CONCLUSION.
How calm, how beautiful comes on
The stilly hour, when storms are gone;
When warring winds have died away,
And clouds, beneath the glancing ray,
Melt off, and leave the land and sea
Sleeping in bright tranquillity,
Fresh as if day again were born,
Again upon the lap of Morn.
--Moore.
In his dungeon cell, Charles Stevens learned that the veil of mystery
which, like a threatening cloud, had enshrouded the life of Cora Waters
was lifted, and the sunlight, for the first time, streamed upon her
soul. She knew a mother's love. Her parents, estranged since her
infancy, were again united. Such incidents are told in song and story,
but are seldom known in reality. Charles heard the story in all its
details related by his mother on one of her visits. He also learned that
the colony of Virginia, by royal sanction, had granted a pardon to Mr.
George Waters for the "death of one James Martin, late overseer to
Thomas Hull."
"I am glad they are happy, mother," the unhappy prisoner said.
"It is the reward which in the end awaits the just," she said.
"They have forgotten me."
"Charles, why say you that?"
"Had not Cora Waters forgotten me, surely she would have visited me
while sick and in prison."
"They have just heard of it," she answered.
"Just heard of it!" he repeated, amazed. "I have lain here pining in
this dungeon for three long weeks, and you tell me they have but just
heard of it."
"I am assured they have."
"Mother, that seems impossible. Why, I thought all the world knew it."
"But few know of it, my son. It seems to be the scheme of the
prosecution to keep the matter secret. You have not written. You have
sent no message?"
"No, mother."
"Then, pray, how could they learn of it save by the merest accident? A
passing stranger bore the news."
Charles Stevens heaved a sigh.
"Perhaps 'tis so; but it seemed that my groans and sighs must be heard
round the world, yet neither Cora Waters nor Adelpha Leisler, at whose
side I stood a comforter in the dark hours of trouble, has seen fit to
offer me one word of consolation."
"I trow, Charles, that Adelpha knows it not. Cora is coming."
"Who hath told you?"
"A friend from Boston brings information that the Waters brothers, with
the newly found wife and mother and Cora, are coming to Salem to do all
in their power to aid you."
Charles sadly shook his head and said:
"My poor friends can do nothing for me."
"They can at least offer you consolation and comfort."
"Yes; but what more?"
"That is much."
"True; and I will appreciate it. I could not think that Cora would
forget me. Neither would Adelpha, if she knew."
His mother after waiting some time for her son to resume, at last said:
"Charles, if your choice were left you, which of the two, Adelpha or
Cora, would you wed?"
Charles, smiling, answered:
"Mother, it is not for one living within the shadow of the scaffold to
think of marriage."
"Charles, can you really think your case so serious?"
"I do mother. I know it."
"Oh, Charles, surely they will not condemn you! They have no proof. You
are innocent."
"I am innocent, mother; but that is no reason that evidence will not be
produced against me."
"Yet it will be false."
"False, of course; yet many have been hung on testimony false as Satan
himself."
"Oh, Charles, what shall we do?"
"Trust in the Lord, mother. When all earthly help is gone, we can only
look to God for aid. I have prayed to him that, if it be his will, this
cup might pass; yet his will, not mine, be done. If I must die a martyr
to that woman's falsehood, I pray he may give me sufficient strength to
endure the trial."
The mother fell on the neck of her son, crying:
"You shall not die! Oh, my son! my son!"
Charles comforted his mother as well as he could, and she took her
leave. All was dark and gloomy. He knew that malice and hatred pursued
him, caught his throat and would not let go its hold, until it dragged
him to death. He was buried in the midst of his gloomy reflections, when
the door of his cell opened, and a jailer, entering, said:
"Another visitor for you, Charles Stevens."
"Another visitor? Who can it be?" he asked.
"It is I," and Samuel Parris entered.
For a moment, Charles Stevens was struck dumb at the audacity of the
pastor of Salem in venturing to enter the cell of one whom he had
wronged. Though the power of Mr. Parris was on the wane, it was not
wholly gone. He took advantage of the confusion of Charles Stevens to
signal the jailer to leave them, and he went out, closing the iron door
behind him. Folding his arms on his breast, Parris gazed on the
prisoner.
Charles Stevens, about whose waist was a thick belt of leather, fastened
by a chain to the wall, sat on a miserable cot, his face bowed in his
hands. He did not look up at the white, cadaverous face and great,
blazing orbs, which gleamed with fury upon him, although he knew full
well that those eyes were on him.
"Charles!" the deep sepulchral voice at last spoke.
"Well?"
"Look up."
With a sigh, the young prisoner raised his head. Every movement he made
was accompanied by the rattling of chains.
"Charles, you will not believe me, when I tell you I am sorry for this."
"No; I will not."
"Nevertheless, I am. Charles Stevens, you do not know me; the world
misjudges me, and all future generations will do the same. Some things
which I have done may seem harsh; yet I was commanded of Heaven to do
them."
"Samuel Parris, if you have come to upbraid me, to gloat over my
captivity and add to my misery, do so. I am powerless and cannot resist
you; but I do entreat you not to blaspheme your Maker."
The great eyes of Parris gleamed with sullen fire; his thin lips parted;
his breath came short and quick, and for a few moments he was unable to
answer. At last, becoming calmer, he said, in his deep sepulchral voice:
"Charles, you do not like me?"
"I confess it."
"I have rebuked you for your sinful associations, and the wicked dislike
rebuke. The devils said to the Saviour, when he would cast them out,
'Let us alone; we have naught to do with thee.' Everywhere in this life,
the sinner says, 'Leave me alone,' yet it is my calling to go forth and
snatch brands from the burning. Charles, why will you not denounce the
child of that player?"
"She hath done no wrong."
"Do you love her?"
"That is a question you have no right to ask, or expect me to answer."
"I have read it in your heart."
"I have no answer."
"What have you to say in extenuation of your conduct hitherto?"
"Nothing."
"Why did you return to Salem?"
"It is my home."
"Did you anticipate this accusation?"
"No."
"And what do you expect now?"
"Death."
"Have you no hope of escaping?"
"None."
"But you seem calm and collected."
"Why should I not?"
"Most men fear death."
"True."
"And do not you?"
"I would rather live."
"What would you consent to do to save your life?"
"Nothing dishonorable."
"What I am about to propose is by no means dishonorable, but honorable
and fair in every particular."
"Proceed."
"You are charged with the death of Samuel Williams. Whether you be
guilty or not, it is quite clear that Williams is dead. Now it is the
duty of some one to care for the widow. She is young----"
"Hold, Mr. Parris! If you are going to propose that I shall wed Sarah
Williams, spare your words; I will not."
"Charles Stevens, do you seek death?"
[Illustration: "Charles Stevens, do you seek death?"]
"None should wed where the heart is not. That bold, unscrupulous woman
has already won my contempt."
"Have a care!"
"Go tell her that Charles Stevens prefers death on the gibbet to
becoming her husband."
Mr. Parris gazed on the helpless prisoner for several minutes, his thin
lips curled with a sneering smile.
"Charles Stevens," he said in low measured tones, "you are a fool. Do
you know what it is to die? Have you counted the cost of a leap in the
dark?"
"No sane man courts death; yet to the Christian, who hath kept God's
commands, the monster is robbed of half his terrors. God has wisely
constituted us so that we dread death. If we did not, we would not be
willing to endure the misfortunes, disappointments and ills which
afflict us from the cradle to the grave; but the Christian can say
welcome to death in preference to dishonor. I thank my God, Samuel
Parris, that I can, with the prophets of old, say, O, grave, where is
thy victory?"
"Charles Stevens, have you ever thought that, after all, this, too, may
be a delusion? That the Bible may be only the uninspired work of man,
and that there may be no beyond--no God, save in nature?"
"So you have turned atheist?" cried Charles. "Perhaps you have been one
all along?"
"Charles Stevens, one cannot help their doubts."
"One need not be a hypocrite, Mr. Parris. One can even drive doubts
away. The true Christian never doubts and never fears. Pray for faith,
have faith in your prayers, believe and ask God to help your unbelief,
and doubts will disappear."
"Charles, you are too young, too wise to die. Accept Sarah Williams and
live."
"Never! Away, hypocrite! Schemer, begone!"
The pastor, quite humbled, turned and went from the prison. There was a
malignant gleam in his great wicked eyes, which boded the unfortunate
prisoner no good.
