are his finest jewels, one of which (the Dereea Nore) is one of the largest in the world. Though set in a clumsy manner, they had a rich and royal effect. Round his waist he wore a band about four inches broad of pearl, connected in the middle by a clasp, the centre of which was an emerald of an immense size. In this band he wore a brilliant dagger; from it also dangled a tassel of pearl, which he continually kept in his hand as a plaything. His kaleoon is a beautiful toy: it stood in the left corner of the throne, and was one blaze of precious stones.

On the right of his throne stood four pages, one holding his crown, another his shield and mace, a third his bow and arrows, and a fourth his sword. All these are beautiful, particularly his crown: it is in every part thickly inlaid with pearl, emeralds, rubies and diamonds; on the summit is a gika of precious stones, on the sides of which are plumes of herons’ feathers.

His Majesty talked with much familiarity; and asked us, what news from the Yenzee Duneea, that is, the new world, as they call America. He inquired, “What sort of a place is it? How do you get at it? Is it under ground, or how?” He then talked of our government; and appeared aware that the Kings of England could do little without the intervention of their parliament. In the explanations which followed this subject, his Persian Majesty was visibly astonished that any limitation could be placed to Royal authority. The conversation turned; and the King talked of Buonaparte, and launched out in general terms against the French. After the introduction of some other topics, His Majesty dismissed us by a nod of his head, desiring that a kalaat might be given to me, and that a Mehmandar might be appointed to attend me on my journey.

On the 4th April his Persian Majesty sent me my kalaat or dress of honour: it consisted of a kaba or brocade coat that covered me all over; a small outer coat trimmed with fur over the shoulders and down the back, called the coordee; a brocade sash; and (what I believe is considered a great distinction) a sword. The King was pleased to ask what I should like best to receive as a mark of his Royal regard, and when it was left to his Majesty’s decision, He sent me a sword which he had worn himself. His own name was upon it, by which all his Majesty’s swords are known. All these things were contained in a piece of white linen (the sword lying on the top), and were brought in some state by an officer of the royal household. When they were put into my hands, I carried them respectfully to my head, and then retired and put on the different articles. When I came out again full dressed, every body congratulated me by a “moobarek bashed,” (“good luck attend you.”) I continued in this garb for the remainder of the day, although, according to Persian etiquette, I ought to have worn it for the three days following the investiture.

In the evening we went to the Prime Minister’s, and were shewn the Treaty with France, signed and ratified at Finkenstein, by Buonaparte, in May 1807. It was written on vellum, in a beautiful French hand, and inserted in a cover of black velvet, curiously and elegantly wrought with a spread eagle at each corner, and the initial N in the centre, in a wreath of gold embroidery. The Great Seal was pendant from it, inserted in a plain gold box. The treaty was countersigned by Talleyrand; and by Maret, the Plenipotentiary appointed to treat with Mirza Reza, the Persian Plenipotentiary. I copied this document (consisting of fourteen articles) in the room, and as we went away, the Minister sent the Envoy the Commercial Treaty, which contained twenty-eight articles.

The 6th was observed as a holiday among the Persians, as the commemoration of that, when Hossein’s head, which had been severed from his body by Yezid at Kerbelai, was buried, after an interval of forty days.

The affairs of Persia are conducted with a publicity which would ill accord with the diplomacy of Europe. As that stipulation, which was the surest evidence of the permanent dispositions of the Court, remained unfulfilled; the Envoy on the 9th of April dispatched, by Jaffer Ali Khan and myself, an official note on the subject to the Ministers, which he desired them to lay before the King. We carried it to the Der a Khonéh Shah, or gate of the King’s palace, where there are offices for the Ministers and Secretaries to transact the business of the state; and where they assemble every day to be ready whenever the King may call them. Here we seated ourselves in the public room among all the officers of the court, waiting for Mirza Sheffeea, and the Ameen-ed-Doulah, who were then before the King. In a back room were men counting money; in that, in which we sat, were the Chief Secretary, Mirza Reza, and Ismael Beg Damgaunee, (the King’s favourite, and commander of the body-guard) and several others all occupied in writing, talking, or smoking. When the Ministers arrived, I delivered the public letter accompanied by a private note from the Envoy. Mirza Sheffeea then unfolded the official note. There were perhaps twenty people in the court near the window where the Mirza sat, who looked over the paper, and knew its contents as soon and as well as the Minister himself; and all my expostulations could not procure their removal. When the Minister had read it, he told us he would lay it before the King, and then desired us to retire to another room, where we might eat, drink, and put ourselves at our ease, until the King should send for us.

