How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
In old Colonel Pyncheon's funeral discourse the clergyman absolutely canonized his deceased parishioner, and opening, as it were, a vista through the roof of the church, and thence through the firmament above, showed him seated, harp in hand, among the crowned choristers of the spiritual world. On his tombstone, too, the record is highly eulogistic; nor does history, so far as he holds a place upon its page, assail the consistency and uprightness of his character. So also, as regards the Judge Pyncheon of to-day, neither clergyman, nor legal critic, nor inscriber of tombstones, nor historian of general or local politics, would venture a word against this eminent person's sincerity as a Christian, or respectability as a man, or integrity as a judge, or courage and faithfulness as the often-tried representative of his political party. But, besides these cold, formal, and empty words of the chisel that inscribes, the voice that speaks, and the pen that writes, for the public eye and for distant time, – and which inevitably lose much of their truth and freedom by the fatal consciousness of so doing, – there were traditions about the ancestor, and private diurnal gossip about the Judge, remarkably accordant in their testimony. (8.20)
Perhaps because of the Puritan context the Pyncheons live in, there is almost no distinction made between the religious and governmental roles these men occupy. Colonel and Judge Pyncheon are both widely respected as Christians and politicians, and their professional and religious lives seem equally formal, official, and cold. As a writer, Hawthorne emphasizes the importance of going beyond the official story (whether it's a clergyman's eulogy or local history) to get to the truth – something that seems a lot closer to the "private [...] gossip" of the women of the town than the public compliments of the men.
Quote #5
On Sundays, after Phoebe had been at church, – for the girl had a church-going conscience, and would hardly have been at ease had she missed either prayer, singing, sermon, or benediction, – after church-time, therefore, there was, ordinarily, a sober little festival in the garden. (10.15)
What is a "church-going conscience" and why might Phoebe have one? What seems to be the purpose of church as an institution in The House of the Seven Gables? Why might Hepzibah have stopped attending church? How do characters like Judge Pyncheon use church differently from Phoebe?
Quote #6
[Hepzibah] looked into Clifford's face, and beheld there a soft natural effusion; for his heart gushed out, as it were, and ran over at his eyes, in delightful reverence for God, and kindly affection for his human brethren. The emotion communicated itself to Hepzibah. She yearned to take him by the hand, and go and kneel down, they two together, – both so long separate from the world, and, as she now recognized, scarcely friends with Him above, – to kneel down among the people, and be reconciled to God and man at once.
"Dear brother," said she earnestly, "let us go! We belong nowhere. We have not a foot of space in any church to kneel upon; but let us go to some place of worship, even if we stand in the broad aisle. Poor and forsaken as we are, some pew-door will be opened to us!" (11.22-3)
For Hepzibah and Clifford, as they listen to the bells and watch their neighbors going off to church, church means social participation. When you sit in a church, no matter how poor or tattered you are, you are surrounded by your fellow man. What's more, you're all there for the common purpose of praying to God. It's this kind of unity of experience and purpose that Clifford longs for that Sunday morning. How do you think The House of the Seven Gables would have been different if Hepzibah and Clifford had gotten out of the house? What prevents them from going to church? What does their decision tell us about these characters?