<P> Cotton Mather was born in 1663 . After graduating from Harvard College, he followed in his father's footsteps, becoming pastor of the Second Church of Boston . He continued in this role from 1685 until his death in 1728 . </P> <P> Mather began with an explanation of how the people of God were living in the devil's territories . He discussed the devil's plan to overturn the plantation and churches with the help of witches . </P> <P> "...An army of devils is horribly broke in upon the place which is the center, and after a sort, the first - born of our English settlements...</P> <P> Mather prefaced the trials by saying he would recount them as a historian . One of the trials included was Martha Carrier's, who was "(t) he person of whom the confessions of the witches, and of her own children among the rest, agreed that the devil had promised her she should be Queen of the Hebrews ." Mather presented testimonies against Martha Carrier, all of which presumed her to be guilty . </P>

The wonders of the invisible world by cotton mather