difficulty of forming magazines for a large army may add tranquillity to the slumbers of those proprietors of India-stock, whose imaginations have been haunted by the phantom of Buonaparte, at the head of his myrmidons, marching through Persia to the subjugation of India. The towns through which the mission passed exhibited many remains of former grandeur, but the state of dilapidation, and the scarcity of people, increased with every step of their progress towards the interior. Ispahan, the beautiful capital upon which the mighty Shah abbas lavished all the exuberance of oriental luxury, presents a sad and heterogeneous mixture of misery and magnificence. To the eye of the distant traveller it affords the picture of an immense capital, stretching farther than the eye can reach, and variegated with groves and avenues, and burnished domes, and cupolas and gilded minarets; but on a near approach the gates carved and embossed with flowers and verses from the Koran are falling from their hinges; the lacquered and variegated tiles are peeling off from the surface of the cupolas, and the ruins of houses are spread over all the plain, and reach even to the feet of the surrounding mountains. Nevertheless the remains of that splendour, so minutely and exactly described by Chardin, are still to be traced; and the following description of one of the king's palaces, selected from many others of equal or superior interest, may afford some idea both of the power and evanescence of despotic extravagance.

"The palace of the Chehel Sitoon, or 'forty pillars,' is situated in the middle of an immense square, which is intersected by various canals, and planted in different directions by the beautiful chenar tree. In front is an extensive square basin of water, from the farthest extremity of which the palace is beautiful beyond either the power of language, or the correctness of the pencil to delineate. The first saloon is open towards the garden, and is supported by eighteen pillars, all inlaid with mirrors, and (as the glass is in much greater proportion than the wood) appearing indeed at a distance to be formed of glass only. Each pillar has a marble base, which is carved into the figures of four lions. placed in such attitudes, that the shaft seems to rest on their four united backs. The walls which form its termination behind are also covered with mirrors, placed in such a variety of symmetrical positions, that the mass of the structure appears to be of glass, and when new must have glittered with most magnificent splendour. The ceiling is painted in gold flowers, which are still fresh and brilliant. Large curtains are suspended on the outside, which are occasionally lowered to lessen the heat of the sun.

"From this saloon an arched recess (in the same manner studded with glass, and embellished here and there with portraits of favourites) leads into an extensive and princely hall. Here the ceiling is arrang ed in a variety of domes and figures, and is painted and gilded with a taste and elegance worthy of the first and most civilized of nations.

Its finely proportioned walls are embellished by six large paintings: three on one side and three on the other. In the centre of that oppo. site to the entrance is painted Shah Ismael, in an exploit much renowned in Persian story; when in the great battle with Soliman, emperor of the Turks, he cuts the janizary aga in two before the sultan. On the right of this, surrounded by his dancing women, musicians, and grandees, is Shah Abbas the great, seated at a banquet, and offering a cup of wine to another king, whom he is entertaining at his side. The wine, indeed, seems to have flowed in plenty, for one of the party is stretched on the floor in the last stage of drunkenness. The painting to the left is Shah Thamas, in another banquet scene. Opposite to the battle between Shah Ismael and Sultan Soliman is that of Nadir Shah and Sultan Mahmoud of India. On the left of this is Shah Abbas the younger, who also is occupied with the pleasures of the table; and on the right is Shah Ismael again, in an engagement with the Usbeck. Tartars. These paintings, though designed without the smaldest knowledge of perspective, though the figures are in general illproportioned, and in attitudes awkward and unnatural, are yet enlivened by a spirit and character so truly illustrative of the manners and habits of the nations which are represented, that I should have thought them an invaluable addition to my collection, if I could have had time to have made copies of them. When it is remembered that the artist neither could have had the advantages of academical studies, nor the opportunities of improving his taste and knowledge by the galleries of the great in Europe, or conversed with masters in the art, his works would be allowed to possess a very considerable share of merit, and to be strong instances of the genius of the people. The colours with which they are executed retain their original freshness; at least if they have faded, they must have been such in their first state, as we have not seen in Europe. The gilding, which is every where intermixed, either to explain the richness of the dress, or the quality of the utensils, is of a brilliancy perhaps never surpassed.

