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nd flowers; I hear the birds whose wont it is to sing to me; ever and anon the martins that have their home beneath my eaves sweep past in silence。 Church bells have begun to chime; I know the music of their voices; near and far。
There was a time when it delighted me to flash my satire on the English Sunday; I could see nothing but antiquated foolishness and modern hypocrisy in this weekly pause from labour and from bustle。 Now I prize it as an inestimable boon; and dread every encroachment upon its restful stillness。 Scoff as I might at 〃Sabbatarianism;〃 was I not always glad when Sunday came? The bells of London churches and chapels are not soothing to the ear; but when I remember their sound……even that of the most aggressively pharisaic conventicle; with its one dire clapper……I find it associated with a sense of repose; of liberty。 This day of the seven I granted to my better genius; work was put aside; and; when Heaven permitted; trouble forgotten。
When out of England I have always missed this Sunday quietude; this difference from ordinary days which seems to affect the very atmosphere。 It is not enough that people should go to church; that shops should be closed and workyards silent; these holiday notes do not make a Sunday。 Think as one may of its significance; our Day of Rest has a peculiar sanctity; felt; I imagine; in a more or less vague way; even by those who wish to see the village lads at cricket and theatres open in the town。 The idea is surely