In August 1751 Edwards went as missionary to the Indians at Stockbridge, a town in the western part of Massachusetts Bay, having been applied to for the purpose by the Boston Commissioners for Indian Affairs, and having also received an invitation from the inhabit ants of Stockbridge. Here he had much leisure; and it was during his stay at Stockbridge that be wrote his 'Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will,' and his Treatise on Original Sin. The first of these works, and that on which his fame chiefly rests, was written in nine months, and was published in 1754. In 1757 ho was chosen, without any solicitation on his part, and much to his surprise, president of Princeton College, New Jersey. Having after some deliberation accepted the appointment, he went to Princeton in January 1758, and was installed president. He died of the small-pos on the 22nd of the following March.
It may be inferred, from the account which we have given of his life, that the character of Jonathan Edwards was eminently estimable.
He was an industrious, meek, conscientious, kind, and just man. In religion he was a Calvinist; and his principal work, that on the Will; was written in defence of the Calvinistic views on that subject and against those entertained by Arminians.
Edwards's chief works are :-1, A Treatise concerning Religious Affections;' 2, 'An Inquiry into the modern prevailing notions respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be essential to Moral Agency, Virtue, and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame ;' 3, ' The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin defended ; containing a Reply to the Objections of Dr. John Taylor ;'
4, The History of Redemption '• ' 5, ' A Dissertation concerning the end for which God created the World;' and 6, A Dissertation con cerning the true nature of Christian Virtue.' The three last works were publishel after his death.
Jonathan Edwards's works on the 'Freedom of the Will' and Original Sin' are the acknowledged authorities in defence of the leading views of what is generally known as Calvinistic Divinity.
The Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will' is beyond dispute the most comprehensive and masterly treaties in which that subject is regarded as a qnestion of metaphysical theology ; and whatever may be the opinion arrived at by the reader as regards either the principal or secondary conclusions of the author, there can be no question as to the profundity of his reasoning, or the clearness and force with which he sets forth his arguments. Edwards was in fact one of the greatest metaphysicians and most powerful reasoners of his age, and his writings, though deficient in the graces of style, will, apart from their value as exponent of the views of a great theological party, be of permanent value as examples of comprehensive investigation and acute logic.
The best and most complete edition of Edwards's works is that edited by President Dwight, in ten volumes. There is also an edition in eight volumes, published iu London, 1817. The ' Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will' has been published separately, with an 'Introductory Essay' by Mr. Taylor, the author of The Nateaal History of Enthusiasm.'