ritish Parliamentary Delegation to Paris on November 26th,
the Premier, M. Combes, eulogized King Edward and toasted him as the
sovereign to whom they owed the treaty. At the annual banquet of the
British Chamber of Commerce in Paris on December 3d, its president, Mr.
O. E. Bodington, made a similar reference to the King. To the Montreal
_Witness_ on December 7th, Senator Dandurand, who had just returned from
England, paid the following French-Canadian tribute to His Majesty: "The
King is the most popular crowned head in Europe to-day. He is beloved at
home, he is admired and praised in France, he is respected by every
Power on the Continent."

But the Continental tour of 1903 by King Edward did more than effect
great results in France. The signing of a Treaty of Arbitration with
Italy in January, 1904, with Spain in March, and with Germany on July
12th--following upon the King's visit to Berlin in June--were supposed
to be largely due to His Majesty's personal influence with the rulers of
those countries and to a popularity with the masses which, in two cases
at least, helped greatly in soothing current animosities. On April 8th
of this year a Treaty was signed with France, in addition to the
Arbitration Treaty already mentioned, which disposed of all outstanding
and long-standing subjects of dispute and as to which, while Lord
Lansdowne was the negotiator, King Edward was a most potent factor.
Under this arrangement Egypt was freed from foreign control and
practically admitted to be British territory, while Newfoundland was
finally relieved of its coast troubles and conflicts of a century. On
November 9th, preceding, Sir W. McGregor, Governor of Newfoundland,
had, during a banquet at St. John's, conveyed a personal message from
the King which assured the people of that colony of his earnest
endeavours to promote a settlement of the French Shore question. To
Canada this matter was also one of the most vital importance, because of
its large French population. In the controversy with Russia over the
Hull fishing fleet outrage of October 23, 1904, which so nearly plunged
the Empire into a great war, it may be said that the King's influence,
coupled with the statecraft of Lord Lansdowne, as exhibited in the
latter's historic speech of November 9th, alone held the dogs of war in
leash. The remark of a member of the Trades' Union Congress at Leeds on
September 7th of this year that in his opinion "King Edward was about
the o