THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1950. THE PRINCE'S VISIT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17940, 20 May 1920, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1950. THE PRINCE'S VISIT.

Ditnedin says good-bye to the Prince of Wales this morning, and within a comparatively few hours the dominion will have to bid him God-speed as be re-embarks upon the Renown and sails for Australia. Into the very brief period of his sojourn amongst us his Royal Highness has crowded a remarkable measure of activity. He has been called upon for a display of concentrated energy which has been calculated to tax both mind and body in an unusual degree. The sustained enthusiasm attending his reception, rekindling itself at his every appearance in public, has subjected our Royal visitor to no common ordeal. It has imposed oa him a continuous and unslackening demand not lightly to be thought upon. Bm the Prince's respo'nse has been magnificent—heroic, we might almost say—in its unwavering felicity. In this—in the sense that he conveys of his appreciation of the desire and effort of the people to extend him loyal greetings and to do honour to the occasion of his visit, and iri the sense also of his desire that, so far as personal endeavour on his part can avail, the occasion shall fulfil expectations and that none' shah be disappointed—lies in great measure the secret of the impression which he has created. If the Prince was popular before he arrived, as he undoubtedly was, upon the eve of departure his popn larity is unbounded. No man could wear more easily than he the mantle of a destiny so high. Noblesse oblige! His Royal Highness performs his part as all would have him perform it.* This every portion of the Empire which he has visited acknowledges with pride.

It is most gratifying to think that all the conditions have contributed to rendering the Prince's visit to Dunedin an outstanding and unqualified success. A success it was bound to be' in any circumstances, but the favourable weather throughout the visit has been a most important factor in bringing pleasure and enjoyment to everybody, enabling the various out-of-door functions to be carried through without a hitch, and affording the people opportunity of showing their interest in ah the scenes in which the Prince has been the central figure. Comparisons are odious, but it is satisfactory to think that Dunedin has fully held her own among the principal centres of the dominion in recognising, by loyal demonstration and spectacular display, the honour conferred by the visit of the Prince of Wales. The citizens are to be congratulated upon the result. Occasions like this are rare in our colonial history, and it is good that they should be embraced wholeheartedly. In entering as they have done into the spirit of the hour the people of Dunedin have done honour to themselves as well as to the Prince. They have shown themselves members of a community—many such may the Prince encounter in his travels!—which is British to the core in its outlook and in its sympathies, and which lias an unshakeable faith in, and regard for, the institutions symbolised by the Crown. It is upon these institutions that tho Empire has grown to its present greats ness, and ib is upon the maintenance of them that its solidarity is closely dependent. During the past two or three days the people of Dunedin have had peculiar reason to reflect upon the nature of ttielink which subsists between the Sovereign and the nation. They iiave realised, many perhaps as never before, the strength of the Imperial bond. The personal factor resident in the presence of the Prince of Wales and in the manner in which he has come closely into touch with tho people, has crystallised tho meaning of citizenship of the Empire and of loyalty to the Throne. There is sentiment behind.British reserve responsive to the spur that is strong enough, and on an occasion like tho Prince's visit it finds justification and an appropriate opportunity for betraying itself. Our illustrious guest has Bhown the most princely of qualifications

in his capacity for touching thoso chords to which human naturo is most readily attuned. His is tho ambassadorial gift in its surest and happiost expression and tho rosults of his mission overseas— if bo wo may en 11 it—will bo written accordingly, though the eyo may not road them. We may lower the curtain upon tho pageantry of the moment, and upon the already fading decorations, thoso emblems symbolic of our sentiments, but tho seutimonts themselves, wo aro glad to think, will endure both timo and weather. The recollection of tho Prince as he has played his gracious part for a day or two in our midst will be abiding and ineffaceable. Upon tho minds especially of thoso who will bo future citizens of tho Empiro tho impression left by this most happy interlude, this spectacular break in the routine of evoryday existence, will be most vivid. They will long remember tlio scene and how— You would luavo thought the very windows spa-ko, So many eager loolre of old and young From casements darted thoir desiring eyee. Centuries have- rolled by sinco that prince's triumphal progress of which Shakespeare thus wrote, and his " scoptred isle " has become tho cornerstone of a mighty Empire. And in this part of tho Empiro most distant from its great metropolis a young prince of the old, proud realm has found a welcome which shows how staunch is the heart of the nation to its old allegiances.