Malcolm was strongly impressed with the conviction that his success in Persia would be greatly dependent on the liberality of his presents, and on the pertinacity of his standing up for his rights and dignities. Now the former was as much in accordance with his tastes as the latter was contrary to them. The giving of a present has the effect of putting people into good humour, the standing up for ceremony has that of putting them into bad humour. Still the one was as necessary as the other. Thus says his biographer ::

"The stickling for forms was more repellent to a man of Malcolm's temperament than the present-giving. He knew enough of oriental courts to recognise its necessity; but it was not less distasteful for the recognition. Eager as he was to advance with the work before him, it was vexatious in the extreme to be delayed by disputes about ceremonial observances-the style of a letter or the arrangement of an interview. He was personally a man of simple habits and unostentatious demeanour. Left to his own impulses, he would as readily have negotiated a treaty in his shirt-sleeves, and signed it with a billiard-cue under his arm, as arrayed in purple and gold, under a salute of artillery, and with a guard of honor at his back. But as the representative of a great nation, he was bound to uphold its dignity to the utmost. He was now among a people out of measure addicted to pomp and ceremony, with whom statesmanship was mainly a matter of fine writing; who stickled about forms of address, as though the destinies of empires were dependent upon the color of a compliment or the height of a chair; and who measured the grandeur of other nations with their own Chamberlain's wand. Any concession upon his part-any failure to insist upon the strict observance of what was due to him in his ambassadorial character, would have been construed, not only to his own disadvantage, but to that of the nation which he represented. So Malcolm resolved to do in Fars as is done in Fars, and to stickle as manfully for forms as any Hadjie in the country."

In fact it was merely a carrying out of the promise that he had made to the old woman at Burnfoot. She had urged him to be more careful about his "adonization" in London than it was necessary to be in Eskdale, and he had promised that when amongst strangers he should do "just weel aneugh." And now he was among strangers, and he strove to accommodate himself to their ideas. Only the old woman had held out the threat that, if he did not adopt London manners in London, he should be sent home again; and by adopting Persian manners in Persia, he narrowly escaped that penalty ;-a penalty which, as our readers may remember, more than once followed a like course of procedure on the part of our ambassadors to China. Having remained at Bushire for more than three months, await

ing the settlement of his claims as to ceremonial etiquette, he set forward for the Persian Capital on the 22nd of May:

"His suite consisted of six European gentlemen*, two European servants, two surveying boys, forty-two troopers of the Madras native cavalry, forty-nine Bombay grenadiers, sixty-eight Indian servants and followers, a hundred and three Persian attendants, and two-hundred and thirty-six servants and followers belonging to the gentlemen of the Mission."

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His first stage was at Shiraz, where the Prince-Regent held his Court. Here the ceremonial controversy was renewed. Malcolm insisted upon what he regarded as his rights, and they were conceded, though with a bad grace. For whatever was amiss, he insisted upon, and obtained, apologies. "Malcolm made a magnifi'cent present to the prince, a present of watches and pistols, mirrors and telescopes, shawls and table lustres, knives and tooth-picks, filagree-boxes and umbrellas, cloths and muslins, 'with an unlimited supply of sugar, sugar-candy and chintz." The quantity of sugar alone was portentous-339 maunds,—upwards of 27,000 lbs.,-besides two tubs of sugar-candy! and yet the Prince-Regent was but imperfectly sweetened after all.

He was detained at Shiraz longer than he expected, the cause of the delay being highly characteristic of the country in which it occurred. At last quitting it, he reached Ispahan on the 23rd of September, the autumnal equinox. Here Malcolm was received with great magnificence, and here also he dispensed presents on a princely scale. With all this it was not till the middle of November that he reached the Capital of Persia. As since the days of good Queen Bess and of Anthony Jenkinson, till the days of good King George and John Malcolm, no British envoy had stood before a Persian King, we may be allowed to extract our Author's account of Malcolm's first presentation: :

"On the 16th of November, the English ambassador was presented to the Persian monarch. After the ceremonies had been arranged, Malcolm, with all his suite, proceeded towards the palace, the drums and trumpets of his escort heralding his approach. One of his chief Hindostani servants carried the letter of the Governor-General. On reaching the inner gate, having dismounted, the ambassador was conducted to an apartment in which the Dewan-Beg was sitting,

*From another part of the narrative, we learn that these were :-

Capt. William Campbell.......

