Low, Thomas, ii. 306.
Luther, Martin, 344.
M.
Mackenzie, Sir George, 350.
Magistrates, ii. 354.
Manning, Jacob, ii. 142.
Maple-sugar, 203.
Marblehead, ii. 519.
March, John, ii. 234.
Marriage, early, 160; ii. 236.
Marsh, Samuel, ii. 307.
Marsh, Zachariah, ii. 307.
Marshall, Benjamin, ii. 306.
Marshall, Samuel, 122.
Marston, Mary, ii. 349.
Martin, Susannah, 427;
arrest and examination, ii. 145;
trial and execution, 268.
Mascon, Devil of, 359.
Mason, Thomas, ii. 267.
Maverick, Samuel, 220.
Maverick, Samuel, Jr., ii. 228.
Mather, Cotton, 112, 384, 391, 454; ii. 89, 211, 250, 257, 299, 341,
366, 487, 494, 503, 553.
Mather, Increase, ii. 89, 299, 308, 345, 404, 494, 553.
Mechanical occupations, 224.
Mede, Joseph, 394.
Medical profession, ii. 361.
Meeting, intermission of, on the Lord's Day, 207.
Meeting-house of Salem Village, 243, 244, 285.
Meeting-house of Salem Village, scenes at, 263; ii. 34, 60, 94, 510.
Meeting-house of First Church in Salem, scenes at, ii. 111, 257, 290.
Melancthon, Philip, 344.
Middlecot, Richard, ii. 553.
Milton, John, 387, 467.
Ministers, ii. 267, 362.
Minot, Stephen, 125.
Mirage, 386.
Mitchel, Jonathan, 434, 437.
Moody, Lady Deborah, 57, 183.
Moody, Joshua, ii. 309.
Moore, Captain, 187.
Moore, Caleb, 188.
Moore, Jane, 188.
More, Henry, 400.
Morrel, Robert, ii. 153, 191.
Morrell, Sarah, ii. 140, 144.
Morse, Anthony, 447.
Morse, Elizabeth, 449-453.
Morse, William, 438.
Morton, Charles ii. 89.
Mosely, Samuel, 121.
Moulton, John, ii. 38, 336, 478.
Moulton, Robert, 40.
Moulton, Robert, Jr., 40.
Moxon, George, 419.
N.
Narragansett expedition, 118-135.
Narragansett townships, 133.
Nauscopy, 386.
Navigation, early New-England, 440.
Neal, Joseph, ii. 164, 274.
Needham, Anthony, 155, 184, 226, 236; ii. 48.
Newbury, 9.
New-Haven Phantom-ship, 384.
New-York Negro Plot, ii. 437.
Newman, Antipas, 58.
New Salem, 149.
Newton, Thomas, ii. 254;
autograph, 314.
Nichols, Isaac, ii. 177.
Nichols, John, 241, ii. 133.
Nichols, Richard, 220.
Nichols, William, 154.
Norfolk, old county of, ii. 228.
Norris, Edward, 57, 237.
Norris, Edward, Jr., 205.
Norton, John, 423, 425; ii. 450.
Noyes, Nicholas, 117, 271, 299; ii. 43, 48, 55, 89, 170, 172, 184, 245,
253, 269, 290, 292, 365, 485, 550;
autograph, 314.
Numa Pompilius, 330.
Nurse, Francis, 79, 84, 91, 214, 287, 319, 320; ii. 9, 467.
Nurse, Rebecca, 80;
her arrest and examination, ii. 56-71, 111, 136;
trial, 268, 270-289;
excommunication, 290;
execution, 292, 480, 483.
Nurse, Samuel, 80; ii. 57, 288, 479, 485, 497, 506, 545-553.
Nurse, Sarah, 80; ii. 287, 467.
O.
Obinson, Mrs., ii. 456.
Ocular fascination, 412; ii. 520.
Oliver, Christian, ii. 267.
Oliver, Mary, 420.
