Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and PresentMiller, Thomas
Philosophy
Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present
Miller, Thomas
London (England) -- Description and travel
Never did that cathedral appear to us more holy than when we visited it
last summer during the Anniversary Meeting of the Charity Children;
never did the sunbeams which occasionally streamed through the vaulted
dome seem so much like the golden ladder on which the "angels of God
ascended and descended" in the dream of the patriarch of old, as when
they shone for a few moments upon the heads of those thousands of
children who were congregated beneath. We seemed to picture Charity
herself newly alighted from heaven, and standing in the midst
overshadowing them with her white wings, while her angelic smile lighted
up the holy fabric, as she stood with her finger pointing to the sky. It
was a sight that went home to every heart, and made an Englishman proud
of the land of his birth, to know that thousands of those children, who
were fatherless and motherless, were watched over and tended by the
angel of charity; and that hundreds who waited to do her bidding, with
willing hearts and open hands, were assembled in the temple which her
overpowering presence then hallowed. Then to know that so vast a
multitude formed but a portion of the numbers which English charity
clothed, fed, and educated; and that, if all could have been assembled
tier above tier, as they then sat, they would have reached to the very
summit of the dome itself, extending, as it were, to heaven, and with
folded hands and meek supplicating faces seeming to plead in our behalf
before the footstool of God.
It was a sight never to be forgotten, to see those thousands of clean
and neatly clad children ranged one above another, to the height of
[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. CHARITY CHILDREN'S ANNIVERSARY
FESTIVAL.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account