Sabbatarian households restricted even reading to theology, leaving occupants to sleep

Evidence

Chalmers does not allow of any books in his house but theological works, and two or three volumes of dull travels, so the mother and children slept nearly all day. The man attempted to read a well-worn copy of Boston’s Fourfold State, but shortly fell asleep, and they only woke up for their meals. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 68

Categorization

• SHARE: A neat historical detail for anyone interested in frontier Protestant domestic life — the enforced idleness of a strict Sunday in a homestead.