Page:Two Sermons on the Duty and Joy of Frequent Public Worship.djvu/9



following Sermons are published in the hope that they may be of use in recommending the habit of attending the Daily Services of the Church.

There are, of course, very many men, especially Englishmen, whom one could never hope to move from their old habits, or old opinions, on any such matter. There is an obstinacy in the English character which makes it exceedingly difficult to introduce any new custom, or new ways of thinking and feeling, among them. This obstinacy and immovableness is not, I think, by any means altogether a fault. It is connected with some of the most valuable of our national characteristics—such, for instance, as steady loyalty to established institutions, and a great slowness in adopting changes. And I respect the obstinacy of many, more than the light and hasty changeableness of others. Still, obstinacy in the face of any plain precept of Holy Scripture cannot be justified. Archbishop Whately has said that readers of the Bible "may be divided into two classes—those who wish to be on the side of the Bible, and those who wish to have the Bible on their side." Many men come to the study of the Bible with opinions already immovably made up; they have not