The Life of King Edward VII
hundred other Governments, public bodies, or prominent persons,
telegraphed messages of congratulation or formal Resolutions. The
references of the British and Colonial press were more than sympathetic.
The London _Standard_ thought that "the veneration felt for the Queen as
well as the general regard for the Prince's personal qualities and his
universal popularity might be supposed to give him absolute immunity,
even in these days of frenzied political animosity and unscrupulous
journalistic violence. The Prince is almost as well-known on the
Continent as he is at home, and his invariable courtesy and unaffected
kindness of heart have been appreciated and acknowledged in capitals
where his country is not regarded with affection." The London _Daily
News_ pointed out the utter absence of all excuse for such an attempt.
"The Prince had refrained with admirable tact and discretion from
interference with public affairs. All sorts of charitable and
philanthropic concerns have found in his Royal Highness a sympathetic
friend."
Returning home, on April 20th, the Prince of Wales was given a pleasant
surprise at Altona where, as his train stopped on German soil, he found
the Emperor William and Prince Henry of Prussia waiting with their
suites to welcome him to Germany and, at the same time, to offer
personal congratulations upon his escape. This occurrence created wide
comment in Europe generally, and was taken to mean a desire by the
German Emperor to express friendly national as well as friendly personal
feelings. When His Royal Highness arrived at Dover, the welcome was
immense in numbers and enthusiastic in character. The same thing
occurred at Charing-Cross Station, London, where he was met by the Duke
of York and the King of Sweden and Norway and wildly cheered by
thousands of people on his way to Marlborough House. As the _Standard_
put it next day: "No address of congratulation, presented by dignitaries
in scarlet and gold, could have been nearly as eloquent as that sea of
friendly faces and the ringing cheers of loyal men." In response to the
innumerable congratulations received, as well as to this reception, the
Prince of Wales issued a personal and public note of thanks in the
following terms:
"I have been deeply touched by the numerous expressions of sympathy and
goodwill addressed to me on the occasion of the providential escape of
the Princess of Wales and myself from the danger we have lately passed
through. From every quarter of the globe, from the Queen's subjects
throughout the world, as well as from the representatives and
inhabitants of foreign countries, have these manifestations of sympathy
proceeded, and on my return to this country I received a welcome so
spontaneous and hearty that I felt I was the recipient of a most
gratifying tribute of genuine good-will. Such proofs of kind and
generous feeling are naturally most highly prized by me, and will
forever be cherished in my memory."
CHAPTER XVII.
Accession to the Throne
The death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edward were the
first and perhaps the greatest events in the opening year of the new
century. Before the formal announcement on January 18th, 1901, which
stated that the Queen was not in her usual health and that "the great
strain upon her powers" during the past year had told upon Her Majesty's
nervous system, the people in Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia, in
all the Isles of the Sea and on the shores of a vast and scattered
Empire, had become so accustomed to her presence at the head of the
State and to her personality in their hearts and lives that the
possibility of her death was regarded with a feeling of shocked
surprise.
During the days which immediately followed and while the shadow of death
lay over the towers of Windsor, its influence was everywhere perceptible
throughout the press, the pulpit and amongst the peoples of the
Empire--in Montreal as in Winnipeg, in busy Melbourne and in
trouble-tossed Cape Town, in Calcutta and in Singapore. When the Prince
of Wales, on Thursday evening, the 22nd of January, telegraphed the Lord
Mayor of London that "My beloved mother, the Queen, has just passed
away," the announcement awakened a feeling of sorrow, of sympathy and of
Imperial sentiment such as the world had never seen before in such
wide-spread character and spontaneous expression.
Yet there was no expression of uneasiness as to the future; no question
or doubt as to the new influence and power that must come into existence
with the change of rulers; no fear that the Prince of Wales, as King
and Emperor, would not be fully equal to the immense responsibilities of
his new and great position. Perhaps no Prince, or statesman, or even
world-conqueror, has ever received so marked a compliment; so universal
a token of respect and regard as was exhibited in this expression of
confidence throughout the British Empire.
