_I._ Let the Devils _coming down_ in _great wrath_ upon us, cause us to
_come down_ in _great grief_ before the Lord. We may truly and sadly
say, _We are brought very low! Low_ indeed, when the Serpents of the
dust, are crawling and coyling about us, and Insulting over us. May we
not say, _We are in the very Belly of Hell_, when _Hell_ it self is
feeding upon us? But how _Low_ is that! O let us then most penitently
lay our selves very _Low_ before the God of Heaven, who has thus Abased
us.[123] When a Truculent _Nero_ a _Devil_ of a Man, was turned in upon
the World, it was said, in 1 Pet. 5. 6. _Humble your selves under the
mighty hand of God_. How much more now ought we to _humble our selves_
under that _Mighty Hand_ of that God who indeed has the _Devil_ in a
_Chain_, but has horribly lengthened on the _Chain!_[124] When the old
people of God heard any _Blasphemies_, tearing of his Ever-Blessed
Name to pieces, they were to _Rend their Cloaths_ at what they heard.
I am sure that we have cause to _Rend our Hearts_ this Day, when we
see [45] what an High Treason has been committed against the most high
God, by the Witchcrafts in our Neighbourhood. We may say; and shall
we not be _humbled_ when we say it? _We have seen an horrible thing
done in our Land!_ O 'tis a most humbling thing, to think, that ever
there should be such an abomination among us, as for a crue of humane
race to renounce their _Maker_, and to unite with the _Devil_, for the
troubling of mankind, and for People to be, (as is by some confess'd)
_Baptized_ by a _Fiend_ using this form upon them, _Thou art mine
and I have a full power over thee!_ afterwards communicating in an
Hellish _Bread_ and _Wine_, by that Fiend administred unto them. It
was said in Deut. 18. 10, 11, 12. _There shall not be found among you
an Inchanter, or a Witch, or a Charmer, or a Consulter with Familiar
Spirits, or a Wizzard, or a Necromancer; For all that do these things
are an Abomination to the Lord, and because of these Abominations,
the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee._ That _New-England_
now should have these _Abominations_ in it, yea, that some of no mean
_Profession_, should be found guilty of them: Alas, what _Humiliations_
are we all hereby oblig'd unto? O 'tis a _Defiled Land_, wherein we
live; Let us be humbled for these _Defiling Abominations_, lest we
be driven out of our Land. It's a very _humbling_ thing to think,
what reproaches will be cast upon us, for this matter, among _The
Daughters of the Philistines_. Indeed, enough might easily be said
for the vindication of _this_ Country from the _Singularity_ of this
matter, by ripping up, what has been discovered in _others_. _Great
Britain_ alone, and this also in our days of _Greatest Light_, has had
that in it, which may divert the Calumnies of an ill-natured World,
from centring here. They are words of the Devout Bishop _Hall,_[125]
_Satans prevalency in this Age, is most clear in the marvellous
Number of Witches abounding in all places. Now Hundreds are discovered
in one Shire; and, if Fame Deceives us not, in a Village of Fourteen
Houses in the North, are found so many of this Damned Brood. Yea, and
those of both Sexes, who have Professed much Knowledge, Holiness,
and Devotion, are drawn into this Damnable Practice._ I suppose the
Doctor in the first of those Passages, may refer to what happened in
the Year 1645. When so many Vassals of the Devil were Detected, that
there were _Thirty_ try'd at one time, whereas about _fourteen_ were
Hang'd, and an Hundred more detained in the Prisons of _Suffolk_ and
_Essex_. Among other things which many of these Acknowledged, one was,
That they were to undergo certain _Punishments_, if they did not such
and such _Hurts_, as were appointed them. And, among the rest that were
then Executed, there was an Old Parson, called _Lowis_, who confessed,
That he had a couple of _Imps_, whereof _one_ was always putting him
upon the doing of Mischief; Once particularly, that _Imp_ calling for
his Consent so to do, went immediately and Sunk a _Ship_, then under
Sail.[126] I pray, let not _New-England_ become of an Unsavoury and
a Sulphurous Resentment in the Opinion of the World abroad, for the
Doleful things which are now fallen out among us, while there are such
_Histories_ of other places abroad in the World.[127] Nevertheless, I
am sure that _we_, the People of _New-England_, have cause enough to
_Humble_ our selves under our most _Humbling_ Circumstances. We must
no more be _Haughty, because of the Lords Holy Mountain among us;_
No it becomes us rather to be, _Humble, because we have been such an
Habitation of Unholy Devils!_
_II._ Since the Devil is _come down in great wrath_ upon us, let not us
in our _great wrath_ against one another provide a _Lodging_ for him.
It was a most wholesome caution, in _Eph._ 4. 26, 27. _Let not the Sun
go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the Devil._ The Devil is
come down to see what _Quarter_ he shall find among us:[128] And if his
coming down, do now fill us with _wrath_ against one another, and if
between the cause of the _Sufferers_ on one hand, and the cause of the
_Suspected_ on t'other, we carry things to such extreams of _Passion_
as are now gaining upon us, the Devil will Bless himself, to find such
a convenient _Lodging_ as we shall therein afford unto him.[129] And
it may be that the _wrath_ which we have had against one another has
had more than a little influence upon the coming down of the Devil in
that _wrath_ which now amazes us. Have not many of us been _Devils_ one
unto another for Slanderings, for Backbitings, for Animosities? For
_this_, among other causes, perhaps, God has permitted the Devils to
be worrying, as they now are, among us. But it is high time to leave
off all _Devilism_, when the _Devil_ himself is falling upon us: And
it is _no time_ for us to be Censuring and Reviling one another, with
a _Devilish wrath_, when the _wrath_ of the _Devil_ is annoying of us.
The way for us to out-wit the Devil, in the _Wiles_ with which he now
_Vexes_ [46] us, would be for us to joyn as one man in our cries to
God, for the Directing, and Issuing of this Thorny Business; but if
we do not _Lift up_ our Hands to Heaven, _without Wrath_, we cannot
then do it _without Doubt_, of speeding in it. I am ashamed when I
read French Authors giving this Character of Englishmen [_Ils se
haissent Les uns les autres, et sont en Division Continuelle._] _They
hate one another, and are always Quarelling one with another._[130]
And I shall be much more ashamed, if it become the Character of
_New-Englanders;_ which is indeed what the Devil would have. _Satan_
would make us _bruise_ one another, by breaking of the _Peace_ among
us; but O let us disappoint him. We read of a thing that sometimes
happens to the _Devil_, when he is foaming with his _Wrath_, in Mat.
