The New York Herald Newspaper, July 29, 1873, Page 4

ftnemselves.a muhuleh, who ts @ sort of justice or ithe peace. These popular officers administer @ ikind of rude justice by rule of thumb and serve 8s temptuous style of conversation, and Saad, | Gazveen lorgans of communication between the people and ithe prince governors, Some of the most formida- | bitterly, “Yes, he ransomed me for ten dinars | 20! ‘pie representative bodies in the world began a8 ‘obscurely and fearfully till they were nursed by circumstances into a bolder existence. But what. ever may be in store for our children or our grand- children they are scarcely likely to see representa- hive government established in Persia, PERSIAN RELIGIOUS SECTS, By far the greater part of the inhabitants of Persia are Mohammedans, the total number of dis- ssenters from the established religion being con- siderably under a hundrea thousand souls. The dissenters consist chiefly of Armenians, Nesto- vians, Jews, Guebres or Parsecs and a few Koman Catholics, There is also AN AMERICAN COLONY of Protestants established among the Nestorians. ‘They lead very heroic and useful lives, and bave done more for the amelioration of Persian morality ‘and the steppage of cruelty and persecution than all the European diplomatic missions together. Mr. Perkins was, not long ago, the chief man in this colony; and the name of a geatieman s0 thor- oughly estimable deserves to he more widely known to his countrymen in the United States ‘than possibly it may be. THE ARMENIANS. ‘The Armenian dissenters in Persia are supposed to number about 4,660 families or 26,035 souls, though there is no exactly reliable census upon which to base this calculation. The Nestorians, including Protestants and Roman Catholics, num- ber about 4,100 families, or, probably, 25,000 souls. The Jews are estimated at 16,000 souls, and the Parsees at 1,200 families, or 7,190 souls, as nearly as can be jadged from the most recent statistics, ‘The Shiite religion, which is the dominant creed of Persia, differs to some extent from the Sunnite faith, which is the uppermost form of religious delief in Turkey. THE PERSIAN PRIESTHOOD. ‘The Persian priests are very numerous, and are divided into many erders, The chief of them at the present time is that of Mooshtehed, of wnom there are but five in the whole country. The Mooshtehed allow of no interference from the Shah, and all vacancies in the post are filled by election among members of the order. THE SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. Next in rank to the Mooshtehed is the Shetk-ul- Islam, or Ruler of the Faith, There is one of these Bheiks in every large town, but he is reaily only pn officer of the government, being appointed and paid by it, THE INFERIOR CLERGY. Below these dignities are the mouturelle, the muezzins and the mooilans, There is @ moutureile for each mosque or place of pilgrimage. The muezzin is asayer of prayers, and a moollah is a conductor of religious rites and ceremonies. The Armenian Chureh is governed by two bishops. Both reside at Ispahan, and one is a Reman Catholic, “STATE OF EDUCATION IN PERSIA. The upper classes in Persia can generally read and write and cipher a little, Their learning sel- | dom goes beyond that; and there is a pious reason lor their ignorance. The Caliph Omer sagaciously observed that “there was no need of any book but the Koran; because whatever could by any possi- bility be good in literature was to be found in it.” ‘Thus, although many of the Persian Khans are alinost as good scholars as American village children tn the first year of their Studies, yet writing is not only an art in Persia, but it is a distinct profeseion practised by meerzas, who go about wich an inkhorn and a reed and are much esteemed. There can hardly be said to exist B Persian literature in modern times, There is @ mewspaper (a sort of court journal) printed at Teheran, and now and then a rambling tale, attri- | buting marvellous deeds and gifts to kings, and chiefly occupted with “‘Naploon” (Napoleon), finds Js way into print-and a limited circulation. There Js no such person asa Persian publisher, and no such thing as a Persian bookseller’s skop, Such ancient books as are read by the learned are still mostly in manuscript and bear a very high price. THE AMERICAN MISSIONARIES, Mr. Perkins and the American missionaries en- deavored, with considerable success, to educate the Nestorian Christians. They even extended some degree of culture to women. with great diMicuities in their task. The Persians Gemanded that their children should be paid for going to school, in the same manner as for per- Jorming any other kind of labor. THE MISSIONARY AND THE MINISTER. Nevertheless, Mr. Perkins and his colleagues per- i severed till they got together @ large number of pupils, and Mrs. Perkins, a lady of singular energy and intelligence, tormed a girls’ school of more | than a hundred young persons of the female sex. Pleased with these results, and desirous of ex- tending their labors to a wider fleld of action, they | Invited the late Prime Minister, who was all-pow- erful, to inspect their arrangements. The Prime Minister, hearing that there were no Jess thau a hundred young women, well washed | and dressed by American benevolence, collected | together at a village within an easy ride of his | ‘whereabouts, replied to Mrs. Perkins’ invita- tion with the most gratifying alacrity. He, Anspected the school, not only with polite- ess, but with fervor, and expressed himself de- lighted with it. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins already saw .