Glimpses of Christian History Presents Pastwords #135: An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft (in Dialog Form) by Francis Hutchinson ©2007

HUTCHINSON, FRANCIS. An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft. With Observations upon Matters of Fact; Tending to clear the Texts of the Sacred Scriptures, and confute the vulgar Errors about that Point. And also Two Sermons: One in Proof of the Christian Religion; the other concerning good and Evil Angels. The Second Edition, with considerable Additions. London, Printed for R. Knaplock, at the Bishop's Head, and D. Midwinter, at the Three Crowns, in St. Paul's Church-yard. MDCCXX. (1720) Octavo.

A Dialogue Betwixt A Clergy-Man, a Scotch Advocate, and an English Jury-Man.

LERG. A Good Morning to you, Neighbor. Are all well at Home, that you are here this Forenoon?

JUR. Thanks be to God, we are in good Health: But I am come at this time to desire your Opinion and Advice; and therefore I chose the Morning, in hope to find you most at Leisure. You know how much Discourse there hath been about the poor Woman, who hath suffered a great deal already, and is now in goal upon Suspicion of Witchcraft. Now I received a Summons last Night to serve upon the Jury that is to try her. But tho' I never in my Life refused to serve my Country as well as I have been able, yet I have a great Mind to stay at Home now, and desire some Friend to excuse me.

CLERG. I would not advise that; since the Law of the Nation puts the Judgment upon you, and with due Care you may preserve your Innocence: For if the Case be not very plain, save Life.

JUR. But I am pretty sure, that the Case will not be plain. For I have heard already, perhaps as much as I shall at the time of Trial; and for my Life I know not what Judgment to make of it. I happened once to hear two very Learned and Good Men discourse just such a Case, and instead of clearing the Point, they disputed themselves into a Passion: And therefore, if you do advise me to appear in so difficult a Case, pray let me know a little what you have met with about these dark Matters.

CLERG. You could not have come to me at a better Time, for my Friend that is here with me, lives in Scotland, and hath been Advocate in the Trials of Witches; and as I hope our happy Union of Interests and Counsels will be a Means of improving one another in all useful Notions, as far as either of us have had the Opportunity of seeing farther than the other in any Case, I am glad of this Occasion, that you may have my Friend's Opinion as well as mine. And therefore you shall put to us as many Doubts as you have upon you: And for Argument's sake, I will make the best I can of the poor Woman's Case, and Mr. Advocate shall urge the Case against her. The Witchcrafts at Salem, Boston, and Andover in New-England.

ADV. If you think fit, we will consider next the late Witchcrafts supposed to have been in New-England; they are fresh, and there are Witnesses now living. Mr. Cotton Mather, no longer since than 1690, published the Case of one Goodwin's Children; for the bewitching of whom, as was supposed, one Glover, an Irish Papist, was hanged the Year before. The Book was sent hither to be printed amongst us, and Mr. Baxter recommended it to our People by a Preface, wherein he says, That Man must be a very obdurate Sadducee that will not believe it. The Year after, Mr. Baxter, perhaps encouraged by Mr. Mather's book, published his own Certainty of the World of Spirits, with another testimony, That Mr. Mather's book would silence any Incredulity that pretended to be Rational. And Mr. Mather dispersed Mr. Baxter's Book in New-England, with the Character of it, as a Book that was Ungainsayable. I see both of them have not satisfied you; Pray what have you to say against Mr. Mather's?

CLERG. Upon the extraordinary Commendation that Mr. Baxter gave of it, I sent for it, with great Hope to have seen this Case of Witchcraft put beyond Question; but the Judgment I made of it was, that the poor old Woman being an Irish Papist, and not ready in the Signification of English Words, had entangled herself by a superstitious Belief, and doubtful Answers about Saints and Charms; and seeing what Advantages Mr. Mather made of it, I was afraid I saw part of the Reasons that carried the Cause against her. And, First It is manifest, that Mr. Mather is magnified, as having great Power over the evil spirits. A young Man in his Family is represented so holy, that the Place of his Devotions was a certain Cure of the young Virgin's Fits. Then his Grandfather's and Father's Books have gained a testimony, that, upon occasion, may be improved, one know not how far. For amongst the many Experiments that were made, Mr. Mather would bring to this young Maid the Bible, the Assemblies Catechism; his Grandfather Cotton's Milk for Babes; his Father's Remarkable Providences; and a Book to prove, that there were Witches; and when any of these were offered for her to read in, she would be struck dead, and fall into hideous Convulsions. These good Books, (he says) were mortal to her; and left the World should be so dull, as not to take him right, he adds, I hope I have not spoiled the Credit of the Books, by telling how much the Devil hated them.

