Punch (32.1857)

J™* 6, 1857 ] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 225

not feel himself comforted as a Christian with so much money, won
THIRTY THOUSAND POUNDS' WOETH OF SORROW, from the wicked turf—the turf that is only a verdant covering to the

bottomless pit—and therefore, we are inwardly convinced, he is at this
At the late Chester races, certain persons, self-elected preachers.^; moment casting about him for the best means of dispensing the
appeared upon the ground, inwardly moved to discourse to a turf. £30,000 that, otherwise, must be to him no less than thirty-thousand
congregation on the sinfulness of the world in general and on the j tons of burning coals. Yes, at this moment, the remorseful mind of
atrocious wickedness of races in particular. Why not? Ginger beer f Gill bethinks itself of Chester Hospitals; of Chester Schools; of
is allowed its stall; gingerbread nuts are permitted free vent^ Why, Chester Reformatories; and if he pauses a moment in casting from his
then, should not the field preacher be nermitted to froth with indigna- soul that £30,000 weight, it is only that he cannot at a moment mat;
tion. and to become red not with zeai m the cause of sinners ? If nis election of tne omect. jjet us, men, give me man of sorrow a
these turf apostles did not interfere with the running—if thev little time to consider ana cnoose.

obediently cleared the course of themselves and their doctrines at the Tne naugnty Lord Byron naa a skuti mounted as a aruiKing-c-p.
proper warning, we see no reason why their sermons should be a whit A much more terrible vessel must be the Chester Cup to the eye of
more interdicted than ginger-pop or ginger-nuts. However, the the remorseful man who has won it; filled, we may say, with 30,000
authorities of Chester thought otherwise ; and, by means of their con- sovereigns ! What a sea of guilt is there ! What a draught for a
stables, conveyed away to safe keeping certain divine orators, taken in Satan's Sabbath to be tasted by the whole court of Beelzebub !
the fact of expounding their doctrines of woe and desolation. The It is not given to the human heart, especially when touched by
preachers were for a time held in custody; and then discharged to be remorse, softened by sorrow, to make a household thing of that Cup.
embraced with fraternal love and refreshed with sympathetic tears : The repentant sinner cannot continue to behold it on his sideboard,
for a meeting was straightway convoked at Chester in admiration and the vessel to his imaginative eye so " bubbles and boils with the
honour of the turf-preaching oppressed. aconite froth" that risesfrom the source of all cant and all hypocrisy.

The chair was taken by Mr. William Tithkkington, of the firm of We shall give the earliest notice of the manner in which Mr. Gill
Titherington and—and pray let the reader mark the fact, and Gill, bestows the hated, festering £30,000. In token of the worthy gentle-
and, we may add, Somes & Co: for the grief, sorrow, and compunction man's grief upon his winnings, it is understood that his commercial
that have fallen upon partner Gill must, if the reader be not of stone, house will in future be known as " Titherington, Gill, Grief,
melt him like butter. However, let us first note two or three lovely and Co."
bits of humility emanating from the preachers themselves, from the
men who had been in bonds. Mr. Reginald Radcliffe, a sufferer,
said,—"his poor hands had been steeped in vice," but he had washed
them, and had used them in prayer at Chester race<: for in race week
"Chester was drunkenness; Chester was fornication; Chester was
gambling." Even so.

" The business transacted between men during the race week in front of the
Royal Hotel, was very different to that transacted between tradesmen. When a
man bet another £5 to £100, the intention of the one was to gain the £100 and
retain the £5 ;—to gain the £100 for nothing. A tradesman would send an order
for £50 worth of things, and in return would receive goods to that amount, but on
the gamblers principle, in lieu of £50 worth of goods, the trader would receive a ,
quantity of empty boxes."

Now, Mr. Gill, of the respected firm of Titherington and Gill>
is a Liverpool cotton-broker; and is reputed to have won no less j
than £30,000 on the last Chester-cup. What a blow, then, is dealt by j
preacher Radcliffe at cotton-broker Gill ! What a draught of bit-
terness is he made to drink from that Cup of Death, the Cup of the j
Chester Turf. Let us, however, not forget the humility of the
preacher. It is quite touching to learn the very humble conditions j
upon which he is wilhng to enter heaven.

"He would again repeat what he had before stated, that he had not one il^
thought against Major French (the magistrate), but would rejoice—if he were able'
and the Major would allow him—to go to heaven with him arm-in-arm, and with th j
high constable, and with the policeman who took him to gaol."

What a sublime, what an affecting picture! How tender, how
lowly, too, the Christian spirit that would not refuse to go arm-in-arm
to heaven, even with—a policeman! This very fact will prove the
earnest humility that moved the preacher to the race-course ; for after
much suffering in a ceil, he is quite prepared to forgive the constable
who took him by the collar, and conveyed him to the dungeon, and,
slipping his arm under the policeman's, is quite ready and willing to

enter Paradise with A1. What a subject for a chapel window, if __________= -----"

chapels permitted such flaunting vanities. ■ ,T , .

We now come to Mr. Gill, of the firm of Titherington and Gill: ORDNANCE ESTIMATES

to the forlorn and unfortunate Mr Gill, who received such a side- Mr pUKCH hereby "ives notice that, as soon as ever he is honoured
kick at the heels of Radcliffe. Iitherington, a man of gushing with a geat {n parjjament, he intends to move for an amendment of the
piety, ism the chair; and at once answers a sneering attack headed Ordnance Estimates, which with annual incompleteness, are furnished
' Saints and Sinners," that had appeared m the Chester Chronicle . the GoTeniment. Instead of their embracing only the require-
What is Mr. Titherington's withering reply ? _ Why, Tartuffe mustj mJentg f the Naval and thc Military service, Mr. Punch would suggest
hang his head, ashamed ; Cantwell is extinguished ; Mawworm is 1 their extension to the Clerical. Mr. Punch cannot see why the great
dumfounded. guns nf the Q]lurch should not as well be included in the list, and the

" Th« paragraph in question (says Titherington) was headed ' Saints and 1 public be made accurately acquainted with the Cost of keeping them
Sinners and was intended to offer congratulations to him on the success of his ■ W0rv;11o- order Without being thought too inquiring an economist,
partner, Mr. Gill, in winning a large sum of money at Chester Races. He spoke of ^ ^ ? ij vu +^ COI> o„ 0c+;matp •>« tn what flip nation now
the subject with deep humility and self abasement; his partner had been guilty of winning , Mr. Punch would like to See ail estimate as tO Wliat tile nation UOW
(t large sum of money at the roxes, but he was happy to say that he (Mr. Gill) was expends upon such ordnance—from its minor canons up to its S1X-
as st>rry as himself, and Ms. Gill had rbsolved never to be seen on the thousand pounders • and Mr. Punch would like to know why, when a
course again." i great'gun has become unfit for service, it should not forthwith be

It is almost too sublime a height for us to hope to reach, to sympa- '„ discharged without the nation having quite so heavily to pay the

thise with the sorrow of a man—that man, too,_ a partner of Tither- '. shot._____

ington ; day-book of his day-book and ledger of his ledger,—who has ~~ "

won £30,000 by a sinful horse-race! But there is consolation to the Unnatural Subjects.

" When his pockets were lined, why his life should be mended.'

And the repentant Gill, with £30,000 at his banker's, "turf-profits,

may cease to " make a book." But we are certain that Mr. Gill will cannot be men. No ; they must be pelicans.

addressed the Queen and E. M. Prince Albert on the subject of the
Princess Royal's dowry. These petitioners absolutely ask of the
Royal parents to provide for their own child ! But these petitioners

Vol. 32.

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