KING GEORGE V.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 298, 28 September 1938, Page 6

KING GEORGE V.

HIGH EXAMPLE SET. TRIBUTES BY CHURCHMEN. LONDON, August 19. The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood were accompanied by their two sons, Viscount Lascelles and the Hon. Gerald Lascelles, in Harewood Church yesterday, when the Primate and Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Cosmo Lang, dedicated new altar rails iu the chancel. The rails, which are the work of Mr H. S. Goodhart-Rendel, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, are a gift of the Princess Royal in memory of King George V. They consist of two solid panels with a pair of gates in between, and are perfectly plain except for inscriptions on the border. Constructed of light oak, they conform with the oak panelling flanking the sanctuary, which was installed by the Dowager Countess of Harewood in thankfulness for the return of her sons from the war. Speaking of the three marked features of the late King’s character and the example he had loft, the archbishop referred to his simplicity, his sense of duty, and his religion. King George V., he said, had a very high sense of his exalted office, and he fulfilled his duties conscientiously, with a quiet and impressive dignity. Yet he remained a man of utter simplicity, sincerity, frankness and straightforwardness. “When his spirit passed and I looked for the last time upon his face there was on it more than the repose of death—there was a beautiful light of serenity and peace,” said the archbishop. Dr. Lang recalled that on the occasion of his Silver Jubilee King George had remarked to him most sincerely, “I cannot imagine why they have done all this, for I am only a very ordinary sort of man.”

'ln a sense, said the archbishop, this was not true, for the late King’s everincreasing experience and his wonderful memory gave him a power of judgment which was sometimes decisive in Britain’s affairs. It was just this impression, that he was at heart not only a King but a man, like others, that endeared him to his people. He was what every good Englishman would wish to be.

Though'' he never sought popularity and never made use of any device to attract it, gradually, but very surely, he won it. The late King’s duty to the realm and to his people rested on his sense of duty to God. He had the root of religion in him, what the Bible called, “fear of God.” The Bishop of London, Dr. Winnington Ingram, went to Altrincham to open a large pool and rest place, presented to the town bii Lord Stamford in memory of King George V. He mentioned his wonderful courage during the Great War and his certainty that the Allies would win.

Referring to the (Silver Jubilee, the bishop said there was nothing he was more thankful for than that the King had discovered before his death how much his people loved him by the tremendous outburst of enthusiasm and loyalty which marked the Jubilee celebrations. Ho was a human, lovable man, quite apart from the fact that he was an excellent King. He loved birds and wild animal life, and the bishop knew how much his late Majesty would have appreciated such a beautiful rest place.