The Life of King Edward VII Part 19
The Prince of Wales was exceedingly active during this period in paying every possible compliment to departing troops, in welcoming home the veterans of the war, in conferring medals and in helping the many charities, hospital interests and military organizations which the situation evoked. As soon as the war broke out the Princess of Wales had commenced to organize a hospital ship for the care of the wounded at Cape Town and, on November 22d, 1899, Her Royal Highness visited the vessel prior to its departure. She was accompanied by the Prince with Princess Victoria, the d.u.c.h.ess of York and the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Fife.
Badges and gifts were presented to the nursing sisters and the men of the Royal Army Medical Corps and St. John Ambulance Brigade and a brief speech delivered by the Prince. To this object, it may be added, the Princess had given 1000, and a Committee formed by her and composed of Lady Lansdowne, Lady Wolseley, Lady Wantage, Sir Donald Currie and others, had raised the large additional sum required. At Windsor, on December 15th, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Christian, presented to the Grenadier Guards the medals they had won in the Soudan. On January 26th, 1900, he reviewed six hundred officers and men of the Imperial Yeomanry under command of Colonel, Lord Chesham. He thanked them for making him their Hon.
Colonel, and then added: "You have all, like true men, volunteered for active service to do your duty to your Sovereign and your country. I feel sure that when you leave your homes and country you will feel that a great duty devolves on you--to maintain the honour of the British flag--and that you will ably a.s.sist the Regular forces of Her Majesty abroad and do credit to your country and your corps."
A little later, on February 9th, another contingent of Yeomanry, under Colonel Mitford, were inspected by the Prince ere they departed for South Africa. "Most heartily" he said to them, "do I hope that the services you intend to render your Sovereign and your country will bring credit upon yourselves. I feel sure that, under your commanders, you will know that one of the first principles is good discipline. Then, I hope you are good shots and good riders." In the afternoon, at Devonshire House, His Royal Highness received the one hundred and fifty nurses and men connected with the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital. When the Princess of Wales' Hospital Ship returned with its sorrowful burdens of wounded men the Prince and Princess were the first to visit it and do what was possible by kind thought and word and action to soothe the suffering of the soldiers. Netley Hospital they visited again and again, and more than one Canadian or Australian, or other Colonial soldier of the Queen, will always speak of the gracious personal kindness of the Royal couple.
When the Naval Brigade returned in triumph from its achievements at Ladysmith there was added to the seething, cheering, enthusiastic popular welcome the formal reception and inspection by the Heir Apparent, accompanied by the Princess and other members of the Royal family and the Lords of the Admiralty. After brief speeches from Mr.
Goschen and His Royal Highness the former, as First Lord of the Admiralty, entertained the officers of the Brigade and the Prince of Wales at luncheon. On November 2nd, following, the Prince presided at a great banquet given in London to the officers and men of the Honourable Artillery Company and the City Imperial Volunteers. Colonel Mackinnon of the latter force sat on the right of the Royal chairman and the Lord Mayor on the left. In his speeches the Prince gave a brief history of the origin and the war achievements of the Artillery and the City Imperial Volunteers, congratulated many of the officers by name, spoke of the opportunity they had been given of taking part in "a great and important war and of maintaining the honour of the British flag," and referred in pathetic terms to the death of Prince Christian Victor--who had been through five campaigns and was under thirty-four years of age.
When the Composite Regiment of the Household Cavalry went to war in November 1899 they had been inspected by the Heir Apparent. Upon their return, December 3rd 1900, he paid them the same compliment, accompanied by various members of the Royal family and leading officers of the Army.
