summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/old/salem2-htm.html
blob: 85c7890dd7894a3c05ff375f048156903ba9aff3 (plain) 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2051
2052
2053
2054
2055
2056
2057
2058
2059
2060
2061
2062
2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068
2069
2070
2071
2072
2073
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
2080
2081
2082
2083
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
2092
2093
2094
2095
2096
2097
2098
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104
2105
2106
2107
2108
2109
2110
2111
2112
2113
2114
2115
2116
2117
2118
2119
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138
2139
2140
2141
2142
2143
2144
2145
2146
2147
2148
2149
2150
2151
2152
2153
2154
2155
2156
2157
2158
2159
2160
2161
2162
2163
2164
2165
2166
2167
2168
2169
2170
2171
2172
2173
2174
2175
2176
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
2182
2183
2184
2185
2186
2187
2188
2189
2190
2191
2192
2193
2194
2195
2196
2197
2198
2199
2200
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206
2207
2208
2209
2210
2211
2212
2213
2214
2215
2216
2217
2218
2219
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226
2227
2228
2229
2230
2231
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236
2237
2238
2239
2240
2241
2242
2243
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2249
2250
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256
2257
2258
2259
2260
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
2267
2268
2269
2270
2271
2272
2273
2274
2275
2276
2277
2278
2279
2280
2281
2282
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291
2292
2293
2294
2295
2296
2297
2298
2299
2300
2301
2302
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308
2309
2310
2311
2312
2313
2314
2315
2316
2317
2318
2319
2320
2321
2322
2323
2324
2325
2326
2327
2328
2329
2330
2331
2332
2333
2334
2335
2336
2337
2338
2339
2340
2341
2342
2343
2344
2345
2346
2347
2348
2349
2350
2351
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2367
2368
2369
2370
2371
2372
2373
2374
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379
2380
2381
2382
2383
2384
2385
2386
2387
2388
2389
2390
2391
2392
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398
2399
2400
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406
2407
2408
2409
2410
2411
2412
2413
2414
2415
2416
2417
2418
2419
2420
2421
2422
2423
2424
2425
2426
2427
2428
2429
2430
2431
2432
2433
2434
2435
2436
2437
2438
2439
2440
2441
2442
2443
2444
2445
2446
2447
2448
2449
2450
2451
2452
2453
2454
2455
2456
2457
2458
2459
2460
2461
2462
2463
2464
2465
2466
2467
2468
2469
2470
2471
2472
2473
2474
2475
2476
2477
2478
2479
2480
2481
2482
2483
2484
2485
2486
2487
2488
2489
2490
2491
2492
2493
2494
2495
2496
2497
2498
2499
2500
2501
2502
2503
2504
2505
2506
2507
2508
2509
2510
2511
2512
2513
2514
2515
2516
2517
2518
2519
2520
2521
2522
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528
2529
2530
2531
2532
2533
2534
2535
2536
2537
2538
2539
2540
2541
2542
2543
2544
2545
2546
2547
2548
2549
2550
2551
2552
2553
2554
2555
2556
2557
2558
2559
2560
2561
2562
2563
2564
2565
2566
2567
2568
2569
2570
2571
2572
2573
2574
2575
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580
2581
2582
2583
2584
2585
2586
2587
2588
2589
2590
2591
2592
2593
2594
2595
2596
2597
2598
2599
2600
2601
2602
2603
2604
2605
2606
2607
2608
2609
2610
2611
2612
2613
2614
2615
2616
2617
2618
2619
2620
2621
2622
2623
2624
2625
2626
2627
2628
2629
2630
2631
2632
2633
2634
2635
2636
2637
2638
2639
2640
2641
2642
2643
2644
2645
2646
2647
2648
2649
2650
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2656
2657
2658
2659
2660
2661
2662
2663
2664
2665
2666
2667
2668
2669
2670
2671
2672
2673
2674
2675
2676
2677
2678
2679
2680
2681
2682
2683
2684
2685
2686
2687
2688
2689
2690
2691
2692
2693
2694
2695
2696
2697
2698
2699
2700
2701
2702
2703
2704
2705
2706
2707
2708
2709
2710
2711
2712
2713
2714
2715
2716
2717
2718
2719
2720
2721
2722
2723
2724
2725
2726
2727
2728
2729
2730
2731
2732
2733
2734
2735
2736
2737
2738
2739
2740
2741
2742
2743
2744
2745
2746
2747
2748
2749
2750
2751
2752
2753
2754
2755
2756
2757
2758
2759
2760
2761
2762
2763
2764
2765
2766
2767
2768
2769
2770
2771
2772
2773
2774
2775
2776
2777
2778
2779
2780
2781
2782
2783
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788
2789
2790
2791
2792
2793
2794
2795
2796
2797
2798
2799
2800
2801
2802
2803
2804
2805
2806
2807
2808
2809
2810
2811
2812
2813
2814
2815
2816
2817
2818
2819
2820
2821
2822
2823
2824
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829
2830
2831
2832
2833
2834
2835
2836
2837
2838
2839
2840
2841
2842
2843
2844
2845
2846
2847
2848
2849
2850
2851
2852
2853
2854
2855
2856
2857
2858
2859
2860
2861
2862
2863
2864
2865
2866
2867
2868
2869
2870
2871
2872
2873
2874
2875
2876
2877
2878
2879
2880
2881
2882
2883
2884
2885
2886
2887
2888
2889
2890
2891
2892
2893
2894
2895
2896
2897
2898
2899
2900
2901
2902
2903
2904
2905
2906
2907
2908
2909
2910
2911
2912
2913
2914
2915
2916
2917
2918
2919
2920
2921
2922
2923
2924
2925
2926
2927
2928
2929
2930
2931
2932
2933
2934
2935
2936
2937
2938
2939
2940
2941
2942
2943
2944
2945
2946
2947
2948
2949
2950
2951
2952
2953
2954
2955
2956
2957
2958
2959
2960
2961
2962
2963
2964
2965
2966
2967
2968
2969
2970
2971
2972
2973
2974
2975
2976
2977
2978
2979
2980
2981
2982
2983
2984
2985
2986
2987
2988
2989
2990
2991
2992
2993
2994
2995
2996
2997
2998
2999
3000
3001
3002
3003
3004
3005
3006
3007
3008
3009
3010
3011
3012
3013
3014
3015
3016
3017
3018
3019
3020
3021
3022
3023
3024
3025
3026
3027
3028
3029
3030
3031
3032
3033
3034
3035
3036
3037
3038
3039
3040
3041
3042
3043
3044
3045
3046
3047
3048
3049
3050
3051
3052
3053
3054
3055
3056
3057
3058
3059
3060
3061
3062
3063
3064
3065
3066
3067
3068
3069
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075
3076
3077
3078
3079
3080
3081
3082
3083
3084
3085
3086
3087
3088
3089
3090
3091
3092
3093
3094
3095
3096
3097
3098
3099
3100
3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109
3110
3111
3112
3113
3114
3115
3116
3117
3118
3119
3120
3121
3122
3123
3124
3125
3126
3127
3128
3129
3130
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3136
3137
3138
3139
3140
3141
3142
3143
3144
3145
3146
3147
3148
3149
3150
3151
3152
3153
3154
3155
3156
3157
3158
3159
3160
3161
3162
3163
3164
3165
3166
3167
3168
3169
3170
3171
3172
3173
3174
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179
3180
3181
3182
3183
3184
3185
3186
3187
3188
3189
3190
3191
3192
3193
3194
3195
3196
3197
3198
3199
3200
3201
3202
3203
3204
3205
3206
3207
3208
3209
3210
3211
3212
3213
3214
3215
3216
3217
3218
3219
3220
3221
3222
3223
3224
3225
3226
3227
3228
3229
3230
3231
3232
3233
3234
3235
3236
3237
3238
3239
3240
3241
3242
3243
3244
3245
3246
3247
3248
3249
3250
3251
3252
3253
3254
3255
3256
3257
3258
3259
3260
3261
3262
3263
3264
3265
3266
3267
3268
3269
3270
3271
3272
3273
3274
3275
3276
3277
3278
3279
3280
3281
3282
3283
3284
3285
3286
3287
3288
3289
3290
3291
3292
3293
3294
3295
3296
3297
3298
3299
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305
3306
3307
3308
3309
3310
3311
3312
3313
3314
3315
3316
3317
3318
3319
3320
3321
3322
3323
3324
3325
3326
3327
3328
3329
3330
3331
3332
3333
3334
3335
3336
3337
3338
3339
3340
3341
3342
3343
3344
3345
3346
3347
3348
3349
3350
3351
3352
3353
3354
3355
3356
3357
3358
3359
3360
3361
3362
3363
3364
3365
3366
3367
3368
3369
3370
3371
3372
3373
3374
3375
3376
3377
3378
3379
3380
3381
3382
3383
3384
3385
3386
3387
3388
3389
3390
3391
3392
3393
3394
3395
3396
3397
3398
3399
3400
3401
3402
3403
3404
3405
3406
3407
3408
3409
3410
3411
3412
3413
3414
3415
3416
3417
3418
3419
3420
3421
3422
3423
3424
3425
3426
3427
3428
3429
3430
3431
3432
3433
3434
3435
3436
3437
3438
3439
3440
3441
3442
3443
3444
3445
3446
3447
3448
3449
3450
3451
3452
3453
3454
3455
3456
3457
3458
3459
3460
3461
3462
3463
3464
3465
3466
3467
3468
3469
3470
3471
3472
3473
3474
3475
3476
3477
3478
3479
3480
3481
3482
3483
3484
3485
3486
3487
3488
3489
3490
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495
3496
3497
3498
3499
3500
3501
3502
3503
3504
3505
3506
3507
3508
3509
3510
3511
3512
3513
3514
3515
3516
3517
3518
3519
3520
3521
3522
3523
3524
3525
3526
3527
3528
3529
3530
3531
3532
3533
3534
3535
3536
3537
3538
3539
3540
3541
3542
3543
3544
3545
3546
3547
3548
3549
3550
3551
3552
3553
3554
3555
3556
3557
3558
3559
3560
3561
3562
3563
3564
3565
3566
3567
3568
3569
3570
3571
3572
3573
3574
3575
3576
3577
3578
3579
3580
3581
3582
3583
3584
3585
3586
3587
3588
3589
3590
3591
3592
3593
3594
3595
3596
3597
3598
3599
3600
3601
3602
3603
3604
3605
3606
3607
3608
3609
3610
3611
3612
3613
3614
3615
3616
3617
3618
3619
3620
3621
3622
3623
3624
3625
3626
3627
3628
3629
3630
3631
3632
3633
3634
3635
3636
3637
3638
3639
3640
3641
3642
3643
3644
3645
3646
3647
3648
3649
3650
3651
3652
3653
3654
3655
3656
3657
3658
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664
3665
3666
3667
3668
3669
3670
3671
3672
3673
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3680
3681
3682
3683
3684
3685
3686
3687
3688
3689
3690
3691
3692
3693
3694
3695
3696
3697
3698
3699
3700
3701
3702
3703
3704
3705
3706
3707
3708
3709
3710
3711
3712
3713
3714
3715
3716
3717
3718
3719
3720
3721
3722
3723
3724
3725
3726
3727
3728
3729
3730
3731
3732
3733
3734
3735
3736
3737
3738
3739
3740
3741
3742
3743
3744
3745
3746
3747
3748
3749
3750
3751
3752
3753
3754
3755
3756
3757
3758
3759
3760
3761
3762
3763
3764
3765
3766
3767
3768
3769
3770
3771
3772
3773
3774
3775
3776
3777
3778
3779
3780
3781
3782
3783
3784
3785
3786
3787
3788
3789
3790
3791
3792
3793
3794
3795
3796
3797
3798
3799
3800
3801
3802
3803
3804
3805
3806
3807
3808
3809
3810
3811
3812
3813
3814
3815
3816
3817
3818
3819
3820
3821
3822
3823
3824
3825
3826
3827
3828
3829
3830
3831
3832
3833
3834
3835
3836
3837
3838
3839
3840
3841
3842
3843
3844
3845
3846
3847
3848
3849
3850
3851
3852
3853
3854
3855
3856
3857
3858
3859
3860
3861
3862
3863
3864
3865
3866
3867
3868
3869
3870
3871
3872
3873
3874
3875
3876
3877
3878
3879
3880
3881
3882
3883
3884
3885
3886
3887
3888
3889
3890
3891
3892
3893
3894
3895
3896
3897
3898
3899
3900
3901
3902
3903
3904
3905
3906
3907
3908
3909
3910
3911
3912
3913
3914
3915
3916
3917
3918
3919
3920
3921
3922
3923
3924
3925
3926
3927
3928
3929
3930
3931
3932
3933
3934
3935
3936
3937
3938
3939
3940
3941
3942
3943
3944
3945
3946
3947
3948
3949
3950
3951
3952
3953
3954
3955
3956
3957
3958
3959
3960
3961
3962
3963
3964
3965
3966
3967
3968
3969
3970
3971
3972
3973
3974
3975
3976
3977
3978
3979
3980
3981
3982
3983
3984
3985
3986
3987
3988
3989
3990
3991
3992
3993
3994
3995
3996
3997
3998
3999
4000
4001
4002
4003
4004
4005
4006
4007
4008
4009
4010
4011
4012
4013
4014
4015
4016
4017
4018
4019
4020
4021
4022
4023
4024
4025
4026
4027
4028
4029
4030
4031
4032
4033
4034
4035
4036
4037
4038
4039
4040
4041
4042
4043
4044
4045
4046
4047
4048
4049
4050
4051
4052
4053
4054
4055
4056
4057
4058
4059
4060
4061
4062
4063
4064
4065
4066
4067
4068
4069
4070
4071
4072
4073
4074
4075
4076
4077
4078
4079
4080
4081
4082
4083
4084
4085
4086
4087
4088
4089
4090
4091
4092
4093
4094
4095
4096
4097
4098
4099
4100
4101
4102
4103
4104
4105
4106
4107
4108
4109
4110
4111
4112
4113
4114
4115
4116
4117
4118
4119
4120
4121
4122
4123
4124
4125
4126
4127
4128
4129
4130
4131
4132
4133
4134
4135
4136
4137
4138
4139
4140
4141
4142
4143
4144
4145
4146
4147
4148
4149
4150
4151
4152
4153
4154
4155
4156
4157
4158
4159
4160
4161
4162
4163
4164
4165
4166
4167
4168
4169
4170
4171
4172
4173
4174
4175
4176
4177
4178
4179
4180
4181
4182
4183
4184
4185
4186
4187
4188
4189
4190
4191
4192
4193
4194
4195
4196
4197
4198
4199
4200
4201
4202
4203
4204
4205
4206
4207
4208
4209
4210
4211
4212
4213
4214
4215
4216
4217
4218
4219
4220
4221
4222
4223
4224
4225
4226
4227
4228
4229
4230
4231
4232
4233
4234
4235
4236
4237
4238
4239
4240
4241
4242
4243
4244
4245
4246
4247
4248
4249
4250
4251
4252
4253
4254
4255
4256
4257
4258
4259
4260
4261
4262
4263
4264
4265
4266
4267
4268
4269
4270
4271
4272
4273
4274
4275
4276
4277
4278
4279
4280
4281
4282
4283
4284
4285
4286
4287
4288
4289
4290
4291
4292
4293
4294
4295
4296
4297
4298
4299
4300
4301
4302
4303
4304
4305
4306
4307
4308
4309
4310
4311
4312
4313
4314
4315
4316
4317
4318
4319
4320
4321
4322
4323
4324
4325
4326
4327
4328
4329
4330
4331
4332
4333
4334
4335
4336
4337
4338
4339
4340
4341
4342
4343
4344
4345
4346
4347
4348
4349
4350
4351
4352
4353
4354
4355
4356
4357
4358
4359
4360
4361
4362
4363
4364
4365
4366
4367
4368
4369
4370
4371
4372
4373
4374
4375
4376
4377
4378
4379
4380
4381
4382
4383
4384
4385
4386
4387
4388
4389
4390
4391
4392
4393
4394
4395
4396
4397
4398
4399
4400
4401
4402
4403
4404
4405
4406
4407
4408
4409
4410
4411
4412
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418
4419
4420
4421
4422
4423
4424
4425
4426
4427
4428
4429
4430
4431
4432
4433
4434
4435
4436
4437
4438
4439
4440
4441
4442
4443
4444
4445
4446
4447
4448
4449
4450
4451
4452
4453
4454
4455
4456
4457
4458
4459
4460
4461
4462
4463
4464
4465
4466
4467
4468
4469
4470
4471
4472
4473
4474
4475
4476
4477
4478
4479
4480
4481
4482
4483
4484
4485
4486
4487
4488
4489
4490
4491
4492
4493
4494
4495
4496
4497
4498
4499
4500
4501
4502
4503
4504
4505
4506
4507
4508
4509
4510
4511
4512
4513
4514
4515
4516
4517
4518
4519
4520
4521
4522
4523
4524
4525
4526
4527
4528
4529
4530
4531
4532
4533
4534
4535
4536
4537
4538
4539
4540
4541
4542
4543
4544
4545
4546
4547
4548
4549
4550
4551
4552
4553
4554
4555
4556
4557
4558
4559
4560
4561
4562
4563
4564
4565
4566
4567
4568
4569
4570
4571
4572
4573
4574
4575
4576
4577
4578
4579
4580
4581
4582
4583
4584
4585
4586
4587
4588
4589
4590
4591
4592
4593
4594
4595
4596
4597
4598
4599
4600
4601
4602
4603
4604
4605
4606
4607
4608
4609
4610
4611
4612
4613
4614
4615
4616
4617
4618
4619
4620
4621
4622
4623
4624
4625
4626
4627
4628
4629
4630
4631
4632
4633
4634
4635
4636
4637
4638
4639
4640
4641
4642
4643
4644
4645
4646
4647
4648
4649
4650
4651
4652
4653
4654
4655
4656
4657
4658
4659
4660
4661
4662
4663
4664
4665
4666
4667
4668
4669
4670
4671
4672
4673
4674
4675
4676
4677
4678
4679
4680
4681
4682
4683
4684
4685
4686
4687
4688
4689
4690
4691
4692
4693
4694
4695
4696
4697
4698
4699
4700
4701
4702
4703
4704
4705
4706
4707
4708
4709
4710
4711
4712
4713
4714
4715
4716
4717
4718
4719
4720
4721
4722
4723
4724
4725
4726
4727
4728
4729
4730
4731
4732
4733
4734
4735
4736
4737
4738
4739
4740
4741
4742
4743
4744
4745
4746
4747
4748
4749
4750
4751
4752
4753
4754
4755
4756
4757
4758
4759
4760
4761
4762
4763
4764
4765
4766
4767
4768
4769
4770
4771
4772
4773
4774
4775
4776
4777
4778
4779
4780
4781
4782
4783
4784
4785
4786
4787
4788
4789
4790
4791
4792
4793
4794
4795
4796
4797
4798
4799
4800
4801
4802
4803
4804
4805
4806
4807
4808
4809
4810
4811
4812
4813
4814
4815
4816
4817
4818
4819
4820
4821
4822
4823
4824
4825
4826
4827
4828
4829
4830
4831
4832
4833
4834
4835
4836
4837
4838
4839
4840
4841
4842
4843
4844
4845
4846
4847
4848
4849
4850
4851
4852
4853
4854
4855
4856
4857
4858
4859
4860
4861
4862
4863
4864
4865
4866
4867
4868
4869
4870
4871
4872
4873
4874
4875
4876
4877
4878
4879
4880
4881
4882
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887
4888
4889
4890
4891
4892
4893
4894
4895
4896
4897
4898
4899
4900
4901
4902
4903
4904
4905
4906
4907
4908
4909
4910
4911
4912
4913
4914
4915
4916
4917
4918
4919
4920
4921
4922
4923
4924
4925
4926
4927
4928
4929
4930
4931
4932
4933
4934
4935
4936
4937
4938
4939
4940
4941
4942
4943
4944
4945
4946
4947
4948
4949
4950
4951
4952
4953
4954
4955
4956
4957
4958
4959
4960
4961
4962
4963
4964
4965
4966
4967
4968
4969
4970
4971
4972
4973
4974
4975
4976
4977
4978
4979
4980
4981
4982
4983
4984
4985
4986
4987
4988
4989
4990
4991
4992
4993
4994
4995
4996
4997
4998
4999
5000
5001
5002
5003
5004
5005
5006
5007
5008
5009
5010
5011
5012
5013
5014
5015
5016
5017
5018
5019
5020
5021
5022
5023
5024
5025
5026
5027
5028
5029
5030
5031
5032
5033
5034
5035
5036
5037
5038
5039
5040
5041
5042
5043
5044
5045
5046
5047
5048
5049
5050
5051
5052
5053
5054
5055
5056
5057
5058
5059
5060
5061
5062
5063
5064
5065
5066
5067
5068
5069
5070
5071
5072
5073
5074
5075
5076
5077
5078
5079
5080
5081
5082
5083
5084
5085
5086
5087
5088
5089
5090
5091
5092
5093
5094
5095
5096
5097
5098
5099
5100
5101
5102
5103
5104
5105
5106
5107
5108
5109
5110
5111
5112
5113
5114
5115
5116
5117
5118
5119
5120
5121
5122
5123
5124
5125
5126
5127
5128
5129
5130
5131
5132
5133
5134
5135
5136
5137
5138
5139
5140
5141
5142
5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
5148
5149
5150
5151
5152
5153
5154
5155
5156
5157
5158
5159
5160
5161
5162
5163
5164
5165
5166
5167
5168
5169
5170
5171
5172
5173
5174
5175
5176
5177
5178
5179
5180
5181
5182
5183
5184
5185
5186
5187
5188
5189
5190
5191
5192
5193
5194
5195
5196
5197
5198
5199
5200
5201
5202
5203
5204
5205
5206
5207
5208
5209
5210
5211
5212
5213
5214
5215
5216
5217
5218
5219
5220
5221
5222
5223
5224
5225
5226
5227
5228
5229
5230
5231
5232
5233
5234
5235
5236
5237
5238
5239
5240
5241
5242
5243
5244
5245
5246
5247
5248
5249
5250
5251
5252
5253
5254
5255
5256
5257
5258
5259
5260
5261
5262
5263
5264
5265
5266
5267
5268
5269
5270
5271
5272
5273
5274
5275
5276
5277
5278
5279
5280
5281
5282
5283
5284
5285
5286
5287
5288
5289
5290
5291
5292
5293
5294
5295
5296
5297
5298
5299
5300
5301
5302
5303
5304
5305
5306
5307
5308
5309
5310
5311
5312
5313
5314
5315
5316
5317
5318
5319
5320
5321
5322
5323
5324
5325
5326
5327
5328
5329
5330
5331
5332
5333
5334
5335
5336
5337
5338
5339
5340
5341
5342
5343
5344
5345
5346
5347
5348
5349
5350
5351
5352
5353
5354
5355
5356
5357
5358
5359
5360
5361
5362
5363
5364
5365
5366
5367
5368
5369
5370
5371
5372
5373
5374
5375
5376
5377
5378
5379
5380
5381
5382
5383
5384
5385
5386
5387
5388
5389
5390
5391
5392
5393
5394
5395
5396
5397
5398
5399
5400
5401
5402
5403
5404
5405
5406
5407
5408
5409
5410
5411
5412
5413
5414
5415
5416
5417
5418
5419
5420
5421
5422
5423
5424
5425
5426
5427
5428
5429
5430
5431
5432
5433
5434
5435
5436
5437
5438
5439
5440
5441
5442
5443
5444
5445
5446
5447
5448
5449
5450
5451
5452
5453
5454
5455
5456
5457
5458
5459
5460
5461
5462
5463
5464
5465
5466
5467
5468
5469
5470
5471
5472
5473
5474
5475
5476
5477
5478
5479
5480
5481
5482
5483
5484
5485
5486
5487
5488
5489
5490
5491
5492
5493
5494
5495
5496
5497
5498
5499
5500
5501
5502
5503
5504
5505
5506
5507
5508
5509
5510
5511
5512
5513
5514
5515
5516
5517
5518
5519
5520
5521
5522
5523
5524
5525
5526
5527
5528
5529
5530
5531
5532
5533
5534
5535
5536
5537
5538
5539
5540
5541
5542
5543
5544
5545
5546
5547
5548
5549
5550
5551
5552
5553
5554
5555
5556
5557
5558
5559
5560
5561
5562
5563
5564
5565
5566
5567
5568
5569
5570
5571
5572
5573
5574
5575
5576
5577
5578
5579
5580
5581
5582
5583
5584
5585
5586
5587
5588
5589
5590
5591
5592
5593
5594
5595
5596
5597
5598
5599
5600
5601
5602
5603
5604
5605
5606
5607
5608
5609
5610
5611
5612
5613
5614
5615
5616
5617
5618
5619
5620
5621
5622
5623
5624
5625
5626
5627
5628
5629
5630
5631
5632
5633
5634
5635
5636
5637
5638
5639
5640
5641
5642
5643
5644
5645
5646
5647
5648
5649
5650
5651
5652
5653
5654
5655
5656
5657
5658
5659
5660
5661
5662
5663
5664
5665
5666
5667
5668
5669
5670
5671
5672
5673
5674
5675
5676
5677
5678
5679
5680
5681
5682
5683
5684
5685
5686
5687
5688
5689
5690
5691
5692
5693
5694
5695
5696
5697
5698
5699
5700
5701
5702
5703
5704
5705
5706
5707
5708
5709
5710
5711
5712
5713
5714
5715
5716
5717
5718
5719
5720
5721
5722
5723
5724
5725
5726
5727
5728
5729
5730
5731
5732
5733
5734
5735
5736
5737
5738
5739
5740
5741
5742
5743
5744
5745
5746
5747
5748
5749
5750
5751
5752
5753
5754
5755
5756
5757
5758
5759
5760
5761
5762
5763
5764
5765
5766
5767
5768
5769
5770
5771
5772
5773
5774
5775
5776
5777
5778
5779
5780
5781
5782
5783
5784
5785
5786
5787
5788
5789
5790
5791
5792
5793
5794
5795
5796
5797
5798
5799
5800
5801
5802
5803
5804
5805
5806
5807
5808
5809
5810
5811
5812
5813
5814
5815
5816
5817
5818
5819
5820
5821
5822
5823
5824
5825
5826
5827
5828
5829
5830
5831
5832
5833
5834
5835
5836
5837
5838
5839
5840
5841
5842
5843
5844
5845
5846
5847
5848
5849
5850
5851
5852
5853
5854
5855
5856
5857
5858
5859
5860
5861
5862
5863
5864
5865
5866
5867
5868
5869
5870
5871
5872
5873
5874
5875
5876
5877
5878
5879
5880
5881
5882
5883
5884
5885
5886
5887
5888
5889
5890
5891
5892
5893
5894
5895
5896
5897
5898
5899
5900
5901
5902
5903
5904
5905
5906
5907
5908
5909
5910
5911
5912
5913
5914
5915
5916
5917
5918
5919
5920
5921
5922
5923
5924
5925
5926
5927
5928
5929
5930
5931
5932
5933
5934
5935
5936
5937
5938
5939
5940
5941
5942
5943
5944
5945
5946
5947
5948
5949
5950
5951
5952
5953
5954
5955
5956
5957
5958
5959
5960
5961
5962
5963
5964
5965
5966
5967
5968
5969
5970
5971
5972
5973
5974
5975
5976
5977
5978
5979
5980
5981
5982
5983
5984
5985
5986
5987
5988
5989
5990
5991
5992
5993
5994
5995
5996
5997
5998
5999
6000
6001
6002
6003
6004
6005
6006
6007
6008
6009
6010
6011
6012
6013
6014
6015
6016
6017
6018
6019
6020
6021
6022
6023
6024
6025
6026
6027
6028
6029
6030
6031
6032
6033
6034
6035
6036
6037
6038
6039
6040
6041
6042
6043
6044
6045
6046
6047
6048
6049
6050
6051
6052
6053
6054
6055
6056
6057
6058
6059
6060
6061
6062
6063
6064
6065
6066
6067
6068
6069
6070
6071
6072
6073
6074
6075
6076
6077
6078
6079
6080
6081
6082
6083
6084
6085
6086
6087
6088
6089
6090
6091
6092
6093
6094
6095
6096
6097
6098
6099
6100
6101
6102
6103
6104
6105
6106
6107
6108
6109
6110
6111
6112
6113
6114
6115
6116
6117
6118
6119
6120
6121
6122
6123
6124
6125
6126
6127
6128
6129
6130
6131
6132
6133
6134
6135
6136
6137
6138
6139
6140
6141
6142
6143
6144
6145
6146
6147
6148
6149
6150
6151
6152
6153
6154
6155
6156
6157
6158
6159
6160
6161
6162
6163
6164
6165
6166
6167
6168
6169
6170
6171
6172
6173
6174
6175
6176
6177
6178
6179
6180
6181
6182
6183
6184
6185
6186
6187
6188
6189
6190
6191
6192
6193
6194
6195
6196
6197
6198
6199
6200
6201
6202
6203
6204
6205
6206
6207
6208
6209
6210
6211
6212
6213
6214
6215
6216
6217
6218
6219
6220
6221
6222
6223
6224
6225
6226
6227
6228
6229
6230
6231
6232
6233
6234
6235
6236
6237
6238
6239
6240
6241
6242
6243
6244
6245
6246
6247
6248
6249
6250
6251
6252
6253
6254
6255
6256
6257
6258
6259
6260
6261
6262
6263
6264
6265
6266
6267
6268
6269
6270
6271
6272
6273
6274
6275
6276
6277
6278
6279
6280
6281
6282
6283
6284
6285
6286
6287
6288
6289
6290
6291
6292
6293
6294
6295
6296
6297
6298
6299
6300
6301
6302
6303
6304
6305
6306
6307
6308
6309
6310
6311
6312
6313
6314
6315
6316
6317
6318
6319
6320
6321
6322
6323
6324
6325
6326
6327
6328
6329
6330
6331
6332
6333
6334
6335
6336
6337
6338
6339
6340
6341
6342
6343
6344
6345
6346
6347
6348
6349
6350
6351
6352
6353
6354
6355
6356
6357
6358
6359
6360
6361
6362
6363
6364
6365
6366
6367
6368
6369
6370
6371
6372
6373
6374
6375
6376
6377
6378
6379
6380
6381
6382
6383
6384
6385
6386
6387
6388
6389
6390
6391
6392
6393
6394
6395
6396
6397
6398
6399
6400
6401
6402
6403
6404
6405
6406
6407
6408
6409
6410
6411
6412
6413
6414
6415
6416
6417
6418
6419
6420
6421
6422
6423
6424
6425
6426
6427
6428
6429
6430
6431
6432
6433
6434
6435
6436
6437
6438
6439
6440
6441
6442
6443
6444
6445
6446
6447
6448
6449
6450
6451
6452
6453
6454
6455
6456
6457
6458
6459
6460
6461
6462
6463
6464
6465
6466
6467
6468
6469
6470
6471
6472
6473
6474
6475
6476
6477
6478
6479
6480
6481
6482
6483
6484
6485
6486
6487
6488
6489
6490
6491
6492
6493
6494
6495
6496
6497
6498
6499
6500
6501
6502
6503
6504
6505
6506
6507
6508
6509
6510
6511
6512
6513
6514
6515
6516
6517
6518
6519
6520
6521
6522
6523
6524
6525
6526
6527
6528
6529
6530
6531
6532
6533
6534
6535
6536
6537
6538
6539
6540
6541
6542
6543
6544
6545
6546
6547
6548
6549
6550
6551
6552
6553
6554
6555
6556
6557
6558
6559
6560
6561
6562
6563
6564
6565
6566
6567
6568
6569
6570
6571
6572
6573
6574
6575
6576
6577
6578
6579
6580
6581
6582
6583
6584
6585
6586
6587
6588
6589
6590
6591
6592
6593
6594
6595
6596
6597
6598
6599
6600
6601
6602
6603
6604
6605
6606
6607
6608
6609
6610
6611
6612
6613
6614
6615
6616
6617
6618
6619
6620
6621
6622
6623
6624
6625
6626
6627
6628
6629
6630
6631
6632
6633
6634
6635
6636
6637
6638
6639
6640
6641
6642
6643
6644
6645
6646
6647
6648
6649
6650
6651
6652
6653
6654
6655
6656
6657
6658
6659
6660
6661
6662
6663
6664
6665
6666
6667
6668
6669
6670
6671
6672
6673
6674
6675
6676
6677
6678
6679
6680
6681
6682
6683
6684
6685
6686
6687
6688
6689
6690
6691
6692
6693
6694
6695
6696
6697
6698
6699
6700
6701
6702
6703
6704
6705
6706
6707
6708
6709
6710
6711
6712
6713
6714
6715
6716
6717
6718
6719
6720
6721
6722
6723
6724
6725
6726
6727
6728
6729
6730
6731
6732
6733
6734
6735
6736
6737
6738
6739
6740
6741
6742
6743
6744
6745
6746
6747
6748
6749
6750
6751
6752
6753
6754
6755
6756
6757
6758
6759
6760
6761
6762
6763
6764
6765
6766
6767
6768
6769
6770
6771
6772
6773
6774
6775
6776
6777
6778
6779
6780
6781
6782
6783
6784
6785
6786
6787
6788
6789
6790
6791
6792
6793
6794
6795
6796
6797
6798
6799
6800
6801
6802
6803
6804
6805
6806
6807
6808
6809
6810
6811
6812
6813
6814
6815
6816
6817
6818
6819
6820
6821
6822
6823
6824
6825
6826
6827
6828
6829
6830
6831
6832
6833
6834
6835
6836
6837
6838
6839
6840
6841
6842
6843
6844
6845
6846
6847
6848
6849
6850
6851
6852
6853
6854
6855
6856
6857
6858
6859
6860
6861
6862
6863
6864
6865
6866
6867
6868
6869
6870
6871
6872
6873
6874
6875
6876
6877
6878
6879
6880
6881
6882
6883
6884
6885
6886
6887
6888
6889
6890
6891
6892
6893
6894
6895
6896
6897
6898
6899
6900
6901
6902
6903
6904
6905
6906
6907
6908
6909
6910
6911
6912
6913
6914
6915
6916
6917
6918
6919
6920
6921
6922
6923
6924
6925
6926
6927
6928
6929
6930
6931
6932
6933
6934
6935
6936
6937
6938
6939
6940
6941
6942
6943
6944
6945
6946
6947
6948
6949
6950
6951
6952
6953
6954
6955
6956
6957
6958
6959
6960
6961
6962
6963
6964
6965
6966
6967
6968
6969
6970
6971
6972
6973
6974
6975
6976
6977
6978
6979
6980
6981
6982
6983
6984
6985
6986
6987
6988
6989
6990
6991
6992
6993
6994
6995
6996
6997
6998
6999
7000
7001
7002
7003
7004
7005
7006
7007
7008
7009
7010
7011
7012
7013
7014
7015
7016
7017
7018
7019
7020
7021
7022
7023
7024
7025
7026
7027
7028
7029
7030
7031
7032
7033
7034
7035
7036
7037
7038
7039
7040
7041
7042
7043
7044
7045
7046
7047
7048
7049
7050
7051
7052
7053
7054
7055
7056
7057
7058
7059
7060
7061
7062
7063
7064
7065
7066
7067
7068
7069
7070
7071
7072
7073
7074
7075
7076
7077
7078
7079
7080
7081
7082
7083
7084
7085
7086
7087
7088
7089
7090
7091
7092
7093
7094
7095
7096
7097
7098
7099
7100
7101
7102
7103
7104
7105
7106
7107
7108
7109
7110
7111
7112
7113
7114
7115
7116
7117
7118
7119
7120
7121
7122
7123
7124
7125
7126
7127
7128
7129
7130
7131
7132
7133
7134
7135
7136
7137
7138
7139
7140
7141
7142
7143
7144
7145
7146
7147
7148
7149
7150
7151
7152
7153
7154
7155
7156
7157
7158
7159
7160
7161
7162
7163
7164
7165
7166
7167
7168
7169
7170
7171
7172
7173
7174
7175
7176
7177
7178
7179
7180
7181
7182
7183
7184
7185
7186
7187
7188
7189
7190
7191
7192
7193
7194
7195
7196
7197
7198
7199
7200
7201
7202
7203
7204
7205
7206
7207
7208
7209
7210
7211
7212
7213
7214
7215
7216
7217
7218
7219
7220
7221
7222
7223
7224
7225
7226
7227
7228
7229
7230
7231
7232
7233
7234
7235
7236
7237
7238
7239
7240
7241
7242
7243
7244
7245
7246
7247
7248
7249
7250
7251
7252
7253
7254
7255
7256
7257
7258
7259
7260
7261
7262
7263
7264
7265
7266
7267
7268
7269
7270
7271
7272
7273
7274
7275
7276
7277
7278
7279
7280
7281
7282
7283
7284
7285
7286
7287
7288
7289
7290
7291
7292
7293
7294
7295
7296
7297
7298
7299
7300
7301
7302
7303
7304
7305
7306
7307
7308
7309
7310
7311
7312
7313
7314
7315
7316
7317
7318
7319
7320
7321
7322
7323
7324
7325
7326
7327
7328
7329
7330
7331
7332
7333
7334
7335
7336
7337
7338
7339
7340
7341
7342
7343
7344
7345
7346
7347
7348
7349
7350
7351
7352
7353
7354
7355
7356
7357
7358
7359
7360
7361
7362
7363
7364
7365
7366
7367
7368
7369
7370
7371
7372
7373
7374
7375
7376
7377
7378
7379
7380
7381
7382
7383
7384
7385
7386
7387
7388
7389
7390
7391
7392
7393
7394
7395
7396
7397
7398
7399
7400
7401
7402
7403
7404
7405
7406
7407
7408
7409
7410
7411
7412
7413
7414
7415
7416
7417
7418
7419
7420
7421
7422
7423
7424
7425
7426
7427
7428
7429
7430
7431
7432
7433
7434
7435
7436
7437
7438
7439
7440
7441
7442
7443
7444
7445
7446
7447
7448
7449
7450
7451
7452
7453
7454
7455
7456
7457
7458
7459
7460
7461
7462
7463
7464
7465
7466
7467
7468
7469
7470
7471
7472
7473
7474
7475
7476
7477
7478
7479
7480
7481
7482
7483
7484
7485
7486
7487
7488
7489
7490
7491
7492
7493
7494
7495
7496
7497
7498
7499
7500
7501
7502
7503
7504
7505
7506
7507
7508
7509
7510
7511
7512
7513
7514
7515
7516
7517
7518
7519
7520
7521
7522
7523
7524
7525
7526
7527
7528
7529
7530
7531
7532
7533
7534
7535
7536
7537
7538
7539
7540
7541
7542
7543
7544
7545
7546
7547
7548
7549
7550
7551
7552
7553
7554
7555
7556
7557
7558
7559
7560
7561
7562
7563
7564
7565
7566
7567
7568
7569
7570
7571
7572
7573
7574
7575
7576
7577
7578
7579
7580
7581
7582
7583
7584
7585
7586
7587
7588
7589
7590
7591
7592
7593
