A MODEL LAYMAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1906, 21 August 1890, Page 31

A MODEL LAYMAN.

A layman sat In his easy ohalr, When his work, like Kaspar's, was o'er ; And gazed at the flre, while looki of oara On his musiDg face he wore. And at he thought of the price of coal, Which had risen two shillings a ton, Deep pity wan stirred in his kindly toul For the parsons who might have none. " Poor fellows 1 " he said, with a sigh of woe ; " It's very plain to see, Unless things mend, they'll be forced to go To the official assignee." For he'd heard from the pulpit the week before How the state of their pookets was sad, And the thought of all that the clergy bore Made the good man feel quite bad. What a kindly heart must the Layman's be, To grieve for the parson's sake I How full of pure ruth and charity t But stay— you might make a mistake. " Laymen," he reasoned, " are not to blame ; For a layman am I, you see; And it's obvious that no sense of shame Can oling to the like of me. " No ! no I our hearts are all on fire ' To freely give of our store ; But we're forolbly stopped in our wild desire By— the Bishop— my old bete-noir. " At that goal arrives my every thought ; The Bishop alone is to blame. It may not be clear— loglo's hardly my forte— But it's certain all the same. " It may be true that he came to our need When the times were out of joint, And that he has toiled for a paltry meed ; But— well, that's not to the point. " His heart may be kind, his hand may be free, And doubtles* he means right well ; But this damnable faot remains— you see, He's my apeolal ' Doctor Fell.' " For he boldly refuses to follow my wink, Or ' the oult of the jumping oat ' ; Nay, himself a leader he dares to think I And I can't put up with that. " Eplaoopal rule was fitting, no doubt, In the day of the ohuroh'n prime ; But everyone knows it Is quite play'd out In our sceptical modern time. 11 We want no pastor of the sheep, To tread where the Master trod ; But give us a bishop who holdeth cheap The vows he has vowed to God. " Who counts his office a thin pretence, His mission no longer divine ; A man of the world and of worldly sense, Whose views are akin to mine. " A bishop who owns the ' happy knaok ' Of tickling curious ears;— Give us such a ohief and there'll be no laok Of dollars, no ground for fears. " There are twenty thousand such is I " (Now Graoious Heaven forbid I ) " Who will give their pounds without a sigh, When of ' Dootor Fell ' we are rid." He rose from his chair in spiteful ire, With a smile suggestive of Shpol ; He left his place by the oheerful flre, Aud went to unburden his soul. He dipped his pen— was it ink or gall ? (Alas for sweet charity, That was preached of old by the played-out P&ul 1) And he wrote to the 0. D. T. A soreed disloyal and oruel he wrote ; Then he made his phylaoteries broad, And called upon Christians to oome and note His zeal for the merciful Lord. ANOLIOANUS.