Evning Post. THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1937. DEDICATION TO SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 112, 13 May 1937, Page 8

Evning Post. THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1937. DEDICATION TO SERVICE

The Coronation of King. George VI and his Queen in London yesterday was celebrated throughout the British Empire in a manner fully befitting the importance of the occasion with demonstrations of popular enthusiasm that augur well for the success of the new reign. In London the scenes in the streets during the processions and at the Abbey during the ceremony were such as words can but. suggest to the imagination, but cannot adequately describe. The Coronation of a British King is the greatest spectacle the modern world has to show, and it is a tribute to the British genius for organisation that it can Carry through to the last detail, without a hitch, a vast and elaborate programme involving many hundreds of individual participants in the presence of millions of interested people in an atmosphere of emotion and enthusiasm. It is clear from the descriptions that the. Coronation yesterday surpassed all expectations. Some months ago there might have been apprehension^ that spontaneity might be lacking. Th6se fears have proved groundless. By his courage and ability in the.face of adverse circumstance the new King has won the approval of his people and the people have rallied, in response, with demonstrations of affection and loyalty attested on all hands. The King and Queen have made the best of. impressions. From beginning to end the Coronation celebrations have been a personal triumph which has won for their ' Majesties a lasting confidence in their capacity to carry the. heavy burden of the Crown in the service of the Empire.

The sentiments inspired by the events of yesterday were well expressed by the King in his broadcast message to the Empire at the close of the day. "Never," he said, "has a ceremony had so wide a significance, for the Dominions are now free and equal' partners with this ancient Kingdom. I felt that the whole Empire was in very truth gathered in Westminster Abbey." This is the essence of a ceremony today which was once purely English, then British and is now addressed to the whole of a vast Empire studded round the globe. The manifold ceremonies in all - parts of the Empire swell the' responsive chorus of the multitude of peoples to the majestic moving solemnities at the centre. Of this the King is fully cognisant in his thanksgiving in the words of his message: j

I can only say this, that if in the coming years I can show my gratitude, in service to you, that1 is the way above all I should choose. To many millions the Crown is the symbol of unity. By the grace of God and by the will of the free peoples of theBritish Commonwealth I have assumed that Crown. In me as your King is vested for a time the duty of maintaining its honour and integrity. This indeed is a grave and constant responsibility, but it has given me confiderice to see your representatives around me in the Abbey,and to know that they were enabled to join in the infinitely beautiful ceremonial. Its actual forms come down from distant time, but its inner meaning is a message that is always new. The highest of all distinctions 19 service to 6thers and to the Ministry of Kingship I have dedicated myself, with the Queen by my side, in words of the deepest solemnity. We will, God helping us, faithfully discharge our trust.

Through all the pomp and pageantry, the splendour and magnificence, the gorgeous processions, the solemn ceremonial, the moving drama, set amid historic scenes on a historic stage, this is the essence, the soul and spirit of it all—the dedication of a King and Queen to the service of their people. The rest are but the externals that serve to impress the mind and memory so that; the occasion will not easily be forgotten. This is especially so with the young, and the King himself in his message coupled the inspiration of the day with his childhood picture, deeply impressed in the memory, of the Coronation of his grandfather Edward VII. So, too, the life of his own father, George V, was a lesson in devotion to duty and service. So, also, the Prime Minister (Mr. Baldwin) spoke of dedication to the service of others as the spiritual legacy of the day's events. But this must not be one-sided; it is the duty of all. "The Times," commenting, rtbserved, according to a message today:

It is impossible for any man to bear the burden of Kingship unless he is fortified and inspired by the spiritual power to be conferred on him in the Abbey today; also his people's love and good will. Mainly through the

Monarchs' own doing, the duties of monarchy have increased out of all conception. A century ago the private life of a Sovereign used to be lived apart from his people. Now nothing the Royal House does is alien to the people's welfare. * The Crown is a necessary centre, not only of political, but of all life.

This means that if the King and Queen are to continue to carry the heavy, burden of their dedicated service, they need all the help, affection, and loyalty the people can give them. Thus the one inspires the other, and mutual respect and esteem, shown in a thousand and one ways, create strong and lasting ties of sentiment, the cement that unites Crown and Commonwealth in a solid structure, resistant to_ attack of time and circumstance. This, as the "Daily Herald" declares, "means something more durable than days of celebration and days of thoughtless applause." It may be that mere externals of the Coronation will fade like Shakespeare's "insubstantial pageant" in "The Tempest," but they will leave more than a "rack behind." They will leave the memory of their true inner meaning, the dedication td service.