The Life of King Edward VII Part 20

Grenfell, representing Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus; Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, representing Fiji and various Eastern Colonies and Protectorates; Sir Walter J. Sendall, for the West Indies, Bermudas, British Honduras and the Falkland Islands; Sir William MacGregor, representing the West African Colonies and Protectorates; the Right Hon.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister, representing the Dominion of Canada; the Right Hon. Edmund Barton, Prime Minister, representing the Commonwealth of Australia; the Right Hon. Richard J. Sedden, Prime Minister, representing New Zealand; the Right Hon. Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, Prime Minister, representing Cape Colony; Sir Albert H. Hime, Prime Minister, representing Natal; and Sir Robert Bond, Prime Minister, representing Newfoundland. Other British guests were His Highness the Sultan of Perak and Lewanika, Chief of the Barotzes, in Africa. There were many invitations accepted outside of the list of special names mentioned who were privileged as the King's guests and as such were to be put up in state at the Hotel Cecil and be provided with Royal carriages and servants and escorts. Governors of various minor Colonies and dependencies; Native Princes of India apart from the official representatives of its Cities and Provinces; Premiers of Australian States and Canadian Provinces; were all invited to be present and many of them came to grace the occasion. Amongst those from Canada who accepted the invitation and were in London, with the others already referred to, as the day for the ceremony approached, were the Hon. G. W.

Ross, Premier of Ontario, the Hon. H. T. Duffy, representing the Premier of Quebec, the Hon. R. P. Roblin, Premier of Manitoba, the Hon. James Dunsmuir Premier of British Columbia, the Hon. L. J. Tweedie, Premier of New Brunswick and the Hon. G. H. Murray, Premier of Nova Scotia.

Every foreign country or state of importance had its official representative appointed and they poured into London and were received with varying degrees of state and ceremony as the eventful day approached. Prominent amongst them were the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, special Amba.s.sador from the United States and, in an unofficial capacity, Senator Chauncey M. Depew. From Russia came the Grand Duke Michael, Heir Presumptive to the Throne; from Italy His Royal Highness the Duke d'Aosta; from Greece the Crown Prince and Heir to the Throne; from Bulgaria, the reigning Prince Ferdinand I.; from Belgium, Prince Albert of Flanders; from Germany, Prince Henry of Prussia; from Denmark the Crown Prince Frederick, Heir to the Throne; from Roumania the Crown Prince; from Austria the Arch-duke Francis Ferdinand, Heir Presumptive; from France, Admiral Gervais, special Amba.s.sador; from Rome, Mgr. Merry del Val; from Abyssinia, Ras Makonnen, the victorious general and special envoy of the Emperor Menelik; from Bavaria, Prince Leopold; from Sweden and Norway the Crown Prince; from Portugal, the Crown Prince.

Other foreign representatives were Duke Albert of Wurtemberg, Prince Waldemar of Denmark, General Dubois of France, Field Marshal Count Von Waldersee and Admiral Von Koeter of Germany, Prince George, Prince Nicholas and Prince Andrew of Greece, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince Danilo of Montenegro, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg, Prince George of Saxony, the Prince of the Asturias from Spain, Prince Chen of China, Prince Mohamed Ali of Egypt, Prince Akihito Komatsu of j.a.pan, Prince Yo Chai-Kak of Korea, Baron de Stein of Liberia, the Prince of Monaco, the Crown Prince of Siam and special Ministers from Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Turkey, Honduras, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Persia, Servia and Uruguay.

Soldiers of the King from all parts of the Empire were present in England for the occasion. The Indian troops, quartered at Hampton Court, numbered nine hundred strong and represented every phase of the military and native life of Hindostan. Sikhs, Dogras, Jats, Pathans, Mohammedans from the Punjaub, the Deccan and Madras, Mahrattas, Rajpoots, Garwhal's, Gurkhas, Afridis, Tamils, Moplahs, Hazaras and Beloochis, were each represented in uniforms of their local regiments. Scarlet, yellow, blue, grey, green and red, were some of the colours to be seen. At the Alexandra Palace were soldiers from a great variety of countries. Canada sent six hundred and fifty-six men, representative of all its regiments, under command of Lieut.-Colonel H. M. Pellatt and Lieut.-Colonel R. E.

