Heart‘s-ease

Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 10K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Heart's-ease by Phillips BrooksAuthor: Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893,Language: English, Class: BV: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Practical theology, Worship, Release Date: Dec 18, 2008

Editor's review

Heart's-ease is a Christian devotional work by the renowned nineteenth-century American minister Phillips Brooks, belonging to the category of practical theology and worship. Brooks is known for his gentle, earnest preaching style, adept at approaching matters of faith through everyday experience and offering readers comfort and encouragement. The book is brief and well suited to devotional reading, to be read piece by piece in quiet moments and to let its consolation and reflection sink in. As a public-domain e-book, it preserves the religious language and period style of the original and is also of value to readers studying nineteenth-century American religious literature and the preaching tradition. There is no need to read quickly; it is better savored repeatedly, letting the words settle slowly within one's own circumstances.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers seeking spiritual comfort and encouragement through English devotional writing
Enthusiasts of nineteenth-century American Christian preaching literature
Readers accustomed to slow, repeated reading of short religious essays

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic theological exposition or scholarly annotation
Readers who prefer modern vernacular and are unaccustomed to nineteenth-century English style
Readers hoping for plot-driven narrative or biographical storytelling

Reading tips

Read one or two pieces a day, leaving time for quiet reflection rather than trying to finish in one sitting.
Keep a notebook to record passages that move you and respond briefly in light of your own circumstances.
Read alongside a Chinese translation or annotations to ease language barriers.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for non-Christians?

Yes. The language carries a clear Christian preaching tone, but the core is largely comfort and encouragement for life, and non-Christians can also find emotional solace in it; understanding the nineteenth-century American religious background will make the reading more rewarding.

How difficult is the English, and what foundation is needed?

The original is nineteenth-century English, with sentence structures and vocabulary characteristic of the period, making it moderately to fairly difficult. A good command of English reading is recommended, or use annotations and translations as support; when encountering unfamiliar religious terms, it is fine to move past them and grasp the overall meaning.

Is this book suitable for reading in one sitting?

Not really. It consists of short devotional pieces with modest information density but requiring savoring; reading slowly piece by piece with personal reflection reveals its value better than reading it all at once and leaves a deeper impression.

Comments

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About the author

Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893 Author · American · 1835–1893

Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman who served as rector of Trinity Church in Boston. He was best known for his sermons and preaching, which were earnest in tone and compelling in expression, and which carried considerable influence in American religious circles of his day. He also wrote the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," a widely circulated work that remains one of his best-known literary achievements. Two of his works are included in this collection: Addresses by the Right Reverend Phillips Brooks, a gathering of speeches, and Heart's-ease, a volume of essays. Both reflect his religious concerns and his plain, elegant prose style. Public information on his early life and education is limited, so it is not elaborated here. Overall, his writing takes faith as its central theme and combines a pastoral purpose with literary grace.