DOI issue:
July to December, 1844
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16520#0199
192 PUiNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
FRESCOES IN THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
\f R. R- LAMBERT JONES begs to inform Punch that, according to
x his plan, the interior of the Royal Exchange will be decorated with
frescoes designs by Hers Sang, the subjects chosen by Mr. R. Lambert
Jones. In order to give these frescoes an historical value in addition to
their artistic one, and to make of the Royal Exchange a sort of Valhalla of
City worthies, the figures, which are all allegorical, are portraits. Mr.
R. Lambert Jones respectfully submits for Punch's approbation the en-
closed list of subjects, with the names of the parties, whose portraits will
be introduced, appended to each subject.
For the Hall.
THE HIREE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES.
III. CHARITY. Sir James Graham, in the uniform of a Union Beadle, pouring gruel
down a pauper's throat, through a horn of plenty.
L FAITH. Symbolised by Mr. Christopher, MP. for North Lincolnshire, with
the Sliding Scale in his hand, looking up to Sir Robert Peel.
II. HOPE. A large proprietor of Pennsylvania Bonds, holding out a blank
receipt.
For the Vestibules.
L SUBJECT FROM CHORUS, Act. /., Henry V.
" Then shall the warlike Chronicle
Assume the port of Mars, while at his heels,
Leashed in like hounds, shall Famine, Sword, and Fire
Crouch for employment."
Mars, the God of War . . . Lokd Palmerston.
Famine . . ... Lord Mayor Magnay.
Sword .... . The Rev. Mr. Pritchard.
Fire . .... The Prince be Joinvillb.
II. JUSTICE HOLDING THE BALANCE Mr. Alderman- Giebs.
IIL THE FINE ARTS WELCOMED BY THE GENT OS OF THE CITY.
Fine Art.' . . . • Mr. Ex-Sheriff Moon.
The Genius of the City . Mr. R. L. Jones.
CHRISTIAN HUMILITY " EY INCHES."
In a brief account of the restoration of St. Olave's Church,
Southwark, we are delighted to meet with the following golden
syllables :—
"the pews have been cut down many—inches! "
It is a homely saying, that an inch is a good deal in a man's nose.
It is plain that some folks think the same measurement equally im-
portant in a man's pew.
Nevertheless, we hail this small sacrifice to Christian humility as
something. It is too much to expect that well-dressed, well-fed, and
very well-to-do believers can all of a sudden throw down the pews
which have so long enshrined them from the poor and struggling
church-goer—from the man who, with a soul to be saved, does
nevertheless pray for its salvation on a wooden bench. To do this,
would be to confound all those nice distinctions of fortune and ward-
robe never, with propriety, to be forgotten in moments of devoutest
sacrifice.
Besides, consider the danger to worldly respectability from sud-
denly leaving off a pew. What a comfortable, snug thing it is : how
it wraps a man about, keeping him from vulgar breath ! How it
warms his Christianity, making him feel something superior to the
mass of common clay ! And what • Leave off the pew all at once ?
Why, dear sir, your Christianity may take cold—may fall into a de-
cline—may, alas ! die outright. No, sir, no. Do with your pew as
careful people do with their flannel in spring: throw it not off all at
once, but, copying tender St. Olave, leave your pew off by inches.
When we consider the enormous altitude of much church-goint,'
pride, a curious and most difficult sum forces itself upon our mind.
It is this. We give it to be worked by any bishop, cunning in such
arithmetic :—
If a man leaoe off an inch of his pew a year, in how many years will ht
sink to the true standard of Christian humility ?
We havehad curious calculations of the time consumed by a cannon-
ball in its imagined transit from a star to the earth—now, there are
some souls, heavy in their pride as iron shot : how long may it take
to send them from the earth to the stars ? Alas 1 who shall say I
Nevertheless, we hail this sacrifice of inches. Our only fear is.
that the coy Christianity of St. Olave having given an inch, the
revolutionists of pews may clamour for an ell.