7594
7595
7596
7597
7598
7599
7600
7601
7602
7603
7604
7605
7606
7607
7608
7609
7610
7611
7612
7613
7614
7615
7616
7617
7618
7619
7620
7621
7622
7623
7624
7625
7626
7627
7628
7629
7630
7631
7632
7633
7634
7635
7636
7637
7638
7639
7640
7641
7642
7643
7644
7645
7646
7647
7648
7649
7650
7651
7652
7653
7654
7655
7656
7657
7658
7659
7660
7661
7662
7663
7664
7665
7666
7667
7668
7669
7670
7671
7672
7673
7674
7675
7676
7677
7678
7679
7680
7681
7682
7683
7684
7685
7686
7687
7688
7689
7690
7691
7692
7693
7694
7695
7696
7697
7698
7699
7700
7701
7702
7703
7704
7705
7706
7707
7708
7709
7710
7711
7712
7713
7714
7715
7716
7717
7718
7719
7720
7721
7722
7723
7724
7725
7726
7727
7728
7729
7730
7731
7732
7733
7734
7735
7736
7737
7738
7739
7740
7741
7742
7743
7744
7745
7746
7747
7748
7749
7750
7751
7752
7753
7754
7755
7756
7757
7758
7759
7760
7761
7762
7763
7764
7765
7766
7767
7768
7769
7770
7771
7772
7773
7774
7775
7776
7777
7778
7779
7780
7781
7782
7783
7784
7785
7786
7787
7788
7789
7790
7791
7792
7793
7794
7795
7796
7797
7798
7799
7800
7801
7802
7803
7804
7805
7806
7807
7808
7809
7810
7811
7812
7813
7814
7815
7816
7817
7818
7819
7820
7821
7822
7823
7824
7825
7826
7827
7828
7829
7830
7831
7832
7833
7834
7835
7836
7837
7838
7839
7840
7841
7842
7843
7844
7845
7846
7847
7848
7849
7850
7851
7852
7853
7854
7855
7856
7857
7858
7859
7860
7861
7862
7863
7864
7865
7866
7867
7868
7869
7870
7871
7872
7873
7874
7875
7876
7877
7878
7879
7880
7881
7882
7883
7884
7885
7886
7887
7888
7889
7890
7891
7892
7893
7894
7895
7896
7897
7898
7899
7900
7901
7902
7903
7904
7905
7906
7907
7908
7909
7910
7911
7912
7913
7914
7915
7916
7917
7918
7919
7920
7921
7922
7923
7924
7925
7926
7927
7928
7929
7930
7931
7932
7933
7934
7935
7936
7937
7938
7939
7940
7941
7942
7943
7944
7945
7946
7947
7948
7949
7950
7951
7952
7953
7954
7955
7956
7957
7958
7959
7960
7961
7962
7963
7964
7965
7966
7967
7968
7969
7970
7971
7972
7973
7974
7975
7976
7977
7978
7979
7980
7981
7982
7983
7984
7985
7986
7987
7988
7989
7990
7991
7992
7993
7994
7995
7996
7997
7998
7999
8000
8001
8002
8003
8004
8005
8006
8007
8008
8009
8010
8011
8012
8013
8014
8015
8016
8017
8018
8019
8020
8021
8022
8023
8024
8025
8026
8027
8028
8029
8030
8031
8032
8033
8034
8035
8036
8037
8038
8039
8040
8041
8042
8043
8044
8045
8046
8047
8048
8049
8050
8051
8052
8053
8054
8055
8056
8057
8058
8059
8060
8061
8062
8063
8064
8065
8066
8067
8068
8069
8070
8071
8072
8073
8074
8075
8076
8077
8078
8079
8080
8081
8082
8083
8084
8085
8086
8087
8088
8089
8090
8091
8092
8093
8094
8095
8096
8097
8098
8099
8100
8101
8102
8103
8104
8105
8106
8107
8108
8109
8110
8111
8112
8113
8114
8115
8116
8117
8118
8119
8120
8121
8122
8123
8124
8125
8126
8127
8128
8129
8130
8131
8132
8133
8134
8135
8136
8137
8138
8139
8140
8141
8142
8143
8144
8145
8146
8147
8148
8149
8150
8151
8152
8153
8154
8155
8156
8157
8158
8159
8160
8161
8162
8163
8164
8165
8166
8167
8168
8169
8170
8171
8172
8173
8174
8175
8176
8177
8178
8179
8180
8181
8182
8183
8184
8185
8186
8187
8188
8189
8190
8191
8192
8193
8194
8195
8196
8197
8198
8199
8200
8201
8202
8203
8204
8205
8206
8207
8208
8209
8210
8211
8212
8213
8214
8215
8216
8217
8218
8219
8220
8221
8222
8223
8224
8225
8226
8227
8228
8229
8230
8231
8232
8233
8234
8235
8236
8237
8238
8239
8240
8241
8242
8243
8244
8245
8246
8247
8248
8249
8250
8251
8252
8253
8254
8255
8256
8257
8258
8259
8260
8261
8262
8263
8264
8265
8266
8267
8268
8269
8270
8271
8272
8273
8274
8275
8276
8277
8278
8279
8280
8281
8282
8283
8284
8285
8286
8287
8288
8289
8290
8291
8292
8293
8294
8295
8296
8297
8298
8299
8300
8301
8302
8303
8304
8305
8306
8307
8308
8309
8310
8311
8312
8313
8314
8315
8316
8317
8318
8319
8320
8321
8322
8323
8324
8325
8326
8327
8328
8329
8330
8331
8332
8333
8334
8335
8336
8337
8338
8339
8340
8341
8342
8343
8344
8345
8346
8347
8348
8349
8350
8351
8352
8353
8354
8355
8356
8357
8358
8359
8360
8361
8362
8363
8364
8365
8366
8367
8368
8369
8370
8371
8372
8373
8374
8375
8376
8377
8378
8379
8380
8381
8382
8383
8384
8385
8386
8387
8388
8389
8390
8391
8392
8393
8394
8395
8396
8397
8398
8399
8400
8401
8402
8403
8404
8405
8406
8407
8408
8409
8410
8411
8412
8413
8414
8415
8416
8417
8418
8419
8420
8421
8422
8423
8424
8425
8426
8427
8428
8429
8430
8431
8432
8433
8434
8435
8436
8437
8438
8439
8440
8441
8442
8443
8444
8445
8446
8447
8448
8449
8450
8451
8452
8453
8454
8455
8456
8457
8458
8459
8460
8461
8462
8463
8464
8465
8466
8467
8468
8469
8470
8471
8472
8473
8474
8475
8476
8477
8478
8479
8480
8481
8482
8483
8484
8485
8486
8487
8488
8489
8490
8491
8492
8493
8494
8495
8496
8497
8498
8499
8500
8501
8502
8503
8504
8505
8506
8507
8508
8509
8510
8511
8512
8513
8514
8515
8516
8517
8518
8519
8520
8521
8522
8523
8524
8525
8526
8527
8528
8529
8530
8531
8532
8533
8534
8535
8536
8537
8538
8539
8540
8541
8542
8543
8544
8545
8546
8547
8548
8549
8550
8551
8552
8553
8554
8555
8556
8557
8558
8559
8560
8561
8562
8563
8564
8565
8566
8567
8568
8569
8570
8571
8572
8573
8574
8575
8576
8577
8578
8579
8580
8581
8582
8583
8584
8585
8586
8587
8588
8589
8590
8591
8592
8593
8594
8595
8596
8597
8598
8599
8600
8601
8602
8603
8604
8605
8606
8607
8608
8609
8610
8611
8612
8613
8614
8615
8616
8617
8618
8619
8620
8621
8622
8623
8624
8625
8626
8627
8628
8629
8630
8631
8632
8633
8634
8635
8636
8637
8638
8639
8640
8641
8642
8643
8644
8645
8646
8647
8648
8649
8650
8651
8652
8653
8654
8655
8656
8657
8658
8659
8660
8661
8662
8663
8664
8665
8666
8667
8668
8669
8670
8671
8672
8673
8674
8675
8676
8677
8678
8679
8680
8681
8682
8683
8684
8685
8686
8687
8688
8689
8690
8691
8692
8693
8694
8695
8696
8697
8698
8699
8700
8701
8702
8703
8704
8705
8706
8707
8708
8709
8710
8711
8712
8713
8714
8715
8716
8717
8718
8719
8720
8721
8722
8723
8724
8725
8726
8727
8728
8729
8730
8731
8732
8733
8734
8735
8736
8737
8738
8739
8740
8741
8742
8743
8744
8745
8746
8747
8748
8749
8750
8751
8752
8753
8754
8755
8756
8757
8758
8759
8760
8761
8762
8763
8764
8765
8766
8767
8768
8769
8770
8771
8772
8773
8774
8775
8776
8777
8778
8779
8780
8781
8782
8783
8784
8785
8786
8787
8788
8789
8790
8791
8792
8793
8794
8795
8796
8797
8798
8799
8800
8801
8802
8803
8804
8805
8806
8807
8808
8809
8810
8811
8812
8813
8814
8815
8816
8817
8818
8819
8820
8821
8822
8823
8824
8825
8826
8827
8828
8829
8830
8831
8832
8833
8834
8835
8836
8837
8838
8839
8840
8841
8842
8843
8844
8845
8846
8847
8848
8849
8850
8851
8852
8853
8854
8855
8856
8857
8858
8859
8860
8861
8862
8863
8864
8865
8866
8867
8868
8869
8870
8871
8872
8873
8874
8875
8876
8877
8878
8879
8880
8881
8882
8883
8884
8885
8886
8887
8888
8889
8890
8891
8892
8893
8894
8895
8896
8897
8898
8899
8900
8901
8902
8903
8904
8905
8906
8907
8908
8909
8910
8911
8912
8913
8914
8915
8916
8917
8918
8919
8920
8921
8922
8923
8924
8925
8926
8927
8928
8929
8930
8931
8932
8933
8934
8935
8936
8937
8938
8939
8940
8941
8942
8943
8944
8945
8946
8947
8948
8949
8950
8951
8952
8953
8954
8955
8956
8957
8958
8959
8960
8961
8962
8963
8964
8965
8966
8967
8968
8969
8970
8971
8972
8973
8974
8975
8976
8977
8978
8979
8980
8981
8982
8983
8984
8985
8986
8987
8988
8989
8990
8991
8992
8993
8994
8995
8996
8997
8998
8999
9000
9001
9002
9003
9004
9005
9006
9007
9008
9009
9010
9011
9012
9013
9014
9015
9016
9017
9018
9019
9020
9021
9022
9023
9024
9025
9026
9027
9028
9029
9030
9031
9032
9033
9034
9035
9036
9037
9038
9039
9040
9041
9042
9043
9044
9045
9046
9047
9048
9049
9050
9051
9052
9053
9054
9055
9056
9057
9058
9059
9060
9061
9062
9063
9064
9065
9066
9067
9068
9069
9070
9071
9072
9073
9074
9075
9076
9077
9078
9079
9080
9081
9082
9083
9084
9085
9086
9087
9088
9089
9090
9091
9092
9093
9094
9095
9096
9097
9098
9099
9100
9101
9102
9103
9104
9105
9106
9107
9108
9109
9110
9111
9112
9113
9114
9115
9116
9117
9118
9119
9120
9121
9122
9123
9124
9125
9126
9127
9128
9129
9130
9131
9132
9133
9134
9135
9136
9137
9138
9139
9140
9141
9142
9143
9144
9145
9146
9147
9148
9149
9150
9151
9152
9153
9154
9155
9156
9157
9158
9159
9160
9161
9162
9163
9164
9165
9166
9167
9168
9169
9170
9171
9172
9173
9174
9175
9176
9177
9178
9179
9180
9181
9182
9183
9184
9185
9186
9187
9188
9189
9190
9191
9192
9193
9194
9195
9196
9197
9198
9199
9200
9201
9202
9203
9204
9205
9206
9207
9208
9209
9210
9211
9212
9213
9214
9215
9216
9217
9218
9219
9220
9221
9222
9223
9224
9225
9226
9227
9228
9229
9230
9231
9232
9233
9234
9235
9236
9237
9238
9239
9240
9241
9242
9243
9244
9245
9246
9247
9248
9249
9250
9251
9252
9253
9254
9255
9256
9257
9258
9259
9260
9261
9262
9263
9264
9265
9266
9267
9268
9269
9270
9271
9272
9273
9274
9275
9276
9277
9278
9279
9280
9281
9282
9283
9284
9285
9286
9287
9288
9289
9290
9291
9292
9293
9294
9295
9296
9297
9298
9299
9300
9301
9302
9303
9304
9305
9306
9307
9308
9309
9310
9311
9312
9313
9314
9315
9316
9317
9318
9319
9320
9321
9322
9323
9324
9325
9326
9327
9328
9329
9330
9331
9332
9333
9334
9335
9336
9337
9338
9339
9340
9341
9342
9343
9344
9345
9346
9347
9348
9349
9350
9351
9352
9353
9354
9355
9356
9357
9358
9359
9360
9361
9362
9363
9364
9365
9366
9367
9368
9369
9370
9371
9372
9373
9374
9375
9376
9377
9378
9379
9380
9381
9382
9383
9384
9385
9386
9387
9388
9389
9390
9391
9392
9393
9394
9395
9396
9397
9398
9399
9400
9401
9402
9403
9404
9405
9406
9407
9408
9409
9410
9411
9412
9413
9414
9415
9416
9417
9418
9419
9420
9421
9422
9423
9424
9425
9426
9427
9428
9429
9430
9431
9432
9433
9434
9435
9436
9437
9438
9439
9440
9441
9442
9443
9444
9445
9446
9447
9448
9449
9450
9451
9452
9453
9454
9455
9456
9457
9458
9459
9460
9461
9462
9463
9464
9465
9466
9467
9468
9469
9470
9471
9472
9473
9474
9475
9476
9477
9478
9479
9480
9481
9482
9483
9484
9485
9486
9487
9488
9489
9490
9491
9492
9493
9494
9495
9496
9497
9498
9499
9500
9501
9502
9503
9504
9505
9506
9507
9508
9509
9510
9511
9512
9513
9514
9515
9516
9517
9518
9519
9520
9521
9522
9523
9524
9525
9526
9527
9528
9529
9530
9531
9532
9533
9534
9535
9536
9537
9538
9539
9540
9541
9542
9543
9544
9545
9546
9547
9548
9549
9550
9551
9552
9553
9554
9555
9556
9557
9558
9559
9560
9561
9562
9563
9564
9565
9566
9567
9568
9569
9570
9571
9572
9573
9574
9575
9576
9577
9578
9579
9580
9581
9582
9583
9584
9585
9586
9587
9588
9589
9590
9591
9592
9593
9594
9595
9596
9597
9598
9599
9600
9601
9602
9603
9604
9605
9606
9607
9608
9609
9610
9611
9612
9613
9614
9615
9616
9617
9618
9619
9620
9621
9622
9623
9624
9625
9626
9627
9628
9629
9630
9631
9632
9633
9634
9635
9636
9637
9638
9639
9640
9641
9642
9643
9644
9645
9646
9647
9648
9649
9650
9651
9652
9653
9654
9655
9656
9657
9658
9659
9660
9661
9662
9663
9664
9665
9666
9667
9668
9669
9670
9671
9672
9673
9674
9675
9676
9677
9678
9679
9680
9681
9682
9683
9684
9685
9686
9687
9688
9689
9690
9691
9692
9693
9694
9695
9696
9697
9698
9699
9700
9701
9702
9703
9704
9705
9706
9707
9708
9709
9710
9711
9712
9713
9714
9715
9716
9717
9718
9719
9720
9721
9722
9723
9724
9725
9726
9727
9728
9729
9730
9731
9732
9733
9734
9735
9736
9737
9738
9739
9740
9741
9742
9743
9744
9745
9746
9747
9748
9749
9750
9751
9752
9753
9754
9755
9756
9757
9758
9759
9760
9761
9762
9763
9764
9765
9766
9767
9768
9769
9770
9771
9772
9773
9774
9775
9776
9777
9778
9779
9780
9781
9782
9783
9784
9785
9786
9787
9788
9789
9790
9791
9792
9793
9794
9795
9796
9797
9798
9799
9800
9801
9802
9803
9804
9805
9806
9807
9808
9809
9810
9811
9812
9813
9814
9815
9816
9817
9818
9819
9820
9821
9822
9823
9824
9825
9826
9827
9828
9829
9830
9831
9832
9833
9834
9835
9836
9837
9838
9839
9840
9841
9842
9843
9844
9845
9846
9847
9848
9849
9850
9851
9852
9853
9854
9855
9856
9857
9858
9859
9860
9861
9862
9863
9864
9865
9866
9867
9868
9869
9870
9871
9872
9873
9874
9875
9876
9877
9878
9879
9880
9881
9882
9883
9884
9885
9886
9887
9888
9889
9890
9891
9892
9893
9894
9895
9896
9897
9898
9899
9900
9901
9902
9903
9904
9905
9906
9907
9908
9909
9910
9911
9912
9913
9914
9915
9916
9917
9918
9919
9920
9921
9922
9923
9924
9925
9926
9927
9928
9929
9930
9931
9932
9933
9934
9935
9936
9937
9938
9939
9940
9941
9942
9943
9944
9945
9946
9947
9948
9949
9950
9951
9952
9953
9954
9955
9956
9957
9958
9959
9960
9961
9962
9963
9964
9965
9966
9967
9968
9969
9970
9971
9972
9973
9974
9975
9976
9977
9978
9979
9980
9981
9982
9983
9984
9985
9986
9987
9988
9989
9990
9991
9992
9993
9994
9995
9996
9997
9998
9999
10000
10001
10002
10003
10004
10005
10006
10007
10008
10009
10010
10011
10012
10013
10014
10015
10016
10017
10018
10019
10020
10021
10022
10023
10024
10025
10026
10027
10028
10029
10030
10031
10032
10033
10034
10035
10036
10037
10038
10039
10040
10041
10042
10043
10044
10045
10046
10047
10048
10049
10050
10051
10052
10053
10054
10055
10056
10057
10058
10059
10060
10061
10062
10063
10064
10065
10066
10067
10068
10069
10070
10071
10072
10073
10074
10075
10076
10077
10078
10079
10080
10081
10082
10083
10084
10085
10086
10087
10088
10089
10090
10091
10092
10093
10094
10095
10096
10097
10098
10099
10100
10101
10102
10103
10104
10105
10106
10107
10108
10109
10110
10111
10112
10113
10114
10115
10116
10117
10118
10119
10120
10121
10122
10123
10124
10125
10126
10127
10128
10129
10130
10131
10132
10133
10134
10135
10136
10137
10138
10139
10140
10141
10142
10143
10144
10145
10146
10147
10148
10149
10150
10151
10152
10153
10154
10155
10156
10157
10158
10159
10160
10161
10162
10163
10164
10165
10166
10167
10168
10169
10170
10171
10172
10173
10174
10175
10176
10177
10178
10179
10180
10181
10182
10183
10184
10185
10186
10187
10188
10189
10190
10191
10192
10193
10194
10195
10196
10197
10198
10199
10200
10201
10202
10203
10204
10205
10206
10207
10208
10209
10210
10211
10212
10213
10214
10215
10216
10217
10218
10219
10220
10221
10222
10223
10224
10225
10226
10227
10228
10229
10230
10231
10232
10233
10234
10235
10236
10237
10238
10239
10240
10241
10242
10243
10244
10245
10246
10247
10248
10249
10250
10251
10252
10253
10254
10255
10256
10257
10258
10259
10260
10261
10262
10263
10264
10265
10266
10267
10268
10269
10270
10271
10272
10273
10274
10275
10276
10277
10278
10279
10280
10281
10282
10283
10284
10285
10286
10287
10288
10289
10290
10291
10292
10293
10294
10295
10296
10297
10298
10299
10300
10301
10302
10303
10304
10305
10306
10307
10308
10309
10310
10311
10312
10313
10314
10315
10316
10317
10318
10319
10320
10321
10322
10323
10324
10325
10326
10327
10328
10329
10330
10331
10332
10333
10334
10335
10336
10337
10338
10339
10340
10341
10342
10343
10344
10345
10346
10347
10348
10349
10350
10351
10352
10353
10354
10355
10356
10357
10358
10359
10360
10361
10362
10363
10364
10365
10366
10367
10368
10369
10370
10371
10372
10373
10374
10375
10376
10377
10378
10379
10380
10381
10382
10383
10384
10385
10386
10387
10388
10389
10390
10391
10392
10393
10394
10395
10396
10397
10398
10399
10400
10401
10402
10403
10404
10405
10406
10407
10408
10409
10410
10411
10412
10413
10414
10415
10416
10417
10418
10419
10420
10421
10422
10423
10424
10425
10426
10427
10428
10429
10430
10431
10432
10433
10434
10435
10436
10437
10438
10439
10440
10441
10442
10443
10444
10445
10446
10447
10448
10449
10450
10451
10452
10453
10454
10455
10456
10457
10458
10459
10460
10461
10462
10463
10464
10465
10466
10467
10468
10469
10470
10471
10472
10473
10474
10475
10476
10477
10478
10479
10480
10481
10482
10483
10484
10485
10486
10487
10488
10489
10490
10491
10492
10493
10494
10495
10496
10497
10498
10499
10500
10501
10502
10503
10504
10505
10506
10507
10508
10509
10510
10511
10512
10513
10514
10515
10516
10517
10518
10519
10520
10521
10522
10523
10524
10525
10526
10527
10528
10529
10530
10531
10532
10533
10534
10535
10536
10537
10538
10539
10540
10541
10542
10543
10544
10545
10546
10547
10548
10549
10550
10551
10552
10553
10554
10555
10556
10557
10558
10559
10560
10561
10562
10563
10564
10565
10566
10567
10568
10569
10570
10571
10572
10573
10574
10575
10576
10577
10578
10579
10580
10581
10582
10583
10584
10585
10586
10587
10588
10589
10590
10591
10592
10593
10594
10595
10596
10597
10598
10599
10600
10601
10602
10603
10604
10605
10606
10607
10608
10609
10610
10611
10612
10613
10614
10615
10616
10617
10618
10619
10620
10621
10622
10623
10624
10625
10626
10627
10628
10629
10630
10631
10632
10633
10634
10635
10636
10637
10638
10639
10640
10641
10642
10643
10644
10645
10646
10647
10648
10649
10650
10651
10652
10653
10654
10655
10656
10657
10658
10659
10660
10661
10662
10663
10664
10665
10666
10667
10668
10669
10670
10671
10672
10673
10674
10675
10676
10677
10678
10679
10680
10681
10682
10683
10684
10685
10686
10687
10688
10689
10690
10691
10692
10693
10694
10695
10696
10697
10698
10699
10700
10701
10702
10703
10704
10705
10706
10707
10708
10709
10710
10711
10712
10713
10714
10715
10716
10717
10718
10719
10720
10721
10722
10723
10724
10725
10726
10727
10728
10729
10730
10731
10732
10733
10734
10735
10736
10737
10738
10739
10740
10741
10742
10743
10744
10745
10746
10747
10748
10749
10750
10751
10752
10753
10754
10755
10756
10757
10758
10759
10760
10761
10762
10763
10764
10765
10766
10767
10768
10769
10770
10771
10772
10773
10774
10775
10776
10777
10778
10779
10780
10781
10782
10783
10784
10785
10786
10787
10788
10789
10790
10791
10792
10793
10794
10795
10796
10797
10798
10799
10800
10801
10802
10803
10804
10805
10806
10807
10808
10809
10810
10811
10812
10813
10814
10815
10816
10817
10818
10819
10820
10821
10822
10823
10824
10825
10826
10827
10828
10829
10830
10831
10832
10833
10834
10835
10836
10837
10838
10839
10840
10841
10842
10843
10844
10845
10846
10847
10848
10849
10850
10851
10852
10853
10854
10855
10856
10857
10858
10859
10860
10861
10862
10863
10864
10865
10866
10867
10868
10869
10870
10871
10872
10873
10874
10875
10876
10877
10878
10879
10880
10881
10882
10883
10884
10885
10886
10887
10888
10889
10890
10891
10892
10893
10894
10895
10896
10897
10898
10899
10900
10901
10902
10903
10904
10905
10906
10907
10908
10909
10910
10911
10912
10913
10914
10915
10916
10917
10918
10919
10920
10921
10922
10923
10924
10925
10926
10927
10928
10929
10930
10931
10932
10933
10934
10935
10936
10937
10938
10939
10940
10941
10942
10943
10944
10945
10946
10947
10948
10949
10950
10951
10952
10953
10954
10955
10956
10957
10958
10959
10960
10961
10962
10963
10964
10965
10966
10967
10968
10969
10970
10971
10972
10973
10974
10975
10976
10977
10978
10979
10980
10981
10982
10983
10984
10985
10986
10987
10988
10989
10990
10991
10992
10993
10994
10995
10996
10997
10998
10999
11000
11001
11002
11003
11004
11005
11006
11007
11008
11009
11010
11011
11012
11013
11014
11015
11016
11017
11018
11019
11020
11021
11022
11023
11024
11025
11026
11027
11028
11029
11030
11031
11032
11033
11034
11035
11036
11037
11038
11039
11040
11041
11042
11043
11044
11045
11046
11047
11048
11049
11050
11051
11052
11053
11054
11055
11056
11057
11058
11059
11060
11061
11062
11063
11064
11065
11066
11067
11068
11069
11070
11071
11072
11073
11074
11075
11076
11077
11078
11079
11080
11081
11082
11083
11084
11085
11086
11087
11088
11089
11090
11091
11092
11093
11094
11095
11096
11097
11098
11099
11100
11101
11102
11103
11104
11105
11106
11107
11108
11109
11110
11111
11112
11113
11114
11115
11116
11117
11118
11119
11120
11121
11122
11123
11124
11125
11126
11127
11128
11129
11130
11131
11132
11133
11134
11135
11136
11137
11138
11139
11140
11141
11142
11143
11144
11145
11146
11147
11148
11149
11150
11151
11152
11153
11154
11155
11156
11157
11158
11159
11160
11161
11162
11163
11164
11165
11166
11167
11168
11169
11170
11171
11172
11173
11174
11175
11176
11177
11178
11179
11180
11181
11182
11183
11184
11185
11186
11187
11188
11189
11190
11191
11192
11193
11194
11195
11196
11197
11198
11199
11200
11201
11202
11203
11204
11205
11206
11207
11208
11209
11210
11211
11212
11213
11214
11215
11216
11217
11218
11219
11220
11221
11222
11223
11224
11225
11226
11227
11228
11229
11230
11231
11232
11233
11234
11235
11236
11237
11238
11239
11240
11241
11242
11243
11244
11245
11246
11247
11248
11249
11250
11251
11252
11253
11254
11255
11256
11257
11258
11259
11260
11261
11262
11263
11264
11265
11266
11267
11268
11269
11270
11271
11272
11273
11274
11275
11276
11277
11278
11279
11280
11281
11282
11283
11284
11285
11286
11287
11288
11289
11290
11291
11292
11293
11294
11295
11296
11297
11298
11299
11300
11301
11302
11303
11304
11305
11306
11307
11308
11309
11310
11311
11312
11313
11314
11315
11316
11317
11318
11319
11320
11321
11322
11323
11324
11325
11326
11327
11328
11329
11330
11331
11332
11333
11334
11335
11336
11337
11338
11339
11340
11341
11342
11343
11344
11345
11346
11347
11348
11349
11350
11351
11352
11353
11354
11355
11356
11357
11358
11359
11360
11361
11362
11363
11364
11365
11366
11367
11368
11369
11370
11371
11372
11373
11374
11375
11376
11377
11378
11379
11380
11381
11382
11383
11384
11385
11386
11387
11388
11389
11390
11391
11392
11393
11394
11395
11396
11397
11398
11399
11400
11401
11402
11403
11404
11405
11406
11407
11408
11409
11410
11411
11412
11413
11414
11415
11416
11417
11418
11419
11420
11421
11422
11423
11424
11425
11426
11427
11428
11429
11430
11431
11432
11433
11434
11435
11436
11437
11438
11439
11440
11441
11442
11443
11444
11445
11446
11447
11448
11449
11450
11451
11452
11453
11454
11455
11456
11457
11458
11459
11460
11461
11462
11463
11464
11465
11466
11467
11468
11469
11470
11471
11472
11473
11474
11475
11476
11477
11478
11479
11480
11481
11482
11483
11484
11485
11486
11487
11488
11489
11490
11491
11492
11493
11494
11495
11496
11497
11498
11499
11500
11501
11502
11503
11504
11505
11506
11507
11508
11509
11510
11511
11512
11513
11514
11515
11516
11517
11518
11519
11520
11521
11522
11523
11524
11525
11526
11527
11528
11529
11530
11531
11532
11533
11534
11535
11536
11537
11538
11539
11540
11541
11542
11543
11544
11545
11546
11547
11548
11549
11550
11551
11552
11553
11554
11555
11556
11557
11558
11559
11560
11561
11562
11563
11564
11565
11566
11567
11568
11569
11570
11571
11572
11573
11574
11575
11576
11577
11578
11579
11580
11581
11582
11583
11584
11585
11586
11587
11588
11589
11590
11591
11592
11593
11594
11595
11596
11597
11598
11599
11600
11601
11602
11603
11604
11605
11606
11607
11608
11609
11610
11611
11612
11613
11614
11615
11616
11617
11618
11619
11620
11621
11622
11623
11624
11625
11626
11627
11628
11629
11630
11631
11632
11633
11634
11635
11636
11637
11638
11639
11640
11641
11642
11643
11644
11645
11646
11647
11648
11649
11650
11651
11652
11653
11654
11655
11656
11657
11658
11659
11660
11661
11662
11663
11664
11665
11666
11667
11668
11669
11670
11671
11672
11673
11674
11675
11676
11677
11678
11679
11680
11681
11682
11683
11684
11685
11686
11687
11688
11689
11690
11691
11692
11693
11694
11695
11696
11697
11698
11699
11700
11701
11702
11703
11704
11705
11706
11707
11708
11709
11710
11711
11712
11713
11714
11715
11716
11717
11718
11719
11720
11721
11722
11723
11724
11725
11726
11727
11728
11729
11730
11731
11732
11733
11734
11735
11736
11737
11738
11739
11740
11741
11742
11743
11744
11745
11746
11747
11748
11749
11750
11751
11752
11753
11754
11755
11756
11757
11758
11759
11760
11761
11762
11763
11764
11765
11766
11767
11768
11769
11770
11771
11772
11773
11774
11775
11776
11777
11778
11779
11780
11781
11782
11783
11784
11785
11786
11787
11788
11789
11790
11791
11792
11793
11794
11795
11796
11797
11798
11799
11800
11801
11802
11803
11804
11805
11806
11807
11808
11809
11810
11811
11812
11813
11814
11815
11816
11817
11818
11819
11820
11821
11822
11823
11824
11825
11826
11827
11828
11829
11830
11831
11832
11833
11834
11835
11836
11837
11838
11839
11840
11841
11842
11843
11844
11845
11846
11847
11848
11849
11850
11851
11852
11853
11854
11855
11856
11857
11858
11859
11860
11861
11862
11863
11864
11865
11866
11867
11868
11869
11870
11871
11872
11873
11874
11875
11876
11877
11878
11879
11880
11881
11882
11883
11884
11885
11886
11887
11888
11889
11890
11891
11892
11893
11894
11895
11896
11897
11898
11899
11900
11901
11902
11903
11904
11905
11906
11907
11908
11909
11910
11911
11912
11913
11914
11915
11916
11917
11918
11919
11920
11921
11922
11923
11924
11925
11926
11927
11928
11929
11930
11931
11932
11933
11934
11935
11936
11937
11938
11939
11940
11941
11942
11943
11944
11945
11946
11947
11948
11949
11950
11951
11952
11953
11954
11955
11956
11957
11958
11959
11960
11961
11962
11963
11964
11965
11966
11967
11968
11969
11970
11971
11972
11973
11974
11975
11976
11977
11978
11979
11980
11981
11982
11983
11984
11985
11986
11987
11988
11989
11990
11991
11992
11993
11994
11995
11996
11997
11998
11999
12000
12001
12002
12003
12004
12005
12006
12007
12008
12009
12010
12011
12012
12013
12014
12015
12016
12017
12018
12019
12020
12021
12022
12023
12024
12025
12026
12027
12028
12029
12030
12031
12032
12033
12034
12035
12036
12037
12038
12039
12040
12041
12042
12043
12044
12045
12046
12047
12048
12049
12050
12051
12052
12053
12054
12055
12056
12057
12058
12059
12060
12061
12062
12063
12064
12065
12066
12067
12068
12069
12070
12071
12072
12073
12074
12075
12076
12077
12078
12079
12080
12081
12082
12083
12084
12085
12086
12087
12088
12089
12090
12091
12092
12093
12094
12095
12096
12097
12098
12099
12100
12101
12102
12103
12104
12105
12106
12107
12108
12109
12110
12111
12112
12113
12114
12115
12116
12117
12118
12119
12120
12121
12122
12123
12124
12125
12126
12127
12128
12129
12130
12131
12132
12133
12134
12135
12136
12137
12138
12139
12140
12141
12142
12143
12144
12145
12146
12147
12148
12149
12150
12151
12152
12153
12154
12155
12156
12157
12158
12159
12160
12161
12162
12163
12164
12165
12166
12167
12168
12169
12170
12171
12172
12173
12174
12175
12176
12177
12178
12179
12180
12181
12182
12183
12184
12185
12186
12187
12188
12189
12190
12191
12192
12193
12194
12195
12196
12197
12198
12199
12200
12201
12202
12203
12204
12205
12206
12207
12208
12209
12210
12211
12212
12213
12214
12215
12216
12217
12218
12219
12220
12221
12222
12223
12224
12225
12226
12227
12228
12229
12230
12231
12232
12233
12234
12235
12236
12237
12238
12239
12240
12241
12242
12243
12244
12245
12246
12247
12248
12249
12250
12251
12252
12253
12254
12255
12256
12257
12258
12259
12260
12261
12262
12263
12264
12265
12266
12267
12268
12269
12270
12271
12272
12273
12274
12275
12276
12277
12278
12279
12280
12281
12282
12283
12284
12285
12286
12287
12288
12289
12290
12291
12292
12293
12294
12295
12296
12297
12298
12299
12300
12301
12302
12303
12304
12305
12306
12307
12308
12309
12310
12311
12312
12313
12314
12315
12316
12317
12318
12319
12320
12321
12322
12323
12324
12325
12326
12327
12328
12329
12330
12331
12332
12333
12334
12335
12336
12337
12338
12339
12340
12341
12342
12343
12344
12345
12346
12347
12348
12349
12350
12351
12352
12353
12354
12355
12356
12357
12358
12359
12360
12361
12362
12363
12364
12365
12366
12367
12368
12369
12370
12371
12372
12373
12374
12375
12376
12377
12378
12379
12380
12381
12382
12383
12384
12385
12386
12387
12388
12389
12390
12391
12392
12393
12394
12395
12396
12397
12398
12399
12400
12401
12402
12403
12404
12405
12406
12407
12408
12409
12410
12411
12412
12413
12414
12415
12416
12417
12418
12419
12420
12421
12422
12423
12424
12425
12426
12427
12428
12429
12430
12431
12432
12433
12434
12435
12436
12437
12438
12439
12440
12441
12442
12443
12444
12445
12446
12447
12448
12449
12450
12451
12452
12453
12454
12455
12456
12457
12458
12459
12460
12461
12462
12463
12464
12465
12466
12467
12468
12469
12470
12471
12472
12473
12474
12475
12476
12477
12478
12479
12480
12481
12482
12483
12484
12485
12486
12487
12488
12489
12490
12491
12492
12493
12494
12495
12496
12497
12498
12499
12500
12501
12502
12503
12504
12505
12506
12507
12508
12509
12510
12511
12512
12513
12514
12515
12516
12517
12518
12519
12520
12521
12522
12523
12524
12525
12526
12527
12528
12529
12530
12531
12532
12533
12534
12535
12536
12537
12538
12539
12540
12541
12542
12543
12544
12545
12546
12547
12548
12549
12550
12551
12552
12553
12554
12555
12556
12557
12558
12559
12560
12561
12562
12563
12564
12565
12566
12567
12568
12569
12570
12571
12572
12573
12574
12575
12576
12577
12578
12579
12580
12581
12582
12583
12584
12585
12586
12587
12588
12589
12590
12591
12592
12593
12594
12595
12596
12597
12598
12599
12600
12601
12602
12603
12604
12605
12606
12607
12608
12609
12610
12611
12612
12613
12614
12615
12616
12617
12618
12619
12620
12621
12622
12623
12624
12625
12626
12627
12628
12629
12630
12631
12632
12633
12634
12635
12636
12637
12638
12639
12640
12641
12642
12643
12644
12645
12646
12647
12648
12649
12650
12651
12652
12653
12654
12655
12656
12657
12658
12659
12660
12661
12662
12663
12664
12665
12666
12667
12668
12669
12670
12671
12672
12673
12674
12675
12676
12677
12678
12679
12680
12681
12682
12683
12684
12685
12686
12687
12688
12689
12690
12691
12692
12693
12694
12695
12696
12697
12698
12699
12700
12701
12702
12703
12704
12705
12706
12707
12708
12709
12710
12711
12712
12713
12714
12715
12716
12717
12718
12719
12720
12721
12722
12723
12724
12725
12726
12727
12728
12729
12730
12731
12732
12733
12734
12735
12736
12737
12738
12739
12740
12741
12742
12743
12744
12745
12746
12747
12748
12749
12750
12751
12752
12753
12754
12755
12756
12757
12758
12759
12760
12761
12762
12763
12764
12765
12766
12767
12768
12769
12770
12771
12772
12773
12774
12775
12776
