Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



273 



INDIAN REVIEWS ON THE DURBAR. 



The Indian Rei'iru- brings out a special Durlxir 

 number, with a series of symposia, with contributors 

 Enghsh and Indian, including Sir William VVcdderburn, 

 Mr. Frederic Harrison. Lord Kinnaird. Ur. Clifford, 

 Mr. Harold Co.x and .Mrs. .\nnie Bcsant. 1 hey form 

 together a chorus of applause. 



Mrs. Annie Besant. 



The scene at Delhi seems to have impressed Mrs. 

 Annie Be.sant very deeply, but, she added :— 



There were incidents in these gorgeous IJclhi days, however, 

 that touched tlie heart more than these splendid pageants. Tlie 

 King-Emperor was leaving the polo ground on foot, strolling 

 over lowar<ls his carriage. As he came to the road there was a 

 great rush of the poor people, who had gathered thickly in the 

 hope of seeing one who, to the Hindu, is very God on earth. 

 Not unnaturally, perhaps really alarmed for his safety, the 

 police and soliliers pushed them roughly 

 back. But quickly the Emperor raised 

 his voice and checked the men, bidding 

 them let the [icoplc come near. En- 

 couraged by his smiling face, they 

 crowded round: " Oh I stand and let 

 us ^ee you." And he stood smiling, the 

 good Emperor with his fatherly heart, 

 and his poor gazed their full. Again, at 

 the garden party at the Fort, he and his 

 Empress took the trouble to put on their 

 royal robes and croivns that the vast 

 crowds of the poor, gathered on the plain 

 which stretches from the foot of the wall 

 to the river, might see their monarch? 

 clad in Imperial garb ; the crowd cheered 

 and cheered again, and their faces were 

 a sight to see. Then they disrobe<l, to 

 wallt again amid their guests in ordinary 

 ilress. 



Mr. H. P. Mody in East and W'esl 

 for February speaks enthusiastic- 

 ally of the Indian Coronation and 

 its effects, and says : — 



The result was due in a large mea.sure 

 10 the personality of the King-Emperor. 

 I.et me not commit myself to the pleasant 

 fictions which it is usual to indulge in in 

 speaking of exalted personages. King 

 (korge may not yet enjoy that general 

 personal popularity which his late father 

 commanded in such a large measure. 

 There is a wide iliffcrcnce in their habits 



and temperament. But King George has shown, during the 

 brief period which h.is elapsed since his accession to the throne, 

 thai he possesses in a remarkable degree the purpose and capacity 

 th.it iii.ike a ruler of men. 



The Chance of Capital. 



The lltiultistan Review declares : — 



The changr of capital from Calcutta to Delhi h.as been 

 approved of by the organs of public opinion in all parts of the 

 country — except by one Indian and two Anglo-Indian journals 

 of Calcutta, The almost universal opinion of the country — 

 which we ourselves share— is that the proposed change will lie 

 beneficial and advaiilageous to the public interests of India at 

 targe, though it ni.ay partially affect the vested interests in 

 Calcutta. 



Things Left Out. 



Sundara Raja, writing in the Rajfml Herald of the 

 change of capital, sa\s, "F.\<rpi this discomfort for 



Hindi i'unch J 



Hurrah for the 



a few lazy office clerks, not a single living real Indian is 

 against the change." But while carefully distinguish- 

 ing the King-Emperor from the conduct of his Ministers, 

 the writer puts in questjon form the things that were 

 left undone : — 



First of all, .isk whether the enormous and ever- increasing 

 ta.xalion has been reduced ; ask again if the numerous political 

 [irisoncrs were released ; thirdly, make an inquiry as to whetlier 

 education was made free, if not compulsory ; fourth, see 

 whether the broken pledges in the late (^ucen-Empress 

 Victoria's proclamation of 1858 have been re-installed in their 

 places ; tilth, whether the lawless laws of deportation and 

 similar other freedom-depriving and liberty-killing legislations 

 were erased from the .Statute-book ; and last, but not least of 

 all, whether any democratic tinge has licen added to the present 

 unsatisfactory, non-satisfying Legislative Councils, formed 

 under the personal inception of the most autocratic of all 

 .Secretaries of Stale for India, Lord Morley. Ask these 

 questions, and the very walls will echo in 

 reply, " No.'' " No," five times " No." 

 Then are we to call these changes boons 

 to the people 'i 



The Gaekwar Incident. 



On the Gaekwar incident the 

 Raj put Herald expresses deep regret 

 that the Gaekwar should have ap- 

 peared in a miserable dress, a dress 

 which would be construed as un- 

 warranted insult even by the 

 sovereign princes of India. Hence- 

 forth, says the writer, the Maha- 

 raja of Baroda is ruler of Baroda, 

 and nothing more. He has lost 

 his reputation as the leader of the 

 nation. The writer also deplores 

 the concurrent events that have 

 lowered him in the estimation of 

 his people. Posing as a social re- 

 former, he gave assent to the 

 polygamotis marriage of his 

 daughter. Then came the Divorce 

 Court. Strange astrological signs 

 have conjoined to pull him down. 



The Unueri.ving Principle. 



The Rajfml Herald, which has 

 completed its first year, says 

 of the Delhi Durbar : — 



' It isan'event of which none can deny the historic importance. 

 The practical unity of East and West had been for long the 

 musing of poets ami the dream of politicians ; for centuries h.id 

 the West attempted to join the Asiatic tributary to the main 

 stream of its civilisation. This, in a measure, the Duibar has 

 .accomplished. Not. the pageantry and pomp; not the Ini baric 

 splendour that characterised the ceremony— it is not these that 

 so much contribute to the union and co-operation of lOast ami 

 West, .IS the jirinciple underlying the visit of His Majesty to 

 Delhi, his tangible recognition of India as a factor of ImjKrial 

 greatness : this it is which links India and F.nglarid. To a 

 people living 7,cxx3 miles away the i.lea of an I'.nglish king was 

 vague, appealing merely to iinaginalli>n ; but to see their 

 Emperor face to face in their own lan>l instills into ihcm dcc|K'r 

 feelings of love and loyally. This cements India and England 

 closer and firmer than any fin mal act of best conceived diplomacy. 

 In the history of Asia this Delhi Durbar will stand out asa politi- 

 cal event of the greatest importance, and the year will not be 

 r.i?>ily forgotten. 



Nevr Capital I 



