It is scarcely necessary to record that throughout the memorable visit of the king and queen {336} Lord and Lady Aberdeen displayed to the best advantage those perfect social qualities for which they are renowned in two continents. Such a period is necessarily one of hard and often anxious work, and the thousand and one questions to be settled offhand, the numberless applications for invitations to be studied and settled, and the natural anxiety for the safety and comfort of their royal guests, are matters that would place the average person at a disadvantage. Lord and Lady Aberdeen, however, have the happy quality of rising to the great heights great occasions demand, and so, if their Majesties' reception was tumultuous and their welcome regal, that accorded day after day to the Lord-Lieutenant and his wife can be described as viceregal. Second only in popularity to their illustrious guests, they proved to the thousands of strangers who visit Ireland in the wake of royalty that it is by no means certain that a Liberal viceroy cannot earn the affection of the country. Common courtesy might account for the respect royalty and royalty's representatives meet with in Ireland, but only genuine affection could inspire the enthusiastic welcomes accorded to King Edward and his son and their viceroy, the Earl of Aberdeen. The report of the Viceregal Commission appointed to inquire into the circumstances of the theft of the Crown jewels appeared on February 1, 1908. It stated that Sir Arthur Vicars, the Ulster King of Arms, who was the official custodian of the jewels, did not exercise due vigilance or proper care. His resignation followed as a matter of {337} course, though it must be recorded that there was a general impression that Sir Arthur Vicars had been made the official scapegoat. The decision of the Commission by no means satisfied public opinion, and rumour raged furiously again, inspired by all sorts and conditions of statements said to have been omitted from the report, although stated in evidence before the Commissioners. One of these days the secret history of the disappearance of the Dublin Castle jewellery may be revealed. Until that time, it must be classed among the unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.