he palace at
Delhi to negotiate with his grandson. During that negotiation Shah
Jahan was at Agra.

27. It is related that the coffee was delivered to the two sovereigns
in this room upon a gold salver by the most polished gentleman of the
court. His motions, as he entered the gorgeous apartment, amidst the
splendid train of the two Emperors, were watched with great anxiety;
if he presented the coffee first to his own master, the furious
conqueror, before whom the sovereign of India and all his courtiers
trembled, might order him to instant execution; if he presented it to
Nadir first, he would insult his own sovereign out of fear of the
stranger. To the astonishment of all, he walked up with a steady step
direct to his own master. 'I cannot', said he, 'aspire to the honour
of presenting the cup to the king of kings, your majesty's honoured
guest, nor would your majesty wish that any hand but your own should
do so.' The Emperor took the cup from the golden salver, and
presented it to Nadir Shah, who said with a smile as he took it, 'Had
all your officers known and done their duty like this man, you had
never, my good cousin, seen me and my Kizil Bashis at Delhi; take
care of him for your own sake, and get round you as many like him as
you can.' [W. H. S.]

28. The famous inscription of Saad-Ullah Khan, supposed to be in the
handwriting of Rashid, the greatest caligraphist of his time; _Agar
Firdaus bar rue zamin ast--hamin ast, to hamin ast, to hamin ast_'
(Carr Stephen, p. 229; Fanshawe, p. 35 and plate).

29. All these people were cleared out by the events of 1867, and the
few beautiful fragments of the palace which have retained anything of
their original magnificence are now clean and in good order. The
elaborate decorations of the Diwan-i-Khas have been partially
restored, and the interior of this building is still extremely rich
and elegant.

'Of the public parts of the palace all that now remains is the
entrance hall, the Naubat Khana, Diwan-i-Amm and Khas, and the Rang
Mahall--now used as a mess-room, and one or two small pavilions. They
are the gems of the palace it is true, but without the courts and
corridors connecting them they lose all their meaning and more than
half their beauty. Being now situated in the middle of a British
barrack-yard, they look like precious stones torn from their settings
in some exquisite piece of Oriental jeweller's work and set at random
in a bed of the commonest plaster' (