Tituba, an Indian woman, all of Salem Village, being this day brought
before us, upon suspicion of witchcraft, &c., by them and every one of
them committed; Tituba, an Indian woman, acknowledging the matter of
fact, and Sarah Osburn and Sarah Good denying the same before us; but
there appearing, in all their examinations, sufficient ground to secure
them all. And, in order to further examination, they were all _per
mittimus_ sent to the jails in the county of Essex.
"Salem, March 2.—Sarah Osburn again examined, and also Tituba, as will
appear in their examinations given in. Tituba again acknowledged the
fact, and also accused the other two.
"Salem, March 3.—Sarah Osburn, and Tituba, Indian, again examined. The
examination now given in. Tituba again said the same.
"Salem, March 5.—Sarah Good and Tituba again examined; and, in their
examination, Tituba acknowledged the same she did formerly, and accused
the other two above said.
signatures
[ii.30]
"Salem, March the 7th, 1691/2.—Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, and Tituba, an
Indian woman, all sent to the jail in Boston, according to their
_mittimuses_, then sent to their Majesties' jail-keeper."
It will be noticed that the magistrates did not venture to put into
this their final record, what they had unfairly tried to make Sarah
Osborn believe, that Sarah Good had been a witness against her. The
jail at Ipswich was at a distance of at least ten miles from the
village meeting-house, by any road that could then have been travelled.
The transference of the prisoners day after day must have been very
fatiguing to a sick woman like Sarah Osburn. Sarah Good seems to have
been able to bear it. Samuel Braybrook, an assistant constable, having
charge of her, says, that, on the way to Ipswich, she "leaped off her
horse three times;" that she "railed against the magistrates, and
endeavored to kill herself." He further testified, that, at the very
time she was performing these feats, Thomas Putnam's daughter, "at her
father's house, declared the same." As Braybrook was many miles from
Thomas Putnam's house, at the moment when his wonderful daughter
exercised this miraculous extent of vision, it would have been more
satisfactory to have had some other testimony to the fact. I mention
this to show of what stuff the evidence in these cases was made, and
the credulity with which every thing was swallowed. The prisoners were
put to examination each day.
Osburn and Good steadily maintained their innocence. Tituba all along
declared herself guilty, and[ii.31] accused the other two of having
been with her in confederacy with the Devil. Mr. Parris made the
following deposition, in relation to these examinations, to which he
subsequently swore in Court, at the trial of Sarah Good:—
"The Deposition of Sam: Parris, aged about thirty and nine
years.—Testifieth and saith, that Elizabeth Parris, Jr., and Abigail
Williams, and Ann Putnam, Jr., and Elizabeth Hubbard, were most
grievously and several times tortured during the examination of Sarah
Good, Sarah Osburn, and Tituba, Indian, before the magistrates at Salem
Village, 1 March, 1692. And the said Tituba being the last of the above
said that was examined, they, the above said afflicted persons, were
grievously distressed until the said Indian began to confess, and then
they were immediately all quiet the rest of the said Indian woman's
examination. Also Thomas Putnam, aged about forty years, and Ezekiel
Cheever, aged about thirty and six years, testify to the whole of the
above said; and all the three deponents aforesaid further testify,
that, after the said Indian began to confess, she was herself very much
afflicted, and in the face of authority at the same time, and openly
charged the abovesaid Good and Osburn as the persons that afflicted
her, the aforesaid Indian."
By comparing these depositions with the other documents I have
presented, it will be seen how admirably the whole affair was arranged,
so far as concerned the part played by Tituba. She commences her
testimony by declaring her innocence. The afflicted children are
instantly thrown into torments, which, however,[ii.32] subside as soon
as she begins to confess. Immediately after commencing her confession,
and as she proceeds in it, she herself becomes tormented "in the face
of authority," before the eyes of the magistrates and the awestruck
crowd. Her power to afflict ceases as she breaks loose from her compact
with the Devil, who sends some unseen confederate, not then brought to
light, to wreak his vengeance upon her for having confessed. Tituba, as
well as the girls, showed herself an adept in the arts taught in the
circle.
