THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1901.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11563, 29 January 1901, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1901.

I King Edward the Seventh has been formally proclaimed throughout the British Empire, but nowhere I more heartily' and spontaneously Kwa Edward the Seventh has been formally proclaimed throughout the British Empire, but nowhere more heartily' and spontaneously ._• I than in his loyal colony of New ZeaI land. Short as was the notice, not | less than 10,000 people gathered yes-, f terday at noon before the MuniciI pal Chambers of Auckland and par--1 ticipated with intense emotion in the solemn function. Foremost among them were those of our pro--1 vince who sail to-morrow on the | King's service, and the body of | I volunteers who »wera hastily got to- j I gether to do honour to the occasion. I Thus, in our peaceful city, that ; poured its thousands to do homage ! poured its thousands of the loved j to the lawful heir of the loved i Queen we mourn, surrounded by : ( | loyal swords which have been drawn | to serve King and Country, amid | legislators and <'ivic officials, consuls of the trading nations and citizens of every rank, our chief ■ magis- 1 trate proclaimed the King and declared our fealty. For the first time I among us the National Anthem rose! I in the King's name, & change that \ I sounded strangely in ears and awk- j wardly on lips that have lifelong j \ been accustomed to the Queen's. But the earnestness with which it was sung showed clearly that the! old tune with the altered word moves our nation as much now as j |. ever, and will continue to gladden j i our hearts in peace and to nerve j | our arms in war. And as was done j ■! in Auckland, so was done in all the i • ! surrounding boroughs, in , every | provincial centre, in every part of j New Zealand where men gather together. From end to end of our isII lands, at the end to moment, with lands, at the same moment, with the same loyalty, the King was proclaimed ; as he has been proclaimed from end to end of the wide Empire that encircles the world, alike in the free lands where the iove and care of the people is his sword and | shield, and in theiregions whefe he ; I rules through their strong hand. : We have taken oath to Edward and are his the manner of out forefathers. * We have declared j him "our lawful and rightful liege | Lord." As in one huge meeting, j we have met throughout the land j and in our hundred thousands have j pledged to uphold and obey him. And as we have been J true to our Queen who is dead, j so will we be truest*) the King j who sits on her throne—-his friends j shall be our friends, and his foes out foes. As; we have served the J mother so will" we serve the son, in I ' all due obedience. Until the King's J writ runs unchallenged throughout J" I all due obedience. Until the peace ■ writ runs unchallenged throughout ' his Empire and the King's peace ■ covers with its wings all law-abiding i lieges. . • : ['.

Edward VII. reigned before we proclaimed such proclamation as we. have made throughout New

Zealand being our dutiful recognition of the fact that he has become our King. Similarly, he leigns as the Constitutional Sovereign t>f a. limited monarchy, even though he has not yet taken the coronation oath. His acceptance of "the crown, which became his at the moment our late revered Queen ceased to breathe, implied the acceptance of its obligations and duties, as of its powers and prerogatives. In this connection it will be of momentous interest to our readers to recall what Queen Victoria took oath to do. The following; is from the o'fficial copy in the Record Office: —

Archbishop: Madame, is Your Majesty willing to take the Oath ? Queen: lam willing. Archbishop: Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the People of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,- and the Dominions thereto belonging, according to the Statutes in Parliament, agreed on, and the respective laws and customs of the same ?

Queen: I solemnly promise so to do. Archbishop: Will you to Your Power pajfie Law and Justice, in Meroy, to be executed in all your Judgments? Queen: I will. Archbishop: Will you to the utmost of Your Power maintain the .'Laws 'of God, the true profession of the : Gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion established by Law? And will you maintain and preserve inviolably the Settlement of the United Church of England and Ireland, and the Doctrine, Worship, Discipline, and ' Government thereof, as by. Law established within England and Ireland, and the Territories thereunto belonging ? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England and Ireland, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such Rights and Privileges as by Law do, and shall, appertain to them, or any of them ? Queen: All this I promise to do._ The things which I have heretofore promised . I will perform and keep. So help me God.

It will be seen from the foregoing how completely our monarchs are sworn to keep the Law. The unswerving fidelity of "Victoria to her oath and the heartfelt confidence we have in the equal fidelity of her son, our present King, Edward VII., is the underlying cause of the unhesitating and enthusiastic manner in which New Zealand proclaimed him. •

I This proclamation of King EdI ward VII. is unique in the world's I history. Not merely because of the I scientific knowledge which enables |us to unite in loyal manifestation I regardless of distance, as though the ..nation met again in the ancient I " folk mote" of our ancestors, ,but 1 because such wide extent of terriI tory never before was inspired by 1 such loyal devotion to hereditary 1 monarchy. Usually, great Empires I have fallen to pieces with, the death ; of then builder, because they have j been built only by the sword and I upheld by force alone. But the I death of Victoria leaves her Empire ; unshaken. . Every British land leans | inward to the monarchy. The 1 world-wide British have lifted EdI ward VII. of freewill on their f shield; they acknowledge the next j in blood as loyally as ever did PicI tish clan or Saxon tribe, thousands lof years ago. Whereat we falsify I the sad predictions of those who I feared that they saw the last British I monarch when the fair, young girl | showed herself at the window in St. I James' Palace, beneath which the I Duke of Norfolk announced the I death of William. IV. and the con- ; sequent accession of Queen Alexandria Victoria to the throne of these , realms. The present Duke of Nor- ; folk, hereditary Earl Marshal, pro--1 claims Edward VII. as his ancestor j did Victoria. And realms that the '■ fourth William knew not of acclaim : the son of Victoria; kindred nations | that the Victorian policy nursed in | their birth and guarded in their weakness, chant round the world the anthem of the King.. What the j new reign .; may hold for us none knows. But it dawns brightly and hopefully in spite of war and danger. For it dawns on a house united within itself, on an Empire voicing as one man its loyalty to its lawful I and law-keeping monarch, on a King 1 who trusts his people and .on I a people that trusts its King.! While we can cry with ' all our 1 hearts "God Save , the King I" 1 God is with us. While God is with 1 us, who shall make us afraid ? I