Increase Mather
Increase Mather (/ˈmæðər/; June 21, 1639 Old Style[1] – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and president of Harvard College for twenty years (1681–1701).[2] He was influential in the administration of the colony during a time that coincided with the notorious Salem witch trials.
Increase Mather
Samuel Willard (acting)
June 21, 1639
Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America
August 23, 1723 (aged 84)
Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America
Maria Cotton
Ann Cotton
Minister and author
Early life[edit]
The New England Mathers originally came from the parish of Winwick near Liverpool, in Lancashire, England.[3] Increase Mather was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony,[4] on June 21, 1639, to the Rev. Richard Mather and Kathrine Holt Mather,[5] following their participation in the Great Migration from England due to their nonconformity to the Church of England.[6]
The stated reason for his first name was "…the never-to-be-forgotten increase, of every sort, wherewith God favoured the country about the time of his nativity."[7] The name "Increase" is a literal translation of the Hebrew "Yosëf" (Joseph).[8] He was the youngest of six[9] brothers, the others being Samuel, Nathaniel, Eleazar, Joseph, and Timothy.[9] The first three of these also became ministers.[10]
Education[edit]
In 1651, Mather was admitted to Harvard College, where he roomed with and studied under Robert Massey. When he graduated in 1656, aged 17, with a Bachelor of Arts,[5] he began to train for the ministry, and gave his first sermon on his 18th birthday.[7] He quickly left Massachusetts and went to Ireland, where he studied at Trinity College, Dublin, for a Master of Arts. During his time at Trinity College he was licensed as a Commonwealth Minister by Oliver Cromwell[11] to the joint charge of St Tida's Church (Ballyscullion), and St Swithan's Church (Magherafelt).[12] He graduated in 1658, and worked as a chaplain attached to a garrison in the Channel Islands from 1659 to 1661 with a short stint at a church in Gloucester in 1660.[13]
After Cromwell's death in 1658, Mather felt less secure in his post in the Channel Islands due to Charles II's return to the throne.[14] He resigned the position in 1660 and sailed for Boston in 1661.[14] Harvard later awarded Mather the first honorary degree in the New World; he became a Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1692.[5]
Politics[edit]
While politics and Puritan religion were closely related during Increase's lifetime, his first direct involvement with politics occurred as a result of James II of England's manipulation of the New England governments. In 1686, James revoked the Charter of Massachusetts in the process of creating the Dominion of New England.[4]
The Dominion was headed by Edmund Andros, who not only disliked puritanism and was haughty,[5] but ruled as a near-absolute dictator: Town meetings were outlawed, leaving the Dominion without consent of the governed, marriage was removed from the clergy, and the Old South Church was temporarily appropriated for Anglican services.[17]
The 1687 Declaration of Indulgence, prohibiting discrimination against Catholics, saw staunch opposition from the Puritan establishment. When Mather successfully roused opposition to revocation of the charter, he was nearly framed for treason. He traveled to London (eluding spies out to catch him) to petition the King. While engaged in petitioning he published pieces to build popular support for his positions, such as A Narrative of the Miseries of New-England, By Reason of an Arbitrary Government Erected there Under Sir Edmund Andros (1688) and A Brief Relation for the Confirmation of Charter Privileges (1691).[7]
He attempted to restore the old charter[4] and obtain a royal charter for Harvard; however, he abandoned that course and changed his petitions, favoring a new charter not lacking any of the rights previously granted. Following the Glorious Revolution and subsequent overthrow of Andros, a new charter was granted to the colony.[5] The 1692 charter was a major departure from its predecessor, granting sweeping home rule, establishing an elective legislature, enfranchising all freeholders (previously only men admitted to a congregation could vote), and uniting the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony.[5] Following Andros' deposition and arrest,[17] he had William Phips appointed as Royal Governor and they returned to Massachusetts, arriving on May 14, 1692.[18] Following his return, the administration of Harvard grew increasingly insistent that he reside nearer to the institution. Not wanting to leave his Second Church, he did not do so, and eventually resigned the Presidency.[5]
Salem witch trials[edit]
In 1681, the same year he became president of Harvard (and when his son Cotton Mather was only eighteen years old), Increase Mather began work on a manuscript that was to be a collection of "illustrious providences" and he solicited contributions from the other Puritan ministers.[19] This work demonstrated a belated interest in witchcraft relative to the European continent, where witch trials had gone into a steep decline after reaching "peak intensity during the century 1570–1670" but this reflected a similar belated interest among a certain milieu in London around the same time.[20] Increase Mather's book Remarkable Providences was published in 1684 and forwards a doctrinal belief in the real power of witchcraft. One of the more curious aspects of the book is that while it cites numerous Reformation theologians (Luther, Beza, Melancthon) and many well-known writers on witchcraft including Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer (author of the notorious witch-hunting manual Malleus Maleficarum),[21] it does not cite John Calvin.
In November 1692, he published Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits which defended the judges and trials, but also expressed words of caution, perhaps due to public pressure. In the postscript, included with the initial first edition of the book, he mentions his own attendance at the trial of George Burroughs and his agreement with the capital judgment against him. George Burroughs had been a fellow minister who seems to have substituted at the pulpit for Increase Mather on at least one occasion.[22] Like his work from 1684, this 1692 work also cites Malleus Maleficarum.[23]
Notwithstanding this, his reputation was not improved afterwards or for posterity due to his association with the trials as well as his subsequent refusal, for whatever reasons, to denounce them.[18] He was also briefly mentioned in a thorough treatment of his son Cotton by Robert Calef in his comprehensive book of the Salem Trials and their aftermath, More Wonders of the Invisible World[24] (referred to as More Wonders of the Spiritual World by the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition).[7] Increase Mather was said to have burned Calef's book in Harvard Yard.
Beliefs[edit]
Throughout his life Mather was a staunch Puritan, opposing anything openly contradictory to, mutually exclusive with, or potentially "distracting" from, his religious beliefs. He supported suppression of intoxication, unnecessary effort on Sundays and ostentatious clothing. He was initially opposed to the Half-Way Covenant but later supported it. He firmly believed in the direct appearance of God's disfavor in everyday life, e.g. the weather, political situations, attacks by Native Americans, fires and floods, etc.[7][18]
He was strenuous in attempting to keep people to his idea of morality,[5] making strong use of jeremiads to try to prevent indifference and especially to try to get government officials to enforce public morality. During his tenure at Harvard he regularly stamped out any relaxation of Puritan strictness, such as latitudinarianism, which had flourished during his overseas absence.[5]
Following his acceptance of the Covenant, Solomon Stoddard and others attempted to further liberalize Puritanism by baptism of children who had nonmember parents[5] and admittance of all but the openly immoral to services. To try to stop this, Mather had a synod called to outlaw similar measures. A declaration was adopted, but never made binding.[7]
In popular culture[edit]
In John Neal's 1828 novel Rachel Dyer, Increase Mather appears at the end of Martha Corey's witchcraft trial to announce the guilty verdict and give a speech.[29] He is also played by Stephen Lang in the 2014 TV series Salem.[30][31] Increase Mather also appears in Act of Oblivion (2022) by Robert Harris.
Portraiture[edit]
A portrait of Increase Mather hangs in the Middle Common Room of Mansfield College, Oxford.[32]
