The Witchcraft Delusion in New England: Its Rise, Progress, and Termination, (Vol 1 of 3)

Such are the chief Features of this gross Superstition, as detailed by the Writers of the Period in which it most prevailed in this Country. Scot has taken infinite Pains in collecting, from every Writer on the Subject, the minutiæ of Witchcraft, and his Book is expanded to a thick Quarto, in Consequence of his commenting at large on the Particulars which he had given in his initiatory Chapters, for the Purpose of their complete Refutation and Exposure; a Work of great Labor, and which shows, at every Step, how deeply this Credulity had been impressed on the Subjects of Elizabeth. James, on the other Hand, though a Man of considerable Erudition, and, in some respects, of shrewd, good Sense, wrote in Defence of this Folly, and, unfortunately for Truth and Humanity, the Doctrine of the Monarch was preferred to that of the Sage.

Fortunately the Time has arrived when the Belief of a King, or that of any other titled Personage, has very little Effect in fastening upon the World at large any peculiar Opinions he may have formed upon any Subject not within the Province of Reason.

Spiritualists and the Disciples of Mesmer have made the Discovery that Witchcraft is fully explained by one or the other of the Mysteries taught by them. How much Truth there may be in the Assertion I cannot undertake to determine. But from a very limited Acquaintance with Mysteries in general, my Opinion is that the Application of Mesmerism for the Explanation of Witchcraft, would partake very much of the Nature of applying one Absurdity to the Explanation of another.

For the "thousand and one" Examples of Witchcraft practiced by accused Persons in New England, an almost exact Parallel may be found in Cases which had previously occurred in Old England. And, in Proportion to the Number of Inhabitants in the respective Countries, there were as many in New as in Old England who raised their Voices against Prosecutions for the supposed Crime. Hence it is very obvious that mental Darkness was as dense in Old as in New England, at the Time of the Delusions of which we are speaking.

Superstition was then bounded only by the Limits of what was termed Civilization. The Light of Science for the last two hundred Years has considerably relieved Mankind from that deadly Incubus, and it is gratifying to believe that the March of Mind is onward and that a future of pure Light is before the World of Humanity. Like dark Spots on a Planet, some Superstitions seem almost as unaccountable, and their Removal appears about as difficult, so long have we been accustomed to tolerate them.

As late as 1668 it was asserted by an eminent English Writer, a Member of the Royal Society,²³ that "Atheism is begun in Saducism. And those that dare not bluntly say, There is NO GOD, content themselves, (for a fair Step, and Introduction) to deny there are SPIRITS, or WITCHES. Which Sort of Infidels, though they are not ordinary among the meer vulgar, yet are they numerous in a little higher Rank of Understandings. And those that know anything of the World, know, that most of the looser Gentry, and the small Pretenders to Philosophy and Wit, are generally Deriders of the Belief of Witches, and Apparitions."

Hence there were but two Horns to the Dilemma in which every one found himself – he must believe in Witchcraft and all the other degrading Attendants on that Belief, or he must be viewed and scorned as an Atheist, and as an Unbeliever in everything that was good!

It was difficult for People to distinguish between Miracles and Witchcraft, especially when the most learned Men,²⁴ in Order to make the Miracle of the Ascent of the Saviour appear reasonable, argued that "He went as far towards Heaven as he could on Foot, even to the Top of Mount Olivet." And when Elijah was to fast forty Days, "that there might be no Waste of miraculous Power, God would have him eat a double Meal before entering upon the Term of fasting!" With such wretched Absurdities were the Minds of People of that Time enslaved. The Superstitions of the Greeks and Romans were not greater. And although there is a steady Progress in intellectual Improvement, and a Time is believed to be approaching when the World will be as free from the Cheats and Impostures of the present Day, as some of the present Day are of those of previous Ages; yet it is in a Measure discouraging, when we see the Thousands ensnared by such transparent Jugglery as that which has peopled the Salt Lake Regions, and drawn other Thousands in our Midst to witness Feats that never did nor never will happen, except in the deluded Brains of those who desire to be thus deluded.