All we know of Sarah Osburn beyond this date are the following items in
the Boston jailer's bill "against the country," dated May 29, 1692: "To
chains for Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn, 14 shillings:" "To the keeping
of Sarah Osburn, from the 7th of March to the 10th of May, when she
died, being nine weeks and two days, £1. 3_s._ 5_d._"
The only further information we have of Tituba is from Calef, who says,
"The account she since gives of it is, that her master did beat her,
and otherwise abuse her, to make her confess and accuse (such as he
called) her sister-witches; and that whatsoever she said by way of
confessing or accusing others was the effect of such usage: her master
refused to pay her fees, unless she would stand to what she had said.
Calef further states that she laid in jail until finally "sold for her
fees." The jailer's charge for her "diet in prison for a year and a
month" appears in a shape that corroborates Calef's statements, which
were prepared for publication in 1697, and printed in London in
1700.[ii.33] Although zealously devoted to the work of exposing the
enormities connected with the witchcraft prosecutions, there is no
ground to dispute the veracity of Calef as to matters of fact. What he
says of the declarations of Tituba, subsequent to her examination, is
quite consistent with a critical analysis of the details of the record
of that examination. It can hardly be doubted, whatever the amount of
severity employed to make her act the part assigned her, that she was
used as an instrument to give effect to the delusion.
Now let us consider the state of things that had been brought about in
the village, and in the surrounding country, at the close of the first
week in March, 1692. The terrible sufferings of the girls in Mr.
Parris's family and of their associates, for the two preceding months,
had become known far and wide. A universal sympathy was awakened in
their behalf; and a sentiment of horror sunk deep into all hearts, at
the dread demonstration of the diabolical rage in their afflicted and
tortured persons. A few, very few, distrusted; but the great majority,
ninety-nine in a hundred of all the people, were completely swept into
the torrent. Nathaniel Putnam and Nathaniel Ingersoll were entirely
deluded, and continued so to the end. Even Joseph Hutchinson was, for a
while, carried away. The physicians had all given their opinion that
the girls were suffering from an "evil hand." The neighboring
ministers, after a day's fasting and prayer, and a scrutinizing
inspection of the condition of the afflicted children, had given it,
as[ii.34] the result of their most solemn judgment, that it was a case
of witchcraft. Persons from the neighboring towns had come to the
place, and with their own eyes received demonstration of the same fact.
Mr. Parris made it the topic of his public prayers and preaching. The
girls, Sunday after Sunday, were under the malign influence, to the
disturbance and affrightment of the congregation. In all companies, in
all families, all the day long, the sufferings and distraction
occurring in the houses of Mr. Parris, Thomas Putnam, and others, and
in the meeting-house, were topics of excited conversation; and every
voice was loud in demanding, every mind earnest to ascertain, who were
the persons, in confederacy with the Devil, thus torturing, pinching,
convulsing, and bringing to the last extremities of mortal agony, these
afflicted girls. Every one felt, that, if the guilty authors of the
mischief could not be discovered, and put out of the way, no one was
safe for a moment. At length, when the girls cried out upon Good,
Osburn, and Tituba, there was a general sense of satisfaction and
relief. It was thought that Satan's power might be checked. The
selection of the first victims was well made. They were just the kind
of persons whom the public prejudice and credulity were prepared to
suspect and condemn. Their examination was looked for with the utmost
interest, and all flocked to witness the proceedings.
In considering the state of mind of the people, as they crowded into
and around the old meeting-house, we can have no difficulty in
realizing the[ii.35] tremendous effects of what there occurred. It was
felt that then, on that spot, the most momentous crisis in the world's
history had come. A crime, in comparison with which all other crimes
sink out of notice, was being notoriously and defiantly committed in
their midst. The great enemy of God and man was let loose among them.
