Part 14 (2/2)
The event created a profound sensation in Great Britain and throughout Europe and the British E was of astonishment that one of the most popular members of the world's Royal circle should be the object of such an attempt; the second that more care had not been taken by those responsible for his safety in travelling; and the third was admiration for the perfect coolness and obvious bravery which he showed during and after the ordeal Everywhere tributes of sye of unstinted appreciation of the Heir Apparent's public services and character Speaking at Acton, on the sae Haner to raise his hand against the Prince of Wales passed his comprehension
If there was one individual who had utilized his position and abilities to promote the welfare of the poorer section of society it was the Prince of Wales No kinder, no more philanthropic, no more hus which were going on, sympathetic allusions were made to the event, amidst loud cheers, by Lord Strathcona, Sir William Wedderburn, MP, the Earl of Hopetoun, and Sir Wilfrid Lawson Telegrah House froratulation were passed in every portion of the E the next few days, and ”God bless the Prince of Wales” rang loudly through the United Kingdoiuret at the occurrence; the Governments of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New Zealand, Tasmania, Cyprus, Mauritius and Barbados, the President of France, the Portuguese Parliao in Australia and Durban in South Africa, the Agents-General of all the Colonies in London, the Australian Federal Delegates in London, the Masonic Grand Lodge of New Zealand, the Corporation of London, the Governh Commissioner for South Africa and the Hon W P Schreiner, Premier of Cape Colony, the Governor-General of Canada, the Governor of Malta, and soht hundred other Governes of congratulation or formal Resolutions The references of the British and Colonial press were ht that ”the veneration felt for the Queen as well as the general regard for the Prince's personal qualities and his universal popularity ive him absolute immunity, even in these days of frenzied political animosity and unscrupulous journalistic violence The Prince is almost as well-known on the Continent as he is at home, and his invariable courtesy and unaffected kindness of heart have been appreciated and acknowledged in capitals where his country is not regarded with affection” The London _Daily News_ pointed out the utter absence of all excuse for such an attempt
”The Prince had refrained with admirable tact and discretion from interference with public affairs All sorts of charitable and philanthropic concerns have found in his Royal Highness a sy hoiven a pleasant surprise at Altona where, as his train stopped on German soil, he found the E with their suites to welcome hiratulations upon his escape This occurrence created wide coenerally, and was taken to mean a desire by the German Emperor to express friendly national as well as friendly personal feelings When His Royal Highness arrived at Dover, the welcome was im occurred at Charing-Cross Station, London, where he wasof Sweden and Norway and wildly cheered by thousands of people on his way to Marlborough House As the _Standard_ put it next day: ”No address of congratulation, presented by dignitaries in scarlet and gold, could have been nearly as eloquent as that sea of friendly faces and the ringing cheers of loyal ratulations received, as well as to this reception, the Prince of Wales issued a personal and public note of thanks in the following terms:
”I have been deeply touched by the nuoodwill addressed to me on the occasion of the providential escape of the Princess of Wales and h Frohout the world, as well as fron countries, have these manifestations of sympathy proceeded, and on my return to this country I received a welcome so spontaneous and hearty that I felt I was the recipient of a ood-will Such proofs of kind and generous feeling are naturally hly prized by me, and will forever be cherished in my memory”
CHAPTER XVII
Accession to the Throne
The death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edere the first and perhaps the greatest events in the opening year of the new century Before the formal announcement on January 18th, 1901, which stated that the Queen was not in her usual health and that ”the great strain upon her powers” during the past year had told upon Her Majesty's nervous system, the people in Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia, in all the Isles of the Sea and on the shores of a vast and scattered Empire, had become so accustomed to her presence at the head of the State and to her personality in their hearts and lives that the possibility of her death was regarded with a feeling of shocked surprise
During the days which immediately followed and while the shadow of death lay over the towers of Windsor, its influence was everywhere perceptible throughout the press, the pulpit and a, in busy Melbourne and in trouble-tossed Cape Town, in Calcutta and in Singapore When the Prince of Wales, on Thursday evening, the 22nd of January, telegraphed the Lord Mayor of London that ”My beloved mother, the Queen, has just passed away,” the announce of sorrow, of sympathy and of Imperial sentiment such as the world had never seen before in such wide-spread character and spontaneous expression
Yet there was no expression of uneasiness as to the future; no question or doubt as to the new influence and power that e of rulers; no fear that the Prince of Wales, as King and Emperor, would not be fully equal to the ireat position Perhaps no Prince, or statesman, or even world-conqueror, has ever received so ard as was exhibited in this expression of confidence throughout the British Empire
THE EMPIRE'S CONFIDENCE IN THE NEW KING
