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Upham. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .dropcap {float: left; width: .9em; font-size: 250%; line-height: 83%;} + + .footnotes {border: none;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + + + + + +<h3>AMERICAN CLASSICS</h3> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<h1>SALEM WITCHCRAFT</h1> + +<h3><i>With an Account of Salem Village<br /> +and<br /> +A History of Opinions on<br /> +Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects</i></h3> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>CHARLES W. UPHAM</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<h3><i>Volume II</i></h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h3><a href="salemcontents.html">CONTENTS</a></h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p style="text-align: center">FREDERICK UNGAR PUBLISHING CO.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><i>New York</i></p> + + +<p style="text-align: center"> +[<b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Originally published 1867]</p> + + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<i>Fourth Printing, 1969</i><br /> +<i>Printed in the United States of America</i><br /> +Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 59-10887</p> + +<p> </p> + + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="frontispiece"> +<img src="images2/image14.jpg" alt="The Philip English House" width="386" height="269" /></a></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><b>THE PHILIP ENGLISH HOUSE.—<span class="smcap">Vol.</span> +II., <a href="#Page_ii.142">142</a>.</b></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.1" id="Page_ii.1">[ii.1]</a></span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"> <a name="witchhill"><img src="images2/image15.jpg" alt="Witch Hill. 1866." width="600" height="177" /></a></p> + + + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + + + +<h2><a name="PART_THIRD" id="PART_THIRD"></a>PART THIRD.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h3>WITCHCRAFT AT SALEM VILLAGE.</h3> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span><b> E</b> left Mr. Parris in the early part of November, 1691, at the crisis +of his controversy with the inhabitants of Salem Village, under +circumstances which seemed to indicate that its termination was near +at hand. The opposition to him had assumed a form which made it quite +probable that it would succeed in dislodging him from his position. +But the end was not yet. Events were ripening that were to give him a +new and fearful strength, and open a scene in which he was to act a +part destined to attract the notice of the world, and become a +permanent portion of human history. The doctrines of demonology had +produced their full effect upon the minds of men, and every thing was +ready for a final display of their power. The story of the Goodwin +children, as told by Cotton Mather, was known and read in all the +dwellings of the land, and filled the imaginations of a credulous age. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.2" id="Page_ii.2">[ii.2]</a></span>Deputy-governor Danforth had begun the work of arrests; and persons +charged with witchcraft, belonging to neighboring towns, were already +in prison.</p> + +<p>Mr. Parris appears to have had in his family several slaves, probably +brought by him from the West Indies. One of them, whom he calls, in +his church-record book, "my negro lad," had died, a year or two +before, at the age of nineteen. Two of them were man and wife. The +former was always known by the name of "John Indian;" the latter was +called "Tituba." These two persons may have originated the "Salem +witchcraft." They are spoken of as having come from New Spain, as it +was then called,—that is, the Spanish West Indies, and the adjacent +mainlands of Central and South America,—and, in all probability, +contributed, from the wild and strange superstitions prevalent among +their native tribes, materials which, added to the commonly received +notions on such subjects, heightened the infatuation of the times, and +inflamed still more the imaginations of the credulous. Persons +conversant with the Indians of Mexico, and on both sides of the +Isthmus, discern many similarities in their systems of demonology with +ideas and practices developed here.</p> + +<p>Mr. Parris's former residence in the neighborhood of the Spanish Main, +and the prominent part taken by his Indian slaves in originating the +proceedings at the village, may account for some of the features of +the transaction.</p> + +<p>During the winter of 1691 and 1692, a circle of young girls had been +formed, who were in the habit of meeting at Mr. Parris's house for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.3" id="Page_ii.3">[ii.3]</a></span>purpose of practising palmistry, and other arts of fortune-telling, +and of becoming experts in the wonders of necromancy, magic, and +spiritualism. It consisted, besides the Indian servants, mainly of the +following persons:—</p> + +<p>Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Parris, was nine years of age. She seems to +have performed a leading part in the first stages of the affair, and +must have been a child of remarkable precocity. It is a noticeable +fact, that her father early removed her from the scene. She was sent +to the town, where she remained in the family of Stephen Sewall, until +the proceedings at the village were brought to a close. Abigail +Williams, a niece of Mr. Parris, and a member of his household, was +eleven years of age. She acted conspicuously in the witchcraft +prosecutions from beginning to end. Ann Putnam, daughter of Sergeant +Thomas Putnam, the parish clerk or recorder, was twelve years of age. +The character and social position of her parents gave her a prominence +which an extraordinary development of the imaginative faculty, and of +mental powers generally, enabled her to hold throughout. This young +girl is perhaps entitled to be regarded as, in many respects, the +leading agent in all the mischief that followed. Mary Walcot was +seventeen years of age. Her father was Jonathan Walcot (<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_225">vol. i. p. +225</a>). His first wife, Mary Sibley, to whom he was married in 1664, had +died in 1683. She was the mother of Mary. It is a singular fact, and +indicates the estimation in which Captain Walcot was held, that, +although not a church-member, he filled the office of deacon of the +parish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.4" id="Page_ii.4">[ii.4]</a></span> for several years before the formation of the church. Mercy +Lewis was also seventeen years of age. When quite young, she was, for +a time, in the family of the Rev. George Burroughs: and, in 1692, was +living as a servant in the family of Thomas Putnam; although, +occasionally, she seems to have lived, in the same capacity, with that +of John Putnam, Jr., the constable of the village. He was a son of +Nathaniel, and resided in the neighborhood of Thomas and Deacon Edward +Putnam. Mercy Lewis performed a leading part in the proceedings, had +great energy of purpose and capacity of management, and became +responsible for much of the crime and horror connected with them. +Elizabeth Hubbard, seventeen years of age, who also occupies a bad +eminence in the scene, was a niece of Mrs. Dr. Griggs, and lived in +her family. Elizabeth Booth and Susannah Sheldon, each eighteen years +of age, belonged to families in the neighborhood. Mary Warren, twenty +years of age, was a servant in the family of John Procter; and Sarah +Churchill, of the same age, was a servant in that of George Jacobs, +Sr. These two last were actuated, it is too apparent, by malicious +feelings towards the families in which they resided, and contributed +largely to the horrible tragedy. The facts to be exhibited will enable +every one who carefully considers them, to form an estimate, for +himself, of the respective character and conduct of these young +persons. It is almost beyond belief that they were wholly actuated by +deliberate and cold-blooded malignity. Their crime would, in that +view, have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.5" id="Page_ii.5">[ii.5]</a></span> without a parallel in monstrosity of wickedness, and +beyond what can be imagined of the guiltiest and most depraved +natures. For myself, I am unable to determine how much may be +attributed to credulity, hallucination, and the delirium of +excitement, or to deliberate malice and falsehood. There is too much +evidence of guile and conspiracy to attribute all their actions and +declarations to delusion; and their conduct throughout was stamped +with a bold assurance and audacious bearing. With one or two slight +and momentary exceptions, there was a total absence of compunction or +commiseration, and a reckless disregard of the agonies and destruction +they were scattering around them. They present a subject that justly +claims, and will for ever task, the examination of those who are most +competent to fathom the mysteries of the human soul, sound its depths, +and measure the extent to which it is liable to become wicked and +devilish. It will be seen that other persons were drawn to act with +these "afflicted children," as they were called, some from contagious +delusion, and some, as was quite well proved, from a false, +mischievous, and malignant spirit.</p> + +<p>Besides the above-mentioned persons, there were three married women, +rather under middle life, who acted with the afflicted children,—Mrs. +Ann Putnam, the mother of the child of that name; Mrs. Pope; and a +woman, named Bibber, who appears to have lived at Wenham. Another +married woman,—spoken of as "ancient,"—named Goodell, had also been +in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.6" id="Page_ii.6">[ii.6]</a></span> habit of attending their meetings; but she is not named in any +of the documents on file, and was probably withdrawn, at an early +period, from participating in the transaction.</p> + +<p>In the course of the winter, they became quite skilful and expert in +the arts they were learning, and gradually began to display their +attainments to the admiration and amazement of beholders. At first, +they made no charges against any person, but confined themselves to +strange actions, exclamations, and contortions. They would creep into +holes, and under benches and chairs, put themselves into odd and +unnatural postures, make wild and antic gestures, and utter incoherent +and unintelligible sounds. They would be seized with spasms, drop +insensible to the floor, or writhe in agony, suffering dreadful +tortures, and uttering loud and piercing outcries. The attention of +the families in which they held their meetings was called to their +extraordinary condition and proceedings; and the whole neighborhood +and surrounding country soon were filled with the story of the strange +and unaccountable sufferings of the "afflicted girls." No explanation +could be given, and their condition became worse and worse. The +physician of the village, Dr. Griggs, was called in, a consultation +had, and the opinion finally and gravely given, that the afflicted +children were bewitched. It was quite common in those days for the +faculty to dispose of difficult cases by this resort. When their +remedies were baffled, and their skill at fault, the patient was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.7" id="Page_ii.7">[ii.7]</a></span> said +to be "under an evil hand." In all cases, the sage conclusion was +received by nurses, and elderly women called in on such occasions, if +the symptoms were out of the common course, or did not yield to the +prescriptions these persons were in the habit of applying. Very soon, +the whole community became excited and alarmed to the highest degree. +All other topics were forgotten. The only thing spoken or thought of +was the terrible condition of the afflicted children in Mr. Parris's +house, or wherever, from time to time, the girls assembled. They were +the objects of universal compassion and wonder. The people flocked +from all quarters to witness their sufferings, and gaze with awe upon +their convulsions. Becoming objects of such notice, they were +stimulated to vary and expand the manifestations of the extraordinary +influence that was upon them. They extended their operations beyond +the houses of Mr. Parris, and the families to which they belonged, to +public places; and their fits, exclamations, and outcries disturbed +the exercises of prayer meetings, and the ordinary services of the +congregation. On one occasion, on the Lord's Day, March 20th, when the +singing of the psalm previous to the sermon was concluded, before the +person preaching—Mr. Lawson—could come forward, Abigail Williams +cried out, "Now stand up, and name your text." When he had read it, in +a loud and insolent voice she exclaimed, "It's a long text." In the +midst of the discourse, Mrs. Pope broke in, "Now, there is enough of +that." In the afternoon of the same day, while re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.8" id="Page_ii.8">[ii.8]</a></span>ferring to the +doctrine he had been expounding in the preceding service, Abigail +Williams rudely ejaculated, "I know no doctrine you had. If you did +name one, I have forgot it." An aged member of the church was present, +against whom a warrant on the charge of witchcraft had been procured +the day before. Being apprised of the proceeding, Abigail Williams +spoke aloud, during the service, calling by name the person about to +be apprehended, "Look where she sits upon the beam, sucking her +yellow-bird betwixt her fingers." Ann Putnam, joining in, exclaimed, +"There is a yellow-bird sitting on the minister's hat, as it hangs on +the pin in the pulpit." Mr. Lawson remarks, with much simplicity, that +these things, occurring "in the time of public worship, did something +interrupt me in my first prayer, being so unusual." But he braced +himself up to the emergency, and went on with the service. There is no +intimation that Mr. Parris rebuked his niece for her disorderly +behavior. As at several other times, the people sitting near Ann +Putnam had to lay hold of her to prevent her proceeding to greater +extremities, and wholly breaking up the meeting. The girls were +supposed to be under an irresistible and supernatural impulse; and, +instead of being severely punished, were looked upon with mingled +pity, terror, and awe, and made objects of the greatest attention. Of +course, where members of the minister's family were countenanced in +such proceedings, during the exercises of public worship, on the +Lord's Day, in the meeting-house, it was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.9" id="Page_ii.9">[ii.9]</a></span> strange that people in +general yielded to the excitement. But all did not. Several members of +the family of Francis Nurse, Peter Cloyse and wife, and Joseph Putnam, +expressed their disapprobation of such doings being allowed, and +absented themselves from meeting. Perhaps others took the same course; +but whoever did were marked, as the sequel will show.</p> + +<p>In the mean while the excitement was worked up to the highest pitch. +The families to which several of the "afflicted children" belonged +were led to apply themselves to fasting and prayer, on which occasions +the neighbors, under the guidance of the minister, would assemble, and +unite in invocations to the Divine Being to interpose and deliver them +from the snares and dominion of Satan. The "afflicted children" who +might be present would not, as a general thing, interrupt the prayers +while in progress, but would break out with their wild outcries and +convulsive spasms in the intervals of the service. In due time, Mr. +Parris sent for the neighboring ministers to assemble at his house, +and unite with him in devoting a day to solemn religious services and +earnest supplications to the throne of Mercy for rescue from the power +of the great enemy of souls. The ministers spent the day in Mr. +Parris's house, and the children performed their feats before their +eyes. The reverend gentlemen were astounded at what they saw, fully +corroborated the opinion of Dr. Griggs, and formally declared their +belief that the Evil One had commenced his operations with a bolder +front and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.10" id="Page_ii.10">[ii.10]</a></span> on a broader scale than ever before in this or any other +country.</p> + +<p>This judgment of the ministers was quickly made known everywhere; and, +if doubt remained in any mind, it was suppressed by the irresistible +power of an overwhelming public conviction. Individuals were lost in +the universal fanaticism. Society was dissolved into a wild and +excited crowd. Men and women left their fields, their houses, their +labors and employments, to witness the awful unveiling of the demoniac +power, and to behold the workings of Satan himself upon the victims of +his wrath.</p> + +<p>It must be borne in mind, that it was then an established doctrine in +theology, philosophy, and law, that the Devil could not operate upon +mortals, or mortal affairs, except through the intermediate +instrumentality of human beings in confederacy with him, that is, +witches or wizards. The question, of course, in all minds and on all +tongues, was, "Who are the agents of the Devil in afflicting these +girls? There must be some among us thus acting, and who are they?" For +some time the girls held back from mentioning names; or, if they did, +it was prevented from being divulged to the public. In the mean time, +the excitement spread and deepened. At length the people had become so +thoroughly prepared for the work, that it was concluded to begin +operations in earnest. The continued pressure upon the "afflicted +children," the earnest and importunate inquiry, on all sides, "Who is +it that bewitches you?" opened their lips in response, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.11" id="Page_ii.11">[ii.11]</a></span> they began +to select and bring forward their victims. One after another, they +cried out "Good," "Osburn," "Tituba." On the 29th of February, 1692, +warrants were duly issued against those persons. It is observable, +that the complainants who procured the warrants in these cases were +Joseph Hutchinson, Edward Putnam, Thomas Putnam, and Thomas Preston. +This fact shows how nearly unanimous, at this time, was the conviction +that the sufferings of the girls were the result of witchcraft. Joseph +Hutchinson was a firm-minded man, of strong common sense, and from his +general character and ways of thinking and acting, one of the last +persons liable to be carried away by a popular enthusiasm, and was +found among the earliest rescued from it. Thomas Preston was a +son-in-law of Francis Nurse.</p> + +<p>As all was ripe for the development of the plot, extraordinary means +were taken to give publicity, notoriety, and effect to the first +examinations. On the 1st of March the two leading magistrates of the +neighborhood, men of great note and influence, whose fathers had been +among the chief founders of the settlement, and who were +Assistants,—that is, members of the highest legislative and judicial +body in the colony, combining with the functions of a senate those of +a court of last resort with most comprehensive jurisdiction,—John +Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, entered the village, in imposing array, +escorted by the marshal, constables, and their aids, with all the +trappings of their offices; reined up at Nathaniel In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.12" id="Page_ii.12">[ii.12]</a></span>gersoll's +corner, and dismounted at his door. The whole population of the +neighborhood, apprised of the occasion, was gathered on the lawn, or +came flocking along the roads. The crowd was so great that it was +necessary to adjourn to the meeting-house, which was filled at once by +a multitude excited to the highest pitch of indignation and abhorrence +towards the prisoners, and of curiosity to witness the novel and +imposing spectacle and proceedings. The magistrates took seats in +front of the pulpit, facing the assembly; a long table or raised +platform being placed before them; and it was announced, that they +were ready to enter upon the examination. On bringing in and +delivering over the accused parties, the officers who had executed the +warrants stated that they "had made diligent search for images and +such like, but could find none." After prayer, Constable George Locker +produced the body of Sarah Good; and Constable Joseph Herrick, the +bodies of Sarah Osburn, and Tituba Mr. Parris's Indian woman. The +evidence seems to indicate, that, on these occasions, the prisoners +were placed on the platform, to keep them from the contact of the +general crowd, and that all might see them.</p> + +<p>Sarah Good was first examined, the other two being removed from the +house for the time. In complaining of her, and bringing her forward +first, the prosecutors showed that they were well advised. There was a +general readiness to receive the charge against her, as she was +evidently the object of much prejudice in the neighborhood. Her +husband, who was a weak,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.13" id="Page_ii.13">[ii.13]</a></span> ignorant, and dependent person, had become +alienated from her. The family were very poor; and she and her +children had sometimes been without a house to shelter them, and left +to wander from door to door for relief. Whether justly or not, she +appears to have been subject to general obloquy. Probably there was no +one in the country around, against whom popular suspicion could have +been more readily directed, or in whose favor and defence less +interest could be awakened. She was a forlorn, friendless, and +forsaken creature, broken down by wretchedness of condition and +ill-repute. The following are the minutes of her examination, as found +among the files:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>The Examination of Sarah Good before the Worshipful Esqrs. +John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin.</i></p> + +<p>"Sarah Good, what evil spirit have you familiarity +with?—None.</p> + +<p>"Have you made no contracts with the Devil?—No.</p> + +<p>"Why do you hurt these children?—I do not hurt them. I +scorn it.</p> + +<p>"Who do you employ then to do it?—I employ nobody.</p> + +<p>"What creature do you employ then?—No creature: but I am +falsely accused.</p> + +<p>"Why did you go away muttering from Mr. Parris his house?—I +did not mutter, but I thanked him for what he gave my child.</p> + +<p>"Have you made no contract with the Devil?—No.</p> + +<p>"Hathorne desired the children all of them to look upon her, +and see if this were the person that hurt them; and so they +all did look upon her, and said this was one of the persons +that did torment them. Presently they were all tormented.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.14" id="Page_ii.14">[ii.14]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sarah Good, do you not see now what you have done? Why do +you not tell us the truth? Why do you thus torment these +poor children?—I do not torment them.</p> + +<p>"Who do you employ then?—I employ nobody. I scorn it.</p> + +<p>"How came they thus tormented?—What do I know? You bring +others here, and now you charge me with it.</p> + +<p>"Why, who was it?—I do not know but it was some you brought +into the meeting-house with you.</p> + +<p>"We brought you into the meeting-house.—But you brought in +two more.</p> + +<p>"Who was it, then, that tormented the children?—It was +Osburn.</p> + +<p>"What is it you say when you go muttering away from persons' +houses?—If I must tell, I will tell.</p> + +<p>"Do tell us then.—If I must tell, I will tell: it is the +Commandments. I may say my Commandments, I hope.</p> + +<p>"What Commandment is it?—If I must tell you, I will tell: +it is a psalm.</p> + +<p>"What psalm?</p> + +<p>"(After a long time she muttered over some part of a psalm.)</p> + +<p>"Who do you serve?—I serve God.</p> + +<p>"What God do you serve?—The God that made heaven and earth +(though she was not willing to mention the word 'God'). Her +answers were in a very wicked, spiteful manner, reflecting +and retorting against the authority with base and abusive +words; and many lies she was taken in. It was here said that +her husband had said that he was afraid that she either was +a witch or would be one very quickly. The worshipful Mr. +Hathorne, asked him his reason why he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.15" id="Page_ii.15">[ii.15]</a></span> said so of her, +whether he had ever seen any thing by her. He answered 'No, +not in this nature; but it was her bad carriage to him: and +indeed,' said he, 'I may say with tears, that she is an +enemy to all good.'"</p></div> + +<p>The foregoing is in the handwriting of Ezekiel Cheever. The following +is in that of John Hathorne:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Salem Village, March the 1st, 1692.—Sarah Good, upon +examination, denied the matter of fact (viz.) that she ever +used any witchcraft, or hurt the abovesaid children, or any +of them.</p> + +<p>"The abovenamed children, being all present, positively +accused her of hurting of them sundry times within this two +months, and also that morning. Sarah Good denied that she +had been at their houses in said time or near them, or had +done them any hurt. All the abovesaid children then present +accused her face to face; upon which they were all +dreadfully tortured and tormented for a short space of time; +and, the affliction and tortures being over, they charged +said Sarah Good again that she had then so tortured them, +and came to them and did it, although she was personally +then kept at a considerable distance from them.</p> + +<p>"Sarah Good being asked if that she did not then hurt them, +who did it; and the children being again tortured, she +looked upon them, and said that it was one of them we +brought into the house with us. We asked her who it was: she +then answered, and said it was Sarah Osburn, and Sarah +Osburn was then under custody, and not in the house; and the +children, being quickly after recovered out of their fit, +said that it was Sarah Good and also Sarah Osburn that then +did hurt and torment or afflict them, although both of them +at the same time at a distance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.16" id="Page_ii.16">[ii.16]</a></span> or remote from them +personally. There were also sundry other questions put to +her, and answers given thereunto by her according as is also +given in."</p></div> + +<p>It will be noticed that the examination was conducted in the form of +questions put by the magistrate, Hathorne, based upon a foregone +conclusion of the prisoner's guilt, and expressive of a conviction, +all along on his part, that the evidence of "the afflicted" against +her amounted to, and was, absolute demonstration. It will also be +noticed, that, severe as was the opinion of her husband in reference +to her general conduct, he could not be made to say that he had ever +noticed any thing in her of the nature of witchcraft. The torments the +girls affected to experience in looking at her must have produced an +overwhelming effect on the crowd, as they did on the magistrate, and +even on the poor, amazed creature herself. She did not seem to doubt +the reality of their sufferings. In this, and in all cases, it must be +remembered that the account of the examination comes to us from those +who were under the wildest excitement against the prisoners; that no +counsel was allowed them; that, if any thing was suffered to be said +in their defence by others, it has failed to reach us; that the +accused persons were wholly unaccustomed to such scenes and exposures, +unsuspicious of the perils of a cross-examination, or of an +inquisition conducted with a design to entrap and ensnare; and that +what they did say was liable to be misunderstood, as well as +misrepresented. We cannot hear their story. All we know is from +parties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.17" id="Page_ii.17">[ii.17]</a></span> prejudiced, to the highest degree, against them. Sarah Good +was an unfortunate and miserable woman in her circumstances and +condition: but, from all that appears on the record, making due +allowance for the credulity, extravagance, prejudice, folly, or +malignity of the witnesses; giving full effect to every thing that can +claim the character of substantial force alleged against her, it is +undeniable, that there was not, beyond the afflicted girls, a particle +of evidence to sustain the charge on which she was arraigned; and +that, in the worst aspect of her case, she was an object for +compassion, rather than punishment. Altogether, the proceedings +against her, which terminated with her execution, were cruel and +shameful to the highest degree.</p> + +<p>On the conclusion of her examination, she was removed from the +meeting-house, and Sarah Osburn brought in. Her selection, as one of +the persons to be first cried out upon, was judicious. The public mind +was prepared to believe the charge against her. Her original name was +Sarah Warren. She was married, April 5, 1662, to Robert Prince, who +belonged to a leading family, and owned a valuable farm. He died +early, leaving her with two young children, James and Joseph.</p> + +<p>In the early colonial period, it was the custom for persons who +desired to come from the old country to America, but had not the means +to defray the expenses of the passage, to let or sell themselves, for +a greater or less length of time, to individuals residing here who +needed their service. The practice continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.18" id="Page_ii.18">[ii.18]</a></span> down to the present +century. Emigrants who thus sold themselves for a period of years were +called "redemptioners." Alexander Osburn came over from Ireland in +this character. The widow of Robert Prince bought out the residue of +his time from the person to whom he was thus under contract, for +fifteen pounds, and employed him to carry on her farm. After a while, +she married him. This, it is probable, gave rise to some criticism; +and, as her boys grew up, became more and more disagreeable to them. +The marriage, as was natural, led to unhappy results. In 1720, after +Osburn had been dead some years, a curious case was brought into +court, in which the sons of Robert Prince testified that Osburn +treated their mother and them with great cruelty and barbarity. They +had become of age before their mother's death, and had signed their +names to a deed conveying away land belonging to their patrimony. The +object of the suit was to invalidate the conveyance by proving that +they were compelled by Osburn to sign the deed, he using threats and +violence upon them at the time. There was an extraordinary conflict of +testimony in the trial; some witnesses strongly corroborating the +accusations of the Princes, and some equally strong in vindication of +the character of Osburn. It was shown, that, in the opinion of several +of his neighbors, he was an industrious, respectable, and worthy +person. It is difficult to determine the precise merits of the case. +After the death of his wife, Osburn married Ruth, a daughter of +William Cantlebury, and widow of William Sibley.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.19" id="Page_ii.19">[ii.19]</a></span> She was a woman of +unquestioned excellence of character, and of a large landed estate. +Osburn was her third husband, the first having been Thomas Small. +After her marriage to Osburn, he and she joined the church, and were +reputable persons in all respects. He was well regarded as a citizen, +and often on the parish committee. Neither he nor the widow Sibley +appear to have been implicated in the witchcraft proceedings in any +other particular than that he testified that his then wife Sarah had +not been for some time at meeting. There is no indication that this +was volunteer testimony. He and his wife Ruth were among the firmest +opponents of Mr. Parris. There is no mention of his having had +children by either of his American wives. His son John, who probably +came with him to the country, was an inhabitant of the Village; and +his name is on the rate-list, for the last time, in 1718, his father +having died some years before. The Osborne family, in this part of the +country, does not appear to have sprung from this source.</p> + +<p>Without attempting to decide where, or in what proportions, the blame +is to be laid, the fact is evident, that the marriage of the widow +Sarah Prince to Alexander Osburn was an unhappy one. Her mind became +depressed, if not distracted. For some time, she had been bedridden. +Of course, as she had occupied a respectable social position, and was +a woman of property, her case naturally gave rise to scandal. Rumor +was busy and gossip rife in reference to her; and it was quite natural +that she should have been suggested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.20" id="Page_ii.20">[ii.20]</a></span> for the accusing girls to pitch +upon. The following is an account of her examination by the +magistrates, in the handwriting of John Hathorne:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sarah Osburne, upon examination, denied the matter of fact, +viz., that she ever understood or used any witchcraft, or +hurt any of the abovesaid children.</p> + +<p>"The children above named, being all personally present, +accused her face to face; which, being done, they were all +hurt, afflicted, and tortured very much; which, being over, +and they out of their fits, they said that said Sarah +Osburne did then come to them, and hurt them, Sarah Osburne +being then kept at a distance personally from them. Sarah +Osburne was asked why she then hurt them. She denied it. It +being asked of her how she could so pinch and hurt them, and +yet she be at that distance personally from them, she +answered she did not then hurt them, nor ever did. She was +asked who, then, did it, or who she employed to do it. She +answered she did not know that the Devil goes about in her +likeness to do any hurt. Sarah Osburne, being told that +Sarah Good, one of her companions, had, upon examination, +accused her, she, notwithstanding, denied the same, +according to her examination, which is more at large given +in, as therein will appear."</p></div> + +<p>The following is in the handwriting of Ezekiel Cheever:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>Sarah Osburn her Examination.</i></p> + +<p>"What evil spirit have you familiarity with?—None.</p> + +<p>"Have you made no contract with the Devil?—No: I never saw +the Devil in my life.</p> + +<p>"Why do you hurt these children?—I do not hurt them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.21" id="Page_ii.21">[ii.21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who do you employ, then, to hurt them?—I employ nobody.</p> + +<p>"What familiarity have you with Sarah Good?—None: I have +not seen her these two years.</p> + +<p>"Where did you see her then?—One day, agoing to town.</p> + +<p>"What communications had you with her?—I had none, only +'How do you do?' or so. I do not know her by name.</p> + +<p>"What did you call her, then?</p> + +<p>"(Osburn made a stand at that; at last, said she called her +Sarah.)</p> + +<p>"Sarah Good saith that it was you that hurt the children.—I +do not know that the Devil goes about in my likeness to do +any hurt.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hathorne desired all the children to stand up, and look +upon her, and see if they did know her, which they all did; +and every one of them said that this was one of the women +that did afflict them, and that they had constantly seen her +in the very habit that she was now in. Three evidences +declared that she said this morning, that she was more like +to be bewitched than that she was a witch. Mr. Hathorne +asked her what made her say so. She answered that she was +frighted one time in her sleep, and either saw, or dreamed +that she saw, a thing like an Indian all black, which did +pinch her in her neck, and pulled her by the back part of +her head to the door of the house.</p> + +<p>"Did you never see any thing else?—No.</p> + +<p>"(It was said by some in the meeting-house, that she had +said that she would never believe that lying spirit any +more.)</p> + +<p>"What lying spirit is this? Hath the Devil ever deceived +you, and been false to you?—I do not know the Devil. I +never did see him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.22" id="Page_ii.22">[ii.22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What lying spirit was it, then?—It was a voice that I +thought I heard.</p> + +<p>"What did it propound to you?—That I should go no more to +meeting; but I said I would, and did go the next +sabbath-day.</p> + +<p>"Were you never tempted further?—No.</p> + +<p>"Why did you yield thus far to the Devil as never to go to +meeting since?—Alas! I have been sick, and not able to go.</p> + +<p>"Her husband and others said that she had not been at +meeting three years and two months."</p></div> + +<p>The foregoing illustrates the unfairness practised by the examining +magistrate. He took for granted, as we shall find to have been the +case in all instances, the guilt of the prisoner, and endeavored to +entangle her by leading questions, thus involving her in +contradiction. By the force of his own assumptions, he had compelled +Sarah Good to admit the reality of the sufferings of the girls, and +that they must be caused by some one. The amount of what she had said +was, that, if caused by one or the other of them, "then it must be +Osburn," for she was sure of her own innocence. This expression, to +which she was driven in self-exculpation, was perverted by the +reporter, Ezekiel Cheever, and by the magistrate, into an indirect +confession and a direct accusation of Osburn. In the absence of Good, +the magistrate told Osburn that Good had confessed and accused her. +This was a misrepresentation of one, and a false and fraudulent trick +upon the other. Considering the feeble condition of Sarah Osburn +generally, the snares by which she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.23" id="Page_ii.23">[ii.23]</a></span> was beset, the distressing and +bewildering circumstances in which she was placed, and the infirm +state of her reason, as evidenced in her statement of what she saw, or +dreamed that she saw and heard,—not having a clear idea which,—her +answers, as reported by the prosecutors, show that her broken and +disordered mind was essentially truthful and innocent.</p> + +<p>Sarah Osburn was removed from the meeting-house, and Tituba brought in +and examined, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Tituba, what evil spirit have you familiarity with?—None.</p> + +<p>"Why do you hurt these children?—I do not hurt them.</p> + +<p>"Who is it then?—The Devil, for aught I know.</p> + +<p>"Did you never see the Devil?—The Devil came to me, and bid +me serve him.</p> + +<p>"Who have you seen?—Four women sometimes hurt the children.</p> + +<p>"Who were they?—Goody Osburn and Sarah Good, and I do not +know who the others were. Sarah Good and Osburn would have +me hurt the children, but I would not.</p> + +<p>"(She further saith there was a tall man of Boston that she +did see.)</p> + +<p>"When did you see them?—Last night, at Boston.</p> + +<p>"What did they say to you?—They said, 'Hurt the children.'</p> + +<p>"And did you hurt them?—No: there is four women and one +man, they hurt the children, and then they lay all upon me; +and they tell me, if I will not hurt the children, they will +hurt me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.24" id="Page_ii.24">[ii.24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But did you not hurt them?—Yes; but I will hurt them no +more.</p> + +<p>"Are you not sorry that you did hurt them?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"And why, then, do you hurt them?—They say, 'Hurt children, +or we will do worse to you.'</p> + +<p>"What have you seen?—A man come to me, and say, 'Serve me.'</p> + +<p>"What service?—Hurt the children: and last night there was +an appearance that said, 'Kill the children;' and, if I +would not go on hurting the children, they would do worse to +me.</p> + +<p>"What is this appearance you see?—Sometimes it is like a +hog, and sometimes like a great dog.</p> + +<p>"(This appearance she saith she did see four times.)</p> + +<p>"What did it say to you?—The black dog said, 'Serve me;' +but I said, 'I am afraid.' He said, if I did not, he would +do worse to me.</p> + +<p>"What did you say to it?—I will serve you no longer. Then +he said he would hurt me; and then he looks like a man, and +threatens to hurt me. (She said that this man had a +yellow-bird that kept with him.) And he told me he had more +pretty things that he would give me, if I would serve him.</p> + +<p>"What were these pretty things?—He did not show me them.</p> + +<p>"What else have you seen?—Two cats; a red cat, and a black +cat.</p> + +<p>"What did they say to you?—They said, 'Serve me.'</p> + +<p>"When did you see them?—Last night; and they said, 'Serve +me;' but I said I would not.</p> + +<p>"What service?—She said, hurt the children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.25" id="Page_ii.25">[ii.25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you not pinch Elizabeth Hubbard this morning?—The man +brought her to me, and made pinch her.</p> + +<p>"Why did you go to Thomas Putnam's last night, and hurt his +child?—They pull and haul me, and make go.</p> + +<p>"And what would they have you do?—Kill her with a knife.</p> + +<p>"(Lieutenant Fuller and others said at this time, when the +child saw these persons, and was tormented by them, that she +did complain of a knife,—that they would have her cut her +head off with a knife.)</p> + +<p>"How did you go?—We ride upon sticks, and are there +presently.</p> + +<p>"Do you go through the trees or over them?—We see nothing, +but are there presently.</p> + +<p>"Why did you not tell your master?—I was afraid: they said +they would cut off my head if I told.</p> + +<p>"Would you not have hurt others, if you could?—They said +they would hurt others, but they could not.</p> + +<p>"What attendants hath Sarah Good?—A yellow-bird, and she +would have given me one.</p> + +<p>"What meat did she give it?—It did suck her between her +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Did you not hurt Mr. Curren's child?—Goody Good and Goody +Osburn told that they did hurt Mr. Curren's child, and would +have had me hurt him too; but I did not.</p> + +<p>"What hath Sarah Osburn?—Yesterday she had a thing with a +head like a woman, with two legs and wings.</p> + +<p>"(Abigail Williams, that lives with her uncle Mr. Parris, +said that she did see the same creature, and it turned into +the shape of Goodie Osburn.)</p> + +<p>"What else have you seen with Osburn?—Another thing, hairy: +it goes upright like a man, it hath only two legs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.26" id="Page_ii.26">[ii.26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you not see Sarah Good upon Elizabeth Hubbard, last +Saturday?—I did see her set a wolf upon her to afflict her.</p> + +<p>"(The persons with this maid did say that she did complain +of a wolf. She further said that she saw a cat with Good at +another time.)</p> + +<p>"What clothes doth the man go in?—He goes in black clothes; +a tall man, with white hair, I think.</p> + +<p>"How doth the woman go?—In a white hood, and a black hood +with a top-knot.</p> + +<p>"Do you see who it is that torments these children +now?—Yes: it is Goody Good; she hurts them in her own +shape.</p> + +<p>"Who is it that hurts them now?—I am blind now: I cannot +see.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"Written by <span class="smcap">Ezekiel Cheever</span>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Salem Village</span>, March the 1st, 1692."</p></div> + +<p>Another report of Tituba's examination has been preserved, and may be +found in the second volume of the collection edited by Samuel G. +Drake, entitled the "Witchcraft Delusion in New England." It is in the +handwriting of Jonathan Corwin, very full and minute, and shows that +the Indian woman was familiar with all the ridiculous and monstrous +fancies then prevalent. The details of her statement cover nearly the +whole ground of them. While indicating, in most respects, a mind at +the lowest level of general intelligence, they give evidence of +cunning and wariness in the highest degree. This document is also +valuable, as it affords information about particulars, incidentally +mentioned and thus rescued from oblivion, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.27" id="Page_ii.27">[ii.27]</a></span> serve to bring back +the life of the past. Tituba describes the dresses of some of the +witches: "A black silk hood, with a white silk hood under it, with +top-knots." One of them wore "a serge coat, with a white cap." The +Devil appeared "in black clothes sometimes, sometimes serge coat of +other color." She speaks of the "lean-to chamber" in the parsonage, +and describes an aërial night ride "up" to Thomas Putnam's. "How did +you go? What did you ride upon?" asked the wondering magistrate. "I +ride upon a stick, or pole, and Good and Osburn behind me: we ride +taking hold of one another; don't know how we go, for I saw no trees +nor path, but was presently there when we were up." In both reports, +Tituba describes, quite graphically, the likenesses in which the Devil +appeared to his confederates; but Corwin gives the details more fully +than Cheever. What the latter reports of the appearances in which the +Devil accompanied Osburn, the former amplifies. "The thing with two +legs and wings, and a face like a woman," "turns" into a full woman. +The "hairy thing" becomes "a thing all over hairy, all the face hairy, +and a long nose, and I don't know how to tell how the face looks; is +about two or three feet high, and goeth upright like a man; and, last +night, it stood before the fire in Mr. Parris's hall."</p> + +<p>It is quite evident that the part played by the Indian woman on this +occasion was pre-arranged. She had, from the first, been concerned +with the circle of girls in their necromantic operations; and her +state<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.28" id="Page_ii.28">[ii.28]</a></span>ments show the materials out of which their ridiculous and +monstrous stories were constructed. She said that there were four who +"hurt the children." Upon being pressed by the magistrate to tell who +they were, she named Osburn and Good, but did "not know who the others +were." Two others were marked; but it was not thought best to bring +them out until these three examinations had first been made to tell +upon the public mind. Tituba had been apprised of Elizabeth Hubbard's +story, that she had been "pinched" that morning; and, as well as +"Lieutenant Fuller and others," had heard of the delirious exclamation +of Thomas Putnam's sick child during the night. "Abigail Williams, +that lives with her uncle Parris," had communicated to the Indian +slave the story of "the woman with two legs and wings." In fact, she +had been fully admitted to their councils, and made acquainted with +all the stories they were to tell. But, when it became necessary to +avoid specifications touching parties whose names it had been decided +not to divulge at that stage of the business, the wily old servant +escapes further interrogation, "I am blind now: I cannot see."</p> + +<p>Proceedings connected with these examinations were continued several +days. The result appears, in the handwriting of John Hathorne, as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Salem Village, March 1, 1691/2.—Tituba, an Indian woman, +brought before us by Constable Jos. Herrick, of Salem, upon +suspicion of witchcraft by her committed, according to the +complaint of Jos. Hutchinson and Thomas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.29" id="Page_ii.29">[ii.29]</a></span> Putnam, &c., of +Salem Village, as appears per warrant granted, Salem, 29th +February, 1691/2. Tituba, upon examination, and after some +denial, acknowledged the matter of fact, as, according to +her examination given in, more fully will appear, and who +also charged Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn with the same.</p> + +<p>"Salem Village, March the 1st, 1691/2.—Sarah Good, Sarah +Osburn, and Tituba, an Indian woman, all of Salem Village, +being this day brought before us, upon suspicion of +witchcraft, &c., by them and every one of them committed; +Tituba, an Indian woman, acknowledging the matter of fact, +and Sarah Osburn and Sarah Good denying the same before us; +but there appearing, in all their examinations, sufficient +ground to secure them all. And, in order to further +examination, they were all <i>per mittimus</i> sent to the jails +in the county of Essex.</p> + +<p>"Salem, March 2.—Sarah Osburn again examined, and also +Tituba, as will appear in their examinations given in. +Tituba again acknowledged the fact, and also accused the +other two.</p> + +<p>"Salem, March 3.—Sarah Osburn, and Tituba, Indian, again +examined. The examination now given in. Tituba again said +the same.</p> + +<p>"Salem, March 5.—Sarah Good and Tituba again examined; and, +in their examination, Tituba acknowledged the same she did +formerly, and accused the other two above said.</p></div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image16.png" width="300" height="85" alt="signatures" /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.30" id="Page_ii.30">[ii.30]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Salem, March the 7th, 1691/2.—Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, +and Tituba, an Indian woman, all sent to the jail in Boston, +according to their <i>mittimuses</i>, then sent to their +Majesties' jail-keeper."</p></div> + +<p>It will be noticed that the magistrates did not venture to put into +this their final record, what they had unfairly tried to make Sarah +Osborn believe, that Sarah Good had been a witness against her. The +jail at Ipswich was at a distance of at least ten miles from the +village meeting-house, by any road that could then have been +travelled. The transference of the prisoners day after day must have +been very fatiguing to a sick woman like Sarah Osburn. Sarah Good +seems to have been able to bear it. Samuel Braybrook, an assistant +constable, having charge of her, says, that, on the way to Ipswich, +she "leaped off her horse three times;" that she "railed against the +magistrates, and endeavored to kill herself." He further testified, +that, at the very time she was performing these feats, Thomas Putnam's +daughter, "at her father's house, declared the same." As Braybrook was +many miles from Thomas Putnam's house, at the moment when his +wonderful daughter exercised this miraculous extent of vision, it +would have been more satisfactory to have had some other testimony to +the fact. I mention this to show of what stuff the evidence in these +cases was made, and the credulity with which every thing was +swallowed. The prisoners were put to examination each day.</p> + +<p>Osburn and Good steadily maintained their innocence. Tituba all along +declared herself guilty, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.31" id="Page_ii.31">[ii.31]</a></span> accused the other two of having been +with her in confederacy with the Devil. Mr. Parris made the following +deposition, in relation to these examinations, to which he +subsequently swore in Court, at the trial of Sarah Good:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Sam: Parris</span>, aged about thirty +and nine years.—Testifieth and saith, that Elizabeth +Parris, Jr., and Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam, Jr., and +Elizabeth Hubbard, were most grievously and several times +tortured during the examination of Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, +and Tituba, Indian, before the magistrates at Salem Village, +1 March, 1692. And the said Tituba being the last of the +above said that was examined, they, the above said afflicted +persons, were grievously distressed until the said Indian +began to confess, and then they were immediately all quiet +the rest of the said Indian woman's examination. Also Thomas +Putnam, aged about forty years, and Ezekiel Cheever, aged +about thirty and six years, testify to the whole of the +above said; and all the three deponents aforesaid further +testify, that, after the said Indian began to confess, she +was herself very much afflicted, and in the face of +authority at the same time, and openly charged the abovesaid +Good and Osburn as the persons that afflicted her, the +aforesaid Indian."</p></div> + +<p>By comparing these depositions with the other documents I have +presented, it will be seen how admirably the whole affair was +arranged, so far as concerned the part played by Tituba. She commences +her testimony by declaring her innocence. The afflicted children are +instantly thrown into torments, which, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.32" id="Page_ii.32">[ii.32]</a></span> subside as soon as +she begins to confess. Immediately after commencing her confession, +and as she proceeds in it, she herself becomes tormented "in the face +of authority," before the eyes of the magistrates and the awestruck +crowd. Her power to afflict ceases as she breaks loose from her +compact with the Devil, who sends some unseen confederate, not then +brought to light, to wreak his vengeance upon her for having +confessed. Tituba, as well as the girls, showed herself an adept in +the arts taught in the circle.</p> + +<p>All we know of Sarah Osburn beyond this date are the following items +in the Boston jailer's bill "against the country," dated May 29, 1692: +"To chains for Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn, 14 shillings:" "To the +keeping of Sarah Osburn, from the 7th of March to the 10th of May, +when she died, being nine weeks and two days, £1. 3<i>s.</i> 5<i>d.</i>"</p> + +<p>The only further information we have of Tituba is from Calef, who +says, "The account she since gives of it is, that her master did beat +her, and otherwise abuse her, to make her confess and accuse (such as +he called) her sister-witches; and that whatsoever she said by way of +confessing or accusing others was the effect of such usage: her master +refused to pay her fees, unless she would stand to what she had said. +Calef further states that she laid in jail until finally "sold for her +fees." The jailer's charge for her "diet in prison for a year and a +month" appears in a shape that corroborates Calef's statements, which +were prepared for publication in 1697, and printed in London in 1700.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.33" id="Page_ii.33">[ii.33]</a></span> +Although zealously devoted to the work of exposing the enormities +connected with the witchcraft prosecutions, there is no ground to +dispute the veracity of Calef as to matters of fact. What he says of +the declarations of Tituba, subsequent to her examination, is quite +consistent with a critical analysis of the details of the record of +that examination. It can hardly be doubted, whatever the amount of +severity employed to make her act the part assigned her, that she was +used as an instrument to give effect to the delusion.</p> + +<p>Now let us consider the state of things that had been brought about in +the village, and in the surrounding country, at the close of the first +week in March, 1692. The terrible sufferings of the girls in Mr. +Parris's family and of their associates, for the two preceding months, +had become known far and wide. A universal sympathy was awakened in +their behalf; and a sentiment of horror sunk deep into all hearts, at +the dread demonstration of the diabolical rage in their afflicted and +tortured persons. A few, very few, distrusted; but the great majority, +ninety-nine in a hundred of all the people, were completely swept into +the torrent. Nathaniel Putnam and Nathaniel Ingersoll were entirely +deluded, and continued so to the end. Even Joseph Hutchinson was, for +a while, carried away. The physicians had all given their opinion that +the girls were suffering from an "evil hand." The neighboring +ministers, after a day's fasting and prayer, and a scrutinizing +inspection of the condition of the afflicted children, had given it, +as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.34" id="Page_ii.34">[ii.34]</a></span> the result of their most solemn judgment, that it was a case of +witchcraft. Persons from the neighboring towns had come to the place, +and with their own eyes received demonstration of the same fact. Mr. +Parris made it the topic of his public prayers and preaching. The +girls, Sunday after Sunday, were under the malign influence, to the +disturbance and affrightment of the congregation. In all companies, in +all families, all the day long, the sufferings and distraction +occurring in the houses of Mr. Parris, Thomas Putnam, and others, and +in the meeting-house, were topics of excited conversation; and every +voice was loud in demanding, every mind earnest to ascertain, who were +the persons, in confederacy with the Devil, thus torturing, pinching, +convulsing, and bringing to the last extremities of mortal agony, +these afflicted girls. Every one felt, that, if the guilty authors of +the mischief could not be discovered, and put out of the way, no one +was safe for a moment. At length, when the girls cried out upon Good, +Osburn, and Tituba, there was a general sense of satisfaction and +relief. It was thought that Satan's power might be checked. The +selection of the first victims was well made. They were just the kind +of persons whom the public prejudice and credulity were prepared to +suspect and condemn. Their examination was looked for with the utmost +interest, and all flocked to witness the proceedings.</p> + +<p>In considering the state of mind of the people, as they crowded into +and around the old meeting-house, we can have no difficulty in +realizing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.35" id="Page_ii.35">[ii.35]</a></span> tremendous effects of what there occurred. It was felt +that then, on that spot, the most momentous crisis in the world's +history had come. A crime, in comparison with which all other crimes +sink out of notice, was being notoriously and defiantly committed in +their midst. The great enemy of God and man was let loose among them. +What had filled the hearts of mankind for ages, the world over, with +dread apprehension, was come to pass; and in that village the great +battle, on whose issue the preservation of the kingdom of the Lord on +the earth was suspended, had begun. Indeed, no language, no imagery, +no conception of ours, can adequately express the feeling of awful and +terrible solemnity with which all were overwhelmed. No body of men +ever convened in a more highly wrought state of excitement than +pervaded that assembly, when the magistrates entered, in all their +stern authority, and the scene opened on the 1st of March, 1692. A +minister, probably Mr. Parris, began, according to the custom of the +times, with prayer. From what we know of his skill and talent in +meeting such occasions, it may well be supposed that his language and +manner heightened still more the passions of the hour. The marshal, of +tall and imposing stature and aspect, accompanied by his constables, +brought in the prisoners. Sarah Good, a poverty-stricken, wandering, +and wretched victim of ill-fortune and ill-usage, was put to the bar. +Every effort was made by the examining magistrate, aided by the +officious interference of the marshal, or other deluded or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.36" id="Page_ii.36">[ii.36]</a></span> +evil-disposed persons,—who, like him, were permitted to interpose +with charges or abusive expressions,—to overawe and confound, involve +in contradictions, and mislead the poor creature, and force her to +confess herself guilty and accuse others. In due time, the "afflicted +children" were brought in; and a scene ensued, such as no person in +that crowd or in that generation had ever witnessed before. +Immediately on being confronted with the prisoner, and meeting her +eye, they fell, as if struck dead, to the floor; or screeched in +agony; or went into fearful spasms or convulsive fits; or cried out +that they were pricked with pins, pinched, or throttled by invisible +hands. They were severally brought up to the prisoner, and, upon +touching her person, instantly became calm, quiet, and fully restored +to their senses. With one voice they all declared that Sarah Good had +thus tormented them, by her power as a witch in league with the Devil. +The truth of this charge, in the effect produced by the malign +influence proceeding from her, was thus visible to all eyes. All saw, +too, how instantly upon touching her the diabolical effect ceased; the +malignant fluid passing back, like an electric stream, into the body +of the witch. The spectacle was repeated once and again, the acting +perfect, and the delusion consummated. The magistrates and all present +considered the guilt of the prisoner demonstrated, and regarded her as +wilfully and wickedly obstinate in not at once confessing what her +eyes, as well as theirs, saw. Her refusal to confess was considered as +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.37" id="Page_ii.37">[ii.37]</a></span> highest proof of her guilt. They passed judgment against her, +committed her to the marshal, who hurried her to prison, bound her +with cords, and loaded her with irons; for it was thought that no +ordinary fastenings could hold a witch. Similar proceedings, with +suitable variations, were had with Sarah Osburn and Tituba. The +confession of the last-named, the immediate relief thereafter of the +afflicted children, and the dreadful torments which Tituba herself +experienced, on the spot, from the unseen hand of the Devil wreaking +vengeance upon her, put the finishing touch to the delusion. The +excitement was kept up, and spread far and wide, by the officers and +magistrates riding in cavalcade, day after day, to and from the town +and village; and by the constables, with their assistants, carrying +their manacled prisoners from jail to jail in Ipswich, Salem, and +Boston.</p> + +<p>The point was now reached when the accusers could safely strike at +higher game. But time was taken to mature arrangements. Great +curiosity was felt to know who the other two were whom Tituba saw in +connection with Good and Osburn in their hellish operations. The girls +continued to suffer torments and fall in fits, and were constantly +urged by large numbers of people, going from house to house to witness +their sufferings, to reveal who the witches were that still afflicted +them. When all was prepared, they began to cry out, with more or less +distinctness; at first, in significant but general descriptions, and +at last calling names. The next victim was also well chosen. An +account<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.38" id="Page_ii.38">[ii.38]</a></span> has been given, in the +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a>, of the notoriety which +circumstances had attached to Giles Corey. In 1691 he became a member +of the church, being then (<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_182">Vol. I. p. 182</a>) eighty years of age. Four +daughters, all probably by his first wife Margaret, the only children +of whom there is any mention, were married to John Moulton, John +Parker, and Henry Crosby, of Salem, and William Cleaves, of Beverly. +On the 11th of April, 1664, Corey was married to Mary Britt, who died, +as appears by the inscription on her gravestone in the old Salem +burial-ground, Aug. 27, 1684. Martha was his third wife. Her age is +unknown. It was entered on the record of the village church, at the +time of her admission to it, April 27, 1690; but the figures are worn +away from the edge of the page. She was a very intelligent and devout +person.</p> + +<p>When the proceedings relating to witchcraft began, she did not approve +of them, and expressed her want of faith in the "afflicted children." +She discountenanced the whole affair, and would not follow the +multitude to the examinations; but was said to have spoken freely of +the course of the magistrates, saying that their eyes were blinded, +and that she could open them. It seemed to her clear that they were +violating common sense and the Word of God, and she was confident that +she could convince them of their errors. Instead of falling into the +delusion, she applied herself with renewed earnestness to keep her own +mind under the influence of prayer, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.39" id="Page_ii.39">[ii.39]</a></span> spent more time in devotion +than ever before. Her husband, however, was completely carried away by +the prevalent fanaticism, believed all he heard, and frequented the +examinations and the exhibitions of the afflicted children. This +disagreement became quite serious. Her preferring to stay at home, +shunning the proceedings, and expressing her disapprobation of what +was going on, caused an estrangement between them. Her peculiar course +created comment, in which he and two of his sons-in-law took part. +Some strong expressions were used by him, because she acted so +strangely at variance with everybody else. Her spending so much time +on her knees in devotion was looked upon as a matter of suspicion. It +was said that she tried to prevent him from following up the +examinations, and went so far as to remove the saddle from the horse +brought up to convey him to some meeting at the village connected with +the witchcraft excitement. Angry words, uttered by him, were heard and +repeated. As she was a woman of notable piety, a professor of +religion, and a member of the church, it was evident that her case, if +she were proceeded against, would still more heighten the panic, and +convulse the public mind. It would give ground for an idea which the +managers of the affair desired to circulate, that the Devil had +succeeded in making inroads into the very heart of the church, and was +bringing into confederacy with him aged and eminent church-members, +who, under color of their profession, threatened to extend his +influence to the overthrow of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.40" id="Page_ii.40">[ii.40]</a></span> all religion. It was, indeed, +established in the popular sentiments, as a sign and mark of the +Devil's coming, that many professing godliness would join his +standard.</p> + +<p>For a day or two, it was whispered round that persons in great repute +for piety were in the diabolical confederacy, and about to be +unmasked. The name of Martha Corey, whose open opposition to the +proceedings had become known, was passed among the girls in an +under-breath, and caught from one to another among those managing the +affair. On the 12th of March, Edward Putnam and Ezekiel Cheever, +having heard Ann Putnam declare that Goody Corey did often appear to +her, and torture her by pinching and otherwise, thought it their duty +to go to her, and see what she would say to this complaint; "she being +in church covenant with us." They mounted their horses about "the +middle of the afternoon," and first went to the house of Thomas Putnam +to see his daughter Ann, to learn from her what clothes Goody Corey +appeared to her in, in order to judge whether she might not have been +mistaken in the person. The girl told them, that Goody Corey, knowing +that they contemplated making this visit, had just appeared in spirit +to her, but had blinded her so that she could not tell what clothes +she wore. Highly wrought upon by the extraordinary statement of the +girl, which they received with perfect credulity, the two brethren +remounted, and pursued their way. Goody Corey had heard that her name +had been bandied about by the accusing girls: she also knew that it +was one of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.41" id="Page_ii.41">[ii.41]</a></span> arts to pretend to see the clothes people were +wearing at the time their spectres appeared to them. This required, +indeed, no great amount of necromancy; as it is not probable that +there was much variety in the costume of farmer's wives, at that time, +while about their ordinary domestic engagements.</p> + +<p>They found her alone in her house. As soon as they commenced +conversation, "in a smiling manner she said, 'I know what you are come +for; you are come to talk with me about being a witch, but I am none: +I cannot help people's talking of me.'" Edward Putnam acknowledged +that their visit was in consequence of complaints made against her by +the afflicted children. She inquired whether they had undertaken to +describe the clothes she then wore. They answered that they had not, +and proceeded to repeat what Ann Putnam had said to them about her +blinding her so that she could not see her clothes. At this she +smiled, no doubt at Ann's cunning artifice to escape having to say +what dress she then had on. She declared to the two brethren, that +"she did not think that there were any witches." After considerable +talk, in which they did not get much to further their purpose, they +took their leave. The account of this interview, given by Putnam and +Cheever, indicates that Martha Corey was a sensible, enlightened, and +sprightly woman, perfectly free from the delusion of the day, +courteous in her manners and bearing, and a Christian, well grounded +in Scripture.</p> + +<p>The two brethren returned forthwith to Thomas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.42" id="Page_ii.42">[ii.42]</a></span> Putnam's house. Ann +told them that Goody Corey had not troubled her, nor her spectre +appeared, in their absence. She was not inclined to afford them an +opportunity to apply the test of the dress. Both the women showed +great acuteness and caution. As Corey expected the visit, and had +heard that the girls pretended to be able to say what dress persons +were wearing, she probably had attired herself in an unusual way on +the occasion, to put them at fault, and expose the falseness of their +claims to preternatural knowledge; and Ann Putnam—her sagacity +suggesting the risk she was running in the matter of Corey's +dress—took refuge in the pretence of blindness. The brethren were too +much under delusion to see through the sharp practice of both of them, +but considered the fact of Corey's inquiring of them whether Ann +described her dress, as, under the circumstances, proof positive +against the former.</p> + +<p>Wishing to make assurance doubly sure, and to fasten the charge upon +Martha Corey, the managers of the affair sent for her to come to the +house of Thomas Putnam two days after this conference. Edward Putnam +was present, and testified that his niece Ann, immediately upon the +entrance of Goodwife Corey, experienced the most dreadful convulsions +and tortures and distinctly and positively declared that Corey was the +author of her sufferings. This was regarded as conclusive evidence; +and, on the 19th of March, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She +was brought to the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll, on Monday the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.43" id="Page_ii.43">[ii.43]</a></span> 21st; +and the following is the account of her examination, in the +handwriting of Mr. Parris. The proceedings took place in the +meeting-house at the village. They were introduced by a prayer from +the Rev. Nicholas Noyes. On some of these occasions Mr. Hale and +perhaps others, but usually Mr. Noyes or Mr. Parris officiated. We may +suppose, from what we know of their general deportment in connection +with these scenes, that their performances, under the cover of a +devotional exercise, expressed and enforced a decided prejudgment of +the case in hand against the prisoners, and partook of the character +of indictments as much as of prayers.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>The Examination of Martha Corey.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: You are now in the hands of +authority. Tell me, now, why you hurt these persons.—I do +not.</p> + +<p>"Who doth?—Pray, give me leave to go to prayer.</p> + +<p>"(This request was made sundry times.)</p> + +<p>"We do not send for you to go to prayer; but tell me why you +hurt these.—I am an innocent person. I never had to do with +witchcraft since I was born. I am a gospel woman.</p> + +<p>"Do not you see these complain of you?—The Lord open the +eyes of the magistrates and ministers: the Lord show his +power to discover the guilty.</p> + +<p>"Tell us who hurts these children.—I do not know.</p> + +<p>"If you be guilty of this fact, do you think you can hide +it?—The Lord knows.</p> + +<p>"Well, tell us what you know of this matter.—Why, I am a +gospel woman; and do you think I can have to do with +witchcraft too?</p> + +<p>"How could you tell, then, that the child was bid to +ob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.44" id="Page_ii.44">[ii.44]</a></span>serve what clothes you wore, when some came to speak with +you?</p> + +<p>"(Cheever interrupted her, and bid her not begin with a lie; +and so Edward Putnam declared the matter.)</p> + +<p>"Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: Who told you that?—He said the +child said.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Cheever</span>: You speak falsely.</p> + +<p>"(Then Edward Putnam read again.)</p> + +<p>"Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: Why did you ask if the child told +what clothes you wore?—My husband told me the others told.</p> + +<p>"Who told you about the clothes? Why did you ask that +question?—Because I heard the children told what clothes +the others wore.</p> + +<p>"Goodman Corey, did you tell her?</p> + +<p>"(The old man denied that he told her so.)</p> + +<p>"Did you not say your husband told you so?</p> + +<p>"(No answer.)</p> + +<p>"Who hurts these children? Now look upon them.—I cannot +help it.</p> + +<p>"Did you not say you would tell the truth why you asked that +question? how came you to the knowledge?—I did but ask.</p> + +<p>"You dare thus to lie in all this assembly. You are now +before authority. I expect the truth: you promised it. Speak +now, and tell who told you what clothes.—Nobody.</p> + +<p>"How came you to know that the children would be examined +what clothes you wore?—Because I thought the child was +wiser than anybody if she knew.</p> + +<p>"Give an answer: you said your husband told you.—He told me +the children said I afflicted them.</p> + +<p>"How do you know what they came for? Answer me this truly: +will you say how you came to know what they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.45" id="Page_ii.45">[ii.45]</a></span> came for?—I +had heard speech that the children said I troubled them, and +I thought that they might come to examine.</p> + +<p>"But how did you know it?—I thought they did.</p> + +<p>"Did not you say you would tell the truth? who told you what +they came for?—Nobody.</p> + +<p>"How did you know?—I did think so.</p> + +<p>"But you said you knew so.</p> + +<p>"(<span class="smcap">Children</span>: There is a man whispering in her ear.)</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Hathorne</span> continued: What did he say to you?—We +must not believe all that these distracted children say.</p> + +<p>"Cannot you tell what that man whispered?—I saw nobody.</p> + +<p>"But did not you hear?—No.</p> + +<p>"(Here was extreme agony of all the afflicted.)</p> + +<p>"If you expect mercy of God, you must look for it in God's +way, by confession. Do you think to find mercy by +aggravating your sins?—A true thing.</p> + +<p>"Look for it, then, in God's way.—So I do.</p> + +<p>"Give glory to God and confess, then.—But I cannot confess.</p> + +<p>"Do not you see how these afflicted do charge you?—We must +not believe distracted persons.</p> + +<p>"Who do you improve to hurt them?—I improved none.</p> + +<p>"Did not you say our eyes were blinded, you would open +them?—Yes, to accuse the innocent.</p> + +<p>"(Then Crosby gave in evidence.)</p> + +<p>"Why cannot the girl stand before you?—I do not know.</p> + +<p>"What did you mean by that?—I saw them fall down.</p> + +<p>"It seems to be an insulting speech, as if they could not +stand before you.—They cannot stand before others.</p> + +<p>"But you said they cannot stand before you. Tell me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.46" id="Page_ii.46">[ii.46]</a></span> what +was that turning upon the spit by you?—You believe the +children that are distracted. I saw no spit.</p> + +<p>"Here are more than two that accuse you for witchcraft. What +do you say?—I am innocent.</p> + +<p>"(Then Mr. Hathorne read further of Crosby's evidence.)</p> + +<p>"What did you mean by that,—the Devil could not stand +before you?</p> + +<p>"(She denied it. Three or four sober witnesses confirmed +it.)</p> + +<p>"What can I do? Many rise up against me.</p> + +<p>"Why, confess.—So I would, if I were guilty.</p> + +<p>"Here are sober persons. What do you say to them? You are a +gospel woman; will you lie?</p> + +<p>"(Abigail cried out, 'Next sabbath is sacrament-day; but she +shall not come there.')</p> + +<p>"I do not care.</p> + +<p>"You charge these children with distraction: it is a note of +distraction when persons vary in a minute; but these fix +upon you. This is not the manner of distraction.—When all +are against me, what can I help it?</p> + +<p>"Now tell me the truth, will you? Why did you say that the +magistrates' and ministers' eyes were blinded, you would +open them?</p> + +<p>"(She laughed, and denied it.)</p> + +<p>"Now tell us how we shall know who doth hurt these, if you +do not?—Can an innocent person be guilty?</p> + +<p>"Do you deny these words?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"Tell us who hurts these. We came to be a terror to +evil-doers. You say you would open our eyes, we are +blind.—If you say I am a witch.</p> + +<p>"You said you would show us.</p> + +<p>"(She denied it.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.47" id="Page_ii.47">[ii.47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why do you not now show us?—I cannot tell: I do not know.</p> + +<p>"What did you strike the maid at Mr. Tho. Putnam's with?—I +never struck her in my life.</p> + +<p>"There are two that saw you strike her with an iron rod.—I +had no hand in it.</p> + +<p>"Who had? Do you believe these children are bewitched?—They +may, for aught I know: I have no hand in it.</p> + +<p>"You say you are no witch. Maybe you mean you never +covenanted with the Devil. Did you never deal with any +familiar?—No, never.</p> + +<p>"What bird was that the children spoke of?</p> + +<p>"(Then witnesses spoke: What bird was it?)</p> + +<p>"I know no bird.</p> + +<p>"It may be you have engaged you will not confess; but God +knows.—So he doth.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe you shall go unpunished?—I have nothing to +do with witchcraft.</p> + +<p>"Why was you not willing your husband should come to the +former session here?—But he came, for all.</p> + +<p>"Did not you take the saddle off?—I did not know what it +was for.</p> + +<p>"Did you not know what it was for?—I did not know that it +would be to any benefit.</p> + +<p>"(Somebody said that she would not have them help to find +out witches.)</p> + +<p>"Did you not say you would open our eyes? Why do you not?—I +never thought of a witch.</p> + +<p>"Is it a laughing matter to see these afflicted persons?</p> + +<p>"(She denied it. Several prove it.)</p> + +<p>"Ye are all against me, and I cannot help it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.48" id="Page_ii.48">[ii.48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do not you believe there are witches in the country?—I do +not know that there is any.</p> + +<p>"Do not you know that Tituba confessed it?—I did not hear +her speak.</p> + +<p>"I find you will own nothing without several witnesses, and +yet you will deny for all.</p> + +<p>"(It was noted, when she bit her lip, several of the +afflicted were bitten. When she was urged upon it that she +bit her lip, saith she, What harm is there in it?)</p> + +<p>"(Mr. <span class="smcap">Noyes</span>: I believe it is apparent she +practiseth witchcraft in the congregation: there is no need +of images.)</p> + +<p>"What do you say to all these things that are apparent?—If +you will all go hang me, how can I help it?</p> + +<p>"Were you to serve the Devil ten years? Tell how many.</p> + +<p>"(She laughed. The children cried there was a yellow-bird +with her. When Mr. Hathorne asked her about it, she laughed. +When her hands were at liberty, the afflicted persons were +pinched.)</p> + +<p>"Why do not you tell how the Devil comes in your shape, and +hurts these? You said you would.—How can I know how?</p> + +<p>"Why did you say you would show us?</p> + +<p>"(She laughed again.)</p> + +<p>"What book is that you would have these children write +in?—What book? Where should I have a book? I showed them +none, nor have none, nor brought none.</p> + +<p>"(The afflicted cried out there was a man whispering in her +ears.)</p> + +<p>"What book did you carry to Mary Walcot?—I carried none. If +the Devil appears in my shape—</p> + +<p>"(Then Needham said that Parker, some time ago, thought this +woman was a witch.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.49" id="Page_ii.49">[ii.49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who is your God?—The God that made me.</p> + +<p>"What is his name?—Jehovah.</p> + +<p>"Do you know any other name?—God Almighty.</p> + +<p>"Doth <i>he</i> tell you, that you pray to, that <i>he</i> is God +Almighty?—Who do I worship but the God that made [me]?</p> + +<p>"How many gods are there?—One.</p> + +<p>"How many persons?—Three.</p> + +<p>"Cannot you say, So there is one God in three blessed +persons?</p> + +<p>[The answer is destroyed, being written in the fold of the +paper, and wholly worn off.]</p> + +<p>"Do not you see these children and women are rational and +sober as their neighbors, when your hands are fastened?</p> + +<p>"(Immediately they were seized with fits: and the +standers-by said she was squeezing her fingers, her hands +being eased by them that held them on purpose for trial.</p> + +<p>"Quickly after, the marshal said, 'She hath bit her lip;' +and immediately the afflicted were in an uproar.)</p> + +<p>"[Tell] why you hurt these, or who doth?</p> + +<p>"(She denieth any hand in it.)</p> + +<p>"Why did you say, if you were a witch, you should have no +pardon?—Because I am a —— woman."</p> + +<p>"Salem Village, March the 21st, 1692.—The Reverend Mr. +Samuel Parris, being desired to take, in writing, the +examination of Martha Corey, hath returned it, as aforesaid.</p> + +<p>"Upon hearing the aforesaid, and seeing what we did then +see, together with the charges of the persons then pres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.50" id="Page_ii.50">[ii.50]</a></span>ent, +we committed Martha Corey, the wife of Giles Corey, of Salem +Farms, unto the gaol in Salem, as <i>per mittimus</i> then given +out."</p></div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image17.png" alt="signatures" width="300" height="82" /></p> + +<p>The foregoing is a full copy of the original document. One of Giles +Corey's daughters, Deliverance, had married, June 5, 1683, Henry +Crosby, who lived on land conveyed to him by her father in the +immediate neighborhood. He was the person whose written testimony was +read by the magistrate. Its purport seems to have been to prove that +Martha Corey had said that the accusing girls could not stand before +her, and that the Devil could not stand before her. She had, +undoubtedly, great confidence in her own innocence, and in the power +of truth and prayer, to silence false accusers, and expressed herself +in the forcible language which Parris's report of the examination +shows that she was well able to use. It is almost amusing to see how +the pride of the magistrates was touched, and their wrath kindled, by +what she was reported to have said, "that the magistrates' and +ministers' eyes were blinded, and that she would open them." It +rankled in Hathorne's breast: he returns to it again and again, and +works himself up to a higher degree of resentment on each recurrence. +Mr. Noyes's ire was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.51" id="Page_ii.51">[ii.51]</a></span> roused, and he, too, put in a stroke. It will be +noticed, that she avoided a contradiction of her husband, and could +not be brought to give the names of persons from whom she had received +information. "If you will all go hang me, how can I help it?" "Ye are +all against me." "What can I do, when many rise up against me?" "When +all are against me, what can I [say to] help it?" Situated as she was, +all that she could do was to give them no advantage, or opportunity to +ensnare her, and to avoid compromising others; and it must be allowed +that she showed much presence and firmness of mind. Her request, made +at the opening of the examination, and at "sundry times," to "go to +prayer," somewhat confounded them. She probably was led to make and +urge the request particularly in consequence of the tenor of Mr. +Noyes's prayer at the opening. She felt that it was no more than fair +that there should be a prayer on her side, as well as on the other. It +might well be feared, that, if allowed to offer a prayer, coming from +a person in her situation, an aged professor, and one accustomed to +express herself in devotional exercises, it might produce a deep +impression upon the whole assembly. To refuse such a request had a +hard look; but, as the magistrates saw, it never would have done to +have permitted it. It would have reversed the position of all +concerned. The latter part of the examination has the appearance that +she was suspected to be unsound on a particular article of the +prevalent creed. It is much to be regretted that the abrasion of the +paper at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.52" id="Page_ii.52">[ii.52]</a></span> folding has obliterated her last answer to this part of +the inquisition. It is singular that Mr. Parris has left the blank in +her final answer. Probably she used her customary expression, "I am a +gospel woman." The writing, at this point, is very clear and distinct; +and a vacant space is left, just as it is given above.</p> + +<p>The fact that Martha Corey was known to be an eminently religious +person, and very much given to acts of devotion, constituted a serious +obstacle, no doubt, in the way of the prosecutors. Parris's record of +the examination shows how they managed to get over it. They gave the +impression that her frequent and long prayers were addressed to the +Devil.</p> + +<p>The disagreement between her and her husband, touching the witchcraft +prosecutions, brought him into a very uncomfortable predicament. With +his characteristic imprudence of speech, he had probably expressed +himself strongly against her unbelief in the sufferings of the girls +and her refusal to attend the exhibitions of their tortures, or the +examination of persons accused. He was, unquestionably, highly shocked +and incensed at her open repudiation of the whole doctrine of +witchcraft. Although he had become, in his old age, a professor and a +fervently religious man, perhaps he fell back, in his resentment of +her course, into his life-long rough phrases, and said that she acted +as though the Devil was in her. He might have said that she prayed +like a witch. Being entirely carried away by the delusion, he had his +own marvellous stories to tell about his cattle's being be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.53" id="Page_ii.53">[ii.53]</a></span>witched, +&c. His talk, undoubtedly, came to the ears of the prosecutors; and +they seem to have taken steps to induce him to come forward as a +witness against her. The following document is among the papers:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The evidence of Giles Corey testifieth and saith, that last +Saturday, in the evening, sitting by the fire, my wife asked +me to go to bed. I told her I would go to prayer; and, when +I went to prayer, I could not utter my desires with any +sense, nor open my mouth to speak.</p> + +<p>"My wife did perceive it, and came towards me, and said she +was coming to me.</p> + +<p>"After this, in a little space, I did, according to my +measure, attend the duty.</p> + +<p>"Some time last week, I fetched an ox, well, out of the +woods about noon: and, he laying down in the yard, I went to +raise him to yoke him; but he could not rise, but dragged +his hinder parts, as if he had been hip-shot. But after did +rise.</p> + +<p>"I had a cat sometimes last week strangely taken on the +sudden, and did make me think she would have died presently. +My wife bid me knock her in the head, but I did not; and +since, she is well.</p> + +<p>"Another time, going to duties, I was interrupted for a +space; but afterward I was helped according to my poor +measure. My wife hath been wont to sit up after I went to +bed: and I have perceived her to kneel down on the hearth, +as if she were at prayer, but heard nothing.</p> + +<p>"<i>At the examination of Sarah</i> Good and others, my wife was +willing</p> + +<p>"March 24, 1692."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.54" id="Page_ii.54">[ii.54]</a></span></p> + +<p>The foregoing document does not express the idea that he thought his +wife was a witch. He states what he observed, and what happened to him +and to his cattle. He evidently supposed they were bewitched, and that +he was obstructed, in going to prayer, in a strange manner; but he +does not, in terms, charge it upon her. It gives an interesting +insight of the innermost domestic life of the period, in a farmhouse, +and exhibits striking touches of the character and ways of these two +old people. It illustrates the state of the imagination prevailing +among those who were carried away by the delusion. If an ox had a +sprained muscle, or a cat a fit of indigestion, it was thought to be +the work of an evil hand. Poor old Giles had come late to a religious +life, and, it is to be feared, was a novice in prayer. It is no wonder +that he was not an adept in "uttering his desires," and experienced +occasionally some difficulty in arranging and expressing his +devotional sentiments.</p> + +<p>There is something very singular in the appearance of the foregoing +deposition. Purporting to be a piece of testimony, it was not given in +the usual and regular way. It does not indicate before whom it was +made. It is not attested in the ordinary manner; apparently, was not +sworn to in the presence of persons authorized to act in such cases; +was never offered in court or anywhere. It is a disconnected paper +found among the remnants of the miscellaneous collection in the +clerk's office, and is evidently an unfinished document; the words in +Italics, at the close, being erased by a line running through them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.55" id="Page_ii.55">[ii.55]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is probable that the parties who tried to get the old man to +testify against his wife discovered that they could not draw any thing +from him to answer their designs, but that there was danger that his +evidence would be favorable to her, and gave up the attempt to use him +on the occasion. The fact that he would not lend himself to their +purposes perhaps led to resentment on their part, which may explain +the subsequent proceedings against him.</p> + +<p>The document, in its chirography, suggests the idea that it was +written by Mr. Noyes, which is not improbable, as Corey was a member +of his congregation and church. Noyes was deeply implicated in the +prosecutions, and violent in driving them on. The handwriting of the +original papers reveals the agency of those who were the most busy in +procuring evidence against persons accused. That of Thomas Putnam +occurs in very many instances. But Mr. Parris was, beyond all others, +the busiest and most active prosecutor. The depositions of the child +Abigail Williams, his niece and a member of his family, were written +by him, as also a great number of others. He took down most of the +examinations, put in a deposition of his own whenever he could, and +was always ready to indorse those of others.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered, that, when Tituba was put through her +examination, she said "four women sometimes hurt the children." She +named Good and Osburn, but pretended to have been blinded as to the +others. Martha Corey was, in due time, as we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.56" id="Page_ii.56">[ii.56]</a></span> have seen, brought out. +The fourth was the venerable head of a large and prominent family, and +a member of the mother-church in Salem. She had never transferred her +relations to the village church, with which, however, she had +generally worshipped, and probably communed. Being one of the chief +matrons of the place, she was seated in the meeting-house with ladies +of similar age and standing, occupying the same bench or compartment +with the widow of Thomas Putnam, Sr. The women were seated separately +from the men; and the only rule applied among them was eminence in +years and respectability.</p> + +<p>It has always been considered strange and unaccountable, that a person +of such acknowledged worth as Rebecca Nurse, of infirm health and +advanced years, should have been selected among the early victims of +the witchcraft prosecutions. Jealousies and prejudices, such as often +infest rural neighborhoods, may have been engendered, in minds open to +such influences, by the prosperity and growing influence of her +family. It may be that animosities kindled by the long and violent +land controversy, with which many parties had been incidentally +connected, lingered in some breasts. There are decided indications, +that the passions awakened by the angry contest between the village +and "Topsfield men," and which the collisions of a half-century had +all along exasperated and hardened, may have been concentrated against +the Nurses. Isaac Easty, whose wife was a sister of Rebecca Nurse, and +the Townes, who were her brothers or near kins<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.57" id="Page_ii.57">[ii.57]</a></span>men, were the leaders +of the Topsfield men. It is a significant circumstance, in this +connection, that to one of the most vehement resolutions passed at +meetings of the inhabitants of the village, against the claims of +Topsfield, Samuel Nurse, her eldest son, and Thomas Preston, her +eldest son-in-law, entered their protest on the record; and, on +another similar occasion, her husband Francis Nurse, her son Samuel, +and two of her sons-in-law, Preston and Tarbell, took the same course. +So far as the family sided with Topsfield in that controversy, it +naturally exposed them to the ill-will of the people of the village. +An analysis of the names and residences of the persons proceeded +against, throughout the prosecutions, will show to what an extent +hostile motives were supplied from this quarter. The families of +Wildes, How, Hobbs, Towne, Easty, and others who were "cried out" upon +by the afflicted children, occupied lands claimed by parties adverse +to the village. What, more than all these causes, was sufficient to +create a feeling against the Nurses, is the fact that they were +opposed to the party which had existed from the beginning in the +parish composed originally of the friends of Bayley. To crown the +whole, when the excitement occasioned by the extraordinary doings in +Mr. Parris's family began to display itself, and the "afflicted +children" were brought into notice, the members of this family, with +the exception, for a time, of Thomas Preston, discountenanced the +whole thing. They absented themselves from meeting, on account of the +disturb<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.58" id="Page_ii.58">[ii.58]</a></span>ances and disorders the girls were allowed to make during the +services of worship, in the congregation, on the Lord's Day. +Unfriendly remarks, from whatever cause, made in the hearing of the +girls, provided subjects for them to act upon. Some persons behind +them, suggesting names in this way, whether carelessly or with +malicious intent, were guilty of all the misery that was created and +blood that was shed.</p> + +<p>It became a topic of rumor, that Rebecca Nurse was soon to be brought +out. It reached the ears of her friends, and the following document +comes in at this point:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are underwritten being desired to go to +Goodman Nurse his house, to speak with his wife, and to tell +her that several of the afflicted persons mentioned her; and +accordingly we went, and we found her in a weak and low +condition in body as she told us, and had been sick almost a +week. And we asked how it was otherwise with her: and she +said she blessed God for it, she had more of his presence in +this sickness than sometime she have had, but not so much as +she desired; but she would, with the apostle, press forward +to the mark; and many other places of Scripture to the like +purpose. And then, of her own accord, she began to speak of +the affliction that was amongst them, and in particular of +Mr. Parris his family, and how she was grieved for them, +though she had not been to see them, by reason of fits that +she formerly used to have; for people said it was awful to +behold: but she pitied them with all her heart, and went to +God for them. But she said she heard that there was persons +spoke of that were as innocent as she was, she believed; +and, after much to this purpose,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.59" id="Page_ii.59">[ii.59]</a></span> we told her we heard that +she was spoken of also. 'Well,' she said, 'if it be so, the +will of the Lord be done:' she sat still a while, being as +it were amazed; and then she said, 'Well, as to this thing I +am as innocent as the child unborn; but surely,' she said, +'what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that he +should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?' and, +according to our best observation, we could not discern that +she knew what we came for before we told her.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Israel Porter</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Elizabeth Porter</span>.</p> + +<p>"To the substance of what is above, we, if called thereto, +are ready to testify on oath.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Daniel Andrew</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Peter Cloyse</span>."</p></div> + +<p>Elizabeth Porter, who joins her husband in making this statement, was +a sister of John Hathorne, the examining magistrate, and the +mother-in-law of Joseph Putnam, who was among the very few that +condemned the proceedings from the first. She stood, therefore, +between the two parties. The character of each of the signers and +indorsers of this interesting paper is sufficient proof that its +statements are truthful. It cannot but excite the most affecting +sensibilities in every breast. This venerable lady, whose conversation +and bearing were so truly saint-like, was an invalid of extremely +delicate condition and appearance, the mother of a large family, +embracing sons, daughters, grandchildren, and one or more +great-grandchildren. She was a woman of piety, and simplicity of +heart. In all probability, she shared in the popular belief on the +subject of witchcraft, and sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.60" id="Page_ii.60">[ii.60]</a></span>posed that the sufferings of the +children were real, and that they were afflicted by an "evil hand." At +the very time that she was sorrowfully sympathizing with them and Mr. +Parris's family, and praying for them, they were circulating +suspicions against her, and maturing their plans for her destruction.</p> + +<p>Rebecca Nurse was a daughter of William Towne, of Yarmouth, Norfolk +County, England, where she was baptized, Feb. 21, 1621. Her sister +Mary, who married Isaac Easty, was baptized at the same place, Aug. +24, 1634. The records of the First Church at Salem, Sept. 3, 1648, +give the baptism of "Joseph and Sarah, children of Sister Towne." +Sarah was at that time seven years of age. She became the wife of +Edmund Bridges, and afterwards of Peter Cloyse.</p> + +<p>On the 23d of March, a warrant was issued, on complaint of Edward +Putnam, and Jonathan, son of John Putnam, for the arrest of "Rebecca, +wife of Francis Nurse;" and the next morning, at eight o'clock, she +was brought to the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll, in the custody of +George Herrick, the marshal of Essex. There were several distinct +indictments, four of which, for having practised "certain detestable +arts called witchcraft" upon Ann Putnam, Mary Walcot, Elizabeth +Hubbard, and Abigail Williams, are preserved. The examination took +place forthwith at the meeting-house. The age, character, connections, +and appearance of the prisoner, made the occasion one of the extremest +interest. Hathorne, the magistrate, began the proceedings by +addressing one of the afflicted:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.61" id="Page_ii.61">[ii.61]</a></span> "What do you say? Have you seen this +woman hurt you?" The answer was, "Yes, she beat me this morning." +Hathorne, addressing another of the afflicted, said, "Abigail, have +you been hurt by this woman?" Abigail answered, "Yes." At that point, +Ann Putnam fell into a grievous fit, and, while in her spasms, cried +out that it was Rebecca Nurse who was thus afflicting her. As soon as +Ann's fit was over, and order restored, Hathorne said, "Goody Nurse, +here are two, Ann Putnam the child, and Abigail Williams, complain of +your hurting them. What do you say to it?" The prisoner replied, "I +can say, before my eternal Father, I am innocent, and God will clear +my innocency." Hathorne, apparently touched for the moment by her +language and bearing, said, "Here is never a one in the assembly but +desires it; but, if you be guilty, pray God discover you." Henry +Kenney rose up from the body of the assembly to speak. Hathorne +permitted the interruption, and said, "Goodman Kenney, what do you +say?" Then Kenney complained of the prisoner, "and further said, since +this Nurse came into the house, he was seized twice with an amazed +condition." Hathorne, addressing the prisoner, said, "Not only these, +but the wife of Mr. Thomas Putnam, accuseth you by credible +information, and that both of tempting her to iniquity and of greatly +hurting her." The prisoner again affirmed her innocence, and said, in +answer to the charge of having hurt these persons, that "she had not +been able to get out of doors these eight or nine days."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.62" id="Page_ii.62">[ii.62]</a></span> Hathorne +then called upon Edward Putnam, who, as the record says, "gave in his +relate," which undoubtedly was a statement of his having seen the +afflicted in their sufferings, and heard them accuse Rebecca Nurse as +their tormentor. Hathorne said, "Is this true, Goody Nurse?" She +denied that she had ever hurt them or any one else in her life. +Hathorne repeated, "You see these accuse you: is it true?" She +answered, "No." He again put the question, "Are you an innocent person +relating to this witchcraft?" It seems, from his manner, that he was +beginning really to doubt whether she might not be innocent; and +perhaps the feeling of the multitude was yielding in her favor.</p> + +<p>Here Thomas Putnam's wife cried out, "Did you not bring the black man +with you? Did you not bid me tempt God, and die? How oft have you eat +and drank your own damnation?" This sudden outbreak, from such a +source, accompanied with the wild and apparently supernatural energy +and uncontrollable vehemence with which the words were uttered, roused +the multitude to the utmost pitch of horror; and the prisoner seems to +have been shocked at the dreadful exhibition of madness in the woman +and in the assembly. Releasing her hands from confinement, she spread +them out towards heaven, and exclaimed, "O Lord, help me!" Instantly, +the whole company of the afflicted children "were grievously vexed." +After a while, the tumult subsided, and Hathorne again addressed her, +"Do you not see what a solemn condition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.63" id="Page_ii.63">[ii.63]</a></span> these are in? When your hands +are loosed, the persons are afflicted." Then Mary Walcot and Elizabeth +Hubbard came forward, and accused her. Hathorne again addressed her, +"Here are these two grown persons now accuse. What say you? Do not you +see these afflicted persons, and hear them accuse you?" She answered, +"The Lord knows I have not hurt them. I am an innocent person." +Hathorne continued, "It is very awful to all to see these agonies, and +you, an old professor, thus charged with contracting with the Devil by +the effects of it, and yet to see you stand with dry eyes where there +are so many wet." She answered, "You do not know my heart." Hathorne, +"You would do well, if you are guilty, to confess, and give glory to +God."—"I am as clear as the child unborn." Hathorne continued, "What +uncertainty there may be in apparitions, I know not: yet this with me +strikes hard upon you, that you are, at this very present, charged +with familiar spirits,—this is your bodily person they speak to; they +say now they see these familiar spirits come to your bodily person. +Now, what do you say to that?"—"I have none, sir."—"If you have, +confess, and give glory to God. I pray God clear you, if you be +innocent, and, if you are guilty, discover you; and therefore give me +an upright answer. Have you any familiarity with these spirits?"—"No: +I have none but with God alone." It looks as if again the magistrate +began to open his mind to a fair view of the case. He seems to have +sought satisfaction in reference to all the charges<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.64" id="Page_ii.64">[ii.64]</a></span> that had been +made against her. She was suffering from infirmities of body, the +result not only of age, but of the burdens of life often pressing down +the physical frame, particularly of those who have borne large +families of children. The magistrate had heard some malignant gossip +of this kind, and he asked, "How came you sick? for there is an odd +discourse of that in the mouths of many." She replied that she +suffered from weakness of stomach. He inquired, more specifically, +"Have you no wounds?" Her answer was, that her ailments and +weaknesses, all her bodily infirmities, were the natural effects of +what she had experienced in a long life. "I have none but old +age."—"You do know whether you are guilty, and have familiarity with +the Devil; and now, when you are here present, to see such a thing as +these testify,—a black man whispering in your ear, and birds about +you,—what do you say to it?"—"It is all false: I am +clear."—"Possibly, you may apprehend you are no witch; but have you +not been led aside by temptations that way?"—"I have not." At this +point, it almost seems that Hathorne was yielding to the moral effect +of the evidence she bore in her deportment and language, the impress +of conscious innocence in her countenance, and the manifestation of +true Christian purity and integrity in her whole manner and bearing. +Instead of pressing her with further interrogatories, he gave way to +an expression, in the form of a soliloquy or ejaculation, "What a sad +thing is it, that a church-member here, and now another of Salem,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.65" id="Page_ii.65">[ii.65]</a></span> +should thus be accused and charged!" Upon hearing this rather +ambiguous expression of the magistrate, Mrs. Pope fell into a grievous +fit.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pope was the wife of Joseph Pope, living with his mother, the +widow Gertrude Pope, on the farm shown on the <a href="salem1-htm.html#map">map</a>. She had followed up +the meetings of the circle, been a constant witness of the sufferings +of the "afflicted children," and attended all the public examinations, +until her nervous system was excited beyond restraint, and for a while +she went into fits and her imagination was bewildered. She acted with +the accusers, and participated in their sufferings. On some occasions, +her conduct was wild and extravagant to the highest degree. At the +examination of Martha Corey, she was conspicuous for the violence of +her actions. In the midst of the proceedings, and in the presence of +the magistrates and hundreds of people, she threw her muff at the +prisoner; and, that missing, pulled off her shoe, and, more successful +this time, hit her square on the head. Hers seems, however, to have +been a case of mere delusion, amounting to temporary insanity. That it +was not deliberate and cold-blooded imposture is rendered probable by +the fact, that she was rescued from the hallucination, and, with her +husband, among the foremost to deplore and denounce the whole affair. +But, when a woman of her position acted in this manner, on such an +occasion, and then went into convulsions, and the whole company of +afflicted persons joined in, the confusion, tumult, and frightfulness +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.66" id="Page_ii.66">[ii.66]</a></span> the scene can hardly be imagined, certainly it cannot be described +in words.</p> + +<p>Quiet being restored, Hathorne proceeded: "Tell us, have you not had +visible appearances, more than what is common in nature?"—"I have +none, nor never had in my life."—"Do you think these suffer voluntary +or involuntary?"—"I cannot tell."—"That is strange: every one can +judge."—"I must be silent."—"They accuse you of hurting them; and, +if you think it is not unwillingly, but by design, you must look upon +them as murderers."—"I cannot tell what to think of it." This answer +was considered as very aspersive in its bearing upon the witnesses, +and she was charged with having called them murderers. Being hard of +hearing, she did not always take in the whole import of questions put +to her. She denied that she said she thought them murderers; all she +said, and that she stood to to the last, was that she could not tell +what to make of their conduct. Finally, Hathorne put this question, +and called for an answer, "Do you think these suffer against their +wills or not?" She answered, "I do not think these suffer against +their wills." To this point she was not afraid or unwilling to go, in +giving an opinion of the conduct of the accusing girls. Infirm, half +deaf, cross-questioned, circumvented, surrounded with folly, uproar, +and outrage, as she was, they could not intimidate her to say less, or +entrap her to say more.</p> + +<p>Then another line of criminating questions was started by the +magistrate: "Why did you never visit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.67" id="Page_ii.67">[ii.67]</a></span> these afflicted +persons?"—"Because I was afraid I should have fits too." On every +motion of her body, "fits followed upon the complainants, abundantly +and very frequently." As soon as order was again restored, Hathorne, +being, as he always was, wholly convinced of the reality of the +sufferings of the "afflicted children," addressed her thus, "Is it not +an unaccountable case, that, when you are examined, these persons are +afflicted?" Seeing that he and the whole assembly put faith in the +accusers, her only reply was, "I have got nobody to look to but God." +As she uttered these words, she naturally attempted to raise her +hands, whereupon "the afflicted persons were seized with violent fits +of torture." After silence was again restored, the magistrate pressed +his questions still closer. "Do you believe these afflicted persons +are bewitched?" She answered, "I do think they are." It will be +noticed that there was this difference between Rebecca Nurse and +Martha Corey: The latter was an utter heretic on the point of the +popular faith respecting witchcraft; she did not believe that there +were any witches, and she looked upon the declarations and actions of +the "afflicted children" as the ravings of "distracted persons." The +former seems to have held the opinions of the day, and had no +disbelief in witchcraft: she was willing to admit that the children +were bewitched; but she knew her own innocence, and nothing could move +her from the consciousness of it. Mr. Hathorne continued, "When this +witchcraft came upon the stage, there was no suspicion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.68" id="Page_ii.68">[ii.68]</a></span> of Tituba, Mr. +Parris's Indian woman. She professed much love to that child,—Betty +Parris; but it was her apparition did the mischief: and why should not +you also be guilty, for your apparition doth hurt also?" Her answer +was, "Would you have me belie myself?" Weary, probably, of the +protracted proceedings, her head drooped on one side; and forthwith +the necks of the afflicted children were bent in the same way. This +new demonstration of the diabolical power that proceeded from her +filled the house with increased awe, and spread horrible conviction of +her guilt through all minds. Elizabeth Hubbard's neck was fixed in +that direction, and could not be moved. Abigail Williams cried out, +"Set up Goody Nurse's head, the maid's neck will be broke." Whereupon, +some persons held the prisoner's head up, and "Aaron Way observed that +Betty Hubbard's was immediately righted." To consummate the effect of +the whole proceeding, Mr. Parris, by direction of the magistrates, +"read what he had in characters taken from Mr. Thomas Putnam's wife in +her fits." We shall come to the matter thus introduced by Mr. Parris, +at a future stage of the story. It is sufficient here to say, that it +contained the most positive and minute declarations that the +apparition of Rebecca Nurse had appeared to her, on several occasions, +and horribly tortured her. After hearing Parris's statement, Hathorne +asked the prisoner, "What do you think of this?" Her reply was, "I +cannot help it: the Devil may appear in my shape." It may be +mentioned, that Mrs. Ann Putnam was present during this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.69" id="Page_ii.69">[ii.69]</a></span> examination, +and, in the course of it, went into the most dreadful bodily agony, +charging it on Rebecca Nurse. Her sufferings were so violent, and held +on so long, that the magistrates gave permission to her husband to +carry her out of the meeting-house, to free her from the malignant +presence of the prisoner. The record of the examination closes thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Salem Village, March 24th, 1691/2.—The Reverend Mr. Samuel +Parris, being desired to take in writing the examination of +Rebecca Nurse, hath returned it as aforesaid.</p> + +<p>"Upon hearing the aforesaid, and seeing what we then did +see, together with the charges of the persons then present, +we committed Rebecca Nurse, the wife of Francis Nurse of +Salem Village, unto Her Majesty's jail in Salem, as <i>per +mittimus</i> then given out, in order to further examination."</p></div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image18.png" alt="signatures" width="300" height="88" /></p> + +<p>The presence of Ann Putnam, the mother, on this occasion; the +statement from her, read by Mr. Parris; and the terrible sufferings +she exhibited, produced, no doubt, a deep effect upon the magistrates +and all present. Her social position and personal appearance +undoubtedly contributed to heighten it. For two months, her house had +been the constant scene of the extraordinary actings of the circle of +girls of which her daughter and maid-servant were the leading +spirits.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.70" id="Page_ii.70">[ii.70]</a></span> Her mind had been absorbed in the mysteries of spiritualism. +The marvels of necromancy and magic had been kept perpetually before +it. She had been living in the invisible world, with a constant sense +of supernaturalism surrounding her. Unconsciously, perhaps, the +passions, prejudices, irritations, and animosities, to which she had +been subject, became mixed with the vagaries of an excited +imagination; and, laid open to the inroads of delusion as her mind had +long been by perpetual tamperings with spiritual ideas and phantoms, +she may have lost the balance of reason and sanity. This, added to a +morbid sensibility, probably gave a deep intensity to her voice, +action, and countenance. The effect upon the excited multitude must +have been very great. Although she lived to realize the utter +falseness of all her statements, her monstrous fictions were felt by +her, at the time, to be a reality.</p> + +<p>In concluding his report of this examination, Mr. Parris says, "By +reason of great noises by the afflicted and many speakers, many things +are pretermitted." He was probably quite willing to avoid telling the +whole story of the disgraceful and shocking scenes enacted in the +meeting-house that day. Deodat Lawson was present during the earlier +part of the proceedings. He says that Mr. Hale began with prayer; that +the prisoner "pleaded her innocency with earnestness;" that, at the +opening, some of the girls, Mary Walcot among them, declared that the +prisoner had never hurt them. Presently, however, Mary Walcot screamed +out that she was bitten, and charged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.71" id="Page_ii.71">[ii.71]</a></span> it upon Rebecca Nurse. The marks +of teeth were produced on her wrist. Lawson says, "It was so disposed +that I had not leisure to attend the whole time of examination." The +meaning is, I suppose, that he desired to withdraw into the +neighboring fields to con over his manuscript, and make himself more +able to perform with effect the part he was to act that afternoon. +"There was once," he says, "such an hideous screech and noise (which I +heard as I walked at a little distance from the meeting-house) as did +amaze me; and some that were within told me the whole assembly was +struck with consternation, and they were afraid that those that sat +next to them were under the influence of witchcraft." The whole +congregation was in an uproar, every one afflicted by and affrighting +every other, amid a universal outcry of terror and horror.</p> + +<p>As it was a part of the policy of the managers of the business to +utterly overwhelm the influence of all natural sentiment in the +community, they coupled with this proceeding against a venerable and +infirm great-grandmother, another of the same kind against a little +child. Immediately after the examination of Rebecca Nurse was +concluded, Dorcas, a daughter of Sarah Good, was brought before the +magistrates. She was between four and five years old. Lawson says, +"The child looked hale and well as other children." A warrant had been +issued for her apprehension, the day before, on complaint of Edward +and Jonathan Putnam. Herrick the marshal, who was a man that magnified +his office, and of much personal pride, did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.72" id="Page_ii.72">[ii.72]</a></span> not, perhaps, fancy the +idea of bringing up such a little prisoner; and he deputized the +operation to Samuel Braybrook, who, the next morning, made return, in +due form, that "he had taken the body of Dorcas Good," and sent her to +the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll, where she was in custody. It seems +that Braybrook did not like the job, and passed the handling of the +child over to still another. Whoever performed the service probably +brought her in his arms, or on a pillion. The little thing could not +have walked the distance from Benjamin Putnam's farm. When led in to +be examined, Ann Putnam, Mary Walcot, and Mercy Lewis, all charged her +with biting, pinching, and almost choking them. The two former went +through their usual evolutions in the presence of the awe and terror +stricken magistrates and multitude. They showed the marks of her +little teeth on their arms; and the pins with which she pricked them +were found on their bodies, precisely where, in their shrieks, they +had averred that she was piercing them. The evidence was considered +overwhelming; and Dorcas was, <i>per mittimus</i>, committed to the jail, +where she joined her mother. By the bill of the Boston jailer, it +appears that they both were confined there: as they were too poor to +provide for themselves, "the country" was charged with ten shillings +for "two blankets for Sarah Good's child." The mother, we know, was +kept in chains; the child was probably chained too. Extraordinary +fastenings, as has been stated, were thought necessary to hold a +witch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.73" id="Page_ii.73">[ii.73]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no longer any doubt, in the mass of the community, that the +Devil had effected a lodgement at Salem Village. Church-members, +persons of all social positions, of the highest repute and profession +of piety, eminent for visible manifestations of devotion, and of every +age, had joined his standard, and become his active allies and +confederates.</p> + +<p>The effect of these two examinations was unquestionably very great in +spreading consternation and bewilderment far and wide; but they were +only the prelude to the work, to that end, arranged for the day. The +public mind was worked to red heat, and now was the moment to strike +the blow that would fix an impression deep and irremovable upon it. It +was Thursday, Lecture-day; and the public services usual on the +occasion were to be held at the meeting-house.</p> + +<p>Deodat Lawson had arrived at the village on the 19th of March, and +lodged at Deacon Ingersoll's. The fact at once became known; and Mary +Walcot immediately went to the deacon's to see him. She had a fit on +the spot, which filled Lawson with amazement and horror. His turn of +mind led him to be interested in such an excitement; and he had become +additionally and specially exercised by learning that the afflicted +persons had intimated that the deaths of his wife and daughter, which +occurred during his ministry at the village, had been brought about by +the diabolical agency of the persons then beginning to be unmasked, +and brought to justice. He was prepared to listen to the hints thus +thrown out, and was ready to push<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.74" id="Page_ii.74">[ii.74]</a></span> the prosecutions on with an +earnestness in which resentment and rage were mingled with the +blindest credulity. After Mary Walcot had given him a specimen of what +the girls were suffering, he walked over, early in the evening, to Mr. +Parris's house; and there Abigail Williams went into the craziest +manifestations, throwing firebrands about the house in the presence of +her uncle, rushing to the back of the chimney as though she would fly +up through its wide flue, and performing many wonderful works. The +next day being Sunday, he preached; and the services were interrupted, +in the manner already described, by the outbreaks of the afflicted, +under diabolic influence. The next day, he attended the examination of +Martha Corey. On Wednesday, the 23d, he went up to Thomas Putnam's, as +he says, "on purpose to see his wife." He "found her lying on the bed, +having had a sore fit a little before: her husband and she both +desired me to pray with her while she was sensible, which I did, +though the apparition said I should not go to prayer. At the first +beginning, she attended; but, after a little time, was taken with a +fit, yet continued silent, and seemed to be asleep." She had +represented herself as being in conflict with the shape, or spectre, +of a witch, which, she told Lawson, said he should not pray on the +occasion. But he courageously ventured on the work. At the conclusion +of the prayer, "her husband, going to her, found her in a fit. He took +her off the bed to sit her on his knees; but at first she was so stiff +she could not be bended, but she after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.75" id="Page_ii.75">[ii.75]</a></span>wards sat down." Then she went +into that state of supernatural vision and exaltation in which she was +accustomed to utter the wildest strains, in fervid, extravagant, but +solemn and melancholy, rhapsodies: she disputed with the spectre about +a text of Scripture, and then poured forth the most terrible +denunciations upon it for tormenting and tempting her. She was +evidently a very intellectual and imaginative woman, and was perfectly +versed in all the imagery and lofty diction supplied by the prophetic +and poetic parts of Scripture. Again she was seized with a terrible +fit, that lasted "near half an hour." At times, her mouth was drawn on +one side and her body strained. At last she broke forth, and +succeeded, after many violent struggles against the spectre and many +convulsions of her frame, in saying what part of the Bible Lawson was +to read aloud, in order to relieve her. "It is," she said, "the third +chapter of the Revelation."—"I did," says Lawson, "something scruple +the reading it." He was loath to be engaged in an affair of that kind +in which the Devil was an actor. At length he overcame his scruples, +and the effect was decisive. "Before I had near read through the first +verse, she opened her eyes, and was well." Bewildered and amazed, he +went back to Parris's house, and they talked over the awful +manifestations of Satan's power. The next morning, he attended the +examination of Rebecca Nurse, retiring from it, at an early hour, to +complete his preparation for the service that had been arranged for +him that afternoon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.76" id="Page_ii.76">[ii.76]</a></span></p> + +<p>I say arranged, because the facts in this case prove long-concerted +arrangement. He was to preach a sermon that day. Word must have been +sent to him weeks before. After reaching the village, every hour had +been occupied in exciting spectacles and engrossing experiences, +filling his mind with the fanatical enthusiasm requisite to give force +and fire to the delivery of the discourse. He could not possibly have +written it after coming to the place. He must have brought it in his +pocket. It is a thoroughly elaborated and carefully constructed +performance, requiring long and patient application to compose it, and +exhausting all the resources of theological research and reference, +and of artistic skill and finish. It is adapted to the details of an +occasion which was prepared to meet it. Not only the sermon but the +audience were the result of arrangement carefully made in the stages +of preparation and in the elements comprised in it. The preceding +steps had all been seasonably and appositely taken, so that, when the +regular lecture afternoon came, Lawson would have his voluminous +discourse ready, and a congregation be in waiting to hear it, with +minds suitably wrought upon by the preceding incidents of the day, to +be thoroughly and permanently impressed by it. The occasion had been +heralded by a train of circumstances drawing everybody to the spot. +The magistrates were already there, some of them by virtue of the +necessity of official presence in the earlier part of the day, and +others came in from the neighborhood; the ministers gathered from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.77" id="Page_ii.77">[ii.77]</a></span> the +towns in the vicinity; men and women came from all quarters, flocking +along the highways and the by-ways, large numbers on horseback, and +crowds on foot. Probably the village meeting-house, and the grounds +around it, presented a spectacle such as never was exhibited +elsewhere. Awe, dread, earnestness, a stern but wild fanaticism, were +stamped on all countenances, and stirred the heaving multitude to its +depths, and in all its movements and utterances. It is impossible to +imagine a combination of circumstances that could give greater +advantage and power to a speaker, and Lawson was equal to the +situation. No discourse was ever more equal, or better adapted, to its +occasion. It was irresistible in its power, and carried the public +mind as by storm.</p> + +<p>The text is Zechariah, iii. 2: "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord +rebuke thee, O Satan! even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke +thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" After an allusion +to the rebellion of Satan, and his fall from heaven with his "accursed +legions," and after representing them as filled "with envy and malice +against all mankind," seeking "by all ways and means to work their +ruin and destruction for ever, opposing to the utmost all persons and +things appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as means or instruments of +their comfort here or salvation hereafter," he proceeds, in the manner +of those days, to open his text and spread out his subject, all along +exhibiting great ability, skill, and power, showing learning in his +illustrations, draw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.78" id="Page_ii.78">[ii.78]</a></span>ing aptly and abundantly from the Scriptures, and, +at the right points, rising to high strains of eloquence in diction +and imagery.</p> + +<p>He describes, at great length and with abundant instances ingeniously +selected from sacred and profane literature, the marvellous power with +which Satan is enabled to operate upon mankind. He says,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He is a spirit, and hence strikes at the spiritual part, +the most excellent (constituent) part of man. Primarily +disturbing and interrupting the animal and vital spirits, he +maliciously operates upon the more common powers of the soul +by strange and frightful representations to the fancy or +imagination; and, by violent tortures of the body, often +threatening to extinguish life, as hath been observed in +those that are afflicted amongst us. And not only so, but he +vents his malice in diabolical operations on the more +sublime and distinguishing faculties of the rational soul, +raising mists of darkness and ignorance in the +understanding.... Sometimes he brings distress upon the +bodies of men, by malignant operations in, and diabolical +impressions on, the spirituous principle or vehicle of life +and motion.... There are certainly some lower operations of +Satan (whereof there are sundry examples among us), which +the bodies and souls of men and women are liable unto. And +whosoever hath carefully observed those things must needs be +convinced, that the motions of the persons afflicted, both +as to the manner and as to the violence of them, are the +mere effects of diabolical malice and operations, and that +it cannot rationally be imagined to proceed from any other +cause whatever.... Satan exerts his malice mediately by +employing some of mankind and other creatures, and he +frequently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.79" id="Page_ii.79">[ii.79]</a></span> useth other persons or things, that his designs +may be the more undiscernible. Thus he used the serpent in +the first temptation (Gen. iii. 1). Hence he contracts and +indents with witches and wizards, that they shall be the +instruments by whom he may more secretly affect and afflict +the bodies and minds of others; and, if he can prevail upon +those that make a visible profession, it may be the better +covert unto his diabolical enterprise, and may the more +readily pervert others to consenting unto his subjection. So +far as we can look into those hellish mysteries, and guess +at the administration of that kingdom of darkness, we may +learn that witches make witches by persuading one the other +to subscribe to a book or articles, &c.; and the Devil, +having them in his subjection, by their consent, he will use +their bodies and minds, shapes and representations, to +affright and afflict others at his pleasure, for the +propagation of his infernal kingdom, and accomplishing his +devised mischiefs to the souls, bodies, and lives of the +children of men, yea, and of the children of God too, so far +as permitted and is possible.... He insinuates into the +society of the adopted children of God, in their most solemn +approaches to him, in sacred ordinances, endeavoring to look +so like the true saints and ministers of Christ, that, if it +were possible, he would deceive the very elect (Matt. xxiv. +24) by his subtilty: for it is certain he never works more +like the Prince of darkness than when he looks most like an +angel of light; and, when he most pretends to holiness, he +then doth most secretly, and by consequence most surely, +undermine it, and those that most excel in the exercise +thereof."