PERSIAN AMBASSADOR IN LONDON.

(Morier's Persia.)

As the Persian ambassador attracted much interest in England, it may be gratifying to his friends, and not unacceptable to others, to receive some account of his residence in this country. His first surprise on reaching England, was at the caravanserais, for so, though no contrast can be greater, he called our hotels. We were lodged in a gay apartment at Plymouth, richly ornamented with looking-glasses, which are so esteemed in Persia, that they are held to be fitting for royal apartments only: and our dinners were served up with such quantities of plate, and of glass ware, as brought forth repeated expressions of surprise every time he was told that they were the common appendages of our caravanserais. The good folks of the inn, who like most people in England, look upon it as a matter of course that nothing can be too hot for Asiatics, so loaded the ambassador's bed with warm covering, that he had scarcely been in bed an hour, before he was obliged to get out of it; for having during all his life slept on nothing but a mattrass on the bare ground, he found the heat insupportable, and in this state he walked about the greatest part of the night, with all the people of the inn following him in procession, and unable to divine what could be his wishes.

One of the public coaches was hired to convey his servants to London; and when four of them

had got inside, having seated themselves cross-legged, they would not allow that there could be room for more, although the coach was calculated to take six. They armed themselves from head to foot with pistols, swords, and each a musket in his hand, as if they were about to make a journey in their own country; and thus encumbered, notwithstanding every assurance that nothing could happen to them, they got into the coach. His excellency himself greatly enjoyed the novelty of a carriage, and was delighted at the speed with which we travelled, particularly at night, when he perceived no diminution of it, although he was surprised that all this was done without a guide. We were met at two posts from London by two gentlemen of the foreign office, who greeted him on his arrival; but he grew very anxious as we proceeded, and seemed to be looking out for an Istakball, or a deputation headed by some man of distinction, which, after the manner of his own country, he expected would be sent to meet him. In vain we assured him that no disrespect was intended, and that our modes of doing honour to ambassadors were different from those of Persia: our excuses seemed only to grieve him the more; and although to a foreigner the interest of the road greatly increased as we approached the city, yet he requested to have both the glasses of the carriage drawn up, for he said that he did not understand the nature of such an entry, which appeared to him more like smuggling a bale of goods into a

town,

town, than the reception of a public envoy. As for three of his servants who followed us in a chaise behind, they had nearly suffocated themselves; for, by way of experiment, they had put up all the glasses, and then when they wished it could not put them down, so that they were quite exhausted for want of fresh air.

He who had witnessed the manner in which our ambassadors had been received in Persia, particularly the levée en masse of the inhabitants who were sent out to meet him at every place where he stopt, was surprised to see the little notice that he himself in the same situation in England had attracted, and the total independence of all ranks of people.

Although he found a fine house and a splendid establishment, ready to receive him in London, and although a fine collation was laid out upon the morning of his arrival, nothing could revive his spirits; so much had he been disappointed at the mode of his reception.

His first object was to deliver his credentials to the king as soon as possible, because in Persia it is esteemed a slight if that ceremony be delayed. In this also he was disappointed, for on the first Wednesday, the usual levee day, his Majesty happened to be unwell, and consequently there was a delay of more than ten days before he could be presented. He bitterly lamented his fate, and daily affirmed, that for this he should lose his head on his return to Persia. When the day came, he was naturally anxious about the reception which he was to find he had formed

his ideas of our court from what he recollected of his own, where the king's person is held so sacred, that few have the privilege of approaching it. He had a private audience at the queen's house, and from the manner in which he expressed himself after it was over, it appeared that the respect which he had hitherto felt towards our monarch was diminished. There are many ceremonies exacted upon approaching the Shah of Persia. He is first seen at a great distance, he is approached with great caution, and with many profound inclinations of the body. In his immediate vicinity, the shoes are taken off, and none enters the room in which he himself is seated, without a special command from him. Here the Persian entered at once into the same room where his Majesty was standing. He made no inclination of the body, he did not even take his shoes off; and, what is more, he put his credentials into his majesty's own hands. He said, that he had expected to have seen our king seated on a throne at a distance, and that he could not have approached within many paces of him: his surprise then may be conceived, when, on entering a small room, he was taken to a person whom he took to be a capijee or porter, and was informed that this was the king of England. He said, that if any blame was imputed to him for not having delivered his credentials immediately on arrival, that all would be pardoned him, when he should assure the shah, that he was not desired to take off his shoes as he approached

our

our monarch. These circumstances will perhaps show, of what importance it is, upon the introduction of an Oriental minister to the king, that care should be taken to show him the court in its greatest splendor.

He arrived in London in the month of November, and the gloom of the weather had a visible effect upon his health and spirits. For two months he never saw the sun, and it was fully believed by his suite, that they had got into regions beyonds its influence; when one day several of them rushed into him with great joy to announce that they had just seen it, and that if he made haste he might perhaps see it also.

It was surprising to observe with what ease he acquired our habits of life, how soon he used himself to our furniture, our modes of eating, our hours, our forms and ceremonies, and even our language, though, perhaps, with respect to the latter ac quirement, it might rather be observed, that he soon learnt sufficient just to misunderstand every thing that was said. He who had sat upon his heels on the ground all his life, here was quite at his ease on chairs and sofas; he who before never eat but with his fingers, now used knives and forks without inconvenience.

