Extract from the "Hongkong Daily Press" dated July, 1902.
PRESENTATION OF ADDRESSES.
The ceremony of presenting the various loyal Addresses to His Excellency for transmission to the King was performed in the Ball Room at Government House at half-past four o'clock. To this function the heads of Government Departments, members of Council and the members of the Coronation Committee and their wives had been invited. The presence of so many ladies, therefore, together with the variegated nature of the uniforms worn by the official guests and the wealth of tropical greenery which decorated the chamber, served to make up an imposing spectacle.
His Excellency Major-General Sir W. J. Gascoigne, K.C.M.G., the Officer Administering the Government, was dressed in full uniform and wore his Decorations and medals on his breast. His Excellency sat at the top of the hall behind a small table on which were laid the Addresses. Those who were to take part in the presentation ceremony stood in front and the others in the rear of the chair, while the ladies were seated on chairs placed round the upper end of the room.
Among those present were Lady Gascoigne, His Honour W. Meigh Goodman, Chief Justice; Hon. F. H. May, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary; Hon. Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley, K.B., Attorney-General; Hon. W. Chatham, Director of Public Works, Hon. R. Murray Rumsey, R.N., Harbour Master; His Honour A. G. Wise, Puisne Judge; Captain Hon. H. W. Trefusis, A.D.C., Mr. R. F. Johnston, Private Secretary; Hon. F. J. Badeley, Captain Superintendent of Police; Hon. Dr. Ho Kai, C.M.G.; Hon. C. S. Sharp, Hon. Robert Shewan, Hon. C. W. Dickson, Hon. G. W. F. Playfair, Hon. Wei A Yuk, Commander Robinson, Lieut-Colonel Hughes; Rev. E. J. Hardy, Chaplain to H. M. Forces; Right Rev. Bishop Piazzoli and the Rev. Fathers of the R.C. Church; Mr. E. A. Hewett, Hon. Secretary of the Coronation Committee; Mr. F. A. Hazeland, Police Magistrate; Rev. C. H. Hickling, Union Church; Dr. J. M. Atkinson, Principal Civil Medical Officer; Mr. H. N. Mody, Mr. Fung Wa Chun, Mr. Ho Tung; Mr. R. C. Wilcox, Mr. D. E. Brown, Mr. T. R. heid, Mr. E. H. Sharp; Mr. J. W. Norton Kyshe, Registrar; Mr. W. Poate, Captain Pritchard, H.K.V.C.; Mr. Ho Fook; Mr. C. Molony Messer, Acting Registrar-General; Captain Percy Scott, C.B.; Mr. A. G. Romano, Consul-General for Portugal; Mr. A. J. Raymond, Mr. E. Gompertz, Mr. P. P. J. Wodehouse, Mr. Mowbray S. Northcote, Mr. Gershom Stewart, Dr. G. M. Harston, Mr. F. Maitland, Mr. J. Leiria, and many Naval and Military officers.
The Masonic deputation, dressed in full regalia, was headed by Mr. E. C. Ray, Deputy District Grand Master, and consisted of Messrs. L. Mallory, E. Ormiston, H. W. Heuermann, G. L. Tomlin, Dr. F. W. Clark, Messrs. G. Piercy, F. W. Edwards, G. J. B. Sayer, A. O'D. Gourdin, W. J. Tutcher and F. D. Goddard, District Grand Lodge; J. Bryan, E. Brotherton Harker, Zetland; G. J. Edwards, E. H. Kay, C. W. Longue, Victoria; W. H. Wickham, A. G. Ward, Perseverance; G. G. Burnett, H. W. Wolfe, United Service; J. A. Tarrant, H. Jewitt, W. M. Everall, St. John's; and P. C. Hyett, Naval and Military.
The company having assembled and taken their places, His Excellency indicated that he was now ready to receive the Addresses.
His Honour W. Meigh Goodman stepped forward and said—Your Excellency,—Before reading and presenting to Your Excellency an Address to His Majesty the King, from the people of Hongkong, I would crave permission to make some few preliminary observations. As Your Excellency is aware, the date originally fixed for the Coronation of Their Majesties was the 26th June last. It was for that occasion that the Address was intended: and it was written, illuminated, signed by considerably more than a thousand persons, its cover of gold and velvet was designed and completed, and it was all in readiness before the sad tidings that His Majesty's illness necessitated the postponement of the Coronation, reached this Colony.
In these circumstances, it was thought better, and I believe Your Excellency quite concurred in that view, that the Address should still be presented. We know the keen, personal interest taken by His Majesty in every part of the British Dominions, even in those portions the furthest removed from the mother land; and it may well be that the respectful expression of loyalty and devotion to the King and the Royal family, embodied in the Address, may be as much appreciated by His Majesty during, let us hope, his period of convalescence, as if those expressions had been received by him some weeks after the Coronation had actually taken place.
There has never been a Coronation of any British Monarch since Hongkong became a Colony. The glorious reign of Her late revered Majesty, the longest known in British history, extended over such a lengthened period, that when the mournful message of her demise was flashed to us across the seas, we could, at first, hardly realise that Victoria the Good was no more. The very keystone of the arch of the British Empire seemed to have been taken away. In such a crisis we can but faintly understand the enormous burden of responsibility that fell upon the shoulders of His present Majesty.
Who could fill her place? Who but that eldest son, who for so long had stood beside her as the years increased, had helped to sustain her, had seen her enrage, had watched her noble life, and her love for her people, could have worthily occupied the glorious Throne she had vacated? How valuable his life! Some thirty years ago there was a public thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral for his deliverance from a terrible illness. Let us hope that, ere long, there may be another similar thanksgiving for his second deliverance, and for health and strength restored.
When Her late Majesty ascended the Throne, her heritage was doubtless both great and noble; but, when we compare the British Empire of to-day with that which existed at the accession of Queen Victoria, we can realise more fully how vastly that Empire and the responsibilities of its Sovereign have increased during the interval. Colonies not born when Victoria ascended the Throne have now attained to vigorous manhood, and are joining their prayers with ours for His Majesty's speedy recovery.
King Edward VII is not only King
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