| the well-deserved reward of their eflorts within their grasp, and possibly hoped to inaugurate a mew and improved system of Christian instruction in a heathen country, now that they would be pro- tected by the most able and influential statesman in the kingdom. Their dreams were abruptly dis- gelled, for on taking a cordial leave of Mr. Perkins | the Persian Prime Minister, whose eyes had a Strange glitter in them, unhesitatingly suggested | that six of the female pupils should be .sent after ‘him to his private residence. Mr. Perkins col- | lapsed, and never more coveted a visit from a | Mussulman Minister. PERSIAN LEARNING. | What the Persians do know when they aspire to be men of letters is this:—They know the longest | words in their own language and in the Arabian | tongue. These they roli about in their mouths in the most amazing manner; and they go on taiking at each other for hours in an uncomfortable manne: Which resembles nothing so much as “buncombe. PERSIAN AUTHORS. ‘The favorite writers in Persia are still the com- ‘pilers of the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments” and the Persian poets Saadi and Hafiz, SAADI. Saadi, or as his name is in full in Arabic or written (Persian, Sheikh Moslin Eddin Saadi Alshiraz:— ‘the first part of the name being a titie of honor, the two next words his epithet and the last expressive of bis being a mative of the city ot ‘Shiraz—was born in the year of the Hegira 571 (A. D. 1175-6). He is probably better known by name in Europe than any other poet or writer of the East except Mohammea, and his European reputa- tion may be not unfairly attributed to his renown among all the Oriental nations. His style, though antiquated and filled with many obsolete | ‘words which puzzle the studeuts of a language has few reliable dictionaries, is simple and elegant. It is ike that of the best periods of Christian literature, and con- sequently unlike that of any other Persian or Arabic writer, His personal bistory, which bas a wild favor of religious romance avout it, probably coutributes in no small measure to the favor in which he is held by the restless and adven- ‘turous races of the East. He led the life of a dervis, or wandering monk, which was, indeed, ‘the safest mode of travelling in his time and the | ‘best way in which @ wide experience of men and manners could be acquired. In the course of his journeys he was taken prisoner by the crusaders and put to labor, on the fortifications of Tripoli, then held by the Knights of the Cross. He was de- ‘livered from this slavery by a rich merchant, who gave him his daughter in marriage, with a dowry O1 100 pieces of gold, equivalent to more than an earl’s ransom in those days. The lady, however, sorely exercised the poct’a patience, and has given rise to many an Oriental proverb expressing doabt as to the prudence of taking @ fich | wife “without a stick to guide her.’ “Once,” groans the unfortunate Saadi to his readers, ‘abe reproached, me saying, ‘Art thon not be whom But they met | | slavery, which would at best have obliged him to | he had the good sense to remain in his native town . NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, JULY 29, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEET. my father redeemed from captivity among tne Franks for ten dinars?’ This was @most con- wounded to the quick, declares that he answered and delivered me up to you fora hundred.” A more cheerful story ts told of his meeting with a brother poet named Hémam, of Tauris (the ancient Ecbabana of Tobit and his dog, now called Tabreez). Hémam, being ignorant of the nam@& and only knowing the birthplace of his com- panion, held out to him the bottom ofa cup, and asked, “Why are the heads of the Shirazians (who were romarkable for their early baldness) like this#” The dervis turned the hollow of the cup to Hémam and asked, “Why are the heads of the Tabreezians like this?’ Hémam then asked his companion if he knew any of the verses of Saadi, and the dervis repeated some of the most beautitul, just a8 any other dervis would bave done and would do to-day if a traveller got him to talk upen the subject. Hémam then in- quired whether his own poems were much es- teemed, and Saadi immediately quoted from one of the best of them. Another anecdote shows the high esteem in . Which the writings of Saadi were held even during his ufe time, A holy man of Shiraz is said to have dreamed that he heard all the angels of heaven singing a verse which he could not understand, but which he was told was a couplet of Saadi’s, and that it would be sung in heaven for @ year to come. This does not give a very lively idea of the pleasures of Mohammed's paradise, which would appear to be rather wanting in variety; but it is an undeniable proot of the popularity of Seadi in this (Mohammedan) world and the next, THE “GULISTAN” AND THE “BOSTAN,”? He who would wish to know upon what intellec- tual food the wisest Oriental minds are nourished must read the “Gulistan’”’ and the “Bostan," which are now the best known of Saadi’s works, The former 1s @ collection of stories in prose, mixed up with verses of the anthor’s own composition, or borrowed from the writings of others, Eastern writers being by no means scrupulous as to pla- glary—or, as it is now more politely called, “jewel setting.” The “Gulistan” Is divided into eight chapters— 1, On the morals of kings. 2. On the morals of dervises, who, in the author's estimation, come next in rank to kings and possl- bly deserve to be preferred before them, 8. On the excellency of contentment, a favorite subject with all ancient writers, who consoted their poverty as the fox consoled himself for the loss of his tail, by recommending his acquaintance to go tailless likewise. 4. On the advantages of tacitarnity, a chapter which has hardly been read with advantage by the Persians, who are among the most garrulous peo ple upon earth. 5, On love and youth. 6. On imbecility and old age, of which subjects he takes the same sound view as Cicero, who truly maintained that “Ista senilis stultiter que deliratio appellart solet, senum levium est, non omnium.”’ 7. On the effects of education and rules for con- duct in life. These @rst seven chapters consist chiefly of moral stories taken from history or fable, each in some degree bearing upon the sub- jectof the chapter. It must be owned, however, in candor, that the headings to Saadi’s chapters are rather like the texts of Sidney Smith, which, he observed, would do for any sermon; and Saadi’s chapters would almost do Jor any heading, consid- ering that he mingles puns, plety, preaching and jokes together, as they occur to him. Professor Falconer has published a very good selection from the ‘‘Bostan,” and several excellent versions of detached stories, accompanied by the original text of that work. That such works as the ‘‘Gulistan’’ and the “Bostan” were written by @ Persian in the twelfth century shows @ much higher state of education existing in Central Asia at that period than that which exists at present, HAPIZ, Hafiz-Mohammed-Shems-Eddin, who is