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 CHAPTER III

Early Years

The administration of Lord Amherst was drawing to a close when, in 1826, Mr. Colvin landed in India. For the moment there was peace, which it would be Lord William Bentinck's care to preserve. Calcutta some time before had been fluttered by an outbreak of mutiny at Barrackpur in the ranks of the 47th Native Infantry. But this was forgotten in delight at the fall of the great fortress of Bhartpur. More recently, Chauringhi had been discussing the terms of the treaty of Yandabu, which had extended the flag to territories beyond the Bay of Bengal. With that treaty, India entered on the last period of peace which it was to enjoy during the first half of the century. In the course of the first ten years of Mr. Colvin's residence in the country, questions of a class to which hitherto but little attention had been paid began, for the first time, to attain some prominence. Instruction of the natives of India in the English language, the general employment of natives in higher and more responsible grades of administration, their adequate remuneration; schemes of retrench-