COTTON MATHER was born in Boston, February 12th, 1662-3. In his Youth
he was remarkable for his Progress in Knowledge, and soon became
extensively known for his varied Acquirements. At the Age of Twelve he
entered Harvard College, and graduated in due Course. He was thrice
married: 1st, when in his twenty-fourth Year, to Abigail, Daughter of
Col. John Phillips, of Charlestown; 2d, to Widow Elizabeth Hubbard,
Daughter of Dr. John Clark; and 3d, to Lydia, Widow of Mr. John George,
Daughter of the Rev. Samuel Lee, sometime of Bristol in Rhode Island.
By the last Wife he had no Children, but by the others he had fifteen,
nine of which were by the first.
The Father of Mr. Mather was Dr. Increase Mather, Pastor of the North
Church, of Boston, of whom the Biographer of the former remarks, that,
"as President of Harvard College, by whose printed composures both
Latin and English, and by whose Agency in the Courts of three Monarchs
for his afflicted Country, have rendered him universally known."
His Mother was Maria, Daughter of Mr. John Cotton of Boston, a Name as
intimately associated with the History of New England as any other. And
judging from the Portraits of the Grandsire and Grandson, there was a
very strong Resemblance of the one to the other.
Mr. Mather began to preach in 1680, and his first Sermon was delivered
in Dorchester, on the 22d of August of that Year. In the following
February he was invited to become an Assistant to his Father in the
North Church in Boston, which Invitation he accepted. About two Years
later he was unanimously chosen Pastor by the same Church, but was
not ordained until May, 1684; his Ordination probably being deferred
on Account of his Youth; being at the Time of his Ordination but
twenty-one Years and three Months old. On that Occasion he received the
Right Hand of Fellowship from the venerable Mr. John Eliot, of Roxbury.
At an early Age he began to keep a Diary, and from the Passages we
have from it we are convinced that its Entries were dictated by an
honest Mind, and that Duplicity and evil Intentions could never find
an abiding Place therein; that his sole Aim was Goodness, and a strong
Desire to lead a life of Purity, is manifest throughout.
Mr. Mather commenced Author at the Age of 23, and continued his
Publications to the Year of his Decease; extending over a Period of
about forty-two Years. In that Time he is said by his Biographer to
have issued 383 Books; thus averaging about nine each Year. But many of
his _Books_ would in these Days be called Pamphlets, as they consisted
of only a few Pages--a very few indeed containing Pages sufficient to
give them the Character of a Book. A List of these 383 Works is given
in his Life by his Son, but it is known to be incomplete. The List is
very deficient in Respect to the Titles of the Works, also, insomuch
that their Contents cannot be determined from them.
There are several Biographies of Dr. Cotton Mather, all drawn mainly
from that by his Son, Dr. Samuel Mather. An Abridgment of this was
published in England in 1744, in a small 12mo, by David Jennings. Mr.
Jennings was instigated to undertake the Abridgment by Dr. Isaac Watts;
the latter having consulted with Mr. Mather previously, and obtained
his Consent to let his Work appear in an Abridgment. In giving his
Consent for the abridged Edition, he thus apologizes for the original
Undertaking: "The Life of my Father, as you have it in your Hands, was
a youthful Attempt;[26] though I now plainly discern my Defects in it,
and am sorry to see such a Number of them, yet I can look on it with
some Comfort; partly from a Consciousness of my honest Meaning in it,
and partly because I find several worthy Persons approve of many Things
in it, and have done me the Honour of expressing themselves favourable
about it."
The Mode of writing Biography has very much changed since the Life of
Dr. Mather was first written. Those written previous to, and at that
Period, at least many of them, might be reduced in Bulk from five to
seven-eighths, without omitting anything of Value. This Remark is
applicable to other Performances of that Time, and to some in these as
well.
It may be justly said of Cotton Mather, that he was one of the most
remarkable Men of the Age in which he lived; not only remarkable on
one, but on many Accounts; and for none, perhaps, more than for his
wonderful Precociousness, or the early Intuitiveness of his Mind. His
Memory was likewise very extraordinary. The Acquirement of Knowledge
seems to have been with him accomplished almost without Effort; and his
Writings show that they were generally drawn from the Storehouse of his
Mind, where, from Reading and Observation, they had been from Time to
Time deposited. Authors who write from this Source alone are generally
diffuse, and wanting in those very essential and minute Particulars,
which in these Days constitute so important a Part of every Man's
Writings. His Style is very peculiar; and no One who is acquainted with
the Writings of "famous Thomas Fuller," can hardly doubt that Cotton
Mather attempted to make that Writer's Composition a Model for his own.
Still he falls considerably short of Fuller in his Attempts at witty
Conceits; in them the latter is always happy, while the former often
fails.
His Ability for acquiring Languages has probably been surpassed by but
very few, and he is said to have been Master of more Languages than any
other Person in New England in his Time. Those, especially the Latin,
it must be confessed, he made a most unreasonable Use of, bringing in
Passages from them at all Times, as though every Body understood them,
as well as himself.
