KING AND STATESMAN

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1715, 11 January 1905, Page 73 (Supplement)

KING AND STATESMAN

EDWARD VII.’S POWER AND POPULARITY.

(By Mrs Belloc Lowndes, in London "Leader/’)

These are utilitarian days, and even monarchy is expected to> snow a pron every quarter. Tried by any such test, his Majesty would come out triumphant, indeed, it may be doubted whether any monarcn in the history of the world A\as ever more firmly seated on his throne than Ldward VII. . ~ In every class and rank there is the same feeLng of gratitude to h m as a true patriot, of pride in his versatility and tact —qualities for which Englishmen are not usually noted —and of real personal aftect on. This last, curiously enough, is to be found among people who have not the smallest personal knowledge of their Sovereign. Yet they love him as one lo\es an historical character —Ldward 1., . perhaps, or the noble Falkland, “ingeminating .peace.” I can tell a story which throws a vivid light upon our King’s popularity tvith the working classes. A well-known writer found himself one day, wnen on the top of an omnbus, learning a few things from the dr ver. The man expressed his admiration for the King, and his belief that the Severe.gn kept this country from reckless wars, in the strongest language, and then unfolded to his passenger a notable scheme. This was nothing less than a public subscription among the working men of a shilling a head for the King’s benefit! “I don’t believe he has ever had enough of the brass,” explained the driver. “His mother, she kept him short, that’s how it was. Me and my mates, we ve been thinking how it would be if we had awliip round for him, in a manner of speaking. I’d be glad to lend him a bob myself, I know, and it would come to something, too, a bob apiece from all us working chaps in the country.” SPOKEN FROM THE HEART. It was said with such absolute sincerity and artlessness, and the man so obviously represented in the matter the feelings of numbers of other working men, that my sophisticated friend was deeply impressed, Quick as thought lie had turned ten million shillings into pounds sterling, and then there cam© to him the ab urd recollection of Dizzy and the Turnerelli wreath. But there seemed nothing absurd about such a colossal workers’ subscription as was contemplated by this unlettered omnibus-driver; and incidentally he noted the natural delicacy of the man in calling it a loan while really meaning it to be a gift. That delegate at the last Trade Union Congress who declared that the King was about the only statesman in the country found his words cheered to the echo. The King has made many realise the value of mQiiarchy as an institution, when it is administered bj 7 a man of real intelligence, observation, knowledge of the world, instinctive sympathy, and enlightened patriotism. The King has an extraordinary knowledge of the hones and fears, the virtues and failings, of the great English middleclass. whose confidence lie has gained so completely, that he is actually, if you think of things and not mere words, far more of gn autocrat than his Imperial ne : hew in St. Petersburg. When any official personage does anything sensible it is immediately put down—rightly or wrongly—to the King’s initiative for examnle. the institution of the Committee of Three on the Adolf Beck case. The most remarkable thing about his Majesty’s position to-day among his own people, and still more the estimation m which he is hold on the Continent and in America, is that it is almost entirely the growth of the past three or four years. I do not mean, of course, his popularity but the discovery of his statecraft.

We have only to cast our minds back to those dark days in January, 1901, when Queen Victoria died, full of years and honor, and her son ascended the throne. So ething was known about him, of course, but practically nothing that could furnish an answer to the question whethei he would worthily bear the new and strange responsibilities which had fallen on his shoulders As Prince of Wales he had fulfilled the merely ceremonial duties, both of the Heir Apparent, and, in later years, of the Crown itself, with amiability His love of sport and amusement generally had done him no harm with the bulk of the population. One quality which might have given to the discerning an indication of h*s future statesmanship was the tact which he hail displayed on many conspicuous occasions, sometimes to redress the consequences of some action of . the Sovereign which was not characterised by her usual judicious prudence. He was also acknowledged to have a particularly charming and gracious manner, quick sympathies, and a vivid interest in current events. UNPROMISING SIGNS. But as regards his qualifications for exercis.ng inat constant watchfulness o\er public anairs wh ch earned for his mother the title of Jingland's Permanent Foreign Minister, the new monarch was almost like a sealed book. Indeed, the little that was known was not particularly nopeful.

To begin with, there was the fact that for a generation and more he had been excluded by Queen Victoria even from viewing the complex workings ot the great Government machine. Probably the least important Cabinet Minister knew more of the course on which the ship of state was being steered than did the then Prince of Wales. ne had travelled a great deal, in the way that royalty does travel, and lie had to a great extent succeeded in overcoming tlie defects, or rather the excesses of ms early education. Nevertheless, there can doubt that if Mr Gladstone, 'a born optimist who never made any secret of the high opinion he entertained of the then He r Apparent, were still living, he would be astonished at the place which the King now Holds in the world’s esteem, at the victories which he has won in the bloodless fields of international confidence and goodwill. A generation ago all the credit for the work which the K ng has done for the cause of peace won id have been given to the Prime Minister for the time being— Gladstone or Disraeli. It would have been said that the great statesman was fortunate in having an apt pup.l on the throne. But now no one dreams of saying to M r Balfour or Lord Lansdowne, “Thine be the praise!” Rather, it is the statesman who is nowadays the monarch’s pupil.