SALEM WITCHCRAFT AND COTTON MATHER. 

 A REPLY. 

 BY CHARLES W. UPHAM, _Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. _

 MORRISANIA, N. Y. : 1869. 

 TO HENRY B. DAWSON, ESQ. , PROPRIETOR AND EDITOR OF _THE HISTORICAL MAGAZINE_, THIS REPRINT FROM ITS PAGES IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR. 

SALEM, MASS. , December 10, 1869. 

Transcriber's Note:

 Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Superscript text is preceded by the ^ character. 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. 

PREFATORY NOTE. 

The Editors of the _North American Review_ would, under thecircumstances, I have no reason to doubt, have opened its columns to areply to the article that has led to the preparation of the followingstatement. But its length has forbidden my asking such a favor. 

All interested in the department of American literature to which theHISTORICAL MAGAZINE belongs, must appreciate the ability with which itis conducted, and the laborious and indefatigable zeal of its Editor, incollecting and placing on its pages, beyond the reach of oblivion andloss, the scattered and perishing materials necessary to the elucidationof historical and biographical topics, whether relating to particularlocalities or the country at large; and it was as gratifying asunexpected to receive the proffer, without limitation, of the use ofthat publication for this occasion. 

The spirited discussion, by earnest scholars, of special questions, although occasionally assuming the aspect of controversy, will be notonly tolerated but welcomed by liberal minds. Let champions arise, inall sections of the Republic, to defend their respective rightful claimsto share in a common glorious inheritance and to inscribe their severalrecords in our Annals. Feeling the deepest interest in the Historical, Antiquarian, and Genealogical Societies of Massachusetts, and yieldingto none in keen sensibility to all that concerns the ancient honors ofthe Old Bay State and New England, generally, I rejoice to witness thespirit of a commemorative age kindling the public mind, every where, inthe Middle, Western and Southern States. 

The courtesy extended to me is evidence that while, by a jealousscrutiny and, sometimes, perhaps, a sharp conflict, we are reciprocallyimposing checks upon loose exaggerations and overweening pretensions, acomprehensive good feeling predominates over all; truth in its purity isgetting eliminated; and characters and occurrences, in all parts of thecountry, brought under the clear light of justice. 

The aid I have received, in the following discussion, from thepublications and depositories of historical associations and thecontributions of individuals, like Mr. Goodell, Doctor Moore, andothers, engaged in procuring from the mother country and preserving alloriginal tracts and documents, whenever found, belonging to our Colonialperiod, demonstrate the importance of such efforts, whether of Societiesor single persons. In this way, our history will stand on a solidfoundation, and have the lineaments of complete and exact truth. 

Notwithstanding the distance from the place of printing, owing to thefaithful and intelligent oversight of the superintendent of the pressand the vigilant core of the compositors, but few errors, I trust, willbe found, beyond what are merely literal, and every reader willunconsciously, or readily, correct for himself. 

 C. W. U. SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

 _Page. _

 INTRODUCTION. 1

 I. 

 THE CONNECTION OF THE MATHERS WITH THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THEIR TIME. 1

 II. 

 THE GOODWIN CHILDREN. SOME GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE CRITICISMS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 4

 III. 

 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. 6

 IV. 

 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. 12

 V. 

 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. 15

 VI. 

 COTTON MATHER'S CONNECTION WITH THE COURT. SPECTRAL EVIDENCE. LETTER TO JOHN RICHARDS. ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS. 19

 VII. 

 ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS, FURTHER CONSIDERED. COTTON MATHER'S PLAN FOR DEALING WITH SPECTRAL TESTIMONY. 23

 VIII. 

 COTTON MATHER AND SPECTRAL EVIDENCE. 30

 IX. 

 COTTON MATHER AND THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS. JOHN PROCTOR. GEORGE BURROUGHS. 32

 X. 

 COTTON MATHER AND THE WITCHCRAFT TRIALS. THE EXECUTIONS. 38

 XI. 

 LETTER TO STEPHEN SEWALL. "WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD. " ITS ORIGIN AND DESIGN. COTTON MATHER'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIALS. 44

 XII. 

 "WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, " CONTINUED. PASSAGES FROM IT. "CASES OF CONSCIENCE. " INCREASE MATHER. 50

 XIII. 

 THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER BROUGHT TO A SUDDEN END. SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 54

 XIV. 

 COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS. 57

 XV. 

 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. 61

 XVI. 

 HISTORY OF OPINION AS TO COTTON MATHER, CONTINUED. FRANCIS HUTCHINSON. DANIEL NEAL. ISAAC WATTS. THOMAS HUTCHINSON. WILLIAM BENTLEY. JOHN ELIOT. JOSIAH QUINCY. 68

 XVII. 

 THE EFFECT UPON THE POWER OF THE MATHERS, IN THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE, OF THEIR CONNECTION WITH WITCHCRAFT. 70

 XVIII. 

 COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER. 74

 XIX. 

 ROBERT CALEF'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER. 77

 XX. 

 MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. CONCLUSION. 84

SALEM WITCHCRAFT AND COTTON MATHER. 

INTRODUCTION. 

An article in _The North American Review_, for April, 1869, is mostlydevoted to a notice of the work published by me, in 1867, entitled_Salem Witchcraft, with an account of Salem Village, and a history ofopinions on witchcraft and kindred subjects_. If the article hadcontained criticisms, in the usual style, merely affecting the characterof that work, in a literary point of view, no other duty would havedevolved upon me, than carefully to consider and respectfully heed itssuggestions. But it raises questions of an historical nature that seemto demand a response, either acknowledging the correctness of itsstatements or vindicating my own. 

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

The subject to which it relates is of acknowledged interest andimportance. The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692 has justly arrested a widernotice, and probably always will, than any other occurrence in the earlycolonial history of this country. It presents phenomena in the realm ofour spiritual nature, belonging to that higher department of physiology, known as Psychology, of the greatest moment; and illustrates theoperations of the imagination upon the passions and faculties inimmediate connection with it, and the perils to which the soul andsociety are thereby exposed, in a manner more striking, startling andinstructive than is elsewhere to be found. For all reasons, truth andjustice require of those who venture to explore and portray it, theutmost efforts to elucidate its passages and delineate correctly itsactors. 

With these views I hail with satisfaction the criticisms that may beoffered upon my book, without regard to their personal character orbearing, as continuing and heightening the interest felt in the subject;and avail myself of the opportunity, tendered to me without solicitationand in a most liberal spirit, by the proprietor of this Magazine, tomeet the obligations which historical truth and justice impose. 

The principle charge, and it is repeated in innumerable forms throughthe sixty odd pages of the article in the _North American_, is that Ihave misrepresented the part borne by Cotton Mather in the proceedingconnected 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 thecourse of the Boston Ministers of that period, generally. Although thediscussion, to which I now ask attention, may appear, at first view, torelate to questions merely personal, it will be found, I think, to leadto an exploration of the literature and prevalent sentiments, relatingto religious and philosophical subjects, of that period; and, also, ofan instructive passage in the public history of the Province ofMassachusetts Bay. 

I now propose to present the subject more fully than was required, orwould have been appropriate, in my work on Witchcraft. 

I. 

THE CONNECTION OF THE MATHERS WITH THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THEIR TIME. 

In the first place, I venture to say that it can admit of no doubt, thatIncrease Mather and his son, Cotton Mather, did more than any otherpersons to aggravate the tendency of that age to the result reached inthe Witchcraft Delusion of 1692. The latter, in the beginning of theSixth Book of the _Magnalia Christi Americana_, refers to an attemptmade, about the year 1658, "among some divines of no little figurethroughout England and Ireland, for the faithful registering ofremarkable providences. But, alas, " he says, "it came to nothing thatwas remarkable. The like holy design, " he continues, "was, by theReverend Increase Mather, proposed among the divines of New England, inthe year 1681, at a general meeting of them; who thereupon desired himto begin and publish an Essay; which he did in a little while; butthere-withal declared that he did it only as a specimen of a largervolume, in hopes that this work being set on foot, posterity would go onwith it. " Cotton Mather did go on with it, immediately upon his entranceto the ministry; and by their preaching, publications, correspondence athome and abroad, and the influence of their learning, talents, industry, and zeal in the work, these two men promoted the prevalence of a passionfor the marvelous and monstrous, and what was deemed preternatural, infernal, and diabolical, throughout the whole mass of the people, inEngland as well as America. The public mind became infatuated and, drugged with credulity and superstition, was prepared to receive everyimpulse of blind fanaticism. The stories, thus collected and puteverywhere in circulation, were of a nature to terrify the imagination, fill the mind with horrible apprehensions, degrade the generalintelligence and taste, and dethrone the reason. They darken anddishonor the literature of that period. A rehash of them can be found inthe Sixth Book of the _Magnalia_. The effects of such publications werenaturally developed in widespread delusions and universal credulity. They penetrated the whole body of society, and reached all theinhabitants and families of the land, in the towns and remotestsettlements. In this way, the Mathers, particularly the younger, madethemselves responsible for the diseased and bewildered state of thepublic mind, in reference in supernatural and diabolical agencies, whichcame to a head in the Witchcraft Delusion. I do not say that they wereculpable. Undoubtedly they thought they were doing God service. But theinfluence they exercised, in this direction, remains none the less anhistorical fact. 

Increase Mather applied himself, without delay, to the prosecution ofthe design he had proposed, by writing to persons in all parts of thecountry, particularly clergymen, to procure, for publication, as manymarvelous stories as could be raked up. In the eighth volume of theFourth Series of the _Collections of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety_, consisting of _The Mather Papers_, the responses of several ofhis correspondents may be seen. [_Pp. 285, 360, 361, 367, 466, 475, 555, 612. _] He pursued this business with an industrious and pertinaciouszeal, which nothing could slacken. After the rest of the world had beenshocked out of such mischievous nonsense, by the horrid results atSalem, on the fifth of March, 1694, as President of Harvard College, heissued a Circular to "The Reverend Ministers of the Gospel, in theseveral Churches in New England, " signed by himself and seven others, members of the Corporation of that institution, urging it, as thespecial duty of Ministers of the Gospel, to obtain and preserveknowledge of notable occurrences, described under the general head of"_Remarkables_, " and classified as follows:

"The things to be esteemed memorable are, especially, all unusualaccidents, in the heaven, or earth, or water; all wonderful deliverancesof the distressed; mercies to the godly; judgments to the wicked; andmore glorious fulfilments of either the promises or the threatenings, inthe Scriptures of truth; with apparitions, possessions, inchantments, and all extraordinary things wherein the existence and agency of theinvisible world is more sensibly demonstrated. "--_Magnalia ChristiAmericana. _ Edit. London, 1702. Book VI. , p. 1. 

All communications, in answer to this missive were to be addressed tothe "President and Fellows" of Harvard College. 

The first article is as follows: "To observe and record the moreillustrious discoveries of the Divine Providence, in the government ofthe world, is a design so holy, so useful, so justly approved, that thetoo general neglect of it in the Churches of God, is as justly to belamented. " It is important to consider this language in connection withthat used by Cotton Mather, in opening the Sixth Book of the _Magnalia_:"To regard the illustrious displays of that Providence, wherewith ourLord Christ governs the world, is a work than which there is none moreneedful or useful for a Christian; to record them is a work than whichnone more proper for a Minister; and perhaps the great Governor of theworld will ordinarily do the most notable things for those who are mostready to take a wise notice of what he does. Unaccountable, therefore, and inexcusable, is the sleepiness, even upon the most of good menthroughout the world, which indisposes them to observe and, much more, to preserve, the remarkable dispensations of Divine Providence, towardsthemselves or others. Nevertheless there have been raised up, now andthen, those persons, who have rendered themselves worthy of everlastingremembrance, by their wakeful zeal to have the memorable providences ofGod remembered through all generations. "

These passages from the Mathers, father and son, embrace, in theirbearings, a period, eleven years before and two years after the Delusionof 1692. They show that the Clergy, generally, were indifferent to thesubject, 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 givingcurrency, by means of their ministry and influence, to such ideas, waspeculiar and pre-eminent. However innocent and excusable their motivesmay have been, the laws of cause and effect remained unbroken; and theresult of their actions are, with truth and justice, attributable tothem--not necessarily, I repeat, to impeach their honesty and integrity, but their wisdom, taste, judgment, and common sense. Humanresponsibility is not to be set aside, nor avoided, merely and wholly bygood intent. It involves a solemn and fearful obligation to the use ofreason, caution, cool deliberation, circumspection, and a most carefulcalculation of consequences. Error, if innocent and honest, is notpunishable by divine, and ought not to be by human, law. It is coveredby 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 guardedagainst, with the utmost vigilance. Throughout the melancholy annals ofthe Church and the world, it has been the fountain of innumerable woes, spreading baleful influences through society, paralysing the energies ofreason and conscience, dimming, all but extinguishing, the light ofreligion, convulsing nations, and desolating the earth. It is the dutyof historians to trace it to its source; and, by depicting faithfullythe causes that have led to it, prevent its recurrence. With theseviews, I feel bound, distinctly, to state that the impression given tothe popular sentiments of the period, to which I am referring, bycertain leading minds, led to, was the efficient cause of, and, in thissense, may be said to have originated, the awful superstitions longprevalent in the old world and the new, and reaching a final catastrophein 1692; and among these leading minds, aggravating and intensifying, bytheir writings, this most baleful form of the superstition of the age, Increase and Cotton Mather stand most conspicuous. 

This opinion was entertained, at the time, by impartial observers. Francis Hutchinson, D. D. , "Chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty, andMinister of St. James's Parish, in St. Edmund's Bury, " in the life-timeof both the Mathers, published, in London, an _Historical Essayconcerning Witchcraft_, dedicated to the "Lord Chief-justice of England, the Lord Chief-justice of Common Pleas, and the Lord Chief Baron ofExchequer. " In a Chapter on _The Witchcraft in Salem, Boston, andAndover, in New England_, he attributes it, as will be seen in thecourse of this article, to the influence of the writings of the Mathers. 

In the Preface to the London edition of Cotton Mather's _MemorableProvidences_, written by Richard Baxter, in 1690, he ascribes this sameprominence to the works of the Mathers. While expressing the great valuehe attached to writings about Witchcraft, and the importance, in hisview, of that department of literature which relates stories aboutdiabolical agency, possessions, apparitions, and the like, he says, "Mr. Increase Mather hath already published many such histories of thingsdone in New England; and this great instance published by his son"--thatis, the account of the Goodwin children--"cometh with such fullconvincing evidence, that he must be a very obdurate Sadducee that willnot believe it. And his two Sermons, adjoined, are excellently fitted tothe subject and this blinded generation, and to the use of us all, thatare not past our warfare with Devils. " One of the Sermons, which Baxtercommends, is on _The Power and Malice of Devils_, and opens with thedeclaration, that "there is a combination of Devils, which our air isfilled withal:" the other is on _Witchcraft_. Both are replete with themost exciting and vehement enforcements of the superstitions of thatage, relating to the Devil and his confederates. 

My first position, then, in contravention of that taken by the Reviewerin the _North American_, is that, by stimulating the Clergy over thewhole country, to collect and circulate all sorts of marvelous andsupposed preternatural occurrences, by giving this direction to thepreaching and literature of the times, these two active, zealous, learned, and able Divines, Increase and Cotton Mather, considering theinfluence they naturally were able to exercise, are, particularly thelatter, justly chargeable with, and may be said to have brought about, the extraordinary outbreaks of credulous fanaticism, exhibited in thecases of the Goodwin family and of "the afflicted children, " at SalemVillage. Robert Calef, writing to the Ministers of the country, March18, 1694, says: "I having had, not only occasion, but renewedprovocation, to take a view of the mysterious doctrines, which have oflate been so much contested among us, could not meet with any that hadspoken more, or more plainly, the sense of those doctrines" [_relatingto the Witchcraft_] "than the Reverend Mr. Cotton Mather, but howclearly and consistent, either with himself or the truth, I meddle notnow to say, but cannot but suppose his strenuous and zealous assertinghis opinions has been one cause of the dismal convulsions, we have herelately fallen into. "--_More Wonders of the Invisible World_, by RobertCalef, Merchant of Boston, in New England. Edit. London, 1700, p. 33. 

The papers that remain, connected with the Witchcraft Examinations andTrials, at Salem, show the extent to which currency had been given, inthe popular mind, to such marvelous and prodigious things as the Mathershad been so long endeavoring to collect and circulate; particularly inthe interior, rural settlements. The solemn solitudes of the woods werefilled with ghosts, hobgoblins, spectres, evil spirits, and theinfernal Prince of them all. Every pathway was infested with theirflitting shapes and footprints; and around every hearth-stone, shuddering circles, drawing closer together as the darkness of nightthickened and their imaginations became more awed and frightened, listened to tales of diabolical operations: the same effects, insomewhat different forms, pervaded the seaboard settlements and largertowns. 

Besides such frightful fancies, other most unhappy influences flowedfrom the prevalence of the style of literature which the Mathers broughtinto vogue. Suspicions and accusations of witchcraft were everywhereprevalent; any unusual calamity or misadventure; every instance of realor affected singularity of deportment or behavior--and, in thatcondition of perverted and distempered public opinion, there would bemany such--was attributed to the Devil. Every sufferer who had yieldedhis mind to what was taught in pulpits or publications, lost sight ofthe Divine Hand, and could see nothing but devils in his afflictions. Poor John Goodwin, whose trials we are presently to consider, while hischildren were acting, as the phrase--originating in those days, andstill lingering in the lower forms of vulgar speech--has it, "like allpossessed, " broke forth thus: "I thought of what David said. _2 Samuel_, xxiv. , 14. If he feared so to fall into the hands of men, oh! then tothink of the horrors of our condition, to be in the hands of Devils andWitches. Thus, our doleful condition moved us to call to our friends tohave pity on us, for God's hand hath touched us. I was ready to say thatno one's affliction was like mine. That my little house, that should bea 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 todwell in, should be thus harrassed and abused by the Devil and hiscursed brood. "--_Late Memorable Providences, relating to Witchcraft andPossessions. _ By Cotton Mather. Edit. London, 1691. 

No wonder that the country was full of the terrors and horrors ofdiabolical imaginations, when the Devil was kept before the minds ofmen, by what they constantly read and heard, from their religiousteachers! In the Sermons of that day, he was the all-absorbing topic oflearning and eloquence. In some of Cotton Mather's, the name, Devil, orits synonyms, is mentioned ten times as often as that of the benign andblessed God. 

No wonder that alleged witchcrafts were numerous! Drake, in his _Historyof Boston_, says there were many cases there, about the year 1688. Onlyone of them seems to have attracted the kind of notice requisite topreserve it from oblivion--that of the four children of John Goodwin, the eldest, thirteen years of age. The relation of this case, in mybook [_Salem Witchcraft_, i. , 454-460] was wholly drawn from the_Memorable Providences_ and the _Magnalia_. 

II. 

THE GOODWIN CHILDREN. SOME GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE CRITICISMS OF THENORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

The Reviewer charges me with having wronged Cotton Mather, byrepresenting that he "got up" the whole affair of the Goodwin children. He places the expression within quotation marks, and repeats it, overand over again. In the passage to which he refers--p. 366 of the secondvolume of my book--I say of Cotton Mather, that he "repeatedlyendeavored to get up cases of the kind in Boston. There is some groundfor suspicion that he was instrumental in originating the fanaticism inSalem. " I am not aware that the expression was used, except in thispassage. But, wherever used, it was designed to convey the meaning givento it, by both of our great lexicographers. Worcester defines "_to getup_, 'to prepare, to make ready--to get up an entertainment;' 'to printand publish, as a book. '" Webster defines it, "to prepare for comingbefore 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 hisdoing in the case of Margaret Rule. 

In 1831, I published a volume entitled _Lectures on Witchcraft, comprising a history of the Delusion, in Salem, in 1692_. In 1867, Ipublished _Salem Witchcraft, and an account of Salem Village_; and, inthe Preface, stated that "the former was prepared under circumstanceswhich prevented a thorough investigation of the subject. Leisure andfreedom from professional duties have now enabled me to prosecute theresearches necessary to do justice to it. The _Lectures on Witchcraft_have long been out of print. Although frequently importuned to prepare anew edition, I was unwilling to issue, again, what I had discovered tobe an inadequate presentation of the subject. " In the face of thisdisclaimer of the authority of the original work, the Reviewer says: "Inthis discussion, we shall treat Mr. Upham's _Lectures_ and History inthe same connection, as the latter is an expansion and defence of theviews presented in the former. "

I ask every person of candor and fairness, to consider whether it isjust to treat authors in this way? It is but poor encouragement to themto labor to improve their works, for the first critical journal in thecountry to bring discredit upon their efforts, by still laying to theircharge what they have themselves remedied or withdrawn. Yet it isavowedly done in the article which compels me to this vindication. 

The _Lectures_, for instance, printed in 1831, contained the followingsentence, referring to Cotton Mather's agency, in the Goodwin case, inBoston. "An instance of witchcraft was brought about, in that place, byhis management. " So it appeared in a reprint of that volume, in 1832. Inmy recent publication, while transferring a long paragraph from theoriginal work, _I carefully omitted_, from the body of it, the abovesentence, fearing that it might lead to misapprehension. For, although Ihold that the Mathers are pre-eminently answerable for the witchcraftproceedings 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, theystarted every occurrence that ultimately was made to assume such acharacter. The Reviewer, with the fact well known to him, that I hadsuppressed and discarded this clause, flings it against me, repeatedly. He further quotes a portion of the paragraph, in the _Lectures_, inwhich it occurs, omitting, _without indicating the omission_, certainclauses that would have explained my meaning, _taking care, however, toinclude the suppressed passage_; and finishes the misrepresentation, bythe following declaration, referring to the paragraph in the _Lectures_:"The same statements, in almost the same words, he reproduces in hisHistory. " This he says, knowing that the particular statement to whichhe was then taking exception, was not reproduced in my History. 

It may be as well here, at this point, as elsewhere, once for all, todispose of a large portion of the matter contained in the long articlein the _North American Review_, now under consideration. In preparingany work, particularly in the department of history, it is to bepresumed that the explorations of the writer extend far beyond what hemay conclude to put into his book. He will find much that is of noaccount whatever; that would load down his narrative, swell it toinadmissible dimensions, and shed no additional light. Collateral andincidental questions cannot be pursued in details. A new law, however, is now given out, that must be followed, hereafter, by all writers--thatis, to give not a catalogue merely, but an account of the contents, ofevery book and tract they have read. It is thus announced by ourReviewer: "We assume Mr. Upham has not seen this tract, as he neithermentioned it nor made use of its material. "

The document here spoken of was designed to give Increase Mather's ideason the subject of witchcraft trials, written near the close of those inSalem, in 1692. As I had no peculiar interest in determining what hisviews were--as a careful study of the tract, particularly taken inconnection with its _Postscript_, fails to bring any reader to a clearconception of them; and as its whole matter was altogether immaterial tomy subject--I did not think it worth while to encumber my pages with it. So in respect to many other points, in treating which extendeddiscussions might be demanded. If I had been governed by such notions asthe Reviewer seems to entertain, my book, which he complains of as toolong, would have been lengthened to the dimensions of a cyclopędia oftheology, biography, and philosophy. For keeping to my subject, and notdiverting attention to writings of no inherent value, in any point ofview, and which would contribute nothing to the elucidation of mytopics, I am charged by this Reviewer, in the baldest terms, withignorance, on almost every one of his sixty odd pages, and, often, several times on the same page. 

All that I say of Cotton Mather, mostly drawn from his own words, doesnot cover a dozen pages. Exception is taken to some unfavorablejudgments, cursorily expressed. This is fair and legitimate, and wouldjustify my being called on to substantiate them. But to assume, andproclaim, that I had not read nor seen tracts or volumes that would comeunder consideration in such a discussion, is as rash as it is offensive;and, besides, constitutes a charge against which no person of any selfrespect or common sense can be expected to defend himself. I gave theopinion of Cotton Mather's agency in the Witchcraft of 1692, to which myjudgment had been led--whether with sufficient grounds or not will beseen, as I proceed--but did not branch off from my proper subject, intoa detail of the sources from which that opinion was derived. If I haddone so, in connection with allusions to Mather, upon the same principleit would have been necessary to do it, whenever an opinion was expressedof others, such as Roger Williams, or Hugh Peters, or Richard Baxter. Itwould destroy the interest, and stretch interminably the dimensions, ofany book, to break its narrative, abandon its proper subject, and strayaside into such endless collateral matter. But it must be done, if thearticle in the _North American Review_, is to be regarded as anauthoritative announcement of a canon of criticism. Lecturers and publicspeakers, or writers of any kind, must be on their guard. If they shouldchance, for instance, to speak of Cotton Mather as a pedant, they willhave the reviewers after them, belaboring them with the charge of "agreat lack of research, " in not having "pored over" the "prodigious"manuscript of his unpublished work, in the Library of the MassachusettsHistorical Society, the whole of his three hundred and eighty-twoprinted works, and the huge mass of _Mather Papers_, in the Library ofthe American Antiquarian Society; and with never having "read" the_Memorable Providences_, or "seen" the _Wonders of the Invisible World_, or "heard" of the _Magnalia Christi Americana_. 

III. 

COTTON MATHER AND THE GOODWIN CHILDREN. JOHN BAILY. JOHN HALE. GOODWIN'SCERTIFICATES. MATHER'S IDEA OF WITCHCRAFT AS A WAR WITH THE DEVIL. HISUSE OF PRAYER. CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CASE OF THE GOODWIN CHILDREN ANDSALEM WITCHCRAFT. 

The Reviewer complains of my manner of treating Cotton Mather'sconnection with the affair of the Goodwin children. The facts in thecase are, that the family, to which they belonged, lived in the Southpart of Boston. The father, a mason by occupation, was, as Matherinforms us, "a sober and pious man. " As his church relations were withthe 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 seemsthat after one of his children had, for "about a quarter of a year, beenlaboring under sad circumstances from the invisible world, " he calledupon "the four Ministers of Boston, together with his own Pastor, tokeep 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 morningof the day, before the other Ministers came; spent a half hour there;and prayed with the family. About three months after, the Ministers heldanother prayer-meeting there, Mr. Mather being present. He furtherstated that Mr. Mather never, in any way, suggested his prosecuting theold Irish woman for bewitching his children, nor gave him any advice inreference to the legal proceedings against her; but that "the motion ofgoing to the authority was made to him by a Minister of a neighboringtown, now departed. "

The Reviewer, in a note to the last item, given above, of Goodwin'sstatement, says: "Probably Mr. John Baily. " Unless he has someparticular evidence, tending to fix this advice upon Baily, theconjecture is objectionable. The name of such a man as Baily appears tohave been, ought not, unnecessarily, to be connected with thetransaction. It is true that, after the family had become relieved ofits "sad circumstances from the invisible world, " Mr. Baily took one ofthe children to his house, in Watertown; but that is no indication ofhis having given such advice. The only facts known of him, in connectionwith Witchcraft prosecutions, look in the opposite direction. When JohnProctor, in his extremity of danger, sought for help, Mr. Baily was oneof the Ministers from whom alone he had any ground to indulge a hope forsympathy; and his name is among the fourteen who signed the paperapproving of Increase Mather's _Cases of Conscience_. The list comprisesall the Ministers known as having shown any friendly feelings towardspersons charged with Witchcraft or who had suffered from theprosecutions, such as Hubbard, Allen, Willard, Capen and Wise; but notone who had taken an active part in hurrying on the proceedings of 1692. 

If any surmise is justifiable, or worth while, as to the author of theadvice to Goodwin--and perhaps it is due to the memory of Baily, whosename has been thus introduced--I should be inclined to suggest that itwas John Hale, of Beverly, who, like Baily, was deceased at the date ofGoodwin's certificate. He was a Charlestown man, originally of the samereligious Society with Goodwin, and had kept up acquaintance with hisformer townsmen. His course at Salem Village, a few years afterwards, shows that he would have been likely to give such advice; and we mayimpute it to him without any wrong to his character or reputation. Hisnoble conduct in daring, in the very hour of the extremest fury of thestorm, 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 torepair that wrong, by writing a book condemning the very things in whichhe had himself been a chief actor, gives to his name a glory that cannotbe dimmed by supposing that, in the period of his former delusion, hewas the unfortunate adviser of Goodwin. 

When Calef's book reached this country, in 1700, a Committee of sevenwas raised, at a meeting of the members of the Parish of which theMathers were Ministers, to protect them against its effects. JohnGoodwin was a member of it, and contributed the Certificate from whichextracts have just been made. It was so worded as to give the impressionthat Cotton Mather did not take a leading part in the case of Goodwin'schildren, in 1688. It states, as has been seen, that he "was the last ofthe Ministers" asked to attend the prayer-meeting; but lets out the factthat he was the first to present himself, going to the house and prayingwith the family before the rest arrived. Goodwin further states, asfollows: "The Ministers would, now and then, come to visit my distressedfamily, and pray with and for them, among which Mr. Cotton Mather would, now and then, come. " The whole document is so framed as to presentMather as playing a secondary part. 

In an account, however, of the affair, written by this same JohnGoodwin, and printed by Mather, in London, ten years before, in _TheMemorable Providences relating to Witchcraft and Possessions_, asomewhat different position is assigned to Mather. After saying "theMinisters did often visit us, " he mentions "Mr. Mather particularly. ""He took much pains in this great service, to pull this child and herbrother and sister, out of the hands of the Devil. Let us now admire andadore that fountain, the Lord Jesus Christ, from whence those streamscome. The Lord himself will requite his labor of love. " In 1690, Matherwas 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: andGoodwin, accordingly, provided the Committee, of which he was a member, with a Certificate of a somewhat different color and tenor. 

The execution of the woman, Glover, on the charge of having bewitchedthese Goodwin children, is one of the most atrocious passages of ourhistory. Hutchinson[1] 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 tomake of the proceedings against her. In her dying hour, she wasunderstood by the interpreter to say, that taking away her life wouldnot have any effect in diminishing the sufferings of the children. Theremark, showing more sense than any of the rest of them had, was made tobear against the poor old creature, as a diabolical imprecation. 

Between the time of her condemnation and that of her execution, CottonMather took the eldest Goodwin child into his family, and kept her thereall winter. He has told the story of her extraordinary doings, in astyle of blind and absurd credulity that cannot be surpassed. "Erelong, " says he, "I thought it convenient for me to entertain mycongregation with a Sermon on the memorable providence, wherein thesechildren had been concerned, (afterwards published). "

In this connection, it may be remarked that had it not been for theinterference of the Ministers, it is quite likely that "the sadcircumstances from the invisible world, " in the Goodwin family, wouldnever have been heard of, beyond the immediate neighbourhood. It isquite certain that similar "circumstances, " in Mr. Parris's family, in1692, owed their general publicity and their awful consequences, to themeetings of Ministers called by him. If the girls, in either case, hadbeen let alone, they would soon have been weary of what one of themcalled their "sport;" and the whole thing would have been swallowed, with countless stories of haunted houses and second sight, in deepoblivion. 

In considering Cotton Mather's connection with the case of the Goodwinchildren, and that of the accusing girls, at Salem Village, justice tohim requires that the statements, in my book, of the then prevalentnotions, of the power and pending formidableness of the Kingdom ofDarkness, should be borne in mind. It was believed by Divines generally, and by people at large, that here, in the American wilderness, a mightyonslaught upon the Christian settlements was soon to be made, by theDevil and his infernal hosts; and that, on this spot, the final battlebetween Satan and the Church, was shortly to come off. This belief hadtaken full possession of Mather's mind, and fired his imagination. Incomparison with the approaching contest, all other wars, even that forthe recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, paled their light. It was the greatcrusade, in which hostile powers, Moslem, Papal, and Pagan, of everykind, on earth and from Hell, were to go down; and he aspired to be itsSt. Bernard. It was because he entertained these ideas, that he was onthe watch to hear, and prompt and glad to meet, the first advances ofthe diabolical legions. This explains his eagerness to take hold ofevery occurrence that indicated the coming of the Arch Enemy. 

And it must further be borne in mind that, up to the time of the case ofthe Goodwin children, he had entertained the idea that the Devil was tobe met and subdued by Prayer. That, and that only, was the weapon withwhich 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 thisreason, he labored in the distressed household in exercises of prayer, and took the eldest child into his own family, so as to bring thebattery of prayer, with a continuous bombardment, upon the Devil by whomshe was possessed. For this reason, he persisted in praying in the cellof the old Irish woman, much against her will, for she was a stubbornCatholic. Of course, he could not pray _with_ her, for he had no doubtshe was a confederate of the Devil; and she had no disposition to joinin 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 thematter, afterward. 

Cotton Mather was always a man of prayer. For this, he deserves to behonored. Prayer, when offered in the spirit, and in accordance with theexample, of the Saviour--"not my will but thine be done, " "Your Fatherknoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him--" is the noblestexercise and attitude of the soul. It lifts it to the highest level towhich our faculties can rise. It

 "opens heaven; lets down a stream Of glory on the consecrated hour Of man, in audience with the Deity. "

It was the misfortune of Cotton Mather, that an original infirmity ofjudgment, which all the influences of his life and peculiarities of hismental character and habits tended to exaggerate, led him to pervert theuse and operation of prayer, until it became a mere implement, ordevice, to compass some personal end; to carry a point in which he wasinterested, whether relating to private and domestic affairs, or tomovements in academical, political, or ecclesiastical spheres. Whileaccording to him entire sincerity in his devotional exercises, and, Itrust, truly revering the character and nature of such expressions ofdevout sensibility and aspirations to divine communion, it is quiteapparent that they were practiced by him, in modes and to an extent thatcannot be commended, leading to much self-delusion and to extravagancesnear akin to distraction of judgment, and a disordered mental and moralframe. He would abstain from food--on one occasion, it is said, forthree days together--and spend the time, as he expresses it "in knockingat 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 suchfasting, sometimes two. In his vigils, very protracted, he would, inthis prostrate position, be bathed in tears. By such exhaustingprocesses, continued through days and nights, without food or rest, hisnature failed; he grew faint; physical weakness laid him open todelusions of the imagination; and his nervous system became deranged. Sometimes, heaven seemed to approach him, and he was hardly able to bearthe ecstasies of divine love; at other times, his soul would be tossedin the opposite direction: and often, the two states would follow eachother in the same exercise, as described by him in his Diary:[2]--"Wasever man more tempted than the miserable Mather? Should I tell in howmany forms the Devil has assaulted me, and with what subtlety and energyhis assaults have been carried on, it would strike my friends withhorror. Sometimes, temptations to vice, to blasphemy, and atheism, andthe abandonment of all religion as a mere delusion, and sometimes toself-destruction itself. These, even these, do follow thee, O miserableMather, with astonishing fury. But I fall down into the dust, on mystudy floor, with tears, before the Lord, and then they quickly vanish, and it is fair weather again. Lord what wilt thou do with me?"

His prayers and vigils, which often led to such high wrought and intenseexperiences, were, not infrequently, brought down to the level ofordinary sublunary affairs. In his Diary, he says, on one occasion: "Iset apart the day for fasting with prayer, and the special intention ofthe day was to obtain deliverance and protection from my enemies. Imentioned their names unto the Lord, who has promised to be my shield. "The enemies, here referred to, were political opponents--Governor Dudleyand the supporters of his administration. 

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 toprayer: "I could not forbear mentioning my wishes in my prayers, beforethe Lord, that, in case it might be of service to his interests, hewould enable me, in his good Providence, to purchase the treasure nowbefore me. But I left the matter before him, with the profoundestresignation. "

The following entry is of a similar character: "This evening, I met withan experience, which it may not be unprofitable for me to remember. Ihad been, for about a fortnight, vexed with an extraordinary heart-burn;and none of all the common medicines would remove it, though for thepresent some of them would a little relieve it. At last, it grew so muchupon me, that I was ready to faint under it. But, under my faintingpain, this reflection came into my mind. There was _this_ among thesufferings and complaints of my Lord Jesus Christ. My heart was like waxmelted 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 bedelivered from the other and lesser heart-burn wherewith I was nowincommoded. Immediately it was darted into my mind, that I had SirPhilip Paris's plaster in my house, which was good for inflammations;and laying the plaster on, I was cured of my malady. "

These passages indicate a use of prayer, which, to the extent Mathercarried it, would hardly be practised or approved by enlightenedChristians of this or any age; although our Reviewer fully endorses it. In reference to Mather's belief in the power of prayer, he expresseshimself with a bald simplicity, never equalled even by that Divine. After stating that the Almighty Sovereign was his Father, and hadpromised to hear and answer his petitions, he goes on to say: "He hadoften tested this promise, and had found it faithful and sure. " Onewould think, in hearing such a phraseology, he was listening to anagent, vending a patent medicine as an infallible cure, or trying tobring into use a labor-saving machine. 

The Reviewer calls me to account for representing "the Goodwin affair"as having had "a very important relation to the Salem troubles, " andattempts to controvert that position. 

On this point, Francis Hutchinson, before referred to, gives his views, very decidedly, in the following passages: [_Pp. 95, 96, 101. _] "Mr. Cotton Mather, no longer since than 1690, published the case of oneGoodwin's children. * * * The book was sent hither to be printed amongstus, and Mr. Baxter recommended it to our people by a Preface, wherein hesays: 'That man must be a very obdurate Sadducee that will not believeit. ' The year after, Mr. Baxter, perhaps encouraged by Mr. Mather'sbook, published his own _Certainty of the World of Spirits_, withanother testimony, 'That Mr. Mather's book would Silence any incredulitythat pretended to be rational. ' And Mr. Mather dispersed Mr. Baxter'sbook in New England, with the character of it, as a book that wasungainsayable. "

Speaking of Mather's book, Doctor Hutchinson proceeds: "The judgment Imade of it was, that the poor old woman, being an Irish Papist, and notready in the signification of English words, had entangled herself by asuperstitious belief, and doubtful answers about Saints and Charms; andseeing what advantages Mr. Mather made of it, I was afraid I saw part ofthe reasons that carried the cause against her. And first it is manifestthat Mr. Mather is magnified as having great power over evil spirits. Ayoung man in his family is represented so holy, that the place of hisdevotions was a certain cure of the young virgin's fits. Then hisgrandfather's and father's books have gained a testimony, that, uponoccasion, may be _improved_ one knows not how far. For amongst the manyexperiments that were made, Mr. Mather would bring to this young maid, the Bible, the _Assembly's Catechism_, his grandfather Cotton's _Milkfor Babes_, his father's _Remarkable Providences_, and a book to provethat there were Witches; and when any of these were offered for her toread in, she would be struck dead, and fall into convulsions. 'Thesegood books, ' he says, 'were mortal to her'; and lest the world should beso dull as not to take him right, he adds, 'I hope I have not spoiledthe credit of the books, by telling how much the Devil hated them. '"

This language, published by Doctor Hutchinson, in England, during thelife-time of the Mathers, shows how strong was the opinion, at thattime, that the writings of those two Divines were designed and used topromote the prevalence of the Witchcraft superstition, and especiallythat such was the effect, as well as the purpose, of Cotton Mather'spublication of the case of the Goodwin children, put into suchcirculation, as it was, by him and Baxter, in both Old and New England. In the same connection, Francis Hutchinson says: "Observe the time ofthe publication of that book, and of Mr. Baxter's. Mr. Mather's came outin 1690, and Mr. Baxter's the year after; and Mr. Mather's father's_Remarkable Providences_ had been out before that; and, in the year1692, the frights and fits of the afflicted, and the imprisonment andexecution of Witches in New England, made as sad a calamity as a plagueor a war. I know that Mr. Mather, in his late Folio, imputes it to theIndian Pawaws sending their spirits amongst them; but I attribute it toMr. Baxter's book, and his, and his father's, and the false principles, and frightful stories, that filled the people's minds with great fearsand dangerous notions. "

Our own Hutchinson, in his _History of Massachusetts_, [_II. , 25-27_]alludes to the excitement of the public mind, occasioned by the case ofthe Goodwin children. "I have often, " he says, "heard persons who wereof the neighborhood, speak of the great consternation it occasioned. "

In citing this author, in the present discussion, certain facts arealways to be borne in mind. One of his sisters was the wife of CottonMather's son, towards whom Hutchinson cherished sentiments appropriateto such a near connection, and of which Samuel Mather was, there is noreason to doubt, worthy. In the Preface to his first volume he speaksthus: "I am obliged to no other person more than to my friend andbrother, the Reverend Mr. Mather, whose library has been open to me, asit had been before to the Reverend Mr. Prince, who has taken from thencethe greatest and most valuable part of what he had collected. "

Moreover, this very library was, it can hardly be questioned, that ofCotton Mather; of which, in his Diary, he speaks as "very great. " In aninteresting article, to which I may refer again, in the _Collections ofthe Massachusetts Historical Society_, [_IV. , ii. , 128_], we are toldthat, in the inventory of the estate of Cotton Mather, filed by hisAdministrator, "not a single book is mentioned among the assets of thiseccentric scholar. " He had, it is to be presumed, given them all, in hislife-time, to his son, who succeeded to his ministry in the NorthChurch, in 1732. 

When the delicacy of his relation to the Mather family and the benefithe was deriving from that library are considered, the avoidance, byHutchinson, of any unpleasant reference to Cotton Mather, by name, ishonorable to his feelings. But he maintained, nevertheless, a faithfulallegiance to the truth of history, as the following, as well as manyother passages, in his invaluable work, strikingly show. They prove thathe regarded Mather's "printed account" of the case of the Goodwinchildren, as having a very important relation to the immediatelysubsequent delusion in Salem. "The eldest was taken, " he says, "into aMinister's family, where at first she behaved orderly, but after sometime suddenly fell into her fits. " "The account of her sufferings is inprint; some things are mentioned as extraordinary, which tumblers areevery day taught to perform; others seem more than natural; but it was atime of great credulity. * * * The printed account was published with aPreface by Mr. Baxter. * * * It obtained credit sufficient, togetherwith other preparatives, to dispose the whole country to be easilyimposed upon, by the more extensive and more tragical scene, which waspresently after acted at Salem and other parts of the county of Essex. "After mentioning several works published in England, containing"_witch-stories_, " witch-trials, etc. , he proceeds: "All these bookswere in New England, and the conformity between the behavior ofGoodwin's children, and most of the supposed be-witched at Salem, andthe behavior of those in England, is so exact, as to leave no room todoubt the stories had been read by the New England persons themselves, or had been told to them by others who had read them. Indeed thisconformity, instead of giving suspicion, was urged in confirmation ofthe truth of both. The Old England demons and the New being so muchalike. "

It thus appears that the opinion was entertained, in England and thiscountry, that the notoriety given to the case of the Goodwin children, especially by Mather's printed account of it, had an efficient influencein bringing on the "tragical scene, " shortly afterwards exhibited atSalem. This opinion is shown to have been correct, by the extraordinarysimilarity between them--the one being patterned after the other. TheSalem case, in 1692, was, in fact, a substantial repetition of theBoston case, in 1688. On this point, we have the evidence of CottonMather himself. 

The Rev. John Hale of Beverly, who was as well qualified as any one tocompare them, having lived in Charlestown, which place had been theresidence of the Goodwin family, and been an active participator in theprosecutions at Salem, in his book, entitled, _A modest Enquiry intothe nature of Witchcraft_, written in 1697, but not printed until 1702, after mentioning the fact that Cotton Mather had published an account ofthe conduct of the Goodwin children, and briefly describing themanifestations and actions of the Salem girls, says: [_p. 24_] "I willnot enlarge in the description of their cruel sufferings, because theywere, in all things, afflicted as bad as John Goodwin's children atBoston, in the year 1689, as he, that will read Mr. Mather's book on_Remarkable Providences_, p. 3. &c. , may read part of what thesechildren, and afterwards sundry grown persons, suffered by the hand ofSatan, at Salem Village, and parts adjacent, _Anno 1691-2_, yet therewas more in their sufferings than in those at Boston, by pins invisiblystuck into their flesh, pricking with irons (as, in part, published in abook printed 1693, viz: _The Wonders of the Invisible World_). " This isproof 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 passthrough the press until two years after his death; and we thus accountfor the error as to the date of the Goodwin affair. 

In making up his _Magnalia_, Mather had the use of Hale's manuscript andtransferred from it nearly all that he says, in that work, about SalemWitchcraft. He copies the passage above quoted. The fact, therefore, issufficiently attested by Mather as well as Hale, that, with theexceptions stated, there was, "in all things, " an entire similaritybetween the cases of 1688 and 1692. 

Nay, further, in this same way we have the evidence of Cotton Matherhimself, that his "printed account, " of the case of the Goodwinchildren, was actually used, as an authority, by the Court, in thetrials at Salem--so that it is clear that the said "account, "contributed not only, by its circulation among the people, to bring onthe prosecutions of 1692, but to carry them through to their fatalresults--Mr. Hale says: [_p. 27_] "that the Justices, Judges and othersconcerned, " consulted the precedents of former times, and precepts laiddown by learned writers about Witchcraft. He goes on to enumerate them, mentioning Keeble, Sir Matthew Hale, Glanvil, Bernard, Baxter andBurton, concluding the list with "Cotton Mather's _MemorableProvidences, relating to Witchcraft_, printed, anno 1689. " Mathertranscribes this also into the _Magnalia_. _The Memorable Providences_is referred to by Hale, in another place, as containing the case of theGoodwin children, consisting, in fact mainly of it. [_p. 23_]. Mather, having Hale's book before him, must, therefore be considered asendorsing the opinion for which the Reviewer calls me to account, namely, that "the Goodwin affair had a very important relation to theSalem troubles. " What is sustained touching this point, by both theHutchinsons, Hale, and Cotton Mather himself, cannot be disturbed in itsposition, as a truth of History. 

The reader will, I trust, excuse me for going into such minute processesof investigation and reasoning, in such comparatively unimportantpoints. But, as the long-received opinions, in reference to this chapterof our history, have been brought into question in the columns of ajournal, justly commanding the public confidence, it is necessary tore-examine the grounds on which they rest. This I propose to do, withoutregard to labor or space. I shall not rely upon general considerations, but endeavor, in the course of this discussion, to sift every topic onwhich the Reviewer has struck at the truth of history, fairly andthoroughly. On this particular point, of the relation of these twoinstances of alleged Witchcraft, in localities so near as Boston andSalem, and with so short an interval of time, general considerationswould ordinarily be regarded as sufficient. From the nature of things, the former must have served to bring about the latter. Theintercommunication between the places was, even then, so constant, thatno important event could happen in one without being known in the other. By the thousand channels of conversation and rumor, and by Mather'sprinted account, endorsed by Baxter, and put into circulation throughoutthe country, the details of the alleged sufferings and extraordinarydoings of the Goodwin children, must have become well known, in SalemVillage. Such a conclusion would be formed, if no particular evidence insupport of it could be adduced; but when corroborated by the twoHutchinsons, Mr. Hale, and, in effect, by Mather himself, it cannot beshaken. 

