OUR LONDON LETTER by M. Ellsworth Olsen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 10, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 37.

OUR LONDON LETTER.

By M. Ellsworth Olsen

Edward VII. Crowned.

The coronation has come off at last, and the whole nation heaved a sigh of relief when the long-looked-for ceremony had actually taken place. There can be no doubt that the king’s illness, which was the cause of the postponement, has really added to the strong affection with which he is regarded by his people.

If loyalty be measured by magnificent displays of bunting and every outward sign of rejoicing, then Coronation Day could boast plenty of it. Even the side streets and alleys, where the very poor have their abode and where hunger and want are by no means strangers, were decked in gala dress on Saturday, and mottoes expressive of thankfulness for the king’s remarkable recovery and of fealty to his throne were most numerous.

In order to make sure of a place along the line of the procession, quite a number of people unable to buy seats took their positions Friday night and bivouacked till the morning; and when, a few days later, Westminster Abbey was opened to the public with an admission fee of sixpence, a line of people, two abreast, and about two miles long waited their turn to view the interior as it looked during the coronation ceremony. Evidently sight-seeing is still popular.

The religious features of the coronation ceremony took on more weight and meaning than would have been the case had there been no postponement. It seemed to be the general feeling that the sovereign’s life had been spared in a special and providential manner, that he might continue to reign over the empire.

Perhaps the sentiments of practically the whole country were expressed by Lord Roseberry’s words: “We lay our crown upon the altar, and ask the Divine sanction for our empire, our power, and our dominion.” The English are essentially a religious people, and the old theory of the divine right of kings, while not recognized any longer in politics, still holds a place in the hearts of the subjects of King Edward VII.

A member of Parliament writing in the Christian World, says that the coronation service “emphatically declared the union of Church with State. Clergy gathered about the king and queen, and never left them until all was completed.” Most of the other religious papers emphasize this feature, and indeed the same may be said of a portion of the secular press.

The coronation celebrations conducted with the greatest enthusiasm in all parts of the kingdom, were not wanting in some sad incidents. Alcoholic drinks were imbibed freely and with usual results. In one village some one contributed eighty gallons of beer, which was placed in the public square, and supplied to any and all indiscriminately. Even children became intoxicated, and one man was kicked to death in a drunken brawl.

Alcoholism is steadily increasing in Great Britain, especially amongst the women. This is all the more significant when it is remembered that in no other country in the world are the various temperance organizations so numerous or apparently so active and efficient.

The religious outlook in Great Britain at the crowning of King Edward VII. is very much the same as in America. There is the same tendency on the part of the liberally inclined to minimize slight differences of creed, and unite in the effort to solve difficult social questions, and do something to alleviate the needs of suffering humanity. There is also apparent a feeling as if the foundation were slipping away. People who have never studied the Word of God for themselves, and have taken all their beliefs second hand, are beginning to see upon how flimsy a foundation many of these have rested, and are looking for something better.

Speaking of the present day, a prominent religious weekly says, “An age of faith we still believe it to be, but faith ofttimes wistful, and sometimes perplexed, whose angel searches the future with shaded eyes for a further revelation.”

This probably expresses truthfully the attitude of a great many honest seekers after truth. How sad that they have not learned to look to the prophetic portions of the Word, which are “as a light shining in a dark place,” until the dawning of the day of final deliverance. But the tendency of the present teaching from the pulpit and in the religious press is to seek to undermine the authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, thus removing the only means of deliverance from doubt and despair.

Evidently there is great need of the simple Gospel, founded on the Word of God, mighty now as ever, to save from sin in every form. This is also the cure for the social evils which are eating into the very vitals of present day society.

M. ELLSWORTH OLSEN.