We went to a room in another part of the palace, and sat there full five hours, during which time we had a visit from a son of the Ameen-ed-Doulah, a young man who has the great post of Comptroller of the Household to the King. His business is to provide for the King’s kitchen, to see every thing before it goes to the King, and to superintend every part of the eating and drinking concerns of the establishment. Whilst we were seated with him, four round trays of lettuces, in the centre of which was a gold vase of vinegar and syrup, Were brought before him. He inspected them, tasted the syrup, and approved them fit for his Majesty’s eating. After that, two young Georgian slaves were brought in for sale, for one of whom the master asked one hundred and fifty tomauns. The five hours, which we passed here, were long and melancholy: the only amusements which were provided to cheer us, were a dish of lettuces, the chief carver, and some specimens of writing: on the latter indeed every one in the company, except myself, could comment at full length. The Persians are great admirers of fine writing, or, more strictly, of penmanship, to excel in which requires, according to their estimate, a practice of twenty years.

At length we were summoned before the King. Preceded by the two Ministers, we passed through the same dirty door, into the same garden in which we had been at the last audience: we made as many bows as before, and took off our slippers at the same place; but water had been thrown on the ground, and this last ceremony was therefore very disagreeably contrasted with our former introduction; for instead of the fine gold-wrought carpet in the King’s room, we were now reduced to stand on a wet brick pavement by the side of a basin of water. His Majesty having first inquired after the Envoy’s health, and made some preliminary compliments, reverted to the official note which had been communicated to him that morning by his Ministers. After a short explanation, the King proceeded; and seating himself erect on his throne, in a convenient talking position, talked without intermission for a considerable time with much animation and action. We then returned to the room which we had first entered in the morning.

The Prime Minister sat down close to the window to return an answer to the Envoy’s official communication. Several servants, who were at the window, read this note, word by word as it was written; so that the original and the answer were equally well known to the public. The Mirza repeated to us his letter, and then sending the attendants away, desired to have some conversation with us. The discussion was unsatisfactory, and we returned.

In these circumstances the decision of the Envoy’s character secured the object of his mission. The point was gained, and it was settled accordingly that he should see the King on the morrow. On the morrow accordingly, Mr. Bruce and I, dressed in our kalaats, attended him to the King.

His Majesty was seated in the Koola built by Aga Mahomed Khan, in the Gulistan. He was on a chair, and dressed in a shawl coat. He was very gracious, told the Envoy that he had determined upon our alliance, promised that the French should be dismissed, and hoped that after the decision which he had thus made, His Brother of England would not dissent.

The room was covered on all its sides with looking-glass; of this also, the dome which surmounted the whole, was composed. A handsome chandelier was suspended from the centre, and three fountains of water played beneath it.

On the 15th Mr. Bruce was sent to Bushire to proceed to India. The French, in consequence of the Envoy’s successful representations, were preparing to leave Teheran immediately. Their Embassador, General Gardanne, wanted to go to Russia through Georgia; but the court of Persia justly fearing in such a quarter the influence of that resentment, (which, since the signing of our Preliminary Treaty the French had not scrupled to express) refused the permission; and the King ordered his son, the Prince Governor of Aderbigian, to give the French mission an escort of one hundred men, by the way of Arz-roum, and on no account to permit any deviation from that route.

We went before the King; His Majesty’s conversation was quite enlivening. He swore that it was by Him that Buonaparte was made the man that he is, and that in the course of the next year he would be destroyed. We received His Majesty’s letter to the King of England. It was richly gilt and ornamented with flowers. The seal was on a separate piece of paper, and placed at the foot of the letter; according to an old Persian etiquette, when the King addresses an equal: when He writes to an inferior, the seal is affixed to the top. In composition, Persian critics pronounced this letter perfect; the Chief Secretary had been employed in it several days; and that to the Minister for Foreign Affairs was intended to be equally fine, and indeed to comprehend all the politics of the world within its pages.

Under these circumstances, on the night of the 23d, a letter arrived from the Governor-General in India, of which it might be improper to disclose the contents, further than to remark, that they placed His Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary in a situation of peculiar embarrassment, from which nothing but the most friendly disposition in the Persian court could have relieved him. It is due to the King of Persia himself to add, that He condescended to treat Sir Harford Jones on this occasion with the most gratifying evidences of his protection and individual favour: and His Ministers united in displaying the greatest personal kindness towards us. Throughout the whole management of a new and very delicate situation, their proceedings were so plain, so upright, and so cheering; so eager to shew respect and confidence to the Envoy, that we regarded them with the liveliest gratitude; and felt relieved by finding among strangers all the heart and principle of countrymen and brothers.

The French Embassador was already dismissed; and in a few days the King sent an order to the remainder of the legation to quit Teheran immediately. The people were then as inveterate against the French as they had before been disposed to court them. When Messrs. Jouannin and Nerciat prepared to obey this order, and were leaving the city, the mule-drivers (hired by the King for the conveyance of their baggage, and sent forwards in the usual form) stopped at the gate, and cutting the lading from their beasts, threw every thing upon the ground, and ran off. One of the Frenchmen struck a mule-driver in the breast with his dagger.

On the 29th Mirza Abul Hassan, brother-in-law to the Ameen-ed-Doulah, and nephew to the late Prime Minister Hajee Ibrahim, was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary from the King of Persia to accompany me to England. The particulars of his history, which, I learned on good authority, may afford some lights on the internal administration of his country, and will at least be acceptable to those who were interested by his appearance at the Court of London.

