Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1883 — A PERSIAN PAGEANT. [ARTICLE]

A PERSIAN PAGEANT.

How the Shah Received the First Dip* lomatic Representative of This Country. His Name Is Benjamin and He Was Presented with Grand Ceremonies. [Washington Telegram,] fl G. W. Benjamin, the first diplomatic representative of the United States to Persia, gives the following account of his reception by the Shah: A brilliant pageant had been prepared outside the walls of Teheran at one of the royal pavilions. At the stairway of the pavilion Mx Benjamin was met I y Nas'r el Mulls, or the General-in-Chief of the armies of Persia, and a glittering crowd of prominent officers blazing with blue, scarlet, silver, and gold and decorations innumerable - of diamonds and costly gems. Mr. Benja- I min was escorted to an audience hall by the 1 Genera! 1 .-Chief, where an exchange of courtes. was offered and accepted. Next Mr. Benjamin was taken to’theoourt below and mounted upon a fine horse to continue his travels. This was the signal for every uia to mount, and the cortege of nearly I,COo royal guards was put in- motion, they be.ng brilliantly and elaborately costume X As the procession moved across the plain toward the beau iful turreted gate of the city, which is decosated with particolored glazed tiles, the Oos?acks dashed hither and thither between the lines, firing muskets in the air and exhibiting the most brliant feats of horsemanship The streets were lined with spectators. At intervals were stationed police or squads of military. Passing through the grand squase of the Department of War, the .cortege filed into the new or European quarter of the city. On approaching his quarters Mr. Benjamin was told by an aid that 300 soldiers were marshaled at the entrance to receive him. Mr. Benjamin dismounted, returned the salute, and, accompanied by the General-in-Chief ana his staff, was escorted to a recep-tion-room. where further courtesies wer e shown and refreshments enjoyed. Mr. Benjamin next made an informal call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs at his residence, according to the custom of the country.- Tie havhetd office thirty-trtx years and is a conservative and astute-statesman of kindly manners and disposition. . The IVth of June Mr. Benjamin received a cad from the Brand Chamberlain, whois ason-in-law of the lShah. and who Informed Mr. Benjamin that his Majesty desired to receive him at 1 o'clock p. m. the 11th. Mr. Benjamin was taken to the palace in a landau furnished by his Majesty and drawn by six horses, each mounted by a liveried postillion. Twenty royal Ferqushes or footrunners clad in scarlet and wearing plumed tiaras preceded the carriage, together with a score of horsemen accompanied by Mohamoudan, the second master of ceremonies Mr. Benjamin arrived at the gardens of the palace, which are.beautified with fountains and shrubbery and foliage arranged artfully wild, after a style peculiarly Persian. All were ushered into a spacious and hand-’ some hall, where the first masrer of ceremonies and other gendemen and dignitaries go geously arrayed were in waiting. Here Mr. Benjamin was invited to make the seat of honor and treated to -“tea and kaliaun,” ■ or water pipe. r 'Boon after the made to Mr. Benjamin that his Majesty was in readiness to receive him, and thereupon he was conducted by the first master of ceremonies to the palace itself. “At this moment,” says Mr. Benjamin, “a salute fired in honor of the United States thundered over the city, and on entering we ascended a magnificent staircase The walls were decorated in part with paintings of European masters. From the staircase we entered an audience-halj of proportions, and most linpreßStve In effect. His Majesty stood at the upper end. Leaving my outer shoes at the door, as prescribed by the treaty of Kourmantchio, I made a low bow andwalked up to where the King was standing.” Mr. Benjamin then addressed the King in French, and presented his letter of credence. His Majesty replied that it gave him great satisfaction to see an American Legation at Teheran, and he considered that both Governments would be further benefitted by increasing the intercourse and diplomatic relations of the two peoples. After this ceremony his Majesty expressed strong hopes that the United States, now that*it had established a Legation in. Persia, should maintain one permanently at Teheran. At the conclusion of the audience with his Majesty, Mr. Benjamin made a formal call upcn the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and pa : d his respects also to his Royal Highness, Nalb Sultan, who is Secretary of War and one of the sons of the King, and thanked him for his miH ary escort