To make the Case more manifest both Ways he tried her with other Books; as Quakers Books, Popish Books; the Cambridge and Oxford Tests, a Prayer-Book, a Book written to prove that there were No Witches: And the Devil would let her read these as long as she would; and particularly she treated the Prayer-Book with great Respect; and, which was very strange, the Devil was so sure that nothing in that Book could do her good, that he would suffer her to read the very same Scriptures in that: But when, for Experiment, Mr. Mather turned to the very same Texts in the Bible, she could as soon die as read them there.

ADV. I did not doubt but this would make you merry; but since it is true in Fact, What have you to say against it?

CLERG. Nothing at all but this, That tho' our Common-Prayer-Book be for ever confuted by this Witness, yet there must be a Mistake in placing the Popish books in the same Black List with those that the Devil loves; for Mr. Baxter hath proved the Devil's Hatred of Popish books by as substantial a Witness, as Mr. Mather can prove his Hatred of his Grandfather's Milk for Babes. See Mr. Baxter's Certainty of the World of Spirits, p. 111.--"While Modestus, a Capuchin, was yet Fifty Paces from my Chamber, the Girl fell down as one deprived of Life. The Mother seeing the Child fall, said, the Capuchins were coming. She had no sooner said this but they knocked at the Door. When they were come in, and had lighted the consecrated Taper, and the Exorcist had put on his Habit, as soon as ever he had read the first Words of the Exorcism, the Girl, which hitherto had lain more immoveable than any dead Corps, fell a shaking all over, that she could not be held by six of us. I begged the Exorcist, out of Compassion to her, to forbear his reading. He had scarce pronounced the last Syllable, when in an Instant, she lay as quiet as possible; and when they had quitted the House, she opened her Eyes, and stood up."-This Mr. Baxter quotes for Truth from Henricus ab Heer, Obs. 8. And I desire you, Mr. Advocate, to give me a good Reason why the Devils that are in Flanders, are tormented by the Popish Books; and in New England are as fond of them, as of the Oxford Jests, or the Common-Prayer-Book, or even a Book to prove that there are no Witches?

ADV. I know you think this Difference is owing to the Notions, or Faith, or Humors, or Tricks of the Parties, and the Management of the Exorcists: But such Fits may be Diabolical for all this; for tho' evil Spirits cannot be supposed in reality to be differently affected according to Popish, or Independent Notions; yet the very same Spirit may counterfeit a Torture, or a Delight, at the very same Book, according as he can better make use of it for a Snare to those that are about him.

CLERG. That you may see I give you fair Play, I will suppose this: But then in requital I hope you will allow me, that these Tortures of the Devil are no sufficient Trial to decide the Truth of Books and Doctrines.

ADV. Mr. Mather himself tells you as much, p. 23. He owns it is a fanciful Business, and no Test for the Truth to be determined by.

CLERG. I will not ask you how you reconcile this Clause with the many Experiments he made, and his printing and pressing the Argument in his Sermon afterward; for my Business is not to expose him, but to find out the true and false Rules for the Discovery of Witches: And therefore I ask you this Question, If the standing and falling of afflicted Persons be no safe Trial of the Goodness or Badness of Books; How comes it to be a better Test of the Guilt or Innocence of Persons? The Experiment answers Expectation in Persons, just as it does in Books. This Test hath been made use of in almost all the famous Trials that we have upon Record; and particularly in that before my Lord Chief Baron Hales: But since the Devil, upon your own Supposition, will pretend Torture when he feels none, and fall down when he needs not; what should make Men venture the Lives of their Christian Brethren upon a Trial, that must be as false and fallacious as the Devil can make it?