As has been stated, Cotton Mather, previous to his experience with those"pests, " as the Reviewer happily calls "the Goodwin children, " probablybelieved in the efficacy of prayer, and in that alone, to combat andbeat down evil spirits and their infernal Prince; and John Goodwin'sdeclaration, 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 everyadvantage, in his own house, to pray the devil out of the eldest of thechildren, resulting in her becoming more and more "saucy, " insolent, andoutrageous, may have undermined his faith to an extent of which he mightnot have been wholly conscious. He says, in concluding his story in the_Magnalia_, [_Book VI. , p. 75. _] that, after all other methods hadfailed, "one particular Minister, taking particular compassion on thefamily, set himself to serve them in the methods prescribed by our LordJesus Christ. Accordingly, the Lord being besought thrice, in three daysof prayer, with fasting on this occasion, the family then saw theirdeliverance perfected. "

It is worthy of reflection, whether it was not the fasting, that seemsto have been especially enforced "on this occasion, " and for "threedays, " that cured the girl. A similar application had before operated asa temporary remedy. Mather tells us, in his _Memorable Providences_, [_p. 31_, ] referring to a date previous to the "three days" fasting, "Mr. Morton, of Charlestown, and Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr. Willard, andmyself, of Boston, with some devout neighbors, kept another day ofprayer at John Goodwin's house; and we had all the children present withus there. The children were miserably tortured, while we labored in ourprayers; but our good God was nigh unto us, in what we called upon himfor. 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 cruellyhandled as before. "

It must have been a hard day for all concerned. Five Ministers and anynumber of "good praying people, " as Goodwin calls them, together withhis whole family, could not but have crowded his small house. Thechildren, on such occasions, often proved very troublesome, as statedabove. Goodwin says "the two biggest, lying on the bed, one of themwould fain have kicked the good men, while they were wrestling with Godfor them, had I not held him with all my power and might. " Fasting wasadded to the prayers, that were kept up during the whole time, theMinisters relieving each other. If the fasting had been continued threedays, it is not unlikely that the cure of the children would, then, haveproved effectual and lasting. The account given in the _Memorables_ andthe _Magnalia_, of the conduct of these children, under the treatment ofMather and the other Ministers, is, indeed, most ludicrous; and no onecan be expected to look at it in any other light. He was forewarnedthat, in printing it, he would expose himself to ridicule. He tells usthat the mischievous, but bright and wonderfully gifted, girl, theeldest of the children, getting, at one time, possession of hismanuscript, pretended to be, for the moment, incapacitated, by theDevil, for reading it; and he further informs us, "She'd hector me at astrange rate for the work I was at, and threaten me with I know not whatmischief for it. She got a History I was writing of this Witchcraft; andthough she had, before this, read it over and over, yet now she couldnot read (I believe) one entire sentence of it; but she made of it themost ridiculous Travesty in the world, with such a patness and excess offancy, to supply the sense that she put upon it, as I was amazed at. Andshe particularly told me, That I should quickly come to disgrace by thatHistory. "

It is noticeable that the Goodwin children, like their imitators atSalem Village, the "afflicted, " as they were called, were careful, except in certain cases of emergence, not to have their night's sleepdisturbed, and never lost an appetite for their regular meals. I cannotbut think that if the Village girls had, once in a while, like theGoodwin children, been compelled to go for a day or two upon very shortallowance, it would have soon brought their "sport" to an end. 

Nothing is more true than that, in estimating the conduct and characterof men, allowances must be made for the natural, and almost necessary, influence of the opinions and customs of their times. But this excusewill not wholly shelter the Mathers. They are answerable, as I haveshown, more than almost any other men have been, for the opinions oftheir time. It was, indeed, a superstitious age; but made much more soby their operations, influence, and writings, beginning with IncreaseMather's movement, at the assembly of the Ministers, in 1681, and endingwith Cotton Mather's dealings with the Goodwin children, and the accountthereof which he printed and circulated, far and wide. For this reason, then, in the first place, I hold those two men responsible for what iscalled "Salem Witchcraft. "

I have admitted and shown that Cotton Mather originally relied only uponprayer in his combat with Satanic powers. But the time was at hand, whenother weapons than the sword of the Spirit were to be drawn in thatwarfare. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] When, in this article, I cite the name "Hutchinson, " without anydistinguishing prefix, I mean THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Chief-justice, Governor, and Historian of Massachusetts; so also when I cite the name"Mather, " I mean COTTON MATHER. 

[2] The passages from Cotton Mather's Diary, used in this article, aremostly taken from the _Christian Examiner_, xi. , 249; _Proceedings ofMassachusetts Historical Society_, i. , 289, and iv. , 404; and _Life ofCotton Mather_, by William B. O. Peabody, in Sparks's _AmericanBiography_, vi. , 162. 

IV. 

THE RELATION OF THE MATHERS TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF MASSACHUSETTS, IN1692. THE NEW CHARTER. THE GOVERNMENT UNDER IT ARRANGED BY THEM. ARRIVALOF SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 

No instance of the responsibility of particular persons for the acts ofa Government, in the whole range of history, is more decisive orunquestionable, than that of the Mathers, father and son, for the trialsand executions, for the alleged crime of Witchcraft, at Salem, in 1692. 

Increase Mather had been in England, as one of the Agents of the Colonyof Massachusetts, for several years, in the last part of the reign ofJames II. And the beginning of that of William and Mary, covering muchof the period between the abrogation of the first Charter and theestablishment of the Province under the second Charter. Circumstanceshad conspired to give him great influence in organizing the Governmentprovided 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 hisown country can afford, hath for divers years come off with honor, inhis application to three crowned heads and the chiefest nobility ofthree kingdoms. "

Being satisfied that a restoration of the old Charter could not beobtained, Increase Mather acquiesced in what he deemed a necessity, andbent his efforts to have as favorable terms as possible secured in thenew. His colleagues in the agency, Elisha Cooke and Thomas Oaks, opposedhis course--the former, with great determination, taking the ground ofthe "old Charter or none. " This threw them out of all communication withthe Home Government, on the subject, and gave to Mr. Mather controllinginfluence. He was requested by the Ministers of the Crown to name theofficers of the new Government; and, in fact, had the free and soleselection of them all. Sir William Phips was appointed Governor, at hissolicitation; and, in accordance with earnest recommendations, in aletter from Cotton Mather, William Stoughton was appointedDeputy-governor, thereby superceding Danforth, one of the ablest men inthe Province. In fact, every member of the Council owed his seat to theMathers, and, politically, was their creature. Great was the exultationof Cotton Mather, when the intelligence reached him, thus expressed inhis Diary: "The time for favor is now come, yea, the set-time is come. Iam now to receive the answers of so many prayers, as have been employedfor my absent parent, and the deliverance and settlement of my poorcountry. We have not the former Charter, but we have a better in theroom of it; one which much better suits our circumstances. And, insteadof my being made a sacrifice to wicked rulers, all the Councillors ofthe Province are of my father's nomination; and my father-in-law, withseveral related to me, and several brethren of my own Church, are amongthem. The Governor of the Province is not my enemy, but one whom Ibaptized, namely, Sir William Phips, and one of my flock, and one of mydearest friends. "

The whole number of Councillors was twenty-eight, three of them, atleast, being of the Mather Church. John Phillips was Cotton Mather'sfather-in-law. Two years before, Sir William Phips had been baptized byCotton Mather, in the presence of the congregation, and received intothe Church. 

The "set-time, " so long prayed for, was of brief duration. Theinfluence of the Mathers over the politics of the Province was limitedto the first part of Phips's short administration. At the very nextelection, in May, 1693, ten of the Councillors were left out; and ElishaCooke, their great opponent, was chosen to that body, although negativedby Phips, in the exercise of his prerogative, under the Charter. 

Increase Mather came over in the same ship with the Governor, the_Nonsuch_, frigate. As Phips was his parishioner, owed to him hisoffice, and was necessarily thrown into close intimacy, during the longvoyage, he fell naturally under his influence, which, all thingsconsidered, could not have failed to be controlling. The Governor was anilliterate person, but of generous, confiding, and susceptible impulses;and the elder Mather was precisely fitted to acquire an ascendency oversuch a character. He had been twice abroad, in his early manhood and inhis later years, had knowledge of the world, been conversant withlearned men in Colleges and among distinguished Divines and Statesmen, and seen much of Courts and the operations of Governments. With a moreextended experience and observation than his son, his deportment wasmore dignified, and his judgment infinitely better; while his talentsand acquirements were not far, if at all, inferior. When Phips landed inBoston, it could not, therefore, have been otherwise than that he shouldpass under the control of the Mathers, the one accompanying, the othermeeting him on the shore. They were his religious teachers and guides;by their efficient patronage and exertions he had been placed in hishigh office. They, his Deputy, Stoughton, and the whole class of personsunder their influence, at once gathered about him, gave him his firstimpressions, and directed his movements. By their talents and position, the Mathers controlled the people, and kept open a channel through whichthey could reach the ear of Royalty. The Government of the Province wasnominally in Phips and his Council, but the Mathers were a power behindthe throne greater than the throne itself. The following letter, neverbefore published, for which I am indebted to Abner C. Goodell, Esq. , Vice-president of the Essex Institute, shows how they bore themselvesbefore the Legislature, and communicated with the Home Government. 

 "MY LORD:

 "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, "Your most humble, thankful and obedient Servant, INCREASE MATHER. 

 "BOSTON, N. E. June 23, 1692. 

 "To the Rt. Hon^ble the _Earl of Nottingham_, his Maj^ties Principal Secretary of State at Whitehall. "

While they could thus address the General Assembly, and the Ministers ofState, in London, the Government here was, as Hutchinson evidentlyregarded it, [_i. , 365; ii. , 69. _] "a MATHER ADMINISTRATION. " It was"short, sharp, and decisive. " It opened in great power; its course wasmarked with terror and havoc; it ended with mysterious suddenness; andits only monument is Salem Witchcraft--the "_judicial murder_, " as theReviewer calls it, of twenty men and women, as innocent in their livesas they were heroic in their deaths. 

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

The next day, the Governor attended, we may be sure, public worship withthe congregation to which he belonged; and the occasion was undoubtedlyduly noticed. After so long an absence, Increase Mather could not havefailed to address his people, the son also taking part in theinteresting service. The presence, in his pew, of the man who, a shorttime before, had been regenerated by their preaching, and nowre-appeared among them with the title and commission of Governor of NewEngland, added to the previous honors of Knighthood, at once suggestedto all, and particularly impressed upon him, an appreciating convictionof the political triumph, as well as clerical achievement, of theassociate Ministers of the North Boston Church. From what we know of thestate of the public mind at that time, as emphatically described in adocument I am presently to produce, there can be no question as to oneclass of topics and exhortations, wherewithal his Excellency and thecrowded congregation were, that day, entertained. 

Monday, the sixteenth, was devoted to the ceremonies of the publicinduction of the new Government. There was a procession to theTown-house, where the Commissions of the Governor and Deputy-governor, with the Charter under which they were appointed, were severally readaloud to the people. A public dinner followed; and, at its close, SirWilliam was escorted to his residence. At the meeting of the Council, the next day, the seventeenth, the oaths of office having beenadministered, all round, it was voted "that there be a general meetingof the Council upon Tuesday next, the twenty-fourth of May current, inBoston, at two o'clock, post-meridian, to nominate and appoint Judges, Justices, and other officers of the Council and Courts of Justice withinthis their Majesties' Province belonging, and that notice thereof, orsummons, be forthwith issued unto the members of the Council nowabsent. "

The following letter from Sir William Phips, to the Government at home, recently procured from England by Mr. Goodell, was published in the lastvolume of the _Collections of the Essex Institute_--Volume IX. , Part II. I print it, entire, and request the reader to examine it, carefully, andto refer to it as occasion arises in this discussion, as it is a key tothe whole transaction of the Witchcraft trials. Its opening sentencedemonstrates the impression made by those who first met and surroundedhim, on his excitable nature:

 "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. 

 "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 [_which_] 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; the reason is because I know my enemies are seeking to turn it all upon me. Sir, "I am Your most humble Serv^t WILLIAM PHIPS. 

 "Dated at BOSTON IN NEW ENGLAND, the 14th of Oct^r 1692. 

 "MEM^DM

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

The foregoing document, I repeat, indicates the kind of talk with whichPhips was accosted, when stepping ashore. Exaggerated representations ofthe 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 theProvince, probably kept him from mingling freely among, or having muchopportunity to meet, any leading men, outside of his Council and theparty represented therein. Writing in the ensuing October, at the momentwhen he had made up his mind to break loose from those who had led himto the hasty appointment of the Special Court, there is significance inhis language. "I have grieved to see that some, who should have donetheir Majesties, and the Province, better service, have so far takencounsel of passion, as to desire the precipitancy of these matters. "This refers to, and amounts to a condemnation of, the advisers who hadinfluenced him to the rash measures adopted on his arrival. How rash andprecipitate those measures were I now proceed to show. 

V. 

THE SPECIAL COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER. HOW IT WAS ESTABLISHED. WHORESPONSIBLE FOR IT. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE CONCENTRATED IN ITSCHIEF-JUSTICE. 

So great was the pressure made upon Sir William Phips, by the wild panicto which the community had been wrought, that he ordered the persons whohad been committed to prison by the Salem Magistrates, to be put inirons; but his natural kindness of heart and common sense led him torelax the unjustifiable severity. Professor Bowen, in his _Life ofPhips_, embraced in Sparks's _American Biography_, [_vii. , 81. _] says:"Sir William seems not to have been in earnest in the proceeding; forthe officers were permitted to evade the order, by putting on the ironsindeed, but taking them off again, immediately. "

On Tuesday, the twenty-fourth of May, the Council met to consider thematter specially assigned to that day, namely, the nomination andappointment of Judicial officers. 

The Governor gave notice that he had issued Writs for the election ofRepresentatives to convene in a General Court, to be held on the eighthof June. 

He also laid before the Council, the assigned business, which was"accordingly attended, and divers persons, in the respective Countieswere named, and left for further consideration. "

On the twenty-fifth of May, the Council being again in session, therecord says: "a further discourse was had about persons, in the severalCounties, for Justices and other officers, and it was judged advisableto defer the consideration of fit persons for Judges, until there be anestablishment of Courts of Justice. "

At the next meeting, on the twenty-seventh of May, it was ordered thatthe members of the Council, severally, and their Secretary, should beJustices of the Peace and Quorum, in the respective Counties where theyreside: a long list, besides, was adopted, appointing the persons namedin it Justices, as also Sheriffs and Coroners; and a SPECIAL COURT OFOYER AND TERMINER was established for the Counties of Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex, consisting of William Stoughton, Chief-justice, JohnRichards, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Wait Winthrop, Bartholomew Gedney, Samuel Sewall, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, and Peter Sargent, anyfive of them to be a quorum (Stoughton, Richards, or Gedney to be one ofthe five). 

When we consider that the subject had been specially assigned on theseventeenth, and discussed for two days, on the twenty-fourth andtwenty-fifth, to the conclusion that the appointment of Judges ought tobe deferred, "_until there be an establishment of Courts ofJustice_, "--which by the Charter, could only be done by the GeneralCourt which was to meet, as the Governor had notified them, in less thana fortnight--the establishment of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, on thetwenty-seventh, must be regarded as very extraordinary. It wasacknowledged to be an unauthorized procedure; the deliberate judgment ofthe Council had been expressed against it; and there was no occasion forsuch hurry, as the Legislature was so soon to assemble. There must havebeen a strong outside pressure, from some quarter, to produce such achange of front. From Wednesday to Friday, some persons of greatinfluence must have been hard at work. The reasons assigned, in therecord, for this sudden reversal, by the Council, of its deliberatedecision, are the great number of criminals waiting trial, the throngedcondition of the jails, and "this hot season of the year, " on thetwenty-seventh of May! It is further stated, "there being nojudicatures or Courts of Justice yet established, " that, therefore, suchan extraordinary step was necessary. It is, indeed, remarkable, that, inthe face of their own recorded convictions of expediency and propriety, and in disregard of the provisions of the Charter which, a few daysbefore, they had been sworn to obey, the Council could have been led toso far "take counsel of passion, " as to rush over every barrier to thisprecipitate measure. 

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. Writershave generally spoken of the Court as consisting of seven Judges. Saltonstall's resignation does not appear to have led to a newappointment; and, perhaps, Hathorne, who generally acted as an ExaminingMagistrate, and signed most of the Commitments of the prisoners, did notoften, if ever, sit as a Judge. In this way, the Court may have beenreduced to seven. Stephen Sewall was appointed Clerk, and George Corwin, High Sheriff. 

Thus established and organized, on the twenty-seventh of May, the Courtsat, on the second of June, for the trial of Bridget Bishop. HerDeath-warrant was signed, on the eighth of June, the very day theLegislature convened; and she was executed on the tenth. This was, indeed, "precipitancy. " Before the General Court had time, possibly, tomake "an establishment of Courts of Justice" in the exercise of thepowers bestowed upon it by the Charter, this Special Court--suddenlysprung upon the country, against the deliberate first judgment of theCouncil itself, and not called for by any emergency of the moment whichthe 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 allowedthe wheels of the Juggernaut to roll on. 

The question, who are responsible for the creation, in such hot haste, of this Court, and for its instant entrance upon its ruthless work, maynot be fully and specifically answered, with absolute demonstration, butwe may approach a satisfactory solution of it. We know that a word fromeither of the Mathers would have stopped it. Their relations to theGovernment were, then, controlling. Further, if, at that time, either ofthe other leading Ministers--Willard, or Allen--had demanded delay, itwould have been necessary to pause; but none appear to have made openopposition; and all must share in the responsibility for subsequentevents. 

Phips says that the affair at Salem Village was represented to him as"much like that of Sweden, about thirty years ago. " This Swedish casewas Cotton Mather's special topic. In his _Wonders of the InvisibleWorld_, 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 inSweedland. " He introduces, into the _Wonders_, a separate account of it;and reproduces it in his _Life of Phips_, incorporated subsequently intothe _Magnalia_. The first point he makes, in presenting this case, is asfollows: "The inhabitants had earnestly sought God in prayer, and yettheir affliction continued. Whereupon Judges had a Special Commission tofind, and root out the hellish crew; and the rather, because anotherCounty in the Kingdom, which had been so molested, was delivered uponthe execution of the Witches. "--_The Wonders of the Invisible World. _Edit. London, 1693, p. 48. 

The importance attached by Cotton Mather to the affair in Sweden, especially viewed in connection with the foregoing extract, indicatesthat the change, I have conjectured, had come over him, as to the way todeal with Witches; and that he had reached the conclusion that prayerwould not, and nothing but the gallows could, answer the emergency. Inthe Swedish case, was found the precedent for a "Special Commission ofOyer and Terminer. "

Well might the Governor have felt the importance of relieving himself, as far as possible, from the responsibility of having organized such aCourt, and of throwing it upon his advisers. The tribunal consisted ofthe Deputy-governor, as Chief-justice, and eight other persons, allmembers of the Council, and each, as has been shown, owing his seat, atthat Board, to the Mathers. 

The recent publication of this letter of Governor Phips enables us nowto explain certain circumstances, before hardly intelligible, and toappreciate the extent of the outrages committed by those who controlledthe administration of the Province, during the Witchcraft trials. 

In 1767, Andrew Oliver, then Secretary of the Province, was directed tosearch the Records of the Government to ascertain precedents, touching apoint of much interest at that time. From his Report, part of which isgiven in Drake's invaluable _History of Boston_, [_p. 728_] it appearsthat the Deputy-governor, Stoughton, by the appointment of the Governor, attended by the Secretary, administered the oaths to the members of theHouse of Representatives, convened on the eighth of June, 1692; that, asDeputy-governor, he sat in Council, generally, during that year, andwas, besides, annually elected to the Council, until his death, in 1701. All that time, he was sitting, in the double capacity of an _ex-officio_and an elected member; and for much the greater part of it, in theabsence of Phips, as acting Governor. The Records show that he sat inCouncil when Sir William Phips was present, and presided over it, whenhe was not present, and ever after Phips's decease, until a new Governorcame over in 1699. His annual election, by the House of Representatives, as one of the twenty-eight Councillors, while, as Deputy or actingGovernor, he was entitled to a seat, is quite remarkable. It gave him adistinct legislative character, and a right, as an elected member of thebody, to vote and act, directly, in all cases, without restraint orembarrassment, in debate and on Committees, in the making, as well asadministering, the law. 

In the letter now under consideration, Governor Phips says: "I wasalmost the whole time of the proceeding abroad, in the Service of theirMajesties in the Eastern part of the country. "

The whole tenor of the letter leaves an impression that, being so muchaway from the scene, in frequent and long absences, he was not cognizantof what was going on. He depended "upon the judgment of the Court, " asto its methods of proceeding; and was surprised when those methods werebrought to his attention. Feeling his own incapacity to handle such abusiness, he was willing to leave it to those who ought to have beenmore competent. Indeed, he passed the whole matter over to theDeputy-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 Phipssays: "Not being versed in law, I have depended upon the Lieu^t Gov^r, who is appointed Judge of the Courts, to see that they be exactlyagreeable to the laws of England, and not repugnant in any part. Ifthere be any error, I know it will not escape your observation, anddesire a check may be given for what may be amiss. "

The closing sentence looks somewhat like a want of confidence in thelegal capacity and judgment of Stoughton, owing perhaps, to the bad workhe had made at the Salem trials, the Summer before; but the wholepassage shows that Phips, conscious of his own ignorance of such things, left them wholly to the Chief-justice. 

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 themanagement of Stoughton, who was Chairman of a large Joint Committee, charged with adjusting the whole body of the laws to the transition ofthe Colony, from an independent Government, under the first Charter, tothe condition of a subject Province. 

One person had been tried and executed; and the Court was holding itssecond Session when the Legislature adjourned. Phips went to theeastward, immediately after the eighth of July. Again, on the first ofAugust, he embarked from Boston with a force of four hundred and fiftymen, for the mouth of the Kennebec. In the Archives of Massachusetts, Secretary's office, State House, Vol. LI. , p. 9, is the originaldocument, signed by Phips, dated on the first of August, 1692, turningover the Government to Stoughton, during his absence. It appears byChurch's _Eastern Expeditions_, Part II. , p. 82, edited by H. M. Dexter, and published by Wiggin & Lunt, Boston, 1867, that, during aconsiderable part of the month of August, the Governor must have beenabsent, engaged in important operations on the coast of Maine. About themiddle of September, he went again to the Kennebec, not returning untila 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 energeticand active man, he had as much on his hands, arising out of questions asto the extent of his authority over Connecticut and Rhode Island and themanagement of affairs at the eastward, as he could well attend to. HisInstructions, too, from the Crown, made it his chief duty to protect theeastern portions of his Government. The state of things there, inconnection with Indian assaults and outrages upon the outskirtsettlements, under French instigation, was represented as urgentlydemanding his attention. Besides all this, his utmost exertions wereneeded to protect the sea-coast against buccaneers. In addition to thepublic necessities, thus calling him to the eastward, it was, undoubtedly, more agreeable to his feelings, to revisit his nativeregion and the home of his early years, where, starting from thehumblest spheres of mechanical labor and maritime adventure, as aship-carpenter and sailor, he had acquired the manly energy andenterprise that had conducted him to fortune, knightly honor, and theCommission of Governor of New England. All the reminiscences and bestaffections of his nature made him prompt to defend the region thusendeared to him. It was much more congenial to his feelings than toremain under the ceremonial and puritanic restraints of the seat ofGovernment, and involved in perplexities with which he had no ability, and probably no taste, to grapple. He was glad to take himself out ofthe way; and as his impetuous and impulsive nature rendered those underhim liable to find him troublesome, they were not sorry to have himcalled elsewhere. 

I have mentioned these things as justifying the impression, conveyed byhis letter, that he knew but little of what was going on until hisreturn in the earlier half of October. Actual absence at a distance, thelarger part of the time, and engrossing cares in getting up expeditionsand supplies for them while he was at home--particularly as, from thebeginning, he had passed over the business of the Court entirely to hisDeputy, Stoughton--it is not difficult to suppose, had prevented hismind being much, if at all, turned towards it. We may, therefore, consider that the witchcraft prosecutions were wholly under the controlof Stoughton and those, who, having given him power, would naturallyhave influence over his exercise of it. 

Calling in question the legality of the Court, Hutchinson expresses adeep sense of the irregularity of its proceedings; although, as he says, "the most important Court to the life of the subject which ever was heldin the Province, " it meets his unqualified censure, in many points. Inreference to the instance of the Jury's bringing in a verdict of "Notguilty, " in the case of Rebecca Nurse, and being induced, by thedissatisfaction of the Court, to go out again, and bring her in"Guilty, " he condemns the procedure. Speaking of a wife or husband beingallowed to accuse one the other, he breaks out: "I shudder while I amrelating it;" and giving the results at the last trial, he says: "ThisCourt of Oyer and Terminer, happy for the country, sat no more. " Itsproceedings were arbitrary, harsh, and rash. The ordinary forms ofcaution and fairness were disregarded. The Judges made no concealment ofa foregone conclusion against the Prisoners at the Bar. No Counsel wasallowed them. The proceedings were summary; and execution followed closeupon conviction. While it was destroying the lives of men and women, ofrespectable position in the community, of unblemished and eminentChristian standing, heads of families, aged men and venerable matrons, all the ordinary securities of society, outside of the tribunal, wereswept away. In the absence of Sir William Phips, the Chief-justiceabsolutely absorbed into his own person the whole Government. Hisrulings swayed the Court, in which he acted the part of prosecutor ofthe Prisoners, and overbore the Jury. He sat in judgment upon thesentences of his own Court; and heard and refused, applications andsupplications for pardon or reprieve. The three grand divisions of allconstitutional or well-ordered Governments were, for the time, obliterated in Massachusetts. In the absence of Phips, the Executivefunctions were exercised by Stoughton. While presiding over the Council, he also held a seat as an elected ordinary member, thus participatingin, as well as directing, its proceedings, sharing, as a leader, inlegislation, acting on Committees, and framing laws. As Chief-justice, he was the head of the Judicial department. He was Commander-in-chief ofthe military and naval forces and forts within the Province proper. Alladministrative, legislative, judicial, and military powers wereconcentrated in his person and wielded by his hand. No more shamefultyranny or shocking despotism was ever endured in America, than, in "thedark and awful day, " as it was called, while the Special Commission ofOyer and Terminer was scattering destruction, ruin, terror, misery anddeath, over the country. It is a disgrace to that generation, that itwas so long suffered; and, instead of trying to invent excuses, itbecomes all subsequent generations to feel--as was deeply felt, byenlightened and candid men, as soon as the storm had blown over and aprostrate people again stood erect, in possession of their senses--thatall ought, by humble and heart-felt prayer, to implore the divineforgiveness, as one of the Judges, fully as misguided at the time as therest, did, to the end of his days. 

As all the official dignities of the Province were combined inStoughton, he seems hardly to have known in what capacity he was acting, as different occasions arose. He signed the Death-warrant of BridgetBishop, without giving himself any distinctive title, with his bare nameand his private seal. It is easy to imagine how this lodging of thewhole power of the State in one man, destroyed all safeguards and closedevery door of refuge. When the express messenger of the poor young wifeof John Willard, or the heroic daughter of Elizabeth How, or the agentsof the people of the village, of all classes, combined in supplicationin behalf of Rebecca Nurse, rushing to Boston to lay petitions forpardon before the Governor, upon being admitted to his presence, foundthemselves confronted by the stern countenance of the same person, who, as Chief-justice, had closed his ears to mercy and frowned the Jury intoConviction; their hearts sunk within them, and all realized that evenhope had taken flight from the land. 

Such was the political and public administration of the Province ofMassachusetts, during the Summer of 1692, under which the Witchcraftprosecutions were carried on. It was conducted by men whom the Mathershad brought into office, and who were wholly in their counsels. If thereis, I repeat, an instance in history where particular persons areresponsible for the doings of a Government, this is one. I concludethese general views of the influence of Increase and Cotton Mather uponthe 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 anystage, they could and would have stopped them. 

I now turn to a more specific consideration of the subject of CottonMather's connection with the Witchcraft delusion of 1692. 

VI. 

COTTON MATHER'S CONNECTION WITH THE COURT. SPECTRAL EVIDENCE. LETTER TOJOHN RICHARDS. ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS. 

I am charged with having misrepresented the part Cotton Mather, inparticular, bore in this passage of our history. As nearly the wholecommunity had been deluded at the time, and there was a generalconcurrence in aiding oblivion to cover it, it is difficult to bring itback, in all its parts, within the realm of absolute knowledge. Records--municipal, ecclesiastical, judicial, and provincial--werewillingly suffered to perish; and silence, by general consent, pervadedcorrespondence and conversation. Notices of it are brief, even in themost private Diaries. It would have been well, perhaps, if the memory ofthat day could have been utterly extinguished; but it has not. On thecontrary, as, in all manner of false and incorrect representations, ithas gone into the literature of the country and the world and becomemixed with the permanent ideas of mankind, it is right and necessary topresent the whole transaction, so far as possible, in the light oftruth. Every right-minded man must rejoice to have wrong, done to thereputation of the dead or living, repaired; and I can truly say that noone would rejoice more than I should, if the view presented of CottonMather, in the _North American Review_, of April, 1869, could be shownto be correct. In this spirit, I proceed to present the evidence thatbelongs to the question. 

The belief of the existence of a personal Devil was then all butuniversally entertained. So was the belief of ghosts, apparitions, andspectres. There was no more reluctance to think or speak of them than ofwhat we call natural objects and phenomena. Great power was ascribed tothe Devil over terrestrial affairs; but it had been the prevalentopinion, that he could not operate upon human beings in any other waythan through the instrumentality of other human beings, in voluntaryconfederation with him; and that, by means of their spectres, he couldwork any amount of mischief. While this opinion prevailed, the testimonyof a witness, that he had seen the spectre of a particular personafflicting himself or any one else, was regarded as proof positive thatthe person, thus spectrally represented, was in league with the Devil, or, in other words, a Witch. This idea had been abandoned by somewriters, who held that the Devil could make use of the spectre of aninnocent person, to do mischief; and that, therefore, it was notpositive or conclusive proof that any one was a Witch because hisspectre had been seen tormenting others. The logical conclusion, fromthe views of these later writers, was that spectral evidence, as it wascalled, bearing against an accused party, was wholly unreliable and mustbe thrown out, entirely, in all cases. 

The Reviewer says the "Clergy of New England" adopted the views of thewriters just alluded to, and held that spectral evidence was unreliableand unsafe, and ought to be utterly rejected; and particularly maintainsthat such was the opinion of Cotton Mather. It is true that theyprofessed to have great regard for those writers; but it is also true, that neither Mather nor the other Ministers in 1692, adopted theconclusion which the Reviewer allows to be inevitably demanded by soundreason and common sense, namely, that "no spectral evidence must beadmitted. " On the contrary, they did authorize the "admission" ofspectral evidence. This I propose to prove; and if I succeed in doingit, the whole fabric of the article in the _North American Review_ fallsto the ground. 

It is necessary, at this point, to say a word as to the _Mather Papers_. They were published by a Committee of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety, in 1868. My work was published in 1867. The Reviewer, andcertain journals that have committed themselves to his support, chargeme with great negligence in not having consulted those papers, _not thenin print_. Upon inquiry, while making my researches, I was informed, bythose having them in hand preparatory to their going to press, that theycontained nothing at all essential to my work; and the information wascorrect. Upon examining the printed volume, I cannot find a single itemthat would require an alteration, addition, or omission to be made in mywork. But they are quite serviceable in the discussion to which thearticle in the _North American Review_ compels me. 

To return to the issue framed by the Reviewer. He makes a certainabsolute assertion, repeats it in various forms, and confidently assumesit, all the way through, as in these passages: "Stoughton admittedspectral 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 theJudges, he besought them that they would by no means admit it; and whena considerable assembly of Ministers gave in their _Advice_ about thematter, he not only concurred with the advice, but he drew it up. " "The_Advice_ was very specific in excluding spectral testimony. "

He relies, in the first place, and I may say chiefly, in maintainingthis position--namely, that Mather denounced the _admission_ of spectraltestimony and demanded its _exclusion_--upon a sentence in a letter fromCotton Mather to John Richards, called by the Reviewer "his Letter tothe Judges, " among the _Mather Papers_, p. 891. 

Hutchinson informs us that Richards came into the country in lowcircumstances, but became an opulent merchant, in Boston. He was amember of Mather's Church, and one of the Special Court to try thewitches. Its Session was to commence in the first week, probably onThursday, the second day of June. The letter, dated on Tuesday, thethirty-first of May, is addressed to John Richards alone; and commenceswith a strong expression of regret that quite a severe indispositionwill prevent his accompanying him to the trials. "Excuse me, " he says, "from waiting upon you, with the utmost of my little skill and care, toassist the noble service, whereto you are called of God this week, theservice of encountering the wicked spirits in the high places of ourair, 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 inthat 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, " heproceeds to urge upon him his favorite Swedish case, wherein the"endeavours of the Judges to discover and extirpate the authors of thatexecrable witchcraft, " were "immediately followed with a remarkablesmile of God. " Then comes the paragraph, which the Reviewer defiantlycites, to prove that Cotton Mather agreed with him, in the opinion thatspectre evidence ought not to be "admitted. "

Before quoting the paragraph, I desire the reader to note the manner inwhich the affair in Sweden is brought to the attention of Richards, inthe clauses just cited, in connection with what I have said in thisarticle, page 16. Cotton Mather was in possession of a book on thissubject. "It comes to speak English, " he says, "by the acute pen of theexcellent and renowned Dr. Horneck. " Who so likely as Mather to havebrought the case to the notice of Phips, pp. 14. It was urged uponRichards at about the same time that it was upon Phips; and as anargument in favor of "_extirpating_" witches, by the _action of a Courtof Oyer and Terminer_. 

The paragraph is as follows: "And yet I must most humbly beg you that inthe management of the affair in your most worthy hands, you do not laymore stress upon pure Spectre testimony than it will bear. When you aresatisfied, and have good plain legal evidence, that the Demons whichmolest our poor neighbors do indeed represent such and such people tothe sufferers, though this be a presumption, yet I suppose you will notreckon it a conviction that the people so represented are witches to beimmediately exterminated. It is very certain that the Devils havesometimes represented the Shapes of persons not only innocent, but alsovery virtuous. Though I believe that the just God then ordinarilyprovides a way for the speedy vindication of the persons thus abused. Moreover, I do suspect that persons, who have too much indulgedthemselves in malignant, envious, malicious ebullitions of their souls, may unhappily expose themselves to the judgment of being represented byDevils, of whom they never had any vision, and with whom they have, muchless, written any covenant. I would say this; if upon the bare supposalof a poor creature being represented by a spectre, too great a progressbe made by the authority in ruining a poor neighbor so represented, itmay be that a door may be thereby opened for the Devils to obtain fromthe Courts in the invisible world a license to proceed unto most hideousdesolations upon the repute and repose of such as have yet been keptfrom the great transgression. If mankind have thus far once consentedunto the credit of diabolical representations, the door is opened!Perhaps there are wise and good men, that may be ready to style him thatshall advance this caution, a Witch-advocate, but in the winding up, this caution will certainly be wished for. "

This passage, strikingly illustrative, as it is, of Mather'scharacteristic style of appearing, to a cursory, careless reader, to sayone thing, when he is really aiming to enforce another, while it hasdeceived the Reviewer, and led him to his quixotic attempt torevolutionize history, cannot be so misunderstood by a criticalinterpreter. 

In its general drift, it appears, at first sight, to disparage spectralevidence. The question is: Does it forbid, denounce, or dissuade, itsintroduction? By no means. It supposes and allows its introduction, butsays, _lay not more stress upon it than it will bear_. Further, itaffirms that it may afford "presumption" of guilt, though not sufficientfor conviction, and removes objection to its introduction, by holdingout the idea that, if admitted by the Court and it bears againstinnocent persons, "the just God, then, ordinarily provides a way fortheir speedy vindication. " It is plain that the paragraph refers, not tothe _admission_ of "diabolical representations, " but to the _manner_ inwhich they are to be received, in the "management" of the trials, aswill more fully appear, as we proceed. 

The suggestion, to reconcile Richards to the use of spectral evidence, that something would "ordinarily" providentially turn up to rescueinnocent persons, against whom it was borne, was altogether delusive. Itwas an opinion of the day, that one of the most signal marks of theDevil's descent with power, would be the seduction, to his service, ofpersons of the most eminent character, even, if possible, of the veryelect; and, hence, no amount of virtue or holiness of life orconversation, could be urged in defence of any one. The records of theworld present no more conspicuous instances of Christian and saintlikeexcellence than were exhibited by Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth How; butspectral testimony was allowed to destroy them. Indeed, it wasimpossible for a Court to put any restrictions on this kind of evidence, if once received. If the accusing girls exclaimed--all of themconcurring, at the moment, in the declaration and in its details--thatthey saw, at that very instant, in the Court-room, before Judges andJury, the spectre of the Prisoner assailing one of their number, andthat one showing signs of suffering, what could be done to rebut theirtestimony? The character of the accused was of no avail. An _alibi_could not touch the case. The distance from the Prisoner to the partyprofessing to be tormented, was of no account. The whole proceeding wason the assumption that, however remote the body of the Prisoner, his orher spectre was committing the assault. No limitation of space or timecould 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 andconvulsions of the accusers, before their eyes, were, as alleged, causedby the spectres of the accused. 

To cut the matter short. The considerations Mather presents of the"inconvenience, " as he calls it, of the spectral testimony, it might besupposed, would have led him to counsel--not as he did, against making"too great a progress" in its use--but its abandonment altogether. Whydid he not, as the Reviewer says ought always have been done, protestutterly against its admission at all? The truth is, that neither in thisletter, nor in any way, at any time, did he ever recommend caution_against_ its use, but _in_ its use. 

It may be asked, what did he mean by "not laying more stress uponspectre testimony than it will bear, " and the general strain of theparagraph? A solution of this last question may be reached as wecontinue the scrutiny of his language and actions. 

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

This alludes to a particular form of spectral evidence. One of the"afflicted children" would testify that she saw and felt the spectre ofthe accused, tormenting her, and struck at it. A corresponding wound orbruise 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 asconclusive of guilt. Referring to what constituted the bulk of theevidence of the accusing girls, and which was wholly spectral in itsnature--namely, that they were "hurt" by an "unseen hand"--he chargesRichards, if he finds such "hurt" to be inflicted by the personsaccused, "Hold them, for you have catched a witch. " He recommendsputting 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 aJudge, 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 "intoconfusion, likely to lead them into confession. "

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

The next document on which the Reviewer relies is the _Return of theMinisters consulted by his Excellency and the honorable Council, uponthe present Witchcraft in Salem Village_. It is necessary to give itentire, as follows:

 ["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. 

 "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. ]

 "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. 

 "IV. As in complaints upon witchcrafts there may be matters of enquiry which do not amount unto matters of presumption, and there 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. 

 "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. 

 "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. 

 "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. 

 ["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. "]

I have enclosed the _first_, _second_ and _eighth_ Sections, and a partof the _sixth_, in brackets, for purposes that will appear, in asubsequent part of this discussion. The _Advice of the Ministers_ waswritten by Cotton Mather. As in his letter to Richards, he does notcaution _against_ the use, but _in_ the use, of spectral evidence. Not aword is said denouncing its introduction or advising its entirerejection. We look in vain for a line or a syllable disapproving thetrial and execution just had, resting as they did, entirely uponspectral evidence: on the contrary, the _second_ Section applauds whathad been done; and prays that the work entered upon may be perfected. The first clauses in the _fourth_ Section sanction its admission, asaffording ground of "presumption, " although "it may not be matter ofconviction. " The _sixth_ Section, while it appears to convey the ideathat spectral evidence alone ought not to be regarded as sufficient, contains, at the same time, a form of expression, that not only requiresits reception, but places its claims on the highest possible grounds. "_A Demon may, by GOD'S PERMISSION, appear, even to ill purposes, in theshape of an innocent, yea, and a virtuous man. _" It is sufficientlyshocking to think that anything, _to ill purposes_, can be done byDivine permission; but horrible, indeed, to intimate that the Devil canhave that permission to malign and murder an innocent person. If thespectre appears by God's permission, the effect produced has hissanction. The blasphemous supposition that God permits the Devil thus tobear false witness, to the destruction of the righteous, overturns allthe sentiments and instincts of our moral and religious nature. In usingthis language, the Ministers did not have a rational apprehension ofwhat they were saying, which is the only apology for much of thetheological 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 thatMather, on other occasions, repeated this idea, in various and sometimesstronger terms. The _third_, _fifth_, _seventh_, and last clauses of the_fourth_ Sections, contain phrases which will become intelligible, as weadvance in the examination of Mather's writings, relating to the subjectof witchcraft. 

Here it may, again, be safely said, that if Increase and Cotton Matherhad really, as the Reviewer affirms, been opposed to the _admission_ ofspectral testimony, this was the time for them to have said so. If, atthis crisis, they had "denounced it, as illegal, uncharitable andcruel, " no more blood would have been shed. If the _Advice_ had evenrecommended, in the most moderate terms, its absolute exclusion fromevery stage of the proceedings, they would have come to an end. But itassumes its introduction, and only suggests "disbelief" of it, inavoiding to act upon it, in "some" instances. 

Hutchinson states the conclusion of the matter, after quoting the wholedocument. "The Judges seem to have paid more regard to the last articleof this _Return_, than to several which precede it; for the prosecutionswere carried on with all possible vigor, and without that exquisitecaution which is proposed. "--_History_, ii. , 54. 

The _Advice_ was skilfully--it is not uncharitable to say--artfullydrawn up. It has deceived the Reviewer into his statement that it was"very specific in excluding spectral testimony. " A careless reader, orone whose eyes are blinded by a partisan purpose, may not see its realimport. The paper is so worded as to mislead persons not conversant withthe ideas and phraseology of that period. But it was considered by allthe Judges, and the people in general, fully to endorse the proceedingsin the trial of Bridget Bishop, and to advise their speedy and vigorouscontinuance. It was spectral testimony that overwhelmed her. It was thefatal element that wrought the conviction of every person put on trial, from first to last; as was fully proved, five months afterwards, whenSir William Phips, under circumstances I shall describe, bravely andperemptorily forbid, as the Ministers failed to do, the "trying, " oreven "committing, " of any one, on the evidence of "the afflictedpersons, " which was wholly spectral. When thus, by his orders, it wasutterly thrown out, the life of the prosecutions became, at once, extinct; and, as Mather says, the accused were cleared as fast as theywere tried. --_Magnalia_, Book II. , page 64. 

The suggestion that caution was to be used in handling this species ofevidence, 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 underany name, it necessarily controlled every case. No amount of evidence, of other kinds, could counterbalance or stand against it: nothing wasneeded to give it full and fatal effect. It struck Court, Jury, andpeople, 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 beencommitted, or within miles or hundreds of miles of it. No reputation forvirtue or piety could be pleaded against it. The doctrine which CottonMather proclaimed, on another occasion, that the Devil might appear asAngel 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 everytale of slander and credulity, looking at every thing through therefracting and magnifying atmosphere of the blindest and wildestpassions, it was easy to collect materials to add to the spectralevidence, thereby, according to the doctrine of the Ministers, to raisethe "presumption, " to the "conviction" of guilt. Even our Reviewer findsevidence to "substantiate" that, given against George Burroughs, restingon spectres, in his feats of strength, in some malignant neighborhoodscandals, and in exaggerated forms of parish or personal animosities. 

VII. 

ADVICE OF THE MINISTERS, FURTHER CONSIDERED. COTTON MATHER'S PLAN FORDEALING WITH SPECTRAL TESTIMONY. 

The _Advice of the Ministers_ is a document that holds a prominent placein our public history; and its relation to events needs to beelucidated. 

In his _Life of Sir William Phips_, Cotton Mather has this paragraph:"And Sir William Phips arriving to his Government, after this ensnaringhorrible storm was begun, did consult the neighboring Ministers of theProvince, who made unto his Excellency and the Council, a Return (drawnup, at their desire, by Mr. Mather, the younger, as I have beeninformed) wherein they declared. "--_Magnalia_, Book II. , page 63. 

He then gives, without intimating that any essential or substantial partof the _declaration_, or _Advice_, was withheld, the Sections _not_included in brackets. --_Vide_, pages 21, 22, _ante_. 

It is to be observed that Phips is represented as having asked theMinisters for their advice, and their answer as having been made to his"Excellency and the Council. " There is no mention of this transaction inthe Records of the Council. Phips makes no reference to it in his letterof the fourteenth of October, which is remarkable, as it would have beento his purpose, in explaining the grounds of his procedure, inorganizing, and putting into operation, the judicial tribunal at Salem. It may be concluded, from all that I shall present, --Sir William, havinggiven over the whole business to his Deputy and Chief-justice, with anunderstanding that he was authorized to manage it, in allparticulars, --that this transaction with the Ministers may never havebeen brought to the notice of the Governor at all: his officialcharacter and title were, perhaps, referred to, as a matter of form. TheCouncil, as such, had nothing to do with it; but the Deputy-governor andcertain individual members of the Council, that is, those who, with him, as Chief-justice, constituted the Special Court, asked and received the_Advice_. 

Again: the paragraph, as constructed by Mather, just quoted, certainlyleaves the impression on a reader, that Phips applied for the _Advice ofthe Ministers_, at or soon after his arrival. The evidence, I think, isconclusive, that the _Advice_ was not asked, until after the firstSession of the Court had been held. This is inferrible from the answerof the Ministers, which is dated thirteen days after the first trial, and five days after the execution of a sentence then passed. It alludesto the _success_ which had been given to the prosecutions. If theGovernment had asked counsel of the Ministers before the trialscommenced, it is inexplicable and incredible, besides being inexcusable, that the Ministers should have delayed their reply until after the firstact of the awful tragedy had passed, and blood begun to be shed. Hutchinson expressly says: "The further trials were put off to theadjournment, the thirtieth of June. The Governor and Council thoughtproper, _in the mean time_, to take the opinion of several of theprincipal Ministers, upon the state of things, as they then stood. Thiswas an old Charter practice. "--_History_, ii. , 52. 

