"بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي من إعداد السيد المحترم جورج ناثانييل كورزون، عضو البرلمان." [‎٤‎٢‎٥] (٧١٤/٤٨٤)

-4H
w.occupjinga
Mirations or
THE SHAH ROYAL FAMILY—MINISTERS 425
takeS ^ Cliair nor puts < l uestion s to the vote. Indeed, no speeches
are made nor votes taken. The discussion is purely informal and
conversational, and each minister is in the habit of reporting pri-
rtyoiip vately to the sovereign. s 1
Of the general character and accomplishments of the ministers
"sir I f f, Pers . ian Sir J- Malcolm, in his History, wrote
as follows m the early years of the century
The Ministers and chief officers of the Court are almost always
men of polished manners, well skilled in the business of their respective
departments, of pleasant conversation, subdued temper, and verv acute
^"thTth" ' agreeable and useful qualities are, in ffener-,1
all that they possess. Nor is virtue or liberal knowledge to be expected
in men whose lives are wasted in attending to forms ; whose means of
subsistence are derived from the most corrupt sources ; whose occupation
is m intrigues which have always the same objects: to preserve them
but LToTfl tt ; l!; 0 0a,ln0t ' With0llt dan^er ■ S P eak an y Ia »«»»ge
t that of flattery and deceit ; and who are, in short, condemned bv
their condition to be venal, artful, and false. There have no doubt
been many ministers of Persia whom it would be injustice to dass under
this general description ; but even the most distinguished for their
SSpSrr 6 tr £0rC 1 " SGme degree^to accommodate
1 iciples to their station ; and, unless where the confidence of
their sovereign has placed them beyond the tear of rivals, necessitv has
wwfthe t tT" t0 , praCtiseasubservieno y a " d dissimulation at variance
respect all 1 '"I 8 ''* 7Whi0h ^ al0ne ^^^te a claim to the
espect all are disposed to grant to good and great men. 1
These observations are marked by the insight and mstice
trrr 0f ^ d ; stingui8hed aUthOT . and it is to be feared
that to a large extent thoy hold as good of the present as of the
d generation. Nevertheless, I hope I am not wrong in believipo-
results 0 7 Eur, ,Sp0Slti0n aUcl eXam P Ie of the Shah, thf
of European experience—most of the ministers havino-
accompanied the king on one or other of his jonrneys-a'd™!
t° gm f Spint of 1 ,r, "' s - recognisable even in Persia, have
that thp SOme 0f the llarSher 0l " tlines of tbe original picture'; and
abt M ? sco P 8 fOT honesty and integrity, whose
out T 0 m cIe P lored . and which have hitherto been frightened
nle a'ndt^ ^ 6 ^ t0 h ~ ble ^
by the universal complicity in fraud and corruption.
1 History of Persia, vol. ii. cap. xxiv. -