Introduction

A good deal of material has been drawn from published funeral sermons and the often lengthy dedications which Puritan divines were in the habit of inserting in their printed works. There is a tendency among present-day historians, whether Marxist or otherwise, to portray the religious loyalties of Puritan gentlemen as little more than a reflection of their economic or political aspirations. The idea that a great gulf separated the Puritans from their fellow Protestants can no longer be seriously entertained: there were no significant doctrinal differences until Arminianism began to assume importance during the 1620s. The funeral sermon and the epistle dedicatory can be of great value to the discriminating historian. At the very least they provide evidence of the close ties between members of Puritan gentry and brotherhood of godly divines but much more than this there is often a significant amount of solid factual information to be extracted once the general stereotyped praise has been stripped away.