Our forefathers toiled so hard during six days of the week that it was a great relief to them when Sunday came, for on Sunday no one was allowed to do work of any kind. The Sabbath began on Saturday at sunset and ended at sunset on Sunday. During that time, there could be no visiting, no heavy eating, not even the smell of cooking, and no traveling, except to church.
At first there was a law that everybody must go to church. There were several services, which were always long. Sometimes the sermon lasted two or three hours but it must have been pleas-ant to the people, after a week's hard work, to sit still and listen to the minister. Of course, they had no newspapers at first, and very few books ; so the long sermons taught them much, and news and gossip could be exchanged on the way to and from church. Probably the children did not care as much for the long services as their elders; for the pews were too high to look over, and the seats were narrow and uncomfortable. Little girls sat beside their mothers in the gallery and must have found it hard to sit quiet for hours, listening to the minister's long talks. The men occupied the floor of the meeting house, whereas the boys sat together, either in the gallery or on one side of the floor. Boys of two or three hun-dred years ago were very much like boys of today; for one of the duties of the tithing-man, as he was called, was to keep order among the boys by means of a long pole with a round knob on the end, which he brought smartly down on the head of any boy who made too much noise during meeting. The other end of the tithing-man's pole had a squirrei's tail ,or ia feather, with which he tickled the face of any lady who was so unfortunate as to fall asleep during the service. When the tickling woke her, she must have been glad that the high back of the pew hid her blushes from her smiling neighbors. For a long time the law said that people who did not go to church should be brought before the court and punished. Even when there was no such law, those who did not go were not thought very respectable. Only church members were given a share in the government, although everybody had to pay taxes to support the church as well as the other public institutions. In 1688, about one-quarter of the settlers lived in what is now West Gloucester. As it was a long way around the head of Annisquam River and the roads were poor, most of the travel was prob-ably done by water. In summer, all these people, who lhied so far from the church, could go there by boat; for, although it was against the law to use boats, horses or wagons ,on Sunday, they could be used for church going by those who lived a long way from the meeting house. The Puritans were very strict about this mat-ter of distance, and would not think of using a boat ,or wagon if they could possibly walk. Strict as they were, our forefathers must certainly have enjoyed crossing beautiful Annisquam River by boat on a pleasant summer morning. We are apt to think that they Puri-tan Sabbath must have been very tiresome, but we should remem-ber that it was a real Day of Rest for hard-working people. The minister was an important person in the town. His salary was paid in Indian corn, pease, barley, fish or pork; for, although there was a mint in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the settlers of Cape Ann had very little to do with gold or silver coin. Often they used wampum or bullets for money, paying their taxes in this way, but as a rule the products of the earth and sea were their currency. In addition to his salary, the minister was allowed a certain amount of firewood from the town land, for which he preached a lecture every three weeks from March to September. These lectures were upon matters that had to do with daily living. The minister did not perform the marriages. This was done by a magistrate, or judge, and there was none in Gloucester until about 1700. People who wished to be married had to go to Ipswich or Salem. Besides preaching, the minister spent a great deal of time in visiting the sick and the dying. The long, cold winters brought much illness to the people who were not used to a severe climate, and fevers and small-pox were common. It was not unusual for the minister to be called out of bed on a bitter winter night, when he himself was far from well, to attend sick people. One of the early ministers, Parson Chandler, says in his diary: "I was very much not well but visited about 18 persons sick with the measles * * * * I could scarce hold up in the evening; visited Mary Pierce ; after, visited Capt. Babson, very dangerous, near death; I came home and went to bed ill; about 2 o'clock, they sent for me to Capt. Babson; I sent word I was ill and unable, but by their repeated opportunity (importunity), considering the distress of the family, I rose and went; while I was attempting to pray with him I fainted away." Of such stuff were the early settlers made.
ABBIE F. RUST.