The death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edward were the first and perhaps the greatest events in the opening year of the new century. Before the formal announcement on January 18th, 1901, which stated that the Queen was not in her usual health and that "the great strain upon her powers" during the past year had told upon Her Majesty's nervous system, the people in Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia, in all the Isles of the Sea and on the shores of a vast and scattered Empire, had become so accustomed to her presence at the head of the State and to her personality in their hearts and lives that the possibility of her death was regarded with a feeling of shocked surprise.
During the days which immediately followed and while the shadow of death lay over the towers of Windsor, its influence was everywhere perceptible throughout the press, the pulpit and amongst the peoples of the Empire—in Montreal as in Winnipeg, in busy Melbourne and in trouble-tossed Cape Town, in Calcutta and in Singapore. When the Prince of Wales, on Thursday evening, the 22nd of January, telegraphed the Lord Mayor of London that "My beloved mother, the Queen, has just passed away," the announcement awakened a feeling of sorrow, of sympathy and of Imperial sentiment such as the world had never seen before in such wide-spread character and spontaneous expression.
Yet there was no expression of uneasiness as to the future; no question or doubt as to the new influence and power that must come into existence with the change of rulers; no fear that the Prince of Wales, as King and Emperor, would not be fully equal to the immense responsibilities of his new and great position. Perhaps no Prince, or statesman, or even world-conqueror, has ever received so marked a compliment; so universal a token of respect and regard as was exhibited in this expression of confidence throughout the British Empire.
THE EMPIRE'S CONFIDENCE IN THE NEW KING
Public bodies of every description in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and other British countries rivalled each other in their tributes of loyalty to the new Sovereign as well as of respect for the great one who had gone. The press of the Empire was practically a unit in its expression of confidence, while the pulpit, which had during past years, expressed itself occasionally in terms of criticism, was now almost unanimous in approval of the experienced, moderate and tried character of the King. The death which it was once thought by feeble-minded, or easily misled individuals, would shake the Empire to its foundations was now seen to simply prove the stability of its Throne, and the firmness of its institutions in the heart of the people. The accession of the Prince of Wales actually strengthened that Monarchy which the life and reign of his mother had brought so near to the feelings and affections of her subjects everywhere.
On the day following the Queen's death the new Sovereign drove from Marlborough House to St. James's Palace; accompanied by Lord Suffield and an escort of the Horse Guards. He had previously arrived in London from Windsor at an early hour accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of York, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Balfour and others. The streets were densely crowded with silent throngs of people; crape and mourning being visible everywhere, and the raised hat the respectful recognition accorded to His Majesty. Later in the day the people found their voices and seemed to think that they could cheer again. At St. James's Palace the members of the Privy Council had gathered to the number of 150 and were representative of the greatest names and loftiest positions in British public life.
THE KING ADDRESSES THE PRIVY COUNCIL
Members of the Royal family, the members of the Government, prominent Peers, leading members of the House of Commons, the principal Judges and the Lord Mayor of London—by virtue of his office—were in attendance. Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Balfour; the Dukes of Norfolk, Devonshire, Portland, Northumberland, Fife and Argyll; the Earls of Clarendon, Pembroke, Chesterfield, Cork and Orrery and Kintore; Lord Halsbury, Lord Ashbourne, Lord Knutsford, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord George Hamilton, Mr. St. John Brodrick, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mr. W. H. Long, M.P., Lord Ridley, Sir. H. Campbell-Bannerman, Sir J. E. Gorst, the Marquess of Ripon, Lord Goschen, Mr. H. H. Asquith, Lord Pirbright, Lord Selborne, Sir R. Temple, Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, Sir Drummond Wolff, Sir Charles Dilke, Lord Stalbridge, Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, Mr. John Morley, Earl Spencer and Earl Carrington were amongst those present. After the Council had been officially informed by its President of the Queen's death and of the accession of the Prince of Wales, the new Sovereign entered, clad in a Field Marshal's uniform, and delivered, without manuscript or notes, a speech which was a model of dignity and simplicity. Its terms showed most clearly both tact and a profound perception of his position and its importance was everywhere recognized:
"Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords and Gentlemen: This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you. My first melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my beloved mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you and the whole nation, and, I think I may say, the whole world, sympathize with me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained. I need hardly say that my constant endeavour will be always to walk in her footsteps. In undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon me I am fully determined to be a constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and, so long as there is breath in my body, to work for the good and amelioration of my people.
I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has been borne by six of my ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the name of Albert, which I inherit from my ever to-be-lamented, great and wise father, who by universal consent is I think, and deservedly, known by the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should stand alone. In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and to which I am determined to devote my whole strength during the remainder of my life."