THE CLERK IN THE DARK.
“Set forth, but not allowed to be sung in
all Churches, of all the people together.”
Once on a time, ’twas afternoon,
And winter—while the weary day
Danced off with Phœbus—to the tune
Of “O’er the hills and far away”——
I went to church, and heard the clerk
Preface the psalm with “Pardon me,
But really friends it is so dark,
Do all I may I cannot see”——
The “quire” that used the psalms to chant
Not dreaming to be thus misled—
Struck up in chorus jubilant,
The clerk’s apology instead!
MORAL.
“The force of habit” should not keep
Our trust in other heads so sure,
That reason may drop off to sleep.
Or sense enjoy a sinecure.
A. X.
For the Table Book.