And we do hereby confirm in their several offices, civil and military, all persons now employed in the service of the Honourable East India Company, subject to our future pleasure, and to such laws and regulations as may hereafter be enacted.

We hereby announce to the native princes of India that all treaties and engagements made with them by or under the authority of the Honourable East India Company are by us accepted, and will be scrupulously maintained, and we look for the like observance on their part.

We desire no extension of our present territorial possessions; and, while we will permit no aggression upon our dominions or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we shall sanction no encroachment on those of others. We shall respect the rights, dignity, and honour of native princes as our own; and we desire that they, as well as our own subjects, should enjoy that prosperity and that social advancement which can only be secured by internal peace and good government.

We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all our other subjects, and those obligations, by the blessing of Almighty God, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fulfil.

Firmly relying ourselves on the truth of Christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we disclaim alike the right and desire to impose our convictions on any of our subjects. We declare it to be our royal will and pleasure that none be in anywise favoured, none molested or disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or observances, but that all shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protection of the law; and we do strictly charge and enjoin all those who may be in authority under us that they abstain from all interference with the religious belief or worship of any of our subjects on pain of our highest displeasure.

And it is our further will that, so far as may be, our subjects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may be qualified, by their education, ability, and integrity, duly to discharge.

We know, and respect, the feelings of attachment with which the natives of India regard the lands inherited by them from their ancestors, and we desire to protect them in all rights connected therewith, subject to the equitable demands of the State; and we will that, generally, in framing and ad

ministering the law, due regard be paid to the ancient rights, usages, and customs of India.

We deeply lament the evils and misery which have been brought upon India by the acts of ambitious men, who have deceived their countrymen by false reports, and led them into open rebellion. Our power has been shown by the suppression of that rebellion in the field: we desire to show our mercy by pardoning the offences of those who have been thus misled, but who desire to return to the path of duty.

Already, in one province, with a view to stop the further effusion of blood, and to hasten the pacification of our Indian dominions, our Viceroy and Governor-General has held out the expectation of pardon, on certain terms, to the great majority of those who, in the late unhappy disturbances, have been guilty of offences against our Government, and has declared the punishment which will be inflicted on those whose crimes place beyond the reach of forgiveness. We approve and confirm the said act of our Viceroy and GovernorGeneral, and do further announce and proclaim as follows:

Our clemency will be extended to all offenders, save and except those who have been, or shall be, convicted of having directly taken part in the murder of British subjects. With regard to such the demands of justice forbid the exercise of mercy.

To those who have willingly given asylum to murderers, knowing them to be such, or who may have acted as leaders or instigators in revolt, their lives alone can be guaranteed; but, in apportioning the penalty due to such persons, full consideration will be given to the circumstances under which they have been induced to throw off their allegiance; and large indulgence will be shown to those whose crimes may appear to have originated in the credulous acceptance of the false reports circulated by designing men.

To all others in arms against the government we hereby promise unconditional pardon, amnesty, and oblivion of all offence against ourselves, our crown, and dignity, on their return to their homes and peaceful pursuits.

It is our royal pleasure, that these terms of grace and amnesty should be extended to all those who comply with these conditions before the 1st day of January next.

When, by the blessing of Providence, internal tranquillity shall be restored, it is our earnest desire to stimulate the peaceful industry of India, to promote works of public utility and improvement, and to administer its government for the

benefit of all our subjects resident therein.

In their pros

perity will be our strength, in their contentment our security, and in their gratitude our best reward. And may the God of all power grant to us, and to those in authority under us, strength to carry out these our wishes for the good of our people.

(History of India, E. H. Nolan, Lond., n. d., III, p. 1.)

232. Victoria, Empress of India
(1877)

Wheeler

In 1876 Victoria issued a formal proclamation, in which she assumed the dignity and title of Empress of India. This proclamation recited that on January 1, 1877, the said title and dignity were to vest in the royal house of England. The date named was made a day of festivity in India. The royal proclamation was read at Delhi with impressive ceremonies. The account of these ceremonies, which also contains the text of the royal proclamation, is given.

The first of January eighteen hundred and seventy-seven was the great day of the Imperial Assemblage. Her Majesty the Queen of England was proclaimed Empress of India. The Governors and other High Officials of British India were assembled together with all the Ruling Native Chiefs to inaugurate the installation of the Empress as the Sovereign of Her Eastern Empire....

