civilised age, should be entirely fettered by their conceptions, and
the records of ancient life are not nearly full enough to justify any
one who may Assert that the pictures in our pages are not as accurate
as those in the British Museum. Anyhow, what they ought to have been,
rather than what the ancient were, our artist has striven to
delineate.]

In Persia the Parasol is repeatedly found in the carved work of
Persepolis, and Sir John Malcolm has an article on the subject in his
"History of Persia." In some sculptures--of a very Egyptian
character, by the way--the figure of a king appears attended by a
slave, who carries over his head an Umbrella, with stretchers and
runner complete. In other sculptures on the rock at Takht-i-Bostan,
supposed to be not less than twelve centuries old, a deer-hunt is
represented, at which a king looks on, seated on a horse, and having
an Umbrella borne over his head by an attendant.

This combination of business and comfort forcibly reminds us of a
certain wet day in Carlsruhe, where we witnessed from the window of
the Hôtel d'Angleterre a stout, martial-looking national guardsman
marching to the exercising-ground with an Umbrella over his head, and
a maid-servant diligently tramping through the mud behind him,
bearing his musket.

As in Assyria, so in most other Eastern countries, this use of the
Parasol carried with it a peculiar and honourable significance. The
tradition relating to its origin in China has been already alluded
to, and we can trace notices of its use a very long way back indeed.

According to Dr. Morrison, Umbrellas and Parasols are referred to in