several other persons, who now declared themselves bewitched, of beating, pinching, strangling, and in various other ways afflicting them. Mrs. Putnam, particularly, complained of excruciating distress; and with loud, piercing shrieks, excited in the numerous spectators emotions of astonishment, pity, and indignation, bordering upon frenzy. Mrs. Corey was, of course, pronounced guilty, and imprisoned.Soon after her commitment, a child of Sarah Good, the melancholy woman mentioned above, a child between four and five years old, was accused by the same woman of bewitching them; and accordingly was imprisoned. 7. In the mean time fasts were multiplied. Several public ones were kept by the inhabitants of the village; and, finally, a general fast was holden throughout the colony. By these successive solemnities the subject acquired a consideration literally sacred; and alarmed, and engrossed the minds of the whole community. Magistrates and clergymen gave to it the weight of their belief, and their reputation; led their fellow citizens into a labyrinth of error, and iniquity; and stained the character of their country, in the eye of all succeeding generations. Had Mr. Paris, instead of listening to the complaints of the children in his family, and holding days of fasting and prayer, on so preposterous an occasion, corrected them severely; had the physician, mentioned above, instead of pronouncing them bewitched, administered to them a strong dose of ipecacuanha; had the magistrates who received the accusations, and examined the accused, dismissed both, and ordered the accused to prison, or finally, had the judges of the superior court directed the first indictment to be quashed, and sent the prisoners home; the evil, in either of these stages, might undoubtedly have been stopped. But, unhappily, all these were efforts of reason which lay beyond the spirit of the times. 8. That Mr. Paris, Mr. Noyes, and Mr. Hale, believed the existence of the witchcraft in Salem Village, cannot be questioned. That they seem to have been men of a fair religious character must be acknowledged. But it must also be acknowledged, that both they and Messieurs Hawthorn and Corwin, the magistrates principally concerned, men of good character likewise, were, in the present case, rash and inexcusable. They were not merely deceived; but they deceived themselves and infatuated others. They were not merely zealous, but unjust. They received from persons unknown, injudicial proceedings as witnesses, evidence equally contradictory to law, to common sense, and to the scriptures. Spectral evidence, as it was termed, that is, evidence founded on apparitions, and other supernatural appearances, professed to be seen by the accusers, was the only basis of a train of capital convictions. 9. Children, incapable of understanding the things about which they gave testimony, were yet, at times, the only witnesses; and what was still worse, the very things which they testified, were put into their minds and mouths, by the examiners, in the questions which they asked. In one case, a man, named Samuel Wardwell, was tried, condemned, and executed, on the testimony of his wife and daughter, who appear to have accused him, merely for the sake of saving themselves. Soon after these examinations, the number of accusers, and by necessary consequence of the accused also, multiplied to a most alarming degree. To recite the story would be useless, as well as painful. In substance, it would be little else than what has been already said. All those who were executed, denied the charge, and finally declared their innocence; although several of them, in the moment of terror, had made partial confessions of their guilt. A considerable number, for the same purpose, acknowledged themselves guilty, and thus escaped death. To such a degree did the frenzy prevail, that in the January following, the grand jury indicted almost fifty persons for witchcraft. 10. Nor was the evil confined to this neighborhood. It soon spread into various parts of Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk. Persons at Andover, Ipswich, Gloucester, Boston, and several other places, were accused by their neighbors, and others. For some time, the victims were selected only from the lower classes. It was not long, however, before the spirit of accusation began to lay hold on persons of more consequence. On the 5th of August, 1692, Mr. George Burroughs, who had formerly preached in Salem Viliage, and afterwards at Wells, in the province of Maine, was brought to trial for bewitching Mary Wolcott, an inhabitant of the village, and was condemned. Mr. English, a respectable merchant in Salem, and his wife; Messrs. Dudley and John Bradstreet, sons of the late Gov. Bradstreet; the wife of Mr. Hale; the lady of sir William Phipps, and the Secretary of Connecticut, were all among the accused. Mr. English and his wife fled to New York. Mr. Dudley Bradstreet had already committed between thirty and forty persons for this supposed crime; but being weary and discouraged, declined any further interference in the business. Upon this, he was charged with having killed nine persons by witchcraft; and was obliged to flee to the district of Maine. His brother John being accused of having bewitched a dog, and riding upon his back, fled into New Hampshire. At Andover, a dog was accused of bewitching several human beings, and put to death. 