12. 43. _The unclean Spirit seeks rest, and finds none._ But we give
_rest_ unto the Devil, by _wrath_ one against another. If we would lay
aside all fierceness, and keenness, in the disputes which the Devil has
raised among us; and if we would use to one another none but the _soft
Answers, which turn away wrath:_ I should hope that we might light upon
such Counsels, as would quickly Extricate us out of our _Labyrinths_.
But the old _Incendiary_ of the world, is come from Hell, with _Sparks_
of Hell-Fire flashing on every side of him; and we make ourselves
_Tynder_ to the Sparks. When the Emperour _Henry_ III.[131] kept the
Feast of _Pentecost_, at the City _Mentz_, there arose a dissension
among some of the people there, which came from words to blows, and
at last it passed on to the shedding of Blood. After the Tumult was
over, when they came to that clause in their Devotions, _Thou hast
made this day Glorious;_ the Devil to the unexpressible Terrour of
that vast Assembly, made the Temple Ring with that Outcry _But I have
made this Day Quarrelsome!_ We are truly come into a day, which by
being well managed might be very _Glorious_, for the exterminating
of those _Accursed things_, which have hitherto been the Clogs of our
Prosperity; but if we make this day _Quarrelsome_, thro' any _Raging
Confidences_, Alas, _O Lord, my Flesh Trembles for Fear of thee, and
I am afraid of thy Judgments_. _Erasmus_, among other Historians,
tells us, that at a Town in _Germany_, a Witch or Devil, appeared on
the Top of a Chimney, Threatning to set the Town on _Fire:_ And at
length, Scattering a Pot of Ashes abroad, the Town was presently and
horribly Burnt unto the Ground.[132] Methinks, I see the _Spectres_,
from the Top of the Chimneys to the Northward, threatning to scatter
_Fire_, about the Countrey; but let us quench that _Fire_, by the most
amicable Correspondencies: Lest, as the _Spectres_, have, they say,
already most Literally burnt some of our Dwellings there do come forth
a further _Fire_ from the _Brambles_ of Hell, which may more terribly
_Devour_ us. Let us not be like a _Troubled House_, altho' we are so
much haunted by the _Devils_. Let our _Long suffering_ be a well-placed
piece of _Armour_, about us, against the _Fiery Darts_ of the wicked
ones. History informs us, That so long ago, as the year, 858, a
certain Pestilent and Malignant sort of _Dæmon_, molested _Caumont_
in _Germany_ with all sorts of methods to stir up strife among the
Citizens. He uttered Prophecies, he detected Villanies, he branded
people with all kind of Infamies. He incensed the Neighbourhood against
one Man particularly, as the cause of all the mischiefs: who yet proved
himself innocent. He threw stones at the Inhabitants, and at length
burnt their Habitations, till the Commission of the _Dæmon_ could go no
further. I say, let us be well aware lest such _Dæmons_ do _Come hither
also_.
_III._ Inasmuch as the Devil is come down in _Great Wrath_, we had need
Labour, with all the Care and Speed we can to Divert the _Great Wrath_
of Heaven from coming at the same time upon us. The God of Heaven has
with long and loud Admonitions, been calling us to _a Reformation of
our Provoking Evils_, as the only way to avoid that _Wrath_ of His,
which does not only _Threaten_ but _Consume_ us. 'Tis because we have
been Deaf to those _Calls_ that we are now by a provoked God, laid
open to the _Wrath_ of the Devil himself. It is said in Pr. 16. 7.
_When a mans ways please the Lord, he maketh even his Enemies to be
at peace with him._ The Devil is our grand _Enemy;_ and tho' we would
not be at peace _with_ him, yet we would be at peace from him, that
is, we would have him unable to disquiet our _peace_. But inasmuch
as the _wrath_ which we endure from this _Enemy_, will allow us no
_peace_, we may be sure, _our ways have not pleased the Lord_. It
is because we have _broken the hedge_ of Gods _Precepts_, that the
hedge of Gods _Providence_ is not so entire as it uses to be about us;
but _Serpents_ are _biting_ of us. O let us then set [47] our selves
to make our _peace_ with our God, whom we have _displeased_ by our
iniquities: and let us not imagine that we can encounter the _Wrath_
of the Devil, while there is the _Wrath_ of God Almighty to set that
Mastiff upon us. REFORMATION! REFORMATION! has been the repeated _Cry_
of all the Judgments that have hitherto been upon us; because we have
been as _deaf Adders_ thereunto, the _Adders_ of the Infernal Pit are
now hissing about us. At length, as it was of old said, _Luke_ 16. 30.
_If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent;_ even so, there
are some come unto us from the _Damned_. The great God has loosed the
Bars of the Pit, so that many _damned Spirits_ are come in among us,
to make us _repent_ of our Misdemeanours. The means which the Lord had
formerly employ'd for our _awakening_, were such, that he might well
have said, _What could I have done more?_ and yet after all, he has
done _more_, in some regards, than was ever done for the awakening of
any People in the World. The things now done to awaken our Enquiries
after our _provoking Evils_, and our endeavours to Reform those evils,
are most _extraordinary_ things; for which cause I would freely speak
it, if we now do not some _extraordinary_ things in returning to God;
we are the most _incurable_, and I wish it be not quickly said, the
most _miserable_ People under the Sun. Believe me, 'tis a time for all
people to do something _extraordinary, in searching and trying of their
ways, and in turning to the Lord_. It is at an _extraordinary_ rate of
_Circumspection_ and _Spiritual mindedness_, that we should all now
maintain a _walk with God_. At such a time as this ought _Magistrates_
to do something _extraordinary_ in promoting of what is laudable, and
in restraining and chastising of _Evil Doers_. At such a time as this
ought _Ministers_ to do something _extraordinary_ in pulling the Souls
of Men out of the _Snares_ of the Devil, not only by publick Preaching,
but by personal Visits and Counsels, _from house to house_. At such
a time as this ought _Churches_ to do something _extraordinary_, in
_renewing_ of their Covenants, and in _remembring_, and _reviving_
the Obligations of what they have renewed. Some admirable Designs
about the _Reformation_ of Manners, have lately been on foot in the
English Nation, in pursuance of the most excellent Admonitions which
have been given for it, by the Letters of Their Majesties.[133]
Besides the vigorous Agreements of the _Justices_ here and there in
the Kingdom, assisted by godly Gentlemen and Informers, to execute the
_Laws_ upon prophane Offenders: there has been started a _Proposal_
for the well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into orderly
_Societies_, whereof every Member shall bind himself, not only to
_avoid_ Prophaneness in himself, but also according unto to their
Place, to do their utmost in first _Reproving;_ and, if it must be so,
then _Exposing_, and so _Punishing_, as the Law directs, for others
that shall be guilty. It has been observed, that the English Nation
has had some of its greatest Successes, upon some special and signal
_Actions_ this way; and a discouragement given under Legal Proceedings
of this kind, must needs be very exercising to the _Wise that observe
these things_. But O why should not _New-England_ be the most forward
part of the English Nation in such _Reformations?_ Methinks I hear the
Lord from Heaven saying over us, _O that my People had hearkened unto
me; then I should soon have subdued the Devils, as well as their other
Enemies!_ There have been some feeble Essays towards _Reformation_ of
late in our _Churches;_ but, I pray what comes of them? Do we stay
till the _Storm_ of his _Wrath_ be over? Nay, let us be doing what
we can, as fast as we can, to divert the _Storm_. The Devils having
broke in upon our World,[134] there is great asking, _Who is it that
has brought them in?_ And many do by _Spectral_ Exhibitions come to
be _cry'd out_ upon. I hope in Gods time it will be found, that among
those that are thus _cry'd out_ upon, there are persons yet _Clear
from the great Transgression;_ but indeed, all the _Unreformed_ among
us, may justly be _cry'd out_ upon, as having too much of an hand in
letting of the Devils into our Borders; 'tis _our_ Worldliness, _our_
Formality, _our_ Sensuality, and _our_ Iniquity that has help'd this
letting of the Devils in. O let us then at last, _consider our ways_.