12777
12778
12779
12780
12781
12782
12783
12784
12785
12786
12787
12788
12789
12790
12791
12792
12793
12794
12795
12796
12797
12798
12799
12800
12801
12802
12803
12804
12805
12806
12807
12808
12809
12810
12811
12812
12813
12814
12815
12816
12817
12818
12819
12820
12821
12822
12823
12824
12825
12826
12827
12828
12829
12830
12831
12832
12833
12834
12835
12836
12837
12838
12839
12840
12841
12842
12843
12844
12845
12846
12847
12848
12849
12850
12851
12852
12853
12854
12855
12856
12857
12858
12859
12860
12861
12862
12863
12864
12865
12866
12867
12868
12869
12870
12871
12872
12873
12874
12875
12876
12877
12878
12879
12880
12881
12882
12883
12884
12885
12886
12887
12888
12889
12890
12891
12892
12893
12894
12895
12896
12897
12898
12899
12900
12901
12902
12903
12904
12905
12906
12907
12908
12909
12910
12911
12912
12913
12914
12915
12916
12917
12918
12919
12920
12921
12922
12923
12924
12925
12926
12927
12928
12929
12930
12931
12932
12933
12934
12935
12936
12937
12938
12939
12940
12941
12942
12943
12944
12945
12946
12947
12948
12949
12950
12951
12952
12953
12954
12955
12956
12957
12958
12959
12960
12961
12962
12963
12964
12965
12966
12967
12968
12969
12970
12971
12972
12973
12974
12975
12976
12977
12978
12979
12980
12981
12982
12983
12984
12985
12986
12987
12988
12989
12990
12991
12992
12993
12994
12995
12996
12997
12998
12999
13000
13001
13002
13003
13004
13005
13006
13007
13008
13009
13010
13011
13012
13013
13014
13015
13016
13017
13018
13019
13020
13021
13022
13023
13024
13025
13026
13027
13028
13029
13030
13031
13032
13033
13034
13035
13036
13037
13038
13039
13040
13041
13042
13043
13044
13045
13046
13047
13048
13049
13050
13051
13052
13053
13054
13055
13056
13057
13058
13059
13060
13061
13062
13063
13064
13065
13066
13067
13068
13069
13070
13071
13072
13073
13074
13075
13076
13077
13078
13079
13080
13081
13082
13083
13084
13085
13086
13087
13088
13089
13090
13091
13092
13093
13094
13095
13096
13097
13098
13099
13100
13101
13102
13103
13104
13105
13106
13107
13108
13109
13110
13111
13112
13113
13114
13115
13116
13117
13118
13119
13120
13121
13122
13123
13124
13125
13126
13127
13128
13129
13130
13131
13132
13133
13134
13135
13136
13137
13138
13139
13140
13141
13142
13143
13144
13145
13146
13147
13148
13149
13150
13151
13152
13153
13154
13155
13156
13157
13158
13159
13160
13161
13162
13163
13164
13165
13166
13167
13168
13169
13170
13171
13172
13173
13174
13175
13176
13177
13178
13179
13180
13181
13182
13183
13184
13185
13186
13187
13188
13189
13190
13191
13192
13193
13194
13195
13196
13197
13198
13199
13200
13201
13202
13203
13204
13205
13206
13207
13208
13209
13210
13211
13212
13213
13214
13215
13216
13217
13218
13219
13220
13221
13222
13223
13224
13225
13226
13227
13228
13229
13230
13231
13232
13233
13234
13235
13236
13237
13238
13239
13240
13241
13242
13243
13244
13245
13246
13247
13248
13249
13250
13251
13252
13253
13254
13255
13256
13257
13258
13259
13260
13261
13262
13263
13264
13265
13266
13267
13268
13269
13270
13271
13272
13273
13274
13275
13276
13277
13278
13279
13280
13281
13282
13283
13284
13285
13286
13287
13288
13289
13290
13291
13292
13293
13294
13295
13296
13297
13298
13299
13300
13301
13302
13303
13304
13305
13306
13307
13308
13309
13310
13311
13312
13313
13314
13315
13316
13317
13318
13319
13320
13321
13322
13323
13324
13325
13326
13327
13328
13329
13330
13331
13332
13333
13334
13335
13336
13337
13338
13339
13340
13341
13342
13343
13344
13345
13346
13347
13348
13349
13350
13351
13352
13353
13354
13355
13356
13357
13358
13359
13360
13361
13362
13363
13364
13365
13366
13367
13368
13369
13370
13371
13372
13373
13374
13375
13376
13377
13378
13379
13380
13381
13382
13383
13384
13385
13386
13387
13388
13389
13390
13391
13392
13393
13394
13395
13396
13397
13398
13399
13400
13401
13402
13403
13404
13405
13406
13407
13408
13409
13410
13411
13412
13413
13414
13415
13416
13417
13418
13419
13420
13421
13422
13423
13424
13425
13426
13427
13428
13429
13430
13431
13432
13433
13434
13435
13436
13437
13438
13439
13440
13441
13442
13443
13444
13445
13446
13447
13448
13449
13450
13451
13452
13453
13454
13455
13456
13457
13458
13459
13460
13461
13462
13463
13464
13465
13466
13467
13468
13469
13470
13471
13472
13473
13474
13475
13476
13477
13478
13479
13480
13481
13482
13483
13484
13485
13486
13487
13488
13489
13490
13491
13492
13493
13494
13495
13496
13497
13498
13499
13500
13501
13502
13503
13504
13505
13506
13507
13508
13509
13510
13511
13512
13513
13514
13515
13516
13517
13518
13519
13520
13521
13522
13523
13524
13525
13526
13527
13528
13529
13530
13531
13532
13533
13534
13535
13536
13537
13538
13539
13540
13541
13542
13543
13544
13545
13546
13547
13548
13549
13550
13551
13552
13553
13554
13555
13556
13557
13558
13559
13560
13561
13562
13563
13564
13565
13566
13567
13568
13569
13570
13571
13572
13573
13574
13575
13576
13577
13578
13579
13580
13581
13582
13583
13584
13585
13586
13587
13588
13589
13590
13591
13592
13593
13594
13595
13596
13597
13598
13599
13600
13601
13602
13603
13604
13605
13606
13607
13608
13609
13610
13611
13612
13613
13614
13615
13616
13617
13618
13619
13620
13621
13622
13623
13624
13625
13626
13627
13628
13629
13630
13631
13632
13633
13634
13635
13636
13637
13638
13639
13640
13641
13642
13643
13644
13645
13646
13647
13648
13649
13650
13651
13652
13653
13654
13655
13656
13657
13658
13659
13660
13661
13662
13663
13664
13665
13666
13667
13668
13669
13670
13671
13672
13673
13674
13675
13676
13677
13678
13679
13680
13681
13682
13683
13684
13685
13686
13687
13688
13689
13690
13691
13692
13693
13694
13695
13696
13697
13698
13699
13700
13701
13702
13703
13704
13705
13706
13707
13708
13709
13710
13711
13712
13713
13714
13715
13716
13717
13718
13719
13720
13721
13722
13723
13724
13725
13726
13727
13728
13729
13730
13731
13732
13733
13734
13735
13736
13737
13738
13739
13740
13741
13742
13743
13744
13745
13746
13747
13748
13749
13750
13751
13752
13753
13754
13755
13756
13757
13758
13759
13760
13761
13762
13763
13764
13765
13766
13767
13768
13769
13770
13771
13772
13773
13774
13775
13776
13777
13778
13779
13780
13781
13782
13783
13784
13785
13786
13787
13788
13789
13790
13791
13792
13793
13794
13795
13796
13797
13798
13799
13800
13801
13802
13803
13804
13805
13806
13807
13808
13809
13810
13811
13812
13813
13814
13815
13816
13817
13818
13819
13820
13821
13822
13823
13824
13825
13826
13827
13828
13829
13830
13831
13832
13833
13834
13835
13836
13837
13838
13839
13840
13841
13842
13843
13844
13845
13846
13847
13848
13849
13850
13851
13852
13853
13854
13855
13856
13857
13858
13859
13860
13861
13862
13863
13864
13865
13866
13867
13868
13869
13870
13871
13872
13873
13874
13875
13876
13877
13878
13879
13880
13881
13882
13883
13884
13885
13886
13887
13888
13889
13890
13891
13892
13893
13894
13895
13896
13897
13898
13899
13900
13901
13902
13903
13904
13905
13906
13907
13908
13909
13910
13911
13912
13913
13914
13915
13916
13917
13918
13919
13920
13921
13922
13923
13924
13925
13926
13927
13928
13929
13930
13931
13932
13933
13934
13935
13936
13937
13938
13939
13940
13941
13942
13943
13944
13945
13946
13947
13948
13949
13950
13951
13952
13953
13954
13955
13956
13957
13958
13959
13960
13961
13962
13963
13964
13965
13966
13967
13968
13969
13970
13971
13972
13973
13974
13975
13976
13977
13978
13979
13980
13981
13982
13983
13984
13985
13986
13987
13988
13989
13990
13991
13992
13993
13994
13995
13996
13997
13998
13999
14000
14001
14002
14003
14004
14005
14006
14007
14008
14009
14010
14011
14012
14013
14014
14015
14016
14017
14018
14019
14020
14021
14022
14023
14024
14025
14026
14027
14028
14029
14030
14031
14032
14033
14034
14035
14036
14037
14038
14039
14040
14041
14042
14043
14044
14045
14046
14047
14048
14049
14050
14051
14052
14053
14054
14055
14056
14057
14058
14059
14060
14061
14062
14063
14064
14065
14066
14067
14068
14069
14070
14071
14072
14073
14074
14075
14076
14077
14078
14079
14080
14081
14082
14083
14084
14085
14086
14087
14088
14089
14090
14091
14092
14093
14094
14095
14096
14097
14098
14099
14100
14101
14102
14103
14104
14105
14106
14107
14108
14109
14110
14111
14112
14113
14114
14115
14116
14117
14118
14119
14120
14121
14122
14123
14124
14125
14126
14127
14128
14129
14130
14131
14132
14133
14134
14135
14136
14137
14138
14139
14140
14141
14142
14143
14144
14145
14146
14147
14148
14149
14150
14151
14152
14153
14154
14155
14156
14157
14158
14159
14160
14161
14162
14163
14164
14165
14166
14167
14168
14169
14170
14171
14172
14173
14174
14175
14176
14177
14178
14179
14180
14181
14182
14183
14184
14185
14186
14187
14188
14189
14190
14191
14192
14193
14194
14195
14196
14197
14198
14199
14200
14201
14202
14203
14204
14205
14206
14207
14208
14209
14210
14211
14212
14213
14214
14215
14216
14217
14218
14219
14220
14221
14222
14223
14224
14225
14226
14227
14228
14229
14230
14231
14232
14233
14234
14235
14236
14237
14238
14239
14240
14241
14242
14243
14244
14245
14246
14247
14248
14249
14250
14251
14252
14253
14254
14255
14256
14257
14258
14259
14260
14261
14262
14263
14264
14265
14266
14267
14268
14269
14270
14271
14272
14273
14274
14275
14276
14277
14278
14279
14280
14281
14282
14283
14284
14285
14286
14287
14288
14289
14290
14291
14292
14293
14294
14295
14296
14297
14298
14299
14300
14301
14302
14303
14304
14305
14306
14307
14308
14309
14310
14311
14312
14313
14314
14315
14316
14317
14318
14319
14320
14321
14322
14323
14324
14325
14326
14327
14328
14329
14330
14331
14332
14333
14334
14335
14336
14337
14338
14339
14340
14341
14342
14343
14344
14345
14346
14347
14348
14349
14350
14351
14352
14353
14354
14355
14356
14357
14358
14359
14360
14361
14362
14363
14364
14365
14366
14367
14368
14369
14370
14371
14372
14373
14374
14375
14376
14377
14378
14379
14380
14381
14382
14383
14384
14385
14386
14387
14388
14389
14390
14391
14392
14393
14394
14395
14396
14397
14398
14399
14400
14401
14402
14403
14404
14405
14406
14407
14408
14409
14410
14411
14412
14413
14414
14415
14416
14417
14418
14419
14420
14421
14422
14423
14424
14425
14426
14427
14428
14429
14430
14431
14432
14433
14434
14435
14436
14437
14438
14439
14440
14441
14442
14443
14444
14445
14446
14447
14448
14449
14450
14451
14452
14453
14454
14455
14456
14457
14458
14459
14460
14461
14462
14463
14464
14465
14466
14467
14468
14469
14470
14471
14472
14473
14474
14475
14476
14477
14478
14479
14480
14481
14482
14483
14484
14485
14486
14487
14488
14489
14490
14491
14492
14493
14494
14495
14496
14497
14498
14499
14500
14501
14502
14503
14504
14505
14506
14507
14508
14509
14510
14511
14512
14513
14514
14515
14516
14517
14518
14519
14520
14521
14522
14523
14524
14525
14526
14527
14528
14529
14530
14531
14532
14533
14534
14535
14536
14537
14538
14539
14540
14541
14542
14543
14544
14545
14546
14547
14548
14549
14550
14551
14552
14553
14554
14555
14556
14557
14558
14559
14560
14561
14562
14563
14564
14565
14566
14567
14568
14569
14570
14571
14572
14573
14574
14575
14576
14577
14578
14579
14580
14581
14582
14583
14584
14585
14586
14587
14588
14589
14590
14591
14592
14593
14594
14595
14596
14597
14598
14599
14600
14601
14602
14603
14604
14605
14606
14607
14608
14609
14610
14611
14612
14613
14614
14615
14616
14617
14618
14619
14620
14621
14622
14623
14624
14625
14626
14627
14628
14629
14630
14631
14632
14633
14634
14635
14636
14637
14638
14639
14640
14641
14642
14643
14644
14645
14646
14647
14648
14649
14650
14651
14652
14653
14654
14655
14656
14657
14658
14659
14660
14661
14662
14663
14664
14665
14666
14667
14668
14669
14670
14671
14672
14673
14674
14675
14676
14677
14678
14679
14680
14681
14682
14683
14684
14685
14686
14687
14688
14689
14690
14691
14692
14693
14694
14695
14696
14697
14698
14699
14700
14701
14702
14703
14704
14705
14706
14707
14708
14709
14710
14711
14712
14713
14714
14715
14716
14717
14718
14719
14720
14721
14722
14723
14724
14725
14726
14727
14728
14729
14730
14731
14732
14733
14734
14735
14736
14737
14738
14739
14740
14741
14742
14743
14744
14745
14746
14747
14748
14749
14750
14751
14752
14753
14754
14755
14756
14757
14758
14759
14760
14761
14762
14763
14764
14765
14766
14767
14768
14769
14770
14771
14772
14773
14774
14775
14776
14777
14778
14779
14780
14781
14782
14783
14784
14785
14786
14787
14788
14789
14790
14791
14792
14793
14794
14795
14796
14797
14798
14799
14800
14801
14802
14803
14804
14805
14806
14807
14808
14809
14810
14811
14812
14813
14814
14815
14816
14817
14818
14819
14820
14821
14822
14823
14824
14825
14826
14827
14828
14829
14830
14831
14832
14833
14834
14835
14836
14837
14838
14839
14840
14841
14842
14843
14844
14845
14846
14847
14848
14849
14850
14851
14852
14853
14854
14855
14856
14857
14858
14859
14860
14861
14862
14863
14864
14865
14866
14867
14868
14869
14870
14871
14872
14873
14874
14875
14876
14877
14878
14879
14880
14881
14882
14883
14884
14885
14886
14887
14888
14889
14890
14891
14892
14893
14894
14895
14896
14897
14898
14899
14900
14901
14902
14903
14904
14905
14906
14907
14908
14909
14910
14911
14912
14913
14914
14915
14916
14917
14918
14919
14920
14921
14922
14923
14924
14925
14926
14927
14928
14929
14930
14931
14932
14933
14934
14935
14936
14937
14938
14939
14940
14941
14942
14943
14944
14945
14946
14947
14948
14949
14950
14951
14952
14953
14954
14955
14956
14957
14958
14959
14960
14961
14962
14963
14964
14965
14966
14967
14968
14969
14970
14971
14972
14973
14974
14975
14976
14977
14978
14979
14980
14981
14982
14983
14984
14985
14986
14987
14988
14989
14990
14991
14992
14993
14994
14995
14996
14997
14998
14999
15000
15001
15002
15003
15004
15005
15006
15007
15008
15009
15010
15011
15012
15013
15014
15015
15016
15017
15018
15019
15020
15021
15022
15023
15024
15025
15026
15027
15028
15029
15030
15031
15032
15033
15034
15035
15036
15037
15038
15039
15040
15041
15042
15043
15044
15045
15046
15047
15048
15049
15050
15051
15052
15053
15054
15055
15056
15057
15058
15059
15060
15061
15062
15063
15064
15065
15066
15067
15068
15069
15070
15071
15072
15073
15074
15075
15076
15077
15078
15079
15080
15081
15082
15083
15084
15085
15086
15087
15088
15089
15090
15091
15092
15093
15094
15095
15096
15097
15098
15099
15100
15101
15102
15103
15104
15105
15106
15107
15108
15109
15110
15111
15112
15113
15114
15115
15116
15117
15118
15119
15120
15121
15122
15123
15124
15125
15126
15127
15128
15129
15130
15131
15132
15133
15134
15135
15136
15137
15138
15139
15140
15141
15142
15143
15144
15145
15146
15147
15148
15149
15150
15151
15152
15153
15154
15155
15156
15157
15158
15159
15160
15161
15162
15163
15164
15165
15166
15167
15168
15169
15170
15171
15172
15173
15174
15175
15176
15177
15178
15179
15180
15181
15182
15183
15184
15185
15186
15187
15188
15189
15190
15191
15192
15193
15194
15195
15196
15197
15198
15199
15200
15201
15202
15203
15204
15205
15206
15207
15208
15209
15210
15211
15212
15213
15214
15215
15216
15217
15218
15219
15220
15221
15222
15223
15224
15225
15226
15227
15228
15229
15230
15231
15232
15233
15234
15235
15236
15237
15238
15239
15240
15241
15242
15243
15244
15245
15246
15247
15248
15249
15250
15251
15252
15253
15254
15255
15256
15257
15258
15259
15260
15261
15262
15263
15264
15265
15266
15267
15268
15269
15270
15271
15272
15273
15274
15275
15276
15277
15278
15279
15280
15281
15282
15283
15284
15285
15286
15287
15288
15289
15290
15291
15292
15293
15294
15295
15296
15297
15298
15299
15300
15301
15302
15303
15304
15305
15306
15307
15308
15309
15310
15311
15312
15313
15314
15315
15316
15317
15318
15319
15320
15321
15322
15323
15324
15325
15326
15327
15328
15329
15330
15331
15332
15333
15334
15335
15336
15337
15338
15339
15340
15341
15342
15343
15344
15345
15346
15347
15348
15349
15350
15351
15352
15353
15354
15355
15356
15357
15358
15359
15360
15361
15362
15363
15364
15365
15366
15367
15368
15369
15370
15371
15372
15373
15374
15375
15376
15377
15378
15379
15380
15381
15382
15383
15384
15385
15386
15387
15388
15389
15390
15391
15392
15393
15394
15395
15396
15397
15398
15399
15400
15401
15402
15403
15404
15405
15406
15407
15408
15409
15410
15411
15412
15413
15414
15415
15416
15417
15418
15419
15420
15421
15422
15423
15424
15425
15426
15427
15428
15429
15430
15431
15432
15433
15434
15435
15436
15437
15438
15439
15440
15441
15442
15443
15444
15445
15446
15447
15448
15449
15450
15451
15452
15453
15454
15455
15456
15457
15458
15459
15460
15461
15462
15463
15464
15465
15466
15467
15468
15469
15470
15471
15472
15473
15474
15475
15476
15477
15478
15479
15480
15481
15482
15483
15484
15485
15486
15487
15488
15489
15490
15491
15492
15493
15494
15495
15496
15497
15498
15499
15500
15501
15502
15503
15504
15505
15506
15507
15508
15509
15510
15511
15512
15513
15514
15515
15516
15517
15518
15519
15520
15521
15522
15523
15524
15525
15526
15527
15528
15529
15530
15531
15532
15533
15534
15535
15536
15537
15538
15539
15540
15541
15542
15543
15544
15545
15546
15547
15548
15549
15550
15551
15552
15553
15554
15555
15556
15557
15558
15559
15560
15561
15562
15563
15564
15565
15566
15567
15568
15569
15570
15571
15572
15573
15574
15575
15576
15577
15578
15579
15580
15581
15582
15583
15584
15585
15586
15587
15588
15589
15590
15591
15592
15593
15594
15595
15596
15597
15598
15599
15600
15601
15602
15603
15604
15605
15606
15607
15608
15609
15610
15611
15612
15613
15614
15615
15616
15617
15618
15619
15620
15621
15622
15623
15624
15625
15626
15627
15628
15629
15630
15631
15632
15633
15634
15635
15636
15637
15638
15639
15640
15641
15642
15643
15644
15645
15646
15647
15648
15649
15650
15651
15652
15653
15654
15655
15656
15657
15658
15659
15660
15661
15662
15663
15664
15665
15666
15667
15668
15669
15670
15671
15672
15673
15674
15675
15676
15677
15678
15679
15680
15681
15682
15683
15684
15685
15686
15687
15688
15689
15690
15691
15692
15693
15694
15695
15696
15697
15698
15699
15700
15701
15702
15703
15704
15705
15706
15707
15708
15709
15710
15711
15712
15713
15714
15715
15716
15717
15718
15719
15720
15721
15722
15723
15724
15725
15726
15727
15728
15729
15730
15731
15732
15733
15734
15735
15736
15737
15738
15739
15740
15741
15742
15743
15744
15745
15746
15747
15748
15749
15750
15751
15752
15753
15754
15755
15756
15757
15758
15759
15760
15761
15762
15763
15764
15765
15766
15767
15768
15769
15770
15771
15772
15773
15774
15775
15776
15777
15778
15779
15780
15781
15782
15783
15784
15785
15786
15787
15788
15789
15790
15791
15792
15793
15794
15795
15796
15797
15798
15799
15800
15801
15802
15803
15804
15805
15806
15807
15808
15809
15810
15811
15812
15813
15814
15815
15816
15817
15818
15819
15820
15821
15822
15823
15824
15825
15826
15827
15828
15829
15830
15831
15832
15833
15834
15835
15836
15837
15838
15839
15840
15841
15842
15843
15844
15845
15846
15847
15848
15849
15850
15851
15852
15853
15854
15855
15856
15857
15858
15859
15860
15861
15862
15863
15864
15865
15866
15867
15868
15869
15870
15871
15872
15873
15874
15875
15876
15877
15878
15879
15880
15881
15882
15883
15884
15885
15886
15887
15888
15889
15890
15891
15892
15893
15894
15895
15896
15897
15898
15899
15900
15901
15902
15903
15904
15905
15906
15907
15908
15909
15910
15911
15912
15913
15914
15915
15916
15917
15918
15919
15920
15921
15922
15923
15924
15925
15926
15927
15928
15929
15930
15931
15932
15933
15934
15935
15936
15937
15938
15939
15940
15941
15942
15943
15944
15945
15946
15947
15948
15949
15950
15951
15952
15953
15954
15955
15956
15957
15958
15959
15960
15961
15962
15963
15964
15965
15966
15967
15968
15969
15970
15971
15972
15973
15974
15975
15976
15977
15978
15979
15980
15981
15982
15983
15984
15985
15986
15987
15988
15989
15990
15991
15992
15993
15994
15995
15996
15997
15998
15999
16000
16001
16002
16003
16004
16005
16006
16007
16008
16009
16010
16011
16012
16013
16014
16015
16016
16017
16018
16019
16020
16021
16022
16023
16024
16025
16026
16027
16028
16029
16030
16031
16032
16033
16034
16035
16036
16037
16038
16039
16040
16041
16042
16043
16044
16045
16046
16047
16048
16049
16050
16051
16052
16053
16054
16055
16056
16057
16058
16059
16060
16061
16062
16063
16064
16065
16066
16067
16068
16069
16070
16071
16072
16073
16074
16075
16076
16077
16078
16079
16080
16081
16082
16083
16084
16085
16086
16087
16088
16089
16090
16091
16092
16093
16094
16095
16096
16097
16098
16099
16100
16101
16102
16103
16104
16105
16106
16107
16108
16109
16110
16111
16112
16113
16114
16115
16116
16117
16118
16119
16120
16121
16122
16123
16124
16125
16126
16127
16128
16129
16130
16131
16132
16133
16134
16135
16136
16137
16138
16139
16140
16141
16142
16143
16144
16145
16146
16147
16148
16149
16150
16151
16152
16153
16154
16155
16156
16157
16158
16159
16160
16161
16162
16163
16164
16165
16166
16167
16168
16169
16170
16171
16172
16173
16174
16175
16176
16177
16178
16179
16180
16181
16182
16183
16184
16185
16186
16187
16188
16189
16190
16191
16192
16193
16194
16195
16196
16197
16198
16199
16200
16201
16202
16203
16204
16205
16206
16207
16208
16209
16210
16211
16212
16213
16214
16215
16216
16217
16218
16219
16220
16221
16222
16223
16224
16225
16226
16227
16228
16229
16230
16231
16232
16233
16234
16235
16236
16237
16238
16239
16240
16241
16242
16243
16244
16245
16246
16247
16248
16249
16250
16251
16252
16253
16254
16255
16256
16257
16258
16259
16260
16261
16262
16263
16264
16265
16266
16267
16268
16269
16270
16271
16272
16273
16274
16275
16276
16277
16278
16279
16280
16281
16282
16283
16284
16285
16286
16287
16288
16289
16290
16291
16292
16293
16294
16295
16296
16297
16298
16299
16300
16301
16302
16303
16304
16305
16306
16307
16308
16309
16310
16311
16312
16313
16314
16315
16316
16317
16318
16319
16320
16321
16322
16323
16324
16325
16326
16327
16328
16329
16330
16331
16332
16333
16334
16335
16336
16337
16338
16339
16340
16341
16342
16343
16344
16345
16346
16347
16348
16349
16350
16351
16352
16353
16354
16355
16356
16357
16358
16359
16360
16361
16362
16363
16364
16365
16366
16367
16368
16369
16370
16371
16372
16373
16374
16375
16376
16377
16378
16379
16380
16381
16382
16383
16384
16385
16386
16387
16388
16389
16390
16391
16392
16393
16394
16395
16396
16397
16398
16399
16400
16401
16402
16403
16404
16405
16406
16407
16408
16409
16410
16411
16412
16413
16414
16415
16416
16417
16418
16419
16420
16421
16422
16423
16424
16425
16426
16427
16428
16429
16430
16431
16432
16433
16434
16435
16436
16437
16438
16439
16440
16441
16442
16443
16444
16445
16446
16447
16448
16449
16450
16451
16452
16453
16454
16455
16456
16457
16458
16459
16460
16461
16462
16463
16464
16465
16466
16467
16468
16469
16470
16471
16472
16473
16474
16475
16476
16477
16478
16479
16480
16481
16482
16483
16484
16485
16486
16487
16488
16489
16490
16491
16492
16493
16494
16495
16496
16497
16498
16499
16500
16501
16502
16503
16504
16505
16506
16507
16508
16509
16510
16511
16512
16513
16514
16515
16516
16517
16518
16519
16520
16521
16522
16523
16524
16525
16526
16527
16528
16529
16530
16531
16532
16533
16534
16535
16536
16537
16538
16539
16540
16541
16542
16543
16544
16545
16546
16547
16548
16549
16550
16551
16552
16553
16554
16555
16556
16557
16558
16559
16560
16561
16562
16563
16564
16565
16566
16567
16568
16569
16570
16571
16572
16573
16574
16575
16576
16577
16578
16579
16580
16581
16582
16583
16584
16585
16586
16587
16588
16589
16590
16591
16592
16593
16594
16595
16596
16597
16598
16599
16600
16601
16602
16603
16604
16605
16606
16607
16608
16609
16610
16611
16612
16613
16614
16615
16616
16617
16618
16619
16620
16621
16622
16623
16624
16625
16626
16627
16628
16629
16630
16631
16632
16633
16634
16635
16636
16637
16638
16639
16640
16641
16642
16643
16644
16645
16646
16647
16648
16649
16650
16651
16652
16653
16654
16655
16656
16657
16658
16659
16660
16661
16662
16663
16664
16665
16666
16667
16668
16669
16670
16671
16672
16673
16674
16675
16676
16677
16678
16679
16680
16681
16682
16683
16684
16685
16686
16687
16688
16689
16690
16691
16692
16693
16694
16695
16696
16697
16698
16699
16700
16701
16702
16703
16704
16705
16706
16707
16708
16709
16710
16711
16712
16713
16714
16715
16716
16717
16718
16719
16720
16721
16722
16723
16724
16725
16726
16727
16728
16729
16730
16731
16732
16733
16734
16735
16736
16737
16738
16739
16740
16741
16742
16743
16744
16745
16746
16747
16748
16749
16750
16751
16752
16753
16754
16755
16756
16757
16758
16759
16760
16761
16762
16763
16764
16765
16766
16767
16768
16769
16770
16771
16772
16773
16774
16775
16776
16777
16778
16779
16780
16781
16782
16783
16784
16785
16786
16787
16788
16789
16790
16791
16792
16793
16794
16795
16796
16797
16798
16799
16800
16801
16802
16803
16804
16805
16806
16807
16808
16809
16810
16811
16812
16813
16814
16815
16816
16817
16818
16819
16820
16821
16822
16823
16824
16825
16826
16827
16828
16829
16830
16831
16832
16833
16834
16835
16836
16837
16838
16839
16840
16841
16842
16843
16844
16845
16846
16847
16848
16849
16850
16851
16852
16853
16854
16855
16856
16857
16858
16859
16860
16861
16862
16863
16864
16865
16866
16867
16868
16869
16870
16871
16872
16873
16874
16875
16876
16877
16878
16879
16880
16881
16882
16883
16884
16885
16886
16887
16888
16889
16890
16891
16892
16893
16894
16895
16896
16897
16898
16899
16900
16901
16902
16903
16904
16905
16906
16907
16908
16909
16910
16911
16912
16913
16914
16915
16916
16917
16918
16919
16920
16921
16922
16923
16924
16925
16926
16927
16928
16929
16930
16931
16932
16933
16934
16935
16936
16937
16938
16939
16940
16941
16942
16943
16944
16945
16946
16947
16948
16949
16950
16951
16952
16953
16954
16955
16956
16957
16958
16959
16960
16961
16962
16963
16964
16965
16966
16967
16968
16969
16970
16971
16972
16973
16974
16975
16976
16977
16978
16979
16980
16981
16982
16983
16984
16985
16986
16987
16988
16989
16990
16991
16992
16993
16994
16995
16996
16997
16998
16999
17000
17001
17002
17003
17004
17005
17006
17007
17008
17009
17010
17011
17012
17013
17014
17015
17016
17017
17018
17019
17020
17021
17022
17023
17024
17025
17026
17027
17028
17029
17030
17031
17032
17033
17034
17035
17036
17037
17038
17039
17040
17041
17042
17043
17044
17045
17046
17047
17048
17049
17050
17051
17052
17053
17054
17055
17056
17057
17058
17059
17060
17061
17062
17063
17064
17065
17066
17067
17068
17069
17070
17071
17072
17073
17074
17075
17076
17077
17078
17079
17080
17081
17082
17083
17084
17085
17086
17087
17088
17089
17090
17091
17092
17093
17094
17095
17096
17097
17098
17099
17100
17101
17102
17103
17104
17105
17106
17107
17108
17109
17110
17111
17112
17113
17114
17115
17116
17117
17118
17119
17120
17121
17122
17123
17124
17125
17126
17127
17128
17129
17130
17131
17132
17133
17134
17135
17136
17137
17138
17139
17140
17141
17142
17143
17144
17145
17146
17147
17148
17149
17150
17151
17152
17153
17154
17155
17156
17157
17158
17159
17160
17161
17162
17163
17164
17165
17166
17167
17168
17169
17170
17171
17172
17173
17174
17175
17176
17177
17178
17179
17180
17181
17182
17183
17184
17185
17186
17187
17188
17189
17190
17191
17192
17193
17194
17195
17196
17197
17198
17199
17200
17201
17202
17203
17204
17205
17206
17207
17208
17209
17210
17211
17212
17213
17214
17215
17216
17217
17218
17219
17220
17221
17222
17223
17224
17225
17226
17227
17228
17229
17230
17231
17232
17233
17234
17235
17236
17237
17238
17239
17240
17241
17242
17243
17244
17245
17246
17247
17248
17249
17250
17251
17252
17253
17254
17255
17256
17257
17258
17259
17260
17261
17262
17263
17264
17265
17266
17267
17268
17269
17270
17271
17272
17273
17274
17275
17276
17277
17278
17279
17280
17281
17282
17283
17284
17285
17286
17287
17288
17289
17290
17291
17292
17293
17294
17295
17296
17297
17298
17299
17300
17301
17302
17303
17304
17305
17306
17307
17308
17309
17310
17311
17312
17313
17314
17315
17316
17317
17318
17319
17320
17321
17322
17323
17324
17325
17326
17327
17328
17329
17330
17331
17332
17333
17334
17335
17336
17337
17338
17339
17340
17341
17342
17343
17344
17345
17346
17347
17348
17349
17350
17351
17352
17353
17354
17355
17356
17357
17358
17359
17360
17361
17362
17363
17364
17365
17366
17367
17368
17369
17370
17371
17372
17373
17374
17375
17376
17377
17378
17379
17380
17381
17382
17383
17384
17385
17386
17387
17388
17389
17390
17391
17392
17393
17394
17395
17396
17397
17398
17399
17400
17401
17402
17403
17404
17405
17406
17407
17408
17409
17410
17411
17412
17413
17414
17415
17416
17417
17418
17419
17420
17421
17422
17423
17424
17425
17426
17427
17428
17429
17430
17431
17432
17433
17434
17435
17436
17437
17438
17439
17440
17441
17442
17443
17444
17445
17446
17447
17448
17449
17450
17451
17452
17453
17454
17455
17456
17457
17458
17459
17460
17461
17462
17463
17464
17465
17466
17467
17468
17469
17470
17471
17472
17473
17474
17475
17476
17477
17478
17479
17480
17481
17482
17483
17484
17485
17486
17487
17488
17489
17490
17491
17492
17493
17494
17495
17496
17497
17498
17499
17500
17501
17502
17503
17504
17505
17506
17507
17508
17509
17510
17511
17512
17513
17514
17515
17516
17517
17518
17519
17520
17521
17522
17523
17524
17525
17526
17527
17528
17529
17530
17531
17532
17533
17534
17535
17536
17537
17538
17539
17540
17541
17542
17543
17544
17545
17546
17547
17548
17549
17550
17551
17552
17553
17554
17555
17556
17557
17558
17559

