All these circumstances, as they occurred, were reported by the Resident to the Government of India, who took time to deliberate, and did not reply till the 19th of July 1837, when they signified their approval of all that the Resident had done, with the exception of the written declaration to which he had obtained the consent and signature of the new King. They did not think that it would be considered dignified or becoming the paramount power, to exact such a declaration, binding himself to absolute submission, from the sovereign of a country so much under their control, on ascending a throne to which he was called as of right; and were of opinion that his character as a prudent man of business, well trained to public affairs, during the time he acted as minister under his father, rendered such a declaration unnecessary. It was therefore annulled; and the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, addressed a letter to his Majesty expressing, in kind terms, his congratulations on his accession to the throne, and his hopes of a better administration of the Government of Oude under his auspicious guidance. This letter, despatched by express, the Resident received on the 25th of July.
The Resident concluded, on good grounds, that the Government deemed a new and more stringent treaty indispensable for the better government of the country, and that advantage should be taken of the occasion to prepare the new King for it. Government desired, that the negotiations for a new treaty should be based “upon reason and right, and not upon demand and submission.” Had the declaration been allowed to stand good, there would have been right as well as reason in the treaty of 1837, which was soon after concluded.
The Resident intimated the receipt of these letters to the King, and on the 28th, he waited on his Majesty, to present the Governor-General’s letter. He found him sitting up in his bed in a small apartment in the baraduree, in his dishabille, having spent a restless night from rheumatic pains; but he was cheerful and in good spirits, and requested the Resident to present his respectful compliments to the Governor-General, and grateful thanks for his consideration and congratulations. All his relations, the chief officers of the Government, and other persons of distinction about the Court, were assembled to hear the letters read, and make their offerings on this recognition of his authority by the paramount power. “The King assured the Resident, that the arrival of this recognition, and its public announcement, would greatly strengthen his hands in the exercise of public duties, for during the last few days bad reports had been industriously circulated by evil-disposed persons to the effect, that the delay in the recognition of his succession to the throne by the paramount power in India, had arisen from discussions between the members of the Government in Calcutta, as to the amount of money to be taken on the occasion from the new King, as