'Tis a strange passage recorded by Mr. _Clark_[135] in the Life of his
Father That the People of his Parish, refusing to be Reclaimed from
their _Sabbath breaking_, by all the zealous Testimonies which that
good Man bore against it; at last, on a night after the people had
retired home from a Revelling Prophanation of the _Lords Day_, there
was heard a great Noise, with rattling of Chains up and down the Town,
and an horrid Scent of Brimstone fill'd the Neighbourhood. Upon which
the _guilty Consciences_ of the Wretches told [48] them, the Devil was
come to fetch them away; and it so terrifi'd them, that an Eminent
_Reformation_ follow'd the Sermons which that Man of God Preached
thereupon. Behold, Sinners, behold and _wonder_, lest you _perish:_ the
very _Devils_ are walking about our Streets, with lengthened _Chains_,
making a dreadful Noise in our Ears, and _Brimstone_ even without a
Metaphor, is making an hellish and horrid stench in our Nostrils.[136]
I pray leave off all those things whereof your _guilty Consciences_ may
now accuse you, lest these Devils do yet more direfully fall upon you.
_Reformation_ is at this time our only _Preservation_.
_IV_. When the Devil is come down in _great Wrath_, let every _great
Vice_ which may have a more particular tendency to make us a Prey unto
that _Wrath_, come into a due discredit with us. It is the general
Concession of all men, who are not become too _Unreasonable_ for common
Conversation, that the Invitation of _Witchcrafts_ is the thing that
has now introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I say then, let not
only all _Witchcrafts_ be duly abominated with us, but also let us be
duly watchful against all the _Steps_ leading thereunto. There are
lesser _Sorceries_ which they say, are too frequent in our Land. As it
was said in 2 _King_. 17. 9. _The Children of_ Israel _did secretly
those things that were not right, against the Lord their God_. So
'tis to be feared, the Children of _New-England_ have _secretly_ done
many things that have been pleasing to the Devil. They say, that in
some Towns it has been an usual thing for People to cure Hurts with
_Spells_, or to use detestable Conjurations, with _Sieves_, _Keys_,
and _Pease_, and _Nails_, and _Horse-shoes_, and I know not what other
Implements, to learn the things for which they have a forbidden, and an
impious _Curiosity_.[137] 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such things are
done; and in Gods Name I do this day charge them, as vile Impieties.
By these Courses 'tis, that People play upon _The Hole of the Asp_,
till that cruelly venemous _Asp_ has pull'd many of them into the deep
_Hole_ of _Witchcraft_ it self. It has been acknowledged by some who
have sunk the deepest into this _horrible Pit_, that they began at
these little _Witchcrafts;_ on which 'tis pity but the Laws of the
English Nation, whereby the incorrigible repetition of those _Tricks_,
is made _Felony_, were severally Executed. From the like sinful
_Curiosity_ it is, that the Prognostications of _Judicial Astrology_,
are so injudiciously regarded by multitudes among us; and altho' the
Jugling _Astrologers_ do scarce ever hit right, except it be in such
_Weighty Judgments_, forsooth, as that many _Old Men_ will die such a
year, and that there will be many _Losses_ felt by some that venture
to Sea, and that there will be much _Lying_ and _Cheating_ in the
World; yet their foolish Admirers will not be perswaded but that the
Innocent _Stars_ have been concern'd in these Events. It is a disgrace
to the English Nation, that the Pamphlets of such idle, futil, trifling
_Stargazers_ are so much considered; and the Countenance hereby given
to a Study, wherin at last, all is done by _Impulse_, if any thing be
done to any purpose at all, is not a little perillous to the Souls of
Men. It is (_a Science_, I dare not call it, but) a _Juggle_, whereof
the Learned _Hall_ well says, _It is presumptious and unwarrantable,
and cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as that
which lies in the mid-way between Magick and Imposture, and partakes
not a little of both_.[138] Men consult the Aspects of Planets, whose
Northern or Southern motions receive denominations from a _Cælestial
Dragon_, till the _Infernal Dragon_ at length insinuate into them,
with a _Poison_ of _Witchcraft_ that can't be cured. Has there not
also been a world of discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that
the _fiery Serpents_ are so Stinging of us; We have been a _Murmuring
Generation_. It is not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendious
growth of _Witches_ among us, partly to the bitter _discontents_, which
Affliction and Poverty has fill'd us with: it is inconceivable, what
advantage the Devil gains over men, by _discontent_. Moreover, the Sin
of _Unbelief_ may be reckoned as perhaps the chief _Crime_ of our Land.
We are told, _God swears in wrath, against them that believe not;_ and
what follows then but this, _That the Devil comes unto them in wrath!_
Never were the offers of the _Gospel_, more freely tendered, or more
basely despised, among any People under the whole Cope of Heaven,
than in this _N. E._[139] Seems it all marvellous unto us, that the
_Devil_ should get such a footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because
the _Saviour_ has been slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The
Blessed Lord Jesus Christ [49] has been profering to us, _Grace, and
Glory, and every good thing_, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him,
with such Terms as these, _Undone Sinner, I am All; Art thou willing
that I should be thy All?_ But, as a proof of that Contempt which this
Unbelief has cast upon these proffers, I would seriously ask of the
so many Hundreds above a Thousand People within these Walls; which of
you all, O how few of you, can indeed say, _Christ is mine, and I am
his, and he is the Beloved of my Soul?_ I would only say thus much:
When the precious and glorious Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive
_Him_, in all His _Offices_, with all His _Benifits;_ the Devil minds
what Respect we pay unto that Heavenly Lord; if we _Refuse Him that
speaks from Heaven_, then he that, _Comes from Hell_, does with a sort
of claim set in, and cry out, _Lord, since this Wretch is not willing
that thou shouldst have him, I pray, let me have him_. And thus, by the
just vengeance of Heaven, the Devil becomes a _Master_, a _Prince_, a
_God_, unto the miserable Unbelievers: but O what are many of them then
hurried unto! All of these Evil Things, do I now set before you, as
_Branded_ with the Mark of the Devil upon them.
