At a meeting of the London Diocesan Conference, a Reverend gentleman
is reported to have declared his belief that, "for one man drawn from
the Public-house by the opening of the Museums on Sunday, there
were ten persons drawn from their attendance at Church!" _Mr. Punch_
fancies these are rather supposititious statistics. Does the Reverend
gentleman quite see what his hasty statement involves? How slight
must be the attractions of Church--_his_ Church at least--to a large
proportion even of those who _do_ now attend? Rivalry between Museum
and Gin-palace one can contemplate hopefully. But if the real rivalry
is to be between Museum and Church, with such results as this rather
pessimistic parson predicts, the look-out seems rather dismal--for the
Church! Surely this is the highest compliment to secular attractions
ever paid by a cleric! _Mr. Punch_ hopes--and believes--it is as
ill-deserved as high.
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