CHAPTER XXVIII.

The New King and His Imperial Responsibilities

In assuming the burden of his great position and manifold duties King George V had the disadvantage of succeeding a great monarch; he had also the advantage of having been trained in statecraft, diplomacy, and the science and practice of government, by a master in the art. He was young in years--only forty-five--strong, so far as was known, in body and health, equipped with a vigorous intelligence and wide experience of home and European politics and, what was of special importance at the time of his accession, instinct with Imperial sentiment and acquainted, practically and personally, with the politics and leaders of every country in the British Empire--notably India, Canada, South Africa and Australia. He was not known to the public as a man of genial temperament but rather as a strong, reserved, quiet thinker and student of men and conditions. Great patience and considerable tact, common sense and natural ability, eloquence in speech and fondness for home life and out-door sports, he had shown as Prince of Wales or Duke of Cornwall. He spoke German, French, and, of course, English with ease and accuracy; he had seen much service in the Royal Navy and was understood to be devotedly attached to the wide spaces of the boundless seas; his Consort was beautiful, kindly, and graceful in bearing, with a profound sense of the importance of her place and duties and a sincere belief in the beneficence and splendid mission of British power.

The Prince of Wales became, of course, King at the moment of his Father's death; on May 7th His Majesty met the Privy Council, signed the proclamation relating to his Accession and accepted the oath of fealty from the Lords and gentlemen assembled. To them he delivered a brief address expressive of his personal sorrow and sense of his onerous responsibilities: "In this irreparable loss, which has so suddenly fallen upon me and the whole Empire, I am comforted by the feeling that I have the sympathy of my future subjects, who will mourn with me for their beloved Sovereign, whose own happiness was found in sharing and promoting theirs. I have lost not only a Father's love, but the affectionate and intimate relations of a dear friend and adviser. No less confident am I of the universal and loving sympathy which is assured to my dearest Mother in her overwhelming grief.

"Standing here, little more than nine years ago, our beloved King declared that so long as there was breath in his body he would work for the good and amelioration of his subjects. I am sure that the opinion of the whole nation will be that this declaration has been fully carried out. To endeavour to follow in his footsteps, and at the same time to uphold the constitutional government of these realms will be the earnest object of my life. I am deeply sensible of the heavy responsibilities which have fallen upon me. I know that I can rely upon the Parliament and on the people of these Islands and my Dominions beyond the Seas for their help in the discharge of these arduous duties and their prayers that God will grant me strength and guidance. I am encouraged by the knowledge that I have in my dear wife one who will be a constant helpmate in every endeavour for our people's good."

This speech, delivered with obvious feeling and indicating a real understanding and appreciation of his late Father's character and career, made a most favourable impression upon the Council, the Nation, and the Empire. It was followed by others--all showing tact and a clear grasp of the fundamental conditions of the time and of his new responsibilities. To the British Army King George issued the following Message: "My beloved Father was always closely associated with the Army by ties of strong personal attachment, and from the first day he entered the service he identified himself with everything conducive to its welfare. On my accession to the Throne I take this earliest opportunity of expressing to all ranks my gratitude for their gallant and devoted service to him. Although I have been always interested in the Army, recent years have afforded me special opportunities of becoming more intimately acquainted with our forces both at home and in India, as well as in other parts of the Empire. I shall watch over your interests and efficiency with continuous and keen solicitude and shall rely on that spirit of loyalty which has at all times animated and been the proud tradition of the British Army." To the Royal Navy His Majesty's Message was issued with special and personal interest. He was devoted to that arm of the service. From the year 1877 when he entered as a Cadet of twelve years old, and 1879 when, with Prince Albert Victor--afterwards Duke of Clarence--he went around the world in H. M. S. _Bacchante_, and 1885 when he became a Midshipman, he had delighted in the Naval service, imbibed the free air of the seas of the world and become instinct with pride in England's naval record and achievements. He had been attached to and served in several great battleships; in 1888 he commanded a torpedo boat and in 1890 the gunboat _Thrush_; in succeeding years he held more important commands and finally in 1897 had become an Admiral. To his Navy King George spoke as follows:

"It is my earnest wish on succeeding to the Throne to make known to the Navy how deeply grateful I am for its faithful and distinguished services rendered to the late King, my beloved Father, who ever showed great solicitude for its welfare and efficiency. Educated and trained in that profession which I love so dearly my retirement from active duty has in no sense diminished my feelings of affection for it. For thirty-three years I had the honour of serving in the Navy, and such intimate participation in its life and work enables me to know how thoroughly I can depend upon that spirit of loyalty and zealous devotion to duty of which the glorious history of our Navy is the outcome. That you will ever continue to be, as in the past, the foremost defenders of your country's honour I know full well, and your fortunes will always be followed by me with deep feelings of pride and affectionate interest."