For several weeks longer, Charles Stevens languished in prison. Cora,
her father and mother came to Salem and visited him. When Cora Waters
gazed on the young man, from whom she had parted a few weeks before in
the full vigor of his young life and strength, and saw him emaciated,
weak and pale, so that she scarcely knew him, she broke down and wept.
The two were left alone in the cell. Then Charles told her how uncertain
were his chances of life, and how impending his prospects of death. He
could not quit this life without telling her that he loved her, and that
he wished to live to make her his wife. Though that pleasure was forever
denied him, it would make his last days more agreeable to know that his
love was returned.
What answer could she make? She, whose fondest hope this had been, said
nothing; but, with heart overflowing, she threw her arms about the
prisoner and burst into tears. Had she won him only to lose him? Was he
to be snatched from her side at the very moment that she found him her
own?
"No, no, no! they shall not! they shall not!" she sobbed.
From that day, Cora shared the imprisonment of her lover, so far as the
jailer would permit. She added to his comfort and assured him that her
undying love would follow him to the grave. Their hopes rose and sank as
the day of trial drew near.
The fatal day came at last, and Charles was arraigned before the court
of oyer and terminer on charge of the murder of one Samuel Williams. He
plead not guilty and made every preparation for defense. It was like
fighting a masked battery; for they knew not what the evidence would be
against them. The trial opened, and Sarah Williams, to make the scene
more effective, came dressed in black and looking very pale. She was
called to the stand and, between tears and sobs, told her sad story of
how her loving husband had one day quarrelled with the defendant, and
the latter had threatened him. Was any one else present? Yes. John Bly
and Mr. Louder were both present when he threatened to kill her husband.
Charles Stevens remembered having a slight altercation when he was quite
a boy with Mr. Williams; but it was such a trivial matter that he had
forgotten it till now. Then she told that her loving husband feared he
would be slain by Charles Stevens, and that he went away to New York
city on a voyage, and that the same day Charles Stevens had come to her
house, and had asked her whither her husband had gone, and she had every
evidence to believe he went after him.
There were other witnesses, who swore that about this time Charles
Stevens left the town and was gone away for some time. Charles
remembered that on that occasion he had taken a journey to Rhode Island.
Then came two strangers, evidently sea-faring men, of the lowest order.
They were brutal, unscrupulous and had lived the lives of buccaneers, as
was afterward proved. Both swore that they knew the defendant, although
he had never seen either before. They saw the defendant slay Samuel
Williams on Long Island, near the beach, and both gave a graphic account
of his dragging the body along the sand and hurling it into the water,
where the tide bore it away. Their statements were corroborative.
Bly and Louder were next produced, who gave evidence that the defendant
had confessed to them that he had slain Samuel Williams, and that
defendant was greatly enamored of the murdered man's wife.
Mr. Parris and others testified to having seen him in the company of
Sarah Williams on divers of times, and that he had shown great fondness
for her.
"What have you to say to this evidence?" asked the chief justice to the
prisoner.
"I can only say they are all grievous liars."
"The jury will take notice how the defendant assaults men of
unquestioned character. Even the minister is assailed."
There was a murmur of discontent, in which even some of the jury joined.
Judges, jury and prosecutors were all against Charles, and his trial
must result in conviction. The people were excited at the dastardly
murder, and began to complain at the delay in the trial, which wore
tediously on day after day for nearly a week.
At last the evidence was all in, and the last argument made. There was
everything against the prisoner. The prosecution had been so skillfully
planned and executed, that there could be but one result. Charles
Stevens was very calm, while Cora was carried away in a fainting
condition. Mr. Waters went to the prisoner to speak with him.
Charles' face was white as death; but his mind was clear and showed not
the least agitation.
"There can be but one result," the prisoner said. "An acquittal is
impossible. Be good to Cora and mother, and keep them both away on that
day. It would be too much for them. They would not forget it to their
dying hour."
Mr. Waters assured him that his last requests should be granted, and
spoke a few words of consolation and hope. So many good people of late
had perished on the gibbet, that hanging was no longer ignominious. The
best and purest had died thus.
The jury had been out but a few moments, when a great hub-bub arose
without, and voices could be heard crying:
"Wait! wait! stay your verdict!"
A crowd of men rushed into the court room with a tall young man, whose
weather-beaten face indicated a seafaring life, at the head of them. His
cruel gray eyes, bold manner, as well as the pistols and cutlass at his
belt, gave him the appearance of a pirate.