It has been regarded as a singular circumstance, that after such painshad been taken, and so great a stretch of power practised, to put aCourt so suddenly in operation to try persons accused of witchcraft, onthe pretence, too, recorded in the Journal of the Council, of the"thronged" condition of the jails, at that "hot season, " and aftertrying one person only, it should have adjourned for four weeks. Perhaps, by a collation of passages and dates, we may reach a probableexplanation. In his letter to "the Ministers in and near Boston, "written in January, 1696, after considering briefly, and in forciblelanguage, the fearful errors from which the Delusion of 1692 had risen, and solemnly reminding them of what they ought to have done to leadtheir people out of such errors, Calef brings their failure to do ithome to them, in these pungent words: "If, instead of this, you havesome by word and writing propagated, and others recommended, suchdoctrines, and abetted the false notions which are so prevalent in thisapostate age, it is high time to consider it. If, when authority foundthemselves almost nonplust in such prosecutions, and sent to you foryour advice what they ought to do, and you have then thanked them forwhat they had already done (and thereby encouraged them to proceed inthose very by-paths already fallen into) it so much the more nearlyconcerns you. _Ezek. _, xxxiii. , 2 to 8. "--_Calef_, 92. 

Looking at this passage, in connection with that quoted just before fromHutchinson, we gather that something had occurred that "nonplust" theCourt--some serious embarrassment, that led to its suddenadjournment--after the condemnation of Bridget Bishop, while many othercases had been fully prepared for trial by the then Attorney-general. Newton, and the parties to be tried had, the day before, been brought toSalem from the jail in Boston, and were ready to be put to the Bar. Whatwas the difficulty? The following may be the solution. 

Brattle informs us, and he was able to speak with confidence, that"Major N. Saltonstall, Esq. , who was one of the Judges, has left theCourt, and is very much dissatisfied with the proceedings ofit. "--_Massachusetts Historical Collections, I. , v. , 75. _

The questions arise; When and why did he leave the Court? The Records ofthe 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 againuntil the middle of February, 1693. The Legislature, in the exercise ofits powers, under the Charter, had, near the close of 1692, establisheda regular Superior Court, consisting of Stoughton, Danforth--who haddisapproved of the proceedings of the Special Court--Richards, WaitWinthrop, and Sewall. It continued, in January, 1693, witchcraft trials;but spectral evidence being wholly rejected, the prosecutions all brokedown; and Stoughton, in consequence, left the Court in disgust. Afterall had been abandoned, and his own course, thereby, vindicated, MajorSaltonstall re-appeared at the Council Board; and was re-elected by thenext House of Representatives. His conduct, therefore, was very markedand significant. In the only way in which he, a country member, couldexpress his convictions, as there were no such facilities, in the pressor otherwise, for public discussions, as we now have, he made thememphatically known; and is worthy of the credit of being the only publicman 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, isexhibited in several cases, it is evident that he was methodical andcareful in official business, but susceptible of strong impressions andconvictions, and had, on a previous occasion manifested an utter want ofconfidence in certain parties, who, it became apparent at the firstSession of the Court, were to figure largely in hearing spectraltestimony, in most of the cases. He had no faith in those persons, andwas thus, we may suppose, led to discredit, wholly, that species oftestimony. 

From his attendance at the Council Board, up to the sixteenth of June, the day when the _Advice of the Ministers_ was probably received, it maybe assumed that he attended also, to that time, the sittings of theCourt; and that when he withdrew from the former, he did also from thelatter. The date indicates that his action, in withdrawing, wasdetermined by the import of the _Advice_. 

If a gentleman of his position and family, a grandson of an originalPatentee, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and sitting as a Judge at the firsttrial, had the independence and manly spirit to express, withoutreserve, his disapprobation of the proceedings, the expression of Calefis explained; and the Court felt the obstacle that was in their way. Hence the immediate adjournment, and the resort to some extraordinaryexpedient, to remove it. 

This may account for the appeal to the Ministers. Great interest musthave been felt in their reply, by all cognizant of the unexpecteddifficulty that had occurred. The document was admirably adapted tothrow dust into the eyes of those who had expressed doubts andmisgivings; but it did not deceive Saltonstall. He saw that it would beregarded by the other Judges, and the public in general, as anencouragement to continue the trials; and that, under the phraseology ofwhat had the aspect of caution, justification would be found for theintroduction, to an extent that would control the trials, of spectralevidence. 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. 

The course of events demonstrates that the _Advice_ was interpreted, byall concerned, as applauding what had been done at the first trial, andearnestly urging that the work, thus begun, should be speedily andvigorously prosecuted. Upon the Ministers, therefore, rests the stigmafor all that followed. 

There may have been, at that time, as there was not long afterward, somedifference of opinion among the Ministers; and the paper may have hadthe character of a compromise--always dangerous and vicious, bringingsome 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 oughtonly to be allowed where it bore upon persons of bad reputation. The_fourth_ Section conciliated his assent to the document. This might havebeen the view of Increase Mather, who, after the trials by the SpecialCourt were over, indicated an opinion, that time for further diligent"search" ought to have been allowed, before proceeding to "the executionof the most capital offenders;" and declared the very excellentsentiment, that "it becomes those of his profession to be very tender inthe shedding of blood. " The expressions, "exceeding tenderness, " in the_fourth_ Section, and "the first inquiry, " in the _fifth_--the latterconveying the idea of repeated investigations with intervals oftime--were well adapted to gain his support of the whole instrument. Ifthey were led to concur in the _Advice_, by such inducements, they weresoon undeceived. "Unblemished reputation" was no protection; and theproceedings at the trials were swift, summary, and conclusive. 

It may be proper, at this point, to inquire what was meant by thepeculiar phraseology of the _third_, _fifth_, _seventh_, and latter partof the _fourth_, Sections. It is difficult, writing as Cotton Matheroften did, and had great skill in doing, in what Calef calls "theambidexter" style, to ascertain his ideas. After the reaction had takeneffect in the public mind, and he was put upon the defensive, he hadmuch to say about some difference between him and the Judges. It clearlyhad nothing to do with the "admission" of spectral evidence; for thatwas the point on which the opinion of the Ministers was asked, and onwhich he voluntarily proffered remarks in his letter to one of theJudges, Richards. If he had been opposed to its "admission, " nothingwould have been easier, safer, or more demanded by the truth and his ownhonor, than for him to have said so. Indeed, his writings everywhereshow that he was almost a _one idea_ man, on the subject of spectres;and, in some way or form, deemed their evidence indispensable andreliable. He, evidently, had some favorite plan or scheme, as to themethod in which that kind of evidence was to be handled; and it wasbecause he could not get it carried into effect, and for this reasonalone, so far as we can discover, that he disapproved of the methodsactually pursued by the Court. He never disclosed his plan, but shrunkfrom explaining it at length, "as too Icarian and presumptuous" a taskfor him to undertake. Let us see if we can glean his ideas from hiswritings. 

I call attention, in the first place, to the following clause, in hisletter to Richards: "If, upon the bare supposal of a poor creature'sbeing represented by a spectre, too great a progress be made by theauthority, in ruining a poor neighbour so represented, it may be that adoor may be thereby opened for the Devils to obtain from the Courts, inthe invisible world, a license to proceed unto most hideous desolationsupon the repute and repose of such as have been kept from the greattransgression. "

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

We gather other intimations, to this effect, from other passages, asfollows: "Now, in my visiting of the miserable, I was always of thisopinion, that we were ignorant of what power the Devils might have, todo their mischiefs in the shapes of some that had never been explicitlyengaged in diabolical confederacies, and that therefore, though manywitchcrafts had been fairly detected on enquiries provoked and begun byspectral exhibitions, yet we could not easily be too jealous of thesnares laid for us in the device of Satan. The world knows how manypages I have composed and published, and particular gentlemen in theGovernment know how many letters I have written, to prevent theexcessive credit of spectral accusations; wherefore I have still chargedthe afflicted that they should cry out of nobody for afflicting them;but that, if this might be any advantage, they might privately telltheir minds to some one person of discretion enough to make no ill useof their communications; accordingly there has been this effect of it, that the name of no one good person in the world ever came under anyblemish by means of an afflicted person that fell under my particularcognizance; 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 lookafter them. How often have I had this thrown into my dish, 'that manyyears ago I had an opportunity to have brought forth such people ashave, in the late storm of witchcraft, been complained of, but that Ismothered it all'; and after that storm was raised at Salem, I didmyself offer to provide meat, drink, and lodging for no less than six ofthe afflicted, that so an experiment might be made, whether prayer, withfasting, upon the removal of the distressed, might not put a period tothe trouble then rising, without giving the civil authority the troubleof prosecuting those things, which nothing but a conscientious regardunto the cries of miserable families could have overcome the reluctanceof the honorable Judges to meddle with. In short, I do humbly but freelyaffirm it, there is not a man living in this world who has been moredesirous, than the poor man I, to shelter my neighbors from theinconveniences of spectral outcries; yea, I am very jealous I have doneso much that way, as to sin in what I have done; such have been thecowardice and fearfulness where unto my regard to the dissatisfaction ofother people has precipitated me. I know a man in the world, who hasthought 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 trywhether he could not renew them by repentance. "--_Calef_, 11. 

The careful reader will notice that "six of the afflicted, " at SalemVillage, would have included nearly the whole circle of the accusinggirls there. If he had been allowed to take them into his exclusivekeeping, he would have had the whole thing in his own hands. 

In his account of "the afflictions of Margaret Rule, " printed by Calef, in his book, and from which the foregoing extracts have been madespeaking of the "eight cursed spectres" with which she was assaulted, inthe fall of 1693, Mather says: "She was very careful of my reiteratedcharges, _to forbear blazing their names_, lest any good person shouldcome to suffer any blast of reputation, through the cunning malice ofthe great accuser; nevertheless, having since privately named them tomyself, I will venture to say this of them, that they are a sort ofwretches who, for these many years, have gone under as violentpresumptions of witchcraft as, perhaps, any creatures yet living uponearth; although I am far from thinking that the visions of this youngwoman were evidence enough to prove them so. "--_Calef_, 4. 

The following is from his _Wonders of the Invisible World_, 12: "If oncea witch do ingeniously confess among us, no more spectres do, in theirshapes, after this, trouble the vicinage; if any guilty creatures willaccordingly, to so good purpose, confess their crime to any Minister ofGod, and get out of the snare of the Devil, as no Minister will discoversuch a conscientious confession, so, I believe, none in the authoritywill press him to discover it, but rejoice in a soul saved from death. "

In his _Life of Phips_, he says: "In fine, the country was in a dreadfulferment, and wise men foresaw a long train of dismal and bloodyconsequences. Hereupon they first advised, that the _afflicted_ might bekept asunder, in the closest privacy; and one particular person (whom Ihave cause to know), in pursuance of this advice, offered himself singlyto provide accommodations for any six of them, that so the success ofmore than ordinary prayer, with fasting, might, with patience, beexperienced, before any other courses were taken. "--_Magnalia_, BookII. , p. 62. 

Hutchinson gives an extract from a letter, written by John Allyn, Secretary of Connecticut, dated, "HARTFORD, March 18, 1693, " to IncreaseMather, as follows: "As to what you mention, concerning that poorcreature in your town that is afflicted, and mentioned my name toyourself and son, I return you hearty thanks for your intimation aboutit, and for your charity therein mentioned; and I have great cause tobless God, who, of his mercy hitherto, hath not left me to fall intosuch an horrid evil. "--_History_, ii. , 61, note. 

Further, it was on account of some particular plan, in reference to themanagement of this description of evidence, I am inclined to think, thathe felt the importance of being present at the trials. For this reason, he laments the illness that prevented his accompanying Richards to theCourt, at its opening, on the second of June, to "assist the nobleservice, " as he says, "with the utmost of my little skill and care. "

This language shows conclusively, by the way, the great influence hehad, at that time, in directing the Government, particularly the Court. He would not have addressed one of the Judges, in such terms, had he notfelt that his "skill and care" would be recognized and permitted to takeeffect. We may well lament, with him, that he could not have beenpresent at the first trial. It would not, then, have been left toconjecture and scrutiny, to determine what his plan was; and an openattempt, to bring the Court to adopt it, might have given another turnto affairs. 

In his Diary, on the twenty-ninth of April, is the following: "This dayI obtained help of God, that he would make use of me, as of a John, tobe a herald of the Lord's Kingdom, now approaching. " "My prayers didespecially insist upon the horrible enchantments and possessions, brokeforth in Salem Village, things of a most prodigious aspect, a good issueto those things, and my own direction and protection thereabouts, I didespecially petition for. "

The date of this entry is important. On the eleventh, nineteenth, andtwenty second of April, impressive scenes had been exhibited at SalemVillage. Some of the most conspicuous cases of the preliminaryexaminations of persons arrested had occurred. The necessary steps werethen being taken to follow up those examinations with a procedure thatwould excite the country to the highest pitch. The arrangements, keptconcealed at Salem, and unsuspected by the public at large, were madeand perfected in Boston. On the day after the date of the foregoingmemorandum, a Magistrate in that place issued the proper order for thearrest of the Rev. George Burroughs; and officers were started expressto Maine for that purpose. This was "the most prodigious aspect ofaffairs" at the time. All the circumstances must have been known byMather. Hence his earnest solicitude that proceedings should beconducted under his own "direction and protection. " The use of theseterms, looks as if Mather contemplated the preliminary examinations asto take place under his direction and management, and will be borne inmind, when we come to consider the question of his having been, more orless, present at them. 

Disposed to take the most favorable and charitable view of such passagesas have now been presented, I would gather from them that his mind mayhave recurred to his original and favorite idea, that prayer and fastingwere 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 tohave the afflicted and the accused placed under the treatment of someone person, of discretion enough to make no ill use of theircommunications, to whom "they might privately tell their minds, " andwho, without "noise, company and openness, " could keep, under his owncontrol, the dread secrets of the former and exorcise the latter. He waswilling, and desirous, of occupying this position himself, and of takingits responsibility. To signify this, he offered to provide "meat, drink, and lodging" for six of the afflicted children; to keep them "asunder inthe closest privacy;" to be the recipient of their visions; and then tolook after the accused, for the purpose of inducing them to confess andbreak loose from their league with Satan; to be exempt, except when hethought proper to do it, from giving testimony in Court, against partiesaccused; 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 sufficientfor "sheltering" them, altogether, by keeping the accusation a profoundsecret in his own breast, as he acknowledges he had done to aconsiderable extent--at once claiming and confessing that he had "doneso much that way, as to sin in what he had done. "

In language that indicates a correspondence and familiarity ofintercourse with persons, acting on the spot, at Salem Village, such asauthorized him to speak for them, he gives us to understand that theyconcurred with him in his proposed method of treating the cases: "Thereare very worthy men, who, having, been called by God, when and wherethis witchcraft first appeared upon the stage, to encounter it, areearnestly desirous to have it sifted unto the bottom of it. " "Persons, thus disposed, have been men eminent for wisdom and virtue. " "They wouldgladly contrive and receive an expedient, how the shedding of blood mightbe 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 donot know but Satan by his wiles may have enwrapt some innocent persons;and therefore should earnestly and humbly desire the most criticalinquiry, upon the place, to find out the fallacy. "--_Wonders_, 11. 

Indeed, Parris and his coadjutors, at Salem Village, to whom thesepassages refer, had, without authority, been, all along, exercising thefunctions Mather desired to have bestowed upon him, by authority. Theyhad kept a controlling communication with the "afflicted children;"determined who were to be cried out publicly against, and when; rebukedand repressed the calling out, by name, of the Rev. Samuel Willard andmany other persons, of both sexes, of "quality, " in Boston; and arrangedand managed matters, generally. 

The conjecture I have ventured to make, as to Mather's plan ofprocedure, explains, as the reader will perceive, by turning back to theMinister's _Advice_, [_Pages 21, 22, ante_] much of the phraseology ofthat curious document. "Very critical and exquisite caution, " in the_third_ Section; "that all proceedings thereabout be managed with anexceeding tenderness towards those that may be complained of, " in the_fourth_; "we could wish that there may be admitted as little aspossible of such noise, company and openness, as may too hastily exposethem that are examined, " in the _fifth_; and the entire _seventh_Section, expressly authorize the suppression, disregard, and_disbelief_, of _some_ of the Devil's accusations, on the grounds ofexpediency and public policy. 

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

The fallacy of his ideas and the impracticability of his scheme must, indeed, have become evident, at the first moment it was brought underconsideration. Inexperienced and blinded, as they were, by the delusionsof the time and the excitements of the scene, and disposed, as they musthave been, by all considerations, to comply with his wishes, the Judgeshad sense enough left to see that it would never do to take the coursehe 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 aCourt; pass the accusers and accused over to his hands; and adjourn towait his call. If the spectre evidence had been excluded from the"noise, confusion and openness" of the public Court-room, there wouldhave been nothing left to go upon. If it had been admitted, under anyconditions or limitations, merely to disclose matter of "presumption, " afatal difficulty would meet the first step of the enquiry. To thequestion, "Who hurts you?" no answer could be allowed to be given; andthe "_Minister_, " to whom the witness had confidentially given the namesof persons whose spectres had tormented her, sitting, perhaps, in theCourt-room at the time, would have to countenance the suppression of theevidence, and not be liable to be called to the stand to divulge hisknowledge. 

The attempt to leave the accusers and the accused to be treated by theMinister selected for the purpose, in secure privacy, would havedissolved the Court before it had begun; and if this was what Mathermeant when, afterwards, at any time, he endeavored to throw off theresponsibility of the proceedings, by intimating that his profferedsuggestions and services were disregarded, his complaint was mostunreasonable. The truth is, the proposal was wholly inadmissible, andcould not have been carried into effect. 

Besides, it would have overthrown the whole system of organized society, and given to whomsoever the management of the cases had thus, for thetime, been relinquished, a power too fearful to be thought of, as lodgedin one man, or in any private person. If he, or any other person, hadbeen allowed by the Court to assume such an office, and had been knownto hold, in secret custody, the accusing parties, receiving theirconfidential communications, to act upon them as he saw fit--shelteringsome from prosecution and returning others to be proceeded against bythe Court, which would be equivalent to a conviction and execution--itwould have inaugurated a reign of terror, such as had not even then beenapproached, and which no community could bear. Every man and woman wouldhave felt in the extremest peril, hanging upon the will of anirresponsible arbiter of life and death. 

Parris and his associates, acting without authority and in a limitedsphere, had tried this experiment; had spread abroad, terror, havoc, andruin; and incensed the surrounding region with a madness it tookgenerations to allay. 

To have thought, for a moment, that it was desirable to be invested withsuch a power, "by the authority, " shows how ignorant Cotton Mather wasof human nature. However innocent, upright, or benevolent might be itsexercise, he would have been assailed by animosities of the deepest, andapproaches of the basest, kind. A hatred and a sycophancy, such as noPriest, Pope, or despot before, had encountered, would have been broughtagainst him. He would have been assailed by the temptation, and aspersedby the imputation, of "Hush money, " from all quarters; and, ultimately, the whole country would have risen against what would have been regardedas a universal levy of "Black Mail. " Whoever, at any time, in anycountry, should undertake such an office as this, would be, in the end, the victim of the outraged sensibilities and passions of humanity. Howlong could it be endured, any where, if all men were liable to receive, from one authorized and enabled to determine their fate, such a missiveas the Mathers addressed to the Secretary of Connecticut, and, at thebest, to be beholden, as he felt himself to be, to the "charity" thatmight prevent their being exposed and prosecuted to the ruin of theirreputation, if not to an ignominious death?

Calef, alluding to Mather's pretensions to having been actuated by"exceeding tenderness towards persons complained of, " expresses thesentiments all would feel, in such a condition of dependence upon the"charity" of one, armed with such fatal power over them: "These are someof the destructive notions of this age; and however the asserters ofthem seem sometimes to value themselves much upon sheltering theirneighbors from spectral accusations, they may deserve as much thanks asthat Tyrant, that having industriously obtained an unintelligible chargeagainst his subjects, in matters wherein it was impossible they shouldbe guilty, having thereby their lives in his power, yet suffers them ofhis mere grace to live, and will be called gracious Lord!"--_Preface. _

The mere suspicion that some persons were behind the scene, exercisingthis power of pointing out some for prosecution and sheltering some fromtrial or arrest, produced, as Phips says, "a strange ferment ofdissatisfaction, " threatening to kindle "an inextinguishable flame. "Brattle complained of it bitterly: "This occasions much discourse andmany hot words, and is a very great scandal and stumbling block to manygood people; certainly distributive justice should have its course, without respect to persons; and, although the said Mrs. Thatcher bemother-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 accountof the afflicted their complaints, I cannot see how, without injusticeand violence to conscience, Mrs. Thatcher can escape, when it is wellknown how much she is, and has been, complained of. "--Letter datedOctober 8th, 1692, in the _Massachusetts Historical Society'sCollections_, I. , v. , 69. 

Hezekial Usher, an eminent citizen of Boston, was arrested by JosephLynde, one of the Council, but suffered to remain, "for above afortnight, " in a private house, and afterwards to leave the Province. Brattle "cannot but admire" at this, and says: "Methinks that samejustice, that actually imprisoned others, and refused bail for them, onany terms, should not be satisfied without actually imprisoning Mr. U. , and refusing bail for him, when his case is known to be the very samewith the case of those others. "

Brattle was a friend of Usher, and believed him innocent, yet wasindignant that such barefaced partiality should be shown in judicialproceedings. The establishment of a regular systematized plan, committedto any individual, for sheltering some, while others would be handedback for punishment, would have been unendurable. 

As it was, Mather exposed himself to much odium, because it wasunderstood that he was practising, on his own responsibility andprivately, upon the plan he wished the Judges to adopt, as a principleand method of procedure, in all the trials. He says: "It may be, no manliving ever had more people, under preternatural and astonishingcircumstances, cast by the providence of God into his more particularcare than I have had. "

Of course, those persons would be most obnoxious to ill-feeling in thecommunity, who were known, as he says of himself, in the foregoingsentence, to have most intimacy with, and influence over, the accusers. For this reason, Cotton Mather was the special object of resentment. Nowonder that he sometimes bewails, and sometimes berates, the storm ofangry passions raging around. A very bitter feeling pervaded thecountry, grounded on the conviction that there was "a respect topersons, " and a connivance, in behalf of some, by those managing theaffair. The public was shocked by having such persons as the Rev. SamuelWillard, Mrs. Hale of Beverly, and the Lady of the Governor, cried outupon by the "afflicted children;" and the commotion was heightened by across-current of indignant enquiries: "Why, as these persons areaccused, are they not arrested and imprisoned?"

Mather alludes, in frequent passages, to this angry state of feeling, asthe following: "It is by our quarrels that we spoil our prayers; and ifour humble, zealous, and united prayers are once hindered! Alas, thePhilistines 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 area little transported, when they conceive all the secular interests ofthemselves and their families at stake, and yet, at the sight of theseheart-burnings, I cannot forbear the exclamation of the sweet-spiritedAustin, in his pacificatory epistle to Jerom, on the contest withRuffin, '_O misera et miseranda conditio!_'"--_Wonders_, 11. 

There was another evil to which he exposed himself by seeking to havesuch frequent, private, and confidential intercourse with the afflictedaccusers and confessing witches, who professed to have so often seen, associated with, and suffered from, spectral images of the Devil'sconfederates; 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 totell against Mr. Parris, helping effectually to remove him from theministry at Salem Village. _Leviticus_, xx. , 6. "And the soul thatturneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go awhoring after them, I will set my face against that soul, and will cuthim off from among his people. " _1 Chronicles_, x. , 13. "So Saul diedfor his transgression, which he committed against the Lord, evenagainst the word of the Lord, which he kept not; and also, for askingcounsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it, andinquired not of the Lord, therefore he slew him. "

For having so much to do with persons professing to suffer from, andfrom others confessing to have committed, the sin of witchcraft, Matherbecame the object of a scathing rebuke in the letter of Brattle, in apassage I shall quote, in another connection. 

Such, then, so far as I can gather, was Cotton Mather's plan for themanagement of witchcraft investigations; such its impracticability; andsuch the dangerous and injurious consequences to himself, of attemptingto put it into practice. He never fully divulged it; but, in the_Advice_ of the Ministers and various other writings, endeavored to pavethe way for it. All the expressions, in that document and elsewhere, which have deceived the Reviewer and others into the notion that he wasopposed to the admission of spectre evidence, at the trials, were usedas arguments to persuade "authority" not to receive that species ofevidence, in open Court, but to refer it to him, in the first instance, to be managed by him with exquisite caution and discretion, and, therebyavoid inconveniences and promote good results; and when he could notsubdue the difficulties of the case, to deliver back the obdurate andunrepentant, to the Court, to be proceeded against in the ordinarycourse of law. With this view, he has much to say that indicates atender regard to the prisoners. It is true that the scheme, if adopted, would have given him absolute power over the community, and, for thisreason, may have had attraction. But, I doubt not, that he cherished itfrom benevolent feelings also. He thought that he might, in that way, dogreat good. But it could not be carried into effect. It was seen, atonce, by all men, who had any sense left, to be utterly impracticable, and had to be abandoned. That being settled and disposed of, he wentinto the prosecutions without misgivings, earnestly and vehementlysustaining the Court, in all things, spectre evidence included, asremains to be shown. 

VIII. 

COTTON MATHER AND SPECTRAL EVIDENCE. 

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

In his _Life of Phips_, written in 1697, and constituting the concludingpart of the Second Book of the _Magnalia_, he gives a general account ofwhat had transpired, in the preliminary examinations at Salem, beforethe arrival of Sir William, at Boston. In it, he spreads out, withconsiderable fullness, what had been brought before the Magistrates, consisting mainly of spectral testimony; and narrates the appearancesand doings of spectres assaulting the "afflicted children, " not as merematters 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 beconsidered as endorsing the spectral evidence. Speaking of the examiningMagistrates, and saying that it is "now, " that is, in 1697, "generallythought they went out of the way, " he expresses himself as follows: "Theafflicted people vehemently accused several persons, in several places, that the _spectres_ which afflicted them, did exactly resemble _them_;until the importunity of the accusations did provoke the Magistrates toexamine them. When many of the accused came upon their examination, itwas found, that the demons, then a thousand ways abusing of the poorafflicted people, had with a marvellous exactness represented them; yea, it was found that many of the accused, but casting their eye upon theafflicted, the afflicted, though their faces were never so much anotherway, would fall down and lie in a sort of a swoon, wherein they wouldcontinue, whatever hands were laid upon them, until the hands of theaccused came to touch them, and then they would revive immediately: andit was found, that various kinds of natural actions, done by many of theaccused in or to their own bodies, as leaning, bending, turning awry, orsqueezing their hands, or the like, were presently attended with thelike things preternaturally done upon the bodies of the afflicted, though they were so far asunder, that the afflicted could not at allobserve the accused. "--_Magnalia_, Book II. , p. 61. 

Indeed, throughout his account of the appearances and occurrences, atthe examinations before the committing Magistrates, it must be allowedthat he exposed a decided bias, in his own mind, to the belief andreception of the spectral evidence. He commences that account in thesewords: "Some scores of people, first about Salem, the centre andfirst-born of all the towns in the Colony, and afterwards in severalother places, were arrested with many preternatural vexations upon theirbodies, and a variety of cruel torments, which were evidently inflictedfrom the demons of the invisible world. The people that were infectedand infested with such Demons, in a few days time, arrived at such arefining alteration upon their eyes, that they could see theirtormentors; they saw a Devil of a little stature and of a tawny color, attended still with spectres that appeared in more humancircumstances. "--_Page 60. _

And he concludes it as follows: "Flashy people may burlesque thesethings, but when hundreds of the most sober people in a country, wherethey have as much mother-wit certainly as the rest of mankind, know themto be _true_, nothing but the absurd and froward spirit of Sadduceeismcan question them. I have not yet mentioned so much as one thing, thatwill not be justified, if it be required, by the oaths of moreconsiderate persons, than any that can ridicule these oddphenomena. "--_Page 61. _

When he comes to the conclusion of the affair, and mentions the generalpardon of the convicted and accused, he says: "there fell out severalstrange things that caused the spirit of the country to run asvehemently upon the acquitting of all the accused, as it had, bymistake, ran at first upon the condemning of them. " "In fine, the lastCourts that sate upon this thorny business, finding that it wasimpossible to penetrate into the whole meaning of the things that hadhappened, and that so many unsearchable cheats were interwoven into theconclusion of a mysterious business, which perhaps had not creptthereinto at the beginning of it, they cleared the accused as fast asthey tried them. " But, even then, Mather could not wholly disengage hismind from the "mistake. " "More than twice twenty, " he says, inconnection with the fact that the confessions had been receded from, "had made such voluntary, and harmonious, and uncontrollableconfessions, that if they were all sham, there was therein the greatestviolation, made by the efficacy of the invisible world, upon the rulesof understanding human affairs, that was ever seen since God made manupon the earth. "

In this same work he presents, in condensed shape, the views of theadvocates and of the opponents of spectral testimony, without strikingthe balance between them or avowedly taking sides with either, althoughit may fairly be observed that the weight he puts into the scale of theformer is quite preponderating. From incidental expressions, too, itmight be inferred that he was to be classed with the former, as heascribes to them some "philosophical schemes, " in explanation of thephenomena of witchcraft, that look like his notion of the "Plasticspirit of the world. " Another incidental remark seems to point toIncrease Mather, as to be classed with the latter, as follows: "Thoughagainst some of them that were tried, there came in so much otherevidence of their diabolical compacts, that some of the most judicious, and yet vehement, opposers of the notions then in vogue, publiclydeclared, _Had they themselves been on the Bench, they could not haveacquitted them_; nevertheless, divers were condemned, against whom thechief evidence was founded in the spectral exhibitions. "

Increase Mather, in the Postscript to his _Cases of Conscience_, says:"I am glad that there is published to the World (by my Son) a _Breviateof the Tryals_ of some who were lately executed, whereby I hope thethinking part of Mankind will be satisfied, that there was more thanthat which is called _Spectre Evidence_ for the Conviction of thePersons condemned. I was not my self present at any of the Tryals, excepting one, _viz. _ that of _George Burroughs_; had I been one of hisJudges, I could not have acquitted him: For several Persons did uponOath testifie, that they saw him do such things as no Man that has not aDevil to be his Familiar could perform. "

It is observable that Increase Mather does not express or intimate, inthis passage, any objection to the introduction of spectral evidence. When we come to consider Cotton Mather's _Breviate_ of the trial ofGeorge Burroughs, we shall see how slight and inadequate was whatIncrease Mather could have heard, _at the Trial_, to prove thatBurroughs had exhibited strength which the Devil only could havesupplied. The most trivial and impertinent matter was all that wasneeded, to be added to spectral testimony, to give it fatal effect. Thevalue, by the way, of Increase Mather's averment, that "more than thatwhich is called Spectre Evidence" was adduced against the personsconvicted, is somewhat impaired by the admission of Cotton Mather, justbefore quoted, that "divers were condemned, " against whom it was the"chief evidence. "

In stating the objection, by some, to the admission of spectralevidence, on the ground that the Devil might assume the shape of aninnocent person, and if that person was held answerable for the actionsof that spectral appearance, it would be in the power of the Devil toconvict and destroy any number of innocent and righteous people, andthereby "subvert Government and disband and ruin human society, " CottonMather gets over the difficulty thus: "And yet God may sometimes suffersuch things to evene, that we may know, thereby, how much we arebeholden to him, for that restraint which he lays upon the infernalspirits, who would else reduce a world into a chaos. "

This is a striking instance of the way in which words may be made, notonly to cover, but to transform, ideas. A reverent form of languageconceals an irreverent conception. The thought is too shocking for plainutterance; but, dressed in the garb of ingenious phraseology, it assumesan aspect that enables it to pass as a devout acknowledgment of a divinemystery. The real meaning, absurd as it is dreadful, to state or think, is that the Heavenly Father sometimes may, not merely permit, but will, the lies of the Devil to mislead tribunals of justice to the shedding ofthe blood of the righteous, that he may, thereby show how we arebeholden to Him, that a like outrage and destruction does not happen tous all. He allows the Devil, by false testimony, to bring about theperpetration of the most horrible wrong. It is a part of the "RectoralRighteousness of God, " that it should be so. What if the Courts do admitthe testimony of the Devil in the appearance of a spectre, and, on itsstrength, consign to death the innocent? It is the will of God, that itshould be so. Let that will be done. 

But however the sentiment deserves to be characterized, it removes theonly ground upon which, in that day, spectral evidence was objectedto--namely, that it might endanger the innocent. If such was the will ofGod, the objectors were silenced. 

In concluding the examination of the question whether Cotton Matherdenounced, or countenanced, the admission of spectral testimony--forthat is the issue before us--I feel confident that it has been madeapparent, that it was not in reference to the _admission_ of suchtestimony, that he objected to the "principles that some of the Judgeshad espoused, " but to the method in which it should be _handled_ and_managed_. I deny, utterly, that it can be shown that he opposed its_admission_. In none of his public writings did he ever pretend to this. The utmost upon which he ventured, driven to the defensive on this verypoint, as he was during all the rest of his days, was to say that he wasopposed to its "excessive use. " Once, indeed, in his private Diary, under that self-delusion which often led him to be blind to the importof his language, contradicting, in one part, what he had said in anotherpart of the same sentence, evidently, as I believe, without anyconscious and intentional violation of truth, he makes this statement:"For my own part, I was always afraid of proceeding to convict andcondemn any person, as a confederate with afflicting Demons, upon sofeeble an evidence as a spectral representation. Accordingly, I everprotested against it, both publicly and privately; and, in my letter tothe Judges, I particularly besought them that they would, by no means, admit it; and when a considerable assembly of Ministers gave in theiradvice about that matter, I not only concurred with them, but it was Iwho drew it up. "

This shows how he indulged himself in forms of expression that misledhim. His letter to "the Judges" means, I suppose, that written toRichards; and he had so accustomed his mind to the attempt to make the_Advice_ of the Ministers bear this construction, as to deceivehimself. That document does not say a word, much less, protest, againstthe "admission" of that evidence: it was not designed, and was notunderstood by any, at the time, to have that bearing, but only to urgesuggestions of caution, in its use and management. Charity to himrequires us to receive his declaration in the Diary as subject to themodifications he himself connects with it, and to mean no more than wefind expressed in the letter to Richards and in the _Advice_. But, if hereally had deluded himself into the idea that he had protested againstthe _admission_ of spectral evidence, he has not succeeded, probably, indeluding any other persons than his son Samuel, who repeated thelanguage of the Diary, and our Reviewer. 

The question, I finally repeat, is as to the admission of that speciesof evidence, _at all_, in any stage, in any form, to any extent. CottonMather never, in any public writing, "denounced the admission" of it, never advised its absolute exclusion; but, on the contrary recognised itas a ground of "presumption. " Increase Mather stated that the "Devil'saccusations, " which he considered spectral evidence really to be, "maybe 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 theirfoundation in the public record of that day. There is no reason to doubtthat all the Ministers, in the early stages of the delusion, concurredin these views. All partook of the "awe, " mentioned by Mather, whichfilled the minds of Juries, Judges, and the people, whenever this kindof 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, commonsense, 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 horribleconsequences continued. When it was wholly excluded, the reign of terrorand of death ceased. 

IX. 

COTTON MATHER AND THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS. JOHN PROCTOR. GEORGEBURROUGHS. 

The spectral evidence was admitted; and the examinations and trials wenton. The question now arises, what was Cotton Mather's attitude towardsthem? The scrutiny as to the meaning of his words is exhausted; and nowwe are to interpret his actions. They speak louder and clearer thanwords. Let us, in the first place, make the proper distinction betweenthe Examinations, on the arrest of the prisoners and leading to theircommitment, and the Trials. The first Warrants were issued on thetwenty-ninth of February, 1692; and the parties arrested were broughtbefore 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 theSpecial Court was in operation. They were, in some respects, moreimportant than the Trials. Almost all the evidence, finally adducedbefore the Jury, was taken by the examining Magistrates; and beingmostly in the form of carefully written depositions, it was simplyreproduced, and sworn to, before the Court. Further, as no Counsel wasallowed the Prisoners, the Trials were quite summary affairs. Hutchinsonsays, no difficulty was experienced; and the results were quicklyreached, in every case but that of Rebecca Nurse. 

These two stages in the proceedings became confounded in the publicapprehension, 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 greatexcitement through the country, which met Phips on his arrival; andwhich is so graphically described by Cotton Mather, as a "dreadfulferment. " He says he was not present at any of the Trials. Was hepresent at any of the Examinations? The considerations that belong tothe solution of this question are the following:

When the special interest he must have taken in them is brought to mind, from the turn of his prevalent thoughts and speculations, exhibited inall his writings, and from the propensity he ever manifested to puthimself in a position to observe and study such things, it may besupposed he would not have foregone opportunities like those presentedin the scenes before the Magistrates. While all other people, Ministersespecially, were flocking to them, it is difficult to conclude that heheld back. That he attended some of them is, perhaps, to be inferredfrom the distinctive character of his language that he never attended a_Trial_. The description given, in his _Life of Phips_, of what wasexhibited and declared by the "afflicted children, " at the Examinations, exhibits a minuteness and vividness, seeming to have come from aneye-witness; but there is not a particular word or syllable, I think, inthe account, from which an inference, either way, can be drawn whether, or not, he was present at them, personally. This is observable, Irepeat, inasmuch as he was careful to say that he was _not_ present atthe _Trials_. 

The Examinations, being of a character to arrest universal attention, and from the extraordinary nature of their incidents, as viewed by thatgeneration, having attractions, all but irresistible, it is notsurprising that, as incidentally appears, Magistrates and Ministers cameto them, from all quarters. No local occurrences, in the history ofthis country, ever awakened such a deep, awe-inspiring, and amazedinterest. It can hardly be doubted that he was attracted to them. Canany other inference be drawn from the passage already quoted, from hisDiary, that he felt called, "as a herald of the Lord's Kingdom, nowapproaching, " to give personal attendance, in "the horrible enchantmentsand possessions broke forth at Salem Village?" There was a largeconcourse of Magistrates and Ministers, particularly, on thetwenty-fourth of March, when Deodat Lawson preached his famous Sermon, after the Examination of Rebecca Nurse; on the eleventh of April, whenthe Governor and Council themselves conducted the Examination of JohnProctor and others; and, on the ninth of May, when Stoughton, fromDorchester, and Sewall, from Boston, sat with the local Magistrates, andthe Rev. George Burroughs was brought before them. It is strange, indeed, if Mather was not present, especially on the last occasion; andit may appear, as we advance, that it is almost due to his reputation tosuppose that he was there, and thus became qualified and authorized topass the judgment he afterwards did. 

Local tradition, of less value, in some respects, for reasons given inmy book, in reference to this affair than most others, but still of muchweight, has identified Cotton Mather with these scenes. The family, ofwhich John Proctor was the head, has continued to this day in theoccupancy of his lands. Always respectable in their social position, they have perpetuated his marked traits of intellect and character. Theyhave been strong men, as the phrase is, in their day, of eachgeneration; and have constantly cherished in honor the memory of theirnoble progenitor, who bravely breasted, in defence of his wife, thefierce fanaticism of his age, and fell a victim to its fury and his ownmanly fidelity and integrity. They have preserved, as much as anyfamily, a knowledge of the great tragedy; and it has been a traditionamong them that Cotton Mather took an active part in the prosecution ofProctor. The representative of the family, in our day, a man of vigorousfaculties, of liberal education, academical and legal, and muchinterested in antiquarian and genealogical enquiries, John W. Proctor, presided at the Centennial Celebration, in Danvers, on the fifteenth ofJune, 1852; and in his Address, expressed, no doubt, a transmittedsentiment--although, as has generally been done, confounding theExaminations with the Trials--in stating that Cotton Mather renderedhimself conspicuous in the proceedings against his ancestor. 

Cotton Mather was the leading champion of the Judges. In his Diary, hesays: "I saw, in most of the Judges, a most charming instance ofprudence and patience; and I know the exemplary prayer and anguish ofsoul, wherewith they had sought the direction of heaven, above mostother people; whom I generally saw enchanted into a raging, railing, scandalous and unreasonable disposition, as the distress increased uponus. For this cause, _though I could not allow the principles that someof the Judges had espoused_, yet I could not but speak honorably oftheir persons, on all occasions; and my compassion upon the sight oftheir difficulties, raised by _my journeys to Salem_, the chief seat ofthose diabolical vexations, caused me yet more to do so. "

How, as he had not been present at any of the Trials, could he havegiven 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 oneway in which his statements can be reconciled. Five of the eight Judges(Saltonstall's seat being vacant) Stoughton, Sewall, Gedney, Corwin andHathorne, severally, at different times, sat as Magistrates, at theExaminations, which occasions were accompanied with vexations andperplexities, calling for prudence and patience, much more than theTrials. It is due, therefore, to Mather to suppose that he hadfrequented the Examinations, and, thus acquired a right to speak of thedeportment of the Judges, "upon the _sight_ of their difficulties. "

Much of the evidence given by the "afflicted children, " at theExaminations, can hardly be accounted for except as drawn from ideassuggested by Mather, on the spot, so as to reach their ears. In thetestimony of Susannah Sheldon, against John Willard, on the ninth ofMay, is the following singular statement: "There appeared to me aShining White man. " She represents it as a good and friendly angel, orspirit, accompanied by another "angel from Heaven, " protecting heragainst the spectre of John Willard. 

Prefixed to the London Edition of the _Cases of Conscience_, printed in1862, is a narrative, by Deodat Lawson, of some remarkable things he sawand heard, connected with the witchcraft transactions at Salem Village. In it, is the following statement: "The first of April, Mercy Lewis sawin her fit, a white man, and was with him in a glorious place, which hadno candles nor sun, yet was full of light and brightness; where was agreat multitude in white glittering robes; and they sung the Song in_Revelation_, v. , 9, and the one hundred and tenth Psalm, and the onehundred and forty-ninth Psalm; and said with herself, 'How long shall Istay 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 appearedseveral times to some of them, and given them notice how long it shouldbe before they had another fit, which was, some times, a day, or dayand half, or more or less. It hath fallen out accordingly. "

In the case of Margaret Rule, in Boston, the year after the SalemDelusion, of which it is not to be questioned that Mather had themanagement, this same "_White_" Spirit is made to figure; and also, inanother instance. Mather alludes to the "glorious and signal deliveranceof 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, butalso in the Salem Witchcraft, the enchanted people have talked much of aWhite Spirit, from whence they received marvellous assistances in theirmiseries. What lately befell Mercy Short, from the communications ofsuch a Spirit, hath been the just wonder of us all; but by such a Spiritwas Margaret Rule now also visited. She says that she could never seehis face; but that she had a frequent view of his bright, shining andglorious garments; he stood by her bed-side, continually, heartening andcomforting her, and counselling her to maintain her faith and hope inGod, and never comply with the temptations of her adversaries. "--_Calef_, 3, 8. 

This appearance of the "White and Shining, " Spirit, or "White Angel, "exercising a good and friendly influence, was entirely out of the lineof ordinary spectral manifestations; constituted a speciality in thecases mentioned; and seems to have originated in the same source. Letit, then, be considered that Cotton Mather's favorite precedent, which wasurged upon Sir William Phips, and which Mather brought to the notice ofRichards, and was so fond of citing in his writings, had a "White Angel. "In his account of the "most horrid outrage, committed in Sweedland byDevils, by the help of witches, " we find the following: "Some of thechildren 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 thingswould not last long; but that what had been done was permitted for thewickedness of the people. This White Angel would sometimes rescue thechildren, from going in with the witches. "--_Wonders_, 50. 

Mr. Hale also notices this feature of the Salem Trials--that thewitnesses swore to "representations of heavenly beauty, white men. "

Mather brought the story of this witchcraft "in Sweedland, " before thepublic, in America; he had the book that contained it; and was activein giving it circulation. There can be little doubt that he was thechannel through which it found its way to the girls in the hamlet ofSalem Village. He was, it is evident, intimate with Parris. How far thelatter received his ideas from him, is, _as yet_, unknown. That theywere involved in the same responsibility is clear from the fact thatParris fell back upon him for protection, and relied upon him, as hischampion, throughout his controversy with his people, occasioned by thewitchcraft transactions. 

When these considerations are duly weighed, in connection with hislanguage in the passage of his Diary, just quoted--"I saw a mostcharming instance of prudence and patience" in the Judges: "Mycompassion upon the sight of their difficulties, " "raised by my journeysto Salem, the chief seat of those diabolical vexations"--it seemsnecessary to infer, that his opportunities of _seeing_ all this, on theoccasions of his "journeys to Salem, " must have been afforded byattending the Examinations, held by the Magistrates who were alsoJudges; as it is established, by his own averment, that he never sawthem 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 tothe subject, that the purpose of his "journeys to Salem" was to attendthe Examinations. We are, indeed, shut up to this conclusion. 

The Examinations were going on from the first of March, far into theSummer of 1692. There is no intimation that either of the Mathersuttered a syllable against the course pursued in them, before or afterthe middle of May, when the Government passed into their almostexclusive possession. All the way through, spectral evidence wasadmitted, without restraint or a symptom of misgiving, on their part;and, whether present or absent, they could not but have known all thatwas going on. 

Cotton Mather's "_journeys to Salem_, " must have been frequent. If onlymade two or three times, he would have said so, as he speaks of them inan apologetic passage and when trying to represent his agency to havebeen as little as the truth would allow. 

The Reviewer states that the journeys were made for another purpose. Hestates it positively and absolutely. "He made visits to Salem, as weshall presently see, for quite another purpose than that which has beenalleged. " This language surprised me, as it had wholly escaped myresearches; and the surprise was accompanied with pleasure, for Isupposed there must be some foundation for the declaration. I lookedeagerly for the disclosure about to be made, in some document, now, forthe first time, to be brought to light, from "original sources, " suchas he, in a subsequent passage, informs us, Mr. Longfellow has hadaccess to. Great was my disappointment, to find that the Reviewer, notwithstanding his promise to let us know the "other purpose" ofMather's visits to Salem, has not given us a single syllable of_information_ to that effect, but has endeavored to palm off, upon thereaders of the _North American Review_, a pure fiction of his own brain, a mere conjecture, as baseless as it is absurd. He says that Mather madehis visits to Salem, as the "spiritual comforter" of John Proctor andJohn Willard!