He expressed pride at being Colonel-in-Chief of a corps which had so greatly distinguished itself--in the distant past as well as the near present. Following them came the Royal Canadian Regiment, commanded by Colonel W. D. Otter. To them the Prince made a neat and patriotic speech. "I am well aware of what you have gone through and the splendid way in which you have served in South Africa and I deeply regret and mourn with you the loss of so many brave men." Ever anxious, like the Queen and her own husband, to promote the well-being of the soldiers and sailors the Princess of Wales had acted since the beginning of the war as President of the Soldiers and Sailors' Families a.s.sociation and, on December 31st, 1900, reported through the press that 500,000 had been directly subscribed to their purposes, 190,000 given through the Mansion House subscription, and 50,000 through a special Lord Mayor's Fund. The whole of this sum had now been expended in caring for the wives and families of those at the front and distributed through the voluntary services of eleven hundred ladies and gentlemen throughout the United Kingdom. At least 50,000 was still being expended monthly and Her Royal Highness made and personally signed an earnest appeal for the further funds required.
When Lord Roberts left to take command in South Africa, the Prince of Wales personally saw him off at the station--accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, who had been again praying the Military authorities to allow him to go to the front in the new crisis which had arisen and who had even obtained Lord Roberts' approval to his taking a place upon his Staff. But the War Office would only say that with so many general officers out of the country His Royal Highness could do better service by remaining with the Army at home.
There were many reasons for the Prince of Wales taking a keen interest in the war apart altogether from the natural and patriotic reason. A peculiarly large number of the sons of personal friends were at the front and many of them were fated to fall from time to time. The reputation of the officers engaged in the struggle was necessarily very dear to him. He knew them all and had many a.s.sociations with their regiments and themselves. A blow to Sir George White, a disaster to Sir Redvers Buller, a danger to Col. Baden Powell, a threatened illness in the case of Lord Roberts, were all matters of personal concern to him as well as of national or patriotic interest. The central figure in the beginning of the war--the great personality of Mr. Cecil Rhodes--had long been a friend and had been received by the Prince upon a kindly social footing. Through the Duke of Fife's connection with the South African Chartered Company, the Prince must have been closely interested in all the earlier developments of the struggle and it could only have been by special permission that his son-in-law held a Director's place up to the actual outbreak of the war. Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Milner were both men who had been closely a.s.sociated with his own Imperialistic projects and ideals and there can be little doubt--though it was never publicly expressed--that the Prince of Wales sympathised with the policy which has since made South African expansion and empire possible.
The Prince of Wales had seen Lord Roberts off upon his career of successful action; on January 3rd, 1901, accompanied by the Princess, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of York and the Duke of Connaught, he welcomed him home and on behalf of the Queen received him as a Royal guest at Buckingham Palace. A magnificent banquet followed, given by the Prince, in honour of the Field Marshal--who had just been created an Earl and a Knight of the Garter--and six months later as King of Great Britain, he was able to send a special message to Parliament recommending a grant to Earl Roberts of 100,000. Shortly after this reception came the much-mourned death of the Queen and the accession of His Royal Highness to the Throne. It was not long before the King was showing his appreciation of South African soldiers by inspecting or addressing them before their departure, or upon their return. On February 15th, accompanied by Queen Alexandra, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Connaught, the Duke of Cambridge, Princess Louise, the d.u.c.h.ess of Argyll, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Roberts, Sir Redvers Buller, Lord Strathcona and Mr.
Chamberlain, he inspected Lord Strathcona's Regiment of Horse and presented a King's colour to Colonel Steele. His Majesty's speech to the officers and men was tactful and gracious: "I welcome you here on our sh.o.r.es on your return from active service in South Africa. I know it would have been the urgent wish of my beloved mother, our revered Queen, to have welcomed you also. That was not to be; but be a.s.sured she deeply appreciated the services you rendered as I do. It has given me great satisfaction to inspect you to-day, to have presented you with your war-medals and also with the King's colour. I feel sure that in entrusting this colour to you, Colonel Steele, and to those under you, you will always defend it and will do your duty as you have done in the past year in South Africa and will do it on all future occasions. I am glad that Lord Strathcona is here to-day, as it is owing to him that this magnificent force has been equipped and sent out." The King then presented Colonel Steele, personally with the M.V.O. decoration.
PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE WAR
Following this and other similar events came the re-organization of the Army, in which the King no doubt took a great deal of interest though it would only be shown the form of advice or expressions of opinion. By Mr.
