Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/624

 of parliament he was spending his annual spring holiday at Biarritz;, where his time Return from was mainly devoted to cheerful Biarritz, recreation. He returned to Eng- 27 April 1010. land on 27 Aprilf j us t when the Easter vacation called a parliamentary armistice. Within nine days he was dead.

On the political situation the effect of his death was a prolongation of the truce. The lords ^ con f erence of representatives controversy of the two parties met in the 1910-n. endeavour to adjust amicably the differences between the two houses. The effort failed (15 Nov. 1910), and after another dissolution of parliament (28 Nov. ) the liberal government's plan, in which King Edward had tacitly acquiesced, was carried into law, with the consent of a majority of the upper chamber and without the threatened special creation of peers (10 Aug. 1911). XIV Since his severe illness of 1902 the king's physical condition, though not robust, had borne satisfactorily the strain The king's of a bugy life> He benefited health. ,, J greatly by his annual visits to Biarritz and Marienbad and by his yachting cruises, and he usually bore the appearance of good health. A somewhat corpulent habit of body rendered exercise increasingly difficult. He walked little and ate and smoked much. On the shooting expeditions in which he still took part he was invariably mounted, and his movements were slow. There were occasionally dis- quieting symptoms, and the king was not very ready in obeying medical directions when they interfered with his ordinary habits. But his general health was normal for his age.

For the past few years he was subject to sudden paroxysms of coughing, which indicated bronchial trouble. A trouble"* 1 seizure of the kind took place at the state banquet in Berlin on 8 Feb. 1909. On the outward journey to Biarritz early in March 1910 he stayed two days in Paris. A cold caught in the Theatre Porte St. Martin, where he witnessed the performance of M. Rostand's ' Chantecler,' developed rapidly on the way south. A severe attack of bronchitis followed and caused his physician in attendance (Sir James Reid) much anxiety. The news of the illness was not divulged, and at the end of ten days recovery was rapid. A motor tour through the Pyrenees as far as Pau preceded his return home.

The king arrived in London from the continent on 27 April in good spirits. The same evening he went to the opera at Covent Garden. Queen Alexandra was absent on a Mediterranean cruise, sojourning for the time at Corfu. Next day the king paid his customary visit to the Royal Academy exhibition. On 29 April he entertained at lunch Viscount Gladstone on his departure for south Africa, where he had been appointed governor- general. Sunday, 1 May, was spent at Sandringham, where the king inspected some planting operations. There he con- tracted a chill. He reached Buckingham Palace next afternoon, and imprud- ently dined out in private jntoymol * he same evening. On reach- ing Buckingham Palace late that night his breathing became difficult, and a severe bronchial malady set in. Next morning his physicians regarded his condition as somewhat serious, but no early crisis was anticipated. The king rose as usual and transacted business, making arrangements for his reception the following week of Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, the late president of the United States of America, who had announced a visit to England. He spoke regretfully of the superiority of the climate of Biarritz to that of London. During the two following days the symptoms underwent little change. The king continued to transact business, receiving each morning in formal audience one or more representatives of the colonies. On Thursday, 5 May, he received Sir John Dickson-Poynder, Lord Islington, who had been appointed governor of New Zealand, and he considered details of the welcome to be accorded to a royal visitor from Japan, Prince Fushimi. He sat up and was dressed with his customary spruceness, but he was coun- selled against conversation. The breathing difficulty fluctuated and did not yield to treatment. Meanwhile Queen Alexandra had been informed of the king's illness and was returning from Corfu. The king was reluctant for any public announcement of his condition to be made. But on the Thursday evening (5 May) he was persuaded to assent to the issue of a bulletin on the ground that his enforced inability to meet the queen, according to custom on her arrival at the railway station, called for explanation. He modified the draft with his own hand. Queen Alexandra reached the palace that night, and next morning (6 May) the news of the king's condition appeared in the press. That day proved his last. He rose as usual, and in