The Life of King Edward VII
hesitated, the credit of the country had not been affected, even the
prosperity of Great Britain had not been touched. Speaking of the
conduct of the people in this connection the _Times_ of July 2d paid the
following personal tribute: "A splendid example of patriotism and
devotion was set them by our late Sovereign Lady, and they nobly
followed it. It is worth recalling now that, while she deplored the
necessity of war, she never wavered to the end in her conviction that it
must be fought through. It is to her, perhaps, above all others, that we
owe the calm dignity of temper with which the peoples of her Empire have
passed through the greatest ordeal they have been called upon to undergo
since the days of Napoleon. Her son, King Edward, has inherited her
spirit and kept before his subjects the ideals she held up to them."
The terms of peace included the promise by Great Britain of
self-government in gradual stages and "as soon as circumstances will
permit"; the exemption of burghers from civil or criminal proceedings in
connection with the war (with certain specified exceptions); the
recognition of English as the official language, and the promise that
Dutch should be taught in the schools when desired; the granting of
arms, under license, to the burghers and the postponement of native
franchise questions until the period of free government had arrived; the
grant of L3,000,000 to be expended by Commissioners in the work of
repatriation and the supply of shelter, seed, stock, etc., to the
returning burghers; and the reference of rebels to their own Colonial
Courts for trial, with the proviso that the death penalty should not in
any case be inflicted.
The settlement was well received by the burghers, of whom fully twenty
thousand came in and gave up their arms in the course of a week or two.
Many of the Commandos fraternized with the British troops and joined
them in singing "God Save the King." As soon as the decision for peace
had been ratified Lord Kitchener paid a visit to Vereeniging and
addressed the assembled Boer leaders. He congratulated them upon the
splendid fight they had made. "If he had been one of them himself he
would have been proud to have done as they had done. He welcomed them as
citizens of a great Empire and hoped they would do their duty to the
Sovereign as loyally as they had to the old State." Messrs.
Schalk-Burger and Louis Botha had, meanwhile, written farewell letters
to the burghers which concluded by asking them to be obedient and
respectful to their new Government.
Immediately on receipt of the information that peace had been signed
King Edward issued the following message: "The King has received the
welcome news of the cessation of hostilities in South Africa with
infinite satisfaction, and trusts that peace may be speedily followed by
the restoration of prosperity in his new dominions, and that the
feelings necessarily engendered by war will give place to the earnest
co-operation of all His Majesty's South African subjects in promoting
the welfare of their common country." At the same time His Majesty
cabled Lord Milner: "I am overjoyed at the news of the surrender of the
Boer forces and I warmly congratulate you on the able manner in which
you have conducted the negotiations." A similar despatch went to Lord
Kitchener, with hearty congratulations on the termination of
hostilities: "I also most heartily congratulate my brave troops under
your command for having brought this long and difficult campaign to so
glorious and successful a conclusion." The King also announced that he
had created Lord Kitchener a Viscount and promoted him to be full
General. Following the public announcement of peace on Sunday, June 1st,
came a flood of congratulatory telegrams to the King from public bodies
and private individuals, and celebrations were held all over the United
Kingdom and the British Empire.
On June 8th, by order of the King, a special thanksgiving service was
held in St. Paul's Cathedral and His Majesty attended in person
accompanied by Queen Alexandra, Princess Victoria, the Prince and
Princess of Wales, Prince and Princess Charles of Denmark, the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught, the veteran Duke of Cambridge, and other members
of the Royal family. A great gathering of representative Britons was
present in the crowded Cathedral, including most of the members of the
Houses of Lords and Commons and the Corporation of London. Amongst many
other notabilities were the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Mr. Balfour, the
Earl of Rosebery, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl and Countess Roberts,
Earl and Countess Carrington, Lady Macdonald of Earnscliffe, Sir Redvers
and Lady Audrey Buller. A short and eloquent sermon was preached by
Bishop Winnington-Ingram, of London, in which he referred to the
blessings of peace for the people and the completion of the causes for
rejoicing at the approaching Coronation. Meanwhile, on June 4th, the
King had followed up the honours already conferred on Lord Kitchener by
sending a special message to the House of Commons at the hands of Mr. A.
