The Life of King Edward VII Part 23

There was always the vast amount of detailed study of current doc.u.ments--all of which he looked into before signing as had Queen Victoria before him; there was the strenuous and incessant round of State functions including the reception of visiting Sovereigns and amba.s.sadors, and special deputations, visits to cities and towns and the private houses of his greater subjects, State dinners to men and women of every school of thought and life in its higher branches, frequent trips to the Continent and continuous conferences with public men. In this connection it is interesting to note that just before the General Elections--towards the close of 1909--he did what no Sovereign had done for many a long year and did it not only without criticism but with public approval when he called Lord Lansdowne, Lord Rosebery and Mr.

Balfour into quiet conference regarding the political situation. How many others of all parties he may have invited to similar discussions in the privacy of Buckingham or Windsor only such a personage as his faithful and old-time Secretary, Lord Knollys, really knows. Military and Naval reviews were amongst the more important general functions of these years coupled with gracious and conciliatory visits to Ireland in 1904 and 1907. In this latter year he reviewed a magnificent fleet of warships at Portsmouth eleven miles long, headed by the first of the Dreadnaughts, and manned by 35,000 officers and men. Upon another occasion in 1909, the greatest fleet ever gathered together in any waters in the history of the world was also reviewed by His Majesty as, perhaps, a comment on the recently revealed crisis caused by German Naval construction. As to this the King was intensely concerned and we can safely a.s.sume that if one cause of his latter ill-health was political worry another cause may well have been the Naval rivalry of a Power which boasted 4,000,000 of a trained Army to Britain's 250,000 men.

With all these varied home duties and his many diplomatic efforts King Edward never forgot his own external Empire, never overlooked his vast interests overseas. To India in 1908 had gone a vivid and statesmanlike Royal Message, on November 2d, which recalled to the minds of its Princes and peoples their fifty years of progress under the Crown, the obligations which they were under to the liberty-loving rule of Britain, and the pride of their Emperor in governing so vast a congeries of races and interests. To them also in 1906 he had sent the Prince and Princess of Wales in a tour which repeated his own triumphs of 1876. To South Africa, upon frequent and appropriate occasions, came expressions of the King's interest in the people's welfare, in their strivings for unity, in their efforts to retrieve the misfortunes of war. It was King Edward's Imperial policy that dictated the sending of the Prince of Wales to open the first Parliament of the Union of South Africa--a policy which his own death rendered impossible--as curiously enough, it had been Queen Victoria's last public duty to send the Duke of Cornwall--as he then was--to open the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth. It was the King who sent the Duke of Connaught to visit East Africa in 1906 and Prince Arthur of Connaught to return from j.a.pan _via_ Canada in the same year. To the people of Australia Lord Northcote, the new Governor-General, on January 28, 1904, conveyed a Royal Message of greeting and then proceeded to say that: "Every const.i.tutional process having for its object the linking together of the different component parts of this great Empire is sure to be sympathetically regarded by our Sovereign and I know his hope is that his people who live outside the narrow seas of Great Britain may believe that His Majesty regards them primarily, not as inhabitants of colonies or dependencies of the Mother-country, but as equally valued component parts of one mighty nation."

As to Canada and King Edward much might be said. On July 22, 1905, His Majesty was at Bisley and presented the Kolapore Cup to the proud Canadian team which had won it and to whose Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Hesslein, a few kind and tactful words were addressed. About the same time it was announced that the London Hospital Fund in which the King had for many years taken a deep personal interest, and in the maintenance of which he was really the chief power, had received a gift of $1,000,000 from Lord Mount Stephen of Canadian Pacific Railway fame. In 1906 His Majesty showed special interest in Canadian affairs. A cablegram through Lord Elgin, on January 2d, expressed the King's regret at the sudden death of the Honorable R.

Prefontaine; he received Canadian delegates to the Empire Commercial Congress at Windsor on July 13th, when Sir D. H. McMillan, Sir Sandford Fleming, Messrs. R. Wilson-Smith, G. E. Drummond, F. H. Mathewson, J. F.

Ellis and W. F. c.o.c.kshutt were presented; a deputation of Indian chiefs from British Columbia was received by him on August 13th and submitted an address and a pet.i.tion; a number of shire-horses were lent by His Majesty in the autumn for exhibition at Toronto and as a proof of his interest in that branch of Canadian development. But the chief event of the year in this respect was Canada's invitation to the King, and Queen Alexandra, to pay the country and its people a visit. In the House of Commons on April 18th, the Hon. N. A. Belcourt, seconded by Mr. W. B.

