_THE LIFE OF LORD METCALFE. THE LIFE AN] CORRESPONDENCE OF CHARLES, LORD METCALFE; r .. \TE GOVERNOR-GENERAL Of INDIA, lro- Yisional Governor-Generalship-Correspondence with ~fr. Tucker- The Ootacamund Council-Suspension of the Agra Governmertt­ Resignation of Lord 'William Bentinck-Succession to the GoverJlor­ r;eneralship---Contests at Borne-Lord Heytcsbl!ry and ;L~rdAuc1Uand cgQ6 • CHAPTER VII. 1'revious History of the Press-The Censorship-Opinions of Lord Hast­ ings, :Mr. Adam, and Lord William Bentinck-Unsatisfactory State of the Law-Metcalfe's Opinions-Correspondence with Lord elate­ Council Minute-Act for the Removal of Restrictions-Address to Sir Charles Metcalfe-His Answer-Foundation of the Metcalfe Hall CHAPTER VIII. ]\evocation of Lord Heytesbury's Appointment-I.ord Auckland Go­ Yernor-Gcneral-Abolition of the Agm Presidency-Metcalfe's Douits nn~ them. On one oc- cavalry, they were soon surrounded. A general p,anic seized them. All the exertions of Mr. Gordon and Mr. Palmer were insufficient to rally them; and they were completely destroyed by superior numbers of horse and foot. Mr. Palmer luckily escaped, but Mr. Gordon was wounded and taken prisoner. From the concur­ ring testimony of many accounts, I am afraid that Mr. Gordon was cruelly butchered. Mr. Bertie Burgh and a Mr. Bellair were killed. Mr. Pearson was wounded and taken. His subse- quent fate is uncertain. The other Mr. Burgh escaped. Ofl300 infantry that entered the action, not more than 300 have been able to effect their retreat, and many of them were wounded. The Nizam's cavalry, after this shameful retreat, gradually col­ lected at a place about ·thirty miles from Shahpoor, and are slowly re­ turning to Hyderabad."-[MS. Cor­ respondence. J * Mr. Palmer to Captain Sydenltam, March 18, 1808.-[MS. Con·espond­ ence.] PAYMENT OF THE TROOPS. 15 casion, in 1812,. the unpaid troops mutinied, tied their commanding officer to a gun, and threatened to blow him away if their arrears were not dis­ charged.* JVIoney was sent from the Residency, and for a time the mut!ny was quelled. But it was obvious to JVIr. Russell that something must be done, both to keep the Conti~gent in an efficient state, and to secure it~ loyalty. "K obody, I pre­ sume," he said afterward~, "will dispute that if the troops were to be maintained at all, it was ne­ cessary to provide for their being regularly paid." But how was· this provision to be made ? The arrangements which Mr. Russell had instituted to secure the efficiency of the Nizam's Contingent had greatly increased the costliness of the force. Such an army, disciplined and commanded by English officers, could only be maintained at a cost alto­ geth~r incommensurate with the means of dis­ charging it. The Hyderabad State, distressed and embarrassed, ever forestalling its revenues, was not in a condition to secure regularity of payment to such a force. It is not to be doubted that the re­ organisation of the Con,tingent had greatly increased the burdens of an alr~ady overburdened State. The English Commandant of the Russell Brigade, so baptised in honor of the Resident, received from the Nizam 5000l. a year as his own salary; and other officers were paid in proportion. t Employ- * Calcutta Review, vol. xi., article "Nizam's Contingent," in which am- • ple details connected with the history of this force will be found. Nizam's Contingent says, that as job followed job, and other superfluous offices were made, it became a pro­ verbial expression current in Hydera­ bad, that "l'oor KizzJ,pays for all!" t The writer of the paper on the '[ .~ ~l ~.f ;1 (.,~ !j_ {]!:~ 'l .11 SfP IS68 • i:'~ v~ !;B ~ ..... .,. ~ LIBRARY. ~ . .. ~ ~· ~ a~· 'Uitl~otult't-~ - 16 THE RYDERA:BA.D RESIDENCY. ment in the Nizam's service was ~enerally coveted by the officers both of the King's and the Com­ pany's army. The Resident was importuned with applications for these comfortable staff appoint­ ments, and large sums pas~ed annually into the pockets of our own .people. That the efficiency of the Contingent was greatly increased, that it be­ came, indeed, an admirable body of disciplined troops of all arms, is not to be doubted. But it is equally unquestionable that it increased the burdens of the State in a manner for which• any advantages accruing from the enhanced efficiency of the Con­ tingent could never sufficiently compensate. From such a Government as that of the Nizam­ a Government of shifts and expedients, whose system of finance was little more than the great system of hand-to-mouth, the regular payment of the troops was clearly not to be expected. But in su~h a matter as this the interposition of the R.esident was justified, if not demanded. So Mr. Russell made an arrangement for the payment of the troops, of which it is necessary to speak somewhat in detail. 