THE KING'S FUNERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 853, 27 June 1910, Page 2

THE KING'S FUNERAL.

A GREAT PAGEANT. REMARKABLE AND BRILLIANT SCENE. RUDYARD KIPLING'S POEM. The London correspondent of the "Sydney Morning Herald," writing on May 20, K ivcs tho following graphic account of the funeral of King Edward VII:This week has been devoted to the obsequies of King Edward, winch ended today with the burial ceremony at Windsor. In tho whole roll of English Kings no Sovereign was more respected during his brief reign, and moro honoured in the days of mourning than Edward VII. Not hundreds, but thousands, of condolences have poured in to the English Court since the day of his death from overy part of the Empire and from neighbouring nations. Dozens of messages have arrived from villages and towns in your own back blocks, from municipal and oilier authorities in remote colonies and dependencies, the chieftains of India who acknowledge British suzerainty, from Viceroys, from rulers and potentates of other nations. There was a private lying in state at Buckingham Palace which extended from Saturday till .Tuesday morning. The panelled coffin of Windsor oak was removed last Saturday from the private apartments to the throne-room. Queen Alexandra and King George'headed the little family procession which followed. When the giant Grenadiers, who solemnly bore their late Sovereign along the broad and thickly-carpeted corridors, arrived at the throne-room, the coffin was placed on u purple catafalque before a temporary altar which stood in the j>lac*j o! tin. Chun of Slate. The coffin was draped with tho handsome needlework pall made for Queen Victoria's funeral, with the Koyal Standard wrapped along the foot. On two cushions resting upon the cotiiu were tli« Grown of England, the late King's diamond garter, orb, und sceptre. On the lloor wen laid the colours of his Majesty's Company of the Grenadier Begiment, a replica of which was buried with the Koyal remains. Candelabra and masses of white iioners were placed round the catafalque, and two candles with a few vases of llowers and a plain gilt cross on the altar completed the furnishing of the large throne-room. A Royal Procession. On Tuesday morning there was a short service in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, conducted by the Bishop of London. A great procession then accompanied the removal of the body to Westminster. The cablegrams have given you a good outline of the day's happenings. Twelve thousand troops lined the route along tho Mall, through the Horse Guards, Whitehall, to tho great entrance of the hall into the palace yard. At least 100,000 people must have seen tho spectacle. The procession covered half a mile. The brilliant colours of naval and military uniforms cleaving through deep masses of people dressed in mourning suggested a rainbow hemmed in with a border of black. Behind this magnificent procession, which slowly moved on foot, were nine Royal carriages. The Qnoon rode iu the first with her sister, the Empress Dowager Marie of Russia, the Princess Koyal, and Princess Victoria. In the second were Queen Mary, Queen of Norway, and her two children, Prince Henry and Princess Mary. But I need not go through tho long list of princesses and young princes who took part 'in the day's proceedings. Though the carriages were closed, the principal royalties, including tho Queen Mother, threw back their veils to see and to bo seen by the multitude, and her Majesty bowed right and left with just a gentle fliclinarion, but not with the earnestness of her happier days. All the princesses and ladies-in-waiting were dressed in deep black, with Marie Stuart bonnets and very long veils. Tho procession moved along past the crowd of spectators all silently uncovered. The soldiers lining the route stood at the salute, and all eyes wero directed to the burden on the little guncarriago topped by tho flashing crown and orb and sceptre. Tho pipers and the massed bands played alternately. The weird lamenting notes of "Flowers of the Forest," as given by the Scottish pipers, aro rarely heard by an English crowd as we heard them on Tuesday, and tho magnificent rendering of Chopin's rare music and the Dead March deeply moved the spectators. There were many moist eyes as tho procession moved by." Solemnity was added to tho scene by tho booming of the saluting guns and tho shocks of sound that came from tho great clock. Tho bell at Westminster was tolled, and muffled for the first timo in its history. When Westminster Hall was reached the vast building was found to be divided into two enclosures, all the foncing being covered with purple cloth. A largo enclosure ran the length of tho hall on the northern side, intended for tho peers, and a similar enclosure on the southern side for the Commons and Lords. The pressmen occupied a pen in the corner of tho hall near the Star Chamber, a region of unhappy memories to journalists of a past generation. Kanged on the steps at the south end of tho hall were selected members of the Abbey choir and choirs of the Koyal chapels, and close by a small military bund. Tho procession was met at tho entrance of the hall by