W. Turner V.C., D.S.O.; Australia sent one hundred and forty men under Colonel St. Clair Cameron C.B.; New Zealand seventy-nine men under Colonel Porter; Cape Colony one hundred and fifty under Major-General Sir Edward Y. Brabant; Natal, ninety-nine under Lieut.-Colonel E. M.

Greene; Rhodesia twenty-six, Ceylon fifty-four, Malta forty-six, and Cyprus fourteen men. Native contingents included variously coloured and clad soldiers from the Gold Coast of Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Lagos, British Central Africa, British East Africa, Uganda, Somaliland, Straits Settlements, Bermuda, British Borneo, the West Indies, Fiji, Hong-Kong and Wei-hai-Wei. The Colonial troops, with their interesting war record, their varied and striking uniforms, their varieties of race and colour and country, their differences of physique and appearance, were not the least remarkable of the Empire contributions to a great function. The Duke of Connaught was in command of all the Forces for the occasion and with him were a.s.sociated Lord Roberts, Lord Wolseley, Sir Francis Grenfell, Sir William Butler, Major-General W. H. Mackinnon, Sir Edward Brabant and other officers connected with the late war. Colonel and Maharajah Sir Pertab Singh represented India on this Staff and Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Hunter was in immediate command of the Colonial Contingents.

Various Foreign regiments were to be represented including the 1st Prussian Dragoons of Germany, the 12th Hussars of Austria, the Guard Hussars of Denmark and the forces of Russia and Portugal. All the great British regiments were to be included, either in the procession as cavalry, or along the route as infantry. Preparations for the great Naval Review were elaborate. The Channel, Home and Cruiser squadrons were to be in attendance with Admiral Sir Charles Hotham as Commander-in-Chief. Besides a number of Foreign wars.h.i.+ps, which were specially sent to partic.i.p.ate in the function, the British battle-s.h.i.+ps numbered twenty-one, the cruisers twenty-six, the torpedo gun-boats seventeen, the torpedo boat destroyers twenty-eight and the sea-going training vessels ten. Amongst the Foreign contributors to the Review were Germany, the United States, Russia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Greece, France, j.a.pan, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Chili, Austro-Hungary and the Argentine.

All the complex arrangement of the details in connection with these and other elements of the Coronation festivities were in the hands of an Executive Committee appointed on June 28th, 1901, at a meeting of the King and his Privy Council and attended by most of the members of the Cabinet, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Dukes of Norfolk, Portland and Fife, the Earls of Rosebery, Selborne and Carrington, Earl Roberts, Earl Spencer, Lord Alverstone, Sir W. V. Harcourt, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Amongst the members of this Executive of fifteen were the Duke of Norfolk (chairman) Lord Esher, the Bishop of Winchester, Lord Farquhar, Mr. Schomberg K. McDonnell, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, Sir Francis Knollys, Sir Edward W. Hamilton, Colonel Sir E. W. D. Ward, Major-General Sir Arthur Ellis and Rear-Admiral W. H.

Fawkes. Later on Sir Montagu Ommanney, Sir William Lee-Warner, Sir Kenelm Digby, Lieut.-General Kelly-Kenny, and others, were added. Their work was, of course, closely overlooked by the King who was in constant communication with the Duke of Norfolk and Sir Francis Knollys. The following programme of leading events was finally announced as approved by His Majesty:

June 23 State Dinner at Buckingham Palace.

June 24 The King and Queen to receive Foreign Envoys and Deputations. State Dinner at Buckingham Palace.

June 25 Royal Reception of Colonial Premiers. Dinner by Prince of Wales to Princes and Envoys at St. James's Palace.

June 26 The Coronation.

June 27 Procession through London, Luncheon at Buckingham Palace.

Dinner at Landsdowne House to King and Queen. Lady Lansdowne's Reception.

June 28 The Naval Review.

June 29 Amba.s.sadors and Ministers give Dinners to their respective Princes.

June 30 The King and Queen proceed from Portsmouth to London. Gala Opera.

July 1 Royal Garden Party at Windsor Castle.

July 2 Dinner at Londonderry House to the King and Queen.

July 3 The King and Queen to attend a Special Service at St. Paul's Cathedral and a Luncheon at the Guildhall given by Lord Mayor and Corporation.

July 4 Reception at the India Office in honour of the Indian Princes to be attended by the King and Queen.

July 5 The King's Coronation Dinner to the Poor.

