is of interest, since it was the first attempt in America to found a literary magazine.
The Literature of the Period does not much differ from that produced during the first era. It was still prevailingly religious in its character. The poetry clumsily followed the artificial models of the school of Pope and was for the most part unnatural and worthless. The period, however, produced three writers of high rank, — Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and Benjamin Franklin, the last two attaining to international renown. These, with Samuel Sewall and Governor Hutchinson, are all that need be mentioned in a brief history of the period.
1. Samuel Sewall (1662–1730).
"The Puritan Pepys."
The work done by Bradford and Winthrop during the early days of New England was continued by SamuelThe Selling of Joseph.
Diary, 1673–1739. Sewall, who kept a faithful journal between the years 1673 and 1739. Sewall was born in England, coming with his father to America while yet a boy, and after a course at Harvard, settled down to the law. He married the daughter of John Hull, the rich mint master of Massachusetts, who gave him a fortune. In time he became the Chief Justice of Massachusetts. During the witchcraft trials at Salem, he was a conspicuous figure among the judges, but, becoming convinced of his error later in life, he did what he could to atone for his part in the miserable affair by making a public confession in church.
