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 XXI.

AFTERTHOUGHTS.

Janttary 13.

ONE needed a rest after the close of this Imperial Assemblage before attempting to record a few final reflections upon it. Things had temporarily lost their true perspective. The mind had become blurred by so many splendid spectacles unveiled in rapid succession. It was as though a cinematograph had been at work upon a novel principle, revealing not one continuous picture, but a whirling variety of scenes, wherein only the central figures remained the same. For a whole year India had been preparing for the great event. For months beforehand people talked of little else. As the appointed days drew near the tension grew to straining point. Then, suddenly, " Click, click, click !" Almost before you realised it, the machine was in motion, the panorama was being unfolded before your eyes. There was one sharp, quick rush of dazzling scenes, and then it was over, leaving you breathless, astonished, exhausted. "I have been bludgeoned with impressions," said one newspaper man as he sank back into an easy chair after three weeks of the hardest work he had ever known in a busy life. I think that expressed the feeling of most of those who have been in Delhi during this memorable time. As we look back, tranquil and composed once more, upon all that we have seen,