Northrup, moved a Resolution expressive of Canadian loyalty and devotion to the King's person and of the hope that His Majesty and the Queen would be pleased to visit Canada at such time as might be found possible and convenient.

In his short speech the Prime Minister laid stress upon the King's personal qualities and his work in the cause of peace. Sir Wilfrid Laurier then made a reference which was probably of more consequence in the final decision than was supposed at the time, "I believe it is the opinion of all who sit in this House that if the King were to visit Canada--and he could not visit Canada without visiting the United States also--the effect would be to bring more closely together than they are at the present time--and they are more so than ever before--the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race on both sides of the Atlantic."

This additional suggestion involved tremendous considerations of travel, functions, ceremonial, time, and responsibility. After being spoken to by men of such opposite opinions as Colonel S. Hughes and Mr. H.

Boura.s.sa, as well as warmly endorsed by the Opposition Leader, the Resolution was pa.s.sed unanimously, as it was later in the Senate. All the Provincial Legislatures, then in session, joined in this invitation, while centres such as Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Quebec, Three Rivers, St. Hyacinthe, Valleyfield, Hamilton, London, Guelph, Woodstock, Halifax, Sydney, St. John, Fredericton, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria and about forty others warmly endorsed the request; as did every newspaper of standing in Canada. In reply Lord Elgin, Colonial Secretary, under date of July 7th wrote a long despatch to the Governor-General in which he expressed the King's appreciation of the invitation, his pleasant memories of the Royal visit to Canada in 1860, and his comprehension of the wonderful growth of the country since that time, and continued:

"I need scarcely remind Your Lordship of two circ.u.mstances which must not be overlooked in the consideration of these proposals. In the first place the current business of the Empire, which is continuous and incessant, imposes a heavy tax on the time and strength of its Sovereign and it is well known that the absence of His Majesty from this country for any length of time is difficult, if not impossible except under very definite limitations and restrictions; even when considerations of health and the need for comparative rest can render it expedient. In the second place it must be remembered that there can be practically no limits within the habitable globe of the distance which must be traveled to reach all parts of the British Empire and that it would be very difficult to visit one important part and decline to visit the other. In spite of the many and strong inducements which prompt him to gratify the loyal wishes of his Canadian subjects, I am to say that the King feels unable at present to entertain the idea of a journey to Canada."

It would be quite impossible to indicate here the great regret expressed by the Canadian press, and the people generally, at this result of the invitation. Many reasons were adduced, other than those given in the despatch, and including diplomatic requirements in Europe, Royal visits and delicate negotiations then pending, Eastern troubles and complications, Australian jealousy if omitted from such a tour, as well as the difficulties involved in any possible visit to the United States.

During the year a full-length portrait of the King was received at Government House, Ottawa, painted by Luke Fildes, R.A., and the portraits of the King and Queen, specially painted by J. Colin Forbes, the Canadian artist, were also received and hung in the Parliament Houses. In 1907 King Edward visited the Canadian pavilion at the Dublin Exhibition of that year and inspected its exhibits while Queen Alexandra accepted from one of the Departments the gift of a rug made by French-Canadian women. In the next year much practical appreciation was shown in Canada of His Majesty's special arrangement under which the "Life and Letters of Queen Victoria" was offered for sale at a low popular price; a Royal cablegram of sympathy was sent to the sufferers by the Fernie (B. C.) fire; the Edward Medal, established by the King for the recognition of courage in saving or trying to save life in quarries or mines, was extended to Canada and all parts of the Empire.

In the last year of his reign the King's third Derby victory was a popular one in Canada and throughout the Empire and his establishment of a Police Medal for the recognition of "exceptional service, heroism or devotion to duty" was also applied to Canada and all the British Dominions. During the year His Majesty presented a gift of money to T.

L. Wood, a blacksmith at Port Elgin, N. S., and accepted a horse-shoe of exquisite workmanship which had been wrought by him while lying on a sick-bed; visited and praised the exhibition of British Columbia fruit at Islington on December 6th.