I will observe one Thing more from Mr. Mather's Book. He took this young woman home, that he might the better make his Observations. She often used to say, that the Witches brought her an Invisible Horse; and then she would skip into a Chair, and seat herself in a riding Posture; and after that, she would be moved as if Ambling, and Trotting, and Galloping. She talked with invisible Company, that seemed to go with her, and listened for their Answers. After two or three Minutes, she would seem to think herself at a Rendezvous with Witches a great way off, and soon after return back upon her Imaginary Horse, and then come to herself; and once she told Mr. Mather of three that she said had been there, and what they had said. In many other Authors, there are Relations of Persons that have been seen to lie still entranced at home, while they have said, they have been at these Witches Meetings; and from those, and this, I would observe these four Things:

1. Those that have made no Compact, and are not Witches, may fancy that they take these airy Journeys with Witches. For Mr. Mather does not suppose this young Woman was a Witch, but a Religious Person, afflicted by others, a Counterfeit, or perhaps a Demoniac.

2. Those Journeys and Rendezvouses are not real, but fantastic Things, like Dreams. Mr. Mather, and a House full of Witnesses often stood by, and saw her at home in her Chair, all the Time that she thought herself at their Meetings.

3. Courts of Justice may as well hang People, upon their confessions, for the Murders they think they commit in their Dreams, as for what they fancy they do in these Trances. What if this Girl, in this Ecstasy of Mind, when she had not the use of her Reason, had made a Compact, and thought she had set her Name to it, and joined with other Witches in Murders, and confessed them? What wise Man would have turned such a Confession to her Hurt? Physic for Madness would be proper for such a one; but a Stake or Gallows would be barbarous.

4. It would be harder yet to hang other People for what these Brainsick Persons fancy they see them do.

ADV. Have you any Thing else to observe from Mr. Mather's Book?

CLERG. Yes; observe the Time of the Publication of that Book, and of Mr. Baxter's. Mr. Mather's came out 1690, and Mr. Baxter's the Year after; and Mr. Mather's Father's Remarkable Providences had been out before that: And in the Year 1692, the Frights and Fits of the afflicted, and the Imprisonment and Execution of Witches in New-England, made as sad a Calamity, as a Plague of War. I know Mr. Cotton Mather, in his late Folio, imputes it to the Indian Paw was sending their Spirits amongst them; but I attribute it to Mr. Baxter's Book, and his and his Father's, and the false Principles, and frightful Stories that filled the People Minds with great Fears and dangerous Notions.

And here I will lay before you a brief State of the Facts of those New-England Witchcrafts. My author, for the greatest Part of it, is Mr. Cales, a Merchant in that Plantation, and an Eye Witness of much that he wrote. In his Book there are many Trials at large, and many Circumstances that I have taken no notice of, and therefore I recommend to you the Book itself; and I take it to be as plain a Proof as any I have met with, of the Mistakes and Mischief's of those Notions that I am arguing against. The Book was printed for Nath. Hillar, at the Prince's Arms in Leaden-Hall Street, London.

In the latter End of February 1694, diverse young Persons, belonging to the Family of Mr. Parris, Minister of Salem, and one or more of the Neighborhood, began to act after a strange and unusual Manner. They crept into Holes, and under Chairs and Stools. They used antic Gestures, and spake ridiculous Speeches, and fell into Fits. After some Time, and a Day of Prayer kept, the afflicted Persons named several that they said they saw in their fits afflicting them, and in particular, an Indian woman, that lived in Mr. Parris's house, and had tried a Trick with a Cake of Rye Meal, and the Children's Water laid in Ashes, to discover the Witches. She being beaten, and threatened, confessed herself to be a Witch, and said the Devil urged her to sign a Book. Others confessed their being urged to sign the Book. One said it was a red Book, of a considerable Thickness, and about a Cubit long.

In a little Time, the Numbers of the afflicted increased to Ten, and the accused were many more. One Goodw. Cory was examined; the afflicted said, she bit, pinched, and strangled them. They said, they saw her Likeness bring a Book to them to sign. At the Time of her Trial, they said, a black Man whispered in her Ear, and that she had a yellow Bird, that even then sucked between her Fingers. Orders were given to search the Place. The Girl that saw it, said it was now too late, she had removed a Pin, and put it on her Head; upon Search it was found, that a Pin was there sticking upright.

A Child, of about Four or Five Years old, was accused, and apprehended. The Accusers said, this Child bit them, and would show the Marks of small teeth upon their Arm. As many as the Child cast its Eye upon, would complain that they were in Torment.

