ny, to ask Mather to "prepare a plausible record of some, if not all, of the trials." (Miller, From Colony to Province 200). While I do not doubt that Mather "was commissioned to absolve" those who presided over the trials and sentenced the accused to death and prison, I find it difficult to believe that he intended Wonders to absolve anyone involved or to provide an apology for the events surrounding the witchcraft trials in Salem. I believe that one of Mather's primary aims in writing Wonders was not to absolve anyone but rather to provide instruction for all involved on how to rationally deal with the phantasms presented to the passions by the devil. My view of Wonders as a document of instruction, leads me to the conclusion that it is a well thought out work with a definite structure and theme rather than a hastily put together apology, halfheartedly done by a reluctant and coerced Mather.
             Wonders has three major parts. The three major parts are firstly "Enchantments Encountered"; secondly "A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World/ An H
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