The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 20. "DUST TO DUST."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 394, 20 May 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 20. "DUST TO DUST."

To-day the .people bear the earth's' greatest monarch, to his last restingplace. Robbed of his kingship by the cold (hand of Death, who respects neither .prince nor pauper, gentle or simple, the cold clay of the great dead is still eloquent for good. A great emotion sweeps across the Empire, refining the feelings and softening all hearts. The disciplinary value of pomp, and panoply is nowhere better exemplified than in the solemn and gorgeous rites that surround the burial of a. king. To emphasise the greatness and the influence of King Edward, the- formal national ceremonies are expressly arranged with a view to the deep impressions, they make on the minds of the people. The presence of subdued millions in the heart of the Empire, iwlhich on other Fridays clamored with the multitudinous noises of legions at work, is broken to-day only by the steady tramp of the King's sailors and soldiers, the sob of the solemn music, and the dirges of the choristers. The great engine of industry has ceased, and the muffled beat of millions of feet passing qjiietly to the points "where the cortege may be seen takes its place. Tribute from all the ■world is here in the gorgeous crowds of potentates and rulers, their representatives, and .the great ones of modem Christendom. But of greater importance and moment are the millions of the King's subjects who breathlessly watch those who are left to iwieep, sorrowfully following the Royal clay to the tomb. It is. at times such as these that the temper of a nation is discovered. As King Edward's life was an invitation to loyalty, so is. his death an. invitation to remain loyal to the monarchy. ''Sorrow endua-eth for a night, but joy cometh an the morning," and, happily enough, human beings are so constituted that time heals most wounds. And because of this, and because the exigencies of existence demand it, the national sorrow of the people will be healed, and even .the Queen Mother and the King will yet be able to forget a little and to smile again. To the mourner the gira.ve of his own little child is of more pathetic interest .than the tomb of a Caesar, and as the world proceeds 'on its way aindisiturbea, while- the mourner sobs for his child, so must the people work and fight and live and die, even though kings pass awtay and queens mourn. Death comes, to all. It is the one thing inevitable, relentless," but, like all Nature's benefices, it conies as a gentle friend. It is. frequently easier to die than,-to- live, for some lives are,.. full of suffering, and sleep is good. A great artist has said that on the face of the dead King Edward there is a look of kingly majesty, but none of .pain or sorrow. It is true of almost all dead faces that the finger of the Great Leveller smooths out all .trace of pain or fear or anger. Death is rest, and King Ediwiard rests. Here was a man'that by a false act could have brought death and destruction to nations, but who did not He was unable to prevent Death from coming to him, although he wielded the greatest .power on earth. To the healthy-minded person there is nothing fearful or weird or dreadful about laying down the burden. It is good to have worked, and it is good to sleep. Just r.i the child who is tired of its play sinks into, a gentle sleep, so did the king who had done his. dotty calmly and una frail close his eyes for the last time. The King's life and the King's death preach eloquent sermons on the beauty of work and the nobility of duty. Death has taken him. but it liae left to us his great work for peace and honor and ifche Empire. The pomp and circumstance of .to-day's occasion will impress the millions with the temporal greatness of the king, but it will not blind the eye of reason to the quiet gentleman, the (great diplomat, and the true man, whose greatest acts were performed (without ostentation, and which will make his name live through the centuries. As the last gentle ceremony of consigning .the Royal clay to Mother Earth closes, and the subdued millions sorrowfully turn to the pursuits of life, the solemnity of death will give them fitting thoxigihts for the occasion. "The .boast of heraldry, the pomp of power. And all tihiat beauty, all that wealth ■e'er gave, Awaits alike th' inevitable hour, The paths of glory lead but to the | grave. "Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust, Or flatterv soothe the cold ear of death?''