As to the
relative amount of church-going, I will not even assume to be
sure; but I have a fancy that it is a rite much less rigorous
than it used to be. Still, in provincial places, I found the
churches full on a Sunday morning, and all who could afford it
hallowed the day by putting on a frock-coat and a top-hat, which
are not worn outside of London on week-days. The women, of
course, were always in their best on Sunday. Perhaps in the very
country the upper classes go to church as much as formerly, but I
have my doubts whether they feel so much obliged to it in
conformity to usage, or for the sake of example to their
inferiors. Where there are abbeys and minsters and cathedrals, as
there are pretty well everywhere in England, religion is an
attractive spectacle, and one could imagine people resorting to
its functions for aesthetic reasons.
But, in these guesses, one must remember that the English who
remained at home were never Puritanized, never in such measure
personally conscienced, as those who came to America in the times
of the successive Protestant fervors; and that is a thing which
we are apt to forget.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269