Proclamation by Queen Victoria on her becoming the Empress of India (1.1.1877)
We trust that the present occasion may tend to unite in bonds of yet closer affection ourselves and our subjects. That from the highest to the humblest all may feel that under our rule the great principles of Liberty, Equity, and Justice are secured to them. And that to promote their happiness To add to their Prosperity and Advance their welfare are the ever present Aims and Objects of our Empire.
In their Prosperity will be our strength, in their Contentment our Security and in their Gratitude our best Reward.
We trust that the present occasion may tend to unite in bonds of yet closer affection ourselves and our subjects. That from the highest to the humblest all may feel that under our rule the great principles of Liberty, Equity, and Justice are secured to them. And that to promote their happiness To add to their Prosperity and Advance their welfare are the ever present Aims and Objects of our Empire.
In their Prosperity will be our strength, in their Contentment our Security and in their Gratitude our best Reward.
The above words are inscribed on the walls of the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. I am always impressed by them and the majesty of their resonance. These words ushered in more than a century of alien rule in our country. But for the imperiliastic tone, the words themselves are those of a benign monarch aware of the huge responsibilty that she was taking up.
These words and the sense of responsibility with which they are said sometimes reconcile me to all aspects of British Rule except the atrocities and inequities like Jallianwalah Bagh.
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