The diary I've found was written by Robert Woodforde, a diarist born in the town of Old, to a close-knit family of puritans. Known throughout his life for having a strong sense of morals and being very involved in the religious community of his town, he later ventured into a career in law, meaning he was free to travel around New Hampshire and visit the numerous religious communities that had sprang up thanks to the 'Great Migration'.
An excerpt from his diary reads
"Lord we blesse thee for the great fruitfullnes of the gentiles, the Lord increase us a thousandfold, but Lord let not the wife be allwayes barren, & bringe in the remainder of the gentiles in America & otherwhere, and let the spirit of reformacon passe through this Island & Ireland & the adiacent kingdomes.
pull downe that cursed Antichrist of Rome that Babilon the great may fall in these o(u)r Dayes.Lord thou seest how the wicked B(ishop) limbs of hime here in this kingdome have even darkned the sunne in the heavens thereof & brought up a fog over the whole nacon."
This excerpt is very useful to anyone wanting to know anymore about puritan values at the time, their views on the 'Antichrist of Rome' and Catholicism. It's real point of interest comes from the opening lines, where Woodforde asks the Lord to bless not only America, but also the new Americans. He asks to 'increase us a thousandfold' indicating that he not only hopes for America to become a sort of paradise for people sharing in puritan values, but also a place for any person seeking to escape places like England and Holland, which were deemed too sinful. Its importance is based on the early idea of America as a nation - Woodforde is already proud of America and already has a sense of identity and what it means to be an American.
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