Cotton Mather and His Children

H ISTORY too frequently emphasizes the public life of great figures, neglecting intimate family relations. Glimpses of the home life of Cotton Mather, for example, mellow the austere and pompous image of the great Puritan priest and bring into focus the characteristics of a loving father, deeply concerned with the upbringing of his family. The comfortable Mather home was not as luxurious as those of the wealthy merchants, but it was large enough to accommodate visitors on occasion and also to give the children rooms of their own, well fitted up, in which they may read and write and pray and ponder on Question, What should I wish to have done if I were now adying. Servants were at hand to help in the housework, although Mather frequently complains of the dearth of good ones. A study gave the father privacy; there he could retire to write and pray. Be Short, the injunction above the door, warned only the caller, for sessions of prayer with his family sometimes lasted many hours. Affection glowed in this home as brightly as the fire upon the hearth, its gentle light softening the grim, religious pattern of life. It penetrated to the heart of the old Puritan, quickening the love of a father who playfully called his birds by pet names.1 Cotton Mather had profited from the lessons he had learned at his own father's fireside. There the wrath of a fearful God had been placated by daily rites and the power of His punishments kept constantly in mind; but it was also a loving home. Increase Mather had once said of his children that they were so many parts of myself and dearer to me than all the things which I enjoy in this world.2 These two conceptions of a parent's role, deeply implanted in his youth, became the pattern the son followed with his own offspring. Three wives wandered, at intervals, through the household; two of them bore his family. They are scarcely mentioned in the Diary, and it may be assumed that their contributions to the education and training of their little ones was slight. Out of fifteen sons and daughters, only six

Australian History and Society · History · Psychology

• Cities in the Wilderness

  Wayne E Stevens, Carl Bridenbaugh•The Mississippi Valley Historical…•1939

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