1\fr. vVilliam. Palmer, of w~m some mention has been made, had quitted the military service of the Nizam to enter into commercial transactions, and had established a house of business at Hyderabad known as the firm of William Palmer and Co. This firm, by a series of successful operations with which I am not particularly acquainted, had become the possessors or the depositories of a large amount of capital, and were in a position to make considerable advances of money to the Nizam. As they had the ARRANGEffiENTS WITH W. PALMER AND CO. 17 power, so they b.ad the inclination, to enter into large transactions with the embarrassed Government of Hyderabad. All legal impediments were removed by the sanction of the Go;ernor-General-a sanction granted without inquiry into the particulars of the proposed transaction-and it wa~ arranged that the House of Business should u~dertake to advance a certain sum of money-first, for the payment of one portion of the troops, then of another, and that certain assignments of revenue should be made by the State for the· security of the lenders. The ad­ vances were to the extent of 20,000l. a month. The assignments were of the annual value of 300,000l. The interest payable by the Nizam was 25 1)er cenf. These arrangements were made under the sanction of the Resident. There was no express guarantee for the protection of \Villiam Palmer and Co., but • it was understood, both by the lenders and the bor- rowers, that the Resident endorsed the transaction. The troops were now pum~tually paid; but the fi­ nancial embarrassments of the Kizam were increased by the arrangement, and the people were plunged into a lower deep of suffe~ing than any that had over­ whelmed them before. The disorders of the Nizam's Government had, indeed, become intolerable ; and Mr. Russell was eager to apply a remedy to the evils which stared him so reproachfully in the face. It was plain to him that the connexion of the Nizam with the :British Government hacl been one of the chief sources of the decrepitude of Hyderabad. But, he argued with a force of truth not to be withstood, "if we owe the foundation of our empire in this VOL. II. c • 18 .THE HYDERABAD RESIDENCY. country to the weakness in whi~;h we found the native princes, we ought not to complain of the evil which that weakness necessarily produces. If we have reaped the benefit, we,must submit to witness the inconveniences which are its inseparable at­ tendants." "Andt he added, "if it be true that a part of the mischie' has arisen from the pre­ dominance of our power, it is for that reason the more incumbent on us that we should endeavor to apply the remedy."* But what was the remedy to be ? The Nizam was to be left to • the uncontrolled administration of his own provinces ; how then could we ameliorate that which we were not to be If'ermitted to touch ? There was to be, if such were possible, intervention without interference. We were to shape the administrative measures of the Nizam without _appearing to have anything to do with them. We were to be everything and nothing at the same time. "I suggested,', says Mr. Russell, " as the leading featu~es of a plan of reform, that whatever control our Government might resolve to exercise, should be applied through the medium of advice and influence, and uo~ by direct exertion of authority; that we should enlarge the sphere rather than increase the degree of our interference; exert­ ing the same influence in correcting the abuses of the internal administration that we ah'eady applied to objects immediately connected with our own interests ; that we should improve and direct the implements of the country, and not introduce agents or regulations of our own." * Mr. Russell to Government, November 24, 1819. • MEASURES OF REFORM. 