At the Court at Saint James's, the 23rd day of January, 1901.

The KING'S Most Excellent Majesty in Council.

His Majesty being this day present in Council was pleased to make the following Declaration:

"Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords, and Gentlemen,-This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you.

"My first and melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of My beloved Mother the Queen, and I know how deeply you, the whole Nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathise with Me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained.

"I need hardly say that My constant endeavour will be always to walk in Her footsteps. In undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon me, I am full determined to be a Constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and as long as there is breath in My body to work for the good and amelioration of My people.

"I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has been borne by six of My ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the name of Albert, which I inherit from My ever to be lamented, great and wise Father, who by universal consent is I think deservedly known by the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should stand alone.

"In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the Nation to support Me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon Me by inheritance, and to which I am determined to devote My whole strength during the remainder of My life."

Whereupon the Lords of the Council made it their humble request to His Majesty that His Majesty's Most Gracious Declaration to their Lordships might be made public, which His Majesty was pleased to Order accordingly.

A. W. FITZROY.

At the Court at Saint James's, the 23rd day of January, 1901.

PRESENT,

The KING'S Most Excellent Majesty.
His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.

His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of York, Lord President Lord Privy Seal, Duke of Norfolk, Duke of Argyll, Duke of Portland, Duke of Northumberland, Duke of Fife, Marquis of Lansdowne, Marquis of Hertford, Marquis of Ripon Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, Earl of Chesterfield, Earl of Coventry, Earl of Kintore, Earl of Rosebery, Earl Spencer, Earl Cadogan, Earl of Cork and Orrery, Earl of Yarborough, Earl of Kimberley, Earl of Selborne, Earl Carrington, Lord Robert Montagu, Lord George Hamilton, Viscount Knutsford, Viscount Goschen, Viscount Ridley, Lord Arthur Hill, Lord Colville of Culross, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Suffield, Lord Ribblesdale, Lord Rowton, Lord Hobhouse, Lord Ashbourne, Lord Stalbridge, Lord Morris and Killanin, Lord Burghclere, Lord Rathmore, Lord Pirbright, Lord Brampton, Lord Robertson, Lord Alverstone, Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons Mr. Ritchie, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Brodrick, Mr. Evelyn Ashley, Mr. C. R. Spencer, Si Frederick Peel, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Sir J. C. Dalrymple Hay, Sir Richard Couch, Mr. James Lowther, Sir W. Hart-Dyke, Sir William Vernon Harcourt, Sir M. E. Grant Duff, Mr. Shaw Lefevre, Sir Charles Dilke, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Edward Malet, Sir H. Drummond Wolff, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Sir Arthur Otway, Mr. John Morley, Mr. J. W. Mellor, Sir Henry Fowler, Mr. L. H. Courtney, Sir J. E. Gorst, Mr. W. L. Jackson, Mr. Akers-Douglas, Sir Francis Jeune, Sir Archibald Smith, Mr. Arnold Morley, Mr. Asquith, Mr. A. H. D. Acland, Mr. J. Bryce, Mr. Jesse Collings, Mr. Seale-Hayne, Mr. Staveley Hill, Sir Algernon West, Sir John Rigby, Mr. Walter Long, Sir Richard Temple, Mr. Stuart-Wortley, Mr. A. Graham Murray (Lord Advocate), Sir Horace Rumbold, Sir John Kennaway, Mr. Lecky, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Sir Richard Henn Collins, Sir R. Vaughan Williams, Mr. E. R. Wodehouse, Sir Robert Romer, Sir Ford North, Sir Frederick Milner, Sir James Stirling, Mr. W. Ellison Macartney.

His Majesty, at His first coming into the Council, was this day pleased to declare that understanding that the Law required He should at His Accession to The Crown take and subscribe the Oath relating to the security of the Church of Scotland, He was now ready to do it this first opportunity, which His Majesty was graciously pleased to do, according to the Forms used by the Law of Scotland, and subscribed two Instruments thereof in the presence of the Lords of the Council, who witnessed the same. And His Majesty was pleased to order that one of the said Instruments be transmitted to the Court of Session, to be recorded in the Books of Sederunt, and afterwards to be forthwith lodged in the Public Register of Scotland, and that the other of them remain among the Records of the Council and be entered in the Council Book.

A. W. FITZROY.

By the KING.

A PROCLAMATION,

Requiring all Persons being in Office of Authority or Government at the decease of the late Queen to proceed in the execution of their respective Offices.

EDWARD, R.

