MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
empt from that vice, though it is 
corrected by their pride and vio- 
lence. Arrogant from birth, and 
surrounded, from infancy, by de~ 
voted dependants, their minds are 
habituated to overrate their own 
pretensions, and depreciate those 
of others. When inflamed with 
passion, they in an instant lose 
all that courtly manner which 
they are accustomed to assume 
and give way to the most ungo- 
vernable rage. They seldom suf- 
fer from the bold imprudence of 
the language which they use on 
these occasions, as they can al- 
ways plead in excuse the habits of 
the rude class to which they be- 
long: and the consideration they 
demand, upon this’ ground, is 
hardly ever refused, even by the 
monarch himself, if he has been 
the object of their intemperance. 
The character of these military 
nobles may be said to change with 
the state of their country : when 
that is settled for any long period 
they lose a great deal of their na- 
tive honesty and violence. Edu- 
cated at the capital, where, in 
youth, they are generally kept as 
hostages for the good conduct of 
their fathers; and compelled to 
constant attendance on the king 
after they have attained manhood; 
they become in time courtiers, 
and are not, except in being more 
haughty, materially different from 
the other nobles and_ principal 
officers of the country. We can 
neither praise them, nor any other 
of the higher ranks in Persia, for 
their strictness in either moral or 
religious duties: to the former, 
they do not even pretend to give 
much attention; and though they 
are careful as to the observance 
of all the forms of the latter, they 
467 
often appear indifferent as to the 
substance, and are in the habit of 
discussing the tenets and dogmas 
of their faith with a freedom that 
sometimes borders upon impiety. 
The character of the Eelleats, 
or men who continue to dwell in 
tents, is very opposite to that of 
the inhabitants of cities. They 
have the virtues and vices of their 
condition ; are sincere, hospita- 
ble, and brave; but rude, violent, 
and rapacious. They are not in 
need of falsehood and deceit, and 
therefore not much in the habit of 
practising them : bui if they have 
fewer vices than the citizens of 
Persia, it is evidently the absence 
of temptation, and the ignorance 
of luxury and refinement, which 
give them all the superiority they 
boast ; for it is remarked, that 
they never settle in towns, or en-= 
ter them as victors, without ex« 
ceeding the inhabitants in every 
species of profligacy. 
The females of Persia who 
dwell in towns are usually placed 
in the situation of slaves; and 
have, therefore, many of those 
qualities which belong to that 
condition. The different shades 
of character of a race who can 
hardly be said to have any influ- 
ence in the community, is of lit- 
tle importance ; and if it were 
otherwise, we cannot have suffi- 
cient information of the subject 
to form any correct judgment 
upon it. If common report is to 
be credited, or if we grant our 
belief to the tales of Persian writ- 
ers, the art and ingenuity of the 
women of that country are very 
often successful in eluding the 
jealous vigilance of their domes- 
tic tyrants. Of the females of the 
wandering tribes we have already 
2H2 