St. John Brodrick's scheme, as outlined on March 9th, and ultimately accepted in the main, it was decided to have the military forces so organized that three Army corps could be sent abroad at any time; that the artillery and mounted troops should be increased and the medical and transport service reformed; that officers should be better trained, with less barrack-square drill and more musketry, scouting and individuality. It was proposed also to "decentralize administration, centralize responsibility;" to increase the Militia from 100,000 to 115,000, to increase the pay of the soldiers, to utilize the Yeomanry and to affiliate, if possible, the Colonial forces. The new arrangements would provide, it was hoped, a home force of 155,000 Regulars, 90,000 Reserves, 150,000 Militia, 35,000 Yeomanry and 250,000 Volunteers--a total of 680,000 men.
Meanwhile, peace negotiations had been progressing. On February 28th a long interview took place between Lord Kitchener and General Louis Botha who, according to the British general's despatch, "showed very good feeling and seemed anxious to bring about peace." The question of government, grading from a Crown Colony system up to full self-government, was discussed; the licensing of rifles for protection and hunting; the use of English and Dutch languages; the enfranchising of Kaffirs; the protection of Church and trust funds and the guarantee of legal debts and notes of the late Republics; the question of a war-tax on the farms and the time of return of prisoners of war; pecuniary a.s.sistance to the burghers, so as to enable them to start afresh; the question of amnesty and the proposal to disfranchise Cape rebels; were all freely discussed. After considerable interchange between Lord Kitchener and Mr. Brodrick and Lord Milner and Mr.
Chamberlain, a definite statement of terms was offered General Botha and by letter, dated March 16th, declined. The details of this cabled correspondence and the proposed terms were, of course, submitted to the King and approved by His Majesty, and it is certain that had the war then ended the Coronation would have taken place at an earlier date than was afterwards fixed.
The question of honours conferred by the Crown in peace or war has always been one of considerable discussion in Colonial, if not in home circles. How far the Sovereign acts in this connection with, or without the advice of responsible Ministers, cannot be exactly known. The action is unquestionably guided by circ.u.mstances based primarily upon the admitted fact that all honours and t.i.tles, const.i.tutionally as well as theoretically, lie in the hands of the Sovereign. It is probable that the recommendations made are generally accepted; that the name of any one known to be disapproved of by the King would never be submitted; that the slightest hint of disapproval would suffice for any name to be at once dropped; that any suggestion made by the Sovereign is at once included in the official list as a matter of course; that the interest taken by the Sovereign in the honours bestowed depends somewhat upon whether they are conferred in the ordinary way for routine services or granted for special reasons of action or state; that Colonial honours are seldom changed as they come from the hands of the Governor-General or Viceroy.
On the other hand it may be reasonably a.s.sumed that King Edward took more interest in this subject than did the late Queen. His many years of active a.s.sociation with public life and men of all cla.s.ses and political opinion had made him keenly and impartially aware of personal claims and merits and more than usually able to judge amongst the great numbers who desire or deserve Royal recognition from time to time. His Majesty's first Honour List dealt with services in the South African War under terms of a mult.i.tudinous catalogue submitted by F. M. Lord Roberts up to November 29th, 1900. Amongst those who were made Knights Commander of the Bath, or K.C.B. were Lieut.-General Charles Tucker, Lieutenant-General Lord Methuen, Major-General Reginald Pole-Carew, Major-Generals W. G. Knox and H. J. T. Hildyard, Lieut.-General Ian S.
M. Hamilton, Major-General Hector A. Macdonald, Lieut.-General J. D. P.
French, Brigadier-Generals Henry S. Settle, Edward Y. Brabant and J. G.
Dartnell--all well-known officers in the South African conflict. The Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George, or G.C.M.G. was conferred upon General Sir Redvers Buller, Lieut.-General Lord Kitchener, Lieut.-General Sir Frederick Forestier-Walker and General Sir George White. The K.C.M.G., or Knight Commandership in the same Order, was given to Major-General Sir C. F. Clery, Major-General Sir Leslie Rundle, Major-General E. T. H. Hutton, Lieut.-Colonel E. P. C. Girouard and others. A number of minor honours were bestowed upon British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African officers and men and an Invest.i.ture of various Orders was held at St. James's Palace on June 3rd, 1901. In such a list much discrimination was necessary and it is probable that the tact and knowledge of the King would have a very controlling influence apart altogether from his const.i.tutional rights and powers.