Of some things, it would be impossible from mere description to give any just idea. Such was an opera or a play to a Persian. The first night he went to the opera, evidently the impression of surprise which he received on entering his box was very strong, although his pride made him conceal it. His servants had been

sent to the gallery, and upon going up to hear what was their conversation, they were found wrangling amongst themselves, whether or no the figures that they saw upon the stage were real men and women or automatons. He was taken to see King Lear, and the story, which is likely to affect one whose natural respect for majesty is so profound, brought tears from him in great plenty, although he did not understand the language in which it was acted. No people would have a greater taste for scenic representations than the Persians; if we may judge from the effects which they produced on these individuals.

When it is known that a Persian mejlis or assembly is composed of people seated in a formal row on the ground, with their backs against the wall, some idea may be had of the Persian ambassador's surprise upon entering an English rout. The perfect ease of his manners and unembarrassed conduct on such occasions, will be as surprising to us, as the great crowd of men and women hotly pressed together for no one apparent purpose, was to him. He gave an entertainment of a similar description at his own house, to the astonishment of his domestics, whose greatest surprise was how little noise was made by such a crowd, for said they, "What a different scene would such a number of people have made of it in Persia!"

On his being taken to hear a debate at the house of commons, he immediately sided with young orator, who gained him over by his earnest manner and

the

the vehemence of his action; and at the house of lords, the great object of his remark was, the lord chancellor, whose enormous wig, which he compared to a sheepskin, awoke all his curiosity. There was considerable pleasure in observing his emotion when he was taken to St. Paul's cathedral, on the anniversary of the charity children, where he acquired more real esteem for the institutions and the national character of England than he did from any other sight, for he frequently after referred to his feelings on that occasion.

He was one day waited upon by a deputation from the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, composed of three reverend gentlemen, who in their robes. presented him with a Bible and prayer-book superbly bound, and addressed him with a speech written on parchment. As they spoke the address he was requested to stand up, which he willingly did; but when they had departed, his servants were all unanimous that he had been made an Isauvi, that is, a Christian.

He frequently walked in Kensington-gardens by himself. As he was one day seated on a bench, an old gentleman and an old lady, taking him for one of his own attendants, accosted him. They asked him many questions:How does your master like this, and how does he like that? and so on. Tired with being questioned, he said, "He like all very well; but one thing he not like-old man ask too many questions." Upon this he got up laughing, leaving the old gentleman to find out that he had been

speaking to the ambassador in person.

If the whole history of his residence in England were worth the narrative, it is evident that this note might be greatly lengthened; but perhaps that which would afford the most amusement would be, the publication of his own journal, which he regularly kept, during his absence from Persia; and which, on his return there, was read with great avidity by his own countrymen.

DESCRIPTION OF MODERN AGRA. By a Correspondent of the Calcutta Monthly Journal, May 1818.

It is now about twenty years since I first visited Agra; it was then in the possession of the Mahrattas, the most barbarous, sordid, avaricious race of men India ever produced. On my arrival lately I was highly gratified by observing the alterations which have taken place since it changed masters, and of which a slight description may not be unacceptable.

On entering the fort of Agra by the Delhy gateway, you pass through the Tripolia, a kind of outwork which connects the fort with the town. It is surrounded by bomb-proof apartments, with arcades in front, supported by stone pillars. Under the Mahrattas this place was filled with a bazar, in a most disorderly and filthy state, through which à passage to the fort with difficulty could be effected. The arcades around were falling in, and the bomb-proofs going fast to ruin.

How

How agreeably surprised was I to find this bazar removed to a convenient situation adjoining the town, on the north face of the fort; the bomb-proofs repaired, and the arcades which had fallen in rebuilt, and the whole in as perfect a state of repair as when first finished. In short, the Tripolia is now a clean neat place, and very convenient for the tents of gentlemen passing and repassing.

At the entrance of the Delhy gateway I found a small drawbridge, and the ascent to the body of the place, which is considerable, paved with the military neatness of Europe. Passing on through the great street, called by the natives the Meena-bazar, what an improvement did I contemplate; the bomb-proof buildings on each side of this street, which were formerly falling fast to ruins, and inhabited by a number of wretched natives, are now cleared out and rebuilt, and the apartments fitted up with large folding doors for the reception of guns and gun-carriages. These apartments are carrying on in front of the Delhy gate, so as to enlarge and support the west face of the grand parade, the most elevated part of the fort, and which is on a level with the roofs of these buildings. This is a very great improvement to the fort, and affords excellent protection against the hot winds to the guncarriages, waggons, &c. lodged in these bomb-proofs.

The great square I did not find so much improved as I expected. Tiled sheds have been carried round three sides of it, for the accommodation of the main guard

and of the pioneers; but I lamented to observe, that the fine row of mango-trees by which it was formerly surrounded, and even the large banyan-tree, under which an old fakeer used to sit, had been absolutely rooted out, and not a vestige remaining. The higher parts of the fort cannot be less than fifty-three or sixty feet above the level of the river; and as it is filled with marble, stone, and pucka buildings, the heat in the hot season is excessive; I was therefore a good deal surprised to find, that instead of endeavouring to alleviate this heat by planting trees, the few that were in the fort should have been rooted out; and I am well persuaded the increased unhealthiness of the place is chiefly to be attributed to this cause. In passing near the artillery barracks, I stopped and entered into conversation with some of the men. I asked them respecting the heat. They said that from April to September it was intolerable; that even the Sepoys, who were only one week on duty, sent one-fourth of their numbers to the hospital each week in those months. "Would you like to have trees planted round your barracks ?"-" Good Lord, Sir, like it? it would be the greatest comfort to us."

The Mootee Musjud, which next to the Tauj is the most beautiful building at Agra, is built of white marble; under the Mahrattas it was totally neglected, and would have soon gone to ruin. The seeds of the peapultree had found their way into the crevices of the marble turrets, and were pulling them fast to pieces; these have been lately

taken