Punch: Punch (32.1857)

June 13, 1857.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI

PERSECUTION IN BELGIUM.

To the Editor of the " Tablet:'

LR-The faithful Belgian
Clergy have been cast—
^^-^-^ not by any means having

^^0iSr got themselves—into the

____ hot water of persecution.

^^^^g^JBBB^afea^ They have been hissed and
.-- iir^^^j^ywiig^1" hooted, and subjected to

- r^^^ other atrocious torments.

"^^^^MffS^^ -^u infuriated mob has

fl^S^ESPSs^V ^^.-^^""^ outraged those venerable
^^^^^^Ov^^\\ fathers with horrid cries

l^*".—-^ and " Five la Constitu-
W^QS&r J@Qrj§i|i^ v\ 1 A tion/" and the still more
»s|Lfs^ ^C*^^.' f\ j \bai bar ous shouts and yells

t^\\jMl of "Weg de Kloosters■'"

wTlr^PI) ^3l*\ tm " ^eff de leegloopers!'"

j>v " m) JJY ^ jN^y^m '' Levd de werkman /" With

% & i1 0kjLjEjL}* these insults and injuries

V^Y f o uave *ne ungrateful Bel-

$• fwv f) ^an burghers repaid the

^?fe^^K | y^^C//- y spiritual beneficence of

DfT^^ffi^ / \W ||X their priests and bishops,

P'iHI V X V ^h ^esu^& ail& other

IIIKj/^^c j£ - -^x \ ' sestiou>and b-v thc influ-

n i ence, of these pious
( \ ecclesiastics, a law was
, \ proposed and partially

i^\_J| enacted, the operation of
il l\ which would confer on a
1] ]' large portion of the Bel-
gian population, the inesti-
mable grace of poverty.

The law was one which would have repealed certain Belgian enactments equivalent to
our abominable British statute of mortmain—execrabile Mud statutum, as a blessed Pope
called it, I think. Had it passed, a dying parent would have been enabled to disinherit
his children; for the advantage of his own soul, their eternal welfare, and the emolument of
a monastery. Public clamour has defeated this intended piece of legislation, and now the

dying rogue will still be denied the liberty of
delivering himself from the deuce, by bequeath-
ing his plunder to the Church instead of leaving
it to his own family. Of course the rogue's
will cannot be as good as his deed, if any will
that he may make in favour of Holy Church is
an invalid document. What a hardship on the
repentant rogue, to prevent him from atoning
for his crimes by nnpoverishing his heirs!
British fanaticism will exult in the def, at and
humiliation of the Belgian priesthood; but
Exeter Hall may perhaps be astonished to learn
that the unpopularity of that venerable body
arises in part from precisely the same cause as
its own. At the suggestion of some of those
holy men, whom the Belgian infidel journals
call over-zealous priests, the religieuses of the
lace-school of Liederskerke caused the hair of
certain of the young girls at that seminary to
be cut off because, on the Sunday of the
" Lakermesse," they had taken part in a dance.
Thus have those reverend fathers excelled our
British Sabbatarians in their own line, and
incurred a proportional share of public aver-
sion and contempt, constituting that cruel
martyrdom which they ever seek so eagerly,
and which they always so eloquently bewail, to
the admiration and amusement of, Sir, your
constant watcher, iSWffi&'fe

P.S. The heretic Leopold has adjourned the
Chambers. Could Herod, or Decils, or Dio-
cletian, have acted more infamously ?

One Begins to be Uncomfortable.

There can now be no doubt that the expected
Comet will annihilate all things. An Adelphi
playbill announces the Green Bushes "for the
Last Time." This is conclusive. When a drama
that was not for an age but for all time, stops,
Time himself ha.d better take himself by the
forelock, and make his bow.

SIE KOBEET PEEL ON MOSCOW.