still the Most popular author in Persia after Saadi, was born aiso at Shiraz—a place now famous as Lesbos fax the exeellence of its wine and the beauty of its women. Hafiz received a lettered education from his earliest youth—aon education such as could not | now be, obtained by a Persian youth, Persia having gone backwards instead of forwards in the matter of education. He paid particular attention to the study of religion and Mussulman jurisprudence, 50 that when still a young man he was considered a sound lawyer and theolo- gian, Upon this solid foundation he built his poetry, and all poetry must be built upon it if it is intended to speak to the ages and to instruct and delight them. He soon became so celebrated for the strong music end ripe reason of his rhymes that he was invited to the court of the Caliph of Bagdad, Hafiz was, however, too wise a man to exchange his personal comfort for a life of splendid prostitute his intellect to the basest fatteries, and for the greater part of nis life. ‘The poems of Hafiz, like those of Anacreon, cele- brate the pleasures of Jove and wine. They have, probably, had great influence in forming the Per- sian character and making it so different from that of the other Asiatic races, whose poets were | mostly ostentatious water drinkers, and rarely indulged in a drinking bout of anything stronger than sour milk, with salt init. The charge of irreligion and im- | moraiity has of course been brought against Hafiz, as italways is bronght by stupid people against | every author difectly he becomes famous, But the | admirers of the Persian poet contend that his poems are not to be understood in a literal, but in | an allegorical or figurative sense, like tne Song of Solomon; and that they express in emblematical language, not the gross love of drink and woman, but the purified adoration of the creature for the Creator. The sect of the Safis, who interpret the poems of Hafiz in this manner, possess many simt- lar writings, which they believe to have been com- posed under divine inspiration. They declare that by wine Hafiz meant devotion, by perfume the favor and grace of God, and even a dic- tionary has been composed with these meanings explained in it (ofde Asiatic Researches, vol. 3). | Although Saaai and Hafiz are still read in Persia, | they are only read by the upper classes. The pco- | ple are amused by tale-tellers, who relate wonder- | | fal stories of good and evil genii in the bazaars and | market places. They tell how young men of un- surpassing beauty and prowess made love to en. | chanted maidens on flying horses and with inviacible arms, and they tell with much gravity many other things which can by no manner of | meaus be mentioned here. | THE PERSIAN REVENUR. Those who are interested ta the enormous specu- | | lations of Baron Renter will naturally be anxtous | | to learn something about the security which | Persia can really offer to guarantee the payment of their dividends, and they will, doubtless, be gratified to learn, from trustworthy sdurces, that during the reign of the present Shah | the income derived from taxation in Persia has | been increased by nearly three and a half crores of tomans, or £700,060, It is not | so sure that Baron Renter's shareholders will zl ultimately have reason to congratulate themselves on this fact, for when 8 bow has been bent as far ag it will go it is apt to break and prick incantious hands with extremely sharp splinters, But there is | | the fact, upstanding and undeniabie, and it may | be taken for what it is worth, which is not much. | The receipts of the Persian tax gatherers in 1868 | | were calculated at 4,361,660 tomans, or £1,744,666 in | English money, besides payments in kind consisting | of barley, wheat, rice and silk, vaiued at 550,840 tomans, or £220,336 English money, for many of | the imposts laid upon the Persian people are paid | | in the same manner as they were paid to the Israelitish kings by their subjects. TOTAL BECKIPTS. ‘The total revenue of Persia, according to the | latest published returns, is tomans, or £1,965,000 English money, exclusive of the Shah’s private property. LOCAL TAXATION. Pheso wore the returns from each province in the year 1868; equal to 4,912,500 | Mazanderan Ghilan..... jan. 620,000 rdistan 60,000 Khorassan, Shahrood 220,000 Asterabad . 25,000 Kermanshah, 200,000 Arabistan. 215,000 Boorooj 60,000 Gal 60,000 70,000 Koom, 18,000 Teheran. + 210,000 Hamadan. 30,000 —or £ ¥ 008. Customs receipts...... sesececeeseeeee 686,600 —Or £214,664. Total revenue im MONCY....++++++e+eeeees «4,361,660 —Or £1,744, 064. ‘The income received in kind 1s:— ns. 47,000 kherwars of barley and wheat, val- 500 kherwars* of rice, val 25,500 76 kherwars of peas, valued at. 800 75 maus of silk, valaed at, 1,790 Total 550,840 —Or £220, ; Total revenue in money and kind. «£1,965,000 Each kherwar weighs 650 pounds, Payments in kind are mostly reserved for the use ofthe Shah’sown household and forthe army. The whole revenue ig raised by assessments upon towns, villages and districts, each of which has to con- tribute a xed som, and the amount of it is changed from time to time according to circum- stances by tax gatherers appointed by the govern- ment. THE LADORING CLASSES MOST HRAVILY TAXED. Nearly the entire burden of taxation falls upon the working classes, and among these upon the Mohammedan part of the population, which is directly contrary to the rule prevailing in Turkey and other Mohammedan countries, where true be- levers are supposed to be exempt from taxation by right of conquest. ¢ CHRISTIANS, JEWS AND PARSEES LIGHTLY TAXED. The amount of revenue collected from the Christian population, the Jewsand the Guebres is very trifling. REVENUE IN EXCESS OF EXPENDITURE. It is worthy of observation by Mr. Reuter’s sup- Porters, among 80 many subjects calculated to discourage them, jthat Persia, unlike most Asiatic States in independent circumstances, is solvent at the present time, with a balance on the right side of her account. PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ACCOUNT. ‘This was the state of public expenditure in Persia, according to the latest trustworthy returns; for, although some accounts have been ostentatiously placed before capitalists more recently, they have evidently been cooked for @ purpose which need not be further mentioned. COST