On October 21, 1909, a Tuberculosis Inst.i.tute, established at Montreal by Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Burland, was opened by the King through special electric communication between the Library of West Dean Park, Colchester, where he was staying, and the Inst.i.tute at Montreal, with a cablegram which read as follows: "I have much pleasure in declaring the Royal Edward Inst.i.tute at Montreal now open. The means by which I make this declaration testifies to the power of modern science and I am confident that the future history of the Inst.i.tute will afford equally striking testimony to the beneficent results of that power when applied to the conquest of disease and the relief of human suffering. I shall always take a lively interest in the Inst.i.tute and I pray that the blessing of the Almighty may rest upon all those who work in and for it and also upon those for whom it works. Edward R. & I." On November 20th His Majesty sent a personal despatch to Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the following terms: "Let me express my hearty congratulations to you on the anniversary of your birthday. I hope you will be spared for many years to come to serve the Crown and Empire, Edward." The Premier replied with an expression of "humble duty and deep grat.i.tude."

CHAPTER XXV.

The King as a Diplomatist and Peace-Maker.

In the olden days Kings used to very often be their own Generals; in these modern times King Edward has set an example by means of which they may well be their own Amba.s.sadors. He had every qualification of capacity, intellect and trained experience to serve him in such conditions. If Queen Victoria, remaining very largely at home, could wield an immense and undoubted personal influence in Europe, partly because of an ability which made the late Lord Tennyson describe her as "the greatest statesman in Europe" and the Earl of Rosebery say that in matters of foreign policy she advised her Minister of Foreign Affairs more then he advised her,[7] how much more was King Edward ent.i.tled to personal _prestige_ in Europe and fitted for diplomatic work amongst its rulers. His Royal Mother had known many Sovereigns and seen many Kings and statesmen come and go; he had also met and known many of them more intimately than she could possibly do in the semi-seclusion of her quiet Court. He was uncle to the German Emperor, the mother of the Russian Czar was Queen Alexandra's sister, the King of Norway was a son of Queen Alexandra's brother the King of Denmark, the King of Spain was married to his niece and King George of Greece was his wife's brother. Even more important were the friendships which, as Prince of Wales, the King had made in all the Courts of Europe, the statesmen whom he knew like a book, the policies of which he understood the origin and every detail of development.

In 1902 King Edward had received the German Emperor in England and had entertained other visiting monarchs and statesmen and diplomats. Early in 1903 he visited Rome, was received by His Holiness, the Pope, and by the King of Italy, and managed the difficult situation of the moment with a delicacy and tact which prevented even a hint of unpleasantness; and served to greatly increase the traditional friendship of Italy and Britain while sending a glow of appreciation throughout the Roman Catholic world which lives under the British flag, and helping to settle troubles which had arisen in Malta between the Government and the Italian residents. A little later he was in Portugal and proved a prime factor in promoting an understanding in Lisbon which substantially facilitated arrangements at far-away Delagoa Bay which, in turn, were of great advantage to South Africa. Then, on May 1st, came his famous visit to Paris and the commencement of an era of new and better feeling. It was not an easy task or one entirely without risk. French sentiment had been greatly excited during the South African war, the Parisian populace had not been friendly to Britain, the press had, at times, been grossly abusive and relations were undoubtedly strained. Through all the formal ceremonies of this visit, however, the King showed his usual tact and powers of conciliation. A difficult situation was successfully met; ill-feeling engendered by the misrepresentations of the War period were greatly ameliorated; the friendly settlement of controversial questions rendered probable. In his speech to the British Chamber of Commerce in Paris, on May 1st, His Majesty touched the key-note of the visit:

"A Divine Providence has designed that France should be our near neighbour and I hope always a dear friend. There are no two countries in the world whose mutual prosperity is more dependent upon each other. There may have been misunderstandings and causes of dissension in the past but all such differences are, I believe, happily removed and forgotten, and I trust that the friendship and admiration which we all feel for the French nation and their glorious traditions may in the near future develop into a sentiment of the warmest affection and attachments between the peoples of the two countries. The achievement of this aim is my constant desire."

Such an incident, followed by the cordial expressions of the French press and by a visible _rapprochement_ between the two countries, could not but be of special interest to the French-Canadians of Quebec.

