in the exercise of power, and rejoiced in conflicts or commotions, from
the exhilaration they occasioned, and the opportunity they gave for the
gratification of the activity of his nature. He pursued the object of
getting possession of the ministry house and land with such desperate
pertinacity, not, I think, from avaricious motives, but for the sake of
the power it would give him as a considerable landholder. His love of
form and public excitement led him to operate as he did with his
church. He kept it in continual action during the few years of his
ministry. He had at least seventy-five special meetings of that body,
without counting those which probably occurred without number, but of
which there is no record, during the six months of the witchcraft
period. Twice, the brethren gave out, wholly exhausted; and the
powers[ii.502] of the church were, by vote, transferred to a special
committee, to act in its behalf, composed of persons who had time and
strength to spare. But Mr. Parris, never weary of excitement, would
have been delighted to preside over church-meetings, and to be a
participator in vehement proceedings, every day of his life. The more
noisy and heated the contention, the more he enjoyed it. During all the
transactions connected with the witchcraft prosecutions, he was
everywhere present, always wide awake, full of animation, if not
cheerfulness, and ready to take any part to carry them on. These
propensities and dispositions were fraught with danger, and prolific of
evil in his case, in consequence of what looks very much like a total
want in himself of many of the natural human sensibilities, and an
inability to apprehend them in others. Through all the horrors of the
witchcraft prosecutions, he never evinced the slightest sensibility,
and never seemed to be aware that anybody else had any. It was not
absolute cruelty, but the absence of what may be regarded as a natural
sense. It was not a positive wickedness, but a negative defect. He
seemed to be surprised that other people had sentiments, and could not
understand why Tarbell and Nurse felt so badly about the execution of
their mother. He told them to their faces, without dreaming of giving
them offence, that, while they thought she was innocent, and he thought
she was guilty and had been justly put to death, it was a mere
difference of opinion, as about an indifferent matter. In his
"Meditations for Peace," presented to these dissatisfied brethren, for
the purpose and with an earnest desire of appeasing them, he tells them
that the indulgence of such feelings at all is a yielding to
"temptation," being under "the clouds of human weakness," and "a
bewraying of remaining corruption." Indeed, the theology of that day,
it must be allowed, bore very hard upon even the best and most sacred
affections of our nature. The council, in their Result, allude to the
feelings of those whose parents, and other most loved and honored
relatives and connections, had been so cruelly torn from them and put
to death, as "infirmities discovered by them in such an heart-breaking
day," and bespeak for their grief and lamentations a charitable
construction. They ask the church, whose hands were red with the blood
of their innocent and dearest friends, not to pursue them with "more
critical and vigorous proceedings" in consequence of their exhibiting
these[ii.503] natural sensibilities on the occasion, but "to treat them
with bowels of much compassion." These views had taken full effect upon
Mr. Parris, and obliterated from his breast all such "infirmities."
This is the only explanation or apology that can be made for him.
Of the history of Cotton Mather, subsequently to the witchcraft
prosecutions, and more or less in consequence of his agency in them, it
may be said that the residue of his life was doomed to disappointment,
and imbittered by reproach and defeat. The storm of fanatical delusion,
which he doubted not would carry him to the heights of clerical and
spiritual power, in America and everywhere, had left him a wreck. His
political aspirations, always one of his strongest passions, were
wholly blasted; and the great aim and crown of his ambition, the
Presidency of Harvard College, once and again and for ever had eluded
his grasp. I leave him to tell his story, and reveal the state of his
mind and heart in his own most free and full expressions from his
private diary for the year 1724.
"1. What has a gracious Lord helped me to do for the _seafaring tribe_,
in prayers for them, in sermons to them, in books bestowed upon them,
and in various projections and endeavors to render the sailors a happy
generation? And yet there is not a man in the world so reviled, so
slandered, so cursed among sailors.
"2. What has a gracious Lord helped me to do for the instruction and
salvation and comfort of the poor negroes? And yet some, on purpose to
affront me, call their negroes by the name of COTTON MATHER, that so
they may, with some shadow of truth, assert crimes as committed by one
of that name, which the hearers take to be _Me_.
