4N EMPIRE'S LOVE,

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 66

4N EMPIRE'S LOVE,

By a Banker.

Thrc-jghotit the ages, from the very beginning cl man's existence upon earth, nations and pec /)!=s have invariably desired that one of their m;r_fD2r should be Tiller and head of tho entire ccr.i oiunity ; tmfcil within the last comparative j few years of the worlds history this. i\iler having in all casas borne the iitle of king or queen, or some sync-vnious designation. From time to time, however, instances had occurred of nations appointing a ruler without regal powers; but these exceptional appointments were epeedily abrogated, and the return to royalty effected, as, lor instance, the temporary triumviraieship of Rome, the sho-t Commonwealth of England, or the very brief consulship of France.

It is th.2r3fore evident that until a conrparatnely recant period almost the entile civilised human race has, for all time, been universally possessed with the fixed and innate desire to be governed by a ruler invented with royal or imperial honours and functions. And although dtirmg the past few scores of years some important nations, notably the United States and Franca, have rejected the principle of royalty, yet even now the vast and overwhelming majority of the human race still maintain, unaltered as iron the beginning of time, that desire which was voiced of old by the Hebrews, "Now make us a King io rule over us like all the nations."

And of aIL the monarchs who have ever ruled upon this earth, the most revered, the most venerated, and the most loved must unquestionably ba Queen "Victoria. From the very first year of her long and glorious reign, when lu 5 r people began to realise her high integrity, her sterling worth, and her sound leligious principles, the love of the nation for their monarch has continued to increase with over augmenting intensity, until now, since this lamentable v/ar, co fatuously and arrogantly forced upon us with unparalleled and contemptuous insolence, stirring up our venerable Queen to still greater exertions on bshalf of her soldiers raid her people, this love and all-pre-vailing affection has developed throughout the Empire to a degree such as probably no human being has ever before enjoyed.

Perhaps this affection smel regard were never more remarkably exhibited than at the spontaneous manifestation of loyalty upon the occasion of her visit to the metropolis to thank the City of London for all it had done for the Empire at this juncture. Vast masses of men and women of all classes, from high to low, assembled to greet their Queen, all joining in a perfect roar of cheering ; now merginginto snatches of the National Anthem, and now breaking out again with redoubled power, as she progresses through the decorated streets. Many an eye is now melting into tears of affection, and the beloved face of the aged but vigorous monarch clearly shows that the love of her people is reciprocated by her to the very heart, and her own eyes arc seen to be also suffused in warm and mutual sympathy with them.

And throughout the Stale, which, under the good hand of Divine Providence — which has so manifestly blessed a nation whose guiding principles are the great maxims of Christianity — equity, and justice, and right — has? developed into a mighty Empire of nearly 400,000 million souls, or almost a fourth of the globe's inhabitants, all — except an insignificant few, stirred up by professional agitators — contented and prosperous, she is regarded as the Mother of her peoples ; and from north, from south, from east, and) from west, wherever that glorious flag upon which the sun never sets is flaunted in the breeze, the continuous orisons of a united people are perpetually offered to the throne of the Most High: God save our gracious Queen, Long live oui noble Queen, God save the Queen.

The reported comet was seen at Timaru yesterday morniaa;