arrangement. He was to preach a sermon that day. Word must have been
sent to him weeks before. After reaching the village, every hour had
been occupied in exciting spectacles and engrossing experiences,
filling his mind with the fanatical enthusiasm requisite to give force
and fire to the delivery of the discourse. He could not possibly have
written it after coming to the place. He must have brought it in his
pocket. It is a thoroughly elaborated and carefully constructed
performance, requiring long and patient application to compose it, and
exhausting all the resources of theological research and reference, and
of artistic skill and finish. It is adapted to the details of an
occasion which was prepared to meet it. Not only the sermon but the
audience were the result of arrangement carefully made in the stages of
preparation and in the elements comprised in it. The preceding steps
had all been seasonably and appositely taken, so that, when the regular
lecture afternoon came, Lawson would have his voluminous discourse
ready, and a congregation be in waiting to hear it, with minds suitably
wrought upon by the preceding incidents of the day, to be thoroughly
and permanently impressed by it. The occasion had been heralded by a
train of circumstances drawing everybody to the spot. The magistrates
were already there, some of them by virtue of the necessity of official
presence in the earlier part of the day, and others came in from the
neighborhood; the ministers gathered from[ii.77] the towns in the
vicinity; men and women came from all quarters, flocking along the
highways and the by-ways, large numbers on horseback, and crowds on
foot. Probably the village meeting-house, and the grounds around it,
presented a spectacle such as never was exhibited elsewhere. Awe,
dread, earnestness, a stern but wild fanaticism, were stamped on all
countenances, and stirred the heaving multitude to its depths, and in
all its movements and utterances. It is impossible to imagine a
combination of circumstances that could give greater advantage and
power to a speaker, and Lawson was equal to the situation. No discourse
was ever more equal, or better adapted, to its occasion. It was
irresistible in its power, and carried the public mind as by storm.
The text is Zechariah, iii. 2: "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord
rebuke thee, O Satan! even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke
thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" After an allusion
to the rebellion of Satan, and his fall from heaven with his "accursed
legions," and after representing them as filled "with envy and malice
against all mankind," seeking "by all ways and means to work their ruin
and destruction for ever, opposing to the utmost all persons and things
appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as means or instruments of their
comfort here or salvation hereafter," he proceeds, in the manner of
those days, to open his text and spread out his subject, all along
exhibiting great ability, skill, and power, showing learning in his
illustrations, draw[ii.78]ing aptly and abundantly from the Scriptures,
and, at the right points, rising to high strains of eloquence in
diction and imagery.
He describes, at great length and with abundant instances ingeniously
selected from sacred and profane literature, the marvellous power with
which Satan is enabled to operate upon mankind. He says,—
"He is a spirit, and hence strikes at the spiritual part, the most
excellent (constituent) part of man. Primarily disturbing and
interrupting the animal and vital spirits, he maliciously operates upon
the more common powers of the soul by strange and frightful
representations to the fancy or imagination; and, by violent tortures
of the body, often threatening to extinguish life, as hath been
observed in those that are afflicted amongst us. And not only so, but
he vents his malice in diabolical operations on the more sublime and
distinguishing faculties of the rational soul, raising mists of
darkness and ignorance in the understanding.... Sometimes he brings
distress upon the bodies of men, by malignant operations in, and
diabolical impressions on, the spirituous principle or vehicle of life
and motion.... There are certainly some lower operations of Satan
(whereof there are sundry examples among us), which the bodies and
souls of men and women are liable unto. And whosoever hath carefully
observed those things must needs be convinced, that the motions of the
persons afflicted, both as to the manner and as to the violence of
them, are the mere effects of diabolical malice and operations, and
that it cannot rationally be imagined to proceed from any other cause
whatever.... Satan exerts his malice mediately by employing some of
mankind and other creatures, and he frequently[ii.79] useth other
persons or things, that his designs may be the more undiscernible. Thus
he used the serpent in the first temptation (Gen. iii. 1). Hence he
contracts and indents with witches and wizards, that they shall be the
instruments by whom he may more secretly affect and afflict the bodies
and minds of others; and, if he can prevail upon those that make a
visible profession, it may be the better covert unto his diabolical
enterprise, and may the more readily pervert others to consenting unto
his subjection. So far as we can look into those hellish mysteries, and
guess at the administration of that kingdom of darkness, we may learn
that witches make witches by persuading one the other to subscribe to a
book or articles, &c.; and the Devil, having them in his subjection, by
their consent, he will use their bodies and minds, shapes and
representations, to affright and afflict others at his pleasure, for
the propagation of his infernal kingdom, and accomplishing his devised
mischiefs to the souls, bodies, and lives of the children of men, yea,
and of the children of God too, so far as permitted and is possible....