So far as we now remember, Dr. Douglass seems to have been the Author
of the Fashion or Practice, so much of late Years in Vogue, of reviling
Cotton Mather. It has been carried to such an Extent in some Quarters,
that any One who presumes to mention his Name, does it at the Peril
of coming in for a Share of Obloquy and Abuse himself. Some not only
charge him with committing all Sorts of Errors and Blunders, but they
bring against him the more serious Charge of misrepresenting Matters
of Fact. Now it would be well for those who bring those Charges to
scrutinize their own Works. It may be, if they cannot see anything
pedantic, puerile or false in them themselves, others may come in
Contact with Errors even worse than those of Stupidity.
It is not to be denied that the Mind of Dr. Mather was singularly
constituted; and whoever shall undertake an Analysis of it will find a
more difficult Task, we apprehend, than those have found who content
themselves with nothing further than vituperative Denunciations upon
its Productions. We owe a vast Deal to Cotton Mather; especially for
his historical and biographical Works. Were these alone to be struck
out of Existence it would make a Void in these Departments of our
Literature, that would probably confound any who affect to look upon
them with Contempt. Even Dr. Douglass, although he has somewhere
asserted, that, to point out all the Errors in the _Magnalia_, would be
to copy the whole Book, is nevertheless, much indebted to him for Facts
in many Parts of the very Work in which he has made that Statement;
hence it would be very bad Logic that would not charge Dr. Douglass
with copying Errors into his Work, knowing them to be Errors. It would
be very easy for us to point to some Writers of our own Time equally
obnoxious to the same plain Kind of Argument. And a late Writer of
very good Standing has, with great apparent Deliberation said, that,
"it is impossible to deny, that the Reputation of Cotton Mather has
declined of late Years." This, of course, was his Belief; but it
strikes us as very singular, that that same Author, should, at the
same Time, make the largest Book on the Life of a Man, in such a _State
of Decline_, that had hitherto appeared! But we are under no Concern
for the Reputation of Cotton Mather, even in the Hands of his Enemies,
and we have no Intention of setting up a special Defence of him or his
Writings. We are willing the latter should pass for exactly what they
are worth. All we design to do is to caution those a little who need
Caution, and save them, if we may, from having the Windows in their own
Houses broken, by the very Missiles they themselves have thrown.
But so far from the _Reputation_ of Dr. Mather being in a _Decline_,
his Writings have never been so much sought after as at the present
Time! So much so that even Reprints of such of them as have been
made are at once taken up, and at high Prices. Twenty Years ago, the
_Magnalia_ did not command above eight or ten Dollars, while Copies
are at present rarely to be had for five Times their former Price.
Reference is had to the original Edition, of course. This can hardly
be taken as an Indication of a declining Reputation. The Style in all
his Works, though peculiar to himself, is nevertheless attractive,
and never tedious, although often upon tedious Subjects. In Point of
Scholarship, he was not excelled by any in the Country, and would not
suffer by a Comparison with the best of his Time in England.
The Charge of excessive Credulity has been brought against Dr. Mather,
as though that Trait of Character were peculiar to him alone. There
does not appear to be any Justice in singling him out as responsible
for all the Credulity in the Country. That he was credulous no One
will deny, nor will it be denied that he was surrounded by a credulous
Community, the great Majority of which were equally credulous, and
he was made to speak for them. Hence he has become conspicuous while
others are nearly or quite forgotten. All Men are credulous in some
Way and upon certain Things. Belief and Credulity are much the same.
The Degree of Evidence required to convert the latter into the former
has never been settled; nor can it be until all Minds are of the same
Capacity. It requires a large Amount daily of Credulity to enable us
to live in the tolerably good Opinion of our Companions in and out of
Doors everywhere. Dismiss all of that liberal Sentiment from our Minds
and we should be dismissed by the most of our Friends.
In the Reprints of some of the Works of Dr. Mather great Injustice has
been done him, while, at the same Time, a Cheat has been put upon the
Public. One Instance may be here given. In the Year 1815 there appeared
a tolerably neat Edition of the _Christian Philosopher_,[27] in a
Duodecimo of 324 Pages, printed at Charlestown, for which a Copyright
appears to have been taken out. On a cursory Examination we can
discover no Ground for copyrighting this Edition, except for making it
unlike the Original in one Respect only, namely, Omission of Important
Matter. As an Example of the Omissions the following may be taken: "We
read of Heaven _giving Snow like Wool_. I have known it _give a Snow
of Wool_. In a Town of _New England_, called _Fairfield_, in a bitter
snowy Night, there fell a Quantity of Snow, which covered a large
frozen Pond, but of such a _woolen_ Consistence, that it can be called
nothing but _Wool_. I have a Quantity of it, that has been these many
Years lying by me."
Now, in the Edition of 1815, this important Passage is entirely
omitted! If Dr. Mather was imposed upon by some ignorant and
mischievous Wight, that has nothing to do in excusing a Deception on
the Part of a Publisher, who contracts to reprint a Work without any
Reservation. If an Editor or Publisher thinks to save the Credit of his
Author by falsifying his Text, he can only be sure of one Thing, and
that is, to bring discredit upon himself.
