The demon of superstition was now abroad in New England. The
unaccountable delusion of witchcraft so pervaded the public mind, that
suspicions and jealousies were engendered among the nearest friends;
perplexity and astonishment were visible in every countenance. So
strange were the movements of those who were supposed to be affected
by demons, and such the confessions of reputed witches, that men of
sober judgment and highly gifted minds were involved in the general
belief, and united in the execration of those who were believed to be
confederate with Satan and his emissaries. Neither age nor rank were
exempted from suspicion, and those who were charged with practicing
witchcraft upon almost any testimony, were arrested and committed to
prison. Many deserted their homes and went into other parts of the
country; days of fasting and prayer were multiplied; parts of the
Bible were hung around the neck, as a defence against the power of the
devil; and a constant dread of the black book which was supposed to be
in circulation among the witches, and was said to contain the terms of
treaty with Satan, kept the minds of the credulous in constant distress
and anxiety.
This delusion, it is well known, prevailed mostly in Salem and its
vicinity. To the disturbed fancies of the populace, the very air was
peopled with demons, and Satan, loosed from his chains, was tormenting
men before their time. A few persons withstood the delusion, but it
was at the peril of their lives, if they attempted open opposition:
such was the popular frenzy that, if any question were raised as to the
reality of these unseen agencies, it was considered a fair case for
prosecution, and the bold innovator was in constant peril of reputation
and life. Still there were some who had the courage to remonstrate, and
who employed every art of persuasion and influence to stay the ruin
which they saw was coming on the land. They also favored the escape of
many who were accused; and, though believers themselves, to a certain
extent, in this kind of Satanic influence, they always opposed those
measures of cruelty and shame, in which the fatal tragedy was finally
closed.
Among these benevolent and excellent men, the names of Willard
of Boston, Brattle of Cambridge and Higginson of Salem are most
conspicuous. These gentlemen refused all part in the witch
prosecutions, and earnestly protested against bringing the crime of
witchcraft before the civil tribunals, alleging that the individuals
charged with this sin were in the hands of God, who alone had a right
to punish them, and that the liability to mistake in the nature of
the evidence, and the want of a just discrimination, on a subject
so mysterious, entirely disqualified the courts to act upon such
cases. Their efforts, however, were in vain; yet it may be reasonably
believed that, to some extent, they were able to modify and soften
the proceedings of the courts, though it was impossible to control or
suppress them.
Lyford started for Boston about the tenth of March, spending but a
single day at Worcester. The people at this settlement were astonished
at the tidings which reached them from Boston and Salem; but they were
fortunate enough to escape the mania, and, though disposed to the same
general belief, they viewed the cases of such as were accused in a
much more calm and benevolent light, and were disposed to regard them
as subjects of pity and prayer rather than as outcasts from God and
man. But as Lyford approached Boston, he discovered among the people
a bitter hatred of the supposed witches, and a belief that no service
could be more pleasing to God than to destroy them utterly from the
land. He saw at once the terrible engine of power, which designing
men might seize to punish private wrongs, and push their projects of
revenge for real or supposed injuries. He knew the self-blinding power
of the human mind, and how readily its dark purposes assume the form of
religious duties and wear the counterfeit of the heavenly graces. And
it was this view that filled him with apprehensions and forebodings,
which neither conscious rectitude nor the power of reason could allay.
It was the first object of Lyford, after seeing Strale, to visit his
sister at Salem; but as he could give no satisfactory reason for his
journey, without disclosing his relation to Mary, the government of
the college refused his request, and his long absence in the winter was
assigned as the cause. In this dilemma, it was determined that Walter,
to whom this objection did not apply, should visit Salem and ascertain
the true state of things, and the danger, if any, to which Mary might
be exposed. The engagement of the parties was now publicly known, and
Walter's request was immediately granted.
On his arrival at Salem, which was about the latter part of March,
he found such a state of consternation and terror as could scarcely
be described. Witches were every where. They would flit through the
streets after sunset; and at an early hour in the evening, demons, with
long tails and cloven feet, were stalking about, partly concealed in
mists and shadows, but taking care to show enough of their origin to
keep the good people of Salem within doors after dark, and thus they
had the whole promenade to themselves. Some of the old ladies averred
that they were visible in the day time, and that one of them was
perched in Mr. Higginson's pulpit on a Sabbath afternoon and kept the
place till the good man opened the Bible and read the passage about
resisting the devil, when he suddenly decamped, leaving behind him a
long train of fire, and filling the church with the fumes of sulphur.
Mr. Higginson did not, however, appear conscious of the victory he had
attained; for, when told of it the next day, he remarked, that he never
supposed such extraordinary power in any one passage of the Bible;
but since the testimony was so clear, he hoped they now possessed the
means of expelling all the evil spirits in Salem, and he prayed that
his people would not fail to use these weapons, as they were certainly
lawful, and their own observation had shown them to be successful.
