Write the introduction and summary of the essay entitled "Sir Roger

Write the introduction and summary of the essay entitled “Sir Roger at Church”.

Ans.

Introduction

In the essay entitled, Sir Roger at Church, Addison throws light on a number of peculiarities and Oddits of Sir Roger by studying his behaviour in the church. In the essay, the essayist shows that Sir Roger is a queer mixture of good sense and eccentricity. The purpose of writing this essay is to improve the manners and morals of his age. The essayist presents Si Roger as a model for other squires to follow. Other squires should also maintain good relations with the clergy of their parish, as is the case with Sir Roger. He throws light o, the feuds between squires and their chaplains. The feuds leave a very adverse effect or the congregation. In the essayist’s opinion such quarrels should be avoided. Harmonious relations are conducive to religion and morality and, therefore, they must be cultivated at all costs. The essay aims at reforms in the attendance at church. The essayist desires peaceful relation between the squire and the parson in a village to ensure good attendance at church and improvement of the faith of the people.

Summary of the Essay

Country Sundays are special occasions for the country people. In the village, on a Sunday, people come to church in their best dresses and their most cheerful moods. Sunday has a refining influence on the characters and manners of the villagers. On this day, the villagers forget the selfishness and the boredom which were generated by their worldly activity throughout the week. Each tries to outshine the other. Each wants to appear good and become popular and distinguish himself. On this day, the parish politics is freely discussed and so their wits are sharpened and their manners are refined. Hence, country-Sunday has great educational value. Church gatherings in the country have the effect on the country folk as the Exchange has on the town dwellers.

Sir Roger is a religious-minded person. He devotes considerable attention to matters pertaining to the church. He sees to it that his tenants attend church regularly. He has got the church decorated with quotations from the Bible which he has selected himself. He has given a handsome pulpit-cloth and fenced off the altar at his own expense. He has gifted Parishioners with Common Prayer book and a hassock to kneel on in church to encourage them to attend church regularly. He has also appointed a singing master to teach them to sing the hymns properly. Further, in order to encourage the boys of the village, he awards prizes to those who answer well during the catechism. In fact, in order to encourage them further, he has given out that the post of the Church-clerk, when it falls vacant, would be filled in on the basis of merit. All this shows Sir Roger’s prudence and good sense. His oddity and eccentricity is seen in the way in which he exercises his authority. He allows no one to sleep in the church during church service except himself. If he falls asleep during the sermon, on waking up he looks around and if he finds someone dozing off, he immediately wakes up that person or sends his servants to wake him up. He keeps on singing a verse long after it has been sung by the rest of the congregation. If he likes a particular prayer, he says ‘Amen’ a number of times at the end of the prayer. Often, when the rest of the congregation kneels, he stands up to count the number of the people’s presence. By doing so, he wants to know the person who is absent. If he finds anyone disturbing the service, he shouts to him not to disturb the congregation.

He has perfect understanding with his chaplain. Indeed, it is all the more remarkable because in the very next village this cordial relation between the squire and the chaplain is absent. Both of them are all the time indulging in some dispute. The parson seems to preach at the squire who stays away from church. The squire, in order to take his revenge against the parson, has stopped attending the church. This has a bad effect and the villagers who follow the higher classes in their behaviour, have slowly lost faith in religion and are turning atheists. As they see that the squire has no respect for the parson, they do not pay the tax that they should for the upkeep of the parson. When the villagers find that the rich squire and the parson quarrel, they prefer to follow the squire and lose their faith in religion.