188 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
make a copy, standing to his task, at the table; 
as to bring the letter down from its elevation 
would have been contrary to Burman etiquette 
—a kind of derogation, both to the dignity of 
the writer of the letter, and, what was of more 
consequence, of the party to whom it was ad¬ 
dressed. 
JB. Is the Governor-General’s letter written 
upon paper or parchment ?— E. It is written 
upon richly illuminated paper of the same qua¬ 
lity as that made use of when the Governor- 
General addresses the King of Persia and other 
Princes, with whom he is in correspondence. 
JB. What is the nature of the seal affixed to 
the Governor-General’s letter, and in what lan¬ 
guage is the inscription upon it ?— E. The seal 
affixed to the Governor-General’s letter is the 
principal seal of the Government, and the cha¬ 
racter is Persian, which is used by us for con¬ 
venience, as being generally understood.* 
* The use of the Persian language in our correspondence 
with some of the Asiatic Governments is no doubt a great 
absurdity, and a compliance with the local usages of India 
wholly uncalled for. I recollect seeing, upon one occasion, a 
Persian letter addressed by the Governor-General of India 
to a native Prince, who wrote for answer that there was no 
one in his dominions who could translate it. Had the letter 
been written in English, as it ought to have been, there 
would have been no difficulty in getting it translated. 
