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395:, etc) it is unlikely they would have taken Wigglesworth's criticisms lightly. Wigglesworth had been astute in believing the end of his life was near and he passed away within a year (June 10, 1705) of writing the letter. The Mathers quickly began to assert themselves relative to their fellow pastor's posthumous legacy. Cotton Mather gained access to his diary and private papers and quoted from them in a sermon preached at Malden on June 24, 1705. The Mathers had this sermon printed in Boston and a copy was signed by Increase Mather and sent to the church at Malden.
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I fear (amongst our many other provocations) that God hath a controversy with us about what was done in the time of the
Witchcraft. I fear that innocent blood hath been shed, and that many have had their hands defiled therewith... Paul, a Pharisee, persecuted the Church of God, shed the blood of God's Saints, and yet obtained mercy, because he did it in ignorance; but how doth he bewail it, and shame himself for it, before God and men afterwards.
274:, its author was known as a "genial philanthropist, so cheerful that some of his friends thought he could not be so sick as he averred. Dr. Peabody used to call him 'a man of the beatitudes', ministering not alone to the spiritual but to the physical needs of his flock, having studied medicine for that purpose," according to
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Rev. and Dear Sir, I am right well assured that both yourself, your son, and the rest of our brethren with you in Boston, have a deep sense upon your spirits of the awful symptoms of the Divine displeasure that we lie under at this day...give me leave to impart some of my serious and solemn thoughts.
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During the witchcraft trials in 1692, this group of ministers met often in the library and were solicited for advice regarding witchcraft doctrine. Wigglesworth was in attendance at a number of meetings that year but is not recorded as having had much to say. His famous poem "Day of Doom" published
344:
After the trials were ended, churchmembers in Salem
Village who had suffered, or lost loved ones, sought a Church Council to hear grievances against their pastor Parris and they were supported in this effort by Willard. Parris stalled for as long as he could and then sought allies, writing to the
244:
On April 5, 1653, Wigglesworth wrote, "I find my spirit so exceedingly carried with love to my pupils that I can't tell how to take up my rest in God." On July 4, 1653, he struggled with "filthy lust" inspired by "my fond affection for my students while in their presence." Wigglesworth married in
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households. As late as 1828 it was stated that "many aged persons were still alive who could repeat it, as it had been taught them with their catechism; and the more widely one reads in the voluminous sermons of that generation, the more fair will its representation of prevailing theology in New
232:
At one point, Wigglesworth was overcome with a psychosomatic disorder in which he felt he should not preach. His confused and disappointed congregation elected to find a replacement for
Wigglesworth, an unnamed preacher who went on to embezzle funds from the church. Thereafter, Wigglesworth was
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Finally, feeling that he was near the end of his life, on July 22, 1704, Wigglesworth was compelled "to leave my testimony before I leave the world" and he wrote a passionate letter to
Increase Mather which directly addresses the minister's culpability in the events of 1692:
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In his diaries, Wigglesworth expressed an overwhelming sense of inferiority, shown in his refusal to accept the presidency of
Harvard due to lack of self-confidence, and again when he married his cousin because, he claimed he was not good enough to find another woman.
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England appear." A less polemic analysis of the work might also show its rich use of dramatic imagery, combining a number of references from both Hebrew and
Christian scriptures, and note the interlocked complexity of its double-rhymed octasina (8-syllable) lines.
382:
Wigglesworth also went a step further in exhorting
Increase Mather to express a statement of contrition "to the Rev. Samuel Willard." Increase Mather had lost the presidency of the college to Willard in 1701 and retained a great bitterness about it at this time.
240:
Wigglesworth was plagued by his attraction to his male students, many of whom were his close contemporaries in age. The passages in his diary about these attractions are written in a secret code, allowing him to be explicit about his feelings and his fears.
366:; and the more particularly and personally it is done by all that have been actors, the more pleasing it will be to God... the whole country lies under a curse... til some effectual course is taken by our honored Governor and General Court
345:
Mathers, and also inviting
Wigglesworth through his church at Malden. It is unclear why Parris would have considered Wigglesworth a possible ally. In any event, Wigglesworth did not attend the Council which took place April 3, 1695.
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and "God's
Controversy with New England," (1662). The latter poem was unpublished, yet provides a lengthy commentary on the fears of Puritans that they would be stricken by God for their sin, and persecuted by House of Stuart.
