us, is all the Plot which the Devil is managing in the _Witchcraft_ now
upon us. It is judged, That the Devil rais'd the Storm, whereof we read
in the Eighth Chapter of _Matthew_, on purpose to over-set the little
Vessel wherein the Disciples of Our Lord were Embarqued with Him. And it
may be fear'd, that in the _Horrible Tempest_ which is now upon
ourselves, the design of the Devil is to sink that Happy Settlement of
Government, wherewith Almighty God has graciously enclined Their
Majesties to favour us. We are blessed with a GOVERNOUR, than whom no
man can be more willing to serve Their Majesties, or this their
Province: He is continually venturing his _All_ to do it: and were not
the Interests of his Prince dearer to him than his own, he could not but
soon be weary of the _Helm_, whereat he sits. We are under the Influence
of a LIEUTENANT GOVERNOUR, who not only by being admirably accomplished
both with Natural and Acquired Endowments, is fitted for the Service of
Their Majesties, but also with an unspotted Fidelity applies himself to
that Service. Our COUNCELLOURS are some of our most Eminent Persons, and
as Loyal Subjects to the Crown, as hearty lovers of their Country. Our
Constitution also is attended with singular Priviledges; All which
Things are by the Devil exceedingly _Envy'd_ unto us; And the Devil will
doubtless take this occasion for the raising of such complaints and
clamours, as may be of pernicious consequence unto some part of our
present Settlement, if he can so far _Impose_. But that which most of all
Threatens us, in our present Circumstances, is the _Misunderstanding_,
and so the _Animosity_, whereinto the _Witchcraft_ now Raging, has
Enchanted us. The Embroiling, first, of our _Spirits_, and then of our
_Affairs_, is evidently as considerable a Branch of the Hellish Intrigue
which now vexes us as any one Thing whatsoever. The Devil has made us
like a _Troubled Sea_, and the _Mire_ and _Mud_ begins now also to
heave up apace. Even Good and Wise Men suffer themselves to fall into
their _Paroxysms_; and the Shake which the Devil is now giving us,
fetches up the _Dirt_ which before lay still at the bottom of our
sinful Hearts. If we allow the Mad Dogs of Hell to poyson us by biting
us, we shall imagine that we see nothing but such things about us, and
like such things fly upon all that we see. Were it not for what is IN
US, for my part, I should not fear a thousand Legions of Devils: 'tis by
our Quarrels that we spoil our Prayers; and if our humble, zealous, and
united Prayers are once hindred: Alas, the _Philistines_ of Hell have
cut our Locks for us; they will then blind us, mock us, ruine us: In
truth, I cannot altogether blame it, if People are a little transported,
when they conceive all the secular Interests of themselves and their
Families at the Stake; and yet at the sight of these Heartburnings, I
cannot forbear the Exclamation of the Sweet-spirited _Austin_, in his
Pacificatory Epistle to _Jerom_, on the Contest with _Ruffin_, _O misera
& miseranda Conditio!_ O Condition, truly miserable! But what shall be
done to cure these Distractions? It is wonderfully necessary, that some
healing Attempts be made at this time: And I must needs confess (if I
may speak so much) like a _Nazianzen_, I am so desirous of a share in
them, that if, being thrown overboard, were needful to allay the
_Storm_, I should think Dying, a Trifle to be undergone, for so great a
Blessedness.
S. V. I would most importunately in the first place, entreat every Man
to maintain an holy Jealousie over his Soul at this time, and think; May
not the Devil make me, though ignorantly and unwillingly, to be an
Instrument of doing something that he would have to be done? For my
part, I freely own my Suspicion, lest something of Enchantment, have
reach'd more Persons and Spirits among us, than we are well aware of.
