A HAPPY OMEN.

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 9, 10 January 1920, Page 6

A HAPPY OMEN.

Lord Curzon, at the Guildhall

"If the Shah's Government, with our friendly assistance, can develop its resources, Persia has a great future before her. Her trade can develop, and her soil can be made to sustain a much larger population than at present. There is no reason why Persia should not recover a great and resounding position as one of the independent Mussulman nations of the world. The object of the present Government—as it is the object of every patriotic Englishman—is to assist Persia in the maintenance of her independence and integrity, and to render easy the execution of that task. I recall—and I see it blazoned on some of the flags at the end of this hall—the national emblem of Persia. It is the lion and the sun. May we not find in that juxtaposition a happy omen; the British lion stands forth as the proud and valiant champion of the rights and liberties of Persia* Over his shoulders rises the orb of the steadily-increasing progress and prosperity of Persia, itself. The connection between our country and Persia is based upon much more than culture or sentiment or romance. • It is based upon a. profound ' and lasting community of interests—a community of interests that arise from our geographical position in relation to each other. Our mutual relations of trade and commerce, the identity of our political interests' produced a warm and lasting mutual regard. One other tiling let ue remember about Persia. Through all these centimes of vicissitudes and romance, Persia has always retained a national spirit unquenched by adversity and a political identity which no vicissitudes could submerge. "-