SUPERSTITION REIGNS.
The awful tragedy was through,
And friends and enemies withdrew.
Some smite their breasts and trembling say,
"Unlawful deeds were done to-day."
--Paxton.
After the escape of Mrs. Stevens and Cora Waters, a wave of superstition
swept over the village of Salem with such irresistible fury, that it
seemed in greater danger than the frontier settlements did from the
French and Indians. The Nurse family and all their relatives came in for
a greater share than any other. Mrs. Cloyse was second of the family to
be accused by Parris and his minions. Mrs. Cloyse drew ill-will upon
herself at the outset by doing as her brother and sister Nurse did. They
all absented themselves from the examinations in the church, and, when
the interruptions of the services became too flagrant, from Sabbath
worship. They declared that they took that course, because they
disapproved of the permission given to the profanation of the place and
the service. At last Mrs. Cloyse, or Goody Cloyse, as she was called in
the records of the day, was arrested. Mary Easty and Elizabeth Proctor
were also arrested. Mary Easty, sister of Mrs. Nurse, was tried and
condemned. On her condemnation and sentence, she made an affective
memorial while under sentence of death, and fully aware of the
hopelessness of her case, addressing the judges, the magistrates and the
reverend ministers, imploring them to consider what they were doing, and
how far their course in regard to accused persons was inconsistent with
the principles and rules of justice.
"I ask nothing for myself," she said. "I am satisfied with my own
innocence and certain of my doom on earth and my hope in Heaven. What I
do desire, is to induce the authorities to take time, and to use caution
in receiving and strictness in sifting testimony; and so shall they
ascertain the truth, and absolve the innocent, the blessing of God being
upon your conscientious endeavors."
No effect was produced by her warnings or remonstrances. Before setting
forth from the jail to the Witches' Hill on the day of her death, she
serenely bade farewell to her husband and many children, and many of her
friends, some of whom afterward related that "her sayings were so
serious, religious, distinct and affectionate as could well be
expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of all present."
The subject of witchcraft grew more interesting after the execution of
Mary Easty, and to examine Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyse, or
Cloyce, as Mr. Bancroft spells the name, the deputy governor and five
magistrates went to Salem. It was a great day. Several ministers were
present. Parris officiated, and, by his own record, it is plain that he
himself elicited every accusation. His first witness John, the West
India negro servant, husband to Tituba, was rebuked by Sarah Cloyse as a
grievous liar. Abigail Williams, the niece to Parris, was also at hand
with her wonderful tales of sorcery. She swore she had seen the prisoner
at the witches' sacrament.
Struck with horror at such bold perjury, Sarah Cloyse called for water
and swooned away before it could be brought her. Upon this, Abigail
Williams, her brother's wife, Sarah Williams, Parris' daughter and Ann
Putnam shouted:
"Her spirit is gone to prison to her sister!"
Against Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams related stories that were so
foolish that one wonders how any sensible person could believe them.
Among other things she told how the accused had invited her to sign the
Devil's book.
"Dear child!" exclaimed the accused, in her agony, "it is not so. There
is another judgment, dear child," and her accusers, turning toward her
husband, declared that he, too, was a wizard. All three were committed.
Examinations and commitments multiplied. Giles Corey, a stubborn old man
of more than four-score years, could not escape the malice of his
minister and his angry neighbors, with whom he had quarrelled. Parris
had had a rival in George Burroughs, a graduate of Harvard College, who,
having formerly preached in Salem village, had friends there desirous of
his return. He was a skeptic on the subject of witchcraft, and Parris
determined to have his revenge on him, and, through his many agents and
instruments, had him accused and committed. Thus far there had been no
success in obtaining confessions, though earnestly solicited. It had
been strongly hinted that a confession was an avenue of safety. At last,
"Deliverance Hobbs owned every thing that was asked of her," and left
unharmed. The gallows was to be set up, not for those who professed
themselves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion.
