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had request. adm. as freem. 19 Oct. 1630, and was sw. 3 July 1632, and
d. 7 Aug. 1667, and was bur. on the Sunday foll. Of the good desert of
the first min. of Boston, abund. proof if found in the Magn. III. cap. 3,
with some few lamentab. characteristics of the author, perhaps little to
be regard. in derog. from the charact. of W. Yet of one trait in him,
the zeal for the glory of God, as exhib. in "Ill Newes from New Eng."
where the testimony of Obadiah Holmes, the bapt. confessor, is fully
giv. we must regret that it surpassed the limits of self-respect, as well
as common decency. H. tells aft. his sentence to imprisonm. and cruel
scourg. "as I went from the Bar, I exprest myself in these words; I
bless God I am count. worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus; whereupon
John Wilson (their Pastor as they call him) strook me bef. the
judgm.-seat. and cursed me, saying, the curse of God or Jesus go with
thee." For the imprecation upon the heretic lenity may be extend. as
we hope, by the final Judge, when he cometh in the clouds of heaven:
but at the tribunal of gentlement the assault on a defenceless prisoner,
even tho. convict. by his own confess. of the crime of preach. what he
thot. truth, meets no indulgence. Graditude has always been express,
for the found. of Boston ch. no doubt in some degr. arising from the
munific. contrib. of £1,000. by his br. William in Eng. and the most
judicious invest. of part of that sum. as in Col. Rec. I. 128 alluded to,
and may by any minute antiquary be seen in 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. VIII.
228, all assist. in keep. active the generous emotion. The eldest s.
travel. in Holland and Italy, where he gain. the honor of M. D. but as I
doubt whether he ever came across the sea. I do not inquire for much
detail as to his m. or wh. was his w. nor can I tell more than that he liv.
at London as a physician, d. a. 1658, leav. s John, and d. Bridget, wh.
m. Nicholas Prideaux, merch. of Barbadoes. His d. Mary m. 5 Nov.
1651, Rev. Samuel Danforth of Roxbury, and next a Buck of Boston
(whose bapt. name eludes my search, for many hours, at var. times), and
d. 13 Sept. 1713. Mather's life is, perhaps, the best of any in his catal,
of min. yet the caution to be used in read, all other parts of the Magn.
must not be neglect. here. In 19 of that 3d chap. in proof of the
"certain prophetic afflatus, wh. oft. directs the speeches of" men like
Wilson, he refers to the success fo john Hull, as foretold by W. bec. of
his attention to his mother "weak in body and poor in est." Mather
had no intent. of casting ridicule uppon prophecy, for he was giv. to
showing his ability in the same way, but his fancy, was usual, outran his
judgement; and his memory, great as it was, forever calls on invention to
come to the aid of truth. Hull's mo. Elizabeth wh. d. above 16 yrs. bef. M.
was b. is not to be specially mark. as "poor in est." and if the writer
meant Judith the sec. w. of his f. and mo. of the young man's w. (as is
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