19 Instructions* to this effect were drafted by Met­ calfe, as Political Secretary, emphatically sanctioned by Lord Hastings, and forwarded to Mr. Russell. They met with the enti•e concurrence of the Resi­ dent. "The instructions about reform," he wrote privately to Metcalfe, " are eyerything I could desire. If I had drafted them myself, I could not have made them more entirely consonant to my own views and wishes. The result, I trust, will answer the expectations of Government. I have had a • great deal of discussion with Ohundoo-Lall, whom I believe to be as willing as he is able to discha1·ge his part ofthe duty. A manifest change has already taken place in the tone and character of the in­ ternal administration. Complaints are received and grievances are redressed, and justice is expeditiously and ~ratuitously administered by a new tribuhal erected by Ohundoo-Lall for the purpose. Reduction of expenses and remission of revenue are the next great objects, and at these we are hard at work."t There was no doubt of Mr. Russell's sincerity. His letters abundantly show that these reforms lay very near his heart. .. • Throughout the greater part of the year 1820, he ·was sedulously employed in giving them effect. But the reign of the Resident was now nearly at an end. He could only initiate the reforms which were so necessary to the prosperity of the country. But * These instructions, in a few words, were "To authorise him to interfere with his advice and influence for the benefit of the Nizam's Government, to improve its revenues, reduce its expenses, and ameliorate its system of administration. Chundoo-Lall to be supported."-[MS. J}lemorandum by Charles Metcalfe.] t Henry Russell to Charles Metcalfe, March 21, 1820.-[.,JfS. Correspond­ ence.] c 2 • 20 THE RYDERABAD RESIDENCY. with this he was content. He had ~uch strong faith in his successor, that he knew the good work would be carried on vigorously and successfully after his departure. , Such, hurriedly traced in dim outline, was the condition of things :in Hyderabad when, in the second week of November, accompanied by Lieut. Hugh Barnett, who was appointed Second Assistant to the Resident, Mr. Richard Wells, of .the Civil Service, wlw was Third Assistant, and Cantain Mackenzie, .. who was appointed to the Nizam's Cavalry, Charles Metcalfe embarked on board the Hattra8, which was to convey him to Masulipatam, on his way to Hyderabad. * He was not sorry to quit the seat of Government ; but there was a new and untried world before him at Hyderabad; and as he was departing, intelligence reached him which caused • some temporary regret that he had made his election to proceed to the Court of the Nizam. Mr. Monck­ ton, who was at that time Resident at Lucknow, had announced his intention of proceeding to Eng­ land, and Sir David Ochterlony had declared his willingness to be transferred to that Court, in order that Metcalfe might return to his old post at Delhi. To the latter, who had many pleasant recollections of the years he had spent in the Imperial City, and had often regretted his departure from it, this arrangement, as far as his personal feelings were * He had another very amusing arrived in Calcutta, which a friend travelling companion, too, in the shape had sent him to beguile the tedium of of " Spence's Anecdotes," then newly the voyage. • ARRIVAL AT HYDERA.BAD. 21 concerned, woultl have been very gratifying-but he had now gone too far to recede ; the course of his duty lay in the direction of Hyderabad-so he went straight on, sending baCfk no vain regrets, but fixing all his thoughts upon the future. On the lOth of N ov:ember, Metcalfe and his friends embarked from Calcutta, and coasting down the Bay of Bengal, anchored, on the 16th, in :Masulipafam Roads. The state of the weather did not suffer him to land bef~e the 18th ; and on the following day he proceeded by dawk to Hyderabad. There he found Mr. Russell awaiting him. He found, too, that the place was in an unusual state of social excitement. The race-week was commencing, and there were dinners, and balls, and suppers-race­ ordinaries and lotteries, in which he was expected to take a part. But he was eager to commence business ; and how it was commenced may be gathered from the notes which he made at the time: l\IETh10RANDA FOR JOURNAL. [1820-1821.] " Saturday, the 25th, l:!!:n;ng been fixed on for my presenta­ tion to the Nizam, the Ministers Mooneer-ool-Moolk and. Rajah Chundoo-Lall came to the Residency in the morning, about - ten o'clock, according to custom, to pay their compliments to • me, and invite me to wait on the Nizam. They remained some time at the Residency, and. during their stay produced a note from the Nizam, of which the following is a near trans· lation: '' ' Mooneer-ool-Moolk Bahadoor and Maharajah Chund.oo­ Lall will go to-morrow to Sahib Jung Bahadoor's (Mr. Hussell's) 22 THE HYDERABAD RESIDENCY. residence. Let the pending negotiation regarding taking and giving between the above-mentioned Bahadoors be settled, in order that there may not be any injury after the departure of that gentleman. This matter is at the responsibility of the Talookdars and Abbas Allu Kha;.' " If I were to explain this note myself, I should conceive it to allude to the pendii!g