What had filled the hearts of mankind for ages, the world over, with
dread apprehension, was come to pass; and in that village the great
battle, on whose issue the preservation of the kingdom of the Lord on
the earth was suspended, had begun. Indeed, no language, no imagery, no
conception of ours, can adequately express the feeling of awful and
terrible solemnity with which all were overwhelmed. No body of men ever
convened in a more highly wrought state of excitement than pervaded
that assembly, when the magistrates entered, in all their stern
authority, and the scene opened on the 1st of March, 1692. A minister,
probably Mr. Parris, began, according to the custom of the times, with
prayer. From what we know of his skill and talent in meeting such
occasions, it may well be supposed that his language and manner
heightened still more the passions of the hour. The marshal, of tall
and imposing stature and aspect, accompanied by his constables, brought
in the prisoners. Sarah Good, a poverty-stricken, wandering, and
wretched victim of ill-fortune and ill-usage, was put to the bar. Every
effort was made by the examining magistrate, aided by the officious
interference of the marshal, or other deluded or[ii.36] evil-disposed
persons,—who, like him, were permitted to interpose with charges or
abusive expressions,—to overawe and confound, involve in
contradictions, and mislead the poor creature, and force her to confess
herself guilty and accuse others. In due time, the "afflicted children"
were brought in; and a scene ensued, such as no person in that crowd or
in that generation had ever witnessed before. Immediately on being
confronted with the prisoner, and meeting her eye, they fell, as if
struck dead, to the floor; or screeched in agony; or went into fearful
spasms or convulsive fits; or cried out that they were pricked with
pins, pinched, or throttled by invisible hands. They were severally
brought up to the prisoner, and, upon touching her person, instantly
became calm, quiet, and fully restored to their senses. With one voice
they all declared that Sarah Good had thus tormented them, by her power
as a witch in league with the Devil. The truth of this charge, in the
effect produced by the malign influence proceeding from her, was thus
visible to all eyes. All saw, too, how instantly upon touching her the
diabolical effect ceased; the malignant fluid passing back, like an
electric stream, into the body of the witch. The spectacle was repeated
once and again, the acting perfect, and the delusion consummated. The
magistrates and all present considered the guilt of the prisoner
demonstrated, and regarded her as wilfully and wickedly obstinate in
not at once confessing what her eyes, as well as theirs, saw. Her
refusal to confess was considered as the[ii.37] highest proof of her
guilt. They passed judgment against her, committed her to the marshal,
who hurried her to prison, bound her with cords, and loaded her with
irons; for it was thought that no ordinary fastenings could hold a
witch. Similar proceedings, with suitable variations, were had with
Sarah Osburn and Tituba. The confession of the last-named, the
immediate relief thereafter of the afflicted children, and the dreadful
torments which Tituba herself experienced, on the spot, from the unseen
hand of the Devil wreaking vengeance upon her, put the finishing touch
to the delusion. The excitement was kept up, and spread far and wide,
by the officers and magistrates riding in cavalcade, day after day, to
and from the town and village; and by the constables, with their
assistants, carrying their manacled prisoners from jail to jail in
Ipswich, Salem, and Boston.
The point was now reached when the accusers could safely strike at
higher game. But time was taken to mature arrangements. Great curiosity
was felt to know who the other two were whom Tituba saw in connection
with Good and Osburn in their hellish operations. The girls continued
to suffer torments and fall in fits, and were constantly urged by large
numbers of people, going from house to house to witness their
sufferings, to reveal who the witches were that still afflicted them.
When all was prepared, they began to cry out, with more or less
distinctness; at first, in significant but general descriptions, and at
last calling names. The next victim was also well chosen. An
account[ii.38] has been given, in the First Part, of the notoriety
which circumstances had attached to Giles Corey. In 1691 he became a
member of the church, being then (Vol. I. p. 182) eighty years of age.
Four daughters, all probably by his first wife Margaret, the only
children of whom there is any mention, were married to John Moulton,
John Parker, and Henry Crosby, of Salem, and William Cleaves, of
Beverly. On the 11th of April, 1664, Corey was married to Mary Britt,
who died, as appears by the inscription on her gravestone in the old
Salem burial-ground, Aug. 27, 1684. Martha was his third wife. Her age
is unknown. It was entered on the record of the village church, at the
time of her admission to it, April 27, 1690; but the figures are worn
away from the edge of the page. She was a very intelligent and devout
person.
