It is most unreasonable to argue, as some English writers are doing, that the present Shah, Muzaffar-ud-Dín, is incompetent and has strong Russian proclivities, when they evidently know little or nothing about him. The very fact that he has succeeded to the throne without any opposition either from the people or rival claimants more favourably placed for a coup d'état at Teheran, shows that there is a general belief in his capacity. The statement that he is ignorant of affairs and has no aptitude for government is absurd when it is remembered that he is a man of mature age who has for years administered, through subordinate governors, but still in the independent manner of Persian viceroys, a large and important province where he has been distinctly popular. Rapacity and corruption, which have hitherto been the rule in Persia, have not been absent from his province of Azarbiján, but they have not been so rampant there as in other provinces, notably in those over which the Zill-i-Sultán, the eldest son of the late Shah, holds sway. It is true that the new monarch has, of late years, been careful not to make himself so prominent as to arouse the jealousy of his father, for he knew that this might result in his being deprived of the position of Wali-'Ahd, or heir apparent. He had seen his elder brother, the Zill-i-Sultán, who made too conspicuous a parade of his wealth and his troops, suddenly stripped of the greater part of his power and reduced to insignificance, and his readiness to learn the lesson rather proves his intelligence than his incompetence. There is no reason to credit the statement that he has any special Russian tendencies, though his residence at Tabreez, near the Russian border, has naturally inclined him to friendly intercourse with his powerful neighbours. At Teheran he will be able to take a more general view of the political situation. It would be foolish in the extreme for any Shah to set himself in opposition to Russia, or to excite her jealousy by too pronounced a partiality for any other power. A wholesome dread of Russia and a desire to conciliate her by any reasonable concessions was the consistent policy of Násiruddin, and his successor, if he be wise, will continue in the same course. But though a prince and an heir apparent may find it convenient to cultivate Russian friendships which may assist him in maintaining a difficult and critical position, it is not to be believed that an actual ruler of Persia will look on Russia with any more sentimental regard than a rabbit bestows on a boa constrictor. The manners of Russian diplomatists very much savour of their Tartar origin, and persuasion is quickly exchanged for menace with those who are too weak to be audacious. There is reason to believe that if the new Shah, who has safely arrived at his capital and was enthroned on the 8th of June, acts towards Russia with discretion and courtesy, and at the same time relies on the support and assistance of England for the industrial

development of his country, he may have a more prosperous reign than that of his father.

As for the suggestion that England should come to terms with Russia for the partition of Persia, it is sufficient to remark that the true policy of England is to work for the regeneration of Persia, which is by no means hopeless, and which both Lord Salisbury and Sir Henry Drummond Wolff believed possible when the charter for the Imperial Bank of Persia was granted by Her Majesty's Government. The proposed arrangement would rival the partition of Poland in infamy, and whatever glamour may attach to success, especially with gallant and adventurous Englishmen, it is not too much to hope that the conscience of England is not debauched by the sordid and stupid muddle connected with the names of Rhodes and Jameson. The morality of writers who cynically advocate the partition of Persia between England and Russia savours of that of the old Cornish parson in Peter Pindar, who was preaching when the cry of A wreck! a wreck!' was heard outside the church, and the congregation began, one by one, to steal away. Finding his eloquence unavailing to detain them,

'Stop! stop!' cried he, 'at least one prayer:

Let me get down and all start fair.'

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But England, whose name, whatever her enemies may say, stands as a synonym for honour and good faith throughout the East, will refuse to accept the counsels of filibusters, and will honestly endeavour to promote the prosperity of Persia. The continuance of the Prime Minister, or Sadr Azam, in office is a signal proof of the good sense of the new monarch. It is exceedingly difficult, as may be imagined, for the Chief Minister of an Oriental state to keep on good terms with the heir apparent, and it is phenomenally rare for the latter to continue him in power when he succeeds to the throne. That it has been possible on this occasion reflects great credit on both the Shah and the Minister. The speech of the Shah on the occasion of his enthronement at Teheran, telegraphed to the Times on the 9th of June, contains the following notable passage, which will rejoice all the true friends of Persia:

The Sadr Ázam, who is one of the most enlightened and experienced servants of the late Shah, is confirmed in his eminent post; and, with full powers in civil and military administration, will from this moment execute our decrees, giving us content and satisfaction, and gaining for himself a further increase of royal favour.

