The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-28

Rev. Robert Collyer Declares 1t wholesome
as Brown Bread and MILK"

Rev. Robert Conyer Declares 1t wholesome
as Brown Bread and Milk"
Sermon Sunday Night
Il going to talk to you about the work of
a woman who. according to the ideas Of rank EN-
tertained in the old world, has not her equal in
birth 1t may be that many here also enter
tain such ideas, and regard dukes and earls and
royal personages with that despairing longing
which we term sour grapes This book, writ
ten by this royal and noble lady, contains such
a record as can be found nowhere else in the
world. 1t is not hard to find out everything
about the lives of English monarchs from Alfred
down to this gracious author, Y ictoria. In the
fierce light that beats about a throne every
thingg is showg; ard III 1 1t long succession Of
royal pers0nages there have been so few that
were WISE so few that were nightly, and so
many that were the reverse, that we cannot but
appreciate Emersons words: God said l am
tired of kings. Ill suffer them no
more But with all that we know of
them, good and bad, wise and foolish, we have
to go back to Alfred the Great, the shepherd of
his people, before we can find another royal
book-maker. Through the long line of centuries
Alfred reaches out his hand and touches that of
Victoria. And both hands are as pure as the
driven snow. Both overflow with domestic love,
and center it in the home rather than in the
palace Both were models of coniugal love- You
will see from these remarks that l am not III
harmony with the opinions that have been
pressed about this book. have read it, and
find it as wholesome as brown bread and milk. l
can remember when Queen Victoria came to the
throne. How l contrasted my fate with hers,
believing, in my ignorance, that to be queen
the summit of felicity for a woman; that all
was joy and comfort for queens, and they knew
no care and sorrow As | read her book felt
that in her life there had been far more sorrow
than in my own. This book is not the history of
the Queen of England but of woman who has
been left widow, from whose arms the husband
of her youth was untimely reft, and who looks
forward to meeting him in another world
But the English do not like this book. They
regard the Queen, or wish to regard her, as
something superhuman, something more than
mere They do not like her to show
gentle loving heart under her gold and purple.
They do not wish her to prove that she is
They prefer to think of her as a grand and beau
tiful abstraction, with mysterious powers and
terrible knowledge. And they are little jeal
Gus of her preference for Scotland, of her being
more mindful of the Forth and the Tay than of
the Trent ana the Thames 1t was a tacit rebuke
to England that the Queen believed she could
live purer, better life in the highlands of Scot
land than in the royal Windsor. Your Scotch
man is certainly better than he should be
but do think he holds himself and his manhood
higher than the Englishman The royal widow
felt that at Windsor she would have lived in
splendid isolation; that is, gilded misery, But
in the highlands she could be free air. visit
neghbors, and live the life of a great lady with
out being forced to accept an adulation that was
distasteful to her. John Brown gave to her the
untiinching devotion that a henchman gives to
his chief, and the Queen, with the warmth of
heart of an honest, noble woman, appreciated
his unselfish service and commemorated her APP
probation ! do not envy those who can see any
more in this than the historic fealty of a high
land servitor and the grateful appreciation of
no credit to those who utter them or have writ
ten them