"حياة ومراسلات اللواء السير جون مالكوم، قائد فرسان وسام الطُهر، المبعوث السابق إلى بلاد فارس وحاكم بومباي؛ من رسائل ومذكرات غير منشورة. في مجلّدين. المجلد II." [‎١‎٥‎٧] (٦٥٤/١٧٤)

anecdotes oe lord moira.
157
tions in society. With Lord Moira we dine at four o'clock, and
go to bed at half-past nine. Up at half-past four. He works
very hard, lives moderately, and looks strong and well in conse
quence. He is very popular, and deserves to be so; for no man
can be more considerate, more kind, or more attentive than he
seems to be to every one. I wrote you that I made my first ap
pearance without epaulets.* He came out of his room yesterday
in full dress, as he always is; and caught me, without coat or
neckcloth, playing billiards with an aide-de-camp in similar cos
tume. He smiled and made a bow. As he was passing on to
Mr. Seton's (the councillor's) rooms, I said, 'You will find Mr.
Seton, who belongs to the Supreme Board, and ought to know
better, much worse than us?' He did. Seton had thrown off
his waistcoat, and was not a little distressed. The lord laughed
heartily, but made him remain as he was. I mention these trifles
to show that there is none of the little nonsense remaining of
which we heard so much in England, and which no doubt existed
at first."
At the end of the third week of May, Malcolm em
barked on board a small country vessel of two hundred
tons burden, and commenced his laborious voyage to
Madras in the face of a strong monsoon. The pas
sage occupied a month, and by no means a pleasant
presented to your Lordship, that I
forgot an important part of my accou
trements."
In another letter Malcolm says:
" Lord Hastings is really a fine fellow.
He came to India with some magnifi
cent ideas, and more nonsense was put
into his head; but he has been cured
of all fantasies, and seems to me
much what he ought to be. The pas
sion for representation does no harm
in his present station, and he has no
forms. At least I can say that I never
got on better with any man; and God
knows I did not study forms. He is
remarkable for his kindness to every
one. To me his kindness and confi
dence were unbounded. Lord Wel-
lesley never evinced more decided par
tiality."
* I have not been able to find the
letter in which Malcolm tells the story
of the epaulets. It probably mis
carried. He often alluded to the in
cident in after days. On his first in
troduction to Lord Moira, before din
ner, I believe, on the day of his arrival,
having dressed himself m a hurry, and
it may be presumed without the as
sistance of a servant, he appeared in a
full-dress coat without any epaulets.
The omission was pointed out to him
by an aide-de-camp just as he was
about to address the Governor-General.
Having heard much of the stateliness
of Lord Moira's vice-regal court, the
negligence at first seemed to be a se
rious matter, but recovering from his
momentary embarrassment, he said,
" You see I was in such a hurry to be