GREAT SPEECH BY THE KING

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 109, 10 May 1935, Page 7

GREAT SPEECH BY THE KING

ROLE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE '

. "COMMONWEALTH OF PEACE"

(Brillsli Official Wireless.) (Received May 10, 11 a.m.) „ , , * RUGBY, May 9. lodays ceremony at Westminster Hall, when the King and Queen drove there in an open carriage without a military escort along a route lined, not by troops, but by great crowds of their cheering people, was marked by quiet dignity and moving simplicity. ■ It was memorable for the remarkable speech delivered by the King, one passage in which was an eloquent vindication of the British Empire as the Commonwealth of Peace. "In these days," said the King, "when fear and preparations for war are again astir in the world, let us be thankful that quiet government and peace prevail over so large a part of the earth's surface, and that under our flag of freedom so many millions eat their daily bread in far distant lands and climates with none to make them afraid." The King's voice at one moment only showed a tendency to falter. It was when, half turning towards the Queen who sat at his side, he said: "I have been blessed in all my work in having beside me my dear wife of whom you have spoken so kindly." As the King ended his speech the Lord Chancellor called for three cheers, first for the King, and then for the Queen. Afterwards their Majesties drove back to the Palace through a crowded and cheering throng.