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Upham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather + A Reply + +Author: Charles W. Upham + +Release Date: October 20, 2008 [EBook #26978] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SALEM WITCHCRAFT AND COTTON MATHER *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Stephen Blundell +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of +public domain works from the University of Michigan Digital +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<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."—<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—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"—that is, the account +of the Goodwin children—"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."—<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—and, +in that condition of perverted and distempered +public opinion, there would be many such—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—originating in those days, +and still lingering in the lower forms of vulgar +speech—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."—<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—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—p. 366 of the second +volume of my book—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—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—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—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—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 cyclopædia 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—whether with sufficient grounds or not will +be seen, as I proceed—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—and +perhaps it is due to the memory of Baily, +whose name has been thus introduced—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—"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—" 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—on +one occasion, it is said, for three days together—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>—"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—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. +* * * 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. +* * * The printed account was published +with a Preface by Mr. Baxter. * * * +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—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. &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—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—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—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—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>—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>,"—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—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—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—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—Willard, or Allen—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."—<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 & 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—particularly +as, from the beginning, he had passed over the +business of the Court entirely to his Deputy, +Stoughton—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—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—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—municipal, ecclesiastical, judicial, +and provincial—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—namely, +that Mather denounced the <i>admission</i> of spectral +testimony and demanded its <i>exclusion</i>—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—all of them concurring, +at the moment, in the declaration and in its +details—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—not as he +did, against making "too great a progress" in +its use—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—namely, +that they were "hurt" by an "unseen hand"—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."—<i>History</i>, +ii., 54.</p> + +<p>The <i>Advice</i> was skilfully—it is not uncharitable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +to say—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.—<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."—<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.—<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,—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,—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."—<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."—<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—some serious embarrassment, +that led to its sudden adjournment—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."—<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—who had disapproved +of the proceedings of the Special Court—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—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>—the +latter conveying the idea of repeated investigations +with intervals of time—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."—<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."—<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."—<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."—<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—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."—<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—sheltering some from prosecution and returning +others to be proceeded against by the Court, +which would be equivalent to a conviction and +execution—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!"—<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."—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>'"—<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."—<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."—<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."—<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—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—for +that is the issue before us—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—although, as has generally been done, +confounding the Examinations with the Trials—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."—<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."—<i>Wonders</i>, 50.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hale also notices this feature of the Salem +Trials—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—"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"—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:—[but +they are executed and so I leave +them.]"—<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—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"—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—"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—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,—from Brattle's account of their dying +prayers, they did it well—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—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> * * * 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, & 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, & more Humane & 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 Representacôn +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 & 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; & 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—"a famous +Divine or two,"—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—to use +the language employed by Mather, in the <i>Advice +of the Ministers</i> and in one of his letters to Richards—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—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—to +adopt Mather's expression in describing diabolical +horrors, capital trials, and condemnations to +death—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."—<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>—Octavo, Quebec, 1831—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 * * * with all +sorts of objections, and objectors against the * * * +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 * * * unto +the validity of the spectral evidences.</p> + +<p>"Please also to * * * 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—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—to "box it +about"—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—"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."—<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, &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,—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.'"—<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,"—to +adopt the Reviewer's interpretation—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—as the Ministers, +in their <i>Advice</i>, expressed it—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."—<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."—<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."—<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—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—in +many respects, the most effective and formidable +part—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."—<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—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—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"—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."—<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—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."—<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—a Witch-gang,"—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, +&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—putting a proposition and then +linking to it a countervailing one—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—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 & 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—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—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>—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—all of +them members of the Council, and in number +meeting the requirement in the Charter for a +quorum, seven—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." * * * [<i>Many mentioned +as there, among them Mr. Willard.</i>] +"Mr. Allen preached from Jacob's going to Bethel, +* * * 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>]—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—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>—a work, which, with all its defects, +inaccuracies, and absurdities, is sure of occupying +a conspicuous place in our Colonial +literature—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—not, I +think, usual, in the <i>North American Review</i>—speaks +thus—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>—those pretending to urge +caution—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>—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—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."—<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—"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—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—particularly +as the course upon which Phips had determined +was not then known—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—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—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—if, as the Reviewer positively states, +he "denounced" them—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—what +he himself does not venture to +"assert"—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—a knowledge +which they obtain by their holding correspondence +with spectres or evil spirits—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—I mean the ruder and +more ignorant sort—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—not to mention the +Goodwin girls;—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—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—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—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.—<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—"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"—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—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—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—the Devil got just nothing—but God +got praises. Christ got subjects, the Holy +Spirit got temples, the church got addition, +and the souls of men got everlasting benefits."—<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?—<i>ii., 63.</i>—"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"—<i>ii., +56</i>—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—<i>Massachusetts Historical Collections, I., +vi.</i>—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"—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—[<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—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—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—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.—[<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—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—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—"dismal apprehension of the +distresses which a call at Cambridge would +bring" upon him.—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—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—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—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—itself +always a peril, often a life-long misfortune—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—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—his father, to an extent +never equalled by any other Clergyman, before or +since—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—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—<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."—<i>Massachusetts Historical +Collections, I., v., 199.</i>—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.—<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—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—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—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—"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—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.—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—in +fact, to falsify his language—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—that +to which the girl belonged—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—copied in this article—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—an +attempt to discredit him, in consequence of his +having, at some period of his life, been a mechanic +or manufacturer—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>, &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>, &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—<i>Massachusetts +Historical Collections, I., v., 61</i>—where +alone he or I could have seen it.</p> + +<p>Mistakes in names and dates—always provoking, +often inexplicable—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>Encyclopædia +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—<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—that I was treading +the shores of the <i>ultima Thule</i>, of the yet discovered +world of truth—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—and all history is +capable, more or less, of having that attraction—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—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:—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,—his +own Report and papers on file show how little +was required—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—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—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, &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, &c., &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, &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.—<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.—<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.—<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> +<hr /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather, by +Charles W. 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