The Life of King Edward VII
bowed low before her and kissed her proffered hand. Whether in high
circles, or in those of ordinary people, in expected surroundings or
amid unexpected conditions, the Prince seemed to always retain this
faculty of politeness in the true sense of the word--a product of heart
and mind rather than of mere instruction or habit.
His manner and style of public speaking was an incident in the Prince of
Wales' career which exercised considerable influence upon his personal
popularity. The pronounced factors in his style were not oratory,
gestures, or brilliancy. Plain in matter and manner the speeches always
were; full of meat and substance they frequently were; neat and
effective they were generally considered. Mr. Gladstone once went
further than this description would seem to warrant when he declared
that there were few speakers whom he listened to with more pleasure.
"His speeches are invariably marvels of conciseness, graceful expression
and clear elocution". His voice was a good one, clear and distinct and
well-trained. Nervous in his younger days and accustomed to learn the
speeches off for delivery, he gradually changed with age and experience
into the delivery of _impromptu_ after-dinner remarks and speeches which
did not show traces of the midnight oil or earnest preparation--although
often full of facts and incidents about the immense variety of subjects
with which he had to deal.
Intimately connected with these characteristics of his was the
unquestioned ability to judge human nature. This quality enabled the
Prince to play his difficult part so well as he did, to keep him in
touch with all classes and the masses, to cultivate all the varied
elements of a changing national life, and to be as much at home amongst
business men as at the Royal Academy--amongst the aristocracy of London
as with the farmers of Norfolk. He was ever a good judge of the people
around him and, perhaps, no man in modern life was so well and
faithfully served. His memory for names and faces was extraordinary and
would remind Canadians of the unique faculty in this connection
possessed by the late Sir John Macdonald. He always hated affectation
and toadyism and liked sincerity and simplicity. Marie Corelli, writing
in 1897, used the following expressive words: "To entertain the Prince
do little; for he is clever enough to entertain himself privately with
the folly and humbug of those he sees around him, without actually
sharing in the petty comedy. He is a keen observer and must derive
infinite gratification from his constant study of men and manners, which
is sufficiently deep and searching to fit him for the occupation of even
the throne of England. I say 'even', for at present, till time's great
hourglass turns, it is the grandest throne in the world".
Patronage of music, art and the drama were characteristic incidents in
the life and work of the Prince. The day for helping literature had
perhaps gone when he came upon the scene and newspapers were then
supposed to do for budding genius what royalty and aristocracy did for
Johnson, Goldsmith, Swift or Pope. It is a curious fact of later-day
democracy that, with the obvious exception of Kipling, most of the
greater lights in literature--Browning, Rossetti, Tennyson, Mathew
Arnold or Swinburne--were born with fairly comfortable means. This in
passing, of course. Something has been said elsewhere as to His Royal
Highness's patronage of music and there is no doubt that he taught smart
society to support the opera, while his personal enthusiasm for Wagner
was pronounced and sincere.
THE THEATRE AND THE CHURCH
He patronized the theatre for many years with regularity and
discrimination; his taste in all matters of light comedy and opera was
known to be good; and it goes without saying that his approval of a play
or actor made many a reputation and fortune. He used to make his own
selection of theatre or play, pay handsomely for his own box, arrive
punctually on time and remain till the end, or very near it. His dislike
of ostentation soon did away with the old fashion of a manager walking
upstairs backward before royalty and his leaving a little early was to
avoid causing delay and confusion with their carriages amongst the other
guests of the theatre. Actors have greatly exaggerated the extent of his
patronage and friendship. But he more than once took supper with Sir
Henry Irving and it is understood to have been by his advice that the
great tragedian was knighted. He it was who encouraged the late Queen to
resume her patronage of the theatre and to begin by having Mr. and Mrs.
Kendal appear before her at Osborne. He never liked, however, the
appearance of members of the aristocracy on the stage and his daughters
are said to have never taken part even in private theatricals. He is
said to have enjoyed a private visit and smoke behind the scenes and
George Grossmith is stated to have been one of those who were most
patronized in this respect.
An interesting feature of his many-sided career and character was the
Heir Apparent's attention to his religious duties. At Marlborough and at
Sandringham prayers were read daily, in the morning, and guests, staff
and servants were expected, though not compelled, to be present. On
Sunday the Prince invariably attended morning service either at the
Chapel Royal in London, or at the quaint and beautiful little Chapel of
St. Mary Magdalene, in the country. The latter was filled with handsome
Memorial windows and tablets and there, for many years, worshipped the
future King with the humblest labourers on his estate. The only
distinction made was in the private entrance for the Prince and the
reserved pews for his guests and family. His daughters taught in the
Sunday School and the Princess had charge of the music. It has been said
that the Prince never attended Divine service on a Sunday in any but an
Episcopal church. Certainly the records of his travels and habits appear
to confirm this statement. Whether in Bombay, or Montreal, or New York,
he seems to have always attended the services of the Established Church
or its daughter Churches. Even in Rome, where he once spent Easter
Sunday, impressive ceremonies conducted by the Pope at St. Peter's did
not prevent him from attending a quiet little English church and
explaining that when members of the Church were in foreign lands they
should be especially particular in encouraging their own form of faith.
