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