nt of the colonies was, nevertheless, being slowly and reluctantly relaxed. Government in America has always, in its broad aspects, reflected the will of the peopl

ffensive. And in England it had been on the whole successful in spite of the restoration of kingship in 1660, for from that time on the arbitrary power of king and council were steadily and increasingly curbed. As a consequence there was a parallel movement in the democracy across the sea. American colonists with a highly developed sense of justice resented a bad royal governor like Andros, and were able to force his withdrawal; and they resented unreasonable domination by the clergy, and were independent enough to shake it off. Between 1690 and 1700 Harvard College became for the first time something more than a training school for preachers; the right to vote in Boston was made to depend on m

their greatest predecessors, and by their own industry, learning, eloquence, and general vigor they added to their ecclesiastical fortunes like skillful business men. Their congregations were large and respectfully attentive; scores of their sermons were reprinted by request; on all public occasions and in all public discussions they were at the forefront. They were great popular favorites, and in the end they suffered the fate of many another popular favorite. For the deference which was given to them year after year made them vain and domineering; they talked too much and too long and too confidently, a

expounded by these two really learned men would be held up to scorn and very possibly be made subject of a sanity investigation. Yet two hundred years ago the world was ignorant of the commonplaces of science. Popular superstition therefore ran riot; and the belief that God would interpose in the affairs of daily individual life, and that a personal devil was walking up and down the earth seeking whom he might devour, added to the confusion. Medicine in those days was hardly a science even in the broadest sense of the word. Physicians depended for honest effects on a few simple herb remedies and on powerful emetics and the letting of blood. The populace believed in curatives which still are resorted to only by children and the most ignorant of g

han their fellows, but they only substituted one superstition for another. Their way of casting off the old and vulgar beliefs which were pagan in origin was

into a Glass of Water, so that they may be able to divine of what Occupation their future husbands shall be. It were much better to remain ignorant than thus to consult with the Devil. These kind of practices appear at first blush to be Diabolical; so that I shall not multiply Words in evincing the evil of them. I

; Things Preternatural [voices of invisible speakers and doings of mysterious mischief-makers]; That there are Daemons and Possessed Persons [three main arguments: (1) Scripture forbade witchcraft, therefore there must be such a thing; (2) experience has made it manifest; (3) convicted maldoers have confessed it]; Apparitions; Conscience; Deaf and Dumb Persons; Tempests; Earthquakes; and Judgments. As a whole the book is a collection of curious anecdotes taken on almost any hearsay, but almost all at second or third hand.

al history of the region by a man who regarded the existence of New England as identical with the existence of the Church. In this basic assumption as well as in many of his details Cotton Mather revealed himself as a hopeless con

es. I would not quote any words of Lactantius, though there are some to countenance this Interpretation, because of their being so Ungeographical: nor would I go to strengthen the Interpretation by reciting the Words of the Indians to the first White Invaders of their Territories, We hear you are come from under the World, to

Wars, and "A Faithful Record of many Illustrious Wonderful Providences." Yet for historical data it is almost as unreliable as the libelous "New English Canaan" of Thomas Morton. For Morton was no more eager to turn the facts to the discredit of the Puritans th

rary, was prominent in church affairs, and was a judge, officiating at the time of the Salem witchcraft trials. An informal journal written without prejudice, by such a man as he, gives material of the greatest value for a picture of the times. It is material of course and not the picture itself, for it lacks anything in the way of composition, just as do the facts of ordinary daily life in the order of their occurrence. But out of it two main threads of interest may be unwoven. One is the sober but not unrelieved background of the times, itself a composite of various strands. Religion was its strongest fiber. Few weeks pass in which there is no record of sermon, fast, christening, wedding, funeral, or special celebration. These were among the chief social happenings of the calendar. Funerals as well

s a pamphlet called "The Selling of Joseph," which was probably the first antislavery utterance printed in America, and implies that Samuel Sewall was centuries ahead of the times. There is at second glance nothing perplexing in this contradiction. Sewall was a normal man who stood between the oldest-fashioned and the newest-fashioned thinkers. Sometimes he leaned backward, and sometimes forward; but on the whole he was inclined to advance. Of this he gave one famous proof. Five years after the Salem trials he had the honesty to admit to himself that he had been all wrong in his judgment, and the courage to make a public confession of his repentance. He chose one of the hardest ways of doing it. Among the "curious punishments of bygone days," one was the humiliation of disrep

gloom." But there was one itinerary which she did record for her own satisfaction and which was published more than a century later, in 1825,-her "Journal of a Journey from Boston to New York in 1704." At this time a vigorous woman of thirty-eight, a wife and a mother, she set out alone on the ten-day journey, taking such guides as she could engage from one stage to the next. The hardships were considerable and the discomforts and inconveniences very great; and the striking fact about them is t

everent in her allusions. Crossing a river on

me to be very circumspect, sitting with my hands fast on each side, my eyes steady, not daring so much as to lodge my tongue a hair's b

Mr. Devil, would have landed her in the s

ught to go to the Devil to be helped out of affliction. However, like the rest of the deluded souls that post to the infernal den,

se they give an indication of what was going on under one very respectable bonnet when Mrs. Knight was sitting decorously in her Boston pew. She was a highly respected woman in the Puritan community. She was accustomed to its ways. There is no word of motherly regret that she was away from her little daughter on Christmas Day, for Christmas was not a festal day in her calendar.

three people whom we have taken as types of New-England thought at this period, Cotton Mather may fairly be regarded as representing the faith of a declining theology, Samuel Sewall the hope

K L

l Refe

muel Sewall and the W

f Religious Libert

as Seen in its Literature. With a bibliographical appendix. 1880. (An e

. Child Life in Co

ious Punishments of Byg

stoms and Fashions in

e. Home Life in C

. Stage-Coach and

France and New

1859–1880. 6 vols. (Valuable for the

. American Liter

rican Literature. Colonial Pe

n New England

rary History of Americ

dual A

for the Recording of Ill

able

preface by George

lec

rly American Wri

. Cyclopedia of American

Library of American Litera

. 1693. Magnalia Christi Americana: or, The Eccle

ble Ed

, and life. 1853. The Wonders, etc

hy and

he Life and Times of

istory of American Literature

the American Pulpit, Vo

can Literature. Colonial Peri

lec

rly American Wri

Cyclopedia of American Li

ibrary of American Litera

729. The only edition is Mass. Hist

lec

rly American Wri

ibrary of American Litera

and Cr

. H. (See Gene

(See Genera

Knight. From the original manuscripts

ble Ed

t, Alban

Norwich,

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and Cr

(See Genera

reatment o

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y (1824), in Representative American

W. The New En

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Witchcraft.

th, and Magicians and Witch Folk in

ct

J. G. A Namel

Dr. Le Baron and hi

The Wept of

Gilmore. T

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tory (edited by B. E.

AND P

vidences," or "The Wonders of the Invisible World," for evidence of supers

s under the title "Spirit Communication." Establish the differences and the likenesses betwee

Headed Snake of Newbury," ll. 71–85, as well as Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (

ions in the first few pages of reading. If none appears, look for any of the following or others like them: Sunday observance; funerals, weddings, and christenings; the pastor and his people; holidays;

irreverence, tolerance, independence, timidity, or her use of exaggeration, mock-heroics,

the exchange of opinions between Messrs. White and Hackett in the New Republic, May 17