otably from the
Persia of to-day. The national, and still more the court dress, as
depicted by him, have been considerably modified. The Kashmir shawls and
turbans, and the red-cloth gaiters, which were _de rigueur_ at the court
of Fath Ali Shah, are now only seen at the _salams_ or official levees
of Nasr-ed-Din Shah. Nor does the young dandy of modern Tehran wear the
lofty black sheepskin _kolah_ or hat, indented at the top and stuck on
sideways, as described by Morier. A lower and less pretentious variety
of the same head-gear adorns the brow of the _fin de siecle_ Iranian
gallant. Secondly, the Tehran of "Hajji Baba" has been transmogrified
almost out of existence; and, in particular, the fortified Ark or Palace
of the earlier Kajars, with its watch-towers and the open porch over
the gates in which the king sat to see reviews, and the lofty octagonal
tower from which Zeenab was thrown, have been entirely obliterated in
the more spacious architectural reconstruction of the reigning Shah.

Unchanged, however, are those customs by which now, as then, the royal
coffers require to be replenished or the royal purse relieved by the
application of a judicious spur to the backward generosity of the
subjects of the King of Kings. Still, as described in "Hajji Baba,"
is the visit of the Sovereign to any of his officials the recognised
intimation that a large money equivalent is expected for the unsolicited
honour. Still must the presents of the king be repaid by gifts of more
than corresponding value to the bearers of the royal favour. Still
is the sending of the royal _khalat_ or dress of office adopted as an
ingenious method of discharging the arrears of wages due to the royal
ministers or servants. In chapter xxxiii. the sub-lieutenant to the
chief executioner gives an admirable account, as true now as when
penned, of the methods by which salaries are capable of being recruited
in Persia; and the speech of the grand vizier in chapter lxxviii.,
on political morality as interpreted in that country, would, I am
confident, have been enthusiastically re-echoed by every subsequent
incumbent of that high office.

The art, however, in which Morier especially excels is of introducing,
so to speak by a side wind, as a subordinate incident in the narrative,
or as a spontaneous comment on the lips of the various _dramatis
personae_, informing and luminous knowledge upon the local charactistics
of places, or the social customs of peopl