"3. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the profit and honor of
the female sex, especially in publishing the virtuous and laudable
characters of holy women? And yet where is the man whom the female sex
have spit more of their venom at? I have cause to question whether
there are twice ten in the town but what have, at some time or other,
spoken _basely_ of me.
"4. What has a gracious Lord given me to do, that I may be a blessing
to my relatives? I keep a catalogue of them, and not a week passes me
without some good devised for some or other of them, till I have taken
all of them under my cognizance. And yet where is the man who has been
so tormented with such _monstrous_ relatives? Job said, '_I am a
brother to dragons._'[ii.504]
"5. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the vindication and
reputation of the Scottish nation? And yet no Englishman has been so
vilified by the tongues and pens of Scots as I have been.
"6. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the good of the
country, in applications without number for it in all its interests,
besides publications of things useful to it and for it? And yet there
is no man whom the country so loads with disrespect and calumnies and
manifold expressions of aversion.
"7. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the upholding of the
government, and the strengthening of it, and the bespeaking of regards
unto it? And yet the discountenance I have almost perpetually received
from the government! Yea, the indecencies and indignities which it has
multiplied upon me are such as no other man has been treated with.
"8. What has a gracious Lord given me to do, that the College may be
owned for the bringing forth such as are somewhat known in the world,
and have read and wrote as much as many have done in other places? And
yet the College for ever puts all possible marks of disesteem upon me.
If I were the greatest blockhead that ever came from it, or the
greatest blemish that ever came to it, they could not easily show me
more contempt than they do.
"9. What has a gracious Lord given me to do for the study of _a
profitable conversation_? For nearly fifty years together, I have
hardly ever gone into any company, or had any coming to me, without
some explicit contrivance to speak something or other that they might
be the wiser or the better for. And yet my company is as little sought
for, and there is as little resort unto it, as any minister that I am
acquainted with.
"10. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in _good offices_,
wherever I could find opportunities for the doing of them? I for ever
entertain them with alacrity. I have offered pecuniary recompenses to
such as would advise me of them. And yet I see no man for whom all are
so loth to do good offices. Indeed I find some cordial friends, _but
how few_! Often have I said, What would I give if there were any one
man in the world to do for me what I am willing to do for every man in
the world!
"11. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in the writing of many
books for the advancing of piety and the promoting of his kingdom?
There are, I suppose, more than three hundred of them. And yet I have
had more books written against me, more pamphlets to traduce and
reproach me and belie me, than any man I know in the world.
"12. What has a gracious Lord given me to do in a variety of[ii.505]
_services_? For many lustres of years, not a day has passed me, without
some devices, even written devices, to be serviceable. And yet my
sufferings! They seem to be (as in reason they should be) more than my
services. Everybody points at me, and speaks of me as by far the most
afflicted minister in all New England. And many look on me as the
greatest sinner, because the greatest sufferer; and are pretty
arbitrary in their conjectures upon my punished miscarriages."
"_Diary, May 7, 1724._—The sudden death of the unhappy man who
sustained the place of President in our College will open a door for my
doing singular services in the best of interests. I do not know that
the care of the College will now be cast upon me, though I am told that
it is what is most generally wished for. If it should be, I shall be in
abundance of distress about it; but, if it should not, yet I may do
many things for the good of the College more quietly and more hopefully
than formerly.
"_June 5._—The College is in great hazard of dissipation and grievous
destruction and confusion. My advice to some that have some influence
on the public may be seasonable.
"_July 1, 1724._—This day being our _insipid, ill-contrived
anniversary_, which we call the _Commencement_, I chose to spend it at
home in supplications, partly on the behalf of the College that it may
not be foolishly thrown away, but that God may bestow such a President
upon it as may prove a rich blessing unto it and unto all our
churches."
