Part 12 (2/2)

Of course, as a traveller of wide experience the Prince visited all the great cathedrals of the Continent and was familiar with the splendid Mohammedan mosques and Hindoo temples and sacred shrines which helped to make the glittering East so attractive. But they were visited on week-days. He was supposed to be broad in his principles as a Churchman and certainly at state weddings and funerals in other countries he shared in various forms of wors.h.i.+p. The Princess of Wales was known to have attended ritualistic services before her husband's accession to the Throne, but she far more often attended Low or Broad Church services. On Sundays at Sandringham the Prince used, in the afternoons, to walk about the grounds with his family or guests, visit the kennels, the bear-pit, the model farms or the Princess's lovely little dairy and its suite of tiny attached rooms where tea would often be served. In London he would sometime attend Divine service again or else pay calls in his private hansom and then dine quietly with friends or have a few of them to dinner at Marlborough. Sunday afternoons at Sandringham were always greatly enjoyed by Sir Frederick Leighton and Lord Beaconsfield but Mr. Gladstone is said to have best liked long, lonely rambles through the woods of the estate.

An important part of the character of a man in the position so long held by the Prince of Wales is the fact of moderation, or otherwise, in eating and drinking. It is a vital factor in the lives of all men but how much more so when great banquets are for months a daily function; when every luxury, or delicacy, or combination of cookery known to the civilized world and the barbaric East is at one time or another offered for his delectation; when the power of rulers and the wealth of millionaires are devoted to the furnis.h.i.+ng of choice wines and _liqueurs_ and drinks for his use. The good health always enjoyed by the Prince was perhaps proof enough of his moderation at the table. His habits in this respect became pretty well known. Tea at breakfast and in the afternoon he always liked; Moselle cup he enjoyed and was rather proud of possessing the receipt brought from Germany by the Prince Consort; champagne for many years was almost his exclusive beverage though afterwards claret took its place. Between meals he seldom drank anything though a well-known ”c.o.c.ktail” in the London clubs is credited to his invention. He always strongly disapproved of ladies drinking anything but a little wine and this was well understood by his own guests or by those at houses where he visited.

Reference must be made here to one unpleasant incident in the Prince of Wales' later career--unpleasant in its results and in the comments of the press and pulpit. To playing cards for an occasional evening's amus.e.m.e.nt the Prince was always partial, but not to the extent which was sometimes a.s.serted.

CARDS AND THE BACCARAT AFFAIR

During his journeys abroad he seldom or never played and he made a strict and early rule against playing in clubs. His friends say that he used to frequently dissuade younger men or the sons of old friends from forming a habit in this connection and as a well-known man of the world, without affectation and with wide experience and a naturally commanding influence, his views no doubt had great weight. Hence the most regrettable feature in the famous Baccarat case of 1890 which was, for a time, one of the most talked-of and preached-at incidents in modern social life. To understand the matter it is necessary to look at the Prince's environment. He was the leader of society and society, together with a large proportion of people everywhere, saw no harm in a game of cards, or even in the accompaniment of playing for ordinary money stakes, any more than they saw harm in racing and betting upon the results, or in dancing and its accompaniment of late hours and perhaps frivolous dissipation. Yet to many people in the United Kingdom and the Empire danger and evil lurked in one or all of these amus.e.m.e.nts and it was a shock to them to find that the Heir Apparent actually indulged in card-playing; although everyone had known that he patronized the other two pursuits referred to.