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
    <title>
      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Salem Witchcraft, Vol. II, by Charles W. 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>&#160;</p>

<h2>CHARLES W. UPHAM</h2>

<p>&#160;</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>&#160;</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>&#160;</p>

<p style="text-align: center"><b>THE PHILIP ENGLISH HOUSE.&#8212;<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">&#160;<a name="witchhill"><img src="images2/image15.jpg" alt="Witch Hill. 1866." width="600" height="177" /></a></p>



<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</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, &quot;my negro lad,&quot; 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 &quot;John Indian;&quot; the latter was
called &quot;Tituba.&quot; These two persons may have originated the &quot;Salem
witchcraft.&quot; They are spoken of as having come from New Spain, as it
was then called,&#8212;that is, the Spanish West Indies, and the adjacent
mainlands of Central and South America,&#8212;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:&#8212;</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 &quot;afflicted children,&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;spoken of as &quot;ancient,&quot;&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted girls.&quot; 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 &quot;under an evil hand.&quot; 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&#8212;Mr. Lawson&#8212;could come forward, Abigail Williams
cried out, &quot;Now stand up, and name your text.&quot; When he had read it, in
a loud and insolent voice she exclaimed, &quot;It's a long text.&quot; In the
midst of the discourse, Mrs. Pope broke in, &quot;Now, there is enough of
that.&quot; 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, &quot;I know no doctrine you had. If you did
name one, I have forgot it.&quot; 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, &quot;Look where she sits upon the beam, sucking her
yellow-bird betwixt her fingers.&quot; Ann Putnam, joining in, exclaimed,
&quot;There is a yellow-bird sitting on the minister's hat, as it hangs on
the pin in the pulpit.&quot; Mr. Lawson remarks, with much simplicity, that
these things, occurring &quot;in the time of public worship, did something
interrupt me in my first prayer, being so unusual.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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, &quot;Who are the agents of the Devil in afflicting these
girls? There must be some among us thus acting, and who are they?&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted
children,&quot; the earnest and importunate inquiry, on all sides, &quot;Who is
it that bewitches you?&quot; 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 &quot;Good,&quot; &quot;Osburn,&quot; &quot;Tituba.&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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 &quot;had made diligent search for images and
such like, but could find none.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>The Examination of Sarah Good before the Worshipful Esqrs.
John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin.</i></p>

<p>&quot;Sarah Good, what evil spirit have you familiarity
with?&#8212;None.</p>

<p>&quot;Have you made no contracts with the Devil?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;Why do you hurt these children?&#8212;I do not hurt them. I
scorn it.</p>

<p>&quot;Who do you employ then to do it?&#8212;I employ nobody.</p>

<p>&quot;What creature do you employ then?&#8212;No creature: but I am
falsely accused.</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you go away muttering from Mr. Parris his house?&#8212;I
did not mutter, but I thanked him for what he gave my child.</p>

<p>&quot;Have you made no contract with the Devil?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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?&#8212;I do not torment them.</p>

<p>&quot;Who do you employ then?&#8212;I employ nobody. I scorn it.</p>

<p>&quot;How came they thus tormented?&#8212;What do I know? You bring
others here, and now you charge me with it.</p>

<p>&quot;Why, who was it?&#8212;I do not know but it was some you brought
into the meeting-house with you.</p>

<p>&quot;We brought you into the meeting-house.&#8212;But you brought in
two more.</p>

<p>&quot;Who was it, then, that tormented the children?&#8212;It was
Osburn.</p>

<p>&quot;What is it you say when you go muttering away from persons'
houses?&#8212;If I must tell, I will tell.</p>

<p>&quot;Do tell us then.&#8212;If I must tell, I will tell: it is the
Commandments. I may say my Commandments, I hope.</p>

<p>&quot;What Commandment is it?&#8212;If I must tell you, I will tell:
it is a psalm.</p>

<p>&quot;What psalm?</p>

<p>&quot;(After a long time she muttered over some part of a psalm.)</p>

<p>&quot;Who do you serve?&#8212;I serve God.</p>

<p>&quot;What God do you serve?&#8212;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.'&quot;</p></div>

<p>The foregoing is in the handwriting of Ezekiel Cheever. The following
is in that of John Hathorne:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Salem Village, March the 1st, 1692.&#8212;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>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;the afflicted&quot; 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 &quot;redemptioners.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The following is in the handwriting of Ezekiel Cheever:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>Sarah Osburn her Examination.</i></p>

<p>&quot;What evil spirit have you familiarity with?&#8212;None.</p>

<p>&quot;Have you made no contract with the Devil?&#8212;No: I never saw
the Devil in my life.</p>

<p>&quot;Why do you hurt these children?&#8212;I do not hurt them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.21" id="Page_ii.21">[ii.21]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;Who do you employ, then, to hurt them?&#8212;I employ nobody.</p>

<p>&quot;What familiarity have you with Sarah Good?&#8212;None: I have
not seen her these two years.</p>

<p>&quot;Where did you see her then?&#8212;One day, agoing to town.</p>

<p>&quot;What communications had you with her?&#8212;I had none, only
'How do you do?' or so. I do not know her by name.</p>

<p>&quot;What did you call her, then?</p>

<p>&quot;(Osburn made a stand at that; at last, said she called her
Sarah.)</p>

<p>&quot;Sarah Good saith that it was you that hurt the children.&#8212;I
do not know that the Devil goes about in my likeness to do
any hurt.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;Did you never see any thing else?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What lying spirit is this? Hath the Devil ever deceived
you, and been false to you?&#8212;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>&quot;What lying spirit was it, then?&#8212;It was a voice that I
thought I heard.</p>

<p>&quot;What did it propound to you?&#8212;That I should go no more to
meeting; but I said I would, and did go the next
sabbath-day.</p>

<p>&quot;Were you never tempted further?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you yield thus far to the Devil as never to go to
meeting since?&#8212;Alas! I have been sick, and not able to go.</p>

<p>&quot;Her husband and others said that she had not been at
meeting three years and two months.&quot;</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, &quot;then it must be
Osburn,&quot; 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,&#8212;not having a clear idea which,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Tituba, what evil spirit have you familiarity with?&#8212;None.</p>