Sir Robert, having nothing to do at present, took a large circle of
friends with him the other day to Btjrford's Panorama in Leicester
Square, and entertained them with a Lecture on the beauties of the
place:—

" My boys, here we are in Moscow. By Jove, it is very like!
You see before you the coronation, which, I need not tell you, far
surpassed the one in the Prophete. You will notice three principal
characters in it—the Emperor, the Empress, and myself—but you will
observe that your humble servant does not occupy the prominent
position which his merits deserve. The Bell to your left is the Czar
Kolokol, or, in other lingo, the Emperor of Bells. It went up
amidst hullaboolooing and rejoicing, and then came down with a devil
of a crash, reminding one of the rise and fall of many a popular
minister that I could name. The consequence was, that after its
fall it was found to be cracked—not the only instance of the downfal
of a great upstart having ended in insanity. The Grand Duke has
been compared to this Bell, not on account of his enormous mettle,
but simply because he, too, is cracked. However, we will not touch
on that head, but rather plunge into the Moscowa, which is the
Thames of Moscow—with this simple difference, that there are no
whitebait in it. It joins the Oka at a short distance, which by shallow
authorities has been cited as the reason of its yellow Oka appearance.
My boys, I arm going to startle you now. At one time there were
1600 churches in Moscow! What do yon think of that ? Even now,
as we take a squint over the roofs of the houses, the eye is presented
with the sight of a very peculiar steeplechase, such as would beat the
Liverpool one completely out of the field. Count the spires, if you can.
IS'ot two steeples are alike. They are of all sizes and of all colours—as
if each one was wearing the colour of its patron saint. The domes
remind one of the coats of the jockeys at Epsom, for your optics are
regaled with the sight of every bright pigment under the sun. The
Cathedral of the Virgin—there to the right of you—has sixteen of these
pictorial towers, huddled all in a heap together, like the cups and saucers
in a conjuror's box. In a fruiterer's shop you will not see more varieties
of form and colour than these towers_ present. There are apples, pears,
melons, plums, with a large dash of the pine-apple. They look like
huge horticultural toys, that would not figure badly in a scene of tbp

Palace of Pomona in a pantomime. All the houses, in fact, take
strange freaks into their heads. Many of them are gilt, reminding
one of misers, whose caputs run upon nothing but gold. Others are
painted green and red. The effect is not happy. They bring before
one the picture of the Covent Garden market-carts, filled with greens
and carrots. The churches are crammed with more plate than Hust
and Roskell's ; whilst Storr and Mortimer's shop would be
nothing better than a pedlar's box compared to the innumerable sacks
of precious stones they contain. Talking of sacks, the French took
no small share of these same jewels just before they were burnt out of
Moscow. Living is mighty dear in this queer capital. A captain's
biscuit costs almost as much as a Colonelcy would in England. The
Russians are extremely fond of charging the English tremendously,
excepting, of course, with the bayonet. Every look, every question,
every oath, every kick, is carefully computed, and put down ffi the
bill. Most of their ways are dirty and narrow—not unlike their
streets, whose only pavement is that of good intentions, for, owing to
the badness of the paving, it is something worse than purgatory to
walk over them. The city altogether presents a curious harlequinade
of all architectural styles and orders, and, for that reason, like a harle-
quinade, when once you have seen it you do not care _ about seeing it
again. Moreover, I hold that this -panorama is infinitely better than
the city itself. You are free from the smells, the fleas, the priests, the
soldiers, and pickpockets of all descriptions, that haunt the original.
Take my word for it, every Russian is a born pickpocket. However,
let us cut. But, before going, my tulips, let us give three cheers for
Burford. Btjrford is a brick—a brick that should be amongst the
pihars of the Royal Academy."

As Sir Robert Peel is no longer connected with the Ministry, we
think he could not do better than turn his talents, generally speaking
to public lecturing. We shall be only too happy to act as his Special
Reporter. _

humphry (brown) 's last testimonial.

Copper has risen in price—all round the town

Two hundred pounds are offered for One "Brown :"

And yet the purchaser may prove an ass;

He 'li find (or we mistake) his Brown's all Brass.