he may have given them to say so. All this is only a parenthesis which you may employ as you think fit. Only I beg your pardon, for my mention of a matter, which I should hardly think worth mentioning.) There are too many things to be written about. No Doubt, you understand, how Ridiculously things have been managed in our late Gen. Assembly; voting and unvoting, in the same Day, and at last y squirrells perpetually running into ye mouth open for them, tho' they had cried against it wonderfully. And your Neighbour Sowgelder, after his indefatigable pains at ye castration of all common-Honesty, Rewarded before y court broke up, with being made one of your Brother Justices; which the whole House, as well as ye Apostate himself, had in view, all along, as the expected wages of his Iniquity. Not only Ridiculous, but very Barbarous, was the proceeding of the council (and afterwards the other House) on their contriving their votes so as to stigmatize by Name, such an excellent person, as Nathaniel Higginson. It had been easier, to have said, they were sorry such worthy persons, as the subscribers of ye petition, had been imposed upon by false informations. Even this had been too much. For this Infamous Nathaniel Higginson, Esq. whom we have in print vilified, as an Author of Scandalous and Wicked Accusations, had ye Oaths of credible witnesses before his eyes, to assure him, that his petition was true. And he with his Honorable companions, will doubtless pursue a public vindication, for which they will not want materials. They will particularly prove, that an hundred thousand Nails are iron, and that furnishing an enemy to shingle a Thatch'd Fort, is High-Treason. The attempts of our counsellors, to blanch Ethiopians, and blacken honest men, will expose them to Ridicule. The History of the late proceedings in the General Assembly, will, by a Number of themselves, be sent over; yea, 'tis already done; And there will be other gentlemen, with their characters and their oracles in print, as well as Nathaniel Higginson. And, the ingratitude!-But Brutus among them too! John Higginson one of the Stigmatizers of Nathaniel Higginson! Tell him (not from me, tho; 'tis none of my Business) how grievously the gentlemen in Boston generally resent the Inhumanity. Your excellent Brother, will be the Darling of the oppressed people, for what he has done. He has done bravely! Tis incomprehensible, what a contempt the rest of our council have brought upon themselves. They wonder, that in a council chosen by the people, they do not find half the Fidelity and Integrity, which is exemplified by y councils in ye other plantations, where none of them are chosen so. If things continue in the present Administration, there will shortly be, not so much as a shadow of justice left in ye country. Bribery, a crime capital among the Pagans, is already a peccadillo among us. All officers are learning it. And, if I should say, judges will find ye way to it, some will say, there needs not ye future tense in the case; but it may qualify them, for the clergy 'to recom'end them to be, not examples, but Everything is Betrayed; and that we on the top of our house, may complete all, our very religion, with all the churches, is at last betrayed,-y Treachery carried on with lies, and fallacious representations, and finished by the rash Hands of our clergy. Tho' there are few men to be trusted; and you see, your best Neighbours, will lee a little yett you see how much I can trust you, in the freedom I use with you, [Mal. 3. 16.] I am surprised to think, what work Mr. Benj. Brown's brother-in-law, will make, with our Piscataqua-men, who have lately so scorched him, and with the rest of our N. E. men. There are those going over in the Fleet, who will certainly furnish him with matter enough, to fill many observators. If the letters of our best Intelligence have any Truth in them, our filthy and foolish News-Letter here, will within this half-year, be served a la mode of Piscataqua! I long to see you, tho' I take it for granted, I shall not do it again at Salem. I have ten thousand things to tell you. And one thing you will take for granted, without my telling; that is, that I earnestly wish to you, and your valuable consort, and amiable offspring, all manner of Blessings, and therewith I subscribe myself, [Addressed] Syr, your Sincere Servant. To Stephen Sewal, Esq. in Salem. III. COTTON MATHER TO MAJ. STEPHEN SEWALL-1701. Worthy Sr. The Obligations under which you lay me are many and lasting. And these Books, with which you last favoured me, have heaped Pelion upon Ossa. For so many fatt Birds, I now return you a Feather; and I pray you to Accept one of the Enclosed, and convey the other. It would not only add unto my obligations but also give me the pleasure of more distinctly confessing them, if you would not almost Fifty two times in the year, look into this Town, as an Apparition, & vanish out of it again with a suddenness that never allows me ye sight of you. To see you some times, would give me the advantage of knowing still how you & yours do fare; and especially, that pearl of yours, of whom I often think, and always in such pain as is proper for me on her behalf. I desire to be Remembered unto her, as well as to Remember her. May all sorts of Blessings be continually dispensed unto your growing Family. Boston, 15 d. 8 mo. 1701 I am, [Addressed] To my worthy Friend, Maj. Stephen Sewal IV. in Salem. COTTON MATHER TO STEPHEN SEWALL, ESQ. My Friend. 