details of the narrative, is to give a just and adequate idea of the
form and shape in which the general subject of supernaturalism, in its
aspect as demonology, lay in the minds of men here at that[i.328] time.
To do this, I must give a sketch, as condensed and brief as I can make
it, of the formation and progress of opinions and notions touching the
subject, until they reached their full demonstration and final
explosion, in this neighborhood, at Salem Village, near the close of
the seventeenth century.
No person who looks around him on the scene in which he is placed,
reflects upon the infinite wonders of creation, and meditates upon the
equal wonders of his own mind, can be at a loss respecting the sources
and causes of superstition. Let him transport himself back to the
condition of a primitive and unlettered people, before whom the world
appears in all its original and sublime mystery. Science has not lifted
to their eyes the curtain behind which the secret operations of nature
are carried on. They observe the tides rise and fall, but know not the
attractive law that regulates their movements; they contemplate the
procession of the seasons, without any conception of the principles and
causes that determine and produce their changes; they witness the storm
as it rises in its wrath; they listen with awe to the thunder-peal, and
gaze with startling terror upon the lightning as it flashes from within
the bosom of the black cloud, and are utterly ignorant to what power to
attribute the dreadful phenomena; they look upward to the face of the
sky, and see the myriad starry hosts that glitter there, and all is to
them a mighty maze of dazzling confusion. It is for their fancy to
explain, interpret, and fill up the brilliant and magnificent
scene.[i.329]
The imagination was the faculty the exercise of which was chiefly
called for in such a state as this. Before science had traced the
operations and unfolded the secrets of nature, man was living in a
world full of marvel and mystery. His curiosity was attracted to every
object within the reach of his senses; and, in the absence of
knowledge, it was imagination alone that could make answer to its
inquiries. It is natural to suppose that he would be led to attribute
all the movements and operations of the external world which did not
appear to be occasioned by the exercise of his own power, or the power
of any other animal, to the agency of supernatural beings. We may also
conclude, that his belief would not be likely to fix upon the notion of
a single overruling Being. Although revelation and science have
disclosed to us a beautiful and entire unity and harmony in the
creation, the phenomena of the external world would probably impress
the unenlightened and unphilosophic observer with the belief that there
was a diversity in the powers which caused them. He would imagine the
agency of a being of an amiable and beneficent spirit in the bright
sunshine, the fresh breeze, and the mild moonlight; and his fancy would
suggest to his fears, that a dark, severe, and terrible being was in
the ascendant during a day overshadowed by frowning clouds, or a night
black with the storm and torn by the tempest.
By the aid of such reflections as these, we are easily conducted to a
satisfactory and sufficient explanation of the origin of the mythology
and fabulous super[i.330]stitions of all ancient and primitive nations.
From this the progress is plain, obvious, and immediate to the
pretensions of magicians, diviners, sorcerers, conjurers, oracles,
soothsayers, augurs, and the whole catalogue of those persons who
professed to hold intercourse with higher and spiritual powers. There
are several classes into which they may be divided.
There were those who, to acquire an influence over the people,
pretended to possess the confidence, and enjoy the friendship and
counsel, of some one or more deities. Such was Numa, the early lawgiver
of the Roman State. In order to induce the people to adopt the
regulations, institutions, and religious rites he proposed, he made
them believe that he had access to a divinity, and received all his
plans and ideas as a communication from on high.
Persons who, in consequence of their superior acquirements, were
enabled to excel others in any pursuit, or who could foresee and avail
themselves of events in the natural world, were liable, without any
intention to deceive, to be classed under some of these denominations.