J. Balfour, the Government Leader, to the following effect: "His
Majesty taking into consideration the eminent services rendered by Lord
Kitchener and being desirous, in recognition of such services, to confer
on him some signal mark of his favour, recommends that he, the King,
should be enabled to grant Lord Kitchener L50,000." The vote was carried
by a majority of three hundred and eighty-two to forty-two and marked
the final stage in the war--its prolonged struggles, its negotiations,
its honours and its rewards. To the King this result was the one thing
needful and seemed to leave a fair field, a peaceful Empire, a loyal
people, waiting without a shadow on the sun to share in the splendid
celebration of his approaching Coronation. To the Lord Mayor and
Corporation of London and the London County Council His Majesty
addressed, on June 13th, some words in reply to their expressions of
loyalty and congratulation at the conclusion of peace, which may
appropriately be quoted here:
"I heartily join in your expression of thankfulness to Almighty God
at the termination of a struggle which, while it has entailed on my
people at home and beyond the seas so many sacrifices, borne with
admirable fortitude, has secured a result which will give increased
unity and strength to my Empire. The cordial and spontaneous
exertions of all parts of my dominions, as well as of your ancient
and loyal city, have done much to bring about this happy result."
"You give fitting expression to the admiration universally felt for
the valour and endurance of the officers and men who have been
engaged in fighting their country's battles. They have been opposed
by a brave and determined people, and have had to encounter
unexampled difficulties. These difficulties have been cheerfully
overcome by steady and persistent effort, and those who were our
opponents will now, I rejoice to think, become our friends. It is
my earnest hope that, by mutual co-operation and good-will, the
bitter feelings of the past may speedily be replaced by ties of
loyalty and friendship and that an era of peace and prosperity may
be in store for South Africa."
CHAPTER XXI.
Arrangements for the Coronation
The preparations for the Coronation of the King were of a character
which eclipsed anything in the history of the world. It was
unquestionably his aim and intention to make the event an illustration
of the power of the British Empire, the loyalty of its people and the
unity of its complex races. The pride of the King in his great position,
the knowledge which he had acquired of the Empire in his innumerable
travels, the statecraft which he had inherited and developed, were all
factors in the determination to make this occasion memorable. Connected
with the splendour of the event, as planned, was the personal
relationship and friendship of most of the Sovereigns of Europe with and
for His Majesty and, associated with every detail of its anticipated
success, was the enthusiastic loyalty of Indian Princes and great
self-governing British dominions beyond the seas. Finally, the end of
the South African War came as if to add the one thing wanting to the
entire success of the most magnificent Coronation in all history.
Preparations went on apace from the beginning of Spring, 1902. The mere
material evidences of the coming event transformed busy and commercial
London into a forest of boards and poles and platforms. Westminster
Abbey was changed inside and out and a special entrance was made for the
King and Queen Alexandra to enter through, and so made as to harmonize
with the general architecture and character of the building.
A thousand great beacon lights were built over the United Kingdom so
that from shore to shore the news of the crowning of the King might be
flashed in flames of light to the people. In London and other centres
every kind of device for electrical display and illumination was
prepared and, toward the middle of June, flags and bunting in myriad
forms began to show themselves. In other parts of the Empire almost
every city and town and village arranged for some kind of demonstration.
Banquets and garden parties and band concerts and processions and
military reviews and all the varied means by which the English-speaking
person expresses his feelings were in full tide of preparation as the
time of the Coronation grew near. India had its own unique and Oriental
modes of expressing loyalty and the feeling there was enhanced by the
news that the new Prince of Wales was going to repeat the state visit of
his father, the King, in December of this year and see the people of
practically the only part of the British realms which he had not yet
visited. South Africa was to celebrate peace and loyalty at the same
time and the great centres of Australia were not behind the rest of the
Empire despite the existing gloom of draughts and sheep famine.
The guests invited to attend the great function might be divided into
two classes--those who came to a common centre for the celebration of
their Sovereign's crowning, for the presentation of a picture of
Imperial unity, and for the discussion of questions incident to the
wide-spread dominions of the King; and those who came from foreign
nations as a tribute to the position of Great Britain in the world and
as a token of their friendship for its people as well as their respect
for its ruler. In the first list the first place may be given to India
because of the element of gorgeousness and Oriental pomp which its
representatives were to bring to the function. Calcutta was to be
represented by Maharajah Kumar Tagore; Bombay by Sir Jamsetjee
Jeejeebhoy, the scion of a series of great merchants; Madras by Rajah
Sir Savalai Ramaswami Mudaliyar; Bengal and the Presidencies of Bombay
and Madras by distinguished gentlemen of long names and varied titles;
the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh by the Hon. N. M. D. F. Ali Khan,
who had served in both the Provincial and Supreme Councils, and by Rajah
Pertab Singh; the Punjab sent two representatives of whom Sir Harnman
Singh Ahluwalia belonged to the Viceroy's Legislative Council and
represented indirectly the native Christians; the Central Provinces,
Assam, Burmah and the new North-West Frontier Province also appointed
representatives. Other guests from India included the Sultan Muhammad
Agha Khan of the Khoga Community.
The special Royal guests from the Colonies were General Sir Francis W.
Grenfell, representing Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus; Sir Joseph West
Ridgeway, representing Fiji and various Eastern Colonies and