Who's Who in India Supplement 1 (1912)/Farewell to India

by Prag Narain Bhargava

FAREWELL TO INDIA

Their Majesties arrived in Bombay on the morning of December 10th. They at once drove to the Pavilion at Apollo Bunder which had been prepared for the final ceremony of their departure. On the way the streets were again lined with most enthusiastic throngs, eager to see their King-Emperor and Queen-Empress, who had had such a triumphal tour through Northern India. An Address was presented by Sir Richard Lamb on behalf of the Bombay Presidency, to which His Majesty was pleased to reply as follows :

"I thank you sincerely on behalf of the Queen-Empress and myself for the kind and generous terms of the Address of Farewell which you present in the name of the people of the Bombay Presidency.

"The cordial welcome which we received on our arrival in your Capital was the prelude to that display of warm hearted loyalty which has characterized every stage of our progress during the past five weeks. And now we have listened with mingled feelings of gratification and sorrow to your touching words of farewell and God-speed, and your hopeful forecast as to the benefits which India will derive from this visit deepens our thankfulness at having accomplished the earnest wish of our hearts. It has given me infinite pleasure to be once more among my faithful subjects in India, and the Queen-Empress and I have been touched beyond words by the genuine love and devotion towards us which we feel have entered into the spirit of the people. Our one and only cause of regret during these past happy weeks has been our inability to stay longer in this country and to visit the ancient Presidency of Madras and the States of the many Chiefs who have offered us their generous hospitality. On leaving the shores of India we carry lasting memories of experiences made pleasant by every means that thoughtful care and affectionate regard could devise.

"We ferventlv trust that our visit may, by God's grace, conduce to the general good of the people of this great

THEIR MAJESTIES' ARRIVAL IN CALCUTTA

continent whose interests and well-being will always be as near and as dear to me as those of the millions of my subjects in other quarters of the globe.

"It is a matter of intense satisfaction to me to realize how-all classes and creeds have joined together in the true-hearted welcome which has been so universally accorded to us. Is it not possible that the same unity and concord may for the future govern the daily relations of their private and public life? The attainment of this would indeed be to us a happy outcome of our visit to India.

"To you, the representatives of Bombay, who have greeted us so warmly on our arrival and departure, I deliver this our message of loving farewell to the Indian Empire. May the Almighty ever assist me and my successors in the earnest endeavour to promote its welfare and to secure to it the blessings of prosperity and peace."

After the King had made his speech various officials were presented to Their Majesties, also H. H. the Maharaja of Kolhapur and H. H. the Begum of Bhopal.