OF THE ARMY IN PERSIA. For the army and equipment of troops, three and a half crores of tomans, equal to £700,000 sterling. SALARIES OF PRINOES, MINISTERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. The payments made for the use of the civil ser- vice amounted to one anda half crores of tomans, or £300,000 sterling. STIPENDS OF THE CLERGY. The salaries and pensions paid by the Persian government to the priesthood amounted to hall a crore of tomans, or £100,000 sterling. EXPENSES OF THR COUBT. The private disbursements of the Shah are set down at one crore of tomans, or £200,000 sterling, which ts probably at least four times the amount of his actual expenditure. EXTRAORDINARY DISBURSEMENTS. This is an item borrowed from the accounts of the British Legation, and practically signifies meney which has disappeared in some way which had better not be explained, iest weak nerves shouid be shocked. It is stated at one crore of tomans, or £200,000 and is probably divided among the Min- isters and their favorites or hangers on. SURPLUS, The surplus over expenditure paid into the Shah's treasury, and practically put into his private pocket, is stated at one crore of tomans, or £200,- 000, which brings his civil list up to £400,000, or con- siderably more than the income of the Queen of: Great Britain and India. TOTAL EXPENDITURE, The gross total of pudlic expenses in Persia for one year is stated at eight and a half crores of tomans, or £1,700,000. NO NATIONAL DEBT. Hitherto Persia has had no national debt. One of the special objects of the Shah’s visit to Europe is to create this desirable thing. He will doubtless make a good thing of it, whatever his subjects may do. PERSIAN DEBT TO RUSSIA CANCELLED BY THE PRES- KNT BMPEROB. The balance due for many years by the Shahs to Russia on account of the expenses of the war con- cluded in 1828, amounting to about £200,000 Eng- lish money, was cancelled vy the Czar in 1856, STRENGTH OF THE ARMY, The nominal strength of the Persian army (upon paper), according to the official returns of the Minister of War, is 105,500 men, of whom 5,000 are said to form the artillery, 70,000 the infantry and 80,500 the cavalry, regular and irregular. Of these troops, however, only one-third are al- leged to be empleyed in active service, and the standing army of Persia ona peace footing is set down as follows :— PEACE ESTABLISHMENT. TOtAL.....60s THE RESERVE ARMY. The rest of the troops mentioned in the Minister of War’s returns form the reserve; but the ac- counts are altogether untrustworthy. Possibly, not half the troops declared to be on active ser- vice could be mustered for a review, PERSIAN SOLDIERS. ‘The Soldiers forming the reserve of the Persian army are allowed to reside in their own towns and villages, where they may engage in agricultaral or other pursuits. They are subject to no military driil or discipline, and are mostly disarmed, They would be nothing better than an undisciplined Rabble if called into action; and it 1s only an ab- surd pretence to say that they are liable to be summoned for duty at any moment en tke requisi- tion of the Minister of War. ‘hose who could give bribes to get free would do so; those” who could not would run away and hide themselves. The Persians are not @ military people, and new men would have to be pressed at the outbreak of a war. They would be pressed, tgo, by very queer methods ; but they would be worth nothing. The Persian soldier 1s ill fed, ill clothed, ll armed, subjected to frightful barbarities, and left to die by the road- side upon @ march if sick or wounded, ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. ‘The army is organized by provinces, tribes and districts, A province furnishes several regiments, atribe gives one, ana sometimes two, and a dis- trict contributes one battalion to the army. ARMY OFPICERS. The commanding officers of the Persian army are almost always selected ‘rom the chiefs of the tribe or district from which the regiment is raised. CHRISTIANS EXBMPT FROM MILITARY SERVICE. The Christians, Jews and Guebres are exempt from military service. In Turkey they used to pay @ haraten, or poll tax, for their exemption, which was supposed to furnish a substitute for each of them. In Persia they pay no poll tax, and are altogether better of than the native population of @be country, FOREIGN OFFIORRS IN PERSIA, Recently several French aod Prussian officers have been employed to discipline the Persianarmy, and one of them, Generai Ballier, held a high com- mand in operations against Herat; but netther he nor @ny one else could make the Persians fight steadily. They make at best but an irregular horde of light @avairy. They will gallop with a certain dash against an enemy, but they are glad to gallop away again. ARKA OF PERSIA. The actual length and breadth of Persian terri- tory is only known by proximate estimates, for the Shah claims authority over a wide extent of country which isin no hurry to acknowledge his authority. According to the latest and most trust- worthy information, however, it 13 supposed that Persia extends for about seven hundred “miles from Rorth to south, and for nine huudred miles from east to west, ana that {t contains an area of 648,000 square miles, CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. A vast portion of Persian territory, however, is an absolute desert, The rest is badly cultivated and insuficientiy watered. POPULATION OF PERSIA. ‘The population is everywhere so scanty as not to exceed, Om the average, seven inhabitants to the square mile, which circumstance is well werth the consideration of railway shareholders. According tos carefully made estimate farnished by Mr. Ronald Thomson, the British Secretary of Legation, who came to Europe with the Shah, the pepulation of Persia recently numberea— Inhabitants of cities. Population of id rides. ibaa Penne + 1,700,000 Total popolation..................cee004+ 400,000 THE CITrEs OF PERSIA. ‘The largest of the Persian cities are Tabreez, or Tauris, with s population of 210,000; Teheran, with 85,000 inhabitants; Ispahan, with 60,000, and Yezd, with 40,000 inhabitants, THE PURE PERSIAN RACE. The 1,000,000 of inhabitants who reside in towns constitute the pure Persian race, and more than half the remaining population belong to the Turk- ish, Lek, Koordish and Arab tribes, which