Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, October 9, 1841Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, October 9, 1841
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
Poor men of England, consider not merely the fine and the expenses
attendant upon absence from church, but reflect upon the want of that
beautiful exercise of the spirit which, listening to precepts and parables
in Holy Writ, delights to find for them practical illustrations in the
political and social world about you. We know you would not think of going
to church in masquerade--of reading certain lines and making certain
responses as a bit of Sabbath ceremony, as necessary to a respectable
appearance as a Sabbath shaving. No; you are far away from the elegances
of hypocrisy, and do not time your religion from eleven till one, making
devotion a matter of the church clock. By no means. You go to hear, it may
be, the Bishop of EXETER; and as we have premised, what a beautiful
exercise for the intellect to discover in the political doings of his
Grace--in those acts which ultimately knock at your cupboard-doors--only a
practical illustration of the divine precept of doing unto all men as ye
would they should do unto you! Well, you pray for your daily bread; and
with a profane thought of the price of the four pound loaf, your feelings
are suddenly attuned to gratitude towards those who regulate the price of
British corn. We might run through the Scriptures from Genesis to
Revelation, quoting a thousand benevolences illustrated by the rich and
mighty of this land--illustrated politically, socially, and morally, in
their conduct towards the poor and destitute of Britain; and yet the
stiffnecked pauper will not dispose his Sabbath to self-enjoyment--will
not go to church to be rejoiced! By such disobedience, one would almost
think that the poor were wicked enough to consider the church discipline
of the Sabbath as no more than a ceremonious mockery of their six days
wants and wretchedness.
The magistrates--(would we knew their names, we would hang them up in the
highways like the golden bracelets of yore)--who have made _John Jones_
religious through his pocket, are men of comprehensive genius. There is no
wickedness that they would not make profitable to the Church. Hence, it
appears from Lord BROUGHAM'S speech that _John Jones_ "was guilty of
_other excesses_, and had been sent to prison for a violation of that
dormant--he wished he could say of it obsolete--law!" There being "other
excesses" for which, it appears, there is no statute remedy, the
magistrates commit a piece of pious injustice, and lump sundry laical sins
into the one crime against the Church. _John Jones_,--for who shall
conceive the profanity of man?--may have called one of these magistrates
"goose" or "jackass;" and the offence against the justice is a contempt of
the parson. After this, can the race of _John Joneses_ fail to venerate
Christianity as recommended by the Bench?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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