tho Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dean of Westminster, tho Duke of Norfolk (the Earl Marshal), Earl Carrington (Lord Great Chamberlain), and Mr. L. Harconrt (First Commissioner of Works). Heralds and pursuivants conducted the naval and military qflicers to tho south ond of the hall, grouping them on steps between the catafalquo and choir. Tho brightcoloured uniforms led the eye upwards to large stained glass windows and gavo that part of tho picture a touch of striking beauty. Tho procession entered tho hall in the order given abovo for tho street route. One of its most notable features was the fact' that Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener walked side by side, one tall, straight, and bronzed with travel, the other short of stature, very white, but very alert. Lord Kitchener finally stood in the very centre of the steps, looking down the full length of tho hall, one of the handsomest and most manly figures among many others to whom such words might be applied. Tho royalties were grouped round the catafalque, and brief services were conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as cabled. It was a remarkable scene. For tho full length of the vast building cm each side wore peers and commoners in doep black. The central space between them was a mass of scarlet and gold and blue and white uniforms, with a little band of Koyal ladies in deep mourning grouped round the catafalque. Pour candelabra used at the Duke of Wellington's funeral shod a flickering light, and tho musical parts of the service were rendered perfectly. "The Words of Our King." But there was another aspect of the spectacle that could not be overlooked. The crowds outside the building had paid (heir silent homage. Here, in the ancient hall of our Legislature, lords ami commoners, botli servants of tho people, stood before the remains of a Sovereign who had also performed his share of tho work as part of our Constitution. In the words of Kipling's new poem, For on him each new clay lnid> command To confront or confirm or make smooth some dream issue of power To deliver true judgment aright at the In ufc'"s I tric'l" a !eVd ultimata phrase that allowed oi, niwii.iuoo, To foresee to ally, to avert from us perils unnumocred, To stiuul {.'"aid on our Rates when ho Clicked thai our watchmen had slumTo win. to turn hate, to wop folly to service, and mightily schooling His strength to the use of his nations, to rule in. not minis. These wero the words of our King. Earth Go '(HL% l iiE l rof The! , '° o^lri1 ' and t0 The service closed with a few encouraging words from tiie Archbishop, and after Queen Alexandra. Had knelt for a few minutes iu private prayer, tho procession

returned to Buckingham Palaoo., Among tho evidences of precaution on this eventful day miiy be mentioned that there walked parallel with King George all the way of tho procession tho sturdy, well-known figure of Sergeant Quinu, of Scotland Yard, who knows more anarchists than liny man in England. In Westminster Hall, and at various. points along tho route, wero little groups of ambulance men and nurses, to be available in Ciuso ol accident. That samo Tuesday afternoon, all Wednesday, and all Thursday, the public were admitted to Westminster Hall to pass tha catafalque. The police ranged the whole crowd in a long queue, which varied in length, but sometimes stretched beyond Vauxhnll tiridge to Albert Bridge, Chelsea. Allowing for the twists and turns, this line of waiters must at one period havo been live miles long. Thousands were unable to reach the doors of Westminster when they were closed at 10 o'clock. Hundreds stopped in tho old palace yard all through Tuesday night, though "it rained in torrents, awaiting admission on Wednesday, when doors opened at C. More than 300,000 persons have passed through the Hall during the three days. Owing to the crush and the breakup of tho queue, tho doors were closed earlier on Wednesday than was intended, and £0.000 wen* unable to net In. Som» of Ihoso remained in waiting all night HI! G yestertlav morning and wero drn !ia h«i by heavy thunderstorms in tha early hours. The qucuo consisted of all sorts ond conditions, and every class. Xo tickets were issued, and the authorities made no distinction between coster or merchant or shop girl. On entering the great hall by the snutb door tho pt«ople wero conducted between four parallel barriers past' the catafalque to tho ;;reat door in the new palace yard. ' 'Ilia Gmifds, with arms reversed, and bowed heads, stood motionless on duty round th« cnraftilqn*. iiiaht as well us" day. The coffin had been redraped with a white silk pall, and the space immediately around was covered with flowers. As tho ceaseless stream of visitors walked through the hall not a word was uttered, but soldiers saluted tho dead a-; they passed the bier. Some ladies srenuflected, many crossed themselves. It was a touching sight, and it was more notablo because it was impressively silent. Tho whole flooring was covered with' thick dark srre.r felt. Not oven n footfall could bo irard. The crowd passed by at the rate of 10,000 an hour, to pay 'their respectful homage. THE LAST JOURNEY. A SPECTACLE OF GRIEF. To-day, Friday, tho