Page:The coronation of Edward the Seventh - a chapter of European and imperial history.djvu/26

18 following reflections on the contingency of his succession. In an article written on the eve of the ceremony, and prompted by "the present universal outburst of loyalty, so very unlike anything evinced upon former occasions," after declaring that "we know of no republicans in this country," the writer proceeded: "Let those who think that it is a regard for the institution, and not for the person of the sovereign, that ought to inspire our loyalty, ask themselves what would be their sentiments at the present moment if it were for King Ernest, not Queen Victoria, that the Abbey was preparing? The change, however hateful, might occur to-morrow. There is but a single plank between us and shipwreck."

Even if the next heir to the crown had not been a person of the character of the King of Hanover, but an enlightened and constitutional prince, as was his next brother, the Duke of Sussex, the Queen's favourite uncle, even then her disappearance would have been a misfortune the extent of which only we who have seen the end of her long reign can calculate. Though the wisdom of ministers and the good sense of the British people had preserved the land from violent revolution, without the life and reign of Queen Victoria the history, not only of England, but of Europe and of civilisation, would have taken a different course. Her throne became a landmark to Europe, to display to other nations the advantage of the