From this time there has appeared a very remarkable abiding change in the child: she has been very strict upon the Sabbath, and seems to long for the Sabbath day before it comes, and will often in the week time be inquiring how long it is to the Sabbath day, and must have the days particularly counted over that are between, before she will be contented. And she seems to love God’s house—is very eager to go thither. Her mother once asked her why she had such a mind to go? Whether it was not to see the fine folks? She said no, it was to hear Mr. Edwards preach. When she is in the place of worship, she is very far from spending her time there as children at her age usually do, but appears with an attention that is very extraordinary for such a child. She also appears, very desirous at all opportunities, to go to private religious meetings, and is very still and attentive at home, in prayer time, and has appeared affected in time of family prayer. Other Colonies John Woolman’s Journal Although one may think first of New England Puritanism in discussing the religious life of the colonies, America was founded by many religious groups. The Church of England was dominant in the southern colonies, Maryland was founded by Catholics, and New York was settled by Netherlanders who belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. Still another important religious influence was the Quaker faith, represented most significantly by William Penn, who established the Pennsylvania colony. There also were many Quakers in New Jersey, one of whom, John Woolman, is the writer of the following selection. Woolman was a simple, plain tailor and shopkeeper who spent much of his adult life traveling about the colonies visiting Quaker churches. His Journal gives a clear account of the faith and life of a Quaker. The portion printed below (from the original edition published in Philadelphia in 1774) details Woolman’s boyhood and early religious experience. I was born in Northampton, in Burlington County, West-Jersey, in the year 1720; and before I was seven years old I began to be acquainted with the operations of divine love. Through the care of my parents, I was taught to read nearly as soon as I was capable of it; and, as I went from school one Seventh Day [_the Quaker’s term for Saturday; Sunday is the First Day_], I remember, while my companions went to play by the way, I went forward out of sight, and, sitting down, I read the 22d Chapter of the Revelations: “He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,” etc., and, in reading it, my mind was drawn to seek after that pure habitation, which, I then believed, God had prepared for His servants. The place where I sat, and the sweetness that attended my mind, remain fresh in my memory.