The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-17
-. SOW NEH BOoKs,
Persia.
YInsT AnTICLE.

r.
y1nsT ARTICLE = 90.
In two largo octave volumes. comprising
torcthor some thirteen hundred pages,
Mos-rs. Lonrmans i Co. have published the
most exhaustive account OF Persia which has
ever appeared In tho English Language. Tho
author. the Hon. aKonas N. uunzoS. NJ. p. was
sent QUITE Persia In tho autumn Of 1887. as
correspondent of tho Times. for tho purpose OF
surveying tho political situation In the Shahs
'minions Tie soon discovered thnt the OK
isting sources acknowledge about the country
zero inadequate. Ind II desire to i'm provo thcm
lei him to uadcctnko an extensive course OF
travel and OF reading Ifs spont six months
IN i"u-peyA through almost every part OF
Persia. anl ho imposed upon himself Tho task
O. m tstcriog some two hundred works which
baNa boon written in European languages by
other Travellers in tho country during
Tho Iast nvs centuries. Tho outcome
OF almost three years uninterrupted
labor IA tho present book. which deals with
every aspect OF public life in rersn. with its
Inhabitants. provinces. cities. lines OF commu-
rtcation. antiquities. government institu-
tipns. rcsuu-cua trade. finance. policy and pres
cnt and future dcvelopm cnt-in n word. with
all that has mado or continues to mako It n
nation. Tho authors primary object. indeed.
wes political. and therefore It Is mainly the
contemporary situation which Ia infinitely set
frsth. Nevertheless n good deal OF hstory is
t"'bo found in those pages. tho author often
pausing to sum mp the earlier records OF i'm
rortant provinces Tribes, and cities. or to
trace the stops by which Persia has passed..
and is passing from bnrbarism to civilization
Mr.. Curaon is justified In fcolins that 1t
should not be difficult to interest Engliahmen.
orhtnerlcaus for that matter. IN tho Persian
people They have the same lineage a. our
selves. Some three thousand years ago their
forefnthers loft TIE uplnnds OF :ha, mysterious
Arynn homo nom which our ancestral stock
had already gone forth. the locality OF which
Is still tho subject Of controversy among an
thropo!oGists and philologists. Til" fcrsinns
were the frat VI the Indo- European family to
embrace purely monotheistic faitl. Among
them appeared Zoroaster the second in date
Of Tire great religious teachers of the East
and thonce sprang the cnnobing creed of
ormuzd and Ahriman. Then the Avesta
took shape. and q fire was kindled
which, although well-nigh extinCuished on
its parent affairs. still burns with SUBJ
dued but steadfast flame Rmong the Parsee
exles OF Bombay. As we descend tho course
OF Persian history we encounter many familiar
names. those Of Cyrus. Darius. and Xerxss. for
example. whose achievements are engraved on
the ruins OF Persepolis. Tho darkest day OF
the later Roman commonwealth was wien the
legions OF Crassus were annihilatcd upon the
plain OF CarrhR. Twice did Roman Caesar
surrender to Persian or semi Persian con-
ouercr as when the Emperor Valerian bowed
his neck benenth the heel OF Shapur L. and
when the Emperor ,Romanus Diogones fell a
prisoner to tho Seljuk Alp Arsan. the Great
Lion. A third Emperor. Julian the Apostate.
was slain in battle with the second Shapur
Twice. also, in the days Of the first Chosroes,
and again under his grandson. the borders OF
Iran were extended to the Mediterranean
aud tho terror OF her arms TO the
walls Of Constautinople. Then fell upon
the Persians the sword OF Omar md
and the dame OF the Koran. In the ensuing
ages great nnmes-Avieenna. Firdusi, Omar
el-Khayam. Sadi, and Halz-adorned her lit
erary. annals. Finally appeared a native
dynasty and a naturalized religion, and the
name Of Shah Abbas is up to the present
day associated with everything durable or
noteworthy during the last three centuries OF
Persian history. II Persia had no other claim
sns.oS No ns ,ro,,Is nns.,,,,. s;e.,...,a'
~ ,rliph ;ar .on Dtrias a.n 1850 c. t.nna
C.s,ish.e ho,..,,.r No.. sar, 80. 80. y" -
. .nao;oi rooson Tor div pareia u.;th H.
800 o,n,n- ~ ~, aanno,tio, -, th.t
g.. ,,;.h Enniona ~ ,.ria,s or.Si,s , as',