Chelsea, in the Olden & Present TimesBryan, George
History
Chelsea, in the Olden & Present Times
Bryan, George
Chelsea (London, England) -- History
The singing, prior to the erection of the organ, was indeed very bad,
being almost entirely confined to the school children, who were placed in
galleries specially erected for them, at the extreme western part of the
church, and so close to the ceiling that a grown person could scarcely
stand upright in them.
SPRING TIDES.—TAKEN TO CHURCH IN A BOAT.
A circumstance occurred at the church, about the year 1809, of a singular
character. There had been some very high tides during the week, and on
the following Sunday morning the waters rose several feet against the
southern boundary wall, which rendered the employment of a boat necessary
to convey those of the congregation who resided in the neighbourhood near
to Battersea Bridge to the western entrance of the church. Although
there have been some very high spring tides since that time, I am happy
to say, the congregation have always been enabled to walk to the Old
Church without the least fear of being drowned on their way to it! The
raising of the road, and other alterations, have no doubt checked such
overflowings at this particular spot.
DOING PENANCE.
The next event is one of unusual interest. The statement may be relied
upon as authentic, and the circumstance of its not having gained
publicity has been owing to the few persons who witnessed it and the
secrecy enjoined, but after nearly sixty years have elapsed, and the
individuals concerned being long since deceased, the particulars may now
be fairly disclosed without any breach of confidence.
A short time after the conclusion of Divine Service, on a Sunday morning,
a gentleman alighted from a carriage and proceeded to the Vestry Room,
where two others were waiting his arrival. As soon as the congregation
had dispersed, the parties, with two or three parochial officers, &c.,
went to the entrance of the middle aisle, and the inner door being
closed, the person especially referred to hurriedly knelt down. A paper
was then placed in his hand, which was a recantation of certain
opprobrious epithets that he had applied to a lady in one of the streets
in the parish, stigmatizing her publicly by a term which the reader can
easily supply. When he recited the offensive words he laid particular
emphasis on them, evidently in a spirit of bravado and not of contrition.
Penance and penitence were not in any way, apparently, considered by him
as synonymous terms. There is scarcely an individual who would suppose
that such an event occurred, at so comparatively recent a period as sixty
years ago, in the old Parish Church of St. Luke, Chelsea.
SACRILEGE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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