For instance, a Roman farmer, Furius Cresinus, surpassed all his
neighbors in the skill and success with which he managed his
agricultural affairs. He was accordingly accused of using magic arts in
the operations of his farm. So far were his neighbors carried by their
feelings of envy and jealousy, that they explained the fact of his
being able to derive more produce from a small lot of land than they
could from large ones, by charging him[i.331] with attracting and
drawing off the productions of their fields into his own by the
employment of certain mysterious charms. For his defence, as we are
informed by Pliny, he produced his strong and well-constructed ploughs,
his light and convenient spades, and his sun-burnt daughters, and
pointing to them exclaimed: "Here are my charms; this is my magic;
these only are the witchcraft I have used." Zoroaster, the great
philosopher and astronomer of the ancient East, was charged with
divination and magic, merely, it is probable, because he possessed
uncommon acquirements.
There were persons who had acquired an extraordinary amount of natural
knowledge, and, for the sake of being regarded with wonder and awe by
the people, pretended to obtain their superior endowments from
supernatural beings. They affected the name and character of sorcerers,
diviners, and soothsayers. It is easy to conceive of the early
existence and the great influence of such impostors. Patient
observation, and often mere accident, would suggest discoveries of the
existence and operation of natural causes in producing phenomena before
ascribed to superhuman agency. The knowledge thus acquired would be
cautiously concealed, and cunningly used, to create astonishment and
win admiration. Its fortunate possessors were enabled to secure the
confidence, obedience, and even reverence, of the benighted and
deceived people.
Every one, indeed, who could discover a secret of[i.332] nature, and
keep it secret, was able to impose himself on the world as being allied
with supernatural powers. Hence arose the whole host of diviners,
astrologers, soothsayers, and oracles. After having once acquired
possession of the credulous faith of the people, they could impose upon
them almost without limit.
Those who pretended to hold this kind of intercourse with divinity
became, as a natural consequence, the priests of the nation,
constituted a distinct and regular profession, and perpetuated their
body by the admission of new members, to whom they explained their
arts, and communicated their knowledge. While they were continually
discovering and applying the secret principles and laws of nature, and
the people were kept in utter ignorance and darkness, it is no wonder
that they reached a great and unparalleled degree of power over the
mass of the population. In this manner we account for the origin, and
trace the history, of the Chaldean priests in Assyria, the Bramins of
India, the Magi of Persia, the Oracles of Greece, the Augurs of Italy,
the Druids of Britain, and the Pow-wows, Prophets, or "Medicins," as
they sometimes called them, among our Indians.
It is probable that the witches mentioned in the Scriptures were of
this description. Neither in sacred nor profane ancient history do we
find what was understood in the days of our ancestors by witchcraft,
which meant a formal and actual compact with the great Prince of evil
beings. The sorcery of antiquity[i.333] consisted in pretending to
possess certain mysterious charms, and to do by their means, or by the
co-operation of superhuman spirits, without any reference to their
character as evil or good beings, what transcends the action of mere
natural powers.
The witch of Endor, for instance, was a conjurer and necromancer,
rather than a witch. By referring to the 28th chapter of 1 Samuel,
where the interview between her and Saul is related, you will find no
ground for the opinion that the being from whom she pretended to
receive her mysterious power was Satan. Saul, as the ruler of a people
who were under the special government, and enjoyed the peculiar
protection of the true God, had forbidden, under the sanction of the
highest penalties, the exercise of the arts of divination and sorcery
within his jurisdiction. Some time after this, the unfortunate monarch
was overtaken by trouble and distress. His enemies had risen up, and
were gathered in fearful strength around him. His "heart greatly
trembled," a dark and gloomy presentiment came over his spirit, and his
bosom was convulsed by an agony of solicitude. He turned toward his God
for light and strength. He applied for relief to the priests of the
altar, and to the prophets of the Most High; but his prayers were
unanswered, and his efforts vain. In his sorrow and apprehension, he
appealed to a woman who was reputed to have supernatural powers, and to
hold communion with spiritual beings; thus violating his own law, and
departing from duty and fidelity to his God. He[i.334] begged her to
recall Samuel to life, that he might be comforted and instructed by
him. She pretended to comply with his request; but, before she could
commence her usual mysterious operations, Samuel arose! and the
forlorn, wretched, and heart-broken king listened to his tremendous
doom, as it was uttered by the spirit of the departed prophet.
