§ 2.35 p.m.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (VISCOUNT HALL) rose to move That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty to congratulate His Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen and Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on the birth of a son to Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. The noble Viscount said: My Lords, in the regrettable absence, owing to a very heavy cold, of my noble friend Lord Addison, who leads this House with a grace and distinction which I cannot hope to emulate, there has fallen to me the high honour and privilege of moving the Motion for an humble Address to His Majesty. Conveying to the King and Queen, and to Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, our congratulations upon the birth of a son, it is unfortunate, too, that on this important occasion the Speaker of your Lordships' House, the Lord Chancellor, has been called away to Paris for important consultations. He has asked me to make particular apologies to your Lordships for his unavoidable absence from the Woolsack this afternoon, which obliges him to forgo the honour of putting this Address of Congratulation and of announcing, as is invariably the case with Addresses of this nature in your Lordships' House, that it has been carried without a note of dissent.
§ In this country, which has known Kingship accompanied by democratic institutions for so many centuries, a country "where freedom has slowly broadened down from precedent to precedent," the Monarchy has found itself, during the past hundred years of its history, more securely based than ever before upon the affections of the people. 396 And for this happy relationship we owe everything to a succession of Sovereigns who have held their great office so well, and so faithfully, that they have made Kingship symbolic of—nay, synonymous with—service. To-day we are all rejoicing in the joy of our Royal Family. With our King and Queen, and their gracious Mother, Queen Mary, we are happy that Princess Elizabeth, as Heiress-Presumptive, has presented her husband, the Nation and the Commonwealth with a Prince as the first issue of what we all know is a very happy marriage. Thus the succession is secured, and we may look forward to a continuance of that Royal tradition, which has so endeared the Monarchy to the hearts of our people, and to the other partners with us in the Commonwealth and Empire.
§
My Lords, we rejoice with the young Princess and her husband in their happiness; for we are one great family with The King as head, and, just as our domestic joys are shared by the Sovereign and his House, so to-day, as always, we rejoice with him and with those gathered round his domestic hearth, and share the fullness of their happiness. And for the baby Prince, whom we welcome to our hearts, we wish health, strength, wisdom and length of years and happiness in the service and the affection of the Nation. He has come amongst us as a Sunday's child, and we remember the good omen of the age-old saying:
The child that is horn on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise, and good and gay.
My Lords, the occasion needs no further words from me. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty to congratulate His Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen and Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on the birth of a son to Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh.—(Viscount Hall.)
§ 2.41 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I rise to second the humble Address of Congratulation to Their Majesties The King and Queen, which has been moved by the noble Viscount, Lord Hall. I do so with a full heart. The event which we celebrate to-day is one which is not only joyful in itself; it is fraught with happy auguries for the 397 future. Here, in this ancient country, whatever else may change, the Monarchy, as the noble Viscount, Lord Hall, has already said, remains our proudest and most precious possession. We sometimes speak of it as the pinnacle of our national Constitution, or as the keystone of the British Commonwealth and Empire. But it is much more even than that. Our attachment to the Monarchy represents a deep personal feeling enshrined in all our hearts. It is the very essence of our national being. We love and revere our King and Queen, not only for themselves, but for all that they represent.
The silent, expectant throng that stood before Buckingham Palace, hour after hour in the cold and damp of a November evening, waiting for the news which we celebrate to-day, the great crowds that gather at the Palace on any momentous occasion, happy or sad, go there instinctively, because they want to share their deepest feeling with their King, who is at once their Ruler and the most faithful and enduring counsellor and friend. Governments may come and go; but he remains. This close relationship between the Crown and the people has grown and matured over many centuries. It has been immeasurably strengthened in recent years by the example of King George V and Queen Mary, and yet more firmly established by the selfless devotion of Their present Majesties, to whom this country and the Empire owe a debt that can never be repaid.
This noble tradition of service by the Crown, of which the noble Viscount, Lord Hall, so rightly spoke, they have handed down in full measure to their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who has already, in deeply moving words, dedicated her life to our country. Now, a new generation is with us, a young Prince, who will grow up with the same spirit of service to his people. This is an event of transcendent importance. We in this House send our loyal congratulations to his father and mother, and to Their Majesties the King and Queen, who now, for the first time, join the honourable company of grandparents. We share in their joy. May all blessings attend this child; may health and happiness be his; and may he grow up in the fullness of time to be the pride and glory of this country.
