The lives of Increase Mather and Sir William Phipps

Preface

The first settlers of New England were remarkable men. They were raised up in Providence, for an important purpose ; were trained for it by a most extraordinary discipline ; and bravely, nobly, did they accomplish their vocation. Their characters, on every account, are worthy of our study. The knowledge and the benefits of their example cannot be too widely extended. I was glad, therefore, when I saw it announced, more than a year ago, that the lives of some of the chief fathers of New England were to be published, in a series of volumes, by the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society. The volumes already published have been well received, and I only regret that the one herewith presented to the public, is so little worthy to have a place among them.

Increase Mather was not a literal Pilgrim, but the son of a Pilgrim. He was born in this country soon after its settlement, and here he spent almost the whole of his long and useful life. For more than sixty years together, he was literally a public man. He sustained the most important oflSces, both sacred and civil ; was called to act in the most trying and responsible situations, and although we claim for him no exemption from the infirmities incident to fallen 1*

VI PREFACE

human nature, yet it may be safely said, that to no one of her sons is New England, on the whole, more deeply indebted. A brief sketch of the life of Increase Mather, was given in a volume, enthled, " The Mather Family," published in 1843. The present Memoir, though containing some part of the former, is yet a very different work. It presents a much more full and particular account of the venerable Mather, being extended to not less than four times the same number of pages.

The first chapter of the present Memoir is chiefly occupied with biographical notices of Mr. Mather's father and brothers. My reasons for devoting so much space to them are, in brief, as follows :

In a series of volumes purporting to contain " The Lives of the Chief Fathers of New England ;" it seemed quite indispensable that some account should be given of Richard Mather ; and I knew not where a notice of him could be so well inserted, as here.

Then the life of Increase Mather is so intimately connected with that of his father and brothers, that, in order to a right understanding of the former, the reader needs, and must have, some acquaintance with the latter.

It is to be considered, too, that the Mather family was a remarkable one, more especially in its first generations ; — one which exe/ted a controlling influence on both the civil and leligious affairs of New England ; and it seemed proper to preface the Memoir of the more distinguished member of it with a short introduction to the family in general. At the same

PREFACE. Vll

time, it is hoped that the notices inserted are not without some interest in themselves, and will not be unprofitable to those who read them.

The second Memoir in the volume is that of the first Provincial Governor, Sir William Phipps. He was cotemporary with Increase Mather, though a little younger ; and the two were associated in some of the more important transactions of their lives. It is fitting, therefore, that their Memoirs should stand together. /

Sir William Phipps was in the strictest sense, what is sometimes called a self-made man. He commenced life under the most forbidding circumstances, and rose by his own exertions to the possession, not only of a large estate, but of the highest honors to which, in this country, he could at that time aspire. And yet he died at the early age of forty-four. The study of such a life and example cannot but be useful, more especially to the young. It will not be without interest, I hope to all.

In conclusion, I would humbly commit the volume to God, and under him to the Sabbath School Libraries, earnestly hoping that it may contribute to make known the deeds of our worthy ancestors, and to extend and perpetuate the benefits of their example.

ENOCH POND.

Bangor, Aprils 1847.

OF THB

XnTIVERSITY

Chapter I

His Lineage and Family. Brief sketches of the lives of his father, Rev. Richard Mather, and of his brothers, the Rev. Messrs. Samuel, Nathaniel, and Eleazer Mather.

It was a star which guided the wise men of the East to the birthplace of the infant Saviour. In all ages there have been stars, to lead men to Christ. Such, preeminently, are learned, pious, devoted, evangelical ministers. They- are burning and shining lights while here below, and having accomplished their work, and turned many to righteousness, they go to shine as stars in the firmament of heaven forever.

Among the stars in the right hand of the great Head of the Church, which glittered upon the golden candlesticks, of primitive New England, none shone with a brighter and more attractive lustre, than Increase Mather. I propose, in what follows, to make my readers acquainted with this venerable man ; — but in order to do it to the best advantage, it will be necessary to premise a brief account of his lineage, and family.

