KING GEORGE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 849, 22 June 1910, Page 7

KING GEORGE.

AN ABSTEMIOUS MONARCH.' ' DEAN OF NORWICH REFUTES LIBELS. AN OLD STORY DENIED, jßy Telegraph—Press Association—CopyrigffiE/ London, June 20. The Very Rev. Dr. Wakefield, Dean of Norwich, addressing a congregation composed of members of a friendly society, said that an accusation against King Gcorgo of insobriety was a libel. Tho Dean said ho was one of the King's closest friends. "I know that he is never intemperate; even from tho-' point of view of his health he has to 1 - bo abstemious." Equally untrue, added the Dean, was it that King George had contracted; a secret marriage,- by which lie had : children, before he married Princess: Mary. "NO VALIANT TRENCHERMAN." TEE KING AT HOME. English papers to hand this week cowtain innumerable references to King! George's character. Mr. W. T. Stead,! writing in the "Daily News," says: "His Majesty is one of the most ab-' stemious of men. That may not be re-* garded by some as a merit in the King.) Englishmen rather like a man who cani enjoy a good square meal without fear-l ing any penalties in.the shape of indi-i gestion. And from of old our people, be-' lore teetotalism grew, rather despised a| man who could not take his liquor like al gentleman. But the King can do nei-i ther. He is no valiant trencherman as' his father was, neither can his constitu-! fiqn allow him to indulge in strond drink. 1 have neither dined nor lunch-t cd at his table, but those who have de--claro that they never saw a man so sparing in his liquor. Half a glass of light! wine is often all that he daro take. This is not from principle, but fronrj necessity. The King .has got a goodl conscience, but a bad stomach, and the! slightest indiscretion in either food ori . "drink carries with it u sever* penalty. i "The fact is that King George approxi.) mates much more to the ethical ideal of i the English middle classes than any manif who has ever held sway in England sine*] the days of Oliver Cromwell. He re-j semblcs the Tsar of Russia—his favourite* cousin—in being passionately domesticat-j ed. He is a model pero de famille. He) dislikes fuss and feathers and ceremonial and all the flim-flam of Courts. He hasl got a good wife, and lie knows it. He isi simply devoted to his children. His one! delight is to get home and spend a quiet evening with his wife and weans. He| hates dining out. He does not play much'i at cards, and never for money. He hates-:' corruption, and rumour credits him with! cherishing designs against the imramer-' able takers of commission who fatten oml the tradesmen who supply his palaceJ which if carried out will raise old Harryj in certain quarters. Ho is a studious) man, reading newspapers and. Blue Books' with avidity. He owns no racehorses. Hej plays well at golf, and when he goes outi shooting his hand is steady and his aimi is true. To be in bed at half-past teni and to be up and about at half-past sir has been his ambition as.a .Prince."" .Of his Majesty's character generally* Mr. Stead said: "The chief danger of the King will bo* in his qualities rather than in his defects. He is conscientious. He takeahimself very seriously. He works hard, reads much, and is very set in his own. opinions. He knows that most of., the people who swagger on the foretop of the; State.have never seen nine-tenths of the; Empire which they.attempt to rule. Ho 1 Is not swell-headed, but he is impulsive, somewhat self-opinionated, and rather brusque in his mode of speech, and it isnot very difficult to foresee that there will) be considerable risk-, of eonsiderablo'i smashing of the constitutional crockeryl unless George the Fifth, learns betimes! that a king has to put a guard upon' hisf lips." ;,- -1 ' In 1892 the Duke of Clarerice'died, and! Kinj Georgd thelenpon became-■ heir-ap-parent to the Throne. The Duke of Clarence was betrothed to Princess May of Teck, and after lus death a marriage was' arranged between Princess May and.Kingj George (then-Duke of York), which' was I duly solemnised on July-6,' 1893. It hasn from time to time been stated that when. : King George was a young sailor at Malta,, with no hope of ever succeeding to the Throne, he married the daughter of acommoner. That marriage was legal! enough then,' but the death of his bro-> ther immediately made it void, and thoprince had .to separate from his firstwife, who was provided for generously. Dr. Wakefield is a strong Liberal* in. politics, and has found his pastoral obligations compatible with a large extent of public work. He has been a member of the London School Board, and twice Mayor of Marylebone. In 1895 he was elected chairman of the Central Committee for the unemployed in London, audit is understood that Mr. John Burns has made frequent use of Dr. Wakefield's experience in this capacity. He was a member of the Eoyal Commission on the Poor Law, and is President of the -National Committee to promote the break-up of the Poor Law.