It argues no whit of disrespect for any possible alternative
—Mr. Attlee, let us say, or Mr. Eden—to voice a most pro- found thankfulness that the Sovereign's chief Minister at this grave moment of transition has been Mr. Churchill. That is not to idealise the Prime Minister gratuitously. It is simply to recognise that he possesses beyond any other living man the qualities which the situation most essentially calls for at this moment. Who but he, for example, could have framed an appreciation of the King comparable with his broadcast of last Thursday night, and lifted the nation to a level worthy of the theme ? And what counsellor half as experienced, and in the things that immediately matter half as wise, could the young Queen have found ready at her side to school her in the high offices that are now her charge? In this field the Prime Minister in a way bridges many gulfs. He grew to manhood andir,„ Queen Victoria; in the preparation of his great work on Ma borough he had occasion to study the character of Queen Anne from many angles: and in aspects of his own character he is of the very stuff of the Elizabethans. There must have been, something moving in the first audience given by the young Queen to the veteran statesman on Tuesday. * * * *
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