Oliver, Peter, 425.
[i.xxxvi]Oliver, Thomas, 143, 191; ii. 253, 267.
Orchard Farm, 24, 87.
Orne, John, 57.
Osborne, Hannah, ii. 272.
Osborne, William, 152, 227; ii. 272.
Osburn, Alexander, ii. 18.
Osburn, John, ii. 19.
Osburn, Sarah, ii. 11, 17;
examination, 20;
death, 32.
Osgood, Mary, ii. 349, 404, 406.
Osgood, William, 432.
P.
Page, Abraham, 139.
Paine, Elizabeth, ii. 208.
Paine, Stephen, ii. 208.
Paine, Robert, 423; ii. 449.
Palfrey, Peter, 63, 129.
Palfrey, John G., 125.
Palisadoes, 31.
Parker, Alice, ii. 179-185;
trial and execution, 324.
Parker, John, ii. 179, 181.
Parker, John, 189; ii. 38, 48, 124.
Parker, Mary, trial and execution, ii. 324, 325, 480.
Parris, Elizabeth, ii. 3.
Parris, Samuel, 170, 172, 278;
autograph, 280, 286-320; ii. 1, 7, 9, 25, 31, 43, 49, 55, 92, 275, 290,
485-503, 515, 545-553.
Parris, Thomas, 286; ii. 499.
Parsonage of Salem Village, 243, 386; ii. 74, 466, 493.
Parsons, Hugh, 419.
Parsons, Mary, 418.
Partridge, John, ii. 150.
Payson, Edward, ii. 218, 494, 553.
Peabody, John, ii. 475.
Peach, Barnard, ii. 414.
Pease, Robert, ii. 208.
Peele, William, ii. 267.
Peine forte et dure, ii. 338, 484.
Peirce, Joseph, 123.
Pendleton, Bryan, 256.
Penn, William, 414.
Perkins, Isaac, ii. 306.
Perkins, Nathaniel, ii. 306.
Perkins, Thomas, ii. 475.
Perkins, William, 362.
Perley, Samuel, ii. 216.
Perley, Thomas, ii. 475.
Peters, Elizabeth, 50-53, 57.
Peters, Hugh, 47, 50, 51-59.
Pettingell, Richard, 40.
Phelps, Henry, 237.
Phelps, John, 187.
Phips, Sir William, 131, 451; ii. 99, 250;
autograph, 314, 345.
Phips, Spencer, ii. 482.
Phillips, Margaret, ii. 272.
Phillips, Samuel, 299; ii. 218, 494, 553.
Phillips, Tabitha, ii. 272.
Phillips, Walter, ii. 272.
Pickering, John, 46.
Pickering, Timothy, 46, 227.
Pierpont, James, 384.
Pike, John, ii. 226, 229.
Pike, Robert, ii. 226, 228, 250, 449, 538-544.
Pikeworth, 123; ii. 329.
Pitcher, Moll, ii. 521.
Pit-saw, 191.
Poindexter, ii. 185.
Poland, James, 188.
Pope, Gertrude, 236.
Pope, Joseph, 237, 238; ii. 65, 496.
Pope Innocent VIII., 342.
Porter, Benjamin, 141.
Porter, Elizabeth, ii. 272.
Porter, Israel, 141; ii. 59, 272, 550.
Porter, John, 40, 136.
Porter, John, Jr., 219.
Porter, John, ii. 207.
Porter, Joseph, 270, 296, 319.
Porter, Moses, 223, 230.
Post, Hannah, ii. 349.
Post, Mary, ii. 349, 480.
Powell, Caleb, 439.
Pratt, Francis, 428.
Prescott, Peter, 129, 316; ii. 153.
Preston, Thomas, 80, 91; ii. 11, 57, 496, 550.
Price, Walter, 226.
Prince, James, ii. 17.
Prince, Joseph, ii. 17.
Prince, Robert, ii. 17.
Prison, ii. 254.
Procter, Benjamin, ii. 207.
