ueen sheds a lustre upon
his Court for which it would be difficult to find a parallel. Amiable,
tender-hearted, actively philanthropic, and possessing exquisite taste,
the Queen Consort is eminently qualified to be the bright particular
star in the shining galaxy of our Court. The Royal Princesses are most
highly accomplished and amiable ladies, each one of whom has achieved
for herself a high place in the affections of the nation."

CHAPTER XIX.

The Empire Tour of the New Heir to the Throne

If Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, had been enabled at different times
in his career to visit various portions of his future realms and to
create influences and receive impulses which have told for good in the
upbuilding of the British Empire, his son and heir was destined to make
a tour in 1901 which was still more impressive in character and
influential in import. The single visits of the Prince of Wales to India
and Canada were made in days when they partook of an almost pioneer
character, and they were chiefly important in moulding crude opinions
into a more matured and organized form. The tour of the Duke and Duchess
of Cornwall and York was, on the other hand, a result of clearly
developed conditions of Colonial power; an embodiment of existing
aspirations toward Empire unity; an expression of the loyalty existing
between Mother Country and the Colonies and toward the Crown and British
institutions.

ORIGIN OF THE TOUR

It was on September 17th, 1900, that the Colonial Office first announced
the assent of Her Majesty the Queen to the request presented by the
combined Australian Colonies that H. R. H. the Duke of York should open
their newly-established Parliament in the spring of 1901. It was stated
in this announcement that "Her Majesty at the same time wishes to
signify her sense of the loyalty and devotion which have prompted the
spontaneous aid so liberally offered by all the Colonies in the South
African war and of the splendid gallantry of her Colonial troops." After
the death of the Queen it was feared that the time might not be
considered opportune for so distant a journey by the Heir to the Throne,
but on February 14th, 1901, the King announced in his speech to
Parliament that the proposed Australian trip would not be abandoned, and
that it would be extended to the Dominion of Canada. "I still desire to
give effect to her late Majesty's wishes * * * as an evidence of her
interest, as well as my own,