The history of the affair may be told briefly. On September 8th, during the Doncaster races, Mr. Arthur Wilson, a very wealthy s.h.i.+powner, was entertaining a large party at Tranby Croft, near Hull, which included the Prince of Wales, Lord Coventry, General Owen Williams, Sir William Gordon-c.u.mming, Lord Craven, Lord and Lady Brougham and Lord Edward Somerset. When each day's racing was over and the company had returned to Tranby Croft and finished dinner, Baccarat was introduced as the amus.e.m.e.nt of the evening and played for a couple of hours. The stakes were moderate--for such a party--and ran from five s.h.i.+llings to ten pounds. About seventeen people, ladies and gentlemen, usually sat down and the Prince of Wales was the life of the party, as he generally was, whatever the occupation or sport. On the date mentioned, Mr. Stanley Wilson, the host's son, thought he saw Sir W. Gordon-c.u.mming using his counters fraudulently and informed Lord Coventry and General Williams of his suspicions. On the third evening a committee of five--two ladies and three gentlemen--watched the baronet and unanimously agreed that they saw him cheating. He was privately accused of the offence, denied it vehemently, and brought the matter before the Prince, who practically acted as judge and regretfully told him that there could be no doubt of his guilt.

It was, perhaps the most difficult position the Prince of Wales had ever been placed in. To hand a friend and fellow-guest and well-known soldier over to justice meant in this case ruin to the man himself, disgrace to their host and his family and a considerable amount of discredit to the Prince. Of the latter point it is probable that the Prince thought least, as his fidelity to friends was always well-known. Yet to let the apparently guilty man go without punishment or restriction was impossible from every standpoint. The Prince, therefore, tried to square his duty all round by a compromise and made Sir W. Gordon-c.u.mming sign a pledge to never play at cards again. The natural result followed where at least seven people hold a secret of much importance. It became known, or rather rumored, the resignation of the baronet from the Army was not accepted pending inquiry and, finally, he precipitated the issue by sueing the committee of five--Mrs. Arthur Wilson, Mr. Stanley Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Lycett Green and Mr. Berkeley Levett--for scandal. Sir Charles Russell acted for the defence and Sir Edward Clarke for the plaintiff and, after a sensational trial, the action was dismissed.

The case created the most intense interest and for a time His Royal Highness was the most criticised man in the United Kingdom. Press and pulpit thundered forth denunciations of gambling and card-playing, and lectured the Prince upon his duty to the nation and his responsibility for public morality. Every extreme religious speaker or writer, every Radical paper, or pamphleteer, or lecturer found the Heir to the Throne an excellent subject for abuse, while the best papers abroad teemed with reflections which could hardly be termed generous. Speaking of the counters which had been used in these games and which were brought by the Prince personally to Tranby Croft the New York _Tribune_ declared that in them he had ”fingered the fragments of the Crown of England.”

Upon one point all the home papers were united and that was that in trying to arrange and settle the matter the Prince had contravened the Army regulations.

The better cla.s.s of papers were very serious upon the subject. The London _Times_ declared that the Heir Apparent could not put off his responsibilities as he did his official dress and, while admitting the a.s.siduity and tact and good-humour with which he performed his dull round of routine duties, it yet bitterly regretted the example he had now set. The _Daily News_ thought that the Prince had only been guilty of an indiscretion, so far as his action toward Gordon-c.u.mming was concerned, but went on to say that what was blameless as an example in meaner men, was very different in one of his exalted position. The _Standard_ denounced the whole affair from beginning to end. ”The Prince of Wales is not as other men. His position demands a sobriety, a self-restraint, and a dignity from which people of less exalted position and lighter responsibilities are absolved.” The religious press put no bounds to its denunciation. The _Christian World_ spoke of the matter as an ”outrage to the public conscience” and the _British Weekly_ thought it ”enough to sober the strongest supporters of the Monarchy.”

Resolutions were pa.s.sed at some Church meetings of a similar character.

AFTERMATH OF THE INCIDENT

Then the re-action came. His Royal Highness expressed to the Military authorities and the House of Commons his apologies for an unintentional infraction of Army regulations; it was pointed out that playing a game of cards in a private house was not setting a public example and that the situation was so unique that any man in the Prince's place would have been pardoned in not knowing what to do; the cause of the trouble was dismissed from the Army and expelled from his clubs. The _Daily Telegraph_ pointed out that the carrying of the Baccarat counters, which was apparently deemed the most serious part of the matter by many commentators, was a very common habit with players of this game as the symbols for money tended to moderation in playing, and were better in every way than slips of paper. Years afterwards, Mr. Arnold White stated it as a fact that these famous bits of pasteboard were actually a present from the Princess of Wales. The public came to feel after the first hasty judgment was given that, after all, the Prince had risked a good deal for a friend and the _Observer_ went so far as to say that ”under the most difficult and trying circ.u.mstances His Royal Highness has acted as ninety-nine Englishmen out of a hundred would have done.”