</p></div> + +<p>The following is a specimen of the style in which he stirred up the +people:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.80" id="Page_ii.80">[ii.80]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The application of this doctrine to ourselves remains now +to be attended. Let it be for solemn warning and awakening +to all of us that are before the Lord at this time, and to +all others of this whole people, who shall come to the +knowledge of these direful operations of Satan, which the +holy God hath permitted in the midst of us.</p> + +<p>"The Lord doth terrible things amongst us, by lengthening +the chain of the roaring lion in an extraordinary manner, so +that the Devil is come down in great wrath (Rev. xii. 12), +endeavoring to set up his kingdom, and, by racking torments +on the bodies, and affrightening representations to the +minds of many amongst us, to force and fright them to become +his subjects. I may well say, then, in the words of the +prophet (Mic. vi. 9), 'The Lord's voice crieth to the city,' +and to the country also, with an unusual and amazing +loudness. Surely, it warns us to awaken out of all sleep, of +security or stupidity, to arise, and take our Bibles, turn +to, and learn that lesson, not by rote only, but by heart. 1 +Pet. v. 8: 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary +the Devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom amongst +you he may distress, delude, and devour.'... Awake, awake +then, I beseech you, and remain no longer under the dominion +of that prince of cruelty and malice, whose tyrannical fury +we see thus exerted against the bodies and minds of these +afflicted persons!... This warning is directed to all manner +of persons, according to their condition of life, both in +civil and sacred order; both high and low, rich and poor, +old and young, bond and free. Oh, let the observation of +these amazing dispensations of God's unusual and strange +Providence quicken us to our duty, at such a time as this, +in our respective places and stations, relations and +capacities! The great God hath done such things amongst us +as do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.81" id="Page_ii.81">[ii.81]</a></span> make the ears of those that hear them to tingle (Jer. +xix. 3); and serious souls are at a loss to what these +things may grow, and what we shall find to be the end of +this dreadful visitation, in the permission whereof the +provoked God as a lion hath roared, who can but fear? the +Lord hath spoken, who can but prophesy? (Amos iii. 8.) The +loud trumpet of God, in this thundering providence, is blown +in the city, and the echo of it heard through the country, +surely then the people must and ought to be afraid (Amos +iii. 6).... You are therefore to be deeply humbled, and sit +in the dust, considering the signal hand of God in singling +out this place, this poor village, for the first seat of +Satan's tyranny, and to make it (as 'twere) the rendezvous +of devils, where they muster their infernal forces; +appearing to the afflicted as coming armed to carry on their +malicious designs against the bodies, and, if God in mercy +prevent not, against the souls, of many in this place.... Be +humbled also that so many members of this church of the Lord +Jesus Christ should be under the influences of Satan's +malice in these his operations; some as the objects of his +tyranny on their bodies to that degree of distress which +none can be sensible of but those that see and feel it, who +are in the mean time also sorely distressed in their minds +by frightful representations made by the devils unto them. +Other professors and visible members of this church are +under the awful accusations and imputations of being the +instruments of Satan in his mischievous actings. It cannot +but be matter of deep humiliation, to such as are innocent, +that the righteous and holy God should permit them to be +named in such pernicious and unheard-of practices, and not +only so, but that he who cannot but do right should suffer +the stain of suspected guilt to be, as it were, rubbed on +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.82" id="Page_ii.82">[ii.82]</a></span> soaked in by many sore and amazing circumstances. And +it is a matter of soul-abasement to all that are in the bond +of God's holy covenant in this place, that Satan's seat +should be amongst them, where he attempts to set up his +kingdom in opposition to Christ's kingdom, and to take some +of the visible subjects of our Lord Jesus, and use at least +their shapes and appearances, instrumentally, to afflict and +torture other visible subjects of the same kingdom. Surely +his design is that Christ's kingdom may be divided against +itself, that, being thereby weakened, he may the better take +opportunity to set up his own accursed powers and dominions. +It calls aloud then to all in this place in the name of the +blessed Jesus, and words of his holy apostle (1 Peter v. 6), +'Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.'</p> + +<p>"It is matter of terror, amazement, and astonishment, to all +such wretched souls (if there be any here in the +congregation; and God, of his infinite mercy, grant that +none of you may ever be found such!) as have given up their +names and souls to the Devil; who by covenant, explicit or +implicit, have bound themselves to be his slaves and +drudges, consenting to be instruments in whose shapes he may +torment and afflict their fellow-creatures (even of their +own kind) to the amazing and astonishing of the standers-by. +I would hope I might have spared this use, but I desire (by +divine assistance) to declare the whole counsel of God; and +if it come not as conviction where it is so, it may serve +for warning, that it may never be so. For it is a most +dreadful thing to consider that any should change the +service of God for the service of the Devil, the worship of +the blessed God for the worship of the cursed enemy of God +and man. But, oh! (which is yet a thousand times worse) how +shall I name it? if any that are in the visible covenant of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.83" id="Page_ii.83">[ii.83]</a></span> +God should break that covenant, and make a league with +Satan; if any that have sat down and eat at Christ's Table, +should so lift up their heel against him as to have +fellowship at the table of devils, and (as it hath been +represented to some of the afflicted) eat of the bread and +drink of the wine that Satan hath mingled. Surely, if this +be so, the poet is in the right, "Audax omnia perpeti. Gens +humana ruit per vetitum nefas:" audacious mortals are grown +to a fearful height of impiety; and we must cry out in +Scripture language, and that emphatical apostrophe of the +Prophet Jeremy (chap. ii. 12), 'Be astonished, O ye heavens, +at this, and be horribly afraid: be ye very desolate, saith +the Lord.'... If you are in covenant with the Devil, the +intercession of the blessed Jesus is against you. His prayer +is for the subduing of Satan's power and kingdom, and the +utter confounding of all his instruments. If it be so, then +the great God is set against you. The omnipotent Jehovah, +one God in three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in +their several distinct operations and all their divine +attributes,—are engaged against you. Therefore <span class="smcap">know +ye</span> that are guilty of such monstrous iniquity, that He +that made you will not save you, and that He that formed you +will show you no favor (Isa. xxvii. 11). Be assured, that, +although you should now evade the condemnation of man's +judgment, and escape a violent death by the hand of justice; +yet, unless God shall give you repentance (which we heartily +pray for), there is a day coming when the secrets of all +hearts shall be revealed by Jesus Christ (Rom. ii. 16). +Then, then, your sin will find you out; and you shall be +punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of +the Lord, and doomed to those endless, easeless, and +remediless torments prepared for the Devil and his angels +(Matt. xxv. 41).... If you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.84" id="Page_ii.84">[ii.84]</a></span> have been guilty of such +impiety, the prayers of the people of God are against you on +that account. It is their duty to pray daily, that Satan's +kingdom may be suppressed, weakened, brought down, and at +last totally destroyed; hence that all abettors, subjects, +defenders, and promoters thereof, may be utterly crushed and +confounded. They are constrained to suppress that kindness +and compassion that in their sacred addresses they once bare +unto you (as those of their own kind, and framed out of the +same mould), praying with one consent, as the royal prophet +did against his malicious enemies, the instruments of Satan +(Ps. cix. 6), 'Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan +stand at his right hand' (i.e.), to withstand all that is +for his good, and promote all that is for his hurt; and +(verse 7) 'When he is judged, let him be condemned, and let +his prayer become sin.'</p> + +<p>"Be we exhorted and directed to exercise true spiritual +sympathy with, and compassion towards, those poor, afflicted +persons that are by divine permission under the direful +influence of Satan's malice. There is a divine precept +enjoining the practice of such duty: Heb. xiii. 3, 'Remember +them that suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the +body.' Let us, then, be deeply sensible, and, as the elect +of God, put on bowels of mercy towards those in misery (Col. +iii. 12). Oh, pity, pity them! for the hand of the Lord hath +touched them, and the malice of devils hath fallen upon +them.</p> + +<p>"Let us be sure to take unto us and put on the whole armor +of God, and every piece of it; let none be wanting. Let us +labor to be in the exercise and practice of the whole +company of sanctifying graces and religious duties. This +important duty is pressed, and the particular pieces of that +armor recited Eph. vi. 11 and 13 to 18. Satan is +repre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.85" id="Page_ii.85">[ii.85]</a></span>senting his infernal forces; and the devils seem to +come armed, mustering amongst us. I am this day commanded to +call and cry an alarm unto you: <span class="smcap">Arm, arm, arm</span>! +handle your arms, see that you are fixed and in a readiness, +as faithful soldiers under the Captain of our salvation, +that, by the shield of faith, ye and we all may resist the +fiery darts of the wicked; and may be faithful unto death in +our spiritual warfare; so shall we assuredly receive the +crown of life (Rev. ii. 10). Let us admit no parley, give no +quarter: let none of Satan's forces or furies be more +vigilant to hurt us than we are to resist and repress them, +in the name, and by the spirit, grace, and strength of our +Lord Jesus Christ. Let us ply the throne of grace, in the +name and merit of our Blessed Mediator, taking all possible +opportunities, public, private, and secret, to pour out our +supplications to the God of our salvation. Prayer is the +most proper and potent antidote against the old Serpent's +venomous operations. When legions of devils do come down +among us, multitudes of prayers should go up to God. Satan, +the worst of all our enemies, is called in Scripture a +dragon, to note his malice; a serpent, to note his subtilty; +a lion, to note his strength. But none of all these can +stand before prayer. The most inveterate malice (as that of +Haman) sinks under the prayer of Esther (chap. iv. 16). The +deepest policy (the counsel of Achitophel) withers before +the prayer of David (2 Sam. xv. 31); and the vastest army +(an host of a thousand thousand Ethiopians) ran away, like +so many cowards, before the prayer of Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 9 +to 15).</p> + +<p>"What therefore I say unto one I say unto all, in this +important case, <span class="smcap">Pray, pray, pray</span>.</p> + +<p>"To our honored magistrates, here present this day, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.86" id="Page_ii.86">[ii.86]</a></span> +inquire into these things, give me leave, much honored, to +offer one word to your consideration. Do all that in you +lies to check and rebuke Satan; endeavoring, by all ways and +means that are according to the rule of God, to discover his +instruments in these horrid operations. You are concerned in +the civil government of this people, being invested with +power by their Sacred Majesties, under this glorious Jesus +(the King and Governor of his church), for the supporting of +Christ's kingdom against all oppositions of Satan's kingdom +and his instruments. Being ordained of God to such a station +(Rom. xiii. 1), we entreat you, bear not the sword in vain, +as ver. 4; but approve yourselves a terror of and punishment +to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well (1 Peter +ii. 14); ever remembering that ye judge not for men, but for +the Lord (2 Chron. xix. 6); and, as his promise is, so our +prayer shall be for you, without ceasing, that he would be +with you in the judgment, as he that can and will direct, +assist, and reward you. Follow the example of the upright +Job (chap. xxix. 16): Be a father to the poor; to these poor +afflicted persons, in pitiful and painful endeavors to help +them; and the cause that seems to be so dark, as you know +not how to determine it, do your utmost, in the use of all +regular means, to search it out.</p> + +<p>"There is comfort in considering that the Lord Jesus, the +Captain of our salvation, hath already overcome the Devil. +Christ, that blessed seed of the woman, hath given this +cursed old serpent called the Devil and Satan a mortal and +incurable bruise on the head (Gen. iii. 15). He was too much +for him in a single conflict (Matt. iv.). He opposed his +power and kingdom in the possessed. He suffered not the +devils to speak, because they knew him (Mark i. 34). He +com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.87" id="Page_ii.87">[ii.87]</a></span>pleted his victory by his death on the cross, and +destroyed his dominion (Heb. ii. 14), that through death he +might destroy death, and him that had the powers of death, +that is the Devil; and by and after his resurrection made +show openly unto the world, that he had spoiled +principalities and powers, triumphing over them (Col. ii. +15). Hence, if we are by faith united to him, his victory is +an earnest and prelibation of our conquest at last. All +Satan's strugglings now are but those of a conquered enemy. +It is no small comfort to consider, that Job's exercise of +patience had its beginning from the Devil; but we have seen +the end to be from the Lord (James v. 11). That we also may +find by experience the same blessed issue of our present +distresses by Satan's malice, let us repent of every sin +that hath been committed, and labor to practise every duty +which hath been neglected. Then we shall assuredly and +speedily find that the kingly power of our Lord and Saviour +shall be magnified, in delivering his poor sheep and lambs +out of the jaws and paws of the roaring lion."</p></div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="stoughton"> +<img src="images2/image19.jpg" alt="William Stoughton" width="294" height="400" /></a> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><b>WILLIAM STOUGHTON.<br /> +</b><i>Eng.<sup>d</sup> at J. Andrews's by R. Babson</i></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>These extended extracts are given from Lawson's discourse, partly to +enable every one to estimate the effect it must have produced, under +the circumstances of the occasion, but mainly because they present a +living picture of the sentiments, notions, modes of thinking and +reasoning, and convictions, then prevalent. No description given by a +person looking back from our point of view, not having experienced the +delusions of that age, no matter who might attempt the task, could +adequately paint the scene. The foregoing extracts show better, I +think, than any documents that have come down to us, how the subject +lay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.88" id="Page_ii.88">[ii.88]</a></span> in the minds of men at that time. They bring before us directly, +without the intervention of any secondary agency, the thoughts, +associations, sentiments, of that generation, in breathing reality. +They carry us back to the hour and to the spot. Deodat Lawson rises +from his unknown grave, comes forth from the impenetrable cloud which +enveloped the closing scenes of his mortal career, and we listen to +his voice, as it spoke to the multitudes that gathered in and around +the meeting-house in Salem Village, on Lecture-day, March 24, 1692. He +lays bare his whole mind to our immediate inspection. In and through +him, we behold the mind and heart, the forms of language and thought, +the feelings and passions, of the people of that day. We mingle with +the crowd that hang upon his lips; we behold their countenances, +discern the passions that glowed upon their features, and enter into +the excitement that moved and tossed them like a tempest. We are thus +prepared, as we could be in no other way, to comprehend our story.</p> + +<p>The sermon answered its end. It re-enforced the powers that had begun +their work. It spread out the whole doctrine of witchcraft in a +methodical, elaborate, and most impressive form. It justified and +commended every thing that had been done, and every thing that +remained to be done; every step in the proceedings; every process in +the examinations; every kind of accusation and evidence that had been +adduced; every phase of the popular belief, however wild and +monstrous; every pretension of the afflicted children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.89" id="Page_ii.89">[ii.89]</a></span> to +preternatural experiences and communications, and every tale of +apparitions of departed spirits and the ghosts of murdered men, women, +and children, which, engendered in morbid and maniac imaginations, had +been employed to fill him and others with horror, inspire revenge, and +drive on the general delirium. And it fortified every point by the law +and the testimony, by passages and scraps of Scripture, studiously and +skilfully culled out, and ingeniously applied. It gave form to what +had been vague, and authority to what had floated in blind and +baseless dreams of fancy. It crystallized the disordered vagaries, +that had been seething in turbulent confusion in the public mind, into +a fixed, organized, and permanent shape.</p> + +<p>Its publication was forthwith called for. The manuscript was submitted +to Increase and Cotton Mather of the North, James Allen and John +Bailey of the First, Samuel Willard of the Old South, churches in +Boston, and Charles Morton of the church in Charlestown. It was +printed with a strong, unqualified indorsement of approval, signed by +the names severally of these the most eminent divines of the country. +The discourse was dedicated to the "worshipful and worthily honored +Bartholomew Gedney, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, Esqrs., together +with the reverend Mr. John Higginson, pastor, and Mr. Nicholas Noyes, +teacher, of the Church of Christ at Salem," with a preface, addressed +to all his "Christian friends and acquaintance, the inhabitants of +Salem Village." It was republished in London in 1704, under the +immediate direction of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.90" id="Page_ii.90">[ii.90]</a></span> author. The subject is described as +"Christ's Fidelity, the only Shield against Satan's Malignity;" and +the titlepage is enforced by passages of Scripture (Rev. xii. 12, and +Rom. xvi. 20). The interest of the volume is highly increased by an +appendix, giving the substance of notes taken by Lawson on the spot, +during the examinations and trials. They are invaluable, as proceeding +from a chief actor in the scenes, who was wholly carried away by the +delusion. They describe, in marvellous colors, the wonderful +manifestations of diabolical agency in, upon, and through the +afflicted children; resembling, in many respects, reports of spiritual +communications prevalent in our day, although not quite coming up to +them. These statements, and the preface to the discourse, are given in +the <a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a> to this volume. In a much briefer form, it was printed by +Benjamin Harris, at Boston, in 1692; and soon after by John Dunton, in +London.</p> + +<p>Before dismissing Mr. Lawson's famous sermon, our attention is +demanded to a remarkable paragraph in it. His strong faculties could +not be wholly bereft of reason; and he had sense enough left to see, +what does not appear to have occurred to others, that there might be a +re-action in the popular passions, and that some might be called to +account by an indignant public, if not before a stern tribunal of +justice, for the course of cruelty and outrage they were pursuing, +with so high a hand, against accused persons. He was not entirely +satisfied that the appeal he made in his discourse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.91" id="Page_ii.91">[ii.91]</a></span> the people to +suppress and crush out all vestiges of human feeling, and to stifle +compassion and pity in their breasts, would prevail. He foresaw that +the friends and families of innocent and murdered victims might one +day call for vengeance; and he attempts to provide, beforehand, a +defence that is truly ingenious:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Give no place to the Devil by rash censuring of others, +without sufficient grounds, or false accusing any willingly. +This is indeed to be like the Devil, who hath the title, +<span lang="el" title="Greek: Diabolos">Διαβολος</span>, in the Greek, because he is the +calumniator or false accuser. Hence, when we read of such +accusers in the latter days, they are, in the original, +called <span lang="el" title="Greek: Diaboloi">Διαβολοι</span>, <i>calumniatores</i> (2 Tim. iii. 3). +It is a time of temptation amongst you, such as never was +before: let me entreat you not to be lavish or severe in +reflecting on the malice or envy of your neighbors, by whom +any of you have been accused, lest, whilst you falsely +charge one another,—viz., the relations of the afflicted +and relations of the accused,—the grand accuser (who loves +to fish in troubled waters) should take advantage upon you. +Look at sin, the procuring cause; God in justice, the +sovereign efficient; and Satan, the enemy, the principal +instrument, both in afflicting some and accusing others. +And, if innocent persons be suspected, it is to be ascribed +to God's pleasure, supremely permitting, and Satan's malice +subordinately troubling, by representation of such to the +afflicting of others, even of such as have, all the while, +we have reason to believe (especially some of them), no kind +of ill-will or disrespect unto those that have been +complained of by them. This giving place to the Devil avoid; +for it will have uncomforta<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.92" id="Page_ii.92">[ii.92]</a></span>ble and pernicious influence +upon the affairs of this place, by letting out peace, and +bringing in confusion and every evil work, which we heartily +pray God, in mercy, to prevent."</p></div> + +<p>This artifice of statement, speciously covered,—while it outrages +every sentiment of natural justice, and breaks every bond of social +responsibility,—is found, upon close inspection, to be a shocking +imputation against the divine administration. It represents the Deity, +under the phrases "sovereign efficient" and "supremely permitting" in +a view which affords equal shelter to every other class of criminals, +even of the deepest dye, as well as those who were ready and eager to +bring upon their neighbors the charge of confederacy with Satan.</p> + +<p>The next Sunday—March 27—was the regular communion-day of the +village church; and Mr. Parris prepared duly to improve the occasion +to advance the movement then so strongly under way, and to deepen +still more the impression made by the events of the week, especially +by Mr. Lawson's sermon. He accordingly composed an elaborate and +effective discourse of his own; and a scene was arranged to follow the +regular service, which could not but produce important results. An +unexpected occurrence—a part not in the programme—took place, which +created a sensation for the moment; but it tended, upon the whole, to +heighten the public excitement, and, without much disturbing the +order, only precipitated a little the progress of events.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.93" id="Page_ii.93">[ii.93]</a></span></p> + +<p>It may well be supposed, that the congregation assembled that day with +minds awfully solemnized, and altogether in a condition to be deeply +affected by the services. A respectable person always prominently +noticeable for her devout participation in the worship of the +sanctuary, and a member of the church, had, on Monday, after a public +examination, been committed to prison, and was there in irons, waiting +to be tried for her life for the blackest of crimes,—a confederacy +with the enemy of the souls of men, the archtraitor and rebel against +the throne of God. On Thursday, another venerable, and ever before +considered pious, matron of a large and influential family, a +participant in their worship, and a member of the mother-church, had +been consigned to the same fate, to be tried for the same horrible +crime. A little child had been proved to have also joined in the +infernal league. No one could tell to what extent Satan had lengthened +his chain, or who, whether old or young, were in league with him. +Every soul was still alive to the impressions made by Mr. Lawson's +great discourse, and by the throngs of excited people, including +magistrates and ministers, that had been gathered in the village.</p> + +<p>The character and spirit of Mr. Parris's sermon are indicated in a +prefatory note in the manuscript, "occasioned by dreadful witchcraft +broke out here a few weeks past; and one member of this church, and +another of Salem, upon public examination by civil authority, +vehemently suspected for she-witches." The running<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.94" id="Page_ii.94">[ii.94]</a></span> title is, "Christ +knows how many devils there are in his church, and who they are;" and +the text is John vi. 70, 71, "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen +you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the +son of Simon; for he it was that should betray him, being one of the +twelve."</p> + +<p>Peter Cloyse was born May 27, 1639. He came to Salem from York, in +Maine, and was one of the original members of the village church. He +appears to have been a person of the greatest respectability and +strength of character. He married Sarah, sister of Rebecca Nurse, and +widow of Edmund Bridges. She was admitted to the village church, Jan. +12, 1690, being then about forty-eight years of age. It may well be +supposed that she and her family were overwhelmed with affliction and +horror by the proceedings against her sister. But, as she and her +husband were both communicants, and it was sacrament-day, it was +thought best for them to summon resolution to attend the service. +After much persuasion, she was induced to go. She was a very sensitive +person, and it must have required a great effort of fortitude. Her +mind was undoubtedly much harrowed by the allusions made to the events +of the week; and, when Mr. Parris announced his text, and opened his +discourse in the spirit his language indicates, she could bear it no +longer, but rose, and left the meeting. A fresh wind blowing at the +time caused the door to slam after her. The congregation was probably +startled; but Parris was not long embarrassed by the interruption, +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.95" id="Page_ii.95">[ii.95]</a></span> she was attended to in due season. At the close of the service, +the following scene occurred. I give it as Parris describes it in his +church-record book:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"After the common auditory was dismissed, and before the +church's communion at the Lord's Table, the following +testimony against the error of our Sister Mary Sibley, who +had given direction to my Indian man in an unwarrantable way +to find out witches, was read by the pastor:—</p> + +<p>"It is altogether undeniable that our great and blessed God, +for wise and holy ends, hath suffered many persons, in +several families, of this little village, to be grievously +vexed and tortured in body, and to be deeply tempted, to the +endangering of the destruction of their souls; and all these +amazing feats (well known to many of us) to be done by +witchcraft and diabolical operations. It is also well known, +that, when these calamities first began, which was in my own +family, the affliction was several weeks before such hellish +operations as witchcraft were suspected. Nay, it was not +brought forth to any considerable light, until diabolical +means were used by the making of a cake by my Indian man, +who had his direction from this our sister, Mary Sibley; +since which, apparitions have been plenty, and exceeding +much mischief hath followed. But, by these means (it seems), +the Devil hath been raised amongst us, and his rage is +vehement and terrible; and, when he shall be silenced, the +Lord only knows. But now that this our sister should be +instrumental to such distress is a great grief to myself, +and our godly honored and reverend neighbors, who have had +the knowledge of it. Nevertheless, I do truly hope and +believe, that this our sister doth truly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.96" id="Page_ii.96">[ii.96]</a></span> fear the Lord; and +I am well satisfied from her, that, what she did, she did it +ignorantly, from what she had heard of this nature from +other ignorant or worse persons. Yet we are in duty bound to +protest against such actions, as being indeed a going to the +Devil for help against the Devil: we having no such +directions from nature, or God's word, it must therefore be, +and is, accounted, by godly Protestants who write or speak +of such matters, as diabolical; and therefore calls this our +sister to deep humiliation for what she has done, and all of +us to be watchful against Satan's wiles and devices.</p> + +<p>"Therefore, as we, in duty as a church of Christ, are deeply +bound to protest against it, as most directly contrary to +the gospel, yet, inasmuch as this our sister did it in +ignorance as she professeth and we believe, we can continue +her in our holy fellowship, upon her serious promise of +future better advisedness and caution, and acknowledging +that she is indeed sorrowful for her rashness herein.</p> + +<p>"Brethren, if this be your mind, that this iniquity should +be thus borne witness against, manifest it by your usual +sign of lifting up your hands.—The brethren voted +generally, or universally: none made any exceptions.</p> + +<p>"Sister Sibley, if you are convinced that you herein did +sinfully, and are sorry for it, let us hear it from your own +mouth.—She did manifest to satisfaction her error and grief +for it.</p> + +<p>"Brethren, if herein you have received satisfaction, testify +it by lifting up your hands.—A general vote passed; no +exception made.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Note.</span>—25th March, 1692. I discoursed said sister +in my study about her grand error aforesaid, and also then +read to her what I had written as above to be read to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.97" id="Page_ii.97">[ii.97]</a></span> +church; and said Sister Sibley assented to the same with +tears and sorrowful confession."</p></div> + +<p>This proceeding was of more importance than appears, perhaps, at first +view. It was one of Mr. Parris's most skilful moves. The course, +pursued by the "afflicted" persons had, thus far, in reference to +those engaged in the prosecutions, been in the right direction. But it +was manifest, after the exhibitions they had given, that they wielded +a fearful power, too fearful to be left without control. They could +cry out upon whomsoever they pleased; and against their accusations, +armed as they were with the power to fix the charge of guilt upon any +one by giving ocular demonstration that he or she was the author of +their sufferings, there could be no defence. They might turn, at any +moment, and cry out upon Parris or Lawson, or either or both of the +deacons. Nothing could withstand the evidence of their fits, +convulsions, and tortures. It was necessary to have and keep them +under safe control, and, to this end, to prevent any outsiders, or any +injudicious or intermeddling people, from holding intimacy with them. +Parris saw this, and, with his characteristic boldness of action and +fertility of resources, at once put a stop to all trouble, and closed +the door against danger, from this quarter.</p> + +<p>Samuel Sibley was a member of the church, and a near neighbor of Mr. +Parris. He was about thirty-six years of age. His wife Mary was +thirty-two years of age, and also a member of the church. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.98" id="Page_ii.98">[ii.98]</a></span> were +persons of respectable standing and good repute. Nothing is known to +her disadvantage, but her foolish connection with the mystical +operations going on in Mr. Parris's family; and of this she was +heartily ashamed. Her penitent sensibility is quite touchingly +described by Mr. Parris. It is true that what she had done was a +trifle in comparison with what was going on every day in the families +of Mr. Parris and Thomas Putnam: but she had acted "rashly," without +"advisedness" from the right quarter, under the lead of "ignorant +persons;" and therefore it was necessary to make a great ado about it, +and hold her up as a warning to prevent other persons from meddling in +such matters. Her husband was an uncle of Mary Walcot, one of the +afflicted children; and it was particularly important to keep their +relatives, and members of their immediate families, from taking any +part or action in connection with them, except under due +"advisedness," and the direction of persons learned in such deep +matters. The family connections of the Sibleys were extensive, and a +blow struck at that point would be felt everywhere. The procedure was +undoubtedly effectual. After Mary Sibley had been thus awfully rebuked +and distressingly exposed for dealing with "John Indian," it is not +likely that any one else ever ventured to intermeddle with the +"afflicted," or have any connection, except as outside spectators, +with the marvellous phenomena of "diabolical operations." It will be +noticed, that, while Mr. Parris thus waved the sword of disciplinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.99" id="Page_ii.99">[ii.99]</a></span> +vengeance against any who should dare to intrude upon the forbidden +ground, he occupied it himself without disguise, and maintained his +hold upon it. He asserts the reality of the "amazing feats" practised +by diabolical power in their midst, and enforces in the strongest +language the then prevalent views and pending proceedings.</p> + +<p>The operations of the week, including the solemn censure of Mary +Sibley, had all worked favorably for the prosecutors and managers of +the business. The magistrates, ministers, and whole body of the +people, had become committed; the accusing girls had proved themselves +apt and competent to their work; the public reason was prostrated, and +natural sensibility stunned. All resisting forces were powerless, and +all collateral dangers avoided and provided against. The movement was +fully in hand. The next step was maturely considered, and, as we shall +see, skilfully taken.</p> + +<p>It is to be observed, that there was, at this time, a break in the +regular government of Massachusetts. In the spring of 1689, the people +had risen, seized the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros, and put him +in prison. They summoned their old charter governor, Simon Bradstreet, +then living in Salem, eighty-seven years of age, to the chair of +state; called the assistants of 1686 back to their seats, who provided +for an election of representatives by the people of the towns; and the +government thus created conducted affairs until the arrival of Sir +William Phipps, in May, 1692, when Massachusetts ceased to be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.100" id="Page_ii.100">[ii.100]</a></span> +colony, and was thenceforth, until 1774, a royal province. During +these three years, from May, 1689, to May, 1692, the government was +based upon an uprising of the people. It was a period of pure and +absolute independence of the crown or parliament of England. Although +Bradstreet's faculties were unimpaired and his spirit true and firm, +his age prevented his doing much more than to give his loved and +venerated name to the daring movement, and to the official service, of +the people. The executive functions were, for the most part, exercised +by the deputy-governor, Thomas Danforth, who was a person of great +ability and public spirit. Unfortunately, at this time he was +zealously in favor of the witchcraft prosecutions. Bradstreet was +throughout opposed to them. Had time held off its hand, and his +physical energies not been impaired, he would undoubtedly have +resisted and prevented them. Danforth, it is said by Brattle, came to +disapprove of them finally: but he began them by arrests in other +towns, months before any thing of the kind was thought of in Salem +Village; and he contributed, prominently, to give destructive and +wide-spread power, in an early stage of its development, to the +witchcraft delusion here.</p> + +<p>After the lapse of a week, preparations were completed to renew +operations, and a higher and more commanding character given to them. +On Monday, April 4, Captain Jonathan Walcot and Lieutenant Nathaniel +Ingersoll went to the town, and, "for themselves and several of their +neighbors," exhibited to the assistants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.101" id="Page_ii.101">[ii.101]</a></span> residing there, John Hathorne +and Jonathan Corwin, complaints against "Sarah Cloyse, the wife of +Peter Cloyse of Salem Village, and Elizabeth Procter of Salem Farms, +for high suspicion of sundry acts of witchcraft." There the plan of +proceedings in reference to the above-said parties was agreed upon. It +was the result of consultation; communications probably passing with +the deputy-governor in Boston, or at his residence in Cambridge. On +the 8th of April, warrants were duly issued, ordering the marshal to +bring in the prisoners "on Monday morning next, being the eleventh day +of this instant April, about eleven of the clock, in the public +meeting-house in the town." It had been arranged, that the examination +should not be, as before, in the ordinary way, before the two local +magistrates, but, in an extraordinary way, before the highest tribunal +in the colony, or a representation of it. For a preliminary hearing, +with a view merely to commitment for trial, this surely may justly be +characterized as an extraordinary, wholly irregular, and, in all +points of view, reprehensible procedure. When the day came, the +meeting-house, which was much more capacious than that at the village, +was crowded; and the old town filled with excited throngs. Upon +opening proceedings, lo and behold, instead of the two magistrates, +the government of the colony was present, in the highest character it +then had as "a council"! The record says,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Salem, April 11, 1692.—At a Council held at Salem, and +present Thomas Danforth, Esq., deputy-governor;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.102" id="Page_ii.102">[ii.102]</a></span> James +Russell, John Hathorne, Isaac Addington, Major Samuel +Appleton, Captain Samuel Sewall, Jonathan Corwin, Esquires."</p></div> + +<p>Russell was of Charlestown, Addington and Sewall of Boston, and +Appleton of Ipswich. Mr. Parris, "being desired and appointed to write +the examination, did take the same, and also read it before the +council in public." This document has not come down to us; but +Hutchinson had access to it, and the substance of it is preserved in +his "History of Massachusetts."</p> + +<p>The marshal (Herrick) brought in Sarah Cloyse and Elizabeth Procter, +and delivered them "before the honorable council:" and the examination +was begun.</p> + +<p>The deputy-governor first called to the stand John Indian, and plied +him, as was the course pursued on all these occasions, with leading +questions:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"John, who hurt you?—Goody Procter first, and then Goody +Cloyse.</p> + +<p>"What did she do to you?—She brought the book to me.</p> + +<p>"John, tell the truth: who hurts you? Have you been +hurt?—The first was a gentlewoman I saw.</p> + +<p>"Who next?—Goody Cloyse.</p> + +<p>"But who hurt you next?—Goody Procter.</p> + +<p>"What did she do to you?—She choked me, and brought the +book.</p> + +<p>"How oft did she come to torment you?—A good many times, +she and Goody Cloyse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.103" id="Page_ii.103">[ii.103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do they come to you in the night, as well as the day?—They +come most in the day.</p> + +<p>"Who?—Goody Cloyse and Goody Procter.</p> + +<p>"Where did she take hold of you?—Upon my throat, to stop my +breath.</p> + +<p>"Do you know Goody Cloyse and Goody Procter?—Yes: here is +Goody Cloyse."</p></div> + +<p>We may well suppose that these two respectable women must have been +filled with indignation, shocked, and amazed at the statements made by +the Indian, following the leading interrogatories of the Court. Sarah +Cloyse broke out, "When did I hurt thee?" He answered, "A great many +times." She exclaimed, "Oh, you are a grievous liar!" The Court +proceeded with their questions:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"What did this Goody Cloyse do to you?—She pinched and bit +me till the blood came.</p> + +<p>"How long since this woman came and hurt you?—Yesterday, at +meeting.</p> + +<p>"At any time before?—Yes: a great many times."</p></div> + +<p>Having drawn out John Indian, the Court turned to the other afflicted +ones:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mary Walcot, who hurts you?—Goody Cloyse.</p> + +<p>"What did she do to you?—She hurt me.</p> + +<p>"Did she bring the book?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"What was you to do with it?—To touch it, and be well.</p> + +<p>"(Then she fell into a fit.)"</p></div> + +<p>This put a stop to the examination for a time; but it was generally +quite easy to bring witnesses out of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.104" id="Page_ii.104">[ii.104]</a></span> fit, and restore entire +calmness of mind. All that was necessary was to lift them up, and +carry them to the accused person, the touch of any part of whose body +would, in an instant, relieve the sufferer. This having been done, the +examination proceeded:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Doth she come alone?—Sometimes alone, and sometimes in +company with Goody Nurse and Goody Corey, and a great many I +do not know.</p> + +<p>"(Then she fell into a fit again.)"</p></div> + +<p>She was, probably, restored in the same way as before; but, her part +being finished for that stage of the proceeding, another of the +afflicted children took the stand:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Abigail Williams, did you see a company at Mr. Parris's +house eat and drink?—Yes, sir: that was in the sacrament."</p></div> + +<p>I would call attention to the form of the foregoing questions. +Hutchinson says that "Mr. Parris was over-officious: most of the +examinations, although in the presence of one or more magistrates, +were taken by him." He put the questions. They show, on this occasion, +a minute knowledge beforehand of what the witnesses are to say, which +it cannot be supposed Danforth, Russell, Addington, Appleton, and +Sewall, strangers, as they were, to the place and the details of the +affair, could have had. The examination proceeded:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"How many were there?—About forty, and Goody Cloyse and +Goody Good were their deacons.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.105" id="Page_ii.105">[ii.105]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What was it?—They said it was our blood, and they had it +twice that day."</p></div> + +<p>The interrogator again turned to Mary Walcot, and inquired,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Have you seen a white man?—Yes, sir: a great many times.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a man was he?—A fine grave man; and, when he +came, he made all the witches to tremble.</p> + +<p>"(Abigail Williams confirmed the same, and that they had +such a sight at Deacon Ingersoll's.)</p> + +<p>"Who was at Deacon Ingersoll's then?—Goody Cloyse, Goody +Nurse, Goody Corey, and Goody Good.</p> + +<p>"(Then Sarah Cloyse asked for water, and sat down, as one +seized with a dying, fainting fit; and several of the +afflicted fell into fits, and some of them cried out, 'Oh! +her spirit has gone to prison to her sister Nurse.')"</p></div> + +<p>The audacious lying of the witnesses; the horrid monstrousness of +their charges against Sarah Cloyse, of having bitten the flesh of the +Indian brute, and drank herself and distributed to others, as deacon, +at an infernal sacrament, the blood of the wicked creatures making +these foul and devilish declarations, known by her to be utterly and +wickedly false; and the fact that they were believed by the deputy, +the council, and the assembly,—were more than she could bear. Her +soul sickened at such unimaginable depravity and wrong; her nervous +system gave way; she fainted, and sunk to the floor. The manner in +which the girls turned the incident against her shows how they were +hardened to all human feeling, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.106" id="Page_ii.106">[ii.106]</a></span> cunning art which, on all +occasions, characterized their proceedings. That such an insolent +interruption and disturbance, on their part, was permitted, without +rebuke from the Court, is a perpetual dishonor to every member of it. +The scene exhibited at this moment, in the meeting-house, is worthy of +an attempt to imagine. The most terrible sensation was naturally +produced, by the swooning of the prisoner, the loudly uttered and +savage mockery of the girls, and their going simultaneously into fits, +screaming at the top of their voices, twisting into all possible +attitudes, stiffened as in death, or gasping with convulsive spasms of +agony, and crying out, at intervals, "There is the black man +whispering in Cloyse's ear," "There is a yellow-bird flying round her +head." John Indian, on such occasions, used to confine his +achievements to tumbling, and rolling his ugly body about the floor. +The deepest commiseration was felt by all for the "afflicted," and men +and women rushed to hold and soothe them. There was, no doubt, much +loud screeching, and some miscellaneous faintings, through the whole +crowd. At length, by bringing the sufferers into contact with Goody +Cloyse, the diabolical fluid passed back into her, they were all +relieved, and the examination was resumed. Elizabeth Procter was now +brought forward.</p> + +<p>In the account given, in the <a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a>, of the population of Salem +Village and the contiguous farms, her husband, John Procter, was +introduced to our acquaintance. From what we then saw of him, we are +well assured that he would not shrink from the protec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.107" id="Page_ii.107">[ii.107]</a></span>tion and defence +of his wife. He accompanied her from her arrest to her arraignment, +and stood by her side, a strong, brave, and resolute guardian, trying +to support her under the terrible trials of her situation, and ready +to comfort and aid her to the extent of his power, disregardful of all +consequences to himself. The examination proceeded:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Elizabeth Procter, you understand whereof you are charged; +viz., to be guilty of sundry acts of witchcraft. What say +you to it? Speak the truth; and so you that are afflicted, +you must speak the truth, as you will answer it before God +another day. Mary Walcot, doth this woman hurt you?—I never +saw her so as to be hurt by her.</p> + +<p>"Mercy Lewis, does she hurt you?</p> + +<p>"(Her mouth was stopped.)</p> + +<p>"Ann Putnam, does she hurt you?</p> + +<p>"(She could not speak.)</p> + +<p>"Abigail Williams, does she hurt you?</p> + +<p>"(Her hand was thrust in her own mouth.)</p> + +<p>"John, does she hurt you?—This is the woman that came in +her shift, and choked me.</p> + +<p>"Did she ever bring the book?—Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>"What to do?—To write.</p> + +<p>"What? this woman?—Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of it?—Yes, sir.</p> + +<p>"(Again Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam were spoke to by the +Court; but neither of them could make any answer, by reason +of dumbness or other fits.)</p> + +<p>"What do you say, Goody Procter, to these things?—I take +God in heaven to be my witness, that I know nothing of it, +no more than the child unborn.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.108" id="Page_ii.108">[ii.108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ann Putnam, doth this woman hurt you?—Yes, sir: a great +many times.</p> + +<p>"(Then the accused looked upon them, and they fell into +fits.)</p> + +<p>"She does not bring the book to you, does she?—Yes, sir, +often; and saith she hath made her maid set her hand to it.</p> + +<p>"Abigail Williams, does this woman hurt you?—Yes, sir, +often.</p> + +<p>"Does she bring the book to you?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"What would she have you do with it?—To write in it, and I +shall be well."</p></div> + +<p>Turning to the accused, Abigail said, "Did not you tell me that your +maid had written?" Goody Procter seems to have been utterly amazed at +the conduct and charges of the girls. She knew, of course, that what +they said was false; but perhaps she thought them crazy, and therefore +objects of pity and compassion, and felt disposed to treat them +kindly, and see whether they could not be recalled to their senses, +and restored to their better nature: for Parris, in his account, says +that at this point she answered the question thus put to her by +Abigail thus: "Dear child, it is not so. There is another judgment, +dear child." But kindness was thrown away upon them; for Parris says +that immediately "Abigail and Ann had fits." After coming out of them, +"they cried out, 'Look you! there is Goody Procter upon the beam.'" +Instantly, as we may well suppose, the whole audience looked where +they pointed. Their manner gave assurance that they saw her "on the +beam," among the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.109" id="Page_ii.109">[ii.109]</a></span> rafters of the meeting-house; but she was invisible +to all other eyes. The people, no doubt, were filled with amazement at +such supernaturalism. But John Procter, her husband, did not believe a +word of it: and it is not to be doubted that he expressed his +indignation at the nonsense and the outrage in his usual bold, strong, +and unguarded language, which brought down the vengeance of the girls +at once on his own head; for Parris, in his report, goes on to say:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"(By and by, both of them cried out of Goodman Procter +himself, and said he was a wizard. Immediately, many if not +all of the bewitched had grievous fits.)</p> + +<p>"Ann Putnam, who hurt you?—Goodman Procter, and his wife +too.</p> + +<p>"(Afterwards, some of the afflicted cried, 'There is Procter +going to take up Mrs. Pope's feet!' and her feet were +immediately taken up.)</p> + +<p>"What do you say, Goodman Procter, to these things?—I know +not. I am innocent.</p> + +<p>"(Abigail Williams cried out, 'There is Goodman Procter +going to Mrs. Pope!' and immediately said Pope fell into a +fit.)"</p></div> + +<p>At this point, the deputy, or some member of the Court interposed, if +I interpret rightly Parris's report, which is here obscurely +expressed, inasmuch as he does not say who spoke; but the import of +the words indicates that they proceeded from some member of the Court, +who was perfectly deceived:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"You see, the Devil will deceive you: the children could see +what you was going to do before the woman was hurt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.110" id="Page_ii.110">[ii.110]</a></span> I would +advise you to repentance, for the Devil is bringing you out.</p> + +<p>"(Abigail Williams cried out again, 'There is Goodman +Procter going to hurt Goody Bibber!' and immediately Goody +Bibber fell into a fit. There was the like of Mary Walcot, +and divers others. Benjamin Gould gave in his testimony, +that he had seen Goodman Corey and his wife, Procter and his +wife, Goody Cloyse, Goody Nurse, and Goody Griggs in his +chamber last Thursday night. Elizabeth Hubbard was in a +trance during the whole examination. During the examination +of Elizabeth Procter, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam both +made offer to strike at said Procter; but, when Abigail's +hand came near, it opened,—whereas it was made up into a +fist before,—and came down exceeding lightly as it drew +near to said Procter, and at length, with open and extended +fingers, touched Procter's hood very lightly. Immediately, +Abigail cried out, her fingers, her fingers, her fingers +burned; and Ann Putnam took on most grievously of her head, +and sunk down.)"</p></div> + +<p>Hutchinson, after giving Parris's account of this examination, +expresses himself thus: "No wonder the whole country was in a +consternation, when persons of sober lives and unblemished characters +were committed to prison upon such sort of evidence. Nobody was safe." +All things considered, it may perhaps be said, that, filled as the +witchcraft proceedings were throughout with folly and outrage, there +was nothing worse than this examination, conducted by the +deputy-governor and council, on the 11th of April, 1692, in the great +meeting-house of the First Church in Salem. It must have been a scene +of the wildest disorder, par<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.111" id="Page_ii.111">[ii.111]</a></span>ticularly in the latter part of it. No +wonder that the people in general were deluded, when the most learned +councillors of the colony countenanced, participated in, and gave +effect to, such disorderly procedures in a house of worship, in the +presence of a high judicial tribunal, and of the then supreme +government of the colony!</p> + +<p>Benjamin Gould gave his volunteer testimony without "advisedness," and +quite incontinently. He brought out Goodman Corey before the managers +were quite ready to fall upon him; and he antedated, by a considerable +length of time, any such imputation upon Goody Griggs. It was well for +Elizabeth Hubbard to have been in a trance, so that she could not hear +the mention of her aunt's name. The council seems to have adjourned to +the next day, at the same place, when Mr. Parris "gave further +information against said John Procter," which, unfortunately, has not +come down to us. The result was, that Sarah Cloyse, John Procter, and +Elizabeth his wife, were all committed for trial, and, with Rebecca +Nurse, Martha Corey, and Dorcas Good, were sent to the jail in Boston, +in the custody of Marshal Herrick.</p> + +<p>The proceedings of the 11th and 12th of April produced a great effect +in driving on the general infatuation. Judge Sewall, who was present +as one of the council, in his diary at this date, says, "Went to +Salem, where, in the meeting-house, the persons accused of witchcraft +were examined; was a very great assembly; 'twas awful to see how the +afflicted persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.112" id="Page_ii.112">[ii.112]</a></span> were agitated." In the margin is written, +apparently some time afterwards, the interjection "<i>Væ!</i>" thrice +repeated,—"Alas, alas, alas!" What perfectly deluded him and +Danforth, and everybody else, were the exhibitions made by the +"afflicted children." This is the grand phenomenon of the witchcraft +proceedings here in 1692. It, and it alone, carried them through. +Those girls, by long practice in "the circle," and day by day, before +astonished and wondering neighbors gathered to witness their +distresses, and especially on the more public occasions of the +examinations, had acquired consummate boldness and tact. In simulation +of passions, sufferings, and physical affections; in sleight of hand, +and in the management of voice and feature and attitude,—no +necromancers have surpassed them. There has seldom been better acting +in a theatre than they displayed in the presence of the astonished and +horror-stricken rulers, magistrates, ministers, judges, jurors, +spectators, and prisoners. No one seems to have dreamed that their +actings and sufferings could have been the result of cunning or +imposture. Deodat Lawson was a man of talents, had seen much of the +world, and was by no means a simpleton, recluse, or novice; but he was +wholly deluded by them. The prisoners, although conscious of their own +innocence, were utterly confounded by the acting of the girls. The +austere principles of that generation forbade, with the utmost +severity, all theatrical shows and performances. But at Salem Village +and the old town, in the respective meeting-houses, and at Deacon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.113" id="Page_ii.113">[ii.113]</a></span> +Nathaniel Ingersoll's, some of the best playing ever got up in this +country was practised; and patronized, for weeks and months, at the +very centre and heart of Puritanism, by "the most straitest sect" of +that solemn order of men. Pastors, deacons, church-members, doctors of +divinity, college professors, officers of state, crowded, day after +day, to behold feats which have never been surpassed on the boards of +any theatre; which rivalled the most memorable achievements of +pantomimists, thaumaturgists, and stage-players; and made considerable +approaches towards the best performances of ancient sorcerers and +magicians, or modern jugglers and mesmerizers.</p> + +<p>The meeting of the council at Salem, on the 11th of April, 1692, +changed in one sense the whole character of the transaction. Before, +it had been a Salem affair. After this, it was a Massachusetts affair. +The colonial government at Boston had obtruded itself upon the ground, +and, of its own will and seeking, irregularly, and without call or +justification, had taken the whole thing out of the hands of the local +authorities into its own management. Neither the town nor the village +of Salem is responsible, as a principal actor, for what subsequently +took place. To that meeting of the deputy-governor and his associates +in the colonial administration, at an early period of the transaction, +the calamities, outrages, and shame that followed must in justice be +ascribed. Had it not taken place, the delusion, as in former instances +and other places here and in the mother-country,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.114" id="Page_ii.114">[ii.114]</a></span> would have remained +within its original local limits, and soon disappeared. That meeting, +and the proceedings then had, gave to the fanaticism the momentum that +drove it on, and extended its destructive influence far and wide.</p> + +<p>The next step in the proceedings is one of the most remarkable +features in the case. It is, in some points of view, more suggestive +of suspicion, that there was, behind the whole, a skilful and cunning +management, ingeniously contriving schemes to mislead the public mind, +than almost any other part of the transaction. Mary Warren, as has +been said, was a servant in the family of John Procter. She was a +member of the "circle" that had so long met at Mr. Parris's house or +Thomas Putnam's. She was a constant attendant at its meetings, and a +leading spirit among the girls. She did not take an open part against +her master or mistress at their examination, although she acted with +avidity and malignity against them as an accusing witness at their +trials, two months afterwards. It is to be noticed, that Ann Putnam +and Abigail Williams, at the examination of Elizabeth Procter, April +11, accused her of having induced or compelled "her maid to set her +hand to the book."</p> + +<p>On the 18th of April, warrants were got out against Giles Corey and +Mary Warren, both of Salem Farms; Abigail Hobbs, daughter of William +Hobbs, of Topsfield; and Bridget Bishop, wife of Edward Bishop, of +Salem,—to be brought in the next forenoon, at about eight o'clock, at +the house of Lieutenant Nathaniel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.115" id="Page_ii.115">[ii.115]</a></span> Ingersoll, of Salem Village. How +Mary Warren became transformed from an accuser to an accused, from an +afflicted person to an afflicter, is the question. It is not easy to +fathom the conduct of these girls. They appear to have acted upon a +plan deliberately formed, and to have had an understanding with each +other. At the same time, occasionally, they had or pretended to have a +falling-out, and came into contradiction. This was perhaps a mere +blind, to prevent the suspicion of collusion. The accounts given of +Mary Warren seem to render it quite certain that she acted with +deliberate cunning, and was a guilty conspirator with the other +accusers in carrying on the plot from the beginning. No doubt, it +frequently occurred to those concerned in it, that suspicions might +possibly get into currency that they were acting a part in concert. It +was necessary, by all means, to guard against such an idea. This may +be the key to interpret the arrest and proceedings against Mary +Warren. If it is, the affair, it must be confessed, was managed with +great shrewdness and skill. She conducted the stratagem most +dexterously. All at once she fell away from the circle, and began to +talk against the "afflicted children," and went so far as to say, that +they "did but dissemble." Immediately, they cried out upon her, +charged her with witchcraft, and had her apprehended. After being +carried to prison, she spoke in strong language against the +proceedings. Four persons of unquestionable truthfulness, in prison +with her, on the same charge, prepared a deposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.116" id="Page_ii.116">[ii.116]</a></span> to this effect: +"We heard Mary Warren several times say that the magistrates might as +well examine Keysar's daughter that had been distracted many years, +and take notice of what she said, as well as any of the afflicted +persons. 'For,' said Mary Warren, 'when I was afflicted, I thought I +saw the apparitions of a hundred persons;' for she said her head was +distempered that she could not tell what she said. And the said Mary +told us, that, when she was well again, she could not say that she saw +any of the apparitions at the time aforesaid." I will now give the +substance of her examination, which commenced on the 19th of April. +Mr. Parris was, as usual, requested to take minutes of the +proceedings, which have been preserved:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>Examination of Mary Warren, at a Court held at Salem +Village, by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, Esqrs.</i></p> + +<p>"(As soon as she was coming towards the bar, the afflicted +fell into fits.)</p> + +<p>"Mary Warren, you stand here charged with sundry acts of +witchcraft. What do you say for yourself? Are you guilty or +not?—I am innocent.</p> + +<p>"Hath she hurt you? (Speaking to the sufferers.)</p> + +<p>"(Some were dumb. Betty Hubbard testified against her, and +then said Hubbard fell into a violent fit.)</p> + +<p>"You were, a little while ago, an afflicted person; now you +are an afflicter. How comes this to pass?—I look up to God, +and take it to be a great mercy of God.</p> + +<p>"What! do you take it to be a great mercy to afflict others?</p> + +<p>"(Now they were all but John Indian grievously afflicted,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.117" id="Page_ii.117">[ii.117]</a></span> +and Mrs. Pope also, who was not afflicted before hitherto +this day; and, after a few moments, John Indian fell into a +violent fit also.)"</p></div> + +<p>"Well, here" (Mr. Parris, the reporter, goes on to say) "was one that +just now was a tormenter in her apparition, and she owns that she had +made a league with the Devil." The marvel was, that, having before +been a sufferer, as one of the afflicted accusers, she had then, at +that moment, appeared in the opposite character, and owned herself to +have become a confederate with the Evil One. Having established this +conviction in the minds of the magistrates and spectators, the point +was reached at which she completed the delusion by appearing to break +away from her bondage to Satan, assume the functions of a confessing +and abjuring witch, and retake her place, with tenfold effect, among +the accusing witnesses. The manner in which she rescued herself from +the power of Satan exhibits a specimen of acting seldom surpassed. The +account proceeds thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Now Mary Warren fell into a fit, and some of the afflicted +cried out that she was going to confess; but Goody Corey, +and Procter and his wife, came in, <i>in their apparition</i>, +and struck her down, and said she should tell nothing."</p></div> + +<p>What is given here in <i>Italics</i>, as an "<i>apparition</i>," was of course +based upon the declarations of the accusing witnesses. It was an art +they often practised in offering their testimony. They would cry out, +that the Devil, generally in the shape of a black man, appeared to +them at the time, whispering in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.118" id="Page_ii.118">[ii.118]</a></span> ear of the accused, or sitting on +the beams of the meeting-house in which the examinations were +generally conducted. On this occasion, they declared that three of the +persons, then in jail in some other place, came in their apparitions, +forbade Mary Warren's confession, and struck her down. To give full +effect to their statement, she went through the process of tumbling +down. Although nothing was seen by any other person present, the +deception was perfect. The Rev. Mr. Parris wrote it all down as having +actually occurred. His record of the transaction goes on as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mary Warren continued a good space in a fit, that she did +neither see nor hear nor speak.</p> + +<p>"Afterwards she started up, and said, 'I will speak,' and +cried out, 'Oh, I am sorry for it, I am sorry for it!' and +wringed her hands, and fell a little while into a fit again, +and then came to speak, but immediately her teeth were set; +and then she fell into a violent fit, and cried out, 'O +Lord, help me! O good Lord, save me!'</p> + +<p>"And then afterwards cried again, 'I will tell, I will +tell!' and then fell into a dead fit again.</p> + +<p>"And afterwards cried, 'I will tell, they did, they did, +they did;' and then fell into a violent fit again.</p> + +<p>"After a little recovery, she cried, 'I will tell, I will +tell. They brought me to it;' and then fell into a fit +again, which fits continuing, she was ordered to be led out, +and the next to be brought in, viz., Bridget Bishop.</p> + +<p>"Some time afterwards, she was called in again, but +immediately taken with fits for a while.</p> + +<p>"'Have you signed the Devil's book?—No.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.119" id="Page_ii.119">[ii.119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Have you not touched it?—No.'</p> + +<p>"Then she fell into fits again, and was sent forth for air.</p> + +<p>"After a considerable space of time, she was brought in +again, but could not give account of things by reason of +fits, and so sent forth.</p> + +<p>"Mary Warren called in afterwards in private, before +magistrates and ministers.</p> + +<p>"She said, 'I shall not speak a word: but I will, I will +speak, Satan! She saith she will kill me. Oh! she saith she +owes me a spite, and will claw me off. Avoid Satan, for the +name of God, avoid!' and then fell into fits again, and +cried, 'Will ye? I will prevent ye, in the name of God.'"</p></div> + +<p>The magistrate inquired earnestly:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'Tell us how far have you yielded?'</p> + +<p>"A fit interrupts her again.</p> + +<p>"'What did they say you should do, and you should be well?'</p> + +<p>"Then her lips were bit, so that she could not speak: so she +was sent away."</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Parris, the reporter of the case, adds:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Note that not one of the sufferers was afflicted during her +examination, after once she began to confess, though they +were tormented before."</p></div> + +<p>She was subsequently examined in the prison several times, falling +occasionally into fits, and exhibiting the appearance of a +long-continued conflict with Satan, who was supposed to be resisting +her inclination to confess, and holding her with violence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.120" id="Page_ii.120">[ii.120]</a></span> to the +contract she had made with him. The magistrates and ministers beheld +with amazement and awe what they believed to be precisely a similar +scene to that described by the evangelists when the Devil strove +against the power of the Saviour and his disciples, and would not quit +his hold upon the young man, but "threw him down, and tare him." At +length, as in that case, Satan was overcome. After a protracted, most +violent, and terrible contest, Mary Warren got released from his +clutches, and made a full and circumstantial confession.</p> + +<p>Whoever studies carefully the account of Mary Warren's successive +examinations can hardly question, I think, that she acted a part, and +acted it with wonderful cunning, skill, and effect.</p> + +<p>This examination, beginning on Tuesday, the 19th of April, continued +after she was committed to prison in Salem, at the jail there, for +several days, and was renewed at intervals until the middle of May. +After she had thoroughly broken away from Satan, she revealed all that +she had seen and heard while associating with him and his confederate +subjects: her testimony was implicitly received, and it dealt death +and destruction in all directions. It is a circumstance strongly +confirming this view, that Mary Warren was soon released from +confinement. It was the general practice to keep those, who confessed, +in prison, to retain in that way power over them, and prevent their +recanting their confessions. She is found, by the papers on file, to +have acted afterwards, as a capital witness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.121" id="Page_ii.121">[ii.121]</a></span> against ten persons, all +of whom were convicted, and seven executed. Besides these, she +testified, with the appearance of animosity and vindictiveness, +against her master John Procter, and her mistress his wife; thus +contributing to secure the conviction of both, and the death of the +former. In how many more cases she figured in the same character and +to the same effect is unknown, as the papers in reference to only a +very small proportion of them have come down to us. The interpretation +I give to the course of Mary Warren exhibits her guilt, and that of +those participating in the stratagem, as of the deepest and blackest +dye. But it seems to be the only one which a scrutiny of the details +of her examinations, and of the facts of the case, allows us to +receive. The effect was most decisive. The course of the accusing +children in crying out against one of their own number satisfied the +public, and convinced still more the magistrates, that they were +truthful, honest, and upright. They had before given evidence that +they paid no regard to family influence or eminent reputation. They +had now proved that they had no partiality and no favoritism, but were +equally ready to bring to light and to justice any of their own circle +who might fall into the snare of the Evil One, and become confederate +with him. No dramatic artist, no cunning impostor, ever contrived a +more ingenious plot; and no actors ever carried one out better than +Mary Warren and the afflicted children.</p> + +<p>Giles Corey incurred hostility, perhaps, because his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.122" id="Page_ii.122">[ii.122]</a></span> deposition +relating to his wife did not come up to the mark required. It is also +highly probable, that, though incensed at her conduct at the time, +reflection had brought him to his senses; and that the circumstances +of her examination and commitment to prison produced a re-action in +his mind. If so, he would have been apt to express himself very +freely. His examination took place April 19th, in the meeting-house at +the Village. The girls acted their usual part, charging him, one by +one, with having afflicted them, and proving it on the spot by +tortures and sufferings. After they had severally got through, they +all joined at once in their demonstrations. The report made by Parris +says, "All the afflicted were seized now with fits, and troubled with +pinches. Then the Court ordered his hands to be tied." The magistrates +lost all control of themselves, and flew into a passion, exclaiming, +"What! is it not enough to act witchcraft at other times, but must you +do it now, in face of authority?" He seems to have been profoundly +affected by the marvellousness of the accusations, and the exhibition +of what to him was inexplicable in the sufferings of the girls; and +all he could say was, "I am a poor creature, and cannot help +it."—"Upon the motion of his head again, they had their heads and +necks afflicted." The magistrates, not having recovered their +composure, continued to pour their wrath upon him, "Why do you tell +such wicked lies against witnesses?"—"One of his hands was let go, +and several were afflicted. He held his head on one side,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.123" id="Page_ii.123">[ii.123]</a></span> and then +the heads of several of the afflicted were held on one side. He drew +in his cheeks, and the cheeks of some of the afflicted were sucked +in." Goody Bibber was on hand, and played her accompaniment. She also +uttered malignant charges against him, and "was suddenly seized with a +violent fit." One of Bibber's statements was that he had called her +husband "damned devilish rogue." Through all this outrage, Corey was +firm in asserting his innocence. His language and manner were serious, +and solemnized by a sense of the helplessness of his situation and the +wicked falsehoods heaped upon him. His disagreement with his wife +about the witchcraft proceedings being well known, the accusers +endeavored to make it out that they had often quarrelled. But he +insisted that the only difference which had before existed between +them was a conflict of opinion on one point. In his family devotions, +he used this expression, "living to God and dying to sin." She "found +fault" with the language, and criticised it. He thought it was all +right! The characteristic spirit of the old man was roused most +strikingly by one of the charges. Bibber and others testified that +Corey had said he had seen the Devil in the shape of a black hog and +was very much frightened. He could not stand under the imputation of +cowardice, and lost sight of every other element in the accusation but +that. The magistrate asked, "What did you see in the cow-house? Why do +you deny it?"—"I saw nothing but my cattle."—"(Divers witnessed that +he told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.124" id="Page_ii.124">[ii.124]</a></span> them he was frighted.)"—"Well, what do you say to these +witnesses? What was it frighted you?"—"I do not know that ever I +spoke the word in my life."</p> + +<p>But while his character retained its manliness, and his soul was truly +insensible to fear, he was very much oppressed and distressed by his +situation. The share he had, with two of his sons-in-law, in bringing +his wife into her awful condition, and in driving on the public +infatuation at the beginning, was more than he could endure to think +of, and he was charged with having meditated suicide. Perhaps he had +already formed the purpose afterwards carried into effect, and may +have dropped expressions, under that thought, which to others might +appear to indicate a design of self-destruction. He was accused of +having said that "he would make away with himself, and charge his +death upon his son." His sons-in-law, Crosby and Parker, were acting +with the crowd that were pursuing him to his death. Little did it +enter the imagination of any one then, that there was a method by +which he could "make away with himself," leaving the entire act of the +destruction of his life upon his persecutors, and the sin to be +apportioned between him and them by the All-wise and All-just.</p> + +<p>Abigail Hobbs had been a reckless vagrant creature, wandering through +the woods at night like a half-deranged person; but she had wit enough +to see that there was safety in confession. She pretended to have +committed, by witchcraft, crimes enough to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.125" id="Page_ii.125">[ii.125]</a></span> hanged her a dozen +times. If she had stood to her confession, we should have heard of her +no more.</p> + +<p>Bridget Bishop's examination filled the intervals of time while Mary +Warren was being carried out of the meeting-house to recover from her +fits. Both Parris and Ezekiel Cheever took minutes of it, from which +the substance is gathered as follows:—</p> + +<p>On her coming in, the afflicted persons, at the same moment, severally +fell into fits, and were dreadfully tormented. Hathorne addressed her, +calling upon her to give an account of the witchcrafts she was +"conversant in." She replied, "I take all this people to witness that +I am clear." He then asked the children, "Hath this woman hurt you?" +They all cried out that she had. The magistrate continued, "You are +here accused by four or five: what do you say to it?"—"I never saw +these persons before, nor I never<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> was in this place before. I never +did hurt them in my life."</p> + +<p>At a meeting of the afflicted children and others, some one declared +that Bridget Bishop was present "in her shape" or apparition, and, +pointing to a particular spot, said, "There, there she is!" Young +Jonathan Walcot, exasperated by his sister's sufferings, struck at the +spot with his sword; whereupon Mary cried out, "You have hit her, you +have torn her coat, and I heard it tear." This story had been brought +to Hathorne's ears; and abruptly, as if to take her off her guard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.126" id="Page_ii.126">[ii.126]</a></span> he +said, "Is not your coat cut?" She answered, "No." They then examined +the coat, and found what they regarded as having been "cut or torn two +ways." It was probably the fashion in which the garment was made; for +she was in the habit of dressing more artistically than the women of +the Village. At any rate, it did not appear like a direct cut of a +sword; but Jonathan got over the difficulty by saying that "the sword +that he struck at Goody Bishop was not naked, but was within the +scabbard." This explained the whole matter, so that Cheever says, in +his report, that "the rent may very probably be the very same that +Mary Walcot did tell that she had in her coat, by Jonathan's striking +at her appearance"! Parris says, with more caution, more indeed than +was usual with him, "Upon some search in the Court, a rent, that seems +to answer what was alleged, was found."</p> + +<p>Hathorne, having heard the scandals they had circulated against her, +proceeded: "They say you bewitched your first husband to death."—"If +it please Your Worship, I know nothing of it."—"What do you say of +these murders you are charged with?"—"I hope I am not guilty of +murder." As she said this, she turned up her eyes, probably to give +solemnity to her declaration. At the opening of the examination, she +looked round upon the people, and called them to witness her +innocence. She had found out by this time, that no justice could be +expected from them; and feeling, with Rebecca Nurse on a recent +similar occasion, "I have got nobody to look to but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.127" id="Page_ii.127">[ii.127]</a></span> God," she turned +her eyes heavenward. Instantly, the eyeballs of all the girls were +rolled up in their sockets, and fixed. The effect was awful, and still +more increased as they went, after a moment or two, into dreadful +torments. Hathorne could no longer contain himself, but broke out, "Do +you not see how they are tormented? You are acting witchcraft before +us! What do you say to this? Why have you not a heart to confess the +truth?" She calmly replied, "I am innocent. I know nothing of it. I am +no witch. I know not what a witch is." The "afflicted children" +charged her with having tried to persuade them to sign the Devil's +book. As she had never before seen one of them, she was indignant at +this barefaced falsehood, and, as Cheever says, "shook her head" in +her resentment; which, as he further says, put them all into great +torments. Parris represents that in every motion of her head they were +tortured. Marshal Herrick, as usual, put in his oar, and volunteered +charges against her. She bore herself well through the shocking scene, +and did not shrink, at its close, from expressing her unbelief of the +whole thing: "I do not know whether there be any witches or no." When +she was removed from the place of examination, the accusers all had +fits, and broke forth in outcries of agony. After being taken out, one +of the constables in charge of her asked her if she was not troubled +to see the afflicted persons so tormented; and she replied, "No." In +answer to further questions, she indicated that she could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.128" id="Page_ii.128">[ii.128]</a></span> tell +what to think of them, and did not concern herself about them at all.</p> + +<p>Giles Corey, Bridget Bishop, Abigail Hobbs, together with Mary Warren, +were duly committed to prison.</p> + +<p>Two days after, April 21, warrants were issued "against William Hobbs, +husbandman, and Deliverance his wife; Nehemiah Abbot, Jr., weaver; +Mary Easty, the wife of Isaac Easty; and Sarah Wilds, the wife of John +Wilds,—all of the town of Topsfield, or Ipswich; and Edward Bishop, +husbandman, and Sarah his wife, of Salem Village; and Mary Black, a +negro of Lieutenant Nathaniel Putnam's, of Salem Village also; and +Mary English, the wife of Philip English, merchant in Salem." All of +them were to be delivered to the magistrates for examination at the +house of Lieutenant Nathaniel Ingersoll, at about ten o'clock the next +morning, in Salem Village; and were brought in accordingly.</p> + +<p>What the papers on file enable us to glean of these nine persons is +substantially as follows: William Hobbs was about fifty years of age, +and one of the earliest settlers of the Village, although his +residence was on the territory afterwards included in Topsfield. His +daughter Abigail, of whom I have just spoken, appears from all the +accounts to have acted at this stage of the transaction a most wicked +part, ready to do all the mischief in her power, and allowing herself +to be used to any extent to fasten the imputation of witchcraft upon +others. Several persons testified that, long before, she had boasted +that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.129" id="Page_ii.129">[ii.129]</a></span> she was not afraid of any thing, "for she had sold herself body +and soul to the Old Boy;" one witness testified, that, "some time last +winter, I was discoursing with Abigail Hobbs about her wicked +carriages and disobedience to her father and mother, and she told me +she did not care what anybody said to her, for she had seen the Devil, +and had made a covenant or bargain with him;" another, Margaret +Knight, testified, that, about a year before, "Abigail Hobbs and her +mother were at my father's house, and Abigail Hobbs said to me, +'Margaret, are you baptized?' And I said, 'Yes.' Then said she, 'My +mother is not baptized, but I will baptize her;' and immediately took +water, and sprinkled in her mother's face, and said she did baptize +her 'in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.'"</p> + +<p>She was arrested, and brought to the Village, on the 19th of April. +The next day, she began her operations by declaring that "Judah White, +a Jersey maid" that lived with Joseph Ingersoll at Casco, "but now +lives at Boston," appeared to her "in apparition" the day before, and +advised her to "fly, and not to go to be examined," but, if she did +go, "not to confess any thing:" she described the dress of this +"apparition,"—she "came to her in fine clothes, in a sad-colored silk +mantle, with a top-knot and a hood."—"She confesseth further, that +the Devil in the shape of a man came to her," and charged her to +afflict the girls; bringing images made of wood in their likeness with +thorns for her to prick into the images, which she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.130" id="Page_ii.130">[ii.130]</a></span> did: whereupon the +girls cried out that they were hurt by her. She further confessed, +that, "she was at the great meeting in Mr. Parris's pasture, when they +administered the sacrament, and did eat of the red bread and drink of +the red wine, at the same time." This confession established her +credibility at once; and, the next day, the warrants were issued for +the nine persons above mentioned, against whom they had secured in her +an effective witness. She had resided for some time at Casco Bay; and +we shall soon see how matters began in a few days to work in that +direction. There are two indictments against this Abigail Hobbs: one +charging her with having made a covenant with "the Evil Spirit, the +Devil," at Casco Bay, in 1688; the other with having exercised the +arts of witchcraft upon the afflicted girls, at Salem Village, in +1692.</p> + +<p>When her unhappy father was brought to examination, he found that his +daughter was playing into the hands of the accusers; and that his +wife, overwhelmed by the horrors of the situation, although for a time +protesting her innocence and lamenting that she had been the mother of +such a daughter, had broken down and confessed, saying whatever might +be put in her mouth by the magistrates, the girls, or the crowd. Under +these circumstances, he was brought forward for examination. Parris +took minutes of it. It is to be regretted, that the paper is much +dilapidated, and portions of the lines wholly lost. What is left shows +that the mind of William Hobbs rose superior<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.131" id="Page_ii.131">[ii.131]</a></span> to the terrors and +powers arrayed against it. The magistrate commenced proceedings by +inquiring of the girls, pointing to the prisoner, "Hath this man hurt +you?" Several of them answered "Yes." Goody Bibber, who seems +generally to have been a very zealous volunteer backer of the girls, +on this occasion, for a wonder, answered "No." The magistrate, +addressing the prisoner, "What say you? Are you guilty or +not?"—Answer: "I can speak in the presence of God safely, as I must +look to give account another day, that I am as clear as a new-born +babe."—"Clear of what?"—"Of witchcraft."—"Have you never hurt +these?"—"No." Abigail Williams cried out that he "was going to Mercy +Lewis!" Whereupon Mercy was seized with a fit. Then Abigail cried out +again, "He is coming to Mary Walcot!" and Mary went into her fit. The +magistrate, in consternation, appealed to him: "How can you be clear," +when your appearance is thus seen producing such effects before our +eyes? Then the children went into fits all together, and "hallooed" at +the top of their voices, and "shouted greatly." The magistrate then +brought up the confession of his wife against him, and expostulated +with him for not confessing; the afflicted, in the mean while, +bringing the whole machinery of their convulsions, shrieks, and uproar +to bear against him: but he calmly, and in brief terms, denied it.</p> + +<p>The circle of accusing girls seems to have been a receptacle, into +which all the scandal, gossip, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.132" id="Page_ii.132">[ii.132]</a></span> defamation of the surrounding +country was emptied. Some one had told them that William Hobbs was not +a regular attendant at meeting. They passed it on to the magistrate, +and he put this question to the accused: "When were you at any public +religious meeting?" He replied, "Not a pretty while."—"Why +so?"—"Because I was not well: I had a distemper that none knows." The +magistrate said, "Can you act witchcraft here, and, by casting your +eyes, turn folks into fits?"—"You may judge your pleasure. My soul is +clear."—"Do you not see you hurt these by your look?"—"No: I do not +know it." After another display of awful sufferings, caused, as they +protested, by the mere look of Hobbs, the magistrate, with triumphant +confidence, again put it home to him, "Can you now deny it?" He +answered, "I can deny it to my dying day." The magistrate inquired of +him for what reason he withdrew from the room whenever the Scriptures +were read in his family. He plumply denied it. Nathaniel Ingersoll and +Thomas Haynes testified that his daughter had told them so. The +confessions of his wife and daughter were over and over again brought +up against him, but to no effect. "Who do you worship?" said the +magistrate. "I hope I worship God only."—"Where?"—"In my heart." The +examination failed to confound or embarrass him in the least. He could +not be drawn into the expression of any of the feelings which the +conduct of his graceless and depraved daughter or his weak and +wretched wife must have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.133" id="Page_ii.133">[ii.133]</a></span> excited. He quietly protested that he knew +nothing about witchcraft; and, towards the close, with solemn +earnestness of utterance, declared that his innocence was known to the +"great God in heaven."</p> + +<p>He was committed for trial. All that the documents in existence inform +us further, in relation to William Hobbs, is that he remained in +prison until the 14th of the next December, when two of his neighbors, +John Nichols and Joseph Towne, in some way succeeded in getting him +bailed out; they giving bonds in the sum of two hundred pounds for his +appearance at the sessions of the Court the next month. But it was +not, even then, thought wholly safe to have him come in; and the fine +was incurred. He appeared at the term in May, the fine was remitted, +and he discharged by proclamation. On the 26th of March, 1714, he gave +evidence in a case of commonage rights. He was then seventy-two years +of age. Of his wife and daughter, I shall again have occasion to +speak.</p> + +<p>For all that is known of the case of Nehemiah Abbot, we are indebted +to Hutchinson, who had Parris's minutes of the examination before him. +Hutchinson says, that, of "near an hundred" whose examinations he had +seen, he was the only one who, having been brought before the +magistrates, was finally dismissed by them. Perhaps even this case was +not an exception: for a document on file shows that a person named +Abbot of the same locality was subsequently arrested and imprisoned; +but unfortunately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.134" id="Page_ii.134">[ii.134]</a></span> the Christian name has been obliterated, or from +some cause is wanting. It seems, from Hutchinson's minutes, that he +protested his innocence in manly and firm declarations. Mary Walcot +testified that she had seen his shape. Ann Putnam cried out that she +saw him "upon the beam." The magistrates told him that his guilt was +certainly proved, and that, if he would find mercy of God, he must +confess. "I speak before God," he answered, "that I am clear from this +accusation."—"What, in all respects?"—"Yes, in all respects." The +girls were struck with dumbness; and Ann Putnam, re-affirming that he +was the man that hurt her, "was taken with a fit." Mary Walcot began +to waver in her confidence, and Mercy Lewis said, "It is not the man." +This unprecedented variance in the testimony of the girls brought +matters to a stand; and he was sent out for a time, while others were +examined:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When he was brought in again, by reason of much people, and +many in the windows, so that the accusers could not have a +clear view of him, he was ordered to be abroad, and the +accusers to go forth to him, and view him in the light, +which they did in the presence of the magistrates and many +others, discoursed quietly with him, one and all acquitting +him; but yet said he was like that man, but he had not the +wen they saw in his apparition. Note, he was a hilly-faced +man, and stood shaded by reason of his own hair; so that for +a time he seemed to some bystanders and observers to be +considerably like the person the afflicted did describe."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.135" id="Page_ii.135">[ii.135]</a></span></p> + +<p>Such is Parris's statement, as quoted by Hutchinson. What was the real +cause or motive of this discrepancy among the witnesses does not +appear. The facts, that at first they went into fits in beholding him, +were all struck dumb for a while, and Ann Putnam saw him on the beam, +were likely to have an unfavorable effect upon the minds of the +people, and threatened to explode the delusion. But Ann, with a +quickness of wit that never failed to meet any emergency, when Mercy +Lewis said it was not the man, cried out in a fit, "Did you put a mist +before my eyes?" She conveyed the idea that the power of Satan blinded +her, and caused her to mistake the man. This answered the purpose; +and, although Abbot got clear, for the time at least, all were more +than ever convinced that the Evil One, in misleading Ann, had shown +his hand on the occasion.</p> + +<p>The examination of Sarah Wildes had no peculiar features. The +afflicted children and Goody Bibber saw her apparition sitting on the +beam while she was bodily present at the bar, and went through their +usual fits and evolutions. She maintained her innocence with dignity +and firmness; and the magistrate, prejudging the case against her, +rebuked her obstinacy in not confessing, in his accustomed manner.</p> + +<p>No account has come down of the examinations of Edward Bishop, or +Sarah his wife. He was the third of that name, probably the son of the +"Sawyer." His wife Sarah was a daughter of William Wildes of Ipswich, +and, it would seem, a sister of John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.136" id="Page_ii.136">[ii.136]</a></span> Wildes, the examination of whose +wife has just been mentioned. Some of the evidence indicates that she +was a niece of Rebecca Nurse. They all belonged to that class of +persons who, under the general appellation of "the Topsfield men," had +been in such frequent collision with the people of the Village. Edward +Bishop was forty-four years of age, and his wife forty-one. They had a +family, at the time of their imprisonment, of twelve children. Sarah +Bishop had been dismissed from the church at the Village, and +recommended to that at Topsfield, May 25, 1690. They had land in +Topsfield, as well as in the Village, and were more intimately +connected in social relations with the former than the latter place. +They effected their escape from prison, and survived the storm. Mary, +the wife of Philip English, was committed to prison. We have no record +of her examination.</p> + +<p>Mary Black, the negro woman, belonged to Nathaniel Putnam, but lived +in the family of his son Benjamin. Her examination shows that she was +an ignorant but an innocent person. She knew nothing about the matter, +and had no idea what it all meant. To the questions with which the +magistrate pressed her, her answers were, "I do not know," "I cannot +tell." The only fact brought out against her besides the actings of +the girls was this: "Her master saith a man sat down upon the form +with her about a twelvemonth ago." Parris, in his minutes, gives this +piece of evidence, but does not enlighten us as to its import. The +magistrate asked her, "What did the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.137" id="Page_ii.137">[ii.137]</a></span> say to you?" Her answer was: +"He said nothing." This is all they got out of her; and it is all the +light we have on the mysterious fact, that a man was once seated, at +some time within twelve months, on the same form or bench with poor +Mary Black. The magistrate asked the girls, "Doth this negro hurt +you?" They said "Yes."—"Why do you hurt them?"—"I did not hurt +them." This question was put to her, "Do you prick sticks?" perhaps +the meaning was, Do you prick the afflicted children with sticks? The +simple creature evidently did not know what they were driving at, and +answered, "No: I pin my neckcloth." The examiner asked her, "Will you +take out the pin, and pin it again?" She did so, and several of the +afflicted cried out that they were pricked. Mary Walcot was pricked in +the arm till the blood came, Abigail Williams was pricked in the +stomach, and Mercy Lewis was pricked in the foot. It is probable, +that, in this case, the girls, as they often appear to have done, +provided themselves by concert beforehand with pins ready to be stuck +into the assigned parts of their bodies, and managed to get the queer +and unusual question put. The whole thing has the appearance of being +pre-arranged; and it answered the purpose, filling the crowd with +amazement, and excluding all possible doubt from the minds of the +magistrates. Mary was committed to prison, where she remained until +discharged, in May, 1693, by proclamation from the governor.</p> + +<p>Mary Easty, wife of Isaac Easty, and sister of Re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.138" id="Page_ii.138">[ii.138]</a></span>becca Nurse and +Sarah Cloyse, was about fifty-eight years of age, and the mother of +seven children. Her husband owned and lived upon a large and valuable +farm, which not many years since was the property and country +residence of the late Hon. B.W. Crowninshield, and is now in the +possession of Thomas Pierce, Esq. Her examination was accompanied by +the usual circumstances. The girls had fits, and were speechless at +times: the magistrate expostulated with her for not confessing her +guilt, which he regarded as demonstrated, beyond a question, by the +sufferings of the afflicted. "Would you have me accuse myself?"—"How +far," he continued, "have you complied with Satan?"—"Sir, I never +complied, but prayed against him all my days. What would you have me +do?"—"Confess, if you be guilty."—"I will say it, if it was my last +time, I am clear of this sin." The magistrate, apparently affected by +her manner and bearing, inquired of the girls, "Are you certain this +is the woman?" They all went into fits; and presently Ann Putnam, +coming to herself, said "that was the woman, it was like her, and she +told me her name." The accused clasped her hands together, and Mercy +Lewis's hands were clenched; she separated her hands, and Mercy's were +released; she inclined her head, and the girls screamed out, "Put up +her head; for, while her head is bowed, the necks of these are +broken." The magistrate again asked, "Is this the woman?" They made +signs that they could not speak; but afterwards Ann Putnam and others<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.139" id="Page_ii.139">[ii.139]</a></span> +cried out: "O Goody Easty, Goody Easty, you are the woman, you are the +woman!"—"What do you say to this?"—"Why, God will know."—"Nay, God +knows now."—"I know he does."—"What did you think of the actions of +others before your sisters came out? did you think it was +witchcraft?"—"I cannot tell."—"Why do you not think it is +witchcraft?"—"It is an evil spirit; but whether it be witchcraft I do +not know." She was committed to prison.</p> + +<p>It will be noticed that seven out of the nine examined at this time +either lived in Topsfield or were intimately connected with the church +and people there. The accusing girls had heard them angrily spoken of +by the people around them, and availed themselves, as at all times, of +existing prejudices, to guide them in the selection of their victim.</p> + +<p>The escape of Abbot, and the wavering, in his case and that of Easty, +indicated by the magistrates on this occasion, alarmed the +prosecutors; and they felt that something must be done to stiffen +Hathorne and Corwin to their previous rigid method of procedure. The +following letter was accordingly written to them that very day, +immediately after the close of the examinations:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>These to the Honored John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, +Esqrs., living at Salem, present.</i></p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Salem Village</span>, this 21st of April, 1692.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Much Honored</span>,—After most humble and hearty thanks +presented to Your Honors for the great care and pains you +have already taken for us,—for which you know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.140" id="Page_ii.140">[ii.140]</a></span> we are never +able to make you recompense, and we believe you do not +expect it of us; therefore a full reward will be given you +of the Lord God of Israel, whose cause and interest you have +espoused (and we trust this shall add to your crown of glory +in the day of the Lord Jesus): and we—beholding continually +the tremendous works of Divine Providence, not only every +day, but every hour—thought it our duty to inform Your +Honors of what we conceive you have not heard, which are +high and dreadful,—of a wheel within a wheel, at which our +ears do tingle. Humbly craving continually your prayers and +help in this distressed case,—so, praying Almighty God +continually to prepare you, that you may be a terror to +evil-doers and a praise to them that do well, we remain +yours to serve in what we are able,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Thomas Putnam.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>What was meant by the "wheel within a wheel," the "high and dreadful" +things which were making their ears to tingle, but had not yet been +disclosed to the magistrates, we shall presently see. On the 30th of +April, Captain Jonathan Walcot and Sergeant Thomas Putnam (the writer +of the foregoing letter) got out a warrant against Philip English, of +Salem, merchant; Sarah Morrel, of Beverly; and Dorcas Hoar, of the +same place, widow. Morrel and Hoar were delivered by Marshal Herrick, +according to the tenor of the warrant, at 11, <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, May 2, at +the house of Lieutenant Nathaniel Ingersoll, in Salem Village. The +warrant has an indorsement in these words: "Mr. Philip English not +being to be found. G.H." As the records of the examinations of Philip +English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.141" id="Page_ii.141">[ii.141]</a></span> and his wife have not been preserved, and only a few +fragments of the testimony relating to their case are to be found, all +that can be said is that the girls and their accomplices made their +usual charges against them. There are two depositions in existence, +however, which afford some explanation of the causes that exposed Mr. +English to hostility, and indicate the kind of evidence that was +brought against him. Having many landed estates, in various places, +and extensive business transactions, he was liable to frequent +questions of litigation. He was involved, at one time, in a lawsuit +about the bounds of a piece of land in Marblehead. A person named +William Beale, of that town, had taken great interest in it adversely +to the claims of English; and some harsh words passed between them. A +year or two after the affair, Beale states, "that, as I lay in my bed, +in the morning, presently after it was fair light abroad in the room," +"I saw a dark shade," &c. To his vision it soon assumed the shape of +Philip English. On a previous occasion, when riding through Lynn to +get testimony against English in the aforesaid boundary case, he says, +"My nose gushed out bleeding in a most extraordinary manner, so that +it bloodied a handkerchief of considerable bigness, and also ran down +upon my clothes and upon my horse's mane." He charged it upon English. +These depositions were sworn to in Court, in August, 1692, and +January, 1693. How they got there does not appear, as English was +never brought to trial. All that relates to Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.142" id="Page_ii.142">[ii.142]</a></span> English and his wife +may be despatched at this point. On the 6th of May, a warrant was +procured at Boston, "To the marshal-general, or his lawful deputy," to +apprehend Philip English wherever found within the jurisdiction, and +convey him to the "custody of the marshal of Essex." Jacob Manning, a +deputy-marshal, delivered him to the marshal of Essex on the 30th of +May; and he was brought before the magistrates on the next day, and, +after examination, committed to prison. He and his wife effected their +escape from jail, and found refuge in New York until the proceedings +were terminated, when they returned to Salem, and continued to reside +here. She survived the shock given by the accusation, the danger to +which she had been exposed, and the sufferings of imprisonment, but a +short time. They occupied the highest social position. He was a +merchant, conducting an extensive business, and had a large estate; +owning fourteen buildings in the town, a wharf, and twenty-one sail of +vessels. His dwelling-house, represented in the <a href="#frontispiece">frontispiece</a> of this +volume, stood until a recent period, and is remembered by many of us. +Its site was on the southern side of Essex Street, near its +termination; comprising the area between English and Webb Streets. It +must have been a beautiful situation; commanding at that time a full, +unobstructed view of the Beverly and Marblehead shores, and all the +waters and points of land between them. The mansion was spacious in +its dimensions, and bore the marks of having been constructed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.143" id="Page_ii.143">[ii.143]</a></span> +best style of elegance, strength, and finish. It was indeed a curious +and venerable specimen of the domestic architecture of its day. A +first-class house then; in its proportions, arrangements, and +attachments, it would compare well with first-class houses now. Mrs. +English was a lady of eminent character and culture. Traditions to +this effect have come down with singular uniformity through all the +old families of the place. She was the only child of Richard +Hollingsworth, and inherited his large property. The Rev. William +Bentley, D.D., in his "Description of Salem," and whose daily life +made him conversant with all that relates to the locality of Mrs. +English's residence, says that the officer came to apprehend her in +the evening, after she had retired to rest. He was admitted by the +servants, and read his warrant in her bedchamber. Guards were placed +around the house. To be accused by the afflicted children was then +regarded as certain death. "In the morning," says Bentley, "she +attended the devotions of her family, kissed her children with great +composure, proposed her plan for their education, took leave of them, +and then told the officer she was ready to die." Dr. Bentley suggests +that unfriendly feelings may have existed against Mr. English in +consequence of some controversies he had been engaged in with the town +about the title to lands; that the superior style in which his family +lived had subjected them to vulgar prejudice; that the existence of +this feeling becoming known to the "afflicted girls" led them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.144" id="Page_ii.144">[ii.144]</a></span> to cry +out against him and his wife. It may be so. They availed themselves of +every such advantage; and particularly liked to strike high, so as the +more to astound and overawe the public mind.</p> + +<p>I find no further mention of Sarah Morrel. She doubtless shared the +fate of those escaping death,—a long imprisonment. When Dorcas Hoar +was brought in, there was a general commotion among the afflicted, +falling into fits all around. After coming out of them, they vied with +each other in heaping all sorts of accusations upon the prisoner; +Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam charging her with having choked a +woman in Boston; Elizabeth Hubbard crying out that she was pinching +her, "and showing the marks to the standers by. The marshal said she +pinched her fingers at the time." The magistrate, indignantly +believing the whole, said, "Dorcas Hoar, why do you hurt these?"—"I +never hurt any child in my life." The girls then charged her with +having killed her husband, and with various other crimes. Mary Walcot, +Susanna Sheldon, and Abigail Williams said they saw a black man +whispering in her ear. The spirit of the prisoner was raised; and she +said, "Oh, you are liars, and God will stop the mouth of liars!" The +anger of the magistrates was roused by this bold outbreak. "You are +not to speak after this manner in the Court."—"I will speak the truth +as long as I live," she fearlessly replied. Parris says, at the close +of his account, "The afflicted were much distressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.145" id="Page_ii.145">[ii.145]</a></span> during her +examination." Of course, she was sent to prison.</p> + +<p>Susanna Martin of Amesbury, a widow, was arrested on a warrant dated +April 30, and examined at the Village church May 2. She is described +as a short active woman, wearing a hood and scarf, plump and well +developed in her figure, of remarkable personal neatness. One of the +items of the evidence against her was, that, "in an extraordinary +dirty season, when it was not fit for any person to travel, she came +on foot" to a house at Newbury. The woman of the house, the substance +of whose testimony I am giving, having asked, "whether she came from +Amesbury afoot," expressed her surprise at her having ventured abroad +in such bad walking, and bid her children make way for her to come to +the fire to dry herself. She replied "she was as dry as I was," and +turned her coats aside; "and I could not perceive that the soles of +her shoes were wet. I was startled at it, that she should come so dry; +and told her that I should have been wet up to my knees, if I should +have come so far on foot." She replied that "she scorned to have a +drabbled tail." The good woman who treated Susanna Martin on this +occasion with such hospitable kindness received the impression, as +appears by the import of her deposition, that, because Martin came +into the house so wonderfully dry, she was therefore a witch. The only +inference we are likely to draw is, that she was a particularly neat +person; careful to pick her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.146" id="Page_ii.146">[ii.146]</a></span> way; and did not wear skirts of the +dimensions of our times.</p> + +<p>The language reported by this witness to have been used by Susanna +Martin created in her, at the time, visible mortification, as well as +resentment. A writer at the period, not by any means inclined to give +a representation favorable to the prisoners, reports her expression +thus: "She scorned to be drabbled." She was undoubtedly a woman who +spoke her mind freely, and with strength of expression, as the +magistrates found. From this cause, perhaps, she had shocked the +prejudices and violated the conventional scrupulosities then +prevalent, to such a degree as to incur much comment, if not scandal. +There had been a good deal of gossip about her; and, some time before, +she had been proceeded against as a witch. But there was no ground for +any serious charges against her character. Like Mrs. Ann Hibbens, +perhaps the head and front of her offending was that she had more wit +than her neighbors. She certainly was a strong-minded woman, as her +examination shows. Two reports of it, each in the handwriting of +Parris, have come down to us. They are almost identical, and in +substance as follows:—</p> + +<p>On the appearance of the accused, many of the witnesses against her +instantly fell into fits. The magistrate inquired of them,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Hath this woman hurt you?"</p> + +<p>"(Abigail Williams declared that she had hurt her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.147" id="Page_ii.147">[ii.147]</a></span> often. +'Ann Putnam threw her glove at her in a fit,' and the rest +were struck dumb at her presence.)</p> + +<p>"What! do you laugh at it? said the magistrate.—Well I may +at such folly.</p> + +<p>"Is this folly to see these so hurt?—I never hurt man, +woman, or child.</p> + +<p>"(Mercy Lewis cried out, 'She hath hurt me a great many +times, and plucks me down.' Then Martin laughed again. +Several others cried out upon her, and the magistrate again +addressed her.)</p> + +<p>"What do you say to this?—I have no hand in witchcraft.</p> + +<p>"What did you do? did you consent these should be hurt?—No, +never in my life.</p> + +<p>"What ails these people?—I do not know.</p> + +<p>"But what do you think ails them?—I do not desire to spend +my judgment upon it.</p> + +<p>"Do you think they are bewitched?—No: I do not think they +are.</p> + +<p>"Well, tell us your thoughts about them.—My thoughts are +mine own when they are in; but, when they are out, they are +another's.</p> + +<p>"Who do you think is their master?—If they be dealing in +the black art, you may know as well as I.</p> + +<p>"What have you done towards the hurt of these?—I have done +nothing.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is you, or your appearance.—I cannot help it.</p> + +<p>"How comes your appearance just now to hurt these?—How do I +know?</p> + +<p>"Are you not willing to tell the truth?—I cannot tell. He +that appeared in Samuel's shape can appear in any one's +shape.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.148" id="Page_ii.148">[ii.148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you believe these afflicted persons do not say +true?—They may lie, for aught I know.</p> + +<p>"May not you lie?—I dare not tell a lie, if it would save +my life."</p></div> + +<p>At this point, the marshal declared that "she pinched her hands, and +Elizabeth Hubbard was immediately afflicted. Several of the afflicted +cried out that they saw her upon the beam" of the meeting-house over +their heads; and there was, no doubt, a scene of frightful excitement. +The magistrate, in the depth of his awe and distress, earnestly +appealed to the accused, "Pray God discover you, if you be guilty." +Nothing daunted, she replied, "Amen, amen. A false tongue will never +make a guilty person." A great uproar then arose. The accusers fell +into dreadful convulsions, among the rest John Indian, who cried out, +"She bites, she bites!" The magistrate, overcome by the sight of these +sufferings, again appealed to her, "Have not you compassion for these +afflicted?" She calmly and firmly answered, "No: I have none." The +uproar rose higher. The accusers all declared that they saw the "black +man," Satan himself, standing by her side. They pretended to try to +approach her, but were suddenly deprived of the power of locomotion. +John Indian attempted to rush upon her, but fell sprawling upon the +floor. The magistrate again appealed to her: "What is the reason these +cannot come near you?"—"I cannot tell. It may be the Devil bears me +more malice than another."—"Do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.149" id="Page_ii.149">[ii.149]</a></span> you not see God evidently discovering +you?"—"No, not a bit for that."—"All the congregation besides think +so."—"Let them think what they will."—"What is the reason these +cannot come to you?"—"I do not know but they can, if they will; or +else, if you please, I will come to them."—"What was that the black +man whispered to you?"—"There was none whispered to me." She was +committed to prison.</p> + +<p>In the mean while, preparations had been going on to bring upon the +stage a more striking character, and give to the excited public mind a +greater shock than had yet been experienced. Intimations had been +thrown out that higher culprits than had been so far brought to light +were in reserve, and would, in due time, be unmasked. It was hinted +that a minister had joined the standard of the Arch-enemy, and was +leading the devilish confederacy. In the accounts given of the +diabolical sacraments, a man in black had been described, but no name +yet given. As Charles the Second, while they were hanging the +regicides, at the Restoration, was looking about for a preacher to +hang, and used Hugh Peters for the occasion; so the "afflicted +children," or those acting behind them, wanted a minister to complete +the <i>dramatis personæ</i> of their tragedy. His connection with the +society and its controversies, and the animosities which had thus +become attached to him, naturally suggested Mr. Burroughs. He was then +pursuing, as usual, a laborious, humble, self-sacrificing ministry, in +the midst of perils and privations, away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.150" id="Page_ii.150">[ii.150]</a></span> down in the frontier +settlements on the coast of Maine, and little dreamed of what was +brewing, for his ruin and destruction, in his former parish at the +village. This is what Thomas Putnam had in his mind when he spoke of a +"wheel within a wheel," and "the high and dreadful" things not then +disclosed that were to make "ears tingle."</p> + +<p>It was necessary to be at once cautious and rapid in their movements, +to prevent the public from getting information which, by reaching the +ears of Burroughs, might put him on his guard. It was no easy thing to +secure him at the great distance of his place of residence. If he +should become apprised of what was going on, his escape into remoter +and inaccessible settlements would have baffled the whole scheme. +Nothing therefore was done at the village, but the steps to arrest him +originated at Boston. Elisha Hutchinson, a magistrate there, issued +the proper order, addressed to John Partridge of Portsmouth, +Field-marshal of the provinces of New Hampshire and Maine, dated April +30, 1692, to arrest George Burroughs, "preacher at Wells;" he being +"suspected of a confederacy with the Devil." Partridge was directed to +deliver him to the custody of the marshal of Essex, or, not meeting +him, was requested to bring him to Salem, and hand him over to the +magistrates there. The "afflicted children" had begun, shortly before, +to use his name. Abigail Hobbs had resided some years before at Casco; +and from her they obtained all the scandal she had heard there, or +chose to fabricate to suit the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.151" id="Page_ii.151">[ii.151]</a></span> purpose of the prosecutors. The way in +which the minds of the deluded people were worked up against Mr. +Burroughs is illustrated in a deposition subsequently made to this +effect:—</p> + +<p>Benjamin Hutchinson testified, that, on the 21st of April, 1692, about +eleven o'clock in the forenoon, Abigail Williams told him that she saw +a person whom she described as Mr. George Burroughs, "a little black +minister that lived at Casco Bay." Mr. Burroughs was of small stature +and dark complexion. She gave an account of his wonderful feats of +strength, said that he was a wizard; and that he "had killed three +wives, two for himself and one for Mr. Lawson." She affirmed that she +saw him then. Mr. Burroughs, it will be borne in mind, was at this +time a hundred miles away, at his home in Maine. Hutchinson asked her +where she saw him. She said "There," pointing to a rut in the road +made by a cart-wheel. He had an iron fork in his hand, and threw it +where she said Burroughs was standing. Instantly she fell into a fit; +and, when she came out of it, said, "'You have torn his coat, for I +heard it tear.'—'Whereabouts?' said I. 'On one side,' said she. Then +we came into the house of Lieutenant Ingersoll; and I went into the +great room, and Abigail came in and said, 'There he stands.' I said, +'Where? where?' and presently drew my rapier." Then Abigail said, he +has gone, but "'there is a gray cat.' Then I said, 'Whereabouts?' +'There!' said she, 'there!' Then I struck with my rapier, and she fell +into a fit; and, when it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.152" id="Page_ii.152">[ii.152]</a></span> was over, she said, 'You killed her.'" Poor +Hutchinson could not see the cat he had killed any more than +Burroughs's coat he had torn. Abigail explained the mystery to his +satisfaction, by saying that the spectre of Sarah Good had come in at +the moment, and carried away the dead cat. This was all in broad +daylight; it being, as Hutchinson testified, "about twelve o'clock." +The same day, "after lecture, in said Ingersoll's chamber," Abigail +Williams and Mary Walcot were present. They said that "Goody Hobbs, of +Topsfield, had bit Mary Walcot by the foot." Then both fell into a +fit; and on coming out, "they saw William Hobbs and his wife go both +of them along the table." Hutchinson instantly stabbed, with his +rapier, "Goody Hobbs on her side," as the two girls declared. They +further said that the room was "full of them," that is of witches, in +their apparitions; then Hutchinson and Eleazer Putnam "stabbed with +their rapiers at a venture." The girls cried out, that they "had +killed a great black woman of Stonington, and an Indian who had come +with her:" the girls said further, "The floor is all covered with +blood;" and, rushing to the window, declared that they saw a great +company of witches on a hill, and that three of them "lay dead" +there,—"the black woman, the Indian, and one more that they knew +not." This was about four o'clock in the afternoon. This evidence was +given and received in court. It shows the audacity with which the +girls imposed upon the credulity of a people wrought up by their arts +to the highest pitch of in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.153" id="Page_ii.153">[ii.153]</a></span>sane infatuation; and illustrates a +condition of things, at that time and place, that is truly +astonishing.</p> + +<p>On the evening before Hutchinson was imposed upon, as just described, +by Abigail Williams and Mary Walcot, Ann Putnam had made most +astonishing disclosures, at her father's house, in his presence and +that of Peter Prescott, Robert Morrel, and Ezekiel Cheever. An account +of the affair was drawn up by her father, and sworn to by her, in +these words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Ann Putnam</span>, who testifieth and +saith, on the 20th of April, 1692, at evening, she saw the +apparition of a minister, at which she was grievously +affrighted, and cried out, 'Oh, dreadful, dreadful! here is +a minister come! What! are ministers witches too? Whence +came you, and what is your name? for I will complain of you, +though you be a minister, if you be a wizard.' Immediately I +was tortured by him, being racked and almost choked by him. +And he tempted me to write in his book, which I refused with +loud outcries, and said I would not write in his book though +he tore me all to pieces, but told him it was a dreadful +thing that he, which was a minister, that should teach +children to fear God, should come to persuade poor creatures +to give their souls to the Devil. 'Oh, dreadful, dreadful! +Tell me your name, that I may know who you are.' Then again +he tortured me, and urged me to write in his book, which I +refused. And then, presently, he told me that his name was +George Burroughs, and that he had had three wives, and that +he had bewitched the two first of them to death; and that he +killed Mrs. Lawson, because she was so unwilling to go from +the Village, and also killed Mr. Lawson's child because he +went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.154" id="Page_ii.154">[ii.154]</a></span> to the eastward with Sir Edmon, and preached so to the +soldiers; and that he had bewitched a great many soldiers to +death at the eastward when Sir Edmon was there; and that he +had made Abigail Hobbs a witch, and several witches more. +And he has continued ever since, by times, tempting me to +write in his book, and grievously torturing me by beating, +pinching, and almost choking me several times a day. He also +told me that he was above a witch. He was a conjurer."</p></div> + +<p>Her father and the other persons present made oath that they saw and +heard all this at the time; that "they beheld her tortures and +perceived her hellish temptations by her loud outcries, 'I will not, I +will not write, though you torment me all the days of my life.'" It +will be observed that this was the evening before Thomas Putnam wrote +his letter to the magistrates, preparing them for something "high and +dreadful" that was soon to be brought to light.</p> + +<p>A similar scene took place not long afterwards, in the presence of her +father and her uncle Edward, to which they also testify. It was thus +described by her under oath:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Ann Putnam</span>, who testifieth and +saith, that, on the 8th of May, at evening, I saw the +apparition of Mr. George Burroughs, who grievously tortured +me, and urged me to write in his book, which I refused. He +then told me that his two first wives would appear to me +presently, and tell me a great many lies, but I should not +believe them. Then immediately appeared to me the forms of +two women in winding-sheets, and napkins about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.155" id="Page_ii.155">[ii.155]</a></span> their heads, +at which I was greatly affrighted; and they turned their +faces towards Mr. Burroughs, and looked very red and angry, +and told him that he had been a cruel man to them, and that +their blood did cry for vengeance against him; and also told +him that they should be clothed with white robes in heaven, +when he should be cast into hell: and immediately he +vanished away. And, as soon as he was gone, the two women +turned their faces towards me, and looked as pale as a white +wall; and told me that they were Mr. Burroughs's two first +wives, and that he had murdered them. And one of them told +me that she was his first wife, and he stabbed her under the +left arm, and put a piece of sealing-wax on the wound. And +she pulled aside the winding-sheet, and showed me the place; +and also told me, that she was in the house where Mr. Parris +now lives, when it was done. And the other told me, that Mr. +Burroughs and that wife which he hath now, killed her in the +vessel, as she was coming to see her friends, because they +would have one another. And they both charged me that I +should tell these things to the magistrates before Mr. +Burroughs' face; and, if he did not own them, they did not +know but they should appear there. This morning, also, Mrs. +Lawson and her daughter Ann appeared to me, whom I knew, and +told me Mr. Burroughs murdered them. This morning also +appeared to me another woman in a winding-sheet, and told me +that she was Goodman Fuller's first wife, and Mr. Burroughs +killed her because there was some difference between her +husband and him."</p></div> + +<p>This was indeed most extraordinary language and imagery to have been +used by a child of twelve years of age. It is not strange, that, upon +a community,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.156" id="Page_ii.156">[ii.156]</a></span> whose fancies and fears had been so long wrought upon, +holding their views, the effect was awfully great. The very fact that +it was a child that spoke made her declarations seem supernatural. +Then, again, they were accompanied with such ocular demonstration, in +her terrible bodily sufferings, that none remained in doubt of the +truthfulness and reality of what they listened to and beheld. It did +not enter their imaginations, for a moment, that there was any +deception or imposture, or even delusion, on her part. Her case is +truly a problem not easily solved even now. While we are filled with +horror and indignation at the thought that she figures as a capital +and fatal witness in all the trials, it is impossible not to feel that +a wisdom greater than ours is necessary to fathom the dark mystery of +the phenomena presented by her and her mother and other accusers, in +this monstrous and terrible affair.