I noticed immediately that it was a gloomy, dark day. I hurried with my morning toilet because there was a chill in the air. Since there is no fire for heat in our bedchambers, and the warming bricks in my bed had long since turned cold, I was eager to attend our family's morning matins
in the kitchen near the fireplace. Father is always so proper and formal when he leads our family in daily prayers. I was lucky today that he did not see me glancing sideways at my twin sister, Mary, else I would have been severely punished.
Bruton Parish Chruch,
Williamsburg, Virginia. Photo: Gunther, Bretta,
Teaching American History
Grant, Vol. 1. 1999-2002.
We quickly consumed our usual breakfast of fruit, biscuits and tea. There was much work to do, as there is every day, and we dared not tarry over mealtime. Today because it was so dreary and rainy meant I had to spend my time indoors working on my housewifery skills and my catechism. Saturday is the day my sister and I must prepare to recite our catechism for our tutor. He comes once per month to teach and quiz us on our religious studies. We must study regularly to prepare for his monthly tutoring session. He is quite dour and strict, even to the point of chastising us strongly if we make a mistake in our recitations.
I am very relieved that I have properly mastered a number of lessons from the Book of Common Prayer. Mother secretly smiled at me when she heard me correctly recite The Lord's Prayer, The Articles of Thy Belief and The Magnificat . I know she is very pleased with me, although she never plays favorites or lets my sister see her favor for me. Unlike me, poor Mary seems to have had great difficulty learning these lessons and received harsh looks from our mother when she stumbled over the words as she recited prior to the arrival of our tutor, Mr. Blackburn. Today's lesson, The Ten Commandments is the one that causes me the most difficulties. No matter how hard I try, I seem to mix them up and fear the tutor will be displeased with me. I still must learn the lessons on The Lord's Supper and the Sacrament of Baptism before I can be granted full acceptance in the Church of England. Sometimes I despair over how many lessons there are to learn before I can become a full member of our Church of England , but I am so blessed to be a free person. It is so sad that the slaves can be baptized in our church, but most of them can never receive Holy Communion because of their status as slaves.
On such a dreary day as this, with dark, thick clouds and sheets of rain falling constantly from the sky, the light is not bright enough inside to see clearly for sewing the tiny stitches on my sampler . I have finally finished one half of it. It has taken hours and hours of painstaking, careful work, but I am proud of my accomplishments so far. Mother says it is really quite fine. The stitching is neat and properly done. I spent my time discussing quotes from the Holy Bible with mother and Mary, trying to find a favorite verse to sew upon my sampler. After much debate, I finally decided upon these words from Matthew 7:1 as the verse I will stitch:
“All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them;”
I decided I like this verse because it is so simple and it just makes sense to treat other people as I would like to be treated. I hope that a future husband who would see my sampler some day would think this same way. Since I would show him my sampler while we are courting , it would be something we could talk about. That way, by his comments about this verse, I would know what kind of man he would be. Mother says this is most important when I grow up and choose a husband for myself.
At noontide , today I again heard the slow, tolling of the church bells, which meant that someone in our parish had died. I wondered who it was.I always think these slow bells are such a sad and depressing sound. It is the third time these bells have tolled this week. Many have been ill with the fever; old and young die often of late. I pray God will continue his blessing upon our household and we will not be taken with the fever.
At 5:00 p.m. Evensong bells tolled, barely to be heard above the sounds of thunder and lightning. As we said our evening prayers around the fire, I was glad to see the end of this long, boring, sad day. Perhaps tomorrow will bring brighter weather. I always look forward to Sundays anyway because I can wear my one special Sunday gown and see my friends. It is my most favorite day of the week.
Sunday, November 11, 1770
Today was Sunday, my favorite day of the week. Although I love Sundays and going to church, I have such mixed feelings about it. I worry because there are so many rules from the “School of Manners” which I must follow at church. I do not mind the rule about walking decently to my seat and not running around because I have been taught that it is not proper to run or wander around the church.
We are also not allowed to run or rush eagerly out of church and to walk properly on the way home. These are easy rules for me to keep because we have been taught this from an early age. Also, by now I am quite used to the fact that we all have special seats where we are required to sit. I do wish I could move about and sit in another place, but this rule is not so hard to follow now that I am older.