I must here dismiss the _Christian Philosopher_; but in another Work
by our Author, of an earlier Date,[28] there is a singular Story of
Snow which may be noticed here: "It was credibly affirmed, that in the
Winter of the Year 1688, there fell a _Red Snow_, which lay like Blood
on a Spot of Ground, not many Miles from Boston; but the Dissolution of
it by a Thaw, which within a few Hours melted it, made it not capable
of lying under the Contemplation of so many _Witnesses_ as it might be
worthy of."
As the _Red Snow_ did not come under the Doctor's immediate
Observation, he has spoken of it with commendable Caution; insomuch
that his Character for Credulity is not enhanced by the Relation of
the Story. Moreover it is a well known Fact that _Red Snow_ is often
mentioned by reputable northern Travelers. But we have never heard that
it _snowed Wool_ at any other Time and Place, except as mentioned above.
In 1692, Dr. Mather published his _Wonders of the Invisible World_.
This was the authorized Account of the Witchcraft Cases of that Time.
In this he laid himself open to the Charge of Credulity, which, it
cannot be denied, has been pretty well sustained ever since.
Many have reproached Dr. Mather, as though he was the Author of that
dismal and awful Delusion. This is singularly unjust. He was himself
one of the deluded; and this is the only Charge that can lie against
him relative to it. All the World then believed in Witchcraft,
and People entered into it according to their Temperament and
Circumstances. The Delusion was not a Native of New England, but an
Exotic from the Father Land; and it had been well if this had been the
only one imported thence. Even when Prosecutions had ceased, there was
not a Cessation of a Belief in the Reality of Witchcraft; its Progress
was stayed from a very different Cause, as is now too well known to be
entered into or explained. Even to the present Day there are Thousands
who believe in its Reality; and that Belief can only be extirpated by
the Progress of genuine Knowledge. Within our Remembrance we could
ride from Boston in a single Day, with a very moderate Horse, into
a New England Town where the Belief in Witchcraft was very general,
and where many an old Horse-shoe could have been seen nailed to half
the Bedsteads in the Town to keep away those imaginary Miscreants who
came riding through the Air upon Broomsticks, or across the Lots upon
the Back of some poor old Woman, who perhaps from some Malady had not
left her House for Years. How much short of a Day's Ride by Steam or
otherwise it would now be necessary to take to reach a Place where
the Belief exists, we shall not undertake, but leave for others to
determine.
COTTON MATHER was undoubtedly the most prominent Author who wrote on
Witchcraft, and in the full Belief of it, in his Time, in this Country;
this Circumstance accounts for his being singled out by "one _Robert
Calef_," who attacked him with some Success, even then, in his Book
which he called _More Wonders of the Invisible World_, &c., which he
published in London, in a quarto Volume, in the Year 1700. In his Book,
Calef styles himself "Merchant, of _Boston_ in _New England_." Now in
the Absence of Proof to the contrary, it may not be unfair to presume,
that Calef issued his Work quite as soon as he dared to, and quite as
soon as public Opinion would tolerate a Work which had for its Aim a
deadly Blow against a Belief in the imaginary Crime of Witchcraft. For
we know that as soon as Calef's Book did appear, some of Dr. Mather's
Friends came out with another Work against that Author, from the Title
of which alone its Contents can pretty well be judged of. It is _Some
few Remarks upon a Scandalous Book written by one Robert Calef_.
But this Book and its Authors are alike almost unknown, while Calef
occupies a conspicuous Place among the Benefactors of Mankind.
The foreign Correspondence of Dr. Mather was very extensive; "so
that," says his Son, "I have known him at one Time to have above
_fifty_ beyond Sea." Among his Correspondents were many of the most
learned and famous Men in Europe; as SIR RICHARD BLACKMORE, MR.
WHISTON, DR. DESAGULIERS, MR. PILLIONERE, DR. FRANCKIUS, WM. WALLER,
DR. CHAMBERLAIN, DR. WOODWARD, DR. JURIN, DR. WATTS, &c., &c. In a
Letter which he wrote in 1743 Dr. Watts says, "he had enjoyed a happy
Correspondence with Dr. Cotton Mather, for nearly twenty Years before
his Death, as well as with the Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, his Son, ever
since."
In 1710 came out a Book from the Pen of our Author, which he entitled
"_Bonifacius:_ An Essay upon the GOOD to be devised by those who would
answer the great End of Life." In this Work are many good Maxims and
Reflections, but its Popularity has probably been very much enhanced by
what Dr. Franklin has said of it. Dr. Mather was well acquainted with
Franklin when the latter was a young Man; and when Franklin was an old
Man, in the Year 1784, in writing to Samuel Mather, Son of our Subject,
he thus alludes to it in his happy Style: "When I was a Boy, I met with
a Book entitled, _Essays to do Good_, which I think was written by your
Father. It had been so little regarded by a former Possessor, that
several Leaves of it were torn out; but the Remainder gave me such a
Turn of thinking, as to have an Influence on my Conduct through Life;
for I have always set a greater Value on the Character of a _Doer of
Good_ than on any other Kind of Reputation." In the same Letter is to
be found that often told anecdote of an Interview he once had with Dr.