_V._ With _Great Regard_, with _Great Pity_, should we Lay to Heart
the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the _Great
Wrath_ of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and
some of them very particularly noted for Goodness and Vertue, of
whom we may say, _Lord, They are vexed with Devils_. Their Tortures
being primarily Inflicted on their _Spirits_, may indeed cause the
Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less _Durable_, tho'
rather the more _Sensible:_ but they Endure Horrible Things, and many
have been actually Murdered. Hard _Censures_ now bestow'd upon these
poor Sufferers, cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as
He said, about some that had been Butchered by a _Pilate_, in Luc.
13. 2, 3. _Think ye that these were Sinners above others, because
they suffered such Things? I tell you No, But except ye Repent, ye
shall all likewise Perish:_ Even so, he now says, _Think ye that they
who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater Sinners than their
Neighbours?_ No, Do you Repent of your _own Sins_, Lest the Devil come
to fall foul of _you_, as he has done to _them_. And if this be so, How
_Rash_ a thing would it be, if such of the poor Sufferers, as carry
it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and Humiliation under their
present Suffering, should be unjustly _Censured;_ or have their very
_Calamity_ imputed unto them as a _Crime?_ It is an easie thing, for us
to fall into the Fault of, _Adding Affliction to the Afflicted_, and
of, _Talking to the Grief of those that are already wounded_. Nor can
it be wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault. In the mean time,
We have no Bowels in us, if we do not Compassionate the Distressed
County of _Essex_, now crying to all these Colonies, _Have pity on
me, O ye my Friends, Have pity on me, for the Hand of the Lord has
Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned
upon me_. But indeed, if an hearty _pity_ be due to any, I am sure,
the Difficulties which attend our Honourable _Judges_, do demand no
Inconsiderable share in that _Pity_. What a Difficult, what [50] an
Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands? To
carry the _Knife_ so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no
Innocent Blood Shed,[140] by too unseeing a _Zeal for the Children of
Israel;_ and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to
those Diabolical _Works of Darkness_, without the Removal whereof we
never shall have _Peace;_ or to those _Furies_ whereof several have
kill'd _more people_ perhaps than would serve to make a Village: _Hic
Labor, Hoc Opus est!_ O what need have we, to be concerned, that the
Sins of our _Israel_, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his
_Davids_, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now
before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproaching of
such _Faithful Men_, after all, _The Prayers and Supplications, with
strong Crying and Tears_, with which we are daily plying the Throne of
Grace, that they may be kept, from what _They Fear_, is none of the
way for our preventing of what We _Fear_. Nor all this while, ought
our _Pity_ to forget such _Accused_ ones, as call for indeed our most
Compassionate _Pity_, till there be fuller Evidences that they are
less worthy of it.[141] If _Satan_ have any where maliciously brought
upon the _Stage_, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock
of Reputation for their just and good Living, among us; If the _Evil
One_ have obtained a permission to _Appear_, in the Figure of such
as we have cause to think, have hitherto _Abstained_, even from the
_Appearance of Evil:_ It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon _Mankind_,
as may well Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are
due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations, of the _Great
Accuser!_ Who of us can say, what may be shewn in the _Glasses_ of the
Great _Lying Spirit?_ Altho' the _Usual Providence_ of God [we praise
Him!] keeps us from such a Mishap; yet where have we an _Absolute
Promise_, that we shall every one always be kept from it? As long as
_Charity_ is bound to Think _no Evil_, it will not Hurt us that are
_Private Persons_, to forbear the _Judgment_ which belongs not unto
us. Let it rather be our Wish, May the Lord help them to Learn the
_Lessons_, for which they are now put unto so hard a School.
_VI._ With a _Great Zeal_, we should lay hold on the _Covenant_ of
God, that we may secure _Us_ and _Ours_, from the _Great Wrath_, with
which the Devil Rages. Let us come into the _Covenant of Grace_, and
then we shall not be hook'd into a _Covenant with the Devil_, nor
be altogether unfurnished with Armour against the Wretches that are
in that _Covenant_. The way to come under the Saving Influences of
the _New Covenant_, is, to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the All-sufficient _Mediator_ of it: Let us therefore do, _that_, by
Resigning up our selves unto the Saving, Teaching, and Ruling Hands of
this Blessed _Mediator_. Then we shall be, what we read in Jude 1.
_Preserved in Christ Jesus:_ That is, as the _Destroying Angel_, could
not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by the Blood of the
_Passeover_ on their Houses: Thus the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Sprinkled on our Souls, will _Preserve_ us from the Devil. The _Birds
of prey_ (and indeed the _Devils_ [51] most literally in the shape of
great _Birds!_) are flying about. Would we find a Covert from these
_Vultures?_ Let us then Hear our Lord Jesus from Heaven Clocquing[142]
unto us, _O that you would be gathered under my wings!_ Well; when this
is done, Then let us own the _Covenant_, which we are now come into,
by joining ourselves to a Particular _Church_, walking in the Order
of the Gospel; at the doing whereof, according to that _Covenant_ of
God, We give up Our selves unto the Lord, and in Him unto One Another,
While others have had their Names Entred in the _Devils Book;_ let our
Names be found in the _Church Book_, and let us be _Written among the
Living in Jerusalem_. By no means let, _Church work_ sink and fail
in the midst of us; but let the Tragical Accidents which now happen,
exceedingly Quicken that _work_. So many of the _Rising Generation_,
utterly forgetting the Errand of our Fathers to build Churches in this
Wilderness, and so many of our _Cottages_ being allow'd to Live, where
they do not, and perhaps cannot, wait upon God with the Churches of
His People; 'tis as likely as any one thing to procure the swarmings of
_Witch crafts_ among us.[143] But it becomes us, with a like Ardour,
to bring our poor _Children_ with us, as we shall do, when we come
our selves, into the _Covenant_ of God. It would break an heart of
Stone, to have seen, what I have lately seen; Even poor Children of
several Ages, even from seven to twenty, more or less, _Confessing_
their Familiarity with Devils; but at the same time, in Doleful bitter
Lamentations, that made a little Pourtraiture of _Hell_ it self,
Expostulating with their execrable Parents, for _Devoting_ them to the
Devil in their Infancy, and so _Entailing_ of Devillism upon them!