THE EMPIRE'S CONFIDENCE IN THE NEW KING
Public bodies of every description in the United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, India and other British countries rivalled each
other in their tributes of loyalty to the new Sovereign as well as of
respect for the great one who had gone. The press of the Empire was
practically a unit in its expression of confidence, while the pulpit,
which had during past years, expressed itself occasionally in terms of
criticism, was now almost unanimous in approval of the experienced,
moderate and tried character of the King. The death which it was once
thought by feeble-minded, or easily misled individuals, would shake the
Empire to its foundations was now seen to simply prove the stability of
its Throne, and the firmness of its institutions in the heart of the
people. The accession of the Prince of Wales actually strengthened that
Monarchy which the life and reign of his mother had brought so near to
the feelings and affections of her subjects everywhere.
On the day following the Queen's death the new Sovereign drove from
Marlborough House to St. James's Palace; accompanied by Lord Suffield
and an escort of the Horse Guards. He had previously arrived in London
from Windsor at an early hour accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, the
Duke of York, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Balfour and others. The streets
were densely crowded with silent throngs of people; crape and mourning
being visible everywhere, and the raised hat the respectful recognition
accorded to His Majesty. Later in the day the people found their voices
and seemed to think that they could cheer again. At St. James's Palace
the members of the Privy Council had gathered to the number of 150 and
were representative of the greatest names and loftiest positions in
British public life.
THE KING ADDRESSES THE PRIVY COUNCIL
Members of the Royal family, the members of the Government, prominent
Peers, leading members of the House of Commons, the principal Judges and
the Lord Mayor of London--by virtue of his office--were in attendance.
Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Balfour; the Dukes
of Norfolk, Devonshire, Portland, Northumberland, Fife and Argyll; the
Earls of Clarendon, Pembroke, Chesterfield, Cork and Orrery and Kintore;
Lord Halsbury, Lord Ashbourne, Lord Knutsford, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach,
Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord George Hamilton, Mr. St. John Brodrick,
the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mr. W. H. Long, M.P., Lord Ridley, Sir. H.
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir J. E. Gorst, the Marquess of Ripon, Lord
Goschen, Mr. H. H. Asquith, Lord Pirbright, Lord Selborne, Sir R.
Temple, Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, Sir Drummond Wolff, Sir Charles Dilke, Lord
Stalbridge, Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, Mr. John Morley, Earl Spencer and Earl
Carrington were amongst those present. After the Council had been
officially informed by its President of the Queen's death and of the
accession of the Prince of Wales, the new Sovereign entered, clad in a
Field Marshal's uniform, and delivered, without manuscript or notes, a
speech which was a model of dignity and simplicity. Its terms showed
most clearly both tact and a profound perception of his position and its
importance was everywhere recognized:
"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 melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my
beloved mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you and the whole
nation, and, I think I may say, the whole world, sympathize 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 fully
determined to be a constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense
of the word, and, so 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, and
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."
After the oath of allegiance had been taken by those present, the
proclamation announcing the accession of the new Monarch was signed by
the Duke of York--now also Duke of Cornwall,--the Duke of Connaught, the
Duke of Cambridge, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Lord Chancellor, the Lord Mayor of London, and the other Privy
Councillors present. The Houses of Parliament met shortly afterwards and
the members took the oath of allegiance, while all around the Empire the
same ceremony was being gone through in varied tongues and many forms
and strangely differing surroundings. There was wide-spread interest in
His Majesty's choice of a name, and the designation of Edward VII. was
almost universally approved--the exceptions being in certain Scotch
contentions that the numeral could not properly apply to Scotland as a
part of Great Britain. The name itself reads well in English history.
Edward the Confessor, though not included in the Norman chronology, was
a Saxon ruler of high attainments, admirable character and wise laws.
Edward I, was not only a successful soldier and the conqueror of wild
and warlike Wales, but a statesman who did much to establish unity and
peace amongst his people. Edward II. was remarkable chiefly for the
thrashing which the Scots gave him at Bannockburn while Edward III. was
the hero of Crecy, the winner of half of France, and a brave and able
ruler. Edward IV. was a masterful, hard and not over-scrupulous monarch,
and Edward V. was one of the unfortunate boys who were murdered in the
Tower of London. Edward VI. was a mild-natured and honest youth who did
not live long enough to impress himself upon a strenuous period, or upon
interests with which his character little fitted him to deal. The last
of the name had reigned, therefore, before the Kingdom of England got
out of its national and religious swaddling clothes; before the reign of
Henry VIII. had freed it from connection with Rome, or that of Elizabeth
had founded the maritime and commercial empire which, in time, was to
create the mighty realm over which the new Edward now assumed sway.
INCIDENTS SURROUNDING THE ACCESSION
The Proclamation of the King in the cities of the United Kingdom and at