THE DUKE AND THE PEOPLE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21377, 21 January 1935, Page 15

THE DUKE AND THE PEOPLE

A GUEST RECEIVED BY THE CITY •*'" PROGRESSIVE RESPONSE BY CROWDS APPRECIATION OF A ROYAL FRIEND

Throughout the long day of civic welcome to his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, a day for which great preparations had been made and which had been eagerly anticipated, thousands of people gathered on Saturday, in the squares and in the streets, to take part in the reception of their Royal guest. To receive the Duke into their own city was. their first privilege and fheir first. duty. The streets v had been hung with flags in his honour, and it remained for the people to make the welcome complete. It might be interesting to speculate on the variety of motives which drew many of them to the first ceremony at the Bridge of Remembrance and to the formal public act of welcome at Cranmer square; but the word "loyalty" is sufficient to sum up the feeling which expressed Itself in spontaneous cheering when the Duke appeared at the bridge to pay a soldier's tribute to those, from this one small city of the Empire, who died in the Great War. Inseparable from the feeling of loyalty, however, was the keen interest in the Duke himself, as a man. The relation of the people of the Empire to the Royal family must always be a personal one, and it was no abstract idea of Royalty which animated the crowds in the city on Saturday as each person strove to catch a glimpse of the Duke, if only for a moment as the procession moved down the street. Properly speaking, he had come to see the people, and while their greeting had to be a formal address read on their behalf they were determined to make his acquaintance for themselves in the only way permitted to them. The First Meeting At the Bridge of Remembrance thousands had waited during the greater part of the morning for the arrival of the Royal party by car from Ashburton. Here was to be their first meeting with the Duke. There was something in the manner of the crowd, like the shyness of a person forced to approach a superior and uncertain of being able to say and do exactly the right thing. This was even more noticeable when the Duke was driven up to the bridge, though there was more confidence in the cheering as he stepped out of the car holding the wreath which he was about to place on the memorial.

It was not only embarrassment which made the crowd quiet during this ceremony. A little time was needed before people could become accustomed to the' realisation that the tall, uniformed man who had smiled and saluted as he was driven past, was the Duke of Gloucester. When the awkward business of introductions was over there would be time enough for cheering, was the Unexpressed feeling. Clearly it was not lack of interest, but excess, which had subdued the crowd. , The City's Response It is a common notion that the quickest way to win the heart of a crowd is, in a manner of speaking, to slap it on the back and treat it with easy familiarity. This is supposed to be a human method of approach. But the truth is that there are some types of crowd, just as there are some types of people, which are just as well pleased not to be slapped on the back at a first, meeting. The Duke did not adopt what might be called a familiar attitude to those gathered to welcome him on Saturday; but the people quick to appreciate his real interest in them, and their city, unmistakable from his smile and gestures. By two o'olock, half-an-hour before the Duke was to leave the hotel for the Trotting grounds, a crowd filling half the square was waiting for his appearance. Before this, each act of welcome had been organised; but this was a demonstration of natural interest and enthusiasm. The city had lost its shyness and was making an informal call, as it were, to assure its guest of its pride in entertaining him. Later, at the river carnival, the last remnants of reserve gave way to boisterous good humour, after which the city went to bed flattering itself, no doubt, that it had made a Royal friend. A Soldierly Bearing Tall, with the erect bearing of a" soldier and the tanned complexion of a man fond of the open air, the Duke has a natural appeal to New Zealanders, who are always quick to appreciate vigour and physical fitness. Driving through the streets, or on the platform, he studies people and surroundings, not with the perfunctory eye of a man who has travelled so far that 'new sights fail to attract him, but with a sincere interest. As a soldier, he was best seen during the brief ceremony of placing the wreath on the Bridge of Remembrance.-Here he stood for a few moments at attention, while "Last Post" was sounded. The welcome on Saturday, increasing in warmth as it did with the passage of the day, was evidence of the affection which New Zealand has for the Royal family; but more than that, it showed that there is now, in particular, a great regard for the Duke of, Gloucester. Those in the Dominion can never I know the Royal family as English people know them; so it could pot happen better than that a New Zealand city should show by its welcome to the Duke, that it has received him as representing the j King not only as the ruler h»* aa *he [friend of his subjects..

