fined to bed in a state of approaching dissolution, a person with whom in former times he had a disagreement, called upon him, and wished to see him. Raise me up,' said he to his attendants, 'dress me in my best clothes; tie on my arms; place me in the great chair, That fellow shall never see me on a death-bed.' With this they complied, and he received his visitor with cold civility. When the stranger had taken his leave, Rob Roy exclaimed, 'It is all over now; put me to bed. Call in the piper; Let him play Cha teill mi tuille,'-(I will never return) as long as I breathe.' He was faithfully obeyed, and calmly met his death, which took place at the farm of Inverlochlarigbeg, among the braes of Balquhidder, in 1735. His relics repose in the churchyard of that parish, with no other escutcheon to mark his grave than a simple stone, on which some kindred spirit has carved a sword— the appropriate emblem of the man:

In surveying the character of Rob Roy Macgregor, many excellent traits appear, from which we cannot withhold our admiration, while other incidents of his life, may deserve reprehension: but when it is considered, that he lived during a period when the northern parts of the kingdom were torn by civil discord, and distracted politics; and when the government had neither wisdom nor energy to remedy those evils that arose from feudal manners, and the discordant interests of chieftainship, we cannot be surprised at the liberties he took, and the deeds he performed. Rob Roy was among the last remains of the genuine Highlanders of the old stock, who wished to support the ancient privileges, and independence of the race. His clan had suffered great cruelties, which were attributed with much truth to their envious neighbours: and besides, when we consider the measures directed against Rob Roy as an individual, we cease to wonder at the opposition he gave to the families of Montrose and Athol; and although in his partial warfare he might not always have acted in

*The funeral of Rob Roy was attended by all ranks of people within several miles of his residence; and so much was he beloved, that universal regret seemed to pervade the whole company.

conformity to nice principles of justice, yet it may be said, that the greater number of his errors were venial, and such as in his time, must have appeared no more than the fair and justifiable retaliation for injuries, which he himself, or others connected with him, had sustained. Of his being a free-booter, and heading a band of desperate banditti, there is no proof. He was never known wantonly to have made an unprovoked attack, or to have broken a promise he had given. He was generous and humane to all who suffered from disease or poverty; and he cannot be denied the meed of respect for his bravery, which never was exerted against the unfortunate.

FROM MORIER'S JOURNEY THROUGH PERSIA.

ATTEMPTS TO INTRODUCE VACCINATION.

During the winter, the surgeons of the embassy endeavoured to introduce vaccination among the Persians, and their efforts at first were very successful: but owing to the opposition of the Persian doctors, and to the little countenance which they received from men in authority, their labours had nearly proved abortive. The surgeons, having procured the cow-pock matter from Constantinople, commenced their operations at Teheran with so much success, that in the course of one month, they had vaccinated three hundred children. Their houses were constantly thronged with women, bringing their offspring to them; and there was every appearance of a general dissemination of this blessing throughout Teheran, when of a sudden it progress was checked by the government itself. Several of the king's ferashes were placed at the gate of the ambassador's hotel, nominally as a mark of attention to his excellency, but really to stop all women from going to our surgeons. They said if the people wanted their children to be vaccinated, the fathers, and not the mothers, were to take them to the surgeons: by which means the eagerness for vaccination was stopped; for we soon discovered that the males did not feel one half the same anxiety for their offspring as the women. Notwithstanding the ravages which are annually made among the Per

sians by the small-pox, for which they have hitherto found no remedy; yet they are so wedded to their own prescriptions, that they rather adhere to them, than give their children a chance of being saved, by adopting a new mode of treatment.

THE KING OF PERSIA. From the same.

The ambassador, during the winter, had frequent interviews with the king, who conversed with him in the most familiar manner, upon all sorts of subjects. It happened one day that his majesty was in high spirits, or as the Persians would say, damaughish chauk bud, and sent for the ambassador to converse with him. The grand vizier, Mirza Sheffea, was also present. After using many flattering expressions, his majesty said to the ambassador, "that he had been informed by his viziers, that in England we had a variety of modes of increasing the revenue of the country, of which they were totally ignorant in Persia.-Now tell me what might be done here, as you do it in England?" The ambassador answered, "That one of the things which he thought might be established in Persia, useful to his majesty's subjects, and beneficial to his treasury, was a post for the transmission of letters." He then explained the nature of an English post, its advantages, and its profits. "Aye, aye, (said the king,) I perfectly comprehend you." Then turning to the grand vizier, he said, "Now Mirza Sheffea, I'll tell you exactly how it is. You, for instance, have a correspondent at Ispahan; of course you can't afford to give a messenger ten tomauns every time you have something to say, which, on urgent occasions, you now are obliged to do; but if you had an opportunity of communicating with him every day, which the post would give you,-you would write to him constantly, and your concerns would go on well. Now that is the utility of the thing. As for the profit, it is thus: we will say, two hundred letters are to be sent to Ispahan, for each of which one real will be charged by the post. Now there are about ten stages from here to Ispahan; the men who carry the letters from stage to stage will be contented to receive a real a-piece; therefore, giving ten to the carriers, 190 will remain clear profit to the Shah.-Be Ser Shah,*