But then, let us more generally agree to maintain a kind Opinion one of
another. That Charity without which, even our giving our Bodies to be
burned would profit nothing, uses to proceed by this Rule; It is kind,
it is not easily provok'd, it thinks no Evil, it believes all things,
hopes all things. But if we disregard this Rule of Charity, we shall
indeed give our Body Politick to be burned. I have heard it affirmed,
That in the late great Flood upon _Connecticut_, those Creatures which
could not but have quarrelled at another time, yet now being driven
together very agreeably stood by one another. I am sure we shall be
worse than _Brutes_ if we fly upon one another at a time when the Floods
of Belial make us afraid. On the one side; [Alas, my Pen, must thou
write the word, _Side_ in the Business?] There are very worthy Men, who
having been call'd by God, when and where this Witchcraft first appeared
upon the Stage to encounter it, are earnestly desirous to have it sifted
unto the bottom of it. And I pray, which of us all that should live
under the continual Impressions of the Tortures, Outcries, and Havocks
which Devils confessedly Commissioned by Witches make among their
distressed Neighbours, would not have a Biass that way beyond other Men?
Persons this way disposed have been Men eminent for Wisdom and Vertue,
and Men acted by a noble Principle of Conscience: Had not Conscience (of
Duty to God) prevailed above other Considerations with them, they would
not for all they are worth in the World have medled in this Thorny
business. Have there been any disputed Methods used in discovering the
Works of Darkness? It may be none but what have had great Presedents in
other parts of the World; which may, though not altogether justifie, yet
much alleviate a Mistake in us if there should happen to be found any
such mistake in so dark a Matter. They have done what they have done,
with multiplied Addresses to God for his Guidance, and have not been
insensible how much they have exposed themselves in what they have done.
Yea, they would gladly contrive and receive an expedient, how the
shedding of Blood, might be spared, by the Recovery of Witches, not gone
beyond the Reach of Pardon. And after all, they invite all good Men, in
Terms to this purpose, 'Being amazed at the Number and Quality of those
accused of late, we do not know but Satan by his Wiles may have
enwrapped some innocent Persons; and therefore should earnestly and
humbly desire the most Critical Enquiry upon the place, to find out the
Falacy; that there may be none of the Servants of the Lord, with the
Worshippers of _Baal_.' I may also add, That whereas, if once a Witch do
ingeniously confess among us, no more _Spectres_ do in their Shapes
after this, trouble the Vicinage; if any guilty Creatures will
accordingly to so good purpose confess their Crime to any Minister of
God, and get out of the Snare of the Devil, as no Minister will discover
such a Conscientious Confession, so I believe none in the Authority
will press him to discover it; but rejoyc'd in a Soul sav'd from Death.
On the other side [if I must again use the word _Side_, which yet I hope
to live to blot out] there are very worthy Men, who are not a little
dissatisfied at the Proceedings in the Prosecution of this Witchcraft.
And why? Not because they would have any such abominable thing, defended
from the Strokes of Impartial Justice. No, those Reverend Persons who
gave in this Advice unto the Honourable Council; 'That Presumptions,
whereupon Persons may be Committed, and much more Convictions, whereupon
Persons may be Condemned, as guilty of Witchcrafts, ought certainly to
be more considerable, than barely the Accused Persons being represented
by a _Spectre_ unto the Afflicted; Nor are Alterations made in the
Sufferers, by a Look or Touch of the Accused, to be esteemed an
infallible Evidence of Guilt; but frequently liable to be abused by the
Devils Legerdemains': I say, those very Men of God most conscientiously
Subjoined this Article to that Advice,--'Nevertheless we cannot but
humbly recommend unto the Government, the speedy and vigorous
Prosecution of such as have rendred themselves Obnoxious; according to
the best Directions given in the Laws of God, and the wholsome Statutes
of the _English_ Nation for the Detection of Witchcraft.' Only 'tis a
most commendable Cautiousness, in those gracious Men, to be very shye
lest the Devil get so far into our Faith, as that for the sake of many
Truths which we find he tells us, we come at length to believe any Lyes,
wherewith he may abuse us: whereupon, what a Desolation of Names would
soon ensue, besides a thousand other pernicious Consequences? and lest
there should be any such Principles taken up, as when put into Practice
must unavoidably cause the _Righteous to perish with the Wicked_; or
procure the Bloodshed of any Persons, like the _Gibeonites_, whom some
learned Men suppose to be under a false Notion of Witches, by _Saul_
exterminated.
They would have all due steps taken for the Extinction of Witches; but
they would fain have them to be sure ones; nor is it from any thing, but
the real and hearty goodness of such Men, that they are loth to surmise
ill of other Men, till there be the fullest Evidence for the surmises.
