KING EDWARD VII.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 15 August 1910, Page 6

KING EDWARD VII.

A SUITKESSED ARTICLE. The May number of the •■Contemporary Keview," was recalled by the proprietors immediately alter puulicaLion, the reason being that they wished to suppress an anonymous article crr.icsing, before his death, the part played by King Edward in liie cunsuuitionat crisis wbich disturbed the closing months of Ins reign. Some of the copies, however, must .have gone into • circulation .s.nco extracts Irom the article in question appear in the obituary notice of His Majesty in the dune "North American Review." i'rom these'extracts tlie iirticle would not seem to have been of a libellous or oven uu- : kindly character, but, as us publication occurred just, v, lien tile King was ill and suffering, the reason fur its sup-, pre-sion can easily lie understood. Vet . the question raised in it will have io be '. discussed by historians of the iate reign. King Edward w:is so successful in diplomacy abroad, so popular among the masses of his own people that Ins failure to avert the conflict between. Lords and Commons demands explanation. The writer in the ".North Amcri'-an Review" declares that the "Centem-: porary'' article went some distance towards solving the mystery. and he • (jnotes the following passages as an indication of the tone and bearing of the i article:— ''.No dispassionate observer will denv ; that in failing to avert this collision—i.e.. the collision between the Lords and the Commons over the .Budget—the. King, whether through misfortune or by fault, disappointed the expectations of the nation. . . . The ci.nlidence m the Crown, as the honest broker between parties, received a rude shock when ii was evident that the King was unable to prevent the rejection of the Budget. It was open'v said that- if tin. late Oueen had still been on the throne the catastrophe would not have overtaken us. . . It is possible that the i\mg. hke l,is advisers, lacked the high qual.ty ot imagination necessary to enable him to grasp till thai, was' implied in the beginning of a reactionary revolution. ; . . That I lie Kin..-- did perceive tlie danger in a dim son of wav is admitted, and h,e used wkur influence he had in his own fashion to indue;- the lenders of the Oimo.'.-i- ;,,„ to de-M ~'•■•> it was too late from eiiaileuging so serious a combat. .But at. i-.'is nuiiit we lay our linger unon the most serious element of weakness In the whole case The King has nianv great qualities "\ 0 erne is more tactful; no one is ..-.ore kind-hearted. Tie is a capital sport*--inan, and in foreign affairs lie possesses a fine instinct, which .seldom IcadsAiiiu wrong. His very geniality and e-ood"-i'elluwship deprive lnm of much oF the awe with which tlie Into (}\n:cn was regarded. Tiie divinity that doth \w:\:'c a King wears somewhat thin in the atmosphere of dinner-parties and no ■ courses. His Majesty i s a maa uorld, going ireely into society. fimnot even the most servile ' courtier would say that lie has ever, whether as i J mice or King, .surrounded himself ! will men who are iniiuonti.-,) j, : ~;.[,,,, 1 louse of Parliament. Tho-e v.'bo j,-ve -shared Jus valuable- counsels mav he the wisest of men,.as ihey are often ; „.. ['J« ! '* St:ll| « io the great poiitH lon . ' I ey ;''' U un ,. k "<»™- With the doubt!ul exception ot Lord Esher who J'as one ot the sanest heads in Kurnpo none ot those who constitute ll,e '-.,' tourage' of the K„,g count for anvtlnng m pj.bhcs. ()f the chiefs of | our old nobility a is crimparativeiv r ire j to bud any a moll g thus,, whom Mis \lajosty dehghts to honour. No,- is t , .Minus to assert that his Minister vliethcr Literal or Tore, have never Jound m him that garnered .tore of neh experience reaped by a lifetime of .iieimtting industry, which made the la e Queen the adviser of all her counsellors, the vigilant critic of Jler Mn ,_ inters, tlie most mlluenfial of all the servan s of the realm. The King. i£ short, has neither the.strong character the hrm, resolute determination, nor ; the keen interest in political men and liolitieal measures which would have added to the influence alwavs •'poert-iin ing to the throne the immense ■lli'tv n o '= 0i !l L,Jl: ' ; l»aiidiiig persouIn these views the '-.Norih Ameri-' can contributor concurs, adding that , the late King's social preferences were ! not- of a kind that the English aristoI

cracv relished, and thai, "a state of uuie-eont. estrangement" cxislcl !»- H.en the Crown I i! Id nobility. e:'..-u'.- iiiilmmce in Ihe'vis!-;. 'ltione.ii Mis .Mai.--.Hy was always ready to give up p'.i.oiv |.er.-'..ual Uishe, if lie ;,aw ■Mieir" i'uliihivnt to he a. likelv ctnise or imblie co,,ti--.--er-y or ill-leehug. yet the lad that his •■iiiciids" \\rn\ not, as a rule, io he loiind anione the ,-eal leaders of the nation. is alleged io have, lessened his auihorily as a political referee. As an illustration „i' Mis .Majesty's personal predilections, a .story is tokl in connection, with the coronation honour list. There were, it is said, two gentlemen who confidently expected peerages. They were both 'warm personal friends of the King. who. '-for reasons on which the gossip of the d'av had a. good deal to say," was jinxic'Ms to gratify their ambitious. Lord Salisbury was usually the most coiiiplaciit of Ministers on all such matters. Miis reported to have said, in his cvnical way. on one occasion, when his privaiw* secretary came io him with the annual batch or new dignities. "Oh, don't bother me about i<. Settle it von,- own way. Make anybody anvl hin« vou like." lint in tin's case e\-,-u he was'provoked to protest. The Mouse of Lords would not have louud the two would-ho ocers at all acceptable, and Lord Salisbury I'l'i' his loot down tiriulv on the -proposal. Tn the event, and alter some feeling had been arou.-ed, the Kin-r li-ive way. Whether true or merelv "ben trovato. the story suggests that there was something verv like antae-on-ism between the King's ••^-t - ' and' the rest oi '•societv."