He further says, in support of this statement, "that Proctor and Willardhad been confined several months in the Boston Jail, and there, doubtless, made Mr. Mather's acquaintance, as he was an habitual visitorof the prison. " This hardly accounts for "journeys to Salem, " during_those_ months. Salem was not exactly in Mr. Mather's way from his housein Boston to the Jail in Boston. 

As only a few days over four months elapsed between Proctor's being putinto the Boston Jail and his execution, deducting the "several months"he spent there, but little time remained, after his transfer to theSalem Jail, for Mather's "journeys to Salem, " for the purpose ofadministering spiritual consolation to him. So far as making his"acquaintance, " while in Boston Jail is regarded, upon the same groundit might be affirmed that he was the spiritual adviser of the Prisonersgenerally; for most of those, who suffered, were in Boston Jail as longas Proctor; and he visited them all alike. 

The Reviewer adduces not a particle of evidence to prove his absolutestatement, nor even to countenance the idea; but, as is his custom, hetransforms a conjecture into an established fact. On a bare surmise, hebuilds an argument, and treats the whole, basis and superstructure, asHistory. To show, more particularly, how he thus _makes History_, I mustfollow this matter up a little further. Brattle, in his _Account of theWitchcraft in the County of Essex, 1692_, has this paragraph, afterstating that the persons executed "went out of the world, not only withas great protestations, but also with as great shows, of innocency, asmen could do:" "They protested their innocency as in the presence of thegreat God, whom forthwith they were to appear before: they wished, anddeclared their wish, that their blood might be the last innocent bloodshed upon that account. With great affection, they entreated Mr. C. M. To pray with them: they prayed that God would discover what witchcraftswere among us: they forgave their accusers: they spake withoutreflection on Jury and Judges, for bringing them in guilty andcondemning them: [they prayed earnestly for pardon for all _other_ sins, and for an interest in the precious blood of our dear Redeemer:] andseemed to be very sincere, upright, and sensible of their circumstanceson all accounts; especially Proctor and Willard, whose whole managementof themselves, from the Jail to the Gallows, [and whilst at theGallows, ] was very affecting and melting to the hearts of someconsiderable spectators, whom I could mention to you:--[but they areexecuted and so I leave them. ]"--_Massachusetts Historical Collections_, I. , v. , 68. 

The Reviewer cites this paragraph, omitting the clauses I have placedwithin brackets, _without any indication of the omissions_. The first ofthe omitted clauses is a dying declaration of the innocence of thesufferers, as to the crime alleged. The second proves that they "managedthemselves" after, as well as before, reaching the Gallows, and to theirdying moment--seeming to preclude the idea that their exercises ofprayer and preparation were directed or guided by any spiritual adviser. The last is an emphatic and natural expression of Brattle's feelings andjudgment on the occasion. 

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

In other forms of language and other connections, he speaks of Mr. Mather's presence, at these executions, as "the performance of a sadduty to Proctor and Willard, " and represents Brattle as calling him "thespiritual adviser of the persons condemned. " All this he asserts asproved and admitted fact; and the whole rests upon the foregoing_mutilated_ paragraph of Brattle. 

Let the reader thoroughly examine and consider that paragraph, and thenjudge of this Reviewer's claim to establish History. The word"affection, " was used much at that time to signify _earnest desire_. "They"--that is, the persons then about to die, namely, the Rev. GeorgeBurroughs, an humble, laborious, devoted Minister of the Gospel; JohnProctor, the owner of valuable farms and head of a large family; JohnWillard, a young married man of most respectable connections; GeorgeJacobs, an early settler, land-holder, and a grandfather, of great age, with flowing white locks, sustained, as he walked, by two staffs orcrutches; and Martha Carrier, the wife of a farmer in Andover, with afamily of children, some of them quite young--"entreated Mr. C. M. Topray with them. " Why did they have to "entreat" him, if he had come allthe way from Boston for that purpose? They all had Ministers near athand--Carrier had two Ministers, either or both of whom would have beenprompt to come, if persons suffering for the imputed crime of witchcrafthad been allowed to have the attendance of "spiritual comforters, " attheir executions. If Mather had prayed with them, Brattle would havesaid so. His language is equivalent to a statement, that "Mr. C. M. " wasreluctant, if he did not absolutely refuse to do it; and the onlylegitimate inferences from the whole passage are, that the sufferers didtheir own praying, --from Brattle's account of their dying prayers, theydid it well--and that without "spiritual comforter, " "adviser, " or"friend, " in the last dread hour, they were left to the "management ofthemselves. "

When the paragraph is taken in connection with the relations of Brattleto Mather, not approving of his course in public affairs, but, at thesame time, delicately situated, being associated with him in importantpublic interests and leading circles, the conclusion seems probable thathe meant, in an indirect mode of expression, to notice the fact thatMather refused to pray with the sufferers on the occasion. In fact, weknow that Nicholas Noyes, who was Proctor's Minister, refused to praywith him, unless he would confess. Mather and Noyes were intimatelyunited by personal and professional ties of friendship and communion, and probably would not run counter to each other, at such a time, and inthe presence of such a multitude of Ministers and people. 

It is to be regarded exclusively as illustrating the shocking characterof the whole procedure of the witchcraft prosecutions, and not as apersonally harsh or cruel thing, that Noyes or Mather was unwilling topray with persons, at their public executions, who stood convicted ofbeing confederates of the Devil, and who, refusing to confess, retainedthat character to the last. Ministers, like them, believing that theconvicts were malefactors of a far different and deeper dye thanordinary human crime could impart, rebels against God, apostates fromChrist, sons of Belial, recruits of the Devil's army, sworn inallegiance to his Kingdom, baptized into his church, beyond the reach ofhope and prayer, could hardly be expected to pray _with_ them. To _join_them in prayer was impossible. To go through the forms of united prayerwould have been incongruous with the occasion, and not more inconsistentwith the convictions of the Ministers, than repugnant to the consciousinnocence and natural sensibilities of the sufferers. Condemned, unconfessing, unrepentant witches might be prayed _for_, or _at_, butnot _with_. 

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

The Reviewer asks: "Were those five persons executed that day withoutany spiritual adviser?" There is no evidence, I think, to show that aMinister ever accompanied, in that character, persons convicted ofwitchcraft, at the place of execution. All that can be gathered fromBrattle's account is, that, on the occasion to which he is referring, the sufferers _themselves_ offered public prayers. We know that MarthaCorey, at a subsequent execution, pronounced a prayer that made a deepimpression on the assembled multitude. Mr. Burroughs's prayer isparticularly spoken of. So, also, in England, when the Reverend Mr. Lewis, an Episcopal clergyman, eighty years of age, and who, for fiftyyears, had been Vicar of Brandeston, in the County of Suffolk, wasexecuted for alleged witchcraft, the venerable man read his own funeralservice, according to the forms of his Church, "committing his own bodyto the ground, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternallife. "

This whole story of the spiritual relation between Mather and Proctor isa bare fiction, entirely in conflict with all tradition and allprobability, without a shadow of support in any document adduced by theReviewer; and yet he would have it received as an established fact, andincorporated, as such, in history. Liberties, like this, cannot beallowed. 

Sewall's Diary, at the date of the nineteenth of August, 1692, has thisentry: "This day George Burrough, John Willard, John Proctor, MarthaCarrier, and George Jacobs were executed at Salem, a very great numberof spectators being present. Mr. Cotton Mather was there, Mr. Sims, Hale, Noyes, Cheever, etc. All of them said they were innocent, Carrierand all. Mr. Mather says they all died by a righteous sentence. Mr. Burrough, by his Speech, Prayer, protestation of his innocence, did muchmove unthinking persons, which occasioned the speaking hardly concerninghis being executed. "

It is quite remarkable that Cotton Mather should have gone directly hometo Boston, after the execution, and made himself noticeable byproclaiming such a harsh sentiment against _all_ the sufferers, if hehad just been performing friendly offices to them, as "spiritualadviser, counsellor, and comforter. " Clergymen, called to suchmelancholy and affecting functions, do not usually emerge from them inthe frame of mind exhibited in the language ascribed to Mather, bySewall. It shows, at any rate, that Mather felt sure that Proctor wentout of the world, an unrepenting, unconfessing wizard, and, therefore, not a fit subject for a Christian Minister to unite with in prayer. 

One other remark, by the way. The account Sewall gives of the impressionmade by Burroughs, on the spectators, now first brought to light, inprint, is singularly confirmatory of what Calef says on the subject. 

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 notpresent at his Examination before the Magistrates, how could he havespoken, as he did, of the righteousness of his sentence? There had beenno Report or publication, in any way, of the evidence; and he could onlyhave received a competent knowledge of it from personal presence, on oneor the other of those occasions. He could not have been justified in soconfident and absolute a judgment, by mere hearsay. If that had been thesource of his information, he would have modified his languageaccordingly. 

There is one other item to be considered, in treating the question ofMather's connection with the Examinations of the Prisoners, before theMagistrates. 

When Proctor was awaiting his trial, during the short period, previousto that event, that he was in the Salem Jail, he had addressed a letterto "Mr. Mather, Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr. Willard and Mr. Baily, " allMinisters, begging them to intercede, in behalf of himself andfellow-prisoners, to secure to them better treatment, especially afairer trial than they could have in Salem, where such a violentexcitement had been wrought up against them. From the character of theletter, it is evident that it was addressed to them in the hope andbelief that they were accessible, to such an appeal. But one of theMathers is named. They were associate Ministers of the same Church. Although the father was President of the College at Cambridge, heresided 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 theopinion that it was Increase, the father. The Reviewer says it wasCotton, the son. It is a fair question; and every person can form ajudgment upon it. The other persons named, comprising the rest of theMinisters then connected with the Boston Churches, are severally, moreor less, indicated by what has come to us, as not having gone toextremes, in support of the witchcraft prosecutions. 

Increase Mather was commonly regarded, upon whatever grounds, as notgoing so far as his son, in that direction. The name, "Mr. Mather, "heads the list. From his standing, as presiding over the College and theClergy, it was proper to give him this position. His age and seniorityof settlement, also entitled him to it. Usage, and all generalconsiderations of propriety, require us to assume that by "Mr. Mather, "the _elder_ is meant. Cotton Mather, being the youngest of the BostonMinisters, 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 allthe hard things, that were done, in the prosecution of the witchcraft. "Whoever concludes that Increase Mather was the person, in Proctor'smind, will appreciate the fact that Cotton Mather is omitted in thelist. It proves that Proctor considered him beyond the reach of allappeals, in behalf of accused persons; and tends to confirm thetradition, in the family, that his course towards Proctor, when underexamination, either before the Magistrates or in Court, had indicated afixed and absolute prejudice or conviction against him. This Letter ofProctor's, printed in my book, [_ii. , 310_] utterly disperses thevisionary fabric of the Reviewer's fancy, that Cotton Mather was his"spiritual adviser, " counselling him in frequent visits to the SalemJail. It denounces, in unreserved language, "the Magistrates, Ministers, Juries, " as under the "delusion of the Devil, which we can term noother, by reason we know, in our own consciences, we are all innocentpersons;" and is couched in a bold, outspoken and trenchant style, thatwould have shocked and incensed Cotton Mather to the highest possibledegree. It is absolutely certain, that if Cotton Mather had beenProctor's "friend and counsellor, " a more prudent and cautious tone andstyle would have been given to the whole document. 

In concluding the considerations that render it probable that CottonMather 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 toidentify himself with them, and to prove that he could not have beenopposed to the methods used in them. 

X. 

COTTON MATHER AND THE WITCHCRAFT TRIALS. THE EXECUTIONS. 

I now proceed to examine Cotton Mather's connection with the Trials atSalem. It is fully admitted that he did not personally attend any ofthem. His averment to this effect does not allow the supposition that hecould have deceived himself, on such a point. In his letter to Richards, as has been seen, he expressed his great disappointment in not beingwell enough to accompany him to this first Session of the Special Court;and the tenor of the passage proves that he had fully expected anddesigned to be present, at the trials, generally. Whether the samebodily indisposition continued to forbid his attendance at itssuccessive adjournments, we cannot obtain information. 

The first point of connection I can find between him and the trials, isbrought to view in a meeting of certain Ministers, after executions hadtaken place, and while trials were pending. 

Increase Mather, in his _Cases of Conscience_, has the following: "Asfor 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 werepresent seven Elders, besides the President of the College, the questionthen discoursed on, was, whether the Devil may not sometimes have apermission to represent an innocent person as tormenting such as areunder diabolical molestations? The answer, which they all concurred in, was in these words, viz. 'That the Devil may sometimes have a permissionto represent an innocent person as tormenting such as are underdiabolical molestations; but that such things are rare andextraordinary, especially when such matters come before civiljudicatures'; 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 lipsshould keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth. _Mal. _, 2, 7. "

What was meant by the quotation from Malachi is left to conjecture. Itlooks like the notion I have supposed Cotton Mather to have, more orless, cherished, at different times--to have such cases committed to theconfidential custody and management of one or more Ministers. WhetherCotton Mather, as well as his father, was at this meeting, is notstated. The expressions "rare and extraordinary" and "sometimes have apermission, " and the general style of the language, are like his. At anyrate, in referring to the meeting, in his _Wonders of the InvisibleWorld_, he speaks of the Ministers present "as very pious and learned;"says that they uttered the prevailing sense of others "eminentlycautious and judicious;" and declares that they "have both argument andhistory to countenance them in it. "

It is to be noticed, that this opinion of the Ministers, given on thefirst of August, if it did not authorize the admission, without reserveor limitation, of spectral evidence, in judicial proceedings, reducesthe objection to it to an almost inappreciable point. 

Observe the date. Already six women, heads of families, many of them ofrespectable positions in society, all in advanced life, one or two quiteaged, and two, at least, of the most eminent Christian character, hadsuffered death, wholly from spectral evidence, that is, no othertestimony was brought against them, as all admit, that could, even then, have convicted them. Twelve days had elapsed since five of them had beenexecuted; 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 ofCotton Mather, that there is very little danger of innocent peoplesuffering, in judicial proceedings, from spectral evidence. 

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

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

I am indebted to George H. Moore, LL. D. , of New York city, for thefollowing important document. John Foster was, at its date, a member ofthe Council. Hutchinson, who was his grandson, speaks of him [_History, ii. , 21_] as a "merchant of Boston of the first rank, " "who had a greatshare in the management of affairs from 1689 to 1692. " In the latteryear, he was raised to the Council Board, being named as such in the newCharter; and held his seat, by annual elections, to the close of hislife, 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 occasionof his death. 

 _Autograph Letter of COTTON MATHER, on Witchcraft, presented to the Literary and Historical Society, by the Honorable Chief-justice SEWELL. _[3]

 17^th 6^m, 1692. 

 "S^r:

 "You would know whether I still retain my opinion about y^e horrible Witchcrafts among us, and I acknowledge that I do. 

 "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^e * * * of Witchcraft. 

 "That the Divels have a natural power w^ch 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 _mine_. 

 "It is the opinion generally of all protestant writers that y^e Divel may thus abuse y^e innocent, yea, tis y^e confession of some popish ones. And o^r 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^e other side in y^e Learned and Godly world. 

 "_Nevertheless, a very great use is to bee made of y^e Spectral impression upon y^e sufferers. They Justly Introduce, and Determine, an Enquiry into y^e circumstances of y^e person accused; and they strengthen other presumptions. _

 "_When so much use is made of those Things, I believe y^e use for w^ch y^e Great God intends y^m is made. _ And accordingly you see that y^e 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. 

 "If any persons have been condemned, about whom any of y^e Judges, are not easy in their minds, that y^e Evidence against them, has been satisfactory, it would certainly bee for y^e glory of the whole Transaction to give that person a Reprieve. 

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

 "The odd Effects produced upon the sufferers by y^e look or touch of the accused are things wherein y^e Divels may as much Impose upon some Harmless people as by the Representacōn of their shapes. 

 "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 _Divel's_ part, may bee proved, while, for ought I can say, The _man_ 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^e man's part bee proved, then the Business is done. 

 "I am suspicious Lest y^e 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^r singular Happiness That wee are blessed with Judges who are Aware of this Danger. 

 "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 _Transportation_, and all reasonable men would count o^r Judges to Act, as they are like y^e Fathers of y^e 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^s perpetuates y^e miseries of o^r sufferers? They would cleanse y^e Land of Witchcrafts, and yett also prevent y^e shedding of Innocent Blood, whereof some are so apprehensive of Hazard. If o^r Judges want any Good Bottom, to act thus upon, You know, that besides y^e usual power of Govern^es, to Relax many Judgments of Death, o^r General Court can soon provide a law. 

 "S^r, "You see y^e Incoherency of my Thoughts but I hope, you will also some Reasonableness in those Thoughts. 

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

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

 "S^r, Your Servant C. MATHER. 

 "For the Honourable JOHN FOSTER, ESQ. "

This letter must be considered, I think, as settling the question. Itwas written two days before the execution of Burroughs, Proctor, andothers. It entirely disposes of the assertions of the Reviewer, thatMather "denounced" the "admission" of spectral testimony, anddemonstrates the truth of the positions, taken in this article, that heauthorized fully its admission, as affording occasion of enquiry andmatter of presumption, sufficient, if reinforced by other evidence, tojustify conviction. The sentences I have italicised leave no furtherroom for discussion. The language in which the Judges and their conductof the Trials are spoken of, could not have been stronger. The referenceto the course taken in England, in 1645, sheds light upon thesuggestions I have made, as to Mather's notion, that one or moreMinisters--"a famous Divine or two, "--ought to have been connected, "byauthority, " with the Court of Oyer and Terminer, in the management ofthe cases. The idea thrown out, as to Transportation, could hardly, itwould seem, but have been apparent to a reflecting person, as utterlyimpracticable. No convicts or parties under indictment or arrest for thecrime of witchcraft, could have been shipped off to any other part ofthe British dominions. A vessel, with persons on board, with such astamp upon them, would have been everywhere repelled with as muchvehemence and panic, as if freighted with the yellow fever, small-pox, or plague. If the unhappy creatures she bore beneath her hatches, shouldhave been landed in any other part of the then called Christian orcivilized world, stigmatized with the charge of witchcraft, they wouldhave met with the halter or the fagot; and scarcely have fared better, if cast upon any savage shore. 

We have seen how our Reviewer _makes_, let us now see how he _unmakes_, history. 

Robert Calef, in his book entitled _More Wonders of the InvisibleWorld_, Part V. , under the head of "An impartial account of the mostmemorable matters of fact, touching the supposed Witchcraft in NewEngland, " [_p. 103_, ] says: "Mr. Burroughs was carried in a cart, withthe others, through the streets of Salem to execution. When he was uponthe ladder, he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency, withsuch solemn and serious expressions, as were to the admiration of allpresent; his prayer (which he concluded by repeating the Lord's prayer)was so well worded, and uttered with such composedness, and such (atleast seeming) fervency of spirit, as was very affecting, and drew tearsfrom many, so that it seemed to some that the spectators would hinderthe execution. The accusers said the black man stood and dictated tohim. As soon as he was turned off, Mr. Cotton Mather, being mounted upona horse, addressed himself to the people, partly to declare that he(Burroughs) was no ordained Minister, and partly to possess the peopleof his guilt, saying that the Devil has often been transformed into anAngel of Light; and this somewhat appeased the people; and theexecutions went on. When he was cut down, he was dragged by the halterto a hole, or grave, between the rocks, about two feet deep, his shirtand breeches being pulled off, and an old pair of trowsers of oneexecuted, put on his lower parts; he was so put in, together withWillard and Carrier, that one of his hands and his chin, and a foot ofone of them, were left uncovered. "

The Reviewer undertakes to set aside this statement; to erase italtogether from the record; and to throw it from the belief and memoryof mankind. But this cannot be done, but by an arbitrary process, thatwould wipe out all the facts of all history, and leave the whole Past anutter blank. If any record has passed the final ordeal, this has. It isbeyond the reach of denial; and no power on earth can start the solidfoundation on which it stands. It consists of distinct, plainly statedaverments, which, as a whole, or severally, if not true, and known to betrue, might have been denied, or questioned, at the time. Not disputed, nor controverted, then, it never can be. If not true to the letter, sofar as Cotton Mather is concerned, hundreds, nay thousands, were athand, who would have contradicted it. Certificates without number, likethat of John Goodwin, would have been procured to invalidate it. Consisting of specifications, in detail, if there had been in it theminutest item that could have admitted contradiction, it would have beenseized upon, and used with the utmost eagerness to break the force ofthe statement. It was printed at London, in 1700, in a volume accreditedthere, and immediately put into circulation here, twenty-eight yearsbefore the death of Mather. He had a copy of it, now in possession ofthe Massachusetts Historical Society, and wrote on the inside of thefront cover, "My desire is, that mine adversary had written a book, "etc. His father, the President of Harvard University, had a copy; forthe book was burned in the College-square. Everything contributed tocall universal attention to it. Its author was known, avowed, and hisname printed on the title page; he lived in the same town with Mather;and was in all respects a responsible man. 

No attempt was made, at the time, nor at any time, until now, tooverthrow the statement or disprove any of its specifications. 

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

The harangue to the people to prevail upon them to pay no heed to thecomposed, devout, and forgiving deportment of the sufferers, because theDevil often appeared as an Angel of Light, sounded strangely from onewho had attended the prisoners as their "spiritual comforter andfriend. " It was a queer conclusion of his services of consolation andpastoral offices, to proclaim to the crowd, that the truly Christianexpressions of the persons in his charge were all a diabolical sham. Onewould have thought, if he accompanied them in the capacity alleged, hewould have dismounted before ascending the hill, and tenderly waitedupon them, side by side, holding them by the hand and sustaining them byhis arm, as they approached the fatal ladder; and that his lastbenedictions, upon their departing souls, would have been in somewhatdifferent 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 werereprobates, sunk far below the ordinary level of human crime, beyond thepale of sympathy or prayer, enemies of God, in covenant with the Devil, and firebrands of Hell. All this he believed. Of course, he could notpray _with_, and could hardly be expected to pray _for_, them. Thelanguage ascribed to him by Calef, expressed his honest convictions;bears the stamp of credibility; was not denied or disavowed, then; andcannot be discredited, now. 

If those sufferers, wearing the resplendent aspect of faith, forgiveness, and piety, in their dying hour, were, in reality, "theDevil appearing as the Angel of Light, " nobody but the Reviewer is toblame for charging Mather with being his "spiritual adviser andcounsellor. "

The Reviewer says that the horse Mather rode on that occasion, "has beentramping through history, for nearly two centuries. It is time that hebe reined up. " Not having been reined up by Mather, it is in vain forthe Reviewer to attempt it. Mazeppa, on his wild steed, was not morepowerless. The "man on horseback, " described by Calef, will go trampingon through all the centuries to come, as through the "nearly twocenturies" that have passed. 

To discredit another part of the statement of Calef, the Reviewer citesthe _Description and History of Salem_, by the Rev. William Bentley, inthe Sixth Volume of the First Series of the _Massachusetts HistoricalCollections_, printed in 1800, quoting the following passage: "It wassaid that the bodies were not properly buried; but, upon an examinationof the ground, the graves were found of the usual depth, and remains ofthe bodies, and of the wood in which they were interred. "

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 wasmade of the spot, pointed out by the tradition upon which Bentley hadrelied, and nothing was found to sustain it. It is apparent that thistradition was, to some extent, incorrect, because it is quite certainthat three, and probably most, of the bodies were recovered by theirfriends, at the time; but chiefly because it is believed, on sufficientgrounds, that the locality, indicated in the tradition that had reachedDoctor Bentley, was, in 1692, covered by the original forest. Of course, a passage through woods, to a spot, even now, after the trees have beenwholly removed from the hill and all its sides, so very difficult ofaccess, would not have been encountered; neither can it be supposed thatan open area would have been elaborately prepared for the place ofexecution, in the midst of a forest, entirely shut in from observation, by surrounding trees, with their thick foliage, in that season of theyear. If seclusion had been the object, a wooded spot might have beenfound, near at hand, on level areas, anywhere in the neighborhood of thetown. But it was not a secluded, but a conspicuous, place that wassought; not only an elevated, but an open, theatre for the awe-inspiringspectacle, displaying to the whole people and world--to use the languageemployed by Mather, in the _Advice of the Ministers_ and in one of hisletters to Richards--the "Success" of the Court, in "extinguishing thathorrible witchcraft. "

Another tradition, brought down through a family, ever since residing onthe same spot, in the neighborhood, and from the longevity of itssuccessive heads, passing through but few memories, and for that reasonhighly 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 thetransaction are preserved in considerable detail. From the locality, itis quite certain that the bodies were brought to it from the southernend of Witch-hill. From a recently-discovered letter of Dr. Holyoke, mentioned in my book [_ii. , 377_], it appears that the executions musthave taken place there. The earth is so thin, scattered betweenprojecting ledges of rock, which, indeed, cover much of the surface, that few trees probably ever grew there; and a bare, elevated platformafforded a conspicuous site, and room for the purpose. Theseconclusions, to which recent discoveries and explorations have led, remarkably confirm Calef's statements. From Sheriff Corwin's _Return_, we know that the first victim was buried "in the place" where she wasexecuted; 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. 

The Reviewer desires to know my authority for saying that the ground, where Burroughs was buried, "was trampled down by the mob. " I presumethat when, less than five weeks afterwards, eight more persons werehanged there, belonging to respectable families in what are now Peabody, Marblehead, Topsfield, Rowley and Andover, as well as Salem, and aspectacle again presented to which crowds flocked from all quarters, andto which many particularly interested must have been drawn, besidesthose from the populous neighborhood, especially if men "on horseback"mingled in the throng, the ground must have been considerably trampledupon. 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 istherefore probable, they had been left where they were thrown, near thefoot of the gallows. 

There is one point upon which the Reviewer is certain he has"demolished" Calef. The latter speaks of the victims as having beenhanged, one after another. The Reviewer says, the mode of execution wasto have them "swung off at once;" and further uses this argument: "Calefhimself furnishes us with evidence that such was the practice in Salem, where eight persons were hanged thirty-six days later. He says, 'Afterthe execution, Mr. Noyes, turning him to the bodies, said--What a sadthing it is to see eight firebrands of Hell hanging there. '"

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

This is a kind of reasoning with which--to adopt Mather's expression indescribing diabolical horrors, capital trials, and condemnations todeath--we are "entertained" throughout by the Reviewer. The truth is, wehave no particular knowledge of the machinery, or its operations, atthese executions. A "halter, " a "ladder, " a "gallows, " a "hangman, " arespoken of. The expression used for the final act is, "turned off. " Thereis no shadow of evidence to contradict Calef. The probabilities seem tobe against the supposition of a structure, on a scale so large, as toallow room for eight persons to be turned off at once. The outstretchingbranches from large trees, on the borders of the clearing, would haveserved the purpose, and a ladder, connected with a simple frame, mighthave been passed from tree to tree. 

The Regicides, thirty years before, had been executed in England in themethod Calef understood to have been used here. Hugh Peters was carriedto execution with Judge Cook. The latter suffered first; and when Petersascended the ladder, turning to the officer of the law, he uttered thesememorable words, exhibiting a state of the faculties, a grandeur ofbearing, and a force and felicity of language and illustration, all thecircumstances considered, not surpassed in the records of Christianheroism or true eloquence: "Sir, you have slain one of the servants ofGod, before mine eyes, and have made me to behold it, on purpose toterrify and discourage me; but God hath made it an ordinance unto me, for my strengthening and encouragement. "

While the trials were going on, Mather made use of his pulpit toinfluence the public mind, already wrought up to frenzy, to greaterheights of fanaticism, by portraying, in his own peculiar style, theout-breaking battle between the Church and the Devil. On the day beforeBurroughs, who was regarded as the head of the Church, and General ofthe forces, of Satan, was brought to the Bar, Mather preached a Sermonfrom the text, _Rev. _, 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 interspersedwith such passages as these: "Now, at last, the Devils are, (if I may sospeak), _in Person_ come down upon us, with such a wrath, as is mostjustly _much_, and will quickly be _more_, the astonishment of theworld. " "There is little room for hope, that the great wrath of theDevil will not prove the ruin of our poor New England, in particular. Ibelieve there never was a poor plantation more pursued by the wrath ofthe Devil than our poor New England. " "We may truly say, _Tis the hourand power of darkness_. But, though the wrath be so great, the time isbut short: when we are perplexed with the wrath of the Devil, the wordof our God, at the same time, unto us, is that in _Rom. _, xvi. , 20. '_The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. _'Shortly, didst thou say, dearest Lord? O gladsome word! Amen, even so, come Lord! Lord Jesus, come quickly! We shall never be rid of thistroublesome Devil, till thou do come to chain him up. "--_Wonders, etc. _

There is much in the Sermon that relates to the sins of the people, generally, and some allusions to the difficulties that encompass thesubject of diabolical appearances; but the witchcraft in Salem isportrayed in colors, which none but a thorough believer in all that wasthere brought forward, could apply; the whole train of ideas andexhortations is calculated to inflame the imaginations and passions ofthe people; and it is closed by "An hortatory and necessary Address to acountry now extraordinarily alarum'd by the Wrath of the Devil. " In thisAddress, he goes, at length, into the horrible witchcraft at SalemVillage. "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 worldare broken down. " He enumerates, as undoubtedly true, in detail, allthat was said by the "afflicted children" and "confessing witches. " Hesays of the reputed witches: "They each of them have their spectres ordevils, commissioned by them, and representing of them, to be theengines of their malice. " Such expressions as these are scattered overthe pages, "wicked spectres, " "diabolical spectres, " "owners ofspectres, " "spectre's hands, " "spectral book, " etc. 

And yet it is stated, by the Reviewer, that Mather was opposed tospectral evidence, and denounced it! He gave currency to it, in thepopular faith, during the whole period, while the trials and executionswere going on, more than any other man. 

He preached another Sermon, of the same kind, entitled, _The DevilDiscovered_. 

After the trials by the Special Court were over, and that body had beenforbidden to meet on the day to which it had adjourned, he addressedanother letter to John Richards, one of its members, dated "Dec. 14th, 1692, " to be found in the _Mather Papers_, p. 397. It is acharacteristic document, and, in some points of view, commendable. Itspurpose was to induce Richards to consent to a measure he was desirousof introducing into his pastoral administration, to which Richards andone other member of his Church had manifested repugnance. Cotton Matherwas in advance of his times, in liberality of views, relating todenominational matters. He desired to open the door to the Ordinances, particularly Baptism, wider than was the prevalent practice. He urgeshis sentiments upon Richards in earnest and fitting tones; but resorts, also, to flattering, and what may be called coaxing, tones. He callshim, "My ever-honored Richards, " "Dearest Sir, " "my dear Major, " andreminds him of the public and constant support he had given to hisofficial conduct: "I have signalized my perpetual respects before thewhole world. " In this letter, he refers to the Salem witchcraftprosecutions, and pronounces unqualified approval and high encomiumsupon Richards's share in the proceedings, as one of the Judges. "God hasmade more than an ordinary use of your honorable hand, " in "theextinguishing" of "that horrible witchcraft, " into which "the Devilshave been baptizing so many of our miserable neighbors. " This languageis hardly consistent with a serious, substantial, considerable, orindeed with any, disapprobation of the proceedings of the Court. 

FOOTNOTES:

[3] _Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society ofQuebec_--Octavo, Quebec, 1831--ii. , 313-316. 

XI. 

LETTER TO STEPHEN SEWALL. "WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD. " ITS ORIGINAND DESIGN. COTTON MATHER'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIALS. 

I come now to the examination of matters of interest and importance, notonly as illustrating the part acted by Mather in the witchcraft affair, but as bearing upon the public history of the Province of MassachusettsBay, at that time. 

The reader is requested carefully to examine the following letter, addressed by Cotton Mather to Stephen Sewall, Clerk of the Court atSalem. 

 "BOSTON, Sept. 20, 1692. 

 "MY DEAR AND MY VERY OBLIGING STEPHEN, "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. 

 "But, that I may be the more capable to assist, in lifting up a standard against the infernal enemy, I must renew my most IMPORTUNATE REQUEST, 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. 

 "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. 

 "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. 

 "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, "Sir, your grateful friend, C. MATHER. "

 "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, _kindness_, I say, for such it will be esteemed, as well by him, as by your servant, C. MATHER. "

The point, on which the Reviewer raises an objection to the statement inmy 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 itreferred to the document requested to be sent by Sewall. The Reviewersays it refers to "a Spectre, " in the preceding line, or as he expressesit, "the fallen Spectre of Sadduceeism. " Every one can judge for himselfon inspection of the passage. After all, it is a mere quibbling aboutwords, for the meaning remains substantially the same. Indeed, thatwhich he gives is more to my purpose. Let it go, that Mather desired thedocument, and intended to use it, to break down all objectors to thework then doing in Salem. Whoever disapproved of such proceedings, orintimated any doubt concerning the popular notions about witchcraft, were called "Sadducees and witch-advocates. " These terms were used byMather, on all occasions, as marks of opprobrium, to stigmatize andmake odious such persons. If they could once be silenced, witchcraftdemonstrations and prosecutions might be continued, without impedimentor restraint, until they should "come, " no one could tell "where, atlast. " "The fallen Spectre of Sadduceeism" was to be the trophy ofMather's victory; and Sewall's letter was to be the weapon to lay itlow. 

Each of the paragraphs of this letter demonstrates the position Matheroccupied, and the part he had taken, in the transactions at Salem. Mr. Hale had acted, up to this time, earnestly with Noyes and Parris; andthe letter shows that Mather had the sympathies and the interests of acooperator with them, and in their "designs. " Every person of honorablefeelings can judge for himself of the suggestion to Sewall, to be apartner 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 onthe prosecutions, it is gratifying to find reason to conclude that hewas not so utterly lost to self-respect as to comply with the jesuiticalrequest, or lend himself to any such false connivance. 

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 beencondemned, eight of whom suffered two days after its date. Any number ofothers were under sentence of death. The letter was a renewal of "a mostimportunate request. "

I cite it, here, at this stage of the examination of the subject, particularly on account of the postscript. Every one has been led tosuppose that "His Excellency, the Governor, " who had laid such "positivecommands" upon Mather to obtain the desired document from Sewall, wasSir William Phips. The avowed purpose of Mather, in seeking it, was toput it into circulation--to "box it about"--thereby to produce aneffect, to the putting down of Sadduceeism, or all further opposition towitchcraft prosecutions. He, undoubtedly, contemplated making it a partof his book, the _Wonders of the Invisible World_, printed, the nextyear, in London. The statement made by him always was, that he wrotethat book in compliance with orders laid upon him to that effect by "HisExcellency, the Governor. " The imprimatur, in conspicuous type, in frontof one of the editions of the book, is "Published by the special commandof his Excellency, the Governor of the Province of the Massachusetts Bayin New England. "

On the sixteenth of September, Sir William Phips had notified theCouncil of his going to the eastward; and that body was adjourned tothe fourteenth of October. From his habitual promptness, and thepressing exigency of affairs in the neighborhood of the Kennebec, it isto be presumed that he left immediately; and, as it was expected to be alonger absence than usual, it can hardly be doubted that, as on thefirst of August, he formally, by a written instrument, passed theGovernment over to Stoughton. At any rate, while he was away from hisProvince proper, the Deputy necessarily acceded to the Executivefunctions. 

In the Sewall Diary we find the following: "SEPT. 21. A petition is sentto Town, in behalf of Dorcas Hoar, who now confesses. Accordingly, anorder is sent to the Sheriff to forbear her execution, notwithstandingher being in the Warrant to die to-morrow. This is the first condemnedperson who has confessed. "

The granting of this reprieve was an executive act, that would seem tohave belonged to the functions of the person filling the office ofGovernor; and Phips being absent, it could only have been performed byStoughton, and shows, therefore, that he, at that time, acted asGovernor. As such, he was, by custom and etiquette, addressed--"HisExcellency. " The next day, eight were executed, four of them having beensentenced on the ninth of September, and four on the seventeenth, whichwas on Saturday. The whole eight were included, as is to be inferredfrom 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, inits Postscript, may have referred to Stoughton; particularly thisclause: "There are some of his circumstances, with reference to thisaffair. " As Phips had, from the first, left all the proceedings with theChief-justice, who had presided at all the trials, and was, by universalacknowledgment, especially responsible for all the proceedings andresults, the words of Mather are much more applicable to Stoughton thanto Phips. 

Upon receiving these "importunate requests" from Mather, proposing sucha form of reply, to be used in such a way, Sewall thought it best toadopt the course indicated in the following entry, in the Diary of hisbrother, the Judge: "THURSDAY, SEPT. 22, 1692. William Stoughton, Esq. , John Hathorne, Esq. , Mr. Cotton Mather, and Capt. John Higginson, withmy brother St. Were at our house, speaking about publishing some trialsof the witches. "

It appears that Stephen Sewall, instead of answering Mather's letter inwriting, went directly to Boston, accompanied by Hathorne and Higginson, and met Mather and Stoughton at the house of the Judge. No otherMinister was present; and Judge Sewall was not Mather's parishioner. The whole matter was there talked over. The project Mather had beencontemplating was matured; and arrangements made with Stephen Sewall, who had them in his custody, to send to Mather the Records of thetrials; and, thus provided, he proceeded, without further delay, inobedience to the commands laid upon him by "his Excellency, " to preparefor the press, _The Wonders of the Invisible World_, which was designedto send to the shades, "Sadduceeism, " to extirpate "witch-advocates, "and to leave the course clear for the indefinite continuance of theprosecutions, until, as Stoughton expressed it, "the land was cleared"of all witches. 

The presence of the Deputy-governor, at this private conference, showsthe prominent part he bore in the movement, and corroborates, what isinferrible from the dates, that he was "His Excellency, the Governor, "referred to in the documents connected with this transaction. It isobservable, by the way, that the references are always to the officialcharacter and title, and not to the name of the person, whether Phips orStoughton. 

I now proceed to examine the book, written and brought forward, underthese circumstances and for this purpose. It contains much of which Ishall avail myself, to illustrate the position and the views of Mather, at the time. The length to which this article is extended, by the methodI have adopted of quoting documents so fully, is regretted; but it seemsnecessary, in order to meet the interest that has been awakened in thesubject, by the article in the _North American Review_, to make theenquiry as thorough as possible. 

Only a part of the work is devoted to the main purpose for which it wasostensibly and avowedly designed. That I shall first notice. It isintroduced as follows: "I shall no longer detain my reader from hisexpected entertainment, in a brief account of the Trials which havepassed upon some of the Malefactors lately executed at Salem, for thewitchcrafts whereof they stood convicted. For my own part, I was notpresent at any of them; nor ever had I any personal prejudice at thepersons thus brought upon the Stage; much less, at the survivingrelations of those persons, with and for whom I would be as hearty amourner, as any man living in the world: _The Lord comfort them!_ Buthaving received a command so to do, I can do no other than shortlyrelate the chief _Matters of Fact_, which occurred in the trials of somethat were executed; in an abridgement collected out of the _CourtPapers_, on this occasion put into my hands. You are to take the_Truth_, just as it was. "--_Wonders of the Invisible World, p. 54. _

He singles out five cases and declares: "I report matters not as an_Advocate_, but as an _Historian_. "

After further prefacing his account, by relating, _A modern instance ofWitches, discovered and condemned, in a trial before that celebratedJudge, Sir Matthew Hale_, he comes to the trial of George Burroughs. Hespreads out, without reserve, the spectral evidence, given in this as inall the cases, and without the least intimation of objection fromhimself, or any one else, to its being _admitted_, as, "with otherthings to render it credible" enough for the purpose of conviction. Anyone reading his account, and at the same time examining the documents onfile, will be able to appreciate how far he was justified in saying, that he reported it in the spirit of an historian rather than anadvocate. 

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

"The Deposition of Simon Willard, aged about 42 years, saith: I being atSaco, in the year 1689, some in Capt. Ed. Sargent's garrison werespeaking of Mr. George Burroughs his great strength, saying he couldtake a barrel of molasses out of a canoe or boat, alone; and that hecould take it in his hands, or arms, out of the canoe or boat, and carryit, and set it on the shore: and Mr. Burroughs being there, said that hehad carried one barrel of molasses or cider out of a canoe, that hadlike to have done him a displeasure; said Mr. Burroughs intimated, as ifhe did not want strength to do it, but the disadvantage of the shore wassuch, that, his foot slipping in the sand, he had liked to have strainedhis leg. "

Willard was uncertain whether Burroughs had stated it to be molasses orcider. John Brown testified about a "barrel of cider. " Burroughs deniedthe statement, as to the molasses, thereby impliedly admitting that hehad so carried a barrel of cider. 

Samuel Webber testified that, seven or eight years before, Burroughstold him that, by putting his fingers into the bung of a barrel ofmolasses, he had lifted it up, and "carried it round him, and set itdown again. "

Parris, in his notes of this trial, not in the files, says that "_Capt. Wormwood_ testified about the gun and the molasses. " But the papers onfile give the name as "_Capt. W^m Wormall_, " and represents that he, referring to the gun, "swore" that he "saw George Burroughs raise itfrom the ground. " His testimony, with this exception, was merelyconfirmatory, in general terms, of another deposition of Simon Willard, to the effect, that Burroughs, in explanation of one of the storiesabout his great strength, showed him how he held a gun of "about sevenfoot barrel, " by taking it "in his hand behind the lock, " and holding itout; Willard further stating that he did not see him "hold it out then, "and that he, Willard, so taking the gun with both hands, could not holdit out long enough to take sight. The testimony, throughout, was thusloose and conflicting, almost wholly mere hearsay, of no value, logically or legally. All that was really proved being what Burroughsadmitted, that is, as to the cider. 

But, in the statement made by him to Willard, at Saco, as deposed by thelatter, he mentioned a circumstance, namely, the straining of his leg, which, if not true, could easily have been disproved, that demonstratedthe effort to have been made, and the feat accomplished, by the naturalexercise of muscular power. If preternatural force had aided him, itwould have been supplied in sufficient quantity to have prevented such amishap. To convey the impression that the exhibitions of strengthascribed to Burroughs were proofs of diabolical assistance, anddemonstrations that he was guilty of the crime of witchcraft, Mathersays "he was a very puny man, yet he had often done things beyond thestrength of a giant. " There is nothing to justify the application of theword "puny" to him, except that he was of small stature. Such personsare often very strong. Burroughs had, from his college days, been notedfor gymnastic exercises. There is nothing, I repeat, to justify the useof the word, by Mather, in the sense he designed to convey, of bodilyweakness. 

The truth is, that his extraordinary muscular power, as exhibited insuch feats as lifting the barrel of cider, was the topic of neighborhoodtalk; and there was much variation, as is usual in such cases, somehaving it a barrel of cider, and some, of molasses. There is, among theCourt papers, a _Memorandum, in Mr. George Burroughs trial, beside thewritten evidences_. One item is the testimony of Thomas Evans, "that hecarried out barrels of molasses, meat, &c. , out of a canoe, whilst hismate went to the fort for hands to help out with. " Here we see anothervariation of the story. The amount of it is, that, while the matethought assistance needed, and went to get it, Burroughs concluded to dothe work himself. If the Prisoner had been allowed Counsel; or anydiscernment been left in the Judges, the whole of this evidence wouldhave been thrown out of account, as without foundation and frivolous inits character; yet Increase Mather, who was present, was entirelycarried away with it, and declared that, upon it alone, if on the Benchor in the jury-box, he would have convicted the Prisoner. 

It is quite doubtful, however, whether the above testimony of Evans wasgiven in, at the trial; for the next clause, in the same paragraph, isSarah Wilson's confession, that: "The night before Mr. Burroughs wasexecuted, there was a great meeting of the witches, nigh SargeantChandlers, that Mr. Burroughs was there, and they had the sacrament, andafter 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. "

The testimony of these two confessing witches, "and several others, "relating, as it did, to what was alleged to have happened "the nightbefore Mr. Burroughs was executed, " could not have been given at histrial, nor until after his death. Yet, as but three other confessingwitches are mentioned in the files of this case, Mather must have reliedupon this Memorandum to make up the "eight" said, by him, to havetestified, "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 hadgiven evidence against Burroughs, retracted it before the Court, previous to his execution; but Mather makes no mention of that fact. 

To go back to the barrel Mr. Burroughs lifted. I have stated thesubstance of the whole testimony relating to the point. Mathercharacterizes it, thus, in his report of the trial: "There was evidencelikewise brought in, that he made nothing of taking up whole barrels, filled with molasses or cider, in very disadvantageous positions, andcarrying them off, through the most difficult places, out of a canoe tothe shore. "

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

Any one scrutinizing the evidence, which, strange to say, was allowed tocome in on a trial for witchcraft, relating to alleged misunderstandingsbetween Burroughs and his two wives, involved in an alienation betweenhim and some of the relations of the last, will see that it amounts tonothing 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 hisreport of the case, says: "Now G. B. Had been infamous, for thebarbarous usage of his two successive wives, all the country over. "

In my book, in connection with another piece of evidence in the papers, given, like that of the confessing witches just referred to, long afterBurroughs's execution, I expressed surprise that the irregularity ofputting such testimony among the documents belonging to the trial, escaped the notice of Hutchinson, eminent jurist as he was, and also ofCalef. The Reviewer represents this remark as one of my "very grave andunsupported charges against the honesty of Cotton Mather. " I saidnothing about Mather in connection with that point, but expressed strongdisapprobation of the conduct of the official persons who procured thedeposition to be made, and of those having the custody of the papers. The Reviewer, imagining that my censure was levelled at Mather, andresolved to defend him, through thick and thin, denies that the documentin question was "surreptitiously foisted in. " But there it was, whenMather had the papers, and there it now is, --its date a month afterBurroughs was in his rocky grave. The Reviewer says that if I had lookedto the end of Mather's notice of the document, or observed the bracketsin which it was enclosed, I would have seen that Mather says that thepaper was not used at the trial. I stated the fact, expressly, and gaveMather's explanation "that the man was overpersuaded by others to be outof the way upon George Burroughs's trial. " [_ii. , 300, 303_] I found nofault 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. 