"From the interior of the palaces we ascended the Ali Capi gate, which forms the entrance. This gate, once the scene of the magnificence of the Seffi family, the threshold of which was ever revered as sacred, is now deserted, and only now and then a solitary individual is seen to pass negligently through." p. 164-168.

In spite of appearances, the beglerbeg or governor resolved to convince the envoy that some superfluities still remained among his people for tyranny to extort. He entertained the mission with a dinner, which," instead of being served in the usual manner on the ground, was placed on tables framed for the occasion, and was piled up in enormous heaps." He had the "further attention to provide his guests with plates, spoons, knives, and forks, which were all in like manner made for the day's entertainment. The spoons, were of silver, and that for the envoy was of gold." (p. 172.) Mr. Morier has given a very interesting sketch of one of the principal gates of the city, which forms part of a panora

mic view, taken from the summit of a lofty pleasure-house erected by Shah Abbas, as a station from which to view the games of the maidan, and the exercises of his troops. This view, together with those of Shiraz, Teheran, Saltaneih, &c. are strongly expressive of the magical effect impressed upon the eye by the light and elegant varieties of Arabian architecture. From these remains of former magnificence the mission proceeded without delay to Teheran, the present seat of government, which, by the favour of the reigning monarch, has acquired some small portion of that prosperity, of which Ispahan has been deprived by his desertion of the palaces of his predecessors.

Here were of course repeated, with redoubled ceremony, all the forms, the visits, the compliments, and the presentations undergone at Shiraz. The trifling ignorance of the nobles, and even of the ministers, is singular and amusing. One of them would not believe, that the streets of Vienna were lighted with globe lamps; another was "completely staggered" by an account he had heard of an ass (zebra) with stripes on his back; a third could not be persuaded that the houses in Europe were seven stories high; a fourth desired to know whether Sweden was not near the Cape of Good Hope. They do not appear, however, to have been very accommodating diplomatists. "The conferences of the plenipotentiaries were carried on, at times, with the warmest contentions, at other times interrupted with the loudest laughter on the most indifferent subjects." At one time, in the middle of a very serious conversation, the prime minister stopped short, and asked the envoy, very coolly, to tell him the history of the world from the creation. This was indeed as a joke upon one of the Persian secretaries, who was writing the annals of the present reign. At another time he interrupted the discussions by turning abruptly to Mr. Morier, asking if he was married, and beginning some absurd story. But the following trait, we suspect, is not to be paralleled in the lethargic levity of any diplomatic intercourse that ever occurred before. "One night the parties had sat so long, and had talked so much without producing conviction on either side, that the plenipotentiaries, by a sort of unofficial compact, fell asleep. The prime minister and the ameen ed dowlah snored aloud in one place, and the envoy and I stretched ourselves along in another.' p. 199. Notwithstanding these unpromising interruptions, the negociations were at length brought to a happy conclusion ;-when on a

M. Gardanne has the following passage on this subject, p.44. "Mon grandpere parlait de Versailles devant le Roi de Perse et sa Cour; et pour leur donner une idée de la magnificence du Chateau, il n'oublia pas l'escalier de marbre. Le Roi aprés lui avoir fait expliquer ce que signifiait escalier; Tu me dis tou empereur si puissant, et il n'a pas de place pour se loger sur la Terre."

sudden some mysterious and angry despatches from the governor general of India, altogether disowning the king's minister, and discrediting his credentials, placed the court and the mission in a very unpleasant dilemma; from which his Persian majesty seems to have released them by deputing the mirza Abul Hassan to accompany Mr. Morier to England for explanations. Not having the documents in our possession, we shall at present pass over this extraordinary disagreement between the diplomatic policy of the East India Company and of the crown, with this single observation that it affords another and a very striking illustration of the evils springing from the imperium in imperio established by that anomaly in politics, the mercantile sovereigns of India.

