s sit on
carpets and lean against the wall. I know you would prefer the Turkish
fashion. The Turks drink coffee without either milk or sugar; the
Persians drink tea with sugar, though without milk. The Turks wear
turbans; the Persians wear high caps of black lamb's-wool.

Not only are their _customs_ different; but their _characters_. The Turks
are grave and the Persians lively. The Turks are silent, the Persians
talkative. The Turks are rude, the Persians polite. Now I am sure you
like the Persians better than the Turks. But wait a little--the Turks are
very proud; the Persians are very deceitful. An old Persian was heard to
say, "We all tell lies whenever we can." The Persians are not even
ashamed when their falsehoods are found out. When they sell they ask too
much; when they make promises they break them. In short, it is impossible
to trust a Persian.

The Turks obey Mahomet's laws; they pray five times a day, and drink no
wine. But the Persians seldom repeat their prayers, and they do drink
wine, though Mahomet has forbidden it. In short, the Persian seems to
have no idea of right and wrong. The judges do not give right judgment,
but take bribes. The soldiers live by robbing the poor people, for the
king pays them no wages, but leaves them to get food as they can; and so
the poor people often build their cottages in little nooks in the
valleys, where they hope the soldiers will not see them.

THE COUNTRY.--Persia is a high country and a dry country. There are high
mountains and wide plains; but there are very few rivers and running
brooks, because there is so little rain. However, in some places the
Persians have cut canals, and planted willow-trees by their side. Rice
will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant
and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds
may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in
their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it
is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms."

The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia--I mean the rose.
The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves
and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for
children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a
traveller went to breakfast with a Persian Prince, and he found the
company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet s