Punch: Punch (70.1876)

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[February 5, 1876.

LADY OF THE LAKE LOQUITUR.

"Mr. Ruskin has issued an invitation to all per-
sons ' who have any regard ' for him or his writings, to'
sign a petition to Parliament to prevent the extension
of railroads across the Lake country. It appears that
longing eyes have been cast by those who desire to
develop the material, and especially the mineral, re-
sources of the district, upon the route which passes
through Ambleside to Keswick. The ostensible reason
assigned is to bring the most attractive parts of West-
moreland within reach of the tourist, who now has to
walk long distances or go to the expense of hiring a
trap. But behind this the author of Modern Painters
detects, and no doubt rightly, the intention of con-
verting these pleasant places of rest into a mining
region." — The Academy, January 22, 1876.

ist ! Let my silver voice
at least be heard,
iz^Sv^^^--^^ Echoing that eloquence which
^TJ^^, oft hath stirred

~ffT~^^?— Even Philistine feeling!

\$V Let n°t the Trade-Gnome

{o**s&i\ further still intrude
^/<V\v. GIhSI!/ Within the sweet sequestered

solitude,

v \ aV \ I) Where Nature's coyest
||S. \S\ \ II charms may yet be

i§\ \v\ n{ wooed
|gpa^^|g^sJ> To full revealing.

Can you not keep one inch
_of all your isle

^^^^/^^II^ ^n the unsullied light of

Beauty's smile,
Which dirt and discord
banish ?
Must your swart Titans
thrust their iron arms

Till, scared by driving reek and rude alarms,
From their fouled path Pan's brood with all
their charms
Shall wholly vanish ?

If Progress its far aims to reach, must fill
The air with poison, choke the babbling rill,

And dye the limpid river,
And such compulsion, as a rule, 'tis vain
To challenge, yet some haunts should sure
remain,

Which wiser Man to Mammon's grasping
reign
Will scarce deliver.

Seeing all-liberal Heaven has given you here
Vales soft as those of Tempe or Cashmere,

Still lakes and solemn mountains,
Spurn not such largess ! Do not drive away
All Solitude's shy nymphs, whose hands
array

My banks with bowers, and keep in joyous
play

My floods and fountains.

I am the Lady of the'Silver Lake ;

I would not have my mountain echoes, wake

To shriek and snort incessant.
And you whose steps have strayed along my
marge

Would Steam-Fiend's roar, gush of foul

mines' discharge,
Fit the still scene where my smooth-shining

targe

Reflects the crescent ?

Even to cold Utilitaria's self—

Sole regent in these days to thirst of pelf

Given by self-dedication,—
I make appeal! Prudence forbids to spoil
The few fair spots on your sea-straitened
soil,

Where poet-passion and o'erburdened toil
Find consolation.

Here have been nourished sons of Art whose
song

Or storied canvas shall your fame prolong,
And swell your pride and pleasure.

Where Wordsworth roved let not the wheels
of Trade,

Unresting as Ixion's, make fresh raid.
Till Fancy flees her loveliest, best-loved shade,
And needful leisure!

Grant in these crowded times men's needs
are more

Than broad meres, mountains high, and
forests hoar,

Birds' song or rose, or lily ; _
Yet these, too, higher human yearnings crave:
Were it not well source of such joys to save,
Nor wholly yield old Pan a helpless slave

To Puffing Billy ?

Though Commerce claim free course, and

subtle Greed
In mask of Progress her convenience plead,

Should Wisdom not be chary
In casting Nature's dearest dowers away p
Leave Lakeland still to elf, and faun, and fay,
For Art and Thought and Toil self's place of

play,

And sanctuary!

Shakspeare Against the Burials Bill.

Dear Mr. Punch,

What has the immortal William not anticipated ? He
lias clearly foreshadowed Mr. Osborne Morgan's iniquitous Burial
Bill, and has given a quiet wipe at the Dissenter—who schismatically
chooses his own path to Heaven—in the Grave-Digger''s question to
his comrade, in Hamlet, Act v., "Is he to be buried in Christian
burial who wilfully seeks his oivn salvation f "

_ lours, Clericus.

An Awkward "Ultimatum.

For a Prince to " call in an Accountant," no doubt,
Is a course too like bankruptcy favour to win;

But if the Khedive's bent on having Cave out,
As one likely result, he may have to Cave in.

Only Natural.

(Cook v. Jenkins.)

What wonder if Cook for a Christian disown

Bold Jenkins, on Satan as mythic who looks ?
When his mission's from Satan; what saw 's better known,

Than " 'Tis Heaven sends us meat, but the Devil sends Cooks " ?

Natural Result oe Moody and Sankey's Preaching it.—
The Opera House is about to be converted—into a Post-Office.

Motto for the Manager oe the Co-operative Credit Bank.—
" Depositi Tenax."

Three Excesses of the Dat.—Drink ! Rink !! Ink ! !!