II. Observe and reverence the sabbath, or Lord's day. Remember the
sabbath-day, to keep it holy [Exod. xx. 8.], is a solemn and positive
command of God. To live in the neglect of this commandment, is absolutely
to despise God, and to defy him, as it were to his face. Consider, my
friends, you have orders frequently given you here, by your superiors,
which you know you must obey, or you know the consequences of
disobedience--judge then for yourselves, what have those persons to
expect, who, in defiance of the authority of the great God, presume to
neglect and profane the day which he has so expressly enjoined to be kept
holy?

It gives me a deep and continual concern to observe how the Lord's-day
is spent by many of you. What would a stranger think, who
regards the sabbath, if he visited every part of this colony on the
Lord's day? Ah! my brethren, I have seen and heard enough (alas! much
more than enough) to form my own judgment on this subject. If my duty
did not require my attendance on the public worship, and were I to
visit your different places and huts, I fear I should find some of you
spending the hours appointed for divine service in cultivating your
gardens and grounds, others indulging themselves in mere sloth and
idleness, others engaged in the most profane and unclean conversation,
and others committing abominations, which it would defile my pen to
describe. Now what must be the end of these courses? God says,
Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. But the language, both of your
hearts and actions, is, "We will not keep it holy. It is a day given us
for ourselves; and we wish, and we are resolved to spend it as we
please. We do not chuse to be confined, or compelled to hear so much
preaching and praying." Is not this the language of your hearts?