Attempt > Volume 1 and Select writings

THE ATTEMPT
131
kindly “ Pastoral Addresses ” from the pen of one who has but lately been called
hence ; and the still better known “ Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson,” as well as
the fresh vigorous sermons of Kingsley.
Eut it seems to us that there are many hooks besides sermons which may he as
profitably read on Sunday as on any other day. For instance, poetry can scarcely fail
to find a nearer way to the hearts and sympathies of men on this their day of rest
than in the turmoil of the week. But the poetry they read on such a day should be
of that sort which tends to elevate their minds and fill their hearts with love to God.
It is because of this that “ Paradise Lost ” is so suited for perusal by our fireside on a
Sunday evening, or to be our companion in the woods on a Sunday afternoon, in
remote places where service is hut once a day. What nobler sermon do we look for
than the history of the Angel Abdiel 1—that servant of God of whom it is written
that he was
“ Faithful found
Among the faithless, faithful only he ;
Among innumerable false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, untemfied,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;
Nor number, nor example, with him wrought
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,
Though single.”
Or, what hymn of praise can we desire more appropriate for Sunday than that of our
great first Parents, beginning—
“ These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty! ”
But we need not specify other poets, for none can say decidedly what poet will
suit the taste of others; for as some will find comfort and pleasure in the sad
theme of “ In Memoriam,” so will others find what they want in the simple
Cowper.
Then when the mind tires on a Sunday, as it sometimes will, of books of a graver
description, and when, perhaps, the works of the poet offer no attraction to it, it can
find relief in that most delightful reading afforded by Essays. Essays, moral or critical,
loosen the tension of the mind without filling it with thoughts unsuitable to the day.
It is not smart sharp essays which ought to please us most, but those which give us
R