LETTER FROM LORD AMHERST. 123 deed, a flattering one-but there was the utmost sincerity in it. And little as Metcalfe desired the change, there must have been found by one of his temperament some compensation in the language of such a letter: "MY DEAR SIR CHARLES,-Events which have occurred in the Upper Provinces render it necessary, in the opinion of Government, that a new arrangement shall be made for the administration of affairs in Delhi and Rajpootana, and that to carry such new arrangement into effect, you should assume the office of Resident at Delhi. I hasten, therefore, to express to you my most anxious hope that no cause exists on your part to prevent your undertaking this arduous and important public duty. "Much as your services are still demanded at Hyderabad, a nobler field opens for them in the scene of your former residence and employment; and I flatter myself that unless there should be some impediment of which I am not aware to your proceeding to Delhi, you will readily afford your services in a quarter where they are now most urgently required, and where, I hesitate not to say, you can, of all men in India, most benefit your Government and your country. "Mr. Swinton's letter to you makes it unnecessary that I should enter into further detail. "I remain, with sincere regard and esteem, "My dear Sir Charles, "Your faithful and obedient servant, "I should consider it incumbent on me," wrote Metcalfe, in the private letter already quoted, "to obey any call-but such an one as this is, of course, irresistible. I go, however, reluctantly, and wish that I could have been allowed to rest in peace in the quarter which has now become the home of my heart. I shall quit my public duties here with great regret. I shall quit my friends with greater." He felt, indeed, acutely the severance of these ties; and soon afterwards he wrote to a friend, that he looked to a Calcutta fever as one of the least of the evils which threatened him, and hoped to find in it relief from other more corroding anxieties and distresses. DELHI REVISITED. 125 CHAPTER IV. [1825-1827.] DELHI REVISITED. Metcalfe's Return to Calcutta-Residence there-Death of Sir David Ochterlony-Bhurtpore Affairs-Views of the Government-Metcalfe's MinuteDeparture for Delhi-Advance of the Armies-Metcalfe in Camp-Fall of Bhurtpore-Subsequent Proceedings-Death of Barnett and Wells-Visit of Lord Amherst-Appointment to Council. NEVER had more unwelcome honors been conferred on a public servant than those which now descended upon Sir Charles Metcalfe. In spite of all the vexations and annoyances which beset his position, the Hyderabad Residency had become very dear to him. More than twenty years before, he had recorded a resolution not to form any more romantic attachments; but he had been forming them ever since. Indeed, it may be said of him, that he fell in friendship as other men fall in love. There was at once an ardor and a tenderness in his affection little removed from the degree in which these qualities evince themselves in our attachments to the other sex. He had gathered round him at Hyderabad a beloved circle of friends, to be broken from time to time by the necessities of the public service, but always to reunite again. And although some of these friends might accompany him to Delhi, it was certain that the old Hyderabad party could never again reassemble in all its pleasant integrity.* It was with extreme depression of spirits, therefore, that he now made his preparations for the coming change. There were other causes, too, in operation, to increase the reluctance which he felt to his aproaching departure from the Deccan-causes of a public character. He was anxious in the extreme for the success of the measures which he was pushing forward for the regeneration of the long-devastated provinces of Hyderabad; and he had no assurance that his successor would carry out the system which he had so steadily maintained. But to the call of the Government he responded without reservation, that he was willing to take upon himself any service which his superiors considered would be advantageous to the interests of the State; and he asked whether it were expedient that he should proceed to Delhi with all possible despatch. Lord Amherst was at this time on the river recruiting his impaired health; and in reply to the reference made to him by Mr. Swinton, he wrote that he was To one of these friends Metcalfe wrote, "I am out of spirits at the change in my prospects. I looked forward to the assemblage of all I love, and a happy time during the rains-our labors in the country to be afterwards resumed. I cannot say that I shall be here for a month, as I must be prepared to start at a moment's notice. Then to leave all behind. I wish that I could take you all with me, and then, although I should still regret our desertion of the fate of this country, my personal regrets would be converted into joyful anticipations." [Hyderabad, May 12, 1825.] Of these friends, Captain Sutherland accompanied Sir Charles Metcalfe to Delhi; and Mr. R. Wells and Lieutenant Hislop afterwards joined him there. ARRIVAL AT CALCUTTA. 127 "inclined to avail himself of the ready disposition which Sir Charles shows to give us his immediate assistance, and to request him to come to Calcutta, so as to start thence by dawk as soon as the season will permit.' To Lord Amherst, Metcalfe had greatly recommended himself during his visit to Calcutta in the preceding year; and he had left the Presidency "carrying away with him," as the Governor-General wrote, "the sincere good wishes of every one in Government House for the entire re-establishment of his health." And now the kind-hearted nobleman wrote to Mr. Swinton to ask, "whether he, or any other friend of Sir Charles Metcalfe, had been commissioned to look out for quarters for him in Calcutta ?" "If so," he added, "I beg to acquaint you that I shall have much pleasure in accommodating him, with one or two gentlemen who may accompany him, with quarters at Government House." Metcalfe had made other arrangements; and when he reached Calcutta, at the latter end of August, he took up his abode at the house of an old friend, Major Lockett, of the College of Fort Williamthe same house in Chowringhee which Sir Charles had formerly occupied on his own account. But He arrived in Calcutta not in good health; not in good spirits. He had restless nights, and an impaired appetite; he felt the effects of morning labor in evening heaviness and lethargy. The weather during the last weeks of August had been close and sultry; but some heavy falls of rain early in September had cleared the atmosphere and lowered the |