2, 1901.

Her son Albert Edward was immediately proclaimed King of Great Britain
and Ireland.

The change of Sovereigns has not materially altered the course of
events in the Empire. The King, with much dignity and seriousness,
assumed the responsibilities of his great inheritance, and England
seems to be in safekeeping. The terms finally agreed upon at the Peace
Conference, in May, 1902, bear the signature of Edward _Rex_, instead
of Victoria _Regina_--a {192} signature that peace-loving Sovereign
would so gladly have affixed.

In the year 1904 a British military force entered the hitherto sacred
domain of Tibet with the avowed purpose of obtaining redress from
Tibetan authorities for having violated a commercial agreement made
between China and British India in 1893; which convention was binding
upon Tibet as a vassal State to China. In addition to this, a letter
from the Viceroy of India to the Grand Lama, had been returned
unopened, which, it was claimed, was an insult to the King he
represents.

The time selected for this hostile demonstration, when the
Russo-Japanese War fully engaged the attention of the nations chiefly
interested, was, to say the least, significant; and some were so unkind
as to insinuate that the recently discovered mineral wealth of this
lofty plateau--"this Roof of the World"--was, like that of the
Transvaal in South Africa, a factor in this sudden romantic adventure.

Nature has guarded well this home of {193} mystery; a vast plateau,
from 10,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea-level is held aloft upon the
giant shoulders of the Himalaya, surrounded by deep valleys filled in
with the detritus of an older world. This inaccessible spot is the
home of the Grand Lama, the earthly representative of Buddha, and
Lhassa is the Holy City where this sacred being resides, a city never
profaned by infidel feet until the morning of August 4, 1904, when it
fell, and was desecrated by the presence of red-coated soldiers, and
the blare of military bands, and still worse the plundering of
treasure-houses and monasteries.

It was a rude awakening from the slumber of centuries! The Western
mind can scarcely realize how seriously this has wounded the
sensibilities of millions of people throughout the East; and the
question arises whether England may not some day have to pay more
dearly than now appears for the concessions she has obtained.

The treaty in its early form throws light upon the results e