,,witchcraft ,,of ,,new ,,england ,,explained ,,by ,,modern ,,spiritualism4 ,,by ,,allen ,,putnam1 ,,esq41 ,,author ,,of ,,bible ,,marvel ,,workers1 ,,natty1 ,a ,,spirit1 ,,mesmerism1 ,,spiritualism1 ,,witchcraft1 ,,and ,,miracle1 ,,agassiz ,,and ,,spiritualism1 ,,etc4 ,,second ,,edition4 ,,boston3 ,,colby ,,and ,,rich1 ,,publishers1 #i ,,montgomery ,,place4 #ahha4 ,,copyright1 #ahhj1 ,,by ,,allen ,,putnam1 ,,esq4 ,stereotyped at the ,boston ,stereotype ,foundry1 ,no4 #d ,pearl ,street4 ,,contents4 ,preface1 page #i4--,references1 #ad4--;,explanatory ,note--,definitions1 #ae4 ,,mather ,,and ,,calef1 #be4--;,account of ,margaret ,rule1 #bf4--;,definitions of ,witchcraft1 #bi4--;,commission of the ,devil1 #cj4--,margaret assaulted by ,specters1 #ca4--,offered a ,book1 and pinched1 #cc4--;,fasted1 and perceived a ,man liable to drown1 #cd4--,lifted1 and saw a ,white ,spirit1 #ce4--,rubbed by ,mather1 #cg4--,visited by ,spies1 #ci4--,prayed with1 and ,brimstone was smelt1 #dj4--;,fowler charges ,delirium ,tremens1 #da4--;,affidavit of ,avis1 #dd4--;,calef baffled1 #df4--,levitation of ,r4 ,h4 ,squires1 #df4 ,,cotton ,,mather1 #eb4--;,haven's ,account of ,mercy ,short1 #ga4 ,,robert ,,calef1 #gc4 ,,thomas ,,hutchinson1 #gf4 ,c4 ,w4 ,,upham1 #hj4 ,,margaret ,,jones1 #he4--,winthrop's ,account of her1 #hg4--;,hutchinson's and ,upham's1 #hh4--,our own1 #hi4--;,j4 ,w4 ,crosby's ,experience1 #id4--,spirit of ,prophecy1 #ii4--,spirit ,child1 #ajj4--,materialization1 #ajb4--,newburyport ,spirit ,boy1 #ajc4--,why ,margaret was executed1 #aji4--;,erroneous faith1 #aad4--,margaret's ,case isolated1 #aai4--;,epitaph1 #aba4 ,,ann ,,hibbins1 #abb4--;,beach's ,letter1 #abc4--;,hutchinson's ,account of ,ann1 #abd4--,upham's1 #abf4--;,her ,will1 #abh4--;,her ,wit1 #aca4--;,densmore's ,inner ,hearing1 #ace4--;,guessing1 #ach4--;,her ,social ,position1 #adj4--,slandered1 #acj1 #adb4--;,her ,intuitive ,powers1 #adc4--;,her ,illumination1 #adf4 ,,ann ,,cole1 #adg4--;,hutchinson's ,account1 #adg4--,whiting's1 #adh4--,the ,greensmiths1 #aec4--,representative ,experiences1 #aed4 ,,elizabeth ,,knap1 #aeg4--;,how affected1 #aeh4--,long accustomed to see ,spirits1 #afj4--;,accused ,mr4 ,willard1 #afb4--;,a ,case of ,spiritualism4 ,,morse ,,family1 #afg4--,physical ,manifestations1 #afh4--,the ,sailor ,boy1 #afi4--;,caleb ,powell1 #agj4--;,hazzard's ,account of ,read1 #agb4--,mather's ,account of ,john ,stiles1 #age4--,mrs4 ,morse accused1 #agh4--;,hale's ,report1 #ahb4--,morse's ,testimony1 #ahd4--b;d do41 #ahg4--;,his ,character1 #aij4--;,faults of ,historians1 #aic4--,marvels in ,essex ,county1 #aig4--;,eliakim ,phelps1 #aih4 ,,goodwin ,,family1 #aii4--;,hutchinson's ,account1 #bja4--;,character of the ,children1 #bjg4--,wild ,irish ,woman1 #baj4--,philip ,smith's ,case1 #baa4--,upham's ,account1 #bac4--,spirit ,loss of ,earth ,language1 #baf4--,mather flattered1 #bag4--,the ,girl's ,weight triplicated1 #bai4--,mather's ,person shielded1 #bba4--,upham's ,conclusion incredible1 #bbc4--;,hutchinson nonplused1 #bbd4--;,justice to the ,devil1 #bbg4 ,summary1 #bbi4 ,,salem ,,witchcraft1 #bca4--,occurred at ,danvers1 #bca4--;,circle of ,girls1 #bcc4--,their ,lack of ,education1 #bce4--,obstacles to their ,meeting1 #bcf4--,mediumistic ,capabilities1 #bci4--,parsonage ,kitchen1 #bdj4--;,fits stopped by ,whipping1 #bdb4--,upham's ,lack of ,knowledge1 #bdc4--;,hare's ,demonstration1 #bde4--,upham's ,lament and ,warnings1 #bdf4--,nothing ,supernatural1 #bdi4--,varley's ,position1 #beb4--,the ,afflicted knew their ,afflicters1 #bed4--,names of the ,afflicted1 #beg4--,mr4 ,parris's ,account of ,witchcraft ,advent1 #bei4--,what occurred1 #bfj4--,lawson's ,account1 #bfa4--,the ,bewitching ,cake1 #bfb4--;,john ,indian and ,tituba1 #bfc4--,tituba ,participator and ,witness1 #bfg4 ,,tituba1 #bga4--;,examination of her1 #bga-big4--,summary of her ,statements1 #bih4--;,discrepancies between ,cheever and ,corwin1 #cja4--;,dates fixed by ,corwin1 #cjc4--,tituba's ,authority as ,expounder1 #cjh4--;,calef's ,notice of her1 #cji4--;,her ,confession1 #cab4--;,her ,unhappy ,fate1 #cac4 ,,sarah ,,good1 #cac4--,why visible apparitionally1 #cad4--;,her ,examination1 #cae4--,mesmeric ,force1 #cah4--,persons absent in ,form afflict1 #cbj4--,only ,clairvoyance sees ,spirits1 #cbc4--;,its ,fitfulness1 #cbd4--;,a ,witch because not bewitchable1 #cbe4--;,her ,invisibility1 #cbe4--;,h4 ,b4 ,storer's ,account of ,mrs4 ,compton1 #cbf4--;,ann ,putnam's ,deposition1 #cca4--,s4 ,good's ,prophetic ,glimpse1 #cce4 ,,dorcas ,,good1 #cce4--;,bites with ,spirit ,teeth1 #ccf4--,state of ,opinion admitting her ,arrest1 #cch4--,upham's ,presentation of ,public ,excitement1 #cci4--,lovely ,witches now1 #cdb4 ,,sarah ,,osburn1 #cdb4--,was seen spectrally1 #cdc4--;,heard a ,voice1 #cde4 ,,martha ,,corey1 #cdg4--;,her ,character4--,visited by ,putnam and ,cheever1 #cdh4--;,foresensed their ,visit1 #cdh4--,laughed when on ,trial1 #ceb4--;,calef and ,upham's ,account of her1 #cec4--;,her ,prayer1 #ced4 ,,giles ,,corey1 #ced4--,refused to plead1 #cee4--,was pressed to ,death1 #cef4--;,his ,heroism1 #ceg4 ,,rebecca ,,nurse1 #ceh4--,was seen as an ,apparition1 #ceh4--;,her ,mother a ,witch1 #cfj4--;,had ,fits1 #cfa4--;,confusion at her ,trial1 #cfb4--,the ,power of ,will1 #cfc4--;,elizabeth ,parris1 #cfd4--;,agassiz1 #cfe4--,not guilty1 and then guilty1 #cfg4 ,,mary ,,easty1 #cfg4--;,her ,examination1 #cfh4--,the ,character of her ,trial1 #cgj4--;,her ,petition1 #cga4--,last ,hour1 #cgc4 ,,susanna ,,martin1 #cgc4--;,her ,examination1 #cgd4--,the ,devil took ,samuel's ,shape1 #cgd4--,r4 ,p4's ,position1 #cge4--;,her ,apparition gave ,annoyance1 #cgg4 ,,martha ,,carrier1 #cgh4--;,examination of1 #cgh4--;,her ,children ,witches1 how they afflicted1 and their ,confessions1 #cha4 ,,george ,,burroughs1 #cij4--;,indictment of1 #cia4--,opinions concerning him1 #cib4--;,apparitions of his ,wives1 #cid4--;,his ,liftings1 #cii4--,the ,devil an ,indian1 #djb4--,thought-reading1 #dje4--;,his ,susceptibilities and ,character1 #djf4 ,,summary1 #djh4--,number executed1 #dab4--,spirits proved to have been ,enactors of ,witchcraft1 #dad4 ,,the ,,confessors1 #dae4 ,,the ,,accusing ,,girls1 #dbj4--;,ann ,putnam's ,confession1 #dbj4 ,,the ,,prosecutors1 #dbe4 ,,witchcraft',s ,,author1 #dbh4 ,,the ,,motive1 #dcb4 ,,local ,,and ,,personal1 #dde4 ,,methods ,,of ,,providence1 #dea4 ,,appendix4 ,,christendom',s ,,witchcraft ,,devil1 #dei4 ,,limitations ,,of ,,his ,,powers1 #dfd4 ,,covenant ,,with ,,him1 #dff4 ,,his ,,defence1 #dfg4 ,,demonology ,,and ,,necromancy1 #dfh4 ,,biblical ,,witch ,,and ,,witchcraft1 #dgj4 ,,christendom',s ,,witch ,,and ,,witchcraft1 #dga4 ,,spirit1 ,,soul1 ,,and ,,mental ,,powers1 #dgb4 ,,two ,,sets ,,of ,,mental ,,powers--,,agassiz1 #dgf4 ,,marvel ,,and ,,spiritualism1 #dgh4 ,,indian ,,worship1 #dhj4 ,,preface4 ,the nobler tendency of culture--and1 above all1 of scientific culture--is to honor the dead without groveling before them2 to profit by the past without sacrificing it to the present4--,,edward ,b4 ,,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture4 ,most history of ,new ,england witchcraft written since #agfj has dishonored the dead by lavish imputations of imposture1 fraud1 malice1 credulity1 and infatuation2 has been sacrificing past acts1 motives1 and character to skepticism regarding the sagacity and manliness of the fathers1 the guilelessness of their daughters1 and the truth of ancient records4 ,transmitted accounts of certain phenomena have been disparaged1 seemingly because facts alleged therein baffle solution by to-day's prevalent philosophy1 which discards some agents and forces that were active of old4 ,the legitimate tendency of culture has been reversed2 what it should have availed itself of and honored1 it has busied itself in hiding and traducing4 ,an exception among writers alluded to is the author of the following extract1 who1 simply as an historian1 and not as an advocate of any particular theory for the solution of witchcraft1 seems ready to let its works be ascribed to competent agents4 ,so far as a presentation of facts is concerned1 no account of the dreadful tragedy has appeared which is more accurate and truthful than ,governor ,hutchinson's narrative4 ,his theory on the subject--that it was wholly the result of fraud and deception on the part of the afflicted children--will not be generally accepted at the present day1 and his reasoning on that point will not be deemed conclusive4444 ,there is a tendency to trace an analogy between the phenomena then exhibited and modern spiritual manifestations4--,w4 ,f4 ,,poole1 ,geneal4 and ,antiq4 ,register1 ,october1 #ahgj4 ,while composing the following work1 its writer was borne onward by the tendency which ,poole named4 ,survey of the field of marvels has been far short of exhaustive--his purpose made no demand for very extended researches4 ,selected cases1 representative of the general manifestations and subject treated of were enough4 ,the aim has been to find in ancient records1 and thence adduce1 statements and meanings long resting unobserved beneath the gathered dust of more than a hundred years1 and therefore practically lost4 ,the course of search led attention beyond overt acts1 to inspection of some natural germs and their legitimately resultant development into creeds1 which impelled good men on to the enactment of direful tragedy4 ,examination of the basement walls--the foundations--of prevalent popular explanation of ancient wonders1 forces conviction that they lack both the breadth and the materials needful to stability4 ,modern builders of witchcraft history have either failed to find1 or have deemed unmanageable by any appliances at their command1 and therefore would not attempt to handle1 a vast amount of sound historic stones which are accessible and can be used4 ,lacking them1 these moderns have let fancy manufacture for them1 and they have builded upon blocks of her fragile stuff which are fast disintegrating under the chemical action of the world's common sense4 ,we proposed here an incipient step towards refutation of the sufficiency and justness of a main theory1 now long prevalent1 for explaining satisfactorily very many well-proved marvelous facts4 ,some such have been presented on the pages of ,hutchinson1 ,upham1 and their followers2 and yet these have been either not at all1 or vaguely or ludicrously1 commented upon1 or reasoned from4 ,very many others1 and the most important of all as bases and aids to an acceptable and true solution of the whole1 are not visible where they ought to have conspicuous position4 ,presentation and proper use of them might have caused public cognizance to topple over the edifices which it has pleased modern builders to erect4 ,it is not our purpose to write history1 but to give new explanation of old events4 ,the long and widely tolerated theory that ,new ,england witchcraft was exclusively but out-workings of mundane fraud1 imposture1 cunning1 trickery1 malice1 and the like1 has never adequately met the reasonable demand of common sense1 which always asks that specified agents and forces shall be probably competent to produce all such effects as are distinctly ascribed to them4 ,persons who of old were afflicted in manner that was then called bewitchment1 and others through or from whom the afflictions were alleged to proceed1 are now extensively supposed to have possessed organizations1 temperaments1 and properties which rendered them exceptionally pliant under subtile forces1 either magnetic1 mesmeric1 or psychological1 and who1 consequently1 at times1 could be1 and were1 made ostensible utterers of knowledge whose marvelousness indicated mysterious source1 and ostensible performers of acts deemed more than natural1 and which1 in fact1 were the productions of wills not native in the manifesting forms4 ,the special forces that produced bewitchment and are put in application now1 do not become sensibly operative upon any other mortals than peculiar sensitives2 and their action upon such is often most easily and effectively manifested through aid obtained from other similar sensitives4 ,selections of both subjects and instrumentalities were of old1 and are now1 controlled by general law4 ,steel needles and iron-filings are not selected by the magnet's free will when it forces them to leap up from their resting-places and cleave to itself4 ,seeming levitation possesses them1 and an invisible force takes them whither gravitation1 their usual holder1 would not let them go4 ,it is upon steel1 not lead--upon iron1 not stone--that the magnet can execute its marvelous liftings4 ,nature's conditions fix selections4 ,the organizations1 temperaments1 fluids1 solids1 and all the various properties1 are1 to some extent1 unlike in any two human bodies whatsoever1 and the range of the differings and consequent susceptibilities is very wide4 ,a psychological magnet in either the seen or unseen may have power to draw certain human forms to contact with itself1 and to use them as its tools1 and yet lack force to produce sensible effects upon but few in the mass of living men4 ,where its action is most efficient1 it controls the movements of what it holds in its embrace--takes a human form out from control by the spirit which usually governs it1 and through that form manifests its own powers and purposes4 ,both the reputed bewitched and bewitching may severally have had but little1 if any1 voluntary part in manifesting the remarkable phenomena that were imputed to them4 ,where physical organs are used1 the public is prone to deem the performances intentional acts by those whose forms are operated1 while yet the wills of those whose forms are visibly concerned in marvelous works may have been formerly1 as they often now are1 little else than unwilling1 and in many cases unconscious tools4 ,the afflicted--in other words1 the bewitched ones--may have actually perceived1--they no doubt often did1--and also knew1 that the annoyances and tortures they endured were augmented1 if not generated1 by emanations proceeding forth from the particular persons whom they named as being their afflicters2 and these afflicters may have been all unconscious that their own auras were going forth and acting upon the sufferers4 ,the chief non-intelligent instrumentality employed in producing miraculous1 spiritualistic1 necromantic1 and other kindred marvels1 is now generally called psychological force--force resident in and put forth from and by the soul--from and by the will and emotional parts of a living being2 it is the force by which some men control with magic power not only many animals in the lower orders1 but some susceptible members of their own species2 it is a force deep-seated in our being1 and may accompany man when he leaves his outer body1 and continue to be his in an existence beyond the present4 ,the usurping capabilities of this force were strikingly set forth by the illustrious ,agassiz in his carefully written account of his own sensations and condition while in a mesmeric trance induced upon him by ,rev4 ,chauncy ,hare ,townshend4 ,the great naturalist--the strong man both mentally and physically--says that he lost all power to use his own limbs--all power to even will to move them1 and that his body was forced against his own strongest possible opposition to pace the room in obedience to the mesmerizer's will4 ,since such force overcame the strongest possible resistance of the gigantic ,agassiz1 it is surely credible that less robust ones1 in any and every age1 may have been subdued and actuated by it4--,see page #che1 in ,facts of ,mesmerism1 #b;d ,ed4 ,london1 #ahdd1 by ,rev4 ,chauncy ,hare ,townshend4 ,those who were accused of bewitching others were fountains from which invisible intelligences sometimes drew forth properties which aided them in gaining and keeping control of those whom they entranced or otherwise used4 ,also from such there probably sometimes went forth unwilled emanations that were naturally attracted to other sensitives1 who perceived their source1 and pronounced it diabolical1 because the influx thence was annoying4 ,impersonal natural forces to some extent1 and at times1 probably designated the victims who were immolated on witchcraft's altar4 ,citations of evidences and proofs from early historic records1 that other agents and forces had chief part in producing ,new ,england witchcraft than such as modern historians generally have recognized1 together with exposition of legitimate and forceful biases proceeding from articles in old-time creeds1 will exhibit our forefathers in much better aspects than they wear in intervening history2 will halo in innocence some of their wives and daughters1 around whom historians have cast hues appropriate only to most villainous culprits2 and also will manifest sadly misleading oversights1 short-comings1 and sophistries by some whose writings have done much in forming the world's existing erroneous and harsh views and estimates4 ,certain operative1 world-wide1 and daily occurrences in the present age1 unaccounted for1 and often sneered at1 by adepts in prevalent sciences and philosophies1 seem to have fair claims for general1 candid1 and most rigid scrutiny4 ,even if despised and contemned of men1 they nevertheless are widely and most efficiently working for the world's good or for its harm4 ,testimony to their positive existence is vast in amount1 and much of it comes from witnesses whose words upon any ordinary matters would be absolutely conclusive4 ,something more than twenty-five years ago1 mysterious raps on cottage walls and furniture were traced to cause which1 while invisible and impalpable1 could count ,,ten4 ,a trifle1 was that8 ,no2 for its teachings and influences have gone forth widely1 and have worked efficiently4 ,they have broadened nature's domain as conceived of by man1 have opened up to him new fields of study1 and have furnished him with a vast amount of new views and speculations1 which are permeating creeds1 philosophies1 sciences1 explanations of history1 and most things appertaining to the welfare of civilized society4 ,well may they have thus efficiently operated1 for they have claimed to be1 and their potency indicates that they have been1 moved onward by forces greater than pertain to incarnate men4 ,raps by invisible rappers2 liftings of tables1 pianos1 c41 by invisible lifters2 music flowing forth from pianos1 harmonicons1 and other instruments having no visible manipulators2 pencils writing legibly1 instructively1 eloquently1 when no visible hand held and moved them2 levitations of tables and human forms2 transfer of books and other objects from one side of rooms to the opposite by invisible carriers2 hands of flesh grasping and holding live coals of fire with impunity2 raisings of human forms from floor to ceiling overhead1 and holding them there by invisible beings2 impressions of recognized likenesses of departed mortals upon the plates of photographists2 presentation of moving and palpable hands and arms where no body is present for their attachment2 materialization of entire forms of the departed1 and the speaking and moving of the re-clad ones so exactly as in life as to be distinctly and unmistakably recognized by their surviving relatives and familiar acquaintances2--these phenomena1 and many others kindred to them1 admit of being1 and we ask that they may be1 viewed apart from any and all verbal or written communications by spirits1 and apart from the character1 standing1 and habits of spiritualists4 ,such presentations as have just been specified may be looked upon as a class by themselves1 and as being worthy the attention and closest scrutiny of devotees to the physical sciences and all logical minds4 ,even though they have emerged into view from a modern ,nazareth1 the obscurity of their place of issuance is not conclusive against their virtue to enlighten man1 and broaden the extent of human knowledge4 ,when1 in days to come1 some abler and more polished pen shall apply1 in the solution of witchcraft marvels1 a theory that shall be based on the classes of agents1 forces1 c41 which are now evolving modern marvels1 its fitness and adequacy will attract wide attention1 and command general acceptance4 ,our work1 of course1 will fall far short of such results1 for he who here writes possesses no commanding powers1--never had much taste for historical and antiquarian researches1--has for many years last past found himself much1 very much1 more prone to be seeking for mental and moral wealth in oncoming than in receded times1--possesses only moderate skill and less than moderate facility in literary composition1--has spent the greater part of adult life in pursuits which debarred him not only from much perusal of books either historical1 literary1 or scientific1 but also from much converse with well-cultured society4 ,therefore1 necessarily1 his whitened locks and waning forces find him consciously deficient in nearly every qualification for either a good historian or good expounder and applier of any theory pertaining to profound and intricate subjects involving occult agents and forces4 ,then why write8 ,perhaps vanity is strong among our motives4 ,nearly as far back as memory can take us1 we heard from a grandfather's lips accounts of what his grandfather and others did and suffered when witchcraft raged in our native parish1 and threatened trouble to those occupying the house in which we were born and reared4 ,from boyhood onward the subject has never been new to us4 ,we received an early impression1 and since have ever felt1 that works more than mortals could perform had transpired there4 ,but who the workers could have been was long a doleful mystery4 ,their doings made them far from pleasant objects of contemplation4 ,in common with most other natives of the place1 we formerly were very willing that the dark matter should slumber in obscurity--were indisposed to draw attention to its aspects and character4 ,but not so in later years4 ,most people on the spot1 however1 now are probably averse to its consideration4 ,less than three years ago1 a parish committee of arrangements were very solicitous that this dismal subject should receive very little notice at their bi-centennial celebration4 ,their wishes and ours differed widely4 ,what courtesy withheld them from forbidding1 courtesy withheld us from doing extensively4 ,we just opened there2 and now1 in continuance1 here say that we longed then1 on the spot where he was born1 to wash off from their most notorious child much black dye-stuff in which the world has dipped him1 and let them look upon a fairer complexioned and more estimable personage than they have deemed that far-famed native4 ,we are vain enough to hope1 that1 in this continuance of our speech1 we shall adduce facts and views which will present ,salem witchcraft in new and less dismal aspects1 and dispel what seems to dwellers where it transpired a cloud of darkness4 ,aside from vanity1 we have been moved by definite desire to give both the people of ,danvers and many others1 opportunity to learn facts and truths as yet perceived by only a few1 which give a character to the great witchcraft scene1 vastly less disreputable to those concerned in it than does such as has been presented by prior expounders1 and extensively accepted as plausible by the public4 ,teachings of spiritualism have luminated the places where witchcraft has been sent to slumber2 and facts now come into view which reveal beneficent results where none but baneful ones have been apparent4 ,perhaps willingness to show that spiritualism has been an illumining force to us1 and may be so to others1 has place among our motives4 ,opportunities for studying spirit manifestations came in the writer's way more than twenty years since1 and have been recurring quite steadily down to the present hour4 ,release1 long ago1 from cramping mill-horse rounds of professional life and thought1 and consequent freedom to live and move relatively aloof from annoyances and fears which known or suspected attention to unpopular and tabooed matters is apt to bring1 permitted him to be a more open1 avowed1 persistent1 and studious observer of these marvelous works than could most other persons comfortably1 who had spent early years in academic and collegiate halls4 ,unhampered by dread of slurs1 innuendoes1 hints1 or growls from either parishioners1 patients1 or clients1 he sought1 found1 and strove to use thoughtfully1 critically1 and religiously1 extensive and many varied and often very favorable opportunities for estimating the force and value of alleged evidences and proofs that we1 all of us1 are ever living in the midst of agents1 forces1 conditions1 faculties1 powers1 and susceptibilities1 acting upon or residing in ourselves and our neighbors1 which common observation and science have not generally recognized4 ,thus1 as he judges1 clews have been acquired to such knowledge as promises1 in days not distant1 to furnish not only a solution of ancient witchcraft that will stand the tests of time and common sense1 but cause human physical science to bring within its embrace agents and forces which have heretofore escaped its recognition4 ,the varied phenomena of spiritualism1 witchcraft1 and miracle are all within nature4 ,modern spiritualism1 fraught1 and all alive1 as it is1 with evidences1 and some sensible proofs positive1 of a future life1 is to-day more efficient in retaining faith among thinking men that a life beyond awaits them1 than any and all other forces in operation1 or that man can apply4 ,science--yes1 an advanced science1 based on observed1 proved1 and provable facts of spiritualism1 ancient and modern--is the only power we see that can stay the hope-crushing inroads of the bald materialism which is now dogging the advancing steps of physical science and liberal culture throughout enlightened ,christendom4 ,perception of strong indications1 more than twenty years ago1 that keen intelligence wielding strange power was evolving before human senses1 raps1 table-tippings1 and the like1--which intelligence1 if properly invoked and treated1 might become one's helpful teacher1--induced the author to use as well as possible each occurring opportunity for increasing his acquaintance with the strange visitants1 not doubting that in the end he should gain wherewith to instruct and benefit both himself and his fellow-men1 enough1 and more than enough1 to richly compensate for whatever loss of caste1 favor1 or reputation his course might occasion4 ,during his well-meant1 protracted1 and reverential searchings along the faintly twilighted borders of spirit-land1 ever and anon he has been catching glimpses of laws1 forces1 conditions1 and agents1 which earth-born beings--the embodied and the disembodied--can1 and limitedly now do1 conjointly use for reciprocal communings1 and for mutual helps toward improvement1 elevation1 and bliss--for social1 intellectual1 moral1 and religious growth4 ,he means mutual2 for those who have escaped from the flesh are helped by intercommunings with mortals4 ,the reward is ample4 ,his immediate topic is only witchcraft2 but light which he seeks to make bear on that1 penetrates below all perceptible phenomena1 down to the question which underlies all others pertaining to man's highest interest1 viz41 ,does animism exist8 ,or1 in other words1 is there in nature1 or in ,god1 or anywhere1 an animating principle1 which1 having had individualizing connection with an organized material form1 will retain its consciousness and individuality after that connection shall have been dissolved8 ,who but visible or audible spirits1 proving themselves to be such1 can give decisive response to that momentous question8 ,who but they can stop the advance of and effectually cripple that growing materialistic faith which laughs at and tramples over everything save demonstration1--demonstration either scientific or sensible1--but is at once and permanently palsied when it encounters that8 ,man knows of none else who can4 ,the world as yet is little conscious of the real nature1 power1 and worth of spiritualism1 or of its own need of help obtainable from no other perceptible source4 ,therein lies enfolded not only charity and justice for our remoter fathers1 and correction for later commentators upon them1 which may be brought forth and applied in the present work1 but also ,,proofs of man's survival beyond the tomb4 ,threescore years and twelve are saying1 ,spend no more time in general preparation for your labors1 because dangers yearly thicken that your perishing outer man must forever leave undone what it fails to accomplish soon4 ,your future footprints on the sands of time will be but few2 therefore now start in right direction1 and1 as best you can1 mark the path you travel1 and thus give some guidance to future wayfarers journeying toward the goal at which you aim1 but lack power to reach4 ,,allen ,,putnam4 ,,boston1 #dbf ,dudley ,street ,,references4 ,the principal works quoted from and referred to in the following pages1 are-- ,,salem ,,witchcraft1 edited by ,s4 ,p4 ,fowler1 of ,danvers2 ,h4 ,p4 ,ives and ,a4 ,a4 ,smith1 ,salem1 #ahfa4 ,this furnished the citations from ,calef1 and most of those from ,cotton ,mather4 ,references are to this edition4 ,,hutchinson',s ,,history ,,of ,,massachusetts4 ,boston edition #agfd and #agfg4 ,,upham',s ,,history ,,of ,,witchcraft ,,and ,,salem ,,village4 ,boston1 ,wiggin ,lunt1 #ahfg4 ,,woodward',s ,,historical ,,series1 embracing ,annals of ,witchcraft in ,new ,england by ,samuel ,g4 ,drake1 furnished the citations from ,drake4 ,,new ,,england ,,genealogical ,,and ,,antiquarian ,,register1 ,october1 #ahgj1 p4 #cha1 was the source of extracts from ,w4 ,f4 ,poole4 ,,explanatory ,,note4 ,a subject mysterious as ours will need for its ready comprehension some general knowledge of the imputed attributes and doings of witchcraft's special ,,devil1 and of supposed aids and hindrances to his getting access to the visible world2 also of demonology and necromancy1 of biblical witch and witchcraft1 of ,protestant ,christendom's witch and witchcraft1 of spirit1 soul1 and mental powers1 of miracle1 spiritualism1 ,indian worship1 and the like4 ,therefore we wrote out brief dissertations upon those subjects1 with a view to have them constitute an opening chapter4 ,but they are somewhat dry1 and would1 perhaps1 keep many readers back from less thought-taxing pages longer than their pleasure will permit4 ,therefore we postpone presentation of what usually is placed in front1 at the same time advising each one who desires to read this work as advantageously as possible1 to turn first to our ,appendix4 ,in form of definitions1 at the close of the dissertations1 we placed a summary of some past conceptions1 designing thus to indicate1 compactly1 special stand-points for explanation of witchcraft1 on which some of our predecessors have severally taken position4 ,we insert it here4 ,,definitions4 ,biblical4 ,,devil1 or ,,satan4 ,any opponent or antagonist1 whether seen or unseen4 ,,witch4 ,employer of mysterious acquisitions in teaching heresy4 ,,witchcraft4 ,using mysterious acquisitions in teaching heresy4 ,by ,cotton ,mather4 ,,devil4 ,heaven-born1 fallen1 mighty1 malignant2 and yet dependent on human help to act upon physical man or anything material4 ,,witch4 ,a covenanter with the devil4 ,,witchcraft4 ,helping or employing the devil to do harm--either4 ,by ,robert ,calef4 ,,devil4 ,heaven-born1 fallen1 mighty1 malignant2 but independent of man in action upon this world4 ,,witch4 ,seducer of men from worship of ,god by any extraordinary sign4 ,,witchcraft4 ,maligning and impugning the word1 work1 or worship of ,god1 and by any extraordinary sign seeking to seduce men from worship of ,him4 ,by ,thomas ,hutchinson4 ,,devil4 7,none1 as witchcraft enactor47 ,,witch4 7,by inference47 ,a woman possessing a malignant touch1 or a crabbed temper1 or being a poor wretch or bed-ridden2 also1 a cunning child4 ,,witchcraft4 ,producing pains1 nausea1 c4 ,scolding1 playing tricks4 ,by ,c4 ,w4 ,upham4 ,,devil4 7,not specially concerned in witchcraft47 ,,witch4 7,by inference47 ,subject acted upon by a girl or woman trained in a school for practice in the wonders of necromancy1 magic1 and spiritualism4 ,,witchcraft4 ,suffering from the tricks and malicious purposes of girls schooled in magic4 ,by us4 ,,devil4 7,not specially concerned47 ,,witch4 ,a medium or a human being whose body becomes at times the tool of some finite1 disembodied1 intelligent being1 or whose mind senses knowledge in spirit land4 ,,witchcraft4 ,the manifestation of supernal knowledge1 force1 and purposes through a borrowed or usurped mortal form2 or the giving utterance to knowledge sensed in through one's spiritual organs of sense4 ,our purpose is to adduce strong evidences from the primitive records of ,american marvels1 that lesser beings than the devil of ,mather and ,calef1 and more powerful ones than the operators designated by ,hutchinson and ,upham1 were actual performers of the principal manifestations that have been known as witchcrafts4 ,those whom we shall present were earth-born1 on either this planet or some other1 had previously passed out from encasements of flesh1 but obtained control of and actuated physical forms belonging to embodied children1 women1 and men4 ,such beings1 graduates from earths1 are as varied in character and purposes as the survivors on their native planets1 as varied as mortals are to-day4 ,they may have ranged in character from dark devils up to bright angels1 and have come1 and gone1 and operated by natural1 though occult1 forces and processes2 they being as free to use such as we are the forces and implements of external nature4 ,many of our positions will be based upon psychological powers and susceptibilities which are far from being generally known to pertain to man2 and we may fail to keep always within the bounds of things credible to-day1 but yet shall never consciously go further than observed or credited facts will sustain us4 ,if successful1 we shall show that benighted man formerly1 in good conscience1 made certain events fearful curses1 which1 when rightly understood and used1 may become gladdening and rich boons to mortals4 ,,witchcraft ,,marvel-,,workers4 ,brief notice of several authors to whom the present age is indebted for knowledge of most of the facts and beliefs which will be presented in the following pages1 may be appropriate here4 ,their competency1 traits1 and circumstances1 as inferred chiefly from their writings pertaining to witchcraft1 are all1 or nearly all1 which we propose to state4 ,two of these who lived in witchcraft times1 a third in an intervening century1 and a fourth in our own age1 viz41 ,cotton ,mather1 ,robert ,calef1 ,thomas ,hutchinson1 and ,charles ,w4 ,upham1 will severally be noticed1 because their works have been specially instructive and suggestive1 and have had very much influence in shaping public opinions and conclusions in reference to the mysterious matters under consideration4 ,each of the above-named authors either lacked1 or failed to use1 some light which is now available for disclosing contents in vailed recesses of nature--light beginning to shine in where darkness long brooded1 and to elicit thence such knowledge as promises to show that the theories of most witchcraft expounders have been such as now may be1 and should be1 superseded by more broad1 sound1 and philosophical ones4 ,the writings of the first two named above are eminently important1 because they disclose very distinctly many highly operative beliefs and methods which were prevalent when marked witchcraft phenomena were actually transpiring1 but are obsolete now4 ,we cannot1 perhaps1 do better than forthwith present those two combatants1 ,mather and ,calef1 in actual conflict over the last described case of seventeenth century obsession4 ,out of this case came open conflict1 in the very days when such marvels were living occurrences4 ,further on we may notice these two men1 as men1 more particularly4 ,here we take them as contestants about phenomena attendant upon ,margaret ,rule in #afic2 hers1 the last of our cases to occur1 will come first under our inspection4 ,our quotations will be mostly from the earlier pages of ,,salem ,,witchcraft1 edited by ,s4 ,p4 ,fowler4 ,,mather ,,and ,,calef4 ,in #afic1 ,mather wrote an account of afflictions which ,margaret ,rule1 of ,boston1 then about seventeen years old1 began to endure on the #ajth of ,september of that year4 ,this production drew forth the first open shot at the then prevalent definitions of witchcraft--at the assumed source of power to produce it--at the adopted methods of proceedings against it1 and at treatment of persons on whom that crime was charged4 ,robert ,calef1 called a merchant of the town1 either listened to statements or received written ones1 made by other persons who had been present with ,mather around this afflicted girl at her home during some scenes which the latter had described1 or he was himself a witness there4 ,from data early obtained he furnished a version of the case which disparaged the minister's account1 and questioned the propriety of some of his proceedings4 ,calef's was in itself a rather meager production1 not putting forth the whole or even the main facts in the case1 but indicating that in this1 that1 and the other particular1 ,mather had misstated or overstated1 and that some of his own acts might be indelicate or improper4 ,this production so incensed ,mather that he openly pronounced ,calef the worst of liars1 threatened him with prosecution for slander1 and actually commenced legal proceedings against him4 ,in a subsequent letter1 ,september #bi1 ,calef respectfully asked ,mather for a personal interview in the presence of two witnesses1 in order that they might discuss and explain4 ,mather intimated willingness to comply with the request1 but dallied1 till ,calef1 ,november #bd1 sent a second letter1 in which1 rising at once above the comparatively trifling question whether himself or ,mather had furnished the more accurate and better report1 he grappled with fundamental questions pertaining to the devil1 witchcrafts1 and possession1 and set forth distinctly some points which1 in his judgment1 needed discussion then2 for on them he dissented from ,mather1 and probably from a majority of the people amid whom he was living4 ,in much of that letter1 ,calef1 or whoever composed it1 manifested discriminating intellect1 clear perception of his points1 firm will1 together with strong desire and purpose to labor earnestly for acquisition of knowledge by which either to convince himself that his own positions were unsound1 or to better qualify himself to reform some prevalent faiths and practices4 ,the ,bible was his magazine1 and implements1 weapons1 or stores from any other source he deemed it unlawful to use for defining1 detecting1 or punishing witchcraft4 ,bowing to the ,scriptures in unquestioning submission1 he took them as guide and authority4 ,in the outset1 frankly and definitely stating his own belief1 he1 in an apparently manly way1 sought manly discussion4 ,he believed1 page #fb1 that there are witches1 because the ,scriptures plainly provide for their punishment4 ,the only known definition of witchcraft that to him seemed based upon and fairly deduced from the ,scriptures1 was a maligning and oppugning the word1 work1 or worship of ,god1 and1 by any extraordinary sign1 seeking to seduce from it4 ,he believed that there are possessions1 and that the bodies of the possest have hence been not only afflicted1 but strangely agitated1 if not their tongues improved to foretell futurities2 and why not to accuse the innocent as bewitching them8 having pretense to divination 444 this being reasonable to be expected from him who is the father of lies4 ,this witchcraft assailant1 therefore1 was a protestant not against belief that the father of lies sometimes possessed1 afflicted1 and strangely agitated human beings1 and also controlled their tongues to prophesy1 to accuse the innocent1 and to pretend divination4 ,his protest was against unscriptural definition of witchcraft1 and against those kinds of evidence1 rules1 and methods used for its detection1 proof1 and punishment which made his age pronounce guilty and execute many who could not possibly be found guilty of that crime1 where its scriptural definition was adhered to4 ,he was not a disbeliever in witchcraft of some kind1 nor of action upon men by some invisible intelligences in his own day4 ,he and ,mather both were believers in witchcraft outwrought by supernals1 but differed as to what might or might not constitute it1 and therefore1 also1 as to the extent of the prevalence of the genuine article4 ,calef seemingly believed in possessions1--that is1 in control by spirits of some quality1--but was unwilling to concede that such control was witchcraft1 as many people at that day did1 though ,mather may not have been one among them abidingly4 ,the pith of ,calef's definition of witchcraft was1 seduction of men from the worship of ,god by manifestation of extraordinary signs2 while ,mather said1 covenanting with the devil made one a witch1 and co-operative action with him in harming men constituted witchcraft4 ,the former demanded evidences of seduction of men away from worship of ,god1 while the other could rest on evidences of visible harm to man2 therefore ,mather found cases of witchcraft much more abundant than ,calef was required to or would4 ,another practically important item on which they differed was the immediate source of the devil's power to act upon visible man and matter4 ,calef claimed that it is only the ,almighty that 444 can commissionate him to hurt or destroy any2 while ,mather said1 ,i am apt to think that the devils are seldom able to hurt us in any of our exterior concerns without a commission from our fellow-worms4444 ,permission from ,god for the devil to come down and break in upon mankind must oftentimes be accompanied with a commission from some of mankind itself4 ,both of them conceded a commission by ,god to the devil4 ,but we doubt whether his commission was ever more special than that which every created being1 in either material or spiritual abodes1 constitutionally holds at all times1 to avail himself of whatever natural laws or forces his inherent powers and attending circumstances enable him to control4 ,words are often used which obscure proper1 if not intended1 meaning4 ,commission from ,god means no more than constitutional capabilities to perform at times certain specified things when conditions and circumstances favor command of natural forces4 ,that special powers are often conferred upon mortals by some supernal beings