The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-03 00:00:00

The Persian Court.

It was reported some time since that the Persian
Foreign Minister had been " cut " by the diplomatic
body resident at Teheran. The following explana-
tion of the affair, as well as some interesting par-
ticulars regarding the Persian Court, are given by
a Teheran correspondent of the Levant Herald :
" The misunderstanding between the diplomatic
body and the Minister for Foreign Affairs has, after
much ado about little, been settled, as doubtless
you have learned, to the apparent satisfaction of all
concerned. This being so, it is needless to say
more than that it arose out of a slight—whether
real or imagined I cannot pretend to say— cast
upon their excellencies (mainly in the person of
our own minister) by Mirza Said Khan, the
functionary in question, on the occasion of the
late races. For some years past the custom had
been to set apart a room at the bottom of the grand
stand' for the diplomats, but this having been ob-
jected to in advance by Mr. Alison, the minister
promised more suitable accommodation. On the
approach, however, of Mr. A. and his colleagues to
the field, the Khan, as if wantonly to insult the
Ferengees, ordered the better part of the building
which they were to occupy to be stripped of its
carpets, leaving them only the bare room. There-
upon the whole of the corps, on Mr. Alison's sug-
gestion, declined to remain, and so left the ground.
On their way back they met the Shah, and on his
Majesty inquiring why they left, and hearing the
cause, he offered them the place prepared for his own
harem. But as to accept this would have been to
condone the ministerial affront, the royal offer was
declined, and they returned home. The next day.
Mr. Alison, in the name of himself and his col-
leagues, demanded an ample apology, and this be-
ing given by the peccant minister, andsupplemented
by an expression of the Shah's own regret at what
had occurred, the storm in the diplomatic teacup
subsided without any flags being pulled down. A
pleasanter topic for report is supplied by a very
brilliant banquet given early in November by Mr.
Alison, in honour of Hairoollah Effendi, the newly
arrived representative of the Porte. Covers were
laid for 24 guests, and besides the Turkish minister
and his staff, the following persons were present :
The Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Rus-
sian Minister, the French charge d'affaires,
Mah-
moud Khan, the Shah's representative at the
Court of St. James, Hassan Ali Khan, Persian
ambassador at Paris, and Kahia Khan, First
Chamberlain at the Palace. During dinner, which
was a first-rate one in every respect, the Shah's
military band performed several Oriental and ope-
ratic airs—the Sultan's March' being amongst the
most conspicuous—under the able direction of M.
Bouillon, instructor in music to the King. The
principal toast of the evening was that of Hairool-
lah Effendi,' given by Mr. Alison, and drunk with
due honours. The British Minister's health was
afterwards proposed by his Ottoman colleague, and
elicited an equally ready response. When ample
justice had been done to the good cheer the company
adjourned to a spacious verandah facing the Mission
garden, where a grand display of fireworks took
place. The exterior of the Mission House, as well
as the garden, was brilliantly illuminated with varie-
gated lamps. There was, moreover, another display
of fireworks outside the Legation gates, which Per-
sians of all classes had collected in crowds to witness.
After the fireworks the great attraction seemed to
be the billiard room. The Minister for Foreign
Affairs and other Persian nobs then took a lesson
in the noble art of billiards, and a grand pool was
subsequently played, at which Court digni-
taries and diplomatic celebrities joined. The most
perfect good humour reigned throughout the party,
everybody seeming to enjoy himself thoroughly ;
the genuine kindness and affability of the British
Minister contributing to the happy result. I could
not help being,struck with the Eastern magnificence
displayed in the dress of Mr. Alison's footmen, who
were all dressed alike in flowing robes of Cashmere
shawls, richly embroidered in gold ; they looked, in
fact, the greatest swells' in the room. Viscount
Polkington, a son of the Earl of Mexbcrough, who
is travelling in these parts with Captain Walker,
arrived here from Tabreez on the evening of the
entertainment. His lordship had thus an oppor-
tunity on the first day of his arrival at the Persian
capital of being introduced to the principal digni-
taries of the Persian Court, and to the elite of the
place. Some Persian ladies of rank, attracted by
the fireworks, walked boldly through the crowd,
and found their way into the Mission garden,
where they were accommodated with chairs, and
seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. The party
broke up between twelve and one, everybody being
highly gratified with the evening's entertainment,
which was a success from first to last."