This Lord had been, as I told you before, fourteen Months in Disgrace, and during that time, there was no Prime Minister at all, a thing without Precedent in Persia; three of the Principal of the Crown acted in his Room; he went from time to time to Court, the King having neither Banish’d, nor so much as forbid him his own Royal Presence. The Occasion of this Disgrace was, because he would not drink Wine, excusing himself always on Account of his old Age; the Dignity of Prime Minister, the Name of Cheic, which he bore, and signifies the same as a Religious, or Saint does with us and denotes a Man Consecrated to the strictest observance of Religion, and in fine, on Account of the Pilgrimage which he made to Mecca, whereby he stood engaged to a greater purity of Life. The King seeing him alone, firm in his Resolution not to drink Wine, us’d him often with very ill Language; he one time went even so far, as to strike him upon that Account, he has caus’d full Glasses of Wine to be thrown in his Face, pour’d down upon his Head, and over all his Cloaths, and in his Fits he us’d to offer him a thousand Indignities of this Nature; but when those Fits were over, he, in his cooler Considerations, had an infinite Esteem for him, on the Account of his so wholly dedicating himself to the Interest of the State, for his Virtues, and the vast Qualifications of his Mind: In Reality, he was a mighty wise Minister, full of Wit, and of great Integrity; his Religion is more to be blam’d than his Natural Temper, for the Hardships he deals to the Christians: ’Tis her we must accuse for his rigorous Practices against the Christians; were it not for the Transports of a blind Zeal, which she inspires into him, the Christians would have Reason, as well as the Mahometans, to bless his Administration: It is true, even these do not all bless it, because he hinders the King from going into Prodigalities, and from squandring his Treasure, like his Predecessors; and this is seldom pleasing to the Court, which is commonly Poor and Indigent, when the Prince is not Liberal.
This Minister was fifty five Years of Age, he was of a good Stature, well Shap’d, and his Face Handsome, as well as his Make; he had the greatest Advantage of Physiognomy in the World, a perpetual Calm, and engaging sweetness reign’d in his Eyes, and throughout his Countenance, and far from perceiving in it any of those Signs of a Mind Occupied, and taken up, which appear in that of most great Ministers; one saw shine there all the Tokens of Tranquility, and of a Mind unperplex’d, and that possess’d it self perfectly; so that to behold him without knowing him, one would never have taken him for a Man of Business; those who have had the Honour to be more nearly acquainted with him, and to search into his interior Qualities, speak wonderful Things of his Moderation and Modesty; these Persons assure you, that he has little of Pride in his Mind, and of Presumption in his Heart, as there is of Fierceness in his Look, or of Vanity in his Comportment; this is so much the more to be credited, because he shows no Luxury in his Garb, no Pomp in his House, no Profusion or Prodigality at his Table.
On the 27th, that Minister cloath’d in the Garment that the King had sent him, went to kiss his Feet, and receiv’d afterwards the Compliments of all the Court, upon his being re-instated in the first Employment of the Empire.
On the 30th, he Entertain’d the King; the Entertainment lasted four and twenty Hours; the Prince went thither at eight a Clock in the Morning; all the way, between the Royal Palace, and the Palace of that Minister, was cover’d with Brocards of Gold and Silver, and lin’d on each Side by his Officers and Domesticks, who made a Lane, each of them holding a Piece of the magnificent Present which he made to the King, which consisted in Stuffs of Wool, Silk, and Gold; in Services of Gold, Silver, and China, in Bridles for Horses, Saddles, and Housings, and in Gold and Silver ready Coin’d. When the King was about six Spaces from the Door of his Apartment, the Prime Minister who waited there to receive him, caus’d some thousands of Livres, of Gold, Silver, and Brass, Coin’d, to be thrown at his Feet. This Pompous manner of receiving a Prince, is call’d Pich endas; Pich signifies before, and endas is the Verb, to spread, or to extend.
They never make use of this kind of Pageantry, but for the Reception of the Sovereign, nor cover the Streets with Stuffs upon any other Occasion. However, ’tis not improper to observe, that they only cover one side of it; the other is well Swept and Water’d, and strew’d with Flowers, especially when the Place and Season will afford them. The Stuffs and the Silver which are thrown on the Ground, are for the King’s Footmen. Sometimes the Lord himself, who makes the Feast, buys back the Stuffs: Cheic-Alican did the same, knowing very well, that they could not sell them for near so much, as he order’d to be given them. This Method of spreading Carpets in the Way for the Passage of Kings, and great Princes, is one of the ancientest Customs in the East, and most universally practis’d; they have a Precept or Command for this deliver’d in the Porans, which are the first Books, of the Religion, and Learning of the Brackmans.
Iranian Identity: Aryans or Persians?
