12 DECEMBER 1914, Page 3

The "Eyewitness" says that the warm and obvious interest of

the King in the welfare of the Army has produced a deep impression on officers and men. We do not wonder. It is impossible to imagine a better-worded message. The touch about the regimental spirit is particularly happy. The way in which the King associates himself with the nation as a whole when in the last sentence the pronoun changes from "1 " to " we " was an inspiration—though we do not doubt it was unconscious. The message and the whole spirit in which the week's visit was conducted afford ample proof of the truth of what we said last week about the King's sincerity of character and his absolute refusal to be theatrical or sensa- tional. Into an act of doubtful taste or of pompous egotism no power on earth will ever goad him.