April 11, 1692. There was a public Hearing before Six Magistrates, and several Ministers. The afflicted complained against many, with hideous Clamors and Screechings. One Goodw Proctor was (according to the Phrase much used upon such Occasions) cried out of, and her Husband coming to attend, and assist her, the Accusers cried out of him also.

About this Time, besides the Experiment of the afflicted falling at the Sight, they put the accused upon saying the Lord's Prayer, and searching for Teats, and fancied they found one upon Goodw. Bishop.

May 14, 1692. Sir William Phips entrod upon the Government, and put the Witches in Chains: Upon that, it was said, that the afflicted Persons were free from their Tortures.

May 31. Capt. Aldin committed, and after Fifteen Weeks Imprisonment he was glad to make his Escape, and fly from a Trial. June 10. Bridget Bishop was executed, protesting her Innocence.

July 19. Five were executed. One of them was Sarah Good. Mr. Noyes urged her to confess, and said she knew she was a Witch. To which she replied, he was a Liar. 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.

Rebecca Nurse was another of those Five. At first the Jury brought her in, Not Guilty. Immediately all the Accusers in the Court, and suddenly after, all the afflicted out of court, made a hideous Outcry, to the Amazement, not only of the Spectators, but of the Court. They were sent out again to consider better of one Expression of hers; and returning, they brought her in Guilty, and she was executed with the rest, all Five maintaining their Innocence to the last.

Aug. 19. Five more were executed, denying any Guilt in that Matter of Witchcraft. One of them was Mr. Burroughs, a Minister. When he was upon the ladder, he made a Speech for the clearing his Innocency, with such solemn and serious Expressions as were to the Admiration of all present, and drew tears from many. The Accusers said the black Man dictated to him.

John Willard was another of those Five. He had been employed in fetching in several that were accused; but at last declining to fetch in more, he was cried out of. He made his escape Forty miles from Salem; yet it is said, that the Accusers told the exact Time when he was apprehended saying, Now Willard is taken.

Sept. 16. Giles Cory pleaded Not Guilty, but having found that they cleared none that had been tried, he resolved to be pressed, that is, I suppose rather than be tried by such Juries. In pressing, his Tongue was forced out of his Mouth, but the Sheriff with his Cane thrust it in again when he was dying.

Sept. 22. The same Year Eight more were executed. The cart going to the Hill with them, was set for a Time. The afflicted said the Devil hindred it.

In the beginning of October, Mr. Cotton Mather, at the desire of Sir William Phips the Governor, and with the Approbation of two of their Judges, published seven of the Trials of those that suffered. And as they grounded themselves chiefly upon our Law, and Precedents and Books from England, he put before them an Abridgment of the Trials of the two Women that were condemned by my Lord Chief Baron Hales at Bury, 1664. As also an Abridgment of the Rules and Signs of Witches, that are in Perkins, Barnard, and Gaul, and from Mr. Baxter's Book he laid before them the Case of the Suffolk Witches, 1654. See his more wonders of the invisible World.

I take notice of this, because the more either they or others have been influenced by our Law, Trials or Books, the more Reason there is that we should offer them something towards the clearing any Mistakes in them. But to proceed in the Account.

In the same Month of October, on of the afflicted complained of Mrs. Hale, whose Husband was the Minister of Beverly, and had been very active in these Prosecutions, but being fully satisfied of his Wife's Innocency, he altered his Judgment: For it was come to a stated Controversy amongst them, Whether the devil could afflict in a good Man's Shape? This Accusation of Mrs. Hale, and some others, very sober People, brought them to believe, that he might, or at least that he could manage Matters so as the afflicted should think he did. This Reason afterwards prevailed with many, and had much Influence to the succeeding Change of Affairs; but it did not convince them so soon, but that there were many Imprisonments after this, and some condemned, tho' none executed.

Mr. Philip English and his Wife fled the Country, and their Estate was seized to the Value of 1500 Pounds, and not above 300 Pounds found to be restored, when the Storm was over, that they durst return home.

About this Time, one Joseph Ballard, of Andover, sent to Salem, for some of these Accusers, who pretended to have the spectral Sight, to tell him who afflicted his Wife. When these People came to any Place, they usually fell into a Fit; after which, they would name one that they saw sitting on the head, and another of the Feet of the afflicted; and soon after their coming to Andover 50 Persons were complained of for afflicting their Neighbors. Here many accused themselves of riding upon Poles through the Air. Many Parents believed their Children to be Witches, and many Husbands their Wives; And others, besides those that were sent for, were thought to have the same spectral Sight.