Many other functions developed around these central ones until the weeks before and after the event were to be crowded with every sort of festivity and celebration--partly in honour of the occasion, partly as evidences of hospitality to Colonial, Indian and Foreign visitors. At Portsmouth arrangements were made for a banquet in the Drill-hall, on June 26th, to one thousand men from the Foreign war-s.h.i.+ps, with five hundred British seamen and marines as hosts. On the following day there were to be athletic sports for the sailors and a garden party by the Mayor and Mayoress for the officers of the fleets and distinguished visitors. Following the Review, on June 28th, arrangements were made for a garden party at Whale Island, for an Admiralty ball in the Town-Hall, for a luncheon to the officers, a Civic entertainment to the men and a ball given by the Mayor and Mayoress. In London a Coronation bazaar, in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital, was announced with various stalls in charge of Princess Henry of Pless, the d.u.c.h.ess of Westminster, Lady Tweedmouth, Mrs. Harmsworth, the Countess of Bective, Mrs. Choate, the d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset and Countess Carrington. The King's Dinner to the Poor of London was planned upon an enormous scale and His Majesty stated that he would spend 30,000 in thus entertaining half-a-million of his poorer subjects. Sir Thomas Lipton, who had been in charge of a smaller affair at the Diamond Jubilee, was given control of the details. Similar preparations, upon a minor scale of course, were going on all over the Empire and in New York a Coronation Ode was issued by Mr. Bliss Carman--a Canadian by birth--which did the subject n.o.ble justice and commenced with the following verse:

"There are joy-bells over England, there are flags in London town; There is bunting on the Channel where the fleets go up and down; There are bon-fires alight In the pageant of the night; There are bands that blare for splendour and guns that speak for might; For another King of England is coming to the Crown."

Meanwhile, a Colonial Conference had also been arranged to take place during these weeks of celebration and the delegates were to be special Royal guests for the Coronation--Sir Francis W. Grenfell, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mr. Seddon, Mr. Barton, Sir W. J. Sendall, Sir William MacGregor, Sir Gordon Sprigg, Sir Albert Hime, Sir Robert Bond, and Sir West Ridgeway--together with Mr. Chamberlain and the Earl of Onslow, Under-Secretary of the Colonies. The official programme, published a few days before the date set for the Coronation, gave the details of the Royal procession on that and the following days. On June 26th, in pa.s.sing from Buckingham Abbey, there were to be eight carriages containing the Royal visitors and members of the Royal family, the Prince and Princess of Wales and then the state coach with the King and Queen--having the Duke of Connaught riding to its right and a considerable staff and brilliant escort of Life Guards behind.

The procession of the following day was to be essentially an Imperial pageant and was to pa.s.s over a popular city route. The Colonial portion came first on the programme, headed by Lieut.-General Sir A. Hunter, and with detachments of Canadian artillery and cavalry and Australian cavalry preceding a carriage containing Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier and Mr. and Mrs. Barton. Then followed carriages with Sir R. Bond and Mr.

and Mrs. Seddon, Sir Gordon and Miss Sprigg, Sir Albert and Miss Hime, Sir W. Ridgeway and Sir F. Grenfell, Sir W. Sendall, and Sir W.

MacGregor, the Sultan of Perak and King Lewanika--each preceded or followed by detachments of New Zealand, Cape, Natal, Ceylon, Trinidad, Cyprus and other Colonial cavalry, in accordance with the country represented. Then was to come the Indian portion of the procession including varied detachments of Native cavalry, and with carriages containing the Maharajahs of Jaipur, Kolapore and Bikanur. Following these was to be a long line of British artillery and Aids-de-Camp to the King, representing the Volunteers, Yeomanry, Militia and Regular forces and the Marines. The Head-Quarters staff came next, then Field Marshals in the Army, Foreign naval and military attaches, deputations of Foreign officers, then Indian Aides-de-Camp to the King--the Maharajahs of Gwalior, Gooch and Idur--and several members of the Royal family on horseback. Then came thirteen carriages containing Royal visitors, special Amba.s.sadors and members of the Royal family, followed by special escorts of Colonial and Indian troops and Royal Horse Guards. The King and Queen were to come next, in a splendid state coach drawn by eight horses, with the Duke of Connaught riding on one side of them and the Prince of Wales on the other.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. SIR HENRI E. TASCHEREAU, P.C.

