Smith. There is an old monastery-crypt under
Garraway's (I have been in it among the port
wine), and perhaps Garraway's, taking pity on
the mouldy men who wait in its public-room
all their lives, gives them cool house-room down
there over Sundays; but the catacombs of
Paris would not be large enough to hold the
rest of the missing. This characteristic of
London City greatly helps its being the quaint
place it is in the weekly pause of business, and
greatly helps my Sunday sensation in it of being
the Last Man. In my solitude, the ticket-
porters being all gone with the rest, I
venture to breathe to the quiet bricks and stones
my confidential wonderment why a ticket-porter,
who never does any work with his hands,
is bound to wear a white apron, and why a
great Ecclesiastical Dignitary, who never does
any work with his hands either, is equally bound
to wear a black one.

PERSIAN PREJUDICES.

A FOREIGN merchant named Meerza Ali,
who had been robbed of some shawls, was
advised to apply to the grand vizier. The vizier
told him to go to the shop of the merchant
who had received the stolen shawls, and there
wait. By-and-by his highness passed on horse-back
in great state. " Ah, Ali, is that you?"
said the vizier; " how long have you been here?
Where are you stopping? I hope you mean to
lodge with me?" Then making a servant
dismount from one of his finest horses, he
requested Ali to ride with him, and passed on to his
palace, where he assigned rooms to his astonished
guest. The thief shortly after came and threw
himself at the feet of Ali, and gave back the
stolen shawls with a handsome present.

The fact is, that if one man is unfortunate
enough to owe money to another who has
more influence than his debtor, the essential
fact in the case illustrated above, the peace
of the debtor's life is henceforth at an end.
The creditor employs a terrible species of
nightmare—a bailiff, who never leaves him
night nor day, and pesters him constantly by
repeating the demand in a sing-song tone of
voice till the debt is paid. This sort of
torture is called sitting on a man. It is a decree
very frequently resorted to. A Persian, who
considered that he had a claim on the British
government, once found his way to England,
and went to the Foreign-office, taking his carpet
with him, and determined to lie down before the
door till he was satisfied. There was some
difficulty in getting rid of him, with due regard to
justice and good feeling.

No rank or position in life is beyond the
reach of the stick in Persia, and the people
really seem only to admire and respect those
who have the power and the will to use it. I
have seen a Persian minister whose toe-nails had
been beaten off by the shah, and whose feet
were so lacerated that they festered, and he was
obliged to keep his bed for six months in
consequence; but he seemed to feel no anger,
irritation, or shame upon the subject, but spoke of
it without hesitation or reserve. "He is a
very great king, the shah! A very great king,
indeed!" he would say. " Look at my feet!"

When Lady MacNiell visited the royal harem
by invitation, a number of young princes were
at play in the apartments of their mothers,
blindfolded. Lady MacNiell inquired why the
children were thus blindfolded, and their
mothers composedly replied that they were
merely practising to acquire dexterity, that in
case their eyes should be put out when they
became men, they might be able to walk about,
and be less dependent in consequence of this
early training.

The King of Persia is called "king of kings,"
and "the centre of the world." He often
concludes an official document with the information
that if the receiver does not obey the commands
contained in it, he shall have a kick from which
he will not recover in this world.

A kind and merciful man was, not long ago,
appointed governor of a province through the
influence of one of the European embassies, and
he had got, somehow, many new-fangled ideas
into his head. Among other things, he desired
to govern with justice and moderation as far as
the rapacity of the court would allow him; and,
for some time, he could not understand how it
happened that he was so universally unpopular.
There was no overlooking the fact that the
people not only disliked, but they despised him.
In his perplexity, he asked counsel of one of the
oldest inhabitants of the city which was the seat
of his government. The venerable sage, who
had been brought to his presence with some
difficulty, eyed him slyly. " We are," said he,
"accustomed to be beaten, and you do not beat
us; we, therefore, naturally suppose that you
cannot and dare not do so, and we consider it as
an affront that a person of so little consequence
has been appointed to rule over us." " If this
is the case," returned the governor, reconverted
at once to the faith and customs of his country
by an argument so unanswerable, " you shall be
satisfied to your hearts' content; and, to mark
my respect for your person, I will have you
beaten first." The old man made no objection,
and, some time after, hobbled away with sore
feet to tell his admirers that the governor was
not really such a contemptible person as he
seemed. This opinion was confirmed on the
following day, when all the chief merchants were
seized and flogged, after which the governor got
on very well with them, till, in due time, he
was, of course, replaced by one who had no
European prejudices at all. These stories would
have no salt in them if they were not true, but,
indeed, the stick is the principal element in the
life of a Persian. There was a khan with whom
I was in the habit of dining while in Persia, and
one day it must be confessed that the pilaff was
less succulent than could have been wished. I
innocently confided my sentiments upon the
subject to my entertainer, and, shortly
afterwards, we heard some shrill cries. " It is,"