[Illustration: Lieut.-Gov. Stoughton.]
On May 14th, the new charter and the royal governor arrived in Boston.
On the next Monday, the charter was published, and the parishioner of
Cotton Mather, with the royal council, was installed in office. The
triumph of Cotton Mather was complete. A court of oyer and terminer was
immediately instituted by ordinance, and the positive, overbearing
Stoughton was appointed by the governor and council as its chief judge,
with Sewall and Wait Winthrop, two feebler men, as his associates. By
the second of June, the court was in session at Salem, making its
experiment on Bridget Bishop, a poor and friendless old woman. The fact
of witchcraft was assumed as "notorious." To fix it on the prisoner,
Samuel Parris, who had examined her before her commitment, was the
principal witness to her power of inflicting torture. He had seen it
exercised. Then came the testimony of the bewitched, and a terrible mess
of stuff it was. One, on reading it, might suppose that all the inmates
of Bedlam had been summoned into court to give their personal experience
in the land of insanity.
Many of the witnesses testified that the "shape" of the prisoner often
grievously tormented them, by pinching, choking, or biting them, and did
otherwise seriously afflict them, urging them all the while to write
their names in a book, which "the spectre" called: "Our book."
Sarah Williams, who was devotedly attached to Mr. Parris and his cause,
swore that it was the shape of this prisoner, with Cora Waters, which
one day took her from her wheel and, carrying her to the river side,
threatened to drown her, if she did not sign the book mentioned, which
she yet refused to do.
Others said that the witch "in her shape," that is, appearing to them in
a spiritual body invisible to any save the parties before whom she would
appear, boasted that she had ridden John Bly, having first changed him
into a horse. One testified to seeing ghosts of dead people, who
declared that Bridget Bishop had murdered them.
While the examination of the accused was in progress, the bewitched
seemed extremely tortured. If she turned her eyes on them, they were
struck down. While they lay in swoons or convulsions, the poor old woman
was made to touch them, and they immediately sprang to their feet.
Samuel Parris had his minions well trained. On any special action of her
body, shaking of her head, or the turning of her eyes, they imitated her
posture and seemed under some strange spell.
Evidence was given that one of the bewitched persons persuaded a man to
strike at the spot where the "shape of this Bishop stood," and the
bewitched cried out:
"You have tore her coat," and it was found that the woman's dress was
torn in the very place.
Deliverance Hobbs, who had confessed to being a witch, now testified
that she was tormented by the spectres for her confession. And she now
testified that this Bishop tempted her to sign the book again, and to
deny what she had confessed.
"It was the shape of this prisoner," she declared, "which whipped me
with iron rods, to compel me thereunto, and I furthermore saw Bridget
Bishop at a general meeting of the witches, in a field at Salem village,
where they partook of a diabolical sacrament in bread and wine, then
administered."
John Cook testified: "About five or six years ago, one morning, about
sunrise, I was in my chamber assaulted by the shape of this prisoner,
which looked on me, grinned at me, and very much hurt me with a blow on
the side of the head, and on the same day, about noon, the same shape
walked into the room where I was, and an apple strangely flew out of my
hand."
Samuel Gray testified: "About fourteen years ago, I waked on a night,
and saw the room wherein I lay full of light. Then I plainly saw a
woman, between the cradle and the bedside, which looked upon me. I rose,
and it vanished, though I found all the doors fast. Looking out at the
entry door, I saw the same woman, in the same garb again, and I said,
'In God's name, what do you come for?' I went to bed and had the same
woman again assaulting me. The child in the cradle gave a great screech,
and the woman disappeared. It was long before the child could be
quieted; and, though it was a very likely, thriving child, yet from this
time it pined away, and, after divers months, died in a sad condition. I
knew not Bishop then, nor her name; but when I saw her after this, I
knew her by her countenance and apparel and all circumstances, that it
was the apparition of this Bishop, which had thus troubled me."