When the proceedings relating to witchcraft began, she did not approve
of them, and expressed her want of faith in the "afflicted children."
She discountenanced the whole affair, and would not follow the
multitude to the examinations; but was said to have spoken freely of
the course of the magistrates, saying that their eyes were blinded, and
that she could open them. It seemed to her clear that they were
violating common sense and the Word of God, and she was confident that
she could convince them of their errors. Instead of falling into the
delusion, she applied herself with renewed earnestness to keep her own
mind under the influence of prayer, and[ii.39] spent more time in
devotion than ever before. Her husband, however, was completely carried
away by the prevalent fanaticism, believed all he heard, and frequented
the examinations and the exhibitions of the afflicted children. This
disagreement became quite serious. Her preferring to stay at home,
shunning the proceedings, and expressing her disapprobation of what was
going on, caused an estrangement between them. Her peculiar course
created comment, in which he and two of his sons-in-law took part. Some
strong expressions were used by him, because she acted so strangely at
variance with everybody else. Her spending so much time on her knees in
devotion was looked upon as a matter of suspicion. It was said that she
tried to prevent him from following up the examinations, and went so
far as to remove the saddle from the horse brought up to convey him to
some meeting at the village connected with the witchcraft excitement.
Angry words, uttered by him, were heard and repeated. As she was a
woman of notable piety, a professor of religion, and a member of the
church, it was evident that her case, if she were proceeded against,
would still more heighten the panic, and convulse the public mind. It
would give ground for an idea which the managers of the affair desired
to circulate, that the Devil had succeeded in making inroads into the
very heart of the church, and was bringing into confederacy with him
aged and eminent church-members, who, under color of their profession,
threatened to extend his influence to the overthrow of[ii.40] all
religion. It was, indeed, established in the popular sentiments, as a
sign and mark of the Devil's coming, that many professing godliness
would join his standard.
For a day or two, it was whispered round that persons in great repute
for piety were in the diabolical confederacy, and about to be unmasked.
The name of Martha Corey, whose open opposition to the proceedings had
become known, was passed among the girls in an under-breath, and caught
from one to another among those managing the affair. On the 12th of
March, Edward Putnam and Ezekiel Cheever, having heard Ann Putnam
declare that Goody Corey did often appear to her, and torture her by
pinching and otherwise, thought it their duty to go to her, and see
what she would say to this complaint; "she being in church covenant
with us." They mounted their horses about "the middle of the
afternoon," and first went to the house of Thomas Putnam to see his
daughter Ann, to learn from her what clothes Goody Corey appeared to
her in, in order to judge whether she might not have been mistaken in
the person. The girl told them, that Goody Corey, knowing that they
contemplated making this visit, had just appeared in spirit to her, but
had blinded her so that she could not tell what clothes she wore.
Highly wrought upon by the extraordinary statement of the girl, which
they received with perfect credulity, the two brethren remounted, and
pursued their way. Goody Corey had heard that her name had been bandied
about by the accusing girls: she also knew that it was one of
their[ii.41] arts to pretend to see the clothes people were wearing at
the time their spectres appeared to them. This required, indeed, no
great amount of necromancy; as it is not probable that there was much
variety in the costume of farmer's wives, at that time, while about
their ordinary domestic engagements.
They found her alone in her house. As soon as they commenced
conversation, "in a smiling manner she said, 'I know what you are come
for; you are come to talk with me about being a witch, but I am none: I
cannot help people's talking of me.'" Edward Putnam acknowledged that
their visit was in consequence of complaints made against her by the
afflicted children. She inquired whether they had undertaken to
describe the clothes she then wore. They answered that they had not,
and proceeded to repeat what Ann Putnam had said to them about her
blinding her so that she could not see her clothes. At this she smiled,
no doubt at Ann's cunning artifice to escape having to say what dress
she then had on. She declared to the two brethren, that "she did not
think that there were any witches." After considerable talk, in which
they did not get much to further their purpose, they took their leave.
The account of this interview, given by Putnam and Cheever, indicates
that Martha Corey was a sensible, enlightened, and sprightly woman,
perfectly free from the delusion of the day, courteous in her manners
and bearing, and a Christian, well grounded in Scripture.