The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Berry, the eminent Non-conformist divine, declared that the people were not going to be unduly severe in their judgment. ”They recognize the fact that he does a great deal of public work and is compelled to live almost continually a life of unnatural pressure. It is, therefore, to say the least, understandable that he should seek pleasure and relaxation in some form of excitement.”

Then the issue cooled down as suddenly as the tempest had arisen, and before long it would have been hard to recognize that so stormy a stage of criticism had swept over the popular Prince's head. In the _Life_ of Archbishop Benson, published many years afterwards, there appeared a long letter from the Heir Apparent in answer to a note of sympathy received at this time from His Grace. The Prince spoke of the ”deep pain and annoyance” which the Baccarat incident had caused him; of the recent trial which had given the press occasion ”to make most bitter and unjust attacks upon me, knowing I was defenceless--and I am not sure that politics were not mixed up in it.” Speaking of the papers and the Nonconformists, who had been especially strong in their remarks, he added some interesting expressions as to his general view of gambling.

”They have a perfect right, I am well aware, in a free country like our own, to express their opinions, but I do not consider that they have a just right to jump at conclusions regarding myself, without knowing the facts. I have a horror of gambling, and should always do my utmost to discourage others who have an inclination for it, as I consider gambling, like intemperance, is one of the greatest curses which a country could be afflicted with. Horse-racing may produce gambling, or it may not, but I have always looked upon it as a manly sport which is popular with Englishmen of all cla.s.ses, and there is no reason why it should be looked upon as a gambling transaction. Alas, those who gamble will gamble at anything.”

Such were some of the characteristics and habits and social incidents in the career of King Edward while he was Prince of Wales. They show how entirely he shared in the life of the majority of the people--a fact all the more ill.u.s.trated in the occasions when he departed from his natural and usual course and seemed to partic.i.p.ate in matters outside of the accepted and popular pursuits of the people. It is the picture of a man who loved his England, liked life and its pleasures, hated humbug, enjoyed sport, did his duty as it came to him and liked the play, the race-course and all the sports of a healthy, hearty Englishman. They prove the accuracy of that interesting description penned in his _Diary_ by the King of Sweden and which, somehow, became public: ”The Heir Apparent to the British Throne is Prince of Wales by name, Prince of Society by inclination, Prince of Good Fellows by nature.”

CHAPTER XV.

The Prince as an Empire Statesman

The breadth of view shown by the late Prince Consort was one of his greatest and most marked qualities. He seemed to have the faculty of seeing further into the future than most men and of preparing his own mind for developments which were yet hidden from the view of contemporary statesmen. Hence his famous Exhibition of 1851 and the realization of the fact that to encourage trade and commerce some knowledge of the world's products and resources was not only desirable but necessary. Hence the early perception, which he shared with the Queen, of the coming importance of the Colonies and of the necessity of bringing the Crown into touch with those over-sea democracies which were growing up to nationhood in such neglected fas.h.i.+on and with such little practical concern in the Motherland. Hence the dislike of the Queen and himself--because she had the statesman's understanding as well as her husband--to the Manchester school, and their opposition to the line of thought which said that Colonies were useless except for commerce and not much good for that. Hence the Queen's long-after regard for Lord Beaconsfield and her appreciation of his stirring and romantic Imperialism.