Parliament met in special Session on May 11th to tender its combined condolences and congratulations to the new Sovereign. The Addresses from both Houses were identical in terms and referred eulogistically to the great work of the late King in building up and maintaining friendly Foreign relations. To them His Majesty replied briefly as to his personal grief and the national sorrow and then added: "King Edward's care for the welfare of his people, his skill and prudent guidance of the nation's affairs, his unwavering devotion to public duty during his illustrious reign, his simple courage under pain, will long be held in honour by his subjects both at home and beyond the Seas." Meanwhile an infinite variety of articles were being written about the new King. In Canada and the United States the same despatches, practically, came to the leading papers; in Canada were reproduced many of the attractive articles written by special American correspondents in England. Some of them could hardly have come from personal knowledge; others contained much of current gossip, passing stories, hasty impressions; all were interesting. A remarkable feature of nearly all that was written regarding His Majesty was the absence of serious criticism or the slightest cause for condemnation in a life of forty-five years lived in the continuous white light which beats upon Royalty with such merciless precision.

The facts are that King George was and had been essentially a sailor Prince; that he had in his younger days been open-handed, free, and possessed of a certain natural and bluff and pleasant geniality which was, however, quite different from the urbane, charming, courtly geniality of King Edward; that something of this characteristic had disappeared from public view after the death of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, and his own assumption of public duties and public work as heir presumptive--functions greatly enlarged by the accession of his father to the Throne; that in his travels through the outer spaces, the vast Colonial Dominions, of the Empire he was too hedged about with etiquette, too much surrounded by a varied, and constantly changing, and bewildering environment to exhibit anything except devotion to the immediate duty of the moment; that under the circumstances of his Imperial tours, amidst political conditions wherein a wrong word or even an unwise gesture might, upon occasions, evoke a storm, where not even his carefully-selected suite could be expected to understand all the varied shades of political strife and the infinite varieties of public opinion, it would have been more than human for him to show continuous geniality--as that word is interpreted in democratic countries; that upon many occasions and despite these obstacles he did thoroughly indicate a personal and unaffected enjoyment very different in manner from that of a prince receiving a formal address--notably so in his drives around Quebec during the Tercentenary; that the responsibilities of his position, the personal limitations of his environment, the difficulties always surrounding an heir to the throne, had however, and upon the whole, sobered the one-time "jolly" Prince into a serious and thoughtful personage--a statesman in the making; that he was, what none of the Royal family had ever been, something of an orator as he proved by his splendid speech in London upon returning from the Empire tour of 1901 and by his delivery of otherwise routine addresses upon many occasions; that there could be absolutely no doubt as to his love of home, his devotion to wife and family, his personal preference for a quieter life than that which destiny had given him. King George was married to Princess May of Teck, on July 6, 1893, and the children of the Royal pair at the Accession were as follows:

H. R. H., Edward Albert Born June 23, 1894 H. R. H., Albert Frederick " Dec. 14, 1895 H. R. H., Victoria Alexandra " April 25, 1897 H. R. H., Henry William " March 31, 1900 H. R. H., George Edward " Dec. 20, 1902 H. R. H., John Charles " July 12, 1905

Of the new Queen Mary much might be said. Unspoiled by the social adulation, the personal power of her environment; devoted to her home, its duties and its responsibilities, and believing her children to be the first object and aim of a woman's study and attention, she yet found time to master the underlying principles of her future position, to become thoroughly conversant with all the details of sovereignty--not only in the ordinary sense but in that new meaning which has come to stamp the British Monarchy with such an international and Imperial prestige. The future Queen had some special qualifications for her position. She was British by birth and training and habit of thought--the first Queen-Consort who could claim these conditions in centuries of history. A great-granddaughter of George the Third she was the popular child of a popular mother--Princess Mary of Teck--and was born in Kensington Palace on May 26, 1867, in a room adjacent to that in which Queen Victoria first saw the light of day. Interested in the theatre, in music, and the drama, charitable by nature and incessant in her work for, and amongst, the poor, a cheerful though not exactly eager participant in social affairs and presiding at the Marlborough House functions with tact and distinction; winning during her tour around the Empire the unstinted liking and respect of the people; the mistress and careful head of her household, a constant friend and adviser and associate of her Royal husband, a loving and devoted mother; the Princess of Wales before she entered upon her inheritance of power had well proved her right to help in holding the reins of a greater position and in setting the example of leadership in her natural and important share of the duties surrounding the throne of Britain and its far-flung realm.

