The Life of King Edward VII
and a visit to the Zoological Gardens. Before sailing for South Africa
on July 26th, the new Heir Apparent addressed a formal farewell to the
people of Australia in the form of a letter to the Earl of Hopetoun.
Reference was made at some length to the twenty-five thousand troops
reviewed during the visit, to the educational systems of the States, to
the loyalty exhibited to the King and the generous personal reception
given by the people, to the hospitality of Governments and the good
management and kindness of officials. Finally he said:
"We leave with many regrets, mitigated, however, by the hope that
while we have gained new friendships and good will, something may
also have been achieved towards strengthening and welding together
the Empire, through the sympathy and interest which have been
displayed in our journey both at home and in the Colonies. The
Commonwealth and its people will ever have a warm place in our
hearts. We shall always take the keenest interest in its welfare,
and our earnest prayer will be for its continued advancement not
only in material progress, but in all that tends to make life noble
and happy."
The response of the press to this Message was pronounced and may be
represented by the statement of the Melbourne _Argus_ on June 29th, that
from first to last "the Australasian visit was a success, in every way
worthy of its statesmanlike conception and purpose." The Royal couple
came from King and Empire, and their mission was personally performed
with unique success. "Everywhere they were received with demonstrations
of delighted loyalty. They were living symbols of British unity. From
all they will take back a reciprocal message to King and Empire. There
is not a single blemish upon the record of the visit. Not one imprudent
word was spoken, not one slight left a stinging recollection."
Mauritius was reached on August 4th, and the brightly-decorated streets
of the capital were crowded with Creoles, Mohammedans, Hindoos, and
Chinese, while the French language was everywhere, and the English
tongue seldom heard. Tropical flowers and foliage were brilliant and
plentiful in the plans of decoration, and the streets were lined with a
combination of Bengal Infantry, Royal Artillery and Engineers. At
Government House the first investiture of knighthood in the Island's
history was held and various addresses received. The foundation-stone of
a statue of Queen Victoria was then laid, a procession of Hindoo and
Chinese children witnessed and a drive taken through the town. The next
four days were spent in strict privacy at the residence of Sir Charles
Bruce, the Governor, with the exception of a state dinner and Reception
on the first evening.
ROYAL RECEPTION IN SOUTH AFRICA
War-tossed South Africa was sighted on August 13th and the landing took
place at Durban, where the welcome was enthusiastic. There were many
arches and excellent decorations, eleven thousand singing children,
crowded streets and shouting spectators who included Zulus, Kaffirs of
all kinds, Indian coolies and the whole white population. In a Royal
pavilion, specially constructed, addresses were presented and answered,
and the train was taken to Pietermaritzburg after luncheon with the
Mayor and a distinguished gathering. A deputation of ladies had,
meanwhile, presented the Duchess with a table-gong made of pompom shells
mounted on a rhinoceros horn. The railway to the capital of Natal was
patrolled by mounted troops, and the drive through the illuminated city
and densely-packed streets to Government House was done at night. On the
following day the place was found to be handsomely decorated with many
arches and the first function was the Royal inauguration of a new Town
Hall. The cheering of the people was intense and continuous in the
streets. Afterwards addresses were presented--that of the Corporation
in a singularly beautiful casket of ivory and gold. In his eloquent
speech the Duke referred to the events and sacrifices of the war. They
had not been in vain. "Never in our history did the pulse of Empire beat
more in unison; and the blood which has been shed on the veldt has
sealed for ever our unity, based upon a common loyalty and a
determination to share, each of us according to our strength, the common
burden." An address was also presented from Johannesburg and specially
replied to.
In the afternoon there was an extraordinary assemblage, composed of the
dignitaries of political and social life and the pick of the great
British army in South Africa--a quarter of a million fighting men. It
was a gathering of eleven holders of the V.C., and forty-three holders
of the honour next in degree for bravery in the field--the D.S.O. These
famous medals were conferred by the Duke of Cornwall and York, and then
a great deputation of Zulu Chiefs, clad in barbaric war paraphernalia,
presented loyal congratulations. A reception was held in the evening and
the city illuminated. The next day the voyage was resumed, and Simon's
Bay reached on August 19th. After landing, through a guard of one
thousand bluejackets, and receiving an address from the Mayor, the
special train was taken to Cape Town. There the formal reception was
given by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the President of the
Legislative Council, the Archbishop, the Chief Justice, the Mayor, the
President of the Africander Bond and other officials or public men. The
reception in the streets was enthusiastic, and it has been said that
more Union Jacks were displayed than at any other point on the tour. A
Levee was held in the afternoon at the Parliament Buildings and two
thousand citizens were presented, while addresses were received from
many public bodies in Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, and Rhodesia.
