The Life of King Edward VII
strains of muffled music from many bands, and the presence of thousands
of loyal troops, an indication of the popular feeling shown throughout
the Dominion on May 20th, which was appointed to be a day of mourning, a
holiday of sorrow for the people. But this is anticipating. Perhaps, in
England, the tribute of Mr. Premier Asquith, at the special meeting of
Parliament on May 11th, was most significant of the innumerable tributes
of earnest loyalty and appreciation expressed at the passing of one who
was not only a great King but a much-loved personality.
After pointing out the nature of events in recent years, the growth of
international friendships and new understandings and stronger safeguards
for peace, together with the ever-tightening bonds of corporate unity
within the British realms, Mr. Asquith went on to say that: "In all
these multiform manifestations of national and Imperial life, the
history of the world will assign a part of singular dignity to the great
ruler Great Britain has lost. In external affairs King Edward's powerful
influence was directed not only to the avoidance of war, but to the
causes of and pretexts of war, and he well earned the title by which he
will always be remembered, the Peace-maker of the World." Continuing,
the Premier said, that within the boundaries of the Empire his late
Majesty, by his broad and elastic sympathies, had won a degree of
loyalty and affectionate confidence which few Sovereigns had ever
enjoyed. "Here at home," he added, "all recognized that above the din
and dust of their hard-fought controversies, detached from party, and
attached only to the common interest, they had in the late King an
arbiter ripe in experience, judicial in temper, and at once a reverent
worshipper of their traditions, and a watchful guardian of their
constitutional liberties." King Edward's life as a devotee of duty, as a
sportsman in the best sense of the word, as an ardent and discriminating
patron of the arts, as a good business man at the head of a great
business community, possessed of intuitive shrewdness in the management
of men and difficult situations, as a keen social reformer with "no self
apart from his people," was then dwelt upon. It would be impossible in
any limited space to analyze the views of the British press. The _Times_
declared that "his people loved him for his honesty and kindly courtesy.
To all he was not merely every inch a King but every inch an English
King and an English gentleman. His influence was not the same as that of
Queen Victoria, but in some respects it was almost stronger." The _Daily
Mail_ considered that "to his initiative his subjects and the Empire
owe the pacification of South Africa and the final reconciliation with
the Boers. The system of understandings with foreign powers which is our
security to-day was in a great part his handiwork." To the Radical
_Daily News_ he was "the supreme example of a people's King by common
consent" and this the Liberal _Morning Leader_ echoed with a further
tribute to "the sheer instinctive deference paid to his proved wisdom,
his large-minded statesmanship, his unequaled knowledge of the world,
and the tact that never failed him in the greatest or the least
occasion."
A notable incident of this first week of mourning, during which the
people were waiting to pay their final tribute of loyal sympathy on the
day of the Royal interment, was the unanimous Resolution of the
Legislature of Quebec. Coming from a French-Canadian people, amongst
whom special interest had been aroused by King Edward's creation of the
_entente cordiale_ with France, something earnest and sympathetic as
well as loyal in expression might have been expected and, if so, the
hope was certainly realized. The Legislature in its address to King
George V. (May 10th) put the feelings of the people of the Province in
the following expressive words:
"We mourn the loss in him of a monarch whose chief aim was to draw
all the nations closer together and to promote universal peace.
Ever mindful of the great principles of the British constitution,
through his broad-mindedness, his tolerance, and the exquisite
charm of his personality, he succeeded in creating a potent bond of
union between the various parts of our common country, and in
closely consolidating the different branches of the greatest Empire
that ever existed. Representing as we do the Province of Quebec it
gives us pleasure to recall that the development of the idea of a
powerful Canadian nation, devoted to the interest of the
Mother-Country, was favoured by that great King. Imbued with the
grandeur and nobility of his mission he won our admiration and our
love through his solicitude in respecting our laws and our dearest
traditions, aspirations and liberties."
The individual utterances of the Ministers were equally patriotic in
terms. Sir Lomer Gouin spoke along the lines of his earlier tribute and
declared that King Edward's reign had been "a glory to his people and a
blessing to humanity." Mr. J. M. Tellier, the Opposition leader, joined
the Premier in expressing the "confidence and sincere affection" of his
people for this "the most powerful King of the most powerful of Empires"
and in presenting to the new King "the allegiance, the faith and the
heartfelt wishes of Canadians." Mr. H. Bourassa, the Nationalist
representative, Hon. P. S. G. Mackenzie, the English-speaking member of
the Cabinet, and Hon. J. C. Kaine and Hon. C. R. Devlin, the Irish
Ministers, joined in these tributes.
