This of Cambridge was one of the promoters of this innovation. It was followed, in a little time, by the doctrine, openly promulgated by Mr. Stoddard and others, that evidence of regeneration is not to be required of candidates for the holy supper. Mr. Mather regarded as a very dangerous error, and opposed to it the whole weight of his influence and exertions. He wrote a preface to his son's life of Mitchell,* in which he says, that "doctrinal knowledge and outward blamelessness are not sufficient qualifications for admission to the church; but that practical confessions, or some relation of the work of conversion, are necessary." At a later period, he engaged in controversy with Mr. Stoddard on the same subject, showing the unscriptural character of the views he advocated, and their dangerous bearing on the churches of New England. About the same period, another innovation was attempted, if indeed it be not part of the same, at which Mr. Mather was greatly troubled. It was the abandonment, by particular churches, of their separate, independent action in the choice of their pastors, and their consenting to vote only in connection with the congregations. In the year 1697, the church of which Mr. Mather was pastor sent" a letter of admonition to the church in Charlestown, for betraying the liberties of the churches, by putting into the hands of the whole inhabitants, the choice of a minister." The same year, measures were taken for founding the church in Brattle Square, Boston, expressly excluding the distinct action of the church in the choice of a minister, and disclaiming "the requisition of any public relation of experiences, or any other examination than by the pastor, as the condition of admission to the Lord's supper." The Rev. Benjamin Colman, then a young man, and in England, was invited to become the first pastor of this church; and so confident were his friends that he could not be ordained over it in this country, that they advised him to obtain ordination in England. One of the leaders in this innovation was Thomas Brattle, Esq., of Boston, assisted by his brother, the Rev. William Brattle of Cambridge, and Hon. John Leverett, afterwards president of Harvard College. I am the more particular in mentioning names, because the transaction was one which not only inter *It was of this Mr. Mitchell of Cambridge, that said: Baxter "If an œcumenical council could be obtained, Mr. Mitchell were worthy to be its moderator." ested the feelings and distressed the heart of Mr. Mather at the time, but it materially affected his situation in after life. At the request and through the mediation of neighboring ministers and others, the members of the new church consented to modify very considerably their original plan; so that Mr. Mather met with them, at the dedication of their house of worship, and even consented to preach on the occasion. Still, he was not satisfied with their proceedings; and he took occasion to express his dissatisfaction, in a treatise, published in the year 1700, entitled "The Order of the Gospel professed by the Churches of New England justified." This gave rise to a reply, and that to a rejoinder, in which more heat and bitterness were manifested on both sides, than consist with our modern notions. of clerical decency and propriety. Others besides the Mathers were induced to speak out on this occasion, and to utter a solemn note of warning to those who were bent upon departing from the established customs of the churches. It was at this time, that the venerable Higginson of Salem and Hubbard of Ipswich published their joint "Testimony to the Order of the Gospel in the Churches of New England;" in which they say: "If any who are given to change do rise up to unhinge the well established churches in this land, it will be the duty and interest of the churches to examine, whether the men of this trespass are more prayerful, more watchful, more zealous, more patient, more heavenly, more universally conscientious, and harder students, and better scholars, and more willing to be informed and advised, than those great and good men who left unto the churches what they now enjoy. If they be not so, it will be wisdom for the children to forbear pulling down with their own hands the houses of God which were built by their wiser fathers, until they have better satisfaction.”* Although this controversy so far subsided as to occasion no palpable breach of fellowship between those concerned in it, still, a degree of coldness and distance was observable, and they seem to have been the objects of mutual suspicion and jealousy, during the greater part of their lives. This was the more unhappy for Mr. Mather, because those, whose measures. *See Preface to Cambridge Platform, p. 10. Dr. Elliot says, that the friendship of Dr. Colman and Cotton Mather was renewed, several years before the latter died; and then they wondered how they could so long disagree."Biog. Dictionary. he had felt constrained to oppose, were the men chiefly concerned, at least for a time, in the direction and government of Harvard College. It has been stated already, that Mr. Mather was called to the duties of the presidency, in 1685. These he continued to discharge, till 1688, when he entered on his embassy to England. During the four years of his absence, his parochial duties were discharged by his son Cotton Mather, who was ordained as his colleague, in 1684; and the college was committed to the care and instruction of Mr. John Leverett, and Mr. William Brattle, tutors. Mr. Mather returned, and the government of the province was organized under the new charter, in 1692. In the same year, he prepared a charter for the college, which received the sanction of the General Court. It was afterwards negatived in England; but while it continued in force, the corporation conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. It is remarkable that this degree had never before been conferred in British America; nor was it conferred again until, almost eighty years afterwards, it was bestowed on Rev. Nathaniel Appleton of Cambridge. Repeated attempts were made, during the next seven or eight years, to