Having come to the last of the accused whose case our leading purpose
induces us to notice at much length, we present here a specimen of
indictment for the crime of witchcraft.
"THE INDICTMENT OF GEORGE BURROUGHS.
Essex } _Anno Regni Regis et Reginae Willielmi et_
ss. } _Mariae. Nunc Angliae, &c., quarto._
"The jurors of our sovereign lord and lady, the king and queen,
_present_--That George Burroughs, late of Falmouth, in the province of
Massachusetts Bay, in New England, clerk, the 9th day of May, in the
fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lord and lady, William and
Mary, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland
king and queen, defenders of the faith, &c., and divers other days and
times, as well before as after, certain detestable arts, called
witchcrafts and sorceries, wickedly and feloniously hath used,
practiced, and exercised, at and within the township of Salem, in the
county of Essex aforesaid, in, upon, and against one Mary Walcutt, of
Salem Village, in the county of Essex, single woman; by which said
wicked arts the said Mary Walcutt, the 9th day of May, in the fourth
year abovesaid, and divers other days and times, as well before as
after, was and is tortured, afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted, and
tormented, against the peace of our sovereign lord and lady, the king
and queen, and against the form of the statute in that case made and
provided.
"Witnesses: MARY WALCOTT, SARAH VIBBER,
MERCY LEWIS, ANN PUTNAM,
ELIZ. HUBBARD.
"Indorsed by the grand jury, _Billa vera_."
Three other similar indictments accompanied the above, for witchcrafts
practiced by Burroughs upon Elizabeth Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, and Ann Putnam
severally.
S. P. Fowler, in the edition of "Salem Witchcraft" edited by him, says, on
page 278,--
"The trial of Rev. Geo. Burroughs appears to have attracted general notice
from the circumstance of his being a former clergyman in Salem Village,
and supposed to be a leader amongst witches."