Page:The life and times of King Edward VII by Whates, Harry Richard 4.djvu/22

2 stationed to watch over the remains until relieved by the arrival of members of the Queen's—now the King's—Company of Grenadier Guards. There it remained until Friday, the ist of February.

At the assembly of the Privy Council on the Wednesday there were no fewer than a hundred and thirty-two Councillors to do homage to the new Sovereign. Among them were many famous men. At the head of the list is the single name, George now His Majesty George V. The Archbishop of Canterbury (the late Dr. Temple), Lord Halsbury (then Lord Chancellor), Lord Salisbury (then Prime Minister), Mr. A. J. Balfour (then Leader of the House of Commons), the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Mr. H. H. Asquith, the late Sir William Harcourt, the late Lord Ripon, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Rosebery, Lord Alverstone, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, the late Mr. W. H. Lecky these are but a few of the more prominent Councillors. It is a melancholy list to read now. King Edward is no more. So few of those who formed his first Council have survived him; so many passed hence in the early years of his reign. It is worthy of note that the Proclamation issued by this Council for the first time in English history described the Crown as "the Imperial Crown." "Whereas it has pleased Almighty God," runs the preamble, "to call to His Mercy our late Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, of Blessed and Glorious memory, by whose decease the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Prince Albert Edward: We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm, being here assisted with these of Her late Majesty's Privy Council, with Numbers of other Principal Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London, do now hereby, with one Voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart, publish and proclaim, That the High and Mighty Prince, Albert Edward, is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord Edward the Seventh, by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India: To whom we do acknowledge all Faith and constant Obedience, with all hearty and humble Affection; beseeching God, by Whom Kings and Queens do reign, to bless the Royal Prince, Edward the Seventh, with long and happy years to reign over Us."

The Proclamation was the first intimation the Empire had that His Majesty had elected to be known as Edward VII. The reason was that the name of Albert should be exclusively associated in the mind of his subjects with the Prince Consort. It was a choice universally approved, not only because of the filial motive which prompted it, but also because of the English ring of the name of Edward and its rich historical suggestiveness, reaching backward to the rugged and sturdy times when England was in the making. To the Council His Majesty made a Declaration in which he reminded his' hearers, and through them his subjects, that Edward had been the name of six of his ancestors. In resolving to be known as Edward VII., "I do not," he said, "undervalue the name of Albert, which I inherit from my ever-to-be-lamented great and wise Father,