When the hour
came for putting out the prince's eyes, the king was moved by the young
man's beauty, and said there was not a handsomer pair of eyes in all
his empire, and that he would not destroy them. Therefore Zelli
Sultan's punishment was changed to three years' imprisonment. At the
expiration of the term, the king gave him solemn warning that any
further attempt at usurpation would be punished by death.

I have often been asked why the first son did not take the throne
instead of the second. The reason is this. The king had several wives,
but the first one was a princess from his own tribe, and is called the
queen. Her first son must be successor to the throne. Therefore Zelli
Sultan was not eligible to the throne, as his mother was not a
princess.

[Illustration: PRESENT SHAH.]

The present Shah is a man who has a strong desire to rule in peace. He
tolerates all religious beliefs, even though they differ from his own.
He is loved by all classes of people, and all religious sects because
he is kind and considerate toward them.

The Shah is very friendly toward the Christian missionaries. A few
years ago he visited the Presbyterian college, the Ladies' Seminary,
and listened to some of the recitations. As an evidence of his
friendliness he was a guest at the home of Dr. Cochran, and dined with
him. Not every one is so honored, for I have heard that an army officer
in that part of Persia offered the Shah L3,000 to take dinner with him,
but the invitation was not accepted. The Shah has also visited a
Nestorian bishop, who resides in a cottage so humble that some lords
would be ashamed to enter it. On the other hand when he was in our city
of Oroomiah he did not visit the homes of any of the Mujtahids, but met
these high priests in a mosque by appointment.

Of late years the royal family has been kind to Christians. Nine out of
ten cases of cruelty to Christians come from the Mujtahids and the
lords. The priesthood is stronger than the government in Persia.
Sometimes the king has to give up his ideas to please the priests. For
example: The late Shah desired to introduce the modern railroad into
Persia, but the priests were bitterly opposed to it, and the king had
to give up his plans. When asked why they opposed railroads, one priest
gave two reasons: "First, our country is weak. If we built railroads,
Europeans could run in on us and take our country. Second, it would
destroy our religion. And we could not contr