that particularly recommended him to the authorities at homeexcept that he was in almost every respect the very reverse of Malcolm-it is difficult to say; but they made him a Baronet, and despatched him, with large powers from the Crown, as ambassador to Persia, to counteract the influence of the French, and to conclude a treaty with the Shah. It was at first designed that he should proceed to Teheran by the way of St. Petersburg; but the peace of Tilsit necessitated the abandonment of this project, and when Lord Minto arrived in India he was altogether ignorant of the manner in which, under these altered circumstances, the representative of the Court of St. James would shape his movements in the east.

"In this state of uncertainty the Governor-General believed that there was still room for Malcolm to be beneficially employed (pending the arrival of Jones at Teheran) in that part of the country, which the influence of the latter would hardly reach. It was proposed therefore, to despatch him at once to the Persian Gulf, with a commission of a somewhat general and not very defined character."

We must say that we question the wisdom of this. Had Lord Minto not proposed in England the mission of Malcolm to Persia, -had the matter occurred to him for the first time in India, it would have been different. But the Court of Directors and the King's Government having distinctly refused to send Malcolm, nothing but the most pressing necessity could have justified the Governor-General in exposing his envoy to the collision which must have infallibly ensued. And we do not think that such necessity existed. It is true that the French had already an embassy in Persia, and it may be true that Russian diplomacy was at work in a less open manner. But it is also true that the Shah had hitherto valued the English alliance, and that there was no reason to believe that the habits of the Persian Court would permit a very speedy change of his policy.

Of course Malcolm accepted the appointment. On the suggestion of Sir George Barlow, who was now Governor of Madras, and who seems to have forgotten the little "tiff" he had had with Malcolm while he temporarily held the office of GovernorGeneral, he was gazetted as Brigadier-General, with a view to the increase of his influence in Persia. On the 17th of February, 1808, Malcolm, accompanied by his wife, embarked at Madras for Bombay. He reached this port in the first week of April, and here he made the acquaintance of Sir James Mackintosh,an acquaintance which soon ripened into a lasting friendship. On the 17th of April, he embarked on board the Psyche, a frigate lately captured from the French. Mrs. Malcolm was left at Bombay. It appears that Malcolm's spirits were not high when he set out on his mission. The counteraction of French influence was all in the way of his duty, and not incompatible with his

tastes. But it was no pleasant prospect that was before him, in having to maintain his position as affected by the presence of Sir Harford Jones, about who semovements he seems to have been uncertain, and who might arrive in Persia before him, or while. he was there. And then he was a man and a husband as well as a public officer; and it was not pleasant to leave his wife, after nine months of married life, among strangers.

But his depression did not last long. At Muscat he did not land, but received a kind message from the Imaum, which was brought by an old friend, whose kindly remembrance of his former visit was very gratifying to his feelings. From Bushire he sent Captain Pasley and Mr. Bruce to Teheran with a letter to the King. But they were not allowed to proceed further than Shiraz. The French influence had prevailed. While their embassy was at court, Malcom was instructed to negotiate with the Prince Regent at Shiraz. To this he would not consent and immediately set sail for Calcutta. His mission had failed; but he had done his duty, and he was not dispirited. Writing to his wife on the day of his leaving Bushire, he says:

"I have determined to proceed to Fort William, and sail for that place to-day. The resolution to pass Bombay, believe me, was not taken without pain; but my duty called for the sacrifice, and you will be pleased that I had virtue and firmness enough to make it. I hope to be at Calcutta about the 1st of September. I shall leave it for Bombay about the 1st of October, and arrive with my dearest Charlotte about the 10th of November. How long I stay there is a speculation; but, believe me, the present step is the only one I could take to enable me to do justice to the great interests committed to my charge. These, by the blessing of God, will yet prosper; and I shall have the credit, if the victory is won, of having not been sparing of exertion. A month with Lord Minto will do wonders,"