Lieut. Charles Pasley

Mr. Richard Strachey

Lieut. John Colebrooke

Mr. Gilbert Briggs

Mr. William Hollingberry

....

and desired to seat himself on the other end of the same cushion. The governor-general's letter was then placed between them. Coffee and pipes were introduced; and after the lapse of nearly an hour, it was announced that the king himself was seated on the throne, and that he was prepared to receive the English envoy in the DewanKhana, or hall of audience.

"Conducted by the Chamberlains, or masters of the ceremonies, Malcolm advanced, wearing the uniform of an English officer.* The audience-chamber was at the further end of a great square, in various parts of which the officers of the court were marshalled according to their respective ranks. It was a lofty chamber, profusely ornamented, in one corner of which the king, gorgeously attired, and one blaze of jewellery, was seated upon his cushioned throne.† As Malcolm advanced, attended by the masters of the ceremonies--one of the officers of the court bearing the governor-general's letter on a golden salver-he uncovered his head whenever they made obeisance. As he neared the throne, a herald proclaimed that Captain John Malcolm was come from the Governor-General of India to see his Majesty of Persia. "He is welcome," replied the king. Then Malcolm walked up to the door of the audience-chamber, made a low bow, advanced to the centre of the room, and then took the seat provided for him. The gentlemen of his suite sat at a distance below him. The prime minister received the Governor-General's letter, and presented it to the king, who ordered it to be opened; and one of the secretaries of state then broke the seal, and read it with a very loud voice, in a clear and distinct manner.

"Having repeated his expressions of welcome, the king enquired after his Majesty of England; hoped that King George was in good health: asked how many wives he had; and put some perplexing questions respecting the manners of our Court. Then having inquired after the treatment which the ambassador had received on his journey, and how he liked the climate of the country, his Majesty spoke of the friendship which had always subsisted between Persia and Great Britain, and of the pleasurable feelings with which he contemplated its establishment on a firm basis. But beyond these general expressions of good feeling, nothing passed at the interview, relating to business of state. Malcolm, however, had every reason to congratulate himself on his reception. The affability with which the king had discoursed with him was declared to be "gracious beyond example."

On the 27th of November, the ambassador was again received by the monarch, and on this occasion, presented the magnificent

* "Mehedi Ali Khan had endeavoured to persuade Malcolm to array himself in costly apparel, more in accordance with the ideas of the people than his plain soldier's uniform. But he laughed to scorn all such mummery, and declared that he would appear at the Persian Court as an Englishman and a soldier.” † “The King,' wrote Malcolm in his journal, ‘has a fine countenance and an elegant person. He was dressed with a magnificence which it is impossible to describe-being covered with jewels, many of which are those of Nadir Shah. His dress could not be worth less than a million sterling.''

presents with which he was charged. These were graciously accepted, and the king spent an hour in affable conversation with the ambassador.

We cannot dwell upon the various events that occurred during the sojourn of Malcolm at the Persian Court. Enough to say that a commercial and a political treaty were prepared, discussed, altered and re-altered, and at length concluded, signed and sealed. Malcolm gained golden opinions for himself. The nobles vied with each other in sumptuous hospitality. The king himself was evidently pleased with his manly and joyous spirit; " and when," says his biographer," he assured Malcolm, at parting, that he should " ever feel the warmest interest in his welfare, the words were more truly spoken than are commonly the compliments of kings." The treaties being concluded at the end of January, 1801, Malcolm set out at once on his return to India, vid Baghdad, Bussorah and Bushire; and after various adventures, and a stormy voyage in a leaky ship, he reached Bombay on the 13th of May.

