The foregoing letter speaks for itself; and in conformity to the
writer's suggestions, we shall now introduce to our readers the new
scenes and hitherto unknown actors in that fatal tragedy, which stains
so deeply the history of New England. Follies equally great with those
of the witchcraft delusion may yet infest a land as enlightened and
civilized as ours; and we cannot agree with our friend in the belief
that it is even now too late to revive the same superstition, though
its madness may not, as then, terminate in blood. Not more than twelve
years since, this same delusion existed in a neighboring state, and
within a few miles of its metropolis; numbers visited the spot, and to
this day believe that invisible and mysterious agencies controlled the
movements of individuals and families.
It is the object of the following pages to hold up the beacons of the
past, and in this connection to illustrate the social condition, the
habits, manners, and general state of New England, in these early days
of its history. We love to contemplate the piety and simplicity, while
we deplore the superstition of those times. Much of the former still
remains to challenge our admiration and excite our gratitude; the
latter, we trust, is passing away. Our fathers were not faultless, but
as a community, a nobler race was never seen on the globe: they were
indeed in some degree superstitious and intolerant, but far less so
than even the brilliant circles of wealth and fashion they left behind,
in their father land; and it will be well for their sons, if they do
not stumble over worse delusions, and fall into more fatal errors, than
those of their primitive ancestors.