National Republican., 1883-01-20
FROM ANVIL no PULPIT.
Eloquent Lecture OF Rev. Robert collycr
Mt the Congregational Church.


In quiet, pleasant coloquial manner, Rev.
Robert Collyer told an interested audience at
the Congregational church last night the story
of his life of his his struggles, of his persis-
tent granplo with fate, of his carcer--in short,
From the Anvil to the Pulpit" The story
was n simple one, and tho speaker told it in
chatty way. His appearance, however, fully
as well rs his words spoke the secret of his
success. Tho broad, sturdy frame, tho FULL
square jaw the bright keen eye, and the aqui-
line nose told, in prompter, more decided tones
than the voice ofthc lecurcr, that the great gulf
between Yorkshire anvil and an influential
New York pulpit was bridgcd by persistent
pluck and brilliant brain The flowing gray
hair of the lecturer crowneda broad, high brow,
under which the bright eyes flashed and
sparklcd in sympathy with the words of the
active intellect behind them. A man of
thought and man of action, of busy brain
and restless impulses, backed by sturdy North
umbrian pluck and muscle, IL was at once APP
parent that the anvil could not long hold him
and that the pulpit was to him field of
wider and moro congenial work.
The Yorkshire bur" still clings to Mr..
Collyer's voice, and even when most resonant
his tones are pitched in that high key which
charactcrizcs the north Briton, and which be-
comes the shrilcr tho farther north you
travel from the Humber. The pleasant style,
tho graphic power of stctching the rather
heavy but genuine humor, and the pure SYM
pathetic pathos which years ago distinguished
Mr.. Collyer's eloquencc, are still his, us fresh
and bright rs they were aquarter of u century
ago. These were very pcrCcptiblo in the story
he briefly told last night.
He sSetchcd the portraits of his father and
mother with light and graceful touches, pic
tured the simple life of the Yorkshire peas
ant of fifty years ago, the cottage where he
lived. the stretched
around him, the long wOlds that hid the blue
sea from his gaze, bright with the Towering
| gorse in summer, white and stainless with the
! sparkling snow in winter; the plain, inornatc
meeting house, and, above all, that under
tone OF solemn, even somber thought that
sounds through the Yorkshire character.
From his parents he inherited sound
constitution and perfect health, which
were confirmed by the oatmeal and
milk diet of childhood. At s years
| he entered q factory, one of those busy bee
| hives that threaten to curse Yorkshire with
as much misery as they have already infected
| Lancashire. At II years, in obedience to the
conservative English spirit which ranks the
mechanic higher than the factory hand ho
| entered upon an apprenticeship to n trade
| blacksmithing. Here he welded bellows and
slodges. and read with fevorish avidity what
ever book or paper he could get hold of.
He read while hammering the red-hot iron on
lllb ullNls IlS ICiu Wllllt WANING lOhlN'
| sixteen miles over tho mOOrs and
wolds mt four miles per hour; he read even
while courting, and during the honeymoon
his gaze bent more ardently on the types in u
printed page than into the eyes of his bride.
One day religious conviction struck him,
and he Joined the Methodist church, in which
he soon became an eXhortcr. After his mar
riagc he resolved to realize his lifelong dream
of coming TO America. 81 had far rather be-
come a factor in n republic" said tho lecturer,
with n flash of the eye and deeper toned
voice, than cipher in monarchy" No
need for him then to tell what had been
his politics in his Yorkshire home. He
was u radical of the radicals In America he
worked rs hod carrier then for nine years
as n blacksmith in the hard times following
the panic of 1857 he broke stone on the street,
yet always preaching He gradually found
the belief of his boyhood, Congregational CAL
viuism, becoming too strong for his Meth
odistic Armcnianism, and he joined the Con-
gregational church. Then came the call to
Chicago, which made the name of Robert Coll
yer famous the country over; and Mt last his
present work in New York. And in all this,
said the lecturer, like the Quaker, L followed
an inward light"
"If you want to do wei" said the lecturer
in conclusion, Give well and keep we'll. Life
means hard work and long lines to u man
who begins with no advantages and works up
to good place. My success is due TO possess
ing health and strength, and then by steady
persistence in hard work.