FRESCOES IN THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
\f R. R- LAMBERT JONES begs to inform Punch that, according to
x his plan, the interior of the Royal Exchange will be decorated with
frescoes designs by Hers Sang, the subjects chosen by Mr. R. Lambert
Jones. In order to give these frescoes an historical value in addition to
their artistic one, and to make of the Royal Exchange a sort of Valhalla of
City worthies, the figures, which are all allegorical, are portraits. Mr.
R. Lambert Jones respectfully submits for Punch's approbation the en-
closed list of subjects, with the names of the parties, whose portraits will
be introduced, appended to each subject.
For the Hall.
THE HIREE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES.
III. CHARITY. Sir James Graham, in the uniform of a Union Beadle, pouring gruel
down a pauper's throat, through a horn of plenty.
L FAITH. Symbolised by Mr. Christopher, MP. for North Lincolnshire, with
the Sliding Scale in his hand, looking up to Sir Robert Peel.
II. HOPE. A large proprietor of Pennsylvania Bonds, holding out a blank
receipt.
For the Vestibules.
L SUBJECT FROM CHORUS, Act. /., Henry V.
" Then shall the warlike Chronicle
Assume the port of Mars, while at his heels,
Leashed in like hounds, shall Famine, Sword, and Fire
Crouch for employment."
Mars, the God of War . . . Lokd Palmerston.
Famine . . ... Lord Mayor Magnay.
Sword .... . The Rev. Mr. Pritchard.
Fire . .... The Prince be Joinvillb.
II. JUSTICE HOLDING THE BALANCE Mr. Alderman- Giebs.
IIL THE FINE ARTS WELCOMED BY THE GENT OS OF THE CITY.
Fine Art.' . . . • Mr. Ex-Sheriff Moon.
The Genius of the City . Mr. R. L. Jones.
CHRISTIAN HUMILITY " EY INCHES."
In a brief account of the restoration of St. Olave's Church,
Southwark, we are delighted to meet with the following golden
syllables :—
"the pews have been cut down many—inches! "
It is a homely saying, that an inch is a good deal in a man's nose.
It is plain that some folks think the same measurement equally im-
portant in a man's pew.
Nevertheless, we hail this small sacrifice to Christian humility as
something. It is too much to expect that well-dressed, well-fed, and
very well-to-do believers can all of a sudden throw down the pews
which have so long enshrined them from the poor and struggling
church-goer—from the man who, with a soul to be saved, does
nevertheless pray for its salvation on a wooden bench. To do this,
would be to confound all those nice distinctions of fortune and ward-
robe never, with propriety, to be forgotten in moments of devoutest
sacrifice.
Besides, consider the danger to worldly respectability from sud-
denly leaving off a pew. What a comfortable, snug thing it is : how
it wraps a man about, keeping him from vulgar breath ! How it
warms his Christianity, making him feel something superior to the
mass of common clay ! And what • Leave off the pew all at once ?
Why, dear sir, your Christianity may take cold—may fall into a de-
cline—may, alas ! die outright. No, sir, no. Do with your pew as
careful people do with their flannel in spring: throw it not off all at
once, but, copying tender St. Olave, leave your pew off by inches.
When we consider the enormous altitude of much church-goint,'
pride, a curious and most difficult sum forces itself upon our mind.
It is this. We give it to be worked by any bishop, cunning in such
arithmetic :—
If a man leaoe off an inch of his pew a year, in how many years will ht
sink to the true standard of Christian humility ?
We havehad curious calculations of the time consumed by a cannon-
ball in its imagined transit from a star to the earth—now, there are
some souls, heavy in their pride as iron shot : how long may it take
to send them from the earth to the stars ? Alas 1 who shall say I
Nevertheless, we hail this sacrifice of inches. Our only fear is.
that the coy Christianity of St. Olave having given an inch, the
revolutionists of pews may clamour for an ell.