MATHAM. JACOB. 



MATHER, COTTON. 



MehltT os> tlit eoul and its tranroirration ; 11, KrUb-al-d'dwi. downfal. Increase and Cotton Mthcr were foremost in counselling 

 nTiti ' "On Ktrava*snt Opinions.' It U noeh to be regretted opposition to the arbitrary measures of Chsrles II., and when Unit 

 fccee si no translation of this work; IS. ' Kitab tabl an-nofaa,' I monarch annulled the charter of HaiiaohuMtti in 1685, Increaae 

 , l%,.l*n of the 8o,,l/ with . rn.ta.by.iaU dtere.eion.on Mather was de-rtoh.d to England on the dangerous rniMion of agent 



S Hi MIk al ehaxar,' ' Bods of Ftowera,' contains historical 

 on the desesndanM of Mohammed and their virtue.; 14, 



TOnr we al taraklb,' ' On PrtroipJse and OMDBMstlMt,' treats 

 emotw << I er subjecta on the influence of the sun and the moon ; 



UUb-erros aeeebryab mln as-nlasah am-moluklah,' "The Book 

 n tlie Seventy Chapters,' treats on the poUJ of *>"*> and * TeI 7 

 remarkable work. We dose this list with, 1. ' An Account of the 

 btabttahment of the Fs asm Its Dynasty in Africa, from a manuscript 

 Bribed to MsVnoV with notes, by John Nicholson, Ph.D.. Tubingen 

 and BriHol, 1840, STO. According to Kosegarten and Silvestre de 

 Sacr. this work b a fragment either of No. 1 or No. 2 in onr Int. 

 TU manuscript used by Dr. Nicholson is one of those which the 

 onfortanats) Dr. Quintal purchased at Damascus ; it is now No. 261 

 in the library of the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Ootha, at Gotha ; 

 R wa* written in A.R. 637, sad is consequently of more modern date.' 

 An orientatot well acquainted with the works of Mas'ndi would 

 ~t(U. great benefit on geographers by writing a commentary on the 

 Moeranhical iisasm of the author. Mas'ndi had thoroughly studied 

 the STstasias of FtoWmajn* and Marinns of Tyre, and he distinguishes 



between the nape of Ptoleroafu. and those of the Syrian geographer. 

 There to consequently no doubt that the geography of Marinns was 

 extant in the 10th century of our era. Mas'udi speaks of the Arabic 

 origin of the kings of Tibet, a fact which is likewise mentioned in the 

 CUMM annals ; of a Syrian empire anterior to that of Nineveh ; of 

 Wan in Armenia as the city of Semiramia ; of cuneiform inscriptions, 

 . ,. .... 



(Hati Khalfah, Eiogrufkical Dictionary; Herbelot, fiUiothfquc 

 Oriemtalt; Quatremere de Qnincy, Ufnoirt ntr Mavmdi, in ' Journal 

 Atatiqoe,' Site* Sen*, ToL 7, January 1839, a very valuable reference ; 

 the lutndmetiotu to the Translations by Dr. Sprenger and Dr. Nichol- 

 son mentioned abore.) 



MATH AM, JACOB, a celebrated Dutch engraver and painter, was 

 born at Haarlem in 1571. He was the pupil of GoU'us, who married 

 MsthsnTa mother, by whom be acquired considerable fortune. 

 Malham's prints are very numerous ; Bartsch describes nearly 800 

 He dird in 131. 



MATHER, COTTON. The name of Mather is associated with a 

 remarkable period in the early hi-tory of New England, where three 

 of that Dame occupied in raoosasion conspicuous situations; while two of 

 thecu were among the earliest and most voluminous of American writers. 

 In bis life of Cotton Mather, the Rev. W. R 0. Peabody has quoted 

 an old doarel tombstone inscription, as describing pretty accurately 

 the relative Dualities of father, son, and grandson : 



" Ua4er tkis S*MS lies Richard M.tber, 

 Who had a mm irealar thaa hU tober, 

 Aad eks a frudtua gitatu than clthtr." 



MATHER, the grandfather, a non-conformist divine, Lad 

 emigrated to New Er gland, then the Puritan land of promise, in 

 1696, and was called to be minister of a church in Dorchester, MaasB- 

 cfcsjutn. where be remained to the end of his life generally respected 

 SB a roan of learning, ability, and piety. 



lucajua* MATBLB. his son, was however a man of higher mark 

 Bon at Dorchester on the 21st of January 1639, he was a native 

 oaooist, and among the little community his early promise was 

 watched with interest and pride. Already talked of as a scholar, be 

 at the age of twelve entered Harvard College, and having graduated 

 then with honours in 1650, he proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin 

 There be studied diligently for four years, and then returned to 

 Boston, at that time the larvest and most important city in America. 

 lie wa* soon after chosen pastor of North-Church, Boston, an office hi 

 held for >Uly two yean; and, after once before declining the honour 

 be in 1M became principal of Harvard College, and continued its 

 MS* & tit till 1701, when be resigned the presidency rather than the 

 saaursla. the duties of the two having become incompatible. From 

 tiw colltBS be received the degree of D.D., his being the first diploma 

 of th4 class granted in America. 