As for the Honourable Judges that have been hitherto in the Commission,
they are above my Consideration: wherefore I will only say thus much of
them, That such of them as I have the Honour of a Personal Acquaintance
with, are Men of an excellent Spirit; and as at first they went about
the work for which they were Commission'd, with a very great aversion,
so they have still been under Heart-breaking Sollicitudes, how they
might therein best serve both God and Man? In fine, Have there been
faults on any side fallen into? Surely, they have at worst been but the
faults of a well-meaning Ignorance. On every side then, why should not
we endeavour with amicable Correspondencies, to help one another out of
the Snares wherein the Devil would involve us? To wrangle the Devil out
of the Country, will be truly a New Experiment: Alas! we are not aware
of the Devil, if we do not think, that he aims at inflaming us one
against another; and shall we suffer our selves to be Devil-ridden? or
by any unadvisableness contribute unto the Widening of our Breaches?
To say no more, there is a published and credible Relation; which
affirms, That very lately in a part of _England_, where some of the
Neighbourhood were quarrelling, a _Raven_ from the Top of a Tree very
articulately and unaccountably cry'd out, _Read the Third of Colossians
and the Fifteenth!_ Were I my self to chuse what sort of Bird I would be
transformed into, I would say, _O that I had wings like a Dove!_
Nevertheless, I will for once do the Office, which as it seems, Heaven
sent that Raven upon; even to beg, _That the Peace of God may Rule in
our Hearts._
S. VI. 'Tis necessary that we unite in every thing: but there are
especially two Things wherein our Union must carry us along together. We
are to unite in our Endeavours to deliver our distressed Neighbours,
from the horrible Annoyances and Molestations with which a dreadful
Witchcraft is now persecuting of them. To have an hand in any thing,
that may stifle or obstruct a Regular Detection of that Witchcraft, is
what we may well with an holy fear avoid. Their Majesties good Subjects
must not every day be torn to pieces by horrid Witches, and those bloody
Felons, be left wholly unprosecuted. The Witchcraft is a business that
will not be sham'd, without plunging us into sore Plagues, and of long
continuance. But then we are to unite in such Methods for this
deliverance, as may be unquestionably safe, lest _the latter end be
worse than the beginning_. And here, what shall I say? I will venture to
say thus much, That we are safe, when we make just as much use of all
Advice from the invisible World, as God sends it for. It is a safe
Principle, That when God Almighty permits any Spirits from the unseen
Regions, to visit us with surprizing Informations, there is then
something to be enquired after; we are then to enquire of one another,
What Cause there is for such things? The peculiar Government of God,
over the unbodied Intelligences, is a sufficient Foundation for this
Principle. When there has been a Murder committed, an Apparition of the
slain Party accusing of any Man, altho' such Apparitions have oftner
spoke true than false, is not enough to Convict the Man as guilty of
that Murder; but yet it is a sufficient occasion for Magistrates to make
a particular Enquiry, whether such a Man have afforded any ground for
such an Accusation. Even so a Spectre exactly resembling such or such a
Person, when the Neighbourhood are tormented by such Spectres, may
reasonably make Magistrates inquisitive whether the Person so
represented have done or said any thing that may argue their confederacy
with Evil Spirits, altho' it may be defective enough in point of
Conviction; especially at a time, when 'tis possible, some over-powerful
Conjurer may have got the skill of thus exhibiting the Shapes of all
sorts of Persons, on purpose to stop the Prosecution of the Wretches,
whom due Enquiries thus provoked, might have made obnoxious unto
Justice.
_Quaere_, Whether if God would have us to proceed any further than bare
_Enquiry_, upon what Reports there may come against any Man, from the
World of _Spirits_, he will not by his Providence at the same time have
brought into our hands, these more evident and sensible things,
whereupon a man is to be esteemed a Criminal. But I will venture to say
this further, that it will be safe to account the Names as well as the
Lives of our Neighbors; two considerable things to be brought under a
Judicial Process, until it be found by Humane Observations that the
Peace of Mankind is thereby disturbed. We are Humane Creatures, and we
are safe while we say, they must be Humane Witnesses, who also have in
the particular Act of Seeing, or Hearing, which enables them to be
Witnesses, had no more than Humane Assistances, that are to turn the
Scale when Laws are to be executed. And upon this Head I will further
add: A wise and a just Magistrate, may so far give way to a common
Stream of Dissatisfaction, as to forbear acting up to the heighth of his
own Perswasion, about what may be judged convictive of a Crime, whose
Nature shall be so abstruse and obscure, as to raise much Disputation.