whose recipients are prone to ascribe the gifts to omnipotence is obviously true2 though their increased abilities are only bestowments by finite invisibles4 ,what witchcraft was1 and who commissioned the devil1 whether ,god alone or ,god and man jointly1 were the two most prominent questions about which those contestants differed4 ,they agreed that the devil enacted both witchcraft and possession1 but ,calef's beliefs necessarily caused him to regard vast many cases as only simple possession1 which ,mather could1 if he saw fit1 regard as witchcrafts2 and he sometimes seemingly did1 when called to act publicly in connection with them4 ,mather at home and ,mather abroad were not always in harmony4 ,without designing1 either here or subsequently1 to make full presentation of the case of ,margaret ,rule1 we shall freely adduce many parts of the record of it as helps in exhibiting leading positions and traits pertaining to the parties who crossed intellectual swords over them4 ,mather states1 page #bi1 that upon the ,lord's day1 ,september #aj1 #afic1 ,margaret ,rule1 after some hours of previous disturbance in the public assembly1 fell into odd fits1 which caused her friends to carry her home1 where her fits1 in a few hours1 grew into a figure that satisfied the spectators of their being preternatural4 ,a miserable woman who had been formerly imprisoned on the suspicion of witchcraft1 and who had frequently cured very painful hurts1 444 had1 the evening before ,margaret fell into her calamities1 very bitterly treated her1 and threatened her4 ,that briefly antecedent treatment of her by a person who had frequently cured very painful hurts1 and therefore1 and for other acts perhaps1 been accused of witchcraft1 is very important in its psychological indications1 and is worthy of being borne along in the reader's memory4 ,the wonderful curing of painful hurts--that is1 her beneficence--had caused her imprisonment4 ,the young woman1 continues the reporter1 was assaulted by eight cruel specters1 whereof she imagined that she knew three or four4 ,she was careful1 under charge from ,mather1 to forbear blazing their names1 but privately told them to him2 and he says1 they are a sort of wretches who for these many years have gone under as violent presumptions of witchcraft1 as perhaps any creatures yet living on the earth4 ,specters known by her might1 in some connections1 mean persons whom she had known before their death1 whose spirits now became visible2 but since she gave the names of living persons as being then seen1 it is obvious that she did not regard her tormentors as bona fide spirits1 but only effigies manufactured1 presented1 and vitalized by the devil4 ,the psychologist will not overlook the fact that persons whose specters were here presented were such as had in some way previously aroused suspicion that they were witches4 ,it was imprudent at that day to blaze names1 because of very prevalent belief that the devil could present the specters of none who had not made a covenant with him1 and the bare fact of annunciation by a witched person that she saw the specter of any individual whatsoever1 was then conclusive proof to many minds that the said individual had made covenant with the evil one1 and therefore was a witch1 and must be put to death4 ,mather cautioned the girl not to give names to the crowd around her bed1 lest any good person should come to suffer any blast of reputation4 ,neither ,mather nor ,calef denied the devil's power to bring forth apparitions of the innocent2 and neither reposed full confidence in or justified the use of spectral testimony generally1 though very many people in those days did4 ,the point we desire to mark is this3 that ,mather's account is in harmony with modern observation in giving indications that spirits1 apparitions1 or appearances of highly mediumistic persons are more frequently seen than those of unimpressible ones--if such are not1 and we believe it is so--the class generally thus presented3--such persons1 that is1 the mediumistic1 are more frequently than others seen by the inner or clairvoyant eye4 ,this fact begets at least conjecture1 that it is probably psychological law1 and not the devil's or any one's else choice1 which determines who shall or may be seen as specters4 ,persons seen in this case had previously manifested powers or acts which caused them to be regarded as witches4 ,around most persons1 who in the sequel of these pages shall be found appearing as specters and as bewitching and tormenting others1 will be found signs that they were very like such as to-day are called mediums4 ,they presented a book and demanded of her that she should set her hand to it1 or touch it at least with her hand1 as a sign of her becoming a servant of the devil2 upon her refusal to do that1 they confined her to her bed for just six weeks together4 ,true answer to the question whether an accused one had signed the devil's book or not1 was eagerly sought for in all trials for witchcraft1 because if such signature had not been made by the person on trial1 he or she might be innocent2 while if it had been1 guilt was already consummated1 and death was deserved4 ,sometimes there looked in upon the young woman a short and a black man1 whom they 7the specters7 called their master4 ,they all professed themselves vassals of this devil1 444 and in obedience to him1 444 she was cruelly pinched with invisible hands1 444 and the black and blue marks of the pinches became immediately visible unto the standers by4444 ,she would every now and then be miserably hurt with pins1 which were found stuck into her neck1 back1 and arms4444 ,she would be strangely distorted in her joints and thrown 444 into convulsions4 ,such things are stated as facts1 and were not contested in the day of their occurrence--not even by ,robert ,calef4 ,from the time that ,margaret ,rule first found herself to be formally besieged by the specters1 until the ninth day following1 namely1 from ,september #ajth to the #ahth1 she kept an entire fast1 and yet she was unto all appearance as fresh1 as lively1 as hearty at the nine days' end1 as before they began2 during all this time 444 if any refreshment were brought unto her1 her teeth would be set1 and she would be thrown into many miseries2 indeed1 once or twice or so in all this time1 her tormentors permitted her to swallow a mouthful of somewhat that might increase her miseries1 whereof a spoonful of rum was the most considerable2 but otherwise1 as ,i said1 her fast unto the ninth day was very extreme and rigid4 ,protracted fastings without consequent exhaustion have been common with the mediumistic in all ages4 ,moses1 ,elijah1 ,jesus1 each fasted forty days2 many mediums in our midst are often sustained for long periods by absorptions of nutriment in its elemental state into the inner or spirit organism1 from that invisible storehouse of food from which trees obtain much sustenance1 and whence once came loaves and fishes in ,judea2 from the inner thus fed1 the outer man receives supplies2 at least1 spirits state such to be the process4 ,margaret ,rule once1 in the middle of the night1 lamented sadly that the specters threatened the drowning of a young man in the neighborhood1 whom she named unto the company2 well1 it was afterward found that at that very time this young man1 having been prest on board a man-of-war then in the harbor1 was1 out of some dissatisfaction1 attempting to swim ashore2 and he had been drowned in the attempt if a boat had not seasonably taken him up4 ,it was by computation a minute or two after the young woman's discourse of the drowning that the young man took to the water4 ,this account1 if taken literally1 reveals her prescience of a definite approximating event1 also knowledge of the person whom it threatened1 the place where it would act1 while neither outward perceptions nor any embodied mortals could help her to such knowledge4 ,it is not stated that either the outer or inner set of her perceptive organs directly sensed danger tending towards the young man4 ,the report of her words is that the specters threatened the drowning2 from this it seemingly follows that her inner sense1 either of hearing or of vision1 learned either the intention of spirit beings to purposely expose a particular man to danger1 or they saw the oncoming of danger to him1 and spoke of it to her4 ,this occurrence through the impressible girl was left unnoticed by ,calef2 his silence approximates to concession that the main facts here stated were not refutable in his day4 ,once1 continues the narrator1 her tormentors pulled her up to the ceiling of the chamber1 and held her there1 before a very numerous company of spectators1 who found it as much as they could all do to pull her down again4 ,that statement is distinct and needs no comment here1 but may receive further notice when we shall adduce the attestation of other personal witnesses to its actual truth4 ,again ,mather says1 ,the enchanted people have talked much of a white spirit from whence they have received marvelous assistances1 444 by such a spirit was ,margaret ,rule now visited4 ,she says she never could see his face1 but that she had a frequent view of his bright1 shining1 and glorious garments2 he stood by her bedside continually heartening and comforting her1 and counseling her to maintain her faith and hope in ,god4444 ,he told her that ,god had permitted her afflictions to befall her for the everlasting and unspeakable good of her own soul1 and for the good of many others4 ,hers was very strange experience to outflow from delirium tremens4 ,it seems to us very much more like inflowings of heavenly peace from vision of the blessed4 ,obviously at times there flashed forth glorious brightness during witchcraft's dismal night4 ,mather stated these and some other very significant facts1 which ,calef omitted to grapple with or to gainsay in his version of the scenes4 ,omitting to extract more from ,mather1 we will now look at ,calef's account4 ,he commences a letter to ,mather in which1 referring to his own previous production1 he says1 having written 'from the mouths of several persons1' who affirm they were present with ,margaret ,rule the #acth instant1 her answers1 behavior1 c4 ,calef therefore probably was not himself a witness of the scenes he described2 but received his account from the mouths of several other persons4 ,one of them apparently wrote1 and ,calef1 adopting the statement1 says1 ,i found her of a healthy countenance1 about seventeen years old1 lying very still and speaking but very little4 ,soon the ,mathers 7father and son1 ,increase and ,cotton7 came in4 ,the son shortly began to question ,margaret and get replies4 ,their colloquy was commonplace mostly1 and need not be quoted2 but some things then done we shall notice4 ,margaret went into a fit1 and ,cotton ,mather laid his hand upon her face and nose1 but1 as he said1 without perceiving any breath4 ,then he brushed her on the face with his glove1 and rubbed her stomach1 and bid others do so too1 and said it eased her2 then she revived4 ,shortly again she was in a fit1 and was again rubbed4 ,margaret ,perd1 an attendant1 assisted ,mather in rubbing her4 ,the afflicted spake angrily to her1 saying1 ',don't you meddle with me1' and hastily put away her hand4 ,he then wrought his fingers before her eyes4 ,such things1 presumably1 were stated correctly as matters of fact observed4 ,were these doings by ,mather foolish and useless8 ,different persons will answer variously4 ,in the eyes of most ,new ,england people to-day1 they may seem to be so4 ,in part they appear to us ill judged and harmful1 though well meant and partially productive of the effect desired4 ,when ,mather could perceive no breath1 he naturally became solicitous to set her lungs in motion1 and by his rubbings probably soon accomplished that4 ,the observations of many moderns have taught them to welcome1 at times1 stoppage of the external breathings of good mediums1 deeming that indicative of free1 but imperceptible1 breathing by the inner lungs1 which process sustains the person physically1 while the spirit roams and recreates in spirit-land4 ,yes1 to welcome it1 as watchers by the restless sick welcome the advent of sleep to the sufferers4 ,once we probably should have acted1 in like circumstances1 much as ,mather did2 but now we might often leave such a patient unacted upon for a time1 even though breathless to our external perception1 because of belief that action like ,mather's might be as unwise as would the awakening of a sick one immediately after the commencement of a nap4 ,his motions of the fingers around her eyes might tend to produce the same effect2 that is1 to draw her out of a state of rest and joy1 provided the outer breathing was imperceptible4 ,rubbings and motions of the hands1 however1 are often very serviceable in removing influences which are distressing1 whenever the entranced one is conscious externally1 as ,margaret probably was in the second fit1 but perhaps not in the first4 ,for in the second she detected difference between influences upon her from ,mather and those from ,miss ,perd2 the former were agreeable and welcome1 the latter annoying and offensive4 ,systems sensitive enough to detect the qualities and influences of magnetic emanations from all human beings1 yes1 all animals and most minerals1 that come in contact with themselves1 are greatly soothed by absorption of unconscious properties from some1 and irritated by those from others1 though their esteem1 respect1 or affection for each class be the same4 ,qualities of emanations are1 to considerable extent1 independent of either intellectual1 moral1 or emotional states4 ,a babe or simpleton may be the best of anodynes1 while the cultured saint may be an irritant to a sensitive medium4 ,he put his hand on the clothes over her breast1 and said he felt a living thing4 ,perhaps he did4 ,in our day we hear of such presentations as semblances of small living animals around mediums2 but personally1 have not seen or felt such4 ,soon after they 7the ministers7 were gone1 the afflicted desired the women to be gone1 saying that the company of the men was not offensive to her4 ,there is not general popular knowledge1 that the magnetisms of all animals are as distinctly male in one sex and female in the other1 as are any of their organs1 nor that to very sensitive persons there come times and states when their own magnetisms hunger for food from magnetisms of opposite genders4 ,some sensitives feel the action of finer laws and forces than men detect in their normal condition4 ,she learned that there were reports about town that she was not afflicted4 ,and some came to her as spies2 but during the said time 7of their visit7 she had no fit4 ,few anti-spiritualistic asseverations are more frequently put forth than this2 that manifestations rarely occur in the presence of certain persons deemed specially competent to detect fraud and imposture1 and who visit mediums for the purpose of exposing them4 ,unbelief was once a bar to manifestation of many marvels by ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,also it much obstructs their presentation to-day2 and probably1 therefore1 might have done so when emanating from spies and would-be exposers around ,margaret ,rule4 ,but they can't1 is perhaps often said of spirits when they won't1 would more accurately describe the fact4 ,as at the ,albion in #aheg1 they would manifest before press reporters1 but not before ,harvard professors4 ,they know the thoughts of each observer1 and are often pleased to bite the biter2 the playfully roguish sometimes find it fun to catch rogues4 ,she had no fit when spies were present4 ,the attendants1 ,september #ai1 said that ,mr4 ,m4 would not go to prayer with her when people were in the room1 as they 7he and his father7 did that night he felt the live creature4 ,peter of old knew what was conducive to effectual prayer when1 at the side of ,dorcas1 then entranced to seeming death1 he put the bystanders all forth and kneeled down and prayed4 ,mather no doubt had acquired similar knowledge2 world-wide experience and observation teach that quiet and harmony are needful to the utterance of satisfactory or very helpful prayer4 ,margaret ,perd and another said they smelt brimstone4 ,i and others1 said ,calef's informant1 said we did not smell any4 ,the wording leaves it doubtful1 perhaps1 whether the reporter and his others1 though smelling brimstone1 quizzically said they did not1 or whether they actually failed to smell it4 ,if they did not smell the article1 their natural1 frank statement would have been1 we did not4 ,but the wording is1 we said we did not4 ,our quotation was not made1 however1 for the purpose of making such criticism1 but as a text to the following paragraph4 ,spirits sometimes have power to produce in the olfactory nerves of many persons1 precisely the sensations which many familiar odors produce4 ,we have personally been refreshed on several occasions by perception of the fragrance of pinks1 while we were reclining drowsily on a couch in our own study1 no visible person present with us1 and no pinks in the vicinity1 or in our thoughts4 ,this has occurred quite as often in dead of winter1 as when the garden was odorous with flowers4 ,probably such presentations may be made to some members of a company1 while others in the crowd will be insensible to them4 ,one's non-perception of spirit-born odor1 whether coming from above or below1 whether pleasurable or offensive1 does not argue that mere fancy alone acts upon a neighbor who says he smells such4 ,on the evening of the #acth some one present1 seemingly unacquainted with her habits1 put either to a particular person or to the whole company1 this question4 ,what does she eat or drink8 ,and1 from some unnamed source1 came this response3 ,she does not eat at all1 but drinks rum4 ,neither the question nor the answer is ascribed to ,mather1 nor to any one in particular4 ,we are surprised that ,s4 ,p4 ,fowler1 the intelligent1 just1 and charitable editor of ,salem ,witchcraft1 said in a foot note1 page #eg1 that the affliction of ,margaret ,rule 444 was nothing more than a bad case of delirium tremens2 statements indicative of her good morals and habits previous to her affliction were right before his editorial eyes on pages just preceding his note1 and nothing is found to her disparagement excepting that annunciation by some unknown body that she drinks rum4 ,statements in her favor1 and absence of any against her in the original records1 convince us that ,fowler's conclusion was rash and not well founded4 ,mather says that she was born of sober and honest parents2 also that it is affirmed that for about half a year before her visitation she was observably improved in the hopeful symptoms of a new creature3 she was become seriously concerned for the everlasting salvation of her soul1 and careful to avoid the snares of evil company4 ,habits of that kind1 during six preceding months1 were not probable antecedents to delirium tremens2 ,calef's temptations to have charged bad character for temperance1 had there been facts to sustain him1 were probably very strong2 but we have found no evidence that he did so4 ,an informant of his1 when reporting conversation which took place around her1 furnished the question and response1 viz43 ,what does she eat or drink8 ,answer4 ,she does not eat at all1 but drinks rum4 ,a fact stated by ,mather himself naturally might tempt any wag1 inclined to create mirth1 to say playfully1 ,she eats nothing1 but drinks rum4 ,he1 ,mather1 informs us that once1 twice1 or so her controllers1 for her annoyance or distress1 allowed her to take a spoonful of rum4 ,what more common than for attendants to offer and urge upon a suffering and agonized person any stimulant or cordial at hand8 ,nothing4 ,we will allow that ,margaret did take once1 twice1 or so a spoonful of rum2 but nothing else that we meet with in the account of her1 gives the shadow of foundation for the charge of delirium tremens4 ,if the charge is true1 delirium tremens in that case worked wonders which it is not accustomed to perform2 to tell correctly1 when lying on a bed on shore at night1 that danger of drowning was then about coming upon a particular young man away down the harbor1 was an extraordinary operation for that disease to perform2 and still more extraordinary was it1 that such disease lifted the body on which it was feeding1 up in horizontal position to the ceiling overhead1 held it there for minutes1 and so firmly that it took several men to pull it down4 ,do such feats bespeak their origin in delirium tremens8 ,no4 ,calling it a case of delirium tremens does nothing toward giving rational explanation of the marvels attendant upon ,margaret4 ,rum is the name of a very unsafe guide1 and the name1 not the thing1 deluded the annotator to inferences useless1 entirely useless1 as helps to explain such phenomena as he was engaged in elucidating4 ,any weakness1 sin1 or crime which was not charged upon ,margaret ,rule by her cotemporaries1 it is uncharitable to allege unqualifiedly against her now1 on the sole basis that in her hours of suffering she drank a few spoonfuls of rum2 and is especially inapropos1 when1 as is the case here1 the charge gives no help toward accomplishing the very purpose for which alone it should have been made1 namely1 as an elucidation of the cause of such things as how she sensed the danger threatening the absent man1 and how or by whom she was lifted up and sustained4 ,we shall quote no further from the statements of the two parties1 ,mather and ,calef1 made prior to their coming into distinct conflict4 ,enough has been presented to show that ,mather stated several facts which1 to the mass of men1 must seem astounding--such facts as bespeak performances beyond what embodied men could enact4 ,the wondrous facts1 such as her prophecy of danger about to wait upon the impressed sailor--her long fast without pining--her being lifted by invisible force to the ceiling above her1 c41 constitute the important parts of ,mather's narrative of what he personally witnessed and knew4 ,on the other side1 ,calef1 adopting the account of unnamed witnesses1 omits any allusion to the important facts in the case1 and presents1 in the main1 different1 and relatively1 if not absolutely1 trifling accompaniments4 ,calef was complained of by ,mather for omissions4 ,to this ,calef replied1 ,my intelligence not giving me any further1 ,i could not insert that ,i knew not4 ,the doings of the ,mathers1 and especially of ,cotton1 much more than the manifestations through and upon ,margaret1 were detailed to ,calef1 and caused him to put forth a very meager and one-sided manuscript account of this case4 ,the clergyman at once perceived and felt this1 and soon sent his opponent the following affidavits3-- ,i do testify that ,i have seen ,margaret ,rule in her afflictions from the invisible world1 lifted up from her bed1 wholly by an invisible force1 a great way toward the top of the room where she lay4 ,in her being so lifted she had no assistance from any use of her own arms or hands or any other part of her body1 not so much as her heels touching her bed1 or resting on any support whatsoever4 ,and ,i have seen her thus lifted1 when not only a strong person hath thrown his whole weight across her to pull her down1 but several other persons have endeavored with all their might to hinder her from being so raised up2 which ,i suppose that several others will testify as well as myself when called unto it4 ,witness my hand1 ,,samuel ,,avis4 ,to the substance of the above1 ,robert ,earle1 ,john ,wilkins1 and ,daniel ,wilkins did subscribe that they could testify4 ,also ,thomas ,thornton and ,william ,hudson testified to having seen ,margaret so lifted up by an invisible force 444 as to touch the garret floor1 while yet neither her feet nor any other part of her body rested either on the bed or on any other support1 444 and all this for a considerable while2 we judged it several minutes4--p4 #gf4 ,before presenting the merchant's comments upon such statements of such facts1 we will name again the special reason why we draw protracted attention to the two writers1 ,mather and ,calef4 ,they were intelligent and alert cotemporaries1 both in the vigor of manhood probably1 for ,mather was about thirty years of age1 and ,calef lived more than twenty-five years after the commencement of his controversy2 both probably were cognizant of the main facts pertaining to witchcraft2 even during or very shortly after their occurrence in the family of ,john ,goodwin of ,boston in #afhh1 in ,salem #afib1 and around both ,mercy ,short and ,margaret ,rule in ,boston #afic4 ,therefore the controversial writings of these two1 both well acquainted with the occurring witchcraft events of their day1 but differing distinctly on many points of belief and policy1 become1 when used in connection1 our best accessible source for learning what actually occurred in many witchcraft scenes1 what beliefs were prevalent then1 what kinds of evidence for convicting of witchcraft were admissible1 and what rules governed the courts4 ,because of their value as teachers upon witchcraft1 we desire to have these two men1 with their agreements and differings1 clearly comprehended4 ,the merchant sent to the clergyman the following comment upon the chief point confirmed by the affidavits of five or six unimpeached witnesses1 viz41 the lifting of the girl to the top of the room by invisible power3-- ,i suppose you expect ,i should believe it1 and if so1 the only advantage gained is1 that what has so long been controverted between ,protestants and ,papists1 whether miracles are ceast1 will hereby seem to be decided for the latter2 it being1 for aught ,i can see1 if so1 as true a miracle as for iron to swim2 and the devil can work such miracles4 ,a statement either more aspersive of its author's own candor1 or more indicative of his thralldom to prejudice1 has rarely been made4 ,either ,calef or some one for him1 when treating of the departure of the community from scriptural interpretation and treatment of witchcraft1 when scanning rules laid down by accredited authors for its detection1 and1 generally1 when handling creeds1 broad principles1 and prevalent usages1 wielded a clear1 pointed1 and forceful pen4 ,but ,mather's facts blunted its point and baffled its powers4 ,look at their metamorphosis of the logician2 he says1 essentially1 to his opponent1 ,if your facts are true1 ,catholics have the better of us in our controversy with them as to the continuance of miracles down to the present day4 ,your facts1 if facts1 are miracles1 and we ,protestants are wrong4 ,therefore ,i will not concede them3 if true1 they are as great a miracle as for iron to swim1 and prove the ,catholics right4 ,i won't grant them4 ,what miracle did he concede that the devil can work8 ,was it causing iron to swim8 or was it such lifting of ,margaret ,rule as had been sworn to8 ,perhaps we are mistaken1 but we think he meant to say that the devil could lift the girl as described2 who1 if he had done so1 wrought as great a miracle as ,god did when he caused the ax-head to swim where the prophet cast a stick over it4 ,still such an operation in modern times must not be avowed1 because that would give the ,catholic advantage over the ,protestant6 ,alas for the clear-headed man when facts force him to abandon the methods of logic1 and resort to those of prejudice6 ,mather's facts completely stultified ,calef in this case4 ,we cannot doubt--and who will venture to8--that he must have known the characters for truth and veracity of ,avis and his associate witnesses2 must have known the circumstances surrounding1 and the state of the public mind in regard to them2 and yet we notice no indication that he attempted to impeach any of them even in thought4 ,he leaves them entirely unnoticed4 ,yes1 where even a very slight intimation or covert innuendo in some turn of expression pointing at either credulity or mental weakness on their part would have been an argument in favor of his views1 nothing of the kind appears in his writings4 ,he leaves them without characterization--leaves them unnamed4 ,and since he who obviously must have known them1 and known too how they were generally esteemed1 left their veracity and competency entirely unimpeached1 when impeachment would have been his natural resort1 if justifiable1--only blinding1 rash1 very rash1 prejudice will prompt any one at this day to doubt their fair claim to be regarded as truthful and competent witnesses4 ,mather had said that once her tormentors pulled her up to the ceiling of the chamber1 and held her there before a numerous company of spectators1 who found it as much as they could all do to pull her down again4 ,such was the published statement of a learned and able man1 much respected by a large portion of the inhabitants of ,boston1 and whose incredulity was not strong enough to make him distrust the distinct testimony of his own senses4 ,therefore1 though backed by the testimony of six other witnesses1 he is deemed so credulous by many moderns that his word has little weight with them4 ,calef's comments upon the case are jumbled1 and not such that we can place much confidence in the accuracy of our own perception of his meaning2 but he seems to have conceded that the devil possessed power enough to have lifted the girl1 and leaves us privileged to infer his belief in its possible exercise upon her4 ,that generally clear-headed man's illogical and confused statement is not the least among marvels attendant upon witchcraft4 ,he murdered logic when attempting to parry the force of facts sworn to4 ,he did not impeach the witnesses4 ,omission to do that1 under the circumstances1 argues more convincingly to us1 in favor of the literal and exact truth of the statement by ,mather and six others1 that the girl was raised from her bed by invisible powers up to the ceiling at the top of the room1 than would ,calef's own distinct assent to what they affirmed4 ,he was no timid advocate1 and since a man as strong and brave as he1 circumstanced as he was1 omitted attempt to discredit either the character or competency of ,mather's backers1 the presumption is1 that ,calef's own sense of justice and the judgment of the town regarded them as unimpeachable4 ,the girl was lifted1 as they affirmed4 ,what they stated is credible4 ,we1 personally1 possess lack of incredulity rivalling that of ,mather4 ,for1 when our own senses testify to us calmly and deliberately1 under circumstances which exclude both illusion and delusion1 we are accustomed to repose very much confidence in the truth and accuracy of what they say2 and1 in illustration of our lack of incredulity regarding what our own senses witness1 or1 if one prefers different phraseology1 in illustration of our credulity1 that is1 of our ability and willingness to believe what is thus learned1 we give the following account of one of our own interesting and instructive experiences3-- ,several years ago1 from fifteen to twenty1 in a chamber of the residence of ,daniel ,farrar1 ,esq41 ,hancock ,street1 ,boston1 to which he had invited us and several others1 we clasped the left hand of ,rollin ,h4 ,squires in our own right1 took position with him in the center of a large room1 several feet distant from any other person or any article of furniture1 when1 promptly upon shutting off the gas-light1 his hand began to draw ours up1 gently and steadily1 till our own right arm1 its hand clasping his1 was extended to its full length above our head4 ,then we moved our left hand across our chest1 and it came in contact with the young man's boot at rest by our side1 and simultaneously we heard a scratch upon the ceiling above1 which was at least ten feet from the floor of the room4 ,soon he began to descend as gently as he had ascended1 and when he had reached the floor and light had been let on1 we saw a red chalk-mark at least three feet long on the ceiling over the spot on which we had stood up together4 ,the mark was not there previous to the extinguishment of the light1 for the whole company present had been informed that he would have chalk in his hand in order that he might give evidence to all present that he had been lifted up4 ,consequently all of us carefully observed the overhead ceiling up to the extinguishment of the light4 ,no reluctance attends our publishing such a narrative2 we are less solicitous to win a skeptic's laurels1 than to make distinct statement of any facts pertaining to occult forces in nature1 which we have experimentally learned4 ,o1 credulity6 ,thou art a most beneficent helper to knowledge of nature's finer laws and forces1 especially of those relatively occult ones which evolve mysteries and exert unrecognized action upon man2 laws and forces which it would benefit him to comprehend and regard4 ,scarcely can history or experience furnish a more striking instance of the stultifying and bewildering influence of marvelous facts upon a bright1 resolute1 philanthropic man1 who was kept by his creeds and prejudices from liberty and ability to let reason and logic have fair play1 than was witnessed in the case of ,calef4 ,facts are man's masters2 rebellion against them1 or disregard of their demands1 is sure to bring humiliation upon him4 ,calef1 whether conscious of it or not1 was in an humiliated mental condition when his strong mind1 without denying well-attested facts1 indicated an unwillingness to acknowledge belief of them1 because doing so would settle a long-controverted question adversely to the party which included himself4 ,seemingly nonplused and bewildered by facts1 he said1 in quasi-concession of their occurrence1 ,the devil can work such miracles4 ,both what ,calef said1 and what he omitted to say1 tend forcibly to produce conviction that ,samuel ,avis and his five associate witnesses stated truth1 and nothing but the truth4 ,words or statements from men whose characters were not impeached by a contesting cotemporary1 ought to be accepted as true by those who now can know nothing against the truthfulness of lips from which they issued4 ,had ,calef's mind embraced perception that those whom he and nearly all others then deemed the great devil1 and smaller ones1--heaven-born1 but fallen1--were in fact what all clairvoyants1 then and in all subsequent days1 have said they resembled1--and what they claimed to be1--that is1 men and women originally earth-born1 and then earth-emancipated spirits1 requiring no more special permission from the ,omnipotent ,one than man does for using the forces of external nature1--could he have perceived that such beings might be the performers of all the marvelous works of witchcraft1 he would have become free to admit possible solidity in some ,catholic ground2 free to have set at least one foot upon it1 and having done that1 he could have dispensed with that heaven-born devil whom he supposed ,god commissioned1 but whom ,mather believed man had to help ,god commission before he could harass mankind2 would have been free to do thus because he then would have seen possibility that other1 lesser1 or less formidable agents have power to work marvels1 would have seen that such could have lifted ,margaret ,rule1 and thus made the words of those who described their wonderful works credible1 and exempted himself from attack of ,mather at points where the striker was greatest sufferer from the blows4 ,when attacking some barbarous beliefs and customs of ,christendom1 ,calef was very successful1 and became a very great public benefactor2 but he failed1 if such was ever his design1 to refute the positive occurrence of such marvelous facts as ,mather's descriptions set forth4 ,the general accuracy of the clergyman's allegations was not made questionable by the merchant's writings1 even though he did present the man himself in some ludicrous aspects1 and often attempted that1 when more knowledge of spirit forces and agents than he possessed would have taught him that future time might smile at the smiler and the would-be provoker of smiles4 ,,cotton ,,mather4 ,the phases in which the writings of ,cotton ,mather present their author are so varied1 and the estimation in which he has been held by subsequent writers is so diverse1 that there is difficulty in characterizing him to one's own satisfaction4 ,he was neither wholly saint1 nor wholly sinner2 was not unmingled wisdom1 nor all folly4 ,we do not very eagerly undertake to outline his character4 ,but since1 apart from records of courts1 his pen furnished more valuable and more numerous facts pertaining to ,new ,england witchcraft in the seventeenth century than have come down from any other pen1 there seems to be a call upon us to comment upon his competency and trustworthiness as observer and as reporter or recorder of facts4 ,in matured life he had become probably the first scholar and most learned man in the province4 ,his mind was bright1 versatile1 and active1 and its application to books1 to the demands of his profession1 and to the educational1 moral1 religious1 and political interests of the public1 was untiring4 ,his attention was drawn to consideration of marvelous occurrences while he was quite young1 and his records of witchcraft were nearly all penned by the time he was thirty years old4 ,in #afhi1 being then only twenty-six1 he published a small work entitled ,memorable ,providences relating to ,witchcraft and ,possessions4 ,he was a personal witness and an alert observer1 through several successive months1 of a rapid and prolonged stream of marvels1 which were manifested through the children of ,john ,goodwin1 of ,boston1 in #afhh1 a long account of which he published quite soon after their occurrence4 ,four years later came on the ,,salem ,,witchcraft1 and portions of its tragic and agonizing occurrences were witnessed by this ,boston clergyman4 ,he was present in the crowd around the gallows when several of the wronged victims to diabolism were executed4 ,and he promptly furnished an extended account of much which had just intensely agitated and frenzied not only ,salem and ,essex ,county1 but the whole province4 ,the next year1 #afic1 brought him opportunity to be much with and to observe carefully two afflicted young1 women in ,boston1 ,mercy ,short and ,margaret ,rule1 whose maladies were deemed bewitchments4 ,he recorded his observations and doings relating to these two persons1 and his accounts are available to-day1 though there is evidence rendering it probable that he never prepared either record for the press1 and that both have become public without his sanction4 ,as has been learned from what precedes1 ,robert ,calef1 an opponent of some then prevalent beliefs and practices concerning witchcraft1 found means1 whether honorably or not is perhaps debatable1 for putting ,mather's account of ,margaret ,rule before the world4 ,this young woman was under ,mather's special watch for several weeks1 while she was being acted upon by occult agents and forces2 and he promptly recorded for perusal by his friends an account of what transpired around her4 ,from the foregoing statements it is obvious that1 both directly and indirectly1 very many facts and opinions1 that will be adduced as our work proceeds1 will have been derived from ,mather's records1 and will rest1 at least in part1 upon his authority4 ,consequently1 his qualifications1 as observer1 reporter1 and recorder1 are matters not only of interest1 but of some importance4 ,though young when attentive to witchcraft scenes1 ,mather was learned and influential4 ,probably few other persons1 if any1 in the colonies were then his equals in those respects4 ,his duties as a clergyman and a citizen1 and his inclination also1 led him to be an extensive observer of marvelous manifestations2 he obviously was a lover of such4 ,and his records show that he was either a closer observer of the minutiae of transpiring events of that nature1 or a more willing and careful specifier of little things pertaining to them1 full of important meaning to some readers now1 yet probably meaningless to many others1 than were most of his cotemporaries2 though ,lawson1 ,hale1 and ,willard were good at specification1 and were more cautious commentators than ,mather4 ,an ignoring of any participation by spirits in witchcraft scenes has blinded historians in both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to some decided merits in the writings of ,mather4 ,the assumption by later commentators that no occurrences whatsoever1 which required more than mortal agency for their production1 ever actually transpired in cases witnessed and described by ,mather1 has apparently caused them1 consciously or otherwise1 to impute to his fancy1 credulity1 or other untrustworthy attributes1 many things which a moderate acquaintance on their part with modern manipulations of occult forces by invisible intelligences would have suggested to them that possibly1 and even probably1 his statements of facts were based on positive observations by his own physical senses1 and by the external senses of other observers4 ,a class of agents are now at work whose cognition may some day turn the laugh upon overweeningly wise laughers at ,cotton ,mather4 ,this circumscribed view as to the actual extent and variety of natural intelligent agents1 and natural laws and forces1 has caused them to draw inferences disparaging to ,mather's accuracy in places where more knowledge of the outworkings of laws and forces which spirits obey and use1 would have given them trust in the essential naturalness and consequent probable occurrence of nearly or quite all the facts stated in his narrative of personal observations and experiences--we do not say in the pervading wisdom and value of his comments and inferences1 but in the naturalness and consequent credibility of his facts4 ,where forlorn and wretched old women1 together with tricksy and roguish girls1 and a few low-lived1 malicious mortals of both sexes are regarded as the actual authors of all witchcraft phenomena1 ,mather's reports of that class of occurrences are an offense--are a stumbling-block in the pathway of satisfactory solution4 ,so long as his statements are left unimpeached1 such agents as witchcraft has of late been imputed to are incompetent to the work ascribed to them4 ,that author1 therefore1 must needs be discredited2 consequently sneer1 and slur1 and ridicule have been brought to bear against his accuracy and trustworthiness4 ,some modern commentators have made savage use of such weapons upon this original describer of witchcraft scenes4 ,he has been by innuendoes caricatured and metamorphosed to an extent which seems distinctly reprehensible4 ,brightest minds may sometimes lack knowledge of some existing agents and forces2 good men may be actual1 though unintentional perpetrators of great wrong1 when they depict the characters of some predecessors whose words seem extravagant to such as limit natural actors and forces to those which the external senses and human science have long been familiar with4 ,our recent readings have led us to regard ,mather as a man of more than common efficiency in acquiring information1 and more than common despatch in putting his acquisitions before the public4 ,we find evidences in his works that1 if he did not acquire1 he put forth both more minute and more extensive knowledge of the marvelous phenomena of his times1 than any other person then living in ,america of whom we have knowledge4 ,portions of his creeds helped him to frankness in description of marvels4 ,his faith embraced many unseen intelligent agents1 both good and bad1 moving to and fro among men1 ever walking the earth and influencing its affairs both when we wake and when we sleep4 ,consequently he never had occasion to inquire whether anything whatsoever was possible which his senses or the senses of other witnesses seemed to cognize4 ,he doubted not that unseen powers competent to anything whatsoever were around both him and all other human beings4 ,his only question was1 did the thing occur8 ,if it did1 it was proper to describe it as it appeared to its beholders4 ,how it could occur was a question which he1 as recorder1 was not called upon to answer2 and he did not permit it to modify his record4 ,this weakness787 of his was fraught with latent strength which becomes beneficent in our day by its revealing to us the former mysterious irruption upon society of precisely such outre and seemingly unnatural antics and doings1 not only of animated human forms1 but of lifeless household utensils and ornaments1 as we are witnessing4 ,history by him repeats itself to-day1 and to-day's marvels give credibility to his statements4 ,mather furnished broader and better bases for judging of the real sources1 nature1 character1 and extent of witchcraft facts1 than we generally get from other persons of his day4 ,over-cautious witnesses and reporters often mislead very widely by failing to tell the whole truth4 ,some of ,mather's statements and doings which were slurred even by his cotemporary ,calef1 and have been by later writers also1 may deserve more respectful consideration than has usually been accorded to them4 ,we are alluding to his manipulations of the afflicted1 and other like acts4 ,these indicate that either his observances and care of bewitched persons1 or his intuitions1 were giving him hints of the existence of natural laws and special conditions which permit mortals to loose1 what he conceived to be1--or at least spoke of as being1--the devil's hold upon human instruments4 ,we apprehend that he had at least vague surmises that some things which we now call mesmeric passes and psychological forces might be so applied by himself as to thwart the purposes and powers of possessing spirits4 ,we are ready to grant that his use of dawning knowledge or of inflowed suggestions1 whichever of them it was that set his own hands in motion over the obsessed1 and prompted him to influence others to do the like1 produced movements so unskillful that they were seldom very efficacious2 yet we perceive that he moved in direction toward later discoveries which at this day enable many mortals to exercise much power toward both inducing and abolishing the control of human beings by disembodied spirits4 ,there hang about ,mather slight indications that he received some knowledge or some impulses1 mediumistically1 impressionally1 or intuitively4 ,the fact that1 though having much to do with both ,mercy ,short and ,margaret ,rule during the months of their affliction in the year immediately following the executions at ,salem1 he refrained from advising or procuring their prosecution1 or the prosecution of any whom they named as their afflictors1 the facts that prayers1 fastings1 manipulations1 and protracted and unflagging kindnesses and attentions1 were his only appliances1 and that both the girls were brought back to their normal condition1 speak very distinctly in favor of ,mather's sagacity and philanthropy1 in relation to the bewitched and the bewitchers1 that year4 ,though we are disposed to credit this prominent man with all the merits to which he has fair claim1 we are far from regarding him as without foibles1 weaknesses1 and traits fitted to mantle the reader's face with smiles4 ,we dissent from many of his notions1 practices1 and beliefs2 we find him often swayed by motives which we are not ready to commend4 ,at the same time we apprehend that many modern critics have paraded his weaknesses1 blemishes1 and laughable traits out of all just proportion to the notices1 if any1 which they have taken of his genuine merits4 ,mather obviously was vain1 egotistical1 proud of his descent1 greedy of the favor of great men both of the province and abroad1 and was ambitious of place and influence4 ,but vanity and egotism are not necessarily incompatible with very extensive learning1 nor with great activity and beneficence1 nor with presentation of facts and truths both very fully and without over-statement or distortion4 ,he wrote hastily--much too hastily1 and loosely oftentimes4 ,more care to verify information and statements furnished him by other people1 and more careful expressions pertaining to his own observations1 experiences1 and opinions1 would have rendered him a much more valuable historian than he became4 ,we concede that he was a loose and immethodical writer2 but we fail to find evidence that he often1 if ever1 substituted fictions for facts1 or made false statements or great exaggerations4 ,the world is indebted to him for preserving and transmitting much valuable information4 ,this man's estimation of himself and of his ancestry often reveals itself in extent and manner which provoke smiles4 ,possibly his egotism was competent to give him a latent notion that quite as much favor might be vouchsafed by powers above to his two eminent grandfathers1 ,revs4 ,richard ,mather and ,john ,cotton1 to his father1 ,rev4 ,increase ,mather1 ,president of ,harvard ,college1 and to himself1 as ,heaven had in store for any mortals2 and if any one of the four should be the special favorite of supernal intelligence1 why not himself1 in whom the blood of the other three was combined8 ,if any quite honorable ,public position was devoid of an incumbent1 or if important literary public service was needed1 who was more competent to fill the one1 or to the performance of the other1 than himself8 ,he wrote both for and of ,sir ,william ,phips1 but was not chosen ,president1 of ,harvard ,college4 ,even egregious egotism is not necessarily incongruous with truth1 kindness1 charity1 devotion1 and great usefulness4 ,with all his faults1 we regard ,mather1 when compared with most men1 as having been very efficient1 well-intentioned1 and useful to the community around him4 ,propensity to magnify self and whatever self either puts forth or is closely allied to1 may be prevailingly bridled and controlled by other strong inclinations1 and kept within the boundaries of truth4 ,greed for approbation and commendation by persons holding high official position1 and by all others whose characters1 attainments1 or possessions gave them influence in society1 was apparently very strong in ,cotton ,mather1 and the influence of that greed must generally have swayed him to make no important statements which would fail to meet1 with general credence by his friends and fellow-townsmen4 ,his account of the ,goodwin family is as full of things hard to be believed as any other portion of his writings2 and yet1 if he therein permitted himself to make any other than such statements as would receive ready credence by many physicians1 clergymen1 magistrates1 and other influential and truthful persons who had been his fellow-witnesses1 and knew exactly the bounds beyond which he could not go on a basis of well-observed facts1 he would diminish his fame and favor with the public2 and he well knew this4 ,he was not the man to thus put his own reputation at hazard4 ,his very weaknesses render it probable that he has transmitted little1 if anything1 more relating to that family than ,boston1 as a whole1 was at that time actually believing had just occurred in its midst4 ,it is not wise1 not kind1 not just to overlook such characteristics and circumstances pertaining to a narrator as would naturally hold his speech within the bounds of credibility4 ,mather's style and manner1 sometimes admirable1 are very often laughable1 and are generally loose and unattractive4 ,but these matters of taste and polish are distinct from his facts and truthfulness4 ,bad manners1 lack of tact1 also speech1 acts1 and omissions unbecoming the gentleman and the divine1 mark portions of ,mather's treatment of ,calef4 ,whether such were his general characteristics1 we do not know2 probably they were not4 ,occupation of the pulpit1 as we know by personal experience1 may make a preacher exceedingly sensitive to questionings of his opinions on any important matters anywhere4 ,his habit of speaking1 week after week1 year after year1 where none question or controvert1 induces extreme sensitiveness in the mental cuticle4 ,if sick and overworked1 ,mather may have been easily nettled into other than his usual manners when ,calef pricked him by opposing his beliefs1 and by covert sneers at some of his actions4 ,in his account of ,mercy ,short he mentions his impaired health and overworkings4 ,unfortunately1 as we judge1 for his posthumous reputation1 ,mather was scribe of a convention of clergymen who met and deliberately put forth advice to the courts and government pertaining to evidence and processes which might properly be used at trials for the crime of witchcraft4 ,as scribe1 ,mather reduced the opinions of the convention to form for publication1 if he had not previously drawn up his own1 and at the meeting obtained their adoption4 ,since the advice of this convention has been extensively regarded as disastrous in its results1 ,mather has been deemed an efficient1 if not the most efficient of all promoters of the executions at ,salem4 ,we seriously question the justice of such imputation upon him1 and we doubt whether the advice of the convention incited to the special course of action pursued by the courts1 though it partially permitted it1 perhaps4 ,that advice commended a very critical and exquisite caution 444 that there may be nothing used as a test for the trial of the suspected1 the lawfulness whereof may be doubted by the people of ,god4 ,so far1 good4 ,this1 to us at this day1 looks like a caution to avoid the admission of spectral evidence1 as it was then called1 and distinct statement is made that such evidence alone was not enough to justify conviction2 also it looks like a caution against cruel methods of extorting pleas and confessions4 ,but the concluding paragraph of their advice1 which is in the following words1 may have greatly nullified the softening force of all that preceded it4 ,we cannot but humbly recommend unto the government the speedy and vigorous prosecution of such as have rendered themselves obnoxious1 according to the directions given in the laws of ,god and wholesome statutes of the ,english nation1 for the detection of witchcraft4 ,this advice came forth ,june #ae1 #afib1 just when the flames of witchcraft at ,salem village had become alarming to the whole community2 when scores of people were under arrest there upon suspicion of witchcraft1 and when the courts were anxiously seeking to know how to conduct their trials4 ,the advice seems to us somewhat ambidexter1 holding forth in one hand exhortations to caution and leniency1 and in the other an exhortation to make vigorous and prompt application of ,english witchcraft laws and usages which permitted and implied resort to most barbarous processes1 and admitted all imaginable sorts of evidence4 ,the general impression upon our mind1 made by our recent readings1 is1 that the clergy generally were opposed to much reliance upon spectral evidence1 and that their advice was meant to give that impression2 while the civil magistrates at ,salem held a different opinion1 acted according to it1 and obtained convictions upon spectral evidence in cases where none other was attainable4 ,it was the civil magistrates1 much more than the clergy1 whose opinions1 when embodied in action1 outwrought the horrors of ,gallows ,hill4 ,therefore we attach less blame to the scribe of the convention1 and to the convention itself1 than many others have done4 ,though the belief is wide-spread in the youthful mind of our day that ,cotton ,mather was chief begetter of ,salem witchcraft1 we find no facts to justify belief that any act of his ever had such intent4 ,his chief acts known to us which connect him at all with doings there1 were his authorship of the clerical advice just noticed1 his presence at the hanging when ,proctor1 ,willard1 ,burroughs1 and others were executed1 when he said aloud to the multitude which was being incited by a fervent and touching address from the lips of the doomed ,burroughs1 ,even the devil may be changed into an angel of light1 and his offer to support five or six of the afflicted at his own expense for weeks1 provided he should be allowed to treat them by his own preferred process--that of praying and fasting1 and keeping them mostly secluded from public observation4 ,unexplained1 his presence at the execution may be supposed to argue that it was one which had attractions for him--one which it was his pleasure to be present at4 ,but a very rational supposition of ,poole places ,mather before us there in a different light4 ,proctor and others had been hardly dealt with by the clergy in and near ,salem1 and1 while confined in ,boston jail awaiting the day of execution1 they received such attentions from ,mather1 that they requested him to be present as their spiritual adviser at the closing hour of their earthly lives4 ,statements by ,mather1 which his cotemporaries never contradicted1 are to the effect that he never attended any trial for witchcraft1 that no one was ever prosecuted for that crime by him1 or at his suggestion1 or by his advice2 that his voice and intentional influence were ever against such proceedings4 ,he also informs us that he made an offer to support five or six of the ,salem sufferers for weeks at his own expense1 if he could have them subjected to his special charge1 so that he could treat them by methods of his own4 ,such facts surely indicate that an ardent and active man like him1 ever burning to take part in most popular movements1 was not in sympathy with originators of the violent and barbarous proceedings which were prosecuted at ,salem4 ,had he relished them he would have been present at the trials4 ,the facts give spontaneous birth to a presumption that some other motive than curiosity to witness the executions took him to ,salem at the time when we find him there1 and the supposition of ,poole that he went there as the comforter and friend of ,proctor and ,willard is reasonable1 and probably correct4 ,if it be1 the motive of his visit was not only commendable1 but was also in harmony with his general doings in witchcraft cases that were more specially under his supervision1 and is in distinct antagonism with motives which have been extensively imputed to him4 ,we apprehend1 however1 that when others obtained convictions and sentences for witchcraft1 he favored the execution of what he deemed wholesome law4 ,we regret that he rudely broke the spell which the hallowing speech and prayer of the saintly ,burroughs were bringing upon the witnessing crowd4 ,but we question whether the special reputed crime for which ,burroughs was about to die1 caused ,mather to allude to him as the devil4 ,burroughs1 though a preacher1 had not been regularly ordained1 or surely not in a way that satisfied ,mather2 also he was too regardless of the ordinances of religion1 and too free a thinker1 to suit the taste of the pastor of the ,north ,church in ,boston4 ,this was1 we think1 his great offense in ,mather's view2 and this caused the latter to say in reference to one who may have been more ,god-like and ,christ-like in spirit than himself1 ,even the devil may be changed into an angel of light4 ,that saying1 under its circumstances1 is damaging to ,mather2 yet it does not bear against him in matters pertaining to witchcraft1 but to those of sectarianism or bigotry4 ,mather the humane and ,mather the fame-seeker present very different aspects in their connections with witchcraft4 ,as we view him in cases where he was leader and director1 as those of ,mercy ,short and ,margaret ,rule1 matters were so managed that no one was brought to examination upon suspicion of bewitching them1 and ,mather's words and acts were uniformly designed to prevent any arraignment4 ,prayer1 fastings1 manipulations1 and all practicable privacy and quiet were his preferred appliances for closing up the devil's avenues of access1 and of barring him off from man4 ,this was ,mather the humane1 was ,mather the practical pastor4 ,but when the courts and men of influence and high position had applied1 as they interpreted them1 the laws of ,god and the wholesome statutes of the ,english nation for the detection of witchcraft1 the thirster for public approbation1 not only refrained from protest against bloodshed1 but lacked modesty enough to hold him back from hinting that his own productions might have helped on the beneficent work which had been accomplished2 for he carefully let the world know that ,mr4 ,mather1 the younger1 drew up the advice of the ministers to the court2 and after having written out an account of the trials at ,salem1 he said1 ,i shall rejoice that ,god is glorified1 if the publication of these trials may promote such a pious thankfulness to ,god for justice being so far executed among us1 as the ministers piously expressed in their advice4 ,this was ,mather the fame-seeker1 the ecclesiastic1 and the subject of their ,majesties1 ,william and ,mary4 ,mather was not a well-balanced man4 ,consistency all round was not conspicuous in him1 yet he was consistent in his own treatment and management of all his special patients1 and also in his efforts to make it known that himself might deserve some meed of merit for the murderous course pursued by the authorities for stopping the ravages of the evil one4 ,from early manhood to the close of his life1 ,mather was an unfaltering believer in ,protestant ,christendom's great witchcraft devil1 backed by countless hosts of lesser ones1 and he also believed in her special witchcraft4 ,he had full faith in a devil as ubiquitous1 active1 and malignant as his own vigorous and expansive intellect could conjure up2 had faith that extra manifestations of afflictive might1 of knowledge1 or of suffering in the outer world were produced by the devil1 and faith also that even that mighty evil one was unable to afflict men outwardly1 excepting either at the call or by the aid of some human servant who had entered into a covenant with his ,black ,majesty4 ,the woe-working points of this man's faith were1 that special covenantings with the devil were entered into by human beings1 in consequence of which the covenanting mortals became witches--that is1 they thence became able to command all his powers1 as well as he theirs2 also that only through such covenanted ones could he or his do harm to the bodies and external possessions of men4 ,therefore1 he reasoned1 that1 whenever extra and unaccountable malignant action appeared1 some covenanter with the devil must be in the neighborhood of the malignant manifestation4 ,and yet1 practically1 ,mather was not disposed to let the public get knowledge of the covenanter4 ,his choice was1 to keep secret the names of bewitched actors1 the afflictors of the suffering ones1 and to strive by prayers1 fastings1 manipulations1 c41 to relieve the unhappy sufferers4 ,had his policy been adopted by the public1 had his example been widely followed1 there would have been no execution for witchcraft in his generation4 ,we can--and we are glad that we can--state that ,mather's faith embraced some other invisible beings than malicious ones1 who had access to man4 ,in that respect he probably differed from1 and was favored above1 most of the clergy and church members of his times2 and perhaps his possession of faith in the ministry of good angels made him a more lenient handler and more patient observer of the afflicted1 than were most of his cotemporaries4 ,his prolonged attention to ,martha ,goodwin1 to ,mercy ,short1 to ,margaret ,rule1 and his offer to take care of five or six ,salem ones if he could be allowed the management of them1 bespeak kindness in him above what was common in his age toward those deemed to be under an evil hand4 ,he once wrote thus3-- ,in the present evil world it is no wonder that the evil angels are more sensible than those of the good ones4 ,nevertheless it is very certain that the good angels continually1 without any defilement1 fly about in our defiled atmosphere to minister for the good of them that are the heirs of salvation4444 ,now1 though the angelic ministration is usually behind the curtain of more visible instruments and their actions1 yet sometimes it hath been with extraordinary circumstances made more obvious to the sense of the faithful4 ,he was not unmindful and did not omit to record the fact that the enchanted people talked much of a white spirit1 from whence they received marvelous assistances4444 ,margaret ,rule had a frequent view of his bright1 shining1 and glorious garments1 444 and says he told her that ,god had permitted her afflictions to befall her for the unspeakable and everlasting good of her own soul1 and for the good of many others2 and for his own immortal glory4 ,when a being or beings of such glorious appearance present themselves1 and when their utterances and influences are elevating and blissful1 it is not wise to ignore them4 ,the very laws which permit the advent of low and dark spirits are natural1 and can be availed of1 on fitting occasions and conditions1 by elevated and bright ones2 therefore wisdom invites man to solicit and prepare the way for visits by the latter class4 ,the courtesy of ,s4 ,f4 ,haven1 ,esq41 the accomplished librarian of the ,american ,antiquarian ,society1 ,worcester1 ,mass41 recently permitted us to see a long-lost and recently discovered manuscript1 giving1 in ,cotton ,mather's handwriting1 an account of ,mercy ,short4 ,we judge from cursory perusal of a modern manuscript copy of ,mather's account1 that the librarian had ample grounds for reporting to the society that ,mercy ,short's was a case similar to that of ,margaret ,rule1 but of greater interest and fuller details4 ,he further remarked in his report1 that it will be remembered that the account of ,margaret ,rule was not published by ,mather himself1 but by his enemy ,calef1 who by some means obtained possession of it4 ,the story of ,mercy ,short1 from an indorsement upon it1 appears to have been privately circulated among his friends1 but there is nothing to show that ,mather ever intended it for publication4--,s4 ,f4 ,haven's ,report1 ,april #bi1 #ahgd4 ,common fairness requires all modern critics to remember and regard the fact that ,mather's accounts of ,mercy ,short and ,margaret ,rule were never given to the public by himself2 that they never received his revision and correction for the press4 ,because of this they perhaps come to us more alive with the spirit of frankness and sincerity1 and with more detail of little incidents4 ,unstudied records are generally honest and substantially accurate1 even if marred by looseness of style and expression1 and by statements of wonders4 ,our views would require us to refrain from calling ,calef ,mather's enemy1 as the librarian did4 ,he was the enemy of unscriptural definitions of witchcraft1 and of unjustifiable proceedings against those accused of it2 but not1 as we read his purposes and feelings1 the enemy of ,mather himself4 ,he was the enemy of opinions of which ,mather was a conspicuous and outspoken representative1 and whose writings furnished provoking occasion for an attack upon disastrous errors4 ,we trust the public may ere long see ,mather's account of ,mercy ,short in print4 ,that1 and the one of ,margaret ,rule1 show us very authentically1 and we can almost say beautifully1 the temper of ,mather witch-ward1 in the spring and autumn of the year next following the memorable #afib4 ,nothing then inclined him to ways that led to human slaughter4 ,the conditions1 seeming acts1 and surroundings of those two girls apparently gave him opportunity and power to evoke a repetition of ,salem's fearful scenes1 in which the modern world has been deluded to believe that his soul found pleasure4 ,if that soul loved blood1 it could easily have set it flowing in #afic1 and found wherewith to gratify its appetite2 but it did not4 ,one of the questions of great importance which received earnest discussion in witchcraft times1 perhaps the most important of all in practical bearings1 had ,mather and ,calef both on the same side1 and consequently it was not dwelt upon in their controversy4 ,our reference is to the validity of spectral evidence1--that is1 of testimony given by those who obviously perceived the facts they testified to while in an entranced1 clairvoyant1 or other abnormal condition4 ,some--many--able and good men then maintained that such testimony1 unbacked by any other1 might justify conviction of witchcraft1 while quite as many1 equally able and good men1 including most of the clergy1 maintained that such testimony alone was not sufficient4 ,another disputed point was1 whether ,satan could assume the shape of an innocent person1 and in that shape do mischief to the bodies and estates of mankind4 ,the same question1 partially1 is up to-day--viz41 ,can any but willing devotees to ,satan be used in the processes of spirit manifestations8 ,our two combatants were not at variance here--both had faith that ,satan1 the then synonym of ,spirits1 whether good or bad1 could employ the innocent in prosecuting his purposes4 ,on the question whether ,satan was obliged to use some mortal in covenant with himself whenever he harmed another mortal1 they differed1 as has been already shown1 ,mather claiming that human co-operation was frequently1 if not always1 needful to any manifestation of witchcraft4 ,but in #afih he put this among what he conceived to be mistaken principles4 ,we do not recall any other point on which he expressed change of view1 nor do we find him making confessions of personal wrong-doings in connection with witchcraft2 neither does he seem to have had cause for either confession or repentance1 if kindness1 leniency1 and good-will to man are not to be confessed and repented of as crimes4 ,,robert ,,calef4 ,robert ,calef1 though probably not in advance of many others in detecting and dissenting mentally from the public errors of faith and practice in relation to witchcraft1 was first to manifest nerve enough to speak out boldly his own thoughts and those of many others4 ,backed and aided probably by strong and learned men1 he became to ,christendom's witchcraft1 as ,martin ,luther had been to its ,roman creeds and practices1 a bold1 outspoken protestant4 ,each of them dared to brave strong currents of popular beliefs and practices1 even when the course was encompassed with dangers4 ,each probably was moved and sustained by firm conviction that truth1 right1 and justice were on his side2 each had nerve enough to stand firm and resolute in his self-chosen post of danger and philanthropy2 and each was1 to great extent1 successful4 ,luther challenged the pope and his devotees to justify portions of their creed and practices1 and ,calef did the same to ,cotton ,mather1 as a leading annunciator and expounder of the witchcraft creed4 ,luther and ,calef each conceded that much in the creed of those whom he contested was founded on ,scripture1 and so far was impregnable2 but they saw that many unauthorized and baneful appendages had been put upon true scriptural faith and instructions1 and each labored to sever the true and good from the false and bad with which the currents of opinions and events had long been investing them4 ,neither of them1 however1 discerned all the errors and pernicious practices which have since become visible4 ,luther1 though he saw1 or at least heard1 and scolded1 and threw his ink-horn at ,catholicism's devil1 did not discard1 but retained1 in his ,protestant creed1 both him and witchcraft as they then existed in the ,catholic belief4 ,calef conceded the positive existence of ,mather's great personal witchcraft devil of supernal origin1 vast power1 and ever-burning malignity1 but found him commissioned only by ,god--never by human witches1 as it was then generally believed he was and must be1 when he manifested his power through or upon man4 ,we are much in doubt as to whether ,calef was properly author of a large part of what he published relating to witchcraft4 ,the articles he put forth from time to time seem to us very varied in style and in merits as to their scholarly and rhetorical airs4 ,it is said1 in vol4 i4 p4 #bhh1 ,mass4 ,hist4 ,soc4 ,records1 that ,calef was furnished with materials for his work by ,mr4 ,brattle of ,cambridge1 and his brother of ,boston1 and other gentlemen who were opposed to the ,salem proceedings4 ,he may have had--and we conjecture that he had--much help in putting his materials into the form in which they came before the public4 ,we are able to learn very little concerning the man himself4 ,it is usual to style him a ,boston merchant1 but ,mather alludes to him as that weaver1 c4 ,whatever may have been his culture1 occupation1 character1 or social position1 he assumed the responsibility of what is imputed to him--and we very willingly leave uncontested both his claims to have been author of all that he subscribed to1 and to be called a ,boston merchant4 ,calef went into his work in deep earnest1 and perhaps from a strong sense of duty to ,god and man2 he perceived that departure from teachings and requirements of the ,scriptures1 and adoption of opinions1 processes of examination1 and kinds of evidence which the ,scriptures did not prescribe1 had occasioned the chief woes of witchcraft1 and therefore devoted much time to the work of producing great and needed change in public opinion4 ,he continued for some time to write clearly and forcibly to ,mather2 but1 failing there to get his fundamental questions squarely and satisfactorily met1 after months of trial1 addressed a letter to the ministers1 whether ,english1 ,french1 or ,dutch1 upon this subject2 this general application1 however1 failed to bring a response4 ,next he tried the ,rev4 ,samuel ,willard individually1 then all the ministers in and near ,boston2 afterward ,rev4 ,benjamin ,wadsworth singly2 but his success in eliciting replies was so meager1 that we apparently may apply to those from whom he sought information the following words which he used in reference to some who had defined rules by which to detect witchcraft1--viz41 ,perhaps the force of a prevailing opinion1 together with an education thereto suited1 might overshadow their judgments4 ,his dates show that his calls for either refutation or assent to his positions were continued for two or three years1 and that he was not simply or mainly an opponent of ,mather1 but an earnest seeker for light4 ,in #agjj1 his collected correspondence1 together with much other matter from ,mather's pen and other sources1 was published in ,london1 and entitled ,more wonders of the ,invisible ,world1 ,mather having previously published ,wonders of the ,invisible ,world4 ,this clear-sighted1 earnest1 untiring spirit soon gained the public ear extensively1 began to enlighten the public mind1 and turn it into new channels of thought and inquiry4 ,though not a polished1 he was an intelligible1 logical1 and forceful writer in the main1 and did much toward accomplishing the reformation to which he devoted his energies4 ,calef was a moral hero1 and bravely did noble work in bringing flood tides of murderous fanaticism1 error1 and delusion to an ebb1 and in barring channels against their return4 ,his appropriate stand in history's niches may be at the head of ,witchcraft ,reformers--not repudiators1 but ,reformers4 ,,thomas ,,hutchinson4 ,during nearly one hundred years1 from about the middle of the eighteenth to that of the nineteenth century1 the ,american public has been content to leave unlifted concealing drapery which the historian ,hutchinson threw over witchcraft4 ,his treatment of that subject is plausible and soothing to cursory readers1 but superficial and unsatisfactory to minds which test the competency of agents to produce effects ascribed to them4 ,his views have been so widely adopted and so long prevalent1 that we must regard him as having been more influential than any other writer in hiding the gigantic limbs1 features1 and operations of what was with reason a veritable monster in the eyes of its beholders4 ,in him some reprehensible qualities were conjoined with many admirable ones4 ,appleton's ,new ,american ,cyclopaedia states that ,thomas ,hutchinson was born in ,boston in #agaa1 and died at ,brampton1 near ,london1 #aghj4 ,he was graduated at ,harvard ,college1 #agbg4 ,he became ,judge of ,probate in #ageb1 was ,councillor from #agdi to #agef1 ,lieutenant ,governor from #ageh to #agga1 and was appointed ,chief ,justice in #agfj1 thus holding four high offices at one time4 ,in the disputes which led to the ,revolution1 he sided with the ,british government4444 ,he received his commission as ,governor in #agga2 and his whole administration was characterized by duplicity and an avaricious love of money1 writing letters which he never sent1 but which he showed as evidence of his zeal for the liberties of the province1 while he advised the establishment of a citadel in ,boston1 c4 ,the ,history of ,massachusetts by the pen of this man has sterling merits1 and is of great value4 ,that work and the bestowal of so many high offices upon him indicate that his abilities1 acquisitions1 and performances were of high order4 ,his comments upon subjects which he discussed1 and facts which he presented1 were prevailingly fair1 and very instructive4 ,when he perceived--and he generally did--the genuine significance of his facts1 reasoned from them all1 and allowed to each its proper weight1 he was a spirited1 lucid1 and valuable interpreter and guide4 ,but when he encountered and adduced extraordinary facts1 which baffled his power to account for in harmony with his prejudgments and fixed conclusions as to where natural agents and forces cease to act1 he could very skillfully keep in abeyance the most distinguishing and significant aspects of such troublesome materials4 ,that damaging moral weakness which let him write letters which he never sent1 for the purpose of exhibiting them as evidence of his support of the popular cause1 perhaps also let him be other than manly and frank when he encountered a certain class of facts which seemed to him more than natural4 ,the whole subject of witchcraft was nettlesome to him4 ,his pen very often indicated a testy1 disturbed1 and sometimes a contemptuous mover when it characterized persons who had been charged with that crime2 and concerning such he recorded many hasty and unsatisfactory opinions and conclusions4 ,a glimpse at the probable and almost necessary state of public opinion and knowledge concerning spiritual forces and agents about the middle of the eighteenth century1 will detect serious difficulties besetting any witchcraft historian's path at that time1 and dispose us to look in clemency upon his hypotheses and conclusions1 even though they be far from satisfactory4 ,the intense strain given to the prevalent monstrous creed concerning the devil1 when its requirements were vigorously enforced at ,salem ,village in #afib1 ruptured that creed itself2 and no substitute for it under which the phenomena of witchcraft could be referred to competent authors and forces had been obtained in #agfg4 ,the public formerly had believed that either ,one ,great ,devil and his sympathetic imps1 or embodied human beings who had made a covenant with him1 must be the authors of all mysterious malignant action upon men1 because no other unseen rational agents were recognized as having access to man4 ,all acts deemed witchcrafts1 therefore1 were the devil's4 ,but belief devil-ward had changed at ,hutchinson's day4 ,the ,great ,devil's use of covenanted children1 women1 and men as his only available instrumentalities1 had ceased to be asserted2 the fathering of all mysterious works upon him and his had become an obsolete custom4 ,its revival might not meet kindly reception by the public2 it probably would be distasteful to people whom tragic experience had not very long since taught to distrust and disown his ,black ,majesty's sway over material things1 and were also chagrined that their fathers had held undoubting faith in his powers and operations over and upon things temporal and palpable4 ,the devil had been credited with more than he performed or had power to accomplish4 ,reflection had brought conviction that other intermeddlers existed than purely ,satanic ones4 ,and yet the culture and science of those times were incompetent to furnish an historian with any satisfactory evidence that any intelligent actors excepting the devil and human beings acted in and upon human society4 ,devil or man1 one or the other1 according to the then existing belief1 must have enacted witchcraft4 ,whether the devil did1 had been under consideration for more than seventy years1 and public judgment declared him not guilty4 ,what1 therefore1 was the historian's necessity8 ,he was forced to make embodied human beings its sole enactors4 ,no wonder that the necessity made him petulant when facts and circumstances forced from his pen intimations that mere children and old women were competent and actual authors of some manifestations which1 to his own keen and philosophic intellect1 seemed more than natural4 ,more than natural in his sense they obviously were4 ,a distinct perception that the good ,god's disembodied children1 as well as the devil's1 can naturally traverse avenues earthward1 and manifest their powers among men1 would have enabled him to account philosophically for all the mysteries of those days4 ,but the fullness of time for that had not then come4 ,c4 ,w4 ,,upham4 ,in #ahfg1 just1 one century after ,hutchinson1 ,hon4 ,charles ,w4 ,upham1 of ,salem1 ,mass41 published an elaborate1 polished1 interesting and instructive ,history of ,witchcraft and ,salem ,village4 ,the connection of two such topics as a local history and a general survey of witchcraft in one work1 was very appropriate and judicious in this case1 because ,salem ,village1 which embraced the present town of ,danvers and parts of other towns adjacent1 was the site of the most extensive and awful conflict which men ever waged in avowed and direct contest with the devil on this continent1 if not in the world4 ,by his course he enabled the reader to comprehend what kind or quality of men1 women1 and children they were1 among whom that combat raged4 ,upham's history of the ,village and its people is minute1 exhaustive1 lucid1 sprightly1 and ornate4 ,that work clearly shows that the people of the ,village possessed physical1 mental1 moral1 and religious powers1 faculties1 traits1 trainings1 and habits which must have given them keenness of perception1 logical acumen1 both physical and moral stamina and courage1 and made them as difficult to delude or cow by novel occurrences as any other people anywhere1 either then1 before that time1 or since4 ,the same properties made them intelligent analyzers of their creed1 clear perceivers of its logical reaches1 tenacious holders on to what they believed1 and fearless appliers of their faith4 ,holding1 in common with all ,christendom1 the deluded and deluding belief that supermundane works required some human being covenanted to the devil for their performance1 this people was ready and able to apply that belief in righteous fight4 ,such a people were not very likely to mistake the pranks of their own children for things supermundane in origin4 ,to suspect them of such credulity or infatuation is to suspect and impeach the truth and accuracy of the very history which makes them so clearly and fully known to us4 ,the same faculties and acquirements which furnished so sprightly a history of the ,village1 of course made their impress upon the pages devoted to ,witchcraft4 ,and results might have been as pleasing there as in more external history1 had not omission to see and assign spirit causes where spirit effects existed1 forced the author to assume that heavy1 effective cannon balls came forth from pop-guns1 because he had not himself seen cannon in arsenals himself had not visited1 and would take nobody's word for it that such had been available4 ,for his own sake we are prone to wish that our personal friend had recognized that subsequent to the time of his early manhood1 when he delivered and published ,lectures upon ,witchcraft1 and pondered upon its producing agents and causes1 phenomena1 like the marvelous ones of former days1 had been transpiring in great abundance all over our land1 and that no less a man than ,dr4 ,robert ,hare1 of ,philadelphia1 the correspondent and peer of ,faraday1 ,silliman1 and others of that class1 had1 by rigid and exact processes of physical science1 actually demonstrated that some occult force1 moved by an intelligence that could and did understand and comply with verbal requests1 repeatedly lifted and lowered the arms of scale-beams1 and made bodies weigh more or weigh less than their normal weight1 at his mental request4 ,the same had been done by ,dr4 ,luther ,v4 ,bell and a band of press reporters in #aheg4 ,such forces1 if taken into account by this historian1 would have required a reconstruction and vast modifications of his long-cherished theory of explanation1 and have called for an immense expenditure of labor and thought4 ,ease and retention of long-cherished notions are seductive to man4 ,it was easier for the historian to ignore the discovery that natural laws or forces had always permitted unseen agents to come among us1 whose workings the human brain had long1 but unsatisfactorily1 been laboring to trace to adequate causes1--easier to