He insinuates into the society of the adopted children of God, in their
most solemn approaches to him, in sacred ordinances, endeavoring to
look so like the true saints and ministers of Christ, that, if it were
possible, he would deceive the very elect (Matt. xxiv. 24) by his
subtilty: for it is certain he never works more like the Prince of
darkness than when he looks most like an angel of light; and, when he
most pretends to holiness, he then doth most secretly, and by
consequence most surely, undermine it, and those that most excel in the
exercise thereof."
The following is a specimen of the style in which he stirred up the
people:[ii.80]—
"The application of this doctrine to ourselves remains now to be
attended. Let it be for solemn warning and awakening to all of us that
are before the Lord at this time, and to all others of this whole
people, who shall come to the knowledge of these direful operations of
Satan, which the holy God hath permitted in the midst of us.
"The Lord doth terrible things amongst us, by lengthening the chain of
the roaring lion in an extraordinary manner, so that the Devil is come
down in great wrath (Rev. xii. 12), endeavoring to set up his kingdom,
and, by racking torments on the bodies, and affrightening
representations to the minds of many amongst us, to force and fright
them to become his subjects. I may well say, then, in the words of the
prophet (Mic. vi. 9), 'The Lord's voice crieth to the city,' and to the
country also, with an unusual and amazing loudness. Surely, it warns us
to awaken out of all sleep, of security or stupidity, to arise, and
take our Bibles, turn to, and learn that lesson, not by rote only, but
by heart. 1 Pet. v. 8: 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the Devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom amongst you he may
distress, delude, and devour.'... Awake, awake then, I beseech you, and
remain no longer under the dominion of that prince of cruelty and
malice, whose tyrannical fury we see thus exerted against the bodies
and minds of these afflicted persons!... This warning is directed to
all manner of persons, according to their condition of life, both in
civil and sacred order; both high and low, rich and poor, old and
young, bond and free. Oh, let the observation of these amazing
dispensations of God's unusual and strange Providence quicken us to our
duty, at such a time as this, in our respective places and stations,
relations and capacities! The great God hath done such things amongst
us as do[ii.81] make the ears of those that hear them to tingle (Jer.
xix. 3); and serious souls are at a loss to what these things may grow,
and what we shall find to be the end of this dreadful visitation, in
the permission whereof the provoked God as a lion hath roared, who can
but fear? the Lord hath spoken, who can but prophesy? (Amos iii. 8.)
The loud trumpet of God, in this thundering providence, is blown in the
city, and the echo of it heard through the country, surely then the
people must and ought to be afraid (Amos iii. 6).... You are therefore
to be deeply humbled, and sit in the dust, considering the signal hand
of God in singling out this place, this poor village, for the first
seat of Satan's tyranny, and to make it (as 'twere) the rendezvous of
devils, where they muster their infernal forces; appearing to the
afflicted as coming armed to carry on their malicious designs against
the bodies, and, if God in mercy prevent not, against the souls, of
many in this place.... Be humbled also that so many members of this
church of the Lord Jesus Christ should be under the influences of
Satan's malice in these his operations; some as the objects of his
tyranny on their bodies to that degree of distress which none can be
sensible of but those that see and feel it, who are in the mean time
also sorely distressed in their minds by frightful representations made
by the devils unto them. Other professors and visible members of this
church are under the awful accusations and imputations of being the
instruments of Satan in his mischievous actings. It cannot but be
matter of deep humiliation, to such as are innocent, that the righteous
and holy God should permit them to be named in such pernicious and
unheard-of practices, and not only so, but that he who cannot but do
right should suffer the stain of suspected guilt to be, as it were,
rubbed on and[ii.82] soaked in by many sore and amazing circumstances.
And it is a matter of soul-abasement to all that are in the bond of
God's holy covenant in this place, that Satan's seat should be amongst
them, where he attempts to set up his kingdom in opposition to Christ's
kingdom, and to take some of the visible subjects of our Lord Jesus,
and use at least their shapes and appearances, instrumentally, to
afflict and torture other visible subjects of the same kingdom. Surely
his design is that Christ's kingdom may be divided against itself,
that, being thereby weakened, he may the better take opportunity to set
up his own accursed powers and dominions. It calls aloud then to all in
this place in the name of the blessed Jesus, and words of his holy
apostle (1 Peter v. 6), 'Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of
God.'
