Increase Mather, Cotton Mather’s father, advised caution about relying on spectral evidence during the Salem witch trials. He was a prominent Boston minister who joined other clergy in warning that visions or apparitions alone should not justify condemning an accused person.
After Bridget Bishop was executed in June 1692, Governor William Phips sought ministers’ advice about the court’s methods. Increase Mather and other ministers replied that spectral testimony could be deceptive because the Devil might appear in the shape of an innocent person. Their advice was cautious rather than a complete rejection of prosecuting witchcraft.
Increase developed the argument in Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits, completed in October 1692 and published soon afterward. The book argued that taking a life solely because a specter accused someone risked shedding innocent blood. It also criticized the touch test, another practice used in the investigations.
The qualification matters: Mather’s later postscript defended the judges and claimed they had relied on more than spectral evidence. Thus, he opposed treating spectral testimony as sufficient by itself, but did not consistently repudiate the entire Salem prosecution.