When I was younger I remember having a very hard time sitting in the same place without moving around for such a long time. I used to want to get down from my seat and move to another and another when I was a little girl. Today I had to follow the rule about giving up my seat to someone else standing near me.
Sometimes I get in trouble for breaking the rule about not talking in church, but I did not talk today.
Royal Governor's chair inside
Bruton Parish Church. Photo: Diane Goodwin
The rule that causes me the most trouble is the one about fixing my eyes always upon the minister. It seems I cannot master this. No matter how hard I try, I end up looking away from his face sometimes. This happened again today after the Royal Governor entered into the church and sat for some time in his special red chair.
He nodded off during the service and could be heard quite clearly snoring softly in his fancy chair. This was so unusual that I dared to glance over to see this comical sight and my mother saw my eyes wander off the minister.
I knew I would be made to read from Deuteronomy in the Bible when we returned home, as punishment for my misbehavior in church. Still it was worth the punishment to see the fat old Governor asleep in church. No one would dare punish him, as I would surely be punished, for breaking the rule about sleeping in church. The sermons are so long and boring. There are such big words and it was so difficult to understand. It is no surprise to me that he fell asleep. It is difficult for most of us, even the grown ups, not to do the same.
During the service, we do not sing hymns with pretty melodies, but we chant phrases back to the clerk who leads from the Psalter (Psalms of David) in the Bible. The chanting is better than the boring sermons, but not much better. I must pay close attention to be sure I say the correct words back to the clerk. Mostly I look forward to Church ending so I can play with my friends and visit with people in the churchyard. Playing with my friends and visits are the reason Sunday is my favorite day of the week.
Side Yard of Bruton
Parish Church
Photo: Gunther, Bretta,
Teaching American History
Grant, Vol. 1. 1999-2002)
On Sundays no businesses are open. However, it seems that much business takes place in the churchyard on Sundays. This is the time when people often learn of important upcoming events, the Banns of Marriage are read from the pulpit , important notices are posted and father even gives orders to merchants for goods he needs for his business. I wonder how he would accomplish this if it were not for Sundays in the churchyard.
Because travel is so slow and time consuming, he usually comes to town only once per week on Sunday and takes care of many important matters after church or while waiting for everyone to arrive before services can begin. Today we waited for up to an hour after the appointed time before all the late arrivals came and the service could begin. While he is busy, Mary and I played with our friends as long as we did not make loud noise or misbehave.
We entered church in order of rank in the community. Our family went in and took our seats, but then had to wait for almost an hour for some of the Burgesses and Councilmen to arrive and enter in procession before the service began. This means we had to sit for nearly two hours today without moving about in church.
Inside Bruton Parish Church,
Williamsburg, Virginia
Photo: Diane Goodwin.
Our tithes must be paid each month at the church. The money goes to support the church and the poor members of our Parish. Our mother let me put the coins in the box at the back of the church. There is an alms house on the edge of town. On the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, which is Saint Stephen's Day, the alms box will be broken open and the money will be given to the widows and orphans at the alms house. It makes me feel happy to know that we can help the less fortunate people in our community by paying our tithes at church.
The Sabbath is the day when my father can rest and we often dine and sing in the afternoon with friends, relatives or neighbors. Today we went to our cousin's house for our Sunday meal. After dinner I really enjoyed gathering together and singing the hymns that are forbidden in church. In church we are only allowed to chant, not sing. Our favorite hymns are the ones written for children by Charles Wesley. Luckily for us it is permitted to sing his hymns in our own homes. My favorite hymns are “A Child's Doxology” and “In the Morning of Life.” We all gathered around the fire and sang merrily. It was the most joyous time of the entire week.
I was so tired, as always, and ready for bed when we returned home, but tonight after Evensong prayers I was made to read “Deuteronomy” in the Bible while standing in the kitchen for an hour before I could go to bed. I thought I would fall asleep reading, but I knew that I would receive a harsher punishment later if I did.
I spent the time as I read wishing for beautifully sunny days when I can outside to play with my sister, Mary. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I was allowed to go to bed. I was sad that I was punished and so very worn out from the day. Still, all in all, with the visits with my friends and family, dinner and singing hymns, it was a good day. It seems like no matter what, Sunday is still always my favorite day of the week.
