Charles had previously
intimated his wish to resign. The Directors of the East India House call
him into their private room, and after complimenting him on his long and
meritorious services, they suggest that his health does not appear to be
good; that a little ease is expedient at his time of life, and they then
conclude their conversation by suddenly intimating their intention of
granting him a pension, for his life, of two thirds of the amount of his
salary; "a magnificent offer," as he terms it. He is from that moment
emancipated; let loose from all ties of labor, free to fly wheresoever he
will. At the commencement of the talk Charles had had misgivings, for he
was summoned into the "formidable back parlor," he says, and thought that
the Directors were about to intimate that they had no further occasion for
his services. The whole scene seems like one of the summer sunsets,
preceded by threatenings of tempest, when the dark piles of clouds are
separated and disappear, lost and swallowed by the radiance which fills
the whole length and breadth of the sky, and looks as if it would be
eternal. "I don't know what I answered," Lamb says, "between surprise and
gratitude; but it was understood that I accepted their proposal, and I was
told that I was free from that hour to leave their service.
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