Mather. This too, that it may lose nothing at our Hands, we will give
in the Author's own Words: "You mention being in your seventy-eighth
Year; I am in my seventy-ninth; we are grown old together. It is now
more than sixty Years since I left Boston, but I remember well both
your Father and Grandfather; having heard them both in the Pulpit,
and seen them in their Houses. The last Time I saw your Father was
in the Beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first Trip to
Pennsylvania. He received me in his Library, and on my taking leave
showed me a shorter Way out of the House through a narrow Passage,
which was crossed by a Beam overhead. We were still talking as I
withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him,
when he said hastily, '_stoop, stoop!_' I did not understand him, till
I felt my Head hit against the Beam. He was a Man that never missed any
Occasion of giving Instruction, and upon this he said to me, '_You are
young, and have the World before you_; STOOP _as you go through it, and
you will miss many hard Thumps_,' This Advice, thus beat into my Head,
has frequently been of Use to me; and I often think of it, when I see
Pride mortified, and Misfortunes brought upon People by their carrying
their Heads too high." This Moral, so essentially good in itself, does
not need the high Recommendation of a Franklin, though but for him it
would not, probably, have been brought to the Knowledge of every Youth
who has learned, or may yet learn to read.
The _Essay to do Good_ has passed through many Editions, but how many
it would be difficult to determine. It was several Times reprinted
in London, once as late as 1807, under the Supervision of the
distinguished Dr. George Burder. In this Country its Issue has not been
confined to the Press of one Denomination.
It may be too much a Custom for us to dwell on the Errors and
Misfortunes of People while living; and to err, on the other Hand,
by making their Characters appear too perfect after they have passed
away; especially if they have been sufficiently conspicuous in Life
to require a written Memorial of them after their Decease. Though Dr.
Cotton Mather had Enemies while living, his Memory has been pursued
with more Malignity since his Death, than has happened to that of
most Men; and, as we conceive, without sufficient Reason, and which
could only be warranted by the most undoubted Proofs, that he has
purposely led us into Errors, and that he acted falsely on the most
important Occasions; and that, finally, he was too bad a Man to make
any Acknowledgment of all this, though conscious of it when he took his
final Departure with the Messenger of his last Summons.
He had vituperative Enemies in his Lifetime, from some of whom he
received abusive anonymous Letters. These Letters he carefully filed,
and wrote upon them simply the Word "Libels," which was all the Notice
he took of them. It was an invariable Rule with him, that if he was
obliged to speak of the evil Ways of People to do so in Humility and
Regret, and never in a Manner that could be offensive. In his Diary
he speaks of _Pride_ as a Sin, "which all are subject unto, and more
especially Ministers," and still more especially was it "the besetting
Sin of young Ministers." Had he lived in these latter Days that
Annoyance might have been less on Account of its Universality.
Mr. Mather's Time was that of long Sermons, and we are told that he
usually closed them with the _fourteenth_ Division of his Discourses.
Besides his Labors on Sundays, he sometimes preached eleven Sermons
in one Week besides. He also constantly had Students with him whom he
instructed in various Branches of Knowledge.
Of the Part Dr. Mather took in State Affairs, his Biographer says he
was not at Liberty to omit an Account, although it was a difficult
Section; and that he was "more at a Loss what to do about it than any
one in the whole Book." The Author, however, concludes, as he could
not omit the Subject, to treat it "in such a general Way as to give
no One any Offence." And as it is a _Section_ of the Doctor's Life of
great Interest, it will here be given entire in the Language of his
Biographer, who wrote so near the Time that his Account carries its
Readers back to those stirring Scenes of the Revolution of 1688, and
furnishes a Picture, life-like, of the every-day Manners of our Fathers
on that memorable and novel Event.
The Account follows: "My Country is very sensible that in the Year
1688 (when one of the most wicked Kings was on the British Throne)
Andros and his Crew were very violent, illegal and arbitrary in their
Proceedings. I need not give any Narrative of their Managements
here, because there has been an Account of them already given to the
World.[29]
"While these roaring Lions and ranging Bears were in the midst of
their Ravages; it was in the Month of April when we had News by the
Edges concerning a Descent made upon England by the Prince of Orange
for the Rescue of the Nations from Slavery and Popery; then a strange
Disposition entred into the Body of our People to assert our Liberties
against the arbitrary Rulers that were fleecing them. But it was much
feared by the more sensible Gentlemen at Boston, that an unruly Company
of Soldiers, who had newly deserted the Service in which they had bin
employed for the Eastern War, by the gathering of their Friends to them
to protect them from the Governor, who, they tho't, intended Nothing
but Ruine to them, would make a great Stir, and produce a bloody
Revolution. And therefore the principal Gentlemen in Boston met with
Mr. Mather to consult what was best to be done; and they all agreed,
if possible, that they would extinguish all Essays in our People to an
Insurrection; but that, if the country People to the Northward, by any
violent Motions push'd on the Matter so far as to make a Revolution
unavoidable, then to prevent the shedding of Blood by an ungoverned
Multitude, some of the Gentlemen present would appear in the Head of
what Action should be done; and a Declaration was prepared accordingly.