I ask a little further attention to this matter, because it affords anillustration of Mather's singular, but characteristic, method of puttingthings, often deceiving others, and sometimes, perhaps, himself. I quotethe paragraph from his report of the trial of Burroughs, in the _Wondersof the Invisible World_, p. 64: "There were two testimonies, that G. B. With only putting the fore-finger of his right hand into the muzzle ofan heavy gun, a fowling-piece of about six or seven foot barrel, didlift 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, atthe butt end, as is usual. Indeed, one of these witnesses wasoverpersuaded 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 histestimony; nor were either of these witnesses made use of as evidencesin the trial. "

The Reviewer says that Mather included the above paragraph in"brackets, " to apprise the reader that the evidence, to which itrelates, was not given at the trial. It is true that the brackets arefound in the Boston edition: but they are omitted, in the Londonedition, of the same year, 1693. If it was thought expedient to preventmisunderstanding, or preserve the appearance of fairness, _here_, theprecaution was not provided for the English reader. He was left toreceive the impression from the opening words, "there were twotestimonies, " that they were given at the trial, and to run the luck ofhaving it removed by the latter part of the paragraph. The whole thingis so stated as to mystify and obscure. There were "_two_" testimonies;"_one_" is said not to have been presented; and then, that neither waspresented. The reader, not knowing what to make of it, is liable tocarry off nothing distinctly, except that, somehow, "there weretestimonies" brought to bear against Burroughs; whereas not a syllableof it came before the Court. 

Never going out of my way to criticise Cotton Mather, nor breaking thethread of my story for that purpose, I did not, in my book, callattention to this paragraph, as to its bearing upon him, but the strangeuse the Reviewer has made of it against me, compels its examination, indetail. 

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

Mather says there were "_two_" witnesses of the facts alleged in theparagraph. Upon a careful re-examination of the papers on file, thereappears to have been only _one_, in support of it. It stands solely onthe single disposition of Thomas Greenslitt, of the fifteenth ofSeptember, 1692. The deponent mentions two other persons, by name, "andsome others that are dead, " who witnessed the exploit. But no evidencewas given by them; and the muzzle story, according to the papers onfile, stands upon the deposition of Greenslitt alone. The paragraphgives the idea that Greenslitt put himself out of the way, at the timeof the trial of Burroughs; but there is reason to believe that he livedfar down in the eastern country, and subsequently came voluntarily toSalem, from his distant home, to be present at the trial of his mother. The deposition was obtained from him in the period between hercondemnation and execution. The motives that may have led theprosecutors to think it important to procure, and the probableinducement that led him to give, the deposition are explained in my book[_ii. , 298_]. Greenslitt states that "the gun was of six-foot barrel orthereabouts. " Mather reports him as saying "about six or seven footbarrel. " The account of the trial of Burroughs, throughout, is chargedwith extreme prejudice against the Prisoner; and the character of theevidence is exaggerated. 

One of the witnesses, in the trial of Bridget Bishop, related a varietyof mishaps, such as the stumping of the off-wheel of his cart, thebreaking of the gears, and a general coming to pieces of the harness andvehicle, on one occasion; and his not being able, on another, to lift abag of corn as easily as usual; and he ascribed it all to the witcheryof the Prisoner. Mather gives his statement, concluding thus: "Manyother pranks of this Bishop this deponent was ready to testify. " Heendorses every thing, however absurd, especially if resting on spectralevidence, as absolute, unquestionable, and demonstrated facts. 

Nothing was proved against the moral character of Susannah Martin; andnothing was brought to bear upon her, but the most ridiculous andshameful tales of blind superstition and malignant credulity. Theextraordinary acumen and force of mind, however, exhibited in herdefence, to the discomfiture of the examining Magistrates and Judges, excited their wrath and that of all concerned in the prosecution. Matherfinishes the account of her trial in these words: "NOTE. This woman wasone of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the world; andshe did now, throughout her whole trial, discover herself to be such anone. Yet when she was asked what she had to say for herself, her chiefplea was, 'that she had led a most virtuous and holy life. '"--_Wonders, etc. _, 126. 

Well might he, and all who acted in bringing this remarkable woman toher death, have been exasperated against her. She will be remembered, inperpetual history, as having risen superior to them all, in intellectualcapacity, and as having utterly refuted the whole system of spectraldoctrine, upon which her life and the lives of all the others weresacrificed. Looking towards "the afflicted children, " who had sworn thather spectre tortured them, the Magistrate asked, "How comes yourappearance to hurt these?" Her answer was, "How do I know? He thatappeared in the shape of Samuel, a glorified Saint, may appear in anyone's shape. "

It is truly astonishing that Mather should have selected the name ofElizabeth How, to be held up to abhorrence and classed among the"Malefactors. " It shows how utterly blinded and perverted he was by thehorrible delusion that "possessed" him. If her piety and virtue were ofno avail in leading him to pause in aspersing her memory, by selectingher case to be included in the "black list" of those reported by him inhis _Wonders_, one would have thought he would have paid some regard tothe testimony of his clerical brethren and to the feelings of herrelatives, embracing many most estimable families. She was nearlyconnected with the venerable Minister of Andover, Francis Dane, andbelonged to the family of Jacksons. 

There was, and is, among the papers, a large body of evidence in herfavor, most weighty and decisive, yet Mather makes no allusion to itwhatever; although he must have known of it, from outside information aswell as the documents before him. Two of the most respectable Ministersin 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 offemale gentleness, loveliness, and purity, not surpassed in the annalsof her sex. The two Clergymen exposed and denounced the wickedness ofthe means that had been employed to bring the stigma of witchcraft uponher good name. Mather not only withholds all this evidence, but speakswith special bitterness of this excellent woman, calling her, over andover again, throughout his whole account, "This How. "

There is reason to apprehend that much cruelty was practised upon thePrisoners, especially to force them to confess. The statements made byJohn Proctor, in his letter to the Ministers, are fully entitled tocredit, from his unimpeached honesty of character, as well as from theposition of the persons addressed. It is not to be imagined, that, atits date, on the twenty-third of July, twelve days before his trial, hewould have made, in writing, such declarations to them, had they notbeen true. He says that brutal violence was used upon his son to inducehim to confess. He also states that two of the children of MarthaCarrier were "tied neck and heels, till the blood was ready to come outof their noses. " The outrages, thus perpetrated, with all theaffrighting influences brought to bear, prevailed over Carrier'schildren. Some of them were used as witnesses against her. A littlegirl, not eight years old, was made to swear that she was a witch; thather mother, when she was six years old, made her so, baptizing her, andcompelling her "to set her hand to a book, " and carried her, "in herspirit, " 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 itwas her mother. Another of her children testified that he, and stillanother, a brother, were witches, and had been present, in spectre, atWitch-sacraments, telling who were there, and where they procured theirwine. All this the mother had to hear. 

Thomas Carrier, her husband, had, a year or two before, been involved ina controversy about the boundaries of his lands, in which hard words hadpassed. The energy of character, so strikingly displayed by his wife, ather Examination, rendered her liable to incur animosities, in thecourse of a neighborhood feud. The whole force of angry superstition hadbeen arrayed against her; and she became the object of scandal, in theform it then was made to assume, the imputation of being a witch. HerMinister, Mr. Dane, in a strong and bold letter, in defence of hisparishioners, many of whom had been accused, says: "There was asuspicion of Goodwife Carrier among some of us, before she wasapprehended, I know. " He avers that he had lived above forty years inAndover, and had been much conversant with the people, "at theirhabitations;" that, hearing that some of his people were inclined toindulge in superstitions stories, and give heed to tales of the kind, hepreached a Sermon against all such things; and that, since that time, heknew of no person that countenanced practices of the kind; concludinghis statement in these words: "So far as I had the understanding of anything amongst us, do declare, that I believe the reports have beenscandalous and unjust, neither will bear the light. "

Atrocious as were the outrages connected with the prosecutions, in 1692, none, it appears to me, equalled those committed in the case of MarthaCarrier. The Magistrates who sat and listened, with wondering awe, tosuch evidence from a little child against her mother, in the presence ofthat mother, must have been bereft, by the baleful superstitions of thehour, of all natural sensibility. They countenanced a violation ofreason, common sense, and the instincts of humanity, too horrible to bethought of. 

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 lookedto the Magistrates, after the accusing girls had charged her with having"killed thirteen at Andover, " with a stern bravery to which thosedignitaries had not been accustomed, and rebuked them: "It is a shamefulthing, that you should mind those folks that are out of their wits;" andthen, turning to the accusers, said, "You lie, and I am wronged. " Thiswoman, like all the rest, met her fate with a demeanor that left no roomfor 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 greatcompassion for "surviving relatives, " calls her a "rampant hag. "

Bringing young children to swear away the life of their mother, wasprobably felt by the Judges to be too great a shock upon naturalsensibilities to be risked again, and they were not produced at thetrial; but Mather, notwithstanding, had no reluctance to publish thesubstance of their testimony, as what they would have sworn to ifcalled upon; and says they were not put upon the stand, because therewas evidence "enough" without them. 

Such were the reports of those of the trials, which had then takenplace, selected by Mather to be put into the _Wonders of the InvisibleWorld_, and thus to be "boxed about, "--to adopt the Reviewer'sinterpretation--to strike down the "Spectre of Sadduceeism, " that is, toextirpate and bring to an end all doubts about witchcraft and allattempts to stop the prosecutions. 

This book was written while the proceedings at Salem were at theirheight, during the very month in which sixteen persons had beensentenced to death and eight executed, evidently, from its whole tenor, and as the Reviewer admits, for the purpose of silencing objectors anddoubters, Sadducees and Witch-advocates, before the meeting of theCourt, by adjournment, in the first week of November, to continue--asthe Ministers, in their _Advice_, expressed it--their "sedulous andassiduous endeavours to defeat the abominable witchcrafts which havebeen committed in the country. "

Little did those concerned, in keeping up the delusion and prolongingthe scenes in the Salem Court-house and on Witch-hill, dream that thecurtain was so soon to fall upon the horrid tragedy and confound him whocombined, in his own person, the functions of Governor, Commander-in-chief, President of the Council, Legislative leader of theGeneral Court, and Chief-justice of the Special Court, and all hisaiders and abettors, lay and clerical. 

XII. 

"WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, " CONTINUED. PASSAGES FROM IT. "CASES OFCONSCIENCE. " INCREASE MATHER. 

In addition to the reports of the trials of the five "Malefactors, " asMather calls them, the _Wonders of the Invisible World_ contains muchmatter that helps us to ascertain the real opinions, at the time, of itsauthor, to which justice to him, and to all, requires me to riskattention. The passages, to be quoted, will occupy some room; but theywill repay the reading, in the light they shed upon the manner in whichsuch subjects were treated in the most accredited literature, andinfused 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 ofillustration, often quite refreshing. 

The work was written under a sense of the necessity of maintaining theposition into which the Government of the Province had been led, by sosuddenly and rashly organizing the Special Court and putting it upon itsbloody work, at Salem; and this could only be done by renewing andfortifying the popular conviction, that such proceedings were necessary, and ought to be vigorously prosecuted, and all Sadduceeism, oropposition to them, put down. It was especially necessary to reconcile, or obscure into indistinctness, certain conflicting theories that hadmore or less currency. "I do not believe, " says Mather, "that theprogress of Witchcraft among us, is all the plot which the Devil ismanaging in the Witchcraft now upon us. It is judged that the Devilraised the storm, whereof we read in the eighth Chapter of Matthew, onpurpose to overset the little vessel wherein the disciples of our Lordwere embarked with him. And it may be feared that, in the HorribleTempest which is now upon ourselves, the design of the Devil is to sinkthat happy Settlement of Government, wherewith Almighty God hasgraciously inclined their Majesties to favor us. "--_Wonders, p. 10. _

He then proceeds to compliment Sir William Phips, alluding to his"continually venturing his all, " that is, in looking after affairs andfighting Indians in the eastern parts; to applaud Stoughton as"admirably accomplished" for his place; and continues as follows: "OurCouncellours are some of our most eminent persons, and as loyal to theCrown, as hearty lovers of their country. Our Constitution also isattended with singular privileges. All which things are by the Devilexceedingly envied unto us. And the Devil will doubtless take thisoccasion for the raising of such complaints and clamors, as may be ofpernicious consequence unto some part of our present Settlement, if hecan so far impose. But that, which most of all threatens us, in ourpresent circumstances, is the misunderstandings, and so, theanimosities, whereinto the Witchcraft, now raging, has enchanted us. Theembroiling, first, of our Spirits, and then, of our affairs. " "I amsure, we shall be worse than brutes, if we fly upon one another, at atime when the floods of Belial are upon us. " "The Devil has made us likea 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 dirtwhich before lay still at the bottom of our sinful hearts. If we allowthe mad dogs of Hell to poison us by biting us, we shall imagine that wesee nothing but such things about us, and like such things, fly upon allthat we see. "

After deprecating the animosities and clamors that were threatening todrive himself and his friends from power, he makes a strenuous appealto persevere in the witchcraft prosecutions. 

"We are to unite in our endeavours to deliver our distressed neighborsfrom the horrible annoyances and molestations wherewith a dreadfulwitchcraft is now persecuting of them. To have an hand in any thing thatmay stifle or obstruct a regular detection of that witchcraft, is whatwe may well with an holy fear avoid. Their Majesties good subjects mustnot every day be torn to pieces by horrid witches, and those bloodyfelons be left wholly unprosecuted. The witchcraft is a business thatwill not be shammed, without plunging us into sore plagues, and of longcontinuance. But then we are to unite in such methods for thisdeliverance, as may be unquestionably safe, lest the latter end be worsethan the beginning. And here, what shall I say? I will venture to saythus much. That we are safe, when we make just as much use of all advicefrom the invisible world, as God sends it for. It is a safe principle, that when God Almighty permits any spirits, from the unseen regions, tovisit us with surprising informations, there is then something to beenquired after; we are then to enquire of one another, what cause thereis for such things? The peculiar government of God, over the unbodiedIntelligences, is a sufficient foundation for this principle. When therehas been a murder committed, an apparition of the slain party accusingof any man, although such apparitions have oftener spoke true thanfalse, is not enough to convict the man as guilty of that murder; butyet it is a sufficient occasion for Magistrates to make a particularenquiry whether such a man have afforded any ground for such anaccusation. "--_Page 13. _

He goes on to apply this principle to the spectres of accused persons, seen by the "afflicted, " as constituting sufficient ground to instituteproceedings against the persons thus accused. After modifying, apparently, this position, although in language so obscure as to leavehis meaning quite uncertain, he says: "I was going to make one venturemore; that is, to offer some safe rules, for the finding out of thewitches, which are to this day our accursed troublers: but this were aventure too presumptuous and Icarian for me to make. I leave that untothose Excellent and Judicious persons with whom I am not worthy to benumbered: All that I shall do, shall be to lay before my readers, abrief synopsis of what has been written on that subject, by aTriumvirate of as eminent persons as have ever handled it. "--_Page 14. _

From neither of them, Perkins, Gaule and Bernard, as he cites them, canspecific authority be obtained for the admission of spectral testimony, as offered by accusing witnesses, not themselves confessing witches. Thethird Rule, attributed to Perkins, and the fifth of Bernard, apply topersons confessing the crime of witchcraft, and, after confession, giving evidence affecting another person--the former considering suchevidence "not sufficient for condemnation, but a fit presumption tocause a strait examination;" the latter treating it as sufficient toconvict 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 makegood the truth of their witness and give sufficient proof of it; as thatthey have seen them with their Spirits, or that they have receivedSpirits from them, or that they can tell when they used witchery-tricksto do harm, or that they told them what harm they had done, or that theycan show the mark upon them, or that they have been together in thosemeetings, or such like. "

Mather remarks, in connection with his synopsis of these Rules: "Theyare considerable things, which I have thus related. " Those I haveparticularly noticed were enough to let in a large part of the evidencegiven at the Salem trials--in many respects, the most effective andformidable part--striking the Jury and Court, as well as the people, with an "awe, " which rendered no other evidence necessary to overwhelmthe mind and secure conviction. The Prisoners themselves were amazed andastounded 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 aWitch-meeting at the Village; and heard him exhort the company to pulldown the Kingdom of God and set up the Kingdom of the Devil. He deniedall, yet said he justified the Judges and Jury in condemning him;because there were so many positive witnesses against him; but said hedied by false witnesses. " Mr. Hale proceeds to mention this fact: "Iseriously spake to one that witnessed (of his exhorting at theWitch-meeting at the Village) saying to her; 'You are one that bringthis man to death: if you have charged any thing upon him that is nottrue, recall it before it be too late, while he is alive. ' She answeredme, she had nothing to charge herself with, upon that account. "

Mather omits this circumstance in copying Mr. Hale's narrative. It hasalways been a mystery, what led the "accusing girls" to cry out, as theyafterwards did, against Mr. Hale's wife. Perhaps this expostulation withone of their witnesses, awakened their suspicions. They always struck atevery one who appeared to be wavering, or in the least disposed toquestion the correctness of what was going on. The statement of Mr. Haleshows how effectual and destructive the evidence, authorized byBernard's book, was; and it also proves how unjust, to the Judges andMagistrates, is the charge made upon them by the Reviewer, that theydisregarded and violated the advice of the Ministers. In admitting aspecies of evidence, wholly spectral, which was fatal, more than anyother, to the Prisoners, they followed a rule laid down by the veryauthors whose "directions" the Ministers, in their _Advice_, written by"Mr. Mather the younger, " enjoined upon them to follow. It isnoticeable, by the way, that, in that document, they left Gaule out ofthe "triumvirate;" Mather finding nothing in his book to justify theadmission of spectral testimony. 

He urges the force of the evidence, from confessions, with all possibleearnestness. 

"One would think all the rules of understanding human affairs are at anend, if after so many most voluntary harmonious confessions, made byintelligent persons, of all ages, in sundry towns, at several times, wemust not believe the main strokes, wherein those confessions allagree. "--_Page 8. _

He continues to press the point thus: "If the Devils now can strike theminds 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 thewonders of the former ages; and it threatens no less than a sort of adissolution upon the world. Now, by these confessions, it is agreed, that the Devil has made a dreadful knot of witches in the country, andby the help of witches has dreadfully increased that knot; that thesewitches have driven a trade of commissioning their confederate spirits, to do all sorts of mischiefs to the neighbors, whereupon there haveensued such mischievous consequences upon the bodies and estates of theneighborhood, as could not otherwise be accounted for; yea, that atprodigious Witch-meetings the wretches have proceeded so far as toconcert and consult the methods of rooting out the Christian religionfrom this country, and setting up, instead of it, perhaps a more grossDiabolism, than ever the world saw before. And yet it will be a thinglittle short of miracle, if, in so spread a business as this, the Devilshould not get in some of his juggles, to confound the discovery of allthe rest. "

In the last sentence of the foregoing passage, we see an idea, whichMather expressed in several instances. It amounts to this. Suppose theDevil does "sometimes" make use of the spectre of an innocent person--hedoes it for the purpose of destroying our faith in that kind ofevidence, and leading us to throw it all out, thereby "confounding thediscovery" of those cases in which, as ordinarily, he makes use of thespectres of his guilty confederates, and, in effect, sheltering "all therest, " that is, the whole body of those who are the willing andcovenanted 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 coverand shelter themselves in their witchcrafts. "

He further suggests--for no other purpose, it would seem, than toreconcile us to the use of such evidence, even though, it may, in "rareand extraordinary" instances, bear against innocent persons, scarcely, however, to be apprehended, "when matters come before civiljudicature"--that it may be the divine will, that, occasionally, aninnocent person _may be cut off_: "Who of us can exactly state how farour God may, for our chastisement, permit the Devil to proceed in suchan abuse?" He then alludes to the meeting of Ministers, under hisfather's auspices, at Cambridge, on the first of August; quotes withapproval, the result of his "Discourse, " then held; and immediatelyproceeds: "It is rare and extraordinary, for an honest Naboth to havehis life itself sworn away by two children of Belial, and yet noinfringement hereby made on the Rectoral Righteousness of our eternalSovereign, whose judgments are a great deep, and who gives none accountof his matters. "--_Page 9. _

The amount of all this is, that it is so rare and extraordinary for theDevil to assume the spectral shape of an innocent person, that it isbest, "when, " as his expression is, in another place, "the public safetymakes an exigency, " to receive and act upon such evidence, even if itshould lead to the conviction of an innocent person--a thing so seldomliable to occur, and, indeed, barely possible. The procedure would bebut carrying out the divine "permission, " and a fulfilment of "theRectoral Righteousness" of Him, whose councils are a great deep, not tobe accounted for to, or by, us. 

In summing up what the witches had been doing at Salem Village, duringthe preceding Summer, Mather says: "The Devil, exhibiting himselfordinarily as a small black man, has decoyed a fearful knot of proud, froward, ignorant, envious and malicious creatures to list themselves inhis horrid service by entering their names in a book, by him tenderedunto them. " "That they, each of them, have, their spectres or Devils, commissioned by them, and representing them, to be the engines of theirmalice. " He enumerates, as facts, all the statements of the "afflicted"witnesses and confessing witches, as to the horrible and monstrousthings perpetrated by the spectres of the accused parties; and heapplauds the Court, testifying to the successful and beneficial issue ofits proceedings. "Our honorable Judges have used, as Judges haveheretofore done, the spectral evidence, to introduce their furtherenquiries into the lives of the persons accused; and they have, thereupon, by the wonderful Providence of God, been so strengthened withother evidences, that some of the Witch-gang have been fairlyexecuted. "--_Pages 41, 43. _

The language of Cotton Mather, as applied to those who had suffered, aswitches, "a fearful knot of proud, froward, ignorant, envious andmalicious creatures--a Witch-gang, "--is rather hard, as coming from aMinister who, as the Reviewer asserts, had officiated in their deathscenes, witnessed their devout and Christian expressions and deportment, and been their comforter, consoler, counsellor and friend. 

The dissatisfaction that pervaded the public mind, about the time of thelast executions at Salem, which Phips describes, was so serious, thatboth the Mathers were called in to allay it. The father also, at therequest of the Ministers, wrote a book, entitled, _Cases of Conscience, concerning Evil Spirits, personating men, Witchcrafts, &c. _, the generaldrift of which is against spectral evidence. He says: "Spectres areDevils, in the shape of persons, either living or dead. " Speaking ofbewitched persons, he says: "What they affirm, concerning others, is notto be taken for evidence. Whence had they this supernatural sight? Itmust needs be either from Heaven or from Hell. If from Heaven (asElisha's servant and Balaam's ass could discern Angels) let theirtestimony be received. But if they had this knowledge from Hell, thoughthere may possibly be truth in what they affirm, they are not legalwitnesses: for the Law of God allows of no revelation from any otherSpirit but himself. _Isa. _, viii. , 19. It is a sin against God, to makeuse of the Devil's help to know that which cannot be otherwise known;and I testify against it, as a great transgression, which may justlyprovoke the Holy One of Israel, to let loose Devils on the whole land. _Luke_, iv. , 38. "

After referring to a couple of writers on the subject, the very nextsentence is this: "Although the Devil's accusations may be so farregarded as to cause an enquiry into the truth of things, _Job_, i. , 11, 12, and ii. , 5, 6; yet not so as to be an evidence or ground ofconviction. "

It appears therefore, that Increase Mather, while writing with muchforce and apparent vehemence against spectral evidence, still in realitycountenanced its introduction, as a basis of "enquiry into the truth ofthings, " preliminary to other evidence. This was, after all, to use theform of thought of these writers, letting the Devil into the case; andthat was enough, from the nature of things, in the then state of wildsuperstition and the blind delusions of the popular mind, to give tospectral evidence the controlling sway it had in the Salem trials, andwould necessarily have, every where, when introduced at all. 

In a Postscript to _Cases of Conscience_, Increase Mather says that hehears that "some have taken up a notion, " that there was somethingcontradictory between his views and those of his son, set forth in the_Wonders of the Invisible World_. "Tis strange that such imaginationsshould enter into the minds of men. " He goes on to say he had read andapproved of his son's book, before it was printed; and falls back, asboth of them always did, when pressed, upon the _Advice_ of theMinisters, of the fifteenth of June, in which, he says, they concurred. 

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 entertainvery different sentiments about the Salem proceedings. The precise formof that difference is not easily ascertained. The feelings, so naturaland proper, on both sides, belonging to the relation they sustained toeach other, led them to preserve an appearance of harmony, especially inwhatever was committed to the press. Then, again, the views they eachentertained were in themselves so inconsistent, that it was notdifficult to persuade themselves that they were substantially similar. There was much in the father, for the son to revere: there was much inthe son, for the father to admire. Besides, the habitual style in whichthey and the Ministers of that day indulged, of saying and unsaying, onthe same page--putting a proposition and then linking to it acountervailing one--covered their tracks to each other and tothemselves. This is their apology; and none of them needs it more thanCotton Mather. He was singularly blind to logical sequence. Withwonderful power over language, he often seems not to appreciate theimport of what he is saying; and to this defect, it is agreeable tothink, much, if not all, that has the aspect of a want of fairness andeven truthfulness, in his writings may be attributed. 

As associate Ministers of the same congregation, it was desirable forthe Mathers to avoid being drawn into a conflicting attitude, on anymatter of importance. Drake, however, in his _History of Boston_, (_p. 545_) says that there was supposed, at the formation of the New NorthChurch, in that place, in 1712, to have been a jealousy between them. There were, indeed, many points of dissimilarity, as well as ofsimilarity, in their culture, experience, manners, and ways; and menconversant with them, at the time, may have noticed a difference intheir judgments and expressions, relating to the witchcraft affair, ofwhich no knowledge has come to us, except the fact, that it was sounderstood at the time. 

Cotton Mather brought all his ability to bear in preparing the _Wondersof the Invisible World_. It is marked throughout by his peculiar genius, and constructed with great ingenuity and elaboration; but it was "waterspilt on the ground. " So far as the end, for which it was designed, isregarded, it died before it saw the light. 

XIII. 

THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER BROUGHT TO A SUDDEN END. SIR WILLIAMPHIPS. 

When Sir William Phips went to the eastward, it was expected that hisabsence would be prolonged to the twelfth of October. We cannot tellexactly when he returned; probably some days before the twelfth. Writingon the fourteenth, he says, that before any application was made to himfor the purpose, he had put a stop to the proceedings of the Court. Heprobably signified, informally, to the Judges, that they must not meeton 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 ofWeymouth, who was in full sympathy with the prosecutors, had heard of iton the seventh, as appears by this entry in Sewall's Diary: "OCT. 7^th, 1692. Mr. Torrey seems to be of opinion, that the Court of Oyer andTerminer should go on, regulating any thing that may have been amiss, when certainly found to be so. "

Sewall and Stoughton were among the principal friends of Torrey; and he, probably, had learned from them, Phips's avowed purpose to stop theproceedings 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 thetenth, in a capital case of the ordinary kind. The purpose of theGovernor gradually became known. Danforth, in a conversation withSewall, at Cambridge, on the fifteenth, expressed the opinion that thewitchcraft trials ought not to proceed any further. 

It is not unlikely that Phips, while at the eastward, had received somecommunication that hastened his return. He describes the condition ofthings, as he found it. We know that the lives of twenty people had beentaken away, one of them a Minister of the Gospel. Two Ministers had beenaccused, one of them the Pastor of the Old South Church; the name of theother is not known. A hundred were in prison; about two hundred morewere under accusation, including some men of great estates in Boston, the mother-in-law of one of the Judges, Corwin, and a member of thefamily of Increase Mather, although, as he says, in no way related tohim. A Magistrate, who was a member of the House of Assembly, had fledfor his life; and Phips's trusted naval commander, a man of highstanding in the Church and in society, as well as in the service, afterhaving been committed to Jail, had escaped to parts unknown. More thanall, the Governor's wife had been cried out upon. We can easily imaginehis state of mind. Sir William Phips was noted for the sudden violenceof his temper. Mather says that he sometimes "showed choler enough. "Hutchinson says that "he was of a benevolent, friendly disposition; atthe same time quick and passionate;" and, in illustration of the latterqualities, he relates that he got into a fisticuff fight with theCollector of the Port, on the wharf, handling him severely; and that, having high words, in the street, with a Captain of the Royal Navy, "theGovernor made use of his cane and broke Short's head. " When his Ladytold her story to him, and pictured the whole scene of the "strangeferment" in the domestic and social circles of Boston and throughout thecountry, it was well for the Chief-justice, the Judges, and perhaps hisown Ministers, that they were not within the reach of those "blows, "with which, as Mather informs us, in the _Life of Phips_, the roughsailor was wont, when the gusts of passion were prevailing, to "chastiseincivilities, " without reference to time or place, rank or station. 

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 trycases of witchcraft; and that no more arrests must be made, on thatcharge. 

Mather's book, all ready as it was for the press, thus became laborthrown away. It was not only rendered useless for the purpose designed, but a most serious difficulty obstructed its publication. Phips forbadethe "printing of any discourses, one way or another;" and the _Wonders_had incorporated in it some Sermons, impregnated, through and through, with combustible matter, in Phips's view, likely to kindle aninextinguishable flame. 

All that could be done was to keep still, in the hope that he wouldbecome more malleable. In the meanwhile, public business called himaway, perhaps to Rhode Island or Connecticut, from the eighteenth to thetwenty-seventh of October. In his absence, whether in consequence ofmovements he had put in train, or solely from what had become known ofhis views, the circumstance occurred which is thus related in Sewall'sDiary--the Legislature was then in Session: "OCT. 26, 1692. A Bill issent in about calling a Fast and Convocation of Ministers, that may beled in the right way, as to the Witchcrafts. The season, and manner ofdoing it, is such, that the Court of Oyer and Terminer count themselvesthereby dismissed. 29 nos & 33 yeas to the Bill. Capt. Bradstreet, andLieut. True, Wm. Hutchins, and several other interested persons, in theaffirmative. "

The course of Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill, and the action in theLegislature of the persons here named, entitle the Merrimac towns ofEssex-county to the credit of having made the first public and effectualresistance to the fanaticism and persecutions of 1692. 

The passage of this Bill, in the House of Representatives, shows how thepublic mind had been changed, since the June Session. Dudley Bradstreetwas 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 beencondemned to death; Samuel Hutchins, (inadvertently called "Wm. , " bySewall) was a member from Haverhill, and connected by marriage with afamily, three of whom were tried for their lives. Sewall says there were"several other" members of the House, interested in like manner. Thisshows into what high circles the accusers had struck. 

It appears, by the same Diary, that on the twenty-seventh, Cotton Matherpreached the Thursday Lecture, from _James_, i. , 4. The day of trial wasthen upon him and his fellow-actors; and patience was inculcated as theduty of the hour. 

The Diary relates that at a meeting of the Council, on thetwenty-eighth, in the afternoon, Sewall, "desired to have the advice ofthe Governor and Council, as to the sitting of the Court of Oyer andTerminer, next week; said, should move it no more; great silenceprevailed, as if should say, Do not go. "

The entry does not state whether Phips was present; as, however, thetime fixed for his recent brief absence had expired, probably he was inhis seat. The following mishap, described by Sewall, as occurring thatday, perhaps detained the Deputy-governor: "OCT. 28. Lt. Gov^r, comingover the causey, is, by reason of the high tide, so wet, that is fain togo to bed, till sends for dry clothes to Dorchester. "

The "great silence" was significant of the embarrassment in which theywere placed, and their awe of the "choler" of the Governor. 

The Diary gives the following account of the Session the next day, atwhich, (as Sewall informs us, ) the Lieutenant-governor was not present:"OCT. 29. Mr. Russel asked, whether the Court of Oyer and Terminershould sit, expressing some fear of inconvenience by its fall. Governorsaid, it must fall. "

Thus died the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Its friends cherished, to thelast, the hope that Sir William might be placated, and possibly againbrought under control; but it vanished, when the emphatic and resolutewords, reported by Sewall, were uttered. 

The firmness and force of character of the Governor are worthy of allpraise. 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, whenhis attention was fully turned to it, and his feelings enlisted, todecide, courageously and righteously, the question before him. He sawthat no life was safe while the evidence of the "afflicted persons" wasreceived, "either to the committing or trying" of any persons. He thusbroke through the meshes which had bound Judges and Ministers, thewriters 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 Kennebeclaid the axe to the root of the tree. 

The following extract from a letter of Sir William Phips, just put intomy hands, and for which I am indebted to Mr. Goodell, substantiates theconclusions to which I have been led. 

 "_Governor Phips to the Lords of the Committee of Trade and Plantations, 3 April, 1693. _

 "MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIPS:

 "I have intreated M^r 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^ties 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. "

This shows that, addressing officially his Home Government, he assumedthe responsibility of having "stopped and put a speedy end to theproceedings;" that he had no great faith in the doctrines then receivedtouching the reality of witchcraft; and that he was fully convincedthat, if he had allowed the trials to go on, and the inflammation of thepublic mind to be kept up by "discourses, " the bloody tragedy would havebeen prolonged, and "proved fatal to many good" people. 

There are two men--neither of them belonging to the class of scholars orDivines; both of them guided by common sense, good feeling, and acourageous and resolute spirit--who stand alone, in the scenes of thewitchcraft delusions. NATHANIEL SALTONSTALL, who left the Council andthe Court, the day the Ministers' _Advice_, to go on with theprosecutions, was received, and never appeared again until that _Advice_was abandoned and repudiated; and Sir WILLIAM PHIPS, who stamped it outbeneath his feet. 

But how with Cotton Mather's Book, the _Wonders of the Invisible World_?On the eleventh of October, Stoughton and Sewall signed a paper, printedin the book, [_p. 88_] endorsing its contents, especially as to "mattersof fact and evidence" and the "methods of conviction used in theproceedings of the Court at Salem. " The certificate repeats the form ofwords, so often used in connection with the book, that it was written"at the direction of His Excellency the Governor, " without, as in allcases, specifying who, whether Phips or Stoughton, was the Governorreferred to. As all the Judges were near at hand, and as the certificaterelated to the proceedings before them, it is quite observable that onlythe two mentioned signed it. As they were present, in the privateconference, with Cotton Mather, at the house of one of them, on thetwenty-second of September, when its preparation for publication wasfinally arranged, they could not well avoid signing it. The times werecritical; and the rest of the Judges, knowing the Governor's feelings, thought best not to appear. Of the three other persons, at thatconference, Hathorne, it is true, was a Judge of that Court, but it isdoubtful whether he often, or ever, took his seat as such; besides, hewas too experienced and cautious a public man, unnecessarily to put hishand to such a paper, when it was known, as it was probably to him, thatSir William Phips had forbidden publications of the kind. 

There is another curious document, in the _Wonders_--a letter fromStoughton to Mather, highly applauding the book, in which heacknowledges his particular obligations to him for writing it, as "morenearly and highly concerned" than others, considering his place in theCourt, expressing in detail his sense of the great value of the work, "at this juncture of time, " and concluding thus: "I do therefore make itmy particular and earnest Request unto you, that, as soon as may be, youwill commit the same unto the press, accordingly. " It is signed, withoutany official title of distinction, simply "WILLIAM STOUGHTON, " and is_without date_. 

It is singular, if Phips was the person who requested it to be writtenand was the "Excellency" who authorized its publication, that it wasleft to William Stoughton to "request" its being put to press. 

The foregoing examination of dates and facts seems, almost, to compelthe conclusion, to be drawn also from his letter, that Sir William Phipsreally had nothing whatever to do with procuring the preparation orsanctioning the publication of the _Wonders of the Invisible World_. The same is true as to the request to the Ministers, for their _Advice_, dated the fifteenth of June. It was "laid before the Judges;" and was, undoubtedly, a response to an application from them. Having, veryimproperly, it must be confessed, given the whole matter of the trialsover to Stoughton, and being engrossed in other affairs, it is quitelikely that he knew but little of what had been going on, until hisreturn from the eastward, in October. And his frequent and longabsences, leaving Stoughton, so much of the time, with all the functionsand titles of Governor devolved upon him, led to speaking of the latteras "His Excellency. " When bearing this title and acting as Governor, forthe time being, the Chief-justice, with the side Judges--all of themmembers of the Council, and in number meeting the requirement in theCharter for a quorum, seven--may have been considered, as substantially, "The Governor and Council. "

Thinking it more than probable that, in this way, great wrong has beendone to the memory of an honest and noble-hearted man, I have endeavoredto set things in their true light. The perplexities, partyentanglements, personal collisions, and engrossing cares that absorbedthe attention of Sir William Phips, during the brief remainder of hislife, and the little interest he felt in such things, prevented hisnoticing the false position in which he had been placed by theundistinguishing use of titular phrases. 

Judge Sewall's Diary contains an entry that, also, sheds light upon theposition of the Mathers. It will be borne in mind, that Elisha Cook wasthe colleague of Increase Mather, as Colonial Agents in London. Cookrefused assent to the new Charter, and became the leader of theanti-Mather party. He was considered an opponent of the witchcraftprosecutions, although out of the country at the time. "TUESDAY, NOV. 15, 1692. M^r Cook keeps a Day of Thanksgiving for his safe arrival. "* * * [_Many mentioned as there, among them Mr. Willard. _] "Mr. Allenpreached from Jacob's going to Bethel, * * * Mr. Mather not there, norMr. Cotton Mather. The good Lord unite us in his fear, and remove ouranimosities. "

The manner in which Sewall distinguished the two Mathers confirms theviews presented on pages 37, 38. 

It may be remarked, that, up to this time, Sewall seems to have been infull sympathy with Stoughton and Mather. He was, however, beginning toindulge in conversations that indicate a desire to feel the ground hewas treading. After a while, he became thoroughly convinced of hiserror; and there are scattered, in the margins of his Diary, expressionsof much sensibility at the extent to which he had been misled. Overagainst an entry, giving an account of his presence at an Examinationbefore Magistrates, of whom he was one, on the eleventh of April, 1692, at Salem, is the interjection, thrice repeated, "_Vae, Vae, Vae_. " Atthe opening of the year 1692, he inserted, at a subsequent period, thispassage: "_Attonitus tamen est, ingens discrimine parvo committipotuisse Nefas. _"[4]

FOOTNOTES:

[4] For the privilege of inspecting and using Judge Sewall's Diary I amindebted to the kindness of the Massachusetts Historical Society: and Iwould also express my thanks, for similar favors and civilities, to theofficers in charge of the Records and Archives in the MassachusettsState House, the Librarian of Harvard University, the Essex Institute, and many individuals, not mentioned in the text, especially thosedevoted collectors and lovers of our old New England literature, SamuelG. Drake and John K. Wiggin. 

XIV. 

COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS SUBSEQUENT TO THE WITCHCRAFT PROSECUTIONS. 

I propose, now, to enquire into the position Cotton Mather occupied, andthe views he expressed, touching the matter, after the witchcraftprosecutions had ceased and the delusion been dispelled from the mindsof other men. 

During the Winter of 1692 and 1693, between one and two hundredprisoners, including confessing witches, remained in Jail, at Salem, Ipswich, and other places. A considerable number were in the BostonJail. It seems, from the letter to Secretary Allyn of Connecticut, that, during that time, the Mathers were in communication with them, andreceiving from them the names of persons whose spectres, they declared, they had seen and suffered from, as employed in the Devil's work. Afterall that had happened, and the order of Sir William Phips, forbiddingattempts to renew the excitement, it is wonderful that the Mathersshould continue such practices. In the latter part of the Summer of1693, they were both concerned in the affair of Margaret Rule; andCotton Mather prepared, and put into circulation, an elaborate accountof it, some extracts from which have been presented, and which will befurther noticed, in another connection. 

His next work, in the order of time, which I shall consider, is his_Life of Sir William Phips_, printed in London, in 1697, and afterwardsincluded in the _Magnalia_, also published in London, a few yearsafterwards, constituting the last part of the Second Book. _The Life ofPhips_ is, perhaps, the most elaborate and finished of all Mather'sproductions; and "adorned, " as his uncle Nathaniel Mather says, in acommendatory note, "with a very grateful variety of learning. " In it, Sir William, who had died, at London, three years before, is painted inglowing colors, as one of the greatest of conquerors and rulers, "dropped, as it were, from the Machine of Heaven;" "for his exterior, hewas one tall, beyond the common lot of men; and thick, as well as tall, and strong as well as thick. He was, in all respects, exceedinglyrobust, and able to conquer such difficulties of diet and of travel, aswould have killed most men alive;" "he was well set, and he wastherewithall of a very comely, though a very manly, countenance. " He isdescribed as of "a most incomparable generosity, " "of a forgivingspirit. " His faults are tenderly touched; "upon certain affronts, he hasmade sudden returns, that have shewed choler enough; and he has, byblow, as well as by word, chastised incivilities. "

It is remarkable that Mather should have laid himself out, to such anextent of preparation and to such heights of eulogy, as this workexhibits. It is dedicated to the Earl of Bellamont, just about to comeover, as Phips's successor. Mather held in his hand a talisman of favor, influence, and power. In the Elegy which concludes the _Life_, are lineslike these:

 "Phips, our great friend, our wonder, and our glory, The terror of our foes, the world's rare story, Or but name Phips, more needs not be expressed, Both Englands, and next ages, tell the rest. "

The writer of this _Life_ had conferred the gift of an immortal nameupon one Governor of New England, and might upon another. 

But with all this panegyric, he does not seem to have been careful to bejust 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 theparagraph, quoted from the _Life of Phips_, introducing the return of_Advice_ from the Ministers. I have shown, in that connection, howdeceptive the expression "arriving to his Government" is. In reportingthe _Advice_ of the Ministers, in the _Life of Phips_, Mather omits theparagraphs I have placed within brackets [_p. 21, 22_]--the _first_, _second_ and _eighth_. The omission of these paragraphs renders thedocument, as given by Mather, an absolute misrepresentation of thetransaction, and places Phips in the attitude of having disregarded theadvice of the Ministers, in suffering the trials to proceed as they did;throwing upon his memory a load of infamy, outweighing all the floridand extravagant eulogies showered upon him, in the _Life_: verifying andfulfilling the apprehensions he expressed in his letter of thefourteenth of October, 1692: "I know my enemies are seeking to turn itall upon me. "

The Reviewer says that "Mr. Mather did not profess to quote the whole_Advice_, but simply made extracts from it. " He professed to give whatthe Ministers "declared. " I submit to every honorable mind, whether whatMather printed, omitting the _first_, _second_ and _eighth_ Sections, was a fair statement of what the Ministers "declared. "

The paragraphs he selected, appear, on their face, to urge caution andeven delay, in the proceedings. They leave this impression on thegeneral reader, and have been so regarded from that day to this. Theartifice, 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 thatseem to indicate caution, had very little force, in that direction; butthat, when the disguising veil of an artful phraseology is removed, theygive substantial countenance to the proceedings of the Court, throughout. 

I desire, at this point, to ask the further attention of the reader toMather's manner of referring to the _Advice of the Ministers_. In his_Wonders_, he quotes the _eighth_ and _second_ Articles of it (_Pages12, 55_), in one instance, ascribing the _Advice_ 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 _sixth_ Article, _omitting the words I have placed in brackets, without any indication ofan omission_. Writing, in 1692, when the delusion was at its height, andfor the purpose of keeping the public mind up to the work of theprosecutions, he gloried chiefly in the _first_, _second_, and _eighth_Articles, and brought them alone forward, in full. The others he passedover, with the exception of the _sixth_, from which he struck out thecentral sentence--that having the appearance of endorsing the views ofthose opposed to spectral testimony. But, in 1697, when the _Life ofPhips_ was written, circumstances had changed. It was apparent, then, toall, even those most unwilling to realize the fact, that the wholetransaction of the witchcraft prosecutions in Salem was doomed toperpetual condemnation; and it became expedient to drop out of sight, forever, if possible, the _second_ and _eighth_ articles, and reproducethe _sixth_, _entire_. 

Considering the unfair view of the import of the _Advice_, in the _Lifeof Phips_, and embodied in the _Magnalia_--a work, which, with all itsdefects, inaccuracies, and absurdities, is sure of occupying aconspicuous place in our Colonial literature--I said: "unfortunately forthe reputation of Cotton Mather, Hutchinson has preserved the _Addressof the Ministers_, entire. " Regarding the document published by Matherin the light of a historical imposture, I expressed satisfaction, thatits exposure was provided in a work, sure of circulation andpreservation, equally, to say the least, with the _Life of Phips_ or the_Magnalia_. The Reviewer, availing himself of the opportunity, hereuponpronounces me ignorant of the fact that the "_Advice_, entire, " waspublished by Increase Mather at the end of his _Cases of Conscience_;and, in his usual style--not, I think, usual, in the _North AmericanReview_--speaks thus--it is a specimen of what is strown through thearticle: "Mr. Upham should have been familiar enough with the originalsources of information on the subject, to have found this _Advice_ inprint, seventy-four years before Hutchinson's _History_ appeared. "

Of course, neither I, nor any one else, can be imagined to suppose thatHutchinson 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 thisReviewer did not tell the public, that I had _never seen_, _read_, or_heard of_ Calef; for, to adopt his habit of reasoning, if I had beenacquainted with that writer, my ignorance would have been enlightened, as Calef would have informed me that "the whole of the Minister's adviceand answer is printed in _Cases of Conscience_, the last pages. "

That only which finds a place in works worthy to endure, and of standardvalue, is sure of perpetual preservation. Hutchinson's _History ofMassachusetts_ is a work of this description. Whatever is committed toits custody will stand the test of time. This cannot be expected of thatclass of tracts or books to which _Cases of Conscience_ belongs, copiesof which can hardly be found, and not likely to justify a separatere-publication. It has, indeed, not many years ago, been reprinted inEngland, in a series of _Old Authors_, tacked on to the _Wonders of theInvisible World_. But few copies have reached this country; and onlypersons of peculiar, it may almost be said, eccentric, tastes, wouldcare to procure it. It will be impossible to awaken an interest in thegeneral reading public for such works. They are forbidding in theirmatter, unintelligible in their style, obscure in their import anddrift, and pervaded by superstitions and absurdities that have happilypassed away, never, it is to be hoped, again to enter the realm oftheology, philosophy, or popular belief; and will perish by the hand oftime, and sink into oblivion. If this present discussion had not arisen, and the "_Advice_, entire, " had not been given by Hutchinson, the_suppressio veri_, perpetrated by Cotton Mather, would, perhaps, havebecome permanent history. 

In reference to the _Advice of the Ministers_, the Reviewer, in one partof his article, seems to complain thus: "Mr. Upham has never seen fit toprint this paper;" in other parts, he assails me from the oppositedirection, and in a manner too serious, in the character of the assault, to be passed over. In my book, (_ii. , 267_) I thus speak of the _Adviceof the Ministers_, referring to it, in a note to p. 367, in similarterms: "The response of the reverend gentlemen, while urging in generalterms the importance of caution and circumspection in the methods ofexamination, decidedly and earnestly recommended that the proceedingsshould be vigorously carried on. "

It is a summary, in general and brief terms, _in my own language_, ofthe _import_ of the whole document, covering both sets of its articles. Hutchinson condenses it in similar terms, as do Calef and Douglas. Irepeat, and beg it to be marked, that I do _not quote it_, in _whole_ or_in part_, but only give its import in my own words. I claim thejudgment of the reader, whether I do not give the import of the articlesMather printed in the _Life of Phips_--those pretending to urgecaution--as fairly as of the articles he omitted, applauding the Court, and encouraging it to go on. 