He was the son of Rev. Richard Mather, long the faithful and successful minister of Dorchester, Mass. Richard Mather was born in the small town of Lowton, Lancashire, England, A. D. 1596. He was early sent to a public school at Winwick, where he was boarded in the winter ; but in the summer, (so great was his desire for learning,) he walked daily four miles to school, from his father's house. He suffered much, while at school, from the unreasonable strictness and severity of his teacher, — so much that he often entreated his father to take him away, and permit him to relinquish his studies altogether. But to this his father would not consent, but encouraged him to persevere ; and for his firmness in this instance, the world is under lasting obligations to the good man ; and Mr. Mather himself did not cease to remember him with gratitude and honor, as long as he lived. " God intended better for me," he said, " than I would have chosen for myself; and therefore my father, though in other things indulgent enough, yet in this would never condescend to my request, but by putting me in hope that, by his speaking to the master, things would be amended, would still over-rule me to go on in my studies. And good it was to me to be overruled by him and his discretion, rather than to be left to my own affections and desires."

Let children learn, from this example, to confide in their parents' judgment, rather than in their own. Many an individual besides Richard Mather, has found and acknowledged in after life, the benefit of having been crossed in his childish wishes, and of having been compelled to pursue a course of life very different from that which he would himself have chosen.

It is evidence of the proficiency of young Mather, and of the confidence which his too rigid master reposed in him, that he recommended him as teacher of a public school at Torteth Park, near Liverpool, when he was only fifteen years of age. He continued in this school several years, discharging the duties of preceptor, with distinguished success, and perfecting himself, meanwhile, in those branches of study which he had occasion to teach. It was while he was here, that he became a subject of renewing grace. The principal means of his awakening was that best of all preaching — the strict and holy example of the Christian with whom he boarded. " The exemplary walk of this godly man," whose name was Aspinwall, "caused many sad fears to arise in his own soul, that he was himself out of the way; which consideration, with his hearing a Mr. Harrison preach about regeneration, and his reading Mr. Perkins' book, showing kow far a reprobate may go in religion, were the means whereby the God of heaven brought him into the state of the new creature. The troubles of soul which preceded his new birth were so exceedingly terrible, that he would often retire from his meals into secret places, to lament his miseries. But after some time, the good Spirit of God healed his broken heart, and poured into it the consolations of his great and precious promises."

From this period, Mr. Mather seems to have had his mind fixed upon the holy ministry ; and that he might prepare himself in the best manner, for so great a work, he resolved to relinquish his school, and connect himself with the University at Oxford. His residence at Oxford could not have been more than two or three years ; for in 1618, when he was only twentytwo years of age, he received an invitation to return to Torteth, not as a schoolmaster, but as a minister of righteousness.

He was ordained, together with several others, by Dr. Morton, bishop of Chester. When the ordination was over, the bishop took him aside, and addressed him in the following remarkable language : '* I have an earnest request unto you, Mr. Mather, and you must not deny me. It is that yo2i would pray for me. I know that the prayers of such as fear God, will avail much, and I take you to be of this number."

In 1624, two years after his settlement at Torteth, Mr. Mather was married to an excellent lady, the daughter of Edmund Holt, Esq., of Bury, who was his assistant in labor, and the partner of his pilgrimage,- for more than thirty years.

During his ministry in England, Mr. Mather was abundant in labors, not only among his own people, but in the adjoining towns and villages. He always seized the opportunity which his attendance at funerals afforded, for imparting instruction to the living. He frequently preached upon holidays ; because, as he says, " there was then an opportunity to cast the net of the gospel among a multitude of fishes." Great assemblies were then brought together, which otherwise would have been worse employed.

Having spent about fifteen years in the diligent and faithful performance of duties such as these, complaints were at length urged against

VOL. V. 2 him for non-conformity; and in August, ]633, he was suspended from the ministry. By the intercession of friends, his suspension was removed after a few months ; but it was again inflicted the next year, and under circumstances which led him to despair of being ever more permitted to exercise his ministry in his native land.

About this time, Mr. Mather entered renewedly, and more thoroughly than ever before, upon the study of church polity, assisted by the writings of such men as Cartwright, Parker, Baines, and Ames. The result was, that he became a decided Congregationalist, and was henceforth known as the expounder and earnest defender of Congregational principles.

By the opening of the year 1635, Mr. Mather had made up his mind to join the goodly number of confessors and pilgrims, who were bidding adieu to their native land, and migrating to the distant shores of New England. The reasons which satisfied him as to the propriety of this important measure, were the following, as recorded by himself: " It is right to remove,

1. From a corrupt church to a purer.

2. From a place, where the truth and the professors of it are persecuted, unto a place of more quiet and safety.

LIFK OF INCREASE MATHER. 15

3. From a place where all the ordinances of God cannot be enjoyed, unto a place where they may.

4. From a church, where the discipline of the Lord Jesus Christ is wanting, unto a church where it may be practiced.

5. From a place, where the ministers of God are unjustly inhibited from the execution of their functions, to a place where they may more freely execute them.

