194 FAREWELL BANQUET 



Difficulties beset your path and ours, but I have 

 no fear for the future. I have complete confidence 

 in the progress of this great country; in the re- 

 generation of the Indian people. I have con- 

 fidence, absolute and illimitable, in what is even 

 dearer to my heart : in good- will between your race 

 and mine ; in mutual respect and affection between 

 English and Indian. 



It was your King-Emperor himself who brought 

 you a message of sympathy and of hope. 



The atmosphere has changed from dark and 

 sullen to hopeful. Let East and West combine 

 to allow naught to overcloud that promising sky. 



CONCLUSION. 



We are going through a period of transition, 

 and such a time carries with it a heavy load of 

 anxiety. The burden will lie heavily on my 

 Colleagues of the great Civil Service, to whom 

 modern India owes its very existence. I know 

 full well how heavy that burden can be. 



But to him who is called upon to share in the 

 government of this country, I say, take to heart, 

 as I have done, the words of the Psalmist : 



" He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not 

 lifted up his soul unto vanity; nor sworn deceitfully: 



" He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteous- 

 ness from the God of his salvation." 



To my fellow-Indian subjects I say, be of good 

 cheer, the Government of India is the heritage of 

 no bureaucracy; it is the heritage of English 

 statesmanship, and the heart of England is sound 

 on this great question of Indian progress. Have 

 confidence in the assurance given you by the 

 Viceroy, whom your King-Emperor has appointed 

 to rule this country, in almost the first words he 

 spoke when he rose from a bed of suffering and of 

 sorrow : 