Naturally monarchists at heart, the incident seemed to increase the personal loyalty already existing there. The Toronto _Globe_ of April 20, 1903, voiced a strong feeling in Canada when it hoped for a future Royal visit to the Dominion and declared that "it would be a mistake to suppose that Edward VII. is merely an urbane gentleman, not to say a lover of the common people; he is a statesman and diplomat of breadth of view, depth of insight, and quickness of intuition. He knows how to time his visits in the interest of the peace of the world for which he humanely and seriously labours." From July 6th to 9th President Loubet of France was the guest of the King and his reception in London tended to still further promote good feeling. On October 14th came the signature of an Arbitration Treaty between England and France. In this connection much praise was accorded to the King as one of the chief factors in its evolution. Mr. W. R. Cremer, M.P., the well-known Radical, made the following comment in the _Daily News_ as to this victory for Arbitration: "It has been the privilege and joy of others to do the spade work in this beneficent movement, but to King Edward the opportunity was, at the psychological moment, presented to complete the work of thirty years. How well and how n.o.bly His Majesty performed his part the history of the past nine months clearly shows. Indeed, the King seems likely to distinguish himself by efforts of a character not recorded in the reigns of any other English or Foreign monarch."

Addressing a British Parliamentary Delegation to Paris on November 26th, the Premier, M. Combes, eulogized King Edward and toasted him as the sovereign to whom they owed the treaty. At the annual banquet of the British Chamber of Commerce in Paris on December 3d, its president, Mr.

O. E. Bodington, made a similar reference to the King. To the Montreal _Witness_ on December 7th, Senator Dandurand, who had just returned from England, paid the following French-Canadian tribute to His Majesty: "The King is the most popular crowned head in Europe to-day. He is beloved at home, he is admired and praised in France, he is respected by every Power on the Continent."

But the Continental tour of 1903 by King Edward did more than effect great results in France. The signing of a Treaty of Arbitration with Italy in January, 1904, with Spain in March, and with Germany on July 12th--following upon the King's visit to Berlin in June--were supposed to be largely due to His Majesty's personal influence with the rulers of those countries and to a popularity with the ma.s.ses which, in two cases at least, helped greatly in soothing current animosities. On April 8th of this year a Treaty was signed with France, in addition to the Arbitration Treaty already mentioned, which disposed of all outstanding and long-standing subjects of dispute and as to which, while Lord Lansdowne was the negotiator, King Edward was a most potent factor.

Under this arrangement Egypt was freed from foreign control and practically admitted to be British territory, while Newfoundland was finally relieved of its coast troubles and conflicts of a century. On November 9th, preceding, Sir W. McGregor, Governor of Newfoundland, had, during a banquet at St. John's, conveyed a personal message from the King which a.s.sured the people of that colony of his earnest endeavours to promote a settlement of the French Sh.o.r.e question. To Canada this matter was also one of the most vital importance, because of its large French population. In the controversy with Russia over the Hull fishing fleet outrage of October 23, 1904, which so nearly plunged the Empire into a great war, it may be said that the King's influence, coupled with the statecraft of Lord Lansdowne, as exhibited in the latter's historic speech of November 9th, alone held the dogs of war in leash. The remark of a member of the Trades' Union Congress at Leeds on September 7th of this year that in his opinion "King Edward was about the only statesman that England possessed" was significant in this connection even if it was unfair. Still more significant was the description of His Majesty in the Radical _News_ of London, on November 10th, as "the first citizen of the world and the chief Minister of Peace."

During 1905 King Edward continued his public services along these lines of international statecraft. On April 30th he paid an unofficial visit to Paris, accompanied by the Marquess of Salisbury as Minister in attendance. A great banquet was given at the Elysee by President Loubet and there followed a general press discussion of the _entente_ between England and France. In June the King of Spain visited England and at a state banquet given by King Edward at Buckingham Palace, on June 6th, the latter said: "Spain and England have often been allies; may they always remain so; and above all march together for the benefit of peace, progress and the civilization of mankind." On August 7th a French fleet arrived in the Solent and its men fraternized with those of the British cruiser squadron while the King gave a banquet on board the Royal yacht to the chief French officers. On the following day His Majesty reviewed two fleets which together made a splendid aggregation of seventy warships; while the press of the civilized world commented upon the new friendship of the two nations and very largely credited King Edward with the achievement.