Now, this writer in the _North American Review_ represents to thereaders of that journal and to the public, that I have _quoted_ the_Advice of the Ministers_, and, in variety of phrase, rings the chargeof unfair and false _quotation_, against me. He uses this language: "Ifit were such a heinous crime for Cotton Mather, in writing the _Life ofSir William Phips_, to omit three Sections, how will Mr. Upham vindicatehis own omissions, when, writing the history of these very transactionsand bringing the gravest charges against the characters of the personsconcerned, he leaves out seven Sections?" I _quoted_ no Section, andmade no _omissions_; and it is therefore utterly unjustifiable to saythat I _left out_ any thing. I gave the substance of the Sections CottonMather left out, in language nearly identical with that used byHutchinson and all others. In the same way, I gave the substance of theSections 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_quotation_. 

In the _Wonders of the Invisible World_, written in 1692, when theprosecutions were in full blast and Mather was glorying in them, and forthe purpose of prolonging them, the only Section he saw fit, in aparticular connection, to quote, was the SECOND. He prefaced it thus:"They were some of the Gracious Words inserted in the _Advice_, whichmany of the neighboring Ministers did this Summer humbly lay before ourHonorable Judges. " Let it be noted, by the way, that when he thuspraised the document, its authorship had not been avowed. Let it furtherbe noted, that it is here let slip that the paper was _laid before theJudges_, not Phips; showing that it was a response to _them_, not him. Let it be still further noted, that the Section which he thus cited, in1692, is one of those which, when the tide had turned, he left out, in1697. 

The Reviewer, referring to Mather's quotation of the second Section ofthe _Advice_, in the _Wonders_, 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, asthe Ministers adopted it. He suppresses the essential portions, changeswords, and, by interpolation, states that the Ministers 'decidedly, ''earnestly, ' and 'vehemently, ' recommended that the 'proceedings' shouldbe vigorously carried on. He who quotes in this manner needs otherevidence than that produced by Mr. Upham to entitle him to impeach Mr. Mather's integrity. " In another place he says, pursuing the charge ofquoting falsely, as to my using the word "proceedings, " "the word is notto be found in the _Advice_. "

The eighth Section recommends "the speedy and vigorous prosecutions ofsuch as have rendered themselves obnoxious. " In a brief reference to thesubject, I use the words "speedily and vigorously, " marking them asquoted, although their form was changed by the structure of the sentenceof my own in which they appear. Beyond this, I have made no_quotations_, in my book, of the _Advice_--not a Section, nor sentence, nor clause, nor line, is a quotation, nor pretends to be. Withoutcharacterising what the Reviewer has done, in charging me with_suppression of essential portions_, _interpolation_, and not _printing_in full, or correctly, what the Ministers or any body else said, my dutyis discharged, by showing that there is no truth in the charge--nofoundation or apology for it. 

The last of the works of Cotton Mather I shall examine, in this scrutinyof his retrospective opinions and position, relating to the witchcraftprosecutions, is the _Magnalia_, printed at London, in 1702. He hadbecome wise enough, at that time, not to commit himself more than hecould help. 

The Rev. John Hale, of Beverly, died in May, 1700. He had taken anactive 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 ofthe principles" upon which the prosecutions were conducted, and had heldthem "with a kind of implicit faith. " Towards the close of the Trials, his view underwent a change; and, after the lapse of five years, heprepared a treatise on the subject. It is a candid, able, learned, andevery-way commendable performance, adhering to the general belief inwitchcraft, but pointing out the errors in the methods of procedure inthe Trials at Salem, showing that the principles there acted upon werefallacious. The book was not printed until 1702. Cotton Mather, havingaccess to Mr. Hale's manuscript, professedly made up from it his accountof the witchcraft transactions of 1692, inserted in the _Magnalia_, 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 theargumentative part, containing marvellous statements, but does notmention that Mr. Hale labored, throughout, to show that those and otherlike matters, which had been introduced at the Trials, as proofs ofspectral agency, were easily resolvable into the visions and vagaries ofa "deluded imagination, " "a phantasy in the brain, " "phantasma beforethe eyes. "

Mr. Hale limits the definition of a witch to the following: "Who is tobe esteemed a capital witch among Christians? viz. : Those that beingbrought up under the means of the knowledge of the true God, yet, beingin their right mind or free use of their reason, do knowingly andwittingly depart from the true God, so as to devote themselves unto, andseek for their help from, another God, or the Devil, as did the Devil'sPriests and Prophets of old, that were magicians. "--_Page 127. _

As he had refuted, and utterly discarded, the whole system of evidenceconnected with spectres of the living or ghosts of the dead, the abovedefinition rescued all but openly profane, abandoned, and God-defyingpeople from being prosecuted for witchcraft. Mather transcribes, as aquotation, what seems to be the foregoing definition, but puts it thus:"A person that, having the free use of reason, doth knowingly andwillingly seek and obtain of the Devil, or of any other God, besides thetrue God Jehovah, an ability to do or know strange things, or thingswhich he cannot by his own humane abilities arrive unto. This person isa witch. "

The latter part of the definition thus transcribed, has no justificationin Hale's language, but is in conflict with the positions in his book. Mather says, "the author spends whole Chapters to prove that there yetis a witch. " He omits to state, that he spends twice as many Chapters toprove that the evidence in the Salem cases was not sufficient for thatpurpose. Upon the whole it can hardly be considered a fair transcript ofMr. Hale's account. He dismisses the subject, once for all, in a curtand almost disrespectful style--"But thus much for this manuscript. "

Whoever examines the manner in which he, in this way, gets rid of thesubject, in the _Magnalia_, must be convinced, I think, that he felt nosatisfaction in Mr. Hale's book, nor in the state of things that made itnecessary for him to give the whole matter the go-by. If the public mindhad retained its fanatical credulity, or if Mather's own share in thedelusion of 1692 had been agreeable in the retrospect, it cannot bedoubted that it would have afforded THE GREAT THEME, of his great book. All the strange learning, passionate eloquence, and extravagantpainting, of its author, would have been lavished upon it; and we shouldhave had another separate Book, with a Hebrew, Greek, or Latin motto ortitle, which, interpreted, would read _Most Wonderful of Wonders_. In1692, his language was: "Witchcraft is a business that will not beshammed. " In 1700, it was shoved off upon the memory of Mr. Hale, as abusiness not safe for him, Mather, to meddle with, any longer. It wasdropped, as if it burned his fingers. 

XV. 

HISTORY OF OPINION AS TO COTTON MATHER'S CONNECTION WITH SALEMWITCHCRAFT. THOMAS BRATTLE. THE PEOPLE OF SALEM VILLAGE. JOHN HALL. JOHNHIGGINSON. MICHAEL WIGGLESWORTH. 

Such passages as the following are found in the article of the _NorthAmerican Review_: "These views, respecting Mr. Mather's connection withthe Salem Trials, are to be found in no publication of a date prior to1831, when Mr. Upham's _Lectures_ were published. " "These charges havebeen repented by Mr. Quincy, in his _History of Harvard University_, byMr. Peabody, in his _Life of Cotton Mather_, by Mr. Bancroft, and bynearly all historical writers, since that date. " "An examination of thehistorical text-books, used in our schools, will show when these ideasoriginated. "

The position taken by the Reviewer, let it be noticed, is, that the ideaof Cotton Mather's taking a leading part in the witchcraft prosecutionsof 1692, "_originated_" with me, in a work printed in 1831; and that Ihave given "the cue" to all subsequent writers on the subject. Now whatare the facts?

Cotton Mather himself is a witness that the idea was entertained at thetime. In his Diary, after endeavoring to explain away the admitted factthat he was the eulogist and champion of the Judges, while the Trialswere pending, he says: "Merely, as far as I can learn, for this reason, the mad people through the country, under a fascination on their spiritsequal to that which energumens had on their bodies, reviled me as if Ihad been the doer of all the hard things that were done in theprosecution of the witchcraft. " He repeats the complaint, over and overagain, in various forms and different writings. Indeed, it could nothave been otherwise, than that such should have been the popularimpression and conviction. 

He was, at that time, bringing before the people, most conspicuously, the _second_ and _eighth_ Articles of the _Ministers' Advice_, urgingon the prosecutions. His deportment and harangue at Witch-hill, at theexecution of Burroughs and Proctor; his confident and eager endorsement, as related by Sewall, of the sentences of the Court, at the moment whenall others were impressed with silent solemnity, by the spectacle offive persons, professing their innocency, just launched into eternity;his efforts to prolong the prosecutions, in preparing the bookcontaining the trials of the "Malefactors" who had suffered; and hiszeal, 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 theprosecutions of the witchcraft. "

That it was the general opinion, at home and abroad, can be abundantlyproved. 

It must be borne in mind, as is explained in my book, that a generalfeeling prevailed, immediately, and for some years, after the witchcraft"judicial murders, " that the whole subject was too humble to be thoughtof, or ever mentioned; and as nearly the whole community, either byacting in favor of the proceedings or failing to act against them, hadbecome more or less responsible for them, there was an almost universalunderstanding to avoid crimination or recrimination. Besides, so far asCotton Mather was concerned, his professional and social position, greattalents and learning, and capacity with a disposition for usefulness, joined to the reverence then felt for Ministers prevented his beingassailed even by those who most disapproved his course. Increase Matherwas President of the College and head of the Clergy. The prevalentimpression that _he_ had, to some extent, disapproved of theproceedings, made men unwilling to wound his feelings by severecriticisms upon his son; for, whatever differences might be supposed toexist between them, all well-minded persons respected their natural andhonorable sensitiveness to each other's reputation. Reasons like theseprevented open demonstrations against both of them. Nevertheless, it iseasy to gather sufficient evidence to prove my point. 

Thomas Brattle was a Boston merchant of great munificence and eminenttalents and attainments. His name is perpetuated by "Brattle-streetChurch, " of which he was the chief founder. Dr. John Eliot, in his_Biographical Dictionary_, speaks of him thus--referring to his letteron the witchcraft of 1692, dated October 8, of that year: "Mr. Brattlewrote an account of those transactions, which was too plain and just tobe published in those unhappy times, but has been printed since; andwhich cannot be read without feeling sentiments of esteem for a man, whoindulged a freedom of thought becoming a Christian and philosopher. He, from the beginning, opposed the prejudices of the people, theproceedings of the Court, and the perverse zeal of those Ministers ofthe Gospel, who, by their preaching and conduct, caused such realdistress to the community. They, who called him an infidel, were obligedto acknowledge that his wisdom shone with uncommon lustre. "

His brother, William Brattle, with whom he seems to have been in entireharmony of opinion, on all subjects, was long an honored instructor andFellow of Harvard College, and Minister of the First Church, atCambridge. He was celebrated here and in England, for his learning, andendeared to all men by his virtues. He was a Fellow of the Royal Societyof London. Jeremiah Dummer, as well qualified to pronounce such anopinion as any man of his time, places him as a preacher above all hiscontemporaries, in either Old or New England. 

The Brattles were both politically opposed to the Mathers. But, asmatters then stood, in view of the prevailing infatuation--particularlyas the course upon which Phips had determined was not thenknown--caution and prudence were deemed necessary; and the letter was_confidential_. Indeed, all expressions of criticism, on the conduct ofthe Government, were required to be so. It is a valuable document, justifying the reputation the writer had established in life and hasborne ever since. Condemning the methods pursued in the Salem Trials, hesays: after stating that "several men, for understanding, judgment, andpiety, inferior to few, if any, utterly condemn the proceedings" atSalem, "I shall nominate some of these to you, viz. : the Hon. SimonBradstreet, Esq. , our late Governor; the Hon. Thomas Danforth, our lateDeputy-governor; the Rev. Mr. Increase Mather; and the Rev. Mr. SamuelWillard. "

Bradstreet was ninety years of age, but in the full possession of hismental faculties. In this sense, "his eye was not dim, nor his naturalforce abated. " Thirteen years before, when Governor of the Colony, hehad refused to order to execution a woman who had been convicted ofwitchcraft, in a series of trials that had gone through all the Courts, with concurring verdicts, confirmed at an adjudication by the Board ofAssistants--as President of which body, it had been his official duty topass upon her the final sentence of death. Juries, Judges, both branchesof the Legislature, and the people, clamored for her execution; but thebrave old Governor withstood them all, resolutely and inexorably: aninnocent and good woman and the honor of the Colony, at that time, weresaved. Mr. Hale informs us that Bradstreet refused to allow thesentence to take effect, for these reasons: that "a spectre doingmischief in her likeness, should not be imputed to her person, as aground of guilt; and that one single witness to one fact and anothersingle witness to another fact" were not to be esteemed "two witnessesin a matter capital. " No Executive Magistrate has left a record morehonorable to his name, than that of Bradstreet, on this occasion. If hisprinciples had been heeded, not a conviction could have been obtained, in 1692. It was because of his known opposition, that his two sons werecried out upon and had to fly for their lives. That Brattle wasjustified in naming Danforth, in this connection, the conversation ofthat person with Sewall, on the fifteenth of October, proves. It isunderstood, 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 beregarded as having had means of judging of Increase Mather's views andfeelings, on the eighth of October. 

This singling out of the father, thereby distinguishing him from theson, must, I think, be conclusive evidence, to every man who candidlyconsiders the circumstances of the case and the purport of the document, that Brattle did not consider Cotton Mather entitled to be named in thehonored list. 

Brattle further says: "Excepting Mr. Hale, Mr. Noyes, and Mr. Parris, the Rev. Elders, almost throughout the whole country, are very muchdissatisfied. " The word "almost, " leaves room for others to be placed inthe same category with Hale, Noyes, and Parris. The Reviewer argues thatbecause Cotton Mather is not named at all, in either list, therefore hemust be counted in the first!

The father and son were associate Ministers of the same Church; theyshared together a great name, fame, and position; both men of thehighest 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 publicaction and observation--why did Brattle, in so marked a manner, separatethem, holding the one up, in an honorable point of view, and passingover the other, not ever mentioning his name, as the Reviewer observes?

If he really disapproved of the prosecutions at Salem--if, as theReviewer positively states, he "denounced" them--is it not unaccountablethat Brattle did not name him with his father?

These questions press with especial force upon the Reviewer, under theinterpretation he crowds upon the passage from Brattle, I am now tocite. If that interpretation can be allowed, it will, in the face ofall that has come to us, make Brattle out to have had a most exaltedopinion of Cotton Mather, and render it unaccountable indeed that he didnot mention him, in honor, as he did his father and Mr. Willard. Thepassage is this: "I cannot but highly applaud, and think it our duty tobe very thankful for, the endeavours of several Elders, whose lips, Ithink, should preserve knowledge, and whose counsel should, I think, have been more regarded, in a case of this nature, than as yet it hasbeen: in particular, I cannot but think very honorably of the endeavoursof a Rev. Person in Boston, whose good affections to his country, ingeneral, and spiritual relation to three of the Judges, in particular, has made him very solicitous and industrious in this matter; and I amfully persuaded, that had his notions and proposals been hearkened toand followed, when those troubles were in their birth, in an ordinaryway, 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 servicewill find a more universal acknowledgment; and if not, his reward iswith the Lord. "

The learned Editor of the Fifth Volume of the _Massachusetts HistoricalCollections_, First Series, in a note to this passage (_p. 76_), says:"Supposed to be Mr. Willard. " Such has always been the supposition. TheReviewer has undertaken to make it out that Cotton Mather is the personreferred to by Brattle. These two men were opposed to each other, in thepolitics of that period. The course of the Mathers, in connection withthe loss of the old, and the establishment of the new, Charter, gaverise to much dissatisfaction; and party divisions were quiteacrimonious. The language used by Brattle, applauding the public courseof the person of whom he was speaking, would be utterly inexplicable, ifapplied to Mather. The "endeavours, counsels, notions and proposals, " towhich he alludes, could not have referred to Mather's plans, which Ihave attempted to explain, because described by Brattle as being in "anordinary way. " "Unkindness, abuse, and reproach" find an explanation inthe fact, that Willard was "cried out upon" and brought into peril ofreputation and life, by the creatures of the prosecution. Themonstrousness of the supposition that Mather was referred to, wouldhardly be heightened if it should appear that Brattle supplied Calefwith materials in his controversy with Mather. 

The language, throughout, is in conformity with the political relationsbetween Brattle and Willard. The side the latter had espoused was putbeyond question by the appearing, on the fifteenth of November, atElisha Cook's Thanksgiving; and that was the same occupied by Brattle. But the question is settled by the fact that _three of the Judges_belonged to Willard's Congregation and Church, whereas only _one_belonged to the Church of the Mathers. The Reviewer says: "We do notassert that this inference is not the correct one. " But, in spite ofthis substantial admission, with that strange propensity to overturn allthe conclusions of history to glorify Cotton Mather, at the expense ofothers, and even, in this instance, against his own better judgment, helabors to make us believe--what he himself does not venture to"assert"--that the "spiritual relation" in which Mather stood to threeof the Judges, was not, what, in those days and ever since, it has beenunderstood to mean, that of a Pastor with his flock, but nothing morethan intimate friendship. If this was what Brattle meant, he would havesaid at least _four_ of the Judges, for, at that time, Sewall was infull accord with Mather. They took counsel together. It was at the houseof Sewall that the preparation of the _Wonders of the Invisible World_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, inendorsing and commending that work. 

If the expression, "spiritual relations, " is divorced from its propersense, and made to mean sympathy of opinion or agreement in counsels, itill becomes the Reviewer to try to make it out that Mather held thatrelation with _any of the Judges_. He represents him, throughout hisarticle, 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'srelation to the Court; but it absolutely precludes the Reviewer fromsuch an interpretation as he attempts, of the expression of Brattle. 

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

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

If Mr. Mather is not alluded to in the following passage from Brattle'sletter, who is? "I cannot but admire, that any should go with theirdistempered friends and relatives to the afflicted children to know whatthese distempered friends ail; whether they are not bewitched; who it isthat afflicts them; and the like. It is true, I know no reason why theseafflicted may not be consulted as well as any other, if so be that itwas only their natural and ordinary knowledge that was had recourse to;but it is not on this notion that these afflicted children are soughtunto; but as they have a supernatural knowledge--a knowledge which theyobtain by their holding correspondence with spectres or evil spirits--asthey themselves grant. This consulting of these afflicted children, asabovesaid, seems to me a very gross evil, a real abomination, not fit tobe known in New England, and yet is a thing practiced, not only by Tomand John--I mean the ruder and more ignorant sort--but by many whoprofess high, and pass among us for some of the better sort. This isthat which aggravates the evil and makes it heinous and tremendous; andyet 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 allowof, encourage, yea, and practice, this very abomination. 

"I know there are several worthy gentlemen, in Salem, who account thispractice as an abomination; have trembled to see the methods of thisnature which others have used; and have declared themselves to think thepractice to be very evil and corrupt; but all avails little with theabettors of the said practice. "

Does not this stern condemnation fall on the head of the "spiritualteacher, " who received constant communications from the spectral world, fastening the charge of diabolical confederacy upon other persons, inconfidential interviews with confessing witches--not to mention theGoodwin girls;--whose boast it was, "it may be no man living has hadmore people, under preternatural and astonishing circumstances, cast bythe Providence of God into his more particular care than I have had;"and that he had kept to himself information thus obtained, which, if hehad not suppressed it, would have led to the conviction of "such witchesas ought to die;" who sought to have the exclusive right of receivingsuch communications conferred upon him, "by the authority;" who, at thattime, was holding this intercourse with persons pretending to spectralvisions; and, the next year, held such relations with Margaret Rule?

The next evidence in support of the opinion that Cotton Mather wasconsidered, at the time, as identified with the proceedings at Salem, in1692, although circumstantial, cannot, I think, but be regarded as quiteconclusive. 

Immediately after the prosecutions terminated, measures began to bedeveloped to remove Mr. Parris from his ministry. The reaction earlytook effect where the outrages of the delusion had been most flagrant;and the injured feelings of the friends of those who had been so cruellycut off, and of all who had suffered in their characters and condition, found expression. A movement was made, directly and personally, uponParris, in consequence of his conspicuous lead in the prosecutions;showing itself, first, in the form of litigation, in the Courts, ofquestions of salary and the adjustment of accounts. Soon, it broke outin the Church; and satisfaction was demanded, by aggrieved brethren, inthe methods appropriate to ecclesiastical action. The charges here madeagainst him were exclusively in reference to his course, at theExaminations and Trials, in 1692. The conflict, thus initiated, is oneof the most memorable in our Church History. Parris and his adherentsresisted, for a long time, the rightful and orderly demands of hisopponents for a Mutual Council. At length, many of the Ministers, whosympathized with the aggrieved brethren, felt it their duty tointerpose, and addressed a letter to Mr. Parris, giving him tounderstand that they were of opinion he ought to comply with the demandfor a Council. This letter, dated the fourteenth of June, 1694, wassigned by several of the neighboring Ministers, and by James Allen, ofthe First, and Samuel Willard, of the Old South, Churches, in Boston, _but not by the Mathers_. On the tenth of September, a similar letterwas written to him, also signed by neighboring Ministers, and Mr. Allen, and Mr. Willard, _but not by the Mathers_. 

Not daring to refuse any longer, Parris, professedly yielding to thedemand, consented to a Mutual Council, but avoided it, in this way. Eachparty was to select three Churches, to maintain its interests and givefriendly protection to its rights and feelings. The aggrieved brethrenselected the Churches of Rowley, Salisbury and Ipswich. Parris undertookto object to the Church of Ipswich; and refused to proceed, if it wasinvited. Of course, the aggrieved brethren persisted in their right toname the Churches on their side. Knowing that they had the right so todo, and that public opinion would sustain them in it, Parris escaped thedilemma, by calling an _ex parte_ Council; and the Churches invited toit were those of North Boston, Weymouth, Malden, and Rowley. The firstwas that of the Mathers. That Parris was right in relying upon the Rev. Samuel Torrey of Weymouth, is rendered probable by the circumstancethat, of the names of the fourteen Ministers, including all those knownto have been opposed to the proceedings at Salem, attached to therecommendation of the _Cases of Conscience_, his is not one; and may beconsidered as made certain by the fact recorded by Sewall, that he wasopposed to the discontinuance of the Trials. The Pastor of the MaldenChurch was the venerable Michael Wigglesworth, a gentleman of thehighest repute; who had declined the Presidency of Harvard College;whose son and grandson became Professors in that institution; and whosedescendants still sustain the honor of their name and lineage. From thetone of his writings, it is quite probable that he favored thewitchcraft proceedings, at the beginning; but the change of mind, afterwards strongly expressed, had, perhaps, then begun to beexperienced, for he did not respond to the call, as his name does notappear in the record of the Council. The fact that Parris chieflydepended upon the Church at North Boston, of which Cotton Mather wasPastor, to sustain his cause, in a Council, whose whole business was topass upon his conduct in witchcraft prosecutions, is quite decisive. That Church was named by him, from the first to the last, and neither ofthe other Boston Churches. It shows that he turned to Cotton Mather, more than to any other Minister, to be his champion. 

It is further decisively proved that the reaction had become strongamong the Ministers, by the unusual steps they took to prevent thatCouncil being under the sway of such men as Cotton Mather and Torrey, thereby prolonging the mischief. A meeting of the "Reverend Elders ofthe Bay" was held; and Mr. Parris was given to understand that, in theirjudgment, the Churches of Messrs. Allen and Willard ought also to beinvited. He bitterly resented this, and saw that it sealed his fate; butfelt the necessity of yielding to it. The addition of those twoChurches, with their Pastors, determined the character and result of theCouncil, and gave new strength to the aggrieved brethren, who soonsucceeded in compelling Parris and his friends to agree to submit thewhole matter to the arbitration of three men, mutually chosen, whosedecision should be final. 

The umpire selected in behalf of the opponents of Parris was no otherthan Elisha Cook, the head of the party arrayed against Mather. WaitWinthrop appears to have been selected by Parris; and Samuel Sewall wasmutually agreed upon. Two of the three, who thus passed final judgmentagainst the proceedings at the Salem Trials, sat on the Bench of theSpecial Court of Oyer and Terminer. The case of the aggrieved brethrenwas presented to the Arbitrators in a document, signed by four men, as"Attorneys of the people of the Village, " each one of whom had beenstruck at, in the time of the prosecutions. It _exclusively_ refers toMr. Parris's conduct, in the witchcraft prosecutions; to "his believingthe Devil's accusations;" and to his going to the accusing girls, toknow of them "who afflicted" them. For these reasons, and these alone, they "submit the whole" to the decision of the Arbitrators, concludingthus: "to determine whether we are, or ought to be, any ways obliged tohonor, respect, and support such an instrument of our miseries. " TheArbitrators decided that they _ought not_; fixed the sum to be paid toParris, as a final settlement; and declared the ministerial relation, between him and the people of the Village, dissolved. 

With this official statement of the grounds on which his dismission wasdemanded and obtained, before his eyes, as printed by Calef (_p. 63_), this Reviewer says that Parris remained the Minister of Salem Village, five years "after the witchcraft excitement;" and further says, "theimmediate cause of his leaving, was his quarrel with the Parish, concerning thirty cords of wood and the fee of the parsonage. " He thusthinks, by a dash of his pen, to strike out the record of the fact thatthe main, in truth, the only, ground on which Parris was dismissed, wasthe part he bore in the witchcraft prosecutions. The salary question hadbeen pending in the Courts; but it was wholly left out of view, by theparty demanding his dismission. It had nothing to do with _dismission_;was a question of _contract_ and _debt_; and was absorbed in the"excitement, " _which had never ceased_, about the witchcraftprosecutions. The Arbitrators did not decide those questions, aboutsalary and the balance of accounts, except as incidental to the otherquestion, of _dismission_. 

The feeling among the inhabitants of Salem Village, that Cotton Matherwas in sympathy with Mr. Parris, during the witchcraft prosecutions, isdemonstrated by the facts I have adduced connected with the controversybetween them and the latter, and most emphatically by their choice ofElisha Cook, as the Arbitrator, on their part. Surely no persons of thatday, understood the matter better than they did. Indeed, they could nothave been mistaken about it. It remained the settled conviction of thatcommunity. 

When the healing ministry of the successor of Parris, Joseph Green, wasbrought to a close, by the early death of that good man, in 1715, andthe whole Parish, still feeling the dire effects of the great calamityof 1692, were mourning their bereavement, expressed in their ownlanguage: "the choicest flower, and greenest olive-tree, in the gardenof our God here, cut down in its prime and flourishing estate, " theypassed a vote, earnestly soliciting the Rev. William Brattle ofCambridge, to visit them. He was always a known opponent of CottonMather. To have selected him to come to them, in their distress anddestitution, indicates the views then prevalent in the Village. He wentto them and guided them by his advice, until they obtained a newMinister. 

The mention of the fact by Mr. Hale, already stated, that CottonMather's book, _Memorable Providences_, was used as an authority by theJudges at the Salem Trials, shows that the author of that work wasregarded by Hale as, to that extent at least, responsibly connected withthe prosecutions. 

I pass over, for the present, the proceedings and writings of RobertCalef. 

After the lapse of a few years, a feeling, which had been slowly, butsteadily, rising among the people, that some general and publicacknowledgment ought to be made by all who had been engaged in theproceedings of 1692, and especially by the authorities, of the wrongscommitted in that dark day, became too strong to be safely disregarded. On the seventeenth of December, 1696, Stoughton, then acting asGovernor, issued a Proclamation, ordaining, in his name and that of theCouncil and Assembly, a Public Fast, to be kept on the fourteenth ofJanuary, to implore that the anger of God might be turned away, and Hishand, then stretched over the people in manifold judgments, lifted. After referring to the particular calamities they were suffering and tothe many days that had been spent in solemn addresses to the throne ofmercy, it expresses a fear that something was still wanting to accompanytheir supplications, and proceeds to refer, specially, to the witchcrafttragedy. It was on the occasion of this Fast, that Judge Sewall actedthe part, in the public assembly of the old South Church, for which hisname will ever be held in dear and honored memory. 

The public mind was, no doubt, gratified and much relieved, but notsatisfied, by this demonstration. The Proclamation did not, after all, meet its demands. Upon careful examination and deliberate reflection, itrather aggravated the prevalent feeling. Written, as was to be supposed, by Stoughton, it could not represent a reaction in which he took nopart. 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 newutterance, the delusion, sheltering the proper agents of the mischief, by ascribing it all to "Satan and his instruments, through the awfuljudgment of God;" and no atonement for the injuries to the good name andestates of the sufferers, not to speak of the lives that had been cutoff, was suggested. The conviction was only deepened, in all good minds, that something more ought to be done. Mr. Hale, of Beverly, met theobligation pressing upon his sense of justice and appealing to him withespecial force, by writing his book, from which the following passagesare extracted: "I would come yet nearer to our own times, and bewailthe errors and mistakes that have been, in the year 1692--by followingsuch traditions of our fathers, maxims of the common law, and precedentsand principles, which now we may see, weighed in the balance of thesanctuary, are found too light--Such was the darkness of that day, thetortures and lamentations of the afflicted, and the power of formerprecedents, that we walked in the clouds and could not see our way--Iwould humbly propose whether it be not expedient that somewhat moreshould be publicly done than yet hath, for clearing the good name andreputation of some that have suffered upon this account. "

The Rev. John Higginson, Senior Pastor of the First Church in Salem, then eighty-two years of age, in a recommendatory _Epistle to theReader_, 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 andmind) from knowing and judging of occurrents and transactions of thattime, " proceeds to say that he was "more willing to accompany" Mr. Hale"to the press, " because he thought his "treatise needful and useful upondivers accounts;" among others specified by him, is the following: "Thatwhatever errors or mistakes we fell into, in the dark hour of temptationthat 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 tothose that come after us, that they may not fall into the like. --_1Cor. _, x. , 11. _Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum. _ I would alsopropound, and leave it as an object of consideration, to our honoredMagistrates and Reverend Ministers, whether the equity of that law in_Leviticus_, Chap. Iv. , for a sin-offering for the Rulers and for theCongregation, in the case of sins of ignorance, when they come to beknown, be not obliging, and for direction to us in a Gospel way. " Thevenerable man concludes by saying that "it shall be the prayer of himwho is daily waiting for his change and looking for the mercy of theLord Jesus Christ, unto eternal life, " that the "blessing of Heaven maygo along with this little treatise to attain the good ends thereof. "

Judge Sewall, too, and the Jury that had given the verdicts at theTrials, in 1692, publicly and emphatically acknowledged that they hadbeen led into error. 

All these things afford decisive and affecting evidence of a prevalentconviction that a great wrong had been committed. The vote passed by theChurch at Salem Village, on the fourteenth of February, 1703--"We are, through 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. " "Wedesire that this may be entered in our Church-book, " "that so God mayforgive our Sin, and may be atoned for the land; and we humbly pray thatGod will not leave us any more to such errors and sins"--affordsstriking proof that the right feeling had penetrated the wholecommunity. On the eighth of July, of that same year, nearly the wholebody of the Clergy of Essex-county addressed a Memorial to the GeneralCourt, in which they say, "There is great reason to fear that innocentpersons then suffered, and that God may have a controversy with the landupon that account. "

Nothing of the kind, however, was ever heard from the Ministers ofBoston and the vicinity. Why did they not join their voices in thisprayer, going up elsewhere, from all concerned, for the divineforgiveness? We know that most of them felt right. Samuel Willard andJames Allen did; and so did William Brattle, of Cambridge. Their silencecannot, it seems to me, be accounted for, but by considering the degreeto which they were embarrassed by the relation of the Mathers to theaffair. One brave-hearted old man remonstrated against their failure tomeet the duty of the hour, and addressed his remonstrance to the rightquarter. The Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, a Fellow of Harvard College, andhonored in all the Churches, wrote a letter to Increase Mather, datedJuly 22, 1704 [_Mather Papers, 647_], couched in strong and bold terms, beginning thus:

"REV. AND DEAR S^R. I am right well assured that both yourself, yourson, and the rest of our brethren with you in Boston, have a deep senseupon your spirits of the awful symptoms of the Divine displeasure thatwe lie under at this day. " After briefly enumerating the publiccalamities of the period, he continues: "I doubt not but you are allendeavouring to find out and discover to the people the causes of God'scontroversy, and how they are to be removed; to help forward thisdifficult and necessary work, give me leave to impart some of my seriousand solemn thoughts. I fear (amongst our many other provocations) thatGod hath a controversy with us about what was done in the time of theWitchcraft. I fear that innocent blood hath been shed, and that _manyhave had their hands defiled therewith_. " After expressing his beliefthat the Judges acted conscientiously, and that the persons concernedwere deceived, he proceeds: "Be it then that it was done ignorantly. Paul, a Pharisee, persecuted the Church of God, shed the blood of God'sSaints, and yet obtained mercy, because he did it in ignorance; but howdoth he bewail it, and shame himself for it, before God and menafterwards. [_1 Tim. , i. , 13, 16. _] I think, and am verily persuaded, God expects that we do the like, in order to our obtaining his pardon: Imean by a Public and Solemn acknowledgment of it and humiliation for it;and the more particularly and personally it is done by all that havebeen actors, the more pleasing it will be to God, and more effectual toturn away his judgments from the Land, and to prevent his wrath fromfalling upon the persons and families of such as have been mostconcerned. 

"I know this is a _Noli Me tangere_, but what shall we do? Must we pineaway in our iniquities, rather than boldly declare the Counsel of God, who tells us, [_Isa. , i. , 15. _] 'When you make many prayers, I will nothear you, your hands are full of blood. '"

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

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

In introducing his report of the Trials, contained in the _Wonders ofthe Invisible World_, Cotton Mather, alluding to the "survivingrelations" of those who had been executed, says: "The Lord comfortthem. " It was poor consolation he gave them in that book--holding uptheir parents, wives, and husbands, as "Malefactors. " Neither he nor hisfather ever expressed a sentiment in harmony with those uttered by Hale, Higginson, or Wigglesworth--on the contrary, Cotton Mather, writing ayear after the Salem Tragedy, almost chuckles over it: "In thewhole--the Devil got just nothing--but God got praises. Christ gotsubjects, the Holy Spirit got temples, the church got addition, and thesouls of men got everlasting benefits. "--_Calef_, 12. 

Stoughton remained nearly the whole time, until his death, in May, 1702, in control of affairs. By his influence over the Government and that ofthe Mathers over the Clergy, nothing was done to remove the dark stigmafrom the honor of the Province, and no seasonable or adequate reparationever made for the Great Wrong. 

I am additionally indebted to the kindness of Dr. Moore for thefollowing extracts from a Sermon to the General Assembly, delivered byCotton Mather, in 1709, intitled "_Theopolis Americana_. Pure Gold inthe market place. "

"In two or three too Memorable _Days of Temptation_, that have been uponus, there have been _Errors_ Committed. You are always ready to Declareunto all the World, 'That you disapprove those Errors. ' You are willingto inform all mankind with your _Declarations_. 

"That no man may be Persecuted, because he is Conscienciously not of thesame Religious Opinions, with those that are uppermost. 

"And; That Persons are not to be judged Confederates with Evil Spirits, merely because the Evil Spirits do make Possessed People cry out uponthem. 

"Could any thing be Proposed further, by way of Reparation, [Besides theGeneral Day of Humiliation, which was appointed and observed thro' theProvince, to bewayl the Errors of our Dark time, some years ago:] Youwould be willing to hearken to it. "

The suggestion thus made, not, it must be confessed, in very urgentterms, did not, it is probable, produce much impression. The preacherseemed to rest upon the Proclamation issued by Stoughton, some elevenyears before. Coupling the two errors specified together, was notcalculated to give effect to the recommendation. Public opinion was not, then, prepared to second such enlightened views as to religious liberty. 

It is very noticeable that Mather here must be considered as admittingthat "in the Dark time, " persons were judged "Confederates with EvilSpirits, " "merely" because of Spectral Evidence. 

All that was said, on this occasion, does not amount to any thing, as anexpression of _personal_ opinion or feeling, relating to points on whichHale and Higginson uttered their deep sensibility, and Wigglesworth hadaddressed to the Mathers and other Ministers, his solemn and searchingappeal. The duty of reparation for the great wrong was thrown off uponothers, than those particularly and prominently responsible. 

Nothing has led me to suppose that Cotton Mather was cruel or heartless, in his natural or habitual disposition. He never had the wisdom ordignity to acknowledge, as an individual, or _as one of the Clergy_, orto propose specific reparation for, the fearful mischiefs, sufferingsand horrors growing out of the witchcraft prosecutions. The extent towhich he was at the time, and probably always continued to be, thevictim of baleful superstitions, is his only apology, and we must allowit just weight. 

A striking instance of the occasional ascendency of his better feelings, and of the singular methods in which he was accustomed to act, ispresented in the following extract from his Diary, at a late period ofhis life. We may receive it as an indication that he was not insensibleof his obligation to do good, where, with his participation, so muchevil 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 especiallyscandalous for staying at home on the Lord's day. I wrapped up sevendistinct parcels of money and annexed seven little books aboutrepentance, and seven of the monitory letter against profane absencefrom the house of God. I sent those things with a nameless letter untothe Minister of that Town, and desired and empowered him to dispense thecharity in his own name, hoping thereby the more to ingratiate hisministry with the people. Who can tell how far the good Angels of Heavencooperate in those proceeding?"

XVI. 

HISTORY OF OPINION AS TO COTTON MATHER, CONTINUED. FRANCIS HUTCHINSON. DANIEL NEAL. ISAAC WATTS. THOMAS HUTCHINSON. WILLIAM BENTLEY. JOHNELIOT. JOSIAH QUINCY. 

It was the common opinion in England, that the Mathers, particularly theyounger, were pre-eminently responsible for the proceedings at Salem, in1692. Francis Hutchinson, in the work from which I have quoted, speaksof 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 Popishsuperstitions, and leave the lives of innocent men naked, withoutdefence against them;" and in giving a list of books, written forupholding them, mentions, "Mr. Increase and Mr. Cotton Mather's severaltracts;" and, in his Chapter on Witchcraft in Massachusetts, in 1692, commends the book of "Mr. Calef, a Merchant in that Plantation. "

About the same time, the Rev. Daniel Neal, the celebrated author of the_History of the Puritans_, wrote a _History of New England_, in which hegives place to a brief, impartial, and just account of the witchcraftproceedings, in 1692. He abstains from personal criticisms, butexpresses this general sentiment: "Strange were the mistakes that someof the wisest and best men of the country committed on this occasion;which must have been fatal to the whole Province, if God, in hisProvidence, had not mercifully interposed. " The only sentence thatcontains a stricture on Cotton Mather, particularly, is that in which hethus refers to his statement that a certain confession was _freely_made. Neal quietly suggests, "whether the act of a man in prison, andunder apprehension of death, may be called free, I leave others tojudge. " Dr. Isaac Watts, having read Neal's book, thought it necessaryto write a letter to Cotton Mather, dated February 10, 1720;(_Massachusetts Historical Collections, I. , v. , 200_) and, describing aconversation he had just been having with Neal, says: "There is anotherthing, wherein my brother is solicitous lest he should have displeasedyou, and that is, the Chapter on Witchcraft, but, as he related mattersof fact, by comparison of several authors, he hopes that you willforgive that he has not fallen into your sentiments exactly. " Theanxiety felt by Neal and Watts, lest the feelings of Mather might bewounded, shows what they thought of his implication with the affair. This inference is rendered unavoidable, when we examine Neal's book andfind that he quotes or refers to Calef, all along, without the slightestquestion as to his credibility, receiving his statements and fullyrecognizing his authority. Indeed, his references to Calef are about tento one oftener than to Mather. The attempt of Neal and Watts to smooththe matter down, by saying that the former had been led to hisconclusions by "a comparison of several authors, " could have givenlittle satisfaction to Mather, as the authors whom he chiefly refers to, are Calef and Mather; and, comparing them with each other, he followedCalef. 

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

Thomas Hutchinson was born in 1711, and brought up in the neighborhoodof the Mathers; finishing his collegiate course and taking hisBachelor's degree at Harvard College, in 1727, a year before the deathof Cotton Mather. He had opportunities to form a correct judgment aboutSalem Witchcraft and the chief actor in the proceedings, greater thanany man of his day; but his close family connection with the Mathersimposed some restraint upon his expressions; not enough, however, tojustify the statement of the Reviewer that he does not mention the"agency" of Cotton Mather in that transaction. There are several verydistinct references to Mather's "agency, " in Hutchinson's account of thetransactions connected with Salem Witchcraft, some of which I havecited. I ask to whom does the following passage refer?--_ii. , 63. _--"Oneof the Ministers, who, in the time of it, was fully convinced that thecomplaining persons were no impostors, and who vindicated his ownconduct and that of the Court, in a Narrative he published, remarks, notlong after, in his Diary, that many were of opinion that innocent bloodhad been shed. "

This shows that Hutchinson regarded Cotton Mather's agency in the lightin which I have represented it; that he considered him as whollycommitted to the then prevalent delusion; as acting a part thatidentified him with the prosecutions; and that the Narrative hepublished was a joint vindication of himself and the Court. Hutchinsonfastens the passage upon Mather, by the reference to the Diary; andwhile he says that it contained a statement, that many believed thepersons who suffered innocent, he avoids saying that such was theopinion of the author of the Diary. 

Finally, his taking particular pains to do it, by giving a Note to thepurpose of expressing his confidence in Calef, pronouncing him a "fairrelator"--_ii. , 56_--proves that Governor Hutchinson held the opinionabout Mather's "agency, " which has always heretofore been ascribed tohim. 

William Bentley, D. D. , was born in Boston, and for a large part of thefirst half of his life resided, as his family had done for a longperiod, in the North part of that Town. He was of a turn of mind togather all local traditions, and, through all his days, devoted toantiquarian pursuits. No one of his period paid more attention to thesubject of the witchcraft delusion. For much of our informationconcerning it, we are indebted to his _History and Description ofSalem_, printed in 1800--_Massachusetts Historical Collections, I. , vi. _--After relating many of its incidents, he breaks forth incondemnation of those who, disapproving, at the time, of theproceedings, did not come out and denounce them. Holding the opinion, which had come down from the beginning, that Increase Mather disapprovedof the transaction, he indignantly repudiates the idea of giving him anycredit therefor. "Increase Mather did not oppose Cotton Mather"--this isthe utterance of a received, and, to him, unquestioned, opinion thatCotton Mather approved of, and was a leading agent in, the prosecutions. 

The views of Dr. John Eliot, are freely given, to the same effect, inhis _Biographical Dictionary_, as will presently be shown. 

The late Josiah Quincy had studied the annals of Massachusetts with thethoroughness with which he grappled every subject to which he turned histhoughts. His ancestral associations covered the whole period of itshistory; and all the channels of the local traditions of Boston wereopen to his enquiring and earnest mind. His _History of HarvardUniversity_ is a monument that will stand forever. In that work, hespeaks 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 withcaution and political skill; but that of his son, Cotton Mather, washeadlong, zealous, and fearless, both as to character and consequences. In its commencement and progress, his activity is every-whereconspicuous. "

The Reviewer represents Mr. Quincy as merely repeating what I had saidin my Lectures. He makes the same reckless assertion in reference toBancroft, the late William B. O. Peabody, D. D. , and every one else, whohas 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 _Lectures_, but citesCalef, as his authority, over and over again. Dr. Peabody refers toCalef throughout, and draws upon him freely and with confidence, asevery one else, who has written about the transaction, has probablydone. 

It may safely be said, that no historical fact has ever been moresteadily recognized, than the action and, to a great degree, controllingagency, of Cotton Mather, in supporting and promoting the witchcraftproceedings of 1692. That it has, all along, been the establishedconviction of the public mind, is proved by the chronological series ofnames I have produced. Thomas Hutchinson, John Eliot, William Bentley, and Josiah Quincy, cover the whole period from Cotton Mather's day tothis. They knew, as well as any other men that can be named, the currentopinions, transmitted sentiments, and local and personal annals, ofBoston. They reflect with certainty an assurance, running in an unbrokencourse over a century and a half. Their family connections, socialposition, conversance with events, and familiar knowledge of what menthought, believed, and talked about, give to their concurrent andcontinuous testimony, a force and weight of authority that are decisive;and demonstrate that, instead of my having invented and originated theopinion of Cotton Mather's agency in the matter now under consideration, I have done no more than to restate what has been believed and utteredfrom the beginning. 

The writer in the _North American_ says: "Within the last forty years, there has grown up a fashion, among our historical writers, of defaminghis character and underrating his productions. For a specimen of theseattacks, the reader is referred to a _Supposed Letter from Rev. CottonMather, D. D. , with comments on the same by James Savage_. " The articlementioned consists of the "supposed letter, " and a very valuablecommunication from the late Rev. Samuel Sewall, with some items by Mr. Savage--[_Massachusetts Historical Collections, IV. , ii. , 122. _] Neitherof these enlightened, faithful, and indefatigable scholars is to bedisposed of in this style. They followed no "fashion;" and theirvenerable names are held in honor by all true disciples of antiquarianand genealogical learning. The author of such works, in this department, as Mr. Savage has produced, cannot be thus set aside by a magisterialand supercilious waving of the hand of this Reviewer. 

XVII. 

THE EFFECT UPON THE POWER OF THE MATHERS, IN THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OF THEPROVINCE, OF THEIR CONNECTION WITH WITCHCRAFT. 

The Reviewer takes exception to my statement, that the connection of theMathers with the witchcraft business, "broke down" their influence inpublic affairs. What are the facts? It has been shown, that theadministration of Sir William Phips, at its opening, was under theircontrol, to an extent never equalled by that of private men over aGovernment. The prayers of Cotton Mather were fully answered; and ifwise and cautious counsels had been given, what both father and son hadso coveted, in the political management of the Province, would have beenpermanently realized. But, aiming to arm themselves with terrific andoverwhelming strength, by invoking the cooperation of forces from thespiritual, invisible, and diabolical world, with rash "precipitancy, "they hurried on the witchcraft prosecutions. The consequence was, thatin six months, the whole machinery on which they had placed theirreliance was prostrate. At the very next election, Elisha Cook waschosen and Nathaniel Saltonstall rechosen, to the Council; and, everafter, the Mathers were driven to the wall, in desperate and unavailingself-defence. 