6. From a place, where there are fearful signs of coming desolations, to a place where one may have a well-grounded hope of God's protection."

Such were the reasons which led to Mr. Mather's removal from England to America; and such, for substance, were the reasons which influenced all the pilgrims. Here is nothing said about gold and silver, about commercial enterprises and gains ; but every one of the six reasons has respect to religion, — its purity, the liberty of professing and practicing it, and the anticipated favor of God in the undertaking. These reasons are enough, of themselves, to show the nature of th^ enterprise in which our fathers were engaged. It was primarily and chiefly a religious enterprise, — undertaken for the enjoyment and advancement of religion, and the glory of God. And in the success of it, we have a remarkable illustration of that declara^ tion of the Psalmist : " Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee." During the twelve years of Archbishop Laud's administration, not less than four thousand emigrants became planters in America. Neale, informs us, that he had a list of seventy-seven divines, ordained in the church of England, who became pastors of churches in America^ before the year 1640.

Among these divines was the Rev. Richard Mather. Fleeing in disguise from his persecutors, who were in hot pursuit of him, he embarked at Bristol, in May, 1635, and arrived with his family at Boston, in August of the same year. Near the end of the voyage, he encountered a terrible storm at sea, and was on the point of being swallowed up, but the Lord graciously preserved him, to be an ornament and blessing to the infant churches of New England.

Before his arrival, the church which had been first planted at Dorchester, under the charge of Rev. Mr. Warham, had removed in a body, with its pastor, and settled at Windsor, Connecticut; leaving the remaining settlers at Dorchester, in a destitute state. Mr. Mather was almost immediately called to exercise his ministry among them, and after due consultation, he consented to become their pastor, and here he continued to the day of his death, a period of more than thirty-three years. After the downfall of the hierarchy, he was earnestly solicited to return to his former charge in England ; but he rightly judged that the Lord had called him to this country, and that it was his duty here to spend his days.

The preaching of Mr. Mather is represented as being not only sound, and instructive, but very direct and plain. He "studiously avoided obscure and foreign words, and the needless citation of Latin sentences, aiming to shoot his arrows, not over the heads, but into the hearts of his hearers." Yet so scripturally and powerfully did he preach his plain sermons, that Mr. Hooker used to say, "My brother Mather is a mighty man." In both Englands, he had much success of his labors in converting many souls to Christ. One of Mr. Mather's hearers, speaking of events which took place in Dorchester, soon after his settlement, says : " In those days did God manifest his presence among us, in converting many souls, and in gathering his dear ones into church fellowship by solemn covenant. Our hearts were taken off from old England, and set upon heaven. The discourse, 2# not only of the aged, but of the youth also, was, not How shall loe go to England ? but. How shall we go to heaven? Have I true grace wrought in my heart ? Have I Christ, or no ? O the many tears that were shed in Dorchester meeting-house, at such times, both by those who declared God's work on their souls, and by those that heard them ! "

At the period of which we are speaking, much attention was given, both in this country and in England, to the subject of church government. Our fathers had little dissension or discussion about the leading doctrines of the gospel. These, having^settled down upon the good old scriptural foundation of Calvinism, had scarcely began to be disputed. The doctrinal articles of the several reformed churches were remarkably at agreement. But many points of church government and discipline were still undecided. The sense of the inspired writers in regard to them had not been satisfactorily ascertained. It was with reference to these, undoubtedly, that the famous John Robinson expected more light to break forth from the Scriptures, and exhorted his people to follow that light.

To these points, therefore, the minds of our forefathers and their cotemporaries were directed, with a deeplr interested attention; and it is evidence of the high standing of Mr. Mather among them, and of the estimation in which he was held, that his services were in continual requisition, in resolving and defending points of this nature. In the year 1639, thirty-two questions, relating to church government, were propounded by the general court of Massachusetts, for the consideration of the ministers. Their answer to these questions was drawn up entirely by Mr. Mather. He was a prominent member of the synod of 1648, and with his own hand drew up the substance of the celebrated Cambridge Platform, which was then adopted. He is said to have been a member of every synod that was convened in New England, during his residence in the CQuntry; and was actually the moderator of an ecclesiastical council, at the time of his death. This circumstance led one of his brethren to write for him the following memorial: " Vixerat in Synodis; moritur moderator in illis ; — Among Synods he lived ; the moderator of one he died.