What can be said of the future? It may be assumed that King George V will know his people well. He is thoroughly English in life, character, feelings; he knows Europe and the Empire better perhaps than any other living man; he is in sympathetic touch with rich and poor alike and has taken for many years deep interest in philanthropic and other schemes for the betterment of the poor; he has been trained in the school of constitutional monarchy by the personal teachings of his father and the potent example of Queen Victoria. The London _Daily Telegraph_ said of him at the time of his accession--speaking probably with the knowledge of Lord Burnham, its proprietor, who had for many years been on intimate terms of friendship with the Royal Family--that the new King had undergone sedulous training and been educated to rule by learning to obey. "The country will discover in him what those admitted to his confidence have always realized--admirable traits of kindliness and strength; wise common sense, practical judgment of affairs; shrewd insight into character; and a singularly upright and lofty conception of his kingly duty. He has a frank, generous, unspoiled nature, is quick in apprehension, deliberate in thought, careful in expression, controlled by a far-reaching consciousness of duty and is animated by a vivid sense of his exalted mission. He is a keen sportsman, an admirable father and husband, and a lovable man."

King George has also been trained Imperially. He has trod the soil of his empire in every part of the globe and visited seas and lands which no other British sovereign ever saw; he has seen the courage and commercial skill and success of his more distant peoples, the pioneering activities and growing civilizations of new states and territories thousands of miles apart; he has obviously learned from them lessons of great import. It required considerable courage in 1902 to make that speech of "Wake up, England," to a people who do not readily take advice from their rulers and who notoriously dislike being hurried along the lines of their development. In other directions there is much to be hopeful for. His Majesty has chosen his friends well. They are said, in an intimate sense, to be few in number, but the fact of Lord Rosebery being one of them augurs well of the others. He has a strong sense of duty, his addresses indicate the principle of Imperialism in its best sense, his life has commanded the respect of his people. It may well be, and surely will be in his case, as with the late Queen, with Wellington and Nelson and King Edward himself, that

"Not once or twice in our fair Island's story The path of duty was the road to glory."

To the political situation at his accession, therefore, King George brings a trained intelligence, detailed and intimate knowledge, a keen perception of the basic interests and feelings of his people. No one knows, no one can know, what are his political opinions. The probabilities are that his principles are not those of any so-called party. If they were closely analyzed in the light of environment, education, instincts, and natural predelictions the King's policy might, perhaps, be found to be something like this: (1) The maintenance of British power, including a strong Navy and a United Empire; (2) the maintenance of the Monarchy in all its essential rights and privileges and absolute independence of party. These two lines of ambition would really be, and are, one, as in his opinion and, indeed, in that of most thinking men who are not blinded by passing party phantoms the interests of Great Britain, of the Empire, and the Monarchy, are identical.

In the political crisis of 1910 two questions are uppermost--a constitutional change and a fiscal change. In order to defeat the latter proposals the Liberals in part have created the former situation. The King can act only upon the advice of his Ministry unless tacitly and by unusual agreement, as latterly was the case with King Edward, he acts as a conciliatory force. If the Government asks him to create 300 peers so as to compel the acceptance of legislation curbing and crippling, if not abolishing, the Upper House, he can either assent or refuse. Assent means the destruction of a portion of the Constitution--and a portion very close to the Throne and which acts as a real buffer against the hasty action of an impetuous and sometimes imperious Commons. Refusal means that the Ministry must resign or go to the country on an issue in which it is quite possible the people will not support them.

Against the Government, also, in this contest will be urged the full force of the growing fiscal feeling, the desire for Tariff Reform, the development of an Imperial sentiment which wants some means of giving the Colonies a preference in the British market, the pressing need for some weapon of retaliation upon highly protective foreign nations. Whatever course the King takes under all these conditions will bring the Crown into the conflict--either as yielding to the Liberals and thus antagonizing the Conservatives, or by refusing the demands of the former, raising up a party--small but vehement--against the Monarchy itself. There is another element in the situation to be remembered. England, "the dominant partner," is not really behind the Asquith Government. Its majority at the recent elections was infinitesimal; what there was came from Wales and Ireland and Scotland; and that of Ireland was divided upon the fiscal issue. The whole situation is, therefore, very much clouded to the eye.

