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ish, and cheerfully would I have exchanged them for the unfading inheritance.

"27th. My Armenian servant was attacked in the same way. The rest did not get me the things that I wanted, so that I passed the third day in the same exhausted state; my head, too, tortured with shocking pains, such as, together with the horror I felt at being exposed to the sun, showed me plainly to what to ascribe my sickness. Towards evening, two more of our servants were attacked in the same way, and lay groaning from pains in the head.

"28th.-All were much recovered, but in the afternoon I again relapsed. During a high fever, Mr. *** read to me, in bed, the Epistle to the Ephesians, and I never felt the consolations of that divine revelation of mysteries more sensibly and solemnly. Rain in the night prevented our setting off.

"29th. My ague and fever returned, with such a headach, that I was almost frantic. Again and again I said to myself, let patience have its perfect word, and kept pleading the promises, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.' &c.; and the Lord did not withhold his presence. I endeavoured to repel all the disordered thoughts that the fever occasioned, and to keep in mind that all was friendly a friendly Lord presiding, and nothing exercising me but what would show itself at last friendly. A violent perspiration at last relieved the acute pain in my head, and my heart rejoiced; but as soon as that was over, the exhaustion it occasioned, added to the fatigue from the pain, left me in as low a state of depression as ever I was in. I seemed about to sink into a long fainting fit, and I almost wished it; but at this moment, a little after midnight, I was summoned to mount my horse, and I set out, rather dead than alive. We moved on six parasangs. We had a .thunder-storm, with hail.

"July 1st.-A long and tiresome march to Sarehund; for seven parasangs there was no village. They had nothing to sell, but buttermilk and bread; but a

servant of Abbas Mirza happening to be at the same caravansera, sent us some flesh of a mountain-cow, which he had shot the day before. All day I had scarcely the right recollection of myself, from the violence of the ague. We have now reached the end of the level ground, which we have had all the way from Tehran, and are approaching the boundaries of Parthia and Media; a most natural boundary it is, as the two ridges of mountains we have had on the right and left, come round and form a barrier.

"2d.-At two in the morning we set out. I hardly know when I have been so disordered. I had little or no recollection of things, and what I did remember at times, of happy scenes in India or England, served only to embitter my present situation. Soon after moving into the air, I was seized with a violent ague, and in this state I went on till sunrise. At three parasangs and a half, we found a fine caravansera, very little used apparently, as the grass was growing in the court. There was nothing all round but the barren rocks, which generally roughen the country before the mountain rears its height. Such an edifice, in such à situation was cheering. Soon after, we came to a river, over which was a high bridge; I sat down in the shade under it, with two camel drivers. The cafila, as it happened, forded the river, and passed on, without my perceiving it. Mr. ** seeing no signs of me, returned, and after some time looking about, espied my horse grazing; he concluded immediately, that the horse had flung me from the bridge into the river, and was almost about to give me up for lost. My speedy appearance from under the bridge relieved his terror and anxiety. The pass was a mere nothing to those at Bushire; in fact, it was no part of the mountain we climbed, but a few hills. At a natural opening in the mountains, on the other side, was a river, most of its bed dry, and over it a bridge of many arches, which led us to an unwalled village, surrounded by corn fields, which we reached at ten o'clock. Half the people

still continue ill: for myself, I am, through God's in finite mercy, recovering.

"3d.-Started at three, full three hours after we ought, and, as was to be expected, we all got ill again, from being exposed to the sun six hours; for we did not get to our ground, Turcoman, till eleven o'clock. It was a poor village, among the hills, over which our whole way lay, from Mianu. Ascending one, and descending another, was the whole of the va riety, so that I do not know when we have had a more tiresome day.