He was one of three ministers, who prepared the New England version of the Psalms; — a work more creditable to his piety and orthodoxy, than to his poetical inspiration. He wrote an answer to Mr. Davenport of New Haven on the subject of infant baptism,^ with which old Mr. Higginson, of Salem, was so well pleased, that he said: '*Mr. Mather is a pattern to all the answerers in the world." He was the author of several other works, chiefly (though not wholly) on his favorite subject of church order and discipline.

Mr. Mather was not only an active, but an eminently studious man. " So intent was he upon his beloved studies, that only the morning before his death, he importuned the friends who were with him to help him into his study," where he had not been for several days, and where, he remarked, " My usual works and my books expect me. Is it not lamentable that I should lose so much time ? "

Up to the period of his last sickness, the health of Mr. Mather had been uninterruptedly good. He had never been obliged to call a physician; had never been sick of any acute disease, nor in fifty years together had he been . detained so much as one Lord's day from his public labors. His last illness was that distressing one, the stone, with which he was attacked while attending an ecclesiastical council in

* The question between them did not respect Vob validity of infant baptism, but the lawfulness of baptizing any except the jchild^en of church members, in full communion.

Boston. He was able to be removed to his own house, but never to leave it afterwards. In the paroxysms of his complaint, he seldom groaned, but was a pattern of patience to all around him. He fortified his soul under suffering, by reading Dr. Goodwin's Discourse upon Patience, which he continued to do to the day of his death. When inquired of as to his health, his usual answer was, Far from well ; yet far letter than mine iniquities deserve. He died in peace, April 22, 1669, aged seventy-three, having been for more than fifty years a preacher of righteousness.

It is remarkable that the last sermon which Mr. Mather preached to his people, being then in usual health, was from these words : " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith : Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give me at that day." 2 Tim. 4 : 6—8. The sermon before the last was from these words : " All the day of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." Job. 14: 14. A sermon which he had not preached, but which was prepared just before his last fatal attack, was from these words : " We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. 5: 1. It has long been a favorite opinion with some, that holy men have not unfrequently a presage of their approaching dissolution, before the event actually overtakes them. How far the facts above stated may go to confirm such an opinion, I leave for my readers to decide.

About twenty years previous to his death, Mr. Mather was called to part with the wife of his youth, and the mother of his children ; — a most excellent help-meet, "by whose discreet management of his affairs, he had been so released from all secular incumbrances, as to be wholly at liberty for the sacred employments of the ministry." She died with the following words on her lips : " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

Mr. Mather was united in a second marriage with the widow of his distinguished ministerial brother, the Rev. John Cotton, of Boston. This lady survived him. By .his first marriage, he had six sons, four of whom graduated at Harvard College, and were able and faithful ministers of Christ.

The eldest of the sons, Samuel Mather, was born in England, and was brought by his father to this country, when about nine years of age. He became hopefully pious in mere childhood, and is represented as an extraordinary instance, not only of early developed intellectual ability, but of " discretion, seriousness, prayerfulness, and watchfulness." The Arabians have a tradition that when John Baptist was a child, the other boys asked him to play with them. But he refused, saying, ^ I was not sent into the world for sport.' Such seem to have been the thoughts of the child, Samuei Mather, so far as his thoughts were indicated by his general course of life.

He graduated at Harvard College in the year 1643, at the early age of seventeen, and was the first of the graduates who was detained there, in the capacity of tutor. While at Cambridge, he enjoyed the instructive and powerful ministry of Rev. Thomas Shepard ; — a privilege which he greatly prized, and for which, after the decease of Mr. Shepard, he felt* himself called upon to make some compensation, by publishing a Memoir of him to the world. In proof of the estimation in which Mr. Mather was held as a tutor, it is stated, that when he read his last lecture in the College hall, nearly all the students were in tears ; and that when he took his leave of the college, they actually put on badges of mourning.

At the formation of the second or North Church in Boston, Mr. Mather was applied to, to be their minister. He preached to them their first sermon, and continued with them through the winter following ; but having a strong desire to visit England, which was his native land, he went thither in the year 1650.

