It was regarded as a great breach of good manners to go between any person and the fire.
The fireplace was the centre of the household, and was regarded as the type and symbol of the home.

The boys all understood the force of the line: Strike for your altars and your fires! I wonder if any of my readers nowadays would be stirred by an appeal to strike for his furnace or his air-tight stove.
Sunday was kept with Jewish strictness.

The boys were not allowed to go out-of-doors except to church.

They could not play at any game or talk about matters not pertaining to religion.

They were not permitted to read any books except such as were "good for Sunday." There were very few religious story-books in those days, and what we had were of a dreary kind; so the boy's time hung heavy on his hands.
"Pilgrim's Progress," with its rude prints, was, however, a great resource.