at the same time to act as missionary to a tribe of Indians in the vicinity. The congregation was small, and the work among the Indians unpromising. It was a field that especially required persistent personal work. Confirmed, as he was, in retiring and studious habits, it is not strange that, in spite of his faithful preaching, he was unsuccessful as a missionary. But among the unfavorable surroundings of a frontier settlement, he continued his literary labors, and composed his ablest works.

In 1754 appeared his famous treatise entitled "Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will." It is his greatest work, the argument of which he had been slowly elaborating for years. It placed him at once, not only at the head of American writers, but among the world's profoundest thinkers. "On the arena of metaphysics," says the great Dr. Chalmers, "he stood the highest of all his contemporaries, and that, too, at a time when Hume was aiming his deadliest thrusts at the foundations of morality, and had thrown over the infidel cause the whole éclat of his reputation." According to the judgment of Sir James Mackintosh, "In the power of subtile argument, he was, perhaps, unmatched, certainly unsurpassed among men." Among his other works published while he was at Stockbridge are "A Dissertation on the Nature of True Virtue," and a treatise on "Original Sin."

In 1758 he was called to the presidency of the College of New Jersey, a position which he accepted with hesitancy and misgivings. He questioned his natural aptitude for the office, and hesitated to assume duties that would interfere with the studious habits of his life. In a letter to the trustees, in which he speaks with great frankness, he furnishes some interesting facts about his manner of life. "My method of study," he says, "from my first beginning the work of the ministry, has been very much by writing; applying myself, in this way, to improve every important hint; pursuing the clue to my utmost, when any thing in reading, meditation, or conversation, has been suggested to my mind, that seemed to promise light in

any weighty point; thus penning what appeared to me my best thoughts, on innumerable subjects, for my own benefit." In the same letter he speaks of a great work that he had on his "mind and heart;" namely, his "History of the Work of Redemption."

The plan, as he outlines it, reminds us of Milton and Dante. "This history," he says, "will be carried on with regard to all three worlds, heaven, earth, and hell; considering the connected, successive events and alterations in each, so far as the Scriptures give any light; introducing all parts of divinity in that order which is most Scriptural and most natural, a method which appears to me the most beautiful and entertaining, wherein every divine doctrine will appear to the greatest advantage, in the brightest light, and in the most striking manner, showing the admirable contexture and harmony of the whole." This work, so grandly outlined, was left unfinished at his death; but the manuscript sermons, which formed the basis of it, were reduced to the form of a treatise by his friend Dr. Erskine of Edinburgh, and the work, which has had a wide circulation, first appeared in that city in 1777.

He was inaugurated as president of the College of New Jersey in 1758, but performed the duties of his office less than five weeks. The smallpox having made its appearance in Princeton, he deemed it advisable to be inoculated. At that time inoculation was regarded as a more serious thing than at present. The trustees were consulted, and gave their consent. A skilful physician was engaged to come from Philadelphia to perform the operation; but in spite of all precautions, the inoculation terminated fatally. He died March 22, 1758, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. In his last hours he retained the beautiful faith and resignation that had characterized his active life. Shortly before he expired, some friends, not thinking that he heard them, were lamenting the loss that his death would bring to the college and the church. Interrupting them he said, "Trust in God, and ye need not fear." These were his last words.

"Other men have, do doubt, excelled him in particular qualities or accomplishments. There have been far more learned men; far more eloquent men; far more enterprising and active men, in the out-door work of the sacred office. But, in the assemblage and happy union of those high qualities, intellectual and moral, which constitute finished excellence, as a man, a Christian, a divine, and a philosopher, he was, undoubtedly, one of the greatest and best men that have adorned this, or any other country, since the Apostolic age.

1 Miller, Life of Jonathan Edwards, p. 213.

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REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

REPRESENTATIVE WRITERS.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

OTHER WRITERS

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN (1771-1810). Was the first American novelist. He wrote " Wieland," "Ormond," and "Arthur Mervyn." He was the first of our authors to make a living out of literature.

JOHN TRUMBULL (1750-1831). Wrote "McFingal," a satire upon the Tories in the manner of Butler's "Hudibras."

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JOEL BARLOW (1754-1812). Wrote the Columbiad," a very dull epic. His "Hasty Pudding" is still readable.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON (1737-1791). Wrote the most popular ballad of the Revolution, entitled the "Battle of the Kegs."

The Indian

PHILIP FRENEAU (1752–1832). Poet, editor, and political writer. His two best poems are Lines to a Wild Honeysuckle" and Burying-Ground." TIMOTHY DWIGHT (1752-1817). President of Yale College from 1795 to the time of his death. A theologian whose works are still instructive. He wrote the hymn "I love thy Kingdom, Lord," and the patriotic song, "Columbia, Columbia, to Glory Arise."

JOSEPH HOPKINSON (1770-1842). Wrote "Hail Columbia."

THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809). Author of "Common Sense," a patriotic pamphlet, "The Rights of Man," a defence of the French Revolution, and "The Age of Reason," a coarse attack upon Christianity. JAMES MADISON (1751-1836) and JOHN ADAMS (1735-1826) were great statesmen and able political writers. The former was one of the writers of the " Federalist," and the latter wrote an elaborate " Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States."

JOHN MARSHALL (1755-1835). Statesman and Chief-Justice of the United States. He wrote a standard “Life of Washington."

WILLIAM WIRT (1772-1834). Lawyer and politician. He wrote " Letters of a British Spy," and a "Life of Patrick Henry."