twelve o'clock
What an elegant and fashionable air the congregation wore ! Surely there _ must _ be something in religion , when people such as were around him came so punctually to church , and behaved so seriously ! The members of that congregation were , indeed , exemplary in their strict discharge of their public religious duties ! Scarce one of them was there who had not been at the opera till twelve o'clock over-night ; the dulcet notes of the singers were still thrilling in their ears , the graceful attitudes of the dancers still present to their eyes . Every previous night of the week had they been engaged in the brilliant ball-room , and whirled in the mazes of the voluptuous waltz , or glittering in the picturesque splendor of fancy dress , till three , four , and five o'clock in the morning : yet here they were in the house of God , in spite of all their exhaustion , testified by the heavy eye , the ill-suppressed yawn , the languor and ennui visible in their countenances , prepared to accompany their polite pastor , `` with a pure heart and humble voice , unto the throne of the heavenly grace , '' to acknowledge , with lively emotion , that they `` had followed too much the devices and desires of their own hearts ; '' praying for `` mercy upon them , miserable offenders , '' that God would `` restore them , being penitent , '' so that `` they might thereafter lead a godly , righteous , and sober life . '' Here they were , punctual to their time , decorous in manner , devout in spirit , earnest and sincere in repentance and good resolutions -- knowing , nevertheless the while , how would be spent the remainder of the season -- of their _ lives _ ; and yet resolving to attend to the respectfully affectionate entreaties of Mr. Velvet , to be '' _ not hearers only , but doers of the word _ . '' Generally , I should say , that the state of mind of most , if not all of those present , was analogous to that of persons who sit in the pump-room , to drink the Bath or Cheltenham waters .