Now, as the Psalmist could say, _My Zeal hath consumed me, because
my Enemies have forgotten thy words:_ Even so, let the Nefarious
wickedness of those that have Explicitly dedicated their Children to
the Devil, even with Devilish Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke
our _Zeal_ to have our Children, Sincerely, Signally, and openly
_Consecrated_ unto God; with an _Education_ afterwards assuring and
confirming that Consecration.
_VII._ Let our _Prayer_ go up with great Faith, against the Devil,
that comes down in great Wrath. Such is the Antipathy of the Devil to
our _Prayer_, that he cannot bear to stay long where much of it is:
Indeed it is _Diaboli Flagellum_, as well as _Miseriæ Remedium;_ the
Devil will soon be Scourg'd out of the Lord's Temple, by a _Whip_, made
and used, with the _effectual fervent Prayer of Righteous Men_. When
the Devil by Afflicting of us, drives us to our Prayers, he is _The
Fool making a Whip for his own Back_. Our Lord said of the Devil in
_Matt._ 17. 21. _This Kind goes not out, but by Prayer and Fasting._
But, _Prayer and Fasting_ will soon make the Devil be gone. Here are
_Charms_ indeed! Sacred and blessed _Charms_, which the Devil cannot
stand before. A Promise of God, being well managed in the _Hands_ of
them that are much upon their Knees, will so resist the Devil, that he
will _Flee from us_. At every other Weapon the Devils will be too hard
for us; the _Spiritual Wickednesses in High Places_, have manifestly
the Upper hand of [52] us; that _Old Serpent_ will be too old for us,
too cunning, too subtil; they will soon _out wit_ us, if we think
to Encounter them with any _Wit_ of our own. But when we come to
_Prayers_, Incessant and Vehement _Prayers_ before the Lord, there we
shall be too hard for them. When well-directed _Prayers_, that great
Artillery of Heaven, are brought into the Field, _There_ methinks I
see, _There are these workers of Iniquity fallen, all of them!_ And who
can tell, how much the most _Obscure Christian_ among you all, may do
towards the Deliverance of our Land from the Molestations which the
Devil is now giving to us. I have Read, That on a day of Prayer kept
by some good People for and with a Possessed Person, the Devil at last
flew out of the Window, and referring to a Devout, plain, mean Woman
then in the Room, he cry'd out, _O the Woman behind the Door!_[144]
_'Tis that Woman that forces me away!_ Thus the Devil that now troubles
us, may be forced within a while to forsake us; and it shall be said,
_He was driven away by the Prayers of some Obscure and Retired Souls,
which the World has taken but little notice of!_ The Great God is about
a Great _Work_ at this day among us: Now, there is extream Hazard,
lest the Devil who by Compulsion must submit unto that _Great Work_,
may also by _Permission_, come to Confound that _Work;_ both in the
Detections of some, and in the Confessions of others, whose Ungodly
deeds may be brought forth, by a _Great Work_ of God; there is Hazard
lest the Devil intertwist some of his Delusions. 'Tis PRAYER, I say,
'tis PRAYER, that must carry us well through the strange things that
are now upon us. Only that Prayer must then be the Prayer of Faith: O
where is our Faith in him, Who _hath spoiled these Principalities and
Powers, on his Cross, Triumphing over them!_
_VIII._ Lastly, Shake off, every Soul, shake off the _hard Yoak_ of the
Devil. Where 'tis said, _The whole World lyes in Wickedness;_ 'tis by
some of the Ancients rendred, _The whole World lyes in the Devil_. The
Devil is a Prince, yea, the Devil is a God unto all the Unregenerate;
and alas, there is _A whole World of them_.[145] Desolate Sinners,
consider what an horrid Lord it is that you are Enslav'd unto; and
Oh shake off your Slavery to such a Lord. Instead of _him_, now make
your Choice of the Eternal God in Jesus Christ; Chuse him with a most
unalterable Resolution, and unto him say, with _Thomas, My Lord, and
my God!_ Say with the Church, _Lord, other Lords have had the Dominion
over us, but now thou alone shalt be our Lord for ever_. Then instead
of your Perishing under the wrath of the Devils, God will fetch you to
a place among those that fill up the Room of the Devils, left by their
Fall from the Ethereal Regions. It was a most awful Speech made by
the Devil, Possessing a young Woman, at a Village in _Germany, By the
command of God, I am come to Torment the Body of this young Woman, tho
I cannot hurt her Soul; and it is that I may warn Men, to take heed of
sinning against God. Indeed_ (said he) _'tis very sore against my will
that I do it; but the command of God forces me to declare what I do;
however I know that at the Last Day, I shall have more Souls than God
himself_. So spoke that horrible Devil! But O that none [53] of our
Souls may be found among the Prizes of the Devil, in the Day of God!
O that what the Devil has been forced to declare, of his Kingdom among
us, may prejudice our Hearts against him for ever!
My Text says, _The Devil is come down in great Wrath, for he has but a
short time_. Yea, but if you do not by a speedy and through Conversion
to God, escape the Wrath of the Devil, you will your selves go down,
where the Devil is to be, and you will there be sweltring under the
Devils Wrath, not for a _short Time_, but _World without end;_ not for
a _Short Time_ but for _Infinite Millions of Ages_. The smoke of your
Torment under that Wrath, will _Ascend for ever and ever!_ Indeed, the
Devil's time for his Wrath upon you in this World, can be but short,
but his time for you to do his Work, or, which is all one, to delay
your turning to God, that is a _Long Time_. When the Devil was going to
be Dispossessed of a Man, he Roar'd out, _Am I to be Tormented before
my time?_ You will _Torment_ the Devil, if you Rescue your Souls out
of his hands, by true Repentance: If once you begin to look that way,
he'll Cry out, _O this is before my Time, I must have more Time, yet
in the Service of such a guilty Soul_. But, I beseech you, let us
join thus to torment the Devil, in an holy Revenge upon him, for all
the Injuries which he has done unto us; let us tell him, _Satan, thy
time with me is but short, Nay, thy time with me shall be no more; I
am unutterably sorry that it has been so much; Depart from me thou
Evil-Doer, that would'st have me an Evil-Doer like thy self; I will now
for ever keep the Commandments of that God, in whom I Live and Move,
and have my Being!_ The Devil has plaid a fine Game for himself indeed,
if by his troubling of our Land, the Souls of many People should come
to _think upon their ways, till even they turn their Feet into the
Testimonies of the Lord_. Now that the Devil may be thus outshot in his
own Bow, is the desire of all that love the Salvation of God among us,
as well as of him, who has thus Addressed you. _Amen._
HAVING thus discoursed on the _Wonders of the Invisible World_, I shall
now, with God's help, go on to relate some Remarkable and Memorable
Instances of _Wonders_ which that _World_ has given to ourselves. And
altho the chief Entertainment which my Readers do expect, and shall
receive, will be a true History of what has occurred, respecting the
WITCHCRAFTS wherewith we are at this day Persecuted; yet I shall choose
to usher in the mention of those things, with
_A Narrative of an_ APPARITION _which a Gentleman in_ BOSTON, _had
of his Brother, just then murthered in_ LONDON.
