manners and habits of the nations which are represented, that I should have thought them an invaluable addition to my collection, if I could have had time to have made copies of them. When it is remembered, that the artist neither could have had the advantages of academical studies, nor the opportunities of improving his taste and knowledge by the galleries of the great in Europe, or conversed with masters in the art, his works would be allowed to possess a very considerable share of merit, and to be strong instances of the genius of the people. The colours with which they are executed retain their original freshness; at least if they have faded they must have been such in their first state, as we have not seen in Europe. The gilding, which is every where intermixed, either to explain the richness of the dress, or the quality of the utensils, is of a brilliancy perhaps never surpassed. They possess less questionably an excellence, to which the merit of colouring is at any rate very subordinate. They mark strongly and faithfully the manners of their subject, and combine in a series of pleasing and accurate records a variety of details, of feature, attitude, dress, dancing, musical instruments, table furniture, arms, and horse accoutrements of the country. SHAH ABBAS, in the painting to the right, has no beard. The fashions have altered with the times, and the present King cherishes a beard which descends lower than his girdle, and touches the ground when he sits. The notoriety of SHAH ABBAS in the revels of the table, and particularly his love of wine, are here displayed in characters so strong, that they cannot be mistaken: and so little did he endeavour to conceal his propensities, that he is here painted in the very act of drinking. The faces of the women are very pleasing, but their wanton looks and lascivious attitudes easily explain their professions. The furniture of the _Chehel Sitoon_, which consists indeed of carpets only, is still kept there. The carpets of the time of ABBAS are of a large pattern, more regular and infinitely superior in texture to those of the present day. Although the outer part of the fabric is suffered to fall to ruin, the interior is still preserved in repair, as it forms the _Dewan Khonéh_, or Hall of Audience to the Palace; and is, therefore, kept in readiness for the King’s reception.