The Shah further commences his reign auspiciously by an act of benevolence which will greatly increase his popularity, removing in perpetuity throughout Persia the taxes on meat and bread, which pressed hardly on the poorer classes. In connection with this remission it may be mentioned, as showing the good disposition of the late Shah and the desire of his son to extend his benevolent inten

tions, that on the day that the telegraphic announcement of this concession reached England, I received the draft of an edict, drawn up by the late Shah, and signed by him a few days before his assassination, showing that this was the very favour which he proposed to grant to the Teheran townsmen on the occasion of his jubilee. As this document has never been published in Europe or Persia, I subjoin a translation, as it is of permanent interest.1

The Prime Minister, Mirza Ali Asghar Khan, is well known to European statesmen, as he accompanied the Shah during his tour in 1889. He is now about forty years of age, and is a man of great resource, courage, and ability. He has maintained his position by the force of his high personal qualities, and is favourably regarded by all the foreign Legations at Teheran. He is sincerely anxious for the peaceful development of Persia, and has given constant support to all serious enterprises which he believed would further that object. Especially does he desire the construction of roads and railways, and he was personally interested in the concession granted to the Imperial Bank for a road between Teheran and the southern ports, making over to the Bank his original rights in the section between Teheran and Kum. He has been a warm and constant friend to the Imperial Bank of Persia, and it was largely due to his advice and assistance that it has attained its present position. He is thoroughly liberal in his ideas, and has always been an admirer of England and a friend of Englishmen. So long as he retains the confidence of the Shah there is every hope that a liberal and enlightened policy may prevail in Persia, and in this is the one and only hope of the escape of this ancient empire from the difficulties of the future. The dangers of darkness and barbarism will only be overcome by the weapons which civilisation can furnish. The risk of opposition to the new Shah was never great, and the statement generally made, that Násiruddin had made no declaration as to the

1 'The aim and object of His Imperial Majesty the Shah-in-Shah being always to provide equally for the welfare and happiness of all classes of his Empire, in order that the rich and great equally with the poor and small may partake of his favour and benevolence, and in return offer their devoted prayers for this ancient and everlasting kingdom, it is decreed that on the occasion of the fifty years' jubilee of His Imperial Majesty's reign, which will be celebrated this month, Zilked 1313, all taxes and imposts which it has been accustomed from time immemorial to levy on meat, as well as all revenues and taxes on bread in Teheran, are, from the date of this announcement, perpetually abolished. No one need pay the smallest coin on these articles of food, and every part of a slaughtered sheep, lamb, or ox, as well as the skin, head, and feet, will belong to the owner. May the wrath of Almighty God visit whosoever should at any time hereafter attempt under any pretext whatever to impose taxes of any kind on bread and meat.

'On the 22nd of this month Zilked [May 5, 1896], which is the day of rejoicing and the jubilee of the august reign, in the walls of all the important mosques of Teheran shall be set slabs of marble, with engraved thereon the purport of this Imperial decree.

'Dated Zilked 6, 1313 [April 19, 1896].'

succession, was absurd, seeing that Muzaffar-ud-Dín has been, for many years past, declared heir apparent, and publicly acknowledged as such by England and Russia. The only possible cause of alarm was in the attitude of the Zill-i-Sultán, the eldest son of the Shah by a plebeian mother, but the day of the Zill has past. Although not more than forty-six years of age, he is broken down in health, and has lost the energy which formerly distinguished him. His cruelty and exactions have made him hated in Isfahán, where he is Viceroy, and the neighbouring districts, and there is little doubt that before many months have elapsed he will be relieved of his charge and permitted to reside in that dignified obscurity which is the usual and convenient fortune of the brothers of despotic rulers. His son Jalál-ud-doulah, who is Governor at Yezd, has inherited some of his father's least amiable characteristics, and will, it may be hoped, follow him into retirement.