unsettled negotiation regarding the Par~ition treaty, and to be dictated by an apprehension that a new Resident might come forward with new demands, or might urge those already discussed and declined. It was, however, urged by the Ministers as having a more general meaning, and as proceeding from a fear lest matters fo;merly settled should be ripped open for fresh discussion. Friendly assurances were given, without hesitation, on this point; but it was pointedly i~pressed on them that these assurances had no reference to the pending treaty, which, being avowedly unsettled, was fully open to discussion and negotiation. The Ministers took leave of us, and went to the palace with their suite. They had been numerously and respectably attended. Not long after, • Mr. Russell and myself, attended by the gentlemen of the Residency, and others who wished to see the Nizam, proceeded to the palace; where, after being met in the usual manner by the Ministers, we were received by the Nizam. He was, it is said, unusually affable and talkative-though he did not cer­ tainly talk much. To what this might be attributed-! mean his uncommon affability-! can!!.~ pretend to say. After remaining with him about a quarter of an hour, we received our leave, and came away. The gentlemen who were intro­ duced, presented Nuzzurs; which struck me as an unusual practice, never having heard of such at any native Court except the King's. The style of the Durbar and the dresses of the Court were plain; the palace itself not grand." "On Sunday, the 26th, went to church. Afterwards returned the visit of the commanding officer, Colonel Boles, who, with • INTERVIEW WITH THE NIZA:.\f. 23 the staff, had callecl.on me on the 23rc1. Was received in the cantonments with salutes, and had a guard of the grenadier company of the 30th N. I. draw;_ up for me at the com­ manding officer's. I had heard much of the overdoing of these matters at Hyderabad;•and was therefore prepared for all the honors I received. The sermon at church was about Aurungzeb, Lord Chesterfield, and ~Ir. Fox, to the text of ' Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' ''On the 26th November paid my first visit to the Minister, :i\Iooneer-ool-;)Ioolk, and dined with him. He has a splendid house, fitted up at great cost and with some taste. He gave us an excellent dinne~ and conducted his entertainment in very good style. I am not in favor of dining with people who can­ not or will not dine with us; and only went on this occasion because I did not choose to make difficulties regarding what had been customary under my predecessors; especially as I had not received charge of the Residency, and was in a manner under the guidance of Mr. Russell, who accompanied me, as did also all the gentlemen of the Residency, including his party• and mine. "Rajah Chundoo-Lall joined us after dinner, and we got home about half-past ten, having been entertained with a nautch. Mooneer-qol-Moolk's manners are good. Two of his sons are fine boys. Chunc1oo-Lall's manners are also good.. " This morning, the 28th, after breakfast, the officers of the cantonments of Sekun<1~r~bad and Bolaurum came to the Residency to be introduced to me. A fine ~ody of officers. I find that our society is likely to consist of 130 or 140 persons, including ladies. " On the evening after our visit to the principal, but nominal, Minister, :Mooneer-ool-:Moolk, we paid a similar one to the deputy, but real, :l\linistcr, Chunc1oo-Lall. The house and the entertainment were not less splendid than on the preceding occasion; indeed, the profusion of costly ornamental furniture exceeded everything I had ever before seen. In addition to a 24 THE HYDERA:BA.D RESIDENCY. dinner, nautch, and brilliant illuminatiOJl, equal to· those at Mooneer-ool-Moolk's, we had at Chund.oo-Lall's a display of fireworks and gaslights. • " On the 30th, Russell explained to me the several forms of accounts relating to the Residency4; and on the 1st of December delivered over charge of the office. " 13th December.-S~nt Mr. Sotheby to Rajah Chundoo~Lall to propose the gift of sixteen lakhs of rupees for the purposes desired by the Governor-General.