procure a charter for the college, which should receive the sanction of the king; and in more than one instance, President Mather seemed on the point of embarking for England, with a view to the furtherance of this important object. But for one cause or another, these attempts all failed, and the college continued in an unsettled, and, consequently, an embarrassed state. During the troubles of this period, President Mather proposed, in repeated instances, to resign his office; but the proposition was discouraged and resisted by the corporation. It was an object with the General Court, to induce him to resign his pastoral charge, and to reside at Cambridge; but he could not be satisfied that this was his duty. To gratify the friends of the college, he did remove his residence there for a few months; but neither he nor his family seem to have been happy; nor were his people willing that he should be taken from them. Consequently he soon returned to Boston. It was this question of residence, which finally closed his connection with the college. He seems not properly to have resigned his office; but on his refusing to reside at Cambridge, the duties of it passed out of his hands, and devolved on those of Rev. Samuel Willard, who was appointed vice-president. That Dr. Mather was faithful and successful in the office of president, is testified by all who have written on the subject. Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard University, says: "His services at the college were assiduous and faithful. The moral and religious instruction of the students had his particular attention. The college appears to have been in a flourishing condition, while he was at its head. Its numbers increased, and it was enriched, in no small degree, by the hand of munificence." p. 64. President Quincy also says: That he (President Mather) was well qualified for the office, and had conducted himself in it faithfully and laboriously, is attested by the history of the college, the language of the legislature, and the acknowledgment of his contemporaries. It was honorable and useful to the institution to have for its head an individual, who had taken so large a share in the political, religious, and literary controversies of the times, and had in consequence acquired both celebrity abroad, and influence in his own country." Vol. I. p. 116. Dr. Mather lived, after his connection with the college had been dissolved, twenty-two years; during which time, in addition to all his other labors, he issued from the press not far from fifty distinct publications, the most of them on important practical subjects. In 1715, he received from the ministers of the province a flattering request to go to England on their behalf, with an address to George I., on his accession to the throne; but this he thought proper to decline. "His old age," says Mr. Peirce, "was blessed with the inestimable satisfaction which flows from faith and hope, and from a vigorous exercise of the faculties and affections. He died, August 23d, 1723, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and was interred with all the honors due to his character, and to the rank he had so long held in society. He had been a preacher sixty-six years, during sixty-two of which he was connected with the North Church in Boston." Dr. Elliot speaks of him as "the father of the New England clergy, whose name and character were held in veneration, not only by those who knew him, but by succeeding generations."* VINDICATION OF THE CHARACTER OF INCREASE MATHER. It remains that we inquire, more particularly than we have yet done, into the propriety and correctness of some of the representations of President Quincy and others, in regard to that Biog. Dictionary. venerable father in Israel, of whose life and character a brief sketch has been given. President Quincy charges him, in the first place, with an efficient instrumentality in producing and prolonging the excitement in New England respecting witchcraft. "That both the Mathers had an efficient agency in producing and prolonging that excitement, there can be, at this day, no possible question." Vol. I. p. 62. Of the connection of Cotton Mather with the subject of witchcraft, I shall have occasion to speak more particularly hereafter. How Increase Mather could have had any agency in producing the excitement referred to, it is impossible to conceive. The strange appearances at Salem commenced in February, 1692, when President Mather was in England, where he had constantly resided, and been most intensely occupied with the important subject of his agency, for nearly four years. He arrived at home, May 14th of this year, when the excitement was at its highest point. Shortly afterwards as soon as it could be prepared-he published his treatise, entitled "Cases of Conscience concerning Witchcraft;" in which, "with incomparable reason and reading," he refuted the received doctrine of spectral evidence, on the ground of which so many innocent persons had been tried and condemned. Immediately" upon this, the governor pardoned such as had been condemned," and those that were accused were, I believe, in all cases acquitted. "The confessors, too, came, as it were, out of a dream wherein they had been fascinated; and the afflicted, in most instances, grew easy.' 99* It would seem from this account of an eye and ear witness, that, instead of contributing to prolong the excitement, President Mather was a principal instrument in bringing it to a close. That he was a believer in witchcraft there can be no doubt; as who, in that age, whether learned or unlearned, judges or juries, physicians, ministers, or lawyers, were not believers in it? Even Thomas Brattle himself, who wrote a book in opposition to the proceedings of the times, was a believer in the reality of what was called witchcraft. He thought that, not only the afflicted, but most of the confessors, "were possessed with the devil; and therefore not fit to be regarded, as to any thing they say of themselves or others." But that Increase Mather had any instrumentality in producing or prolonging the excitement on this * Remarkables, etc., p. 166. |