The Life of King Edward VII
Fishmonger's Company did the same. An interesting incident was the visit
of Mr. R. J. Seddon, Premier of New Zealand, and his wife and daughters
to Windsor Castle whence, on July 3rd, they were driven to Frogmore
Mausoleum and placed a wreath of lilies and rosebuds on the tomb of the
Queen and on behalf of the people of New Zealand.
The Empire Coronation banquet was the great event of these weeks in the
way of dining and speaking, although Mr. Chamberlain's unfortunate
accident and absence created a serious void. The Earl of Onslow
presided, and amongst the speakers were Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the
Maharajah of Kolapore, Sir Gordon Sprigg and Sir Edmund Barton. Earl
Cromer and Lord Lansdowne, Lord Minto, Lord Kelvin and the Maharajahs of
Bikanur and Cooch-Behar were also present together with a distinguished
array of Colonial dignitaries.
An event of historic importance occurred on July 11th when the Marquess
of Salisbury waited upon the King and tendered his resignation of the
post of Prime Minister. The fact that His Majesty was able to receive
him and deal with the questions involved also served to indicate his
progress toward recovery. Mr. A. J. Balfour was at once sent for and,
after an interview with Mr. Chamberlain, accepted the task of forming a
new Ministry. It had been pretty well understood that Lord Salisbury
intended to resign when peace had come and the Coronation ceremonies
were disposed of. Delay had naturally occurred owing to the King's
illness, but His Majesty's progress toward recovery and the fact of the
principal Coronation functions having been disposed of--outside of the
event itself--induced the Premier to feel that he could now lay down his
burdensome position. Mr. Balfour was received again by the King on July
12th and a little later in the day General Lord Kitchener, after passing
in triumphal procession through the streets of London on his return from
South Africa, was also admitted into audience by the King and
personally decorated from his couch with the special Coronation
honour--the new Order of Merit. Lord Kitchener then dined with the
Prince of Wales, as representing His Majesty, at St. James's Palace.
Meanwhile, the King had been winning golden opinions from all sorts and
conditions of men. His plucky conduct at the beginning of the illness,
his thoughtful consideration for others through every stage of its
continuance, his evidently strong place in the hearts of his subjects,
combined to increase the personal popularity of the Sovereign at home
while enhancing or promoting respect for him abroad. As the New York
_Tribune_ put it on the day before the Coronation: "The King is showing
himself 'every inch a King' in some of those respects which are most
prized and cherished by all men of his race, and which unfailingly
command admiration among all men and all races. Those are the qualities
of unselfishness, and indomitable and uncomplaining pluck." He had
struggled long and earnestly against the malady--not for his own sake,
because safety and ease would have early been found in surrender to its
natural course. When that became finally necessary, and recovery then
succeeded the period of suspense, his whole desire seemed to be the
re-assuring of the popular mind and the relieving of public
inconvenience. On August 6th the King and Queen Alexandra had landed at
Portsmouth from the Royal yacht and proceeded to London. The stations
were profusely decorated, and dense crowds were awaiting their arrival
in the capital. At the Metropolitan station the King walked easily to
the end of the platform and to his carriage, helped the Queen to enter,
and followed himself without any apparent difficulty. The route to
Buckingham Palace was lined with great throngs of people, and His
Majesty acknowledged the continuous cheering with a most cheerful
expression and by frequently raising his hat. He was described as
looking better than for a long time past--while the Queen appeared
positively radiant. On the evening of August 8th, the King issued an
autograph message of thanks and appreciation to the nation, through the
Home Secretary, couched in the following terms:
"To My People:--On the eve of my Coronation, an event which I look
upon as one of the most solemn and most important in my life, I am
anxious to express to my people at home and in the Colonies and
India, my heartfelt appreciation of the deep sympathy they have
manifested towards me during the time my life was in such imminent
danger.
"The postponement of the ceremony, owing to my illness, caused, I
fear, much inconvenience and trouble to all those who intended to
celebrate it, but their disappointment was borne by them with
admirable patience and temper.
"The prayers of my people for my recovery were heard, and I now
offer up my deepest gratitude to Divine Providence for having
preserved my life and given me strength to fulfil the important
duties which devolve upon me as Sovereign of this great Empire.
EDWARD R. I."
While this tactful and sympathetic letter was being written by the
Sovereign, his people in London were preparing for the great event of
the morrow. The streets were crowded with moving masses of people; the
decorations, though not as numerous or imposing as in June, were
nevertheless effective; the streets were illuminated to a considerable
extent, and the stands were nearly all sold out of their seating
capacity. During the afternoon the King walked in the grounds of
Buckingham Palace and held an Investiture, at which he gave the Order of
the Garter to the Dukes of Wellington and Sutherland and of the Thistle
to the Duke of Roxburghe and the Earl of Haddington. A little later, he
received in audience Ras MaRonnen, the Abyssinian Envoy. Two interesting
announcements were also made at this time--that Lord Salisbury was
unwell and would be unable to attend the Coronation, and that Bramwell
Booth had been granted special permission by the King to appear at
Westminster Abbey in Salvation Army garb. The first incident marked the
closing of an era of statecraft; of an age marked by the name and fame
of Queen Victoria and her Ministers. The other illustrated the tact of
the Sovereign as it proved the existence of a religious toleration and
equality characteristic of the new period in which the new reign was
commencing.