are spread over the whole of the Shah's territory. In some provinces, such as Khorassan ard in the dis- tricts contiguous to the Turkish and Russian fron- tiers, nearly the entire population belongs to one or the other of these tribes, DECREASE OF TIE POPULATION. The population of Persia is belleved to be stead- fly declining in numbers, owing to the ravages of the plague, the general absence of sanitary laws, the results of polygamy—which entirely deprive the poorer classes of wives—and various other not well ascertained causes, PERSIAN IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. The foreign trade of Persia may be roughly val- ued at four millions sterling annually, of which £2,500,000 may be taken as the value of the imports, and £1,500,000 as that of the exports. A dimint- tion in the latter to the extent ot nearly a million sterling has taken place within these last three years, owing to the failure of the silk production, the most important branch of industry in the coun- try. IMPORTS. Persia imports from Europe and India cotton, manuwiactures, cloths, silks, cotton yarns, cochineal, sugar, tea, jewelry, cutlery, china, crystal glass- ware, iron, brass, and copper in sheets, tin, paper, indigo and firearms. EXPORTS. Persia exports raw silk, raw cotton, tobacco, raw opium, wheat, gall nuts, wool, furs, madder root, dried fruits, shawls of inferior quality and coarse calico for the Russian and Turkish markets, PERSIAN TRADE WITH EUROPE. The trade with Europe is carried on almost entirely over the northern frontier, by way of Trebizond and Georgia, through Tabreez. Persia would have a great transit trade if there were a good high road between Trebizond and Bushire. ‘The latest reliable returns of the yearly value of Persian exports and imports by this route were as follows:—Cotton manufactures from England, £1,200,000; chests of tea, £33,840; cloth, £90,000; silks, £96,000; cotton yarns, £4,800; cochineal, £2,048; augar, £04,000; glass and crystal, £233,040; sundries, £2,966. During the same period Persia exported goods to the value following:—Raw cot- ton, £26,190; raw silk, £374,400; tobacco, £35,136; gall nuts, £13,560; coarse calicoes, £26,400. TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. The total value of her exports and imports stands thus :—Lmports, £1,776,694 ; exports, £475,678, Not much of a trade this, considering all the fuss and trouble of doing it, TABRBEZ THE COMMERCIAL CENTRE OF PERSIA. The principal trade of Persia is carriedon at Tabreez, which is the chief market for the produc- tions of Northern India, Samarcand, Bokhara, Oa- bool and Beloochistan. In the year 1868 the Euro- pean imports into Tabreez are said, ina French official report, to have amounted to 60,000,000 francs, whereas in 1840, before the accession of the present Shah, they only amounted to 40,000,000 francs, All tne European merchandise for Tabreez passes by way of Constantinople to Trebizond, whence tt is forwarded by mules and pack horses through Erzeroom. MESSRS. RALLI AND CO. Messrs, Ralli & Co. have a large share of the Persian trade in their hands, but do not seem to have found it to answer, and are apparently with- drawing from it and establishing their principal Eastern commercial house at Calcutta, which is @ move in advance in every way. Twenty-five years ago, however, Messrs. Ralli & Co. were omnipotent in Persia. They took an active part in placing the present-Shah upon the throne. COMMERCIAL INTEREST OF GRRAT BRITAIN IN PERSIA. The direct trade between Persia and England is very trumpery. There were no exports at all from Persia to;Great Britain in 1863 and 1864; in 1965 they amouarted toa nominal value of £517; in 1366, to £1; in 1867, to £960, and in 1863, to £20. In 1869, again, there were no imports from Persia into England, bat in 1870 they reached a nominal value Of £13,589. IMPORTS OF BRITISH PRODUCE INTO PERSTA. On the other hand, the British imports into Persia direct were valued at £530 in 1864, at £16,243 in 1865, at £25,906 in 1866, at £14,069 in 1867, at £17,498 in 1863, at £16,985 in 1869 and at £15,556 in 1870, ASPECTS OF PERSIAN LIFE. It is not easy to make money in a country where there are no trade and no speculation, no gevern- ment loans nor contracts for public works. Still it is done now and then on a small scale by pawn- broking. Money bears a very high rate of interest in Persia. The legal value of it is supposed to be twelve per cent; but practically there is no limit to the price actually charged for it. Of course in Persia, as claewhere, high interest is only another | mame for bad security, and a creditor who wants his money from any debtor in power is apt to be dismissed with a sentence from Saadi or Hafiz and sent about his business, if no worse happens to him. Itis an awful event, however, in the life of a foreigner settled in the country to have a Persian creditor SITTING ON A MAN. The Persian creditor having once determined to | get his money calls tor it early in tne morning and cannot be persuaded to go away till he is paid, He brings his carpet witn him and sits down to his debtor's bedroom, eating, drinking, sleeping and smoking there till he is bought off. Some years ago, not many, @ Persian bad, or fancied that he had, 6 claim on the English Foreign Office. So one day he travelled away from Teheran, and after many strange ativentures arrived in London, taking his carpet with him, and fully prepared to | sit upon the Foreign Office, which he supposed to be 8 person, till he was satisfied. Lord Palmerston ‘was Secretary of State for Foreign A‘fairs at the time and took the thing good-numoredly; but Mr. Hammond, the Under Secretary of State, who ts a sharp-tempered gentleman and was already high up in the ofee, was for calling 4 policeman. ‘The practice of “sitting upon a man,” as it ts called, universally prevails in Persia, and it is not easy todeal with it, Still it may be dealt with, and Bir John McNeill, a shrewd old Scotch diplomatist, ‘who was once accredited to the Persian Court, contrived to get rid of a Persian who had tried to ait upon him by a rather clever device. THE ENVOY AND THE DERVIS. At the New Year, which ia kept as @ great fostt- val in Persia, religious mendicants go about, not so much asking for alms as insisting upon a fixed sum, They generally tax a foreign ambassador rather highly, and