permitted to see the king; which regulation was as ancient as the time of Semiramis, whose son, Ninyas, is said to have grown old in the palace, without ever having been known by being seen out of it.
This absurd usage gave rise to many abuses. In Persia[1] it produced two officers, who were called the king's eyes, and the king's ear, and who had the dangerous employment, I mean dangerous for the subject, of seeing and hearing for their sovereign. In Abyssinia, as I have just said, it created an officer called the king's mouth, or voice, for, being seen by nobody, he spoke of course in the third person, "Hear what the king says to you, which is the usual form of all regal mandates in Abyssinia; and what follows has the force of law. In the same stile, Josephus thus begins an edict of Cyrus king of Persia, "Cyrus the king says[2],"—And speaking of Cambyses's rescript, "Cambyses the king says thus,"—And Esdras also, "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia[3],"—And Nebuchadnezzar says to Holofernes, "Thus saith the Great King, Lord of the whole earth[4];"—and this was probably the origin of edicts, when writing was little used by sovereigns, and little understood by the subject.
Solemn hunting-matches were always in use both with the kings of Abyssinnia and those of Persia[5]. In both kingdoms it was a crime for a subject to strike the game till such time as the king had thrown his lance at it. This absurd custom was repealed by Artaxerxes Longimanus in onekingdom;
