The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-04-02
A PERSIAN PICTURE.
How lhe Shah kises Ln his snrisa, !.


In the capital, says the Laad"a @n"i.
the Shah may i,vg, cully hc EN- On EGr,e.
back, aud, like all .'cg-ijG sci lleuen he
rides well, his horses, with long and n,
cut tails dyed crimson for some SIX inches
at their tips, uEc jenlouSly guarded
privilege OF the King aud his Sons,) are
distinguished bytAvirvame aad beauty,
Here, too, The ,Shnl,'s quiet mSIc is APP
parent In the somhre materials of his sad
dlery though OF COURSE eaeh spirited
charger has its pure gold or ieweled neck
let and trapIngs, and these barbarc orna-
ments certainly do not detract from It's APP
pearance, Riding alone, his eyes general
ly on the ground, his Majesty still MAN.
tains staff OF some dozen royal running
footmen, who, clad in his state livery OF
scarlet aud gold, and wearing the turreted
hats Of othef days, with their 1ine!mg
ornaments, and each armed with his silver
sqh Of office, hover round The shah, Willie
one remains at his stirrup TO indicate the
royal pleasure, neli;t come one or two
of the Minister'S then Ecl.-meil the throng
Of mounted ,ourtieis. secretaries, officials,
and their hangers, o., while the royal
boly-gunrd OF iyrcgulsr' each with lis
gun slun9 in n scarlet Goth case across his
back, mix promiscuously among the mis-
cellanCous crowd Of lO0 to .O0 horseInen
without whom the shah Is hardly ever
seen. The royal carriage most In vogue
with his Majesty bears a sUSg cious like
Gl, t. 1
horses are harnessci TO IL, the .,girS being
ridden by four Positions in sa:.ria,. ASA
rule the itiGg Is alone, the ou,y exceptions
being when accompanied By one Of MS
sons or the Prime Minister, or perhaps
some religious maCnH,e, Z ratio as lie IL IN
his movements, passing from one SUBURBAN
palace 10 another, the royal route may
generally be 'sccrtained by ohsc!Nihg The
water carriers, wao carefully sprinkle the
road the King will use. Nor is this a n Sed
less form, as The ordinary sgGte of the
roads, if they may bc diguiiied with that
title, round reheran is similar to the
busiest O; Dcrbys,
AT II O'Clock the royal breakfast is
served. /, is Il solitary meal. The King
is squatting on The ground some 50 dishes
are set lc.ore him. lils Majesty selects
the simplest, ana Gnenches his thirst with
buttermi!& or iced sherbets, which are
served III delicious profuSlon in magnificent
china bowls. lead silence is observed by
the few favored Courtiers who stand
around the walls Of the apartments The
royal buffers silently land the various
dishes. AS the King eats he addresses
those whom he may deiga to honor with
his notice, and these fortunate ones bow
low and answer ia humble alternatives:
"May lie your sacrifice, Asylum Of the
Universe. So it is, ana so on. The same
kind of language is used by the royal
Princes in addressing their father, and
they would nat presume to attempt to sit
in the royal prcscEc2: bat as in Persia no
son would sit in his fathers presence I'M
less ordered to do 50. this is more due to
iiiial respect than tae awe of ma jeSty. The
King rins"S his mouth and wipes his hands
over golden bowl, and then ne rises and
the meal Is served 10 the Princes. On
leaving them it gees to the courtiers,
and lastly the royal farrashes pick the
bones and literally lex the plutters
clean. The royal dinner, served about
8 p. NJ, is u repetition vi the breakfast !:
generally it is eylivenei by the playing of
the brass bands, or by the music of the
native musicians attached to the court,
The dignat@rios of the court are numerous,
and consist OF the Lord Chamberlain the
chief carpet sprcadeT, Gle chief executioner,
the Lord High Treasurer, the chief hunts
man, the Prime Minister and the head of
dignitalies ; the CHIEF If the guard, the
chief doctor, the chief barber, the chief
Of the'telcgrGphs, the master of the horse,
the Court poet, and TIE Court painter
are not wanting, All thes, Office are
salaried and every royal has his privileges of
expressing his SubOrdnateS and of eXtort-
ing from outsiders. Often salaries are not
paid, or are forfeited, or presents far ex-
ceeding their amount @:e made to the
Shah himself Or his ministers. But every
man, from the Prime Minister downward,
has his legitimate perqHisiteS, his lawful
peculat!on&-i fact. the mOdakef:. tor
GustOoric, us it is calle.! in India; assigned
to his position. or everything that passes
through his han!S something sticks, and
the larger his affairs the bigger his profits.
In Persia everything is soid-GoS ernor-
ships, ID udgeships, religious 'ic,.s places of
every kind 9iticial protection. all The
great officials are rs Corrt;pt as iiacen, but
they are nGt detected, or, il detected
know hoT to buy safety
The Kings visit to Europe tented for
the time to civiiiZe him, but before u year
had expired he wanted toGxecrte the Prime
Minister. He had lighted his l.aiace with
gas, and even started she electric light
there; but vixen lie did not pay the salary
OF the genial nrenchnan who provided
that light, ali was dark once more. In
TACT, the shah was Introduced to the high
handed proceedings OF gas companies i'll
Europe. After that the lreiichman got
his pay, and the supply has been steady
since. The King now returns s;,iutes, as IA
rule; before his visits To Europe he did
not. He now looks at the pictures in the
illustrated journals with pleasure But
when he last crossed the Caspian he slept
on the floor in the ladies' cabin under the
table, and on the table he put his boots.
He maintains a staff Of giants and dwarfs
Once it was a pleasure TO the Asylum Of
the Universe to fill boat on ore of the
large tanks of his numerous country
palaces, with the grandees Of his kingdom
clad in gala costume, and go into fits Of
laughter as the boat sank and the pillars
of the empire crawled ont, muddy, wet
and bedraggled And they 81 that ON the
last visit OF the King of hings to europe,
when seated between two royal ladies' at
the dinner table, on tasting and uykiug a
piece of asparagus, that he otie.ed the
half-devoured bntt to the more august of
the two, with the idea that she should en-
Joy the pleasure he had experienced, say
ing, with innocent enjoyment; " Ba, ba
how good it is p