high value, as proved by the fact that
accounts are still reckoned in dinars, an imaginary coin, of which one
thousand go to a silver kran and fifty to a copper shahi, the
depreciation I have mentioned is a very serious affair, for it touches
the mass of the people sorely. When travelling off the beaten track in
Persia, I have always been amused and interested in hearing my
head-servant announce loudly in a tone of importance and satisfaction to
my village host for the night that I had ordered so many 'thousands' to
be given for house-room, fuel, barley, straw, etc. The kran was never
mentioned; it was always a 'thousand.'[A]

[Footnote: A: Since the above was written, information has been received
that the late Shah, about three weeks before his death, promulgated a
decree directing the Mint coinage of copper to be suspended for a term
of five years, and intimating that the Customs, Post-office and
Telegraph departments would accept copper coin to a certain amount in
cash transactions, at a fixed rate. And, further, arrangements have been
made with the Imperial Bank of Persia to purchase, on account of the
Government, copper coin up to a certain sum, from small _bona-fide_
holders who are in possession of it in the regular course of retail
business for the necessaries of life.]

CHAPTER IV.

--Religious tolerance in Tehran
--Katie Greenfield's case
--Babi sect
--Liberal opinions
--German enterprise in Persia
--Railways in Asia Minor
--Russian road extension
--Railways to Persian frontiers
--The Karun River
--Trade development
--The Kajar dynasty
--Life titles
--Chieftainship of tribes
--Sanctuary
--The Pearl cannon.

The late Shah was always liberal and conciliatory in the treatment of
his Christian subjects throughout the country, and this is a matter
which, at the present time, deserves special notice. In the history of
Persia many proofs of friendly feeling towards Christians are to be
found, and the sovereigns appear to have led the popular mind in the way
of goodwill to them. Shah Abbas the Great was an example of kind and
considerate tolerance, and it was Shah Abbas II who said of them, 'It is
for God, not for me to judge of men's consciences: and I will never
interfere with what belongs to the tribunal of the Great Creator and
Lord of the universe.' The Western Christian missionaries are fully
protected in their mission work among the Eastern Christians in Persia
on the understanding that t