Mr. Dudley Bradstreet, a Justice of Peace, in Andover, having himself committed at 30 0r 40 to Prisons, for these supposed Witchcrafts, himself and his wife were both cried out by these Accusers, and durst not stand a Trial, but fled for their Lives. They said Mr. Bradstreet had killed nine; for they said they saw the Ghosts of murdered People hover over those that killed them.

A Dog being afflicted at Salem, those that had the spectral Sight, said, Mr. John Bradstreet, the Justice's Brother, afflicted the Dog, and then rid upon him. He made his escape, and the Dog was put to Death, and was all of the afflicted that suffered.

Another Dog was said to afflict others, and they fell into their Fits, when the Dog looked upon them. The Dog was put to death.

A worthy Gentleman of Boston, being accused by those at Andover, he sent a Writ to arrest the Accusers in a Thousand Pound Action, for Defamation. From that time, the Accusations at Andover generally ceased.

Jan 2, 1693. Thirty Bills of Indictments were brought in Ignoramus. Six and Twenty were brought in Billa Vera; and upon all those, only three were found guilty upon trial.

Jan 31, 1693. Seven that were under Condemnation were reprieved.

April 25, 1693. One was tried that confessed. But they were now so well taught what Weight to lay upon confessions, that the Jury brought her in, Not Guilty, tho' she confessed she was.

And now after a Storm of sixteen Months, nineteen persons having been hanged, and one pressed to Death, and eight more condemned; above fifty having confessed themselves Witches, of which not one executed; above 150 in Prison, and above 200 more accused; And, the Accusers, that began with an Indian slave, being grown bold to cry out of the Justices that had prosecuted others, and the better Sort of People amongst them, it was thought Time to put a Stop to Prosecutions; and accordingly, about April 1693, the accused Persons in all Prisons were set at Liberty, and those that had fled the Country returned home.

And those Towns having regained their Quiet; and this Case being of that Nature, that Facts and Experience are of more Weight than mere rational Arguments, it will be worth our while to observe some Passages that happened after this Storm, when they had Time to look back upon what had passed.

And first it is observable, that as the supposed Witchcrafts of Salem began in the House of Mr. Parris, Minister of that Town; and he had been a Witness, and zealous Prosecutor of the supposed Witches, many of his People withdrew from his Communion, and in April 1693, drew up Articles against him. They were so settled in their Aversion, that they continued their Prosecutions three of four Years, and July 21, 1697, they drew up a Remonstrance, and presented it to Arbitrators that the Matter was referred to.

The latter Part of their Remonstrance is Thus. "His believing the Devil's Accusations, and readily departing from all Charity to Persons, tho' of blameless Lives, upon such Suggestions; his promoting such Accusations."

"That Mr. Parris's going to Mary Walut, or Abigail Williams, to know who afflicted the People in their Illness, we understand this to be a Dealing with them that have a familiar Spirit, and an implicit denying the Providence of God, which alone, as we believe, can send Afflictions, or cause Devils to afflict any."

"That Mr. Parris by these Practices and Principles, hath been the beginner and Procurer of the forest Afflictions, not to this Village only, but to this whole country, that did ever befall them."

Mr. Parris did acknowledge his Mistakes, and profess he should be far from acting again upon the same Principles: But they thought that was not enough for such an Instrument of their Miseries, and therefore, by the Determination of the Arbitrators, he was dismissed.

Dec. 17, 1696. There was a Proclamation for a Fast, and in the Proclamation this Clause. That God would show us what we know not, and help us, wherein we have done amiss, to do for more; and especially that whatever Mistakes on either Hand, had been fallen into, either by the Body of this People, or any Orders of Men, referring to the late tragedy, raised amongst us by Satan and his Instruments, through the awful Judgments of God, he would humble us therefore, and pardon all the Errors of his Servants.

Upon the Day of the Fast, one that had sat in Judicature in Salem, delivered in a Paper, and while it was reading, stood up. As it is reported by Memory, it was, "That he was apprehensive, that he might have fallen into some Errors in the Matters of Salem, and to pray, that the Guilt of such Miscarriages may not be imputed, either to the Country in general, or to him or his Family in particular.