<p>&quot;Why do you hurt these children?&#8212;I do not hurt them.</p>

<p>&quot;Who is it then?&#8212;The Devil, for aught I know.</p>

<p>&quot;Did you never see the Devil?&#8212;The Devil came to me, and bid
me serve him.</p>

<p>&quot;Who have you seen?&#8212;Four women sometimes hurt the children.</p>

<p>&quot;Who were they?&#8212;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>&quot;(She further saith there was a tall man of Boston that she
did see.)</p>

<p>&quot;When did you see them?&#8212;Last night, at Boston.</p>

<p>&quot;What did they say to you?&#8212;They said, 'Hurt the children.'</p>

<p>&quot;And did you hurt them?&#8212;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>&quot;But did you not hurt them?&#8212;Yes; but I will hurt them no
more.</p>

<p>&quot;Are you not sorry that you did hurt them?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;And why, then, do you hurt them?&#8212;They say, 'Hurt children,
or we will do worse to you.'</p>

<p>&quot;What have you seen?&#8212;A man come to me, and say, 'Serve me.'</p>

<p>&quot;What service?&#8212;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>&quot;What is this appearance you see?&#8212;Sometimes it is like a
hog, and sometimes like a great dog.</p>

<p>&quot;(This appearance she saith she did see four times.)</p>

<p>&quot;What did it say to you?&#8212;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>&quot;What did you say to it?&#8212;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>&quot;What were these pretty things?&#8212;He did not show me them.</p>

<p>&quot;What else have you seen?&#8212;Two cats; a red cat, and a black
cat.</p>

<p>&quot;What did they say to you?&#8212;They said, 'Serve me.'</p>

<p>&quot;When did you see them?&#8212;Last night; and they said, 'Serve
me;' but I said I would not.</p>

<p>&quot;What service?&#8212;She said, hurt the children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.25" id="Page_ii.25">[ii.25]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;Did you not pinch Elizabeth Hubbard this morning?&#8212;The man
brought her to me, and made pinch her.</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you go to Thomas Putnam's last night, and hurt his
child?&#8212;They pull and haul me, and make go.</p>

<p>&quot;And what would they have you do?&#8212;Kill her with a knife.</p>

<p>&quot;(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,&#8212;that they would have her cut her
head off with a knife.)</p>

<p>&quot;How did you go?&#8212;We ride upon sticks, and are there
presently.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you go through the trees or over them?&#8212;We see nothing,
but are there presently.</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you not tell your master?&#8212;I was afraid: they said
they would cut off my head if I told.</p>

<p>&quot;Would you not have hurt others, if you could?&#8212;They said
they would hurt others, but they could not.</p>

<p>&quot;What attendants hath Sarah Good?&#8212;A yellow-bird, and she
would have given me one.</p>

<p>&quot;What meat did she give it?&#8212;It did suck her between her
fingers.</p>

<p>&quot;Did you not hurt Mr. Curren's child?&#8212;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>&quot;What hath Sarah Osburn?&#8212;Yesterday she had a thing with a
head like a woman, with two legs and wings.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What else have you seen with Osburn?&#8212;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>&quot;Did you not see Sarah Good upon Elizabeth Hubbard, last
Saturday?&#8212;I did see her set a wolf upon her to afflict her.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What clothes doth the man go in?&#8212;He goes in black clothes;
a tall man, with white hair, I think.</p>

<p>&quot;How doth the woman go?&#8212;In a white hood, and a black hood
with a top-knot.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you see who it is that torments these children
now?&#8212;Yes: it is Goody Good; she hurts them in her own
shape.</p>

<p>&quot;Who is it that hurts them now?&#8212;I am blind now: I cannot
see.</p>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;Written by <span class="smcap">Ezekiel Cheever</span>.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Salem Village</span>, March the 1st, 1692.&quot;</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 &quot;Witchcraft Delusion in New England.&quot; 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: &quot;A black silk hood, with a white silk hood under it, with
top-knots.&quot; One of them wore &quot;a serge coat, with a white cap.&quot; The
Devil appeared &quot;in black clothes sometimes, sometimes serge coat of
other color.&quot; She speaks of the &quot;lean-to chamber&quot; in the parsonage,
and describes an a&#235;rial night ride &quot;up&quot; to Thomas Putnam's. &quot;How did
you go? What did you ride upon?&quot; asked the wondering magistrate. &quot;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.&quot; 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. &quot;The thing with two
legs and wings, and a face like a woman,&quot; &quot;turns&quot; into a full woman.
The &quot;hairy thing&quot; becomes &quot;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.&quot;</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
&quot;hurt the children.&quot; Upon being pressed by the magistrate to tell who
they were, she named Osburn and Good, but did &quot;not know who the others
were.&quot; 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 &quot;pinched&quot; that morning; and, as well as
&quot;Lieutenant Fuller and others,&quot; had heard of the delirious exclamation
of Thomas Putnam's sick child during the night. &quot;Abigail Williams,
that lives with her uncle Parris,&quot; had communicated to the Indian
slave the story of &quot;the woman with two legs and wings.&quot; 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, &quot;I am blind now: I cannot see.&quot;</p>

<p>Proceedings connected with these examinations were continued several
days. The result appears, in the handwriting of John Hathorne, as
follows:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Salem Village, March 1, 1691/2.&#8212;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, &amp;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>&quot;Salem Village, March the 1st, 1691/2.&#8212;Sarah Good, Sarah
Osburn, and Tituba, an Indian woman, all of Salem Village,
being this day brought before us, upon suspicion of
witchcraft, &amp;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>&quot;Salem, March 2.&#8212;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>&quot;Salem, March 3.&#8212;Sarah Osburn, and Tituba, Indian, again
examined. The examination now given in. Tituba again said
the same.</p>

<p>&quot;Salem, March 5.&#8212;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>&quot;Salem, March the 7th, 1691/2.&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;leaped off her horse three times;&quot; that she &quot;railed against the
magistrates, and endeavored to kill herself.&quot; He further testified,
that, at the very time she was performing these feats, Thomas Putnam's
daughter, &quot;at her father's house, declared the same.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Sam: Parris</span>, aged about thirty
and nine years.&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;in the face
of authority,&quot; 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 &quot;against the country,&quot; dated May 29, 1692:
&quot;To chains for Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn, 14 shillings:&quot; &quot;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, &#163;1. 3<i>s.</i> 5<i>d.</i>&quot;</p>

<p>The only further information we have of Tituba is from Calef, who
says, &quot;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 &quot;sold for her
fees.&quot; The jailer's charge for her &quot;diet in prison for a year and a
month&quot; 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 &quot;evil hand.&quot; 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,&#8212;who, like him, were permitted to interpose
with charges or abusive expressions,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted
children&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children.&quot;
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; &quot;she being
in church covenant with us.&quot; They mounted their horses about &quot;the
middle of the afternoon,&quot; 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, &quot;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.'&quot; 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
&quot;she did not think that there were any witches.&quot; 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&#8212;her sagacity
suggesting the risk she was running in the matter of Corey's
dress&#8212;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">&quot;<i>The Examination of Martha Corey.</i></p>

<p>&quot;Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: You are now in the hands of
authority. Tell me, now, why you hurt these persons.&#8212;I do
not.</p>

<p>&quot;Who doth?&#8212;Pray, give me leave to go to prayer.</p>

<p>&quot;(This request was made sundry times.)</p>

<p>&quot;We do not send for you to go to prayer; but tell me why you
hurt these.&#8212;I am an innocent person. I never had to do with
witchcraft since I was born. I am a gospel woman.</p>

<p>&quot;Do not you see these complain of you?&#8212;The Lord open the
eyes of the magistrates and ministers: the Lord show his
power to discover the guilty.</p>

<p>&quot;Tell us who hurts these children.&#8212;I do not know.</p>

<p>&quot;If you be guilty of this fact, do you think you can hide
it?&#8212;The Lord knows.</p>

<p>&quot;Well, tell us what you know of this matter.&#8212;Why, I am a
gospel woman; and do you think I can have to do with
witchcraft too?</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;(Cheever interrupted her, and bid her not begin with a lie;
and so Edward Putnam declared the matter.)</p>

<p>&quot;Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: Who told you that?&#8212;He said the
child said.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Cheever</span>: You speak falsely.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then Edward Putnam read again.)</p>

<p>&quot;Mr. <span class="smcap">Hathorne</span>: Why did you ask if the child told
what clothes you wore?&#8212;My husband told me the others told.</p>

<p>&quot;Who told you about the clothes? Why did you ask that
question?&#8212;Because I heard the children told what clothes
the others wore.</p>

<p>&quot;Goodman Corey, did you tell her?</p>

<p>&quot;(The old man denied that he told her so.)</p>

<p>&quot;Did you not say your husband told you so?</p>

<p>&quot;(No answer.)</p>

<p>&quot;Who hurts these children? Now look upon them.&#8212;I cannot
help it.</p>

<p>&quot;Did you not say you would tell the truth why you asked that
question? how came you to the knowledge?&#8212;I did but ask.</p>

<p>&quot;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.&#8212;Nobody.</p>

<p>&quot;How came you to know that the children would be examined
what clothes you wore?&#8212;Because I thought the child was
wiser than anybody if she knew.</p>

<p>&quot;Give an answer: you said your husband told you.&#8212;He told me
the children said I afflicted them.</p>

<p>&quot;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?&#8212;I
had heard speech that the children said I troubled them, and
I thought that they might come to examine.</p>

<p>&quot;But how did you know it?&#8212;I thought they did.</p>

<p>&quot;Did not you say you would tell the truth? who told you what
they came for?&#8212;Nobody.</p>

<p>&quot;How did you know?&#8212;I did think so.</p>

<p>&quot;But you said you knew so.</p>

<p>&quot;(<span class="smcap">Children</span>: There is a man whispering in her ear.)</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Hathorne</span> continued: What did he say to you?&#8212;We
must not believe all that these distracted children say.</p>

<p>&quot;Cannot you tell what that man whispered?&#8212;I saw nobody.</p>

<p>&quot;But did not you hear?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;(Here was extreme agony of all the afflicted.)</p>

<p>&quot;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?&#8212;A true thing.</p>

<p>&quot;Look for it, then, in God's way.&#8212;So I do.</p>

<p>&quot;Give glory to God and confess, then.&#8212;But I cannot confess.</p>

<p>&quot;Do not you see how these afflicted do charge you?&#8212;We must
not believe distracted persons.</p>

<p>&quot;Who do you improve to hurt them?&#8212;I improved none.</p>

<p>&quot;Did not you say our eyes were blinded, you would open
them?&#8212;Yes, to accuse the innocent.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then Crosby gave in evidence.)</p>

<p>&quot;Why cannot the girl stand before you?&#8212;I do not know.</p>

<p>&quot;What did you mean by that?&#8212;I saw them fall down.</p>

<p>&quot;It seems to be an insulting speech, as if they could not
stand before you.&#8212;They cannot stand before others.</p>

<p>&quot;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?&#8212;You believe the
children that are distracted. I saw no spit.</p>

<p>&quot;Here are more than two that accuse you for witchcraft. What
do you say?&#8212;I am innocent.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then Mr. Hathorne read further of Crosby's evidence.)</p>

<p>&quot;What did you mean by that,&#8212;the Devil could not stand
before you?</p>

<p>&quot;(She denied it. Three or four sober witnesses confirmed
it.)</p>

<p>&quot;What can I do? Many rise up against me.</p>

<p>&quot;Why, confess.&#8212;So I would, if I were guilty.</p>

<p>&quot;Here are sober persons. What do you say to them? You are a
gospel woman; will you lie?</p>

<p>&quot;(Abigail cried out, 'Next sabbath is sacrament-day; but she
shall not come there.')</p>

<p>&quot;I do not care.</p>

<p>&quot;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.&#8212;When all
are against me, what can I help it?</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;(She laughed, and denied it.)</p>

<p>&quot;Now tell us how we shall know who doth hurt these, if you
do not?&#8212;Can an innocent person be guilty?</p>

<p>&quot;Do you deny these words?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;Tell us who hurts these. We came to be a terror to
evil-doers. You say you would open our eyes, we are
blind.&#8212;If you say I am a witch.</p>

<p>&quot;You said you would show us.</p>

<p>&quot;(She denied it.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.47" id="Page_ii.47">[ii.47]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;Why do you not now show us?&#8212;I cannot tell: I do not know.</p>

<p>&quot;What did you strike the maid at Mr. Tho. Putnam's with?&#8212;I
never struck her in my life.</p>

<p>&quot;There are two that saw you strike her with an iron rod.&#8212;I
had no hand in it.</p>

<p>&quot;Who had? Do you believe these children are bewitched?&#8212;They
may, for aught I know: I have no hand in it.</p>

<p>&quot;You say you are no witch. Maybe you mean you never
covenanted with the Devil. Did you never deal with any
familiar?&#8212;No, never.</p>

<p>&quot;What bird was that the children spoke of?</p>

<p>&quot;(Then witnesses spoke: What bird was it?)</p>

<p>&quot;I know no bird.</p>

<p>&quot;It may be you have engaged you will not confess; but God
knows.&#8212;So he doth.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you believe you shall go unpunished?&#8212;I have nothing to
do with witchcraft.</p>

<p>&quot;Why was you not willing your husband should come to the
former session here?&#8212;But he came, for all.</p>

<p>&quot;Did not you take the saddle off?&#8212;I did not know what it
was for.</p>

<p>&quot;Did you not know what it was for?&#8212;I did not know that it
would be to any benefit.</p>

<p>&quot;(Somebody said that she would not have them help to find
out witches.)</p>

<p>&quot;Did you not say you would open our eyes? Why do you not?&#8212;I
never thought of a witch.</p>

<p>&quot;Is it a laughing matter to see these afflicted persons?</p>

<p>&quot;(She denied it. Several prove it.)</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;Do not you believe there are witches in the country?&#8212;I do
not know that there is any.</p>

<p>&quot;Do not you know that Tituba confessed it?&#8212;I did not hear
her speak.</p>

<p>&quot;I find you will own nothing without several witnesses, and
yet you will deny for all.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;(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>&quot;What do you say to all these things that are apparent?&#8212;If
you will all go hang me, how can I help it?</p>

<p>&quot;Were you to serve the Devil ten years? Tell how many.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;Why do not you tell how the Devil comes in your shape, and
hurts these? You said you would.&#8212;How can I know how?</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you say you would show us?</p>

<p>&quot;(She laughed again.)</p>

<p>&quot;What book is that you would have these children write
in?&#8212;What book? Where should I have a book? I showed them
none, nor have none, nor brought none.</p>

<p>&quot;(The afflicted cried out there was a man whispering in her
ears.)</p>

<p>&quot;What book did you carry to Mary Walcot?&#8212;I carried none. If
the Devil appears in my shape&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;Who is your God?&#8212;The God that made me.</p>

<p>&quot;What is his name?&#8212;Jehovah.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you know any other name?&#8212;God Almighty.</p>

<p>&quot;Doth <i>he</i> tell you, that you pray to, that <i>he</i> is God
Almighty?&#8212;Who do I worship but the God that made [me]?</p>

<p>&quot;How many gods are there?&#8212;One.</p>

<p>&quot;How many persons?&#8212;Three.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;Do not you see these children and women are rational and
sober as their neighbors, when your hands are fastened?</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;Quickly after, the marshal said, 'She hath bit her lip;'
and immediately the afflicted were in an uproar.)</p>

<p>&quot;[Tell] why you hurt these, or who doth?</p>

<p>&quot;(She denieth any hand in it.)</p>

<p>&quot;Why did you say, if you were a witch, you should have no
pardon?&#8212;Because I am a &#8212;&#8212; woman.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Salem Village, March the 21st, 1692.&#8212;The Reverend Mr.
Samuel Parris, being desired to take, in writing, the
examination of Martha Corey, hath returned it, as aforesaid.</p>

<p>&quot;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.&quot;</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, &quot;that the magistrates' and
ministers' eyes were blinded, and that she would open them.&quot; 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. &quot;If you will all go hang me, how can I help it?&quot; &quot;Ye are
all against me.&quot; &quot;What can I do, when many rise up against me?&quot; &quot;When
all are against me, what can I [say to] help it?&quot; 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 &quot;sundry times,&quot; to &quot;go to
prayer,&quot; 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, &quot;I am a
gospel woman.&quot; 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,
&amp;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;My wife did perceive it, and came towards me, and said she
was coming to me.</p>

<p>&quot;After this, in a little space, I did, according to my
measure, attend the duty.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;<i>At the examination of Sarah</i> Good and others, my wife was
willing</p>

<p>&quot;March 24, 1692.&quot;</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 &quot;uttering his desires,&quot; 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 &quot;four women sometimes hurt the children.&quot; 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 &quot;Topsfield men,&quot; 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 &quot;cried out&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted
children&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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>.&quot;</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 &quot;evil hand.&quot; 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 &quot;Joseph and Sarah, children of Sister Towne.&quot;
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 &quot;Rebecca,
wife of Francis Nurse;&quot; 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 &quot;certain detestable
arts called witchcraft&quot; 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> &quot;What do you say? Have you seen this
woman hurt you?&quot; The answer was, &quot;Yes, she beat me this morning.&quot;
Hathorne, addressing another of the afflicted, said, &quot;Abigail, have
you been hurt by this woman?&quot; Abigail answered, &quot;Yes.&quot; 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, &quot;Goody Nurse,
here are two, Ann Putnam the child, and Abigail Williams, complain of
your hurting them. What do you say to it?&quot; The prisoner replied, &quot;I
can say, before my eternal Father, I am innocent, and God will clear
my innocency.&quot; Hathorne, apparently touched for the moment by her
language and bearing, said, &quot;Here is never a one in the assembly but
desires it; but, if you be guilty, pray God discover you.&quot; Henry
Kenney rose up from the body of the assembly to speak. Hathorne
permitted the interruption, and said, &quot;Goodman Kenney, what do you
say?&quot; Then Kenney complained of the prisoner, &quot;and further said, since
this Nurse came into the house, he was seized twice with an amazed
condition.&quot; Hathorne, addressing the prisoner, said, &quot;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.&quot; The prisoner again affirmed her innocence, and said, in
answer to the charge of having hurt these persons, that &quot;she had not
been able to get out of doors these eight or nine days.&quot;<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, &quot;gave in his
relate,&quot; 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, &quot;Is this true, Goody Nurse?&quot; She
denied that she had ever hurt them or any one else in her life.
Hathorne repeated, &quot;You see these accuse you: is it true?&quot; She
answered, &quot;No.&quot; He again put the question, &quot;Are you an innocent person
relating to this witchcraft?&quot; 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, &quot;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?&quot; 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, &quot;O Lord, help me!&quot; Instantly,
the whole company of the afflicted children &quot;were grievously vexed.&quot;
After a while, the tumult subsided, and Hathorne again addressed her,
&quot;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.&quot; Then Mary Walcot and Elizabeth
Hubbard came forward, and accused her. Hathorne again addressed her,
&quot;Here are these two grown persons now accuse. What say you? Do not you
see these afflicted persons, and hear them accuse you?&quot; She answered,
&quot;The Lord knows I have not hurt them. I am an innocent person.&quot;
Hathorne continued, &quot;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.&quot; She answered, &quot;You do not know my heart.&quot; Hathorne,
&quot;You would do well, if you are guilty, to confess, and give glory to
God.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I am as clear as the child unborn.&quot; Hathorne continued, &quot;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,&#8212;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?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I have none, sir.&quot;&#8212;&quot;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?&quot;&#8212;&quot;No:
I have none but with God alone.&quot; 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, &quot;How came you sick? for there is an odd
discourse of that in the mouths of many.&quot; She replied that she
suffered from weakness of stomach. He inquired, more specifically,
&quot;Have you no wounds?&quot; 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. &quot;I have none but old
age.&quot;&#8212;&quot;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,&#8212;a black man whispering in your ear, and birds about
you,&#8212;what do you say to it?&quot;&#8212;&quot;It is all false: I am
clear.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Possibly, you may apprehend you are no witch; but have you
not been led aside by temptations that way?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I have not.&quot; 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, &quot;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!&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children,&quot; 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: &quot;Tell us, have you not had
visible appearances, more than what is common in nature?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I have
none, nor never had in my life.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Do you think these suffer voluntary
or involuntary?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I cannot tell.&quot;&#8212;&quot;That is strange: every one can
judge.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I must be silent.&quot;&#8212;&quot;They accuse you of hurting them; and,
if you think it is not unwillingly, but by design, you must look upon
them as murderers.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I cannot tell what to think of it.&quot; 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, &quot;Do you think these suffer against their
wills or not?&quot; She answered, &quot;I do not think these suffer against
their wills.&quot; 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: &quot;Why did you never visit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.67" id="Page_ii.67">[ii.67]</a></span> these afflicted
persons?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Because I was afraid I should have fits too.&quot; On every
motion of her body, &quot;fits followed upon the complainants, abundantly
and very frequently.&quot; As soon as order was again restored, Hathorne,
being, as he always was, wholly convinced of the reality of the
sufferings of the &quot;afflicted children,&quot; addressed her thus, &quot;Is it not
an unaccountable case, that, when you are examined, these persons are
afflicted?&quot; Seeing that he and the whole assembly put faith in the
accusers, her only reply was, &quot;I have got nobody to look to but God.&quot;
As she uttered these words, she naturally attempted to raise her
hands, whereupon &quot;the afflicted persons were seized with violent fits
of torture.&quot; After silence was again restored, the magistrate pressed
his questions still closer. &quot;Do you believe these afflicted persons
are bewitched?&quot; She answered, &quot;I do think they are.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; as the ravings of &quot;distracted persons.&quot; 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, &quot;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,&#8212;Betty
Parris; but it was her apparition did the mischief: and why should not
you also be guilty, for your apparition doth hurt also?&quot; Her answer
was, &quot;Would you have me belie myself?&quot; 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,
&quot;Set up Goody Nurse's head, the maid's neck will be broke.&quot; Whereupon,
some persons held the prisoner's head up, and &quot;Aaron Way observed that
Betty Hubbard's was immediately righted.&quot; To consummate the effect of
the whole proceeding, Mr. Parris, by direction of the magistrates,
&quot;read what he had in characters taken from Mr. Thomas Putnam's wife in
her fits.&quot; 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, &quot;What do you think of this?&quot; Her reply was, &quot;I
cannot help it: the Devil may appear in my shape.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Salem Village, March 24th, 1691/2.&#8212;The Reverend Mr. Samuel
Parris, being desired to take in writing the examination of
Rebecca Nurse, hath returned it as aforesaid.</p>

<p>&quot;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.&quot;</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, &quot;By
reason of great noises by the afflicted and many speakers, many things
are pretermitted.&quot; 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 &quot;pleaded her innocency with earnestness;&quot; 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, &quot;It was so disposed
that I had not leisure to attend the whole time of examination.&quot; 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.
&quot;There was once,&quot; he says, &quot;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.&quot; 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,
&quot;The child looked hale and well as other children.&quot; 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 &quot;he had taken the body of Dorcas Good,&quot; 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, &quot;the country&quot; was charged with ten shillings
for &quot;two blankets for Sarah Good's child.&quot; 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, &quot;on purpose to see his wife.&quot; He &quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;near half an hour.&quot; 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. &quot;It is,&quot; she said, &quot;the third
chapter of the Revelation.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I did,&quot; says Lawson, &quot;something scruple
the reading it.&quot; 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. &quot;Before I had near read through the first
verse, she opened her eyes, and was well.&quot; 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: &quot;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?&quot; After an allusion
to the rebellion of Satan, and his fall from heaven with his &quot;accursed
legions,&quot; and after representing them as filled &quot;with envy and malice
against all mankind,&quot; seeking &quot;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,&quot; 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,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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, &amp;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.&quot;</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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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, &quot;Audax omnia perpeti. Gens
humana ruit per vetitum nefas:&quot; 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,&#8212;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;What therefore I say unto one I say unto all, in this
important case, <span class="smcap">Pray, pray, pray</span>.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p style="text-align: center">&#160;</p>

<p style="text-align: center">
<a name="stoughton">
<img src="images2/image19.jpg" alt="William Stoughton" width="294" height="400" /></a>&#160;</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>&#160;</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 &quot;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,&quot; with a preface, addressed
to all his &quot;Christian friends and acquaintance, the inhabitants of
Salem Village.&quot; 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
&quot;Christ's Fidelity, the only Shield against Satan's Malignity;&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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">&#916;&#953;&#945;&#946;&#959;&#955;&#959;&#962;</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">&#916;&#953;&#945;&#946;&#959;&#955;&#959;&#953;</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,&#8212;viz., the relations of the afflicted
and relations of the accused,&#8212;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>This artifice of statement, speciously covered,&#8212;while it outrages
every sentiment of natural justice, and breaks every bond of social
responsibility,&#8212;is found, upon close inspection, to be a shocking
imputation against the divine administration. It represents the Deity,
under the phrases &quot;sovereign efficient&quot; and &quot;supremely permitting&quot; 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&#8212;March 27&#8212;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&#8212;a part not in the programme&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &quot;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.&quot; The running<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.94" id="Page_ii.94">[ii.94]</a></span> title is, &quot;Christ
knows how many devils there are in his church, and who they are;&quot; and
the text is John vi. 70, 71, &quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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.&#8212;The brethren voted
generally, or universally: none made any exceptions.</p>

<p>&quot;Sister Sibley, if you are convinced that you herein did
sinfully, and are sorry for it, let us hear it from your own
mouth.&#8212;She did manifest to satisfaction her error and grief
for it.</p>

<p>&quot;Brethren, if herein you have received satisfaction, testify
it by lifting up your hands.&#8212;A general vote passed; no
exception made.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Note.</span>&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;afflicted&quot; 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 &quot;rashly,&quot; without
&quot;advisedness&quot; from the right quarter, under the lead of &quot;ignorant
persons;&quot; 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
&quot;advisedness,&quot; 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 &quot;John Indian,&quot; it is not
likely that any one else ever ventured to intermeddle with the
&quot;afflicted,&quot; or have any connection, except as outside spectators,
with the marvellous phenomena of &quot;diabolical operations.&quot; 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 &quot;amazing feats&quot; 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, &quot;for themselves and several of their
neighbors,&quot; 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 &quot;Sarah Cloyse, the wife of
Peter Cloyse of Salem Village, and Elizabeth Procter of Salem Farms,
for high suspicion of sundry acts of witchcraft.&quot; 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 &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;a council&quot;! The record says,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Salem, April 11, 1692.&#8212;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Russell was of Charlestown, Addington and Sewall of Boston, and
Appleton of Ipswich. Mr. Parris, &quot;being desired and appointed to write
the examination, did take the same, and also read it before the
council in public.&quot; This document has not come down to us; but
Hutchinson had access to it, and the substance of it is preserved in
his &quot;History of Massachusetts.&quot;</p>

<p>The marshal (Herrick) brought in Sarah Cloyse and Elizabeth Procter,
and delivered them &quot;before the honorable council:&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;John, who hurt you?&#8212;Goody Procter first, and then Goody
Cloyse.</p>

<p>&quot;What did she do to you?&#8212;She brought the book to me.</p>

<p>&quot;John, tell the truth: who hurts you? Have you been
hurt?&#8212;The first was a gentlewoman I saw.</p>

<p>&quot;Who next?&#8212;Goody Cloyse.</p>

<p>&quot;But who hurt you next?&#8212;Goody Procter.</p>

<p>&quot;What did she do to you?&#8212;She choked me, and brought the
book.</p>

<p>&quot;How oft did she come to torment you?&#8212;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>&quot;Do they come to you in the night, as well as the day?&#8212;They
come most in the day.</p>

<p>&quot;Who?&#8212;Goody Cloyse and Goody Procter.</p>

<p>&quot;Where did she take hold of you?&#8212;Upon my throat, to stop my
breath.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you know Goody Cloyse and Goody Procter?&#8212;Yes: here is
Goody Cloyse.&quot;</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, &quot;When did I hurt thee?&quot; He answered, &quot;A great many
times.&quot; She exclaimed, &quot;Oh, you are a grievous liar!&quot; The Court
proceeded with their questions:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;What did this Goody Cloyse do to you?&#8212;She pinched and bit
me till the blood came.</p>

<p>&quot;How long since this woman came and hurt you?&#8212;Yesterday, at
meeting.</p>

<p>&quot;At any time before?&#8212;Yes: a great many times.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Having drawn out John Indian, the Court turned to the other afflicted
ones:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Mary Walcot, who hurts you?&#8212;Goody Cloyse.</p>

<p>&quot;What did she do to you?&#8212;She hurt me.</p>

<p>&quot;Did she bring the book?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;What was you to do with it?&#8212;To touch it, and be well.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then she fell into a fit.)&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Doth she come alone?&#8212;Sometimes alone, and sometimes in
company with Goody Nurse and Goody Corey, and a great many I
do not know.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then she fell into a fit again.)&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Abigail Williams, did you see a company at Mr. Parris's
house eat and drink?&#8212;Yes, sir: that was in the sacrament.&quot;</p></div>

<p>I would call attention to the form of the foregoing questions.
Hutchinson says that &quot;Mr. Parris was over-officious: most of the
examinations, although in the presence of one or more magistrates,
were taken by him.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;How many were there?&#8212;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>&quot;What was it?&#8212;They said it was our blood, and they had it
twice that day.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The interrogator again turned to Mary Walcot, and inquired,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Have you seen a white man?&#8212;Yes, sir: a great many times.</p>