continue to assume that insufficient causes1 lackered in glowing rhetoric1 might answer a while longer1--easier to still hug the dream that little girls and young misses1 mainly guileless and docile in all their previous days1 could and did1 without professional instruction and of a sudden1 become proficients in the production of complicated schemes and feats rivaling and even surpassing the most astonishing ones of highest legerdemain1 of jugglery1 and of histrionic art combined1--easier to fancy that these girls rebelled against and set at defiance parental1 medical1 ministerial1 and friendly authority1 acted like brutes and villains1 turned all things upside down with a vengeance1 in the midst of a community clear headed and not easily befooled1--yes1 it was easier to retain all these outre suppositions than to set aside a pet theory and reconstruct history in conformity with requirements of discoveries which others had made in advance of this historian1 and by the use of which he could have furnished a truly philosophical and satisfactory solution of all the marvels of ancient witchcraft4 ,infatuation still lingers on the earth1 blinding many bright eyes4 ,we are hardly sorry that our friend ignored the actual and competent authors--indeed1 we are nearly glad that he did so2 for his course resulted in presentation of many important portions of ,new ,england witchcraft in very lucid1 intelligible1 and attractive combination1 helped a vast many people to perception of the proximate nature and extent of strange things done here of old1 and enabled the common mind to make pretty fair estimate of the nature of such forces as were needful to any agents who should perform such wonders4 ,we cheerfully acknowledge great personal indebtedness to that author for such an exhibition of this subject as shows its mighty influence over sagacious1 strong1 calm1 good1 and able men who were living witnesses and actors in its scenes2 and shows also that common sense will instinctively feel that the acts imputed to a few illiterate girls and misses were beyond the powers which nature by her usual and well-known processes ever bestowed upon them4 ,philosophy1 science1 and common sense demand causes adequate to produce whatever effects are ascribed to them4 ,histories of witchcraft have not met these demands4 ,previous failure in that respect prompts this effort to present agents whose powers may have been equal to the works performed in witchcraft scenes4 ,the work in hand will necessitate a close grappling with many of our friend's opinions and processes4 ,but our grip1 however firm1 will never be made in unkindness toward or want of respect for him2 the object will be to disclose mistakes1 to rescue our forefathers and their children in the seventeenth century out from under damaging1 groundless1 needless1 gratuitous imputation of fatuity to the elders1 and devilish ingenuity to the younger ones1 and to permit the present and future ages to look back upon them with respect and sympathy4 ,that author is still living1 and long may he live in comfort and usefulness4 ,his biography is not written2 a brief outline of him1 solely from this moment's recollections is here given4 ,not less that fifty years ago1 we knew him as a student at ,harvard1--afterward1 for many years1 as a respected and successful clergyman at ,salem1--still later1 in political office1 especially as member of ,congress1--and for many of the more recent years1 as a student and author at home4 ,he has commanded and retains our high respect4 ,the scholar1 rhetorician1 statistician1 fictionist1 and dramatist1 all blend harmoniously in him1 give an uncommon charm to his ,history of ,salem ,village1 and render it a work which bespeaks wide and abiding interest with the public4 ,it is no essential part of the philosopher's specific labors to discover or test new agents1 forces1 or facts4 ,his dealings mostly are with facts known and admitted4 ,till one concedes the fact of spirit action upon persons and things in earth life1 he cannot philosophically admit that spirit forces were ever employed in the production of any phenomenon1 but must regard all as purely material or within the scope of ordinary human faculties4 ,therefore we can1 perhaps1 with propriety regard our friend as also a philosopher2 but must add1 that he either lacked knowledge of or ignored the agents and forces that produced many witchcraft phenomena which he attempted to elucidate1 and many others of the same character which he failed to adduce from the earlier records2 which agents and forces must be allowed their actual and full connection with their own effects before philosophy can furnish just1 clear1 and satisfactory solutions of their source and nature4 ,,margaret ,,jones4 ,the great endemic witchcraft at ,salem ,village in #afib has been extensively ascribed to the voluntary acts of a few girls and women1 who are sometimes credited with having derived much knowledge from books1 traditions1 weird stories1 and the like1 and thus obtained hints and instructions whereby they were enabled to devise1 and1 acting upon the credulity and infatuation of their time1 to enact1 and did enact1 that great and thrilling performance1 without supermundane aid4 ,was it so8 ,an examination of several sporadic cases which preceded that famous outburst of mysterious operations1 may indicate strong need to assign many witchcraft manifestations to causes and forces lying off beyond the reach of man's ordinary faculties1 for we perceive in them the operation of powers which he never acquired1 nor can acquire1 by reading1 listening1 or by any training processes4 ,hutchinson says1 ,the great noise which the ,new ,england witchcraft made throughout the ,english dominions proceeded more from the general panic with which all sorts of persons were seized1 and an expectation that the contagion would spread to all parts of the country1 than from the number of persons who were executed2 more having been put to death in a single county in ,england in a short space of time1 than have suffered in ,new ,england from the first settlement until the present time4 ,fifteen years had passed before we find any mention of witchcraft among the ,english colonists4444 ,the first suspicion of witchcraft among the ,english was about the year #afde4 ,we commence now an examination of several of the earlier cases1 and begin with ,,margaret ,,jones4 ,there is extant1 in the handwriting of the judge before whom she was tried1 a summary of the evidence adduced against this woman1 who1 in #afdh1 was tried1 condemned1 and executed in ,boston for the crime of witchcraft2 and who thus became1 so far as we now know1 the first ,american victim in ,christendom's carnal warfare against the devil4 ,unconsciously to herself surely1 but yet in fact1 she may have been1 as we sometimes view her1 ,america's first martyr to ,spiritualism4 ,the chief knowledge of this case now attainable is furnished by the ,journal of ,governor ,john ,winthrop1 who was both governor of the colony and chief judge of its highest court in #afdh1 and presided at the trial of ,margaret ,jones4 ,his position on the bench gave him opportunity1 and made it his duty1 to know precisely what was charged1 what testified1 and what proved in the case4 ,the character of that recorder is good voucher for an honest and candid statement as far as it goes4 ,his record states that1-- ,in #afdh1 one ,margaret ,jones1 of ,charlestown1 was indicted and found guilty of witchcraft1 and hanged for it4 ,the evidence against her was1 that she was found to have such a malignant touch1 as many persons1 men1 women1 and children1 whom she stroked or touched with any affection or displeasure1 or1 c41 were taken with deafness1 or vomiting1 or other violent pains or sickness2 that1 practicing physic1 and her medicines being such things as1 by her own confession1 were harmless1 as anise-seed1 liquors1 c41 yet had extraordinary violent effects2 that she used to tell such as would not make use of her physic1 that they would never be healed1 and accordingly their diseases and hurts continued1 with relapses against the ordinary course1 and beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons2 that things which she foretold came to pass accordingly2 other things she could tell of1 as secret speeches1 c41 which she had no ordinary means to come to knowledge of2 in the prison1 in the clear daylight1 there was seen in her arms1 she sitting on the floor1 and her clothes up1 c41 a little child1 which ran from her into another room1 and the officer following it1 it was vanished4 ,the like child was seen in two other places to which she had relation2 and one maid1 that saw it1 fell sick upon it1 and was cured by the said ,margaret1 who used means to be employed to that end4 ,thus much was recorded by ,winthrop in #afdh4 ,but the quantum of information relative to ,margaret ,jones which historic selection deemed needful for the public in #agfd had become very small1 for at the latter date ,hutchinson says 7vol4 i4 p4 #aej71 ,the first instance ,i find of any person executed for witchcraft1 was in ,june1 #afdh4 ,margaret ,jones1 of ,charlestown1 was indicted for a witch1 found guilty1 and executed4 ,she was charged with having such a malignant touch that if she laid her hands upon man1 woman1 or child in anger1 they were seized presently with deafness1 vomiting1 or other sickness1 or some violent pains4 ,those few sharp lines comprise the whole of that historian's account of this case4 ,he gives no hint that the woman was accused of anything but a malignant touch2 therefore he falls long way short of fair presentation of the facts4 ,he leaves entirely unnoticed the chief grounds for just inferences and conclusions4 ,whether that writer had access to ,winthrop's record we do not know4 ,but the historian ,upham had1 and he states 7vol4 i4 p4 #dec71 ,the only real charge proved upon ,margaret ,jones was1 that she was a successful practitioner1 using only simple remedies4 ,the only charge proved6 ,what can that mean8 ,there surely were several other and much more marvelous and significant things just as clearly charged and proved upon her as was her successful use of simple remedies4 ,the only thing proved6 ,if that thing was proved1 then the same document which teaches this1 also teaches with equal distinctness that five or six other things were proved upon her2 and the greater part of these others were difficult of solution by the philosophies of both the historians named above4 ,turn back to ,winthrop's account1 and see what was charged4 #a4 ,when she manipulated either man1 woman1 or child1 some nausea1 pain1 or disease was forthwith engendered in the subject of her operations4 #b4 ,her very simple medicines1 viz41 anise-seed and liquors produced extraordinary violent effects4 #c4 ,she told such as would not take her physic that they would never be healed2 and accordingly their diseases and hurts continued1 with relapses against the ordinary course4 #d4 ,things which she foretold came to pass accordingly4 #e4 ,she could tell of secret speeches which she had no ordinary means to come to knowledge of4 #f4 ,while in prison1 in the clear daylight1 there was seen in her arms 444 a little child 444 which at the officer's approach ran and vanished4 #g4 ,the maid that fell sick at sight of that child was cured by the said ,margaret1 who used means to be employed to that end4 ,the only charge proved8 ,if it was proved that she was a successful practitioner1 using only simple remedies1 then each one of the other six is just as clearly proved as her successful practice1 and by the same document1 too4 ,but some of them are more difficult to account for on sadducean grounds1 and were left unnoticed4 ,even the admitted marvel is put forth in distorted form1 being so draped as to teach that the woman was a successful medical practitioner1 while the original record reads that her simples produced extraordinary violent effects4 ,no doubt she was in an important sense a successful practitioner1 using only simple remedies4 ,but that is not what the testimony specially stated4 ,the historic evidence is1 that her simples produced violent effects4 ,her fate teaches that the action of her simples was deemed diabolical4 ,is that idea conveyed in calling her a successful practitioner8 ,no4 ,the case of this woman is vastly more instructive than it has been deemed by former expounders2 and since1 in its varied features and aspects1 it presents many interesting points1 we shall dwell upon it at considerable length4 ,nothing has been met with in her history which conflicts with supposition that she and her husband1 perhaps in or below the middle ranks of society1 were laboring for a livelihood amid a clear-headed1 sagacious1 hardy1 industrious community1 which had resided twenty years around the mouth of the ,charles without any startling witchcraft among them1 or any teachers of that art1 787 or skillful co-operators in its practice4 ,something induced her to lay hands upon and administer simple medicines to the pained1 the sick1 or the wounded4 ,whence the impulse8 ,we can hardly suppose that she had studied medicine4 ,a nurse she may have been--very likely had been--and perhaps had become conscious of ability to relieve sufferings and disease1 and may have been known by her neighbors to be willing to practice the healing art4 ,obviously they became accustomed to submit themselves to her manipulations and medical treatment quite extensively1 and at length were astonished at the extreme efficacy of her hands1 and the sometimes violent action of her simple medicines4 ,so extraordinary were the effects of her labors that the neighborhood became suspicious that an obnoxious one from below was her helper1 and therefore she was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft4 ,what persons would be summoned into court to testify concerning her when such was the charge8 ,her patients promiscuously8 ,no4 ,only such among them as had1 or as would swear that they had1 received suffering or annoyance under her treatment4 ,search would be made for harm only1 and not for any good which she had done4 ,more moral courage and strength than are common would be needed to induce those not summoned1 and who had nothing but good which they could say of her operations1 to try to get upon the witness stand where witchcraft was the alleged offense4 ,all the testimony1 either sought1 or given1 was1 no doubt1 intended to bear against her2 and yet it comes to our view that the sickened maid was cured by the said ,margaret1 who used means to be employed to that end4 ,beneficence as well as murder will out sometimes4 ,the various powers manifested through her are worthy of separate examination4 #a4 ,when she manipulated either man1 woman1 or child1 some nausea1 pain1 or disease was forthwith engendered in the subject of her operations4 ,that is the only crime which ,hutchinson seems to have found laid to her charge2 it is the only one he puts to the credit of her persecutors1 and thus he leaves them heavily indebted on humanity's ledger4 ,if the testimony were not mainly sheer fabrication1 some extraordinary efficacy went forth from her imposed hands1 and apparently on many different occasions1 too2 for the account stating that effects were similar upon men1 women1 and children1 indicates that she was an extensive operator4 ,mesmer had not then made his discoveries4 ,but the powers always resided in living forms which he detected and measurably learned to educe and control4 ,margaret ,jones's system may have been a very powerful magnetic battery1 controlled sometimes by her own will1 sometimes moved by and giving passage-way to impersonal magnetic forces1 and sometimes also used by that intelligence outside of man which ,agassiz and ,brown-,sequard say 7see ,appendix7 can operate through his organism4 ,both intensification and mitigation of pains1 diseases1 and the forces of medicines are credible results from her manipulations4 ,as said before1 only those portions of the primitive document which relate to the efficacy of her hands and her simples1 drew forth comments from the historians2 they also failed to set forth a tithe of the significance which was involved in the little they did attempt to unfold4 ,such action of hands and very simple medicines upon the systems of men1 women1 and children is not satisfactorily accounted for either by ascribing it1 as one did1 to the anger of the operating woman1 nor1 as the other did1 to the simple medicines acting normally4 ,such causes could never have produced effects competent to so startle an intelligent and firm-nerved community as to make them charge this practitioner with diabolism1 and seek her execution4 ,the implied infatuation and credulity of a generation which could be roused to such barbarity by such insignificant causes is a most defamatory impeachment of the sagacity1 manhood1 and humaneness of our forefathers4 ,our witchcraft expounders1 we apprehend1 have allowed themselves to sacrifice very much that was bright and noble in the past1 on the altar of false assumption that modern scientists1 or at least that their own wise historic intellects1 have explored all the recesses of broad nature1 and positively determined that no forces can anywhere exist by which supermundane acts can legitimately be brought to the cognizance of man4 ,the merits of the fathers are darkened1 that the arrogance of the children may be labeled ,wisdom4 ,many men of no mean intellects have admitted that a spirit once came forth from a man and leaped on the seven exorcist sons of one ,sceva1 and overcame them1 and prevailed against them1 so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded4 ,the mind which believes that record ought to be in condition to admit that possibly spirits could throw forth power through the hands of such as ,margaret ,jones which would produce pains1 nausea1 and disease in those whom the mediums touched1 provided the spirits desired such results4 ,it was no unprecedented event in kind1 if1 through her1 some unseen force tortured the bodies of any who1 as spies1 enemies1 mimickers1 or rivals1 sought an imposition of her hands2 not new that torturing sensations should be produced when the magnetisms of the operator and subject were as alkali and acid to each other2 nor new that her own spirit of resentment for wrongs either received or foresensed1 thus operated4 ,but favor too might often induce either her or a spirit through her to produce violent effects at first1 unless our doctors prescribe emetics and cathartics in unkindness or malice4 ,read the following statement1 which ,i have just written down from the lips of a neighbor whom ,i have known well for nearly or quite ten years1 and whose truthfulness is as complete as that of any other one whatsoever in the whole circle of my acquaintances3-- ,in the autumn of #ahfi1 a woman in ,south ,boston who knew me1 advised one of her neighbors who was sick of fever to send for me and receive treatment by my hands4 ,the patient's husband1 a robust mechanic1 had little faith in helpful efficacy from 'laying on of hands4' ,still1 curiosity or some other motive induced him and three other men to observe my processes and their effects4 ,they witnessed very marked contractions of the sick woman's muscles1 and many spasmodic movements of her limbs4 ,when ,i ceased working upon my patient1 her husband said1 ',do you suppose you can affect me in the same way8' ,my reply was1 ',i don't know--probably not2 but if you desire me to try1 ,i will4' ',yes1' said he1 'try4' ',sit down1 then1 sir1 in the chair where your wife sat4' ,he did so1 and ,i operated for a short time without perceptible effect1 but was soon impressed to say to him1 ',strike me on the small of the back1'--simultaneously placing my back so that he could give it a fair1 hard blow1 which he was by no means unwilling to inflict4 ,after his first stroke ,i called out1 ',harder6' ,after the second1 ',harder6' ,after the third1 he was instantly cramped up1 his arms were hugged in upon and across his chest1 the muscles on them were much enlarged1 intensely hardened1 and not obedient to his will1 and he lustily begged1 ',let me down6 let me down6 let me down6' while the other men1 the sick wife1 and myself laughed till we were exhausted4 ,i had no will in producing1 nor any design to effect any such results4 ,j4 ,w4 ,,crosby4 ,,boston1 ,april #cj1 #ahgd4 #b4 ,the testimony indicates that her very simple medicines1 such as anise-seed and liquors1 produced extraordinary violent effects4 ,this is credible4 ,extraordinary effects were produced by magnetized handkerchiefs in the days of ,paul1 and to-day1 even pure water1 placed beneath the hands of some peculiar mediums1 or beneath the tips of their fingers1 sometimes absorbs or is made to manifest the medicinal properties of wine1 ipecac1 or of other substances desired2 and such mediums are often very successful practitioners using only simple remedies4 ,the action of what they administer need not be psychological in any proper sense of that term3 that is1 the patient need not be informed1 nor have suspicion1 that the water is medicated thus2 though any persons upon whom the action is very perceptible1 probably1 must be constitutionally mediumistic4 ,by personal observation we have learned that water may be so medicated by unseen infusion from unseen source1 as to taste like1 and operate like1 either ipecac or wine1 according to the properties which some unseen intelligence to whom needs are transparent1 and who can sicken or refresh at pleasure1 has gathered from the atmosphere or elsewhere and infused into that water4 ,when public vigilance had been roused to suspicion around this woman1 it is not improbable that many persons1 belligerent devil-ward1 sought a test of her powers1 and that some of them 7susceptible ones7 felt or drank in what caused deafness1 or vomiting1 or other pains or sickness--not improbable that on some of them her simples had violent effects4 ,persons thus affected would make up nearly the whole class from whom witnesses at her trial would be selected4 ,if she had been generally a producer of only pains and sickness1 her practice would soon have dwindled to nothing1 and she would have lived on without molestation4 ,a successful practitioner1 simply as such1 would never have been arraigned4 ,upham detected the significant fact in the case1 that her simple remedies were so efficacious as to make her a successful practitioner2 yes2--but was simply successful medical practice the chief reason why her neighbors charged diabolism8 ,what amount of success in alleviating the sufferings that flesh is heir to would invoke public vengeance8 ,how much beneficence did one then need to perform before public sentiment1 would reprobate its author8 ,could such faculties and agents alone as are normally and ordinarily used1 enable a woman to achieve such success in curing diseases1 healing wounds1 and alleviating pains1 as to arouse an intelligent and religious community to arrest and try her for a capital offense against the well-being of society8 ,never4 ,did the historian notice his own back-handed imputation of atrocious diabolism upon the population of ,charlestown when he led his readers to infer that they persecuted one of their number unto an ignominious death1 solely because she was a successful practitioner using only simple remedies8 ,whether he saw it or not1 his explanation made her neighbors take the life of this woman because of the good works she had done among them4 ,some theory of explanation which will exempt us from the necessity of assenting to gratuitous aspersions of the sagacity and sentiments of justice pertaining to our ancestry in the mass1 is very desirable4 ,margaret ,jones was a very successful healing medium1 and therefore her works were mysteries4 ,having noticed the only two allegations in this case which the historians have deemed worthy of specification or had courage to adduce1 and having seen that ,hutchinson ascribed her persecution to her own anger flowing out through her hands1 while ,upham ascribed it to her great success as a healer1 we will just note the fact that the former historian generally indicated an abiding apprehension that those who were persecuted for the crime in question1 were the parties most to be blamed2 while the latter1 oftener than otherwise1 throws the chief blame upon the persecutors4 ,in this instance the earlier historian makes her anger1--a trait which is blamable1--while the latter makes her beneficence1--a commendable characteristic1--the chief exciting cause to her condemnation and execution4 ,we proceed to examine other original charges more difficult to solve plausibly on the hypotheses of ,hutchinson and ,upham than were anger and successful medical practice2 charges not amenable to any philosophy entertained by those expounders4 #c4 ,she used to tell such as would not make use of her physic that they would never be healed2 and1 accordingly1 their diseases and hurts continued2 with relapses against the ordinary course1 c4 ,it is very common in our day for clairvoyance to see1 or--more broadly and instructively--it is common for mediumistic faculties to sense and feel sure1 that the existing tendency of a patient's disease will soon terminate in death1 if not checked by some peculiar medicinal agent1 often a spiritual one1 or one medicated by spirits1 which ordinary physicians are ignorant of1 will not prescribe1 and cannot obtain4 ,the evidence which ,judge ,winthrop reports1 shows that the diseases and hurts of recusants to take her prescriptions1 not only continued to remain unhealed1 but underwent such changes and relapses as physicians and surgeons could not understand4 ,since such things occurred in accordance with her predictions1 we here perceive strong evidence that the woman possessed uncommon susceptibilities for sensing coming results4 ,it is just as clearly proved that she foretold specific events1 as it is that her touch was malignant1 and her practice successful4 ,her marvelous prescience1 which was one of her conspicuous powers1 the historians failed to set forth4 ,their philosophy1 founded only on such materials as are recognized in man's physical sciences1 was too narrow to embrace occult natural agents and forces by which such prescient powers could be drawn or put forth through some human organisms and produce marvelous results4 ,therefore those expounders let such facts remain undisturbed in the rarely visited closets where they have long reposed4 #d4 ,things which she foretold came to pass accordingly4 ,that is1 events verified her predictions1 and thus proved her exercise of marvelously prophetic powers4 ,should one assume that her verified predictions were only skillful or lucky guesses1 would such assumption be fair and just toward the people who1 as living witnesses on the spot1 could know what the things were which she foretold1 and know also with what accuracy they were fulfilled1 and yet deemed them genuine prophecies8 ,her accusers could know the facts1 while we1 in the main1 must be ignorant of them4 ,we cannot reasonably deny that the direct observers actually discerned the exercise of genuinely prophetic powers by her4 ,some mortals at times can prophesy2 for both in ancient prophetic and apostolic times1 and in our own age1 many people have been and are known to do it4 ,eternal laws or forces lead some mortals to sure knowledge of coming events4 ,history and returning spirits both so teach4 ,the spirit of prophecy has its source in infinite truth1 and is as much a part of infinite law as any other manifestation of life2 therefore it has a wise and powerful protection2 and they who avail themselves of this spirit of prophecy1 by virtue of the way and manner in which they are physically and spiritually compounded1 if they are fortunate enough to place themselves in harmonious relations to the law1 fail not in prophesying4 ,but if1 as is often the case1 they unfortunately place themselves in inharmonious relations to the law1 they must1 of necessity1 fail in part1 if not entirely4 ,it is a truthful saying1 that 'coming events cast their shadows before4' ,these shadows 787 are1 in reality1 portions of the events2 these shadows take precedence of the material birth of all events as they are understood by mortals2 they are the basis of that which you receive1 and outlast that which you receive2 they are the infinite part4 ,now1 then1 there are some persons so constituted that they perceive these shadows 787 and can judge as accurately concerning what they predict1 as the learned astronomer can concerning an eclipse4--,spirit1 ,prof4 ,alexander ,m4 ,fisher1 of ,yale4 ,,banner ,,of ,,light1 ,jan4 #cj1 #ahge4 #e4 ,she could tell of secret speeches which she had no ordinary means to come to knowledge of4 ,at times1 then1 she was clairaudient1 or was one of those sensitives whose spiritual organs of sensation are at times so disentangled from their material ones1 that she experienced a practical annihilation of space and gross matter1 which let her1 as all unclogged spirits may1 be practically present with and listeners to any person anywhere1 to whom she was for any reason attracted1 and with whom she came into rapport4 ,conditions admitting cognizance of the thoughts and words of the absent in body are now of daily occurrence with men1 women1 and children not a few1 and therefore were possible with ,margaret ,jones in #afdh and years preceding4 ,a letter from ,captain ,densmore1 on a future page of this work1 will show recent possession of power to bear the voices of living persons whose bodies were very far distant from the hearer4 #f4 ,while in the prison in the clear daylight there was seen in her arms 444 a little child 444 which1 at the officer's approach1 ran and vanished4 ,vanished2 that word intimates that it was a spectral or spirit child--perhaps her own departed one4 ,by whom was it seen8 ,by an officer of the prison1 and therefore by one not likely to be her confederate in attempt at imposture4 ,not by him only2 for a chambermaid also saw the little one1 and was made sick by the sight2 which effect argues against her having had any complicity in a trick4 ,that testimony to such occurrences was given in court1 is vouched for by ,winthrop1 and must have been1 or surely should have been1 read by subsequent historians4 ,their adroitness at leaving certain classes of facts in undisturbed obscurity1 nearly rivals the cunning of agents to whom they impute the origin and production of witchcraft manifestations4 ,the visible presence of that evanescent child shows very clearly that ,mrs4 ,jones was endowed with some of the rarer and exceptional properties of mediumship--that she possessed those special elements in the midst of which spirits could be robed in such materialized encasements1 that material eyes could discern them4 ,angels looking and acting like men 7,gen4 xviii47 were seen by ,abraham and ,lot4 ,one was seen 7,judg4 xiii47 by ,manoah and his wife4 ,another by ,tobias1 son of ,tobit 7,apoc472 another by disciples who were walking toward ,emmaus 7,john xx472 others also by thousands of individuals in various ages and nations1 sporadically4 ,to-day1 distinct perception of materialized spirits in the presence of ,mrs4 ,andrews at ,moravia1 ,n4 ,y41 around ,dr4 ,slade of ,new ,york city1 and many others are reported almost weekly1 and are well attested4 ,in these modern instances1 generally1 some special1 though simple1 pre-arrangements are made to facilitate such manifestations2 but we may very reasonably doubt whether anything of the kind was resorted to by ,mrs4 ,jones1 because1 being in prison charged with the awful crime of witchcraft1 the presumption is imperative that she must have lacked both means and opportunity to command tangible apparatus either for helping on a genuine spirit manifestation1 or producing an optical illusion upon her keepers4 ,mortal4 ,how do spirits materialize8 ,spirit4 ,you must know the atmosphere is full of particles of matter4 ,everything that is in the human body is also in the atmosphere in fine particles4 ,darkness renders these particles more quiescent1 and hence more easily managed by spirits4 ,the spirit has a will point or center which is a spark of the ,divine ,nature4 ,when the condition of the atmosphere1 of the medium1 and of the circle is proper1 the spirit exerts that will power1 and1 in accordance with natural law1 attracts to its spirit form the floating particles in the air1 and they condense upon and interpenetrate the spirit form or body so as to materialize it1 making bone1 muscle1 skin1 hair--every part1 and making the spirit body1 for the time being1 a solid1 palpable one4 ,the air contains an immense amount of matter which can be used by spirits for materializing4 ,we do not1 however1 usually materialize the blood4444 ,we have to draw a portion of the substance for materialization from the medium1 he being a kind of reservoir where we concentrate our supplies1 and it is much more difficult to draw from him when at a distance1 therefore we keep near him4--,spirit4 ,disc41 as reported by ,h ,a4 ,buddington4 ,,banner ,,of ,,light1 ,feb4 #f1 #ahge4 ,a case of much interest and significance was reported to the ,boston ,post1 a daily newspaper1 by a correspondent under date of ,newburyport1 ,jan4 #ac1 #ahgc4 ,therein is furnished an account of a spirit boy showing himself in broad daylight1 several times1 on different occasions1 at a window between an entry and a school-room1 to a band of children and their teacher2 also of his making a disturbing racket in an unfinished attic over them occasionally for many successive months4 ,miss ,perkins1 the teacher1 says1 ,he is a little fellow1 about eleven years old1 with a pale face1 and the saddest1 sweetest mouth that she ever saw in her life1 looking fearlessly up into her face out of a pair of blue eyes4 ,he retreated into a corner4 ,she followed him1 and just as she was about to lay her hand upon him he vanished4 ,no door had been opened1 and yet he was gone4 ,the account states that ,miss ,perkins1 though no spiritualist1 is convinced that it 7the racket7 is all produced by supernatural agency1 and believes that the apparition she saw was a veritable ghost4 ,the editor of the ,springfield ,republican probably consulted the teacher of that school1 ,miss ,lucy ,a4 ,perkins1 as to the correctness of the foregoing1 and perhaps other accounts1 which had become public1 for she wrote to him1 and he published as follows3-- ,the account you sent me is true1 with a few exceptions4 ,when ,i first saw the boy1 he was neatly attired in a brown suit of clothes1 trimmed with braid and buttons of the same color4 ,when ,i reached forward to grasp him1 he seemed not like the boy1 but vapory1 or1 as ,i can only describe it1 like a thin cloud scudding across the room2 still he seemed to have the boy form4 ,reports from some of the ,boston papers say ,i fainted2 such is not the case4 ,i knew where ,i was and what ,i was about just as well as ,i know ,i am writing4 ,one day ,i sent a boy out to hang up the brushes1 c4444 ,he was out about five minutes4 ,after he had taken his seat1 three raps came on the door of the room where the brushes were hung4 ,he said1 ',miss ,perkins1 can ,i go out and see who's there8' ,i told him1 ',yes1 and leave the school-room door open4' ,he did so1 and when he opened the brush-room door 7,i sat where ,i could see all7 every one of the brushes1 both long and short handled1 came falling off the nails where they were hung2 some struck him on the shoulders1 and the broom directly on the top of his head4 ,the dust-pan1 hanging on a nail at some distance above the brushes1 came tumbling to the floor with a vengeance4 ,it then stood on its handle1 then on the bottom edge1 and continued on so till it entered the school-room1 and then it was placed as nicely against the partition as if ,i had done it myself4 ,just as soon as ,i'd raise the ventilator1 a black ball1 like a cannon ball1 would begin to roll around the attic1 and make such a noise ,i would be obliged to lower the ventilator4 ,one day the room was quiet as it possibly could be1 and all at once some one in the attic called out1 ',dadie ,pike6' ,dadie thought ,i spoke1 and said1 ',what'm8' ,i said to him1 ',can you say your lesson8' ,since the boy affair took place1 the attic has been fastened up2 locks and keys are of no use1 however1 for there is as much walking up stairs1 and sometimes the hammering and nailing4 ,once in a while1 sounds as of some one walking will come down the attic way1 go across the entry1 and open the outside door1 and be gone perhaps ten minutes2 after it is quiet again1 the door will open1 and he1 she1 or it will go up stairs4444 ,i am not a spiritualist2 never attended a sitting1 in fact1 never had anything to do with a person of that belief1 and never saw any manifestations4 ,why anything of the sort should take place where ,i am1 is more than ,i can account for4 ,this case1 wherein a teacher and her two score pupils simultaneously saw a spirit in broad daylight1 day after day and week after week1 argues very forcibly that the nature of things permits admission that the testimony relating to the spirit child in the jail may be literally true4 ,laws and forces are now frequently indicating their existence1 which permit the observable presence of spirits4 ,intense yearnings for comfortings1 sympathy1 and support in her dark and trying hour1 as well as other causes1 may have drawn an angel child--her own or some other--to the arms of ,margaret ,jones1 whose history reveals her possession of peculiar susceptibilities and mediumistic properties2 and with her as a reservoir1 materialization of the spirit may have been accomplished4 #g4 ,the sickened maid was cured by the said ,margaret1 who used means to be employed to that end4 ,kindness and skill successfully put forth to heal the sick1 even while the public was keeping her in a felon's cell1 hang as a luminous cloud over her head1 and betoken something good in her--betoken the possible source of something different from a malignant touch--yes1 of genuinely successful medical practice4 ,we know little of her character2 there is no impeachment of it in the recorded testimony4 ,her peculiar powers resulted1 no doubt1 from peculiar innate formations of and connections between her outer and inner organisms1 and had little dependence upon intellectual or moral qualities4 ,not her own holiness1 nor any other common power of hers1 enabled her to either intensify or abate painful sensations4 ,whether sinner or saint was the more prominent in her character1 our course and views have no occasion to inquire4 ,winthrop's comments say that her behavior at her trial was very intemperate2 lying notoriously and railing upon the jury and witnesses2444 in the like distemper she died4 ,he gives no particulars1 and therefore furnishes no grounds on which we may judge whether any of her statements which seemed to him false1 might not seem to us1 at our different stand-point of observation1 to have been true4 ,very many perfectly true utterances made by mediums to-day relative to their involuntary and even unconscious putting forth of acts and words imputed to them1 would be deemed lies by all common interpreters who are ignorant of the part often performed by or through that higher set of mental powers which our leading scientists have lately discovered are at the service of intellect not our own4 ,perhaps she lied2 perhaps1 too1 she was truthful1 but misunderstood4 ,intemperance in her behavior1 no doubt1 was manifest4 ,but that might spring from various motives4 ,any spirited person1 consciously innocent of a charged offense1 and possessing only moderate power of self-control and moderate intellectual stamina1 would be very likely to pour forth warm language1 and flat and forceful denials of allegations of wrong-doing4 ,persecuted innocence was only a very little less likely--if at all less--than ill temper or distemper1 to call forth what might seem to be railing upon the jury and witnesses4 ,neither severe language nor intemperate behavior is necessarily derogatory to any one's prevailing temper or character1 when rushing forth from the lips and limbs of one whose deeds are being so misinterpreted that beneficence is looked upon as diabolism1 and whose beneficent works are being made to draw down upon their author an ignominious death4 ,possibly words from her lips1 and behavior seemingly prompted by her emotions1 were manifestations of the thoughts and impulses of some other intelligence than herself4 ,if so1 most scathing rebukes for her persecution1 and for thirstings for her blood1 might fall thick and heavy upon the ears of benighted jurors and blinded witnesses4 ,observation has often noticed most terrific outflowings of denunciations upon blind guides1 through organs of speech not controlled by their reputed owner4 ,felix is not the last person who has trembled under the lashings of inspiration4 ,an acting out through her form1 by another intelligence1 a deep sense of wrong she had received1 may have made her seem as mad in the eyes of ,winthrop1 as the learning and forceful utterances of ,paul did him in those of ,festus4 ,evidence produced at her trial shows that ,margaret ,jones correctly foretold the course of diseases in the systems of those who declined her prescriptions--that she foretold other things which came to pass accordingly--that she learned the purport of conversations by the absent or secluded--that a spirit child became visible in her auras--and that the sickened maid was cured by her appliances4 ,each and all of these very marvelous manifestations were just as distinctly and authentically recorded on paper still extant1 as were those less rare ones which have been put forth as fair indices of the case4 ,such blinking out of sight the most important things pertaining to the person who1 as far as is now known1 was first on this side the ,atlantic to be executed for witchcraft1 is unjust to culture and philosophy1 which should be furnished with all known facts2 is unjust to the fathers1 whose full basis for her prosecution and execution should be set forth ere just judgment of their doings can be formed2 and is unjust to her whose transcendent powers and effective labors for healing the sick may have been the main cause why minds deluded by a false and frenzying creed devil-ward1 were impelled on to barbarously destroy one who had been and might have continued to be their benefactress4 ,she was a natural conduit from the inner to the outer world1 through which perhaps impersonal force at times might cause supernal knowledge and power to come into her outer being2 