I have alluded particularly to the witch of Endor, because she will
serve to illustrate the sorcery or divination of antiquity. She was
probably possessed of some secret knowledge of natural properties; was
skilful in the use of her arts and pretended charms; had, perhaps, the
peculiar powers of a ventriloquist; and, by successful imposture, had
acquired an uncommon degree of notoriety, and the entire confidence of
the public. She professed to be in alliance with supernatural beings,
and, by their assistance, to raise the dead.
This passage has afforded a topic for a great deal of discussion among
interpreters. It seems to me, on the face of the narrative, to suggest
the following view of the transaction: The woman was an impostor. When
she summoned the spirit of Samuel, instead of the results of her magic
lantern, or of whatever contrivances she may have had, by the immediate
agency of the Almighty the spirit of Samuel really rose, to the
consternation and horror of the pretended necromancer. The writer
appears to have indicated this as the proper interpretation of the
scene, by saying, "that, when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a
loud[i.335] voice;" thus giving evidence of alarm and surprise totally
different from the deportment of such pretenders on such occasions:
they used rather to exhibit joy at the success of their arts, and a
proud composure and dignified complacency in the control they were
believed to exercise over the spirits that appeared to have obeyed
their call. Sir Walter Scott took this view of the transaction. His
opinion, it is true, would be considered more important in any other
department than that of biblical interpretation: on all questions,
however, connected with the spiritual world of fancy and with its
history, he must be allowed to speak, if not with the authority, at
least with the tone of a master. This wonderful author, in the infinite
profusion and variety of his productions, published a volume upon
Demonology and Witchcraft: it is, of course, entertaining and
instructive to all who are curious to know the capacity and to
appreciate the operations of the human imagination.
It will be regarded by intelligent and judicious persons as a
circumstance of importance in reference to the view now given of the
transaction in which the witch of Endor acts the leading part, that
Hugh Farmer, beyond all question the most learned, discreet, and
profound writer on such subjects, is inclined to throw the weight of
his authority in its favor. His ample and elaborate discussion of the
question is to be seen in his work on Miracles, chap. iv. sec. 2.
Among the heathen nations of antiquity, the art of divination
consisted, to a great degree, in the magical[i.336] use of mysterious
charms. Many plants were considered as possessed of wonderful virtues,
and there was scarcely a limit to the supposed power of those persons
who knew how to use and apply them skilfully. Virgil, in his eighth
eclogue, thus speaks of this species of sorcery:—
"These herbs did Moeris give to me
And poisons pluckt at Pontus;
For there they grow and multiplie
And do not so amongst us:
With these she made herselfe become
A wolfe, and hid hir in the wood;
She fetcht up souls out of their toome,
Removing corne from where it stood."
In the fourth Æneid, the lovesick Tyrian queen is thus made to describe
the magic which was then believed to be practised:—
"Rejoice," she said: "instructed from above,
My lover I shall gain, or lose my love;
Nigh rising Atlas, next the falling sun
Long tracts of Ethiopian climates run:
There a Massylian priestess I have found,
Honored for age, for magic arts renowned:
The Hesperian temple was her trusted care;
'Twas she supplied the wakeful dragon's fare;
She, poppy-seeds in honey taught to steep,
Reclaimed his rage, and soothed him into sleep;
She watched the golden fruit. Her charms unbind
The chains of love, or fix them on the mind;
She stops the torrent, leaves the channel dry,
Repels the stars, and backward bears the sky.
The yawning earth rebellows to her call,
Pale ghosts ascend, and mountain ashes fall."
[i.337]
Tibullus, in the second elegy of his first book, gives the following
account of the powers ascribed to a magician:—
"She plucks each star out of his throne,
And turneth back the raging waves;
With charms she makes the earth to cone,
And raiseth souls out of their graves;
She burns men's bones as with a fire,
And pulleth down the lights of Heaven,
And makes it snow at her desire
E'en in the midst of summer season."
