TOPICS OF THE DAY.
KING EDWARD vil. THE nine years of the late King's reign realised the most daring hopes which had. been founded on his career as Prince of Wales. He was known, when he came to the throne, to be a man of courage and of tact, to be well informed on public affairs, and to have kept him- self free from all political prejudice and partisanship. These were qualities of patent value, and. yet it remained uncertain that he could follow, acceptably to the nation, in the path of so exceptionally wise and good a ruler as Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria had set up such an intimate rapport between herself and her subjects th they had come to know almost by instinct what she would do and say in particular circumstances ; she was always for the simple, righteous, common-sense course, and. had the power of picking out that course from the most confused considerations ; and when her hand relaxed its hold on the affairs of the nation, it seemed that we might indeed have Sovereigns to succeed her capable in themselves, but that the tradition of her reign—such it had become in sixty years—as we knew it could scarcely be continued by any one. The late King in all his public aspects did continue her tradition. It was a feat, but he accomplished it. During his reign the nation was never once conscious of any abatement at the head of affairs of common-sense, of worthiness of motive, of deep personal concern for the interests of the people and the position of the country. King Edward lived much more under the public gaze than Queen Victoria; he led society and he enjoyed life. Their characters and tastes were quite different. But his enjoyment of life was never in a single instance, nay, never for a single moment, preferred to the performance of his duty. The discharge of his duty might be called a, passion if it had not been what was much better,—an ineradicable good. habit.
Since William M. no British Sovereign—in a personal sense—has been so large a figure in the affairs of Europe as the late King. His influence on the foreign policy of Great Britain was of course exaggerated in countries where the ability of our Constitutional Sovereigns to act as agents and critics without eclipsing the Foreign Office is curiously misunderstood. But when that reservation has been made, it is impossible to exaggerate the success and the benefi- cence of the movements which had the advantage of King Edward's aid. The intense bitterness of Fa,shoda still infected the relations of Great Britain and France when King Edward, who understood the French well, and abso- lutely refused to think of them otherwise than as his friends, insisted on visiting Paris. There was no certainty as to the nature of his reception. He had always been welcome there as Prince of Wales ; but now he was in a very different position,—the representative of a hated and, worse still, a triumphant policy. He never flinched. We can think of no better illustration of his courage. He seemed supremely unconscious of the existence of anything that could disturb the friendliness Frenchmen had always shown to him and he to them. Ile penetrated even into the more truculent regions of political thought; he faced the discordant elements of French municipal life, where prudent advisers had begged him not to go ; and he captured goodwill everywhere. "All this, so soon after Fashoda!' says the foreign observer in looking back on it. " Incredible ! How did he do it ? " It has been said that the members of our Royal family are without " nerves." We cannot say. Probably no man is so innocent of them that coolness and courage do not deserve some mead of admira- tion as the expression of the victory of resolution over certain tendencies to falter • but however that may be, the courage of our Royal family is a splendid possession, and. King Edward put. it to noble use. The sudden drawing together of France and Great Britain was matched by the similarly agreeable understanding with Russia. Again the foreign observer is astonished beyond measure. "How could it be done so soon after Japan, the ally of England, had humiliated Russia ? " No wonder the late King's power of initiation was exaggerated. But we Englishmen who know the limits of our Sovereign's range of action must acknowledge even more than foreign observers the perfect geniality, the discretion, and the judgment with which King Edward forwarded the policies desired by the British people. The same faculties which 'Ring Edward exercised abroad he exercised in the different circumstances of the Empire and of Great Britain. It is said that when General Botha heard of his death he exclaimed. "He was a great man with a noble heart !" That only bears out what one supposes the Boer leaders thought of King Edward when they came to England. They found in him a genial man who made them feel perfectly at their ease because he was kindly without being condescending. They knew from that moment that he was their friend. As in the Empire, so at home King Edward whenever he touched a piece of the machinery of affairs made it run more smoothly. He did not, for that was not his business, take important decisions himself,but when men of conflicting opinions were brought together in his presence he invariably rendered it much easier for decisions to be taken. He prevented friction. So far as we know, his reign, in spite of the shadows of a great Constitutional struggle, was not marred by a single unpleasant disagreement with a person in high office. Queen Victoria's early reign was agitated by the "Bedchamber Plot," but King Edward. knew that bath parties deeply respected the Monarchy, and he had no reason to suspect the existence of a desire to trench on his personal arrangements or in any way to humiliate him. His relations with individuals proved that he was perfectly equipped to be what we have called in another article the Grand Chairman of the Nation. He had a singular know- ledge of public affairs he understood. the motives of ordinary men, and he had the fortunate gift of remember- ing not only the names and faces of those he met, but even their interests and opinions. It is much in itself for a Sovereign to make a conscious effort to appear concerned in what goes on around him daily, and. to be pleased by what is intended to please him. One could not, indeed, actually require more of a Sovereign than that he should make that effort. And yet it would leave something wanting. Most Englishmen, for example, are sensible of the artificiality of a part that is being played against the grain, and, above all, they loathe being patronise]. In this respect King Edward left absolutely nothing to seek. He had not merely the air of being pleased. at the right times ; one could positively declare that he was pleased. And. this was because he was never tired. of his fellow- man,—of exploring the recesses of his personality, and. the extent of his experiences. The writer of some personal reminiscences in the Temps describes how when King Edward was Prince of Wales he met Gambetta in 1881. Gambetta wanted the support of England and was anxious to meet the Prince. But the first minutes of their meeting were distressingly unpromising. Gambetta was slovenly in appearance and seemed a little vulgar in his bearing, and the Prince was plainly uncomfortable. Then Gambetta began to talk. It was absorbing, fascinating talk ; it held the Prince captive and never flagged. The d4jeuner was at noon. At six o'clock the conversation had not ended.
The counterpart of King Edward's well-known love of ceremony—his insistence that clothes and every kind of procedure should be correct in every detail—was to be traced most happily in his punctuality and his extremely businesslike qualities. As he dressed. tidily and desired ceremonies to be carried out neatly, so he was what may be called a tidy worker. The country owes an immense debt to him for the despatch, the carefulness, the intensely con- scientious industry, with which he transacted affairs of State. He could manage men to admiration. He was not egotistical nor vain ; he could enjoy the society of a peasant without letting him feel that Royal manners were after all only a kind. of splendid condescension. Such capacities as these are precisely what a Constitutional country needs in its head. II has no place for blundering or sloppiness. It does not want a man of dominating brain, but it does want a Chairman with enough shrewdness to put the check of experience and common-sense on the " viewi- ness " of a certain kind of Minister, and to keep himself from being imposed upon in the conduct of affairs by the mere brilliance of a political philosopher or the red-hot eloquence of one who may be fundamentally a fanatic. Such plain but invaluable services as these King Edward untiringly rendered . to the Empire in a manner which, we believe., will never be forgotten by people of British birth.
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