VARIOUS CEREMONIES AND INCIDENTS
On May 24th, His Majesty helped to make the welcome home to Sir Alfred Milner splendid and impressive and worthy of the statesman who had toiled amidst personal danger and depressive surroundings, public disasters and continuous misrepresentation, to maintain British rights and justice in South Africa. The High Commissioner was received at the station by Lord Salisbury, Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Roberts, Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Balfour and many others. Thence he was driven to Buckingham Palace and received by the King in a prolonged and private audience. The honour of a peerage was conferred upon him and on the following day Lord Milner was entertained at a large luncheon given by the Colonial Secretary and Mrs. Chamberlain and attended by the most eminent public men of the Metropolis--outside of the Liberal party ranks. On the same day the King presented colours to the Third Scots Guards.
On June 13th a most imposing ceremony was held by His Majesty on the Horse Guards Parade when thirty-two hundred officers and men from South Africa were presented with war medals by the King amid scenes which had not been duplicated since the memorable function when the late Queen Victoria and the Crimean soldiers had been the central figures. The Royal platform was covered with crimson cloth and in its centre was spread a beautiful Persian silk carpet above which a canopy of crimson and gold, supported on silver poles, had been erected. Around the platform was a bewildering display of splendid uniforms and, after the arrival of the King and Queen Alexandra, accompanied by Princess Victoria, the distribution of the medals lasted over two hours--Major-General Sir Henry Trotter handing them to His Majesty who, in turn, presented them to the officer or soldier as he filed past. The first recipients were Lord Roberts, Lord Milner and Sir Ian Hamilton. A most brilliant and successful function concluded with cheers and the National Anthem.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH. K.C., D.C.L., M.P.
Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland at the time of King Edward's Death]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MOST REVD. DR. RANDALL T. DAVIDSON, P.C., G.C.V.O.
Ninety-fourth Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of England under King Edward, 1903-10.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. SIR WILFRID LAURIER, P.C., G.C.M.G., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada during King Edward's Reign]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL GREY, P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O.
The King's Representative in Canada, 1904-10]
The war now dragged on its weary way. Victories and occasional defeats marked the stages of attrition by which the bravery and obstinacy of a determined foe was gradually worn down. On August 16th, 1901, Lord Kitchener issued his proclamation banishing all Boer leaders taken in arms after September 15th: three days later the Duke of Cornwall landed at Cape Town; on August 27th Lord Milner returned to take up his arduous duties. Mr. Cecil Rhodes died on March 26th, 1902, and on April 9th Boer delegates met at Klerksdorp under safe conducts from Lord Kitchener, and there Mr. Steyn, General Delary and General De Wet, and others, conferred upon the possibilities of peace. Three days later they proceeded to Pretoria and were given every facility for discussion and consultation by the British authorities. On April 18th they temporarily dispersed to consult their Commandos after being given the terms and concessions which it was decided to grant. There were supposed to be, at the most liberal computation--London _Times_ of April 25th--some 10,000 Boers in the field at this time, while the women, children and Boer residents of the refugee camps, who were being fed and cared for by the authorities, numbered 110,000.
The keenest interest had been taken by the King in the course of the war during this period and in the negotiations which ensued. He had been hoping for its termination before his Coronation and, some months prior to this, on January 15th, had addressed a re-inforcement of the Grenadier Guards in rather sanguine terms: "I trust that the duties you will be called upon to perform will be less arduous than those of some of the men who have gone before you and that the war will shortly be brought to a close. But, whatever duties you may be called upon to perform, I am sure you will fulfil them efficiently and will keep up the old spirit and traditions for which the Guards are famous." His wishes, like so many entertained throughout the Empire, were not speedily realized, but it is safe to say that His Majesty would no more have unduly hurried the course of negotiations or changed their effective and final character in order to attain his natural desire for a peaceful celebration of the Coronation--as was a.s.serted in some sensational quarters--than he would have cut his own hand off.
