TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE KING-'S ILLNESS.
" WHAT shadows we are and what shadows we pursue." The feeling that inspired Burke's thrillinc, words when his antagonist in a heated election contest was suddenly struck down must have come over thousands of men and women as they heard the terrible news of Tuesday. The scene in the London streets is one which will never be forgotten by those who saw it. The streets were filled with a holiday crowd intent on viewing the decorations, and on the stands the workmen were every- where busy with their preparations. And then, and with a suddenness which was dramatic beyond expression, came the news that the Coronation was postponed, and that at the very moment the King was being operated on for a disease of the utmost gravity. But though the impulse that worked the great machine of the Coronation cere- monial had stopped, the wheels still continued to revolve, and everywhere the hammers fell as briskly as before on the woodwork. The knocking sounded as loudly as before, and yet every one, workmen and crowd, knew that, for the time at least, the work was useless, and that the platforms and seats in windows and on vacant spaces and the huge street barriers would not be used. The reception of the news was characteristically English. There was nothing sensational or passionate about the demeanour of the crowd. in the streets of London. People went on with the business of the moment, whatever it was. Those who had come to see the decorations quietly continued the drive or walk that had been planned, and the workmen who had been engaged to build the stands or stretch the wreaths or hang the decomtions fulfilled their contracts. We confess that we like that orderly con- tinuance of the matter in hand better than if the crowd had given way to an impulse of regret and disappointment, or the workmen had thrown down their tools and indulged in any display of theatrical emotion. The calmness and reserve of the crowd was, in our opinion, something in regard to which the nation has a right to be proud. It did not show heartlessness or indifference, but a just and reasonable appreciation of the situation. Men felt that nothing could be gained by giving way to a feeling of dejection. They behaved just as they would have done if they had heard that some relation or friend had been suddenly obliged to undergo an operation and was in jeopardy. In a word, the national instinct to keep cool and not make an exhibition of fuss and flurry asserted itself.
But the people of London and of the kingdom generally were, we believe, genuinely touched, though they gave few outward signs of grief. The knowledge that the King • would be the most deeply disappointed man in the nation because he was forced to disappoint the whole people of a pageant that had been prepared with such care and looked forward to with such interest was pathetically realised by millions of his subjects. That he had not merely to go through a terrible operation, and then a long period of illness, but that' he would in addition be fretted by all the worry and confusion of the postponed Coronation was a feeling everywhere expressed. Each man thought how terribly illness is aggravated in his own home when it comes suddenly and at a period of special stress and strain. Each woman re- membered what it is to have the master of the house stricken down during some family festivity. And here • was the head of the nation lying on a sick-bed when the whole kingdom was in an uproar to do honour to a great event. We may not be a quick-witted or responsive race, and we tend no doubt to take homely and prosaic views of even the greatest and most thrilling actions, but nowhere else is the heart • of the people more touched by pity for suffering, or more moved with sympathy for those who are called on to endure. It was said of one of the greatest and most typical of Englishmen by a contemporary observer that he " was naturally compassionate• towards objects in distress, even to an effeminate measure," and did "excel in tenderness towards sufferers." It is a national characteristic, and exactly describes the attitude of our people when they are confronted with such incidents as that of Tuesday. Others may show a more lively feeling and a more perfect sympathy in moments of joy and rejoicing, but the British are the best of bad- weather friends. And especially do they show this tenderness towards sufferers when they know that the sufferer is a man of courage and good heart. The King's splendid pluck, and the knowledge that 'he would meet his destiny with a clear eye and a steady. lip, raised a lump in many a throat. The certainty that, in the words of the Coronation Service, he would " play the man," and that he would set all men struck by such a blow the best of examples, while it helped men to bear the national misfortune, also touched them deeply. There is no more moving passage in all Scott's works than that in which- he describes how Richard of the Lion Heart drank the fever potion offered him by the Arab physician. The King had determined to let the mysterious leech try his skill, and would not heed the passionate warnings of his courtiers, who feared treachery, and believed that he was but com- passing his own death. In that supreme moment the King showed no touch of fear or apprehension, but ran the risk which he had decided must be run with a steady pulse and smiling face. The knowledge that it was with ho less stout a heart that the King met the verdict of his doctors On Tuesday moved the nation far more than if there had been any suspicion that the King would quail before the blow. The British people loves a brave man.
While contemplating the events of the last few days it is impossible not to be struck by the fact that the sympathy felt for the King will have a very marked effect on the future position of the dynasty,—an effect which will last far beyond the life of the King, though we trust that will be prolonged for many years. It is a common- place that men do not so much love those who confer actual benefits upon them as those whom they have helped and with whom they have sympathised and suffered. The King, and, indeed, the whole Royal Family, will be more to the nation after the present illness than they were before. Every sorrow and every act of suffering is a link which binds the nation and the Crown. And in this tie of sorrow and anxiety the whole Empire shares, for all the statesmen of the Empire are gathered as it were round the sick-bed of the King. The Queen's death, coming as it did while the sacrifices of the war were still going on, and the knowledge that the efforts she had made helped to shorten her days, had a perceptible effeCt in endearing the Royal house to the nation. The overthrow of the nation's hopes and desires in respect of the Corona- tion, and the deep anxiety as to the King's illness, will still further strengthen the ties between the people and the dynasty.
We cannot leave the subject of the King's illness. with- out expressing a feeling which we are sure is entertained by thousands, nay millions, of his subjects. That is, that he will not be consulting the real interests of the nation if he does not suppress and put away from him any attempt to induce his doctors to allow the Coronation to take place before the period of absolute safety is said to have arrived. There must, that is, be no en- deavour to fix the earliest possible date at which the doctors can be got to say that there would be no actual danger. On the contrary, the ceremony ought to be postponed till a period well beyond the King's complete recovery. The date ought not to be fixed till he is so well that he seems already capable of enduring the fatigue. That is, he ought to wait a considerable time after he has apparently completely recovered. If the date is settled before the King has entirely and absolutely recovered, he will be liable to be thrown back by the hard work which will be sure to fall on him the moment the day is actually fixed. It would be far better to put off the Coronation two months longer than seemed actually necessary than to run the slightest risk of causing a relapse.
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