Life — June 26, 1902 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“ While there ws Life there's Hope.” VOL. XXXIX. JUNE 28, 1902. No. 1028. 19 Wast Tarety-Finst St., NEw YorE. eGuplished every, Thursday. $500 0 sear in ac. ostage to foreign evuntries in the Postal Union, s1.00.a year exten. ‘Single current coptes, TDcoata, Back num bers, after taree monthe from date of publication, % cente. No contribution twill be returned uni accompanied by stamped and addres: envelope. The illustrations in Lave are copyrighted, and are not to be reproduced without special arrangement with the publishers, Prompt notification should be sent by sub- soribers of any change of address. THERE is a good deal that is real about the prev- alent coro- nation of the King of Eng- land. King Edward him- self is an act- ual person, neither ob- scure nor lacking in suitable attri- butes. Meas- ured at the waist he is every inch a king. Measured anyhow, mentally or physically, he meets more than re- spectably the needs and expectations of his numerous subjects. He has good sense and a good disposition and bas had excellent training. It has been given out, and is believed, that he had much to do with carrying through toa successful end the recent peace nego- tiations with the Boers. Ho is as real a king as any modern nation witha constitution wants, or ought to have. And his queen is a real lady ; so the world has held these many years, The clothes are no fairy-tale clothes ; they are actual and cost good money. The peers and pecresses, the ambassadors, princes, envoys, clergy, military per- sons, bands and band-chariots, war- ships and all other propertics used in this coronation are as genuine as the world affords in this stage of its prog- ress. The coronation will be a splen- did show, and the fortnight of sup- plementary festivities includes gaye- ties of the most solid and gorgeous de- LIFE scription. If we grin at the whole proceeding and feel that in spite of facts and real cloth of gold it is ina way a make-believe demonstration, that is only because we call to mind a time when kings were kings and gov- erned countries, and because we know that for England, at least, that time is long, long passed, Ee AD We: have seen pictures in the pa- pers of all the crown-regalia of Great Britain. We shut our eyes and imagine the King of England, with his windy-day crown firmly _ set- tled on his head, stepping up to his sceptre-rack, picking out an eighteen- ounce sceptre, and going forth to do a hard day's work in government. But really we know that that is all a dream, and that King Edward does business, like Mark Hanna, or any modern ruler of men, with a telephone on the table in front of him and a stenographer at his side, and that when he gets up, it is not to pick out a sceptre, but merely to look at the ticker like any one of us. eBay T HE progress of civilization which has shorn the kingly office in England of most of its powers has also relieved it of its most serious perils and discomforts. The objections to such a limited royalty as our over-seas brethren still sustain have mainly to do with expense. Royalty is costly, but Great Britain undoubtedly likes it and is still rich enough to afford it easily. There seems less prospect now than years ago of the establishment of a British republic. British rights and liberties are secure; the royal family works hard and is popular and handy. Englishmen hate changes, even when they are necessary, and the abolition of British royalty would be a sweep- ing change, in that it would necessi- tate calling many things by different names, substituting new forms for familiar ones, and rearranging the ma- chinery of Society and more or less the machinery of government. All government involves some measure of misgovernment. Criticisms of the Brit- ish Government nowadays are direct- ed, not at the branch of it that is en- tertaining the world this week, but at the end where Joseph Chamberlain sits, That the United States should ever have, or ever want, a king, seems unthinkable. That Great Britain should some time discharge or retire its royal family is not unthinkable, . but it is very little thought of. It is unprofitable to consider, and long may it be so. T,oxe live King Edward, and peace- ful and profitable be his reign ! We smile at his great show, though we read with lively interest of all its details. After all, he had to be crowned, and though he might doubt- less have got through with it with less fuss and at less cost, he has probably done well to seize the chance to ad- vertise his business. If one is to be a successful king it is indispensable that he should tako kingship seriously. Coronation frills and gewgaws and ceremonies seem a good deal out of date, but they don’t on that account altogether mismatch the royal office. The most real regret that offers about the great spectacle is that so fine a troupe of performers is not to go on the road. . ¥ (THERE has been a noticeable disin- clination to take sides in the coal strike. The great public has sat still and looked on, reading whatever stories the newspapers have printed, but with more sympathy for itself than for either side in the contest. The great public has had to pay‘ more for coal, and has seen soft coal substituted for hard to the detriment of its health and comfort. It has endured those discom- forts philosophically. It would have endured them cheerfully if it had felt that tho miners deserved to win. But it seems not to have felt so. When the public is apathetic, as in this case, and waits with grambling patience for the troubles to pass, the strikers’ chances do not seem good, comicbooks.com