METCALFE, Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, Baron (1785-1846), a distinguished administrator, was born at Calcutta on January 30, 1785; he was the second son of Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe, then a major in the Bengal army, who afterwards became a director of the East India Company, and was created a baronet in 1802. Having been educated at Eton, where he read extensively, he in 1800 sailed for India as a writer in the service of the Company. After studying Oriental languages with success at Lord Wellesley’s college of Fort William, he, at the age of sixteen, received an appointment as assistant to Lord Cowley, then resident at the court of Sindhia; in 1802 he became assistant in the office of the chief secretary; in 1803 he was transferred to that of the governor-general, and in 1806 to that of the commander-in-chief. On August 15, 1806, he became first assistant to the resident at Delhi, and in 1808 he was selected by Lord Minto for the difficult nost of envoy to the court of RanjitSinh at Lahore; here, cn April 25, 1809, he successfully concluded the important treaty securing the independence of the Sikh states between the Sutlej and the Jumna. Four years afterwards he was made principal resident at Delhi, and in 1819 he received the appointments of secretary in the secret and political department, and of private secretary to the governor-general (Lord Hastings). From 1820 to 1823 Sir Charles (who succeeded his brother in the baronetcy in 1822) was resident at the court of the nizam, but in the latter year he was compelled by the state of his health to retire from active service; in 1825, however, he was so far restored as to undertake the residency of the Delhi territories. Two years afterwards he obtained a seat in the supreme council, and in February 1835, after he had ...