The mission was very graciously received by his Persian majesty, who is represented to be about forty-five years of age, "of pleasing manners, an agreeable countenance, with an aquiline nose, large eyes, and arched large eyebrows. His face is obscured by an immense beard and mustachios, which are kept very black*. His voice has once been fine, and is still harmonious, though hollow, and obviously that of a man who has led a free life."

"On his head he wore a species of cylindrical crown, covered with pearls and precious stones, and surmounted by a light feather of diamonds. He rested on a pillow embossed on every part with pearl, and terminated at each extremity by a thick tassel of pearl. On the left of the throne was a basin of water in which small fountains played; and on its borders were placed vases set with precious stones. On the right, stood six of the king's sons richly dressed: they were of different sizes and ages; the eldest of them (brother by the same mother to the Prince of Shiraz) was the Viceroy of Teheran, and possessed much authority in the state. On the left, behind the basin, stood five pages, most elegantly dressed in velvets and silks: one held a crown similar to that which the king wore on his head; the second held a splendid sword; the third a shield and a mace of gold and pearls; the fourth a bow and arrows set with jewels; and the fifth a crachoir similarly ornamented. When the audience was finished, the king de sired one of his ministers to inquire from Jaffer Ali Khan (the English agent) what the foreigners said of him, and whether they praised and admired his appearance.

"The room in which we were introduced to the king was painted

In page 247, Mr. Morier has favoured the public with the Persian recipe for making the hair of the beard, and consequently that of the head, of a jet black. It is a long and rather painful process, and appears to us to include some risk in the hands of an unskilful practitioner, of leaving the beard orange colour, indigo, or bottle-green. Some, indeed, as he says, prefer to have their beards of these colours. "The people of Bokara" (among whom we suppose flourished the hero of the famous romance) "are remarkable for their blus beards."

and gilded in every part. On the left from the window is a large painting of a combat between the Persians and Russians, in which the king appears at full length, on a white horse, and makes the most conspicuous figure in the whole composition. The Persians of course are victorious, and are very busily employed in killing the Russians, who seem to be falling a sufficiently easy prey." p. 192.

Races, military reviews, wrestling, and other games were celebrated in honour of the envoy, during Mr. Morier's residence at Teheran. But his majesty's impatience to receive news from England hastened the departure of the mirza Abul Hassan, whom Mr. Morier was destined to accompany. Of this mirza, who excited so lively an interest in this country, we have only to observe, that his father was prime minister to Nadir Shah, who in a fit of caprice ordered him to be burnt alive, a fate which he only escaped by the sudden assassination of the tyrant ;-that the mirza's uncle was put to death, one of his brothers deprived of his eyes, and another bastinadoed to death by his present majesty; that the mirza himself "was already on his knees, his neck made bare, and the executioner's sword unsheathed to severe his head from his body, when he was suddenly reprieved ;”—that he travelled over Indostan and many parts of the east, till he was recalled to court, where he has since basked in the sunshine of royal favour; although we should suppose it must be occasionally clouded by certain anticipations and recollections of no very agreeable tendency.

On the 7th of May, 1809, the mirza and Mr. Morier quitted Teheran on their road through Tabriz, or Tauris, to Constantinople. The country through which they passed appears to be better cultivated and naturally more productive than the southern districts of Persia. But in proportion as they approached the mountainous districts bordering on the Caspian sea, the tribes of wandering Elauts and Arabs, and the intestine broils of the petty chieftains, were found to have a considerable tendency to frustrate these advantages of nature; and the privilege which all travellers with a firman possess of turning their cattle into the standing corn, in addition to the evils of purveyance, may well be supposed sufficient to prevent any accumulation of surplus produce. There is so great a scarcity of wood over the whole country, that the poor are necessarily reduced to great extremities: in general they are miserably clad; the children have scarcely any thing to cover them but a shirt of coarse linen, which hardly reaches to their middle; and the woman wear nothing but a shirt, a pair of drawers, a jacket, and a vail which covers the head, and serves them on all occasions. p. 273.

The habits arising from the climate and nature of the country,