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR

COTTON Mather was born in Boston, February 12th, 1662-3. In his Youth he was remarkable for his Progress in Knowledge, and soon became extensively known for his varied Acquirements. At the Age of Twelve he entered Harvard College, and graduated in due Course. He was thrice married: 1st, when in his twenty-fourth Year, to Abigail, Daughter of Col. John Phillips, of Charlestown; 2d, to Widow Elizabeth Hubbard, Daughter of Dr. John Clark; and 3d, to Lydia, Widow of Mr. John George, Daughter of the Rev. Samuel Lee, sometime of Bristol in Rhode Island. By the last Wife he had no Children, but by the others he had fifteen, nine of which were by the first.

The Father of Mr. Mather was Dr. Increase Mather, Pastor of the North Church, of Boston, of whom the Biographer of the former remarks, that, "as President of Harvard College, by whose printed composures both Latin and English, and by whose Agency in the Courts of three Monarchs for his afflicted Country, have rendered him universally known."

His Mother was Maria, Daughter of Mr. John Cotton of Boston, a Name as intimately associated with the History of New England as any other. And judging from the Portraits of the Grandsire and Grandson, there was a very strong Resemblance of the one to the other.

Mr. Mather began to preach in 1680, and his first Sermon was delivered in Dorchester, on the 22d of August of that Year. In the following February he was invited to become an Assistant to his Father in the North Church in Boston, which Invitation he accepted. About two Years later he was unanimously chosen Pastor by the same Church, but was not ordained until May, 1684; his Ordination probably being deferred on Account of his Youth; being at the Time of his Ordination but twenty-one Years and three Months old. On that Occasion he received the Right Hand of Fellowship from the venerable Mr. John Eliot, of Roxbury.

At an early Age he began to keep a Diary, and from the Passages we have from it we are convinced that its Entries were dictated by an honest Mind, and that Duplicity and evil Intentions could never find an abiding Place therein; that his sole Aim was Goodness, and a strong Desire to lead a life of Purity, is manifest throughout.

Mr. Mather commenced Author at the Age of 23, and continued his Publications to the Year of his Decease; extending over a Period of about forty-two Years. In that Time he is said by his Biographer to have issued 383 Books; thus averaging about nine each Year. But many of his Books would in these Days be called Pamphlets, as they consisted of only a few Pages – a very few indeed containing Pages sufficient to give them the Character of a Book. A List of these 383 Works is given in his Life by his Son, but it is known to be incomplete. The List is very deficient in Respect to the Titles of the Works, also, insomuch that their Contents cannot be determined from them.

There are several Biographies of Dr. Cotton Mather, all drawn mainly from that by his Son, Dr. Samuel Mather. An Abridgment of this was published in England in 1744, in a small 12mo, by David Jennings. Mr. Jennings was instigated to undertake the Abridgment by Dr. Isaac Watts; the latter having consulted with Mr. Mather previously, and obtained his Consent to let his Work appear in an Abridgment. In giving his Consent for the abridged Edition, he thus apologizes for the original Undertaking: "The Life of my Father, as you have it in your Hands, was a youthful Attempt;²⁵ though I now plainly discern my Defects in it, and am sorry to see such a Number of them, yet I can look on it with some Comfort; partly from a Consciousness of my honest Meaning in it, and partly because I find several worthy Persons approve of many Things in it, and have done me the Honour of expressing themselves favourable about it."

The Mode of writing Biography has very much changed since the Life of Dr. Mather was first written. Those written previous to, and at that Period, at least many of them, might be reduced in Bulk from five to seven-eighths, without omitting anything of Value. This Remark is applicable to other Performances of that Time, and to some in these as well.

It may be justly said of Cotton Mather, that he was one of the most remarkable Men of the Age in which he lived; not only remarkable on one, but on many Accounts; and for none, perhaps, more than for his wonderful Precociousness, or the early Intuitiveness of his Mind. His Memory was likewise very extraordinary. The Acquirement of Knowledge seems to have been with him accomplished almost without Effort; and his Writings show that they were generally drawn from the Storehouse of his Mind, where, from Reading and Observation, they had been from Time to Time deposited. Authors who write from this Source alone are generally diffuse, and wanting in those very essential and minute Particulars, which in these Days constitute so important a Part of every Man's Writings. His Style is very peculiar; and no One who is acquainted with the Writings of "famous Thomas Fuller," can hardly doubt that Cotton Mather attempted to make that Writer's Composition a Model for his own. Still he falls considerably short of Fuller in his Attempts at witty Conceits; in them the latter is always happy, while the former often fails.