OUR DEBT TO PRINCES TRIBUTES DUE TO RULERS KINGSHIP AND ITS TASKS The character of the institution of kingship in the British Empire and the debt owed by subjects to their rulers formed the subject of the Empire service conducted by the Rev. Clarence Eaton at the Durham Street Methodist Church yesterday morning. The lesson read was chapter 13 of the epistle to the Romans, and the text was taken from the twelfth chapter of Mark, verse 17:— "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." • The coming of a Prince of the Royal House to the Dominion, .said Mr Eaton, had invested an old text with- new interest. Doubtless the .visit of his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester was designed to foster loyalty and to strengthen the bends of Empire. The last two decades had been fateful years for the crowned heads of Europe. "There are few crowns in the world," said Archbishop Leighton, "in which there will not be found some crack more or less." The I cracking of crowns had been heard the world over. Long before the Great War there were present in the democracies of Europe,-tenden- ! cies making for the * instability of kings and thrones. When the ReI form Act was passed in 1867, the j prophets said:—"Before 20 years I are over, the last king will have j been strangled with, the bowels of I the last priest." But the years, said Mr Eaton, that had played havoc with kings and dynasties had left untouched one ancient throne. The English throne remained "Unshaken still, Broad based upon the peoples will and compassed by the inviolable sea." A fact so striking was a splendid tribute to the strength of British character and the stability of the British Constitution. "It was no vain boast that the British Constitution was the finest, the most glorious and the best the world had ever seen. It was a true saying that with all his grumbling the British workman was the freest subject under God's sun. Out of our pride and thankfulness in our unsurpassed institutions and privileges had come the popular sentiment called loyalty —a sentiment finding expression in the universal enthusiasm with which the people of the Dominion had welcomed the Royal guest. "Render Unto Caesar. .." "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" was the remark of a greater than Caesar. Such recognition of obligation and duty towards the representative of constituted authority was right and" Christian. The saying of Jesus was more than a dexterous answer at the time; it enunciated a principle for all time. , , "Christ affirms the sacredness or civil authority and enforces civil duty with new and divine sanctions," continued the preacher. "Kings and governors and magistrates in their own spheres exercise divine authority. In the Christian view all the powers that be are ordained of God. Civil government is viewed as that part of God s government which He has exercised by the instrumentality of men. The medieval doctrine of the divine right of kings is a base corruption of a most noble truth— kings and princes are divinely appointed anfl. can only discharge the duties of their high office aright when they conscientiously discharge them as the ministers of God., "What Peter said of the ascended Christ may be reverently applied to Prince Henry:—'Him hath God exalted to be a prince.' But mar* the purpose of the exaltation: —A Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel.' Even the Prince of Peace was only a crowned servant. Splendid kinghoods, as Ruskin reminded us, expire in ruin. The true kinghoods survive, which are of Royal labourers governing Royal labourers." There were those, said Mr Eaton, who hesitated to honour men _in authority from the mistaken idea that it was snobbish and grovellnig. They did not hesitate to charge the church with being the natural ally and support of oppressive governments and privileged classes. A little knowledge of Christianity in its origin and development would disabuse their minds. They would find it was not easy for Christian men and women in apostolic times to believe that the powers that existed were ordained of God, seeing that they were idolaters and pagans who used their power to put the hated Christians to death. An intensely revolutionary spirit possessed the Jew who was largely represented in early Christian communions. No one could read the New Testament without discovering unmistakable signs of this revolt against constituted authority. Again and again some apostle had to write:— "Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Honour the King. Be in subjection to rulers and be ready for every form of service to the state.' Civil obedience had been a hard lesson for the Christian church, to learn and signs were not wanting that there was a danger of a'fresh departure from Christian teaching on the subject. Honouring Royalty "Those who hesitate to lift the hat and bend the knee to Royalty forget two things. First, that in honouring the representative of the people, they do but honour themselves. Second, they overlook the cares and responsibilities of those in authority.

'What Is a king? A man con-' demned to bear The public burden of a nation's care.'

"What is a king but a conscript? His service is scarcely voluntary. He inherits his responsibilities by birth; he is never asked if he is willing, to bear the burden. To pray for kings and princes was not snobbery but compassion since 'uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.' "The visit of his Royal Highness," said Mr Eaton, "demonstrated the vast changes that have taken place in the relations of governors and the government. Let the modern spectacle of a P™w> P/wai cVmking

AMBULANCE WORK ON SATURDAY CASES ATTENDED BY BRIGADE TWO MEN SLIGHTLY BURNT BY FIREWORKS * What is> believed to have been the" largest body of nurses, ambulance men and cadets of the St. John Ambulance Brigade ever employed on the same duty, was. at work among the crowds in different parts of the city on Saturday, during the ceremonies following the arrival of the Duke of Gloucester and during the river carnival in the evening. There were no serious cases requiring attention, but the brigade members were kept busy with large numbers of minor cases. Up to the time qf the carnival there were few cases of any sort. Though the brigade headquarters cannot at present supply details of the attention given, it was stated yesterday that at Cranmer square there were only two or three cases of fainting. .At the carnival, how-, ever, the five dressing stations, in Hagley Park and on Park terrace, under the direction of Dr. F. J. Borrie and Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. W. Dawson, were seldom long without patients. Eighteen persons were given attention at one station alone. An ambulance made three or four visits to the park. There were two cases of burns from fireworks, one man being burnt behind the ear and another on the arm. This was the first occasion .on which the cadet corps of the brigade has been on duty in a body. It was stated that approximately 100 cadets were sent out, under the supervision of 50 ambulance men and 50 nursing sisters.

hands with the people be contf asted with Kingcraft as once defined, 'despotism tempered by assassination.' To-day kings reign but do not govern. The mightiest in the land holds his high place at the will of the people. British loyalty is not slavish and grovelling, but popular and free. "With a ruler whose character is one of the nation's foremost assets, and a throne founded on the rock of justice, descended by steps of mercy, who could not receive with acclamation the King's son and representative when visiting our shores?" The sermon concluded with a note of warning lest men should give to Caesar what belonged to God. None dared give to the mightiest earthly monarch the keeping of his conscience and his soul. One ;onJy Prince and Saviour could say, Son, give Me thinlT heart.".