Mary Graham had resided, for several years, in the family of Mr.
Ellerson. This gentleman was of course acquainted with all the
circumstances of her history, and had manifested towards her the utmost
kindness and friendship. In fact, no one, at all acquainted with Miss
Graham, could fail to esteem and admire her character. It had been
the special care of Mrs. Ellerson to instruct her in all the pleasing
accomplishments of genteel life, and at the same time, to restrain
her from those amusements and follies, which dissipate the mind and
unfit it for religious contemplation and duty; she therefore gave, as
much as possible, a serious complexion to her studies and seasons of
social enjoyment. The pupil well repaid the care of the teacher, and,
at the age of eighteen, beautiful, accomplished and beloved by all, she
entered the best circles, and we have already had some glimpses of the
virtues which adorned her character. Mr. and Mrs. Ellerson had been
consulted in every stage of her relations to Strale, and the affair was
not concluded without their entire concurrence and approval. Walter was
of course a welcome visiter at their house, whenever he had opportunity
and leave of absence from college. But these seasons were necessarily
very infrequent, as the college discipline allowed little time for
recreation, and required a strict attention to the regular studies.
The circumstances in which Walter now found his friends, were
altogether new and peculiar. A gloom was spread over the town, which
was relieved by no cheerful meetings of friends, no lively airs of
music, nor even the busy hum of trade. The streets of the village were
silent as the fields that surrounded them, and the necessary offices of
kindred and friendship were imbittered by suspicion, and discharged
with indifference and coldness. The common ties of relationship and
affection were nearly dissolved, and piety itself was forced into
unnatural relations with credulity and superstition.
About twenty persons were now in prison, awaiting their trial for
practicing witchcraft; others were daily suspected and arrested; and
there was scarcely an individual in Salem, who was not more or less
under the influence of this delusion. Mr. and Mrs. Ellerson were among
the most incredulous; yet facts and statements were daily going the
rounds, which were so well supported, and the reality of this mystical
influence was so generally believed, that persons as reflecting and
considerate even as they were, did not escape the incipient stages of
the public malady.
The hour for tea had nearly arrived, when Walter entered the parlor
of Mr. Ellerson. Mary was not at home, having engaged to pass the
afternoon and evening with the Misses Higginson. Mr. and Mrs. Ellerson
were also absent, and Walter, after having spent an hour with Mary and
her companions, and engaged to return for her in the evening, went
back to await the arrival of his friends, the Ellersons. They returned
about seven o'clock, and the conversation was very soon directed to the
prevailing topic of the day.
'You have a strange atmosphere in Salem,' said Walter; 'every thing
looks unnatural and melancholy; I hope the witches have kept away from
your house, Mr. Ellerson?'
'They would not find very pleasant quarters here, Walter; but as
all the other houses in town are full, they may for want of better
accommodations force their way in. Their reception might be somewhat
cold, but I am told they are not very scrupulous where they once get
possession.'
'It is a singular business,' replied Walter; 'but the more I think of
it, the stronger is my conviction that it is all a fatal delusion,
foolish, wonderful, and wicked. I have no patience with such follies. I
have heard to-day stranger things than I ever read in the tales of the
fairies, the legends of Bagdad, or the whole system of pagan fables.'
'You are always rash, Walter. You must look at the evidence in favor
of any alleged fact, however strange, before you decide against its
truth. Have you seen any who profess to be troubled by witches?'
'I have not,' said Walter; 'but that makes no difference; the stories
are incredible. There is no such influence at the present day, if there
ever was.'
'I am going this evening, Walter,' said Mr. Ellerson, 'to see for
myself. There is a reputed witch, and a person said to be afflicted by
her, who reside about half a mile from us. I shall be glad if you will
go with me.'
'Nothing will please me better,' said Walter. 'I have often felt the
influence of Satan, but have never seen him, and if he now makes his
appearance in this gross, terrestrial atmosphere, I would like to know
if my senses can discern him. I think we shall see he has many ways of
making fools of even sober and considerate men.'
In a short time they set off, and a walk of ten minutes among the
pleasant gardens and cottages of Salem, brought them to a house, where
a crowd of people had gathered to witness the visible power of devils
over men. As they entered the room, a female dressed in the rustic
fashion of the country, was seated in a chair before them. She was
pale and silent, but there was a wildness in her appearance, and a
fierce expression in her eye, which indicated that strange elements
were at work, suppressed for the time, but liable to act at any moment
with fearful energy. A supposed witch was presently conducted into the
room. She was an old lady, of tottering gait, and apparently in very
feeble health, but perfectly self-possessed and quiet. At sight of her,
the afflicted person sprang into the air, and uttering the wildest
cries, she raved about the room, and was hardly restrained by the force
of two men from escaping to the street. In a moment more, she sat down
with comparative tranquillity; but again her frame was agitated, and
she was suddenly lifted with no visible effort, and seemed for a moment
suspended in the air; then falling on the floor, she was quiet a little
while, when she gradually assumed a sitting posture, and began to
reason with some master demon, and called upon the witch to cease her
torment.
