Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 12 May 1910, Page 742

Notes

The Popularity of Edward VII. In a character sketch of Edward VII., entitled Our Sovereign Lord the King,; in the May number of the Review of Reviews, Mr. Stead recalls a curious incident which affords striking evidence of the very widespread popularity of the late monarch. ‘ The supreme authority of the King at a crisis like the present is inherent in his office, but it has been greatly enhanced by his personal popularity. Theie was a curious paragraph in the papers some time ago reporting the proceedings of a small revolutionary meeting in London. One of the speakers promised his cronies that the Social Republic would soon be proclaimed in England, and when that day comes, he added, we shall elect Albert Edward as our first President. A monarch who commands such universal respect as to have the nomination at the hands of the Reds for the presidency of the British Social Revolutionary Republic is more than “His Most gracious.” He is a man who has the confidence of his fellow-men.’ The King'as Ministerial Adviser Apropos of one of Mr. Asquith’s official visits to the King, the Spectator in a recent issue drew attention to an important extension of the Sovereign’s political influence which has taken place in these latter days. ‘ For the last hundred years and more the advice tendered to the Sovereign, if Ministers have persisted in it, has been obligatory in its nature, subject to the fact that a Ministry might resign, or even be dismissed and another substituted for it. As long as Ministers are Ministers, their-advice, formally tendered and persisted in, is final.’ But with this change has come another change of great importance. The King, entirely free from responsibility lor his Ministers’ Acts, has taken to advising his advisers. The late Queen did this throughout the latter part of her reign, and the King has followed her example. Lord Salisbury stated this fact very plainly in his speech on the Queen’s death. Ministers, of course, are not obliged to follow the King’s advice, but they know if they reject it that they are rejecting advice which is certain to be sympathetic. The King is never a partisan, and is always exceedingly loyal to his Ministers, be their opinions what t icy may. I hey know also that his advice is never given light-heartedly or with any arricre penste, and that it is the advice of a very shrewd man of the world, who hears all sides and judges with remarkable mental detachment.’ The Late King and Home Rule The late King’s kindly feeling for Ireland and the Irish people was shown in many and divers ways, and the liberality of his views on questions affecting the welfare of the

Irish nation was very well known. His personal admiration for the late Mr, Gladstone was unquestionable. - ' As Prince of Wales he was present in his usual seat over the clock in the Peers’ Gallery in the House of Commons on Mr. Gladstone’s introduction of his second Home Rule Bill in 1893. ‘ The Prince,’ wrote a newspaper correspondent of that day, followed the Prime Minister with an absorbed attention, and frequently craned his neck over the ledge of the gallery to catch every word. If the expression of the countenance can give any indication of the feelings, the Prince was not only a delighted but an approving auditor of the Prime Minister’s plea for an Irish Parliament. The close of one of Mr. Gladstone’s Home Rule speeches was marked several years ago by an extraordinary incident. The cheers in the House were emphasised by a loud clapping of hands in the Peers’ Gallery. The offender ” whom the gallery attendants, with an admirable discretion, took no noticewas the late Duke of Clarence, who sat beside the Prince of Wales, and whose enthusiastic outburst was not restrained by his father.’