There had been a preparation for this stage in the temper with which the
adventurers had arrived in the country, and the influences which at once
operated upon them there. The politics and the religion in which they
had grown up were gloomy and severe. Those who were not soured were sad;
and, it should be remembered, they fully believed that Satan and his
powers were abroad, and must be contended with daily and hourly, and in
every transaction of life. In their new home they found little cheer
from the sun and the common daylight; for the forest shrouded the entire
land beyond the barren seashore. The special enemy, the Red Indian,
always watching them and seeking his advantage of them, was not, in
their view, a simple savage. Their clergy assured them that the Red
Indians were worshipers and agents of Satan; and it is difficult to
estimate the effect of this belief on the minds and tempers of those
who were thinking of the Indians at every turn of daily life. The
passion which is in the far West still spoken of as special, under the
name of "Indian-hating," is a mingled ferocity and fanaticism quite
inconceivable by quiet Christians, or perhaps by any but border
adventurers; and this passion, kindled by the first demonstration of
hostility on the part of the Massachusetts Red Man, grew and spread
incessantly under the painful early experiences of colonial life. Every
man had in turn to be scout, by day and night, in the swamp and in the
forest; and every woman had to be on the watch in her husband's absence
to save her babes from murderers and kidnappers. Whatever else they
might want to be doing, even to supply their commonest needs, the
citizens had first to station themselves within hail of each other all
day, and at night to drive in their cattle among the dwellings, and keep
watch by turns. Even on Sundays patrols were appointed to look to the
public safety while the community were at church. The mothers carried
their babes to the meeting-house, rather than venture to stay at home in
the absence of husband and neighbors. One function of the Sabbath patrol
indicates to us other sources of trouble. While looking for Indians,
the patrol was to observe who was absent from worship, to mark what the
absentees were doing, and to give information to the authorities. These
patrols were chosen from the leading men of the community--the most
active, vigilant, and sensible--and it is conceivable that much
ill-will might have been accumulated in the hearts of not only the
ne'er-do-weels, but timid and jealous and angry persons who were uneasy
under this Sabbath inspection. Such ill-will had its day of triumph when
the Salem Tragedy arrived at its catastrophe.