It is sometimes forgotten that the King not only embodies the authority of his vast realm in his position, but must concentrate in his own person a natural strength of pride in his Empire so great as to be far beyond the possibility of a reflection upon its patriotism. He would hardly be human in his qualities if the most intense patriotic pride in the unity and power of his realms was not the first and strongest instinct of his nature. But this in pa.s.sing. Lord Salisbury ill.u.s.trated the att.i.tude of both the Sovereign and his Ministers when speaking at the Albert Hall, London, on May 7th, during the pending negotiations: "I only wish to guard against misapprehension which I think I have seen, to the effect that the willingness we have shown to listen to all that may be said to us is a proof that we have retreated or receded from our former position and are willing to recognize that the rights we claimed are no longer valid. There is no ground for such an a.s.sertion. We cannot afford after such terrible sacrifice, not only of treasure but of men, after the exertions, unexampled in our history, that we have made--we cannot afford to submit to the idea that we are to allow things to slide back into a position where it will be in the power of our enemy again, when the opportunity suits him and the chance is favourable to him, to renew again the issue that we have fought this last three years."
TERMINATION OF THE WAR
Meanwhile the negotiations were proceeding. At first the Boer delegates proposed that the two Republics should merely concede what had been demanded before the outbreak of the war. When this was refused, even as a matter for consideration, and they were referred to previous statements as to terms, the request was made that some of the leaders be allowed to consult their friends in Europe, or at least to have one of the European refugee leaders come over and a.s.sist them in their decision. To this Lord Kitchener gave an instant veto, and intimated that unless their proposals were to be serious the negotiations had better drop. Then they asked for an armistice in order to consult the burghers in the field, but Lord Kitchener would not stop military operations a moment further than to allow the delegates to hold meetings of their Commandos. But in that event they were to return to Pretoria armed with full powers to conclude peace--if they returned at all. As a result of this decision the leading officers of the Boer forces met their respective Commandos, and delegates were duly appointed to a total number of one hundred and fifty. These met on May 16th at Vereeniging and spent a couple of weeks in discussion, in obtaining absolutely final terms for acceptance or rejection from the British authorities, and in presenting these again to the Commandos. The opponents of peace during these preliminaries were generally believed to include Mr. Steyn and Commandants Wessels, Muller, Celliers and Herzog, while Generals Delarey and De Wet were in favour of accepting the British terms. Finally, on May 31st, the conditions of surrender were signed. Mr. Steyn was the only important absentee from the final conferences at Pretoria.
Thus ended a war in which Great Britain had spent 200,000,000, raised and equipped some three hundred thousand men, of whom one-sixth were Colonial troops, and performed the unparalleled feat of supplying quick and satisfactory transport and subsistence for this great body of troops to a distance of seven thousand miles from the seat of Government. The people had never wavered, the Government had, apparently, never hesitated, the credit of the country had not been affected, even the prosperity of Great Britain had not been touched. Speaking of the conduct of the people in this connection the _Times_ of July 2d paid the following personal tribute: "A splendid example of patriotism and devotion was set them by our late Sovereign Lady, and they n.o.bly followed it. It is worth recalling now that, while she deplored the necessity of war, she never wavered to the end in her conviction that it must be fought through. It is to her, perhaps, above all others, that we owe the calm dignity of temper with which the peoples of her Empire have pa.s.sed through the greatest ordeal they have been called upon to undergo since the days of Napoleon. Her son, King Edward, has inherited her spirit and kept before his subjects the ideals she held up to them."