Mirza Abul Hassan was born at Shiraz in the year of the Hejera 1190, or 1776 of the Christian Æra. He was the second son of Mirza Mahomed Ali, a man famous in Persia as an accomplished scholar, and who was one of the Chief Secretaries and Mirzas of the celebrated Nadir Shah. His father’s services had nearly been requited by an ignominious and cruel death, when the hand of Providence interposed for his safety, to strike with more severity the head of his atrocious master. Nadir Shah, in one of those paroxysms of cruelty so common to him during the latter years of his life, ordered that Mirza Mahomed Ali should be burnt alive, together with two Hindoos, who also had incurred his displeasure. The unfortunate Mirza, on hearing his sentence, remonstrated with the tyrant, entreating him that he might at least be permitted to die alone; and that his last moments might not be polluted by the society of men, who were of a different faith from his own, and on whom he had been taught to look with a religious abhorrence. To this the Shah consented, remitting his death until the next morning, whilst the Hindoos suffered in that same hour. That very night Nadir Shah was assassinated in his tent, and Mirza Mahomed Ali was saved.

The family of Mirza Abul Hassan rose to its greatest power during the reign of Aga Mohamed Shah, predecessor to the present King. The Mirza’s father died in the service of Kerim Khan; his uncle Hajee Ibrahim Khan (uncle by his mother’s side) attained the post of Prime Vizier, whilst himself and the other branches of his family enjoyed the greatest share in the administration of the affairs of the state. It was somewhat before the death of Aga Mohamed Shah, that Hajee Ibrahim bestowed his daughter in marriage on his nephew, after a long and singular courtship. A sister of his wife’s is married to Mahomed Taki Mirza, one of the King’s sons; and a second to the Ameen-ed-Doulah, the second Vizier.

The family, however, was not always prosperous; after some time the King ordered Hajee Ibrahim to be put to death, his relations to be seized, his wives to be sold, and his property to be confiscated. His nephews of course partook of the disaster: one was deprived of his sight, and remains to this day at Shiraz; the youngest, then twenty years of age, died under the bastinado; and the second, Mirza Abul Hassan, who was then the Governor of Shooster, was dragged to the capital as a prisoner. The circumstances of his seizure and escape from death are better described in his own words. He told me, “I was asleep when the King’s officers entered into my room: they seized me, stripped me of my clothes, and, tying my hands behind my back, dragged me to Koom, where the King then was; treating me during the march with all the rigour and intemperance that generally befals a man in disgrace. The moment I reached Koom, the King pronounced the order for my execution: I was already on my knees, my neck was made bare, and the executioner had unsheathed his sword to sever my head from my body, when the hand of the Almighty interposed, and a messenger in great haste announced my reprieve. I was indebted for my life to a man who had known me from my boyhood, and who had long cherished me as his son. This worthy man, by name Mirza Reza Kouli, the moment he heard the sentence of death passed upon me, threw himself at the feet of the King, and, pleading my youth and inoffensiveness, entreated that I might be pardoned. The King yielded to his entreaties; my pardon was announced; and I still live to praise the Almighty for his great goodness and commiseration towards me.”

After his providential escape Mirza Abul Hassan, (fearing that the King might repent of his lenity towards him) fled from his country, although he had received his Majesty’s order to go to Shiraz, and to remain there: he left Persia with the determination of never more returning, until the disgraces of his family had been obliterated, and until the wrath of the King against him had entirely subsided. He fled first to Shooster, the city in which he had so recently been all-powerful; and there he experienced the hospitality for which the Arabs are so justly renowned. As his administration had been lenient and temperate he found a host of friends ready to relieve him; and on quitting Shooster, miserable and destitute of even the common necessaries of life, the inhabitants came to him in a crowd and forced seven thousand piastres upon him. From Shooster he went to Bussora, he then crossed through the heart of Arabia, frequently obliged to proceed on foot, for want of an animal to carry him, until he reached Mecca. On this journey he visited Deriyéh, the capital of Abdul Assiz, the then chief of the Wahabees. From Mecca he went to Medina; and having performed all the devotions of a pilgrim he returned to Bussora. At Bussora he learnt that the King was still inveterate against his family; and, finding an English ship on the point of sailing for India, he embarked on board of her, and shortly after reached Calcutta, at the time when the Marquis Wellesley was Governor-General of India. From Calcutta he went to Moorshedabad, then to Hyderabad, Poonah, and Bombay; having remained altogether about two years and a half in India. At Bombay he received a firman from the King to return to Persia; by which he was assured of the King’s forgiveness, and of his having been received into favour. He obeyed the firman, and ever since has enjoyed the royal protection. He has not, indeed, occupied any specific post under government, but has been the Homme d’Affaires to his brother-in-law the Ameen-ed-Doulah, second Vizier and Lord Treasurer, by which means he has been continually in active and useful life, until he was nominated the King of Persia’s Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of England.

---