On the 18th of November, 1724, the corporation of Harvard College
elected the Rev. Benjamin Colman, pastor of the Brattle-street Church
in Boston, to the vacant presidential chair. He declined the
appointment. The question hung in suspense another six months. In June,
1725, the Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, pastor of the First Church in
Boston, was elected, accepted the office, and held it to his death, on
the 16th of March, 1737. It may easily be imagined how keenly these
repeated slights were felt by Cotton Mather. He died on the 13th of
February, 1728.
From the early part of the spring of 1695, when the abortive attempt to
settle the difficulty between Mr. Parris and the people of the village,
by the umpirage of Major Gedney, was made, it evidently became the
settled purpose of the leading men, on both sides, to restore harmony
to the place. On all committees, persons who had been prominent in
opposition to each other were joined together, that, thus co-operating,
they might become reconciled.[ii.506] This is strikingly illustrated in
the "seating of the meeting-house," as it was called. In 1699, in a
seat accommodating three persons, John Putnam the son of Nathaniel, and
John Tarbell, were two of the three. Another seat for three was
occupied by James and John Putnam, sons of John, and by Thomas Wilkins.
Thomas Putnam and Samuel Nurse were placed in the same seat; and so
were the wives of Thomas Putnam and Samuel Nurse, and the widow Sarah
Houlton. The widow Preston, daughter of Rebecca Nurse, was seated with
the widow Walcot, mother of Mary, one of the accusing girls.
We see in this the effect of the wise and decisive course adopted by
Mr. Parris's successor, the Rev. Joseph Green. Immediately upon his
ordination, Nov. 10, 1698, he addressed himself in earnest to the work
of reconciliation in that distracted parish. From the date of its
existence, nearly thirty years before, it had been torn by constant
strife. It had just passed through scenes which had brought all hearts
into the most terrible alienation. A man of less faith would not have
believed it possible, that the horrors and outrages of those scenes
could ever be forgotten, forgiven, or atoned for, by those who had
suffered or committed the wrongs. But he knew the infinite power of the
divine love, which, as a minister of Christ, it was his office to
inspire and diffuse. He knew that, with the blessing of God, that
people, who had from the first been devouring each other, and upon
whose garments the stain of the blood of brethren and sisters was
fresh, might be made "kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven" them. In this
heroic and Christ-like faith, he entered upon and steadfastly adhered
to his divine work. He pursued it with patience, wisdom, and courageous
energy. No ministry in the whole history of the New-England churches
has had a more difficult task put upon it, and none has more perfectly
succeeded in its labors. I shall describe the administration of this
good man, as a minister of reconciliation, in his own words,
transcribed from his church records:—
"Nov. 25, 1698, being spent in holy exercises (in order to our
preparation for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper), at John Putnam,
Jr.'s, after the exercise, I desired the church to manifest, by the
usual sign, that they were so cordially satisfied with their brethren,
Thomas Wilkins, John Tarbell, and Samuel Nurse, that they were
heartily[ii.507] desirous that they would join with us in all
ordinances, that so we might all live lovingly together. This they
consented unto, and none made any objection, but voted it by lifting up
their hands. And further, that whatever articles they had drawn up
against these brethren formerly, they now looked upon them as nothing,
but let them fall to the ground, being willing that they should be
buried for ever.
"Feb. 5, 1699.—This day, also our brother John Tarbell, and his wife,
and Thomas Wilkins and his wife, and Samuel Nurse's wife, joined with
us in the Lord's Supper; which is a matter of thankfulness, seeing they
have for a long time been so offended as that they could not
comfortably join with us.
"1702.—In December, the pastor spake to the church, on the sabbath, as
followeth: 'Brethren, I find in your church-book a record of Martha
Corey's being excommunicated for witchcraft; and, the generality of the
land being sensible of the errors that prevailed in that day, some of
her friends have moved me several times to propose to the church
whether it be not our duty to recall that sentence, that so it may not
stand against her to all generations; and I myself being a stranger to
her, and being ignorant of what was alleged against her, I shall now
only leave it to your consideration, and shall determine the matter by
a vote the next convenient opportunity.'
