Dec.
Speaking for the first time direct to his subjects throughout his Dominions, King George on Christmas Day' did not waste the precious five minutes on smooth platitudes. His gracious _message of seasonable greeting w: inspired by a confident conviction that plain-speaking would not be misunderstood. Himself grey in the service of his people, assured of. their deep affection and unwavering loyalty, he was able to make acknowledgment of the qualities displayed in facing past difficulties the text for insistence on the solidarity necessary to meet, stern tests of future. Facile optiniism cannot ignore the significance of this royal appeal. On a_ historic occasion which was afforded by the newly created Empire Broad-the King's advisers clearly felt it desirable that His Majesty, out of the store of his vast ex: perience and by virtue of his exceptional authority, should remind his hearers that the call made on them. just over twelve months ago, still held good, And it was appropriate that the King should hold out. as inspiration his own leadership. As Prince of Wales his motto, "I serve," was made to him a real rile of conduct, as it is to-day to the Heir-Apparent. He has taken it with him to the throne, from which for more than twenty troublous years, he has con sistently displayed devotion, assiduity and zeal in service of his great Empire. Had. there been nothing in that Empire itself, the King's own magical influence in example might well have commanded a blind submission to its power. But, just as His Majesty's loyalty to the ancient glories of his heritage has been based on reasoned ception of its intrinsic value to mankind, so is it possible for his people, with all humility, to feel that with him they can share that loyalty and buttress at by discerning admiration, In no spirit of self-glorification can any nation look back on the events of the last year, If 1932 has taught any lesson it that of the interdependence of the nations entwined in the fabric of modern civilisation. 'The world is economically one. 'The country which endeavours to go its own gait is liable to meet with bitter disillusionment, as eminent thinkers, reinforced yy the actualities of recent years, have been. at' pains Weclare. The British Common-Ith of Nations has taken tain steps to consolidate economic stability. It has not been unmindful of that fact that, linked up with this domestic problem, is the larger and more vital issue of world relationships. So, ju action requiring international ce-operation, the component States of the Britis Empire have been prominently associated. The chief spokesmen of the Government to foreign nations has lately reaffirmed Great Britain's unswerving support of the League of Nations. Ti movements for solving the world's political and economic difficulties. Great Britain has not attempted to take the leadership but rather to assist in the general development of the principle of operation. She has, however, recognised that her ability to render this service to the world—and therefore to her own people—depends, in the last resort, on the preservation of her own historic entity and: oF the liberties for which, according to her lights and' to the capacity of the race, she has consistently stood. Her ex-sense, unrivalled. No other ation can show an unbroken constitutional tradition which harks back from this 20th Century to the beginnings of the expansion of Europe to the other side of the Atlantic and to the Orient the 16th Century. Many a tinie in those four hundred years have the people of Great Britain known the peril of defeat, the economic woes arising from the clash of destinies. They have won through, not merely -by the valour of their fighting-men or by the wisdom of their statesmen, but by the ingrained faith fof the nation at large in the virtue of self-discipline.
That is what King George meant on Christmas Day, when, from his fireside at Sandringham in that East Anglia which is still the home of the English and still preserves the Anglo-Saxon character in its purest form, as memories of Parson Woodforde stand on record to prove, he referred to the past experience of his people. There is a deep thankfulness within the borders the British Empire to-day for success in averting the dire misfortunes which seemed—imminent liv'le over a year ago. By 'a united effort of all classes and fall_races within that Empire, [definite promise of recovery has been secured. Much has to be yet done. The burden cannot be appreciably eased. Profitless {is it to discuss whether the still menacing difficulties of the near future could have been avoided if other decisions had been taken elsewhere. Realising their own belief in their own responsibility for policy, the British people are debarred from attributing to other nations a less vivid sense lof national duty. To the King's leah they will surely give eager heed. 'To them he is no god, no infallible dictator of actions, but Jone of themselves, whose claim to command allegiance lies in his position as the greatest servant lof them all. His ancestors, far back to the days of King Alfred, ever' been close-knit lives with the lot of their people, in varying degree accord-jing to the prevailing thought of the day. So, in this modern age, King George, availing himself of the wonders of science and vention, has managed to visit every home in his wide domain jand, in a moment of great crisis jon Christendom's own Day, to zive warning, as one of his great predecessors did, for the need to "stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood." Henry V spoke of jan adventure in War. George sounds a clarion call an effort for Peace. Both appeals have the same note as that which Kipling gave in 1914:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.