ENGLAND’S HEIRAPPARENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2580, 14 August 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

ENGLAND’S HEIRAPPARENT.

SKETCHED FOR THE AMERICANS

A contributor, who signs liimself “An Englishman,” supplies a character sketch of H.R.H the Prince of Wales, for the benefit of the readers of “Harper’s YVeekly.” A short time ago (he writes), when King Edward’s health seemed not quite so good as it usually is, the English press hinted at a coming rearrangement and redistribution of the royal functions. The Prince of Wales, -it was said, was being brought more to the fore, was taking over various duties that his, father wished to be relieved of, was being initiated into the secrets of government, was in training, in short/to act as the sovereign’s deputy. I have very good reason for not believing a word of all this. Kings and are almost invariably monopolists. . The one thing you can nearly always! rely on their doing is to surrender the smallest fraction of their prerogatives. They may gird at times at the eternal round of irksome and boring duties imposed upon them, but so long as they have a breath in their bodies they will continue to discharge them; and the very last tiling they think of relinquishing to ,or sharing with their successor is the conduct of affairs of state.

There have been, of course, in British history instances of Princes of Wales who insisted on being- admitted into the arcana imperii, who formed political parties, intervened belligerently in the debates in tbe House of Lords, and made themselves a centre of opposition and disturbance. But tbe present Prince of Wales, like his father, has shown not the least inclination to follow in their footsteps; and, indeed, the democratic developments of the past century in England have made a political prince an incredibility, if not an impossibility. There is something like a consensus of opinion among the navy officers who served with and under their particular Prince that be was not only a really capable sailor, but a good fellow. For tlie past 17 years, however, the first 10 of them as heir-presumptive, the last seven as heir-apparent, the Prince has been a landsman. From perpetually talking of him, with an enthusiastic touch of romance, as "our sailor Prince,’’ the public imagination had conjured up a sort of royal Lord Charles Beresford, a breezy, picturesque, slap-dasb figure. But when, on the death of the Duke of Clarence, the Prince came out of tbe obscurity of bis cabin and moved into full public view, it soon became evident that here, at any rate, was no naval Harry Hotspur. Humdrum respectability seemed rather to he the note of the newly created Duke of York.

An uninteresting man ? Olio hears that comment passed, and, on the whole, it is not, perhaps, without some share of truth. If he has not inherited his father’s swiftness of apprehension, neither has he inherited his tact: and perhaps/the most interesting thing about him is his recklessness of speech in private, the way he blurts out anything that may be in his head. Moreover, lie has some rather strong political views, views which incline toward a decidedly stiff-necked Toryism; and, in addition, he is fond of getting up cases in connection with, the leading questions of the day. The combination of these qualities leads at times to some amusing developments, and the spectacle of the Prince of Wales trying to convert a leading free-trade publicist to tariff reform, and lecturing Cabinet Ministers on their iniquities, is by no means uncommon. In another age one can easily conceive the Prince enacting the part of George 111. He holds forth, at any rate, on the misdeeds of "those damned Radicals” in quite the old antocratierstyle. But a prince and a king are two very different personages; and as the supremo head of" affairs he would, one imagines, be everything that is decorous, solemn, and a trifle dull. \

Captain Jones (giving a short lecture to the recruits of his company on their demeanor in public): “If a civilian should make offensive remarks in a public house, and try to induce a quarrel, the well-conducted soldier should drink up his beer and go quietly away.” After his address Captain Jones questions his audience,, to ascertain if they had comprehended his remarks. “Now, Private Jenkins, what would you do if you were in an inn, and a civilian wanted to quarrel with you?” “I should drink up his beer, sir, and ’ook it I” . - "

Lord Ckurchmousc: "That horse I had of you is all right, but ho doesn’t hold his head high enough.” ■ Dealer: “Oh, that’s ’is pride, m’lud. ’Ell ’old it up when Vs paid for.”