Those that confessed went off from their Confessions, and several of them signed a Writing, of which this is part.

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 seized, and sent Prisoners to Salem. And by Reason of that sudden Surprizal, 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 apprehending, that there was no other way to save our Lives, but by confessing ourselves to be such and such Persons as the afflicted represented us to be; they out of tender Love 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 we were Witches, and they knew it, which made us think that it was so; and our Understanding, our Reason, and our Faculties almost gone. We were not capable of judging our condition. And most of what we said was but a consenting to what they said. Some time after, when we had been 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 executed: Some of us were told, that we were going after Wardwell.

Signed by Mary Osgood, Mary Tiler, Deliv. Dane, Abigail Barker, Sarah Wilson, Hannah Tiler.

Some that have been of several Juries, have given forth a Paper signed with their own Hands, in these Words.

We whose Names are underwritten, being in the Year 1692, called to serve as Jurors in Court at Salem, on Trial of many, who were by some suspected guilty of doing Acts of witchcraft upon the bodies of sundry Persons:

We confess that we ourselves were not capable to understand, nor able to withstand the mysterious Delusions of the Powers of Darkness, and Prince of the Air: But were for want of knowledge in ourselves, and better Information from others, prevailed with to take up such Evidence against the accused, as on farther Consideration, and better Information, we justly fear was insufficient for the touching the lives of any, Deut. 17.6. whereby we fear, we have been Instrumental with others, tho' ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon ourselves, and this People of the Lord, the Guilt of innocent blood. 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 Condemnation of any Person.

And we do hereby declare, that we justly fear, that we were sadly deluded and mistaken, for which we are much disquieted, and distressed in our Minds; and do therefore humbly beg Forgiveness, first of God, for Christ's sake, for this our Error; and pray, that God would not impute the Guilt of it to ourselves, nor others: And we also pray, that we may be considered candidly, and aright, by the living Sufferers, as being then under the Power of a strong and general delusion, utterly unacquainted with, and not experienced in Matters of that Nature.

We do heartily ask Forgiveness of you all, whom we have justly offended, and do declare, according to our present Minds, we would none of us do such Things again on such Grounds, for the whole World; praying you to accept of this in way of Satisfaction for our Offence, and that you would bless the Inheritance of the Lord, that he may be entreated for the Land.

Foreman. Thomas Fisk Thomas Perly, Sen. William Fisk John Pebody John Bacheler Thomas Perkins Tho. Fisk, jun. Samuel Sayer John Dane Andrew Elliot Joseph Evelith Henry Herrick

Since I have drawn up this Account from Mr. Cales, and Mr. Mather's Books, I have met with a farther and later Relation of these Matters, published by Mr. Cotton Mather himself, at the 80th page of his 6th Book of the History of New England, printed 1702. The account he publishes was written by Mr. John Hales, whose wife, as I mentioned before, was at last accused amongst the others suspected for Witches, and she being a woman of good Reputation, her danger began to open their Eyes.

But that which chiefly carried on this Matter to such a Height, was the increasing of Confessions, until they mounted to near upon fifty; and four or six of them upon their Trials, owned their Guilt of this Crime, and were condemned for the same, but not executed. And many of the Confessors confirmed their Confessions with very strong Circumstances, as their exact Agreement with the Accusations of the afflicted; their punctual Agreement with the Accusations of their Fellow confessors; their relating the Times when they covenanted with Satan, and the Reasons that moved them thereunto: Their Witch-Meetings, and that they had their mock Sacraments of Baptism, and the Supper, in some of them: Their signing the Devil's Book, and some showed the Scars of the Wounds, which, they said, were made to fetch Blood with, to sign the Devil's Book; and some said, they had Imps to suck them, and showed sores raw, where they said they were sucked by them.

The afflicted complained, that the Specters which vexed them, urged them to set their Hands to a book presented to them, (as to them it seemed) with Threatenings of great Torments is they signed not, and Promises of Ease if they obeyed. Among these D.H. as she said (which sundry other confessed afterwards) being overcome by the Extremity of her Pains, did sign the book presented, and had the promised Ease; and immediately upon it, a Specter in her Shape afflicted another Person, and said, I have signed the Book, and have Ease; now do you sign, and so shall you have Ease. And one Day this Afflicted Person pointed at a certain Place in the room, and said there is D.H.; upon which a Man with his Rapier struck at the Place, tho' he saw no shape, and the afflicted called out, you have given her a small Prick about the Eye. Soon after this, the said D.H. confessed herself to be made a Witch, by signing the Devil's Books, and declared that she had afflicted the Maid that complained of her; and in doing of it, had received two wounds by a Sword or Rapier; a small one about the Eye, which she showed to the Magistrates, and bigger on the side, of which she was searched by a discreet Woman, who reported, that D.H. had on her side the sign of a wound newly healed.