Public bodies of every description in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and other British countries rivalled each other in their tributes of loyalty to the new Sovereign as well as of respect for the great one who had gone The press of the Empire was practically a unit in its expression of confidence, while the pulpit, which had during past years, expressed itself occasionally in terms of criticism, was now almost unanimous in approval of the experienced,The death which it was once thought by feeble-minded, or easily misled individuals, would shake the Empire to its foundations was now seen to simply prove the stability of its Throne, and the firmness of its institutions in the heart of the people The accession of the Prince of Wales actually strengthened that Monarchy which the life and reign of his s and affections of her subjects everywhere
On the day following the Queen's death the new Sovereign drove froh House to St James's Palace; accompanied by Lord Suffield and an escort of the Horse Guards He had previously arrived in London froht, the Duke of York, the Duke of Argyll, Mr Balfour and others The streets were densely croith silent throngs of people; crape andvisible everywhere, and the raised hat the respectful recognition accorded to His Majesty Later in the day the people found their voices and seeain At St Jaathered to the nureatest names and loftiest positions in British public life
THE KING ADDRESSES THE PRIVY COUNCIL
Members of the Royal fa es and the Lord Mayor of London--by virtue of his office--were in attendance
Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Mr Chamberlain, Mr Balfour; the Dukes of Norfolk, Devonshi+re, Portland, Northuyll; the Earls of Clarendon, Pembroke, Chesterfield, Cork and Orrery and Kintore; Lord Halsbury, Lord Ashbourne, Lord Knutsford, Sir M E Hicks-Beach, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord George Hamilton, Mr St John Brodrick, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mr W H Long, MP, Lord Ridley, Sir H
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir J E Gorst, the Marquess of Ripon, Lord Goschen, Mr H H Asquith, Lord Pirbright, Lord Selborne, Sir R
Temple, Mr W E H Lecky, Sir Drue, Sir M E Grant-Duff, Mr John Morley, Earl Spencer and Earl Carrington were ast those present After the Council had been officially informed by its President of the Queen's death and of the accession of the Prince of Wales, the new Sovereign entered, clad in a Field Marshal's uniform, and delivered, without nity and simplicity Its terms showed most clearly both tact and a profound perception of his position and its ihnesses, My Lords and Gentlemen: This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you My first melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my beloved mother, the Queen, and I kno deeply you and the whole nation, and, I think I may say, the whole world, sympathize with me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained I need hardly say that my constant endeavour will be always to walk in her footsteps
In undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon n in the strictest sense of the word, and, so long as there is breath in ood and amelioration of my people
I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has been borne by six ofso I do not undervalue the nareat and wise father, who by universal consent is I think, and deservedly, known by the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should stand alone In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and to which I a the reiance had been taken by those present, the proclaned by the Duke of York--now also Duke of Cornwall,--the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of Cae, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Mayor of London, and the other Privy Councillors present The Houses of Parliament iance, while all around the Eues and s There ide-spread interest in His Majesty's choice of a nanation of Edward VII was al in certain Scotch contentions that the numeral could not properly apply to Scotland as a part of Great Britain The nalish history
Edward the Confessor, though not included in the Norh attainments, admirable character and wise laws
Edward I, was not only a successful soldier and the conqueror of wild and warlike Wales, but a statesst his people Edward II was reave him at Bannockburn while Edward III was the hero of Crecy, the winner of half of France, and a brave and able ruler Edward IV was a masterful, hard and not over-scrupulous monarch, and Edward V was one of the unfortunate boys ere murdered in the Tower of London Edward VI was a h to impress himself upon a strenuous period, or upon interests hich his character little fitted hined, therefore, before the Kingdo clothes; before the reign of Henry VIII had freed it from connection with Rome, or that of Elizabeth had founded the maritihty realm over which the neard now assumed sway
INCIDENTS SURROUNDING THE ACCESSION
The Procladom and at the capitals of countries and provinces and islands all around the globe was a more or less stately and ceremonious function, and the Proclay almost as old as the Monarchy ”We, therefore, do noith consent of tongue and heart, publish and proclaihty Prince, Albert Edward, is now, by the death of our late Sovereign of happy e Lord, Edward the Seventh” At the ceremony in London, Dublin, Liverpool, Derby and other cities, i with unusual heartiness
Meanwhile, following his address to the Privy Council, the King had returned to Osborne with the Duke of Cornwall and York, and there he found the Ger him The latter had come post-haste from Berlin and been in time to see the Queen before she passed away He had now decided to stay until after the funeral and thus to tender every respect in his power to the rand's Proclamation, and it met hurriedly and briefly on January 24th to enable the iance while, all around the Eislatures and Governs