245:
1655, but his attraction to men continued. The day after his marriage
Wigglesworth confessed to his diary: "I feel stirrings and strongly of my former distemper even after the use of marriage --which makes me exceeding afraid."
341:") of Increase Mather's essay "Cases Concerning Evil Spirits." Increase Mather himself does not appear to have been in attendance at this meeting and his son Cotton Mather famously refused to sign Willard's introduction.
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262:(1903), that says it "attained immediately a phenomenal popularity. Eighteen hundred copies were sold within a year, and for the next century it held a secure place in New England
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I think, and am verily persuaded, God expects that we do the like, in order to our obtaining his pardon: I mean by a Public and Solemn acknowledgment of it and humiliation for it
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some 30 years prior has only one brief mention of the word "witch." Unlike the Mathers, witchcraft does not appear to have been a subject of great interest to him.
708:"...the college was... put into the hands of Mr Willard as Vice President, who readily accepted of the offer without so much as once consulting with me about it."
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ruined by taking away and making havoc of their estates... I have with a weak body and trembling hand, endeavored to leave my testimony before I leave the world.
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Wigglesworth believed that he was essentially not worthy of believing in God as a result of his depraved humanity. When he underwent a series of
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There seems to be no record of a direct response from the Mathers, but judging from their past reactions (see controversy over formation of
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Salem Village Church Recordbook, with entries by Parris, is held by Danvers Library. Parris notes the pressure coming from Willard in the
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A daughter Mercy Wigglesworth was born February 21, 1655. With his second wife he had six children, including Samuel Wigglesworth born
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Yet he was widowed twice, and married a third time: Mary Reyner in 1655, Martha Mudge in 1679 and Sybil (Avery) Spearhawk in 1691.
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in 1862 London reprint. Willard's introduction p 221 and the signers of the introduction, including Wigglesworth,
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It is therefore exceeding necessary that in such a day as this, men be informed what is evidence and what is not.
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What seems to be a much abridged version of the sermon is re-printed with an 1867 reprint of Wigglesworth's
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Robert Calef, More Wonders of the Invisible World, 1700, reprinted as The Witchcraft Delusion, Vol II, 1866
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in 1651 and taught there as a tutor until 1654, sometimes preaching in Charlestown and
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Despite the fierce denunciations of sinners and the terrible images of damnation in
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transcribed and printed by Colonial Society of Massachusetts, December, 1946,
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transcribed and printed by Colonial Society of Massachusetts, December, 1946
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The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657: The Conscience of a Puritan
498:, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1903 single-volume edition, pp. 47–48.
715:. This passage was written in 1703 according to introduction by MG Hall.
164:, Lincolnshire, and his mother was Ester Middlebrook of Wrawby (born in
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Matthiessen, Francis Otto. "Michael Wigglesworth, a Puritan Artist."
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when it formed in 1690, organized by the twenty-seven-year-old Rev.
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American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America
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Rev. Wigglesworth was among the area ministers invited to join the
168:), who married on October 27, 1629, in Wrawby. The family moved to
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Colonial Prose and Poetry: The Beginnings of Americanism 1650–1710
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Biography page from the Heath Anthology of American Literature
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A. W. McClure, J. G. Adams, William H. Richardson, Jr., eds.,
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758:, Puritan New England poet and contemporary of Wigglesworth
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On October 3, 1692, Wigglesworth signed his name to Rev.
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Charles W. Upham quotes extensively from this letter in
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or a Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgment
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reinstated and encouraged to take up preaching again.
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in his early life, he was thereafter convinced of his
509:"Wigglesworth Family Papers: Guide to the Collection"
160:. His father was Edward Wigglesworth, born 1603 in
152:Michael Wigglesworth was born October 18, 1631, in
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195:in 1654 but was not actually ordained until 1656.
446:BELOW MAULDEN’S PHYSITIAN FOR SOUL AND BODY TWO.
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837:Biography from PBS Documentary Out of the Past
867:English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
511:. Massachusetts Historical Society. July 1988
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812:Wigglesworth, Michael, ed. Ronald A. Bosco.
806:The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657
546:The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657
530:The Diary of Michael Wigglesworth, 1653-1657
325:When they joined, ministers signed the book.