one of them, @ dervis, de- manded an extravagant sum from Sir John McNelil. The Scotch diplomatist offered to com- promise with him for any reasonable amount, bur his offer was refused, and as he would not give more the dervis proceeded to sit upon him. He established himself in Sir John’s garden just before his stuay windows, and every now and then during the day and whenever he woke up at night this dervis set op & horrible hullabaloo and biew a cracked — trumpet as if the judgment day was come, Sir John, who jd Hot Uke to haye his rogt distusbod uy this way. | ner. determined to put a stop to the Dervis’ tricks and eject him by force; but he was solemnly warned by the Persian authorities that it would be danger- ous to lay hands upon the dervis. ‘Get rid of him if you can,” said they, laughing, as they are Wont to do at a Minister's perplexity, ‘‘but do not touch him.” “Very well,” said Sir John dryly, and he sent for @ bricklayer. “Build me 8 wall round that howling beggar tn my garden,” said Sir John to the bricklayer, ‘and then roof it ini” The dervis looked on com- posedly while the wall rose slowly round him, and made more noise than ever; but when he perceived that they really meant to shut him up in a tomb, alive, he jumped over the lowest part of the wall and rushed away like a maniac. Sir John was Probably the only European who ever got the better of a dervis. E. 0, GRENVILLE MURRAY. LITERARY CHIT-CHAT. THE LaTR GgoRGE GiBBs, whose specialty was philology, had nearly prepared for publication a quarto volume of vocabdiaries of the American Indians, having carefully arranged several bun- dred series of words. The Smithsonian Institution will issue the work hereafter. ANzw Lire or Erasmus, by R. B. Drummond, bai appeared in London in two volumes, This learned and industrious scholar was the author of more volumes than any man of his time. Mr, Drommond shows him to us in copious transla- tions from his writings, and, with some shortcom- ings, has produced a book whicn will supersede Butler's and Jortin’s well-known lives of Erasmus. THE LEARNED TREATISE Of Professor Goudsmit, of Leyden, on the Pandects and the connection of the Roman law with modern legislation, has been translated and published in London. BOROKH’s famous work on Greek inscriptions, long out of print, ia to be reissued in three vol- umes, in enlarged form, as the ‘Corpus Inscrip- tionum Atticarum,” by the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, The same Academy will issue the long- delayed third volume of the historian Mommsen’s “Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarem.”” Dg, WYVILLE THOMSON’s interesting book on “The Depths of the Sea’*shows by the experience of the naturalists on board Her Majesty’s ship Challenger that it is possible to dredge for marine plants and animals in 3,000 fathoms of water, and that Edward Forbes’ idea of the lifeless condition of the “abyssal zone” was erroneous. The laying and repairing of ocean cables was the first step towards this interesting revelation, The wires come up from the most prodigious depths encrusted with organisms. THAT DREADFUL déte noir of the astronomers, Professor Piantamour, has published a complete “Résumé Météorologique de l’Année 1872, pour Geneve et le Grand Saint-Bernard,”” THE ENGLISH DiaLBcr Soctery has issued “Rules and Directions for Word Collectors,” intended to enable students to arrange all archaic and provin- cial forms of pronunciation without using any letters but those of our ordinary English alphabet. It TURNS OvT that the historian Prescott was not always as carefala critic and scholar as his con- temporaries thought him. In his ‘Conquest of Peru” he quotes few authors more frequently than “Sarmiento,” whom Mr. Prescott supposed to be a writer who had himself been long in Peru and an eye-witness of the scenes he described. But Sefior Gonzalez de la Rosa, @ Peruvian student, finds that the manuscript of *‘Sarmiento,” #0 profusely cited by Mr. Prescott, is actually tne second part of the well known Cieza de Leon, whose ‘Chronicle of Pern” 1s 0 familiar in all the languages of Europe. Sarmtento, who was a lawyer and President of the Council of the Indies, was nover in America in his lve, and the manuscript is merely endorsed as hav- ing been sent to him. Max Jutios L, BREUCHLEY, whose recent death nas deprived the werld of one of the most graphic and successful writers of books of travel, printed this year, “The Cruise of the Curacoa,” a journal of @ voyage among the Navigator, the Friendly and the Fiji Islands. Mr. Breuchley, although he was himself in holy orders, gives a nighly unfavorabie account of the missionaries mm these isiands. He found them small-minded, jealous and intolerant, Prone to exaggerate the depravity of the heathen and almost destitute of tact or judgment. He praises the natives of these islands as among the most friendly, amiable and open-hearted specimens of mankind. Mr. Rawpon Brown has discovered that Shak- speare was well known to Cervantes, and traces Sancho Panza’s well known eulogy or sleep to Macbeth’s. Sleep that Knits ap the ravelle! slave of care. He points out several other analogies of thought and expression to show that Cervantes apprect- ated Shakspeare, whose best dramas were printed a@ few years before the appearance of “Don Quixote," THE EARLY ENGLISH TsXT SOCIETY has nearly ready that quaint and rare old volume “The Myr- roure of Our Lady,” 1530, with lithographs of the four original woodcuts in the Srst edition. “THE HEIRESS OF SWEETWATER,” PHILADELPHIA, July 26, 1873. To THE Epitor OF THE HERALD:— We noticed the following paragraph among the items of Literary News im your issue of the 24th inst:— Among the so-called was “The Heiress of Sweetwater,” by J. Thornton Ran-- doiph, published by a Philadelphia house, The same novel precisely was published seventeen years ago, b; the same publisher, under the name of ‘Kate Aylesford, @ Story of the Retugees,” by Charles J. Peterson. If this is not disreputable business it ought to be. Would it not be only fair to the ether publishing houses here to designate the parties referred to when making such statements. Otherwise the “innoeent” are lable to suffer from the reflection. Yours, very truly, J, B. LIPPINCOTT & CO, THE HERALDS GREAT WORK IN PHILA DELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, July 