KNOWN THREE MONARCHS

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1935, Page 11

KNOWN THREE MONARCHS

LORD DERBY’S MEMORIES RESPECT FOR QUEEN VICTORIA. HARD LIFE OF KING EDWARD VII. Lord Derby spoke of three Monarchs he has known—Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and George V—when he addressed the Manchester Luncheon Club at a meeting eariy in May to express a feeling of loyalty to the Throne in view of the approaching celebration and the King’s jubilee. The luncheon, held at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, drew together the largest assembly which has j ever attended a meeting of the club, and accommodation for some of the 400 people present had to be found in the balcony of the banqueting-hall.-The Lord Mayor of Manchester presided, and introduced Lord Derby as “the uncrowned King of Lancashire.” He spoke of the great services Lord Derby had rendered to the Throne and also to Manchester. Lord Derby, discussing how the Crown had gradually secured for, itself a loyalty which was personal as well as constitutional, looked back to the reign of George IV, of whom he said, “He is the one man who, if I had lived in his time, I should really cordially have disliked. (Laughter.) I do not think he 7. had a single good attribute ; about him. He interfered in political matters, he was disloyal to his friends, he was a spendthrift, and in many other ways 1 he was not what you would call a really good figurehead to this country. 4 Then thej came to William TV. People rather ignored William IV. He was what they called a “bluff sailor.” A little racing story showed what? the character of, the man was. “He had four horses in the Goodwood Cup, and , his trainer said to him, ‘Which one, Your Majesty, would you like me to run?’ ‘Which one?’ he said. “Run the whole damned fleet!’ Which,” said Lord Derby, when roars of laughter allowed him to be heard, “he did, and wpn.” QUEEN VICTORIA’S TIME. > ’ Queen Victoria’s time was the time, . he supposed, when there was the most acute change between the old Court and the new Court. Nobody, looking back on her history in the first years of her reign, could do otherwise than admire the way in which she gradually sifted out the grain from the chaff and . was able afterwards to pass on a wonderful kingdom to those who came after her. He spoke of the loyalty which was “more a fear” inspired by Queen Victoria. “There Is no doubt she was a wonderful old lady, but she was very terrifying. When I came back with Lord Roberts from the South African War we were stopped in the troopship off Osborne, and he took me’ up to be presented to her. I was the last person to be presented. That was, I think, on January 6, and she was dead a fortnight later. I can see her there now, in a’-; ~ room, a little figure in black standing up, and with a colour to her face .one felt meant death, and yet with a clear voice speaking to us as we came , up. ‘ And I honestly confess I never was so terrified in my life as I was on that oc- - casidn. “Something followed. Lord. Roberts, . had brought back with him six Indian aides-de-camp—big fine fellows who' had seen a lot of fighting. As they came to the Queen each held out the handle of his sword for her to touch, and there was not one not shaking all over when he did it. *there were all of us, terrified by that one little old woman sitting there. while millions of her subjects all over the world were doing homage to her." She brought the throne of England back out of somewhat disrepute on to probably the highest scale it ever had in its history. Nobody, he always thought, continued Lord Derby, had a more. “raw deal” than King Edward had. For the greater portion of his life he bore H < the burden and the work of sov- ■ \ ereignty without having the power that y went with it. During his lifetime he never ha ’ his fair share of the credit of keeping up the prestige of England, and when he did come to the throne, in the ’ all-too-short time that he lived, he showed himself by his wisdom, tact, and knowledge of, mankind a worthy successor to his mother. .* ■ ■;- j ?• ‘ “AN IDEAL COUPLE.” Lord Derby spoke last of the King. “He lis a man,” said Lord Derby, “who has been taught from the begin- , . ning of his life to take up the reins -bf government and follow on constitutional lines all those who had gone in > front of him. How has he performed his task?” He invited his audience to look at the King from the point of view of the man in the street. When war 'was declared everyone flocked to Buckingham Palace to see the King. That wa? loyalty to the Crown. On Armistice Day there was another general rush to Buckingham Palace. That was love for the man. When the King was lying, as all- thought, stricken unto death, the, crowds at Buckingham Palace showed their love for the King and their devotion to the man. And had he not deserved it? No-. body could have had a ' more loyal friend. “He has been good enough at times to say that I was one of his oldest' friends, and all I can say is that nobody could want to have a friend as loyal, as kind, and as considerate as the King has been to me.” 7 ' But the King had not stood alone. Nobody could have had a more loyal, able, and active supporter than the Queen had been to him. This “ideal couple” had instilled into all their children that if you had great position you had also great • responsibilities. Was it too much to ask, he concluded; that they-should make the, tribute now being organised a tribute worthy of the occasion and the recipient, • and when they drank his health not. to do if lip-service only, but to pray that he j might be spared many more years to lead them, as he had done in times of adversity, in the peace and prosperity for which he, more than any other man in this country, had worked from year in to year out? -