On August 9th the great ceremony finally took place. Though shorn of
some of the International splendour of the first arrangements and
without some of the military and naval glory which would have then
surrounded the event its Imperial significance was in some respects
enhanced and there was a deeper note in the festivities and an even more
enthusiastic tone in the cheering than would have been possible on the
26th of June. The solemn ceremony in the ancient Abbey--which had not
been used or opened to the public since that final practice of the
choir--was brilliant in all the colours and shadings and dresses and
gems and uniforms of a Royal function while it presented that other and
more sacred side which all the traditions and forms of the Coronation
ceremony so clearly illustrate. The enthusiasm of the people in the
streets can hardly be described but the spirit and thought and feeling
were well summed up in the words of a Canadian poet--Jean Blewett:
"Long live the King!
Long live the King who hath for his own
The strongest sceptre the world has known,
The richest Crown and the highest Throne,
The staunchest hearts, and the heritage
Of a glorious past, whose every page
Reads--loyalty, greatness, valour, might."
The day opened with brilliant promise and bright sunshine, but became
overcast and gloomy by the time the Royal progress from the Palace had
commenced. The crowds gathered early, and soon every seat in the many
stands were filled with expectant and interested people who numbered in
the end fully half a million. Picked troops, chiefly Household Cavalry
and Colonial and Indian soldiers of the King, to the number of 30,000,
guarded the route, with a picturesque line of white, black, brown and
yellow men of many countries and varied uniforms. When the King and
Queen appeared in their gorgeous state coach from out the gates of
Buckingham Palace they were greeted with tremendous cheers from the
multitude, and these cheers continued all along the way to the Abbey. In
the Royal procession were the Prince and Princess of Wales with
thirty-one other members of the Royal family. The Princess was beautiful
in a long Court mantle of purple velvet trimmed with bands of gold and a
minever cape fastened with hooks of gold over a dress of white satin
embroidered in gold and jewelled with diamonds and pearls. Then followed
Lord Knollys and Lord Wolseley and Admiral Seymour, Lord Kitchener and
General Gaselee and Lord Roberts, with many other notabilities. The
Indian Maharajahs, who acted as Aides-de-Camp to the King, were
brilliant in red and white and brown and blue and gold and jewels.
Immediately in front of the King was the Royal escort of Princes and
Equerries with a body of Colonial and Indian troops. The arrival at the
Abbey was marked by great enthusiasm in the massed multitudes
surrounding the famous building and seated in the crimson-covered stands
which had been built on every side.
The scene in the interior was indescribable. The blend of many colours
in costume mixed with the time-mellowed harmonies of shade and substance
in the mighty structure, while the air was permeated with the solemn
sounds of the recently sung Litany and the slowly pealing bells of loyal
welcome. Around were the greatest men and noblest and most beautiful
women of Great Britain, and in the stalls was a veritable roll-call of
fame in a world-wide Empire. Lord Salisbury was practically the only
British personage of historic repute who was not present while the
veteran Duke of Cambridge appeared as one of the two living links
present between the Coronation which had marked the beginning of the
Victorian era and that which was now to illustrate the birth of a new
period. Into this scene of splendour and revel of colour came the King
and the state officials of his realm.
The procession as it passed from the west door of the Abbey through the
standing and brilliantly-garbed gathering was one of the most stately
spectacles recorded in history. First came the Clergy of the Abbey in
copes of brown shot with gold, the Archbishops in purple velvet and
gold, the gorgeously-clad officers of the Orders of Knighthood, and the
Heralds. Then came the Standard of Ireland, carried by the Right Hon.
O'Conor Don, the Standard of Scotland by Mr. H. S. Wedderburn, the
Standard of England by Mr. F. S. Dymoke and the Union Standard borne by
the Duke of Wellington. Various great officials and nobles followed, the
coronet of each borne by a beautifully dressed page. They included the
Lord Privy Seal, the Lord President of the Council the Lord Chancellor
of Ireland, the Lord Archbishop of York, the Lord High Chancellor, the
Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Then came the Earl of Gosford as Lord
Chamberlain, Lord Harris carrying the Queen's regalia and the Duke of
Roxburghe carrying Her Majesty's Crown. The Queen herself followed in
robes of exquisite character and splendour and looking as only the most
beautiful woman in England could look. On either side of her were the
Bishops of Oxford and Norwich with five gentlemen-at-arms to the right
and left of them and Her Majesty's train was borne by the Duchess of
Buccleuch assisted by eight youthful personages of title or heirship to
aristocratic position. The Ladies of the Bedchamber followed and then
came the King's regalia, carried by the Earl of Carrington, the Duke of