The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-27

waiting the KlnB s DOCK to put on IL , straw hat may serve as a reminder tt us of how dependent are these people
 upon rayal initiative in the large
 realm of philanthropy. It must bt added, too, that however backward the
 royal family may be in giving theil
 subjects the needed cue in smaller mat
 ters, they certainly do not fail to come
 forward at the proper time as the na-
 tion'S leaders in great schemes of hu-
 manitarianism Strikingly obvious oi
 late has been this last named feature of
 royalty for two reasons. the first being
 that the recent change of rulers neces-
 sitated corresponding change in the
 charters of so many hospitals and the
 thousand and one other enterprises by
 which the needy are helped. Not only
 had the king and queen to consent to
 take over between them the abounding
 legacy of patronage left by the good
 Victoria, but In the case of the king
 there was the further function of deter
 mining whether he would as king con-
 tinue to be the patron of the many good
 causes he had espoused while he was still the Prince of Wales
 For weeks it seemed from the court
 notices as though the settlement of
 these matters was the new courts chief
 occupation. A few orders were thrown around, few garters and the like, but
 chiefly did Edward seem to be busy for
 a long time in assuring good peaple in-
 terested in various good causes that 1 they could be just as free in the use of
 his name and just as sure of his gift as
 now he was king as when in point of l position he was not so 'Stuck-up.
 With Alexandra, too, who steps into
 the shoes of Victoria in these matters,
 and gives promise of being well able
 to fill them, it was the same, if not
 more so; and to me this public exhibi- l tion of how royalty here is leader in 1 so many works of mercy was delight l ful thing to observe. It not only brought out in a striking way the many
 schemes that are being floated for the
 relief of distress, thus giving one with | in few weeks panoramic view of the philanthropies of the whole country
 but 1t showed royalty in good light seeming to suggest that even in the twentieth century there might be some services 1t could render which would
 justify the people in not relegating it for at least some time to the limbo of worn out forms.
 That this pleasing panorama of royal servicableness passed before the na- tion in such rapid order and with so few waits was due to the fact that in May nearly all the philanthropic soci- cites of England hold their annual T,y hot +ro ,.fa
 ence of royal patronage bringing 1t strictly up to date, must be complete
 otherwise these great annual gather ings of the good Samaritans of this country would be lacking in a feature of commanding interest and good causes be more or less handicapped in their appeal for popular support. In the fact that she has so long concen- trated nearly the whole of her great re- ligious and philanthropic conventions into a single month. this nation has acted with great wisdom, for the May meetings" with all that they stand for, have come to be looked upon as a great British institution. just as necessary in their time and place to mark the end ing of one year of work and the begin llllE pl fiutlIti tiS tiiC caShtth toS pS Edward of his silk hat for a straw or Derby seems to be necessary about this time as a sure tip to the faithful that summer Is here.
 These meetings did not always enjoy the favor of either public or press. For many years, as one of the speakers put | 1t, the most common thing at this sea- son was "a sheer at the May meetings l and thrust at what used to be called ! the bray of Exeter Hall" Exeter Hall. | by the way, used to have almost mo- nopoly of these great meetings, but now they are more scattered, the old rendezvous finding its chief rival in | that capacious and beautiful Queens Hall which stands at the head of Re- gent street. Years ago it struck me as decidedly appropriate that the forces which were combating London's wick edness should gather annually at a hall on the Strand, which at that time seemed to be the thoroughfare in which London's wickedness was most con- spicuous. But localities change, just like people, some getting better, others worse, and one who knows only a little of what Regent street and Oxford  street are under the gaslight will be sure to feel that in going so often now to Queens Hall those brave, reforming spirits are as truly carrying the war into the enemy's country and going where they are most needed as In the days when their heroic march took them chiefly toward the Strand. At any rate the May meetings still four sh They are more than ever fea -ure of London life. Wickedness and leed abound-when will they not? But 30 likewise, as the years and genera ions pass, do good men and women 1and themselves together in increasing royalty linking hands with . he street preacher and titled dukes with pure-hearted tradesmen, the cler- ", however, always predominating in praiseworthy though often thankless lnd discouraging effort, to remove from his most religious of the nations the B tigma of being also the most drunken, md from London, which Is a city of . the reproach of being only , oo truthfully spoken of as the modern