Imperial Valley press., 1936-12-18
The 7 est of David Windsor

this writer has yet read on the romance
of David Windsor, formerly King Ed
ward VIII, comes from the pen OF DR..
Burris Jenkins, pastor of the Communl-
ty church of Kansas City. 1t is repro
duced here.-E.A.F.
"Outside of world conflict, we have
perhaps never experienced period so
intense. so fraught with drama ana
tragedy throughout the entire world,
as the last fortnight. 1t reached its cli-
max on last Thursday when 1t became
known that King Edward VIII had ao-
dicated. That was the great third acl
of the play. Then on Friday came the
fourth act in which the world dissolved
in emotion and even in tears.
"For most of US last Thursday proved
a day of gloom and blues and depres-
sion. We scarcely know what was the
matter with us and had to remind our
selves that it was because of the king.
MANY of US had a sort of fixation, or
complex, for that young fellow. We had
believed in him so intensely because ne
had shown his worth so repeatedly. Per-
haps no man in our experience had en-
loved the amount of world wide affec-
tion that the Prince of Wales, afterwards
King Edward VIII, had enjoyed. There
was something appealing about his face
and his whole personality that charmed
even the most hard headed OF us. Inen
we saw the jam into which he had got
himself. saw it clearly; and we held our
breath to see if he would prove to be
the superman that only the very great
can become. He was not quite equal TO
the sublimity of such greatness. We can
not blame him, much less Judge hlm or
ANYBODY else concerned in this affair;
we can only feel intensely sorry for him;
yes, and "sorry for everybody.
"Then when Friday came and at 4
o'clock the greatest number OF people
that ever gathered round radios sat or
stood breathless, those ten strokes OF
Big Ben shook our very souls, and the
voice of Lord Reith sounded out almost
choking with emotion as he said, "Ihis
is Windsor Castle. His Royal Highness,
hand had closed over our heartstrings.
Then came the slow clear voice of the
Young king. A manly speech. A gentle
manly speech. The speech of young
man of the highest breeding and cui-
ture. A tragic speech. Women Wept
when he spoke of "the woman / love-.
A sob went round the world. Such a
pity. the whole thing! Inexorable the
circumstances, like the fates in a Greek
tragedy. No possible escape for poor
little human beings.
Edward passes out from under the
burden of responsibility for half bill
lion of subjects; and becomes respon-
sible to over a billion and a half human
beings throughout the world. He was the
greatest Englishman. Now he becomes
cosmopolitan and belongs to mankind.
Neither he nor she can escape the weight
of that responsibility. Once the white
light that beat upon throne was TO-
cused on them. Now the still more in
tense light of all the eyes in the world
will be fastened upon them to see Whe-
ther they make good or no. Their su-
preme trial has Just begun. They may
vet become a deeply loved couple
throughout the entire world and their
names be linked like those of Heloise
and Abelard, Romeo and Juliet, An
thony and Cleopatra, Menelaus and Hell
en- of Troy They may go down through
history as a pair of heroic lovers. II
they do not measure up, they may be
come oucast, ostracised, pariahs.
Meantime, turning back to England,
all is well with the British Empire. 1t
has felt no shock that it cannot sustain.
For the first time in thousand years
of history king has quit; but the pray
er with which Edward closed his speech
on Friday night rings across the land
and the sea, God bless you all! God
save the Kingv King George vi is
capable young man. For all we know,
he may be powerful young man, just
as powerful in mind and character as
he is in body. But if he is only mediocre,
like his father, it will make no real diff
ference; for England has men, plenty
of men, as strong as Stanley Baldwin,
who has emerged from this crisis the
greatest living Englishman. The British
Empire will stand. / know some OF her
own men talk about her waning power;
but it does not seem to me that the Rock
of Gibraltar is noticeably crumbling. On
the contrary, we have just seen an ex-
ample of the solidity and the sanity OF
the British populace among whom all is
quiet today, while in other nations there
might well have been rioting and blood
shed. The words of Noel Coward, at
the close of Cavalcade, where Robert and
Jane drink their annual toast, fit the