ECHOES OF THE WEEK

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1510, 7 February 1901, Page 35

ECHOES OF THE WEEK

At t-lie present juncture, when peace and goodwill should- be the handmaids of mourning, we have an outburst of spleen in two great countries of Europe. When the Queen's death was announced, the tone of the foreign press gave no reason for expecting such a thing. On the contrary, the newspapers of the- Continent referred each in some special way to the virtues of the departed Sovereign, and wrote with thankful unanimity of the powerful influence she had so long exercised in favour of the world’s peace. They were, in fact, completely in accord with the speech so reelingly delivered by the British Prime Minister in the House of Lords. But in Russia and France this excellent arid appropriate attitude has suddenly been abandoned. Though the Queen so touchingly spoken of is yet unburied, the Russian press has, according to our cable news of this morning, broke out into angry comments; and French newspapers have not hesitated to assign a mean motive to the presence cf the German Emperor in England. Yet in the brief interval between respectful sympathy and indignant opprobrium nothing more has happened than happens on occasions like this, in every family in every part of the world. What difference there is, is merely the difference of degree between a King’s observance and a peasant’s. No matter what the elxtremes, the principle is the same, and in accordance with that principle the members of every family corile together to mourn and honour their dead. The Kaiser gave up his coronation, and left the bi-centenary commemoration of the foundation of his kingdom of Prussia, to be at the bedside of the head of his mother’s family; his relations were pleased with his devotion ; the King of England conferred certain customary honours upon him, and he reciprocated. There is apparently no reason whatever for regarding these proceedings as of more than family concern. Yet they have plunged half the Continent into something like a frenzy of excitement. There is nothing more certain than that the Anglo-German agreement in China, which has proved strong enough to regulate the whole complicated Chinese situation, had the cordial approval of the late Queen. As Lord Salisbury told the Lord MavoFs guests at the Guildhall the other day, this agreement had only two clauses : (1) To preserve the integrity of China and (2) to maintain the policy of the open door in that country. These lines the Powers agreed to, and it is only when the British Queen dies that the Russian press, which never takes risks, declares angrily that the Anglo-German alliance is dangerous to Russian interests. It looks as though the chiefs of the Russian bureaucracy, feeling that the strongest influence against them with the Czar has been removed, are losing no time in making a policy move. The French outburst, on the other hand, almost suggests the expectation on that side of a new Triple, Alliance —of Russia, France and Germany—for the humiliation of Great Britain; so great is the disappointment that in the hour of his release l from the influence of the great Queen the Kaiser has turned to the West instead of to the East. Both outbursts are a proof of the strength of the late Queen's influence in the politics of the world. If these newspapers which have given us this testimony go no further, it will be well. If they do, the strengthening of the bond of Royal and Imperial kinship now in progress may prove useful.

THE EMPIRE AND PEACE.

Personal affection was the dominant note of the great celebration of Saturday throughout the Empire. On the day of the great Queen's funeral the British race in every part of her Empire showed the world hctW close was the tie of reverence which had bound her to them throughout her honourable career. At the opening of the twentieth century a weary world is roused by an exhibition of sentiment which was supposed not to have survived the Crusades. And the lesson that the heart of mankind is still young has come from the proud, reserved Anglo-Saxon. There were tears in the eyes of men 'everywhere on the day on which the loved Queen was borne to her last resting-place; theire was a hash in their voices, grief in their bearing. Preachers who addressed emotional multitudes everywhere broke

AN empire’s MOURNING.

down over tlieir last words; people never before known to venture upon psalmody raised their voices in the reverent chants of the improvised services ; men spoke deeply from their hearts of things they had been all their lives chary of mentioning. After this, who should say that this age of electric wire and rapid print, which makes contemporary history go with the pulsebeat of mankind, has not, inter alia, restored to mankind the generous instincts, the enterprising initiative, the capacity for tenderness, the admiration of the greatness in simple virtues, in a word all the qualities of well-furnished youth ?

Here, in this distant capital, it was as everywhere else in the broad domain under the unsetting sun. Perhaps, indeed, it was even better than elsewhere outside the metropolis of the Empire. Nowhere do we note, so far as the reports that have reached here inform us, the same completeness of effect following so full a realisation of the leading idea. It was, with us here, a great military funeral. The soldiery sounded the note of mourning for the people, and gave them its example. At the moment as if of burial they gave way to the religious element, standing aside with arms reversed. When all was over, they swung into marching order, and moved away with martial respect. As a whole, nothing better could have been devised to give expression to a nation’s grief. It was, therefore, particularly pleasing that the arrangements for carrying out the idea were so good. The grounds, the precincts of Parliament House, and the disposal of the public about them, together with the arrangement of the mourning draperies, were all creditable to the Minister for Public Works, whose department rooked to these matters, under his gwdance. The handling of the troops, the arrangement of the service, the appropriateness of its several touching items—for all these things, together with the punetuality of the proceedings, a punctuality which was as marked at the ending as at the beginning, let those somewhat vhgue personages, “ the authorities,” be duly and honourably thanked.

AX IMPRESSIVE SCENE.

11l the whole worlcl-wide celebration two things call for special mention. One is the fact that tion. One is the fact that the railways all over the Empire stopped work for a given time at a certain hour j the other is the story of the little ragged Irish newsboy who spent his last penny in buying a bunch of violets to pin over the great Queen’s name. Of these incidents, die first we have to our credit in common with the rest of the Empire. If it should turn out, as may be probable, that our Minister for Railways has led the Empire with this idea which has given it a common base of respectful mourning, it will be still better. But the other incident belongs to Old Ireland alone. The most touching and most perfectly beautifid act of loyalty of the whole celebration has been contributed to the funeral obsequies by one of the youngest and poorest of her sons. The whole Empire acknowledges it, for the whole Empire rings with the pretty story. Let Old Erin get full credit. For the rest, though the deed is hers, the spirit of it is a thing wdiich we can all not only adm-re, but emulate. In the loyalty of his heart, that ragged boy gave according to his means, perhaps more than his slender provision warranted, for the honour of the Sovereign who is gene. Here is the spirit for the citizens of 'Wellington to cultivate, after the practical manner of the application which sent a smile and a tear round all the breakfast tables of the Empire yesterday morning. Thus cultivated, the spirit of loyalty, ceasing to be a mere cieature of the tongues of men,, will guide their hands to the rapid erection of the commemoration statue of which our citizens are talking so much. The period of the Empire’s mourning should not close without seeing the needful sum for the commemoration statue dulj T deposited in bank. Then shall we all have a better right to admire the youngest and best of the Irishry.

4 TOUCHING TOUCHING INCIDENT.