The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY. DEC 11th. 1925 THE ROYAL LINE

Hokitika Guardian, 14 December 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY. DEC 11th. 1925 THE ROYAL LINE

I it:: unity between the ]ii>y; l l family am! the Tiriti.-Ii peeplc wa.s marked itt i|tiitc a remarkable milliner liy the genuine .-amiu felt at tin. l time of tlm n'ci'iit death ut the MolliiT Queen. The h'nyal line mi tar as I lie liciti>li Empire i- com erned ha- a verv i hue 1 luce in (.lie heart • and ad.-etiulis of the people. In other country c* hate .seen him the institution of royalty hits stiilered of late years. Thrones have eriimhled and dynasties have fallen. lint. a« a writer has remarked recently, the Tlritish throne .stands fonrsi|Uare, based (irmly upon the affections of tlie nation. Theoretical Kepuhli--1 cans may a roue that a monarchy is an anachronism, hut in practice they that it is congenial to the national character of Britain, and willingly they pay their allegiance. Indeed, never has llie Throne stood higher in public regard than during the last three reigns. Under Victoria. Edward, and George fresh links have boon forged between the nation and its titular head. When one .surveys the history of Britain it is surprising to find low few monarehs have been really popular outside a small circle. Thanks, in the main, to Shakespeare's portraiture. Henry V. ranks as a national hero, “the ideal man of action.” TTndonbtedlv lie possessed rare courage and ability. But, in the words of a contemporary chronicler, he was feared as welt as revered, ffis ambition eost England many lives and much misery, and he was a stranger to religions tolerance. As a young, brilliant, active man. Henry VIII. was well liked. tint Bluff King Hal was very different from the bloated tvrant of the hitter oar! rf his reign. when the only emotion he inspired was terror. Good Queen Bess was for long the idol of her people, vet her last years on the throne were darkened by disaffection in the. realm. The careless generosity of Charles 11.. the merry monarch, won him admirers, hut these were confined tri the Court and its parasites. These •ire traditionally the most popular of all who have worn the English crown Prior to the Victorian age; yet their hold uprn the affections of their ]>enple was transient or limited. None of them took the place in the heart of the nation which the House of Windsor occupies. In her long, long reign Victoria Became a veritable institution. That lonely figure in tier widow’s weeds, the ruler of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, captured the imagination. She was revered, both as a Queen and as a symbol. After the death of the Prince Consort. Victoria lived in virtual seclusion. Edward VII. urbane, a .sportsman, a man of affairs, a diplomat of parts, brought the throne nearer, ju a sense, to the people and set a precedent which King George and his sons have followed. The divinitv that doth hedge a king is icn emphasised in the English Court. The Koval House is approachable. It is on good terms with everyone. Queen Alexandra mingled freely with her people in her many charitable enterprises. Tile Prince of Wales rides to bounds and fraternises with all and sundry. The me ill tiers of the Koval family share in the nation's pleasures, its sorrows, its hope-. The King of England. it has been said, reigns, hut lie does not govern. Technically that is true. No longer can he dismiss Parliament if and when lie sees fit. or extort forced loans or order a recalcitrant .subject- to be Itehended. His constitutional powers are limited: ho must net upon the advice of his Ministers. But this does not prevent him from exercising a very real, if imponderable. influence. Personality will always assert itself. The King knows no party ; he has no axe to grind : he represents the community as a whole. His position invests him with a certain authority, which, though not recognised hy taw, exists ip fact. It is a

commonplace that Edward VII. was responsible more tlmn any other man for the improvement in the relations of Britain and France. The Chancelleries might have uttered pious aspirations indefinitely without producing any result. Edward was frank in his admiration of France and the French. He was a constant visitor to France, and appeared frequently in public. The French appreciated the compliment, and thus the Entente was engendered. It is on record, too. that King George's appeal in the coal .strike a few years ago tided over an extremely critical situation. Only the other day Mr Lloyd George declarer! that hut for the King’s intervention in the Irish question a settlement would probably never have been reached. The devotion of the present reigning House to its national duties is beyond question. The earnest servin' rendered is proof of the genuine spirit animating the actions which are shaped always in the best interests of the people. It is this self-sacrifice which attracts and holds the love of the people, and assures the stability and usefulness of the Koval line at the head of our nation. Well may the national anthem he “God Save the King.” and always rendered with such sincere feeling and honest belief in the sentiments expressed.