</p> + +<p>These occurrences, happening just before Mr. Burroughs was brought to +the village as a prisoner, were bruited from house to house, from +mouth to mouth, and worked the people to a state of horrified +exasperation against him; and he was met with execration, when, on the +4th of May, Field-marshal Partridge appeared with him at Salem, and +delivered him to the jailer there. When we consider the distance and +the circumstances of travel at that time, it is evident that the +officers charged with the service acted with the greatest promptitude, +celerity, and energy. The tradition is, that they found Mr. Burroughs +in his humble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.157" id="Page_ii.157">[ii.157]</a></span> home, partaking of his frugal meal; that he was +snatched from the table without a moment's opportunity to provide for +his family, or prepare himself for the journey, and hurried on his way +roughly, and without the least explanation of what it all meant. As +soon as it was known that he was in jail in Salem, arrangements were +commenced for his examination. The public mind was highly excited; and +it was determined to make the occasion as impressive, effective, and +awe-striking as possible. Another "field-day" was to be had. On the +9th of May, a special session of the Magistracy was held,—<a href="#stoughton">William +Stoughton</a> coming from Dorchester, and Samuel Sewall from Boston, to +sit with Hathorne and Corwin, and give greater solemnity and severity +to the proceedings. Stoughton presided. The first step in the +proceedings was to have a private hearing, in the presence of the +magistrates and ministers only; and the report of what passed there +gives proof of what is indicated more or less clearly in several +passages in the accounts that have come down to us in reference to Mr. +Burroughs,—that he was regarded as not wholly sound in doctrine on +points not connected with witchcraft, was treated with special +severity on that account, and made the victim of bigoted prejudice +among his brethren and in the churches. In this secret inquisition, he +was called to account for not attending the communion service on one +or two occasions; he being a member of the church at Roxbury. It was +also brought against him, that none of his children but the eldest had +been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.158" id="Page_ii.158">[ii.158]</a></span> baptized. What the facts, in these respects, were, it is +impossible to say; as we know of them only through the charges of his +enemies. After this, he was carried to the place of public meeting; +and, as he entered the room, "many, if not all, the bewitched were +grievously tortured." After the confusion had subsided, Susanna +Sheldon testified that Burroughs' two wives had appeared to her "in +their winding-sheets," and said, "That man killed them." He was +ordered to look on the witness; and, as he turned to do so, he +"knocked down," as the reporter affirms, "all (or most) of the +afflicted that stood behind him." Ann Putnam, and the several other +"afflicted children," bore their testimony in a similar strain against +him, interspersing at intervals, all their various convulsions, +outcries, and tumblings. Mercy Lewis had "a dreadful and tedious fit." +Walcot, Hubbard, and Sheldon were cast into torments simultaneously. +At length, they were "so tortured" that "authority ordered them" to be +removed. Their sufferings were greater than the magistrates and people +could longer endure to look upon. The question was put to Burroughs, +"what he thought of these things." He answered, "it was an amazing and +humbling providence, but he understood nothing of it." Throwing aside +all the foolish and ridiculous gossip and all the monstrous fables +that belong to the accusations against him, and looking at the only +known facts in his history, it appears that Mr. Burroughs was a man of +ingenuous nature, free from guile, unsuspicious of guile in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.159" id="Page_ii.159">[ii.159]</a></span> others; a +disinterested, humble, patient, and generous person. He had suffered +much wrong, and endured great hardships in life; but they had not +impaired his readiness to labor and suffer for others. There was no +combativeness or vindictiveness in his disposition. Even in the midst +of the unspeakable outrages he was experiencing on this occasion, he +does not appear to be incensed or irritated, but simply "amazed." To +have such horrid crimes laid to him, instead of rousing a violent +spirit within him, impressed him with a humbling sense of an +inscrutable Providence. There is a remarkable similarity in the manner +in which Rebecca Nurse and George Burroughs received the dreadful +accusations brought against them. "Surely," she said, "what sin hath +God found out in me unrepented of that he should lay such an +affliction upon me in my old age?" His words are, "It is an humbling +providence of God." The more we reflect upon this language, and go to +the depths of the spirit that suggested it, the more we realize, that, +in each case, it arose from a sanctified Christian heart, and is an +attestation in vindication and in honor of the sufferers from whose +lips it fell, that outweighs all passions and prejudices, reverses all +verdicts, and commands the conviction of all fair and honest minds.</p> + +<p>After the "afflicted" had been sent out of the room, there was +testimony to show that Mr. Burroughs had given proof of physical +strength, which, in a man of his small stature, was sure evidence that +he was in league with the Devil. Many marvellous statements<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.160" id="Page_ii.160">[ii.160]</a></span> were made +to this effect, some of the most extravagant of which he denied. He +undoubtedly was a person of great strength. He had cultivated muscular +exercise and development while an undergraduate at Cambridge, and was +early celebrated as a gymnast. After a while, the accusers and +afflicted were again brought in. Abigail Hobbs testified that she was +present at a "witch meeting, in the field near Mr. Parris's house," in +which Mr. Burroughs acted a conspicuous part. Mary Warren swore that +"Mr. Burroughs had a trumpet which he blew to summon the witches to +their feasts" and other meetings "near Mr. Parris's house." This +trumpet had a sound that reached over the country far and wide, +sending its blasts to Andover, and wakening its echoes along the +Merrimack, to Cape Ann, and the uttermost settlements everywhere; so +that the witches, hearing it, would mount their brooms, and alight, in +a moment, in Mr. Parris's orchard, just to the north and west of the +parsonage; but its sound was not heard by any other ears than those of +confederates with Satan. While the girls were giving their testimony, +every once in a while they would be dreadfully choked, appearing to be +in the last stages of suffocation and strangulation; and, coming to, +at intervals, would charge it upon Burroughs or other witches, calling +them by name; generally, however, confining their selection to persons +already apprehended, and not bringing in others until measures were +matured. Mr. Burroughs was committed for trial.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.161" id="Page_ii.161">[ii.161]</a></span></p> + +<p>The examination of Mr. Burroughs presented a spectacle, all things +considered, of rare interest and curiosity,—the grave dignity of the +magistrates; the plain, dark figure of the prisoner; the half-crazed, +half-demoniac aspect of the girls; the wild, excited crowd; the +horror, rage, and pallid exasperation of Lawson, Goodman Fuller and +others, also of the relatives and friends of Burroughs's two former +wives, as the deep damnation of their taking off and the secrets of +their bloody graves were being brought to light; and the child on the +stand telling her awful tale of ghosts in winding-sheets, with napkins +round their heads, pointing to their death-wounds, and saying that +"their blood did cry for vengeance" upon their murderer. The prisoner +stands alone: all were raving around him, while he is amazed; +astounded at such folly and wrong in others, and humbly sensible of +his own unworthiness; bowed down under the mysterious Providence, that +permitted such things for a season, yet strong and steadfast in +conscious innocence and uprightness.</p> + +<p>To complete the proceedings against Burroughs at this time, and raise +to the highest point the public abhorrence of him, effective use was +made of Deliverance Hobbs, the wife of William Hobbs, of whom I have +spoken before. She was first examined April 22. During the earlier +part of the proceedings, she maintained her integrity and protested +her innocence in a manner which shows that her self-possession held +good. But the examination was protracted; her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.162" id="Page_ii.162">[ii.162]</a></span> strength was exhausted; +the declarations of the accusers, their dreadful sufferings, the +prejudgment of the case against her by the magistrates, and the +combined influences of all the circumstances around her, broke her +down. Her firmness, courage, and truth fled; and she began to confess +all that was laid to her charge. The record is interesting as showing +how gradually she was overwhelmed and overcome. But while mentioning +the names of others whom she pretended to have been associated with as +witches, she did not speak of Burroughs. She referred to those who had +been brought out before that date, but not to him. The intended +movement against him had not then been divulged. On the 3d of May, the +day before he arrived, after it was known that officers had been sent +to arrest him, she was examined again. On this occasion, she charged +Burroughs with having been present, and taken a leading part in +witch-meetings, which she had described in detail, at her first +examination, without mentioning him at all. This proves that the +confessing prisoners were apprised of what it was desired they should +say, and that their testimony was prepared for them by the managers of +the affair. The following is one of the confessions made by this +woman, subsequent to her public examination. I give it partly to show +what a flood of falsehood was poured upon Burroughs, and partly +because it will serve as a specimen of the stuff of which the +confessions were composed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.163" id="Page_ii.163">[ii.163]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The First Examination of Deliverance Hobbs in +Prison.</i>—She continued in the free acknowledging herself to +be a covenant witch: and further confesseth she was warned +to a meeting yesterday morning, and that there was present +Procter and his wife, Goody Nurse, Giles Corey and his wife, +Goody Bishop alias Oliver; and Mr. Burroughs was their +preacher, and pressed them to bewitch all in the village, +telling them they should do it gradually, and not all at +once, assuring them they should prevail. He administered the +sacrament unto them at the same time, with red bread and red +wine like blood. She affirms she saw Osburn, Sarah Good, +Goody Wilds, Goody Nurse: and Goody Wilds distributed the +bread and wine; and a man in a long-crowned white hat sat +next the minister, and they sat seemingly at a table, and +they filled out the wine in tankards. The notice of this +meeting was given her by Goody Wilds. She, herself affirms, +did not nor would not eat nor drink, but all the rest did, +who were there present; therefore they threatened to torment +her. The meeting was in the pasture by Mr. Parris's house, +and she saw when Abigail Williams ran out to speak with +them; but, by that time Abigail was come a little distance +from the house, this examinant was struck blind, so that she +saw not with whom Abigail spake. She further saith, that +Goody Wilds, to prevail with her to sign, told her, that, if +she would put her hand to the book, she would give her some +clothes, and would not afflict her any more. Her daughter, +Abigail Hobbs, being brought in at the same time, while her +mother was present, was immediately taken with a dreadful +fit; and her mother, being asked who it was that hurt her +daughter, answered it was Goodman Corey, and she saw him and +the gentlewoman of Boston striving to break her daughter's +neck."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.164" id="Page_ii.164">[ii.164]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the next day, warrants were procured against George Jacobs, Sr., +and his grand-daughter, Margaret Jacobs. They were forthwith seized +and brought in by Constable Joseph Neal, of Salem, whose return is as +follows: "May 10, 1692. Then I apprehended the bodies of George +Jacobs, Sr., and Margaret, daughter of George Jacobs, Jr., according +to the tenor of the above warrant." The examinations, on this +occasion, were held at the house of Thomas Beadle, in the town of +Salem. All the preliminary examinations, so far as existing documents +show, were either in the meeting-house at the village or that of the +town; or at the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll at the village, or Thomas +Beadle in the town,—both being inns, or places of public +entertainment. Beadle's house was on the south side of Essex Street, +on land now occupied by Nos. 63 and 65. The eastern boundary of the +lot was forty-nine feet from Ingersoll's Lane, now Daniels Street. Its +front on Essex Street was about sixty feet, and its depth about one +hundred and forty-five feet. What is now No. 65 is on the very spot +where Beadle's tavern stood; and with the exception of six feet built, +as an addition, on the eastern side, subsequently to 1733, is probably +the identical house. The ground now occupied by No. 63 was then an +open space. It appears by bills of expenses brought "against the +country," that the inn of Samuel Beadle, a brother of Thomas, was also +sometimes used for purposes connected with the prosecutions. Thomas +Beadle's bill amounted to £58. 11<i>s.</i> 5<i>d.</i>; that of Samuel to £21. +The latter, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.165" id="Page_ii.165">[ii.165]</a></span> near the jail, was probably used for the +entertainment of constables and the keeping of their horses, as well +as other incidental purposes connected with the transportation of +prisoners.</p> + +<p>A tradition has long prevailed, that the house, still standing, of +Judge Jonathan Corwin, at the western corner of North and Essex +Streets, was used at these examinations. One form in which this +tradition has come down is probably correct. The grand jury was often +in session while the jury for trials was hearing cases in the +Court-house. There may not have been suitable accommodations for both +in that building. The confused sounds and commotions incident to the +trials would have been annoying to the grand jury. The tradition is, +that a place was provided and used temporarily by that body, in the +Corwin house, supposed to have been the spacious room at the +southeastern corner. As the investigations of the grand jury were not +open to the public, its occasional sittings would not be seriously +incompatible with the convenience of a family, or detrimental to the +grounds or apartments of a handsome private residence. Indeed, it +would hardly have been allowable or practicable to have had the +examinations before the magistrates in any other than a public house. +They were always frequented by a promiscuous crowd, and generally +scenes of tumultuary disorder.</p> + +<p>George Jacobs, Sr., was an aged man. He is represented in the evidence +as "very gray-headed;" and he must have been quite infirm, for he +walked with two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.166" id="Page_ii.166">[ii.166]</a></span> staffs. His hair was in long, thin, white locks; and, +as he was uncommonly tall of stature, he must have had a venerable +aspect. Perhaps he was the "man in a long-crowned white hat," referred +to by Deliverance Hobbs. The examination shows that his faculties were +vigorous, his bearing fearless, and his utterances strong and decided. +The magistrates began: "Here are them that accuse you of acts of +witchcraft."—"Well, let us hear who are they and what are they." When +Abigail Williams testified against him, going through undoubtedly her +usual operations, he could not refrain from expressing his contempt +for the whole thing by a laugh; explaining it by saying, "Because I am +falsely accused—your worships all of you, do you think this is true?" +They answered, "Nay: what do you think?" "I never did it."—"Who did +it?"—"Don't ask me." The magistrates always took it for granted that +the pretensions and sufferings of the girls were real, and threw upon +the accused the responsibility of explaining them. They continued: +"Why should we not ask you? Sarah Churchill accuseth you. There she +is." Jacobs was of opinion that it was not for him to explain the +actions of the girls, but for the prosecuting party to prove his +guilt. "If you can prove that I am guilty, I will lie under it." Then +Sarah Churchill, who was a servant in his family, said, "Last night, I +was afflicted at Deacon Ingersoll's; and Mary Walcot said it was a man +with two staves: it was my master." It seems, that, after the +proceedings against Burroughs were over, a meeting of "the circle" +took place in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.167" id="Page_ii.167">[ii.167]</a></span> evening, at Deacon Ingersoll's, at which there was +a repetition of the actings of the girls; and that Mary Walcot +suggested to Churchill to accuse her master. This shows the way in +which the delusion was kept up. Probably, such meetings were held at +one house or another in the village, and fresh accusations brought +forward, continually. Jacobs appealed to the magistrates, trying to +recall them to a sense of fairness. "Pray, do not accuse me: I am as +clear as your worships. You must do right judgment." Sarah Churchill +charged him with having hurt her; and the magistrates, pushing her on +to make further charges, said to her, "Did he not appear on the other +side of the river, and hurt you? Did not you see him?" She answered, +"Yes, he did." Then, turning to him, the magistrates said, "There, she +accuseth you to your face: she chargeth you that you hurt her +twice."—"It is not true. What would you have me say? I never wronged +no man in word nor deed."—"Is it no harm to afflict these?"—"I never +did it."—"But how comes it to be in your appearance?"—"The Devil can +take any likeness."—"Not without their consent." Jacobs rejected the +imputation. "You tax me for a wizard: you may as well tax me for a +buzzard. I have done no harm." Churchill said, "I know you lived a +wicked life." Jacobs, turning to the magistrates, said, "Let her make +it out." The magistrates asked her, "Doth he ever pray in his family?" +She replied, "Not unless by himself." The magistrates, addressing him: +"Why do you not pray in your family?"—"I cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.168" id="Page_ii.168">[ii.168]</a></span> read."—"Well, but +you may pray for all that. Can you say the Lord's Prayer? Let us hear +you." The reporter, Mr. Parris, says, "He missed in several parts of +it, and could not repeat it right after many trials." The magistrates, +addressing her, said, "Were you not frighted, Sarah Churchill, when +the representation of your master came to you?"—"Yes." Jacobs +exclaimed, "Well, burn me or hang me, I will stand in the truth of +Christ: I know nothing of it." In answer to an inquiry from the +magistrates, he denied having done any thing to get his son George or +grand-daughter Margaret to "sign the book."</p> + +<p>The appearance of the old man, his intrepid bearing, and the stamp of +conscious innocence on all he said, probably produced some impression +on the magistrates, as they did not come to any decision, but +adjourned the examination to the next day. The girls then came down +from the village in full force, determined to put him through. When he +was brought in, they accordingly, all at once, "fell into the most +grievous fits and screechings." When they sufficiently came to, the +magistrates turned to the girls: "Is this the man that hurts you?" +They severally answered,—Abigail Williams: "This is the man," and +fell into a violent fit. Ann Putnam: "This is the man. He hurts me, +and brings the book to me, and would have me write in the book, and +said, if I would write in it, I should be as well as his +grand-daughter." Mercy Lewis, after much interruptions by fits: "This +is the man: he almost kills me." Elizabeth Hubbard: "He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.169" id="Page_ii.169">[ii.169]</a></span> never hurt me +till to-day, when he came upon the table." Mary Walcot, after much +interruption by fits: "This is the man: he used to come with two +staves, and beat me with one of them." After all this, the +magistrates, thinking he could deny it no longer, turn to him, "What +do you say? Are you not a witch?" "No: I know it not, if I were to die +presently." Mercy Lewis advanced towards him, but, as soon as she got +near, "fell into great fits."—"What do you say to this?" cried the +magistrates. "Why, it is false. I know not of it any more than the +child that was born to-night." The reporter says, "Ann Putnam and +Abigail Williams had each of them a pin stuck in their hands, and they +said it was this old Jacobs." He was committed to prison.</p> + +<p>The following piece of evidence is among the loose papers on file in +the clerk's office:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Sarah Ingersoll</span>, aged about +thirty years.—Saith, that, seeing Sarah Churchill after her +examination, she came to me crying and wringing her hands, +seemingly to be much troubled in spirit. I asked her what +she ailed. She answered, she had undone herself. I asked her +in what. She said, in belying herself and others in saying +she had set her hand to the Devil's book, whereas, she said, +she never did. I told her I believed she had set her hand to +the book. She answered, crying, and said, 'No, no, no: I +never, I never did.' I asked her then what made her say she +did. She answered, because they threatened her, and told her +they would put her into the dungeon, and put her along with +Mr. Burroughs; and thus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.170" id="Page_ii.170">[ii.170]</a></span> several times she followed me up +and down, telling me that she had undone herself, in belying +herself and others. I asked her why she did not deny she +wrote it. She told me, because she had stood out so long in +it, that now she durst not. She said also, that, if she told +Mr. Noyes but once she had set her hand to the book, he +would believe her; but, if she told the truth, and said she +had not set her hand to the book a hundred times, he would +not believe her.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Sarah Ingersoll</span>."</p></div> + +<p>This paper has also the signature of "Ann Andrews."</p> + +<p>This incident probably occurred during the examination of George +Jacobs; and the bitter compunction of Churchill was in consequence of +the false and malignant course she had been pursuing against her old +master. It is a relief to our feelings, so far as she is regarded, to +suppose so. Bad as her conduct was as one of the accusers, on other +occasions after I am sorry to say as well as before, it shows that she +was not entirely dead to humanity, but realized the iniquity of which +she had been guilty towards him. It is the only instance of which we +find notice of any such a remnant of conscience showing itself, at the +time, among those perverted and depraved young persons. The reason, +why it is probable that this exhibition of Churchill's penitential +tears and agonies of remorse occurred immediately after the first day +of Jacobs's examination, is this. It was one of the first, if not the +first, held at the house of Thomas Beadle. Sarah Ingersoll would not +have been likely to have fallen in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.171" id="Page_ii.171">[ii.171]</a></span> with her elsewhere. It is evident, +from the tenor and purport of the document, that the deponent was not +entirely carried away by the prevalent delusion, and probably did not +follow up the proceedings generally. But it was quite natural that her +attention should have been called to proceedings of interest at +Beadle's house, particularly on that first occasion. She lived in the +immediate vicinity. The indorsement by Ann Andrews, the daughter of +Jacobs, increases the probability that the occurrence was at his +examination.</p> + +<p>The representatives of the family of John Ingersoll,—a brother of +Deacon Nathaniel Ingersoll,—in 1692, occupied a series of houses on +the west side of Daniels Street, leading from Essex Street to the +harbor. The widow of John's son Nathaniel lived at the corner of Essex +and Daniels Streets; the next in order was the widow of his son John; +the next, his daughter Ruth, wife of Richard Rose; the next, the widow +of his son Richard; the last, his son Samuel, whose house lot extended +to the water. Sarah, the witness in this case, was the wife of Samuel, +and afterwards became the second wife of Philip English. One of her +children appears to have married a son of Beadle. Their immediate +proximity to the Beadle house, and consequent intimacy with his +family, led them to become conversant with what occurred there; and +Sarah Ingersoll was, in that way, likely to meet Churchill, and to +have the conversation with her to which she deposes.</p> + +<p>This brief deposition of Sarah Ingersoll is, in many particulars, an +important and instructive paper. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.172" id="Page_ii.172">[ii.172]</a></span> exhibits incidentally the means +employed to keep the accusing girls and confessing witnesses from +falling back, and, by overawing them, to prevent their acknowledging +the falseness of their testimony. It shows how difficult it was to +obtain a hearing, if they were disposed to recant. It presents Mr. +Noyes—as all along there is too much evidence compelling us to +admit—acting a part as bad as that of Parris; and it discloses the +fact, that Mr. Burroughs, although not yet brought to trial, was +immured in a dungeon.</p> + +<p>No papers are on file, or have been obtained, in reference to the +examination of Margaret Jacobs, which was at the same time and place +with that of her grandfather. We shall hear of her in subsequent +stages of the transaction.</p> + +<p>On the same day—May 10—that George and Margaret Jacobs were +apprehended and examined, a warrant was issued against John Willard, +"husbandman," to be brought to Thomas Beadle's house in Salem. On the +12th, John Putnam, Jr., constable, made return that he had been to +"the house of the usual abode of John Willard, and made search for +him, and in several other houses and places, but could not find him;" +and that "his relations and friends" said, "that, to their best +knowledge, he was fled." On the 15th, a warrant was issued to the +marshal of Essex, and the constables of Salem, "or any other marshal, +or marshal's constable or constables within this their majesty's +colony or territory of the Massachusetts, in New England," requiring +them to apprehend said Willard, "if he may be found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.173" id="Page_ii.173">[ii.173]</a></span> in your +precincts, who stands charged with sundry acts of witchcraft, by him +done or committed on the bodies of Bray Wilkins, and Samuel Wilkins, +the son of Henry Wilkins," and others, upon complaint made "by Thomas +Fuller, Jr., and Benjamin Wilkins, Sr., yeomen; who, being found, you +are to convey from town to town, from constable to constable, ... to +be prosecuted according to the direction of Constable John Putnam, of +Salem Village, who goes with the same." On the 18th of May, Constable +Putnam brought in Willard, and delivered him to the magistrates. He +was seized in Groton. There is no record of his examination; but we +gather, from the papers on file, the following facts relating to this +interesting case:—</p> + +<p>It is said that Willard had been called upon to aid in the arrest, +custody, and bringing-in of persons accused, acting as a +deputy-constable; and, from his observation of the deportment of the +prisoners, and from all he heard and saw, his sympathies became +excited in their behalf: and he expressed, in more or less unguarded +terms, his disapprobation of the proceedings. He seems to have +considered all hands concerned in the business—accusers, accused, +magistrates, and people—as alike bewitched. One of the witnesses +against him deposed, that he said, in a "discourse" at the house of a +relative, "Hang them: they are all witches." In consequence of this +kind of talk, in which he indulged as early as April, he incurred the +ill-will of the parties engaged in the prose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.174" id="Page_ii.174">[ii.174]</a></span>cutions; and it was +whispered about that he was himself in the diabolical confederacy. He +was a grandson of Bray Wilkins; and the mind of the old man became +prejudiced against him, and most of his family connections and +neighbors partook of the feeling. When Willard discovered that such +rumors were in circulation against him, he went to his grandfather for +counsel and the aid of his prayers. He met with a cold reception, as +appears by the deposition of the old man as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When John Willard was first complained of by the afflicted +persons for afflicting of them, he came to my house, greatly +troubled, desiring me, with some other neighbors, to pray +for him. I told him I was then going from home, and could +not stay; but, if I could come home before night, I should +not be unwilling. But it was near night before I came home, +and so I did not answer his desire; but I heard no more of +him upon that account. Whether my not answering his desire +did not offend him, I cannot tell; but I was jealous, +afterwards, that it did."</p></div> + +<p>Willard soon after made an engagement to go to Boston, on +election-week, with Henry Wilkins, Jr. A son of said Henry Wilkins, +named Daniel,—a youth of seventeen years of age, who had heard the +stories against Willard, and believed them all, remonstrated with his +father against going to Boston with Willard, and seemed much +distressed at the thought, saying, among other things, "It were well +if the said Willard were hanged."</p> + +<p>Old Bray Wilkins must go to election too; and so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.175" id="Page_ii.175">[ii.175]</a></span> started off on +horseback,—the only mode of travel then practicable from Will's Hill +to Winnesimit Ferry,—with his wife on a pillion behind him. He was +eighty-two years of age, and she probably not much less; for she had +been the wife of his youth. The old couple undoubtedly had an active +time that week in Boston. It was a great occasion, and the whole +country flocked in to partake in the ceremonies and services of the +anniversary. On Election-day, with his wife, he rode out to +Dorchester, to dine at the house of his "brother, Lieutenant Richard +Way." Deodat Lawson and his new wife, and several more, joined them at +table. Before sitting down, Henry Wilkins and John Willard also came +in. Willard, perhaps, did not feel very agreeably towards his +grandfather, at the time, for having shown an unwillingness to pray +with him. The old man either saw, or imagined he saw, a very +unpleasant expression in Willard's countenance. "To my apprehension, +he looked after such a sort upon me as I never before discerned in +any." The long and hard travel, the fatigues and excitements of +election-week, were too much for the old man, tough and rugged as he +was; and a severe attack of a complaint, to which persons of his age +are often subject, came on. He experienced great sufferings, and, as +he expressed it, "was like a man on a rack."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I told my wife immediately that I was afraid that Willard +had done me wrong; my pain continuing, and finding no +relief, my jealousy continued. Mr. Lawson and others there +were all amazed, and knew not what to do for me. There was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.176" id="Page_ii.176">[ii.176]</a></span> +a woman accounted skilful came hoping to help me, and after +she had used means, she asked me whether none of those evil +persons had done me damage. I said, I could not say they +had, but I was sore afraid they had. She answered, she did +fear so too.... As near as I remember. I lay in this case +three or four days at Boston, and afterward, with the +jeopardy of my life (as I thought), I came home."</p></div> + +<p>On his return, he found his grandson, the same Daniel who had warned +Henry Wilkins against going to Boston with John Willard, on his +death-bed, in great suffering. Another attack of his own malady came +on. There was great consternation in the neighborhood, and throughout +the village. The Devil and his confederates, it was thought, were +making an awful onslaught upon the people at Will's Hill. Parris and +others rushed to the scene. Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcot were carried +up to tell who it was that was bewitching old Bray, and young Daniel, +and others of the Wilkinses who had caught the contagion, and were +experiencing or imagining all sorts of bodily ails. They were taken to +the room where Daniel was approaching his death-agonies; and they both +affirmed, that they saw the spectres of old Mrs. Buckley and John +Willard "upon his throat and upon his breast, and pressed him and +choked him;" and the cruel operation, they insisted upon it, continued +until the boy died. The girls were carried to the bedroom of the old +man, who was in great suffering; and, when they entered, the question +was put by the anxious and excited friends in the chamber to Mercy +Lewis, whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.177" id="Page_ii.177">[ii.177]</a></span> she saw any thing. She said, "Yes: they are looking +for John Willard." Presently she pretended to have caught sight of his +apparition, and exclaimed, "There he is upon his grandfather's belly." +This was thought wonderful indeed; for, as the old man says in a +deposition he drew up afterwards, "At that time I was in grievous pain +in the small of my belly."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ann Putnam had her story to tell about John Willard. Its +substance is seen in a deposition drawn up about the time, and is in +the same vein as her testimony in other cases; presenting a problem to +be solved by those who can draw the line between semi-insane +hallucination and downright fabrication. Her deposition is as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That the shape of Samuel Fuller and Lydia Wilkins this day +told me at my own house by the bedside, who appeared in +winding-sheets, that, if I did not go and tell Mr. Hathorne +that John Willard had murdered them, they would tear me to +pieces. I knew them when they were living, and it was +exactly their resemblance and shape. And, at the same time, +the apparition of John Willard told me that he had killed +Samuel Fuller, Lydia Wilkins, Goody Shaw, and Fuller's +second wife, and Aaron Way's child, and Ben Fuller's child; +and this deponent's child Sarah, six weeks old; and Philip +Knight's child, with the help of William Hobbs; and Jonathan +Knight's child and two of Ezekiel Cheever's children with +the help of William Hobbs; Anne Eliot and Isaac Nichols with +the help of William Hobbs; and that if Mr. Hathorne would +not believe them,—that is, Samuel Fuller and Lydia +Wilkins,—perhaps they would appear to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.178" id="Page_ii.178">[ii.178]</a></span> the magistrates. +Joseph Fuller's apparition the same day also came to me, and +told me that Goody Corey had killed him. The spectre +aforesaid told me, that vengeance, vengeance, was cried by +said Fuller. This relation is true.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Ann Putnam.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>It appears by such papers as are to be found relating to Willard's +case, that a coroner's jury was held over the body of Daniel Wilkins, +of which Nathaniel Putnam was foreman. It is much to be regretted that +the finding of that jury is lost. It would be a real curiosity. That +it was very decisive to the point, affirmed by Mercy Lewis and Mary +Walcot, that Daniel was choked and strangled by the spectres of John +Willard and Goody Buckley, is apparent from the manner in which Bray +Wilkins speaks of it. In an argument between him and some persons who +were expressing their confidence that John Willard was an innocent +man, he sought to relieve himself from responsibility for Willard's +conviction by saying, "It was not I, nor my son Benjamin Wilkins, but +the testimony of the afflicted persons, and the jury concerning the +murder of my grandson, Daniel Wilkins, that would take away his life, +if any thing did." Mr. Parris, of course, was in the midst of these +proceedings at Will's Hill; attended the visits of the afflicted girls +when they went to ascertain who were the witches murdering young +Daniel and torturing the old man; was present, no doubt, at the solemn +examinations and investigations of the sages who sat as a jury of +inquest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.179" id="Page_ii.179">[ii.179]</a></span> over the former, and, in all likelihood, made, as usual, a +written report of the same. As soon as he got back to his house, he +discharged his mind, and indorsed the verdict of the coroner's jury by +this characteristic insertion in his church-records: "Dan: Wilkins. +Bewitched to death." The very next entry relates to a case of which +this obituary line, in Mr. Parris's church-book, is the only +intimation that has come down to us, "Daughter to Ann Douglas. By +witchcraft, I doubt not." Willard's examination was at Beadle's, on +the 18th. With this deluge of accusations and tempest of indignation +beating upon him, he had but little chance, and was committed.</p> + +<p>While the marshals and constables were in pursuit of Willard, the time +was well improved by the prosecutors. On the 12th of May, warrants +were issued to apprehend, and bring "forthwith" before the magistrates +sitting at Beadle's, "Alice Parker, the wife of John Parker of Salem; +and Ann Pudeator of Salem, widow." Alice, commonly called Elsie, +Parker was the wife of a mariner. We know but little of her. We have a +deposition of one woman, Martha Dutch, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This deponent testified and saith, that, about two years +last past, John Jarman, of Salem, coming in from sea, I +(this deponent and Alice Parker, of Salem, both of us +standing together) said unto her, 'What a great mercy it +was, for to see them come home well; and through mercy,' I +said, 'my husband had gone, and come home well, many times.' +And I, this deponent, did say unto the said Parker, that 'I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.180" id="Page_ii.180">[ii.180]</a></span> +did hope he would come home this voyage well also.' And the +said Parker made answer unto me, and said, 'No: never more +in this world.' The which came to pass as she then told me; +for he died abroad, as I certainly hear."</p></div> + +<p>Perhaps Parker had information which had not reached the ears of +Dutch, or she may have been prone to take melancholy views of the +dangers to which seafaring people are exposed. It was a strange kind +of evidence to be admitted against a person in a trial for witchcraft.</p> + +<p>Samuel Shattuck, who has been mentioned (<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_193">vol. i. p. 193</a>) in connection +with Bridget Bishop, had a long story to tell about Alice Parker. He +seems to have been very active in getting up charges of witchcraft +against persons in his neighborhood, and on the most absurd and +frivolous grounds. Parker had made a friendly call upon his wife; and, +not long after, one of his children fell sick, and he undertook to +suspect that it was "under an evil hand." In similar circumstances, he +took the same grudge against Bridget Bishop. Alice Parker, hearing +that he had been circulating suspicions to that effect against her, +went to his house to remonstrate; an angry altercation took place +between them; and he gave his version of the affair in evidence. There +was no one to present the other side. But the whole thing has, not +only a one-sided, but an irrelevant character, in no wise bearing upon +the point of witchcraft. All the gossip, scandal, and tittle-tattle of +the neighborhood for twenty years back, in this case as in others, +was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.181" id="Page_ii.181">[ii.181]</a></span> raked up, and allowed to be adduced, however utterly remote from +the questions belonging to the trial.</p> + +<p>The following singular piece of testimony against Alice Parker may be +mentioned. John Westgate was at Samuel Beadle's tavern one night with +boon companions; among them John Parker, the husband of Alice. She +disapproved of her husband's spending his evenings in such company, +and in a bar-room; and felt it necessary to put a stop to it, if she +could. Westgate says that she "came into the company, and scolded at +and called her husband all to nought; whereupon I, the said deponent, +took her husband's part, telling her it was an unbeseeming thing for +her to come after him to the tavern, and rail after that rate. With +that she came up to me, and called me rogue, and bid me mind my own +business, and told me I had better have said nothing." He goes on to +state, that, returning home one night some time afterwards, he +experienced an awful fright. "Going from the house of Mr. Daniel King, +when I came over against John Robinson's house, I heard a great noise; +... and there appeared a black hog running towards me with open mouth, +as though he would have devoured me at that instant time." In the +extremity of his terror, he tried to run away from the awful monster; +but, as might have been expected under the circumstances, he tumbled +to the ground. "I fell down upon my hip, and my knife run into my hip +up to the haft. When I came home, my knife was in my sheath. When I +drew it out of the sheath, then immediately the sheath fell all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.182" id="Page_ii.182">[ii.182]</a></span> to +pieces." And further this deponent testifieth, that, after he got up +from his fall, his stocking and shoe was full of blood, and that he +was forced to crawl along by the fence all the way home; and the hog +followed him, and never left him till he came home. He further stated +that he was accompanied all the way by his "stout dog," which +ordinarily was much inclined to attack and "worry hogs," but, on this +occasion, "ran away from him, leaping over the fence and crying much." +In view of all these things, Westgate concludes his testimony thus: +"Which hog I then apprehended was either the Devil or some evil thing, +not a real hog; and did then really judge, or determine in my mind, +that it was either Goody Parker or by her means and procuring, fearing +that she is a witch." The facts were probably these: The sheath was +broken by his fall, his skin bruised, and some blood got into his +stocking and shoe. The knife was never out of the sheath until he drew +it; there was no mystery or witchcraft in it. Nothing was ever more +natural than the conduct of the dog. When he saw Westgate frightened +out of his wits at nothing, trying to run as for dear life when there +was no pursuer, staggering and pitching along in a zigzag direction +with very eccentric motions, falling heels over head, and then +crawling along, holding himself up by the fence, and all the time +looking back with terror, and perhaps attempting to express his +consternation, the dog could not tell what to make of it; and ran off, +as a dog would be likely to have done, jumping over the fences, +barking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.183" id="Page_ii.183">[ii.183]</a></span> and uttering the usual canine ejaculations. Dogs sympathize +with their masters, and, if there is a frolic or other acting going +on, are fond of joining in it. The whole thing was in consequence of +Westgate's not having profited by Alice Parker's rebuke, and +discontinued his visits by night to Beadle's bar-room. The only reason +why he saw the "black hog with the open mouth," and the dog did not +see it, and therefore failed to come to his protection, was because he +had been drinking and the dog had not.</p> + +<p>We find among the papers relating to these transactions many other +instances of this kind of testimony; sounds heard and sights seen by +persons going home at night through woods, after having spent the +evening under the bewildering influences of talk about witches, Satan, +ghosts, and spectres; sometimes, as in this case, stimulated by other +causes of excitement.</p> + +<p>Perhaps some persons may be curious to know the route by which +Westgate made out to reach his home, while pursued by the horrors of +that midnight experience. He seems to have frequented Samuel Beadle's +bar-room. That old Narragansett soldier owned a lot on the west side +of St. Peter's Street, occupying the southern corner of what is now +Church Street, which was opened ten years afterwards, that is, in +1702, by the name of Epps's Lane. On that lot his tavern stood. He +also owned one-third of an acre at the present corner of Brown and St. +Peter's Streets, on which he had a stable and barn; so that his +grounds were on both sides of St. Peter's Street,—one parcel on the +west,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.184" id="Page_ii.184">[ii.184]</a></span> nearly opposite the present front of the church; the other on +the east side of St. Peter's Street, opposite the south side of the +church. From this locality Westgate started. He probably did not go +down Brown Street, for that was then a dark, unfrequented lane, but +thought it safest to get into Essex Street. He made his way along that +street, passing the Common, the southern side of which, at that time, +with the exception of some house-lots on and contiguous to the site of +the Franklin Building, bordered on Essex Street. The casualty of his +fall; the catastrophe to his hip, stocking, and shoe; and the witchery +practised upon his knife and its sheath,—occurred "over against John +Robinson's house," which was on the eastern corner of Pleasant and +Essex Streets. Christopher Babbage's house, from which he thought the +"great noise" came, was next beyond Robinson's. He crawled along the +fences and the sides of the houses until he reached the passage-way on +the western side of Thomas Beadle's house, and through that managed to +get to his own house, which was directly south of said Beadle's lot, +between it and the harbor.</p> + +<p>There is one item in reference to Alice Parker, which indicates that +the zeal of the prosecutors in her case, as in that of Mr. Burroughs, +and perhaps others, was aggravated by a suspicion that she was +heretical on some points of the prevalent creed of the day. Parris +says that "Mr. Noyes, at the time of her examination, affirmed to her +face, that, he being with her at a time of sickness, discoursing with +her about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.185" id="Page_ii.185">[ii.185]</a></span> witchcraft, whether she were not guilty, she answered, 'if +she was as free from other sins as from witchcraft, she would not ask +of the Lord mercy.'" The manner of expression in this passage shows +that it was thought that there was something very shocking in her +answer. Mr. Noyes "affirmed to her face." No doubt it was thought that +she denied the doctrine of original and transmitted, or imputed sin.</p> + +<p>Ann Pudeator (pronounced Pud-e-tor) was the widow of Jacob Pudeator, +and probably about seventy years of age. The name is spelt variously, +and was originally, as it is sometimes found, Poindexter. She was a +woman of property, owning two estates on the north line of the Common; +that on which she lived comprised what is between Oliver and Winter +Streets. She was arrested and brought to examination on the 12th of +May. There is ground to conclude, from the tenor of the documents, +that she was then discharged. Some people in the town were determined +to gratify their spleen against her, and procured her re-arrest. The +examination took place on the 2d of July, and she was then committed. +The evidence was, if possible, more frivolous and absurd than in other +cases. The girls acted their usual parts, giving, on this occasion, a +particularly striking exhibition of the transmission of the diabolical +virus out of themselves back into the witch by a touch of her body. +"Ann Putnam fell into a fit, and said Pudeator was commanded to take +her by the wrist, and did; and said Putnam was well presently. Mary +Warren fell into two fits quickly, after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.186" id="Page_ii.186">[ii.186]</a></span> one another; and both times +was helped by said Pudeator's taking her by the wrist."</p> + +<p>When well acted, this must have been one of the most impressive and +effective of all the methods employed in these performances. To see a +young woman or girl suddenly struck down, speechless, pallid as in +death; with muscles rigid, eyeballs fixed or rolled back in their +sockets; the stiffened frame either wholly prostrate or drawn up into +contorted attitudes and shapes, or vehemently convulsed with racking +pains, or dropping with relaxed muscles into a lifeless lump; and to +hear dread shrieks of delirious ravings,—must have produced a truly +frightful effect upon an excited and deluded assembly. The constables +and their assistants would go to the rescue, lift the body of the +sufferer, and bear it in their arms towards the prisoner. The +magistrates and the crowd, hushed in the deepest silence, would watch +with breathless awe the result of the experiment, while the officers +slowly approached the accused, who, when they came near, would, in +obedience to the order of the magistrates, hold out a hand, and touch +the flesh of the afflicted one. Instantly the spasms cease, the eyes +open, color returns to the countenance, the limbs resume their +position and functions, and life and intelligence are wholly restored. +The sufferer comes to herself, walks back, and takes her seat as well +as ever. The effect upon the accused person must have been +confounding. It is a wonder that it did not oftener break them down. +It sometimes did. Poor Deliverance Hobbs, when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.187" id="Page_ii.187">[ii.187]</a></span> process was tried +upon her, was wholly overcome, and passed from conscious and calmly +asserted innocence to a helpless abandonment of reason, conscience, +and herself, exclaiming, "I am amazed! I am amazed!" and assented +afterwards to every charge brought against her, and said whatever she +was told, or supposed they wished her to say.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of May, warrants were issued against Daniel Andrew; George +Jacobs, Jr.; his wife, Rebecca Jacobs; Sarah Buckley, wife of William +Buckley; and Mary Whittredge, daughter of said Buckley,—all of Salem +Village; Elizabeth Hart, wife of Isaac Hart, of Lynn; Thomas Farrar, +Sr., also of Lynn; Elizabeth Colson, of Reading; and Bethiah Carter, +of Woburn. There is nothing of special interest among the few papers +that are on file relating to Hart, Colson, or Carter. The constable +made return that he had searched the houses of Daniel Andrew and +George Jacobs, Jr., but could not find them. He brought in forthwith +the bodies of Sarah Buckley, Mary Whittredge, and Rebecca Jacobs. +Farrar and the rest were brought in shortly afterwards.</p> + +<p>Daniel Andrew was one of the leading men of the village, and the +warrant against him was proof that soon none would be too high to be +reached by the prosecutors. He felt that it was in vain to attempt to +resist their destructive power; and, getting notice in some way of the +approach of the constable, with his near neighbor, friend, and +connection, George Jacobs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.188" id="Page_ii.188">[ii.188]</a></span> Jr., effected his escape, and found refuge +in a foreign country.</p> + +<p>Rebecca, the wife of George Jacobs, Jr., was the victim of a partial +derangement. Her daughter Margaret was already in jail. Her husband +had escaped by a hurried flight, and his father was in prison awaiting +his trial. She was left in a lonely and unprotected condition, in a +country but thinly settled, in the midst of woods. The constable came +with his warrant for her. She was driven to desperation, and was +inclined to resist; but he persuaded her to go with him by holding out +the inducement that she would soon be permitted to return. Four young +children, one of them an infant, were left in the house; but those who +were old enough to walk followed after, crying, endeavoring to +overtake her. Some of the neighbors took them into their houses. The +imprisonment of a woman in her situation and mental condition was an +outrage; but she was kept in irons, as they all were, for eight +months. Her mother addressed an humble but earnest and touching +petition to the chief-justice of the court at Salem, setting forth her +daughter's condition; but it was of no avail. Afterwards, she +addressed a similar memorial to "His Excellency Sir William Phips, +Knight, Governor, and the Honorable Council sitting at Boston," in the +following terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Humble Petition of Rebecca Fox, of Cambridge, +showeth</i>, that, whereas Rebecca Jacobs (daughter of your +humble petitioner) has, a long time,—even many months,—now +lain in prison for witchcraft, and is well known to be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.189" id="Page_ii.189">[ii.189]</a></span> +person crazed, distracted, and broken in mind, your humble +petitioner does most humbly and earnestly seek unto Your +Excellency and to Your Honors for relief in this case.</p> + +<p>"Your petitioner,—who knows well the condition of her poor +daughter,—together with several others of good repute and +credit, are ready to offer their oaths, that the said Jacobs +is a woman crazed, distracted, and broken in her mind; and +that she has been so these twelve years and upwards.</p> + +<p>"However, for (I think) above this half-year, the said +Jacobs has lain in prison, and yet remains there, attended +with many sore difficulties.</p> + +<p>"Christianity and nature do each of them oblige your +petitioner to be very solicitous in this matter; and, +although many weighty cases do exercise your thoughts, yet +your petitioner can have no rest in her mind till such time +as she has offered this her address on behalf of her +daughter.</p> + +<p>"Some have died already in prison, and others have been +dangerously sick; and how soon others, and, among them, my +poor child, by the difficulties of this confinement may be +sick and die, God only knows.</p> + +<p>"She is uncapable of making that shift for herself that +others can do; and such are her circumstances, on other +accounts, that your petitioner, who is her tender mother, +has many great sorrows, and almost overcoming burdens, on +her mind upon her account; but, in the midst of all her +perplexities and troubles (next to supplicating to a good +and merciful God), your petitioner has no way for help but +to make this her afflicted condition known unto you. So, not +doubting but Your Excellency and Your Honors will readily +hear the cries and groans of a poor distressed woman, and +grant what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.190" id="Page_ii.190">[ii.190]</a></span> help and enlargement you may, your petitioner +heartily begs God's gracious presence with you; and +subscribes herself, in all humble manner, your sorrowful and +distressed petitioner,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Rebecca Fox.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>No heed was paid to this petition; and the unfortunate woman remained +in jail until—after the delusion had passed from the minds of the +people—a grand jury found a bill against her, on which she was +brought to trial, Jan. 3, 1693, and acquitted. There is no more +disgraceful feature in all the proceedings than the long imprisonment +of this woman, her being brought to trial, and the obdurate deafness +to humanity and reason of the chief-justice, the governor, and the +council.</p> + +<p>No papers are found relating to the examination of Thomas Farrar; but +the following deposition shows the manner in which prosecutions were +got up:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Ann Putnam</span>, who testifieth and +saith, that, on the 8th of May, 1692, there appeared to me +the apparition of an old, gray-headed man, with a great +nose, which tortured me, and almost choked me, and urged me +to write in his book; and I asked him what was his name, and +from whence he came, for I would complain of him; and he +told me he came from Lynn, and people do call him 'old +Father Pharaoh;' and he said he was my grandfather, for my +father used to call him father: but I told him I would not +call him grandfather; for he was a wizard, and I would +complain of him. And, ever since, he hath afflicted me by +times, beating me and pinching me and almost choking me, and +urging me continually to write in his book."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.191" id="Page_ii.191">[ii.191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We, whose names are underwritten, having been conversant +with Ann Putnam, have heard her declare what is above +written,—what she said she saw and heard from the +apparition of old Pharaoh,—and also have seen her tortures, +and perceived her hellish temptations, by her loud outcries, +'I will not write, old Pharaoh,—I will not write in your +book.'</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Thomas Putnam</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Morrell</span>."</p></div> + +<p>She had heard this person spoken of as "old Father Pharaoh," with his +"great nose;" and, from a mere spirit of mischief,—for the fun of the +thing,—cried out upon him. Many of the documents exhibit a levity of +spirit among these girls, which show how hardened and reckless they +had become. The following depositions are illustrative of this state +of mind among them:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Clement Coldum</span>, aged sixty +years, or thereabout.—Saith that, on the 29th of May, 1692, +being at Salem Village, carrying home Elizabeth Hubbard from +the meeting behind me, she desired me to ride faster. I +asked her why. She said the woods were full of devils, and +said, 'There!' and 'There they be!' but I could see none. +Then I put on my horse; and, after I had ridden a while, she +told me I might ride softer, for we had outridden them. I +asked her if she was not afraid of the Devil. She answered +me, 'No: she could discourse with the Devil as well as with +me,' and further saith not. This I am ready to testify on +oath, if called thereto, as witness my hand.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Clement Coldum</span>."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Daniel Elliot</span>, aged twenty-seven +years or thereabouts, who testifieth and saith, that I, +being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.192" id="Page_ii.192">[ii.192]</a></span> at the house of Lieutenant Ingersoll, on the 28th of +March, in the year 1692, there being present one of the +afflicted persons, who cried out and said, 'There's Goody +Procter.' William Raymond, Jr., being there present, told +the girl he believed she lied, for he saw nothing. Then +Goody Ingersoll told the girl she told a lie, for there was +nothing. Then the girl said she did it for sport,—they must +have some sport."</p></div> + +<p>Sarah Buckley was examined May 18, and her daughter Mary Whittredge +probably on the same day. We have Parris's report of the proceedings +in reference to the former. The only witnesses against her were the +afflicted children. They performed their grand operation of going into +fits, and being carried to the accused and subjected to her touch; Ann +Putnam, Susanna Sheldon, and Mary Warren enacting the part in +succession. Sheldon cried out, "There is the black man whispering in +her ear!" The magistrates and all beholders were convinced. She was +committed to prison, and remained in irons for eight months before a +trial, which resulted in her acquittal. So eminently excellent was the +character of Goodwife Buckley, that her arrest and imprisonment led to +expressions in her favor as honorable to those who had the courage to +utter them as to her. The following certificates were given, previous +to her trial, by ministers in the neighborhood:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"These are to certify whom it may or shall concern, that I +have known Sarah, the wife of William Buckley, of Salem +Village, more or less, ever since she was brought out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.193" id="Page_ii.193">[ii.193]</a></span> +England, which is above fifty years ago; and, during all +that time, I never knew nor heard of any evil in her +carriage, or conversation unbecoming a Christian: likewise, +she was bred up by Christian parents all the time she lived +here at Ipswich. I further testify, that the said Sarah was +admitted as a member into the church of Ipswich above forty +years since; and that I never heard from others, or observed +by myself, any thing of her that was inconsistent with her +profession or unsuitable to Christianity, either in word, +deed, or conversation, and am strangely surprised that any +person should speak or think of her as one worthy to be +suspected of any such crime that she is now charged with. In +testimony hereof I have here set my hand this 20th of June, +1692.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">William Hubbard</span>."</p> + +<p>"Being desired by Goodman Buckley to give my testimony to +his wife's conversation before this great calamity befell +her, I cannot refuse to bear witness to the truth; viz., +that, during the time of her living in Salem for many years +in communion with this church, having occasionally frequent +converse and discourse with her, I have never observed +myself, nor heard from any other, any thing that was +unsuitable to a conversation becoming the gospel, and have +always looked upon her as a serious, Godly woman.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">John Higginson</span>."</p> + +<p>"Marblehead, Jan. 2, 1692/3.—Upon the same request, having +had the like opportunity by her residence many years at +Marblehead, I can do no less than give the alike testimony +for her pious conversation during her abode in this place +and communion with us.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Samuel Cheever</span>."</p></div> + +<p>William Hubbard was the venerable minister of Ipswich, described by +Hutchinson as "a man of learning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.194" id="Page_ii.194">[ii.194]</a></span> and of a candid and benevolent +mind, accompanied with a good degree of catholicism." He is described +by another writer as "a man of singular modesty, learned without +ostentation." He will be remembered with honor for his long and +devoted service in the Christian ministry, and as the historian of New +England and of the Indian wars.</p> + +<p>John Higginson was worthy of the title of the "Nestor of the +New-England clergy." He was at this time seventy-six years old, and +had been a preacher of the gospel fifty-five years. For thirty-three +years he had been pastor of the First Church in Salem, of which his +father was the first preacher. No character, in all our annals, shines +with a purer lustre. John Dunton visited him in 1686, and thus speaks +of him: "All men look to him as a common father; and old age, for his +sake, is a reverend thing. He is eminent for all the graces that adorn +a minister. His very presence puts vice out of countenance; his +conversation is a glimpse of heaven." The fact, that, while his +colleague, Nicholas Noyes, took so active and disastrous a part in the +prosecutions, he, at an early stage, discountenanced them, shows that +he was a person of discrimination and integrity. That he did not +conceal his disapprobation of the proceedings is demonstrated, not +only by the tenor of his attestation in behalf of Goodwife Buckley, +but by the decisive circumstance that the "afflicted children" cried +out against his daughter Anna, the wife of Captain William Dolliver, +of Gloucester; got a warrant to apprehend her; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.195" id="Page_ii.195">[ii.195]</a></span> had her brought to +the Salem jail, and committed as a witch. They never struck at +friends, but were sure to punish all who were suspected to disapprove +of the proceedings. How long Mrs. Dolliver remained in prison we are +not informed. But it was impossible to break down the influence or +independence of Mr. Higginson. It is not improbable that he believed +in witchcraft, with all the other divines of his day; but he feared +not to bear testimony to personal worth, and could not be brought to +co-operate in violence, or fall in with the spirit of persecution. The +weight of his character compelled the deference of the most heated +zealots, and even Cotton Mather himself was eager to pay him homage. +Four years afterwards, he thus writes of him: "This good old man is +yet alive; and he that, from a child, knew the Holy Scriptures, does, +at those years wherein men use to be twice children, continue +preaching them with such a manly, pertinent, and judicious vigor, and +with so little decay of his intellectual abilities, as is indeed a +matter of just admiration."</p> + +<p>Samuel Cheever was a clergyman of the highest standing, and held in +universal esteem through a long life.</p> + +<p>From passages incidentally given, it has appeared that it was quite +common, in those times, to attribute accidents, injuries, pains, and +diseases of all kinds, to an "evil hand." It was not confined to this +locality. When, however, the public mind had become excited to so +extraordinary a degree by circumstances con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.196" id="Page_ii.196">[ii.196]</a></span>nected with the +prosecutions in 1692, this tendency of the popular credulity was very +much strengthened. Believing that the sufferer or patient was the +victim of the malignity of Satan, and it also being a doctrine of the +established belief that he could not act upon human beings or affairs +except through the instrumental agency of some other human beings in +confederacy with him, the question naturally arose, in every specific +instance, Who is the person in this diabolical league, and doing the +will of the Devil in this case? Who is the witch? It may well be +supposed, that the suffering person, and all surrounding friends, +would be most earnest and anxious in pressing this question and +seeking its solution. The accusing girls at the village were thought +to possess the power to answer it. This gave them great importance, +gratified their vanity and pride, and exalted them to the character of +prophetesses. They were ready to meet the calls made upon them in this +capacity; would be carried to the room of a sick person; and, on +entering it, would exclaim, on the first return of pain, or difficulty +of respiration, or restless motion of the patient, "There she is!" +There is such a one's appearance, choking or otherwise tormenting him +or her. If the minds of the accusing girls had been led towards a new +victim, his or her name would be used, and a warrant issued for his +apprehension. If not, then the name of some one already in confinement +would be used on the occasion. It was also a received opinion, that, +while ordinary fastenings would not prevent a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.197" id="Page_ii.197">[ii.197]</a></span> witch from going +abroad, "in her apparition," to any distance to afflict persons, a +redoubling of them might. Whenever one of the accusing girls pretended +to see the spectres of persons already in jail afflicting any one, +orders would forthwith be given to have them more heavily chained. +Every once in a while, a wretched prisoner, already suffering from +bonds and handcuffs, would be subjected to additional manacles and +chains. This was one of the most cruel features in these proceedings. +It is illustrated by the following document:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Benjamin Hutchinson</span>, who +testifieth and saith, that my wife was much afflicted, +presently after the last execution, with violent pains in +her head and teeth, and all parts of her body; but, on +sabbath day was fortnight in the morning, she being in such +excessive misery that she said she believed that she had an +evil hand upon her: whereupon I went to Mary Walcot, one of +our next neighbors, to come and look to see if she could see +anybody upon her; and, as soon as she came into the house, +she said that our two next neighbors, Sarah Buckley and Mary +Whittredge, were upon my wife. And immediately my wife had +ease, and Mary Walcot was tormented. Whereupon I went down +to the sheriff, and desired him to take some course with +those women, that they might not have such power to torment: +and presently he ordered them to be fettered, and, ever +since that, my wife has been tolerable well; and I believe, +in my heart, that Sarah Buckley and Mary Whittredge have +hurt my wife and several others by acts of witchcraft.</p> + +<p>"Benjamin Hutchinson owned the above-written evi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.198" id="Page_ii.198">[ii.198]</a></span>dence to be +the truth, upon oath, before the grand inquest, 15-7, 1692."</p></div> + +<p>The evidence is quite conclusive, from considerations suggested by the +foregoing document, and indications scattered through the papers +generally, that all persons committed on the charge of witchcraft were +kept heavily ironed, and otherwise strongly fastened. Only a few of +the bills of expenses incurred are preserved. Among them we find the +following: For mending and putting on Rachel Clenton's fetters; one +pair of fetters for John Howard; a pair of fetters each for John +Jackson, Sr., and John Jackson, Jr.; eighteen pounds of iron for +fetters; for making four pair of iron fetters and two pair of +handcuffs, and putting them on the legs and hands of Goodwife Cloyse, +Easty, Bromidg, and Green; chains for Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn; +shackles for ten prisoners; and one pair of irons for Mary Cox. When +we reflect upon the character of the prisoners generally,—many of +them delicate and infirm, several venerable for their virtues as well +as years,—and that they were kept in this cruelly painful condition +from early spring to the middle of the next January, and the larger +part to the May of 1693, in the extremes of heat and cold, exposed to +the most distressing severities of both, crowded in narrow, dark, and +noisome jails under an accumulation of all their discomforts, +restraints, privations, exposures, and abominations, our wonder is, +not that many of them died, but that all did not break down in body +and mind.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.199" id="Page_ii.199">[ii.199]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sarah Buckley and her daughter were not brought to trial until after +the power of the prosecution to pursue to the death had ceased. They +were acquitted in January, 1692. Their goods and chattels had all been +seized by the officers, as was the usual practice, at the time of +their arrest. In humble circumstances before, it took their last +shilling to meet the charges of their imprisonment. They, as all +others, were required to provide their own maintenance while in +prison; and, after trial and acquittal, were not discharged until all +costs were paid. Five pounds had to be raised, to satisfy the claims +of the officers of the court and of the jails, for each of them. The +result was, the family was utterly impoverished. The poor old woman, +with her aged husband, suffered much, there is reason to fear, from +absolute want during all the rest of their days. Their truly Christian +virtues dignified their poverty, and secured the respect and esteem of +all good men. The Rev. Joseph Green has this entry in his diary: "Jan. +2, 1702.—Old William Buckley died this evening. He was at meeting the +last sabbath, and died with the cold, I fear, for want of comforts and +good tending. Lord forgive! He was about eighty years old. I visited +him and prayed with him on Monday, and also the evening before he +died. He was very poor; but, I hope, had not his portion in this +life." The ejaculation, "Lord forgive!" expresses the deep sense Mr. +Green had, of which his whole ministry gave evidence, of the +inexpressible sufferings and wrongs brought upon families<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.200" id="Page_ii.200">[ii.200]</a></span> by the +witchcraft prosecutions. The case of Sarah Buckley, her husband and +family, was but one of many. The humble, harmless, innocent people who +experienced that fearful and pitiless persecution had to drink of as +bitter a cup as ever was permitted by an inscrutable Providence to be +presented to human lips. In reference to them, we feel as an +assurance, what good Mr. Green humbly hoped, that "they had not their +portion in this life." Those who went firmly, patiently, and calmly +through that great trial without losing love or faith, are crowned +with glory and honor.</p> + +<p>The examination and commitment of Mary Easty, on the 21st of April, +have already been described. For some reason, and in a way of which we +have no information, she was discharged from prison on the 18th of +May, and wholly released. This seems to have been very distasteful to +the accusing girls. They were determined not to let it rest so; and +put into operation their utmost energies to get her back to +imprisonment. On the 20th of May, Mercy Lewis, being then at the house +of John Putnam, Jr., was taken with fits, and experienced tortures of +unprecedented severity. The particular circumstances on this occasion, +as gathered from various depositions, illustrate very strikingly the +skilful manner in which the girls managed to produce the desired +effect upon the public mind.</p> + +<p>Samuel Abbey, a neighbor, whether sent for or not we are not informed, +went to John Putnam's house that morning, about nine o'clock. He found +Mercy in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.201" id="Page_ii.201">[ii.201]</a></span> a terrible condition, crying out with piteous tones of +anguish, "Dear Lord, receive my soul."—"Lord, let them not kill me +quite."—"Pray for the salvation of my soul, for they will kill me +outright." He was desired to go to Thomas Putnam's house to bring his +daughter Ann, "to see if she could see who it was that hurt Mercy +Lewis." He found Abigail Williams with Ann, and they accompanied him +back to John Putnam's. On the way, they both cried out that they saw +the apparition of Goody Easty afflicting Mercy Lewis. When they +reached the scene, they exclaimed, "There is Goody Easty and John +Willard and Mary Whittredge afflicting the body of Mercy Lewis;" Mercy +at the time laboring for breath, and appearing as choked and +strangled, convulsed, and apparently at the last gasp. "Thus," says +Abbey, "she continued the greatest part of the day, in such tortures +as no tongue can express." Mary Walcot was sent for. Upon coming in, +she cried out, "There is the apparition of Goody Easty choking Mercy +Lewis, pressing upon her breasts with both her hands, and putting a +chain about her neck." A message was then despatched for Elizabeth +Hubbard. She, too, saw the shape of Goody Easty, "the very same woman +that was sent home the other day," aided in her diabolical operations +by Willard and Whittredge, "torturing Mercy in a most dreadful +manner." Intelligence of the shocking sufferings of Mercy was +circulated far and wide, and people hurried to the spot from all +directions. Jonathan Putnam, James Darling, Benja<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.202" id="Page_ii.202">[ii.202]</a></span>min Hutchinson, and +Samuel Braybrook reached the house during the evening, and found Mercy +"in a case as if death would have quickly followed." Occasionally, +Mercy would have a respite; and, at such intervals, Elizabeth Hubbard +would fill the gap. "These two fell into fits by turns; the one being +well while the other was ill." Each of them continued, all the while, +crying out against Goody Easty, uttering in their trances vehement +remonstrances against her cruel operations, representing her as +bringing their winding-sheets and coffins, and threatening to kill +them "if they would not sign to her book." Their acting was so +complete that the bystanders seem to have thought that they heard the +words of Easty, as well as the responses of the girls; and that they +saw the "winding-sheet, coffin," and "the book." In the general +consternation, Marshal Herrick was sent for. What he saw, heard, +thought, and did, appears from the following:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"May 20, 1692.—<span class="smcap">The Testimony of George Herrick</span>, +aged thirty-four or thereabouts, and <span class="smcap">John Putnam, +Jr.</span>, of Salem Village, aged thirty-five years or +thereabouts.—Testifieth and saith, that, being at the house +of the above-said John Putnam, both saw Mercy Lewis in a +very dreadful and solemn condition, so that to our +apprehension she could not continue long in this world +without a mitigation of those torments we saw her in, which +caused us to expedite a hasty despatch to apprehend Mary +Easty, in hopes, if possible, it might save her life; and, +returning the same night to said John Putnam's house about +midnight,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.203" id="Page_ii.203">[ii.203]</a></span> we found the said Mercy Lewis in a dreadful fit, +but her reason was then returned. Again she said, 'What! +have you brought me the winding-sheet, Goodwife Easty? Well, +I had rather go into the winding-sheet than set my hand to +the book;' but, after that, her fits were weaker and weaker, +but still complaining that she was very sick of her stomach. +About break of day, she fell asleep, but still continues +extremely sick, and was taken with a dreadful fit just as we +left her; so that we perceived life in her, and that was +all."</p></div> + +<p>Edward Putnam, after stating that the grievous afflictions and +tortures of Mercy Lewis were charged, by her and the other four girls, +upon Mary Easty, deposes as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I myself, being there present with several others, looked +for nothing else but present death for almost the space of +two days and a night. She was choked almost to death, +insomuch we thought sometimes she had been dead; her mouth +and teeth shut; and all this very often until such time as +we understood Mary Easty was laid in irons."</p></div> + +<p>Mercy's fits did not cease immediately upon Easty's being apprehended, +but on her being committed to prison and chains by the magistrate in +Salem.</p> + +<p>An examination of distances, with the <a href="salem1-htm.html#map">map</a> before us, will show the +rapidity with which business was despatched on this occasion. Abbey +went to John Putnam, Jr.'s house at nine o'clock in the morning of May +20. He was sent to Thomas Putnam's house for Ann, and brought her and +Abigail Williams back with him. Mary Walcot was sent for to the house +of her father, Captain Jonathan Walcot, and went up at one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.204" id="Page_ii.204">[ii.204]</a></span> o'clock, +"about an hour by sun." Then Elizabeth Hubbard, who lived at the house +of Dr. Griggs, "was carried up to Constable John Putnam's house:" +Jonathan Putnam, James Darling, Benjamin Hutchinson, and Samuel +Braybrook got there in the evening, as they say, "between eight and +eleven o'clock." In the mean time, Marshal Herrick had arrived. Steps +were taken to get out a warrant. John Putnam and Benjamin Hutchinson +went to Salem to Hathorne for the purpose. They must have started soon +after eight. Hathorne issued the warrant forthwith. It is dated May +20. Herrick went with it to the house of Isaac Easty, made the arrest, +sent his prisoner to the jail in Salem, and returned himself to John +Putnam's house "about midnight;" staid to witness the apparently +mortal sufferings of Mercy until "about break of day;" returned to +Salem; had the examination before Hathorne, at Thomas Beadle's: the +whole thing was finished, Mary Easty in irons, information of the +result carried to John Putnam's, and Mercy's agonies ceased that +afternoon, as Edward Putnam testifies.</p> + +<p>I have given this particular account of the circumstances that led to +and attended Mary Easty's second arrest, because the papers belonging +to the case afford, in some respects, a better insight of the state of +things than others, and because they enable us to realize the power +which the accusing girls exercised. The continuance of their +convulsions and spasms for such a length of time, the large number of +persons who witnessed and watched them in the broad daylight, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.205" id="Page_ii.205">[ii.205]</a></span> the +perfect success of their operations, show how thoroughly they had +become trained in their arts. I have presented the occurrences in the +order of time, so that, by estimating the distances traversed and the +period within which they took place, an idea can be formed of the +vehement earnestness with which men acted in the "hurrying +distractions of amazing afflictions" and overwhelming terrors. This +instance also gives us a view of the horrible state of things, when +any one, however respectable and worthy, was liable, at any moment, to +be seized, maligned, and destroyed.</p> + +<p>Mary Easty had previously experienced the malice of the persecutors. +For two months she had suffered the miseries of imprisonment, had just +been released, and for two days enjoyed the restoration of liberty, +the comforts of her home, and a re-union with her family. She and +they, no doubt, considered themselves safe from any further outrage. +After midnight, she was roused from sleep by the unfeeling marshal, +torn from her husband and children, carried back to prison, loaded +with chains, and finally consigned to a dreadful and most cruel death. +She was an excellent and pious matron. Her husband, referring to the +transaction nearly twenty years afterwards, justly expressed what all +must feel, that it was "a hellish molestation."</p> + +<p>One of the most malignant witnesses against Mary Easty was "Goodwife +Bibber." She obtruded herself in many of the cases, acting as a sort +of outside member of the "accusing circle," volunteering her aid in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.206" id="Page_ii.206">[ii.206]</a></span> +carrying on the persecutions. It was an outrage for the magistrates or +judges to have countenanced such a false defamer. There are, among the +papers, documents which show that she ought to have been punished as a +calumniator, rather than be called to utter, under oath, lies against +respectable people. The following deposition was sworn to in Court:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Joseph Fowler</span>, who testifieth +that Goodman Bibber and his wife lived at my house; and I +did observe and take notice that Goodwife Bibber was a woman +who was very idle in her calling, and very much given to +tattling and tale-bearing, making mischief amongst her +neighbors, and very much given to speak bad words, and would +call her husband bad names, and was a woman of a very +turbulent, unruly spirit."</p></div> + +<p>Joseph Fowler lived in Wenham, and was a person of respectability and +influence. His brother Philip was also a leading man; was employed as +attorney by the Village Parish in its lawsuit with Mr. Parris; and +married a sister of Joseph Herrick. They were the grandsons of the +first Philip, who was an early emigrant from Wales, settling in +Ipswich, where he had large landed estates. Henry Fowler and his two +brothers, now of Danvers, are the descendants of this family: one of +them, Augustus, distinguished as a naturalist, especially in the +department of ornithology; the other, Samuel Page Fowler, as an +explorer of our early annals and local antiquities. In 1692, one of +the Fowlers conducted the proceedings in Court<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.207" id="Page_ii.207">[ii.207]</a></span> against the head and +front of the witchcraft prosecution; and the other had the courage, in +the most fearful hour of the delusion, to give open testimony in the +defence of its victims. It is an interesting circumstance, that one of +the same name and descent, in his reprint of the papers of Calef and +in other publications, has done as much as any other person of our day +to bring that whole transaction under the light of truth and justice.</p> + +<p>John Porter, who was a grandson of the original John Porter and the +original William Dodge and a man of property and family, with his wife +Lydia; Thomas Jacobs and Mary his wife; and Richard Walker,—all of +Wenham, and for a long time neighbors of this Bibber,—testify, in +corroboration of the statement of Fowler, that she was a woman of an +unruly, turbulent spirit, double-tongued, much given to tattling and +tale-bearing, making mischief amongst her neighbors, very much given +to speak bad words, often speaking against one and another, telling +lies and uttering malicious wishes against people. It was abundantly +proved that she had long been known to be able to fall into fits at +any time. One witness said "she would often fall into strange fits +when she was crossed of her humor;" and another, "that she could fall +into fits as often as she pleased."</p> + +<p>On the 21st of May, warrants were issued against the wife of William +Basset, of Lynn; Susanna Roots, of Beverly; and Sarah, daughter of +John Procter of Salem Farms; a few days after, against Benjamin, a son +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.208" id="Page_ii.208">[ii.208]</a></span> said John Procter; Mary Derich, wife of Michael Derich, and +daughter of William Basset of Lynn; and the wife of Robert Pease of +Salem. Such papers as relate to these persons vary in no particular +worthy of notice from those already presented.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of May, warrants were issued against Martha Carrier, of +Andover; Elizabeth Fosdick, of Malden; Wilmot Read, of Marblehead; +Sarah Rice, of Reading; Elizabeth How, of Topsfield; Captain John +Alden, of Boston; William Procter, of Salem Farms; Captain John Flood, +of Rumney Marsh; —— Toothaker and her daughter, of Billerica; and +---- Abbot, between Topsfield and Wenham line. On the 30th, a warrant +was issued against Elizabeth, wife of Stephen Paine, of Charlestown; +on the 4th of June, against Mary, wife of Benjamin Ireson, of Lynn. +Besides these, there are notices of complaints made and warrants +issued against a great number of people in all parts of the country: +Mary Bradbury, of Salisbury; Lydia and Sarah Dustin, of Reading; Ann +Sears, of Woburn; Job Tookey, of Beverly; Abigail Somes, of +Gloucester; Elizabeth Carey, of Charlestown; Candy, a negro woman; and +many others. Some of them have points of interest, demanding +particular notice.</p> + +<p>The case of Martha Carrier has some remarkable features. It has been +shown, by passages already adduced, that every idle rumor; every thing +that the gossip of the credulous or the fertile imaginations of the +malignant could produce; every thing, gleaned from the memory or the +fancy, that could have an unfavora<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.209" id="Page_ii.209">[ii.209]</a></span>ble bearing upon an accused person, +however foreign or irrelevant it might be to the charge, was allowed +to be brought in evidence before the magistrates, and received at the +trials. We have seen that a child under five years of age was +arrested, and put into prison. Children were not only permitted, but +induced, to become witnesses against their parents, and parents +against their children. Husbands and wives were made to criminate each +other as witnesses in court. When Martha Carrier was arrested, four of +her children were also taken into custody. An indictment against one +of them is among the papers. Under the terrors brought to bear upon +them, they were prevailed on to be confessors. The following shows how +these children were trained to tell their story:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It was asked Sarah Carrier by the magistrates,—</p> + +<p>"How long hast thou been a witch?—Ever since I was six +years old.</p> + +<p>"How old are you now?—Near eight years old: brother Richard +says I shall be eight years old in November next.</p> + +<p>"Who made you a witch?—My mother: she made me set my hand +to a book.</p> + +<p>"How did you set your hand to it?—I touched it with my +fingers, and the book was red: the paper of it was white.</p> + +<p>"She said she never had seen the black man: the place where +she did it was in Andrew Foster's pasture, and Elizabeth +Johnson, Jr., was there. Being asked who was there besides, +she answered, her aunt Toothaker and her cousin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.210" id="Page_ii.210">[ii.210]</a></span> Being +asked when it was, she said, when she was baptized.</p> + +<p>"What did they promise to give you?—A black dog.</p> + +<p>"Did the dog ever come to you?—No.</p> + +<p>"But you said you saw a cat once: what did that say to +you?—It said it would tear me in pieces, if I would not set +my hand to the book.</p> + +<p>"She said her mother baptized her, and the Devil, or black +man, was not there, as she saw; and her mother said, when +she baptized her, 'Thou art mine for ever and ever. Amen.'</p> + +<p>"How did you afflict folks?—I pinched them.</p> + +<p>"And she said she had no puppets, but she went to them that +she afflicted. Being asked whether she went in her body or +her spirit, she said in her spirit. She said her mother +carried her thither to afflict.</p> + +<p>"How did your mother carry you when she was in prison?—She +came like a black cat.</p> + +<p>"How did you know it was your mother?—The cat told me so, +that she was my mother. She said she afflicted Phelps's +child last Saturday, and Elizabeth Johnson joined with her +to do it. She had a wooden spear, about as long as her +finger, of Elizabeth Johnson; and she had it of the Devil. +She would not own that she had ever been at the +witch-meeting at the village. This is the substance.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Simon Willard</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The confession of another of her children is among the papers. It runs +thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Have you been in the Devil's snare?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"Is your brother Andrew ensnared by the Devil's +snare?—Yes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.211" id="Page_ii.211">[ii.211]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How long has your brother been a witch?—Near a month.</p> + +<p>"How long have you been a witch?—Not long.</p> + +<p>"Have you joined in afflicting the afflicted persons?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"You helped to hurt Timothy Swan, did you?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"How long have you been a witch?—About five weeks.</p> + +<p>"Who was in company when you covenanted with the +Devil?—Mrs. Bradbury.</p> + +<p>"Did she help you afflict?—Yes.</p> + +<p>"Who was at the village meeting when you were +there?—Goodwife How, Goodwife Nurse, Goodwife Wildes, +Procter and his wife, Mrs. Bradbury, and Corey's wife.</p> + +<p>"What did they do there?—Eat, and drank wine.</p> + +<p>"Was there a minister there?—No, not as I know of.</p> + +<p>"From whence had you your wine?—From Salem, I think, it +was.</p> + +<p>"Goodwife Oliver there?—Yes: I knew her."</p></div> + +<p>In concluding his report of the trial of this wretched woman, whose +children were thus made to become the instruments for procuring her +death, Dr. Cotton Mather expresses himself in the following +language:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This rampant hag (Martha Carrier) was the person of whom +the confessions of the witches, and of her own children +among the rest, agreed that the Devil had promised her that +she should be queen of Hell."</p></div> + +<p>It is quite evident that this "rampant hag" had no better opinion of +the dignitaries and divines who managed matters at the time than they +had of her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.212" id="Page_ii.212">[ii.212]</a></span> The record of her examination shows that she was not +afraid to speak her mind, and in plain terms too. When brought before +the magistrates, the following were their questions and her answers. +The accusing witnesses having severally made their charges against +her, declaring that she had tormented them in various ways, and +threatened to cut their throats if they would not sign the Devil's +book, which, they said, she had presented to them, the magistrates +addressed her in these words: "What do you say to this you are charged +with?" She answered, "I have not done it." One of the accusers cried +out that she was, at that moment, sticking pins into her. Another +declared that she was then looking upon "the black man,"—the shape in +which they pretended the Devil appeared. The magistrate asked the +accused, "What black man is that?" Her answer was, "I know none." The +accusers cried out that the black man was present, and visible to +them. The magistrate asked her, "What black man did you see?" Her +answer was, "I saw no black man but your own presence." Whenever she +looked upon the accusers, they were knocked down. The magistrate, +entirely deluded by their practised acting, said to her, "Can you look +upon these, and not knock them down?" Her answer was, "They will +dissemble, if I look upon them." He continued: "You see, you look upon +them, and they fall down." She broke out, "It is false: the Devil is a +liar. I looked upon none since I came into the room but you." Susanna +Sheldon cried out, in a trance, "I wonder what could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.213" id="Page_ii.213">[ii.213]</a></span> you murder +thirteen persons for." At this, her spirit became aroused: the +accusers fell into the most intolerable outcries and agonies. The +accused rebuked the magistrate, charging him with unfairness in not +paying any regard to what she said, and receiving every thing that the +accusers said. "It is a shameful thing, that you should mind these +folks that are out of their wits;" and, turning to those who were +bringing these false and ridiculous charges against her, she said, +"You lie: I am wronged." The energy and courage of the prisoner threw +the accusers, magistrates, and the whole crowd into confusion and +uproar. The record closes the description of the scene in these words: +"The tortures of the afflicted were so great that there was no +enduring of it, so that she was ordered away, and to be bound hand and +foot with all expedition; the afflicted, in the mean while, almost +killed, to the great trouble of all spectators, magistrates, and +others."</p> + +<p>Parris closes his report of this examination as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Note</span>.—As soon as she was well bound, they all had +strange and sudden ease. Mary Walcot told the magistrates +that this woman told her she had been a witch this forty +years."</p></div> + +<p>This shows the sort of communications the girls were allowed to hold +with the magistrates, exciting their prejudices against accused +persons, and filling their ears with all sorts of exaggerated and +false stories. However much she may have been maligned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.214" id="Page_ii.214">[ii.214]</a></span> by her +neighbors, some of whom had long been in the habit of circulating +slanders against her, the whole tenor of the papers relating to her +shows that she always indignantly repelled the charge of being a +witch, and was the last person in the world to have volunteered such a +statement as Mary Walcot reported.</p> + +<p>The examination of Martha Carrier must have been one of the most +striking scenes of the whole drama of the witchcraft proceedings. The +village meeting-house presented a truly wild and exciting spectacle. +The fearful and horrible superstition which darkened the minds of the +people was displayed in their aspect and movements. Their belief, +that, then and there, they were witnessing the great struggle between +the kingdoms of God and of the Evil One, and that every thing was at +stake on the issue, gave an awe-struck intensity to their expression. +The blind, unquestioning confidence of the magistrates, clergy, and +all concerned in the prosecutions, in the evidence of the accusers; +the loud outcries of their pretended sufferings; their contortions, +swoonings, and tumblings, excited the usual consternation in the +assembly. In addition to this, there was the more than ordinary bold +and defiant bearing of the prisoner, stung to desperation by the +outrage upon human nature in the abuse practised upon her poor +children; her firm and unshrinking courage, facing the tempest that +was raised to overwhelm her, sternly rebuking the magistrates,—"It is +a shameful thing that you should mind these folks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.215" id="Page_ii.215">[ii.215]</a></span> that are out of +their wits;"—her whole demeanor, proclaiming her conscious innocence, +and proving that she chose chains, the dungeon, and the scaffold, +rather than to belie herself. Seldom has a scene in real life, or a +picture wrought by the inspiration of genius and the hand of art, in +its individual characters or its general grouping, surpassed that +presented on this occasion.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson has preserved the record of another examination of a +different character. An ignorant negro slave-woman was brought before +the magistrates. She was cunning enough, not only to confess, but to +cover herself with the cloak of having been led into the difficulty by +her mistress.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Candy, are you a witch?—Candy no witch in her country. +Candy's mother no witch. Candy no witch, Barbados. This +country, mistress give Candy witch.</p> + +<p>"Did your mistress make you a witch in this country?—Yes: +in this country, mistress give Candy witch.</p> + +<p>"What did your mistress do to make you witch?—Mistress +bring book and pen and ink; make Candy write in it."</p></div> + +<p>Upon being asked what she wrote, she took a pen and ink, and made a +mark. Upon being asked how she afflicted people, and where were the +puppets she did it with, she said, that, if they would let her go out +for a moment, she would show them how. They allowed her to go out, and +she presently returned with two pieces of cloth or linen,—one with +two knots, the other with one tied in it. Immediately on seeing these +articles, the "afflicted children" were "greatly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.216" id="Page_ii.216">[ii.216]</a></span> affrighted," and +fell into violent fits. When they came to, they declared that the +"black man," Mrs. Hawkes, and the negro, stood by the puppets of rags, +and pinched them. Whereupon they fell into fits again. "A bit of one +of the rags being set on fire," they all shrieked that they were +burned, and "cried out dreadfully." Some pieces being dipped in water, +they went into the convulsions and struggles of drowning persons; and +one of them rushed out of the room, and raced down towards the river.</p> + +<p>Candy and the girls having played their parts so well, there was no +escape for poor Mrs. Hawkes but in confession, which she forthwith +made. They were both committed to prison. Fortunately, it was not +convenient to bring them to trial until the next January, when, the +delusion having blown over, they were acquitted.</p> + +<p>Besides those already mentioned, there were others, among the victims +of this delusion, whose cases excite our tenderest sensibility, and +deepen our horror in the contemplation of the scene. It seems, that, +some time before the transactions took place in Salem Village, a +difficulty arose between two families on the borders of Topsfield and +Ipswich, such as often occur among neighbors, about some small matter +of property, fences, or boundaries. Their names were Perley and How. A +daughter of Perley, about ten years of age, hearing, probably, strong +expressions by her parents, became excited against the Hows, and +charged the wife of How with bewitching her. She acted much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.217" id="Page_ii.217">[ii.217]</a></span> after the +manner of the "afflicted girls" in Salem Village, which was near the +place of her residence. Very soon the idea became current that Mrs. +How was a witch; and every thing that happened amiss to any one was +laid at her door. She was cried out against by the "afflicted +children" in Salem Village, and carried before the magistrates for +examination on the 31st of May, 1692. Upon being brought into her +presence, the accusers fell into their usual fits and convulsions, and +charged her with tormenting them. To the question, put by the +magistrates, "What say you to this charge?" her answer was, "If it was +the last moment I was to live, God knows I am innocent of any thing in +this nature." The papers connected with her trial bear abundant +testimony to the excellent character of this pious and amiable woman. +A person, who had lived near her twenty-four years, states, in her +deposition, "that she had found her a neighborly woman, conscientious +in her dealing, faithful to her promises, and Christianlike in her +conversation." Several others join in a deposition to this effect: +"For our own parts, we have been well acquainted with her for above +twenty years. We never saw but that she carried it very well, and that +both her words and actions were always such as well became a good +Christian."</p> + +<p>The following passages illustrate the wicked arts sometimes used to +bring accusations upon innocent persons, and give affecting proof of +the excellence of the character and heart of Elizabeth How:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.218" id="Page_ii.218">[ii.218]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Samuel Phillips</span>, aged about +sixty-seven, minister of the word of God in Rowley, who +saith that Mr. Payson (minister of God's word also in +Rowley) and myself went, being desired, to Samuel Perly, of +Ipswich, to see their young daughter, who was visited with +strange fits; and, in her fits (as her father and mother +affirmed), did mention Goodwife How, the wife of James How, +Jr., of Ipswich, as if she was in the house, and did afflict +her. When we were in the house, the child had one of her +fits, but made no mention of Goodwife How; and, when the fit +was over, and she came to herself, Goodwife How went to the +child, and took her by the hand, and asked her whether she +had ever done her any hurt; and she answered, 'No, never; +and, if I did complain of you in my fits, I knew not that I +did so.' I further can affirm, upon oath, that young Samuel +Perley, brother to the afflicted girl, looked out of a +chamber window (I and the afflicted child being without +doors together), and said to his sister, 'Say Goodwife How +is a witch,—say she is a witch;' and the child spake not a +word that way. But I looked up to the window where the youth +stood, and rebuked him for his boldness to stir up his +sister to accuse the said Goodwife How; whereas she had +cleared her from doing any hurt to his sister in both our +hearing; and I added, 'No wonder that the child, in her +fits, did mention Goodwife How, when her nearest relations +were so frequent in expressing their suspicions, in the +child's hearing, when she was out of her fits, that the said +Goodwife How was an instrument of mischief to the child.'"</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Payson, in reference to the same occasion, deposed as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.219" id="Page_ii.219">[ii.219]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Being in Perley's house some considerable time before the +said Goodwife How came in, their afflicted daughter, upon +something that her mother spake to her with tartness, +presently fell into one of her usual strange fits, during +which she made no mention (as I observed) of the abovesaid +How her name, or any thing relating to her. Some time after, +the said How came in, when said girl had recovered her +capacity, her fit being over. Said How took said girl by the +hand, and asked her whether she had ever done her any hurt. +The child answered, 'No; never,' with several expressions to +that purpose."</p></div> + +<p>The bearing of Elizabeth How, under accusations so cruelly and +shamefully fabricated and circulated against her, exhibits one of the +most beautiful pictures of a truly forgiving spirit and of Christlike +love anywhere to be found. Several witnesses say, "We often spoke to +her of some things that were reported of her, that gave some suspicion +of that she is now charged with; and she, always professing her +innocency, often desired our prayers to God for her, that God would +keep her in his fear, and support her under her burden. We have often +heard her speaking of those persons that raised those reports of her, +and we never heard her speak badly of them for the same; but, in our +hearing, hath often said that she desired God that he would sanctify +that affliction, as well as others, for her spiritual good." Others +testified to the same effect. Simon Chapman, and Mary, his wife, say +that "they had been acquainted with the wife of James How, Jr., as a +neighbor, for this nine or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.220" id="Page_ii.220">[ii.220]</a></span> ten years;" that they had resided in the +same house with her "by the fortnight together;" that they never knew +any thing but what was good in her. They "found, at all times, by her +discourse, she was a woman of affliction, and mourning for sin in +herself and others; and, when she met with any affliction, she seemed +to justify God and say that it was all better than she deserved, +though it was by false accusations from men. She used to bless God +that she got good by affliction; for it made her examine her own +heart. We never heard her revile any person that hath accused her with +witchcraft, but pitied them, and said, 'I pray God forgive them; for +they harm themselves more than me. Though I am a great sinner, I am +clear of that; and such kind of affliction doth but set me to +examining my own heart, and I find God wonderfully supporting me and +comforting me by his word and promises.'"</p> + +<p>Joseph Knowlton and his wife Mary, who had lived near her, and +sometimes in the same family with her, testified, that, having heard +the stories told about her, they were led to—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"take special notice of her life and conversation ever +since. And I have asked her if she could freely forgive them +that raised such reports of her. She told me yes, with all +her heart, desiring that God would give her a heart to be +more humble under such a providence; and, further, she said +she was willing to do any good she could to those who had +done unneighborly by her. Also this I have taken notice, +that she would deny herself to do a neighbor a good turn."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.221" id="Page_ii.221">[ii.221]</a></span></p> + +<p>The father of her husband,—James How, Sr., aged about ninety-four +years,—in a communication addressed to the Court, declared that—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"he, living by her for about thirty years, hath taken notice +that she hath carried it well becoming her place, as a +daughter, as a wife, in all relations, setting aside human +infirmities, as becometh a Christian; with respect to myself +as a father, very dutifully; and as a wife to my son, very +careful, loving, obedient, and kind,—considering his want +of eyesight, tenderly leading him about by the hand. +Desiring God may guide your honors, ... I rest yours to +serve."</p></div> + +<p>The only evidence against this good woman—beyond the outcries and +fits of the "afflicted children," enacted in their usual skilful and +artful style—consisted of the most wretched gossip ever circulated in +an ignorant and benighted community. It came from people in the back +settlements of Ipswich and Topsfield, and disclosed a depth of absurd +and brutal superstition, which it is difficult to believe ever existed +in New England. So far as those living in secluded and remote +localities are regarded, this was the most benighted period of our +history. Except where, as in Salem Village, special circumstances had +kept up the general intelligence, there was much darkness on the +popular mind. The education that came over with the first emigrants +from the mother-country had gone with them to their graves. The system +of common schools had not begun to produce its fruit in the thinly +peopled outer settlements. There is no more disgraceful page in our +annals than that which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.222" id="Page_ii.222">[ii.222]</a></span> details the testimony given at the trial, and +records the conviction and execution, of Elizabeth How.</p> + +<p>But the dark shadows of that day of folly, cruelty, and crime, served +to bring into a brighter and purer light virtues exhibited by many +persons. We meet affecting instances, all along, of family fidelity +and true Christian benevolence. James How, as has been stated, was +stricken with blindness. He had two daughters, Mary and Abigail. +Although their farm was out of the line of the public-roads, travel +very difficult, and they must have encountered many hardships, +annoyances, and, it is to be feared, sometimes unfeeling treatment by +the way, one of them accompanied their father, twice every week, to +visit their mother in her prison-walls. They came on horseback; she +managing the bridle, and guiding him by the hand after alighting. +Their humble means were exhausted in these offices of reverence and +affection. One of the noble girls made her way to Boston, sought out +the Governor, and implored a reprieve for her mother; but in vain. The +sight of these young women, leading their blind father to comfort and +provide for their "honored mother,—as innocent," as they declared her +to be, "of the crime charged, as any person in the world,"—so +faithful and constant in their filial love and duty, relieved the +horrors of the scene; and it ought to be held in perpetual +remembrance. The shame of that day is not, and will not be, forgotten; +neither should its beauty and glory.</p> + +<p>The name of Elizabeth How, before marriage, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.223" id="Page_ii.223">[ii.223]</a></span> Jackson. Among the +accounts rendered against the country for expenses incurred in the +witchcraft prosecutions are these two items: "For John Jackson, Sr., +one pair of fetters, five shillings; for John Jackson, Jr., one pair +of fetters, five shillings." There is also an item for carrying "the +two Jacksons" from one jail to another, and back again. No other +reference to them is found among the papers. They were, perhaps, a +brother and nephew of Elizabeth How. There is reason to suppose that +her husband, James How, Jr., was a nephew of the Rev. Francis Dane, of +Andover.</p> + +<p>The examination of Job Tookey, of Beverly, presents some points worthy +of notice. He is described as a "laborer," but was evidently a person, +although perhaps inconsiderate of speech, of more than common +discrimination, and not wholly deluded by the fanaticism of the times. +He is charged with having said that he "would take Mr. Burroughs's +part;" "that he was not the Devil's servant, but the Devil was his." +When the girls testified that they saw his shape afflicting persons, +he answered, like a sensible man, if they really saw any such thing, +"it was not he, but the Devil in his shape, that hurts the people." +Susanna Sheldon, Mary Warren, and Ann Putnam, all declared, that, at +that very moment while the examination was going on, two men and two +women and one child "rose from the dead, and cried, 'Vengeance! +vengeance!'" Nobody else saw or heard any thing: but the girls +suddenly became dumb; their eyes were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.224" id="Page_ii.224">[ii.224]</a></span> fixed on vacancy, all looking +towards the same spot; and their whole appearance gave assurance of +the truth of what they said. In a short time, Mary Warren recovered +the use of her vocal organs, and exclaimed, "There are three men, and +three women, and two children. They are all in their winding-sheets: +they look pale upon us, but red upon Tookey,—red as blood." Again, +she exclaimed, in a startled and affrighted manner, "There is a young +child under the table, crying out for vengeance." Elizabeth Booth, +pointing to the same place, was struck speechless. In this way, the +murder of about every one who had died at Royal Side, for a year or +two past, was put upon Tookey. Some of them were called by name; the +others, the girls pretended not to recognize. The wrath and horror of +the whole community were excited against him, and he was committed to +jail, by the order of the magistrates,—Bartholomew Gedney, Jonathan +Corwin, and John Hathorne.</p> + +<p>No character, indeed, however blameless lovely or venerable, was safe. +The malignant accusers struck at the highest marks, and the consuming +fire of popular frenzy was kindled and attracted towards the most +commanding objects. Mary Bradbury is described, in the indictment +against her, as the "wife of Captain Thomas Bradbury, of Salisbury, in +the county of Essex, gentleman." A few of the documents that are +preserved, belonging to her case, will give some idea what sort of a +person she was:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.225" id="Page_ii.225">[ii.225]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>The Answer of Mary Bradbury to the Charge of Witchcraft, +or Familiarity with the Devil.</i></p> + +<p>"I do plead 'Not guilty.' I am wholly innocent of any such +wickedness, through the goodness of God that have kept me +hitherto. I am the servant of Jesus Christ, and have given +myself up to him as my only Lord and Saviour, and to the +diligent attendance upon him in all his holy ordinances, in +utter contempt and defiance of the Devil and all his works, +as horrid and detestable, and, accordingly, have endeavored +to frame my life and conversation according to the rules of +his holy word; and, in that faith and practice, resolve, by +the help and assistance of God, to continue to my life's +end.</p> + +<p>"For the truth of what I say, as to matter of practice, I +humbly refer myself to my brethren and neighbors that know +me, and unto the Searcher of all hearts, for the truth and +uprightness of my heart therein (human frailties and +unavoidable infirmities excepted, of which I bitterly +complain every day).</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Mary Bradbury</span>."</p> + +<p>"July 28, 1692.—Concerning my beloved wife, Mary Bradbury, +this is what I have to say: We have been married fifty-five +years, and she hath been a loving and faithful wife to me. +Unto this day, she hath been wonderful laborious, diligent, +and industrious, in her place and employment, about the +bringing-up of our family (which have been eleven children +of our own, and four grandchildren). She was both prudent +and provident, of a cheerful spirit, liberal and charitable. +She being now very aged and weak, and grieved under her +affliction, may not be able to speak much for herself, not +being so free of speech as some others may be. I hope her +life and conversation have been such amongst her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.226" id="Page_ii.226">[ii.226]</a></span> neighbors +as gives a better and more real testimony of her than can be +expressed by words.</p> + +<p>"Owned by me,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Tho. Bradbury</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The Rev. James Allin made oath before Robert Pike, an assistant and +magistrate, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I, having lived nine years at Salisbury in the work of the +ministry, and now four years in the office of a pastor, to +my best notice and observation of Mrs. Bradbury, she hath +lived according to the rules of the gospel amongst us; was a +constant attender upon the ministry of the word, and all the +ordinances of the gospel; full of works of charity and mercy +to the sick and poor: neither have I seen or heard any thing +of her unbecoming the profession of the gospel."</p></div> + +<p>Robert Pike also affirmed to the truth of Mr. Allin's statement, from +"upwards of fifty years' experience," as did John Pike also: they both +declared themselves ready and desirous to give their testimony before +the Court.</p> + +<p>One hundred and seventeen of her neighbors—the larger part of them +heads of families, and embracing the most respectable people of that +vicinity—signed their names to a paper, of which the following is a +copy:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Concerning Mrs. Bradbury's life and conversation, we, the +subscribers, do testify, that it was such as became the +gospel: she was a lover of the ministry, in all appearance, +and a diligent attender upon God's holy ordinances, being of +a courteous and peaceable disposition and carriage. Neither +did any of us (some of whom have lived in the town with her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.227" id="Page_ii.227">[ii.227]</a></span> +above fifty years) ever hear or ever know that she ever had +any difference or falling-out with any of her +neighbors,—man, woman, or child,—but was always ready and +willing to do for them what lay in her power night and day, +though with hazard of her health, or other danger. More +might be spoken in her commendation, but this for the +present."</p></div> + +<p>Although this aged matron and excellent Christian lady was convicted +and sentenced to death, it is most satisfactory to find that she +escaped from prison, and her life was saved.</p> + +<p>The following facts show the weight which ought to have been attached +to these statements. The position, as well as character and age, of +Mary [Perkins] Bradbury entitled her to the highest consideration, in +the structure of society at that time. This is recognized in the title +"Mrs.," uniformly given her. She had been noted, through life, for +business capacity, energy, and influence; and, in 1692, was probably +seventy-five years of age, and somewhat infirm in health. Her husband, +Thomas Bradbury, had been a prominent character in the colony for more +than fifty years. In 1641, he was appointed, by the General Court, +Clerk of the Writs for Salisbury, with the functions of a magistrate, +to execute all sorts of legal processes in that place. He was a deputy +in 1651 and many subsequent years; a commissioner for Salisbury in +1657, empowered to act in all criminal cases, and bind over offenders, +where it was proper, to higher courts, to take testimonies upon oath, +and to join persons in marriage. He was required to keep a record of +all his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.228" id="Page_ii.228">[ii.228]</a></span> doings. If the parties agreed to that effect, he was +authorized to hear and determine cases of every kind and degree, +without the intervention of a jury. The towns north of the Merrimac, +and all beyond now within the limits of New Hampshire, constituted the +County of Norfolk; and Thomas Bradbury, for a long series of years, +was one of its commissioners and associate judges. From the first, he +was conspicuous in military matters; having been commissioned by the +General Court, in 1648, Ensign of the trainband in Salisbury. He rose +to its command; and, in the latter portion of his life, was +universally spoken of as "Captain Bradbury." All along, the records of +the General Court, for half a century, demonstrate the estimation in +which he was held; various important trusts and special services +requiring integrity and ability being from time to time committed to +him. His family was influentially connected. His son William married +the widow of Samuel Maverick, Jr., who was the son of one of the +King's Commissioners in 1664: she was the daughter of the Rev. John +Wheelwright, a man of great note, intimately related to the celebrated +Anne Hutchinson, and united with her by sympathy in sentiment and +participation in exile.</p> + +<p>Robert Pike, born in 1616, was a magistrate in 1644. He was deputy +from Salisbury in 1648, and many times after; Associate Justice for +Norfolk in 1650; and Assistant in 1682, holding that high station, by +annual elections, to the close of the first charter, and during the +whole period of the intervening and insur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.229" id="Page_ii.229">[ii.229]</a></span>gent government. He was +named as one of the council that succeeded to the House of Assistants, +when, under the new charter, Massachusetts became a royal province. He +was always at the head of military affairs, having been commissioned, +by the General Court, Lieutenant of the Salisbury trainband in 1648; +and, in the later years of his life, he held the rank and title of +major. John Pike, probably his son, resided in Hampton in 1691, and +was minister of Dover at his death in 1710.</p> + +<p>Surely, the attestations of such men as the Pikes, father and son, and +the Rev. James Allin, to the Christian excellence of Mary Bradbury, +must be allowed to corroborate fully the declarations of her +neighbors, her husband, and herself.</p> + +<p>The motives and influences that led to her arrest and condemnation in +1692 demand an explanation. The question arises, Why should the +attention of the accusing girls have been led to this aged and most +respectable woman, living at such a distance, beyond the Merrimac? A +critical scrutiny of the papers in the case affords a clew leading to +the true answer.</p> + +<p>The wife of Sergeant Thomas Putnam, as has been stated (<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_253">vol. i. p. +253</a>), was Ann Carr of Salisbury. Her father, George Carr, was an early +settler in that place, and appears to have been an enterprising and +prosperous person. The ferry for the main travel of the country across +the Merrimac was from points of land owned by him, and always under +his charge. He was engaged in ship-building,—employing, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.230" id="Page_ii.230">[ii.230]</a></span> having +in his family, young men; among them a son of Zerubabel Endicott, +bearing the same name.</p> + +<p>Among the papers in the case is the following:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Richard Carr</span>, who testifieth and +saith, that, about thirteen years ago, presently after some +difference that happened to be between my honored father, +Mr. George Carr, and Mrs. Bradbury, the prisoner at the bar, +upon a sabbath at noon, as we were riding home, by the house +of Captain Tho: Bradbury, I saw Mrs. Bradbury go into her +gate, turn the corner of, and immediately there darted out +of her gate a blue boar, and darted at my father's horse's +legs, which made him stumble; but I saw it no more. And my +father said, 'Boys, what do you see?' We both answered, 'A +blue boar.'</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Zerubabel Endicott</span> testifieth and saith, that I +lived at Mr. George Carr, now deceased, at the time above +mentioned, and was present with Mr. George Carr and Mr. +Richard Carr. And I also saw a blue boar dart out of Mr. +Bradbury's gate to Mr. George Carr's horse's legs, which +made him stumble after a strange manner. And I also saw the +blue boar dart from Mr. Carr's horse's legs in at Mrs. +Bradbury's window. And Mr. Carr immediately said, 'Boys, +what did you see?' And we both said, 'A blue boar.' Then +said he, 'From whence came it?' And we said, 'Out of Mr. +Bradbury's gate.' Then said he, 'I am glad you see it as +well as I.' <i>Jurat in Curia</i>, Sept. 9, '92."</p></div> + +<p>Stephen Sewall, the clerk of the courts, with his usual eagerness to +make the most of the testimony against persons accused, adds to the +deposition the following:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.231" id="Page_ii.231">[ii.231]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"And they both further say, on their oaths, that Mr. Carr +discoursed with them, as they went home, about what had +happened, and they all concluded that it was Mrs. Bradbury +that so appeared as a blue boar."</p></div> + +<p>At the date of this occurrence, Richard Carr was twenty years of age, +and Zerubabel Endicott a lad of of fifteen.</p> + +<p>It is not to be wondered at that there was "some difference between" +George Carr and Mrs. Bradbury, if he was in the habit of indulging in +such talk about her as he took the leading part in on this occasion. +He evidently encouraged in his "boys" the absurd imaginations with +which their credulity had been stimulated. They were prepared by +preconceived notions to witness something preternatural about the +premises of Mrs. Bradbury; and, in their jaundiced vision, any animal, +moving in and out of the gate, might naturally assume the likeness of +a "blue boar." Such ideas circulating in the family, and among the +apprentices of Carr, would soon be widely spread. No doubt, Zerubabel, +on his visits to his home, told wondrous stories about Mrs. Bradbury. +His brother Samuel, then a youth of eighteen, had his imagination +filled with them; and some time after, on a voyage to "Barbadoes and +Saltitudos," in which severe storms and various disasters were +experienced, attributed them all to Mrs. Bradbury; and, "in a bright +moonshining night, sitting upon the windlass, to which he had been +sent forward to look out for land," the wild fancies of his excited +imagination took effect. He heard "a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.232" id="Page_ii.232">[ii.232]</a></span> rumbling noise," and thought he +saw the legs of some person. "Presently he was shook, and looked over +his shoulder, and saw the appearance of a woman, from her middle +upwards, having a white cap and white neckcloth on her, which then +affrighted him very much; and, as he was turning of the windlass, he +saw the aforesaid two legs." Such superstitious phantasms seem to be +natural to the experiences of sailor-life, and perhaps still linger in +the forecastle and at the night-watch.</p> + +<p>The habit of maligning Mrs. Bradbury as a witch dated back in the Carr +family more than thirteen years, as the following deposition proves. I +give it precisely as it is in the original. As in a few other +instances in this work, the spelling and punctuation are preserved as +curiosities. Like all the papers in the case, with one exception, +presented in court against Mrs. Bradbury, it is in the handwriting of +Sergeant Thomas Putnam:—</p> + +<p style="text-align: center">[<b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Spelling and +punctuation in the passage below are as in the original.]</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposistion of James Carr</span>. + who testifieth and saith that about 20 years agoe one day as I was accidently + att the house of mr wheleright and his daughter the widdow maverick then liued + there: and she then did most curtuously invite me to com oftener to the house + and wondered I was grown such a stranger. and with in a few days affter one + evening I went thether againe: and when I came thether againe: william + Bradbery was y<sup>r</sup> who was then a suter to the +said widdow but I did not know it tell affterwards: affter I +came in the widdow did so corsely treat the sd william +Bradbery that he went away semeing to be angury:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.233" id="Page_ii.233">[ii.233]</a></span> presently +affter this I was taken affter a strange maner as if liueing +creaturs did run about euery part of my body redy to tare me +to peaces and so I continewed for about 3 qurters of a year +by times & I applyed myself to doctor Crosbe who gave me a +grate deal of visek but could make non work tho he steept +tobacco in bosit drink he could make non to work where upon +he tould me that he beleved I was behaged: and I tould him I +had thought so a good while: and he asked me by hom I tould +him I did not care for spaking for one was counted an honest +woman: but he uging I tould him and he said he did beleve +that m<sup>is</sup> Bradbery was a grat deal worss then goody martin: +then presently affter this one night I being a bed & brod +awake there came sumthing to me which I thought was a catt +and went to strick it ofe the bed and was sezed fast that I +could not stir hedd nor foot. but by and coming to my +strenth I herd sumthing a coming to me againe and I prepared +my self to strick it: and it coming upon the bed I did +strick at it and I beleve I hit it: and after that visek +would work on me and I beleve in my hart that m<sup>is</sup> Bradbery +the prisoner att the barr has often afflected me by acts of +wicthcraft.</p> + +<p>"<i>Jurat in Curia</i> Sep.<sup>mr.</sup> 9. 92."<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.234" id="Page_ii.234">[ii.234]</a></span></p> +<p>But the whole of George Carr's family did not sympathize in this +morbid state of prejudice, or cherish such foolish and malignant +fancies, against Mrs. Bradbury. One of the sons, William, had married, +Aug. 20, 1672, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Pike. It appears, by the +following deposition, which is in the handwriting of Major Pike, that +there had been another love affair between the families, leading to a +melancholy result, inflaming still more the morbid and malign +prejudice against Mrs. Bradbury; but William repudiated it utterly:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of William Carr</span>, aged forty-one, or +thereabouts, is that my brother John Carr, when he was +young, was a man of as good capacity as most men of his age; +but falling in love with Jane True (now wife of Captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.235" id="Page_ii.235">[ii.235]</a></span> +John March), and my father being persuaded by [——] of the +family (which I shall not name) not to let him marry so +young, my father would not give him a portion, whereupon the +match broke off, which my brother laid so much to heart that +he grew melancholy, and by degrees much crazed, not being +the man, that he was before, to his dying day.</p> + +<p>"I do further testify that my said brother was sick about a +fortnight or three weeks, and then died; and I was present +with him when he died. And I do affirm that he died +peaceably and quietly, never manifesting the least trouble +in the world about anybody, nor did not say any thing of +Mrs. Bradbury nor anybody else doing him hurt; and yet I was +with him till the breath and life were out of his body."</p></div> + +<p>The usual form, <i>jurat in curia</i>, is written at the foot of this +deposition, but evidently by a much later hand; and this leads me to +mention the improbability that any testimony in favor of the accused +ever reached the Court at the trials. They had no counsel: the +attorney-general had prejudged all the cases; and his mind and those +of the judges repudiated utterly any thing like an investigation. +Every friendly voice was silenced. The doors were closed against the +defence. Robert Pike, an assistant under the old and a councillor +under the new government, endeavored in vain to enter them.</p> + +<p>William Carr was a person of great respectability, and bore the +appointment, by the General Court, of land-surveyor for the towns in +the northern part of the present county of Essex.</p> + +<p>The member of the family who—as stated in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.236" id="Page_ii.236">[ii.236]</a></span> foregoing +deposition—prevented the match, all the circumstances seem to +indicate, was Mrs. Ann Putnam. She perhaps had experienced the effects +of a too early marriage, bringing the burden of life upon the +constitution and the character before they are mature enough to bear +it. She may have attributed to this cause the troubles and trials with +which her cup had been so bitterly filled, and the blasting of the +happiness of her youth. Half deranged, as perpetual excitement from +the parish quarrels in reference to Mr. Bayley had made her, she may +have become morbidly opposed to the equally early marriage of a +brother. Added to this was the fact that Henry True had married one of +Mrs. Bradbury's daughters, and that Jane True was his sister. It +cannot be doubted that she entertained the same ideas about Mrs. +Bradbury as her father and brothers, James and Richard; and, for this +reason, also opposed the match of her brother John. Wishing to be +relieved from the self-reproach of having caused his derangement and +death, when the witchcraft delusion broke out at Salem Village and she +became wholly absorbed by it, as all other deaths and misfortunes were +ascribed to it, she avowed and maintained the belief, as some had +suspected at the time, that the happiness, health, reason, and life of +her brother had been destroyed by diabolical agency, practised by Mrs. +Bradbury.