"Feb. 14, 1702/3.—The major part of the brethren consented to the
following: 'Whereas this church passed a vote, Sept. 11, 1692, for the
excommunication of Martha Corey, and that sentence was pronounced
against her Sept. 14, by Mr. Samuel Parris, formerly the pastor of this
church; she being, before her excommunication, condemned, and
afterwards executed, for supposed witchcraft; and there being a record
of this in our church-book, page 12, we being moved hereunto, do freely
consent and heartily desire that the same sentence may be revoked, and
that it may stand no longer against her; for we are, through God's
mercy to us, convinced that we were at that dark day under the power of
those errors which then prevailed in the land; and we are sensible that
we had not sufficient grounds to think her guilty of that crime for
which she was condemned and executed; and that her excommunication was
not according to the mind of God, and therefore we desire that this may
be entered in our church-book, to take off that odium that is cast on
her name, and that so God may forgive our sin, and may be atoned for
the land; and we humbly pray that God will not leave us any more to
such errors and sins, but will teach and enable us always to do that
which is right in his sight.'
"There was a major part voted, and six or seven dissented.
"J. Gr., _Pr._" [ii.508]
The First Church in Salem rescinded its votes of excommunication of
Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey, in March, 1712. The church at the
village was nearly ten years before it, in this act of justice to
itself and to the memory of the injured dead. Mr. Green did not wait
until the public sentiment drove him to it. He regarded it as his duty
to lead, and keep in front of that sentiment, in the right direction.
He did not wait until everybody demanded it to be done, but instantly
began to prepare his people for it. At the proper time, he gave notice
that he was about to bring the question before them; and he accordingly
did so. He had no idea of allowing a few narrow-minded, obstinate
individuals to keep the blot any longer upon the records of his church.
His conduct is honorable to his name, and to the name of the village.
By wise, prudent, but persistent efforts, he gradually repaired every
breach, brought his parish out from under reproach, and set them right
with each other, with the obligations of justice, and with the spirit
of Christianity. It is affecting to read his ejaculations of praise and
gratitude to God for every symptom of the prevalence of harmony and
love among the people of his charge.
The man who extinguished the fires of passion in a community that had
ever before been consumed by them deserves to be held in lasting honor.
The history of the witchcraft delusion in Salem Village would, indeed,
be imperfectly written, if it failed to present the character of him
who healed its wounds, obliterated the traces of its malign influence
on the hearts and lives of those who acted, and repaired the wrongs
done to the memory of those who suffered, in it. Joseph Green had a
manly and amiable nature. He was a studious scholar and an able
preacher. He was devoted to his ministry and faithful to its
obligations. He was a leader of his people, and shared in their
occupations and experiences. He was active in the ordinary employments
of life and daily concerns of society. Possessed of independent
property, he was frugal and simple in his habits, and liberal in the
use of his means. The parsonage, while he lived in it, was the abode of
hospitality, and frequented by the best society in the neighborhood. By
mingled firmness and kindliness, he met and removed difficulties. He
had a cheerful temperament, was not irritated by the course of events,
even when of an unpleasant character. While Mr. Noyes was disturbed,
even to resentment, by encroachments upon his parish,[ii.509] in the
formation of new societies in the middle precinct of Salem, now South
Danvers, and in the second precinct of Beverly, now Upper Beverly, Mr.
Green, although they drew away from him as many as from Mr. Noyes, went
to participate in the raising of their meeting-houses. Of a genial
disposition, he countenanced innocent amusements. He was fond of the
sports of the field. The catamount was among the trophies of his sure
aim, and he came home with his huntsman's bag filled with wild pigeons.
He would take his little sons before and behind him on his horse, and
spend a day with them fishing and fowling on Wilkins's Pond; and, when
Indians threatened the settlements, he would shoulder his musket, join
the brave young men of his parish, and be the first in the encounter,
and the last to relinquish the pursuit of the savage foe.
He was always, everywhere, a peacemaker; by his genial manner, and his
genuine dignity and decision of character, he removed dissensions from
his church and neighborhood, and secured the respect while he won the
love of all. That such a person was raised up and placed where he was
at that time, was truly a providence of God.