A memorable event occurred on the succeeding day, when in the
Government House grounds, His Royal Highness and the Duchess received
over one hundred native chiefs who had come from all parts of South
Africa, laden with unique and peculiar gifts, clad in extraordinary
costumes and led by Lerothodi of the Basutos and Khama, the famous Chief
of Bechuanaland. Short speeches were interchanged, and then the Duke and
Duchess drove to Grootschur, to visit Mr. Cecil Rhodes. On the following
day the Duke accepted an honorary degree from the University of Cape
Town--of which he was already Chancellor--and in the afternoon received
some six thousand school children, Colonial and Dutch, who sang an Ode
of welcome and presented a gift of Basuto ponies for the Royal children
in far-away London. There was also an evening reception and the same
splendid illuminations which had graced the previous night. The last day
of the visit included the laying of the foundation-stone of a Nurse's
Home in memory of the late Queen, and of the corner-stone of the new St.
George's Cathedral. Despatches were interchanged with Lord Kitchener,
and a letter written by His Royal Highness to the Governor, Sir Walter
Hely-Hutchinson, expressive of the deep gratitude of his wife and
himself for their reception and the earnest hope that peace would soon
be restored. An investiture of knighthood was also held, and on August
23rd the Royal couple were once more on the _Ophir_ heading for distant
Canada.
ARRIVAL AT HISTORIC QUEBEC
After a voyage in which every kind of ocean weather was experienced, or
suffered, the mighty St. Lawrence was reached, and finally the City of
Quebec, on the 15th of September. The arrival was the commencement of a
continental tour which proved a fitting crown to the whole splendid
Empire progress and a more than appropriate continuation of the King's
visit of forty years before--in which he had touched only the smaller
central Provinces of the great railway-girdled Dominion which now
welcomed his son and his son's Consort. On Monday, September 17th, the
Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, accompanied by the Earl of Minto,
Governor-General, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister--who had
gone down the river to meet them--set their feet upon Canadian soil. The
Dominion Ministers were present to join in the welcome, and the
procession then passed through the city, many thousands of people lining
the streets, and three thousand French children at the St. Louis Gate
singing "O Canada, Land of Our Ancestors." At the Parliament Buildings,
the Hon. S. N. Parent, Mayor of Quebec and Premier of the Province, read
a lengthy address which referred to this visit as a proud privilege,
expressed the renewed devotion of the citizens to the Crown and person
of their Sovereign, and spoke of French-Canadians as "a free, united and
happy people, faithful and loyal, attached to their King and country,
and rejoicing in their connection with the British Empire and those
noble self-governing institutions which are the palladium of their
liberties." In his reply the Duke referred to the success of the
Canadian troops at Paardeberg, and spoke with sorrow of the death of
President McKinley. "It is my proud mission to come amongst you as a
token of that feeling of admiration and pride which the King and the
Empire feel in the exploits of the Canadians who rushed to the defence
of the Empire."
A Royal procession to the Citadel followed and in the afternoon the Duke
and Duchess visited Laval University, where they were received by
Archbishop Begin, the Rector, and five hundred clergymen of the
Arch-diocese. In the address which was read by the Archbishop reference
was made to the late Queen, to the accession of the present Sovereign,
to the triumphal welcome on the banks of the mighty St. Lawrence which
was being prepared for the nation's guests, and to the pleasure of the
Church in sharing that welcome. "To the history of our Catholic Church
belongs the honour of having forged between the English Throne and a
French Canadian people solid bonds which neither adversity nor bribery
can sever." Faith in the Church and loyalty to the Crown were the
lessons they desired to inculcate. The University address was then read
by the Rev. O. E. Mathieu, the Rector. His Royal Highness in replying
and accepting the honorary degree of LL. D., paid a high tribute to
Roman Catholicism in Canada. "I am glad to acknowledge the noble part
which the Catholic Church in Canada has played throughout its history;
the hallowed memories of its martyred missionaries are a priceless
heritage; and in the great and beneficial work of education and in
implanting and fostering a spirit of patriotism and loyalty, it has
rendered signal service in Canada and the the Empire." In the evening, a
state dinner was held at the Citadel.
During the ensuing morning the Royal review took place on the Plains of
Abraham. It rained during the greater part of the proceedings and this,
together with the cancellation of the proposed Reception, for which
fifteen hundred invitations had been issued, threw a measure of gloom
over the City. But neither the rain nor the sad death of the President
of the United States could be helped and certainly the Duke never
flinched from the discomforts of the former. There were some five
thousand troops on the ground under command of Major-General
O'Grady-Haly assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. M. Aylmer as
Adjutant-General. After the parade was over, His Royal Highness
distributed the South African medals to the men and presented
Lieut.-Colonel R. E. W. Turner, of the Queen's Own Canadian Hussars,
with his V.C. and D.S.O. and a sword of honour from the City of Quebec.
In the evening, as on the previous one, the city was brilliantly
illuminated and the ships and river showed sudden blazes of light amid
the blackness of surrounding night and through the flash of fireworks