The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-20
NEW STORIES TOLD
 OF KING EDWARD How He Rebuffed the Ser
 vian Advances KING AND KAISER Cite Example of the Kings Attract ness in Field of Diplomacy and His Acquaintance of Cur
 rent Events

| From the London Chronicle.
 Several new and interesting personal
 anecdotes of the late King Edward are told by MT. Edward Legge in an article
 on the character and personality of the late King, contributed to the current
 number of the "Fortnightly Review
 One of the most interesting deals with
 the share which King Edward took in the
 diplomatic events which followed the as-
 sassination of King Alexander and Queen 1 Draga of Servia in 1903. In the summer of
 1905 the King of Servia and his ministers were straining every nerve to secure the
 re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the country which had been broken off after the murders. King Peter was
 on good terms with Russia, and as Queen | Helena of Italy is his sister-in-law, the
 Russian and Italian Ambassadors in Lon
 don were instructed to use their utmost influence in the matter
 l Apparently the two ambassadors Count Benckendorff and Sgnor Pausa) got a l hint from, presumably, our foreign office | that the problem could be solved only by | King Edward. They were accorded an | audience and made their representations
 to his majestys, who replied
 1 "I regret very much indeed that I can
 not comply with your suggestions The ! assassination of King Alexander and l Queen Draga on June ?, 1903, was so terri ble that it made a deep impression on public opinion in England. Public opin- | lon has not yet recovered from the shock, and would certainly not approve of the | re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Servia, and you know well that | and my government must take into ac- count the public opinion of our country. 1 And besides this reason I have an-
 other, a personal reason. Men metier a
 moi est detre Roi. King Alexander was
 also by his metier, 'un Roi.' As you see, | we belonged to the same guild as labor l CTS or professional men. l cannot be in- | different. to the assassination of a mem- | Der of my profession, or, if you like, a member of my guild We should be | obliged to shut up our businesses if we. | the Kings, considered the assassination of | Kings as of no consequence at all. re- gret, but you see that l cannot do what ! you wish me to do."
 MT. Legge adds that he could cite | other examples of the Kings adroitness | In the field of diplomacy, and of his inti-
 mate acquaintance with international af- | fairs, In the control of which he was something more than the automation | which it has been hinted he was" Accounting an act of kindness on the part of King Edward, MT. Legge says: | At Baden Baden, in the old days, King | Edward often used to make purchases at | certain shop and have long chats with | the manager. Twice or thrice, in success | sive years the then Prince had said | When you happen to be in London come | and see me. The time arrived when the | trader chanced to be here on business 1 Mastering up all his courage he left | his card at Marlborough House, not ex-
 pecting to get any response. On the fol- | lowing day he received an invitation to spend three days at Sandringham. there,
 entering the room into which he was shown, he was greeted most amiably by
 the Prince, who presented him to My
 wife, the Princess; my brother, the Duke
 of Edinburgh; and my brothers wife. A
 happy time that Baden shopkeeper spent ' at Sandringham
 Under an apparent insouciance which 1 he never troubled to conceal" writes nir. 1 Iegge, there lurxed an iron will. not devoid of obstinacy." Of King Edward S determina tion an instance is quoted con nected with the marriage in St Peters | burg in 1874 of the Duke of Edinburgh and the Grand Duchess Marie, daughter of the Tsar Alexander II. MT. Legge.
 
 writes:
 "It was officially conveyed to my con freres and myself that the Emperor had ordered that no correspondents, native or foreign, were to be admitted to the Win ter Palace on the morning of the wedding. This was a great blow to those of us who had travelled to Russia for the pur- pose of recording the event in our papers, and our disappointment was soon made 1xnnwr n fhe Prince n Wales His Royal Highness was as much surprised and an moved as ourselves at the edict. and promptly told or had it conveyed to tho Emperor that the English journalists
 must be allowed to witness the wedding ceremonies, and before many hours had elapsed the necessary cards of invitation
 were brought to us by a court officials. MT. Legge criticises severely many statements made regarding the late King in the memoir which appeared in the Dictionary of National Biography" The
 memoir asserted that the King was no reader of books, and that he could not concentrate his mind on them-"a man of the world, he lacked the intellectual equipment of thinker" As to this MT. Legge quotes a letter written 10 him in August by Prof. Arminius Vambery,
 whose personal acquaintance with King Edward began in 1864. Professor Yam bery writes
 Not only did often find him reading serious works. but I know he mastered
 their contents, and frequently applied historical citations in support of his DO. litical views.
 When Stanley, the explorer. lectured at the Albert Hall King Edward had to de- liver the introductory address
 He asked me (says Professor Vambery)
 for only two or three proper geographical names, and then treated his subject with as much cleverness and perfect knowledge as if he had been a specialist in African geography. and had resided amongst the pigmies. What prince or other speaker
 would have been able to accomplish a similar feat?
 The Memoir contains the statement that:
 should decide what official (cabinet) news should be passed on to her son. She deprecated the discussion of national se- crets over country house dinner-tables. | Sir Sidney Lee was interviewed by "The | Daily Chronicle" and Mir. Legge quotes | the question whether the Life has re- ceived the approval of those most nearly related to the late King?' To this Sir Sidney Lee replied: T am afraid you must not press me to answer that ques- I tion for I cannot do so." As to this Mir | Legge comments:
 l It was a simple question. Why should | it not have received a direct answer? Did Queen Victoria ever utter the unmother- | Iy words attributed to her? If so. in whose presence? If she spoke them in confidence. who was her betrayer? If