11. The evil now became too great to be borne. A man, named Giles Corey, had been pressed to death for refusing to plead; and nineteen persons had been executed. More than one third of these were members of the Christian Church; and more than one half had borne an unblemished character. One hundred and fifty were in prison; two hundred others were accused. Suspense and terror spread through the colony. Neither age nor sex, neither ignorance nor innocence, neither learning nor piety, neither reputation nor office, furnished the least security. Multitudes appear to have accused others, merely to save themselves. Among the accused, not a small number confessed themselves guilty for the same reason; for by a strange inversion of judicial process, those who confessed the crime escaped; while those who protested their innocence, died without proof, and without mercy. 12. While the mischief was thus rolling up to a mountainous size, the principal persons in the colony began seriously to ask themselves where it would end. A conviction began to spread that the proceedings were rash, and indefensible. Mr. Hale probably changed his opinion, because his wife was accused. The same consideration undoubtedly influenced sir William Phipps. A respectable man in Boston, having been accused by some persons at Andover, arrested his accusers for defamation; and laid his damages at a thousand pounds. In consequence of this spirited conduct, the frenzy in that town disappeared. In other places, the dis How many persons were indicted for witchcraft, by the Grand Jury of Salem, in January 1693?-How many had been executed?What was the greatest number imprisoned at one time ?--Of accused? tresses, the fair character, and the apparent innocence of many of the sufferers, wrought silently, but powerfully, on the people at large. At the last special court of Oyer and Terminer, holden on this subject, of fifty who were brought to trial, all were acquitted, except three; and these were reprieved by the governor. These events were followed by a general release of those who had been imprisoned. Thus the cloud which had so long hung over the colony, slowly and sullenly retired; and like the darkness of Egypt, was to the great joy of the distressed inhabitants, succeeded by serenity and sunshine. 13. At this period, and for some time after, attempts were made in various places to revive these persecutions; but they failed of success. It has been said that an inhabitant of Northampton accused one of his neighbors of bewitching him to the Hon. Mr. Partridge, a very respectable magistrate in Hatfield. This gentleman, understanding perfectly the nature of the accusation, and foreseeing the mischiefs which would spring from any serious attention to it, told the aocuser, that as it was not in his power to try the cause immediately, he would hold a court at Northampton for that pur pose, on a special day of the succeeding week; but that he could now finish a part of the business. It was a rule of law, he said, that the informant should, in various cases, receive half of what was adjudged. A person convicted of witchcraft, was by law punished with twenty stripes. He should, therefore, order ten of these to the accuser. They were accordingly inflicted on the spot. At the appointed time the court was opened at Northampton; but no accuser appeared. 14. This confessedly illegal, but exemplary, wise, and just administration, smothered the evil here in its birth. Had measures equally wise been adopted throughout the colony, the story of New England witchcraft would never have been told. From this period the belief of witchcraft seems gradually, and almost entirely, to have vanished from New England, There is, perhaps, no country in the world, whose inhabitants more generally treat the whole train of invisible beings which people the regions of superstition and credulity, with less respect, or whc distinguish religion from its counterfeits How was the progress of witchcraft checked at Northampton? with more universality, or correctness. Even conjurers and fortune-tellers, who so easily fascinate the curiosity of mankind, and acquire an importance in the eye of fancy which reason reprobates, are generally regarded, here, with contempt and ridicule. PETER THE GREAT. IMMORTAL Peter! first of monarchs! He A laboring plan of state, behold at once The wonder done! behold the matchless prince ! Who greatly spurned the slothful pomp of courts; Charged with the stores of Europe home he goes! And awing there stern Othman's shrinking sons. |