Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/220

 112 TEHERAN AND A NEWER PERSIA

tion that coin had stuck to the fingers of this ' Gabr,' who had faithfully discharged his obligation and had won the un- qualified respect of his Mussulman colleagues who had helped him in the task. I mention this as a tribute to the quality of stamina and spirit that is to be found in Iran, and as one of the numerous signs of a real Persia rediviva — signs that should command the consideration of foreign nations that may lend a hand in helping Persia forward.

The whole attitude of the Majlis in the brief period of its existence deserves respect, and will inspire it, if it is given a fair chance to develop without undue interference. In member- ship the National Assembly may number two hundred deputies, but thus far the list has been confined in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty. Of this number, sixty are to constitute by law a Senate, and both this body and the National Consultive Assembly shall approve all measures. The term of office to which the deputies are elected is two years, and they are chosen by the six classes of voters (princes of the realm, eccle- siastics, nobles, merchants, land-holders, and tradesmen) through- out the thirty-three provinces of the kingdom. There are a score and four score of incidental matters that enter into the make-up of the ' four pillars of the Persian constitution,' be- ginning with (1) the royal proclamation of Muzaffar, granting the Parliament ; (2) the electoral law of 1906 ; (3) the funda- mental laws of the same year, regulating the manner of consti- tuting the Assembly and assigning its duties, rights, and executive ; and (4) the supplementary laws of 1907, touching on the wider powers of the realm. This, in a nutshell, is the content of the Persian Constitution, which has given to the people a new idea, a new possibility, and a new power, if they can wield it.

The entire tone of the people, in the capital at least, so far as I could judge it, seemed more wide-awake, more inclined to throw off the old lethargy of indifference, more ready to come into touch not only with matters that were being agitated by

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