What is the author's main purpose in the passage "puritan laws and character"?

I think the author's main purpose in this excerpt is to laud the Puritans for, despite the harshness of their religion, their love of liberty and hatred of tyranny and their courage coming from the fear of God. While he explains that they would not allow for example public displays of say kissing and would put the guilty person in the stocks for this and for example those who didn't attend church regularly would be penalized, all in all they displayed more freedom than much of their European counterparts of the time.