These views continued to hold undisturbed dominion over the people
during a long succession of centuries. As the twilight of the dark ages
began to settle upon Christendom, superstition, that night-blooming
plant, extended itself rapidly, and in all directions, over the surface
of the world. While every thing else drooped and withered, it struck
deeper its roots, spread wider its branches, and brought forth more
abundantly its fruit. The unnumbered fables of Greek and Roman
mythology, the arts of augury and divination, the visions of oriental
romance, the fanciful and attenuated theories of the later philosophy,
the abstract and spiritual doctrines of Platonism, and all the grosser
and wilder conceptions of the northern conquerors of the Roman Empire,
became mingled together in the faith of the inhabitants of the European
kingdoms. From this multifarious combination, the infinitely
diversified popular superstitions of the modern nations have sprung.
We first begin to trace the clear outlines of the doc[i.338]trine of
witchcraft not far from the commencement of the Christian era. It
presupposes the belief of the Devil. I shall not enter upon the
question, whether the Scriptures, properly interpreted, require the
belief of the existence of such a being. Directing our attention solely
to profane sources of information, we discover the heathen origin of
the belief of the existence of the Devil in the ancient systems of
oriental philosophy. Early observers of nature in the East were led to
the conclusion, that the world was a divided empire, ruled by the
alternate or simultaneous energy of two great antagonist principles or
beings, one perfectly good, and the other perfectly bad. It was for a
long time, and perhaps is at this day, a prevalent faith among
Christians, that the Bible teaches a similar doctrine; that it
presents, to our adoration and obedience, a being of infinite
perfections in the Deity; and to our abhorrence and our fears, a being
infinitely wicked, and of great power, in the Devil.
It is obvious, that, when the entire enginery of supernaturalism was
organized in adaptation to the idea of the Devil, and demonology became
synonymous with diabolism, the credulity and superstition of mankind
would give a wide extension to that form of belief. It soon occupied a
large space in the theories of religion and the fancies of the people,
and got to be a leading element in the life of society. It made its
impress on the forms of speech, and many of the phrases to which it
gave rise still remain in familiar use. It figured in the rituals of
religion, in the paraphernalia of public shows,[i.339] and in fireside
tales. It afforded leading characters to the drama in the miracle plays
and the moral plays, as they were called, at successive periods. It
offered a ready weapon to satire, and also to defamation. Gerbert, a
native of France, who was elevated to the pontificate about the close
of the tenth century, under the name of Sylvester II., is eulogized by
Mosheim as the first great restorer of science and literature. He was a
person of an extensive and sublime genius, of wonderful attainments in
learning, particularly mathematics, geometry, and arithmetic. He broke
the profound sleep of the dark ages, and awakened the torpid intellect
of the European nations. His efforts in this direction roused the
apprehensions and resentment of the monks; and they circulated, after
Gerbert's death, and made the ignorant masses believe the story, that
he had obtained his rapid promotion in the Church by the practice of
the black art, which he disguised under the show of learning; that he
secured the Archbishopric of Ravenna by bribery and corruption; and
that, finally, he made a bargain with Satan, promising him his soul
after death, on condition that he (Satan) should put forth his great
influence over the cardinals in such a manner as would secure his
election to the throne of St. Peter. The arrangement was carried into
successful operation. Sylvester, the monks averred, consulted the Devil
through the medium of a brazen head during his whole reign, and enjoyed
his faithful friendship and unwavering patronage. But, when His
Holiness came to die, he endeavored to defraud Satan[i.340] of his
rightful claim to his soul, by repenting, and acknowledging his sin.
This illustrates the way in which the popular idea of the Devil was
used to awaken ridicule and gratify malignity.
The natural and ultimate effect of the diffusion of Christianity was to
overthrow, or rather to revolutionize, the whole system of incantation
and sorcery.