Chief Justice of Canada, 1902-1906]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HON. WILLIAM STEVENS FIELDING, D.C.L., M.P.

Finance Minister of Canada during King Edward's Reign]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HON. RODOLPHE LEMIEUX. K.C., M.P.

Postmaster-General and Minister of Labour in Canada during King Edward's Reign]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MINTO, P.C., G.C.M.G.

The King's Representative in India, 1905-10]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ABERDEEN, K.T., G.C.M.G.

The King's Representative in Ireland, 1905-10]

THE KING'S PRELIMINARY WORK AND ILLNESS

Some of the incidents connected with the Coronation as preliminaries were carried out by the King with apparent energy and in the midst of what were known to be very heavy labours. On May 30th His Majesty presented colours to the Irish Guards, received the Maharajah Sir Pertab Singh, held an invest.i.ture of the Garter in great state, visited Westminster Abbey to see the Coronation preparations, and gave a large dinner party. During the next three days he presented medals to the St.

John Ambulance Brigade and held a Levee and invest.i.ture of the Bath. On June 4th he gave audiences to various Ministers, proceeded with the Queen to the Derby, gave a dinner to the Jockey Club and then joined the Queen at the d.u.c.h.ess of Devons.h.i.+re's dance. On June 6th the King received the Indian Princes at Buckingham Palace and afterwards, with Queen Alexandra, held a stately Court function. Two days later the King and Royal family attended a service of thanksgiving for peace at St.

Paul's Cathedral. Other incidents followed and on June 14th His Majesty, accompanied by Queen Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Connaught, Princess Victoria and Princess Margaret, of Connaught, visited Aldershot to inspect the forty thousand troops which had been slowly gathering there for weeks. A stormy and wet day changed to brightness as the Royal party arrived and the town was found to be prettily decorated and filled with enthusiastic people. A great Tattoo was held in the evening with ma.s.sed bands and myriad torch-lights, but with not very pleasant weather.

On the following day it was announced in the _Times_ that the King could not attend church owing to a slight attack of lumbago caused by a chill contracted the night before. Queen Alexandra attended the service, however, and in the afternoon visited several charitable inst.i.tutions.

Monday the 16th saw His Majesty still too much indisposed to take his part in reviewing the troops and this function was fulfilled by the Queen, accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales. In the afternoon the King and Queen returned to Windsor and in the evening His Majesty was able to be present at a dinner party in the Castle. On the following day the _Times_ expressed editorial pleasure at the King's apparent recovery but urged caution and suggested that, despite the disappointment of the people, it might be better if Ascot were not visited by him on that day and the next but a substantial rest taken instead. The same idea seemed to occur to the Royal physicians because not only was the visit to Ascot cancelled but also a long-expected visit to Eton which had been arranged for June 21st.

Other functions were postponed or cancelled and it was announced that His Majesty was resting quietly and preparing himself for the essential and heavy functions of the Coronation week. Such was the apparent position of affairs in connection with this great event as ma.s.sed myriads of people roamed the streets of London and the other and varied millions of the British Empire threw themselves into the final stages of preparation. Such was the position on June 21st when the Toronto _Globe_, in a very fitting editorial, embodied the popular feeling of Canada. It declared that on the following Thursday the historic Abbey of Westminster and the streets of London would see "the greatest ceremonial which our times have known"; that no King "ever ascended a throne with the more universal consent of the governed than does Edward VII."; and that the British people had never been fickle in their feelings toward him who was once Prince of Wales and was now King. "Their affection for him has never faltered and they will feel gratified on Thursday that the concluding ceremony of Coronation has fixed him firmly on the most glorious of earthly thrones".

CHAPTER XXII.

The Illness of the King

If the almost fatal sickness of the Prince of Wales in 1871 was historic, from the sympathy it evoked and the influence it wielded, that of the King in June 1902 was infinitely more memorable. At the latter period the attention of the whole civilized world was focussed upon the figure of the Sovereign who was about to be crowned amid scenes of unprecedented splendour; the press of the Empire and the United States was filled with the record of his movements; the representatives of the Courts of Europe had arrived or were arriving; the Prime Ministers of a dozen countries and the Governors of many other countries of his far-flung realm were in London; dense crowds were swarming through the streets of the gaily-decorated metropolis; the approaching day was being looked forward to by many millions of people in many lands as an evidence, in its successful splendour, of the power and prosperity of the Empire. Three days before the 26th of June the King and Queen Alexandra had arrived in London from Windsor and the Coronation festivities proper had commenced. His Majesty had looked well and had smiled and bowed freely to the welcoming mult.i.tudes along the line of route. Rumors of his having caught cold had prevailed, it is true, and in certain sensational quarters there had been statements as to serious illness and even allegations of paralysis.

