Although there were probably as many university men in proportion to the
population in early colonial Massachusetts as in England, the strength and
direction of their religious ideals helped to turn their energy into
activities outside the field of pure literature. In course of time,
however, Nathaniel Hawthorne appeared to give lasting literary expression
to this life.

THE NEW ENGLAND CLERGY.--The clergy occupied a leading place in both the
civil and religious life of New England. They were men of energy and
ability, who could lead their congregations to Holland or to the wilds of
New England. For the purpose in hand the world has never seen superior
leaders. Many of them were graduates of Cambridge University, England.
Their great authority was based on character, education, and natural
ability. A contemporary historian said of John Cotton, who came as pastor
from the old to the new Boston in 1633, that whatever he "delivered in the
pulpit was soon put into an order of court ... or set up as a practice in
the church."

The sermons, from two to four hours long, took the place of magazines,
newspapers, and modern musical and theatrical entertainments. The church
members were accustomed to hard thinking and they enjoyed it as a mental
exercise. Their minds had not been rendered flabby by such a diet of
miscellaneous trash or sensational matter as confronts modern readers. Many
of the congregation went with notebooks to record the different heads and
the most striking thoughts in the sermon, such, for instance, as the
following on the dangers of idleness:--

"Whilst the stream keeps running, it keeps clear; but let it stand still,
it breeds frogs and toads and all manner of filth. So while you keep
going, you keep clear."