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.
[Illustration: KING GEORGE V
Son and successor of Edward VII upon the throne of England]
[Illustration: QUEEN MARY, CONSORT OF GEORGE V]
[Illustration: THE KING AND QUEEN AT TORONTO
King George V and the Queen when they visited Toronto, Canada, October
10, 1901, as Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York]
[Illustration: KING GEORGE V LEARNING TO SPLICE ROPE
In this interesting old photograph King George (on the left), and his
older brother, the Duke of Clarence (on the right), are shown as boys on
the "Britannia," where they were thoroughly taught the principles of
seamanship. The Duke of Clarence, who was Heir to the Throne, died in
1892 at the age of 28 years, leaving the right of succession to his
younger brother.]
[Illustration: THE ROYAL CHILDREN OF KING GEORGE V AND QUEEN MARY
Photograph by Paul Thompson, New York.
Reading from left to right: Their Royal Highnesses, Henry William;
Albert Frederick; Edward Albert, Prince of Wales; John Charles; Victoria
Alexandra, George Edward.]
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.
[Illustration: THE YOUNG PRINCES AT THE WALL OF MARLBOROUGH HOUSE
WATCHING THE PROCLAMATION OF THEIR FATHER AS KING; AND TEXT OF THE
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to His Mercy our late
Sovereign Lord King Edward the Seventh, of Blessed and Glorious Memory,
by whose Decease the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty
Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert:
We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm, being
here assisted with these of His late Majesty's Privy Council, with
Numbers of other Principal Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Citizens of London, do now hereby, with one Voice and
Consent of Tongue and Heart, publish and proclaim, That the High and
Mighty Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, is now by the Death of our
late Sovereign of Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful
Liege Lord George the Fifth by the Grace of God, King of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions
Beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India:
To whom we do acknowledge all Faith and constant Obedience, with all
hearty and humble Affection; beseeching God, by whom Kings and Queens do
reign, to bless the Royal Prince George the Fifth with long and happy
years to reign over Us.
GOD SAVE THE KING!]
[Illustration: PROCLAIMING THE ACCESSION OF KING GEORGE V TO THE CROWDS
IN LONDON.
The third proclamation by the Heralds was made from the Royal Exchange
and was witnessed by an enormous crowd. The ceremony opened with a
fanfare of trumpets, after which Somerset Herald read the proclamation.
He then lifted his hat and cried, "God save the King." Three cheers were
then given for King George V, followed by three more for Queen Mary.]
[Illustration: Reading from left to right--Sir Almeric Fitzroy (Clerk of
the Privy Council), Earl Beauchamp (Lord Steward), Viscount Althorp
(Lord Chamberlain), the Earl of Crewe (Lord Privy Seal), the King,
Prince Christian, Lord Loreburn (the Lord Chancellor), the Earl of
Granard (Master of the Horse), the Duke of Fife, the Duke of Argyll, the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
KING GEORGE'S FIRST OFFICIAL ACT.
According to ancient procedure a meeting of the Privy Council was held
at St. James's Palace on Saturday, May 7th, the morning after King
Edward's death. After the Earl of Crewe had officially informed the
Council of the death of the late King, and of King's George's accession,
His Majesty entered the Council Chamber and after addressing the
Councillors, took the usual oath for the security of the Church of
Scotland.]
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