As is true of many colonial figures, Wigglesworth's fame during his life and in the minds of succeeding generations of New Englanders lies in a few, though momentous, public contributions to the spiritual life of his culture. Although the subject of several short studies in the nineteenth century and of a sympathetic full-length biography in this century, Wigglesworth's private, personal life is surrounded by much ambiguity and conjecture. Even his brief "Autobiography" and his more detailed diary for the years 1653-1657, both of which have been published, are of little help, for consistent with the established Puritan tradition of personal letters, they emphasize Wigglesworth's spiritual growth: a conventional, repetitive process of spiritual doubt, followed by humiliation, followed by assurance.

What is known, then, of Malden's famous pastor, physician, and poet is at best sketchy and derivative. The son of Edward and Esther Wigglesworth, he and his parents left...