WHEREAS by an Act made in the sixth year of the reign of Her late Majesty Queen Anne intituled an Act for the security of Her Majesty's Person and Government, and of the succession to the Crown of Great Britain in the Protestant line, it was enacted that no Office, Place, or Employment, Civil or Military, within the Kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland, Dominion of Wales, Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, or any of Her Majesty's Plantations, should become void by reason of the demise of Her said late Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors, Kings or Queens of this Realm, but that every person and persons in any of the offices, places, and employments aforesaid, should continue in their respective offices, places, and employments, for the space of six months next after such death or demise, unless sooner removed and discharged by the next Successor, to whom the Imperial Crown of this Realm was limited and appointed to go, remain, and descend: And whereas by an Act made in the first year of His late Majesty King William the Fourth now intituled "The Colonial Offices Act, 1830," it was enacted that no Patent, Commission, Warrant, or other Authority, for the exercise of any office or employment, Civil or Military, within any of His Majesty's Plantations or Possessions abroad, determinable at the pleasure of His Majesty, or of any of His Majesty's Heirs and Successors, shall by reason of any future demise of the Crown be vacated or become void until the expiration of eighteen calendar months next after any such Demise of the Crown as aforesaid: We, therefore, with the advice of Our Privy Council, declare Our Royal Will and Pleasure to be, and do hereby direct and command, That all and every Person and Persons, who at the Time of the Demise of Our late Royal Mother of Glorious Memory, duly and lawfully held, or were duly and lawfully possessed of or invested in any Office, Place, or Employment, Civil or Military, within Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Dominion of Wales, Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, or any of Our Foreign Possessions, or Colonies, or Our Empire of India, do severally, according to their Places, Offices, or Charges, proceed in the Performance and Execution of all Duties belonging to their respective Offices whilst they shall hold the same respectively during Our Pleasure; and We do hereby require and command all Our loving Subjects to be aiding, helping, and assisting, at the commandment of the said Officers and Ministers, in the Performance and Execution of their respective Offices and Places, as they and every of them tender Our utmost Displeasure and will answer the contrary at their Peril.

Given at Our Court at St. James's, this twenty-third day of January, in the Year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one.

GOD save the KING.

(From a Supplement to the London Gazette, February 4th, 1901.)

MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE.

WHITEHALL, February 4th, 1901.

THE following Letter from the King has been received by The Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Home Department :

TO MY PEOPLE.

WINDSOR CASTLE, February 4th, 1901.

NOW that the last Scene has closed in the noble and ever glorious life of My beloved Mother, The Queen, I am anxious to endeavour to convey to the whole Empire the extent of the deep gratitude I feel for the heart-stirring and affectionate tributes which are everywhere borne to Her Memory. I wish also to express My warm recognition of those universal expressions of what I know to be genuine and loyal sympathy with Me and with the Royal Family in our overwhelming sorrow. Such expressions have reached Me from all parts of My vast Empire, while at home the sorrowful, reverent and sincere enthusiasm manifested in the magnificent display by sea and land has deeply touched Me.

The consciousness of this generous spirit of devotion and loyalty among the millions of My Subjects and of the feeling that we are all sharing a common sorrow, has inspired Me with courage and hope during the past most trying and momentous days.

Encouraged by the confidence of that love and trust which the nation ever reposed in its late and fondly mourned Sovereign, I shall earnestly strive to walk in Her Footsteps, devoting Myself to the utmost of My powers to maintaining and promoting the highest interests of My People, and to the diligent and zealous fulfilment of the great and sacred responsibilities which, through the Will of God, I am now called to undertake.

EDWARD, R.I.

MESSAGE TO THE COLONIES.

DOWNING STREET, February 4th, 1901.

THE following Message has been forwarded by Command of His Majesty the King to all Colonies and Dependencies:

WINDSOR CASTLE, February 4th, 1901.

TO MY PEOPLE BEYOND THE SEAS.

THE countless messages of loyal sympathy which I have received from every part of My Dominions over the Seas testify to the universal grief in which the whole Empire now mourns the loss of My Beloved Mother.

In the welfare and prosperity of Her subjects throughout Greater Britain the Queen ever evinced a heartfelt interest.

She saw with thankfulness the steady progress which, under a wide extension of SelfGovernment, they had made during Her Reign. She warmly appreciated their unfailing loyalty to Her Throne and Person, and was proud to think of those who had so nobly fought and died for the Empire's cause in South Africa.

I have already declared that it will be My constant endeavour to follow the great example which has been bequeathed to Me.

In these endeavours I shall have a confident trust in the devotion and sympathy of the People and of their several Representative Assemblies throughout My vast Colonial Dominions.

With such loyal support I will, with God's blessing, solemnly work for the promotion of the common welfare and security of the great Empire over which I have now been called to reign.

EDWARD, R.I.

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MESSAGE TO INDIA.

INDIA OFFICE, February 4th, 1901.

THE King-Emperor has been graciously pleased to send the following Letter to the Princes and People of India :

WINDSOR CASTLE, February 4th, 1901.

TO THE PRINCES AND PEOPLE OF INDIA.

THROUGH the lamented death of My beloved and dearly-mourned Mother I have inherited the Throne, which has descended to Me through a long and ancient lineage.

I now desire to send My greeting to the Ruling Chiefs of the Native States, and to the Inhabitants of My Indian Dominions, to assure them of My sincere good-will and affection, and of My heartfelt wishes for their welfare.

My illustrious and lamented Predecessor was the first Sovereign of this Country who took upon Herself the direct Administration of the Affairs of India, and assumed the title of Empress in token of Her closer association with the Government of that vast Country. In all matters connected with India, the Queen-Empress displayed an unvarying deep personal interest, and I am well aware of the feeling of loyalty and affection evinced by the millions of its peoples towards Her Throne and Person. This feeling was conspicuously shown during the last year of Her long and glorious reign by the noble and patriotic assistance offered by the Ruling Princes in the South African War, and by the gallant services rendered by the Native Army beyond the limits of their own Country.

It was by Her wish and with Her sanction that I visited India and made Myself personally acquainted with the Ruling Chiefs, the people, and the cities of that ancient and famous Empire.

I shall never forget the deep impressions which I then received, and I shall endeavour to follow the great example of the first Queen-Empress to work for the general well-being of my Indian subjects of all ranks, and to merit, as She did, their unfailing loyalty and affection.

EDWARD, R. ET I.