</p> + +<p>In the state of things long subsisting between the Bradbury and Carr +families, we find an explanation of the movement made against Mrs. +Bradbury. Young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.237" id="Page_ii.237">[ii.237]</a></span> Ann Putnam may have often heard her unpleasantly +spoken of by her mother, and it was natural that she should have +"cried out against her."</p> + +<p>The family of Mrs. Ann Putnam seem to have had constitutional traits +that illustrate and explain her own character and conduct. They were +excitable and sensitive to an extraordinary degree. Their judgment, +reason, and physical systems, were subject to the power of their +fancies and affections. One of her brothers, in consequence of being +badly coquetted with and jilted by a young widow, was thrown into an +awful condition of body and mind "for about three-quarters of a year." +The reason, health, and heart of another were broken; and he sunk into +an early grave, in consequence of having been crossed in love. The +death of her sister Bayley may have been caused by the unhappy +controversies in the village parish. We have seen, and shall see, the +all but maniac condition to which excitement brought her own mind. At +last, the heaviest blow that can fall upon a fond wife suddenly +snapped the brittle cord of her life. These considerations must be +borne in mind, while we attempt to explain her conduct, and should +throw the weight of pity and charity into the scales, if mortal +judgment ventures to estimate her guilt. They are known to the +Infinite Mind, and never overlooked by divine mercy.</p> + +<p>I have introduced these singular private details to illustrate what +the documents all along show,—that the proceedings against persons +charged with witch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.238" id="Page_ii.238">[ii.238]</a></span>craft, in 1692, were instigated by all sorts of +personal grudges and private piques, many of them of long standing, +fomented and kept alive by an unhappy indulgence of unworthy feelings, +always ready to mix themselves with popular excitements, and leading +all concerned headlong to the utmost extent of mischief and wrong.</p> + +<p>The case of Mary Bradbury has been allowed to occupy so large a space, +because I desire to disabuse the public mind of a great error on this +subject. It has been too much supposed, that the sufferers in the +witchcraft delusion were generally of the inferior classes of society, +and particularly ignorant and benighted. They were the very reverse. +They mostly belonged to families in the better conditions of life, +and, many of them, to the highest social level. They were all persons +of great moral firmness and rectitude, as was demonstrated by their +bearing under persecutions and outrage, and when confronting the +terrors of death. Their names do not deserve reproach, and their +memories ought to be held in honor.</p> + +<p>The following account of the examination of Elizabeth Cary of +Charlestown, given by her husband, Captain Cary, a shipmaster, has the +highest interest, as written at the time by one who was an +eye-witness, and participated in the sufferings of the occasion:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"May 24.—I having heard, some days, that my wife was +accused of witchcraft; being much disturbed at it, by advice +went to Salem Village, to see if the afflicted knew her: we +arrived there on the 24th of May. It happened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.239" id="Page_ii.239">[ii.239]</a></span> to be a day +appointed for examination; accordingly, soon after our +arrival, Mr. Hathorne and Mr. Corwin, &c., went to the +meeting-house, which was the place appointed for that work. +The minister began with prayer; and, having taken care to +get a convenient place, I observed that the afflicted were +two girls of about ten years old, and about two or three +others of about eighteen: one of the girls talked most, and +could discern more than the rest.</p> + +<p>"The prisoners were called in one by one, and, as they came +in, were cried out at, &c. The prisoners were placed about +seven or eight feet from the justices, and the accusers +between the justices and them. The prisoners were ordered to +stand right before the justices, with an officer appointed +to hold each hand, lest they should therewith afflict them: +and the prisoners' eyes must be constantly on the justices; +for, if they looked on the afflicted, they would either fall +into fits, or cry out of being hurt by them. After an +examination of the prisoners, who it was afflicted these +girls, &c., they were put upon saying the Lord's Prayer, as +a trial of their guilt. After the afflicted seemed to be out +of their fits, they would look steadfastly on some one +person, and frequently not speak; and then the justices said +they were struck dumb, and after a little time would speak +again: then the justices said to the accusers, 'Which of you +will go and touch the prisoner at the bar?' Then the most +courageous would adventure, but, before they had made three +steps, would ordinarily fall down as in a fit: the justices +ordered that they should be taken up and carried to the +prisoner, that she might touch them; and as soon as they +were touched by the accused, the justices would say, 'They +are well,' before I could discern any alteration,—by which +I observed that the justices understood the manner of it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.240" id="Page_ii.240">[ii.240]</a></span> +Thus far I was only as a spectator: my wife also was there +part of the time, but no notice was taken of her by the +afflicted, except once or twice they came to her, and asked +her name. But I, having an opportunity to discourse Mr. Hale +(with whom I had formerly acquaintance), I took his advice +what I had best do, and desired of him that I might have an +opportunity to speak with her that accused my wife; which he +promised should be, I acquainting him that I reposed my +trust in him. Accordingly, he came to me after the +examination was over, and told me I had now an opportunity +to speak with the said accuser, Abigail Williams, a girl +eleven or twelve years old; but that we could not be in +private at Mr. Parris's house, as he had promised me: we +went therefore into the alehouse, where an Indian man +attended us, who, it seems, was one of the afflicted; to him +we gave some cider: he showed several scars, that seemed as +if they had been long there, and showed them as done by +witchcraft, and acquainted us that his wife, who also was a +slave, was imprisoned for witchcraft. And now, instead of +one accuser, they all came in, and began to tumble down like +swine; and then three women were called in to attend them. +We in the room were all at a stand to see who they would cry +out of; but in a short time they cried out 'Cary;' and, +immediately after, a warrant was sent from the justices to +bring my wife before them, who were sitting in a chamber +near by, waiting for this. Being brought before the +justices, her chief accusers were two girls. My wife +declared to the justices, that she never had any knowledge +of them before that day. She was forced to stand with her +arms stretched out. I requested that I might hold one of her +hands, but it was denied me: then she desired me to wipe the +tears from her eyes, and the sweat from her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.241" id="Page_ii.241">[ii.241]</a></span> face, which I +did; then she desired she might lean herself on me, saying +she should faint. Justice Hathorne replied she had strength +enough to torment these persons, and she should have +strength enough to stand. I speaking something against their +cruel proceedings, they commanded me to be silent, or else I +should be turned out of the room. The Indian before +mentioned was also brought in, to be one of her accusers; +being come in, he now (when before the justices) fell down, +and tumbled about like a hog, but said nothing. The justices +asked the girls who afflicted the Indian: they answered she +(meaning my wife), and that she now lay upon him. The +justices ordered her to touch him, in order to his cure, but +her head must be turned another way, lest, instead of +curing, she should make him worse by her looking on him, her +hand being guided to take hold of his; but the Indian took +hold of her hand, and pulled her down on the floor in a +barbarous manner: then his hand was taken off, and her hand +put on his, and the cure was quickly wrought. I being +extremely troubled at their inhuman dealings, uttered a +hasty speech, 'That God would take vengeance on them, and +desired that God would deliver us out of the hands of +unmerciful men.' Then her <i>mittimus</i> was writ. I did with +difficulty and charge obtain the liberty of a room, but no +beds in it; if there had been, could have taken but little +rest that night. She was committed to Boston prison; but I +obtained a <i>habeas corpus</i> to remove her to Cambridge +prison, which is in our county of Middlesex. Having been +there one night, next morning the jailer put irons on her +legs (having received such a command); the weight of them +was about eight pounds: these irons and her other +afflictions soon brought her into con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.242" id="Page_ii.242">[ii.242]</a></span>vulsion fits, so that +I thought she would have died that night. I sent to entreat +that the irons might be taken off; but all entreaties were +in vain, if it would have saved her life, so that in this +condition she must continue. The trials at Salem coming on, +I went thither to see how things were managed: and finding +that the spectre evidence was there received, together with +idle, if not malicious stories, against people's lives, I +did easily perceive which way the rest would go; for the +same evidence that served for one would serve for all the +rest. I acquainted her with her danger; and that, if she +were carried to Salem to be tried, I feared she would never +return. I did my utmost that she might have her trial in our +own county; I with several others petitioning the judge for +it, and were put in hopes of it: but I soon saw so much, +that I understood thereby it was not intended; which put me +upon consulting the means of her escape, which, through the +goodness of God, was effected, and she got to Rhode Island, +but soon found herself not safe when there, by reason of the +pursuit after her; from thence she went to New York, along +with some others that had escaped their cruel hands, where +we found his Excellency Benjamin Fletcher, Esq., Governor, +who was very courteous to us. After this, some of my goods +were seized in a friend's hands, with whom I had left them, +and myself imprisoned by the sheriff, and kept in custody +half a day, and then dismissed; but to speak of their usage +of the prisoners, and the inhumanity shown to them at the +time of their execution, no sober Christian could bear. They +had also trials of cruel mockings, which is the more, +considering what a people for religion, I mean the +profession of it, we have been; those that suffered being +many of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.243" id="Page_ii.243">[ii.243]</a></span> them church members, and most of them unspotted in +their conversation, till their adversary the Devil took up +this method for accusing them.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Jonathan Cary</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The only account we have, written by one who had actually experienced, +in his own person, what it was to fall into the hands of those who got +up and carried on the prosecutions, is the following. Captain Alden +had probably been from an early stage in their operations in the eye +of the accusing girls. He was meant, perhaps, by what often fell from +them about "the tall man in Boston." We are left entirely to +conjecture as to the reason why they singled him out, as not one of +them, we may be quite sure, had ever seen him. It may be that some +person who had experienced discipline under his orders as a naval +commander bore him a grudge, and took pains to suggest his name to the +girls, and provided them with the coarse, vulgar, and ridiculous +scandal they so recklessly poured out upon him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>An Account how John Alden, Sr., was dealt with at Salem +Village.</i></p> + +<p>"John Alden, Sr., of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, +mariner, on the twenty-eighth day of May, 1692, was sent for +by the magistrates of Salem, in the county of Essex, upon +the accusation of a company of poor distracted or possessed +creatures or witches; and, being sent by Mr. Stoughton, +arrived there on the 31st of May, and appeared at Salem +Village before Mr. Gedney, Mr. Hathorne, and Mr. Corwin.</p> + +<p>"Those wenches being present who played their jug<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.244" id="Page_ii.244">[ii.244]</a></span>gling +tricks, falling down, crying out, and staring in people's +faces, the magistrates demanded of them several times, who +it was, of all the people in the room, that hurt them. One +of these accusers pointed several times at one Captain Hill, +there present, but spake nothing. The same accuser had a man +standing at her back to hold her up. He stooped down to her +ear: then she cried out, 'Alden, Alden afflicted her.' One +of the magistrates asked her if she had ever seen Alden. She +answered, 'No.' He asked her how she knew it was Alden. She +said the man told her so.</p> + +<p>"Then all were ordered to go down into the street, where a +ring was made; and the same accuser cried out, 'There stands +Alden, a bold fellow, with his hat on before the judges: he +sells powder and shot to the Indians and French, and lies +with the Indian squaws, and has Indian papooses.' Then was +Alden committed to the marshal's custody, and his sword +taken from him; for they said he afflicted them with his +sword. After some hours, Alden was sent for to the +meeting-house in the Village, before the magistrates, who +required Alden to stand upon a chair, to the open view of +all the people.</p> + +<p>"The accusers cried out that Alden pinched them then, when +he stood upon the chair, in the sight of all the people, a +good way distant from them. One of the magistrates bid the +marshal to hold open Alden's hands, that he might not pinch +those creatures. Alden asked them why they should think that +he should come to that village to afflict those persons that +he never knew or saw before. Mr. Gedney bid Alden to +confess, and give glory to God. Alden said he hoped he +should give glory to God, and hoped he should never gratify +the Devil: but appealed to all that ever knew him, if they +ever suspected him to be such a person;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.245" id="Page_ii.245">[ii.245]</a></span> and challenged any +one that could bring in any thing on their own knowledge, +that might give suspicion of his being such an one. Mr. +Gedney said he had known Alden many years, and had been at +sea with him, and always looked upon him to be an honest +man; but now he saw cause to alter his judgment. Alden +answered, he was sorry for that, but he hoped God would +clear up his innocency, that he would recall that judgment +again; and added, that he hoped that he should, with Job, +maintain his integrity till he died. They bid Alden look +upon the accusers, which he did, and then they fell down. +Alden asked Mr. Gedney what reason there could be given why +Alden's looking upon <i>him</i> did not strike <i>him</i> down as +well; but no reason was given that I heard. But the accusers +were brought to Alden to touch them; and this touch, they +said, made them well. Alden began to speak of the providence +of God in suffering these creatures to accuse innocent +persons. Mr. Noyes asked Alden why he should offer to speak +of the providence of God: God, by his providence (said Mr. +Noyes), governs the world, and keeps it in peace; and so +went on with discourse, and stopped Alden's mouth as to +that. Alden told Mr. Gedney that he could assure him that +there was a lying spirit in them; for I can assure you that +there is not a word of truth in all these say of me. But +Alden was again committed to the marshal, and his <i>mittimus</i> +written.</p> + +<p>"To Boston Alden was carried by a constable: no bail would +be taken for him, but was delivered to the prison-keeper, +where he remained fifteen weeks; and then, observing the +manner of trials, and evidence then taken, was at length +prevailed with to make his escape.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"Per <span class="smcap">John Alden</span>."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.246" id="Page_ii.246">[ii.246]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alden made his escape about the middle of September, at the bloodiest +crisis of the tragedy, and just before the execution of nine of the +victims, including that of Giles Corey. He is understood to have fled +to Duxbury, where his relatives secreted him. He made his appearance +among them late at night; and, on their asking an explanation of his +unexpected visit at that hour, replied that he was flying from the +Devil, and the Devil was after him. After a while, when the delusion +had abated, and people were coming to their senses, he delivered +himself up, and was bound over to the Superior Court at Boston, the +last Tuesday in April, 1693, when, no one appearing to prosecute, he, +with some hundred and fifty others, was discharged by proclamation, +and all judicial proceedings brought to a close. It is to be feared, +that ever after, to his dying day, when the subject of his experience +on the 31st of May, 1692, was referred to, the old sailor indulged in +rather strong expressions in relating his reminiscences of Rev. "Mr. +Nicholas Noyes," "Mr. Bartholomew Gedney," and the "wenches" of Salem +Village.</p> + +<p>Captain John Alden was a son of John Alden, ever memorable as one of +the first founders of Plymouth Colony. He had been for more than +thirty years a resident of Boston, a member of the church, and in all +respects a leading and distinguished man. For some time, he had been +commander of the armed vessel belonging to the colony, and was a brave +and efficient officer and an able and experienced mari<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.247" id="Page_ii.247">[ii.247]</a></span>ner. He had +seen service in French and Indian wars, had acted two years before, +that is in 1690, as commissioner in conducting negotiations with the +native tribes, and, at a later period, was charged with important +trusts as a naval commander. He was a man of large property, and +seventy years of age. He was, as well he might be, utterly confounded +and amazed in finding himself charged as a principal culprit in the +Salem witchcraft. The accusing girls were evidently delighted to get +hold of such a notable and doughty character; and their tongues were +released, on the occasion, from all restraints of decorum and decency. +When the ring was formed around him "in the street," in front of +Deacon Ingersoll's door, his sword unbuckled from his side, and such +foul and vulgar aspersions cast upon his good name, he felt, no doubt, +that it would have been better to have fallen into the hands of +savages of the wilderness or pirates on the sea, than of the crowd of +audacious girls that hustled him about in Salem Village. It was a +relief to his wounded honor, and gave leisure for the workings of his +indignant resentment, to escape from them into Boston jail. Not only +his old shipmate, Bartholomew Gedney, but, as will be seen, the +learned attorney-general, who was present, and witnessed the whole +affair, was fully convinced of his guilt.</p> + +<p>The wife of an honest and worthy man in Andover was sick of a fever. +After all the usual means had failed to check the symptoms of her +disease, the idea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.248" id="Page_ii.248">[ii.248]</a></span> became prevalent that she was suffering under an +"evil hand." The husband, pursuant of the advice of friends, posted +down to Salem Village to ascertain from the afflicted girls who was +bewitching his wife. Two of them returned with him to Andover. Never +did a place receive such fatal visitors. The Grecian horse did not +bring greater consternation to ancient Ilium. Immediately after their +arrival, they succeeded in getting more than fifty of the inhabitants +into prison, several of whom were hanged. A perfect panic swept like a +hurricane over the place. The idea seized all minds, as Hutchinson +expresses it, that the only "way to prevent an accusation was to +become an accuser."—"The number of the afflicted increased every day, +and the number of the accused in proportion." In this state of things, +such a great accession being made to the ranks of the confessing +witches, the power of the delusion became irresistibly strengthened. +Mr. Dudley Bradstreet, the magistrate of the place, after having +committed about forty persons to jail, concluded he had done enough, +and declined to arrest any more. The consequence was that he and his +wife were cried out upon, and they had to fly for their lives. They +accused his brother, John Bradstreet, with having "afflicted" a dog. +Bradstreet escaped by flight. The dog was executed. The number of +persons who had publicly confessed that they had entered into a league +with Satan, and exercised the diabolical power thus acquired, to the +injury, torment, and death of innocent parties, pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.249" id="Page_ii.249">[ii.249]</a></span>duced a profound +effect upon the public mind. At the same time, the accusers had +everywhere increased in number, owing to the inflamed state of +imagination universally prevalent which ascribed all ailments or +diseases to the agency of witches, to a mere love of notoriety and a +passion for general sympathy, to a desire to be secure against the +charge of bewitching others, or to a malicious disposition to wreak +vengeance upon enemies. The prisons in Salem, Ipswich, Boston, and +Cambridge, were crowded. All the securities of society were dissolved. +Every man's life was at the mercy of every other man. Fear sat on +every countenance, terror and distress were in all hearts, silence +pervaded the streets; all who could, quit the country; business was at +a stand; a conviction sunk into the minds of men, that a dark and +infernal confederacy had got foot-hold in the land, threatening to +overthrow and extirpate religion and morality, and establish the +kingdom of the Prince of darkness in a country which had been +dedicated, by the prayers and tears and sufferings of its pious +fathers, to the Church of Christ and the service and worship of the +true God. The feeling, dismal and horrible indeed, became general, +that the providence of God was removed from them; that Satan was let +loose, and he and his confederates had free and unrestrained power to +go to and fro, torturing and destroying whomever he willed. We cannot, +by any extent of research or power of imagination, enter fully into +the ideas of the people of that day; and it is there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.250" id="Page_ii.250">[ii.250]</a></span>fore absolutely +impossible to appreciate the awful condition of the community at the +point of time to which our narrative has led us.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this state of things, the old colony of Massachusetts +was transformed into a royal province, and a new government organized. +Sir William Phips, the governor, arrived at Boston, with the new +charter, on the evening of the 14th of May. William Stoughton, of +Dorchester, superseded Thomas Danforth as deputy-governor. In the +Council, which took the place of the Assistants, most of the former +body were retained. Bartholomew Gedney had a few years before been +dropped from the board of Assistants. He was now placed in the Council +with John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, Samuel Appleton, and Robert Pike, +of this county. The new government did not interfere with the +proceedings in progress relating to the witchcraft prosecutions, at +the moment. Examinations and commitments went on as before; only the +magistrates, acting on those occasions, were re-enforced by Mr. +Gedney, who presided at their sessions. The affair had become so +formidable, and the public infatuation had reached such a point, that +it was difficult to determine what ought to be done. Sir William +Phips, no doubt, felt that it was beyond his depth, and yielded +himself to the views of the leading men of his council. Stoughton was +in full sympathy with Cotton Mather, whose interest had been used in +procuring his appointment over Danforth. Through him, Mather acquired, +and held for some time, great as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.251" id="Page_ii.251">[ii.251]</a></span>cendency with the governor. It was +concluded best to appoint a special court of Oyer and Terminer for the +witchcraft trials. Stoughton, the deputy-governor, was commissioned as +chief-justice. Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill; Major John Richards +of Boston; Major Bartholomew Gedney of Salem; Mr. Wait Winthrop, +Captain Samuel Sewall, and Mr. Peter Sargent, all three of +Boston,—were made associate judges. Saltonstall early withdrew from +the service; and Jonathan Corwin, of Salem, succeeded to his place on +the bench of the special court. A majority of the judges were citizens +of Boston.</p> + +<p>Jonathan Corwin had been associated with Hathorne in conducting the +examinations that have been described. He was a son of George Corwin, +who has been noticed in the account of Salem Village.</p> + +<p>A shade of illegality rests upon the very existence of this special +court. There has always been a question whether the new charter gave +to the governor and council power to create it without the concurrence +of the House of Representatives. It has been held that such a court +could have no other lawful foundation than an act of the General +Court. Hutchinson was evidently of this opinion. This question was a +very serious one; for, as that considerate and able historian and +eminent judicial officer says, the tribunal that passed sentence in +the witchcraft prosecutions was "the most important court to the life +of the subject which was ever held in the province." The time required +to convene the popular branch of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.252" id="Page_ii.252">[ii.252]</a></span> government is itself, in all +cases, an element of safety. In this case, it would have carried the +country beyond the period of the delusion, and saved its annals from +their darkest and bloodiest page. The condition of things when he +arrived, had his counsellors been wise, would have led Sir William +Phips forthwith to issue writs of election of deputies, before taking +any action whatever. In a free republican government, the executive +department ought never to attempt to dispose of difficult matters of +vital importance without the joint deliberations and responsibility of +the representatives of the people.</p> + +<p>So far as the composition of the court is considered, no objection can +be made. The justices were all members of the council, and belonged to +the highest order, not only of the magistracy, but of society +generally. They constituted as respectable a body of gentlemen as +could have been collected. Thomas Newton, of Boston, was commissioned +to act as attorney-general. The official title of marshal ceasing with +the new government, George Corwin was appointed sheriff of the county +of Essex. Herrick appears to have continued in the service as deputy. +Sheriff Corwin was twenty-six years of age. He was the grandson of the +original George Corwin, and the son of John. His mother was +grand-daughter of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, and daughter of +Governor Winthrop of Connecticut. His wife was a daughter of +Bartholomew Gedney; so that it appears that two of the judges were his +uncles, and one his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.253" id="Page_ii.253">[ii.253]</a></span> father-in-law. These personal connections may be +borne in mind, as affording ground to believe, that, in the discharge +of his painful duties, he did not act without advice and suggestions +from the highest quarter.</p> + +<p>The court-house in which the trials were held stood in the middle of +what is now Washington Street, near where Lynde and Church Streets, +which did not then exist, now enter it, fronting towards Essex Street. +The building was also used as a town-house; Washington Street being, +for this reason, then called "Town-house Lane." Off against the +court-house, on the west side of the lane, was the house of the Rev. +Nicholas Noyes, on the site of the residence of the late Robert +Brookhouse. Opposite to it was the estate of Edward Bishop, which +fronted westerly on "Town-house Lane" a little over a hundred feet, +including the present Jeffrey Court, and extending a few feet beyond +the corner of the house of Dr. S.M. Cate, over a portion of Church +Street. Its depth, towards St. Peter Street, was about three hundred +and forty-five feet. Edward Bishop held this estate in the right of +his wife Bridget, the widow of Thomas Oliver who had died about 1679. +Not long after this marriage, Bishop removed to his farm at Royal +Side. In 1685, the "old Oliver house" was either removed or rebuilt, +and a new one erected on the same premises, which was occupied by +tenants in 1692. These items are given because they will help to +illustrate the narrative, and enable us to understand points of +evidence in the approaching trial. It is a curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.254" id="Page_ii.254">[ii.254]</a></span> circumstance, that +the first public victim of the prosecutions, Bridget Bishop, had been +the nearest neighbor and lived directly opposite, to the person who, +more than any other inhabitant of the town, was responsible for the +blood that was shed,—Nicholas Noyes. The jail, at that time, was on +the western side of Prison Lane, now St. Peter Street, north of the +point where Federal Street now enters it. The meeting-house stood on +what has always been the site of the First Church. The "Ship Tavern" +was on ground the front of which is occupied, at present, by "West's +Block," nearly opposite the head of Central Street. It had long been +owned and kept by John Gedney, Sr. Two of his sons, John and +Bartholomew, had married Susanna and Hannah Clarke. John died in 1685. +His widow moved into the family of her father-in-law; and, after his +death in 1688, continued to keep the house. In 1698 she was married to +Deliverance Parkman, and died in 1728. The tavern, in 1692, was known +as the "Widow Gedney's." The estate had an extensive orchard in the +rear, contiguous, along its northern boundary, to the orchard of +Bridget Bishop, which occupied ground now covered by the Lyceum +building, and one or two others to the east of it.</p> + +<p>The Court was opened at Salem in the first week of June, 1692. In the +mean time, the attorney-general, to prepare for the management of the +cases, came to Salem. He addressed the following letter to Isaac +Addington, Secretary of the province:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.255" id="Page_ii.255">[ii.255]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Salem</span>, 31st May, 1692.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Worthy Sir</span>,—I have herewith sent you the names of +the prisoners that are desired to be transmitted by <i>habeas +corpus</i>; and have presumed to send you a copy thereof, being +more, as I presume, accustomed to that practice than +yourself, and beg pardon if I have infringed upon you +therein. I fear we shall not this week try all that we have +sent for; by reason the trials will be tedious, and the +afflicted persons cannot readily give their testimonies, +being struck dumb and senseless, for a season, at the name +of the accused. I have been all this day at the Village, +with the gentlemen of the council, at the examination of the +persons, where I have beheld strange things, scarce credible +but to the spectators, and too tedious here to relate; and, +amongst the rest, Captain Alden and Mr. English have their +<i>mittimus</i>. I must say, according to the present appearances +of things, they are as deeply concerned as the rest; for the +afflicted spare no person of what quality soever, neither +conceal their crimes, though never so heinous. We pray that +Tituba the Indian, and Mrs. Thacher's maid, may be +transferred as evidence, but desire they may not come +amongst the prisoners but rather by themselves; with the +records in the Court of Assistants, 1679, against Bridget +Oliver, and the records relating to the first persons +committed, left in Mr. Webb's hands by the order of the +council. I pray pardon that I cannot now further enlarge; +and, with my cordial service, only add that I am, sir, your +most humble servant,</p></div> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image20.png" alt="signature" width="200" height="62" /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.256" id="Page_ii.256">[ii.256]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hutchinson says that there was no colony or province law against +witchcraft in force when the trials began; and that the proceedings +were under an act of James the First, passed in 1603. By that act, +persons convicted were to be sentenced to "the pains and penalties of +death as felons." By the colonial law, conviction of capital crimes +did not incapacitate the party affected from disposing of property. In +this and other respects, there were points of difference, which caused +some inconvenience in carrying out the practice of the mother-country; +and the attorney-general had to supply the want of experience in the +local officers.</p> + +<p>It may here be mentioned, that no record of the doings of this special +court are now to be found, and our only information respecting them is +obtained in brief and imperfect statements of writers of the time. +Perhaps Hutchinson had the use of the records. He gives the dates of +the several sessions of the courts, and of the conviction and +execution of the prisoners. Some of the depositions sworn to in court +are on file, but without giving in many instances the date when thus +offered in the trials. In some cases, they state when they were laid +before the grand jury. Only a small part of them are preserved. The +matter they contain was, to a considerable extent, brought forward at +the preliminary examinations, and has been already adduced. In the +following account of the trials, some further use will be made of +these depositions.</p> + +<p>Bridget Bishop was the only person tried at the first session of the +Court. She was brought through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.257" id="Page_ii.257">[ii.257]</a></span> Prison Lane, up Essex Street, by the +First Church, into Town-house Lane, to the Court-house. Cotton Mather +says,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There was one strange thing with which the court was newly +entertained. As this woman was under a guard, passing by the +great and spacious meeting-house, she gave a look towards +the house; and immediately a demon, invisibly entering the +meeting-house, tore down a part of it: so that, though there +was no person to be seen there, yet the people, at the +noise, running in, found a board, which was strongly +fastened with several nails, transported into another +quarter of the house."</p></div> + +<p>It is probable that the streets were thronged by crowds eager to get a +sight of the prisoner; and that the doors, fences, and house-tops were +occupied. Some, perhaps, got into the meeting-house; and, in +clambering up to the windows, a board may have been put in +requisition, and left misplaced. Incredible almost as it is, this +circumstance seems, from Mather's language,—"the court was +entertained,"—to have been brought in evidence at the trial, and +regarded as weighty and conclusive proof of Bridget's guilt.</p> + +<p>One or two points in the evidence adduced against her, in addition to +those mentioned heretofore, deserve consideration. The position taken, +at her trial, by the Rev. John Hale of Beverly demands criticism. The +charge of witchcraft had been made against her on more than one +occasion before; particularly about the year 1687, when she resided +near the bounds of Beverly, at Royal Side. A woman in the +neighbor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.258" id="Page_ii.258">[ii.258]</a></span>hood, subject to fits of insanity, had, while passing into +one of them, brought the accusation against her; but, on the return of +her reason, solemnly recanted, and deeply lamented the aspersion. In a +violent recurrence of her malady, this woman committed suicide. Mr. +Hale had examined the case at the time, and exonerated Bridget Bishop, +who was a communicant in his church, from the charge made against her +by the unhappy lunatic. He was satisfied, as he states, that "Sister +Bishop" was innocent, and in no way deserved to be ill thought of. He +hoped "better of said Goody Bishop at that time." Without any pretence +of new evidence touching the facts of the case, he came into court in +1692, and related them, to the effect and with the intent to make them +bear against her. He described the appearance of the throat of the +woman, after death, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As to the wounds she died of, I observed three deadly ones; +a piece of her windpipe cut out, and another wound above +that through the windpipe and gullet, and the vein they call +jugular. So that I then judged and still do apprehend it +impossible for her, with so short a pair of scissors, to +mangle herself so without some extraordinary work of the +Devil or witchcraft."</p></div> + +<p>If this was his impression at the time, it is strange that he did not +then say so. But there is no appearance of any criminal proceedings +having been had, by the grand jury or otherwise, against "Sister +Bishop" on the occasion. On the contrary, Mr. Hale seems to have +acquiesced in the opinion, that the derangement of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.259" id="Page_ii.259">[ii.259]</a></span> the woman was +aggravated, if not caused, by her being overmuch given to searching +and pondering upon the dark passages and mysterious imagery of +prophecy. The truth, in all probability, is, that Mr. Hale's suspicion +was an after-thought. The effect produced upon his mental condition by +the statements and actings of the "afflicted children" in 1692 was +unconsciously transferred to 1687. The delusion, in which he was then +fully participating, led him to put a different interpretation upon +the suicidal wounds and horrible end of the wretched maniac, five or +six years before.</p> + +<p>A piece of evidence, which illustrates the state of opinion at that +time, relating to our subject, given in this case, is worthy of +notice. Samuel Shattuck was a hatter and dyer. His house was on the +south side of Essex Street, opposite the western entrance to the +grounds of the North Church. Before her removal to the village, +Bridget Bishop was in the habit of calling at Shattuck's to have +articles of dress dyed. He states that she treated him and his family +politely and kindly; or, as he characterized her deportment after his +mind had become jaundiced against her, "in a smooth and flattering +manner." He tells his story in a deposition written by him, and signed +and sworn to in Court by himself and wife, June 2, 1692. It is as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Our eldest child, who promised as much health and +understanding, both by countenance and actions, as any other +children of his years, was taken in a very drooping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.260" id="Page_ii.260">[ii.260]</a></span> +condition; and, as she came oftener to the house, he grew +worse and worse. As he would be standing at the door, would +fall out, and bruise his face upon a great step-stone, as if +he had been thrust out by an invisible hand; oftentimes +falling, and hitting his face against the sides of the +house, bruising his face in a very miserable manner.... This +child taken in a terrible fit, his mouth and eyes drawn +aside, and gasped in such a manner as if he was upon the +point of death. After this, he grew worse in his fits, and, +out of them, would be almost always crying. That, for many +months, he would be crying till nature's strength was spent, +and then would fall asleep, and then awake, and fall to +crying and moaning; and that his very countenance did +bespeak compassion. And at length, we perceived his +understanding decayed: so that we feared (as it has since +proved) that he would be quite bereft of his wits; for, ever +since, he has been stupefied and void of reason, his fits +still following of him. After he had been in this kind of +sickness some time, he has gone into the garden, and has got +upon a board of an inch thick, which lay flat upon the +ground, and we have called him; he would come to the edge of +the board, and hold out his hand, and make as if he would +come, but could not till he was helped off the board.... My +wife has offered him a cake and money to come to her; and he +has held out his hand, and reached after it, but could not +come till he had been helped off the board, by which I judge +some enchantment kept him on.... Ever since, this child hath +been followed with grievous fits, as if he would never +recover more; his head and eyes drawn aside so as if they +would never come to rights more; lying as if he were, in a +manner, dead; falling anywhere, either into fire or water, +if he be not constantly looked to; and, generally, in such +an uneasy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.261" id="Page_ii.261">[ii.261]</a></span> restless frame, almost always running to and +fro, acting so strange that I cannot judge otherwise but +that he is bewitched: and, by these circumstances, do +believe that the aforesaid Bridget Oliver—now called +Bishop—is the cause of it: and it has been the judgment of +doctors, such as lived here and foreigners, that he is under +an evil hand of witchcraft."</p></div> + +<p>The means used to give this direction to the suspicions of Shattuck +and his wife are described in the notice of Bridget Bishop, in the +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a> of this work.</p> + +<p>Shattuck was a son of the sturdy Quaker of that name who, thirty years +before, had given the government of the colony so much trouble, and +seems to have inherited some of his notions. In his deposition, he +mentions, as corroborative proof of Bridget Bishop's being a witch, +that she used to bring to his dye-house "sundry pieces of lace," of +shapes and dimensions entirely outside of his conceptions of what +could be needed in the wardrobe, or for the toilet, of a plain and +honest woman. He evidently regarded fashionable and vain apparel as a +snare and sign of the Devil.</p> + +<p>The imaginations of several persons in Shattuck's immediate +neighborhood seem to have been wrought up to a high point against +Bridget Bishop. John Cook lived on the south side of the street, +directly opposite the eastern entrance to the grounds of the North +Church, on its present site. John Bly's house was on a lot contiguous +to the rear of Cook's, fronting on Summer Street. One of Cook's sons +(John), aged eighteen, testified, that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.262" id="Page_ii.262">[ii.262]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"About five or six years ago, one morning about sun-rising, +as I was in bed, before I rose, I saw Goodwife Bishop, +<i>alias</i> Oliver, stand in the chamber by the window: and she +looked on me and grinned on me, and presently struck me on +the side of the head, which did very much hurt me; and then +I saw her go out under the end window at a little crevice, +about so big as I could thrust my hand into. I saw her again +the same day,—which was the sabbath-day,—about noon, walk +across the room; and having, at the time, an apple in my +hand, it flew out of my hand into my mother's lap, who sat +six or eight foot distance from me, and then she +disappeared: and, though my mother and several others were +in the same room, yet they affirmed they saw her not."</p></div> + +<p>Bly and his wife Rebecca had a difficulty with Bishop in reference to +payment for a hog they had bought of her. The following is from their +testimony at her trial. After stating that she came to their house and +quarrelled with them about it, they go on to say that the animal—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"was taken with strange fits, jumping up, and knocking her +head against the fence, and seemed blind and deaf, and would +not eat, neither let her pigs suck, but foamed at the mouth; +which Goody Henderson, hearing of, said she believed she was +overlooked, and that they had their cattle ill in such a +manner at the Eastward, when they lived there, and used to +cure them by giving of them red ochre and milk, which we +also gave the sow. Quickly after eating of which, she grew +better; and then, for the space of near two hours together, +she, getting into the street, did set off, jumping and +running between the house of said deponents and said +Bishop's, as if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.263" id="Page_ii.263">[ii.263]</a></span> she were stark mad, and, after that, was +well again: and we did then apprehend or judge, and do +still, that said Bishop had bewitched said sow."</p></div> + +<p>William Stacey testified, that, as he was "agoing to mill," meeting +Bishop in the street, some conversation passed between them, and +that,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"being gone about six rods from her, the said Bishop, with a +small load in his cart, suddenly the off-wheel slumped or +sunk down into a hole upon plain ground; that this deponent +was forced to get one to help him get the wheel out. +Afterwards, this deponent went back to look for said hole +where his wheel sunk in, but could not find any hole."</p></div> + +<p>Stacey further deposed, that, on another occasion, he—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"met the said Bishop by Isaac Stearns's brick-kiln. After he +had passed by her, this deponent's horse stood still with a +small load going up the hill; so that, the horse striving to +draw, all his gears and tackling flew in pieces, and the +cart fell down."</p></div> + +<p>These mishaps and marvels occurred in Summer Street, near the foot of +Chestnut Street, where the ground was then much lower than it is now. +Stacey was ascending the street, on his way through High Street to his +father's mill, at the South River.</p> + +<p>Stacey concluded his testimony as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This deponent hath met with several other of her pranks at +several times, which would take up a great time to tell of.</p> + +<p>"This deponent doth verily believe that the said Bridget +Bishop was instrumental to his daughter Priscilla's death.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.264" id="Page_ii.264">[ii.264]</a></span> +About two years ago, the child was a likely, thriving child; +and suddenly screeched out, and so continued, in an unusual +manner, for about a fortnight, and so died in that +lamentable manner."</p></div> + +<p>Many of the extraordinary "pranks," charged upon Bridget Bishop, had +their scene near to her dwelling-house. John Louder, a servant of John +Gedney, Sr., some years before, had a controversy with her about her +fowls, "that used to come into our orchard or garden." He swore as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Some little time after which, I, going well to bed, about +the dead of the night, felt a great weight upon my breast, +and, awakening, looked; and, it being bright moonlight, did +clearly see said Bridget Bishop, or her likeness, sitting +upon my stomach; and, putting my arms off of the bed to free +myself from the great oppression, she presently laid hold of +my throat, and almost choked me, and I had no strength or +power in my hands to resist, or help myself; and, in this +condition, she held me to almost day. Some time after this, +my mistress (Susannah Gedney) was in our orchard, and I was +then with her; and said Bridget Bishop, being then in her +orchard,—which was next adjoining to ours,—my mistress +told said Bridget that I said or affirmed that she came, one +night, and sat upon my breast, as aforesaid, which she +denied, and I affirmed to her face to be true, and that I +did plainly see her; upon which discourse with her, she +threatened me. And, some time after that, I, being not very +well, stayed at home on a Lord's Day; and, on the afternoon +of said day, the doors being shut, I did see a black pig in +the room coming towards me; so I went towards it to kick it, +and it vanished away."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.265" id="Page_ii.265">[ii.265]</a></span></p> + +<p>Louder goes on to say, that, immediately after this, on the same +occasion while he was staying at home from meeting, he saw a black +thing jump into the window, and it came and stood just before his face +"upon the bar." The body of it looked like a monkey, only the feet +were like a cock's feet with claws, and the face somewhat more like a +man's than a monkey's. He says that he was greatly affrighted, "not +being able to speak or help myself by reason of fear, I suppose;" and +that his mysterious visitor made quite a speech to him, representing +that it was a messenger sent to say, that, if he would "be ruled by +him, he should want for nothing in this world." The virtuous and +indignant Louder says that he answered, "You devil, I will kill you!" +and gave it a blow with his fist, but "could feel no substance; and it +jumped out of the window again." It immediately came in by the porch, +although the doors were shut, and said, "You had better take my +counsel." Hereupon Louder struck at it with a stick, hitting the +ground-sill and breaking the stick, but felt no substance. Louder +concludes his testimony as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The arm with which I struck was presently disenabled. Then +it vanished away, and I opened the back-door and went out; +and, going towards the house-end, I espied said Bridget +Bishop in her orchard going towards her house, and, seeing +her, had no power to set one foot forward, but returned in +again: and, going to shut the door, I again did see that or +the like creature, that I before did see within doors, in +such a posture as it seemed to be agoing to fly at me;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.266" id="Page_ii.266">[ii.266]</a></span> upon +which I cried out, 'The whole armor of God be between me and +you.' So it sprang back and flew over the apple-tree, +flinging the dirt with its feet against my stomach, upon +which I was struck dumb, and so continued for about three +days' time; and also shook many of the apples off from the +tree which it flew over."</p></div> + +<p>Before removing to his farm, Edward and Bridget Bishop made the +alterations, before mentioned, on their town estate. John Bly, Sr., +aged fifty-seven years, and William Bly, aged fifteen, were employed +in the operation of removing the cellar wall of "the ould house;" and +testified, that they found in holes and crevices of said cellar wall +"several puppets made up of rags and hogs' bristles, with headless +pins in them with the points outward."</p> + +<p>Upon such evidence, Bridget Bishop was condemned, and executed the +next week. The death-warrants, in these trials, were collected +together in one envelope, marked as such. The envelope remains, but +its contents have all been abstracted. The <a href="#warrant">death-warrant</a> of Bridget +Bishop was probably overlooked when the others were gathered together. +The consequence is that it has been preserved, and is the only one +known to be in existence.</p> + +<p>The sheriff seems to have proceeded, immediately after the execution, +to the clerk's office, and indorsed his <a href="#return">return</a> on the warrant. When he +wrote it, he added, after the word "dead,"—"and buried her on the +spot." On its occurring to him that the burying of the body was not +mentioned in the warrant, he drew <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.267" id="Page_ii.267">[ii.267]</a></span> his pen through the words; as +is seen in the photograph. This superfluous clause, thus partially +obliterated, is the only positive evidence we have of the disposal of +the bodies at the time. They were undoubtedly all thrown into pits dug +among the rocks, on the spot, and hastily covered by the officers +having in charge the details of the executions. There were no prayers +over their graves, except those uttered by themselves in their last +moments.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="warrant"> +<img src="images2/image21.jpg" alt="death warrant" width="303" height="400" /></a></p> + +<p style="text-align: center">[<a href="images2/image21a.jpg">View larger image</a> +(383K)]</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="return"> +<img src="images2/image22.jpg" alt="return on warrant" width="400" height="153" /></a></p> + +<p style="text-align: center">[<a href="images2/image22a.jpg">View larger image</a> +(327K)]</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p>The descendants of Bridget Bishop are very numerous in Salem; +embracing some of our oldest and most respectable families, and +branching widely from them. There is no evidence of issue by her first +marriage. Thomas Oliver, her second husband, had daughters by a former +wife, who were represented in the next generation under the names of +Hilliard, Hooper, and Jones. By his wife Bridget, he had but one +child,—a daughter, Christian, born May 8, 1667. She married Thomas +Mason, and died in 1693; leaving an only child, Susannah, born August +23, 1687. Edward Bishop was her guardian. She married John Becket in +1711, and by him had a son, John, and six daughters, as follows: +Susannah, married to David Felt, Elizabeth to William Peele, Sarah to +Nathaniel Silsbee, Rebecca to William Fairfield, Eunice to Thorndike +Deland, and Hannah to William Cloutman.</p> + +<p>After the condemnation of Bridget Bishop, the Court took a recess, and +consulted the ministers of Boston and the neighborhood respecting the +prosecutions. The response of the reverend gentlemen, while urging,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.268" id="Page_ii.268">[ii.268]</a></span> +in general terms, the importance of caution and circumspection in the +methods of examination, decidedly and earnestly recommended that the +proceedings should be vigorously carried on; and they were, indeed, +vigorously carried on.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson says, that, "at the first trial, there was no colony or +provincial law against witchcraft in force. The statute of James the +First must therefore have been considered as in force in the province, +witchcraft not being an offence at common law. Before the adjournment, +the old colony law, which makes witchcraft a capital offence, was +revived with the other local laws, as they were called, and made a law +of the province." The General Court, which thus revived the law making +witchcraft a capital offence, met, June 8, two days before the +execution of Bridget Bishop. The proceedings that took place at Salem +were thus assumed as a provincial matter, for which the immediate +locality was not responsible, but the legislature, clergy, and people +of the country at large.</p> + +<p>The Court met again on Wednesday, the 29th of June; and, after trial, +sentenced to death Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth How, Susanna +Martin, and Rebecca Nurse, who were all executed on the 19th of July.</p> + +<p>Calef says, that, at the trial of Sarah Good,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One of the afflicted fell in a fit; and, after coming out +of it, cried out of the prisoner for stabbing her in the +breast with a knife, and that she had broken the knife in +stabbing of her. Accordingly, a piece of the blade of a +knife was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.269" id="Page_ii.269">[ii.269]</a></span>found about her. Immediately, information being +given to the Court, a young man was called, who produced a +haft and part of the blade, which the Court, having viewed +and compared, saw it to be the same; and, upon inquiry, the +young man affirmed that yesterday he happened to break that +knife, and that he cast away the upper part,—this afflicted +person being then present. The young man was dismissed and +she was bidden by the Court not to tell lies; and was +improved after (as she had been before) to give evidence +against the prisoners."</p></div> + +<p>Hutchinson, in relating this circumstance, refers to a case tried +before Sir Matthew Hale, when a similar kind of falsehood was proved +against an "afflicted" witness; notwithstanding which he says the +person on trial was found guilty, "and the judge and all the court +were fully satisfied with the verdict."</p> + +<p>Sarah Good appears to have been an unfortunate woman, having been +subject to poverty, and consequent sadness and melancholy. But she was +not wholly broken in spirit. Mr. Noyes, at the time of her execution, +urged her very strenuously to confess. Among other things, he told her +"she was a witch, and that she knew she was a witch." She was +conscious of her innocence, and felt that she was oppressed, outraged, +trampled upon, and about to be murdered, under the forms of law; and +her indignation was roused against her persecutors. She could not bear +in silence the cruel aspersion; and, although she was just about to be +launched into eternity, the torrent of her feelings could not be +restrained, but burst upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.270" id="Page_ii.270">[ii.270]</a></span> the head of him who uttered the false +accusation. "You are a liar," said she. "I am no more a witch than you +are a wizard; and, if you take away my life, God will give you blood +to drink." Hutchinson says that, in his day, there was a tradition +among the people of Salem, and it has descended to the present time, +that the manner of Mr. Noyes's death strangely verified the prediction +thus wrung from the incensed spirit of the dying woman. He was +exceedingly corpulent, of a plethoric habit, and died of an internal +hemorrhage, bleeding profusely at the mouth.</p> + +<p>We have no information relating to the execution of Elizabeth How. Her +gentle, patient, humble, benignant, devout, and tender heart bore her, +no doubt, with a spirit of saint-like love and faith, through the +dreadful scenes. We cannot doubt, that, in death as in life, she +forgave, prayed for, and invoked blessing upon her persecutors. +Neither has any thing come down in reference to the deportment of +Sarah Wildes or Susanna Martin. We may take it for granted, that the +former was a patient and humble, but firm and faithful sufferer; and +that the latter displayed the great energy of spirit, and probably the +strength of language, for which she was remarkable. Of the case of +Rebecca Nurse we have more information.</p> + +<p>The character, age, and position of this venerable matron created an +impression, which called, to the utmost, all the arts and efforts of +the prosecution to counteract. Many who had gone fully and earnestly +in support of the proceedings against others paused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.271" id="Page_ii.271">[ii.271]</a></span> and hesitated in +reference to her; and large numbers who had been overawed into silence +before, bravely came forward in her defence. The character of +Nathaniel Putnam has been described. He was a man of extraordinary +strength and acuteness of mind, and in all his previous life had been +proof against popular excitement. The death of his brother Thomas, +seven years before, had left him the head and patriarch of his great +family: as such, he was known as "Landlord Putnam." Entire confidence +was felt by all in his judgment, and deservedly. But he was a strong +religionist, a life-long member of the Church, and extremely strenuous +and zealous in his ecclesiastical relations. He was getting to be an +old man; and Mr. Parris had wholly succeeded in obtaining, for the +time, possession of his feelings, sympathy, and zeal in the management +of the Church, and secured his full co-operation in the witchcraft +prosecutions. He had been led by Parris to take the very front in the +proceedings. But even Nathaniel Putnam could not stand by in silence, +and see Rebecca Nurse sacrificed. A curious paper, written by him, is +among those which have been preserved:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Putnam</span>, Sr., being desired by Francis +Nurse, Sr., to give information of what I could say +concerning his wife's life and conversation, I, the +abovesaid, have known this said aforesaid woman forty years, +and what I have observed of her, human frailties excepted, +her life and conversation have been according to her +profession; and she hath brought up a great family of +children and educated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.272" id="Page_ii.272">[ii.272]</a></span> them well, so that there is in some +of them apparent savor of godliness. I have known her differ +with her neighbors; but I never knew or heard of any that +did accuse her of what she is now charged with."</p></div> + +<p>A similar paper was signed by thirty-nine other persons of the village +and the immediate vicinity, all of the highest respectability. The men +and women who dared to do this act of justice must not be forgotten:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are hereunto subscribed, being desired by +Goodman Nurse to declare what we know concerning his wife's +conversation for time past,—we can testify, to all whom it +may concern, that we have known her for many years; and, +according to our observation, her life and conversation were +according to her profession, and we never had any cause or +grounds to suspect her of any such thing as she is now +accused of.</p></div> + + <table border="0" summary="signatures" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>"<span class="smcap">Israel Porter</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Abbey</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> +<span class="smcap">Elizabeth Porter</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Hepzibah Rea.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Edward Bishop</span>, Sr.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Daniel Andrew</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Hannah Bishop</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Andrew</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joshua Rea</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Daniel Rea</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Rea</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Putnam</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Leach</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Jonathan Putnam</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Putnam</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Lydia Putnam</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Rebecca Putnam</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Walter Phillips</span>, Sr.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Hutchinson</span>, Sr.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Nathaniel Felton</span>, Sr.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Lydia Hutchinson</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Margaret Phillips</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Osburn</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Tabitha Phillips.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Hannah Osburn</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Houlton</span>, Jr.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Holton</span>, Sr.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Endicott.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Holton</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Buxton</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Putnam</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Aborn</span>, Sr.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sarah Putnam</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Isaac Cook</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Job Swinnerton</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Cook</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Esther Swinnerton</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Putnam</span>."</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Herrick</span>, Sr.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.273" id="Page_ii.273">[ii.273]</a></span></p> + +<p>An examination of the foregoing names in connection with the history +of the Village will show conclusive proof, that, if the matter had +been left to the people there, it would never have reached the point +to which it was carried. It was the influence of the magistracy and +the government of the colony, and the public sentiment prevalent +elsewhere, overruling that of the immediate locality, that drove on +the storm.</p> + +<p>Israel Porter was the head of a great and powerful family. His wife +Elizabeth was, as has been stated, a sister of Hathorne, the examining +magistrate. Edward and Hannah Bishop were the venerable heads and +founders of a large family. They lived in Beverly, and must each have +been about ninety years of age. The list contains the names of the +heads of the principal families in the village,—such as John and +Rebecca Putnam, the Hutchinsons, Reas, Leaches, Houltons, and +Herricks; and, in the neighborhood, such as the Feltons, Osbornes, and +Samuel Endicott. The most remarkable fact it discloses is that it +contains the name of one of the two complainants who procured the +warrant against Rebecca Nurse,—Jonathan Putnam, the eldest son of +John; and also of his wife Lydia. Subsequent reflection, and the +return of his better judgment, satisfied him that he had done a great +wrong to an innocent and worthy person; and he had the manliness to +come out in her favor. This document ought to have been effectual in +saving the life of Rebecca Nurse. It will for ever vindicate her +character, and reflect honor upon each and every name subscribed to +it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.274" id="Page_ii.274">[ii.274]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the most cruel features in the prosecution of the witchcraft +trials, and which was practised in all countries where they took +place, was the examination of the bodies of the prisoners by a jury of +the same sex, under the direction and in the presence of a surgeon or +physician. The person was wholly exposed, and every part subjected to +the most searching scrutiny. The process was always an outrage upon +human nature; and in the cases of the victims on this occasion, many +of them of venerable years and delicate feelings, it was shocking to +every natural and instinctive sentiment. There is reason to fear that +it was often conducted in a rough, coarse, and brutal manner. Marshal +Herrick testifies, that, "by order of Their Majesties' justices," he, +accompanied by the jail-keeper Dounton, and Constable Joseph Neal, +made an examination of the body of George Jacobs. In persons of his +great age, there would, in all likelihood, be shrivelled, desiccated, +and callous places. They found one on the old man, under his right +shoulder. Herrick made oath that it was a veritable witch teat, and +his deposition describes it as follows: "About a quarter of an inch +long or better, with a sharp point drooping downwards, so that I took +a pin, and run it through the said teat; but there was neither water, +blood, or corruption, nor any other matter." As proof positive that +this was "the Devil's mark," Herrick and the turnkey testify that "the +said Jacobs was not in the least sensible of what had been done"!</p> + +<p>The mind loathes the thought of handling in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.275" id="Page_ii.275">[ii.275]</a></span> way refined and +sensitive females of matronly character, or persons of either sex, +with infirmities of body rendered sacred by years. The results of the +examination were reduced to written reports, going into details, and, +among other evidences in the trials, spread before the Court and +jury.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> + +<p>The evidence in the case of Rebecca Nurse was made up of the usual +representations and actings of the "afflicted children." Mary Walcot +and Abigail Williams charged her with having committed several +murders; mentioning particularly Benjamin Houlton, John Harwood, and +Rebecca Shepard, and averring that she was aided therein by her sister +Cloyse. Mr. Parris, too, gave in a deposition against her; from which +it ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.276" id="Page_ii.276">[ii.276]</a></span>pears, that, a certain person being sick, Mercy Lewis was sent +for. She was struck dumb on entering the chamber. She was asked to +hold up her hand, if she saw any of the witches afflicting the +patient. Presently she held up her hand, then fell into a trance; and +after a while, coming to herself, said that she saw the spectres of +Goody Nurse and Goody Carrier having hold of the head of the sick man. +Mr. Parris swore to this statement with the utmost confidence in +Mercy's declarations.</p> + +<p>The testimony of three persons particularly is required to be given, +as illustrating the extraordinary extent to which the minds of those +involved in the affair were under infatuation or hallucination.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ann Putnam was about thirty years of age. For six months she had +been constantly absorbed in what was then, as now, regarded as +spiritualism. Her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.277" id="Page_ii.277">[ii.277]</a></span> house had been the scene of a perpetual series of +wonders supposed to be disclosures and manifestations of a +supernatural character. Apparitions, spectral shapes of living +witches, ghosts of their murdered victims, and demons generally, were +of daily and hourly occurrence. The dread secrets of the world unknown +had been revealed to her in waking fancies and dreams by night. An +originally sensitive and imaginative nature had been wrought into a +condition in which her mental faculties were at once enfeebled and +exalted. Besides all this, there were the trials to which her +constitution had been subjected by the experiences of maternity so +early begun, and the pressure upon her mind and heart of the anxieties +and cares incident to a large family of young children. An +accumulation of disappointments, vexations, and consuming griefs, +spread like a dark cloud over her life,—the deaths of her own +children, and of her sister Bayley and her children, and of her sister +Baker's children; and, finally, the long-continued, and constantly +recurring sufferings, tortures, convulsions, fits, and trances of her +daughter Ann, and her servant-woman Mercy Lewis, under, as she fully +believed, a diabolical hand.—These things must have given to her +countenance and tones of voice a wonderful impressiveness to all who +looked upon or listened to them. Her eminent social position, her +general reputation,—for Lawson, who knew her well, calls her "a very +sober and pious woman," so far as he could judge,—the stamp of +profound earnestness marked on all her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.278" id="Page_ii.278">[ii.278]</a></span> language, the glow which +morbid excitement long experienced gave to her expression, must have +arrested, to a high degree, the attention of the assembled multitude. +An air of sadness, in the wild ravings of imagination, pervades her +testimony. I present her deposition in full, as one of the phenomena +of this strange transaction:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Ann Putnam</span>, the wife of Thomas +Putnam, aged about thirty years, who testifieth and saith, +that, on the 18th March, 1692, I being wearied out in +helping to tend my poor afflicted child and maid, about the +middle of the afternoon I lay me down on the bed to take a +little rest; and immediately I was almost pressed and choked +to death, that, had it not been for the mercy of a gracious +God and the help of those that were with me, I could not +have lived many moments: and presently I saw the apparition +of Martha Corey, who did torture me so as I cannot express, +ready to tear me all to pieces, and then departed from me a +little while; but, before I could recover strength or well +take breath, the apparition of Martha Corey fell upon me +again with dreadful tortures, and hellish temptation to go +along with her. And she also brought to me a little red book +in her hand and a black pen, urging me vehemently to write +in her book; and several times that day she did most +grievously torture me, almost ready to kill me. And, on the +19th March, Martha Corey again appeared to me; and also +Rebecca Nurse, the wife of Francis Nurse, Sr.: and they both +did torture me a great many times this day with such +tortures as no tongue can express, because I would not yield +to their hellish temptations, that, had I not been upheld by +an Almighty arm, I could not have lived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.279" id="Page_ii.279">[ii.279]</a></span> while night. The +20th March, being sabbath-day, I had a great deal of respite +between my fits. 21st March, being the day of the +examination of Martha Corey, I had not many fits, though I +was very weak; my strength being, as I thought, almost gone: +but, on the 22d March, 1692, the apparition of Rebecca Nurse +did again set upon me in a most dreadful manner, very early +in the morning, as soon as it was well light. And now she +appeared to me only in her shift, and brought a little red +book in her hand, urging me vehemently to write in her book; +and, because I would not yield to her hellish temptations, +she threatened to tear my soul out of my body, blasphemously +denying the blessed God, and the power of the Lord Jesus +Christ to save my soul; and denying several places of +Scripture which I told her of, to repel her hellish +temptations. And for near two hours together, at this time, +the apparition of Rebecca Nurse did tempt and torture me, +and also the greater part of this day, with but very little +respite. 23d March, am again afflicted by the apparitions of +Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, but chiefly by Rebecca +Nurse. 24th March, being the day of the examination of +Rebecca Nurse, I was several times afflicted in the morning +by the apparition of Rebecca Nurse, but most dreadfully +tortured by her in the time of her examination, insomuch +that the honored magistrates gave my husband leave to carry +me out of the meeting-house; and, as soon as I was carried +out of the meeting-house doors, it pleased Almighty God, for +his free grace and mercy's sake, to deliver me out of the +paws of those roaring lions, and jaws of those tearing +bears, that, ever since that time, they have not had power +so to afflict me until this 31st May, 1692. At the same +moment that I was hearing my evidence read by the honored +magistrates, to take my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.280" id="Page_ii.280">[ii.280]</a></span> oath, I was again re-assaulted and +tortured by my before-mentioned tormentor, Rebecca Nurse."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Ann Putnam</span>, Jr., witnesseth and +saith, that, being in the room when her mother was +afflicted, she saw Martha Corey, Sarah Cloyse, and Rebecca +Nurse, or their apparition, upon her mother."</p></div> + +<p>Mrs. Ann Putnam made another deposition under oath, at the same trial, +which shows that she was determined to overwhelm the prisoner by the +multitude of her charges. She says that Rebecca Nurse's apparition +declared to her that "she had killed Benjamin Houlton, John Fuller, +and Rebecca Shepard;" and that she and her sister Cloyse, and Edward +Bishop's wife, had killed young John Putnam's child; and she further +deposed as followeth:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Immediately there did appear to me six children in +winding-sheets, which called me aunt, which did most +grievously affright me; and they told me that they were my +sister Baker's children of Boston; and that Goody Nurse, and +Mistress Carey of Charlestown, and an old deaf woman at +Boston, had murdered them, and charged me to go and tell +these things to the magistrates, or else they would tear me +to pieces, for their blood did cry for vengeance. Also there +appeared to me my own sister Bayley and three of her +children in winding-sheets, and told me that Goody Nurse had +murdered them."</p></div> + +<p>There is in this deposition a passage which illustrates one of the +doctrines held at the time on the subject of witchcraft. Mrs. Ann +Putnam "testifieth and saith, that, on the first day of June, 1692, +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.281" id="Page_ii.281">[ii.281]</a></span> apparition of Rebecca Nurse did again fall upon me, and almost +choke me; and she told me, that, now she was come out of prison, she +had power to afflict me, and that now she would afflict me all this +day long." The reference here is probably to the fact, that, on the +1st of June, she with many other prisoners was transferred from the +jail in Boston to that in Salem; and that, "all that day long" being +outside of prison walls, she had greater power to afflict than when +chained in a cell. This was undoubtedly the received opinion, and it +is curiously illustrated in the foregoing passage.</p> + +<p>The only breath of disparagement against the character of Goodwife +Nurse that can be found in any of the papers is in the following +deposition:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Sarah Houlton</span>, relict of +Benjamin Houlton, deceased, who testifieth and saith, that, +about this time three years, my dear and loving husband, +Benjamin Houlton, deceased, was as well as ever I knew him +in my life till one Saturday morning, that Rebecca Nurse, +who now stands charged for witchcraft, came to our house, +and fell a railing at him because our pigs got into her +field. Though our pigs were sufficiently yoked, and their +fence was down in several places, yet all we could say to +her could no ways pacify her; but she continued railing and +scolding a great while together, calling to her son Benj. +Nurse to go and get a gun and kill our pigs, and let none of +them go out of the field, though my poor husband gave her +never a misbeholding word. And, within a short time after +this, my poor husband going out very early in the morning, +as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.282" id="Page_ii.282">[ii.282]</a></span> was coming in again, he was taken with a strange fit +in the entry; being struck blind and stricken down two or +three times, so that, when he came to himself, he told me he +thought he should never have come into the house any more. +And, all summer after, he continued in a languishing +condition, being much pained at his stomach, and often +struck blind: but, about a fortnight before he died, he was +taken with strange and violent fits, acting much like to our +poor bewitched persons when we thought they would have died; +and the doctor that was with him could not find what his +distemper was. And, the day before he died, he was very +cheerly; but, about midnight, he was again most violently +seized upon with violent fits, till the next night, about +midnight, he departed this life by a cruel death.</p> + +<p>"<i>Jurat in Curia.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>In explanation of the import of this testimony, it is to be observed, +that the estate of Benjamin Houlton was contiguous to that of Francis +Nurse. They were separated by a fence, which, as in such cases, was +required for half its length to be kept in order by one party, the +remaining half by the other. What the exact facts were cannot be +ascertained, as we have the story of one side only. The widow Houlton +appears to have been a tender-hearted, and, for aught we know, good +woman. Some years afterwards, she was married, as his second wife, to +Benjamin Putnam,—a very respectable person, and, on the death of his +father Nathaniel, the head of that branch of the family. He was, for +many years, deacon of the church. But she was, it must be conceded, a +prejudiced witness; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.283" id="Page_ii.283">[ii.283]</a></span> her judgment for the time was wholly +beclouded by the prevalent superstitions. The garden had been, from +the days of Townsend Bishop, a choice portion of the Nurse estate. In +all farms, it was a most important and valuable item; and was +generally under the special care and management of the wife, +daughters, and younger lads of the husbandman. Rebecca Nurse was an +efficient helpmeet; contributing her whole share to the success of the +great enterprise of clearing the estate, as well as in bringing up and +educating a large family. It was, no doubt, very provoking to her, as +it would be to any one, to have vegetable and flower beds devastated +by the ravages of a neighbor's stray pigs. To what extent her "railing +and scolding" went, she was not allowed to contribute her statement, +to enable us to judge. The affair probably produced considerable +gossip, and seems to be alluded to in Nathaniel Putnam's certificate +in behalf of Rebecca Nurse. There is reason to believe that the widow +Houlton was one of the first to realize what great injustice had been +done by her and others to the good name of Rebecca Nurse.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this evidence, so deeply were the jury impressed with +the eminent virtue and true Christian excellence of this venerable +woman, that, in spite of the clamors of the outside crowd, the +monstrous statements of accusing witnesses, and the strong leaning of +the Court against her, the jury brought in a verdict of "Not guilty." +Calef, and Hutchinson after him, describe the effect, and what +followed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.284" id="Page_ii.284">[ii.284]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Immediately, all the accusers in the Court, and, suddenly +after, all the afflicted out of Court, made an hideous +outcry; to the amazement, not only of the spectators, but +the Court also seemed strangely surprised. One of the judges +expressed himself not satisfied: another of them, as he was +going off the bench, said they would have her indicted anew. +The chief-justice said he would not impose on the jury, but +intimated as if they had not well considered one expression +of the prisoner when she was upon trial; viz., that when one +Hobbs, who had confessed herself to be a witch, was brought +into Court to witness against her, the prisoner, turning her +head to her, said, 'What! do you bring her? She is one of +us;' or words to that effect. This, together with the +clamors of the accusers, induced the jury to go out again, +after their verdict, 'Not guilty.'"</p></div> + +<p>The foreman of the jury, Thomas Fisk, made this statement on the 4th +of July, a few days after the trial:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"After the honored Court had manifested their +dissatisfaction of the verdict, several of the jury declared +themselves desirous to go out again, and thereupon the Court +gave leave; but, when we came to consider the case, I could +not tell how to take her words as an evidence against her, +till she had a further opportunity to put her sense upon +them, if she would take it. And then, going into Court, I +mentioned the words aforesaid, which by one of the Court +were affirmed to have been spoken by her, she being then at +the bar, but made no reply nor interpretation of them; +whereupon these words were to me a principal evidence +against her."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.285" id="Page_ii.285">[ii.285]</a></span></p> + +<p>Upon being informed of the use made of her words, the prisoner put in +the following declaration:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"These presents do humbly show to the honored Court and +jury, that I being informed that the jury brought me in +guilty upon my saying that Goodwife Hobbs and her daughter +were of our company; but I intended no otherwise than as +they were prisoners with us, and therefore did then, and yet +do, judge them not legal evidence against their +fellow-prisoners. And I being something hard of hearing and +full of grief, none informing me how the Court took up my +words, and therefore had no opportunity to declare what I +intended when I said they were of our company."</p></div> + +<p>It was perfectly natural for her to have spoken of them as "of our +company," not only from the fact that they had long been crowded +together in the same jails, but as they had accompanied each other in +the transferrence from one jail to another, from time to time. A few +days before, a large party, of which she was one, had been brought +from Boston, spending the whole day together on the route. Sarah Good, +John Procter and wife, Susanna Martin, Bridget Bishop, and Alice +Parker happen to be mentioned as belonging to it. Calef further +states:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"After her condemnation, the governor saw cause to grant a +reprieve, which, when known (and some say immediately upon +granting), the accusers renewed their dismal outcries +against her; insomuch that the governor was by some Salem +gentlemen prevailed with to recall the reprieve, and she was +executed with the rest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.286" id="Page_ii.286">[ii.286]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The testimonials of her Christian behavior, both in the +course of her life and at her death, and her extraordinary +care in educating her children, and setting them a good +example, under the hands of so many, are so numerous, that +for brevity they are here omitted."</p></div> + +<p>The extraordinary conduct of "the Salem gentlemen," in preventing the +intended exercise of executive discretion and clemency on this +occasion, is explained, it is probable, by the fact, stated by Neal in +his "History of New England," that there was an organized association +of private individuals, a committee of vigilance, in Salem, during the +continuance of the delusion, who had undertaken to ferret out and +prosecute all suspected persons. He says that many were arrested and +thrown into prison by their influence and interference. It is hardly +to be doubted, that the persons who busied themselves to prevent the +reprieve of Rebecca Nurse acted under the authority and by the +direction of this self-constituted body of inquisitors. The agency of +such unauthorized and irresponsible combinations is always of +questionable expediency. When acting in the same line with an excited +populace, they are extremely dangerous.</p> + +<p>There is no more disgraceful record in the judicial annals of the +country, than that which relates the trial of this excellent woman. +The wave of popular fury made a clear breach over the judgment-seat. +The loud and malignant outcry of an infatuated mob, inside and outside +of the Court-house, instead of being yielded to, ought to have been, +not only sternly rebuked, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.287" id="Page_ii.287">[ii.287]</a></span> visited with prompt and exemplary +punishment. The judges were not only overcome and intimidated from the +faithful discharge of their sacred duty by a clamoring crowd, but they +played into their hands. Hutchinson justly remarks, that their conduct +was in violation of that rule to execute "law and justice in mercy," +which ought always to be written on their hearts. "In a capital case, +the Court often refuses a verdict of 'Guilty;' but rarely, if ever, +sends a jury out again upon one of 'Not guilty.'" The statement made +by the foreman of the jury, with the subsequent explanation of the +prisoner, taken in connection with the ground on which the +chief-justice sent the jury out again after rendering their verdict of +"Not guilty," made it the duty of the Court and the executive to give +to her the benefit of that verdict.</p> + +<p>At the trial of her mother, Sarah Nurse—aged twenty-eight years or +thereabouts—offered this piece of testimony: that, "being in the +Court, this 29th of June, 1692, I saw Goodwife Bibber pull pins out of +her clothes, and held them between her fingers, and clasped her hands +round her knee; and then she cried out, and said, Goody Nurse pinched +her." In all these trials, Mercy Lewis was a principal witness and +actor; yet we find, among the papers, testimony from the most +respectable and reliable persons, that she was not to be trusted. +There was also testimony which ought to have broken the force of the +depositions of Ann Putnam and her mother. Four days after the +examination and commitment of Rebecca Nurse, John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.288" id="Page_ii.288">[ii.288]</a></span> Tarbell and Samuel +Nurse went to the house of Thomas Putnam to find out in what way their +mother had been made the object of such shocking accusations. They +were men whose credibility was never brought in question. Their +declarations, on this occasion, were not disputed, and, if not true, +might have been overthrown; for there were many witnesses of the facts +they stated. Tarbell swore as follows: "Upon discourse of many things, +I asked whether the girl that was afflicted did first speak of Goody +Nurse, before others mentioned her to her. They said she told them she +saw the apparition of a pale-faced woman that sat in her grandmother's +seat, but did not know her name. Then I replied and said, 'But who was +it that told her that it was Goody Nurse?' Mercy Lewis said it was +Goody Putnam that said it was Goody Nurse. Goody Putnam said that it +was Mercy Lewis that told her. Thus they turned it upon one another, +saying, 'It was you,' and 'It was you that told her.'" Samuel Nurse +testified to the same.</p> + +<p>There was another piece of evidence, which, though brought against +Rebecca Nurse, bears harder, as we read it now, upon Ann Putnam than +any one else, and makes it more difficult to palliate her conduct on +the supposition of partial insanity. It is, all along, one of the +obscure problems of our subject to determine how far delusion may have +been accompanied by fraud and imposture. Edward Putnam testified, that +"Ann Putnam, Jr., was bitten by Rebecca Nurse, as she said, about two +of the clock of the day" after Rebecca<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.289" id="Page_ii.289">[ii.289]</a></span> Nurse had been committed to +jail, and while she was several miles distant, in Salem; and the said +Nurse also struck said Ann Putnam with her spectral chain, leaving a +mark, "being in a kind of a round ring, and three streaks across the +ring: she had six blows with a chain in the space of half an hour; and +she had one remarkable one, with six streaks across her arm." Edward +Putnam swears, "I saw the mark, both of bite and chains." The Court, +no doubt, were solemnly impressed by this amazing evidence; but it is +hard to avoid the conclusion that Ann Putnam was guilty of elaborate +falsehood and a studied trick.</p> + +<p>In the trials at this session, one of the "afflicted children" cried +out against the Rev. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church, in +Boston. "She was sent out of Court, and it was told about that she was +mistaken in the person." There was surely evidence enough against the +honesty and credibility of the accusers to leave the judges without +excuse, and justly meriting perpetual condemnation for not paying heed +to it.</p> + +<p>The case of Rebecca Nurse proves that a verdict could not have been +obtained against a person of her character charged with witchcraft in +this county, had not the most extraordinary efforts been made by the +prosecuting officer, aided by the whole influence of the Court and +provincial authorities. The odium of the proceedings at the trials and +at the executions cannot fairly be laid upon Salem, or the people of +this vicinity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.290" id="Page_ii.290">[ii.290]</a></span></p> + +<p>But nothing can extenuate the infamy that must for ever rest upon the +names of certain parties to the proceedings. Not to attempt here to +measure the guilt of the accusing witnesses, it may be mentioned that +it was the deliberate conviction of the family of Rebecca Nurse, that +Mr. Parris, more than all other persons, was responsible for her +execution; whether by his officious activity in driving on the +prosecution, or in preventing her reprieve, cannot be known. Of the +prominent part taken by Mr. Noyes in the cruel treatment of this +woman, there is no room for doubt. The records of the First Church in +Salem are darkened by the following entry:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"1692, July 3.—After sacrament, the elders propounded to +the church,—and it was, by an unanimous vote, consented +to,—that our sister Nurse, being a convicted witch by the +Court, and condemned to die, should be excommunicated; which +was accordingly done in the afternoon, she being present."</p></div> + +<p>The scene presented on this occasion must have been truly impressive +at the time, as it is shocking to us in the retrospect. The action of +the church, at the close of the morning service, of course became +universally known; and the "great and spacious meeting-house" was +thronged by a crowd that filled every nook and corner of its floor, +galleries, and windows. The sheriff and his subordinates brought in +the prisoner, manacled, and the chains clanking from her aged form. +She was placed in the broad aisle. Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.291" id="Page_ii.291">[ii.291]</a></span> Higginson and Mr. Noyes—the +elders, as the clergy were then called—were in the pulpit. The two +ruling elders—who were lay officers—and the two deacons were in +their proper seats, directly below and in front of the pulpit. Mr. +Noyes pronounced the dread sentence, which, for such a crime, was then +believed to be not merely an expulsion from the church on earth, but +an exclusion from the church in heaven. It was meant to be understood +as an eternal doom. As it had been proved, in his estimation, beyond a +question, that she had given her soul to the Devil, he delivered her +over to the great adversary of God and man.</p> + +<p>From the dismal cell, which, for but a few days longer, was to hold +her body, he proclaimed the transferrence of her soul to—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A dungeon horrible on all sides round,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No light, but rather darkness visible;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And rest can never dwell; hope never comes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That comes to all; but torture without end,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As far removed from God, and light of heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Language and imagery, exhausting the resources of the divine genius of +the greatest of poets, fail to give expression to what was felt to be +the import of this fearful sentence. It sunk the recipient of it below +the reach of human sympathy. She was regarded, by that blinded +multitude, with a horror that cast out pity, and was full of hate. But +in our view now, and, as we believe, in the view of God and angels +then, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.292" id="Page_ii.292">[ii.292]</a></span> occupied an infinite height above her persecutors. Her mind +was serenely fixed upon higher scenes, and filled with a peace which +the world could not take away, or its cruel wrongs disturb. She went +back to her prison walls, and then to the scaffold, with a pious and +humble faith which has not failed to be recorded among men, as it has +been rewarded where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are +at rest.</p> + +<p>Calef, as already quoted, gives the impression produced by her +demeanor at her death. Hutchinson expresses in the following words the +judgment of history and the sense of all coming times:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Noyes, the minister of Salem, a zealous prosecutor, +excommunicated the poor old woman, and delivered her to +Satan, to whom he supposed she had formally given herself up +many years before; but her life and conversation had been +such, that the remembrance thereof, in a short time after, +wiped off all the reproach occasioned by the civil or +ecclesiastical sentence against her."</p></div> + +<p>It is impossible to close the story of the lot assigned to this good +woman by an inscrutable Providence, without again contemplating it in +a condensed recapitulation. In her old age, experiencing a full share +of all the delicate infirmities which the instincts of humanity +require to be treated with careful and reverent tenderness, she was +ruthlessly snatched from the bosom of a loving family reared by her +pious fidelity in all Christian graces, from the side of the devoted +companion of her long life, from a home that was endeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.293" id="Page_ii.293">[ii.293]</a></span> by every +grateful association and comfort; immured in the most wretched and +crowded jails; kept loaded with irons and bound with cords for months; +insulted and maligned at the preliminary examinations; outraged in her +person by rough and unfeeling handling and scrutiny; and in her +rights, by the most flagrant and detestable judicial oppression, by +which the benefit of a verdict, given in her favor, had been torn +away; carried to the meeting-house to receive the sentence of +excommunication in a manner devised to harrow her most sacred +sentiments; and finally carted through the streets by a route every +foot of which must have been distressing to her infirm and enfeebled +frame; made to ascend a rough and rocky path to the place of +execution, and there consigned to the hangman. Surely, there has +seldom been a harder fate.</p> + +<p>Her body was probably thrown with the rest into a hole in the crevices +of the rock, and covered hastily and thinly over by the executioners. +It has been the constant tradition of the family, that, in some way, +it was recovered; and the spot is pointed out in the burial-place +belonging to the estate, where her ashes rest by the side of her +husband, and in the midst of her children. It is certain, that, at +least, one other body was thus exhumed, and taken to its own proper +place of burial. From the known character of Francis Nurse and his +sons and sons-in-law, we may be sure that what others could do they +did not suffer to remain undone. It is left to the imagination to +present the details of the sad and secret enterprise. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.294" id="Page_ii.294">[ii.294]</a></span> darkness +of midnight, they found and identified the body, and bore it tenderly +in their arms along the silent roads and by-ways, across fields and +over fences, to the old home, where it was received by the assembled +family, mourned over, and cared for; and, during that or the ensuing +night, deposited, with tears and prayers, in their own consecrated +grounds. Her descendants of successive generations owned and +reverently guarded the spot. They own and guard it to-day. The +interesting reminiscences connected with the early history of the +Nurse house have been alluded to. It has witnessed an extraordinary +variety of the conditions of domestic vicissitude. Scenes rising +before the mind in contemplative retrospection, while gazing upon it, +present the extremest contrasts of human experience. On the evening of +the 25th of October, 1678, Mary and Elizabeth Nurse were married. Such +an occurrence was undoubtedly the occasion of the highest joy and +gladness in a happy household. The old mansion shone in light, and +echoed voices of cheer. How altered its aspect! What darkness and +silence brooded over and within it, while those same daughters waited, +watched, and listened, through the solemn hours of that night of woe +and horror, for the coming of their father, husbands, and brothers, +bearing to the home, from which she had been so cruelly torn, the +remains of their slaughtered mother!</p> + +<p>The subsequent history of the house presents a circumstance of +singular interest in connection with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.295" id="Page_ii.295">[ii.295]</a></span> our story. All the members of +the three branches of the Putnam family, with the exception of Joseph, +seem to have been carried away by the witchcraft delusion, in its +early stages, and were more or less active in pushing on the +prosecutions. We have seen how fierce was the maniac testimony of Mrs. +Ann Putnam and her daughter against Rebecca Nurse. The lapse of time, +by a Providence that wonderfully works its ends, has repaired the +breaches made by folly and wrong. The descendants of the numerous +family of Mrs. Ann Putnam have disappeared from the scene: none of +them bearing the name are in the village. The descendants of Deacon +Edward Putnam have also scattered in emigration to other places. +Nathaniel and John, the heads of the other two branches of the family, +although involved in the witchcraft delusion, each signed papers in +favor of Rebecca Nurse; their descendants, as well as those of Joseph, +are still numerous in the village, hold their old position of +respectability and influence, and many of them occupy the lands of +their ancestors. Stephen, the grandson of Nathaniel, married Miriam, +the grand-daughter of John. Their son Phinehas, in 1784, bought the +Nurse homestead from Benjamin Nurse, the great-grandson of Rebecca. +Orin Putnam, the great-grandson of Phinehas, to whom the estate +descends, married in 1836 the daughter of Allen Nurse, a direct +descendant of Rebecca, and placed her at the head of her old ancestral +homestead. The children of that marriage, with their father and +grandfather, constitute the family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.296" id="Page_ii.296">[ii.296]</a></span> that dwell in and own the +venerable mansion. This singular restoration, suggesting such pleasing +sentiments, adds another to the remarkable elements of interest +belonging to the history of the <a href="salem1-htm.html#townsend">Townsend-Bishop House</a>.</p> + +<p>The descendants of Francis and Rebecca Nurse are numerous, and have +honorably perpetuated the name. Among them may be mentioned the Rev. +Peter Nurse, a graduate of Harvard College in 1802, for some years +librarian of that institution, an excellent scholar, and long +universally respected as a clergyman; and Amos Nurse, a graduate of +the same college in 1812,—an eminent physician connected with the +medical faculty of Bowdoin College, a man of distinguished talent and +influence in public affairs, and senator in Congress from the State of +Maine.</p> + +<p>The Court met again on the 5th of August, and tried George Burroughs; +John Procter and Elizabeth, his wife; George Jacobs, Sr.; John +Willard; and Martha Carrier. They were all condemned, and, with the +exception of Elizabeth Procter, executed on the 19th of the same +month.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson describes the trial of Burroughs. After speaking of the +evidence of the "afflicted persons" and the confessing witches, he +mentions other circumstances which were thought to corroborate it: +"One was, that, being a little man, he had performed feats beyond the +strength of a giant; viz., had held out a gun of seven feet barrel +with one hand, and had carried a barrel full of cider from a canoe to +the shore." Bur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.297" id="Page_ii.297">[ii.297]</a></span>roughs said that an Indian present at the time did the +same. Instantly, the accusers said it was "the black man, or the +Devil, who," they swore, "looks like an Indian." Another piece of +evidence was, that he went from one place to another, on a certain +occasion, in a shorter time than was possible had not the Devil helped +him. He said, in answer, that another man accompanied him. Their reply +to this was, that it was the Devil, using the appearance of another +man. So whatever he said was turned against him. Hutchinson says, +"Upon the whole, he was confounded, and used many twistings and +turnings, which, I think, we cannot wonder at." This fair and +judicious writer, like Brattle, appears in the foregoing remark to +have adopted the common scandal, put in circulation by parties +interested to disparage Mr. Burroughs. The papers in this case, that +have come down to us, are more numerous than in reference to many +others among the sufferers; and they do not bear such an impression. +Mr. Burroughs was astounded at the monstrous folly and falsehood with +which he was surrounded. He was a man without guile, and incapable of +appreciating such wickedness. He tried, in simplicity and +ingenuousness, to explain what was brought against him; and this, +probably, was all the "twisting and turning" he exhibited.</p> + +<p>Hutchinson had the benefit of consulting all the papers belonging to +this and other trials; but neither he nor Calef seems to have noticed +one remarkable fact: many of the depositions, how many we cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.298" id="Page_ii.298">[ii.298]</a></span> +tell, were procured after the trials were over, and surreptitiously +foisted in among the papers to bolster up the proceedings. We find, +for instance, the following deposition:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Thomas Greenslitt</span>, aged about forty years, being +deposed, testifieth that, about the first breaking-out of +this last Indian war, being at the house of Captain Joshua +Scotto at Black Point, he saw Mr. George Burrows, who was +lately executed at Salem, lift a gun of six-foot barrel or +thereabouts, putting the forefinger of his right hand into +the muzzle of said gun, and that he held it out at arms' +end, only with that finger: and further this deponent +testifieth, that, at the same time, he saw the said Burrows +take up a full barrel of molasses with but two of the +fingers of one of his hands in the bung, and carry it from +the stage head to the door at the end of the stage, without +letting it down; and that Lieutenant Richard Hunniwell and +John Greenslitt were then present, and some others that are +dead. Sept. 15, '92."</p></div> + +<p>Not only the date to this deposition, but its express language, proves +that it could not have been used at the trial. There is another, to +the same effect and of the same date, that is, nearly a month after +Burroughs was thrown into his grave. There are others of the same +kind. This stamps the management of the prosecutions, and of those +concerned in the charge of the papers, with an irregularity of the +grossest kind, which partakes strongly of the character of fraud and +falsehood.</p> + +<p>When it was found that there was beginning to grow up a want of +confidence in "spectre evidence" and the testimony of the afflicted +children, those con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.299" id="Page_ii.299">[ii.299]</a></span>cerned in the prosecutions became alarmed lest a +re-action of public sentiment might take place. The persons who had +brought Mr. Burroughs to his death concluded that their best escape +from public indignation was to accumulate evidence against him after +he was in his grave, particularly on the point of his superhuman +strength; and they got up these depositions, and caused them to be put +among the papers on file. Great stress was laid, by those who were +interested in damaging his character and suppressing sympathy in his +fate, upon this particular proof of his having been in confederacy +with the Devil. Increase Mather said, that, in his judgment, it was +conclusive evidence that he "had the Devil to be his familiar," and +that, had he been on the jury, he could not, on this account, have +concurred in a verdict of acquittal; and Cotton Mather, feeling the +importance of making the most of Mr. Burroughs's extraordinary +strength, gives way to his tendency to indulge in the marvellous, as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"God had been pleased so to leave this George Burroughs, +that he had ensnared himself by several instances which he +had formerly given of preternatural strength, and which were +now produced against him. He was a very puny man, yet he had +often done things beyond the strength of a giant. A gun of +about seven-foot barrel, and so heavy that strong men could +not steadily hold it out with both hands,—there were +several testimonies given in by persons of credit and honor, +that he made nothing of taking up such a gun behind the lock +with but one hand, and holding it out, like a pistol, at +arms' end. Yea, there were two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.300" id="Page_ii.300">[ii.300]</a></span> testimonies, that George +Burroughs, with only putting the forefinger of his right +hand into the muzzle of a heavy gun, a fowling-piece of +about six or seven foot barrel, did lift up the gun, and +hold it out at arms' end,—a gun which the deponents thought +strong men could not with both hands lift up, and hold at +the butt end, as is usual."</p></div> + +<p>It is further observable, in reference to the foregoing deposition +from Greenslitt, that it was given six days after the condemnation of +his mother, Ann Pudeator, and a week before her execution. Cotton +Mather says that he "was overpersuaded by others to be out of the way +upon George Burroughs's trial," six weeks before. He did not fail, +however, to come to Salem to be with his mother at her trial and until +her death, and being here was compelled to give his deposition. His +mother's life was at the mercy of the prosecutors; and he was tempted, +in the vain hope of conciliating that mercy, to gratify them by making +the statement about Burroughs a month after his execution, and whom it +could not then harm. What he said was probably no more than the truth. +It has been found that the power of the human muscles can be +cultivated to a surprising extent; and the feats ascribed to +Burroughs, without making much allowance for a natural degree of +exaggeration, have been fully equalled in our day.</p> + +<p>Calef gives the following account of his execution:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Burroughs was carried in a cart with the others, +through the streets of Salem, to execution. When he was upon +the ladder, he made a speech for the clearing of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.301" id="Page_ii.301">[ii.301]</a></span> +innocency, with such solemn and serious expressions as were +to the admiration of all present. His prayer (which he +concluded by repeating the Lord's Prayer) was so well +worded, and uttered with such composedness and such (at +least seeming) fervency of spirit, as was very affecting, +and drew tears from many, so that it seemed to some that the +spectators would hinder the execution. The accusers said the +black man stood and dictated to him. As soon as he was +turned off, Mr. Cotton Mather, being mounted upon a horse, +addressed himself to the people, partly to declare that he +(Mr. Burroughs) was no ordained minister, and partly to +possess the people of his guilt, saying that the Devil often +had been transformed into an angel of light; and this +somewhat appeased the people, and the executions went on. +When he was cut down, he was dragged by a halter to a hole, +or grave, between the rocks, about two feet deep; his shirt +and breeches being pulled off, and an old pair of trousers +of one executed put on his lower parts: he was so put in, +together with Willard and Carrier, that one of his hands, +and his chin, and a foot of one of them, was left +uncovered."</p></div> + +<p>Cotton Mather, not satisfied with this display of animosity, at a +moment when every human heart, however imbittered by prejudice, is +hushed for the time in solemn silence, attempts, in an account +afterwards given of Mr. Burroughs's trial, to blacken his character by +an elaborate dressing-up of the absurd stories told by the accusers, +and a perverse misrepresentation of the demeanor of the accused. He +relates with apparent glee what was regarded as a wonderful +achievement of adroitness on the part of Chief-justice Stoughton in +trapping Mr. Burroughs, and putting the laugh upon him in Court.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.302" id="Page_ii.302">[ii.302]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It cost the Court a wonderful deal of trouble to hear the +testimonies of the sufferers; for, when they were going to +give in their depositions, they would for a long while be +taken with fits, that made them quite uncapable of saying +any thing. The chief judge asked the prisoner, who he +thought hindered these witnesses from giving their +testimonies; and he answered, he supposed it was the Devil. +The honorable person then replied, 'How comes the Devil so +loath to have any testimony borne against you?' Which cast +him into very great confusion."</p></div> + +<p>From what fell from him, at the preliminary examination, it is evident +that it did not occur to him as a possibility that human nature could +be capable of the guilt of such a wilful fabrication and imposture on +the part of the "afflicted children." He beheld their sufferings, and +he knew his own innocence. He felt, whatever his theological creed +might have been, that a Devil was required to explain the mystery. The +apparent sufferings of the accusing witnesses convinced Court, jury, +and all, of the guilt of the accused. The logic of the chief-justice +was perfectly absurd. For, if the Devil caused the sufferings, he was +an adverse party to the prisoner. This, however, overthrows the whole +theory of the prosecution, which was that the prisoner and the Devil +were in league with each other. But the judge, jury, and people, all +equally blinded and stupefied by the delusion, did not see it; and +they chuckled over the alleged confusion of the prisoner. All +thoughtful persons will concur in Mr. Burroughs's opinion, that, if +ever a diabolical power had possession<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.303" id="Page_ii.303">[ii.303]</a></span> of human beings, it was in the +case of the wretched creatures who enacted the part of the accusing +girls in the witchcraft proceedings. In his account of the trial, +Mather makes statements which show that he was privy to the fact, that +testimony, subsequently taken, was lodged with the evidence belonging +to the case. The documents prove that it was done to an extent beyond +what he acknowledges.</p> + +<p>Considering that none dared to show the least sympathy with the +persons on trial, that they had none to counsel or stand by them, that +the public passions were incensed against them as against no other +persons ever charged with crime,—it being vastly more flagrant than +any other crime, a rebellion against heaven and earth, God and man; a +deliberate selling of the soul to the Arch-enemy of souls for the ruin +of all other souls,—in view of all these things, it is truly +astonishing, that, by the documents themselves, proceeding, as in +almost all cases they do, from hostile and imbittered sources, we are +compelled to the conviction, that, in their imprisonments, trials, and +deaths, the victims of this savage delusion manifested—in most cases +eminently, and in all substantially—the marks, not only of innocent, +but of elevated and heroic minds. A review of what can be gleaned in +reference to Mr. Burroughs at Casco Bay and Salem Village, and a +considerate survey and scrutiny of all that has reached us from the +day of his arrest to the moment of his death, have left a decided +impression, that he was an able, intelligent, true-minded man; +ingenuous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.304" id="Page_ii.304">[ii.304]</a></span> sincere, humble in his spirit; faithful and devoted as a +minister; and active, generous, and disinterested as a citizen. His +descendants, under his own name and the names of Newman, Fowle, +Holbrook, Fox, Thomas, and others, have been numerous and respectable. +The late Isaiah Thomas, LL.D., was one of them.</p> + +<p>From the account given of John Procter, in the +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a>, it is +apparent that he was a person of decided character, and, although +impulsive and liable to be imprudent, of a manly spirit, honest, +earnest, and bold in word and deed. He saw through the whole thing, +and was convinced that it was the result of a conspiracy, deliberate +and criminal, on the part of the accusers. He gave free utterance to +his indignation at their conduct, and it cost him his life.</p> + +<p>A few days before his trial, he made his will. There is no reference +in it to his particular situation. His signature to the document is +accurately represented among the autographs given in this work. It was +written while the manacles were on him. Notwithstanding the danger to +which any one was exposed who expressed sympathy for convicted or +accused persons, or doubt of their guilt, a large number had the +manliness to try to save this worthy and honest citizen. John Wise, +one of the ministers of Ipswich, heads the list of petitioners from +that place. The document is in his handwriting. Thirty-one others +joined in the act, many of them among the most respectable citizens of +that town. Mr. Wise was a learned, able, and enlightened man. He had a +free spirit, and was per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.305" id="Page_ii.305">[ii.305]</a></span>haps the only minister in the neighborhood or +country, who was discerning enough to see the erroneousness of the +proceedings from the beginning. The petition is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>The Humble and Sincere Declaration of us, Subscribers, +Inhabitants in Ipswich, on the Behalf of our Neighbors, John +Procter and his Wife, now in Trouble and under Suspicion of +Witchcraft.</i></p> + +<p style="text-align: center">"TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF ASSISTANTS NOW SITTING IN BOSTON.</p> + +<p>"<i>Honored and Right Worshipful</i>,—The aforesaid John Procter +may have great reason to justify the Divine Sovereignty of +God under these severe remarks of Providence upon his peace +and honor, under a due reflection upon his life past; and so +the best of us have reason to adore the great pity and +indulgence of God's providence, that we are not exposed to +the utmost shame that the Devil can invent, under the +permissions of sovereignty, though not for that sin +forenamed, yet for our many transgressions. For we do at +present suppose, that it may be a method within the severer +but just transactions of the infinite majesty of God, that +he sometimes may permit Sathan to personate, dissemble, and +thereby abuse innocents and such as do, in the fear of God, +defy the Devil and all his works. The great rage he is +permitted to attempt holy Job with; the abuse he does the +famous Samuel in disquieting his silent dust, by shadowing +his venerable person in answer to the charms of witchcraft; +and other instances from good hands,—may be arguments. +Besides the unsearchable footsteps of God's judgments, that +are brought to light every morning, that as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.306" id="Page_ii.306">[ii.306]</a></span>tonish our +weaker reasons; to teach us adoration, trembling, +dependence, &c. But we must not trouble Your Honors by being +tedious. Therefore, being smitten with the notice of what +hath happened, we reckon it within the duties of our +charity, that teacheth us to do as we would be done by, to +offer thus much for the clearing of our neighbors' +innocency; viz., that we never had the least knowledge of +such a nefandous wickedness in our said neighbors, since +they have been within our acquaintance. Neither do we +remember any such thoughts in us concerning them, or any +action by them or either of them, directly tending that way, +no more than might be in the lives of any other persons of +the clearest reputation as to any such evils. What God may +have left them to, we cannot go into God's pavilion clothed +with clouds of darkness round about; but, as to what we have +ever seen or heard of them, upon our consciences we judge +them innocent of the crime objected. His breeding hath been +amongst us, and was of religious parents in our place, and, +by reason of relations and properties within our town, hath +had constant intercourse with us. We speak upon our personal +acquaintance and observation; and so leave our neighbors, +and this our testimony on their behalf, to the wise thoughts +of Your Honors.</p></div> + +<table border="0" summary="signatures" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Jn<sup>o.</sup> Wise.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Nathanill Perkins.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Marshall.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Story.</span> Sen<sup>r.</sup></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Lovkine.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Andrews</span> Ju<sup>r.</sup></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Reinalld Foster.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">William Cogswell.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">William Butler.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Thos. Chote.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Varny.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">William Andrews.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Burnum</span> S<sup>r.</sup></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Fellows.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Andrews.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Thomsonn.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Wm. Cogswell</span> Ju<sup>r.</sup></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Chote</span> Se<sup>r.</sup></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Tho. Low</span> Sen<sup>r.</sup></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Jonathan Cogswell.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Procter.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Isaac Foster.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Cogswell</span> Ju.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Gidding.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Burnum</span> jun<sup>r.</sup></td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Cogswell.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Evleth.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Goodhew.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Andrews.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">James White.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Isaac Perkins.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Andrews."</span></td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.307" id="Page_ii.307">[ii.307]</a></span></p> + +<p>I have given the names of the men who signed this paper, as copied +from the original. It is due to their memory; and their descendants +may well be gratified by the testimony thus borne to their courage and +justice.</p> + +<p>Their neighbors living near the bounds of the village presented the +following paper, in the handwriting of Felton, the first signer. From +the appearance of the document, it seems that a portion of it, +probably containing an equal number of names, has been cut out by +scissors.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are underwritten, having several years known +John Procter and his wife, do testify that we never heard or +understood that they were ever suspected to be guilty of the +crime now charged upon them; and several of us, being their +near neighbors, do testify, that, to our apprehension, they +lived Christian-like in their family, and were ever ready to +help such as stood in need of their help.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Felton</span>, Sr., and <span class="smcap">Mary</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Marsh</span>, and <span class="smcap">Priscilla</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">James Houlton</span>, and <span class="smcap">Ruth</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">John Felton</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Felton</span>, Jr.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Frayll</span>, and <span class="smcap">An</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Zachariah Marsh</span>, and <span class="smcap">Mary</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Endecott</span>, and <span class="smcap">Hanah</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Stone</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Locker</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Gaskil</span>, and <span class="smcap">Provided</span> his wife.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Smith</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Edward Gaskil</span>."</p></div> + +<p>In addition to this testimony in their favor, evidence was offered, at +their trial, that one of the accusing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.308" id="Page_ii.308">[ii.308]</a></span> witnesses had denied, out of +Court, what she had sworn to in Court; and declared that she must, at +the time, have been "out of her head," and that she had never intended +to accuse them. It was further proved, that another of the accusing +witnesses acknowledged that she had sworn falsely, and tried to +explain away her testimony in Court, acknowledging that what the girls +said was "for sport. They must have some sport." But neither the +testimony in their favor from those who had known them through life, +nor the palpable and decisive manner in which the evidence against +them had been impeached and exposed, could open the eyes of the +infatuated Court and jury.</p> + +<p>After his conviction, he requested, in vain, time enough to prepare +himself for death, and make the necessary arrangements of his business +and for the welfare of his family; and the statement has come down to +us, that Mr. Noyes refused to pray with him, unless he would confess +himself guilty. The following letter, addressed by him to the +ministers named, in behalf of himself and fellow-prisoners, gives a +truly shocking account of the outrages connected with the +prosecutions. It illustrates the courage of the writer in exposing +them, and is a sensible and manly appeal and remonstrance. There is +ground for supposing that the ministers addressed were known not to be +entirely carried away by the delusion. The fact that Mr. +Mather—meaning, of course, Increase Mather—is the first named, +corroborates other evidence that he was beginning to entertain doubts +about the propriety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.309" id="Page_ii.309">[ii.309]</a></span> of the proceedings. Of the Rev. James Allen, much +has been said in connection with the Townsend-Bishop farm. He had been +a clergyman in England, and was silenced by the Act of Uniformity, in +1662. He came to New England; and, after officiating as an assistant +to the Rev. Mr. Davenport, in the First Church at Boston, for six +years, was ordained as its preacher in 1668. He was of independent +fortune, and subsequently took a leading part with those opposed to +the party that had favored the witchcraft prosecutions. He must have +known Rebecca Nurse quite intimately, and much of the influence used +in her favor, and which almost saved her, may be attributed to him; +there was a particular intimacy between him and Increase Mather, and +together they held Cotton Mather somewhat in check, occasionally at +least. The Rev. Joshua Moody had been settled in the ministry at +Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In the maintenance of the principles of +religious liberty he suffered a long imprisonment, and was afterwards +exiled by arbitrary power. He was then invited to the First Church in +Boston, where he preached from 1684 to 1693, when he returned to +Portsmouth. He died in 1697. By his active exertions, Mr. and Mrs. +English were enabled to escape from the jail at Boston. The Rev. +Samuel Willard, pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, was one of +the most revered and beloved ministers in the country. His +publications were numerous, learned, and valuable; consisting of +discourses, tracts, and volumes. His "Body of Divinity" is an +elaborate and systematic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.310" id="Page_ii.310">[ii.310]</a></span> work, comprising two hundred and fifty +lectures on the Assembly's Catechism. That Procter was not in error in +supposing Mr. Willard open to reason on the subject is demonstrated by +the fact, that the "afflicted girls" were beginning to cry out against +this eminent divine. The Rev. John Bailey was one of the ejected +ministers who had here sought refuge from oppression in the +mother-country. He was a distinguished person, associated with Mr. +Allen and Mr. Moody in the ministry of the First Church at Boston. +Cotton Mather made him the subject of the strongest eulogium in his +"Magnalia." Procter addressed his letter to these persons because he +believed them to be superior in wisdom and candid in spirit. It cannot +be doubted that the good men did what they could in his behalf, but in +vain.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Salem Prison</span>, July 23, 1692.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center">"<i>Mr. Mather, Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr. Willard, and Mr. +Bailey.</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Reverend Gentlemen</span>,—The innocency of our case, +with the enmity of our accusers and our judges and jury, +whom nothing but our innocent blood will serve, having +condemned us already before our trials, being so much +incensed and enraged against us by the Devil, makes us bold +to beg and implore your favorable assistance of this our +humble petition to His Excellency, that if it be possible +our innocent blood may be spared, which undoubtedly +otherwise will be shed, if the Lord doth not mercifully step +in; the magistrates, ministers, juries, and all the people +in general, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.311" id="Page_ii.311">[ii.311]</a></span> so much enraged and incensed against us +by the delusion of the Devil, which we can term no other, by +reason we know, in our own consciences, we are all innocent +persons. Here are five persons who have lately confessed +themselves to be witches, and do accuse some of us of being +along with them at a sacrament, since we were committed into +close prison, which we know to be lies. Two of the five are +(Carrier's sons) young men, who would not confess any thing +till they tied them neck and heels, till the blood was ready +to come out of their noses; and it is credibly believed and +reported this was the occasion of making them confess what +they never did, by reason they said one had been a witch a +month, and another five weeks, and that their mother made +them so, who has been confined here this nine weeks. My son, +William Procter, when he was examined, because he would not +confess that he was guilty, when he was innocent, they tied +him neck and heels till the blood gushed out at his nose, +and would have kept him so twenty-four hours, if one, more +merciful than the rest, had not taken pity on him, and +caused him to be unbound.