THE SHAH OF PERSIA.

Southland Times, Issue 1770, 22 July 1873, Page 3

THE SHAH OF PERSIA.

( The enthusiasm manifested for the Shah of Persia in England (says the 1 Melbourne Telegraph) is somewhat of a ' mystery here, but a telegram published , in the London papers of 16th June may r explain matters. According to this announcement the Shah had started with three wives, and had set apart £5,000,000 sterling for his expenditure in Europe. 1 Nor is this incredible, for Nasser-ed-Din. > is known, as Burke said, a propos of something else, to possess " the poten--1 tiality of becoming rich beyond the 1 dreams of avarice." The Shah-en-Shah, > or King of Kingß, is absolute master of L the entire revenue of Persia, and would 1 be foolish if he did not put by a pretty private penny. His diamonds alone are valued at £2,000,000, including the farfamed stone of Derza-i-Norr of 178 carats. One of his predecessors, as Emanuel records in his " Book of Gems," presented \ the Court of Eussia with the Shah diamond of 86 carats, " a perfectly pure gem, free from blemish," and valued at £100,000, and the crowned heads of Europe may have a lively anticipation of further favors to come. But the admiration, Eeuter tells us, this trigamous i foreigner has expressed for our English- , woineu !b somewhat alarming, for a man . with three wives may well require a F fourth, and that five millions of ready , money seems to have turned all people's 1 heads. America used to be ridiculed ai : the land of indiscriminate vulgar heroworship, but what with the Persian Blue* > beard and the Tichborne claimant, the ' old land bids fair to outdo the great republic.