So far as one writer can estimate the end of such a crisis it will probably be one of compromise. Almost everything in the British constitution is in the nature of a compromise. Constitutional monarchy in its essence is a half-way house between Autocracy and Republicanism and its great advantage to the minds of its supporters is that the system has the extremes of neither, the best qualities of each, and all the advantages of that strength and permanence which moderation and toleration always afford. In Britain the system certainly has the affection and devotion of the great mass of the people. Mr. Asquith is not an extremist, Mr. Haldane and Sir Edward Grey are moderate forces in the Cabinet, and though Messrs. Lloyd-George and Winston Churchill are more heard of it does not follow, and it certainly is not the fact, that they are more influential. They hold the same place in Liberalism that Mr. Chamberlain with his republican tendencies (which they do not profess) and his "three acres and a cow" held to Mr. Gladstone and the Liberal leaders of thirty or forty years ago. The Conservatives, also, are not desirous of pushing the issue too far. They believe in and have tested the affection of rural England for the aristocracy and the preference of nearly all England for a second Chamber of some kind. But they do not intend to fight the issue on the hereditary principle. The acceptance, by a very large majority, of Lord Rosebery's motion in the Lords declaring that "the possession of a peerage should no longer, of itself, give the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords," removes this point from the actual conflict and leaves the Conservatives as urging a strong, reformed and democratised Upper House against the Liberal policy of a weakened, emasculated echo of the House of Commons.

Genealogical Chart

SHOWING DESCENT OF KING GEORGE V, FROM EGBERT (A. D. 827)

1. Egbert. 2. Ethelwolf. 3. Alfred the Great. 4. Edward the Elder. 5. Edmund. 6. Edgar. 7. Ethelred. 8. Edmund Ironside. 9. Edward (not a king). 10. Margaret, wife of Malcolm, King of Scotland. 11. Matilda, wife of Henry I. 12. Matilda or Maud, Empress of Germany, and wife of Geoffrey of Anjou. 13. Henry II. 14. John. 15. Henry III. 16. Edward I. 17. Edward II. 18. Edward III. | ---------------------------------------------------- | | | 19. Lionel, Duke Edmund John of Gaunt, of Clarence Duke of York Duke of Lancaster, | | m. Catherine Swynford 20. Phillippa, | (issue afterwards legitimated) m. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March | | | | | 21. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March | John Beaufort, | | Earl of Somerset 22. Anne Mortimer.......m........Richard, | | Earl of Cambridge John Beaufort, | | Duke of Somerset -------------------------- | | | 23. Richard, Margaret. Duke of York m. Edmund Tudor, | Earl of Richmond 24. Edward IV | | | 25. Elizabeth............married............Henry VII | | ----------------------------------------- | James IV...m....26. Margaret Tudor.....m.....2ndly, Archibald Douglas, of Scotland | | Earl of Angus 27. James of Scotland Margaret Douglas | m. Earl of Lennox | | 28. Mary, Queen of Scots.....m....Lord Darnley | | --------------------------- | 29. James VI of Scotland (James I of England) | 30. Elizabeth m. Frederick, Elector Palatine | 31. Sophia m. Ernest Augustus of Brunswick, Elector of Hanover | 32. George, Elector of Hanover, afterwards George I | 33. George II | 34. Frederick, Prince of Wales | 35. George III | 36. Edward, Duke of Kent | 37. Victoria | 38. Edward VII | 39. George V

There is plenty of room for compromise in this, and there is every possibility that something will be done along the lines of, perhaps, restricting the financial veto of the Lords, leaving the other questions open, and, meantime, reforming the structure of the House. Whatever the developments of the future, the new King may be depended upon to preserve the general principle of a second chamber; to conserve the legitimate interests and influence of the aristocracy and landed classes in the state--when, of course, they do not conflict with the well-being of the people as a whole; to stand for stability and gradual reform rather than change for the sake of change; to prefer and enforce evolution rather than revolution. In all this His Majesty will voice the deliberate and well-known opinions--instinct it may almost be said--of his people in general. Be it also said, in conclusion, that these thoughts are generalizations; that the King's opinions are his own and are not known to the people; that newspaper writers in England, the United States, or Canada, who proclaim an intimate acquaintance with his views, and hidden qualities, and private conversations, only betray their absolute ignorance of actual conditions. King George is an honest, honourable and patriotic Englishman, guarding the greatest birthright that a man can have, watching over the evolution of the greatest of world-empires, sitting at the heart of vital and powerful political movements. The steps he takes, or does not take, will be carefully considered, and all public knowledge of the new King's character and life leads one to believe that they will be wisely taken--in this respect following the precedents left by his august father and grandmother and realizing the principles and training and looming responsibilities of a lifetime.

Transcriber's Note:

The scan of page 287 is unclear, but it makes sense for the text to be: "The King was accompanied by Sir Frank Lascelles, Ambassador at Berlin, and by his physician, Sir Francis Laking."

End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of King Edward VII, by J. Castell Hopkins