through which again1 her own will might suction such1 while at other times unseen persons might inject them through from their abodes1 and even come themselves to aid her in their application4 ,nothing harmful was charged against her1 excepting what seemed to be1 and were believed to be1 superhuman abilities4 ,the power that formed her originally1 implanted and developed within her organism unusual capabilities for curing physical disease1 for reading the future1 and hearing the distant4 ,there is neither evidence nor foundation for a conjecture that she was ever pupil of teachers of medical science1 or of jugglery1 nor that she belonged to any mesmerically developing circle4 ,her acts cannot well have been mere imitations of what she had seen others do1 or had read or heard of having been done4 ,she had no teachers1 no confederates that were visible and tangible4 ,indeed1 who among men could possibly have taught or helped her to prophesy correctly1 to hear the far distant1 or to embody a spirit child8 ,not one--not one4 ,such performances were only natural evolutions from her inborn faculties1 when acted upon by spirit forces or agents1 or both4 ,the reader is asked how these manifestations1 through our first martyr to it1 can possibly be explained on the hypothesis that witchcraft was nothing else than the histrionic tricks of sprightly and cunning children1 either singly or in combination with the ingenuities and malignities of old women4 ,such agents1 unaided from out the unseen1 were most clearly incompetent to project into human view some phenomena which attended upon this consternating seer1 hearer1 healer1 and holder of properties for materializing a spirit form so as to render it visible4 ,what possible facts or considerations could have induced the humane1 intelligent1 virtuous1 and religious community in which she lived1 to seek the life of such a woman1 moving1 probably1 in humble sphere1 but1 in the main1 a doer of good works8 ,the question brings up a complex and difficult problem1 viz41 ,how can the seeming stupidity and inhumanity of our fathers be reconciled with their obvious intelligence and humaneness8 ,assuming the record of testimony given in court to be correct--and why should we not8--the manifestations through and around ,margaret ,jones clearly indicated the outworking there of some abilities which the bodies and ordinary mental powers of embodied human beings do not possess4 ,what then8 ,some unseen power must have helped her4 ,what unseen power8 ,yes1 what unseen power8 ,experience as then interpreted--religious creeds as then understood--science and philosophy as they then existed--all conspired to give one and the same answer1 viz41 ,the ,devil4 ,that conclusion from the witnessed facts was then inevitable4 ,the devil helped her4 ,what next8 ,the devil could help no one who had not previously entered into a covenant with him1 and he surely helped this woman4 ,therefore she had made a covenant with him1 and in making that she became a witch4 ,the law of ,god which binds ,christians says1 ,thou shalt not suffer a witch to live4 ,thus our forefathers saw and reasoned4 ,steps from facts to the conclusion were few1 short1 and plain4 ,feeble intellects could take them1 and strong ones must do so1 or reject their life-long creeds4 ,then a crucial hour was upon them4 ,to distrust and disregard their credal faith or stifle their humanity1 one or the other1 was the hard alternative presented to strong1 good men4 ,their cherished creed or ,margaret ,jones1 one or the other1 must be sacrificed4 ,which8 ,clear heads and life-long affections grasped the creed firmly1 and resolved to save it4 ,they let ,logic draw her rigid conclusions1 and put them forth as rules for individual and public action4 ,sympathy went down before dominant faith1 and man stifled every rebellious emotion4 ,god's call and law1 ,christian men then felt1 were paramount to sympathy4 ,in submission to what they deemed ,heaven's will and call they said1 ,down1 humaneness--down6 ,up1 ,god-derived ,faith--up1 in your majesty and might6 ,heart must follow whither you lead4 ,their awful and cramping ,creed devil-ward was the chief fountain of bewildering and brutalizing force that dragged intelligent and kind men on to redden our soil with innocent blood1 and that too in all good conscience4 ,look closely at their position4 ,the faith of all ages and nations had held that occurrences which seemed to result from supermundane force were produced by disembodied intelligences4 ,protestant ,christendom was extensively holding that no invisible beings1 excepting their ,great ,monstrous ,monk-made ,devil 7see ,appendix7 and his obedient servants1 could by any possibility work upon the bodies and possessions of men4 ,and none such could work upon the external world in any other way than through1 or by the aid of1 such mortals as had voluntarily made a covenant with him4 ,such covenant once formed1 the person making it would be an open door through which his fearful ,majesty1 or any imp of his1 could freely enter the outer world and vent his malignity upon all the region far and wide around his entrance-place4 ,her works proved to the intellect of that day that this ,margaret had covenanted to let him enter and co-operate with her4 ,what1 therefore1 must be done8 ,it was manifest to the people of ,charlestown that through her the great invisible cloven-foot had found entrance1 and was prowling among them4 ,what was their duty8 ,they must bar his entrance promptly4 ,to do it1 they arrested1 tried1 condemned1 and executed the ,christian traitor who had furnished their great enemy entrance to the ,christian fortress4 ,could firm1 true men1 holding then prevalent beliefs1 have done less8 ,that prisoner was put to trial before judge1 jury1 and a public who each and all held the then common creed throughout all ,protestant ,christendom which is set forth in our ,appendix4 ,witnesses swore that she accurately foretold the effects of medical treatment and other events2 that she heard speeches by persons far remote from her2 that a spectral child was seen in her presence2 that her hands and simples wrought marvels1--therefore1 how could jurors avoid conviction that the devil helped her8 ,there was no spectral testimony in this case2 outer senses of many persons had learned her supermundane powers4 ,the nature of the testimony was unexceptionable1 and its purport distinct and conclusive4 ,the prevalent faith imperatively demanded that the verdict should be--guilty4 ,the clear1 strong faith of that day1 in whomsoever it conjoined with good conscience and courage1 put forth mighty power to persuade the good citizen and good man that high duty was calling upon him to gird on heavenly armor and fight for the destruction of this minion and colleague of the devil1 even at the smothering of kindlier sentiments in his heart4 ,she was witch1 and therefore must die4 ,was that a deluded court1 representative of a deluded people1 which condemned ,margaret ,jones to hang high on the gallows-tree8 ,no doubt it was4 ,delusion led not only our fathers here1 but all ,christendom1 on to deeds of shameful bloodshed4 ,witchcraft itself1 as a whole1 is now by most people deemed a dark delusion4 ,but which1 among the human faculties1 did that delusion spell-bind1 stultify1 and make sanguinary8 ,were the external senses of a whole community so disordered that the character and dimensions of sensible acts were grossly misapprehended8 ,no4 ,the circumstances amid which the early colonists lived1 were certainly as well fitted to sharpen1 discipline1 and give reliability to the external senses as those which wait upon their descendants in the present century4 ,whatever eyes saw1 ears heard1 or touch felt in #afdh1 was reported to the mind then as accurately as the same senses can report to-day4 ,witchcraft phenomena were not the fictions of deluded senses4 ,did that delusion dominate those mental faculties which clothe in words and report what the senses had learned1 and derange them so effectually that they would put forth even under oath distorting and exaggerated accounts of facts which the senses had witnessed8 ,we think not4 ,distrust of the truthfulness and discrimination of ancient unknown witnesses1 founded mainly upon the marvelousness of facts they swore to knowledge of1 is not a basis that either candor or justice can deem sufficient to sustain a charge that their testimony was misleading4 ,wherein lurks anything which indicates that the witnesses in this case stated anything that was not substantially true8 ,if anywhere1 it is probably in modern incredulity that spirits ever colabor with or act upon men4 ,if the time shall come--and there now exist signs that it is near--when the cultured world shall learn that science has been unwittingly generating delusion by failing to detect and regard the existence of certain occult agents and forces which play important parts in scenes of nature and human society1 then a greatly modified opinion concerning the truth of testimony evoked in witchcraft times may prevail throughout the enlightened world4 ,the signs of to-day make it prudent1 kind1 and just to conceive that ancient witnesses were quite as truthful and discriminating as modern elucidators of remote transactions have generally been4 ,were the faculties of jurors and judges for comprehending the accuracy1 force1 and tendency of testimony1 and for logically deducing conclusions from proved facts1 so deluded as that the whole court1 without a misgiving1 convicted either on false testimony or illogically8 ,candor must hesitate to say yes--especially in a case where such a man as ,governor ,winthrop sat upon the bench4 ,he and his associates in the court may have been as free from any delusion that impaired or perverted their powers of discrimination1 or for logical inferences from facts1 as any court that has adjudicated since their day4 ,the absolute cruelty and injustice of their verdict and sentence1 however1 do indicate delusion of some faculties2 but not of the senses2 not of the capacities to speak truth1 and nothing but the truth2 not of the capacities to sift evidence and to reason logically--not of these4 ,their faculties for receiving1 containing1 holding on to1 and obeying an inherited ,,faith were the deluded ones4 ,in common with all ,christendom the convictors of witches had been deluded into adoption1 or at least retention1 of a woful creed concerning the devil4 ,at that time public sentiment in most countries on the continent of ,europe1 and also in both ,old and ,new ,england1 demanded rigid enforcement of all laws which that false1 mischief-working creed had engendered and recorded in statute-books4 ,such laws were plain and imperative2 both jurors and judges1 suppressing sentiment1 must yield to logic--must convict and sentence4 ,by no other course could they be true to their convictions of duty toward society around them1 or toward ,god on high4 ,yes2 an imported monastic-born ,,faith1 unnatural1 erroneous1 and more than barbarous1 deluded kind and good men to feel that they must suppress sympathy1 ignore their tender impulses1 benumb their hearts1 and1 whither ,god's voice was believed to call1 go forward in stern1 agonizing resolve to thrust a devil-helped worker1 however good and estimable in outward seeming1 to where the wicked one could do them and theirs no mischief through that mortal ally4 ,such was the logical and stern demand of the old deluding and heart-curbing creed4 ,do we wonder in our day how such monstrous faith could ever have obtained and kept both an abiding hold and controlling authority in any clear head that was joined to a kindly heart8 ,seeds of faith get lodgment in the human brain while it is yet too young to understand or even try to test the nature and quality of what falls upon it4 ,whatever the church and public believe1 and have believed through a long past1 is ever dropping its own seed into opening minds1 which forthwith germinates therein4 ,this sends its roots deep into virgin soil1 grows with vigor there1 and becomes fruitful of the same old faith during that very early portion of life in which the infantile questioning1 analyzing1 and reasoning faculties are scarce able to doubt the soundness or excellence of what thence has grown and matured in close alliance with themselves4 ,faith's right and fitness to define duty1 and the child's obligation to execute its requirements1 are usually conceded by all the other faculties4 ,the truer and better the man1 the more surely will he carry out his faith to its logical demands1 even though1 ,abraham like1 he have to lay his dearest on the altar of sacrifice1 to lift the knife1 and nerve himself to plunge it into his own child's heart1 unless some voice from on high1 more potent than previous faith1 shall bid him hold4 ,few other than strong men and true1 conscious of being soldiers in heaven's army1 would march resolutely to the ,devil's living and shotted guns1 purposing to destroy them2 for their destruction was instinct with1 and inseparable from1 anguish to ,christian neighbors and friends4 ,extremists alone would do that4 ,none midway between vile demons and men of high faith in ,god would voluntarily meet that ordeal4 ,we do not regard all the active prosecutors and convictors of witches as having been actuated by well-defined faiths and high principles4 ,when popular furor sets strongly in any direction1 the thoughtless1 the unprincipled1 the cruel1 the malicious1 join in the rush1 and some such often become conspicuous and heartless agents in confounding confusion and in executing public decrees4 ,still1 nearly all eminent men of both ,europe and ,america--the leading divines1 jurists1 and civilians1 the men of culture and of influence--believed that witchcraft and the witchcraft devil existed1 and that witches should be detected and punished by the processes and laws then deemed applicable in such cases4 ,therefore1 the mass of the people1 however ignorant1 thoughtless1 or rash1 when detecting and punishing witches1 were only hastening to effect by rough processes and expeditiously1 no more than the learned1 more orderly1 and patient would have felt constrained to accomplish1 in the end1 from a firm conviction of duty4 ,good faith and conscientious regard for the public weal actuated and sustained all those solid men of ,boston and its vicinity1 who were the real bones1 sinews1 and muscles which brought the devil's seeming helper to the gallows4 ,whether this impressible and unfolded woman was literally aided in any of her marvelous operations by invisible intelligences may be debatable4 ,it is possible that forces subject to no will but her own1 and not even to that at all times1 may have passed from her into other persons1 which relieved some and agonized others extensively4 ,medication of her simples may have been mainly their natural absorption of elements residing in her system1 or which were naturally attracted into and through that peculiar system4 ,her correct perceptions of the future action of remedies prescribed by either herself or others1 and of the future course and result of diseases1 may have been obtained by her own inner faculties when partially and transiently disentangled from her outer ones1 and sensing in knowledge from the hidden realm of causes4 ,so too she may have been at times so nearly a freed spirit1 that she could by her own perceptives accurately sense coming events1 and hear the words of far distant speakers4 ,we refrain from denying the possibility that such auras resided in1 emanated from1 and surrounded her body1 that a spirit child coming within them was by natural impersonal forces there rendered visible to external optics4 ,it is possible there was no phenomenon in this case that must be called spiritual1 excepting the mere advent of the child--not its visibility1 but its advent4 ,if the child was there1 then a spirit was there1 and it was a case of ,spiritualism4 ,all this is possible2 but we ask whether it is probable that all works seeming to be hers were produced by blind natural forces and her own will and powers solely8 ,to this our own answer is an emphatic ,,no4 ,the presence of the child gives force to that response4 ,if one spirit came to her1 others could have come4 ,the old records are nearly or quite devoid of information relating to the intelligence1 character1 and social position of ,margaret ,jones4 ,she was wife of ,thomas ,jones1 who1 soon after her execution1 took passage on board a vessel for ,barbadoes4 ,we have met with no indication that they had children--with nothing which alludes to his age1 occupation1 or standing in society4 ,we find her a practicer of the healing art2 but at what age1 or amid what worldly circumstances1 is all unknown4 ,bunker ,hill and its circumjacent slopes and lowlands have close connection with the earlier stages of two ,american conflicts for freedom4 ,there lived1 and from thence was taken to prison and the gallows1 the first ,american martyr in a war whose end1 obtained forty-four years later at ,salem ,village1 was ,christendom's mental emancipation from deluding and dwarfing bondage to a more than savage creed4 ,true1 the aggressive hosts--the prosecutors for witchcraft--were ignorant and unsuspicious of the far-reaching purposes of the divinity that shaped their ends1 that beheld and ruled over their blind violence1 and made them1 all unconsciously and undesignedly1 mortally rend a monster-creed whose demands they were slavishly and blindly complying with1 and thus1 without knowledge of it on their part1 procuring for themselves1 their children1 and all future ,christians1 new freedom and new incentives for independent speculations and conclusions regarding all matters both demonological and theological4 ,a nightmare of centuries was thrown off from disturbed and horrified ,christendom at ,salem1 and each cramped sufferer could thenceforth draw breath more freely1 and commence processes of recuperation and expansion4 ,the case of ,margaret ,jones is isolated4 ,it has no traceable connection with any kindred one which either preceded or followed it4 ,still its origin was in the abiding-place of forces and operators acting invisibly upon the external world1 and amidst which all genuine witchcraft1 miracle1 and ,spiritualism have been born4 ,her case must be catalogued among the marvelous1 though the proving of the nature and character of her offense1 erroneously so called1 was unattended by the absurdities and cruelties which attach to many cases where spectral evidence was admitted1 and barbarous processes were resorted to for extorting a plea to an indictment4 ,as a witchcraft trial1 hers was exceptionally inoffensive to modern views of propriety4 ,the testimony throughout was based on experiences and observations by external senses1 and would be admissible in any court and any age4 ,the extra-common powers or susceptibilities of the accused were clearly proved4 ,therefore the monstrous creed which then blinded and tyrannized over all minds took her life legitimately4 ,good men1 humane men1 could do no less than pronounce her guilty before the law and before that creed which engendered the law4 ,before we denounce or even disparage those who condemned her1 let us pause for reflection4 ,a creed sometimes remains outside of the mind1 incrusting and petrifying it against all other influences addressed to the higher parts of our nature1 manifesting its power by not suffering any fresh and living conviction to get in4--,john ,stuart ,mill4 ,we requote as follows3-- ,the nobler tendency of culture1 and above all of scientific culture1 is to honor the dead without groveling before them--to profit by the past without sacrificing it to the present4 ,the early colonists of the old ,bay ,state deserve to be held in high esteem and admiration2 all noble sentiments conspire to honor them4 ,culture and enlightenment will be derelict to their high calling if they traduce that people before they turn thought backward through two centuries1 scan the imported creeds then prevalent here1 observe circumstances then existing1 and enter into feelings and views then bearing resistless sway4 ,having done that1 let them calmly determine whither duty led true-hearted1 clear-headed1 strong1 courageous1 and devout men in relation to witchcraft matters4 ,many old beliefs may be discarded2 many mistakes and errors of the past be shunned4 ,we are not called to grovel before our ancestors2 but shame1 shame be to us if we brand them with egregious credulity and infatuation1 solely or mainly because their senses perceived and they described events which we cannot explain if we grant to them clear1 sagacious1 and well-balanced intellects for reporting facts which they observed4 ,they were our peers in most good qualities and powers1 and deserve our admiration4 ,did we know the spot where the dust of ,charlestown's gifted physician reposes1 we might desire to see a modest monument there bearing the following inscription3-- ,,to ,,the ,,memory ,,of ,,margaret ,,jones1 ,america's first ,martyr to ,spiritualism3 ,who was hanged in ,boston1 ,june #ae1 #afdh1 ,because ,god had given her such ,organization and ,receptivities that beneficent occult ,powers1 using her successfully as an ,instrument in curing ,human ,ills1 ,so excited the ,consternation of a ,devil-fearing ,people1 ,that1 knowing not what they did1 ,they cried1 ,,crucify ,,her6 ,,crucify ,,her6 ,,ann ,,hibbins4 ,we lead attention next to one who moved in the highest circle of ,boston society--to an elderly lady of wit1 culture1 high connections socially1 and of friendship with many of the most prominent and virtuous people of her day4 ,so far as known1 hers is meager as a case of witchcraft1 attended by a less variety and extent of startling phenomena than most others2 but it well reveals the force of the witchcraft creed1 and the shifts of historians for explaining its only marvelous phenomenon which history hints at4 ,hutchinson says1 ,the most remarkable occurrence in the colony in the year #afee #afef 8 was the trial and condemnation of ,mrs4 ,ann ,hibbins for witchcraft4 ,her husband1 who died in the year #afed1 was an agent for the colony in ,england1 several years one of the assistants1 and a merchant of note in the town of ,boston2 but losses in the latter part of his life had reduced his estate1 and increased the natural crabbedness of his wife's temper1 which made her turbulent and quarrelsome1 and brought her under church censures1 and at length rendered her so odious to her neighbors as to cause some of them to accuse her of witchcraft4 ,the jury brought her in guilty1 but the magistrates refused to accept the verdict2 so the cause came to the general court1 where the popular clamor prevailed against her1 and the miserable old woman was condemned and executed4 ,search was made upon her body for teats1 and her chests and boxes for puppets1 images1 c42 but there is no record of anything of that sort being found4 ,mr4 ,beach1 a minister in ,jamaica1 in a letter to ,dr4 ,increase ,mather in the year #afhd1 says1 ',you may remember what ,i have sometimes told2 your famous ,mr4 ,norton once said at his own table before ,mr4 ,wilson the pastor1 elder ,penn1 and myself and wife1 c41 who had the honor to be his guests1 that one of your magistrates' wives1 as ,i remember1 was hanged for a witch only for having more wit than her neighbors4 ,it was his very expression2 she having1 as he explained it1 unhappily guessed that two of her persecutors1 whom she saw talking in the street1 were talking of her1 which1 proving true1 cost her her life1 notwithstanding all he could do to the contrary1 as he himself told us4' ,it fared with her as it did with ,joan of ,arc in ,france4 ,some counted her a saint and some a witch1 and some observed solemn marks of ,providence set upon those who were very forward to condemn her1 and to brand others upon the like ground with the like reproach4 ,the author of the above was born fifty-five years after the execution of ,mrs4 ,hibbins1 and his account of her was not published till #agfd1 that is1 one hundred and eight years after her decease4 ,in his youth he may have conversed with aged people who were living at the time of the trial and execution of this woman1 and may have received from them their notions concerning her temper and character4 ,but if he did1 his informers1 during more than half a century before he was old enough to be an intelligent listener1 had been living in the midst of people who were ashamed of the treatment which they and their fathers had bestowed upon reputed witches4 ,thus ashamed and yielding to an almost universal propensity in men to make their own imputed errors and crimes seem slight1 trivial1 and excusable as possible1 nothing would be more natural than a general propensity to vilify the sufferers1 under a mistaken1 though common1 notion that the vileness of the persecuted excuses the wrong of the persecutors4 ,whether ,hutchinson1 in his youth1 received from any source special mental biases which inclined him to regard all who suffered for witchcraft as quarrelsome and vicious1 cannot now be ascertained2 but it is obvious from his epithets that his disposition let him very readily apply to such persons terms of very decided disparagement4 ,he spoke of one ,mary ,oliver as a poor wretch2 also of ,mrs4 ,hibbins as the miserable old woman1 and specified the natural crabbedness of her temper which made her turbulent and quarrelsome4 ,he implies that such traits were both the grounds and the sum of the charge and proofs of her witchcraft1 and does all this without adducing a particle of evidence that she possessed such a temper1 or was either turbulent or quarrelsome4 ,his allegations seem like the offspring of either blinding contempt or of deluded fancy1--yes1 deluded1--for surely clear-eyed fancy must have foreseen that after ages could never believe that the highest court in the colony found natural crabbedness of temper1 and consequent turbulence1 satisfactory proof of an explicit compact with the devil1 and therefore punishable by death4 ,the insufficiency and probable inaccuracy of his reasons for the arraignment and condemnation of this person1 will be more clearly exhibited further on1 and mainly in extracts from a later historian4 ,mr4 ,beach's letter1 quoted by ,hutchinson1 gives distinct indication that ,mrs4 ,hibbins was endowed with faculties which were vastly more likely to out-work what her age deemed witchcraft1 than was any amount of bad temper and crabbedness4 ,she had more wit than her neighbors2 she unhappily guessed that two of her persecutors1 whom she saw talking in the street1 were talking of her1 which1 proving true1 cost her her life4 ,here is indication of probability that this lady1 as did ,margaret ,jones1 possessed ability to comprehend the conversation of far distant parties1 or to sense in the thoughts of some absent people with whom she came in rapport4 ,similar abilities are possessed and exercised by many persons in these days1 who have constitutional endowments of a kind which were formerly believed to be diabolical acquisitions1 and were then deemed proofs of witchcraft--proofs of compact with ,satan4 ,it fared with her1 says ,hutchinson1 as it did with ,joan of ,arc in ,france4 ,some counted her a saint and some a witch4 ,in these words the historian himself furnishes cause for distrusting the justice of ascribing to her a crabbed temper and habitual quarrelsomeness4 ,for who1 in any community1 would ever count one a saint who manifested such offensive qualities to any great extent as he ascribed to her8 ,surely no one would4 ,and yet he states that very many persons did so count ,mrs4 ,hibbins4 ,doubtless among her advocates was your famous ,mr4 ,norton1 a very eminent1 sagacious1 and able minister in ,boston4 ,there was enough about her to draw out from ,hutchinson the concession that the public here was divided in judgment concerning her character1 as it formerly was in ,france concerning ,joan of ,arc1 that ,maid of ,orleans1 who heard and obeyed voices from out the unseen4 ,crabbedness of temper and quarrelsomeness were not grounds on which any portion of the people would count her a saint4 ,the historian refutes his own position4 ,a more recent searcher for causes of her fate perceived1 and very clearly pointed out1 the inaccuracy and obvious insufficiency of ,hutchinson's grounds and reasons why ,mrs4 ,hibbins was arraigned and convicted1 but proceeded to assign others which are scarcely less inadequate and improbable4 ,he writes as follows1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbb1 ,hist4 of ,witchcraft3-- ,while it is hardly worthy of being considered a sufficient explanation of the matter1--it being beyond belief1 that1 even at that time1 a person could be condemned and executed merely on account of a 'crabbed temper1'--it is not consistent with the facts as made known to us from the record-offices4 ,she could not have been so reduced in circumstances as to produce such extraordinary effects upon her character1 for she left a good estate4444 ,the only clew we have to the kind of evidence bearing upon the charge of witchcraft that brought this recently bereaved widow to so cruel and shameful a death1 is in a letter written by a clergyman in ,jamaica to ,increase ,mather 7as quoted above74 ,nothing1 ,upham adds1 was more natural than for her to suppose1 knowing the parties1 witnessing their manner1 considering their active co-operation in getting up the excitement against her1 which was then the all-engrossing topic1 that they were talking about her4 ,but1 in the blind infatuation of the time1 it was considered proof positive of her being possessed1 by the aid of the devil1 of supernatural insight--precisely as1 forty years afterward1 such evidence was brought to bear with telling effect against ,george ,burroughs4444 ,the truth is1 that the tongue of slander was let loose upon her1 and the calumnies circulated by reckless gossip became so magnified and exaggerated1 and assumed such proportions1 as enabled her vilifiers to bring her under the censure of the church1 and that emboldened them to cry out against her as a witch4 ,some of our quotations are introduced quite as much for the purpose of exhibiting the animus1 short-comings1 and over-doings of the historians themselves1 as for elucidating the general subject of witchcraft4 ,we learn from the pages of the work from which the above extract was taken1 that ,mrs4 ,hibbins was sister of ,richard ,bellingham1 deputy-governor of the province at the very time of her trial1 and that her highly-esteemed husband had left her an estate which placed her far above poverty4 ,it may fairly be presumed that both her social and pecuniary conditions were very respectable4 ,upham perceives and forcibly comments upon the inadequacy of the grounds upon which ,hutchinson attempted to account for her conviction and execution4 ,that earlier historian evinced1 on very many of his pages1 his persuasion1 or at least a purpose to persuade his readers1 that all the peculiar and disturbing phenomena of witchcraft were of exclusively mundane origin1 and that temper1 trick1 imposture1 deception1 and the like1 produced them all4 ,this persuasion made him somewhat impatient of the whole matter1 uncareful to scan all the facts before him1 or keep his inferences in fair and broad harmony with them4 ,it made him rashly severe4 ,without indicating a shadow of reason why he does so1 he calls this widow of one of ,boston's most esteemed merchants and public men--this sister of the deputy-governor of the province--this woman of more wit than her neighbors--this woman befriended by the eminent minister ,john ,norton--this woman not in poverty--this woman whom he ought to have known1 did1 in her lowest condition1 even when a convict in prison and doomed to the gallows--did1 in this dire extremity1 bespeak and obtain the friendly offices of six or eight of the leading men of the city1 and therefore presumably had their respect--such a one1 ,hutchinson gratuitously calls a miserable old woman2 and in doing it reveals the careless and heartless historian of those who had come under ban for witchcraft4 ,upham1 going to the probate records and finding the will of ,mrs4 ,hibbins1 which was made a few days after her sentence of death1 is able to present her in a different aspect4 ,his comments upon her1 as she is revealed by the will and its codicils1 are as follows1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbe3-- ,the whole tone and manner of these instruments give evidence that she had a mind capable of rising above the power of wrong1 suffering1 and death itself4 ,they show a spirit calm and serene4 ,the disposition of her property indicates good sense1 good feeling1 and business faculties suitable to the occasion4 ,in the body of the will1 there is not a word1 a syllable1 or a turn of expression1 that refers to or is in the slightest degree colored by her peculiar situation4 ,in the codicil there is this sentence3 ',my desire is that all my overseers would be pleased to show so much respect unto my dead corpse1 as to cause it to be decently interred1 and1 if it may be1 near my late husband4 ,perusal and study of her will and its appendages induced the later historian to speak of ,ann ,hibbins as this recently bereaved widow--a phrase much more agreeable1 and seemingly vastly more just in application to her1 than miserable old woman4 ,in that will she names as overseers and administrators of her estate1 ,captain ,thomas ,clarke1 ,lieutenant ,edward ,hutchinson1 ,lieutenant ,william ,hudson1 ,ensign ,joshua ,scottow1 and ,cornet ,peter ,oliver2 also in a codicil1 she says1 ,i do earnestly desire my loving friends1 ,captain ,johnson and ,edward ,rawson1 to be added to the rest of the gentlemen mentioned as overseers of my will4 ,upham1 having stated the above1 says1 ,it can hardly be doubted that these persons--and they were all leading citizens--were known by her to be among her friends4 ,yes1 the presumption is very fair1 amounting to almost positive proof1 that many of the prominent and best people of the town were her friends4 ,the appearance is1 that her social walk was wide away from the purlieus of common mundane diabolism and billingsgate4 ,the vulgar would see her standing off beyond their reach1 and waste no breath upon her4 ,only the respectable and influential could touch her to her essential harm4 ,we commend and thank the later historian for bringing this persecuted woman out into such light as shows that she may have been equal in all good qualities to the best of her persecutors4 ,but his reasons for her persecution and condemnation are scarcely more adequate or credible than those of ,hutchinson4 ,we ascribed to him the faculties of a fictionist1 and he used them when he said1 ,the truth is1 that the tongue of slander was let loose upon her4 ,the former historian imputed certain offensive acts or traits to both ,margaret ,jones and ,ann ,hibbins severally1 which he assumed to be the provoking causes of public vengeance4 ,he deemed the sufferers themselves doers of the intolerable wrongs4 ,but his successor makes her beneficence the crime for which ,mrs4 ,jones suffered2 and the origination and utterance of slander by the public1 the cause of death to ,mrs4 ,hibbins4 ,the earlier writer was lenient toward the public and severe upon the accused women4 ,the later was kind toward the women1 but1 by necessary implication1 intensely aspersory upon the great body of the people2 for he makes the public hang one because of her successful medical practice by the use of only simple remedies1 and another because of slanders which itself had poured out upon her4 ,his charge of slander is fictitious4 ,he adduces no evidence that the lady was slandered1 and we have met with none anywhere4 ,and were it true1 it is quite as much beyond belief that even at that time a person could be condemned and executed merely on account of being slandered1 as it is that one could have then been thus treated on account of a crabbed temper solely4 ,a much more probable cause of the persecution of ,mrs4 ,hibbins than either of the historians drew forth and rested upon1 lurks in that language of famous ,mr4 ,norton1 which says that she having more wit than her neighbors1 unhappily guessed that two of her persecutors1 whom she saw talking in the street1 were talking of her1 which proving true1 cost her her life4 ,upham1 commenting upon that1 says1 ,nothing was more natural than for her to suppose1 knowing the parties1 witnessing their manner1 considering their active co-operation in getting up the excitement against her1 which was then the all-engrossing topic1 that they were talking about her4 ,whence and how did the accomplished rhetorician learn that those two persecutors were active co-operators1 or that they were in any degree concerned in getting up the excitement against her8 ,how know that their manner was expressive of any particular topic of conversation8 ,how know that she or her case was the then all-engrossing topic8 ,he put forth assumptions as though they were historic facts4 ,no ancient record is credited with them2 none contains them that we have met with4 ,he could not well know them to be true4 ,they are fairly reasonable fictions2 but we must doubt whether they are either known or knowable as facts4 ,they would be agreeable amplifications if they did not tend to mislead and blind2 they would be beauties1 and not blemishes1 if the soundness and sufficiency of their underlying theory or assumption were conceded4 ,but it is not4 ,common sense cannot concede it4 ,boston was neither doltish enough nor wicked enough to generate and sustain slander of such quantity and quality as would force one of her ladies of wit and high connections to die ignominiously on the gallows--never1 never4 ,neither the temper of the woman herself1 nor any combined baseness and malice that ever existed in the orderly and religious town of ,boston1 is admissible as the chief cause of that woman's execution4 ,her own wit was the historic1 and1 when defined and illustrated1 may appear to be the real cause4 ,whether ,mrs4 ,hibbins received on that occasion1 and might have been accustomed to get1 knowledge by other than man's ordinary processes1 and to such extent and of such kind as implied her possession of some faculties above or distinct from great powers at guessing1 can best be inferred by looking at the views of her utterances which were taken by those who heard them4 ,their persecution of her unto death tells what those views were4 ,have historians made fair and full use of the very small historic basis extant1 for accounting for the state and nature of public feeling among the neighbors of this woman8 ,we think not4 ,her wit1 the true corner-stone1 has not been their basis of explanation4 ,when she saw two known persecutors talking1 the circumstances may or may not have been helpful to a correct guess at the topic of their conversation then4 ,but--but these men1 ,upham assumes1 were already known to her as her persecutors4 ,therefore something must have occurred before that time which had aroused persecution of her4 ,these men are called two of her persecutors1 which intimates that she already may have had more than two1 and admits the supposition that she may have had very many such1 both prior to and at the very time when she made the particular guess whose accuracy has been so plausibly commented upon4 ,something1 antecedent to that guess1 had set some minds against her4 ,yes1 if we may trust the conjecture of ,upham1 something had already created an excitement against her which was then the all-engrossing topic4 ,the cause of antecedent and existing excitement1 at the time she made that guess1 was seemingly unsought for by either ,hutchinson or ,upham4 ,or1 if they sought for this1 the most important thing connected with the case1 and essential to its satisfactory elucidation1 they found nothing which they ventured to publish4 ,omission to bring out the cause of public excitement1 prior to the guess1 makes previous history very unsatisfactory4 ,there is some light shining now which may enable the searcher in dark closets of the past to discover meanings there which former explorers failed to find4 ,no new1 positive1 distinct historical statements explanatory of this case have been seen4 ,we are confined to the same very narrow premises on which previous reasoners stood1 but we find different import of the same facts from any which prior expounders disclosed4 ,we join with ,upham in saying that the only clew we have to the kind of evidence bearing upon the charge of witchcraft that brought this recently bereaved widow to so cruel and shameful a death1 is in a letter written by a clergyman in ,jamaica to ,increase ,mather in #afhd4 ,that letter1 already quoted1 imputes to her more wit than others2 wit1 or penetration1 by which she sensed correctly the conversation going on between two of her persecutors4 ,that is the full sum of the direct historical evidence4 ,and what is involved in that8 ,is crabbed temper there8 ,no4 ,is slander there8 ,no2 but wit is4 ,standing alone and unexplained1 this wit amounts1 perhaps1 to but little2 and yet when interpreted by her sad fate it may amount to very much4 ,it suggests forcibly the probability1 bordering close upon certainty1 that she was endowed with some faculties which the sagacious ,mr4 ,norton called wit--but yet were such as could obtain accurate knowledge so surprisingly as to suggest that it was obtained by process as occult as that by which ,jesus perceived the private reasonings of scribes and pharisees--entrappers and persecutors of himself4 ,to-day1--when observation is almost daily meeting with operations of faculties1 in limited classes of men and women1 which enable them to read1 at times1 the secret thoughts and hear the secret and hushed utterances of some afar off1--that ,jamaica letter intimates enough to generate presumption that ,mrs4 ,hibbins might have possessed like faculties1 and that her exercise of such startled1 alarmed1 and almost frenzied a community in which such powers were deemed proof positive that their possessor had made a covenant with the ,evil ,one1 and received her surprising knowledge from him4 ,amid a people holding such faith concerning the devil as the colonists here entertained in #afef1 the exercise of such powers called upon all ,god-fearing and true men to rid the world of such a devil-minion as the knowledge possessed by ,mrs4 ,hibbins proved her to be4 ,a sample of light which is now available shines forth from the following letter1 and its rays are blended in those from the lamp that guides our feet