§ 2.45 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT SAMUELMy Lords, we on these Benches desire to associate ourselves with the Motion for an humble Address, which the House will be glad to send to His Majesty on this occasion. Our minds may go back to the wedding ceremony in Westminster Abbey a year ago. The occasion was stately—the marriage of the Heiress to the Throne—but the service was the usual simple and beautiful ritual of the Church of England, such as would be used at any marriage in any village church. I remember being struck, and not a little moved, by the words of the introductory rubric:
The persons to be married shall come into the body of the Church with their friends and neighbours.In that historic building, with its atmosphere of a thousand years of history, amid the vast congregation of the leaders of a great Nation and the representatives of a yet greater Commonwealth, stood Philip and Elizabeth, as man and woman, with their "friends and neighbours". Indeed, for the King and his family, all his people, though separated in space, are spiritually their neighbours; and we are fortunate in this: that all are their friends. This little Prince, two days old, knows nothing of who he is, nothing of the greatness to which he has been born, or of its responsibilities. Let us ask a blessing on his life. The Houses of Parliament, speaking, too, for all those friends and neighbours, will pray that it may be blessed with happiness for himself and usefulness for his country.
§ 2.48 p.m.
THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDONMy Lords, I feel it a great privilege to be allowed to add my few and simple words to those adequate tributes which have already been paid by noble Lords in supporting the Motion for the humble Address. I speak on behalf of the Lords Spiritual generally, but more particularly on behalf of the most reverend Primate the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, who, to his infinite regret, has been prevented from appearing here this afternoon by the preparations that are now going forward for his tour in Germany. This occasion is one of both national and personal rejoicing. It is an occasion of national rejoicing because the Nation, a great and proud Nation, rejoices in the security of the succession to the Throne. But also, I 399 venture to think, it is an occasion of intense personal rejoicing. The fact is that in this country, and indeed in the whole Commonwealth, we owe an infinite debt to Their Majesties, which we feel deep in our hearts but which we can never adequately repay. We can endeavour to repay it, to some extent, by sympathising with them in the fullest sense—that is, by feeling with them in all the changes and chances of this mortal life. As we have from time to time expressed our sympathy in their sorrows, so to-day we express our infinite joy in their great rejoicing. Those of us who have the proud privilege of being grandparents will rejoice that to Their Majesties has been given at this time the deepest, the simplest and, perhaps I might add, the most exquisite joy that is known to human beings in the short span of their earthly life.
I would like to say one thing that has not been mentioned in the speeches of noble Lords. I desire to express in this House the great rejoicing of our kinsfolk overseas. As one who had the privilege of working for nine years in Australia, I can tell the House how great will be the rejoicing overseas and, indeed, how great has already been the rejoicing in that Dominion. Owing to the chance of geographical situation, they were able to forestall us in the public expression of their joy, and the bells were ringing from the steeples of Sydney while we were sleeping in our beds. That is the kind of anticipation in which they always rejoice, and I cannot help feeling that it is the greatest augury of the happiness of Their Majesties' intended visit to Australia. It is a sign of the tremendous loyalty and joy that the people feel.
I would like to add to the graceful couplet which the noble Viscount gave us in his speech in moving the humble Address. In our English way we put it simply that,
Sunday's child is full of grace,and we hope and pray that the child so newly born will fulfil the portent of the day of his birth. To our own rejoicing we shall add our unceasing prayers that during the lifetime of this child renewed material prosperity will come to our Nation, and that there will be continued that moral and spiritual leadership 400 which we are still, beneath the hand of God and under the guidance of Their Majesties, able to give to a torn and distracted world.
§ 2.52 p.m.
§ LORD ROCHESTERMy Lords, Free Churchmen, in humble duty, would, I know, wish most heartily to support the Motion for this humble Address and to be associated with all that has been so well said on this happy occasion. I cannot hope to emulate the eloquence of previous speakers, but on behalf of Free Churchmen, not only in this country but throughout the world, I desire to express in no measured terms our sincere congratulations to Their Majesties the King and Queen upon the birth of this Royal Prince. As we listened to the B.B.C. news summary at eleven o'clock on Sunday night, we were full of thanksgiving for such a gift of God to this Nation and to the Commonwealth. I would add only the assurance of our prayers for the life spared and for the life given.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to nemine dissentiente.
§ VISCOUNT HALLMy Lords, it is proposed that, as on the last two occasions when your Lordships passed Addresses of Congratulation to the King on Their Majesties' Silver Wedding and on Princess Elizabeth's engagement, the Address we have just passed should be presented to His Majesty by Privy Counsellors.