King of the United Kingdom

“ Europe—the most universally popular man in the United Kingdom and its external Empire. Upon the verge of His Majesty's Coronation there occurred that sudden and dramatic illness which proved so well the bravery and patience of the man, and increased so greatly the popularity and prestige of the Monarch. ”

“ The monarchy itself was popular, the country was prosperous and in good relations with the world, except for the increasing naval rivalry with Germany, and the consciousness of imperial solidarity had made extraordinary progress among all the dominions. However the domestic problems in the United Kingdom might be solved, the future of the greatness of the English throne lay with its headship of an empire, loyal to the core, over which the sun never sets. ”

“ If they cannot maintain a majority in Parliament by the use of the patronage and influence of the crown, they must yield their places to their successful rivals; and the king, without the least hesitation, will receive as his confidential advisers to-morrow, the very men whose principles he had condemned but yesterday. Such is a king of England. He can do no wrong. ”

“ I have always heard and understood, that a king of England, possessed of his people's hearts, at the head of a free Parliament, and in full agreement with a great majority, made the true figure in the world that such a monarch ought to do, and pursued the real interest of himself and his kingdom. ”

“ It is not my most distant intention to throw any censure upon the Noble Secretary of State, whose general conduct, during the present critical situation of Europe, has been such as to prove his affection to the King and country. To him I impute no blame upon the subject of the Petition in favour of the Bill; but far differently do I think of those Gentlemen who drew it.—When the Bill was first brought up to this House, my Lords, I own I did not conceive it possible for its supporters to defend the measure, but upon the general grounds of Abolition ”

“ According to this spiritual doctor of politics, if his Majesty does not owe his crown to the choice of his people, he is no lawful king. Now nothing can be more untrue than that the crown of this kingdom is so held by his Majesty. Therefore, if you follow their rule, the king of Great Britain, who most certainly does not owe his high office to any form of popular election, is in no respect better than the rest of the gang of usurpers, who reign, or rather rob, all over the face of this our miserable world, without any sort of right or title to the allegiance of their people. ”

“ During the year there was a recrudescence of the friction between this country and France, due partly to questions as to the right of search of foreign ships, partly to a brochure issued by the Prince de Joinville, a son of Louis Philippe, partly to the assumption of French sovereignty over Tahiti and the seizure of the English consul there by the French authorities. Reparation however was made, and the ill-feeling sufficiently subsided to enable the King of the French to visit Queen Victoria,—the first friendly visit ever paid by a French king to the Sovereign of England. ”

“ The king of Great Britain is the sole and absolute representative of the nation, in all foreign transactions. He can, of his own accord, make treaties of peace, commerce, alliance, and of every other description. ”

“ The Queen would not like to have herself additionally fettered by any new regulation, but Lord Aberdeen will certainly concur with the Queen that it would not be expedient to give to the King of Hanover a power which the Queen herself does not possess, viz. that of granting orders as favours, or for personal services; as the number of the different classes of the Guelphic Order bestowed on Englishmen is innumerable, it would actually invest the King with such a power, which, considering how much such things are sought after, might be extremely inconvenient. ”

“ The experience of every country and of all the ages show the profound wisdom which places the supreme leadership of the state beyond the reach of private ambition and above the shocks and changes of party strife. And, further, let it not be forgotten that we live under a limited and constitutional monarch. The Sovereign reigns but does not govern; that is a maxim we were all taught out of our school-books. The British monarchy has no interests divergent from those of the British people. It enshrines only those ideas and causes upon which the whole British people are united. ”

“ It {57} was no part of the duty of the magnates of the kingdom to determine whom he should prefer to his earldoms, or on whom he should confer the custody of castles, or whom he would have to administer justice to the people, and to be Chancellor and Treasurer of the kingdom. He would have everyone at his own will, and counsellors from whatever nation he chose, and all ministers at his own discretion; while the Barons of England are not to interfere with the King's actions, the command of the Prince having the force of law, and what he may dictate binding everybody at his pleasure. ”

“ The King of Great Britain is emphatically and truly styled the fountain of honor. He not only appoints to all offices, but can create offices. He can confer titles of nobility at pleasure; and has the disposal of an immense number of Church preferments. There is evidently a great inferiority in the power of the President, in this particular, to that of the British King; nor is it equal to that of the Governor of New York, if we are to interpret the meaning of the Constitution of the State by the practice which has obtained under it. ”

“ I remember going to Carlton House, when George IV. lived there, as quite a little child before a dinner the King gave. The Duchess of Cambridge and my 2 cousins, George and Augusta, were there. My Aunt, the Queen of Würtemberg (Princess Royal) , came over, in the year ’26, I think, and I recollect perfectly well seeing her drive through the Park in the King’s carriage with red liveries and 4 horses, in a Cap and evening dress,—my Aunt, her sister Princess Augusta, sitting opposite to her, also in evening attire, having dined early with the Duke of Sussex at Kensington. ”

“ The obvious faults of his character made it impossible for the other German princes to insist on his being restored, and he had been succeeded by his younger brother William, who ruled till his death in 1884. Both died unmarried, and with them the Ducal family came to an end. One Princess of Brunswick had been the wife of George IV., and another, Augusta, was the first wife of Frederick I., King of Würtemberg, who, after her death, married a daughter of George III. The King of Würtemberg was also, by his descent from Frederick Prince of Wales, first cousin once removed of the Queen. ”

