MATHER 



MATTERHORN 



the Salem witchcraft panic occurred, and he 

 had no active part in it. 



Meanwhile, in 1681, he had been appointed 

 president of Harvard College, but had resigned 

 because his church would not release him. Four 

 years later he accepted a similar appointment 

 on condition that he might live in Boston and 

 continue a fairly close relation with his parish. 

 He held the position until 1701, when the gen- 

 eral court of Massachusetts passed an act re- 

 quiring Harvard's president to live in Cam- 

 bridge. The act was aimed at Mather, because 

 of enemies he had made. His later years were 

 devoted to his church and contained little that 

 was of general interest. His published works 

 were numerous and include A Brief History of 

 the War with the Indians in New England, An 

 Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Provi- 

 dences, a Discourse Concerning Comets and 

 Cases of Conscience Concerning Witchcraft. 



Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was the son of In- 

 crease Mather and grandson of John Cotton. 

 He was born in Boston, entered Harvard Col- 

 lege at the age of eleven and was graduated 

 with honors when but fifteen. The attention 

 which his precocity drew upon him resulted in 

 making him vain, and from these faults he 

 never entirely recovered. In 1680 he became 

 his father's assistant in the North Church, Bos- 

 ton, though it was not until five years later 

 that he was ordained pastor. While still a young 

 man he became one of the most influential fig- 

 ures in the colony, but his genuine zeal and 

 scholarship have been so overshadowed by his 

 connection with the witchcraft movement, while 

 his father was in England, that they are . fre- 

 quently overlooked. He was not alone among 

 eminent and scholarly men in his belief in 

 witchcraft, but he was more active than most 

 in stirring up the crusade against it. He wrote 

 Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft 

 and Possessions and Wonders of the Invisible 

 World; he investigated cases for himself, always 

 with a strong prejudice against the accused, and 

 counseled the magistrates to proceed with vigor 

 in rooting out the supposed evil. 



After the witchcraft excitement had abated, 

 Cotton Mather's influence decreased somewhat. 

 Like his father, he was an earnest conservative 

 and vigorously opposed the introduction of new 

 ideas, especially in Harvard College, of which 

 his father was president for seventeen years. 

 He himself hoped to attain the presidency, but 

 was more than once disappointed. His great- 

 est work, the Magnolia Christi Americana, or 

 Ecclesiastical History of New England, while 



full of the prejudices of its author, is a valua- 

 ble document to students of colonial history. 

 He also wrote Essays to Do Good, which are 

 yet sometimes widely read, and a curious life 

 of his father, called Parentator. A.MC c. 



See, also, MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. Con- 

 sult Pond's The Mather Family; Walker's Ten 

 New England Leaders. 



MATTEAWAN, matawahn', N. Y, the for- 

 mer name of BEACON, N. Y. (which see). 



MATTER. According to a principle of phys- 

 ical science, anything that occupies space is said 

 to be matter. This definition takes no account 

 of the size, shape or substance of any portion 

 of matter, for the term includes the air we 

 breathe and the water we drink, the objects of 

 furniture in a room and the materials of which 

 the house itself is made. The various measure- 

 ments with which we are familiar are based on 

 the fact that every portion of matter has three 

 dimensions length, breadth and thickness. In 

 regard to structure, matter is believed to be 

 made up of very small particles called mole- 

 cules. When subjected to chemical action these 

 units are separated into atoms (see MOLECULE; 

 ATOM; ATOMIC THEORY). The relation of the 

 molecules to each other determines the state of 

 matter, whether it is solid, liquid or gaseous. 



Properties of Matter. There are certain char- 

 acteristics or properties of matter, some of 

 which are common to all forms, and some of 

 which are possessed only by certain kinds. The 

 more important of these properties are hard- 

 ness, extension, porosity, elasticity, gravitation, 

 cohesion, adhesion, tenacity, malleability and 

 ductility. Each one named is described in these 

 volumes under its proper heading. C.R.M. 



MATTERHORN, mat' er horn, the German 

 name for a famous peak in the Pennine Alps, 



THE MATTERHORN 



on the boundary between the canton of Valais, 

 Switzerland, and Piedmont, Italy, about forty 

 miles from Mont Blanc. This mighty peak, 