The scene of the Proclamation was a turf-covered plain about four miles from Delhi. Three structures had been set up, namely, a Throne Pavilion for the Viceroy, an Amphitheatre for the High Officials and Ruling Chiefs, and blocks for Representatives of Foreign Governments and, spectators.

The Throne Pavilion was a graceful building of blue, red, and gold, near the centre of the area. It was a hexagon; each of its sides was forty feet long; the whole was thus about two hundred and twenty-four feet round. The details are worth describing. The lower part was a solid structure of masonry ten feet from the ground. It was surrounded by a gilded railing. There was a flight of steps in front and another behind, also with gilded railings. The upper part was a canopy raised over the structure, supported on twelve slender clustered shafts. The Imperial Crown at the top rested upon a cushion. Beneath it depended a graceful drapery of red clothes embroidered with gold. On the upper cornice was worked a pattern of festooned laurel wreaths and Imperial Crowns. At each angle was a trophy of three

satin bannerets, festooned outwards, displaying the Cross of St. George and the Union Jack. Below the cornice the canopy was continued in alternate stripes of red and white satin, embroidered with golden fleurs de lis. There was a lower frieze with an armorial vallance hanging from it. The frieze displaced the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle, embroidered with the Lotos of India in gold, silver, and colours. It was adorned at each angle by a gilded crown and silken drapery. The vallance was composed of shield-shaped forms, on which were shown alternately the Irish Harp, the Lion Rampant of Scotland, and the three Lions of England. The shafts of the canopy were hung with silver shields, about ten feet from the ground, bearing the imperial monogram in gold, surmounted by bannerets of various-coloured satins.... From an early hour there had been a general gathering towards the Imperial Assemblage. Ruling Chiefs drove by in state carriages accompanied by retainers and soldiers. Groups of elephants crowded to the same spot clad in the trappings they had worn on the day of the entry. Vast multitudes also assembled to see the various Chiefs and High Officials pass by on their way to the place of Proclamation. The spectators' seats on either side of the Throne Pavilion were occupied by Ambassadors, Envoys, and Deputations, including those from Nipal and Siam; also by Foreign Consuls, and a large number of European ladies and gentlemen. Here also were seated the Khan of Khelat, the GovernorGeneral of the Portuguese Settlements in India, and numerous Native nobles and officials. The general public were also admitted in great numbers to the inclosure, behind the Amphitheatre.

All the British troops assembled at Delhi were drawn up on a plain to the north of the pavilions; the Native chiefs and nobles had in like manner drawn up their retainers and followers on the opposite plain to the south of the pavilions.

Guards of honour were drawn up on either side of the Throne Pavilion, as well as at each of the several entrances to the Amphitheatre.

At noon a flourish of trumpets from the Heralds announced the arrival of His Excellency the Viceroy. All who were present in that vast assembly rose from their seats; the military bands played a grand march. His Excellency, who was accompanied by Lady Lytton and the members of his family, alighted from his carriage and advanced towards the Throne Pavilion preceded by the Personal Staff. The

bands struck up the National Anthem, and the guards of honour presented arms as the Viceroy took his seat upon the throne.

The proceedings were simple and impressive. His Excellency was arrayed in his robes as Grand Master of the Star of India. He commanded the Chief Herald to read the Proclamation of the assumption of the Imperial Title by Her Majesty the Queen. The twelve Heralds sounded a flourish of trumpets. The Chief Herald then read the Proclamation in a loud voice, which was heard by the whole Assemblage.

"VICTORIA, R.

"Whereas an Act has been passed in the present Sessions of Parliament, intituled 'An Act to enable Her Most Gracious Majesty to make an addition to the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United. Kingdom and its Dependencies,' which Act recites that, by the Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, it was provided that after such Union the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies should be such as His Majesty by His Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom should be pleased to appoint: and which Act also recites that, by virtue of the said Act, and of a Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal, dated the 1st day of January 1801, Our present Style and Titles are 'VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland QUEEN, Defender of the Faith': and which Act also recites that, by the Act for the better government of India, it was enacted that the Government of India, theretofore vested in the East India Company in trust for Us, should become vested in Us, and that India should thenceforth be governed by Us and in Our name, and that it is expedient that there should be a recognition of the transfer of government so made by means of an addition to be made to Our Style and Titles: and which Act, after the said recitals, enacts that it shall be lawful for Us, with a view to such recognition as aforesaid, of the transfer of the Government of India, by Our Proclamation under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom to make such addition to the Style and Titles at present appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies as to Us may seem meet; we have thought fit, by and with the advice of Our