The two brethren returned forthwith to Thomas[ii.42] Putnam's house.
Ann told them that Goody Corey had not troubled her, nor her spectre
appeared, in their absence. She was not inclined to afford them an
opportunity to apply the test of the dress. Both the women showed great
acuteness and caution. As Corey expected the visit, and had heard that
the girls pretended to be able to say what dress persons were wearing,
she probably had attired herself in an unusual way on the occasion, to
put them at fault, and expose the falseness of their claims to
preternatural knowledge; and Ann Putnam—her sagacity suggesting the
risk she was running in the matter of Corey's dress—took refuge in the
pretence of blindness. The brethren were too much under delusion to see
through the sharp practice of both of them, but considered the fact of
Corey's inquiring of them whether Ann described her dress, as, under
the circumstances, proof positive against the former.
Wishing to make assurance doubly sure, and to fasten the charge upon
Martha Corey, the managers of the affair sent for her to come to the
house of Thomas Putnam two days after this conference. Edward Putnam
was present, and testified that his niece Ann, immediately upon the
entrance of Goodwife Corey, experienced the most dreadful convulsions
and tortures and distinctly and positively declared that Corey was the
author of her sufferings. This was regarded as conclusive evidence;
and, on the 19th of March, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was
brought to the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll, on Monday the[ii.43] 21st;
and the following is the account of her examination, in the handwriting
of Mr. Parris. The proceedings took place in the meeting-house at the
village. They were introduced by a prayer from the Rev. Nicholas Noyes.
On some of these occasions Mr. Hale and perhaps others, but usually Mr.
Noyes or Mr. Parris officiated. We may suppose, from what we know of
their general deportment in connection with these scenes, that their
performances, under the cover of a devotional exercise, expressed and
enforced a decided prejudgment of the case in hand against the
prisoners, and partook of the character of indictments as much as of
prayers.
"_The Examination of Martha Corey._
"Mr. Hathorne: You are now in the hands of authority. Tell me, now, why
you hurt these persons.—I do not.
"Who doth?—Pray, give me leave to go to prayer.
"(This request was made sundry times.)
"We do not send for you to go to prayer; but tell me why you hurt
these.—I am an innocent person. I never had to do with witchcraft since
I was born. I am a gospel woman.
"Do not you see these complain of you?—The Lord open the eyes of the
magistrates and ministers: the Lord show his power to discover the
guilty.
"Tell us who hurts these children.—I do not know.
"If you be guilty of this fact, do you think you can hide it?—The Lord
knows.
"Well, tell us what you know of this matter.—Why, I am a gospel woman;
and do you think I can have to do with witchcraft too?
"How could you tell, then, that the child was bid to ob[ii.44]serve
what clothes you wore, when some came to speak with you?
"(Cheever interrupted her, and bid her not begin with a lie; and so
Edward Putnam declared the matter.)
"Mr. Hathorne: Who told you that?—He said the child said.
"Cheever: You speak falsely.
"(Then Edward Putnam read again.)
"Mr. Hathorne: Why did you ask if the child told what clothes you
wore?—My husband told me the others told.
"Who told you about the clothes? Why did you ask that question?—Because
I heard the children told what clothes the others wore.
"Goodman Corey, did you tell her?
"(The old man denied that he told her so.)
"Did you not say your husband told you so?
"(No answer.)
"Who hurts these children? Now look upon them.—I cannot help it.
"Did you not say you would tell the truth why you asked that question?
how came you to the knowledge?—I did but ask.
"You dare thus to lie in all this assembly. You are now before
authority. I expect the truth: you promised it. Speak now, and tell who
told you what clothes.—Nobody.
"How came you to know that the children would be examined what clothes
you wore?—Because I thought the child was wiser than anybody if she
knew.
"Give an answer: you said your husband told you.—He told me the
children said I afflicted them.
"How do you know what they came for? Answer me this truly: will you say
how you came to know what they[ii.45] came for?—I had heard speech that
the children said I troubled them, and I thought that they might come
to examine.
"But how did you know it?—I thought they did.