"It is matter of terror, amazement, and astonishment, to all such
wretched souls (if there be any here in the congregation; and God, of
his infinite mercy, grant that none of you may ever be found such!) as
have given up their names and souls to the Devil; who by covenant,
explicit or implicit, have bound themselves to be his slaves and
drudges, consenting to be instruments in whose shapes he may torment
and afflict their fellow-creatures (even of their own kind) to the
amazing and astonishing of the standers-by. I would hope I might have
spared this use, but I desire (by divine assistance) to declare the
whole counsel of God; and if it come not as conviction where it is so,
it may serve for warning, that it may never be so. For it is a most
dreadful thing to consider that any should change the service of God
for the service of the Devil, the worship of the blessed God for the
worship of the cursed enemy of God and man. But, oh! (which is yet a
thousand times worse) how shall I name it? if any that are in the
visible covenant of[ii.83] God should break that covenant, and make a
league with Satan; if any that have sat down and eat at Christ's Table,
should so lift up their heel against him as to have fellowship at the
table of devils, and (as it hath been represented to some of the
afflicted) eat of the bread and drink of the wine that Satan hath
mingled. Surely, if this be so, the poet is in the right, "Audax omnia
perpeti. Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas:" audacious mortals are
grown to a fearful height of impiety; and we must cry out in Scripture
language, and that emphatical apostrophe of the Prophet Jeremy (chap.
ii. 12), 'Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid:
be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.'... If you are in covenant with
the Devil, the intercession of the blessed Jesus is against you. His
prayer is for the subduing of Satan's power and kingdom, and the utter
confounding of all his instruments. If it be so, then the great God is
set against you. The omnipotent Jehovah, one God in three Persons;
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in their several distinct operations and
all their divine attributes,—are engaged against you. Therefore know ye
that are guilty of such monstrous iniquity, that He that made you will
not save you, and that He that formed you will show you no favor (Isa.
xxvii. 11). Be assured, that, although you should now evade the
condemnation of man's judgment, and escape a violent death by the hand
of justice; yet, unless God shall give you repentance (which we
heartily pray for), there is a day coming when the secrets of all
hearts shall be revealed by Jesus Christ (Rom. ii. 16). Then, then,
your sin will find you out; and you shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and doomed to those endless,
easeless, and remediless torments prepared for the Devil and his angels
(Matt. xxv. 41).... If you[ii.84] have been guilty of such impiety, the
prayers of the people of God are against you on that account. It is
their duty to pray daily, that Satan's kingdom may be suppressed,
weakened, brought down, and at last totally destroyed; hence that all
abettors, subjects, defenders, and promoters thereof, may be utterly
crushed and confounded. They are constrained to suppress that kindness
and compassion that in their sacred addresses they once bare unto you
(as those of their own kind, and framed out of the same mould), praying
with one consent, as the royal prophet did against his malicious
enemies, the instruments of Satan (Ps. cix. 6), 'Set thou a wicked man
over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand' (i.e.), to withstand
all that is for his good, and promote all that is for his hurt; and
(verse 7) 'When he is judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer
become sin.'
"Be we exhorted and directed to exercise true spiritual sympathy with,
and compassion towards, those poor, afflicted persons that are by
divine permission under the direful influence of Satan's malice. There
is a divine precept enjoining the practice of such duty: Heb. xiii. 3,
'Remember them that suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
body.' Let us, then, be deeply sensible, and, as the elect of God, put
on bowels of mercy towards those in misery (Col. iii. 12). Oh, pity,
pity them! for the hand of the Lord hath touched them, and the malice
of devils hath fallen upon them.
