Captain Alden before the Magistrates.
There was an additional magistrate sitting on this occasion, Master
Bartholomew Gedney--making three in all.
Mistress Ann Putnam, the she-wolf, as her young brother-in-law had
called her, was not present among the accusers--leaving the part of the
"afflicted" to be played by the other and younger members of the circle.
There was another Captain present, also a stranger, a Captain Hill; and
he being also a tall man, perplexed some of the girls at first. One even
pointed at him, until she was better informed in a whisper by a man who
was holding her up. And then she cried out that it was "Alden! Alden!"
who was afflicting her.
At length one of the magistrates ordering Captain Alden to stand upon a
chair, there was no further trouble upon that point; and the usual
demonstrations began. As the accused naturally looked upon the
"afflicted" girls, they went off into spasms, shrieks and convulsions.
This was nearly always the first proceeding, as it created a profound
sympathy for them, and was almost sufficient of itself to condemn the
accused.
"The tall man is pinching me!"
"Oh, he is choking me!"
"He is choking me! do hold his hands!"
"He stabs me with his sword--oh, take it away from him!"
Such were the exclamations that came from the writhing and convulsed
girls.
"Turn away his head! and hold his hands!" cried Squire Hathorne. "Take
away his sword!" said Squire Gedney while the old Captain grew red and
wrathful at the babel around him, and at the indignities to which he was
subject.
"Captain Alden, why do you torment these poor girls who never injured
you?"
"Torment them!--you see I am not touching them. I do not even know them;
I never saw them before in my life," growled the indignant old seaman.
"See! there is the little yellow bird kissing his lips!" cried Abigail
Williams. "Now it is whispering into his ear. It is bringing him a
message from the other witch Dulcibel Burton. See! see! there it goes
back again to her--through the window!"
So well was this done, that probably half of the people present would
have been willing to swear the next day, that they actually saw the
yellow bird as she described it.
"Ask him if he did not give her the yellow bird," said Leah Herrick.
"But probably he will lie about it."
"Did you not give the witch, Dulcibel Burton, a yellow bird, which is
one of her familiars?" said Squire Hathorne sternly.
"I gave her a canary bird that I brought from the West Indies, if that
is what you mean," replied the Captain. "But what harm was there in
that?"
"I knew it! The yellow bird told me so, when it came to peck out my
eyes," cried Mercy Lewis. "Oh! there it is again!" and she struck wildly
into the air before her face. "Drive it away! Do drive it away, some
one!"
Here a young man pulled out his rapier, and began thrusting at the
invisible bird in a furious manner.
"Now it comes to me!" cried Sarah Churchill. And then the other girls
also cried out, and began striking into the air before their faces, till
there was anew a perfect babel of cries, shrieks and sympathizing
voices.
Master Raymond, amid all his indignation at such barefaced and wicked
and yet successful imposture, could hardly avoid smiling at the
expression of the old seaman's face as he stood on the chair, and
fronted all this tempest of absurd and villainous accusation. At first
there had been a deep crimson glow of the hottest wrath upon the old
man's cheeks and brow; but now he seemed to have been shocked into a
kind of stupor, so unexpected and weighty were the charges against him,
and made with such vindictive fierceness; and yet so utterly absurd,
while at the same time, so impossible of being refuted.
"He bought the yellow bird from Tituba's mother--her spectre told me
so!" cried Abigail Williams.
"What do you say to that, Master Alden?" said Squire Gedney. "That is a
serious charge."
"I never saw any Tituba or her mother," exclaimed the Captain, again
growing indignant.
"Who then did you buy the witch's familiar of?" asked Squire Hathorne.
"I do not know--some old negro wench!"
Here the magistrates looked at each other sagely, and nodded their
wooden heads. It was a fatal admission. "You had better confess all,
and give glory to God!" said Squire Gedney solemnly.
"I trust I shall always be ready to give glory to God," answered the old
man stoutly; "but I do not see that it would glorify Him to confess to a
pack of lies. You have known me for many years, Master Gedney, but did
you ever know me to speak an untruth, or seek to injure any innocent
persons, much less women and children?"
Squire Gedney said that he had known the accused many years, and had
even been at sea with him, and had always supposed him to be an honest
man; but now he saw good cause to alter that judgment.
"Turn and look now again upon those afflicted persons," concluded Squire
Gedney.
As the accused turned and again looked upon them, all of the "afflicted"
fell down on the floor as if he had struck them a heavy blow--moaning
and crying out against him.
"I judge you by your works; and believe you now to be a wicked man and a
witch," said Squire Gedney in a very severe tone.
Captain Alden turned then and looked directly at the magistrate for
several moments. "Why does not my look knock you down too?" he said
indignantly. "If it hurts them so much, would it not hurt you a little?"
"He wills it not to hurt you," cried Leah Herrick. "He is looking at
you, but his spectre has its back towards you."
There was quite a roar of applause through the crowded house at such an
exposure of the old Captain's trickery. He was very cunning to be sure;
but the "afflicted" girls could see through his knavery.
"Make him touch the poor girls," said the Reverend Master Noyes. For it
was the accepted theory that by doing this, the witch, in spite of
himself, reabsorbed into his own body the devilish energy that had gone
out of him, and the afflicted were healed. This was repeatedly done
through the progress of these examinations and the after trials; and was
always found to be successful, both as a cure of the sufferers, and an
undeniable proof that the person accused was really a witch.
In this case the "afflicted" girls were brought up to Captain Alden, one
after the other and upon his being made to touch them with his hand,
they invariably drew a deep breath of relief, and said they felt
entirely well again.
"You see Captain Alden," said Squire Gedney solemnly, "none of the
tests fail in your case. If there were only one proof, we might doubt;
but as the Scripture says, by the mouths of two or three witnesses shall
the truth be established. If you were innocent a just God would not
allow you to be overcome in this manner."
"I know that there is a just God, and I know that I am entirely
innocent" replied the noble old seaman in a firm voice. "But it is not
for an uninspired man like me, to attempt to reconcile the mysteries of
His providence. Far better men than I am, even prophets and apostles,
have been brought before magistrates and judges, and their good names
lied away, and they condemned to the prison and the scaffold and the
cross. Why then, should I expect to fare better than they did? All I can
do, like Job of old, is to maintain my integrity--even though Satan and
all his imps be let loose for a time against me."
Here the Reverend Master Noyes rose excitedly, and said that the
decisions of heathen courts and judges were one thing; and the decisions
of godly magistrates, who were all members of the church of the true
God, and therefore inspired by his spirit, was a very different thing.
He said it was simply but another proof of the guilt of the accused,
that he should compare himself with the apostles and the martyrs; and
these worshipful Christian magistrates with heathen magistrates and
judges. Hearing him talk in this ribald way, he could no longer doubt
the accusation brought against him; for there was no surer proof of a
man or woman having dealings with Satan, than to defame and calumniate
God's chosen people.
As Mr. Noyes took his seat, the magistrates said they had heard
sufficient, and ordered the committal of the accused to Boston prison to
await trial.
"I will give bail for Captain Alden's appearance, to the whole amount of
my estate," said Joseph Putnam coming forward. "A man of his age, who
has served the colony in so many important positions, should be treated
with some leniency."
"We are very sorry for the Captain," answered Squire Gedney, "but as
this is a capital offence, no bail can be taken."
"Thank you, Master Putnam, but I want no bail," said the old seaman
proudly. "If the colony of Massachusetts Bay, which my father helped to
build up, and for which I have labored so long and faithfully, chooses
to requite my services in this ungrateful fashion, let it be so. The
shame is on Massachusetts not on me!"