Persian gentleman is boldly addressed as a prince. The mendicants often sit in groups of twos or threes, and while the one makes an eloquent and touching appeal to the feelings of the passers-by, the others emphasize it by the words "Illahi amen!"—"Oh, God! amen!" *****
Within the last thirty years an expensive and flourishingtrade has sprung up between Persia and various European nations. Cotton, silkworms, silk, wool and other raw produce, are exported to England, France, and Russia, and in return Persia receives manufactured goods and articles of luxury from Europe. As the imports exceed the exports, Persia is each year drained of a very considerable amount of gold or of silver to make up the balance. The quantity, indeed, of precious metals which must have been collected in Persia must have been very considerable in order to have withstood for so long the drain which has been now going on for years. It is the opinion of some European merchants that money will soon become so scarce in Persia as to reduce the imports to the measure of the exports. Money bears in Persia a value beyond that which it has in almost any other country. The legal rate of interest is twelve per cent., but no money, as a general rule, can be obtained on such easy terms. Twenty-four per cent., with ample security, is easily obtained for a loan, and sometimes as much as sixty per cent, a year is extorted by usurers in contributions of five per cent, a month. Were the Persians given to taking thought for the morrow, they could very easily either provide in their own country many articles, —such as sugar—which are now imported from abroad;