'I have nothing to do with your torment,' said the old lady.
'Then it is Satan that does it, by your means,' said the girl.
'I have nothing to do with Satan, and know not what your torments are,'
was the reply.
'That is the way Satan blinds you. When you are gone, I have no
suffering.'
'You have greatly wronged me,' replied the lady; 'and on this account
I have no doubt my presence is painful to you. I hope God will forgive
you, and restore that reason, which in his inscrutable wisdom he has
taken away.'
The old lady was now removed from the room, when the afflicted person
relapsed into a state of quiet, which was of course attributed to the
absence of the exciting cause.
'This is a juggler's game, Mr. Ellerson,' said Walter; 'that person
accused is no more a witch than I am. If it be not an intended cheat,
it is a diseased mind, or a nervous irritability, which has been
trained into a system, and acts with some regularity. These people are
some of them knaves, and most of the remainder are fools; the reputed
witch is the only one in her right mind.'
'I cannot decide so readily as you. There is some evidence in the
Scriptures of the reality of visible, Satanic influence, but I am
inclined to believe there has been little, if any of it, since the
Christian era; but how that female preserves her stationary posture in
the air, with no visible support, I cannot imagine. If you, Walter,
are wise on this point, I wish you would enlighten me.'
'There is some mystery in it,' said Strale, 'but so there is in every
thing. To believe such follies we must renounce common sense, and I had
almost said a belief in a beneficent Providence. I have seen persons
poised on the fingers of others, in such a manner as to be apparently
unaffected by gravitation; the cause, no one explains; but if such
cases are scrutinized, it will doubtless be found they are perfectly
consistent with natural laws. Think you, Mr. Ellerson, it is possible
that the devil has such power on earth?'
'He is the prince of the power of the air,' replied Mr. Ellerson. 'We
know that in the time of Christ, he did exercise power over the bodies
and minds of men, and may it not be impious in us to deny that he has
such influence now, though it may be in less degree?'
'I would not be impious or irreverent on this or any other subject,'
rejoined Walter; 'yet there are so many natural causes, which may
account for these things, that I am very slow to attribute them to
the agency of Satan. I believe a limited power over man is possessed
by the arch apostate, but it seems to me the period of its physical
developement was confined to the early ages of the Christian church,
just as the age of miracles was measured and limited by the necessities
of the church. I doubt not he retains power to tempt men. I have felt
it myself, alas! too often; but, Mr. Ellerson, since I have known Mary,
she has led me to a brighter path of contemplation and hope. I would
be no visionary theorist; I would be an humble, serious, every-day
Christian.'
'Such, dear Walter, I would have you to be. Such, indeed, I trust you
are,' replied Mr. Ellerson. 'True piety enlightens as well as purifies;
and let not, I pray you, this mysterious delusion, for such I must
regard it, disturb your faith in that Gospel, which must be your only
hope, for time and eternity. What will be the issue of these troubles,
no one can tell. A dark cloud has come over the land; when it shall
pass away is known only to Him, to whom darkness and the day are alike.'
They had now reached Mr. Ellerson's dwelling. It was a beautiful
habitation, and the moon was shining brightly over the garden and a
neighboring grove, and falling in placid radiance on a little stream
which glided through the field. That spot is now covered by mansions
of opulence and comparative grandeur; but the romance of the scene has
passed away, the white fence of the garden is broken down; the bed of
the stream is covered by the green earth, and the moonbeams shine over
the works of taste and art; but not with the simplicity and grace in
which they danced upon the forest oak and the tangled grove.
Walter remained a few days at Salem, and notwithstanding the state of
things around him, it was one of the happiest periods of his life:
another and a sweeter illusion occupied his mind; the bright pictures
of coming days, undefaced by a single visible stain, passed in rapid
succession before his charmed imagination; the hopes of future years
gathered in beautiful groups on his eye, while he felt that the lovely
object, around which these visions were glittering, would soon be his
own.
During this brief period, the conversation of the two friends was
devoted mainly to the subject of religion. The holy influences of the
Gospel had found their way to the mind and heart of Strale. He saw in a
new light the wonderful scheme of redemption; he admired and adored the
grace which had made him a partaker of its blessings, and he resolved
that his whole future life should illustrate its excellence and glory.
We need not speak of the joy that glowed in the heart of Mary, as she
beheld and admired the change. Her cup of worldly happiness was full to
overflowing; she looked even upon the distracted community around her
in a calm reliance on Him who controls the tempest and stills its rage;
but she saw not the dark cloud that was even then gathering in her sky;
she heard not the dashing of those waves, which were soon to ingulf her
dearest hopes. The song of the sirens was too sweet to be hushed by the
distant thunder, and her unconscious feet were already treading on the
fatal shore.