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Article THE SIGNS OE ENGLAND. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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The Signs Oe England.
to sound every Sunday . Indeed , it is something proper and pleasant to have a little fault-finding in the pulpit . That little harmless , nay , pleasurable excitement which you gain from a few hard wordsscriptural , velvet-cushion , strictly proper reproaches — carefully applied and not too- pertinaciously followed up with unmistakeable home-thrusts and bitter allusions which you are compelled to assume to yourselfmay mix profitably with your prosings over violet
silk-, covered prayer-books , and the red cloth and gilt nails , or wainscot wood of your pew . You would not convert that snug seat into a confessional where you must beat your breast ? It would look ugly , in church , to do so . You would not place moral pins of comwould not like to
punction in that wool-stuffed long cushion ? You wriggle and shake your head , when to remain steady ? > with that imperturbable countenance , and that respectably serious air , suits you so much better ? Through this unmoved position you run no risk of disarranging those spring-flowers in your bonnet , or ruffling those sweetly pretty ribbons , with which Madame Cerise , of New
Bondstreet , has , for the severities of church service , fortified you . And my friend , Mr . Josephus Baggs , so ready with your attendance at church , and the white cambric pocket-handkerchief which is so distinguished a feature in your Sunday turn-out , how if the clergyman were to deal too unthinkingly in rough ugl y words , which should really bring some ripples of fear over your fine countenance , and
start the congregation into thinking of something else besides that graceful and altogether astonishing air with which you stretch your fingers , or decline them , with an easy negligence , and three rings over the top rim of your pew—fingering the brass branch or upright gas lustre , perhaps : —how , we ask , in this temporary torment of the soul , could you preserve the Brennus-like sweep of those curls ? or save your collar , and the fall , perhaps , over the shoulder , of that paletot , from utter and discreditable crookedness , nay , of a Truefitt
kind of alarm ? The very stone cherubs would flutter their wmglets with a more ponderous flap at it . And Jessy , a few pews off , who you thought was admiring you , would squeeze , doubtless , her beautiful lips together , disconcerted and in vexation . No , these possible contretemps are to be taken account of . Peers and great people are not to be morally rumpled on Sunday , or made as free with as
Thomas Canister or Jack Trowell ; whose odious blue Sunday cloth and brass buttons , or checked neckerchief , nobody cares about , except , in a general way , to approve as neat and proper for that sort of people . I have thus glanced at the impolicy of preaching at other
folk , distinctly to show that , although I am afraid I am myself constantl y at it , still that I am not a whit the less impressed with its danger . " But if a man ' s house is on ( ire , you do not usually take oil . your hat and make him a bow before you seize and plunge with him , h > r hUj extrication , out of the window and down a ladder .
The conceited man takes a whim into his head , very early , that hero is something about him altogether adapted to attract feinalo admiration . He can hardly tell what it is ; but it is unquestionable
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Signs Oe England.
to sound every Sunday . Indeed , it is something proper and pleasant to have a little fault-finding in the pulpit . That little harmless , nay , pleasurable excitement which you gain from a few hard wordsscriptural , velvet-cushion , strictly proper reproaches — carefully applied and not too- pertinaciously followed up with unmistakeable home-thrusts and bitter allusions which you are compelled to assume to yourselfmay mix profitably with your prosings over violet
silk-, covered prayer-books , and the red cloth and gilt nails , or wainscot wood of your pew . You would not convert that snug seat into a confessional where you must beat your breast ? It would look ugly , in church , to do so . You would not place moral pins of comwould not like to
punction in that wool-stuffed long cushion ? You wriggle and shake your head , when to remain steady ? > with that imperturbable countenance , and that respectably serious air , suits you so much better ? Through this unmoved position you run no risk of disarranging those spring-flowers in your bonnet , or ruffling those sweetly pretty ribbons , with which Madame Cerise , of New
Bondstreet , has , for the severities of church service , fortified you . And my friend , Mr . Josephus Baggs , so ready with your attendance at church , and the white cambric pocket-handkerchief which is so distinguished a feature in your Sunday turn-out , how if the clergyman were to deal too unthinkingly in rough ugl y words , which should really bring some ripples of fear over your fine countenance , and
start the congregation into thinking of something else besides that graceful and altogether astonishing air with which you stretch your fingers , or decline them , with an easy negligence , and three rings over the top rim of your pew—fingering the brass branch or upright gas lustre , perhaps : —how , we ask , in this temporary torment of the soul , could you preserve the Brennus-like sweep of those curls ? or save your collar , and the fall , perhaps , over the shoulder , of that paletot , from utter and discreditable crookedness , nay , of a Truefitt
kind of alarm ? The very stone cherubs would flutter their wmglets with a more ponderous flap at it . And Jessy , a few pews off , who you thought was admiring you , would squeeze , doubtless , her beautiful lips together , disconcerted and in vexation . No , these possible contretemps are to be taken account of . Peers and great people are not to be morally rumpled on Sunday , or made as free with as
Thomas Canister or Jack Trowell ; whose odious blue Sunday cloth and brass buttons , or checked neckerchief , nobody cares about , except , in a general way , to approve as neat and proper for that sort of people . I have thus glanced at the impolicy of preaching at other
folk , distinctly to show that , although I am afraid I am myself constantl y at it , still that I am not a whit the less impressed with its danger . " But if a man ' s house is on ( ire , you do not usually take oil . your hat and make him a bow before you seize and plunge with him , h > r hUj extrication , out of the window and down a ladder .
The conceited man takes a whim into his head , very early , that hero is something about him altogether adapted to attract feinalo admiration . He can hardly tell what it is ; but it is unquestionable