The Prince of Wales unquestionably inherited this capacity for statecraft from his parents. Natural and hereditary pride in his future Crown and in the greatness of the United Kingdom was developed by teaching and study and visits into an intense pride in the vast Empire which grew so rapidly from year to year around his country and under its Crown. Having a broader and saner outlook than many of those about him, without the spur of ordinary ambitions, or the hampering influence of partisan considerations, he was enabled to view this development more carefully, wisely, and clearly than the busy diplomatist or the much-occupied statesman. Hence the pleasure with which he saw the Imperial Federation League formed in 1884 and watched the efforts of Mr.

W. E. Forster and Lord Rosebery to build upon the preliminary principles already evolved by Lord Beaconsfield. It was not long before he saw an opportunity to promote this sentiment of unity and encourage the extension of Imperial trade. He had visited different parts of the Queen's dominions and understood something of the immense possibilities which were still lying dormant. His sons had since travelled over an even larger portion of the Empire and had, no doubt, in private as well as in their published journals, told him much of the more recent progress of those great outlying communities. Contemporaneously, therefore, with the founding of the League just mentioned, His Royal Highness proposed the holding of a great Exhibition which should meet the new needs of the time as his father's had done in 1851. Then, the interests of British trade were cosmopolitan and Colonial development slight and unimportant to the immediate concerns of England. Now, British commerce was contracting with foreign countries and steadily growing with British countries. Hence the new Exhibition should, he thought, be confined to British resources and products and be Imperial instead of international.

On November 10th, 1884, the Queen issued a Royal Commission to arrange for the holding of an Exhibition of the products, manufactures and arts of Her Majesty's Colonial and Indian dominions in the year 1886. The Prince of Wales was to be President and Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, Secretary, of the Commission. The first meeting took place at Marlborough House on March 30th, 1885, with His Royal Highness in the chair. Amongst the members present were F. M. the Duke of Cambridge, the Marquess of Salisbury, the Marquess of Lorne, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Dalhousie, Earl Cadogan, the Earl of Kimberley, the Earl of Lytton, F. M. Lord Strathnairn, Mr. Edward Stanhope, Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. W. E. Forster, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir H. T. Holland, Sir John Rose, Sir R. G. W. Herbert, Sir Charles Tupper of Canada, Sir Arthur Blyth of South Australia, Sir F. D. Bell of New Zealand, Sir Saul Samuel of New South Wales, Mr. Charles Mills of Cape Colony, Mr. R.

Murray Smith of Victoria, Mr. James F. Garrick of Queensland, Sir W. C.

Seargeant, Sir G. C. M. Birdwood and many other distinguished representatives of British, Colonial and Indian interests. In the course of his somewhat lengthy speech detailing the objects of the movement and the methods of operation, the Prince described the proposed Exhibition as one by which the ”reproductive resources” of the Colonies and India would be brought before the British people and the different countries concerned be able to ”compare the advance made by each other in trade, manufactures and general material progress”. He pointed out the desire of the Motherland to partic.i.p.ate in the development of Colonial material interests and then added: ”We must remember that, as regards the Colonies, they are the legitimate and natural homes, in future, of the more adventurous and energetic portion of the population of these Islands.”

The Secretary announced that the preliminary list of guarantees provided for 128,000, including 20,000 from the Government of India, 10,000 from that of Canada, 19,000 from the various Australasian Governments and 1000 each from individual subscribers such as Lord Cadogan, Sir Thomas Bra.s.sey, Sir Daniel Cooper, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Henry Doulton, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Mr. Samuel Morley and the Earl of Rosebery. This latter list indicated in a most marked manner the personal influence of the Prince of Wales. On May 3, 1886, the eve of the formal opening of the Exhibition was marked by a meeting of the Royal Commission at which the Prince presided, sketched the history and progress of an undertaking to which he had given much time and intimated that the guarantee fund now amounted to 218,000, of which the City of London had recently voted 10,000. In proposing a vote of thanks to the Royal chairman, seconded by Earl Granville, the Duke of Cambridge said: ”It is not the first time that His Royal Highness has acted as President in undertakings of this nature, and it is very difficult for any person to praise him in his presence without appearing fulsome; but it is not fulsome to say that he has always devoted his whole energies to bringing everything to a successful issue with which he is connected.”

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