As the hierarchy was now prostrate, there was nothing in the way of his advancement in England, where his popularity as a preacher was even greater than it had been in his own country. Almost immediately on his arrival, he was appointed chaplain to the lord mayor of London, in which situation he became early acquainted with some of the most eminent ministers in the land. During his residence in London, he was so often called upon to preach, that his health was seriously impaired, and he was thought to be in danger of losing his life. After a respite, however, his accustomed vigor was restored ; and we next hear of his preaching at Gravesend ; and then at the cathedral in the city of Exeter. After this, he was appointed

LIFE OF INCEEASE MATHER. 25

Chaplain of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he remained for a considerable time. From this situation, in which he seems to have been both useful and happy, he was called to accompany the English commissioners on their tour into Scotland, where he continued his labors for about two years.

In 1660, in connection with Dr. Harrison, Dr. Winter, and Mr. Charnock, he went with the lord deputy, Henry Cromwell, into Ireland. He was here appointed senior fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and joint pastor with Dr. Winter of the church of St. Nicholas. An opportunity was here presented for the exercise of that true Christian liberality, for which Mr. Mather was ever distinguished ; for when the lord deputy gave him a commission for the displacing of several Episcopal ministers, he refused to do it, saying, " I came into this country to preach the gospel, not to hinder others from preaching it."

This was a measure of liberality, however, which was not meted to him again ; for almost immediately upon the restoration of Charles II., he was himself suspended on a charge of sedition. This charge — a spiteful and malicious one — was founded on two discourses which he had preached in opposition to the Episcopal

VOL. V. 3 rites and ceremonies, and especially to the enforcing of them by the rigors of the law. When Mr. Mather was notified of his suspension, and of the groundless charge on which it was based, he said : " If it be sedition to disturb the devil's kingdom, Vho rules by his antichristian ceremonies, in the kingdom of darkness, as the Lord Jesus does by his own ordinances in his church, I may say that I did it, before the Lord, who hath chosen me to be his minister ; and if this be vile, / will yet be more vile:'

When Mr. Mather could no longer exercise his ministry in Ireland, he returned to England, and established himself at Burton Wood, Lancashire, where he continued about two years ; until, with two thousand of his faithful brethren, he was ejected by the terrible act of uniformity, in 1662.

Being denied the privilege of preaching in England, except on conditions with which he could not in conscience comply ; Mr. Mather now returned to his friends in Dublin, where he founded a Congregational Church, and set up a meeting in his own hired house. And here he continued, without further molestation, to the day of his death.

The Mr. Mather of which we now speak, like several of the other members of his family, accomplished much as an author. He had occasion to go repeatedly into the Popish controversy, and write in defence of the Protestant religion. He preached and published against what he conceived to be the errors of the established church, while he was ever disposed to treat godly ministers and members of that church with affection and respect. He published a work, entitled Irenicum^ the design of which was to promote a greater degree of union and harmony among the three principal denominations of English Dissenters, the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists. This was an object on which his heart was much set, and to further which he did not labor altogether in vain. He wrote also on the prophecies of Scripture ; and a volume of sermons on the types.

He had a controversy with an individual in Dublin, on a subject not altogether unlike some of the marvels of our own times. There was a man there who affirmed that he had the gift of healing diseases, by stroking and rubbing the diseased parts with his hands. Thousands flocked to him from all parts of Ireland ; some noblemen, some learned and pious persons, and even ministers of the gospel. Mr. Mather had no faith in the impudent quack, and prepared a

2S LIFE OF INCREASE MATHER.

discourse with a view to expose him. This fell into the hands of some of the king's privy council in Ireland, by whom it was highly approved and applauded.

Mr. Mather was an example of fidelity, in all the relative and social duties. To his honored father whom he had left in this country, he was in the habit of sending valuable donations, year by year, as long as he lived. Of his younger brothers he was also mindful, and assisted materially in preparing them for usefulness. In the year 1656, he was married to a sister of Sir John Stevens, by whom he had several children, only one of whom survived him. His wife died in 1668, when they had lived together about twelve years. Her closing scene was uncommonly peaceful. While in her last agonies, her husband said to her, " You are just going where there will be no more pain." '' Ah, yes," she replied, " and what is better, where there will be no sin." When her sister said to her, " You are going to heaven," she answered, " I seem to be there already. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly."