āThe Puritans, as a body, have done more to elevate the national character than any class of Englishmen that ever lived. Ardent lovers of civil liberty, and ready to die in its defenseāmighty at the council board, and no less mighty in the battlefieldāfeared abroad throughout Europe, and invincible at home while unitedāgreat with their pens, and no less great with their swordsāfearing God very much, and fearing men very littleāthey were a generation of men who have never received from their country the honor that they deserve.ā
āJ.C. Ryle (introduction to Thomas Mantonās Works, 2:xi)