ister of his time, but his mind was better adapted to ac- quire than to create. He lacked in strong judgment, in original genius, and in sustained power. He had no ability to generalize, no wide and penetrating vision. The most noted benefaction ofhis life to the country was introducing vaccination for small-pox, which proved a great blessing. See his Life, ^\•Titten by his son (Bost. 1729) ; also by Enoch Pond and Dr. Jennings ; Jones, Chris. Biog. s. v. ; Sparks, A mer. Biog. 1st series, vi, 161 sq. ; Sherman, Neio England Divines, p. 76 sq. ; Duj'c- kinck, Cyclop, of A mer. Lit. i, 59 ; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. Auth. vol. ii, s. v. ; Bancroft, Hist, of the U. S. iii, 71, 76, 95, 98; North Amer. Rev. xliii, 519; xlvi, 477; li, 1; Jleth.Quar. Rev. i,i30; Christian Examine?; V, 365. (J.H.W.)
Mather, Eleazer, a Puritan minister of New Eng- land, son of Eichard, and brother of Increase Mather, was born at Dorchester May 13, 1637 ; graduated at Har- vard in 1656; was ordained pastor of the Church at Northampton in 1661 ; and there died, July 2-1, 1699. He was a fine scholar, a sound thinker, and a devoted and evangelical minister. Many souls were converted through his labors, and his early death was much la- mented by all the churches. — Sherman, A'eiv England Divines, p. 107; Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, i, 159 ; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer. Auth. s. v.
Mather, Increase, D.D., an eminent American divine, was boni at Dorchester, Mass., June 21, 1639. His father, Eichard Mather (q. v.), had emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635. In early child- hood Increase exhibited signs of miusual mental en- dowments; he entered Harvard College at the age of tweh'e, and graduated with the class of 1656. Shortly after this he was converted, and determined to de- vote his life to the ministry. In the year following that of his graduation lie went to Dublin, where his brother was preaching. There he entered Trinity Col- lege, and, after securing the degree of M.A., was chosen a fellow of the coUege, an honor, however, which he declined. The climate of Ireland being unfavorable to his health, he removed to England, and preached there for a while. At the time of the Eestoration he was residing in the island of Guernsey, as chaplain to an English regiment ; but when, as a commissioned offi- cer, he was required to sign a paper declaring " that the times then were and would be happy," and he re- fused to comply, his salary was so greatly reduced that soon after this he returned to his native country', and was called and settled as pastor of the North Church in Boston. In this city he married, in 1662, a daughter of the Eev. John Cotton, and from this marriage sprang Cotton Mather, one of the most celebrated divines of his day. In the controversy as to " who are the legitimate subjects of baptism," he opposed his father, and likewise the decision of the synod of 1662, until caused to change his views by the arguments of Mr. Mitchell, of Cam- bridge. Largely by his instrumentality the govern- ment was induced to call the general synod of 1679 from the whole colony, for the purpose of " correcting the evils that had provoked God to send judgment on New England." The sj-nod had its second session the fol- lowing year, and Mr. Mather acted as moderator. At this meeting the Confession of Faith was agreed upon, and he prepared a preface to it. On the death of presi- dent Oakes of Harvard Universitj-, Mather tcmporarLly supplied the place. By the sudden death of the ap- pointee, president Eogers, Mather was, in 1684, again called to the head of the collegf. This time he ac- cepted, and combined his presidential duties with his pastoral. In 1692 he was presented with a diploma of doctor of divinity, ." the first instance in which such a degree was conferred in British America." On the ac- cession of Charles II Jlassachusctts was thrown into trouble. His majestj' required full submission of their charter to his pleasure, on pain, in case of refusal, of having a quo warranto issued against it. To tliis op-
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pression Mather was stanch in his opposition, and be- fore an assembly in Boston dissuaded his countrymen from yielding their liberties tamely. As a result of their resistance, j udgment was entered against the char- ter of the Massachusetts colony. About this time Charles died, and James II, being his successor, pub- lished his specious declaration for liberty of conscience. This produced temporary relief, and Mather was dele- gated to convey to his majesty in England the grateful acknowledgment of the churches, and to sue for a fur- ther redress of their wrongs. James received him kindly, and promised him more than he ever granted. Mather remained, however, until the close of the revolution of 1G88, which deposed James and placed William and Mary on the throne of England. After much diplomacy with the prince of Orange, a new charter was at length procured in lieu of the old one, and Mather himself was allowed the privilege of nominating the governor, lieu- tenant governor, and board of council. After four years thus spent among the nobility at Whitehall, Dr. Mather returned to Boston with the consciousness of having faithfully discharged his duty and rendered his comitry an important service. He found the Church in great excitement about witchcraft, which called forth his work entitled Cases of Conscience concerning Witchcraft. He retained his natural bodily and mental vigor imtil past his eightieth birthday. After this he endured great bodily and consequent mental derangements for four years, during all of which time his great burden seemed to be, not his suffering, but the painful sense of his ina- bility to labor. At last, on Aug. 23, 1723, he died peace- fully in the arms of his eldest son. His loss was deeply mourned by those for whom he had spent his long and laborious life. According to Sprague, " he was the last of more than twenty-two hundred ministers who had been ejected and silenced on the restoration of Charles II and on the Act of Uniformity." He was an indus- trious student, and published ninety-two separate works, most of which are now very scarce. A noted writer thus comments upon him in the North Amer.Rev. 1840 (July), p. 5 : " Increase Mather not only stood most conspicuous among the scholars and divines of New England, as president of Harvard College and pastor of a chiu'ch in Boston, but by his political influence was sup- posed at times to have controlled the administration of the government." He was a learned, earnest, and de- voted minister, whose piety was deep, warm, and fuU of love. His sermons were elaborate and powerful, and many souls were converted by his labors. He studied earnestly for sixty years, and was regarded as the most learned American minister of his day. — Sherman, Neio England Divines, p. 57 ; Allibone, Diet. Brit, and A mer. Auth. s. V. ; Bancroft, Hist. U. S. (see Index in vol. iii) ; Drake, Diet. A mer. Biogr. s.v. ; Duyckinck,(7j/cfo^;. A mer. Lit. vol. i.