His Ability for acquiring Languages has probably been surpassed by but very few, and he is said to have been Master of more Languages than any other Person in New England in his Time. Those, especially the Latin, it must be confessed, he made a most unreasonable Use of, bringing in Passages from them at all Times, as though every Body understood them, as well as himself.

So far as we now remember, Dr. Douglass seems to have been the Author of the Fashion or Practice, so much of late Years in Vogue, of reviling Cotton Mather. It has been carried to such an Extent in some Quarters, that any One who presumes to mention his Name, does it at the Peril of coming in for a Share of Obloquy and Abuse himself. Some not only charge him with committing all Sorts of Errors and Blunders, but they bring against him the more serious Charge of misrepresenting Matters of Fact. Now it would be well for those who bring those Charges to scrutinize their own Works. It may be, if they cannot see anything pedantic, puerile or false in them themselves, others may come in Contact with Errors even worse than those of Stupidity.

It is not to be denied that the Mind of Dr. Mather was singularly constituted; and whoever shall undertake an Analysis of it will find a more difficult Task, we apprehend, than those have found who content themselves with nothing further than vituperative Denunciations upon its Productions. We owe a vast Deal to Cotton Mather; especially for his historical and biographical Works. Were these alone to be struck out of Existence it would make a Void in these Departments of our Literature, that would probably confound any who affect to look upon them with Contempt. Even Dr. Douglass, although he has somewhere asserted, that, to point out all the Errors in the Magnalia, would be to copy the whole Book, is nevertheless, much indebted to him for Facts in many Parts of the very Work in which he has made that Statement; hence it would be very bad Logic that would not charge Dr. Douglass with copying Errors into his Work, knowing them to be Errors. It would be very easy for us to point to some Writers of our own Time equally obnoxious to the same plain Kind of Argument. And a late Writer of very good Standing has, with great apparent Deliberation said, that, "it is impossible to deny, that the Reputation of Cotton Mather has declined of late Years." This, of course, was his Belief; but it strikes us as very singular, that that same Author, should, at the same Time, make the largest Book on the Life of a Man, in such a State of Decline, that had hitherto appeared! But we are under no Concern for the Reputation of Cotton Mather, even in the Hands of his Enemies, and we have no Intention of setting up a special Defence of him or his Writings. We are willing the latter should pass for exactly what they are worth. All we design to do is to caution those a little who need Caution, and save them, if we may, from having the Windows in their own Houses broken, by the very Missiles they themselves have thrown.

But so far from the Reputation of Dr. Mather being in a Decline, his Writings have never been so much sought after as at the present Time! So much so that even Reprints of such of them as have been made are at once taken up, and at high Prices. Twenty Years ago, the Magnalia did not command above eight or ten Dollars, while Copies are at present rarely to be had for five Times their former Price. Reference is had to the original Edition, of course. This can hardly be taken as an Indication of a declining Reputation. The Style in all his Works, though peculiar to himself, is nevertheless attractive, and never tedious, although often upon tedious Subjects. In Point of Scholarship, he was not excelled by any in the Country, and would not suffer by a Comparison with the best of his Time in England.

The Charge of excessive Credulity has been brought against Dr. Mather, as though that Trait of Character were peculiar to him alone. There does not appear to be any Justice in singling him out as responsible for all the Credulity in the Country. That he was credulous no One will deny, nor will it be denied that he was surrounded by a credulous Community, the great Majority of which were equally credulous, and he was made to speak for them. Hence he has become conspicuous while others are nearly or quite forgotten. All Men are credulous in some Way and upon certain Things. Belief and Credulity are much the same. The Degree of Evidence required to convert the latter into the former has never been settled; nor can it be until all Minds are of the same Capacity. It requires a large Amount daily of Credulity to enable us to live in the tolerably good Opinion of our Companions in and out of Doors everywhere. Dismiss all of that liberal Sentiment from our Minds and we should be dismissed by the most of our Friends.