We suspect our readers are finding that we have become dull in this narrative. We shall therefore present a specimen of the "Boy Malcolm." The following is from his journal kept for the perusal of Mrs. Malcolm:

"We sailed this morning for Karrack to get water for the

voyage. As we were nearing the island, I fell into conversation with a confidential servant of the Sheik of Bushire, who had been sent to facilitate our getting water at Karrack. This This poor fellow became quite eloquent at the idea of my going to India, which he had just heard. It foreboded, he said, ruin to his country. He then abused the King, the Prince, and his master the Sheik, who was, he said, a weak young man, who was ruled by some vile Persian advisers. He has now,' said the Arab, 'put the seal to his folly by disgusting you with his unworthy suspicions.' He then launched out into a grand account of my last mission, which he graced, in the true Arab style, with personal anecdotes. Nothing could be more entertaining than for a man to listen to anecdotes of himself, particularly when these were partly true, partly accidental speeches and occurrences which had been framed into regular stories, and had reached in that shape the lowest classes. To give you a short specimen of the Arab's conversation: Do they keep a parcel of vile French vessels,' said he in a rage, while they send away a man of whose wisdom and munificence, children speak, as well as fellows with white beards? Have they forgot what you did at Bushire, Shiraz, Ispahan, and Teheran ? When Abdul Hamad, that half-merchant, half-minister, came to Bushire, deputed from Shiraz to find out by his wonderful penetration the objects of your mission, did you not closet him, make him swear secrecy, and then tell him that in the times of the Suffavee Kings, the Persians had no beards, but the English had; that the latter had since lost that fine ornament to the face, and that as it was rumoured the Persians had found it, you were deputed to try and recover your right? That Hamad said, he became a laughing stock all over Persia, when the manner in which you treated him was made public. And at Shiraz, when that sly Persian minister, Chiragh Ali Khan, asked you what your business was at Court, you replied that, if you told him, you should have nothing to say to his master, the king. At Ispahan,' continued the Arab, Mahommed Hussein Khan, the governor, who was the richest man in Persia, came to see you, and with a view of dazzling you, he wore a kubah, or upper garment, made of the celebrated zerbaff, or golden cloth, which is only worked in one loom in Persia. He found you dressed quite plain; but next day you went out a hunting, and it was reported to him that one of your favorite greyhounds was clothed in a cloth of the same stuff.' "The fellow,' said he, 'has worn a plain chintz jacket ever since he received this rebuke. When you went one day to see the king, he put on all his richest jewels to excite your wonder. You looked him in the face, and you looked at his sword; but your eyes never once wandered to his fine diamonds. He was disappointed, and told Hadjee Ibrahim to ask you, as you retired, if you had not noticed them. The Hadjee returned to the presence, and was silent. The King was angry and said, "Repeat what Malcolm Saheb said." The Hadjee hesitated, till the King grew impatient. He then said, "Please your majesty, when I asked Captain Malcolm what he thought of your diamonds," "Nothing," he said, "what use are diamonds except as ornaments for women? I saw

the King's face, Captain Malcolm told me, with pleasure: it is the countenance of a man. And I admire his fine scymetar; steel is the lord of jewels." The King,' said the talkative Arab, though he was disappointed, could not help admiring such sentiments.' "All the Arab's stories are pretty near the truth. The dog's fine jewelled coat I recollect. It was made out of a dress of honor I had received, and put on to please my head huntsman, who used to lead this favorite greyhound himself; but God knows it was not meant to ridicule the magnificence of the Governor of Ispahan, from whom I received a thousand civilities."

