Death of a sparrow
Sir: So many extraordinary, and even unhallowed events are permitted to take place in some churches these days that one is hardly surprised at anything; but the shooting of a little bird is surely not one that can be justified. As Longfellow wrote: 'Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these, Who made them, and Who taught The dialect they speak? . . . '
To fire an airgun in a consecrated building to kill a sparrow may be no offence, alas, against the laws of this country. It is, however, just possible that in the Divine Assessment a lowly bird is quite as valuable in church as a lowly parson; and, in that case, the premature removal of the one from its ecclesiastical perch would be of no greater moment than the other.
(Revd) John Peace 33 Victoria Avenue, Bournemouth
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