240 
CONVERSATION WITH THE PRINCE. 
“ a minute ? I recollect the time when we Persians were as bad as they* 
“ My father, the Shah, once besieged a fort, and had with him one gun, 
“ with only three balls; and even this was reckoned extraordinary. He 
“ fired off two of the balls at the fort, and then summoned it to surrender. 
“ The besieged, who knew that he had only one ball left, sent him this 
“ answer: ‘ For God’s sake fire off your other ball at us, and then we 
“ shall be free of you altogether.’ ” He continued to say, “ The Uzbegs, 
“ not long since, had a famous fellow amongst them, called Beg Jan, who 
“ made them believe that he was a saint; and he excited them to 
“ take forts, and to oppose any numbers of the enemy, by promising 
“ paradise as a reward. They went with alacrity whithersoever he 
“ directed them, and met their death with constancy. When Beg Jan 
“ was one day describing the delights of paradise, an Uzbeg asked 
“ him, ‘ Is there any chappoxv (plunder) in paradise?’ To which the 
“ other said, ‘ No.’ ‘ Ah then,’ said he, ‘ paradise won’t do for me.’ ” 
The Prince then discoursed about his own government of Aderbigian, 
and of the attempts he had made to ameliorate it. “ The first step,” 
said he, “ towards the establishment of a good government, is to give 
“ protection to the peasant; and to that effect I have abolished the cus- 
“ tom of selling governments to the highest bidder, which is the common 
“ mode throughout the rest of Persia. You would scarcely believe the 
“ difficulty I have had in doing this. As, for instance, I give a man ten 
“ and twelve thousand tomauns a year, and appoint him the Governor 
“ of (we will say) the district of Maragha. I define what each peasant 
“ is to pay to the Government, and fix the sum of the annual tribute 
“ which my officer is to levy, and beyond which he is ordered not to 
“ exact a dinar. Such is the Persian character, that he would rather be 
“ permitted to beat and tyrannise over the Rayat, to get his salary in the 
“ best manner he was able, than to receive the sure and regular stipend 
“ which I would give him, without the trouble attendant on extortion 
“ and punishment. He is surrounded by sycophants, who taunt him, 
“ and say, ‘ What sort of a Governor are you, who cannot beat these 
“ animals of Rayats ? Nobody cares for you; you are the MastoJTs 
