Where was the real royalty as between the two individuals mentioned in this historic incident?
It was arranged by his friends that Doctor Morrison should be presented to George IV that he might bestow a copy of the Chinese Bible upon His Majesty. Who would not have liked to witness the interview! On the throne sat “the handsomest prince in Christendom, the finest gentleman of Europe” (so his courtiers told him), but whom Thackeray dubs “a monstrous image of pride, vanity and weakness,” who had lived sixty-two years and done nothing but invent a shoe-buckle; who had spent hundreds of thousands, nay, millions, on mere sensual gratification. Fifty thousand dollars a year, we are told, it took to clothe that royal back. Before His Gracious Majesty stood the son of a farmhand, Robert Morrison, twenty years his junior, who had lived simply and given largely; who had found out a useful thing to do, and had worked at it so faithfully that he had raised himself to be the equal of the greatest man in the realm.
Robert bent the knee and presented the Chinese Bible to his sovereign, which gift His Imperial Highness was pleased to accept. But it is to be feared that His Imperial Highness’ morals were no more benefited by the Chinese than by the English version.
(2793)
Royalty, Spirit of—See [Christian Spirit, The].
Royalty Unrecognized—See [Bargain-making].
Royalty’s Kindness—See [Appreciation].
Rubbish—See [Value in Rubbish].
Rudeness, Reaction of—See [Retaliation].
Ruin, Spiritual—See [Neglected Lives].