while we move onward in tracing out the probable meaning reachable by following up the only historic clew to those powers of ,mrs4 ,hibbins1 her possession and exercise of which constituted a capital crime3-- ,,no4 #ajhe ,,washington ,,st41 ,,boston1 ,september #bc1 #ahgc4 ,,allen ,,putnam1 ,,esq41 ,,roxbury4 ,dear ,friend3 ,you solicit information in regard to hearing1 from the inner ear1 men and women speaking when miles away4 ,i have always possessed that faculty in a remarkable degree4 ,at one time1 when building a steamboat in ,southern ,illinois1 under peculiar circumstances1 ,i would often hear men say1 ',that man has no money to build a boat with2 he's a fraud2 and ,i pity those poor fellows who are working for him4' ,this was soon after ,i commenced her construction2 and although ,i did not want to hear it1 and tried ever so hard not to1 still ,i could hear them seemingly more distinct than though they were close to me4 ,one day in particular1 and at a time when ,i could see no way out of my difficulty1 ,i heard a ,mr4 ,cutting1 who was building some miles up river1 say to his foreman1 ',i wonder if ,mr4 ,kimball realizes that his timber will be lost4' 7,mr4 ,kimball was the man who furnished my timber and plank47 ,after the tide turned in my favor1 and it was known about town that ,i paid my men regularly1 ,i heard the remark1 ',that man is the most reticent man ,i ever heard of1' c4 ,the author of the letter does not state distinctly that in those two cases the speakers were very much too far away for his external ears to hear their voices1 yet such was his statement when he gave me1 previously1 a verbal account of the facts2 and such was his meaning1 therefore1 in the letter--the remainder of which here follows3-- ,at one time1 in ,cincinnati1 although three miles away1 ,i heard my landlady say to her daughter1 after ,i had been boarding with them a week1 ',i don't like that man--he is not all right2' and went on to tell her impressions1 what she thought ,i was1 which it is not necessary to repeat4 ,at first ,i felt indignant1 forgetting1 for the moment1 ,i was three miles away4 ,i finally concluded to say nothing about it when ,i went home at night1 as ,i thought at first of doing1 else they might think ,i was wrong in some way1 as they were both members of the ,m4 ,e4 ,church4 ,but1 when ,i got home1 having a good opportunity1 ,i told the daughter word for word what her mother had said about me1 and also her response to her mother after she 7the mother7 had got through berating me--which was1 ',what do you mean8' and the mother's answer to her exclamation1 ',i mean just as ,i say4' ,i requested the daughter not to say anything to the mother1 as it would do no good4 ,but in the course of the following day the mother got speaking of me again in much the same strain1 when the daughter could not resist the temptation1 and told her to be careful what she said2 and then told her what ,i had said4 ,the mother was thunderstruck1 and after a moment said1 ',he is a devil4' ,i happened to be in a condition such that ,i heard the mother's response4 ,this ,i told to the daughter that evening4 ,now1 if ,i had had a thought that the mother entertained such feelings toward me1 ,i might have attributed it to the workings of my own mind4 ,but as ,i thought they had diametrically the opposite opinion1 ,i concluded that it was another case of the inner hearing4 ,now1 if you can make use of this1 or a part of it1 you are welcome to do so4 ,should you desire any other cases1 ,i can furnish many4 ,with high considerations ,i remain1 ,d4 ,c4 ,,densmore4 ,the writer of the above1 when in conversation with me in my own study1 incidentally dropped a word which intimated that his inner ear was sometimes receptive of utterances put forth by embodied men and women1 who1 at the time1 were far away from him4 ,in response to my expressed wish to know whether such was the fact1 he detailed a number of cases in which he had had such experience2 ,i then asked him to give me one or two of them1 briefly1 on paper4 ,that request shortly drew forth the foregoing letter4 ,much more of the emphatically educational period of ,captain ,densmore's life was spent in forecastles and cabins of whaleships than in school on shore1 and he perhaps expected me to reconstruct his sentences1 in part at least1 before presenting them in print4 ,but such facts as his experience has encountered ought to be accompanied by the spirit of conscious knowledge and truth pervading his own vocabulary4 ,his language is sufficiently perspicuous to convey his meaning1 and possesses force which any considerable change would impair4 ,that spirit makes rhetoric and grammar of secondary consequence in the narration of facts and experiences which show that there exist capacities in some embodied human beings for receiving intelligence-fraught impressions1 in ways and under circumstances which the schoolmen and teachers of the world lack knowledge of1 but ought to know and get instruction from4 ,therefore the reader has been permitted to see in his own words the statement of one who has at times heard with his inner or spiritual senses the exact words of speakers who were miles away from him1 and thus shown that ,mrs4 ,hibbins1 through the possession of natural faculties1 though of a kind but rarely developed1 might have been something very different from a mere skillful guesser4 ,an assumption that she was helped by spirits is not needful to a satisfactory explanation of a mode in which she might have learned directly and instantly what far absent ones were uttering4 ,her own faculties1 independently of special spirit help or teaching1 may have permitted her to hear with perfect distinctness what would have been utterly inaudible by mortals in their ordinary condition4 ,measuring the marvelousness of her knowledge by the frenzy it produced in the community1 and the awful doom it drew upon herself1 we look upon her manifestations of wit as an outflow of knowledge gained through her own inner or spiritual organs of perception--either with or without the aid of spirits4 ,when commenting upon what he assumed to be fact1 viz41 that ,mrs4 ,hibbins made a correct guess1 and only a guess1 ,upham says1 that in the blind infatuation of the time1 it was considered proof positive of her being possessed1 by aid of the devil1 of supernatural insight4 ,thus he assumed that the mass of people in ,boston were under such an infatuation as could and did cause them to believe that very successful guessing required the devil's help6 ,they may have been infatuated1 but their infatuation did not act in that direction4 ,their senses and judgments for determining the forces needful to produce either material or mental effects1 may1 for aught that history states1 have been as keen as any people ever possessed1 and their general wisdom and thrift indicate that they did4 ,why1 therefore1 hastily brand them with the imbecility of being unequal to a fair1 common-sense estimate of the adequacy of causes to produce observed effects8 ,to do so is ungenerous1 unjust1 and uncalled for by their action4 ,it may have been1 and probably was1 their freedom from infatuation2 it may have been the very keenness and accuracy of their perceptions of the quantity and quality of cause needful to acquirement of knowledge which her utterances revealed1 that generated and sustained the hostility against ,mrs4 ,hibbins4 ,her accuracy in reading facts1 secret and transpiring at a distance1 was possibly1 on many occasions1 so far beyond what common experience or science was able to impute to either luck or skill at guessing1 that few1 if any1 could avoid the conclusion that she was receiving supernal aid4 ,anything supernal was then deemed devilish4 ,after public excitement had been aroused against her1 a very successful guess might possibly be evidence that the devil was its author1 but not till the excitement had acquired and exercised bewildering force4 ,some extraordinary sayings or doings of this lady obviously must have antedated the public furore1 else it would never have raged4 ,the nature and circumstances of the case indicate an almost certainty that minds around her1 while in their ordinary calmness1 must have witnessed sayings or doings by her which seemed to them more than natural--which were startling--were out of the usual course1 and readily distinguishable from ,,guessings3 because without something of this kind the excitement itself could never have commenced4 ,what first started the public terror of her is the most important question in the case4 ,the excitement did not spring up uncaused4 ,a successful guess was no great novelty and no marvel in times of calmness4 ,it could not then be regarded as diabolical4 ,the bewilderings of antecedent causes were needful to make a correct guess terrific4 ,excitement might metamorphose a guess into devil-imputed knowledge1 but a guess could not beget1 though it might intensify1 blood-seeking excitement4 ,whence the excitement itself--such excitement as could regard an accurate guess as necessarily the offspring of diabolical insight8 ,mrs4 ,hibbins lived among the elite of a province1 whose people were decidedly sagacious in matters of both private and public business1 and were also probably possessed of as high moral and religious principles1 as prevailed in any other community on the globe4 ,as before stated1 ,richard ,bellingham1 one of the very eminent men of the country1 and at that time deputy-governor of the province1 was her brother2 she was widow of one who had been among the most esteemed citizens of the town1 and she is credited with having possessed more wit than her neighbors4 ,therefore we are hunting for a cause adequate to excite public indignation against a woman of bright intellect1 of high position in society1 and standing under the shelter of near kinship with those in authority4 ,the cause must have been some strange one4 ,skill at guessing was too common and natural1 and does not meet the requirements4 ,we all unite in calling the people of #afef infatuated in relation to witchcraft4 ,but did their infatuation so affect them as to bring obtuseness upon their external senses and their intellectual ability for discerning the nature1 character1 and force of testimony and evidence8 or1 on the other hand1 did it not show itself almost exclusively in their reception and tenacious retention of monstrous items in their witchcraft creed8 ,which8 ,admit an affirmative to the first part of the inquiry--admit that senses and intellects were befooled by external manifestations--and you make those noble forefathers but a band of dolts1 heartless and bloodthirsty1 taking life because they had not wit enough to read clearly the significance of observed external facts or to see the bearings and force of evidence4 ,admit the second1 viz41 that their creed was father of their infatuation1 and you may look upon them as a band possessing clear perception of the exact meaning and logical results of all ,christendom's fixed creed upon diabolism1 and of unflinching purpose to fight for ,god and ,christ against the devil4 ,demonologically they were infatuated1 in common with the enlightened world2 while yet for keen observance of outward facts1 for just estimate of the adequacy of a cause to produce an observed effect1 for determining the just significance of any well-observed fact1 for discriminating application of evidence under the rules of their creeds both ,god-ward and devil-ward1 no reason appears why they were not equal to any other community anywhere4 ,their infatuation was not first on the practical1 but on the theoretical side4 ,it was devil-ward1 not man-ward directly1 though through the creed it became man-ward4 ,though perceiving the meagerness and improbability of ,hutchinson's solution1 ,upham1 ignoring what he avowed to be the only historical clew we have to a correct one1 which led directly to the woman's own wit1 was pleased to find the exciting cause of her persecution not in her1 but in other people1 and dogmatically said1 ,the truth is1 the tongue of slander was let loose against her4 ,such assumption--and it is bold assumption1 even if it be in accordance with facts--fails--entirely fails--to meet the fair demands of our common-sense requirements4 ,what started1 and extended1 and intensified that tongue if it did wag8 ,if its utterances were slanderous1 they were a mixture of falsehood and malice4 ,what lies were or could be fabricated against such a woman1 the nature of which the common sagacity of society there and then would not detect8 ,what lies which the truthfulness of society there and then would not decline to repeat against her8 ,what malice against that lady of high connections could so pervade society there as to generate a public sentiment that demanded and obtained her life8 ,the people of ,boston were not wicked enough to let falsehood and malice triumph in their highest court of justice4 ,something different from slander was needed to awaken and sustain the popular clamor against this woman1 and to cause the court to pass sentence of death upon her4 ,we granted to ,upham the faculties of a fictionist1 and he used them when he declared that the truth is1 the tongue of slander was let loose upon her4 ,the truth is1 neither he nor any other one among us at this day1 knows whether that woman was slandered or not4 ,she may have been1 but it is only matter of conjecture1 and should not be put forth as truth4 ,something more than slander in its utmost expandings and accretions was needful to the tragic results which ensued4 ,we recur again to the only historical cause of excitement against this lady1 viz41 ,norton's hint that she possessed such marvelous wit for guessing1 as ,upham supposes the people around her considered proof positive of her being possessed1 by the aid of the devil1 of supernatural insight4 ,that hint unlocks a door behind which may be found a more adequate and philosophical cause of her arraignment and condemnation than has hitherto been assigned4 ,since many persons now possess1 she too may have possessed constitutional faculties1 which1 at times1 enabled her to sense1 comprehend1 and enunciate facts and truths which it was impossible for her to learn by man's ordinary processes4 ,admit simply that she may have possessed intuitive faculties which read the thoughts of others or sensed afar the spirit of sounds1 and solution of all mysteries about her is made4 ,wide awake1 keen-sighted1 good people may have seen in her the exercise of such powers as were clearly1 distinctly1 and beyond all question1 extraordinary1--yes1 supermundane4 ,what then8 ,why1 by all fair logic from ,christendom's faith at that time1 the devil must be her teacher1 and she must be his covenanted servant4 ,such a helper of ,satan1 however high in character or station1 must be deprived of power to work for him4 ,very wonderful revelations1 such as disclosures of the secret thoughts and private conversations of other and distant persons1 being a few times repeated by her1 what could people1 true to their ,god and their creed1 do less than demand her execution8 ,nothing--nothing less4 ,their infatuated but sincere belief about the devil plainly and with mighty force called for her blood4 ,and this not because of any crabbedness in her--not because of any lies about her--not because of malice toward her--not because of the tongue of slander--but because of facts1 unquestionable facts1 outwrought through her1 which the tongue of truth might dutifully publish and republish throughout the town4 ,the trouble1 the murderous impulses1 sprang from the creed1 and especially from those parts of it which made any and all mysterious and disturbing outworkings devilish in their source1 and which taught that the devil could act through no human beings but such as had made a voluntary compact to serve him4 ,those who had covenanted with him must die4 ,mrs4 ,hibbins was born with mediumistic faculties1 and because of her legitimate use of these1 the faith of her times conscientiously took her life4 ,it gladdens the heart to find a view which legitimately permits ,mrs4 ,hibbins to have been a bright1 refined1 high-toned1 and most estimable lady2 and at the same time lessens the blackness of the cloud which has long hung over her judges and executioners4 ,they were not so weak and wicked as to doom one to die because of temper1 nor so villainous as to slander away a lady's life4 ,stern religious adherence and application of an honest1 though deluded faith1 made them executioners of all such as had exhibited powers which in the dim light of their philosophy and science seemed supernatural4 ,their weakness consisted of such strong faith as could1 and in emergencies must1 put in abeyance the kindlier sentiments of their hearts4 ,their great infirmity1 which was then a general one throughout ,christendom1 was solely infatuation devil-ward4 ,we charge our ancestors with infatuation4 ,people in all ages and nations have1 no doubt1 been subject to its influence4 ,perhaps every individual man and woman is more or less swayed by it4 ,each one in respect to some things may act without his usual good judgment1 and contrary to the dictates of reason4 ,the people of ,boston were obviously debarred1 by their infatuation devil-ward1 from perceiving that ,mrs4 ,hibbins might have received extraordinary gifts from some other giver than the great evil devil4 ,and is it impossible that infatuation influenced her recent historian first to reject the historic wit1 and substitute for it fancied slander1 as cause for the excitement against her1 and then put his substitution forth as the truth2 though both common sense and sound philosophy see at a glance1 first1 that it is only a conjecture1 and secondly1 that it is entirely inadequate to produce the effects which it was fabricated to account for8 ,in doing this he seemingly acted without his usual good judgment1 and contrary to the appropriate dictates of his enlightened reason--was infatuated4 ,both of the two historians above quoted1 virtually assumed that there never occurred here any phenomena1 either mental or physical1 which were not wrought out by agents1 forces1 and faculties purely mundane4 ,therefore the facts of history necessarily pushed them up to make implied1 and often explicit1 allegation that whole communities of resolute1 wide-awake1 energetic people1 were possessors of external senses which were pitifully and superlatively deludible--possessors of enormous general credulity--of perceptions and judgments woefully warped and benighted in matters generally1 excepting only a few of their girls and old women1 who manifested cunning and deviltry supreme in making high sport out of the weaknesses of their elders and betters4 ,having driven stakes beyond which nature and natural forces must not go under forfeiture of historic recognition1 anything not explainable by forces recognized within those stakes1 is accounted for by the sage exclamation1 ,but that was a time of great credulity2 or in the blind infatuation of the time1 things were thus and so4 ,we are willing to grant the existence of much credulity and infatuation both of old and now1 but are not willing to allow that the facts of seeing what some other persons have not seen1 and knowing the existence and partial operations of some forces in nature which some people have not paid attention to1 are proof of either great credulity or blind infatuation4 ,had the later historian been free from all infatuation1 he could have learned from passing developments that ,mrs4 ,hibbins probably1 at times1 was essentially a liberated spirit1 hearing what ,swedenborg calls cogitatio loquens--speaking thought--and that her repetition of what she thus learned took her life4 ,hers was not a case of necessary spirit co-operation1 was perhaps only one of uncommon liberation of the internal perceptive faculties4 ,because highly illumined1 her brilliancy was judged to be diabolical1 and therefore must be extinguished4 ,,ann ,,cole4 ,manifestations differing widely from any noticed in the preceding cases1 were observed in the presence of a ,connecticut girl named ,ann ,cole4 ,american witchcraft history has transmitted no distinct account of the use of human organs of speech by intellect that was foreign to the legitimate owner of the vocals used1 prior to the instance described by ,hutchinson in the following extract4 ,the history of ,ann ,cole involves all that we know of the ,greensmiths1 husband and wife1 mentioned therein1 and who were executed for witchcraft4 ,in #affb1 at ,hartford1 ,conn41 one ,ann ,cole1 a young woman who lived next door to a ,dutch family1 and1 no doubt1 had learned something of the language1 was supposed to be possessed with demons1 who sometimes spoke ,dutch1 and sometimes ,english1 and sometimes a language which nobody understood1 and who held a conference with one another4 ,several ministers1 who were present1 took down the conference in writing1 and the names of several persons mentioned in the course of the conference as actors or bearing parts in it2 particularly a woman1 then in prison upon suspicion of witchcraft1 one ,greensmith1 who1 upon examination1 confessed1 and appeared to be surprised at the discovery4 ,she owned that she and the others named had been familiar with a demon1 who had carnal knowledge of her2 and although she had not made a formal covenant1 yet she had promised to be ready at his call1 and was to have had a high frolic at ,christmas1 when an agreement was to have been signed4 ,upon this confession she was executed1 and two more of the company were condemned at the same time4 ,hutchinson also credits to ,goffe's diary the statement that after one of the witches was hanged1 the maid was well4 ,another account of this ,ann's case1 furnished by an eye-witness and personal hearer when she was in her trances1 has been transmitted4 ,the writer of it promptly made1 but afterward lost1 minutes of what he heard from her lips1 and about twenty years afterward wrote his remembrances of the manifestations1 and forwarded the following account to ,increase ,mather3-- ,anno #affb4 ,this ,ann ,cole 7living in her father's family7 was taken with strange fits wherein she 7or rather the devil1 as 'tis judged1 making use of her lips7 held a discourse for a considerable time4 ,the general substance of it was to this purport1 that a company of familiars of the evil one 7who were named in the discourse that passed from her7 were contriving how to carry on their mischievous designs against some1 and especially against her2 mentioning sundry ways they would take to that end1 as that they would afflict her body1 spoil her name1 hinder her marriage1 c4444 ,the conclusion was1 ',let us confound her language2 she may tell no more tales4'444 ,the discourse passed into a ,dutch tone1 444 and therein was given an account of some afflictions that had befallen divers1 among the rest a young ,dutch woman 444 that could speak but very little1 had met with great sorrow1 as pinchings of her arms in the dark1 c4444 ,judicious ,mr4 ,stone being by1 when the latter discourse passed1 declared it1 in his thoughts1 impossible that one not familiarly acquainted with the ,dutch 7which ,ann ,cole had not at all been7 should so exactly imitate the ,dutch tone in the pronunciation of ,english4444 ,extremely violent bodily motions she many times had1 even to the hazard of her life1 444 and very often great disturbance was given in the public worship of ,god by her and two other women who had also strange fits4444 ,the consequence was1 that one of the persons presented as active in the forementioned discourse 7a lewd1 ignorant1 considerably aged woman71 being a prisoner upon suspicion of witchcraft1 the court sent for ,mr4 ,haynes and myself to read what we had written4444 ,she forthwith and freely confessed these things to be true3 7that she and other persons named in the discourse7 had familiarity with the devil4 ,being asked whether she had made an express covenant with him1 she answered1 she had not1 only as she promised to go with him when he called 7which she had accordingly done sundry times74444 ,amongst other things1 she owned that the devil had frequent use of her body with much seeming 7but indeed horrible1 hellish7 delight to her4 ,this1 with the concurrent evidence1 brought the woman and her husband to their death as the devil's familiars4444 ,after this execution 444 the good woman had abatement of her sorrows1 which had continued sundry years1 and she yet remains maintaining her integrity4 ,ann ,cole was daughter of ,john ,cole1 a godly man among us4 ,she hath been a person esteemed pious1 behaving herself with a pleasant mixture of humility and faith under very heavy sufferings1 professing 7as she did sundry times7 that she knew nothing of those things that were spoken by her1 but that her tongue was improved to express what never was in her mind4--,john ,whiting to ,increase ,mather4 ,feb4 #afhb4 ,the source of ,hutchinson's information is not known4 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,whiting1 of ,hartford1 was an eye and ear witness to what he relates1 and therefore is the better authority4 ,some great discrepancies are obvious in the two accounts4 ,one hundred years after her day the historian said ,ann no doubt had learned something of the ,dutch language4 ,but the better authority1 because it is that of one who both saw and beard the young woman when under control1 and continued to obtain knowledge of her for twenty years subsequently1 says she had not at all been acquainted with that language4 ,the former says the supposed demons spoke through her sometimes in ,english and sometimes in ,dutch2 while the latter judged that the devil alone was speaker1 and implies that the language always was ,english1 though the tones sometimes were very exactly ,dutch4 ,the devil was judged to be there divulging the malicious purposes of a company of his familiars toward certain human beings4 ,here is manifested a propensity1 common to all describers of witchcraft scenes1 to impute to the great devil himself whatever was projected forth from the realm of mysteries4 ,a careful reading of the two accounts excites conjecture that ,hutchinson may have drawn his facts mainly from ,whiting's letter1 and yet failed to regard and adhere to opinions therein presented as to the actual speaker through ,ann ,cole's lips4 ,whiting says1 that she1 or rather the devil1 as 'tis judged1 making use of her lips1 held a discourse in which sundry living persons were named as being familiars of the ,evil ,one1 and plotters of mischief against some of their neighbors1 and especially against this ,ann herself4 ,this personal observer says1 that she1 or rather the devil1 described ,mrs4 ,greensmith and her associates1 and disclosed their evil purposes toward ,ann and some other mortals4 ,but the historian greatly metamorphosed the matter2 he writes1 that she was supposed to be possessed with demons1 who sometimes spoke ,dutch and sometimes ,english1 and that the persons who took notes 7,mr4 ,whiting1 ,mr4 ,haynes1 and ,mr4 ,stone7 mentioned the names of several persons as being actors or bearing parts in the conference1 444 particularly one ,greensmith4 ,wrong--entirely wrong3 these mortals were the subjects of a discourse2 were not speakers1 but persons spoken of4 ,thus ,hutchinson converted certain low-lived mortals into such demons as took possession of a human form1 and through it1 in varying languages1 held a dialogue in which they openly told to mortal ears their own malicious purposes1 and what mortals they were intending to injure4 ,stupid4 ,whiting makes the devil1 in varied tones and assumed characters1 speak out the names of the embodied culprits1 and tell of harms they had done1 and more that they intended to do4 ,sensible4 ,the devil or his alias often acts well the part of a detective and informer2 in this case he managed to bring ,mrs4 ,greensmith to confession4 ,possibly1 and only possibly1 that devil was only an influx of auras which found entrance to ,ann's inner perceptives1 put in abeyance her outer consciousness and outer senses1 and let her inner ones sense and give expression to the thoughts and purposes of some low-lived and lewd mediumistic persons in her neighborhood1 whose inner selves1 she1 as a relatively freed spirit1 could thoroughly read4 ,occult intelligences sometimes actuate the physical organs1 while yet the mortal's consciousness fails to perceive either the action or the will that prompts it4 ,the account of her life makes it apparent that ,ann1 as a woman1 had no affinity with the base and lewd1 but1 being mediumistic1 was caused1 either by design or by the out-workings of unconscious natural forces1 to disclose the baseness and lewdness of others4 ,she apparently experienced entrancement to absolute unconsciousness1 so that she became1 for the time being1 literally a tool--no more self-acting1 and therefore no more responsible1 than a pen1 a pencil1 or a speaking-trumpet4 ,condition like hers in that respect is experienced by many persons at the present day4 ,some utterances made by her lips when she was entranced were successfully used in court1 either as proofs1 or as helps for obtaining proof1 that certain other persons in her neighborhood were in league with ,satan--were the devil's familiars4 ,presentation in court of accusations that had come forth from her vocal organs brought a woman1 then on trial for witchcraft1 to prompt confession that the allegations were true1 and both she and her husband were condemned and executed4 ,similar resorts for obtaining clews by which to trace crimes to their authors are extensively resorted to now1 and frequently with success2 but the statements of the entranced and the clairvoyant are not adduced in court1 nor should they be1 because our world has not yet attained to reliable skill for testing their accuracy2 nor are high-minded and trustworthy spirits often willing to expose any guilty mortals to punishment by this world's tribunals and executioners4 ,how far the novel annunciation of their names and some of their practices contributed to the condemnation of the ,greensmiths1 husband and wife1 or whether it did at all1 is only matter for conjecture4 ,but that either some influences went out from them and acted upon ,ann1 or that some went forth from ,ann and acted upon them1 or that there was reciprocal action back and forth1 is only a fair inference from what is stated above1 taken in connection with that foot-note of ,hutchinson1 which is credited to ,goffe the ,regicide's ,diary1 and reads thus3 ,after one of the witches was hanged1 the maid was well4 ,no mention has been met with of any sickness about ,ann1 excepting the strangely induced fits in which she was used as the mouthpiece of the strange occupant or occupants of her form4 ,her becoming well may mean no more than a cessation of her fits1 or obsessions4 ,that these should cease after the execution of a person or persons with whom she had been in distressing and uncongenial rapport1 was perhaps only a natural result from the action of universal laws4 ,drafts may have been made from her system by forces not her own1 which helped invisible beings to act upon the condemned ,greensmiths for good or for harm4 ,occasion for such use of her elements or properties may have ceased as soon as the gallows had finished its work4 ,the fits ceased1 perhaps1 solely because drafts of special properties from her were discontinued4 ,after one of the witches was hanged1 the maid was well4 ,the execution of one person and the restoration of health to another were viewed by ,goffe as cause and effect4 ,the ,greensmith woman's confession of the use of her form by her familiar--revolting as the isolated fact would be to us1 and will be to the reader--was the controlling reason which influenced us to adduce the case of ,ann ,cole4 ,we get from the old woman ,greensmith an ancient indication1 which is paralleled by many unproclaimed modern ones1 that astounding possibilities reside within the scope and sway of forces interacting between the realms of matter and of spirit1 which possibly and probably may be availed of for elevation as well as for debasement of the human race4 ,many whispered facts of human experience are to-day indicating that the old woman may have made true statement of her personal experiences4 ,if degradation and fatuity permit the leaking out of some momentous facts of human experience which conscious vessels of fair soundness and delicacy will retain within themselves1 and hide from a profaning world's knowledge1 that world1 nevertheless1 may be entitled to hints at the existence of occult1 though only rarely perceptibly operative forces and permissions of nature1 through the only channels which have let them flow forth for the world's free observation4 ,the ,greensmith woman's fact may be regarded as representative of very many others of a like nature4 ,i know a man who once visited a married couple1 both of whom are intelligent and refined1 both estimable in character1 the husband being a highly respected member of one of the learned professions4 ,this couple1 at their own dining-table1 where they and the visitor were the only occupants of the room1 united in stating that once1 when they had just finished taking their midday meal1 and were sitting at the table opposite to each other1 the lady's chair1 with herself sitting in it1 was moved back by some invisible power1 and forthwith she1 by palpable but invisible arms1 was taken from her seat1 laid upon the carpet1 and there made to experience all the sensations of actual and pleasurable nuptial coition4 ,while such were her positions and sensations1 her husband remained on the other side of the table1 and they two were the only flesh-clad persons in the room4 ,one accomplished and truthful lady had such experience while her consciousness and all her mental faculties were fully alert4 ,nature enfolds astounding possibilities4 ,the human race1 in coming times1 may possibly be improved rapidly and extensively1 by designed infusions of supernal elements into fetal germs4 ,no evidence has come to us1 and no apprehension is entertained1 that such experiences ever eventuate in physical conception2 yet there are seen1 now and then1 glimmerings of evidence that supernal beings can and do inflow some of their own properties into the very marrow of some susceptible mortals of either gender1 or of both simultaneously and conjointly1 so as to modify physical systems in such manner and to such extent1 that their offspring receive1 at the very moment of conception1 such properties as will ever afterward render them either better or worse because of injections through the parents by intelligences whose presence and operations elude perception by our external senses4 ,possibly both the most beneficent and the most malignant of our race--both those whose moral hues most illumine1 and those whose shades most blacken the pages of history--were conceived while supernal beings held the parents either under strong psychological control or in deep unconscious trance4 ,the mother of the rough1 lustful1 and murderous ,samson was visited by a spirit being very terrible4 ,the mother of ,jesus was visited by the bright and glorious ,gabriel1 and enwrapped in an abnormally sound1 helpful1 or holy aura4 ,far away from ,charlestown and ,boston1 where the two women noticed in the preceding pages had their homes and met their fate1 ,ann ,cole was the unconscious mouthpiece through which invisible beings carried on dialogues1 partly in languages1 or1 at least1 in tones1 which she had never learned4 ,the manifestations through her were no imitations of anything before known on this continent1 so far as history shows4 ,her reputed doings were unlike any for which ,massachusetts had hanged two of her daughters4 ,from whom came the tones1 if not the words1 of languages which this possessed girl had never learned8 ,from whom came the things put forth through her which she knew nothing of8 ,and especially who improved her tongue to express what was never in her mind8 ,any satisfactory explanation of witchcraft must point out distinctly1 and must admit the action of some force competent to all such performances2 a force controllable and controlled by intelligence4 ,the facts in the case were set forth by a personal witness of many of them1 who wrote at a time when he was not under any excitement or hallucination which their novelty might at first produce1 but twenty years subsequent to their occurrence1 when their recorder should have been1 and no doubt was1 calm and cautious1 and when1 too1 the girl's own good character had been confirmed by good ,christian deportment through twenty years succeeding the marvels manifested through her organs4 ,if any history is worth reading1 ,ann ,cole's lips were used by intelligences not her own to express what never was in her mind4 ,either embodied intelligences--the ,greensmiths and their associates whose bodies were not present with her--used her vocal organs1 as ,hutchinson's account implies that they did1 or demons--spirits1 as ,whiting supposed--spoke through her form4 ,,elizabeth ,,knap4 ,at ,groton1 ,mass41 in #afga1 ,elizabeth ,knap was more singularly beset than most others of that century who were deemed bewitched4 ,the authority transmitting an account of her is exceptionally good1 having been written by ,rev4 ,samuel ,willard1 minister then at ,groton1 in the prime and vigor of life4 ,he had graduated at ,harvard ,college twelve years before1 afterward became minister at the ,old ,south ,church in ,boston1 and was for several years at the head of ,harvard ,college4 ,the girl in question was his pupil1 residing in his family during the earlier portion of her affliction1 and was under his watch till its close4 ,his opportunities for observing the case in its rise and progress were certainly very good1 and he made a journalistic account of its phases and progress under many specific dates from ,october #cj1 #afga1 to ,january #ae1 #afgb1 a space of eleven weeks or more4 ,he was an attentive observer and close questioner of the girl1 and also a cautious and intelligent chronicler4 ,she was at first subjected to extraordinary mental moods and violent physical actions1 which came on rather gradually1 showing themselves in marked singularities of conduct1 for which she1 when questioned1 would give little if any account4 ,strange1 sudden shrieks1 strange changes of countenance1 appeared first4 ,these were soon followed by the exclamations1 ,o1 my leg6 which she would rub2 ,o1 my breast6 and she would rub that1 it seeming to be in pain4 ,her breath would be stopped4 ,she saw a strange person in the cellar1 when her companions there were unable to see any such4 ,she cried out to him1 ,what cheer1 old man8 ,afterward came fits1 in which she would cry out sometimes1 ,money1 money6 offered her as inducements to yield obedience2 and sometimes1 ,sin and misery6 as threats of punishment for refusal to obey the wishes of her strange visitant4 ,she said the devil appeared to her1 and that she had seen him at times for three years4 ,he often talked with her1 and urged her to make a covenant with him1 which she refused to do4 ,november #bf1 six persons could hardly hold her4 ,the physician1 who for about four weeks had considered and treated the malady as a natural one1 now pronounced it diabolical4 ,she barked like a dog1 bleated like a calf1 and seemed at times to be strangled4 ,at length distinct utterances came out4 ,a grum1 low1 audible voice said to ,mr4 ,willard himself1 ,you are a great rogue--a great rogue2 and yet her vocal organs did not move4 ,the voice was replied to as being that of ,satan himself1 and its author responded1 ,i am not ,satan2 ,i am a pretty black boy2 this is my pretty girl2 ,i have been here a great while4 ,when he said to me 7,mr4 ,willard71 ,o1 you black rogue1 ,i do not love you1 ,i replied1 ,through ,god's grace ,i hate thee4 ,he rejoined1 ,you had better love me4 ,the strength shown through the girl1 the writer and witness says1 is beyond the force of dissimulation1 and the actings of convulsions are quite contrary to these actings4 ,through all her sufferings she did not waste in body or strength4 ,speech came from her without motion of the organs of speech4 ,also we observed1 when the voice spoke1 her throat was swelled formidably1 at least as big as one's fist4 ,she said she saw more devils than any one there ever saw men in the world4 ,no attendant sacrifice of life gave intensification of interest to this ,groton case1 and it failed to become prominently conspicuous among witchcraft events4 ,still it is more instructive on some points than almost any other one of them4 ,here first have we found in colonial history any statement that an intelligence speaking through a borrowed or usurped form disclosed who he was4 ,mr4 ,willard1 to whose care this girl was intrusted1 and in whose family she had been a resident1 was convinced that some other being than the girl herself was giving utterance through her lips1 and in harmony with a necessary inference from the general faith of his times1 addressed the unknown one under supposition that he was veritably ,the ,devil4 ,the being thus accosted promptly said1 ,i am not ,satan2 ,i am a pretty black boy4 ,the girl said she had been accustomed to see her visitant1 at times1 during three preceding years1 and that she saw more devils than any one there ever saw men in the world4 ,her notions in reference to the proper application of words were obviously just as loose as the prevalent ones in community then1 which deemed any spirit visitant whatsoever a devil1 or the devil4 ,an observer of such beings as she saw would to-day call them spirits4 ,when she perceived and called out to some personage invisible to her companions1 saying1 ,what cheer1 old man8 she plainly indicated that the being thus hailed was apparently neither more nor less than an old man1 and he1 judged by her address to him1 was by no means austere or repulsive2 and yet he doubtless was one of those whom she1 or whom the reporter of her utterances1 was accustomed to call devils4 ,there is no indication that she ever saw one specially huge1 malformed1 malignant personality1 or that she ever intended to indicate perception of such a one4 ,the purposes and moods of ,mr4 ,willard's interlocutor seem to have been playful and kindly1 rather than morose and satanic4 ,temporarily reincarnated spirits are often prone to smile at the long-faced and cringing thoughts which their advent evokes in persons not accustomed to interviews with them4 ,you are a great rogue--a great rogue1 and you had better love me1 can hardly be deemed