Procter, Elizabeth, arrest and examination, ii. 101-111;
trial and condemnation, 296, 312, 466.
Procter, John, 179, 184, 227; ii. 4, 106, 111;
trial and execution, 296, 304-312;
autograph, 313, 458, 480.
Procter, Joseph, ii. 306.
Procter, Sarah, ii. 207.
Procter, William, ii. 208, 311.
Procter's Corner, 49.
Pronunciation, ii. 233.
Pudeator, Ann, ii. 179, 185, 300;
trial and execution, 324, 329.
Pudeator, Jacob, ii. 185, 329.
[i.xxxvii]Puppets, 408, ii. 12, 266.
Putnam, Ann, 253; ii. 5, 61, 69, 74, 177, 229, 236, 276, 282, 465, 495,
506.
Putnam, Ann, Jr., 214; ii. 3, 8, 40, 190;
autograph, 313, 341, 511, 509-512.
Putnam, Archelaus, 164.
Putnam, Benjamin, 164; ii. 72, 272, 481.
Putnam, Daniel, 164.
Putnam, David, 227.
Putnam, Edward, 8, 161-164, 288, 302; ii. 11, 40, 44, 60, 71, 203, 288,
465.
Putnam, Eleazer, 132; ii. 152.
Putnam, Enoch, 229.
Putnam, Holyoke, 9.
Putnam, Israel, 160, 164, 227, 238.
Putnam, James, ii. 506.
Putnam, Jeremiah, 229.
Putnam, John, 34, 40, 155.
Putnam, John, 34, 155, 157, 241, 250, 251, 258, 267, 270, 284, 287,
316, 317; ii. 272, 359, 496, 550.
Putnam, John, Jr., 259; ii. 4, 172, 202, 506.
Putnam, John, 3d, ii. 506.
Putnam, Jonathan, 269; ii. 60, 71, 201, 272.
Putnam, Joseph, 160, 296, 319; ii. 9, 272, 457, 497.
Putnam, Lydia, ii. 272.
Putnam, Miriam, ii. 295.
Putnam, Nathaniel, 84, 86, 155, 157, 186, 198, 236, 250, 288, 296; ii.
33, 128, 178, 271.
Putnam, Orin, ii. 295.
Putnam, Perley, 230.
Putnam, Phinehas, ii. 295.
Putnam, Rebecca, 267; ii. 272, 359.
Putnam, Rufus, 227.
Putnam, Samuel, 223.
Putnam, Sarah, ii. 272.
Putnam, Susannah, 143.
Putnam, Thomas, 155, 226, 250, 251, 259;
autograph, 279.
Putnam, Thomas, 129, 225, 227, 236, 253;
autograph, 279, 281, 316; ii. 3, 4, 11, 28, 55, 140, 232, 341, 464,
465, 506.
Putnam, William Lowell, 232.
Q.
Queen Elizabeth, 345.
Quick, John, 283.
R.
Rabbits, 209.
Raising of a house, 201.
Rawson, Edward, 425, 450.
Raymond, John, 66.
Raymond, John, 129, 134; ii. 465.
Raymond, John W., 232.
Raymond, Richard, 141.
Raymond, Thomas, 129, 133, 141.
Raymond, William, 129, 132, 143.
Raymond, William, Jr., ii. 192.
Rea, Bethiah, 113, 116.
Rea, Daniel, 40, 113, 140.
Rea, Daniel, Jr., 288; ii. 272.
Rea, Hepzibah, ii. 272.
Rea, Joshua, 114, 140, 141, 287, 288; ii. 272, 545.
Rea, Sarah, ii. 272.
Read, Christopher, 123.
Read, Thomas, 49.
Records of Salem Village, 269, 272, 273-278.
Redemptioners, ii. 18.
Reed, Nicholas, 8.
Reed, Philip, 437.
Reed, Wilmot, arrest, ii. 208;
trial and execution, 324, 325.
Reinolds, Alexius, 91.
