to Persia at the head of a splendid following, and being the bearer of presents of a value calculated to impress upon the mind of the Shah a just idea of the grandeur of Russia. At a court composed of persons at once so vain and so venal as those who counselled the Shah, there was every reason to suppose that General Yermeloff would obtain a favourable answer to all his demands. Persia had felt the power of his master, and she now saw his reflected magnificence. She had lately been opposed to him in arms; she was now invited to become his ally. The Czar's representative wished the Shah to agree to join him in an offensive engagement against the Sultan; but the King of Persia had already felt what it was to have his interests overlooked by his European allies at the time of concluding peace, and he wisely declined to provoke the enmity of the Sublime Porte. General Yermeloff next demanded permission for the passage of a Russian army through the provinces of Astrabad and Khorassan, on its way to attack the Khanate of Khiva; but he was told that as the treaty of Gulistan contained no clause justifying such a demand, the permission could not be granted. The ambassador then requested the sanction of the Shah for the residence of a Russian commercial agent at Resht in Gilan; but compliance with this request was categorically refused. A similar answer was given to the Russian proposal to supply officers for the purpose of disciplining the army of the Shah. On his side, General Yermeloff was equally firm. He would not consent to the restoration of a single acre of the territory which had been won from Persia by the force of his master's arms; and thus the business of his embassy was brought to a close equally