"I am not dead, I trow! Who said I was dead?" he asked.
"Samuel Williams! Alive!" cried a score of voices.
"Who said I was murdered?"
Sarah Williams rose with a shriek and stared at her husband, as if he
had been an apparition, while all the witnesses, including the Rev. Mr.
Parris, were covered with confusion. The jury was recalled and Samuel
Williams himself took the stand. He stated:
"I left my wife, because I could not live with her, and, marry! I would
prefer hanging to existence with her. I went to New York, where Captain
Robert Kidd was beating up recruits to sail as a privateer in the
_Adventurer_ to protect commerce against the French privateers and
sea-robbers. I enlisted and then, with one hundred and fifty men, Kidd
did good service on the American coast, and we went to the Indian Ocean
to attack pirates. Our plunder from the pirates made us long to gain
more booty, and Kidd became a pirate himself. Armed with cutlasses and
pistols, we were made to board many vessels, English as well as other
nationalities. We went to South America, the West Indies, and finally
came to New York, where Captain Kidd, one dark night, landed on
Gardiner's Island, east of Long Island, with an enormous treasure of
gold, jewels and precious stones, which he buried in the earth. From
there we came to Boston. A pardon had been granted for all, save Kidd,
who was yesterday arrested and sent to England to be tried.[F] I heard
that a man had been arrested for my murder, and I hastened to save him."
[Footnote F: Kidd was subsequently tried, condemned, and hung in
chains; but his treasure on Gardiner's Island has not to this day been
found.]
The romantic story of the returned pirate produced the most profound
sensation among the people in the court room. The jury had just voted on
a verdict of guilty, when they were recalled, and instructed to give a
verdict of acquittal, which they did. Mr. Parris retired in humiliation
and disgrace. Cora fainted in her rescued lover's arms, while Mrs.
Stevens, falling on her knees, thanked God that the light of Heaven at
last shone on the path so long dark. Cora's mother came to take her from
the liberated prisoner; but he would not give her up, holding her until
she regained consciousness, when all went home together, a happy and
united family.
Almost in the twinkling of an eye, the delusion was dispelled, and many
who had been wrong hastened, so far as in them lay to make reparation.
The bigoted and fanatical, if we may not say hypocritical preachers,
were displaced by God-fearing, righteous ministers, who were more
liberal, exercising common sense, and possessing humanity as well as
godliness, which is ever essential to a good minister. They were
liberal, even to the player's child as well as to the players
themselves.
George and Henry Waters both became citizens of Salem, and Charles and
Cora were married three months after the acquittal of the former. Their
lives were eventful, with as much happiness as is commonly allotted to
mortals of earth, and they left nine children, all brought up in the
fear of the Lord, and lovers of liberty.
Witchcraft prosecutions were doomed, and shortly after the acquittal of
Charles Stevens in so singular a manner, they altogether ceased to
prosecute. The imprisoned witches and wizards were reprieved and set
free. Reluctant to yield, the party of superstition were resolved on one
conviction. The victim selected was Sarah Daston, a woman eighty years
old, who, for twenty years, had borne the undisputed reputation of a
witch. If ever there was a witch in the world, she, it was said, was
one. Her trial was conducted at Charlestown in the presence of a great
throng. There was more evidence against her than any tried at Salem; but
the common mind disenthralled of the hideous delusion asserted itself,
through the jury by a verdict of acquittal.
Cotton Mather, who was thoroughly imbued with the delusion, to cover his
confusion, got up a case of witchcraft in his own parish. He averred
that miracles were wrought in Boston. Cotton Mather does not seem to
have been bloodthirsty, though he was more anxious to protect his vanity
than his parishioners, and his bewitched neophyte, profiting by his
cautions, was afflicted by veiled spectres. The imposture was promptly
exposed to ridicule by one who was designated as "a malignant,
calumnious, and reproachful man, a coal from hell." It was the
uncultured, but rational, Robert Calef. Cotton Mather wrote and spoke
much on the subject of witchcraft, long after the delusion had vanished.
[Illustration: Cotton Mather.]