"On April 18, the People were so driving and furious, that unheaded
they began to seize our public Oppressors: upon which the Gentlemen
aforesaid found it necessary to appear that by their Authority among
the People the unhappy Tumults might be a little regulated. And
thro' the Goodness of God, although the whole Country were now in a
most prodigious Ferment and Thousands of exasperated People in Arms
were come into Boston, yet there was no Manner of Outrage committed;
only the _Public Robbers_ that had lorded it over Us were confined.
'Twas then Mr. Mather appeared--He was the Instrument of preventing
the Excesses into which the _Wrath of Man_ is too ready to run. He
came, and like a Nestor or Ulisses reasoned down the Passions of the
Populace. Had he lisped a Syllable for it, perhaps the People would,
by a sudden Council of War, have try'd, judg'd and hang'd those ill
Men who would have treated him otherwise. Nevertheless he set himself
both publicly and privately to hinder the Peoples proceeding any
further than to reserve the Criminals for the Justice of the English
Parliament.
"Now the Persecution which was intended for Mr. Mather was diverted;
for on that very Day that he was to be committed to _Half a Year's
Imprisonment_,[30] those that would have wrong'd him were justly
taken into Custody: And yet so generous was he as not only to expose
his Name, but even his Life unto the Rage of the Multitude for the
saving of some that would have hurt him: Tho' he had no Thanks for his
Ingenuity.
"The Spirit which acted him in these Matters is expressed in a Sermon
he preached to the Convention of the Colony from 2 Chron. xv, 2. It was
printed under the Title of, _The Way to Prosperity_.
"A few Days before this, the Inhabitants of Boston assembling together
to chuse Representatives for that Convention, it was apprehended,
that the different Persuasions of the People, about the next Steps
to be taken for our Settlement, would have produced a Fury near to
Bloodshed; and therefore Mr. Mather was desired to be at their Meeting.
The Meeting began with dangerous and horrible Paroxysms, which when
he saw, he upon it made an affectionate and moving Speech to them, at
which many fell into Tears and the whole Body of the People present
immediately united in the Methods of Peace Mr. Mather proposed unto
them."
From what is here given it is not difficult to decide whether Mr.
Mather was for or against Andros and his Government. It is a Pity the
Author did not revise his Work in his mature Years, as well for his own
Credit as a Writer as for his Father's Honor. It is the poorest of all
his Performances.
The Convention before mentioned having ordered a Thanksgiving, for that
"It having pleased the God of Heaven to mitigate his many Frowns upon
us in the Summer past, with a Mixture of some very signal Favours,
and in the midst of Wrath so far to remember Mercy; That our Indian
Enemies have had a Check put upon their Designs of Blood and Spoil,
... and especially in the happy Accession of Their Majesties our
Sovereigns, King William and Queen Mary to the Throne. It was therefore
ordered that Thursday the 19th of December, 1689, be kept as a Day of
Thanksgiving." This Order was dated Dec. 3d, 1689.
On this Thanksgiving Occasion Dr. Mather delivered one of his most
elaborate Sermons, occupying, with a brief Appendix, _sixty-two Pages_,
16mo. In it he refers to the Revolution under various Heads; comparing
it to an Earthquake, one having then but recently nearly destroyed
Lima. And more terrible Pictures it would be difficult to conceive
of, than he has drawn, of what would have been the Condition of New
England, had not the Revolution succeeded.
The next great Event in the Life of our Author was the Witchcraft
Delusion. As his own Work upon that memorable Chapter in New England's
Annals is to be given in Connection with this Biography, any Apology or
Remarks upon his Participation in it from the Editor could be of but
little Value or Interest, no more will be done here than to extract
what his Biographer-Son has favored the World with. That, as will be
seen, is apologetical, and is far better told than the Part he took in
the Revolution. It is indeed about all that can be said in Extenuation
of one thus circumstanced.
"The Summer of the Year 1692, was a very doleful Time unto the whole
Country. The Devils, after a most præternatural Manner by the dreadful
Judgements of Heaven took a bodily Possession of many People in our
Salem, and Places adjacent; where the Houses of the poor People began
to be filled with the Cries of Persons tormented by evil Spirits.
There seemed to be an execrable Witchcraft in the Foundation of this
wondrous Affliction; many Persons of divers Characters being accused,
apprehended, prosecuted upon the _Visions_ of the afflicted.
"Mr. Mather, for his Part, was always afraid of proceeding to convict
and condemn any Person as a _Confederate_ with afflicting Dæmons upon
so feeble an Evidence as a _spectral Representation_. Accordingly he
ever testified against it both publicly and privately, and particularly
in his Letter to the Judges, he besought them that they would by no
Means admit it; and where a considerable Assembly of Ministers gave in
their Advice about the Matter, he not only concurred with the Advice
but he drew it up.