1 Sir Charles Hobby, whose friends were pressing him for the governorship of the colony of Mass. Col. Joseph Dudley, to whom Mather was opposed, was a candidate. "Sir Charles was son of William Hobby, of Boston, one of the wardens of King's Chapel in 1693. Savage (Gen. Dic.) says, 'Charles was fortunate in being Knighted for his brave conduct at the earthquake, 1692, in Jamaica; or else the consideration mentioned in Hutch cannot learn, That about the Beginning of February, he had yett received the commission, commonly talk'd of. I learn, That people there, at that time, had their various Discourses, and conjectures about it; some very confident it was as good as done; others very suspicious, it would never be done. I learn, That at ye Time when it was just upon ye point of Wun, the game again went on o side, & Col. D-y1 had his Interest wondrously revived, by ye Arrival of yo 5000 of Portuguese Gold, with advantageous Representations. I learn, That for all this, the establishment of o' side, is yett very uncertain, and contingent, and that we have no Advice at of court that has much comfortable assurance in it. Finally, I learn, That for certain S C. H. is coming home, & in a month or two to be expected-And so, lett this content yee for ye present.-Horrid! In England, they know nothing, they think nothing, of ye Descent upon ye Islands in ye W. Indies! The K. of Sweden it seems does not now insist on ye Restoration of ye Protestant Religion in Poland. Perhaps, he sees it needlesse. Hee sees o' K. Harry VIII. at work among the Papists there; They bid fair for it. The Wayeters all over ye city of London (who make nothing to beat ye K. of France,) place K. Charles on the Throne of Spain, within a few months at farthest. There is a mighty calm all of the sudden, on the minds of ye people in England. It is admirable to see it. And to see, how the Moderate Churchmen grow amicable to the Dissenters. I have lately read a Letter of a late Lord Mayor of the city of London, written about ye Church-History of N. England, full of such High Complements to it, as truly, I little expected. from a Church-of-England Man. I can add no more; because dear Sammy sends for my letter. God gives you comfort in this dear child. He is newly joined unto one of the Religious Societies in of Neighborhood. May the Blessing of Heaven rest on this & on all the rest of the dear Pledges. I will do all I can for 'em. Send me Psalmanaazaar2 again in a month. I think that is time enough, -if not, six weeks. [Addressed] To I am, Alwayes yours Co. MATHER. inson, ii. 153. He was a member of the Artillery Co., and its Captain 1702 and '3, and Colonel, I believe, of the Boston regiment; but most known here as not one of such life as should have recommended him to the clergy of N. E.' Yet he was sent over to London with letters from some of the most pious ministers,' to our agent, Sir William Ashurst, a true Puritan, strongly urging that he might be appointed the governor instead of Dudley.' Hutchinson does not say that his connections, the two Mathers, were writers of these letters, of which there can be no doubt; but he adds, that Ashurst himself, after his acquaintance with Hobby, reproves and censures them.' Luckily for our country, Sir Charles did not prevail, came back, perhaps, and died in 1715, but not in Boston. His estate was insolvent. Of his inventory, 23d April, 1716, deeds for half the Province of New Hampshire' is one of the latest items; but, as in derision, put down at nothing. Seven slaves are at the head, whose aggregate is £300. It appears, also, that in 1711 Sir Charles was appointed deputy governor of Annapolis, Nova Scotia, and that he accompanied Col. Nicholson on his expedition to Canada. His purchase of one half of New Hampshire was made of Thomas Allen, Esq. in 1706." Prov. Papers of N. H.,. Vol. iii. Part ii. p. 631. From a statement in the speech of Lt. Gov. Vaughan, made at a session of the council and general assembly of N. H., Feb. 6, 1715-16, it appears that the administrator of Sir Charles's estate offered the purchase of the territory above mentioned, to the assembly. Efforts were made for several years, by his creditors-the most prominent of whom was Elisha Cooke, of Boston-to obtain letters of administration on his N. H. claim, but without success, it is believed.-ED. 1 Col. Joseph Dudley, afterwards governor. 