Of course, as a traveller of wide experience the Prince visited all the
great cathedrals of the Continent and was familiar with the splendid
Mohammedan mosques and Hindoo temples and sacred shrines which helped to
make the glittering East so attractive. But they were visited on
week-days. He was supposed to be broad in his principles as a Churchman
and certainly at state weddings and funerals in other countries he
shared in various forms of worship. The Princess of Wales was known to
have attended ritualistic services before her husband's accession to
the Throne, but she far more often attended Low or Broad Church
services. On Sundays at Sandringham the Prince used, in the afternoons,
to walk about the grounds with his family or guests, visit the kennels,
the bear-pit, the model farms or the Princess's lovely little dairy and
its suite of tiny attached rooms where tea would often be served. In
London he would sometime attend Divine service again or else pay calls
in his private hansom and then dine quietly with friends or have a few
of them to dinner at Marlborough. Sunday afternoons at Sandringham were
always greatly enjoyed by Sir Frederick Leighton and Lord Beaconsfield
but Mr. Gladstone is said to have best liked long, lonely rambles
through the woods of the estate.
An important part of the character of a man in the position so long held
by the Prince of Wales is the fact of moderation, or otherwise, in
eating and drinking. It is a vital factor in the lives of all men but
how much more so when great banquets are for months a daily function;
when every luxury, or delicacy, or combination of cookery known to the
civilized world and the barbaric East is at one time or another offered
for his delectation; when the power of rulers and the wealth of
millionaires are devoted to the furnishing of choice wines and
_liqueurs_ and drinks for his use. The good health always enjoyed by the
Prince was perhaps proof enough of his moderation at the table. His
habits in this respect became pretty well known. Tea at breakfast and in
the afternoon he always liked; Moselle cup he enjoyed and was rather
proud of possessing the receipt brought from Germany by the Prince
Consort; champagne for many years was almost his exclusive beverage
though afterwards claret took its place. Between meals he seldom drank
anything though a well-known "cocktail" in the London clubs is credited
to his invention. He always strongly disapproved of ladies drinking
anything but a little wine and this was well understood by his own
guests or by those at houses where he visited.
Reference must be made here to one unpleasant incident in the Prince of
Wales' later career--unpleasant in its results and in the comments of
the press and pulpit. To playing cards for an occasional evening's
amusement the Prince was always partial, but not to the extent which was
sometimes asserted.
CARDS AND THE BACCARAT AFFAIR
During his journeys abroad he seldom or never played and he made a
strict and early rule against playing in clubs. His friends say that he
used to frequently dissuade younger men or the sons of old friends from
forming a habit in this connection and as a well-known man of the world,
without affectation and with wide experience and a naturally commanding
influence, his views no doubt had great weight. Hence the most
regrettable feature in the famous Baccarat case of 1890 which was, for a
time, one of the most talked-of and preached-at incidents in modern
social life. To understand the matter it is necessary to look at the
Prince's environment. He was the leader of society and society, together
with a large proportion of people everywhere, saw no harm in a game of
cards, or even in the accompaniment of playing for ordinary money
stakes, any more than they saw harm in racing and betting upon the
results, or in dancing and its accompaniment of late hours and perhaps
frivolous dissipation. Yet to many people in the United Kingdom and the
Empire danger and evil lurked in one or all of these amusements and it
was a shock to them to find that the Heir Apparent actually indulged in
card-playing; although everyone had known that he patronized the other
two pursuits referred to.
The history of the affair may be told briefly. On September 8th, during
the Doncaster races, Mr. Arthur Wilson, a very wealthy shipowner, was
entertaining a large party at Tranby Croft, near Hull, which included
the Prince of Wales, Lord Coventry, General Owen Williams, Sir William
Gordon-Cumming, Lord Craven, Lord and Lady Brougham and Lord Edward
Somerset. When each day's racing was over and the company had returned
to Tranby Croft and finished dinner, Baccarat was introduced as the
amusement of the evening and played for a couple of hours. The stakes
were moderate--for such a party--and ran from five shillings to ten
pounds. About seventeen people, ladies and gentlemen, usually sat down
and the Prince of Wales was the life of the party, as he generally was,
whatever the occupation or sport. On the date mentioned, Mr. Stanley
Wilson, the host's son, thought he saw Sir W. Gordon-Cumming using his
counters fraudulently and informed Lord Coventry and General Williams of
his suspicions. On the third evening a committee of five--two ladies and
three gentlemen--watched the baronet and unanimously agreed that they