Sabbath in Puritan New England Quotes

“Nor should we underrate the cohesive power that psalm-singing proved in the early communities; it was one of the most potent influences in gathering and holding the colonists together in love. And they reverenced their poor halting tunes in a way quite beyond our modern power of fathoming. Whenever a Puritan, even in road or field, heard at a distance the sound of a psalm-tune, though the sacred words might be quite undistinguishable, he doffed his hat and bowed his head in the true presence of God.”
― Alice Morse Earle, Sabbath in Puritan New England

“The early meeting-houses in country parishes were seldom painted, such outward show being thought vain and extravagant. In the middle of the eighteenth century paint became cheaper and more plentiful, and a gay rivalry in church-decoration sprang up. One meeting-house had to be as fine as its neighbor.”
― Alice Morse Earle, Sabbath in Puritan New England

“At last no liquor was allowed to the workmen until after the day's work was over, and thus fatal accidents were prevented.”
― Alice Morse Earle, Sabbath in Puritan New England