mately
as he pleases the great men of his own and other countries, in every
line of statecraft and human attainment, the pleasure of travel in many
lands and amongst varied scenes and people, the opportunity of taking up
any matter of a non-political character which he deems useful to the
state, the people, or the Empire, with a reasonable certainty of
substantial backing. To succeed, however, in the position as did Albert
Edward, Prince of Wales, demands a peculiar combination of qualities
which very few men possess in any rank of life. Tact, self-restraint,
self-reliance, knowledge of human nature, energy, dignity, good
intentions earnest patriotism, are more or less necessary.

How seldom these qualities have all been possessed by Heirs to the
British Throne is plain upon the pages of history. There have been
amongst them seventeen Princes of Wales of whom the best, before the
chief of the line, was the Black Prince, and of whom only four have
reached the Throne since the time of Edward VI. They were Charles I,
Charles II, George II, and George IV., and the careers of the last two
consisted in the establishment of rival Courts, continuous disagreements
with their fathers, the headship of political factions, and the
possession of characters about which the least said the better. The
Prince who became Edward VII. may be said to have created the position
of Heir Apparent, as his Royal mother created that of a modern
constitutional Monarch.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE POSITION

He established himself as a sort of advisory statesman to the nation, an
absolutely impartial leader in questions of high, as distinct from party
politics, the first gentleman in the land in society, sports and
manners, the leader of philanthropic projects and social reforms. He
became the busiest man in England, the most popular personality in the
three kingdoms, the head and front of many important public
undertakings. Such a development was new to British institutions, but it
came about so gradually that only when he ascended the Throne did people
fully realize how large a place the Prince of Wales had held in public
affairs as well as in their affections. Mr. Chauncey M. Depew, the
eloquent American Senator, expressed the personal side of the matter
very well when he said, with some surprise, after first meeting His
Royal Highness: "I met a thoughtful dignitary filling to the brim the
requirements of his exalted position. In fact, a practica