eginning to rise, departs from us in splendour and
glory in the capacity of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of a
vast Empire like India, and is an example of the highest type to
all soldiers. This address is too brief for a detail of all the
meritorious services rendered by your Excellency in the Punjab, India
and other foreign countries from that early epoch to this date. Your
zeal in the Mutiny of 1857, your heroic achievements in the Abyssinian
and Afghan wars, your repeated victories of Kandahar, and your
statesmanlike conduct of the Burma wars--all these are facts which
deserve to be written in golden characters in the annals of Indian
history. Your appointment as legislative and executive member of the
Supreme Council of the Government of India for a considerable period
has proved a source of blessings to the whole of India, and Your
Excellency deserves an ample share of the credit due to the Council
for all its useful regulations and reforms. The great liking that
men of noble birth in India have been showing for some time towards
military service is a clear demonstration of the excellent treatment
received at your hands by military officers, as in the reforms made
by you in the military pay and pension and other regulations. Another
boon for which the Natives of India will always remember your name
with gratitude, is that you have fully relied upon, and placed your
confidence in, the Natives, thus uniting them the more firmly to the
British Crown, making them more loyal, and establishing the good
relations between the Rulers and the ruled on a firmer footing to
their mutual good. Especially as Mussalmans of the Punjab are we proud
that before Your Excellency's departure you have had the opportunity
of reviewing the Imperial Service Troops of the Mahomedan State of
Bhawalpur, one of the leading Native States of the Punjab, whose
Ruler's efforts to make his troops worthy to take their place by the
side of British troops for the defence of India is only one instance
of the spirit of active loyalty which we are glad to say animates the
entire Mussalman community of the Punjab. Disturbances arising from
foreign intrusions are not unknown to us, and we have not sufficient
words to thank your Lordship for the admirable management of the
frontier defence work carried on to protect our country from all
possible encroachments. The greatest pleasure and satisfaction,
however, that we Mahomedans feel in presenting this