IT was on the Second of _May_ in the Year 1687, that a most ingenious,
accomplished and well-disposed young Gentleman, Mr. _Joseph Beacon_,
by about Five a Clock in the Morning, as he lay, whether Sleeping or
[54] Waking he could not say, (but judged the latter of them) had a
View of his Brother then at _London_, altho he was now himself at our
_Boston_, distanced from him a thousand Leagues.[146] This his Brother
appear'd unto him, in the Morning about Five a Clock at _Boston_,
having on him a _Bengal_ Gown, which he usually wore, with a Napkin
tyed about his Head; his Countenance was very Pale, Gastly, Deadly, and
he had a bloody Wound on one side of his Fore-head. _Brother!_ says the
Affrighted _Joseph. Brother!_ Answered the Apparition. Said _Joseph,
What's the matter Brother? How came you here!_ The Apparition replied,
_Brother, I have been most barbarously and injuriously Butchered, by a
Debauched Drunken Fellow, to whom I never did any wrong in my Life_.
Whereupon he gave a particular Description of the Murderer; adding,
_Brother, This Fellow changing his Name, is attempting to come over
unto_ New-England, _in_ Foy, _or_ Wild; _I would pray you on the first
Arrival of either of these, to get an Order from the Governor, to
Seize the Person, whom I have now described; and then do you Indict
him for the Murder of me your Brother: I'll stand by you and prove the
Indictment_. And so he Vanished. Mr. _Beacon_ was extreamly astonished
at what he had seen and hear'd; and the People of the Family not only
observed an extraordinary Alteration upon him, for the Week following,
but have also given me under their Hands a full Testimony, that he then
gave them an Account of this Apparition.
All this while, Mr. _Beacon_ had no advice of any thing amiss attending
his Brother then in _England;_ but about the latter end of _June_
following, he understood by the common ways of Communication, that the
_April_ before, his Brother going in haste by Night to call a Coach
for a Lady, met a Fellow then in Drink, with his _Doxy_ in his Hand:
Some way or other the Fellow thought himself Affronted with the hasty
passage of this _Beacon_, and immediately ran into the Fire-side of a
Neighbouring Tavern, from whence he fetched out a Fire-fork, wherewith
he grievously wounded _Beacon_ in the Skull; even in that very part
where the Apparition show'd his Wound. Of this Wound he Languished
until he Dyed on the Second of _May_, about five of the Clock in the
Morning at _London_. The Murderer it seems was endeavouring an Escape,
as the Apparition affirm'd, but the Friends of the Deceased _Beacon_,
Seized him; and Prosecuting him at Law, he found the help of such
Friends as brought him off without the loss of his Life; since which,
there has no more been heard of the Business.
This History I received of Mr. _Joseph Beacon_ himself; who a little
before his own Pious and hopeful Death, which follow'd not long after,
gave me the Story written and signed with his own Hand, and attested
with the Circumstances I have already mentioned.
BUT I shall no longer detain my Reader, from his expected
Entertainment, in a brief account of the Tryals which have passed
upon some of the Malefactors lately Executed at _Salem_, for the
_Witchcrafts_ whereof they stood Convicted. For my own part, I was not
present at any of them; [55] nor ever had I any Personal prejudice at
the Persons thus brought upon the Stage; much less at the Surviving
Relations of those Persons, with and for whom I would be as hearty a
Mourner as any Man living in the World: _The Lord Comfort them!_ But
having received a Command so to do, I can do no other than shortly
relate the chief _Matters of Fact_, which occur'd in the Tryals
of some that were Executed, in an Abridgment Collected out of the
_Court-Papers_, on this occasion put into my hands. You are to take
the _Truth_, just as it was; and the Truth will hurt no good Man.
There might have been more of these, if my Book would not thereby
have swollen too big; and if some other worthy hands did not perhaps
intend something further in these _Collections;_ for which cause I have
only singled out Four or Five, which may serve to illustrate the way
of Dealing, wherein _Witchcrafts_ use to be concerned; and I report
matters not as an _Advocate_, but as an _Historian_.
They were some of the Gracious Words inserted in the Advice, which many
of the Neighbouring Ministers, did this Summer humbly lay before our
Honorable Judges, _We cannot but with all thankfulness, acknowledge
the success which the Merciful God has given unto the Sedulous and
Assiduous endeavours of Our Honourable Rulers, to detect the abominable
Witchcrafts which have been committed in the Country; Humbly Praying,
that the discovery of those mysterious and mischievous wickednesses,
may be Perfected_. If in the midst of the many Dissatisfactions
among us, the Publication of these Tryals may promote such a Pious
Thankfulness unto God, for Justice being so far executed among us, I
shall Rejoice that God is Glorified; and pray, that no wrong steps of
ours may ever sully any of his Glorious Works. But we will begin with,
_A Modern Instance of Witches, Discovered and Condemned in a Tryal,
before that celebrated Judge, Sir Matthew Hale_.[147]
IT may cast some Light upon the Dark things now in _America_, if
we just give a glance upon the _like things_ lately happening in
_Europe_. We may see the _Witchcrafts_ here most exactly resemble the
_Witchcrafts_ there; and we may learn what sort of Devils do trouble
the World.
The Venerable _Baxter_ very truly says, _Judge_ Hale _was a Person,
than whom, no Man was more Backward to Condemn a Witch, without full
Evidence_.
Now, one of the latest Printed Accounts about a _Tryal of Witches_, is
of what was before him, and it ran on this wise. [Printed in the Year
1682.] And it is here the rather mentioned, because it was a Tryal,
much considered by the Judges of _New England_.
_I. Rose Cullender_ and _Amy Duny_, were severally Indicted, for
Bewitching _Elizabeth Durent_, _Ann Durent_, _Jane Bocking_, _Susan
Chandler_, _William Durent_, _Elizabeth_ and _Deborah Pacy_. And the
Evidence whereon they were Convicted, stood upon divers particular
Circumstances.
