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<h1>SALEM WITCHCRAFT<br />
<span class="fss">AND</span><br />
<small>COTTON MATHER.</small><br />
<span class="fsl">A REPLY.</span></h1>

<div class="center"><span class="fss">BY</span></div>
<h2>CHARLES W. UPHAM,</h2>
<div class="center"><span class="fss"><i>Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.</i></span></div>

<div class="mt4"><p class="p1"><big>MORRISANIA, N. Y.:</big><br />
1869.</p></div>

<hr class="hrm" />

<div class="bk1"><p class="p1"><small>TO</small><br />
<span class="smcap"><big><big>Henry B. Dawson, Esq.,</big></big></span><br />
PROPRIETOR AND EDITOR<br />
<small>OF</small><br />
<i>THE HISTORICAL MAGAZINE</i>,<br />
<small>THIS REPRINT FROM ITS PAGES</small><br />
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY<br />
<span class="ml10">ITS AUTHOR.</span></p>

<p><small><span class="smcap">Salem, Mass.</span>, December 10, 1869.</small></p></div>

<hr class="hrm" />
<div class="trn"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b>
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Variant spellings, including the inconsistent spelling of proper nouns, remain as printed.
Spelling errors in quotations have been retained, despite the generally poor quality of the original typesetting.</div>

<hr class="hrm" />
<h2>PREFATORY NOTE.</h2>

<p>The Editors of the <i>North American Review</i> would, under the circumstances, I have no reason
to doubt, have opened its columns to a reply to the article that has led to the preparation of
the following statement. But its length has forbidden my asking such a favor.</p>

<p>All interested in the department of American literature to which the <span class="smcap">Historical Magazine</span>
belongs, must appreciate the ability with which it is conducted, and the laborious and indefatigable
zeal of its Editor, in collecting and placing on its pages, beyond the reach of oblivion
and loss, the scattered and perishing materials necessary to the elucidation of historical
and biographical topics, whether relating to particular localities or the country at large; and
it was as gratifying as unexpected to receive the proffer, without limitation, of the use of that
publication for this occasion.</p>

<p>The spirited discussion, by earnest scholars, of special questions, although occasionally assuming
the aspect of controversy, will be not only tolerated but welcomed by liberal minds. Let
champions arise, in all sections of the Republic, to defend their respective rightful claims to
share in a common glorious inheritance and to inscribe their several records in our Annals.
Feeling the deepest interest in the Historical, Antiquarian, and Genealogical Societies of Massachusetts,
and yielding to none in keen sensibility to all that concerns the ancient honors of the
Old Bay State and New England, generally, I rejoice to witness the spirit of a commemorative
age kindling the public mind, every where, in the Middle, Western and Southern States.</p>

<p>The courtesy extended to me is evidence that while, by a jealous scrutiny and, sometimes, perhaps,
a sharp conflict, we are reciprocally imposing checks upon loose exaggerations and overweening
pretensions, a comprehensive good feeling predominates over all; truth in its purity is
getting eliminated; and characters and occurrences, in all parts of the country, brought under
the clear light of justice.</p>

<p>The aid I have received, in the following discussion, from the publications and depositories of
historical associations and the contributions of individuals, like Mr. Goodell, Doctor Moore, and
others, engaged in procuring from the mother country and preserving all original tracts and
documents, whenever found, belonging to our Colonial period, demonstrate the importance of
such efforts, whether of Societies or single persons. In this way, our history will stand on a solid
foundation, and have the lineaments of complete and exact truth.</p>

<p>Notwithstanding the distance from the place of printing, owing to the faithful and intelligent
oversight of the superintendent of the press and the vigilant core of the compositors, but few
errors, I trust, will be found, beyond what are merely literal, and every reader will unconsciously,
or readily, correct for himself.</p>

<div class="bk2">
<p class="rgt">C. W. U.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Salem, Massachusetts.</span></p></div>

<hr class="hrm" />
<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2>

<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">

<tr><td class="rgt" colspan="2"><small><i>Page.</i></small></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Introduction.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">I.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The connection of the Mathers with the
Superstitions of their time.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#I">1</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">II.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The Goodwin Children. Some General
Remarks upon the Criticisms of the
North American Review.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#II">4</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">III.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather and the Goodwin Children.
John Baily. John Hale.
Goodwin's Certificates.
Mather's idea of Witchcraft as a War
with the Devil. His use of Prayer.
Connection between the Case of
the Goodwin Children and Salem
Witchcraft.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#III">6</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">IV.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The Relation of the Mathers to the
Administration of Massachusetts, in
1692. The New Charter. The Government
under it arranged by them.
Arrival of Sir William Phips.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#IV">12</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">V.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The Special Court of Oyer and Terminer.
How it was established. Who
responsible for it. The Government
of the Province concentrated in its
Chief-justice.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#V">15</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">VI.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather's connection with the
Court. Spectral Evidence. Letter
to John Richards. Advice of the
Ministers.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#VI">19</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">VII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Advice of the Ministers, further
considered. Cotton Mather's Plan for
dealing with Spectral Testimony.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#VII">23</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">VIII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather and Spectral Evidence.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#VIII">30</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">IX.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather and the Preliminary
Examinations. John Proctor. George
Burroughs.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#IX">32</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">X.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather and the Witchcraft
Trials. The Executions.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#X">38</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XI.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Letter to Stephen Sewall. "Wonders
of the Invisible World." Its origin
and design. Cotton Mather's account
of the Trials.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XI">44</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">"Wonders of the Invisible World,"
continued. Passages from it. "Cases
of Conscience." Increase Mather.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XII">50</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XIII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The Court of Oyer and Terminer brought
to a sudden end. Sir William Phips.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XIII">54</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XIV.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather's Writings subsequent to
the Witchcraft Prosecutions.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XIV">57</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XV.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">History of Opinion as to Cotton Mather's
connection with Salem Witchcraft.
Thomas Brattle. The people
of Salem Village. John Hale.
John Higginson. Michael Wigglesworth.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XV">61</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XVI.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">History of Opinion as to Cotton Mather,
continued. Francis Hutchinson. Daniel
Neal. Isaac Watts. Thomas Hutchinson.
William Bentley. John
Eliot. Josiah Quincy.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XVI">68</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XVII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">The Effect upon the Power of the Mathers,
in the Public Affairs of the
Province, of their Connection with
Witchcraft.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XVII">70</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XVIII.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Cotton Mather's Writings and Character.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XVIII">74</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XIX.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Robert Calef's Writings and Character.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XIX">77</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2">XX.</td></tr>

<tr><td class="td1">Miscellaneous Remarks. Conclusion.</td><td class="rgt"><a href="#XX">84</a></td></tr>

</table></div>

<hr class="hrm" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
<h1>SALEM WITCHCRAFT AND COTTON MATHER.</h1>

<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2>

<p>An article in <i>The North American Review</i>, for
April, 1869, is mostly devoted to a notice of the
work published by me, in 1867, entitled <i>Salem
Witchcraft, with an account of Salem Village,
and a history of opinions on witchcraft and kindred
subjects</i>. If the article had contained criticisms,
in the usual style, merely affecting the
character of that work, in a literary point of
view, no other duty would have devolved upon
me, than carefully to consider and respectfully
heed its suggestions. But it raises questions of
an historical nature that seem to demand a response,
either acknowledging the correctness of
its statements or vindicating my own.</p>

<p>The character of the Periodical in which it appears;
the manner in which it was heralded by
rumor, long before its publication; its circulation,
since, in a separate pamphlet form; and the
extent to which, in certain quarters, its assumptions
have been endorsed, make a reply imperative.</p>

<p>The subject to which it relates is of acknowledged
interest and importance. The Witchcraft
Delusion of 1692 has justly arrested a wider notice,
and probably always will, than any other
occurrence in the early colonial history of this
country. It presents phenomena in the realm of
our spiritual nature, belonging to that higher department
of physiology, known as Psychology,
of the greatest moment; and illustrates the operations
of the imagination upon the passions and
faculties in immediate connection with it, and the
perils to which the soul and society are thereby
exposed, in a manner more striking, startling and
instructive than is elsewhere to be found. For
all reasons, truth and justice require of those
who venture to explore and portray it, the utmost
efforts to elucidate its passages and delineate
correctly its actors.</p>

<p>With these views I hail with satisfaction the
criticisms that may be offered upon my book,
without regard to their personal character or
bearing, as continuing and heightening the interest
felt in the subject; and avail myself of the
opportunity, tendered to me without solicitation
and in a most liberal spirit, by the proprietor of
this Magazine, to meet the obligations which historical
truth and justice impose.</p>

<p>The principle charge, and it is repeated in
innumerable forms through the sixty odd pages
of the article in the <i>North American</i>, is that I
have misrepresented the part borne by Cotton
Mather in the proceeding connected with the
Witchcraft Delusion and prosecutions, in 1692.
Various other complaints are made of inaccuracy
and unfairness, particularly in reference to the
position of Increase Mather and the course of the
Boston Ministers of that period, generally. Although
the discussion, to which I now ask attention,
may appear, at first view, to relate to questions
merely personal, it will be found, I think,
to lead to an exploration of the literature and
prevalent sentiments, relating to religious and
philosophical subjects, of that period; and, also,
of an instructive passage in the public history of
the Province of Massachusetts Bay.</p>

<p>I now propose to present the subject more fully
than was required, or would have been appropriate,
in my work on Witchcraft.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I.</h2>
<h3>THE CONNECTION OF THE MATHERS WITH THE
SUPERSTITIONS OF THEIR TIME.</h3>

<p>In the first place, I venture to say that it can
admit of no doubt, that Increase Mather and his
son, Cotton Mather, did more than any other persons
to aggravate the tendency of that age to the
result reached in the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692.
The latter, in the beginning of the Sixth Book
of the <i>Magnalia Christi Americana</i>, refers to an
attempt made, about the year 1658, "among some
divines of no little figure throughout England
and Ireland, for the faithful registering of remarkable
providences. But, alas," he says, "it
came to nothing that was remarkable. The
like holy design," he continues, "was, by the
Reverend Increase Mather, proposed among
the divines of New England, in the year 1681,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
at a general meeting of them; who thereupon
desired him to begin and publish an Essay;
which he did in a little while; but there-withal
declared that he did it only as a specimen of a
larger volume, in hopes that this work being
set on foot, posterity would go on with it."
Cotton Mather did go on with it, immediately
upon his entrance to the ministry; and by their
preaching, publications, correspondence at home
and abroad, and the influence of their learning,
talents, industry, and zeal in the work, these two
men promoted the prevalence of a passion for the
marvelous and monstrous, and what was deemed
preternatural, infernal, and diabolical, throughout
the whole mass of the people, in England as
well as America. The public mind became infatuated
and, drugged with credulity and superstition,
was prepared to receive every impulse of
blind fanaticism. The stories, thus collected and
put everywhere in circulation, were of a nature
to terrify the imagination, fill the mind with horrible
apprehensions, degrade the general intelligence
and taste, and dethrone the reason. They
darken and dishonor the literature of that period.
A rehash of them can be found in the Sixth Book
of the <i>Magnalia</i>. The effects of such publications
were naturally developed in widespread
delusions and universal credulity. They penetrated
the whole body of society, and reached all
the inhabitants and families of the land, in the
towns and remotest settlements. In this way, the
Mathers, particularly the younger, made themselves
responsible for the diseased and bewildered
state of the public mind, in reference in supernatural
and diabolical agencies, which came to a
head in the Witchcraft Delusion. I do not say
that they were culpable. Undoubtedly they
thought they were doing God service. But the
influence they exercised, in this direction, remains
none the less an historical fact.</p>

<p>Increase Mather applied himself, without delay,
to the prosecution of the design he had proposed,
by writing to persons in all parts of the
country, particularly clergymen, to procure, for
publication, as many marvelous stories as could
be raked up. In the eighth volume of the Fourth
Series of the <i>Collections of the Massachusetts
Historical Society</i>, consisting of <i>The Mather Papers</i>,
the responses of several of his correspondents
may be seen. [<i>Pp. 285, 360, 361, 367, 466,
475, 555, 612.</i>] He pursued this business with an
industrious and pertinacious zeal, which nothing
could slacken. After the rest of the world had
been shocked out of such mischievous nonsense,
by the horrid results at Salem, on the fifth of
March, 1694, as President of Harvard College, he
issued a Circular to "The Reverend Ministers of
the Gospel, in the several Churches in New England,"
signed by himself and seven others, members
of the Corporation of that institution, urging
it, as the special duty of Ministers of the
Gospel, to obtain and preserve knowledge of notable
occurrences, described under the general
head of "<i>Remarkables</i>," and classified as follows:</p>

<p>"The things to be esteemed memorable are,
especially, all unusual accidents, in the heaven,
or earth, or water; all wonderful deliverances
of the distressed; mercies to the
godly; judgments to the wicked; and more
glorious fulfilments of either the promises or
the threatenings, in the Scriptures of truth;
with apparitions, possessions, inchantments,
and all extraordinary things wherein the existence
and agency of the invisible world is more
sensibly demonstrated."&mdash;<i>Magnalia Christi
Americana.</i> Edit. London, 1702. Book VI., p. 1.</p>

<p>All communications, in answer to this missive
were to be addressed to the "President and Fellows"
of Harvard College.</p>

<p>The first article is as follows: "To observe
and record the more illustrious discoveries of
the Divine Providence, in the government of
the world, is a design so holy, so useful, so
justly approved, that the too general neglect of
it in the Churches of God, is as justly to be
lamented." It is important to consider this
language in connection with that used by Cotton
Mather, in opening the Sixth Book of the <i>Magnalia</i>:
"To regard the illustrious displays of that
Providence, wherewith our Lord Christ governs
the world, is a work than which there is
none more needful or useful for a Christian;
to record them is a work than which none
more proper for a Minister; and perhaps the
great Governor of the world will ordinarily do
the most notable things for those who are most
ready to take a wise notice of what he does.
Unaccountable, therefore, and inexcusable, is
the sleepiness, even upon the most of good
men throughout the world, which indisposes
them to observe and, much more, to preserve,
the remarkable dispensations of Divine Providence,
towards themselves or others. Nevertheless
there have been raised up, now and then,
those persons, who have rendered themselves
worthy of everlasting remembrance, by their
wakeful zeal to have the memorable providences
of God remembered through all generations."</p>

<p>These passages from the Mathers, father and
son, embrace, in their bearings, a period, eleven
years before and two years after the Delusion of
1692. They show that the Clergy, generally,
were indifferent to the subject, and required to
be aroused from "neglect" and "sleepiness,"
touching the duty of flooding the public mind
with stories of "wonders" and "remarkables;"
and that the agency of the Mathers, in giving
currency, by means of their ministry and influence,
to such ideas, was peculiar and pre-eminent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
However innocent and excusable their motives
may have been, the laws of cause and effect
remained unbroken; and the result of their actions
are, with truth and justice, attributable to
them&mdash;not necessarily, I repeat, to impeach their
honesty and integrity, but their wisdom, taste,
judgment, and common sense. Human responsibility
is not to be set aside, nor avoided, merely
and wholly by good intent. It involves a solemn
and fearful obligation to the use of reason,
caution, cool deliberation, circumspection, and
a most careful calculation of consequences. Error,
if innocent and honest, is not punishable by
divine, and ought not to be by human, law. It
is covered by the mercy of God, and must not be
pursued by the animosity of men. But it is,
nevertheless, a thing to be dreaded and to be
guarded against, with the utmost vigilance.
Throughout the melancholy annals of the Church
and the world, it has been the fountain of innumerable
woes, spreading baleful influences
through society, paralysing the energies of reason
and conscience, dimming, all but extinguishing,
the light of religion, convulsing nations, and desolating
the earth. It is the duty of historians to
trace it to its source; and, by depicting faithfully the
causes that have led to it, prevent its recurrence.
With these views, I feel bound, distinctly, to state
that the impression given to the popular sentiments
of the period, to which I am referring, by
certain leading minds, led to, was the efficient
cause of, and, in this sense, may be said to have
originated, the awful superstitions long prevalent
in the old world and the new, and reaching a final
catastrophe in 1692; and among these leading
minds, aggravating and intensifying, by their
writings, this most baleful form of the superstition
of the age, Increase and Cotton Mather stand
most conspicuous.</p>

<p>This opinion was entertained, at the time, by
impartial observers. Francis Hutchinson, D.D.,
"Chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty, and
Minister of St. James's Parish, in St. Edmund's
Bury," in the life-time of both the
Mathers, published, in London, an <i>Historical
Essay concerning Witchcraft</i>, dedicated to the
"Lord Chief-justice of England, the Lord Chief-justice
of Common Pleas, and the Lord Chief
Baron of Exchequer." In a Chapter on <i>The
Witchcraft in Salem, Boston, and Andover, in
New England</i>, he attributes it, as will be seen in
the course of this article, to the influence of the
writings of the Mathers.</p>

<p>In the Preface to the London edition of Cotton
Mather's <i>Memorable Providences</i>, written by
Richard Baxter, in 1690, he ascribes this same
prominence to the works of the Mathers. While
expressing the great value he attached to writings
about Witchcraft, and the importance, in his view,
of that department of literature which relates stories
about diabolical agency, possessions, apparitions,
and the like, he says, "Mr. Increase Mather
hath already published many such histories of
things done in New England; and this great instance
published by his son"&mdash;that is, the account
of the Goodwin children&mdash;"cometh with
such full convincing evidence, that he must be a
very obdurate Sadducee that will not believe it.
And his two Sermons, adjoined, are excellently
fitted to the subject and this blinded generation,
and to the use of us all, that are not past our
warfare with Devils." One of the Sermons,
which Baxter commends, is on <i>The Power and
Malice of Devils</i>, and opens with the declaration,
that "there is a combination of Devils, which
our air is filled withal:" the other is on
<i>Witchcraft</i>. Both are replete with the most exciting
and vehement enforcements of the superstitions
of that age, relating to the Devil and his
confederates.</p>

<p>My first position, then, in contravention of that
taken by the Reviewer in the <i>North American</i>, is
that, by stimulating the Clergy over the whole
country, to collect and circulate all sorts of marvelous
and supposed preternatural occurrences,
by giving this direction to the preaching and literature
of the times, these two active, zealous,
learned, and able Divines, Increase and Cotton
Mather, considering the influence they naturally
were able to exercise, are, particularly the latter,
justly chargeable with, and may be said to have
brought about, the extraordinary outbreaks of
credulous fanaticism, exhibited in the cases of the
Goodwin family and of "the afflicted children,"
at Salem Village. Robert Calef, writing to the
Ministers of the country, March 18, 1694, says:
"I having had, not only occasion, but renewed
provocation, to take a view of the mysterious
doctrines, which have of late been so much
contested among us, could not meet with any
that had spoken more, or more plainly, the
sense of those doctrines" [<i>relating to the Witchcraft</i>]
"than the Reverend Mr. Cotton Mather,
but how clearly and consistent, either with
himself or the truth, I meddle not now to say,
but cannot but suppose his strenuous and zealous
asserting his opinions has been one cause
of the dismal convulsions, we have here lately
fallen into."&mdash;<i>More Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>, by Robert Calef, Merchant of Boston, in
New England. Edit. London, 1700, p. 33.</p>

<p>The papers that remain, connected with the
Witchcraft Examinations and Trials, at Salem,
show the extent to which currency had been
given, in the popular mind, to such marvelous
and prodigious things as the Mathers had been
so long endeavoring to collect and circulate;
particularly in the interior, rural settlements. The
solemn solitudes of the woods were filled with
ghosts, hobgoblins, spectres, evil spirits, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
infernal Prince of them all. Every pathway was
infested with their flitting shapes and footprints;
and around every hearth-stone, shuddering circles,
drawing closer together as the darkness of night
thickened and their imaginations became more
awed and frightened, listened to tales of diabolical
operations: the same effects, in somewhat
different forms, pervaded the seaboard settlements
and larger towns.</p>

<p>Besides such frightful fancies, other most unhappy
influences flowed from the prevalence of the
style of literature which the Mathers brought into
vogue. Suspicions and accusations of witchcraft
were everywhere prevalent; any unusual calamity
or misadventure; every instance of real or affected
singularity of deportment or behavior&mdash;and,
in that condition of perverted and distempered
public opinion, there would be many such&mdash;was
attributed to the Devil. Every sufferer who
had yielded his mind to what was taught in pulpits
or publications, lost sight of the Divine
Hand, and could see nothing but devils in his afflictions.
Poor John Goodwin, whose trials we
are presently to consider, while his children were
acting, as the phrase&mdash;originating in those days,
and still lingering in the lower forms of vulgar
speech&mdash;has it, "like all possessed," broke forth
thus: "I thought of what David said. <i>2 Samuel</i>,
xxiv., 14. If he feared so to fall into the hands
of men, oh! then to think of the horrors of
our condition, to be in the hands of Devils and
Witches. Thus, our doleful condition moved
us to call to our friends to have pity on us, for
God's hand hath touched us. I was ready to
say that no one's affliction was like mine. That
my little house, that should be a little Bethel
for God to dwell in, should be made a den for
Devils; that those little Bodies, that should be
Temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in, should
be thus harrassed and abused by the Devil and
his cursed brood."&mdash;<i>Late Memorable Providences,
relating to Witchcraft and Possessions.</i>
By Cotton Mather. Edit. London, 1691.</p>

<p>No wonder that the country was full of the
terrors and horrors of diabolical imaginations,
when the Devil was kept before the minds of
men, by what they constantly read and heard,
from their religious teachers! In the Sermons of
that day, he was the all-absorbing topic of learning
and eloquence. In some of Cotton Mather's,
the name, Devil, or its synonyms, is mentioned
ten times as often as that of the benign and blessed
God.</p>

<p>No wonder that alleged witchcrafts were numerous!
Drake, in his <i>History of Boston</i>, says
there were many cases there, about the year
1688. Only one of them seems to have attracted
the kind of notice requisite to preserve it from oblivion&mdash;that
of the four children of John Goodwin,
the eldest, thirteen years of age. The relation
of this case, in my book [<i>Salem Witchcraft</i>,
i., 454-460] was wholly drawn from the <i>Memorable
Providences</i> and the <i>Magnalia</i>.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II.</h2>
<h3>THE GOODWIN CHILDREN. SOME GENERAL REMARKS
UPON THE CRITICISMS OF THE NORTH
AMERICAN REVIEW.</h3>

<p>The Reviewer charges me with having wronged
Cotton Mather, by representing that he "got
up" the whole affair of the Goodwin children.
He places the expression within quotation marks,
and repeats it, over and over again. In the passage
to which he refers&mdash;p. 366 of the second
volume of my book&mdash;I say of Cotton Mather,
that he "repeatedly endeavored to get up cases
of the kind in Boston. There is some ground
for suspicion that he was instrumental in originating
the fanaticism in Salem." I am not aware
that the expression was used, except in this passage.
But, wherever used, it was designed to
convey the meaning given to it, by both of our
great lexicographers. Worcester defines "<i>to get
up</i>, 'to prepare, to make ready&mdash;to get up an
entertainment;' 'to print and publish, as a
book.'" Webster defines it, "to prepare
for coming before the public; to bring forward."
This is precisely what Mather did, in
the case of the Goodwin children, and what Calef
put a stop to his doing in the case of Margaret
Rule.</p>

<p>In 1831, I published a volume entitled <i>Lectures
on Witchcraft, comprising a history of the Delusion,
in Salem, in 1692</i>. In 1867, I published
<i>Salem Witchcraft, and an account of Salem Village</i>;
and, in the Preface, stated that "the former
was prepared under circumstances which prevented
a thorough investigation of the subject.
Leisure and freedom from professional duties
have now enabled me to prosecute the researches
necessary to do justice to it. The <i>Lectures
on Witchcraft</i> have long been out of print.
Although frequently importuned to prepare a
new edition, I was unwilling to issue, again,
what I had discovered to be an inadequate
presentation of the subject." In the face of
this disclaimer of the authority of the original
work, the Reviewer says: "In this discussion, we
shall treat Mr. Upham's <i>Lectures</i> and History
in the same connection, as the latter is an expansion
and defence of the views presented in
the former."</p>

<p>I ask every person of candor and fairness, to
consider whether it is just to treat authors in this
way? It is but poor encouragement to them to
labor to improve their works, for the first critical
journal in the country to bring discredit upon
their efforts, by still laying to their charge what
they have themselves remedied or withdrawn. Yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
it is avowedly done in the article which compels
me to this vindication.</p>

<p>The <i>Lectures</i>, for instance, printed in 1831,
contained the following sentence, referring to
Cotton Mather's agency, in the Goodwin case,
in Boston. "An instance of witchcraft was
brought about, in that place, by his management."
So it appeared in a reprint of that volume,
in 1832. In my recent publication, while
transferring a long paragraph from the original
work, <i>I carefully omitted</i>, from the body of it,
the above sentence, fearing that it might lead to
misapprehension. For, although I hold that
the Mathers are pre-eminently answerable for the
witchcraft proceedings in their day, and may be
said, justly, to have caused them, of course I did
not mean that, by personal instigation on the spot,
they started every occurrence that ultimately was
made to assume such a character. The Reviewer,
with the fact well known to him, that I had suppressed
and discarded this clause, flings it against
me, repeatedly. He further quotes a portion of
the paragraph, in the <i>Lectures</i>, in which it occurs,
omitting, <i>without indicating the omission</i>,
certain clauses that would have explained my
meaning, <i>taking care, however, to include the suppressed
passage</i>; and finishes the misrepresentation,
by the following declaration, referring to
the paragraph in the <i>Lectures</i>: "The same statements,
in almost the same words, he reproduces
in his History." This he says, knowing
that the particular statement to which he was
then taking exception, was not reproduced in my
History.</p>

<p>It may be as well here, at this point, as elsewhere,
once for all, to dispose of a large portion
of the matter contained in the long article in the
<i>North American Review</i>, now under consideration.
In preparing any work, particularly in the
department of history, it is to be presumed that
the explorations of the writer extend far beyond
what he may conclude to put into his book. He
will find much that is of no account whatever;
that would load down his narrative, swell it to
inadmissible dimensions, and shed no additional
light. Collateral and incidental questions
cannot be pursued in details. A new law, however,
is now given out, that must be followed,
hereafter, by all writers&mdash;that is, to give not a
catalogue merely, but an account of the contents,
of every book and tract they have read. It is
thus announced by our Reviewer: "We assume
Mr. Upham has not seen this tract, as he neither
mentioned it nor made use of its material."</p>

<p>The document here spoken of was designed to
give Increase Mather's ideas on the subject of
witchcraft trials, written near the close of those
in Salem, in 1692. As I had no peculiar interest
in determining what his views were&mdash;as a careful
study of the tract, particularly taken in connection
with its <i>Postscript</i>, fails to bring any reader
to a clear conception of them; and as its
whole matter was altogether immaterial to my
subject&mdash;I did not think it worth while to encumber
my pages with it. So in respect to many
other points, in treating which extended discussions
might be demanded. If I had been governed
by such notions as the Reviewer seems to
entertain, my book, which he complains of as
too long, would have been lengthened to the dimensions
of a cyclop&aelig;dia of theology, biography,
and philosophy. For keeping to my subject,
and not diverting attention to writings of no inherent
value, in any point of view, and which
would contribute nothing to the elucidation of
my topics, I am charged by this Reviewer, in the
baldest terms, with ignorance, on almost every
one of his sixty odd pages, and, often, several
times on the same page.</p>

<p>All that I say of Cotton Mather, mostly drawn
from his own words, does not cover a dozen
pages. Exception is taken to some unfavorable
judgments, cursorily expressed. This is fair and
legitimate, and would justify my being called
on to substantiate them. But to assume, and
proclaim, that I had not read nor seen tracts or volumes
that would come under consideration in
such a discussion, is as rash as it is offensive;
and, besides, constitutes a charge against which
no person of any self respect or common sense
can be expected to defend himself. I gave the
opinion of Cotton Mather's agency in the Witchcraft
of 1692, to which my judgment had been
led&mdash;whether with sufficient grounds or not will
be seen, as I proceed&mdash;but did not branch off
from my proper subject, into a detail of the
sources from which that opinion was derived.
If I had done so, in connection with allusions to
Mather, upon the same principle it would have
been necessary to do it, whenever an opinion was
expressed of others, such as Roger Williams, or
Hugh Peters, or Richard Baxter. It would destroy
the interest, and stretch interminably the
dimensions, of any book, to break its narrative,
abandon its proper subject, and stray aside into
such endless collateral matter. But it must be
done, if the article in the <i>North American Review</i>,
is to be regarded as an authoritative announcement
of a canon of criticism. Lecturers
and public speakers, or writers of any kind, must
be on their guard. If they should chance, for
instance, to speak of Cotton Mather as a pedant,
they will have the reviewers after them, belaboring
them with the charge of "a great lack of
research," in not having "pored over" the
"prodigious" manuscript of his unpublished
work, in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, the whole of his three hundred and
eighty-two printed works, and the huge mass of
<i>Mather Papers</i>, in the Library of the American<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
Antiquarian Society; and with never having
"read" the <i>Memorable Providences</i>, or "seen"
the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>, or "heard"
of the <i>Magnalia Christi Americana</i>.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III.</h2>
<h3>COTTON MATHER AND THE GOODWIN CHILDREN.
JOHN BAILY. JOHN HALE. GOODWIN'S CERTIFICATES.
MATHER'S IDEA OF WITCHCRAFT AS A
WAR WITH THE DEVIL. HIS USE OF PRAYER.
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CASE OF THE GOODWIN
CHILDREN AND SALEM WITCHCRAFT.</h3>

<p>The Reviewer complains of my manner of
treating Cotton Mather's connection with the affair
of the Goodwin children. The facts in the
case are, that the family, to which they belonged,
lived in the South part of Boston. The father,
a mason by occupation, was, as Mather informs
us, "a sober and pious man." As his
church relations were with the congregation in
Charlestown, of which Charles Morton was the Pastor,
he probably had no particular acquaintance
with the Boston Ministers. From a statement
made by Mr. Goodwin, some years subsequently,
it seems that after one of his children had, for
"about a quarter of a year, been laboring under
sad circumstances from the invisible world,"
he called upon "the four Ministers of Boston,
together with his own Pastor, to keep a day of
prayer at his house. If so deliverance might
be obtained." He says that Cotton Mather,
with whom he had no previous acquaintance, was
the last of the Ministers that "he spoke to on
that occasion." Mr. Mather did not attend
the meeting, but visited the house in the morning
of the day, before the other Ministers came;
spent a half hour there; and prayed with the
family. About three months after, the Ministers
held another prayer-meeting there, Mr. Mather
being present. He further stated that Mr. Mather
never, in any way, suggested his prosecuting
the old Irish woman for bewitching his children,
nor gave him any advice in reference to the legal
proceedings against her; but that "the motion
of going to the authority was made to him by
a Minister of a neighboring town, now departed."</p>

<p>The Reviewer, in a note to the last item, given
above, of Goodwin's statement, says: "Probably
Mr. John Baily." Unless he has some particular
evidence, tending to fix this advice upon
Baily, the conjecture is objectionable. The name
of such a man as Baily appears to have been,
ought not, unnecessarily, to be connected with the
transaction. It is true that, after the family had
become relieved of its "sad circumstances from
the invisible world," Mr. Baily took one of the
children to his house, in Watertown; but that is
no indication of his having given such advice.
The only facts known of him, in connection with
Witchcraft prosecutions, look in the opposite direction.
When John Proctor, in his extremity
of danger, sought for help, Mr. Baily was one of
the Ministers from whom alone he had any
ground to indulge a hope for sympathy; and his
name is among the fourteen who signed the paper
approving of Increase Mather's <i>Cases of Conscience</i>.
The list comprises all the Ministers known as
having shown any friendly feelings towards persons
charged with Witchcraft or who had suffered
from the prosecutions, such as Hubbard, Allen,
Willard, Capen and Wise; but not one who
had taken an active part in hurrying on the proceedings
of 1692.</p>

<p>If any surmise is justifiable, or worth while,
as to the author of the advice to Goodwin&mdash;and
perhaps it is due to the memory of Baily,
whose name has been thus introduced&mdash;I should
be inclined to suggest that it was John Hale,
of Beverly, who, like Baily, was deceased at
the date of Goodwin's certificate. He was a
Charlestown man, originally of the same religious
Society with Goodwin, and had kept
up acquaintance with his former townsmen.
His course at Salem Village, a few years afterwards,
shows that he would have been likely
to give such advice; and we may impute it to
him without any wrong to his character or reputation.
His noble conduct in daring, in the very
hour of the extremest fury of the storm, when, as
just before the break of day, the darkness was
deepest, to denounce the proceedings as wrong;
and in doing all that he could to repair that
wrong, by writing a book condemning the very
things in which he had himself been a chief actor,
gives to his name a glory that cannot be
dimmed by supposing that, in the period of his
former delusion, he was the unfortunate adviser
of Goodwin.</p>

<p>When Calef's book reached this country, in
1700, a Committee of seven was raised, at a meeting
of the members of the Parish of which the
Mathers were Ministers, to protect them against
its effects. John Goodwin was a member of it,
and contributed the Certificate from which extracts
have just been made. It was so worded
as to give the impression that Cotton Mather did
not take a leading part in the case of Goodwin's
children, in 1688. It states, as has been seen,
that he "was the last of the Ministers" asked to
attend the prayer-meeting; but lets out the fact
that he was the first to present himself, going to
the house and praying with the family before the
rest arrived. Goodwin further states, as follows:
"The Ministers would, now and then, come to
visit my distressed family, and pray with and
for them, among which Mr. Cotton Mather
would, now and then, come." The whole
document is so framed as to present Mather as
playing a secondary part.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>

<p>In an account, however, of the affair, written
by this same John Goodwin, and printed by
Mather, in London, ten years before, in <i>The Memorable
Providences relating to Witchcraft and Possessions</i>,
a somewhat different position is assigned
to Mather. After saying "the Ministers did often
visit us," he mentions "Mr. Mather particularly."
"He took much pains in this great service,
to pull this child and her brother and sister,
out of the hands of the Devil. Let us now
admire and adore that fountain, the Lord Jesus
Christ, from whence those streams come.
The Lord himself will requite his labor of
love." In 1690, Mather was willing to have
Goodwin place him in the foreground of the picture,
representing him as pulling the children out
of the hand of the Devil. In 1700, it was expedient
to withdraw him into the background:
and Goodwin, accordingly, provided the Committee,
of which he was a member, with a Certificate
of a somewhat different color and tenor.</p>

<p>The execution of the woman, Glover, on the
charge of having bewitched these Goodwin children,
is one of the most atrocious passages of our
history. Hutchinson<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> says she was one of the
"wild Irish," and "appeared to be disordered
in her senses." She was a Roman Catholic,
unable to speak the English language, and evidently
knew not what to make of the proceedings
against her. In her dying hour, she was understood
by the interpreter to say, that taking away her life
would not have any effect in diminishing the
sufferings of the children. The remark, showing
more sense than any of the rest of them had, was
made to bear against the poor old creature, as a
diabolical imprecation.</p>

<p>Between the time of her condemnation and
that of her execution, Cotton Mather took the
eldest Goodwin child into his family, and kept
her there all winter. He has told the story of
her extraordinary doings, in a style of blind and
absurd credulity that cannot be surpassed. "Ere
long," says he, "I thought it convenient for
me to entertain my congregation with a Sermon
on the memorable providence, wherein
these children had been concerned, (afterwards
published)."</p>

<p>In this connection, it may be remarked that
had it not been for the interference of the Ministers,
it is quite likely that "the sad circumstances
from the invisible world," in the Goodwin
family, would never have been heard of, beyond
the immediate neighbourhood. It is quite certain
that similar "circumstances," in Mr. Parris's
family, in 1692, owed their general publicity
and their awful consequences, to the meetings of
Ministers called by him. If the girls, in either
case, had been let alone, they would soon have
been weary of what one of them called their
"sport;" and the whole thing would have been
swallowed, with countless stories of haunted
houses and second sight, in deep oblivion.</p>

<p>In considering Cotton Mather's connection with
the case of the Goodwin children, and that of the
accusing girls, at Salem Village, justice to him
requires that the statements, in my book, of the
then prevalent notions, of the power and pending
formidableness of the Kingdom of Darkness,
should be borne in mind. It was believed by
Divines generally, and by people at large, that
here, in the American wilderness, a mighty onslaught
upon the Christian settlements was soon
to be made, by the Devil and his infernal hosts;
and that, on this spot, the final battle between
Satan and the Church, was shortly to come off.
This belief had taken full possession of Mather's
mind, and fired his imagination. In comparison
with the approaching contest, all other wars, even
that for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, paled
their light. It was the great crusade, in which
hostile powers, Moslem, Papal, and Pagan, of
every kind, on earth and from Hell, were to go
down; and he aspired to be its St. Bernard. It
was because he entertained these ideas, that he
was on the watch to hear, and prompt and glad
to meet, the first advances of the diabolical legions.
This explains his eagerness to take hold of
every occurrence that indicated the coming of
the Arch Enemy.</p>

<p>And it must further be borne in mind that, up
to the time of the case of the Goodwin children,
he had entertained the idea that the Devil was to
be met and subdued by Prayer. That, and that
only, was the weapon with which he girded
himself; and with that he hoped and believed to
conquer. For this reason, he did not advise
Goodwin to go to the law. For this reason, he
labored in the distressed household in exercises
of prayer, and took the eldest child into his own
family, so as to bring the battery of prayer, with
a continuous bombardment, upon the Devil by
whom she was possessed. For this reason, he persisted
in praying in the cell of the old Irish woman,
much against her will, for she was a stubborn
Catholic. Of course, he could not pray <i>with</i> her,
for he had no doubt she was a confederate of the
Devil; and she had no disposition to join in
prayer with one whom, as a heretic, she regarded
in no better light; but still he would pray, for
which he apologized, when referring to the matter,
afterward.</p>

<p>Cotton Mather was always a man of prayer.
For this, he deserves to be honored. Prayer, when
offered in the spirit, and in accordance with the
example, of the Saviour&mdash;"not my will but thine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
be done," "Your Father knoweth what things
ye have need of before ye ask him&mdash;" is the noblest
exercise and attitude of the soul. It lifts
it to the highest level to which our faculties can
rise. It</p>

<div class="poem" style="width: 19em;">
<span class="i4">"opens heaven; lets down a stream<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Of glory on the consecrated hour<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Of man, in audience with the Deity."<br /></span>
</div>

<p>It was the misfortune of Cotton Mather, that
an original infirmity of judgment, which all the
influences of his life and peculiarities of his
mental character and habits tended to exaggerate,
led him to pervert the use and operation of
prayer, until it became a mere implement, or device,
to compass some personal end; to carry a
point in which he was interested, whether relating
to private and domestic affairs, or to movements
in academical, political, or ecclesiastical
spheres. While according to him entire sincerity
in his devotional exercises, and, I trust, truly revering
the character and nature of such expressions
of devout sensibility and aspirations to divine
communion, it is quite apparent that they
were practiced by him, in modes and to an extent
that cannot be commended, leading to much
self-delusion and to extravagances near akin to
distraction of judgment, and a disordered mental
and moral frame. He would abstain from food&mdash;on
one occasion, it is said, for three days together&mdash;and
spend the time, as he expresses it "in
knocking at the door of heaven." Leaving his
bed at the dead hours of the night, and retiring
to his study, he would cast himself on the floor,
and "wrestle with the Lord." He kept, usually,
one day of each week in such fasting,
sometimes two. In his vigils, very protracted,
he would, in this prostrate position, be bathed in
tears. By such exhausting processes, continued
through days and nights, without food or rest,
his nature failed; he grew faint; physical weakness
laid him open to delusions of the imagination;
and his nervous system became deranged.
Sometimes, heaven seemed to approach him, and
he was hardly able to bear the ecstasies of divine
love; at other times, his soul would be tossed
in the opposite direction: and often, the two
states would follow each other in the same exercise,
as described by him in his Diary:<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>&mdash;"Was
ever man more tempted than the miserable
Mather? Should I tell in how many forms the
Devil has assaulted me, and with what subtlety
and energy his assaults have been carried on, it
would strike my friends with horror. Sometimes,
temptations to vice, to blasphemy, and
atheism, and the abandonment of all religion
as a mere delusion, and sometimes to self-destruction
itself. These, even these, do follow
thee, O miserable Mather, with astonishing fury.
But I fall down into the dust, on my study
floor, with tears, before the Lord, and then
they quickly vanish, and it is fair weather
again. Lord what wilt thou do with me?"</p>

<p>His prayers and vigils, which often led to such
high wrought and intense experiences, were, not
infrequently, brought down to the level of ordinary
sublunary affairs. In his Diary, he says, on
one occasion: "I set apart the day for fasting
with prayer, and the special intention of the day
was to obtain deliverance and protection from
my enemies. I mentioned their names unto the
Lord, who has promised to be my shield."
The enemies, here referred to, were political opponents&mdash;Governor
Dudley and the supporters of
his administration.</p>

<p>At another time, he fixed his heart upon some
books offered for sale. Not having the means to
procure them in the ordinary way, he resorted to
prayer: "I could not forbear mentioning my
wishes in my prayers, before the Lord, that,
in case it might be of service to his interests,
he would enable me, in his good Providence,
to purchase the treasure now before me. But
I left the matter before him, with the profoundest
resignation."</p>

<p>The following entry is of a similar character:
"This evening, I met with an experience,
which it may not be unprofitable for me to remember.
I had been, for about a fortnight,
vexed with an extraordinary heart-burn; and
none of all the common medicines would remove
it, though for the present some of them
would a little relieve it. At last, it grew so
much upon me, that I was ready to faint under
it. But, under my fainting pain, this reflection
came into my mind. There was <i>this</i>
among the sufferings and complaints of my
Lord Jesus Christ. My heart was like wax
melted in the middle of my bowels. Hereupon,
I begged of the Lord, that, for the sake of
the heart-burn undergone by my Saviour, I
might be delivered from the other and lesser
heart-burn wherewith I was now incommoded.
Immediately it was darted into my mind, that
I had Sir Philip Paris's plaster in my house,
which was good for inflammations; and laying
the plaster on, I was cured of my malady."</p>

<p>These passages indicate a use of prayer, which,
to the extent Mather carried it, would hardly be
practised or approved by enlightened Christians
of this or any age; although our Reviewer fully
endorses it. In reference to Mather's belief in
the power of prayer, he expresses himself with a
bald simplicity, never equalled even by that Divine.
After stating that the Almighty Sovereign
was his Father, and had promised to hear and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
answer his petitions, he goes on to say: "He
had often tested this promise, and had found
it faithful and sure." One would think, in
hearing such a phraseology, he was listening to
an agent, vending a patent medicine as an infallible
cure, or trying to bring into use a labor-saving
machine.</p>

<p>The Reviewer calls me to account for representing
"the Goodwin affair" as having had "a
very important relation to the Salem troubles,"
and attempts to controvert that position.</p>

<p>On this point, Francis Hutchinson, before
referred to, gives his views, very decidedly,
in the following passages: [<i>Pp. 95, 96, 101.</i>]
"Mr. Cotton Mather, no longer since than
1690, published the case of one Goodwin's children.
*&nbsp;*&nbsp;* The book was sent hither to be
printed amongst us, and Mr. Baxter recommended
it to our people by a Preface, wherein
he says: 'That man must be a very obdurate
Sadducee that will not believe it.' The
year after, Mr. Baxter, perhaps encouraged
by Mr. Mather's book, published his own <i>Certainty
of the World of Spirits</i>, with another
testimony, 'That Mr. Mather's book would Silence
any incredulity that pretended to be
rational.' And Mr. Mather dispersed Mr.
Baxter's book in New England, with the
character of it, as a book that was ungainsayable."</p>

<p>Speaking of Mather's book, Doctor Hutchinson
proceeds: "The judgment I made of it was,
that the poor old woman, being an Irish Papist,
and not ready in the signification of English
words, had entangled herself by a superstitious
belief, and doubtful answers about
Saints and Charms; and seeing what advantages
Mr. Mather made of it, I was afraid I saw
part of the reasons that carried the cause
against her. And first it is manifest that Mr.
Mather is magnified as having great power
over evil spirits. A young man in his family
is represented so holy, that the place of his devotions
was a certain cure of the young virgin's
fits. Then his grandfather's and father's books
have gained a testimony, that, upon occasion,
may be <i>improved</i> one knows not how far. For
amongst the many experiments that were made,
Mr. Mather would bring to this young maid, the
Bible, the <i>Assembly's Catechism</i>, his grandfather
Cotton's <i>Milk for Babes</i>, his father's
<i>Remarkable Providences</i>, and a book to prove
that there were Witches; and when any of these
were offered for her to read in, she would be
struck dead, and fall into convulsions. 'These
good books,' he says, 'were mortal to her';
and lest the world should be so dull as not to
take him right, he adds, 'I hope I have not
spoiled the credit of the books, by telling
how much the Devil hated them.'"</p>

<p>This language, published by Doctor Hutchinson,
in England, during the life-time of the
Mathers, shows how strong was the opinion, at
that time, that the writings of those two Divines
were designed and used to promote the prevalence
of the Witchcraft superstition, and especially
that such was the effect, as well as the purpose,
of Cotton Mather's publication of the case
of the Goodwin children, put into such circulation,
as it was, by him and Baxter, in both Old
and New England. In the same connection,
Francis Hutchinson says: "Observe the time of
the publication of that book, and of Mr. Baxter's.
Mr. Mather's came out in 1690, and
Mr. Baxter's the year after; and Mr. Mather's
father's <i>Remarkable Providences</i> had been out
before that; and, in the year 1692, the frights and
fits of the afflicted, and the imprisonment and
execution of Witches in New England, made
as sad a calamity as a plague or a war. I
know that Mr. Mather, in his late Folio, imputes
it to the Indian Pawaws sending their
spirits amongst them; but I attribute it to Mr.
Baxter's book, and his, and his father's, and the
false principles, and frightful stories, that filled
the people's minds with great fears and dangerous
notions."</p>

<p>Our own Hutchinson, in his <i>History of Massachusetts</i>,
[<i>II., 25-27</i>] alludes to the excitement
of the public mind, occasioned by the case of
the Goodwin children. "I have often," he says,
"heard persons who were of the neighborhood,
speak of the great consternation it occasioned."</p>

<p>In citing this author, in the present discussion,
certain facts are always to be borne in mind.
One of his sisters was the wife of Cotton Mather's
son, towards whom Hutchinson cherished sentiments
appropriate to such a near connection, and
of which Samuel Mather was, there is no reason
to doubt, worthy. In the Preface to his first volume
he speaks thus: "I am obliged to no other
person more than to my friend and brother,
the Reverend Mr. Mather, whose library has
been open to me, as it had been before to the
Reverend Mr. Prince, who has taken from
thence the greatest and most valuable part of
what he had collected."</p>

<p>Moreover, this very library was, it can hardly
be questioned, that of Cotton Mather; of which,
in his Diary, he speaks as "very great." In an
interesting article, to which I may refer again,
in the <i>Collections of the Massachusetts Historical
Society</i>, [<i>IV., ii., 128</i>], we are told that, in the
inventory of the estate of Cotton Mather, filed
by his Administrator, "not a single book is
mentioned among the assets of this eccentric
scholar." He had, it is to be presumed, given
them all, in his life-time, to his son, who succeeded
to his ministry in the North Church, in
1732.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>

<p>When the delicacy of his relation to the Mather
family and the benefit he was deriving from
that library are considered, the avoidance, by
Hutchinson, of any unpleasant reference to Cotton
Mather, by name, is honorable to his feelings.
But he maintained, nevertheless, a faithful
allegiance to the truth of history, as the following,
as well as many other passages, in his
invaluable work, strikingly show. They prove
that he regarded Mather's "printed account" of
the case of the Goodwin children, as having a
very important relation to the immediately subsequent
delusion in Salem. "The eldest was taken,"
he says, "into a Minister's family, where at first
she behaved orderly, but after some time suddenly
fell into her fits." "The account of her
sufferings is in print; some things are mentioned
as extraordinary, which tumblers are
every day taught to perform; others seem more
than natural; but it was a time of great credulity.
*&nbsp;*&nbsp;* The printed account was published
with a Preface by Mr. Baxter. *&nbsp;*&nbsp;*
It obtained credit sufficient, together with other
preparatives, to dispose the whole country
to be easily imposed upon, by the more extensive
and more tragical scene, which was presently
after acted at Salem and other parts of
the county of Essex." After mentioning several
works published in England, containing "<i>witch-stories</i>,"
witch-trials, etc., he proceeds: "All
these books were in New England, and the conformity
between the behavior of Goodwin's children,
and most of the supposed be-witched at
Salem, and the behavior of those in England,
is so exact, as to leave no room to doubt the
stories had been read by the New England
persons themselves, or had been told to them
by others who had read them. Indeed this
conformity, instead of giving suspicion, was
urged in confirmation of the truth of both.
The Old England demons and the New being
so much alike."</p>

<p>It thus appears that the opinion was entertained,
in England and this country, that the notoriety
given to the case of the Goodwin children, especially
by Mather's printed account of it, had
an efficient influence in bringing on the "tragical
scene," shortly afterwards exhibited at Salem.
This opinion is shown to have been correct,
by the extraordinary similarity between them&mdash;the
one being patterned after the other. The
Salem case, in 1692, was, in fact, a substantial repetition
of the Boston case, in 1688. On this
point, we have the evidence of Cotton Mather
himself.</p>

<p>The Rev. John Hale of Beverly, who was as
well qualified as any one to compare them, having
lived in Charlestown, which place had been
the residence of the Goodwin family, and been
an active participator in the prosecutions at Salem,
in his book, entitled, <i>A modest Enquiry into
the nature of Witchcraft</i>, written in 1697, but
not printed until 1702, after mentioning the fact
that Cotton Mather had published an account of
the conduct of the Goodwin children, and briefly
describing the manifestations and actions of the
Salem girls, says: [<i>p. 24</i>] "I will not enlarge in
the description of their cruel sufferings, because
they were, in all things, afflicted as bad
as John Goodwin's children at Boston, in the
year 1689, as he, that will read Mr. Mather's
book on <i>Remarkable Providences</i>, p. 3. &amp;c.,
may read part of what these children, and afterwards
sundry grown persons, suffered by the
hand of Satan, at Salem Village, and parts adjacent,
<i>Anno 1691-2</i>, yet there was more in
their sufferings than in those at Boston, by
pins invisibly stuck into their flesh, pricking
with irons (as, in part, published in a book
printed 1693, viz: <i>The Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>)." This is proof of the highest
authority, that, with the exceptions mentioned,
there was a perfect similarity in the details of
the two cases. Mr. Hale's book had not the benefit
of his revision, as it did not pass through the
press until two years after his death; and we thus
account for the error as to the date of the Goodwin
affair.</p>

<p>In making up his <i>Magnalia</i>, Mather had the
use of Hale's manuscript and transferred from it
nearly all that he says, in that work, about Salem
Witchcraft. He copies the passage above quoted.
The fact, therefore, is sufficiently attested by
Mather as well as Hale, that, with the exceptions
stated, there was, "in all things," an entire similarity
between the cases of 1688 and 1692.</p>

<p>Nay, further, in this same way we have the evidence
of Cotton Mather himself, that his "printed
account," of the case of the Goodwin children,
was actually used, as an authority, by the
Court, in the trials at Salem&mdash;so that it is clear
that the said "account," contributed not only,
by its circulation among the people, to bring on
the prosecutions of 1692, but to carry them
through to their fatal results&mdash;Mr. Hale says: [<i>p.
27</i>] "that the Justices, Judges and others concerned,"
consulted the precedents of former times,
and precepts laid down by learned writers about
Witchcraft. He goes on to enumerate them,
mentioning Keeble, Sir Matthew Hale, Glanvil,
Bernard, Baxter and Burton, concluding the list
with "Cotton Mather's <i>Memorable Providences,
relating to Witchcraft</i>, printed, anno 1689." Mather
transcribes this also into the <i>Magnalia</i>. <i>The
Memorable Providences</i> is referred to by Hale, in
another place, as containing the case of the Goodwin
children, consisting, in fact mainly of it.
[<i>p. 23</i>]. Mather, having Hale's book before
him, must, therefore be considered as endorsing
the opinion for which the Reviewer calls me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
account, namely, that "the Goodwin affair had a
very important relation to the Salem troubles."
What is sustained touching this point, by both
the Hutchinsons, Hale, and Cotton Mather himself,
cannot be disturbed in its position, as a
truth of History.</p>

<p>The reader will, I trust, excuse me for going
into such minute processes of investigation and
reasoning, in such comparatively unimportant
points. But, as the long-received opinions, in
reference to this chapter of our history, have been
brought into question in the columns of a journal,
justly commanding the public confidence, it is
necessary to re-examine the grounds on which
they rest. This I propose to do, without regard
to labor or space. I shall not rely upon general
considerations, but endeavor, in the course of
this discussion, to sift every topic on which the
Reviewer has struck at the truth of history, fairly
and thoroughly. On this particular point, of
the relation of these two instances of alleged
Witchcraft, in localities so near as Boston and
Salem, and with so short an interval of time, general
considerations would ordinarily be regarded
as sufficient. From the nature of things, the
former must have served to bring about the latter.
The intercommunication between the places
was, even then, so constant, that no important
event could happen in one without being known
in the other. By the thousand channels of conversation
and rumor, and by Mather's printed account,
endorsed by Baxter, and put into circulation
throughout the country, the details of the alleged
sufferings and extraordinary doings of the
Goodwin children, must have become well known,
in Salem Village. Such a conclusion would be
formed, if no particular evidence in support of
it could be adduced; but when corroborated by
the two Hutchinsons, Mr. Hale, and, in effect,
by Mather himself, it cannot be shaken.</p>

<p>As has been stated, Cotton Mather, previous to
his experience with those "pests," as the Reviewer
happily calls "the Goodwin children,"
probably believed in the efficacy of prayer,
and in that alone, to combat and beat down
evil spirits and their infernal Prince; and John
Goodwin's declaration, that it was not by his
advice that he went to the law, is, therefore, entirely
credible in itself. The protracted trial,
however, patiently persevered in for several long
months, when he had every advantage, in his
own house, to pray the devil out of the eldest
of the children, resulting in her becoming more
and more "saucy," insolent, and outrageous, may
have undermined his faith to an extent of which
he might not have been wholly conscious. He says,
in concluding his story in the <i>Magnalia</i>, [<i>Book
VI., p. 75.</i>] that, after all other methods had failed,
"one particular Minister, taking particular
compassion on the family, set himself to serve
them in the methods prescribed by our Lord
Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the Lord being
besought thrice, in three days of prayer, with
fasting on this occasion, the family then saw
their deliverance perfected."</p>

<p>It is worthy of reflection, whether it was not
the fasting, that seems to have been especially
enforced "on this occasion," and for "three
days," that cured the girl. A similar application
had before operated as a temporary remedy.
Mather tells us, in his <i>Memorable Providences</i>,
[<i>p. 31</i>,] referring to a date previous to
the "three days" fasting, "Mr. Morton, of
Charlestown, and Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr.
Willard, and myself, of Boston, with some devout
neighbors, kept another day of prayer at
John Goodwin's house; and we had all the
children present with us there. The children
were miserably tortured, while we labored
in our prayers; but our good God was nigh
unto us, in what we called upon him for.
From this day, the power of the enemy was
broken; and the children, though assaults after
this were made upon them, yet were not so
cruelly handled as before."</p>

<p>It must have been a hard day for all concerned.
Five Ministers and any number of
"good praying people," as Goodwin calls them,
together with his whole family, could not but
have crowded his small house. The children,
on such occasions, often proved very troublesome,
as stated above. Goodwin says "the two
biggest, lying on the bed, one of them would
fain have kicked the good men, while they
were wrestling with God for them, had I not
held him with all my power and might."
Fasting was added to the prayers, that were
kept up during the whole time, the Ministers
relieving each other. If the fasting had been
continued three days, it is not unlikely that the
cure of the children would, then, have proved
effectual and lasting. The account given in the
<i>Memorables</i> and the <i>Magnalia</i>, of the conduct of
these children, under the treatment of Mather
and the other Ministers, is, indeed, most ludicrous;
and no one can be expected to look at it
in any other light. He was forewarned that, in
printing it, he would expose himself to ridicule.
He tells us that the mischievous, but bright and
wonderfully gifted, girl, the eldest of the children,
getting, at one time, possession of his
manuscript, pretended to be, for the moment,
incapacitated, by the Devil, for reading it; and
he further informs us, "She'd hector me at a
strange rate for the work I was at, and threaten
me with I know not what mischief for it.
She got a History I was writing of this Witchcraft;
and though she had, before this, read it
over and over, yet now she could not read (I
believe) one entire sentence of it; but she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
made of it the most ridiculous Travesty in the
world, with such a patness and excess of fancy,
to supply the sense that she put upon it,
as I was amazed at. And she particularly
told me, That I should quickly come to disgrace
by that History."</p>

