All seems ripe for the change, and I hope the Governor-General will
consent to its being proposed soon. Any change in the ministry would
now be an obstacle to the arrangement, and such a change might happen
any morning. At the head of the Board, or Regency, I should put
Mohsin-od Dowla, grandson of Ghazee-od Deen, the first King, and son-
in-law of Moohummed Alee Shah, the third King. His only son has been
lately united in marriage to the King's daughter. He is looked up to
as the first man in Oude for character, and the most able member of
the royal family. He is forty-five years of age. I should probably
put two of the King's uncles in as the other members, Azeemoshan and
Mirza Khorum Buksh, whose names you will find in the short appended
list of those who have received no stipends since the present King
ascended the throne. These princes cannot visit, the Resident except
when they accompany the King himself, so that I have never seen the
two last that I recollect, and only once conversed with the first.
But their characters stand very high. They are never admitted to the
King, nor have they seen him for more than a year, I believe.
The King will probably object to members of his family forming the
Board, but I dare say I shall be able to persuade him of the
advantage of it. Such a Board, so constituted, would be a pledge to
all India of the honesty of our intentions, and secure to us the
cordial good-will of all who are interested in the welfare of the
family and the good government of the country.
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