It sometimes asks, and sometimes takes,
Careless of wrong or right.
I think its source is easy traced,
As are its claims in order placed,
Its furniture and crests;
A blended spawn of Church and State,
Its father—Constantine the Great,
Its dam—the pride of priests.”
The third canto is principally devoted to preachers and preaching; the fourth to christenings, confirmations, Church emoluments, the Lisbon earthquake, and England’s danger. No one will agree with all the author’s sentiments; but all must admit the pungency and power of his withering wit.
Space forbids the insertion of lengthened extracts from Edward Perronet’s suppressed production; but the following are fair specimens of its style and spirit. To express the indignation and disgust of a Churchman at the thought of receiving the sacrament from a lay preacher, whose call to preach is as much Divine as is that of the preacher episcopally ordained, the poet writes,—