55. The verses of this poem correspond in number with the years of Her Most Gracious Majesty's reign, and the metre of Tavil is its rhythm. Her court was pure; her life serene; -TENNYSON. Victoria, the Good. Victoria the Good; good in all the various phases and stages of her long life; good as a girl in the simplicity of her good mother's home; good and simple and self-possessed when in the tender years of maidenhood, a kingdom's crown together with a kingdom's responsibilities was placed on her head; good and loving when she gave her heart away to the man of her choice, good and a perfect model for society at large as a true, loving wife and a mother of so many children; good and patient throughout the long years of widowhood; good and true in the domestic circle, not less good and true as the Queen and Empress of an Empire on which the sun never sets, a Queen and Empress with a heart big enough to hold millions, a Queen and Empress good and true to the rich and the poor, full of sympathy with every sorrow and calamity in the nearest and most distant parts of her Empire; good and true to all without any distinction of caste and creed. • Translation of Arabic Verses in token of loyalty and devotion by His Holiness The Moolajeesaheb, High Priest of Borah Mahomedans. A. D. 1890. The one great unfailing trait of the character of our beloved Queen Victoria was her readiness to hear appeals of distress made in any part of her kingdom or dominions; and it was her intense personal sympathy that made itself felt throughout the whole of the realm -even the most distant of her subjects did feel that as far as possible he or she had some part of her sympathy, and that she enjoyed that love and reverence which it was not the lot of any monarch in the history of the world to have done. * --HIS EXCELLENCY LORD LAMINGTON. True heart! Brave heart! Great Britain's noblest Thou reignest still o'er those who loved thee best; HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY KING AND '; Oh! prince, my highest wish for thee Thro' all thy earthly span That thou be great and aye retain The love of god and man. Hail, Noble Prince! to India's coral strand, Where thou may'st sure our hearts and arms command! See, how beneath our Empress-mother's reign, This fallen land hath risen once again. Locking the springs of joy in icy band! Reported in The Advocate of India of the 6th January 1904. At length, with pity moved, the Sovereign Lord Inspired with noble aim and purpose high, The Queen of th' azure deep came sweeping by. Thrice-blessed Prince! into whose destined hand Albert Edward! England's Son and Heir! Happy Heir to glorious Râma's throneKingliest of kings-beyond compare Perfect name that in the Orient shone ! Welcome to the land that nursed thy dream, To her gorgeous shows, her glow and gleam! Son of Her, our Mother as she 's thine, Son of Her, whose spotless life and fame, Redolent of graces sweet-benign, Have fill'd the world with Victoria's name! Thrice welcome to India's sunny shore, Where that name we loyally adore! Welcome him, O Indians! welcome him! Hindoos,-Moslems,-Parsis,-Buddists,-all! Now our cup of joy flows o'er the brim ! Welcome him from street and roof and hall! All that's ours from Himalay to sea, Streamers, shine with rainbow hues in air! Cannons boom! and trumpets, loudly blare! Welcome, for thou art our king to be! Welcome, for this realm's by heirship thine! Welcome, Heir of Albyn's Royal Line! -RAM SHARMA. * Welcome, most welcome, Prince of peace, Of virtuous parents born! Behold thine Empire's far extent,— None brighter crown hath worn. Read, Read the hearts that beat for thee Their wish is only one, That thou, like Victoria, pure may be, And good as Albert gone. • Of Calcutta. From an Ode of Welcome to H. R. H. the Prince of Wales. Then shall thy kingdom aye endure- On Pooree's sod, in Brindabun Hail, future Lord of India, hail! But when, relieved from earthly pain, A blessed life, O Prince, be thine! -CHUTEESH CHUNDER DUTT.* Owing to the illness of his Majesty, the King-Emperor, the coronation and its accompanying rejoicings and festivities had in the first instance to be postponed, and an operation was performed. The one thing that at that time weighed upon his Majesty's mind was the disappointment of the public at the postponement of the coronation, and the first words uttered by him after the operation were "Will my people ever forgive me?" *Of Calcutta. From a Poem of Welcome to H. R. H. The Prince of Wales. |