An Earnest Exhortation to New England - Puritan Increase Mather "God who sometimes said unto Jerusalem, be instructed lest my Soul depart from thee, and thou become desolate, a Land not inhabited, doth by his solemn Judgements in like manner call from Heaven upon New-England, saying, be thou instructed, lest I depart from thee, and thou become desolate without an English Inhabitant. Wherefore we are to be exhorted (and Oh that we might be persuaded) since we have been brought into such a bleeding state, to make a right improvement of this dreadful Dispensation. O let not the Lord complain of New-England as sometimes of Israel, My People know not the Judgement of the Lord." http://www.puritanaudiobooks.net/ SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/stack45ny Puritan Reformed Audiobooks playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzOwqed_gET1LMZlDNOqxx58LREHCiLsD https://www.facebook.com/ChristianDevotionalReadings/ Increase Mather (June 21, 1639 – August 23, 1723) was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay (now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, and the administration of Harvard College. He was the son of Richard Mather, and the father of Cotton Mather, both influential Puritan ministers. Early life Mather was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on June 21, 1639 to Rev. Richard Mather and Kathrine Holt Mather, following their participation in the Great Migration from England due to nonconformity with the Church of England. He was the youngest of six brothers, the others being: Samuel, Nathaniel, Eleazar, Joseph, and Timothy. Three of his brothers (Samuel, Nathaniel and Eleazar) also became ministers. Education In 1651 Mather was admitted to Harvard University where he roomed with and studied under Robert Massey. When he graduated in 1656 with a B.A., he began to train for the ministry and gave his first sermon on his 18th birthday. He quickly left Massachusetts and went to Ireland, where he studied at Trinity College, Dublin for an M.A.. He graduated in 1659, and spent the next 3 years as a chaplain attached to a garrison in the Channel Islands. During his time at Trinity College he was licensed as a Commonwealth Minister by Oliver Cromwell to the joint charge of St. Tida's Church at Ballyscullion, and St. Swithan's Church in Magherafelt. On Cromwell's death in 1658 his joint charge at these South Londonderry churches was quickly severed by the new authorities. Harvard later awarded him the first honorary degree in the New World, becoming a Doctor of Sacred Theology, in 1692. Establishing himself in Massachusetts In 1661, with the advent of the English Restoration and resurgence of Anglicanism, Increase returned to Massachusetts, where he married Maria Cotton. She was his step-sister by virtue of his father's marriage to Sarah Hankredge, widow of John Cotton and mother of Maria. She gave birth to Cotton Mather in 1663. In 1676, he published A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New-England, a contemporary account of King Philip's War. He was ordained as minister of the North Church, whose congregation included many of the upper class and governing class, on May 27, 1664. He held this post until he died. Harvard University On June 11, 1685 he became the Acting President of Harvard University (then Harvard College) and steadily advanced: A little over a year later on July 23, 1686 he was appointed the Rector. On June 27, 1692, he became the President of Harvard, a position which he held until September 6, 1701. He was rarely present on campus or in the town, especially during his term of Rector as he was out of the Colony for all but two years of his term in that office. Despite his absences he did make some changes: re implementation of Greek and Hebrew instruction, replacement of classical Roman authors with Biblical and Christian authors in ethics classes, enactment of requirements that students attend classes regularly, live and eat on campus, and that seniors not haze other students. Later life and death In August 1714, following the death of his wife Maria, he married, to Ann (maiden name unknown). On September 27, 1722, he fainted and was bedridden thereafter. In August 1723 he suffered bladder failure and died three weeks later on August 23, 1723, in Boston, aged 84. He was buried on Copp's Hill. Before his death, he took lodging at the retreat of Mineral Spring Pond to recover from his illness and drink from the famous healing waters of the springs from Spring Pond.