Early in 1907 the King's visit of two months' duration in Europe did more service in the cause of international friendliness; later on the German Emperor visited England, as did the King and Queen of Denmark, and the King and Queen of Portugal. In June a triple agreement was concluded between Great Britain, France and Spain for the joint protection of their mutual interests in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic. This arrangement and the improved relations with Germany were credited largely to the efforts of King Edward, just as the _entente cordiale_ with France had previously been conceded to be greatly due to his tact and popularity. In October he was able to crown his work by accepting a Convention with Russia which dealt primarily with the affairs of Persia, Afghanistan and Thibet, but really made future war between the two Powers a matter of difficulty. The year 1908 saw state visits to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Christiana in April; the King's opening of the Franco-British Exhibition in London on May 26th and reception of President Fallieres of France; his visit, with Queen Alexandra and a large suite, to Russia--the first of the kind in British history--and a meeting with the Czar at Revel on June 8th; his conference with the German Emperor at Cronberg on August 11th and with the Austrian Emperor at Ischl on the 12th. During the last year of his reign, King Edward's personal intercourse and diplomatic meetings with other rulers were undoubtedly conducive to continued peace and to better mutual understandings. His Majesty met the German Emperor at Berlin on February 8, 1909, the French President at Paris on March 6th, the King of Spain at Biarritz on March 31st, the King of Italy on April 29th, the Emperor of Russia at Cowes on August 2d. Just as Britain was an American Power at this time because of Canada, an Asiatic Power because of India and an African Power because of many possessions, so Canada was an European Power because of its connection with Great Britain, and Australia an Eastern Power because of its proximity to China and j.a.pan, and a European Power because of the nearness of Germany in New Guinea and of France in New Caledonia. Hence, to all these countries and for obvious reasons of common interest, the importance in an Empire sense of the King's personality and diplomacy during these years.

King Edward's training was of a nature which fitted into his personal characteristics in this respect. His Royal mother had cultivated his boyhood memory for faces and names most carefully; from the days of his youth he was thoroughly conversant with many foreign languages; from his coming of age he was in constant touch with the best of British and European leaders. He had not reached maturity before experiencing the difficulties of a tour of Canada and the United States in days when there was no royal road mapped out by precedent for the management of the tour and at a time when Orange and Green were in frequent conflict in the British-American provinces and feelings of international kindliness were not quite so strong in the United States as they were at the close of his reign. In 1876 he had toured India amidst gorgeous ceremonial and amid an infinite variety of racial and religious occasions, or incidents, which only rare tact could successfully meet.

How much exercise there was of this Royal statecraft behind the scenes during his nine years of sovereignty only the distant future can reveal and then but partially. His Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Salisbury, Lord Lansdowne and Sir Edward Grey, were all men of exceptional capacity and rare experience.

It is probable, in view of the broad statecraft and high standing of these Ministers and the uniformity of policy which they pursued, that advice was frequently given by the King and consultations continuously held. They were only too glad, as was Lord Rosebery during the late Queen's reign, to benefit personally by his knowledge and experience; they were only too happy that the Nation and other nations should benefit by his tactful conduct of delicate negotiations with monarchs and rulers abroad. The alliance with j.a.pan may or may not stand to his credit; the probabilities are that it does, in part at least. It safeguarded British interests in the East, checkmated the, at that time, dangerous ambitions of Russia, put up a barrier against certain efforts of Germany. The French _entente cordiale_ and subsequent treaties gave British interests in the Mediterranean and Northern Africa an ally against German plans and settled the Newfoundland troubles while solidifying Britain's position in Egypt. Italy was partially separated from its German alliance; Spain was brought close to Britain by the young King's marriage with the Princess Ena; Russia was swung into the circle of a friendship which not even the j.a.panese alliance has broken; Norway made King Edward's son-in-law its King. If Germany did not become one of this circle of friendly nations it was not due to any lack of diplomacy, or effort, or desire on the part of the British Sovereign; it was because of national ambitions and an aggressive personal leadership by the Kaiser which had other ends in view. Nominally, at any rate, the friendly relations existed, and it is safe to say that there was no greater admirer of King Edward's character and statecraft in Europe than the Emperor William.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Personal statements made to the writer of these pages.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Death of King Edward

There had been rumours flying around London early in 1910 as to the King's health, but it would seem that only a limited circle understood that, while there was no serious disease involved, there was a general weakness of the system which rendered great care necessary and made it easy to see danger in any otherwise trifling illness. Occasional cablegrams to this Continent were largely disregarded and looked upon as more or less sensational and little was thought of the attack of bronchitis at Biarritz in March. There seems small reason to doubt that the political situation hastened the end though it did not actually cause the sad event. The conditions of weakness were there; the worry of a great and urgent responsibility was added to the King's normal work and subjects of thought. Though the const.i.tutional crisis was probably not as serious as the press and politicians made out, it must undoubtedly have had its effect upon a ruler conscientiously devoted to his duty. On May 5th, it was announced that the King was again ill with bronchitis and that his condition caused "some anxiety;" a few hours afterwards it was officially stated that "grave anxiety" was felt; on May 6th, near midnight, there came the sorrowful announcement of his physicians that the King had pa.s.sed away in the presence of Queen Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal [d.u.c.h.ess of Fife], Princess Victoria and the Princess Louise [d.u.c.h.ess of Argyll].

