states, in his Diary, that the enmity
between them arose out of Calef's opposition to his, Mather's, views
relating to the "existence and influences of the invisible world." So
far as we have any knowledge, their acquaintance began at the date just
mentioned. The suggestion of pre-existing enmity, therefore, gives an
unfair and unjust impression.

Robert Calef was a native of England, a young man, residing, first in
Roxbury, and afterwards at Boston. He was reputed a person of good
sense; and, from the manner in which Mather alludes to him, in one
instance, of considerable means: he had, probably, been prosperous in
his business, which was that of a merchant. Not a syllable is on record
against his character, outside of his controversy with the Mathers; all
that is known of him, on the contrary, indicates that he was an
honorable and excellent person. He enjoyed the confidence of the people;
and was called to municipal trusts, for which only reliable, discreet,
vigilant, and honest citizens were selected, receiving the thanks of the
Town for his services, as Overseer of the Poor. As he encountered the
madness and violence of the people, when they were led by Cotton Mather,
in the witchcraft delusion, it is a singular circumstance, constituting
an honorable distinction, in which they shared, that, in a later period
of their lives, they stood, shoulder to shoulder, breasting bravely
together, another storm of popular fanaticism, by publicly favoring
inoculation for the small-pox. He offered several of his children to be
treated, at the hands of Dr. Boylston, in 1721. His family continued to
bear up the respectability of the name, and is honorably mentioned in
the municipal records. A vessel, named _London_, was a regular
Packet-ship, between that port and Boston, and probably one of the
largest class then built in America. She was commanded by "Robert
Calef;" and, in the Boston _Evening Post_, of the second of May, 1774,
"Dr. Calef of Ipswich" is mentioned among the passengers just arrived in
her. Under his own, and other names, the descendants of the family of
Calef are probably as numerous and respectable as those of the Mathers;
and on that, as all other higher accounts, there is an equal demand for
justice to their respective ancestors.

It is related by Mather, that a young woman, named Margaret Rule,
belonging to the North part of Boston, "many months after the General
Storm of the late enchantments, was over," "w