The inexorable indignation of the people of Salem Village drove Parris
from the place. Noyes confessed his error and guilt, asked forgiveness
and devoted the remainder of his life to deeds of charity. Sewall, one
of the judges, by rising in his pew in the Old South meeting-house on a
fast day, and reading to the whole congregation a paper, in which he
bewailed his great offence, recovered public esteem. Stoughton and
Cotton Mather never repented. The former lived proud, unsatisfied and
unbeloved. The latter attempted to persuade others and himself that he
had not been specially active in the tragedy. His diary proves that he
did not wholly escape the impeachment of conscience, for it is stated
that Cotton Mather, who had sought the foundation of faith in tales of
wonders himself, "had temptations to atheism and to the abandonment of
all religion as a mere delusion."
As when a storm clears away, it leaves the atmosphere clearer, so the
common mind of New England became more wise. By employing a cautious
spirit of search, eliminating error, rejecting superstition as tending
toward cowardice and submission, the people cherished religion as a
source of courage and a fountain of freedom, and forever after refused
to separate belief from reason.
The actual fate of Mr. Parris is not certainly known. Some have
intimated that he died of a loathsome disease, others that, like Judas,
he took his own life; but we are assured that he received his share of
earthly torment for his base hypocrisy and cruel wrongs. Most of the
people who pretended to be afflicted afterward made confessions
admitting their error. Efforts were made by the legislature to make
amends for some of the great wrongs done at Salem; but such wrongs can
never be righted. The victims of Parris' hate and avarice have slept for
two hundred years on Witches' Hill, and there await the trump that shall
rouse the dead, when the just shall be separated from the unjust.
Salem Village is peaceful, happy and quiet. In the gentle murmur of
waves, the whisper of breezes and the laugh of babbling brooks, about
the quaint old town, all nature seems to rejoice that the age of
superstition has passed.
THE END.
[Illustration: Witches Hill.]
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Albany resists Leisler, 223
Albany Convention, resolutions of, 229
Andover remonstrates against the doings of the witch tribunes, 342
Andros, governor of New York, claims dominion of Connecticut, 102
Andros arrives at Hartford for charter, 104
Andros has a vice-royal commission to rule New York and all New
England, 135
Andros seized, imprisoned and sent to England, 218
Anne's, Queen, war, 324
Archdale, governor of the Carolinias, 148
Arrival of William Penn at Newcastle, 30
Arrival of Sloughter in the _Beaver_, 228
Assembly meets at Philadelphia, 36
Assembly condemns Leisler and Milborne, 231
Baltimore, Lord. Penn makes satisfactory arrangements with him for
Delaware, 34
Baltimore, Lord, goes to England, 137
Baltimore, Lord, death of, 139
Barclay, Quaker author, appointed governor of East Jersey, 142
Bayard receives Andros, 102
Bayard and Cortlandt oppose Leisler, 220
Berkeley, Lord, sells his interest in New Jersey, 140
Board of Trade and Plantations, 325
Boll, Captain, and Andros, 102
Bradford, William, first printer in Philadelphia, 37
Burroughs, Rev. George, rival of Parris, 330
Byllinge sells his interest in New Jersey to Penn, 141
Calvert, Leonard, death of, 139
Carteret, death of, 142
Casco, Maine, attacked by Indians, 312
Catholicism in New York under King James, 216
Charles II., his reign drawing to a close, 6
Charles Stuart (the Pretender), 326
Charter of Connecticut in mahogany box, 107
Charter Oak, story of, 109
Church establishment in Maryland, 139
Circle at Mr. Parris' house, 67
Cloyse, Mrs., arrested, 328
Connecticut refuses to surrender charter, 103
Coode's plot, 137
Coode in possession of the records of Maryland, 138
Culpepper, John, surveyor-general of North Carolinia, 147
Daston, Sarah, acquitted of witchcraft, 380
Delaware's independent legislature, 1703, 41