* Mr. Sotheby reported, on his return, that the Rajah agreed to the proposal. It remains to be seen whether the consent of the Nizam will be obtained or not. Mr. So the by also put in train the s~tlement of the little difficulties which have arisen out of the abolition of exemption of duties on articles proceeding to the markets of our canton­ ments, &c." " Subsequently to the 13th, I again sent :1\Ir. Sotheby to Rajah *This requires explanation. As one of the consequences of the great events touched upon in the last chapter, and the partition of territory which they had involved, a r,ew treaty with the Nizam had become necessary. This treaty, the terms of which had been chiefly arranged by Mr. Russell, was still unconcluded when Metcalfe pro­ ceeded to Hyderabad. The opportu­ nity was considered by the statesmen of Calcutta a gooj. one for the ex­ traction of a bonus of money from the Nizam; and it was suggested, therefore, that an article should be introduced into the treaty pledging the Nizam to manifest his sense of all our kindness to him by a gra­ tuitous contribution of sixteen lakhs of rupees (160,000/.) for the improYe­ ment of the city of Calcutta. Who was the originator of this suggestion I do not know; but :Metcalfe went to Hyderabad carrying with him, in Lord Hastings' handwriting, the fol­ lowing draft of the proposed article' "His Highness the Nizal1!, con­ templating the great benefits which he has reaped from the late military operations, in the security of his do­ minions, anu in the advantages ac­ cruing to his revenue, is anxious to manifest his sense of sftch a boon by a gratuitous contribution. In this Yiew his Highness desires that he may be allowed to furnish sixteen lalehs of rupees (payable at the rate of foftr lakhs yearly till the amount be completed) for public purposes connected with the city of Calcutta or its vicinity 'vithin the twenty­ four pergunnahs ; on the condition that the sum shall be applied in such portions and for such objects as the Governor-General in Council may direct." Well might it be said that "Nizzy pays for all," when he was called upon to contribute 160,0001. towards the tanks and aqueducts and lamp-posts of Calcutta. • THE SIXTEEN-LAKH DONATION. 25 Chuncloo-Lall on the.subject of the sixteen lakhs. The Rajah did not start any difficulty on the subject, but proposed that I should report the matter to Calcutta as settled, and engaged on his part to procure the consent of the Nizam, after the arrival of the ratification from Gov~rnment. To this I objected, and sent .Mr. Sotheby again to explain that the Nizam's consent must be obtained before I could repOjt the matter as settled. It should have been mentioned that at the second interview of Mr. Sotheby, the agreement about the sixteen lakhs was added, in the terms prescribed by Lord Hastings, as an eleventh article to the ten before settled by Mr. Russell. "On the d~ty aft~r JUr. Sotheby's third mission, the Rajah reported to me that the Nizam had cheerfully assented to the arrangement, and expressed his gratification that the matter was so settled. I sent a report on the subject to Calcutta, which will be found on the records.* " Some days after this a horrible outrage was committed. by some Arabs in the service of Shums-ool-Omra. An Arab had. been killed in a drunken fray. The Arabs, the next day, went in a tody to the house of a Dukhanee chief, of whose party they supposed the killer to be, to demand that he should be delivered up to them. It appears that the chief offered to send him to tho Minister, if he could be pointed out; but, from the "' In another memorandum of an sure. "lYe have rccei\·c,J," •:-rote intended interview with the Minister, the Governor-General, "frcm the Se­ Metcalfe says: "11E"r.-The s~-.::t~en cret Committee a positive injunction lakhs.-To tell the Minister that I not to urge the Nizam to a contribu­ have reported to Government upon tion of sixteen lakhs of rupees. this subject; and that I am sure the Therefore you must drop that object Governor-General will be much gra- entirely, and cancel any procedure tified bv the handsome conduct o{the tilat may have taken place respecting Nizam'~ Government: but that I ha.-e it. The Court's instruction proceeds also some reason to' think that the on the erroneous intimations previ­ donation will be declined. ,,-hich I shall ously transmitted to some of its mem­ be gkd of, for the financial interests bers from Calcutta. It all turns upon of the State." And he was right. the iuconsistcncy of exacting from The donation was declined. On this the resources of the State such a sum wry 13th of December, LortlHastings when we represent its finances to b2 was writing to l\Ictcalfe that the embarrassetl in such a degree as to Home Government >rould not give require the aid of a British house of their sanction to wch a dubious mea- agency."-[.JIS. Correspondence.] 