The American Puritans: Their Prose and Poetry

Perry Miller was born in Chicago on February 25, 1905. He was educated at the University of Chicago where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1931. Since then Mr. Miller taught at Harvard University and in 1946 became a Professor of American Literature there. He died in 1963. 


He was the author of Orthodoxy in Massachusetts (1933); The New England Mind (1939); Jonathan Edwards (1949); Roger Williams (1953); The Raven and the Whale (1956); and Errand into the Wilderness (1956). 


This anthology is organized as follows: 


Foreword 


Chapter One. History 

1. William Bradford, 1590-1657 

Of Plymouth Plantation 

2. Thomas Shepard, 1605-1649 

A Defense of the Answer 

3. Edward Johnson, 1598-1672 

Wonder-Working Providence of Sion’s Savior 

4. John Winthrop, 1588-1649 

Journal 

5. John Winthrop, 1588-1649 

The Antinomian Crisis 

6. Cotton Mather, 1663-1728 

A General Introduction 


Chapter Two. State and Society 

1. John Winthrop, 1588-1649 

A Model of Christian Charity 

2. John Cotton, 1584-1652 

Limitation of Government 

3. Thomas Hooker, 1586-1647 

Hartford Election Sermon 

4. John Winthrop, 1588-1649 

Speech to the General Court 

5. Nathaniel Ward, 1578-1652 

The Simple Cobler of Aggawam 

6. Jonathan Mitchell, 1624-1668 

Nehemiah on the Wall 

7. William Stoughton, 1631-1701 

New England’s True Interest 

8. William Hubbard, 1621-1704 

The Happiness of a People 

9. John Wise, 1652-1725 

Vindication of the Government of New England Churches 

10. Jonathan Mayhew, 1720-1766 

A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission 


Chapter Three. This World and the Next 

1. Thomas Shepard, 1605-1649 

The Covenant of Grace 

2. Peter Bulkeley, 1583-1659 

The Lesson of the Covenant, for England and New England 

3. Thomas Hooker, 1586-1647 

A True Sight of Sin 

4. Thomas Hooker, 1586-1647 

Repentant Sinners and Their Ministers 

5. John Cotton, 1584-1652 

Christian Calling 

6. Increase Mather, 1639-1723 

Man Knows Not His Time 

7. Urian Oakes, 1631-1681 

The Sovereign Efficacy of Divine Providence 

8. Samuel Sewall, 1652-1730 

Phaenomena 

9. Cotton Mather, 1663-1728 

Bonifacius 

10. Solomon Stoddard, 1643-1729 

Concerning Ancestors 


Chapter Four. Personal Narrative 

1. Thomas Shepard, 1605-1649 

Autobiography 

2. Increase Mather, 1639-1723 

Richard Mather 

3. Samuel Sewall, 1652-1730 

Diary 

4. John Williams, 1664-1729 

The Redeemed Captive 


Chapter Five. Poetry 

1. Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672 

Several Poems 

2. Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672 

Meditations 

3. Michael Wigglesworth, 1631-1705 

The Day of Doom 

4. Michael Wigglesworth, 1631-1705 

God’s Controversy With New England 

5. E.B. 

A Threnodia 

6. Edward Taylor, 1645?-1729 

God’s Determinations Touching His Elect 

7. Edward Taylor, 1645?-1729 

Poems and Sacramental Meditations 


Chapter Six. Literary and Educational Ideals 

1. Richard Mather, 1596-1669 

The Bay Psalm Book 

2. New England’s First Fruits 

New England’s First Fruits 

3. Michael Wigglesworth, 1631-1705 

The Praise of Eloquence 

4. Cotton Mather, 1663-1728 

Of Style