Deliverance Hobbs confesses to being a witch, 330
Dougan, Colonel, leaves New York, 217
Duke of Monmouth, 44
Duke of York, fears of, 6
Duke of York gives Penn a quitclaim deed to Delaware, 29
Duke of York releases the Jerseys, 142
Dustin, Mr., defending his children, 319
Dustin, Mrs., captured, 320
Dustin, Mrs., and fellow-captives slay ten Indians and escape, 322
Dustin, Hannah, monument of, 324
Easty, Mary, arrested for a witch, 328
East Jersey, Barclay appointed governor for, 142
Ennis, Episcopal preacher, misrepresents Leisler in interest of
Nichols, 219
English Friends purchase New Jersey, 140
Escape of condemned witches, 302
Evidence against Rebecca Nurse, 265
Fenwick's first day in New Jersey, 140
Fits and witchcraft, 252
Fletcher succeeds Andros, 115
Fox, George, founder of Quakers, 25
Franklin, William, son of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, last royal governor
of New Jersey, 144
Friends, the term applied to Quakers, 25
Frontenac fitting out expedition against Salmon Falls, 311
Good, Sarah, and little child arrested as witches, 253
Governor of New Jersey a tyrant, 144
Hale, Sir Mathew, on witchcraft, 235
Haverhill attacked by Indians, 317
Haverhill a second time attacked, 325
Heir of James II. to throne, 135
Holme, Thomas, the surveyor who aided Penn in laying out
Philadelphia, 35
Hyde, Sir Edmund, governor of Jerseys, 144
Immigrants to South Carolinia, 150
Indented slaves, 46
Ingoldsby, Sloughter's captain, 229
Ingoldsby arrests Leisler and eight of his council, 230
James II. on the throne of England, 39
James II. sends agent to Rome to visit the Pope, 40
Jeffries, judge of the "Bloody Assizes,", 45
Jerseys, the, surrendered to the crown, 1702, 143
John, Mr. Parris' West Indian slave, 66
Jury acquits Rebecca Nurse, 272
Jury reconsiders verdict and convicts Rebecca Nurse, 273
Kidd, Captain Robert, the pirate, 377
Kidd, Captain, fate of, 378
King William's War, 308
Kirk hunting Monmouth's rebels, 44
Laws fashioned by William Penn, 36
Lawson, Rev. Deodat, at Salem, 276
Lawson, Rev. Deodat, and the bewitched, 278
Lawson interrupted in his sermon by the bewitched, 279
Legislatures in American colonies do not favor the malice of
James II., 47
Leisler, Jacob, 216
Leisler seizes the garrison of New York, 218
Leisler sends an address to King William, 219
Leisler in charge of affairs at New York, 221
Leisler and Milborne arrested, 250
Leisler tried and condemned, 231
Leisler executed, 233
Leonardson, Samuel, escapes with Mrs. Dustin, 323
Locke and Cooper's scheme, 145
Markham, William, sent to take possession of Pennsylvania for
William Penn, 28
Martin, Susanna, accused of being a witch, 246
Mary, eldest daughter of James II., marries Prince of Orange, 135
Maryland, how affected by the Revolution of 1688, 136
Maryland becomes a royal province, 138
Maryland, seat of government moved to Anne Arundel 139
Mather, Cotton, 249
Mather's, Cotton, Mexican argument, 184
Mather's, Cotton, triumph, 331
Mather's tendency to atheism, 381
Milborne, Jacob, son-in-law of Leisler, 219
Milborne, Jacob, captures Albany, 226
Milborne hung, 232
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, created viceroy over empire of North
Carolinia, 145
Monmouth, Duke of, beheaded, 44
Morris commissioned governor of New Jersey, 144
Neff, Mrs., nurse to Mrs. Dustin, captured, 320
New Castle, arrival of Penn at, 30
New Englanders, character of, 5
New England settled by fugitives, 351
New Jersey divided into East and West Jersey, 141
Nicholson, lieutenant-governor of New York, 210
Nicholson misrepresents Leisler, 220
Nicholson made governor of Virginia, 221
Nicholson, governor of Maryland, sends Mrs. Dustin a silver
tankard, 321
North Carolinia and the navigation act, 146
Noyes, Rev. Mr., and the eight firebrands of hell, 375
Nurse, Rebecca, arrested as a witch, 256
Nurse, Rebecca, trial of, 265
Nurse, Rebecca, acquitted, 272
Nurse, Rebecca, convicted and sentenced, 273
Nurse, Rebecca, excommunicated, 274
Nurse, Rebecca, hung, 275
Orange, Prince of, marries Princess Mary, 135
Parris, Samuel, minister at Salem, 65
Parris' circle, 251
