KING EDWARD

Evening Post, Issue 6, 8 January 1935, Page 14

KING EDWARD

MAN AND STATESMAN

INTIMATE PICTURES

LOED ESHEE'S PAPEES

The second volume of Lord Esher's papers appeared recently. It more than confirms tho universal impression made, by the first that this is a work that will endure, writes J. B. Firth in the "Daily Telegraph." Alas that tho editor* the "M.V.8.," to whom so many of tho letters are addrosscd, has followed the fond father who wroto so affectionately into tho darkness. If lie left his work uncompleted it may be hoped that the next editor will draw more copiously from the subjective passages of the Journal. In these Lord Eslier indulged in the njore reflective and introspective moods which came to him most frequently when staying in his Scottish home, called "The Roman Camp." Up in his beloved North ho was clear Siway. from "Court and Society," from the pomp of power, the intrigue of politics, and all tho exciting problems of statesmanship which occupied his days arid nights in London and at • Windsor, and could refresh himself with the landscapes of Scotland and Parnassus. One may smile a little when he says that "though I wear coronets arid things, I care nothing about them and feel for them only as one feels for anything picturesque and of artistic interest." ■ , Yet there.ia no evidence of conscious pose. .Esher was a grand romantic at heart as well as tho "perfect courtier,, a consummate man of affairs—-except, as,ho confessed, on the plane where Sir Ernest Cassel for a' while had tempted him. to move—a loyal friend and devoted to his own family, which so few ■of the grand romantics and "pilgrims of eternity" have contrived to bo. The record of this brilliant and many-sided personality makes'one of tho most fascinating of books. , Tlio highest public service which Esher rendered to his country during' the period under review was in connection with the Committee of Imperial! Defence and the various schemes for reorganising the War' Office and the Army, which at last culminated in Hal* danes great achievement. AMATETJB SOLDIERS. Esher and Haldane were firm allies. The lattor's earnest solicitude to improve the brains' of; the British Army found in Esher an eager supporter. Many intimate pictures are given of the King, whom Esher loved as much as he admired—and his admiration was boundless. We see them breakfasting tete-a-teto at Buckingham Palace with the servants out. of the room between the courses, and the liberal table consisting of fish, omelet, bacon, and marmalade —substantial fare helped by tho King from the dishes set in front of him. '.': ■-;.■■ .. V <■ In another snapshot we see tho King chasing .his dog—Caesar, no doubt-— around"the- Palace lake for five minutes, because he would insist on trying to worry a brood of ducks. Here again is the King in anecdotal mood at Windsor Palace in 1906. "At half-past five I met the King by appointmont in the corridor. He had sent me a note scaled up with a charming head of Edward VI which he had recently bought. He asked me if I had noticed it. He is so queer about these little minutiae. "He came out of his room with a pot hat on, and his stick and his dog, and we wandered about the castle for two hours, as if we were out for a walk. ... '■ ' • ■-■■■■ "He told mo a lot of interesting stories about [Baron] Stockmar and the men he remembered in his youth, as we happened across their portraits." He spoke, tooi Of his yputh, and how he had "hated" not being allowed to : livo in college at Oxford, where he was secluded in a separate residence of his own, and'how he detested being gazetted straight off as a lieutenant-colonel in the Army: instead of starting- as a simple lieutenant. ;'' .','- ,' ■{■~ \ An amusing bridge anecdote follows. While A. Paget was playing with, the King at Balmoral he "accidentally picked up the King's: cigar. : "Suddenly the King woke up out of 4 an absent fit and said, 'Hello, you have taken my cigar.' 'So I have,' said A.P., 'and a very good cigar it is, too'—and " threw his own half penny smoke into the fire. Not a word of apology. The King had to send for another." If that "A. Paget" was Sir Arthur Paget he managed this cigar incident much better than the Curragh incident a few years later. "BIT OF A BOHEMIAN." Many will remember the, dancing of Lady Constance Stuart-Richardson in the style with, which Miss Maud Allan had for a season drawn the town. King Edward, who had seen her perform, at a private party, went to "tea with Lady Constance in her flat in ~\ Charles Street. There wag no lift and His Majesty had to toil up several flights of stairs. But ho thoroughly enjoyed the visit, /and remarked afterwards: "I have always been a bit of a Bohemian myself." "A bit of a Bohemian," perhaps, hut a great King, a wonderful diplomat, and a very shrewd politician. He nover concealed his conviction that the Conservative leaders made a stupendous and fatal mistake when they encouraged the House of Lords to .throw put the Budget ,of 1909. ■:■■■■■; : When the King died, Esher penned the noble and well-balanced tribute with which, the present volume conf eludes.. •"* :: \ Here are the final words: "I. have known all the great men of my tinle in this land of ours, and many beyond it. He was tho most kingly of them all." • What the "master and friend" thought of the "servant" is best indicated by the following passage: "The King said -to me, 'Although you are not exactly a public servant, x yet I always think you are the most valuable public servant I have,' and then I kissed his hand, as I sometimes do." One of Esher's closest confidants among the Liberal Ministers was John Morley. The tie perhaps was more literary than political, yot Morley confided to him his political ambitions and jealousies. Both were intense. Ono day when Campbell-Bannerman was ill, tho talk turned on his probable successor. ... "Morley discussed the rival claim of Grey and Asquith. The Cabinet, he said, might, if polled, support Asquith, but he (Morley) would not servo under him. Ho prefers Grey, who has 'more character,' 'less intellect,' but 'fewer drawbacks.' He (Morley) would like the F.O. unSer Grey. 'It is hard work, but I think I could do it." < " The Teal faqslf was that Morley considered that he himself had- the better claim to be Prime Minister, and "could not bear the thought of serving under Asquith in the House' of Commons. Hence Ms anxiety to go to the Lords; though, as many will remember, he vowed at the timo'that he only accepted a Peerage from an imperative sonso of duty, since the Liberal Front Bonch in that House needed strengthening. C.-B. used to allude to Morley as '' Priscilla"—an admirable nickname for a spinsterish philosopher and politician. A good examplq of Esher's shrewd-! ness is his opinion of Asquith in 1907: "Asquith's mind is a perfect instrument, and he takes points after the manner of a trained lawyer. But he