<p>It is noticeable that the Goodwin children,
like their imitators at Salem Village, the "afflicted,"
as they were called, were careful, except
in certain cases of emergence, not to have
their night's sleep disturbed, and never lost an
appetite for their regular meals. I cannot but
think that if the Village girls had, once in a
while, like the Goodwin children, been compelled
to go for a day or two upon very short allowance,
it would have soon brought their
"sport" to an end.</p>

<p>Nothing is more true than that, in estimating
the conduct and character of men, allowances
must be made for the natural, and almost necessary,
influence of the opinions and customs of
their times. But this excuse will not wholly
shelter the Mathers. They are answerable, as I
have shown, more than almost any other men
have been, for the opinions of their time.
It was, indeed, a superstitious age; but
made much more so by their operations,
influence, and writings, beginning with Increase
Mather's movement, at the assembly of
the Ministers, in 1681, and ending with Cotton
Mather's dealings with the Goodwin children,
and the account thereof which he printed and
circulated, far and wide. For this reason, then,
in the first place, I hold those two men responsible
for what is called "Salem Witchcraft."</p>

<p>I have admitted and shown that Cotton Mather
originally relied only upon prayer in his combat
with Satanic powers. But the time was at
hand, when other weapons than the sword of
the Spirit were to be drawn in that warfare.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> When, in this article, I cite the name "Hutchinson,"
without any distinguishing prefix, I mean <span class="smcap">Thomas Hutchinson</span>,
Chief-justice, Governor, and Historian of Massachusetts;
so also when I cite the name "Mather," I mean <span class="smcap">Cotton
Mather</span>.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The passages from Cotton Mather's Diary, used in this
article, are mostly taken from the <i>Christian Examiner</i>,
xi., 249; <i>Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society</i>,
i., 289, and iv., 404; and <i>Life of Cotton Mather</i>, by William
B. O. Peabody, in Sparks's <i>American Biography</i>, vi., 162.</p></div>
</div>

<hr />
<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV.</h2>

<h3>THE RELATION OF THE MATHERS TO THE ADMINISTRATION
OF MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1692. THE
NEW CHARTER. THE GOVERNMENT UNDER IT
ARRANGED BY THEM. ARRIVAL OF SIR WILLIAM
PHIPS.</h3>

<p>No instance of the responsibility of particular
persons for the acts of a Government, in the
whole range of history, is more decisive or unquestionable,
than that of the Mathers, father
and son, for the trials and executions, for the alleged
crime of Witchcraft, at Salem, in 1692.</p>

<p>Increase Mather had been in England, as one
of the Agents of the Colony of Massachusetts,
for several years, in the last part of the reign
of James II. and the beginning of that of William
and Mary, covering much of the period between
the abrogation of the first Charter and
the establishment of the Province under the
second Charter. Circumstances had conspired
to give him great influence in organizing the
Government provided for in the new Charter.
His son describes him as "one that, besides a
station in the Church of God, as considerable as
any that his own country can afford, hath for
divers years come off with honor, in his application
to three crowned heads and the chiefest
nobility of three kingdoms."</p>

<p>Being satisfied that a restoration of the old
Charter could not be obtained, Increase Mather
acquiesced in what he deemed a necessity, and
bent his efforts to have as favorable terms as
possible secured in the new. His colleagues in
the agency, Elisha Cooke and Thomas Oaks, opposed
his course&mdash;the former, with great determination,
taking the ground of the "old Charter
or none." This threw them out of all communication
with the Home Government, on the subject,
and gave to Mr. Mather controlling influence.
He was requested by the Ministers of the
Crown to name the officers of the new Government;
and, in fact, had the free and sole selection
of them all. Sir William Phips was appointed
Governor, at his solicitation; and, in
accordance with earnest recommendations, in a
letter from Cotton Mather, William Stoughton
was appointed Deputy-governor, thereby superceding
Danforth, one of the ablest men in
the Province. In fact, every member of the
Council owed his seat to the Mathers, and, politically,
was their creature. Great was the exultation
of Cotton Mather, when the intelligence
reached him, thus expressed in his Diary: "The
time for favor is now come, yea, the set-time
is come. I am now to receive the answers of
so many prayers, as have been employed for my
absent parent, and the deliverance and settlement
of my poor country. We have not the
former Charter, but we have a better in the
room of it; one which much better suits our
circumstances. And, instead of my being
made a sacrifice to wicked rulers, all the
Councillors of the Province are of my father's
nomination; and my father-in-law, with several
related to me, and several brethren of my
own Church, are among them. The Governor
of the Province is not my enemy, but one
whom I baptized, namely, Sir William Phips,
and one of my flock, and one of my dearest
friends."</p>

<p>The whole number of Councillors was twenty-eight,
three of them, at least, being of the Mather
Church. John Phillips was Cotton Mather's
father-in-law. Two years before, Sir William
Phips had been baptized by Cotton Mather,
in the presence of the congregation, and received
into the Church.</p>

<p>The "set-time," so long prayed for, was of brief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
duration. The influence of the Mathers over
the politics of the Province was limited to the
first part of Phips's short administration. At
the very next election, in May, 1693, ten of the
Councillors were left out; and Elisha Cooke,
their great opponent, was chosen to that body,
although negatived by Phips, in the exercise of
his prerogative, under the Charter.</p>

<p>Increase Mather came over in the same ship with
the Governor, the <i>Nonsuch</i>, frigate. As Phips was
his parishioner, owed to him his office, and was
necessarily thrown into close intimacy, during
the long voyage, he fell naturally under his influence,
which, all things considered, could not
have failed to be controlling. The Governor
was an illiterate person, but of generous, confiding,
and susceptible impulses; and the elder
Mather was precisely fitted to acquire an ascendency
over such a character. He had been
twice abroad, in his early manhood and in his
later years, had knowledge of the world, been
conversant with learned men in Colleges and
among distinguished Divines and Statesmen, and
seen much of Courts and the operations of Governments.
With a more extended experience
and observation than his son, his deportment
was more dignified, and his judgment infinitely
better; while his talents and acquirements
were not far, if at all, inferior. When Phips
landed in Boston, it could not, therefore, have
been otherwise than that he should pass under
the control of the Mathers, the one accompanying,
the other meeting him on the shore. They
were his religious teachers and guides; by their
efficient patronage and exertions he had been
placed in his high office. They, his Deputy,
Stoughton, and the whole class of persons under
their influence, at once gathered about him,
gave him his first impressions, and directed
his movements. By their talents and position,
the Mathers controlled the people, and kept
open a channel through which they could reach
the ear of Royalty. The Government of the
Province was nominally in Phips and his Council,
but the Mathers were a power behind the
throne greater than the throne itself. The following
letter, never before published, for which
I am indebted to Abner C. Goodell, Esq., Vice-president
of the Essex Institute, shows how
they bore themselves before the Legislature, and
communicated with the Home Government.</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Lord:</span></p>

<p>"I have only to assure your Lordship, that
the generality of their Majesties subjects (so
far as I can understand) do, with all thankfulness,
receive the favors, which, by the new
Charter, are granted to them. The last week,
the General Assembly (which, your Lordship
knows, is our New England Parliament) convened
at Boston. I did then exhort them to
make an Address of thanks to their Majesties;
which, I am since informed, the Assembly
have unanimously agreed to do, as in duty
they are bound. I have also acquainted the
whole Assembly, how much, not myself only,
but they, and all this Province, are obliged to
your Lordship in particular, which they have
a grateful sense of, as by letters from themselves
your Lordship will perceive. If I may,
in any thing, serve their Majesties interest
here, I shall, on that account, think myself
happy, and shall always study to approve myself,
My Lord,</p>

<div class="bk3">"Your most humble, thankful<br />
<span class="ml4">and obedient Servant,</span><br />
<span class="ml8"><span class="smcap">Increase Mather</span>.</span></div>

<p>"<span class="smcap">Boston, N. E.</span><br />
June 23, 1692.</p>

<p class="clr">"To the Rt. Hon<sup>ble</sup> the <i>Earl of Nottingham</i>,
his Maj<sup>ties</sup> Principal Secretary of State
at Whitehall."</p></div>

<p>While they could thus address the General
Assembly, and the Ministers of State, in London,
the Government here was, as Hutchinson evidently
regarded it, [<i>i., 365; ii., 69.</i>] "a <span class="smcap">Mather
Administration</span>." It was "short, sharp, and
decisive." It opened in great power; its
course was marked with terror and havoc; it
ended with mysterious suddenness; and its only
monument is Salem Witchcraft&mdash;the "<i>judicial
murder</i>," as the Reviewer calls it, of twenty
men and women, as innocent in their lives as
they were heroic in their deaths.</p>

<p>The <i>Nonsuch</i> arrived in Boston harbor, towards
the evening of the fourteenth of May, 1692.
Judge Sewall's Diary, now in the possession of
the Massachusetts Historical Society, has this
entry, at the above date. "Candles are lighted
before he gets into Town House, 8 companies
wait on him to his house, and then on Mr.
Mather to his, made no vollies, because 'twas
Saturday night."</p>

<p>The next day, the Governor attended, we may
be sure, public worship with the congregation
to which he belonged; and the occasion was
undoubtedly duly noticed. After so long an
absence, Increase Mather could not have failed
to address his people, the son also taking part
in the interesting service. The presence, in his
pew, of the man who, a short time before, had
been regenerated by their preaching, and now
re-appeared among them with the title and
commission of Governor of New England,
added to the previous honors of Knighthood, at
once suggested to all, and particularly impressed
upon him, an appreciating conviction of the
political triumph, as well as clerical achievement,
of the associate Ministers of the North
Boston Church. From what we know of the
state of the public mind at that time, as emphatically<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
described in a document I am presently
to produce, there can be no question as to
one class of topics and exhortations, wherewithal
his Excellency and the crowded congregation
were, that day, entertained.</p>

<p>Monday, the sixteenth, was devoted to the
ceremonies of the public induction of the new
Government. There was a procession to the
Town-house, where the Commissions of the
Governor and Deputy-governor, with the Charter
under which they were appointed, were severally
read aloud to the people. A public
dinner followed; and, at its close, Sir William
was escorted to his residence. At the meeting
of the Council, the next day, the seventeenth,
the oaths of office having been administered, all
round, it was voted "that there be a general
meeting of the Council upon Tuesday next,
the twenty-fourth of May current, in Boston,
at two o'clock, post-meridian, to nominate and
appoint Judges, Justices, and other officers of
the Council and Courts of Justice within this
their Majesties' Province belonging, and that
notice thereof, or summons, be forthwith issued
unto the members of the Council now absent."</p>

<p>The following letter from Sir William Phips,
to the Government at home, recently procured
from England by Mr. Goodell, was published
in the last volume of the <i>Collections of the Essex
Institute</i>&mdash;Volume IX., Part II. I print it, entire,
and request the reader to examine it, carefully,
and to refer to it as occasion arises in
this discussion, as it is a key to the whole transaction
of the Witchcraft trials. Its opening
sentence demonstrates the impression made by
those who first met and surrounded him, on his
excitable nature:</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>"When I first arrived, I found this Province
miserably harassed with a most horrible
witchcraft or possession of devils, which had
broke in upon several towns, some scores of
poor people were taken with preternatural
torments, some scalded with brimstone, some
had pins stuck in their flesh, others hurried
into the fire and water, and some dragged out
of their houses and carried over the tops of
trees and hills for many miles together; it
hath been represented to me much like that
of Sweden about thirty years ago; and there
were many committed to prison upon suspicion
of Witchcraft before my arrival. The
loud cries and clamours of the friends of the
afflicted people, with the advice of the Deputy-governor
and many others, prevailed with
me to give a Commission of Oyer and Terminer
for discovering what Witchcraft might be
at the bottom, or whether it were not a possession.
The chief Judge in this Commission
was the Deputy-governor, and the rest were
persons of the best prudence and figure that
could then be pitched upon. When the Court
came to sit at Salem, in the County of Essex,
they convicted more than twenty persons being
guilty of witchcraft, some of the convicted
confessed their guilt; the Court, as I
understand, began their proceedings with the
accusations of afflicted persons; and then went
upon other humane evidences to strengthen
that. I was, almost the whole time of the
proceeding, abroad in the service of their
Majesties, in the Eastern part of the country,
and depended upon the judgment of the Court,
as to a method of proceeding in cases of
witchcraft; but when I came home I found
many persons in a strange ferment of dissatisfaction,
which was increased by some hot
spirits that blew up the flame; but on inquiring
into the matter I found that the Devil
had taken upon him the name and shape of
several persons who were doubtless innocent,
and, to my certain knowledge, of good reputation;
for which cause I have now forbidden
the committing of any more that shall be accused,
without unavoidable necessity, and
those that have been committed I would shelter
from any proceedings against them wherein
there may be the least suspicion of any
wrong to be done unto the innocent. I would
also wait for any particular directions or commands,
if their Majesties please to give me
any, for the fuller ordering this perplexed
affair.</p>

<p>"I have also put a stop to the printing of any
discourses one way or other, that may increase
the needless disputes of people upon this occasion,
because I saw a likelihood of kindling an
inextinguishable flame if I should admit any
public and open contests; and I have grieved
to see that some, who should have done their
Majesties, and this Province, better service, have
so far taken council of passion as to desire the
precipitancy of these matters; these things
have been improved by some to give me many
interruptions in their Majesties service [<i>which</i>]
has been hereby unhappily clogged, and the
persons, who have made so ill improvement of
these matters here, are seeking to turn it upon
me, but I hereby declare, that as soon as I came
from fighting against their Majesties enemies,
and understood what danger some of their
innocent subjects might be exposed to, if the
evidence of the afflicted persons only did prevail,
either to the committing, or trying any of
them, I did, before any application was made
unto me about it, put a stop to the proceedings
of the Court and they are now stopped
till their Majesties pleasure be known. Sir, I
beg pardon for giving you all this trouble;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
the reason is because I know my enemies are
seeking to turn it all upon me. Sir,</p>

<div class="bk3">"I am<br />
<span class="ml4">Your most humble Serv<sup>t</sup></span><br />
<span class="ml8"><span class="smcap">William Phips</span>.</span></div>

<p class="clr">"Dated at <span class="smcap">Boston in New England</span>,
the 14th of Oct<sup>r</sup> 1692.</p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">Mem<sup>dm</sup></span></p>

<p>"That my Lord President be pleased to acquaint
his Majesty in Council with the account
received from New England, from Sir
W<sup>m</sup> Phips, the Governor there, touching proceedings
against several persons for Witchcraft,
as appears by the Governor's letter concerning
those matters."</p></div>

<p>The foregoing document, I repeat, indicates
the kind of talk with which Phips was accosted,
when stepping ashore. Exaggerated representations
of the astonishing occurrences at Salem Village
burst upon him from all, whom he would
have been likely to meet. The manner in which
the Mathers, through him, had got exclusive possession
of the Government of the Province, probably
kept him from mingling freely among, or having
much opportunity to meet, any leading men,
outside of his Council and the party represented
therein. Writing in the ensuing October, at the
moment when he had made up his mind to break
loose from those who had led him to the hasty
appointment of the Special Court, there is significance
in his language. "I have grieved to see
that some, who should have done their Majesties,
and the Province, better service, have so
far taken counsel of passion, as to desire the
precipitancy of these matters." This refers to,
and amounts to a condemnation of, the advisers
who had influenced him to the rash measures
adopted on his arrival. How rash and precipitate
those measures were I now proceed to show.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V.</h2>

<h3>THE SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER.
HOW IT WAS ESTABLISHED. WHO RESPONSIBLE
FOR IT. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE
CONCENTRATED IN ITS CHIEF-JUSTICE.</h3>

<p>So great was the pressure made upon Sir
William Phips, by the wild panic to which the
community had been wrought, that he ordered
the persons who had been committed to prison
by the Salem Magistrates, to be put in irons;
but his natural kindness of heart and common
sense led him to relax the unjustifiable severity.
Professor Bowen, in his <i>Life of Phips</i>, embraced
in Sparks's <i>American Biography</i>, [<i>vii., 81.</i>] says:
"Sir William seems not to have been in earnest
in the proceeding; for the officers were permitted
to evade the order, by putting on the irons
indeed, but taking them off again, immediately."</p>

<p>On Tuesday, the twenty-fourth of May, the
Council met to consider the matter specially assigned
to that day, namely, the nomination and
appointment of Judicial officers.</p>

<p>The Governor gave notice that he had issued
Writs for the election of Representatives to convene
in a General Court, to be held on the eighth
of June.</p>

<p>He also laid before the Council, the assigned
business, which was "accordingly attended, and
divers persons, in the respective Counties were
named, and left for further consideration."</p>

<p>On the twenty-fifth of May, the Council being
again in session, the record says: "a further
discourse was had about persons, in the several
Counties, for Justices and other officers, and
it was judged advisable to defer the consideration
of fit persons for Judges, until there be
an establishment of Courts of Justice."</p>

<p>At the next meeting, on the twenty-seventh of
May, it was ordered that the members of the
Council, severally, and their Secretary, should be
Justices of the Peace and Quorum, in the respective
Counties where they reside: a long list, besides,
was adopted, appointing the persons named
in it Justices, as also Sheriffs and Coroners; and
a <span class="smcap">Special Court of Oyer and Terminer</span> was established
for the Counties of Suffolk, Essex, and
Middlesex, consisting of William Stoughton,
Chief-justice, John Richards, Nathaniel Saltonstall,
Wait Winthrop, Bartholomew Gedney, Samuel
Sewall, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin,
and Peter Sargent, any five of them to be a quorum
(Stoughton, Richards, or Gedney to be one of
the five).</p>

<p>When we consider that the subject had been
specially assigned on the seventeenth, and discussed
for two days, on the twenty-fourth and
twenty-fifth, to the conclusion that the appointment
of Judges ought to be deferred, "<i>until
there be an establishment of Courts of Justice</i>,"&mdash;which
by the Charter, could only be done by the
General Court which was to meet, as the Governor
had notified them, in less than a fortnight&mdash;the
establishment of the Court of Oyer and Terminer,
on the twenty-seventh, must be regarded as very
extraordinary. It was acknowledged to be an unauthorized
procedure; the deliberate judgment
of the Council had been expressed against it;
and there was no occasion for such hurry, as the
Legislature was so soon to assemble. There must
have been a strong outside pressure, from some
quarter, to produce such a change of front.
From Wednesday to Friday, some persons of
great influence must have been hard at work. The
reasons assigned, in the record, for this sudden reversal,
by the Council, of its deliberate decision,
are the great number of criminals waiting trial,
the thronged condition of the jails, and "this hot
season of the year," on the twenty-seventh of May!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
It is further stated, "there being no judicatures
or Courts of Justice yet established," that, therefore,
such an extraordinary step was necessary.
It is, indeed, remarkable, that, in the face of their
own recorded convictions of expediency and
propriety, and in disregard of the provisions
of the Charter which, a few days before,
they had been sworn to obey, the Council could
have been led to so far "take counsel of passion,"
as to rush over every barrier to this precipitate
measure.</p>

<p>No specific reference is anywhere made, in the
Journals, to Witchcraft; but the Court was to act
upon all cases of felony and other crimes. The
"Council Records" were not obtained from England,
until 1846. Writers have generally spoken
of the Court as consisting of seven Judges. Saltonstall's
resignation does not appear to have led
to a new appointment; and, perhaps, Hathorne,
who generally acted as an Examining Magistrate,
and signed most of the Commitments of the
prisoners, did not often, if ever, sit as a Judge.
In this way, the Court may have been reduced to
seven. Stephen Sewall was appointed Clerk,
and George Corwin, High Sheriff.</p>

<p>Thus established and organized, on the twenty-seventh
of May, the Court sat, on the second of
June, for the trial of Bridget Bishop. Her Death-warrant
was signed, on the eighth of June, the
very day the Legislature convened; and she was
executed on the tenth. This was, indeed, "precipitancy."
Before the General Court had
time, possibly, to make "an establishment of
Courts of Justice" in the exercise of the powers
bestowed upon it by the Charter, this Special
Court&mdash;suddenly sprung upon the country, against
the deliberate first judgment of the Council itself,
and not called for by any emergency of the
moment which the General Court, just coming on
the stage, could not legally, constitutionally, and
adequately, have met&mdash;dipped its hands in blood;
and an infatuated and appalled people and their
representatives allowed the wheels of the Juggernaut
to roll on.</p>

<p>The question, who are responsible for the creation,
in such hot haste, of this Court, and for its
instant entrance upon its ruthless work, may not
be fully and specifically answered, with absolute
demonstration, but we may approach a satisfactory
solution of it. We know that a word from
either of the Mathers would have stopped it. Their
relations to the Government were, then, controlling.
Further, if, at that time, either of the other
leading Ministers&mdash;Willard, or Allen&mdash;had demanded
delay, it would have been necessary to
pause; but none appear to have made open opposition;
and all must share in the responsibility
for subsequent events.</p>

<p>Phips says that the affair at Salem Village was
represented to him as "much like that of Sweden,
about thirty years ago." This Swedish case
was Cotton Mather's special topic. In his <i>Wonders
of the Invisible World</i>, he says that "other
good people have in this way been harassed,
but none in circumstances more like to ours,
than the people of God in Sweedland." He
introduces, into the <i>Wonders</i>, a separate account
of it; and reproduces it in his <i>Life of Phips</i>, incorporated
subsequently into the <i>Magnalia</i>. The
first point he makes, in presenting this case, is as
follows: "The inhabitants had earnestly sought
God in prayer, and yet their affliction continued.
Whereupon Judges had a Special
Commission to find, and root out the hellish
crew; and the rather, because another County
in the Kingdom, which had been so molested,
was delivered upon the execution of the Witches."&mdash;<i>The
Wonders of the Invisible World.</i>
Edit. London, 1693, p. 48.</p>

<p>The importance attached by Cotton Mather to
the affair in Sweden, especially viewed in connection
with the foregoing extract, indicates that
the change, I have conjectured, had come over
him, as to the way to deal with Witches; and
that he had reached the conclusion that prayer
would not, and nothing but the gallows could,
answer the emergency. In the Swedish case, was
found the precedent for a "Special Commission
of Oyer and Terminer."</p>

<p>Well might the Governor have felt the importance
of relieving himself, as far as possible, from
the responsibility of having organized such a Court,
and of throwing it upon his advisers. The tribunal
consisted of the Deputy-governor, as Chief-justice,
and eight other persons, all members of
the Council, and each, as has been shown, owing
his seat, at that Board, to the Mathers.</p>

<p>The recent publication of this letter of Governor
Phips enables us now to explain certain circumstances,
before hardly intelligible, and to
appreciate the extent of the outrages committed
by those who controlled the administration of
the Province, during the Witchcraft trials.</p>

<p>In 1767, Andrew Oliver, then Secretary of the
Province, was directed to search the Records of
the Government to ascertain precedents, touching
a point of much interest at that time. From his
Report, part of which is given in Drake's invaluable
<i>History of Boston</i>, [<i>p. 728</i>] it appears that
the Deputy-governor, Stoughton, by the appointment
of the Governor, attended by the Secretary,
administered the oaths to the members of the
House of Representatives, convened on the eighth
of June, 1692; that, as Deputy-governor, he sat
in Council, generally, during that year, and was,
besides, annually elected to the Council, until his
death, in 1701. All that time, he was sitting, in
the double capacity of an <i>ex-officio</i> and an elected
member; and for much the greater part of it,
in the absence of Phips, as acting Governor. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
Records show that he sat in Council when Sir
William Phips was present, and presided over it,
when he was not present, and ever after Phips's
decease, until a new Governor came over in 1699.
His annual election, by the House of Representatives,
as one of the twenty-eight Councillors,
while, as Deputy or acting Governor, he was entitled
to a seat, is quite remarkable. It gave him
a distinct legislative character, and a right, as an
elected member of the body, to vote and act, directly,
in all cases, without restraint or embarrassment,
in debate and on Committees, in the making,
as well as administering, the law.</p>

<p>In the letter now under consideration, Governor
Phips says: "I was almost the whole time
of the proceeding abroad, in the Service of
their Majesties in the Eastern part of the country."</p>

<p>The whole tenor of the letter leaves an impression
that, being so much away from the scene, in
frequent and long absences, he was not cognizant
of what was going on. He depended "upon
the judgment of the Court," as to its methods of
proceeding; and was surprised when those
methods were brought to his attention. Feeling
his own incapacity to handle such a business, he
was willing to leave it to those who ought to
have been more competent. Indeed, he passed
the whole matter over to the Deputy-governor. In
a letter, for which I am indebted to Mr. Goodell,
dated the twentieth of February, 1693, to the Earl
of Nottingham, transmitting copies of laws passed
by the General Court, Governor Phips says:
"Not being versed in law, I have depended upon
the Lieu<sup>t</sup> Gov<sup>r</sup>, who is appointed Judge of
the Courts, to see that they be exactly agreeable
to the laws of England, and not repugnant
in any part. If there be any error, I know
it will not escape your observation, and desire
a check may be given for what may be
amiss."</p>

<p>The closing sentence looks somewhat like a
want of confidence in the legal capacity and
judgment of Stoughton, owing perhaps, to the
bad work he had made at the Salem trials, the
Summer before; but the whole passage shows
that Phips, conscious of his own ignorance of
such things, left them wholly to the Chief-justice.</p>

<p>The Records show that he sat in Council to the
close of the Legislature, on the second of July. But
the main business was, evidently, under the management
of Stoughton, who was Chairman of a
large Joint Committee, charged with adjusting the
whole body of the laws to the transition of the
Colony, from an independent Government, under
the first Charter, to the condition of a subject
Province.</p>

<p>One person had been tried and executed; and
the Court was holding its second Session when the
Legislature adjourned. Phips went to the eastward,
immediately after the eighth of July. Again,
on the first of August, he embarked from Boston
with a force of four hundred and fifty men, for
the mouth of the Kennebec. In the Archives of
Massachusetts, Secretary's office, State House, Vol.
LI., p. 9, is the original document, signed by Phips,
dated on the first of August, 1692, turning over
the Government to Stoughton, during his absence.
It appears by Church's <i>Eastern Expeditions</i>, Part
II., p. 82, edited by H. M. Dexter, and published
by Wiggin &amp; Lunt, Boston, 1867, that, during a
considerable part of the month of August, the
Governor must have been absent, engaged in important
operations on the coast of Maine. About
the middle of September, he went again to the
Kennebec, not returning until a short time before
the twelfth of October. In the course of the year,
he also was absent for a while in Rhode Island.
Although an energetic and active man, he had as
much on his hands, arising out of questions as to
the extent of his authority over Connecticut and
Rhode Island and the management of affairs at
the eastward, as he could well attend to. His
Instructions, too, from the Crown, made it his
chief duty to protect the eastern portions of his
Government. The state of things there, in connection
with Indian assaults and outrages upon the
outskirt settlements, under French instigation,
was represented as urgently demanding his attention.
Besides all this, his utmost exertions were
needed to protect the sea-coast against buccaneers.
In addition to the public necessities, thus
calling him to the eastward, it was, undoubtedly,
more agreeable to his feelings, to revisit his native
region and the home of his early years, where,
starting from the humblest spheres of mechanical
labor and maritime adventure, as a ship-carpenter
and sailor, he had acquired the manly energy
and enterprise that had conducted him to fortune,
knightly honor, and the Commission of
Governor of New England. All the reminiscences
and best affections of his nature made him
prompt to defend the region thus endeared to
him. It was much more congenial to his feelings
than to remain under the ceremonial and puritanic
restraints of the seat of Government, and
involved in perplexities with which he had no
ability, and probably no taste, to grapple. He
was glad to take himself out of the way; and as
his impetuous and impulsive nature rendered
those under him liable to find him troublesome,
they were not sorry to have him called elsewhere.</p>

<p>I have mentioned these things as justifying the
impression, conveyed by his letter, that he knew
but little of what was going on until his return
in the earlier half of October. Actual absence
at a distance, the larger part of the time, and engrossing
cares in getting up expeditions and supplies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
for them while he was at home&mdash;particularly
as, from the beginning, he had passed over the
business of the Court entirely to his Deputy,
Stoughton&mdash;it is not difficult to suppose, had prevented
his mind being much, if at all, turned towards
it. We may, therefore, consider that the
witchcraft prosecutions were wholly under the
control of Stoughton and those, who, having given
him power, would naturally have influence over his
exercise of it.</p>

<p>Calling in question the legality of the Court,
Hutchinson expresses a deep sense of the irregularity
of its proceedings; although, as he says,
"the most important Court to the life of the subject
which ever was held in the Province," it
meets his unqualified censure, in many points.
In reference to the instance of the Jury's bringing
in a verdict of "Not guilty," in the case of Rebecca
Nurse, and being induced, by the dissatisfaction
of the Court, to go out again, and bring
her in "Guilty," he condemns the procedure.
Speaking of a wife or husband being allowed to
accuse one the other, he breaks out: "I shudder
while I am relating it;" and giving the results at
the last trial, he says: "This Court of Oyer and
Terminer, happy for the country, sat no more."
Its proceedings were arbitrary, harsh, and rash.
The ordinary forms of caution and fairness were
disregarded. The Judges made no concealment
of a foregone conclusion against the Prisoners at
the Bar. No Counsel was allowed them. The
proceedings were summary; and execution followed
close upon conviction. While it was destroying
the lives of men and women, of respectable
position in the community, of unblemished
and eminent Christian standing, heads of families,
aged men and venerable matrons, all the ordinary
securities of society, outside of the tribunal,
were swept away. In the absence of Sir
William Phips, the Chief-justice absolutely
absorbed into his own person the whole
Government. His rulings swayed the Court, in
which he acted the part of prosecutor of the Prisoners,
and overbore the Jury. He sat in judgment
upon the sentences of his own Court; and
heard and refused, applications and supplications
for pardon or reprieve. The three grand divisions
of all constitutional or well-ordered Governments
were, for the time, obliterated in Massachusetts.
In the absence of Phips, the Executive
functions were exercised by Stoughton.
While presiding over the Council, he also held a
seat as an elected ordinary member, thus participating
in, as well as directing, its proceedings,
sharing, as a leader, in legislation, acting on
Committees, and framing laws. As Chief-justice,
he was the head of the Judicial department.
He was Commander-in-chief of the military and
naval forces and forts within the Province proper.
All administrative, legislative, judicial, and
military powers were concentrated in his person
and wielded by his hand. No more shameful
tyranny or shocking despotism was ever endured
in America, than, in "the dark and awful
day," as it was called, while the Special Commission
of Oyer and Terminer was scattering destruction,
ruin, terror, misery and death, over the
country. It is a disgrace to that generation, that
it was so long suffered; and, instead of trying to
invent excuses, it becomes all subsequent generations
to feel&mdash;as was deeply felt, by enlightened
and candid men, as soon as the storm had blown
over and a prostrate people again stood erect, in
possession of their senses&mdash;that all ought, by humble
and heart-felt prayer, to implore the divine
forgiveness, as one of the Judges, fully as misguided
at the time as the rest, did, to the end
of his days.</p>

<p>As all the official dignities of the Province
were combined in Stoughton, he seems hardly to
have known in what capacity he was acting, as
different occasions arose. He signed the Death-warrant
of Bridget Bishop, without giving himself
any distinctive title, with his bare name
and his private seal. It is easy to imagine how
this lodging of the whole power of the State
in one man, destroyed all safeguards and closed
every door of refuge. When the express messenger
of the poor young wife of John Willard, or
the heroic daughter of Elizabeth How, or the
agents of the people of the village, of all classes,
combined in supplication in behalf of Rebecca
Nurse, rushing to Boston to lay petitions for pardon
before the Governor, upon being admitted
to his presence, found themselves confronted by
the stern countenance of the same person, who,
as Chief-justice, had closed his ears to mercy
and frowned the Jury into Conviction; their
hearts sunk within them, and all realized that
even hope had taken flight from the land.</p>

<p>Such was the political and public administration
of the Province of Massachusetts, during
the Summer of 1692, under which the Witchcraft
prosecutions were carried on. It was conducted
by men whom the Mathers had brought into office,
and who were wholly in their counsels. If
there is, I repeat, an instance in history where
particular persons are responsible for the doings
of a Government, this is one. I conclude these
general views of the influence of Increase and
Cotton Mather upon the ideas of the people and
the operations of the Government, eventuating in
the Witchcraft tragedy, by restating a proposition,
which, under all the circumstances, cannot,
I think, be disputed, that, if they had been really
and earnestly opposed to the proceedings, at any
stage, they could and would have stopped them.</p>

<p>I now turn to a more specific consideration of
the subject of Cotton Mather's connection with the
Witchcraft delusion of 1692.</p>

<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER'S CONNECTION WITH THE COURT.
SPECTRAL EVIDENCE. LETTER TO JOHN RICHARDS.
ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS.</h3>

<p>I am charged with having misrepresented the
part Cotton Mather, in particular, bore in this
passage of our history. As nearly the whole
community had been deluded at the time, and
there was a general concurrence in aiding oblivion
to cover it, it is difficult to bring it back, in
all its parts, within the realm of absolute knowledge.
Records&mdash;municipal, ecclesiastical, judicial,
and provincial&mdash;were willingly suffered to
perish; and silence, by general consent, pervaded
correspondence and conversation. Notices of it
are brief, even in the most private Diaries. It
would have been well, perhaps, if the memory
of that day could have been utterly extinguished;
but it has not. On the contrary, as, in all manner
of false and incorrect representations, it has
gone into the literature of the country and the
world and become mixed with the permanent
ideas of mankind, it is right and necessary to
present the whole transaction, so far as possible,
in the light of truth. Every right-minded man
must rejoice to have wrong, done to the reputation
of the dead or living, repaired; and I can
truly say that no one would rejoice more than
I should, if the view presented of Cotton Mather,
in the <i>North American Review</i>, of April, 1869,
could be shown to be correct. In this spirit, I
proceed to present the evidence that belongs to
the question.</p>

<p>The belief of the existence of a personal Devil
was then all but universally entertained. So was
the belief of ghosts, apparitions, and spectres.
There was no more reluctance to think or speak
of them than of what we call natural objects
and phenomena. Great power was ascribed to
the Devil over terrestrial affairs; but it had been
the prevalent opinion, that he could not operate
upon human beings in any other way than
through the instrumentality of other human beings,
in voluntary confederation with him; and that,
by means of their spectres, he could work any
amount of mischief. While this opinion prevailed,
the testimony of a witness, that he had seen
the spectre of a particular person afflicting himself
or any one else, was regarded as proof
positive that the person, thus spectrally represented,
was in league with the Devil, or, in other
words, a Witch. This idea had been abandoned
by some writers, who held that the Devil
could make use of the spectre of an innocent
person, to do mischief; and that, therefore, it was
not positive or conclusive proof that any one was
a Witch because his spectre had been seen tormenting
others. The logical conclusion, from
the views of these later writers, was that spectral
evidence, as it was called, bearing against an
accused party, was wholly unreliable and must
be thrown out, entirely, in all cases.</p>

<p>The Reviewer says the "Clergy of New England"
adopted the views of the writers just
alluded to, and held that spectral evidence was
unreliable and unsafe, and ought to be utterly
rejected; and particularly maintains that such
was the opinion of Cotton Mather. It is true
that they professed to have great regard for those
writers; but it is also true, that neither Mather
nor the other Ministers in 1692, adopted the conclusion
which the Reviewer allows to be inevitably
demanded by sound reason and common sense,
namely, that "no spectral evidence must be admitted."
On the contrary, they did authorize
the "admission" of spectral evidence. This I
propose to prove; and if I succeed in doing it,
the whole fabric of the article in the <i>North American
Review</i> falls to the ground.</p>

<p>It is necessary, at this point, to say a word as
to the <i>Mather Papers</i>. They were published by
a Committee of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
in 1868. My work was published in 1867.
The Reviewer, and certain journals that have committed
themselves to his support, charge me with
great negligence in not having consulted those
papers, <i>not then in print</i>. Upon inquiry, while
making my researches, I was informed, by those
having them in hand preparatory to their going
to press, that they contained nothing at all essential
to my work; and the information was correct.
Upon examining the printed volume, I
cannot find a single item that would require an
alteration, addition, or omission to be made in
my work. But they are quite serviceable in the
discussion to which the article in the <i>North American
Review</i> compels me.</p>

<p>To return to the issue framed by the Reviewer.
He makes a certain absolute assertion, repeats it
in various forms, and confidently assumes it, all
the way through, as in these passages: "Stoughton
admitted spectral evidence; Mather, in his
writings on the subject, denounced it, as illegal,
uncharitable, and cruel." "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 when a considerable assembly
of Ministers gave in their <i>Advice</i> about the matter,
he not only concurred with the advice, but
he drew it up." "The <i>Advice</i> was very specific
in excluding spectral testimony."</p>

<p>He relies, in the first place, and I may say
chiefly, in maintaining this position&mdash;namely,
that Mather denounced the <i>admission</i> of spectral
testimony and demanded its <i>exclusion</i>&mdash;upon a
sentence in a letter from Cotton Mather to John
Richards, called by the Reviewer "his Letter to
the Judges," among the <i>Mather Papers</i>, p. 891.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>

<p>Hutchinson informs us that Richards came into
the country in low circumstances, but became an
opulent merchant, in Boston. He was a member
of Mather's Church, and one of the Special Court
to try the witches. Its Session was to commence
in the first week, probably on Thursday, the second
day of June. The letter, dated on Tuesday, the
thirty-first of May, is addressed to John Richards
alone; and commences with a strong expression
of regret that quite a severe indisposition
will prevent his accompanying him to the trials.
"Excuse me," he says, "from waiting upon you,
with the utmost of my little skill and care, to
assist the noble service, whereto you are called
of God this week, the service of encountering
the wicked spirits in the high places of our air,
and of detecting and confounding of their
confederates." He hopes, before the Court
"gets far into the mysterious affair," to be able
to "attend the desires" of Richards, which, to
him "always are commands." He writes the
letter, "for the strengthening of your honorable
hands in that work of God whereto, (I thank
him) he hath so well fitted you." After some
other complimentary language, and assurances
that God's "people have been fasting and praying
before him for your direction," he proceeds
to urge upon him his favorite Swedish case,
wherein the "endeavours of the Judges to discover
and extirpate the authors of that execrable
witchcraft," were "immediately followed
with a remarkable smile of God." Then comes
the paragraph, which the Reviewer defiantly
cites, to prove that Cotton Mather agreed with
him, in the opinion that spectre evidence ought
not to be "admitted."</p>

<p>Before quoting the paragraph, I desire the
reader to note the manner in which the affair in
Sweden is brought to the attention of Richards,
in the clauses just cited, in connection with what
I have said in this article, page 16. Cotton Mather
was in possession of a book on this subject.
"It comes to speak English," he says, "by the
acute pen of the excellent and renowned Dr.
Horneck." Who so likely as Mather to have
brought the case to the notice of Phips, pp. 14.
It was urged upon Richards at about the same
time that it was upon Phips; and as an argument
in favor of "<i>extirpating</i>" witches, by the <i>action
of a Court of Oyer and Terminer</i>.</p>

<p>The paragraph is as follows: "And yet I must
most humbly beg you that in the management
of the affair in your most worthy hands, you
do not lay more stress upon pure Spectre testimony
than it will bear. When you are satisfied,
and have good plain legal evidence, that
the Demons which molest our poor neighbors
do indeed represent such and such people to
the sufferers, though this be a presumption, yet
I suppose you will not reckon it a conviction
that the people so represented are witches to
be immediately exterminated. It is very certain
that the Devils have sometimes represented
the Shapes of persons not only innocent, but
also very virtuous. Though I believe that the
just God then ordinarily provides a way for the
speedy vindication of the persons thus abused.
Moreover, I do suspect that persons, who
have too much indulged themselves in malignant,
envious, malicious ebullitions of their
souls, may unhappily expose themselves to the
judgment of being represented by Devils, of
whom they never had any vision, and with
whom they have, much less, written any covenant.
I would say this; if upon the bare supposal
of a poor creature being represented by a
spectre, too great a progress be made by the
authority in ruining a poor neighbor so represented,
it may be that a door may be thereby
opened for the Devils to obtain from the Courts
in the invisible world a license to proceed unto
most hideous desolations upon the repute and
repose of such as have yet been kept from the
great transgression. If mankind have thus far
once consented unto the credit of diabolical representations,
the door is opened! Perhaps there
are wise and good men, that may be ready to
style him that shall advance this caution, a
Witch-advocate, but in the winding up, this
caution will certainly be wished for."</p>

<p>This passage, strikingly illustrative, as it is, of
Mather's characteristic style of appearing, to a
cursory, careless reader, to say one thing, when
he is really aiming to enforce another, while it
has deceived the Reviewer, and led him to his
quixotic attempt to revolutionize history, cannot
be so misunderstood by a critical interpreter.</p>

<p>In its general drift, it appears, at first sight, to
disparage spectral evidence. The question is:
Does it forbid, denounce, or dissuade, its introduction?
By no means. It supposes and allows
its introduction, but says, <i>lay not more stress
upon it than it will bear</i>. Further, it affirms that
it may afford "presumption" of guilt, though
not sufficient for conviction, and removes objection
to its introduction, by holding out the idea
that, if admitted by the Court and it bears
against innocent persons, "the just God, then,
ordinarily provides a way for their speedy vindication."
It is plain that the paragraph refers,
not to the <i>admission</i> of "diabolical representations,"
but to the <i>manner</i> in which they
are to be received, in the "management" of the
trials, as will more fully appear, as we proceed.</p>

<p>The suggestion, to reconcile Richards to the use
of spectral evidence, that something would "ordinarily"
providentially turn up to rescue innocent
persons, against whom it was borne, was
altogether delusive. It was an opinion of the
day, that one of the most signal marks of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
Devil's descent with power, would be the seduction,
to his service, of persons of the most eminent
character, even, if possible, of the very elect;
and, hence, no amount of virtue or holiness of
life or conversation, could be urged in defence of
any one. The records of the world present no
more conspicuous instances of Christian and saintlike
excellence than were exhibited by Rebecca
Nurse and Elizabeth How; but spectral testimony
was allowed to destroy them. Indeed, it was
impossible for a Court to put any restrictions on
this kind of evidence, if once received. If the
accusing girls exclaimed&mdash;all of them concurring,
at the moment, in the declaration and in its
details&mdash;that they saw, at that very instant, in
the Court-room, before Judges and Jury, the spectre
of the Prisoner assailing one of their number,
and that one showing signs of suffering, what
could be done to rebut their testimony? The
character of the accused was of no avail. An
<i>alibi</i> could not touch the case. The distance
from the Prisoner to the party professing to be
tormented, was of no account. The whole proceeding
was on the assumption that, however remote
the body of the Prisoner, his or her spectre
was committing the assault. No limitation of
space or time could be imposed on the spectral
presence. "Good, plain, legal evidence" was
out of the question, where the Judges assumed,
as Mather did, that "the molestations" then suffered
by the people of the neighbourhood, were
the work of Demons, and fully believed that the
tortures and convulsions of the accusers, before
their eyes, were, as alleged, caused by the spectres
of the accused.</p>

<p>To cut the matter short. The considerations
Mather presents of the "inconvenience," as he
calls it, of the spectral testimony, it might be supposed,
would have led him to counsel&mdash;not as he
did, against making "too great a progress" in
its use&mdash;but its abandonment altogether. Why
did he not, as the Reviewer says ought always
have been done, protest utterly against its admission
at all? The truth is, that neither in this letter,
nor in any way, at any time, did he ever recommend
caution <i>against</i> its use, but <i>in</i> its use.</p>

<p>It may be asked, what did he mean by "not
laying more stress upon spectre testimony than
it will bear," and the general strain of the paragraph?
A solution of this last question may be
reached as we continue the scrutiny of his language
and actions.</p>

<p>In this same letter, Mather says: "I look upon
wounds that have been given unto spectres,
and received by witches, as intimations, broad
enough, in concurrence with other things, to
bring out the guilty. Though I am not fond
of assaying to give such wounds, yet, the proof
[<i>of</i>] such, when given, carries with it what is
very palpable."</p>

<p>This alludes to a particular form of spectral
evidence. One of the "afflicted children"
would testify that she saw and felt the spectre of
the accused, tormenting her, and struck at it. A
corresponding wound or bruise was found on the
body, or a rent in the garments, of the accused.
Mather commended this species of evidence, writing
to one of the Judges, on the eve of the trials.
He not only commends, but urges it as conclusive
of guilt. Referring to what constituted the
bulk of the evidence of the accusing girls, and
which was wholly spectral in its nature&mdash;namely,
that they were "hurt" by an "unseen hand"&mdash;he
charges Richards, if he finds such "hurt" to be
inflicted by the persons accused, "Hold them, for
you have catched a witch." He recommends
putting the Prisoners upon repeating the "Lord's
prayer" or certain "other Systems of Christianity."
He endorses the evidence derived
from "poppits," "witch-marks," and even the
"water ordeal." He advised a Judge, just proceeding
to sit in cases of life and death, to make
use of "cross and swift questions," as the means
of bringing the accused "into confusion, likely
to lead them into confession."</p>

<p>Whoever examines, carefully, this letter to Richards,
cannot, I think, but conclude that, instead
of exonerating Mather, it fixes upon him the responsibility
for the worst features of the Witchcraft
Trials.</p>

<p>The next document on which the Reviewer relies
is the <i>Return of the Ministers consulted by
his Excellency and the honorable Council, upon
the present Witchcraft in Salem Village</i>. It is
necessary to give it entire, as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>["I. The afflicted state of our poor neighbours,
that are now suffering by molestations from
the invisible world, we apprehend so deplorable,
that we think their condition calls for the
utmost help of all persons in their several capacities.</p>

<p>"II. We cannot but, with all thankfulness,
acknowledge the success which the merciful
God has given to the sedulous and assiduous
endeavours of our honorable rulers, to defeat the
abominable witchcrafts which have been committed
in the country, humbly praying, that
the discovery of those mysterious and mischievous
wickednesses may be perfected.]</p>

<p>"III. We judge that, in the prosecution of
these and all such witchcrafts, there is need of
a very critical and exquisite caution, lest by
too much credulity for things received only
upon the Devil's authority, there be a door
opened for a long train of miserable consequences,
and Satan get an advantage over us;
for we should not be ignorant of his devices.</p>

<p>"IV. As in complaints upon witchcrafts
there may be matters of enquiry which do not
amount unto matters of presumption, and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
may be matters of presumption which yet may
not be reckoned matters of conviction, so it is
necessary, that all proceedings thereabout be
managed with an exceeding tenderness towards
those that may be complained of, especially if
they have been persons formerly of an unblemished
reputation.</p>

<p>"V. When the first inquiry is made into the
circumstances of such as may lie under any just
suspicion of witchcrafts, we could wish that
there may be admitted as little as possible of
such noise, company, and openness, as may
too hastily expose them that are examined; and
that there may nothing be used as a test for
the trial of the suspected, the lawfulness
whereof may be doubted among the people of
God; but that the directions given by such
judicious writers as Perkins and Bernard may
be consulted in such a case.</p>

<p>"VI. Presumptions whereupon persons may
be committed, and, much more, convictions
whereupon persons may be condemned as guilty
of witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more
considerable than barely the accused persons
being represented by a spectre unto the afflicted;
[inasmuch as it is an undoubted and a notorious
thing, that a Demon may, by God's permission,
appear, even to ill purposes, in the
shape of an innocent, yea, and a virtuous man.]
Nor can we esteem alterations made in the sufferers,
by a look or touch of the accused, to be
an infallible evidence of guilt, but frequently
liable to be abused by the Devil's legerdemain.</p>

<p>"VII. We know not whether some remarkable
affront, given the Devil, by our disbelieving
of those testimonies, whose whole force and
strength is from him alone, may not put a period
unto the progress of the dreadful calamity
begun upon us, in the accusation of so
many persons, whereof some, we hope, are yet
clear from the great transgression laid to their
charge.</p>

<p>["VIII. Nevertheless, we cannot but humbly
recommend unto the Government, the speedy and
vigorous prosecutions of such as have rendered
themselves obnoxious, according to the directions
given in the laws of God, and the wholesome
Statutes of the English nation, for the
detection of Witchcrafts."]</p></div>

<p>I have enclosed the <i>first</i>, <i>second</i> and <i>eighth</i> Sections,
and a part of the <i>sixth</i>, in brackets, for purposes
that will appear, in a subsequent part of this
discussion. The <i>Advice of the Ministers</i> was written
by Cotton Mather. As in his letter to Richards,
he does not caution <i>against</i> the use, but <i>in</i>
the use, of spectral evidence. Not a word is said
denouncing its introduction or advising its entire
rejection. We look in vain for a line or a
syllable disapproving the trial and execution just
had, resting as they did, entirely upon spectral
evidence: on the contrary, the <i>second</i> Section
applauds what had been done; and prays that
the work entered upon may be perfected. The
first clauses in the <i>fourth</i> Section sanction its admission,
as affording ground of "presumption,"
although "it may not be matter of conviction."
The <i>sixth</i> Section, while it appears to convey the
idea that spectral evidence alone ought not to be
regarded as sufficient, contains, at the same time,
a form of expression, that not only requires its
reception, but places its claims on the highest
possible grounds. "<i>A Demon may, by <span class="smcap">God's
permission</span>, appear, even to ill purposes, in the
shape of an innocent, yea, and a virtuous man.</i>"
It is sufficiently shocking to think that anything,
<i>to ill purposes</i>, can be done by Divine permission;
but horrible, indeed, to intimate that the
Devil can have that permission to malign and
murder an innocent person. If the spectre appears
by God's permission, the effect produced
has his sanction. The blasphemous supposition
that God permits the Devil thus to bear false
witness, to the destruction of the righteous, overturns
all the sentiments and instincts of our moral
and religious nature. In using this language,
the Ministers did not have a rational apprehension
of what they were saying, which is the only
apology for much of the theological phraseology
of that day. This phrase, "God's permission,"
had quite a currency at the time; and if it did
not reconcile the mind, subdued it to wondering
and reverent silence. It will be seen that Mather,
on other occasions, repeated this idea, in various
and sometimes stronger terms. The <i>third</i>, <i>fifth</i>,
<i>seventh</i>, and last clauses of the <i>fourth</i> Sections,
contain phrases which will become intelligible,
as we advance in the examination of Mather's
writings, relating to the subject of witchcraft.</p>

<p>Here it may, again, be safely said, that if Increase
and Cotton Mather had really, as the Reviewer
affirms, been opposed to the <i>admission</i> of
spectral testimony, this was the time for them to
have said so. If, at this crisis, they had "denounced
it, as illegal, uncharitable and cruel,"
no more blood would have been shed. If the
<i>Advice</i> had even recommended, in the most
moderate terms, its absolute exclusion from every
stage of the proceedings, they would have come
to an end. But it assumes its introduction, and
only suggests "disbelief" of it, in avoiding to
act upon it, in "some" instances.</p>

<p>Hutchinson states the conclusion of the matter,
after quoting the whole document. "The Judges
seem to have paid more regard to the last article
of this <i>Return</i>, than to several which precede
it; for the prosecutions were carried on
with all possible vigor, and without that exquisite
caution which is proposed."&mdash;<i>History</i>,
ii., 54.</p>

<p>The <i>Advice</i> was skilfully&mdash;it is not uncharitable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
to say&mdash;artfully drawn up. It has deceived
the Reviewer into his statement that it was
"very specific in excluding spectral testimony."
A careless reader, or one whose eyes are blinded
by a partisan purpose, may not see its real import.
The paper is so worded as to mislead persons not
conversant with the ideas and phraseology of
that period. But it was considered by all the
Judges, and the people in general, fully to endorse
the proceedings in the trial of Bridget Bishop,
and to advise their speedy and vigorous continuance.
It was spectral testimony that overwhelmed
her. It was the fatal element that
wrought the conviction of every person put on
trial, from first to last; as was fully proved, five
months afterwards, when Sir William Phips, under
circumstances I shall describe, bravely and
peremptorily forbid, as the Ministers failed to do,
the "trying," or even "committing," of any
one, on the evidence of "the afflicted persons,"
which was wholly spectral. When thus,
by his orders, it was utterly thrown out, the life
of the prosecutions became, at once, extinct; and,
as Mather says, the accused were cleared as
fast as they were tried.&mdash;<i>Magnalia</i>, Book II.,
page 64.</p>

<p>The suggestion that caution was to be used in
handling this species of evidence, and that it
was to be received as affording grounds of "presumption,"
to be corroborated or reinforced
by other evidence, practically was of no avail.
If received, at all, in any stage, or under any
name, it necessarily controlled every case. No
amount of evidence, of other kinds, could counterbalance
or stand against it: nothing was needed
to give it full and fatal effect. It struck
Court, Jury, and people, nay, even the Prisoners
themselves, in many instances, with awe. It dispensed,
as has been mentioned, with the presence
of the accused, on the spot, where and when the
crime was alleged to have been committed, or
within miles or hundreds of miles of it. No
reputation for virtue or piety could be pleaded
against it. The doctrine which Cotton Mather
proclaimed, on another occasion, that the Devil
might appear as Angel of Light, completed the
demolition of the securities of innocence. There
was no difficulty in getting "other testimony"
to give it effect. In the then state of the public
mind, indiscriminately crediting every tale of
slander and credulity, looking at every thing
through the refracting and magnifying atmosphere
of the blindest and wildest passions, it
was easy to collect materials to add to the spectral
evidence, thereby, according to the doctrine
of the Ministers, to raise the "presumption," to
the "conviction" of guilt. Even our Reviewer
finds evidence to "substantiate" that, given
against George Burroughs, resting on spectres, in
his feats of strength, in some malignant neighborhood
scandals, and in exaggerated forms of
parish or personal animosities.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII.</h2>

<h3>ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS, FURTHER CONSIDERED.
COTTON MATHER'S PLAN FOR DEALING WITH
SPECTRAL TESTIMONY.</h3>

<p>The <i>Advice of the Ministers</i> is a document
that holds a prominent place in our public history;
and its relation to events needs to be elucidated.</p>

<p>In his <i>Life of Sir William Phips</i>, Cotton Mather
has this paragraph: "And Sir William Phips
arriving to his Government, after this ensnaring
horrible storm was begun, did consult the
neighboring Ministers of the Province, who
made unto his Excellency and the Council, a
Return (drawn up, at their desire, by Mr. Mather,
the younger, as I have been informed) wherein
they declared."&mdash;<i>Magnalia</i>, Book II., page
63.</p>

<p>He then gives, without intimating that any essential
or substantial part of the <i>declaration</i>, or
<i>Advice</i>, was withheld, the Sections <i>not</i> included
in brackets.&mdash;<i>Vide</i>, pages 21, 22, <i>ante</i>.</p>

<p>It is to be observed that Phips is represented
as having asked the Ministers for their advice, and
their answer as having been made to his "Excellency
and the Council." There is no mention
of this transaction in the Records of the Council.
Phips makes no reference to it in his letter of the
fourteenth of October, which is remarkable, as
it would have been to his purpose, in explaining
the grounds of his procedure, in organizing,
and putting into operation, the judicial tribunal
at Salem. It may be concluded, from all that I
shall present,&mdash;Sir William, having given over
the whole business to his Deputy and Chief-justice,
with an understanding that he was authorized
to manage it, in all particulars,&mdash;that this transaction
with the Ministers may never have been
brought to the notice of the Governor at all: his
official character and title were, perhaps, referred
to, as a matter of form. The Council, as such,
had nothing to do with it; but the Deputy-governor
and certain individual members of the
Council, that is, those who, with him, as Chief-justice,
constituted the Special Court, asked and
received the <i>Advice</i>.</p>