Remigius, 344.
Rice, Charles B., ii. 513.
Rice, Sarah, ii. 208.
Richards, John, ii. 251, 349.
Richardson, Mr., 442.
Richardson, Mary, 448.
Ring, Jarvis, ii. 414.
Rist, Nicholas, ii. 352.
Roads, 43.
Robinson, John, ii. 181, 184.
Rogers, John, ii. 477.
Rogers, Thomas, 443.
Rolfe, Benjamin, 9; ii. 478.
Roots, Susannah, ii. 207.
Ropes, Nathaniel, 237.
Rose, Richard, ii. 171.
Royal Neck, 58.
Ruck, Thomas, 57.
Rule, Margaret, ii. 489.
Russell, James, ii. 102.
Russell, William, 80.
S.
Salem Farms, 136.
Salem Village, 199, 216, 223, 224, 233, 234, 242, 248, 269-278, 298,
[i.xxxviii]312, 321, 322; ii. 485, 513.
Saltonstall, Nathaniel, ii. 251, 455.
Satan, 325, 338.
Sargent, Peter, ii. 251.
Savage, James, 50, 384.
Saw-pit, 191.
Sawyers, 191.
Sayer, Samuel, ii. 475.
Scarlett, Benjamin, 32.
Science, physical, 380.
Scott, Margaret, trial and execution, ii. 324, 325.
Scott, Reginald, 368, 410.
Scott, Sir Walter, 335.
Scottow, Joshua, 424, 425; ii. 298.
Scriptures, King James's Translation of, 375.
Scruggs, Margery, 66.
Scruggs, Rachel, 65.
Scruggs, Thomas, 64, 130.
Sears, Ann, ii. 208.
Seating the meeting-house, 217; ii. 506.
Seely, Robert, 122.
Settlers, provision of land for, 16.
Sewall, Mitchel, ii. 481.
Sewall, Samuel, ii. 102, 111, 157, 251, 441, 497.
Sewall, Samuel, ii. 481.
Sewall, Stephen, 57; ii. 3, 230, 384, 487, 497.
Shakespeare, William, 379, 467.
Sharp, Samuel, 46, 57, 388.
Shattuck, Samuel, 193; ii. 180, 259.
Shaw, Israel, ii. 465.
Sheldon, Godfrey, 8.
Sheldon, Susannah, ii. 4, 322.
Shepard, John, ii. 465.
Shepard, Rebecca, ii. 275, 280.
Sherringham, Robert, 356.
Shippen, Mr., 261.
Ship Tavern, ii. 254.
Shirley, William, ii. 482.
Shovel-board, 196, 204.
Sibley, John, 141, 154.
Sibley, John L., 141.
Sibley, Mary, ii. 95, 97.
Sibley, Samuel, 259, 262; ii. 97, 465.
Sibley, William, 262; ii. 18.
Silsbee, Nathaniel, ii. 267.
Sinclair, George, 350.
Singletary, Jonathan, 433.
Skelton, Samuel, 57, 85.
Skerry, Henry, 259.
Sleighs, 203.
Small, Thomas, 154; ii. 19.
Smith, George, ii. 307.
Smith, Thomas, 105.
Soames, Abigail, ii. 208.
Soames, Joseph, 123.
Spaulding, Willard, 237.
Spencer, John, 432.
Spenser, Edmund, 346, 365.
Sprenger, James, 361.
Stacy, William, ii. 263.
Stearns, Isaac, ii. 263.
Stileman, Elias, 40, 86.
Stone, Samuel, ii. 307.
Story, Joseph, ii. 440.
Story, William, ii. 306.
Stoughton, William, 125; ii. 157, 250, 301, 349, 355.
Sunday patrol, 40.
Surey Demoniac, 354.
Sweden, King of, 344.
Swinnerton, Esther, ii. 272.
Swinnerton, Job, 140, 270.
Swinnerton, Job, ii. 272.
Swinnerton, Ruth, ii. 495.