"Nevertheless, on the other Side, he saw in most of the Judges a
charming Instance of Prudence and Patience; and as he knew their
exemplary Piety, so he observed the Agony of Soul with which they
sought the Direction of Heaven, above most other of our People who were
enchanted into a raging, railing and unreasonable Disposition. For
this Cause, tho' Mr. Mather could not allow the Principles some of the
Judges had espoused, he could not however but speak honorably of their
Persons on all Occasions; and his Compassion upon the Sight of their
Difficulties, which Compassion was raised by his Journeys to Salem the
chief Seat of these diabolical Vexations, caused him still to go to
the Place. And merely for this Reason, some mad People in the Country
(from whom one or two credulous Foreigners have dared to publish the
abusive Story) under a Fascination of their _Spirits_ equal to what our
_Energumens_ had upon their _Bodies_, reviled Mr. Mather as if he had
been the Doer of the hard Things that were done in the Prosecution of
the Witchcraft.
"In this evil Time Mr. Mather offered at the Beginning, that if the
_possessed People_ might be scattered far asunder, he would singly
provide for six of them; and he with some others would see whether
without more bitter Methods, _Prayer_ and _Fasting_ would not put an
End unto these heavy Trials: But his offer was not accepted.
"However for a great Part of the Summer he did almost every Week spend
a Day by himself in the Exercise of a secret Fast before the Lord. On
these Days he cried unto God, not only for his own Preservation from
the Malice and Power of the evil Angels, but also for a good Issue of
the Calamities in which he had permitted the evil Angels to ensnare the
miserable Country. He also besought the Lord that he would enable him,
prosper, direct, and accept him in publishing such Testimonies for Him
as were proper, and would be serviceable unto his Interests on that
Occasion.
"And that a right Use might be made of the prodigious Things which
had been happening among us, he now composed and published his
Book entituled, _The Wonders of the Invisible World_, which was
reprinted several Times in London: In the Preface he speaks of, '_the
heart-breaking Exercises_', he went thro' in writing it. There was a
certain Disbeliever of Witchcraft who wrote against this Book; but as
the Man is dead, his Book died long before him.[31]
"But having spoken eno' of the more publick Witchcraft, I think I will
hale in here an Account of a Witchcraft happening in one private Family
at Boston, two or three Years before the general one. 'Twas, I think,
in the Year 1689, in the Winter, that several Children belonging to a
pious Family at the South End of Boston were horribly bewitch'd and
possessed.[32]
"Mr. Mather tho't it would be for the Glory of God, if he not only
pray'd with as well as for the Children; but also took an Account
of the extraordinary Symptoms which attended them, with sufficient
Attestations to confound the Sadducism and Atheism of a debauched Age."
An Account of the Case of the Goodwin Family was separately published,
and was noticed with Commendation by the "learned and pious Baxter,"
which has been often referred to as a Proof that other great Men, as
well as Mr. Mather, were Believers in Witchcraft.
The Novelty and Singularity of a Thing was no Cause of its Rejection
by Mr. Mather, and we next find him advocating Inoculation for the
Small-pox; and, according to his Biographer he was the Cause of its
Introduction into this Country. But in that, as in many other Things,
too much is claimed for him. I have elsewhere given a History of its
being put in Practice in Boston.[33]
In 1714 Dr. Mather was chosen a Member of the Royal Society of London;
upon which Event his Biographer remarks: "The Respect which the Royal
Society paid him, did also very much encourage him, and fortify him in
his Essays to do Good, while it added to the superior Circumstances in
which he was placed above the Contempt of Envious Men."
This last remark will apply to some of our own Times; who, if their
Power were equal to their Envy, few besides themselves would be
allowed to possess much in the Way of Honors without their Permission.
It was probably on this Occasion, that some Individuals circulated
the Report that the Doctor was not a Member of the Royal Society.
Whereupon a Letter from the Secretary of that Society was produced,
in which this Passage occurs: "As for your being chosen a Member of
the Royal Society, that has been done, both by the Council and Body
of the Society: only the Ceremony of Admission is wanting; which you
being beyond Sea, cannot be performed." This having been promulgated,
the envious Detractors were silenced in that Age, and it is rather
surprising that Ignorance and Malice should attempt to revive it in
this. As Mr. Mather never visited England, he of course never attended
a Meeting of the Royal Society. But this did not affect his Membership.
That this did not affect his Membership may be mentioned as pretty good
Evidence, the Fact that some of his Works were soon after published in
London, in the best Style of the Day, having appended to his Name in
their Title-Pages, "D. D. and Fellow of the Royal Society." Now such
an Assumption would have been an Offence of a serious Character, had
it been merely an Assumption; and a Rebuke would have gone forth from
the Royal Society, and would ever since have been a Matter of Record
and Notoriety. But Nothing of the Kind is heard of, plainly because Dr.
Mather stood right with the Records of the Royal Society.