All English enterprise in Persia at the present time centres round the Imperial Bank of Persia, established by royal charter in 1889, which was under the special protection of the late Shah and the Prime Minister, and which each year is increasing its popularity and its business. It came forward instantly and energetically as a true State institution on the assassination of Násiruddin, making large advances to his successor to enable him to pay the troops and defray the expenses of his journey from Tabreez to Teheran. This was a service of the highest value and importance, and has at once raised its reputation at the capital. There is no reason to fear that the new Shah will forget this aid, given without hesitation at a critical juncture. The Imperial Bank is an outgrowth of the famous concession of Baron Julius de Reuter in 1872, which was too comprehensive and ambitious for realisation; but in the Bank concession of 1889 the Shah conferred very large and important privileges, including the monopoly of note issue and the control for a term of years of the more important mining rights in Persia. To this was subsequently added a concession of the right to construct a road from Teheran to Ahwaz, the northern limit of navigation on the Karun river, which had lately been opened to free navigation. Since its foundation the Bank has steadily progressed in public favour, notwithstanding many difficulties, owing to the ignorance of the Persians of the methods of European banking and their disinclination to pay their debts at the appointed date, a trait not altogether unknown to Europe. Its note issue, which was only 13,954 tomans on the 31st of December, 1890, has increased to 387,012 tomans in 1895, and during the present year has increased in still larger proportion. It was stated in an article on the future of Persia, in the Pall Mall Gazette, that there was a possibility of the Imperial Bank being allowed to slip into Russian hands, but nothing could be more opposed to the facts of the position. Certain Russian capitalists have been

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very active in opposition to the Imperial Bank, and started a rival institution named La Société de Prêts de Perse, which was little more than a glorified pawn establishment. Unable to do profitable business, the Russian Finance Minister bought up the shares, and the institution is now under restrictions framed by the Petersburg Bank, which cripple it still further, and a large part of its available capital is on deposit with the Imperial Bank of Persia, which has no anti-Russian feeling, and is only too glad to deal with any good customers. The Russians cannot compete with much advantage in banking outside their own country, for the price of money is far higher in Petersburg than in London. The vital question of Persian currency is too intricate to be dealt with here. Suffice it to say that its reform is the necessary preliminary to good government and the future development of Persia. At the present time, the Mint is farmed out for a large annual sum, and as, at the existing price of silver, it is impossible to coin it at a profit, the Mint master endeavours to recoup himself by flooding the country with copper coin in its place. This is at a heavy discount, and the consequent misery and loss to the poorest part of the population, that is ordinarily paid in copper, may be imagined. The only remedy is to abandon the idea of making revenue out of the Mint for the present, and to treat coining not as a commercial transaction, but an Imperial function, carried on for the State by the Imperial Bank or some other independent authority. Thus alone can the currency be regulated according to the requirements of the community, and a uniform standard of weight and fineness enforced.

The concession for mining rights is still alive, though the Corporation which purchased it from the Imperial Bank suspended operations when it found that the apathy and hostility of local officials, and the entire absence of roads, made it impossible at present to carry on its operations profitably. But Persia has great mineral wealth, and under more favourable conditions the concession may yet become a source of profit.

Next to currency reform, the construction of roads is the most urgent need of Persia. The time for railways is not yet, especially as Russia, in 1890, finding herself not prepared for competition in this direction, extorted a promise from the Shah that no railways should be commenced before the year 1900. It is to be hoped that, when that date arrives, England will have prepared herself to take her fair and full share in any railway construction which may be then found feasible and profitable. But roads are more required than railways; and here England has no jealousy of, or hostility to, German or Russian schemes of road construction which are in progress or about to be started. Everything which tends to the industrial and commercial advantage of Persia should be welcomed by England, whichever nation may inaugurate them, our only care being that no