John Bly testified:
"I bought a sow of Edmund Bishop, the husband of the prisoner, and was
to pay the price agreed upon to another person. This prisoner, being
angry that she was thus hindered from fingering the money, quarrelled
with me; soon after which the sow was taken with strange fits, jumping,
leaping and knocking her head against the fence. She seemed blind and
deaf and could not eat, whereupon my neighbor John Louder said he
believed the creature was overlooked, and there were sundry other
circumstances concurred, which made me believe that Bishop had bewitched
it."
The examining magistrates asked Bly:
"Have you ever been transformed by the prisoner?"
"I have," Bly answered.
"When was it?"
"Last summer. One night, as I was coming home late, the shape of the
prisoner came at me. She shook a bridle over my head and I became a
horse. Then she mounted me, rode me several leagues and the bridle was
removed, and I lay in my bed."
John Louder, another acquaintance of Charles Stevens, was next called.
John had had his experience with witches. He was an ardent admirer of
Mr. Parris, and one of his emissaries. Louder, Bly and, in fact, all of
Parris' tools were ignorant, bigoted and superstitious. They could be
made to believe anything the pastor would tell them. Louder testified:
"I had some little controversy with Bishop about her fowls. Going well
to bed, I did awake in the night by moonlight, and did see clearly the
likeness of this woman grievously oppressing me; in which miserable
condition she held me, unable to help myself till near day. I told
Bishop of this; but she denied it, and threatened me very much. Quickly
after this, being at home on a Lord's Day, with the doors shut about me,
I saw a black pig approach me, at which I, going to kick, it vanished
away. Immediately after sitting down, I saw a black thing jump in at the
window and come and stand before me. The body was like that of a monkey,
the feet like a cock's; but the face was much like a man's. I was so
extremely affrighted, that I could not speak. This monster spoke to me
and said:
"'I am a messenger sent unto you, for I understand that you are in some
trouble of mind, and if you be ruled by me, you shall want for nothing
in this world.'
"Whereupon, I endeavored to clap my hands upon it; but I could feel no
substance; and it jumped out of the window again; but it immediately
came in by the porch, though the doors were shut, and said:
"'You had better take my counsel.'
"Whereupon, I struck at it with my stick, but struck only the
ground-sel, and broke my stick. The arm with which I struck was
presently disenabled, and it vanished away. I presently went out at the
porch door and spied this Bishop, in her orchard, going toward her
house; but I had not power to set one foot forward unto her. Whereupon,
returning into the house, I was immediately accosted by the monster I
had seen before, which goblin was now going to fly at me; whereat I did
cry out:
"'The whole armor of God be between me and you!'
"So it sprang back and flew over the apple tree, shaking many apples off
the tree in its flying over. At its leap, it flung dirt with its feet
against my stomach, whereon, I was then struck dumb, and so continued
for three days together."
The records of the case on trial shows that William Stacy testified:
"I received money of this Bishop for work done by me, and I was gone but
a matter of three rods from her, when, looking for my money, I found it
unaccountably gone from me. Some time after, Bishop asked me if my
father would grind her grist for her? I demanded why not?
"'Because folks count me a witch.'
"I answered:
"'No question but he will grind for you.'
"Being gone about six rods from her, with a small load in my cart,
suddenly the off wheel stumped and sank down into a hole, upon plain
ground, so that I was forced to get help for the recovering of the
wheel; but, stepping back to look for the hole which might give me this
disaster, there was none at all to be found. Some time after, I was
waked in the night; but it seemed as light as day, and I perfectly saw
the shape of this Bishop in the room, troubling me; but upon her going
out, all was dark again. When I afterward charged Bishop with it, she
did not deny it, but was very angry. Quickly after this, having been
threatened by Bishop, as I was again in a dark night, going to the barn,
I was very suddenly taken or lifted from the ground, and thrown against
a stone wall. After that, I was hoisted up and thrown down a bank, at
the end of my house. After this, again passing by this Bishop, my horse
with a small load, striving to draw, all his gears flew to pieces, and
the cart fell down, and I, going to lift a bag of corn, of about two
bushels, could not budge it."