So unexpected was any serious or immediate issue of His Majesty's condition that the Queen was still on the Continent when he was taken ill and the King himself was transacting state business in an arm-chair the day before he died. A pathetic incident of the latter date was the bearing of the well-known purple and gold colours to victory at Kempton Park Races by "The Witch of the Air." When the news came it was hard to believe. People throughout the Empire were entirely unprepared. In Britain, Canada, Australia, etc., public functions and social arrangements were at once cancelled; black and purple drapings rapidly covered the important buildings--and many that were even more important as representing individual and spontaneous feeling--of the British world; mourning was seen everywhere in the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent in the other countries; papers appeared universally draped in black. In Canada, H. E. the Governor-General cabled to Lord Crewe an official expression of regret--one which was real as well as official: "The announcement of the death of King Edward VII, which has just reached Canada, has created universal sorrow. His Majesty's Canadian Ministers desire that you will convey to His Majesty, King George, and the members of the Royal family, an a.s.surance that the people of Canada share in the great grief that has visited them. In discharge of the duties of his exalted station His late Majesty not only won the respect and devotion of all British subjects, but by his efforts on behalf of international harmony and good-will he became universally esteemed as a great Peacemaker. Nowhere was this gracious attribute of Royal character more deeply appreciated than in His Majesty's Dominion of Canada."

Every kind of loyal tribute was paid to the late King by the Press and in the pulpit of all the countries concerned, while from the United States came expressions of admiration and respect very little short of those dictated by the natural loyalty and knowledge of his own subjects.

In Canada the Premiers of the Provinces were amongst the first to express their feelings. At Quebec Sir Lomer Gouin, supported by the Opposition Leader, moved the adjournment of the Legislature on May 6th: "Those who love in a Chief of State the greatest qualities, peace, goodness, n.o.bility and _entente cordiale_, all feel his loss. It is for that reason that we cannot do otherwise than suspend our sittings, and I am convinced that all the Members of this House will endorse this proposal for adjournment."

In Toronto Sir James Whitney, the Provincial Premier, declared that "it would be difficult to express the feeling of love, respect, and admiration entertained by British peoples for their late sovereign, who in his comparatively short reign, has so borne himself and has so done his part, that the whole human race has partic.i.p.ated in the benefit resulting from the wisdom shown by him. Probably no wiser monarch ever reigned over a nation." To the New Brunswick press the local Premier, Hon. Douglas Hazen, said: "King Edward's reign was a comparatively short one, but the verdict of history will undoubtedly be that he was one of the wisest and greatest rulers that ever sat upon a throne. He took a most keen and active interest in all his country's inst.i.tutions, endeavouring at all times to promote the well-being of his subjects and to show his appreciation of the British Dominions beyond the Seas." The Hon. A. K. Maclean, Acting-Premier of Nova Scotia, stated that "to his pacific tendencies and his powerful mediation is due the existence of friendly relations between Great Britain and other nations and the removal of many long-standing differences and historic prejudices." The Conservative leader at Ottawa, Mr. R. L. Borden, gave eloquent expression to his feelings:

"The tidings of sorrow which have just been flashed across the ocean come to the people of Canada with startling suddenness.

Words of foreboding had hardly reached us before the last message came; 'G.o.d's finger touched him and he slept.' To the people of the overseas Dominions the Crown personifies the dignity and majesty of the whole Empire; and through the Throne each great Dominion is linked to the others and to the Motherland. Thus the Sovereign's death must always thrill the Empire. But to-day's untimely tidings bring to the people of Canada the sense of a still deeper and more personal bereavement. They gloried in their King's t.i.tle of Peacemaker, and they believed him to be the greatest living force for right within the Empire. In him died the greatest statesman and diplomat of Europe."

The Hon. R. Lemieux, Postmaster-General and a Liberal leader in Quebec, added this succinct description: "As a peacemaker and as a const.i.tutional king he had no equal in the history of modern times." He expressed the hope that "in the common sorrow of his subjects at the death of an exemplary Sovereign the ties making for unity and common interest throughout the Empire may be strengthened and his influence for good find continued fruition." The Hon. G. P. Graham, Minister of Railways, also touched on the Empire thought: "His part in the growth and increasing solidarity of the Empire in matters of defense, of trade, of common effort for the common interest, must bulk large in history.

