The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-06-05
BRADFORD, VERMONT, JUNE 5. 1896.
REV. DIR. ROBERT CoLLYER.

Those who had the pleasure of lis
tening to a sermon by DIR. Collyer in
Bradford two years ago, and to his
lecture last summer at the Village Hall,
will recognize in the following descrip-
ton in the New York Commercial
Advertiser, capital pen picture or
the stvle of the great pul pit orator,
and the distinguishing beanties and
oraces of his sermons, and the earnest
ness and effectiveness of their delivery:
The speaker sets out as if he were in a
prodiei0uS hurry. and from text to conclu-
sion goes on with rush, pauslng nowhere,
dwelling upon nothing, never heSltatlng
for word or to find a lost place In MS
manuscript, never stopping to beat out the
text while his thoughts and energies rally
for new start. His only difficulty seems
to be that too many ideas crowd upon him
to be said in the little time at his command
But before he has gone far on his swift
Journey the dulest listener is reused and
''cannot but choose hear" How earnest
he is! How far from shouting, how gentle
and concilatory in manner, yet how ne
moves his hearers to catch every word as
if it were pearl. How sunny is his face,
how tender his voice, as he speaks OF some
natural beauty, the daisy, the heather, or
the ocean. And here is one OF the most
salient traits of the man. his affection Tor
the little beauties of this beautiful world
never forced, never over-demOnstrative,
never dwelling in detailed and minute
description, but breathing through his
| every utterance and lurking in his every
! thought. 1t is there, bounding through ms
pulses. just as it leaps along III the INES OF
| Jean Ingelow more than in those of any
other poet of her generation, so ,hht you
| knew she is thinking of daisies and butter
cups, linnets and hedge sparrows, though
she may not mention them from the Degln-
nlng to the end of the ballad.
Robert COllyer cannot speak OF the blue
| sky without your seeing, or seeming 70 see
the grand dome of heaven, warm. lovely
and illimltable above: and, what is more
seem to see it again in exquisite beauty
| like the one perfect day OF many remeln
| bered Junes.
I IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH MANKIND.
! Closely akin to this is the warm sympa
| thy of the preacher with human nature
his love for what is good in it under all III
| flaws and frailties. here is no thundel
| inihis voice; nothing terrible in his creed
| He is pre-eminently the disciple OF cheer
fui Christianity. Let him, discourse upGI
! si,ss,,s he may, one leaves the church think
ling got Of the hideousness of sin, but OF the
] IL, Of virtue; not ab2<lng himself IN tht
I 1IiX7r. but sen - s0mpp06f 6T0TTitf T1110T1
| bd 10 " lift Hd0ut of it, with a warmel
haA,l clasp fd every friend, a reader for
giyehess for every hurt. The sermon
rushts on like mountain torrent. bearing
| illustration snatched from every shore
from literature, from travel, from everyda!
life. from rich personal experience o
infinite variety. No one sObs, no on
laughs. but every face ripples with smile
every eye glistens with an unconscious
tear. The Yorkshire burr is forgotten; no
body has an inclination to criticize manne
or matter; the congregation of stranger
feel like family party.
stops. not because his theme is exhausted
but because his time is up; and the audito
feels and may prove by actual test If HI
peases, that the orator is just as fresh ant
full of electric force for an afternoon o.
an evening sermon as if he had passed thu
morning on the sofa in his study.