lacks some element of character, perhaps hardiness. I should sny he was a soft man, and his chin recedes when an attack is possible or imminent." L.G. ON ASQUITH. When Asquith became Premier wo are told thatL.G. "put a pistol to his head and asked for the Chancellorship of tho Exchequer with a threat of resignation." Ho spoke "deprecatiiigly" of his new chief. "He is a man," lie said, "of no initiative and requir.es to bo briefed." ~ ; ■ Of John /Burns we are told that he coveted the Admiralty, for which, Lord Esher drily adds, he was "quite unfitted." "Burns said truly that he would soon have Beresford under control. 'I should send for him," he observed, 'and say, "Look here, Charlie, are you a politician or a sailor? If the latter, then quarterdeck and silence. If#the former, Westminster and gas." ' " At that time (1908) Lord Charles hated Fisher and: all his works and thwarted him wherever ha dared. Fisher, however, was too strongly entrenched to be moved, for King Edward stood by him through thick and thin. Bo did, Esher, to whom Fisher addressed some of his most characteristic letters. For a while the King was much annoyed at an outspoken letter which Esher wrote to the Maritime League. Its contents infuriated the Kaiser, who sent a spiteful communication to Lord Twcedmouth in which ho sneered at Esher's intervention in naval affairs when his proper job was to look after "the foundations and drains of the Royal Palace." He was really striking at Fisher through Esher and trying to get him dismissed as he had already succeeded in forcing the dismissal of Delcasse. Fisher had a long talk witU tho King and agreed that perhaps Esher's letter was an indiscretion. "But it was a damned good letter, wasn't it?" he said, and the King laughingly agreed that it was. PARTY AT THE OHURCHILLS'. Mr. Churchill, of course, appears from time to time. "C.-B." would not have him in his Cabinet in 1904. He said ha must wait his turn. But Churchill gave his official chief, the Earl of Elgin, a sorry time till he got his place, and then ho plied | his elbows hard on his Cabinet colleagues. In 1908 Esher writes: "Haldane is convinced that Churchill wants to get rid of him and that L.G. backs him. This may be so. My idea is that Winston wanted, to push to the front of the Cabinet. He thinks himself Napoleon." A year later we get this pretty vignette of a birthday dinner party at Mr. Churchill's home in Eccleston Square: 1' Only six people. But he had a birthday cake with 35. candles. And crackers. He sat all the'evening, with a paper cap, from a cracker, on his head. . "He and she sit on tho same sofa, and he holds ier hand. I never saw two people more in.love. If he goes out of office, he has not a penny. He would have ,to earn his living, but' he says it is well worth it, if you live with someone you love. ' , "He,would loathe it,'but he is ready to live in a lodging—just two rooms — with her and the baby! They have a' cook now, two maids, and a man. She ran down to the kitchen before dinner to see that it was all right. And an excellent dinner it was!" These are samples of the quality of these; Esher papers. Moreover, they are full of surprises. Arthur Balfour, reading family prayers—at Whittinghame, not in Carlton Gardens —after an "avalanche of lacqueys" had filed info the room; Barrie going off to fish in the burn at The Roman Camp with a line and a box of worms; little Princess Victoria forbidden, to descend the stairs at Kensington1 Palace, unless she held someone's hand —so precious was her infant life; Royal David's "bad spelling,'? but excogitation of a riddle in bed; Frohman talking about Edna May "by the yard"—all this mixed up with dreadnoughts, and Constitutional precedents, and Army Corps, and Emperors and Ambassadors, and poetry and speculations on the wrath to come. There never- was such a lively and agreeable medley. The two conspicuous absences, are Religion and Tariff Reform; '-■■'' :-.- '■ " • ....