rtake."

A second Message was addressed "To my People beyond the Seas." After
referring to the countless dispatches which had been received from his
"Dominions over the Seas" and the universal grief felt throughout the
Empire, the King spoke of the "heartfelt interest" always evinced by the
late Sovereign in the welfare of Greater Britain, in the extension of
self-government, in the loyalty of the people to her Throne and person,
in the gallantry of those who had fought and died for the Empire in
South Africa. He concluded as follows: "I have already declared that it
will be my constant endeavour to follow the great example which has
been bequeathed to me. In these endeavours, I shall have a constant
trust in the devotion and sympathy of the people and of their several
representative assemblies throughout my vast Colonial dominions. With
such loyal support, I will, with God's blessing, solemnly work for the
common welfare and security of the great Empire over which I have now
been called to reign."

The next and last of these historic documents was a letter to the
Princes and peoples of India in which His Majesty informed them that
through the lamented death of his mother he had inherited a Throne
"which has descended to me through a long and ancient lineage" and then
proceeded: "I now desire to send my greeting to the ruling Chiefs of the
Native States and to the inhabitants of my Indian dominions, to insure
them of my sincere good will and affection and of my heartfelt wishes
for their welfare." He spoke of his illustrious predecessor as having
first taken upon herself the direct administration of Indian affairs and
assumed the title of Empress in token of her closer association with the
government of that country; referred to the loyalty of its people and
the services rendered by its Princes in the South African war and by its
native soldiers in other countries; and concluded in the following
expressive words: "It was by her wish and with her sanction that I
visited India and made myself acquainted with the ruling Chiefs, the
people and the cities of that ancient and famous Empire. I shall never
forget the deep impressions which I then received and I shall endeavour
to follow the great Queen-Empress, to work for the general well-being of
my Indian subjects of all ranks and to merit, as she did, their
unfailing loyalty and affection."

Following these incidents came the return home of the German Emperor, a
letter o