to the king, when the steward breaks the seal, and places the dishes before him.  Some of the infant princes are generally present, and partake in this repast.  The chief physician is invariably in attendance at every meal.  His presence is deemed necessary, the courtiers say, that he may prescribe an instant remedy, if any thing should disagree with the monarch; but this precaution, no doubt, owes its origin to that suspicion which is continually haunting the minds of such as exercise despotic power.  When his public duties are performed, he usually retires to the haram, where he sometimes indulges in a short repose.  Some time before sunset he always makes his appearance in the outer apartments, and either again attends to public business or takes a ride.  His dinner is brought between eight and nine, with the same precautions and ceremonies as at breakfast.  He eats, like his subjects, seated upon a carpet, and the dishes are placed on a rich embroidered cloth, spread for the occasion.  Some of the former kings used to indulge openly in drinking wine; but none of the reigning family have yet outraged the religious feelings of their subjects by so flagrant a violation of the laws of Mahomed.  Bowls filled with sherbet, made of every species of fruit, furnish the beverage of the royal meals; and there are few countries where more pains are bestowed to gratify the palate with the most delicate viands.  After dinner, the king retires to the interior apartments, where it is said that he is often amused till a late hour by the singers and dancers of his haram.  It is impossible, however, to speak of his occupations after he passes the threshold of his inner palace.  He is there surrounded by a scene calculated, beyond all others, to debase and degrade the human character.

The harams are governed by the strictest discipline; and this must be necessary to preserve the peace of a community, where the arrogance of power, the pride of birth, the ties of kindred, the intrigues of art, and the pretensions of beauty, are in constant collision.  The usual routine of the king’s life is often interrupted by urgent public affairs, and sometimes by amusement.  The reigning family has hitherto disdained those enervating and luxurious habits which led the last Seffavean monarchs to confine themselves to their harams.  They not only attend personally to public business, but are continually practising manly exercises, and engage in field sports with all the ardour of a race who cherish the habits of their Tartar ancestors.  The present king is an expert marksman and an excellent horseman; few weeks pass without his partaking in the pleasures of the chase.  The king has always a historiographer and a chief poet.  The one writes the annals of his reign; the other, who has a high rank at court, composes odes in his praise, and, with grateful ardour, celebrates the munificence of his patron.  A giant and a dwarf were at one period of the present reign part of the