Article: American leisure in books and printed ephemera.

When Business and Diversion Inoffensive to God by Joseph Seccombe (1706-1760) appeared in 1743, it was the first sermon on leisure activities to be published in this country. (1) Written under the pseudonym Fluviatulis Piscator (River Fisher), the work addressed a thorny issue in Puritan America, that is, how to justify leisure pursuits when all of man's actions should glorify God. Seccombe, the brother of the minister John Seccombe (1708-1792), expounded on the region's most popular recreational activity, fishing. He averred that it had a practical purpose and was a "lawful recreation" and therefore not sinful. God created fish, those fish fed people, and therefore ...

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