and who wished to obtain a renewal of their former charter from the king.” At the time of Mr. Mather's visit in England the Revolution had placed William and Mary on the throne. Mr. Mather had frequent interviews with King William and his ministers, in which he asked the restoration of the former charter with enlargements. When this was found impossible, he procured a new charter under which the united colonies of Massachusetts bay and Plymouth lived down to the time of the American Revolution. Owing to his efforts, the Plymouth colony was prevented from being annexed to New York. So great was the confidence that was reposed in him by the king that he was allowed to name the governor, lieutenant-governor, and first board of council to be appointed by the king. He arrived in Boston in May, 1692, and the speaker of the general assembly, in the name of the representatives, returned him thanks for his faithful endeavors to serve the colony. In the same year Harvard gave him the degree of D. D., the first that was conferred in this country.
There was opposition to the new charter on the
ground that it contained restrictions not in the
old charter. Mr. Mather lost some of his friends
among those who insisted upon popular rights,
but he was sustained by the more conservative.
President Quincy declared that his policy was
mainly successful and that his conduct entitled
him to unqualified approbation. The election of
John Leverett as president of Harvard in 1708
was brought about by Gov. Joseph Dudley. There
is no doubt that this election was distasteful to Mr.
Mather, and he has been charged with seeking the
place for himself or for his son Cotton. He
addressed a spicy letter to Gov. Dudley which has
been made the basis of considerable criticism by
President Quincy and others. But a study of the
character of Dudley shows that his connection with
Andros was such as to be a cause of uneasiness to
Mr. Mather and his friends. Gov. Hutchinson
says of Dudley: “Ambition was his ruling passion,
and perhaps, like Cæsar, he had rather be the first
man in New England than the second in Old.” It
would seem that Mr. Mather was justified in feeling
grieved at the influence that Dudley had
obtained in the colony, and especially in the affairs
of Harvard. That Mr. Mather was influential in
affairs of state is proved from another source. In
the year 1700 the Earl of Bellomont wrote from
New York to the lords of trade in London to the
effect that Sir Henry Ashurst, along with Mr.
Mather, had “got Sir William Phipps made governor
of New England.” During the four years that he
remained in England in the service of the colony
he worked without any charge. “I never demanded,”
wrote he, “the least farthing as a recompense
for the time I spent, and I procured donations to
the province and the college at least 900 more
than all the expenses of my agency came to.” Dr.
Mather married, in 1662, Maria, daughter of John
Cotton, by whom he had seven daughters and three
sons. Mrs. Mather died in 1714, and he took for
his second wife Anna, daughter of Capt. Thomas
Lake, and widow of Rev. John Cotton, of New
Hampshire, a grandson of his first wife's father.
Dr. Mather's publications number 136. Many of
these were preserved in the collection of George
Brinley, of Hartford, Conn., which was sold in New
York city in 1879. The Antiquarian society at
Worcester, Mass., has probably the largest number
of his works that have been gathered in any one
place. Among his books are “The Life and Death
of Rev. Richard Mather” (1670); “Important
Truths about Conversion” (1674); “A Discourse
concerning Baptism and the Consociation of
Churches” (1675); “A History of the War with the
Indians” (1676; reprinted, with notes and an
introduction by Samuel G. Drake, Boston, 1862); “A
Relation of Troubles of New England from the
Indians” (1677; with notes and introduction by
Samuel G. Drake, Boston, 1864); “Cometographia,
or a Discourse concerning Comets” (1683);
“Remarkable Providences” (1684; republished, with
an introduction by George Offer, London, 1856);
“Several Papers relating to the State of New
England” (1690); and “Dying Pastor's Legacy”
(1722). See Joseph Sabin's “Dictionary of Works
relating to America” (New York, 1867). His
life was written by his son Cotton (Boston, 1724).
— Richard's grandson, Samuel, clergyman, eldest
son of Timothy Mather, clergyman, b. in Dorchester,
Mass., 5 July, 1650; d. in Windsor, Conn., 18
March, 1728, took honors at Harvard in 1671,
and was ordained pastor of the Congregational
church in Windsor, Conn., in 1682. This church
had removed from Dorchester to Windsor, and
was in a weak state when he took charge as its
third minister and brought unity and prosperity.
He was one of the trustees of Yale from 1700 till
1724, and published several religious books, among
them “The Dead Faith,” and “On renouncing our
Righteousness.” — Increase's son, Cotton, clergyman,
b. in Boston, 12 Feb., 1663; d. there, 13 Feb.,
1728, was graduated at Harvard in 1678, when
scarcely sixteen years of age. An impediment in
his speech was apparently an obstacle to his becoming
a minister of the gospel, but he cured his habit
of stammering by prolonging his syllables as in
singing. His speech being perfected, he renewed
his theological
studies, and began to
preach before he was
eighteen years old.
In 1685 he was
ordained colleague pastor
of the North
church in Boston, in
connection with his
father, and his life
ministry was spent in
that pulpit. One of
the earliest developments
of his character
was his desire to
be useful. To this
end he devised a plan
of voluntary associations,
in every
neighborhood, to watch and
suppress all evils. He wrote and published much
against intemperance, established at his own expense
a school for colored children in Boston, advised the
christianizing of negroes, devoted his energies to
the benefit of the seamen, and fostered with zealous
care the introduction of inoculation. To assist in
this work, as well as in the duties of a faithful
pastor, he prepared a series of questions for every
day in the week, which he asked of himself year
after year. As the outcome of these endeavors he
compiled a small book, “Essays to do Good” (1710;
new ed., Glasgow, 1838), which is better known
than any of the other 381 volumes that he wrote,
In a letter to Cotton Mather's son, Samuel, dated
Passy, France, 10 Nov., 1779, Benjamin Franklin
said, “Permit me to mention one little instance
which, though it relates to myself, will not be quite
uninteresting to you. When I was a boy I met
with a book entitled ‘Essays to do Good,’ which I
think was written by your father. It had been so