The view of Foreign countries was unique in its friendliness, in its
expressions of admiration for the great qualities of heart and head in
the late Sovereign, for appreciation of his broad sympathies and
international statecraft. One of the earliest official telegrams of
sympathy to King George was from President Fallieres of France: "I
learnt with emotion of the death of your beloved Father. The French
Government and the French people will regret profoundly the demise of
the august Sovereign who upon so many occasions has given them evidence
of his sincere friendship; and associate themselves fully in the great
grief which his unexpected loss brings to you, the Royal family, and the
entire British Empire. It is with a heart full of sadness that I ask
Your Royal Highness to accept my personal condolences, those of the
French Government and of all France." From the President of the United
States came a prompt message of condolence to Queen Alexandra, and from
the American Congress a unanimous Resolution of adjournment and
expressive words of sympathy with the British people "in the loss of a
wise and upright ruler whose great purpose was the cultivation of
friendly relations with all nations and the preservation of peace"; from
ex-President Roosevelt, speaking at Stockholm on May 8th, came words of
regret and of regard for the people "who mourn the loss of a wise ruler
whose sole thought was for their welfare and for the good of mankind,
and the citizens of other nations can join with them in mourning for a
man who showed throughout his term of Kingship that his voice was always
raised for justice and peace among the nations."
From United States newspapers, the exponents of public opinion in a
great kindred nation, came a wonderfully unanimous and kindly expression
of real feeling. To the New York _Herald_ the late King appeared as
blessed with "a genial personality, a kind heart and a strong common
sense, together with that highest quality of supreme importance in a
ruler and statesman--tact"; to the Buffalo _News_ King Edward was "the
ablest Royal ruler England has known in centuries;" to the Baltimore
_American_ "he was, and the world to-day generously accords him the
distinction, the first diplomatist of his time, the man who beyond all
others shaped the policies of the world." To the Indianapolis _News_ he
had "served his country and the world wisely and well, and will go into
history as one of the most successful monarchs that England has ever
had." The New York _Journal of Commerce_ paid special and high tribute
to King Edward's diplomacy and, after dealing with the French _entente
cordiale_ went on as follows: "Even more marvelous than the closing of
the secular feud with France was the termination of that with Russia,
which seemed more bitter and more hopeless of adjustment. The seemingly
impossible was, nevertheless, accomplished, and the power which but a
few short years before had been the chief menace to the safety of
British India became one of the guarantors of its immunity from attack.
It will be reckoned one of the miracles of history that Russia could
have been induced to abandon a policy which she had steadfastly
supported and been ready to concede that the affairs of Afghanistan were
purely a British interest and those of Korea exclusively Japanese."
In most of these tributes of regard and respect--British, Imperial or
Foreign--there was a reference of affectionate admiration for the Queen
Consort who, at this moment, allowed it to be understood that she would
like in future to be known as the Queen Mother. The far-famed beauty of
person, the charm and graciousness of manner, and nobility of mind and
character, which had won a way so quickly and permanently into the
hearts of the British people and had been such potent forces in the life
of King Edward and of her own family, brought to Queen Alexandra at this
time a world-tribute of sympathy and regard. British subjects all over
the Empire, multitudes outside of its bounds, were ready to echo those
famous words of Lord Tennyson, applied to the similar sorrow of Queen
Victoria:
May all love,
His love, unseen but felt, o'ershadow Thee,
The love of all Thy sons encompass Thee
The Love of all Thy Daughters cherish Thee
The Love of all Thy people comfort Thee
Till God's love set Thee at his side again.
Few more touching words have been written than the Queen's Message to
the Nation which was made public on May 10th: "From the depth of my poor
broken heart," she wrote, "I wish to express to the whole Nation and our
own kind people we love so well, my deep-felt thanks for all their
touching sympathy in my overwhelming sorrow and unspeakable anguish. Not
alone have I lost everything in him, my beloved husband, but the nation,
too, has suffered an irreparable loss in their best friend, father, and
Sovereign thus suddenly called away. May God give us all his Divine help
to bear this heaviest of crosses which He has seen fit to lay upon us.
His will be done. Give to me a thought in your prayers which will
comfort and sustain me in all that I have to go through. Let me take
this opportunity of expressing my heartfelt thanks for all the touching
letters and tokens of sympathy I have received from all classes, high
and low, rich and poor, which are so numerous that I fear it would be
impossible for me ever to thank everybody individually. I confide my
dear Son to your care, who I know, will follow in his dear Father's
footsteps, begging you to show him the same loyalty and devotion you
showed his dear Father. I know that both my dear son and daughter-in-law
will do their utmost to merit and keep it."
It may be added that the surviving children of King Edward and Queen
Alexandra at the time of the King's death were his successor--George
Frederick Ernest Albert, Prince of Wales; Princess Louise, Duchess of
Fife, who was born in 1867 and married in 1889; Princess Victoria, who
was born in 1868 and was unmarried; Princess Maud, Queen of Norway, who
was born in 1869 and married in 1896 to Charles, then Crown Prince of
Denmark. King Edward's only surviving brother was H. R. H., the Duke of