THE announcement of the death of His Majesty the King, which occurred during his sleep, in the early hours of the morning of the 6th day of February at Sandringham, came as a profound shock to the nation and the world at large. This most solemn providence has caused genuine and heartfelt sorrow in every corner of the land and among all classes of the late King’s loyal subjects at home and abroad.
His late Majesty was born on the 14th December, 1895, and succeeded to the throne on the 11th December, 1936, on the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor. He was crowned King on the 12th of May, 1937, and thus reigned for fifteen years, passing away at the age of fifty-six years.
The coming to the throne of the late King was considered by Christian and thoughtful people at the time, to be an event in the providence of God which manifested the divine kindness and care over us as a nation, in the light of all the circumstances relative to the actions of the now Duke of Windsor. We can record, that generally speaking, his late Majesty was a man and a king worthy of respect and homage, possessing as he did, a kingly dignity in the discharge of duties in his exalted office, and as he manifested a respect for the Christian faith, although there were periodically actions on his part and that of the Royal Family against which we, as a Church, had occasion to protest in the terms of our Loyal Addresses and otherwise. Yet about two weeks before he died, the late King, on the 20th of January, presented 14-year-old Diana Melton, daughter of a gamekeeper on the Royal estate, with a Bible. Inscribed in it in the King’s own handwriting is: “Presented to Diana Melton for proficiency in religious knowledge.—George R.” The late King annually
presented a Bible to the pupil on the Sandringham estate, most proficient in religious knowledge; and he handed the Bible to Diana in his study at Sandringham House. This personal interest in Bible knowledge was indeed commendable and an example to others, in a day when the Word of God is despised and ignored by so many.
One thing stands out prominently with regard to the death of His Majesty, while giving due consideration to the illnesses through which he passed latterly, that death came as a thief in the night. He had some days previously bade farewell publicly to Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, when leaving for Australia with her husband, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Little did the Royal Family or the nation think that in a few days afterwards, the then King would have laid aside his Crown by reason of the messenger of death, and that the youthful Princess Elizabeth would be proclaimed Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc. Truly, there is “a time to die” (Eccles. iii. 2), and that time, day, hour and moment arrives very suddenly and unexpectedly in the case of many sinners and saints. And the solemn words of the Lord Jesus Christ as to His second coming at last, have a suitable application here: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh” (Matt. xxiv. 44). Blessed are those who, as poor penitent, trusting sinners, are found in Christ Jesus when the last enemy comes, and fall asleep in Jesus. But woe to the wicked, the Christless, the unbelieving at that day.
God has spoken loudly and most solemnly to every person throughout the land, by this dispensation in His all wise providence, inasmuch as all have been reminded in this signal manner that “man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble,” that “it is appointed unto men once to die,” and that kings as well as peasants must leave all things here, and enter the eternal world and have their residence in heaven or otherwise their abode in hell. Public calamities, such as the unexpected death of a reigning monarch, ought to be taken as a rod of chastisement upon the nation as a whole, when we think of the sins and grievous backslidings of which we are guilty as a people. And thus there is in this solemn event a call to repentance from the Throne in heaven, and that we turn to the Bible once more, to Zion’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the ways of God’s commandments.
We as a Church do deeply and sincerely sympathise with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in her great personal loss and sorrow by the passing away of her devoted husband. May the consolations of God’s grace, mercy and peace, in Christ Jesus, be vouchsafed to Her Majesty in her widowhood. And may her daughters, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, be also led to seek unto the God of all comfort, through
Jesus Christ, for strength and consolation in their bereavement and grief. We desire also that the Most High would be gracious to Queen Mary and all the other members of the Royal Family.
The new and youthful Queen Elizabeth the Second has ascended the throne of our nation in times of strain and tension as to international affairs, and while the economic condition of the country is said to be unfavourable; and alas! when the religious and moral character and conduct of the masses are to a deplorable extent inconsistent with the holy claims of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. May Her Majesty be granted by the Lord of heaven and earth, spiritual and saving wisdom through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and like King Solomon be divinely guided to seek unto God for His blessing. “And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead . . . Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great” (II Chron. i. 8, 10).