"Let us be sure to take unto us and put on the whole armor of God, and
every piece of it; let none be wanting. Let us labor to be in the
exercise and practice of the whole company of sanctifying graces and
religious duties. This important duty is pressed, and the particular
pieces of that armor recited Eph. vi. 11 and 13 to 18. Satan is
repre[ii.85]senting his infernal forces; and the devils seem to come
armed, mustering amongst us. I am this day commanded to call and cry an
alarm unto you: Arm, arm, arm! handle your arms, see that you are fixed
and in a readiness, as faithful soldiers under the Captain of our
salvation, that, by the shield of faith, ye and we all may resist the
fiery darts of the wicked; and may be faithful unto death in our
spiritual warfare; so shall we assuredly receive the crown of life
(Rev. ii. 10). Let us admit no parley, give no quarter: let none of
Satan's forces or furies be more vigilant to hurt us than we are to
resist and repress them, in the name, and by the spirit, grace, and
strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us ply the throne of grace, in
the name and merit of our Blessed Mediator, taking all possible
opportunities, public, private, and secret, to pour out our
supplications to the God of our salvation. Prayer is the most proper
and potent antidote against the old Serpent's venomous operations. When
legions of devils do come down among us, multitudes of prayers should
go up to God. Satan, the worst of all our enemies, is called in
Scripture a dragon, to note his malice; a serpent, to note his
subtilty; a lion, to note his strength. But none of all these can stand
before prayer. The most inveterate malice (as that of Haman) sinks
under the prayer of Esther (chap. iv. 16). The deepest policy (the
counsel of Achitophel) withers before the prayer of David (2 Sam. xv.
31); and the vastest army (an host of a thousand thousand Ethiopians)
ran away, like so many cowards, before the prayer of Asa (2 Chron. xiv.
9 to 15).
"What therefore I say unto one I say unto all, in this important case,
Pray, pray, pray.
"To our honored magistrates, here present this day, to[ii.86] inquire
into these things, give me leave, much honored, to offer one word to
your consideration. Do all that in you lies to check and rebuke Satan;
endeavoring, by all ways and means that are according to the rule of
God, to discover his instruments in these horrid operations. You are
concerned in the civil government of this people, being invested with
power by their Sacred Majesties, under this glorious Jesus (the King
and Governor of his church), for the supporting of Christ's kingdom
against all oppositions of Satan's kingdom and his instruments. Being
ordained of God to such a station (Rom. xiii. 1), we entreat you, bear
not the sword in vain, as ver. 4; but approve yourselves a terror of
and punishment to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well (1
Peter ii. 14); ever remembering that ye judge not for men, but for the
Lord (2 Chron. xix. 6); and, as his promise is, so our prayer shall be
for you, without ceasing, that he would be with you in the judgment, as
he that can and will direct, assist, and reward you. Follow the example
of the upright Job (chap. xxix. 16): Be a father to the poor; to these
poor afflicted persons, in pitiful and painful endeavors to help them;
and the cause that seems to be so dark, as you know not how to
determine it, do your utmost, in the use of all regular means, to
search it out.
"There is comfort in considering that the Lord Jesus, the Captain of
our salvation, hath already overcome the Devil. Christ, that blessed
seed of the woman, hath given this cursed old serpent called the Devil
and Satan a mortal and incurable bruise on the head (Gen. iii. 15). He
was too much for him in a single conflict (Matt. iv.). He opposed his
power and kingdom in the possessed. He suffered not the devils to
speak, because they knew him (Mark i. 34). He com[ii.87]pleted his
victory by his death on the cross, and destroyed his dominion (Heb. ii.
14), that through death he might destroy death, and him that had the
powers of death, that is the Devil; and by and after his resurrection
made show openly unto the world, that he had spoiled principalities and
powers, triumphing over them (Col. ii. 15). Hence, if we are by faith
united to him, his victory is an earnest and prelibation of our
conquest at last. All Satan's strugglings now are but those of a
conquered enemy. It is no small comfort to consider, that Job's
exercise of patience had its beginning from the Devil; but we have seen
the end to be from the Lord (James v. 11). That we also may find by
experience the same blessed issue of our present distresses by Satan's
malice, let us repent of every sin that hath been committed, and labor
to practise every duty which hath been neglected. Then we shall
assuredly and speedily find that the kingly power of our Lord and
Saviour shall be magnified, in delivering his poor sheep and lambs out
of the jaws and paws of the roaring lion."
William Stoughton
WILLIAM STOUGHTON.