Tho' he may not do what he should leave undone, yet he may leave undone
something that else he could do, when the Publick Safety makes an
_Exigency_.
S. VII. I was going to make one Venture more; that is, to offer some
safe Rules, for the finding out of the Witches, which are at this day
our accursed Troublers: but this were a Venture too _Presumptuous_ and
_Icarian_ for me to make; I leave that unto those Excellent and
Judicious Persons, with whom I am not worthy to be numbred: All that I
shall do, shall be to lay before my Readers, a brief _Synopsis_ of what
has been written on that Subject, by a Triumvirate of as Eminent Persons
as have ever handled it. I will begin with,
AN ABSTRACT OF MR. PERKINS'S WAY FOR
THE DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.
I. _There are +Presumptions+, which do at least probably and
conjecturally note one to be a +Witch+. These give occasion to Examine,
yet they are no sufficient Causes of Conviction._
II. _If any Man or Woman be notoriously defamed for a +Witch+, this
yields a strong Suspition. Yet the Judge ought carefully to look, that
the Report be made by +Men+ of Honesty and Credit._
III. _If a +Fellow-Witch+, or +Magician+, give Testimony of any Person
to be a +Witch+; this indeed is not sufficient for Condemnation; but it
is a fit Presumption to cause a strait Examination._
IV. _If after Cursing there follow Death, or at least some mischief:
for +Witches+ are wont to practise their mischievous Facts, by Cursing
and Banning: This also is a sufficient matter of Examination, tho' not
of Conviction._
V. _If after Enmity, Quarrelling, or Threatning, a present mischief does
follow; that also is a great Presumption._
VI. _If the Party suspected be the Son or Daughter, the man-servant or
maid-servant, the Familiar Friend, near Neighbor, or old Companion, of a
known and convicted Witch; this may be likewise a Presumption; for
Witchcraft is an Art that may be learned, and conveyed from man to
man._
VII. _Some add this for a Presumption: If the Party suspected be found
to have the Devil's mark; for it is commonly thought, when the Devil
makes his Covenant with them, he alwaies leaves his mark behind them,
whereby he knows them for his own:--a mark whereof no evident Reason in
Nature can be given._
VIII. _Lastly, If the party examined be Unconstant, or contrary to
himself, in his deliberate Answers, it argueth a Guilty Conscience,
which stops the freedom of Utterance. And yet there are causes of
Astonishment, which may befal the Good, as well as the Bad._
IX. _But then there is a +Conviction+, discovering the +Witch+, which
must proceed from just and sufficient proofs, and not from bare
presumptions._
X. _Scratching of the suspected party, and Recovery thereupon, with
several other such weak Proofs; as also, the fleeting of the suspected
Party, thrown upon the Water; these Proofs are so far from being
sufficient, that some of them are, after a sort, practices of
Witchcraft._
XI. _The Testimony of some Wizzard, tho' offering to shew the Witches
Face in a Glass: This, I grant, may be a good Presumption, to cause a
strait Examination; but a sufficient Proof of Conviction it cannot be.
