ins and adorned with superb historical
statuary, give to the hall a light and aerial appearance indescribably
enchanting; while the mirrors reflect in ten thousand variations the
hall itself and its moving pageantry, rendering both apparently
interminable. Huge marble vases filled with odorous exotics lined the
stairways, and twelve thousand wax lights in gilded brackets, and
chandeliers of the richest workmanship, shone upon three thousand titled
heads.

Louis the Great himself never appeared to finer advantage. His truly
royal countenance was lighted up with pride and satisfaction as the
Envoy of the haughty Oriental king approached the splendid throne on
which he sat, and as he descended a step to meet him and stood there in
his magnificent robes of state, the Persian envoy bent the knee, and
with uncovered head presented the credentials of his mission. Of the
crowd that immediately surrounded the throne, it is something to say
that the Grand Colbert, the famous Minister, and the Admiral Duquesne
were by no means the most eminent, nor the lovely Duchess of Orleans and
her companion, the bewitching Mademoiselle de Kerouaille, who afterward
changed the policy of Charles II, of England, by no means the most
beautiful personages in the galaxy.

A grand ball and supper concluded this night of splendor, and Riza Bey
was fairly launched at the French court; every member of which, to
please the King, tried to outvie his compeers in the assiduity of his
attentions, and the value of the books, pictures, gems, equipages, arms,
&c., which they heaped upon the illustrious Persian. The latter
gentleman very quietly smoked his pipe and lounged on his divan before
company, and diligently packed up the goods when he and his "jolly
companions" were left alone. The presents of the Shah had not yet
arrived, but were daily expected via Marseilles, and from time to time
the olive-colored suite was diminished by the departure of one of the
number with his chest on a special mission (so stated) to England,
Austria, Portugal, Spain, and other European powers.

In the meantime, the Bey was feted in all directions, with every species
of entertainment, and it was whispered that the fair ones of that
dissolute court were, from the first, eager in the bestowal of their
smiles. The King favored his Persian pet with numerous personal
interviews, at which, in broken French, the Envoy unfolded the most
imposing schemes of Oriental conquest and com