It gives one a little thrill to read in the cables how the people cheered an event over which probably many of them had lost their money; and how the cheering was renewed when the King "led his horse in", like any other gentleman owner.
We like to behold the King's popularity, and don't in the least grudge him the excitement of a racing victory.
Racing, we say, is intrinsically right enough; - are there not sacred writers who make sympathetic allusions to the Greek Derby, run every alternate year on the Isthmus of Corinth? We reflect with satisfaction that the King's horses will always run straight; and we remind ourselves that if there is anything that can elevate and purify our national sports it is the presence and participation of the highest personage in the land.
So we say and so we think; - and then, with a definite sense of shock, we read that besides winning the race, and the stakes, his Majesty won in racing bets the sum of 14,500.
That fact I call a moral facer.
Of course to the King a few thousands of pounds are only as a handful of half-crowns to us; and the men privileged to bet with him would count it an honour to lose their money.
The betting of royal princes, of dukes and millionaires, is only a game with counters, played for the mere excitement.
But, all this said, it remains that in winning 14,500 by bets on a horse race the King sets a questionable example to his subjects, and indeed there is evidence that the King is aware of it.
For what is the next thing we read? That his Majesty has given 2000 to the Church of Scotland.
Conscience money, clearly.
Finding himself in funds, and remembering the Puritan sentiment of the North, the King sent a timely subscription.
Will it be received? The American Baptists refused the benefactions of Mr Rockefeller, who had done nothing worse than make money too fast out of kerosene oil.
Will the Church of Scotland accept a share of the King's racing bets? I don't in the least see why it shouldn't.
It would put the money to a good use.
But, if the King is worldly-wise, he will be-think him that a Puritan sentiment exists in the South as well as in the North, and will send another 2000 to the Archbishop of Canterbury. - Civis, ODT, 5.6.1909.
