Page:Earl Canning.djvu/216

210 object of devising a check on the crime of infanticide, a crime, at the time, rife among the Rájputs of Oudh. More than 200 of the Oudh nobility attended it, and Lord Canning addressed them in the impressive language of which he was so perfect a master. The Tálukdárs readily agreed to the remedial measures which he proposed, and Lord Canning completed this, his last Indian tour, with the cheering hope that an effectual blow had been struck at an inhuman custom.

On the 10th November the Viceroy reached Calcutta, where a domestic catastrophe awaited him. Lady Canning had been visiting Dárjíling, the lovely Hill capital of Bengal, during her husband's hurried journey to the North. She was to meet him on his return. Her journey southwards lay through a malarious tract of country, rendered more than usually unhealthy by the excessive rainfall of the year. Lady Canning was attacked by fever. On her arrival in Calcutta, she was found to be seriously ill. The disease rapidly assumed an alarming aspect, and in a few days it was apparent that her vital energies were fatally impaired. She rapidly sank and expired in the early morning of November 18th. The death of this accomplished and gracious lady affected all classes profoundly. The bitterness of its sorrow to the Viceroy was enhanced by its occurrence at a moment when the task of an Indian Viceroyalty was so nearly accomplished, and when husband and wife alike were counting the hours till the day which would set them once more free to enjoy the pleasures of home life in England.