<p>&quot;What sort of a man was he?&#8212;A fine grave man; and, when he
came, he made all the witches to tremble.</p>

<p>&quot;(Abigail Williams confirmed the same, and that they had
such a sight at Deacon Ingersoll's.)</p>

<p>&quot;Who was at Deacon Ingersoll's then?&#8212;Goody Cloyse, Goody
Nurse, Goody Corey, and Goody Good.</p>

<p>&quot;(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.')&quot;</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,&#8212;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, &quot;There is the black man
whispering in Cloyse's ear,&quot; &quot;There is a yellow-bird flying round her
head.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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?&#8212;I never
saw her so as to be hurt by her.</p>

<p>&quot;Mercy Lewis, does she hurt you?</p>

<p>&quot;(Her mouth was stopped.)</p>

<p>&quot;Ann Putnam, does she hurt you?</p>

<p>&quot;(She could not speak.)</p>

<p>&quot;Abigail Williams, does she hurt you?</p>

<p>&quot;(Her hand was thrust in her own mouth.)</p>

<p>&quot;John, does she hurt you?&#8212;This is the woman that came in
her shift, and choked me.</p>

<p>&quot;Did she ever bring the book?&#8212;Yes, sir.</p>

<p>&quot;What to do?&#8212;To write.</p>

<p>&quot;What? this woman?&#8212;Yes, sir.</p>

<p>&quot;Are you sure of it?&#8212;Yes, sir.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What do you say, Goody Procter, to these things?&#8212;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>&quot;Ann Putnam, doth this woman hurt you?&#8212;Yes, sir: a great
many times.</p>

<p>&quot;(Then the accused looked upon them, and they fell into
fits.)</p>

<p>&quot;She does not bring the book to you, does she?&#8212;Yes, sir,
often; and saith she hath made her maid set her hand to it.</p>

<p>&quot;Abigail Williams, does this woman hurt you?&#8212;Yes, sir,
often.</p>

<p>&quot;Does she bring the book to you?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;What would she have you do with it?&#8212;To write in it, and I
shall be well.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Turning to the accused, Abigail said, &quot;Did not you tell me that your
maid had written?&quot; 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: &quot;Dear child, it is not so. There is another judgment,
dear child.&quot; But kindness was thrown away upon them; for Parris says
that immediately &quot;Abigail and Ann had fits.&quot; After coming out of them,
&quot;they cried out, 'Look you! there is Goody Procter upon the beam.'&quot;
Instantly, as we may well suppose, the whole audience looked where
they pointed. Their manner gave assurance that they saw her &quot;on the
beam,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;(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>&quot;Ann Putnam, who hurt you?&#8212;Goodman Procter, and his wife
too.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What do you say, Goodman Procter, to these things?&#8212;I know
not. I am innocent.</p>

<p>&quot;(Abigail Williams cried out, 'There is Goodman Procter
going to Mrs. Pope!' and immediately said Pope fell into a
fit.)&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;(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,&#8212;whereas it was made up into a
fist before,&#8212;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.)&quot;</p></div>

<p>Hutchinson, after giving Parris's account of this examination,
expresses himself thus: &quot;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.&quot;
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 &quot;advisedness,&quot; 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 &quot;gave further
information against said John Procter,&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; In the margin is written,
apparently some time afterwards, the interjection &quot;<i>V&#230;!</i>&quot; thrice
repeated,&#8212;&quot;Alas, alas, alas!&quot; What perfectly deluded him and
Danforth, and everybody else, were the exhibitions made by the
&quot;afflicted children.&quot; 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 &quot;the circle,&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;the most straitest sect&quot; 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 &quot;circle&quot; 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 &quot;her maid to set her
hand to the book.&quot;</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,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted children,&quot; and went so far as to say, that
they &quot;did but dissemble.&quot; 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:
&quot;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.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>Examination of Mary Warren, at a Court held at Salem
Village, by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, Esqrs.</i></p>

<p>&quot;(As soon as she was coming towards the bar, the afflicted
fell into fits.)</p>

<p>&quot;Mary Warren, you stand here charged with sundry acts of
witchcraft. What do you say for yourself? Are you guilty or
not?&#8212;I am innocent.</p>

<p>&quot;Hath she hurt you? (Speaking to the sufferers.)</p>

<p>&quot;(Some were dumb. Betty Hubbard testified against her, and
then said Hubbard fell into a violent fit.)</p>

<p>&quot;You were, a little while ago, an afflicted person; now you
are an afflicter. How comes this to pass?&#8212;I look up to God,
and take it to be a great mercy of God.</p>

<p>&quot;What! do you take it to be a great mercy to afflict others?</p>

<p>&quot;(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.)&quot;</p></div>

<p>&quot;Well, here&quot; (Mr. Parris, the reporter, goes on to say) &quot;was one that
just now was a tormenter in her apparition, and she owns that she had
made a league with the Devil.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>What is given here in <i>Italics</i>, as an &quot;<i>apparition</i>,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Mary Warren continued a good space in a fit, that she did
neither see nor hear nor speak.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;And then afterwards cried again, 'I will tell, I will
tell!' and then fell into a dead fit again.</p>

<p>&quot;And afterwards cried, 'I will tell, they did, they did,
they did;' and then fell into a violent fit again.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;Some time afterwards, she was called in again, but
immediately taken with fits for a while.</p>

<p>&quot;'Have you signed the Devil's book?&#8212;No.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.119" id="Page_ii.119">[ii.119]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;'Have you not touched it?&#8212;No.'</p>

<p>&quot;Then she fell into fits again, and was sent forth for air.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;Mary Warren called in afterwards in private, before
magistrates and ministers.</p>

<p>&quot;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.'&quot;</p></div>

<p>The magistrate inquired earnestly:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;'Tell us how far have you yielded?'</p>

<p>&quot;A fit interrupts her again.</p>

<p>&quot;'What did they say you should do, and you should be well?'</p>

<p>&quot;Then her lips were bit, so that she could not speak: so she
was sent away.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Mr. Parris, the reporter of the case, adds:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Note that not one of the sufferers was afflicted during her
examination, after once she began to confess, though they
were tormented before.&quot;</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 &quot;threw him down, and tare him.&quot; 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, &quot;All the afflicted were seized now with fits, and troubled with
pinches. Then the Court ordered his hands to be tied.&quot; The magistrates
lost all control of themselves, and flew into a passion, exclaiming,
&quot;What! is it not enough to act witchcraft at other times, but must you
do it now, in face of authority?&quot; 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, &quot;I am a poor creature, and cannot help
it.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Upon the motion of his head again, they had their heads and
necks afflicted.&quot; The magistrates, not having recovered their
composure, continued to pour their wrath upon him, &quot;Why do you tell
such wicked lies against witnesses?&quot;&#8212;&quot;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.&quot; Goody Bibber was on hand, and played her accompaniment. She also
uttered malignant charges against him, and &quot;was suddenly seized with a
violent fit.&quot; One of Bibber's statements was that he had called her
husband &quot;damned devilish rogue.&quot; 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, &quot;living to God and dying to sin.&quot; She &quot;found
fault&quot; 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, &quot;What did you see in the cow-house? Why do
you deny it?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I saw nothing but my cattle.&quot;&#8212;&quot;(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.)&quot;&#8212;&quot;Well, what do you say to these
witnesses? What was it frighted you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I do not know that ever I
spoke the word in my life.&quot;</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 &quot;he would make away with himself, and charge his
death upon his son.&quot; 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 &quot;make away with himself,&quot; 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:&#8212;</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
&quot;conversant in.&quot; She replied, &quot;I take all this people to witness that
I am clear.&quot; He then asked the children, &quot;Hath this woman hurt you?&quot;
They all cried out that she had. The magistrate continued, &quot;You are
here accused by four or five: what do you say to it?&quot;&#8212;&quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>At a meeting of the afflicted children and others, some one declared
that Bridget Bishop was present &quot;in her shape&quot; or apparition, and,
pointing to a particular spot, said, &quot;There, there she is!&quot; Young
Jonathan Walcot, exasperated by his sister's sufferings, struck at the
spot with his sword; whereupon Mary cried out, &quot;You have hit her, you
have torn her coat, and I heard it tear.&quot; 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, &quot;Is not your coat cut?&quot; She answered, &quot;No.&quot; They then examined
the coat, and found what they regarded as having been &quot;cut or torn two
ways.&quot; 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 &quot;the sword
that he struck at Goody Bishop was not naked, but was within the
scabbard.&quot; This explained the whole matter, so that Cheever says, in
his report, that &quot;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&quot;! Parris says, with more caution, more indeed than
was usual with him, &quot;Upon some search in the Court, a rent, that seems
to answer what was alleged, was found.&quot;</p>

<p>Hathorne, having heard the scandals they had circulated against her,
proceeded: &quot;They say you bewitched your first husband to death.&quot;&#8212;&quot;If
it please Your Worship, I know nothing of it.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What do you say of
these murders you are charged with?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I hope I am not guilty of
murder.&quot; 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, &quot;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,&quot; 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, &quot;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?&quot; She calmly replied, &quot;I am innocent. I know nothing of it. I am
no witch. I know not what a witch is.&quot; The &quot;afflicted children&quot;
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, &quot;shook her head&quot; 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: &quot;I do not know whether there be any witches or no.&quot; 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, &quot;No.&quot; 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 &quot;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,&#8212;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.&quot; 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, &quot;for she had sold herself body
and soul to the Old Boy;&quot; one witness testified, that, &quot;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;&quot; another, Margaret
Knight, testified, that, about a year before, &quot;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.'&quot;</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 &quot;Judah White,
a Jersey maid&quot; that lived with Joseph Ingersoll at Casco, &quot;but now
lives at Boston,&quot; appeared to her &quot;in apparition&quot; the day before, and
advised her to &quot;fly, and not to go to be examined,&quot; but, if she did
go, &quot;not to confess any thing:&quot; she described the dress of this
&quot;apparition,&quot;&#8212;she &quot;came to her in fine clothes, in a sad-colored silk
mantle, with a top-knot and a hood.&quot;&#8212;&quot;She confesseth further, that
the Devil in the shape of a man came to her,&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;the Evil Spirit, the
Devil,&quot; 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, &quot;Hath this man hurt
you?&quot; Several of them answered &quot;Yes.&quot; Goody Bibber, who seems
generally to have been a very zealous volunteer backer of the girls,
on this occasion, for a wonder, answered &quot;No.&quot; The magistrate,
addressing the prisoner, &quot;What say you? Are you guilty or
not?&quot;&#8212;Answer: &quot;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.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Clear of what?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Of witchcraft.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Have you never hurt
these?&quot;&#8212;&quot;No.&quot; Abigail Williams cried out that he &quot;was going to Mercy
Lewis!&quot; Whereupon Mercy was seized with a fit. Then Abigail cried out
again, &quot;He is coming to Mary Walcot!&quot; and Mary went into her fit. The
magistrate, in consternation, appealed to him: &quot;How can you be clear,&quot;
when your appearance is thus seen producing such effects before our
eyes? Then the children went into fits all together, and &quot;hallooed&quot; at
the top of their voices, and &quot;shouted greatly.&quot; 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: &quot;When were you at any public
religious meeting?&quot; He replied, &quot;Not a pretty while.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Why
so?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Because I was not well: I had a distemper that none knows.&quot; The
magistrate said, &quot;Can you act witchcraft here, and, by casting your
eyes, turn folks into fits?&quot;&#8212;&quot;You may judge your pleasure. My soul is
clear.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Do you not see you hurt these by your look?&quot;&#8212;&quot;No: I do not
know it.&quot; 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, &quot;Can you now deny it?&quot; He
answered, &quot;I can deny it to my dying day.&quot; 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. &quot;Who do you worship?&quot; said the
magistrate. &quot;I hope I worship God only.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Where?&quot;&#8212;&quot;In my heart.&quot; 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
&quot;great God in heaven.&quot;</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 &quot;near an hundred&quot; 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 &quot;upon the beam.&quot; The magistrates told him that his guilt was
certainly proved, and that, if he would find mercy of God, he must
confess. &quot;I speak before God,&quot; he answered, &quot;that I am clear from this
accusation.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What, in all respects?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Yes, in all respects.&quot; The
girls were struck with dumbness; and Ann Putnam, re-affirming that he
was the man that hurt her, &quot;was taken with a fit.&quot; Mary Walcot began
to waver in her confidence, and Mercy Lewis said, &quot;It is not the man.&quot;
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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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, &quot;Did you put a mist
before my eyes?&quot; 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
&quot;Sawyer.&quot; 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 &quot;the Topsfield men,&quot; 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, &quot;I do not know,&quot; &quot;I cannot
tell.&quot; The only fact brought out against her besides the actings of
the girls was this: &quot;Her master saith a man sat down upon the form
with her about a twelvemonth ago.&quot; Parris, in his minutes, gives this
piece of evidence, but does not enlighten us as to its import. The
magistrate asked her, &quot;What did the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.137" id="Page_ii.137">[ii.137]</a></span> say to you?&quot; Her answer was:
&quot;He said nothing.&quot; 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, &quot;Doth this negro hurt
you?&quot; They said &quot;Yes.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Why do you hurt them?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I did not hurt
them.&quot; This question was put to her, &quot;Do you prick sticks?&quot; 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, &quot;No: I pin my neckcloth.&quot; The examiner asked her, &quot;Will you
take out the pin, and pin it again?&quot; 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. &quot;Would you have me accuse myself?&quot;&#8212;&quot;How
far,&quot; he continued, &quot;have you complied with Satan?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Sir, I never
complied, but prayed against him all my days. What would you have me
do?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Confess, if you be guilty.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I will say it, if it was my last
time, I am clear of this sin.&quot; The magistrate, apparently affected by
her manner and bearing, inquired of the girls, &quot;Are you certain this
is the woman?&quot; They all went into fits; and presently Ann Putnam,
coming to herself, said &quot;that was the woman, it was like her, and she
told me her name.&quot; 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, &quot;Put up
her head; for, while her head is bowed, the necks of these are
broken.&quot; The magistrate again asked, &quot;Is this the woman?&quot; 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: &quot;O Goody Easty, Goody Easty, you are the woman, you are the
woman!&quot;&#8212;&quot;What do you say to this?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Why, God will know.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Nay, God
knows now.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I know he does.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What did you think of the actions of
others before your sisters came out? did you think it was
witchcraft?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I cannot tell.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Why do you not think it is
witchcraft?&quot;&#8212;&quot;It is an evil spirit; but whether it be witchcraft I do
not know.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>These to the Honored John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin,
Esqrs., living at Salem, present.</i></p>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;<span class="smcap">Salem Village</span>, this 21st of April, 1692.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Much Honored</span>,&#8212;After most humble and hearty thanks
presented to Your Honors for the great care and pains you
have already taken for us,&#8212;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&#8212;beholding continually
the tremendous works of Divine Providence, not only every
day, but every hour&#8212;thought it our duty to inform Your
Honors of what we conceive you have not heard, which are
high and dreadful,&#8212;of a wheel within a wheel, at which our
ears do tingle. Humbly craving continually your prayers and
help in this distressed case,&#8212;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Thomas Putnam.</span>&quot;</p></div>

<p>What was meant by the &quot;wheel within a wheel,&quot; the &quot;high and dreadful&quot;
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: &quot;Mr. Philip English not
being to be found. G.H.&quot; 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, &quot;that, as I lay in my bed,
in the morning, presently after it was fair light abroad in the room,&quot;
&quot;I saw a dark shade,&quot; &amp;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,
&quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;To the marshal-general, or his lawful deputy,&quot; to
apprehend Philip English wherever found within the jurisdiction, and
convey him to the &quot;custody of the marshal of Essex.&quot; 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 &quot;Description of Salem,&quot; 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. &quot;In the morning,&quot; says Bentley, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted girls&quot; 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,&#8212;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, &quot;and showing the marks to the standers by. The marshal said she
pinched her fingers at the time.&quot; The magistrate, indignantly
believing the whole, said, &quot;Dorcas Hoar, why do you hurt these?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I
never hurt any child in my life.&quot; 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, &quot;Oh, you are liars, and God will stop the mouth of liars!&quot; The
anger of the magistrates was roused by this bold outbreak. &quot;You are
not to speak after this manner in the Court.&quot;&#8212;&quot;I will speak the truth
as long as I live,&quot; she fearlessly replied. Parris says, at the close
of his account, &quot;The afflicted were much distressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.145" id="Page_ii.145">[ii.145]</a></span> during her
examination.&quot; 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, &quot;in an extraordinary
dirty season, when it was not fit for any person to travel, she came
on foot&quot; to a house at Newbury. The woman of the house, the substance
of whose testimony I am giving, having asked, &quot;whether she came from
Amesbury afoot,&quot; 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 &quot;she was as dry as I was,&quot; and
turned her coats aside; &quot;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.&quot; She replied that &quot;she scorned to have a
drabbled tail.&quot; 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: &quot;She scorned to be drabbled.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<p>On the appearance of the accused, many of the witnesses against her
instantly fell into fits. The magistrate inquired of them,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Hath this woman hurt you?&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What! do you laugh at it? said the magistrate.&#8212;Well I may
at such folly.</p>

<p>&quot;Is this folly to see these so hurt?&#8212;I never hurt man,
woman, or child.</p>

<p>&quot;(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>&quot;What do you say to this?&#8212;I have no hand in witchcraft.</p>

<p>&quot;What did you do? did you consent these should be hurt?&#8212;No,
never in my life.</p>

<p>&quot;What ails these people?&#8212;I do not know.</p>

<p>&quot;But what do you think ails them?&#8212;I do not desire to spend
my judgment upon it.</p>

<p>&quot;Do you think they are bewitched?&#8212;No: I do not think they
are.</p>

<p>&quot;Well, tell us your thoughts about them.&#8212;My thoughts are
mine own when they are in; but, when they are out, they are
another's.</p>

<p>&quot;Who do you think is their master?&#8212;If they be dealing in
the black art, you may know as well as I.</p>

<p>&quot;What have you done towards the hurt of these?&#8212;I have done
nothing.</p>

<p>&quot;Why, it is you, or your appearance.&#8212;I cannot help it.</p>

<p>&quot;How comes your appearance just now to hurt these?&#8212;How do I
know?</p>

<p>&quot;Are you not willing to tell the truth?&#8212;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>&quot;Do you believe these afflicted persons do not say
true?&#8212;They may lie, for aught I know.</p>

<p>&quot;May not you lie?&#8212;I dare not tell a lie, if it would save
my life.&quot;</p></div>

<p>At this point, the marshal declared that &quot;she pinched her hands, and
Elizabeth Hubbard was immediately afflicted. Several of the afflicted
cried out that they saw her upon the beam&quot; 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, &quot;Pray God discover you, if you be guilty.&quot;
Nothing daunted, she replied, &quot;Amen, amen. A false tongue will never
make a guilty person.&quot; A great uproar then arose. The accusers fell
into dreadful convulsions, among the rest John Indian, who cried out,
&quot;She bites, she bites!&quot; The magistrate, overcome by the sight of these
sufferings, again appealed to her, &quot;Have not you compassion for these
afflicted?&quot; She calmly and firmly answered, &quot;No: I have none.&quot; The
uproar rose higher. The accusers all declared that they saw the &quot;black
man,&quot; 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: &quot;What is the reason these
cannot come near you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I cannot tell. It may be the Devil bears me
more malice than another.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.149" id="Page_ii.149">[ii.149]</a></span> you not see God evidently discovering
you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;No, not a bit for that.&quot;&#8212;&quot;All the congregation besides think
so.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Let them think what they will.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What is the reason these
cannot come to you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I do not know but they can, if they will; or
else, if you please, I will come to them.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What was that the black
man whispered to you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;There was none whispered to me.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted
children,&quot; or those acting behind them, wanted a minister to complete
the <i>dramatis person&#230;</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
&quot;wheel within a wheel,&quot; and &quot;the high and dreadful&quot; things not then
disclosed that were to make &quot;ears tingle.&quot;</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, &quot;preacher at Wells;&quot; he being
&quot;suspected of a confederacy with the Devil.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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:&#8212;</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, &quot;a little black
minister that lived at Casco Bay.&quot; 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 &quot;had killed three
wives, two for himself and one for Mr. Lawson.&quot; 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 &quot;There,&quot; 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, &quot;'You have torn his coat, for I
heard it tear.'&#8212;'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.&quot; Then Abigail said, he
has gone, but &quot;'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.'&quot; 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, &quot;about twelve o'clock.&quot;
The same day, &quot;after lecture, in said Ingersoll's chamber,&quot; Abigail
Williams and Mary Walcot were present. They said that &quot;Goody Hobbs, of
Topsfield, had bit Mary Walcot by the foot.&quot; Then both fell into a
fit; and on coming out, &quot;they saw William Hobbs and his wife go both
of them along the table.&quot; Hutchinson instantly stabbed, with his
rapier, &quot;Goody Hobbs on her side,&quot; as the two girls declared. They
further said that the room was &quot;full of them,&quot; that is of witches, in
their apparitions; then Hutchinson and Eleazer Putnam &quot;stabbed with
their rapiers at a venture.&quot; The girls cried out, that they &quot;had
killed a great black woman of Stonington, and an Indian who had come
with her:&quot; the girls said further, &quot;The floor is all covered with
blood;&quot; and, rushing to the window, declared that they saw a great
company of witches on a hill, and that three of them &quot;lay dead&quot;
there,&#8212;&quot;the black woman, the Indian, and one more that they knew
not.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Her father and the other persons present made oath that they saw and
heard all this at the time; that &quot;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.'&quot; It
will be observed that this was the evening before Thomas Putnam wrote
his letter to the magistrates, preparing them for something &quot;high and
dreadful&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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 &quot;field-day&quot; was to be had. On the
9th of May, a special session of the Magistracy was held,&#8212;<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,&#8212;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, &quot;many, if not all, the bewitched were
grievously tortured.&quot; After the confusion had subsided, Susanna
Sheldon testified that Burroughs' two wives had appeared to her &quot;in
their winding-sheets,&quot; and said, &quot;That man killed them.&quot; He was
ordered to look on the witness; and, as he turned to do so, he
&quot;knocked down,&quot; as the reporter affirms, &quot;all (or most) of the
afflicted that stood behind him.&quot; Ann Putnam, and the several other
&quot;afflicted children,&quot; bore their testimony in a similar strain against
him, interspersing at intervals, all their various convulsions,
outcries, and tumblings. Mercy Lewis had &quot;a dreadful and tedious fit.&quot;
Walcot, Hubbard, and Sheldon were cast into torments simultaneously.
At length, they were &quot;so tortured&quot; that &quot;authority ordered them&quot; to be
removed. Their sufferings were greater than the magistrates and people
could longer endure to look upon. The question was put to Burroughs,
&quot;what he thought of these things.&quot; He answered, &quot;it was an amazing and
humbling providence, but he understood nothing of it.&quot; 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 &quot;amazed.&quot; 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. &quot;Surely,&quot; she said, &quot;what sin hath
God found out in me unrepented of that he should lay such an
affliction upon me in my old age?&quot; His words are, &quot;It is an humbling
providence of God.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted&quot; 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 &quot;witch meeting, in the field near Mr. Parris's house,&quot; in
which Mr. Burroughs acted a conspicuous part. Mary Warren swore that
&quot;Mr. Burroughs had a trumpet which he blew to summon the witches to
their feasts&quot; and other meetings &quot;near Mr. Parris's house.&quot; 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,&#8212;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
&quot;their blood did cry for vengeance&quot; 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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<i>The First Examination of Deliverance Hobbs in
Prison.</i>&#8212;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.&quot;</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: &quot;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.&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;against the
country,&quot; 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 &#163;58. 11<i>s.</i> 5<i>d.</i>; that of Samuel to &#163;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 &quot;very gray-headed;&quot; 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 &quot;man in a long-crowned white hat,&quot; 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: &quot;Here are them that accuse you of acts of
witchcraft.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Well, let us hear who are they and what are they.&quot; 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, &quot;Because I am
falsely accused&#8212;your worships all of you, do you think this is true?&quot;
They answered, &quot;Nay: what do you think?&quot; &quot;I never did it.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Who did
it?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Don't ask me.&quot; 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:
&quot;Why should we not ask you? Sarah Churchill accuseth you. There she
is.&quot; 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. &quot;If you can prove that I am guilty, I will lie under it.&quot; Then
Sarah Churchill, who was a servant in his family, said, &quot;Last night, I
was afflicted at Deacon Ingersoll's; and Mary Walcot said it was a man
with two staves: it was my master.&quot; It seems, that, after the
proceedings against Burroughs were over, a meeting of &quot;the circle&quot;
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. &quot;Pray, do not accuse me: I am as
clear as your worships. You must do right judgment.&quot; Sarah Churchill
charged him with having hurt her; and the magistrates, pushing her on
to make further charges, said to her, &quot;Did he not appear on the other
side of the river, and hurt you? Did not you see him?&quot; She answered,
&quot;Yes, he did.&quot; Then, turning to him, the magistrates said, &quot;There, she
accuseth you to your face: she chargeth you that you hurt her
twice.&quot;&#8212;&quot;It is not true. What would you have me say? I never wronged
no man in word nor deed.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Is it no harm to afflict these?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I never
did it.&quot;&#8212;&quot;But how comes it to be in your appearance?&quot;&#8212;&quot;The Devil can
take any likeness.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Not without their consent.&quot; Jacobs rejected the
imputation. &quot;You tax me for a wizard: you may as well tax me for a
buzzard. I have done no harm.&quot; Churchill said, &quot;I know you lived a
wicked life.&quot; Jacobs, turning to the magistrates, said, &quot;Let her make
it out.&quot; The magistrates asked her, &quot;Doth he ever pray in his family?&quot;
She replied, &quot;Not unless by himself.&quot; The magistrates, addressing him:
&quot;Why do you not pray in your family?&quot;&#8212;&quot;I cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.168" id="Page_ii.168">[ii.168]</a></span> read.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Well, but
you may pray for all that. Can you say the Lord's Prayer? Let us hear
you.&quot; The reporter, Mr. Parris, says, &quot;He missed in several parts of
it, and could not repeat it right after many trials.&quot; The magistrates,
addressing her, said, &quot;Were you not frighted, Sarah Churchill, when
the representation of your master came to you?&quot;&#8212;&quot;Yes.&quot; Jacobs
exclaimed, &quot;Well, burn me or hang me, I will stand in the truth of
Christ: I know nothing of it.&quot; In answer to an inquiry from the
magistrates, he denied having done any thing to get his son George or
grand-daughter Margaret to &quot;sign the book.&quot;</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, &quot;fell into the most
grievous fits and screechings.&quot; When they sufficiently came to, the
magistrates turned to the girls: &quot;Is this the man that hurts you?&quot;
They severally answered,&#8212;Abigail Williams: &quot;This is the man,&quot; and
fell into a violent fit. Ann Putnam: &quot;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.&quot; Mercy Lewis, after much interruptions by fits: &quot;This
is the man: he almost kills me.&quot; Elizabeth Hubbard: &quot;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.&quot; Mary Walcot, after much
interruption by fits: &quot;This is the man: he used to come with two
staves, and beat me with one of them.&quot; After all this, the
magistrates, thinking he could deny it no longer, turn to him, &quot;What
do you say? Are you not a witch?&quot; &quot;No: I know it not, if I were to die
presently.&quot; Mercy Lewis advanced towards him, but, as soon as she got
near, &quot;fell into great fits.&quot;&#8212;&quot;What do you say to this?&quot; cried the
magistrates. &quot;Why, it is false. I know not of it any more than the
child that was born to-night.&quot; The reporter says, &quot;Ann Putnam and
Abigail Williams had each of them a pin stuck in their hands, and they
said it was this old Jacobs.&quot; He was committed to prison.</p>