In heathen countries, as in the East at present and with those among us
who profess to hold communications with spirits, no reproach or
sentiment of disapprobation, as has already been observed, was
necessarily connected with the arts of divination; for the supernatural
beings with whom intercourse was alleged to be had were not, with a few
exceptions, regarded as evil beings. The persons who were thought to be
skilful in their use were, on the contrary, held in great esteem, and
looked upon with reverence. Magicians and philosophers were convertible
and synonymous terms. Learned and scientific men were induced to
encourage, and turn to their own advantage, the popular credulity that
ascribed their extraordinary skill to their connection with spiritual
and divine beings. At length, however, they found themselves placed in
a very uncomfortable predicament by the prevalence of the new theology.
It was exceedingly difficult to dispel the delusion, and correct the
error they had previously found it for their interest to perpetuate in
the minds of the community. They could not convince them that their
knowledge was acquired from natural sources, or their operations[i.341]
conducted solely by the aid of natural causes and laws. The people
would not surrender the belief, that the results of scientific
experiments, and the accuracy of predictions of physical phenomena,
were secured by the assistance of supernatural beings.
As the doctrines of the gospel gradually undermined the popular belief
in other spiritual beings inferior to the Deity, and were at the same
time supposed to teach the existence and extensively diffused energy of
an almost infinite and omnipotent agent of evil, it was exceedingly
natural, nay, it necessarily followed, that the credulity and
superstition which had led to the supposition of an alliance between
philosophers and spiritual beings should settle down into a full
conviction that the Devil was the being with whom they were thus
confederated. The consequence was that they were charged with
witchcraft, and many fell victims to the general prejudice and
abhorrence occasioned by the imputation. The influence of this state of
things was soon seen: it was one of the most effectual causes of the
rapid diffusion of knowledge in modern times. Philosophers and men of
science became as anxious to explain and publish their discoveries as
they had been in former ages to conceal and cover them with mystery.
The following instances will be sufficient to illustrate the
correctness of these views.
In the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon was charged with witchcraft on
account of his discoveries in optics, chemistry, and astronomy; and,
although he did what[i.342] he could to circulate and explain his own
acquirements, he could not escape a papal denunciation, and two long
and painful imprisonments. In 1305, Arnold de Villa Nova, a learned
physician and philosopher, was burned at Padua, by order of
inquisitors, on the charge of witchcraft. He was eighty years of age.
Ten years afterwards, Peter Apon, also of Padua, who had made
extraordinary progress in knowledge, was accused of the same crime, and
condemned to death, but expired previous to the time appointed for his
execution.
I will now present a brief sketch of the most noticeable facts relating
to the subject in Europe and Great Britain previous to the close of the
seventeenth century. Some writers have computed that thirty thousand
persons were executed for this supposed crime, within one hundred and
fifty years. It will of course be in my power to mention only a few
instances.
In 1484, Pope Innocent the Eighth issued a bull encouraging and
requiring the arrest and punishment of persons suspected of witchcraft.
From this moment, the prosecutions became frequent and the victims
numerous in every country. The very next year, forty-one aged females
were consigned to the flames in one nation; and, not long after, a
hundred were burned by one inquisition in the devoted valleys of
Piedmont; forty-eight were burned in Ravensburg in five years; and, in
the year 1515, five hundred were burned at Geneva in three months! One
writer de[i.343]clares that "almost an infinite number" were burned for
witchcraft in France,—a thousand in a single diocese! These sanguinary
and horrible transactions were promoted and sanctioned by theological
hatred and rancor. It was soon perceived that there was no kind of
difficulty in clearing the Church of heretics by hanging or burning
them all as witches! The imputation of witchcraft could be fixed upon
any one with the greatest facility. In the earlier part of the
fifteenth century, the Earl of Bedford, having taken the celebrated
Joan of Arc prisoner, put her to death on this charge. She had been
almost adored by the people rescued by her romantic valor, and was
universally known among them by the venerable title of "Holy Maid of
God;" but no difficulty was experienced in procuring evidence enough to
lead her to the stake as a servant and confederate of Satan! Luther was
just beginning his attack upon the papal power, and he was instantly
accused of being in confederacy with the Devil.