[56] _II. Ann Durent_, _Susan Chandler_, and _Elizabeth Pacy_, when
they came into the Hall, to give Instructions for the drawing the
Bills of Indictments, they fell into strange and violent Fits, so that
they were unable to give in their Depositions, not only then, but also
during the whole Assizes. _William Durent_ being an Infant, his Mother
Swore, that _Amy Duny_ looking after her Child one Day in her absence,
did at her return confess, that she had _given suck to the Child:_
(tho' she were an Old Woman:) Whereat, when _Durent_ expressed her
displeasure, _Duny_ went away with Discontents and Menaces.
The Night after, the Child fell into strange and sad Fits, wherein it
continued for Divers Weeks. One Doctor _Jacob_ advised her to hang up
the Childs Blanket, in the Chimney Corner all Day, and at Night when
she went to put the Child into it, if she found any Thing in it then to
throw it without fear into the Fire. Accordingly, at Night, there fell
a great Toad out of the Blanket, which ran up and down the Hearth. A
Boy catch't it, and held it in the Fire with the Tongs: where it made
an horrible Noise, and Flash'd like to Gun-Powder, with a report like
that of a Pistol: Whereupon the Toad was no more to be seen. The next
Day a Kinswoman of _Duny's_, told the Deponent, that her Aunt was all
grievously scorch'd with the Fire, and the Deponent going to her House,
found her in such a Condition. _Duny_ told her, she might thank her for
it; but she should live to see some of her Children Dead, and herself
upon Crutches. But after the Burning of the Toad, this Child Recovered.
This Deponent further Testifi'd, That Her Daughter _Elizabeth_, being
about the Age of Ten Years, was taken in like manner, as her first
Child was, and in her Fits complained much of _Amy Duny_, and said,
that she did appear to Her, and afflict her in such a manner as the
former. One Day she found _Amy Duny_ in her House, and thrusting her
out of Doors, _Duny_ said, _You need not be so Angry, your Child won't
live long_. And within three Days the Child died. The Deponent added,
that she was Her self, not long after taken with such a Lameness in
both her Legs, that she was forced to go upon Crutches; and she was
now in Court upon them. [It was Remarkable, that immediately upon the
Juries bringing in _Duny_ Guilty, _Durent_ was restored unto the use of
her Limbs, and went home without her Crutches.]
_III._ As for _Elizabeth_ and _Deborah Pacy_, one Aged Eleven Years,
the other Nine; the elder, being in Court, was made utterly senseless,
during all the time of the Trial: or at least speechless. By the
direction of the Judge _Duny_ was privately brought to _Elizabeth
Pacy_, and she touched her Hand: whereupon the Child, without so much
as seeing her, suddenly leap'd up and flew upon the Prisoner; the
younger was too ill, to be brought unto the Assizes. But _Samuel Pacy_,
their Father, testifi'd, that his Daughter _Deborah_ was taken with
a sudden Lameness; and upon the grumbling of _Amy Duny_, for being
denied something, where this Child was then [57] sitting, the Child
was taken with an extream pain in her stomach, like the pricking of
Pins; and shrieking at a dreadful manner, like a Whelp, rather than a
Rational Creature. The Physicians could not conjecture the cause of the
Distemper; but _Amy Duny_ being a Woman of ill Fame, and the Child in
Fits crying out of _Amy Duny_, as affrighting her with the Apparition
of her Person, the Deponent suspected her, and procured her to be set
in the stocks. While she was there, she said in the hearing of Two
Witnesses, _Mr._ Pacy _keeps a great stir about his Child, but let him
stay till he has done as much by his Children, as I have done by mine:_
And being Asked, What she had done to her Children, she Answered, _She
had been fain to open her Childs Mouth with a Tap to give it Victuals_.
The Deponent added, that within Two Days, the Fits of his Daughters
were such, that they could not preserve either Life or Breath, without
the help of a Tap. And that the Children Cry'd out of _Amy Duny_, and
of _Rose Cullender_, as afflicting them with their Apparitions.
_IV._ The Fits of the Children were various. They would sometimes be
Lame on one side; sometimes on t'other. Sometimes very sore; sometimes
restored unto their Limbs, and then Deaf, or Blind, or Dumb, for a long
while together. Upon the Recovery of their Speech, they would Cough
extreamly; and with much Flegm, they would bring up Crooked Pins; and
one time, a Two-penny Nail, with a very broad Head. Commonly at the
end of every Fit, they would cast up a Pin. When the Children Read,
they could not pronounce the Name of, _Lord_, or _Jesus_, or _Christ_,
but would fall into Fits; and say, Amy Duny _says, I must not use that
Name_. When they came to the Name of _Satan_, or _Devil_, they would
clap their Fingers on the Book, crying out, _This bites, but it makes
me speak right well!_ The Children in their Fits would often Cry out,
_There stands_ Amy Duny, or _Rose Cullender;_ and they would afterwards
relate, _That these Witches appearing before them, threatned them, that
if they told what they saw or heard, they would Torment them ten times
more than ever they did before_.
_V. Margaret Arnold_, the Sister of Mr. _Pacy_, Testifi'd unto the like
Sufferings being upon the Children, at her House, whither her Brother
had Removed them. And that sometimes, the Children (_only_) would see
things like Mice, run about the House; and one of them suddenly snap'd
one with the Tongs, and threw it into the Fire, where it screeched
out like a Rat. At another time, a thing like a Bee, flew at the Face
of the younger Child; the Child fell into a Fit; and at last Vomited
up a _Two-penny Nail_, with a Broad Head; affirming, _That the Bee
brought this Nail, and forced it into her Mouth_. The Child would in
like manner be assaulted with Flies, which brought Crooked Pins, unto
her, and made her first swallow them, and then Vomit them. She one Day
caught an Invisible _Mouse_, and throwing it into the Fire, it Flash'd
like to Gun-Powder. None besides the Child saw the _Mouse_, but every
one saw the _Flash_. She also de[58]clared, out of her Fits, that in
them, _Amy Duny_ much tempted her to destroy her self.
_VI._ As for _Ann Durent_, her Father Testified, That upon a Discontent
of _Rose Cullender_, his Daughter was taken with much Illness in her
Stomach and great and sore Pains, like the Pricking of Pins: and then
Swooning Fits, from which Recovering, she declared, _She had seen
the Apparition_ of Rose Cullender, _Threatning to Torment her_. She
likewise Vomited up diverse Pins. The Maid was Present at Court, but
when _Cullender_ look'd upon her, she fell into such Fits, as made her
utterly unable to declare any thing.
