308 A Wise King [i9 x o 



body. He sank his English nationality on the Continent, talked French 

 and German in preference to English, and English with a foreign ac- 

 cent. He knew Europe well, and exactly what foreigners thought of 

 England. The knowledge was of use to him and to our Foreign 

 office, especially under such insular Secretaries of State as Arthur 

 Balfour and Edward Grey. He tried hard to win the Irish over to 

 him because he was well aware that the long quarrel with Ireland 

 was a blot on the English name abroad. He had no sympathy with 

 violent measures of coercion. He stopped the Boer War, knowing 

 how upopular it was making England on the Continent and every- 

 where, and how much we were becoming despised for our childish 

 attempts at subduing this sturdy little people. In Egypt he was 

 shocked at Cromer's brutalities and his unnecessary quarrel with the 

 Khedive and the Sultan. It was entirely due to him that Cromer was 

 recalled. The Anglo-Russian treaty he did off his own bat with Har- 

 dinge, Sir Edward Grey looking on. His only notable failure was 

 in the affair of Bosnia, and people in England knew too little of the 

 conditions to understand how great a failure it was. Also, he never 

 succeeded in making friends with his nephew Wilhelm, and I fancy 

 they hated each other to the end. All this doubtless made Edward VII 

 a wiser and a better king than most of ours have been, and he may 

 even rightly share with Solomon the title of ' The Wise.' They each 

 had that knowledge of women which, as we know, is the beginning 

 of wisdom, or at least which teaches tolerance for the unwisdom of 

 others. Of all this the newspaper writers say no word, being pro- 

 fessionally what is required of them, virtuous men and fools." 