In the Reprints of some of the Works of Dr. Mather great Injustice has been done him, while, at the same Time, a Cheat has been put upon the Public. One Instance may be here given. In the Year 1815 there appeared a tolerably neat Edition of the Christian Philosopher,²⁶ in a Duodecimo of 324 Pages, printed at Charlestown, for which a Copyright appears to have been taken out. On a cursory Examination we can discover no Ground for copyrighting this Edition, except for making it unlike the Original in one Respect only, namely, Omission of Important Matter. As an Example of the Omissions the following may be taken: "We read of Heaven giving Snow like Wool. I have known it give a Snow of Wool. In a Town of New England, called Fairfield, in a bitter snowy Night, there fell a Quantity of Snow, which covered a large frozen Pond, but of such a woolen Consistence, that it can be called nothing but Wool. I have a Quantity of it, that has been these many Years lying by me."

Now, in the Edition of 1815, this important Passage is entirely omitted! If Dr. Mather was imposed upon by some ignorant and mischievous Wight, that has nothing to do in excusing a Deception on the Part of a Publisher, who contracts to reprint a Work without any Reservation. If an Editor or Publisher thinks to save the Credit of his Author by falsifying his Text, he can only be sure of one Thing, and that is, to bring discredit upon himself.

I must here dismiss the Christian Philosopher; but in another Work by our Author, of an earlier Date,²⁷ there is a singular Story of Snow which may be noticed here: "It was credibly affirmed, that in the Winter of the Year 1688, there fell a Red Snow, which lay like Blood on a Spot of Ground, not many Miles from Boston; but the Dissolution of it by a Thaw, which within a few Hours melted it, made it not capable of lying under the Contemplation of so many Witnesses as it might be worthy of."

As the Red Snow did not come under the Doctor's immediate Observation, he has spoken of it with commendable Caution; insomuch that his Character for Credulity is not enhanced by the Relation of the Story. Moreover it is a well known Fact that Red Snow is often mentioned by reputable northern Travelers. But we have never heard that it snowed Wool at any other Time and Place, except as mentioned above.

In 1692, Dr. Mather published his Wonders of the Invisible World. This was the authorized Account of the Witchcraft Cases of that Time. In this he laid himself open to the Charge of Credulity, which, it cannot be denied, has been pretty well sustained ever since.

Many have reproached Dr. Mather, as though he was the Author of that dismal and awful Delusion. This is singularly unjust. He was himself one of the deluded; and this is the only Charge that can lie against him relative to it. All the World then believed in Witchcraft, and People entered into it according to their Temperament and Circumstances. The Delusion was not a Native of New England, but an Exotic from the Father Land; and it had been well if this had been the only one imported thence. Even when Prosecutions had ceased, there was not a Cessation of a Belief in the Reality of Witchcraft; its Progress was stayed from a very different Cause, as is now too well known to be entered into or explained. Even to the present Day there are Thousands who believe in its Reality; and that Belief can only be extirpated by the Progress of genuine Knowledge. Within our Remembrance we could ride from Boston in a single Day, with a very moderate Horse, into a New England Town where the Belief in Witchcraft was very general, and where many an old Horse-shoe could have been seen nailed to half the Bedsteads in the Town to keep away those imaginary Miscreants who came riding through the Air upon Broomsticks, or across the Lots upon the Back of some poor old Woman, who perhaps from some Malady had not left her House for Years. How much short of a Day's Ride by Steam or otherwise it would now be necessary to take to reach a Place where the Belief exists, we shall not undertake, but leave for others to determine.

Cotton Mather was undoubtedly the most prominent Author who wrote on Witchcraft, and in the full Belief of it, in his Time, in this Country; this Circumstance accounts for his being singled out by "one Robert Calef," who attacked him with some Success, even then, in his Book which he called More Wonders of the Invisible World, &c., which he published in London, in a quarto Volume, in the Year 1700. In his Book, Calef styles himself "Merchant, of Boston in New England." Now in the Absence of Proof to the contrary, it may not be unfair to presume, that Calef issued his Work quite as soon as he dared to, and quite as soon as public Opinion would tolerate a Work which had for its Aim a deadly Blow against a Belief in the imaginary Crime of Witchcraft. For we know that as soon as Calef's Book did appear, some of Dr. Mather's Friends came out with another Work against that Author, from the Title of which alone its Contents can pretty well be judged of. It is Some few Remarks upon a Scandalous Book written by one Robert Calef. But this Book and its Authors are alike almost unknown, while Calef occupies a conspicuous Place among the Benefactors of Mankind.