4th. I so far prevailed, as to get the cafila in motion at midnight. Lost our way in the night, but arriving at a village, were set right again. At eight, came to Kilk caravansera, but not stopping there, went on to a village, where we arrived at half-past nine. The baggage not coming up till long after, we got no breakfast till one o'clock. In consequence of all these things-want of sleep, want of refreshment, and exposure to the sun, I was presently in a high fever, which raged so furiously all the day, that I was nearly delirious, and it was a long time before I could get the right recollection of myself. I almost despaired, and do now, of getting alive through this unfortunate journey. Last night I felt remarkably well, calm, and composed, and sat reflecting on my heavenly rest, with more sweetness of soul, abstraction from the world, and solemn views of God, than I have had a long time. O! for such sacred hours! This short and painful life would scarcely be felt, could I but live thus at Heaven's gate. It being impossible to continue my journey in my present state, one of the servants also being so ill that he could not move with safety, we determined to halt at the village one day, and sent on a messenger to Sir Gore, at Tebriz, informing him of our approach.

"5th.-Sleeping all day, and at sunset prepared to proceed all the way to Tebriz, or at least to Seid Abad; but we did not set out till one in the morning. I was again dreadfully disordered with headach and

fever. We got into a wretched hovel, where the raging fire almost deprived me of reason. In the cool of the evening, we set out to go to Seid Abad, distant about three parasangs.-When the cafila arrived near Seid Abad, it was a dark night, about 11 o'clock, and not one of the party knew where it was, nor could we discover it by the barking of the dogs, the usual sign. Once we heard the bark, and made sure of having attained our object; but it was only shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. These boors showed us what road to take, which we soon found ended in nothing; so returning, we tried to induce one of them to serve as a guide, with the promise of any sum of money he required-but all in vain. The only thing that remained to be done was to lie down on the spot, and wait patiently for the day; which I did, and caught such a cold as, with all our other exposures, consummated my disorders. As soon as it was day, we found our way to the village, where Dr. * * * was waiting for us. Not being able to stay for us, he went on to Tebriz, and we as far as Wasmuch, where he promised to prepare for us a fine upper room furnished; but when we arrived, they denied that there was any such place; at last, after an hour's threatening, we got admittance to it. An hour before break of day I left it, in hopes of reaching Tebriz before sunrise. Some of the people seemed to feel compassion for me, and asked me if I was not very ill. At last I reached the gate, and feebly asked for a man to show me the way to the Ambassador's."

By a fever of nearly two month's continuance, which, during the greater portion of that period, raged with unremitting severity, Mr. Martyn was defeated in his intention of presenting in person his translation of the New Testament to the King of Persia, and to the Prince his son. His disappointment, however, on this occasion was greatly diminished by the kindness of Sir Gore Ouseley, who, together with his Lady, was tenderly and assiduously attentive to Mr. Martyn throughout the whole of his illness, and who, in order

that nothing might be wanting conducive to the favourable acceptance of the New Testament with the King, promised himself to present it at Court.*

The idea of returning to England, which first occurred to Mr. Martyn at Cawnpore, was, as we have seen, instantly abandoned by him, on its appearing to be the Divine will that he should visit Persia. After

accomplishing his great object in that country, the general state of his health seeming to him to render the measure requisite, he reverted to his original intention, in the prosecution of which he was confirmed by his long illness at Tebriz, for it had been induced by exposure to a heated atmosphere.

Happy would it have been, as to human eyes it appears, had he been less precipitate in putting this design in execution; but, on the tenth day after his recovery, he commenced his journey. What he felt when deprived of health,-what were his sensations when in a considerable degree restored to it, may be seen in extracts from two letters, the one addressed to Mr. Simeon, from the bed of suffering; the other sent to a friend exceedingly beloved by him in Cornwall.

"I would not pain your heart," he said, in the first, "but we who are in Jesus have the privilege of viewing life and death as nearly the same, since both are ours; and I thank a gracious Lord that sickness never came at a time when I was more free from apparent reasons for living. Nothing seemingly remains for me to do, but to follow the rest of my family to the tomb.""It has pleased God," he wrote in the se cond, "to restore me to life and health again: not that I have recovered my former strength yet, but consider myself sufficiently restored to prosecute my journey. My daily prayer is, that my late chastisement may have its intended effect, and make me, all

* Sir Gore Ouseley, according to his promise, laid the New Tes tament before the King, who publicly expressed his approbation of the work. He also carried the MS. to St. Petersburg, where under his superintendance, it was printed and put into circulation.

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