2 Dialogue between a Japanese and a Formosan, about Some Points of the Religion of the Time. By G. P-m-r. 12mo. London, 1707. V. COTTON MATHER TO STEPHEN SEWALL, ESQ. Child; Oct. 11, 1706. What would yee have me say to yee? The Transcripts I sent you t'other day, from the Connecticut-Appeal, are faithful. You may easily infer y rest. You have heard ye Carolina-story; and ye Jamaica-story will reach you in almost as little time as I should be writing of it. So you'l excuse me, for any public Newes at this time. I had made my applications to England, before the Last Intimations to me, about N. Scotia and Canada; and as expressively as I could:-particularly, to my Lord High Treasurer. But because your Representations of ye matter had a certain peculiar emphasis or two in it, I took the pains to write another Letter to S Ch. H.' Wherin I transcribed that paragraph of yours, and lett him know, whose it was, and whom you meant by an American Marlborough. I can't but suggest that it was weakly done of your Gentlemen, to sign a petition against S Ch. H. [for it was nothing else,] when our Nath: Higginson, & Company, were petitioning for him. It may happen only to give an honest and sincere servant of ye country an opportunity to know, who are (under their hands) his Declared Enemies. There is very great probability of its coming too late; or if not, yett what will it signify? Every one knows, that ye officers of ye militia, are ye enemies of the captain-general. If things continue in the hands where they now are, there will not be one man in all the country, easier than I am. Yet I will not sign a petition for it. I will much sooner sign, that I am, Your very hearty Friend, C. M. P. S. The learned have sometimes given us a Rule, to putt the principal Business of ye Letter into the Postscript of the Letter. Lett it meet with such an Interpretation, that I take this place to render you my hearty Thanks, for the Great Civility and Long Entertainment, wherewith you obliged my Daughter. Your kindness to her Father, brings you under a Necessity of being also kind to his offspring; but you are never weary of laying us under obligations. I thought this Letter would have come to you on Satureday. [Addressed] To Stephen Sewal Esq. Fidâ ac Amicâ manu. at Salem. The Good Reputation weh you have with y best of o" people, has procured you the Address of this Letter to you. Persons your character take Delight in doing of good offices for all ye world, but more particularly in encouraging of hopeful young men with casting a favourable aspect upon ym. Such an one does now wait upon you, whose Name is Mr Samuel Sewal. The Father of this young Gentleman is Master Stephen Sewal, a Justice of peace, and person of Note and Worth in o' country. His Honorable 1 Sir Charles Hobby. 2 Maj. Sewal, of Salem. Uncle,' whose Name he bears, is a Judge of this Province, and one of the best of men. He comes to your Island, in Good Business, & as a Factor for some valuable persons, in whose Employment he was willing to make his first entrance into the world. He is a person of an excellent Capacity; unspotted Fidelity; & shining Piety. He has hitherto answered well and lawdably the Virtuous and Ingenuous Education, his Generous parents have bestow'd upon him; and that he will approve himself worthy of all ye civil Treatment that he can any where meet withal. What I have to request of you on his beehalf is that you will cast a kind eye upon him as you use to do on persons of such merit, and allow him to wait upon you for your personal Direction when there may be occasion for it. I do this with ye more Alacrity, because it gives me an agreeable opportunity of presenting you, with a few of yo latest productions; and of letting you know how heartily I wish ye multiplication of Blessings from of glorious Jesus, on your Person and Family, and of assuring you, that I am Syr I have both yours of ye 23a Ins', have comunicd to my partners they tell me they will pay the men themsel' here, as to the lime stones we have sold them and desire yt you would send them to Boston as speedily as may bee, if you can git them brought under 40, you may employ the p'son. you speak of, if Mr Kitchin should have the hhd of fish reced, that he promised me pray, mind him to putt it on board the same boate, and if you cant sell the remaind of my rum send it by some faith hand. I suppose shall see yourself and Mr. Wilcott in towne the next week, I could be glad if you could order it to be here when we pay of ye men. VIII. Yo ADAM WINTHROP. REV. BENJAMIN COLMAN To Rev. Samuel Mather-1732. Rev. Sir. I am sorry your pretty Neice should have ye Trouble of a cold & dirty walk this Evening. Mr. Cooper let me know by a Line that he had seen you, & let you know that ye Afternoon was at my and your service. This prevented me from writing to you, supposing that Mr. Cooper's Words were as good as any I could send. To be sure Sir I depend on your being with us, if God please, to morrow [NOTE. Line 2 of note, ante, p. 110, for a candidate, read the incumbent; and in note 1, ante, p. 111, dele afterwards.-ED.] VOL. XXIV. 1 Judge Sewall, bro. of Maj. Sewall. 2 Adam Winthrop, son of Gov. John, H. C. 1724. 3 Sometimes styled Major Sewall. 11 |