Switchell, Abraham, 123.
Syllogism, 381.
Symmes, Thomas, ii. 478.
Symmes, Zachariah, ii. 478.
Symonds, John, ii. 377.
Symonds, Samuel, 433.
Symonds, William, 433.
T.
Tanner, Adam, 361.
Tarbell, John, 80, 91, 288; ii. 57, 287, 486, 497, 506, 545-553.
Taylor, Benjamin, 182.
Taylor, Zachary, 124.
Tears, trial by, 409.
Thacher, Mrs., ii. 345, 448, 453.
Thomasius, Christian, 373.
Thompson, William, ii. 306.
Tibullus, Elegy, 337.
Titcomb, Elizabeth, 444.
Tituba, ii. 2, 11;
examination and confession, 23, 32, 255.
Tookey, Job, arrest, ii. 208;
examination, 223, 349.
Toothacre, Mrs., ii. 208.
Topsfield, controversy with, 238.
Torrey, Samuel, ii. 494, 553.
Torrey, William, 450; ii. 553.
Towne, Jacob, 241; ii. 56.
Towne, John, 241; ii. 56.
Towne, Joseph, 241; ii. 56.
Towne, William, ii. 466.
Towns, 20.
Train-band, 100, 224.
Training-field, 176, 178, 225.
[i.xxxix]Trask, Edward, 105.
Trask, William, 34, 64, 129.
Travel, modes of, 43, 61, 203.
Troopers, company of, 226.
Trusler, Eleanor, 237.
Tucker, John, 444.
Tucker, Mary, 448.
Tufts, James, 105.
Turner, Sharon, 375.
Twiss, William, 395.
Tycho Brahe, 345.
Tyler, Hannah, ii. 349, 404.
Tyler, Mary, ii. 349, 404.
Tyng, Edward, 125.
U.
Upham, Phinehas, 118, 122.
Upton family, 155.
Urbain Grandier, 348.
Usher, Hezekiah, ii. 453.
V.
Varney, Thomas, ii. 306.
Verrin, Hilliard, 40.
Verrin, Joshua, 40.
Verrin, Nathaniel, 156, 287.
Verrin, Philip, 40, 63.
Verrin, Philip, Jr., 40.
Vigilance Committee, ii. 286.
Villalpando, Don Francisco Torreblanca, 361.
Virgil, 336, 413.
W.
Wade, Thomas, ii. 337.
Wadsworth, Benjamin, ii. 505.
Wadsworth, Benjamin, ii. 516.
Wagstaff, John, 370.
Wainwright, Simon, 9.
Walcot, Abraham, 188.
Walcot, Jonathan, 155, 225, 270; ii. 3, 100, 140, 464, 466.
Walcot, Jonathan, Jr., ii. 125, 550.
Walcot, Mary, ii. 3, 465.
Walker, Richard, ii. 207.
Walley, John, ii. 553.
Ward, George A., 98.
Wardwell, Mary, ii. 349.
Wardwell, Samuel, trial and execution, ii. 324, 384, 480.
Wardwell, Sarah, ii. 349.
Warren, Mary, ii. 4, 114, 128.
Warren, Sarah, ii. 17.
Wassalbe, Bridget, 191.
Waterman, Richard, 60.
Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, 414.
Watts, Isaac, ii. 516.
Watts, Jeremiah, 179.
Way, Aaron, 145; ii. 68, 177.
Way, William, ii. 493.
Weld, Daniel, 57.
Wells, town of, 256.
Wesley, John, ii. 518.
Westgate, John, ii. 181.
Weston, Francis, 60.
Wheelwright, John, ii. 228.
Whitaker, Abraham, 429.
White, James, ii. 306.
White, John, 389.
Whittier, John G., ii. 444.
Whittredge, Mary, ii. 187, 197, 199.
Wierus, John, 368, 376.
Wilds, John, ii. 128, 135.
Wilds, Sarah, arrest and examination, ii. 135;
trial and execution, 268, 480.
