His natural vanity was never subdued, though it was
often chastened by trial and bitter disappointment. But, like his
father, he was an omnivorous reader and a facile producer of
books, carrying daily such burdens of mental and spiritual
excitement as would have crushed a normal man. Increase Mather
published some one hundred and fifty books and pamphlets: Cotton
Mather not less than four hundred. The Rev. John Norton, in his
sketch of John Cotton, remarks that "the hen, which brings not
forth without uncessant sitting night and day, is an apt emblem
of students." Certainly the hen is an apt emblem of the
"uncessant" sitter, the credulous scratcher, the fussy cackler
who produced the "Magnalia."
Yet he had certain elements of greatness. His tribal loyalty was
perfect. His ascetic devotion to his conception of religious
truth was absolute. His Diary, which has recently been published
in full, records his concern for the chief political events in
Europe in his day, no less than his brooding solicitude for the
welfare of his townspeople, and his agony of spirit over the
lapses of his wayward eldest son.
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