On his arrival at Bombay, Malcolm was summoned to Calcutta to give an account of his mission, and had the satisfaction of receiving from the Governor-General assurances of his unqualified approbation of his proceedings. Lord Mornington, now become Lord Wellesley, also promised him the first appointment worthy of his acceptance, that might be vacant. En attendant, he appointed him to act as his own private secretary, during the absence of his brother, Mr. Henry Wellesley. This office is one whose holder may be every thing or nothing, according to the disposition of his chief. With Wellesley Malcolm was every thing, "dimidium melius sui." Honored and trusted by his Lordship, sharing with him the cares and the labors of the government of a great empire at a critical time, it is refreshing to see the constancy with which Malcolm's thoughts reverted to the old parlour at Burnfoot. It was now in his power to contribute handsomely to the increase of the material comforts of his parents and sisters; but we may be sure that his liberal remittances had little share in the production of the intense joy that his letters diffused in the old home. It is said that success is, with the public, the sole test of generalship. With the public it may be so, but not with mothers and sisters; and if Malcolm had been, not the most prosperous man in India,-as he was-but suffering under reproach and penury, these kindly judges would have brought in a verdict, finding him, as an Indian Court, at a later period, found a notable character, "the victim of circumstances." But when they learned that "Jock," who twenty years before had been "at the bottom" of half the boyish mischief in the parish of Westerkirk, was now very near the top of the government of a vast empire, they could only wonder and thank God.

Shortly after Malcolm's appointment to the Private Secretaryship, he accompanied the Governor-General on a trip to the N. W. Provinces; the main object of which was the settlement of Oude, that "Ireland" of India, whose management has, for half a century, been the grand test of the powers of each successive administration. In the course of the slow journey up the river, Malcolm was the confidential adviser of his Lordship, in regard to matters of great moment, which were then pressing upon his mind. These related not only to the settlement and administration of the country, but also to the relations between the home and the local authorities. We may state generally, -for we cannot afford to enter at all on the discussion of the matter that the Court of Directors had conceived a strong prejudice against the officials at Madras; especially against Lord Clive, the Governor; Mr. Webbe, the Chief Secretary; and Mr. Cockburn, the president of the Revenue Board. Lord Wellesley was led, both by principle and interest, to stand by these men ;-by principle, because he regarded them as the victims of injustice,by interest, not selfish but patriotic, because he considered their remaining in the country to be essential to the good of the country. It was too evident that a most disastrous collision between the Court and the Indian Governments might ensue. Thus there were long and earnest conferences, every day and all day, between the Governor-General and his private secretary. At last it was deemed necessary that Malcolm should proceed to Madras; and he parted with the Governor-General at Allahabad, and returned by dâk to Calcutta, whence he sailed at once for Madras, and reached it on the 26th of January, 1802. Employed there in a matter of exceeding delicacy and considerable difficulty, Malcolm acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of the Governor-General who had sent him, and of those to whom he

One point in the negotiations involved no little selfdenial on Malcolm's part. It was Lord Wellesley's earnest desire that Mr. Webbe should remain in India. But as chief secretary at Madras he could not remain, because the Court of Directors had sent out a gentleman expressly to supersede him. Now the Residency of Mysore was about to become vacant, by the removal of Col. Close to Poonah. It had been fixed that Malcolm was to succeed to this office, one of the best in point of remuneration, and one of the most honorable in point of distinction, in the service. Now Malcolm was instructed to urge upon Mr. Webbe the acceptance of this office, to which he had himself been all but appointed; and he did plead with Webbe to accept the office, and pleaded so earnestly that he prevailed. We do not give him extravagant praise for this self-denying conduct; because we have never in India