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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
74
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
as
good
a
one
as
ever
came
to
heavy-laden
mortals;
let
one
whole
day
in
every
week
be
removed
from
the
common
life
of
the
world,
lifted
above
common
pleasures
as
above
common
cares.
With
all
the
abuses
of
fanaticism,
this
thought
remained
rich
in
blessings;
Sunday
has
always
brought
large
good
to
the
generality,
and
to
a
chosen
number
has
been
the
very
life
of
the
soul,
however
heretically
some
of
them
understood
the
words.
If
its
ancient
use
perish
from
among
us,
so
much
the
worse
for
our
country.
And
perish
no
doubt
it
will;
only
here
in
rustic
solitude
can
one
forget
the
changes
that
have
already
made
the
day
less
sacred
to
multitudes.
With
it
will
vanish
that
habit
of
periodic
calm,
which,
even
when
it
has
become
so
largely
void
of
conscious
meaning,
is,
one
may
safely
say,
the
best
spiritual
boon
ever
bestowed
upon
a
people.
The
most
difficult
of
all
things
to
attain,
the
most
difficult
of
all
to
preserve,
the
supreme
benediction
of
the
noblest
mind,
this
calm
was
once
breathed
over
the
whole
land
as
often
as
sounded
the
last
stroke
of
weekly
toil;
on
Saturday
at
even
began
the
quiet
and
the
solace.
With
the
decline
of
old
faith,
Sunday
cannot
but
lose
its
sanction,
and
no
loss
among
the
innumerable
that
we
are
suffering
will
work
so
effectually
for
popular
vulgarization.
What
hope
is
there
of
guarding
the
moral
beauty
of
the
day
when
the
authority
which
set
it
apart
is
no
longer
recognized?--Imagine
a
bank-holiday
once
a
week!
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