The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-07-05
KING EDWARDS NERVE.
Richard Harding Davis Writes of
Monarch's Fortitude.


Richard Harding Davis Writes of
Monarch's Fortitude.
III the king lives he will find himself
the most popular Of England's sover-
eigns." This sentiment is the keynote
OF special cabled article from London
by Richard Harding Davis. appearing
in this weeks issue OF Golfers Week
".
Mr.. Davis prefaces his tribute to the
king by stating that SO far as the peo-
pie were concerned, the coronation had
ceased to be a nine days wonder. They
were wearied of 1t. New value was
suddenly given to the coming event,
however. by the proclamation of peace
the peace for which, Mr.. Davis says.
1.-The king had commanded, begged, and
intrigued. Meantime" adds Mr.. Davis
satirically. Lords and ladies, repre-
sented by the ablest jurists, battled be-
fore his earl marshal for the privilege
of strewing flowers before his majesty.
of carving his roast beef, OF handing
him cup of wine.
In his cabled report OF the catastre-
phe which prevented the coronation,
which will appear in full in Golfers
Weekly, issue Of July 8. Mr.. Richard
Harding Davis will say:
His majesty personally considered
the proper sites for TIE camps; he ar
ranged for the collection of great sums
for all the London hospitals, mammoth
ed where stands should be erected for
school children, where 200 warships
should lie at anchor at Spithead. Morn
ing and night he worked. deciding upon
thousands of questions, listening, SYM
pathizing, judging. When some viii
lagos disagreed as to whether the ego
they had subscribed should be put into
loyal address or given to charity, ne
found time to write them that he would
take their loyalty for granted and that
they could best please him by giving
the ego to those who were sick and all
ing.
Two days before the one set for the
crowning Of the king the morning broke
warm and clear. There was content and
rejoicing in the very air, for the great
work Of preparation was over; There mere
| All had been done that could be done
| to make the coronation of Edward VII.
unique, magnificent and famous in his
| tory.
| roughfares were so tightly packed that
cabs made detours of a mile to avoid
them, and around the kings palace the
| people stretched in four great half-c1r-
cles. At noon the king was to receive
the foreign princes and potentates, and
the crowd was waiting to see them ar
rive. Those gentlemen themselves were
| getting into their uniforms. 1t was for
many of them their first meeting with
| the king in whose honor they had jour-
neyed half around the globe.
| And then, for the first time in life
| Of sixty years, during which he had
never ceased to be one of the conSpicu-
| Gus actors on the worlds stage, the
| king did a dramatic thing. Without a
| tactful, easy-moving gentleman, the ar
bitter of fashion and OF sport, the adj
juster Of social difficulties, and in a mo-
| ment became a tragic, historic figure
ceived by man, could have invested Ed
| ward VII. with the dignity, nor given
him the place in history, which came
to him when-with the rulers of the
| world assembling In his anteroOm; with
his waiting empire gathering it's breath
for one mighty cheer-he tossed up his
hands and gave up the struggle and
| let the world know the secret which h.
| had risked his life to keep. That it
| need have been kept only forty Eight
hours more, that it had already been
| so long secure, proves only the unlocked
| for unselfshness and great courage OF
this man, who suffered silently that his
people might not be cheated of their
holiday. that his guests might not have
taken their long journey in vain, that
the gaping world might not know.
"Of all the soldiers the king has dec
| GRATED within the last three years of the
| war for bravery in the face of the en-
envy, none deserves the Cross for Valor
more than himself, who grimly and
silently faced disease and death, I'M
ed and without a comrade:
For now that the whole dramatic.
4 STORY Is out, England learns
now that it is too late-of the days OF
gnawing pain when her king forced
himself to smile and bow at court, to
watch horse race, to review regi-
ment, to- drive through London with an
assured and cheerful countenance. It
is not pleasant to think of the torture
of those days, of the mental anxiety as
well as the bodily torment, when the
king kept on his feet against the pro-
tests Of his physicians, when his en-
durance was tested by hours of unceas-
ing pain-pain SO great that it is not
decent to disclose it. Nor is it pleasant
to remember that last drive through
the park to Buckingham Palace, when
the people for some reason failed to
! cheer him heartily, while all the time
he sat erect, pale and with set teeth
holding himself upright only by his
will. and that they might be gratified.
This was his last public appearance.
memorable In history as one of the evil
| dences that it Is not only republics which
are ungrateful. Indeed, 1t was the Indian
officers who. when they heard the news
| from the Bishop of London, said, I'VE GO
to pray and for. an hour and halt
But If the king should live he will awake
| to find himself the most popular of Eng
lands sovereigns. The Briton loves pluck
he admires courage: the highest honor he
has in his power to beStow is given to
those who risk their lives for others, and
fered and endured for the most noble and
| the most humble of his subjects.
Salisbury Loses Secretary.
London, July 5.-King Edward ha,
bo aY,nointr1Qut of Lord Sails