Cotton Mather
From The Wonders of the Invisible World

Vocabulary

Would William Bradford and John Smith agree or disagree that New England used to be the "devils territory"? Find a supporting quote in either Smith or Bradford or both that would support your answer.

So, when the "serpent cast out of his mouth a flood for the carrying of it away," what is the "it" of this clause and what physical form do you think the "flood" that tried to take "it" away was?

What is this "vine" stuff all about? What was the "vine" and how did satan attempt to "extirpate" it?

Mather says the "hills were covered with a shadow": what form did this particular shadow take?

What is an Ebenezer? Find a picture of one on the internet and upload it here.

What is now the devil's last ditch effort to destroy, infect, and infest the colony?

When did this satanic effort FIRST manifest itself? About what calender date would it then have been?

How many have confessed and what exactly did they confess to? What happens to those who confess?

Mather argues, "one would think all the rules of understanding human affairs are at an end, if after so many most voluntary harmonious confessions, made by intellegent persons of all ages, in sundry towns, at several times, we must not believe the main strokes where in those confessions all agree" (309). Briefly speculate as to the purpose of this argument and explain his logical reasoning.

What makes it near certain to Mather that there is, indeed, an investation of witches in the neighborhood? Do you agree that his evidence is sound?

What was the source for this account of the the witches in Salem? Does this make him more or less certain of the events? What phrases does he use to show his more or less certainty?

Why is Martha Carrier called the "Queen of the Jews"?