</p> + +<p>"These actions are very like the Popish cruelties. They have +already undone us in our estates, and that will not serve +their turns without our innocent blood. If it cannot be +granted that we can have our trials at Boston, we humbly beg +that you would endeavor to have these magistrates changed, +and others in their room; begging also and beseeching you, +that you would be pleased to be here, if not all, some of +you, at our trials, hoping thereby you may be the means of +saving the shedding of our innocent blood. Desiring your +prayers to the Lord in our behalf, we rest, your poor +afflicted servants,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">John Procter</span> [and others]."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.312" id="Page_ii.312">[ii.312]</a></span></p> + +<p>The bitterness of the prosecutors against Procter was so vehement, +that they not only arrested, and tried to destroy, his wife and all +his family above the age of infancy, in Salem, but all her relatives +in Lynn, many of whom were thrown into prison. The helpless children +were left destitute, and the house swept of its provisions by the +sheriff. Procter's wife gave birth to a child, about a fortnight after +his execution. This indicates to what alone she owed her life.</p> + +<p>John Procter had spoken so boldly against the proceedings, and all who +had part in them, that it was felt to be necessary to put him out of +the way. He had denounced the entire company of the accusers, and +their revenge demanded his sacrifice. They brought the whole power of +their cunning and audacious arts to bear against him, and pursued him +to the death with violence and rage. The manly and noble deportment +exhibited in his dying hour seems to have made a deep impression on +the minds of some, and gave an effectual blow to the delusion. The +descendants of John Procter have always understood that his remains +were recovered from the spot where the hangman deposited them, and +placed in his own grounds, where they rest to-day.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.313" id="Page_ii.313">[ii.313]</a></span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image23.png" alt="signatures" width="202" height="400" /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.314" id="Page_ii.314">[ii.314]</a></span></p> + + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images2/image24.png" alt="signatures" width="283" height="400" /></p> + +<p>No account has come to us of the deportment of George Jacobs, Sr., at +his execution. As he was remarkable in life for the firmness of his +mind, so he probably was in death. He had made his will before the +delusion arose. It is dated Jan. 29, 1692; and shows that he, like +Procter, had a considerable estate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.315" id="Page_ii.315">[ii.315]</a></span> Bartholomew Gedney is one of +the attesting witnesses, and probably wrote the document. After his +conviction, on the 12th of August, he caused another to be written, +which, in its provisions, reflects light upon the state of mind +produced by the condition in which he found himself. In his infirm old +age, he had been condemned to die for a crime of which he knew himself +innocent, and which there is some reason to believe he did not think +any one capable of committing. He regarded the whole thing as a wicked +conspiracy and absurd fabrication. He had to end his long life upon a +scaffold in a week from that day. His house was desolated, and his +property sequestered. His only son, charged with the same crime, had +eluded the sheriff,—leaving his family, in the hurry of his flight, +unprovided for—and was an exile in foreign lands. The crazy wife of +that son was in prison and in chains, waiting trial on the same +charge; her little children, including an unweaned infant, left in a +deserted and destitute condition in the woods. The older children were +scattered, he knew not where, while one of them had completed the +bitterness of his lot by becoming a confessor, upon being arrested +with her mother as a witch. This grand-daughter, Margaret, overwhelmed +with fright and horror, bewildered by the statements of the accusers, +and controlled probably by the arguments and arbitrary methods of +address employed by her minister, Mr. Noyes,—whose peculiar function +in these proceedings seems to have been to drive persons accused to +make confession—had been betrayed into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.316" id="Page_ii.316">[ii.316]</a></span> that position, and became a +confessor, and accuser of others. Under these circumstances, the old +man made a will, giving to his son George his estates, and securing +the succession of them to his male descendants. But, in the mean +while, without his then knowing it, Margaret had recalled her +confession, as appears from the following documents, which tell their +own story:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Humble Declaration of Margaret Jacobs unto the Honored +Court now sitting at Salem showeth</i>, that, whereas your poor +and humble declarant, being closely confined here in Salem +jail for the crime of witchcraft,—which crime, thanks be to +the Lord! I am altogether ignorant of, as will appear at the +great day of judgment,—may it please the honored Court, I +was cried out upon by some of the possessed persons as +afflicting them; whereupon I was brought to my examination; +which persons at the sight of me fell down, which did very +much startle and affright me. The Lord above knows I knew +nothing in the least measure how or who afflicted them. They +told me, without doubt I did, or else they would not fall +down at me; they told me, if I would not confess, I should +be put down into the dungeon, and would be hanged, but, if I +would confess, I should have my life: the which did so +affright me, with my own vile, wicked heart, to save my +life, made me make the like confession I did, which +confession, may it please the honored Court, is altogether +false and untrue. The very first night after I had made +confession, I was in such horror of conscience that I could +not sleep, for fear the Devil should carry me away for +telling such horrid lies. I was, may it please the honored +Court, sworn to my confession, as I understand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.317" id="Page_ii.317">[ii.317]</a></span> since; but +then, at that time, was ignorant of it, not knowing what an +oath did mean. The Lord, I hope, in whom I trust, out of the +abundance of his mercy, will forgive me my false forswearing +myself. What I said was altogether false against my +grandfather and Mr. Burroughs, which I did to save my life, +and to have my liberty: but the Lord, charging it to my +conscience, made me in so much horror, that I could not +contain myself before I had denied my confession, which I +did, though I saw nothing but death before me; choosing +rather death with a quiet conscience, than to live in such +horror, which I could not suffer. Where, upon my denying my +confession, I was committed to close prison, where I have +enjoyed more felicity in spirit, a thousand times, than I +did before in my enlargement. And now, may it please Your +Honors, your declarant having in part given Your Honors a +description of my condition, do leave it to Your Honors' +pious and judicious discretions to take pity and compassion +on my young and tender years, to act and do with me as the +Lord above and Your Honors shall see good, having no friend +but the Lord to plead my cause for me; not being guilty, in +the least measure, of the crime of witchcraft, nor any other +sin that deserves death from man. And your poor and humble +declarant shall for ever pray, as she is bound in duty, for +Your Honors' happiness in this life, and eternal felicity in +the world to come. So prays Your Honors' declarant,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Margaret Jacobs.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>The following letter was written by this same young person to her +father. Let it be observed that her grandfather had been executed the +day before, partly upon her false testimony.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.318" id="Page_ii.318">[ii.318]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>From the Dungeon in Salem Prison.</i></p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">August</span> 20, 1692.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Honored Father</span>,—After my humble duty remembered +to you, hoping in the Lord of your good health, as, blessed +be God! I enjoy, though in abundance of affliction, being +close confined here in a loathsome dungeon: the Lord look +down in mercy upon me, not knowing how soon I shall be put +to death, by means of the afflicted persons; my grandfather +having suffered already, and all his estate seized for the +king. The reason of my confinement is this: I having, +through the magistrates' threatenings, and my own vile and +wretched heart, confessed several things contrary to my +conscience and knowledge, though to the wounding of my own +soul; (the Lord pardon me for it!) but, oh! the terrors of a +wounded conscience who can bear? But, blessed be the Lord! +he would not let me go on in my sins, but in mercy, I hope, +to my soul, would not suffer me to keep it any longer: but I +was forced to confess the truth of all before the +magistrates, who would not believe me; but it is their +pleasure to put me in here, and God knows how soon I shall +be put to death. Dear father, let me beg your prayers to the +Lord on my behalf, and send us a joyful and happy meeting in +heaven. My mother, poor woman, is very crazy, and remembers +her kind love to you, and to uncle; viz., D.A. So, leaving +you to the protection of the Lord, I rest, your dutiful +daughter,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Margaret Jacobs</span>."</p></div> + +<p>A temporary illness led to the postponement of her trial; and, before +the next sitting of the Court, the delusion had passed away.</p> + +<p>The "uncle D.A.," referred to, was Daniel Andrew, their nearest +neighbor, who had escaped at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.319" id="Page_ii.319">[ii.319]</a></span> same time with her father. She calls +him "uncle." He was, it is probable, a brother of John Andrew who had +married Ann Jacobs, sister of her father. Words of relationship were +then used with a wide sense.</p> + +<p>Margaret read the recantation of her confession before the Court, and +was, as she says, forthwith ordered by them into a dungeon. She +obtained permission to visit Mr. Burroughs the day before his +execution, acknowledged that she had belied him, and implored his +forgiveness. He freely forgave, and prayed with her and for her. It is +probable, that, at the same time, she obtained an interview with her +grandfather for the same purpose. At any rate, the old man heard of +her heroic conduct, and forthwith crowded into the space between two +paragraphs in his will, in small letters closely written (the jailer +probably being the amanuensis), a clause giving a legacy of "ten +pounds to be paid in silver" to his grand-daughter, Margaret Jacobs. +There is the usual declaration, that it "was inserted before sealing +and signing." This will having been made after conviction and sentence +to death, and having but two witnesses, one besides the jailer, was +not allowed in Probate, but remains among the files of that Court. As +a link in the foregoing story, it is an interesting relic. The legacy +clause, although not operative, was no doubt of inexpressible value to +the feelings of Margaret: and the circumstance seems to have touched +the heart even of the General Court, nearly twenty years afterwards; +for they took pains specifically to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.320" id="Page_ii.320">[ii.320]</a></span> provide to have the same sum paid +to Margaret, out of the Province treasury.</p> + +<p>She was not tried at the time appointed, in consequence, it is stated, +of "an imposthume in the head," and finally escaped the fate to which +she chose to consign herself, rather than remain under a violated +conscience. In judging of her, we cannot fail to make allowance for +her "young and tender years," and to sympathize in the sufferings +through which she passed. In making confession, and in accusing +others, she had done that which filled her heart with horror, in the +retrospect, so long as she lived. In recanting it, and giving her body +to the dungeon, and offering her life at the scaffold, she had secured +the forgiveness of Mr. Burroughs and her aged grandfather, and +deserves our forgiveness and admiration. Every human heart must +rejoice that this young girl was saved. She lived to be a worthy +matron and the founder of a numerous and respectable family.</p> + +<p>George Jacobs, Sr., is the only one, among the victims of the +witchcraft prosecutions, the precise spot of whose burial is +absolutely ascertained.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="jacobs"> +<img src="images2/image25.jpg" alt="The Jacobs House" width="400" height="348" /></a></p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><b>THE JACOBS HOUSE.</b></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>The tradition has descended through the family, that the body, after +having been obtained at the place of execution, was strapped by a +young grandson on the back of a horse, brought home to the farm, and +buried beneath the shade of his own trees. Two sunken and weather-worn +stones marked the spot. There the remains rested until 1864, when they +were exhumed. They were enclosed again, and reverently redeposited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.321" id="Page_ii.321">[ii.321]</a></span> in +the same place. The skull was in a state of considerable preservation. +An examination of the jawbones showed that he was a very old man at +the time of his death, and had previously lost all his teeth. The +length of some parts of the skeleton showed that he was a very tall +man. These circumstances corresponded with the evidence, which was +that he was tall of stature; so infirm as to walk with two staffs; +with long, flowing white hair. The only article found, except the +bones, was a metallic pin, which might have been used as a breastpin, +or to hold together his aged locks. It is an observable fact, that he +rests in his own ground still. He had lived for a great length of time +on that spot; and it remains in his family and in his name to this +day, having come down by direct descent. It is a beautiful locality: +the land descends with a gradual and smooth declivity to the bank of +the river. It is not much more than a mile from the city of Salem, and +in full view from the main road.</p> + +<p>John Willard appears to have been an honest and amiable person, an +industrious farmer, having a comfortable estate, with a wife and three +young children. He was a grandson of Old Bray Wilkins; whether by +blood or marriage, I have not been able to ascertain. The indications +are that he married a daughter of Thomas or Henry Wilkins, most +probably the former, with both of whom he was a joint possessor of +lands. He came from Groton; and it is for local antiquaries to +discover whether he was a relative of the Rev. Samuel Willard of +Boston. If so, the fact would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.322" id="Page_ii.322">[ii.322]</a></span> shed much light upon our story. There +is but one piece of evidence among the papers relating to his trial +that deserves particular notice. It shows the horrid character of the +charges made by the girls against prisoners at the bar, from their +nature incapable of being refuted and which the prisoners knew to be +false, but the Court, jury, and crowd implicitly believed. It also +illustrates the completeness of the machinery got up by the "accusing +girls" to give effect to their evidence. In addition to the evil +gossip that could be scoured from all the country round, and to +spectres of witches and ghosts of the dead, they brought into the +scene angels and divine beings, and testified to what they were told +by them. "The shining man," or the white man, was meant, in the +following deposition, to be a spirit of this description:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Susanna Sheldon</span>, aged eighteen +years or thereabouts.—Testifieth and saith, that, the day +of the date hereof (9th of May, 1692), I saw at Nathaniel +Ingersoll's house the apparitions of these four +persons,—William Shaw's first wife, the Widow Cook, Goodman +Jones and his child; and among these came the apparition of +John Willard, to whom these four said, 'You have murdered +us.' These four having said thus to Willard, they turned as +red as blood. And, turning about to look at me, they turned +as pale as death. These four desired me to tell Mr. +Hathorne. Willard, hearing them, pulled out a knife, saying, +if I did, he would cut my throat."</p></div> + +<p>The deponent goes on to say, that these several apparitions came +before her on another occasion, and the same language and actions took +place, and adds:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.323" id="Page_ii.323">[ii.323]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There did appear to me a shining man, who said I should go +and tell what I had heard and seen to Mr. Hathorne. This +Willard, being there present, told me, if I did, he would +cut my throat. At this time and place, this shining man told +me, that if I did go to tell this to Mr. Hathorne, that I +should be well, going and coming, but I should be afflicted +there. Then said I to the shining man, 'Hunt Willard away, +and I would believe what he said, that he might not choke +me.' With that the shining man held up his hand, and Willard +vanished away. About two hours after, the same appeared to +me again, and the said Willard with them; and I asked them +where their wounds were, and they said there would come an +angel from heaven, and would show them. And forthwith the +angel came. I asked what the man's name was that appeared to +me last, and the angel told his name was Southwick. And the +angel lifted up his winding-sheet, and out of his left side +he pulled a pitchfork tine, and put it in again, and +likewise he opened all the winding-sheets, and showed all +their wounds. And the white man told me to tell Mr. Hathorne +of it, and I told him to hunt Willard away, and I would; and +he held up his hand, and he vanished away."</p></div> + +<p>In the same deposition, this girl testifies that "she saw this Willard +suckle the apparitions of two black pigs on his breasts;" that Willard +told her he had been a witch twenty years; that she saw Willard and +other wizards kneel in prayer "to the black man with a long-crowned +hat, and then they vanished away."</p> + +<p>Such was the kind of testimony which the Court received with +awe-struck and bewildered credulity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.324" id="Page_ii.324">[ii.324]</a></span> and which took away the lives of +valuable and blameless men. All we know of the manner of Willard's +death is a passage from Brattle, who states that a deep impression was +produced by the admirable deportment of the sufferers during the awful +scenes before and at their executions; giving every evidence of +conscious innocence and a Christian character and faith, on the part +especially of "Procter and Willard, whose whole management of +themselves from the jail to the gallows, and whilst at the gallows, +was very affecting, and melting to the hearts of some considerable +spectators whom I could mention to you: but they are executed, and so +I leave them."</p> + +<p>On the 9th of September, the Court met again; and <i>Martha Corey</i>, +<i>Mary Easty</i>, <i>Alice Parker</i>, <i>Ann Pudeator</i>, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary +Bradbury were tried and condemned; and, on the 17th, <i>Margaret Scott</i>, +<i>Wilmot Reed</i>, <i>Samuel Wardwell</i>, <i>Mary Parker</i>, Abigail Faulkner, +Rebecca Eames, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster, and Abigail Hobbs received the +same sentence. Those in Italics were executed Sept. 22, 1692. Of the +circumstances in relation to them, in reference to their death and at +the time of their execution, but little information has reached us. +The following extract from Mr. Parris's church-records presents a +striking picture:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"11 September, Lord's Day.—Sister Martha Corey—taken into +the church 27 April, 1690—was, after examination upon +suspicion of witchcraft, 27 March, 1692, committed to prison +for that fact, and was condemned to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.325" id="Page_ii.325">[ii.325]</a></span> gallows for the +same yesterday; and was this day in public, by a general +consent, voted to be excommunicated out of the church, and +Lieutenant Nathaniel Putnam and the two deacons chosen to +signify to her, with the pastor, the mind of the church +herein. Accordingly, this 14 September, 1692, the three +aforesaid brethren went with the pastor to her in Salem +Prison; whom we found very obdurate, justifying herself, and +condemning all that had done any thing to her just discovery +or condemnation. Whereupon, after a little discourse (for +her imperiousness would not suffer much), and after +prayer,—which she was willing to decline,—the dreadful +sentence of excommunication was pronounced against her."</p></div> + +<p>Calef informs us, that "Martha Corey, protesting her innocency, +concluded her life with an eminent prayer upon the ladder."</p> + +<p>Nothing has reached us particularly relating to the manner of death of +Alice or Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, or Wilmot Reed. +They all asserted their innocence; and their deportment gave no ground +for any unfavorable comment by their persecutors, who were on the +watch to turn every act, word, or look of the sufferers to their +disparagement. Wilmot Reed probably adhered to the unresisting +demeanor which marked her examination. It was all a mystery to her; +and to every question she answered, "I know nothing about it." Of Mary +Easty it is grateful to have some account. Her own declarations in +vindication of her innocence are fortunately preserved; and her noble +record is complete in the fol<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.326" id="Page_ii.326">[ii.326]</a></span>lowing documents. The first appears to +have been addressed to the Special Court, and was presented +immediately before the trial of Mary Easty. No explanation has come +down to us why Sarah Cloyse was not then also brought to trial. +Circumstances to which we have no clew rescued her from the fate of +her sisters.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Humble Request of Mary Easty and Sarah Cloyse to the +Honored Court humbly showeth</i>, that, whereas we two sisters, +Mary Easty and Sarah Cloyse, stand now before the honored +Court charged with the suspicion of witchcraft, our humble +request is—First, that, seeing we are neither able to plead +our own cause, nor is counsel allowed to those in our +condition, that you who are our judges would please to be of +counsel to us, to direct us wherein we may stand in need. +Secondly, that, whereas we are not conscious to ourselves of +any guilt in the least degree of that crime whereof we are +now accused (in the presence of the living God we speak it, +before whose awful tribunal we know we shall ere long +appear), nor of any other scandalous evil or miscarriage +inconsistent with Christianity, those who have had the +longest and best knowledge of us, being persons of good +report, may be suffered to testify upon oath what they know +concerning each of us; viz., Mr. Capen, the pastor, and +those of the town and church of Topsfield, who are ready to +say something which we hope may be looked upon as very +considerable in this matter, with the seven children of one +of us; viz., Mary Easty: and it may be produced of like +nature in reference to the wife of Peter Cloyse, her sister. +Thirdly, that the testimony of witches, or such as are +afflicted as is supposed by witches, may not be improved to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.327" id="Page_ii.327">[ii.327]</a></span> +condemn us without other legal evidence concurring. We hope +the honored Court and jury will be so tender of the lives of +such as we are, who have for many years lived under the +unblemished reputation of Christianity, as not to condemn +them without a fair and equal hearing of what may be said +for us as well as against us. And your poor suppliants shall +be bound always to pray, &c."</p></div> + +<p>The following was presented by Mary Easty to the judges after she had +received sentence of death. It would be hard to find, in all the +records of human suffering and of Christian deportment under them, a +more affecting production. It is a most beautiful specimen of strong +good-sense, pious fortitude and faith, genuine dignity of soul, noble +benevolence, and the true eloquence of a pure heart; and was evidently +composed by her own hand. It may be said of her—and there can be no +higher eulogium—that she felt for others more than for herself.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Humble Petition of Mary Easty unto his Excellency Sir +William Phips, and to the Honored Judge and Bench now +sitting in Judicature in Salem, and the Reverend Ministers, +humbly showeth</i>, that, whereas your poor and humble +petitioner, being condemned to die, do humbly beg of you to +take it in your judicious and pious consideration, that your +poor and humble petitioner, knowing my own innocency, +blessed be the Lord for it! and seeing plainly the wiles and +subtilty of my accusers by myself, cannot but judge +charitably of others that are going the same way of myself, +if the Lord steps not mightily in. I was confined a whole +month upon the same account that I am condemned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.328" id="Page_ii.328">[ii.328]</a></span> now for, +and then cleared by the afflicted persons, as some of Your +Honors know. And in two days' time I was cried out upon +them, and have been confined, and now am condemned to die. +The Lord above knows my innocency then, and likewise does +now, as at the great day will be known to men and angels. I +petition to Your Honors not for my own life, for I know I +must die, and my appointed time is set; but the Lord he +knows it is that, if it be possible, no more innocent blood +may be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way +and course you go in. I question not but Your Honors do to +the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of +witchcraft and witches, and would not be guilty of innocent +blood for the world. But, by my own innocency, I know you +are in the wrong way. The Lord in his infinite mercy direct +you in this great work, if it be his blessed will that no +more innocent blood be shed! I would humbly beg of you, that +Your Honors would be pleased to examine these afflicted +persons strictly, and keep them apart some time, and +likewise to try some of these confessing witches; I being +confident there is several of them, has belied themselves +and others, as will appear, if not in this world, I am sure +in the world to come, whither I am now agoing. I question +not but you will see an alteration of these things. They say +myself and others having made a league with the Devil, we +cannot confess. I know, and the Lord knows, as will ... +appear, they belie me, and so I question not but they do +others. The Lord above, who is the Searcher of all hearts, +knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I +know not the least thing of witchcraft; therefore I cannot, +I dare not, belie my own soul. I beg Your Honors not to deny +this my humble petition from a poor, dying, innocent person. +And I question not but the Lord will give a blessing to your +endeavors."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.329" id="Page_ii.329">[ii.329]</a></span></p> + +<p>The parting interview of this admirable woman with her husband, +children, and friends, as she was about proceeding to the place of +execution, is said to have been a most solemn, affecting, and truly +sublime scene. Calef says that her farewell communications, on this +occasion, were reported, by persons who listened to them, to have been +"as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be +expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present."</p> + +<p>Ann Pudeator had been formerly the wife of a person named Greenslitt, +who left her with five children. Her subsequent husband, Jacob +Pudeator, died in 1682, and by will gave her his whole estate, after +the payment of legacies, of five pounds each, to her Greenslitt +children, who appear to have been living in 1692 at Casco Bay. These +provisions, as well as the expressions used by Pudeator, indicate that +he regarded her with affection and esteem. The following document is +all that we know else of her character particularly, except that she +was a kind neighbor, and ever prompt in offices of charity and +sympathy.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>The Humble Petition of Ann Pudeator unto the Honored Judge +and Bench now sitting in Judicature in Salem, humbly +showeth</i>, that, whereas your poor and humble petitioner, +being condemned to die, and knowing in my own conscience, as +I shall shortly answer it before the great God of heaven, +who is the Searcher and Knower of all hearts, that the +evidence of Jno. Best, Sr., and Jno. Best, Jr., and Samuel +Pickworth, which was given in against me in Court, were all +of them altogether false and untrue, and, besides the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.330" id="Page_ii.330">[ii.330]</a></span> +abovesaid Jno. Best hath been formerly whipped and likewise +is recorded for a liar. I would humbly beg of Your Honors to +take it into your judicious and pious consideration, that my +life may not be taken away by such false evidences and +witnesses as these be; likewise, the evidence given in +against me by Sarah Churchill and Mary Warren I am +altogether ignorant of, and know nothing in the least +measure about it, nor nothing else concerning the crime of +witchcraft, for which I am condemned to die, as will be +known to men and angels at the great day of judgment. +Begging and imploring your prayers at the Throne of Grace in +my behalf, and your poor and humble petitioner shall for +ever pray, as she is bound in duty, for Your Honors' health +and happiness in this life, and eternal felicity in the +world to come."</p></div> + +<p>Abigail, the wife of Francis Faulkner, and daughter of the Rev. +Francis Dane, of Andover, who was among those sentenced on the 17th of +September, had been examined, on the 11th of August, by Hathorne, +Corwin, and Captain John Higginson, sitting as magistrates. Upon the +prisoner's being brought in, the afflicted fell down, and went into +fits, as usual. The magistrates asked the prisoner what she had to +say. She replied, "I know nothing of it." The girls then renewed their +performances, declaring that her shape was at that moment torturing +them. The magistrates asked her if she did not see their sufferings. +She answered, "Yes; but it is the Devil does it in my shape." Ann +Putnam said that her spectre had afflicted her a few days before, +pulling her off her horse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.331" id="Page_ii.331">[ii.331]</a></span> Upon the touch of her person, the +sufferings of the afflicted would cease for a time. The prisoner held +a handkerchief in her hand. The girls would screech out, declaring +that, as she pressed the handkerchief, they were dreadfully squeezed. +She threw the handkerchief on the table; and they said, "There are the +shapes of Daniel Eames and Captain Floyd [two persons then in prison +on the charge of witchcraft] sitting on her handkerchief." Mary Warren +enacted the part of being dragged against her will under the table by +an invisible hand, from whose grasp she was at once released, upon the +prisoner's being made to touch her. Notwithstanding all this, she +protested her innocence, and was remanded to jail. On the 30th, she +was brought out again. In the mean while, six had been executed. The +usual means were employed to break her down; but all that was gained +was, that she owned she had expressed her indignation at the conduct +of the afflicted, and was much excited against them "for bringing her +kindred out, and she did wish them ill: and, her spirit being raised, +she did pinch her hands together, and she knew not but that the Devil +might take that advantage; but it was the Devil, and not she, that +afflicted them." This was the only concession she would make; and they +were puzzled to determine whether it was a confession, or not,—it +having rather the appearance of clearing herself from all implication +with the Devil, and leaving him on their hands—at any rate, they +concluded to regard it in the latter sense; and she was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.332" id="Page_ii.332">[ii.332]</a></span> duly +convicted, and sentenced to death. Sir William Phips ordered a +reprieve; and, after she had been thirteen weeks in prison, he +directed her to be discharged on the ground of insufficient evidence. +This, I think, is the only instance of a special pardon granted during +the proceedings.</p> + +<p>Samuel Wardwell, like most of the accused belonging to Andover, had +originally joined the crowd of the confessors; but he was too much of +a man to remain in that company. He took back his confession, and met +his death. While he was speaking to the people, at the gallows, +declaring his innocency, a puff of tobacco-smoke from the pipe of the +executioner, as Calef informs us, "coming in his face, interrupted his +discourse: those accusers said that the Devil did hinder him with +smoke." The wicked creatures followed their victims to the last with +their malignant outrages. The cart that carried the prisoners, on this +occasion, to the hill, "was for some time at a set: the afflicted and +others said that the Devil hindered it," &c.</p> + +<p>The route by which they were conveyed from the jail, which was at the +north corner of Federal and St. Peter's Streets, to the gallows, must +have been a cruelly painful and fatiguing one, particularly to infirm +and delicate persons, as many of them were. It was through St. +Peter's, up the whole length of Essex, and thence probably along +Boston Street, far towards Aborn Street; for the hill could only be +ascended from that direction. It must have been a rough and jolting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.333" id="Page_ii.333">[ii.333]</a></span> +operation; and it is not strange that the cart got "set." It seems +that the prisoners were carried in a single cart. It was a large one, +provided probably for the occasion; and it is not unlikely that the +reason why some who had been condemned were not executed, was that the +cart could not hold them all at once. They were executed, one in June, +five in July, five in August, and eight in September, with the +intention, no doubt, by taking them in instalments, to extend the acts +of the tragedy, from month to month, indefinitely.</p> + +<p>It was necessary for the safety of the accusers and prosecutors to +prevent a revulsion of the public mind, or even the least diminution +of the popular violence against the supposed witches. As they all +protested their innocence to the moment of death, and exhibited a +remarkably Christian deportment throughout the dreadful scenes they +were called to encounter from their arrest to their execution, there +was reason to apprehend that the people would gradually be led to feel +a sympathy for them, if not to entertain doubts of their guilt. To +prevent this, and remove any impressions favorable to them that might +be made by the conduct and declarations of the convicts, the +prosecutors were on the alert. After the prisoners had been swung off, +on the 22d of September, "turning him to the bodies, Mr. Noyes said, +'What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging +there!'" It was the last time his eyes were regaled by such a sight. +There were no more executions on Witch Hill.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.334" id="Page_ii.334">[ii.334]</a></span></p> + +<p>Three days before, a life had been taken by the officers of the law in +a manner so extraordinary, and marked by features so shocking, that +they find no parallel in the annals of America, and will continue to +arrest for ever the notice of mankind. The history and character of +old Giles Corey have been given in preceding parts of this work. The +only papers relating to him, on file as having been sworn to before +the Grand Jury, are a few brief depositions. If he had been put on +trial, we might have had more. Elizabeth Woodwell testifies, that "she +saw Giles Corey at meeting at Salem on a lecture-day, since he has +been in prison. He or his apparition came in, and sat in the +middlemost seat of the men's seats, by the post. This was the +lecture-day before Bridget Bishop was hanged. And I saw him come out +with the rest of the people." Mary Walcot, of course, swore to the +same. And Mary Warren swore that Corey was hostile to her and +afflicted her, because he thought she "caused her master (John +Procter) to ask more for a piece of meadow than he (Corey) was willing +to give." She also charged him with "afflicting of her" by his spectre +while he was in prison, and "described him in all his garments, both +of hat, coat, and the color of them,—with a cord about his waist and +a white cap on his head, and in chains." There is reason to believe, +that, while in prison, he experienced great distress of mind. Although +he had been a rough character in earlier life, and given occasion to +much scandal by his disregard of public opinion, he always exhibited +symp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.335" id="Page_ii.335">[ii.335]</a></span>toms of a generous and sensitive nature. His foolish conduct in +becoming so passionately engaged in the witchcraft proceedings, at +their earliest stage, as to be incensed against his wife because she +did not approve of or believe in them, and which led him to utter +sentiments and expressions that had been used against her; and so far +yielding to the accusers as to allow them to get from him the +deposition, which, while it failed to satisfy their demands, it was +shameful for him to have been persuaded to give,—all these things, +which after his own apprehension and imprisonment he had leisure to +ponder upon, preyed on his mind. He saw the awful character of the +delusion to which he had lent himself; that it had brought his +prayerful and excellent wife to the sentence of death, which had +already been executed upon many other devout and worthy persons. He +knew that he was innocent of the crime of witchcraft, and was now +satisfied that all others were. Besides his own unfriendly course +towards his wife, two of his four sons-in-law had turned against her. +One (Crosby) had testified, and another (Parker) had allowed his name +to be used, as an adverse witness. In view of all this, Corey made up +his mind, determined on his course, and stood to that determination. +He resolved to expiate his own folly by a fate that would satisfy the +demands of the sternest criticism upon his conduct; proclaim his +abhorrence of the prosecutions; and attest the strength of his +feelings towards those of his children who had been false, and those +who had been true, to his wife.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.336" id="Page_ii.336">[ii.336]</a></span> He caused to be drawn up what has +been called a will, although it is in reality a deed, and was duly +recorded as such. Its phraseology is very strongly guarded, and made +to give it clear, full, and certain effect. It begins thus: "Know ye, +&c., that I, Giles Corey, lying under great trouble and affliction, +through which I am very weak in body, but in perfect memory,—knowing +not how soon I may depart this life; in consideration of which, and +for the fatherly love and affection which I have and do bear unto my +beloved son-in-law, William Cleeves, of the town of Beverly, and to my +son-in-law, John Moulton, of the town of Salem, as also for divers +other good causes and considerations me at the present especially +moving;" and proceeds to convey and confirm all his property—"lands, +meadow, housing, cattle, stock, movables and immovables, money, +apparel, ... and all other the aforesaid premises, with their +appurtenances"—to the said Cleeves and Moulton "for ever, freely and +quietly, without any manner of challenge, claim, or demand of me the +said Giles Corey, or of any other person or persons whatsoever for me +in my name, or by my cause, means, or procurement;" and, in the use of +all the language applicable to that end, he warrants and binds himself +to defend the aforesaid conveyance and grant to Cleeves and Moulton, +their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns for ever. The +document was properly signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of +competent witnesses, whose several signatures are indorsed to that +effect. It was duly acknowledged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.337" id="Page_ii.337">[ii.337]</a></span> before "Thomas Wade, Justice of the +Peace in Essex," and recorded forthwith. This transaction took place +in the jail at Ipswich.</p> + +<p>His whole property being thus securely conveyed to his faithful +sons-in-law, and placed beyond the reach of his own weakness or change +of purpose, Corey resolved on a course that would surely try to the +utmost the power of human endurance and firmness. He knew, that, if +brought to trial, his death was certain. He did not know but that +conviction and execution, through the attainder connected with it, +might invalidate all attempts of his to convey his property. But it +was certain, that, if he should not be brought to trial and +conviction, his deed would stand, and nothing could break it, or +defeat its effect. He accordingly made up his mind not to be tried. +When called into court to answer to the indictment found by the Grand +Jury, he did not plead "Guilty," or "Not guilty," but stood mute. How +often he was called forth, we are not informed; but nothing could +shake him. No power on earth could unseal his lips.</p> + +<p>He knew that he could have no trial that would deserve the name. To +have pleaded "Not guilty" would have made him, by his own act, a party +to the proceeding, and have been, by implication, an assent to putting +his case to the decision of a blind, maddened, and utterly perverted +tribunal. He would not, by any act or utterance of his, leave his case +with "the country" represented by a jury that embodied the passions of +the deluded and infatuated multitude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.338" id="Page_ii.338">[ii.338]</a></span> around him. He knew that the +gates of justice were closed, and that truth had fled from the scene. +He would have no part nor lot in the matter; refused to recognize the +court, made no response to its questions, and was dumb in its +presence. He stands alone in the resolute defiance of his attitude. He +knew the penalty of suffering and agony he would have to pay; but he +freely and fearlessly encountered it. All that was needed to carry his +point was an unconquerable firmness, and he had it. He rendered it +impossible to bring him to trial; and thereby, in spite of the power +and wrath of the whole country and its authorities, retained his right +to dispose of his property; and bore his testimony against the +wickedness and folly of the hour in tones that reached the whole +world, and will resound through all the ages.</p> + +<p>When Corey took this ground, the Court found itself in a position of +no little difficulty, and was probably at a loss what to do. No +information has come to us of the details of the proceedings. If the +usages in England on such occasions were adopted, the prisoner was +three times brought before the Court, and called to plead; the +consequences of persisting in standing mute being solemnly announced +to him at each time. If he remained obdurate, the sentence of <i>peine +forte et dure</i> was passed upon him; and, remanded to prison, he was +put into a low and dark apartment. He would there be laid on his back +on the bare floor, naked for the most part. A weight of iron would be +placed upon him, not quite enough to crush him. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.339" id="Page_ii.339">[ii.339]</a></span> would have no +sustenance, save only, on the first day, three morsels of the worst +bread; and, on the second day, three draughts of standing water that +should be nearest to the prison door: and, in this situation, such +would be alternately his daily diet till he died, or till he answered. +The object of this terrible punishment was to induce the prisoner to +plead to the indictment; upon doing which, he would be brought to +trial in the ordinary way. The motive that led prisoners to stand mute +in England is stated to have been, most generally, to save their +property from confiscation. The practice of putting weights upon them, +and gradually increasing them, was to force them, by the slowly +increasing torture, to yield.</p> + +<p>How far the English practice was imitated in the case of Corey will +remain for ever among the dread secrets of his prison-house. The +tradition is, that the last act in the tragedy was in an open field +near the jail, somewhere between Howard-street Burial Ground and Brown +Street. It is said that Corey urged the executioners to increase the +weight which was crushing him, that he told them it was of no use to +expect him to yield, that there could be but one way of ending the +matter, and that they might as well pile on the rocks. Calef says, +that, as his body yielded to the pressure, his tongue protruded from +his mouth, and an official forced it back with his cane. Some persons +now living remember a popular superstition, lingering in the minds of +some of the more ignorant class, that Corey's ghost haunted the +grounds where this barbar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.340" id="Page_ii.340">[ii.340]</a></span>ous deed was done; and that boys, as they +sported in the vicinity, were in the habit of singing a ditty +beginning thus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'More weight! more weight!'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Giles Corey he cried."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>For a person of more than eighty-one years of age, this must be +allowed to have been a marvellous exhibition of prowess; illustrating, +as strongly as any thing in human history, the power of a resolute +will over the utmost pain and agony of body, and demonstrating that +Giles Corey was a man of heroic nerve, and of a spirit that could not +be subdued.</p> + +<p>It produced a deep effect, as it was feared that it would. The bearing +of all the sufferers at all the stages of the proceedings, and at +their execution, had told in their favor; but the course of Giles +Corey profoundly affected the public mind. This must have been noticed +by the managers of the prosecutions; and they felt that some +extraordinary expedient was necessary to renew, and render more +intense than ever, the general infatuation. From the very beginning, +there had been great skill and adroitness in arranging the order of +incidents, and supplying the requisite excitements at the right +moments and the right points. Some persons—it can only be conjectured +who—had, all along, been behind the scenes, giving direction and +materials to the open actors. This unseen power was in the village; +and the movements it devised generally proceeded from Thomas Putnam's +house, or the parsonage. It was on hand to meet the contingency<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.341" id="Page_ii.341">[ii.341]</a></span> +created by Corey's having actually carried out to the last his +resolution to meet a form of death that would, if any thing could, +cause a re-action in the public mind; and the following stratagem was +contrived to turn the manner of his death into the means of more than +ever blinding and infatuating the people. It was the last and one of +the most artful strokes of policy by the prosecutors. On the day after +the death of Corey, and two days before the execution of his wife, +Mary Easty, and the six others, Judge Sewall, then in Salem, received +a letter from Thomas Putnam to this effect:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Last night, my daughter Ann was grievously tormented by +witches, threatening that she should be pressed to death +before Giles Corey; but, through the goodness of a gracious +God, she had at last a little respite. Whereupon there +appeared unto her (she said) a man in a winding-sheet, who +told her that Giles Corey had murdered him by pressing him +to death with his feet; but that the Devil there appeared +unto him, and covenanted with him, and promised him that he +should not be hanged. The apparition said God hardened his +heart, that he should not hearken to the advice of the +Court, and so die an easy death; because, as it said, it +must be done to him as he has done to me. The apparition +also said that Giles Corey was carried to the Court for +this, and that the jury had found the murder; and that her +father knew the man, and the thing was done before she was +born."</p></div> + +<p>Cotton Mather represented this vision, made to Ann Putnam, as proof +positive of a divine communication to her, because, as he says, she +could not have received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.342" id="Page_ii.342">[ii.342]</a></span> her information from a human source, as +everybody had forgotten the affair long ago; and that she never could +have heard of it, happening, as it did, before she was born. Bringing +up this old matter to meet the effect produced by Corey's death was +indeed a skilful move; and it answered its purpose probably to a +considerable extent. The man whom Corey was thus charged with having +murdered seventeen years before died in a manner causing some gossip +at the time; and a coroner's jury found that he had been "bruised to +death, having clodders of blood about the heart." Bringing the affair +back to the public mind, with the story of Ann Putnam's vision, was +well calculated to meet and check any sympathy that might threaten to +arise in favor of Corey. But the trick, however ingenious, will not +stand the test of scrutiny. Mather's statement that everybody had +forgotten the transaction, and that Ann could only have known of it +supernaturally, is wholly untenable; for it was precisely one of those +things that are never forgotten in a country village: it had always +been kept alive as a part of the gossip of the neighborhood in +connection with Corey; and her own father, as is unwittingly +acknowledged, knew the man, and all about it. Of course, the girl had +heard of it from him and others. The industry that had ransacked the +traditions and collected the scandal of the whole country, far and +near, for stories that were brought in evidence against all the +prisoners, had not failed to pick up this choice bit against Corey. +The only reason why it had not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.343" id="Page_ii.343">[ii.343]</a></span> before been brought out was because he +had not been on trial. The man who died with "clodders of blood about +his heart," seventeen years before, was an unfortunate and worthless +person, who had incurred punishment for his misconduct while a servant +on Corey's farm, and afterwards at the hands of his own family: and he +does not appear to have mended his morals upon passing into the +spiritual world; for the statement of his ghost to Ann Putnam, that +the jury had found Corey guilty of murder, and that the Court was +hindered by some enchantment from proceeding against him, is disproved +by the record which is—as has been mentioned in the +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a>, +<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_185">vol. +i. p. 185</a>—that the man was carried back to his house by Corey's wife, +and died there some time after; and the Court did no more than fine +Corey for the punishment he had inflicted upon him while in his +service, and which the evidence showed was repeated by his parents +after his return to his own family.</p> + +<p>Thomas Putnam's letter and Ann's vision were the last things of the +kind that occurred. The delusion was approaching its close, and the +people were beginning to be restored to their senses.</p> + +<p>When it became known that Corey's resolution was likely to hold out, +and that no torments or cruelties of any kind could subdue his firm +and invincible spirit, Mr. Noyes hurried a special meeting of his +church on a week-day, and had the satisfaction of dealing the same +awful doom upon him as upon Rebecca Nurse. The entry in the record of +the First Church is as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.344" id="Page_ii.344">[ii.344]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sept. 18, G. Corey was excommunicated: the cause of it was, +that he being accused and indicted for the sin of +witchcraft, he refused to plead, and so incurred the +sentence and penalty of <i>pain fort dure</i>; being undoubtedly +either guilty of the sin of witchcraft, or of throwing +himself upon sudden and certain death, if he were otherwise +innocent."</p></div> + +<p>This attempt to introduce a form of argument into a church act of +excommunication is a slight but significant symptom of its having +become felt that the breath of reason had begun to raise a ripple upon +the surface of the public mind. It increased slowly, but steadily to a +gale that beat with severity upon Mr. Noyes and all his +fellow-persecutors to their dying day.</p> + +<p>After the executions, on the 22d of September, the Court adjourned to +meet some weeks subsequently; and it was, no doubt, their expectation +to continue from month to month to hold sessions, and supply, each +time, new cart-loads of victims to the hangman. But a sudden collapse +took place in the machinery, and they met no more. The executive +authority intervened, and their functions ceased. The curtain fell +unexpectedly, and the tragedy ended. It is not known precisely what +caused this sudden change. It is probable, that a revolution had been +going on some time in the public mind, which was kept for a while from +notice, but at last became too apparent and too serious to be +disregarded. It has generally been attributed to the fact, that the +girls became over-confident, and struck too high. They had ventured, +as we have seen, to cry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.345" id="Page_ii.345">[ii.345]</a></span> out against the Rev. Samuel Willard, but were +rebuked and silenced by the Court. Whoever began to waver in his +confidence of the correctness of the proceedings was in danger of +being attacked by them; and, as a general thing, when a person was +"cried out upon," it may be taken as proof that he had spoken against +them. Increase Mather, the president of Harvard College, called by +Eliot "the father of the New-England clergy," was understood not to go +so far as his son Cotton in sustaining the proceedings; and a member +of his family was accused. The wife of Sir William Phips sympathized +with those who suffered prosecution, and is said to have written an +order for the release of a prisoner from jail. She was cried out upon. +It may have been noticed, that, though Jonathan Corwin sat with +Hathorne as an examining magistrate and assistant, and signed the +commitments of the prisoners, he never took an active part, but was a +silent and passive agent in the scene. He was subsequently raised to +the bench; but there is reason to believe that his mind was not clear +as to the correctness of the proceedings. This probably became known +to the accusing girls; for they cried out repeatedly against his +wife's mother, a respectable and venerable lady in Boston. The +accusers, in aiming at such characters, overestimated their power; and +the tide began to turn against them. But what finally broke the spell +by which they had held the minds of the whole colony in bondage was +their accusation, in October, of Mrs. Hale, the wife of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.346" id="Page_ii.346">[ii.346]</a></span> minister +of the First Church in Beverly. Her genuine and distinguished virtues +had won for her a reputation, and secured in the hearts of the people +a confidence, which superstition itself could not sully nor shake. Mr. +Hale had been active in all the previous proceedings; but he knew the +innocence and piety of his wife, and he stood forth between her and +the storm he had helped to raise: although he had driven it on while +others were its victims, he turned and resisted it when it burst in +upon his own dwelling. The whole community became convinced that the +accusers in crying out upon Mrs. Hale, had perjured themselves, and +from that moment their power was destroyed; the awful delusion was +dispelled, and a close put to one of the most tremendous tragedies in +the history of real life. The wildest storm, perhaps, that ever raged +in the moral world, became a calm; the tide that had threatened to +overwhelm every thing in its fury, sunk back to its peaceful bed. +There are few, if any, other instances in history, of a revolution of +opinion and feeling so sudden, so rapid, and so complete. The images +and visions that had possessed the bewildered imaginations of the +people flitted away, and left them standing in the sunshine of reason +and their senses; and they could have exclaimed, as they witnessed +them passing off, in the language of the great master of the drama and +of human nature, but that their rigid Puritan principles would not, it +is presumed, have permitted them, even in that moment of rescue and +deliverance, to quote Shakspeare,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.347" id="Page_ii.347">[ii.347]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And these are of them. Whither are they vanished?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into the air; and what seemed corporal, melted<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As breath into the wind."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Sir William Phips well knew that the public sentiment demanded a stop +to be put to the prosecutions. Besides that many of the people had +lost all faith in the grounds on which they had been conducted, an +influence from the higher orders of society began to make itself felt. +Hutchinson says, "Although many such had suffered, yet there remained +in prison a number of women of as reputable families as any in the +towns where they lived, and several persons, of still superior rank, +were hinted at by the pretended bewitched, or by the confessing +witches. Some had been publicly named. Dudley Bradstreet, a justice of +peace, who had been appointed one of President Dudley's council, and +who was son to the worthy old governor, then living, found it +necessary to abscond. Having been remiss in prosecuting, he had been +charged by some of the afflicted as a confederate. His brother, John +Bradstreet, was forced to fly also."</p> + +<p>The termination of the proceedings was probably effectually secured by +the spirited course of certain parties in Andover, who, at the first +moment of its appearing that the public sentiment was changing, +commenced actions for slander against the accusers.</p> + +<p>The result of the whole matter was, that, while some of the judges, +magistrates, and ministers persisted in their fanatical zeal, the +great body of the people, high and low, were rescued from the +delusion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.348" id="Page_ii.348">[ii.348]</a></span></p> + +<p>While, in the course of our story, we have witnessed some shocking +instances of the violation of the most sacred affections and +obligations of life, in husbands and wives, parents and children, +testifying against each other, and exerting themselves for mutual +destruction, we must not overlook the many instances in which filial, +parental, and fraternal fidelity and love have shone conspicuously. It +was dangerous to befriend an accused person. Procter stood by his wife +to protect her, and it cost him his life. Children protested against +the treatment of their parents, and they were all thrown into prison. +Daniel Andrew, a citizen of high standing, who had been deputy to the +General Court, asserted, in the boldest language, his belief of +Rebecca Nurse's innocence; and he had to fly the country to save his +life. Many devoted sons and daughters clung to their parents, visited +them in prison in defiance of a bloodthirsty mob; kept by their side +on the way to execution; expressed their love, sympathy, and reverence +to the last; and, by brave and perilous enterprise, got possession of +their remains, and bore them back under the cover of midnight to their +own thresholds, and to graves kept consecrated by their prayers and +tears. One noble young man is said to have effected his mother's +escape from the jail, and secreted her in the woods until after the +delusion had passed away, provided food and clothing for her, erected +a wigwam for her shelter, and surrounded her with every comfort her +situation would admit of. The poor creature must,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.349" id="Page_ii.349">[ii.349]</a></span> however, have +endured a great amount of suffering; for one of her larger limbs was +fractured in the all but desperate attempt to rescue her from the +prison-walls.</p> + +<p>The Special Court being no longer suffered to meet, a permanent and +regular tribunal, called the Superior Court of Judicature, was +established, consisting of the Deputy-governor, William Stoughton, +Chief-justice; and Thomas Danforth, John Richards, Wait Winthrop, and +Samuel Sewall, associate justices. They held a Court at Salem, in +January, 1693. Hutchinson says that, on this occasion, the Grand Jury +found about fifty indictments. The following persons were brought to +trial: Rebecca Jacobs, Margaret Jacobs, Sarah Buckley, Job Tookey, +Hannah Tyler, Candy, Mary Marston, Elizabeth Johnson, Abigail Barker, +Mary Tyler, Sarah Hawkes, Mary Wardwell, Mary Bridges, Hannah Post, +Sarah Bridges, Mary Osgood, Mary Lacy, Jr., Sarah Wardwell, Elizabeth +Johnson, Jr., and Mary Post. The three last were condemned, but not +executed: all the rest were acquitted. Considering that the "spectral +evidence" was wholly thrown out at these trials, the facts that the +grand jury, under the advice of the Court, brought in so many +indictments, and that three were actually convicted, are as +discreditable to the regular Court as the convictions at the Special +Court are to that body. It has been said that the Special Court had +not an adequate representation of lawyers in its composition; and the +results of its proceedings have been ascribed to that circumstance. It +has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.350" id="Page_ii.350">[ii.350]</a></span> held up disparagingly in comparison with the regular Court +that succeeded it. But, in fact, the regular Court consisted of +persons all of whom sat in the Special Court, with the exception of +Danforth. But his proceedings in originating the arrests for +witchcraft in the fall of 1691, and his action when presiding at the +preliminary examination of John Procter, Elizabeth Procter, and Sarah +Cloyse, at Salem, April 11, 1692, show that, so far as the permission +of gross irregularities and the admission of absurd kinds of testimony +are concerned, the regular Court gained nothing by his sitting with +it, unless his views had been thoroughly changed in the mean time. The +truth is, that the judges, magistrates, and legislature were as much +to blame, in this whole business, as the ministers, and much more slow +to come to their senses, and make amends for their wrong-doing.</p> + +<p>All the facts known to us, and all the statements that have come down +to us, require us to believe, that none who confessed, and stood to +their confession, were brought to trial. All who were condemned either +maintained their innocence from the first, or, if persuaded or +overcome into a confession, voluntarily took it back and disowned it +before trial. If this be so, then the name of every person condemned +ought to be held in lasting honor, as preferring to die rather than +lie, or stand to a lie. It required great strength of mind to take +back a confession; relinquish life and liberty; go down into a +dungeon, loaded with irons; and from thence to ascend the gallows. It +relieves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.351" id="Page_ii.351">[ii.351]</a></span> the mind to think, that Abigail Hobbs, wicked and shocking +as her conduct had been towards Mr. Burroughs and others, came to +herself, and offered her life in atonement for her sin.</p> + +<p>The Court continued the trials at successive sessions during the +spring, all resulting in acquittals, until in May, 1693, Sir William +Phips, by proclamation, discharged all. Hutchinson says, "Such a +jail-delivery has never been known in New England." The number then +released is stated to have been one hundred and fifty. How many had +been apprehended, during the whole affair, we have no means of +knowing. Twenty, counting Giles Corey, had been executed. Two at +least, Ann Foster and Sarah Osburn, had died in jail: it is not +improbable that others perished under the bodily and mental sufferings +there. We find frequent expressions indicating that many died in +prison. A considerable number of children, and some adults whose +friends were able to give the heavy bonds required and had influence +enough to secure the favor, had some time before been removed to +private custody. Quite a considerable number had succeeded in breaking +jail and eluding recapture. Upon the whole, there must have been +several hundreds committed. Even after acquittal by a jury, and the +Governor's proclamation, none were set at liberty until they had paid +all charges; including board for the whole time of their imprisonment, +jailer's fees, and fees of Court of all kinds. The families of many +had become utterly impoverished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.352" id="Page_ii.352">[ii.352]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sufferings of the prisoners and of their relatives and connections +are perhaps best illustrated by presenting the substance of a few of +the petitions for their release, found among the files. The friends of +the parties, in these cases, were not in a condition to give the +bonds, and they probably remained in jail until the general discharge; +and how long after, before the means could be raised to pay all dues, +we cannot know.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.353" id="Page_ii.353">[ii.353]</a></span></p> +<p>Margaret Jacobs had to remain in jail after the Governor's +proclamation had directed the release of all prisoners, because she +could not pay the fees and charges. Her grandfather had been executed, +and all his furniture, stock, and moveable property seized by the +marshal or sheriff. Her father escaped the warrant by a sudden flight +from his home under the cover of midnight, and was in exile "beyond +the seas;" her mother and herself taken at the time by the officers +serving the warrants against them; the younger children of the family, +left without protection, had dispersed, and been thrown upon the +charity of neighbors; the house had been stripped of its contents, +left open, and deserted. She had not a shilling in the world, and knew +not where to look for aid. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.354" id="Page_ii.354">[ii.354]</a></span> was taken back to prison, and remained +there for some time, until a person named Gammon, apparently a +stranger, happened to hear of her case, and, touched with compassion, +raised the money required, and released her. It was long before the +affairs of the Jacobs' family were so far retrieved as to enable them +to refund the money to the noble-hearted fisherman. How many others +lingered in prison, or how long, we have no means of ascertaining.</p> + +<p>In reviewing the proceedings at the examinations and trials, it is +impossible to avoid being struck with the infatuation of the +magistrates and judges. They acted throughout in the character and +spirit of prosecuting officers, put leading and ensnaring questions to +the prisoners, adopted a browbeating deportment towards them, and +pursued them with undisguised hostility. They assumed their guilt from +the first,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.355" id="Page_ii.355">[ii.355]</a></span> and endeavored to force them to confess; treating them as +obstinate culprits because they would not. Every kind of irregularity +was permitted. The marshal was encouraged in perpetual interference to +prejudice the persons on trial, watching and reporting aloud to the +Court every movement of their hands or heads or feet. Other persons +were allowed to speak out, from the body of the crowd, whatever they +chose to say adverse to the prisoner. Accusers were suffered to make +private communications to the magistrates and judges before or during +the hearings. The presiding officers showed off their smartness in +attempts to make the persons on trial before them appear at a +disadvantage. In some instances, as in the case of Sarah Good, the +magistrate endeavored to deceive the accused by representing falsely +the testimony given by another. The people in and around the +court-room were allowed to act the part of a noisy mob, by clamors and +threatening outcries; and juries were overawed to bring in verdicts of +conviction, and rebuked from the bench if they exercised their +rightful prerogative without regard to the public passions. The +chief-justice, in particular, appears to have been actuated by violent +prejudice against the prisoners, and to have conducted the trials, all +along, with a spirit that bears the aspect of animosity.</p> + +<p>There is one point of view in which he must be held responsible for +the blood that was shed, and the infamy that, in consequence, attaches +to the proceedings. It may well be contended, that not a conviction +would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.356" id="Page_ii.356">[ii.356]</a></span> have taken place, but for a notion of his which he arbitrarily +enforced as a rule of law. It was a part of the theory relating to +witchcraft, that the Devil made use of the spectres, or apparitions, +of some persons to afflict others. From this conceded postulate, a +division of opinion arose. Some maintained that the Devil could employ +only the spectres of persons in league with him; others affirmed, that +he could send upon his evil errands the spectres of innocent persons, +without their consent or knowledge. The chief-justice held the former +opinion, against the judgment of many others, arbitrarily established +it as a rule of Court, and peremptorily instructed juries to regard it +as binding upon them in making their verdicts. The consequence was +that a verdict of "Guilty" became inevitable. But few at that time +doubted the veracity of the "afflicted persons," which was thought to +be demonstrated to the very senses by their fits and sufferings, in +the presence of the Court, jury, and all beholders. When they swore +that they saw the shapes of Bridget Bishop, or Rebecca Nurse, or +George Burroughs, choking or otherwise torturing a person, the fact +was regarded as beyond question.</p> + +<p>The prisoners took the ground, that the statements made by the +witnesses, even if admitted, were not proof against them; for the +Devil might employ the spectres of innocent persons, or of whomsoever +he chose, without the knowledge of the persons whose shapes were thus +used by him. When Mrs. Ann Putnam swore that she had seen the spectre +of Rebecca Nurse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.357" id="Page_ii.357">[ii.357]</a></span> afflicting various persons; and that the said +spectre acknowledged to her, that "she had killed Benjamin Houlton, +and John Fuller, and Rebecca Shepard,"—the answer of the prisoner +was, "I cannot help it: the Devil may appear in my shape." When the +examining magistrate put the question to Susanna Martin, "How comes +your appearance to hurt these?" Martin replied, "I cannot tell. He +that appeared in Samuel's shape, a glorified saint, can appear in any +one's shape." The Rev. John Wise, in his noble appeal in favor of John +Procter, argued to the same point. But the chief-justice was +inexorably deaf to all reason; compelled the jury to receive, as +absolute law, that the Devil could not use the shape of an innocent +person; and, as the "afflicted" swore that they saw the shapes of the +prisoners actually engaged in the diabolical work, there was no room +left for question, and they must return a verdict of "Guilty."</p> + +<p>In this way, innocent persons were slaughtered by a dogma in the mind +of an obstinate judge. Dogmas have perverted courts and governments in +all ages. A fabrication of fancy, an arbitrary verbal proposition, has +been exalted above reason, and made to extinguish common sense. The +world is full of such dogmas. They mislead the actions of men, and +confound the page of history. "The king cannot die" is one of them. It +is held as an axiom of political and constitutional truth. So an +entire dynasty, crowded with a more glorious life than any other, is +struck from the annals of an empire. In the public records of +Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.358" id="Page_ii.358">[ii.358]</a></span>land, the existence of the Commonwealth is ignored; and the traces +of its great events are erased from the archives of the government, +which, in all its formulas and official papers, proclaims a lie. A +hunted fugitive, wandering in disguise through foreign lands, without +a foot of ground on the globe that he could call his own, is declared +in all public acts, parliamentary and judicial, and even by those +assuming to utter the voice of history, to have actually reigned all +the time. In our country and in our day, we are perplexed, and our +public men bewildered, by a similar dogma. The merest fabric of human +contrivance, a particular form of political society, is impiously +clothed with an essential attribute of God alone; and ephemeral +politicians are announcing, as an eternal law of Providence, that "a +State cannot die." The mischiefs that result, in the management of +human affairs, from enthroning dogmas over reason, truth, and fact, +are, as they ever have been, incalculable.</p> + +<p>Chief-justice Stoughton appears to have kept his mind chained to his +dogma to the last. It rendered him wholly incapable of opening his +eyes to the light of truth. He held on to spectral evidence, and his +corollary from it, when everybody else had abandoned both. He would +not admit that he, or any one concerned, had been in error. He never +could bear to hear any persons express penitence or regret for the +part they had taken in the proceedings. When the public delusion had +so far subsided that it became difficult to procure the execution of a +witch, he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.359" id="Page_ii.359">[ii.359]</a></span> disturbed and incensed to such a degree that he +abandoned his seat on the bench. During a session of the Court at +Charlestown, in January, 1692-3, "word was brought in, that a reprieve +was sent to Salem, and had prevented the execution of seven of those +that were there condemned, which so moved the chief judge that he said +to this effect: 'We were in a way to have cleared the land of them; +who it is that obstructs the cause of justice, I know not: the Lord be +merciful to the country!' and so went off the bench, and came no more +into that Court."</p> + +<p>I have spoken of the judges as appearing to be infatuated, not on +account of the opinions they held on the subject of witchcraft, for +these were the opinions of their age; nor from the peculiar doctrine +their chief enforced upon them, for that was entertained by many, and, +as a mere theory, was perhaps as logically deducible from the +prevalent doctrines as any other. Their infatuation consisted in not +having eyes to see, or ears to hear, evidences continually occurring +of the untruthful arts and tricks of the afflicted children, of their +cunning evasions, and, in some instances, palpable falsehoods. Then, +further, there was solid and substantial evidence before them that +ought to have made them pause and consider, if not doubt and +disbelieve. We find the following paper among the files:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">The Testimony of John Putnam, Sr., and Rebecca his +Wife</span>, saith that our son-in-law John Fuller, and our +daughter Rebecca Shepard, did both of them die a most +violent death (and died acting very strangely at the time +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.360" id="Page_ii.360">[ii.360]</a></span> their death); further saith, that we did judge then that +they both died of a malignant fever, and had no suspicion of +<span lang="el" title="Transcriber's Note: so in original">withcraft</span> of any, +neither can we accuse the prisoner at the bar of any such +thing."</p></div> + +<p>When we recall the testimony of Ann Putnam the mother, and find that +the afflicted generally charged the death of the above-named persons +upon the shape of Rebecca Nurse, we perceive how absolutely Captain +John Putnam and his wife discredit their testimony. The opinion of the +father and mother of Fuller and Shepard ought to have had weight with +the Court. They were persons of the highest standing, and of +recognized intelligence and judgment. They were old church-members, +and eminently orthodox in all their sentiments. They were the heads of +a great family. He had represented the town in the General Court the +year before. No man in this part of the country was more noted for +strong good sense than Captain John Putnam. This deposition is +honorable to their memory, and clears them from all responsibility for +the extent to which the afflicted persons were allowed to sway the +judgment of the Court. Taken in connection with the paper signed by so +large a portion of the best people of the village, in behalf of +Rebecca Nurse, it proves that the blame for the shocking proceedings +in the witchcraft prosecutions cannot be laid upon the local +population, but rests wholly upon the Court and the public +authorities.</p> + +<p>The Special Court that condemned the persons charged with witchcraft +in 1692 is justly open to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.361" id="Page_ii.361">[ii.361]</a></span> censure for the absence of all +discrimination of evidence, and for a prejudgment of the cases +submitted to them. In view of the then existing law and the practice +in the mother-country under it, they ought to have the benefit of the +admission that they did, in other respects than those mentioned, no +more and no worse than was to be expected. And Cotton Mather, in the +"Magnalia," vindicates them on this ground:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"They consulted the precedents of former times, and precepts +laid down by learned writers about witchcraft; as, Keeble on +the Common Law, chap. 'Conjuration' (an author approved by +the twelve judges of our nation): also, Sir Matthew Hale's +Trials of Witches, printed anno 1682; Glanvill's Collection +of Sundry Trials in England and Ireland in the years 1658, +'61, '63, '64, and '81; Bernard's Guide to Jury-men; +Baxter's and R.B., their histories about Witches, and their +Discoveries; Cotton Mather's Memorable Providences relating +to Witchcraft, printed 1685."</p></div> + +<p>So far as the medical profession at the time is concerned, it must be +admitted that they bear a full share of responsibility for the +proceedings. They gave countenance and currency to the idea of +witchcraft in the public mind, and were very generally in the habit, +when a patient did not do well under their prescriptions, of getting +rid of all difficulty by saying that "an evil hand" was upon him. +Their opinion to this effect is cited throughout, and appears in a +large number of the documents. There were coroners' juries in cases +where it was suspected that a person<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.362" id="Page_ii.362">[ii.362]</a></span> died of witchcraft. It is much +to be regretted that none of their verdicts have been preserved. Drawn +up by an attending "chirurgeon," they would illustrate the state of +professional science at that day, by informing us of the marks, +indications, and conditions of the bodily organization by which the +traces of the Devil's hand were believed to be discoverable. All we +know is that, in particular cases, as that of Bray Wilkins's grandson +Daniel, the jury found decisive proof that he had died by "an evil +hand."</p> + +<p>It is not to be denied or concealed, that the clergy were instrumental +in bringing on the witchcraft delusion in 1692. As the supposed agents +of the mischief belonged to the supernatural and spiritual world, +which has ever been considered their peculiar province, it was thought +that the advice and co-operation of ministers were particularly +appropriate and necessary. Opposition to prevailing vices and attempts +to reform society were considered at that time in the light of a +conflict with Satan himself; and he was thought to be the ablest +minister who had the greatest power over the invisible enemy, and +could most easily and effectively avert his blows, and counteract his +baleful influence. This gave the clergy the front in the battle +against the hosts of Belial. They were proud of the position, and were +stimulated to distinguish themselves in the conflict. Cotton Mather +represents that ministers were honored by the special hostility of the +great enemy of souls, "more dogged by the Devil than any other men," +just as, according to his philosophy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.363" id="Page_ii.363">[ii.363]</a></span> the lightning struck the +steeples of churches more frequently than other buildings because the +Prince of the Power of the Air particularly hated the places where the +sound of the gospel was heard. There were, moreover, it is to be +feared, ministers whose ambition to acquire influence and power had +been allowed to become a ruling principle, and who favored the +delusion because thereby their object could be most surely achieved by +carrying the people to the greatest extremes of credulity, +superstition, and fanatical blindness.</p> + +<p>But justice requires it to be said that the ministers, as a general +thing, did not take the lead after the proceedings had assumed their +most violent aspect, and the disastrous effects been fully brought to +view. It may be said, on the contrary, that they took the lead, as a +class, in checking the delusion, and rescuing the public mind from its +control. Prior to the time when they were called upon to give their +advice to the government, they probably followed Cotton Mather: after +that, they seemed to have freed themselves generally from his +influence. The names of Dane and Barnard of Andover, Higginson of +Salem, Cheever of Marblehead, Hubbard and Wise of Ipswich, Payson and +Phillips of Rowley, Allin of Salisbury, and Capen of Topsfield, appear +in behalf of persons accused. To come forward in their defence shows +courage, and proves that their influence was in the right direction, +even while the proceedings were at their height. Mr. Hale, of Beverly, +abandoned the prosecutions, and ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.364" id="Page_ii.364">[ii.364]</a></span>pressed his disapprobation of them, +before the government or the Court relaxed the vigor of their +operations, as is sufficiently proved by the fact that the "afflicted +children" cried out against his wife. Willard, and James Allen, and +Moody, and John Bailey, and even Increase Mather, of Boston, openly +discountenanced the course things were taking. The latter circulated a +letter from his London correspondent, a person whose opinion was +entitled to weight, condemning in the strongest terms the doctrine of +the chief-justice, as follows: "All that I speak with much wonder that +any man, much less a man of such abilities, learning, and experience +as Mr. Stoughton, should take up a persuasion that the Devil cannot +assume the likeness of an innocent, to afflict another person. In my +opinion, it is a persuasion utterly destitute of any solid reason to +render it so much as probable." The ministers may have been among the +first to bring on the delusion; but the foregoing facts prove, that, +as a profession, they were the first to attempt to check and +discountenance the prosecutions. While we are required, in all +fairness, to give this credit to the clergy in general, it would be +false to the obligations of historical truth and justice to attempt to +palliate the conduct of some of them. Whoever considers all that Mr. +Parris, according to his own account, said and did, cannot but shrink +from the necessity of passing judgment upon him, and find relief in +leaving him to that tribunal which alone can measure the extent of +human responsibility,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.365" id="Page_ii.365">[ii.365]</a></span> and sound the depths of the heart. Lawson threw +into the conflagration all the combustible materials his eloquence and +talents, heated, it is to be feared, by resentment, could contribute. +Dr. Bentley, in his "Description and History of Salem" (Mass. Hist. +Coll., 1st series, vol. vi.) says, "Mr. Noyes came out and publicly +confessed his error, never concealed a circumstance, never excused +himself; visited, loved, blessed, the survivors whom he had injured; +asked forgiveness always, and consecrated the residue of his life to +bless mankind." It is to be hoped that the statement is correct. There +were several points of agreement between Noyes and Bentley. Both were +men of ability and learning. Like Bentley, Noyes lived and died a +bachelor; and, like him, was a man of lively and active temperament, +and, in the general tenor of his life, benevolent and disinterested. +Perhaps congeniality in these points led Bentley to make the +statement, just quoted, a little too strong. He wrote more than a +century after the witchcraft proceedings; just at that point when +tradition had become inflated by all manner of current talk, of fable +mixed with fact, before the correcting and expunging hand of a severe +scrutiny of records and documents had commenced its work. The drag-net +of time had drawn along with it every thing that anybody had said; but +the process of sifting and discrimination had not begun. His kindly +and ingenuous nature led him to believe, and prompted him to write +down, all that was amiable, and pleasing to a mind like his. So far as +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.366" id="Page_ii.366">[ii.366]</a></span> records and documents give us information, there is reason to +apprehend, that Mr. Noyes, like Stoughton, another old bachelor, never +recovered his mind from the frame of feeling or conviction in which it +was during the proceedings. His name is not found, as are those of +other ministers, to any petitions, memorials or certificates, in favor +of the sufferers during the trials, or of reparation to their memories +or to the feelings of their friends. He does not appear to have taken +any part in arresting the delusion or rectifying the public mind.</p> + +<p>Of Cotton Mather, more is required to be said. He aspired to be +considered the leading champion of the Church, and the most successful +combatant against the Satanic powers. He seems to have longed for an +opportunity to signalize himself in this particular kind of warfare; +seized upon every occurrence that would admit of such a coloring to +represent it as the result of diabolical agency; circulated in his +numerous publications as many tales of witchcraft as he could collect +throughout New and Old England, and repeatedly endeavored to get up +cases of the kind in Boston. There is some ground for suspicion that +he was instrumental in originating the fanaticism in Salem; at any +rate, he took a leading part in fomenting it. And while there is +evidence that he endeavored, after the delusion subsided, to escape +the disgrace of having approved of the proceedings, and pretended to +have been in some measure opposed to them, it can be too clearly shown +that he was secretly and cunningly endeavoring to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.367" id="Page_ii.367">[ii.367]</a></span> renew them during +the next year in his own parish in Boston.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + +<p>How blind is man to the future! The state of things which Cotton +Mather labored to bring about, in order that he might increase his own +influence over an infatuated people, by being regarded by them as +mighty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.368" id="Page_ii.368">[ii.368]</a></span> to cast out and vanquish evil spirits, and as able to hold +Satan himself in chains by his prayers and his piety, brought him at +length into such disgrace that his power was broken down, and he +became the object of public ridicule and open insult. And the +excitement that had been produced for the purpose of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.369" id="Page_ii.369">[ii.369]</a></span> restoring and +strengthening the influence of the clerical and spiritual leaders +resulted in effects which reduced that influence to a still lower +point. The intimate connection of Dr. Mather and other prominent +ministers with the witchcraft delusion brought a reproach upon the +clergy from which they have not yet recovered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.370" id="Page_ii.370">[ii.370]</a></span></p> + +<p>In addition to the designing exertions of ambitious ecclesiastics, and +the benevolent and praiseworthy efforts of those whose only aim was to +promote a real and thorough reformation of religion, all the passions +of our nature stood ready to throw their concentrated energy into the +excitement (as they are sure to do, whatever may be its character), so +soon as it became sufficiently strong to encourage their action.</p> + +<p>The whole force of popular superstition, all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.371" id="Page_ii.371">[ii.371]</a></span> fanatical +propensities of the ignorant and deluded multitude, united with the +best feelings of our nature to heighten the fury of the storm. Piety +was indignant at the supposed rebellion against the sovereignty of +God, and was roused to an extreme of agitation and apprehension in +witnessing such a daring and fierce assault by the Devil and his +adherents upon the churches and the cause of the gospel. Virtue was +shocked at the tremendous guilt of those who were believed to have +entered the diabolical confederacy; while public order and security +stood aghast, amidst the invisible, the supernatural, the infernal, +and apparently the irresistible attacks that were making upon the +foundations of society. In baleful combination with principles, good +in themselves, thus urging the passions into wild operation, there +were all the wicked and violent affections to which humanity is +liable. Theological bitterness, personal animosities, local +controversies, private feuds, long-cherished grudges, and professional +jealousies, rushed forward, and raised their discordant voices, to +swell the horrible din; credulity rose with its monstrous and +ever-expanding form, on the ruins of truth, reason, and the senses; +malignity and cruelty rode triumphant through the storm, by whose fury +every mild and gentle sentiment had been shipwrecked; and revenge, +smiling in the midst of the tempest, welcomed its desolating wrath as +it dashed the mangled objects of its hate along the shore.</p> + +<p>The treatment of the prisoners, by the administra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.372" id="Page_ii.372">[ii.372]</a></span>tive and subordinate +officers in charge of them, there is reason to apprehend, was more +than ordinarily harsh and unfeeling. The fate of Willard prevented +expressions of kindness towards them. The crime of which they were +accused put them outside of the pale of human charities. All who +believed them guilty looked upon them, not only with horror, but hate. +To have deliberately abandoned God and heaven, the salvation of Christ +and the brotherhood of man, was regarded as detestable, execrable, and +utterly and for ever damnable. This was the universal feeling at the +time when the fanaticism was at its height; or, if there were any +dissenters, they dared not show themselves. What the poor innocent +sufferers experienced of cruelty, wrong, and outrage from this cause, +it is impossible for words to tell. It left them in prison to neglect, +ignominious ill-treatment, and abusive language from the menials +having charge of them; it made their trials a brutal mockery; it made +the pathway to the gallows a series of insults from an exasperated +mob. If dear relatives or faithful friends kept near them, they did it +at the peril of their lives, and were forbidden to utter the +sentiments with which their hearts were breaking. There was no +sympathy for those who died, or for those who mourned.</p> + +<p>It may seem strange to us, at this distance of time, and with the +intelligence prevalent in this age, that persons of such known, +established, and eminent reputation as many of those whose cases have +been par<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.373" id="Page_ii.373">[ii.373]</a></span>ticularly noticed, could possibly have been imagined guilty +of the crime imputed to them. The question arises in every mind, Why +did not their characters save them from conviction, and even from +suspicion? The answer is to be found in the peculiar views then +entertained of the power and agency of Satan. It was believed that it +would be one of the signs of his coming to destroy the Church of +Christ, that some of the "elect" would be seduced into his +service,—that he would drag captive in his chains, and pervert into +instruments to further his wicked cause, many who stood among the +highest in the confidence of Christians. This belief made them more +vehement in their proceedings against ministers, church-members, and +persons of good repute, who were proved, by the overwhelming evidence +of the "afflicted children" and the confessing witches, to have made a +compact with the Devil. There is reason to fear that Mr. Burroughs, +and all accused persons of the highest reputation before for piety and +worth, especially all who had been professors of religion and +accredited church-members, suffered more than others from the severity +of the judges and executive officers of the law, and from the rage and +hatred of the people. It was indeed necessary, in order to keep up the +delusion and maintain the authority of the prosecutions, to break down +the influence of those among the accused and the sufferers who had +stood the highest, and bore themselves the best through the fiery +ordeal of the examinations, trials, and executions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.374" id="Page_ii.374">[ii.374]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is indeed a very remarkable fact, which has justly been enlarged +upon by several who have had their attention turned to this subject, +that, of the whole number that suffered, none, in the final scene, +lost their fortitude for a moment. Many were quite aged; a majority, +women, of whom some, brought up in delicacy, were wholly unused to +rough treatment or physical suffering. They must have undergone the +most dreadful hardships, suddenly snatched from their families and +homes; exposed to a torrent of false accusations imputing to them the +most odious, shameful, and devilish crimes; made objects of the +abhorrence of their neighbors, and, through the notoriety of the +affair, of the world; carried to and fro, over rugged roads, from jail +to jail, too often by unfeeling sub-officials; immured in crowded, +filthy, and noisome prisons; heavily loaded with chains, in dungeons; +left to endure insufficient attention to necessary personal wants, +often with inadequate food and clothing; all expressions of sympathy +for them withheld and forbidden,—those who ought to have been their +comforters denouncing them in the most awful language, and consigning +them to the doom of excommunication from the church on earth and from +the hope of heaven. Surely, there have been few cases in the dark and +mournful annals of human suffering and wrong, few instances of "man's +inhumanity to man," to be compared with what the victims of this +tragedy endured. Their bearing through the whole, from the arrest to +the scaffold, reflects<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.375" id="Page_ii.375">[ii.375]</a></span> credit upon our common nature. The fact that +Wardwell lost his firmness, for a time, ought not to exclude his name +from the honored list. Its claim to be enrolled on it was nobly +retrieved by his recantation, and his manly death.</p> + +<p>There is one consideration that imparts a higher character to the +deportment of these persons than almost any of the tests to which the +firmness of the mind of man has ever been exposed. There was nothing +outside of the mind to hold it up, but every thing to bear it down. +All that they had in this world, all on which they could rest a hope +for the next, was the consciousness of their innocence. Their fidelity +to this sense of innocence—for a lie would have saved them—their +unfaltering allegiance to this consciousness; the preservation of a +calm, steadfast, serene mind; their faith and their prayers, rising +above the maledictions of a maniac mob, in devotion to God and +forgiveness to men, and, as in the case of Martha Corey and George +Burroughs, in clear and collected expressions,—this was truly +sublime. It was appreciated, at the time, by many a heart melted back +to its humanity; and paved the way for the deliverance of the world, +we trust for ever, from all such delusions, horrors, and spectacles. +The sufferers in 1692 deserve to be held in grateful remembrance for +having illustrated the dignity of which our nature is capable; for +having shown that integrity of conscience is an armor which protects +the peace of the soul against all the powers that can assail it; and +for having given an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.376" id="Page_ii.376">[ii.376]</a></span> example, that will be seen of all and in all +times, of a courage, constancy, and faithfulness of which all are +capable, and which can give the victory over infirmities of age, +weaknesses and pains of body, and the most appalling combination of +outrages to the mind and heart that can be accumulated by the violence +and the wrath of man. Superstition and ignorance consigned their names +to obloquy, and shrouded them in darkness. But the day has dawned; the +shadows are passing away; truth has risen; the reign of superstition +is over; and justice will be done to all who have been true to +themselves, and stood fast to the integrity of their souls, even to +the death.</p> + +<p>The place selected for the executions is worthy of notice. It was at a +considerable distance from the jail, and could be reached only by a +circuitous and difficult route. It is a fatiguing enterprise to get at +it now, although many passages that approach it from some directions +have since been opened. But it was a point where the spectacle would +be witnessed by the whole surrounding country far and near, being on +the brow of the highest eminence in the vicinity of the town. As it +was believed by the people generally that they were engaged in a great +battle with Satan, one of whose titles was "the Prince of the Power of +the Air," perhaps they chose that spot to execute his confederates, +because, in going to that high point, they were flaunting him in his +face, celebrating their triumph over him in his own realm. There is no +contemporaneous nor immediately subsequent record, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.377" id="Page_ii.377">[ii.377]</a></span> the +executions took place on the spot assigned by tradition; but that +tradition has been uniform and continuous, and appears to be verified +by a singular item of evidence that has recently come to light. A +letter written by the late venerable Dr. Holyoke to a friend at a +distance, dated Salem, Nov. 25, 1791, has found its way back to the +possession of one of his grand-daughters, which contains the following +passage: "In the last month, there died a man in this town, by the +name of John Symonds, aged a hundred years lacking about six months, +having been born in the famous '92. He has told me that his nurse had +often told him, that, while she was attending his mother at the time +she lay in with him, she saw, from the chamber windows, those unhappy +people hanging on Gallows' Hill, who were executed for witches by the +delusion of the times." John Symonds lived and died near the southern +end of Beverly Bridge, on the south side of what is now Bridge Street. +He was buried from his house, and Dr. Bentley made the funeral prayer, +in which he is said to have used this language: "O God! the man who +with his own hands felled the trees, and hewed the timbers, and +erected the house in which we are now assembled, was the ancestor of +him whose remains we are about to inter." It is inferrible from this +that Symonds was born in the house from which he was buried. Gallows +Hill, now "Witch Hill" is in full view from that spot, and would be +from the chamber windows of a house there, at any time, even in the +season when intervening trees were in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.378" id="Page_ii.378">[ii.378]</a></span> fullest foliage, while no +other point in that direction would be discernible. From the only +other locality of persons of the name of Symonds, at that time, in +North Fields near the North Bridge, Witch Hill is also visible, and +the only point in that direction that then would have been.</p> + +<p>"Witch Hill" is a part of an elevated ledge of rock on the western +side of the city of Salem, broken at intervals; beginning at Legg's +Hill, and trending northerly. The turnpike from Boston enters Salem +through one of the gaps in this ridge, which has been widened, +deepened, and graded. North of the turnpike, it rises abruptly to a +considerable elevation, called "Norman's Rocks." At a distance of +between three and four hundred feet, it sinks again, making a wide and +deep gulley; and then, about a third of a mile from the turnpike, it +re-appears, in a precipitous and, at its extremity, inaccessible +cliff, of the height of fifty or sixty feet. Its southern and western +aspect, as seen from the rough land north of the turnpike, is given in +the <a href="#witchhill">headpiece</a> of the <a href="#PART_THIRD">Third Part</a>, at the beginning of this volume. Its +sombre and desolate appearance admits of little variety of +delineation. It is mostly a bare and naked ledge. At the top of this +cliff, on the southern brow of the eminence, the executions are +supposed to have taken place. The outline rises a little towards the +north, but soon begins to fall off to the general level of the +country. From that direction only can the spot be easily reached. It +is hard to climb the western side, impossible to clamber<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.379" id="Page_ii.379">[ii.379]</a></span> up the +southern face. Settlement creeps down from the north, and has +partially ascended the eastern acclivity, but can never reach the +brink. Scattered patches of soil are too thin to tempt cultivation, +and the rock is too craggy and steep to allow occupation. An active +and flourishing manufacturing industry crowds up to its base; but a +considerable surface at the top will for ever remain an open space. It +is, as it were, a platform raised high in air.</p> + +<p>A magnificent panorama of ocean, island, headland, bay, river, town, +field, and forest spreads out and around to view. On a clear summer +day, the picture can scarcely be surpassed. Facing the sun and the +sea, and the evidences of the love and bounty of Providence shining +over the landscape, the last look of earth must have suggested to the +sufferers a wide contrast between the mercy of the Creator and the +wrath of his creatures. They beheld the face of the blessed God +shining upon them in his works, and they passed with renewed and +assured faith into his more immediate presence. The elevated rock, +uplifted by the divine hand, will stand while the world stands, in +bold relief, and can never be obscured by the encroachments of society +or the structures of art,—a fitting memorial of their constancy.</p> + +<p>When, in some coming day, a sense of justice, appreciation of moral +firmness, sympathy for suffering innocence, the diffusion of refined +sensibility, a discriminating discernment of what is really worthy of +commemoration among men, a rectified taste, a gen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.380" id="Page_ii.380">[ii.380]</a></span>erous public spirit, +and gratitude for the light that surrounds and protects us against +error, folly, and fanaticism, shall demand the rearing of a suitable +monument to the memory of those who in 1692 preferred death to a +falsehood, the pedestal for the lofty column will be found ready, +reared by the Creator on a foundation that can never be shaken while +the globe endures, or worn away by the elements, man, or time—the +brow of Witch Hill. On no other spot could such a tribute be more +worthily bestowed, or more conspicuously displayed.</p> + +<p>The effects of the delusion upon the country at large were very +disastrous. It cast its shadows over a broad surface, and they +darkened the condition of generations. The material interests of the +people long felt its blight. Breaking out at the opening of the +season, it interrupted the planting and cultivating of the grounds. It +struck an entire summer out of one year, and broke in upon another. +The fields were neglected; fences, roads, barns, and even the +meeting-house, went into disrepair. Burdens were accumulated upon the +already over-taxed resources of the people. An actual scarcity of +provisions, amounting almost to a famine, continued for some time to +press upon families. Farms were brought under mortgage or sacrificed, +and large numbers of the people were dispersed. One locality in the +village, which was the scene of this wild and tragic fanaticism, bears +to this day the marks of the blight then brought upon it. Although in +the centre of a town exceeding almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.381" id="Page_ii.381">[ii.381]</a></span> all others in its agricultural +development and thrift,—every acre elsewhere showing the touch of +modern improvement and culture,—the "old meeting-house road," from +the crossing of the Essex Railroad to the point where it meets the +road leading north from Tapleyville, has to-day a singular appearance +of abandonment. The Surveyor of Highways ignores it. The old, gray, +moss-covered stone walls are dilapidated, and thrown out of line. Not +a house is on either of its borders, and no gate opens or path leads +to any. Neglect and desertion brood over the contiguous grounds. +Indeed, there is but one house standing directly on the roadside until +you reach the vicinity of the site of the old meeting-house; and that +is owned and occupied by a family that bear the name and are the +direct descendants of Rebecca Nurse. On both sides there are the +remains of cellars, which declare that once it was lined by a +considerable population. Along this road crowds thronged in 1692, for +weeks and months, to witness the examinations.</p> + +<p>The ruinous results were not confined to the village, but extended +more or less over the country generally. Excitement, wrought up to +consternation, spread everywhere. People left their business and +families, and came from distant points, to gratify their curiosity, +and enable themselves to form a judgment of the character of the +phenomena here exhibited. Strangers from all parts swelled the +concourse, gathered to behold the sufferings of "the afflicted" as +manifested at the examinations; and flocked to the surrounding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.382" id="Page_ii.382">[ii.382]</a></span> +eminences and the grounds immediately in front of Witch Hill, to catch +a view of the convicts as they approached the place selected for their +execution, offered their dying prayers, and hung suspended high in +air. Such scenes always draw together great multitudes. None have +possessed a deeper, stronger, or stranger attraction; and never has +the dread spectacle been held out to view over a wider area, or from +so conspicuous a spot. The assembling of such multitudes so often, for +such a length of time, and from such remote quarters, must have been +accompanied and followed by wasteful, and in all respects deleterious, +effects. The continuous or frequently repeated sessions of the +magistrates, grand jury, and jury of trials; and the attendance of +witnesses summoned from other towns, or brought from beyond the +jurisdiction of the Province, and of families and parties interested +specially in the proceedings,—must have occasioned an extensive and +protracted interruption of the necessary industrial pursuits of +society, and heavily increased the public burdens.</p> + +<p>The destruction dealt upon particular families extended to so many as +to constitute in the aggregate a vast, wide-spread calamity.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.383" id="Page_ii.383">[ii.383]</a></span></p> +<p>The facts that belong to the story of the witchcraft delusion of 1692, +or that may in any way explain or illustrate it, so far as they can be +gathered from the imperfect and scattered records and papers that have +come down to us, have now been laid before you. But there are one or +two inquiries that force themselves upon thoughtful minds, which +demand consideration before we close the subject.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.384" id="Page_ii.384">[ii.384]</a></span></p> + +<p>What are we to think of those persons who commenced and continued the +accusations,—the "afflicted children" and their associates?</p> + +<p>In some instances and to some extent, the steps they took and the +testimony they bore may be explained by referring to the mysterious +energies of the imagination, the power of enthusiasm, the influence of +sympathy, and the general prevalence of credulity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.385" id="Page_ii.385">[ii.385]</a></span> ignorance, +superstition, and fanaticism at the time; and it is not probable, +that, when they began, they had any idea of the tremendous length to +which they were finally led on.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps their original design to gratify a love of notoriety or +of mischief by creating a sensation and excitement in their +neighborhood, or, at the worst, to wreak their vengeance upon one or +two individuals who had offended them. They soon, however, became +intoxicated by the terrible success of their imposture, and were swept +along by the frenzy they had occasioned. It would be much more +congenial with our feelings to believe, that these misguided and +wretched young persons early in the proceedings became themselves +victims of the delusion into which they plunged every one else. But we +are forbidden to form this charitable judgment by the manifestations +of art and contrivance, of deliberate cunning and cool malice, they +exhibited to the end. Once or twice they were caught in their own +snare; and nothing but the blindness of the bewildered community saved +them from disgraceful exposure and well-deserved punishment. They +appeared as the prosecutors of every poor creature that was tried, and +seemed ready to bear testimony against any one upon whom suspicion +might happen to fall. It is dreadful to reflect upon the enormity of +their wickedness, if they were conscious of imposture throughout. It +seems to transcend the capabilities of human crime. There is, perhaps, +a slumbering element in the heart of man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.386" id="Page_ii.386">[ii.386]</a></span> that sleeps for ever in the +bosom of the innocent and good, and requires the perpetration of a +great sin to wake it into action, but which, when once aroused, impels +the transgressor onward with increasing momentum, as the descending +ball is accelerated in its course. It may be that crime begets an +appetite for crime, which, like all other appetites, is not quieted +but inflamed by gratification.</p> + +<p>Their precise moral condition, the degree of guilt to be ascribed, and +the sentence to be passed upon them, can only be determined by a +considerate review of all the circumstances and influences around +them.</p> + +<p>For a period embracing about two months, they had been in the habit of +meeting together, and spending the long winter evenings, at Mr. +Parris's house, practising the arts of fortune-telling, jugglery, and +magic. What they had heard in the traditions and fables of a credulous +and superstitious age,—stories handed down in the interior +settlements, circulated in companies gathered around the hearths of +farmhouses, indulging the excitements of terrified imaginations; +filling each other's minds with wondrous tales of second-sight, ghosts +and spirits from the unseen world, together with what the West-Indian +or South-American slaves could add,—was for a long time the food of +their fancies. They experimented continually upon what was the +spiritualism of their day, and grew familiar with the imagery and the +exhibitions of the marvellous. The prevalent notions concerning +witch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.387" id="Page_ii.387">[ii.387]</a></span>craft operations and spectral manifestations came into full +effect among them. Living in the constant contemplation of such +things, their minds became inflamed and bewildered; and, at the same +time, they grew expert in practising and exhibiting the forms of +pretended supernaturalism, the conditions of diabolical distraction, +and the terrors of demonology. Apparitions rose before them, revealing +the secrets of the past and of the future. They beheld the present +spectres of persons then bodily far distant. They declared in +language, fits, dreams, or trance, the immediate operations upon +themselves of the Devil, by the agency of his confederates. Their +sufferings, while thus under "an evil hand," were dreadful to behold, +and soon drew wondering and horror-struck crowds around them.</p> + +<p>At this point, if Mr. Parris, the ministers, and magistrates had done +their duty, the mischief might have been stopped. The girls ought to +have been rebuked for their dangerous and forbidden sorceries and +divinations, their meetings broken up, and all such tamperings with +alleged supernaturalism and spiritualism frowned down. Instead of +this, the neighboring ministers were summoned to meet at Mr. Parris's +house to witness the extraordinary doings of the girls, and all they +did was to indorse, and pray over, them. Countenance was thus given to +their pretensions, and the public confidence in the reality of their +statements established. Magistrates from the town, church-members, +leading people, and people of all sorts, flocked to witness the awful +power of Satan, as displayed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.388" id="Page_ii.388">[ii.388]</a></span> the tortures and contortions of the +"afflicted children;" who became objects of wonder, so far as their +feats were regarded, and of pity in view of their agonies and +convulsions.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the evidence rather favors the supposition, that the +girls originally had no design of accusing, or bringing injury upon, +any one. But the ministers at Parris's house, physicians and others, +began the work of destruction by pronouncing the opinion that they +were bewitched. This carried with it, according to the received +doctrine, a conviction that there were witches about; for the Devil +could not act except through the instrumentality of beings in +confederacy with him. Immediately, the girls were beset by everybody +to say who it was that bewitched them. Yielding to this pressure, they +first cried out upon such persons as might have been most naturally +suggested to them,—Sarah Good, apparently without a regular home, and +wandering with her children from house to house for shelter and +relief; Sarah Osburn, a melancholy, broken-minded, bed-ridden person; +and Tituba, a slave, probably of mixed African and Indian blood. At +the examination of these persons, the girls were first brought before +the public, and the awful power in their hands revealed to them. The +success with which they acted their parts; the novelty of the scene; +the ceremonials of the occasion, the magistrates in their imposing +dignity and authority, the trappings of the marshal and his officers, +the forms of proceeding,—all which they had never seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.389" id="Page_ii.389">[ii.389]</a></span> before; the +notice taken of them; the importance attached to them; invested the +affair with a strange fascination in their eyes, and awakened a new +class of sentiments and ideas in their minds. A love of distinction +and notoriety, and the several passions that are gratified by the +expression by others of sympathy, wonder, and admiration, were brought +into play. The fact that all eyes were upon them, with the special +notice of the magistrates, and the entire confidence with which their +statements were received, flattered and beguiled them. A fearful +responsibility had been assumed, and they were irretrievably committed +to their position. While they adhered to that position, their power +was irresistible, and they were sure of the public sympathy and of +being cherished by the public favor. If they faltered, they would be +the objects of universal execration and of the severest penalties of +law for the wrongs already done and the falsehoods already sworn to. +There was no retracing their steps; and their only safety was in +continuing the excitement they had raised. New victims were constantly +required to prolong the delusion, fresh fuel to keep up the +conflagration; and they went on to cry out upon others. With the +exception of two of their number, who appear to have indulged spite +against the families in which they were servants, there is no evidence +that they were actuated by private grievances or by animosities +personal to themselves. They were ready and sure to wreak vengeance +upon any who expressed doubts about the truth of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.390" id="Page_ii.390">[ii.390]</a></span> testimony, or +the propriety of the proceedings; but, beyond this, they were very +indifferent as to whom they should accuse. They were willing, as to +that matter, to follow the suggestions of others, and availed +themselves of all the gossip and slander and unfriendly talk in their +families that reached their ears. It was found, that a hint, with a +little information as to persons, places, and circumstances, conveyed +to them by those who had resentments and grudges to gratify, would be +sufficient for the purpose. There is reason to fear, that there were +some behind them, giving direction to the accusations, and managing +the frightful machinery, all the way through. The persons who were +apprehended had, to a considerable extent, been obnoxious, and subject +to prejudice, in connection with quarrels and controversies related in +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">Part I., vol. i</a>. They were "Topsfield men," or the opponents of Bayley +or of Parris, or more or less connected with some other feuds. As +further proof that the girls were under the guidance of older heads, +it is obvious, that there was, in the order of the proceedings, a +skilful arrangement of times, sequences, and concurrents, that cannot +be ascribed to them. No novelist or dramatist ever laid his plot +deeper, distributed his characters more artistically, or conducted +more methodically the progress of his story.</p> + +<p>In the mean while, they were becoming every day more perfect in the +performance of their parts; and their imaginative powers, nervous +excitability, and flexibility and rapidity of muscular action, were +kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.391" id="Page_ii.391">[ii.391]</a></span> under constant stimulus, and attaining a higher development. The +effect of these things, so long continued in connection with the +perpetual pretence, becoming more or less imbued with the character of +belief, of their alliance and communion with spiritual beings and +manifestations, may have unsettled, to some extent, their minds. Added +to this, a sense of the horrid consequences of their actions, +accumulating with every pang they inflicted, the innocent blood they +were shedding, and the depths of ruin into which they were sinking +themselves and others, not only demoralized, but to some extent, +perhaps, crazed them. It is truly a marvel that their physical +constitutions did not break down under the exhausting excitements, the +contortions of frame, the force to which the bodily functions were +subjected in trances and fits, and the strain upon all the vital +energies, protracted through many months. The wonder, however, would +have been greater, if the mental and moral balance had not thereby +been disturbed.</p> + +<p>Perpetual conversance with ideas of supernaturalism; daily and nightly +communications, whether in the form of conscious imposture or honest +delusion, with the spiritual world, continued through a great length +of time,—as much at least as the exclusive contemplation of any one +idea or class of ideas,—must be allowed to be unsalutary. Whatever +keeps the thoughts wholly apart from the objects of real and natural +life, and absorbs them in abstractions, cannot be favorable to the +soundness of the faculties or the tone of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.392" id="Page_ii.392">[ii.392]</a></span> mind. This must +especially be the effect, if the subjects thus monopolizing the +attention partake of the marvellous and mysterious. When these things +are considered, and the external circumstances of the occasion, the +wild social excitement, the consternation, confusion, and horror, that +were all crowded and heaped up and kept pressing upon the soul without +intermission for months, the wonder is, indeed, that not only the +accusers, prosecutors, and sufferers, but the whole people, did not +lose their senses. Never was the great boon of life, a sound mind in a +sound body, more liable to be snatched away from all parties. The +depositions of Ann Putnam, Sr., have a tinge of sadness;—a +melancholy, sickly mania running through them. Something of the kind +is, perhaps, more or less discernible in the depositions of others.</p> + +<p>Let us, then, relieve our common nature from the load of the +imputation, that, in its normal state, it is capable of such +inconceivable wickedness, by giving to these wretched persons the +benefit of the supposition that they were more or less deranged. This +view renders the lesson they present more impressive and alarming. Sin +in all cases, when considered by a mind that surveys the whole field, +is itself insanity. In the case of these accusers, it was so great as +to prove, by its very monstrousness, that it had actually subverted +their nature and overthrown their reason. They followed their victims +to the gallows, and jeered, scoffed, insulted them in their dying +hours. Sarah Churchill, according to the testimony of Sarah +Inger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.393" id="Page_ii.393">[ii.393]</a></span>soll, on one occasion came to herself, and manifested the +symptoms of a restored moral consciousness: but it was a temporary +gleam, a lucid interval; and she passed back into darkness, +continuing, as before, to revel in falsehood, and scatter destruction +around her. With this single exception, there is not the slightest +appearance of compunction or reflection among them. On the contrary, +they seem to have been in a frivolous, sportive, gay frame of thought +and spirits. There is, perhaps, in this view of their conduct and +demeanor, something to justify the belief that they were really +demented. The fact that a large amount of skilful art and adroit +cunning was displayed by them is not inconsistent with the supposition +that they had become partially insane; for such cunning and art are +often associated with insanity.</p> + +<p>The quick wit and ready expedients of the "afflicted children" are +very remarkable. They were prompt with answers, if any attempted to +cross-examine them, extricated themselves most ingeniously if ever +brought into embarrassment, and eluded all efforts to entrap or expose +them. Among the papers is a deposition, the use of which at the trials +is not apparent. It does not purport to bear upon any particular case. +Joseph Hutchinson was a firm-minded man, of strong common sense. He +could not easily be deceived; and, although he took part in the +proceedings at the beginning, soon became opposed to them. It looks as +if, by close questions put to the child, Abigail Williams, on some +occasion of his casually meeting her, he had tried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.394" id="Page_ii.394">[ii.394]</a></span> to expose the +falseness of her accusations, and that he was made to put the +conversation into the shape of a deposition. It is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Joseph Hutchinson</span>, aged +fifty-nine years, do testify as followeth: "Abigail +Williams, I have heard you speak often of a book that has +been offered to you. She said that there were two books: one +was a short, thick book; and the other was a long book. I +asked her what color the book was of. She said the books +were as red as blood. I asked her if she had seen the books +opened. She said she had seen it many times. I asked her if +she did see any writing in the book. She said there were +many lines written; and, at the end of every line, there was +a seal. I asked her, who brought the book to her. She told +me that it was the black man. I asked her who the black man +was. She told me it was the Devil. I asked her if she was +not afraid to see the Devil. She said, at the first she was, +and did go from him; but now she was not afraid, but could +talk with him as well as she could with me."</p></div> + +<p>There is an air of ease and confidence in the answers of Abigail, +which illustrates the promptness of invention and assurance of their +grounds which the girls manifested on all occasions. They were never +at a loss, and challenged scrutiny. Hutchinson gained no advantage, +and no one else ever did, in an encounter with them.</p> + +<p>Whatever opinion may be formed of the moral or mental condition of the +"afflicted children," as to their sanity and responsibility, there can +be no doubt that they were great actors. In mere jugglery and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.395" id="Page_ii.395">[ii.395]</a></span> sleight +of hand, they bear no mean comparison with the workers of wonders, in +that line, of our own day. Long practice had given them complete +control over their countenances, intonations of voice, and the entire +muscular and nervous organization of their bodies; so that they could +at will, and on the instant, go into fits and convulsions, swoon and +fall to the floor, put their frames into strange contortions, bring +the blood to the face, and send it back again. They could be deadly +pale at one moment, at the next flushed; their hands would be clenched +and held together as with a vice; their limbs stiff and rigid or +wholly relaxed; their teeth would be set; they would go through the +paroxysms of choking and strangulation, and gasp for breath, bringing +froth and blood from the mouth; they would utter all sorts of screams +in unearthly tones; their eyes remain fixed, sometimes bereft of all +light and expression, cold and stony, and sometimes kindled into +flames of passion; they would pass into the state of somnambulism, +without aim or conscious direction in their movements, looking at some +point, where was no apparent object of vision, with a wild, unmeaning +glare. There are some indications that they had acquired the art of +ventriloquism; or they so wrought upon the imaginations of the +beholders, that the sounds of the motions and voices of invisible +beings were believed to be heard. They would start, tremble, and be +pallid before apparitions, seen, of course, only by themselves; but +their acting was so perfect that all present thought they saw them +too. They would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.396" id="Page_ii.396">[ii.396]</a></span> address and hold colloquy with spectres and ghosts; +and the responses of the unseen beings would be audible to the fancy +of the bewildered crowd. They would follow with their eyes the airy +visions, so that others imagined they also beheld them. This was +surely a high dramatic achievement. Their representations of pain, and +every form and all the signs and marks of bodily suffering,—as in the +case of Ann Putnam's arm, and the indentations of teeth on the flesh +in many instances,—utterly deceived everybody; and there were men +present who could not easily have been imposed upon. The +Attorney-general was a barrister fresh from Inns of Court in London. +Deodat Lawson had seen something of the world; so had Joseph Herrick. +Joseph Hutchinson was a sharp, stern, and sceptical observer. John +Putnam was a man of great practical force and discrimination; so was +his brother Nathaniel, and others of the village. Besides, there were +many from Boston and elsewhere competent to detect a trick; but none +could discover any imposture in the girls. Sarah Nurse swore that she +saw Goody Bibber cheat in the matter of the pins; but Bibber did not +belong to the village, and was a bungling interloper. The accusing +girls showed extraordinary skill, ingenuity, and fancy in inventing +the stories to which they testified, and seemed to have been familiar +with the imagery which belonged to the literature of demonology. This +has led some to suppose that they must have had access to books +treating the subject. Our fathers abhorred, with a perfect hatred, all +theatrical exhibitions. It would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.397" id="Page_ii.397">[ii.397]</a></span> have filled them with horror to +propose going to a play. But unwittingly, week after week, month in +and month out, ministers, deacons, brethren, and sisters of the church +rushed to Nathaniel Ingersoll's, to the village and town +meeting-houses, and to Thomas Beadle's Globe Tavern, and gazed with +wonder, awe, and admiration upon acting such as has seldom been +surpassed on the boards of any theatre, high or low, ancient or +modern.