The terms of peace included the promise by Great Britain of self-government in gradual stages and "as soon as circ.u.mstances will permit"; the exemption of burghers from civil or criminal proceedings in connection with the war (with certain specified exceptions); the recognition of English as the official language, and the promise that Dutch should be taught in the schools when desired; the granting of arms, under license, to the burghers and the postponement of native franchise questions until the period of free government had arrived; the grant of 3,000,000 to be expended by Commissioners in the work of repatriation and the supply of shelter, seed, stock, etc., to the returning burghers; and the reference of rebels to their own Colonial Courts for trial, with the proviso that the death penalty should not in any case be inflicted.
The settlement was well received by the burghers, of whom fully twenty thousand came in and gave up their arms in the course of a week or two.
Many of the Commandos fraternized with the British troops and joined them in singing "G.o.d Save the King." As soon as the decision for peace had been ratified Lord Kitchener paid a visit to Vereeniging and addressed the a.s.sembled Boer leaders. He congratulated them upon the splendid fight they had made. "If he had been one of them himself he would have been proud to have done as they had done. He welcomed them as citizens of a great Empire and hoped they would do their duty to the Sovereign as loyally as they had to the old State." Messrs.
Schalk-Burger and Louis Botha had, meanwhile, written farewell letters to the burghers which concluded by asking them to be obedient and respectful to their new Government.
Immediately on receipt of the information that peace had been signed King Edward issued the following message: "The King has received the welcome news of the cessation of hostilities in South Africa with infinite satisfaction, and trusts that peace may be speedily followed by the restoration of prosperity in his new dominions, and that the feelings necessarily engendered by war will give place to the earnest co-operation of all His Majesty's South African subjects in promoting the welfare of their common country." At the same time His Majesty cabled Lord Milner: "I am overjoyed at the news of the surrender of the Boer forces and I warmly congratulate you on the able manner in which you have conducted the negotiations." A similar despatch went to Lord Kitchener, with hearty congratulations on the termination of hostilities: "I also most heartily congratulate my brave troops under your command for having brought this long and difficult campaign to so glorious and successful a conclusion." The King also announced that he had created Lord Kitchener a Viscount and promoted him to be full General. Following the public announcement of peace on Sunday, June 1st, came a flood of congratulatory telegrams to the King from public bodies and private individuals, and celebrations were held all over the United Kingdom and the British Empire.
On June 8th, by order of the King, a special thanksgiving service was held in St. Paul's Cathedral and His Majesty attended in person accompanied by Queen Alexandra, Princess Victoria, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince and Princess Charles of Denmark, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Connaught, the veteran Duke of Cambridge, and other members of the Royal family. A great gathering of representative Britons was present in the crowded Cathedral, including most of the members of the Houses of Lords and Commons and the Corporation of London. Amongst many other notabilities were the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Argyll, Mr. Balfour, the Earl of Rosebery, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl and Countess Roberts, Earl and Countess Carrington, Lady Macdonald of Earnscliffe, Sir Redvers and Lady Audrey Buller. A short and eloquent sermon was preached by Bishop Winnington-Ingram, of London, in which he referred to the blessings of peace for the people and the completion of the causes for rejoicing at the approaching Coronation. Meanwhile, on June 4th, the King had followed up the honours already conferred on Lord Kitchener by sending a special message to the House of Commons at the hands of Mr. A.
J. Balfour, the Government Leader, to the following effect: "His Majesty taking into consideration the eminent services rendered by Lord Kitchener and being desirous, in recognition of such services, to confer on him some signal mark of his favour, recommends that he, the King, should be enabled to grant Lord Kitchener 50,000." The vote was carried by a majority of three hundred and eighty-two to forty-two and marked the final stage in the war--its prolonged struggles, its negotiations, its honours and its rewards. To the King this result was the one thing needful and seemed to leave a fair field, a peaceful Empire, a loyal people, waiting without a shadow on the sun to share in the splendid celebration of his approaching Coronation. To the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London and the London County Council His Majesty addressed, on June 13th, some words in reply to their expressions of loyalty and congratulation at the conclusion of peace, which may appropriately be quoted here:
"I heartily join in your expression of thankfulness to Almighty G.o.d at the termination of a struggle which, while it has entailed on my people at home and beyond the seas so many sacrifices, borne with admirable fort.i.tude, has secured a result which will give increased unity and strength to my Empire. The cordial and spontaneous exertions of all parts of my dominions, as well as of your ancient and loyal city, have done much to bring about this happy result."