<p>The following piece of evidence is among the loose papers on file in
the clerk's office:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Sarah Ingersoll</span>, aged about
thirty years.&#8212;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Sarah Ingersoll</span>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>This paper has also the signature of &quot;Ann Andrews.&quot;</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,&#8212;a brother of
Deacon Nathaniel Ingersoll,&#8212;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&#8212;as all along there is too much evidence compelling us to
admit&#8212;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&#8212;May 10&#8212;that George and Margaret Jacobs were
apprehended and examined, a warrant was issued against John Willard,
&quot;husbandman,&quot; to be brought to Thomas Beadle's house in Salem. On the
12th, John Putnam, Jr., constable, made return that he had been to
&quot;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;&quot;
and that &quot;his relations and friends&quot; said, &quot;that, to their best
knowledge, he was fled.&quot; On the 15th, a warrant was issued to the
marshal of Essex, and the constables of Salem, &quot;or any other marshal,
or marshal's constable or constables within this their majesty's
colony or territory of the Massachusetts, in New England,&quot; requiring
them to apprehend said Willard, &quot;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,&quot; and others, upon complaint made &quot;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.&quot; 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:&#8212;</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&#8212;accusers, accused,
magistrates, and people&#8212;as alike bewitched. One of the witnesses
against him deposed, that he said, in a &quot;discourse&quot; at the house of a
relative, &quot;Hang them: they are all witches.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;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, &quot;It were well
if the said Willard were hanged.&quot;</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,&#8212;the only mode of travel then practicable from Will's Hill
to Winnesimit Ferry,&#8212;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 &quot;brother, Lieutenant Richard
Way.&quot; 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. &quot;To my apprehension,
he looked after such a sort upon me as I never before discerned in
any.&quot; 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, &quot;was like a man on a rack.&quot;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;upon his throat and upon his breast, and pressed him and
choked him;&quot; 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, &quot;Yes: they are looking
for John Willard.&quot; Presently she pretended to have caught sight of his
apparition, and exclaimed, &quot;There he is upon his grandfather's belly.&quot;
This was thought wonderful indeed; for, as the old man says in a
deposition he drew up afterwards, &quot;At that time I was in grievous pain
in the small of my belly.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;that is, Samuel Fuller and Lydia
Wilkins,&#8212;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Ann Putnam.</span>&quot;</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, &quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;Dan: Wilkins.
Bewitched to death.&quot; 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, &quot;Daughter to Ann Douglas. By
witchcraft, I doubt not.&quot; 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 &quot;forthwith&quot; before the magistrates
sitting at Beadle's, &quot;Alice Parker, the wife of John Parker of Salem;
and Ann Pudeator of Salem, widow.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;under an evil hand.&quot; 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 &quot;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.&quot; He goes on to
state, that, returning home one night some time afterwards, he
experienced an awful fright. &quot;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.&quot; 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. &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;stout dog,&quot; which
ordinarily was much inclined to attack and &quot;worry hogs,&quot; but, on this
occasion, &quot;ran away from him, leaping over the fence and crying much.&quot;
In view of all these things, Westgate concludes his testimony thus:
&quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;black hog with the open mouth,&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;occurred &quot;over against John
Robinson's house,&quot; which was on the eastern corner of Pleasant and
Essex Streets. Christopher Babbage's house, from which he thought the
&quot;great noise&quot; 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 &quot;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.'&quot; The manner of expression in this passage shows
that it was thought that there was something very shocking in her
answer. Mr. Noyes &quot;affirmed to her face.&quot; 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.
&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;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, &quot;I am amazed! I am amazed!&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;His Excellency Sir William Phips,
Knight, Governor, and the Honorable Council sitting at Boston,&quot; in the
following terms:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<i>The Humble Petition of Rebecca Fox, of Cambridge,
showeth</i>, that, whereas Rebecca Jacobs (daughter of your
humble petitioner) has, a long time,&#8212;even many months,&#8212;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>&quot;Your petitioner,&#8212;who knows well the condition of her poor
daughter,&#8212;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;</p></div>

<p>No heed was paid to this petition; and the unfortunate woman remained
in jail until&#8212;after the delusion had passed from the minds of the
people&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.191" id="Page_ii.191">[ii.191]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;We, whose names are underwritten, having been conversant
with Ann Putnam, have heard her declare what is above
written,&#8212;what she said she saw and heard from the
apparition of old Pharaoh,&#8212;and also have seen her tortures,
and perceived her hellish temptations, by her loud outcries,
'I will not write, old Pharaoh,&#8212;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>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>She had heard this person spoken of as &quot;old Father Pharaoh,&quot; with his
&quot;great nose;&quot; and, from a mere spirit of mischief,&#8212;for the fun of the
thing,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Clement Coldum</span>, aged sixty
years, or thereabout.&#8212;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Clement Coldum</span>.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;<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,&#8212;they must
have some sport.&quot;</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, &quot;There is the black man whispering in
her ear!&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">John Higginson</span>.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Marblehead, Jan. 2, 1692/3.&#8212;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>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>William Hubbard was the venerable minister of Ipswich, described by
Hutchinson as &quot;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.&quot; He is described
by another writer as &quot;a man of singular modesty, learned without
ostentation.&quot; 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 &quot;Nestor of the
New-England clergy.&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;evil hand.&quot; 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, &quot;There she is!&quot;
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, &quot;in her apparition,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;many of
them delicate and infirm, several venerable for their virtues as well
as years,&#8212;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: &quot;Jan.
2, 1702.&#8212;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.&quot; The ejaculation, &quot;Lord forgive!&quot; 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 &quot;they had not their
portion in this life.&quot; 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, &quot;Dear Lord, receive my soul.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Lord, let them not kill me
quite.&quot;&#8212;&quot;Pray for the salvation of my soul, for they will kill me
outright.&quot; He was desired to go to Thomas Putnam's house to bring his
daughter Ann, &quot;to see if she could see who it was that hurt Mercy
Lewis.&quot; 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, &quot;There is Goody Easty and John
Willard and Mary Whittredge afflicting the body of Mercy Lewis;&quot; Mercy
at the time laboring for breath, and appearing as choked and
strangled, convulsed, and apparently at the last gasp. &quot;Thus,&quot; says
Abbey, &quot;she continued the greatest part of the day, in such tortures
as no tongue can express.&quot; Mary Walcot was sent for. Upon coming in,
she cried out, &quot;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.&quot; A message was then despatched for Elizabeth
Hubbard. She, too, saw the shape of Goody Easty, &quot;the very same woman
that was sent home the other day,&quot; aided in her diabolical operations
by Willard and Whittredge, &quot;torturing Mercy in a most dreadful
manner.&quot; 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
&quot;in a case as if death would have quickly followed.&quot; Occasionally,
Mercy would have a respite; and, at such intervals, Elizabeth Hubbard
would fill the gap. &quot;These two fell into fits by turns; the one being
well while the other was ill.&quot; 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 &quot;if they would not sign to her book.&quot; 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 &quot;winding-sheet, coffin,&quot; and &quot;the book.&quot; In the general
consternation, Marshal Herrick was sent for. What he saw, heard,
thought, and did, appears from the following:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;May 20, 1692.&#8212;<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.&#8212;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,
&quot;about an hour by sun.&quot; Then Elizabeth Hubbard, who lived at the house
of Dr. Griggs, &quot;was carried up to Constable John Putnam's house:&quot;
Jonathan Putnam, James Darling, Benjamin Hutchinson, and Samuel
Braybrook got there in the evening, as they say, &quot;between eight and
eleven o'clock.&quot; 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 &quot;about midnight;&quot; staid to witness the apparently
mortal sufferings of Mercy until &quot;about break of day;&quot; 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 &quot;hurrying
distractions of amazing afflictions&quot; 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 &quot;a hellish molestation.&quot;</p>

<p>One of the most malignant witnesses against Mary Easty was &quot;Goodwife
Bibber.&quot; She obtruded herself in many of the cases, acting as a sort
of outside member of the &quot;accusing circle,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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,&#8212;all of
Wenham, and for a long time neighbors of this Bibber,&#8212;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 &quot;she would often fall into strange fits
when she was crossed of her humor;&quot; and another, &quot;that she could fall
into fits as often as she pleased.&quot;</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; &#8212;&#8212; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;It was asked Sarah Carrier by the magistrates,&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;How long hast thou been a witch?&#8212;Ever since I was six
years old.</p>

<p>&quot;How old are you now?&#8212;Near eight years old: brother Richard
says I shall be eight years old in November next.</p>

<p>&quot;Who made you a witch?&#8212;My mother: she made me set my hand
to a book.</p>

<p>&quot;How did you set your hand to it?&#8212;I touched it with my
fingers, and the book was red: the paper of it was white.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;What did they promise to give you?&#8212;A black dog.</p>

<p>&quot;Did the dog ever come to you?&#8212;No.</p>

<p>&quot;But you said you saw a cat once: what did that say to
you?&#8212;It said it would tear me in pieces, if I would not set
my hand to the book.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;How did you afflict folks?&#8212;I pinched them.</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;How did your mother carry you when she was in prison?&#8212;She
came like a black cat.</p>

<p>&quot;How did you know it was your mother?&#8212;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Simon Willard</span>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The confession of another of her children is among the papers. It runs
thus:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Have you been in the Devil's snare?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;Is your brother Andrew ensnared by the Devil's
snare?&#8212;Yes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.211" id="Page_ii.211">[ii.211]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;How long has your brother been a witch?&#8212;Near a month.</p>

<p>&quot;How long have you been a witch?&#8212;Not long.</p>

<p>&quot;Have you joined in afflicting the afflicted persons?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;You helped to hurt Timothy Swan, did you?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;How long have you been a witch?&#8212;About five weeks.</p>

<p>&quot;Who was in company when you covenanted with the
Devil?&#8212;Mrs. Bradbury.</p>

<p>&quot;Did she help you afflict?&#8212;Yes.</p>

<p>&quot;Who was at the village meeting when you were
there?&#8212;Goodwife How, Goodwife Nurse, Goodwife Wildes,
Procter and his wife, Mrs. Bradbury, and Corey's wife.</p>

<p>&quot;What did they do there?&#8212;Eat, and drank wine.</p>

<p>&quot;Was there a minister there?&#8212;No, not as I know of.</p>

<p>&quot;From whence had you your wine?&#8212;From Salem, I think, it
was.</p>

<p>&quot;Goodwife Oliver there?&#8212;Yes: I knew her.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>It is quite evident that this &quot;rampant hag&quot; 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: &quot;What do you say to this you are charged
with?&quot; She answered, &quot;I have not done it.&quot; One of the accusers cried
out that she was, at that moment, sticking pins into her. Another
declared that she was then looking upon &quot;the black man,&quot;&#8212;the shape in
which they pretended the Devil appeared. The magistrate asked the
accused, &quot;What black man is that?&quot; Her answer was, &quot;I know none.&quot; The
accusers cried out that the black man was present, and visible to
them. The magistrate asked her, &quot;What black man did you see?&quot; Her
answer was, &quot;I saw no black man but your own presence.&quot; Whenever she
looked upon the accusers, they were knocked down. The magistrate,
entirely deluded by their practised acting, said to her, &quot;Can you look
upon these, and not knock them down?&quot; Her answer was, &quot;They will
dissemble, if I look upon them.&quot; He continued: &quot;You see, you look upon
them, and they fall down.&quot; She broke out, &quot;It is false: the Devil is a
liar. I looked upon none since I came into the room but you.&quot; Susanna
Sheldon cried out, in a trance, &quot;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.&quot; 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. &quot;It is a shameful thing, that you should mind these
folks that are out of their wits;&quot; and, turning to those who were
bringing these false and ridiculous charges against her, she said,
&quot;You lie: I am wronged.&quot; 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:
&quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>Parris closes his report of this examination as follows:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Note</span>.&#8212;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;&quot;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;&quot;&#8212;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>&quot;Candy, are you a witch?&#8212;Candy no witch in her country.
Candy's mother no witch. Candy no witch, Barbados. This
country, mistress give Candy witch.</p>

<p>&quot;Did your mistress make you a witch in this country?&#8212;Yes:
in this country, mistress give Candy witch.</p>

<p>&quot;What did your mistress do to make you witch?&#8212;Mistress
bring book and pen and ink; make Candy write in it.&quot;</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,&#8212;one with
two knots, the other with one tied in it. Immediately on seeing these
articles, the &quot;afflicted children&quot; were &quot;greatly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.216" id="Page_ii.216">[ii.216]</a></span> affrighted,&quot; and
fell into violent fits. When they came to, they declared that the
&quot;black man,&quot; Mrs. Hawkes, and the negro, stood by the puppets of rags,
and pinched them. Whereupon they fell into fits again. &quot;A bit of one
of the rags being set on fire,&quot; they all shrieked that they were
burned, and &quot;cried out dreadfully.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted girls&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted
children&quot; 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, &quot;What say you to this charge?&quot; her answer was, &quot;If it was
the last moment I was to live, God knows I am innocent of any thing in
this nature.&quot; 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, &quot;that she had found her a neighborly woman, conscientious
in her dealing, faithful to her promises, and Christianlike in her
conversation.&quot; Several others join in a deposition to this effect:
&quot;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.&quot;</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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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,&#8212;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.'&quot;</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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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, &quot;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.&quot; Others
testified to the same effect. Simon Chapman, and Mary, his wife, say
that &quot;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;&quot; that they had resided in the
same house with her &quot;by the fortnight together;&quot; that they never knew
any thing but what was good in her. They &quot;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.'&quot;</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&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;James How, Sr., aged about ninety-four
years,&#8212;in a communication addressed to the Court, declared that&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;considering his want
of eyesight, tenderly leading him about by the hand.
Desiring God may guide your honors, ... I rest yours to
serve.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The only evidence against this good woman&#8212;beyond the outcries and
fits of the &quot;afflicted children,&quot; enacted in their usual skilful and
artful style&#8212;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 &quot;honored mother,&#8212;as innocent,&quot; as they declared her
to be, &quot;of the crime charged, as any person in the world,&quot;&#8212;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: &quot;For John Jackson, Sr.,
one pair of fetters, five shillings; for John Jackson, Jr., one pair
of fetters, five shillings.&quot; There is also an item for carrying &quot;the
two Jacksons&quot; 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 &quot;laborer,&quot; 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 &quot;would take Mr. Burroughs's
part;&quot; &quot;that he was not the Devil's servant, but the Devil was his.&quot;
When the girls testified that they saw his shape afflicting persons,
he answered, like a sensible man, if they really saw any such thing,
&quot;it was not he, but the Devil in his shape, that hurts the people.&quot;
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 &quot;rose from the dead, and cried, 'Vengeance!
vengeance!'&quot; 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, &quot;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,&#8212;red as blood.&quot; Again,
she exclaimed, in a startled and affrighted manner, &quot;There is a young
child under the table, crying out for vengeance.&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;wife of Captain Thomas Bradbury, of Salisbury, in
the county of Essex, gentleman.&quot; 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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>The Answer of Mary Bradbury to the Charge of Witchcraft,
or Familiarity with the Devil.</i></p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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>.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;July 28, 1692.&#8212;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>&quot;Owned by me,</p>

<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Tho. Bradbury</span>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The Rev. James Allin made oath before Robert Pike, an assistant and
magistrate, as follows:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Robert Pike also affirmed to the truth of Mr. Allin's statement, from
&quot;upwards of fifty years' experience,&quot; 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&#8212;the larger part of them
heads of families, and embracing the most respectable people of that
vicinity&#8212;signed their names to a paper, of which the following is a
copy:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;man, woman, or child,&#8212;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.&quot;</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
&quot;Mrs.,&quot; 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 &quot;Captain Bradbury.&quot; 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,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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>&quot;<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.&quot;</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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;some difference between&quot;
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 &quot;boys&quot; 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 &quot;blue boar.&quot; 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 &quot;Barbadoes and
Saltitudos,&quot; in which severe storms and various disasters were
experienced, attributed them all to Mrs. Bradbury; and, &quot;in a bright
moonshining night, sitting upon the windlass, to which he had been
sent forward to look out for land,&quot; the wild fancies of his excited
imagination took effect. He heard &quot;a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.232" id="Page_ii.232">[ii.232]</a></span> rumbling noise,&quot; and thought he
saw the legs of some person. &quot;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.&quot; 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:&#8212;</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>&quot;<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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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>&quot;<i>Jurat in Curia</i> Sep.<sup>mr.</sup> 9. 92.&quot;<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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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 [&#8212;&#8212;] 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>&quot;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.&quot;</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&#8212;as stated in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.236" id="Page_ii.236">[ii.236]</a></span> foregoing
deposition&#8212;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
&quot;cried out against her.&quot;</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 &quot;for about three-quarters of a year.&quot;
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,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;May 24.&#8212;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, &amp;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>&quot;The prisoners were called in one by one, and, as they came
in, were cried out at, &amp;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, &amp;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,&#8212;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>.&quot;</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 &quot;the tall man in Boston.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>An Account how John Alden, Sr., was dealt with at Salem
Village.</i></p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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">&quot;Per <span class="smcap">John Alden</span>.&quot;</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. &quot;Mr.
Nicholas Noyes,&quot; &quot;Mr. Bartholomew Gedney,&quot; and the &quot;wenches&quot; 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 &quot;in the street,&quot; 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
&quot;evil hand.&quot; 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 &quot;way to prevent an accusation was to
become an accuser.&quot;&#8212;&quot;The number of the afflicted increased every day,
and the number of the accused in proportion.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;the most important court to the life
of the subject which was ever held in the province.&quot; 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 &quot;Town-house Lane.&quot; 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 &quot;Town-house Lane&quot; 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 &quot;old Oliver house&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;Ship Tavern&quot;
was on ground the front of which is occupied, at present, by &quot;West's
Block,&quot; 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 &quot;Widow Gedney's.&quot; 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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: right">&quot;<span class="smcap">Salem</span>, 31st May, 1692.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Worthy Sir</span>,&#8212;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 &quot;the pains and penalties of
death as felons.&quot; 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,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;&quot;the court was
entertained,&quot;&#8212;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 &quot;Sister
Bishop&quot; was innocent, and in no way deserved to be ill thought of. He
hoped &quot;better of said Goody Bishop at that time.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;Sister
Bishop&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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, &quot;in a smooth and flattering
manner.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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&#8212;now called
Bishop&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;sundry pieces of lace,&quot; 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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;which was the sabbath-day,&#8212;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.&quot;</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&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>William Stacey testified, that, as he was &quot;agoing to mill,&quot; meeting
Bishop in the street, some conversation passed between them, and
that,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Stacey further deposed, that, on another occasion, he&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Many of the extraordinary &quot;pranks,&quot; 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, &quot;that used to come into our orchard or garden.&quot; He swore as
follows:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;which was next adjoining to ours,&#8212;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.&quot;</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
&quot;upon the bar.&quot; 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, &quot;not
being able to speak or help myself by reason of fear, I suppose;&quot; and
that his mysterious visitor made quite a speech to him, representing
that it was a messenger sent to say, that, if he would &quot;be ruled by
him, he should want for nothing in this world.&quot; The virtuous and
indignant Louder says that he answered, &quot;You devil, I will kill you!&quot;
and gave it a blow with his fist, but &quot;could feel no substance; and it
jumped out of the window again.&quot; It immediately came in by the porch,
although the doors were shut, and said, &quot;You had better take my
counsel.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;the ould house;&quot; and
testified, that they found in holes and crevices of said cellar wall
&quot;several puppets made up of rags and hogs' bristles, with headless
pins in them with the points outward.&quot;</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 &quot;dead,&quot;&#8212;&quot;and buried her on the
spot.&quot; 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>&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</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,&#8212;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, &quot;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.&quot; 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,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;afflicted&quot; witness; notwithstanding which he says the
person on trial was found guilty, &quot;and the judge and all the court
were fully satisfied with the verdict.&quot;</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
&quot;she was a witch, and that she knew she was a witch.&quot; 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. &quot;You are a liar,&quot; said she. &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;Landlord Putnam.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;We whose names are hereunto subscribed, being desired by
Goodman Nurse to declare what we know concerning his wife's
conversation for time past,&#8212;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>&quot;<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>.&quot;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Herrick</span>, Sr.</td>
      <td>&#160;</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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &quot;by order of Their Majesties' justices,&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; As proof positive that
this was &quot;the Devil's mark,&quot; Herrick and the turnkey testify that &quot;the
said Jacobs was not in the least sensible of what had been done&quot;!</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 &quot;afflicted children.&quot; 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,&#8212;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.&#8212;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,&#8212;for Lawson, who knew her well, calls her &quot;a very
sober and pious woman,&quot; so far as he could judge,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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 &quot;she had killed Benjamin Houlton, John Fuller,
and Rebecca Shepard;&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;all that day long&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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>&quot;<i>Jurat in Curia.</i>&quot;</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,&#8212;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 &quot;railing
and scolding&quot; 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 &quot;Not guilty.&quot;
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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.'&quot;</p></div>

<p>The foreman of the jury, Thomas Fisk, made this statement on the 4th
of July, a few days after the trial:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>It was perfectly natural for her to have spoken of them as &quot;of our
company,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>The extraordinary conduct of &quot;the Salem gentlemen,&quot; 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 &quot;History of New England,&quot; 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 &quot;law and justice in mercy,&quot;
which ought always to be written on their hearts. &quot;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.'&quot; 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
&quot;Not guilty,&quot; 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&#8212;aged twenty-eight years or
thereabouts&#8212;offered this piece of testimony: that, &quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;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.'&quot; 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
&quot;Ann Putnam, Jr., was bitten by Rebecca Nurse, as she said, about two
of the clock of the day&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; Edward
Putnam swears, &quot;I saw the mark, both of bite and chains.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; cried
out against the Rev. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church, in
Boston. &quot;She was sent out of Court, and it was told about that she was
mistaken in the person.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;1692, July 3.&#8212;After sacrament, the elders propounded to
the church,&#8212;and it was, by an unanimous vote, consented
to,&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;great and spacious meeting-house&quot; 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&#8212;the
elders, as the clergy were then called&#8212;were in the pulpit. The two
ruling elders&#8212;who were lay officers&#8212;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&#8212;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">&quot;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.&quot;<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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted persons&quot; and the confessing witches, he
mentions other circumstances which were thought to corroborate it:
&quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;the black man, or the
Devil, who,&quot; they swore, &quot;looks like an Indian.&quot; 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,
&quot;Upon the whole, he was confounded, and used many twistings and
turnings, which, I think, we cannot wonder at.&quot; 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 &quot;twisting and turning&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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 &quot;spectre evidence&quot; 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 &quot;had the Devil to be his familiar,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;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,&#8212;a gun which the deponents thought
strong men could not with both hands lift up, and hold at
the butt end, as is usual.&quot;</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 &quot;was overpersuaded by others to be out of the way
upon George Burroughs's trial,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;afflicted children.&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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&#8212;in most cases
eminently, and in all substantially&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<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">&quot;TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF ASSISTANTS NOW SITTING IN BOSTON.</p>

<p>&quot;<i>Honored and Right Worshipful</i>,&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &amp;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.&quot;</span></td>
              <td>&#160;</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>&quot;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">&quot;<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>.&quot;</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 &quot;out of her head,&quot; 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 &quot;for sport. They must have some sport.&quot; 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&#8212;meaning, of course, Increase Mather&#8212;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 &quot;Body of Divinity&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted girls&quot; 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
&quot;Magnalia.&quot; 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">&quot;<span class="smcap">Salem Prison</span>, July 23, 1692.</p>

<p style="text-align: center">&quot;<i>Mr. Mather, Mr. Allen, Mr. Moody, Mr. Willard, and Mr.
Bailey.</i></p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Reverend Gentlemen</span>,&#8212;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>&quot;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">&quot;<span class="smcap">John Procter</span> [and others].&quot;</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,&#8212;leaving his family, in the hurry of his flight,
unprovided for&#8212;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,&#8212;whose peculiar function
in these proceedings seems to have been to drive persons accused to
make confession&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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,&#8212;which crime, thanks be to
the Lord! I am altogether ignorant of, as will appear at the
great day of judgment,&#8212;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>&quot;</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">&quot;<i>From the Dungeon in Salem Prison.</i></p>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;<span class="smcap">August</span> 20, 1692.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Honored Father</span>,&#8212;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>.&quot;</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 &quot;uncle D.A.,&quot; 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 &quot;uncle.&quot; 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 &quot;ten
pounds to be paid in silver&quot; to his grand-daughter, Margaret Jacobs.
There is the usual declaration, that it &quot;was inserted before sealing
and signing.&quot; 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 &quot;an imposthume in the head,&quot; 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 &quot;young and tender years,&quot; 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>&#160;</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">&#160;</p>

<p style="text-align: center"><b>THE JACOBS HOUSE.</b></p>

<p>&#160;</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 &quot;accusing
girls&quot; 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. &quot;The shining man,&quot; or the white man, was meant, in the
following deposition, to be a spirit of this description:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Testimony of Susanna Sheldon</span>, aged eighteen
years or thereabouts.&#8212;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,&#8212;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.&quot;</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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>In the same deposition, this girl testifies that &quot;she saw this Willard
suckle the apparitions of two black pigs on his breasts;&quot; that Willard
told her he had been a witch twenty years; that she saw Willard and
other wizards kneel in prayer &quot;to the black man with a long-crowned
hat, and then they vanished away.&quot;</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 &quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;11 September, Lord's Day.&#8212;Sister Martha Corey&#8212;taken into
the church 27 April, 1690&#8212;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,&#8212;which she was willing to decline,&#8212;the dreadful
sentence of excommunication was pronounced against her.&quot;</p></div>

<p>Calef informs us, that &quot;Martha Corey, protesting her innocency,
concluded her life with an eminent prayer upon the ladder.&quot;</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, &quot;I know nothing about it.&quot; 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>&quot;<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&#8212;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, &amp;c.&quot;</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&#8212;and there can be no
higher eulogium&#8212;that she felt for others more than for herself.</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<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.&quot;</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
&quot;as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be
expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present.&quot;</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>&quot;<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.&quot;</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, &quot;I know nothing of it.&quot; 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, &quot;Yes; but it is the Devil does it in my shape.&quot; 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, &quot;There are the
shapes of Daniel Eames and Captain Floyd [two persons then in prison
on the charge of witchcraft] sitting on her handkerchief.&quot; 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 &quot;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.&quot; This was the only concession she would make; and they
were puzzled to determine whether it was a confession, or not,&#8212;it
having rather the appearance of clearing herself from all implication
with the Devil, and leaving him on their hands&#8212;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, &quot;coming in his face, interrupted his
discourse: those accusers said that the Devil did hinder him with
smoke.&quot; 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, &quot;was for some time at a set: the afflicted and
others said that the Devil hindered it,&quot; &amp;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 &quot;set.&quot; 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, &quot;turning him to the bodies, Mr. Noyes said,
'What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging
there!'&quot; 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 &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;caused her master (John
Procter) to ask more for a piece of meadow than he (Corey) was willing
to give.&quot; She also charged him with &quot;afflicting of her&quot; by his spectre
while he was in prison, and &quot;described him in all his garments, both
of hat, coat, and the color of them,&#8212;with a cord about his waist and
a white cap on his head, and in chains.&quot; 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,&#8212;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: &quot;Know ye,
&amp;c., that I, Giles Corey, lying under great trouble and affliction,
through which I am very weak in body, but in perfect memory,&#8212;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;&quot; and proceeds to convey and confirm all his property&#8212;&quot;lands,
meadow, housing, cattle, stock, movables and immovables, money,
apparel, ... and all other the aforesaid premises, with their
appurtenances&quot;&#8212;to the said Cleeves and Moulton &quot;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;&quot; 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 &quot;Thomas Wade, Justice of the
Peace in Essex,&quot; 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 &quot;Guilty,&quot; or &quot;Not guilty,&quot; 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 &quot;Not guilty&quot; 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 &quot;the country&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">&quot;'More weight! more weight!'<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Giles Corey he cried.&quot;<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&#8212;it can only be conjectured
who&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;bruised to
death, having clodders of blood about the heart.&quot; 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 &quot;clodders of blood about
his heart,&quot; 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&#8212;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>&#8212;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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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
&quot;cried out upon,&quot; it may be taken as proof that he had spoken against
them. Increase Mather, the president of Harvard College, called by
Eliot &quot;the father of the New-England clergy,&quot; 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>&#8212;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">&quot;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.&quot;<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, &quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;spectral
evidence&quot; 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, &quot;Such a
jail-delivery has never been known in New England.&quot; 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 &quot;beyond
the seas;&quot; 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 &quot;Guilty&quot; became inevitable. But few at that time
doubted the veracity of the &quot;afflicted persons,&quot; 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 &quot;she had killed Benjamin Houlton,
and John Fuller, and Rebecca Shepard,&quot;&#8212;the answer of the prisoner
was, &quot;I cannot help it: the Devil may appear in my shape.&quot; When the
examining magistrate put the question to Susanna Martin, &quot;How comes
your appearance to hurt these?&quot; Martin replied, &quot;I cannot tell. He
that appeared in Samuel's shape, a glorified saint, can appear in any
one's shape.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted&quot; 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 &quot;Guilty.&quot;</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. &quot;The king cannot die&quot; 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 &quot;a
State cannot die.&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</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.&quot;</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
&quot;Magnalia,&quot; vindicates them on this ground:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;an evil hand&quot; 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 &quot;chirurgeon,&quot; 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 &quot;an evil
hand.&quot;</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, &quot;more dogged by the Devil than any other men,&quot;
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 &quot;afflicted
children&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;Description and History of Salem&quot; (Mass. Hist.
Coll., 1st series, vol. vi.) says, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;elect&quot; would be seduced into his
service,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;man's
inhumanity to man,&quot; 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&#8212;for a lie would have saved them&#8212;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,&#8212;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 &quot;the Prince of the Power of
the Air,&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; It is inferrible from this
that Symonds was born in the house from which he was buried. Gallows
Hill, now &quot;Witch Hill&quot; 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>&quot;Witch Hill&quot; 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 &quot;Norman's Rocks.&quot; 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,&#8212;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&#8212;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,&#8212;every acre elsewhere showing the touch of
modern improvement and culture,&#8212;the &quot;old meeting-house road,&quot; 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 &quot;the afflicted&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;the &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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 &quot;an evil hand,&quot; 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
&quot;afflicted children;&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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 &quot;Topsfield men,&quot; 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,&#8212;as much at least as the exclusive contemplation of any one
idea or class of ideas,&#8212;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;&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Joseph Hutchinson</span>, aged
fifty-nine years, do testify as followeth: &quot;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.&quot;</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
&quot;afflicted children,&quot; 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,&#8212;as in the
case of Ann Putnam's arm, and the indentations of teeth on the flesh
in many instances,&#8212;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,&#8212;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,
&quot;after a while,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>The Devil appeared to her in the shape of a bird at several
times,&#8212;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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &quot;We have forsaken
Jesus Christ, and the Devil hath got hold of us. How shall we get
clear of this Evil One?&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; It being asked her &quot;after what
manner she went to Newbury Falls,&quot; she answered, &quot;the Devil carried
her in his arms.&quot; She said, that, &quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;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:&quot;&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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">&quot;<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>.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii.406" id="Page_ii.406">[ii.406]</a></span></p>