No party or faction could claim the Earl of Bellamont, during his briefadministration, covering but fourteen months. Although the only noblemanever sent over as Governor of Massachusetts, more than all others, heconciliated the general good will. His short term of office and wisepolicy prevented any particular advantage to the Mathers from thededication to him of the _Life of Phips_. During the entire period, between 1692 and the arrival of Dudley to the Government, the opponentsof the Mathers were steadily increasing their strength. Opposition toIncrease Mather was soon developed in attempts to remove him from thePresidency of Harvard College. In 1701, an Order was passed by theGeneral Court, "that no man should act as President of the College, whodid not reside at Cambridge. " This decided the matter. Increase Matherresigned, on the sixth of September following; and, the same day, theRev. Samuel Willard took charge of the College, under the title ofVice-president, and acted as President, to the acceptance of the peopleand with the support of the Government of the Province, to his death, in1707--all the while allowed to retain the pastoral connection with hisChurch, in Boston. 

Joseph Dudley arrived from England, on the eleventh of June, 1702, withhis Commission, as Captain-general and Governor of the Province. On thesixteenth, he made a call upon Cotton Mather, who relates the interviewin his Diary. It seems that Mather made quite a speech to the newGovernor, urging him "to carry an indifferent hand toward all parties, "and explaining his meaning thus: "By no means, let any people have causeto say that you take all your measures from the two Mr. Mathers. " Hethen added: "By the same rule, I may say without offence, by no meanslet 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 personalprejudice against the gentlemen, but from a due consideration of thedisposition of the people, and as a service to your Excellency. "

Dudley--whether judging rightly or not is to be determined by takinginto view his position, the then state of parties, and the principles ofhuman nature--evidently regarded this as a trap. If he had followed theadvice, and kept aloof from Byfield and Leverett, they would have beenplaced at a distance from him, and he would necessarily have fallen intothe hands of the Mathers. He may have thought that the only way to avoidsuch a result, was for him to explain to those gentlemen his avoidanceof them, by mentioning to them what Mather had said to him, therebysignifying to them, that, as a matter of policy, he thought it best toadopt the suggestion and stand aloof from both sides. Whether actingfrom this consideration or from resentment, he informed them of it;whereupon Mather inserted this in his Diary: "The WRETCH went unto thosemen and told them that I had advised him to be no ways directed by them, and inflamed them into implacable rage against me. "

After this, the relations between Dudley and the Mathers must have beensufficiently awkward and uncomfortable; but no particular publicdemonstrations appear to have been made, on either side, for some time. 

Mr. Willard died on the twelfth of September, 1707; and the greatquestion again rose as to the proper person to be called to the head ofthe College. The extraordinary learning of Cotton Mather undoubtedlygave him commanding and pre-eminent claims in the public estimation; andhe had reason to think that the favorite object of his ambition wasabout to be attained. But he was doomed to bitter disappointment. On thetwenty-eighth of October, the Corporation, through its senior member, the Rev. James Allen of Boston, communicated to the Governor the vote ofthat body, appointing the "Honorable John Leverett" to the Presidency;and, on the fourteenth of January, 1708, he was publicly inducted tooffice. The Mathers could stand it no longer; but, six days after, addressed, each, a letter to Dudley, couched in the bitterest and mostabusive terms. --[_Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, I. , iii. , 126. _] No explosions of disappointed politicians and defeatedaspirants for office, in our day, surpass these letters. They show howdeeply the writers were stung. They heap maledictions on the Governor, without any of the restraints of courtesy or propriety. They charge himwith all sorts of malversation in office, bribery, peculation, extortion, falseness, hypocrisy, and even murder; imputing to him "theguilt of innocent blood, " because, many years before, he had, asChief-justice of New York, presided at the Trial of Leisler and Milburn;and averring that "those men were not only murdered, but barbarouslymurdered. "

It is observable that some of the heinous crimes charged upon Dudley, occurred before his arrival as Governor of Massachusetts, in 1702; andthat, in these very letters, they remind him that it was, in part, bytheir influence that he was then appointed, and that a letter fromCotton Mather, in favor of his appointment, was read before "the lateKing William. " Both the Mathers were remarkable for a lack of vision, inreference to the logical bearing of what they said. It did not occur tothem, that the fact of their soliciting his appointment closed theirmouths from making charges for public acts well known to them at thetime. 

Dudley says that he was assured by the Mathers, on his arrival, that hehad the favor of all good men; and Cotton Mather, in his letter, remindshim 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 aboutthe Leisler affair and other crimes alleged against him, they wereready, and most desirous, to secure his favor and friendship; and toidentify themselves with his administration. 

In alluding to these letters, Hutchinson (_History, ii. , 194_, ) says:"In times when party spirit prevails, what will not a Governor's enemiesbelieve, however injurious and absurd? At such a time, he was chargedwith dispensing _summum jus_ to Leisler and incurring an aggravatedguilt of blood beyond that of a common murderer. The other party, nodoubt, would have charged the failure of justice upon him, if Leislerhad been acquitted. "

Dudley replied to both these extraordinary missives, in a letter datedthe third of February, 1708. After rebuking, in stern and dignifiedlanguage, the tone and style of their letters, reminding them, by aptcitations from Scripture of the "laws of wise and Christian reproof, "which they had violated, and showing upon what false foundations theircharges rested, he says: "Can you think it the most proper season to dome good by your admonitions, when you have taken care to let the worldknow you are out of frame and filled with the last prejudice against myperson and Government?" "Every one can see through the pretence, and isable to account for the spring of these letters, and how they would havebeen prevented, without easing any grievances you complain of. " He makesthe following proposal: "After all, though I have reason to complain toheaven 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 satisfactionChristianity requires, in those points which are proper for you to seekto receive it in, when, with a proper temper and spirit, giving metimely notice, you do see meet to make me a visit for that end; and Iexpect the same satisfaction from you. " He offers this significantsuggestion: "I desire you will keep your station, and let fifty or sixtygood Ministers, your equals in the Province, have a share in theGovernment of the College and advise thereabouts, as well as yourselves, and I hope all will be well. " He concludes by claiming that he issustained by the favor of the "Ministers of New England;" andcharacterises the issue between him and them thus: "The College must bedisposed against the opinion of all the Ministers in New England, exceptyourselves, or the Governor torn in pieces. This is the view I have ofyour inclination. "

Dudley continued to administer the Government for eight years longer, until the infirmities of age compelled him to retire. Both Hutchinsonand Doctor John Eliot give us to understand that he conducted thepublic affairs with great ability and success, with the general approvalof all classes, and particularly of the Clergy. His statement that hehad the support of all the Ministers of New England, except the Mathers, was undoubtedly correct. It is certainly true of the Ministers ofBoston. In his Diary, under the year 1709, Cotton Mather says: "Theother Ministers of the Town are this day feasting with our wickedGovernor. I have, by my provoking plainness and freedom, in telling thisAhab of his wickedness, procured myself to be left out of hisinvitations. I rejoiced in my liberty from the temptations wherewiththey were encumbered. " He set apart that day for fasting and prayer, thespecial interest of which, he says, "was to obtain deliverance andprotection" from his "enemies, " whose names, he informs us, he"mentioned unto the Lord, who had promised to be my shield. "

The bitterness with which Mather felt exclusion from power is strikinglyillustrated in a letter addressed by him to Stephen Sewall, published byme in the Appendix to the edition of my _Lectures_, printed in 1831. Isubjoin 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 alaughter. " "No doubt, you understand, how ridiculously things have beenmanaged in our late General Assembly; voting and unvoting, the same day;and, at last, the squirrels perpetually running into the mouth open forthem, though they had cried against it wonderfully. And your neighbor, Sowgelder, after his indefatigable pains at the castration of all commonhonesty, rewarded, before the Court broke up, with being made one ofyour brother Justices; which the whole House, as well as the apostatehimself, had in view, all along, as the expected wages of his iniquity. ""If things continue in the present administration, there will shortly benot so much as a shadow of justice left in the country. Bribery, a crimecapital among the Pagans, is already a peccadillo among us. All officersare 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. " "Everything is betrayed, and that we, on the top of our house, may completeall, our very religion, with all the Churches, is at last betrayed--thetreachery carried on with lies, and fallacious representations, andfinished by the rash hands of our Clergy. "

That Cotton Mather continued all his subsequent life to experience thedissatisfaction, and give way to the feelings, of a disappointed man, is evident from his Diary. I have quoted from it a few passages. TheReviewer says it "is full of penitential confessions, " and seems toliken him, in this respect, to the Apostle of the Gentiles. Speaking ofmy having cited the Diary, as historical evidence, he says: "Such a useof the confessional, we believe, is not common with historical writers. "I do not remember anything like "penitential confessions, " in thepassages from the Diary given in my book. The reader is referred tothem, in Volume II. , Page 503. They belong to the year 1724, and arethus prefaced:

"DARK DISPENSATIONS, BUT LIGHT ARISING IN DARKNESS. "

"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 ofmy faith over such and all discouragements. " "Of the things that lookdark, I may touch of twice seven instances. "

The writer, in the _Christian Examiner_, November, 1831, from whom Itook them, omitted two, "on account of their too personal or domesticcharacter. "

I cannot find the slightest trace of a penitential tear on those I havequoted; and cite now but one of them, as pertinent to the point I ammaking: "What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the good of thecountry? in applications without number for it, in all its interests, besides publications of things useful to it, and for it. And, yet, thereis no man whom the country so loads with disrespect, and calumnies, andmanifold expressions of aversion. "

This is a specimen of the whole of them--one half recounting what he haddone, the other complaining, sometimes almost scolding, at the poorrequital he had received. 

President Leverett died on the third of May, 1724. His death waslamented by the country; and the most eminent men vied with each otherin doing honor to his memory. The Rev. Benjamin Colman called him "ourmaster, " and pronounced his life as "great and good. " "The young men sawhim and hid themselves, and the aged arose and stood up. " Dr. Appletondeclared 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 isthe residue of the Spirit) can repair or heal it. " The late BenjaminPeirce, in his _History of Harvard University_, says that "hisPresidency was successful and brilliant. " He was honored abroad, as wellas at home; and his name is inscribed on the rolls of the Royal Societyof London. Mr. Peirce says: "He had a great and generous soul. " Hisnatural abilities were of a very high order. His attainments wereprofound and extensive. He was well acquainted with the learnedlanguages, with the arts and "sciences, with history, philosophy, law, divinity, politics. " Such, we are told, were "the majesty and marks ofgreatness, in his speech, his behaviour, and his very countenance, " thatthe 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 filledthe highest legislative and judicial stations, and been intrusted withthe most important functions connected with the military service. I aminclined to think, all things considered, a claim, in his behalf, mightbe put in for the distinction the Reviewer awards to Cotton Mather, as"doubtless the most brilliant man of his day in New England. "

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

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

In the meanwhile, he renewed his attendance at the meetings of theOverseers; having never occupied his seat, in that Body, with theexception of a single Session, during the whole period of Leverett'spresidency. The Board, at a meeting he attended, on the sixth of August, 1724, passed a vote advising and directing the speedy election of aPresident. On the eleventh, the Corporation chose the Rev. Joseph Sewallof the Old South Church; and Mather records the event in his Diary, asfollows: "I am informed that, yesterday, the six men, who callthemselves the Corporation of the College, met, and, contrary to theepidemical expectation of the country, chose a modest young man, Sewall, of whose piety (and little else) every one gives a laudable character. "

"I always foretold these two things of the Corporation: First, that, ifit 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 willdo so. The perpetual envy with which my essays to serve the kingdom ofGod are treated among them, and the dread that Satan has of my beatingup his quarters at the College, led me into the former sentiment; themarvellous indiscretion, with which the affairs of the College aremanaged, led me into the latter. "

Mr. Sewall declined the appointment. On the eighteenth of November, theRev. Benjamin Colman, of the Brattle-street Church, was chosen. He alsodeclining, the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, of the First Church, waselected, in June, 1725, and inaugurated on the seventh of July. 

It thus appears that Dr. Mather was pointedly passed over; and everyother Minister of Boston successively chosen to that great office. 

Of course he took, as Mr. Peirce informs us, no further part in themanagement 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 himselfthat he had never desired the office. He had, he says, "unspeakablecause to admire the compassion of Heaven, in saving him from theappointment;" and that he had always had a "dread of what the generalityof sober men" thought he desired--"dismal apprehension of the distresseswhich a call at Cambridge would bring" upon him. --He was sincere inthose declarations, no doubt; but they show how completely he couldblind himself to the past and even to the actual present. Mr. Peirceexplains why the Corporation were so resolute in withholding theirsuffrages from Mather: "His contemporaries appear to have formed a verycorrect estimate of his character. " "They saw, what posterity sees, thathe was a man of wonderful parts, of immense learning, and of eminentpiety and virtue. " "They saw his weakness and eccentricities. " "It isevident that his judgment was not equal to his other faculties; that hispassions, which were naturally strong and violent, were not always underproper regulation; that he was weak, credulous, enthusiastic, andsuperstitious. His conversation is said to have been instructive andentertaining, in a high degree, though often marred by levity, vanity, imprudence and puns. " For these reasons, he was deemed an unsuitableperson for the Presidency of the College. 

XVIII. 

COTTON MATHER'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER. 

While compelled--by the attempt of the writer in the _North AmericanReview_ to reverse the just verdict of history in reference to CottonMather's connection with Salem Witchcraft--to show the unhappy part heacted and the terrible responsibility he incurred, in bringing forward, and carrying through its stages, that awful tragedy, and the unworthymeans he used to throw that responsibility, afterwards, on others, I amnot to be misled into a false position, in reference to thisextraordinary man. I endorse the language of Mr. Peirce: "He possessedgreat vigor and activity of mind, quickness of apprehension, a livelyimagination, a prodigious memory, uncommon facility in acquiring andcommunicating knowledge, with the most indefatigable application andindustry; that he amassed an immense store of information on allsubjects, human and divine. " I follow Mr. Peirce still further, inbelieving that his natural temperament was pleasant and his sentimentsof a benevolent cast: "that he was an habitual promoter and doer ofgood, is evident, as well from his writings as from the various accountsthat have been transmitted respecting him. "

If the question is asked, as it naturally will be, how these admissionscan 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 entirelyseparated 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 andcharacters, that belongs to the other. This interfusion universallyoccurs. The great errors and the great wrongs imputable to Cotton Matherdo not make it impracticable to discern what was commendable in him. They may be accounted for without throwing him out of the pale ofhumanity or our having to shut our eyes to traits and merits other waysexhibited. 

The extraordinary precocity of his intellect--itself always a peril, often a life-long misfortune--awakened vanity and subjected him to theflattery by which it is fed. All ancestral associations and familyinfluences pampered it. Such a speech as that made to him, at hisgraduation, by President Oakes, could not have failed to have inflatedit to exaggerated dimensions. Clerical and political ambition wasnatural, all but instinctive, to one, whose father, and both whosegrandfathers, had been powers, in the State as well as Church. Thereligious ideas, if they can be so called, in which he had been trainedfrom childhood, in a form bearing upon him with more weight than uponany other person in all history, inasmuch, as they constituted theprominent feature of his father's reading, talk, thoughts, and writings, gave a rapid and overshadowing growth to credulity and superstition. Adefect in his education, perhaps, in part, a natural defect, left himwithout any true logical culture, so that he seems, in his productionsand conduct, not to discern the sequences of statements, the coherenceof propositions, nor the consistency of actions, thereby entangling himin expressions and declarations that have the aspect ofuntruthfulness--his language often actually bearing that character, without his discerning it. His writings present many instances of thisinfirmity. Some have already been incidentally adduced. In his _Life ofPhips_, avowing himself the author of the document known as the _Adviceof the Ministers_, he uses this language: "By Mr. Mather the younger, asI have been informed. " He had, in fact, never been _so informed_. Heknew it by consciousness. Of course he had no thought of deceiving; butmerely 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 badpeople, " in Salem, with an anonymous letter to the Minister of theplace, "desiring and empowering him to dispense the charity, _in his ownname_, hoping thereby the _more to ingratiate his ministry with thepeople_, " he looked only on one side of the proposal, and saw it in noother light than a benevolent and friendly transaction. It neveroccurred to him that he was suggesting a deceptive procedure and drawingthe Minister into a false position and practice. 

When, in addition, we consider to what he was exposed by his proclivityto, and aspirations for, political power, the expedients, schemes, contrivances, and appliances, in which he thereby became involved in thethen state of things in the Colony, and the connection which leadingMinisters, although not admitted to what are strictly speaking politicaloffices, had with the course of public affairs--his father, to an extentnever equalled by any other Clergyman, before or since--we begin toestimate the influences that disastrously swayed the mind of CottonMather. 

Vanity, flattery, credulity, want of logical discernment, and thestruggles between political factions, in the unsettled, uncertain, transition period, between the old and new Charters, are enough toaccount for much that was wrong, in one of Mather's temperament andpassions, without questioning his real mental qualities, or, I amdisposed to think, his conscious integrity, or the sincerity of hisreligious experiences or professions. 

But his chief apology, after all, is to be found in the same sphere inwhich his chief offences were committed. Certain topics and notions, inreference to the invisible, spiritual, and diabolical world, whether ofreality or fancy it matters not, had, all his life long, been theordinary diet, the daily bread, of his mind. 

It may, perhaps, be said with truth, that the theological imagery andspeculations of that day, particularly as developed in the writings ofthe two Mathers, were more adapted to mislead the mind and shroud itsmoral sense in darkness, than any system, even of mythology, that everexisted. It was a mythology. It may be spoken of with freedom, now, asit has probably passed away, in all enlightened communities inChristendom. Satan was the great central character, in what was, inreality, a Pantheon. He was surrounded with hosts of infernal spirits, disembodied and embodied, invisible demons, and confederate humanagents. He was seen in everything, everywhere. His steps were traced inextraordinary occurrences and in the ordinary operations of nature. Hewas hovering over the heads of all, and lying in wait along every dailypath. The affrighted imagination, in every scene and mode of life, wasconversant with ghosts, apparitions, spectres, devils. This prevalent, all but universal, exercise of credulous fancy, exalted into the mostimposing dignity of theology and faith, must have had a demoralizingeffect upon the rational condition and faculties of men, and upon alldiscrimination and healthfulness of thought. When error, in its mostextravagant forms, had driven the simplicity of the Gospel out of theChurch and the world, it is not to be wondered at that the mind was ledto the most shocking perversions, and the conscience ensnared to themost indefensible actions. 

The superstition of that day was foreshadowed in the ferocious cannibalof classic mythology--a monster, horrific, hideous in mien, and giganticin stature. It involved the same fate. The eye of the intellect wasburned out, the light of reason extinguished--_cui lumen ademptum_. 

Having always given himself up to the contemplation of diabolicalimaginations, Cotton Mather was led to take the part he did, in thewitchcraft proceedings; and it cannot be hidden from the light ofhistory. The greater his talents, the more earnestly he may, in othermatters, have aimed to be useful, the more weighty is the lesson hiscourse teaches, of the baleful effects of bewildering and darkeningsuperstition. 

There is another, and a special, explanation to be given of thedisingenuousness that appears in his writings. He was a master oflanguage. He could express, with marvelous facility, any shade ofthought. He could also make language conceal thought. No one everhandled words with more adroitness. He could mould them to suit hispurposes, at will, and with ease. This faculty was called in requisitionby the special circumstances of his times. It was necessary topreserve, at least, the appearance of unity among the Churches, whilethere was as great a tendency, then, as ever, to diversity ofspeculations, touching points of casuistical divinity or ministerialpolicy. The talent to express in formulas, sentiments that reallydiffered, so as to obscure the difference, was needed; and he had it. Heknew how to frame a document that would suit both sides, but, in effect, answer the purposes of one of them, as in the _Advice of the Ministers_. He could assert a proposition and connect with it what appeared to beonly a judicious modification or amplification, but which, in reality, was susceptible of being interpreted as either more or lesscorroborating or contradicting it, as occasion might require. This was asort of sleight of hand, in the use of words; and was noticed, at thetime, as "legerdemain. " He practised it so long that it became a featureof his style; and he actually, in this way, deceived himself as well asothers. It is a danger to which ingenious and hair-splitting writers areliable. I am inclined to think that what we cannot but regard as patentmisstatements, were felt by him to be all right, in consequence, as justintimated, of this acquired habit. 

His style is sprightly, and often entertaining. Neal, the author of the_History of the Puritans_, 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 punsand jingles that attend all his writings, before it had been madepublic. "--_Massachusetts Historical Collections, I. , v. , 199. _--Mr. Peirce, it has been observed, speaks of his "puns, " in conversation. Itis not certain, but that, to a reader now, these very things constitutea redeeming attraction of his writings and relieve the mind of theunpleasant effects of his credulity and vanity, pedantic and oftenfar-fetched references, palpable absurdities, and, sometimes, therepulsiveness of his topics and matter. 

The Reviewer represents me as prejudiced against Cotton Mather. Far fromit. Forty-three years ago, before my attention had been particularlycalled to his connection with alleged witchcrafts or with the politicalaffairs of his times, I eulogized his "learning and liberality, " in warmterms. --_Sermon at the Dedication of the House of Worship of the FirstChurch, in Salem, Massachusetts, 48. _

I do not retract what I then said. Cotton Mather was in advance of histimes, in liberality of feeling, in reference to sectarian anddenominational matters. He was, undoubtedly, a great student, and hadread all that an American scholar could then lay his hands on. Marvellous stories were told of the rapidity of his reading. He was adevourer of books. At the same time, I vindicated him, without reserve, from the charge of pedantry. This I cannot do now. Observation andreflection have modified my views. He made a display, over all hispages, of references and quotations from authors then, as now, rarelyread, and of anecdotes, biographical incidents, and critical commentsrelating to scholars and eminent persons, of whom others have but littleinformation, and of many of whom but few have ever heard. This filledhis contemporaries with wonder; led to most extravagant statements, infuneral discourses, by Benjamin Colman, Joshua Gee, and others; and madethe general impression that has come down to our day. Without detractingfrom his learning, which was truly great, it cannot be denied that thissuperfluous display of it subjects him, justly to the imputation ofpedantry. It may be affected where, unlike the case of Cotton Mather, there is, in reality, no very extraordinary amount of learning. It is atrick of authorship easily practised. 

Any one reading Latin with facility, having a good memory, and keeping awell-arranged scrap-book, needs less than half a dozen such books as thefollowing, to make a show of learning and to astonish the world by hisreferences and citations--the six folio volumes of Petavius, on DogmaticTheology, and his smaller work, _Rationarium Temporum_, a sort ofcompendium or schedule of universal history; and a volume printed, inthe latter half of the seventeenth century, at Amsterdam, compiled byLimborch, consisting of an extensive collection of letters to and fromthe most eminent men of that and the preceding century, such asArminius, Vossius, Episcopius, Grotius, and many others, embracing avast variety of literary history, criticism, biography, theology, philosophy, and ecclesiastical matters--I have before me the copy ofthis work, owned by that prodigy of learning, Dr. Samuel Parr, whopronounced it "a precious book;" and it may have contributed much togive to his productions, that air of rare learning that astonished hiscontemporaries. To complete the compendious apparatus, and give themeans of exhibiting any quantity of learning, in fields frequented byfew, the only other book needed is Melchior Adams's _Lives of Literati_, including all most prominently connected with Divinity, Philosophy, andthe progress of learning and culture, during the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies, and down to its date, 1615. I have before me, the copy ofthis last work, owned by Richard Mather, and probably brought over withhim, in his perilous voyage, in 1635. It was, successively, in thelibraries of his son, Increase, and his grandson, Cotton Mather. At acorner of one of the blank leaves, it is noted, apparently in the handof Increase Mather: "began Mar. 1, finished April 30, 1676. " Accordingto the popular tradition, Cotton would have read it, in a day or two. Itcontains interesting items of all sorts--personal anecdotes, criticalcomments, and striking passages of the lives and writings of more thanone hundred and fifty distinguished men, such as Erasmus, Fabricius, Faustus, Cranmer, Tremellius, Peter Martyr, Beza, and John Knox. WhetherMather had access to either of the above-named works, except the last, is uncertain; but, as his library was very extensive, he sparing nopains nor expense in furnishing it, and these books were severally thenin print and precisely of the kind to attract him and suit his fancy, itis not unlikely that he had them all. They would have placed in easyreach, much of the mass of amazing erudition with which he "entertained"his readers and hearers. 

Cotton Mather died on the thirteenth of February, 1728, at the close ofhis sixty-fifth year. 

Thirty-six years had elapsed since the fatal imbroglio of Salemwitchcraft. He had probably long been convinced that it was vain toattempt to shake the general conviction, expressed by Calef, that he hadbeen "the most active and forward of any Minister in the country inthose matters, " and acquiesced in the general disposition to let thatmatter rest. It must be pleasing to all, to think that his very lastyears were freed from the influences that had destroyed the peace of hislife and left such a shade over his name. Having met with nothing butdisaster from attempting to manage the visible as well as the invisibleworld, he probably left them both in the hands of Providence; andexperienced, as he had never done, a brief period of tranquillity, before finally leaving the scene. His aspiration to control the Provincehad ceased. The object of his life-long pursuit, the Presidency of theCollege, was forever baffled. Nothing but mischief and misery to himselfand others had followed his attempt to lead the great combat against theDevil and his hosts. It had fired his early zeal and ambition; but thatfire was extinguished. The two ties, which more than all others, hadbound him, by his good affections and his unhappy passions, to what wasgoing on around him, were severed, nearly at the same time, by the deathof his father, in 1723, and of his great and successful rival, Leverett, in 1724. Severe domestic trials and bereavements completed the work ofweaning him from the world; and it is stated that, in his very lastyears, the resentments of his life were buried and the ties of brokenfriendships restored. The pleasantest intercourse took place between himand Benjamin Colman; men of all parties sought his company and listenedto the conversation, which was always one of his shining gifts; he hadwritten kindly about Dudley; and his end was as peaceful as his wholelife would have been, but for the malign influences I have endeavored todescribe, leading him to the errors and wrongs which, while faithfulhistory records them, men must regard with considerate candor, as Godwill with infinite mercy. 

It is a curious circumstance, that the two great public funerals, inthose early times, of which we have any particular accounts left, wereof the men who, in life, had been so bitterly opposed to each other. When Leverett was buried, the cavalcade, official bodies, students, andpeople, "were fain to proceed near as far as Hastings' before theyreturned, " so great was the length of the procession: the funeral ofMather was attended by the greatest concourse that had ever beenwitnessed in Boston. 

XIX. 

ROBERT CALEF'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER. 

I approach the close of this protracted discussion with what has beenpurposely reserved. The article in the _North American Review_ rests, throughout, upon a repudiation of the authority of Robert Calef. Itswriter says, "his faculties appear to us to have been of an inferiororder. " "He had a very feeble conception of what credible testimony is. ""If he had not intentionally lied, he had a very imperfect appreciationof truth. " He speaks of "Calef's disqualifications as a witness. " Heseeks to discredit him, by suggesting the idea that, in his originalmovements against Mather, he was instigated by pre-existingenmity--"Robert Calef, between whom and Mr. Mather a personal quarrelexisted. " "His personal enemy, Calef. "

There is no evidence of any difficulty, nor of any thing that can becalled "enmity, " between these two persons, prior to their dealings witheach other, in the Margaret Rule case, commencing on the thirteenth ofSeptember, 1693. Mather himself states, in his Diary, that the enmitybetween them arose out of Calef's opposition to his, Mather's, viewsrelating to the "existence and influences of the invisible world. " Sofar as we have any knowledge, their acquaintance began at the date justmentioned. The suggestion of pre-existing enmity, therefore, gives anunfair and unjust impression. 

Robert Calef was a native of England, a young man, residing, first inRoxbury, and afterwards at Boston. He was reputed a person of goodsense; and, from the manner in which Mather alludes to him, in oneinstance, of considerable means: he had, probably, been prosperous inhis business, which was that of a merchant. Not a syllable is on recordagainst his character, outside of his controversy with the Mathers; allthat is known of him, on the contrary, indicates that he was anhonorable 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 theTown for his services, as Overseer of the Poor. As he encountered themadness and violence of the people, when they were led by Cotton Mather, in the witchcraft delusion, it is a singular circumstance, constitutingan honorable distinction, in which they shared, that, in a later periodof their lives, they stood, shoulder to shoulder, breasting bravelytogether, another storm of popular fanaticism, by publicly favoringinoculation for the small-pox. He offered several of his children to betreated, at the hands of Dr. Boylston, in 1721. His family continued tobear up the respectability of the name, and is honorably mentioned inthe municipal records. A vessel, named _London_, was a regularPacket-ship, between that port and Boston, and probably one of thelargest class then built in America. She was commanded by "RobertCalef;" and, in the Boston _Evening Post_, of the second of May, 1774, "Dr. Calef of Ipswich" is mentioned among the passengers just arrived inher. Under his own, and other names, the descendants of the family ofCalef are probably as numerous and respectable as those of the Mathers;and on that, as all other higher accounts, there is an equal demand forjustice to their respective ancestors. 

It is related by Mather, that a young woman, named Margaret Rule, belonging to the North part of Boston, "many months after the GeneralStorm of the late enchantments, was over, " "when the country had longlain pretty quiet, " was "seized by the Evil Angels, both as tomolestations and accusations from the Invisible World". On the Lord'sDay, the tenth of September, 1693, "after some hours of previousdisturbance of the public assembly, she fell into odd fits, " and had tobe taken out of the congregation and carried home, "where her fits, in afew hours, grew into a figure that satisfied the spectators of theirbeing supernatural. " He further says, that, "from the 10th of Septemberto the 18th, she kept an entire fast, and yet, she was to all appearanceas fresh, as lively, as hearty, at the nine days end, as before theybegan. 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, orso, in all this time, her tormentors permitted her to swallow a mouthfulof somewhat that might increase her miseries, whereof a spoonful of rumwas the most considerable. "

The affair, of course, was noised abroad. It reached the ears of RobertCalef. On the thirteenth, after sunset, accompanied by some others, hewent to the house, "drawn, " as he says, "by curiosity to see MargaretRule, and so much the rather, because it was reported Mr. Mather wouldbe there, that night. " They were taken into the chamber where she was inbed. They found her of a healthy countenance. She was about seventeenyears of age. Increase and Cotton Mather came in, shortly afterwards, with others. Altogether, there were between thirty and forty persons inthe room. Calef drew up Minutes of what was said and done. He repeatedhis visit, on the evening of the nineteenth. Cotton Mather had been withMargaret half an hour; and had gone before his arrival. Each night, Calef made written minutes of what was said and done, the accuracy ofwhich was affirmed by the signatures of two persons, which they wereready to confirm with their oaths. He showed them to some of Mather'sparticular friends. Whereupon Mather preached about him; sent word thathe should have him arrested for slander; and called him "one of theworst of liars. " Calef wrote him a letter, on the twenty-ninth ofSeptember; and, in reference to the complaints and charges Mather wasmaking, proposed that they should meet, in either of two places hementioned, each accompanied by a friend, at which time he, Calef, wouldread to him the minutes he had taken, of what had occurred on theevenings 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, asproposed, at one of the places; but, in the mean time, on the complaintof the Mathers, for scandalous libels upon Cotton Mather, Calef wasbrought before "their Majesties Justice, and bound over to answer atSessions. " Mather, of course, failed to give him the meeting forconference, as agreed upon. On the twenty-fourth of November, Calefwrote to him again, referring to his failure to meet him and to thelegal proceedings he had instituted; and, as the time for appearance inCourt was drawing near, he "thought it not amiss to give a summary" ofhis views on the "great concern, " as to which they were at issue. Hestates, at the outset, "that there are witches, is not the doubt. " TheReviewer seizes upon this expression, to convey the idea that Calef wastrying to conciliate Mather, and induce him to desist from theprosecution. Whoever reads the letter will see how unfair and untruethis is. Calef keeps to the point, which was not whether there were, orcould be, witches; but whether the methods Mather was attempting, in thecase of Margaret Rule, and which had been used in Salem, the yearbefore, were legitimate or defensible. He was determined not to sufferthe issue to be shifted. 

Upon receiving this letter, Mather, who had probably, upon reflection, begun to doubt about the expediency of a public prosecution, signifiedthat he had no desire to press the prosecution; and renewed the proposalfor a conference. Calef "waited on Sessions;" but no one appearingagainst him, was dismissed. The affair seemed, at this crisis, to betending 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 previousletters and also of the Minutes he had taken of what occurred on theevenings of the thirteenth and nineteenth of September, with thesewords: "REVEREND SIR: Finding it necessary, on many accounts, I herepresent you with the copy of that Paper, which has been so muchmisrepresented, to the end, that what shall be found defective or notfairly represented, if any such shall appear, they may be set right. "

This letter concludes in terms which show that, in that stage of theaffair, Calef was disposed to treat Mather with great respect; and thathe sincerely and earnestly desired and trusted that satisfaction mightbe given and taken, in the interview he so persistently sought--notmerely in reference to the case of Margaret Rule, but to the generalsubject of witchcraft, on which they had different apprehensions: "Ihave reason to hope for a satisfactory answer to him, who is one thatreverences your person and office. "

This language strikingly illustrates the estimate in which Ministerswere held. Reverence for their office and for them, as a body, pervadedall classes. 

On the fifteenth of January, Mather replied complaining, in generalterms, of the narrative contained in Calef's Minutes, as follows: "I doscarcely find any _one_ thing, in the whole paper, whether respecting myfather or myself, either fairly or truly represented. " "The narrativecontains a number of mistakes and falsehoods which, were they wilful anddesigned, might justly be termed great lies. " He then goes into aspecification of a few particulars, in which he maintains that theMinutes are incorrect. 

On the eighteenth of January, Calef replied, reminding him that he hadtaken scarcely any notice of the general subject of diabolical agency;but that almost the whole of his letter referred to the Minutes of themeetings, on the thirteenth and nineteenth of September; and hemaintains their substantial accuracy and shows that some of Mather'sstrictures were founded upon an incorrect reading of them. In regard toMather's different recollection of some points, he expresses his beliefthat if his account, in the Minutes, "be not fully exact, it was as nearas memory could bear away. " He notices the fact that he finds inMather's letter no objection to what related to matters of greatestconcern. Mather had complained that the Minutes reported certainstatements made by Rule, which had been used to his disadvantage; andCalef suggests, "What can be expected less from the father of lies, bywhom, you judge, she was possest?"

Appended to Mather's letter, are some documents, signed by severalpersons, declaring that they had seen Rule lifted up by an invisibleforce from the bed to the top of the room, while a strong person threwhis whole weight across her, and several others were trying with alltheir might to hold her down or pull her back. Upon these certificates, Calef remarks: "Upon the whole, I suppose you expect I should believeit; and if so, the only advantage gained is, that what has been so longcontroverted between Protestants and Papists, whether miracles areceased, will hereby seem to be decided for the latter; it being, forought I can see, if so, as true a miracle as for iron to swim; and theDevil can work such miracles. "

Calef wrote to him again, on the nineteenth of February, once morepraying that he would so far oblige him, as to give him his views, onthe important subjects, for a right understanding of which he had sorepeatedly sought a conference and written so many letters; andexpressing his earnest desire to be corrected, if in error, to whichend, if Mather would not, he indulged a hope that some others would, afford him relief and satisfaction. On the sixteenth of April, he wrotestill another letter. In all of them, he touched upon the points atissue between them, and importuned Mather to communicate his views, fully, as to one seeking light. On the first of March, he wrote to agentleman, an acknowledgment of having received, through his hands, "after more than a year's waiting, " from Cotton Mather, four sheets ofpaper, not to be copied, and to be returned in a fortnight. Uponreturning them, with comments, he desires the gentleman to request Mr. Mather not to send him any more such papers, unless he could be allowedto copy and use them. It seems that, in answer to a subsequent letter, Mather sent to him a copy of Richard Baxter's _Certainty of the World ofSpirits_, to which, after some time, Calef found leisure to reply, expressing his dissent from the views given in that book, and treatingthe subject somewhat at large. In this letter, which closes hiscorrespondence with Mather, he makes his solemn and severe appeal:"Though there is reason to hope that these diabolical principles havenot so far prevailed (with multitudes of Christians), as that theyascribe to a witch and a devil the attributes peculiar to the Almighty;yet how few are willing to be found opposing such a torrent, as knowingthat in so doing they shall be sure to meet with opposition to theutmost, from the many, both of Magistrates, Ministers, and people; andthe name of Sadducee, atheist, and perhaps witch too, cast upon them, most liberally, by men of the highest profession in godliness; and, ifnot so learned as some of themselves, then accounted only fit to betrampled on, and their arguments (though both rational and scriptural)as fit only for contempt. But though this be the deplorable dilemma, yetsome have dared, from time to time, (for the glory of God and the goodand safety of men's lives, etc. ) to run all these risks. And, that Godwho has said, 'My glory I will not give to another, ' is able to protectthose 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 bethe more illustrious. 

"And now, Reverend Sir, if you are conscious to yourself, that you have, in your principles or practices, been abetting to such grand errors, Icannot see how it can consist with sincerity, to be so convinced, inmatters 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 totrifle with conscience and dissemble an approving of former sentiments. You know that word, 'He that honoreth me I will honor, and he thatdespiseth me shall be lightly esteemed. ' But, if you think that, inthese matters, you have done your duty, and taught the people theirs;and that the doctrines cited from the above mentioned book [_Baxter's_]are ungainsayable; I shall conclude in almost his words. He that teachessuch a doctrine, if through ignorance he believes not what he saith, maybe a Christian; but if he believes them, he is in the broad path toheathenism, devilism, popery, or atheism. It is a solemn caution (_Gal. , i. , 8_): 'But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any othergospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him beaccursed. ' I hope you will not misconstrue my intentions herein, who am, Reverend Sir, yours to command, in what I may. "

Resolute in his purpose to bring the Ministers, if possible, to meet thequestions he felt it his duty to have considered and settled, andcareful to leave nothing undone that he could do, to this end, he soughtthe satisfaction from others, he had tried, in vain, to obtain fromMather. On the eighteenth of March, 1695, he addressed a letter "To theMinisters, whether English, French, or Dutch, " calling their attentionto "the mysterious doctrines" relating to the "power of the Devil, " andto the subject of Witchcraft. On the twentieth of September, he wrote tothe 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 samepurpose; and wrote a separate letter to the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth. 

These documents were all composed with great earnestness, frankness, andability; and are most creditable to his intelligence, courage, and senseof public duty. I have given this minute account of his proceedings withMather and the Clergy generally, because I am impressed with aconviction that no instance can be found, in which a great question hasbeen managed with more caution, deliberation, patience, manly opennessand uprightness, and heroic steadiness and prowess, than this youngmerchant displayed, in compelling all concerned to submit to a thoroughinvestigation and over-hauling of opinions and practices, established bythe authority of great names and prevalent passions and prejudices, andhedged in by the powers and terrors of Church and State. 

It seems to be evident that he must have received aid, in some quarter, from persons conversant with topics of learning and methods of treatingsuch subjects, to an extent beyond the reach of a mere man of business. In the First Volume of the _Proceedings of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety_, Page 288, a Memorandum, from which I make an extract, isgiven, as found in Doctor Belknap's hand-writing, in his copy of Calef'sbook, 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 withmaterials for his work, by Mr. Brattle of Cambridge, and his brother ofBoston, and other gentlemen, who were opposed to the Salemproceedings. --E. P. "

The fact that Belknap endorsed this statement, gives it sufficientcredibility. Who the "E. P. " was, from whom it was derived, is notknown. If it were either of the Ebenezer Pembertons, father or son, nohigher authority could be adduced. But whatever aid Calef received, heso thoroughly digested and appropriated, as to make him ready to meetMather or any, or all, the other Ministers, for conference and debate;and his title to the authorship of the papers remains complete. 

The Ministers did not give him the satisfaction he sought. They wereparalyzed by the influence or the fear of the Mathers. Perhaps they wereshocked, if not indignant, at a layman's daring to make such a movementagainst a Minister. It was an instance of the laying of unsanctifiedhands on the horns of the altar, such as had not been equalled inaudacity, since the days of Anne Hutchinson, by any but Quakers. Calef, however, was determined to compel the attention of the world, if hecould not that of the Ministers of Boston, to the subject; and heprepared, and sent to England, to be printed, a book, containing allthat had passed, and more to the same purpose. It consists of severalparts. 

PART I. Is _An account of the afflictions of Margaret Rule_, written byCotton Mather, under the title of _Another Brand plucked out of theBurning, or more Wonders of the Invisible World_. In my book, the caseof Margaret Rule is spoken of as having occurred the next "Summer" afterthe witchcraft delusion in Salem. This gives the Reviewer a chance tostrike at me, in his usual style, as follows: "The case did not occur inthe Summer; the date is patent to any one who will look for it. " CottonMather says that she "first found herself to be formally besieged by thespectres, " on the tenth of September. From the preceding clauses of thesame paragraph, it might be inferred that she had had fits before. Hespeaks of those, on the tenth, as "the first I'll mention. " The word"formally, " too, almost implies the same. This, however, must be allowedto be the smallest kind of criticism, although uttered by the Reviewerin the style of a petulant pedagogue. If Summer is not allowed to borrowa little of September, it will sometimes not have much to show, in ourclimate. The tenth of September is, after all, fairly within theastronomical Summer. 

The Reviewer says it will be "difficult for me to prove" that MargaretRule belonged to Mr. Mather's Congregation, before September, 1693. Mather vindicates his taking such an interest in her case, on the groundthat she was one of his "poor flock. " The Reviewer raises a question onthis point; and his controversy is with Mather, not with me. If Rule didnot belong to the Congregation of North Boston, when Mather firstvisited her, his language is deceptive, and his apology, for meddlingwith the case, founded in falsehood. I make no such charge, and have nosuch belief. The Reviewer seems to have been led to place Cotton Matherin his own light--in fact, to falsify his language--on this point, bywhat is said of another Minister's having visited her, to whose flockshe 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 forCotton. They were associate Ministers of the same Congregation--that towhich the girl belonged--and it was natural that she should havedistinguished the elder, by calling him "Father. "

In contradiction of another of my statements, the Reviewer says: "Mr. Mather did not publish an account of the long-continued fastings, or anyother account of the case of Margaret Rule. " He seems to think that"published" means "printed. " It does not necessarily mean, and is notdefined as exclusively meaning, to put to press. To be "published, " adocument does not need, now, to be printed. Much less then. Mather wroteit, as he says, with a view to its being printed, and put it into openand free circulation. Calef publicly declared that he received it from"a gentleman, who had it of the author, and communicated it to use, withhis express consent. " Mather says, in a prefatory note: "I now laybefore you a very entertaining story, " "of one who been prodigiouslyhandled by the evil Angels. " "I do not write it with a design ofthrowing it presently into the press, but only to preserve the memory ofsuch memorable things, the forgetting whereof would neither be pleasingto God, nor useful to men. " The unrestricted circulation of a work ofthis kind, with such a design, was _publishing_ it. It was the form inwhich almost every thing was published in those days. If Calef hadomitted it, in a book professing to give a true and full account of hisdealings with Mather, in the Margaret Rule case, he would have beencharged with having withheld Mather's carefully prepared view of thatcase. Mather himself considered the circulation of his "account, " as apublication, for in speaking of his design of ultimately printing ithimself, he calls it a "farther publication. "

PART II. Embraces the correspondence between Calef, Mather, and others, which I have particularly described. 

PART III. Is a brief account of the Parish troubles, at Salem Village. 

PART IV. Is a correspondence between Calef and a gentleman, whose nameis not given, on the subject of witchcraft, the latter maintaining theviews then prevalent. 

PART V. Is _An impartial account of the most memorable matters of fact, touching the supposed witchcraft in New England_, including the "Report"of the Trials given by Mather in his _Wonders of the Invisible World_. 

The work is prefaced by an _Epistle to the Reader_, couched in plain butpungent language, in which he says: "It is a great pity that the mattersof fact, and indeed the whole, had not been done by some abler hand, better accomplished, and with the advantages of both natural andacquired judgment; but, others not appearing, I have enforced myself todo what is done. My other occasions will not admit any further scrutinytherein. " A Postscript contains some strictures on the _Life of Sir Wm. Phips_, then recently printed, "which book, " Calef says, "though it bearnot 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 nowitchcraft to determine that Mr. Cotton Mather is the author of it. "The real agency of Sir William Phips, in demolishing, with one sternblow, the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and treading out the witchcraftprosecutions, has never, until recently, been known. The Records of theCouncil, of that time, were obtained from England, not long since. They, with the General Court Records, Phips's letter to the HomeGovernment--copied in this article--and the Diary of Judge Sewall, reveal to us the action of the brave Governor, and show how much thatgeneration 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 "whereat last. "

Calef speaks of Sir William, kindly: "It is not doubted but that heaimed at the good of the people; and great pity it is that hisGovernment was so sullied (for want of better information and advicefrom those whose duty it was to have given it) by the hobgoblin Monster, Witchcraft, whereby this country was nightmared and harassed, at such arate as is not easily imagined. "

Such were the contents, and such the tone, of Calef's book. The coursehe pursued, his carefulness to do right and to keep his positionfortified as he advanced, and the deliberate courage with which heencountered the responsibilities, connected with his movement to rid thecountry of a baleful superstition, are worthy of grateful remembrance. 

Mather received intelligence that Calef had sent his book to England, tobe printed; and his mind was vehemently exercised in reference to it. Heset 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, declaringunto the Lord" that he freely forgave Calef, and praying "the Lord alsoto forgive him. " He "pleaded with the Lord, " saying that the design ofthis man was to hurt his "precious opportunities of glorifying" his"glorious Lord Jesus Christ. " He earnestly besought that thoseopportunities might not be "damnified" by Calef's book. And he finishedby imploring deliverance from his calumnies. So "I put over mycalumnious adversary into the hands of the righteous God. "

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

The entries in his Diary, at this time, show that he was exasperated, tothe highest degree, against Calef, to whom he applies such terms as, "aliar, " "vile, " "infamous, " imputing to him diabolical wickedness. Hespeaks of him as "a weaver;" and, in a pointed manner calls him _Calf_, a mode of spelling his name sometimes practised, but then generallygoing out of use. The probability is that the vowel _a_, formerly, as inmost words, had its broad sound, so that the pronunciation was scarcelyperceptibly different, when used as a dissyllable or monosyllable. Asthe broad sound became disused, to a great extent, about this time, thename was spoken, as well as spelled, as a dissyllable, the vowel havingits long sound. It was written, _Calef_, and thus printed, in thetitle-page of his book; so that Mather's variation of it wasunjustifiable, and an unworthy taunt. 