</p> + +<p>There is another aspect that perplexes and confounds the judgments of +all who read the story. It is this: As it is at present the universal +opinion that the whole of this witchcraft transaction was a delusion, +having no foundation whatever but in the imaginations and passions; +and as it is now certain, that all the accused, both the condemned and +the pardoned, were entirely innocent,—how can it be explained that so +many were led to confess themselves guilty? The answer to this +question is to be found in those general principles which have led the +wisest legislators and jurists to the conclusion, that, although on +their face and at first thought, they appear to be the very best kind +of evidence, yet, maturely considered, confessions made under the hope +of a benefit, and sometime even without the impulses of such a hope, +are to be received with great caution and wariness. Here were +fifty-five persons, who declared themselves guilty of a capital, nay, +a diabolical crime, of which we know they were innocent. It is +probable that the motive of self-preservation influenced most of them. +An<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.398" id="Page_ii.398">[ii.398]</a></span> awful death was in immediate prospect. There was no escape from +the wiles of the accusers. The delusion had obtained full possession +of the people, the jury, and the Court. By acknowledging a compact +with Satan, they could in a moment secure their lives and liberty. It +was a position which only the firmest minds could safely occupy. The +principles and the prowess of ordinary characters could not withstand +the temptation and the pressure. They yielded, and were saved from an +impending and terrible death.</p> + +<p>As these confessions had a decisive effect in precipitating the public +mind into the depths of its delusion, gave a fatal power to the +accusers, and carried the proceedings to the horrible extremities +which have concentrated upon them the attention of the world, they +assume an importance in the history of the affair that demands a full +and thorough exposition. At the examination of Ann Foster, at Salem +Village, on the 15th of July, 1692, the following confession was, +"after a while," extorted from her. It was undoubtedly the result of +the overwhelming effect of the horrors of her condition upon a +distressed and half-crazed mind. It shows the staple materials of +which confessions were made, and the forms of absurd superstition with +which the imaginations of people were then filled:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Devil appeared to her in the shape of a bird at several +times,—such a bird as she never saw the like before; and +she had had this gift (viz., of striking the afflicted down +with her eye) ever since. Being asked why she thought that +bird was the Devil, she answered, because he came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.399" id="Page_ii.399">[ii.399]</a></span> white and +vanished away black; and that the Devil told her she should +have this gift, and that she must believe him, and told her +she should have prosperity: and she said that he had +appeared to her three times, and always as a bird, and the +last time about half a year since, and sat upon a +table,—had two legs and great eyes, and that it was the +second time of his appearance that he promised her +prosperity. She further stated, that it was Goody Carrier +that made her a witch. She told her, that, if she would not +be a witch, the Devil would tear her to pieces, and carry +her away,—at which time she promised to serve the Devil; +that she was at the meeting of the witches at Salem Village; +that Goody Carrier came, and told her of the meeting, and +would have her go: so they got upon sticks, and went said +journey, and, being there, did see Mr. Burroughs, the +minister, who spake to them all; that there were then +twenty-five persons met together; that she tied a knot in a +rag, and threw it into the fire to hurt Timothy Swan, and +that she did hurt the rest that complained of her by +squeezing puppets like them, and so almost choked them; that +she and Martha Carrier did both ride on a stick or pole when +they went to the witch-meeting at Salem Village, and that +the stick broke as they were carried in the air above the +tops of the trees, and they fell: but she did hang fast +about the neck of Goody Carrier, and they were presently at +the village; that she had heard some of the witches say that +there were three hundred and five in the whole country, and +that they would ruin that place, the village; that there +were also present at that meeting two men besides Mr. +Burroughs, the minister, and one of them had gray hair; and +that the discourse among the witches at the meeting in Salem +Village was, that they would afflict there to set up the +Devil's kingdom.</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.400" id="Page_ii.400">[ii.400]</a></span></p> + +<p>The confession of which the foregoing is the substance appears to have +been drawn out at four several examinations on different days, during +which she was induced by the influences around her to make her +testimony more and more extravagant at each successive examination. +Her daughter, Mary Lacy, called Goody Lacy, was brought up on the +charge of witchcraft at the same time; and, upon finding the mother +confessing, she saw that her only safety was in confessing also. When +confronted, the daughter cried out to the mother, "We have forsaken +Jesus Christ, and the Devil hath got hold of us. How shall we get +clear of this Evil One?" She proceeded to say that she had accompanied +her mother and Goody Carrier, all three riding together on the pole, +to Salem Village. She then made the following statement: "About three +or four years ago, she saw Mistress Bradbury, Goody Howe, and Goody +Nurse baptized by the old Serpent at Newbury Falls; that he dipped +their heads in the water, and then said they were his, and he had +power over them; that there were six baptized at that time, who were +some of the chief or higher powers, and that there might be near about +a hundred in company at that time." It being asked her "after what +manner she went to Newbury Falls," she answered, "the Devil carried +her in his arms." She said, that, "if she did take a rag, and roll it +up together, and imagine it to represent such and such a person, then +that, whatsoever she did to that rag so rolled up, the person +represented thereby would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.401" id="Page_ii.401">[ii.401]</a></span> in like manner afflicted." Her daughter, +also named Mary Lacy, followed the example of her mother and +grandmother, and made confession.</p> + +<p>An examination of the confessions shows, that, when accused persons +made up their minds to confess, they saw, that, to make their safety +secure, it was necessary to go the whole length of the popular +superstition and fanaticism. In many instances, they appear to have +fabricated their stories with much ingenuity and tact, making them +tally with the statements of the accusers, adding points and items +that gave an air of truthfulness, and falling in with current notions +and fancies. They were undoubtedly under training by the girls, and +were provided with the materials of their testimony. Their depositions +are valuable, inasmuch as they enable us to collect about the whole of +the notions then prevalent on the subject. If, in delivering their +evidences, any prompting was needed, the accusers were at their +elbows, and helped them along in their stories. If, in any particular, +they were in danger of contradicting themselves or others, they were +checked or diverted. In one case, a confessing witch was damaging her +own testimony, whereupon one of the afflicted cried out that she saw +the shapes or apparitions of other witches interfering with her +utterance. The witness took the hint, pretended to have lost the power +of expressing herself, and was removed from the stand.</p> + +<p>In some cases, the confessing witches showed great adroitness, and +knowledge of human nature. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.402" id="Page_ii.402">[ii.402]</a></span> a leading minister was visiting them +in the prison, one of them cried out as he passed her cell, calling +him by name, "Oh! I remember a text you preached on in England, twenty +years since, from these words: 'Your sin will find you out;' for I +find it to be true in my own case." This skilful compliment, showing +the power of his preaching making an impression which time could not +efface, was no doubt flattering to the good man, and secured for her +his favorable influence.</p> + +<p>Justice requires that their own explanation of the influences which +led them to confess should not be withheld.</p> + +<p>The following declaration of six women belonging to Andover is +accompanied by a paper signed by more than fifty of the most +respectable inhabitants of that town, testifying to their good +character, in which it is said that "by their sober, godly, and +exemplary conversation, they have obtained a good report in the place, +where they have been well esteemed and approved in the church of which +they are members:"—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are underwritten, inhabitants of Andover, +when as that horrible and tremendous judgment, beginning at +Salem Village, in the year 1692, by some called witchcraft, +first breaking forth at Mr. Parris's house, several young +persons, being seemingly afflicted, did accuse several +persons for afflicting them; and many there believing it so +to be, we being informed, that, if a person was sick, the +afflicted person could tell what or who was the cause of +that sickness: John Ballard of Andover, his wife being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.403" id="Page_ii.403">[ii.403]</a></span> sick +at the same time, he, either from himself, or by the advice +of others, fetched two of the persons called the afflicted +persons from Salem Village to Andover, which was the +beginning of that dreadful calamity that befell us in +Andover, believing the said accusations to be true, sent for +the said persons to come together to the meeting-house in +Andover, the afflicted persons being there. After Mr. +Barnard had been at prayer, we were blindfolded, and our +hands were laid upon the afflicted persons, they being in +their fits, and falling into their fits at our coming into +their presence, as they said: and some led us, and laid our +hands upon them; and then they said they were well, and that +we were guilty of afflicting them. Whereupon we were all +seized as prisoners, by a warrant from the justice of the +peace, and forthwith carried to Salem; and by reason of that +sudden surprisal, we knowing ourselves altogether innocent +of that crime, we were all exceedingly astonished and +amazed, and consternated and affrighted, even out of our +reason; and our nearest and dearest relations, seeing us in +that dreadful condition, and knowing our great danger, +apprehended there was no other way to save our lives, as the +case was then circumstanced, but by our confessing ourselves +to be such and such persons as the afflicted represented us +to be, they, out of tenderness and pity, persuaded us to +confess what we did confess. And, indeed, that confession +that it is said we made was no other than what was suggested +to us by some gentlemen, they telling us that we were +witches, and they knew it, and we knew it, which made us +think that it was so; and, our understandings, our reason, +our faculties almost gone, we were not capable of judging of +our condition; as also the hard measures they used with us +rendered us incapable of making our defence, but said any +thing, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.404" id="Page_ii.404">[ii.404]</a></span> every thing which they desired, and most of what +we said was but in effect a consenting to what they said. +Some time after, when we were better composed, they telling +us what we had confessed, we did profess that we were +innocent and ignorant of such things; and we hearing that +Samuel Wardwell had renounced his confession, and was +quickly after condemned and executed, some of us were told +we were going after Wardwell.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">Mary Osgood</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Mary Tyler</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Deliverance Dane</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Abigail Barker</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sarah Wilson</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hannah Tyler</span>."</p></div> + +<p>The means employed, and the influences brought to bear upon persons +accused, were, in many cases, such as wholly to overpower them, and to +relieve their confessions, to a great extent, of a criminal character. +They were scarcely responsible moral agents. In the month of October, +Increase Mather came to Salem, to confer with the confessing witches +in prison. The result of his examinations is preserved in a document +of which he is supposed to have been the author. The following +extracts afford some explanation of the whole subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Goodwife Tyler did say, that, when she was first +apprehended, she had no fears upon her, and did think that +nothing could have made her confess against herself. But +since, she had found, to her great grief, that she had +wronged the truth, and falsely accused herself. She said +that, when she was brought to Salem, her brother Bridges +rode with her; and that, all along the way from Andover to +Salem,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.405" id="Page_ii.405">[ii.405]</a></span> her brother kept telling her that she must needs be +a witch, since the afflicted accused her, and at her touch +were raised out of their fits, and urging her to confess +herself a witch. She as constantly told him that she was no +witch, that she knew nothing of witchcraft, and begged him +not to urge her to confess. However, when she came to Salem, +she was carried to a room, where her brother on one side, +and Mr. John Emerson on the other side, did tell her that +she was certainly a witch, and that she saw the Devil before +her eyes at that time (and, accordingly, the said Emerson +would attempt with his hand to beat him away from her eyes); +and they so urged her to confess, that she wished herself in +any dungeon, rather than be so treated. Mr. Emerson told +her, once and again, 'Well, I see you will not confess! +Well, I will now leave you; and then you are undone, body +and soul, for ever.' Her brother urged her to confess, and +told her that, in so doing, she could not lie: to which she +answered, 'Good brother, do not say so; for I shall lie if I +confess, and then who shall answer unto God for my lie?' He +still asserted it, and said that God would not suffer so +many good men to be in such an error about it, and that she +would be hanged if she did not confess; and continued so +long and so violently to urge and press her to confess, that +she thought, verily, that her life would have gone from her, +and became so terrified in her mind that she owned, at +length, almost any thing that they propounded to her; that +she had wronged her conscience in so doing; she was guilty +of a great sin in belying of herself, and desired to mourn +for it so long as she lived. This she said, and a great deal +more of the like nature; and all with such affection, +sorrow, relenting, grief, and mourning, as that it exceeds +any pen to describe and express the same."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.406" id="Page_ii.406">[ii.406]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Goodwife Wilson said that she was in the dark as to some +things in her confession. Yet she asserted that, knowingly, +she never had familiarity with the Devil; that, knowingly, +she never consented to the afflicting of any person, &c. +However, she said that truly she was in the dark as to the +matter of her being a witch. And being asked how she was in +the dark, she replied, that the afflicted persons crying out +of her as afflicting them made her fearful of herself; and +that was all that made her say that she was in the dark."</p> + +<p>"Goodwife Bridges said that she had confessed against +herself things which were all utterly false; and that she +was brought to her confession by being told that she +certainly was a witch, and so made to believe it,—though +she had no other grounds so to believe."</p></div> + +<p>Some explanation of the details which those, prevailed upon to +confess, put into their testimony, and which seemed, at the time, to +establish and demonstrate the truth of their statements, is afforded +by what Mary Osgood is reported, by Increase Mather, to have said to +him on this occasion:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Being asked why she prefixed a time, and spake of her being +baptized, &c., about twelve years since, she replied and +said, that, when she had owned the thing, they asked the +time, to which she answered that she knew not the time. But, +being told that she did know the time, and must tell the +time, and the like, she considered that about twelve years +before (when she had her last child) she had a fit of +sickness, and was melancholy; and so thought that that time +might be as proper a time to mention as any, and accordingly +did prefix the said time. Being asked about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.407" id="Page_ii.407">[ii.407]</a></span> the cat, in the +shape of which she had confessed that the Devil had appeared +to her, &c., she replied, that, being told that the Devil +had appeared to her, and must needs appear to her, &c. (she +being a witch), she at length did own that the Devil had +appeared to her; and, being pressed to say in what +creature's shape he appeared, she at length did say that it +was in the shape of a cat. Remembering that, some time +before her being apprehended, as she went out at her door, +she saw a cat, &c.; not as though she any whit suspected the +said cat to be the Devil, in the day of it, but because some +creature she must mention, and this came into her mind at +that time."</p></div> + +<p>This poor woman, as well as several others, besides Goodwife Tyler, +who denied and renounced their confessions, manifested, as Dr. Mather +affirms, the utmost horror and anguish at the thought that they could +have been so wicked as to have belied themselves, and brought injury +upon others by so doing. They "bewailed and lamented their accusing of +others, about whom they never knew any evil" in their lives. They +proved the sincerity of their repentance by abandoning and denouncing +their confessions, and thus offering their lives as a sacrifice to +atone for their falsehood. They were then awaiting their trial; and +there seemed no escape from the awful fate which had befallen all +persons brought to trial before, and who had not confessed or had +withdrawn their confession. Fortunately for them, the Court did not +meet again in 1692; and they were acquitted at the regular session, in +the January following.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.408" id="Page_ii.408">[ii.408]</a></span></p> + +<p>In one of Calef's tracts, he sums up his views, on the subject of the +confessions, as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Besides the powerful argument of life (and freedom from +hardships, not only promised, but also performed to all that +owned their guilt), there are numerous instances of the +tedious examinations before private persons, many hours +together; they all that time urging them to confess (and +taking turns to persuade them), till the accused were +wearied out by being forced to stand so long, or for want of +sleep, &c., and so brought to give assent to what they said; +they asking them, 'Were you at such a witch meeting?' or, +'Have you signed the Devil's book?' &c. Upon their replying +'Yes,' the whole was drawn into form, as their confession."</p></div> + +<p>This accounts for the similarity of construction and substance of the +confessions generally.</p> + +<p>Calef remarks:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"But that which did mightily further such confessions was +their nearest relations urging them to it. These, seeing no +other way of escape for them, thought it the best advice +that could be given; hence it was, that the husbands of +some, by counsel, often urging, and utmost earnestness, and +children upon their knees intreating, have at length +prevailed with them to say they were guilty."</p></div> + +<p>One of the most painful things in the whole affair was, that the +absolute conviction of the guilt of the persons accused, pervading the +community, took full effect upon the minds of many relatives and +friends. They did not consider it as a matter of the least possible +doubt. They therefore looked upon it as wicked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.409" id="Page_ii.409">[ii.409]</a></span> obstinacy not to +confess, and, in this sense, an additional and most conclusive +evidence of a mind alienated from truth and wholly given over to +Satan. This turned natural love and previous friendships into +resentment, indignation, and abhorrence, which left the unhappy +prisoners in a condition where only the most wonderful clearness of +conviction and strength of character could hold them up. And, in many +cases where they yielded, it was not from unworthy fear, or for +self-preservation, but because their judgment was overthrown, and +their minds in complete subjection and prostration.</p> + +<p>There can, indeed, hardly be a doubt, that, in some instances, the +confessing persons really believed themselves guilty. To explain this, +we must look into the secret chambers of the human soul; we must read +the history of the imagination, and consider its power over the +understanding. We must transport ourselves to the dungeon, and think +of its dark and awful walls, its dreary hours, its tedious loneliness, +its heavy and benumbing fetters and chains, its scanty fare, and all +its dismal and painful circumstances. We must reflect upon their +influence over a terrified and agitated, an injured and broken spirit. +We must think of the situation of the poor prisoner, cut off from +hope; hearing from all quarters, and at all times, morning, noon, and +night, that there is no doubt of his guilt; surrounded and overwhelmed +by accusations and evidence, gradually but insensibly mingling and +confounding the visions and vagaries of his troubled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.410" id="Page_ii.410">[ii.410]</a></span> dreams with the +reveries of his waking hours, until his reason becomes obscured, his +recollections are thrown into derangement, his mind loses the power of +distinguishing between what is perpetually told him by others and what +belongs to the suggestions of his own memory: his imagination at last +gains complete ascendency over his other faculties, and he believes +and declares himself guilty of crimes of which he is as innocent as +the child unborn. The history of the transaction we have been +considering, affords a clear illustration of the truth and +reasonableness of this explanation.</p> + +<p>The facility with which persons can be persuaded, by perpetually +assailing them with accusations of the truth of a charge, in reality +not true, even when it is made against themselves, has been frequently +noticed. Addison, in one of the numbers of his "Spectator," speaks of +it in connection with our present subject: "When an old woman," says +he, "begins to dote, and grow chargeable to a parish, she is generally +turned into a witch, and fills the whole country with extravagant +fancies, imaginary distempers, and terrifying dreams. In the mean +time, the poor wretch that is the innocent occasion of so many evils +begins to be frighted at herself, and sometimes confesses secret +commerces and familiarities that her imagination forms in a delirious +old age. This frequently cuts off charity from the greatest objects of +compassion, and inspires people with a malevolence towards those poor, +decrepit parts of our species<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.411" id="Page_ii.411">[ii.411]</a></span> in whom human nature is defaced by +infirmity and dotage."</p> + +<p>This passage is important, in addition to the bearing it has upon the +point we have been considering, as describing the state of opinion and +feeling in England twenty years after the folly had been exploded +here. In another number of the same series of essays, he bears +evidence, that the superstitions which here came to a head in 1692 had +long been prevalent in the mother-country: "Our forefathers looked +upon nature with more reverence and horror before the world was +enlightened by learning and philosophy, and loved to astonish +themselves with the apprehensions of witchcraft, prodigies, charms, +and enchantments. There was not a village in England that had not a +ghost in it; the churchyards were all haunted; every large common had +a circle of fairies belonging to it; and there was scarce a shepherd +to be met with who had not seen a spirit." These fancies still linger +in the minds of some in the Old World and in the New.</p> + +<p>After allowing for the utmost extent of prevalent superstitions, the +exaggerations incident to a state of general excitement, and the +fertile inventive faculties of the accusing girls, there is much in +the evidence that cannot easily be accounted for. In other cases than +that of Westgate, we find the symptoms of that bewildered condition of +the senses and imagination not at all surprising or unusual in the +experience of men staggering home in midnight hours from tavern +haunts. Disturbed dreams were, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.412" id="Page_ii.412">[ii.412]</a></span> not improbable, a fruitful +source of delusion. A large part of the evidence is susceptible of +explanation by the supposition, that the witnesses had confounded the +visions of their sleeping, with the actual observations and +occurrences of their waking hours. At the trial of Susanna Martin, it +was in evidence, that one John Kembal had agreed to purchase a puppy +from the prisoner, but had afterwards fallen back from his bargain, +and procured a puppy from some other person, and that Martin was heard +to say, "If I live, I will give him puppies enough." The circumstances +seem to me to render it probable, that the following piece of evidence +given by Kembal, and to which the Court attached great weight, was the +result of a nightmare occasioned by his apprehension and dread of the +fulfilment of the reported threat:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I, this deponent, coming from his intended house in the +woods to Edmund Elliot's house where I dwelt, about the +sunset or presently after; and there did arise a little +black cloud in the north-west, and a few drops of rain, and +the wind blew pretty hard. In going between the house of +John Weed and the meeting-house, this deponent came by +several stumps of trees by the wayside; and he by impulse he +can give no reason of, that made him tumble over the stumps +one after another, though he had his axe upon his shoulder +which put him in much danger, and made him resolved to avoid +the next, but could not.</p> + +<p>"And, when he came a little below the meeting-house, there +did appear a little thing like a puppy, of a darkish color. +It shot between my legs forward and backward, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.413" id="Page_ii.413">[ii.413]</a></span> one that +were dancing the hay.<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> And this deponent, being free from +all fear, used all possible endeavors to cut it with his +axe, but could not hurt it; and, as he was thus laboring +with his axe, the puppy gave a little jump from him, and +seemed to go into the ground.</p> + +<p>"In a little further going, there did appear a black puppy, +somewhat bigger than the first, but as black as a coal to +his apprehension, which came against him with such violence +as its quick motions did exceed his motions of his axe, do +what he could. And it flew at his belly, and away, and then +at his throat and over his shoulder one way, and go off, and +up at it again another way; and with such quickness, speed, +and violence did it assault him, as if it would tear out his +throat or his belly. A good while, he was without fear; but, +at last, I felt my heart to fail and sink under it, that I +thought my life was going out. And I recovered myself, and +gave a start up, and ran to the fence, and calling upon God +and naming the name Jesus Christ, and then it invisibly +away. My meaning is, it ceased at once; but this deponent +made it not known to anybody, for fretting his wife."<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.414" id="Page_ii.414">[ii.414]</a></span></p><p>We are all exposed to the danger of confounding the impressions left +by the imagination, when, set free from all confinement, it runs wild +in dreams, with the actual experiences of wakeful faculties in real +life. It is a topic worthy the consideration of writers on evidence, +and of legal tribunals. So also is the effect, upon the personal +consciousness, of the continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.415" id="Page_ii.415">[ii.415]</a></span> repetition of the same story, or of +hearing it repeated by others. Instances are given in books,—perhaps +can be recalled by our own individual experience or observation,—in +which what was originally a delibe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.416" id="Page_ii.416">[ii.416]</a></span>rate fabrication of falsehood or of +fancy has come, at last, to be regarded as a veritable truth and a +real occurrence.</p> + +<p>A thorough and philosophical treatise on the subject of evidence is, +in view of these considerations, much needed. The liability all men +are under to confound the fictions of their imaginations with the +realities of actual observation is not understood with sufficient +clearness by the community; and, so long as it is not understood and +regarded, serious mistakes and inconveniences will be apt to occur in +seasons of general excitement. We are still disposed to attribute more +importance than we ought to strong convictions, without stopping to +inquire whether they may not be in reality delusions of the +understanding. The cause of truth demands a more thorough examination +of this whole subject. The visions that appeared before the mind of +the celebrated Colonel Gardiner are still regarded by the generality +of pious people as evidence of miraculous interposition, while, just +so far as they are evidence to that point, so far is the authority of +Christianity overthrown; for it is a fact, that Lord Herbert of +Cherbury believed with equal sincerity and confidence that he had been +vouchsafed a similar vision sanctioning his labors, when about to +publish what has been pronounced one of the most powerful attacks ever +made upon our religion. It is dangerous to advance arguments in favor +of any cause which may be founded upon nothing better than the +reveries of an ardent imagination!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.417" id="Page_ii.417">[ii.417]</a></span></p> + +<p>The phenomena of dreams, of the exercises and convictions which occupy +the mind, while the avenues of the senses are closed, and the soul is +more or less extricated from its connection with the body, +particularly in the peculiar conditions of partial slumber, are among +the deep mysteries of human experience. The writers on mental +philosophy have not given them the attention they deserve.</p> + +<p>The testimony in these trials is particularly valuable as showing the +power of the imagination to completely deceive and utterly falsify the +senses of sober persons, when wide awake and in broad daylight. The +following deposition was given in Court under oath. The parties +testifying were of unquestionable respectability. The man was probably +a brother of James Bayley, the first minister of the Salem Village +parish.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Joseph Bayley</span>, aged forty-four +years.—Testifieth and saith, that, on the twenty-fifth day +of May last, myself and my wife being bound to Boston, on +the road, when I came in sight of the house where John +Procter did live, there was a very hard blow struck on my +breast, which caused great pain in my stomach and amazement +in my head, but did see no person near me, only my wife +behind me on the same horse; and, when I came against said +Procter's house, according to my understanding, I did see +John Procter and his wife at said house. Procter himself +looked out of the window, and his wife did stand just +without the door. I told my wife of it; and she did look +that way, and could see nothing but a little maid at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.418" id="Page_ii.418">[ii.418]</a></span> the +door. Afterwards, about half a mile from the aforesaid +house, I was taken speechless for some short time. My wife +did ask me several questions, and desired me, that, if I +could not speak, I should hold up my hand; which I did, and +immediately I could speak as well as ever. And, when we came +to the way where Salem road cometh into Ipswich road, there +I received another blow on my breast, which caused so much +pain that I could not sit on my horse. And, when I did +alight off my horse, to my understanding, I saw a woman +coming towards us about sixteen or twenty pole from us, but +did not know who it was: my wife could not see her. When I +did get up on my horse again, to my understanding, there +stood a cow where I saw the woman. After that, we went to +Boston without any further molestation; but, after I came +home again to Newbury, I was pinched and nipped by something +invisible for some time: but now, through God's goodness to +me, I am well again.—<i>Jurat in curia</i> by both persons."</p></div> + +<p>Bayley and his wife were going to Boston on election week. It was a +good two days' journey from Newbury, as the roads then were, and +riding as they did. According to the custom of the times, she was +mounted on a pillion behind him. They had probably passed the night at +the house of Sergeant Thomas Putnam, with whom he was connected by +marriage. It was at the height of the witchcraft delirium. Thomas +Putnam's house was the very focus of it. There they had listened to +highly wrought accounts of its wonders and terrors, had witnessed the +amazing phenomena exhibited by Ann Putnam and Mercy Lewis, and their +minds been filled with images of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.419" id="Page_ii.419">[ii.419]</a></span> spectres of living witches, and +ghosts of the dead. They had seen with their own eyes the tortures of +the girls under cruel diabolical influence, of which they had heard so +much, and realized the dread outbreak of Satan and his agents upon the +lives and souls of men.</p> + +<p>They started the next morning on their way through the gloomy woods +and over the solitary road. It was known that they were to pass the +house of John Procter, believed to be a chief resort of devilish +spirits. Oppressed with terror and awe, Bayley was on the watch, his +heart in his mouth. The moment he came in sight, his nervous agitation +reached its climax; and he experienced the shock he describes. When he +came opposite to the house, to his horror there was Procter looking at +him from the window, and Procter's wife standing outside of the door. +He knew, that, in their proper persons and natural bodies, they were, +at that moment, both of them, and had been, for six weeks, in irons, +in one of the cells of the jail at Boston. Bayley's wife, from her +position on the pillion behind him, had her face directed to the other +side of the road. He told her what he saw. She looked round to the +house, and could see nothing but a little maid at the door. After one +or two more fits of fright, he reached the Lynn road, had escaped from +the infernal terrors of the infected region, and his senses resumed +their natural functions. It was several days before his nervous +agitations ceased. Altogether, this is a remarkable case of +hallucination:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.420" id="Page_ii.420">[ii.420]</a></span> showing that the wildest fancies brought before the +mind in dreams may be paralleled in waking hours; and that mental +excitement may, even then, close the avenues of the senses, exclude +the perception of reality, and substitute unsubstantial visions in the +place of actual and natural objects.</p> + +<p>There may be an interest in some minds to know who the "little maid at +the door" was. The elder children of John Procter were either married +off, or lived on his farm at Ipswich, with the exception of Benjamin, +his oldest son, who remained with his father on the Salem farm. +Benjamin had been imprisoned two days before Bayley passed the house. +Four days before, Sarah, sixteen years of age, had also been arrested, +and committed to jail. This left only William, eighteen years of age, +who, three days after, was himself put into prison; Samuel, seven; +Abigail, between three and four years of age; and one still younger. +No female of the family was then at the house older than Abigail. This +poor deserted child was "the little maid." Curiosity to see the +passing strangers, or possibly the hope that they might be her father +and mother, or her brother and sister, brought her to the door.</p> + +<p>In the terrible consequences that resulted from the mischievous, and +perhaps at the outset merely sportive, proceedings of the children in +Mr. Parris's family, we have a striking illustration of the principle, +that no one can foretell, with respect either to himself or others, +the extent of the suffering and injury that may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.421" id="Page_ii.421">[ii.421]</a></span> be occasioned by the +least departure from truth, or from the practice of deception. In the +horrible succession of crimes through which those young persons were +led to pass, in the depth of depravity to which they were thrown, we +discern the fate that endangers all who enter upon a career of +wickedness.</p> + +<p>No one can have an adequate knowledge of the human mind, who has not +contemplated its developments in scenes like those that have now been +related. It may be said of the frame of our spiritual, even with more +emphasis than of our corporeal nature, that we are fearfully and +wonderfully made. In the maturity of his bodily and mental +organization, health gliding through his veins, strength and symmetry +clothing his form, intelligence beaming from his countenance, and +immortality stamped on his brow, man is indeed the noblest work of +God. In the degradation and corruption to which he can descend, he is +the most odious and loathsome object in the creation. The human mind, +when all its faculties are fully developed and in proper proportions, +reason seated on its rightful throne and shedding abroad its light, +memory embracing the past, hope smiling upon the future, faith leaning +on Heaven, and the affections diffusing through all their gentle +warmth, is worthy of its source, deserves its original title of "image +of God," and is greater and better than the whole material universe. +It is nobler than all the works of God; for it is an emanation, a part +of God himself, "a ray from the fountain of light." But where, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.422" id="Page_ii.422">[ii.422]</a></span> ask, +can you find a more deplorable and miserable object than the mind in +ruins, tossed by its own rebellious principles, and distorted by the +monstrously unequal development of its faculties? You will look in +vain upon the earthquake, the volcano, or the hurricane, for those +elements of the awful and terrible which are manifested in a community +of men whose passions have trampled upon their principles, whose +imaginations have overthrown the government of reason, and who are +swept along by the torrent until all order and security are swallowed +up and lost. Such a spectacle we have now been witnessing. We have +seen the whole population of this place and vicinity yielding to the +sway of their credulous fancies, allowing their passions to be worked +up to a tremendous pitch of excitement, and rushing into excesses of +folly and violence that have left a stain on their memory, and will +awaken a sense of shame, pity, and amazement in the minds of their +latest posterity.</p> + +<p>There is nothing more mysterious than the self-deluding power of the +mind, and there never were scenes in which it was more clearly +displayed than the witchcraft prosecutions. Honest men testified, with +perfect confidence and sincerity, to the most absurd impossibilities; +while those who thought themselves victims of diabolical influence +would actually exhibit, in their corporeal frames, all the appropriate +symptoms of the sufferings their imaginations had brought upon them. +Great ignorance prevailed in reference to the influences of the body +and the mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.423" id="Page_ii.423">[ii.423]</a></span> upon each other. While the imagination was called into a +more extensive and energetic action than at any succeeding or previous +period, its properties and laws were but little understood: the extent +of the connection of the will and the muscular system, the reciprocal +influence of the nerves and the fancy, and the strong and universally +pervading sympathy between our physical and moral constitutions, were +almost wholly unknown. These important subjects, indeed, are but +imperfectly understood at the present day.</p> + +<p>It may perhaps be affirmed, that the relations of the human mind with +the spiritual world will never be understood while we continue in the +present stage of existence and mode of being. The error of our +ancestors—and it is an error into which men have always been prone to +fall, and from which our own times are by no means exempt—was in +imagining that their knowledge had extended, in this direction, beyond +the boundary fixed unalterably to our researches, while in this +corporeal life.</p> + +<p>It admits of much question, whether human science can ever find a +solid foundation in what relates to the world of spirits. The only +instrument of knowledge we can here employ is language. Careful +thinkers long ago came to the conclusion, that it is impossible to +frame a language precisely and exclusively adapted to convey abstract +and spiritual ideas, even if it is possible, as some philosophers have +denied, for the mind, in its present state, to have such ideas. All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.424" id="Page_ii.424">[ii.424]</a></span> +attempts to construct such a language, though made by the most +ingenious men, have failed. Language is based upon imagery, and +associations drawn from so much of the world as the senses disclose to +us; that is, from material objects and their relations. We are here +confined, as it were, within narrow walls. We can catch only glimpses +of what is above and around us, outside of those walls. Such glimpses +may be vouchsafed, from time to time, to rescue us from sinking into +materialism, and to keep alive our faith in scenes of existence +remaining to be revealed when the barriers of our imprisonment shall +be taken down, and what we call death lift us to a clearer and broader +vision of universal being.</p> + +<p>Of the reality of the spiritual world, we are assured by consciousness +and by faith; but our knowledge of that world, so far as it can go +into particulars, or become the subject of definition or expression, +extends no further than revelation opens the way. In all ages, men +have been awakened to the "wonders of the invisible world;" but they +remain "wonders" still. Nothing like a permanent, stable, or distinct +science has ever been achieved in this department. Man and God are all +that are placed within our ken. Metaphysics and Theology are the names +given to the sciences that relate to them. The greater the number of +books written by human learning and ingenuity to expound them, the +more advanced the intelligence and piety of mankind, the less, it is +confessed, do we know of them in detail, the more they rise above our +comprehension,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.425" id="Page_ii.425">[ii.425]</a></span> the more unfathomable become their depths. Experience, +history, the progress of light, all increase our sense of the +impossibility of estimating the capacities of the human soul. So also +we find that the higher we rise towards the Deity, in the +contemplation of his works and word, the more does he continue to +transcend our power to describe or imagine his greatness and glory. +The revelation which the Saviour brought to mankind is all that the +heart of man need desire, or the mind of man can comprehend. We are +God's children, and he is our Father. That is all; and, the wiser and +better we become, the more we are convinced and satisfied that it is +enough.</p> + +<p>There are, undoubtedly, innumerable beings in the world of spirits, +besides departed souls, the Redeemer, and the Father. But of such +beings we have, while here, no absolute and specific knowledge. In +every age, as well as in our own, there have been persons who have +believed themselves to hold communication with unseen spirits. The +methods of entering into such communication have been infinitely +diversified, from the incantations of ancient sorcery to the mediums +and rappings of the present day. In former periods, particularly where +the belief of witchcraft prevailed, it was thought that such +communications could be had only with evil spirits, and, mostly, with +the Chief of evil spirits. They were accordingly treated as criminal, +and made the subject of the severest penalties known to the law. In +our day, no such penalties are attached to the practice of seeking +spiritual com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.426" id="Page_ii.426">[ii.426]</a></span>munications. Those who have a fancy for such experiments +are allowed to amuse themselves in this way without reproach or +molestation. It is not charged upon them that they are dealing with +the Evil One or any of his subordinates. They do not imagine such a +thing themselves. I have no disposition, at any time, in any given +case, to dispute the reality of the wonderful stories told in +reference to such matters. All that I am prompted ever to remark is, +that, if spirits do come, as is believed, at the call of those who +seek to put themselves into communication with them, there is no +evidence, I venture to suggest, that they are good spirits. I have +never heard of their doing much good, substantially, to any one. No +important truth has been revealed by them, no discovery been made, no +science had its field enlarged; no department of knowledge has been +brought into a clearer light; no great interest has been promoted; no +movement of human affairs, whether in the action of nations or the +transactions of men, has been advanced or in any way facilitated; no +impulse has been given to society, and no elevation to life and +character. It may be that the air is full of spiritual beings, +hovering about us; but all experience shows that no benefit can be +derived from seeking their intervention to share with us the duties or +the burdens of our present probation. The mischiefs which have flowed +from the belief that they can operate upon human affairs, and from +attempting to have dealings with them, have been illustrated in the +course of our narrative. In this view of the sub<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.427" id="Page_ii.427">[ii.427]</a></span>ject, no law is +needed to prevent real or pretended communication with invisible +beings. Enlightened reflection, common sense, natural prudence, would +seem to be sufficient to keep men from meddling at all with practices, +or countenancing notions, from which all history proclaims that no +good has ever come, but incalculable evil flowed.</p> + +<p>For the conduct of life, while here in these bodies, we must confine +our curiosity to fields of knowledge open to our natural and ordinary +faculties, and embraced within the limits of the established condition +of things. Our fathers filled their fancies with the visionary images +of ghosts, demons, apparitions, and all other supposed forms and +shadows of the invisible world; lent their ears to marvellous stories +of communications with spirits; gave to supernatural tales of +witchcraft and demonology a wondering credence, and allowed them to +occupy their conversation, speculations, and reveries. They carried a +belief of such things, and a proneness to indulge it, into their daily +life, their literature, and the proceedings of tribunals, +ecclesiastical and civil. The fearful results shrouded their annals in +darkness and shame. Let those results for ever stand conspicuous, +beacon-monuments warning us, and coming generations, against +superstition in every form, and all credulous and vain attempts to +penetrate beyond the legitimate boundaries of human knowledge.</p> + +<p>The phenomena of the real world, so far as science discloses them to +our contemplation; the records of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.428" id="Page_ii.428">[ii.428]</a></span> actual history; the lessons of our +own experience; the utterances of the voice within, audible only to +ourselves; and the teachings of the Divine Word,—are sufficient for +the exercise of our faculties and the education of our souls during +this brief period of our being, while in these bodies. In God's +appointed time, we shall be transferred to a higher level of vision. +Then, but not before, we may hope for re-union with disembodied +spirits, for intercourse with angels, and for a nearer and more open +communion with all divine beings.</p> + +<p>The principal difference in the methods by which communications were +believed to be made between mortals and spiritual beings, at the time +of the witchcraft delusion and now, is this. Then it was chiefly by +the medium of the eye, but at present by the ear. The "afflicted +children" professed to have seen and conversed with the ghosts of +George Burroughs's former wives and of others. They also professed to +have seen the shapes or appearances of living persons in a disembodied +form, or in the likeness of some animal or creature. Now it is +affirmed by those calling themselves Spiritualists, that, by certain +rappings or other incantations, they can summon into immediate but +invisible presence the spirits of the departed, hold conferences with +them, and draw from them information not derivable from any sources of +human knowledge. There is no essential distinction between the old and +the new belief and practice. The consequences that resulted from the +former would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.429" id="Page_ii.429">[ii.429]</a></span> likely to result from the latter, if it should obtain +universal or general credence, be allowed to mix with judicial +proceedings, or to any extent affect the rights of person, property, +or character.</p> + +<p>The "afflicted children" at Salem Village had, by long practice, +become wonderful adepts in the art of jugglery, and probably of +ventriloquism. They did many extraordinary things, and were believed +to have constant communications with ghosts and spectres; but they did +not attain to spiritual rapping. If they had possessed that power, the +credulity of judges, ministers, magistrates, and people, would have +been utterly overwhelmed, and no limit could have been put to the +destruction they might have wrought.</p> + +<p>If there was any thing supernatural in the witchcraft of 1692, if any +other than human spirits were concerned at all, one thing is beyond a +doubt: they were shockingly wicked spirits, and led those who dealt +with them to the utmost delusion, crime, and perdition; and this +example teaches all who seek to consult with spirits, through a medium +or in any other way, to be very strict to require beforehand the most +satisfactory and conclusive evidence of good character before they put +themselves into communication with them. Spirits who are said to +converse with people, in these modern ages, cannot be considered as +having much claim to a good repute. No valuable discovery of truth, no +important guidance in human conduct, no useful instruction, has ever +been conveyed to mankind through them; and much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.430" id="Page_ii.430">[ii.430]</a></span> mischief perhaps may +have resulted from confiding in them. It is not wise to place our +minds under the influence of any of our fellow-creatures, in the +ordinary guise of humanity, unless we know something about them +entitling them to our acquaintance; much less so, to take them into +our intimacy or confidence. Spirits cannot be put under oath, or their +credibility be subjected to tests. Whether they are spirits of truth +or falsehood cannot be known; and common caution would seem to dictate +an avoidance of their company. The fields of knowledge opened to us in +the works of mortal men; the stores of human learning and science; the +pages of history, sacred or profane; the records of revelation; and +the instructions and conversation of the wise and good of our +fellow-creatures, while in the body,—are wide enough for our +exploration, and may well occupy the longest lifetime.</p> + +<p>In its general outlines and minuter details, Salem Witchcraft is an +illustration of the fatal effects of allowing the imagination inflamed +by passion to take the place of common sense, and of pushing the +curiosity and credence of the human mind, in this stage of our being, +while in these corporeal embodiments, beyond the boundaries that ought +to limit their exercise. If we disregard those boundaries, and try to +overleap them, we shall be liable to the same results. The lesson +needs to be impressed equally upon all generations and ages of the +world's future history. Essays have been written and books published +to prove that the sense of the miraculous is destined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.431" id="Page_ii.431">[ii.431]</a></span> to decline as +mankind becomes more enlightened, and ascribing a greater or less +tendency to the indulgence of this sense to particular periods of the +church, or systems of belief, or schools of what is called philosophy. +It is maintained that it was more prevalent in the mediæval ages than +in modern times. Some assert that it has had a greater development in +Catholic than Protestant countries; and some, perhaps, insist upon the +reverse. Some attempt to show that it has manifested itself more +remarkably among Puritans than in other classes of Protestant +Christians. The last and most pretentious form of this dogma is, that +the sense of the miraculous fades away in the progress of what +arrogates to itself the name of Rationalism. This is one of the +delusive results of introducing generalization into historical +disquisitions. History deals with man. Man is always the same. The +race consists, not of an aggregation, but of individuals, in all ages, +never moulded or melted into classes. Each individual has ever +retained his distinctness from every other. There has been the same +infinite variety in every period, in every race, in every nation. +Society, philosophy, custom, can no more obliterate these varieties +than they can bring the countenances and features of men into +uniformity. Diversity everywhere alike prevails. The particular forms +and shapes in which the sense of the miraculous may express itself +have passed and will pass away in the progress of civilization. But +the sense itself remains; just as particular costumes and fashions of +garment pass away, while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.432" id="Page_ii.432">[ii.432]</a></span> human form, its front erect and its +vision towards the heavens, remains. The sense of the miraculous +remains with Protestants as much as with Catholics, with Churchmen as +much as with Puritans, with those who reject all creeds, equally with +those whose creeds are the longest and the oldest. In our day, it must +have been generally noticed, that the wonders of what imagines itself +to be Spiritualism are rather more accredited by persons who aspire to +the character of rationalists than by those who hold on tenaciously to +the old landmarks of Orthodoxy.</p> + +<p>The truth is, that the sense of the miraculous has not declined, and +never can. It will grow deeper and stronger with the progress of true +intelligence. As long as man thinks, he will feel that he is himself a +perpetual miracle. The more he thinks, the more will he feel it. The +mind which can wander into the deepest depths of the starry heavens, +and feel itself to be there; which, pondering over the printed page, +lives in the most distant past, communes with sages of hoar antiquity, +with prophets and apostles, joins the disciples as they walk with the +risen Lord to Emmaus, or mingles in the throng that listen to Paul at +Mars' Hill,—knows itself to be beyond the power of space or time, and +greater than material things. It knows not what it shall be; but it +feels that it is something above the present and visible. It realizes +the spiritual world, and will do so more and more, the higher its +culture, the greater its freedom, and the wider its view of the +material nature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.433" id="Page_ii.433">[ii.433]</a></span> by which it is environed, while in this transitory +stage of its history.</p> + +<p>The lesson of our story will be found not to discard spiritual things, +but to teach us, while in the flesh, not to attempt to break through +present limitations, not to seek to know more than has been made known +of the unseen and invisible, but to keep the inquiries of our minds +and the action of society within the bounds of knowledge now +attainable, and extend our curious researches and speculations only as +far as we can here have solid ground to stand upon.</p> + +<p>To explain the superstitious opinions that took effect in the +witchcraft delusion, it is necessary to consider the state of biblical +criticism at that period. That department of theological learning was +then in a very immature condition.</p> + +<p>The authority of Scripture, as it appeared on the face of the standard +version, seemed to require them to pursue the course they adopted; and +those enlarged and just principles of interpretation which we are +taught by the learned of all denominations at the present day to apply +to the Sacred Writings had not then been brought to the view of the +people or received by the clergy.</p> + +<p>It was gravely argued, for instance, that there was nothing improbable +in the idea that witches had the power, in virtue of their compact +with the Devil, of riding aloft through the air, because it is +recorded, in the history of our Lord's temptation, that Satan +transported him in a similar manner to the pinnacle of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.434" id="Page_ii.434">[ii.434]</a></span> temple, +and to the summit of an exceedingly high mountain. And Cotton Mather +declares, that, to his apprehension, the disclosures of the wonderful +operations of the Devil, upon and through his subjects, that were made +in the course of the witchcraft prosecutions, had shed a marvellous +light upon the Scriptures! What a perversion of the Sacred Writings to +employ them for the purpose of sanctioning the extravagant and +delirious reveries of the human imagination! What a miserable +delusion, to suppose that the Word of God could receive illumination +from the most absurd and horrible superstition that ever brooded in +darkness over the mind of man!</p> + +<p>One of the sources of the delusion of 1692 was ignorance of many +natural laws that have been revealed by modern science. A vast amount +of knowledge on these subjects has been attained since that time. In +our halls of education, in associations for the diffusion of +knowledge, and in a diversified and all-pervading popular literature, +what was dark and impenetrable mystery then has been explained, +accounted for, and brought within the grasp of all minds. The +contemplation of the evils brought upon our predecessors by their +ignorance of the laws of nature cannot but lead us to appreciate more +highly our opportunities to get knowledge in this department. As we +advance into the interior of the physical system to which we belong; +are led in succession from one revelation of beauty and grandeur to +another, and the field of light and truth displaces that of darkness +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.435" id="Page_ii.435">[ii.435]</a></span> mystery; while the fearful images that disturbed the faith and +bewildered the thoughts of our fathers are dissolving and vanishing, +the whole host of spirits, ghosts, and demons disappearing, and the +presence and providence of God alone found to fill all scenes and +cause all effects,—our hearts ought to rise to him in loftier +adoration and holier devotion. If, while we enjoy a fuller revelation +of his infinite and all-glorious operations and designs than our +fathers did, the sentiment of piety which glowed in their hearts like +a coal from the altar of God has been permitted to grow dim in ours, +no reproach their errors and faults can possibly authorize will equal +that which will justly fall upon us.</p> + +<p>Another cause of their delusion was too great a dependence upon the +imagination. We shall find no lesson more clearly taught by history, +by experience, or by observation, than this, that man is never safe +while either his fancy or his feeling is the guiding principle of his +nature. There is a strong and constant attraction between his +imagination and his passions; and, if either is permitted to exercise +unlimited sway, the other will most certainly be drawn into +co-operation with it, and, when they are allowed to act without +restraint upon each other and with each other, they lead to the +derangement and convulsion of his whole system. They constitute the +combustible elements of our being: one serves as the spark to explode +the other. Reason, enlightened by revelation and guided by conscience, +is the great conservative prin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.436" id="Page_ii.436">[ii.436]</a></span>ciple: while that exercises the +sovereign power over the fancy and the passions, we are safe; if it is +dethroned, no limit can be assigned to the ruin that may follow. In +the scenes we have now been called to witness, we have perceived to +what lengths of folly, cruelty, and crime even good men have been +carried, who relinquished the aid, rejected the counsels, and +abandoned the guidance of their reason.</p> + +<p>Another influence that operated to produce the catastrophe in 1692 was +the power of contagious sympathy. Every wise man and good citizen +ought to be aware of the existence and operation of this power. There +seems indeed to be a constitutional, original, sympathy in our nature. +When men act in a crowd, their heartstrings are prone to vibrate in +unison. Whatever chord of passion is struck in one breast, the same +will ring forth its wild note through the whole mass. This principle +shows itself particularly in seasons of excitement, and its power +rises in proportion to the ardor and zeal of those upon whom it acts. +It is for every one who desires to be preserved from the excesses of +popular feeling, and to prevent the community to which he belongs from +plunging into riotous and blind commotions, to keep his own judgment +and emotions as free as possible from a power that seizes all it can +reach, draws them into its current, and sweeps them round and round +like the Maelstrom, until they are overwhelmed and buried in its +devouring vortex. When others are heated, the only wisdom is to +determine to keep cool; whenever a people or an individual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.437" id="Page_ii.437">[ii.437]</a></span> is rushing +headlong, it is the duty of patriotism and of friendship to check the +motion.</p> + +<p>In this connection it may be remarked—and I should be sorry to bring +the subject to a close without urging the thought upon your +attention—that the mere power of sympathy, the momentum with which +men act in a crowd, is itself capable of convulsing society and +overthrowing all its safeguards, without the aid or supposed agency of +supernatural beings. The early history of the colony of New York +presents a case in point.</p> + +<p>In 1741, just half a century after the witchcraft prosecutions in +Massachusetts, the city of New York, then containing about nine +thousand inhabitants, witnessed a scene quite rivalling, in horror and +folly, that presented here. Some one started the idea, that a +conspiracy was on foot, among the colored portion of the inhabitants, +to murder the whites. The story was passed from one to another. +Although subsequently ascertained to have been utterly without +foundation, no one stopped to inquire into its truth, or had the +wisdom or courage to discountenance its circulation. Soon a universal +panic, like a conflagration, spread through the whole community; and +the results were most frightful. More than one hundred persons were +cast into prison. Four white persons and eighteen negroes were hanged. +Eleven negroes were burned at the stake, and fifty were transported +into slavery. As in the witchcraft prosecutions, a clergyman was among +the victims, and perished on the gallows.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.438" id="Page_ii.438">[ii.438]</a></span></p> + +<p>The "New-York Negro Plot," as it was called, was indeed marked by all +the features of absurdity in the delusion, ferocity in the popular +excitement, and destruction along the path of its progress, which +belonged to the witchcraft proceedings here, and shows that any +people, given over to the power of contagious passion, may be swept by +desolation, and plunged into ruin.</p> + +<p>One of the practical lessons inculcated by the history that has now +been related is, that no duty is more certain, none more important, +than a free and fearless expression of opinion, by all persons, on all +occasions. No wise or philosophic person would think of complaining of +the diversities of sentiment it is likely to develop. Such diversities +are the vital principle of free communities, and the only elements of +popular intelligence. If the right to utter them is asserted by all +and for all, tolerance is secured, and no inconvenience results. It is +probable that there were many persons here in 1692 who doubted the +propriety of the proceedings at their commencement, but who were +afterwards prevailed upon to fall into the current and swell the tide. +If they had all discharged their duty to their country and their +consciences by freely and boldly uttering their disapprobation and +declaring their dissent, who can tell but that the whole tragedy might +have been prevented? and, if it might, the blood of the innocent may +be said, in one sense, to be upon their heads.</p> + +<p>The leading features and most striking aspects of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.439" id="Page_ii.439">[ii.439]</a></span> the witchcraft +delusion have been repeated in places where witches and the +interference of supernatural beings are never thought of: whenever a +community gives way to its passions, and spurns the admonitions and +casts off the restraints of reason, there is a delusion that can +hardly be described in any other phrase. We cannot glance our eye over +the face of our country without beholding such scenes: and, so long as +they are exhibited; so long as we permit ourselves to invest objects +of little or no real importance with such an inordinate imaginary +interest that we are ready to go to every extremity rather than +relinquish them; so long as we yield to the impulse of passion, and +plunge into excitement, and take counsel of our feelings rather than +our judgment,—we are following in the footsteps of our fanatical +ancestors. It would be wiser to direct our ridicule and reproaches to +the delusions of our own times than to those of a previous age; and it +becomes us to treat with charity and mercy the failings of our +predecessors, at least until we have ceased to imitate and repeat +them.</p> + +<p>It has been my object to collect and arrange all the materials within +reach necessary to give a correct and adequate view of the passage of +history related and discussed in this work, and to suggest the +considerations and conclusions required by truth and justice. It is +worthy of the most thoughtful contemplation. The moralist, +metaphysician, and political philosopher will find few chapters of +human experience more fraught with instruction, and may well ponder +upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.440" id="Page_ii.440">[ii.440]</a></span> the lessons it teaches, scrutinize thoroughly all its periods, +phases, and branches, analyze its causes, eliminate its elements, and +mark its developments. The laws, energies, capabilities, and +liabilities of our nature, as exhibited in the character of +individuals and in the action of society, are remarkably illustrated. +The essential facts belonging to the transaction, gathered from +authentic records and reliable testimonies and traditions, have been +faithfully presented. <span class="smcap">The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692</span>, so far +as I have been able to recover it from misunderstanding and oblivion, +has been brought to view; and I indulge the belief, that the subject +will commend itself to, and reward, the study of every meditative +mind.</p> + +<p>I know not in what better terms the discussion of this subject can be +brought to a termination, than in those which express the conclusions +to which one of our own most distinguished citizens was brought, after +having examined the whole transaction with the eye of a lawyer and the +spirit of a judge. The following is from the Centennial Discourse +pronounced in Salem on the 18th of September, 1828, by the late Hon. +Joseph Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States:—</p> + +<p>"We may lament, then," says he, "the errors of the times, which led to +these prosecutions. But surely our ancestors had no special reasons +for shame in a belief which had the universal sanction of their own +and all former ages; which counted in its train philosophers, as well +as enthusiasts; which was graced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.441" id="Page_ii.441">[ii.441]</a></span> by the learning of prelates, as well +as by the countenance of kings; which the law supported by its +mandates, and the purest judges felt no compunctions in enforcing. Let +Witch Hill remain for ever memorable by this sad catastrophe, not to +perpetuate our dishonor, but as an affecting, enduring proof of human +infirmity; a proof that perfect justice belongs to one judgment-seat +only,—that which is linked to the throne of God."</p> + +<p>In the work which has now reached its close, many strange phases of +humanity have been exposed. We have beheld, with astonishment and +horror, the extent to which it is liable to be the agent and victim of +delusion and ruin. Folly that cannot be exceeded; wrong, outrage, and +woe, melting the heart that contemplates them; and crime, not within +our power or province to measure,—have passed before us. But not the +dark side only of our nature has been displayed. Manifestations of +innocence, heroism, invincible devotion to truth, integrity of soul +triumphing over all the terrors and horrors that can be accumulated in +life and in death, Christian piety in its most heavenly radiance, have +mingled in the drama, whose curtain is now to fall. Noble specimens of +virtue in man and woman, old and young, have shed a light, as from +above, upon its dark and melancholy scenes. Not only the sufferers, +but some of those who shared the dread responsibility of the crisis, +demand our commiseration, and did what they could to atone for their +error.</p> + +<p>The conduct of Judge Sewall claims our particu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.442" id="Page_ii.442">[ii.442]</a></span>lar admiration. He +observed annually in private a day of humiliation and prayer, during +the remainder of his life, to keep fresh in his mind a sense of +repentance and sorrow for the part he bore in the trials. On the day +of the general fast, he rose in the place where he was accustomed to +worship, the Old South, in Boston, and, in the presence of the great +assembly, handed up to the pulpit a written confession, acknowledging +the error into which he had been led, praying for the forgiveness of +God and his people, and concluding with a request to all the +congregation to unite with him in devout supplication, that it might +not bring down the displeasure of the Most High upon his country, his +family, or himself. He remained standing during the public reading of +the paper. This was an act of true manliness and dignity of soul.</p> + +<p>The following passage is found in his diary, under the date of April +23, 1720, nearly thirty years afterwards. It was suggested by the +perusal of Neal's "History of New England:"—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In Dr. Neal's 'History of New England,' its nakedness is +laid open in the businesses of the Quakers, Anabaptists, +witchcraft. The judges' names are mentioned p. 502; my +confession, p. 536, vol. ii. The good and gracious God be +pleased to save New England and me, and my family!"</p></div> + +<p>There never was a more striking and complete fulfilment of the +apostolic assurance, that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, +than in this instance. God has been pleased, in a remarkable manner, +to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.443" id="Page_ii.443">[ii.443]</a></span> save and bless New England. The favor of Heaven was bestowed upon +Judge Sewall during the remainder of his life. He presided for many +years on the bench where he committed the error so sincerely deplored +by him, and was regarded by all as a benefactor, an ornament, and a +blessing to the community: while his family have enjoyed to a high +degree the protection of Providence from that day to this; have +adorned every profession, and every department of society; have filled +with honor the most elevated stations; have graced, in successive +generations, the same lofty seat their ancestor occupied; and been the +objects of the confidence, respect, and love of their fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>Your thoughts have been led through scenes of the most distressing and +revolting character. I leave before your imaginations one bright with +all the beauty of Christian virtue,—that which exhibits Judge Sewall +standing forth in the house of his God and in the presence of his +fellow-worshippers, making a public declaration of his sorrow and +regret for the mistaken judgment he had co-operated with others in +pronouncing. Here you have a representation of a truly great and +magnanimous spirit; a spirit to which the divine influence of our +religion had given an expansion and a lustre that Roman or Grecian +virtue never knew; a spirit that had achieved a greater victory than +warrior ever won,—a victory over itself; a spirit so noble and so +pure, that it felt no shame in acknowledging an error, and publicly +imploring,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.444" id="Page_ii.444">[ii.444]</a></span> for a great wrong done to his fellow-creatures, the +forgiveness of God and man.</p> + +<p>Our Essex poet, whose beautiful genius has made classical the banks of +his own Merrimac, shed a romantic light over the early homes and +characters of New England, and brought back to life the spirit, forms, +scenes, and men of the past, has not failed to immortalize, in his +verse, the profound penitence of the misguided but upright judge:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Touching and sad, a tale is told,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a penitent hymn of the Psalmist old,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the fast which the good man life-long kept<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With a haunting sorrow that never slept,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As the circling year brought round the time<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of an error that left the sting of crime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When he sat on the bench of the witchcraft courts,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the laws of Moses and 'Hale's Reports,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And spake, in the name of both, the word<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That gave the witch's neck to the cord,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And piled the oaken planks that pressed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The feeble life from the warlock's breast!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All the day long, from dawn to dawn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His door was bolted, his curtain drawn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No foot on his silent threshold trod,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No eye looked on him save that of God,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As he baffled the ghosts of the dead with charms<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of penitent tears, and prayers, and psalms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, with precious proofs from the sacred Word<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the boundless pity and love of the Lord,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His faith confirmed and his trust renewed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That the sin of his ignorance, sorely rued,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Might be washed away in the mingled flood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of his human sorrow and Christ's dear blood!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.445" id="Page_ii.445">[ii.445]</a></span></p> + + +<p style="text-align: center"><img src="images2/image26.png" width="150" height="43" alt="decoration" /></p> + + +<h2><a name="SUPPLEMENT" id="SUPPLEMENT"></a>SUPPLEMENT.</h2> + +<p style="text-align: center"><img src="images2/image27.png" width="75" height="62" alt="decoration" /></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.447" id="Page_ii.447">[ii.447]</a></span></p> + +<h2>SUPPLEMENT.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[The subject of Salem Witchcraft has been traced to its +conclusion, and discussed within its proper limits, in the +foregoing work. But whoever is interested in it as a chapter +of history or an exhibition of humanity may feel a +curiosity, on some points, that reasonably demands +gratification. The questions will naturally arise, Who were +the earliest to extricate themselves and the public from the +delusion? what is known, beyond the facts mentioned in the +progress of the foregoing discussion, of the later fortunes +of its prominent actors? what the view taken in the +retrospect by individuals and public bodies implicated in +the transaction? and what opinions on the general subject +have subsequently prevailed? To answer these questions is +the design of this Supplement.]</p></div> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="dropcap"> I</span><b>T</b> can hardly be said that there was any open and avowed opposition in +the community to the proceedings during their early progress. There is +some uncertainty and obscurity to what extent there was an unexpressed +dissent in the minds of particular private persons. On the general +subject of the existence and power of the Devil and his agency, more +or less, in influencing human and earthly affairs, it would be +difficult to prove that there was any considerable difference of +opinion.</p> + +<p>The first undisguised and unequivocal opposition to the proceedings +was a remarkable document that has recently come to light. Among some +papers which have found their way to the custody of the Essex +Institute, is a letter, dated "Salisbury, Aug. 9, 1692," addressed "To +the worshipful Jonathan Corwin, Esq., these present at his house in +Salem." It is indorsed, "A letter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.448" id="Page_ii.448">[ii.448]</a></span> to my grandfather, on account of +the condemnation of the witches." Its date shows that it was written +while the public infatuation and fury were at their height, and the +Court was sentencing to death and sending to the gallows its +successive cartloads. There is no injunction of secresy, and no +shrinking from responsibility. Although the name of the writer is not +given in full, he was evidently well known to Corwin, and had written +to him before on the subject. The messenger, in accordance with the +superscription, undoubtedly delivered it into the hands of the judge +at his residence on the corner of Essex and North Streets. The fact +that Jonathan Corwin preserved this document, and placed it in the +permanent files of his family papers, is pretty good proof that he +appreciated the weight of its arguments. It is not improbable that he +expressed himself to that effect to his brethren on the bench, and +perhaps to others. What he said, and the fact that he was holding such +a correspondence, may have reached the ears of the accusers, and led +them to commence a movement against him by crying out upon his +mother-in-law.</p> + +<p>The letter is a most able argument against the manner in which the +trials were conducted, and, by conclusive logic, overthrows the whole +fabric of the evidence on the strength of which the Court was +convicting and taking the lives of innocent persons. No such piece of +reasoning has come to us from that age. Its author must be +acknowledged to have been an expert in dialectic subtleties, and a +pure reasoner of unsurpassed acumen and force. It requires, but it +will reward, the closest attention and concentration of thought in +following the threads of the argument. It reaches its conclusions on a +most difficult subject with clearness and certainty. It achieves and +realizes, in mere mental processes, quantities, and forces, on the +points at which it aims, what is called demonstration in mathematics +and geometry.</p> + +<p>The writer does not discredit, but seems to have received, the then +prevalent doctrines relating to the personality, power, and attributes +of the Devil; and, from that standpoint, controverts and demolishes +the principles on which the Court was proceeding, in reference to the +"spectral evidence" and the credibility of the "afflicted children" +generally. The letter, and the formal argument appended to it, arrest +notice in one or two general aspects. There is an appearance of their +having proceeded from an elderly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.449" id="Page_ii.449">[ii.449]</a></span> person, not at all from any marks of +infirmity of intellect, but rather from an air of wisdom and a tone of +authority which can only result from long experience and observation. +The circumstance that an amanuensis was employed, and the author +writes the initials of his signature only, strengthens this +impression. At the same time, there are indications of a free and +progressive spirit, more likely to have had force at an earlier period +of life. In some aspects, the document indicates a theological +education, and familiarity with matters that belong to the studies of +a minister; in others, it manifests habits of mind and modes of +expression and reasoning more natural to one accustomed to close legal +statements and deductions. If the production of a trained professional +man of either class, it would justly be regarded as remarkable. If its +author belonged to neither class, but was merely a local magistrate, +farmer, and militia officer, it becomes more than remarkable. There +must have been a high development among the founders of our villages, +when the laity could present examples of such a capacity to grasp the +most difficult subjects, and conduct such acute and abstruse +disquisitions. [See <a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a>.]</p> + +<p>The question as to the authorship of this paper may well excite +interest, involving, as it does, minute critical speculations. The +elements that enter into its solution illustrate the difficulties and +perplexities encompassing the study of local antiquities, and attempts +to determine the origin and bearings of old documents or to settle +minute points of history. The weight of evidence seems to indicate +that the document is attributable to Major Robert Pike, of Salisbury. +Whoever was its author did his duty nobly, and stands alone, above all +the scholars and educated men of the time, in bearing testimony +openly, bravely, in the very ears of the Court, against the +disgraceful and shocking course they were pursuing.<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.450" id="Page_ii.450">[ii.450]</a></span></p> +<p>William Brattle, an eminent citizen and opulent merchant of Boston, +and a gentleman of education and uncommon abilities, wrote a letter to +an unknown correspondent of the clerical profes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.451" id="Page_ii.451">[ii.451]</a></span>sion, in October, +1692. It is an able criticism upon the methods of procedure at the +trials, condemning them in the strongest language; but it was a +confidential communication, and not published<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.452" id="Page_ii.452">[ii.452]</a></span> until many years +afterwards. He says that "the witches' meetings, the Devil's baptisms +and mock sacraments, which the accusing and confessing witches oft +speak of, are nothing else but the effect of their fancy, depraved and +deluded by the Devil, and not a reality to be regarded or minded by +any wise man." He charges the judges with having taken testimony from +the Devil himself, through witnesses who swore to what they said the +Devil communicated to them, thus indirectly introducing the Devil as a +witness; and he clinches the accusation by quoting the judges +themselves, who, when the accusing and confessing witnesses +contradicted each other, got over the difficulty by saying that the +Devil, in such instances, took away the memory of some of them, for +the moment, obscuring their brains, and misleading them. He sums up +this part of his reasoning in these words: "If it be thus granted that +the Devil is able to represent false ideas to the imaginations of the +confessors, what man of sense will regard the confessions, or any of +the words of these confessors?" He says that he knows several persons +"about the Bay,"—men, for understanding, judgment, and piety, +inferior to few, if any, in New England,—that do utterly condemn the +said proceedings. He repudiates the idea that Salem was, in any sense, +exclusively responsible for the transaction; and affirms that "other +justices in the country, besides the Salem jus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.453" id="Page_ii.453">[ii.453]</a></span>tices, have issued out +their warrants;" and states, that, of the eight "judges, commissioned +for this Court at Salem, five do belong to Suffolk County, four of +which five do belong to Boston, and therefore I see no reason why +Boston should talk of Salem as though their own judges had had no hand +in these proceedings in Salem."</p> + +<p>There is one view of the subject, upon which Brattle presses with much +force and severity. There is ground to suspect, that the proceedings +were suffered to go on, after some of those appearing to countenance +them had ceased to have faith in the accusations. He charges, +directly, complicity in the escape of Mrs. Carey, Mrs. English, +Captain Alden, Hezekiah Usher, and others, upon the high officials; +and says that while the evidence, upon which so many had been +imprisoned, sentenced, and executed, bore against Mrs. Thacher, of +Boston, she was never proceeded against. "She was much complained of +by the afflicted persons, and yet the justices would not issue out +their warrants to apprehend" her and certain others; while at the very +same time they were issuing, upon no better or other grounds, warrants +against so many others. He charges the judges with this most criminal +favoritism. The facts hardly justify such an imputation upon the +judges. They did not, after the trials had begun, it is probable, ever +issue warrants: that was the function of magistrates. With the +exception, perhaps, of Corwin, I think there is no evidence of there +having been any doubts or misgivings on the bench. It is altogether +too heavy a charge to bring, without the strongest evidence, upon any +one. To intimate that officials, or any persons, who did not believe +in the accusations, connived at the escape of their friends and +relatives, and at the same time countenanced, pretended to believe, +and gave deadly effect to them when directed against others, is +supposing a criminality and baseness too great to be readily admitted. +In that wild reign of the worst of passions, this would have +transcended them all in its iniquity. The only excusable people at +that time were those who honestly, and without a doubt, believed in +the guilt of the convicted. Those who had doubts, and did not frankly +and fearlessly express them, were the guilty ones. On their hands is +the stain of the innocent blood that was shed. It is not probable, and +is scarcely possible, that any considerable number could be at once +doubters and prosecutors. On this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.454" id="Page_ii.454">[ii.454]</a></span> point, Brattle must be understood +to mean, not that judges, or others actively engaged in the +prosecutions, warded off proceedings against particular friends or +relatives from a principle of deliberate favoritism, but that third +parties, actuated by a sycophantic spirit, endeavored to hush up or +intercept complaints, when directed too near to the high officials, or +thought to gain their favor by aiding the escape of persons in whom +they were interested.</p> + +<p>Brattle uses the same weapon which afterwards the opponents of Mr. +Parris, in his church at Salem Village, wielded with such decisive +effect against him and all who abetted him. It is much to be lamented, +that, instead of hiding it under a confidential letter, he did not at +the time openly bring it to bear in the most public and defiant +manner. One brave, strong voice, uttered in the face of the court and +in the congregations of the people, echoed from the corners of the +streets, and reaching the ears of the governor and magistrates, +denouncing the entire proceedings as the damnable crime of familiarity +with evil spirits, and sorcery of the blackest dye, might perhaps have +recalled the judges, the people, and the rulers to their senses. If +the spirit of the ancient prophets of God, of the Quakers of the +preceding age, or of true reformers of any age, had existed in any +breast, the experiment would have been tried. Brattle says,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I cannot but admire that any should go with their +distempered friends and relations to the afflicted children, +to know what their distempered friends ail, whether they are +not bewitched, who it is that afflicts them, and the like. +It is true, I know no reason why these afflicted may not be +consulted as well as any other, if so be that it was only +their natural and ordinary knowledge that was had recourse +to: but it is not on this notion that these afflicted +children are sought unto, but as they have a supernatural +knowledge; a knowledge which they obtain by their holding +correspondence with spectres or evil spirits, as they +themselves grant. This consulting of these afflicted +children, as abovesaid, seems to me to be a very gross evil, +a real abomination, not fit to be known in New England; and +yet is a thing practised, not only by <i>Tom</i> and <i>John</i>,—I +mean the rude and more ignorant sort,—but by many who +profess high, and pass among us for some of the better sort. +This is that which aggravates the evil, and makes it heinous +and tremendous; and yet this is not the worst of it,—for, +as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.455" id="Page_ii.455">[ii.455]</a></span> sure as I now write to you, even some of our civil +leaders and spiritual teachers, who, I think, should punish +and preach down such sorcery and wickedness, do yet allow +of, encourage, yea, and practise, this very abomination. I +know there are several worthy gentlemen in Salem who account +this practice as an abomination, have trembled to see the +methods of this nature which others have used, and have +declared themselves to think the practice to be very evil +and corrupt. But all avails little with the abettors of the +said practice."</p></div> + +<p>If Mr. Brattle and the "several worthy gentlemen" to whom he alludes, +instead of sitting in "trembling" silence, or whispering in private +their disapprobation, or writing letters under the injunction of +secrecy, had come boldly out, and denounced the whole thing, in a +spirit of true courage, meeting and defying the risk, and carrying the +war home, and promptly, upon the ministers, magistrates, and judges, +they might have succeeded, and exploded the delusion before it had +reached its fatal results.</p> + +<p>He mentions, in the course of his letter, among those persons known by +him to disapprove of the proceedings,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Hon. Simon Bradstreet, Esq. (our late governor), the +Hon. Thomas Danforth, Esq. (our late deputy-governor), the +Rev. Mr. Increase Mather, and the Rev. Mr. Samuel Willard. +Major N. Saltonstall, Esq., who was one of the judges, has +left the court, and is very much dissatisfied with the +proceedings of it. Excepting Mr. Hale, Mr. Noyes, and Mr. +Parris, the reverend elders, almost throughout the whole +country, are very much dissatisfied. Several of the late +justices—viz., Thomas Graves, Esq.; N. Byfield, Esq.; +Francis Foxcroft, Esq.—are much dissatisfied; also several +of the present justices, and, in particular, some of the +Boston justices, were resolved rather to throw up their +commissions than be active in disturbing the liberty of +Their Majesties' subjects merely on the accusations of these +afflicted, possessed children."</p></div> + +<p>It is to be observed, that the dissatisfaction was with some of the +methods adopted in the proceedings, and not with the prosecutions +themselves. Increase Mather and Samuel Willard signed the paper +indorsing Deodat Lawson's famous sermon, which surely drove on the +prosecutions; and the former expressed, in print, his approbation of +his son Cotton's "Wonders of the Invisible World," in which he labors +to defend the witchcraft prosecutions, and to make it out that those +who suffered were "malefactors."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.456" id="Page_ii.456">[ii.456]</a></span> Dr. Increase Mather is understood to +have countenanced the burning of Calef's book, some few years +afterwards, in the square of the public grounds of Harvard College, of +which institution he was then president. It cannot be doubted, +however, that both the elder Mather and Mr. Willard had expressed, +more or less distinctly, their disapprobation of some of the details +of the proceedings. It is honorable to their memories, and shows that +the former was not wholly blinded by parental weakness, but willing to +express his dissent, in some particulars, from the course of his +distinguished son, and that the latter had an independence of +character which enabled him to criticise and censure a court in which +three of his parishioners sat as judges.</p> + +<p>Brattle relates a story which seems to indicate that Increase Mather +sometimes was unguarded enough to express himself with severity +against those who gave countenance to the proceedings. "A person from +Boston, of no small note, carried up his child to Salem, near twenty +miles, on purpose that he might consult the afflicted about his child, +which accordingly he did; and the afflicted told him that his child +was afflicted by Mrs. Carey and Mrs. Obinson." The "afflicted," in +this and some other instances, had struck too high. The magistrates in +Boston were unwilling to issue a warrant against Mrs. Obinson, and +Mrs. Carey had fled. All that the man got for his pains, in carrying +his child to Salem, was a hearty scolding from Increase Mather, who +asked him "whether there was not a God in Boston, that he should go to +the Devil, in Salem, for advice."</p> + +<p>Bradstreet's great age prevented, it is to be supposed, his public +appearance in the affair; but his course in a case which occurred +twelve years before fully justifies confidence in the statement of +Brattle. The tradition has always prevailed, that he looked with +disapprobation upon the proceedings, from beginning to end. The course +of his sons, and the action taken against them, is quite decisive to +the point.</p> + +<p>Facts have been stated, which show that Thomas Danforth, if he +disapproved of the proceedings at Salem, in October, must have +undergone a rapid change of sentiments. No irregularities, +improprieties, extravagances, or absurdities ever occurred in the +examinations or trials greater than he was fully responsible for in +April. Having, in the mean while, been superseded in office, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.457" id="Page_ii.457">[ii.457]</a></span> had +leisure, in his retirement, to think over the whole matter; and it is +satisfactory to find that he saw the error of the ways in which he had +gone himself, and led others.</p> + +<p>The result of the inquiry on this point is, that, while some, outside +of the village, began early to doubt the propriety of the proceedings +in certain particulars, they failed, with the single exception of +Robert Pike, to make manly and seasonable resistance. He remonstrated +in a writing signed with his own initials, and while the executions +were going on. He sent it to one of the judges, and did not shrink +from having his action known. No other voice was raised, no one else +breasted the storm, while it lasted. The errors which led to the +delusion were not attacked from any quarter at any time during that +generation, and have remained lurking in many minds, in a greater or +less degree, to our day.</p> + +<p>There were, however, three persons in Salem Village and its immediate +vicinity, who deserve to be for ever remembered in this connection. +They resisted the fanaticism at the beginning, and defied its wrath. +Joseph Putnam was a little more than twenty-two years of age. He +probably did not enter into the question of the doctrines then +maintained on such subjects, but was led by his natural sagacity and +independent spirit to the course he took. In opposition to both his +brothers and both his uncles, and all the rest of his powerful and +extensive family, he denounced the proceedings through and through. At +the very moment when the excitement was at its most terrible stage, +and Mr. Parris held the life of every one in his hands, Joseph Putnam +expressed his disapprobation of his conduct by carrying his infant +child to the church in Salem to be baptized. This was a public and +most significant act. For six months, he kept some one of his horses +under saddle night and day, without a moment's intermission of the +precaution; and he and his family were constantly armed. It was +understood, that, if any one attempted to arrest him, it would be at +the peril of life. If the marshal should approach with overwhelming +force, he would spring to his saddle, and bid defiance to pursuit. +Such a course as this, taken by one standing alone against the whole +community to which he belonged, shows a degree of courage, spirit, and +resolution, which cannot but be held in honor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.458" id="Page_ii.458">[ii.458]</a></span></p> + +<p>Martha Corey was an aged Christian professor, of eminently devout +habits and principles. It is, indeed, a strange fact, that, in her +humble home, surrounded, as it then was, by a wilderness, this +husbandman's wife should have reached a height so above and beyond her +age. But it is proved conclusively by the depositions adduced against +her, that her mind was wholly disenthralled from the errors of that +period. She utterly repudiated the doctrines of witchcraft, and +expressed herself freely and fearlessly against them. The prayer which +this woman made "upon the ladder," and which produced such an +impression on those who heard it, was undoubtedly expressive of +enlightened piety, worthy of being characterized as "eminent" in its +sentiments, and in its demonstration of an innocent heart and life.</p> + +<p>The following paper, in the handwriting of Mr. Parris, is among the +court-files. It has not the ordinary form of a deposition, but somehow +was sworn to in Court:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The morning after the examination of Goody Nurse, Sam. +Sibley met John Procter about Mr. Phillips's, who called to +said Sibley as he was going to said Phillips's, and asked +how the folks did at the village. He answered, he heard they +were very bad last night, but he had heard nothing this +morning. Procter replied, he was going to fetch home his +jade; he left her there last night, and had rather given +forty shillings than let her come up. Said Sibley asked why +he talked so. Procter replied, if they were let alone so, we +should all be devils and witches quickly; they should rather +be had to the whipping-post; but he would fetch his jade +home, and thrash the Devil out of her,—and more to the like +purpose, crying, 'Hang them! hang them!'"</p></div> + +<p>In another document, it is stated that Nathaniel Ingersoll and others +heard John Procter tell Joseph Pope, "that, if he had John Indian in +his custody, he would soon beat the Devil out of him."</p> + +<p>The declarations thus ascribed to John Procter show that his views of +the subject were about right; and it will probably be generally +conceded, that the treatment he proposed for Mary Warren and "John +Indian," if dealt out to the "afflicted children" generally at the +outset, would have prevented all the mischief. A sound thrashing all +round, seasonably administered, would have reached the root of the +matter; and the story which has now been concluded of Salem witchcraft +would never have been told.</p> + +<p>When the witchcraft tornado burst upon Andover, it prostrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.459" id="Page_ii.459">[ii.459]</a></span> every +thing before it. Accusers and accused were counted by scores, and +under the panic of the hour the accused generally confessed. But +Andover was the first to recover its senses. On the 12th of October, +1692, seven of its citizens addressed a memorial to the General Court +in behalf of their wives and children, praying that they might be +released on bond, "to remain as prisoners in their own houses, where +they may be more tenderly cared for." They speak of their "distressed +condition in prison,—a company of poor distressed creatures as full +of inward grief and trouble as they are able to bear up in life +withal." They refer to the want of "food convenient" for them, and to +"the coldness of the winter season that is coming which may despatch +such out of the way that have not been used to such hardships," and +represent the ruinous effects of their absence from their families, +who were at the same time required to maintain them in jail. On the +18th of October, the two ministers of Andover, Francis Dane and Thomas +Barnard, with twenty-four other citizens of Andover, addressed a +similar memorial to the Governor and General Court, in which we find +the first public expression of condemnation of the proceedings. They +call the accusers "distempered persons." They express the opinion that +their friends and neighbors have been misrepresented. They bear the +strongest testimony in favor of the persons accused, that several of +them are members of the church in full communion, of blameless +conversation, and "walking as becometh women professing godliness." +They relate the methods by which they had been deluded and terrified +into confession, and show the worthlessness of those confessions as +evidences against them. They use this bold and significant language: +"Our troubles we foresee are likely to continue and increase, if other +methods be not taken than as yet have been; and we know not who can +think himself safe, if the accusations of children and others who are +under a diabolical influence shall be received against persons of good +fame." On the 2d of January, 1693, the Rev. Francis Dane addressed a +letter to a brother clergyman, which is among the files, and was +probably designed to reach the eyes of the Court, in which he +vindicates Andover against the scandalous reports got up by the +accusers, and says that a residence there of forty-four years, and +intimacy with the people, enable him to declare that they are not +justly chargeable with any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.460" id="Page_ii.460">[ii.460]</a></span> such things as witchcraft, charms, or +sorceries of any kind. He expresses himself in strong language: "Had +charity been put on, the Devil would not have had such an advantage +against us, and I believe many innocent persons have been accused and +imprisoned." He denounces "the conceit of spectre evidence," and warns +against continuing in a course of proceeding that will procure "the +divine displeasure." A paper signed by Dudley Bradstreet, Francis +Dane, Thomas Barnard, and thirty-eight other men and twelve women of +Andover, was presented to the Court at Salem to the same effect.</p> + +<p>None of the persons named by Brattle can present so strong a claim to +the credit of having opposed the witchcraft fanaticism before the +close of the year 1692, as Francis Dane, his colleague Barnard, and +the citizens of Andover, who signed memorials to the Legislature on +the 18th of October, and to the Court of Trials about the same time. +There is, indeed, one conclusive proof that the venerable senior +pastor of the Andover Church made his disapprobation of the witchcraft +proceedings known at an earlier period, at least in his immediate +neighborhood. The wrath of the accusers was concentrated upon him to +an unparalleled extent from their entrance into Andover. They did not +venture to attack him directly. His venerable age and commanding +position made it inexpedient; but they struck as near him, and at as +many points, as they dared. They accused, imprisoned, and caused to be +convicted and sentenced to death, one of his daughters, Abigail +Faulkner. They accused, imprisoned, and brought to trial another, +Elizabeth Johnson. They imprisoned, and brought to the sentence of +death, his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. They cried out +against, and caused to be imprisoned, several others of his +grandchildren. They accused and imprisoned Deliverance the wife, and +also the "man-servant," of his son Nathaniel. There is reason for +supposing, as has been stated, that Elizabeth How was the wife of his +nephew. Surely, no one was more signalized by their malice and +resentment than Francis Dane; and he deserves to be recognized as +standing pre-eminent, and, for a time, almost alone, in bold +denunciation and courageous resistance of the execrable proceedings of +that dark day.</p> + +<p>Francis Dane made the following statement, also designed to reach the +authorities, which cannot be read by any person of sen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.461" id="Page_ii.461">[ii.461]</a></span>sibility +without feeling its force, although it made no impression upon the +Court at the time:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Concerning my daughter Elizabeth Johnson, I never had +ground to suspect her, neither have I heard any other to +accuse her, till by spectre evidence she was brought forth; +but this I must say, she was weak, and incapacious, fearful, +and in that respect I fear she hath falsely accused herself +and others. Not long before she was sent for, she spake as +to her own particular, that she was sure she was no witch. +And for her daughter Elizabeth, she is but simplish at the +best; and I fear the common speech, that was frequently +spread among us, of their liberty if they would confess, and +the like expression used by some, have brought many into a +snare. The Lord direct and guide those that are in place, +and give us all submissive wills; and let the Lord do with +me and mine what seems good in his own eyes!"</p></div> + +<p>There is nothing in the proceedings of the Special Court of Oyer and +Terminer more disgraceful than the fact, that the regular Court of +Superior Judicature, the next year, after the public mind had been +rescued from the delusion, and the spectral evidence repudiated, +proceeded to try these and other persons, and, in the face of such +statements as the foregoing, actually condemned to death Elizabeth +Johnson, Jr.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable that Brattle does not mention Calef. The +understanding has been that they acted in concert, and that Brattle +had a hand in getting up some of Calef's arguments. The silence of +Brattle is not, upon the whole, at all inconsistent with their mutual +action and alliance. As Calef was more perfectly unembarrassed, +without personal relations to the clergy and others in high station, +and not afraid to stand in the gap, it was thought best to let him +take the fire of Cotton Mather. His name had not been connected with +the matter in the public apprehension. He was a merchant of Boston, +and a son of Robert Calef of Roxbury. His attention was called to the +proceedings which originated in Salem Village; and his strong +faculties and moral courage enabled him to become the most efficient +opponent, in his day, of the system of false reasoning upon which the +prosecutions rested. He prepared several able papers in different +forms, in which he discussed the subject with great ability, and +treated Cotton Mather and all others whom he regarded as instrumental +in precipitating the community into the fatal tragedy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.462" id="Page_ii.462">[ii.462]</a></span> with the +greatest severity of language and force of logic, holding up the whole +procedure to merited condemnation. They were first printed, at London, +in 1700, in a small quarto volume, under the title of "More Wonders of +the Invisible World." This publication burst like a bomb-shell upon +all who had been concerned in promoting the witchcraft prosecutions. +Cotton Mather was exasperated to the highest pitch. He says in his +diary: "He sent this vile volume to London to be published, and the +book is printed; and the impression is, this day week, arrived here. +The books that I have sent over into England, with a design to glorify +the Lord Jesus Christ, are not published, but strangely delayed; and +the books that are sent over to vilify me, and render me incapable to +glorify the Lord Jesus Christ,—these are published." Calef's writings +gave a shock to Mather's influence, from which it never recovered.</p> + +<p>Great difficulty has been experienced in drawing the story out in its +true chronological sequence. The effect produced upon the public mind, +when it became convinced that the proceedings had been wrong, and +innocent blood shed, was a universal disposition to bury the +recollection of the whole transaction in silence, and, if possible, +oblivion. This led to a suppression and destruction of the ordinary +materials of history. Papers were abstracted from the files, documents +in private hands were committed to the flames, and a chasm left in the +records of churches and public bodies. The journal of the Special +Court of Oyer and Terminer is nowhere to be found. Hutchinson appears +to have had access to it. It cannot well be supposed to have been lost +by fire or other accident, because the records of the regular Court, +up to the very time when the Special Court came into operation, and +from the time when it expired, are preserved in order. A portion of +the papers connected with the trials have come down in a +miscellaneous, scattered, and dilapidated state, in the offices of the +Clerk of the Courts in the County of Essex, and of the Secretary of +the Commonwealth. By far the larger part have been abstracted, of +which a few have been deposited, by parties into whose hands they had +happened to come, with the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston +and the Essex Institute at Salem. The records of the parish of Salem +Village, although exceedingly well kept before and after 1692 by +Thomas Putnam, are in another hand for that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.463" id="Page_ii.463">[ii.463]</a></span> year, very brief, and +make no reference whatever to the witchcraft transactions. This +general desire to obliterate the memory of the calamity has nearly +extinguished tradition. It is more scanty and less reliable than on +any other event at an equal distance in the past. A subject on which +men avoided to speak soon died out of knowledge. The localities of +many very interesting incidents cannot be identified. This is very +observable, and peculiarly remarkable as to places in the now City of +Salem. The reminiscences floating about are vague, contradictory, and +few in number. In a community of uncommon intelligence, composed, to a +greater degree perhaps than almost any other, of families that have +been here from the first, very inquisitive for knowledge, and always +imbued with the historical spirit, it is truly surprising how little +has been borne down, by speech and memory, in the form of anecdote, +personal traits, or local incidents, of this most extraordinary and +wonderful occurrence of such world-wide celebrity. Almost all that we +know is gleaned from the offices of the Registry of Deeds and +Wills.<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.464" id="Page_ii.464">[ii.464]</a></span></p> +<p>It is remarkable, that the marshal and sheriff, both quite young men, +so soon followed their victims to the other world. Jonathan Walcot, +the father of Mary, and next neighbor to Parris, removed from the +village, and died at Salem in 1699. Thomas Putnam and Ann his wife, +the parents of the "afflicted child," who acted so extraordinary a +part in the proceedings and of whom further mention will be made, died +in 1699,—the former on the 24th of May, the latter on the 8th of +June,—at the respective ages of forty-seven and thirty-eight.<a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> +There are indications that they saw the errors into which they had +been led. If their eyes were at all opened to this view, how terrible +must have been the thought of the cruel wrongs and wide-spread ruin of +which they had been the cause! Of the circumstances of their deaths, +or their last words and sentiments, we have no knowledge. It is not +strange, that, in addition to all her woes, the death of her husband +was more than Mrs. Ann Putnam could bear, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.465" id="Page_ii.465">[ii.465]</a></span> she followed him +so soon to the grave. Of the other accusers, we have but little +information. Elizabeth Booth was married to Israel Shaw about the year +1700. Mary Walcot was married, somewhere between 1692 and 1697, to a +person belonging to Woburn, whose name is torn or worn off from Mr. +Parris's records. Of the other "afflicted children" nothing is known, +beyond the fact, that the Act of the Legislature of the Province, +reversing the judgments, and taking off the attainder from those who +were sentenced to death in 1692, has this paragraph: "Some of the +principal accusers and witnesses in those dark and severe prosecutions +have since discovered themselves to be persons of profligate and +vicious conversation;" and Calef speaks of them as "vile varlets," and +asserts that their reputations were not without spot before, and that +subsequently they became abandoned to open and shameless vice.</p> + +<p>A very considerable number of the people left the place. John Shepard +and Samuel Sibley sold their lands, and went elsewhere; as did Peter +Cloyse, who never brought his family to the village after his wife's +release from prison. Edward and Sarah Bishop sold their estates, and +took up their abode at Rehoboth. Some of the Raymond family removed to +Middleborough. The Haynes family emigrated to New Jersey. No mention +is afterwards found of other families in the record-books. The +descendants of Thomas and Edward Putnam, in the next generation, were +mostly dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.466" id="Page_ii.466">[ii.466]</a></span>persed to other places; but those of Joseph remained on his +lands, and have occupied his homestead to this day. It is a singular +circumstance, that some of the spots where, particularly, the great +mischief was brewed, are, and long have been, deserted. Where the +parsonage stood, with its barn and garden and well and pathways, is +now a bare and rugged field, without a vestige of its former +occupancy, except a few broken bricks that mark the site of the house. +The same is the case of the homestead of Jonathan Walcot. It was in +these two families that the affair began and was matured. The spots +where several others, who figured in the proceedings, lived, have +ceased to be occupied; and the only signs of former habitation are +hollows in the ground, fragments of pottery, and heaps of stones +denoting the location of cellars and walls. Here and there, where +houses and other structures once stood, the blight still rests.</p> + +<p>Some circumstances relating to the personal history of those who +experienced the greatest misery during the prevalence of the dreadful +fanaticism, and were left to mourn over its victims, have happened to +be preserved in records and documents on file. On the 30th of +November, 1699, Margaret Jacobs was married to John Foster. She +belonged to Mr. Noyes's parish; but the recollection of his agency in +pushing on proceedings which carried in their train the execution of +her aged grandfather, the exile of her father, the long imprisonment +of her mother and herself, with the prospect of a violent and shameful +death hanging over them every hour, and, above all, her own wretched +abandonment of truth and conscience for a while, probably under his +persuasion, made it impossible for her to think of being married by +him. Mr. Greene was known to sympathize with those who had suffered, +and the couple went to the village to be united. Some years +afterwards, when the church of the Middle Precinct, now South Danvers, +was organized, John and Margaret Foster, among the first, took their +children there for baptism; and their descendants are numerous, in +this neighborhood and elsewhere. Margaret, the widow of John Willard, +married William Towne. Elizabeth, the widow of John Procter, married, +subsequently to 1696, a person named Richards. Edward Bishop, the +husband of Bridget, a few years afterwards was appointed guardian of +Susannah Mason, the only child of Christian, who was the only child of +Bridget by her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.467" id="Page_ii.467">[ii.467]</a></span> former husband Thomas Oliver. Bishop seems to have +invested the money of his ward in the lot at the extreme end of +Forrester Street, where it connects with Essex Street, bounded by +Forrester Street on the north and east, and Essex Street on the south. +This was the property of Susannah when she married John Becket, Jr. +Bishop appears to have continued his business of a sawyer to a very +advanced age, and died in Salem, in 1705.</p> + +<p>Sarah Nurse, about two years after her mother's death, married Michael +Bowden, of Marblehead; and they occupied her father's house, in the +town of Salem, of which he had retained the possession. His family +having thus all been married off, Francis Nurse gave up his homestead +to his son Samuel, and divided his remaining property among his four +sons and four daughters. He made no formal deed or will, but drew up a +paper, dated Dec. 4, 1694, describing the distribution of the estate, +and what he expected of his children. He gave them immediate occupancy +and possession of their respective portions. The provision made by the +old man for his comfort, and the conditions required of his children, +are curious. They give an interesting insight of the life of a rural +patriarch. He reserved his "great chair and cushion;" a great chest; +his bed and bedding; wardrobe, linen and woollen; a pewter pot; one +mare, bridle, saddle, and sufficient fodder; the whole of the crop of +corn, both Indian and English, he had made that year. The children +were to discharge all the debts of his estate, pay him fourteen pounds +a year, and contribute equally, as much more as might be necessary for +his comfortable maintenance, and also to his "decent burial." The +labors of his life had closed. He had borne the heaviest burden that +can be laid on the heart of a good man. He found rest, and sought +solace and support, in the society and love of his children and their +families, as he rode from house to house on the road he had opened, by +which they all communicated with each other. The parish records show +that he continued his interest in its affairs. He lived just long +enough to behold sure evidence that justice would be done to the +memory of those who suffered, and the authors of the mischief be +consigned to the condemnation of mankind. The tide, upon which Mr. +Parris had ridden to the destruction of so many, had turned; and it +was becoming apparent to all, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.468" id="Page_ii.468">[ii.468]</a></span> he would soon be compelled to +disappear from his ministry in the village, before the awakening +resentment of the people and the ministers. Francis Nurse died on the +22d of November, 1695, seventy-seven years of age. His sons with their +wives, and his daughters with their husbands, went into the Probate +Court with the paper before described, and unanimously requested the +judge to have the estate divided according to its terms. This is +conclusive proof that the father had been just and wise in his +arrangements, and that true fraternal love and harmony pervaded the +whole family. The descendants, under the names of Bowden, Tarbell, and +Russell, are dispersed in various parts of the country: those under +the name of Preston, while some have gone elsewhere, have been ever +since, and still are, among the most respectable and honored citizens +of the village. Some of the name of Nurse have also remained, and +worthily represent and perpetuate it.</p> + +<p>I have spoken of the tide's beginning to turn in 1695. Sure +indications to that effect were then quite visible. It had begun far +down in the public mind before the prosecutions ceased; but it was +long before the change became apparent on the surface. It was long +before men found utterance for their feelings.</p> + +<p>Persons living at a distance have been accustomed, and are to this +day, to treat the Salem-witchcraft transaction in the spirit of +lightsome ridicule, and to make it the subject of jeers and jokes. Not +so those who have lived on, or near, the fatal scene. They have ever +regarded it with solemn awe and profound sorrow, and shunned the +mention, and even the remembrance, of its details. This prevented an +immediate expression of feeling, and delayed movements in the way of +attempting a reparation of the wrongs that had been committed. The +heart sickened, the lips were dumb, at the very thought of those +wrongs. Reparation was impossible. The dead were beyond its reach. The +sorrows and anguish of survivors were also beyond its reach. The voice +of sympathy was felt to be unworthy to obtrude upon sensibilities that +had been so outraged. The only refuge left for the individuals who had +been bereaved, and for the body of the people who realized that +innocent blood was on all their hands, was in humble and soul-subdued +silence, and in prayers for forgiveness from God and from each other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.469" id="Page_ii.469">[ii.469]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was long before the public mind recovered from its paralysis. No +one knew what ought to be said or done, the tragedy had been so awful. +The parties who had acted in it were so numerous, and of such +standing, including almost all the most eminent and honored leaders of +the community from the bench, the bar, the magistracy, the pulpit, the +medical faculty, and in fact all classes and descriptions of persons; +the mysteries connected with the accusers and confessors; the +universal prevalence of the legal, theological, and philosophical +theories that had led to the proceedings; the utter impossibility of +realizing or measuring the extent of the calamity; and the general +shame and horror associated with the subject in all minds; prevented +any open movement. Then there was the dread of rekindling animosities +which time was silently subduing, and nothing but time could fully +extinguish. Slowly, however, the remembrance of wrongs was becoming +obscured. Neighborhood and business relations were gradually +reconciling the estranged. Offices of civility, courtesy, and +good-will were reviving; social and family intimacies and connections +were taking effect and restoring the community to a natural and +satisfactory condition. Every day, the sentiment was sinking deeper in +the public mind, that something was required to be done to avert the +displeasure of Heaven from a guilty land. But while some were ready to +forgive, and some had the grace to ask to be forgiven, any general +movement in this direction was obstructed by difficulties hard to be +surmounted.</p> + +<p>The wrongs committed were so remediless, the outrages upon right, +character, and life, had been so shocking, that it was expecting too +much from the ordinary standard of humanity to demand a general +oblivion. On the other hand, so many had been responsible for them, +and their promoters embraced such a great majority of all the leading +classes of society, that it was impossible to call them to account. +Dr. Bentley describes the condition of the community, in some brief +and pregnant sentences, characteristic of his peculiar style: "As soon +as the judges ceased to condemn, the people ceased to accuse.... +Terror at the violence and guilt of the proceedings succeeded +instantly to the conviction of blind zeal; and what every man had +encouraged all professed to abhor. Few dared to blame other men, +because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.470" id="Page_ii.470">[ii.470]</a></span> few were innocent. The guilt and the shame became the portion +of the country, while Salem had the infamy of being the place of the +transactions.... After the public mind became quiet, few things were +done to disturb it. But a diminished population, the injury done to +religion, and the distress of the aggrieved, were seen and felt with +the greatest sorrow.... Every place was the subject of some direful +tale. Fear haunted every street. Melancholy dwelt in silence in every +place, after the sun retired. Business could not, for some time, +recover its former channels; and the innocent suffered with the +guilty."</p> + +<p>While the subject was felt to be too dark and awful to be spoken of, +and most men desired to bury it in silence, occasionally the +slumbering fires would rekindle, and the flames of animosity burst +forth. The recollection of the part he had acted, and the feelings of +many towards him in consequence, rendered the situation of the sheriff +often quite unpleasant; and the resentment of some broke out in a +shameful demonstration at his death, which occurred early in 1697. Mr. +English, representing that class who had suffered under his official +hands in 1692, having a business demand upon him, in the shape of a +suit for debt, stood ready to seize his body after it was prepared for +interment, and prevented the funeral at the time. The body was +temporarily deposited on the sheriff's own premises. There were, it is +probable, from time to time, other less noticeable occurrences +manifesting the long continued existence of the unhappy state of +feeling engendered in 1692. There were really two parties in the +community, generally both quiescent, but sometimes coming into open +collision; the one exasperated by the wrongs they and their friends +had suffered, the other determined not to allow those who had acted in +conducting the prosecutions to be called to account for what they had +done. After the lapse of thirty years, and long subsequent to the +death of Mr. Noyes, Mr. English was prosecuted for having said that +Mr. Noyes had murdered Rebecca Nurse and John Procter.</p> + +<p>It has been suggested, that the bearing of the executive officers of +the law towards the prisoners was often quite harsh. This resulted +from the general feeling, in which these officials would have been +likely to sympathize, of the peculiarly execrable nature of the crime +charged upon the accused, and from the danger that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.471" id="Page_ii.471">[ii.471]</a></span> might attend the +manifestation of any appearance of kindly regard for them. So far as +the seizure of goods is considered, or the exaction of fees, the +conduct of the officials was in conformity with usage and +instructions. The system of the administration of the law, compared +with our times, was stern, severe, and barbarous. The whole tone of +society was more unfeeling. Philanthropy had not then extended its +operations, or directed its notice, to the prison. Sheriff Corwin was +quite a young man, being but twenty-six years of age at the time of +his appointment. He probably acted under the advice of his relatives +and connections on the bench. I think there is no evidence of any +particular cruelty evinced by him. The arrests, examinations, and +imprisonments had taken place under his predecessor, Marshal Herrick, +who continued in the service as his deputy.</p> + +<p>That individual, indeed, had justly incurred the resentment of the +sufferers and their friends, by eager zeal in urging on the +prosecutions, perpetual officiousness, and unwarrantable interference +against the prisoners at the preliminary examinations. The odium +originally attached to the marshal seems to have been transferred to +his successor, and the whole was laid at the door of the sheriff. +Marshal Herrick does not appear to have been connected with Joseph +Herrick, who lived on what is now called Cherry Hill, but was a man of +an entirely different stamp. He was thirty-four years of age, and had +not been very long in the country. John Dunton speaks of meeting him +in Salem, in 1686, and describes him as a "very tall, handsome man, +very regular and devout in his attendance at church, religious without +bigotry, and having every man's good word." His impatient activity +against the victims of the witchcraft delusion wrought a great change +in the condition of this popular and "handsome" man, as is seen in a +petition presented by him, Dec. 8, 1692; to "His Excellency Sir +William Phips, Knight, Captain-general and Governor of Their +Majesties' Territories and Dominions of Massachusetts Bay in New +England; and to the Honorable William Stoughton, Esq., +Deputy-Governor; and to the rest of the Honored Council." It begins +thus: "The petition of your poor servant, George Herrick, most humbly +showeth." After recounting his great and various services "for the +term of nine months," as marshal or deputy-sheriff in apprehending many +prisoners, and conveying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.472" id="Page_ii.472">[ii.472]</a></span> them "unto prison and from prison to +prison," he complains that his whole time had been taken up so that he +was incapable of getting any thing for the maintenance of his "poor +family:" he further states that he had become so impoverished that +necessity had forced him to lay down his place; and that he must +certainly come to want, if not in some measure supplied. "Therefore I +humbly beseech Your Honors to take my case and condition so far into +consideration, that I may have some supply this hard winter, that I +and my poor children may not be destitute of sustenance, and so +inevitably perish; for I have been bred a gentleman, and not much used +to work, and am become despicable in these hard times." He concludes +by declaring, that he is not "weary of serving his king and country," +nor very scrupulous as to the kind of service; for he promises that +"if his habitation" could thereby be "graced with plenty in the room +of penury, there shall be no services too dangerous and difficult, but +your poor petitioner will gladly accept, and to the best of my power +accomplish. I shall wholly lay myself at Your Honorable feet for +relief." Marshal Herrick died in 1695.