THE KING IN INDIA.
[To THE EDITOR OE THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—You may recollect that some two years ago I sent you an interesting letter from an Indian on the subject of "Sedition among the Indians." I now attach an extract from a letter which I have received from the same Indian, a retired subordinate of the Indian Medical Service, which may be per- haps considered of sufficient interest to your readers to be published in your valuable paper.—I am, Sir, &e., Deloraine, Camberley, Surrey. ALICE P. linsoN.
" 14th December, 1911.
"DEAR, MADAIlf,—I apologize, as I am a week late this year in sending my usual salutations of the Bara Din, and I hope you would kindly excuse for this delay when I tell you that I with my children were enjoying the pleasures of the unique fest i vides which God Almighty in His kindness has allowed us, the Indians, after so many years of British Raj to partake of the ecstasy of seeing with our eyes not the Name but the August Personality of our Gracious Emperor and His Consort. hay God grant them very long lives to enjoy the submission and loyalty of His Indian subjects.
His Imperial Majesty has proved to us that we natives are lust as good subjects as Englishmen are. He loves us just as He oves you, and we also have now begun to love Him if not equally just now but far more than you in very near future. For wo Hindus believe the King to bo our God, and can make impossibles to be possible. And you can have an example of this in what our Emperor has done on December 12th, 1911, at Delhi, of which I hope you have-read in tho papers. And it is a pleasure to us to see that our kind Emperor acknowledges our love and loyalty in the open Durbar at Delhi before the people of all nations. I can therefore say at least this is what we think, and I hope you would kindly excuse me for opening my heart so frankly before you that there is now no difference between an Englishmen and an Indian —we are brothers, subject of the same Emperor who sometimes lives in Delhi and sometimes in London. For, in my opinion, difference of colour is no difference—it is an effect of climate. We may be wrong, but this is the way we are now thinking. And our pleasure feels no bounds when wo imagine that we can call any Englishman to be our fellow subjects.
Perhaps you know that Delhi has now been made the capital of India, and as Delhi is so close to us, being only four hours' journey by rail and the railway station is a few yards from our house, my children are thinking of opening a branch at Delhi. Up to this time the Bengal Province was enriched; now is the turn of Upper India to be affluent.
It would take much of your time if I go on writing what pleasures we Indians are feeling during this fortnight. Maas are held in every city in honour of the Coronation, and the whole city is lighted ablaze. It is not the Mukm, it is our pleasure. Every shop has got its God Save the King.' Her Majesty is coming to Agra on the 16th and live with us for three days. Big arches are being made in the city and all big arrangements are made for Her reception."
[There is something not a little moving in this letter, but could a better proof be afforded of how ridiculous is the notion of introducing into India the liberal and representative institu- tions of the West P Men like the writer of the above letter are not the material out of which self-governing communities are made.—En. Spectator.]
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