An Investigation of the Seventeenth- to Nineteenth-Century Puritan Vernacular Tradition: To Please God or to Not Please God

201 Pages·2020·4.68 MB·English

by  Douglas T. Root

An Investigation of
the Seventeenth- to
Nineteenth-Century
Puritan Vernacular
Tradition

An Investigation of
the Seventeenth- to
Nineteenth-Century
Puritan Vernacular
Tradition
To Please God or to Not
Please God
Douglas T. Root
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Root, Douglas T., author.
Title: An investigation of the seventeenth- to nineteenth-century Puritan vernacular
tradition : to please or to not please God / Douglas T. Root.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020013122 (print) | LCCN 2020013123 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781498561662 (cloth) | ISBN 9781498561679 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: American literature—Puritan authors—History and criticism. |
American literature—Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775—History and criticism. |
Puritans—New England—Intellectual life. | Christianity and
literature—United States—History. | Puritans in literature.
Classification: LCC PS153.P87 R66 2020 (print) | LCC PS153.P87 (ebook) |
DDC 810.9/382859—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020013122
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020013123
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: “To Please God” or “To Not Please God”:
The Puritan Question 1
1 The Puritan Vernacular as a Means of Establishing
Permanency in the New World 21
2 “It Pleased God”: The Old English Puritan Vernacular
Tradition as a Response to New England 57
3 Benjamin Franklin: Philadelphian, Philanthropist,
Philanderer, Philistine? 101
4 The Puritan Frame of Mind 147
Conclusion 169
Bibliography 177
Index 185
About the Author 189
v

List of Figures and Tables
FIGURES
Figure 0.1 Bradford’s Reference to Specific Biblical Verbiage 3
Figure 4.1 Benjamin Franklin “List of Thirteen Virtues” 158
Figure 4.2 Franklin’s “Charting” of His Implementation of the
“List of Virtues” in His Everyday Life 160
Figure 4.3 A Typical Day in the Life of Franklin, including the
Questions He asked Himself in an Attempt to Guide
(or Regulate) His Own Behavior 161
Figure 4.4 George Housman Thomas’s “Crusoe and Friday” 164
Figure 4.5 George Cruikshank’s “Friday’s First Interview with
Robinson Crusoe” 166
TABLES
Table 2.1 Defoe’s Use of “It Pleased God” and Its Variants 77
Table 3.1 Part of the First Chapter of Job Modernized 137
Table 4.1 Verse 7 of Franklin’s Modified Book of Job 156
Table 4.2 Robinson Crusoe’s Pro/Con Ledger Sheet 163
vii

Acknowledgments
As my first effort at a full-length book, this project underwent many permu-
tations. Throughout the process, there were many hurdles and life-altering
events that hindered my progress. At the risk of digressing too much, I will
omit the greater amount of these in favor of simply doing what I feel like I
should here: expressing gratitude and appreciation to those who helped me
get to where I am presently and those who helped this work see the light of
day.
First and foremost, all the praise goes to God. I am firmly of the belief that
the gifts He bestows upon us are great, even down to the smallest detail, and
when we use those gifts we glorify Him. I hope I have done that here. Next,
my family: to my lovely wife Kim. You so gracefully understood my need
to isolate myself in order to do copious research and writing and never once
complained. To dad, we almost lost you in December 2017 and I am hoping
you are still around to read this book (and not be bored to tears by it). Mom,
you continually provide me with spiritual guidance and knowledge I need
to fill in a lot of the religious gaps in the work that I simply do not possess.
Finally, to Scott, I hope that you find the peace of mind that I know God will
grant you. I love all of you.
Professionally speaking, I have nothing but love for Lexington Books. You
were there for me from the start and stuck with me through what I am sure
were some awful drafts, and for that I am extremely grateful. To my current
coworkers, particularly Dr. Patrick Stearns, I appreciate you giving me the
inspiration that I sometimes need just to get through the day. “Iron sharpens
iron,” as the saying goes, and I firmly believe that. To conclude the list of
those individuals who helped me in a professional vein, I want to thank Dr.
John Vance, emeritus professor at the University of Georgia. In some ways
you have been like a second father to me, and I will always remember our
ix