26 THE HYDERABAD RESIDENCY. outrageous conduct of the Arabs, the d~cussion ended in the death of the chief and some others. The Minister reported the circumstance to me, announcing his intention to punish the guilty. In reply, I urged him to persevere in this intention, for the credit of the Nizam's Go~rnment and the protection of the people. The matter ended in two Arabs being shot by their own brethren, afte:a a sort of trial by jury, and twenty-five being banished. Some people say that the men executed were not the real offenders, but mere slaves, executed by the Arabs to appease public opinion. The more general account is, that they were the principal actors in the outrage-one having been the murderer of the Dukhanee chief; and the ot:l!er the person who in­ stigated the Arabs to remain at the house when they were will­ ing to come away peaceably. The result is not quite satisfactory. The Government should have carried on the investigation, and inflicted the punishment. As it is, the business has been slurred over, having been left to the Arabs, many of whom were the offenders." • "On Christmas-day gave a dinner, ball, and supper, to the society of Hyderabad, Sekunderabad, and Bolaurum." Of the general state of the Nizam's country, :Metcalfe soon began to derive from passing events some painful experience. J:.etters came in from officers of the Nizam's contingent employed in the provinces exhibiting .the unsettled state of the country, and the lawless condition of the people: "A letter received from Lieutenant Sutherland," he wrote in his journal, "dated 24th December, 1820, reporting an attack made by him on a party of plunderers, headed by a person named Solinga, which had taken possession of the village of Soolyali, in the Talooka of Moory, and Pergunnah of Odgeer . • STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 27 Solinga, it appears, i'l a known character, who has for some time been in rebellion against the local authorities. Lieutenant Sutherland having decoyed a considerable number of this party into the plain, before the fort, which is only sixty yards square, charged and cut them•to pieces. A number o( match­ lock men who came out to their assistance, were also charged and sabred by Lieutenant Suthcrland's.detachment, consisting of 170 horse, which had only four men and six horses wounded. in the affair. Solinga has evacuatad Soolyali, and fortified himself in Gozegaon. "Another letter from Lieutenant Sutherland beforeGozegaon, requesting a reinfor~as gratifying; and he seemed to derive pleasure from the meeting. On the whole, I was much satisfied with the result of my visit; though a paltry trick was played in a point of etiquette, unobserved by me at the time, which it w~ afterward~ necessary to notice and rectify. The particulars of this meeting will be reported officially to Government. " On Friday, the 26th, Rajah Chum1oo-Lall paid me a visit on business, and remained with me several hours, conve:rsing on the state of the country, and the measures proper to be pursued, 1 on which he spoke very plausibly and sensibly, and promised to give cordial assistance in the work of regeneration and reform. He b;ought me accounts, which I had called for, of the re­ ceipts and charges of the Government ; from which, if they can be relied on, it appears that there is a present annual defi­ cit of about ten lakhs. If the deficit do not exceed this amount, I shall not despair of bringing the finances of the Government into proper order in the course of time, either by ameliorations of the revenue, or by re~uctions of the expenditure, or the joint operation of both. I was much pleased with the disposi­ tion shown by the l\Iinister at this conference. "This visit arose out of my declining to go to the Minister on the old footing. It was customary with my predecessor to visit the :Minister on business, though the Minister never came to him. This course appearing to me to be derogatory, I have hitherto sent one of my assistants on business to the Minister, instead of going myself. This alone, without any proposition on my part, has been sufficient to bring the matter into a better . 30 THE HYDERABAD RESIDENCY. course ; and I shall now, without scruple, visit the Minister on business as he will also come to me. " I applied to the Minister for accounts of the income and ex­ penditure of the Government. These, after r;equesting delay for time to prepare them, he brou~ht to me in detail. From these I observe that the annual expenditure exceeds the income, after allowing for the. advantages gained by his Highness's share of the conquests of the l~te war, in the amount of about ten lakhs. " The measures which appear to me to be most essential in the first instance, and which I shall endeavor to carry into effect with the concurrence of the Nizam's Gevernment, are-lst. The reduction of the expenditure of the Government within its income. 