Nobody will charge the REV. THOMAS PRINCE with Insincerity in what he
has said of his Colaborers, and HE says, "Dr. Cotton Mather, though
born and constantly residing in this remote corner of America, has
yet for near these forty Years made so rising and great a Figure in
the learned World, as has attracted to him while alive, the Eyes of
many at the furthest Distance; and now deceased, can't but raise a
very general Wish to see the Series, and more especially the domestic
Part of so distinguished a Life exhibited. His printed Writings so
full of Piety and various Erudition, his vast Correspondence, and the
continual Reports of Travellers who had conversed with him, had spread
his Reputation into other Countries. And when, about fourteen Years
ago, I travelled abroad, I could not but admire to what Extent his
Fame had reached, and how inquisitive were Gentlemen of Letters to hear
and know of the most particular and lively Manner, both of his private
Conversation and public Performances among us."
Dr. Colman speaks in the highest Terms of Dr. Mather, in his Funeral
Sermon. "His printed Works," he says, "will not convey to Posterity,
nor give to Strangers a just Idea of the real Worth and great Learning
of the Man." To this and a great deal more equally commendatory, Mr.
Prince subscribes in these Words: "Every one who intimately knew the
Doctor will readily assent to this Description."
It would be difficult, perhaps, to produce an Example of Industry equal
to that of which we are speaking. In one Year, it is said he kept sixty
Fasts and twenty vigils, and published fourteen Books--all this besides
performing his ministerial Duties; which, in those Days, were Something
more than _nominal_. He kept a Diary, which has been extensively used
by some of his Biographers, but we have not sought after it, as it is
said to be scattered in different Places! How this happened we have
not been informed. Notwithstanding he published so many Works, he left
nearly as much unpublished in Manuscript; the principal Part of which
is entitled, _Biblia Americana_, or _The Sacred Scriptures of the Old
and New Testament Illustrated_. For the Publication of this Work
Proposals were issued soon after its Author died, but Nothing further
seems to have been done about it. Of the _Biblia Americana_, the
Doctor's Son remarks, "_That_ is a Work, the writing of which is enough
constantly to employ a Man, unless he be a Miracle of Diligence, the
Half of the three Score Years and ten, the Sum of Years allowed to us."
It remains now to mention the Book by which Dr. Mather is best known,
and which will make his Name prominent through all coming Time--the
Reader's Mind is already in Advance of the Pen--the _MAGNALIA CHRISTI
AMERICANA_. This was printed in London, in 1702, in a moderate sized
folio Volume, the Aggregate of its Pages being 794. It is chiefly a
Collection of what the Author had before printed on historical and
biographical Subjects. The Value of its Contents has been variously
estimated. Some decrying it below _any_ Value, while others pronounce
it "the only Classic ever written in America." At the Hazard of
incurring the Charge of Stupidity, we are of the decided Opinion
that it has a Value between those Extremes. But we have sufficiently
expressed our Mind on the Value of the Author's Works before.
Until about the Year 1853 there had been but two Editions of the
_Magnalia_. The Work was then stereotyped and issued in two handsome
octavo Volumes, by the late Mr. Silas Andrus, extensively known among
the Publishers of the Country. This was the third Edition of the Work,
and possessed the Advantage of Translations of the Quotations from the
dead Languages with which the Work abounds. About two Years later an
Edition was issued from the same stereotype Plates, and was accompanied
by an Index. This, tho' very incomplete, rendered the Work much more
valuable. The Plates we are informed are now in the Hands of Mr.
William Gowans of New York, who is preparing to bring out a sumptuous
Edition of it with a new and complete Index. About thirty-two Years had
elapsed between the second and third Editions, though they were by the
same Publisher. The Date of the second was 1820.
Unfortunately, this Edition was printed from a Copy of that in Folio,
which had not the Errata, and consequently abounds with all the Errors
contained in the original Edition. To those who do not understand the
Matter, this printing an Edition of the _Magnalia_ without correcting
its Errata, may seem to incur for the Publisher severe Reprehension.
But the Truth appears to be, that the Copy used in printing the new
Edition had not the complete Errata attached to it; and that in Fact,
but very few Copies of the original Edition can be found to which it
is attached. Now we account for its Rarity in this Way. Dr. Mather,
living in Boston while his Work was printing in London, could make
no Corrections while it was passing through the Press; but when he
received his Copies afterwards, he found so many Errors that he was
induced to print an extra Sheet of Corrections. This extra Sheet may
not have been struck off until most of the Copies of the _Magnalia_
which had been sent to New England were distributed. Thus we account
for the rare Occurrence of Copies of the _Magnalia_ containing the
Errata; and hence we think the Publisher of the Edition of 1820 should
not be too severely censured. That our Solution is correct, we would
mention that out of a great many Copies of the folio Edition imported
by ourself and others from England, not one of them contained the
Errata in Question.
