Punch: Punch (33.1857)

October 3, 1857.] PUNCH, OK THE LONDON CHARIVARI. *37

Oh ! cherry lips, and rosy cheeks, and glossy braided hair, > No painted window casteth a dim religious light:

Crowned with dancing, dancing bugles, and flowers of myriad dyes ! j No encaustic MiSTON-tiling hides the damp and broken floor:
The Curate he intoneth, but what thought have I for prayer, j The Creed and Ten Commandments are in modern letters quite :

'Mid the rustle of the crinolines, the flashing of the eyes ? | On hard and narrow free-seats, sit the hum ble village poor :

Are these miserable sinners, come for _ But the" miserable sinners" those nar-

prayer, and praise, and psalm, |§§|f=^il | in i Si 1 i ii row seats within,

Or an animated series from Le Courrier I j Jplpflli I f I i Show more misery than our watering-

des Dames F SSm 1 f^lllPl I ll ill I place M.S., if not more sin.

And the Rector takes his text, and is ^5B = If |j|PP\"\ 1\ ^■Lip Hlllbx i But through tne °Pen porch comes

eloquent upon it— S^IMm '—i—l^Sn |' r feisI^^^JIl^W^^'ft I the sweet, sweet summer air,

How that "all things here are vanity, JlUy"; JN| Rlkl™W^w3 ' And the rustle of the churchyard

and swiftly pass away;" ~TTfy\f\fJ^^!lIFIf^ ffi&WnMmftMllj trees blends sweetly with the

And each lady scans the pattern of her f ^tlfjlf^ I psalm,

neighbour's gown or bonnet, 1 IJWNwW fi N*fi4[ \\ | And their ever-moving shadow chequers

And each gentleman's a critic of •^^^^^^^^M^mBSxil^^ \ j^^Jj \\\\ each pavement-square,

toilettes for the day. Tli^^ • And all about the humble place

And out I come, much edified, 'mid the I 'JT_jjM^^&j^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^Sfi'p-^^^- there broods a holy calm ;

organ's solemn swells, lTffiO=1!!^^^H^l£f'^-■^^^StB^^MBP^^'' IImI fi And crinolines and flounces, beads and

With a lively sense how much I owe V-^^^^^^^^^^^StK^^Mnr-i^^^^k' m> bugles are unknown :

to these " church-going belles." IlllilHH' lllMRi r^B 1!' % So I sit and stilly worship, as if I

THE OLD.

were

alone.

Till I hear a sigh beside me and a

'Tis Sunday at the village that lies l|||l|l|\(i||tff:|i]l|ii^^^^^^^M^^^Ril|jKU smothered sound of prayer—

three miles away; Pi 11V 1 nitlTfittf5^^"' f ^i^^P^^wW-Wlm If) And turning, with bowed head and

A pleasant morning's walk from our jB riMLJ-^^Ls^^^^^^sis^ ^^^^^^^^1'^;i^s^^^^^^^^Kf^^^^^^^^^^^^^^' I clasped fingers, at my side,

watering-place 'twill be: P KITlSP™H™nP (J^^l^HiilMTO^^ffiriP^^^uliI j' 0f a nilBerable smner I am suddenly

So I'll leave our bran-new Gothic Kwiiiillifi ti TOwHI^P II™ it' 1 aware-

Church, and service for the day, MM Au old diime 111 poke bonnet' and

Our hotels and lodging-houses, with Illl^HliSl ll'! II tI^WMBBBwMIff 1 i "'I1'1 scanty cloak new-dyed :

their fine views of the sea; —liiMl 1: ifelN1 vll'l1 lilliiy^al ftfM^l^BHHBia g|f | M And 1 thought how such a spectacle,

And for watering-place gay toilettes, ^llli I f S^ffi^^^^^OT Rill P^SS 111 that New Church ot ours>

and watering-place church belles, ^ulll' lf ^^^^^9 I I1' pS§ Would jar with bran new sym-

Content myself with field-flowers—coy ffMjJjjJJI 1 ■AllljU-11" < iPI_jmimiiii i J bols' and buSles> heads, and

beauties of the dells. ' ~- flowers!

The Old Church at the village is very damp and small:

And the house-leek and the moss clothe its low-pitched roof with green;

And the inside has no primitive symbolicism at all—
Nor reredos, nor sedilia, nor piscina's to be seen;

And 'tis blocked up with a gallery, and desecrate with pews.

And it shrinks back, grey and shabby, behind its churchyard yews.

And I felt how these two Churches, and their worshippers agree:
Tiles, glass, and chanting curate, flowery altar, painted stone,

With rustling crinolines, beads and bugles flashing free,
And this poor old village church with that still and stooping crone:

And in spite of pews and gallery, low roof, and windows bare,

I was somehow nearer Heaven in that lowly house of prayer.

Vol. 33.