THE KING'S HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7477, 11 August 1902, Page 2

THE KING'S HEALTH.

I A CHARMED LIFE OF SIXTY YEARS. (By MRS BELLOC LOWNDES.) During the whole course of his life— that is, just over sixty years — the King has enjoyed' singularly good health. With the exception of one brief illness, which, hoAvever, brought him as near death as it Mas possible to be and yet recover, his Majesty might well boast that he had always possessed in its entirety every Briton's ideal, "a sound mind in a sound body." When he was at Edinburgh studying under Professor (later Lord) Playfair, the^ latter wrote to a private friend, " The Prince of Wales is a splendidly healthy youth." f EWO UNFORTUNATE VISITS. The King, even in his early days, was too apt to disregard his health. As is generally the ci«e with humbler mortals who enjoy till the age of thirty unbroken health, he never allowed! any ordinary fatigue to interfere with whatever matter — more often duty than pleasure — he had in hand. To give, an example: Few people are aware that in the early autumn of 1871 he undoubtedly weakened his splendid constitution, by an incognito excursion to the bat^ tlefields of Sedan.and Metz. By a series of curious michatvees, which, characteristically caused more annoyance on behalf of his companions than of himself, he had to sleep after a long and trying day/ spent on the battlefield in the pestilential atmosphere of a small French town, which had been for many months previously, and still was, filled 1 with wounded men. Small wonder that on his return it was .noticed that the Prince of Wales had lost a great deal of his -buoyancy of spirit. « Ten years all but one month after the first news of the Prinoe Consort's last illness had become known to the country was published the announcement, which came to the Empire with an overwhelming shock, that the Heir Apparent was lying seriously ill of typhoid fever in his country home at Sandringbam. There is no doubt that he actually caught the infection at Scarborough when staying with Lord Londesborough, for in addition to the royal guest his groom Bleg.ge and Lord Chesterfield were stricken with the fell disease, and) the King 'alone survived. ATTACKED BY TYPHOID. Many of his Majesty's contemporaries re* member vividly the anxious days which followed. The Heir Apparent was .nursed entirely by his wife, by his beloved sister, Princess Alice, and by his four_devoted and 1 skilful medical attendants, Drs Jenner, Gull, Clayton and Lowe. An intense wave of sympathy swept over the whole country, and, as was justly said, "in the popular regard for the Prince, Radical, Whig and Tory stood on common ground." Since the death of Princess Charlotte in 1817 no such public expression of sorrow had been manifested, and, as has been the case during the King's recent illness, not sorrowing wife and children alone, but millions of Englishspeaking folk, waited in breathless suspense for the doctors' daily verdicts. On Deo. 8 there came an alarming tei lapse, and, the w-arm-hearbed Dutihess of Teck, then staying in Germany, wrote in her diary, " We cried over the almost hopeless accounts together, which spoke of the end as not far distant, provided dear Wales did not at once rally." Two days later j tike Duohesa received 1 a telegram; from Princess Alice, which', t>hougih heartretudingly sad, contained the brave words, "Yet we hope." The relapse was the more cruelly unexpected owing to the fact that on Dec. 1 the royal patient bad recovered consciousness, his first remark having bee©, "This is the Princess's birthday." But th© improvement had, as we l:«v; seen, not beent sustained, and fhe days dragged their weary, length, crowds waiting anxiously round the telegraph offices in every town and village in order that they might heaic the comforting news that their future King) was still living. On the 14th, ten, years after thei death) of the Prince Consort, came a definite Chang's for the better.; On the following Sunday, the 17fchi, by ike Princess's special wish, the Prince and his groom were commended to the mercy of God in the saanei prayer, and on the same day the- Princess <pund time, in the midst of her own> anxiety ajid bodily weariness, to visit the Prince's dying servant. SIR WILLIAM JENNER'S TREATMENT. At the time it was said that the Prince perhaps owed lais really marvellous recovery to the sudden inspiration of Mr (later Sir) William Jenner, who, when lie foxuadt his patient in extremis, sent in haste for two bottles of champagne brandy, and himself rubbed tihe Prince with it vigorously till returning animation rewarded hia efforts. Be that as it may, nine days after' the last bulletin has been, issued, early in) January, 1872, Sir William Jenner was gazetted a X.C.8., and Dr William Gull was made a baronet. Queen. Victoria, wrote a most touching! letter to the nation, expressive of her deep sense of the sympathy shown to her aaid. to tflie Princess of Wales by the whole nation. Of Queen Alexandra's great thankfulness is the memento still read each Sun*dauy by many in their Majesties' parish church. This, as many are aware, consists of a lectern, inscribed with the words: — To the Glory of God. A Thank-offering for His Mercy. 14th December, 1871. Alexandra. "When I was in trouble I called upon the Lord, and He heard me." Before the public thanksgiving service, which it was arranged should take placet on Feb. 27, the Prince, and Princess of Wales attended a private service of thanksgiving in the Abbej-, their old friend Deeai Stanley preaching on the text, '.' I was gladi when tbey said unto me, let us go into) the House of the Lord." At the puiblio service 13,000 persons were present, and! greater crowds had never been seen, even on -the occasion of Queen Victoria's Coronation. Very wonderful was the reception Queen Victoria, the Heir Apparent and the Angel in the Palace met with from tibe populace, and, as the Queen admirably phrased it, it was clear that " tbe wliolei nation joined with them in thanking God for sparing the beloved Prince of Wales' s life." So completely did Edward VII. recover from fhi-s terrible illness that three years later he undertook perhaps the most fatiguing royal tour ever taken by a royal personage — that to India. THREE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS. The King had had during the course of his life three serious accident?. As a child! he fell from a five-barred gate, and so cut and bruised his fact that for a short time it was feared he would be permanently disfigured. Many years latter, while staying with Napoleon 111. and the Empress Eugenic at Compiegne, a great stag hunt was given in his honour, and, as he was galloping along one of the grassy rides for which the forest of Fontainebleau is justly famed, an antlered 1 stag rushed unexpectedly from one of the cross paths and knocked the Prince and his horse completely over. Though, naturally, bruised and shaken, he mounted a- fresh horse and went on riding, giving strict orders that no news of the accident should be allowed to reach the Princess, who was spending the day at the chateau. The King's third, and by far the most serious, accident occurred comparatively lately. On July 18, 1898. while on a visib to Waddesdon Manor, the neat of the late Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, the then Prince of Wales slipped in going downstairs, and sustained &■ severe fracture of the

knee-cap. He immediately returned home, and for the first occasion in the case of a royal patient the Rontgen rays were employed to ascertain the extent of the injury. The late Sir William MacCormac and Sir Francis Laking, who is now one of the physicians in attendance on the King, issued- a detaiiled^statement, in order to allay public anxiety, and they concluded with the words, " Th© Prince is bearing the enforced restraint with exemplary patience and good temper.'* The news of the accident aroused much emotion and sympathy all over the world, and the Sultan even offered to send his own surgeon to see what could ba done. This offer, however, was politely declined. /