Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-11-06
A New Witchcraft Document.

In the midst of the witchcraft excite
ment and trials at Salem, Mass, in 1892,
Cotton Mather, of Boston, kept record
of all that transpired, and in the follow
ing year, at the command, as he says, of
the Governor, he put it in the form of a
book, and printed it, under the title of
stWonders of the Invisible World" The
book is a strange affair, and has many
times been reprinted. Three editions at
least have been printed in the last
twelve years, and one of them in Lon
don. The scenes it records read much
like the modern spiritual manifestations.
A personal enemy of Mather, named
Robert Calef, eight years after, printed
a book called ''More Wonders of the In
visible World" in which he brought
against Mather the charge of melting
and fostering the witchcraft in 1892,
which was wholly unfounded, but which
has been perpetuated by historians to
the present day.
The bulk of Calef's book was made
up mainly of material which Mather
had written, and some of ii he had
printed. Among the unpublished mat
ter which Calef printed was an account
written by Mather of what he saw and
did in the case of Margaret Rule, who
had strange attack in November, 1893,
of what then was considered to be witch
craft, but now would be regarded as
spiritual abnormalisms. a bitter quar-
| rel followed the publication, and Mather
said that Calef published the narrative
against his wishes and consent, the man.
uscript having been borrowed for an
other purpose, and was not intended for
the public.
Mather's title of the narrative was can
other Brand Pluckt from the burning" =
| implying that similar ''brand" had pre-
viously been rescued from burning by
| his method of dealing with witchcraft,
which was prayer and fasting, and not
| hanging, as was the method practiced at
| Salem upon nineteen victims.
! In the body of the narrative he states
that the case was verify like that of
Mercy Short, of which he has given full
/ particulars. The utmost diligence and
search of antiquaries had never been
! able to find the record or anything re-
| lating to the case of Mary Short.
| Some wears ago a descendant of one
| branch of the Mather family sent bar
| rel of old papers to the American Anti
| anarian Society at Worcester, and in
/ sorting these papers lately a manuscript
1 in the handwriting of Cotton Mather
was found entitled "a Brand Pluckt
from the Burning" This was the VERT
able account of the Mercy Short case,
written out very much in detail, de-
scribing the symptoms and the processes
| which were used for her recovery. The
| girl was wholly restored, as in the later
case of Margaret Rule. Nobody was
accused, and under the judicious manage
ment of Mr. Mather, both affairs passed
off without any public excitement. HMr.
Haven, the librarian of the Antiquarian
Society, has copied the manuscript and
intends to print it, with historical notes
/ and comments. The Boston AdUertiser
says that the publication of this paper
Twill shake the credibility of historians
who, upon insufficient evidence, have
/ held the ministers of Boston and Salem
mainly accountable for that wild and
bloody epidemic"
Ask any boy who got mp Salem witch
craft, and he will tell you, Cotton
Mather." This is the burden of what
school histories teach, and the assertion
also of Upham. in his History Of Salem
witchcraft" This theory was upset in
North american ReUieU for April 1869,
! and the discovery of the Mercy Short
narrative confirms what was there
abundantly proved from other evidences.
/ - Cincinnati Commercial.