25, 1873. To THE EvIToR OF THE HERALD:— The other day, whea I had learned of the noble and praiseworthy work your intrepid correspond- ent was executing in our midst, my heart beat with thankfulness to Know that at least one public conservator in the United States had the moral courage to follow up a true journal’s mission, aud expose, wherever found, and bring to justice the perpetrators of vice and crime, wituout fear or favor; but until this morning, after reading our papers here, I had not thought of returning my thanks (though humbie) to you im any direct man- But when I had read the comments of several of our morning papers on the subject I felt like, if in my power, offering them a rebuke. Lt is evident tome, if I am to judge from their tone, that all they have said about the matter emanated from pure jealousy, arising from souls as shrivelled and contracted as the comments men- tioned. That such women, such institutions, &c., did exist in our city our editors were well aware, but dared not attempt an exposé for the simple want of moral courage and the fear of a few officials equally as immoral, debased and criminal- like (though in other respects) as the flendish Jepers your shouid be honored correspondent brought to light, and, I sincerely hope, to merited justice, The almighty dolia: all they care for, most of them, no matter what or who may suffer at their expense, I know of good, pure, prominent women in our city who have appealed, time and time again, to our Officials and journals, if in their power, to ferret out, expose and bri to justice the persons who were daily sending for petir soals to degra- dation an d eternal infamy by their hellish instru- mentality and potsonous means. Our people knew such things were going on, and had ni cuse {or their continuing, only simply to say, “We lack the moral courage.” [n° those five words exist the only tangible excuse for not doing what you have done, Though your correspondent ‘has done much in our city, he has scarceiy begun, if he would continue his work of resurrecting and airing, even in our midst. As a citizen of Philadelphia I'am truly ashamed of the. smallness of manhood displayed in our morning journals of this morning, rtf seriously reflects se the writers a8 men and will have no good effect abroad. However, anelephant like the HERALD can easily walk over such insects and never know they had an existence. Por my part I am @ HBRALD advo- cate. I buy and read it every morning for Phila- delphia news as weil as all other news. As & news- aper the New York HERALD is a colossal success; it eclipses any government on the face of vhe earth, for did it not tind @ man of whom governments combined could not even get on the trail’ Cer- tainly it did. Livingstone the game, and he was brought to bay, ui taken—alive, too, OONSISTENUY, “new novels” of this Summer. THE EGYPTIAN MAGNA CHARTA. Full Text of the Highly Important Firman Granted by the Sultan to the Khedive, AMIABLE MOOD OF PADICHAH The Important Condition in the Last Line. {From the Pall Mall Gazette, July 16.) As you are aware, we have taken into considera. tion your request for @ new imperial firman to com- prise in their details and with the modifications. which it has been deemed necessary to make therein, all the khatts and firm&ns issued since the firman granting the succession to the late Muham- mad Aly Pasha, which; were designed either to modify the mode of the succession or to accord new immunities and privileges,in harmeny with the position of the Khedivate an@ the character of the inhabitants. For the future the present firman shalt be substituted for all the other imperial firmans, and its provisions, as herein set forth, shall be valid and binding for ever. The order of succession to the Khedivate of Egypt, granted by the firman bearing our imperial cipher and dated the 2d of Rabia’ael-Akhir, A. H. 1257, is hereby modified, so that the Khedivate of Egypt shall hereafter pass to the eldest son of the person who shall be investee with the dignity of Knedive, after him to his eldest son, and s0 on—that is to say, the succession is established exclusively in the order of primogent- ture, being convinced, as we are, that this arrange-. ment will promote good administration in the Khedivate’and the welfare of its inhabitants. On the other hand, having regard to the importance and extent of Egypt, and appreciating your care and efforts—ever devoted to the prosperity of that country and to the amelioration of the condition ofits population—together with the loyalty and fidelity of which you have given me ample bien is hereby admit you into my confidence and bestow upon you my highest Pap In order to give you a ieee proof of this, I ordain, in coniormity w THE LAW OF SUOORSSION to the Khedivate, that the government of Egypt, of its dependencies and of the other plages form! part thereof, as algo the Kaim-Makamates of Suakin and Massowa, with their dependencies, shail decend, as stated above, to your eldest son, and after him, conformably to che li of primo- niture, to the eldest sons of those who shall ecome Khedives. In the event of a Khedive leav- ing no maie children the Khedivate shall ee to his younger brother, and, in the event of his not benig alive, then to his eldest son. The definitive rule, however, does not apply to male children in the female line. In order to secure the mainte- nance and application of this order of the succes- sion, the regency which shall adminster the atfaira of Egypt in the case of a minor ahall be regulated as follows:—On the death of the Khedive, should his eldest be a minor—that is, under eighteen gon, old, inasmach as, theugh a minor, he will de Jacto Khedive by the right of succeasion—his fir- ‘man shall be immediately granted to him. If the deceased Khedive, with the view of providing for the administration of the Kiedivate until his eld- est son shall attain the age of eighteen years, should, prior to his demise, have appointed AB EGHNOY by a deed, which must be countersigned by two hn functionaries introduced as witnesses to the act, the Regent and the designated members of the Regency shall forthwith assume the adminis- tration, informing my Sublime Porte thereof, and my imperial government will approve and confirm, by @ special firman, the Regent and the members of the ta in their respective