</p> + +<p>But, while this feeling was spreading among the people, the government +were doing their best to check it. There was great apprehension, that, +if allowed to gather force, it would burst over all barriers, that no +limit would be put to its demands for the restoration of property +seized by the officers of the law, and that it would wreak vengeance +upon all who had been engaged in the prosecutions. Under the influence +of this fear, the following attempt was made to shield the sheriff of +the county from prosecutions for damages by those whose relatives had +suffered:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">"<i>At a Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and +General Jail Delivery, held at Ipswich, the fifteenth day of +May, anno Domini 1694.</i>—Present, William Stoughton, Esq., +<i>Chief-justice</i>; Thomas Danforth, Esq.; Samuel Sewall, Esq.</p> + +<p>"This Court, having adjusted the accounts of George Corwin, +Esq., high-sheriff for the county of Essex, do allow the +same to be just and true; and that there remains a balance +due to him, the said Corwin, of £67. 6<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i>, which is +also allowed unto him; and, pursuant to law, this Court doth +fully, clearly, and absolutely acquit and discharge him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.473" id="Page_ii.473">[ii.473]</a></span> +the said George Corwin, his heirs, executors, and +administrators, lands and tenements, goods and chattels, of +and from all manner of sum or sums of money, goods or +chattels levied, received, or seized, and of all debts, +duties, and demands which are or may be charged in his, the +said Corwin's, accounts, or which may be imposed by reason +of the sheriff's office, or any thing by him done by virtue +thereof, or in the execution of the same, from the time he +entered into the said office, to this Court."</p></div> + +<p>This extraordinary attempt of the Court to close the doors of justice +beforehand against suits for damages did not seem to have any effect; +for Mr. English compelled the executors of the sheriff to pay over to +him £60. 3<i>s</i>.</p> + +<p>At length, the government had to meet the public feeling. A +proclamation was issued, "By the Honorable the Lieutenant-Governor, +Council, and Assembly of His Majesty's province of the Massachusetts +Bay, in General Court assembled." It begins thus: "Whereas the anger +of God is not yet turned away, but his hand is still stretched out +against his people in manifold judgments;" and, after several +specifications of the calamities under which they were suffering, and +referring to the "many days of public and solemn" addresses made to +God, it proceeds: "Yet we cannot but also fear that there is something +still wanting to accompany our supplications; and doubtless there are +some particular sins which God is angry with our Israel for, that have +not been duly seen and resented by us, about which God expects to be +sought, if ever he again turn our captivity." Thursday, the fourteenth +of the next January, was accordingly appointed to be observed as a day +of prayer and fasting,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That so all God's people may offer up fervent supplications +unto him, that all iniquity may be put away, which hath +stirred God's holy jealousy against this land; that he would +show us what we know not, and help us, wherein we have done +amiss, to do so no more; and especially, that, whatever +mistakes on either hand have been fallen into, either by the +body of this people or any orders of men, referring to the +late tragedy, raised among us by Satan and his instruments, +through the awful judgment of God, he would humble us +therefor, and pardon all the errors of his servants and +people that desire to love his name; that he would remove +the rod of the wicked from off the lot of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.474" id="Page_ii.474">[ii.474]</a></span> righteous; +that he would bring in the American heathen, and cause them +to hear and obey his voice.</p> + +<p>"Given at Boston, Dec. 17, 1696, in the eighth year of His +Majesty's reign.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Isaac Addington</span>, <i>Secretary</i>."</p></div> + +<p>The jury had acted in conformity with their obligations and honest +convictions of duty in bringing in their verdicts. They had sworn to +decide according to the law and the evidence. The law under which they +were required to act was laid down with absolute positiveness by the +Court. They were bound to receive it, and to take and weigh the +evidence that was admitted; and to their minds it was clear, decisive, +and overwhelming, offered by persons of good character, and confirmed +by a great number of confessions. If it had been within their +province, as it always is declared not to be, to discuss the general +principles, and sit in judgment on the particular penalties of law, it +would not have altered the case; for, at that time, not only the +common people, but the wisest philosophers, supported the +interpretation of the law that acknowledged the existence of +witchcraft, and its sanction that visited it with death.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this, however, so tender and sensitive were the +consciences of the jurors, that they signed and circulated the +following humble and solemn declaration of regret for the part they +had borne in the trials. As the publication of this paper was highly +honorable to those who signed it, and cannot but be contemplated with +satisfaction by all their descendants, I will repeat their names:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are underwritten, being in the year 1692 +called to serve as jurors in court at Salem, on trial of +many who were by some suspected guilty of doing acts of +witchcraft upon the bodies of sundry persons,—we confess +that we ourselves were not capable to understand, nor able +to withstand, the mysterious delusions of the powers of +darkness and Prince of the air, but were, for want of +knowledge in ourselves and better information from others, +prevailed with to take up with such evidence against the +accused as, on further consideration and better information, +we justly fear was insufficient for the touching the lives +of any (Deut. xvii. 6), whereby we fear we have been +instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and +unwittingly, to bring upon ourselves and this people of the +Lord the guilt of innocent blood; which sin the Lord saith +in Scripture he would not pardon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.475" id="Page_ii.475">[ii.475]</a></span> (2 Kings xxiv. 4),—that +is, we suppose, in regard of his temporal judgments. We do +therefore hereby signify to all in general, and to the +surviving sufferers in special, our deep sense of, and +sorrow for, our errors in acting on such evidence to the +condemning of any person; and do hereby declare, that we +justly fear that we were sadly deluded and mistaken,—for +which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds, +and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness, first, of God, for +Christ's sake, for this our error, and pray that God would +not impute the guilt of it to ourselves nor others: and we +also pray that we may be considered candidly and aright by +the living sufferers, as being then under the power of a +strong and general delusion, utterly unacquainted with, and +not experienced in, matters of that nature.</p> + +<p>"We do heartily ask forgiveness of you all, whom we have +justly offended; and do declare, according to our present +minds, we would none of us do such things again, on such +grounds, for the whole world,—praying you to accept of this +in way of satisfaction for our offence, and that you would +bless the inheritance of the Lord, that he may be entreated +for the land.</p></div> + +<table border="0" summary="signatures" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>"<span class="smcap">Thomas Fisk</span>, <i>Foreman</i>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Pearly</span>, Sr.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Fisk</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">John Peabody</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Bacheler</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Perkins</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Fisk</span>, Jr.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Sayer</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Dane</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Andrew Eliot</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Evelith</span>.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Henry Herrick</span>, Sr."</td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + + +<p>In 1697, Rev. John Hale, of Beverly, published a work on the subject +of the witchcraft persecutions, in which he gives the reasons which +led him to the conclusion that there was error at the foundation of +the proceedings. The following extract shows that he took a rational +view of the subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It may be queried then, How doth it appear that there was a +going too far in this affair?</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Answer</span> I.—By the number of persons accused. It +cannot be imagined, that, in a place of so much knowledge, +so many, in so small a compass of land, should so abominably +leap into the Devil's lap,—at once.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. II.—The quality of several of the accused +was such as did bespeak better things, and things that +accompany salvation. Persons whose blameless and holy lives +before did testify for them; persons that had taken great +pains to bring up <i>their children in the nurture and +admonition of the Lord</i>, such as we had charity for as for +our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.476" id="Page_ii.476">[ii.476]</a></span> own souls,—and charity is a Christian duty, commended +to us in 1 Cor. xiii., Col. iii. 14, and many other places.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. III.—The number of the afflicted by Satan +daily increased, till about fifty persons were thus vexed by +the Devil. This gave just ground to suspect some mistake.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. IV.—It was considerable, that nineteen were +executed, and all denied the crime to the death; and some of +them were knowing persons, and had before this been +accounted blameless livers. And it is not to be imagined but +that, if all had been guilty, some would have had so much +tenderness as to seek mercy for their souls in the way of +confession, and sorrow for such a sin.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. V.—When this prosecution ceased, the Lord so +chained up Satan, that the afflicted grew presently well: +the accused are generally quiet, and for five years since we +have no such molestation by them."</p></div> + +<p>Such reasonings as these found their way into the minds of the whole +community; and it became the melancholy conviction of all candid and +considerate persons that innocent blood had been shed. Standing where +we do, with the lights that surround us, we look back upon the whole +scene as an awful perversion of justice, reason, and truth.</p> + +<p>On the 13th of June, 1700, Abigail Faulkner presented a well-expressed +memorial to the General Court, in which she says that her pardon "so +far had its effect, as that I am yet suffered to live, but this only +as a malefactor convict upon record of the most heinous crimes that +mankind can be supposed to be guilty of;" and prays for "the defacing +of the record" against her. She claims it as no more than a simple act +of justice; stating that the evidence against her was wholly confined +to the "afflicted, who pretended to see me by their spectral sight, +and not with their bodily eyes." That "the jury (upon only their +testimony) brought me in 'Guilty,' and the sentence of death was +passed upon me;" and that it had been decided that such testimony was +of no value. The House of Representatives felt the force of her +appeal, and voted that "the prayer of the petitioner be granted." The +council declined to concur, but addressed "His Excellency to grant the +petitioner His Majesty's gracious pardon; and His Excellency expressed +His readiness to grant the same." Some adverse influence, it seemed, +prevailed to prevent it.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of March, 1702, another petition was presented to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.477" id="Page_ii.477">[ii.477]</a></span> the +General Court, by persons of Andover, Salem Village, and Topsfield, +who had suffered imprisonment and condemnation, and by the relations +of others who had been condemned and executed on the testimony, as +they say, of "possessed persons," to this effect:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Your petitioners being dissatisfied and grieved that +(besides what the condemned persons have suffered in their +persons and estates) their names are exposed to infamy and +reproach, while their trial and condemnation stands upon +public record, we therefore humbly pray this honored Court +that something may be publicly done to take off infamy from +the names and memory of those who have suffered as +aforesaid, that none of their surviving relations nor their +posterity may suffer reproach on that account."</p> + +<p>[Signed by Francis Faulkner, Isaac Easty, Thorndike Procter, +and eighteen others.]</p></div> + +<p>On the 20th of July, in answer to the foregoing petitions, a bill was +ordered by the House of Representatives to be drawn up, forbidding in +future such procedures, as in the witchcraft trials of 1692; declaring +that "no spectre evidence may hereafter be accounted valid or +sufficient to take away the life or good name of any person or persons +within this province, and that the infamy and reproach cast on the +names and posterity of said accused and condemned persons may in some +measure be rolled away." The council concurred with an additional +clause, to acquit all condemned persons "of the penalties to which +they are liable upon the convictions and judgments in the courts, and +estate them in their just credit and reputation, as if no such +judgment had been had."</p> + +<p>This petition was re-enforced by an "address" to the General Court, +dated July 8, 1703, by several ministers of the county of Essex. They +speak of the accusers in the witchcraft trials as "young persons under +diabolical molestations," and express this sentiment: "There is great +reason to fear that innocent persons then suffered, and that God may +have a controversy with the land upon that account." They earnestly +beg that the prayer of the petitioners, lately presented, may be +granted. This petition was signed by Thomas Barnard, of Andover; +Joseph Green, of Salem Village; William Hubbard, John Wise, John +Rogers, and Jabez<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.478" id="Page_ii.478">[ii.478]</a></span> Fitch, of Ipswich; Benjamin Rolfe, of Haverhill; +Samuel Cheever, of Marblehead; Joseph Gerrish, of Wenham; Joseph +Capen, of Topsfield; Zechariah Symmes, of Bradford; and Thomas Symmes, +of Boxford. Francis Dane, of Andover, had died six years before. John +Hale, of Beverly, had died three years before. The great age of John +Higginson, of Salem,—eighty-seven years,—probably prevented the +papers being handed to him. It is observable, that Nicholas Noyes, his +colleague, is not among the signers.</p> + +<p>What prevented action, we do not know; but nothing was done. Six years +afterwards, on the 25th of May, 1709, an "humble address" was +presented to the General Court by certain inhabitants of the province, +some of whom "had their near relations, either parents or others, who +suffered death in the dark and doleful times that passed over this +province in 1692;" and others "who themselves, or some of their +relations, were imprisoned, impaired and blasted in their reputations +and estates by reason of the same." They pray for the passage of a +"suitable act" to restore the reputations of the sufferers, and to +make some remuneration "as to what they have been damnified in their +estates thereby." This paper was signed by Philip English and +twenty-one others. Philip English gave in an account in detail of what +articles were seized and carried away, at the time of his arrest, from +four of his warehouses, his wharf, and shop-house, besides the +expenses incurred in prison, and in escaping from it. It appears by +this statement, that he and his wife were nine weeks in jail at Salem +and Boston. Nothing was done at this session. The next year, Sept. 12, +1710, Isaac Easty presented a strong memorial to the General Court in +reference to his case. He calls for some remuneration. In speaking of +the arrest and execution of his "beloved wife," he says "my sorrow and +trouble of heart in being deprived of her in such a manner, which this +world can never make me any compensation for." At the same time, the +daughters of Elizabeth How, the son of Sarah Wildes, the heirs of Mary +Bradbury, Edward Bishop and his wife Sarah, sent in severally similar +petitions,—all in earnest and forcible language. Charles, one of the +sons of George Burroughs, presented the case of his "dear and honored +father;" declaring that his innocence of the crime of which he was +accused, and his excellence of character, were shown in "his careful +catechising his children, and upholding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.479" id="Page_ii.479">[ii.479]</a></span> religion in his family, and +by his solemn and savory written instructions from prison." He +describes in affecting details the condition in which his father's +family of little children was left at his death. One of Mr. +Burroughs's daughters, upon being required to sign a paper in +reference to compensation, expresses her distress of mind in these +words: "Every discourse on this melancholy subject doth but give a +fresh wound to my bleeding heart. I desire to sit down in silence." +John Moulton, in behalf of the family of Giles Corey, says that they +"cannot sufficiently express their grief" for the death, in such a +manner, of "their honored father and mother." Samuel Nurse, in behalf +of his brothers and sisters, says that their "honored and dear mother +had led a blameless life from her youth up.... Her name and the name +of her posterity lies under reproach, the removing of which reproach +is the principal thing wherein we desire restitution. And, as we know +not how to express our loss of such a mother in such a way, so we know +not how to compute our charge, but leave it to the judgment of others, +and shall not be critical." He distinctly intimates, that they do not +wish any money to be paid them, unless "the attainder is taken off." +Many other petitions were presented by the families of those who +suffered, all in the same spirit; and several besides the Nurses +insisted mainly upon the "taking off the attainder."</p> + +<p>The General Court, on the 17th of October, 1710, passed an act, that +"the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby +are, reversed, and declared to be null and void." In simple justice, +they ought to have extended the act to all who had suffered; but they +confined its effect to those in reference to whom petitions had been +presented. The families of some of them had disappeared, or may not +have had notice of what was going on; so that the sentence which the +Government acknowledged to have been unjust remains to this day +unreversed against the names and memory of Bridget Bishop, Susanna +Martin, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Read, and Margaret Scott. +The stain on the records of the Commonwealth has never been fully +effaced. What caused this dilatory and halting course on the part of +the Government, and who was responsible for it, cannot be ascertained. +Since the presentation of Abigail Faulkner's petition in 1700, the +Legislature, in the popular branch at least, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.480" id="Page_ii.480">[ii.480]</a></span> Governor, appear +to have been inclined to act favorably in the premises; but some power +blocked the way. There is some reason to conjecture that it was the +influence of the home government. Its consent to have the prosecutions +suspended, in 1692, was not very cordial, but, while it approved of +"care and circumspection therein," expressed reluctance to allow any +"impediment to the ordinary course of justice."</p> + +<p>On the 17th of December, 1711, Governor Dudley issued his warrant for +the purpose of carrying out a vote of the "General Assembly," "by and +with the advice and consent of Her Majesty's Council," to pay "the sum +of £578. 12<i>s.</i>" to "such persons as are living, and to those that +legally represent them that are dead;" which sum was divided as +follows:—</p> + +<table border="0" summary="restitution" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>John Procter and wife</td> + <td align="right">£</td> + <td align="right">150</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>George Jacobs</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">79</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>George Burroughs</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">50</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sarah Good</td> + <td></td> + <td align="right">30</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Giles Corey and wife</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">21</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Dorcas Hoar</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">21</td> + <td align="right">17</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Abigail Hobbs</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">10</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Rebecca Eames</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">10</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mary Post</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">8</td> + <td align="right">14</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mary Lacy</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">8</td> + <td align="right">10</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Ann Foster</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">6</td> + <td align="right">10</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Samuel Wardwell and wife</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">36</td> + <td align="right">15</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Rebecca Nurse</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">25</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mary Easty</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">20</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mary Bradbury</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">20</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Abigail Faulkner</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">20</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>John Willard</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">20</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sarah Wildes</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">14</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Elizabeth How</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">12</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mary Parker</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">8</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Martha Carrier</td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right">7</td> + <td align="right">6</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> +<td align="right">—<br />£<br />==</td> +<td align="right">——<br />578<br />====</td> +<td align="right">—<br />12<br />==</td> +<td align="right">—<br />0<br />==</td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + +<p>The distribution, as above, according to the evidence as it has come +down to us, is as unjust and absurd as the smallness of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.481" id="Page_ii.481">[ii.481]</a></span> amount, +and the long delay before it was ordered, are discreditable to the +province. One of the larger sums was allowed to William Good, while he +clearly deserved nothing, as he was an adverse witness in the +examination of his wife, and did what he could to promote the +prosecution against her. He did not, it is true, swear that he +believed her to be a witch; but what he said tended to prejudice the +magistrates and the public against her. Benjamin Putnam acted as his +attorney, and received the money for him. Good was a retainer and +dependant of that branch of the Putnam family; and its influence gave +him so large a proportionate amount, and not the reason or equity of +the case. More was allowed to Abigail Hobbs, a very malignant witness +against the prisoners, than to the families of several who were +executed. Nearly twice as much was allowed for Abigail Faulkner, who +was pardoned, as for Elizabeth How, who was executed. The sums allowed +in the cases of Parker, Carrier, and Foster, were shamefully small. +The public mind evidently was not satisfied; and the Legislature were +pressed for a half-century to make more adequate compensation, and +thereby vindicate the sentiment of justice, and redeem the honor of +the province.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of December, 1738, Major Samuel Sewall, a son of the Judge, +introduced an order in the House of Representatives for the +appointment of a committee to get information relating to "the +circumstances of the persons and families who suffered in the calamity +of the times in and about the year 1692." Major Sewall entered into +the matter with great zeal. The House unanimously passed the order. He +was chairman of the committee; and, on the 9th of December, wrote to +his cousin Mitchel Sewall in Salem, son of Stephen, earnestly +requesting him and John Higginson, Esq., to aid in accomplishing the +object. The following is an extract from a speech delivered by +Governor Belcher to both Houses of the Legislature, Nov. 22, 1740. It +is honorable to his memory.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Legislature have often honored themselves in a kind and +generous remembrance of such families and of the posterity +of such as have been sufferers, either in their persons or +estates, for or by the Government, of which the public +records will give you many instances. I should therefore be +glad there might be a committee appointed by this Court to +inquire into the sufferings of the people called Quakers, in +the early days of this country, as also into the descendants +of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.482" id="Page_ii.482">[ii.482]</a></span> families as were in a manner ruined in the mistaken +management of the terrible affair called witchcraft. I +really think there is something incumbent on this Government +to be done for relieving the estates and reputations of the +posterities of the unhappy families that so suffered; and +the doing it, though so long afterwards, would doubtless be +acceptable to Almighty God, and would reflect honor upon the +present Legislature."</p></div> + +<p>On the 31st of May, 1749, the heirs of George Burroughs addressed a +petition to Governor Shirley and the General Court, setting forth "the +unparalleled persecutions and sufferings" of their ancestor, and +praying for "some recompense from this Court for the losses thereby +sustained by his family." It was referred to a committee of both +Houses. The next year, the petitioners sent a memorial to Governor +Spencer Phips and the General Court, stating, that "it hath fell out, +that the Hon. Mr. Danforth, chairman of the said committee, had not, +as yet, called them together so much as once to act thereon, even to +this day, as some of the honorable committee themselves were pleased, +with real concern, to signify to your said petitioners." The House +immediately passed this order: "That the committee within referred to +be directed to sit forthwith, consider the petition to them committed, +and report as soon as may be."</p> + +<p>All that I have been able to find, as the result of these long-delayed +and long-protracted movements, is a statement of Dr. Bentley, that the +heirs of Philip English received two hundred pounds. He does not say +when the act to this effect was passed. Perhaps some general measure +of the kind was adopted, the record of which I have failed to meet. +The engrossing interest of the then pending French war, and of the +vehement dissensions that led to the Revolution, probably prevented +any further attention to this subject, after the middle of the last +century.</p> + +<p>It is apparent from the foregoing statements and records, that while +many individuals, the people generally, and finally Governor Belcher +and the House of Representatives emphatically, did what they could, +there was an influence that prevailed to prevent for a long time, if +not for ever, any action of the province to satisfy the demands made +by justice and the honor of the country in repairing the great wrongs +committed by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the +Government in 1692. The only bodies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.483" id="Page_ii.483">[ii.483]</a></span> of men who fully came up to their +duty on the occasion were the clergy of the county, and, as will +appear, the church at Salem Village.</p> + +<p>What was done by the First Church in Salem is shown in the following +extract from its records:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"March 2, 1712.—After the sacrament, a church-meeting was +appointed to be at the teacher's house, at two of the clock +in the afternoon, on the sixth of the month, being Thursday: +on which day they accordingly met to consider of the several +following particulars propounded to them by the teacher; +viz.:—</p> + +<p>"1. Whether the record of the excommunication of our Sister +Nurse (all things considered) may not be erased and blotted +out. The result of which consideration was, That whereas, on +July 3d, 1692, it was proposed by the Elders, and consented +to by an unanimous vote of the church, that our Sister Nurse +should be excommunicated, she being convicted of witchcraft +by the Court, and she was accordingly excommunicated, since +which the General Court having taken off the attainder, and +the testimony on which she was convicted being not now so +satisfactory to ourselves and others as it was generally in +that hour of darkness and temptation; and we being solicited +by her son, Mr. Samuel Nurse, to erase and blot out of the +church records the sentence of her excommunication,—this +church, having the matter proposed to them by the teacher, +and having seriously considered it, doth consent that the +record of our Sister Nurse's excommunication be accordingly +erased and blotted out, that it may no longer be a reproach +to her memory, and an occasion of grief to her children. +Humbly requesting that the merciful God would pardon +whatsoever sin, error, or mistake was in the application of +that censure and of that whole affair, through our merciful +High-priest, who knoweth how to have compassion on the +ignorant, and those that are out of the way.</p> + +<p>"2. It was proposed whether the sentence of excommunication +against our Brother Giles Corey (all things considered) may +not be erased and blotted out. The result was, That whereas, +on Sept. 18, 1692, it was considered by the church, that our +Brother Giles Corey stood accused of and indicted for the +sin of witchcraft, and that he had obstinately refused to +plead, and so threw himself on certain death. It was agreed +by the vote of the church, that he should be excommunicated +for it; and accordingly he was excommunicated. Yet the +church, having now testimony in his behalf, that, before his +death, he did bitterly repent of his obstinate refusal to +plead in defence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.484" id="Page_ii.484">[ii.484]</a></span> of his life, do consent that the sentence +of his excommunication be erased and blotted out."</p></div> + +<p>It will be noticed that these proceedings were not had at a regular +public meeting, but at a private meeting of the church, on a week-day +afternoon, at the teacher's house. The motives that led to them were a +disposition to comply with the act of the General Court, and the +solicitations of Mr. Samuel Nurse, rather than a profound sense of +wrong done to a venerable member of their own body, who had claims +upon their protection as such. The language of the record does not +frankly admit absolutely that there was sin, error, or mistake, but +requests forgiveness for whatsoever there may have been. The character +of Rebecca Nurse, and the outrageous treatment she had received from +that church, in the method arranged for her excommunication, demanded +something more than these hypothetical expressions, with such a +preamble.</p> + +<p>The statement made in the vote about Corey is, on its face, a +misrepresentation. From the nature of the proceeding by which he was +destroyed, it was in his power, at any moment, if he "repented of his +obstinate refusal to plead," by saying so, to be instantly released +from the pressure that was crushing him. The only design of the +torture was to make him bring it to an end by "answering" guilty, or +not guilty. Somebody fabricated the slander that Corey's resolution +broke down under his agonies, and that he bitterly repented; and Mr. +Noyes put the foolish scandal upon the records of the church.</p> + +<p>The date of this transaction is disreputable to the people of Salem. +Twenty years had been suffered to elapse, and a great outrage allowed +to remain unacknowledged and unrepented. The credit of doing what was +done at last probably belongs to the Rev. George Corwin. His call to +the ministry, as colleague with Mr. Noyes, had just been consummated. +The introduction of a new minister heralded a new policy, and the +proceedings have the appearance of growing out of the kindly and +auspicious feelings which generally attend and welcome such an era.</p> + +<p>The Rev. George, son of Jonathan Corwin, was born May 21, 1683, and +graduated at Harvard College in 1701. Mr. Barnard, of Marblehead, +describes his character: "The spirit of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.485" id="Page_ii.485">[ii.485]</a></span> early devotion, accompanied +with a natural freedom of thought and easy elocution, a quick +invention, a solid judgment, and a tenacious memory, laid the +foundation of a good preacher; to which his acquired literature, his +great reading, hard studies, deep meditation, and close walk with God, +rendered him an able and faithful minister of the New Testament." The +records of the First Church, in noticing his death, thus speak of him: +"He was highly esteemed in his life, and very deservedly lamented at +his death; having been very eminent for his early improvement in +learning and piety, his singular abilities and great labors, his +remarkable zeal and faithfulness. He was a great benefactor to our +poor." Those bearing the name of Curwen among us are his descendants. +He died Nov. 23, 1717.</p> + +<p>The Rev. Nicholas Noyes died Dec. 13, 1717. He was a person of +superior talents and learning. He published, with the sermon preached +by Cotton Mather on the occasion, a poem on the death of his venerable +colleague, Mr. Higginson, in 1708; and also a poem on the death of +Rev. Joseph Green, in 1715. Although an amiable and benevolent man in +other respects, it cannot be denied that he was misled by his errors +and his temperament into the most violent course in the witchcraft +prosecutions; and it is to be feared that his feelings were never +wholly rectified in reference to that transaction.</p> + +<p>Jonathan, the father of the Rev. George Corwin, and whose part as a +magistrate and judge in the examinations and trials of 1692 has been +seen, died on the 9th of July, 1718, seventy-eight years of age.</p> + +<p>It only remains to record the course of the village church and people +in reference to the events of 1692. After six persons, including +Rebecca Nurse, had suffered death; and while five others, George +Burroughs, John Procter, John Willard, George Jacobs, and Martha +Carrier, were awaiting their execution, which was to take place on the +coming Friday, Aug. 19,—the facts, related as follows by Mr. Parris +in his record-book, occurred:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sabbath-day, 14th August, 1692.—The church was stayed +after the congregation was dismissed, and the pastor spake +to the church after this manner:—</p> + +<p>"'Brethren, you may all have taken notice, that, several +sacrament days past, our brother Peter Cloyse, and Samuel +Nurse and his wife,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.486" id="Page_ii.486">[ii.486]</a></span> and John Tarbell and his wife, have +absented from communion with us at the Lord's Table, yea, +have very rarely, except our brother Samuel Nurse, been with +us in common public worship: now, it is needful that the +church send some persons to them to know the reason of their +absence. Therefore, if you be so minded, express +yourselves.'</p> + +<p>"None objected. But a general or universal vote, after some +discourse, passed, that Brother Nathaniel Putnam and the two +deacons should join with the pastor to discourse with the +said absenters about it.</p> + +<p>"31st August.—Brother Tarbell proves sick, unmeet for +discourse; Brother Cloyse hard to be found at home, being +often with his wife in prison at Ipswich for witchcraft; and +Brother Nurse, and sometimes his wife, attends our public +meeting, and he the sacrament, 11th September, 1692: upon +all which we choose to wait further."</p></div> + +<p>When it is remembered that the individuals aimed at all belonged to +the family of Rebecca Nurse, whose execution had taken place three +weeks before under circumstances with which Mr. Parris had been so +prominently and responsibly connected, this proceeding must be felt by +every person of ordinary human sensibilities to have been cruel, +barbarous, and unnatural. Parris made the entry in his book, as he +often did, some time after the transaction, as the inserted date of +Sept. 11, shows. What his object was in commencing disciplinary +treatment of this distressed family is not certain. It may be that he +was preparing to get up such a feeling against them as would make it +safe to have the "afflicted" cry out upon some of them. Or it may be +that he wished to get them out of his church, to avoid the possibility +of their proceeding against him, by ecclesiastical methods, at some +future day. He could not, however, bring his church to continue the +process. This is the first indication that the brethren were no longer +to be relied on by him to go all lengths, and that some remnants of +good feeling and good sense were to be found among them.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Parris was determined not to allow the public feeling against +persons charged with witchcraft to subside, if he could help it; and +he made one more effort to renew the vehemence of the prosecutions. He +prepared and preached two sermons, on the 11th of September, from the +text, Rev. xvii. 14: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb +shall overcome them: for he is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.487" id="Page_ii.487">[ii.487]</a></span> Lord of lords, and King of kings; and +they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful." They are +entitled, "The Devil and his instruments will be warring against +Christ and his followers." This note is added, "After the condemnation +of six witches at a court at Salem, one of the witches, viz., Martha +Corey, in full communion with our church." The following is a portion +of "the improvement" in the application of these discourses:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It may serve to reprove such as seem to be so amazed at the +war the Devil has raised amongst us by wizards and witches, +against the Lamb and his followers, that they altogether +deny it. If ever there were witches, men and women in +covenant with the Devil, here are multitudes in New England. +Nor is it so strange a thing that there should be such; no, +nor that some church-members should be such. Pious Bishop +Hall saith, 'The Devil's prevalency in this age is most +clear in the marvellous number of witches abounding in all +places. Now hundreds (says he) are discovered in one shire; +and, if fame deceive us not, in a village of fourteen houses +in the north are found so many of this damned brood. +Heretofore, only barbarous deserts had them; but now the +civilized and religious parts are frequently pestered with +them. Heretofore, some silly, ignorant old woman, &c.; but +now we have known those of both sexes who professed much +knowledge, holiness, and devotion, drawn into this damnable +practice.'"</p></div> + +<p>The foregoing extract is important as showing that some persons at the +village had begun to express their disbelief of the witchcraft +doctrine of Mr. Parris, "altogether denying it." The title and drift +of the sermons in connection with the date, and his proceedings, the +month before, against Samuel Nurse, Tarbell, and Cloyse, members of +his church, give color to the idea that he was designing to have them +"cried out" against, and thus disposed of. It is a noticeable fact, +that, about this time, Cotton Mather was also laying his plans for a +renewal, or rather continuance, of witchcraft prosecutions. Nine days +after these sermons were preached by Parris, Mather wrote the +following letter to Stephen Sewall of Salem:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Boston</span>, Sept. 20, 1692.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear and my very obliging Stephen</span>,—It is my hap +to be continually ... with all sorts of objections, and +objectors against the ... work now doing at Salem; and it is +my further good hap to do some little service for God and +you in my encounters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.488" id="Page_ii.488">[ii.488]</a></span></p> + +<p>But that I may be the more capable to assist in lifting up a +standard against the infernal enemy, I must renew my most +importunate request, that you would please quickly to +perform what you kindly promised, of giving me a narrative +of the evidences given in at the trials of half a dozen, or +if you please a dozen, of the principal witches that have +been condemned. I know 'twill cost you some time; but, when +you are sensible of the benefit that will follow, I know you +will not think much of that cost; and my own willingness to +expose myself unto the utmost for the defence of my friends +with you makes me presume to plead something of merit to be +considered.</p> + +<p>I shall be content, if you draw up the desired narrative by +way of letter to me; or, at least, let it not come without a +letter, wherein you shall, if you can, intimate over again +what you have sometimes told me of the awe which is upon the +hearts of your juries, with ... unto the validity of the +spectral evidences.</p> + +<p>Please also to ... some of your observations about the +confessors and the credibility of what they assert, or about +things evidently preternatural in the witchcrafts, and +whatever else you may account an entertainment, for an +inquisitive person, that entirely loves you and <i>Salem</i>. +Nay, though I will never lay aside the character which I +mentioned in my last words, yet I am willing, that, when you +write, you should imagine me as obstinate a Sadducee and +witch-advocate as any among us: address me as one that +believed nothing reasonable; and when you have so knocked me +down, in a spectre so unlike me, you will enable me to box +it about among my neighbors, till it come—I know not where +at last.</p> + +<p>But assure yourself, as I shall not wittingly make what you +write prejudicial to any worthy design which those two +excellent persons, Mr. Hale and Mr. Noyse, may have in hand; +so you shall find that I shall be, sir, your grateful +friend,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">C. Mather</span>.</p> + +<p>P.S.—That which very much strengthens the charms of the +request which this letter makes you is, that His Excellency +the Governor laid his positive commands upon me to desire +this favor of you; and the truth is, there are some of his +circumstances with reference to this affair, which I need +not mention, that call for the expediting of your +kindness,—<i>kindness</i>, I say, for such it will be esteemed +as well by him as by your servant,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">C. Mather</span>.</p></div> + +<p>In order to understand the character and aim of this letter, it will +be necessary to consider its date. It was written Sept. 20, 1692. On +the 19th of August, but one month before, Dr. Mather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.489" id="Page_ii.489">[ii.489]</a></span> was acting a +conspicuous part under the gallows at Witch-hill, at the execution of +Mr. Burroughs and four others, increasing the power of the awful +delusion, and inflaming the passions of the people. On the 9th of +September, six more miserable creatures received sentence of death. On +the 17th of September, nine more received sentence of death. On the +19th of September, Giles Corey was crushed to death. And, on the 22d +of September, eight were executed. These were the last that suffered +death. The letter, therefore, was written while the horrors of the +transaction were at their height, and by a person who had himself been +a witness of them, and whose "good hap" it had been to "do some little +service" in promoting them. The object of the writer is declared to +be, that he might be "more capable to assist in lifting up a standard +against the infernal enemy." The literal meaning of this expression +is, that he might be enabled to get up another witchcraft delusion +under his own special management and control. Can any thing be +imagined more artful and dishonest than the plan he had contrived to +keep himself out of sight in all the operations necessary to +accomplish his purpose? "Nay, though I will never lay aside the +character which I mentioned in my last words, yet I am willing, that, +when you write, you should imagine me as obstinate a Sadducee and +witch-advocate as any among us: address me as one that believed +nothing reasonable; and when you have so knocked me down, in a spectre +so unlike me, you will enable me to box it about among my neighbors, +till it come—I know not where at last."</p> + +<p>Upon obtaining the document requisite to the fulfilment of his design, +he did "box it about" so effectually among his neighbors, that he +succeeded that next summer in getting up a wonderful case of +witchcraft, in the person of one Margaret Rule, a member of his +congregation in Boston. Dr. Mather published an account of her +long-continued fastings, even unto the ninth day, and of the +incredible sufferings she endured from the "infernal enemy." "She was +thrown," says he, "into such exorbitant convulsions as were +astonishing to the spectators in general. They that could behold the +doleful condition of the poor family without sensible compassions +might have entrails, indeed, but I am sure they could have no true +bowels in them." So far was he successful in spreading the delusion, +that he prevailed upon six men to testify<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.490" id="Page_ii.490">[ii.490]</a></span> that they had seen Margaret +Rule lifted bodily from her bed, and raised by an invisible power "so +as to touch the garret floor;" that she was entirely removed from the +bed or any other material support; that she continued suspended for +several minutes; and that a strong man, assisted by several other +persons, could not effectually resist the mysterious force that lifted +her up, and poised her aloft in the air! The people of Boston were +saved from the horrors intended to be brought upon them by this dark +and deep-laid plot, by the activity, courage, and discernment of Calef +and others, who distrusted Dr. Mather, and, by watching his movements, +exposed the imposture, and overthrew the whole design.</p> + +<p>Mr. Parris does not appear to have produced much effect by his +sermons. The people had suffered enough from the "war between the +Devil and the Lamb," as he and Mather had conducted it; and it could +not be renewed.</p> + +<p>Immediately upon the termination of the witchcraft proceedings, the +controversy between Mr. Parris and the congregation, or the +inhabitants, as they were called, of the village, was renewed, with +earnest resolution on their part to get rid of him. The parish +neglected and refused to raise the means for paying his salary; and a +majority of the voters, in the meetings of the "inhabitants," +vigilantly resisted all attempts in his favor. The church was still +completely under his influence; and, as has been stated in the +<a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First +Part</a>, he made use of that body to institute a suit against the people. +The court and magistrates were wholly in his favor, and peremptorily +ordered the appointment, by the people, of a new committee. The +inhabitants complied with the order by the election of a new +committee, but took care to have it composed exclusively of men +opposed to Mr. Parris; and he found himself no better off than before. +He concluded not to employ his church any longer as a principal agent +in his lawsuit against the parish; but used it for another purpose.</p> + +<p>After the explosion of the witchcraft delusion, the relations of +parties became entirely changed. The prosecutors at the trials were +put on the defensive, and felt themselves in peril. Parris saw his +danger, and, with characteristic courage and fertility of resources, +prepared to defend himself, and carry the war upon any quarter from +which an attack might be apprehended. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.491" id="Page_ii.491">[ii.491]</a></span> continued, on his own +responsibility, to prosecute, in court, his suit against the parish, +and in his usual trenchant style. As the law then was, a minister, in +a controversy with his parish, had a secure advantage, and absolutely +commanded the situation, if his church were with him. From the time of +his settlement, Parris had shaped his policy on this basis. He had +sought to make his church an impregnable fortress against his +opponents. But, to be impregnable, it was necessary that there should +be no enemies within it. A few disaffected brethren could at any time +demand, and have a claim to, a mutual council; and Mr. Parris knew, +that, before the investigations of such a council, his actions in the +witchcraft prosecutions could not stand. This perhaps suggested his +movements, in August, 1692, against Samuel Nurse, John Tarbell, and +Peter Cloyse. He did not at that time succeed in getting rid of them; +and they remained in the church, and, with the exception of Cloyse, in +the village. They might at any time take the steps that would lead to +a mutual council; and Mr. Parris was determined, at all events, to +prevent that. It was evident that the members of that family would +insist upon satisfaction being given them, in and through the church, +for the wrongs he had done them. Although, in the absence of Cloyse, +but two in number, there was danger that sympathy for them might reach +others of the brethren. Thomas Wilkins, a member in good standing, son +of old Bray Wilkins, and a connection of John Willard, an intelligent +and resolute man, had already joined them. Parris felt that others +might follow, and that whatever could be done to counteract them must +be done quickly. He accordingly initiated proceedings in his church to +rid himself of them, if not by excommunication, at least by getting +them under discipline, so as to prevent the possibility of their +dealing with him.</p> + +<p>This led to one of the most remarkable passages of the kind in the +annals of the New-England churches. It is narrated in detail by Mr. +Parris, in his church record-book. It would not be easy to find +anywhere an example of greater skill, wariness, or ability in a +conflict of this sort. On the one side is Mr. Parris, backed by his +church and the magistrates, and aided, it is probable, by Mr. Noyes; +on the other, three husbandmen. They had no known backers or advisers; +and, at frequent stages of the fencing match, had to parry or strike, +without time to consult any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.492" id="Page_ii.492">[ii.492]</a></span> one. Mr. Parris was ingenious, quick, a +great strategist, and not over-scrupulous as to the use of his +weapons. Nurse, Tarbell, and Wilkins were cautious, cool, steady, and +persistent. Of course, they were wholly inexperienced in such things, +and liable to make wrong moves, or to be driven or drawn to untenable +ground. But they will not be found, I think, to have taken a false +step from beginning to end. Their line of action was extremely narrow. +It was necessary to avoid all personalities, and every appearance of +passion or excitement; to make no charge against Mr. Parris that could +touch the church, as such, or reflect upon the courts, magistrates, or +any others that had taken part in the prosecutions. It was necessary +to avoid putting any thing into writing, with their names attached, +which could in any way be tortured into a libel. Parris lets fall +expressions which show that he was on the watch for something of the +kind to seize upon, to transfer the movement from the church to the +courts. Entirely unaccustomed to public speaking, these three farmers +had to meet assemblages composed of their opponents, and much wrought +up against them; to make statements, and respond to interrogatories +and propositions, the full and ultimate bearing of which was not +always apparent: any unguarded expression might be fatal to their +cause. Their safety depended upon using the right word at the right +time and in the right manner, and in withholding the statement of +their grievances, in adequate force of language, until they were under +the shelter of a council. If, during the long-protracted conferences +and communications, they had tripped at any point, allowed a phrase or +syllable to escape which might be made the ground of discipline or +censure, all would be lost; for Parris could not be reached but +through a council, and a council could not even be asked for except by +brethren in full and clear standing. It was often attempted to ensnare +them into making charges against the church; but they kept their eye +on Parris, and, as they told him more than once in the presence of the +whole body of the people, on him alone. Limited as the ground was on +which they could stand, they held it steadfastly, and finally drove +him from his stronghold.</p> + +<p>On the first movement of Mr. Parris offensively upon them, they +commenced their movement upon him. The method by which alone they +could proceed, according to ecclesiastical law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.493" id="Page_ii.493">[ii.493]</a></span> and the platform of +the churches, was precisely as it was understood to be laid down in +Matt. xviii. 15-17. Following these directions, Samuel Nurse first +called alone upon Mr. Parris, and privately made known his grievances. +Parris gave him no satisfaction. Then, after a due interval, Nurse, +Tarbell, and Wilkins called upon him together. He refused to see them +together, but one at a time was allowed to go up into his study. +Tarbell and Nurse each spent an hour or more with him, leaving no time +for Wilkins. In these interviews, he not only failed to give +satisfaction, but, according to his own account, treated them in the +coolest and most unfeeling manner, not allowing himself to utter a +soothing word, but actually reiterating his belief of the guilt of +their mother; telling them, as he says, "that he had not seen +sufficient grounds to vary his opinion." Cloyse came soon after to the +village, and had an interview with him for the same purpose. Parris +saw them one only at a time, in order to preclude their taking the +second step required by the gospel rule; that is, to have a brother of +the church with them as a witness. He also took the ground that they +could not be witnesses for each other, but that he should treat them +all as only one person in the transaction. A sense of the injustice of +his conduct, or some other consideration, led William Way, another of +the brethren, to go with them as a witness. Nurse, Tarbell, Wilkins, +Cloyse, and Way went to his house together. He said that the four +first were but one person in the case; but admitted that Way was a +distinct person, a brother of accredited standing, and a witness. He +escaped, however, under the subterfuge that the gospel rule required +"two or <i>three</i> witnesses." In this way, the matter stood for some +time; Parris saying that they had not complied with the conditions in +Matt. xviii., and they maintaining that they had.</p> + +<p>The course of Parris was fast diminishing his hold upon the public +confidence. It was plain that the disaffected brethren had done what +they could, in an orderly way, to procure a council. At length, the +leading clergymen here and in Boston, whose minds were open to reason, +thought it their duty to interpose their advice. They wrote to Parris, +that he and his church ought to consent to a council. They wrote a +second time in stronger terms. Not daring to quarrel with so large a +portion of the clergy, Parris pretended to comply with their advice, +but demanded a majority of the coun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.494" id="Page_ii.494">[ii.494]</a></span>cil to be chosen by him and his +church. The disaffected brethren insisted upon a fair, mutual council; +each party to have three ministers, with their delegates, in it. To +this, Parris had finally to agree. The dissatisfied brethren named, as +one of their three, a church at Ipswich. Parris objected to the +Ipswich church. The dissenting brethren insisted that each side should +be free to select its respective three churches. Parris was not +willing to have Ipswich in the council. The other party insisted, and +here the matter hung suspended. The truth is, that the disaffected +brethren were resolved to have the Rev. John Wise in the council. They +knew Cotton Mather would be there, on the side of Parris; and they +knew that John Wise was the man to meet him. The public opinion +settled down in favor of the dissatisfied brethren, on the ground that +each party to a mutual council ought to—and, to make it really +mutual, must—have free and full power to nominate the churches to be +called by it. Parris, being afraid to have a mutual council, and +particularly if Mr. Wise was in it, suddenly took a new position. He +and his church called an <i>ex parte</i> council, at which the following +ministers, with their delegates, were present: Samuel Checkley of the +New South Church, James Allen of the First Church, Samuel Willard of +the Old South, Increase and Cotton Mather of the North Church,—all of +Boston; Samuel Torrey of Weymouth; Samuel Phillips of Rowley, and +Edward Payson, also of Rowley. Among the delegates were many of the +leading public men of the province. The result was essentially +damaging to Mr. Parris. The tide was now strongly set against him. The +Boston ministers advised him to withdraw from the contest. They +provided a settlement for him in Connecticut, and urged him to quit +the village, and go there. But he refused, and prolonged the struggle. +In the course of it, papers were drawn up and signed, one by his +friends, another by his opponents, together embracing nearly all the +men and women of the village. Those who did not sign either paper were +understood to sympathize with the disaffected brethren. Many who +signed the paper favorable to him acted undoubtedly from the motive +stated in the heading; viz., that the removal of Mr. Parris could do +no good, "for we have had three ministers removed already, and by +every removal our differences have been rather aggravated." Another +removal, they thought, would utterly ruin them. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.495" id="Page_ii.495">[ii.495]</a></span> do not express +any particular interest in Mr. Parris, but merely dread another +change. They preferred to bear the ills they had, rather than fly to +others that they knew not of. It is a very significant fact, that +neither Mrs. Ann Putnam nor the widow Sarah Houlton signed either +paper (the Sarah Houlton whose name appears was the wife of Joseph +Houlton, Sr.). There is reason to believe that they regretted the part +they had taken, particularly against Rebecca Nurse, and probably did +not feel over favorably to the person who had led them into their +dreadful responsibility.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the controversy continued to wax warm among the +people. Mr. Parris was determined to hold his place, and, with it, the +parsonage and ministry lands. The opposition was active, unappeasable, +and effective. The following paper, handed about, illustrates the +methods by which they assailed him:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As to the contest between Mr. Parris and his hearers, &c., +it may be composed by a satisfactory answer to Lev. xx. 6: +'And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar +spirits, and after wizards, to go a-whoring after them, I +will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off +from among his people.' 1 Chron. x. 13, 14: 'So Saul died +for his transgression which he committed against the +Lord,—even against the word of the Lord, which he kept +not,—and also for asking counsel of one who had a familiar +to inquire of it, and inquired not of the Lord: therefore he +slew him,'" &c.</p></div> + +<p>Mr. Parris mirrored, or rather daguerrotyped, his inmost thoughts upon +the page of his church record-book. Whatever feeling happened to +exercise his spirit, found expression there. This gives it a truly +rare and singular interest. Among a variety of scraps variegating the +record, and thrown in with other notices of deaths, he has the +following:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"1694, Oct. 27.—Ruth, daughter to Job Swinnerton (died), +and buried the 28th instant, being the Lord's Day; and the +corpse carried by the meeting-house door in time of singing +before meeting afternoon, and more at the funeral than at +the sermon."</p></div> + +<p>This illustrates the state of things. The Swinnerton family were all +along opposed to Mr. Parris, and kept remarkably clear from the +witchcraft delusion. Originally, it was not customary to have prayers +at funerals. At any rate, all that Mr. Parris had to do on the +occasion was to witness and record the fact, which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.496" id="Page_ii.496">[ii.496]</a></span> indites in the +pithy manner in which he often relieves his mind, that more people +went to the distant burial-ground than came to hear him preach. The +procession was made up of his opponents; the congregation, of his +friends. At last, Captain John Putnam proposed that each party should +choose an equal number from themselves to decide the controversy; and +that Major Bartholomew Gedney, from the town, should be invited to act +as moderator of the joint meeting. Both sides agreed, and appointed +their representatives. Major Gedney consented to preside. But this +movement came to nothing, probably owing to the refractoriness of Mr. +Parris; for, from that moment, he had no supporters. The church ceased +to act: its members were merged in the meeting of the inhabitants. +There was no longer any division among them. The party that had acted +as friends of Mr. Parris united thenceforward with his opponents to +defend the parish in the suit he had brought against it in the courts. +The controversy was quite protracted. The Court was determined to +uphold him, and expressed its prejudice against the parish, sometimes +with considerable severity of manner and action.<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.497" id="Page_ii.497">[ii.497]</a></span></p> +<p>The parish heeded not the frowns of the Court, but persisted +inexorably in its purpose to get rid of Mr. Parris. After an obstinate +contest, it prevailed. In the last stage of the controversy, it +appointed four men, as its agents or attorneys, whose names indicate +the spirit in which it acted,—John Tarbell, Samuel Nurse, Daniel +Andrew, and Joseph Putnam. His dauntless son did not follow the wolf +through the deep and dark recesses of his den with a more determined +resolution than that with which Joseph Putnam pursued Samuel Parris +through the windings of the law, until he ferreted him out, and rid +the village of him for ever.</p> + +<p>Finally, the inferior court of Common Pleas, before which Mr. Parris +had carried the case, ordered that the matters in controversy between +him and the inhabitants of Salem Village should be referred to +arbitrators for decision. The following statement was laid before them +by the persons representing the inhabitants:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center"><i>"To the Honorable Wait Winthrop, Elisha Cook, and Samuel +Sewall, Esquires, Arbitrators, indifferently chosen, between +Mr. Samuel Parris and the Inhabitants of Salem Village.</i></p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><i>"The Remonstrances of several Aggrieved Persons in the said +Village, with further Reasons why they conceive they ought +not to hear Mr. Parris, nor to own him as a Minister of the +Gospel, nor to contribute any Support to him as such for +several years past, humbly offered as fit for +consideration.</i></p> + +<p>"We humbly conceive that, having, in April, 1693, given our +reasons why we could not join with Mr. Parris in prayer, +preaching, or sacrament, if these reasons are found +sufficient for our withdrawing (and we cannot yet find but +they are), then we conceive ourselves virtually discharged, +not only in conscience, but also in law, which re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.498" id="Page_ii.498">[ii.498]</a></span>quires +maintenance to be given to such as are orthodox and +blameless; the said Mr. Parris having been teaching such +dangerous errors, and preached such scandalous immoralities, +as ought to discharge any (though ever so gifted otherways) +from the work of the ministry, particularly in his oath +against the lives of several, wherein he swears that the +prisoners with their looks knock down those pretended +sufferers. We humbly conceive that he that swears to more +than he is certain of, is equally guilty of perjury with him +that swears to what is false. And though they did fall at +such a time, yet it could not be known that they did it, +much less could they be certain of it; yet did swear +positively against the lives of such as he could not have +any knowledge but they might be innocent.</p> + +<p>"His believing the Devil's accusations, and readily +departing from all charity to persons, though of blameless +and godly lives, upon such suggestions; his promoting such +accusations; as also his partiality therein in stifling the +accusations of some, and, at the same time, vigilantly +promoting others,—as we conceive, are just causes for our +refusal, &c.</p> + +<p>"That Mr. Parris's going to Mary Walcot or Abigail Williams, +and directing others to them, to know who afflicted the +people in their illnesses,—we understand this to be a +dealing with them that have a familiar spirit, and an +implicit denying the providence of God, who alone, as we +believe, can send afflictions, or cause devils to afflict +any: this we also conceive sufficient to justify such +refusal.</p> + +<p>"That Mr. Parris, by these practices and principles, has +been the beginner and procurer of the sorest afflictions, +not to this village only, but to this whole country, that +did ever befall them.</p> + +<p>"We, the subscribers, in behalf of ourselves, and of several +others of the same mind with us (touching these things), +having some of us had our relations by these practices taken +off by an untimely death; others have been imprisoned and +suffered in our persons, reputations, and estates,—submit +the whole to your honors' decision, to determine whether we +are or ought to be any ways obliged to honor, respect, and +support such an instrument of our miseries; praying God to +guide your honors to act herein as may be for his glory, and +the future settlement of our village in amity and unity.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">John Tarbell</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Nurse</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Joseph Putnam</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Daniel Andrew</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><i>Attorneys for the people of the Village</i>.</p> + +<p>Boston, July 21, 1697."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.499" id="Page_ii.499">[ii.499]</a></span></p> + +<p>The arbitrators decided that the inhabitants should pay to Mr. Parris +a certain amount for arrearages, and also the sum of £79. 9<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> +for all his right and interest in the ministry house and land, and +that he be forthwith dismissed; and his ministerial relation to the +church and society in Salem Village dissolved. The parish raised the +money with great alacrity. Nathaniel Ingersoll, who had, as has been +stated, made him a present at his settlement of a valuable piece of +land adjoining the parsonage grounds, bought it back, paying him a +liberal price for it, fully equal to its value; and he left the place, +so far as appears, for ever.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of July, 1696, in the midst of his controversy with his +people, his wife died. She was an excellent woman; and was respected +and lamented by all. He caused a stone slab to be placed at the head +of her grave, with a suitable inscription, still plainly legible, +concluding with four lines, to which his initials are appended, +composed by him, of which this is one: "Farewell, best wife, choice +mother, neighbor, friend." Her ashes rest in what is called the +Wadsworth burial ground.</p> + +<p>Mr. Parris removed to Newton, then to Concord; and in November, 1697, +began to preach at Stow, on a salary of forty pounds, half in money +and half in provisions, &c. A grant from the general court was relied +upon from year to year to help to make up the twenty pounds to be paid +in money. Afterwards he preached at Dunstable, partly supported by a +grant from the general court, and finally in Sudbury, where he died, +Feb. 27, 1720. His daughter Elizabeth, who belonged, it will be +remembered, to the circle of "afflicted children" in 1692, then nine +years of age, in 1710 married Benjamin Barnes of Concord. Two other +daughters married in Sudbury. His son Noyes, who graduated at Harvard +College in 1721, became deranged, and was supported by the town. His +other son Samuel was long deacon of the church at Sudbury, and died +Nov. 22, 1792, aged ninety-one years.</p> + +<p>In the "Boston News Letter," No. 1433, July 15, 1731, is a notice, as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Any person or persons who knew Mr. Samuel Parris, formerly +of Barbadoes, afterwards of Boston in New England, merchant, +and after that minister of Salem Village, &c., deceased to +be a son of Thomas Parris of the island aforesaid, Esq. who +deceased 1673, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.500" id="Page_ii.500">[ii.500]</a></span> sole heir by will to all his estate in +said island, are desired to give or send notice thereof to +the printer of this paper; and it shall be for their +advantage."</p></div> + +<p>Whether the identity of Mr. Parris, of Salem Village, with the son of +Thomas Parris, of Barbadoes, was established, we have no information. +If it was, some relief may have come to his descendants. There is +every reason to believe, that, after leaving the village, he and his +family suffered from extremely limited means, if not from absolute +poverty. The general ill-repute brought upon him by his conduct in the +witchcraft prosecutions followed him to the last. He had forfeited the +sympathy of his clerical brethren by his obstinate refusal to take +their advice. They earnestly, over and over again, expostulated +against his prolonging the controversy with the people of Salem +Village, besought him to relinquish it, and promised him, if he would, +to provide an eligible settlement elsewhere. They actually did provide +one. But he rejected their counsels and persuasions, in expressions of +ill-concealed bitterness. So that, when he was finally driven away, +they felt under no obligations to befriend him; and with his eminent +abilities he eked out a precarious and inadequate maintenance for +himself and family, in feeble settlements in outskirt towns, during +the rest of his days.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to describe the character of this unfortunate man. +Just as is the condemnation which facts compel history to pronounce, I +have a feeling of relief in the thought, that, before the tribunal to +which he so long ago passed, the mercy we all shall need, which +comprehends all motives and allows for all infirmities, has been +extended to him, in its infinite wisdom and benignity.</p> + +<p>He was a man of uncommon abilities, of extraordinary vivacity and +activity of intellect. He does not appear to have been wilfully +malevolent; although somewhat reckless in a contest, he was not +deliberately untruthful; on the contrary, there is in his statements a +singular ingenuousness and fairness, seldom to be found in a partisan, +much more seldom in a principal. Although we get almost all we know of +the examinations of accused parties in the witchcraft proceedings, and +of his long contentions with his parish, from him, there is hardly any +ground to regret that the parties on the other side had no friends to +tell their story. A transparency<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.501" id="Page_ii.501">[ii.501]</a></span> of character, a sort of instinctive +incontinency of mind, which made him let out every thing, or a sort of +blindness which prevented his seeing the bearings of what was said and +done, make his reports the vehicles of the materials for the defence +of the very persons he was prosecuting. I know of no instance like it. +His style is lucid, graphic, lively, natural to the highest degree; +and whatever he describes, we see the whole, and, as it were, from all +points of view. Language flowed from his pen with a facility, +simplicity, expressiveness, and accuracy, not surpassed or often +equalled. He wrote as men talk, using colloquial expressions without +reserve, but always to the point. When we read, we hear him; +abbreviating names, and clipping words, as in the most familiar and +unguarded conversation. He was not hampered by fear of offending the +rules which some think necessary to dignify composition. In his +off-hand, free and easy, gossiping entries in the church-book, or in +his carefully prepared productions, like the "Meditations for Peace," +read before his church and the dissatisfied brethren, we have +specimens of plain good English, in its most translucent and effective +forms. Considering that his academic education was early broken off, +and many intermediate years were spent in commercial pursuits, his +learning and attainments are quite remarkable. The various troubles +and tragic mischiefs of his life, the terrible wrongs he inflicted on +others, and the retributions he brought upon himself, are traceable to +two or three peculiarities in his mental and moral organization.</p> + +<p>He had a passion for a scene, a ceremony, an excitement. He delighted +in the exercise of power, and rejoiced in conflicts or commotions, +from the exhilaration they occasioned, and the opportunity they gave +for the gratification of the activity of his nature. He pursued the +object of getting possession of the ministry house and land with such +desperate pertinacity, not, I think, from avaricious motives, but for +the sake of the power it would give him as a considerable landholder. +His love of form and public excitement led him to operate as he did +with his church. He kept it in continual action during the few years +of his ministry. He had at least seventy-five special meetings of that +body, without counting those which probably occurred without number, +but of which there is no record, during the six months of the +witchcraft period. Twice, the brethren gave out, wholly exhausted; and +the powers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.502" id="Page_ii.502">[ii.502]</a></span> of the church were, by vote, transferred to a special +committee, to act in its behalf, composed of persons who had time and +strength to spare. But Mr. Parris, never weary of excitement, would +have been delighted to preside over church-meetings, and to be a +participator in vehement proceedings, every day of his life. The more +noisy and heated the contention, the more he enjoyed it. During all +the transactions connected with the witchcraft prosecutions, he was +everywhere present, always wide awake, full of animation, if not +cheerfulness, and ready to take any part to carry them on. These +propensities and dispositions were fraught with danger, and prolific +of evil in his case, in consequence of what looks very much like a +total want in himself of many of the natural human sensibilities, and +an inability to apprehend them in others. Through all the horrors of +the witchcraft prosecutions, he never evinced the slightest +sensibility, and never seemed to be aware that anybody else had any. +It was not absolute cruelty, but the absence of what may be regarded +as a natural sense. It was not a positive wickedness, but a negative +defect. He seemed to be surprised that other people had sentiments, +and could not understand why Tarbell and Nurse felt so badly about the +execution of their mother. He told them to their faces, without +dreaming of giving them offence, that, while they thought she was +innocent, and he thought she was guilty and had been justly put to +death, it was a mere difference of opinion, as about an indifferent +matter. In his "Meditations for Peace," presented to these +dissatisfied brethren, for the purpose and with an earnest desire of +appeasing them, he tells them that the indulgence of such feelings at +all is a yielding to "temptation," being under "the clouds of human +weakness," and "a bewraying of remaining corruption." Indeed, the +theology of that day, it must be allowed, bore very hard upon even the +best and most sacred affections of our nature. The council, in their +Result, allude to the feelings of those whose parents, and other most +loved and honored relatives and connections, had been so cruelly torn +from them and put to death, as "infirmities discovered by them in such +an heart-breaking day," and bespeak for their grief and lamentations a +charitable construction. They ask the church, whose hands were red +with the blood of their innocent and dearest friends, not to pursue +them with "more critical and vigorous proceedings" in consequence of +their exhibiting these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.503" id="Page_ii.503">[ii.503]</a></span> natural sensibilities on the occasion, but "to +treat them with bowels of much compassion." These views had taken full +effect upon Mr. Parris, and obliterated from his breast all such +"infirmities." This is the only explanation or apology that can be +made for him.</p> + +<p>Of the history of Cotton Mather, subsequently to the witchcraft +prosecutions, and more or less in consequence of his agency in them, +it may be said that the residue of his life was doomed to +disappointment, and imbittered by reproach and defeat. The storm of +fanatical delusion, which he doubted not would carry him to the +heights of clerical and spiritual power, in America and everywhere, +had left him a wreck. His political aspirations, always one of his +strongest passions, were wholly blasted; and the great aim and crown +of his ambition, the Presidency of Harvard College, once and again and +for ever had eluded his grasp. I leave him to tell his story, and +reveal the state of his mind and heart in his own most free and full +expressions from his private diary for the year 1724.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"1. What has a gracious Lord helped me to do for the +<i>seafaring tribe</i>, in prayers for them, in sermons to them, +in books bestowed upon them, and in various projections and +endeavors to render the sailors a happy generation? And yet +there is not a man in the world so reviled, so slandered, so +cursed among sailors.</p> + +<p>"2. What has a gracious Lord helped me to do for the +instruction and salvation and comfort of the poor negroes? +And yet some, on purpose to affront me, call their negroes +by the name of COTTON MATHER, that so they may, with some +shadow of truth, assert crimes as committed by one of that +name, which the hearers take to be <i>Me</i>.</p> + +<p>"3. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the profit +and honor of the female sex, especially in publishing the +virtuous and laudable characters of holy women? And yet +where is the man whom the female sex have spit more of their +venom at? I have cause to question whether there are twice +ten in the town but what have, at some time or other, spoken +<i>basely</i> of me.</p> + +<p>"4. What has a gracious Lord given me to do, that I may be a +blessing to my relatives? I keep a catalogue of them, and +not a week passes me without some good devised for some or +other of them, till I have taken all of them under my +cognizance. And yet where is the man who has been so +tormented with such <i>monstrous</i> relatives? Job said, '<i>I am +a brother to dragons.</i>'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.504" id="Page_ii.504">[ii.504]</a></span></p> + +<p>"5. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the +vindication and reputation of the Scottish nation? And yet +no Englishman has been so vilified by the tongues and pens +of Scots as I have been.</p> + +<p>"6. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the good of +the country, in applications without number for it in all +its interests, besides publications of things useful to it +and for it? And yet there is no man whom the country so +loads with disrespect and calumnies and manifold expressions +of aversion.</p> + +<p>"7. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the +upholding of the government, and the strengthening of it, +and the bespeaking of regards unto it? And yet the +discountenance I have almost perpetually received from the +government! Yea, the indecencies and indignities which it +has multiplied upon me are such as no other man has been +treated with.</p> + +<p>"8. What has a gracious Lord given me to do, that the +<span class="smcap">College</span> may be owned for the bringing forth such as +are somewhat known in the world, and have read and wrote as +much as many have done in other places? And yet the College +for ever puts all possible marks of disesteem upon me. If I +were the greatest blockhead that ever came from it, or the +greatest blemish that ever came to it, they could not easily +show me more contempt than they do.</p> + +<p>"9. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the study of +<i>a profitable conversation</i>? For nearly fifty years +together, I have hardly ever gone into any company, or had +any coming to me, without some explicit contrivance to speak +something or other that they might be the wiser or the +better for. And yet my company is as little sought for, and +there is as little resort unto it, as any minister that I am +acquainted with.</p> + +<p>"10. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in <i>good +offices</i>, wherever I could find opportunities for the doing +of them? I for ever entertain them with alacrity. I have +offered pecuniary recompenses to such as would advise me of +them. And yet I see no man for whom all are so loth to do +good offices. Indeed I find some cordial friends, <i>but how +few</i>! Often have I said, What would I give if there were any +one man in the world to do for me what I am willing to do +for every man in the world!</p> + +<p>"11. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in the writing +of many books for the advancing of piety and the promoting +of his kingdom? There are, I suppose, more than three +hundred of them. And yet I have had more books written +against me, more pamphlets to traduce and reproach me and +belie me, than any man I know in the world.</p> + +<p>"12. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in a variety +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.505" id="Page_ii.505">[ii.505]</a></span> <i>services</i>? For many lustres of years, not a day has +passed me, without some devices, even written devices, to be +serviceable. And yet my sufferings! They seem to be (as in +reason they should be) more than my services. Everybody +points at me, and speaks of me as by far the most afflicted +minister in all New England. And many look on me as the +greatest sinner, because the greatest sufferer; and are +pretty arbitrary in their conjectures upon my punished +miscarriages."</p> + +<p>"<i>Diary, May 7, 1724.</i>—The sudden death of the unhappy man +who sustained the place of President in our College will +open a door for my doing singular services in the best of +interests. I do not know that the care of the College will +now be cast upon me, though I am told that it is what is +most generally wished for. If it should be, I shall be in +abundance of distress about it; but, if it should not, yet I +may do many things for the good of the College more quietly +and more hopefully than formerly.</p> + +<p>"<i>June 5.</i>—The College is in great hazard of dissipation +and grievous destruction and confusion. My advice to some +that have some influence on the public may be seasonable.</p> + +<p>"<i>July 1, 1724.</i>—This day being our <i>insipid, ill-contrived +anniversary</i>, which we call the <i>Commencement</i>, I chose to +spend it at home in supplications, partly on the behalf of +the College that it may not be foolishly thrown away, but +that God may bestow such a President upon it as may prove a +rich blessing unto it and unto all our churches."</p></div> + +<p>On the 18th of November, 1724, the corporation of Harvard College +elected the Rev. Benjamin Colman, pastor of the Brattle-street Church +in Boston, to the vacant presidential chair. He declined the +appointment. The question hung in suspense another six months. In +June, 1725, the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, pastor of the First Church in +Boston, was elected, accepted the office, and held it to his death, on +the 16th of March, 1737. It may easily be imagined how keenly these +repeated slights were felt by Cotton Mather. He died on the 13th of +February, 1728.</p> + +<p>From the early part of the spring of 1695, when the abortive attempt +to settle the difficulty between Mr. Parris and the people of the +village, by the umpirage of Major Gedney, was made, it evidently +became the settled purpose of the leading men, on both sides, to +restore harmony to the place. On all committees, persons who had been +prominent in opposition to each other were joined together, that, thus +co-operating, they might become reconciled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.506" id="Page_ii.506">[ii.506]</a></span> This is strikingly +illustrated in the "seating of the meeting-house," as it was called. +In 1699, in a seat accommodating three persons, John Putnam the son of +Nathaniel, and John Tarbell, were two of the three. Another seat for +three was occupied by James and John Putnam, sons of John, and by +Thomas Wilkins. Thomas Putnam and Samuel Nurse were placed in the same +seat; and so were the wives of Thomas Putnam and Samuel Nurse, and the +widow Sarah Houlton. The widow Preston, daughter of Rebecca Nurse, was +seated with the widow Walcot, mother of Mary, one of the accusing +girls.</p> + +<p>We see in this the effect of the wise and decisive course adopted by +Mr. Parris's successor, the Rev. Joseph Green. Immediately upon his +ordination, Nov. 10, 1698, he addressed himself in earnest to the work +of reconciliation in that distracted parish. From the date of its +existence, nearly thirty years before, it had been torn by constant +strife. It had just passed through scenes which had brought all hearts +into the most terrible alienation. A man of less faith would not have +believed it possible, that the horrors and outrages of those scenes +could ever be forgotten, forgiven, or atoned for, by those who had +suffered or committed the wrongs. But he knew the infinite power of +the divine love, which, as a minister of Christ, it was his office to +inspire and diffuse. He knew that, with the blessing of God, that +people, who had from the first been devouring each other, and upon +whose garments the stain of the blood of brethren and sisters was +fresh, might be made "kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving +one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven" them. In +this heroic and Christ-like faith, he entered upon and steadfastly +adhered to his divine work. He pursued it with patience, wisdom, and +courageous energy. No ministry in the whole history of the New-England +churches has had a more difficult task put upon it, and none has more +perfectly succeeded in its labors. I shall describe the administration +of this good man, as a minister of reconciliation, in his own words, +transcribed from his church records:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Nov. 25, 1698, being spent in holy exercises (in order to +our preparation for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper), at +John Putnam, Jr.'s, after the exercise, I desired the church +to manifest, by the usual sign, that they were so cordially +satisfied with their brethren, Thomas Wilkins, John Tarbell, +and Samuel Nurse, that they were heartily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.507" id="Page_ii.507">[ii.507]</a></span> desirous that +they would join with us in all ordinances, that so we might +all live lovingly together. This they consented unto, and +none made any objection, but voted it by lifting up their +hands. And further, that whatever articles they had drawn up +against these brethren formerly, they now looked upon them +as nothing, but let them fall to the ground, being willing +that they should be buried for ever.</p> + +<p>"Feb. 5, 1699.—This day, also our brother John Tarbell, and +his wife, and Thomas Wilkins and his wife, and Samuel +Nurse's wife, joined with us in the Lord's Supper; which is +a matter of thankfulness, seeing they have for a long time +been so offended as that they could not comfortably join +with us.</p> + +<p>"1702.—In December, the pastor spake to the church, on the +sabbath, as followeth: 'Brethren, I find in your church-book +a record of Martha Corey's being excommunicated for +witchcraft; and, the generality of the land being sensible +of the errors that prevailed in that day, some of her +friends have moved me several times to propose to the church +whether it be not our duty to recall that sentence, that so +it may not stand against her to all generations; and I +myself being a stranger to her, and being ignorant of what +was alleged against her, I shall now only leave it to your +consideration, and shall determine the matter by a vote the +next convenient opportunity.'</p> + +<p>"Feb. 14, 1702/3.—The major part of the brethren consented +to the following: 'Whereas this church passed a vote, Sept. +11, 1692, for the excommunication of Martha Corey, and that +sentence was pronounced against her Sept. 14, by Mr. Samuel +Parris, formerly the pastor of this church; she being, +before her excommunication, condemned, and afterwards +executed, for supposed witchcraft; and there being a record +of this in our church-book, page 12, we being moved +hereunto, do freely consent and heartily desire that the +same sentence may be revoked, and that it may stand no +longer against her; for we are, through God's mercy to us, +convinced that we were at that dark day under the power of +those errors which then prevailed in the land; and we are +sensible that we had not sufficient grounds to think her +guilty of that crime for which she was condemned and +executed; and that her excommunication was not according to +the mind of God, and therefore we desire that this may be +entered in our church-book, to take off that odium that is +cast on her name, and that so God may forgive our sin, and +may be atoned for the land; and we humbly pray that God will +not leave us any more to such errors and sins, but will +teach and enable us always to do that which is right in his +sight.'</p> + +<p>"There was a major part voted, and six or seven dissented.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">J. Gr.</span>, <i>Pr.</i>"</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.508" id="Page_ii.508">[ii.508]</a></span></p> + +<p>The First Church in Salem rescinded its votes of excommunication of +Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey, in March, 1712. The church at the +village was nearly ten years before it, in this act of justice to +itself and to the memory of the injured dead. Mr. Green did not wait +until the public sentiment drove him to it. He regarded it as his duty +to lead, and keep in front of that sentiment, in the right direction. +He did not wait until everybody demanded it to be done, but instantly +began to prepare his people for it. At the proper time, he gave notice +that he was about to bring the question before them; and he +accordingly did so. He had no idea of allowing a few narrow-minded, +obstinate individuals to keep the blot any longer upon the records of +his church. His conduct is honorable to his name, and to the name of +the village. By wise, prudent, but persistent efforts, he gradually +repaired every breach, brought his parish out from under reproach, and +set them right with each other, with the obligations of justice, and +with the spirit of Christianity. It is affecting to read his +ejaculations of praise and gratitude to God for every symptom of the +prevalence of harmony and love among the people of his charge.</p> + +<p>The man who extinguished the fires of passion in a community that had +ever before been consumed by them deserves to be held in lasting +honor. The history of the witchcraft delusion in Salem Village would, +indeed, be imperfectly written, if it failed to present the character +of him who healed its wounds, obliterated the traces of its malign +influence on the hearts and lives of those who acted, and repaired the +wrongs done to the memory of those who suffered, in it. Joseph Green +had a manly and amiable nature. He was a studious scholar and an able +preacher. He was devoted to his ministry and faithful to its +obligations. He was a leader of his people, and shared in their +occupations and experiences. He was active in the ordinary employments +of life and daily concerns of society. Possessed of independent +property, he was frugal and simple in his habits, and liberal in the +use of his means. The parsonage, while he lived in it, was the abode +of hospitality, and frequented by the best society in the +neighborhood. By mingled firmness and kindliness, he met and removed +difficulties. He had a cheerful temperament, was not irritated by the +course of events, even when of an unpleasant character. While Mr. +Noyes was disturbed, even to resentment, by encroachments upon his +parish,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.509" id="Page_ii.509">[ii.509]</a></span> in the formation of new societies in the middle precinct of +Salem, now South Danvers, and in the second precinct of Beverly, now +Upper Beverly, Mr. Green, although they drew away from him as many as +from Mr. Noyes, went to participate in the raising of their +meeting-houses. Of a genial disposition, he countenanced innocent +amusements. He was fond of the sports of the field. The catamount was +among the trophies of his sure aim, and he came home with his +huntsman's bag filled with wild pigeons. He would take his little sons +before and behind him on his horse, and spend a day with them fishing +and fowling on Wilkins's Pond; and, when Indians threatened the +settlements, he would shoulder his musket, join the brave young men of +his parish, and be the first in the encounter, and the last to +relinquish the pursuit of the savage foe.</p> + +<p>He was always, everywhere, a peacemaker; by his genial manner, and his +genuine dignity and decision of character, he removed dissensions from +his church and neighborhood, and secured the respect while he won the +love of all. That such a person was raised up and placed where he was +at that time, was truly a providence of God.</p> + +<p>The part performed in the witchcraft tragedy by the extraordinary +child of twelve years of age, Ann Putnam, has been fully set forth. As +has been stated, both her parents (and no one can measure their share +of responsibility, nor that of others behind them, for her conduct) +died within a fortnight of each other, in 1699. She was then nineteen +years of age; a large family of children, all younger than herself, +was left with her in the most melancholy orphanage. How many there +were, we do not exactly know: eight survived her. Although their +uncles, Edward and Joseph, were near, and kind, and able to care for +them, the burden thrown upon her must have been great. With the +terrible remembrance of the scenes of 1692, it was greater than she +could bear. Her health began to decline, and she was long an invalid. +Under the tender and faithful guidance of Mr. Green, she did all that +she could to seek the forgiveness of God and man. After consultations +with him, in visits to his study, a confession was drawn up, which she +desired publicly to make. Upon conferring with Samuel Nurse, it was +found to be satisfactory to him, as the representative of those who +had suffered from her testimony. It was her desire to offer this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.510" id="Page_ii.510">[ii.510]</a></span> +confession and a profession of religion at the same time. The day was +fixed, and made known to the public. On the 25th of August, 1706, a +great concourse assembled in the meeting-house. Large numbers came +from other places, particularly from the town of Salem. The following +document, having been judged sufficient and suitable, was written out +in the church-book the evening before, and signed by her. It was read +by the pastor before the congregation, who were seated; she standing +in her place while it was read, and owning it as hers by a declaration +to that effect at its close, and also acknowledging the signature.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center"><i>"The Confession of Anne Putnam, when she was received to +Communion, 1706.</i></p> + +<p>"I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling +providence that befell my father's family in the year about +'92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a +providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of +several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives +were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and +good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that +it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that +sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, +with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring +upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; +though what was said or done by me against any person I can +truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not +out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I +had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was +ignorantly, being deluded by Satan. And particularly, as I +was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her +two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled +for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a +calamity to them and their families; for which cause I +desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of +God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of +sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or +accused.</p> + + <table border="0" summary="signature" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>[Signed]</td> + <td><img src="images2/image30.png" alt="signature" width="200" height="40" /></td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + +<p>"This confession was read before the congregation, together +with her relation, Aug. 25, 1706; and she acknowledged it.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">J. Green</span>, <i>Pastor</i>.</p></div> + +<p>This paper shows the baleful influence of the doctrine of Satan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.511" id="Page_ii.511">[ii.511]</a></span> then +received. It afforded a refuge and escape from the compunctions of +conscience. The load of sin was easily thrown upon the back of Satan. +This young woman was undoubtedly sincere in her penitence, and was +forgiven, we trust and believe; but she failed to see the depth of her +iniquity, and of those who instigated and aided her, in her false +accusations. The blame, and the deed, were wholly hers and theirs. +Satan had no share in it. Human responsibility cannot thus be avoided.</p> + +<p>While, in a certain sense, she imputes the blame to Satan, this +declaration of Ann Putnam is conclusive evidence that she and her +confederate accusers did not believe in any communications having been +made to them by invisible spirits of any kind. Those persons, in our +day, who imagine that they hold intercourse, by rapping or otherwise, +with spiritual beings, have sometimes found arguments in favor of +their belief in the phenomena of the witchcraft trials. But Ann +Putnam's confession is decisive against this. If she had really +received from invisible beings, subordinate spirits, or the spirits of +deceased persons, the matters to which she testified, or ever believed +that she had, she would have said so. On the contrary, she declares +that she had no foundation whatever, from any source, for what she +said, but was under the subtle and mysterious influence of the Devil +himself.</p> + +<p>She died at about the age of thirty-six years. Her will is dated May +20, 1715, and was presented in probate June 29, 1716. Its preamble is +as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In the name of God, amen. I, Anne Putnam, of the town of +Salem, single woman, being oftentimes sick and weak in body, +but of a disposing mind and memory, blessed be God! and +calling to mind the mortality of my body, and that it is +appointed for all men once to die, do make this my last will +and testament. First of all, I recommend my spirit into the +hands of God, through Jesus Christ my Redeemer, with whom I +hope to live for ever; and, as for my body, I commit it to +the earth, to be buried in a Christian and decent manner, at +the discretion of my executor, hereafter named, nothing +doubting but, by the mighty power of God, to receive the +same again at the resurrection."</p></div> + +<p>She divided her land to her four brothers, and her personal estate to +her four sisters.</p> + +<p>It seems that she was frequently the subject of sickness, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.512" id="Page_ii.512">[ii.512]</a></span> her +bodily powers much weakened. The probability is, that the +long-continued strain kept upon her muscular and nervous organization, +during the witchcraft scenes, had destroyed her constitution. Such +uninterrupted and vehement exercise, to their utmost tension, of the +imaginative, intellectual, and physical powers, in crowded and heated +rooms, before the public gaze, and under the feverish and consuming +influence of bewildering and all but delirious excitement, could +hardly fail to sap the foundations of health in so young a child. The +tradition is, that she had a slow and fluctuating decline. The +language of her will intimates, that, at intervals, there were +apparent checks to her disease, and rallies of strength,—"oftentimes +sick and weak in body." She inherited from her mother a sensitive and +fragile constitution; but her father, although brought to the grave, +probably by the terrible responsibilities and trials in which he had +been involved, at a comparatively early age, belonged to a long-lived +race and neighborhood. The opposite elements of her composition +struggled in a protracted contest,—on the one side, a nature morbidly +subject to nervous excitability sinking under the exhaustion of an +overworked, overburdened, and shattered system; on the other, tenacity +of life. The conflict continued with alternating success for years; +but the latter gave way at last. Her story, in all its aspects, is +worthy of the study of the psychologist. Her confession, profession, +and death point the moral.</p> + +<p>The Rev. Joseph Green died Nov. 26, 1715. The following tribute to his +memory is inscribed on the records of the church. It is in the +handwriting, and style of thought and language, of Deacon Edward +Putnam.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Then was the choicest flower and greenest olive-tree in the +garden of our God here cut down in its prime and flourishing +estate at the age of forty years and two days, who had been +a faithful ambassador from God to us eighteen years. Then +did that bright star set, and never more to appear here +among us; then did our sun go down; and now what darkness is +come upon us! Put away and pardon our iniquities, O Lord! +which have been the cause of thy sore displeasure, and +return to us again in mercy, and provide yet again for this +thy flock a pastor after thy own heart, as thou hath +promised to thy people in thy word; on which promise we have +hope, for we are called by thy name; and, oh, leave us not!"</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.513" id="Page_ii.513">[ii.513]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Rev. Peter Clark was ordained June 5, 1717. The termination of the +connection between the Salem Village church and the witchcraft +delusion, and all similar kinds of absurdity and wickedness, is marked +by the following record, which fully and for ever redeems its +character. If Samuel Parris had been as wise and brave as Peter Clark, +he would, in the same decisive manner, have nipped the thing in the +bud.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center"><i>"Salem Village Church Records.</i></p> + +<p>"Sept. 5, 1746.—At a church meeting appointed on the +lecture, the day before, on the occasion of several persons +in this parish being reported to have resorted to a woman of +a very ill reputation, pretending to the art of divination +and fortune-telling, &c., to make inquiry into that matter, +and to take such resolutions as may be thought proper on the +occasion, the brethren of the church then present came into +the following votes; viz., That for Christians, especially +church-members, to seek to and consult reputed witches or +fortune-tellers, this church is clearly of opinion, and +firmly believes on the testimony of the Word of God, is +highly impious and scandalous, being a violation of the +Christian covenant sealed in baptism, rendering the persons +guilty of it subject to the just censure of the church.</p> + +<p>"No proof appearing against any of the members of this +church (some of whom had been strongly suspected of this +crime), so as to convict them of their being guilty, it was +further voted, That the pastor, in the name of the church, +should publicly testify their disapprobation and abhorrence +of this infamous and ungodly practice of consulting witches +or fortune-tellers, or any that are reputed such; exhorting +all under their watch, who may have been guilty of it, to an +hearty repentance and returning to God, earnestly seeking +forgiveness in the blood of Christ, and warning all against +the like practice for the time to come.</p> + +<p>"Sept. 7.—This testimony, exhortation, and warning, voted +by the church, was publicly given by the pastor, before the +dismission of the congregation."</p></div> + +<p>The Salem Village Parish, when its present pastor, the Rev. Charles B. +Rice, was settled, Sept. 2, 1863, had been in existence a hundred and +ninety-one years. During its first twenty-five years, it had four +ministers, whose aggregate period of service was eighteen years. +During the succeeding hundred and sixty-six years, it had four +ministers, whose aggregate period of service<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.514" id="Page_ii.514">[ii.514]</a></span> was one hundred and +fifty-eight years. They had all been well educated, several were men +of uncommon endowments, and without exception they possessed qualities +suitable for success and usefulness in their calling.</p> + +<p>The first period was filled with an uninterrupted series of troubles, +quarrels, and animosities, culminating in the most terrific and +horrible disaster that ever fell upon a people. The second period was +an uninterrupted reign of peace, harmony, and unity; no religious +society ever enjoying more comfort in its privileges, or exhibiting a +better example of all that ought to characterize a Christian +congregation.</p> + +<p>The contrast between the lives of its ministers, in the two periods +respectively, is as great as between their pastorates. The first four +suffered from inadequate means of support, and, owing to the feuds in +the congregation, rates not being collected, were hardly supplied with +the necessaries of life. There is no symptom in the records of the +second period of there having ever been any difficulty on this score. +The prompt fulfilment of their contracts by the people, and the favor +of Providence, placed the ministers above the reach or approach of +inconvenience or annoyance from that quarter.</p> + +<p>The history of the New-England churches presents no epoch more +melancholy, distressful, and stormy than the first, and none more +united, prosperous, or commendable than the second period in the +annals of the Salem Village church.</p> + +<p>The contrast between the fortunes and fates of the ministers of these +two periods is worthy of being stated in detail.</p> + +<p>James Bayley began to preach at the Village at the formation of the +society, when he was quite a young man, within three years from +receiving his degree at Harvard College. After about seven years, +during which he buried his wife and three children, and encountered a +bitter and turbulent opposition,—so far as we can see, most causeless +and unreasonable,—he relinquished the ministry altogether, and spent +the residue of his life in another profession elsewhere.</p> + +<p>The ministry of George Burroughs, at the Village, lasted about two +years. The violence of both parties to the controversy by which the +parish had been rent was concentrated upon his innocent and +unsheltered head. He was, at a public assembly of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.515" id="Page_ii.515">[ii.515]</a></span> people, in his +own meeting-house, arrested, and taken out in the custody of the +marshal of the county, a prisoner for a debt incurred to meet the +expenses of his wife's recent funeral, of an amount less than the +salary then due him, and which, in point of fact, he had paid at the +time by an order upon the parish treasurer. From such outrageous +ill-treatment, he escaped by resigning his ministry. He was followed +to his retreat in a remote settlement, and while engaged there, a +laborious, self-sacrificing, and devoted minister, was, by the +malignity of his enemies at the Village, suddenly seized, all +unconscious of having wronged a human creature, snatched from the +table where he was taking his frugal meal in his humble home, torn +from his helpless family, hurried up to the Village; overwhelmed in a +storm of falsehood, rage, and folly; loaded with irons, immured in a +dungeon, carried to the place of execution, consigned to the death of +a felon; and his uncoffined remains thrown among the clefts of the +rocks of Witch Hill, and left but half buried,—for a crime of which +he was as innocent as the unborn child.</p> + +<p>Deodat Lawson, a great scholar and great preacher, after a two years' +trial, and having buried his wife and daughter at the Village, +abandoned the attempt to quell the storm of passion there. He found +another settlement on the other side of Massachusetts Bay, which he +left without taking leave, and was never heard of more by his people. +Eight years afterwards, he re-appeared in the reprint, at London, of +his famous Salem Village sermon, and then vanished for ever from +sight. A cloud of impenetrable darkness envelopes his name at that +point. Of his fate nothing is known, except that it was an "unhappy" +one.</p> + +<p>Samuel Parris, after a ministry of seven years, crowded from the very +beginning with contention and animosity, and closed in desolation, +ruin, and woes unutterable, havoc scattered among his people and the +whole country round, was driven from the parish, the blood of the +innocent charged upon his head, and, for the rest of his days, +consigned to obscurity and penury. The place of his abode has upon it +no habitation or structure of man; and the only vestiges left of him +are his records of the long quarrel with his congregation, and his +inscription on the headstone, erected by him, as he left the Village +for ever, over the fresh grave of his wife.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.516" id="Page_ii.516">[ii.516]</a></span></p> + +<p>Surely, the annals of no church present a more dismal, shocking, or +shameful history than this.</p> + +<p>Joseph Green, on the 26th of November, 1715, terminated with his life +a ministry of eighteen years, as useful, beneficent, and honorable as +it had been throughout harmonious and happy. Peter Clark died in +office, June 10, 1768, after a service of fifty-one years. He was +recognized throughout the country as an able minister and a learned +divine. Peace and prosperity reigned, without a moment's intermission, +among the people of his charge. Benjamin Wadsworth, D.D., also died in +office, Jan. 18, 1826, after a service of fifty-four years. Through +life he was universally esteemed and loved in all the churches. Milton +P. Braman, D.D., on the 1st of April, 1861, terminated by resignation +a ministry of thirty-five years. He always enjoyed universal respect +and affection, and the parish under his care, uninterrupted union and +prosperity. He did not leave his people, but remains among them, +participating in the enjoyment of their privileges, and upholding the +hands of his successor. His eminent talents are occasionally exercised +in neighboring pulpits, and in other services of public usefulness. He +lives in honored retirement on land originally belonging to Nathaniel +Putnam, distant only a few rods, a little to the north of east, from +the spot owned and occupied by his first predecessor, James Bayley.</p> + +<p>It can be said with assurance, of this epoch in the history of the +Salem Village church and society, that it can hardly be paralleled in +all that indicates the well-being of man or the blessings of Heaven. +No such contrast, as these two periods in the annals of this parish +present, can elsewhere be found.</p> + +<p>Prosecutions for witchcraft continued in the older countries after +they had been abandoned here; although it soon began to be difficult, +everywhere, to procure the conviction of a person accused of +witchcraft. In 1716, a Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, the latter aged +nine years, were hanged in Huntingdon, in England, for witchcraft. In +the year 1720, an attempt, already alluded to, was made to renew the +Salem excitement in Littleton, Mass., but it failed: the people had +learned wisdom at a price too dear to allow them so soon to forget it. +In a letter to Cotton Mather, written Feb. 19, 1720, the excellent Dr. +Watts, after having expressed his doubts respecting the sufficiency of +the spec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.517" id="Page_ii.517">[ii.517]</a></span>tral evidence for condemnation, says, in reference to the +Salem witchcraft, "I am much persuaded that there was much immediate +agency of the Devil in these affairs, and perhaps there were some real +witches too." Not far from this time, we find what was probably the +opinion of the most liberal-minded and cultivated people in England +expressed in the following language of Addison: "To speak my thoughts +freely, I believe, in general, that there is and has been such a thing +as witchcraft, but, at the same time, can give no credit to any +particular instance of it."</p> + +<p>There was an execution for witchcraft in Scotland in 1722. As late as +the middle of the last century, an annual discourse, commemorative of +executions that took place in Huntingdon during the reign of Queen +Elizabeth, continued to be delivered in that place. An act of a +Presbyterian synod in Scotland, published in 1743, and reprinted at +Glasgow in 1766, denounced as a national sin the repeal of the penal +laws against witchcraft.</p> + +<p>Blackstone, the great oracle of British law, and who flourished in the +latter half of the last century, declared his belief in witchcraft in +the following strong terms: "To deny the possibility, nay, the actual +existence, of witchcraft and sorcery, is at once flatly to contradict +the revealed Word of God, in various passages both of the Old and New +Testament; and the thing itself is a truth to which every nation in +the world hath in its turn borne testimony, either by examples +seemingly well attested, or by prohibitory laws, which at least +suppose the possibility of commerce with evil spirits."</p> + +<p>It is related, in White's "Natural History of Selborne," that, in the +year 1751, the people of Tring, a market town of Hertfordshire, and +scarcely more than thirty miles from London, "seized on two +superannuated wretches, crazed with age and overwhelmed with +infirmities, on a suspicion of witchcraft." They were carried to the +edge of a horse-pond, and there subjected to the water ordeal. The +trial resulted in the acquittal of the prisoners; but they were both +drowned in the process.</p> + +<p>A systematic effort seems to have been made during the eighteenth +century to strengthen and renew the power of superstition. Alarmed by +the progress of infidelity, many eminent and excellent men availed +themselves of the facilities which their position at the head of the +prevailing literature afforded them, to push the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.518" id="Page_ii.518">[ii.518]</a></span> faith of the people +as far as possible towards the opposite extreme of credulity. It was a +most unwise, and, in its effects, deplorable policy. It was a betrayal +of the cause of true religion. It was an acknowledgment that it could +not be vindicated before the tribunal of severe reason. Besides all +the misery produced by filling the imagination with unreal objects of +terror, the restoration to influence, during the last century, of the +fables and delusions of an ignorant age, has done incalculable injury, +by preventing the progress of Christian truth and sound philosophy; +thus promoting the cause of the very infidelity it was intended to +check. The idea of putting down one error by setting up another cannot +have suggested itself to any mind that had ever been led to appreciate +the value or the force of truth. But this was the policy of Christian +writers from the time of Addison to that of Johnson. The latter +expressly confesses, that it was necessary to maintain the credit of +the belief of the existence and agency of ghosts, and other +supernatural beings, in order to help on the argument for a future +state as founded upon the Bible.</p> + +<p>Dr. Hibbert, in his excellent book on the "Philosophy of Apparitions," +illustrates some remarks similar to those just made, by the following +quotation from Mr. Wesley:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is true, that the English in general, and indeed most of +the men in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches and +apparitions as mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it; +and I willingly take this opportunity of entering my solemn +protest against this violent compliment, which so many that +believe the Bible pay to those who do not believe it. I owe +them no such service. I take knowledge, these are at the +bottom of the outcry which has been raised, and with such +insolence spread throughout the nation, in direct +opposition, not only to the Bible, but to the suffrage of +the wisest and best men in all ages and nations. They well +know (whether Christians know it or not), that the giving up +witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the Bible. And they +know, on the other hand, that, if but one account of the +intercourse of men with separate spirits be admitted, their +whole castle in the air (Deism, Atheism, Materialism) falls +to the ground. I know no reason, therefore, why we should +suffer even this weapon to be wrested out of our hands. +Indeed, there are numerous arguments besides, which +abundantly confute their vain imaginations. But we need not +be hooted out of one: neither reason nor religion requires +this."</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.519" id="Page_ii.519">[ii.519]</a></span></p> + +<p>The belief in witchcraft continued to hold a conspicuous place among +popular superstitions during the whole of the last century. Many now +living can remember the time when it prevailed very generally. Each +town or village had its peculiar traditionary tales, which were +gravely related by the old, and deeply impressed upon the young.</p> + +<p>The legend of the "Screeching Woman" of Marblehead is worthy of being +generally known. The story runs thus: A piratical cruiser, having +captured a Spanish vessel during the seventeenth century, brought her +into Marblehead harbor, which was then the site of a few humble +dwellings. The male inhabitants were all absent on their fishing +voyages. The pirates brought their prisoners ashore, carried them at +the dead of the night into a retired glen, and there murdered them. +Among the captives was an English female passenger. The women who +belonged to the place heard her dying outcries, as they rose through +the midnight air, and reverberated far and wide along the silent +shores. She was heard to exclaim, "O mercy, mercy! Lord Jesus Christ, +save me! Lord Jesus Christ, save me!" Her body was buried by the +pirates on the spot. The same piercing voice is believed to be heard +at intervals, more or less often, almost every year, in the stillness +of a calm starlight or clear moonlight night. There is something, it +is said, so wild, mysterious, and evidently superhuman in the sound, +as to strike a chill of dread into the hearts of all who listen to it. +The writer of an article on this subject, in the "Marblehead Register" +of April 3, 1830, declares, that "there are not wanting, at the +present day, persons of unimpeachable veracity and known +respectability, who still continue firmly to believe the tradition, +and to assert that they themselves have been auditors of the sounds +described, which they declare were of such an unearthly nature as to +preclude the idea of imposition or deception."</p> + +<p>When "the silver moon unclouded holds her way," or when the stars are +glistening in the clear, cold sky, and the dark forms of the moored +vessels are at rest upon the sleeping bosom of the harbor; when no +natural sound comes forth from the animate or inanimate creation but +the dull and melancholy rote of the sea along the rocky and winding +coast,—how often is the watcher startled from the reveries of an +excited imagination by the pite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.520" id="Page_ii.520">[ii.520]</a></span>ous, dismal, and terrific screams of +the unlaid ghost of the murdered lady!</p> + +<p>A negro died, fifty years ago, in that part of Danvers called +originally Salem Village, at a very advanced age. He was supposed to +have reached his hundredth year. He never could be prevailed upon to +admit that there was any delusion or mistake in the proceedings of +1692. To him, the whole affair was easy of explanation. He believed +that the witchcraft was occasioned by the circumstance of the Devil's +having purloined the church-book, and that it subsided so soon as the +book was recovered from his grasp. Perhaps the particular hypothesis +of the venerable African was peculiar to himself; but those persons +must have a slight acquaintance with the history of opinions in this +and every other country, who are not aware that the superstition on +which it was founded has been extensively entertained by men of every +color, almost, if not quite, up to the present day. If the doctrines +of demonology have been completely overthrown and exterminated in our +villages and cities, it is a very recent achievement; nay, I fear that +in many places the auspicious event remains to take place.</p> + +<p>In the year 1808, the inhabitants of Great Paxton, a village of +Huntingdonshire, in England, within sixty miles of London, rose in a +body, attacked the house of an humble, and, so far as appears, +inoffensive and estimable woman, named Ann Izard, suspected of +bewitching three young females,—Alice Brown, Fanny Amey, and Mary +Fox,—dragged her out of her bed into the fields, pierced her arms and +body with pins, and tore her flesh with their nails, until she was +covered with blood. They committed the same barbarous outrage upon her +again, a short time afterwards; and would have subjected her to the +water ordeal, had she not found means to fly from that part of the +country.</p> + +<p>The writer of the article "Witchcraft," in Rees's "Cyclopædia," +gravely maintains the doctrine of "ocular fascination."</p> + +<p>Prosecutions for witchcraft are stated to have occurred, in the first +half of the present century, in some of the interior districts of our +Southern States. The civilized world is even yet full of necromancers +and thaumaturgists of every kind. The science of "palmistry" is still +practised by many a muttering vagrant; and perhaps some in this +neighborhood remember when, in the days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.521" id="Page_ii.521">[ii.521]</a></span> of their youthful fancy, they +held out their hands, that their future fortunes might be read in the +lines of their palms, and their wild and giddy curiosity and anxious +affections be gratified by information respecting wedding-day or +absent lover.</p> + +<p>The most celebrated fortune-teller, perhaps, that ever lived, resided +in an adjoining town. The character of "Moll Pitcher" is familiarly +known in all parts of the commercial world. She died in 1813. Her +place of abode was beneath the projecting and elevated summit of High +Rock, in Lynn, and commanded a view of the wild and indented coast of +Marblehead, of the extended and resounding beaches of Lynn and +Chelsea, of Nahant Rocks, of the vessels and islands of Boston's +beautiful bay, and of its remote southern shore. She derived her +mysterious gifts by inheritance, her grandfather having practised them +before in Marblehead. Sailors, merchants, and adventurers of every +kind, visited her residence, and placed confidence in her predictions. +People came from great distances to learn the fate of missing friends, +or recover the possession of lost goods; while the young of both +sexes, impatient of the tardy pace of time, and burning with curiosity +to discern the secrets of futurity, availed themselves of every +opportunity to visit her lowly dwelling, and hear from her prophetic +lips the revelation of the most tender incidents and important events +of their coming lives. She read the future, and traced what to mere +mortal eyes were the mysteries of the present or the past, in the +arrangement and aspect of the grounds or settlings of a cup of tea or +coffee. Her name has everywhere become the generic title of +fortune-tellers, and occupies a conspicuous place in the legends and +ballads of popular superstition. Her renown has gone abroad to the +farthest regions, and her memory will be perpetuated in the annals of +credulity and imposture. An air of romance is breathed around the +scenes where she practised her mystic art, the interest and charm of +which will increase as the lapse of time removes her history back +towards the dimness of the distant past.</p> + +<p>The elements of the witchcraft delusion of 1692 are slumbering still +in the bosom of society. We hear occasionally of haunted houses, cases +of second-sight, and communications from the spiritual world. It +always will be so. The human mind feels instinctively its connection +with a higher sphere. Some will ever be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.522" id="Page_ii.522">[ii.522]</a></span> impatient of the restraints +of our present mode of being, and prone to break away from them; eager +to pry into the secrets of the invisible world, willing to venture +beyond the bounds of ascertainable knowledge, and, in the pursuit of +truth, to aspire where the laws of evidence cannot follow them. A love +of the marvellous is inherent to the sense of limitation while in +these terrestrial bodies; and many will always be found not content to +wait until this tabernacle is dissolved and we shall be clothed upon +with a body which is from Heaven.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.523" id="Page_ii.523">[ii.523]</a></span></p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><img src="images2/image28.png" width="190" height="62" alt="decoration" /></p> + + +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.</h2> + + +<p style="text-align: center"> +I. <span class="smcap">Lawson's Prefatory Address.</span><br /> +II. <span class="smcap">Lawson's Brief Account.</span><br /> +III. <span class="smcap">Letter to Jonathan Corwin.</span><br /> +IV. <span class="smcap">Extracts from Mr. Parris's Church Records.</span></p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><img src="images2/image29.png" width="32" height="42" alt="decoration" /></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.525" id="Page_ii.525">[ii.525]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + + +<h3>I.</h3> + +<h3>PREFATORY ADDRESS.</h3> + +<p style="text-align: center">[From the edition of Deodat Lawson's Sermon printed in London, 1704.]</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><i>To all my Christian Friends and Acquaintance, the Inhabitants of +Salem Village.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Christian Friends</span>,—The sermon here presented unto you was +delivered in your audience by that unworthy instrument who did +formerly spend some years among you in the work of the ministry, +though attended with manifold sinful failings and infirmities, for +which I do implore the pardoning mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and +entreat from you the covering of love. As this was prepared for that +particular occasion when it was delivered amongst you, so the +publication of it is to be particularly recommended to your service.