No one is allowed
to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his
physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much.
Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself.
All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of
poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to
see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes
before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put
in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king
lives! He cannot trust his own servants.
TEHERAN.--This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is
exceedingly hot, as the hills around keep off the air. It is a mean
city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts.
The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as
grand place.[5]
[5] Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels.
CHINA.
There is no country in the world like China.
How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas
China is crowded with inhabitants!
How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the
Bible, whereas China is full of idols.
China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the
people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious.
It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people
there are in China.
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