<p>Again: the paragraph, as constructed by Mather,
just quoted, certainly leaves the impression
on a reader, that Phips applied for the <i>Advice
of the Ministers</i>, at or soon after his arrival. The
evidence, I think, is conclusive, that the <i>Advice</i>
was not asked, until after the first Session of the
Court had been held. This is inferrible from the
answer of the Ministers, which is dated thirteen
days after the first trial, and five days after the
execution of a sentence then passed. It alludes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
to the <i>success</i> which had been given to the prosecutions.
If the Government had asked counsel
of the Ministers before the trials commenced, it
is inexplicable and incredible, besides being inexcusable,
that the Ministers should have delayed
their reply until after the first act of the awful
tragedy had passed, and blood begun to be shed.
Hutchinson expressly says: "The further trials
were put off to the adjournment, the thirtieth
of June. The Governor and Council thought
proper, <i>in the mean time</i>, to take the opinion
of several of the principal Ministers, upon the
state of things, as they then stood. This was
an old Charter practice."&mdash;<i>History</i>, ii., 52.</p>

<p>It has been regarded as a singular circumstance,
that after such pains had been taken,
and so great a stretch of power practised, to
put a Court so suddenly in operation to try persons
accused of witchcraft, on the pretence,
too, recorded in the Journal of the Council, of
the "thronged" condition of the jails, at that
"hot season," and after trying one person only,
it should have adjourned for four weeks. Perhaps,
by a collation of passages and dates, we
may reach a probable explanation. In his letter
to "the Ministers in and near Boston,"
written in January, 1696, after considering
briefly, and in forcible language, the fearful errors
from which the Delusion of 1692 had risen,
and solemnly reminding them of what they
ought to have done to lead their people out of
such errors, Calef brings their failure to do it
home to them, in these pungent words: "If,
instead of this, you have some by word and
writing propagated, and others recommended,
such doctrines, and abetted the false notions
which are so prevalent in this apostate age, it
is high time to consider it. If, when authority
found themselves almost nonplust in such
prosecutions, and sent to you for your advice
what they ought to do, and you have then
thanked them for what they had already done
(and thereby encouraged them to proceed in
those very by-paths already fallen into) it so
much the more nearly concerns you. <i>Ezek.</i>,
xxxiii., 2 to 8."&mdash;<i>Calef</i>, 92.</p>

<p>Looking at this passage, in connection with
that quoted just before from Hutchinson, we
gather that something had occurred that "nonplust"
the Court&mdash;some serious embarrassment,
that led to its sudden adjournment&mdash;after the
condemnation of Bridget Bishop, while many
other cases had been fully prepared for trial by
the then Attorney-general. Newton, and the
parties to be tried had, the day before, been
brought to Salem from the jail in Boston, and
were ready to be put to the Bar. What was the
difficulty? The following may be the solution.</p>

<p>Brattle informs us, and he was able to speak
with confidence, that "Major N. Saltonstall,
Esq., who was one of the Judges, has left the
Court, and is very much dissatisfied with the
proceedings of it."&mdash;<i>Massachusetts Historical
Collections, I., v., 75.</i></p>

<p>The questions arise; When and why did he
leave the Court? The Records of the Council
show that he was constant in his attendance at
that Board, his name always appearing at the
head of the roll of those present, until the sixteenth
of June, from which date it does not appear
again until the middle of February, 1693.
The Legislature, in the exercise of its powers,
under the Charter, had, near the close of 1692,
established a regular Superior Court, consisting
of Stoughton, Danforth&mdash;who had disapproved
of the proceedings of the Special Court&mdash;Richards,
Wait Winthrop, and Sewall. It continued,
in January, 1693, witchcraft trials; but spectral
evidence being wholly rejected, the prosecutions
all broke down; and Stoughton, in consequence,
left the Court in disgust. After all had been
abandoned, and his own course, thereby, vindicated,
Major Saltonstall re-appeared at the
Council Board; and was re-elected by the next
House of Representatives. His conduct, therefore,
was very marked and significant. In the
only way in which he, a country member, could
express his convictions, as there were no such
facilities, in the press or otherwise, for public
discussions, as we now have, he made them emphatically
known; and is worthy of the credit
of being the only public man of his day who
had the sense or courage to condemn the proceedings,
at the start. He was a person of amiable
and genial deportment; and, from the County
Court files, in which his action, as a Magistrate,
is exhibited in several cases, it is evident that
he was methodical and careful in official business,
but susceptible of strong impressions and
convictions, and had, on a previous occasion
manifested an utter want of confidence in certain
parties, who, it became apparent at the first
Session of the Court, were to figure largely in
hearing spectral testimony, in most of the cases.
He had no faith in those persons, and was thus,
we may suppose, led to discredit, wholly, that
species of testimony.</p>

<p>From his attendance at the Council Board,
up to the sixteenth of June, the day when the
<i>Advice of the Ministers</i> was probably received,
it may be assumed that he attended also, to that
time, the sittings of the Court; and that when
he withdrew from the former, he did also from
the latter. The date indicates that his action,
in withdrawing, was determined by the import
of the <i>Advice</i>.</p>

<p>If a gentleman of his position and family, a
grandson of an original Patentee, Sir Richard
Saltonstall, and sitting as a Judge at the first
trial, had the independence and manly spirit to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
express, without reserve, his disapprobation of
the proceedings, the expression of Calef is explained;
and the Court felt the obstacle that
was in their way. Hence the immediate adjournment,
and the resort to some extraordinary
expedient, to remove it.</p>

<p>This may account for the appeal to the Ministers.
Great interest must have been felt in
their reply, by all cognizant of the unexpected
difficulty that had occurred. The document
was admirably adapted to throw dust into the
eyes of those who had expressed doubts and
misgivings; but it did not deceive Saltonstall.
He saw that it would be regarded by the other
Judges, and the public in general, as an encouragement
to continue the trials; and that,
under the phraseology of what had the aspect
of caution, justification would be found for the
introduction, to an extent that would control
the trials, of spectral evidence. The day after
its date, he left his seat at the Council Board,
withdrew from the Court, and washed his hands
of the whole matter.</p>

<p>The course of events demonstrates that the
<i>Advice</i> was interpreted, by all concerned, as
applauding what had been done at the first
trial, and earnestly urging that the work, thus
begun, should be speedily and vigorously prosecuted.
Upon the Ministers, therefore, rests the
stigma for all that followed.</p>

<p>There may have been, at that time, as there
was not long afterward, some difference of
opinion among the Ministers; and the paper
may have had the character of a compromise&mdash;always
dangerous and vicious, bringing some
or all parties into a false position. Samuel
Willard may have held, then, the opinion expressed
in a pamphlet ascribed to him, published,
probably, towards the close of the trials,
that spectral evidence ought only to be allowed
where it bore upon persons of bad reputation.
The <i>fourth</i> Section conciliated his assent to the
document. This might have been the view of
Increase Mather, who, after the trials by the
Special Court were over, indicated an opinion,
that time for further diligent "search" ought
to have been allowed, before proceeding to "the
execution of the most capital offenders;" and
declared the very excellent sentiment, that "it
becomes those of his profession to be very
tender in the shedding of blood." The expressions,
"exceeding tenderness," in the <i>fourth</i>
Section, and "the first inquiry," in the <i>fifth</i>&mdash;the
latter conveying the idea of repeated investigations
with intervals of time&mdash;were well adapted
to gain his support of the whole instrument.
If they were led to concur in the <i>Advice</i>, by
such inducements, they were soon undeceived.
"Unblemished reputation" was no protection;
and the proceedings at the trials were swift,
summary, and conclusive.</p>

<p>It may be proper, at this point, to inquire
what was meant by the peculiar phraseology of
the <i>third</i>, <i>fifth</i>, <i>seventh</i>, and latter part of the
<i>fourth</i>, Sections. It is difficult, writing as Cotton
Mather often did, and had great skill in
doing, in what Calef calls "the ambidexter"
style, to ascertain his ideas. After the reaction
had taken effect in the public mind, and he was
put upon the defensive, he had much to say
about some difference between him and the
Judges. It clearly had nothing to do with the
"admission" of spectral evidence; for that was
the point on which the opinion of the Ministers
was asked, and on which he voluntarily proffered
remarks in his letter to one of the Judges,
Richards. If he had been opposed to its "admission,"
nothing would have been easier,
safer, or more demanded by the truth and his
own honor, than for him to have said so. Indeed,
his writings everywhere show that he was
almost a <i>one idea</i> man, on the subject of spectres;
and, in some way or form, deemed their evidence
indispensable and reliable. He, evidently,
had some favorite plan or scheme, as to the
method in which that kind of evidence was to
be handled; and it was because he could not get
it carried into effect, and for this reason alone,
so far as we can discover, that he disapproved
of the methods actually pursued by the Court.
He never disclosed his plan, but shrunk from
explaining it at length, "as too Icarian and
presumptuous" a task for him to undertake.
Let us see if we can glean his ideas from his
writings.</p>

<p>I call attention, in the first place, to the following
clause, in his letter to Richards: "If, upon
the bare supposal of a poor creature's being
represented by a spectre, too great a progress
be made by the authority, in ruining a poor
neighbour so represented, it may be that a
door may be thereby opened for the Devils
to obtain from the Courts, in the invisible
world, a license to proceed unto most hideous
desolations upon the repute and repose of such
as have been kept from the great transgression."</p>

<p>"Too great a progress" conveys the suggestion
that, upon the introduction of spectral evidence,
there should be a delay in the proceedings of the
Court, for some intermediate steps to be taken,
before going on with the trial.</p>

<p>We gather other intimations, to this effect,
from other passages, as follows: "Now, in my
visiting of the miserable, I was always of this
opinion, that we were ignorant of what power
the Devils might have, to do their mischiefs in
the shapes of some that had never been explicitly
engaged in diabolical confederacies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
and that therefore, though many witchcrafts
had been fairly detected on enquiries provoked
and begun by spectral exhibitions, yet we
could not easily be too jealous of the snares
laid for us in the device of Satan. The world
knows how many pages I have composed and
published, and particular gentlemen in the Government
know how many letters I have written,
to prevent the excessive credit of spectral accusations;
wherefore I have still charged the afflicted
that they should cry out of nobody for
afflicting them; but that, if this might be any
advantage, they might privately tell their
minds to some one person of discretion enough
to make no ill use of their communications;
accordingly there has been this effect of it, that
the name of no one good person in the world
ever came under any blemish by means of an
afflicted person that fell under my particular
cognizance; yea, no one man, woman, or child
ever came into any trouble, for the sake of any
that were afflicted, after I had once begun to
look after them. How often have I had this
thrown into my dish, 'that many years ago I
had an opportunity to have brought forth such
people as have, in the late storm of witchcraft,
been complained of, but that I smothered it
all'; and after that storm was raised at Salem,
I did myself offer to provide meat, drink, and
lodging for no less than six of the afflicted,
that so an experiment might be made, whether
prayer, with fasting, upon the removal of the
distressed, might not put a period to the trouble
then rising, without giving the civil authority
the trouble of prosecuting those things,
which nothing but a conscientious regard unto
the cries of miserable families could have overcome
the reluctance of the honorable Judges
to meddle with. In short, I do humbly but
freely affirm it, there is not a man living in this
world who has been more desirous, than the
poor man I, to shelter my neighbors from the
inconveniences of spectral outcries; yea, I am
very jealous I have done so much that way, as
to sin in what I have done; such have been the
cowardice and fearfulness where unto my regard
to the dissatisfaction of other people has
precipitated me. I know a man in the world,
who has thought he has been able to convict
some such witches as ought to die; but his respect
unto the public peace has caused him
rather to try whether he could not renew them
by repentance."&mdash;<i>Calef</i>, 11.</p>

<p>The careful reader will notice that "six of the
afflicted," at Salem Village, would have included
nearly the whole circle of the accusing girls
there. If he had been allowed to take them into
his exclusive keeping, he would have had the
whole thing in his own hands.</p>

<p>In his account of "the afflictions of Margaret
Rule," printed by Calef, in his book, and from
which the foregoing extracts have been made
speaking of the "eight cursed spectres" with
which she was assaulted, in the fall of 1693,
Mather says: "She was very careful of my reiterated
charges, <i>to forbear blazing their names</i>,
lest any good person should come to suffer any
blast of reputation, through the cunning malice
of the great accuser; nevertheless, having
since privately named them to myself, I will
venture to say this of them, that they are a sort
of wretches who, for these many years, have
gone under as violent presumptions of witchcraft
as, perhaps, any creatures yet living upon
earth; although I am far from thinking that
the visions of this young woman were evidence
enough to prove them so."&mdash;<i>Calef</i>, 4.</p>

<p>The following is from his <i>Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>, 12: "If once a witch do ingeniously
confess among us, no more spectres do,
in their shapes, after this, trouble the vicinage;
if any guilty creatures will accordingly, to so
good purpose, confess their crime to any Minister
of God, and get out of the snare of the
Devil, as no Minister will discover such a conscientious
confession, so, I believe, none in the
authority will press him to discover it, but rejoice
in a soul saved from death."</p>

<p>In his <i>Life of Phips</i>, he says: "In fine, the
country was in a dreadful ferment, and wise
men foresaw a long train of dismal and bloody
consequences. Hereupon they first advised,
that the <i>afflicted</i> might be kept asunder, in the
closest privacy; and one particular person
(whom I have cause to know), in pursuance of
this advice, offered himself singly to provide
accommodations for any six of them, that so the
success of more than ordinary prayer, with fasting,
might, with patience, be experienced, before
any other courses were taken."&mdash;<i>Magnalia</i>,
Book II., p. 62.</p>

<p>Hutchinson gives an extract from a letter, written
by John Allyn, Secretary of Connecticut, dated,
"<span class="smcap">Hartford</span>, March 18, 1693," to Increase
Mather, as follows: "As to what you mention,
concerning that poor creature in your
town that is afflicted, and mentioned my name
to yourself and son, I return you hearty thanks
for your intimation about it, and for your charity
therein mentioned; and I have great cause
to bless God, who, of his mercy hitherto, hath
not left me to fall into such an horrid evil."&mdash;<i>History</i>,
ii., 61, note.</p>

<p>Further, it was on account of some particular
plan, in reference to the management of this description
of evidence, I am inclined to think,
that he felt the importance of being present at
the trials. For this reason, he laments the illness
that prevented his accompanying Richards to the
Court, at its opening, on the second of June, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
"assist the noble service," as he says, "with the
utmost of my little skill and care."</p>

<p>This language shows conclusively, by the way,
the great influence he had, at that time, in directing
the Government, particularly the Court. He
would not have addressed one of the Judges, in
such terms, had he not felt that his "skill and
care" would be recognized and permitted to
take effect. We may well lament, with him,
that he could not have been present at the first
trial. It would not, then, have been left to conjecture
and scrutiny, to determine what his plan
was; and an open attempt, to bring the Court to
adopt it, might have given another turn to affairs.</p>

<p>In his Diary, on the twenty-ninth of April, is
the following: "This day I obtained help of
God, that he would make use of me, as of a John,
to be a herald of the Lord's Kingdom, now approaching."
"My prayers did especially insist
upon the horrible enchantments and possessions,
broke forth in Salem Village, things of
a most prodigious aspect, a good issue to those
things, and my own direction and protection
thereabouts, I did especially petition for."</p>

<p>The date of this entry is important. On the
eleventh, nineteenth, and twenty second of April,
impressive scenes had been exhibited at Salem
Village. Some of the most conspicuous cases of
the preliminary examinations of persons arrested
had occurred. The necessary steps were then being
taken to follow up those examinations with a procedure
that would excite the country to the highest
pitch. The arrangements, kept concealed at Salem,
and unsuspected by the public at large,
were made and perfected in Boston. On the
day after the date of the foregoing memorandum,
a Magistrate in that place issued the proper order
for the arrest of the Rev. George Burroughs; and
officers were started express to Maine for that
purpose. This was "the most prodigious aspect
of affairs" at the time. All the circumstances
must have been known by Mather. Hence his
earnest solicitude that proceedings should be conducted
under his own "direction and protection."
The use of these terms, looks as if Mather contemplated
the preliminary examinations as to
take place under his direction and management,
and will be borne in mind, when we come to consider
the question of his having been, more or
less, present at them.</p>

<p>Disposed to take the most favorable and charitable
view of such passages as have now been
presented, I would gather from them that his
mind may have recurred to his original and favorite
idea, that prayer and fasting were the
proper weapons to wield against witchcraft; but
if they failed, then recourse was to be had to the
terrors of the law. He desired to have the afflicted
and the accused placed under the treatment
of some one person, of discretion enough to
make no ill use of their communications, to whom
"they might privately tell their minds," and
who, without "noise, company and openness,"
could keep, under his own control, the dread secrets
of the former and exorcise the latter. He
was willing, and desirous, of occupying this position
himself, and of taking its responsibility.
To signify this, he offered to provide "meat,
drink, and lodging" for six of the afflicted
children; to keep them "asunder in the closest
privacy;" to be the recipient of their visions;
and then to look after the accused, for the purpose
of inducing them to confess and break
loose from their league with Satan; to be exempt,
except when he thought proper to do it,
from giving testimony in Court, against parties
accused; and to communicate with persons, thus
secretly complained of, as he and his father afterwards
did with the Secretary of Connecticut,
and taking, as in that case, if he saw fit, a bare
denial as sufficient for "sheltering" them, altogether,
by keeping the accusation a profound secret
in his own breast, as he acknowledges he
had done to a considerable extent&mdash;at once claiming
and confessing that he had "done so much
that way, as to sin in what he had done."</p>

<p>In language that indicates a correspondence
and familiarity of intercourse with persons, acting
on the spot, at Salem Village, such as authorized
him to speak for them, he gives us to understand
that they concurred with him in his proposed
method of treating the cases: "There are
very worthy men, who, having, been called by
God, when and where this witchcraft first appeared
upon the stage, to encounter it, are earnestly
desirous to have it sifted unto the bottom
of it." "Persons, thus disposed, have
been men eminent for wisdom and virtue."
"They would gladly contrive and receive an expedient,
how the shedding of blood might be
spared, by the recovery of witches not beyond
the reach of pardon. And, after all, they invite
all good men, in terms to this purpose."
"Being amazed at the number and quality of
those accused, of late, we do not know but Satan
by his wiles may have enwrapt some innocent
persons; and therefore should earnestly
and humbly desire the most critical inquiry,
upon the place, to find out the fallacy."&mdash;<i>Wonders</i>,
11.</p>

<p>Indeed, Parris and his coadjutors, at Salem
Village, to whom these passages refer, had, without
authority, been, all along, exercising the
functions Mather desired to have bestowed upon
him, by authority. They had kept a controlling
communication with the "afflicted children;" determined
who were to be cried out publicly
against, and when; rebuked and repressed the
calling out, by name, of the Rev. Samuel Willard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
and many other persons, of both sexes, of "quality,"
in Boston; and arranged and managed
matters, generally.</p>

<p>The conjecture I have ventured to make, as to
Mather's plan of procedure, explains, as the reader
will perceive, by turning back to the Minister's <i>Advice</i>,
[<i>Pages 21, 22, ante</i>] much of the phraseology
of that curious document. "Very critical and exquisite
caution," in the <i>third</i> Section; "that all
proceedings thereabout be managed with an exceeding
tenderness towards those that may be
complained of," in the <i>fourth</i>; "we could wish
that there may be admitted as little as possible
of such noise, company and openness, as
may too hastily expose them that are examined,"
in the <i>fifth</i>; and the entire <i>seventh</i> Section,
expressly authorize the suppression, disregard,
and <i>disbelief</i>, of <i>some</i> of the Devil's
accusations, on the grounds of expediency and
public policy.</p>

<p>Mather's necessary absence from the Court, at
its first Session, prevented his "skill and care"
being availed of, or any attempt being made to
bring forward his plan. The proceedings, having
thus commenced in an ordinary way, were
continued at the several adjournments of the
Court; and his experiment was never made.</p>

<p>The fallacy of his ideas and the impracticability
of his scheme must, indeed, have become
evident, at the first moment it was brought under
consideration. Inexperienced and blinded,
as they were, by the delusions of the time and the
excitements of the scene, and disposed, as they
must have been, by all considerations, to comply
with his wishes, the Judges had sense enough
left to see that it would never do to take the
course he desired. The trials could not, in that
event, have gone on at all. The very first step
would have been to abrogate their own functions
as a Court; pass the accusers and accused over to
his hands; and adjourn to wait his call. If the
spectre evidence had been excluded from the
"noise, confusion and openness" of the public
Court-room, there would have been nothing left
to go upon. If it had been admitted, under any
conditions or limitations, merely to disclose matter
of "presumption," a fatal difficulty would
meet the first step of the enquiry. To the question,
"Who hurts you?" no answer could be allowed
to be given; and the "<i>Minister</i>," to whom
the witness had confidentially given the names
of persons whose spectres had tormented her, sitting,
perhaps, in the Court-room at the time, would
have to countenance the suppression of the evidence,
and not be liable to be called to the stand
to divulge his knowledge.</p>

<p>The attempt to leave the accusers and the accused
to be treated by the Minister selected for
the purpose, in secure privacy, would have dissolved
the Court before it had begun; and if this
was what Mather meant when, afterwards, at any
time, he endeavored to throw off the responsibility
of the proceedings, by intimating that his
proffered suggestions and services were disregarded,
his complaint was most unreasonable.
The truth is, the proposal was wholly inadmissible,
and could not have been carried into effect.</p>

<p>Besides, it would have overthrown the whole
system of organized society, and given to whomsoever
the management of the cases had thus, for
the time, been relinquished, a power too fearful
to be thought of, as lodged in one man, or in any
private person. If he, or any other person, had
been allowed by the Court to assume such an office,
and had been known to hold, in secret custody,
the accusing parties, receiving their confidential
communications, to act upon them as he saw
fit&mdash;sheltering some from prosecution and returning
others to be proceeded against by the Court,
which would be equivalent to a conviction and
execution&mdash;it would have inaugurated a reign of
terror, such as had not even then been approached,
and which no community could bear. Every
man and woman would have felt in the extremest
peril, hanging upon the will of an irresponsible
arbiter of life and death.</p>

<p>Parris and his associates, acting without authority
and in a limited sphere, had tried this
experiment; had spread abroad, terror, havoc, and
ruin; and incensed the surrounding region
with a madness it took generations to allay.</p>

<p>To have thought, for a moment, that it was
desirable to be invested with such a power, "by
the authority," shows how ignorant Cotton
Mather was of human nature. However innocent,
upright, or benevolent might be its exercise,
he would have been assailed by animosities of
the deepest, and approaches of the basest, kind.
A hatred and a sycophancy, such as no Priest,
Pope, or despot before, had encountered, would
have been brought against him. He would have
been assailed by the temptation, and aspersed by
the imputation, of "Hush money," from all
quarters; and, ultimately, the whole country would
have risen against what would have been regarded
as a universal levy of "Black Mail." Whoever,
at any time, in any country, should undertake
such an office as this, would be, in the end,
the victim of the outraged sensibilities and passions
of humanity. How long could it be endured,
any where, if all men were liable to receive,
from one authorized and enabled to determine
their fate, such a missive as the Mathers
addressed to the Secretary of Connecticut, and,
at the best, to be beholden, as he felt himself to
be, to the "charity" that might prevent their
being exposed and prosecuted to the ruin of their
reputation, if not to an ignominious death?</p>

<p>Calef, alluding to Mather's pretensions to having
been actuated by "exceeding tenderness towards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
persons complained of," expresses the
sentiments all would feel, in such a condition of
dependence upon the "charity" of one, armed
with such fatal power over them: "These are
some of the destructive notions of this age;
and however the asserters of them seem sometimes
to value themselves much upon sheltering
their neighbors from spectral accusations,
they may deserve as much thanks as that Tyrant,
that having industriously obtained an unintelligible
charge against his subjects, in matters
wherein it was impossible they should be guilty,
having thereby their lives in his power, yet
suffers them of his mere grace to live, and
will be called gracious Lord!"&mdash;<i>Preface.</i></p>

<p>The mere suspicion that some persons were
behind the scene, exercising this power of pointing
out some for prosecution and sheltering some
from trial or arrest, produced, as Phips says, "a
strange ferment of dissatisfaction," threatening
to kindle "an inextinguishable flame." Brattle
complained of it bitterly: "This occasions
much discourse and many hot words, and is a
very great scandal and stumbling block to many
good people; certainly distributive justice should
have its course, without respect to persons;
and, although the said Mrs. Thatcher be mother-in-law
to Mr. Curwin, who is one of the Justices
and Judges, yet, if justice and conscience
do oblige them to apprehend others on account
of the afflicted their complaints, I cannot see
how, without injustice and violence to conscience,
Mrs. Thatcher can escape, when it is
well known how much she is, and has been,
complained of."&mdash;Letter dated October 8th,
1692, in the <i>Massachusetts Historical Society's
Collections</i>, I., v., 69.</p>

<p>Hezekial Usher, an eminent citizen of Boston,
was arrested by Joseph Lynde, one of the Council,
but suffered to remain, "for above a fortnight,"
in a private house, and afterwards to
leave the Province. Brattle "cannot but admire"
at this, and says: "Methinks that same justice,
that actually imprisoned others, and refused
bail for them, on any terms, should not be satisfied
without actually imprisoning Mr. U.,
and refusing bail for him, when his case is
known to be the very same with the case of
those others."</p>

<p>Brattle was a friend of Usher, and believed
him innocent, yet was indignant that such barefaced
partiality should be shown in judicial proceedings.
The establishment of a regular systematized
plan, committed to any individual, for
sheltering some, while others would be handed
back for punishment, would have been unendurable.</p>

<p>As it was, Mather exposed himself to much
odium, because it was understood that he was
practising, on his own responsibility and privately,
upon the plan he wished the Judges to
adopt, as a principle and method of procedure,
in all the trials. He says: "It may be, no man
living ever had more people, under preternatural
and astonishing circumstances, cast by the
providence of God into his more particular
care than I have had."</p>

<p>Of course, those persons would be most obnoxious
to ill-feeling in the community, who were
known, as he says of himself, in the foregoing
sentence, to have most intimacy with, and influence
over, the accusers. For this reason, Cotton
Mather was the special object of resentment. No
wonder that he sometimes bewails, and sometimes
berates, the storm of angry passions raging
around. A very bitter feeling pervaded the
country, grounded on the conviction that there
was "a respect to persons," and a connivance, in
behalf of some, by those managing the affair.
The public was shocked by having such persons
as the Rev. Samuel Willard, Mrs. Hale of Beverly,
and the Lady of the Governor, cried out
upon by the "afflicted children;" and the commotion
was heightened by a cross-current of indignant
enquiries: "Why, as these persons are
accused, are they not arrested and imprisoned?"</p>

<p>Mather alludes, in frequent passages, to this
angry state of feeling, as the following: "It is
by our quarrels that we spoil our prayers; and
if our humble, zealous, and united prayers are
once hindered! Alas, the Philistines of Hell
have cut our locks for us; they will then blind
us, mock us, ruin us. In truth, I cannot altogether
blame it, if people are a little transported,
when they conceive all the secular interests
of themselves and their families at stake,
and yet, at the sight of these heart-burnings,
I cannot forbear the exclamation of the sweet-spirited
Austin, in his pacificatory epistle to
Jerom, on the contest with Ruffin, '<i>O misera et
miseranda conditio!</i>'"&mdash;<i>Wonders</i>, 11.</p>

<p>There was another evil to which he exposed
himself by seeking to have such frequent, private,
and confidential intercourse with the afflicted
accusers and confessing witches, who professed
to have so often seen, associated with, and suffered
from, spectral images of the Devil's confederates;
which spectral shapes, as was believed,
were, after all, the Devil himself. He came
under the imputation of what, in Scripture, is
pronounced one of the darkest of crimes. The
same charge was made to tell against Mr. Parris,
helping effectually to remove him from the ministry
at Salem Village. <i>Leviticus</i>, xx., 6. "And
the soul that turneth after such as have familiar
spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring
after them, I will set my face against that soul,
and will cut him off from among his people."
<i>1 Chronicles</i>, x., 13. "So Saul died for his
transgression, which he committed against the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
Lord, even against the word of the Lord,
which he kept not; and also, for asking counsel
of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of
it, and inquired not of the Lord, therefore he
slew him."</p>

<p>For having so much to do with persons professing
to suffer from, and from others confessing
to have committed, the sin of witchcraft,
Mather became the object of a scathing rebuke
in the letter of Brattle, in a passage I shall quote,
in another connection.</p>

<p>Such, then, so far as I can gather, was Cotton
Mather's plan for the management of witchcraft
investigations; such its impracticability; and such
the dangerous and injurious consequences to himself,
of attempting to put it into practice. He
never fully divulged it; but, in the <i>Advice</i> of the
Ministers and various other writings, endeavored
to pave the way for it. All the expressions, in
that document and elsewhere, which have deceived
the Reviewer and others into the notion
that he was opposed to the admission of spectre
evidence, at the trials, were used as arguments to
persuade "authority" not to receive that species
of evidence, in open Court, but to refer it to
him, in the first instance, to be managed by him
with exquisite caution and discretion, and, thereby
avoid inconveniences and promote good results;
and when he could not subdue the difficulties
of the case, to deliver back the obdurate
and unrepentant, to the Court, to be proceeded
against in the ordinary course of law. With
this view, he has much to say that indicates a
tender regard to the prisoners. It is true that
the scheme, if adopted, would have given him
absolute power over the community, and, for this
reason, may have had attraction. But, I doubt
not, that he cherished it from benevolent feelings
also. He thought that he might, in that
way, do great good. But it could not be carried
into effect. It was seen, at once, by all men, who
had any sense left, to be utterly impracticable,
and had to be abandoned. That being settled
and disposed of, he went into the prosecutions
without misgivings, earnestly and vehemently
sustaining the Court, in all things, spectre evidence
included, as remains to be shown.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER AND SPECTRAL EVIDENCE.</h3>

<p>I shall continue to draw, at some length, upon
Mather's writings, to which I ask the careful attention
of the reader. The subject to which they
mostly relate, is of much interest, presenting
views of a class of topics, holding, for a long period,
a mighty sway over the human mind.</p>

<p>In his <i>Life of Phips</i>, written in 1697, and
constituting the concluding part of the Second
Book of the <i>Magnalia</i>, he gives a general account
of what had transpired, in the preliminary examinations
at Salem, before the arrival of Sir
William, at Boston. In it, he spreads out, with
considerable fullness, what had been brought before
the Magistrates, consisting mainly of spectral
testimony; and narrates the appearances and
doings of spectres assaulting the "afflicted
children," not as mere matters alleged, but as
facts. It is true that he appears as a narrator;
yet, in the manner and tenor of his statement,
he cannot but be considered as endorsing the
spectral evidence. Speaking of the examining
Magistrates, and saying that it is "now," that is,
in 1697, "generally thought they went out of
the way," he expresses himself as follows:
"The afflicted people vehemently accused several
persons, in several places, that the <i>spectres</i>
which afflicted them, did exactly resemble
<i>them</i>; until the importunity of the accusations
did provoke the Magistrates to examine them.
When many of the accused came upon their
examination, it was found, that the demons,
then a thousand ways abusing of the poor afflicted
people, had with a marvellous exactness
represented them; yea, it was found
that many of the accused, but casting their
eye upon the afflicted, the afflicted, though
their faces were never so much another way,
would fall down and lie in a sort of a swoon,
wherein they would continue, whatever hands
were laid upon them, until the hands of the
accused came to touch them, and then they
would revive immediately: and it was found,
that various kinds of natural actions, done by
many of the accused in or to their own bodies,
as leaning, bending, turning awry, or squeezing
their hands, or the like, were presently
attended with the like things preternaturally
done upon the bodies of the afflicted, though
they were so far asunder, that the afflicted
could not at all observe the accused."&mdash;<i>Magnalia</i>,
Book II., p. 61.</p>

<p>Indeed, throughout his account of the appearances
and occurrences, at the examinations before
the committing Magistrates, it must be allowed
that he exposed a decided bias, in his own mind,
to the belief and reception of the spectral evidence.
He commences that account in these
words: "Some scores of people, first about Salem,
the centre and first-born of all the towns
in the Colony, and afterwards in several other
places, were arrested with many preternatural
vexations upon their bodies, and a variety of
cruel torments, which were evidently inflicted
from the demons of the invisible world. The
people that were infected and infested with
such Demons, in a few days time, arrived at
such a refining alteration upon their eyes, that
they could see their tormentors; they saw a
Devil of a little stature and of a tawny color,
attended still with spectres that appeared in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
more human circumstances."&mdash;<i>Page 60.</i></p>

<p>And he concludes it as follows: "Flashy people
may burlesque these things, but when hundreds
of the most sober people in a country,
where they have as much mother-wit certainly
as the rest of mankind, know them to be <i>true</i>,
nothing but the absurd and froward spirit of
Sadduceeism can question them. I have not yet
mentioned so much as one thing, that will not
be justified, if it be required, by the oaths of
more considerate persons, than any that can
ridicule these odd phenomena."&mdash;<i>Page 61.</i></p>

<p>When he comes to the conclusion of the affair,
and mentions the general pardon of the convicted
and accused, he says: "there fell out several
strange things that caused the spirit of the
country to run as vehemently upon the acquitting
of all the accused, as it had, by mistake,
ran at first upon the condemning of them."
"In fine, the last Courts that sate upon this
thorny business, finding that it was impossible
to penetrate into the whole meaning of the
things that had happened, and that so many
unsearchable cheats were interwoven into the
conclusion of a mysterious business, which
perhaps had not crept thereinto at the beginning
of it, they cleared the accused as fast as
they tried them." But, even then, Mather
could not wholly disengage his mind from the
"mistake." "More than twice twenty," he says,
in connection with the fact that the confessions
had been receded from, "had made such voluntary,
and harmonious, and uncontrollable confessions,
that if they were all sham, there was
therein the greatest violation, made by the efficacy
of the invisible world, upon the rules of
understanding human affairs, that was ever
seen since God made man upon the earth."</p>

<p>In this same work he presents, in condensed
shape, the views of the advocates and of the opponents
of spectral testimony, without striking
the balance between them or avowedly taking
sides with either, although it may fairly be observed
that the weight he puts into the scale of
the former is quite preponderating. From incidental
expressions, too, it might be inferred that
he was to be classed with the former, as he
ascribes to them some "philosophical schemes,"
in explanation of the phenomena of witchcraft,
that look like his notion of the "Plastic spirit of
the world." Another incidental remark seems to
point to Increase Mather, as to be classed with
the latter, as follows: "Though against some
of them that were tried, there came in so much
other evidence of their diabolical compacts,
that some of the most judicious, and yet vehement,
opposers of the notions then in vogue,
publicly declared, <i>Had they themselves been on
the Bench, they could not have acquitted them</i>;
nevertheless, divers were condemned, against
whom the chief evidence was founded in the
spectral exhibitions."</p>

<p>Increase Mather, in the Postscript to his <i>Cases
of Conscience</i>, says: "I am glad that there is
published to the World (by my Son) a <i>Breviate
of the Tryals</i> of some who were lately executed,
whereby I hope the thinking part of Mankind
will be satisfied, that there was more than that
which is called <i>Spectre Evidence</i> for the Conviction
of the Persons condemned. I was not
my self present at any of the Tryals, excepting
one, <i>viz.</i> that of <i>George Burroughs</i>; had I
been one of his Judges, I could not have acquitted
him: For several Persons did upon Oath
testifie, that they saw him do such things as no
Man that has not a Devil to be his Familiar
could perform."</p>

<p>It is observable that Increase Mather does not
express or intimate, in this passage, any objection
to the introduction of spectral evidence.
When we come to consider Cotton Mather's <i>Breviate</i>
of the trial of George Burroughs, we shall
see how slight and inadequate was what Increase
Mather could have heard, <i>at the Trial</i>, to prove
that Burroughs had exhibited strength which the
Devil only could have supplied. The most trivial
and impertinent matter was all that was needed,
to be added to spectral testimony, to give it fatal
effect. The value, by the way, of Increase
Mather's averment, that "more than that which is
called Spectre Evidence" was adduced against
the persons convicted, is somewhat impaired by
the admission of Cotton Mather, just before
quoted, that "divers were condemned," against
whom it was the "chief evidence."</p>

<p>In stating the objection, by some, to the admission
of spectral evidence, on the ground that the
Devil might assume the shape of an innocent person,
and if that person was held answerable for
the actions of that spectral appearance, it would
be in the power of the Devil to convict and destroy
any number of innocent and righteous people,
and thereby "subvert Government and disband
and ruin human society," Cotton Mather
gets over the difficulty thus: "And yet God may
sometimes suffer such things to evene, that we
may know, thereby, how much we are beholden
to him, for that restraint which he lays upon
the infernal spirits, who would else reduce a
world into a chaos."</p>

<p>This is a striking instance of the way in which
words may be made, not only to cover, but to
transform, ideas. A reverent form of language
conceals an irreverent conception. The thought
is too shocking for plain utterance; but, dressed
in the garb of ingenious phraseology, it assumes
an aspect that enables it to pass as a devout acknowledgment
of a divine mystery. The real
meaning, absurd as it is dreadful, to state or
think, is that the Heavenly Father sometimes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
may, not merely permit, but will, the lies of the
Devil to mislead tribunals of justice to the shedding
of the blood of the righteous, that he may,
thereby show how we are beholden to Him, that
a like outrage and destruction does not happen
to us all. He allows the Devil, by false testimony,
to bring about the perpetration of the most
horrible wrong. It is a part of the "Rectoral
Righteousness of God," that it should be so.
What if the Courts do admit the testimony of
the Devil in the appearance of a spectre, and, on
its strength, consign to death the innocent? It
is the will of God, that it should be so. Let that
will be done.</p>

<p>But however the sentiment deserves to be characterized,
it removes the only ground upon which,
in that day, spectral evidence was objected to&mdash;namely,
that it might endanger the innocent. If
such was the will of God, the objectors were silenced.</p>

<p>In concluding the examination of the question
whether Cotton Mather denounced, or countenanced,
the admission of spectral testimony&mdash;for
that is the issue before us&mdash;I feel confident that
it has been made apparent, that it was not in reference
to the <i>admission</i> of such testimony, that
he objected to the "principles that some of the
Judges had espoused," but to the method in
which it should be <i>handled</i> and <i>managed</i>. I deny,
utterly, that it can be shown that he opposed
its <i>admission</i>. In none of his public writings
did he ever pretend to this. The utmost upon
which he ventured, driven to the defensive on
this very point, as he was during all the rest of
his days, was to say that he was opposed to its
"excessive use." Once, indeed, in his private
Diary, under that self-delusion which often led
him to be blind to the import of his language,
contradicting, in one part, what he had said in
another part of the same sentence, evidently, as
I believe, without any conscious and intentional
violation of truth, he makes this statement: "For
my own part, I was always afraid of proceeding
to convict and condemn any person, as a
confederate with afflicting Demons, upon so
feeble an evidence as a spectral representation.
Accordingly, I ever protested against it, both
publicly and privately; and, in my letter to
the Judges, I particularly besought them that
they would, by no means, admit it; and
when a considerable assembly of Ministers
gave in their advice about that matter, I not
only concurred with them, but it was I who
drew it up."</p>

<p>This shows how he indulged himself in forms
of expression that misled him. His letter to
"the Judges" means, I suppose, that written to
Richards; and he had so accustomed his mind
to the attempt to make the <i>Advice</i> of the Ministers
bear this construction, as to deceive himself.
That document does not say a word, much
less, protest, against the "admission" of that
evidence: it was not designed, and was not understood
by any, at the time, to have that bearing,
but only to urge suggestions of caution, in its
use and management. Charity to him requires us
to receive his declaration in the Diary as subject
to the modifications he himself connects with it,
and to mean no more than we find expressed in
the letter to Richards and in the <i>Advice</i>. But,
if he really had deluded himself into the idea
that he had protested against the <i>admission</i> of
spectral evidence, he has not succeeded, probably,
in deluding any other persons than his son
Samuel, who repeated the language of the Diary,
and our Reviewer.</p>

<p>The question, I finally repeat, is as to the admission
of that species of evidence, <i>at all</i>, in any
stage, in any form, to any extent. Cotton Mather
never, in any public writing, "denounced the
admission" of it, never advised its absolute
exclusion; but, on the contrary recognised it as
a ground of "presumption." Increase Mather
stated that the "Devil's accusations," which
he considered spectral evidence really to be,
"may be so far regarded as to cause an enquiry
into the truth of things." These are the facts
of history, and not to be moved from their
foundation in the public record of that day.
There is no reason to doubt that all the Ministers,
in the early stages of the delusion, concurred
in these views. All partook of the "awe,"
mentioned by Mather, which filled the minds
of Juries, Judges, and the people, whenever
this kind of testimony was introduced. No
matter how nor when, whether as "presumption"
to build other evidence upon or as a cause for
further "enquiry," nothing could stand against
it. Character, reason, common sense, were swept
away. So long as it was suffered to come in,
any how, or to be credited at all, the horrid
fanaticism and its horrible consequences continued.
When it was wholly excluded, the reign of
terror and of death ceased.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER AND THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS.
JOHN PROCTOR. GEORGE BURROUGHS.</h3>

<p>The spectral evidence was admitted; and the
examinations and trials went on. The question
now arises, what was Cotton Mather's attitude
towards them? The scrutiny as to the meaning
of his words is exhausted; and now we are to interpret
his actions. They speak louder and clearer
than words. Let us, in the first place, make
the proper distinction between the Examinations,
on the arrest of the prisoners and leading to
their commitment, and the Trials. The first
Warrants were issued on the twenty-ninth of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
February, 1692; and the parties arrested were
brought before the Magistrates the next day.
Arrests and Examinations occurred, at short intervals,
during three months, when the first trial was
had; and they were continued, from time to time,
long after, while the Special Court was in operation.
They were, in some respects, more important
than the Trials. Almost all the evidence,
finally adduced before the Jury, was taken by the
examining Magistrates; and being mostly in the
form of carefully written depositions, it was simply
reproduced, and sworn to, before the Court.
Further, as no Counsel was allowed the Prisoners,
the Trials were quite summary affairs. Hutchinson
says, no difficulty was experienced; and the results
were quickly reached, in every case but that
of Rebecca Nurse.</p>

<p>These two stages in the proceedings became
confounded in the public apprehension, and have
been borne down by tradition, indiscriminately,
under the name of Trials. It was the succession,
at brief intervals, through a long period, of these
Examinations, that wrought the great excitement
through the country, which met Phips on his arrival;
and which is so graphically described by
Cotton Mather, as a "dreadful ferment." He
says he was not present at any of the Trials. Was
he present at any of the Examinations? The considerations
that belong to the solution of this
question are the following:</p>

<p>When the special interest he must have taken
in them is brought to mind, from the turn of his
prevalent thoughts and speculations, exhibited in
all his writings, and from the propensity he ever
manifested to put himself in a position to observe
and study such things, it may be supposed he
would not have foregone opportunities like those
presented in the scenes before the Magistrates.
While all other people, Ministers especially, were
flocking to them, it is difficult to conclude that
he held back. That he attended some of them
is, perhaps, to be inferred from the distinctive
character of his language that he never attended
a <i>Trial</i>. The description given, in his <i>Life of
Phips</i>, of what was exhibited and declared by
the "afflicted children," at the Examinations, exhibits
a minuteness and vividness, seeming to
have come from an eye-witness; but there is not a
particular word or syllable, I think, in the account,
from which an inference, either way, can
be drawn whether, or not, he was present at them,
personally. This is observable, I repeat, inasmuch
as he was careful to say that he was <i>not</i>
present at the <i>Trials</i>.</p>

<p>The Examinations, being of a character to arrest
universal attention, and from the extraordinary
nature of their incidents, as viewed by that
generation, having attractions, all but irresistible,
it is not surprising that, as incidentally appears,
Magistrates and Ministers came to them, from all
quarters. No local occurrences, in the history of
this country, ever awakened such a deep, awe-inspiring,
and amazed interest. It can hardly be
doubted that he was attracted to them. Can any
other inference be drawn from the passage already
quoted, from his Diary, that he felt called,
"as a herald of the Lord's Kingdom, now approaching,"
to give personal attendance, in
"the horrible enchantments and possessions broke
forth at Salem Village?" There was a large concourse
of Magistrates and Ministers, particularly,
on the twenty-fourth of March, when Deodat
Lawson preached his famous Sermon, after the
Examination of Rebecca Nurse; on the eleventh
of April, when the Governor and Council themselves
conducted the Examination of John Proctor
and others; and, on the ninth of May, when
Stoughton, from Dorchester, and Sewall, from
Boston, sat with the local Magistrates, and the
Rev. George Burroughs was brought before them.
It is strange, indeed, if Mather was not present,
especially on the last occasion; and it may
appear, as we advance, that it is almost due to
his reputation to suppose that he was there, and
thus became qualified and authorized to pass the
judgment he afterwards did.</p>

<p>Local tradition, of less value, in some respects,
for reasons given in my book, in reference to this
affair than most others, but still of much weight,
has identified Cotton Mather with these scenes.
The family, of which John Proctor was the head,
has continued to this day in the occupancy of his
lands. Always respectable in their social position,
they have perpetuated his marked traits of
intellect and character. They have been strong
men, as the phrase is, in their day, of each generation;
and have constantly cherished in honor
the memory of their noble progenitor, who bravely
breasted, in defence of his wife, the fierce fanaticism
of his age, and fell a victim to its fury
and his own manly fidelity and integrity. They
have preserved, as much as any family, a knowledge
of the great tragedy; and it has been a tradition
among them that Cotton Mather took an
active part in the prosecution of Proctor. The
representative of the family, in our day, a man
of vigorous faculties, of liberal education, academical
and legal, and much interested in antiquarian
and genealogical enquiries, John W.
Proctor, presided at the Centennial Celebration,
in Danvers, on the fifteenth of June, 1852; and in
his Address, expressed, no doubt, a transmitted
sentiment&mdash;although, as has generally been done,
confounding the Examinations with the Trials&mdash;in
stating that Cotton Mather rendered himself conspicuous
in the proceedings against his ancestor.</p>

<p>Cotton Mather was the leading champion of
the Judges. In his Diary, he says: "I saw, in
most of the Judges, a most charming instance of
prudence and patience; and I know the exemplary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
prayer and anguish of soul, wherewith
they had sought the direction of heaven, above
most other people; whom I generally saw enchanted
into a raging, railing, scandalous and
unreasonable disposition, as the distress increased
upon us. For this cause, <i>though I
could not allow the principles that some of the
Judges had espoused</i>, yet I could not but speak
honorably of their persons, on all occasions; and
my compassion upon the sight of their difficulties,
raised by <i>my journeys to Salem</i>, the chief
seat of those diabolical vexations, caused me
yet more to do so."</p>

<p>How, as he had not been present at any of the
Trials, could he have given this commendation of
the bearing of the Judges, based, as he says, upon
what he had witnessed in visits to Salem? I can
think of but one way in which his statements can
be reconciled. Five of the eight Judges (Saltonstall's
seat being vacant) Stoughton, Sewall,
Gedney, Corwin and Hathorne, severally, at
different times, sat as Magistrates, at the Examinations,
which occasions were accompanied with
vexations and perplexities, calling for prudence
and patience, much more than the Trials. It is
due, therefore, to Mather to suppose that he had
frequented the Examinations, and, thus acquired
a right to speak of the deportment of the Judges,
"upon the <i>sight</i> of their difficulties."</p>

<p>Much of the evidence given by the "afflicted
children," at the Examinations, can hardly be
accounted for except as drawn from ideas suggested
by Mather, on the spot, so as to reach
their ears. In the testimony of Susannah Sheldon,
against John Willard, on the ninth of May,
is the following singular statement: "There appeared
to me a Shining White man." She represents
it as a good and friendly angel, or spirit,
accompanied by another "angel from Heaven,"
protecting her against the spectre of John Willard.</p>

<p>Prefixed to the London Edition of the <i>Cases
of Conscience</i>, printed in 1862, is a narrative,
by Deodat Lawson, of some remarkable things he
saw and heard, connected with the witchcraft
transactions at Salem Village. In it, is the following
statement: "The first of April, Mercy
Lewis saw in her fit, a white man, and was
with him in a glorious place, which had no
candles nor sun, yet was full of light and
brightness; where was a great multitude in
white glittering robes; and they sung the Song
in <i>Revelation</i>, v., 9, and the one hundred and
tenth Psalm, and the one hundred and forty-ninth
Psalm; and said with herself, 'How long
shall I stay here?' 'Let me be along with you!'
She was loth to leave the place; and grieved
that she could tarry no longer. This White man
hath appeared several times to some of them,
and given them notice how long it should be
before they had another fit, which was, some
times, a day, or day and half, or more or less.
It hath fallen out accordingly."</p>

<p>In the case of Margaret Rule, in Boston, the
year after the Salem Delusion, of which it is not to
be questioned that Mather had the management,
this same "<i>White</i>" Spirit is made to figure; and
also, in another instance. Mather alludes to the
"glorious and signal deliverance of that poor
damsel," Mercy Short, six months before. "Indeed,"
says he, "Margaret's case was, in several
points, less remarkable than Mercy's; and
in some other things the entertainment did
a little vary." Margaret, Mercy, and the "afflicted
children" at Salem Village, all had
their "White Angel," as thus stated by Mather:
"Not only in the Swedish, but also in the
Salem Witchcraft, the enchanted people have
talked much of a White Spirit, from whence
they received marvellous assistances in their
miseries. What lately befell Mercy Short,
from the communications of such a Spirit,
hath been the just wonder of us all; but
by such a Spirit was Margaret Rule now
also visited. She says that she could never
see his face; but that she had a frequent view
of his bright, shining and glorious garments;
he stood by her bed-side, continually, heartening
and comforting her, and counselling her
to maintain her faith and hope in God, and
never comply with the temptations of her adversaries."&mdash;<i>Calef</i>,
3, 8.</p>

<p>This appearance of the "White and Shining,"
Spirit, or "White Angel," exercising a good and
friendly influence, was entirely out of the line
of ordinary spectral manifestations; constituted
a speciality in the cases mentioned; and seems
to have originated in the same source. Let it,
then, be considered that Cotton Mather's favorite
precedent, which was urged upon Sir William
Phips, and which Mather brought to the
notice of Richards, and was so fond of citing in
his writings, had a "White Angel." In his account
of the "most horrid outrage, committed
in Sweedland by Devils, by the help of witches,"
we find the following: "Some of the children
talked much of a White Angel, which
did use to forbid them, what the Devil had
bid them to do, and assure them that these
things would not last long; but that what
had been done was permitted for the wickedness
of the people. This White Angel would
sometimes rescue the children, from going in
with the witches."&mdash;<i>Wonders</i>, 50.</p>

<p>Mr. Hale also notices this feature of the Salem
Trials&mdash;that the witnesses swore to "representations
of heavenly beauty, white men."</p>

<p>Mather brought the story of this witchcraft "in
Sweedland," before the public, in America; he
had the book that contained it; and was active<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
in giving it circulation. There can be little
doubt that he was the channel through which
it found its way to the girls in the hamlet of
Salem Village. He was, it is evident, intimate
with Parris. How far the latter received his
ideas from him, is, <i>as yet</i>, unknown. That they
were involved in the same responsibility is clear
from the fact that Parris fell back upon him for
protection, and relied upon him, as his champion,
throughout his controversy with his people,
occasioned by the witchcraft transactions.</p>

<p>When these considerations are duly weighed,
in connection with his language in the passage
of his Diary, just quoted&mdash;"I saw a most charming
instance of prudence and patience" in the
Judges: "My compassion upon the sight of
their difficulties," "raised by my journeys to
Salem, the chief seat of those diabolical vexations"&mdash;it
seems necessary to infer, that his opportunities
of <i>seeing</i> all this, on the occasions of
his "journeys to Salem," must have been afforded
by attending the Examinations, held by
the Magistrates who were also Judges; as it
is established, by his own averment, that he
never saw them on the Bench of the Court,
at the Jury-trials. It is, therefore, rendered certain,
by his own language and by all the facts
belonging to the subject, that the purpose of his
"journeys to Salem" was to attend the Examinations.
We are, indeed, shut up to this conclusion.</p>

<p>The Examinations were going on from the
first of March, far into the Summer of 1692.
There is no intimation that either of the Mathers
uttered a syllable against the course pursued
in them, before or after the middle of May, when
the Government passed into their almost exclusive
possession. All the way through, spectral
evidence was admitted, without restraint or a
symptom of misgiving, on their part; and,
whether present or absent, they could not but
have known all that was going on.</p>

<p>Cotton Mather's "<i>journeys to Salem</i>," must have
been frequent. If only made two or three times,
he would have said so, as he speaks of them in
an apologetic passage and when trying to represent
his agency to have been as little as the
truth would allow.</p>

<p>The Reviewer states that the journeys were
made for another purpose. He states it positively
and absolutely. "He made visits to Salem,
as we shall presently see, for quite another
purpose than that which has been alleged."
This language surprised me, as it had wholly
escaped my researches; and the surprise was
accompanied with pleasure, for I supposed there
must be some foundation for the declaration.
I looked eagerly for the disclosure about to be
made, in some document, now, for the first time,
to be brought to light, from "original sources,"
such as he, in a subsequent passage, informs us,
Mr. Longfellow has had access to. Great was
my disappointment, to find that the Reviewer,
notwithstanding his promise to let us know the
"other purpose" of Mather's visits to Salem,
has not given us a single syllable of <i>information</i>
to that effect, but has endeavored to palm off,
upon the readers of the <i>North American Review</i>,
a pure fiction of his own brain, a mere
conjecture, as baseless as it is absurd. He says
that Mather made his visits to Salem, as the
"spiritual comforter" of John Proctor and
John Willard!</p>

<p>He further says, in support of this statement,
"that Proctor and Willard had been confined
several months in the Boston Jail, and there,
doubtless, made Mr. Mather's acquaintance, as
he was an habitual visitor of the prison."
This hardly accounts for "journeys to Salem," during
<i>those</i> months. Salem was not exactly in
Mr. Mather's way from his house in Boston to
the Jail in Boston.</p>

<p>As only a few days over four months elapsed
between Proctor's being put into the Boston Jail
and his execution, deducting the "several
months" he spent there, but little time remained,
after his transfer to the Salem Jail, for
Mather's "journeys to Salem," for the purpose
of administering spiritual consolation to him.
So far as making his "acquaintance," while in
Boston Jail is regarded, upon the same ground it
might be affirmed that he was the spiritual adviser
of the Prisoners generally; for most of
those, who suffered, were in Boston Jail as long
as Proctor; and he visited them all alike.</p>

<p>The Reviewer adduces not a particle of evidence
to prove his absolute statement, nor even
to countenance the idea; but, as is his custom, he
transforms a conjecture into an established fact.
On a bare surmise, he builds an argument, and
treats the whole, basis and superstructure, as
History. To show, more particularly, how he
thus <i>makes History</i>, I must follow this matter up
a little further. Brattle, in his <i>Account of the
Witchcraft in the County of Essex, 1692</i>, has
this paragraph, after stating that the persons
executed "went out of the world, not only
with as great protestations, but also with
as great shows, of innocency, as men could
do:" "They protested their innocency as in
the presence of the great God, whom forthwith
they were to appear before: they wished,
and declared their wish, that their blood
might be the last innocent blood shed
upon that account. With great affection,
they entreated Mr. C. M. to pray with
them: they prayed that God would discover
what witchcrafts were among us: they
forgave their accusers: they spake without
reflection on Jury and Judges, for bringing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
them in guilty and condemning them: [they
prayed earnestly for pardon for all <i>other</i> sins,
and for an interest in the precious blood of
our dear Redeemer:] and seemed to be very
sincere, upright, and sensible of their circumstances
on all accounts; especially Proctor
and Willard, whose whole management of
themselves, from the Jail to the Gallows, [and
whilst at the Gallows,] was very affecting
and melting to the hearts of some considerable
spectators, whom I could mention to you:&mdash;[but
they are executed and so I leave
them.]"&mdash;<i>Massachusetts Historical Collections</i>,
I., v., 68.</p>