</p> + +<p>My heart's desire and continual prayer to God for you all is, that you +may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ; and, accordingly, +that all means he is using with you, by mercies and afflictions, +ordinances and providences, may be sanctified to the building you up +in grace and holiness, and preparing you for the kingdom of glory. We +are told by the apostle (Acts xiv. 22), that through many tribulations +we must enter into the kingdom of God. Now, since (besides your share +in the common calamities, under the burden whereof this poor people +are groaning at this time) the righteous and holy God hath been +pleased to permit a sore and grievous affliction to befall you, such +as can hardly be said to be common to men; viz., by giving liberty to +Satan to range and rage amongst you, to the torturing the bodies and +distracting the minds of some of the visible sheep and lambs of the +Lord Jesus Christ. And (which is yet more astonishing) he who is the +accuser of the brethren endeavors to introduce as criminal some of the +visible subjects of Christ's kingdom, by whose sober and godly +conversation in times<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.526" id="Page_ii.526">[ii.526]</a></span> past we could draw no other conclusions than +that they were real members of his mystical body, representing them as +the instruments of his malice against their friends and neighbors.</p> + +<p>I thought meet thus to give you the best assistance I could, to help +you out of your distresses. And since the ways of the Lord, in his +permissive as well as effective providence, are unsearchable, and his +doings past finding out, and pious souls are at a loss what will be +the issue of these things, I therefore bow my knees unto the God and +Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would cause all grace to +abound to you and in you, that your poor place may be delivered from +those breaking and ruining calamities which are threatened as the +pernicious consequences of Satan's malicious operations; and that you +may not be left to bite and devour one another in your sacred or civil +society, in your relations or families, to the destroying much good +and promoting much evil among you, so as in any kind to weaken the +hands or discourage the heart of your reverend and pious pastor, whose +family also being so much under the influence of these troubles, +spiritual sympathy cannot but stir you up to assist him as at all +times, so especially at such a time as this; he, as well as his +neighbors, being under such awful circumstances. As to this discourse, +my humble desire and endeavor is, that it may appear to be according +to the form of sound words, and in expressions every way intelligible +to the meanest capacities. It pleased God, of his free grace, to give +it some acceptation with those that heard it, and some that heard of +it desired me to transcribe it, and afterwards to give way to the +printing of it. I present it therefore to your acceptance, and commend +it to the divine benediction; and that it may please the Almighty God +to manifest his power in putting an end to your sorrows of this +nature, by bruising Satan under your feet shortly, causing these and +all other your and our troubles to work together for our good now, and +salvation in the day of the Lord, is the unfeigned desire, and shall +be the uncessant prayer, of—</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">Less than the least, of all those that serve,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">In the Gospel of our Lord Jesus,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">DEODAT LAWSON.</p> + +<p> </p> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.527" id="Page_ii.527">[ii.527]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>II.</h3> + +<h3>DEODAT LAWSON'S NARRATIVE.</h3> + +<p style="text-align: center">[Appended to his Sermon, London edition, 1704.]</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> the request of several worthy ministers and Christian +friends, I do here annex, by way of appendix to the preceding sermon, +some brief account of those amazing things which occasioned that +discourse to be delivered. Let the reader please therefore to take it +in the brief remarks following, and judge as God shall incline him.</p> + +<p>It pleased God, in the year of our Lord 1692, to visit the people at a +place called Salem Village, in New England, with a very sore and +grievous affliction, in which they had reason to believe that the +sovereign and holy God was pleased to permit Satan and his instruments +to affright and afflict those poor mortals in such an astonishing and +unusual manner.</p> + +<p>Now, I having for some time before attended the work of the ministry +in that village, the report of those great afflictions came quickly to +my notice, and the more readily because the first person afflicted was +in the minister's family who succeeded me after I was removed from +them. In pity, therefore, to my Christian friends and former +acquaintance there, I was much concerned about them, frequently +consulted with them, and fervently, by divine assistance, prayed for +them; but especially my concern was augmented when it was reported, at +an examination of a person suspected for witchcraft, that my wife and +daughter, who died three years before, were sent out of the world +under the malicious operations of the infernal powers, as is more +fully represented in the following remarks. I did then desire, and was +also desired by some concerned in the Court, to be there present, that +I might hear what was alleged in that respect; observing, therefore, +when I was amongst them, that the case of the afflicted was very +amazing and deplorable, and the charges brought against the accused +such as were ground of suspicions, yet very intricate, and difficult +to draw up right conclusions about them; I thought good, for the +satisfaction of myself and such of my friends as might be curious to +inquire into those mysteries of God's providence and Satan's malice, +to draw up and keep by me a brief account of the most remarkable +things that came to my knowledge in those affairs, which remarks were +afterwards (at my request) revised and corrected by some who sat +judges on the bench in those matters, and were now transcribed from +the same paper on which they were then written. After this, I being by +the providence of God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.528" id="Page_ii.528">[ii.528]</a></span> called over into England in the year 1696, I +then brought that paper of remarks on the witchcraft with me; upon the +sight thereof some worthy ministers and Christian friends here desired +me to reprint the sermon, and subjoin the remarks thereunto in way of +appendix; but for some particular reasons I did then decline it. But +now, forasmuch as I myself had been an eye and ear witness of most of +those amazing things, so far as they came within the notice of human +senses, and the requests of my friends were renewed since I came to +dwell in London, I have given way to the publishing of them, that I +may satisfy such as are not resolved to the contrary, that there may +be (and are) such operations of the powers of darkness on the bodies +and minds of mankind by divine permission, and that those who sat +judges on those cases may, by the serious consideration of the +formidable aspect and perplexed circumstances of that afflictive +providence, be in some measure excused, or at least be less censured, +for passing sentence on several persons as being the instruments of +Satan in those diabolical operations, when they were involved in such +a dark and dismal scene of providence, in which Satan did seem to spin +a finer thread of spiritual wickedness than in the ordinary methods of +witchcraft: hence the judges, desiring to bear due testimony against +such diabolical practices, were inclined to admit the validity of such +a sort of evidence as was not so clearly and directly demonstrable to +human senses as in other cases is required, or else they could not +discover the mysteries of witchcraft. I presume not to impose upon my +Christian or learned reader any opinion of mine how far Satan was an +instrument in God's hand in these amazing afflictions which were on +many persons there about that time; but I am certainly convinced, that +the great God was pleased to lengthen his chain to a very great degree +for the hurting of some and reproaching of others, as far as he was +permitted so to do. Now, that I may not grieve any whose relations +were either accused or afflicted in those times of trouble and +distress, I choose to lay down every particular at large, without +mentioning any names or persons concerned (they being wholly unknown +here); resolving to confine myself to such a proportion of paper as is +assigned to these remarks in this impression of the book, yet, that I +may be distinct, shall speak briefly to the matter under three heads; +viz.:—</p> + +<p> +1. Relating to the afflicted.<br /> +2. Relating to the accused. And,<br /> +3. Relating to the confessing witches.<br /> +</p> + +<p>To begin with the afflicted.—</p> + +<p>1. One or two of the first that were afflicted complaining of unusual +illness, their relations used physic for their cure; but it was +altogether in vain.</p> + +<p>2. They were oftentimes very stupid in their fits, and could neither +hear nor understand, in the apprehension of the standers-by; so that, +when prayer hath been made with some of them in such a manner as might +be audible in a great congregation, yet, when their fit was off, they +declared they did not hear so much as one word thereof.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.529" id="Page_ii.529">[ii.529]</a></span></p> + +<p>3. It was several times observed, that, when they were discoursed with +about God or Christ, or the things of salvation, they were presently +afflicted at a dreadful rate; and hence were oftentimes outrageous, if +they were permitted to be in the congregation in the time of the +public worship.</p> + +<p>4. They sometimes told at a considerable distance, yea, several miles +off, that such and such persons were afflicted, which hath been found +to be done according to the time and manner they related it; and they +said the spectres of the suspected persons told them of it.</p> + +<p>5. They affirmed that they saw the ghosts of several departed persons, +who, at their appearing, did instigate them to discover such as (they +said) were instruments to hasten their deaths, threatening sorely to +afflict them if they did not make it known to the magistrates. They +did affirm at the examination, and again at the trial of an accused +person, that they saw the ghosts of his two wives (to whom he had +carried very ill in their lives, as was proved by several +testimonies), and also that they saw the ghosts of my wife and +daughter (who died above three years before); and they did affirm, +that, when the very ghosts looked on the prisoner at the bar, they +looked red, as if the blood would fly out of their faces with +indignation at him. The manner of it was thus: several afflicted being +before the prisoner at the bar, on a sudden they fixed all their eyes +together on a certain place of the floor before the prisoner, neither +moving their eyes nor bodies for some few minutes, nor answering to +any question which was asked them: so soon as that trance was over, +some being removed out of sight and hearing, they were all, one after +another, asked what they saw; and they did all agree that they saw +those ghosts above mentioned. I was present, and heard and saw the +whole of what passed upon that account, during the trial of that +person who was accused to be the instrument of Satan's malice therein.</p> + +<p>6. In this (worse than Gallick) persecution by the dragoons of hell, +the persons afflicted were harassed at such a dreadful rate to write +their names in a Devil-book presented by a spectre unto them: and one, +in my hearing, said, "I will not, I will not write! It is none of +God's book, it is none of God's book: it is the Devil's book, for +aught I know;" and, when they steadfastly refused to sign, they were +told, if they would but touch, or take hold of, the book, it should +do; and, lastly, the diabolical propositions were so low and easy, +that, if they would but let their clothes, or any thing about them, +touch the book, they should be at ease from their torments, it being +their consent that is aimed at by the Devil in those representations +and operations.</p> + +<p>7. One who had been long afflicted at a stupendous rate by two or +three spectres, when they were (to speak after the manner of men) +tired out with tormenting of her to force or fright her to sign a +covenant with the Prince of Darkness, they said to her, as in a +diabolical and accursed passion, "Go your ways, and the Devil go with +you; for we will be no more pestered and plagued about you." And, ever +after that, she was well, and no more afflicted, that ever I heard +of.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.530" id="Page_ii.530">[ii.530]</a></span></p> + +<p>8. Sundry pins have been taken out of the wrists and arms of the +afflicted; and one, in time of examination of a suspected person, had +a pin run through both her upper and her lower lip when she was called +to speak, yet no apparent festering followed thereupon, after it was +taken out.</p> + +<p>9. Some of the afflicted, as they were striving in their fits in open +court, have (by invisible means) had their wrists bound fast together +with a real cord, so as it could hardly be taken off without cutting. +Some afflicted have been found with their arms tied, and hanged upon +an hook, from whence others have been forced to take them down, that +they might not expire in that posture.</p> + +<p>10. Some afflicted have been drawn under tables and beds by +undiscerned force, so as they could hardly be pulled out; and one was +drawn half-way over the side of a well, and was, with much difficulty, +recovered back again.</p> + +<p>11. When they were most grievously afflicted, if they were brought to +the accused, and the suspected person's hand but laid upon them, they +were immediately relieved out of their tortures; but, if the accused +did but look on them, they were instantly struck down again. Wherefore +they used to cover the face of the accused, while they laid their +hands on the afflicted, and then it obtained the desired issue: for it +hath been experienced (both in examinations and trials), that, so soon +as the afflicted came in sight of the accused, they were immediately +cast into their fits; yea, though the accused were among the crowd of +people unknown to the sufferers, yet, on the first view, were they +struck down, which was observed in a child of four or five years of +age, when it was apprehended, that so many as she could look upon, +either directly or by turning her head, were immediately struck into +their fits.</p> + +<p>12. An iron spindle of a woollen wheel, being taken very strangely out +of an house at Salem Village, was used by a spectre as an instrument +of torture to a sufferer, not being discernible to the standers-by, +until it was, by the said sufferer, snatched out of the spectre's +hand, and then it did immediately appear to the persons present to be +really the same iron spindle.</p> + +<p>13. Sometimes, in their fits, they have had their tongues drawn out of +their mouths to a fearful length, their heads turned very much over +their shoulders; and while they have been so strained in their fits, +and had their arms and legs, &c., wrested as if they were quite +dislocated, the blood hath gushed plentifully out of their mouths for +a considerable time together, which some, that they might be satisfied +that it was real blood, took upon their finger, and rubbed on their +other hand. I saw several together thus violently strained and +bleeding in their fits, to my very great astonishment that my +fellow-mortals should be so grievously distressed by the invisible +powers of darkness. For certainly all considerate persons who beheld +these things must needs be convinced, that their motions in their fits +were preternatural and involuntary, both as to the manner, which was +so strange as a well person could not (at least without great pain) +screw their bodies into,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.531" id="Page_ii.531">[ii.531]</a></span> and as to the violence also, they were +preternatural motions, being much beyond the ordinary force of the +same persons when they were in their right minds; so that, being such +grievous sufferers, it would seem very hard and unjust to censure them +of consenting to, or holding any voluntary converse or familiarity +with, the Devil.</p> + +<p>14. Their eyes were, for the most part, fast closed in their +trance-fits, and when they were asked a question they could give no +answer; and I do verily believe, they did not hear at that time; yet +did they discourse with the spectres as with real persons, asserting +things and receiving answers affirmative or negative, as the matter +was. For instance, one, in my hearing, thus argued <i>with</i>, and railed +<i>at</i>, a spectre: "Goodw—-, begone, begone, begone! Are you not +ashamed, a woman of your profession, to afflict a poor creature so? +What hurt did I ever do you in my life? You have but two years to +live, and then the Devil will torment your soul for this. Your name is +blotted out of God's book, and it shall never be put into God's book +again. Begone! For shame! Are you not afraid of what is coming upon +you? I know, I know what will make you afraid,—the wrath of an angry +God: I am sure that will make you afraid. Begone! Do not torment me. I +know what you would have" (we judged she meant her soul): "but it is +out of your reach; it is clothed with the white robes of Christ's +righteousness." This sufferer I was well acquainted with, and knew her +to be a very sober and pious woman, so far as I could judge; and it +appears that she had not, in that fit, voluntary converse with the +Devil, for then she might have been helped to a better guess about +that woman abovesaid, as to her living but two years, for she lived +not many months after that time. Further, this woman, in the same fit, +seemed to dispute with a spectre about a text of Scripture: the +apparition seemed to deny it; she said she was sure there was such a +text, and she would tell it; and then said she to the apparition, "I +am sure you will be gone, for you cannot stand before that text." Then +was she sorely afflicted,—her mouth drawn on one side, and her body +strained violently for about a minute; and then said, "It is, it is, +it is," three or four times, and then was afflicted to hinder her from +telling; at last, she broke forth, and said, "It is the third chapter +of the Revelations." I did manifest some scruple about reading it, +lest Satan should draw any thereby superstitiously to improve the word +of the eternal God; yet judging I might do it once, for an experiment, +I began to read; and, before I had read through the first verse, she +opened her eyes, and was well. Her husband and the spectators told me +she had often been relieved by reading texts pertinent to her +case,—as Isa. 40, 1, ch. 49, 1, ch. 50, 1, and several others. These +things I saw and heard from her.</p> + +<p>15. They were vehemently afflicted, to hinder any persons praying with +them, or holding them in any religious discourse. The woman mentioned +in the former section was told by the spectre I should not go to +prayer; but she said I should, and, after I had done, reasoned with +the apparition, "Did not I say he should go to prayer?" I went also to +visit a person afflicted in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.532" id="Page_ii.532">[ii.532]</a></span> Boston; and, after I was gone into the +house to which she belonged, she being abroad, and pretty well, when +she was told I was there, she said, "I am loath to go in; for I know +he will fall into some good discourse, and then I am sure I shall go +into a fit." Accordingly, when she came in, I advised her to improve +all the respite she had to make her peace with God, and sue out her +pardon through Jesus Christ, and beg supplies of faith and every grace +to deliver her from the powers of darkness; and, before I had uttered +all this, she fell into a fearful fit of diabolical torture.</p> + +<p>16. Some of them were asked how it came to pass that they were not +affrighted when they saw the <i>black-man</i>: they said they were at +first, but not so much afterwards.</p> + +<p>17. Some of them affirmed they saw the <i>black-man</i> sit on the gallows, +and that he whispered in the ears of some of the condemned persons +when they were just ready to be turned off, even while they were +making their last speech.</p> + +<p>18. They declared several things to be done by witchcraft, which +happened before some of them were born,—as strange deaths of persons, +casting away of ships, &c.; and they said the spectres told them of +it.</p> + +<p>19. Some of them have sundry times seen a <i>white-man</i> appearing +amongst the spectres, and, as soon as he appeared, the <i>black-witches</i> +vanished: they said this white-man had often foretold them what +respite they should have from their fits, as sometimes a day or two or +more, which fell out accordingly. One of the afflicted said she saw +him, in her fit, and was with him in a glorious place which had no +candle nor sun, yet was full of light and brightness, where there was +a multitude in white, glittering robes, and they sang the song in Rev. +5, 9; Psal. 110, 149. She was loath to leave that place, and said, +"<i>How long shall I stay here? Let me be along with you.</i>" She was +grieved she could stay no longer in that place and company.</p> + +<p>20. A young woman that was afflicted at a fearful rate had a spectre +appeared to her with a white sheet wrapped about it, not visible to +the standers-by until this sufferer (violently striving in her fit) +snatched at, took hold, and tore off a corner of that sheet. Her +father, being by her, endeavored to lay hold upon it with her, that +she might retain what she had gotten; but, at the passing-away of the +spectre, he had such a violent twitch of his hand as if it would have +been torn off: immediately thereupon appeared in the sufferer's hand +the corner of a sheet,—a real cloth, <i>visible</i> to the spectators, +which (as it is said) remains still to be seen.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><b>REMARKABLE THINGS RELATING TO THE ACCUSED.</b></p> + +<p>1. A woman, being brought upon public examination, desired to go to +prayer. The magistrates told her they came not there to hear her pray, +but to examine her in what was alleged against her relating to +suspicions of witchcraft.</p> + +<p>2. It was observed, both in times of examination and trial, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.533" id="Page_ii.533">[ii.533]</a></span> +accused seemed little affected with what the sufferers underwent, or +what was charged against them as being the instruments of Satan +therein, so that the spectators were grieved at their unconcernedness.</p> + +<p>3. They were sometimes their <i>own image</i>, and not always practising +upon poppets made of clouts, wax, or other materials, (according to +the old methods of witchcraft); for <i>natural</i> actions in them seemed +to produce preternatural impressions on the afflicted, as biting their +lips in time of examination and trial caused the sufferers to be +bitten so as they produced the marks before the magistrates and +spectators: the accused pinching their hands together seemed to cause +the sufferers to be <i>pinched</i>; those again <i>stamping</i> with their feet, +<i>these</i> were tormented in their legs and feet, so as they <i>stamped +fearfully</i>. After all this, if the accused did but lean against the +bar at which they stood, some very sober women of the afflicted +complained of their breasts, as if their bowels were torn out; thus, +some have since confessed, they were wont to afflict such as were the +objects of their malice.</p> + +<p>4. Several were accused of having familiarity with the <i>black-man</i> in +time of examination and trial, and that he whispered in their ears, +and therefore they could not hear the magistrates; and that one woman +accused rid (in her shape and spectre) by the place of judicature, +behind the black man, in the very time when she was upon examination.</p> + +<p>5. When the suspected were standing at the bar, the afflicted have +affirmed that they saw their shapes in other places suckling a yellow +bird; sometimes in one place and posture, and sometimes in another. +They also foretold that the spectre of the prisoner was going to +afflict such or such a sufferer, which presently fell out accordingly.</p> + +<p>6. They were accused by the sufferers to keep days of hellish fasts +and thanksgivings; and, upon one of their fast-days, they told a +sufferer she must not eat, it was fast-day. She said she would: they +told her they would choke her then, which, when she did eat, was +endeavored.</p> + +<p>7. They were also accused to hold and administer diabolical +sacraments; viz., a mock-baptism and a Devil-supper, at which cursed +imitations of the sacred institutions of our blessed Lord they used +forms of words to be trembled at in the very rehearsing: concerning +baptism I shall speak elsewhere. At their cursed supper, they were +said to have red bread and red drink; and, when they pressed an +afflicted person to eat and drink thereof, she turned away her head, +and spit at it, and said, "I will not eat, I will not drink: it is +blood. That is not the bread of life, that is not the water of life; +and I will have none of yours." Thus horribly doth Satan endeavor to +have his kingdom and administrations to resemble those of our Lord +Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>8. Some of the most <i>sober</i> afflicted persons, when they were well, +did affirm the spectres of such and such as they did complain of in +their fits did appear to them, and could relate what passed betwixt +them and the apparitions, after their fits were over, and give account +after what manner they were hurt by them.</p> + +<p>9. Several of the accused would neither in time of examination nor +trial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.534" id="Page_ii.534">[ii.534]</a></span> confess any thing of what was laid to their charge: some would +not admit of any minister to pray with them, others refused to pray +for themselves. It was said by some of the confessing witches, that +such as have received the Devil-sacrament can never confess: only one +woman condemned, after the death-warrant was signed, freely confessed, +which occasioned her reprieval for some time; and it was observable +this woman had one lock of hair of a very great length, viz., four +foot and seven inches long by measure. This lock was of a different +color from all the rest, which was short and gray. It grew on the +hinder part of her head, and was matted together like an elf-lock. The +Court ordered it to be cut off, to which she was very unwilling, and +said she was told if it were cut off she should die or be sick; yet +the Court ordered it so to be.</p> + +<p>10. A person who had been frequently transported to and fro by the +devils for the space of near two years, was struck dumb for about nine +months of that time; yet he, after that, had his speech restored to +him, and did depose upon oath, that, in the time while he was dumb, he +was many times bodily transported to places where the witches were +gathered together, and that he there saw feasting and dancing; and, +being struck on the back or shoulder, was thereby made fast to the +place, and could only see and hear at a distance. He did take his oath +that he did, with his bodily eyes, see some of the accused at those +witch-meetings several times. I was present in court when he gave his +testimony. He also proved by sundry persons, that, at those times of +transport, he was bodily absent from his abode, and could nowhere be +found, but being met with by some on the road, at a distance from his +home, was suddenly conveyed away from them.</p> + +<p>11. The afflicted persons related that the spectres of several eminent +persons had been brought in amongst the rest; but, as the sufferers +said the Devil could not hurt them in their shapes, but two witches +seemed to take them by each hand, and lead them or force them to come +in.</p> + +<p>12. Whiles a godly man was at prayer with a woman afflicted, the +daughter of that woman (being a sufferer in the like kind) affirmed +that she saw two of the persons accused at prayer to the Devil.</p> + +<p>13. It was proved by substantial evidences against one person accused, +that he had such an unusual strength (though a very little man), that +he could hold out a gun with one hand behind the lock, which was near +seven foot in the barrel, being as much as a lusty man could command +with both hands after the usual manner of shooting. It was also +proved, that he lifted barrels of meat and barrels of molasses out of +a canoe alone, and that putting his fingers into a barrel of molasses +(full within a finger's length according to custom) he carried it +several paces; and that he put his finger into the muzzle of a gun +which was more than five foot in the barrel, and lifted up the +butt-end thereof, lock, stock, and all, without any visible help to +raise it. It was also testified, that, being abroad with his wife and +his wife's brother, he occasionally staid behind, letting his wife and +her brother walk forward; but, suddenly coming up with them, he was +angry with his wife for what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.535" id="Page_ii.535">[ii.535]</a></span> discourse had passed betwixt her and her +brother: they wondering how he should know it, he said, "I know your +thoughts;" at which expression, they, being amazed, asked him how he +could do that; he said, "My God, whom I serve, makes known your +thoughts to me."</p> + +<p>I was present when these things were testified against him, and +observed that he could not make any plea for himself (in these things) +that had any weight: he had the liberty of challenging his jurors +before empanelling, according to the statute in that case, and used +his liberty in challenging many; yet the jury that were sworn brought +him in guilty.</p> + +<p>14. The magistrates privately examined a child of four or five years +of age, mentioned in the remarks of the afflicted, sect. 11: [<a href="#Page_ii.530">p. 530</a>] +and the child told them it had a little snake which used to suck on +the lowest joint of its forefinger; and, when they (inquiring where) +pointed to other places, it told them not <i>there</i> but <i>here</i>, pointing +on the lowest joint of the forefinger, where they observed a deep red +spot about the bigness of a flea-bite. They asked it who gave it that +snake, whether the black man gave it: the child said no, its mother +gave it. I heard this child examined by the magistrates.</p> + +<p>15. It was proved by sundry testimonies against some of the accused, +that, upon their malicious imprecations, wishes, or threatenings, many +observable deaths and diseases, with many other odd inconveniences, +have happened to cattle and other estate of such as were so threatened +by them, and some to the persons of men and women.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><b>REMARKABLE THINGS CONFESSED BY SOME SUSPECTED OF BEING GUILTY OF +WITCHCRAFT.</b></p> + +<p>1. It pleased God, for the clearer discovery of those mysteries of the +kingdom of darkness, so to dispose, that several persons, men, women, +and children, did confess their hellish deeds, as followeth:—</p> + +<p>2. They confessed against themselves that they were witches, told how +long they had been so, and how it came about that the Devil appeared +to them; viz., sometimes upon discontent at their mean condition in +the world, sometimes about fine clothes, sometimes for the gratifying +other carnal and sensual lusts. Satan then, upon his appearing to +them, made them fair (though false) promises, that, if they would +yield to him, and sign his book, their desires should be answered to +the uttermost, whereupon they signed it; and thus the accursed +confederacy was confirmed betwixt them and the Prince of Darkness.</p> + +<p>3. Some did affirm that there were some hundreds of the society of +witches, considerable companies of whom were affirmed to muster in +arms by beat of drum. In time of examinations and trials, they +declared that such a man was wont to call them together from all +quarters to witch-meetings with the sound of a diabolical trumpet.</p> + +<p>4. Being brought to see the prisoners at the bar upon their trials, +they did affirm in open court (I was then present), that they had +oftentimes seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.536" id="Page_ii.536">[ii.536]</a></span> them at witch-meetings, where was feasting, dancing, +and jollity, as also at Devil-sacraments; and particularly that they +saw such a man —— amongst the rest of the cursed crew, and affirmed +that he did administer the sacrament of Satan to them, encouraging +them to go on in their way, and they should certainly prevail. They +said also that such a woman —— was a deacon, and served in +distributing the diabolical elements: they affirmed that there were +great numbers of the witches.</p> + +<p>5. They affirmed that many of those wretched souls had been baptized +at Newbury Falls, and at several other rivers and ponds; and, as to +the manner of administration, the great Officer of Hell took them up +by the body, and, putting their heads into the water, said over them, +"Thou art mine, I have full power over thee:" and thereupon they +engaged and covenanted to renounce God, Christ, their sacred baptism, +and the whole way of Gospel salvation, and to use their utmost +endeavors to oppose the kingdom of Christ, and to set up and advance +the kingdom of Satan.</p> + +<p>6. Some, after they had confessed, were very penitent, and did wring +their hands, and manifest a distressing sense of what they had done, +and were by the mercies of God recovered out of those snares of the +kingdom of darkness.</p> + +<p>7. Several have confessed against their own mothers, that they were +instruments to bring them into the Devil's covenant, to the undoing of +them, body and soul; and some girls of eight or nine years of age did +declare, that, after they were so betrayed by their mothers to the +power of Satan, they saw the Devil go in their own shapes to afflict +others.</p> + +<p>8. Some of those that confessed were immediately afflicted at a +dreadful rate, after the same manner with the other sufferers.</p> + +<p>9. Some of them confessed, that they did afflict the sufferers +according to the time and manner they were accused thereof; and, being +asked what they did to afflict them, some said that they pricked pins +into poppets made with rags, wax, and other materials: one that +confessed after the signing the death-warrant said she used to afflict +them by clutching and pinching her hands together, and wishing in what +part and after what manner she would have them afflicted, and it was +done.</p> + +<p>10. They confessed the design was laid by this witchcraft to root out +the interest of Christ in New England, and that they began at the +Village in order to settling the kingdom of darkness and the powers +thereof; declaring that such a man —— was to be head conjurer, and +for his activity in that affair was to be crowned king of hell, and +that such a woman —— was to be queen of hell.</p> + +<p>Thus I have given my reader a brief and true account of those fearful +and amazing operations and intrigues of the Prince of Darkness: and I +must call them so; for, let some persons be as incredulous as they +please about the powerful and malicious influence of evil angels upon +the minds and bodies of mankind, <i>sure I am</i> none that observed those +things above mentioned could refer them to any other head than the +sovereign permission of the holy God,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.537" id="Page_ii.537">[ii.537]</a></span> and the malicious operations of +his and our implacable enemy. I have here related nothing more than +what was acknowledged to be true by the judges that sat on the bench, +and other credible persons there, which I have without prejudice or +partiality represented.</p> + +<p>I therefore close all with my uncessant prayers, that the great and +everlasting Jehovah would, for the sake of his blessed Son, our most +glorious intercessor, rebuke Satan, and so vanquish him, from time to +time, that his power may be more and more every day suppressed, his +kingdom destroyed; and that all his malicious and accursed instruments +in those spiritual wickednesses may gnash their teeth, melt away, and +be ashamed in their secret places, till they come to be judged and +condemned unto the place of everlasting burnings prepared for the +Devil and his angels, that they may there be tormented with him for +ever and ever.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.538" id="Page_ii.538">[ii.538]</a></span></p> + +<h3>III.</h3> + +<h3>LETTER FROM R.P. TO JONATHAN CORWIN.</h3> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Salisbury</span>, Aug. 9, 1692.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Honored Sir</span>,—According as in my former to you I hinted that +I held myself obliged to give you some farther account of my rude +though solemn thoughts of that great case now before you, the happy +management whereof do so much conduce to the glory of God, the safety +and tranquillity of the country, besides what I have said in my former +and the enclosed, I further humbly present to consideration the +doubtfulness and unsafety of admitting spectre testimony against the +life of any that are of blameless conversation, and plead innocent, +from the uncertainty of them and the incredulity of them; for as for +diabolical visions, apparitions, or representations, they are more +commonly false and delusive than real, and cannot be known when they +are real and when feigned, but by the Devil's report; and then not to +be believed, because he is the father of lies.</p> + +<p>1. Either the organ of the eye is abused and the senses deluded, so as +to think they do see or hear some thing or person, when indeed they do +not, and this is frequent with common jugglers.</p> + +<p>2. The Devil himself appears in the shape and likeness of a person or +thing, when it is not the person or thing itself; so he did in the +shape of Samuel.</p> + +<p>3. And sometimes persons or things themselves do really appear, but +how it is possible for any one to give a true testimony, which +possibly did see neither shape nor person, but were deluded; and if +they did see any thing, they know not whether it was the person or but +his shape. All that can be rationally or truly said in such a case is +this,—that I did see the shape or likeness of such a person, if my +senses or eyesight were not deluded: and they can honestly say no +more, because they know no more (except the Devil tells them more); +and if he do, they can but say he told them so. But the matter is +still incredible: first, because it is but their saying the Devil told +them so; if he did so tell them, yet the verity of the thing remains +still unproved, because the Devil was a liar and a murtherer (John +viii. 44), and may tell these lies to murder an innocent person.</p> + +<p>But this case seems to be solved by an assertion of some, that affirm +that the Devil do not or cannot appear in the shape of a godly person, +to do hurt: others affirm the contrary, and say that he can and often +have so done, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.539" id="Page_ii.539">[ii.539]</a></span> which they give many instances for proof of what +they say; which if granted, the case remains yet unsolved, and yet the +very hinge upon which that weighty case depends. To which I humbly +say: First, That I do lament that such a point should be so needful to +be determined, which seems not probable, if possible, to be determined +to infallible satisfaction for want of clear Scripture to decide it +by, though very rational to be believed according to rules; as, for +instance, if divers examples are alleged of the shape of persons that +have been seen, of whom there is ample testimony that they lived and +died in the faith, yet, saith the objecter, 'tis possible they may be +hypocrites, therefore the proof not infallible: and as it may admit of +such an objection against the reasons given on the affirmative, much +more may the same objection be made against the negative, for which +they can or do give no reason at all, nor can a negative be proved +(therefore difficult to be determined to satisfy infallibly); but, +seeing it must be discussed, I humbly offer these few words: First, I +humbly conceive that the saints on earth are not more privileged in +that case than the saints in heaven; but the Devil may appear in the +shape of a saint in heaven, namely, in the shape of Samuel (1 Sam. +xxviii. 13, 14); therefore he can or may represent the shape of a +saint that is upon the earth. Besides, there may be innocent persons +that are not saints, and their innocency ought to be their security, +as well as godly men's; and I hear nobody question but the Devil may +take their shape.</p> + +<p>Secondly, It doth not hurt any man or woman to present the shape or +likeness of an innocent person, more than for a limner or carver to +draw his picture, and show it, if he do not in that form do some evil +(nor then neither), if the laws of man do not oblige him to suffer for +what the Devil doth in his shape, the laws of God do not.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, The Devil had power, by God's permission, to take the very +person of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the day or time of his +humiliation, and carry him from place to place, and tempted him with +temptations of horrid blasphemy, and yet left him innocent. Why may we +not suppose the like may be done to a good man? And why not much more +appear in his shape (or make folk think it is his shape, when indeed +it is not), and yet the person be innocent, being far enough off, and +not knowing of it, nor would consent if he had known it, his +profession and conversation being otherwise?</p> + +<p>Fourthly, I suppose 'tis granted by all, that the person of one that +is dead cannot appear, because the soul and body are separated, and so +the person is dissolved, and so ceaseth to be: and it is as certain +that the person of the living cannot be in two places at one time, but +he that is at Boston cannot be at Salem or Cambridge at the same time; +but as the malice and envy in the Devil makes it his business to seek +whom he may devour, so no question but he doth infuse the same quality +into those that leave Jesus Christ to embrace him, that they do envy +those that are innocent, and upon that account be as ready to say and +swear that they did see them as the Devil is to present their shape to +them. Add but this also, that, when they are once under his power, he +puts them on headlong (they must needs go whom the Devil drives, +saith<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.540" id="Page_ii.540">[ii.540]</a></span> the proverb), and the reason is clear,—because they are taken +captive by him, to do his will. And we see, by woful and undeniable +experience, both in the afflicted persons and the confessors, some of +them, that he torments them at his pleasure, to force them to accuse +others. Some are apt to doubt they do but counterfeit; but, poor +souls! I am utterly of another mind, and I lament them with all my +heart; but, take which you please, the case is the same as to the main +issue. For, if they counterfeit, the wickedness is the greater in +them, and the less in the Devil: but if they be compelled to it by the +Devil, against their wills, then the sin is the Devil's, and the +sufferings theirs; but if their testimonies be allowed of, to make +persons guilty by, the lives of innocent persons are alike in danger +by them, which is the solemn consideration that do disquiet the +country.</p> + +<p>Now, that the only wise God may so direct you in all, that he may have +glory, the country peace and safety, and your hands strengthened in +that great work, is the desire and constant prayer of your humble +servant, R.P., who shall no further trouble you at present.</p> + +<p><i>Position.</i>—That to put a witch to death is the command of God, and +therefore the indispensable duty of man,—namely, the magistrate (Ex. +xxii. 18); which, granted, resolves two questions that I have heard +made by some:—</p> + +<p>First, Whether there are any such creatures as witches in the world. +Secondly, If there be, whether they can be known to be such by men: +both which must be determined on the affirmative, or else that +commandment were in vain.</p> + +<p><i>Position Second.</i>—That it must be witches that are put to death, and +not innocent persons: "Thou shalt not condemn the innocent nor the +righteous" (Ex. xxiii. 7).</p> + +<p><i>Query.</i>—Which premised, it brings to this query,—namely, how a +witch may be known to be a witch.</p> + +<p><i>Answer.</i>—First, By the mouth of two or three witnesses (Deut xix. +15; Matt. xviii. 16; Deut. xvii. 6). Secondly, They may be known by +their own confession, being <i>compos mentis</i>, and not under horrid +temptation to self-murther (2 Sam. xvi.; Josh. vii. 16).</p> + +<p><i>Query Second.</i>—What is it that those two or three witnesses must +swear? Must they swear that such a person is a witch? Will that do the +thing, as is vulgarly supposed?</p> + +<p><i>Answer.</i>—I think that is too unsafe to go by, as well as hard to be +done by the advised: First, because it would expose the lives of all +alike to the pleasure or passion of those that are minded to take them +away; secondly, because that, in such a testimony, the witnesses are +not only informers in matter of fact, but sole judges of the +crime,—which is the proper work of the judges, and not of witnesses.</p> + +<p><i>Query Third.</i>—What is it that the witnesses must testify in the +case, to prove one to be a witch?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.541" id="Page_ii.541">[ii.541]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Answer.</i>—They must witness the person did put forth some act which, +if true, was an act of witchcraft, or familiarity with the Devil, the +witness attest the fact to be upon his certain knowledge, and the +judges to judge that fact to be such a crime.</p> + +<p><i>Query Fourth.</i>—What acts are they which must be proved to be +committed by a person, that shall be counted legal proof of +witchcraft, or familiarity with the Devil?</p> + +<p><i>Answer.</i>—This I do profess to be so hard a question, for want of +light from the Word of God and laws of men, that I do not know what to +say to it; and therefore humbly conceive, that, in such a difficulty, +it may be more safe, for the present, to let a guilty person live till +further discovery, than to put an innocent person to death.</p> + +<p>First, Because a guilty person may afterward be discovered, and so put +to death; but an innocent person to be put to death cannot be brought +again to life when once dead.</p> + +<p>Secondly, Because secret things belong to God only, but revealed +things to us and to our children. And though it be so difficult +sometimes, yet witches there are, and may be known by some acts or +other put forth by them, that may render them such; for Scripture +examples, I can remember but few in the Old Testament, besides Balaam +(Num. xxii. 6, xxxi. 16).</p> + +<p>First, The sorcerers of Egypt could not tell the interpretation of +Pharaoh's dream, though he told them his dream (Gen. xli. 8): his +successors afterwards had sorcerers, that by enchantments did, first, +turn their rods into serpents (Exod. vii. 11, 12); second, turned +water into blood; thirdly, brought frogs upon the land of Egypt (Exod. +viii. 7).</p> + +<p>Thirdly, Nebuchadnezzar's magicians said that they would tell him the +interpretation, if he would tell them his dream (Dan. iv. 7); but the +king did not believe them (ver. 8, 9).</p> + +<p>Fourthly, The Witch of Endor raised the Devil, in the likeness of +Samuel, to tell Saul his fortune; and Saul made use of him accordingly +(1 Sam. xxviii. 8, 11-15); and, as for New Testament, I see very +little of that nature. Our Lord Jesus Christ did cast out many devils, +and so did his disciples, both while he was upon earth and afterward, +of which some were dreadfully circumstanced (Mark ix. 18; Mark v. +2-5); but of witches, we only read of four mentioned in the apostles' +time: first, Simon Magus (Acts viii. 9, 11); secondly, Elymas the +sorcerer (Acts xiii. 6, 8); thirdly, the seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, +that were vagabond Jews,—exorcists (Acts xix. 13-16); fourthly, the +girl which, by a spirit of divination, brought her master much gain +(Acts xvi. 16), whether it were by telling fortunes or finding out +lost things, as our cunning men do, is not said; but something it was +that was done by that spirit which was in her, which, being cast out, +she could not do. Now, whatever was done by any of these, by the help +of the Devil, or by virtue of familiarity with him, or that the Devil +did do by their consent or instigation, it is that which, the like +being now proved to be done by others, is legal conviction of +witchcraft, or familiarity with the Devil.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.542" id="Page_ii.542">[ii.542]</a></span></p> + +<p>As I remember, Mr. Perkins apprehends witchcraft may be sometimes +committed by virtue of an implicit covenant with the Devil, though +there be not explicit covenant visibly between them; namely, by using +such words and gestures whereby they do intimate to the Devil what +they would have him do, and he doth it.</p> + +<p>3. To tell events contingent, or to bring any thing to pass by +supernatural means, or by no means.</p> + +<p>I have heard of some that make a circle, and mumble over some uncouth +words; and some that have been spiteful and suspicious persons, that +have sent for a handful of thatch from the house or barn of him that +they have owed a spite to, and the house have been burnt as they had +burnt the thatch that they fetched.</p> + +<p>When Captain Smith was cast away in the ship built by Mr. Stevens at +Gloucester, many years ago, it was said that the woman that was +accused for doing it did put a dish in a pail of water, and sent her +girl several times to see the motion of the dish, till at last it was +turned over, and then the woman said, "Now Smith is gone," <i>or</i> "is +cast away."</p> + +<p>A neighbor of mine, who was a Hampshire man, told me that a suspected +woman desired something of some of the family, which being denied, she +either muttered or threatened, and some evil suddenly followed, and +they put her into a cart to carry her to Winchester; and, when they +had gone a little way, the team could not move the cart, though in +plain ground. The master commanded to carry a knitch of straw, and +burn her in the cart; which to avoid, she said they should go along, +and they did. This they did several times before they came to +Winchester, of which passages the men that went with her gave their +oaths, and she was executed.</p> + +<p>Some have been transformed into dogs, cats, hares, hogs, and other +creatures; and in those shapes have sometimes received wounds which +have made them undeniably guilty, and so confessed. Sometimes having +their imps sucking them, or infallible tokens that they are sucked, in +the search of which great caution to be given, because of some +superfluities of nature, and diseases that people are incident unto, +as the piles, &c., of which the judges are, upon the testimony of the +witnesses, to determine what of crime is proved by any of these +circumstances, with many other, in which God is pleased many times, by +some overt acts, to bring to light that secret wickedness to apparent +conviction, sometimes by their own necessitated confession, whereby +those that he hath commanded to be put to death may be known to be +such, which, when known, then it is a duty to put them to death, and +not before, though they were as guilty before as then.</p> + +<p>There are two queries more with respect to what is proper to us in +this juncture of time, of which we have no account of the like being +common at other times, or in other places; namely, these,—</p> + +<p><i>Query Fifth.</i>—The fifth query is, what we are to think of those +persons at Salem, or the Village, before whom people are brought for +detection, or otherwise to be concerned with them, in order to their +being apprehended or acquitted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.543" id="Page_ii.543">[ii.543]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Answer</i>.—That I am, of all men, the least able to give any +conjecture about it, because I do not know it, having myself never +seen it, nor know nothing of it but by report, in which there must be +supposed a possibility of some mistake, in part or in whole; but that +which I have here heard is this: First, That they do tell who are +witches, of which some they know, and some they do not. Secondly, They +tell who did torment such and such a person, though they know not the +person. Thirdly, They are tormented themselves by the looks of persons +that are present, and recovered again by the touching of them. +Fourthly, That, if they look to them, they fall down tormented; but, +if the persons accused look from them, they recover, or do not fall +into that torment. Fifthly, They can tell when a person is coming +before they see them, and what clothes they have, and some what they +have done for several years past, which nobody else ever accused them +with, nor do not yet think them guilty of. Sixthly, That the dead out +of their graves do appear unto them, and tell them that they have been +murdered, and require them to see them to be revenged on the +murtherers, which they name to them; some of which persons are well +known to die their natural deaths, and publicly buried in the sight of +all men. Now, if these things be so, I thus affirm,—</p> + +<p>First, That whatsoever is done by them that is supernatural, is either +divine or diabolical.</p> + +<p>Secondly, That nothing is, or can be, divine, but what have God's +stamp upon it, to which he refers for trial (Isa. viii. 19, 20): "If +they speak not according to these, there is no light in them."</p> + +<p>Thirdly, And by that rule none of these actions of theirs have any +warrant in God's word, but condemned wholly.</p> + +<p>First, It is utterly unlawful to inquire of the dead, or to be +informed by them (Isa. viii. 19). It was an act of the Witch of Endor +to raise the dead, and of a reprobate Saul to inquire of him (1 Sam. +xxviii. 8, 11-14; Deut. xviii. 11).</p> + +<p>Secondly, It is a like evil to seek to them that have familiar spirits +(Lev. xix. 31). It was the sin of Saul in the forementioned place (1 +Sam. xxviii. 8); and of wicked Manasses (2 Kings, xxi. 6).</p> + +<p>Thirdly, No more is it likely that their racking and tormenting should +be done by God or good angels, but by the Devil, whose manner have +ever been to be so employed. Witness his dealing with the poor child +(Mark ix. 17, 19, 20-22); and with the man that was possessed by him +(Mark v. 2-5); besides what he did to Job (Job ii. 7); and all the +lies that he told against him to the very face of God.</p> + +<p>Fourthly, The same may be rationally said of all the rest. Who should +tell them things that they do not see, but the Devil; especially when +some things that they tell are false and mistaken?</p> + +<p><i>Query Sixth</i>.—These things premised, it now comes to the last and +greatest question or query; namely, How shall it be known when the +Devil do any of these acts of his own proper motion, without human +concurrence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.544" id="Page_ii.544">[ii.544]</a></span> consent, or instigation, and when he doth it by the +suggestion or consent of any person? This question, well resolved, +would do our business.</p> + +<p>First, That the Devil can do acts supernatural without the furtherance +of him by human consent or concurrence; but men or women cannot do +them without the help of the Devil (must be granted). That granted, it +follows, that the Devil is always the doer, but whether abetted in it +by anybody is uncertain.</p> + +<p>Secondly, Will it be sufficient for the Devil himself to say such a +man or woman set him a work to torment such a person by looking upon +him? Is the Devil a competent witness in such a case?</p> + +<p>Thirdly, Or are those that are tormented by him legal witnesses to say +that the Devil doth it by the procurement of such a person, whenas +they know nothing about it but what comes to them from the Devil (that +torments them)?</p> + +<p>Fourthly, May we believe the witches that do accuse any one because +they say so (can the fruit be better than the tree)? If the root of +all their knowledge be the Devil, what must their testimony be?</p> + +<p>Fifthly, Their testimony may be legal against themselves, because they +know what themselves do, but cannot know what another doth but by +information from the Devil: I mean in such cases when the person +accused do deny it, and his conversation is blameless (Prov. xviii. 5; +Prov. xix. 5).</p> + +<p>First, It is directly contrary to the use of reason, the law of +nature, and principles of humanity, to deny it, and plead innocent, +when accused of witchcraft, and yet, at the same time, to be acting +witchcraft in the sight of all men, when they know their lives lie at +stake by doing it. Self-interest teaches every one better.</p> + +<p>Secondly, It is contrary to the Devil's nature, or common practice, to +accuse witches. They are a considerable part of his kingdom, which +would fall, if divided against itself (Matt. xii. 26); except we think +he that spake the words understood not what he said (which were +blasphemy to think); or that those common principles or maxims are now +changed; or that the Devil have changed his nature, and is now become +a reformer to purge out witches out of the world, out of the country, +and out of the churches; and is to be believed, though a liar and a +murtherer from the beginning, and also though his business is going +about continually, seeking whom he may destroy (1 Pet. v. 8); and his +peculiar subject of his accusation are the brethren: called the +accuser of the brethren.</p> + +<p><i>Objection.</i>—God do sometimes bring things to light by his providence +in a way extraordinary.</p> + +<p><i>Answer.</i>—It is granted God have so done, and brought hidden things +to light, which, upon examination, have been proved or confessed, and +so the way is clear for their execution; but what is that to this +case, where the Devil is accuser and witness?</p> + + +<p> </p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.545" id="Page_ii.545">[ii.545]</a></span></p> + +<h3>IV.</h3> + +<h3>EXTRACTS FROM MR. PARRIS'S CHURCH RECORDS.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[The following passages are taken from the records of the +Salem Village Church, as specimens of Mr. Parris's style of +narrative in that interesting document, and as shedding some +light upon the subject of these volumes:—]</p></div> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sab</span>: 4 Nov. [1694].—After sermon in the afternoon, it was +propounded to the brethren, whether the church ought not to inquire +again of our dissenting brethren after the reason of their dissent. +Nothing appearing from any against it, it was put to vote, and carried +in the affirmative (by all, as far as I know, except one brother, +Josh: Rea), that Brother Jno. Tarbell should, the next Lord's Day, +appear and give in his reasons in public; the contrary being +propounded, if any had aught to object against it. But no dissent was +manifested; and so Brother Nathaniel Putnam and Deacon Ingersoll were +desired to give this message from the church to the said Brother +Tarbell.</p> + +<p>Sab: 11 Nov.—Before the evening blessing was pronounced, Brother +Tarbell was openly called again and again; but, he not appearing, +application was made to the abovesaid church's messengers for his +answer: whereupon said Brother Putnam reported that the said Brother +Tarbell told him he did not know how to come to us on a Lord's Day, +but desired rather that he might make his appearance some week-day. +Whereupon the congregation was dismissed with the blessing: and the +church stayed, and, by a full vote, renewed their call of said Brother +Tarbell to appear the next Lord's Day for the ends abovesaid; and +Deacon Putnam and Brother Jonathan Putnam were desired to be its +messengers to the said dissenting brother.</p> + +<p>Sab: 18 Nov.—The said brother came in the afternoon; and, after +sermon, he was asked the reasons for his withdrawing: whereupon he +produced a paper, which he was urged to deliver to the pastor to +communicate to the church; but he refused it, asking who was the +church's mouth. To which, when he was answered, "The pastor," he +replied, Not in this case, because his offence was with him. The +pastor demanded whether he had offence against any of the church +besides the pastor. He answered, "No." So at length we suffered a +non-member, Mr. Jos: Hutchinson, to read it. After<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.546" id="Page_ii.546">[ii.546]</a></span> which the pastor +read openly before the whole congregation his overtures for peace and +reconciliation. After which said Tarbell, seemingly (at least) much +affected, said, that, if half so much had been said formerly, it had +never come to this. But he added that others also were dissatisfied +besides himself: and therefore he desired opportunity that they might +come also, which was immediately granted; viz., the 26 instant, at two +o'clock.</p> + +<p>26 Nov.—At the public meeting above appointed at the meeting-house, +after the pastor had first sought the grace of God with us in prayer, +he then summed up to the church and congregation (among which were +several strangers) the occasion of our present assembling, as is +hinted the last meeting. Then seeing, together with Brother Tarbell, +two more of our dissenting brethren, viz., Sam: Nurse, and Thomas +Wilkins (who had, to suit their designs, placed themselves in a seat +conveniently together), the church immediately, to save further +sending for them, voted that said Brother Wilkins and Brother Nurse +should now, together with Brother Tarbell, give in their reasons of +withdrawing from the church. Then the pastor applied himself to all +these three dissenters, pressing the church's desire upon them. So +they produced a paper, which they much opposed the coming into the +pastor's hands, and his reading of it; but at length they yielded to +it. Whilst the paper was reading, Brother Nurse looked upon another +(which he said was the original): and, after it was read throughout, +he said it was the same with what he had. Their paper was as +followeth:—</p> + +<p>"The reasons why we withdraw from communion with the church of Salem +Village, both as to hearing the word preached, and from partaking with +them at the Lord's Table, are as followeth:—</p> + +<p>"1. Why we attend not on public prayer and preaching the word, these +are, (1.) The distracting and disturbing tumults and noises made by +the persons under diabolical power and delusions, preventing sometimes +our hearing and understanding and profiting of the word preached; we +having, after many trials and experiences, found no redress in this +case, accounted ourselves under a necessity to go where we might hear +the word in quiet. (2.) The apprehensions of danger of ourselves being +accused as the Devil's instruments to molest and afflict the persons +complaining, we seeing those whom we had reason to esteem better than +ourselves thus accused, blemished, and of their lives bereaved, +foreseeing this evil, thought it our prudence to withdraw. (3.) We +found so frequent and positive preaching up some principles and +practices by Mr. Parris, referring to the dark and dismal mysteries of +iniquity working amongst us, as was not profitable, but offensive. +(4.) Neither could we, in conscience, join with Mr. Parris in many of +the requests which he made in prayer, referring to the trouble then +among us and upon us; therefore thought it our most safe and peaceable +way to withdraw.</p> + +<p>"2. The reasons why we hold not communion with them at the Lord's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.547" id="Page_ii.547">[ii.547]</a></span> +Table are, first, we esteem ourselves justly aggrieved and offended +with the officer who doth administer, for the reasons following: (1.) +From his declared and published principles, referring to our +molestation from the invisible world, differing from the opinion of +the generality of the Orthodox ministers of the whole country. (2.) +His easy and strong faith and belief of the affirmations and +accusations made by those they call the afflicted. (3.) His laying +aside that grace which, above all, we are required to put on; namely, +charity toward his neighbors, and especially towards those of his +church, when there is no apparent reason for the contrary. (4.) His +approving and practising unwarrantable and ungrounded methods for +discovering what he was desirous to know referring to the bewitched or +possessed persons, as in bringing some to others, and by and from them +pretending to inform himself and others who were the Devil's +instruments to afflict the sick and pained. (5.) His unsafe and +unaccountable oath, given by him against sundry of the accused. (6.) +His not rendering to the world so fair, if true, an account of what he +wrote on examination of the afflicted. (7.) Sundry unsafe, if sound, +points of doctrine delivered in his preaching, which we esteem not +warrantable, if Christian. (8.) His persisting in these principles, +and justifying his practices, not rendering any satisfaction to us +when regularly desired, but rather further offending and dissatisfying +ourselves.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"> +"<span class="smcap">John Tarbell</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Tho: Wilkins</span>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sam: Nurse.</span>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>When the pastor had read these charges, he asked the dissenters above +mentioned whether they were offended with none in the church besides +himself. They replied, that they articled against none else. Then the +officer asked them if they withdrew from communion upon account of +none in the church besides himself. They answered, that they withdrew +only upon my account. Then I read them my "Meditations for Peace," +mentioned 18 instant; viz.:—</p> + +<p>"Forasmuch as it is the undoubted duty of all Christians to pursue +peace (Ps. xxxiv. 14), even unto a reaching of it, if it be possible +(Rom. xii. 18, 19); and whereas, through the righteous, sovereign, and +awful Providence of God, the Grand Enemy to all Christian peace has, +of late, been most tremendously let loose in divers places hereabouts, +and more especially amongst our sinful selves, not only to interrupt +that partial peace which we did sometimes enjoy, but also, through his +wiles and temptations and our weaknesses and corruptions, to make +wider breaches, and raise more bitter animosities between too many of +us, in which dark and difficult dispensation we have been all, or most +of us, of one mind for a time, and afterwards of differing +apprehensions, and, at last, are but in the dark,—upon serious +thoughts of all, and after many prayers, I have been moved to present +to you (my beloved flock) the following particulars, in way of +contribution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.548" id="Page_ii.548">[ii.548]</a></span> towards a regaining of Christian concord (if so be we +are not altogether unappeasable, irreconcilable, and so destitute of +the good spirit which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy +to be entreated, James iii. 17); viz., (1.) In that the Lord ordered +the late horrid calamity (which afterwards, plague-like, spread in +many other places) to break out first in my family, I cannot but look +upon as a very sore rebuke, and humbling providence, both to myself +and mine, and desire so we may improve it. (2.) In that also in my +family were some of both parties, viz., accusers and accused, I look +also upon as an aggravation of the rebuke, as an addition of wormwood +to the gall. (3.) In that means were used in my family (though totally +unknown to me or mine, except servants, till afterwards) to raise +spirits and create apparitions in no better than a diabolical way, I +do look upon as a further rebuke of Divine Providence. And by all, I +do humbly own this day, before the Lord and his people, that God has +been righteously spitting in my face (Num. xii. 14). And I desire to +lie low under all this reproach, and to lay my hand upon my mouth. +(4.) As to the management of those mysteries, as far as concerns +myself, I am very desirous (upon farther light) to own any errors I +have therein fallen into, and can come to a discerning of. In the mean +while, I do acknowledge, upon after-considerations, that, were the +same troubles again, (which the Lord, of his rich mercy, for ever +prevent), I should not agree with my former apprehensions in all +points; as, for instance, (1.) I question not but God sometimes +suffers the Devil (as of late) to afflict in the shape of not only +innocent but pious persons, or so delude the senses of the afflicted +that they strongly conceit their hurt is from such persons, when, +indeed, it is not. (2.) The improving of one afflicted to inquire by, +who afflicts the others, I fear may be, and has been, unlawfully used, +to Satan's great advantage. (3.) As to my writing, it was put upon me +by authority; and therein I have been very careful to avoid the +wronging of any (<i>a</i>). (4). As to my oath, I never meant it, nor do I +know how it can be otherwise construed, than as vulgarly and every one +understood; yea, and upon inquiry, it may be found so worded also. +(5.) As to any passage in preaching or prayer, in that sore hour of +distress and darkness, I always intended but due justice on each hand, +and that not according to man, but God (who knows all things most +perfectly), however, through weakness or sore exercise, I might +sometimes, yea, and possibly sundry times, unadvisedly expressed +myself. (6.) As to several that have confessed against themselves, +they being wholly strangers to me, but yet of good account with better +men than myself, to whom also they are well known, I do not pass so +much as a secret condemnation upon them; but rather, seeing God has so +amazingly lengthened out Satan's chain in this most formidable +outrage, I much more incline to side with the opinion of those that +have grounds to hope better of them. (7.) As to all that have unduly +suffered in these matters (either in their persons or relations), +through the clouds of human weakness, and Satan's wiles and sophistry, +I do truly sympathize with them; taking it for granted that such as +drew themselves clear of this great trans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.549" id="Page_ii.549">[ii.549]</a></span>gression, or that have +sufficient grounds so to look upon their dear friends, have hereby +been under those sore trials and temptations, that not an ordinary +measure of true grace would be sufficient to prevent a bewraying of +remaining corruption. (8.) I am very much in the mind, and abundantly +persuaded, that God (for holy ends, though for what in particular is +best known to himself) has suffered the evil angels to delude us on +both hands, but how far on the one side or the other is much above me +to say. And, if we cannot reconcile till we come to a full discerning +of these things, I fear we shall never come to agreement, or, at +soonest, not in this world. Therefore (9), in fine, The matter being +so dark and perplexed as that there is no present appearance that all +God's servants should be altogether of one mind, in all circumstances +touching the same, I do most heartily, fervently, and humbly beseech +pardon of the merciful God, through the blood of Christ, of all my +mistakes and trespasses in so weighty a matter; and also all your +forgiveness of every offence in this and other affairs, wherein you +see or conceive I have erred and offended; professing, in the presence +of the Almighty God, that what I have done has been, as for substance, +as I apprehended was duty,—however through weakness, ignorance, &c., +I may have been mistaken; I also, through grace, promising each of you +the like of me. And so again, I beg, entreat, and beseech you, that +Satan, the devil, the roaring lion, the old dragon, the enemy of all +righteousness, may no longer be served by us, by our envy and strifes, +where every evil work prevails whilst these bear sway (Isa. iii. +14-16); but that all, from this day forward, may be covered with the +mantle of love, and we may on all hands forgive each other heartily, +sincerely, and thoroughly, as we do hope and pray that God, for +Christ's sake, would forgive each of ourselves (Matt. xviii. 21 <i>ad +finem</i>; Col. iii. 12, 13). Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, +holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, +meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one +another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave +you, so also do ye (Eph. iv. 31, 32). Let all bitterness and wrath and +anger and clamor and evil-speaking be put away from you, with all +malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one +another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Amen, +amen.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Sam: Parris.</span></p> + +<p>"26 Nov., 1694."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[In the record, off against (a) as above, the following is +in Mr. Parris's writing:]</p></div> + +<p>(<i>a</i>) Added, by the desire of the council, this following paragraph; +viz., Nevertheless, I fear, that, in and through the throng of the +many things written by me, in the late confusions, there has not been +a due exactness always used; and, as I now see the inconveniency of my +writing so much on those difficult occasions, so I would lament every +error of such writings.—Apr. 3, 1695. Idem. S.P.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[The above passage (<i>a</i>) is inserted in a marginal space +left for it on a page containing the record of a meeting, +Nov. 26, 1694, while it is dated April 3, 1695, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.550" id="Page_ii.550">[ii.550]</a></span> +purports to be added "by the desire of the council," which +met at the last-named date. There are other indications, +that the record of Mr. Parris's controversy with the +dissatisfied brethren, consequent upon the proceedings in +1692, was made originally on separate sheets of paper, and +then compiled, and inscribed in the church-book, as it there +appears. There are several other entries, which refer to +dates ahead. He probably made out his record near the close +of the struggle which resulted in his dismission, and left +it, on the pages of the book, as his history of the case. +After giving his "Meditations for Peace," the record goes +on:—]</p></div> + +<p>After I had read these overtures abovesaid, I desired the brethren to +declare themselves whether they remained still dissatisfied. Brother +Tarbell answered, that they desired to consider of it, and to have a +copy of what I had read. I replied, that then they must subscribe +their reasons (above mentioned), for as yet they were anonymous: so at +length, with no little difficulty, I purchased the subscription of +their charges by my abovesaid overtures, which I gave, subscribed with +my name, to them, to consider of; and so this meeting broke up. Note +that, during this agitation with our dissenting brethren, they +entertained frequent whisperings with comers and goers to them and +from them; particularly Dan: Andrews, and Tho: Preston from Mr. Israel +Porter, and Jos: Hutchinson, &c.</p> + +<p>Nov. 30, 1694.—Brother Nurse and Brother Tarbell (bringing with them +Joseph Putnam and Tho: Preston) towards night came to my house, where +they found the two deacons and several other brethren; viz., Tho: +Putnam, Jno. Putnam, Jr., Benj. Wilkins, and Ezek: Cheever, besides +Lieutenant Jno. Walcot. And Brother Tarbell said they came to answer +my paper, which they had now considered of, and their answer was this; +viz., that they remained dissatisfied, and desired that the church +would call a council, according to the advice we had lately from +ministers.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[An account has been given, <a href="#Page_ii.493">p. 493</a>, of the attempts of the +"dissatisfied brethren" to procure a mutual council to +decide the controversy between them and Mr. Parris. On the +14th of June, 1694, a letter was addressed to him, advising +him to agree to the call of such a council, signed by John +Higginson, of the First Church in Salem; James Allen, of the +First Church in Boston; John Hale, of the church in Beverly; +Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church in Boston; Samuel +Cheever, of the church in Marblehead; and Joseph Gerrish, of +the church in Wenham. Nicholas Noyes joined in the advice, +"with this proviso, that he be not chosen one of the +council." Mr. Parris contrived to avoid following the +advice. On the 10th of September, Messrs. Higginson, Allen, +Willard, Cheever, and Gerrish again, in earnest and quite +peremptory terms, renewed their advice in another letter to +Mr. Parris. No longer venturing to resist their authority, +he yielded, and consented to a mutual council, upon certain +terms, one of which was, that neither of the churches whose +ministers had thus forced him to the measure should be of +the council. The following passages give the conclusion of +the matter, as related by Mr. Parris in his record-book:—]</p></div> + +<p>Feb. 12 [1695].—The church met again, as last agreed upon; and, after +a while, our dissenting brethren, Tho: Wilkins, Sam: Nurse, and Jno. +Tarbell, came also. After our constant way of begging the presence of +God with us,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.551" id="Page_ii.551">[ii.551]</a></span> we desired our dissenting brethren to acquaint us +whether they would accept of our last proposals, which they desired to +this day to consider of. They answered, that they were willing to drop +the six churches from whose elders we had had the advice abovesaid, +dated 14 June last; but they were not free to exclude Ipswich. This +they stuck unto long, and then desired that they might withdraw a +little to confer among themselves about it, which was granted. But +they quickly returned, as resolved for Ipswich as before. We desired +them to nominate the three churches they would have sent to: and, +after much debate, they did; viz., Rowley, Salisbury, and Ipswich. +Whereupon we voted, by a full consent, Rowley and Salisbury churches +for a part of the council, and desired them to nominate a third +church. But still they insisted on Ipswich, which we told them they +were openly informed, the last meeting, that we had excepted against. +Then they were told that we would immediately choose three other +churches to join with the two before nominated and voted, if they saw +not good to nominate any more; or else we would choose two other +churches to join with the aforesaid two, if they pleased. They +answered, they would be willing to that, if Ipswich might be one of +them. Then it was asked them, if a dismission to some other Orthodox +church, where they might better please themselves, would content them. +Brother Tarbell answered, "Ay, if we could find a way to remove our +livings too." Then it was propounded, whether we could not unite +amongst ourselves. The particular answer hereunto I remember not; but +(I think) such hints were given by them as if it were impossible. Thus +much time being gone, it being well towards sunset, and we concluding +that it was necessary that we should do something ourselves, if they +would not (as the elders had heretofore desired) accept of our joining +with them, we dismissed them; and, by a general agreement amongst +ourselves, read and voted letters to the churches at North Boston, +Weymouth, Maiden, and Rowley, for their help in a council.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[Mr. Parris's plan of finding refuge in an <i>ex-parte</i> +council was utterly frustrated. On the 1st of March, the +"reverend elders in the Bay accounted it advisable," as he +expresses it in his records, that the First Church and the +Old South Church in Boston should be added to the council. +They wrote to him to that effect, and he had to comply. This +brought James Allen and Samuel Willard into the council, and +determined the character of the result, which, coming from a +tribunal called by him to adjudicate the case, and hearing +only such evidence as he laid before it, so far as it bore +against him, was decisive and fatal. It was as follows:—]</p></div> + +<p>The elders and messengers of the churches—met in council at Salem +Village, April 3, 1695, to consider and determine what is to be done +for the composure of the present unhappy differences in that +place,—after solemn invocation of God in Christ for his direction, do +unanimously declare and advise as followeth:—</p> + +<p>I. We judge that, albeit in the late and the dark time of the +confusions, wherein Satan had obtained a more than ordinary liberty to +be sifting of this plantation, there were sundry unwarrantable and +uncomfortable steps taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.552" id="Page_ii.552">[ii.552]</a></span> by Mr. Samuel Parris, the pastor of the +church in Salem Village, then under the hurrying distractions of +amazing afflictions; yet the said Mr. Parris, by the good hand of God +brought unto a better sense of things, hath so fully expressed it, +that a Christian charity may and should receive satisfaction +therewith.</p> + +<p>II. Inasmuch as divers Christian brethren in the church of Salem +Village have been offended at Mr. Parris for his conduct in the time +of the difficulties and calamities which have distressed them, we now +advise them charitably to accept the satisfaction which he hath +tendered in his Christian acknowledgments of the errors therein +committed; yea, to endeavor, as far as 'tis possible, the fullest +reconciliation of their minds unto communion with him, in the whole +exercise of his ministry, and with the rest of the church (Matt. vi. +12-14; Luke xvii. 3; James v. 16).</p> + +<p>III. Considering the extreme trials and troubles which the +dissatisfied brethren in the church of Salem Village have undergone in +the day of sore temptation which hath been upon them, we cannot but +advise the church to treat them with bowels of much compassion, +instead of all more critical or rigorous proceedings against them, for +the infirmities discovered by them in such an heart-breaking day. And +if, after a patient waiting for it, the said brethren cannot so far +overcome the uneasiness of their spirits, in the remembrance of the +disasters that have happened, as to sit under his ministry, we advise +the church, with all tenderness, to grant them a dismission unto any +other society of the faithful whereunto they may desire to be +dismissed (Gal. vi. 1, 2; Ps. ciii. 13, 14; Job xix. 21).</p> + +<p>IV. Mr. Parris having, as we understand, with much fidelity and +integrity acquitted himself in the main course of his ministry since +he hath been pastor to the church in Salem Village, about his first +call whereunto, we look upon all contestations now to be both +unreasonable and unseasonable; and our Lord having made him a blessing +unto the souls of not a few, both old and young, in this place, we +advise that he be accordingly respected, honored, and supported, with +all the regards that are due to a painful minister of the gospel (1 +Thess. v. 12, 13; 1 Tim. v. 17).</p> + +<p>V. Having observed that there is in Salem Village a spirit full of +contentions and animosities, too sadly verifying the blemish which +hath heretofore lain upon them, and that some complaints brought +against Mr. Parris have been either causeless and groundless, or +unduly aggravated, we do, in the name and fear of the Lord, solemnly +warn them to consider, whether, if they continue to devour one +another, it will not be bitterness in the latter end; and beware lest +the Lord be provoked thereby utterly to deprive them of those which +they should account their precious and pleasant things, and abandon +them to all the desolations of a people that sin away the mercies of +the gospel (James iii. 16; Gal. v. 15; 2 Sam. ii. 26; Isa. v. 4, 5, 6; +Matt. xxi. 43).</p> + +<p>VI. If the distempers in Salem Village should be (which God forbid!) +so incurable, that Mr. Parris, after all, find that he cannot, with +any comfort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.553" id="Page_ii.553">[ii.553]</a></span> and service, continue in his present station, his removal +from thence will not expose him unto any hard character with us, nor, +we hope, with the rest of the people of God among whom we live (Matt. +x. 14; Acts xxii. 18).</p> + +<p>All which advice we follow with our prayers that the God of peace +would bruise Satan under our feet. Now, the Lord of peace himself give +you peace always by all means.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Increase Mather</span>, <i>Moderator</i>.</p> + +<table border="0" summary="signatures" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Joseph Bridgham.</span></td> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Ephraim Hunt.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Samuel Checkley.</span></td> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Nathll. Williams.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">William Torrey.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Phillips.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Joseph Boynton.</span></td> + <td> <span class="smcap">James Allen.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Richard Middlecot.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Torrey.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">John Walley.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Willard.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Jer: Dummer.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Edward Payson.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>*<span class="smcap">Nehemiah Jewet.</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Cotton Mather.</span></td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>[The names of the lay members of the Council are marked +thus, *. They were persons of high standing in civil life. +Samuel Checkley was not (as stated [<a href="#SUPPLEMENT">Supplement</a>, <a href="#Page_ii.494">p. 494</a>], +through an inadvertence, of which, I trust, not many such +instances can be found in these volumes) the Rev. Mr. +Checkley, but his father, Col. Samuel Checkley, a citizen of +Boston, of much prominence at the time.</p> + +<p>The foregoing document is skilfully drawn. While kindly in +its tone towards Mr. Parris, it is, in reality, a strong +condemnation of his course, especially in Article I., as +also in the paragraph marked (<i>a</i>), (<a href="#Page_ii.549">p. 549</a>), "added by the +desire of the Council" to his "Meditations for Peace." +Article III. discountenances the proceedings of his church +in its censure of "the dissatisfied brethren," and requires +that they should be recognized and treated as members in +good standing. The fifth article administers rebuke with an +equal hand to both sides, while the sixth and last +recommends the removal of Mr. Parris, if the alienation of +his opponents should prove "incurable."</p> + +<p>As an authoritative condemnation of the proceedings related +in this work, pronounced at the time, it is a fitting final +close of the presentation of this subject.]</p></div> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + +<p style="text-align: center"><a href="salem1-htm.html">Go to Volume I</a></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The double negative, as often used, merely intensified +the negation. See "Measure for Measure," act i. scene 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> In the innumerable depositions written by Thomas Putnam, +he is not so careful to be correct, in his chirography and +construction, as in his parish-records. But, if the reader is inclined +to make the experiment, he will find, that, if the above document +should be properly pointed and spelled, according to our fashion at +the present day, it would read well, and is clearly and forcibly put +together. Spelling, at that time, was phonetic, and it enables us to +ascertain the then prevalent pronunciation of words. "Corsely," no +doubt, shows how the word was then spoken. "Angury" was, with a large +class of words now dissyllables, then a trisyllable. "Tould," +"spaking," and many other words above, are spelled just as they were +then pronounced. "Wicthcraft" is always, I believe, spelled this way +by Thomas Putnam. He had not got rid of the old Anglo-Saxon sound of +the word "witch," brought by his father from Buckinghamshire, sixty +years before,—"wicca." +</p><p> +The condition of medical science and practice, at that period, is +curiously illustrated in this paper. It is plain that the distemper of +James Carr was purely in the realm of the sensibilities and fancy; and +"doctor Crosbe" is not wholly to blame because his "visek" did not +"work." A good smart nightmare, with a feeling that he had given a +thorough basting to the spectre, in the form of a cat, of the supposed +author of his woful and aggravated disappointment in love, was what he +needed; and it cured him. "A posset of sack" was Falstaff's refuge, +from the plight into which he had been led by "building upon a foolish +woman's promise," when he emerged from the Thames and the +"buck-basket." Many others, no doubt, in drowning sorrow and +mortification, have found it "the sovereignest thing on earth." But, +as administered by physicians of the Dr. Crosby school, with tobacco +steeped in it, it must have been a "villanous compound."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> A few days before her trial, Rebecca Nurse was subjected +to this inspection and exploration; and the jury of women found the +witch-mark upon her. On the 28th of June, two days before the meeting +of the Court, she addressed to that body the following +communication:— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>To the Honored Court of Oyer and Terminer, now sitting in +Salem, this 28th of June, Anno 1692.</i> +</p><p> +"The humble petition of Rebecca Nurse, of Salem Village, +humbly showeth: That whereas some women did search your +petitioner at Salem, as I did then conceive for some +supernatural mark; and then one of the said women, which is +known to be the most ancient, skilful, prudent person of +them all as to any such concern, did express herself to be +of a contrary opinion from the rest, and did then declare +that she saw nothing in or about Your Honor's poor +petitioner but what might arise from a natural cause,—I +there rendered the said persons a sufficient known reason as +to myself of the moving cause thereof, which was by +exceeding weaknesses, descending partly from an overture of +nature, and difficult exigencies that hath befallen me in +the times of my travails. And therefore your petitioner +humbly prays that Your Honors would be pleased to admit of +some other women to inquire into this great concern, those +that are most grave, wise, and skilful; namely, Mrs. +Higginson, Sr., Mrs. Buxton, Mrs. Woodbury,—two of them +being midwives, Mrs. Porter, together with such others as +may be chosen on that account, before I am brought to my +trial. All which I hope your honors will take into your +prudent consideration, and find it requisite so to do; for +my life lies now in your hands, under God. And, being +conscious of my own innocency, I humbly beg that I may have +liberty to manifest it to the world partly by the means +abovesaid. +</p><p> +"And your poor petitioner shall evermore pray, as in duty +bound, &c."</p></div> +<p> +Her daughters—Rebecca, wife of Thomas Preston; and Mary, wife of John +Tarbell—presented the following statement:— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We whose names are underwritten—can testify, if called to +it, that Goody Nurse hath been troubled with an infirmity of +body for many years, which the jury of women seem to be +afraid it should be something else."</p></div> +<p> +There is no intimation, in any of the papers, that the petition of the +mother or the deposition of her daughters received the least attention +from the Court.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> On the 19th of October, 1692, Thomas Hart, of Lynn, +presented a memorial to the General Court, stating that his mother, +Elizabeth Hart, had then been in Boston jail for nearly six months: +"Though, in all this time, nothing has appeared against her whereby to +render her deserving of imprisonment or death, ... being ancient, and +not able to undergo the hardship that is inflicted from lying in +misery, and death rather to be chosen than a life in her +circumstances." He says, that his father is "ancient and decrepit, and +wholly unable" to take any steps in her behalf; that he feels "obliged +by all Christian duty, as becomes a child to parents," to lay her case +before the General Court. "The petitioner having lived from his +childhood under the same roof with his mother, he dare presume to +affirm that he never saw nor knew any evil or sinful practice wherein +there was any show of impiety nor witchcraft by her; and, were it +otherwise, he would not, for the world and all the enjoyments thereof, +nourish or support any creature that he knew engaged in the drudgery +of Satan. It is well known to all the neighborhood, that the +petitioner's mother has lived a sober and godly life, always ready to +discharge the part of a good Christian, and never deserving of +afflictions from the hands of men for any thing of this nature." He +humbly prays "for the speedy enlargement of this person so much +abused." I present two more petitions. They help to fill up the +picture of the sufferings and hardships borne by individuals and +families. +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>To the Honored General Court now sitting in Boston, the +Humble Petition of Nicholas Rist, of Reading, showeth</i>, that +whereas Sara Rist, wife of the petitioner, was taken into +custody the first day of June last, and, ever since lain in +Boston jail for witchcraft; though, in all this time, +nothing has been made appear for which she deserved +imprisonment or death: the petitioner has been a husband to +the said woman above twenty years, in all which time he +never had reason to accuse her for any impiety or +witchcraft, but the contrary. She lived with him as a good, +faithful, dutiful wife, and always had respect to the +ordinances of God while her strength remained; and the +petitioner, on that consideration, is obliged in conscience +and justice to use all lawful means for the support and +preservation of her life; and it is deplorable, that, in old +age, the poor decrepit woman should lie under confinement so +long in a stinking jail, when her circumstances rather +require a nurse to attend her. +</p><p> +"May it, therefore, please Your Honors to take this matter +into your prudent consideration, and direct some speedy +methods whereby this ancient decrepit person may not for +ever lie in such misery, wherein her life is made more +afflictive to her than death." +</p><p> +"<i>The Humble Petition of Thomas Barrett, of Chelmsford, in +New England, in behalf of his daughter Martha Sparkes, wife +of Henry Sparkes, who is now a soldier in Their Majesties' +Service at the Eastern Parts, and so hath been for a +considerable time, humbly showeth</i>, That your petitioner's +daughter hath lain in prison in Boston for the space of +twelve months and five days, being committed by Thomas +Danforth, Esq., the late deputy-governor, upon suspicion of +witchcraft; since which no evidence hath appeared against +her in any such matter, neither hath any given bond to +prosecute her, nor doth any one at this day accuse her of +any such thing, as your petitioner knows of. That your +petitioner hath ever since kept two of her children; the one +of five years, the other of two years old, which hath been a +considerable trouble and charge to him in his poor and mean +condition: besides, your petitioner hath a lame, ancient, +and sick wife, who, for these five years and upwards past, +hath been so afflicted as that she is altogether rendered +uncapable of affording herself any help, which much augments +his trouble. Your poor petitioner earnestly and humbly +entreats Your Excellency and Honors to take his distressed +condition into your consideration; and that you will please +to order the releasement of his daughter from her +confinement, whereby she may return home to her poor +children to look after them, having nothing to pay the +charge of her confinement. +</p><p> +"And your petitioner, as in duty bound, shall ever pray. +</p><p> +"Nov. 1, 1692."</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> I know nothing more artful and jesuitical than his +attempts to avoid the reproach of having been active in carrying on +the delusion in Salem and elsewhere, and, at the same time, to keep up +such a degree of credulity and superstition in the minds of the people +as to render it easy to plunge them into it again at the first +favorable moment. In the following passages, he endeavors to escape +the odium that had been connected with the prosecutions:— +</p><p> +"The world knows how many pages I have composed and published, and +particular gentlemen in the government know how many letters I have +written, to prevent the excessive credit of spectral accusations. +</p><p> +"In short, I do humbly but freely affirm it, that there is not a man +living in this world, who has been more desirous than the poor man I +to shelter my neighbors from the inconveniences of spectral outcries: +yea, I am very jealous I have done so much that way as to sin in what +I have done; such have been the cowardice and fearfulness whereunto my +regard unto the dissatisfaction of other people has precipitated me. I +know a man in the world, who has thought he has been able to convict +some such witches as ought to die; but his respect unto the public +peace has caused him rather to try whether he could not renew them by +repentance." +</p><p> +In his Life of Sir William Phips, he endeavors to take the credit to +himself of having doubted the propriety of the proceedings while they +were in progress. This work was published without his name, in order +that he might commend himself with more freedom. The advice given by +the ministers of Boston and the vicinity to the government has been +spoken of. Cotton Mather frequently took occasion to applaud and +magnify the merit of this production. In one of his writings, he +speaks of "the gracious words" it contained. In his Life of Phips, he +thus modestly takes the credit of its authorship to himself: it was +"drawn up, at their (the ministers') desire, by Mr. Mather the +younger, as I have been informed." And, in order the more effectually +to give the impression that he was rather opposed to the proceedings, +he quotes those portions of the paper which recommended caution and +circumspection, leaving out those other passages in which it was +vehemently urged to carry the proceedings on "speedily and +vigorously." +</p><p> +This single circumstance is decisive of the disingenuity of Dr. +Mather. As it was the purpose of the government, in requesting the +advice of the ministers, to ascertain their opinion of the expediency +of continuing the prosecutions, it was a complete and deliberate +perversion and falsification of their answer to omit the passages +which encouraged the proceedings, and to record those only which +recommended caution and circumspection. The object of Mather in +suppressing the important parts of the document has, however, in some +measure been answered. As the "Magnalia," within which his Life of +Phips is embraced, is the usual and popular source of information and +reference respecting the topics of which it treats, the opinion has +prevailed, that the Boston ministers, especially "Mr. Mather the +younger," endeavored to prevent the transactions connected with the +trial and execution of the supposed witches. Unfortunately, however, +for the reputation of Cotton Mather, Hutchinson has preserved the +address of the ministers entire: and it appears that they approved, +applauded, and stimulated the prosecutions; and that the people of +Salem and the surrounding country were the victims of a delusion, the +principal promoters of which have, to a great degree, been sheltered +from reproach by the dishonest artifice, which has now been exposed. +</p><p> +But, like other ambitious and grasping politicians, he was anxious to +have the support of all parties at the same time. After making court +to those who were dissatisfied with the prosecutions, he thus commends +himself to all who approved of them:— +</p><p> +"And why, after all my unwearied cares and pains to rescue the +miserable from the lions and bears of hell which had seized them, and +after all my studies to disappoint the devils in their designs to +confound my neighborhood, must I be driven to the necessity of an +apology? Truly, the hard representations wherewith some ill men have +reviled my conduct, and the countenance which other men have given to +these representations, oblige me to give mankind some account of my +behavior. No Christian can (I say none but evil-workers can) criminate +my visiting such of my poor flock as have at any time fallen under the +terrible and sensible molestations of evil angels. Let their +afflictions have been what they will, I could not have answered it +unto my glorious Lord, if I had withheld my just comforts and counsels +from them; and, if I have also, with some exactness, observed the +methods of the invisible world, when they have thus become observable, +I have been but a servant of mankind in doing so: yea, no less a +person than the venerable Baxter has more than once or twice, in the +most public manner, invited mankind to thank me for that service." +</p><p> +In other passages, he thus continues to stimulate and encourage the +advocates of the prosecutions:— +</p><p> +"Wherefore, instead of all apish shouts and jeers at histories which +have such undoubted confirmation as that no man that has breeding +enough to regard the common laws of human society will offer to doubt +of them, it becomes us rather to adore the goodness of God, who does +not permit such things every day to befall us all, as he sometimes did +permit to befall some few of our miserable neighbors. +</p><p> +"And it is a very glorious thing that I have now to mention: The +devils have, with most horrid operations, broke in upon our +neighborhood; and God has at such a rate overruled all the fury and +malice of those devils, that all the afflicted have not only been +delivered, but, I hope, also savingly brought home unto God; and the +reputation of no one good person in the world has been damaged, but, +instead thereof, the souls of many, especially of the rising +generation, have been thereby awakened unto some acquaintance with +religion. Our young people, who belonged unto the praying-meetings, of +both sexes, apart, would ordinarily spend whole nights, by whole weeks +together, in prayers and psalms upon these occasions, in which +devotions the devils could get nothing but, like fools, a scourge for +their own backs: and some scores of other young people, who were +strangers to real piety, were now struck with the lively +demonstrations of hell evidently set forth before their eyes, when +they saw persons cruelly frighted, wounded and starved by devils, and +scalded with burning brimstone, and yet so preserved in this tortured +state, as that, at the end of one month's wretchedness, they were as +able still to undergo another; so that, of these also, it might now be +said, 'Behold, they pray.' In the whole, the Devil got just nothing, +but God got praises, Christ got subjects, the Holy Spirit got temples, +the church got additions, and the souls of men got everlasting +benefits. I am not so vain as to say that any wisdom or virtue of mine +did contribute unto this good order of things; but I am so just as to +say, I did not hinder this good." +</p><p> +I cannot, indeed, resist the conviction, that, notwithstanding all his +attempts to appear dissatisfied, after they had become unpopular, with +the occurrences in the Salem trials, he looked upon them with secret +pleasure, and would have been glad to have had them repeated in +Boston.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> The following is a statement of the loss inflicted upon +the estate of George Jacobs, Sr. The property of the son was utterly +destroyed. +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>An Account of what was seized and taken away from my +Father's Estate, George Jacobs, Sr., late of Salem, +deceased, by Sheriff Corwin and his Assistants in the year +1692.</i> +</p><p> +"When my said father was executed, and I was forced to fly +out of the country, to my great damage and distress of my +family, my wife and daughter imprisoned,—viz., my wife +eleven months, and my daughter seven months in prison,—it +cost them twelve pounds money to the officers, besides other +charges.</p> + <table border="0" summary="expenses" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>Five cows, fair large cattle, £3 per cow</td> + <td align="right">£ </td> + <td align="right">15</td> + <td align="right">00</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Eight loads of English hay taken out of the<br /> + barn, 35<i>s</i>. per + load</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 14</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 00</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>A parcel of apples that made 24 barrels cider<br /> + to halves; viz., 12 barrels cider, 8<i>s</i>. per barrel</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right"> +<span><br /> +4</span></td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 16</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0 </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sixty bushels of Indian corn, 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. per bushel</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">7</td> + <td align="right">10</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>A mare</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">2</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Two good feather beds, and furniture, rugs,<br /> + blankets, sheets, +bolsters and pillows</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 10</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Two brass kettles, cost</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">6</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Money, 12<i>s</i>.; a large gold thumb ring, 20<i>s</i>.</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">1</td> + <td align="right">12</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Five swine</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">3</td> + <td align="right">15</td> + <td align="right">0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>A quantity of pewter which I cannot exactly<br /> + know the worth, perhaps</td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 3</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0 </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td align="right"> </td> + <td align="right">—<br />67</td> + <td align="right">—<br />13</td> + <td align="right">—<br />0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Besides abundance of small things, meat in the house,<br /> + fowls, chairs, and other things took clear away</td> + <td align="right"><i><br /> + above</i></td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 12</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + <td align="right"><br /> + 0</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> +<br /> +</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="right">—<br />79<br />==</td> +<td align="right">—<br />13<br />==</td> +<td align="right">—<br />0<br />==</td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + +<p style="text-align: right">"<span class="smcap">George Jacobs</span>."</p></div> + +<p> +When Edward Bishop and his wife Sarah were arrested, household goods +which were valued by the sheriff himself at ten pounds,—he refusing +that sum for their restitution,—six cows, twenty-four swine, +forty-six sheep, were taken from his farm. The imprisonment of himself +and wife (prior to their escape) aggregated thirty-seven weeks. Ten +shillings a week for board, and other charges and prison fees +amounting to five pounds, were assessed upon his estate, and taken by +distraint. A family of twelve children was left without any to direct +or care for them, and the product of the farm for that year wholly cut +off. +</p><p> +There were taken from the estate of Samuel Wardwell, who was executed, +five cows, a heifer and yearling, a horse, nine hogs, eight loads of +hay, six acres of standing corn, and a set of carpenters' tools. From +the estate of Dorcas Hoar, a widow, there were taken two cows, an ox +and mare, four pigs, bed, bed-curtains and bedding, and other +household stuff. +</p><p> +Persons apprehended were made to pay all charges of every kind for +their maintenance, fuel, clothes, expenses of transportation from jail +to jail, and inexorable court and prison fees. The usual fee to the +clerk of the courts was £1. 17<i>s.</i> 5<i>d.</i>, sometimes more; sometimes, +although very rarely, a little less. He must have received a large +amount of money in the aggregate that year. The prisoners were charged +for every paper that was drawn up. If a reprieve was obtained, there +was a fee. When discharged, there was a fee. The expenses of the +executions, even hangmen's fees, were levied on the families of the +sufferers. Abraham Foster, whose mother died in prison, to get her +body for burial, had to pay £2. 10<i>s.</i> +</p><p> +When the value of money at that time is considered, and we bear in +mind that most of the persons apprehended were farmers, who have but +little cash on hand, and that these charges were levied on their +stock, crops, and furniture in their absence, and in the unrestrained +exercise of arbitrary will, by the sheriff or constables, we can judge +how utterly ruinous the operation must have been.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> Love's Labour's Lost, act v., sc. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> There are several other depositions in these cases, that +may perhaps be explained under the head of nightmare. The following +are specimens; that, for instance, of Robert Downer, of Salisbury, who +testifies and says,— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That, several years ago, Susanna Martin, the then wife of +George Martin, being brought to court for a witch, the said +Downer, having some words with her, this deponent, among +other things, told her he believed that she was a witch, by +what was said or witnessed against her; at which she, +seeming not well affected, said that a, or some, she-devil +would fetch him away shortly, at which this deponent was not +much moved; but at night, as he lay in his bed in his own +house, alone, there came at his window the likeness of a +cat, and by and by came up to his bed, took fast hold of his +throat, and lay hard upon him a considerable while, and was +like to throttle him. At length, he minded what Susanna +Martin threatened him with the day before. He strove what he +could, and said, 'Avoid, thou she-devil, in the name of the +Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost!' and then it let +him go, and jumped down upon the floor, and went out at the +window again."</p></div> +<p> +Susanna Martin, by the boldness and severity of her language, in +defending herself against the charge of witchcraft, had evidently, for +a long time, rendered herself an object of dread, and seems to have +disturbed the dreams of the superstitious throughout the neighborhood. +For instance, Jarvis Ring, of Salisbury, made oath as follows:— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That, about seven or eight years ago, he had been several +times afflicted, in the night-time, by some body or some +thing coming up upon him when he was in bed, and did sorely +afflict him by lying upon him; and he could neither move nor +speak while it was upon him, but sometimes made a kind of +noise that folks did hear him and come up to him; and, as +soon as anybody came, it would be gone. This it did for a +long time, both then and since, but he did never see anybody +clearly; but one time, in the night, it came upon me as at +other times, and I did then see the person of Susanna +Martin, of Amesbury. I, this deponent, did perfectly see +her; and she came to this deponent, and took him by the +hand, and bit him by the finger by force, and then came and +lay upon him awhile, as formerly, and after a while went +away. The print of the bite is yet to be seen on the little +finger of his right hand; for it was hard to heal. He +further saith, that several times he was asleep when it +came; but, at that time, he was as fairly awaked as ever he +was, and plainly saw her shape, and felt her teeth, as +aforesaid."</p></div> +<p> +Barnard Peach made oath substantially as follows:— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That about six or seven years past, being in bed on a +Lord's-day night, he heard a scrambling at the window, and +saw Susanna Martin come in at the window, and jump down upon +the floor. She was in her hood and scarf, and the same dress +that she was in before, at meeting the same day. Being come +in, she was coming up towards this deponent's face, but +turned back to his feet, and took hold of them, and drew up +his body into a heap, and lay upon him about an hour and a +half or two hours, in all which time this deponent could not +stir nor speak; but, feeling himself beginning to be +loosened or lightened, and he beginning to strive, he put +out his hand among the clothes, and took hold of her hand, +and brought it up to his mouth, and bit three of the fingers +(as he judges) to the breaking of the bones; which done, the +said Martin went out of the chamber, down the stairs, and +out of the door. The deponent further declared, that, on +another Lord's-day night, while sleeping on the hay in a +barn, about midnight the said Susanna Martin and another +came out of the shop into the barn, and one of them said, +'Here he is,' and then came towards this deponent. He, +having a quarter-staff, made a blow at them; but the roof of +the barn prevented it, and they went away: but this deponent +followed them, and, as they were going towards the window, +made another blow at them, and struck them both down; but +away they went out at the shop-window, and this deponent saw +no more of them. And the rumor went, that the said Martin +had a broken head at that time; but the deponent cannot +speak to that upon his own knowledge."</p></div> +<p> +Any one who has had the misfortune to be subject to nightmare will +find the elements of his own experience very much resembling the +descriptions given by Kembal, Downer, Ring, and Peach. The terrors to +which superstition, credulity, and ignorance subjected their minds; +the frightful tales of witchcraft and apparitions to which they were +accustomed to listen; and the contagious fears of the neighborhood in +reference to Susanna Martin, taken in connection with a disordered +digestion, an overloaded stomach, and a hard bed, or a strange +lodging-place,—are wholly sufficient to account for all the phenomena +to which they testified.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> The facts and considerations in reference to the +authorship of the letter to Jonathan Corwin may be summarily stated as +follows:— +</p><p> +The letter is signed "R.P." Under these initials is written, "Robert +Pain," in a different hand, and, as the ink as well as the chirography +shows, at a somewhat later date. R.P. are blotted over, but with ink +of such lighter hue that the original letters are clearly discernible +under it. A Robert Paine graduated at Harvard College, in 1656. But he +was probably the foreman of the grand jury that brought in all the +indictments in the witchcraft trials; and therefore could not, from +the declarations in the letter itself, have been its author. The only +other person of that name at the time, of whom we have knowledge, was +his father, who seems, by the evidence we have, to have died in 1693. +(That date is given in the Harvard Triennial for the death of Robert +Paine, the graduate; but erroneously, I think, as signatures to +documents, and conveyances of property subsequently, can hardly be +ascribed to any other person.) Robert Paine, the father, from the +earliest settlement of Ipswich, had been one of the leading men of the +town, apparently of larger property than any other, often its deputy +in the General Court, and, for a great length of time, ruling elder of +the church. "Elder Pain," or Penn, as the name was often spelled, +enjoyed the friendship of John Norton, and all the ministers far and +near; and religious meetings were often held at his house. We know +nothing to justify us in saying that he could not have been the author +of this paper; but we also know nothing, except the appearance of his +name upon it, to impute it to him. +</p><p> +The document is dated from "Salisbury." So far as we know, Elder Paine +always lived in Ipswich; although, having property in the upper +county, he may have often been, and possibly in his last years +resided, there. It is, it is true, a strong circumstance, that his +name is written, although by a late hand, under the initials. It shows +that the person who wrote it thought that "R.P." meant Robert Paine; +but any one conversant especially with the antiquities of Ipswich, or +this part of the county, might naturally fall into such a mistake. The +authorship of documents was often erroneously ascribed. The words +"Robert Pain" were, probably, not on the paper when the indorsement +was made, "A letter to my grandfather," &c. Elder Robert Paine, if +living in 1692, was ninety-one years of age. The document under +consideration, if composed by him, is truly a marvellous +production,—an intellectual phenomenon not easily to be paralleled. +</p><p> +The facts in reference to Robert Pike, of Salisbury, as they bear upon +the question of the authorship of the document, are these: He was +seventy-six years of age in 1692, and had always resided in +"Salisbury." The letter and argument are both in the handwriting of +Captain Thomas Bradbury, Recorder of old Norfolk County. On this +point, there can be no question. Bradbury and Pike had been +fellow-townsmen for more than half a century, connected by all the +ties of neighborhood and family intermarriage, and jointly or +alternately had borne all the civic and military honors the people +could bestow. The document was prepared and delivered to the judge +while Mrs. Bradbury was in prison, and just one month before her +trial. Pike, as has been shown (p. 226), was deeply interested in her +behalf. The original signature ("R.P.") has the marked characteristics +of the same initial letters as found in innumerable autographs of his, +on file or record. There are interlineations, beyond question in +Pike's handwriting. These facts demonstrate that both Pike and +Bradbury were concerned in producing the document. +</p><p> +The history of Robert Pike proves that he was a man of great ability, +had a turn of mind towards logical exercises, and was, from early +life, conversant with disputations. Nearly fifty years before, he +argued in town-meeting against the propriety, in view of civil and +ecclesiastical law, of certain acts of the General Court. They +arraigned, disfranchised, and otherwise punished him for his +"litigiousness:" but the weight of his character soon compelled them +to restore his political rights; and the people of Salisbury, the very +next year, sent him among them as their deputy, and continued him from +time to time in that capacity. At a subsequent period, he was the +leader and spokesman of a party in a controversy about some +ecclesiastical affairs, involving apparently certain nice questions of +theology, which created a great stir through the country. The contest +reached so high a point, that the church at Salisbury excommunicated +him; but the public voice demanded a council of churches, which +assembled in September, 1676, and re-instated Major Pike condemning +his excommunication, "finding it not justifiable upon divers grounds." +On this occasion, as before, the General Court frowned upon and +denounced him; but the people came again to his rescue, sending him at +the next election into the House of Deputies, and kept him there until +raised to the Upper House as an Assistant. He was in the practice of +conducting causes in the courts, and was long a local magistrate and +one of the county judges. +</p><p> +He does not appear to have been present at any of the trials or +examinations of 1692; but his official position as Assistant caused +many depositions taken in his neighborhood to be acknowledged and +sworn before him. While entertaining the prevalent views about +diabolical agency, he always disapproved of the proceedings of the +Court in the particulars to which the arguments of the communication +to Jonathan Corwin apply,—the "spectre evidence,"—and the statements +and actings of "the afflicted children." There are indications that +sometimes he saw through the folly of the stories told by persons +whose depositions he was called to attest. One John Pressy was +circulating a wonderful tale about an encounter he had with the +spectre of Susanna Martin. Pike sent for him, and took his deposition. +Pressy averred, that, one evening, coming from Amesbury Ferry, he fell +in with the shape of Martin in the form of a body of light, which +"seemed to be about the bigness of a half-bushel." After much dodging +and manoeuvring, and being lost and bewildered, wandering to and fro, +tumbling into holes,—where, as the deposition states, no "such pitts" +were known to exist,—and other misadventures, he came to blows with +the light, and had several brushes with it, striking it with his +stick. At one time, "he thinks he gave her at least forty blows." He +finally succeeded in finding "his own house: but, being then seized +with fear, could not speak till his wife spoke to him at the door, and +was in such a condition that the family was afraid of him; which story +being carried to the town the next day, it was, upon inquiry, +understood, that said Goodwife Martin was in such a miserable case and +in such pain that they swabbed her body, as was reported." He +concludes his deposition by saying, that Major Pike "seemed to be +troubled that this deponent had not told him of it in season that she +might have been viewed to have seen what her ail was." The affair had +happened "about twenty-four years ago." Probably neither Pressy nor +the Court appreciated the keenness of the major's expression of +regret. It broke the bubble of the deposition. The whole story was the +product of a benighted imagination, disordered by fear, filled with +inebriate vagaries, exaggerated in nightmare, and resting upon wild +and empty rumors. Robert Pike's course, in the case of Mrs. Bradbury, +harmonizes with the supposition that he was Corwin's correspondent. +</p><p> +Materials may be brought to light that will change the evidence on the +point. It may be found that Elder Paine died before 1692: that would +dispose of the question. It may appear that he was living in Salisbury +at the time, and acted with Pike and Bradbury, they giving to the +paper the authority of his venerable name and years. But all that is +now known, constrains me to the conclusion stated in the text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> As an illustration of the oblivion that had settled over +the details of the transactions and characters connected with the +witchcraft prosecutions, it may be mentioned, that when, thirty-five +years ago, I prepared the work entitled 'Lectures on Witchcraft; +comprising a History of the Delusion in 1692,' although professional +engagements prevented my making the elaborate exploration that has now +been given to the subject, I extended the investigation over the +ordinary fields of research, and took particular pains to obtain +information brought down by tradition, gleaned all that could be +gathered from the memories of old persons then living of what they had +heard from their predecessors, and sought for every thing that local +antiquaries and genealogists could contribute. I find, by the methods +of inquiry adopted in the preparation of the present work, how +inadequate and meagre was the knowledge then possessed. Most of the +persons accused and executed, like Giles Corey, his wife Martha, and +Bridget Bishop, were supposed to have been of humble, if not mean +condition, of vagrant habits, and more or less despicable repute. By +following the threads placed in my hands, in the files of the +county-offices of Registry of Deeds and Wills, and documents connected +with trials at law, and by a collation of conveyances and the +administration of estates, I find that Corey, however eccentric or +open to criticism in some features of character and passages of his +life, was a large landholder, and a man of singular force and +acuteness of intellect; while his wife had an intelligence in advance +of her times, and was a woman of eminent piety. The same is found to +have been the case with most of those who suffered. +</p><p> +The reader may judge of my surprise in now discovering, that, while +writing the "Lectures on Witchcraft," I was owning and occupying a +part of the estate of Bridget Bishop, if not actually living in her +house. The hard, impenetrable, all but petrified oak frame seems to +argue that it dates back as far as when she rebuilt and renewed the +original structure. Little, however, did I suspect, while delivering +those lectures in the Lyceum Hall, that we were assembled on the site +of her orchard, the scene of the preternatural and diabolical feats +charged upon her by the testimony of Louder and others. Her estate was +one of the most eligible and valuable in the old town, with a front, +as has been mentioned, of a hundred feet on Washington Street, and +extending along Church Street more than half the distance to St. +Peter's Street. At the same time, her husband seems to have had a +house in the village, near the head of Bass River. It is truly +remarkable, that the locality of the property and residence of a +person of her position, and who led the way among the victims of such +an awful tragedy, should have become wholly obliterated from memory +and tradition, in a community of such intelligence, consisting, in so +large a degree, of old families, tracing themselves back to the +earliest generations, and among whom the innumerable descendants of +her seven great-grandchildren have continued to this day. It can only +be accounted for by the considerations mentioned in the text. +Tradition was stifled by horror and shame. What all desired to forget +was forgotten. The only recourse was in oblivion; and all, sufferers +and actors alike, found shelter under it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> The looseness and inaccuracy of persons in reference to +their own ages, in early times, is quite observable. In depositions, +they speak of themselves as "about" so many years, or as of so many +years "or thereabouts." A variance on this point is often found in the +statements of the same person at different times. Neither are records +always to be relied upon as to precision. In the record-book of the +village church, Mr. Parris enters the age of Mrs. Ann Putnam, at the +date of her admission, June 4, 1691, as "Ann: ætat: 27." But an +"Account of the Early Settlers of Salisbury," in the "New-England +Historical and Genealogical Register," vol. vii. p. 314, gives the +date of her birth "15, 4, 1661." Her age is stated above according to +this last authority; and, if correct, she was not so young, at the +time of her marriage, as intimated (<a href="salem1-htm.html#Page_253">vol. i. p. 253</a>), but seventeen +years five months and ten days. It is difficult, however, to conceive +how Parris, who was careful about such matters, and undoubtedly had +his information from her own lips, could have been so far out of the +way. Her brother, William Carr, in 1692, deposed that he was then +forty-one years of age or thereabouts; whereas, the "Account of the +Early Settlers of Salisbury," just referred to, gives the date of his +birth "15, 1, 1648." It is indeed singular, that two members of a +family of their standing should have been under an error as to their +own age; one to an extent of almost, the other of some months more +than, three years.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_L_12"><span class="label">[L]</span></a> The following passage is from the parish records:— +</p><p> +"On the 3d of February, 1693, a warrant was issued for a meeting of +the inhabitants of the village, signed by Thomas Preston, Joseph Pope, +Joseph Houlton, and John Tarbell, of the standing annual committee, to +be held Feb. 14, 'to consider and agree and determine who are capable +of voting in our public transactions, by the power given us by the +General-court order at our first settlement; and to consider of and +make void a vote in our book of records, on the 18th of June, 1689, +where there is a salary of sixty-six pounds stated to Mr. Parris, he +not complying with it; also to consider of and make void several votes +in the book of records on the 10th of October, 1692, where our +ministry house and barn and two acres of land seem to be conveyed from +us after a fraudulent manner.'" +</p><p> +At this meeting, it was voted, that "all men that are ratable, or +hereafter shall be living within that tract of land mentioned in our +General-court order, shall have liberty in nominating and appointing a +committee, and voting in any of our public concerns." +</p><p> +By referring to the account, in the <a href="salem1-htm.html#PART_FIRST">First Part</a>, of the controversy +between the inhabitants of the village and Mr. Bayley, "the power" +above alluded to, "given us by the General Court," will be seen fully +described. In its earnestness to fasten Mr. Bayley upon "the +inhabitants," the Court elaborately ordained the system by which they +should be constrained to provide for him, and compelled to raise the +means of paying his salary. As no church had then been organized, the +General Court fastened the duty upon "householders." The fact had not +been forgotten, and the above vote showed that the parish intended to +hold on to the power then given them. This highly incensed the Court +of Sessions. It ordered the parish book of records to be produced +before it, and caused a condemnation of such a claim of right to be +written out, in open Court, on the face of the record, where it is now +to be seen. It is as follows:— +</p><p> +"At the General Sessions of the Peace holden at Ipswich, March the +28th, 1693. This Court having viewed and considered the above +agreement or vote contained in the last five lines, finding the same +to be repugnant to the laws of this province, do declare the same to +be null and void, and that this order be recorded with the records of +this Court. +</p><p style="text-align: right"> +"Attest, <span class="smcap">Stephen Sewall</span>, <i>Clerk</i>."</p></div> + +</div> +</body> +</html> |