'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎23] (54/714)

INTRODUCTORY
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be unpardonably slack—at least the political undertakings with
which the British Government has charged itself, have resulted in
the labours and writings of Sir F. Goldsmid, and of his able band
of collaborators in the services of the Telegraph and Boundary
Commissions. A useful history of Persia within the compass of a
single volume, has been published by Mr. Clements Markham,
while the history of the first half of the present century has been
carefully compiled by Mr. R. G. Watson. The field of Persian
history, however, as a whole, is one that still calls for the enterprise
of some English student, combining the rare gifts of familiarity
with Oriental tongues, historical knowledge, and classical erudi
tion. In Germany, Spiegel, Justi, Noldeke and Gntschmid
have worthily divided the role. I should add that by far the
best and most accurate account of Persia, within the limit of 100
pages, that I have ever seen, occurs in the monumental work
of the Frenchman Elisee Reclus. 1 During the last thirty years
the north-east portion of Persia has been brought more closely
under our view by the labours of a succession of competent
explorers; KhanikofF, the Russian, already mentioned; Colonel
Valentine Baker and Captain Gill, the former of whom displayed
a rare intuition of Central Asian politics; Sir C. MacGregor,
whose impetuous patriotism was reflected in his unpolished but
masculine style ; and E. O'Donovan, the ' Daily News' correspon
dent, who penetrated to Merv and afterwards perished in the
Soudan, and whose literary accomplishments equal those of any
other writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. on Persia. All of these have since died.
In the same period Messrs. Stolze and Andreas have thrown
much light upon Persian commerce, industry, administration, and
tesources; and General Houtum Schindler, whom I shall so fre
quently have occasion to quote, upon almost every branch of topo
graphy, archgeology, and general knowledge. Dr. Wills, who was
for many years Doctor to the Indo-European Telegraph Establish
ment, has given us a series of vivid and entertaining representations
of life and customs in modern Iran. Mr. Benjamin, the first
American minister to Persia, is the author of the last work in
English on the country ; but his observations on manners and arts,
which are interesting, are handicapped by a general inaccurac}
that renders his book of little value. 2 Madame Dieulafoy s portl)
1 This has been translated into English, Universal Geography, vol. ix.
2 What, for instance, can be thought of a writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. who describes as ' a small
salt lake at Oroomieh ' an expanse of water which is three hundred miles in cir-
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