<p>&quot;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, &amp;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.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;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,&#8212;though
she had no other grounds so to believe.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Being asked why she prefixed a time, and spake of her being
baptized, &amp;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, &amp;c., she replied, that, being told that the Devil
had appeared to her, and must needs appear to her, &amp;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, &amp;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.&quot;</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 &quot;bewailed and lamented their accusing of
others, about whom they never knew any evil&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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, &amp;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?' &amp;c. Upon their replying
'Yes,' the whole was drawn into form, as their confession.&quot;</p></div>

<p>This accounts for the similarity of construction and substance of the
confessions generally.</p>

<p>Calef remarks:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;Spectator,&quot; speaks of
it in connection with our present subject: &quot;When an old woman,&quot; says
he, &quot;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.&quot;</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: &quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;If I live, I will give him puppies enough.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;<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,&#8212;perhaps
can be recalled by our own individual experience or observation,&#8212;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>&quot;<span class="smcap">The Deposition of Joseph Bayley</span>, aged forty-four
years.&#8212;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.&#8212;<i>Jurat in curia</i> by both persons.&quot;</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 &quot;little maid at
the door&quot; 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 &quot;the little maid.&quot; 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 &quot;image
of God,&quot; 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, &quot;a ray from the fountain of light.&quot; 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&#8212;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&#8212;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 &quot;wonders of the invisible world;&quot; but they
remain &quot;wonders&quot; 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,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted
children&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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,&#8212;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 medi&#230;val 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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&#8212;and I should be sorry to bring
the subject to a close without urging the thought upon your
attention&#8212;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 &quot;New-York Negro Plot,&quot; 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,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;We may lament, then,&quot; says he, &quot;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,&#8212;that which is linked to the throne of God.&quot;</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,&#8212;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 &quot;History of New England:&quot;&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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!&quot;</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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">&quot;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!&quot;<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>&#160;</p>

<p><span class="dropcap">&#160;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 &quot;Salisbury, Aug. 9, 1692,&quot; addressed &quot;To
the worshipful Jonathan Corwin, Esq., these present at his house in
Salem.&quot; It is indorsed, &quot;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.&quot; 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
&quot;spectral evidence&quot; and the credibility of the &quot;afflicted children&quot;
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 &quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;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?&quot; He says that he knows several persons
&quot;about the Bay,&quot;&#8212;men, for understanding, judgment, and piety,
inferior to few, if any, in New England,&#8212;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 &quot;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;&quot; and states, that, of the eight &quot;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.&quot;</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. &quot;She was much complained of
by the afflicted persons, and yet the justices would not issue out
their warrants to apprehend&quot; 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,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>,&#8212;I
mean the rude and more ignorant sort,&#8212;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,&#8212;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.&quot;</p></div>

<p>If Mr. Brattle and the &quot;several worthy gentlemen&quot; to whom he alludes,
instead of sitting in &quot;trembling&quot; 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,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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&#8212;viz., Thomas Graves, Esq.; N. Byfield, Esq.;
Francis Foxcroft, Esq.&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;Wonders of the Invisible World,&quot; in which he labors
to defend the witchcraft prosecutions, and to make it out that those
who suffered were &quot;malefactors.&quot;<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. &quot;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.&quot; The &quot;afflicted,&quot; 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 &quot;whether there was not a God in Boston, that he should go to
the Devil, in Salem, for advice.&quot;</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 &quot;upon the ladder,&quot; and which produced such an
impression on those who heard it, was undoubtedly expressive of
enlightened piety, worthy of being characterized as &quot;eminent&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;and more to the like
purpose, crying, 'Hang them! hang them!'&quot;</p></div>

<p>In another document, it is stated that Nathaniel Ingersoll and others
heard John Procter tell Joseph Pope, &quot;that, if he had John Indian in
his custody, he would soon beat the Devil out of him.&quot;</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 &quot;John
Indian,&quot; if dealt out to the &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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, &quot;to remain as prisoners in their own houses, where
they may be more tenderly cared for.&quot; They speak of their &quot;distressed
condition in prison,&#8212;a company of poor distressed creatures as full
of inward grief and trouble as they are able to bear up in life
withal.&quot; They refer to the want of &quot;food convenient&quot; for them, and to
&quot;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,&quot; 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 &quot;distempered persons.&quot; 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 &quot;walking as becometh women professing godliness.&quot;
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:
&quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; He denounces &quot;the conceit of spectre evidence,&quot; and warns
against continuing in a course of proceeding that will procure &quot;the
divine displeasure.&quot; 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 &quot;man-servant,&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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!&quot;</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 &quot;More Wonders of
the Invisible World.&quot; 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: &quot;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,&#8212;these are published.&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted child,&quot; who acted so extraordinary a
part in the proceedings and of whom further mention will be made, died
in 1699,&#8212;the former on the 24th of May, the latter on the 8th of
June,&#8212;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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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: &quot;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;&quot; and Calef speaks of them as &quot;vile varlets,&quot; 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 &quot;great chair and cushion;&quot; 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 &quot;decent burial.&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;very tall, handsome man,
very regular and devout in his attendance at church, religious without
bigotry, and having every man's good word.&quot; His impatient activity
against the victims of the witchcraft delusion wrought a great change
in the condition of this popular and &quot;handsome&quot; man, as is seen in a
petition presented by him, Dec. 8, 1692; to &quot;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.&quot; It begins
thus: &quot;The petition of your poor servant, George Herrick, most humbly
showeth.&quot; After recounting his great and various services &quot;for the
term of nine months,&quot; 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 &quot;unto prison and from prison to
prison,&quot; he complains that his whole time had been taken up so that he
was incapable of getting any thing for the maintenance of his &quot;poor
family:&quot; 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. &quot;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.&quot; He concludes
by declaring, that he is not &quot;weary of serving his king and country,&quot;
nor very scrupulous as to the kind of service; for he promises that
&quot;if his habitation&quot; could thereby be &quot;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.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center">&quot;<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>&#8212;Present, William Stoughton, Esq.,
<i>Chief-justice</i>; Thomas Danforth, Esq.; Samuel Sewall, Esq.</p>

<p>&quot;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 &#163;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.&quot;</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 &#163;60. 3<i>s</i>.</p>

<p>At length, the government had to meet the public feeling. A
proclamation was issued, &quot;By the Honorable the Lieutenant-Governor,
Council, and Assembly of His Majesty's province of the Massachusetts
Bay, in General Court assembled.&quot; It begins thus: &quot;Whereas the anger
of God is not yet turned away, but his hand is still stretched out
against his people in manifold judgments;&quot; and, after several
specifications of the calamities under which they were suffering, and
referring to the &quot;many days of public and solemn&quot; addresses made to
God, it proceeds: &quot;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.&quot; Thursday, the fourteenth
of the next January, was accordingly appointed to be observed as a day
of prayer and fasting,&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;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>.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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,&#8212;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),&#8212;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,&#8212;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>&quot;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,&#8212;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>&quot;<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.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;It may be queried then, How doth it appear that there was a
going too far in this affair?</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Answer</span> I.&#8212;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,&#8212;at once.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. II.&#8212;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,&#8212;and charity is a Christian duty, commended
to us in 1 Cor. xiii., Col. iii. 14, and many other places.</p>

<p>&quot;<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. III.&#8212;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>&quot;<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. IV.&#8212;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>&quot;<span class="smcap">Ans</span>. V.&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;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;&quot; and prays for &quot;the defacing
of the record&quot; 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 &quot;afflicted, who pretended to see me by their spectral sight,
and not with their bodily eyes.&quot; That &quot;the jury (upon only their
testimony) brought me in 'Guilty,' and the sentence of death was
passed upon me;&quot; 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 &quot;the prayer of the petitioner be granted.&quot; The
council declined to concur, but addressed &quot;His Excellency to grant the
petitioner His Majesty's gracious pardon; and His Excellency expressed
His readiness to grant the same.&quot; 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 &quot;possessed persons,&quot; to this effect:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;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.&quot; The council concurred with an additional
clause, to acquit all condemned persons &quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>This petition was re-enforced by an &quot;address&quot; 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 &quot;young persons under
diabolical molestations,&quot; and express this sentiment: &quot;There is great
reason to fear that innocent persons then suffered, and that God may
have a controversy with the land upon that account.&quot; 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,&#8212;eighty-seven years,&#8212;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 &quot;humble address&quot; was
presented to the General Court by certain inhabitants of the province,
some of whom &quot;had their near relations, either parents or others, who
suffered death in the dark and doleful times that passed over this
province in 1692;&quot; and others &quot;who themselves, or some of their
relations, were imprisoned, impaired and blasted in their reputations
and estates by reason of the same.&quot; They pray for the passage of a
&quot;suitable act&quot; to restore the reputations of the sufferers, and to
make some remuneration &quot;as to what they have been damnified in their
estates thereby.&quot; 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 &quot;beloved wife,&quot; he says &quot;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.&quot; 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,&#8212;all in earnest and forcible language. Charles, one of the
sons of George Burroughs, presented the case of his &quot;dear and honored
father;&quot; declaring that his innocence of the crime of which he was
accused, and his excellence of character, were shown in &quot;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.&quot; 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: &quot;Every discourse on this melancholy subject doth but give a
fresh wound to my bleeding heart. I desire to sit down in silence.&quot;
John Moulton, in behalf of the family of Giles Corey, says that they
&quot;cannot sufficiently express their grief&quot; for the death, in such a
manner, of &quot;their honored father and mother.&quot; Samuel Nurse, in behalf
of his brothers and sisters, says that their &quot;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.&quot; He distinctly intimates, that they do not
wish any money to be paid them, unless &quot;the attainder is taken off.&quot;
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 &quot;taking off the attainder.&quot;</p>

<p>The General Court, on the 17th of October, 1710, passed an act, that
&quot;the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby
are, reversed, and declared to be null and void.&quot; 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
&quot;care and circumspection therein,&quot; expressed reluctance to allow any
&quot;impediment to the ordinary course of justice.&quot;</p>

<p>On the 17th of December, 1711, Governor Dudley issued his warrant for
the purpose of carrying out a vote of the &quot;General Assembly,&quot; &quot;by and
with the advice and consent of Her Majesty's Council,&quot; to pay &quot;the sum
of &#163;578. 12<i>s.</i>&quot; to &quot;such persons as are living, and to those that
legally represent them that are dead;&quot; which sum was divided as
follows:&#8212;</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>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">79</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>George Burroughs</td>
    <td>&#160;</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>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">21</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dorcas Hoar</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">21</td>
    <td align="right">17</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Abigail Hobbs</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">10</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Rebecca Eames</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">10</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Mary Post</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">8</td>
    <td align="right">14</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Mary Lacy</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">8</td>
    <td align="right">10</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Ann Foster</td>
    <td>&#160;</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>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">36</td>
    <td align="right">15</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Rebecca Nurse</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">25</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Mary Easty</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">20</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Mary Bradbury</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">20</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Abigail Faulkner</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">20</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>John Willard</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">20</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sarah Wildes</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">14</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Elizabeth How</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">12</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Mary Parker</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">8</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Martha Carrier</td>
    <td>&#160;</td>
    <td align="right">7</td>
    <td align="right">6</td>
    <td align="right">0</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&#160;</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<br />£<br />==</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;&#8212;<br />578<br />====</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<br />12<br />==</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<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 &quot;the
circumstances of the persons and families who suffered in the calamity
of the times in and about the year 1692.&quot; 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>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;the
unparalleled persecutions and sufferings&quot; of their ancestor, and
praying for &quot;some recompense from this Court for the losses thereby
sustained by his family.&quot; 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 &quot;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.&quot; The House
immediately passed this order: &quot;That the committee within referred to
be directed to sit forthwith, consider the petition to them committed,
and report as soon as may be.&quot;</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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;March 2, 1712.&#8212;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.:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;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,&#8212;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>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;repented of his
obstinate refusal to plead,&quot; 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 &quot;answering&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; The
records of the First Church, in noticing his death, thus speak of him:
&quot;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.&quot; 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,&#8212;the facts, related as follows by Mr. Parris
in his record-book, occurred:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;Sabbath-day, 14th August, 1692.&#8212;The church was stayed
after the congregation was dismissed, and the pastor spake
to the church after this manner:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;'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>&quot;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>&quot;31st August.&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;afflicted&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot; They are
entitled, &quot;The Devil and his instruments will be warring against
Christ and his followers.&quot; This note is added, &quot;After the condemnation
of six witches at a court at Salem, one of the witches, viz., Martha
Corey, in full communion with our church.&quot; The following is a portion
of &quot;the improvement&quot; in the application of these discourses:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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, &amp;c.; but
now we have known those of both sexes who professed much
knowledge, holiness, and devotion, drawn into this damnable
practice.'&quot;</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, &quot;altogether denying it.&quot; 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
&quot;cried out&quot; 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:&#8212;</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>,&#8212;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&#8212;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.&#8212;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,&#8212;<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 &quot;good hap&quot; it had been to &quot;do some little
service&quot; in promoting them. The object of the writer is declared to
be, that he might be &quot;more capable to assist in lifting up a standard
against the infernal enemy.&quot; 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? &quot;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&#8212;I know not where at last.&quot;</p>

<p>Upon obtaining the document requisite to the fulfilment of his design,
he did &quot;box it about&quot; 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 &quot;infernal enemy.&quot; &quot;She was
thrown,&quot; says he, &quot;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.&quot; 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 &quot;so
as to touch the garret floor;&quot; 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 &quot;war between the
Devil and the Lamb,&quot; 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 &quot;inhabitants,&quot;
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, &quot;that he had not seen
sufficient grounds to vary his opinion.&quot; 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
&quot;two or <i>three</i> witnesses.&quot; 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&#8212;and, to make it really
mutual, must&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &quot;for we have had three ministers removed already, and by
every removal our differences have been rather aggravated.&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;As to the contest between Mr. Parris and his hearers, &amp;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,&#8212;even against the word of the Lord, which he kept
not,&#8212;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,'&quot; &amp;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;1694, Oct. 27.&#8212;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p style="text-align: center"><i>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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,&#8212;as we conceive, are just causes for our
refusal, &amp;c.</p>

<p>&quot;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,&#8212;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>&quot;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>&quot;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,&#8212;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">&quot;<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.&quot;</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 &#163;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: &quot;Farewell, best wife, choice
mother, neighbor, friend.&quot; 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, &amp;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 &quot;afflicted children&quot; 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 &quot;Boston News Letter,&quot; No. 1433, July 15, 1731, is a notice, as
follows:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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, &amp;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.&quot;</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 &quot;Meditations for Peace,&quot;
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 &quot;Meditations for Peace,&quot; 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 &quot;temptation,&quot; being under &quot;the clouds of human
weakness,&quot; and &quot;a bewraying of remaining corruption.&quot; 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 &quot;infirmities discovered by them in such
an heart-breaking day,&quot; 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 &quot;more critical and vigorous proceedings&quot; 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 &quot;to
treat them with bowels of much compassion.&quot; These views had taken full
effect upon Mr. Parris, and obliterated from his breast all such
&quot;infirmities.&quot; 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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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>&quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;<i>Diary, May 7, 1724.</i>&#8212;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>&quot;<i>June 5.</i>&#8212;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>&quot;<i>July 1, 1724.</i>&#8212;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.&quot;</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 &quot;seating of the meeting-house,&quot; 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 &quot;kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven&quot; 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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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>&quot;Feb. 5, 1699.&#8212;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>&quot;1702.&#8212;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>&quot;Feb. 14, 1702/3.&#8212;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>&quot;There was a major part voted, and six or seven dissented.</p>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;<span class="smcap">J. Gr.</span>, <i>Pr.</i>&quot;</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>&quot;The Confession of Anne Putnam, when she was received to
Communion, 1706.</i></p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;This confession was read before the congregation, together
with her relation, Aug. 25, 1706; and she acknowledged it.</p>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;<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:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;&quot;oftentimes
sick and weak in body.&quot; 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,&#8212;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>&quot;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!&quot;</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>&quot;Salem Village Church Records.</i></p>

<p>&quot;Sept. 5, 1746.&#8212;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, &amp;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>&quot;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>&quot;Sept. 7.&#8212;This testimony, exhortation, and warning, voted
by the church, was publicly given by the pastor, before the
dismission of the congregation.&quot;</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,&#8212;so far as we can see, most causeless
and unreasonable,&#8212;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,&#8212;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 &quot;unhappy&quot;
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, &quot;I am much persuaded that there was much immediate
agency of the Devil in these affairs, and perhaps there were some real
witches too.&quot; 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: &quot;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.&quot;</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: &quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>It is related, in White's &quot;Natural History of Selborne,&quot; that, in the
year 1751, the people of Tring, a market town of Hertfordshire, and
scarcely more than thirty miles from London, &quot;seized on two
superannuated wretches, crazed with age and overwhelmed with
infirmities, on a suspicion of witchcraft.&quot; 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 &quot;Philosophy of Apparitions,&quot;
illustrates some remarks similar to those just made, by the following
quotation from Mr. Wesley:&#8212;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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 &quot;Screeching Woman&quot; 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, &quot;O mercy, mercy! Lord Jesus Christ,
save me! Lord Jesus Christ, save me!&quot; 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 &quot;Marblehead Register&quot;
of April 3, 1830, declares, that &quot;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.&quot;</p>

<p>When &quot;the silver moon unclouded holds her way,&quot; 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,&#8212;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,&#8212;Alice Brown, Fanny Amey, and Mary
Fox,&#8212;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 &quot;Witchcraft,&quot; in Rees's &quot;Cyclop&#230;dia,&quot;
gravely maintains the doctrine of &quot;ocular fascination.&quot;</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 &quot;palmistry&quot; 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 &quot;Moll Pitcher&quot; 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">&#160;</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>,&#8212;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&#8212;</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>&#160;</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">&#160;</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.:&#8212;</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.&#8212;</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, &quot;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;&quot; 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, &quot;Go your ways, and the Devil go with
you; for we will be no more pestered and plagued about you.&quot; 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, &amp;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: &quot;Goodw&#8212;-, 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,&#8212;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&quot; (we judged she meant her soul): &quot;but it is
out of your reach; it is clothed with the white robes of Christ's
righteousness.&quot; 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, &quot;I
am sure you will be gone, for you cannot stand before that text.&quot; Then
was she sorely afflicted,&#8212;her mouth drawn on one side, and her body
strained violently for about a minute; and then said, &quot;It is, it is,
it is,&quot; three or four times, and then was afflicted to hinder her from
telling; at last, she broke forth, and said, &quot;It is the third chapter
of the Revelations.&quot; 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,&#8212;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, &quot;Did not I say he should go to prayer?&quot; 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, &quot;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.&quot; 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,&#8212;as strange deaths of persons,
casting away of ships, &amp;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,
&quot;<i>How long shall I stay here? Let me be along with you.</i>&quot; 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,&#8212;a real cloth, <i>visible</i> to the spectators,
which (as it is said) remains still to be seen.</p>

<p>&#160;</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, &quot;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.&quot; 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, &quot;I know your
thoughts;&quot; at which expression, they, being amazed, asked him how he
could do that; he said, &quot;My God, whom I serve, makes known your
thoughts to me.&quot;</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>&#160;</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:&#8212;</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 &#8212;&#8212; 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 &#8212;&#8212; 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,
&quot;Thou art mine, I have full power over thee:&quot; 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 &#8212;&#8212; was to be head conjurer, and
for his activity in that affair was to be crowned king of hell, and
that such a woman &#8212;&#8212; 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>&#160;</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>,&#8212;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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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>&#8212;That to put a witch to death is the command of God, and
therefore the indispensable duty of man,&#8212;namely, the magistrate (Ex.
xxii. 18); which, granted, resolves two questions that I have heard
made by some:&#8212;</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>&#8212;That it must be witches that are put to death, and
not innocent persons: &quot;Thou shalt not condemn the innocent nor the
righteous&quot; (Ex. xxiii. 7).</p>

<p><i>Query.</i>&#8212;Which premised, it brings to this query,&#8212;namely, how a
witch may be known to be a witch.</p>

<p><i>Answer.</i>&#8212;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>&#8212;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>&#8212;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,&#8212;which is the proper work of the judges, and not of witnesses.</p>

<p><i>Query Third.</i>&#8212;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>&#8212;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>&#8212;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>&#8212;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,&#8212;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, &quot;Now Smith is gone,&quot; <i>or</i> &quot;is
cast away.&quot;</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, &amp;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,&#8212;</p>

<p><i>Query Fifth.</i>&#8212;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>.&#8212;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,&#8212;</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): &quot;If
they speak not according to these, there is no light in them.&quot;</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>.&#8212;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>&#8212;God do sometimes bring things to light by his providence
in a way extraordinary.</p>

<p><i>Answer.</i>&#8212;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>&#160;</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:&#8212;]</p></div>

<p>&#160;</p>

<p><span class="smcap">Sab</span>: 4 Nov. [1694].&#8212;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.&#8212;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.&#8212;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, &quot;The pastor,&quot; 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, &quot;No.&quot; 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.&#8212;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:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;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:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;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>&quot;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">
&quot;<span class="smcap">John Tarbell</span>.<br />
<span class="smcap">Tho: Wilkins</span>.<br />
<span class="smcap">Sam: Nurse.</span>&quot;<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 &quot;Meditations for Peace,&quot;
mentioned 18 instant; viz.:&#8212;</p>

<p>&quot;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,&#8212;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,&#8212;however through weakness, ignorance, &amp;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>&quot;26 Nov., 1694.&quot;</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.&#8212;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 &quot;by the desire of the council,&quot; 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 &quot;Meditations for Peace,&quot; the record goes
on:&#8212;]</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, &amp;c.</p>

<p>Nov. 30, 1694.&#8212;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
&quot;dissatisfied brethren&quot; 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,
&quot;with this proviso, that he be not chosen one of the
council.&quot; 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:&#8212;]</p></div>

<p>Feb. 12 [1695].&#8212;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, &quot;Ay, if we could find a way to remove our
livings too.&quot; 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
&quot;reverend elders in the Bay accounted it advisable,&quot; 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:&#8212;]</p></div>

<p>The elders and messengers of the churches&#8212;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,&#8212;after solemn invocation of God in Christ for his direction, do
unanimously declare and advise as followeth:&#8212;</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>), &quot;added by the
desire of the Council&quot; to his &quot;Meditations for Peace.&quot;
Article III. discountenances the proceedings of his church
in its censure of &quot;the dissatisfied brethren,&quot; 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 &quot;incurable.&quot;</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>&#160;</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 &quot;Measure for Measure,&quot; 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. &quot;Corsely,&quot; no
doubt, shows how the word was then spoken. &quot;Angury&quot; was, with a large
class of words now dissyllables, then a trisyllable. &quot;Tould,&quot;
&quot;spaking,&quot; and many other words above, are spelled just as they were
then pronounced. &quot;Wicthcraft&quot; is always, I believe, spelled this way
by Thomas Putnam. He had not got rid of the old Anglo-Saxon sound of
the word &quot;witch,&quot; brought by his father from Buckinghamshire, sixty
years before,&#8212;&quot;wicca.&quot;
</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
&quot;doctor Crosbe&quot; is not wholly to blame because his &quot;visek&quot; did not
&quot;work.&quot; 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. &quot;A posset of sack&quot; was Falstaff's refuge,
from the plight into which he had been led by &quot;building upon a foolish
woman's promise,&quot; when he emerged from the Thames and the
&quot;buck-basket.&quot; Many others, no doubt, in drowning sorrow and
mortification, have found it &quot;the sovereignest thing on earth.&quot; But,
as administered by physicians of the Dr. Crosby school, with tobacco
steeped in it, it must have been a &quot;villanous compound.&quot;</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:&#8212;
</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;<i>To the Honored Court of Oyer and Terminer, now sitting in
Salem, this 28th of June, Anno 1692.</i>
</p><p>
&quot;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,&#8212;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,&#8212;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>
&quot;And your poor petitioner shall evermore pray, as in duty
bound, &amp;c.&quot;</p></div>
<p>
Her daughters&#8212;Rebecca, wife of Thomas Preston; and Mary, wife of John
Tarbell&#8212;presented the following statement:&#8212;
</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;We whose names are underwritten&#8212;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.&quot;</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:
&quot;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.&quot; He says, that his father is &quot;ancient and decrepit, and
wholly unable&quot; to take any steps in her behalf; that he feels &quot;obliged
by all Christian duty, as becomes a child to parents,&quot; to lay her case
before the General Court. &quot;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.&quot; He
humbly prays &quot;for the speedy enlargement of this person so much
abused.&quot; 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>&quot;<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>
&quot;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.&quot;
</p><p>
&quot;<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>
&quot;And your petitioner, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.
</p><p>
&quot;Nov. 1, 1692.&quot;</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:&#8212;
</p><p>
&quot;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>
&quot;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.&quot;
</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 &quot;the gracious words&quot; it contained. In his Life of Phips, he
thus modestly takes the credit of its authorship to himself: it was
&quot;drawn up, at their (the ministers') desire, by Mr. Mather the
younger, as I have been informed.&quot; 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 &quot;speedily and
vigorously.&quot;
</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 &quot;Magnalia,&quot; 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 &quot;Mr. Mather the
younger,&quot; 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:&#8212;
</p><p>
&quot;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.&quot;
</p><p>
In other passages, he thus continues to stimulate and encourage the
advocates of the prosecutions:&#8212;
</p><p>
&quot;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>
&quot;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.&quot;
</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>&quot;<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>
&quot;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,&#8212;viz., my wife
eleven months, and my daughter seven months in prison,&#8212;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, &#163;3 per cow</td>
      <td align="right">£&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</td>
          <td align="right">
<span><br />
4</span></td>
          <td align="right"><br />
          16</td>
          <td align="right"><br />
          0&#160;</td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td>Sixty bushels of Indian corn, 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. per bushel</td>
            <td align="right">&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</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">&#160;</td>
                        <td align="right"><br />
                        3</td>
                        <td align="right"><br />
                        0</td>
                        <td align="right"><br />
                        0&#160;</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <td>
&#160;</td>
                          <td align="right">&#160;</td>
                   <td align="right">&#8212;<br />67</td>
                          <td align="right">&#8212;<br />13</td>
                          <td align="right">&#8212;<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">&#160;</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<br />79<br />==</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<br />13<br />==</td>
<td align="right">&#8212;<br />0<br />==</td>
                              </tr>
                              </tbody>
                              </table>

<p style="text-align: right">&quot;<span class="smcap">George Jacobs</span>.&quot;</p></div>

<p>
When Edward Bishop and his wife Sarah were arrested, household goods
which were valued by the sheriff himself at ten pounds,&#8212;he refusing
that sum for their restitution,&#8212;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 &#163;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 &#163;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,&#8212;
</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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:&#8212;
</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p></div>
<p>
Barnard Peach made oath substantially as follows:&#8212;
</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>&quot;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.&quot;</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,&#8212;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:&#8212;
</p><p>
The letter is signed &quot;R.P.&quot; Under these initials is written, &quot;Robert
Pain,&quot; 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. &quot;Elder Pain,&quot; 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 &quot;Salisbury.&quot; 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 &quot;R.P.&quot; 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
&quot;Robert Pain&quot; were, probably, not on the paper when the indorsement
was made, &quot;A letter to my grandfather,&quot; &amp;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,&#8212;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
&quot;Salisbury.&quot; 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 (&quot;R.P.&quot;) 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
&quot;litigiousness:&quot; 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, &quot;finding it not justifiable upon divers grounds.&quot;
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,&#8212;the &quot;spectre evidence,&quot;&#8212;and the statements
and actings of &quot;the afflicted children.&quot; 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
&quot;seemed to be about the bigness of a half-bushel.&quot; After much dodging
and manoeuvring, and being lost and bewildered, wandering to and fro,
tumbling into holes,&#8212;where, as the deposition states, no &quot;such pitts&quot;
were known to exist,&#8212;and other misadventures, he came to blows with
the light, and had several brushes with it, striking it with his
stick. At one time, &quot;he thinks he gave her at least forty blows.&quot; He
finally succeeded in finding &quot;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.&quot; He
concludes his deposition by saying, that Major Pike &quot;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.&quot; The affair had
happened &quot;about twenty-four years ago.&quot; 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 &quot;Lectures on Witchcraft,&quot; 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 &quot;about&quot; so many years, or as of so many
years &quot;or thereabouts.&quot; 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 &quot;Ann: &#230;tat: 27.&quot; But an
&quot;Account of the Early Settlers of Salisbury,&quot; in the &quot;New-England
Historical and Genealogical Register,&quot; vol. vii. p. 314, gives the
date of her birth &quot;15, 4, 1661.&quot; 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 &quot;Account of the
Early Settlers of Salisbury,&quot; just referred to, gives the date of his
birth &quot;15, 1, 1648.&quot; 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:&#8212;
</p><p>
&quot;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.'&quot;
</p><p>
At this meeting, it was voted, that &quot;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.&quot;
</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, &quot;the power&quot;
above alluded to, &quot;given us by the General Court,&quot; will be seen fully
described. In its earnestness to fasten Mr. Bayley upon &quot;the
inhabitants,&quot; 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 &quot;householders.&quot; 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:&#8212;
</p><p>
&quot;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">
&quot;Attest, <span class="smcap">Stephen Sewall</span>, <i>Clerk</i>.&quot;</p></div>

</div>
</body>
</html>
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2025-12-31 14:01:01 +0000