_Eng.d at J. Andrews's by R. Babson_
These extended extracts are given from Lawson's discourse, partly to
enable every one to estimate the effect it must have produced, under
the circumstances of the occasion, but mainly because they present a
living picture of the sentiments, notions, modes of thinking and
reasoning, and convictions, then prevalent. No description given by a
person looking back from our point of view, not having experienced the
delusions of that age, no matter who might attempt the task, could
adequately paint the scene. The foregoing extracts show better, I
think, than any documents that have come down to us, how the subject
lay[ii.88] in the minds of men at that time. They bring before us
directly, without the intervention of any secondary agency, the
thoughts, associations, sentiments, of that generation, in breathing
reality. They carry us back to the hour and to the spot. Deodat Lawson
rises from his unknown grave, comes forth from the impenetrable cloud
which enveloped the closing scenes of his mortal career, and we listen
to his voice, as it spoke to the multitudes that gathered in and around
the meeting-house in Salem Village, on Lecture-day, March 24, 1692. He
lays bare his whole mind to our immediate inspection. In and through
him, we behold the mind and heart, the forms of language and thought,
the feelings and passions, of the people of that day. We mingle with
the crowd that hang upon his lips; we behold their countenances,
discern the passions that glowed upon their features, and enter into
the excitement that moved and tossed them like a tempest. We are thus
prepared, as we could be in no other way, to comprehend our story.
The sermon answered its end. It re-enforced the powers that had begun
their work. It spread out the whole doctrine of witchcraft in a
methodical, elaborate, and most impressive form. It justified and
commended every thing that had been done, and every thing that remained
to be done; every step in the proceedings; every process in the
examinations; every kind of accusation and evidence that had been
adduced; every phase of the popular belief, however wild and monstrous;
every pretension of the afflicted children[ii.89] to preternatural
experiences and communications, and every tale of apparitions of
departed spirits and the ghosts of murdered men, women, and children,
which, engendered in morbid and maniac imaginations, had been employed
to fill him and others with horror, inspire revenge, and drive on the
general delirium. And it fortified every point by the law and the
testimony, by passages and scraps of Scripture, studiously and
skilfully culled out, and ingeniously applied. It gave form to what had
been vague, and authority to what had floated in blind and baseless
dreams of fancy. It crystallized the disordered vagaries, that had been
seething in turbulent confusion in the public mind, into a fixed,
organized, and permanent shape.
Its publication was forthwith called for. The manuscript was submitted
to Increase and Cotton Mather of the North, James Allen and John Bailey
of the First, Samuel Willard of the Old South, churches in Boston, and
Charles Morton of the church in Charlestown. It was printed with a
strong, unqualified indorsement of approval, signed by the names
severally of these the most eminent divines of the country. The
discourse was dedicated to the "worshipful and worthily honored
Bartholomew Gedney, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, Esqrs., together
with the reverend Mr. John Higginson, pastor, and Mr. Nicholas Noyes,
teacher, of the Church of Christ at Salem," with a preface, addressed
to all his "Christian friends and acquaintance, the inhabitants of
Salem Village." It was republished in London in 1704, under the
immediate direction of its[ii.90] author. The subject is described as
"Christ's Fidelity, the only Shield against Satan's Malignity;" and the
titlepage is enforced by passages of Scripture (Rev. xii. 12, and Rom.
xvi. 20). The interest of the volume is highly increased by an
appendix, giving the substance of notes taken by Lawson on the spot,
during the examinations and trials. They are invaluable, as proceeding
from a chief actor in the scenes, who was wholly carried away by the
delusion. They describe, in marvellous colors, the wonderful
manifestations of diabolical agency in, upon, and through the afflicted
children; resembling, in many respects, reports of spiritual
communications prevalent in our day, although not quite coming up to
them. These statements, and the preface to the discourse, are given in
the Appendix to this volume. In a much briefer form, it was printed by
Benjamin Harris, at Boston, in 1692; and soon after by John Dunton, in
London.
Before dismissing Mr. Lawson's famous sermon, our attention is demanded
to a remarkable paragraph in it. His strong faculties could not be
wholly bereft of reason; and he had sense enough left to see, what does
not appear to have occurred to others, that there might be a re-action
in the popular passions, and that some might be called to account by an
indignant public, if not before a stern tribunal of justice, for the
course of cruelty and outrage they were pursuing, with so high a hand,
against accused persons. He was not entirely satisfied that the appeal
he made in his discourse to[ii.91] the people to suppress and crush out
all vestiges of human feeling, and to stifle compassion and pity in
their breasts, would prevail. He foresaw that the friends and families
of innocent and murdered victims might one day call for vengeance; and
he attempts to provide, beforehand, a defence that is truly ingenious:—