The foregoing is a sample of the testimony on which people were hung. We
have given these, that the reader may see what firm hold Mr. Parris and
superstition had on the people. We could give page after page of this
testimony; but the above is sufficient. If the reader wants a fuller
account of the trials of Bishop, Martin or any of the unfortunates who
suffered death at Salem during the reign of superstition, we refer them
to the collections of Cotton Mather in his "Invisible World." From that
book we quote the following information, as elicited by the examination
in case of Susanna Martin, at Salem, June 29th, 1692:
Magistrate.--"Pray, what ails these people?"
Martin.--"I don't know."
Magistrate.--"But what do you think of them?"
Martin.--"I don't desire to spend my judgment upon it."
Magistrate.--"Don't you think they are bewitched?"
Martin.--"No; I do not think they are."
Magistrate.--"Tell us your thoughts about them."
Martin.--"No; my thoughts are my own, when they are in; but when they
are out, they are another's. Their master----"
Magistrate.--"Their master? Whom do you think is their master?"
Martin.--"If they be dealing in the black art, you may know as well as
I."
Magistrate.--"Well, what have you done toward this?"
Martin.--"Nothing at all."
Magistrate.--"Why, 'tis you, or your appearance."
Martin.--"I cannot help it."
Magistrate.--"If it be not your master, how comes your appearance to
hurt these?"
Martin.--"How do I know? He that appeared in the shape of Samuel, a
glorified saint, may appear in any one's shape."
No wonder that a writer having occasion to examine into the evidence a
few years ago, and commenting on it, should exclaim:
"Great God! and is this the road our ancestors had to travel in their
pilgrimage in quest of freedom and Christianity? Are these the
misunderstood doctrines of total depravity?"
Reverend Mr. Noyes seemed to rival Mr. Parris in the persecution of
witches.
"You are a witch. You know you are," he said to Sarah Good, while urging
her to confession.
"You are a liar," the poor woman replied, "and, if you take my life, God
will give you blood to drink."
Confessions became important in the prosecutions. Some, not afflicted
before confession, were so, presently, after it. The jails were filled;
for fresh accusations were needed to confirm the confessions. Mr. Hale
says:
"Some, by these their accusations of others, hoped to gain time, and get
favor from the rulers. Some of the inferior sort of people did ill
offices, by promising favor thereby, more than they had ground to
engage. Some, under these temptations, regarded not as they should what
became of others, so that they could thereby serve their own turns. Some
have since acknowledged so much. If the confessions were contradictory;
if witnesses uttered apparent falsehoods, 'the Devil,' the judges would
say, 'takes away their memory, and imposes on their brain.'"
Who, under such circumstances, would dare to be skeptical, or refuse to
believe the confessors? Already, twenty persons had been put to death
for witchcraft. Fifty-five had been tortured or terrified into penitent
confessions. With accusations, confessions increased; with confessions,
new accusations. Even "the generation of the children of God" were in
danger of "falling under that condemnation." The jails were full. One
hundred and fifty prisoners awaited trial, two hundred more were accused
or suspected. It was also observed that no one of the condemned
confessing witchcraft had been hanged. No one that confessed, and
retracted a confession, had escaped either hanging or imprisonment for
trial. No one of the condemned who asserted innocence, even if one of
the witnesses confessed to perjury, or the foreman of the jury
acknowledged the error of the verdict, escaped the gallows. Favoritism
was shown in listening to accusations, which were turned aside from
friends or partisans. If a man began a career as a witch-hunter, and,
becoming convinced of the imposture, declined the service, he was
accused and hanged.
Samuel Parris had played a strong hand and was more than successful. His
harvest of vengeance seemed to have no end. Witches' Hill became a
Tyburn-hill, and as many as eight were hung at one time.