دو

So Malcolm left Persia, and returned to India. At the mouth of the Gulf, he met a vessel from Bombay, and received a parcel of letters, bringing him intelligence of the birth of a daughter, and the perfect recovery of his wife. Gladdened by these good news he proceeded to Calcutta, and received a most cordial welcome from Lord Minto. After much earnest consultation it was agreed that Malcolm should return to Persia, at the head of a force sufficient to enable him, if it should seem desirable, to take possession of the island of Karrack, in the Persian Gulf. It seems to have been considered that the refusal of the Shah to receive our envoy, while the ambassador of France was actually at his Court, was tantamount to a declaration of war, and that our possession of that island would enable us to keep Persia in check. Malcolm's own reasons for this step are plausible enough, as are generally the reasons for "most just and necessary wars.' They were such as these; that we must have the means of preventing Persia from assisting any European Power in the invasion of India; that Persia, Eastern Turkey, and Arabia are to be regarded, not as national governments, but rather as tools which any European power might use. That it was for the manifest advantage of Persia to be on our side, since if she sided with our enemies, we should have no alternative but to blow her "into the middle of next week," whereas if she were on our side, it would not be the policy of any power wishing to invade India to attack her;-and so forth. These arguments, and such as these, convinced Lord Minto. Sir Harford Jones, who was now at Bombay, was ordered to remain there, and General Malcolm set off, as one of old to Baratraria, seeing in the distance, as he wrote playfully, a lordly castle, himself lord of the isle, and his lady-love looking out of a window and smiling approval of his acts."

Now Sir Harford Jones had come to Bombay after Malcolm had left that port for Bushire. When he heard of Malcolm's departure he was "in a fix." He did not well know what to do. He took advice of Sir James Mackintosh and of Colonel Close; and they were of course thorough "Malcolmites." SEPT., 1857.

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They recommended him to remain at Bombay, waiting for what might turn up; and he, like a sensible man, did wait. But when the tidings of Malcolm's having left Bushire arrived at Bombay, he considered that the embargo was taken off, and started for Persia, before Lord Minto's order directing him to remain, reached him. The intimation of his having started reached Calcutta while Malcolm was on his way down the river; and at Kedgeree he received a letter from the Governor-General requesting him to return. So Malcolm returned to Calcutta, not, we fear, in an amiable mood. But he found the GovernorGeneral and the Council unanimous in the opinion that they must not consent to be choused out of their island by the accident of Sir Harford's having sailed; and it was at once resolved that "Malcolm was to take ship for Bombay; to muster his force; to prepare his equipments, and to make all things ready for his descent on the island, from which he was to menace Persia, Arabia and the Porte, and baffle the designs of Napoleon and the Czar." With this prospect again before him, of course his amiability soon returned, and we find, in his correspondence with his wife, such stories as the following, which seems to us to be well worthy of preservation, as a specimen of the graceful and gentleman-like manners which made the Governor-General peculiarly fascinating in private life :—

"Your acquaintance Mrs. W- happened not to have been introduced to Lord Minto when she dined here (Government House), and mistaking him for another, she said, "Do you know the cause of General Malcolm's return to Calcutta ?" "I believe I can guess,' was the Lord's reply. Pray, then, tell me," said the lady. Lord Minto hesitated till after we were seated at table, and then said, "We had better give the General plenty of wine, and we shall get this secret out of him." The lady, who had now discovered his rank, began to make apologies. "I assure you, my Lord," she said, "I did not know you. I am delighted at that compliment," he replied. "Not to be known as Governor-General in private society is my ambition. I suppose," he added, laughing, "you thought I looked too young and too much of a puppy for that old grave fellow Lord Minto, whom you had heard people talking about."

ઃઃ

Once more General Malcolm turned his back on our Palatial city, on board the Chiffonne, and employed himself, as active men employ themselves on board ship, writing a discourse on "the career of Nadir Shah, to be submitted by his friend Mr. Colebrooke to the Asiatic Society,"-telling stories to, and romping with, Johnny Wainwright, the Captain's son, a fine boy of ten years, "who soon discovered Malcolm's wonderful fund of anecdote ;"-remembering all his pleasant intercourse with Lord Minto, in Calcutta-and anticipating the far more pleasant