*The king always talks of himself in the third person, and frequently swears by his own head. Also, Be Jan Shah,--by the king's soul; Be

by the head of the king, (exclaimed his majesty,) this is excellent. But (turning to the ambassador,) you have more expedients still. Tell me what there is besides the post, that we have not in Persia?" His excellency would have been happy to drop the subject, for he felt that the information which would be drawn from him might be disagreeable to the grand vizier; but the king being very urgent, he informed his majesty, that one of the great sources of our revenue, (but which was resorted to only on particular emergencies) was the income tax, the principles of which he explained, endeavouring to impress upon the king's mind, that it was intended to bear more upon the rich than the poor; a principle which the English government kept constantly in view, when the exigencies of the state required the levying of new taxes. "What do you say to that? (said the king to the grand vizier,) these English are extraordinary people." The ambassa dor, in continuation, said, "We have also taxes, that are more particularly levied upon the rich. If a man keep more than a certain number of horses, he is taxed in a progressive ratio for every supernumerary horse; the same for servants, for carriages, &c." "Did you hear that, Mirza Sheffea," exclaimed the king. "I am yourt sacrifice; I am ready to pay whatever your majesty pleases," said the vizier. "That's right, (returned the king;) but there is a great deal of policy, as well as profit, in what the ambassador says; for instance, a governor-general of India makes an immense fortune, and returns home richer than a Shahzadeh (a king's son:) he sets up in great state, and eclipses all the princes; it is of course very proper that he should be made to pay for such advantages." The king then requested the ambassador to make a written note of the different details which he had already given in conversation; and hoped that he might be enabled to realize them in Persia.

Upon another occasion, the king asked the ambassador what had become of the Pope. "I hear you no longer acknowledge his

Berg Shah,---by the king's death; and these expressions, in constant use by all Persians, will remind us of Joseph's speech to his brethren, by the life of Pharaoh, &c. Genesis, xlii. 15 and 16.

Every Persian speaking to his sovereign, generally prefaces his speech with "I am your sacrifice."

supremacy: how long is it since you have been yaghi, or in rebellion against him?" His excellency then explained, and gave an outline of the history of Henry the Eighth. "Ah, (said the king.) he must have been a clever king indeed; he did just what I would have done. But what difference is there between your religion and that of the Papists?" The ambassador answered, that we had discarded from our service the mummery of their's; and that they believed in certain doctrines which were contrary to our faith, and particularly instanced that of transubstantiation. "What! (exclaimed the king,) when they eat a bit of bread, they really believe it to be flesh! what dolts! you are in the right. I can comprehend eating bread in commemoration of the death of Jesus to be a good doctrine; but that bread should turn into flesh is nonsense indeed."

THE PRINCE.-From the same.

At the beginning of April, Mahomed Ali Mirza, the prince, governor of Kermanshah, arrived at Teheran. He came escorted by a few men, and performed the journey in five days; which, for a prince, the persons allowed was a great undertaking. As this personage is likely to be a prominent character in the future history of Persia, I will give an account of a visit which the ambassador paid to him during his stay at Teheran, in consequence of a wish expressed to that purpose by the prince himself.

The Imaret Khorsheed, or the Palace of the Sun, in which the prince received us, is situated in a garden behind the great hall of audience, in which the king daily sits in state on his marble throne, and is beautifully ornamented in its interior with marble paintings. When we entered the room in which he was seated, the grand vizier advanced from where he was standing, and pointed to a place about half way down the room, where he intended the ambassador should sit. The latter did not heed this, but walked up close to the prince, and seated himself upon the same musnud, to the trepidation of the vizier, and astonishment of the prince; who, although evidently annoyed, gave us the usual wel.

come.

The prince in person is of strong make, of a rather vulgar appearance, and of a bad though lively expression of countenance.