_Ann Baldwin_ deposed the same.
_VII. Jane Bocking_, was too weak to be at the Assizes. But her Mother
Testifi'd, that her Daughter having formerly been Afflicted with
Swooning Fits, and Recovered of them; was now taken with a great Pain
in her Stomach; and New Swooning Fits. That she took little Food, but
every Day Vomited Crooked Pins. In her first Fits, she would Extend
her Arms, and use Postures, as if she catched at something, and when
her Clutched Hands were forced open, they would find several Pins
diversely Crooked, unaccountably lodged there. She would also maintain
a Discourse with some that were Invisibly present, when casting abroad
her Arms, she would often say, _I will not have it!_ but at last say,
_Then I will have it!_ and closing her Hand, which when they presently
after opened, a Lath-Nail was found in it. But her great Complaints
were of being Visited by the shapes of _Amy Duny_, and _Rose Cullender_.
_VIII._ As for _Susan Chandler_, her Mother Testified, That being at
the search of _Rose Cullender_, they found on her Belly a thing like a
Teat, of an Inch long; which the _said Rose_ ascribed to a strain. But
near her Privy-parts, they found Three more, that were smaller than the
former. At the end of the long Teat, there was a little Hole, which
appeared, as if newly Sucked; and upon straining it, a white Milky
matter issued out. The Deponent further said, That her Daughter being
one Day concerned at _Rose Cullenders_ taking her by the Hand, she fell
very sick, and at Night cry'd out, _That_ Rose Cullender _would come to
Bed unto her_. Her Fits grew violent, and in the Intervals of them,
she declared, _That she saw_ Rose Cullender _in them, and once having
of a great Dog with her_. She also Vomited up Crooked Pins; and when
she was brought into Court, she fell into her Fits. She Recovered her
self in some Time, and was asked by the Court, whether she was in a
Condition to take an Oath, and give Evidence. She said, she could; but
having been Sworn, she fell into her Fits again, and, _Burn her! Burn
her!_ were all the words that she could obtain power to speak. Her
Father likewise gave the same Testimony with her Mother; as to all but
the Search.
_IX._ Here was the Sum of the Evidence: Which Mr. Serjeant
Keeling,[148] thought not sufficient to Convict the Prisoners. For
admitting the Chil[59]dren were Bewitched, yet, said he, it can never
be Apply'd unto the Prisoners, upon the Imagination only of the Parties
Afflicted; inasmuch as no person whatsoever could then be in Safety.
Dr. _Brown_, a very Learned Person then present, gave his Opinion, that
these Persons were Bewitched. He added, That in _Denmark_, there had
been lately a great Discovery of Witches; who used the very same way of
Afflicting people, by Conveying Pins and Nails into them. His Opinion
was, that the Devil in Witchcrafts, did Work upon the Bodies of Men and
Women, upon a _Natural Foundation;_ and that he did Extraordinarily
afflict them, with such Distempers as their Bodies were most subject
unto.
_X._ The Experiment about the _Usefulness_, yea, or _Lawfulness_
whereof Good Men have sometimes disputed, was divers Times made, That
tho' the Afflicted were utterly deprived of all sense in their Fits,
yet upon the _Touch_ of the Accused, they would so screech out, and fly
up, as not upon any other persons. And yet it was also found that once
upon the touch of an innocent person, the like effect follow'd, which
put the whole Court unto a stand: altho' a small Reason was at length
attempted to be given for it.
_XI._ However, to strengthen the Credit of what had been already
produced against the Prisoners, One _John Soam_ Testifi'd, That
bringing home his Hay in Three Carts, one of the Carts wrenched the
Window of _Rose Cullenders_ House, whereupon she flew out, with
violent Threatenings against the Deponent. The other Two Carts, passed
by Twice, Loaded, that Day afterwards; but the Cart which touched
_Cullenders_ House, was Twice or Thrice that Day overturned. Having
again Loaded it, as they brought it thro' the Gate which Leads out of
the Field, the Cart stuck so fast in the Gates Head, that they could
not possibly get it thro', but were forced to cut down the Post of the
Gate, to make the Cart pass thro', altho' they could not perceive that
the Cart did of either side touch the Gate-Post. They afterwards, did
with much Difficulty get it home to the Yard; but could not for their
Lives get the Cart near the place, where they should unload. They were
fain to unload at a great Distance; and when they were Tired, the Noses
of them that came to Assist them, would burst forth a Bleeding; so
they were fain to give over till next morning; and then they unloaded
without any difficulty.
_XII. Robert Sherringham_ also Testifi'd, That the Axle-Tree of his
Cart, happening in passing, to break some part of _Rose Cullenders_
House, in her Anger at it, she vehemently threatned him, _His Horses
should suffer for it_. And within a short time, all his Four Horses
dy'd; after which he sustained many other Losses in the sudden Dying
of his Cattle. He was also taken with a Lameness in his Limbs; and
so vexed with Lice of an extraordinary Number and Bigness, that no
Art could hinder the Swarming of them, till he burnt up two Suits of
Apparel.
[60] _XIII._ As for _Amy Duny_, 'twas Testifi'd by one _Richard
Spencer_ that he heard her say, _The Devil would not let her Rest;
until she were Revenged on the Wife of_ Cornelius Sandswel. And that
_Sandswel_ testifi'd, that her Poultry dy'd suddenly, upon _Amy Dunys_
threatning of them; and that her Husbands Chimney fell, quickly after
_Duny_ had spoken of such a disaster. And a Firkin of Fish could not be
kept from falling into the Water, upon suspicious words of _Duny's_.
_XIV._ The Judge told the Jury, they were to inquire now, first,
whether these Children were Bewitched; and secondly, Whether the
Prisoners at the Bar were guilty of it. He made no doubt, there were
such Creatures as Witches; for the Scriptures affirmed it; and the
Wisdom of all Nations had provided Laws against such persons. He pray'd
the God of Heaven to direct their Hearts in the weighty thing they had
in hand; for, _To Condemn the Innocent, and let the Guilty go free,
were both an Abomination to the Lord_.
The Jury in half an hour brought them in _Guilty_ upon their several
Indictments, which were Nineteen in Number.
The next Morning, the Children with their Parents, came to the Lodgings
of the Lord Chief Justice, and were in as good health as ever in their
Lives; being Restored within half an Hour after the Witches were
Convicted.
The Witches were Executed; and _Confessed_ nothing; which indeed will
not be wondred by them, who Consider and Entertain the Judgment of a
Judicious Writer, _That the Unpardonable Sin, is most usually Committed
by Professors of the Christian Religion, falling into Witchcraft_.
We will now proceed unto several of the like Tryals among
ourselves.[149]