offices. Inthe event of the Khedivate becoming vacant, without provision having been made for the institution of & regency, then & regency shall be tormed bythe rsons who shall be severally at the head of the ome, War, Finance, Foreign and Judicial Soper ments, together with the mander-in- Chief or the Egypt troops and the inspector General of the The Regency thus formed shell proceed immediately to elect a Regent in the fol- eel 3 manner :—The different chiets of the admin- istration, after deliberation, shall elect one of their own number to be nt. This election may either be unanimous or by @ majority of votes. In the event of the votes being equal lor two persons then he who holds the highest office, begin- ning from the Home Minister, shall be declared duly elected, and the remainder shall form the Council of the Regency. They shall assume con- jointly with the Regent) the administration of ‘affairs, and shall notify the same by a Mddhvatah to my Sublime Porte, which shall confirm them in their functions by an imperial firman. Whether the Regent aud the members of the tenon are ap- pointed by the Khedive during lifetime, or whether the Ke; a appointed by election, in eitner case neither of the mem- bers can be changed Pete Kirt Hi ot-s commission. Should one of the ecniiocs of the Regency die, the surviving members shall nomi- nate another Egyptian functionary to replace bim. In the event of dying the members of the Council s} su r from \oCessOl themselves, and shali nominate to vacated in the Council by the new mae another Egyptian oficial. When the minor Khedive shall have attained the age of eighteen years he shall be deemed of full age, and shall himself administer, the same way as did his bie shee aa the ‘fairs of the government. Such my Irtdé and my imperial decision. Attaching as I do the highest importance to the prosperity of Egypt, to the welfare, peace, and security of its popwlation—matters which de- Pend upon the civil and financtal administration of the country, as also en the development of its material and other interests within province oi the Egyptian Government—we mention below, modifying the same, all the privileges which my Imperial Government, whether formerly or now. has granted to the Egyptian Government, in order that they may be always maintained in behalf of succeeding Khedives, The civil and financial ad- ministration of the country and all its material an@ other interests in every respect being within the province of the Egyptian Government—and as in all other countries the administration, public order, and the development of the resouces and pros- perity of the populatien depeng upon the harmony which exists between the executive authorities, taking into consideration, on the one hand, the exigencies of the times, and, on the other, the local conditions and the character and hapite of the inhabitants—the Khedive o1 Egypt is hereby authorized to enact iaws and regulations for THE INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION of the country whenever necessity may arise. He is also authorized to contract and to renew, with- out injury to the political treaties of my Sublime Porte, conventions with the agents of foreign Powers regarding Customs dues and commerce, and regarding ali other matters connected with foreigners relating to the interlor and other affairs Of the country having for their object the develop- ment of commerce aud industry; and also to regu- late the police of ioreigners and ail their relations with the government and the population. The Knedive is to have the complete and entire man- agement of the financial affairs ef the country. "He ts fully empowered, without further authoriza- tion, to contract foreign loans in the name of the Egyptian government, whenever such loans are required. The first, the most essential and impor- tant duty of the Khedive eid to guard and protect the country, he is fully empowered to procure, establish and organize all the means of defence and protection mneces- sary according to the circumstances of the times and places, to augment or to diminish, ag may be deemed expedient ana with- Out restriction, the number of my Imperial troops in Egypt. The Khedive shall retain, as heretofore, the privilege of conferring rank:—In the army up to the rank of colonel, in the civil up to the rank of the second class. ‘he money which shall be struck in Egypt shall bear my imperial name ; ‘THE FLAGS OF THR ARMY AND NAVY Shall be the same as those borne by my troops and ships. It 1s te be understood that, a8 vessels of war, armor-plated vessels may not be built without my permission, Isend you, ughmy Divan and by my Imperial Iradé, this illustrious firman, bear- ing my Impe’ nature, and setting forth the | above provisions. This firman comprisee—eiucida- ting, moditying and rendering them more com- lete—ali tae imperial firmans and khatts which ave been granted hitherto to the government of Egypt, establishing the order of the succession, the Form of the regency in case of necessity, and the regulating of the civil, military, financial and other material interests of the country. It is my imperial will that the rules and principles con- tained 1m this firm&n shall be always observed and Mmaintaiged in lieu and instead of the apg ot my precesing firmans. You yoursel/, in accord- ance with your upright and loyal churacter, and also with the Knowledge which you have aequi of the Egyptian State, will carry out faithfully the eonditions set forth in this firman, and will devote ‘our best energies to the good administration of the country, t securing by every possible means ; the peace and security of its inl suieoes and thereby to fecognize the favors which my ii bounty has conferred upon you. You will be fur- thermore careiul to remit yearly to m; Pag ae treasury, without delay or abatement, the 160,000 purges, the amoant of the established tril A PHILADELPHIA FORGERY, PHILADELPHIA, July 28, 1873. C. H. Davis, a well-known business man of this city, Was arrested to-day, charged with forgery and collecting money under false pretences. The prin~ cipal complainant was Mr, George W. ace 1 No. ‘by road, who stffers to the extent $200 in forge ‘totes. Mrs. Mary Malian loses of 4,010 Locust street, $500, and able Cl apiece EY is C4 oted many others will appear net ie pI Becta ray car Oe Sn OF 82.000, ‘