Bat IncresM Mather was something more than merely the pious 

 and faithful mmartir of a nourishing city church, or even the learned 

 bead of the first American university. He was also the leadini 

 Mllor and statesman of the community. As Mr. Ban 

 i (' Hbt. of America,' U. c. xv.), The same causes which 

 iy to the religions principle, had given weight to the 

 Ulewent of New England the temple, or as it was 

 meeting bun**, was the centre round which the peopl 

 As the church had succ-wiv. ly a-oumed the exclusive, pos- 

 i of civil franchises. Iks ambition of the minister* bad been both 

 acrM and gratified. They were not only the counsellors by an 

 unwritten law , they also wen the authors of state papers, often 

 employed on embassies, and at borne, S|>eaker< at elections and in 

 towa-meating*.* In Increase Mather's time tiiis ministerial influenc 

 was at its bright, and be as one of tiw first "native- bred ministers, 

 and by geoiral repute the meat learned, enjoyed au unusual share o 

 it; bat be lived to see its decline, and bis son participated in its 



for the colonies. He was still in England in this capacity when 

 James II. fled from his throne, and he procured from William III. a 

 new charter of somewhat leas democratic character than that which 

 'harlcs II. had taken away. On his return to Boston be received the 

 hanks of the House of Representatives, but the new constitution was 

 ess satisfactory than the old, and Mather's popularity suffered for the 

 >art he bad taken in procuring it He gradually took a less prominent 

 hare in public affaire, yielding the lead to his more ambitious but less 

 irudcnt uon; but to the close of his life ho continued in the active 

 icrcise of his ministerial and benevolent labours. He died on the 

 Z8rd of August 1728, sged eighty-four : the ' Patriarch of New 

 England,' as he was affectionate!; called by his fellow-citizens. 



Increase Mather waa a diligent writer, the list of bis works uumbcr- 

 ng ninety -two distinct publications. But few of them are remembered 

 now. One has however been recently republished in this country as a 

 volume of Mr. Hussell Smith's ' Library of Old Authors : ' ' Remark- 

 able Providences, illustrative of the earlier days of American Coloni- 

 sation; with Introductory Preface, by George Offor,' 8vo, 1856, and 

 IB curiously illustrative of the mental character and peculiarities of the 

 wople whoae virtues it celebrates. 



COTTON MATHER, son of Increase Mather, was born at Boston, 

 ?ebruary 12, 1662-63. Educated under the eye of his father, he was 

 at the age of twelve, when he entered Harvard College, not only 

 able to read Virgil and the Latin classics, but to enjoy Homer and 

 [socrates, in the original. At college his progress was answera'jle, 

 and when at the age of sixteen he took his first degree, the president, 

 Okes, addressed him in a Latin speech, lauding in gloning phrase his 

 rast conduct and attainments, and predicting a glorious future. But 

 it was not in worldly knowledge only that he was so advanced a 

 student. The descendant of a line of ministers, he seemed to be 

 himself, by his aptness in learning and early seriousness, specially 

 marked out for the ministry. But among the New England churches, 

 before there could be a call to that office, it was requisite that tht-re 

 should be manifest evidence of great personal piety and a strong 

 internal desire for the work. As early as his fourteenth year, Cottou 

 Mather's mind began to be greatly exercised with religious thoughts. 

 Ho at this time laid down a system of rigid fasts, which he continued 

 to practise monthly or weekly, and sometimes oftener through the rest 

 of his life, of strict and regular aelf examination, and of prolonged 

 times of prayer, to which he afterwards added frequent nightly vigils. 

 It is necessary to mention these things in order to understand some 

 points in his character and conduct in future years. For awhile he 

 was diverted from his purpose of becoming a minister by a growing 

 impediment in his speech, and began to study medicine. Hut being 

 shown how by a "dilated deliberation" of speech he might avoid 

 stammering, ho returned to his theological studies ; at eighteen com- 

 menced preaching, and received in February 1680 a unanimous 

 invitation to become assistant minister to his father in the North 

 Church ; and in January 1 632 he was elected co-pastor. 



As a minister he was in every way zealous, yet he found time not 

 only to continue and extend his studies, but to send to the press a 

 prodigious number of sermons, works of devotion mid stimulants to 

 religious usefulness, and to accumulat c materials for greater works 

 be was already contemplating. Nor did he any more than his father 

 shrink from the political duties which the ministerial office had been 

 supposed to cast upon those who held it. " New England," he 

 wrote, " being a country whose interests are remarkably inwrapped 

 in ecclesiastical circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves 

 in politics." When therefore his father was sent to England to seek 

 relief from the arbitrary measures of Charles II. and James II., 

 Cotton Mather regarded himself as the natural leader of the citizens, 

 and on their seizing and imprisoning the obnoxious governor, he 

 drew up their declaration justifying that extreme measure. liul 

 the people were beginning to tiro of the dominance of their ministers, 

 and Mather regarded the growing freedom of thought and manners as 

 evidence of a falling away from the purity of the old faith ; and he 

 fancied he saw signs that the evil one was busy in turning away the 

 hearts of the people. A case of supposed possession occurred at an 

 opportune time for his theory. The daughter of one Goodwin, a 

 respectable mechanic of Boston, accused a laundress of having stolon 

 some of the family linen. The mother of the suspected person, an 

 Irish emigrant, expostulated in no very gentle terms against such a 

 charge, and as was averred, not content with abuse, cant a spell over 

 the accuser. The younger children soon began to suffer similarly ; 

 and the poor Irishwoman was denounced as a witch. To test, as ho 

 said, the truth of the story, Cotton Mather took the eldest girl, tin 'ii 

 about sixteen years old, into his houte, and her vagaries soon Icft-ou 

 his mind no doubt that she was really under the influence of an 

 evil spirit. The. poor Irishwoman was tried, condemned, and execu- 

 ted ; and Mather published a relation of the circumstances, and an 

 account of such influences in other places. The book, which was 

 published with the recommendation of all the minister* of Boston 

 and Charlestown, was entitled 'Memorable Providences relating to 

 Witchcraft and possessions : with Discoveries and Appendix,' bvo, 