Since his a.s.sumption of the throne there has been a steady growth in Canada's loyalty to the Sovereign based on esteem for his personal character, confidence in his judgment and statesmanship, and pride in his commanding position among the world's sovereigns." From Mr. Richard McBride, Premier of far-away British Columbia, came the declaration that King Edward was infinitely tactful and always patient, the first gentleman and best beloved monarch of his time; that he was "an unusually gifted ruler who performed unostentatiously and with inspired ability his part in the making of British history." To Archbishop Bruchesi of Montreal he was "a great and good King;" to the Rev. Dr.

Carman, Canada's Methodist leader, he was "royally born and ruled royally over a free, loyal and loving people;" to Archbishop McEvay (Roman Catholic) of Toronto he was a ruler "trusted and loved by all his subjects;" to President R. A. Falconer, of Toronto University, there was a special appeal in his "experience, sympathy and broad humanity."

There is no need to largely quote the tributes of Britain, Australia or South Africa. Their people thought and felt and acted as Canada's did.

Great Britain felt the loss, of course, in a more strictly personal sense than the Dominions beyond the Seas. The reverent crowds with bared heads, and every sign of severe personal grief, standing outside Buckingham Palace grounds could hardly be exactly duplicated abroad, though the scenes in countless churches, as memorial sermons were delivered and memorial services held amidst tokens of obvious and sincere sorrow, came very near to it. In particular, was the open-air service in Toronto facing the Parliament Buildings and attended by silent ma.s.ses of people, with respectful and sympathetic addresses, with drapings and evidences of mourning on every hand, with the solemn strains of m.u.f.fled music from many bands, and the presence of thousands of loyal troops, an indication of the popular feeling shown throughout the Dominion on May 20th, which was appointed to be a day of mourning, a holiday of sorrow for the people. But this is antic.i.p.ating. Perhaps, in England, the tribute of Mr. Premier Asquith, at the special meeting of Parliament on May 11th, was most significant of the innumerable tributes of earnest loyalty and appreciation expressed at the pa.s.sing of one who was not only a great King but a much-loved personality.

After pointing out the nature of events in recent years, the growth of international friendships and new understandings and stronger safeguards for peace, together with the ever-tightening bonds of corporate unity within the British realms, Mr. Asquith went on to say that: "In all these multiform manifestations of national and Imperial life, the history of the world will a.s.sign a part of singular dignity to the great ruler Great Britain has lost. In external affairs King Edward's powerful influence was directed not only to the avoidance of war, but to the causes of and pretexts of war, and he well earned the t.i.tle by which he will always be remembered, the Peace-maker of the World." Continuing, the Premier said, that within the boundaries of the Empire his late Majesty, by his broad and elastic sympathies, had won a degree of loyalty and affectionate confidence which few Sovereigns had ever enjoyed. "Here at home," he added, "all recognized that above the din and dust of their hard-fought controversies, detached from party, and attached only to the common interest, they had in the late King an arbiter ripe in experience, judicial in temper, and at once a reverent worshipper of their traditions, and a watchful guardian of their const.i.tutional liberties." King Edward's life as a devotee of duty, as a sportsman in the best sense of the word, as an ardent and discriminating patron of the arts, as a good business man at the head of a great business community, possessed of intuitive shrewdness in the management of men and difficult situations, as a keen social reformer with "no self apart from his people," was then dwelt upon. It would be impossible in any limited s.p.a.ce to a.n.a.lyze the views of the British press. The _Times_ declared that "his people loved him for his honesty and kindly courtesy.

To all he was not merely every inch a King but every inch an English King and an English gentleman. His influence was not the same as that of Queen Victoria, but in some respects it was almost stronger." The _Daily Mail_ considered that "to his initiative his subjects and the Empire owe the pacification of South Africa and the final reconciliation with the Boers. The system of understandings with foreign powers which is our security to-day was in a great part his handiwork." To the Radical _Daily News_ he was "the supreme example of a people's King by common consent" and this the Liberal _Morning Leader_ echoed with a further tribute to "the sheer instinctive deference paid to his proved wisdom, his large-minded statesmanship, his unequaled knowledge of the world, and the tact that never failed him in the greatest or the least occasion."

