Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1857-02-24
Psrsia-Spl,ndor ejhs Persian King

i"hlSH .IoLLlSu " va INV SiS"t hloh
arches of propHy, and whose shah
still retains tH proud title of the
king of kings, tich he bore in the
day OF Cyrus Al Chosroes, is likely
to be an objf of considerable in
terest for SOM lime to come, as the
battlegroundyf the Russians and
English, in the East. The mod
ern Persian ire an exceedingly in
teresting 'pfle. They are said to
be the hand est race ofmen living,
with fne-ote compilations and black
Iustrous Ell. The italian himself,
| is not a m th for them in subtlety,
cunning ID discrimination. They
excel in Htry all he>nations of the
East. III he early part ofthe seven
teen Gently, in the reign of Shah
powers Asia. An Italian traveller,
by the rJne of Pietro Della Vale,
residedt Persia for a long period.
during Be reign of this shall, and the
account which he gives Of the Per-
slams that day;n his voluminous
1traveljis most entertaining. The.
court the King of Persia is sur
round with all the pomp and SPLEEN
dor dthe Arabian Nights. ..
f. CIT. John Malcolm, in his sketches
| of Hfsia thus describes the situation
of 1heran, the modern capital. lie
sayssthe first view we had Of Terher-
an je modern capital of Persia, was
| vel imposing. 1t is situated near
thu foot ofElboorz, a mountain of the
glAt range which stretches from Eu-
roe to the utmost part of Asia. This
rige would appear high were it not
4 Demavend, whose lofty peak, ris-
ag above the clouds, and covered
fifth eternal snow, gives a diminu
We appearance to everything i'll its
fcinlty. We had seen Demavendsat
Ihe distance'ofone hundred miles from
It's base, but it increased in niagnifi-
cencc as VIC approached; and those
among us who delighted inthe pages
of Fildousee (a Persian poct) planned
an early visit to this. remarkable
mountain, whose summit that poet
as 'far' from the abode of
men, and near to Heaven g.
At a short distance from our camp
we observed several mound of earth
and ruined wallis, which, we were
told, was all that remained Of that IA
nous Reyes of Tobit-the Reyes of
the Greeks, and the Rhe ofthe Per-
slams. While all who had iAsagina.
ton and q love Of antiquity dwelt
with delight on the prospect OF ascend,
ing Demave nd, and visiting the re-
mains OF Rhe, the men of business
looked only to Teherau, which APP
peare4 to me to offer little to the,view
which was either grand or pleasing.
One palace alone attracted any por-
ton Of admiration 1t stood near the
base of the mountain Elboorz, on a
commanding site, and was every way
suited for royal residence" Capt.
Malcolm gives the following graphic
account of his interview with Feth
Ali Shah, the king of kings.
Everything being arranged. we
proceeded toward the ''threshold Of
the worlds glory" on the morning
of the 18th Of November, in the year
of our Lord 1900. We were all dress
ed in our best attire. A crowd had
assembled near the house of Agee
Ibraim, and the streets were filled
with gazers at thestrangers. The in
fantry part of the escort, with their
flies and drums, and all the Hindost-
anee public servants, in scarlet and
gold, preceded the Elchee, who rode
q beautiful Arabian horse richly ca.
parisoned, but entirely in English
style; he was followed by the gentle
men of his suite and his escort of cal
very. When. we came within half a
a mile of the palace all was silence
and order; it was the state of Asia,
with the discipline of Europe. We
passed through rows ofmen and hor-
ses; and even the latter appeared as if
afraid to shake their heads. Many
persons whom we saw in the first
square of the citadel, before we enter.
ed the palace, were richly dressed, and
some of the horses were decked out
with brides, saddles and trappings
of great value; but it was not untilwe
passed the last gate of the palace, and
came into the garden in front OF the
Kings hall of audience, high orna-
mented and spacious buiHing, that
We could form any idea Of the splen-
dor of the Persian court. y
A canal flowed in the centre of the
which supplieda number Of
fountains, to the right and lett OF
which broad-paved walks, and be-
yond these were rows of trees. Be
tween thetrees and the high wall en-
the palace were files ofnotch-
lock men drawn up, and within the
avepues from the gate 70 the hall OF
audience, all the princes, mobiles, cour-
tiers and officers of state, were mar
shaled in separate lines, according to
their rank, from the lowest7othcer OF