public. Any notice, taken of them, has been incidental, and such as
naturally arose in the treatment of the subject.

In parting with the reader, I venture so far further to tax his
patience, as to ask to take a retrospective glance, together, over the
outlines of the road we have travelled.

In connection with some preliminary observations, the first step in the
argument was to show the relation of the Mathers, father and son, to the
superstitions of their times culminating in the Witchcraft Delusion of
1692, and their share of responsibility therefor. The several successive
stages of the discussion were as follows:--The connection of Cotton
Mather with alleged cases of Witchcraft in the family of John Goodwin of
Boston, in 1688; and said Goodwin's certificates disposed of: Mather's
idea of Witchcraft, as a war waged by the Devil against the Church; and
his use of prayer: The connection between the cases, at Boston in 1688,
and at Salem in 1692: The relation of the Mathers to the Government of
Massachusetts, in 1692: The arrival of Sir William Phips; the impression
made upon him by those whom he first met; his letter to the Government
in England: The circumstances attending the establishment of the Special
Court of Oyer and Terminer, and the precipitance with which it was put
into operation: Its proceedings, conducted by persons in the interest of
the Mathers: Spectral Testimony; and the extent to which it was
authorized by them to be received at the Trials, as affording grounds of
enquiry and matter of presumption: Letter of Cotton Mather to one of the
Judges: The Advice of the Ministers: Cotton Mather's probable plan for
dealing with spectral evidence: His views on that subject, as gathered
from his writings and declarations: The question of his connection with
the Examinations before the Magistrates: His connection with the Trials
and Executions: His Report of five of the Trials: His book entitled _The
Wonders of the Invisible World_; its design; the circumstances attending
its preparation for the press; and the views, feelings, and expectations
of its author, exhibited in extracts from it: Increase Mather's _Cases
of Conscience_: The suppression of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, by
Sir William Phips: Cotton Mather's views subsequent to 1692, as gathered
from his writings.

In traversing the field thus marked out, I submit that it has become
demonstrated that, while Cotton Mather professed concurrence in the
gene