The part performed in the witchcraft tragedy by the extraordinary child
of twelve years of age, Ann Putnam, has been fully set forth. As has
been stated, both her parents (and no one can measure their share of
responsibility, nor that of others behind them, for her conduct) died
within a fortnight of each other, in 1699. She was then nineteen years
of age; a large family of children, all younger than herself, was left
with her in the most melancholy orphanage. How many there were, we do
not exactly know: eight survived her. Although their uncles, Edward and
Joseph, were near, and kind, and able to care for them, the burden
thrown upon her must have been great. With the terrible remembrance of
the scenes of 1692, it was greater than she could bear. Her health
began to decline, and she was long an invalid. Under the tender and
faithful guidance of Mr. Green, she did all that she could to seek the
forgiveness of God and man. After consultations with him, in visits to
his study, a confession was drawn up, which she desired publicly to
make. Upon conferring with Samuel Nurse, it was found to be
satisfactory to him, as the representative of those who had suffered
from her testimony. It was her desire to offer this[ii.510] confession
and a profession of religion at the same time. The day was fixed, and
made known to the public. On the 25th of August, 1706, a great
concourse assembled in the meeting-house. Large numbers came from other
places, particularly from the town of Salem. The following document,
having been judged sufficient and suitable, was written out in the
church-book the evening before, and signed by her. It was read by the
pastor before the congregation, who were seated; she standing in her
place while it was read, and owning it as hers by a declaration to that
effect at its close, and also acknowledging the signature.
_"The Confession of Anne Putnam, when she was received to Communion,
1706._
"I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence
that befell my father's family in the year about '92; that I, then
being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an
instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime,
whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just
grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that
it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time,
whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though
ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the
guilt of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any
person I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not
out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such
thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded
by Satan. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of
Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to
be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a
calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in
the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto
whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations
were taken away or accused.
[Signed] signature
"This confession was read before the congregation, together with her
relation, Aug. 25, 1706; and she acknowledged it.
"J. Green, _Pastor_.
This paper shows the baleful influence of the doctrine of Satan[ii.511]
then received. It afforded a refuge and escape from the compunctions of
conscience. The load of sin was easily thrown upon the back of Satan.
This young woman was undoubtedly sincere in her penitence, and was
forgiven, we trust and believe; but she failed to see the depth of her
iniquity, and of those who instigated and aided her, in her false
accusations. The blame, and the deed, were wholly hers and theirs.
Satan had no share in it. Human responsibility cannot thus be avoided.
While, in a certain sense, she imputes the blame to Satan, this
declaration of Ann Putnam is conclusive evidence that she and her
confederate accusers did not believe in any communications having been
made to them by invisible spirits of any kind. Those persons, in our
day, who imagine that they hold intercourse, by rapping or otherwise,
with spiritual beings, have sometimes found arguments in favor of their
belief in the phenomena of the witchcraft trials. But Ann Putnam's
confession is decisive against this. If she had really received from
invisible beings, subordinate spirits, or the spirits of deceased
persons, the matters to which she testified, or ever believed that she
had, she would have said so. On the contrary, she declares that she had
no foundation whatever, from any source, for what she said, but was
under the subtle and mysterious influence of the Devil himself.
She died at about the age of thirty-six years. Her will is dated May
20, 1715, and was presented in probate June 29, 1716. Its preamble is
as follows:—
"In the name of God, amen. I, Anne Putnam, of the town of Salem, single
woman, being oftentimes sick and weak in body, but of a disposing mind
and memory, blessed be God! and calling to mind the mortality of my
body, and that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make this my
last will and testament. First of all, I recommend my spirit into the
hands of God, through Jesus Christ my Redeemer, with whom I hope to
live for ever; and, as for my body, I commit it to the earth, to be
buried in a Christian and decent manner, at the discretion of my
executor, hereafter named, nothing doubting but, by the mighty power of
God, to receive the same again at the resurrection."
She divided her land to her four brothers, and her personal estate to
her four sisters.