2nd. A general settlement of the land-revenue for a term of five years on the principle of a village settlement, including arrangements with the heads of villages for the in­ troduction of a system of police. 3rd. The superintendence of respectable European officers of the Nizam's service, for the • purpose of preventing oppression and breach of faith in the districts in the vicinity of their respective posts." • Having thus made up his mind that the evils under which the country had long been groaning could be removed only by the exercise of efficient European superintendence ~~er the native func­ tionaries employed in the executive duties of the internal administration, Metcalfe at once obtained the sanction of the Nizam's Government to the measures he proposed, and lost no time in setting them on foot. He soon found, indeed, that the leisure which Mr. Russell had promised him, and which at one time he had promised himself, was a mere delusion. " I find !ny time as much occupied • LABORS OF THE RESIDENT. 31 here," he wrote to James Baillie Fraser,* " as at Calcutta or Delhi, though leisure was one of the principal objects for which I came. I am now con­ vinced that want of leism·e is a constitutional disease • -vvhich will stick by me to the grave, and that it does not proceed from excess of business alone." It did not, indeed, proceed so much fro~ excess of business as from the conscientiousness with which he dis­ charged it. Twenty years afterwards it was said, in another quarter of the globe, that he "worked like a slave;" and one of the shrewdest observerst who ever watched his proceedings, said of him, " How he finds the time is a problem: I know only that he is never in a· hurry." He soon began to make preparations for a tour of personal inspection through the outlying districts. He was not one to satisfy himself with the reports of others-to study the condition of the country at ease in the Residency-House. So, having handed over to his Chief-Assistant the duties of the Capital and the Court, and left instructions t for his guidance in the event of the unexpected demise either of the Nizam or one of his Ministers, the Resident com- • * The well-known author of "Tra­ vels in Khorassan," the " Kuzzil­ bash," &c., &c. He was brother of William Fraser, Metcalfe's old Assis­ tant. t Mr. Gibbon Wakefield. t These were very brief, but very distinct. It were worth while to in­ sert them: ".MEM.-In the event of the un­ expected demise of the Nizam, his eldest son, Nasir-ool-dowlah, to suc­ ceed him. This intention is not to be divulged unless it be necessary to carry it into effect. " In the event of the death of 1\fooneer-ool-Moolk, the nomination of a successor to his office should be pre­ vented altogether, or at least post­ poned to my return. "In the event of the death of Chun­ doo-Lall, his duties should be made over to Mooneer-ool-l\loolk for the time; and the appointment of a suc­ cessor to Chundoo-Lall should be postponed till my return." 32 THE HYDERABAD RESIDENCY. mencecl his progress. vYhat was. the result of his first visitation may be set forth in his own language. It is clearly described in the following private letter: • liiR. CHARLES METCALFE TO ~IR. GEORGE SWINTON. • ''Camp, Dewalwarra, Jun~ 14, 1821 . "l\Iy DEAR SWINTON,-The more I see of the Nit;am's country, the more I am convinced that, without our interpo­ sition, it must have gone to utter ruin, and that the measures which have been lately adopted were indispensably necessary for its continued existence as an inhabitee! territory. As it is, the deterioration has been excessive, and the richest and most easily cultivated soil in the world has been nearly depopulated, chiefly by the oppressions of the Government. It will require tender nursing. The settlements are advancing. The moderate revenue, which it has been found necessary to receive in many instances, has greatly disappointed the Government, which, not convinced by the depopulation of villages in consequence of ruinous extortion, would have persisted in the same unprirkipled course until the rest were depopulated also. The loss of revenue, if confidence be established by the settlement, will be but tem­ porary. In some of the settlements on which the assessments for the first year are the lo,vest, they are doubled and trebled, and in some instances quadrtfpled and quintrupled in the period, generally five years, for which t~ .settlements are concluded. Such are the productive powers of the soil, that I have no