THE PRINCE’S SMILE

Hokitika Guardian, 14 December 1920, Page 2

THE PRINCE’S SMILE

By Arthur Weigall

"■ There is nothing in the human world so mighty as the power of a certain kind of smile. Most smiles are pleasant [ enough but there is one rare and subtle variety which is entirely overwhelming , in its effect. The Prince of Wales is endowed with this kind of smile, n:i<i in all sobriety, it may he said to bo one of the most tremendous assets the country has ever possessed. Its quality is indefinable and does not really submit itself to the medium of words. It is something radiantly infectious; it is as though you shared a concealed joke with him, and had caught his eye, and felt the corners of your own mouth getting out.of control. Great and formidable among men' is the power of laughter,” said the wise young Leopardi; “no man is proof against its spell.” And no man is proof against the Prince’s half-shy smile. It has more in it than the mere touch of nature which makes "the whole world kin; it suggests the unequivocal resolution of each situaI tion, however ceremonious, into that ultimate essence of good-will which is al ways there, ready to be seen of men if only they will look for it naturally. “A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind,” said David Garrick; and when the feeling that is produced is one of friendly, laughing good nature its effect is absolutely electric. When you see that smile hovering uncertainly on this man’s lips, you cannot resist its seeming appeal to you personally; and when it breaks out you cannot be sure whether it is you who have set him off, or he you. That is its peculiar quality; it. is not condescending, nor “gracious” nor forced; it seems to be something that can’t be helped; and it brings with ■ it ; infinite and elusive hints of happy sympathy and mutual understanding lying behind the formalities of the hour. That sharing of the laughter of life which it suggests is essential to all good relations among men, and to the comity of nations It is the key of diplomacy. A man has got to see the fun of things be- * fore he can either govern or be governed. He has got to be the exact opposite of sinister to be an efficient ruler or a decent subject; and be must possess that real sense of humour which is so different from mere jocularity before j lie can hope to get any “punch” in liis I dealings with his fellow men. We are all sick to death of the stern and solemn face and of the brick-wall expression; and, on the other hand, the noisy benliomie of certain celebrities has become tedious. |. Thus when that quiet indescribable simile trembles and . then breaks out upon the Prince’s face( there is some . sort of enthusiasm within us all which leaps up in response; it is as though the jaded (country had been whiting for just that smile in high places, as a. token that good-fellowship,' and laughter and understanding are not for ever departed.