The foreign Correspondence of Dr. Mather was very extensive; "so that," says his Son, "I have known him at one Time to have above fifty beyond Sea." Among his Correspondents were many of the most learned and famous Men in Europe; as Sir Richard Blackmore, Mr. Whiston, Dr. Desaguliers, Mr. Pillionere, Dr. Franckius, Wm. Waller, Dr. Chamberlain, Dr. Woodward, Dr. Jurin, Dr. Watts, &c., &c. In a Letter which he wrote in 1743 Dr. Watts says, "he had enjoyed a happy Correspondence with Dr. Cotton Mather, for nearly twenty Years before his Death, as well as with the Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, his Son, ever since."

In 1710 came out a Book from the Pen of our Author, which he entitled "Bonifacius: An Essay upon the Good to be devised by those who would answer the great End of Life." In this Work are many good Maxims and Reflections, but its Popularity has probably been very much enhanced by what Dr. Franklin has said of it. Dr. Mather was well acquainted with Franklin when the latter was a young Man; and when Franklin was an old Man, in the Year 1784, in writing to Samuel Mather, Son of our Subject, he thus alludes to it in his happy Style: "When I was a Boy, I met with a Book entitled, Essays to do Good, which I think was written by your Father. It had been so little regarded by a former Possessor, that several Leaves of it were torn out; but the Remainder gave me such a Turn of thinking, as to have an Influence on my Conduct through Life; for I have always set a greater Value on the Character of a Doer of Good than on any other Kind of Reputation." In the same Letter is to be found that often told anecdote of an Interview he once had with Dr. Mather. This too, that it may lose nothing at our Hands, we will give in the Author's own Words: "You mention being in your seventy-eighth Year; I am in my seventy-ninth; we are grown old together. It is now more than sixty Years since I left Boston, but I remember well both your Father and Grandfather; having heard them both in the Pulpit, and seen them in their Houses. The last Time I saw your Father was in the Beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first Trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his Library, and on my taking leave showed me a shorter Way out of the House through a narrow Passage, which was crossed by a Beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, 'stoop, stoop!' I did not understand him, till I felt my Head hit against the Beam. He was a Man that never missed any Occasion of giving Instruction, and upon this he said to me, 'You are young, and have the World before you; Stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard Thumps,' This Advice, thus beat into my Head, has frequently been of Use to me; and I often think of it, when I see Pride mortified, and Misfortunes brought upon People by their carrying their Heads too high." This Moral, so essentially good in itself, does not need the high Recommendation of a Franklin, though but for him it would not, probably, have been brought to the Knowledge of every Youth who has learned, or may yet learn to read.

The Essay to do Good has passed through many Editions, but how many it would be difficult to determine. It was several Times reprinted in London, once as late as 1807, under the Supervision of the distinguished Dr. George Burder. In this Country its Issue has not been confined to the Press of one Denomination.

It may be too much a Custom for us to dwell on the Errors and Misfortunes of People while living; and to err, on the other Hand, by making their Characters appear too perfect after they have passed away; especially if they have been sufficiently conspicuous in Life to require a written Memorial of them after their Decease. Though Dr. Cotton Mather had Enemies while living, his Memory has been pursued with more Malignity since his Death, than has happened to that of most Men; and, as we conceive, without sufficient Reason, and which could only be warranted by the most undoubted Proofs, that he has purposely led us into Errors, and that he acted falsely on the most important Occasions; and that, finally, he was too bad a Man to make any Acknowledgment of all this, though conscious of it when he took his final Departure with the Messenger of his last Summons.

He had vituperative Enemies in his Lifetime, from some of whom he received abusive anonymous Letters. These Letters he carefully filed, and wrote upon them simply the Word "Libels," which was all the Notice he took of them. It was an invariable Rule with him, that if he was obliged to speak of the evil Ways of People to do so in Humility and Regret, and never in a Manner that could be offensive. In his Diary he speaks of Pride as a Sin, "which all are subject unto, and more especially Ministers," and still more especially was it "the besetting Sin of young Ministers." Had he lived in these latter Days that Annoyance might have been less on Account of its Universality.

