amed the streets of London and the other and varied
millions of the British Empire threw themselves into the final stages of
preparation. Such was the position on June 21st when the Toronto
_Globe_, in a very fitting editorial, embodied the popular feeling of
Canada. It declared that on the following Thursday the historic Abbey of
Westminster and the streets of London would see "the greatest ceremonial
which our times have known"; that no King "ever ascended a throne with
the more universal consent of the governed than does Edward VII."; and
that the British people had never been fickle in their feelings toward
him who was once Prince of Wales and was now King. "Their affection for
him has never faltered and they will feel gratified on Thursday that the
concluding ceremony of Coronation has fixed him firmly on the most
glorious of earthly thrones".

CHAPTER XXII.

The Illness of the King

If the almost fatal sickness of the Prince of Wales in 1871 was
historic, from the sympathy it evoked and the influence it wielded, that
of the King in June 1902 was infinitely more memorable. At the latter
period the attention of the whole civilized world was focussed upon the
figure of the Sovereign who was about to be crowned amid scenes of
unprecedented splendour; the press of the Empire and the United States
was filled with the record of his movements; the representatives of the
Courts of Europe had arrived or were arriving; the Prime Ministers of a
dozen countries and the Governors of many other countries of his
far-flung realm were in London; dense crowds were swarming through the
streets of the gaily-decorated metropolis; the approaching day was being
looked forward to by many millions of people in many lands as an
evidence, in its successful splendour, of the power and prosperity of
the Empire. Three days before the 26th of June the King and Queen
Alexandra had arrived in London from Windsor and the Coronation
festivities proper had commenced. His Majesty had looked well and had
smiled and bowed freely to the welcoming multitudes along the line of
route. Rumors of his having caught cold had prevailed, it is true, and
in certain sensational quarters there had been statements as to serious
illness and even allegations of paralysis.

But the evidence of that drive through the cheering streets of London
was deemed conclusive and during that afternoon and the next morning
the crowds increased and the excitement grew unt