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 ofhis having, at some period of his life, been a mechanic ormanufacturer--or dropping, or altering a letter in his name, does notamount to much, as an impeachment of his character and credibility, as aman or an author. Hard words, too, in a heated controversy, are of noaccount whatever. In this case, particularly, it was a vain and emptycharge, for Mather to call Calef _a liar_. 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 someitems which he deemed erroneous, his declaration that all the rest was atissue of falsehoods, was utterly futile; and can only be taken as anunmeaning and ineffectual expression of temper. So far as thetruthfulness of Calef's statements, generally, is regarded, there is noroom left for question. 

In his Diary for February, 1700, Mather says, speaking of the "calumniesthat Satan, by his instrument, _Calf_, had cast upon" him and hisfather, "the Lord put it into the hearts of a considerable number of ourflock, who are, in their temporal condition, more equal unto ouradversary, to appear in our vindication. " A Committee of seven, including John Goodwin, was appointed for this purpose. They called upontheir Pastors to furnish them with materials; which they both did. TheCommittee drew up, as Mather informs us, in his Diary, a "handsomeanswer unto the slanders and libels of our slanderous adversary, " whichwas forthwith printed, with the names of the members of the Committeesigned to it. The pamphlet was entitled, _Some Few Remarks_, &c. Mathersays of it: "The Lord blesses it, for the illumination of his people inmany points of our endeavour to serve them, whereof they had beenignorant; and there is also set before all the Churches a very laudableexample of a people appearing to vindicate their injured Pastors, when astorm of persecution is raised against them. "

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 attemptwas made to controvert material points in Calef's book, relating toSalem Witchcraft. As it would have been perfectly easy, by certificateswithout number, to have exposed any error, touching that matter, and asno attempt of the kind was made, on this or any other occasion, the onlyalternative left is to accept Hutchinson's conviction, that "Calef was afair relator" of that passage in our history. 

His book has, therefore, come down to us, bearing the ineffaceable stampof truth. 

It was so regarded, at the time, in England, as shown in the manner inwhich it was referred to by Francis Hutchinson and Daniel Neal; and inAmerica, in the way in which Thomas Hutchinson speaks of Calef, andalludes to matters as stated by him. I present, entire, the judgment ofDr. John Eliot, as given in his _Biographical Dictionary_. Bearing inmind that Eliot's work was published in 1806, the reader is left to makehis own comments on the statement, in the _North American Review_, thatI originated, in 1831, the unfavorable estimate of Cotton Mather'sagency in the witchcraft delusion of 1692. It is safe to say that nohigher authority can be cited than that of John Eliot: "CALEF, ROBERT, merchant, in the town of Boston, rendered himself famous by his bookagainst Witchcraft, when the people of Massachusetts were under the moststrange kind of delusion. The nature of this crime, so opposite to allcommon sense, has been said to exempt the accusers from observing therules of common sense. This was evident from the trials of witches, atSalem, in 1692. Mr. Calef opposed facts, in the simple garb of truth, tofanciful representations; yet he offended men of the greatest learningand influence. He was obliged to enter into a controversy, which hemanaged with great boldness and address. His letters and defence wereprinted, in a volume, in London, in 1700. Dr. Increase Mather was thenPresident of Harvard College; he ordered the wicked book to be burnt inthe College yard; and the members of the Old North Church published adefence of their Pastors, the Rev. Increase and Cotton Mather. Thepamphlet, printed on this occasion, has this title-page: _Remarks upon ascandalous book, against the Government and Ministry of New England, written by Robert Calef_, &c. Their motto was, _Truth will come offconqueror_, which proved a satire upon themselves, because Calefobtained a complete triumph. The Judges of the Court and the Juryconfessed their errors; the people were astonished at their owndelusion; reason and common sense were evidently on Calef's side; andeven the present generation read his book with mingled sentiments ofpleasure and admiration. "

Calef's book continues, to this day, the recognized authority on thesubject. Its statements of matters of fact, not disputed norspecifically denied by the parties affected, living at the time, norattempted to be confuted, then, and by them, never can be. The currentof nearly two centuries has borne them beyond all question. No assaultcan now reach them. No writings of Mather have ever received moreevidence of public interest or favor. First printed in London, Calef'svolume has gone through four American editions; the last, in 1861, edited by Samuel P. Fowler, is presented in such eligible type and soreadable a form, as to commend it to favorable notice. 

It may be safely said that few publications have produced more immediateor more lasting effects. It killed off the whole business of MargaretRule. Mather abandoned it altogether. In 1694, he said "the forgettingthereof would neither be pleasing to God nor useful to men. " BeforeCalef had done with him, he had dropped it forever. 

Calef's book put a stop to all such things, in New and Old England. Itstruck a blow at the whole system of popular superstition, relating tothe diabolical world, under which it reels to this day. It drove theDevil out of the preaching, the literature, and the popular sentimentsof the world. The traces of his footsteps, as controlling the affairs ofmen and interfering with the Providence of God, are only found in thedark recesses of ignorance, the vulgar profanities of the low, and a fewflash expressions and thoughtless forms of speech. 

No one can appreciate the value of his service. If this one brave manhad not squarely and defiantly met the follies and madness, thepriestcraft and fanaticism, of his day; if they had been allowed tocontinue to sway Courts and Juries; if the pulpit and the press hadcontinued to throw combustibles through society, and, in every way, inflame the public imaginations and passions, what limit can be assignedto the disastrous consequences?

Boston Merchants glory in the names, on their proud roll of publicbenefactors, of men whose wisdom, patriotism, and munificence haveupheld, adorned, and blessed society; but there is no one of theirnumber who encountered more danger, showed more moral and intellectualprowess, or rendered more noble service to his fellow citizens andfellow men, every where, than ROBERT CALEF. 

I again ask attention to the language used in the _North AmericanReview_, for April, 1869. "These views, respecting Mr. Mather'sconnection with the Salem trials, are to be found IN NO PUBLICATION OF ADATE PRIOR TO 1831, when Mr. Upham's _Lectures_ were published. "

Great as may be the power of critical journals, they cannot strike intonon-existence, the recorded and printed sentiments of Brattle, theHutchinsons, Neal, Watts, Bentley, Eliot, Quincy, and Calef. 

XX. 

MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. CONCLUSION. 

There are one or two minor points, where the Reviewer finds occasion toindulge in his peculiar vein of criticism on my book, which it isnecessary to notice before closing, in order to prevent wrongimpressions being made by his article, touching the truth of history. 

A pamphlet, entitled, _Some Miscellany Observations on our presentdebates respecting Witchcraft, in a Dialogue between S and B_, has beenreferred to. It was published in Philadelphia, in 1692. Its printing wasprocured by Hezekiah Usher, a leading citizen of Boston, who, at thelater stages of the prosecution, had been cried out upon, by theaccusing girls, and put under arrest. Its author was understood to bethe Rev. Samuel Willard. The Reviewer claims for its writer precedenceover the Rev. John Wise, of Ipswich, and Robert Pike, of Salisbury, ashaving earlier opposed the proceedings. Wise headed a Memorial, in favorof John Proctor and against the use of spectral evidence, before thetrials that took place on the fifth of August; and Pike's second letterto Judge Corwin was dated the eighth of August. 

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

Pike concedes all that believers in the general doctrines of witchcraftdemanded, particularly the ground taken in the pamphlet attributed toWillard, and then proceeds, by the most acute technical logic, basedupon solid common sense, to overturn all the conclusions to which theCourt had been led. It was sent, by special messenger, to a Judge on theBench, who was also an associate with Pike at the Council Board of theProvince. Wise's paper was addressed to the Court of Assistants, theSupreme tribunal of the Province. The _Miscellany Observations_, appearto have been written after the trials. There is nothing, however, absolutely to determine the precise date; and they were publishedanonymously, in Philadelphia. The right of Wise and Pike to the creditof having first, by written remonstrance, opposed the proceedings, onthe spot, cannot, I think, be taken away. 

The Reviewer charges me, in reference to one point, with not havingthought it necessary to "pore over musty manuscripts, in the obscurechirography of two centuries ago. " So far as my proper subject could beelucidated by it, I am constrained to claim, that this labor wasencountered, to an extent not often attempted. The files of Courts, andState, County, Town, and Church records, were very extensively andthoroughly studied out. So far as the Court papers, belonging to thewitchcraft Examinations and Trials, are regarded, much aid was derivedfrom _Records of Salem Witchcraft, copied from the original documents_, printed in 1864, by W. Eliot Woodward. But such difficulty had beenexperienced in deciphering them, that the originals were all subjectedto a minute re-examination. The same necessity existed in the use of the_Annals of Salem_, prepared and published by that most indefatigableantiquary, the late Rev. Joseph B. Felt, LL. D. In writing a work forwhich so little aid could be derived from legislative records or printedsources, bringing back to life a generation long since departed, andreproducing a community and transaction so nearly buried in oblivion, covering a wide field of genealogy, topography and chronology, embracingan indefinite variety of municipal, parochial, political, social, local, and family matters, and of things, names, and dates without number, itwas, after all, impossible to avoid feeling that many errors andoversights might have been committed; and, as my only object was toconstruct a true and adequate history, I coveted, and kept myself in aframe gratefully to receive all corrections and suggestions, with a viewof making the work as perfect as possible, in a reprint. As I wasreasonably confident that the ground under me could stand, at allimportant points, any assaults of criticism, made in the ordinary way, it gave me satisfaction to hear, as I did, in voices of rumor reachingme from many quarters, that an article was about to appear in the _NorthAmerican Review_ that would "demolish" my book. I flattered myself that, whether it did or not, much valuable information would, at least, bereceived, that would enable me to make my book more to my purpose, bymaking it more true to history. 

After the publication of the article, and before I could extricatemyself from other engagements so far as to look into it, I read, ineditorials, from week to week, in newspapers and journals, that I hadbeen demolished. Surely, I thought, some great errors have beendiscovered, some precious "original sources" opened, some lost recordsexhumed, so that now, at last, no matter by whom, the story of Salemwitchcraft can be told. My disappointment may be imagined, when, uponexamining the article, it appeared that only one error had beendiscovered in my book, and that I now proceed to acknowledge. 

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 ofthe press, but wholly my own, as it is in the "copy, " sent to theprinters. In finding the interesting relations held by the Rev. WilliamBrattle with the Salem Village Parish, after the death of Mr. Green, hebeing called to act as their patron and guide, and eventually marryingGreen's widow, his name became familiar to my thoughts, and slippedthrough my pen. Every one who has gone through the drudgery ofproof-reading knows what ridiculous and, sometimes, frightful, errorsare detected, even in the "last revise. " Upon opening the volume, whenit came to me from the binder, I saw this error and immediately informedmy publishers. It is pleasing to think that it cost the Reviewer nopains to discover it, as the right name stands out in the caption of thearticle, which is in capital letters--_Massachusetts HistoricalCollections, I. , v. , 61_--where alone he or I could have seen it. 

Mistakes in names and dates--always provoking, often inexplicable--are afate to which all are liable. In a friendly, elaborate, and able noticeof my book, in a newspaper of high character, it is stated that SalemVillage, was the home of the family which gave General Rufus Putnam to"the War of 1812;" and George Burroughs is called "_John_" Burroughs. 

It is sometimes as hard to correct an error, as it is easy to fall intoone. In pointing out my inadvertent mistake, the Reviewer unwittinglyreproduces it. His sentence, just quoted, is liable to convey the ideathat William Brattle was "a merchant of Boston. " As he has been kindenough, all through his article, to tell what I ought to have read, andseen, and done, I venture to suggest that his sentence ought to havebeen constructed thus: "Thomas Brattle, a merchant of Boston, (notWilliam, as Mr. Upham says. )"

A queer fatality seems to have attended this attempt to correct myerror. 

A reader of the _North American Review_ cannot fail to have noticed themanner in which the late Rev. Dr. Peabody, as well as myself, is held upto ridicule, for having called Cotton Mather, "Dr. " when referring toany thing previous to his having received his Doctorate. Perhaps we wereexcusable. By usage, such honorary titles, and indeed all titles, areapplied retrospectively, running back over the life, indefinitely. The_Encyclopędia Americana_, Eliot's _Biographical Dictionary_, and one ofthe last numbers of the _Historic Genealogical Register_, all give thattitle to Increase Mather, referring to a period anterior to its havingbeen conferred upon him. The title was given by the learned editor ofthe _Massachusetts Historical Collections_, to Cotton Mather, in thecaption of his letter to Governor Dudley. In the _Mather Papers_, letters written a score of years before that degree had been conferredon him, are endorsed "Doctor Cotton Mather. " If the high authority ofthe _North American Review_ is to establish it, as a literary canon, that titles are never to be given, except in relation to a periodsubsequent to their conferment, writers must, hereafter, be verycareful, when cursorily alluding to anything in the earlier lives of theDuke of Marlborough, Lord Castlereagh, the Duke of Wellington, DoctorFranklin, Doctor Channing, or Doctor Priestley, to say, Mr. Churchill, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Wellesley, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Channing, or Mr. Priestley. 

What renders this making of a great matter out of so trivial a point, byour Reviewer, amusing, as well as ridiculous, is that he is the first tobreak his own rule. 

 "'Tis the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petard. "

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 thetime" he wrote the account of Salem witchcraft, "the Treasurer ofHarvard College. " Brattle held not then, and never had held, thathonorable trust and title, though subsequently appointed to the office. 

It is not probable that Cotton Mather will ever find a biographer morekind and just than the late W. B. O. Peabody, whose mild and pleasanthumor was always kept under the sway of a sweet spirit of candor andbenevolence, and who has presented faithfully all the good points andservices of his subject--_Sparks's American Biography, Vol. VI. _ But theknight errant who has just centered the lists, brandishing his spearagainst all who have uttered a lisp against Cotton Mather, goes out ofhis way to strike at Doctor Peabody. He inserts, at the foot of one ofhis pages, this sneering Note: "Mr. Peabody says; 'Little did thevenerable Doctor think, ' etc. The venerable Doctor was twenty-nine yearsof age! and was no Doctor at all. "

Let us see how the ridicule of the Reviewer can be parried by his ownweapons. Indulging myself, for a moment, in his style, I have, to saythat "this Reviewer has never seen" Worcester's Dictionary, norWebster's Dictionary, in neither of which does time or age enter intothe definition of _venerable_. The latter gives the sense as follows:"Rendered sacred by religious associations, or being consecrated to Godand to his worship; to be regarded with awe, and treated withreverence. " Further: "This Reviewer should have been familiar enoughwith the original sources of information on this subject, " to have knownthat it was common, in those days, to speak and think of such persons asCotton Mather, although not old in years, as "venerable. " All thecustoms, habits, ideas, and sentiments of the people invested them withcharacter. Their costume and bearing favored it. The place they filled, and the power they exercised, imparted awe and veneration, whatevertheir years. All that age could contribute to command respect wasanticipated and brought, to gather round the young Minister, when handswere laid upon him, at his ordination, by the title he thenceforth wore, of "Elder. " By his talents, learning, and ambition, Cotton Mather hadbecome recognized as a "Father in the Church;" and his aspect, as hestood in the pulpit of "North Boston, " fulfilled the idea ofvenerableness. And we find that this very term was applied to therepresentative centre of a consecrated family, in the "Attestation" tothe _Magnalia_, written by John Higginson, venerable in years, as in allthings else, in some Latin lines of his composure: "_VenerandeMathere_. "

In the popular eye, Cotton Mather concentrated all the sacred memoriesof the great "decemvirate, " as Higginson called it, of the Mathers, whohad been set apart as Ministers of God; and he was venerable, besides, in the associations connected with the hallowed traditions of hismaternal grandfather, whose name he bore, John Cotton. 

An object is _venerable_, whether it be a person, a building, alocality, or any thing else, around which associations gather, thatinspire reverence. Age, in itself, suggests the sentiment, if itsnatural effect is not marred by unworthiness; so does wisdom. Virtue isvenerable, whatever the age. So are all great traits of character; andso is every thing that brings to the mind consecrated thoughts andimpressions. There was much in Mather's ancestry, name, and office, tosuggest the term, without any regard whatever to his years. If appliedto him by the people of that day, or by a writer now, in reference toany period of his life after entering the ministry and being classedwith the Elders of the Church and the land, it was entirely legitimateand appropriate. 

While acknowledging the one error, detected by the Reviewer, I availmyself of the opportunity to apprise those who have my book of aprobable error, not discovered by him. In Vol. II. , p. 208, the name of"Elizabeth Carey" is given among those for whose arrest Warrants wereissued, on the twenty-eighth of May, 1692. On page 238, the name"Elizabeth Cary" is again mentioned. The facts are, that Calef, (_p. 95_, ) says: "MAY 24TH: Mrs. Carey, of Charlestown, was examined andcommitted. Her husband, Mr. Nathaniel Carey, has given account thereof, as also of her escape, to this effect. " He then gives a letter goinginto much interesting detail, evidently written by her husband, andsigned "Jonathan Carey. " Hutchinson (_History, ii. , 49_, ) repeatsCalef's account, calling the woman, "Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel;" andgives the substance of her husband's letter, without attempting toexplain, or even noticing, the discrepancy as to the name of thehusband. Not knowing what to make of it, I examined the miscellaneousmass of papers, in the Clerk's office, and found, on a small scrip, theoriginal Complaint, on which the Warrant was issued. It is the onlypaper, 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. NathanielCarey of Charlestown, mariner. " This seemed to settle it and I let itpass, without attempting to explain how "Jonathan Carey" came to appearas the husband of the woman, in the letter signed by that name. I am nowquite convinced that, in this case, I was misled, together with Calefand Hutchinson, by paying too much regard to "original sources. " I amsatisfied that the authority of the letter of "Jonathan Carey, " muststand; that the woman was his wife, "Hannah;" and that the error is inthe original "Complaint, " here on file. 

The facts, probably, were, that, it being rumored in Charlestown that aMrs. 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 themidst of a great excitement, bringing together a crowd of people, halfcrazed under the terrors of the hour. Nobody knew him, which would nothave 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 soonlost in the confusion of the scene. The accusing girls were on the lookout, and noticing these two strangers, enquired their names, and weretold, _Mr. And Mrs. Carey_. They had been crying out upon _ElizabethCarey_, and thinking they had her, informed Thomas Putnam and BenjaminHutchinson, two persons perfectly deluded by them, who instantly drewup the Complaint. In the hurry and horrors of the moment, the error inthe names was not discovered: _Jonathan_ and _Hannah_ were sentforthwith to prison, from which they broke, and escaped to New York. Thegirls, thinking they had got _Mrs. Elizabeth Carey_ in prison, said nomore about it. As Jonathan and his wife were safe, and beyond reach, thewhole matter dropped out of the public mind; and Mrs. Elizabeth remainedundisturbed. This is the only way in which I can account for the strangeincongruity of the statements, as found in the "Complaint, " Calef, andHutchinson. The letter of Jonathan Carey is decisive of the point thatit was "Hannah, " his wife, that was arrested, and escaped. The error inCalef was not discovered by him, as his book was printed in London; and, under the general disposition to let the subject pass into oblivion, ifpossible, no explanation was ever given. 

I cannot let the letter of Jonathan Carey pass, without calling tonotice his statement that, upon reaching New York, they found "HisExcellency, Benjamin Fletcher, Esq. , very courteous" to them. Whatevermultiplies pleasant historical reminiscences and bonds of associationbetween different States, ought to be gathered up and kept fresh in theminds of all. The fact that when Massachusetts was suffering from afiery and bloody, but brief, persecution by its own Government, New Yorkopened so kind and secure a shelter for those fortunate enough to escapeto it, ought to be forever held in grateful remembrance by the people ofthe old Bay State, and constitutes a part of the history of the EmpireState, of which she may well be proud. If the historians and antiquariesof the latter State can find any traces, in their municipal or otherarchives, or in any quarter, of the refuge which the Careys and othersfound among them, in 1692, they would be welcome contributions to ourhistory, and strengthen the bonds of friendly union. 

The Reviewer seems to imagine that, by a stroke of his pen, he can, atany time, make history. Referring to Governor Winthrop, in connectionwith the case of Margaret Jones, forty-two years before, he says that he"presided at her Trial; signed her Death-warrant; and wrote the reportof the case in his journal. " The fact that, in his private journal, hehas a paragraph relating to it, hardly justifies the expression "wrotethe report of the case. " Where did he, our Reviewer, find authority forthe positive statement that Winthrop "signed the Death-warrant?" We haveno information, I think, as to the use of Death-warrants, as weunderstand such documents to be, in those days; and especially are weignorant as to the official who drew and signed the Order for theexecution of a capital convict. Sir William Phips, although present, did not sign the Death-warrant of Bridget Bishop. 

The Reviewer expresses, over and over again, his great surprise at theview given in my book of Cotton Mather's connection with Salemwitchcraft. It is quite noticeable that his language, to this effect, was echoed through that portion of the Press committed to hisstatements. My sentiments were spoken of as "surprising errors. " What Ihad said was, as I have shown, a mere continuation of an ever-receivedopinion; and it was singular that it gave such a widespread simultaneousshock of "surprise. " But that shock went all around. I was surprised attheir surprise; and may be allowed, as well as the Reviewer, to expressand explain that sensation. It was awakened deeply and forcibly by thewhole tenor of his article. He was the first reader of my book, ithaving been furnished him by the Publishers before going to the binder. He wrote an elaborate, extended, and friendly notice of it, in a leadingpaper of New York city, kindly calling it "a monument of historical andantiquarian research;" "a narrative as fascinating as the latest novel;"and concluding thus: "Mr. Upham deserves the thanks of the many personsinterested in psychological inquiries, for the minute details he hasgiven of these transactions. " Some criticisms were suggested, inreference to matters of form in the work; _but not one word was saidabout Cotton Mather_. The change that has come over the spirit of hisdream is more than surprising. 

The reference, in the foregoing citation, to "psychological enquiries, "suggests to me to allude, before closing, to remarks made by some othercritics. I did not go into the discussion, with any particularity, ofthe connection, if any, between the witchcraft developments of 1692 andmodern spiritualism, in any of its forms. A fair and candid writerobserves that "the facts and occurrences, " as I state them, involvedifficulties which I "have not solved. " There are "depths, " hecontinues, "in this melancholy episode, which his plummet has notsounded, by a great deal. " This is perfectly true. 

With a full conviction that the events and circumstances I wasendeavoring to relate, afforded more material for suggestions, inreference to the mysteries of our spiritual nature, than any otherchapter in history, I carefully abstained, with the exception of a fewcautionary considerations hinting at the difficulties that encompass thesubject, from attempting to follow facts to conclusions, in thatdirection. My sole object was to bring to view, as truthfully, thoroughly, and minutely, as I could, the phenomena of the case, as barehistorical facts, from which others were left, to make their owndeductions. This was the extent of the service I desired to render, inaid of such as may attempt to advance the boundaries of the spiritualdepartment 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 whatis now knowledge--that I was treading the shores of the _ultima Thule_, of the yet discovered world of truth--I did not venture upon the worldbeyond. My only hope was to afford some data to guide the course ofthose who may attempt to traverse it. Other hands are to drop theplummet into its depths, and other voyagers feel their way over itssurface to continents that are waiting, as did this Western Hemisphere, for ages upon ages, to be revealed. The belief that fields of sciencemay yet be reached, by exploring the connection between the corporealand spiritual spheres of our being, in which explorations the factspresented in the witchcraft Delusion may be serviceable, suggested oneof the motives that led me to dedicate my volumes to the Professor ofPhysiology in Harvard University. 

The Reviewer concludes his article by saying that the "History of Salemwitchcraft is as yet unwritten, " but, that I must write it; and he tellsme how to write it. He advises a more concise form, although his wholearticle consists of complaints because I avoided discussions andcondensed documents, which, if fully gone into and spread out at length, would have swelled the dimensions of the work, as well as broken thethread of the narrative. It must be borne in mind, that a reader canonly be held to the line of a subject, by an occasional retrospectionand reiteration of what must be constantly kept in view. The travelerneeds, at certain points and suitable stages, to turn and survey theground over which he has passed. A condensation that would strike outsuch recapitulations and repetitions, might impair the effect of a workof any kind, particularly, of one embracing complicated materials. 

The Reviewer says that, "by all means, I must give references toauthorities, " when I quote. This, as a general thing, is good advice. But it must be remembered that my work consists of three divisions. TheHistory of Salem Village constitutes the First. This is drawn, almostwholly, from papers in the offices of registry, and from judicial filesof the County, to which references would be of little use, and serveonly to cumber and deform the pages. Everything can be verified byinspection of the originals, and not otherwise. The Second Part is acursory, general, abbreviated sketch or survey of the history ofopinions, not designed as an authoritative treatise for specialstudents, but to prepare the reader for the Third Part, the authoritiesfor which are, almost wholly, Court files. 

As to the remaining suggestion, that I must divide the work intoChapters, with headings, there is something to be said. When the natureof an historical work admits of its being invested with a dramaticinterest--and all history is capable, more or less, of having thatattraction--where minute details can fill up the whole outline ofcharacters, events, and scenes, all bearing the impress of truth andcertainty, real history, being often stranger than fiction, may be, andought 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 pacewith the developments of the story, as they arise with the progress oftime and events. Headings to Chapters, in historical works, capable ofthis dramatic element, would be as out of place, and as much mar anddefeat the effect, as in a novel. 

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

There is danger of a diminution of the continuous interest of someworks, thus severed into fragments. There are, indeed, animals that willbear to be chopped up indefinitely, and each parcel retain its life: notso with others. The most important of all documents have sufferedinjury, not to be calculated, in their attractiveness andimpressiveness, by being divided into Chapter and Verse, in manyinstances without reference to the unity of topics, or coherence ofpassages; dislocating the frame of narratives, and breaking thestructure of sentences. We all know to what a ridiculous extent thispractice 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, andoverwhelmed the discernment and memory of the hearer. He, in fact, wasthought the ablest sermonizer, who could stretch the longest string ofdivisions, up to the "nineteenthly, " and beyond. This fashion has aprominent place among _The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of theClergy and Religion_, by John Eachard, D. D. , a work published in London, near the commencement of the last century--one of the few books, likeCalef's, which have turned the tide, and arrested the follies, of theirtimes. In bold, free, forcible satire, Eachard's book stands alone. Founded on great learning, inspired by genuine wit, its style is plaineven to homeliness. It struck at the highest, and was felt andappreciated by the lowest. It reinforced the pulpit, simplified theliterature, eradicated absurdities of diction and construction, andremoved many of the ecclesiastic abuses, of its day. No work of the kindever met with a more enthusiastic reception. I quote from the EleventhEdition, printed in 1705: "We must observe, that there is a greatdifference in texts. For all texts come not asunder, alike; forsometimes the words naturally fall asunder; sometimes they drop asunder;sometimes they melt; sometimes they untwist; and there be some words sowilling to be parted, that they divide themselves, to the great ease andrejoicing 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 intoshivers. The truth of it is, I have known, now and then, some knottytexts, that have been divided seven or eight times over, before theycould make them split handsomely, according to their mind. "

An apology to those critics who have complained of my not dividing mybook 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 bemade to "split handsomely. "

This, and all other suggestions of criticism, are gratefully receivedand respectfully considered. But, after all, it will not be well toestablish any canons, to be, in all cases, implicitly obeyed, by allwriters. Much must be left to individual judgment. Regard must be had tothe nature of subjects. Instead of servile uniformity, variety anddiversity must be encouraged. In this way, only, can we have a free, natural, living literature. 

In passing, I would say, that in meeting the demand made upon me by theReviewer, to rewrite the history of Salem witchcraft, I shall availmyself 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 aspossible. Anything that is found to be wrong shall be rectified. Thework, in the different forms in which it was published, is nearly out ofprint. When issued again, it will be in a less costly style and morewithin the reach of all. From the result of my own continued researchesand the suggestions of others, I feel inclined to the opinion that novery considerable alterations will be made; and that subsequenteditions, will not impair the authority or value of the work, asoriginally published in 1867. 

In preparing the statement, now brought to a close, the only object hasbeen to get at, and present, the real facts of history. Nothing, merelypersonal, affecting the writer in the _North American Review_ or myself, can be considered as of comparative moment. Many of the expressions usedby that writer, as to what I have "seen" or "read" and the like, are, itmust be confessed, rather peculiar; but of very little interest to thepublic. Any notice, taken of them, has been incidental, and such asnaturally arose in the treatment of the subject. 

In parting with the reader, I venture so far further to tax hispatience, as to ask to take a retrospective glance, together, over theoutlines of the road we have travelled. 

In connection with some preliminary observations, the first step in theargument was to show the relation of the Mathers, father and son, to thesuperstitions of their times culminating in the Witchcraft Delusion of1692, and their share of responsibility therefor. The several successivestages of the discussion were as follows:--The connection of CottonMather with alleged cases of Witchcraft in the family of John Goodwin ofBoston, in 1688; and said Goodwin's certificates disposed of: Mather'sidea of Witchcraft, as a war waged by the Devil against the Church; andhis 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 ofMassachusetts, in 1692: The arrival of Sir William Phips; the impressionmade upon him by those whom he first met; his letter to the Governmentin England: The circumstances attending the establishment of the SpecialCourt of Oyer and Terminer, and the precipitance with which it was putinto operation: Its proceedings, conducted by persons in the interest ofthe Mathers: Spectral Testimony; and the extent to which it wasauthorized by them to be received at the Trials, as affording grounds ofenquiry and matter of presumption: Letter of Cotton Mather to one of theJudges: The Advice of the Ministers: Cotton Mather's probable plan fordealing with spectral evidence: His views on that subject, as gatheredfrom his writings and declarations: The question of his connection withthe Examinations before the Magistrates: His connection with the Trialsand Executions: His Report of five of the Trials: His book entitled _TheWonders of the Invisible World_; its design; the circumstances attendingits preparation for the press; and the views, feelings, and expectationsof its author, exhibited in extracts from it: Increase Mather's _Casesof Conscience_: The suppression of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, bySir William Phips: Cotton Mather's views subsequent to 1692, as gatheredfrom his writings. 

In traversing the field thus marked out, I submit that it has becomedemonstrated that, while Cotton Mather professed concurrence in thegenerally-received judgment of certain writers against the reception ofspectral evidence, he approved of the manner in which it had beenreceived by the Judges, at the Salem Trials, and eulogized themthroughout, from the beginning to the end of the prosecution, and everafter. He vindicated, as a general principle, the _admission_ of thatspecies of testimony, on the ground of its being a sufficient basis ofenquiry and presumption, and needing only some additional evidence, --hisown Report and papers on file show how little was required--to justifyconviction and execution. This has been proved, at large, by anexamination of his writings and actions, and is fully admitted by him, in various forms of language, on several occasions--substantially, inhis statement, that Spectral Testimony was the "chief" ground upon which"divers" were condemned and executed, and, explicitly, in his letter toFoster, in which he says that "a very great use is to be made" of it, inthe 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 samepassage, he commends the Judge for having admitted it; and declares theyhad the divine blessing thereupon, inasmuch as "God strangely sent otherconvincing testimony, " to corroborate, and thereby render it sufficientto convict. In his Address to the General Assembly, years afterward, hefully admits that the Judges, in 1692, whose course he applauded at thetime, allowed persons to be adjudged guilty, "merely because" ofSpectral Testimony. 

My main purpose and duty, in preparing this article, have been todisprove the absolute and unlimited assertions made by the contributorto the _North American Review_, that Cotton Mather was opposed to the_admission_ of Spectral Evidence; "denounced it as illegal, uncharitable, and cruel;" and "ever testified against it, both publiclyand privately;" and that the _Advice of the Ministers_, drawn up by him, "was _very specific_ in _excluding_ Spectral Testimony. "

It has been thought proper, also, to vindicate the truth of historyagainst the statements of this Reviewer, on some other points; as, forinstance, by showing that the opinion of Cotton Mather's particularresponsibility for the Witchcraft Tragedy, instead of originating withme, was held at the time, at home and abroad, and has come down, throughan unbroken series of the most accredited writers, to our day; and thatthe influence of the Mathers never recovered from the shock given it, bythe catastrophe of 1692. 

The apology for the great length of this article is, that the highauthority justly accorded to the _North American Review_, demanded, incontroverting any position taken in its columns, a thorough and patientinvestigation, and the production, in full, of the documents belongingto the question. It has further been necessary, in order to get at thepredominating tendency and import of Cotton Mather's writings, to citethem, in extended quotations and numerous extracts. To avoid the errorinto which the Reviewer has fallen, the peculiarity of Mather's stylemust be borne in mind. Opposite drifts of expression appear in differentwritings and in different parts of the same writing; and, notinfrequently, the clauses of the same passage have contrary bearings. Heoften palters, with himself as well as others, in a double sense. 

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 sortmight and ought, notwithstanding, to be received as a basis for enquiryand ground of presumption, and, if supported by other ordinarytestimony, was sufficient for conviction. That other testimony, whenadduced, was, as represented by Mather, clothed with a divine authority;having, as he says, been supplied by a special Providence, and beenjustly regarded, by the "excellent Judges, " as "an encouraging presenceof God, strangely sent in. " It could, indeed, in the then state of thepublic mind, always be readily obtained. No matter how small in quantityor utterly irrelevant, it was sufficient for conviction coming after theSpectral Evidence. To minds thus subdued and overwhelmed with "awe, "trifles light as air were confirmation strong. 

It is to be presumed that his warmest admirers would not think ofcomparing Cotton Mather with his transatlantic correspondent andcoadjutor, as to force of character, power of mind, or the moral andreligious value of their writings. Yet there were some strikingsimilarities between them. They were men of undoubted genius and greatlearning. They were all their lives awake to whatever was going onaround them. Earnestly interested, and actively engaging, in allquestions of theology and government, they both rushed forthwith andincontinently to the press, until their publications became toovoluminous and numerous to be patiently read or easily counted. Ofcourse, what they printed was imbued with the changing aspects of thequestions they handled and open to the imputation of inconsistency, ofwhich Baxter was generally disregardful and Mather mostly unconscious. 

Sir Roger L'Estrange was one of the great wits and satirists of hisage. His style was rough and reckless. A vehement and fierce upholder ofthe doctrines of arbitrary government, he was knighted by James theSecond. His controversial writings, having all the attractions ofunscrupulous invective and homely but cutting sarcasm, were muchpatronized by the great, and extensively read by the people. AllNonconformists and Dissenters were the objects of his coarse abuse. Heissued an ingenious pamphlet with this title: "_The Casuist uncased; ina Dialogue betwixt Richard and Baxter, with a moderator between them, for quietness sake. _" The two disputants range over a variety ofsubjects, and are quite vehement against each other; the Moderatorinterposing to keep them to the point, preserve order in the debate, and, as occasion required, reduce them to "quietness. " At one stage ofthe altercation, he exclaimed: "If an Angel from Heaven, I perceive, were employed to bring you two to an agreement, he should lose hislabor. " Great was the amusement of all classes to find that the languageuttered by the combatants, on each side, was taken from one or anotherof writings published by Richard Baxter, during his diversifiedcontroversial life. 

If any skilful and painstaking humorist of our day, should feel sodisposed, he might, by wading through the sea of Cotton Mather'swritings, pick up material enough for the purpose; and, by cutting inhalves paragraphs and sentences, entertain us in the same way, by givingto the public, through the Press, "_A Dialogue betwixt COTTON andMATHER, with a Moderator between them for quietness sake. _"

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BRODHEAD, Hon. J. ROMEYN, the historian of New York. 

DAWSON, HENRY B. , author of _Battles of the United States_, etc. 

DEAN, JOHN WARD, Secretary of the New England Historic-GenealogicalSociety. 

ELLIS, Rev. GEORGE B. , D. D. , Charlestown, Massachusetts. 

EWBANK, Hon. THOMAS, Vice-president of the American EthnologicalSociety. 

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GILLETT, Rev. E. H. , D. D. , the historian of the Presbyterian Church. 

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SMITH, Hon. BUCKINGHAM, St. Augustine, Fl. 

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ANDERSON, Lieut. THOMAS, of Delaware [His Diary during the RevolutionaryWar]. 

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ASHMUN, Rev. J. , Washington, D. C. 

BARKER, JACOB, New Orleans. 

BEATTY, Captain WILLIAM, of Maryland. [His Diary and Correspondence]. 

BENSON, EGBERT, on the Constitution of New York. 

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COOPER, J. FENIMORE, of New York. 

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DOWNING, EMANUAL, of England. 

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DROWNE, Doctor SOLOMON, of Rhode Island. 

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GREENE, General NATHANIEL, of Rhode Island. 

HOOPER, A. M. 

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HUNTINGTON, General JED. , of Connecticut. 

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KENDALL, AMOS, [on the Jackson Cabinet. ]

KING, RUFUS, of New York. [On the Constitution of New York. ]

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WOLCOTT, OLIVER. 

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1. --ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 

Hon. E. E. BOURNE, President of the Maine Historical Society. 

Rev. PLINY H. WHITE, President of the Vermont Historical Society. 

Hon. J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL, President of the Connecticut HistoricalSociety. 

Hon. THOMAS EWBANK, Vice-president of the American Ethnological Society. 

GEORGE HENRY MOORE, Librarian of the New York Historical Society. 

Rev. Doctor BALLARD, Secretary of the Maine Historical Society. 

S. F. HAVEN, Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society. 

H. A. HOLMES, State Librarian, Albany. 

E. B. O'CALLAGHAN, LL. D. 

J. GILMARY SHEA, LL. D. , New York City. 

Doctor E. H. DAVIS, the Ethnologist. 

Doctor D. G. BRINTON, Westchester, Penn. 

J. WINGATE THORNTON, Boston. 

Professor GEORGE W. GREENE, of Rhode Island. 

Hon. WILLIAM WILLIS, Portland, Me. 

W. GILMORE SIMMS, LL. D. , of South Carolina. 

WILLIAM SWINTON, New York City. 

WILLIAM H. WHITMORE, Boston. 

Rev. E. H. GILLETT, D. D. , Harlem, N. Y. 

Professor E. F. ROCKWELL, Davidson College, N. C. 

J. R. SIMMS, Fort Plain, N. Y. 

JAMES RIKER, Harlem, N. Y. 

CHARLES EDWARDS, New York. 

Captain E. C. BOYNTON, U. S. A. , West Point. 

Colonel THOMAS F. DE VOE, "the historical Butcher. "

Captain GEORGE HENRY PREBLE, U. S. N. 

JOSEPH SABIN, New York. 

HENRY O'REILLY, New York. 

Doctor JOSEPH COMSTOCK, Liberty Hill, Conn. 

J. WILLIAMSON, Belfast, Me. 

Rev. A. H. QUINT, D. D. , New Bedford, Mass. 

RUDOLPHE GARRIGUE, Morrisania, N. Y. 

Editors of the _Methodist_, New York. 

2. --INEDITED ARTICLES. 

SAMUEL L. BOARDMAN, Augusta, Me. 

F. W. SEWARD, Assistant Secretary of State of the United States. 

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

BUCKINGHAM SMITH, St. Augustine, Fla. 

Professor GEORGE W. GREENE. 

Hon. JOHN SULLIVAN, Exeter, N. H. 

Professor RAU, New York. 

E. F. DE LANCEY, New York. 

3. --WRITERS OF INEDITED PAPERS. 

Captain HENRY SEWALL, of the Revolutionary Army. 

SEU-KI-YU, Governor of Fuh-Kien, China. 

HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 

JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

JOHN ADAMS. 

General WADE HAMPTON, U. S. A. 

The Citizen GENET. 

General WASHINGTON. 

Colonel DAVID CROCKETT. 

General LA FAYETTE. 

RUFUS KING. 

General WINFIELD SCOTT, U. S. A. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

Colonel HENRY MURRAY, R. A. 

CHARLES V. , of Spain. 

Colonel DAVID HUMPHREYS, of the Revolutionary Army. 

Governor BELCHER, of Massachusetts. 

Reverend J. H. LIVINGSTON, D. D. 

CHARLES CARROLL, of Carrollton. 

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, President of the Continental Congress. 

General WILLIAM HEATH, of the Revolutionary Army. 

General M. GIST, of the same. 

Colonel BENJAMIN TALLMADGE, of the same. 

Doctor B. RUSH. 

Governor THOMAS NELSON, of Virginia. 

SOLOMON DROWNE, M. D. , of the Revolutionary Army. 

Lieutenant-governor COLDEN, of New York. 

General JOHN SULLIVAN, of the Revolutionary Army. 

HENRY CLAY. 

WILLIAM J. DUANE. 

Colonel RICHARD M. JOHNSON. 

JARED SPARKS, LL. D. 

Hon. ALEXANDER H. EVERETT. 

Major HENRY LEE. 

AARON BURR. 

JAMES MUNROE. 

ETC. , ETC. , ETC. 

CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME III, NEW SERIES. 

AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Worcester, Mass. 

BALLARD, D. D. , Rev. EDWARD, Brunswick, Maine. Secretary of the MaineHistorical Society. 

BALLARD, FRANK W. , New York City. 

BARTLETT, Hon. J. RUSSELL, Providence. R. I. Secretary of State of RhodeIsland. 

BLEECKER, R. WADE, New York City. 

BOARDMAN, SAMUEL L. , Augusta, Maine. 

BOURNE, Hon. E. E. , Kennebunk, Maine. President of the Maine HistoricalSociety. 

BREVOORT, Hon. J. CARSON, Brooklyn. President of the L. I. HistoricalSociety. 

BRODHEAD, J. ROMEYN, LL. D. , New York. The historian of New York. 

BRINLEY, Hon. GEORGE, Hartford, Conn. 

BURNS, C. DEF. , New York City. 

BUSHNELL, CHARLES J. , New York City. 

DEAN, JOHN WARD, Boston, Mass. Author of _Life of Nathaniel Ward_, etc. 

DE COSTA, Rev. B. F. , New York City. The historian of Lake George, etc. 

DE VOE, Colonel, THOMAS F. , New York City. The historian of the Markets. 

DRAKE, SAMUEL G. , Boston, Mass. The historian of the Town of Boston, etc. 

DUANE, Colonel WILLIAM, Philadelphia. 

DUNSHEE, HENRY W. , New York City. The historian of the Dutch School, inN. Y. 

DUYCKINCK, EVERT A. , New York City. Author of _Encylo. Of Amer. Literature_, etc. 

EWBANK, Hon. THOMAS, New York City. V. P. Of The American EthnologicalSociety. 

FISH, Hon. HAMILTON, New York City. President of the New York HistoricalSociety. 

FRANCIS, LL. D. , The late JOHN W. , New York. 

GIBBS, GEORGE, Washington, D. C. Author of _The Administration ofWashington and Adams_. 

GILLETT, D. D. , Rev. E. H. , Harlem, N. Y. The historian of thePresbyterian Church. 

GODFREY, JOHN E. , Bangor, Maine. 

GREENE, Prof. GEORGE W. , East Greenwich, R. I. Author of _Life of Gen. Nathaniel Greene_, etc. 

GREENWOOD, ISAAC J. , New York City. 

HALL, Hon. HILAND, North Bennington, Vermont. Lately President ofVermont Historical Society. 

HATFIELD, D. D. , Rev. E. F. , New York City. The historian ofElizabeth-town, N. J. , etc. 

HAY, Hon. WILLIAM, Saratoga Springs. 

HELMICK, C. C. , Washington, D. C. 

HOFFMAN, FRANCIS S. , New York City. 

IRVING, PIERRE, Tarrytown, New York. The biographer of WashingtonIrving. 

JONES, Colonel M. M. , Utica, New York. Assistant Secretary of State ofNew York. 

KAPP, FRIEDRICH, New York City. Biographer of Generals Steuben, De Kalb, etc. 

KELBY, WILLIAM, New York City. Of the New York Historical Society. 

KETCHUM, Hon. EDGAR, Harlem, New York. 

LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Brooklyn. 

MCCOY, JOHN F. , Brooklyn, New York. 

MCKEEN, Doctor, Topsham, Maine. 

MCKNIGHT, CHARLES, Poughkeepsie, New York

MOORE, GEORGE HENRY, LL. D. , New York. Librarian of New York HistoricalSociety. 

MORSE, C. H. , Washington, D. C. 

NEILL, E. D. , Washington, D. C. The historian of Minnesota. 

NEW YORK, CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF. 

O'CALLAGHAN, LL. D. , E. B. , Albany, N. Y. Historian of New Netherland. 

PAINE, NATHANIEL, Worcester, Massachusetts. Treasurer of the Amer. Antiquarian Society. 

PERRY, Rev. WILLIAM STEVENS, Litchfield, Conn. Secretary of House of Layand Clerical Delegates of General Convention of P. E. Church. 

PREBLE, Captain GEORGE HENRY, U. S. N. 

ROCKWELL, Professor E. F. , Davison's Col. , N. C. 

RUSSELL, J. , Washington, D. C. 

SARDEMANN, Rev. J. G. , Weser, Germany. 

SCOTT, LEWIS A. , Philadelphia. 

SCOTT, M. B. , Cleveland, Ohio. 

SHEA, LL. D. , JOHN GILMARY, Elizabeth, N. J. Historian of the CatholicMissions. 

SHEPPARD, J. H. , Boston. Librarian of N. E. Historic Genealog. Society. 

SIGEL, General FRANZ, Morrisania, N. Y. 

SIMMS, LL. D. , WILLIAM GILMORE, Charleston, S. C. The historian of SouthCarolina. 

SMITH, BUCKINGHAM, St. Augustine, Florida. 

STILES, Doctor HENRY R. , Brooklyn, N. Y. Author of _History of Windsor_;_History of Brooklyn_; etc. 

STONE, Rev. E. M. , Providence. Secretary of R. I. Historical Society. 

TAYLOR, ASHER, New York City. 

THORNTON, J. WINGATE, Boston. Author of _Ancient Pemaquid_, _Landing onCape Ann_, etc. 

TIEDEMAN, H. , Amsterdam, Holland. 

TRUMBULL, Hon. J. HAMMOND, Hartford, Conn. President of the ConnecticutHistorical Society. 

WALWORTH, MANSFIELD TRACY, Albany. 

WHITE, Rev. PLINY H. , Coventry, Vermont. President of Vermont HistoricalSociety. 

WHITMORE, WILLIAM H. , Boston. 

WILLIAMSON, Hon. JOSEPH, Belfast, Maine. 

WILLIS, Hon. WILLIAM, Portland, Maine. Late President Maine HistoricalSociety. 

WOOL, Major-general JOHN E. , U. S. A. 

WYNNE, T. H. , Baltimore. Editor of _The Westover Papers_, etc.