FRANKLIN’S GRAVE
Fifth and Arch Sts., Philadelphia
EDWARDS AS AN AUTHOR
A man of his intensity was certain to come into collision with some of the ideas held by his contemporaries and with much of their practice; and Edwards finally antagonized his congregation to such a degree that at the age of fifty-six he preached his farewell sermon. Several avenues of work were open to him, for he had become a man of wide reputation; but he settled at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and wrote in the quiet of what was then a wilderness his famous treatise on “The Freedom of the Will,” which is probably the most important American contribution to philosophy. It is his sermons, however, rather than his treatises, which entitle his work to a place in the history of American literature. Between eleven and twelve hundred of these sermons are preserved in Yale University Library. They are characterized by great vigor of thought, intensity of feeling, and often impressive power of statement. One of them, more famous, though in some respects not so true a piece of literature as others, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” created great commotion in its time, and the glow of the fire which possessed the preacher has not yet wholly faded from its pages.
FRANKLIN, from a painting by D. Martin
LITERATURE OF THE REVOLUTION
As the War of the Revolution approached the colonists began to have hopes and fears in common, and the war was preceded by a war of words. The grievances of the colonists were stated many times, sometimes with great force of reasoning and clearness; and a literature of discussion and debate, which reached the public largely through pamphlets, came into existence. Samuel Adams of Massachusetts wrote a stirring defense of the rights of the colonists. James Adams, James Otis, and Thomas Jefferson came to the front in this discussion; and their writing took on the dignity of literature.