Parris propagating the delusion of witchcraft, 258
Parris, fate of, unknown, 382
Penn, William, adopts the religion of a Quaker, 26
Penn's attention drawn to America--his charter, 27
Penn gets a quitclaim deed to Delaware from Duke of York, 29
Penn's treaty with the Indians, 31
Penn's new charter adopted, 36
Penn returns to England in summer of 1684, 37
Penn bidding colonists farewell--his departure, 38
Penn, restored to his rights, returns to America, 40
Penn, death of, 41
Pennsylvania, how named, 28
Pennsylvania divided into three counties, 37
Persecution of the Monmouth rebels, 47
Philadelphia, how named and laid out by Penn and Holme, 35
Phipps reduces Acadia, 314
Phipps in Massachusetts, 342
Pilgrims persecute Quakers, 24
Puritan superstition, 160
Quakers persecuted by Pilgrims, 24
Quaker, how the term came to be used, 25
Rhode Island charter surrendered, 114
Ryswick, treaty of, 325
Salem, 2
Salem witchcraft, 234
Salmon Falls attacked, 311
Schenectady attacked by French and Indians, 309
Sidney, Algernon, aids Penn in drawing up a code of laws for
Pennsylvania, 29
Sloughter, Colonel Henry, commissioned governor of New York, 228
Sothel, Seth, governor of North Carolinia, 147
Sothel arrested, tried and convicted, 148
South Carolinia politics in 1672, 149
Stoll, Jost, the ensign who bore Leisler's letter to King
William, 220
Stoughton, judge to try witches, 343
Superstition, the reign of, 328
Swedes and William Penn, 34
Tituba, Mr. Parris' slave, 66
Train-bands summoned, 107
Treat, Robert, governor of Connecticut, 115
Uplands (now Chester County), Penn meets assembly at, 34
Van Cortlandt's burnt offering, 135
Wadsworth and the Charter Oak, 110
Walcut, Mary, bitten by a witch, 277
_Welcome_, name of Penn's ship, 30
West Jersey, first popular assembly at Salem, 142
William and Mary deprive Penn of his rights as governor, 40
William and Mary's ascension to the throne of England hailed with
joy throughout New England, 217
Williams, Abigail, niece of Mr. Parris, 68
Williams, Abigail, bewitched, 279
Winthrop's expedition fails, 314
Witchcraft, belief in general, 235
Witchcraft, evidence of, 266
Witchcraft, trials for, 331
Witchcraft, doctrine of, 380
Witch doctor, 236
Witches hung on Witches' Hill, 275
CHRONOLOGY.
PERIOD VII.--AGE OF SUPERSTITION.
A.D. 1680 TO A.D. 1700.
1680. CHARLESTON, S. C., founded by the removal of the Carteret Colony.
1681. PENNSYLVANIA granted to William Penn by Charles II.,--March 4.
1682. LA SALLE explored the Mississippi to its mouth; named Louisiana.
DELAWARE (the three lower counties) granted to William
Penn,--Aug. 24.
PHILADELPHIA founded by William Penn.
1684. MASSACHUSETTS' CHARTER declared null and void by English
Court,--June 18.
1685. ACCESSION OF JAMES II. to the throne of Great Britain,--Feb. 6.
1686. ARRIVAL OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS, Governor of all New
England,--Dec. 20.
1687. CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT concealed in Charter Oak at
Hartford,--Oct. 31.
1689. ACCESSION OF WILLIAM III. AND MARY II. to the throne of Great
Britain,--Feb. 13.
KING WILLIAM'S WAR, between Great Britain and France,--lasted
eight years.
1690. BURNING OF SCHENECTADY, N. Y., by French and Indians,--Feb. 9.
PORT ROYAL taken by the British under Phipps,--May.
1691. MASSACHUSETTS, Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia united,--Gov.
Phipps, Oct. 7.
LEISLER AND MILBORNE hung,--May 16.
1692. PHIPPS' WITCHCRAFT COURT at Salem, Mass.
(Twenty persons convicted of witchcraft and put to death.)
1694. DEATH OF MARY II., Queen of Great Britain,--Dec. 28.
1697. TREATY OF RYSWICK closed King William's War; no change in
territory,--Oct. 30.
1699. CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD, the pirate, at Gardner's Bay, Long Island.
[Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent use of hyphens has been retained as
in the original: Goodwife/Good-wife, firebrands/fire-brands,
roadside/road-side, firelight/fire-light, fireplace/fire-place,
hubbub/hub-bub, seafaring/sea-faring. Other punctuation and spelling has
been standardized.]