Mr. Mather's Time was that of long Sermons, and we are told that he usually closed them with the fourteenth Division of his Discourses. Besides his Labors on Sundays, he sometimes preached eleven Sermons in one Week besides. He also constantly had Students with him whom he instructed in various Branches of Knowledge.

Of the Part Dr. Mather took in State Affairs, his Biographer says he was not at Liberty to omit an Account, although it was a difficult Section; and that he was "more at a Loss what to do about it than any one in the whole Book." The Author, however, concludes, as he could not omit the Subject, to treat it "in such a general Way as to give no One any Offence." And as it is a Section of the Doctor's Life of great Interest, it will here be given entire in the Language of his Biographer, who wrote so near the Time that his Account carries its Readers back to those stirring Scenes of the Revolution of 1688, and furnishes a Picture, life-like, of the every-day Manners of our Fathers on that memorable and novel Event.

The Account follows: "My Country is very sensible that in the Year 1688 (when one of the most wicked Kings was on the British Throne) Andros and his Crew were very violent, illegal and arbitrary in their Proceedings. I need not give any Narrative of their Managements here, because there has been an Account of them already given to the World.²⁸

"While these roaring Lions and ranging Bears were in the midst of their Ravages; it was in the Month of April when we had News by the Edges concerning a Descent made upon England by the Prince of Orange for the Rescue of the Nations from Slavery and Popery; then a strange Disposition entred into the Body of our People to assert our Liberties against the arbitrary Rulers that were fleecing them. But it was much feared by the more sensible Gentlemen at Boston, that an unruly Company of Soldiers, who had newly deserted the Service in which they had bin employed for the Eastern War, by the gathering of their Friends to them to protect them from the Governor, who, they tho't, intended Nothing but Ruine to them, would make a great Stir, and produce a bloody Revolution. And therefore the principal Gentlemen in Boston met with Mr. Mather to consult what was best to be done; and they all agreed, if possible, that they would extinguish all Essays in our People to an Insurrection; but that, if the country People to the Northward, by any violent Motions push'd on the Matter so far as to make a Revolution unavoidable, then to prevent the shedding of Blood by an ungoverned Multitude, some of the Gentlemen present would appear in the Head of what Action should be done; and a Declaration was prepared accordingly.

"On April 18, the People were so driving and furious, that unheaded they began to seize our public Oppressors: upon which the Gentlemen aforesaid found it necessary to appear that by their Authority among the People the unhappy Tumults might be a little regulated. And thro' the Goodness of God, although the whole Country were now in a most prodigious Ferment and Thousands of exasperated People in Arms were come into Boston, yet there was no Manner of Outrage committed; only the Public Robbers that had lorded it over Us were confined. 'Twas then Mr. Mather appeared – He was the Instrument of preventing the Excesses into which the Wrath of Man is too ready to run. He came, and like a Nestor or Ulisses reasoned down the Passions of the Populace. Had he lisped a Syllable for it, perhaps the People would, by a sudden Council of War, have try'd, judg'd and hang'd those ill Men who would have treated him otherwise. Nevertheless he set himself both publicly and privately to hinder the Peoples proceeding any further than to reserve the Criminals for the Justice of the English Parliament.

"Now the Persecution which was intended for Mr. Mather was diverted; for on that very Day that he was to be committed to Half a Year's Imprisonment,²⁹ those that would have wrong'd him were justly taken into Custody: And yet so generous was he as not only to expose his Name, but even his Life unto the Rage of the Multitude for the saving of some that would have hurt him: Tho' he had no Thanks for his Ingenuity.

"The Spirit which acted him in these Matters is expressed in a Sermon he preached to the Convention of the Colony from 2 Chron. xv, 2. It was printed under the Title of, The Way to Prosperity.

"A few Days before this, the Inhabitants of Boston assembling together to chuse Representatives for that Convention, it was apprehended, that the different Persuasions of the People, about the next Steps to be taken for our Settlement, would have produced a Fury near to Bloodshed; and therefore Mr. Mather was desired to be at their Meeting. The Meeting began with dangerous and horrible Paroxysms, which when he saw, he upon it made an affectionate and moving Speech to them, at which many fell into Tears and the whole Body of the People present immediately united in the Methods of Peace Mr. Mather proposed unto them."