Matters had at last gone too far. The delusion reached its climax in the
midsummer of 1692, and on the second Wednesday in October following,
about a fortnight after the last hanging at Salem, the representatives
of the colony assembled, and the people of Andover, their minister
joining with them, appeared with their remonstrance against the doings
of witch tribunals.
"We know not," they said, "who can think himself safe, if the accusation
of children and others under a diabolical influence shall be received
against persons of good fame." The discussions which ensued were warm,
for Mr. Parris had defenders even in the legislature, who denounced
Charles and Hattie Stevens "as murderers and exercisers of the black
art." The general court did not place itself in direct opposition to the
advocates of the trials. It ordered by bill a convocation of ministers,
that the people might be led in the right way, as to the witchcraft. The
reason for doing it and the manner were such, that the judges of the
court, so wrote one of them, "consider themselves thereby dismissed." As
to legislature, it adopted what King William rejected--the English law,
word for word, as it was enacted by a house of commons, in which Coke
and Bacon were the guiding minds; but they abrogated the special court,
and established a tribunal by statute. Phipps had, instantly on his
arrival, employed his illegal court in hanging the witches. The
representatives of the people delayed the first assembling of the legal
court till January of the following year. Thus an interval of more than
three months from the last executions gave the public mind security and
freedom. Though Phipps conferred the place of chief judge on Stoughton,
yet jurors, representing the public mind, acted independently. When the
court met at Salem, six women of Andover, at once renouncing their
confessions, treated the witchcraft but as something "so called," the
bewildered but as "seemingly afflicted." A memorial of like tenor come
from the inhabitants of Andover.
More than one-half of the cases presented were dismissed; and, though
bills were found against twenty-six persons, the trials showed the
feebleness of the testimony on which others had been condemned. The
minds of the juries had become enlightened, even before the prejudiced
judges. The same testimony was produced, and there at Salem, with
Stoughton on the bench, verdicts of acquittal followed.
One of the parties acquitted on this occasion was an old acquaintance.
Mr. Henry Waters, who had been arrested for his brother and taken to
Virginia, suddenly appeared in Salem. John Louder, at once cried out
against him and caused him to be arrested. On being arraigned, he plead
not guilty and was put on his trial. John Louder was the principal
witness. He stated that one day he and Bly were hunting and that
defendant pursued them and bewitched their guns. Then he testified that
he fired a silver bullet and wounded the defendant. He also testified to
his appearing before him on the evening he went to stalk deer, and
offering him a book to sign. It was known that the accused had suffered
from a wound.
Mr. Waters then proceeded to explain:
"My name is Henry Waters, and, in early life, my brother and I were
players. We were members of the Church of England and detested the
Catholic Religion. The end of Charles II. was drawing near, and we
reasoned that James II., his brother, would become heir to the throne.
Our only hope was to organize a strong party and seize the throne for
the Duke of Monmouth. I was sent to the American colonies to secure
pledges of support, and get the names of all who would resist a papal
monarch on my book. I came, leaving my brother and his child in England.
On the way here, I was suddenly fired upon by an Indian in ambush and
wounded in the side. As these men were stalking a deer I passed along
and affrighted the animal, so it ran away, and I was for this accused of
being a wizard."
He was then asked by the examining magistrate, if he did offer a book to
Mr. John Louder to sign.
"I did," he quickly answered.
"When was it?"
"At the time and place he states."
"What book was it?"
"I have it here," and he produced a small, red-backed blank book. "This
has caused so much trouble. Examine it, and you will see it was to
contain only the names of those who would resist the accession of the
Duke of York to the throne."
The book was passed around to the Judge and Jury, and a smile dawned on
the face of each, which was dangerous to the friends of the prosecution.
That book would have hung Henry Waters during the reign of James II.;
but now it was his salvation. He was one of the first acquitted. The
delusion was on the wane. "Error died among its worshippers."