No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n;
But such plain read more

No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n;
But such plain roofs as Piety could raise,
And only vocal with the Maker's praise.

I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of
mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily read more

I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of
mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when
it made a cathedral.

When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there than thou: for thou art there
read more

When once thy foot enters the church, be bare.
God is more there than thou: for thou art there
Only by his permission. Then beware,
That leads from earth to heaven.

"What is a church?" Let Truth and reason speak,
They would reply, "The faithful, pure and meek,
read more

"What is a church?" Let Truth and reason speak,
They would reply, "The faithful, pure and meek,
From Christian folds, the one selected race,
Of all professions, and in every place."

Where God hath a temple, the devil will have a chapel.

Where God hath a temple, the devil will have a chapel.

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be read more

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
read more

God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
I doubted of this saw, till on a day
I westward spied great Edinburgh's Saint Giles.

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, read more

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, which has
during many ages afforded a quiet resting-place to those whose
minds and bodies have been shattered by the contentions of the
Great Hall.

Well has the name of Pontifex been given
Unto the Church's head, as the chief builder
And read more

Well has the name of Pontifex been given
Unto the Church's head, as the chief builder
And architect of the invisible bridge
That leads from earth to heaven.