The Last American Puritan: The Life of Increase Mather, 1639-1723

457 Pages·1988·34.52 MB·English

by  Michael G. Hall

The Last American Puritan
Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society
Increase Mather. Oil painting by Jan van der Spriett, London, 1688.
MICHAEL G. HALL
The
Last American
Puritan
The Life of Increase Mather
1639-1723
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Middletown, Connecticut
Copyright © 1988 by Michael G. Hall
All rights reserved
All inquiries and permissions requests should be addressed to the Publisher, Wesleyan University Press,
110 Mt. Vernon Street, Middletown, Connecticut 06457
Distributed by Harper & Row Publishers, Keystone Industrial Park, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18512
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Hall, Michael G. (Michael Garibaldi)
The last American Puritan.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
I. Mather, Increase, 1639-1723. 2. Puritans—
Massachusetts—Biography. 3. Massachusetts—History—
Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775. I. Title.
F67.M468H35 1988 974.4'o2'0924 [B] 87-7367
ISBN 0-8195-5128-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
FIRST EDITION
To
MARGARET NIXON HALL
for whom I herewith divest myself of the Mathers
and
ELIZABETH HOOD HALL
whose love and strength makes life a joy
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Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IX
PREFACE xiii
ONE The Legacy, Birth, and Education of a Puritan [1639-1661] 3
"P" for Puritan, 3; Migration as God's Will, 11; A Gathering of Visible Saints,
12; Childhood, 21; Harvard College and Boston, 29; Life in Boston, 35;
England: the Revolution that Failed, 42
TWO The Struggle for Identity [1661-1672] 48
Marriage and Family, 49; Soldier of the Lord, 5 3; Half-Way Covenant, 55;North
Church, 61; Obstinate and Turbulent Anabaptists, 66; A Preacher's Life, 71;
Israel's Salvation, 76; His Father's Death, 78; The Biography of His Father: an
Act of Atonement, 82; Devastation of these Churches, 87
THREE God's Agent on Earth [1672–1676] 92
A Growing Family, 93; Jeremiad, 96; Chariots of War, 103; God's Punish-
ment, 106; Mather versus William Hubbard, 112; Mather's History of the
War, 119
FOUR Spiritual Leadership [1676–1680] 127
The Danger of Apostasy: a Challenge to the Magistrates, 129; The Boston Press
and the Power of the Printed Word, 131; Books as Instruments, 140; Smallpox:
a Warning From a Stern God, 146; Reforming Synod, 147
FIVE New Worlds of Science and Hope [1680–1686] 155
Challenges From Right and Left, 155; John Foster: Astronomer and Printer,
158; Puritan as Scientist, 165; The Natural Order and God, 167; Cotton
Mather, 174; Confident Years, 177
{viii Contents
s i x Dominion of New England [1684 — 1688] 184
Fissures in Puritan Society, 185; End of Independence, 187; Mather and the
Politics of Independence, 190; Treason or a Forgery? 192; Popular Culture in
Puritan Boston, 194; President Pro Tempore of Harvard College, 197; Dominion
of New England, 201
SEVEN Representing Massachusetts in London [1688–1691] 212
The Puritan and the Stuart King, 214; The Death of a Child, 217; Revolution
and a Transfer of Power, 220; Parliament or Whitehall? 222; Revolt in the
Colonies, 224; Massachusetts's Charges Against Andros and Dudley, 230;
Stalemate, 236; Heads of Agreement: Dissenters Reconciled, 238; The New
Charter, 240
EIGHT Massachusetts Under the New Charter [1692–1702] 255
Witchcraft and Cases of Conscience in Salem, 256; Politics Under the New
Charter, 264; The Spiritual World and the Millennium, 271; The Struggle Over
a Charter for Harvard, 279; Boston at the Century's End, 289; Defying the
Platform: the Brattle Street Manifesto, 1699, 292
NINE The Last Puritan [1703–1723] 302
Harvard Lost, 302; Joseph Dudley: Imperial Governor, 306; An Aging Indian
Commissioner, 310; Colman, Stoddard, and the Presbyterian Movement, 313;
Joseph Dudley and the Crisis of 1707, 319; Published Sermons, 1703–1712,
323; Cosmopolitan Boston in the Eighteenth Century, 326; Family and Church,
338; Church Establishment, 343; Published Sermons, 1715–1720, 350; The
End of Time, 356
NOTES 365
BIBLIOGRAPHY 403
INDEX 417
List of Illustrations
Increase Mather. Oil painting by Jan van der Spriett frontispiece
Birthplace in Lancashire, England, of Richard Mather, Increase
Mather's father 7
Richard Mather. Oil painting by an unknown artist 8
Richard Mather, 1670, woodcut by John Foster 9
John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony 18
Portrait assumed to be of John Cotton, leader of Massachusetts
Congregationalism 19
Title page of "A Platform of Church Discipline," of the Synod of 1649 23
Harvard College in 1638 32
Old College, Harvard, built in 1639 33
The Library in Old College, Harvard 33
Map of Boston and southern New England in 1635 37
Map of Boston's streets and buildings around 1645 3«
Boston's first town house 39
Portrait, possibly of Charles Chauncy, president of Harvard and opponent
of half-way covenant 56
John Davenport, senior minister of New Haven and critic of half-way
covenant 57
The Life and Death of that Reverend Man of God, Mr. Richard Mather,
by Increase Mather 86
Wo to Drunkards, two sermons by Increase Mather IOO
The Day of Trouble is near, a jeremiad by Increase Mather IOI
Several Laws and Orders, issued by General Court in 1675, including
"Provoking Evils" no
John Leverett, governor of Massachusetts during King Philip's War III
An Earnest Exhortation, by Increase Mather on King Philip's War 1 20
A Brief History of the War with the Indians, by Increase Mather 121