A notable incident of this first week of mourning, during which the people were waiting to pay their final tribute of loyal sympathy on the day of the Royal interment, was the unanimous Resolution of the Legislature of Quebec. Coming from a French-Canadian people, amongst whom special interest had been aroused by King Edward's creation of the _entente cordiale_ with France, something earnest and sympathetic as well as loyal in expression might have been expected and, if so, the hope was certainly realized. The Legislature in its address to King George V. (May 10th) put the feelings of the people of the Province in the following expressive words:

"We mourn the loss in him of a monarch whose chief aim was to draw all the nations closer together and to promote universal peace.

Ever mindful of the great principles of the British const.i.tution, through his broad-mindedness, his tolerance, and the exquisite charm of his personality, he succeeded in creating a potent bond of union between the various parts of our common country, and in closely consolidating the different branches of the greatest Empire that ever existed. Representing as we do the Province of Quebec it gives us pleasure to recall that the development of the idea of a powerful Canadian nation, devoted to the interest of the Mother-Country, was favoured by that great King. Imbued with the grandeur and n.o.bility of his mission he won our admiration and our love through his solicitude in respecting our laws and our dearest traditions, aspirations and liberties."

The individual utterances of the Ministers were equally patriotic in terms. Sir Lomer Gouin spoke along the lines of his earlier tribute and declared that King Edward's reign had been "a glory to his people and a blessing to humanity." Mr. J. M. Tellier, the Opposition leader, joined the Premier in expressing the "confidence and sincere affection" of his people for this "the most powerful King of the most powerful of Empires"

and in presenting to the new King "the allegiance, the faith and the heartfelt wishes of Canadians." Mr. H. Boura.s.sa, the Nationalist representative, Hon. P. S. G. Mackenzie, the English-speaking member of the Cabinet, and Hon. J. C. Kaine and Hon. C. R. Devlin, the Irish Ministers, joined in these tributes.

The view of Foreign countries was unique in its friendliness, in its expressions of admiration for the great qualities of heart and head in the late Sovereign, for appreciation of his broad sympathies and international statecraft. One of the earliest official telegrams of sympathy to King George was from President Fallieres of France: "I learnt with emotion of the death of your beloved Father. The French Government and the French people will regret profoundly the demise of the august Sovereign who upon so many occasions has given them evidence of his sincere friendship; and a.s.sociate themselves fully in the great grief which his unexpected loss brings to you, the Royal family, and the entire British Empire. It is with a heart full of sadness that I ask Your Royal Highness to accept my personal condolences, those of the French Government and of all France." From the President of the United States came a prompt message of condolence to Queen Alexandra, and from the American Congress a unanimous Resolution of adjournment and expressive words of sympathy with the British people "in the loss of a wise and upright ruler whose great purpose was the cultivation of friendly relations with all nations and the preservation of peace"; from ex-President Roosevelt, speaking at Stockholm on May 8th, came words of regret and of regard for the people "who mourn the loss of a wise ruler whose sole thought was for their welfare and for the good of mankind, and the citizens of other nations can join with them in mourning for a man who showed throughout his term of Kingship that his voice was always raised for justice and peace among the nations."

From United States newspapers, the exponents of public opinion in a great kindred nation, came a wonderfully unanimous and kindly expression of real feeling. To the New York _Herald_ the late King appeared as blessed with "a genial personality, a kind heart and a strong common sense, together with that highest quality of supreme importance in a ruler and statesman--tact"; to the Buffalo _News_ King Edward was "the ablest Royal ruler England has known in centuries;" to the Baltimore _American_ "he was, and the world to-day generously accords him the distinction, the first diplomatist of his time, the man who beyond all others shaped the policies of the world." To the Indianapolis _News_ he had "served his country and the world wisely and well, and will go into history as one of the most successful monarchs that England has ever had." The New York _Journal of Commerce_ paid special and high tribute to King Edward's diplomacy and, after dealing with the French _entente cordiale_ went on as follows: "Even more marvelous than the closing of the secular feud with France was the termination of that with Russia, which seemed more bitter and more hopeless of adjustment. The seemingly impossible was, nevertheless, accomplished, and the power which but a few short years before had been the chief menace to the safety of British India became one of the guarantors of its immunity from attack.

It will be reckoned one of the miracles of history that Russia could have been induced to abandon a policy which she had steadfastly supported and been ready to concede that the affairs of Afghanistan were purely a British interest and those of Korea exclusively j.a.panese."