On the last Page of the _Magnalia_, the following are the last three
Lines: "ERRATA. Reader, Carthagenia was of the Mind, that unto those
_three Things_ which the Ancients held impossible, there should be
added this _fourth_, to find a Book printed without _Erratas_. It
seems the Hands of _Briareus_, and the Eyes of _Argus_ will not
prevent them." And the additional Errata of which we have been
speaking, the Author thus prefaces: "The _Holy Bible_ it self, in some
of its Editions, hath been affronted with scandalous Errors of the
_Press-work_; and in one of them, they so printed those Words, Psalms
cxix, 161, '_Printers have persecuted me_,'" &c.
When the _Magnalia_ was published, Dr. Mather's old Schoolmaster, among
others, wrote commendatory Poetry upon it, which was, according to the
Fashion of the Day, inserted in its introductory Pages. The following
brief Specimen by TOMPSON may not be thought inappropriate to be
extracted here:
"Is the bless'd MATHER Necromancer turn'd,
To raise his Country's Father's Ashes urn'd?
Elisha's Dust, Life to the Dead imparts;
This Prophet by his more familiar Arts,
Unseals our Hero's Tombs, and gives them Air;
They rise, they walk, they talk, look wondrous fair;
Each of them in an Orb of Light doth shine,
In Liveries of Glory most divine.
When ancient Names I in thy Pages meet,
Like Gems on Aaron's costly Breast-plate set;
Methinks Heaven's open, while great Saints descend,
To wreathe the Brows, by which their Acts were penned."
Few Ministers preached a greater Number of Funeral Sermons than Dr.
Mather; and when he died his Cotemporaries seemed to have vied with
each other in performing the same Office for him. Several of their
Sermons were printed. Some of these with their quaint Titles are now
before us. Foremost among them appears that of the excellent MR.
PRINCE; he entitled his, "The Departure of ELIJAH lamented.--A Sermon
occasioned by the great and publick Loss in the _Decease_ of the very
REVEREND and LEARNED COTTON MATHER, D.D., F.R.S., and Senior Pastor
of the _North Church_ in Boston. Who left this Life on _Feb. 13th,
1727,8_. The Morning after he finished the LXV. Year of his Age." From
2 Kings ii, 12, 13. The Imprint of this Sermon is, "BOSTON in _New
England:_ Printed for _D. Henchman_, near the Brick Meeting House in
Cornhill. MDCCXXVIII."
The running Title of Dr. Colman's Sermon on the same Occasion is "The
holy Walk and glorious Translation of blessed _ENOCH_." His Text was
Gen. v. 24. It would be difficult to find anything of the Kind, either
before or since, which, in our Judgment, is superior to this Discourse
of Dr. Colman; but valuable as it is, we cannot introduce Extracts from
it here. His Allusion, however, to the then past and present State of
Things connected with his Subject, is so happy that we cannot overlook
it.
"Dr. Mather's Brethren in the Ministry here," he says, "are bereaved
and weak with him. God has taken their Father as well as his, from
their Heads this Day. He was a Pastor in the Town when the eldest of
the present Pastors were but Children, and long before most of them
were born. They are weak indeed when he that is now speaking to them is
the _first_ in Years among them, in all respects else the least," &c.
The REV. JOSHUA GEE, Colleague with Dr. Mather, also preached a Funeral
Sermon on his departed Friend, entitled, "ISRAEL'S _Mourning_ for
AARON'S _Death_." In this Discourse there is the following important
Note: "Within a few Months past, we have been called to lament the
Deaths of two such aged Servants of the LORD. The Rev. _Mr. Samuel
Danforth_ of Taunton, who died Nov. 14. And my honored Father-in-law,
the Rev. _Mr. Peter Thatcher_ of Milton, who died Dec. 17, 1727: while
the Days of mourning were scarce over in this Town for my dearly
beloved Friend and Brother, the Rev. _Mr. William Waldron_, who died
Sept. 11, 1727."
Dr. Mather's Son and Biographer, "SAMUEL MATHER, M. A., and Chaplain at
CASTLE WILLIAM," also preached a Funeral Sermon on his Father's Death.
"The _Departure_ and _Character_ of ELIJAH considered and improved,"
was its running Title. Only about five Years before, the deceased
preached a Sermon on the Death of his Father; in the Title-page of
which, when printed, instead of the Author's Name we read, "By one who,
as a SON with a _FATHER_, served with him in the Gospel."
Dr. Mather died intestate, and the Order of the Judge of Probate for
the Distribution of his Estate is as follows: "One third to his Widow,
Lydia Mather; two single Shares or fourth Parts to Samuel Mather,
Clerk, only surviving Son, and one Share each to the Rest of his
Children, viz., Abigail Willard, deceased, Wife of Daniel Willard, also
deceased, their Children and legal Representatives, and Hannah Mather,
Spinster." Dated, 25th May, 1730.
The Portrait now in Circulation of Dr. Mather was engraved from a
beautiful _Mezzotinto_, half Size, with the following Inscription
underneath it:
"Cottonus Matherus S. Theologiæ Doctor Regiæ Societatis Londiniensis
Socius, et Eccelsiæ apud Bostonum Nov˭Anglorum nuper Præpositus.
Ætatis Suæ LXV. MDCCXXVII.