overthrown by the multitude of evil examples and licentious
behaviours in these seminaries.

"Sixthly, The whole earth is the Lord's garden, and he hath given it to
the sons of Adam, to be tilled and improved by them: why, then, should
we stand starving here for places of habitation, and in the meantime
suffer whole countries, as profitable for the use of man, to lie waste
without any improvement?

"Seventhly, What can be a better or nobler work, and more worthy of a
Christian, than to erect and support a reformed particular Church in its
infancy, and unite our forces with such a company of faithful people, as
by timely assistance may grow stronger and prosper; but for want of it,
may be put to great hazards, if not be wholly ruined?

"Eighthly, If any such as are known to be godly, and live in wealth
and prosperity here, shall forsake all this to join with this reformed
Church, and with it run the hazard of an hard and mean condition, it
will be an example of great use, both for the removing of scandal and to
give more life unto the faith of God's people in their prayers for the
plantation, and also to encourage others to join the more willingly in
it."

Further on, when he declares the principles of the Church of New England
with respect to morals, Mather inveighs with violence against the
custom of drinking healths at table, which he denounces as a pagan and
abominable practice. He proscribes with the same rigor all ornaments for
the hair used by the female sex, as well as their custom of having the
arms and neck uncovered. In another part of his work he relates several
instances of witchcraft which had alarmed New England. It is plain that
the visible action of the devil in the affairs of this world appeared to
him an incontestable and evident fact.

This work of Cotton Mather displays, in many places, the spirit of civil
liberty and political independence which characterized the times in
which he lived. Their principles respecting government are discoverable
at every page. Thus, for instance, the inhabitants of Massachusetts, in
the year 1630, ten years after the foundation of Plymouth, are found to
have devoted Pound 400 sterling to the establishment of the University
of Cambridge. In passing from the general documents relative to the
history of New England to those which describe the several States
comprised within its limits, I ought first to notice "The History of
the Colony of Massachusetts," by Hutchinso