Liberal Thought in America 147 



was ever done in America that contributed more 

 toward the maintenance of political freedom. But 

 in spite of its merits, the faults of the theocracy 

 were such that we cannot regret its speedy over- 

 throw. When that overthrow was effected, by the 

 charter of 1692, there were a great many people 

 in Massachusetts more or less hostile to the kind 

 of Puritanism entertained by their grandfathers, 

 and thus prepared for a more liberal mental habit. 

 There was also a marked secularization of thought, 

 a diminution of interest in theological problems, 

 and a deadening of religious zeal. A wonderful 

 series of changes was set on foot by the writings 

 and preaching of Jonathan Edwards, and the 

 group of revivals between 1735 and 1750 known 

 as "the Great Awakening." Few figures in his- 

 tory are more pathetic or more sublime than that 

 of Jonathan Edwards in the lonely woodlands of 

 Northampton and Stockbridge, a thinker for depth 

 and acuteness surpassed by not many that have 

 lived, a man with the soul of poet and prophet, 

 wrestling with the most terrible problems that 

 humanity has ever encountered, with more than 

 the courage and candour of Augustine or Calvin, 

 with all the lofty inspiration of Fichte or Novalis. 

 An interesting historical essay might be devoted 

 to tracing the effects wrought upon New England 