“ I cannot reconcile myself to be here again, and pine for my dear Highlands, the hills, the pure air, the quiet, the retirement, the liberty—all—more than is right. The children are well. I am sorry to hear that you are not quite so yet.
3.30.—The King and Montpensier arrived quite safely at two, and are both looking extremely well. We have just lunched with them. It seems like a dream to me, and a very pleasant one.
Albert sends his affectionate love. Ever your devoted Niece, Victoria R.
Bertie has immediately taken a passion for Montpensier. ”

“ A Truly benevolent disposition, knows no bounds to the desire of diffusing happiness: George VI. longed to see France in possession of that ease and plenty, which were now the distinguishing characteristics of Great-Britain. The Duke of Devonshire it is true, had governed in that kingdom with abilities and integrity, but it was not in his power to execute the designs of the King, nor was his genius adapted to the business: his Majesty determined therefore to make a trip thither; and to increase the splendour of his court, he took with him great part of the nobility of the kingdom. ”

“ He was the first English ruler since the Conquest who loved his people with a personal love and craved for their love back again. To his trust in them we owe our Parliament, to his care for them the great statutes which stand in the forefront of our laws. Even in his struggles with her England understood a temper which was so perfectly her own, and the quarrels between king and people during his reign are quarrels where, doggedly as they fought, neither disputant doubted for a moment the worth or affection of the other. ”

“ One Englishman who was especially touched by the action of the United States was His Majesty the King. Few men had watched the course of America during the war with more intelligent interest than the head of the British royal house. Page had had many interviews with King George at Buckingham Palace and at Windsor, and his notes contain many appreciative remarks on the King's high character and conscientious devotion to his duties. ”

“ Nor is it likely they will ever think, that Kingdom of brambles which some men seek [page 258] to erect (at once weak, sharp, and fruitlesse, either to God or man) is like to thrive till watered with the Royal bloud of those, whose right the Kingdom is.
Well, Gods will be done, I doubt not but my Innocencie will finde him both my Protector and my Advocate, who is my only Judg; whom I own as King of Kings, not onely for the eminency of his Power and Majestie above them; but also for that singular care and protection which he hath over them ”

“ Madmen will be found in all large societies. It would be singular, were there none such to be found in a body of three millions of people and upwards. But they are like a grain of sand on the sea shore.”
Another person writes thus.—New-York, Nov. 2d. 1775. “We love and honour our King. He has no subjects in all his dominions more attached to his person, family and government, notwithstanding the epithet of rebels bestowed upon us. No charge is more unjust than the charge that we desire an independence on Great Britain. ”

“ I believe that the monarchy of England, its sovereignty mitigated by the acknowledged authority of the estates of the realm, has its root in the hearts of the people, and is capable of securing the happiness of the nation and the power of the State. ”

“ III. c. 27. in case of a like descent to any of his present majesty's children, empowers the king to name either the queen, the princess dowager, or any descendant of king George II residing in this kingdom;—to be guardian and regent, till the successor attains such age, assisted by a council of regency: the powers of them all being expressly defined and set down in the several acts.-242-
III. A third attribute of the king's majesty is his perpetuity. The law ascribes to him, in his political capacity, an absolute immortality. The king never dies. Henry, Edward, or George may die ”

“ For if the King had been a man to be trusted, and if he had frankly accepted the army programme of free religion, a free Parliament, and responsible advisers, there is little doubt that he might have kept his crown and his Anglican ritual--at least for his own worship--and might yet have concluded his reign prosperously as the first constitutional King of England. ”

“ How does our revenue, of some twenty or twenty-five millions of dollars, compare with this aggregate? Then there is the patronage attached to the East and West Indies, to the Canadas, and to British possessions scattered all over the earth. The government of England is a consolidated government. It is not like ours, composed of sovereign States, all whose domestic officers are appointed by State authority. The king is the exclusive fountain of office and of honors and of nobility throughout his vast dominions. ”

“ Thus we have the spectacle of seven Royal princes, of whom two succeeded to the Throne, all or nearly all avowed politicians of decided convictions, throwing the weight of their influence and social position for the most part on the side of the Tory party, and believing it to be rather their duty to hold and express strong political opinions than to adopt the moderating and conciliatory attitude in matters of government that is now understood to be the true function of the Royal House. ”

“ The position of the Monarch was once that of the head of a class, or the leader of some distinct manifestation of public feeling, or the military chief of a great faction; to-day it is that of embodying the power of a united people, giving dignified interpretation to the policy of a nation, and serving as the symbol of unity to the masses of population in an extended empire.
One of the interesting features in the Crown's popularity and influence is the absence of serious criticism or controversy [Pg 28] over the expense of its maintenance. ”

“ However, the strongest proof, the excellence of all his opinions, is the universal praise that is bestowed on his memory by all foreign historians. His name was as dear to France as it was to Great-Britain. Fortunate nations to possess a king formed by nature to make the world he governed happy! ”

“ It is quite conceivable that the British Empire may be able to make that phrase a reality and that the royal line may continue, a line of hereditary presidents, with some of the ancient trappings and something of the picturesque prestige that, as the oldest monarchy in Europe, it has to-day. Two kings in Europe have already gone far towards realizing this conception of a life president; both the King of Italy and the King of Norway live as simply as if they were in the White House and are far more accessible. Along that line the British monarchy must go if it is not to go altogether. ”

“ I never heard of any that disliked the English government but some of the prince’s progenitors Kings of England; who thinking themselves shackled and manacled by the English laws, endeavoured to throw off this state-yoke, that they might rule or rather rage over their subjects [36] in regal wise only, not considering that to govern the people by the laws of the state, is not a yoke, but liberty; and the greatest security, not only to the subject, but to the King himself, and in great measure rids him of care. ”