"You give fitting expression to the admiration universally felt for the valour and endurance of the officers and men who have been engaged in fighting their country's battles. They have been opposed by a brave and determined people, and have had to encounter unexampled difficulties. These difficulties have been cheerfully overcome by steady and persistent effort, and those who were our opponents will now, I rejoice to think, become our friends. It is my earnest hope that, by mutual co-operation and good-will, the bitter feelings of the past may speedily be replaced by ties of loyalty and friendship and that an era of peace and prosperity may be in store for South Africa."
CHAPTER XXI.
Arrangements for the Coronation
The preparations for the Coronation of the King were of a character which eclipsed anything in the history of the world. It was unquestionably his aim and intention to make the event an ill.u.s.tration of the power of the British Empire, the loyalty of its people and the unity of its complex races. The pride of the King in his great position, the knowledge which he had acquired of the Empire in his innumerable travels, the statecraft which he had inherited and developed, were all factors in the determination to make this occasion memorable. Connected with the splendour of the event, as planned, was the personal relationship and friendship of most of the Sovereigns of Europe with and for His Majesty and, a.s.sociated with every detail of its antic.i.p.ated success, was the enthusiastic loyalty of Indian Princes and great self-governing British dominions beyond the seas. Finally, the end of the South African War came as if to add the one thing wanting to the entire success of the most magnificent Coronation in all history.
Preparations went on apace from the beginning of Spring, 1902. The mere material evidences of the coming event transformed busy and commercial London into a forest of boards and poles and platforms. Westminster Abbey was changed inside and out and a special entrance was made for the King and Queen Alexandra to enter through, and so made as to harmonize with the general architecture and character of the building.
A thousand great beacon lights were built over the United Kingdom so that from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e the news of the crowning of the King might be flashed in flames of light to the people. In London and other centres every kind of device for electrical display and illumination was prepared and, toward the middle of June, flags and bunting in myriad forms began to show themselves. In other parts of the Empire almost every city and town and village arranged for some kind of demonstration.
Banquets and garden parties and band concerts and processions and military reviews and all the varied means by which the English-speaking person expresses his feelings were in full tide of preparation as the time of the Coronation grew near. India had its own unique and Oriental modes of expressing loyalty and the feeling there was enhanced by the news that the new Prince of Wales was going to repeat the state visit of his father, the King, in December of this year and see the people of practically the only part of the British realms which he had not yet visited. South Africa was to celebrate peace and loyalty at the same time and the great centres of Australia were not behind the rest of the Empire despite the existing gloom of draughts and sheep famine.
The guests invited to attend the great function might be divided into two cla.s.ses--those who came to a common centre for the celebration of their Sovereign's crowning, for the presentation of a picture of Imperial unity, and for the discussion of questions incident to the wide-spread dominions of the King; and those who came from foreign nations as a tribute to the position of Great Britain in the world and as a token of their friendship for its people as well as their respect for its ruler. In the first list the first place may be given to India because of the element of gorgeousness and Oriental pomp which its representatives were to bring to the function. Calcutta was to be represented by Maharajah k.u.mar Tagore; Bombay by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the scion of a series of great merchants; Madras by Rajah Sir Savalai Ramaswami Mudaliyar; Bengal and the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras by distinguished gentlemen of long names and varied t.i.tles; the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh by the Hon. N. M. D. F. Ali Khan, who had served in both the Provincial and Supreme Councils, and by Rajah Pertab Singh; the Punjab sent two representatives of whom Sir Harnman Singh Ahluwalia belonged to the Viceroy's Legislative Council and represented indirectly the native Christians; the Central Provinces, a.s.sam, Burmah and the new North-West Frontier Province also appointed representatives. Other guests from India included the Sultan Muhammad Agha Khan of the Khoga Community.
The special Royal guests from the Colonies were General Sir Francis W.