Wilds, William, 143; ii. 135.
Wilderness, opening of, 26.
Wilkins, Benjamin, 227; ii. 173, 550.
Wilkins, Bray, 143-146, 214, 309; ii. 173, 174.
Wilkins, Daniel, ii. 174, 179.
Wilkins, Hannah, 309.
Wilkins, Henry, ii. 174.
Wilkins, Samuel, ii. 173.
Wilkins, Thomas, 154, 227, 316; ii. 491-495, 506, 546-553.
Willard, John, arrest, ii. 172-179;
trial and execution, 321, 480.
Willard, Margaret, ii. 466.
Willard, Samuel, ii. 89, 289, 309, 494, 550-553.
Willard, Simon, ii. 210.
Williams, Abigail, ii. 3, 7, 46, 393.
Williams, Nathaniel, ii. 553.
Williams, Roger, 50, 56, 68.
Wilson, Robert, 105.
Wilson, Sarah, ii. 404.
Wills, 65, 75, 78, 92, 137, 162, 175, 425; ii. 304, 312, 511.
Wills Hill, 26, 144.
Winslow, Josiah, 119.
Winthrop, Fitz John, 54.
Winthrop, John, 17, 23, 39, 95, 454.
Winthrop, John, Jr., 39, 50, 58.
Winthrop, Wait, 54; ii. 251, 349, 497.
Wise, John, ii. 304, 306;
autograph, 314, 477, 494.
[i.xl]Witch, 402.
Witchcraft, 337;
law relating to, ii. 256, 516.
Witch-imp, 406.
Witch-mark, 405.
Witch-puppets, 408.
Witch Hill, ii. 376-380.
Witch of Endor, 333.
Wood, Anthony, 370.
Woodbridge, John, 438.
Wooden Bridge, 234.
Woodbury, Humphrey, 141.
Woodbury, John, 129.
Woodbury, Nicholas, 98.
Woodbury, Peter, 105.
Woodbury, William, 141.
Wooleston River, 23.
Wolf-pits, 212.
Wolves, 211.
Y.
Young, William, 51.
[i.1]
INTRODUCTION.
IT is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the human being,
that he loves to contemplate the scenes of the past, and desires to
have his own history borne down to the future. This, like all the
other propensities of our nature, is accompanied by faculties to
secure its gratification. The gift of speech, by which the parent can
convey information to the child—the old transmit intelligence to the
young—is an indication that it is the design of the Author of our
being that we should receive from those passing away the narrative of
their experience, and communicate the results of our own to the
generations that succeed us. All nations have, to a greater or less
degree, been faithful to their trust in using the gift to fulfil the
design of the Giver. It is impossible to name a people who do not
possess cherished traditions that have descended from their early
ancestors.
Although it is generally considered that the invention of a system of
arbitrary and external signs to communicate thought is one of the
greatest and most[i.2] arduous achievements of human ingenuity, yet so
universal is the disposition to make future generations acquainted with
our condition and history,—a disposition the efficient cause of which
can only be found in a sense of the value of such knowledge,—that you
can scarcely find a people on the face of the globe, who have not
contrived, by some means or other, from the rude monument of shapeless
rock to the most perfect alphabetical language, to communicate with
posterity; thus declaring, as with the voice of Nature herself, that it
is desirable and proper that all men should know as much as possible of
the character, actions, and fortunes of their predecessors on the stage
of life.
It is not difficult to discern the end for which this disposition to
preserve for the future and contemplate the past was imparted to us. If
all that we knew were what is taught by our individual experience, our
minds would have but little, comparatively, to exercise and expand
them, and our characters would be the result of the limited influences
embraced within the narrow sphere of our particular and immediate
relations and circumstances. But, as our notice is extended in the
observation of those who have lived before us, our materials for
reflection and sources of instruction are multiplied. The virtues we
admire in our ancestors not only adorn and dignify their names, but win
us to their imitation. Their prosperity and happiness spread abroad a
diffusive light that reaches us, and brightens our condition. The
wisdom that[i.3] guided their footsteps becomes, at the same time, a
lamp to our path. The observation of the errors of their course, and of
the consequent disappointments and sufferings that befell them, enables
us to pass in safety through rocks and ledges on which they were
shipwrecked; and, while we grieve to see them eating the bitter fruits
of their own ignorance and folly as well as vices and crimes, we can
seize the benefit of their experience without paying the price at which
they purchased it.
