Read it through once

The next and last of these historic documents was a letter to the Princes and peoples of India in which His Majesty informed them that through the lamented death of his mother he had inherited a Throne "which has descended to me through a long and ancient lineage" and then proceeded: "I now desire to send my greeting to the ruling Chiefs of the Native States and to the inhabitants of my Indian dominions, to insure them of my sincere good will and affection and of my heartfelt wishes for their welfare." He spoke of his illustrious predecessor as having first taken upon herself the direct administration of Indian affairs and assumed the title of Empress in token of her closer association with the government of that country; referred to the loyalty of its people and the services rendered by its Princes in the South African war and by its native soldiers in other countries; and concluded in the following expressive words: "It was by her wish and with her sanction that I visited India and made myself 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 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."