Sir Roger at Church
Sir Roger at Church
Sir Roger at Church
Si
rRogerAtChur
ch
Essay
sFr
om Addi
sonedi
tedbyJHFowl
erSpect
atorNo.112,
Jul
y9,
1711
anci
entgr
eek
(
Fir
st,
inobedi
encet
othycount
ry'
sri
tes,
Wor
shi
pthei
mmor
tal
Gods.—Py
thagor
as)
Myf r i
endSirRoger ,beingagoodchur ch-man,hasbeaut i
fi
edtheinsideofhischur chwi t
h
sever alt
extsofhi sownchoosi ng: hehasl i
kewisegivenahandsomepul pit
-cl
oth,andr ail
edin
thecommuni on-t
abl eathi sownexpense.Hehasof tent ol
dme, thatathiscomi ngt ohisestat
e
hef oundhi spar i
shioner sveryirregular;andthati
nordert omaket hem kneelandj oininthe
responses, hegav eev eryoneoft hem ahassocandaCommonPr ayerBook;andatt hesame
ti
meempl oyedani t
inerantsinging-mast er,
whogoesaboutt hecount r
yforthatpur pose,to
i
nstr uctthem rightlyint hetunesoft hepsal ms;uponwhi chtheynowv er
ymuchv alue
themsel ves,andi ndeedout -
domostoft hecountrychurchesthatIhav eeverheard.
Assoonast hesermoni sf
inished,nobodypresumestostirti
ll
SirRogerisgoneoutofthe
church.Theknightwalksdownf rom hi
sseatinthechancelbetweenadoublerowofhistenants,
thatstandbowingt ohi
m oneachsi de;andever
ynowandt henhei nqui
reshowsuchanone' s
wife,ormother,orson,orf
atherdo, whom hedoesnotseeatchur ch;whichisunder
stoodasa
secretrepr
imandt othepersont hatisabsent
.
Thechapl ai
nhasof t
entoldme, thatuponacat echising-day,whenSirRogerhasbeenpl eased
withaboyt hatanswerswell,hehasor deredaBi bl
et obegi venhim nextdayforhi
s
encouragement;andsomet imesaccompani esitwithaf l
i
tchofbacont ohismother.Si
rRoger
haslikewiseaddedfivepoundsay eart
ot heclerk'
splace; andthathemayencour agethey oung
fel
lowst omaket hemselvesperfectinthechurch-service,haspromised,uponthedeathoft he
presentincumbent,whoisv eryold,t
obest owitaccor dingtomer i
t.
Thef ai
runder standingbet weenSi rRogerandhi schapl ai
n,andt heirmut ual concurrencei n
doinggood, isthemor eremarkable,becauset hev erynextv i
ll
agei sfamousf orthedifferences
andcont enti
onst hatrisebetweent hepar sonandt he'squir
e,whol ivei naper petualstateof
war.Thepar soni salway satthe'squir
e, andthe'squire, t
ober evengedont hepar son,nev er
comest ochur ch.The' squi
rehasmadeal lhi
st enantsat hei
stsandt i
the-st
eal ers;whil
et he
parsoninstructst hem ev er
ySundayi nt hedignityofhi sorder,andinsi nuatest othem, almostin
everysermon, t
hathei sabettermant hanhispat ron.Inshort,mat ter
sar ecomet osuchan
extremit
y ,
thatthe' squi r
ehasnotsai dhi sprayersei t
herinpubl i
corpr i
vatet hishalfyear;and
thattheparsont hreatenshim, i
fhedoesnotmendhi smanner s,toprayf orhi mi nthefaceof
thewholecongr egat i
on.
Feudsoft hi
snature,
thoughtoofrequentinthecountry,ar
ev eryf
atalt
otheordi
narypeopl
e;
whoar esousedt obedazz l
edwithriches,t
hatt
heypayasmuchdef er
encetothe
underst
andingofamanofanest ate,asofamanofl earni
ng;andareveryhar
dlybroughtt
o
regardanytrut
h,howimpor t
antsoev eritmaybe,thatispreachedtothem,whentheyknow
therearesever
almenoff iv
ehundr eday earwhodonotbel ieveit
.