By these things, you may see, how this Matter was carried on, chiefly by the Complaints and Accusations of the afflicted, and then by the confessions of the accused, condemning themselves and others. Yet Experience showed, that the more there were apprehended, the more were still afflicted by Satan; and the Number of the Confessors increasing, did but increase the Number of the accused; and the executing of some, made way for the apprehending of others; for still the afflicted complained of being tormented by new Objects, as the former were removed: so that those that were concerned, grew amazed at the Number and Quality of the Persons accused; and feared that Satan, by his Wiles, had enwrapped innocent Persons under the Imputation of that Crime. And at last it was evidently seen, that there must be a Stop put, or the Generation of the Children of God would fall under that condemnation. Henceforth, therefore, the Juries generally acquitted such as were tried, fearing they had gone too far before. And Sir William Phips the Governor, reprieved all that were condemned, even the confessors as well as others. And the confessors generally fell off from their confessions; some saying they remembered nothing of what they had said; and others said that they had belied themselves and others.

He adds these Reasons why he believed they went too far:

1. The Numbers greater than could be imagined to be really guilty.

2. The Quality. Religious Persons, that had taken great Pains to bring up their Children well.

3. All the nineteen that were executed, denying the Crime to Death.

4. Upon ceasing the Prosecution all was well and quiet.

ADV. There is nothing in this whole case that seems so strange to me, as what they say or evil Spirits appearing in the Shape of innocent Persons. Not but that it may possibly be true what is thought by some, That a Spirit, by his own natural Powers, can form either his own Substance or Vehicle, or borrowed Matter into the Shape of any Man whatever: But I can never Believe but the Divine Providence would interpose, and lay their Natural Powers under a Divine Restraint, rather than suffer them to use them for such Mischief; for otherwise good Men have no Defense against him. He may lay the Blame of his own Actions upon whom he will, and bring them under Condemnation for what he does.

CLERG. Yes, if they who are to judge them be so weak and credulous as to believe him; but if Magistrates do their Duty in true Judgment, and punish Offenders only for their own real Acts of Wickedness, not for Effects that Spirits work in other Men's Shapes without them, then his Appearances will hurt no Body. But if instead of this, contrary to the frequent Warnings in Scripture, they who are to judge those Cases, give evil Spirits that Advantage against them; Hath God any where promised, that by a particular Act of Power he will save credulous Men from being deceived; because, otherwise, the Blood of the Innocent Men will be in danger? How much innocent Blood of Man is daily shed by the Superstition of persecutors, or unjust Laws of Tyrants? How many righteous Abels fall every day by Men that are as cruel and as ungodly as wicked Cain? And how do we know but that some may fall also by the Craft of evil Spirits, deluding Magistrates that take not due Care to prevent them? Providence can make such crooked Things straight in the other World, and therefore in this may permit them for Probation, and therefore instead of tempting God, Men must take heed to their own Actions, or else they may bring this high Guilt upon themselves, and Mischief upon others. And as this is a Point that deserves to be well remembered, tho' I have mentioned it once before, I will now add to it some Instances where evil Spirits have been said to have appeared in the Shapes of those that were not suspected to be otherwise than very innocent and virtuous Persons.

ADV. I hope you will give us no Examples but such as you believe yourself.

CLERG. I cannot promise that, because I know not what is true, and what not, in this Matter. Many a Man hath verily believed he hath seen a Spirit externally before him, when it hath been only an internal Image dancing in his own Brain. By this Means Books are full of Stories of such like Facts, and no Man can tell which of them are by real spirits, which by diabolical Illusion, either within or without the Brain; and which are only strong Imaginations, without any Spirit at all. And therefore I dare not assure you of my own Belief of the Instances I shall give; yet I will promise to bring none but from sober Authors, and such as are usually quoted and allowed of when they speak against accused Witches: And therefore it is but common Justice that they should have as much Credit when they deliver any thing that makes for them.