470:And waits with joy to see his Day of Doom.
897:17th-century New England Puritan ministers
724:Sibley's Harvard Graduates, vol III, 1885
494:Trent, William P. and Wells, Benjamin W.,
462:From hence he's to unbodied spirits flown.
458:And now he's gone beyond the Eater's reach
293:Salem Witchcraft Trials and Accountability
207:Edward Michael Wigglesworth (c. 1693–1765)
20:
827:About Michael Wigglesworth and his Poetry
464:Once his rare skill did all diseases heal
456:His pen did once Meat from the Eater take
134:minister, physician, and poet whose poem
590:(Boston: Geo. C. Rand & Co., 1850).
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762:Early American publishers and printers
460:His body once so thin was next to none
442:Ye 10 1705 IN Ye 74TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.
418:The headstone of Michael Wigglesworth.
625:Cotton Mather letter October 20, 1692
337:'s short and forceful introduction ("
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466:And he doth nothing now uneasy feel.
403:Wigglesworth died June 10, 1705, in
281:Other works by Wigglesworth include
816:(University Press of America, 1989)
283:God's Controversy with New England,
917:People from colonial Massachusetts
892:Clergy from colonial Massachusetts
694:Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather
444:HERE LIES INTERRED IN SILENT GRAVE
434:AT MAULDEN , < > YEARS WHO
172:in 1638. They originally lived in
16:American puritan minister and poet
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927:American male non-fiction writers
902:People from Malden, Massachusetts
814:The Poems of Michael Wigglesworth
468:He to his paradise is joyful come
451:An encomium to his memory says,
710:Autobiography of Increase Mather
668:Salem Village Church Recordbook
588:The Bi-Centennial Book of Malden
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641:Wonders of the Invisible World
432:PASTOUR OF Ye CHURCH OF CHRIST
191:. He became a minister at the
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862:17th-century Christian clergy
601:Cambridge Association Minutes
440:OF REST ON Ye LORD’S DAY JUNE
436:FINISHED HIS WORK AND ENTERED
387:The Mathers' Oblique Response
368:to make amends and reparation
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71:Province of Massachusetts Bay
882:Calvinist and Reformed poets
424:HERE LYES BURIED Ye BODY OF
872:17th-century American poets
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877:American religious writers
211:American Revolutionary War
174:Charlestown, Massachusetts
140:was a bestseller in early
639:bound with Cotton Mather
276:Colonial Prose and Poetry
260:Colonial Prose and Poetry
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907:Poets from Massachusetts
777:(1928) 1#4 pp: 491–504.
430:MR. MICHAEL WIGGLESWORTH
428:JESUS CHRIST Ye REVEREND
426:THAT FAITHFUL SERVANT OF
438:APON AN ETERNAL SABBATH
373:for supposed witchcraft
887:Harvard College alumni
657:October 13,1693, entry
577:Trent and Wells, ibid.
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286:Meat out of the Eater,
193:First Parish in Malden
178:New Haven, Connecticut
775:New England Quarterly
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393:Brattle Square church
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349:To Leave My Testimony
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304:Cambridge Association
298:Cambridge Association
251:In 1662 he published
189:Malden, Massachusetts
176:, then soon moved to
128:Michael Wigglesworth
25:Michael Wigglesworth
912:American male poets
310:and the elder Rev.
223:nocturnal emissions
790:Morgan, Edmund S.
783:Morgan, Edmund S.
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183:He graduated from
130:(1631–1705) was a
740:and other works,
599:Typescript here:
559:"Out of the Past"
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99:Notable work
61:(1705-06-10)
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857:1705 deaths
852:1631 births
738:Day of Doom
203: 1689
170:New England
142:New England
105:Day of Doom
846:Categories
515:August 18,
37:1631-10-18
227:damnation
154:Yorkshire
112:Signature
45:Yorkshire
779:in JSTOR
750:See also
696:, 1869,
264:Puritan
185:Harvard
162:Scotton
158:England
132:Puritan
49:England
794:(1970)
405:Malden
166:Batley
148:Family
67:Malden
742:p 114
713:p 351
682:p 151
645:p 224
637:Cases
476:Notes
399:Death
726:p 88
698:p 67
614:p 30
534:here
517:2010
217:Work
56:Died
31:Born
564:PBS
88:Era
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