the minister sees the King for a few minutes once a week or fortnight, and generally at the house of the singer above named.  The King sees nobody else save the singers and eunuchs, and does not even pretend to know anything or care anything about public affairs.  His sons have been put under their care, and will be brought up in the same manner.  He has become utterly despised and detested by his people for his apathy amidst so much suffering, and will not have the sympathy of any one, save such as have been growing rich by abusing his power.

4.  The members of such a Board as I propose, invested with full powers, and secured in office under our guarantee during good conduct, would go fearlessly to work; they would divide the labour; one would have the settlement of the land-revenue, with the charge of the police; the second would have the judicial Courts; and if the Board be a regency during the minority, the control of the household; the third would have the army.  Each would have the nomination of the officers of his department, subject to the confirmation of the whole Board, and the dismissal would depend upon the sanction of the whole or two-thirds, as might be found expedient.  If the sanction of all three be required.  Court influence may secure one vote, and impunity to great offenders.  Neither of the three would be liable to be deprived of his office, except with the consent, or on the requisition of the Governor-General; and this privilege they would value too highly to risk it by neglect or misconduct.  The King’s brother—­a most worthy and respectable, though not able man—­might be a member, if agreeable to the King.

5.  The abuses they would have to remedy are all perfectly well understood, and the measures required to remedy them are all simple and obvious:  a settlement would be made with the landholders, based upon past avowed collections; they would be delighted to bind themselves to pay such an assessment, as they would escape from the more than one-third more, which they have now to pay, in one form or another, to contractors and Court favourites; the large landholders, who are for the most part now in open resistance to the Government, would rejoice at the prospect of securing their estates to their posterity, without the necessity of continually fighting for them.

6.  The army would soon become efficient:  at present every man purchases his place in it from the minister and the singers and eunuchs, and he loses it as soon as he becomes disabled from wounds or sickness.  The only exceptions are the four regiments under Captain Burlow, Captain Bunbury, Captain Magness, and Soba Sing, lately Captain Buckley’s; in these, all that are disabled from wounds or sickness are kept on the strength of the corps, and each corps has with it a large invalid establishment of this kind unrecognized by the Government.  They could not get their men to fight, without it.  These regiments are put up at auction every season, and often several times