May 16.
King George has suddenly become a personality to the French people. His appeal to war memories, made from the cemetery at Terlincthun, just after Mr, Lloyd George's outbreak of hostility at Genoa, came as-a pleasant surprise. Frenchmen who have come into contact with the King have of course noticed that he is physically becoming more and more like his father, but the public has not been led to expect from him any of those tactful, graceful public utterances of which Edward VII was a master. He has hitherto been looked upon as a_ conscientious ruler with no desire to go outside his constitutional role and little taste for personal initiative.
His speech at Terlincthun was just what was necessary to smooth the ruffled feelings of our allies and to remind them that differences of opinion about the bast way of dealing with the Soviets are, afier all, of little significance com. pared with 600,000 British soldiers sleeping their last sleep on French soil, under the keeping of "chi-valorous comrades." The message" comes like a voice from a higher plane. It is a pity that the King has made no official visit to Paris since the war and has given the impression of being too thoroughly occupied with home affairs to establish anything like that personal popularity in France which gave his father so much influence. The Edwardian touch about the message from Terlincthun shows that he could, if he chose, play a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.