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11 Shamikie. He was attended by a large retinue and was charged with letters from the Pope and the Emperor of Germany. This ambassador, Israil Orii by name, was by birth a Persian subject and was born at Capan, in Armenia, then a part of the Persian Empire. He claimed to be the direct descendant of the ancient kings of that province and had not resigned the rights which he thought he was entitled to, due to his birth. These reports alarmed the Shah and his courtiers. Europeans of other nationalities, who had settled in Persia, also magnified these alarms in furtherance of their own interests. The artful insinuation of Mir Vais Khan on this occasion made a very strong impression on the Shah and his courtiers. "The State," he said, "is indeed in a most perilous situation. We are being threatened from all sides. No one can be ignorant of the fact that the Czar, whose ambitions are well-known, supports the cause of his co-religionists living on Persian soil. The ambassador must be a secret emissary, who, under the guise of a diplomatic representative, has come to sow the seeds of sedition among the royal subjects, otherwise why should an Armenian of such repute