15.

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)

IAM al way sv erywel lpleasedwi thacount r ySunday ;andt hi

nk, i
fkeepi nghol ythesev enthday
wer eonl yahumani nstituti
on, i
twoul dbet hebestmet hodt hatcoul dhav ebeent houghtoff or
thepol ishingandci vil
izingofmanki nd.Itiscer t
aint hecount ry-peoplewoul dsoondegener ate
i
nt oaki ndofsav agesandbar barians, weret herenotsuchf requentr eturnsofast atedti
me, in
whi chthewhol ev i
ll
agemeett oget herwi t
ht heirbestf aces, andi nthei rcleanl i
esthabits,to
conv ersewi t
honeanot heruponi ndi f
ferentsubj ect
s, heart hei rduti
esexpl ainedt othem, and
j
oint oget herinador ationoft heSupr emeBei ng.Sundaycl ear sawayt her ustoft hewhol eweek,
notonl yasi tr
efreshesi ntheirmindst henot i
onsofr eli
gion, butasi tput sbot hthesexesupon
appear ingi ntheirmostagr eeablef orms, andexer t
ingal lsuchqual i
tiesasar eaptt ogivethem
af i
gur eint heey eofthev i
llage.Acount ry-
fellowdist i
ngui sheshi mselfasmuchi nthe
chur chyardasaci ti
zendoesupont heChange, thewhol epar ishpol i
ti
csbei nggener al
ly
discussedi nthatplaceei t
heraf t
erser monorbef oret hebel lrings.

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.

AsSi rRogerislandlordt ot hewhol econgr egat i

on, hekeepsthem inverygoodor der,andwi ll
suffernobodytosl eepi nitbesi deshi mself;f
ori fbychancehehasbeensur prisedintoashor t
napatser mon, uponr ecov eringoutofi thest andsupandl ooksabouthim, andi fhesees
anybodyelsenoddi ng, eit
herwakest hem himsel f,orsendshisservanttothem.Sev eralotherof
theoldknight'
spar ti
cularit
iesbr eakoutupont heseoccasi ons:someti
meshewi llbe
l
engt heni
ngoutav erseint hesi nging-psalms, halfami nuteaft
ertherestoft hecongr egation
havedonewi t
hi t
;somet imes, whenhei spleasedwi t
hthemat terofhisdevot i
on,he
pronouncesAment hreeorf ourti
mest othesamepr ayer;
andsomet imesstandsupwhen
everybodyelseisupont heirknees, tocountt hecongr egati
on,orseeifanyofhi stenantsar e
mi
ssi
ng.

Iwasy esterdayverymuchsur pri

sedt ohearmyoldfriend,inthemi dstoft heser
vice,cal
li
ngout
tooneJohnMat t
hewst omi ndwhathewasabout ,andnotdi sturbt hecongregati
on.ThisJohn
Mat t
hews, i
tseems, isremar kablef orbei
ngani dl
efell
ow, andatt hattimewaski ckinghisheel
s
forhisdiv
er si
on.Thisauthorityoft heknight,t
houghexertedint hatoddmannerwhi ch
accompani eshimi nall
circumst ancesofl if
e,hasav erygoodef fectupont hepari
sh, whoare
notpoli
teenought oseeany thingridicul
ousinhisbehav i
our;besidest hatthegeneralgood
senseandwor thi
nessofhi schar acter,makehisfri
endsobser vet heselit
tl
esingular
iti
esasfoil
s
thatrat
hersetof fthanblemishhi sgoodqual i
ti
es.

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
.