remains of King Kdward were carried from tho capital of his Empire to the royal sepulchre at Windsor. J. well remember thu funeral of Queen Victoria, which w«s considered (ho most marvellous spectacle of its kind that London had ever witnessed; but the scene to-day was on a wider, more im> pressivu, and more picturesque scale. There was a uniformity in the decorations from Westminster to Paddingixm. Scores of houses were-* draped in black or purple. Venetian masts along the whole route, encased in black and white cloth, carried large wreaths of uniform size, thu gifts of town, villages, corporations, and private persons. There must have been 10,080 emblems in all. All business was suspended, trains ran as on Sundays, and as the weather wns fine nearly a million people lined tho route. Every place, every roof from which n peep could be obtained, was occupied. It was a vast, silent multitude. All heads were uncovered as the cortege passi-d by. And such a cortege! Words cannot describe the spectacle of brilliant uniforms of all nations that streamed for over a mile between the enormous throng of people dressed in black. That part of the procession which preceded the coffin stretched from Westminster Hall to Piccadilly. Behind tha coffin was the King's horse and his favourite dog Caesar, led by a High' lander. Caesar was his Majesty's constant companion, 'and since his Majesty's death he has been an inconsolable wanderer about the Palace. His introduction into the procession was an afterthought, and not in tho original programme. Behind King George rode the visiting monarchs, and then followed 12 carriages. In these rode the Queen Mother, Queen Mary, princesses, duchesses, and a few representatives of States. In the eighth carriage' was Mr. Roosevelt, M. Pichon, and tho Persian representative. In the ninth were Lord Strathcona and Sir Georgo Reid, both dressed as Privy Councillors, and tho Hon. W, Hall-Jones, in levee costume. The remaining carriages were occupied by the Mistress of the Robes and members of tho Royal household. During all the route 'to Paddington. station funeral salutes were fired in the park, Big Ben boomed forth in muffled tone .every quarter of a minute, and the massed bands in procession played funeral inarches. Chopin's Grand Dirge, described by Rubinstein as the night wind sweeping "over a desolate churchyard, wia most impressively poignant. The Scene at Windsor. Thero was no difficulty in conveying the immense procession to Windsor. Many special trains carried tho suites and foreign representatives to tho Royal borough in the samo order as they arrived at Paddington, nor was there any mishap at Windsor. When Queen Victoria was buried the horses which drew tho gun-carriage from Windsor station were restive, and jeopardised tiro safety of the coffin. To avoid such a- contretemps tho gun-carriago and coffin of King Edward wero hauled by a detachment of Bluejackets. St. George's Chapel and precincts were crowded to their utmost capacity. By tho King's directions, and as a consequence of Sir George Reid's action, not only was the Commonwealth honoured through its representative being invited to ride in the procession as well as sit in the chapel, but all colonial AgentsGeneral were allotted seats within St. George's Chapel. Tho procession moved on foot from the station to the chapel. The Duko of Cornwall and Prince Albert, who had ridden in one of the Eoyal carriages in London, walked immediately behind the three chief mourners, King George, the Kaiser, and tlw Duke of Connaught. At Windsor the actual service within the chapel, conducted by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, occupied a brief hour. It was a scene of great brilliancy with only cue dark spot, the deep mourning of the Queens and Princesses near the coffin, tho bright sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows fell upon the dazzling liveries of heralds and pursuivants, upon uniforms of scarlet and blue and gold, and the whito surplices of clergy and choir, thus making up the scene which took one's thoughts away from gloomy death. Tho banners of the Garter hung over the stalls, und many of the Knights were iu their places. Members of the present and late Government, Privy Council, Peers, and many members of Parliament occupied 'sWs in the stalls or on tiers arranged down the body of the church. Some Eastern Princes, with their brilliant costumes, added to the picturescjuo scene. When the bell in the curfew towor had ceased to toll, and the last of the US guns, one for each year uf the late King's life, had completed tiie salute, tha service was proceeded with, as cabled. At the words of committal the coffin descended from view into the erjpfc below. It was theme carried to the tomb chamber under the adjoining memorial hall. Since the time of Edward IV to this day of lid ward VII many of England's Kings have bed buried at Windsor. It is the treasure house of sacivd memories. Henry VI, Henry Vtll, 3ane Seymour, Charles I, Charles 111. and Charles IV, the Georges, and William IV aro all buried here, with many Princes and Princesses, and Quc-on Victoria rests with her husband not far away at the mausoleum in the park.