But the evidence of that drive through the cheering streets of London was deemed conclusive and during that afternoon and the next morning the crowds increased and the excitement grew until sober-minded observers who had seen the celebrations of the Queen's Jubilee and the Diamond Jubilee and knew something of the millions then gathered together were dismayed at the prospect of the ma.s.sed mult.i.tudes of Coronation day. It was at 12.45 P.M. on June 24th, when the streets were packed with moving, happy, holiday crowds and the decorations were nearing completion and their full effect and force becoming apparent to the on-lookers, that an official bulletin was posted at the Mansion House which seemed to reach every one in London at the same instant--so rapidly was the news spread. News that almost on the steps of the throne, within a day of the mightiest festival ever designed by human government and helped by a willing people, the King had been stricken down! It appeared incredible. The people of England and of the Empire were almost as dumb-founded as the ma.s.ses on the streets of the Metropolis. But there was no way of getting beyond the simple words of the bulletin signed by Lord Lister, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Francis Laking, Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Frederick Treves: "The King is suffering from perityphlitis. His condition on Sat.u.r.day was so satisfactory that it was hoped that with care His Majesty would be able to go through the ceremony. On Monday evening a recrudescence became manifest rendering a surgical operation necessary to-day."

The trouble approximated to the disease known in the United States and Canada as appendicitis and was of a character which made certainty as to recovery quite impossible and left the widest scope for fears and discussion and speculation. It was a.n.a.lysed by Dr. Cyrus Edson, a well-known New York physician, as follows: "Perityphlitis is inflammation, including the formation of an abscess of the tissues around the vermiform appendix and hence it is very hard to distinguish from appendicitis. Usually an operation is necessary to ascertain whether the appendix or the surrounding tissue is diseased." The King's physicians gave the public all the information they wisely could. The operation was performed by Sir Frederick Treves, the most eminent living surgeon in this connection, shortly after the first bulletin was issued and at six o'clock it was announced that "His Majesty continues to make satisfactory progress and has been much relieved by the operation." Five hours later the physicians stated that the King's condition was "as good as could be expected after so serious an operation." It would be some days, however, they added, before it would be possible to say he was out of danger. The doctors remained at Buckingham Palace all that night and but little news crept out from the silence surrounding the great pile of buildings to that stirring outer world which had grown so suddenly and strangely quiet.

Following the startling announcement of the King's illness came the necessary statement that the Coronation ceremony was indefinitely postponed and the further intimation that the King himself had asked that celebrations in the Provinces outside London might be continued. In London, he had specified his wish, before the operation took place, that the dinner which was to be given to half-a-million of poor people should not be postponed and His Majesty had expressed keen sorrow, not at what he had already suffered himself or was likely to suffer, but at the disappointment which his people would everywhere feel. Gradually it came out that for over a week he had been ill; that the pain had been very great at times; that the physicians had acceded to his determination to go on with the ceremonies and the Coronation until longer delay in operation would have made the result fatal; that the King's one anxiety had been not to disappoint the millions who would be in London and the millions who would look on from abroad during the long-looked for event.

The story of the illness as it developed was made known by the _Lancet_ on June 27th. It seems that on Friday June 13th His Majesty had gone through a particularly arduous day and next morning was attended by Sir Francis Laking who found him suffering from considerable abdominal discomfort. In the afternoon he felt better and went to Aldershot where the unfortunately wet and cold weather at the Tattoo caused a distinct revival of the trouble in the early morning accompanied by severe pain.

Sir F. Laking was sent for and in turn telegraphed Sir Thomas Barlow. On the 15th, the Royal patient had a chilly fit but on Monday returned to Windsor and bore the journey well. Two days later he was seen by Sir Frederick Treves who found symptoms of perityphlitis. These, however, gradually disappeared and on Sat.u.r.day, the 21st, His Majesty was believed to be on the road to rapid recovery and to be able to go through the Coronation ceremonies.