Cotton Mather
The Puritan minister Cotton Mather, born in 1663, was a man of simple but odd beliefs. He was the son of Increase Mather, an
influential minister of the time; both father and son were active politically in their native Massachusetts. Cotton believed that "an
unsupported confession after due examination was
adequate evidence on which to find guilty those accused of witchcraft." He wrote:
Among the sufficient means of Conviction, the first is the free and voluntary Confession of the Crime, made by the party suspected and
accused, after Examination...taken upon pregnant assumption. What needs now more witness or further Enquiry?
Throughout the 1692 New England witch trials, Mather's viewpoint dominated the courtroom proceedings. So-called voluntary confessions
sent many to their deaths. These confessions were aided by sleep-, drink-, and food-deprivation, of course.
Although the number of victims was small by continental European standards, the trials became famous. Nineteen were hanged to death and
one man was pressed to death after refusing to plead. By October 1692, the trials were over; public opinion changed. A day of public
mourning was held as residents struggled to comprehend what they had done. Reverend John Hale, one who had given fatal evidence
against a witch, said, "We walked in clouds and could not see our way."
Copyright 2007 Todd Frye
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