<p>The Reviewer cites this paragraph, omitting
the clauses I have placed within brackets, <i>without
any indication of the omissions</i>. The first
of the omitted clauses is a dying declaration of
the innocence of the sufferers, as to the crime
alleged. The second proves that they "managed
themselves" after, as well as before,
reaching the Gallows, and to their dying moment&mdash;seeming
to preclude the idea that their
exercises of prayer and preparation were directed
or guided by any spiritual adviser. The
last is an emphatic and natural expression of
Brattle's feelings and judgment on the occasion.</p>

<p>The Reviewer follows his citation, thus:
"Mr. Brattle mentions no other person than Mr.
C. M. as the comforter and friend of the sufferers,
especially Proctor and Willard." "In
the above statement we trace the character of
their spiritual counsellor." "We now see the
object of Mr. Mather's visits to Salem."
"Would these persons have asked Mr. Mather
to be their spiritual comforter, if he had
been the agent, as has been alleged, of bringing
them into their sad condition?"</p>

<p>In other forms of language and other connections,
he speaks of Mr. Mather's presence,
at these executions, as "the performance of a
sad duty to Proctor and Willard," and represents
Brattle as calling him "the spiritual
adviser of the persons condemned." All this
he asserts as proved and admitted fact; and
the whole rests upon the foregoing <i>mutilated</i>
paragraph of Brattle.</p>

<p>Let the reader thoroughly examine and consider
that paragraph, and then judge of this
Reviewer's claim to establish History. The
word "affection," was used much at that time
to signify <i>earnest desire</i>. "They"&mdash;that is, the
persons then about to die, namely, the Rev.
George Burroughs, an humble, laborious, devoted
Minister of the Gospel; John Proctor, the
owner of valuable farms and head of a large
family; John Willard, a young married man of
most respectable connections; George Jacobs,
an early settler, land-holder, and a grandfather,
of great age, with flowing white locks, sustained,
as he walked, by two staffs or crutches;
and Martha Carrier, the wife of a farmer in Andover,
with a family of children, some of them
quite young&mdash;"entreated Mr. C. M. to pray with
them." Why did they have to "entreat"
him, if he had come all the way from Boston
for that purpose? They all had Ministers near
at hand&mdash;Carrier had two Ministers, either or
both of whom would have been prompt to come,
if persons suffering for the imputed crime of
witchcraft had been allowed to have the attendance
of "spiritual comforters," at their executions.
If Mather had prayed with them,
Brattle would have said so. His language is
equivalent to a statement, that "Mr. C. M." was
reluctant, if he did not absolutely refuse to do
it; and the only legitimate inferences from the
whole passage are, that the sufferers did their own
praying,&mdash;from Brattle's account of their dying
prayers, they did it well&mdash;and that without
"spiritual comforter," "adviser," or "friend,"
in the last dread hour, they were left to the
"management of themselves."</p>

<p>When the paragraph is taken in connection
with the relations of Brattle to Mather, not
approving of his course in public affairs, but,
at the same time, delicately situated, being associated
with him in important public interests
and leading circles, the conclusion seems probable
that he meant, in an indirect mode of expression,
to notice the fact that Mather refused
to pray with the sufferers on the occasion. In
fact, we know that Nicholas Noyes, who was
Proctor's Minister, refused to pray with him,
unless he would confess. Mather and Noyes
were intimately united by personal and professional
ties of friendship and communion, and
probably would not run counter to each other,
at such a time, and in the presence of such a
multitude of Ministers and people.</p>

<p>It is to be regarded exclusively as illustrating
the shocking character of the whole procedure
of the witchcraft prosecutions, and not as a
personally harsh or cruel thing, that Noyes or
Mather was unwilling to pray with persons, at
their public executions, who stood convicted of
being confederates of the Devil, and who, refusing
to confess, retained that character to the
last. Ministers, like them, believing that the
convicts were malefactors of a far different and
deeper dye than ordinary human crime could
impart, rebels against God, apostates from
Christ, sons of Belial, recruits of the Devil's
army, sworn in allegiance to his Kingdom, baptized
into his church, beyond the reach of hope
and prayer, could hardly be expected to pray
<i>with</i> them. To <i>join</i> them in prayer was impossible.
To go through the forms of united prayer
would have been incongruous with the occasion,
and not more inconsistent with the convictions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
of the Ministers, than repugnant to the conscious
innocence and natural sensibilities of
the sufferers. Condemned, unconfessing, unrepentant
witches might be prayed <i>for</i>, or <i>at</i>, but
not <i>with</i>.</p>

<p>The superior greatness of mind of Burroughs
and his fellow sufferers, the true spirit of Christian
forgiveness elevating them above a sense
of the errors and wrongs of which they were
the victims, are beautifully and gloriously shown
in their earnestly wishing and entreating Noyes
and Mather to pray with them. They pitied
their delusion, and were desirous, in that last
hour, to regard them and all others as their brethren,
and bow with them before the Father of
all. The request they made of Christian Ministers,
who, at the moment, regarded them as in
league with the Devil, might not be exactly
logical; a failure to comply with it is not a just
matter of reproach; but the fact that it was repeated
with earnestness, "entreated with affection,"
shows that the last pulsations of their
hearts were quickened by a holy and heavenly
Love.</p>

<p>The Reviewer asks: "Were those five persons
executed that day without any spiritual
adviser?" There is no evidence, I think, to
show that a Minister ever accompanied, in that
character, persons convicted of witchcraft, at
the place of execution. All that can be gathered
from Brattle's account is, that, on the occasion
to which he is referring, the sufferers <i>themselves</i>
offered public prayers. We know that
Martha Corey, at a subsequent execution, pronounced
a prayer that made a deep impression
on the assembled multitude. Mr. Burroughs's
prayer is particularly spoken of. So, also, in
England, when the Reverend Mr. Lewis, an
Episcopal clergyman, eighty years of age, and
who, for fifty years, had been Vicar of Brandeston,
in the County of Suffolk, was executed
for alleged witchcraft, the venerable man read
his own funeral service, according to the forms
of his Church, "committing his own body to
the ground, in sure and certain hope of the
resurrection to eternal life."</p>

<p>This whole story of the spiritual relation between
Mather and Proctor is a bare fiction, entirely
in conflict with all tradition and all probability,
without a shadow of support in any
document adduced by the Reviewer; and yet he
would have it received as an established fact,
and incorporated, as such, in history. Liberties,
like this, cannot be allowed.</p>

<p>Sewall's Diary, at the date of the nineteenth
of August, 1692, has this entry: "This day
George Burrough, John Willard, John Proctor,
Martha Carrier, and George Jacobs were
executed at Salem, a very great number of
spectators being present. Mr. Cotton Mather
was there, Mr. Sims, Hale, Noyes, Cheever, etc.
All of them said they were innocent, Carrier
and all. Mr. Mather says they all died by a
righteous sentence. Mr. Burrough, by his
Speech, Prayer, protestation of his innocence,
did much move unthinking persons, which
occasioned the speaking hardly concerning his
being executed."</p>

<p>It is quite remarkable that Cotton Mather
should have gone directly home to Boston, after
the execution, and made himself noticeable by
proclaiming such a harsh sentiment against <i>all</i>
the sufferers, if he had just been performing
friendly offices to them, as "spiritual adviser,
counsellor, and comforter." Clergymen, called
to such melancholy and affecting functions, do
not usually emerge from them in the frame of
mind exhibited in the language ascribed to
Mather, by Sewall. It shows, at any rate, that
Mather felt sure that Proctor went out of the
world, an unrepenting, unconfessing wizard,
and, therefore, not a fit subject for a Christian
Minister to unite with in prayer.</p>

<p>One other remark, by the way. The account
Sewall gives of the impression made by Burroughs,
on the spectators, now first brought to
light, in print, is singularly confirmatory of
what Calef says on the subject.</p>

<p>My chief purpose, however, in citing this passage
from Sewall's Diary, is this. Mather was
not present at the Trial of Burroughs. If he
was not present at his Examination before the
Magistrates, how could he have spoken, as he
did, of the righteousness of his sentence? There
had been no Report or publication, in any way,
of the evidence; and he could only have received
a competent knowledge of it from personal
presence, on one or the other of those occasions.
He could not have been justified in so confident
and absolute a judgment, by mere hearsay. If
that had been the source of his information, he
would have modified his language accordingly.</p>

<p>There is one other item to be considered, in
treating the question of Mather's connection
with the Examinations of the Prisoners, before
the Magistrates.</p>

<p>When Proctor was awaiting his trial, during
the short period, previous to that event, that he
was in the Salem Jail, he had addressed a letter
to "Mr. Mather, Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr.
Willard and Mr. Baily," all Ministers, begging
them to intercede, in behalf of himself and
fellow-prisoners, to secure to them better treatment,
especially a fairer trial than they could
have in Salem, where such a violent excitement
had been wrought up against them. From the
character of the letter, it is evident that it was
addressed to them in the hope and belief that
they were accessible, to such an appeal. But
one of the Mathers is named. They were associate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
Ministers of the same Church. Although
the father was President of the College at Cambridge,
he resided in Boston, and was in the
active exercise of his ministry there. The question
is, Which of them is meant? In my book, I
expressed the opinion that it was Increase, the
father. The Reviewer says it was Cotton, the
son. It is a fair question; and every person can
form a judgment upon it. The other persons
named, comprising the rest of the Ministers
then connected with the Boston Churches, are
severally, more or less, indicated by what has
come to us, as not having gone to extremes, in
support of the witchcraft prosecutions.</p>

<p>Increase Mather was commonly regarded, upon
whatever grounds, as not going so far as his
son, in that direction. The name, "Mr. Mather,"
heads the list. From his standing, as
presiding over the College and the Clergy, it was
proper to give him this position. His age and
seniority of settlement, also entitled him to it.
Usage, and all general considerations of propriety,
require us to assume that by "Mr. Mather,"
the <i>elder</i> is meant. Cotton Mather, being the
youngest of the Boston Ministers, would not be
likely to be the first named, in such a list.
Besides, he was considered, as he himself
complains, as the "doer of all the hard things,
that were done, in the prosecution of the
witchcraft." Whoever concludes that Increase
Mather was the person, in Proctor's mind,
will appreciate the fact that Cotton Mather is
omitted in the list. It proves that Proctor considered
him beyond the reach of all appeals, in
behalf of accused persons; and tends to confirm
the tradition, in the family, that his course towards
Proctor, when under examination, either
before the Magistrates or in Court, had indicated
a fixed and absolute prejudice or conviction
against him. This Letter of Proctor's, printed
in my book, [<i>ii., 310</i>] utterly disperses the visionary
fabric of the Reviewer's fancy, that Cotton
Mather was his "spiritual adviser," counselling
him in frequent visits to the Salem Jail.
It denounces, in unreserved language, "the
Magistrates, Ministers, Juries," as under the
"delusion of the Devil, which we can term no
other, by reason we know, in our own consciences,
we are all innocent persons;" and is
couched in a bold, outspoken and trenchant
style, that would have shocked and incensed
Cotton Mather to the highest possible degree.
It is absolutely certain, that if Cotton Mather
had been Proctor's "friend and counsellor," a
more prudent and cautious tone and style would
have been given to the whole document.</p>

<p>In concluding the considerations that render
it probable that Cotton Mather had much to do
with the Examinations, it may be said, in general,
that he vindicates the course taken at
them, in language that seems to identify himself
with them, and to prove that he could not have
been opposed to the methods used in them.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER AND THE WITCHCRAFT TRIALS.
THE EXECUTIONS.</h3>

<p>I now proceed to examine Cotton Mather's
connection with the Trials at Salem. It is fully
admitted that he did not personally attend any
of them. His averment to this effect does not
allow the supposition that he could have deceived
himself, on such a point. In his letter
to Richards, as has been seen, he expressed his
great disappointment in not being well enough
to accompany him to this first Session of the
Special Court; and the tenor of the passage
proves that he had fully expected and designed
to be present, at the trials, generally. Whether
the same bodily indisposition continued to forbid
his attendance at its successive adjournments,
we cannot obtain information.</p>

<p>The first point of connection I can find between
him and the trials, is brought to view in
a meeting of certain Ministers, after executions
had taken place, and while trials were pending.</p>

<p>Increase Mather, in his <i>Cases of Conscience</i>,
has the following: "As for the judgment of the
Elders in New England, so far as I can learn,
they do generally concur with Mr. Perkins and
Mr. Bernard. This I know, that, at a meeting
of Ministers at Cambridge, August 1,
1692, where were present seven Elders, besides
the President of the College, the question
then discoursed on, was, whether the Devil
may not sometimes have a permission to represent
an innocent person as tormenting such
as are under diabolical molestations? The
answer, which they all concurred in, was in
these words, viz. 'That the Devil may sometimes
have a permission to represent an innocent
person as tormenting such as are under
diabolical molestations; but that such things
are rare and extraordinary, especially when
such matters come before civil judicatures';
and that some of the most eminent Ministers of
the land, who were not at that meeting, are of
the same judgment, I am assured. And I am
also sure that, in cases of this nature, the Priest's
lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth. <i>Mal.</i>, 2, 7."</p>

<p>What was meant by the quotation from Malachi
is left to conjecture. It looks like the notion
I have supposed Cotton Mather to have,
more or less, cherished, at different times&mdash;to
have such cases committed to the confidential
custody and management of one or more Ministers.
Whether Cotton Mather, as well as his
father, was at this meeting, is not stated. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
expressions "rare and extraordinary" and
"sometimes have a permission," and the general
style of the language, are like his. At any
rate, in referring to the meeting, in his <i>Wonders
of the Invisible World</i>, he speaks of the Ministers
present "as very pious and learned;" says
that they uttered the prevailing sense of others
"eminently cautious and judicious;" and declares
that they "have both argument and history
to countenance them in it."</p>

<p>It is to be noticed, that this opinion of the
Ministers, given on the first of August, if it did
not authorize the admission, without reserve or
limitation, of spectral evidence, in judicial proceedings,
reduces the objection to it to an almost
inappreciable point.</p>

<p>Observe the date. Already six women, heads
of families, many of them of respectable positions
in society, all in advanced life, one or two
quite aged, and two, at least, of the most eminent
Christian character, had suffered death,
wholly from spectral evidence, that is, no other
testimony was brought against them, as all admit,
that could, even then, have convicted
them. Twelve days had elapsed since five of
them had been executed; in four more days,
six others were to be brought to trial, among
them the Rev. George Burroughs; and the Ministers
pass a vote, under the lead of Increase
Mather, and with the express approval of Cotton
Mather, that there is very little danger of
innocent people suffering, in judicial proceedings,
from spectral evidence.</p>

<p>Let us hear no more that the Clergy of New
England accepted the doctrines of those writers
who had "declared against the admission of
spectral testimony;" that "the Magistrates rejected
those doctrines;" that "all the evils
at Salem, grew out of the position taken by
the Magistrates;" and that "it had been well
with the twenty victims at Salem, if the Ministers
of the Colony, instead of the Lawyers,
had determined their fate."</p>

<p>The Clergy of New England did, indeed, entertain
great regard for the authority of certain
writers, who were considered as, more or less,
discrediting spectral evidence. The Mathers
professed to concur with them in that judgment;
but the ground taken at the meeting on the
first of August, as above stated, was, it must be
allowed, inconsistent with it. The passages I
have given, and shall give, from the writings of
Cotton Mather, will illustrate the elaborate ingenuity
he displayed in trying to reconcile a
respect for the said writers with the admission
of that species of evidence, to an extent they
were considered as disallowing.</p>

<p>I am indebted to George H. Moore, LL.D., of
New York city, for the following important document.
John Foster was, at its date, a member
of the Council. Hutchinson, who was his grandson,
speaks of him [<i>History, ii., 21</i>] as a "merchant
of Boston of the first rank," "who had a great
share in the management of affairs from 1689
to 1692." In the latter year, he was raised to
the Council Board, being named as such in the
new Charter; and held his seat, by annual elections,
to the close of his life, in 1710. He seems
to have belonged to the Church of the Mathers,
as the father and son each preached and printed
a Sermon on the occasion of his death.</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Autograph Letter of <span class="smcap">Cotton Mather</span>, on Witchcraft,
presented to the Literary and Historical
Society, by the Honorable Chief-justice <span class="smcap">Sewell</span>.</i><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p></div>

<div class="blockquot"><p class="rgt">17<sup>th</sup> 6<sup>m</sup>, 1692.</p>

<p>"S<sup>r</sup>:</p>

<p>"You would know whether I still retain my
opinion about y<sup>e</sup> horrible Witchcrafts among
us, and I acknowledge that I do.</p>

<p>"I do still Think That when there is no further
Evidence against a person but only This,
That a Spectre in their shape does afflict a
neighbour, that Evidence is not enough to convict
y<sup>e</sup> *&nbsp;*&nbsp;* of Witchcraft.</p>

<p>"That the Divels have a natural power w<sup>ch</sup>
makes them capable of exhibiting what shape
they please I suppose nobody doubts, and I
have no absolute promise of God that they shall
not exhibit <i>mine</i>.</p>

<p>"It is the opinion generally of all protestant
writers that y<sup>e</sup> Divel may thus abuse y<sup>e</sup> innocent,
yea, tis y<sup>e</sup> confession of some popish ones.
And o<sup>r</sup> Honorable Judges are so eminent for
their Justice, Wisdom, &amp; Goodness that whatever
their own particular sense may bee, yett
they will not proceed capitally against any,
upon a principle contested with great odds on
y<sup>e</sup> other side in y<sup>e</sup> Learned and Godly world.</p>

<p>"<i>Nevertheless, a very great use is to bee made
of y<sup>e</sup> Spectral impression upon y<sup>e</sup> sufferers.
They Justly Introduce, and Determine, an Enquiry
into y<sup>e</sup> circumstances of y<sup>e</sup> person accused;
and they strengthen other presumptions.</i></p>

<p>"<i>When so much use is made of those Things,
I believe y<sup>e</sup> use for w<sup>ch</sup> y<sup>e</sup> Great God intends
y<sup>m</sup> is made.</i> And accordingly you see that y<sup>e</sup>
Eccellent Judges have had such an Encouraging
presence of God with them, as that scarce
any, if at all any, have been Tried before them,
against whom God has not strangely sent in
other, &amp; more Humane &amp; most convincing Testimonies.</p>

<p>"If any persons have been condemned, about
whom any of y<sup>e</sup> Judges, are not easy in their
minds, that y<sup>e</sup> Evidence against them, has been
satisfactory, it would certainly bee for y<sup>e</sup> glory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
of the whole Transaction to give that person a
Reprieve.</p>

<p>"It would make all matters easier if at least
Bail were taken for people Accused only by y<sup>e</sup>
invisible tormentors of y<sup>e</sup> poor sufferers and not
Blemished by any further Grounds of suspicion
against them.</p>

<p>"The odd Effects produced upon the sufferers
by y<sup>e</sup> look or touch of the accused are things
wherein y<sup>e</sup> Divels may as much Impose upon
some Harmless people as by the Representac&ocirc;n
of their shapes.</p>

<p>"My notion of these matters is this. A Suspected
and unlawful com'union with a Familiar
Spirit, is the Thing enquired after. The
communion on the <i>Divel's</i> part, may bee proved,
while, for ought I can say, The <i>man</i> may
bee Innocent; the Divel may impudently Impose
his com'union upon some that care not for
his company. But if the com'union on y<sup>e</sup> man's
part bee proved, then the Business is done.</p>

<p>"I am suspicious Lest y<sup>e</sup> Divel may at some
time or other, serve us a trick by his constancy
for a long while in one way of Dealing. Wee
may find the Divel using one constant course in
Nineteen several Actions, and yett hee bee too
hard for us at last, if wee thence make a Rule
to form an Infallible Judgement of a Twentieth.
It is o<sup>r</sup> singular Happiness That wee are blessed
with Judges who are Aware of this Danger.</p>

<p>"For my own part if the Holy God should
permitt such a Terrible calamity to befal myself
as that a Spectre in my Shape should so
molest my neighbourhood, as that they can have
no quiet, altho' there should be no other Evidence
against me, I should very patiently submit
unto a Judgement of <i>Transportation</i>, and
all reasonable men would count o<sup>r</sup> Judges to
Act, as they are like y<sup>e</sup> Fathers of y<sup>e</sup> public,
in such a Judgment. What if such a Thing
should be ordered for those whose Guilt is
more Dubious, and uncertain, whose presence
y<sup>s</sup> perpetuates y<sup>e</sup> miseries of o<sup>r</sup> sufferers?
They would cleanse y<sup>e</sup> Land of Witchcrafts,
and yett also prevent y<sup>e</sup> shedding of Innocent
Blood, whereof some are so apprehensive of
Hazard. If o<sup>r</sup> Judges want any Good Bottom,
to act thus upon, You know, that besides y<sup>e</sup>
usual power of Govern<sup>es</sup>, to Relax many Judgments
of Death, o<sup>r</sup> General Court can soon
provide a law.</p>

<p>"S<sup>r</sup>,</p>

<p>"You see y<sup>e</sup> Incoherency of my Thoughts
but I hope, you will also some Reasonableness
in those Thoughts.</p>

<p>"In the year 1645, a Vast Number of persons
in y<sup>e</sup> county of <i>Suffolk</i> were apprehended, as
Guilty of Witchcraft; whereof, some confessed.
The parlament granted a special commission
of <i>Oyer &amp; Terminer</i> for y<sup>e</sup> Trial of those
Witches; in w<sup>ch</sup> com'ission, there were a famous
Divine or two, M<sup>r</sup> <i>Fariclough</i> particularly
inserted. That Eccellent man did preach
two sermons to y<sup>e</sup> Court, before his first sitting
on y<sup>e</sup> Bench: Wherein having first proved the
Existence of Witches, hee afterwards showed
y<sup>e</sup> Evil of Endeavouring y<sup>e</sup> Conviction of any
upon Defective Evidence. The Sermon had
the Effect that none were Condemned, who
could bee saved w<sup>thout</sup> an Express Breach of
y<sup>e</sup> Law; &amp; then tho' 'twas possible some Guilty
did Escape, yett the troubles of those places,
were, I think Extinguished.</p>

<p>"O<sup>r</sup> case is Extraordinary. And so, you and
others will pardon y<sup>e</sup> Extraordinary Liberty I
take to address You on this occasion. But after
all, I Entreat you, that whatever you do,
you Strengthen y<sup>e</sup> Hands of o<sup>r</sup> Honourable
Judges in y<sup>e</sup> Great work before y<sup>m</sup>. They are
persons, for whom no man living has a greater
veneration, than</p>

<div class="bk2"><div class="bk3">"S<sup>r</sup>,<br />
<span class="ml4">Your Servant</span><br />
<span class="ml8"><span class="smcap">C. Mather</span>.</span></div>
<p class="clr">"For the Honourable <span class="smcap">John Foster, Esq.</span>"</p></div>
</div>

<p>This letter must be considered, I think, as settling
the question. It was written two days before
the execution of Burroughs, Proctor, and
others. It entirely disposes of the assertions of
the Reviewer, that Mather "denounced" the
"admission" of spectral testimony, and demonstrates
the truth of the positions, taken in this
article, that he authorized fully its admission, as
affording occasion of enquiry and matter of presumption,
sufficient, if reinforced by other evidence,
to justify conviction. The sentences I
have italicised leave no further room for discussion.
The language in which the Judges and
their conduct of the Trials are spoken of, could
not have been stronger. The reference to the
course taken in England, in 1645, sheds light
upon the suggestions I have made, as to Mather's
notion, that one or more Ministers&mdash;"a famous
Divine or two,"&mdash;ought to have been connected,
"by authority," with the Court of Oyer
and Terminer, in the management of the cases.
The idea thrown out, as to Transportation, could
hardly, it would seem, but have been apparent to
a reflecting person, as utterly impracticable. No
convicts or parties under indictment or arrest
for the crime of witchcraft, could have been
shipped off to any other part of the British dominions.
A vessel, with persons on board, with
such a stamp upon them, would have been everywhere
repelled with as much vehemence and
panic, as if freighted with the yellow fever, small-pox,
or plague. If the unhappy creatures she
bore beneath her hatches, should have been landed
in any other part of the then called Christian or
civilized world, stigmatized with the charge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
witchcraft, they would have met with the halter
or the fagot; and scarcely have fared better, if
cast upon any savage shore.</p>

<p>We have seen how our Reviewer <i>makes</i>, let
us now see how he <i>unmakes</i>, history.</p>

<p>Robert Calef, in his book entitled <i>More Wonders
of the Invisible World</i>, Part V., under the
head of "An impartial account of the most
memorable matters of fact, touching the supposed
Witchcraft in New England," [<i>p. 103</i>,]
says: "Mr. Burroughs was carried in a cart,
with the others, through the streets of Salem
to execution. When he was upon the ladder,
he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency,
with such solemn and serious expressions,
as were to the admiration of all present;
his prayer (which he concluded by repeating
the Lord's prayer) was so well worded, and
uttered with such composedness, and such (at
least seeming) fervency of spirit, as was very
affecting, and drew tears from many, so that
it seemed to some that the spectators would
hinder the execution. The accusers said the
black man stood and dictated to him. As
soon as he was turned off, Mr. Cotton Mather,
being mounted upon a horse, addressed himself
to the people, partly to declare that he (Burroughs)
was no ordained Minister, and partly
to possess the people of his guilt, saying that
the Devil has often been transformed into an
Angel of Light; and this somewhat appeased
the people; and the executions went on.
When he was cut down, he was dragged by
the halter to a hole, or grave, between the
rocks, about two feet deep, his shirt and
breeches being pulled off, and an old pair of
trowsers of one executed, put on his lower
parts; he was so put in, together with Willard
and Carrier, that one of his hands and his
chin, and a foot of one of them, were left uncovered."</p>

<p>The Reviewer undertakes to set aside this
statement; to erase it altogether from the record;
and to throw it from the belief and memory of
mankind. But this cannot be done, but by an
arbitrary process, that would wipe out all the
facts of all history, and leave the whole Past an
utter blank. If any record has passed the final
ordeal, this has. It is beyond the reach of denial;
and no power on earth can start the solid
foundation on which it stands. It consists of
distinct, plainly stated averments, which, as a
whole, or severally, if not true, and known to be
true, might have been denied, or questioned, at
the time. Not disputed, nor controverted, then,
it never can be. If not true to the letter, so far
as Cotton Mather is concerned, hundreds, nay
thousands, were at hand, who would have contradicted
it. Certificates without number, like
that of John Goodwin, would have been procured
to invalidate it. Consisting of specifications,
in detail, if there had been in it the minutest
item that could have admitted contradiction,
it would have been seized upon, and
used with the utmost eagerness to break the
force of the statement. It was printed at London,
in 1700, in a volume accredited there, and
immediately put into circulation here, twenty-eight
years before the death of Mather. He had
a copy of it, now in possession of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, and wrote on the
inside of the front cover, "My desire is, that
mine adversary had written a book," etc. His
father, the President of Harvard University, had
a copy; for the book was burned in the College-square.
Everything contributed to call universal
attention to it. Its author was known,
avowed, and his name printed on the title page;
he lived in the same town with Mather; and
was in all respects a responsible man.</p>

<p>No attempt was made, at the time, nor at any
time, until now, to overthrow the statement or
disprove any of its specifications.</p>

<p>Let us see how the Reviewer undertakes to
controvert it. As to Mather's being on horseback,
the argument seems to be, that it was
customary, then, for people to travel in that way!</p>

<p>The harangue to the people to prevail upon
them to pay no heed to the composed, devout,
and forgiving deportment of the sufferers,
because the Devil often appeared as an
Angel of Light, sounded strangely from one who
had attended the prisoners as their "spiritual
comforter and friend." It was a queer
conclusion of his services of consolation and
pastoral offices, to proclaim to the crowd, that
the truly Christian expressions of the persons in
his charge were all a diabolical sham. One
would have thought, if he accompanied them
in the capacity alleged, he would have dismounted
before ascending the hill, and tenderly
waited upon them, side by side, holding them
by the hand and sustaining them by his arm, as
they approached the fatal ladder; and that his
last benedictions, upon their departing souls,
would have been in somewhat different language.
That language was entirely natural,
however, believing, as he did, that they were
all guilty of the unpardonable sin, in its blackest
dye; that, obstinately refusing to confess,
they were reprobates, sunk far below the ordinary
level of human crime, beyond the pale of
sympathy or prayer, enemies of God, in covenant
with the Devil, and firebrands of Hell. All this
he believed. Of course, he could not pray <i>with</i>,
and could hardly be expected to pray <i>for</i>, them.
The language ascribed to him by Calef, expressed
his honest convictions; bears the stamp of credibility;
was not denied or disavowed, then; and
cannot be discredited, now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>

<p>If those sufferers, wearing the resplendent
aspect of faith, forgiveness, and piety, in their
dying hour, were, in reality, "the Devil appearing
as the Angel of Light," nobody but the
Reviewer is to blame for charging Mather with
being his "spiritual adviser and counsellor."</p>

<p>The Reviewer says that the horse Mather rode
on that occasion, "has been tramping through
history, for nearly two centuries. It is time
that he be reined up." Not having been
reined up by Mather, it is in vain for the Reviewer
to attempt it. Mazeppa, on his wild steed,
was not more powerless. The "man on horseback,"
described by Calef, will go tramping
on through all the centuries to come, as through
the "nearly two centuries" that have passed.</p>

<p>To discredit another part of the statement of
Calef, the Reviewer cites the <i>Description and
History of Salem</i>, by the Rev. William Bentley,
in the Sixth Volume of the First Series of the
<i>Massachusetts Historical Collections</i>, printed in
1800, quoting the following passage: "It was
said that the bodies were not properly buried;
but, upon an examination of the ground, the
graves were found of the usual depth, and remains
of the bodies, and of the wood in
which they were interred."</p>

<p>At the time when this was written, there was
a tradition to that effect. But it is understood
that, early in this century, an examination was
made of the spot, pointed out by the tradition
upon which Bentley had relied, and nothing was
found to sustain it. It is apparent that this tradition
was, to some extent, incorrect, because it
is quite certain that three, and probably most, of
the bodies were recovered by their friends, at the
time; but chiefly because it is believed, on sufficient
grounds, that the locality, indicated in the
tradition that had reached Doctor Bentley, was,
in 1692, covered by the original forest. Of course,
a passage through woods, to a spot, even now,
after the trees have been wholly removed from
the hill and all its sides, so very difficult of access,
would not have been encountered; neither can it
be supposed that an open area would have been
elaborately prepared for the place of execution,
in the midst of a forest, entirely shut in from observation,
by surrounding trees, with their thick
foliage, in that season of the year. If seclusion
had been the object, a wooded spot might
have been found, near at hand, on level areas,
anywhere in the neighborhood of the town. But
it was not a secluded, but a conspicuous, place
that was sought; not only an elevated, but an
open, theatre for the awe-inspiring spectacle, displaying
to the whole people and world&mdash;to use
the language employed by Mather, in the <i>Advice
of the Ministers</i> and in one of his letters to Richards&mdash;the
"Success" of the Court, in "extinguishing
that horrible witchcraft."</p>

<p>Another tradition, brought down through a
family, ever since residing on the same spot, in
the neighborhood, and from the longevity of its
successive heads, passing through but few memories,
and for that reason highly deserving of
credit, is, that its representative, at that time, lent
his aid in the removal of the bodies of the victims,
in the night, and secretly, across the river, in
a boat. The recollections of the transaction are
preserved in considerable detail. From the locality,
it is quite certain that the bodies were brought
to it from the southern end of Witch-hill. From
a recently-discovered letter of Dr. Holyoke,
mentioned in my book [<i>ii., 377</i>], it appears
that the executions must have taken place there.
The earth is so thin, scattered between projecting
ledges of rock, which, indeed, cover much of the
surface, that few trees probably ever grew there;
and a bare, elevated platform afforded a conspicuous
site, and room for the purpose. These conclusions,
to which recent discoveries and explorations
have led, remarkably confirm Calef's statements.
From Sheriff Corwin's <i>Return</i>, we know
that the first victim was buried "in the place"
where she was executed; and it may be supposed
all the rest were. The soil is shallow, near the
brow of the precipice and between the clefts of
the rock.</p>

<p>The Reviewer desires to know my authority for
saying that the ground, where Burroughs was
buried, "was trampled down by the mob." I
presume that when, less than five weeks afterwards,
eight more persons were hanged there, belonging
to respectable families in what are now
Peabody, Marblehead, Topsfield, Rowley and Andover,
as well as Salem, and a spectacle again
presented to which crowds flocked from all quarters,
and to which many particularly interested
must have been drawn, besides those from the
populous neighborhood, especially if men "on
horseback" mingled in the throng, the ground
must have been considerably trampled upon.
Poor Burroughs had been suddenly torn from his
family and home, more than a hundred miles
away; there were no immediate connections, here,
who would have been likely to recover his remains;
and, it is therefore probable, they had
been left where they were thrown, near the foot
of the gallows.</p>

<p>There is one point upon which the Reviewer is
certain he has "demolished" Calef. The latter
speaks of the victims as having been hanged,
one after another. The Reviewer says, the mode
of execution was to have them "swung off at
once;" and further uses this argument: "Calef
himself furnishes us with evidence that such
was the practice in Salem, where eight persons
were hanged thirty-six days later. He says,
'After the execution, Mr. Noyes, turning him
to the bodies, said&mdash;What a sad thing it is to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
see eight firebrands of Hell hanging there.'"</p>

<p>The argument is, eight were hanging there together,
after the execution; therefore, they must
have been swung off at the same moment!</p>

<p>This is a kind of reasoning with which&mdash;to
adopt Mather's expression in describing diabolical
horrors, capital trials, and condemnations to
death&mdash;we are "entertained" throughout by the
Reviewer. The truth is, we have no particular
knowledge of the machinery, or its operations, at
these executions. A "halter," a "ladder," a
"gallows," a "hangman," are spoken of. The
expression used for the final act is, "turned off."
There is no shadow of evidence to contradict
Calef. The probabilities seem to be against the
supposition of a structure, on a scale so large, as
to allow room for eight persons to be turned off
at once. The outstretching branches from large
trees, on the borders of the clearing, would have
served the purpose, and a ladder, connected with
a simple frame, might have been passed from tree
to tree.</p>

<p>The Regicides, thirty years before, had been executed
in England in the method Calef understood
to have been used here. Hugh Peters was
carried to execution with Judge Cook. The latter
suffered first; and when Peters ascended the
ladder, turning to the officer of the law, he uttered
these memorable words, exhibiting a state
of the faculties, a grandeur of bearing, and a
force and felicity of language and illustration, all
the circumstances considered, not surpassed in
the records of Christian heroism or true eloquence:
"Sir, you have slain one of the servants
of God, before mine eyes, and have made me
to behold it, on purpose to terrify and discourage
me; but God hath made it an ordinance
unto me, for my strengthening and encouragement."</p>

<p>While the trials were going on, Mather made
use of his pulpit to influence the public mind, already
wrought up to frenzy, to greater heights of
fanaticism, by portraying, in his own peculiar
style, the out-breaking battle between the Church
and the Devil. On the day before Burroughs,
who was regarded as the head of the Church, and
General of the forces, of Satan, was brought to
the Bar, Mather preached a Sermon from the text,
<i>Rev.</i>, xii., 12. "Wo to the inhabitants of the earth,
and of the Sea! for the Devil is come down
unto you, having great wrath, because he
knoweth he hath but a short time." It is thickly
interspersed with such passages as these:
"Now, at last, the Devils are, (if I may so
speak), <i>in Person</i> come down upon us, with
such a wrath, as is most justly <i>much</i>, and will
quickly be <i>more</i>, the astonishment of the world."
"There is little room for hope, that the great
wrath of the Devil will not prove the ruin of
our poor New England, in particular. I believe
there never was a poor plantation more
pursued by the wrath of the Devil than our
poor New England." "We may truly say, <i>Tis
the hour and power of darkness</i>. But, though
the wrath be so great, the time is but short:
when we are perplexed with the wrath of the
Devil, the word of our God, at the same time,
unto us, is that in <i>Rom.</i>, xvi., 20. '<i>The God of
Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.</i>'
Shortly, didst thou say, dearest Lord? O
gladsome word! Amen, even so, come Lord!
Lord Jesus, come quickly! We shall never be
rid of this troublesome Devil, till thou do come
to chain him up."&mdash;<i>Wonders, etc.</i></p>

<p>There is much in the Sermon that relates to the
sins of the people, generally, and some allusions
to the difficulties that encompass the subject of
diabolical appearances; but the witchcraft in Salem
is portrayed in colors, which none but a thorough
believer in all that was there brought forward,
could apply; the whole train of ideas and
exhortations is calculated to inflame the imaginations
and passions of the people; and it is closed
by "An hortatory and necessary Address to a
country now extraordinarily alarum'd by the
Wrath of the Devil." In this Address, he goes,
at length, into the horrible witchcraft at Salem
Village. "Such," says he, "is the descent of
the Devil, at this day, upon ourselves, that I
may truly tell you, the walls of the whole world
are broken down." He enumerates, as undoubtedly
true, in detail, all that was said by the "afflicted
children" and "confessing witches."
He says of the reputed witches: "They each of
them have their spectres or devils, commissioned
by them, and representing of them, to be the
engines of their malice." Such expressions as
these are scattered over the pages, "wicked spectres,"
"diabolical spectres," "owners of spectres,"
"spectre's hands," "spectral book," etc.</p>

<p>And yet it is stated, by the Reviewer, that
Mather was opposed to spectral evidence, and denounced
it! He gave currency to it, in the popular
faith, during the whole period, while the
trials and executions were going on, more than
any other man.</p>

<p>He preached another Sermon, of the same kind,
entitled, <i>The Devil Discovered</i>.</p>

<p>After the trials by the Special Court were over,
and that body had been forbidden to meet on the
day to which it had adjourned, he addressed another
letter to John Richards, one of its members,
dated "Dec. 14th, 1692," to be found in the <i>Mather
Papers</i>, p. 397. It is a characteristic document,
and, in some points of view, commendable.
Its purpose was to induce Richards to consent
to a measure he was desirous of introducing
into his pastoral administration, to which Richards
and one other member of his Church had
manifested repugnance. Cotton Mather was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
advance of his times, in liberality of views, relating
to denominational matters. He desired to
open the door to the Ordinances, particularly Baptism,
wider than was the prevalent practice. He
urges his sentiments upon Richards in earnest and
fitting tones; but resorts, also, to flattering, and
what may be called coaxing, tones. He calls him,
"My ever-honored Richards," "Dearest Sir,"
"my dear Major," and reminds him of the public
and constant support he had given to his official
conduct: "I have signalized my perpetual respects
before the whole world." In this letter,
he refers to the Salem witchcraft prosecutions,
and pronounces unqualified approval and high
encomiums upon Richards's share in the proceedings,
as one of the Judges. "God has made
more than an ordinary use of your honorable
hand," in "the extinguishing" of "that horrible
witchcraft," into which "the Devils have
been baptizing so many of our miserable neighbors."
This language is hardly consistent with
a serious, substantial, considerable, or indeed
with any, disapprobation of the proceedings of
the Court.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society
of Quebec</i>&mdash;Octavo, Quebec, 1831&mdash;ii., 313-316.</p></div>
</div>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI.</h2>

<h3>LETTER TO STEPHEN SEWALL. "WONDERS OF THE
INVISIBLE WORLD." ITS ORIGIN AND DESIGN.
COTTON MATHER'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIALS.</h3>

<p>I come now to the examination of matters of
interest and importance, not only as illustrating the
part acted by Mather in the witchcraft affair, but
as bearing upon the public history of the Province
of Massachusetts Bay, at that time.</p>

<p>The reader is requested carefully to examine
the following letter, addressed by Cotton Mather
to Stephen Sewall, Clerk of the Court at Salem.</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p class="rgt">"<span class="smcap">Boston</span>, Sept. 20, 1692.</p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear and my very obliging Stephen</span>,</p>

<p>"It is my hap, to bee continually *&nbsp;*&nbsp;* with all
sorts of objections, and objectors against the *&nbsp;*&nbsp;*
work now doing at Salem, and it is my further
good hap, to do some little Service for God and
you, in my encounters.</p>

<p>"But, that I may be the more capable to assist,
in lifting up a standard against the infernal enemy,
I must renew my most <span class="smcapl">IMPORTUNATE REQUEST</span>,
that would please quickly to perform,
what you kindly promised, of giving me a narrative
of the evidence given in at the trials of
half a dozen, or if you please, a dozen, of the
principal witches, that have been condemned.
I know 'twill cost you some time; but when
you are sensible of the benefit that will follow,
I know you will not think much of that
cost, and my own willingness to expose myself
unto the utmost for the defence of my friends
with you, makes me presume to plead something
of merit, to be considered.</p>

<p>"I shall be content, if you draw up the desired
narrative by way of letter to me, or at least,
let it not come without a letter, wherein you
shall, if you can, intimate over again, what you
have sometimes told me, of the awe, which is
upon the hearts of your Juries, with *&nbsp;*&nbsp;* unto
the validity of the spectral evidences.</p>

<p>"Please also to *&nbsp;*&nbsp;* some of your observations
about the confessors, and the credibility of
what they assert; or about things evidently preternatural
in the witchcrafts, and whatever else
you may account an entertainment, for an inquisitive
person, that entirely loves you, and
Salem. Nay, though I will never lay aside the
character which I mentioned in my last words,
yet, I am willing that, when you write, you
should imagine me as obstinate a Sadducee
and witch-advocate, as any among us: address
me as one that believed nothing reasonable;
and when you have so knocked me down, in a
spectre so unlike me, you will enable me to
box it about, among my neighbors, till it come,
I know not where at last.</p>

<p>"But assure yourself, as I shall not wittingly
make what you write prejudicial to any worthy
design, which those two excellent persons, Mr.
Hale and Mr. Noyes, may have in hand, so
you shall find that I shall be,</p>

<div class="bk3">"Sir, your grateful friend,<br />
<span class="ml8"><span class="smcap">C. Mather</span>."</span></div>

<p class="clr">"P. S. That which very much strengthens the
charms of the request, which this letter makes
you, is that his Excellency, the Governor, laid
his positive commands upon me to desire this
favor of you; and the truth is, there are some
of his circumstances with reference to this affair,
which I need not mention, that call for
the expediting of your kindness, <i>kindness</i>, I
say, for such it will be esteemed, as well by
him, as by your servant, <span class="smcap">C. Mather</span>."</p></div>

<p>The point, on which the Reviewer raises an objection
to the statement in my book, in reference
to this letter, is, as to the antecedent of "it," in
the expression, "box it about." The opinion I
gave was that it referred to the document requested
to be sent by Sewall. The Reviewer says
it refers to "a Spectre," in the preceding line, or
as he expresses it, "the fallen Spectre of Sadduceeism."
Every one can judge for himself on
inspection of the passage. After all, it is a mere
quibbling about words, for the meaning remains
substantially the same. Indeed, that which he
gives is more to my purpose. Let it go, that
Mather desired the document, and intended to
use it, to break down all objectors to the work
then doing in Salem. Whoever disapproved of
such proceedings, or intimated any doubt concerning
the popular notions about witchcraft,
were called "Sadducees and witch-advocates."
These terms were used by Mather, on all occasions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
as marks of opprobrium, to stigmatize and
make odious such persons. If they could once be
silenced, witchcraft demonstrations and prosecutions
might be continued, without impediment or
restraint, until they should "come," no one could
tell "where, at last." "The fallen Spectre of
Sadduceeism" was to be the trophy of Mather's
victory; and Sewall's letter was to be the weapon
to lay it low.</p>

<p>Each of the paragraphs of this letter demonstrates
the position Mather occupied, and the part
he had taken, in the transactions at Salem. Mr.
Hale had acted, up to this time, earnestly with
Noyes and Parris; and the letter shows that Mather
had the sympathies and the interests of a cooperator
with them, and in their "designs."
Every person of honorable feelings can judge for
himself of the suggestion to Sewall, to be a partner
in a false representation to the public, by addressing
Mather "in a spectre so unlike" him&mdash;that
is, in a character which he, Sewall, knew, as
well as Mather, to be wholly contrary to the
truth. Blinded, active, and vehement, as the
Clerk of the Court had been, in carrying on the
prosecutions, it is gratifying to find reason to conclude
that he was not so utterly lost to self-respect
as to comply with the jesuitical request, or lend
himself to any such false connivance.</p>

<p>The letter was written at the height of the fury
of the delusion, immediately upon a Session of
the Court, at which all tried had been condemned,
eight of whom suffered two days after its
date. Any number of others were under sentence
of death. The letter was a renewal of "a most
importunate request."</p>

<p>I cite it, here, at this stage of the examination
of the subject, particularly on account of the postscript.
Every one has been led to suppose that
"His Excellency, the Governor," who had laid
such "positive commands" upon Mather to obtain
the desired document from Sewall, was Sir William
Phips. The avowed purpose of Mather, in seeking
it, was to put it into circulation&mdash;to "box it
about"&mdash;thereby to produce an effect, to the
putting down of Sadduceeism, or all further opposition
to witchcraft prosecutions. He, undoubtedly,
contemplated making it a part of his book,
the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>, printed,
the next year, in London. The statement made
by him always was, that he wrote that book in
compliance with orders laid upon him to that effect
by "His Excellency, the Governor." The
imprimatur, in conspicuous type, in front of one
of the editions of the book, is "Published by the
special command of his Excellency, the Governor
of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay
in New England."</p>

<p>On the sixteenth of September, Sir William
Phips had notified the Council of his going to the
eastward; and that body was adjourned to the
fourteenth of October. From his habitual
promptness, and the pressing exigency of affairs
in the neighborhood of the Kennebec, it is to be
presumed that he left immediately; and, as it was
expected to be a longer absence than usual, it can
hardly be doubted that, as on the first of August,
he formally, by a written instrument, passed the
Government over to Stoughton. At any rate,
while he was away from his Province proper, the
Deputy necessarily acceded to the Executive functions.</p>

<p>In the Sewall Diary we find the following:
"<span class="smcap">Sept.</span> 21. A petition is sent to Town, in behalf
of Dorcas Hoar, who now confesses. Accordingly,
an order is sent to the Sheriff to forbear
her execution, notwithstanding her being in the
Warrant to die to-morrow. This is the first condemned
person who has confessed."</p>

<p>The granting of this reprieve was an executive
act, that would seem to have belonged to the
functions of the person filling the office of Governor;
and Phips being absent, it could only have
been performed by Stoughton, and shows, therefore,
that he, at that time, acted as Governor.
As such, he was, by custom and etiquette, addressed&mdash;"His
Excellency." The next day, eight
were executed, four of them having been sentenced
on the ninth of September, and four on
the seventeenth, which was on Saturday. The
whole eight were included, as is to be inferred
from the foregoing entry, and is otherwise known,
in the same Warrant, which could not, therefore,
have been made out before the nineteenth. The
next day, Mather wrote the letter to Sewall; and
the language, in its Postscript, may have referred
to Stoughton; particularly this clause: "There
are some of his circumstances, with reference
to this affair." As Phips had, from the first,
left all the proceedings with the Chief-justice,
who had presided at all the trials, and was, by
universal acknowledgment, especially responsible
for all the proceedings and results, the words of
Mather are much more applicable to Stoughton
than to Phips.</p>

<p>Upon receiving these "importunate requests"
from Mather, proposing such a form of reply, to
be used in such a way, Sewall thought it best to
adopt the course indicated in the following entry,
in the Diary of his brother, the Judge: "<span class="smcap">Thursday,
Sept.</span> 22, 1692. William Stoughton, Esq.,
John Hathorne, Esq., Mr. Cotton Mather, and
Capt. John Higginson, with my brother St.
were at our house, speaking about publishing
some trials of the witches."</p>

<p>It appears that Stephen Sewall, instead of answering
Mather's letter in writing, went directly
to Boston, accompanied by Hathorne and Higginson,
and met Mather and Stoughton at the
house of the Judge. No other Minister was
present; and Judge Sewall was not Mather's parishioner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
The whole matter was there talked
over. The project Mather had been contemplating
was matured; and arrangements made
with Stephen Sewall, who had them in his custody,
to send to Mather the Records of the
trials; and, thus provided, he proceeded, without
further delay, in obedience to the commands
laid upon him by "his Excellency," to prepare
for the press, <i>The Wonders of the Invisible World</i>,
which was designed to send to the shades, "Sadduceeism,"
to extirpate "witch-advocates," and to
leave the course clear for the indefinite continuance
of the prosecutions, until, as Stoughton expressed
it, "the land was cleared" of all witches.</p>

<p>The presence of the Deputy-governor, at this
private conference, shows the prominent part he
bore in the movement, and corroborates, what is
inferrible from the dates, that he was "His Excellency,
the Governor," referred to in the documents
connected with this transaction. It is
observable, by the way, that the references are
always to the official character and title, and not
to the name of the person, whether Phips or
Stoughton.</p>

<p>I now proceed to examine the book, written
and brought forward, under these circumstances
and for this purpose. It contains much of which
I shall avail myself, to illustrate the position and
the views of Mather, at the time. The length
to which this article is extended, by the method I
have adopted of quoting documents so fully, is
regretted; but it seems necessary, in order to
meet the interest that has been awakened in the
subject, by the article in the <i>North American Review</i>,
to make the enquiry as thorough as possible.</p>

<p>Only a part of the work is devoted to the main
purpose for which it was ostensibly and avowedly
designed. That I shall first notice. It is introduced
as follows: "I shall no longer detain my
reader from his expected entertainment, in a
brief account of the Trials which have passed
upon some of the Malefactors lately executed
at Salem, for the witchcrafts whereof they stood
convicted. For my own part, I was not present
at any of them; nor ever had I any personal
prejudice at the persons thus brought
upon the Stage; much less, at the surviving relations
of those persons, with and for whom I
would be as hearty a mourner, as any man living
in the world: <i>The Lord comfort them!</i>
But having received a command so to do, I can
do no other than shortly relate the chief <i>Matters
of Fact</i>, which occurred in the trials of
some that were executed; in an abridgement
collected out of the <i>Court Papers</i>, on this occasion
put into my hands. You are to take the
<i>Truth</i>, just as it was."&mdash;<i>Wonders of the Invisible
World, p. 54.</i></p>

<p>He singles out five cases and declares: "I report
matters not as an <i>Advocate</i>, but as an <i>Historian</i>."</p>

<p>After further prefacing his account, by relating,
<i>A modern instance of Witches, discovered
and condemned, in a trial before that celebrated
Judge, Sir Matthew Hale</i>, he comes to the trial
of George Burroughs. He spreads out, without
reserve, the spectral evidence, given in this as in
all the cases, and without the least intimation of
objection from himself, or any one else, to its being
<i>admitted</i>, as, "with other things to render it
credible" enough for the purpose of conviction.
Any one reading his account, and at the same
time examining the documents on file, will be
able to appreciate how far he was justified in
saying, that he reported it in the spirit of an historian
rather than an advocate.</p>

<p>Let, us, first, see what the "Court papers, put
into his hands," amounted to; as we find them
in the files.</p>

<p>"The Deposition of Simon Willard, aged about
42 years, saith: I being at Saco, in the year 1689,
some in Capt. Ed. Sargent's garrison were speaking
of Mr. George Burroughs his great strength,
saying he could take a barrel of molasses out of
a canoe or boat, alone; and that he could take it
in his hands, or arms, out of the canoe or boat,
and carry it, and set it on the shore: and Mr.
Burroughs being there, said that he had carried
one barrel of molasses or cider out of a canoe,
that had like to have done him a displeasure;
said Mr. Burroughs intimated, as if he did not
want strength to do it, but the disadvantage of
the shore was such, that, his foot slipping
in the sand, he had liked to have strained his
leg."</p>

<p>Willard was uncertain whether Burroughs had
stated it to be molasses or cider. John Brown
testified about a "barrel of cider." Burroughs
denied the statement, as to the molasses, thereby
impliedly admitting that he had so carried a barrel
of cider.</p>

<p>Samuel Webber testified that, seven or eight
years before, Burroughs told him that, by putting
his fingers into the bung of a barrel of
molasses, he had lifted it up, and "carried it
round him, and set it down again."</p>

<p>Parris, in his notes of this trial, not in the files,
says that "<i>Capt. Wormwood</i> testified about the
gun and the molasses." But the papers on file
give the name as "<i>Capt. W<sup>m</sup> Wormall</i>," and represents
that he, referring to the gun, "swore"
that he "saw George Burroughs raise it from
the ground." His testimony, with this exception,
was merely confirmatory, in general terms,
of another deposition of Simon Willard, to the
effect, that Burroughs, in explanation of one of
the stories about his great strength, showed him
how he held a gun of "about seven foot barrel,"
by taking it "in his hand behind the lock,"
and holding it out; Willard further stating that
he did not see him "hold it out then," and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
he, Willard, so taking the gun with both hands,
could not hold it out long enough to take sight.
The testimony, throughout, was thus loose and
conflicting, almost wholly mere hearsay, of no
value, logically or legally. All that was really
proved being what Burroughs admitted, that is,
as to the cider.</p>

<p>But, in the statement made by him to Willard,
at Saco, as deposed by the latter, he mentioned a
circumstance, namely, the straining of his leg,
which, if not true, could easily have been disproved,
that demonstrated the effort to have been
made, and the feat accomplished, by the natural
exercise of muscular power. If preternatural
force had aided him, it would have been supplied
in sufficient quantity to have prevented such
a mishap. To convey the impression that the
exhibitions of strength ascribed to Burroughs
were proofs of diabolical assistance, and demonstrations
that he was guilty of the crime of
witchcraft, Mather says "he was a very puny
man, yet he had often done things beyond the
strength of a giant." There is nothing to justify
the application of the word "puny" to him,
except that he was of small stature. Such persons
are often very strong. Burroughs had, from
his college days, been noted for gymnastic exercises.
There is nothing, I repeat, to justify the
use of the word, by Mather, in the sense he designed
to convey, of bodily weakness.</p>

<p>The truth is, that his extraordinary muscular
power, as exhibited in such feats as lifting
the barrel of cider, was the topic of neighborhood
talk; and there was much variation, as is
usual in such cases, some having it a barrel of
cider, and some, of molasses. There is, among
the Court papers, a <i>Memorandum, in Mr.
George Burroughs trial, beside the written
evidences</i>. One item is the testimony of
Thomas Evans, "that he carried out barrels of
molasses, meat, &amp;c., out of a canoe, whilst his
mate went to the fort for hands to help out
with." Here we see another variation of the
story. The amount of it is, that, while the mate
thought assistance needed, and went to get it,
Burroughs concluded to do the work himself. If
the Prisoner had been allowed Counsel; or any
discernment been left in the Judges, the whole of
this evidence would have been thrown out of
account, as without foundation and frivolous
in its character; yet Increase Mather, who was
present, was entirely carried away with it, and
declared that, upon it alone, if on the Bench or
in the jury-box, he would have convicted the
Prisoner.</p>

<p>It is quite doubtful, however, whether the
above testimony of Evans was given in, at the
trial; for the next clause, in the same paragraph,
is Sarah Wilson's confession, that: "The night
before Mr. Burroughs was executed, there was
a great meeting of the witches, nigh Sargeant
Chandlers, that Mr. Burroughs was there, and
they had the sacrament, and after they had
done, he took leave, and bid them stand to
their faith, and not own any thing. Martha
Tyler saith the same with Sarah Wilson, and
several others."</p>

<p>The testimony of these two confessing witches,
"and several others," relating, as it did, to what
was alleged to have happened "the night before
Mr. Burroughs was executed," could not have
been given at his trial, nor until after his death.
Yet, as but three other confessing witches are mentioned
in the files of this case, Mather must have
relied upon this Memorandum to make up the
"eight" said, by him, to have testified, "in the
prosecution of the charge" against Burroughs.
Hale, misled, perhaps, by the Memorandum, uses
the indefinite expression "seven or eight."
We know that one of the confessing witches,
who had given evidence against Burroughs,
retracted it before the Court, previous to his execution;
but Mather makes no mention of that
fact.</p>

<p>To go back to the barrel Mr. Burroughs lifted.
I have stated the substance of the whole testimony
relating to the point. Mather characterizes
it, thus, in his report of the trial: "There was
evidence likewise brought in, that he made
nothing of taking up whole barrels, filled with
molasses or cider, in very disadvantageous positions,
and carrying them off, through the most
difficult places, out of a canoe to the shore."</p>

<p>He made up this statement, as its substance
and phraseology show, from Willard's deposition,
then lying before him. In his use of that part of
the evidence, in particular, as of the whole evidence,
generally, the reader can judge whether
he exhibited the spirit of an historian or of an
advocate; and whether there was any thing to
justify his expression, "made nothing of."</p>

<p>Any one scrutinizing the evidence, which,
strange to say, was allowed to come in on a trial
for witchcraft, relating to alleged misunderstandings
between Burroughs and his two wives, involved
in an alienation between him and some of
the relations of the last, will see that it amounts
to nothing more than the scandals incident to imbittered
parish quarrels, and inevitably engendered
in such a state of credulity and malevolence,
as the witchcraft prosecutions produced. Yet
our "historian," in his report of the case, says:
"Now G. B. had been infamous, for the barbarous
usage of his two successive wives, all
the country over."</p>

<p>In my book, in connection with another piece
of evidence in the papers, given, like that of the
confessing witches just referred to, long after
Burroughs's execution, I expressed surprise that
the irregularity of putting such testimony among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
the documents belonging to the trial, escaped the
notice of Hutchinson, eminent jurist as he was,
and also of Calef. The Reviewer represents this
remark as one of my "very grave and unsupported
charges against the honesty of Cotton Mather."
I said nothing about Mather in connection with
that point, but expressed strong disapprobation
of the conduct of the official persons who procured
the deposition to be made, and of those
having the custody of the papers. The Reviewer,
imagining that my censure was levelled at
Mather, and resolved to defend him, through
thick and thin, denies that the document in question
was "surreptitiously foisted in." But there
it was, when Mather had the papers, and there
it now is,&mdash;its date a month after Burroughs was
in his rocky grave. The Reviewer says that if I
had looked to the end of Mather's notice of the
document, or observed the brackets in which it
was enclosed, I would have seen that Mather says
that the paper was not used at the trial. I stated
the fact, expressly, and gave Mather's explanation
"that the man was overpersuaded by others to be
out of the way upon George Burroughs's trial."
[<i>ii., 300, 303</i>] I found no fault with Mather, in
connection with the paper; and am not answerable,
at all, for the snarl in which the Reviewer's
mind has become entangled, in his eagerness to
assail my book.</p>

<p>I ask a little further attention to this matter,
because it affords an illustration of Mather's singular,
but characteristic, method of putting
things, often deceiving others, and sometimes,
perhaps, himself. I quote the paragraph from
his report of the trial of Burroughs, in the <i>Wonders
of the Invisible World</i>, p. 64: "There
were two testimonies, that G. B. with only
putting the fore-finger of his right hand into
the muzzle of an heavy gun, a fowling-piece of
about six or seven foot barrel, did lift up the
gun, and hold it out at arms end; a gun which
the deponents, though strong men, could not,
with both hands, lift up, and hold out, at the
butt end, as is usual. Indeed, one of these witnesses
was overpersuaded by some persons to
be out of the way, upon G. B.'s trial; but he
came afterwards, with sorrow for his withdraw;
and gave in his testimony; nor were either of
these witnesses made use of as evidences in the
trial."</p>

<p>The Reviewer says that Mather included the
above paragraph in "brackets," to apprise the
reader that the evidence, to which it relates, was
not given at the trial. It is true that the brackets
are found in the Boston edition: but they
are omitted, in the London edition, of the same
year, 1693. If it was thought expedient to prevent
misunderstanding, or preserve the appearance
of fairness, <i>here</i>, the precaution was not provided
for the English reader. He was left to receive
the impression from the opening words,
"there were two testimonies," that they were given
at the trial, and to run the luck of having it
removed by the latter part of the paragraph.
The whole thing is so stated as to mystify and
obscure. There were "<i>two</i>" testimonies; "<i>one</i>"
is said not to have been presented; and then, that
neither was presented. The reader, not knowing
what to make of it, is liable to carry off nothing
distinctly, except that, somehow, "there were testimonies"
brought to bear against Burroughs;
whereas not a syllable of it came before the Court.</p>

<p>Never going out of my way to criticise Cotton
Mather, nor breaking the thread of my story for
that purpose, I did not, in my book, call attention
to this paragraph, as to its bearing upon him, but
the strange use the Reviewer has made of it
against me, compels its examination, in detail.</p>

<p>What right had Mather to insert this paragraph,
at all, in his report of the <i>trial</i> of George Burroughs?
It refers to extra-judicial and gratuitous
statements that had nothing to do with the trial,
made a month after Burroughs had passed out of
Court and out of the world, beyond the reach of
all tribunals and all Magistrates. It was not true
that "there were two testimonies" to the facts
alleged, <i>at the trial</i>, which, and which alone,
Mather was professing to report. It is not a sufficient
justification, that he contradicted, in the
last clause, what he said in the first. This was
one of Mather's artifices, as a writer, protecting
himself from responsibility, while leaving an impression.</p>

<p>Mather says there were "<i>two</i>" witnesses of the
facts alleged in the paragraph. Upon a careful
re-examination of the papers on file, there appears
to have been only <i>one</i>, in support of it. It
stands solely on the single disposition of Thomas
Greenslitt, of the fifteenth of September, 1692.
The deponent mentions two other persons, by
name, "and some others that are dead," who witnessed
the exploit. But no evidence was given
by them; and the muzzle story, according to the
papers on file, stands upon the deposition of Greenslitt
alone. The paragraph gives the idea that
Greenslitt put himself out of the way, at the time
of the trial of Burroughs; but there is reason to
believe that he lived far down in the eastern
country, and subsequently came voluntarily to Salem,
from his distant home, to be present at the
trial of his mother. The deposition was obtained
from him in the period between her condemnation
and execution. The motives that may have
led the prosecutors to think it important to procure,
and the probable inducement that led him
to give, the deposition are explained in my book
[<i>ii., 298</i>]. Greenslitt states that "the gun was of
six-foot barrel or thereabouts." Mather reports
him as saying "about six or seven foot barrel."
The account of the trial of Burroughs, throughout,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
is charged with extreme prejudice against
the Prisoner; and the character of the evidence
is exaggerated.</p>

<p>One of the witnesses, in the trial of Bridget
Bishop, related a variety of mishaps, such as the
stumping of the off-wheel of his cart, the breaking
of the gears, and a general coming to pieces
of the harness and vehicle, on one occasion; and
his not being able, on another, to lift a bag of
corn as easily as usual; and he ascribed it all to
the witchery of the Prisoner. Mather gives his
statement, concluding thus: "Many other pranks
of this Bishop this deponent was ready to testify."
He endorses every thing, however absurd,
especially if resting on spectral evidence, as absolute,
unquestionable, and demonstrated facts.</p>

<p>Nothing was proved against the moral character
of Susannah Martin; and nothing was brought to
bear upon her, but the most ridiculous and shameful
tales of blind superstition and malignant
credulity. The extraordinary acumen and force
of mind, however, exhibited in her defence, to
the discomfiture of the examining Magistrates
and Judges, excited their wrath and that of all
concerned in the prosecution. Mather finishes
the account of her trial in these words: "<span class="smcap">Note</span>.
This woman was one of the most impudent,
scurrilous, wicked creatures in the world; and
she did now, throughout her whole trial, discover
herself to be such an one. Yet when she
was asked what she had to say for herself, her
chief plea was, 'that she had led a most virtuous
and holy life.'"&mdash;<i>Wonders, etc.</i>, 126.</p>

<p>Well might he, and all who acted in bringing
this remarkable woman to her death, have been
exasperated against her. She will be remembered,
in perpetual history, as having risen superior to
them all, in intellectual capacity, and as having
utterly refuted the whole system of spectral doctrine,
upon which her life and the lives of all the
others were sacrificed. Looking towards "the
afflicted children," who had sworn that her
spectre tortured them, the Magistrate asked,
"How comes your appearance to hurt these?" Her
answer was, "How do I know? He that appeared
in the shape of Samuel, a glorified Saint, may
appear in any one's shape."</p>

<p>It is truly astonishing that Mather should have
selected the name of Elizabeth How, to be held
up to abhorrence and classed among the "Malefactors."
It shows how utterly blinded and
perverted he was by the horrible delusion that
"possessed" him. If her piety and virtue were
of no avail in leading him to pause in aspersing
her memory, by selecting her case to be included
in the "black list" of those reported by
him in his <i>Wonders</i>, one would have thought
he would have paid some regard to the testimony
of his clerical brethren and to the feelings
of her relatives, embracing many most estimable
families. She was nearly connected with
the venerable Minister of Andover, Francis Dane,
and belonged to the family of Jacksons.</p>

<p>There was, and is, among the papers, a large
body of evidence in her favor, most weighty and
decisive, yet Mather makes no allusion to it whatever;
although he must have known of it, from
outside information as well as the documents before
him. Two of the most respectable Ministers
in the country, Phillips and Payson of Rowley,
many of her neighbors, men and women, and the
father of her husband, ninety-four years of age,
testified to her eminent Christian graces, and portrayed
a picture of female gentleness, loveliness,
and purity, not surpassed in the annals of her
sex. The two Clergymen exposed and denounced
the wickedness of the means that had been
employed to bring the stigma of witchcraft upon
her good name. Mather not only withholds all
this evidence, but speaks with special bitterness
of this excellent woman, calling her, over and
over again, throughout his whole account, "This
How."</p>

<p>There is reason to apprehend that much cruelty
was practised upon the Prisoners, especially to
force them to confess. The statements made by
John Proctor, in his letter to the Ministers, are
fully entitled to credit, from his unimpeached
honesty of character, as well as from the position
of the persons addressed. It is not to be imagined,
that, at its date, on the twenty-third of July,
twelve days before his trial, he would have made,
in writing, such declarations to them, had they
not been true. He says that brutal violence was
used upon his son to induce him to confess. He
also states that two of the children of Martha Carrier
were "tied neck and heels, till the blood
was ready to come out of their noses." The
outrages, thus perpetrated, with all the affrighting
influences brought to bear, prevailed over
Carrier's children. Some of them were used as
witnesses against her. A little girl, not eight
years old, was made to swear that she was a
witch; that her mother, when she was six years
old, made her so, baptizing her, and compelling
her "to set her hand to a book," and carried her,
"in her spirit," to afflict people; that her mother,
after she was in prison, came to her in the shape
of "a black cat;" and that the cat told her it
was her mother. Another of her children testified
that he, and still another, a brother, were
witches, and had been present, in spectre, at
Witch-sacraments, telling who were there, and
where they procured their wine. All this
the mother had to hear.</p>

<p>Thomas Carrier, her husband, had, a year or
two before, been involved in a controversy about
the boundaries of his lands, in which hard words
had passed. The energy of character, so strikingly
displayed by his wife, at her Examination,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
rendered her liable to incur animosities, in the
course of a neighborhood feud. The whole force
of angry superstition had been arrayed against
her; and she became the object of scandal, in the
form it then was made to assume, the imputation
of being a witch. Her Minister, Mr. Dane, in a
strong and bold letter, in defence of his parishioners,
many of whom had been accused, says:
"There was a suspicion of Goodwife Carrier
among some of us, before she was apprehended,
I know." He avers that he had lived above
forty years in Andover, and had been much conversant
with the people, "at their habitations;"
that, hearing that some of his people were inclined
to indulge in superstitions stories, and give
heed to tales of the kind, he preached a Sermon
against all such things; and that, since that time,
he knew of no person that countenanced practices
of the kind; concluding his statement in these
words: "So far as I had the understanding of
any thing amongst us, do declare, that I believe
the reports have been scandalous and unjust,
neither will bear the light."</p>

<p>Atrocious as were the outrages connected with
the prosecutions, in 1692, none, it appears to me,
equalled those committed in the case of Martha
Carrier. The Magistrates who sat and listened,
with wondering awe, to such evidence from a little
child against her mother, in the presence of
that mother, must have been bereft, by the baleful
superstitions of the hour, of all natural sensibility.
They countenanced a violation of reason,
common sense, and the instincts of humanity, too
horrible to be thought of.</p>

<p>The unhappy mother felt it in the deep recesses
of her strong nature. That trait, in the female
and maternal heart, which, when developed, assumes
a heroic aspect, was brought out in terrific
power. She looked to the Magistrates, after the
accusing girls had charged her with having
"killed thirteen at Andover," with a stern bravery
to which those dignitaries had not been accustomed,
and rebuked them: "It is a shameful
thing, that you should mind those folks that
are out of their wits;" and then, turning to the
accusers, said, "You lie, and I am wronged."
This woman, like all the rest, met her fate with
a demeanor that left no room for malice to utter
a word of disparagement, protesting her innocence.
Mather witnessed her execution; and in
a memorandum to the report, written in the professed
character of an historian, having great
compassion for "surviving relatives," calls her a
"rampant hag."</p>

<p>Bringing young children to swear away the
life of their mother, was probably felt by the
Judges to be too great a shock upon natural sensibilities
to be risked again, and they were not produced
at the trial; but Mather, notwithstanding,
had no reluctance to publish the substance of their
testimony, as what they would have sworn to if
called upon; and says they were not put upon the
stand, because there was evidence "enough"
without them.</p>

<p>Such were the reports of those of the trials,
which had then taken place, selected by Mather
to be put into the <i>Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>, and thus to be "boxed about,"&mdash;to
adopt the Reviewer's interpretation&mdash;to strike
down the "Spectre of Sadduceeism," that is, to
extirpate and bring to an end all doubts about
witchcraft and all attempts to stop the prosecutions.</p>

<p>This book was written while the proceedings
at Salem were at their height, during the very
month in which sixteen persons had been sentenced
to death and eight executed, evidently, from
its whole tenor, and as the Reviewer admits, for
the purpose of silencing objectors and doubters,
Sadducees and Witch-advocates, before the meeting
of the Court, by adjournment, in the first
week of November, to continue&mdash;as the Ministers,
in their <i>Advice</i>, expressed it&mdash;their "sedulous and
assiduous endeavours to defeat the abominable
witchcrafts which have been committed in the
country."</p>

<p>Little did those concerned, in keeping up the
delusion and prolonging the scenes in the Salem
Court-house and on Witch-hill, dream that the
curtain was so soon to fall upon the horrid tragedy
and confound him who combined, in his own
person, the functions of Governor, Commander-in-chief,
President of the Council, Legislative leader
of the General Court, and Chief-justice of the
Special Court, and all his aiders and abettors, lay
and clerical.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII.</h2>

<h3>"WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD," CONTINUED.
PASSAGES FROM IT. "CASES OF CONSCIENCE."
INCREASE MATHER.</h3>

<p>In addition to the reports of the trials of the
five "Malefactors," as Mather calls them, the
<i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i> contains much
matter that helps us to ascertain the real opinions,
at the time, of its author, to which justice
to him, and to all, requires me to risk attention.
The passages, to be quoted, will occupy some
room; but they will repay the reading, in the
light they shed upon the manner in which such
subjects were treated in the most accredited literature,
and infused into the public mind, at that
day. The style of Cotton Mather, while open to
the criticisms generally made, is lively and attractive;
and, for its ingenuity of expression and
frequent felicity of illustration, often quite refreshing.</p>

<p>The work was written under a sense of the necessity
of maintaining the position into which
the Government of the Province had been led, by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
so suddenly and rashly organizing the Special
Court and putting it upon its bloody work, at
Salem; and this could only be done by renewing
and fortifying the popular conviction, that
such proceedings were necessary, and ought to be
vigorously prosecuted, and all Sadduceeism, or
opposition to them, put down. It was especially
necessary to reconcile, or obscure into indistinctness,
certain conflicting theories that had more
or less currency. "I do not believe," says Mather,
"that the progress of Witchcraft among us,
is all the plot which the Devil is managing in
the Witchcraft now upon us. It is judged that
the Devil raised the storm, whereof we read in
the eighth Chapter of Matthew, on purpose to
overset the little vessel wherein the disciples of
our Lord were embarked with him. And it
may be feared that, in the Horrible Tempest
which is now upon ourselves, the design of the
Devil is to sink that happy Settlement of Government,
wherewith Almighty God has graciously
inclined their Majesties to favor us."&mdash;<i>Wonders,
p. 10.</i></p>

<p>He then proceeds to compliment Sir William
Phips, alluding to his "continually venturing
his all," that is, in looking after affairs and
fighting Indians in the eastern parts; to applaud
Stoughton as "admirably accomplished" for his
place; and continues as follows: "Our Councellours
are some of our most eminent persons, and
as loyal to the Crown, as hearty lovers of their
country. Our Constitution also is attended
with singular privileges. All which things are
by the Devil exceedingly envied unto us. And
the Devil will doubtless take this occasion for
the raising of such complaints and clamors, as
may be of pernicious consequence unto some
part of our present Settlement, if he can so far
impose. But that, which most of all threatens
us, in our present circumstances, is the misunderstandings,
and so, the animosities, whereinto
the Witchcraft, now raging, has enchanted
us. The embroiling, first, of our Spirits,
and then, of our affairs." "I am sure, we
shall be worse than brutes, if we fly upon one
another, at a time when the floods of Belial
are upon us." "The Devil has made us like
a troubled sea, and the mire and mud begins
now also to heave up apace. Even good and
wise men suffer themselves to fall into their
paroxysms, and the shake which the Devil is
now giving us, fetches up the dirt which before
lay still at the bottom of our sinful hearts.
If we allow the mad dogs of Hell to poison
us by biting us, we shall imagine that we see
nothing but such things about us, and like such
things, fly upon all that we see."</p>

<p>After deprecating the animosities and clamors
that were threatening to drive himself and his
friends from power, he makes a strenuous appeal
to persevere in the witchcraft prosecutions.</p>

<p>"We are to unite in our endeavours to deliver
our distressed neighbors from the horrible annoyances
and molestations wherewith a dreadful
witchcraft is now persecuting of them.
To have an hand in any thing that may stifle
or obstruct a regular detection of that witchcraft,
is what we may well with an holy fear
avoid. Their Majesties good subjects must not
every day be torn to pieces by horrid witches,
and those bloody felons be left wholly unprosecuted.
The witchcraft is a business that will
not be shammed, without plunging us into sore
plagues, and of long continuance. But then
we are to unite in such methods for this deliverance,
as may be unquestionably safe, lest the
latter end be worse than the beginning. And
here, what shall I say? I will venture to say
thus much. That we are safe, when we make
just as much use of all advice from the invisible
world, as God sends it for. It is a safe
principle, that when God Almighty permits
any spirits, from the unseen regions, to visit us
with surprising informations, there is then something
to be enquired after; we are then to enquire
of one another, what cause there is for
such things? The peculiar government of God,
over the unbodied Intelligences, is a sufficient
foundation for this principle. When there has
been a murder committed, an apparition of the
slain party accusing of any man, although
such apparitions have oftener spoke true than
false, is not enough to convict the man as guilty
of that murder; but yet it is a sufficient occasion
for Magistrates to make a particular enquiry
whether such a man have afforded any
ground for such an accusation."&mdash;<i>Page 13.</i></p>

<p>He goes on to apply this principle to the spectres
of accused persons, seen by the "afflicted,"
as constituting sufficient ground to institute proceedings
against the persons thus accused. After
modifying, apparently, this position, although
in language so obscure as to leave his meaning
quite uncertain, he says: "I was going to make
one venture more; that is, to offer some safe
rules, for the finding out of the witches, which
are to this day our accursed troublers: but this
were a venture too presumptuous and Icarian
for me to make. I leave that unto those Excellent
and Judicious persons with whom I
am not worthy to be numbered: All that I shall
do, shall be to lay before my readers, a brief
synopsis of what has been written on that subject,
by a Triumvirate of as eminent persons as
have ever handled it."&mdash;<i>Page 14.</i></p>

<p>From neither of them, Perkins, Gaule and
Bernard, as he cites them, can specific authority
be obtained for the admission of spectral testimony,
as offered by accusing witnesses, not themselves
confessing witches. The third Rule, attributed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
to Perkins, and the fifth of Bernard, apply
to persons confessing the crime of witchcraft, and,
after confession, giving evidence affecting another
person&mdash;the former considering such evidence
"not sufficient for condemnation, but a
fit presumption to cause a strait examination;"
the latter treating it as sufficient to convict a
fellow witch, that is, another person also accused
of being in "league with the Devil." Bernard
specifies, as the kind of evidence, sufficient for
conviction, such witnesses might give: "If they
can make good the truth of their witness and
give sufficient proof of it; as that they have
seen them with their Spirits, or that they have
received Spirits from them, or that they can tell
when they used witchery-tricks to do harm, or
that they told them what harm they had done,
or that they can show the mark upon them, or
that they have been together in those meetings, or
such like."</p>

<p>Mather remarks, in connection with his synopsis
of these Rules: "They are considerable things,
which I have thus related." Those I have particularly
noticed were enough to let in a large
part of the evidence given at the Salem trials&mdash;in
many respects, the most effective and formidable
part&mdash;striking the Jury and Court, as well as
the people, with an "awe," which rendered no
other evidence necessary to overwhelm the mind
and secure conviction. The Prisoners themselves
were amazed and astounded by it. Mr. Hale, in
his account of the proceedings, says: "When
George Burroughs was tried, seven or eight of
the confessors, severally called, said, they knew
the said Burroughs; and saw him at a Witch-meeting
at the Village; and heard him exhort
the company to pull down the Kingdom of
God and set up the Kingdom of the Devil.
He denied all, yet said he justified the Judges
and Jury in condemning him; because there
were so many positive witnesses against him;
but said he died by false witnesses." Mr. Hale
proceeds to mention this fact: "I seriously spake
to one that witnessed (of his exhorting at the
Witch-meeting at the Village) saying to her;
'You are one that bring this man to death: if
you have charged any thing upon him that is
not true, recall it before it be too late, while he
is alive.' She answered me, she had nothing to
charge herself with, upon that account."</p>

<p>Mather omits this circumstance in copying Mr.
Hale's narrative. It has always been a mystery,
what led the "accusing girls" to cry out, as
they afterwards did, against Mr. Hale's wife.
Perhaps this expostulation with one of their witnesses,
awakened their suspicions. They always
struck at every one who appeared to be wavering,
or in the least disposed to question the correctness
of what was going on. The statement
of Mr. Hale shows how effectual and destructive
the evidence, authorized by Bernard's book, was;
and it also proves how unjust, to the Judges and
Magistrates, is the charge made upon them by the
Reviewer, that they disregarded and violated the
advice of the Ministers. In admitting a species
of evidence, wholly spectral, which was fatal,
more than any other, to the Prisoners, they followed
a rule laid down by the very authors
whose "directions" the Ministers, in their <i>Advice</i>,
written by "Mr. Mather the younger,"
enjoined upon them to follow. It is noticeable,
by the way, that, in that document, they left
Gaule out of the "triumvirate;" Mather finding
nothing in his book to justify the admission of
spectral testimony.</p>

<p>He urges the force of the evidence, from confessions,
with all possible earnestness.</p>

<p>"One would think all the rules of understanding
human affairs are at an end, if after
so many most voluntary harmonious confessions,
made by intelligent persons, of all ages,
in sundry towns, at several times, we must not
believe the main strokes, wherein those confessions
all agree."&mdash;<i>Page 8.</i></p>

<p>He continues to press the point thus: "If
the Devils now can strike the minds of men
with any poisons of so fine a composition and
operation, that scores of innocent people shall
unite, in confessions of a crime, which we see
actually committed, it is a thing prodigious,
beyond the wonders of the former ages; and it
threatens no less than a sort of a dissolution
upon the world. Now, by these confessions,
it is agreed, that the Devil has made a dreadful
knot of witches in the country, and by the
help of witches has dreadfully increased that
knot; that these witches have driven a trade of
commissioning their confederate spirits, to do
all sorts of mischiefs to the neighbors, whereupon
there have ensued such mischievous consequences
upon the bodies and estates of the
neighborhood, as could not otherwise be accounted
for; yea, that at prodigious Witch-meetings
the wretches have proceeded so far
as to concert and consult the methods of rooting
out the Christian religion from this country,
and setting up, instead of it, perhaps a more
gross Diabolism, than ever the world saw before.
And yet it will be a thing little short of
miracle, if, in so spread a business as this, the
Devil should not get in some of his juggles, to
confound the discovery of all the rest."</p>

<p>In the last sentence of the foregoing passage,
we see an idea, which Mather expressed in several
instances. It amounts to this. Suppose the Devil
does "sometimes" make use of the spectre of an
innocent person&mdash;he does it for the purpose of
destroying our faith in that kind of evidence,
and leading us to throw it all out, thereby "confounding
the discovery" of those cases in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
which, as ordinarily, he makes use of the spectres
of his guilty confederates, and, in effect, sheltering
"all the rest," that is, the whole body of
those who are the willing and covenanted subjects
of his diabolical kingdom, from detection.
He says: "The witches have not only intimated,
but some of them acknowledged, that they have
plotted the representations of innocent persons
to cover and shelter themselves in their witchcrafts."</p>

<p>He further suggests&mdash;for no other purpose, it
would seem, than to reconcile us to the use of
such evidence, even though, it may, in "rare and
extraordinary" instances, bear against innocent
persons, scarcely, however, to be apprehended,
"when matters come before civil judicature"&mdash;that
it may be the divine will, that, occasionally,
an innocent person <i>may be cut off</i>: "Who of us
can exactly state how far our God may, for our
chastisement, permit the Devil to proceed in
such an abuse?" He then alludes to the meeting
of Ministers, under his father's auspices, at
Cambridge, on the first of August; quotes with
approval, the result of his "Discourse," then
held; and immediately proceeds: "It is rare and
extraordinary, for an honest Naboth to have
his life itself sworn away by two children of
Belial, and yet no infringement hereby made
on the Rectoral Righteousness of our eternal
Sovereign, whose judgments are a great deep,
and who gives none account of his matters."&mdash;<i>Page
9.</i></p>

<p>The amount of all this is, that it is so rare and
extraordinary for the Devil to assume the spectral
shape of an innocent person, that it is best,
"when," as his expression is, in another place,
"the public safety makes an exigency," to receive
and act upon such evidence, even if it
should lead to the conviction of an innocent person&mdash;a
thing so seldom liable to occur, and, indeed,
barely possible. The procedure would be
but carrying out the divine "permission," and a
fulfilment of "the Rectoral Righteousness" of
Him, whose councils are a great deep, not to be
accounted for to, or by, us.</p>

<p>In summing up what the witches had been doing
at Salem Village, during the preceding Summer,
Mather says: "The Devil, exhibiting himself
ordinarily as a small black man, has decoyed
a fearful knot of proud, froward, ignorant,
envious and malicious creatures to list themselves
in his horrid service by entering their
names in a book, by him tendered unto them."
"That they, each of them, have, their spectres
or Devils, commissioned by them, and representing
them, to be the engines of their malice."
He enumerates, as facts, all the statements
of the "afflicted" witnesses and confessing
witches, as to the horrible and monstrous
things perpetrated by the spectres of the accused
parties; and he applauds the Court, testifying to
the successful and beneficial issue of its proceedings.
"Our honorable Judges have used, as
Judges have heretofore done, the spectral evidence,
to introduce their further enquiries into
the lives of the persons accused; and they
have, thereupon, by the wonderful Providence
of God, been so strengthened with other evidences,
that some of the Witch-gang have been
fairly executed."&mdash;<i>Pages 41, 43.</i></p>

<p>The language of Cotton Mather, as applied to
those who had suffered, as witches, "a fearful
knot of proud, froward, ignorant, envious and
malicious creatures&mdash;a Witch-gang,"&mdash;is rather
hard, as coming from a Minister who, as the Reviewer
asserts, had officiated in their death scenes,
witnessed their devout and Christian expressions
and deportment, and been their comforter, consoler,
counsellor and friend.</p>

<p>The dissatisfaction that pervaded the public
mind, about the time of the last executions at
Salem, which Phips describes, was so serious,
that both the Mathers were called in to allay it.
The father also, at the request of the Ministers,
wrote a book, entitled, <i>Cases of Conscience, concerning
Evil Spirits, personating men, Witchcrafts,
&amp;c.</i>, the general drift of which is against spectral
evidence. He says: "Spectres are Devils, in the
shape of persons, either living or dead."
Speaking of bewitched persons, he says: "What
they affirm, concerning others, is not to be taken
for evidence. Whence had they this supernatural
sight? It must needs be either from
Heaven or from Hell. If from Heaven (as
Elisha's servant and Balaam's ass could discern
Angels) let their testimony be received. But
if they had this knowledge from Hell, though
there may possibly be truth in what they affirm,
they are not legal witnesses: for the
Law of God allows of no revelation from any
other Spirit but himself. <i>Isa.</i>, viii., 19. It is a
sin against God, to make use of the Devil's
help to know that which cannot be otherwise
known; and I testify against it, as a great
transgression, which may justly provoke the
Holy One of Israel, to let loose Devils on the
whole land. <i>Luke</i>, iv., 38."</p>

<p>After referring to a couple of writers on the
subject, the very next sentence is this: "Although
the Devil's accusations may be so far
regarded as to cause an enquiry into the truth
of things, <i>Job</i>, i., 11, 12, and ii., 5, 6; yet not
so as to be an evidence or ground of conviction."</p>

<p>It appears therefore, that Increase Mather,
while writing with much force and apparent vehemence
against spectral evidence, still in reality
countenanced its introduction, as a basis of "enquiry
into the truth of things," preliminary
to other evidence. This was, after all, to use the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
form of thought of these writers, letting the
Devil into the case; and that was enough, from
the nature of things, in the then state of wild
superstition and the blind delusions of the popular
mind, to give to spectral evidence the controlling
sway it had in the Salem trials, and
would necessarily have, every where, when introduced
at all.</p>

<p>In a Postscript to <i>Cases of Conscience</i>, Increase
Mather says that he hears that "some have taken
up a notion," that there was something contradictory
between his views and those of his
son, set forth in the <i>Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>. "Tis strange that such imaginations
should enter into the minds of men." He goes
on to say he had read and approved of his son's
book, before it was printed; and falls back, as
both of them always did, when pressed, upon
the <i>Advice</i> of the Ministers, of the fifteenth of
June, in which, he says, they concurred.</p>

<p>There can be no manner of doubt that the
"strange" opinion did prevail, at the time, and
has ever since, that the father and son did entertain
very different sentiments about the Salem
proceedings. The precise form of that difference
is not easily ascertained. The feelings, so
natural and proper, on both sides, belonging to
the relation they sustained to each other, led them
to preserve an appearance of harmony, especially
in whatever was committed to the press. Then,
again, the views they each entertained were in
themselves so inconsistent, that it was not difficult
to persuade themselves that they were substantially
similar. There was much in the father,
for the son to revere: there was much in the
son, for the father to admire. Besides, the habitual
style in which they and the Ministers of
that day indulged, of saying and unsaying, on
the same page&mdash;putting a proposition and then
linking to it a countervailing one&mdash;covered their
tracks to each other and to themselves. This is
their apology; and none of them needs it more
than Cotton Mather. He was singularly blind
to logical sequence. With wonderful power over
language, he often seems not to appreciate the
import of what he is saying; and to this defect,
it is agreeable to think, much, if not all, that
has the aspect of a want of fairness and even
truthfulness, in his writings may be attributed.</p>

<p>As associate Ministers of the same congregation,
it was desirable for the Mathers to avoid being
drawn into a conflicting attitude, on any matter
of importance. Drake, however, in his <i>History
of Boston</i>, (<i>p. 545</i>) says that there was supposed,
at the formation of the New North Church, in
that place, in 1712, to have been a jealousy between
them. There were, indeed, many points of
dissimilarity, as well as of similarity, in their culture,
experience, manners, and ways; and men
conversant with them, at the time, may have
noticed a difference in their judgments and expressions,
relating to the witchcraft affair, of
which no knowledge has come to us, except the
fact, that it was so understood at the time.</p>

<p>Cotton Mather brought all his ability to bear
in preparing the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>.
It is marked throughout by his peculiar genius,
and constructed with great ingenuity and elaboration;
but it was "water spilt on the ground."
So far as the end, for which it was designed, is
regarded, it died before it saw the light.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII.</h2>

<h3>THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER BROUGHT
TO A SUDDEN END. SIR WILLIAM PHIPS.</h3>

<p>When Sir William Phips went to the eastward,
it was expected that his absence would be prolonged
to the twelfth of October. We cannot
tell exactly when he returned; probably some
days before the twelfth. Writing on the fourteenth,
he says, that before any application was
made to him for the purpose, he had put a stop
to the proceedings of the Court. He probably
signified, informally, to the Judges, that they
must not meet on the day to which they had adjourned.
Brattle, writing on the eighth, had not
heard any thing of the kind. But the Rev. Samuel
Torrey of Weymouth, who was in full sympathy
with the prosecutors, had heard of it on the
seventh, as appears by this entry in Sewall's
Diary: "<span class="smcap">Oct.</span> 7<sup>th</sup>, 1692. Mr. Torrey seems to be
of opinion, that the Court of Oyer and Terminer
should go on, regulating any thing that may
have been amiss, when certainly found to be so."</p>

<p>Sewall and Stoughton were among the principal
friends of Torrey; and he, probably, had
learned from them, Phips's avowed purpose to
stop the proceedings of the Court, in the witchcraft
matter. The Court, however, was allowed
to sit, in other cases, as it held a trial in Boston,
on the tenth, in a capital case of the ordinary
kind. The purpose of the Governor gradually
became known. Danforth, in a conversation
with Sewall, at Cambridge, on the fifteenth, expressed
the opinion that the witchcraft trials ought
not to proceed any further.</p>

<p>It is not unlikely that Phips, while at the eastward,
had received some communication that
hastened his return. He describes the condition
of things, as he found it. We know that the
lives of twenty people had been taken away, one
of them a Minister of the Gospel. Two Ministers
had been accused, one of them the Pastor of the
Old South Church; the name of the other is not
known. A hundred were in prison; about two
hundred more were under accusation, including
some men of great estates in Boston, the mother-in-law
of one of the Judges, Corwin, and a member
of the family of Increase Mather, although, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
he says, in no way related to him. A Magistrate,
who was a member of the House of Assembly,
had fled for his life; and Phips's trusted naval
commander, a man of high standing in the
Church and in society, as well as in the service,
after having been committed to Jail, had escaped
to parts unknown. More than all, the Governor's
wife had been cried out upon. We can easily
imagine his state of mind. Sir William Phips
was noted for the sudden violence of his temper.
Mather says that he sometimes "showed choler
enough." Hutchinson says that "he was of a
benevolent, friendly disposition; at the same
time quick and passionate;" and, in illustration
of the latter qualities, he relates that he got into
a fisticuff fight with the Collector of the Port, on
the wharf, handling him severely; and that, having
high words, in the street, with a Captain of
the Royal Navy, "the Governor made use of his
cane and broke Short's head." When his Lady
told her story to him, and pictured the whole
scene of the "strange ferment" in the domestic
and social circles of Boston and throughout the
country, it was well for the Chief-justice, the
Judges, and perhaps his own Ministers, that they
were not within the reach of those "blows,"
with which, as Mather informs us, in the <i>Life of
Phips</i>, the rough sailor was wont, when the gusts
of passion were prevailing, to "chastise incivilities,"
without reference to time or place, rank
or station.</p>

<p>But, as was his wont, the storm of wrath soon
subsided; his purpose, however, under the circumstances,
as brave as it was wise and just, was,
as the result showed, unalterable. He communicated
to the Judges, personally, that they must
sit no more, at Salem or elsewhere, to try cases of
witchcraft; and that no more arrests must be
made, on that charge.</p>

<p>Mather's book, all ready as it was for the
press, thus became labor thrown away. It was
not only rendered useless for the purpose designed,
but a most serious difficulty obstructed its
publication. Phips forbade the "printing of
any discourses, one way or another;" and the
<i>Wonders</i> had incorporated in it some Sermons,
impregnated, through and through, with combustible
matter, in Phips's view, likely to kindle
an inextinguishable flame.</p>

<p>All that could be done was to keep still, in the
hope that he would become more malleable. In
the meanwhile, public business called him away,
perhaps to Rhode Island or Connecticut, from
the eighteenth to the twenty-seventh of October.
In his absence, whether in consequence of movements
he had put in train, or solely from what
had become known of his views, the circumstance
occurred which is thus related in Sewall's Diary&mdash;the
Legislature was then in Session: "<span class="smcap">Oct.</span> 26,
1692. A Bill is sent in about calling a Fast and
Convocation of Ministers, that may be led in the
right way, as to the Witchcrafts. The season,
and manner of doing it, is such, that the Court
of Oyer and Terminer count themselves thereby
dismissed. 29 nos &amp; 33 yeas to the Bill.
Capt. Bradstreet, and Lieut. True, Wm. Hutchins,
and several other interested persons, in the
affirmative."</p>

<p>The course of Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill,
and the action in the Legislature of the
persons here named, entitle the Merrimac towns
of Essex-county to the credit of having made
the first public and effectual resistance to the
fanaticism and persecutions of 1692.</p>

<p>The passage of this Bill, in the House of Representatives,
shows how the public mind had
been changed, since the June Session. Dudley
Bradstreet was a Magistrate and member from
Andover, son of the old Governor, and, with his
wife, had found safety from prosecution by flight;
Henry True, a member from Salisbury, was son-in-law
of Mary Bradbury, who had been condemned
to death; Samuel Hutchins, (inadvertently
called "Wm.," by Sewall) was a member
from Haverhill, and connected by marriage with
a family, three of whom were tried for their lives.
Sewall says there were "several other" members of
the House, interested in like manner. This shows
into what high circles the accusers had struck.</p>

<p>It appears, by the same Diary, that on the
twenty-seventh, Cotton Mather preached the
Thursday Lecture, from <i>James</i>, i., 4. The day of
trial was then upon him and his fellow-actors;
and patience was inculcated as the duty of the hour.</p>

<p>The Diary relates that at a meeting of the
Council, on the twenty-eighth, in the afternoon,
Sewall, "desired to have the advice of the Governor
and Council, as to the sitting of the Court
of Oyer and Terminer, next week; said, should
move it no more; great silence prevailed, as if
should say, Do not go."</p>

<p>The entry does not state whether Phips was
present; as, however, the time fixed for his recent
brief absence had expired, probably he was
in his seat. The following mishap, described by
Sewall, as occurring that day, perhaps detained
the Deputy-governor: "<span class="smcap">Oct.</span> 28. Lt. Gov<sup>r</sup>, coming
over the causey, is, by reason of the high
tide, so wet, that is fain to go to bed, till sends
for dry clothes to Dorchester."</p>

<p>The "great silence" was significant of the embarrassment
in which they were placed, and their
awe of the "choler" of the Governor.</p>

<p>The Diary gives the following account of the
Session the next day, at which, (as Sewall informs
us,) the Lieutenant-governor was not present:
"<span class="smcap">Oct.</span> 29. Mr. Russel asked, whether the Court
of Oyer and Terminer should sit, expressing
some fear of inconvenience by its fall. Governor
said, it must fall."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>

<p>Thus died the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Its
friends cherished, to the last, the hope that Sir
William might be placated, and possibly again
brought under control; but it vanished, when
the emphatic and resolute words, reported by
Sewall, were uttered.</p>

<p>The firmness and force of character of the
Governor are worthy of all praise. Indeed, the
illiterate and impulsive sailor has placed himself,
in history, far in front of all the honored
Judges and learned Divines, of his day. Not
one of them penetrated the whole matter as he
did, when his attention was fully turned to it, and
his feelings enlisted, to decide, courageously and
righteously, the question before him. He saw
that no life was safe while the evidence of the
"afflicted persons" was received, "either to the
committing or trying" of any persons. He
thus broke through the meshes which had bound
Judges and Ministers, the writers of books and
the makers of laws; and swept the whole fabric
of "spectral testimony" away, whether as matter
of "enquiry" and "presumption," or of
"conviction." The ship-carpenter of the Kennebec
laid the axe to the root of the tree.</p>

<p>The following extract from a letter of Sir
William Phips, just put into my hands, and for
which I am indebted to Mr. Goodell, substantiates
the conclusions to which I have been led.</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Governor Phips to the Lords of the Committee
of Trade and Plantations, 3 April, 1693.</i></p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">May it please your Lordships</span>:</p>

<p>"I have intreated M<sup>r</sup> Blathwayte to lay
before your Lordships several letters, wherein
I have given a particular account of my stopping
a supposed witchcraft, which had proved
fatall to many of their Maj<sup>ties</sup> good subjects,
had there not been a speedy end putt thereto;
for a stop putt to the proceedings against such
as were accused, hath caused the thing itself
to cease."</p></div>

<p>This shows that, addressing officially his Home
Government, he assumed the responsibility of
having "stopped and put a speedy end to the
proceedings;" that he had no great faith in
the doctrines then received touching the reality
of witchcraft; and that he was fully convinced
that, if he had allowed the trials to go on, and
the inflammation of the public mind to be kept
up by "discourses," the bloody tragedy would
have been prolonged, and "proved fatal to many
good" people.</p>

<p>There are two men&mdash;neither of them belonging
to the class of scholars or Divines; both of
them guided by common sense, good feeling, and
a courageous and resolute spirit&mdash;who stand
alone, in the scenes of the witchcraft delusions.
<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Saltonstall</span>, who left the Council and
the Court, the day the Ministers' <i>Advice</i>, to go on
with the prosecutions, was received, and never
appeared again until that <i>Advice</i> was abandoned
and repudiated; and Sir <span class="smcap">William Phips</span>, who
stamped it out beneath his feet.</p>

<p>But how with Cotton Mather's Book, the <i>Wonders
of the Invisible World</i>? On the eleventh of
October, Stoughton and Sewall signed a paper,
printed in the book, [<i>p. 88</i>] endorsing its contents,
especially as to "matters of fact and evidence"
and the "methods of conviction used in the proceedings
of the Court at Salem." The certificate
repeats the form of words, so often used in
connection with the book, that it was written "at
the direction of His Excellency the Governor,"
without, as in all cases, specifying who, whether
Phips or Stoughton, was the Governor referred to.
As all the Judges were near at hand, and as the
certificate related to the proceedings before them,
it is quite observable that only the two mentioned
signed it. As they were present, in the private
conference, with Cotton Mather, at the house
of one of them, on the twenty-second of September,
when its preparation for publication
was finally arranged, they could not well avoid
signing it. The times were critical; and the
rest of the Judges, knowing the Governor's feelings,
thought best not to appear. Of the three
other persons, at that conference, Hathorne, it is
true, was a Judge of that Court, but it is doubtful
whether he often, or ever, took his seat as
such; besides, he was too experienced and
cautious a public man, unnecessarily to put his
hand to such a paper, when it was known, as it
was probably to him, that Sir William Phips had
forbidden publications of the kind.</p>

<p>There is another curious document, in the <i>Wonders</i>&mdash;a
letter from Stoughton to Mather, highly
applauding the book, in which he acknowledges
his particular obligations to him for writing
it, as "more nearly and highly concerned"
than others, considering his place in the Court,
expressing in detail his sense of the great value
of the work, "at this juncture of time," and concluding
thus: "I do therefore make it my particular
and earnest Request unto you, that, as
soon as may be, you will commit the same unto
the press, accordingly." It is signed, without
any official title of distinction, simply "<span class="smcap">William
Stoughton</span>," and is <i>without date</i>.</p>

<p>It is singular, if Phips was the person who
requested it to be written and was the "Excellency"
who authorized its publication, that
it was left to William Stoughton to "request"
its being put to press.</p>

<p>The foregoing examination of dates and facts
seems, almost, to compel the conclusion, to be
drawn also from his letter, that Sir William Phips
really had nothing whatever to do with procuring
the preparation or sanctioning the publication
of the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
The same is true as to the request to the Ministers,
for their <i>Advice</i>, dated the fifteenth of June.
It was "laid before the Judges;" and was, undoubtedly,
a response to an application from them.
Having, very improperly, it must be confessed,
given the whole matter of the trials over to
Stoughton, and being engrossed in other affairs,
it is quite likely that he knew but little of what
had been going on, until his return from the
eastward, in October. And his frequent and
long absences, leaving Stoughton, so much of the
time, with all the functions and titles of Governor
devolved upon him, led to speaking of the
latter as "His Excellency." When bearing this
title and acting as Governor, for the time being,
the Chief-justice, with the side Judges&mdash;all of
them members of the Council, and in number
meeting the requirement in the Charter for a
quorum, seven&mdash;may have been considered, as
substantially, "The Governor and Council."</p>

<p>Thinking it more than probable that, in this
way, great wrong has been done to the memory
of an honest and noble-hearted man, I have endeavored
to set things in their true light. The
perplexities, party entanglements, personal collisions,
and engrossing cares that absorbed the attention
of Sir William Phips, during the brief
remainder of his life, and the little interest he
felt in such things, prevented his noticing the
false position in which he had been placed by
the undistinguishing use of titular phrases.</p>

<p>Judge Sewall's Diary contains an entry that,
also, sheds light upon the position of the Mathers.
It will be borne in mind, that Elisha Cook was
the colleague of Increase Mather, as Colonial
Agents in London. Cook refused assent to the
new Charter, and became the leader of the anti-Mather
party. He was considered an opponent
of the witchcraft prosecutions, although out of
the country at the time. "<span class="smcap">Tuesday, Nov.</span> 15,
1692. M<sup>r</sup> Cook keeps a Day of Thanksgiving
for his safe arrival." *&nbsp;*&nbsp;* [<i>Many mentioned
as there, among them Mr. Willard.</i>]
"Mr. Allen preached from Jacob's going to Bethel,
*&nbsp;*&nbsp;* Mr. Mather not there, nor Mr.
Cotton Mather. The good Lord unite us in
his fear, and remove our animosities."</p>

<p>The manner in which Sewall distinguished the
two Mathers confirms the views presented on
pages 37, 38.</p>

<p>It may be remarked, that, up to this time, Sewall
seems to have been in full sympathy with
Stoughton and Mather. He was, however, beginning
to indulge in conversations that indicate a
desire to feel the ground he was treading. After
a while, he became thoroughly convinced of his
error; and there are scattered, in the margins of
his Diary, expressions of much sensibility at the
extent to which he had been misled. Over against
an entry, giving an account of his presence
at an Examination before Magistrates, of
whom he was one, on the eleventh of April, 1692,
at Salem, is the interjection, thrice repeated,
"<i>Vae, Vae, Vae</i>." At the opening of the year
1692, he inserted, at a subsequent period, this
passage: "<i>Attonitus tamen est, ingens discrimine
parvo committi potuisse Nefas.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> For the privilege of inspecting and using Judge Sewall's
Diary I am indebted to the kindness of the Massachusetts
Historical Society: and I would also express my thanks,
for similar favors and civilities, to the officers in charge of
the Records and Archives in the Massachusetts State House,
the Librarian of Harvard University, the Essex Institute,
and many individuals, not mentioned in the text, especially
those devoted collectors and lovers of our old New England
literature, Samuel G. Drake and John K. Wiggin.</p></div>
</div>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS SUBSEQUENT TO THE
WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS.</h3>

<p>I propose, now, to enquire into the position
Cotton Mather occupied, and the views he expressed,
touching the matter, after the witchcraft
prosecutions had ceased and the delusion been
dispelled from the minds of other men.</p>

<p>During the Winter of 1692 and 1693, between
one and two hundred prisoners, including confessing
witches, remained in Jail, at Salem, Ipswich,
and other places. A considerable number
were in the Boston Jail. It seems, from the letter
to Secretary Allyn of Connecticut, that, during
that time, the Mathers were in communication
with them, and receiving from them the names
of persons whose spectres, they declared, they
had seen and suffered from, as employed in the
Devil's work. After all that had happened, and
the order of Sir William Phips, forbidding attempts
to renew the excitement, it is wonderful
that the Mathers should continue such practices.
In the latter part of the Summer of 1693, they
were both concerned in the affair of Margaret
Rule; and Cotton Mather prepared, and put into
circulation, an elaborate account of it, some extracts
from which have been presented, and which
will be further noticed, in another connection.</p>

<p>His next work, in the order of time, which I shall
consider, is his <i>Life of Sir William Phips</i>, printed
in London, in 1697, and afterwards included
in the <i>Magnalia</i>, also published in London, a
few years afterwards, constituting the last part
of the Second Book. <i>The Life of Phips</i> is,
perhaps, the most elaborate and finished of all
Mather's productions; and "adorned," as his uncle
Nathaniel Mather says, in a commendatory note,
"with a very grateful variety of learning." In
it, Sir William, who had died, at London, three
years before, is painted in glowing colors, as one
of the greatest of conquerors and rulers, "dropped,
as it were, from the Machine of Heaven;"
"for his exterior, he was one tall, beyond the
common lot of men; and thick, as well as tall,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
and strong as well as thick. He was, in all respects,
exceedingly robust, and able to conquer
such difficulties of diet and of travel, as would
have killed most men alive;" "he was well set,
and he was therewithall of a very comely,
though a very manly, countenance." He is described
as of "a most incomparable generosity,"
"of a forgiving spirit." His faults are tenderly
touched; "upon certain affronts, he has made
sudden returns, that have shewed choler enough;
and he has, by blow, as well as by word, chastised
incivilities."</p>

<p>It is remarkable that Mather should have laid
himself out, to such an extent of preparation
and to such heights of eulogy, as this work exhibits.
It is dedicated to the Earl of Bellamont,
just about to come over, as Phips's successor.
Mather held in his hand a talisman of favor, influence,
and power. In the Elegy which concludes
the <i>Life</i>, are lines like these:</p>

<div class="poem">
<span class="i0">"Phips, our great friend, our wonder, and our glory,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The terror of our foes, the world's rare story,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Or but name Phips, more needs not be expressed,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Both Englands, and next ages, tell the rest."<br /></span>
</div>

<p>The writer of this <i>Life</i> had conferred the gift
of an immortal name upon one Governor of New
England, and might upon another.</p>

<p>But with all this panegyric, he does not seem
to have been careful to be just to the memory of
his hero. The reader is requested, at this point,
to turn back to pages 23, 24, of this article,
and examine the paragraph, quoted from the
<i>Life of Phips</i>, introducing the return of <i>Advice</i>
from the Ministers. I have shown, in that connection,
how deceptive the expression "arriving
to his Government" is. In reporting the <i>Advice</i>
of the Ministers, in the <i>Life of Phips</i>, Mather
omits the paragraphs I have placed within
brackets [<i>p. 21, 22</i>]&mdash;the <i>first</i>, <i>second</i> and <i>eighth</i>.
The omission of these paragraphs renders the
document, as given by Mather, an absolute misrepresentation
of the transaction, and places
Phips in the attitude of having disregarded the
advice of the Ministers, in suffering the trials to
proceed as they did; throwing upon his memory
a load of infamy, outweighing all the florid and
extravagant eulogies showered upon him, in the
<i>Life</i>: verifying and fulfilling the apprehensions
he expressed in his letter of the fourteenth of October,
1692: "I know my enemies are seeking to
turn it all upon me."</p>

<p>The Reviewer says that "Mr. Mather did not
profess to quote the whole <i>Advice</i>, but simply
made extracts from it." He professed to give
what the Ministers "declared." I submit to every
honorable mind, whether what Mather printed,
omitting the <i>first</i>, <i>second</i> and <i>eighth</i> Sections,
was a fair statement of what the Ministers "declared."</p>

<p>The paragraphs he selected, appear, on their
face, to urge caution and even delay, in the proceedings.
They leave this impression on the
general reader, and have been so regarded from
that day to this. The artifice, by which the responsibility
for what followed was shifted, from
the Ministers, upon Phips and the Court, has, in
a great measure, succeeded. I trust that I have
shown that the clauses and words that seem to
indicate caution, had very little force, in that direction;
but that, when the disguising veil of an
artful phraseology is removed, they give substantial
countenance to the proceedings of the Court,
throughout.</p>

<p>I desire, at this point, to ask the further attention
of the reader to Mather's manner of referring
to the <i>Advice of the Ministers</i>. In his <i>Wonders</i>,
he quotes the <i>eighth</i> and <i>second</i> Articles of it (<i>Pages
12, 55</i>), in one instance, ascribing the <i>Advice</i> to
"Reverend persons," "men of God," "gracious
men," and, in the other, characterizing it as
"gracious words." He also, in the same work,
quotes the <i>sixth</i> Article, <i>omitting the words I
have placed in brackets, without any indication
of an omission</i>. Writing, in 1692, when the
delusion was at its height, and for the purpose
of keeping the public mind up to the work
of the prosecutions, he gloried chiefly in the
<i>first</i>, <i>second</i>, and <i>eighth</i> Articles, and brought
them alone forward, in full. The others he
passed over, with the exception of the <i>sixth</i>,
from which he struck out the central sentence&mdash;that
having the appearance of endorsing the
views of those opposed to spectral testimony.
But, in 1697, when the <i>Life of Phips</i> was written,
circumstances had changed. It was apparent,
then, to all, even those most unwilling to realize
the fact, that the whole transaction of the witchcraft
prosecutions in Salem was doomed to perpetual
condemnation; and it became expedient
to drop out of sight, forever, if possible, the
<i>second</i> and <i>eighth</i> articles, and reproduce the
<i>sixth</i>, <i>entire</i>.</p>

<p>Considering the unfair view of the import of
the <i>Advice</i>, in the <i>Life of Phips</i>, and embodied
in the <i>Magnalia</i>&mdash;a work, which, with all its defects,
inaccuracies, and absurdities, is sure of occupying
a conspicuous place in our Colonial
literature&mdash;I said: "unfortunately for the reputation
of Cotton Mather, Hutchinson has preserved
the <i>Address of the Ministers</i>, entire."
Regarding the document published by Mather
in the light of a historical imposture, I expressed
satisfaction, that its exposure was provided in a
work, sure of circulation and preservation, equally,
to say the least, with the <i>Life of Phips</i> or the
<i>Magnalia</i>. The Reviewer, availing himself of
the opportunity, hereupon pronounces me ignorant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
of the fact that the "<i>Advice</i>, entire," was published
by Increase Mather at the end of his <i>Cases
of Conscience</i>; and, in his usual style&mdash;not, I
think, usual, in the <i>North American Review</i>&mdash;speaks
thus&mdash;it is a specimen of what is strown
through the article: "Mr. Upham should have
been familiar enough with the original sources
of information on the subject, to have found
this <i>Advice</i> in print, seventy-four years before
Hutchinson's <i>History</i> appeared."</p>

<p>Of course, neither I, nor any one else, can be
imagined to suppose that Hutchinson invented
the document. It was pre-existent, and at his
hand. It was not to the purpose to say where
he found it. I wonder this Reviewer did not
tell the public, that I had <i>never seen</i>, <i>read</i>, or
<i>heard of</i> Calef; for, to adopt his habit of reasoning,
if I had been acquainted with that writer,
my ignorance would have been enlightened, as
Calef would have informed me that "the whole
of the Minister's advice and answer is printed
in <i>Cases of Conscience</i>, the last pages."</p>

<p>That only which finds a place in works worthy
to endure, and of standard value, is sure of perpetual
preservation. Hutchinson's <i>History of
Massachusetts</i> is a work of this description.
Whatever is committed to its custody will stand
the test of time. This cannot be expected of
that class of tracts or books to which <i>Cases of
Conscience</i> belongs, copies of which can hardly
be found, and not likely to justify a separate re-publication.
It has, indeed, not many years ago,
been reprinted in England, in a series of <i>Old
Authors</i>, tacked on to the <i>Wonders of the Invisible
World</i>. But few copies have reached this
country; and only persons of peculiar, it may
almost be said, eccentric, tastes, would care to
procure it. It will be impossible to awaken an
interest in the general reading public for such
works. They are forbidding in their matter,
unintelligible in their style, obscure in their import
and drift, and pervaded by superstitions
and absurdities that have happily passed away,
never, it is to be hoped, again to enter the realm
of theology, philosophy, or popular belief; and
will perish by the hand of time, and sink into oblivion.
If this present discussion had not arisen,
and the "<i>Advice</i>, entire," had not been given by
Hutchinson, the <i>suppressio veri</i>, perpetrated by
Cotton Mather, would, perhaps, have become
permanent history.</p>

<p>In reference to the <i>Advice of the Ministers</i>, the
Reviewer, in one part of his article, seems to
complain thus: "Mr. Upham has never seen fit
to print this paper;" in other parts, he assails
me from the opposite direction, and in a manner
too serious, in the character of the assault, to be
passed over. In my book, (<i>ii., 267</i>) I thus speak
of the <i>Advice of the Ministers</i>, referring to it, in
a note to p. 367, in similar terms: "The response
of the reverend gentlemen, while urging
in general terms the importance of caution
and circumspection in the methods of examination,
decidedly and earnestly recommended
that the proceedings should be vigorously carried
on."</p>

<p>It is a summary, in general and brief terms, <i>in
my own language</i>, of the <i>import</i> of the whole
document, covering both sets of its articles.
Hutchinson condenses it in similar terms, as do
Calef and Douglas. I repeat, and beg it to be
marked, that I do <i>not quote it</i>, in <i>whole</i> or <i>in
part</i>, but only give its import in my own words.
I claim the judgment of the reader, whether I do
not give the import of the articles Mather printed
in the <i>Life of Phips</i>&mdash;those pretending to urge
caution&mdash;as fairly as of the articles he omitted,
applauding the Court, and encouraging it to go
on.</p>

<p>Now, this writer in the <i>North American Review</i>
represents to the readers of that journal and
to the public, that I have <i>quoted</i> the <i>Advice of
the Ministers</i>, and, in variety of phrase, rings the
charge of unfair and false <i>quotation</i>, against me.
He uses this language: "If it were such a heinous
crime for Cotton Mather, in writing the <i>Life of
Sir William Phips</i>, to omit three Sections, how
will Mr. Upham vindicate his own omissions,
when, writing the history of these very transactions
and bringing the gravest charges against
the characters of the persons concerned, he
leaves out seven Sections?" I <i>quoted</i> no Section,
and made no <i>omissions</i>; and it is therefore
utterly unjustifiable to say that I <i>left out</i> any
thing. I gave the substance of the Sections Cotton
Mather left out, in language nearly identical
with that used by Hutchinson and all others. In
the same way, I gave the substance of the Sections
Mather published, in the very sense he always
claimed for them. What I said did not
bear the form, nor profess the character, of a <i>quotation</i>.</p>

<p>In the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>, written
in 1692, when the prosecutions were in full blast
and Mather was glorying in them, and for the
purpose of prolonging them, the only Section he
saw fit, in a particular connection, to quote, was
the <span class="smcapl">SECOND</span>. He prefaced it thus: "They were
some of the Gracious Words inserted in the
<i>Advice</i>, which many of the neighboring Ministers
did this Summer humbly lay before our
Honorable Judges." Let it be noted, by the
way, that when he thus praised the document,
its authorship had not been avowed. Let it further
be noted, that it is here let slip that the paper
was <i>laid before the Judges</i>, not Phips; showing
that it was a response to <i>them</i>, not him. Let
it be still further noted, that the Section which
he thus cited, in 1692, is one of those which,
when the tide had turned, he left out, in 1697.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>

<p>The Reviewer, referring to Mather's quotation
of the second Section of the <i>Advice</i>, in the <i>Wonders</i>,
says: "he printed it in full, which Mr. Upham
has never done;" and following out the
strange misrepresentation, he says: "Mr. Upham
does not print any part of the eighth Section,
as the Ministers adopted it. He suppresses the
essential portions, changes words, and, by interpolation,
states that the Ministers 'decidedly,'
'earnestly,' and 'vehemently,' recommended
that the 'proceedings' should be vigorously
carried on. He who quotes in this
manner needs other evidence than that produced
by Mr. Upham to entitle him to impeach
Mr. Mather's integrity." In another place he
says, pursuing the charge of quoting falsely, as
to my using the word "proceedings," "the
word is not to be found in the <i>Advice</i>."</p>

<p>The eighth Section recommends "the speedy
and vigorous prosecutions of such as have rendered
themselves obnoxious." In a brief reference
to the subject, I use the words "speedily
and vigorously," marking them as quoted, although
their form was changed by the structure
of the sentence of my own in which they appear.
Beyond this, I have made no <i>quotations</i>, in my
book, of the <i>Advice</i>&mdash;not a Section, nor sentence,
nor clause, nor line, is a quotation, nor pretends
to be. Without characterising what the
Reviewer has done, in charging me with <i>suppression
of essential portions</i>, <i>interpolation</i>, and
not <i>printing</i> in full, or correctly, what the Ministers
or any body else said, my duty is discharged,
by showing that there is no truth in the charge&mdash;no
foundation or apology for it.</p>

<p>The last of the works of Cotton Mather I shall
examine, in this scrutiny of his retrospective opinions
and position, relating to the witchcraft prosecutions,
is the <i>Magnalia</i>, printed at London, in
1702. He had become wise enough, at that time,
not to commit himself more than he could help.</p>

<p>The Rev. John Hale, of Beverly, died in May,
1700. He had taken an active part in the proceedings
at Salem, in 1692, having, as he says,
from his youth, been "trained up in the knowledge
and belief of most of the principles" upon
which the prosecutions were conducted, and
had held them "with a kind of implicit faith."
Towards the close of the Trials, his view underwent
a change; and, after the lapse of five years,
he prepared a treatise on the subject. It is a
candid, able, learned, and every-way commendable
performance, adhering to the general belief
in witchcraft, but pointing out the errors in
the methods of procedure in the Trials at Salem,
showing that the principles there acted upon
were fallacious. The book was not printed until
1702. Cotton Mather, having access to Mr.
Hale's manuscript, professedly made up from it
his account of the witchcraft transactions of
1692, inserted in the <i>Magnalia</i>, Book VI., Page 79.
He adopts the narrative part of the work, substantially,
avoiding much discussion of the topics
upon which Mr. Hale had laid himself out.
He cites, indeed, some passages from the argumentative
part, containing marvellous statements,
but does not mention that Mr. Hale labored,
throughout, to show that those and other like
matters, which had been introduced at the Trials,
as proofs of spectral agency, were easily resolvable
into the visions and vagaries of a "deluded
imagination," "a phantasy in the brain,"
"phantasma before the eyes."</p>

<p>Mr. Hale limits the definition of a witch to the
following: "Who is to be esteemed a capital
witch among Christians? viz.: Those that being
brought up under the means of the knowledge
of the true God, yet, being in their right
mind or free use of their reason, do knowingly
and wittingly depart from the true God, so
as to devote themselves unto, and seek for
their help from, another God, or the Devil, as
did the Devil's Priests and Prophets of old,
that were magicians."&mdash;<i>Page 127.</i></p>

<p>As he had refuted, and utterly discarded, the
whole system of evidence connected with spectres
of the living or ghosts of the dead, the
above definition rescued all but openly profane,
abandoned, and God-defying people from being
prosecuted for witchcraft. Mather transcribes,
as a quotation, what seems to be the foregoing
definition, but puts it thus: "A person that,
having the free use of reason, doth knowingly
and willingly seek and obtain of the Devil,
or of any other God, besides the true God Jehovah,
an ability to do or know strange things,
or things which he cannot by his own humane
abilities arrive unto. This person is a witch."</p>

<p>The latter part of the definition thus transcribed,
has no justification in Hale's language,
but is in conflict with the positions in his book.
Mather says, "the author spends whole Chapters
to prove that there yet is a witch." He omits
to state, that he spends twice as many Chapters
to prove that the evidence in the Salem cases
was not sufficient for that purpose. Upon the
whole it can hardly be considered a fair transcript
of Mr. Hale's account. He dismisses the
subject, once for all, in a curt and almost disrespectful
style&mdash;"But thus much for this manuscript."</p>

<p>Whoever examines the manner in which he,
in this way, gets rid of the subject, in the <i>Magnalia</i>,
must be convinced, I think, that he felt
no satisfaction in Mr. Hale's book, nor in the
state of things that made it necessary for him
to give the whole matter the go-by. If the
public mind had retained its fanatical credulity,
or if Mather's own share in the delusion of
1692 had been agreeable in the retrospect, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
cannot be doubted that it would have afforded
<span class="smcap">The Great Theme</span>, of his great book. All the
strange learning, passionate eloquence, and extravagant
painting, of its author, would have
been lavished upon it; and we should have had
another separate Book, with a Hebrew, Greek,
or Latin motto or title, which, interpreted, would
read <i>Most Wonderful of Wonders</i>. In 1692, his
language was: "Witchcraft is a business that
will not be shammed." In 1700, it was shoved
off upon the memory of Mr. Hale, as a business
not safe for him, Mather, to meddle with,
any longer. It was dropped, as if it burned
his fingers.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV.</h2>

<h3>HISTORY OF OPINION AS TO COTTON MATHER'S
CONNECTION WITH SALEM WITCHCRAFT.
THOMAS BRATTLE. THE PEOPLE OF SALEM
VILLAGE. JOHN HALL. JOHN HIGGINSON. MICHAEL
WIGGLESWORTH.</h3>

<p>Such passages as the following are found in
the article of the <i>North American Review</i>:
"These views, respecting Mr. Mather's connection
with the Salem Trials, are to be found in
no publication of a date prior to 1831, when
Mr. Upham's <i>Lectures</i> were published." "These
charges have been repented by Mr. Quincy, in
his <i>History of Harvard University</i>, by Mr.
Peabody, in his <i>Life of Cotton Mather</i>, by Mr.
Bancroft, and by nearly all historical writers,
since that date." "An examination of the historical
text-books, used in our schools, will
show when these ideas originated."</p>

<p>The position taken by the Reviewer, let it be
noticed, is, that the idea of Cotton Mather's
taking a leading part in the witchcraft prosecutions
of 1692, "<i>originated</i>" with me, in a work
printed in 1831; and that I have given "the
cue" to all subsequent writers on the subject.
Now what are the facts?</p>

<p>Cotton Mather himself is a witness that the
idea was entertained at the time. In his Diary,
after endeavoring to explain away the admitted
fact that he was the eulogist and champion of
the Judges, while the Trials were pending, he
says: "Merely, as far as I can learn, for this reason,
the mad people through the country,
under a fascination on their spirits equal to
that which energumens had on their bodies,
reviled me as if I had been the doer of all the
hard things that were done in the prosecution
of the witchcraft." He repeats the complaint,
over and over again, in various forms and
different writings. Indeed, it could not have
been otherwise, than that such should have
been the popular impression and conviction.</p>

<p>He was, at that time, bringing before the
people, most conspicuously, the <i>second</i> and
<i>eighth</i> Articles of the <i>Ministers' Advice</i>, urging
on the prosecutions. His deportment and harangue
at Witch-hill, at the execution of Burroughs
and Proctor; his confident and eager
endorsement, as related by Sewall, of the sentences
of the Court, at the moment when all
others were impressed with silent solemnity, by
the spectacle of five persons, professing their innocency,
just launched into eternity; his efforts
to prolong the prosecutions, in preparing the
book containing the trials of the "Malefactors"
who had suffered; and his zeal, on all occasions,
to "vindicate the Court" and applaud the
Judges; all conspired in making it the belief of
the whole people that he was, pre-eminently, answerable
for the "hard things that were done
in the prosecutions of the witchcraft."</p>

<p>That it was the general opinion, at home and
abroad, can be abundantly proved.</p>

<p>It must be borne in mind, as is explained in
my book, that a general feeling prevailed, immediately,
and for some years, after the witchcraft
"judicial murders," that the whole subject was
too humble to be thought of, or ever mentioned;
and as nearly the whole community, either
by acting in favor of the proceedings or failing
to act against them, had become more or less
responsible for them, there was an almost universal
understanding to avoid crimination or
recrimination. Besides, so far as Cotton Mather
was concerned, his professional and social
position, great talents and learning, and capacity
with a disposition for usefulness, joined to
the reverence then felt for Ministers prevented
his being assailed even by those who most disapproved
his course. Increase Mather was President
of the College and head of the Clergy.
The prevalent impression that <i>he</i> had, to some
extent, disapproved of the proceedings, made
men unwilling to wound his feelings by severe
criticisms upon his son; for, whatever differences
might be supposed to exist between them, all
well-minded persons respected their natural and
honorable sensitiveness to each other's reputation.
Reasons like these prevented open demonstrations
against both of them. Nevertheless,
it is easy to gather sufficient evidence to prove
my point.</p>

<p>Thomas Brattle was a Boston merchant of
great munificence and eminent talents and attainments.
His name is perpetuated by "Brattle-street
Church," of which he was the chief
founder. Dr. John Eliot, in his <i>Biographical
Dictionary</i>, speaks of him thus&mdash;referring to his
letter on the witchcraft of 1692, dated October
8, of that year: "Mr. Brattle wrote an account
of those transactions, which was too plain and
just to be published in those unhappy times,
but has been printed since; and which cannot
be read without feeling sentiments of esteem
for a man, who indulged a freedom of thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
becoming a Christian and philosopher. He,
from the beginning, opposed the prejudices of
the people, the proceedings of the Court, and
the perverse zeal of those Ministers of the Gospel,
who, by their preaching and conduct,
caused such real distress to the community.
They, who called him an infidel, were obliged
to acknowledge that his wisdom shone with
uncommon lustre."</p>

<p>His brother, William Brattle, with whom he
seems to have been in entire harmony of opinion,
on all subjects, was long an honored instructor
and Fellow of Harvard College, and
Minister of the First Church, at Cambridge.
He was celebrated here and in England, for his
learning, and endeared to all men by his virtues.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of
London. Jeremiah Dummer, as well qualified
to pronounce such an opinion as any man of his
time, places him as a preacher above all his
contemporaries, in either Old or New England.</p>

<p>The Brattles were both politically opposed
to the Mathers. But, as matters then stood, in
view of the prevailing infatuation&mdash;particularly
as the course upon which Phips had determined
was not then known&mdash;caution and prudence
were deemed necessary; and the letter was
<i>confidential</i>. Indeed, all expressions of criticism,
on the conduct of the Government, were
required to be so. It is a valuable document,
justifying the reputation the writer had established
in life and has borne ever since. Condemning
the methods pursued in the Salem
Trials, he says: after stating that "several men,
for understanding, judgment, and piety, inferior
to few, if any, utterly condemn the proceedings"
at Salem, "I shall nominate some
of these to you, viz.: the Hon. Simon Bradstreet,
Esq., our late Governor; the Hon.
Thomas Danforth, our late Deputy-governor;
the Rev. Mr. Increase Mather; and the Rev.
Mr. Samuel Willard."</p>

<p>Bradstreet was ninety years of age, but in the
full possession of his mental faculties. In this
sense, "his eye was not dim, nor his natural
force abated." Thirteen years before, when
Governor of the Colony, he had refused to
order to execution a woman who had been convicted
of witchcraft, in a series of trials that
had gone through all the Courts, with concurring
verdicts, confirmed at an adjudication by
the Board of Assistants&mdash;as President of which
body, it had been his official duty to pass upon
her the final sentence of death. Juries, Judges,
both branches of the Legislature, and the people,
clamored for her execution; but the brave old
Governor withstood them all, resolutely and inexorably:
an innocent and good woman and
the honor of the Colony, at that time, were saved.
Mr. Hale informs us that Bradstreet refused
to allow the sentence to take effect, for these
reasons: that "a spectre doing mischief in
her likeness, should not be imputed to her
person, as a ground of guilt; and that one
single witness to one fact and another single
witness to another fact" were not to be esteemed
"two witnesses in a matter capital."
No Executive Magistrate has left a record more
honorable to his name, than that of Bradstreet,
on this occasion. If his principles had been
heeded, not a conviction could have been obtained,
in 1692. It was because of his known
opposition, that his two sons were cried out
upon and had to fly for their lives. That Brattle
was justified in naming Danforth, in this
connection, the conversation of that person with
Sewall, on the fifteenth of October, proves. It
is understood, by many indications, that, although,
in former years, inclined to the popular
delusions of the day, touching witchcraft, Willard
was an opponent of the prosecutions; and
Brattle must be regarded as having had means
of judging of Increase Mather's views and feelings,
on the eighth of October.</p>

<p>This singling out of the father, thereby distinguishing
him from the son, must, I think, be
conclusive evidence, to every man who candidly
considers the circumstances of the case and
the purport of the document, that Brattle did
not consider Cotton Mather entitled to be named
in the honored list.</p>

<p>Brattle further says: "Excepting Mr. Hale,
Mr. Noyes, and Mr. Parris, the Rev. Elders,
almost throughout the whole country, are very
much dissatisfied." The word "almost,"
leaves room for others to be placed in the same
category with Hale, Noyes, and Parris. The
Reviewer argues that because Cotton Mather is
not named at all, in either list, therefore he must
be counted in the first!</p>

<p>The father and son were associate Ministers
of the same Church; they shared together a
great name, fame, and position; both men of the
highest note, here and abroad, conspicuous before
all eyes, standing, hand in hand, in all the
associations and sentiments of the people, united
by domestic ties, similar pursuits, and every
form of public action and observation&mdash;why did
Brattle, in so marked a manner, separate them,
holding the one up, in an honorable point of
view, and passing over the other, not ever mentioning
his name, as the Reviewer observes?</p>

<p>If he really disapproved of the prosecutions
at Salem&mdash;if, as the Reviewer positively states,
he "denounced" them&mdash;is it not unaccountable
that Brattle did not name him with his father?</p>

<p>These questions press with especial force
upon the Reviewer, under the interpretation he
crowds upon the passage from Brattle, I am now
to cite. If that interpretation can be allowed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
it will, in the face of all that has come to us,
make Brattle out to have had a most exalted
opinion of Cotton Mather, and render it unaccountable
indeed that he did not mention him,
in honor, as he did his father and Mr. Willard.
The passage is this: "I cannot but highly applaud,
and think it our duty to be very thankful
for, the endeavours of several Elders, whose
lips, I think, should preserve knowledge, and
whose counsel should, I think, have been more
regarded, in a case of this nature, than as yet
it has been: in particular, I cannot but think
very honorably of the endeavours of a Rev.
person in Boston, whose good affections to his
country, in general, and spiritual relation to
three of the Judges, in particular, has made
him very solicitous and industrious in this
matter; and I am fully persuaded, that had
his notions and proposals been hearkened to
and followed, when those troubles were in
their birth, in an ordinary way, they would
never have grown unto that height which now
they have. He has, as yet, met with little
but unkindness, abuse, and reproach, from
many men; but, I trust, that in after times,
his wisdom and service will find a more universal
acknowledgment; and if not, his reward
is with the Lord."</p>

<p>The learned Editor of the Fifth Volume of
the <i>Massachusetts Historical Collections</i>, First
Series, in a note to this passage (<i>p. 76</i>), says:
"Supposed to be Mr. Willard." Such has always
been the supposition. The Reviewer has
undertaken to make it out that Cotton Mather
is the person referred to by Brattle. These two
men were opposed to each other, in the politics
of that period. The course of the Mathers, in
connection with the loss of the old, and the establishment
of the new, Charter, gave rise to
much dissatisfaction; and party divisions were
quite acrimonious. The language used by Brattle,
applauding the public course of the person
of whom he was speaking, would be utterly inexplicable,
if applied to Mather. The "endeavours,
counsels, notions and proposals," to
which he alludes, could not have referred to
Mather's plans, which I have attempted to explain,
because described by Brattle as being in
"an ordinary way." "Unkindness, abuse, and
reproach" find an explanation in the fact,
that Willard was "cried out upon" and brought
into peril of reputation and life, by the creatures
of the prosecution. The monstrousness of the
supposition that Mather was referred to, would
hardly be heightened if it should appear that
Brattle supplied Calef with materials in his
controversy with Mather.</p>

<p>The language, throughout, is in conformity
with the political relations between Brattle and
Willard. The side the latter had espoused was
put beyond question by the appearing, on the
fifteenth of November, at Elisha Cook's Thanksgiving;
and that was the same occupied by
Brattle. But the question is settled by the fact
that <i>three of the Judges</i> belonged to Willard's
Congregation and Church, whereas only <i>one</i> belonged
to the Church of the Mathers. The Reviewer
says: "We do not assert that this inference
is not the correct one." But, in spite of
this substantial admission, with that strange
propensity to overturn all the conclusions of
history to glorify Cotton Mather, at the expense
of others, and even, in this instance, against his
own better judgment, he labors to make us believe&mdash;what
he himself does not venture to
"assert"&mdash;that the "spiritual relation" in which
Mather stood to three of the Judges, was not,
what, in those days and ever since, it has been
understood to mean, that of a Pastor with his
flock, but nothing more than intimate friendship.
If this was what Brattle meant, he would
have said at least <i>four</i> of the Judges, for, at
that time, Sewall was in full accord with Mather.
They took counsel together. It was at the
house of Sewall that the preparation of the
<i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i> was finally arranged
with Mather; and he, alone, of all the
side Judges, united with Stoughton, some days
after the date of Brattle's letter, in endorsing
and commending that work.</p>

<p>If the expression, "spiritual relations," is divorced
from its proper sense, and made to mean
sympathy of opinion or agreement in counsels,
it ill becomes the Reviewer to try to make it out
that Mather held that relation with <i>any of the
Judges</i>. He represents him, throughout his article,
as at sword's points with the Court. He says
that he "denounced" its course, "as illegal,
uncharitable, and cruel." There is, indeed,
not a shadow of foundation for this statement,
as to Mather's relation to the Court; but it absolutely
precludes the Reviewer from such an interpretation
as he attempts, of the expression of
Brattle.</p>

<p>The Reviewer says: "If Mr. Mather is not
alluded to, in this paragraph, he is omitted
altogether from the narrative, except as spiritual
adviser of the persons condemned."</p>

<p>This is an instance of the way in which this
writer establishes history. Without any and
against all evidence, in the license of his imagination
alone, he had thrown out the suggestion
that Mather attended the executions, as the ministerial
comforter and counsellor of the sufferers.
Then, by a sleight of hand, he transforms this
"phantasy" of his own brain into an unquestionable
fact.</p>

<p>If Mr. Mather is not alluded to in the following
passage from Brattle's letter, who is? "I
cannot but admire, that any should go with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
their distempered friends and relatives to the
afflicted children to know what these distempered
friends ail; whether they are not bewitched;
who it is that afflicts them; and the
like. It is true, I know no reason why these
afflicted may not be consulted as well as any
other, if so be that it was only their natural
and ordinary knowledge that was had recourse
to; but it is not on this notion that these afflicted
children are sought unto; but as they
have a supernatural knowledge&mdash;a knowledge
which they obtain by their holding correspondence
with spectres or evil spirits&mdash;as they themselves
grant. This consulting of these afflicted
children, as abovesaid, seems to me a very gross
evil, a real abomination, not fit to be known in
New England, and yet is a thing practiced, not
only by Tom and John&mdash;I mean the ruder and
more ignorant sort&mdash;but by many who profess
high, and pass among us for some of the better
sort. This is that which aggravates the evil
and makes it heinous and tremendous; and
yet this is not the worst of it, for, as sure as I
now write to you, even some of our civil leaders
and spiritual teachers, who, I think, should
punish and preach down such sorcery and
wickedness, do yet allow of, encourage, yea,
and practice, this very abomination.</p>

<p>"I know there are several worthy gentlemen,
in Salem, who account this practice as an abomination;
have trembled to see the methods of
this nature which others have used; and have
declared themselves to think the practice to be
very evil and corrupt; but all avails little with
the abettors of the said practice."</p>

<p>Does not this stern condemnation fall on the
head of the "spiritual teacher," who received
constant communications from the spectral world,
fastening the charge of diabolical confederacy
upon other persons, in confidential interviews
with confessing witches&mdash;not to mention the
Goodwin girls;&mdash;whose boast it was, "it may be
no man living has had more people, under preternatural
and astonishing circumstances, cast
by the Providence of God into his more particular
care than I have had;" and that he had
kept to himself information thus obtained, which,
if he had not suppressed it, would have led to
the conviction of "such witches as ought to
die;" who sought to have the exclusive right
of receiving such communications conferred upon
him, "by the authority;" who, at that time, was
holding this intercourse with persons pretending
to spectral visions; and, the next year, held such
relations with Margaret Rule?</p>

<p>The next evidence in support of the opinion
that Cotton Mather was considered, at the time,
as identified with the proceedings at Salem, in
1692, although circumstantial, cannot, I think,
but be regarded as quite conclusive.</p>

<p>Immediately after the prosecutions terminated,
measures began to be developed to remove Mr.
Parris from his ministry. The reaction early took
effect where the outrages of the delusion had
been most flagrant; and the injured feelings of
the friends of those who had been so cruelly cut
off, and of all who had suffered in their characters
and condition, found expression. A movement
was made, directly and personally, upon Parris,
in consequence of his conspicuous lead in the
prosecutions; showing itself, first, in the form of
litigation, in the Courts, of questions of salary
and the adjustment of accounts. Soon, it broke
out in the Church; and satisfaction was demanded,
by aggrieved brethren, in the methods appropriate
to ecclesiastical action. The charges here
made against him were exclusively in reference
to his course, at the Examinations and Trials, in
1692. The conflict, thus initiated, is one of the
most memorable in our Church History. Parris
and his adherents resisted, for a long time, the
rightful and orderly demands of his opponents
for a Mutual Council. At length, many of the
Ministers, who sympathized with the aggrieved
brethren, felt it their duty to interpose, and addressed
a letter to Mr. Parris, giving him to understand
that they were of opinion he ought to
comply with the demand for a Council. This letter,
dated the fourteenth of June, 1694, was signed
by several of the neighboring Ministers, and by
James Allen, of the First, and Samuel Willard, of
the Old South, Churches, in Boston, <i>but not by the
Mathers</i>. On the tenth of September, a similar
letter was written to him, also signed by neighboring
Ministers, and Mr. Allen, and Mr. Willard,
<i>but not by the Mathers</i>.</p>

<p>Not daring to refuse any longer, Parris, professedly
yielding to the demand, consented to a
Mutual Council, but avoided it, in this way.
Each party was to select three Churches, to maintain
its interests and give friendly protection to
its rights and feelings. The aggrieved brethren
selected the Churches of Rowley, Salisbury and
Ipswich. Parris undertook to object to the
Church of Ipswich; and refused to proceed, if it
was invited. Of course, the aggrieved brethren
persisted in their right to name the Churches on
their side. Knowing that they had the right so
to do, and that public opinion would sustain them
in it, Parris escaped the dilemma, by calling an
<i>ex parte</i> Council; and the Churches invited to it
were those of North Boston, Weymouth, Malden,
and Rowley. The first was that of the Mathers.
That Parris was right in relying upon the Rev.
Samuel Torrey of Weymouth, is rendered probable
by the circumstance that, of the names of
the fourteen Ministers, including all those known
to have been opposed to the proceedings at Salem,
attached to the recommendation of the
<i>Cases of Conscience</i>, his is not one; and may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
be considered as made certain by the fact recorded
by Sewall, that he was opposed to the discontinuance
of the Trials. The Pastor of the Malden
Church was the venerable Michael Wigglesworth,
a gentleman of the highest repute; who
had declined the Presidency of Harvard College;
whose son and grandson became Professors in
that institution; and whose descendants still sustain
the honor of their name and lineage. From
the tone of his writings, it is quite probable that
he favored the witchcraft proceedings, at the beginning;
but the change of mind, afterwards
strongly expressed, had, perhaps, then begun to
be experienced, for he did not respond to the
call, as his name does not appear in the record
of the Council. The fact that Parris chiefly depended
upon the Church at North Boston, of
which Cotton Mather was Pastor, to sustain his
cause, in a Council, whose whole business was to
pass upon his conduct in witchcraft prosecutions,
is quite decisive. That Church was named
by him, from the first to the last, and neither of
the other Boston Churches. It shows that he
turned to Cotton Mather, more than to any other
Minister, to be his champion.</p>

<p>It is further decisively proved that the reaction
had become strong among the Ministers, by the
unusual steps they took to prevent that Council
being under the sway of such men as Cotton
Mather and Torrey, thereby prolonging the mischief.
A meeting of the "Reverend Elders of
the Bay" was held; and Mr. Parris was given
to understand that, in their judgment, the
Churches of Messrs. Allen and Willard ought also
to be invited. He bitterly resented this, and saw
that it sealed his fate; but felt the necessity of
yielding to it. The addition of those two
Churches, with their Pastors, determined the character
and result of the Council, and gave new
strength to the aggrieved brethren, who soon succeeded
in compelling Parris and his friends to
agree to submit the whole matter to the arbitration
of three men, mutually chosen, whose decision
should be final.</p>

<p>The umpire selected in behalf of the opponents
of Parris was no other than Elisha Cook,
the head of the party arrayed against Mather. Wait
Winthrop appears to have been selected by Parris;
and Samuel Sewall was mutually agreed upon.
Two of the three, who thus passed final judgment
against the proceedings at the Salem Trials,
sat on the Bench of the Special Court of Oyer
and Terminer. The case of the aggrieved brethren
was presented to the Arbitrators in a document,
signed by four men, as "Attorneys of the
people of the Village," each one of whom had
been struck at, in the time of the prosecutions.
It <i>exclusively</i> refers to Mr. Parris's conduct, in
the witchcraft prosecutions; to "his believing
the Devil's accusations;" and to his going to the
accusing girls, to know of them "who afflicted"
them. For these reasons, and these alone, they
"submit the whole" to the decision of the Arbitrators,
concluding thus: "to determine whether
we are, or ought to be, any ways obliged to
honor, respect, and support such an instrument
of our miseries." The Arbitrators decided that
they <i>ought not</i>; fixed the sum to be paid to Parris,
as a final settlement; and declared the ministerial
relation, between him and the people of
the Village, dissolved.</p>

<p>With this official statement of the grounds on
which his dismission was demanded and obtained,
before his eyes, as printed by Calef (<i>p. 63</i>),
this Reviewer says that Parris remained the Minister
of Salem Village, five years "after the
witchcraft excitement;" and further says, "the
immediate cause of his leaving, was his quarrel
with the Parish, concerning thirty cords of
wood and the fee of the parsonage." He
thus thinks, by a dash of his pen, to strike out
the record of the fact that the main, in truth,
the only, ground on which Parris was dismissed,
was the part he bore in the witchcraft prosecutions.
The salary question had been pending in
the Courts; but it was wholly left out of view,
by the party demanding his dismission. It
had nothing to do with <i>dismission</i>; was a question
of <i>contract</i> and <i>debt</i>; and was absorbed in
the "excitement," <i>which had never ceased</i>, about
the witchcraft prosecutions. The Arbitrators did
not decide those questions, about salary and the
balance of accounts, except as incidental to the
other question, of <i>dismission</i>.</p>

<p>The feeling among the inhabitants of Salem
Village, that Cotton Mather was in sympathy
with Mr. Parris, during the witchcraft prosecutions,
is demonstrated by the facts I have adduced
connected with the controversy between
them and the latter, and most emphatically by
their choice of Elisha Cook, as the Arbitrator, on
their part. Surely no persons of that day, understood
the matter better than they did. Indeed,
they could not have been mistaken about
it. It remained the settled conviction of that
community.</p>

<p>When the healing ministry of the successor
of Parris, Joseph Green, was brought to a close,
by the early death of that good man, in 1715,
and the whole Parish, still feeling the dire effects
of the great calamity of 1692, were mourning
their bereavement, expressed in their own language:
"the choicest flower, and greenest olive-tree,
in the garden of our God here, cut down
in its prime and flourishing estate," they passed
a vote, earnestly soliciting the Rev. William Brattle
of Cambridge, to visit them. He was always
a known opponent of Cotton Mather. To have
selected him to come to them, in their distress
and destitution, indicates the views then prevalent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
in the Village. He went to them and guided
them by his advice, until they obtained a new
Minister.</p>

<p>The mention of the fact by Mr. Hale, already
stated, that Cotton Mather's book, <i>Memorable
Providences</i>, was used as an authority by the
Judges at the Salem Trials, shows that the author
of that work was regarded by Hale as, to that
extent at least, responsibly connected with the
prosecutions.</p>

<p>I pass over, for the present, the proceedings
and writings of Robert Calef.</p>

<p>After the lapse of a few years, a feeling,
which had been slowly, but steadily, rising among
the people, that some general and public acknowledgment
ought to be made by all who had been
engaged in the proceedings of 1692, and especially
by the authorities, of the wrongs committed in
that dark day, became too strong to be safely
disregarded. On the seventeenth of December,
1696, Stoughton, then acting as Governor, issued
a Proclamation, ordaining, in his name and that
of the Council and Assembly, a Public Fast, to
be kept on the fourteenth of January, to implore
that the anger of God might be turned away,
and His hand, then stretched over the people in
manifold judgments, lifted. After referring to
the particular calamities they were suffering
and to the many days that had been spent in
solemn addresses to the throne of mercy, it expresses
a fear that something was still wanting
to accompany their supplications, and proceeds
to refer, specially, to the witchcraft tragedy. It
was on the occasion of this Fast, that Judge
Sewall acted the part, in the public assembly of
the old South Church, for which his name will
ever be held in dear and honored memory.</p>

<p>The public mind was, no doubt, gratified and
much relieved, but not satisfied, by this demonstration.
The Proclamation did not, after all,
meet its demands. Upon careful examination
and deliberate reflection, it rather aggravated the
prevalent feeling. Written, as was to be supposed,
by Stoughton, it could not represent a reaction
in which he took no part. It spoke of
"mistakes on either hand," and used general
forms, "wherein we have done amiss, to do so
no more." It endorsed in a new utterance,
the delusion, sheltering the proper agents of the
mischief, by ascribing it all to "Satan and his
instruments, through the awful judgment of
God;" and no atonement for the injuries to
the good name and estates of the sufferers, not
to speak of the lives that had been cut off, was
suggested. The conviction was only deepened,
in all good minds, that something more ought to
be done. Mr. Hale, of Beverly, met the obligation
pressing upon his sense of justice and appealing
to him with especial force, by writing
his book, from which the following passages are
extracted: "I would come yet nearer to our own
times, and bewail the errors and mistakes that
have been, in the year 1692&mdash;by following such
traditions of our fathers, maxims of the common
law, and precedents and principles, which
now we may see, weighed in the balance of
the sanctuary, are found too light&mdash;Such was
the darkness of that day, the tortures and
lamentations of the afflicted, and the power of
former precedents, that we walked in the
clouds and could not see our way&mdash;I would
humbly propose whether it be not expedient
that somewhat more should be publicly done
than yet hath, for clearing the good name and
reputation of some that have suffered upon this
account."</p>

<p>The Rev. John Higginson, Senior Pastor of
the First Church in Salem, then eighty-two years
of age, in a recommendatory <i>Epistle to the Reader</i>,
prefixed to Mr. Hale's book, dated the twenty-third
of March, 1698, after stating that, "under the infirmities
of a decrepit old age, he stirred little
abroad, and was much disenabled (both in body
and mind) from knowing and judging of occurrents
and transactions of that time," proceeds
to say that he was "more willing to accompany"
Mr. Hale "to the press," because he thought his
"treatise needful and useful upon divers accounts;"
among others specified by him, is the following:
"That whatever errors or mistakes we fell into,
in the dark hour of temptation that was upon
us, may be (upon more light) so discovered,
acknowledged, and disowned by us, as that it
may be matter of warning and caution to those
that come after us, that they may not fall into
the like.&mdash;<i>1 Cor.</i>, x., 11. <i>Felix quem faciunt
aliena pericula cautum.</i> I would also propound,
and leave it as an object of consideration,
to our honored Magistrates and Reverend
Ministers, whether the equity of that law in
<i>Leviticus</i>, Chap. iv., for a sin-offering for the
Rulers and for the Congregation, in the case of
sins of ignorance, when they come to be known,
be not obliging, and for direction to us in a
Gospel way." The venerable man concludes by
saying that "it shall be the prayer of him who
is daily waiting for his change and looking
for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, unto
eternal life," that the "blessing of Heaven may
go along with this little treatise to attain the
good ends thereof."</p>

<p>Judge Sewall, too, and the Jury that had
given the verdicts at the Trials, in 1692, publicly
and emphatically acknowledged that they had
been led into error.</p>

<p>All these things afford decisive and affecting
evidence of a prevalent conviction that
a great wrong had been committed. The vote
passed by the Church at Salem Village, on the
fourteenth of February, 1703&mdash;"We are, through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
God's mercy to us, convinced that we were,
at that dark day, under the power of those
errors which then prevailed in the land."
"We desire that this may be entered in our
Church-book," "that so God may forgive our
Sin, and may be atoned for the land; and we
humbly pray that God will not leave us any
more to such errors and sins"&mdash;affords striking
proof that the right feeling had penetrated
the whole community. On the eighth of July,
of that same year, nearly the whole body of the
Clergy of Essex-county addressed a Memorial
to the General Court, in which they say, "There
is great reason to fear that innocent persons
then suffered, and that God may have a controversy
with the land upon that account."</p>

<p>Nothing of the kind, however, was ever heard
from the Ministers of Boston and the vicinity.
Why did they not join their voices in this prayer,
going up elsewhere, from all concerned, for
the divine forgiveness? We know that most
of them felt right. Samuel Willard and James
Allen did; and so did William Brattle, of Cambridge.
Their silence cannot, it seems to me,
be accounted for, but by considering the degree
to which they were embarrassed by the relation
of the Mathers to the affair. One brave-hearted
old man remonstrated against their failure to
meet the duty of the hour, and addressed his
remonstrance to the right quarter. The Rev.
Michael Wigglesworth, a Fellow of Harvard
College, and honored in all the Churches, wrote
a letter to Increase Mather, dated July 22,
1704 [<i>Mather Papers, 647</i>], couched in strong
and bold terms, beginning thus:</p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">Rev. and Dear S<sup>r</sup>.</span> I am right well assured
that both yourself, your son, and the rest of
our brethren with you in Boston, have a deep
sense upon your spirits of the awful symptoms
of the Divine displeasure that we lie under
at this day." After briefly enumerating the
public calamities of the period, he continues:
"I doubt not but you are all endeavouring to
find out and discover to the people the causes
of God's controversy, and how they are to
be removed; to help forward this difficult and
necessary work, give me leave to impart some
of my serious and solemn thoughts. I fear
(amongst our many other provocations) that
God hath a controversy with us about what
was done in the time of the Witchcraft. I
fear that innocent blood hath been shed, and
that <i>many have had their hands defiled therewith</i>."
After expressing his belief that the
Judges acted conscientiously, and that the
persons concerned were deceived, he proceeds:
"Be it then that it was done ignorantly. Paul,
a Pharisee, persecuted the Church of God,
shed the blood of God's Saints, and yet obtained
mercy, because he did it in ignorance; but
how doth he bewail it, and shame himself for it,
before God and men afterwards. [<i>1 Tim., i., 13,
16.</i>] I think, and am verily persuaded, God expects
that we do the like, in order to our obtaining
his pardon: I mean by a Public and Solemn
acknowledgment of it and humiliation
for it; and the more particularly and personally
it is done by all that have been actors, the
more pleasing it will be to God, and more effectual
to turn away his judgments from the
Land, and to prevent his wrath from falling
upon the persons and families of such as have
been most concerned.</p>

<p>"I know this is a <i>Noli Me tangere</i>, but what
shall we do? Must we pine away in our iniquities,
rather than boldly declare the Counsel
of God, who tells us, [<i>Isa., i., 15.</i>] 'When you
make many prayers, I will not hear you, your
hands are full of blood.'"</p>

<p>He further says that he believes that "the
whole country lies under a curse to this day,
and will do, till some effectual course be taken
by our honored Governor and General Court to
make amends and reparation" to the families
of such as were condemned "for supposed
witchcraft," or have "been ruined by taking
away and making havoc of their estates." After
continuing the argument, disposing of the excuse
that the country was too impoverished to
do any thing in that way, he charges his correspondent
to communicate his thoughts to "the
Rev. Samuel Willard and the rest of our brethren
in the ministry," that action may be taken,
without delay. He concludes his plain and earnest
appeal and remonstrance, in those words:
"I have, with a weak body and trembling hand,
endeavoured to leave my testimony before I
leave the world; and having left it with you
(my Rev. Brethren) I hope I shall leave this
life with more peace, when God seeth meet to
call me hence."</p>

<p>He died within a year. When the tone of this
letter is carefully considered, and the pressure of
its forcible and bold reasoning, amounting to expostulation,
is examined, it can hardly be questioned
that it was addressed to the persons who
most needed to be appealed to. But no effect
appears to have been produced by it.</p>

<p>In introducing his report of the Trials, contained
in the <i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>,
Cotton Mather, alluding to the "surviving relations"
of those who had been executed, says:
"The Lord comfort them." It was poor consolation
he gave them in that book&mdash;holding up
their parents, wives, and husbands, as "Malefactors."
Neither he nor his father ever expressed
a sentiment in harmony with those uttered by
Hale, Higginson, or Wigglesworth&mdash;on the contrary,
Cotton Mather, writing a year after the Salem
Tragedy, almost chuckles over it: "In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
whole&mdash;the Devil got just nothing&mdash;but God
got praises. Christ got subjects, the Holy
Spirit got temples, the church got addition,
and the souls of men got everlasting benefits."&mdash;<i>Calef</i>,
12.</p>

<p>Stoughton remained nearly the whole time, until
his death, in May, 1702, in control of affairs.
By his influence over the Government and that
of the Mathers over the Clergy, nothing was done
to remove the dark stigma from the honor of the
Province, and no seasonable or adequate reparation
ever made for the Great Wrong.</p>

<p>I am additionally indebted to the kindness of
Dr. Moore for the following extracts from a Sermon
to the General Assembly, delivered by Cotton
Mather, in 1709, intitled "<i>Theopolis Americana</i>.
Pure Gold in the market place."</p>

<p>"In two or three too Memorable <i>Days of
Temptation</i>, that have been upon us, there
have been <i>Errors</i> Committed. You are always
ready to Declare unto all the World, 'That you
disapprove those Errors.' You are willing to
inform all mankind with your <i>Declarations</i>.</p>

<p>"That no man may be Persecuted, because he
is Conscienciously not of the same Religious
Opinions, with those that are uppermost.</p>

<p>"And; That Persons are not to be judged
Confederates with Evil Spirits, merely because
the Evil Spirits do make Possessed People cry
out upon them.</p>

<p>"Could any thing be Proposed further, by
way of Reparation, [Besides the General Day
of Humiliation, which was appointed and observed
thro' the Province, to bewayl the Errors
of our Dark time, some years ago:] You would
be willing to hearken to it."</p>

<p>The suggestion thus made, not, it must be confessed,
in very urgent terms, did not, it is probable,
produce much impression. The preacher
seemed to rest upon the Proclamation issued by
Stoughton, some eleven years before. Coupling
the two errors specified together, was not calculated
to give effect to the recommendation. Public
opinion was not, then, prepared to second
such enlightened views as to religious liberty.</p>

<p>It is very noticeable that Mather here must be
considered as admitting that "in the Dark time,"
persons were judged "Confederates with Evil
Spirits," "merely" because of Spectral Evidence.</p>

<p>All that was said, on this occasion, does not
amount to any thing, as an expression of <i>personal</i>
opinion or feeling, relating to points on which
Hale and Higginson uttered their deep sensibility,
and Wigglesworth had addressed to the Mathers
and other Ministers, his solemn and searching
appeal. The duty of reparation for the great
wrong was thrown off upon others, than those
particularly and prominently responsible.</p>

<p>Nothing has led me to suppose that Cotton
Mather was cruel or heartless, in his natural or
habitual disposition. He never had the wisdom or
dignity to acknowledge, as an individual, or <i>as
one of the Clergy</i>, or to propose specific reparation
for, the fearful mischiefs, sufferings and horrors
growing out of the witchcraft prosecutions. The
extent to which he was at the time, and probably
always continued to be, the victim of baleful superstitions,
is his only apology, and we must allow
it just weight.</p>

<p>A striking instance of the occasional ascendency
of his better feelings, and of the singular
methods in which he was accustomed to act, is
presented in the following extract from his Diary,
at a late period of his life. We may receive it as
an indication that he was not insensible of his obligation
to do good, where, with his participation,
so much evil had been done: "There is a town
in this country, namely, Salem, which has many
poor and bad people in it, and such as are especially
scandalous for staying at home on the
Lord's day. I wrapped up seven distinct parcels
of money and annexed seven little books
about repentance, and seven of the monitory
letter against profane absence from the house
of God. I sent those things with a nameless
letter unto the Minister of that Town, and desired
and empowered him to dispense the charity
in his own name, hoping thereby the more
to ingratiate his ministry with the people.
Who can tell how far the good Angels of Heaven
cooperate in those proceeding?"</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI.</h2>

<h3>HISTORY OF OPINION AS TO COTTON MATHER,
CONTINUED. FRANCIS HUTCHINSON. DANIEL
NEAL. ISAAC WATTS. THOMAS HUTCHINSON.
WILLIAM BENTLEY. JOHN ELIOT. JOSIAH
QUINCY.</h3>

<p>It was the common opinion in England, that
the Mathers, particularly the younger, were pre-eminently
responsible for the proceedings at Salem,
in 1692. Francis Hutchinson, in the work
from which I have quoted, speaks of the whole
system of witchcraft doctrine, as "fantastic notions,"
which are "so far from raising their
sickly visions into legal evidence, that they are
grounded upon the very dregs of Pagan and
Popish superstitions, and leave the lives of innocent
men naked, without defence against
them;" and in giving a list of books, written
for upholding them, mentions, "Mr. Increase
and Mr. Cotton Mather's several tracts;" and,
in his Chapter on Witchcraft in Massachusetts, in
1692, commends the book of "Mr. Calef, a Merchant
in that Plantation."</p>

<p>About the same time, the Rev. Daniel Neal,
the celebrated author of the <i>History of the Puritans</i>,
wrote a <i>History of New England</i>, in
which he gives place to a brief, impartial, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
just account of the witchcraft proceedings, in
1692. He abstains from personal criticisms, but
expresses this general sentiment: "Strange were
the mistakes that some of the wisest and best
men of the country committed on this occasion;
which must have been fatal to the whole
Province, if God, in his Providence, had not
mercifully interposed." The only sentence
that contains a stricture on Cotton Mather, particularly,
is that in which he thus refers to his
statement that a certain confession was <i>freely</i>
made. Neal quietly suggests, "whether the act
of a man in prison, and under apprehension of
death, may be called free, I leave others to
judge." Dr. Isaac Watts, having read Neal's
book, thought it necessary to write a letter to
Cotton Mather, dated February 10, 1720; (<i>Massachusetts
Historical Collections, I., v., 200</i>)
and, describing a conversation he had just been
having with Neal, says: "There is another
thing, wherein my brother is solicitous lest he
should have displeased you, and that is, the
Chapter on Witchcraft, but, as he related
matters of fact, by comparison of several authors,
he hopes that you will forgive that he
has not fallen into your sentiments exactly."
The anxiety felt by Neal and Watts, lest the feelings
of Mather might be wounded, shows what
they thought of his implication with the affair.
This inference is rendered unavoidable, when we
examine Neal's book and find that he quotes or
refers to Calef, all along, without the slightest
question as to his credibility, receiving his statements
and fully recognizing his authority. Indeed,
his references to Calef are about ten to one
oftener than to Mather. The attempt of Neal
and Watts to smooth the matter down, by saying
that the former had been led to his conclusions
by "a comparison of several authors,"
could have given little satisfaction to Mather, as
the authors whom he chiefly refers to, are Calef
and Mather; and, comparing them with each
other, he followed Calef.</p>

<p>The impression thus held in England, even by
Mather's friends and correspondents, that he was
unpleasantly connected with the Witchcraft of
1692, has been uniformly experienced, on both
sides of the water, until this Reviewer's attempt
to erase it from the minds of men.</p>

<p>Thomas Hutchinson was born in 1711, and
brought up in the neighborhood of the Mathers;
finishing his collegiate course and taking his Bachelor's
degree at Harvard College, in 1727, a year
before the death of Cotton Mather. He had opportunities
to form a correct judgment about Salem
Witchcraft and the chief actor in the proceedings,
greater than any man of his day;
but his close family connection with the Mathers
imposed some restraint upon his expressions; not
enough, however, to justify the statement of the
Reviewer that he does not mention the "agency"
of Cotton Mather in that transaction. There are
several very distinct references to Mather's
"agency," in Hutchinson's account of the transactions
connected with Salem Witchcraft, some
of which I have cited. I ask to whom does the
following passage refer?&mdash;<i>ii., 63.</i>&mdash;"One of the
Ministers, who, in the time of it, was fully
convinced that the complaining persons were
no impostors, and who vindicated his own conduct
and that of the Court, in a Narrative he
published, remarks, not long after, in his Diary,
that many were of opinion that innocent blood
had been shed."</p>

<p>This shows that Hutchinson regarded Cotton
Mather's agency in the light in which I have represented
it; that he considered him as wholly
committed to the then prevalent delusion; as
acting a part that identified him with the prosecutions;
and that the Narrative he published was
a joint vindication of himself and the Court.
Hutchinson fastens the passage upon Mather, by
the reference to the Diary; and while he says that
it contained a statement, that many believed the
persons who suffered innocent, he avoids saying
that such was the opinion of the author of the
Diary.</p>

<p>Finally, his taking particular pains to do it, by
giving a Note to the purpose of expressing his
confidence in Calef, pronouncing him a "fair relator"&mdash;<i>ii.,
56</i>&mdash;proves that Governor Hutchinson
held the opinion about Mather's "agency,"
which has always heretofore been ascribed to him.</p>

<p>William Bentley, D.D., was born in Boston,
and for a large part of the first half of his life resided,
as his family had done for a long period, in
the North part of that Town. He was of a turn of
mind to gather all local traditions, and, through
all his days, devoted to antiquarian pursuits.
No one of his period paid more attention to the
subject of the witchcraft delusion. For much of
our information concerning it, we are indebted to
his <i>History and Description of Salem</i>, printed in
1800&mdash;<i>Massachusetts Historical Collections, I.,
vi.</i>&mdash;After relating many of its incidents,
he breaks forth in condemnation of those
who, disapproving, at the time, of the proceedings,
did not come out and denounce them.
Holding the opinion, which had come down
from the beginning, that Increase Mather disapproved
of the transaction, he indignantly repudiates
the idea of giving him any credit therefor.
"Increase Mather did not oppose Cotton Mather"&mdash;this
is the utterance of a received, and, to him,
unquestioned, opinion that Cotton Mather approved
of, and was a leading agent in, the prosecutions.</p>

<p>The views of Dr. John Eliot, are freely given,
to the same effect, in his <i>Biographical Dictionary</i>,
as will presently be shown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p>

<p>The late Josiah Quincy had studied the annals
of Massachusetts with the thoroughness with
which he grappled every subject to which he
turned his thoughts. His ancestral associations
covered the whole period of its history; and
all the channels of the local traditions of Boston
were open to his enquiring and earnest mind. His
<i>History of Harvard University</i> is a monument
that will stand forever. In that work, he speaks
of the agreement of Stoughton's views with those
of the Mathers; and, in connection with the
witchcraft delusion, says that both of them "had
an efficient agency in producing and prolonging
that excitement." "The conduct of Increase
Mather, in relation to it, was marked
with caution and political skill; but that
of his son, Cotton Mather, was headlong, zealous,
and fearless, both as to character and consequences.
In its commencement and progress,
his activity is every-where conspicuous."</p>

<p>The Reviewer represents Mr. Quincy as merely
repeating what I had said in my Lectures. He
makes the same reckless assertion in reference to
Bancroft, the late William B. O. Peabody, D.D.,
and every one else, who has written upon the
subject, since 1831. The idea that Josiah Quincy
"took his cue" from me, is simply preposterous.
He does not refer to me, nor give any indication
that he had ever seen my <i>Lectures</i>, but cites Calef,
as his authority, over and over again. Dr.
Peabody refers to Calef throughout, and draws
upon him freely and with confidence, as every
one else, who has written about the transaction,
has probably done.</p>

<p>It may safely be said, that no historical fact
has ever been more steadily recognized, than the
action and, to a great degree, controlling agency,
of Cotton Mather, in supporting and promoting
the witchcraft proceedings of 1692. That it has,
all along, been the established conviction of the
public mind, is proved by the chronological series
of names I have produced. Thomas Hutchinson,
John Eliot, William Bentley, and Josiah Quincy,
cover the whole period from Cotton Mather's day
to this. They knew, as well as any other men
that can be named, the current opinions, transmitted
sentiments, and local and personal annals,
of Boston. They reflect with certainty an assurance,
running in an unbroken course over a century
and a half. Their family connections, social
position, conversance with events, and familiar
knowledge of what men thought, believed,
and talked about, give to their concurrent and
continuous testimony, a force and weight of authority
that are decisive; and demonstrate that,
instead of my having invented and originated
the opinion of Cotton Mather's agency in the matter
now under consideration, I have done no
more than to restate what has been believed and
uttered from the beginning.</p>

<p>The writer in the <i>North American</i> says:
"Within the last forty years, there has grown
up a fashion, among our historical writers, of
defaming his character and underrating his
productions. For a specimen of these attacks,
the reader is referred to a <i>Supposed Letter
from Rev. Cotton Mather, D.D., with comments
on the same by James Savage</i>." The
article mentioned consists of the "supposed letter,"
and a very valuable communication from
the late Rev. Samuel Sewall, with some items by
Mr. Savage&mdash;[<i>Massachusetts Historical Collections,
IV., ii., 122.</i>] Neither of these enlightened,
faithful, and indefatigable scholars is to be
disposed of in this style. They followed no
"fashion;" and their venerable names are held
in honor by all true disciples of antiquarian
and genealogical learning. The author of such
works, in this department, as Mr. Savage has
produced, cannot be thus set aside by a magisterial
and supercilious waving of the hand of this
Reviewer.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII.</h2>

<h3>THE EFFECT UPON THE POWER OF THE MATHERS,
IN THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE, OF
THEIR CONNECTION WITH WITCHCRAFT.</h3>

<p>The Reviewer takes exception to my statement,
that the connection of the Mathers with the
witchcraft business, "broke down" their influence
in public affairs. What are the facts? It
has been shown, that the administration of Sir
William Phips, at its opening, was under their
control, to an extent never equalled by that of
private men over a Government. The prayers of
Cotton Mather were fully answered; and if wise
and cautious counsels had been given, what both
father and son had so coveted, in the political
management of the Province, would have been
permanently realized. But, aiming to arm themselves
with terrific and overwhelming strength, by
invoking the cooperation of forces from the spiritual,
invisible, and diabolical world, with rash
"precipitancy," they hurried on the witchcraft
prosecutions. The consequence was, that in six
months, the whole machinery on which they had
placed their reliance was prostrate. At the very
next election, Elisha Cook was chosen and Nathaniel
Saltonstall rechosen, to the Council; and,
ever after, the Mathers were driven to the wall, in
desperate and unavailing self-defence.</p>

<p>No party or faction could claim the Earl of
Bellamont, during his brief administration, covering
but fourteen months. Although the only
nobleman ever sent over as Governor of Massachusetts,
more than all others, he conciliated the
general good will. His short term of office and
wise policy prevented any particular advantage
to the Mathers from the dedication to him of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
<i>Life of Phips</i>. During the entire period, between
1692 and the arrival of Dudley to the Government,
the opponents of the Mathers were
steadily increasing their strength. Opposition to
Increase Mather was soon developed in attempts
to remove him from the Presidency of Harvard
College. In 1701, an Order was passed by the General
Court, "that no man should act as President
of the College, who did not reside at Cambridge."
This decided the matter. Increase
Mather resigned, on the sixth of September following;
and, the same day, the Rev. Samuel Willard
took charge of the College, under the title
of Vice-president, and acted as President, to the
acceptance of the people and with the support
of the Government of the Province, to his death,
in 1707&mdash;all the while allowed to retain the pastoral
connection with his Church, in Boston.</p>

<p>Joseph Dudley arrived from England, on the
eleventh of June, 1702, with his Commission, as
Captain-general and Governor of the Province.
On the sixteenth, he made a call upon Cotton
Mather, who relates the interview in his Diary.
It seems that Mather made quite a speech to the
new Governor, urging him "to carry an indifferent
hand toward all parties," and explaining his
meaning thus: "By no means, let any people
have cause to say that you take all your measures
from the two Mr. Mathers." He then added:
"By the same rule, I may say without offence,
by no means let any people say that
you go by no measures in your conduct but Mr.
Byfield's and Mr. Leverett's. This I speak,
not from any personal prejudice against the
gentlemen, but from a due consideration of
the disposition of the people, and as a service
to your Excellency."</p>

<p>Dudley&mdash;whether judging rightly or not is to
be determined by taking into view his position,
the then state of parties, and the principles of
human nature&mdash;evidently regarded this as a trap.
If he had followed the advice, and kept aloof
from Byfield and Leverett, they would have been
placed at a distance from him, and he would necessarily
have fallen into the hands of the Mathers.
He may have thought that the only way to
avoid such a result, was for him to explain to
those gentlemen his avoidance of them, by mentioning
to them what Mather had said to him,
thereby signifying to them, that, as a matter of
policy, he thought it best to adopt the suggestion
and stand aloof from both sides. Whether
acting from this consideration or from resentment,
he informed them of it; whereupon Mather
inserted this in his Diary: "The <span class="smcap">Wretch</span>
went unto those men and told them that I had
advised him to be no ways directed by them,
and inflamed them into implacable rage against
me."</p>

<p>After this, the relations between Dudley and
the Mathers must have been sufficiently awkward
and uncomfortable; but no particular public
demonstrations appear to have been made, on
either side, for some time.</p>

<p>Mr. Willard died on the twelfth of September,
1707; and the great question again rose as to the
proper person to be called to the head of the College.
The extraordinary learning of Cotton Mather
undoubtedly gave him commanding and pre-eminent
claims in the public estimation; and he
had reason to think that the favorite object of his
ambition was about to be attained. But he was
doomed to bitter disappointment. On the twenty-eighth
of October, the Corporation, through
its senior member, the Rev. James Allen of Boston,
communicated to the Governor the vote of
that body, appointing the "Honorable John Leverett"
to the Presidency; and, on the fourteenth
of January, 1708, he was publicly inducted to
office. The Mathers could stand it no longer;
but, six days after, addressed, each, a letter to
Dudley, couched in the bitterest and most abusive
terms.&mdash;[<i>Massachusetts Historical Society's
Collections, I., iii., 126.</i>] No explosions of
disappointed politicians and defeated aspirants
for office, in our day, surpass these letters.
They show how deeply the writers were stung.
They heap maledictions on the Governor, without
any of the restraints of courtesy or propriety.
They charge him with all sorts of malversation
in office, bribery, peculation, extortion,
falseness, hypocrisy, and even murder; imputing
to him "the guilt of innocent blood," because,
many years before, he had, as Chief-justice
of New York, presided at the Trial of Leisler and
Milburn; and averring that "those men were not
only murdered, but barbarously murdered."</p>

<p>It is observable that some of the heinous
crimes charged upon Dudley, occurred before his
arrival as Governor of Massachusetts, in 1702;
and that, in these very letters, they remind him
that it was, in part, by their influence that he was
then appointed, and that a letter from Cotton
Mather, in favor of his appointment, was read before
"the late King William." Both the Mathers
were remarkable for a lack of vision, in reference
to the logical bearing of what they said.
It did not occur to them, that the fact of their
soliciting his appointment closed their mouths
from making charges for public acts well known
to them at the time.</p>

<p>Dudley says that he was assured by the Mathers,
on his arrival, that he had the favor of all
good men; and Cotton Mather, in his letter, reminds
him that he signalized his friendly feelings,
by giving to the public, on that occasion,
the "portraiture of a good man." It is proved,
therefore, by the evidence on both sides, that,
well knowing all about the Leisler affair and
other crimes alleged against him, they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
ready, and most desirous, to secure his favor and
friendship; and to identify themselves with his
administration.</p>

<p>In alluding to these letters, Hutchinson (<i>History,
ii., 194</i>,) says: "In times when party spirit
prevails, what will not a Governor's enemies
believe, however injurious and absurd? At
such a time, he was charged with dispensing
<i>summum jus</i> to Leisler and incurring an aggravated
guilt of blood beyond that of a
common murderer. The other party, no doubt,
would have charged the failure of justice upon
him, if Leisler had been acquitted."</p>

<p>Dudley replied to both these extraordinary
missives, in a letter dated the third of February,
1708. After rebuking, in stern and dignified
language, the tone and style of their letters,
reminding them, by apt citations from Scripture
of the "laws of wise and Christian reproof,"
which they had violated, and showing upon what
false foundations their charges rested, he says:
"Can you think it the most proper season to do
me good by your admonitions, when you have
taken care to let the world know you are out of
frame and filled with the last prejudice
against my person and Government?" "Every
one can see through the pretence, and is able
to account for the spring of these letters, and
how they would have been prevented, without
easing any grievances you complain of." He
makes the following proposal: "After all,
though I have reason to complain to heaven
and earth of your unchristian rashness, and
wrath, and injustice, I would yet maintain a
christian temper towards you. I do, therefore,
now assure you that I shall be ready to give
you all the satisfaction Christianity requires, in
those points which are proper for you to seek
to receive it in, when, with a proper temper
and spirit, giving me timely notice, you do see
meet to make me a visit for that end; and I
expect the same satisfaction from you." He
offers this significant suggestion: "I desire you
will keep your station, and let fifty or sixty
good Ministers, your equals in the Province,
have a share in the Government of the College
and advise thereabouts, as well as yourselves,
and I hope all will be well." He concludes
by claiming that he is sustained by the favor
of the "Ministers of New England;" and characterises
the issue between him and them
thus: "The College must be disposed against
the opinion of all the Ministers in New England,
except yourselves, or the Governor torn
in pieces. This is the view I have of your
inclination."</p>

<p>Dudley continued to administer the Government
for eight years longer, until the infirmities
of age compelled him to retire. Both Hutchinson
and Doctor John Eliot give us to understand
that he conducted the public affairs with
great ability and success, with the general approval
of all classes, and particularly of the
Clergy. His statement that he had the support
of all the Ministers of New England, except the
Mathers, was undoubtedly correct. It is certainly
true of the Ministers of Boston. In his Diary,
under the year 1709, Cotton Mather says:
"The other Ministers of the Town are this day
feasting with our wicked Governor. I have,
by my provoking plainness and freedom, in
telling this Ahab of his wickedness, procured
myself to be left out of his invitations. I rejoiced
in my liberty from the temptations
wherewith they were encumbered." He set
apart that day for fasting and prayer, the special
interest of which, he says, "was to obtain
deliverance and protection" from his "enemies,"
whose names, he informs us, he "mentioned
unto the Lord, who had promised to be
my shield."</p>

<p>The bitterness with which Mather felt exclusion
from power is strikingly illustrated in a letter
addressed by him to Stephen Sewall, published
by me in the Appendix to the edition of my
<i>Lectures</i>, printed in 1831. I subjoin a few extracts:
"A couple of malignant fellows, a
while since, railing at me in the Bookseller's
shop, among other things they said, 'and his
friend Noyes has cast him off,' at which they
set up a laughter." "No doubt, you understand,
how ridiculously things have been managed
in our late General Assembly; voting and
unvoting, the same day; and, at last, the
squirrels perpetually running into the mouth
open for them, though they had cried against
it wonderfully. And your neighbor, Sowgelder,
after his indefatigable pains at the castration
of all common honesty, rewarded, before the
Court broke up, with being made one of your
brother Justices; which the whole House, as
well as the apostate himself, had in view, all
along, as the expected wages of his iniquity."
"If things continue in the present administration,
there will shortly be not so much as a
shadow of justice left in the country. Bribery,
a crime capital among the Pagans, is already a
peccadillo among us. All officers are learning
it. And, if I should say, Judges will find the
way to it, some will say, there needs not the
future tense in the case." "Every thing is betrayed,
and that we, on the top of our house,
may complete all, our very religion, with all
the Churches, is at last betrayed&mdash;the treachery
carried on with lies, and fallacious representations,
and finished by the rash hands of our
Clergy."</p>

<p>That Cotton Mather continued all his subsequent
life to experience the dissatisfaction, and
give way to the feelings, of a disappointed man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
is evident from his Diary. I have quoted from
it a few passages. The Reviewer says it "is full
of penitential confessions," and seems to liken
him, in this respect, to the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Speaking of my having cited the Diary, as
historical evidence, he says: "Such a use of the
confessional, we believe, is not common with
historical writers." I do not remember anything
like "penitential confessions," in the passages
from the Diary given in my book. The
reader is referred to them, in Volume II., Page 503.
They belong to the year 1724, and are thus prefaced:</p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">Dark dispensations, but light arising in
darkness.</span>"</p>

<p>"It may be of some use to me, to observe
some very dark dispensations, wherein the recompense
of my poor essays at well-doing, in
this life, seem to look a little discouraging; and
then to express the triumph of my faith over
such and all discouragements." "Of the
things that look dark, I may touch of twice
seven instances."</p>

<p>The writer, in the <i>Christian Examiner</i>, November,
1831, from whom I took them, omitted
two, "on account of their too personal or domestic
character."</p>

<p>I cannot find the slightest trace of a penitential
tear on those I have quoted; and cite now
but one of them, as pertinent to the point I am
making: "What has a gracious Lord given me
to do for the good of the country? in applications
without number for it, in all its interests,
besides publications of things useful to it,
and for it. And, yet, there is no man whom
the country so loads with disrespect, and
calumnies, and manifold expressions of aversion."</p>

<p>This is a specimen of the whole of them&mdash;one
half recounting what he had done, the other
complaining, sometimes almost scolding, at the
poor requital he had received.</p>

<p>President Leverett died on the third of May,
1724. His death was lamented by the country;
and the most eminent men vied with each other
in doing honor to his memory. The Rev. Benjamin
Colman called him "our master," and pronounced
his life as "great and good." "The
young men saw him and hid themselves, and
the aged arose and stood up." Dr. Appleton
declared that he had been "an honored ornament
to his country. Verily, the breach is so
wide, that none but an all-sufficient God (with
whom is the residue of the Spirit) can repair
or heal it." The late Benjamin Peirce, in his
<i>History of Harvard University</i>, says that "his
Presidency was successful and brilliant." He
was honored abroad, as well as at home; and his
name is inscribed on the rolls of the Royal Society
of London. Mr. Peirce says: "He had a
great and generous soul." His natural abilities
were of a very high order. His attainments were
profound and extensive. He was well acquainted
with the learned languages, with the arts and
"sciences, with history, philosophy, law, divinity,
politics." Such, we are told, were "the
majesty and marks of greatness, in his speech,
his behaviour, and his very countenance," that
the students of the College were inspired with
reverence and affection. In his earlier and later
life, he had been connected with the College, as
Tutor and as President; and in the intermediate
period, he had filled the highest legislative and judicial
stations, and been intrusted with the most
important functions connected with the military
service. I am inclined to think, all things considered,
a claim, in his behalf, might be put in
for the distinction the Reviewer awards to Cotton
Mather, as "doubtless the most brilliant man
of his day in New England."</p>

<p>President Leverett was buried on the sixth of
May. Cotton Mather officiated as one of the Pall-bearers,
and then went home, and made the following
entry in his Diary, dated the seventh:
"The sudden death of that unhappy man who
sustained the place of President in our College,
will open a door for my doing singular services
in the best of interests. I do not know
that the care of the College will now be cast
upon me; though I am told it is what is most
generally wished for. If it should be, I shall
be in abundance of distress about it; but, if it
should not, yet I may do many things for the
good of the College more quietly and more
hopefully than formerly."</p>

<p>As time wore away, and no choice of President
was made, he became more and more sensible
that an influence, hostile to him, was in the ascendency;
and, on the first of July, he writes
thus, in his Diary: "This day being our insipid,
ill-contrived anniversary, which we call Commencement,
I chose to spend it at home, in
supplications, partly on the behalf of the College,
that it may not be foolishly thrown away,
but that God may bestow such a President
upon it, as may prove a rich blessing unto it
and unto all our Churches."</p>

<p>In the meanwhile, he renewed his attendance
at the meetings of the Overseers; having never
occupied his seat, in that Body, with the exception
of a single Session, during the whole period
of Leverett's presidency. The Board, at a meeting
he attended, on the sixth of August, 1724,
passed a vote advising and directing the speedy
election of a President. On the eleventh, the Corporation
chose the Rev. Joseph Sewall of the Old
South Church; and Mather records the event in
his Diary, as follows: "I am informed that, yesterday,
the six men, who call themselves the
Corporation of the College, met, and, contrary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
to the epidemical expectation of the country,
chose a modest young man, Sewall, of whose
piety (and little else) every one gives a laudable
character."</p>

<p>"I always foretold these two things of the Corporation:
First, that, if it were possible for
them to steer clear of me, they will do so.
Secondly, that, if it were possible for them to
act foolishly, they will do so. The perpetual
envy with which my essays to serve the kingdom
of God are treated among them, and the
dread that Satan has of my beating up his
quarters at the College, led me into the former
sentiment; the marvellous indiscretion, with
which the affairs of the College are managed,
led me into the latter."</p>

<p>Mr. Sewall declined the appointment. On the
eighteenth of November, the Rev. Benjamin Colman,
of the Brattle-street Church, was chosen. He
also declining, the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, of
the First Church, was elected, in June, 1725, and
inaugurated on the seventh of July.</p>

<p>It thus appears that Dr. Mather was pointedly
passed over; and every other Minister of Boston
successively chosen to that great office.</p>

<p>Of course he took, as Mr. Peirce informs us,
no further part in the management of the College.
While he considered, as he expressed it,
the "senselessness" of those entrusted with its affairs,
as threatening "little short of a dissolution
of the College," yet he persuaded himself that
he had never desired the office. He had, he
says, "unspeakable cause to admire the compassion
of Heaven, in saving him from the appointment;"
and that he had always had a
"dread of what the generality of sober men"
thought he desired&mdash;"dismal apprehension of the
distresses which a call at Cambridge would
bring" upon him.&mdash;He was sincere in those
declarations, no doubt; but they show how completely
he could blind himself to the past and
even to the actual present. Mr. Peirce explains
why the Corporation were so resolute in withholding
their suffrages from Mather: "His contemporaries
appear to have formed a very correct
estimate of his character." "They saw,
what posterity sees, that he was a man of wonderful
parts, of immense learning, and of eminent
piety and virtue." "They saw his weakness
and eccentricities." "It is evident
that his judgment was not equal to his other
faculties; that his passions, which were naturally
strong and violent, were not always under
proper regulation; that he was weak, credulous,
enthusiastic, and superstitious. His conversation
is said to have been instructive and entertaining,
in a high degree, though often marred by
levity, vanity, imprudence and puns." For
these reasons, he was deemed an unsuitable person
for the Presidency of the College.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII.</h2>

<h3>COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER.</h3>

<p>While compelled&mdash;by the attempt of the writer
in the <i>North American Review</i> to reverse the
just verdict of history in reference to Cotton
Mather's connection with Salem Witchcraft&mdash;to
show the unhappy part he acted and the terrible
responsibility he incurred, in bringing forward,
and carrying through its stages, that awful tragedy,
and the unworthy means he used to throw
that responsibility, afterwards, on others, I am
not to be misled into a false position, in reference
to this extraordinary man. I endorse the language
of Mr. Peirce: "He possessed great vigor
and activity of mind, quickness of apprehension,
a lively imagination, a prodigious memory,
uncommon facility in acquiring and communicating
knowledge, with the most indefatigable
application and industry; that he
amassed an immense store of information on
all subjects, human and divine." I follow Mr.
Peirce still further, in believing that his natural
temperament was pleasant and his sentiments of
a benevolent cast: "that he was an habitual
promoter and doer of good, is evident, as well
from his writings as from the various accounts
that have been transmitted respecting him."</p>

<p>If the question is asked, as it naturally will
be, how these admissions can be reconciled with
the views and statements respecting him, contained
in this article and in my book on witchcraft,
the answer is: that mankind is not divided
into two absolutely distinct and entirely separated
portions&mdash;one good and the other evil.
The good are liable to, and the bad are capable
of, each receiving much into their own lives and
characters, that belongs to the other. This interfusion
universally occurs. The great errors and
the great wrongs imputable to Cotton Mather do
not make it impracticable to discern what was
commendable in him. They may be accounted
for without throwing him out of the pale of humanity
or our having to shut our eyes to traits
and merits other ways exhibited.</p>

<p>The extraordinary precocity of his intellect&mdash;itself
always a peril, often a life-long misfortune&mdash;awakened
vanity and subjected him to the
flattery by which it is fed. All ancestral associations
and family influences pampered it. Such
a speech as that made to him, at his graduation,
by President Oakes, could not have failed to
have inflated it to exaggerated dimensions. Clerical
and political ambition was natural, all but
instinctive, to one, whose father, and both whose
grandfathers, had been powers, in the State as
well as Church. The religious ideas, if they can
be so called, in which he had been trained from
childhood, in a form bearing upon him with more
weight than upon any other person in all history,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
inasmuch, as they constituted the prominent feature
of his father's reading, talk, thoughts, and
writings, gave a rapid and overshadowing growth
to credulity and superstition. A defect in his
education, perhaps, in part, a natural defect, left
him without any true logical culture, so that he
seems, in his productions and conduct, not to discern
the sequences of statements, the coherence
of propositions, nor the consistency of actions,
thereby entangling him in expressions and declarations
that have the aspect of untruthfulness&mdash;his
language often actually bearing that character,
without his discerning it. His writings
present many instances of this infirmity. Some
have already been incidentally adduced. In his
<i>Life of Phips</i>, avowing himself the author of
the document known as the <i>Advice of the Ministers</i>,
he uses this language: "By Mr. Mather the
younger, as I have been informed." He had,
in fact, never been <i>so informed</i>. He knew it by
consciousness. Of course he had no thought of
deceiving; but merely followed a habit he had
got, of such modes of expression. So, also, when
he sent a present of money and tracts to "poor
and bad people," in Salem, with an anonymous
letter to the Minister of the place, "desiring and
empowering him to dispense the charity, <i>in his
own name</i>, hoping thereby the <i>more to ingratiate
his ministry with the people</i>," he looked
only on one side of the proposal, and saw it in
no other light than a benevolent and friendly
transaction. It never occurred to him that he
was suggesting a deceptive procedure and drawing
the Minister into a false position and practice.</p>

<p>When, in addition, we consider to what he
was exposed by his proclivity to, and aspirations
for, political power, the expedients, schemes,
contrivances, and appliances, in which he thereby
became involved in the then state of things
in the Colony, and the connection which leading
Ministers, although not admitted to what are
strictly speaking political offices, had with the
course of public affairs&mdash;his father, to an extent
never equalled by any other Clergyman, before or
since&mdash;we begin to estimate the influences that
disastrously swayed the mind of Cotton Mather.</p>

<p>Vanity, flattery, credulity, want of logical
discernment, and the struggles between political
factions, in the unsettled, uncertain, transition
period, between the old and new Charters, are
enough to account for much that was wrong, in
one of Mather's temperament and passions, without
questioning his real mental qualities, or, I
am disposed to think, his conscious integrity, or
the sincerity of his religious experiences or professions.</p>

<p>But his chief apology, after all, is to be found
in the same sphere in which his chief offences
were committed. Certain topics and notions, in
reference to the invisible, spiritual, and diabolical
world, whether of reality or fancy it matters
not, had, all his life long, been the ordinary diet,
the daily bread, of his mind.</p>

<p>It may, perhaps, be said with truth, that the
theological imagery and speculations of that day,
particularly as developed in the writings of the
two Mathers, were more adapted to mislead the
mind and shroud its moral sense in darkness,
than any system, even of mythology, that ever
existed. It was a mythology. It may be spoken
of with freedom, now, as it has probably passed
away, in all enlightened communities in Christendom.
Satan was the great central character,
in what was, in reality, a Pantheon. He was surrounded
with hosts of infernal spirits, disembodied
and embodied, invisible demons, and confederate
human agents. He was seen in everything,
everywhere. His steps were traced in extraordinary
occurrences and in the ordinary operations
of nature. He was hovering over the
heads of all, and lying in wait along every daily
path. The affrighted imagination, in every scene
and mode of life, was conversant with ghosts,
apparitions, spectres, devils. This prevalent,
all but universal, exercise of credulous fancy,
exalted into the most imposing dignity of theology
and faith, must have had a demoralizing
effect upon the rational condition and faculties
of men, and upon all discrimination and healthfulness
of thought. When error, in its most extravagant
forms, had driven the simplicity of the
Gospel out of the Church and the world, it is
not to be wondered at that the mind was led to
the most shocking perversions, and the conscience
ensnared to the most indefensible actions.</p>

<p>The superstition of that day was foreshadowed
in the ferocious cannibal of classic mythology&mdash;a
monster, horrific, hideous in mien, and gigantic
in stature. It involved the same fate. The eye
of the intellect was burned out, the light of reason
extinguished&mdash;<i>cui lumen ademptum</i>.</p>

<p>Having always given himself up to the contemplation
of diabolical imaginations, Cotton
Mather was led to take the part he did, in the
witchcraft proceedings; and it cannot be hidden
from the light of history. The greater his talents,
the more earnestly he may, in other matters,
have aimed to be useful, the more weighty is the
lesson his course teaches, of the baleful effects
of bewildering and darkening superstition.</p>

<p>There is another, and a special, explanation to
be given of the disingenuousness that appears in
his writings. He was a master of language. He
could express, with marvelous facility, any shade
of thought. He could also make language conceal
thought. No one ever handled words with
more adroitness. He could mould them to suit
his purposes, at will, and with ease. This faculty
was called in requisition by the special circumstances
of his times. It was necessary to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
preserve, at least, the appearance of unity among
the Churches, while there was as great a tendency,
then, as ever, to diversity of speculations, touching
points of casuistical divinity or ministerial
policy. The talent to express in formulas, sentiments
that really differed, so as to obscure the
difference, was needed; and he had it. He knew
how to frame a document that would suit both
sides, but, in effect, answer the purposes of one
of them, as in the <i>Advice of the Ministers</i>. He
could assert a proposition and connect with it
what appeared to be only a judicious modification
or amplification, but which, in reality, was
susceptible of being interpreted as either more
or less corroborating or contradicting it, as occasion
might require. This was a sort of sleight of
hand, in the use of words; and was noticed, at
the time, as "legerdemain." He practised it so
long that it became a feature of his style; and he
actually, in this way, deceived himself as well as
others. It is a danger to which ingenious and
hair-splitting writers are liable. I am inclined
to think that what we cannot but regard as patent
misstatements, were felt by him to be all right, in
consequence, as just intimated, of this acquired
habit.</p>

<p>His style is sprightly, and often entertaining.
Neal, the author of the <i>History of the Puritans</i>,
in a letter to the Rev. Benjamin Colman, after
speaking with commendation of one of Cotton
Mather's productions, says: "It were only to be
wished that it had been freed from those puns
and jingles that attend all his writings, before
it had been made public."&mdash;<i>Massachusetts Historical
Collections, I., v., 199.</i>&mdash;Mr. Peirce, it
has been observed, speaks of his "puns," in conversation.
It is not certain, but that, to a reader
now, these very things constitute a redeeming
attraction of his writings and relieve the mind of
the unpleasant effects of his credulity and vanity,
pedantic and often far-fetched references, palpable
absurdities, and, sometimes, the repulsiveness
of his topics and matter.</p>

<p>The Reviewer represents me as prejudiced
against Cotton Mather. Far from it. Forty-three
years ago, before my attention had been particularly
called to his connection with alleged
witchcrafts or with the political affairs of his times,
I eulogized his "learning and liberality," in warm
terms.&mdash;<i>Sermon at the Dedication of the House
of Worship of the First Church, in Salem, Massachusetts,
48.</i></p>

<p>I do not retract what I then said. Cotton
Mather was in advance of his times, in liberality
of feeling, in reference to sectarian and denominational
matters. He was, undoubtedly, a great
student, and had read all that an American
scholar could then lay his hands on. Marvellous
stories were told of the rapidity of his reading.
He was a devourer of books. At the same time,
I vindicated him, without reserve, from the
charge of pedantry. This I cannot do now.
Observation and reflection have modified my
views. He made a display, over all his pages,
of references and quotations from authors then,
as now, rarely read, and of anecdotes, biographical
incidents, and critical comments relating to
scholars and eminent persons, of whom others
have but little information, and of many of
whom but few have ever heard. This filled his
contemporaries with wonder; led to most extravagant
statements, in funeral discourses, by Benjamin
Colman, Joshua Gee, and others; and made
the general impression that has come down to
our day. Without detracting from his learning,
which was truly great, it cannot be denied that
this superfluous display of it subjects him, justly
to the imputation of pedantry. It may be affected
where, unlike the case of Cotton Mather,
there is, in reality, no very extraordinary amount
of learning. It is a trick of authorship easily
practised.</p>

<p>Any one reading Latin with facility, having a
good memory, and keeping a well-arranged
scrap-book, needs less than half a dozen such
books as the following, to make a show of
learning and to astonish the world by his references
and citations&mdash;the six folio volumes of
Petavius, on Dogmatic Theology, and his smaller
work, <i>Rationarium Temporum</i>, a sort of compendium
or schedule of universal history; and a
volume printed, in the latter half of the seventeenth
century, at Amsterdam, compiled by Limborch,
consisting of an extensive collection of letters
to and from the most eminent men of that
and the preceding century, such as Arminius,
Vossius, Episcopius, Grotius, and many others,
embracing a vast variety of literary history, criticism,
biography, theology, philosophy, and ecclesiastical
matters&mdash;I have before me the copy
of this work, owned by that prodigy of learning,
Dr. Samuel Parr, who pronounced it "a precious
book;" and it may have contributed much to
give to his productions, that air of rare learning
that astonished his contemporaries. To complete
the compendious apparatus, and give the
means of exhibiting any quantity of learning,
in fields frequented by few, the only other book
needed is Melchior Adams's <i>Lives of Literati</i>, including
all most prominently connected with Divinity,
Philosophy, and the progress of learning
and culture, during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, and down to its date, 1615. I have
before me, the copy of this last work, owned by
Richard Mather, and probably brought over with
him, in his perilous voyage, in 1635. It was, successively,
in the libraries of his son, Increase, and
his grandson, Cotton Mather. At a corner of one
of the blank leaves, it is noted, apparently in the
hand of Increase Mather: "began Mar. 1, finished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
April 30, 1676." According to the popular
tradition, Cotton would have read it, in a
day or two. It contains interesting items of all
sorts&mdash;personal anecdotes, critical comments, and
striking passages of the lives and writings of
more than one hundred and fifty distinguished
men, such as Erasmus, Fabricius, Faustus, Cranmer,
Tremellius, Peter Martyr, Beza, and John
Knox. Whether Mather had access to either of
the above-named works, except the last, is uncertain;
but, as his library was very extensive, he
sparing no pains nor expense in furnishing it, and
these books were severally then in print and precisely
of the kind to attract him and suit his
fancy, it is not unlikely that he had them all.
They would have placed in easy reach, much of
the mass of amazing erudition with which he
"entertained" his readers and hearers.</p>

<p>Cotton Mather died on the thirteenth of February,
1728, at the close of his sixty-fifth year.</p>

<p>Thirty-six years had elapsed since the fatal
imbroglio of Salem witchcraft. He had probably
long been convinced that it was vain to attempt
to shake the general conviction, expressed
by Calef, that he had been "the most active and
forward of any Minister in the country in
those matters," and acquiesced in the general
disposition to let that matter rest. It must be
pleasing to all, to think that his very last years
were freed from the influences that had destroyed
the peace of his life and left such a shade over
his name. Having met with nothing but disaster
from attempting to manage the visible as well
as the invisible world, he probably left them both
in the hands of Providence; and experienced,
as he had never done, a brief period of tranquillity,
before finally leaving the scene. His aspiration
to control the Province had ceased. The
object of his life-long pursuit, the Presidency of
the College, was forever baffled. Nothing but
mischief and misery to himself and others had
followed his attempt to lead the great combat
against the Devil and his hosts. It had fired his
early zeal and ambition; but that fire was extinguished.
The two ties, which more than all others,
had bound him, by his good affections and
his unhappy passions, to what was going on
around him, were severed, nearly at the same
time, by the death of his father, in 1723, and of his
great and successful rival, Leverett, in 1724.
Severe domestic trials and bereavements completed
the work of weaning him from the world;
and it is stated that, in his very last years, the resentments
of his life were buried and the ties of
broken friendships restored. The pleasantest intercourse
took place between him and Benjamin
Colman; men of all parties sought his company
and listened to the conversation, which was always
one of his shining gifts; he had written
kindly about Dudley; and his end was as peaceful
as his whole life would have been, but for the
malign influences I have endeavored to describe,
leading him to the errors and wrongs which,
while faithful history records them, men must
regard with considerate candor, as God will with
infinite mercy.</p>

<p>It is a curious circumstance, that the two great
public funerals, in those early times, of which
we have any particular accounts left, were of the
men who, in life, had been so bitterly opposed
to each other. When Leverett was buried, the
cavalcade, official bodies, students, and people,
"were fain to proceed near as far as Hastings'
before they returned," so great was the length
of the procession: the funeral of Mather was
attended by the greatest concourse that had ever
been witnessed in Boston.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX.</h2>

<h3>ROBERT CALEF'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER.</h3>

<p>I approach the close of this protracted discussion
with what has been purposely reserved. The
article in the <i>North American Review</i> rests,
throughout, upon a repudiation of the authority
of Robert Calef. Its writer says, "his faculties
appear to us to have been of an inferior order."
"He had a very feeble conception of what credible
testimony is." "If he had not intentionally
lied, he had a very imperfect appreciation
of truth." He speaks of "Calef's disqualifications
as a witness." He seeks to discredit
him, by suggesting the idea that, in his original
movements against Mather, he was instigated by
pre-existing enmity&mdash;"Robert Calef, between
whom and Mr. Mather a personal quarrel existed."
"His personal enemy, Calef."</p>

<p>There is no evidence of any difficulty, nor of
any thing that can be called "enmity," between
these two persons, prior to their dealings with
each other, in the Margaret Rule case, commencing
on the thirteenth of September, 1693. Mather
himself states, in his Diary, that the enmity between
them arose out of Calef's opposition to his,
Mather's, views relating to the "existence and
influences of the invisible world." So far as
we have any knowledge, their acquaintance began
at the date just mentioned. The suggestion of
pre-existing enmity, therefore, gives an unfair
and unjust impression.</p>

<p>Robert Calef was a native of England, a young
man, residing, first in Roxbury, and afterwards at
Boston. He was reputed a person of good
sense; and, from the manner in which Mather alludes
to him, in one instance, of considerable
means: he had, probably, been prosperous in his
business, which was that of a merchant. Not a
syllable is on record against his character, outside
of his controversy with the Mathers; all
that is known of him, on the contrary, indicates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
that he was an honorable and excellent person.
He enjoyed the confidence of the people; and
was called to municipal trusts, for which only reliable,
discreet, vigilant, and honest citizens were
selected, receiving the thanks of the Town for his
services, as Overseer of the Poor. As he encountered
the madness and violence of the people,
when they were led by Cotton Mather, in the
witchcraft delusion, it is a singular circumstance,
constituting an honorable distinction, in which
they shared, that, in a later period of their lives,
they stood, shoulder to shoulder, breasting bravely
together, another storm of popular fanaticism,
by publicly favoring inoculation for the small-pox.
He offered several of his children to be
treated, at the hands of Dr. Boylston, in 1721.
His family continued to bear up the respectability
of the name, and is honorably mentioned in
the municipal records. A vessel, named <i>London</i>,
was a regular Packet-ship, between that port and
Boston, and probably one of the largest class
then built in America. She was commanded by
"Robert Calef;" and, in the Boston <i>Evening Post</i>,
of the second of May, 1774, "Dr. Calef of Ipswich"
is mentioned among the passengers just
arrived in her. Under his own, and other names,
the descendants of the family of Calef are probably
as numerous and respectable as those of the
Mathers; and on that, as all other higher accounts,
there is an equal demand for justice to their respective
ancestors.</p>

<p>It is related by Mather, that a young woman,
named Margaret Rule, belonging to the North
part of Boston, "many months after the General
Storm of the late enchantments, was over,"
"when the country had long lain pretty quiet,"
was "seized by the Evil Angels, both as to molestations
and accusations from the Invisible
World". On the Lord's Day, the tenth of
September, 1693, "after some hours of previous
disturbance of the public assembly, she fell
into odd fits," and had to be taken out of the
congregation and carried home, "where her fits,
in a few hours, grew into a figure that satisfied
the spectators of their being supernatural." He
further says, that, "from the 10th of September
to the 18th, she kept an entire fast, and yet,
she was to all appearance as fresh, as lively, as
hearty, at the nine days end, as before they
began. In all this time she had a very eager
hunger upon her stomach, yet if any refreshment
were brought unto her, her teeth would
be set, and she would be thrown into many
miseries. Indeed, once, or twice, or so, in all
this time, her tormentors permitted her to swallow
a mouthful of somewhat that might increase
her miseries, whereof a spoonful of rum
was the most considerable."</p>

<p>The affair, of course, was noised abroad. It
reached the ears of Robert Calef. On the thirteenth,
after sunset, accompanied by some others,
he went to the house, "drawn," as he says, "by
curiosity to see Margaret Rule, and so much
the rather, because it was reported Mr. Mather
would be there, that night." They were taken
into the chamber where she was in bed. They found
her of a healthy countenance. She was about seventeen
years of age. Increase and Cotton Mather
came in, shortly afterwards, with others. Altogether,
there were between thirty and forty persons
in the room. Calef drew up Minutes of
what was said and done. He repeated his visit,
on the evening of the nineteenth. Cotton Mather
had been with Margaret half an hour; and had
gone before his arrival. Each night, Calef made
written minutes of what was said and done, the
accuracy of which was affirmed by the signatures
of two persons, which they were ready to confirm
with their oaths. He showed them to some of
Mather's particular friends. Whereupon Mather
preached about him; sent word that he should
have him arrested for slander; and called him
"one of the worst of liars." Calef wrote him a
letter, on the twenty-ninth of September; and, in
reference to the complaints and charges Mather
was making, proposed that they should meet, in
either of two places he mentioned, each accompanied
by a friend, at which time he, Calef,
would read to him the minutes he had taken, of
what had occurred on the evenings of the thirteenth
and nineteenth. Mather sent a long letter, not
to be delivered, but read to him, in which he
agreed to meet him, as proposed, at one of the
places; but, in the mean time, on the complaint
of the Mathers, for scandalous libels upon Cotton
Mather, Calef was brought before "their Majesties
Justice, and bound over to answer at Sessions."
Mather, of course, failed to give him
the meeting for conference, as agreed upon. On
the twenty-fourth of November, Calef wrote to
him again, referring to his failure to meet him
and to the legal proceedings he had instituted;
and, as the time for appearance in Court was
drawing near, he "thought it not amiss to
give a summary" of his views on the "great
concern," as to which they were at issue. He
states, at the outset, "that there are witches, is not
the doubt." The Reviewer seizes upon this
expression, to convey the idea that Calef was trying
to conciliate Mather, and induce him to desist
from the prosecution. Whoever reads the
letter will see how unfair and untrue this is.
Calef keeps to the point, which was not whether
there were, or could be, witches; but whether the
methods Mather was attempting, in the case of
Margaret Rule, and which had been used in Salem,
the year before, were legitimate or defensible.
He was determined not to suffer the issue
to be shifted.</p>

<p>Upon receiving this letter, Mather, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
probably, upon reflection, begun to doubt about
the expediency of a public prosecution, signified
that he had no desire to press the prosecution;
and renewed the proposal for a conference. Calef
"waited on Sessions;" but no one appearing
against him, was dismissed. The affair seemed,
at this crisis, to be tending toward an amicable
conclusion. But Mather failed to meet him; and,
on the eleventh of January, 1694, Calef addressed
him again, recapitulating what had occurred,
sending him copies of his previous letters and
also of the Minutes he had taken of what occurred
on the evenings of the thirteenth and nineteenth
of September, with these words: "<span class="smcap">Reverend
Sir</span>: Finding it necessary, on many accounts,
I here present you with the copy of
that Paper, which has been so much misrepresented,
to the end, that what shall be found
defective or not fairly represented, if any such
shall appear, they may be set right."</p>

<p>This letter concludes in terms which show
that, in that stage of the affair, Calef was disposed
to treat Mather with great respect; and that
he sincerely and earnestly desired and trusted
that satisfaction might be given and taken, in
the interview he so persistently sought&mdash;not merely
in reference to the case of Margaret Rule, but
to the general subject of witchcraft, on which
they had different apprehensions: "I have reason
to hope for a satisfactory answer to him,
who is one that reverences your person and office."</p>

<p>This language strikingly illustrates the estimate
in which Ministers were held. Reverence
for their office and for them, as a body, pervaded
all classes.</p>

<p>On the fifteenth of January, Mather replied
complaining, in general terms, of the narrative
contained in Calef's Minutes, as follows: "I do
scarcely find any <i>one</i> thing, in the whole paper,
whether respecting my father or myself,
either fairly or truly represented." "The narrative
contains a number of mistakes and falsehoods
which, were they wilful and designed,
might justly be termed great lies." He then
goes into a specification of a few particulars, in
which he maintains that the Minutes are incorrect.</p>

<p>On the eighteenth of January, Calef replied,
reminding him that he had taken scarcely any
notice of the general subject of diabolical agency;
but that almost the whole of his letter referred
to the Minutes of the meetings, on the thirteenth
and nineteenth of September; and he maintains
their substantial accuracy and shows that some
of Mather's strictures were founded upon an incorrect
reading of them. In regard to Mather's
different recollection of some points, he expresses
his belief that if his account, in the Minutes,
"be not fully exact, it was as near as memory
could bear away." He notices the fact that he
finds in Mather's letter no objection to what related
to matters of greatest concern. Mather had
complained that the Minutes reported certain
statements made by Rule, which had been used
to his disadvantage; and Calef suggests, "What
can be expected less from the father of lies, by
whom, you judge, she was possest?"</p>

<p>Appended to Mather's letter, are some documents,
signed by several persons, declaring that
they had seen Rule lifted up by an invisible force
from the bed to the top of the room, while a
strong person threw his whole weight across her,
and several others were trying with all their
might to hold her down or pull her back. Upon
these certificates, Calef remarks: "Upon the
whole, I suppose you expect I should believe
it; and if so, the only advantage gained is,
that what has been so long controverted between
Protestants and Papists, whether miracles
are ceased, will hereby seem to be decided
for the latter; it being, for ought I can see, if
so, as true a miracle as for iron to swim; and
the Devil can work such miracles."</p>

<p>Calef wrote to him again, on the nineteenth of
February, once more praying that he would so
far oblige him, as to give him his views, on the
important subjects, for a right understanding of
which he had so repeatedly sought a conference
and written so many letters; and expressing his
earnest desire to be corrected, if in error, to
which end, if Mather would not, he indulged
a hope that some others would, afford him relief
and satisfaction. On the sixteenth of April, he
wrote still another letter. In all of them, he
touched upon the points at issue between them,
and importuned Mather to communicate his views,
fully, as to one seeking light. On the first of
March, he wrote to a gentleman, an acknowledgment
of having received, through his hands, "after
more than a year's waiting," from Cotton
Mather, four sheets of paper, not to be copied,
and to be returned in a fortnight. Upon returning
them, with comments, he desires the gentleman
to request Mr. Mather not to send him any
more such papers, unless he could be allowed to
copy and use them. It seems that, in answer to
a subsequent letter, Mather sent to him a copy of
Richard Baxter's <i>Certainty of the World of
Spirits</i>, to which, after some time, Calef found
leisure to reply, expressing his dissent from the
views given in that book, and treating the subject
somewhat at large. In this letter, which
closes his correspondence with Mather, he makes
his solemn and severe appeal: "Though there is
reason to hope that these diabolical principles
have not so far prevailed (with multitudes of
Christians), as that they ascribe to a witch and a
devil the attributes peculiar to the Almighty;
yet how few are willing to be found opposing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
such a torrent, as knowing that in so doing they
shall be sure to meet with opposition to the utmost,
from the many, both of Magistrates,
Ministers, and people; and the name of Sadducee,
atheist, and perhaps witch too, cast upon
them, most liberally, by men of the highest
profession in godliness; and, if not so learned as
some of themselves, then accounted only fit to
be trampled on, and their arguments (though
both rational and scriptural) as fit only for contempt.
But though this be the deplorable dilemma,
yet some have dared, from time to time,
(for the glory of God and the good and safety
of men's lives, etc.) to run all these risks. And,
that God who has said, 'My glory I will not
give to another,' is able to protect those that
are found doing their duty herein against all
opposers; and, however otherwise contemptible,
can make them useful in his own hand,
who has sometimes chosen the weakest instruments
that His power may be the more illustrious.</p>

<p>"And now, Reverend Sir, if you are conscious
to yourself, that you have, in your principles
or practices, been abetting to such grand
errors, I cannot see how it can consist with sincerity,
to be so convinced, in matters so nearly
relating to the glory of God and lives of innocents,
and, at the same time, so much to
fear disparagement among men, as to trifle with
conscience and dissemble an approving of
former sentiments. You know that word, 'He
that honoreth me I will honor, and he that
despiseth me shall be lightly esteemed.' But,
if you think that, in these matters, you have
done your duty, and taught the people theirs;
and that the doctrines cited from the above
mentioned book [<i>Baxter's</i>] are ungainsayable;
I shall conclude in almost his words. He that
teaches such a doctrine, if through ignorance
he believes not what he saith, may be a Christian;
but if he believes them, he is in the
broad path to heathenism, devilism, popery,
or atheism. It is a solemn caution (<i>Gal., i., 8</i>):
'But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.' I hope you will not misconstrue
my intentions herein, who am, Reverend Sir,
yours to command, in what I may."</p>

<p>Resolute in his purpose to bring the Ministers,
if possible, to meet the questions he felt it his duty
to have considered and settled, and careful to
leave nothing undone that he could do, to this
end, he sought the satisfaction from others, he
had tried, in vain, to obtain from Mather. On the
eighteenth of March, 1695, he addressed a letter
"To the Ministers, whether English, French, or
Dutch," calling their attention to "the mysterious
doctrines" relating to the "power of the
Devil," and to the subject of Witchcraft. On
the twentieth of September, he wrote to the Rev.
Samuel Willard, invoking his attention to the
"great concern," and his aid in having it
fairly discussed. On the twelfth of January,
1696, he addressed "The Ministers in and near
Boston," for the same purpose; and wrote a
separate letter to the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth.</p>

<p>These documents were all composed with great
earnestness, frankness, and ability; and are most
creditable to his intelligence, courage, and sense of
public duty. I have given this minute account of
his proceedings with Mather and the Clergy generally,
because I am impressed with a conviction
that no instance can be found, in which a great
question has been managed with more caution,
deliberation, patience, manly openness and uprightness,
and heroic steadiness and prowess, than
this young merchant displayed, in compelling all
concerned to submit to a thorough investigation
and over-hauling of opinions and practices, established
by the authority of great names and
prevalent passions and prejudices, and hedged in
by the powers and terrors of Church and State.</p>

<p>It seems to be evident that he must have received
aid, in some quarter, from persons conversant
with topics of learning and methods of treating
such subjects, to an extent beyond the reach
of a mere man of business. In the First Volume
of the <i>Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
Society</i>, Page 288, a Memorandum, from which
I make an extract, is given, as found in Doctor
Belknap's hand-writing, in his copy of Calef's
book, in the collection, from the library of that
eminent historian, presented by his heirs to that institution:
"A young man of good sense, and free
from superstition; a merchant in Boston. He
was furnished with materials for his work, by
Mr. Brattle of Cambridge, and his brother of
Boston, and other gentlemen, who were opposed
to the Salem proceedings.&mdash;E. P."</p>

<p>The fact that Belknap endorsed this statement,
gives it sufficient credibility. Who the "E. P."
was, from whom it was derived, is not known.
If it were either of the Ebenezer Pembertons,
father or son, no higher authority could be adduced.
But whatever aid Calef received, he so
thoroughly digested and appropriated, as to make
him ready to meet Mather or any, or all, the other
Ministers, for conference and debate; and his title
to the authorship of the papers remains complete.</p>

<p>The Ministers did not give him the satisfaction
he sought. They were paralyzed by the influence
or the fear of the Mathers. Perhaps they
were shocked, if not indignant, at a layman's daring
to make such a movement against a Minister.
It was an instance of the laying of unsanctified
hands on the horns of the altar, such as had not
been equalled in audacity, since the days of Anne
Hutchinson, by any but Quakers. Calef, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
was determined to compel the attention of
the world, if he could not that of the Ministers of
Boston, to the subject; and he prepared, and sent
to England, to be printed, a book, containing all
that had passed, and more to the same purpose.
It consists of several parts.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Part I.</span> is <i>An account of the afflictions of Margaret
Rule</i>, written by Cotton Mather, under the
title of <i>Another Brand plucked out of the Burning,
or more Wonders of the Invisible World</i>.
In my book, the case of Margaret Rule is spoken
of as having occurred the next "Summer" after
the witchcraft delusion in Salem. This gives
the Reviewer a chance to strike at me, in his usual
style, as follows: "The case did not occur in
the Summer; the date is patent to any one who
will look for it." Cotton Mather says that she
"first found herself to be formally besieged by
the spectres," on the tenth of September. From
the preceding clauses of the same paragraph, it
might be inferred that she had had fits before.
He speaks of those, on the tenth, as "the first I'll
mention." The word "formally," too, almost
implies the same. This, however, must be allowed
to be the smallest kind of criticism, although
uttered by the Reviewer in the style of a
petulant pedagogue. If Summer is not allowed
to borrow a little of September, it will sometimes
not have much to show, in our climate. The
tenth of September is, after all, fairly within the
astronomical Summer.</p>

<p>The Reviewer says it will be "difficult for me
to prove" that Margaret Rule belonged to Mr.
Mather's Congregation, before September, 1693.
Mather vindicates his taking such an interest in
her case, on the ground that she was one of his
"poor flock." The Reviewer raises a question
on this point; and his controversy is with Mather,
not with me. If Rule did not belong to the Congregation
of North Boston, when Mather first
visited her, his language is deceptive, and his
apology, for meddling with the case, founded in
falsehood. I make no such charge, and have no
such belief. The Reviewer seems to have been
led to place Cotton Mather in his own light&mdash;in
fact, to falsify his language&mdash;on this point, by
what is said of another Minister's having visited
her, to whose flock she belonged, and whom she
called, "Father." This was Increase Mather.
We know he visited her; and it was as proper
for him to do so, as for Cotton. They were associate
Ministers of the same Congregation&mdash;that
to which the girl belonged&mdash;and it was natural
that she should have distinguished the elder, by
calling him "Father."</p>

<p>In contradiction of another of my statements,
the Reviewer says: "Mr. Mather did not publish
an account of the long-continued fastings,
or any other account of the case of Margaret
Rule." He seems to think that "published"
means "printed." It does not necessarily mean,
and is not defined as exclusively meaning, to put
to press. To be "published," a document does
not need, now, to be printed. Much less then.
Mather wrote it, as he says, with a view to its
being printed, and put it into open and free circulation.
Calef publicly declared that he received
it from "a gentleman, who had it of the author,
and communicated it to use, with his express
consent." Mather says, in a prefatory note:
"I now lay before you a very entertaining story,"
"of one who been prodigiously handled by
the evil Angels." "I do not write it with a
design of throwing it presently into the press,
but only to preserve the memory of such memorable
things, the forgetting whereof would
neither be pleasing to God, nor useful to men."
The unrestricted circulation of a work of this
kind, with such a design, was <i>publishing</i> it. It
was the form in which almost every thing was
published in those days. If Calef had omitted
it, in a book professing to give a true and full
account of his dealings with Mather, in the Margaret
Rule case, he would have been charged
with having withheld Mather's carefully prepared
view of that case. Mather himself considered
the circulation of his "account," as a publication,
for in speaking of his design of ultimately
printing it himself, he calls it a "farther publication."</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Part II.</span> embraces the correspondence between
Calef, Mather, and others, which I have particularly
described.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Part III.</span> is a brief account of the Parish
troubles, at Salem Village.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Part IV.</span> is a correspondence between Calef
and a gentleman, whose name is not given, on the
subject of witchcraft, the latter maintaining the
views then prevalent.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Part V.</span> is <i>An impartial account of the most
memorable matters of fact, touching the supposed
witchcraft in New England</i>, including the "Report"
of the Trials given by Mather in his
<i>Wonders of the Invisible World</i>.</p>

<p>The work is prefaced by an <i>Epistle to the Reader</i>,
couched in plain but pungent language, in which
he says: "It is a great pity that the matters of
fact, and indeed the whole, had not been done
by some abler hand, better accomplished, and
with the advantages of both natural and acquired
judgment; but, others not appearing, I
have enforced myself to do what is done. My
other occasions will not admit any further scrutiny
therein." A Postscript contains some strictures
on the <i>Life of Sir Wm. Phips</i>, then recently
printed, "which book," Calef says, "though it
bear not the author's name, yet the style, manner,
and matter are such, that, were there no
other demonstration or token to know him by,
it were no witchcraft to determine that Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
Cotton Mather is the author of it." The real
agency of Sir William Phips, in demolishing,
with one stern blow, the Court of Oyer and Terminer,
and treading out the witchcraft prosecutions,
has never, until recently, been known.
The Records of the Council, of that time, were
obtained from England, not long since. They,
with the General Court Records, Phips's letter to
the Home Government&mdash;copied in this article&mdash;and
the Diary of Judge Sewall, reveal to us the action
of the brave Governor, and show how much that
generation and subsequent times are indebted to
him, for stopping, what, if he had allowed it to
go on, would have come, no man can tell "where
at last."</p>

<p>Calef speaks of Sir William, kindly: "It is
not doubted but that he aimed at the good of
the people; and great pity it is that his Government
was so sullied (for want of better information
and advice from those whose duty it
was to have given it) by the hobgoblin Monster,
Witchcraft, whereby this country was nightmared
and harassed, at such a rate as is not
easily imagined."</p>

<p>Such were the contents, and such the tone, of
Calef's book. The course he pursued, his carefulness
to do right and to keep his position fortified
as he advanced, and the deliberate courage with
which he encountered the responsibilities, connected
with his movement to rid the country of
a baleful superstition, are worthy of grateful remembrance.</p>

<p>Mather received intelligence that Calef had sent
his book to England, to be printed; and his mind
was vehemently exercised in reference to it. He
set apart the tenth of June, 1698, for a private
Fast on the occasion; and he commenced the exercise
of the day, by, "first of all, declaring unto
the Lord" that he freely forgave Calef, and
praying "the Lord also to forgive him." He
"pleaded with the Lord," saying that the design
of this man was to hurt his "precious opportunities
of glorifying" his "glorious Lord Jesus
Christ." He earnestly besought that those opportunities
might not be "damnified" by Calef's
book. And he finished by imploring deliverance
from his calumnies. So "I put over my calumnious
adversary into the hands of the righteous
God."</p>

<p>On the fifth of November, Calef's book having
been received in Boston, Mather again made
it the occasion of Fasting and Praying. His
friends also spent a day of prayer, as he expresses
it, "to complain unto God," against Calef, he,
Mather, meeting with them. On the twenty-fifth
of November, he writes thus, in his Diary: "The
Lord hath permitted Satan to raise an extraordinary
Storm upon my father and myself. All
the rage of Satan, against the holy churches of
the Lord, falls upon us. First Calf's and then
Colman's, do set the people into a mighty ferment."</p>

<p>The entries in his Diary, at this time, show that
he was exasperated, to the highest degree, against
Calef, to whom he applies such terms as, "a
liar," "vile," "infamous," imputing to him
diabolical wickedness. He speaks of him as "a
weaver;" and, in a pointed manner calls him
<i>Calf</i>, a mode of spelling his name sometimes
practised, but then generally going out of use.
The probability is that the vowel <i>a</i>, formerly, as
in most words, had its broad sound, so that the
pronunciation was scarcely perceptibly different,
when used as a dissyllable or monosyllable. As
the broad sound became disused, to a great extent,
about this time, the name was spoken, as
well as spelled, as a dissyllable, the vowel having
its long sound. It was written, <i>Calef</i>, and
thus printed, in the title-page of his book; so that
Mather's variation of it was unjustifiable, and an
unworthy taunt.</p>

<p>It is unnecessary to say that a fling at a person's
previous occupation, or that of his parents&mdash;an
attempt to discredit him, in consequence of his
having, at some period of his life, been a mechanic
or manufacturer&mdash;or dropping, or altering
a letter in his name, does not amount to much,
as an impeachment of his character and credibility,
as a man or an author. Hard words, too,
in a heated controversy, are of no account whatever.
In this case, particularly, it was a vain and
empty charge, for Mather to call Calef <i>a liar</i>.
In the matter of the account, the latter drew up,
of what took place in the chamber of Margaret
Rule: as he sent it to Mather for correction, and
as Mather specified some items which he deemed
erroneous, his declaration that all the rest was a
tissue of falsehoods, was utterly futile; and can
only be taken as an unmeaning and ineffectual
expression of temper. So far as the truthfulness
of Calef's statements, generally, is regarded, there
is no room left for question.</p>

<p>In his Diary for February, 1700, Mather says,
speaking of the "calumnies that Satan, by his instrument,
<i>Calf</i>, had cast upon" him and his
father, "the Lord put it into the hearts of a considerable
number of our flock, who are, in
their temporal condition, more equal unto our
adversary, to appear in our vindication." A
Committee of seven, including John Goodwin,
was appointed for this purpose. They called upon
their Pastors to furnish them with materials;
which they both did. The Committee drew
up, as Mather informs us, in his Diary, a "handsome
answer unto the slanders and libels of
our slanderous adversary," which was forthwith
printed, with the names of the members of
the Committee signed to it. The pamphlet was
entitled, <i>Some Few Remarks</i>, &amp;c. Mather says of
it: "The Lord blesses it, for the illumination of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
his people in many points of our endeavour to
serve them, whereof they had been ignorant;
and there is also set before all the Churches a
very laudable example of a people appearing
to vindicate their injured Pastors, when a storm
of persecution is raised against them."</p>

<p>This vindication is mainly devoted to the case
of the Goodwin children, twelve years before, and
to a defence of the course of Increase Mather, in
England, in reference to the Old and New Charters.
No serious attempt was made to controvert
material points in Calef's book, relating to Salem
Witchcraft. As it would have been perfectly
easy, by certificates without number, to have exposed
any error, touching that matter, and as no
attempt of the kind was made, on this or any
other occasion, the only alternative left is to accept
Hutchinson's conviction, that "Calef was a
fair relator" of that passage in our history.</p>

<p>His book has, therefore, come down to us, bearing
the ineffaceable stamp of truth.</p>

<p>It was so regarded, at the time, in England, as
shown in the manner in which it was referred to
by Francis Hutchinson and Daniel Neal; and in
America, in the way in which Thomas Hutchinson
speaks of Calef, and alludes to matters as
stated by him. I present, entire, the judgment of
Dr. John Eliot, as given in his <i>Biographical
Dictionary</i>. Bearing in mind that Eliot's work
was published in 1806, the reader is left to make
his own comments on the statement, in the <i>North
American Review</i>, that I originated, in 1831, the
unfavorable estimate of Cotton Mather's agency
in the witchcraft delusion of 1692. It is safe
to say that no higher authority can be cited than
that of John Eliot: "<span class="smcap">Calef, Robert</span>, merchant,
in the town of Boston, rendered himself famous
by his book against Witchcraft, when
the people of Massachusetts were under the
most strange kind of delusion. The nature of
this crime, so opposite to all common sense,
has been said to exempt the accusers from observing
the rules of common sense. This was
evident from the trials of witches, at Salem, in
1692. Mr. Calef opposed facts, in the simple
garb of truth, to fanciful representations; yet
he offended men of the greatest learning and
influence. He was obliged to enter into a controversy,
which he managed with great boldness
and address. His letters and defence were
printed, in a volume, in London, in 1700. Dr.
Increase Mather was then President of Harvard
College; he ordered the wicked book to
be burnt in the College yard; and the members
of the Old North Church published a defence
of their Pastors, the Rev. Increase and Cotton
Mather. The pamphlet, printed on this occasion,
has this title-page: <i>Remarks upon a scandalous
book, against the Government and Ministry
of New England, written by Robert
Calef</i>, &amp;c. Their motto was, <i>Truth will come
off conqueror</i>, which proved a satire upon themselves,
because Calef obtained a complete triumph.
The Judges of the Court and the Jury
confessed their errors; the people were astonished
at their own delusion; reason and common
sense were evidently on Calef's side; and
even the present generation read his book with
mingled sentiments of pleasure and admiration."</p>

<p>Calef's book continues, to this day, the recognized
authority on the subject. Its statements of
matters of fact, not disputed nor specifically denied
by the parties affected, living at the time,
nor attempted to be confuted, then, and by them,
never can be. The current of nearly two centuries
has borne them beyond all question. No assault
can now reach them. No writings of Mather
have ever received more evidence of public interest
or favor. First printed in London, Calef's
volume has gone through four American editions;
the last, in 1861, edited by Samuel P. Fowler,
is presented in such eligible type and so readable
a form, as to commend it to favorable notice.</p>

<p>It may be safely said that few publications
have produced more immediate or more lasting
effects. It killed off the whole business of Margaret
Rule. Mather abandoned it altogether.
In 1694, he said "the forgetting thereof would
neither be pleasing to God nor useful to men."
Before Calef had done with him, he had dropped
it forever.</p>

<p>Calef's book put a stop to all such things, in
New and Old England. It struck a blow at the
whole system of popular superstition, relating to
the diabolical world, under which it reels to this
day. It drove the Devil out of the preaching,
the literature, and the popular sentiments of the
world. The traces of his footsteps, as controlling
the affairs of men and interfering with the
Providence of God, are only found in the dark
recesses of ignorance, the vulgar profanities of
the low, and a few flash expressions and thoughtless
forms of speech.</p>

<p>No one can appreciate the value of his service.
If this one brave man had not squarely and defiantly
met the follies and madness, the priestcraft
and fanaticism, of his day; if they had been allowed
to continue to sway Courts and Juries; if
the pulpit and the press had continued to throw
combustibles through society, and, in every way,
inflame the public imaginations and passions,
what limit can be assigned to the disastrous consequences?</p>

<p>Boston Merchants glory in the names, on their
proud roll of public benefactors, of men whose
wisdom, patriotism, and munificence have upheld,
adorned, and blessed society; but there is
no one of their number who encountered more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
danger, showed more moral and intellectual
prowess, or rendered more noble service to his
fellow citizens and fellow men, every where, than
<span class="smcap">Robert Calef</span>.</p>

<p>I again ask attention to the language used in
the <i>North American Review</i>, for April, 1869.
"These views, respecting Mr. Mather's connection
with the Salem trials, are to be found <span class="smcapl">IN
NO PUBLICATION OF A DATE PRIOR TO</span> 1831, when
Mr. Upham's <i>Lectures</i> were published."</p>

<p>Great as may be the power of critical journals,
they cannot strike into non-existence, the recorded
and printed sentiments of Brattle, the Hutchinsons,
Neal, Watts, Bentley, Eliot, Quincy, and
Calef.</p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX.</h2>

<h3>MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. CONCLUSION.</h3>

<p>There are one or two minor points, where the
Reviewer finds occasion to indulge in his peculiar
vein of criticism on my book, which it is
necessary to notice before closing, in order to
prevent wrong impressions being made by his article,
touching the truth of history.</p>

<p>A pamphlet, entitled, <i>Some Miscellany Observations
on our present debates respecting Witchcraft,
in a Dialogue between S and B</i>, has been
referred to. It was published in Philadelphia,
in 1692. Its printing was procured by Hezekiah
Usher, a leading citizen of Boston, who, at the
later stages of the prosecution, had been cried
out upon, by the accusing girls, and put under
arrest. Its author was understood to be the Rev.
Samuel Willard. The Reviewer claims for its
writer precedence over the Rev. John Wise, of
Ipswich, and Robert Pike, of Salisbury, as having
earlier opposed the proceedings. Wise headed
a Memorial, in favor of John Proctor and
against the use of spectral evidence, before the
trials that took place on the fifth of August; and
Pike's second letter to Judge Corwin was dated
the eighth of August.</p>

<p>The pamphlet attributed to Willard is a spirited
and able performance; but seems to allow the
use of spectral evidence, when bearing against
persons of "ill-fame."</p>

<p>Pike concedes all that believers in the general
doctrines of witchcraft demanded, particularly
the ground taken in the pamphlet attributed to
Willard, and then proceeds, by the most acute
technical logic, based upon solid common sense,
to overturn all the conclusions to which the Court
had been led. It was sent, by special messenger,
to a Judge on the Bench, who was also an associate
with Pike at the Council Board of the
Province. Wise's paper was addressed to the
Court of Assistants, the Supreme tribunal of the
Province. The <i>Miscellany Observations</i>, appear
to have been written after the trials. There is
nothing, however, absolutely to determine the precise
date; and they were published anonymously,
in Philadelphia. The right of Wise and Pike
to the credit of having first, by written remonstrance,
opposed the proceedings, on the spot,
cannot, I think, be taken away.</p>

<p>The Reviewer charges me, in reference to one
point, with not having thought it necessary to
"pore over musty manuscripts, in the obscure
chirography of two centuries ago." So far as
my proper subject could be elucidated by it, I am
constrained to claim, that this labor was encountered,
to an extent not often attempted. The files
of Courts, and State, County, Town, and Church
records, were very extensively and thoroughly
studied out. So far as the Court papers, belonging
to the witchcraft Examinations and Trials,
are regarded, much aid was derived from <i>Records
of Salem Witchcraft, copied from the original
documents</i>, printed in 1864, by W. Eliot
Woodward. But such difficulty had been experienced
in deciphering them, that the originals
were all subjected to a minute re-examination.
The same necessity existed in the use of the <i>Annals
of Salem</i>, prepared and published by that
most indefatigable antiquary, the late Rev. Joseph
B. Felt, LL.D. In writing a work for which so
little aid could be derived from legislative records
or printed sources, bringing back to life a
generation long since departed, and reproducing
a community and transaction so nearly buried in
oblivion, covering a wide field of genealogy, topography
and chronology, embracing an indefinite
variety of municipal, parochial, political, social,
local, and family matters, and of things, names,
and dates without number, it was, after all, impossible
to avoid feeling that many errors and
oversights might have been committed; and, as
my only object was to construct a true and adequate
history, I coveted, and kept myself in a
frame gratefully to receive all corrections and
suggestions, with a view of making the work as
perfect as possible, in a reprint. As I was reasonably
confident that the ground under me
could stand, at all important points, any assaults
of criticism, made in the ordinary way, it gave
me satisfaction to hear, as I did, in voices of rumor
reaching me from many quarters, that an article
was about to appear in the <i>North American
Review</i> that would "demolish" my book. I
flattered myself that, whether it did or not, much
valuable information would, at least, be received,
that would enable me to make my book more
to my purpose, by making it more true to history.</p>

<p>After the publication of the article, and before
I could extricate myself from other engagements
so far as to look into it, I read, in editorials, from
week to week, in newspapers and journals, that
I had been demolished. Surely, I thought, some
great errors have been discovered, some precious
"original sources" opened, some lost records exhumed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
so that now, at last, no matter by whom,
the story of Salem witchcraft can be told. My
disappointment may be imagined, when, upon
examining the article, it appeared that only one
error had been discovered in my book, and that
I now proceed to acknowledge.</p>

<p>The Reviewer says: "Thomas Brattle, the
Treasurer of Harvard College, (not William
Brattle, a merchant of Boston, as Mr. Upham
states) wrote, at the time, an account of Salem
Witchcraft." This was not an error of the
press, but wholly my own, as it is in the "copy,"
sent to the printers. In finding the interesting
relations held by the Rev. William Brattle with
the Salem Village Parish, after the death of Mr.
Green, he being called to act as their patron and
guide, and eventually marrying Green's widow,
his name became familiar to my thoughts, and
slipped through my pen. Every one who has
gone through the drudgery of proof-reading
knows what ridiculous and, sometimes, frightful,
errors are detected, even in the "last revise."
Upon opening the volume, when it came to me
from the binder, I saw this error and immediately
informed my publishers. It is pleasing to think
that it cost the Reviewer no pains to discover it,
as the right name stands out in the caption of
the article, which is in capital letters&mdash;<i>Massachusetts
Historical Collections, I., v., 61</i>&mdash;where
alone he or I could have seen it.</p>

<p>Mistakes in names and dates&mdash;always provoking,
often inexplicable&mdash;are a fate to which all
are liable. In a friendly, elaborate, and able
notice of my book, in a newspaper of high character,
it is stated that Salem Village, was the home
of the family which gave General Rufus Putnam
to "the War of 1812;" and George Burroughs is
called "<i>John</i>" Burroughs.</p>

<p>It is sometimes as hard to correct an error, as
it is easy to fall into one. In pointing out my
inadvertent mistake, the Reviewer unwittingly reproduces
it. His sentence, just quoted, is liable
to convey the idea that William Brattle was
"a merchant of Boston." As he has been kind
enough, all through his article, to tell what I
ought to have read, and seen, and done, I venture
to suggest that his sentence ought to have
been constructed thus: "Thomas Brattle, a merchant
of Boston, (not William, as Mr. Upham
says.)"</p>

<p>A queer fatality seems to have attended this
attempt to correct my error.</p>

<p>A reader of the <i>North American Review</i> cannot
fail to have noticed the manner in which the
late Rev. Dr. Peabody, as well as myself, is held
up to ridicule, for having called Cotton Mather,
"Dr." when referring to any thing previous to his
having received his Doctorate. Perhaps we
were excusable. By usage, such honorary titles,
and indeed all titles, are applied retrospectively,
running back over the life, indefinitely. The <i>Encyclop&aelig;dia
Americana</i>, Eliot's <i>Biographical Dictionary</i>,
and one of the last numbers of the <i>Historic
Genealogical Register</i>, all give that title to
Increase Mather, referring to a period anterior to
its having been conferred upon him. The title
was given by the learned editor of the <i>Massachusetts
Historical Collections</i>, to Cotton Mather, in
the caption of his letter to Governor Dudley.
In the <i>Mather Papers</i>, letters written a score of
years before that degree had been conferred on
him, are endorsed "Doctor Cotton Mather."
If the high authority of the <i>North American Review</i>
is to establish it, as a literary canon, that
titles are never to be given, except in relation to
a period subsequent to their conferment, writers
must, hereafter, be very careful, when cursorily
alluding to anything in the earlier lives of the
Duke of Marlborough, Lord Castlereagh, the Duke
of Wellington, Doctor Franklin, Doctor Channing,
or Doctor Priestley, to say, Mr. Churchill,
Mr. Stewart, Mr. Wellesley, Mr. Franklin, Mr.
Channing, or Mr. Priestley.</p>

<p>What renders this making of a great matter
out of so trivial a point, by our Reviewer, amusing,
as well as ridiculous, is that he is the first
to break his own rule.</p>

<div class="poem" style="width: 17em;">
<span class="i2">"'Tis the sport to have the engineer<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Hoist with his own petard."<br /></span>
</div>

<p class="noin">The critic is caught by his own captions criticism.
In the passage, pointing out the error in
the name of Brattle, he calls him, "at the time"
he wrote the account of Salem witchcraft, "the
Treasurer of Harvard College." Brattle held
not then, and never had held, that honorable
trust and title, though subsequently appointed
to the office.</p>

<p>It is not probable that Cotton Mather will
ever find a biographer more kind and just than
the late W. B. O. Peabody, whose mild and
pleasant humor was always kept under the sway
of a sweet spirit of candor and benevolence,
and who has presented faithfully all the good
points and services of his subject&mdash;<i>Sparks's
American Biography, Vol. VI.</i> But the knight
errant who has just centered the lists, brandishing
his spear against all who have uttered a lisp
against Cotton Mather, goes out of his way to
strike at Doctor Peabody. He inserts, at the foot
of one of his pages, this sneering Note: "Mr.
Peabody says; 'Little did the venerable Doctor
think,' etc. The venerable Doctor was
twenty-nine years of age! and was no Doctor
at all."</p>

<p>Let us see how the ridicule of the Reviewer
can be parried by his own weapons. Indulging
myself, for a moment, in his style, I have, to say
that "this Reviewer has never seen" Worcester's
Dictionary, nor Webster's Dictionary, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
neither of which does time or age enter into the
definition of <i>venerable</i>. The latter gives the
sense as follows: "Rendered sacred by religious
associations, or being consecrated to God and
to his worship; to be regarded with awe, and
treated with reverence." Further: "This
Reviewer should have been familiar enough
with the original sources of information on
this subject," to have known that it was common,
in those days, to speak and think of such
persons as Cotton Mather, although not old in
years, as "venerable." All the customs, habits,
ideas, and sentiments of the people invested
them with character. Their costume and
bearing favored it. The place they filled, and
the power they exercised, imparted awe and
veneration, whatever their years. All that age
could contribute to command respect was anticipated
and brought, to gather round the young
Minister, when hands were laid upon him, at
his ordination, by the title he thenceforth
wore, of "Elder." By his talents, learning,
and ambition, Cotton Mather had become recognized
as a "Father in the Church;" and his
aspect, as he stood in the pulpit of "North Boston,"
fulfilled the idea of venerableness. And
we find that this very term was applied to the
representative centre of a consecrated family, in
the "Attestation" to the <i>Magnalia</i>, written by
John Higginson, venerable in years, as in all
things else, in some Latin lines of his composure:
"<i>Venerande Mathere</i>."</p>

<p>In the popular eye, Cotton Mather concentrated
all the sacred memories of the great "decemvirate,"
as Higginson called it, of the
Mathers, who had been set apart as Ministers of
God; and he was venerable, besides, in the associations
connected with the hallowed traditions
of his maternal grandfather, whose name he
bore, John Cotton.</p>

<p>An object is <i>venerable</i>, whether it be a person,
a building, a locality, or any thing else, around
which associations gather, that inspire reverence.
Age, in itself, suggests the sentiment, if
its natural effect is not marred by unworthiness;
so does wisdom. Virtue is venerable, whatever
the age. So are all great traits of character;
and so is every thing that brings to the mind
consecrated thoughts and impressions. There
was much in Mather's ancestry, name, and office,
to suggest the term, without any regard whatever
to his years. If applied to him by the
people of that day, or by a writer now, in reference
to any period of his life after entering
the ministry and being classed with the Elders
of the Church and the land, it was entirely legitimate
and appropriate.</p>

<p>While acknowledging the one error, detected
by the Reviewer, I avail myself of the opportunity
to apprise those who have my book
of a probable error, not discovered by him. In
Vol. II., p. 208, the name of "Elizabeth Carey"
is given among those for whose arrest Warrants
were issued, on the twenty-eighth of May, 1692.
On page 238, the name "Elizabeth Cary" is
again mentioned. The facts are, that Calef,
(<i>p. 95</i>,) says: "<span class="smcap">May 24th</span>: Mrs. Carey, of Charlestown,
was examined and committed. Her
husband, Mr. Nathaniel Carey, has given account
thereof, as also of her escape, to this effect."
He then gives a letter going into much
interesting detail, evidently written by her husband,
and signed "Jonathan Carey." Hutchinson
(<i>History, ii., 49</i>,) repeats Calef's account,
calling the woman, "Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel;"
and gives the substance of her husband's
letter, without attempting to explain, or even
noticing, the discrepancy as to the name of the
husband. Not knowing what to make of it, I
examined the miscellaneous mass of papers, in
the Clerk's office, and found, on a small scrip,
the original Complaint, on which the Warrant
was issued. It is the only paper, relating to
the case, in existence, or at least to be found
here. In it, the woman is described as "Elizabeth,
the wife of Capt. Nathaniel Carey of
Charlestown, mariner." This seemed to settle
it and I let it pass, without attempting to
explain how "Jonathan Carey" came to appear
as the husband of the woman, in the letter
signed by that name. I am now quite convinced
that, in this case, I was misled, together with
Calef and Hutchinson, by paying too much regard
to "original sources." I am satisfied that
the authority of the letter of "Jonathan Carey,"
must stand; that the woman was his wife, "Hannah;"
and that the error is in the original
"Complaint," here on file.</p>

<p>The facts, probably, were, that, it being rumored
in Charlestown that a Mrs. Carey was
"cried out upon," without its being known
which Mrs. Carey it was, Jonathan, determined
to meet the matter at the threshold, took his wife
directly to the spot. He arrived at Salem Village,
in the midst of a great excitement, bringing
together a crowd of people, half crazed
under the terrors of the hour. Nobody knew
him, which would not have been so likely to
have been the case with his brother, Nathaniel,
who was a more conspicuous character. He
could find no one he knew, except Mr. Hale,
who was formerly a Charlestown man, and whom
he soon lost in the confusion of the scene. The
accusing girls were on the look out, and noticing
these two strangers, enquired their names,
and were told, <i>Mr. and Mrs. Carey</i>. They had
been crying out upon <i>Elizabeth Carey</i>, and
thinking they had her, informed Thomas Putnam
and Benjamin Hutchinson, two persons
perfectly deluded by them, who instantly drew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
up the Complaint. In the hurry and horrors of
the moment, the error in the names was not discovered:
<i>Jonathan</i> and <i>Hannah</i> were sent forthwith
to prison, from which they broke, and escaped
to New York. The girls, thinking they
had got <i>Mrs. Elizabeth Carey</i> in prison, said no
more about it. As Jonathan and his wife were
safe, and beyond reach, the whole matter dropped
out of the public mind; and Mrs. Elizabeth
remained undisturbed. This is the only
way in which I can account for the strange incongruity
of the statements, as found in the
"Complaint," Calef, and Hutchinson. The letter
of Jonathan Carey is decisive of the point
that it was "Hannah," his wife, that was arrested,
and escaped. The error in Calef was
not discovered by him, as his book was printed
in London; and, under the general disposition
to let the subject pass into oblivion, if possible,
no explanation was ever given.</p>

<p>I cannot let the letter of Jonathan Carey pass,
without calling to notice his statement that,
upon reaching New York, they found "His Excellency,
Benjamin Fletcher, Esq., very courteous"
to them. Whatever multiplies pleasant
historical reminiscences and bonds of association
between different States, ought to be
gathered up and kept fresh in the minds of all.
The fact that when Massachusetts was suffering
from a fiery and bloody, but brief, persecution
by its own Government, New York opened so
kind and secure a shelter for those fortunate
enough to escape to it, ought to be forever held
in grateful remembrance by the people of the
old Bay State, and constitutes a part of the history
of the Empire State, of which she may well
be proud. If the historians and antiquaries of
the latter State can find any traces, in their municipal
or other archives, or in any quarter, of
the refuge which the Careys and others found
among them, in 1692, they would be welcome
contributions to our history, and strengthen the
bonds of friendly union.</p>

<p>The Reviewer seems to imagine that, by a stroke
of his pen, he can, at any time, make history.
Referring to Governor Winthrop, in connection
with the case of Margaret Jones, forty-two years
before, he says that he "presided at her Trial;
signed her Death-warrant; and wrote the report
of the case in his journal." The fact
that, in his private journal, he has a paragraph
relating to it, hardly justifies the expression
"wrote the report of the case." Where did he,
our Reviewer, find authority for the positive
statement that Winthrop "signed the Death-warrant?"
We have no information, I think,
as to the use of Death-warrants, as we understand
such documents to be, in those days;
and especially are we ignorant as to the official
who drew and signed the Order for the execution
of a capital convict. Sir William Phips,
although present, did not sign the Death-warrant
of Bridget Bishop.</p>

<p>The Reviewer expresses, over and over again,
his great surprise at the view given in my book
of Cotton Mather's connection with Salem
witchcraft. It is quite noticeable that his language,
to this effect, was echoed through that
portion of the Press committed to his statements.
My sentiments were spoken of as "surprising
errors." What I had said was, as I have
shown, a mere continuation of an ever-received
opinion; and it was singular that it gave such
a widespread simultaneous shock of "surprise."
But that shock went all around. I was surprised
at their surprise; and may be allowed,
as well as the Reviewer, to express and explain
that sensation. It was awakened deeply and forcibly
by the whole tenor of his article. He was
the first reader of my book, it having been furnished
him by the Publishers before going to
the binder. He wrote an elaborate, extended,
and friendly notice of it, in a leading paper of
New York city, kindly calling it "a monument
of historical and antiquarian research;" "a
narrative as fascinating as the latest novel;"
and concluding thus: "Mr. Upham deserves the
thanks of the many persons interested in
psychological inquiries, for the minute details
he has given of these transactions." Some criticisms
were suggested, in reference to matters of
form in the work; <i>but not one word was said about
Cotton Mather</i>. The change that has come
over the spirit of his dream is more than surprising.</p>

<p>The reference, in the foregoing citation, to
"psychological enquiries," suggests to me to allude,
before closing, to remarks made by some
other critics. I did not go into the discussion,
with any particularity, of the connection, if any,
between the witchcraft developments of 1692
and modern spiritualism, in any of its forms. A
fair and candid writer observes that "the facts
and occurrences," as I state them, involve difficulties
which I "have not solved." There are
"depths," he continues, "in this melancholy episode,
which his plummet has not sounded, by
a great deal." This is perfectly true.</p>

<p>With a full conviction that the events and
circumstances I was endeavoring to relate, afforded
more material for suggestions, in reference
to the mysteries of our spiritual nature,
than any other chapter in history, I carefully
abstained, with the exception of a few cautionary
considerations hinting at the difficulties
that encompass the subject, from attempting to
follow facts to conclusions, in that direction.
My sole object was to bring to view, as truthfully,
thoroughly, and minutely, as I could, the
phenomena of the case, as bare historical facts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
from which others were left, to make their own
deductions. This was the extent of the service
I desired to render, in aid of such as may attempt
to advance the boundaries of the spiritual
department of science. I was content, and
careful, to stay my steps. Feeling that the story
I was telling led me along the outer edge of
what is now knowledge&mdash;that I was treading
the shores of the <i>ultima Thule</i>, of the yet discovered
world of truth&mdash;I did not venture upon
the world beyond. My only hope was to
afford some data to guide the course of those
who may attempt to traverse it. Other hands
are to drop the plummet into its depths, and
other voyagers feel their way over its surface to
continents that are waiting, as did this Western
Hemisphere, for ages upon ages, to be revealed.
The belief that fields of science may yet be
reached, by exploring the connection between
the corporeal and spiritual spheres of our being,
in which explorations the facts presented in the
witchcraft Delusion may be serviceable, suggested
one of the motives that led me to dedicate
my volumes to the Professor of Physiology in
Harvard University.</p>

<p>The Reviewer concludes his article by saying
that the "History of Salem witchcraft is as yet
unwritten," but, that I must write it; and he
tells me how to write it. He advises a more
concise form, although his whole article consists
of complaints because I avoided discussions
and condensed documents, which, if fully gone
into and spread out at length, would have swelled
the dimensions of the work, as well as broken
the thread of the narrative. It must be borne
in mind, that a reader can only be held to the
line of a subject, by an occasional retrospection
and reiteration of what must be constantly
kept in view. The traveler needs, at certain
points and suitable stages, to turn and survey
the ground over which he has passed. A condensation
that would strike out such recapitulations
and repetitions, might impair the effect
of a work of any kind, particularly, of one embracing
complicated materials.</p>

<p>The Reviewer says that, "by all means, I must
give references to authorities," when I quote.
This, as a general thing, is good advice. But it
must be remembered that my work consists of
three divisions. The History of Salem Village
constitutes the First. This is drawn, almost wholly,
from papers in the offices of registry, and from
judicial files of the County, to which references
would be of little use, and serve only to cumber
and deform the pages. Everything can be verified
by inspection of the originals, and not otherwise.
The Second Part is a cursory, general,
abbreviated sketch or survey of the history of
opinions, not designed as an authoritative treatise
for special students, but to prepare the
reader for the Third Part, the authorities for
which are, almost wholly, Court files.</p>

<p>As to the remaining suggestion, that I must
divide the work into Chapters, with headings,
there is something to be said. When the nature
of an historical work admits of its being invested
with a dramatic interest&mdash;and all history is
capable, more or less, of having that attraction&mdash;where
minute details can fill up the whole outline
of characters, events, and scenes, all bearing
the impress of truth and certainty, real
history, being often stranger than fiction, may
be, and ought to be, so written as to bring to
bear upon the reader, the charm, and work the
spell, of what is called romance. The same solicitude,
suspense, and sensibilities, which the
parties, described, experienced, can be imparted
to the reader; and his feelings and affections
keep pace with the developments of the story,
as they arise with the progress of time and
events. Headings to Chapters, in historical
works, capable of this dramatic element, would
be as out of place, and as much mar and defeat
the effect, as in a novel.</p>

<p>As for division into Chapters. This was much
thought of and desired; but the nature of the
subject presented obstacles that seem insurmountable.
One topic necessarily ran into, or
overlapped, another. No chronological unity,
if the work had been thus cut up, could have
been preserved; and much of the ground would
have had to be gone over and over again. Examinations,
Trials, Executions were, often, all
going on at once.</p>

<p>There is danger of a diminution of the continuous
interest of some works, thus severed
into fragments. There are, indeed, animals that
will bear to be chopped up indefinitely, and
each parcel retain its life: not so with others.
The most important of all documents have suffered
injury, not to be calculated, in their attractiveness
and impressiveness, by being divided
into Chapter and Verse, in many instances
without reference to the unity of topics, or coherence
of passages; dislocating the frame of
narratives, and breaking the structure of sentences.
We all know to what a ridiculous
extent this practice was, for a long period, carried
in Sermons, which were "divided" to a
degree of artificial and elaborate dissection into
"heads," that tasked to the utmost the ingenuity
of the preacher, and overwhelmed the
discernment and memory of the hearer. He, in
fact, was thought the ablest sermonizer, who
could stretch the longest string of divisions, up
to the "nineteenthly," and beyond. This fashion
has a prominent place among <i>The Grounds
and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy
and Religion</i>, by John Eachard, D.D., a
work published in London, near the commencement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
of the last century&mdash;one of the few books,
like Calef's, which have turned the tide, and arrested
the follies, of their times. In bold, free,
forcible satire, Eachard's book stands alone.
Founded on great learning, inspired by genuine
wit, its style is plain even to homeliness. It
struck at the highest, and was felt and appreciated
by the lowest. It reinforced the pulpit, simplified
the literature, eradicated absurdities of
diction and construction, and removed many of
the ecclesiastic abuses, of its day. No work of
the kind ever met with a more enthusiastic reception.
I quote from the Eleventh Edition,
printed in 1705: "We must observe, that there
is a great difference in texts. For all texts
come not asunder, alike; for sometimes the
words naturally fall asunder; sometimes they
drop asunder; sometimes they melt; sometimes
they untwist; and there be some words
so willing to be parted, that they divide themselves,
to the great ease and rejoicing of the
Minister. But if they will not easily come in
pieces, then he falls to hacking and hewing,
as if he would make all fly into shivers. The
truth of it is, I have known, now and then,
some knotty texts, that have been divided
seven or eight times over, before they could
make them split handsomely, according to
their mind."</p>

<p>An apology to those critics who have complained
of my not dividing my book into Chapters,
is found in the foregoing passage. I tried
to do it, but found it a "knotty" subject, and,
like the texts Eachard speaks of, "would not
easily come in pieces." With all my efforts, it
could not be made to "split handsomely."</p>

<p>This, and all other suggestions of criticism,
are gratefully received and respectfully considered.
But, after all, it will not be well to
establish any canons, to be, in all cases, implicitly
obeyed, by all writers. Much must be left
to individual judgment. Regard must be had
to the nature of subjects. Instead of servile
uniformity, variety and diversity must be encouraged.
In this way, only, can we have a free,
natural, living literature.</p>

<p>In passing, I would say, that in meeting the
demand made upon me by the Reviewer, to rewrite
the history of Salem witchcraft, I shall
avail myself of the opportunity to correct the
single error he has mentioned. In a re-issue of
the work, I shall endeavor to make it as accurate
as possible. Anything that is found to be
wrong shall be rectified. The work, in the different
forms in which it was published, is nearly
out of print. When issued again, it will be in
a less costly style and more within the reach of
all. From the result of my own continued researches
and the suggestions of others, I feel
inclined to the opinion that no very considerable
alterations will be made; and that subsequent
editions, will not impair the authority or value
of the work, as originally published in 1867.</p>

<p>In preparing the statement, now brought to a
close, the only object has been to get at, and
present, the real facts of history. Nothing,
merely personal, affecting the writer in the <i>North
American Review</i> or myself, can be considered as
of comparative moment. Many of the expressions
used by that writer, as to what I have
"seen" or "read" and the like, are, it must be confessed,
rather peculiar; but of very little interest
to the public. Any notice, taken of them,
has been incidental, and such as naturally arose
in the treatment of the subject.</p>

<p>In parting with the reader, I venture so far
further to tax his patience, as to ask to take a
retrospective glance, together, over the outlines
of the road we have travelled.</p>

<p>In connection with some preliminary observations,
the first step in the argument was to show
the relation of the Mathers, father and son, to
the superstitions of their times culminating in the
Witchcraft Delusion of 1692, and their share of
responsibility therefor. The several successive
stages of the discussion were as follows:&mdash;The
connection of Cotton Mather with alleged cases
of Witchcraft in the family of John Goodwin of
Boston, in 1688; and said Goodwin's certificates
disposed of: Mather's idea of Witchcraft, as a
war waged by the Devil against the Church; and
his use of prayer: The connection between the
cases, at Boston in 1688, and at Salem in 1692:
The relation of the Mathers to the Government
of Massachusetts, in 1692: The arrival of Sir
William Phips; the impression made upon him
by those whom he first met; his letter to the
Government in England: The circumstances attending
the establishment of the Special Court
of Oyer and Terminer, and the precipitance with
which it was put into operation: Its proceedings,
conducted by persons in the interest of the Mathers:
Spectral Testimony; and the extent to which
it was authorized by them to be received at the
Trials, as affording grounds of enquiry and matter
of presumption: Letter of Cotton Mather to
one of the Judges: The Advice of the Ministers:
Cotton Mather's probable plan for dealing
with spectral evidence: His views on that subject,
as gathered from his writings and declarations:
The question of his connection with the
Examinations before the Magistrates: His connection
with the Trials and Executions: His Report
of five of the Trials: His book entitled <i>The
Wonders of the Invisible World</i>; its design; the
circumstances attending its preparation for the
press; and the views, feelings, and expectations
of its author, exhibited in extracts from it: Increase
Mather's <i>Cases of Conscience</i>: The suppression
of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
Sir William Phips: Cotton Mather's views subsequent
to 1692, as gathered from his writings.</p>

<p>In traversing the field thus marked out, I submit
that it has become demonstrated that, while
Cotton Mather professed concurrence in the generally-received
judgment of certain writers against
the reception of spectral evidence, he approved
of the manner in which it had been received by
the Judges, at the Salem Trials, and eulogized
them throughout, from the beginning to the end
of the prosecution, and ever after. He vindicated,
as a general principle, the <i>admission</i> of
that species of testimony, on the ground of its
being a sufficient basis of enquiry and presumption,
and needing only some additional evidence,&mdash;his
own Report and papers on file show how little
was required&mdash;to justify conviction and execution.
This has been proved, at large, by an examination
of his writings and actions, and is
fully admitted by him, in various forms of language,
on several occasions&mdash;substantially, in his
statement, that Spectral Testimony was the
"chief" ground upon which "divers" were
condemned and executed, and, explicitly, in his
letter to Foster, in which he says that "a very
great use is to be made" of it, in the manner
and to the extent just mentioned; and that, when
thus used, the "use for which the Great God intended
it," will be made. In the same passage,
he commends the Judge for having admitted it;
and declares they had the divine blessing thereupon,
inasmuch as "God strangely sent other
convincing testimony," to corroborate, and
thereby render it sufficient to convict. In his Address
to the General Assembly, years afterward,
he fully admits that the Judges, in 1692, whose
course he applauded at the time, allowed persons
to be adjudged guilty, "merely because" of
Spectral Testimony.</p>

<p>My main purpose and duty, in preparing this
article, have been to disprove the absolute and
unlimited assertions made by the contributor to
the <i>North American Review</i>, that Cotton Mather
was opposed to the <i>admission</i> of Spectral Evidence;
"denounced it as illegal, uncharitable,
and cruel;" and "ever testified against it, both
publicly and privately;" and that the <i>Advice
of the Ministers</i>, drawn up by him, "was <i>very
specific</i> in <i>excluding</i> Spectral Testimony."</p>

<p>It has been thought proper, also, to vindicate
the truth of history against the statements of this
Reviewer, on some other points; as, for instance,
by showing that the opinion of Cotton Mather's
particular responsibility for the Witchcraft Tragedy,
instead of originating with me, was held
at the time, at home and abroad, and has come
down, through an unbroken series of the most
accredited writers, to our day; and that the influence
of the Mathers never recovered from the
shock given it, by the catastrophe of 1692.</p>

<p>The apology for the great length of this article
is, that the high authority justly accorded to the
<i>North American Review</i>, demanded, in controverting
any position taken in its columns, a
thorough and patient investigation, and the production,
in full, of the documents belonging to
the question. It has further been necessary, in
order to get at the predominating tendency and
import of Cotton Mather's writings, to cite them,
in extended quotations and numerous extracts.
To avoid the error into which the Reviewer has
fallen, the peculiarity of Mather's style must be
borne in mind. Opposite drifts of expression
appear in different writings and in different
parts of the same writing; and, not infrequently,
the clauses of the same passage have contrary
bearings. He often palters, with himself as well
as others, in a double sense.</p>

<p>Quotations, to any amount, from the writings
of either of the Mathers, of passages having the
appearance of discountenancing spectral evidence,
can be of no avail in sustaining the positions
taken by the Reviewer, because they are
qualified by the admission, that evidence of that
sort might and ought, notwithstanding, to be received
as a basis for enquiry and ground of presumption,
and, if supported by other ordinary testimony,
was sufficient for conviction. That other
testimony, when adduced, was, as represented by
Mather, clothed with a divine authority; having,
as he says, been supplied by a special Providence,
and been justly regarded, by the "excellent
Judges," as "an encouraging presence of God,
strangely sent in." It could, indeed, in the
then state of the public mind, always be readily
obtained. No matter how small in quantity or
utterly irrelevant, it was sufficient for conviction
coming after the Spectral Evidence. To minds
thus subdued and overwhelmed with "awe,"
trifles light as air were confirmation strong.</p>

<p>It is to be presumed that his warmest admirers
would not think of comparing Cotton Mather
with his transatlantic correspondent and coadjutor,
as to force of character, power of mind, or
the moral and religious value of their writings.
Yet there were some striking similarities between
them. They were men of undoubted genius and
great learning. They were all their lives awake
to whatever was going on around them. Earnestly
interested, and actively engaging, in all
questions of theology and government, they both
rushed forthwith and incontinently to the press,
until their publications became too voluminous
and numerous to be patiently read or easily
counted. Of course, what they printed was imbued
with the changing aspects of the questions
they handled and open to the imputation of inconsistency,
of which Baxter was generally disregardful
and Mather mostly unconscious.</p>

<p>Sir Roger L'Estrange was one of the great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
wits and satirists of his age. His style was rough
and reckless. A vehement and fierce upholder of
the doctrines of arbitrary government, he was
knighted by James the Second. His controversial
writings, having all the attractions of unscrupulous
invective and homely but cutting sarcasm,
were much patronized by the great, and extensively
read by the people. All Nonconformists
and Dissenters were the objects of his coarse
abuse. He issued an ingenious pamphlet with
this title: "<i>The Casuist uncased; in a Dialogue
betwixt Richard and Baxter, with a moderator
between them, for quietness sake.</i>" The two disputants
range over a variety of subjects, and are
quite vehement against each other; the Moderator
interposing to keep them to the point, preserve
order in the debate, and, as occasion required,
reduce them to "quietness." At one
stage of the altercation, he exclaimed: "If an
Angel from Heaven, I perceive, were employed
to bring you two to an agreement, he should lose
his labor." Great was the amusement of all classes
to find that the language uttered by the combatants,
on each side, was taken from one or
another of writings published by Richard Baxter,
during his diversified controversial life.</p>

<p>If any skilful and painstaking humorist of
our day, should feel so disposed, he might, by
wading through the sea of Cotton Mather's writings,
pick up material enough for the purpose;
and, by cutting in halves paragraphs and sentences,
entertain us in the same way, by giving to the
public, through the Press, "<i>A Dialogue betwixt
<span class="smcap">Cotton</span> and <span class="smcap">Mather</span>, with a Moderator between
them for quietness sake.</i>"</p>

<hr class="hrm" />

<h2><span class="fsm">THE</span><br />
HISTORICAL MAGAZINE;<br />
<span class="fss">AND</span><br />
<small>Notes and Queries concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America.</small></h2>

<div class="bk4"><p>This Magazine was commenced in January, 1857, for the purpose of furnishing
a medium of intercommunication between Historical Societies, Authors, and Students
of History, and supplying an interesting and valuable journal&mdash;a miscellany of American
History. On the first of July, 1866, it passed into the hands of the undersigned,
by whom it is still conducted, with the support and aid of a large body of intelligent
readers, and the assistance of the foremost historical writers in the country.</p>

<p>Among the contributors to the past volumes are Hon. Edward Everett, Hon.
George Bancroft, Jared Sparks, LL.D., Hon. Peter Force, Hon. James Savage, Hon.
Robert C. Winthrop, Wm. Gilmore Simms, Esq., Henry R. Stiles, M.D., Geo. Gibbs,
Esq., Hon. John R. Brodhead, J. Carson Brevoort, Esq., Henry R. Schoolcraft, Esq.,
Benson J. Lossing, Esq., Hon. Henry C. Murphy, Samuel G. Drake, Esq., Sebastian
F. Streeter, Esq., Alfred B. Street, Esq., E. B. O'Callaghan, LL.D., Prof. W. W.
Turner, Buckingham Smith, Esq., Evert A. Duyckinck, Esq., Brantz Mayer, Esq.,
Hon. John R. Bartlett, Samuel F. Haven, Esq., Dr. R. W. Gibbs, John W. Francis,
M.D., D. G. Brinton, M.D., George H. Moore, Esq., John G. Shea, LL.D., Rev. E.
H. Gillett, D.D., John Ward Dean, Esq., Henry O'Reilly, Esq., Rev. Pliny H.
White, Hon. E. E. Bourne, and Hon. Thomas Ewbank.</p>

<p>The eleven volumes already published contain an immense mass of matter relating
to American History and kindred studies, such as cannot be found collected elsewhere,
rendering it a work absolutely necessary in all libraries. Few historical works now
appear that do not acknowledge indebtedness to it.</p>

<p>The Contents of the Historical Magazine may be generally classed under the following heads:</p>

<p>I. Original Papers, involving points of research in historical studies, presenting
new facts, or the discussion of Federal and Local topics of interest, in Essays, by
writers versed in American History.</p>

<p>II. The Collection of Original Letters, Correspondence, Diaries, &amp;c., hitherto
unpublished, of Americans of Eminence.</p>

<p>III. Biographical and Obituary Notices of persons distinguished in the service of
the country, whether in office, political life, literature, or science.</p>

<p>IV. Accurate reports of the proceedings of the numerous American Historical,
Antiquarian, Geographical, Numismatic, and other kindred Societies.</p>

<p>V. Notes and Queries of curious and important topics, new and old, with replies,
by a large body of contributors.</p>

<p>VI. Reprints of rare and interesting Tracts, old Poems out of print, &amp;c., &amp;c.</p>

<p>VII. Miscellany and Anecdotes.</p>

<p>VIII. Carefully prepared and impartial Notices of New Books and Engravings,
especially those relating to the History, Antiquities, or Biography of America.</p>

<p>IX. Historical and Literary Intelligence, Announcements, &amp;c.</p>

<p>The Historical Magazine is printed on fine quality of paper, similar in form and
size to this sheet, and published in monthly numbers, of sixty-four pages each, at <span class="smcap">Five
dollars a year</span>. Single numbers <span class="smcap">Seventy-five cents</span>.</p></div>

<p class="rgt">HENRY B. DAWSON, Morrisania, N. Y.</p>

<hr class="hrm" />
<h2>CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME I, NEW SERIES.</h2>

<div class="bk5"><div class="bk6"><p><span class="smcap">Bergen</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Tunis</span>, Bay Side, L. I.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Brinton</span>, Doctor D. G., Westchester, Pennsylvania,
the celebrated Ethnologist.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Brodhead</span>, Hon. J. <span class="smcap">Romeyn</span>, the historian of
New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Dawson, Henry</span> B., author of <i>Battles of the
United States</i>, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Dean, John Ward</span>, Secretary of the New England
Historic-Genealogical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ellis</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">George</span> B., D.D., Charlestown,
Massachusetts.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ewbank</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Thomas</span>, Vice-president of the
American Ethnological Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Force</span>, General <span class="smcap">Peter</span>, Washington, D. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Gillett</span>, Rev. E. H., D.D., the historian of the
Presbyterian Church.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Kapp, Friedrich</span>, the biographer of Steuben,
De Kalb, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Lawrence, Eugene</span>, Columbia College, New
York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Moore, George</span> H., Librarian of New York
Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">New York City</span>, Corporation of.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">O'Reilly, Henry</span>, the veteran printer and telegraphist.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Rockwell</span>, Prof. E. F., Davidson College, North
Carolina.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Scott, Benjamin</span>, Chamberlain of the City of
London.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Shea, J. Gilmary</span>, LL.D., historian of the
Catholic Missions.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Smith</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Buckingham</span>, St. Augustine, Fl.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Stone, William</span> L., biographer of Sir William
Johnson, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Wetmore</span>, General <span class="smcap">Prosper</span> M., New York.</p>

<div class="center"><div class="bk2"><span class="smcap"><small>Unpublished articles by</small></span></div></div>

<p><span class="smcap">Adams, Samuel</span>, of Boston.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Allen, Ethan</span>, of Vermont.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Anderson</span>, Lieut. <span class="smcap">Thomas</span>, of Delaware [His
Diary during the Revolutionary War].</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ashley</span>, Doctor <span class="smcap">John</span>, of Deerfield, Massachusetts.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ashmun</span>, Rev. J., Washington, D. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Barker, Jacob</span>, New Orleans.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Beatty</span>, Captain <span class="smcap">William</span>, of Maryland. [His
Diary and Correspondence].</p></div>

<div class="bk7"><p><span class="smcap">Benson, Egbert</span>, on the Constitution of New
York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Burr, Aaron</span>, of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Carroll, Charles</span>, of Carrollton.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Colden, David</span> C., of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Cooper, J. Fenimore</span>, of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Dearborn</span>, General <span class="smcap">Henry</span>, of Massachusetts.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Downing, Emanual</span>, of England.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Drayton, William</span> H., of South Carolina.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Drowne</span>, Doctor <span class="smcap">Solomon</span>, of Rhode Island.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Fitzhugh, William</span>, of Virginia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Franklin, Benjamin</span>, of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Gerry, Elbridge</span>, of Massachusetts.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Greene</span>, General <span class="smcap">Nathaniel</span>, of Rhode Island.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Hooper</span>, A. M.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Howell, David</span>, of New Jersey.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Humphreys</span>, Colonel <span class="smcap">David</span>, of Connecticut.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Huntington</span>, General <span class="smcap">Jed.</span>, of Connecticut.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Jay, John</span>, of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Jefferson, Thomas</span>, of Virginia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Kendall, Amos</span>, [on the Jackson Cabinet.]</p>

<p><span class="smcap">King, Rufus</span>, of New York. [On the Constitution of New York.]</p>

<p><span class="smcap">La Fayette</span>, General.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Laurens, Henry</span>, of South Carolina.</p>

<p>"<span class="smcap">Mason</span> and <span class="smcap">Dixon</span>," the Surveyors.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Miller</span>, General <span class="smcap">James</span>, of New Hampshire.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Mooers</span>, General <span class="smcap">Benjamin</span>, of Plattsburg,
New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Morris, Robert</span>, of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Paget</span>, Admiral, R.N.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Quitman</span>, General, of Mississippi.
[Autobiographical letter.]</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Randolph, John</span>, of Roanoke, Virginia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Riker</span>, Recorder <span class="smcap">Richard</span>, of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Rush</span>, Doctor <span class="smcap">Benjamin</span>, of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Tallmadge</span>, Major <span class="smcap">Benjamin</span>, of Connecticut.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Tompkins, Daniel</span> D., of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Van Buren, Martin</span>, of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Washington</span>, General <span class="smcap">George</span>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Wheelwright</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">John</span>, of Boston.
[The celebrated Fast-day Sermon, for
preaching which he was banished from Massachusetts.]</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Wolcott, Oliver</span>.</p></div></div>

<hr />
<h2>CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME II, NEW SERIES.</h2>

<div class="bk5"><div class="bk6"><div class="center" style="margin-bottom: .5em;"><small>1.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Original Articles.</span></small></div>

<p>Hon. E. E. <span class="smcap">Bourne</span>, President of the Maine
Historical Society.</p>

<p>Rev. <span class="smcap">Pliny H. White</span>, President of the Vermont
Historical Society.</p>

<p>Hon. J. <span class="smcap">Hammond Trumbull</span>, President of the
Connecticut Historical Society.</p>

<p>Hon. <span class="smcap">Thomas Ewbank</span>, Vice-president of the
American Ethnological Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">George Henry Moore</span>, Librarian of the New
York Historical Society.</p>

<p>Rev. Doctor <span class="smcap">Ballard</span>, Secretary of the Maine
Historical Society.</p>

<p>S. F. <span class="smcap">Haven</span>, Librarian of the American Antiquarian
Society.</p>

<p>H. A. <span class="smcap">Holmes</span>, State Librarian, Albany.</p>

<p>E. B. <span class="smcap">O'Callaghan</span>, LL.D.</p>

<p>J. <span class="smcap">Gilmary Shea</span>, LL.D., New York City.</p>

<p>Doctor E. H. <span class="smcap">Davis</span>, the Ethnologist.</p>

<p>Doctor D. G. <span class="smcap">Brinton</span>, Westchester, Penn.</p>

<p>J. <span class="smcap">Wingate Thornton</span>, Boston.</p>

<p>Professor <span class="smcap">George W. Greene</span>, of Rhode Island.</p>

<p>Hon. <span class="smcap">William Willis</span>, Portland, Me.</p>

<p>W. <span class="smcap">Gilmore Simms</span>, LL.D., of South Carolina.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">William Swinton</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">William H. Whitmore</span>, Boston.</p>

<p>Rev. E. H. <span class="smcap">Gillett</span>, D.D., Harlem, N. Y.</p>

<p>Professor E. F. <span class="smcap">Rockwell</span>, Davidson College, N. C.</p>

<p>J. R. <span class="smcap">Simms</span>, Fort Plain, N. Y.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">James Riker</span>, Harlem, N. Y.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Charles Edwards</span>, New York.</p>

<p>Captain E. C. <span class="smcap">Boynton</span>, U.S.A., West Point.</p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">Thomas F. De Voe</span>, "the historical
Butcher."</p>

<p>Captain <span class="smcap">George Henry Preble</span>, U.S.N.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Joseph Sabin</span>, New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Henry O'Reilly</span>, New York.</p>

<p>Doctor <span class="smcap">Joseph Comstock</span>, Liberty Hill, Conn.</p>

<p>J. <span class="smcap">Williamson</span>, Belfast, Me.</p>

<p>Rev. A. H. <span class="smcap">Quint</span>, D.D., New Bedford, Mass.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Rudolphe Garrigue</span>, Morrisania, N. Y.</p>

<p>Editors of the <i>Methodist</i>, New York.</p>

<div class="center"><div class="bk2"><small>2.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Inedited Articles.</span></small></div></div>

<p><span class="smcap">Samuel L. Boardman</span>, Augusta, Me.</p>

<p>F. W. <span class="smcap">Seward</span>, Assistant Secretary of State of
the United States.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">The Corporation of the City of New York.</span></p></div>

<div class="bk7"><p><span class="smcap">Buckingham Smith</span>, St. Augustine, Fla.</p>

<p>Professor <span class="smcap">George W. Greene</span>.</p>

<p>Hon. <span class="smcap">John Sullivan</span>, Exeter, N. H.</p>

<p>Professor <span class="smcap">Rau</span>, New York.</p>

<p>E. F. <span class="smcap">De Lancey</span>, New York.</p>

<div class="center"><div class="bk2"><small>3.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Writers of Inedited Papers.</span></small></div></div>

<p>Captain <span class="smcap">Henry Sewall</span>, of the Revolutionary
Army.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Seu-Ki-Yu</span>, Governor of Fuh-Kien, China.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Harrison Gray Otis.</span></p>

<p><span class="smcap">Jefferson Davis.</span></p>

<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span></p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">Wade Hampton</span>, U.S.A.</p>

<p>The Citizen <span class="smcap">Genet</span>.</p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">Washington</span>.</p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">David Crockett</span>.</p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">La Fayette</span>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Rufus King.</span></p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">Winfield Scott</span>, U.S.A.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson.</span></p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">Henry Murray</span>, R.A.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Charles V.</span>, of Spain.</p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">David Humphreys</span>, of the Revolutionary
Army.</p>

<p>Governor <span class="smcap">Belcher</span>, of Massachusetts.</p>

<p>Reverend J. H. <span class="smcap">Livingston</span>, D.D.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Charles Carroll</span>, of Carrollton.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Samuel Huntington</span>, President of the Continental
Congress.</p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">William Heath</span>, of the Revolutionary
Army.</p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">M. Gist</span>, of the same.</p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">Benjamin Tallmadge</span>, of the same.</p>

<p>Doctor B. <span class="smcap">Rush</span>.</p>

<p>Governor <span class="smcap">Thomas Nelson</span>, of Virginia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Solomon Drowne</span>, M.D., of the Revolutionary
Army.</p>

<p>Lieutenant-governor <span class="smcap">Colden</span>, of New York.</p>

<p>General <span class="smcap">John Sullivan</span>, of the Revolutionary
Army.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Henry Clay.</span></p>

<p><span class="smcap">William J. Duane.</span></p>

<p>Colonel <span class="smcap">Richard M. Johnson</span>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Jared Sparks</span>, LL.D.</p>

<p>Hon. <span class="smcap">Alexander H. Everett</span>.</p>

<p>Major <span class="smcap">Henry Lee</span>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Aaron Burr</span>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">James Munroe</span>.</p>

<p class="ml4"><span class="smcap">etc., etc., etc</span>.</p></div></div>

<hr />
<h2>CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME III, NEW SERIES.</h2>

<div class="bk5"><div class="bk6"><p><span class="smcap">American Antiquarian Society</span>, Worcester, Mass.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ballard</span>, D.D., Rev. <span class="smcap">Edward</span>, Brunswick, Maine.
Secretary of the Maine Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ballard, Frank</span> W., New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Bartlett</span>, Hon. J. <span class="smcap">Russell</span>, Providence. R. I.
Secretary of State of Rhode Island.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Bleecker, R. Wade</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Boardman, Samuel</span> L., Augusta, Maine.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Bourne</span>, Hon. E. E., Kennebunk, Maine.
President of the Maine Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Brevoort</span>, Hon. J. <span class="smcap">Carson</span>, Brooklyn.
President of the L. I. Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Brodhead, J. Romeyn</span>, LL.D., New York.
The historian of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Brinley</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">George</span>, Hartford, Conn.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Burns, C. DeF.</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Bushnell, Charles J.</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Dean, John Ward</span>, Boston, Mass.
Author of <i>Life of Nathaniel Ward</i>, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">De Costa</span>, Rev. B. F., New York City.
The historian of Lake George, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">De Voe</span>, Colonel, <span class="smcap">Thomas F.</span>, New York City.
The historian of the Markets.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Drake, Samuel G.</span>, Boston, Mass.
The historian of the Town of Boston, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Duane</span>, Colonel <span class="smcap">William</span>, Philadelphia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Dunshee, Henry W.</span>, New York City.
The historian of the Dutch School, in N. Y.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Duyckinck, Evert A.</span>, New York City.
Author of <i>Encylo. of Amer. Literature</i>, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ewbank</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Thomas</span>, New York City.
V. P. of The American Ethnological Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Fish</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Hamilton</span>, New York City.
President of the New York Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Francis</span>, LL.D., The late <span class="smcap">John W.</span>, New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Gibbs, George</span>, Washington, D. C.
Author of <i>The Administration of Washington
and Adams</i>.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Gillett</span>, D.D., Rev. E. H., Harlem, N. Y.
The historian of the Presbyterian Church.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Godfrey, John E.</span>, Bangor, Maine.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Greene</span>, Prof. <span class="smcap">George W.</span>, East Greenwich, R. I.
Author of <i>Life of Gen. Nathaniel Greene</i>, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Greenwood, Isaac J.</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Hall</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Hiland</span>, North Bennington, Vermont.
Lately President of Vermont Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Hatfield</span>, D.D., Rev. E. F., New York City.
The historian of Elizabeth-town, N. J., etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Hay</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">William</span>, Saratoga Springs.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Helmick, C. C.</span>, Washington, D. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Hoffman, Francis S.</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Irving, Pierre</span>, Tarrytown, New York.
The biographer of Washington Irving.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Jones</span>, Colonel M. M., Utica, New York.
Assistant Secretary of State of New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Kapp, Friedrich</span>, New York City.
Biographer of Generals Steuben, De Kalb, etc.</p></div>

<div class="bk7"><p><span class="smcap">Kelby, William</span>, New York City.
Of the New York Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Ketchum</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Edgar</span>, Harlem, New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Long Island Historical Society</span>, Brooklyn.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">McCoy, John F.</span>, Brooklyn, New York.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">McKeen</span>, Doctor, Topsham, Maine.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">McKnight, Charles</span>, Poughkeepsie, New York</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Moore, George Henry</span>, LL.D., New York.
Librarian of New York Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Morse, C. H.</span>, Washington, D. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Neill, E. D.</span>, Washington, D. C.
The historian of Minnesota.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">New York, Corporation of the City of.</span></p>

<p><span class="smcap">O'Callaghan</span>, LL.D., E. B., Albany, N. Y.
Historian of New Netherland.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Paine, Nathaniel</span>, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Treasurer of the Amer. Antiquarian Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Perry</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">William Stevens</span>, Litchfield, Conn.
Secretary of House of Lay and Clerical Delegates
of General Convention of P. E. Church.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Preble</span>, Captain <span class="smcap">George Henry</span>, U.S.N.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Rockwell</span>, Professor E. F., Davison's Col., N. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Russell, J.</span>, Washington, D. C.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Sardemann</span>, Rev. J. G., Weser, Germany.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Scott, Lewis A.</span>, Philadelphia.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Scott, M. B.</span>, Cleveland, Ohio.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Shea, LL.D., John Gilmary</span>, Elizabeth, N. J.
Historian of the Catholic Missions.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Sheppard, J. H.</span>, Boston.
Librarian of N. E. Historic Genealog. Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Sigel</span>, General <span class="smcap">Franz</span>, Morrisania, N. Y.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Simms</span>, LL.D., <span class="smcap">William Gilmore</span>, Charleston, S. C.
The historian of South Carolina.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Smith, Buckingham</span>, St. Augustine, Florida.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Stiles</span>, Doctor <span class="smcap">Henry R.</span>, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Author of <i>History of Windsor</i>; <i>History of
Brooklyn</i>; etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Stone</span>, Rev. E. M., Providence.
Secretary of R. I. Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Taylor, Asher</span>, New York City.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Thornton, J. Wingate</span>, Boston.
Author of <i>Ancient Pemaquid</i>, <i>Landing on
Cape Ann</i>, etc.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Tiedeman, H.</span>, Amsterdam, Holland.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Trumbull</span>, Hon. J. <span class="smcap">Hammond</span>, Hartford, Conn.
President of the Connecticut Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Walworth, Mansfield Tracy</span>, Albany.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">White</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">Pliny H.</span>, Coventry, Vermont.
President of Vermont Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Whitmore, William H.</span>, Boston.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Williamson</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">Joseph</span>, Belfast, Maine.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Willis</span>, Hon. <span class="smcap">William</span>, Portland, Maine.
Late President Maine Historical Society.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Wool</span>, Major-general <span class="smcap">John E.</span>, U.S.A.</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Wynne, T. H.</span>, Baltimore.
Editor of <i>The Westover Papers</i>, etc.</p></div></div>
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