Lavater of Walking Spirits, (for it is the English Translation that I have by me) 1st Part, 19th chapter, speaks thus. "I heard a grave wise Man, which was a Magistrate in the Territory of Tigurie, who affirmed, That as he and his Servant went through the Pastures in the Summer very early, he spied on whom he knew very well, wickedly defiling himself with a Mare; wherewith being amazed, he returned back again, and knocked at his House whom he supposed he had seen, and there understood for Certainty, that he went not one Foot out of his Chamber that Morning. I rehearse (saith he) this History for this End, That Judges should be very circumspect in these Cases; for the Devil by these means doth often circumvent the Innocent.

Mr. Clark, in his 1st Vol. Of Examples, p. 150. Reports how an evil Spirit appeared to Mr. Earl at one Time in the Form of Mr. Lyddal, and at another under the Form of the famous Mr. Rogers of Dedham. To be sure that evil Spirit appeared to Mr. Earl for some evil purpose; and if instead of appearing to him, he had appeared to some melancholy Person that had been thought to be under the Power of Witchcraft, must those two good Men have come under the Suspicion of being Wizards?

Papists have many Relations of this sort. I will give you one that was either true in Fact, or which from the observation of such like Facts, was contrived to give the readers needful Caution. It in is Barth.despina, in his Questions de Strigibus.----"There he tells us, that S. German lodging in an Inn in the Nighttime, saw a Rendezvous of Witches feasting and dancing; and calling up the People of the House, he asked them if they knew those Persons: they said, Yes, they were their Neighbors, that lived in the same Town; whereupon, to convince them of the Devil's Wiles, he commanded the Spirits to keep their Places; and sent the People to the Houses of those Neighbors that they saw, and they found them all in their Beds at home. Upon this St. German adjured the Devils, and they confessed, that they had taken those Shapes to impose upon credulous Men. Very likely that Legend was contrived by some Body or other who knew that bare Arguments of Reason would not be strong enough to cope with a rooted Error of that Nature; and therefore thought it would be no Sin, but a needful Service, to drive out one Superstition with another: And since it was only to teach People the Snares of the Devil, and save the Lives of innocent People, after so many bloody Executions as they had seen, it will be very necessary that we should receive the Doctrine, tho' we neglect the Tale.

These good People in New England have had, perhaps, as large Experience of these Matters as any; and in the midst of their Confusions, their Clergy had a Meeting at the Desire of their Magistrates, to give their Opinion in several cases proposed to them: And the Question was, Whether Satan may not appear in the Shape of an innocent and pious, as well as of a innocent and wicked Person, to afflict such as suffer by Diabolical Molestation? And they returned it as their Opinion, That he might; and confirmed it not only by Examples of other Times and Places, but by what they had seen amongst themselves. And it is particularly observable, how in the latter Part of their Tragedy, Mr. Cotton Mather changed his Mind in this Point from what he had been of in the Beginning: For in the 27th Page of his Memorable Prov. He advised the afflicted young Woman in his House, if she could not tell the Names of those that she saw at the Witches Meetings, to describe them by their Cloaths. But in the Year 1693, when he visited another in a like Case, he saith, He and his Father gave her solemn Charges, that she should rather die than tell the Names of any whom she might imagine that she saw. See Mr. Mather's Letter in Mr. Cales, p. 20. I speak not this in way of Reproach; for we are not the Men that may upbraid one another for altering our Minds, when God teaches us Wisdom by his Providence; but when others see an Error, let not us continue in it.

Since I have collected and drawn up these Things, I see the Author of The Complete History of Witchcraft, hath printed the First Facts and Depositions that deceived these good People in New-England, and hath stopped there, without giving any manner of Notice of the Mischief that followed, and the Sorrow they had for what they had done: And who can be able to give a rational Answer to such a Case, where the Fact is laid before him so partially? How certainly must our People fall into the same Follies, if their Minds are poisoned with such false History, and no one troubles himself to answer them, and let the Truth be seen. I hope therefore ingenious Men will not only justify me with respect to the Pains that I have taken in this Subject, but will take part in such Labors as are necessary to decry such ill Books, and prevent the Mischief they must necessarily do, if suffered to pass as true History, unanswered.