If the Devil tell the Grand Jury, that the person in question is a
Witch, and offers withal to confirm the same by Oath, should the Inquest
receive his Oath or Accusation to condemn the man? Assuredly no. And
yet, that is as much as the Testimony of another Wizzard, who only by
the Devil's help reveals the Witch._
XII. _If a man, being dangerously sick, and like to dye, upon
Suspicion, will take it on his Death, that such a one hath bewitched
him, it is an Allegation of the same nature, which may move the Judge to
examine the Party, but it is of no moment for Conviction._
XIII. _Among the sufficient means of Conviction, the first is, the free
and voluntary Confession of the Crime, made by the party suspected and
accused, after Examination. I say not, that a bare confession is
sufficient, but a Confession after due Examination, taken upon pregnant
presumptions. What needs now more witness or further Enquiry?_
XIV. _There is a second sufficient Conviction, by the Testimony of two
Witnesses, of good and honest Report, avouching before the Magistrate,
upon their own Knowledge, these two things: either that the party
accused hath made a League with the Devil, or hath done some known
practice of witchcraft. And, +all Arguments that do necessarily prove
either of these+, being brought by two sufficient Witnesses, are of
force fully to convince the party suspected._
XV. _If it can be proved, that the party suspected hath called upon the
+Devil+, or desired his Help, this is a pregnant proof of a League
formerly made between them._
XVI. _If it can be proved, that the party hath entertained a Familiar
Spirit, and had Conference with it, in the likeness of some visible
Creatures; here is Evidence of witchcraft._
XVII. _If the witnesses affirm upon Oath, that the suspected person hath
done any action or work which necessarily infers a Covenant made, as,
that he hath used Enchantments, divined things before they come to pass,
and that peremptorily, raised Tempests, caused the Form of a dead man
to appear; it proveth sufficiently, that he or she is a +Witch+._ This is
the Substance of Mr. _Perkins_.
Take next the Sum of Mr. _Gaules_ Judgment about the Detection of
Witches. '1. Some Tokens for the Trial of Witches, are altogether
unwarrantable. Such are the old Paganish Sign, the Witches _Long Eyes_;
the Tradition of Witches not weeping; the casting of the Witch into the
Water, with Thumbs and Toes ty'd a-cross. And many more such Marks,
which if they are to know a Witch by, certainly 'tis no other Witch, but
the User of them. 2. There are some Tokens for the Trial of Witches,
more probable, and yet not so certain as to afford Conviction. Such are
strong and long Suspicion: Suspected Ancestors, some appearance of Fact,
the Corps bleeding upon the Witches touch, the Testimony of the Party
bewitched, the supposed Witches unusual Bodily marks, the Witches usual
Cursing and Banning, the Witches lewd and naughty kind of Life. 3. Some
Signs there are of a Witch, more certain and infallible. As, _firstly_,
Declining of Judicature, or faultering, faulty, unconstant, and contrary
Answers, upon judicial and deliberate examination. _Secondly_, When upon
due Enquiry into a person's Faith and Manners, there are found _all_ or
_most_ of the Causes which produce Witchcraft, namely, _God_ forsaking,
_Satan_ invading, particular _Sins_ disposing; and lastly, a compact
compleating all. _Thirdly_, The Witches free Confession, together with
full Evidence of the Fact. _Confession_ without _Fact_ may be a meer
Delusion, and _Fact_ without _Confession_ may be a meer Accident.
_4thly_, The semblable Gestures and Actions of suspected Witches, with
the comparable Expressions of Affections, which in all Witches have been
observ'd and found very much alike. _Fifthly_, The Testimony of the
Party bewitched, whether pining or dying, together with the joynt Oaths
of sufficient persons, that have seen certain prodigious Pranks or
Feats, wrought by the Party accused. 4. Among the most unhappy
circumstances to convict a Witch, one is, a maligning and oppugning the
Word, Work, and Worship of God, and by any extraordinary sign seeking to
seduce any from it. See _Deut. 13.1, 2._, _Mat. 24.24._, _Act. 13.8, 10._,
_2 Tim. 3.8._ Do but mark well the places, and for this very Property
(of thus opposing and perverting) they are all there concluded arrant
and absolute Witches. 5. It is not requisite, that so _palpable Evidence
of Conviction_ should here come in, as in other more sensible matters;
'tis enough, if there be but so much _circumstantial_ Proof or Evidence,
as the Substance, Matter, and Nature of such an abstruse Mystery of
Iniquity will well admit. [_I suppose he means, that whereas in other
Crimes we look for more direct proofs, in this there is a greater use of
consequential ones._] But I could heartily wish, that the Juries were
empanell'd of the most eminent Physicians, Lawyers, and Divines that a
Country could afford. In the mean time 'tis not to be called a
Toleration, if Witches escape, where Conviction is wanting.' To this
purpose our _Gaule_.