In the desire which every man feels to learn the history, and be
instructed by the example, of his predecessors, and in the accompanying
disposition, with the means of carrying it into effect, to transmit a
knowledge of himself and his own times to his successors, we discover
the wise and admirable arrangement of a providence which removes the
worn-out individual to a better country, but leaves the acquisitions of
his mind and the benefit of his experience as an accumulating and
common fund for the use of his posterity; which has secured the
continued renovation of the race, without the loss of the wisdom of
each generation.
These considerations suggest the true definition of history. It is the
instrument by which the results of the great experiment of human action
on this theatre of being are collected and transmitted from age to age.
Speaking through the records of history, the generations that have gone
warn and guide the generations that follow. History is the Past,
teaching Philosophy to the Present, for the Future.[i.4]
Since this is the true and proper design of history, it assumes an
exalted station among the branches of human knowledge. Every community
that aspires to become intelligent and virtuous should cherish it.
Institutions for the promotion and diffusion of useful information
should have special reference to it. And all people should be induced
to look back to the days of their forefathers, to be warned by their
errors, instructed by their wisdom, and stimulated in the career of
improvement by the example of their virtues.
The historian would find a great amount and variety of materials in the
annals of this old town,—greater, perhaps, than in any other of its
grade in the country. But there is one chapter in our history of
pre-eminent interest and importance. The witchcraft delusion of 1692
has attracted universal attention since the date of its occurrence, and
will, in all coming ages, render the name of Salem notable throughout
the world. Wherever the place we live in is mentioned, this memorable
transaction will be found associated with it; and those who know
nothing else of our history or our character will be sure to know, and
tauntingly to inform us that they know, that we hanged the witches.
It is surely incumbent upon us to possess ourselves of correct and just
views of a transaction thus indissolubly connected with the reputation
of our home, with the memory of our fathers, and, of course, with the
most precious part of the inheritance of our chil[i.5]dren. I am
apprehensive that the community is very superficially acquainted with
this transaction. All have heard of the Salem witchcraft; hardly any
are aware of the real character of that event. Its mention creates a
smile of astonishment, and perhaps a sneer of contempt, or, it may be,
a thrill of horror for the innocent who suffered; but there is reason
to fear, that it fails to suggest those reflections, and impart that
salutary instruction, without which the design of Providence in
permitting it to take place cannot be accomplished. There are, indeed,
few passages in the history of any people to be compared with it in all
that constitutes the pitiable and tragical, the mysterious and awful.
The student of human nature will contemplate in its scenes one of the
most remarkable developments which that nature ever assumed; while the
moralist, the statesman, and the Christian philosopher will severally
find that it opens widely before them a field fruitful in instruction.
Our ancestors have been visited with unmeasured reproach for their
conduct on the occasion. Sad, indeed, was the delusion that came over
them, and shocking the extent to which their bewildered imaginations
and excited passions hurried and drove them on. Still, however, many
considerations deserve to be well weighed before sentence is passed
upon them. And while I hope to give evidence of a readiness to have
every thing appear in its own just light, and to expose to view the
very darkest features of the transaction, I am confident of being able
to bring forward[i.6] such facts and reflections as will satisfy you
that no reproach ought to be attached to them, in consequence of this
affair, which does not belong, at least equally, to all other nations,
and to the greatest and best men of their times and of previous ages;
and, in short, that the final predominating sentiment their conduct
should awaken is not so much that of anger and indignation as of pity
and compassion.