'The dynasty of the Kajars translated from the original Persian manuscript presented by His Majesty Faty Aly Shah to Sir Harford Jones Brydges ... to which is prefixed a succinct account of the history of Persia previous to that period illustarted with plates and a map of Western Persia' [‎63] (84/684)

PELIMINARY MATTER.
Ixiii
served, and thus, in his own presence, got rid of
them all, " at one fell swoop." Some have men
tioned these acts of the Shah as manifestations of
his remorse for the part he had in the murder of
his son ; but I cannot pervert my understanding so
much as to consider that heaping crime on crime
can proceed from remorse, though it may from
madness; nor will I believe that he much furthered
his pardon from Heaven, or his reputation with the
world, when he caused his two other sons to be
deprived of sight, in order that his grandson, Seffee,
might succeed him on the throne.
It has already been admitted, that Abbas was a
great and successful warrior ; and if we consider
how much of his kingdom, at the commencement
of his reign, he found in the hands of the Turks,
Uzbegs, and other savage enemies, and look at the
boundaries of it as he left them at his death, one
must acknowledge, that thus far he merits great
praise. But never were there wars waged on both
sides more barbarously than these ; none, in which
the unoffending citizen and the industrious peasant
were more cruelly treated, or more wantonly plun
dered. The result of them, no doubt, added to the
glory of Persia; but, considering how short a space
they produced of stable peace, I must be permitted
to doubt, if the account were fairly balanced, whe
ther they added much to her happiness.
Abbas has been celebrated for his love of justice;
but his justice was frequently the justice of a capri
cious tyrant, who did not proportion the punishment
to the crime, nor the redress to the injury. Death, or
the most cruel mutilation, was doomed for heinous