ill-timed or inappropriate expressions from a lively boy1 whatever his hue1 who1 on being mistaken for the devil1 would naturally banter the sedate clergyman whose creed forced him to regard such a visitant as the ,prince of ,evil4 ,he said truly1 and in better spirit than the minister's1 it would be better for you to love than to hate me4 ,common fairness asks all men to regard any speaker's account of himself as true1 until some reason appears for distrusting him4 ,no word or deed ascribed to this pretty black boy1 who said he was not ,satan1 renders the accuracy of his statement doubtful4 ,distrust of him1 if it spring up1 will probably be the offspring of prejudices1 combined with ignorance of spirit methods of opening ways to reach man's cognizance1 and win him to seek communings with his preceding kindred who possess more experience and consequent greater wisdom than pertains to any dwellers in mortal forms4 ,our incrustations of ignorance and prejudice withstand every gentle appliance1 and yield only to sledge-hammer blows4 ,sensations1 conditions1 and various powers attendant on ,elizabeth ,knap were emphatically extraordinary4 ,detailed journalistic account of them having come down from a sagacious1 cautious1 truthful1 and cultured man--from one of the eminently trustworthy men of his generation--demands credence4 ,he says the strength of her body was beyond the force of dissimulation2 that six persons could hardly hold her2 and that the actings were contrary to those of convulsions4 ,another point is1 that through the eleven weeks of such rough exploits1 she did not waste in body or strength4 ,cotton ,mather speaks of some who were so preserved through similarly tortured states1 that1 at the end of one month's wretchedness1 they were as able still to undergo another4 ,similar preservation of flesh and strength1 amid fastings and most excessive activity1 are frequent experiences to-day with the highly mediumistic1 especially in the earlier stages of their dominations by invisibles4 ,speech came from her without motion of her vocal organs4 ,that much may pertain to simple ventriloquence2 but ,mr4 ,willard says also that we observed1 when the voice spoke1 her throat was swelled formidably1 at least as big as one's fist4 ,ventriloquence has not usually such an adjunct as that4 ,moreover1 the minister was convinced that the utterings were prompted by other will than hers4 ,this girl's experience abounds in evidences that her spirit faculties of perception were so freed from hamperings by the outer body1 that she could consciously see1 hear1 and converse with spirits1 and that her physical system was subject to control by them for speech in varied forms and modes1 and for strange and violent action by her limbs4 ,in parts of the narrative which we have not copied1 it appears that accusation came from her lips that ,mr4 ,willard himself and some other godly ones in his parish were her tormentors4 ,this was saying to ,samuel in most startling manner1 as one of old did to ,david1 ,thou art the man2 for at that day faith was common that the devil had not power to accuse a godly person1 could not indeed accuse any others than guilty ones of being contributors to outworkings of witchcraft4 ,if the announcement was true1 ,mr4 ,willard and other good ones1 according to the faith of some at that day1 were covenanters with the devil4 ,it was a fearful moment when such accusation of the good clergyman fell upon his ears from the lips of his tortured pupil4 ,his resort1 and that of another accused one1 was to prayer2 and we can readily fancy that petitions heavenward then rose up from the lowest depths of true and earnest souls1 and went forth1 in the girl's presence1 with such psychologizing power as loosened the hold of any spirit possessing her form1 and allowed her to regain full possession and control of all her normal powers4 ,this subject of spirit control retained consciousness during her entrancements1 or during the times when her body was subject to a will not her own1 as many mediums do at this day4 ,consequently she would possess more or less knowledge of whatever was said or done by her organs and limbs1 whoever controlled them4 ,being young1 she could scarcely be competent to make1 and keep in remembrance1 the broad severance of her individual responsibility for what was done by others and what by herself1 through use of her own physical faculties4 ,it was natural--almost necessary--that she should become self-condemnatory for having had done through her what gave distress and anguish to her friends1 even though she had lent no voluntary aid to the deeds1 nor had power to prevent their being enacted4 ,we presume her statement was true that ,mr4 ,willard and the others then accused were1 though unconsciously1 made to be contributors of aid to the controllers of his pupil2 true that she felt the workings of emanations from them4 ,twenty years afterward an afflicted one in ,salem ,village began to cry out upon this same man as being one of her afflicters4 ,and why8 ,because1 probably1 of constitutional properties in him which spirits could avail themselves of as helps for entrancing or controlling mediumistic persons4 ,the laws which governed detection of tormentors of the bewitched will come under more extended consideration in subsequent parts of our work4 ,results indicate that ,samuel ,willard's system possessed either material or psychic properties1 or both1 which exposed him to accusation of bewitching some sensitives1 whose perceptive powers could trace back to their source any mesmerizing forces that entered into and acted efficiently upon their own systems4 ,in his usual temper and judgment witchward1 ,hutchinson pronounced the sufferings of ,elizabeth ,knap fraud1 imposture1 and ventriloquism6 ,shade of ,samuel ,willard6 ,how look you now1 and how shall we mortals look upon the man1 who1 ninety years after your day1 casting a glance backward into the darkened chambers of the long past1 perceived yourself to have been a credulous dolt and simpleton1 unable1 by eleven weeks' close study and vigilant watch1 to determine that the source of marvelous phenomena manifested in your own domicile1 before your own attentive eyes1 was exclusively mundane8 ,from looking at the occurrences1 as they lay dormant and half buried under the dust which ninety full years had been throwing over them1 ,hutchinson saw at a glance that they were nothing but frauds1 impostures1 and ventriloquism4 ,you1 ,rev4 ,sir1 at first doubted their supermundane source1 but study of and deliberate reflection upon them for weeks satisfied you that your doubts were untenable2 you obviously was devoid of such credulity as enabled ,hutchinson to very promptly obtain conviction that your ,elizabeth was but an actor of fraud and imposture4 ,alas for your sagacity1 ,samuel ,willard6 ,upham makes no account of either ,ann ,cole or ,elizabeth ,knap1 though these were decidedly the best ,american prototypes of the magic-taught girls in ,salem ,village1 whose schemings and exploits he dwells upon at great length4 ,he claims that the witchcraft generators and enactors there studied1 schemed1 and practiced in concert at a circle1 and thus learned how1 and by what means1 to originate and perform it4 ,all known circumstances conspire to indicate that neither ,ann ,cole nor ,elizabeth ,knap had either visible teachers or co-operators in their marvelous operations4 ,therefore1 had the historian adduced those two cases--these good exemplars of the performers at ,salem--perhaps he would have been asked who trained the isolated performers twenty and thirty years before a necromantic seminary had been founded1 at which the arts of magic1 necromancy1 and ,spiritualism could be taught and learned4 ,was there anywhere a prior institution of that kind8 ,if not1 then we ask1 was any circle kindred to that at ,salem an essential--a sine qua non--to acquiring competency for skillful practice of witchcraft8 or of acts called witchcraft of old8 ,may not natural endowments sometimes be ample qualification for admitting the evolvement through one's form of very great marvels8 ,if not1 the sporadic performances at ,hartford and ,groton are troublesome to account for4 ,the advent of one spirit to ,elizabeth ,knap1 and his use of her organs of speech in carrying on a dialogue with the ,rev4 ,samuel ,willard1 is distinctly stated by that trustworthy chronicler4 ,also1 according to him1 the girl saw vast hosts of similar beings--yes1 more in number than any one present had ever seen men in their lives4 ,here1 surely1 is very strong testimony to the general fact that spirit action took sensible effect upon and among human beings away back in #afga-b1 in the quiet inland town of ,groton4 ,what is fit treatment of such facts and testimony from such a source8 ,should they be left unadduced and unalluded to1 as they were by one elaborate historian8 ,should they be called outgrowths from fraud and imposture1 as they were by another8 ,or should writers upon the subject1 in manly way1 both let the facts come forth and speak for themselves1 and leave the sagacity and veracity of their exemplary chronicler above suspicion1 till by facts1 and fair deductions from them1 they render it probable that ,samuel ,willard was the slave of such delusion as disqualified him for reasoning with common accuracy upon what his external senses perceived day after day and week after week8 ,shrinking1 by an historian of ,new ,england's witchcraft1 from distinct notice of ,willard's deliberate and carefully drawn conclusions from facts transpiring in his presence1 is not only a keeping back of important information1 but possibly is an implication either that ,willard himself was an unreliable witness1 or a witness on the other side of the question1 whose testimony would be troublesome4 ,generous blood boils with rebuke when boasted enlightenment either ignores or traduces the most competent and trustworthy transmitters of marvelous facts1 where so doing facilitates command of room for setting up modern fancies in niches where ancient facts have rightful foothold4 ,on the good authority of ,samuel ,willard we find that ,elizabeth ,knap saw hosts of spirits1 was roughly handled and spoken through by some of them1 and by one who said he was not ,satan1 but a pretty black boy4 ,this was a case of spirit manifestation4 ,,the ,,morse ,,family4 ,late in the year #afgi1 in the part of old ,newbury1 ,mass41 which is now ,newburyport1 very many startling pranks occurred1 of a kind which to-day are called physical manifestations4 ,these clustered mostly in and around the dwelling-place of ,william ,morse1 an aged man1 who with his wife1 then sixty-five years old1 and their little grandson1 ,john ,stiles1 constituted the whole family4 ,perusal of the records of this case has rendered it probable to us that ,mrs4 ,morse1 the little boy ,john1 and a young mariner1 ,caleb ,powell1 who was frequently in at ,morse's house1 were all distinctly mediumistic1 and that their systems either supplied1 or were used for holding1 instrumental elements and forces which spirits used in imparting seeming vitality1 will1 self-guiding and motive powers to andirons1 pots1 kettles1 trays1 bedsteads1 and many other implements and articles4 ,beauty and attractiveness seldom drape the foundations of even very elegant and useful structures4 ,laborers digging trenches for foundations1 and others placing stones therein1 are frequently rough beings1 in homely garbs1 from whom the refined and sensitive often turn away as soon as politeness and civility permit4 ,yet1 though rough1 coarse1 and unsightly materials go into foundations1 and equally rough workmen lay them1 the nature and quality of materials there used1 and of work there performed1 deserve inspection by any one whose duty1 interest1 or pleasure induces him to estimate with approximate accuracy the value and prospective utility of the structure which shall rest thereon4 ,palpable1 audible1 visible pranks1 seeming to be the willed actions of lifeless wood and iron1 possibly occurred in the seventeenth1 because they are common in the nineteenth century4 ,such pranks are foundations of arguments which prove a life after death4 ,a table1 a chair1 or an andiron1 manifesting all the usual signs of indwelling vitality1 consciousness1 intelligence1 self-willed action1 and of possessing animal senses and capacities1 testifies to its being operated upon by some unseen intelligence more convincingly than can the lips of the wisest and truest man the world contains testify to any fact whatsoever which seems supernatural4 ,vitalized wood or iron speaks as never man spake2 yes1 as man1 unless specially aided from outside of the visible world1 can never speak2 it addresses men's external senses directly2 it confides its teachings to the most trusted and most trustworthy conveyances of facts and truths to the mind within4 ,the oft ridiculed1 slurred1 contemned antics of household furniture are signs put forth to human view by occult operators1 whose stand-point1 of vision and powers of comprehension enable them to use some natural laws and forces for affecting man and his interests1 which human scientists have never clearly cognized1 which schoolmen do not embrace in their philosophies1 and therefore the cultured world generally has failed to put forth rational and satisfactory explanations of many marvels which the ocean of mystery is often buoying up on to its surface1 where they become perceptible by human senses4 ,modern mind has very extensively measured the credibility of witnesses to witchcraft facts much as the good woman did that of her sailor boy4 ,on his return home from a voyage around the ,hope1 he soon began to describe what he had seen1 and gave an account of flying fish4 ,stop1 stop1 my son1 said the mother2 don't talk like that2 people can't believe that1 because fishes haven't got no wings1 and can't fly4 ,well1 mother1 replied ,jack1 ,i'll pass by the fish1 and tell what happened in the ,red ,sea4 ,when we weighed anchor there1 we drew up on its flukes some spokes and felloes of ,pharaoh's chariot wheels4 ,that1 now1 rejoined the mother1 will do to tell2 we can believe that1 because that is in the ,bible4 ,in similar manner many people are prone to measure the credibility of witnesses by the reconcilability of the things testified to1 with the general previous knowledge1 observations1 and experiences of the world4 ,such a course is usually very well4 ,but the rule it involves is not applicable in all cases4 ,veritable flying fish exist1 notwithstanding the mother conceived them to be nothing but the fictions of her wild boy's lively fancy4 ,the facts of witchcraft may have been veritable2 many witnesses who testified to them may have been both truthful and accurate describers1 notwithstanding the incredulity of some historians whose philosophies are too narrow to enwrap many facts which exist4 ,the strange manifestations at ,morse's house1 we have said before1 were nearly all such as to-day are denominated physical ones2 that is1 such as are manifested either upon1 or through use of1 matter that is uncontrolled by any mortal's mind4 ,few if any intelligible utterances or communications imputed to invisible intelligences contributed to the consternation which was then excited in ,newbury4 ,this case differs very widely from either of those previously noticed both as to the objects directly acted upon mysteriously1 and as to the human organs employed4 ,it invites to extended and careful attention4 ,we must transfer to our pages numerous1 and some long1 extracts from the old records2 else we shall fail to manifest with desirable clearness and authority the multiplicity and character of those marvelous works1 and their probable sources and authors4 ,mr4 ,morse himself1 for aught that appears1 escaped all suspicion of complicity with1 or connivance at1 the strange doings4 ,he seemingly came forth from the furnace with no sulphurous smell about him4 ,caleb ,powell1 a young seaman1 mate of some vessel1 but then on shore1 was the first person to be legally accused in this case4 ,he was arraigned at the instance1 and on the testimony1 of ,mr4 ,morse himself4 ,some peculiar characteristics and habits ascribed to ,powell were such as would naturally cause him to be watched1 if strange doings appeared where he was present4 ,in ,annals of ,witchcraft1 ,woodward's ,historical ,series1 ,no4 ,,viii4 p4 #adb1 it is stated that ,powell pretended to a knowledge in the occult sciences1 and that by means of this knowledge he could detect the witchcraft then going on at ,mr4 ,morse's4444 ,the dancing of pots and kettles1 the bowing of chairs1 c41 was resumed with more vigor than ever when ,powell came there 'to detect the witchcraft4' ,upham1 vol4 i4 p4 #ddj1 says ,powell determined to see what it all meant1 and to put a stop to it1 if he could1 went to the house1 and soon became satisfied that a roguish grandchild was the cause of all the trouble4444 ,it is not unlikely1 that1 in foreign ports1 he had witnessed exhibitions of necromancy and mesmerism1 which1 in various forms and under different names1 have always been practiced4 ,possibly he may have boasted to be a medium himself1 a scholar and adept in the mystic art1 able to read and divine 'the workings of spirits4' ,at any rate1 when it became known that1 at a glance1 he attributed to the boy the cause of the mischief1 and that it ceased on his taking him away from the house1 the opinion became settled that he was a wizard4444 ,his astronomy1 astrology1 and ,spiritualism brought him in peril of his life4 ,it is no unusual thing for even wise men to write much more wisely than they know4 ,if ,powell correctly at a glance 444 found the boy to be the cause of the mischief1 it becomes probably a fact1 and not simply a boast1 that he was a medium himself1 that he was a wizard1 or knowing one1 and that his ,spiritualism1 more accurately his mediumistic capabilities1 brought him in peril of his life4 ,one authority says the play was resumed with more vigor than ever when he came into the house4 ,for some reason he was very soon arraigned and tried for witchcraft1 but not convicted4 ,we have little doubt that his optics saw the boy performing tricks1 and therefore can believe that he accused ,john in good faith2 just as the clairvoyant soon to be noticed accused the medium ,read4 ,powell probably saw the boy perpetrating the mischief4 ,but with what eyes8 ,the outer or the inner--his material or his spiritual ones8 ,and which boy did he see8 ,the external or the internal one--the boy material or the boy spiritual8 ,in evidence both that our explanations of ,powell's doings will be neither sheer novelty nor mere fancy1 and for the purpose of disseminating knowledge of highly important facts1 the following extracts are taken from an instructive and interesting pamphlet upon ,mediums and ,mediumship1 by ,thomas ,r4 ,hazard3 ,wm4 ,white ,co41 ,boston1 #ahgc4 ,i once saw ,read 7a well-known medium for physical manifestations7 affected by the abrupt introduction of light at one of his circles in ,boston1 at which he was1 as usual1 securely tied by a committee chosen by the audience1 and fastened securely to his chair4 ,the manifestations were after the common order1 and went on harmoniously until an ,indian war-song and dance were inaugurated4 ,the exhibition was very exciting1 and both the song and the dance became so uproarious and violent that1 although we were in a three-story back room1 ,i was apprehensive that not only the temporary platform might give way1 but that the attention of the police might be attracted to the spot by the noise4 ,near by me sat ,miss ,f41 an excellent clairvoyant medium1 who was earnestly describing to some of her friends the scene that was being enacted on the platform4 ,she stated that two powerful ,indians stood by ,read1 and that it was he who performed the wonderful dance4444 ,thus one of the best 'dark-circle mediums in the ,united ,states' was not only proved to be an 'impostor1' but taken in the very act of his trickery4444 ,from all that was occurring before us1 it was too evident that ,read was an impostor2 for ',miss ,f4 clairvoyantly saw him perform tricks which he palmed off on the public as spiritual4'444 ,but now1 444 mark the sequel1 and observe how easy it is for those who suffer their zeal to outrun their knowledge to be mistaken2 and how true it is that as spiritual things can only be discerned by the spiritual eye1 and material things only by the material eye1 so the spiritual eye can 7under ordinary circumstances7 discern only spiritual things1 as the material eye can discern only material things4 ,it seems that a self-lighting burner had been adjusted near the platform1 at which an experienced man from the gas-works was stationed1 with the gas-cock in his hand1 ready at a moment's notice to turn on the light4 ,this man was within hearing distance of ,miss ,f41 and must have heard her remarks2444 he gave the cock a sudden turn1 and in an instant all was light1 and of course the medium was--exposed--sitting fast bound in his chair1 with every knot as perfect as when first tied1 but in a dying condition from the effect of the tremendous shock his nervous system underwent by the sudden return of the unusual volume of elements that had been extracted from his physical body to furnish material clothing for his own double1 or some other spiritual creation1 that was performing the exhausting war-song and dance on the platform2 nor is it probable that ,miss ,f4 ever saw the material body of ,read during the whole time she clairvoyantly saw him4444 ,suffice it to say1 that the suffering medium was released from his bonds as soon as practicable1 but not until after three or four minutes had expired1 444 after which1 by the application of restoratives1 ,read was gradually revived1 and restored to his right mind and condition4 ,such statement of direct personal observations--coming from the pen of an aged1 but still vigorous1 gentleman of ample pecuniary means1 of more than average culture1 of acute perceptions1 of careful and critical observations1 who has spent many years in trying the spirits and contesting the strength and quality of testimony in their favor at every step1--who hates1 with a righteous and outspoken hatred1 falsehood1 fraud1 imposture1 oppression1 or hypocrisy1 wherever or in whatever cause they manifest themselves--is entitled to credence1 and gives important inklings of some occasional methods of spirit operations upon and around mediums4 ,from such a witness we learn that while a medium's limbs were bound fast1 and he claiming to be1 and known1 a few minutes before1 to have been1 sitting bound hand and foot on a stage in a room just made dark1 a lady clairvoyant there present saw him loose1 and moving about most vigorously over the stage1 doing things1 as to jump up and down1 as ,powell saw the ,morse boy acting4 ,the clairvoyant's inner vision saw ,read dancing--saw either a perfect semblance of him1 formed by use of special properties drawn forth from his system1 or else saw the veritable ,read himself practically then a disembodied and unroped spirit4 ,she no doubt actually saw thus1 and saw the essential man ,read loosed1 and dancing most vigorously4 ,a flash of light1 however1 let suddenly on at the time1 enabled all external eyes to see the external form of ,read sitting all fast bound upon the chair4 ,that case teaches that properties drawn forth from the little boy ,john ,stiles1 and molded into that boy's form1 may have1 by ,powell's interior vision1 been seen playing tricks with pots and kettles1 while neither the boy's consciousness1 will1 or physical muscles had the slightest connection with the antic articles4 ,facts showing such susceptibilities in human organisms as were manifested in the case of ,read1 are too significant and important for any scientist1 philosopher1 or historian to ignore1 so long as he claims to be1 or1 in fact1 can be1 a wise and helpful expounder of very many records of ancient marvels4 ,at page #cib1 vol4 ii41 of ,mather's ,magnalia1 ,new ,haven ed41 #ahbj1 account is given of this case wherein it is stated that1-- ,a little boy belonging to the family was a principal sufferer in these molestations2 for he was flung about at such a rate that they feared his brains would have been beaten out3 nor did they find it possible to hold him4444 ,the man took him to keep him in a chair2 but the chair fell a dancing1 and both of them were very near being thrown into the fire4 ,these and a thousand such vexations befalling the boy at home1 they carried him to live abroad at a doctor's4 ,there he was quiet2 but returning home1 he suddenly cried out he was pricked on the back1 where they found strangely sticking a three-tined fork1 which belonged unto the doctor1 and had been seen at his house after the boy's departure4 ,afterward his troublers found him out at the doctor's also2 where1 crying out again he was pricked on the back1 they found an iron spindle stuck into him4 ,he was taken out of his bed1 and thrown under it2 and all the knives belonging to the house were one after another stuck into his back1 which the spectators pulled out2 only one of them seemed to the spectators to come out of his mouth4 ,the poor boy was divers times thrown into the fire1 and preserved from scorching there with much ado4 ,for a long while he barked like a dog1 clucked like an hen1 and could not speak rationally4 ,his tongue would be pulled out of his mouth2 but when he could recover it so far as to speak1 he complained that a man called ,p----l appeared unto him as the cause of all4 ,the man and his wife taking the boy to bed with them 444 they were severely pinched and pulled out of bed4444 ,but before the devil was chained up1 the invisible hand which did all these things began to put on an astonishing visibility4 ,they often thought they felt the hand that scratched them1 while yet they saw it not2 but when they thought they had hold of it1 it would give them the slip4 ,once the fist beating the man was discernible1 but they could not catch hold of it4 ,at length an apparition of a ,blackamoor child showed itself plainly to them4444 ,a voice sang revenge6 revenge6 sweet is revenge4 ,at this the people1 being terrified1 called upon ,god2 whereupon there followed a mournful note1 several times uttering these expressions--,alas6 alas6 we knock no more1 we knock no more6 and there was an end of all4 ,in no other remembered account is that little boy credited with saying anything whatsoever4 ,mather reports that upon coming out of one of his scenes of torture so far as to recover power of speech1 he complained that a man called ,p----l appeared unto him as the cause of all4 ,that statement discloses a fact worth observing4 ,there was tit for tat between little ,john and ,powell4 ,each found the other a focus of issuing force that caused the witchery4 ,the sensitive boy probably saw and felt1 by his interior faculties1 that properties and forces from ,powell were applied to the strangely moving objects1 and also in producing his own sufferings4 ,powell1 too1 through his inner perceptives1 could learn the same in relation to the boy4 ,both were probably right in their perceptions1 and in their allegations4 ,mr4 ,morse suspected and complained of ,powell4 ,that is something in favor of deeming ,john the lesser focus of force in this case4 ,the mauling fist was once seen1 but eluded grasping1 as spirit limbs generally do4 ,at last1 a ,blackamoor child1 perhaps brother to ,elizabeth ,knap's pretty black boy1 was visible--and not only that1 but audible also4 ,if it was the spirit of either an ,indian or ,african child1 sympathizing with his own race1 and who had been taught to look upon all whites as oppressors1 revenge would naturally be sweet to such a one1 or to a band of such4 ,earnest1 heartfelt prayer might psychologically break their hold1 and induce them to say1 we knock no more4 ,though ,powell1 when tried1 escaped conviction1 yet1 said the court1 he hath given such grounds of suspicion of working by the devil1 that we cannot acquit him2 therefore the judges charged him with the costs attending the prosecution of himself4 ,such was equity practice in those days4 ,having failed to prove conclusively that the harum-scarum sailor boy was the devil's conduit for the startling occurrences among them1 the good people of ,newbury naturally proceeded to inquire what other person was the channel through which his sable majesty was pouring out malignity4 ,who1 next to ,powell1 among those present at the manifestations1 was most likely to have made a covenant with the ,evil ,one8 ,all eyes would turn instinctively to the spot where the deviltries transpired1 and to persons who were generally near by when and where the performances came off4 ,the inmates of the house of exhibition1 ,mr4 ,morse1 ,mrs4 ,morse1 and their grandson1 ,john ,stiles1 would naturally be very keenly watched and thoroughly scrutinized4 ,their traits1 habits1 and antecedents would be fully discussed2 it was almost certain that one of the three must be guilty2 and which of them was most likely to be the devil's tool8 ,result shows that ,mrs4 ,morse was pitched upon4 ,but why she8 ,her character was good--she was religious and beneficent4 ,but--but-- ,mrs4 ,jane ,sewall--,woodward's ,hist4 ,series1 ,no4 ,,viii4 p4 #bha--testified and said1 ,wm4 ,morse1 being at my house1 444 some years since1 444 begun of his own accord to say that his wife was accounted a witch2 but he did wonder that she should be both a healing and a destroying witch1 and gave this instance4 ,the wife of ,thomas ,wells1 being come to the time of her delivery1 was not willing 7by motion of his sister in whose house she was7 to send for ,goodwife ,morse1 though she were the next neighbor1 and continued a long season in strong labor and could not be delivered2 but when they saw the woman in such a condition1 and without any hopeful appearance of delivery1 determined to send for the said ,g4 ,morse1 and so ,tho4 ,wells went to her and desired her to come2 who1 at first1 made a difficulty of it1 as being unwilling1 not being sent for sooner4 ,tho4 ,wells said he would have come sooner1 but sister would not let him2 so1 at last she went1 and quickly after her coming the woman was delivered4 ,therefore1 some years before the time of ,mrs4 ,morse's trial1 ,mr4 ,morse1 in ,mrs4 ,sewall's own house1 volunteered to say that his wife was accounted a witch2 at which he wondered because of her beneficence1 and then he instanced her doings in the case of ,mrs4 ,wells as evidence of her goodness4 ,the accounts pertaining to her render it probable that ,mrs4 ,morse sometimes acted as midwife1 and show clearly that some people had previously called her a witch4 ,such reports being in circulation1 it is not surprising that some women should object to admitting her into their houses1 fearing the introduction of brimstone2 while others1 who had previously found her help very efficient1 would seek her assistance in hours of pain or sickness4 ,the point of most significance is1 that ,mrs4 ,morse had1 some years previous to the disturbances at her house1 been suspected of witchcraft4 ,why8 ,we do not know with any certainty4 ,but the appearance that she was a midwife1 whose labors involved more or less of general medical practice1 suggests the possibility that her simple remedies1 or her hands1 had sometimes produced such extraordinary effects1 as led people to surmise that the devil must be her helper2 just as1 for the same reasons1 more than thirty years before1 he was believed to be co-operator with ,margaret ,jones4 ,the conjecture naturally follows that she was highly mediumistic1 and that her intuitions and magnetism1 if nothing more1 enabled and caused her to be a worker of marvelous cures4 ,it was at the abode of such a woman1 and in apartments saturated with her emanations1 that the unseen ones frequently held high1 rude1 and consternating frolic1 during many weeks2 it was at the home of one previously reputed a witch4 ,an indication that1 even before the wonders occurred at her home1 she had been suspected of exercising also perceptive faculties that were more than human2 had been suspected of manifesting wit of the special kind which cost ,ann ,hibbins her life1 is given in the following deposition by ,margaret ,mirack1 who testified thus1 ,woodward's ,hist4 ,series1 ,no4 ,,viii4 p4 #bhg3-- ,a letter came from ,pispataqua by ,mr4 ,tho4 ,wiggens4 ,we got ,mr4 ,wiggens to read the letter1 and he went his way2 and ,i promised to conceal the letter after it was read to my husband and myself1 and we both did conceal it2 nevertheless1 in a few days after1 ,goode ,morse met me1 and clapt me on the back1 and said1 ',i commend you for sending such an answer to the letter4' ,i presently asked her1 what letter8 ,why1 said she1 hadst not thee such a letter from such a man at such a time8 ,i came home presently and examined my husband about it4 ,my husband presently said1 ,what8 ,is she a witch or a cunning woman8 ,whereupon we examined our family1 and they said they knew nothing of the letter4 ,mrs4 ,morse's possession of their secret was so unaccountable that the husband in astonishment asked1 ,is she a witch or a cunning woman8 ,the question implies that it seemed so extraordinary to the man that she should have knowledge of the letter and its answer1 that any process by which she could obtain it was seemingly beyond the power of mortals to apply4 ,either witchcraft or supernal cunning must have helped her4 ,when asked by the same ,mrs4 ,mirack afterward how she came to know it1 the witness says1 ,mrs4 ,morse told me she could not tell4 ,this indicates a mind so conditioned1 as many mediumistic ones now are1 that knowledge is inflowed to them1 they know not whence or how1 and1 literally1 they cannot tell whence it has come4 ,this gives presumption that she possessed mediumistic receptivities1 and the outworkings from such faculties would suggest that she received supernal aid4 ,the only imagined source of such aid at that day was the devil4 ,obviously she felt knowledge in her bones1 as the acute negress did in ,mrs4 ,stowe's ,minister's ,wooing4 ,though ,mrs4 ,morse was tried and condemned for witchcraft1 the sentence was never put in execution4 ,when on her way from ,ipswich jail to ,boston for trial1 she said1 among other things1 that she was accused about witchcraft1 but that she was as clear of it as ,god in heaven4 ,when saying this she probably spoke no more than exact truth4 ,she appears to have been a good woman4 ,the candid and generally cautious ,rev4 ,mr4 ,hale1 of ,beverly1 wrote that her husband1 who was esteemed a sincere and understanding ,christian by those that knew him1 desired some neighbor ministers1 of whom ,i was one1 to discourse with his wife1 which we did2 and her discourse was very ,christian1 and still pleaded her innocence as to that which was laid to her charge4 ,this examination occurred after her discharge from prison4 ,the aged couple came out from their severe ordeal with characters bright enough to claim the confidence and respect of good men in their own day1 and may claim as much from after ages4 ,there is no indication that the boy of the house1 ,john ,stiles1 whom ,powell accused as the great mischief-maker1 was suspected of being such by any other one of the many witnesses of the strange transactions4 ,those witnesses were much better judges as to what persons the wonders apparently proceeded from1 than any person can be to-day2 and one whom they left unblamed1 it is distinct injustice1 as well as folly1 for expounders of the case in our times to put forth and traduce as having been the contriver and performer of all that so agitated1 distressed1 and exposed the lives of those who sheltered1 fed1 and kindly cared for him4 ,modern historians1 however1 have been guilty of this great wrong4 ,it has recently been stated 7,woodward's ,hist4 ,series1 ,no4 ,,viii4 p4 #ada71 that1 what instigated him to undertake the tormenting of his grand-parents1 there is no mention as yet discovered4 ,this begs the primal question1 viz41 ,did he undertake to torment them8 ,to this inquiry it can truly be said1 there is no mention in the primitive records1 as yet discovered1 that he did4 ,there is no evidence that any one but ,caleb ,powell 7that swift witness7 suspected him of undertaking any such thing4 ,where the records are so extensive and full as in this case1 their omission to mention any other accusers of the boy is strong evidence that there was no apparent contriving or executing pranks and outrages by him4 ,the writer above quoted says also1 ,how long the young scamp carried on his annoyances 444 does not appear4 ,neither does it appear that he ever began or was consciously concerned in any such4 ,only in appearance1 and that only to ,caleb ,powell the clairvoyant1 and to the eyes of modern commentators1 was that boy in fault4 ,upham1 following the witchy ,powell's lead1 ignorantly regards what was done by mystical use of the boy's properties as being the boy's voluntary performances4 ,and regarding the boy as a great rogue1 and as author of all the great mischief1 he says 7vol4 i4 p4 #ddh71 ,his audacious operations were persisted in to the last4 ,we look upon that allegation as an audacious defamation of an innocent youth4 ,in this ,morse case we chose to present ostensible and reputed actors1 prior to presenting descriptions of the special scenes in which history makes them prominent1 because considerable knowledge of the age1 character1 and abilities pertaining to the chief supposed performers in the great ,newbury tragedy1 or semi-tragedy1 will be helpful1 if not essential1 to any well-based conclusion as to whether any one of them was the leading intelligence that brought it upon the stage1 and supervised and managed its apparent actors--and1 if either was1 then which one among them8 ,if neither of them1 then somebody else was manager there4 ,our instructive citation from ,hazzard discloses the occasional action of agents and forces that are not recognized even to-day by the community at large1 and therefore we wished it to be read in advance of facts which it greatly helps to explain4 ,way is now opened for introducing to those readers whose patience has sustained them through this long prologue1 the facts of the case as stated by ,william ,morse himself1 and sworn to by both him and his wife4 ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,william ,,morse3 which saith1 together with his wife1 aged both about sixty-five years3 that1 ,thursday night1 being the twenty-seventh day of ,november1 we heard a great noise without1 round the house1 of knocking of the boards of the house1 and1 as we conceived1 throwing of stones against the house4 ,whereupon myself and wife looked out and saw nobody1 and the boy all this time with us2 but we had stones and sticks thrown at us1 that we were forced to retire into the house again4 ,afterward we went to bed1 and the boy with us2 and then the like noise was upon the roof of the house4 #b4 ,the same night1 about midnight1 the door being locked when we went to bed1 we heard a great hog in the house grunt and make a noise1 as we thought willing to get out2 and that we might not be disturbed in our sleep1 ,i rose to let him out1 and ,i found a hog in the house and the door unlocked3 the door was firmly locked when we went to bed4 #c4 ,the next morning1 a stick of links hanging in the chimney1 they were thrown out of their place1 and we hanged them up again1 and they were thrown down again1 and some into the fire4 #d4 ,the night following1 ,i had a great awl lying in the window1 the which awl we saw fall down out of the chimney into the ashes by the fire4 #e4 ,after this1 ,i bid the boy put the same awl into the cupboard1 which we saw done1 and the door shut to3 this same awl came presently down the chimney again in our sight1 and ,i took it up myself4 ,again1 the same night1 we saw a little ,indian basket1 that was in the loft before1 come down the chimney again4 ,and ,i took the same basket1 and put a piece of brick into it1 and the basket with the brick was gone1 and came down again the third time with the brick in it1 and went up again the fourth time1 and came down again without the brick2 and the brick came down again a little after4 #f4 ,the next day1 being ,saturday1 stones1 sticks1 and pieces of bricks came down so that we could not quietly dress our breakfast2 and sticks of fire also came down at the same time4 #g4 ,that day1 in the afternoon1 my thread four times taken away1 and came down the chimney2 again my awl and gimlet wanting2 again my leather taken away1 came down the chimney2 again my nails1 being in the cover of a firkin1 taken away1 came down the chimney4 ,again1 the same night1 the door being locked1 a little before day1 hearing a hog in the house1 ,i rose and saw the hog to be mine4 ,i let him out4 #h4 ,the next day1 being ,sabbath day1 many stones1 and sticks1 and pieces of bricks came down the chimney3 on the ,monday1 ,mr4 ,richardson and my brother being there1 the frame of my cowhouse they saw very firm4 ,i sent my boy out to scare the fowls from my hog's meat3 he went to the cow-house and it fell down1 my boy crying with the hurt of the fall4 ,in the afternoon1 the pots hanging over the fire did dash so vehemently one against the other1 we set down one1 that they might not dash to pieces4 ,i saw the andiron leap into the pot1 and dance and leap out2 and again leap in and dance1 and leap out again1 and leap on a table and there abide2 and my wife saw the andiron on the table3 also ,i saw the pot turn itself over1 and throw down all the water4 ,again we saw a tray with wool leap up and down1 and throw the wool out1 and so many times1 and saw nobody meddle with it4 ,again1 a tub his hoop fly off of itself1 and the tub turn over1 and nobody near it4 ,again1 the woollen wheel turned upside down1 and stood up on its end1 and a spade set on it3 ,step4 ,greenleafe saw it1 and myself and my wife4 ,again1 my rope-tools fell down upon the ground before my boy could take them1 being sent for them2 and the same thing of nails tumbled down from the loft into the ground1 and nobody near4 ,again1 my wife and the boy making the bed1 the chest did open and shut2 the bed-clothes could not be made to lie on the bed1 but fly off again4 ,the disturbances commenced ,thursday night1 ,november #bg2 on ,december #c1 six days only from the commencement of the troubles 7see ,upham1 vol4 i4 p4 #dci71 ,powell was complained of before a magistrate1 by ,william ,morse1 for suspicion of working with the devil4 ,powell appeared for a hearing five days later1 on the #hth1 and the testimony quoted above was1 either then or at the time of the complaint on the #c;d1 submitted before ,jo4 ,woodbridge1 commissioner4 ,therefore the facts were of such recent occurrence as to be fresh in the memory of the deponent2 and his prompt suspicion of ,powell gives probability to the correctness of the statement in ,woodward's ,series1 that when ,powell came to the house1 pots1 kettles1 and chairs resumed their action with more vigor than ever4 ,powell's presence was helpful to the performance4 ,but the whole of ,morse's testimony is not embraced in the preceding4 ,there is extant ,a ,,further ,,testimony ,,of ,,william ,,morse ,,and ,,his ,,wife1 as follows3-- ,we saw a keeler of bread turn over against me1 and struck me1 not any being near it1 and so overturned4 ,i saw a chair standing in the house1 and not anybody near4 ,it did often bow toward me1 and rise up again4 ,my wife also being in the chamber1 the chamber door did violently fly together1 not anybody being near it4 ,my wife going to make a bed1 it did move to and fro1 not anybody being near it4 ,i also saw an iron wedge and spade was flying out of the chamber on my wife1 and did not strike her4 ,my wife going into the cellar1 a drum1 standing in the house1 did roll over the door of the cellar2 and being taken up again1 the door did violently fly down again4 ,my barn-doors four times unpinned1 ,i know not how4 ,i1 going to shut my barn-door1 looking for the pin--the boy being with me--as ,i did judge1 the pin1 coming down out of the air1 did fall down near to me4 ,again3 ,caleb ,powell came in as aforesaid1 and seeing our spirits very low by the sense of our great affliction1 began to bemoan our condition1 and said that he was troubled for our afflictions1 and said that he had eyed this boy1 and drawed near to us with great compassion3 ',poor old man1 poor old woman6 ,this boy is the occasion of your grief2 for he hath done these things1 and hath caused his good old grandmother to be counted a witch4' ',then1' said ,i1 'how can all these things be done by him8' ,said he1 ',although he may not have done all1 yet most of them2 for this boy is a young rogue1 a vile rogue4 ,i have watched him and see him do things as to come up and down4' ,caleb ,powell also said he had understanding in ,astrology and ,astronomy1 and knew the working of spirits1 some in one country and some in another2 and1 looking on the boy1 said1 ',you young rogue to begin so soon4 ,goodman ,morse1 if you be willing to let me have this boy1 ,i will undertake you shall be free from any trouble of this kind while he is with me4' ,i was very unwilling at the first1 and my wife2 but1 by often urging me1 till he told me wither and what employment and company he should go1 ,i did consent to it1 and this was before ,jo4 ,badger came2 and we have been freed from any trouble of this kind ever since that promise1 made on ,monday night last1 to this time being ,friday in the afternoon4 ,then we heard a great noise in the other room1 oftentimes1 but1 looking after it1 could not see anything2 but1 afterward looking into the room1 we saw a board hanged to the press4 ,then we1 being by the fire1 sitting in a chair1 my chair often would not stand still1 but ready to throw me backward oftentimes4 ,afterward1 my cap almost taken off my head three times4 ,again1 a great blow on my poll1 and my cat did leap from me into the chimney-corner4 ,presently after1 this cat was thrown at my wife4 ,we saw the cat to be ours2 we put her out of the house1 and shut the door4 ,presently the cat was throwed into the house4 ,we went to go to bed4 ,suddenly--my wife being with me in bed1 the lamp-light by our side--my cat again throwed at us five times1 jumping away presently into the floor2 and one of those times1 a red waistcoat throwed on the bed1 and the cat wrapped up in it4 ,again1 the lamp standing by us on the chest1 we said it should stand and burn out2 but presently was beaten down1 and all the oil shed1 and we left in the dark4 ,again--a great voice1 a great while very dreadful4 ,again--in the morning1 a great stone1 being six-pound weight1 did move from place to place2 we saw it4 ,two spoons throwed off the table1 and presently the table throwed down4 ,and1 being minded to write1 my ink-horn was hid from me1 which ,i found covered with a rag1 and my pen quite gone4 ,i made a new pen2 and while ,i was writing1 one ear of corn hit me in the face1 and fire1 sticks1 and stones throwed at me1 and my pen brought to me4 ,while ,i was writing with my new pen1 my ink-horn taken away2 and not knowing how to write any more1 we looked under the table and there found him2 and so ,i was able to write again4 ,again--my wife her hat taken from her head1 sitting by the fire by me1 the table almost thrown down4 ,again--my spectacles thrown from the table1 and thrown almost into the fire by me1 and my wife1 and the boy4 ,again--my book of all my accounts thrown into the fire1 and had been burnt presently1 if ,i had not taken it up4 ,again--boards taken off a tub1 and set upright by themselves2 and my paper1 do what ,i could1 hardly keep it while ,i was writing this relation1 and things thrown at me while a-writing4 ,presently1 before ,i could dry my writing1 a ,mormouth hat rubbed along it2 but ,i held so fast that it did blot but some of it4 ,my wife and ,i1 being much afraid that ,i should not preserve it for public use1 did think best to lay it in the ,bible1 and it lay safe that night4 ,again--the next day ,i would lay it there again2 but in the morning1 it was not there to be found1 the bag hanged down empty2 but after was found in a box alone4 ,again--while ,i was writing this morning1 ,i was forced to forbear writing any more1 ,i was so disturbed with so many things constantly thrown at me4 ,such is the account given by an eye and ear witness1 who had as good opportunities to receive sensible demonstration of acts performed as can well be imagined4 ,did he see1 hear1 and feel all that he testifies to8 ,has he left record of a series of facts1 or only of fictions which he set forth as facts8 ,was he a faithful and true witness1 or not8 ,who and what was he8 ,an aged shoemaker1 who ran the gantlet of a fierce witchcraft ordeal and came out with character sound and untarnished2 a man who was esteemed a sincere and understanding ,christian by those that knew him4 ,the strong words in his favor1 which came from such a trustworthy scribe as the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,hale1 on an occasion when circumstances would influence him to be careful and exact in expression1 are clearly indicative that ,morse's testimony was probably true and discriminative4 ,a sincere and understanding ,christian4 ,what qualities give better a priori promise of correct testimony than do sincerity and a sound understanding8 ,where these combine1 their utterances imperatively claim very respectful hearing by any one who is in pursuit of positive facts pertaining to human experience4 ,the history of him and his family1 during those ten or eleven days and nights through which they were enveloped in the waters of mystery1 trouble1 and consternation1 gives no indication that ,mr4 ,morse's reason ever yielded its normal and just sway over his actions or his words--no indication of his being blinded by any excessive or bewildering excitement or enthusiasm4 ,the fact that he himself wrote out with his own hand1 and in the very midst of the startling and hair-lifting phenomena1 a narrative of events which gives dates1 occurrences1 and experiences clearly1 in perspicuous and often terse language1 accompanied by appropriate specifications of circumstances which elucidate the character of the whole scene1 bespeaks a straightforward1 truthful1 unexaggerating mind1 self-controlled1 and moving straight forward in an honest statement of events actually witnessed4 ,our ancient records contain few testimonies that exhibit clearer or stronger internal evidences of exactitude and reliability than that of ,william ,morse4 ,the form1 language1 and tone of his account are all in favor of his intelligence1 discrimination1 and credibility2 so much so1 that1 taken in connection with his whole character1 we can conceive of no objection to crediting his narration1 excepting what shall be wrung out from the nature and kind of facts he swore to4 ,but neither their nature nor source was concern of his1 as a witness2 and his own sound understanding perceiving this1 kept him back from expressing any surmises or innuendoes as to who were the actual authors of his great annoyances4 ,the man understood his position as a witness1 kept his reason at the helm throughout the fearful storm1 and suspected and accused1 not the little boy1 but ,powell4 ,obviously his own senses1 unbeclouded by the mists of unreasoning excitement1 had witnessed the facts he stated1 and he knew that they had occurred4 ,his testimony is true4 ,how can the occurrence of such facts be explained1 or rather who produced them8 ,historians say that the little boy1 ,john1 did4 ,how could he8 ,had history-weaving heads1 when at work in the quiet study1 been as clear and as free from the blinding action of foregone conclusions1 as was that of ,mr4 ,morse amid the flying missiles about his head while he was writing1 their reason1 as his did1 would have asked their witness ,powell1 ,how could all these things be done by him1 the boy8 ,and the cowed witness would have replied to them in the nineteenth century as he did to ,morse in the seventeenth1 ,although he may not have done all1 yet1 most of them4 ,he would have backed down before the historians as he did before the better understanding of ,mr4 ,morse4 ,obviously to common sense1 the boy was incompetent to perform a tithe of what was ascribed to him4 ,no one but ,powell accused him4 ,the age of that boy is not given4 ,he is not known to have been called upon as a witness1 and ,powell says to him1 ,you young rogue1 to begin so soon4 ,these facts1 together with the absence of any words spoken by him to any one1 excepting on a single occasion1 lead naturally to the inference that he was quite young1 and perhaps also that he was apparently inactive4 ,at no age in boyhood1 nor yet in manhood1 could a single performer1 or a host of men1 have accomplished by unobservable processes and forces all that is distinctly stated to have been performed in and around the house of ,william ,morse4 ,any designation of its source which avows the mischief to have come primarily from the mind of little ,john ,stiles1 by necessary implication impeaches ,mr4 ,morse's powers of perception and observation1 and the worth of his testimony4 ,it indirectly1 at least1 accuses him of a great blunder when he suspected ,powell rather than little ,john4 ,on the hypothesis of modern historians1 the sedate old man--the understanding ,christian--was but making much ado about nothing1 or next to that2 for the little boy was not competent to much4 ,so little could he do alone1 that1 were he the chief deviser and performer1 ,mr4 ,morse was incompetent to distinguish with common acuteness between the ordinary and the marvelous1 or else he was an egregious fictionist and impostor4 ,far1 far better would it be both for himself and his readers if the historic instructor recognized1 and based his inferences upon1 facts well attested1 and sought for agents and forces adequate to manifest such results as were evolved4 ,vastly better would be history when founded upon broad comprehension of existing agents and forces1 and a firm basis in the nature of things spreading out wide enough to underlie each and all of the ancient marvels1 and admitting an imputation of them to authors whose inherent powers could bring them out to distinct cognition by human senses1 than it can be when it ruthlessly pares down the dimensions of facts1 dwarfs their fair import1 and impeaches the trustworthiness of those who solemnly attested to the truth of descriptions which have come down from former generations6 ,better1 much better would it be to honor the fathers by omitting to undermine and topple over their strong powers and good traits of character1 and perversely bring their positive knowledge1 gained through the senses1 down to the lower level on which modern speculation obtains convictions6 ,descent to free and reiterated insinuations and allegations that the best individuals and communities of old were infatuated1 credulous1 deluded1 stultified1 because some of their statements and actions are unexplainable by our theories and philosophies1 is unbecoming any generous and philanthropic spirit4 ,fair play calls for frank admission that giant facts occurred of old1--facts so huge that they cannot be stretched at full length upon the beds of modern science and philosophy1 nor be wrapped up in the narrow blankets now in fashion1--facts so huge that they cannot squeeze themselves through1 nor be forced through1 the narrow entrance doors of some modern mental chambers4 ,does the hugeness which debars them from entering contracted domiciles to-day prove their existence to be but fabulous8 ,surely not4 ,the sagacity and truthfulness of our predecessors were sound and good4 ,they recorded facts4 ,shame be to those who are ashamed to admit that their equals in mental acuteness and accuracy of statement may1 of old1 actually have witnessed genuine phenomena which justified their descriptions4 ,to brand the events as being the products of fraud1 credulity1 and infatuation1 because only modern limitations to nature's permissions and powers render them unexplainable as facts1 is shameful4 ,newbury1 in #afgi-hj1 was obviously visited and disturbed by giants4 ,to deem that the biggest of these were children of little ,john ,stiles1 is not only farcical in the extreme1 but it necessarily1 however indirectly1 asperses good ,william ,morse1 that sincere and understanding ,christian1 and also his equally good wife1 who passed through the severe ordeals of witchcraft scenes and persecutions1 and came forth untarnished1--asperses them by an imputation of incompetency to observe and describe with average clearness and accuracy events that passed before their eyes1--incompetency to give a truthful and unexaggerated account of what they saw4 ,every sentiment of justice begs for a tongue with which to rebuke the sneers that overweeningly wise witchcraft historians have cast upon the senses and the mental and moral states of the observers and describers of the great marvels of former days4 ,the foul broods of harpy adjectives which history has sent forth to prey upon the vitals of good characters for truthfulness and discrimination1 should be forced to unloose their talons1 and hie themselves back to roost where they were hatched4 ,assuming1 as the histories of all nations in all ages and lands indicate1 and as many tested modern workers demonstrate1 that some disembodied1 unseen intelligences can at times either banish from the human body1 or put in abeyance1 or irresistibly control1 the mental1 affectional1 and moral powers of some impressible human beings1 and also use their whole physical structures and nerve elements as instruments2 assuming1 further1 both that such unseen workers may have been the actual authors of many startling phenomena which the preceding pages have brought up before the reader's mind1 and that ,mrs4 ,morse1 ,caleb ,powell1 and the boy were each of them mediumistical1 contributing to the performance of the wonders--assuming this1 the proximity of those several persons to the spots where the marvels appeared1 would subject them all to rigid scrutiny1 and their movements or their positions would probably1 at times1 indicate to external senses that they were somehow actors in the melee4 ,they were obviously unconscious reservoirs of the forces there used1 and as such were all involved in the production of the great mischief4 ,it is credible1 yes1 quite probable1 that the little boy was actually seen by ,powell enacting a prominent part2 but that ,powell1 who then saw1 was practically a spirit1 beholding a spirit form like in all things to the boy1 but moved1 energized1 and controlled1 all imperceptibly to external vision1 by disembodied spirits4 ,at the very time when all merely external beholders saw the external boy standing about the room in quiet and repose1 or sitting still in the corner1 spirit vision might have seen his semblance being used for infiltrating seeming life1 motive powers1 and longings for a lively jig and a merry time generally into the whole group of household utensils and supplies4 ,when dead wood and iron1 when leather and wool1 when sausages and bread1 when an iron wedge and a spade1 find legs1 and arms1 and wings1--when such become things of seeming life1 of forceful life1 too1 and of self-guiding actions1--they preach with power which no mere human tongue can command4 ,no eloquence from its common sources can equal theirs in forcing conviction4 ,they say unseen intelligences move us--unseen intelligences move us1 and every self-possessed and logical hearer responds1 ,amen4 ,all things have their use4 ,this case of seemingly low as well as rough manifestations1 where spirits exhibited the effects of their force mainly upon gross1 lifeless matter and brute animals1 shows more forcibly and convincingly1 if possible1 the fact of supermundane agents1 than did the effective hands1 and simples1 and clear visions of ,margaret ,jones2 the wit or clairaudience of ,ann ,hibbins2 the ,dutch tones and unconscious utterances of ,ann ,cole1 or the contortions of ,elizabeth ,knap1 and the words of the pretty black boy4 ,life and self-action in dead wood and iron are phenomena too striking and pregnant with meaning to be wisely slurred or ignored4 ,essex ,county has been the theater of several exhibitions of astounding marvels4 ,the performances detailed in this chapter beyond question excited fears and disturbed peace throughout ,newbury and its surrounding towns4 ,also an apparitional boy has recently shown himself to a teacher and her pupils in ,newburyport1 to the no small disturbance of that place4 ,during the first decade of the present century1 famous ,moll ,pitcher1 who1 as ,upham says1 derived her mysterious gifts by inheritance1 her grandfather having practiced them before in ,marblehead1 practiced fortune-telling and kindred arts at the base of ,high ,rock1 in ,lynn1 where she read the future1 and traced what to mere mortals were the mysteries of the present or the past4444 so successfully1 or at least so notoriously1 that her name has everywhere become the generic title of fortune-tellers4 ,in that county1 too1 the mysteries and horrors of ,salem witchcraft were encountered4 ,but scarcely any other event in that territory seems more highly charged with the elements of incredibility than the ,salem historian's perception that little ,john ,stiles was the bona fide author of the pranks played at ,william ,morse's house4 ,no cotemporary of the boy1 excepting impressible1 wayward ,powell1 seems ever to have suspected the little one as being the giant rogue4 ,how blind1 therefore1 were the eyes of all others of that generation6 ,for now an historic eye1 looking back through the darkening mists of eight score years and twenty miles north1 absolutely sees audacity and action1 which all living eyes1 alert and vigilant on the spot and at the time1 were incompetent to detect4 ,the world progresses2 new clairvoyance has been developed--clairvoyance which sees what never existed--to wit1 little ,john ,stiles as the designing and conscious enactor of superhuman works4 99 99 99 99 99 ,very many modern scenes rival this ancient one at ,newbury in the roughnesses of manifestations and the difficulty of fathoming the purposes and characters of the performers4 ,perhaps no other one of them is more worthy of attention or more instructive than the prolonged one which occurred at the residence of ,rev4 ,eliakim ,phelps1 ,d4 ,d41 at ,stratford1 ,conn41 #ahej4 ,in ,modern ,spiritualism1 its ,facts and ,fanaticisms1 by ,e4 ,w4 ,,capron 7,bela ,marsh1 ,boston1 #ahee71 page #acb1 commences a very lucid and authentic account of this case1 covering nearly forty pages4 ,the character and position of ,dr4 ,phelps1 who furnished ,capron with his facts1 and whose permission was obtained for their publication1 make the account referred to well worthy of careful perusal4 ,on several different occasions1 years ago1 it was our privilege to hold familiar conversations with ,dr4 ,phelps upon the subject of ,spiritualism1 and his details of spirit performances in his presence prepared is to view him as having transmitted to his offspring properties which were very helpful in setting ,,the ,,gates ,,ajar4 ,,the ,,goodwin ,,family4 ,in the family of ,john ,goodwin1 of ,boston1 in #afhh1 four children1 all young1 were simultaneously either sorely afflicted or set themselves to playing pranks and tricks with diabolical furore4 ,which8 ,an elaborate account of what was either imposed upon them by other beings1 or of what themselves devised and enacted1 was promptly written out by ,cotton ,mather1 who was an observer of many of the marvels while they were transpiring4 ,poole1 in ,genealogical and ,antiquarian ,register1 ,october1 #ahgj1 says those children were ,martha1 aged #ac2 ,john1 #aa2 ,mercy1 #g2 ,benjamin #e4 ,drake1 in ,annals of ,witchcraft1 says they were ,nathaniel1 born #afgb2 ,martha1 #afgd2 ,john1 #afgg2 and ,mercy1 #afha4 ,according to him1 their ages in #afhh were about #af1 #ad1 #aa1 and #g1 respectively4 ,the two statements agree as to ,martha1 ,john1 and ,mercy2 but one makes the fourth1 a boy of #e1 named ,benjamin1 while the other's fourth is a boy of #af1 named ,nathaniel4 ,we have not sought for data on which to either confirm or correct the statement of either author4 ,to show that they were young1 is all that our present purpose requires4 ,more than seventy years subsequent to the occurrences in the ,goodwin family and to the manifestations at ,salem1 ,hutchinson said1 ,it seems at this day with some people1 perhaps but few1 to be the question whether the accused or the afflicted were under a preternatural or diabolical possession1 rather than whether the afflicted were under bodily distempers1 or altogether guilty of fraud and imposture4 ,poole1 having quoted the above1 makes the following sensible query and comment4 ,why make an alternative8 ,both accusers and accused were generally possessors of ,,not bodily distemper1 but of peculiar susceptibilities growing naturally from their special organisms and temperaments1 and were probably as free from and as much addicted to fraud and imposture1 as the average of the community in which they lived4 ,if we read ,hutchinson aright1 he stated that a few people1 even at his day1 were believers that there had formerly been some preternatural or diabolical inflictions1 but were in doubt whether such inflictions came upon the accusers or upon the accused2 while1 in his opinion1 all ought to drop belief in anything preternatural or diabolical in the case1 and seek only to determine whether the strange phenomena resulted partly from bodily distempers1 or were exclusively frauds and impostures4 ,we think he made no alternative himself between accusers and accused1 but exempted both classes from supermundane influences1 and queried only whether witchcraft resulted partly from ill health or wholly from fraud4 ,be it so or not1 ,poole's comment is appropriate1 instructive1 and valuable4 ,it is in harmony with the view which the present work is specially designed to illustrate4 ,we repeat and adopt his words1 and say that both accusers and accused were generally possessors of not bodily distemper1 but of peculiar susceptibilities growing naturally from their organisms and temperaments1 and in general character were on a par with their neighbors4 ,hutchinson's account of the family now under consideration is as follows3-- ,in #afhg or #afhh began a more alarming instance than any which preceded it4 ,four children of ,john ,goodwin1 a grave man1 a good liver1 at the north part of ,boston1 were generally believed to be bewitched4 ,i have often heard persons who were of the neighborhood speak of the great consternation it occasioned4 ,the children were all remarkable for ingenuity of temper1 had been religiously educated1 and were thought to be without guile4 ,the eldest was a girl of thirteen or fourteen years4 ,she had charged a laundress with taking away some of the family linen4 ,the mother of the laundress was one of the wild ,irish1 of bad character1 and gave the girl harsh language2 soon after which she fell into fits1 which were said to have something diabolical in them4 ,one of her sisters and two brothers followed her example1 and it is said were tormented in the same parts of their bodies at the same time1 although kept in separate apartments and ignorant of one another's complaints4 ,one or two things were said to be very remarkable3 all their complaints were in the daytime1 and they slept comfortably all night3 they were struck dead at the sight of the ,assembly's ,catechism1 ,cotton's ,milk for ,babes1 and some other good books1 but could read in ,oxford's ,jests1 ,popish and ,quaker books1 and the ,common ,prayer without any difficulty4 ,is it possible that the mind of man should be capable of such strong prejudices as that a suspicion of fraud should not immediately arise8 ,but attachments to modes and forms in religion had such force that some of these circumstances seem rather to have confirmed the credit of the children4 ,sometimes they would be deaf1 then dumb1 then blind2 and sometimes all these disorders together would come upon them4 ,their tongues would be drawn down their throats1 then pulled out upon their chins4 ,their jaws1 necks1 shoulders1 elbows1 and all their joints would appear to be dislocated1 and they would make most piteous outcries of burnings1 of being cut with knives1 beat1 c41 and the marks of wounds were afterward to be seen4 ,the ministers of ,boston and ,charlestown kept a day of fasting and prayer at the troubled house2 after which the youngest child made no more complaints4 ,the others persevered1 and the magistrates then interposed1 and the old woman was apprehended2 but upon examination would neither confess nor deny1 and appeared to be disordered in her senses4 ,upon the report of physicians that she was compos mentis she was executed1 declaring at her death the children should not be relieved4 ,the eldest1 after this1 was taken into a minister's family1 where at first she behaved orderly1 but after a time suddenly fell into her fits4 ,the account of her affliction is in print2 some things are mentioned as extraordinary which tumblers are every day taught to perform1 others seem more than natural2 but it was a time of great credulity4 ,the children returned to their ordinary behavior1 lived to adult age1 made profession of religion1 and the affliction they had been under they publicly declared to be one motive to it4 ,one of them ,i knew many years after4 ,she had the character of a very virtuous woman1 and never made any acknowledgment of fraud in the transaction4 ,this historian was born more than twenty years after the great consternation which the ,goodwin case occasioned1 and therefore those must have been elderly people who gave him accounts of personal remembrance of it1 and rehearsed to him their mellowed recollections of the past4 ,from such people he had probably heard many particulars1 and received general impressions which were one source from whence he drew materials for his history1 at least for his comments2 also opinions then prevalent around him were aids to his judgment when reading ,mather's account4 ,he omitted to express directly any doubt as to the occurrence of such facts as the records presented1 but innuendoed1 all through his account1 that fraud1 acting upon credulity1 begat and brought forth that entire brood of marvels4 ,he left us the facts1 and stated that the children were all remarkable for ingenuity of temper4 ,probably his meaning is1 that they were remarkably bright or quick-witted4 ,the historian adds1 that they had been religiously educated1 and were thought to be without guile4 ,these are points of interest both as items on which public judgment concerning the facts was based at the time of their occurrence1 and also as things to be regarded by moderns when attempting to determine the probability whether such marvels were produced voluntarily by embodied actors alone1 or by force exerted upon and through mortal forms by wills putting forth power from imperceptible sources4 ,what do the quoted statements indicate as to the constitutional endowments and acquired skill of those children for purposely acting out the feats ascribed to them8 ,ready wit1 sprightliness1 or whatever is meant by ingenuity of temper1 was a very good basis for any kind of performances2 but the character of the doings likely to proceed from that basis in a given case1 will be indicated by other possessions4 ,religious education and freedom from guile are not very probable prompters of either egregious trickery1 or prolonged and mischievous imposture4 ,hutchinson's remark that some things are mentioned as extraordinary which tumblers are every day taught to perform1 is doubtless true2 but he adds that others seem more than natural4 ,yes1 they do4 ,and it is these especially that the world desires to see traced to competent performers4 ,how did the historian account for such--for those seeming more than natural8 ,solely by the dogmatic remark that it was a time of great credulity4 ,what if it was8 ,could credulity in the public mind enable untrained children to outact jugglers1 tumblers1 and most efficient dissemblers and tricksters of various kinds in their special vocations8 ,what did the historian mean by alleging credulity in way of accounting for facts which he adduced1 and left without direct controversion1 or any attempt at such8 ,was he intimating that belief of the actual occurrence of such facts1 though witnessed through many months by the physical senses of multitudes1 argued credulity8 ,if so1 he put upon the word credulity an inadmissible meaning4 ,did he intend to say that credulity caused the senses of our fathers to see1 hear1 and feel erroneously1 so that they would testify less accurately than those of the generation in which he was living8 ,perhaps he did2 and yet on what rational grounds could he8 ,none that we perceive4 ,was the former generation less truthful than his own8 ,probably not4 ,had it less sagacity than his own8 ,we can think of no evidence that it had4 ,were its senses less reliable8 ,probably not4 ,was its belief in the testimony of its own senses a proof of its credulity8 ,no4 ,was clear statement of what its senses had witnessed evidence of its credulity8 ,it seems to have been so to the historian1 but is not to us4 ,the fathers told of witnessing things1 which1 if they occurred1 were seemingly more than natural4 ,what then8 ,does that prove that the things they described did not occur1 and thus prove a generation of the fathers to have been1 as a whole1 either dolts or liars8 ,no4 ,the appearance is1 that the historian was obliged to admit that valid testimony to occurrence of facts around the ,goodwin children1 which seemed more than natural1 must be conceded2 and yet he could not account for the facts2 he was mentally baffled1 non-plussed1 and could only say1 ,it was a time of great credulity4 ,that explains nothing1 while it tempts us to suspect its author of such credulity in his own penetration1 that he apprehended that a whole line of ancestry through successive generations had been fatuous and exaggerative1 since it continuously described and swore to occurrences which conflicted with his own theoretical limits to things credible4 ,a credulity which caused him to regard himself a better knower and judge of what actually transpired in preceding ages1 than were the very persons who lived in that past1 and were eye and ear witnesses of what then occurred1 impelled the pen of this witchcraft historian to ascribe the marvels of other days to causes or to conditions absolutely incompetent to produce them4 ,we can extend much leniency to ,hutchinson1 because he lived and wrote when the pendulum of belief1 recently wrenched from the disturbing grasp of witchcraft1 and allowed to swing back toward extreme ,sadduceeism1 had not acquired its legitimate movements under the action of mesmerism1 ,spiritualism1 psychology1 and other regulating forces4 ,witchcraft's unnatural devil had died from the blow he received at ,salem ,village in #afib1 and for a long time afterward there was seeming non-intercourse between men and dwellers in spirit realms2 partially man was forgetting that there are spirits1 and doubting whether they had ever acted overtly among men4 ,probably ,hutchinson's thoughts were never led to inquire whether the forces and realms of nature may not extend far above1 below1 and around the confines of palpable matter1--extend beyond where man's external senses take cognizance1--or where his natural science has penetrated4 ,his thoughts1 perhaps1 were never led to inquire whether there exists natural provision for mesmeric and varied psychological operations1 nor to inquire whether1 under possible fitting conditions1 unseen intelligences could possess and control certain peculiar physical human forms4 ,lacking not only knowledge1 but also circumstances which would naturally generate any conjecture that both good spirits and bad alike might sometimes come to earth in freedom1 and work wonders on its external surface and among its living inhabitants1 ,hutchinson1 cornered and baffled in search for an adequate cause for facts which he felt called upon to state1 could only credulously say1 in quasi explanation of them1 ,it was a time of great credulity6 ,his implied position that all the works were nothing more than natural acts and sufferings of children1 magnified and made formidable by popular credulity1 fails to yield satisfactory revealment of the nature and origin of such facts as he himself presents and leaves uncontroverted4 ,what was the character of the ,goodwin children themselves8 ,they were bright1 religiously educated1 and free from guile4 ,the account shows that four such children1 of a sudden1 without previous training for it1 all join at first1 and three of them long unitedly continue1 in a course of most distressing imposition upon their own family1 upon physicians1 clergymen1 magistrates1 and the neighborhood2 also that the imposition is manifested by astounding physical feats1 and simultaneous1 identical signs and complaints of suffering1 even though the sufferers are in separate apartments4 ,if1 possibly1 by their own wills and powers they could perform the tricks1 how incongruous it would be with their alleged traits and ages6 ,how inconceivable that four such children1 from the boy of sixteen down to the girl of seven1 or from the girl of thirteen down to the boy of five1 should conspire1 and three of them co-operate thoroughly1 effectively1 and long1 in voluntarily and purposely producing such mischief and misery as were there experienced6 ,suspicion of fraud no doubt arose4 ,but the appearance is1 that facts soon put the case beyond any powers of fraud which such children1 or any embodied human beings1 could put forth4 ,without previous practice and training in concert1 a successful attempt by themselves at what was done through and upon them is incredible4 ,no hint is given that they ever practiced in preparation4 ,had they have done so1 seemingly their father1 the grave man and good liver1 must have known it1 and would have been governed by his knowledge of it in judging and treating his children4 ,who doubts that it would be shameful to charge or suspect that man1 and his friends and physicians1 with such credulity1 at the first coming on of the fits1 that they could not judge fairly and sensibly of what nature of cause the actions and sufferings indicated8 ,o1 star-eyed ,fancy1 hast thou wandered there1 ,to waft us back the message of--credulity8 ,look still more closely at the circumstances of this case4 ,the bright girl of great ingenuity of temper1 of religious education1 and without guile1 was just out from under the infuriated lashings of a wild ,irish tongue1 when she commenced her--what8 her frolic8 her course of fraud and imposture8 ,was that a playful moment8 ,was that the time for a general mood which would start a whole family of guileless little children to unite spontaneously and instantly for a guileful and distressing imposition upon relatives and friends8 ,when she fell in fits1 from such a cause1 was it a credible time for her bright brother to recklessly increase the family excitement by imitating the sufferer's movements and tones of distress8 ,was that a condition of things in which the younger two would join the elder in sly additions to the distress around them8 ,no2 most surely1 ,no4 ,is it possible1 asks the historian1 that the mind of man should be capable of such strong prejudices as that suspicion of fraud should not immediately arise8 ,we answer for him and say1 ,no2 emphatically1 ,no4 ,such suspicion must have been felt4 ,and we ask in turn1 is it possible that an historian's mind can be capable of such strong prejudices as that suspicion that such a family as he described1 circumstanced as he made it1 was absolutely incapable of practicing fraud and imposition competent to the results which he indicates were wrought out8 ,yes1 his mind failed to receive such a suspicion1 and therefore reveals its own blinding prejudices4 ,skepticism in one direction generated credulity in another with him1 as it does with many to-day4 ,four children of the grave man were simultaneously and excruciatingly racked and tortured precisely alike1 and in the same parts of their bodies1 although being1 some of them1 in separate apartments1 and ignorant of one another's complaints4 ,such are the alleged and uncontested facts4 ,the citizens of ,boston1 two or three years ago1 were permitted to see1 and we saw1 even more than four1 yes1 eight or ten boys1 strangers to the operator1 and mostly to each other1 volunteer to go upon a stage1 where1 in a few minutes1 after two or three out of a dozen had been requested to leave the stage1 all the others were made to move1 and act1 and suffer precisely and simultaneously alike1 many of them standing often back to back1 and no one among them perceptibly looking at any other4 ,this was all occasioned by the mental1 magnetic or psychological force of ,professor ,cadwell4 ,if we presume 7and why may we not87 that the wild ,irish woman possessed strong psychological powers2 that ,martha ,goodwin was easily subjectible to psychological control2 that her brothers and sister were so too1 and that they were all naturally sympathetic1 then we can see that nothing more occurred1 even if the whole that is told be literally true1 than falls within the scope of such psychological forces as have in recent years been manifested by embodied1 and1 we may add1 by disembodied minds4 ,if in her anger the old woman forced or found rapport between her own sphere or aura and that of ,martha ,goodwin1 way was opened for injection of germs of suffering to the girl's system1 and the systems of others in rapport with her4 ,way was opened through which the tormentor could1 though absent1 send upon the child ugly wishes that would keep torturing her so long as the old woman kept the wishes active2 as perhaps she did in many of her waking hours4 ,the account says1 ,one or two things were very remarkable4 ,all their complaints were in the daytime1 and they slept comfortably all night4 ,when the old woman was asleep1 and her resentful feelings were dormant1 the children also slept4 ,a passage-way so opened as to admit the entrance of one1 usually admits others of the same kind to follow4 ,where the old woman's subduing will-force had entered and gained sway1 that of her sympathetic1 and many other spirits1 might do the same2 and could make the children's outer forms either accept or reject1 at the controller's pleasure1 any books or class of literature which should be offered for perusal4 ,catholic spirits1 or any spirit1 liking a little fun1 might keenly relish the work of astonishing ,cotton ,mather and his ilk1 by showing preferences antagonistic to his own righteous ones4 ,the case of ,philip ,smith1 a very intelligent1 efficient1 and highly respected citizen of ,hadley1 ,mass41 exhibits analogous phenomena4 ,we shall not go into that case in detail4 ,it occurred #afhe1 and is very instructive4 ,being sick1 sensitive1 clairvoyant1 and pining away1 he uttered a hard suspicion that one old ,mrs4 ,webster1 who had once been tried for witchcraft1 and also had taken offense at some of ,smith's official acts1 had made impressions with enchantments upon him4 ,his suspicion and sufferings fired the minds of young men in the town to go three or four times and give that old woman disturbance4 ,drake1 in ,woodward's ,hist4 ,series1 ,no4 ,,viii4 p4 #agi1 presents the following account3 ,it is said by a reliable historian that the young miscreants went to her house1 dragged her out1 and hung her up till she was almost dead4 ,they then cut her down1 rolled her some time in the snow1 and then buried her up in it1 leaving her1 as they supposed1 for dead4 ,but by a miracle1 as it were1 she survived this barbarity4 ,still more miraculous it was1 that the sick man was greatly relieved during the time the helpless old woman was being so beastly abused4 ,mather1 in his account 7ib4 p4 #agg7 says1 ,all the while they were disturbing her1 he was at ease1 and slept as a weary man4 ,this is all possible1 and not improbable4 ,the man was obviously very susceptible to psychological influences1 and could trace felt malignant forces to their source4 ,she1 no doubt1 was a turbulent and odd old woman1 for she had been tried for witchcraft1 and was probably a natural psychologist4 ,as long as rough handling caused her to call in1 and keep at home1 and concentrate all her thoughts and forces for self-defence and protection1 no emanations from her went out to the sick man1 who then consequently dropped into quiet sleep4 ,one of these ,goodwins1 says ,hutchinson1 ,i knew many years after4 ,she had the character of a very sober1 virtuous woman1 and never made any acknowledgment of fraud in the transaction4 ,probably1 therefore1 there was no fraud4 ,this sober1 virtuous woman1 a party concerned1 years subsequently made profession of religion1 continued long to live a useful and respected life1 and never made acknowledgment of fraud4 ,the probability is near to certainty that she never acted any4 ,and how was it with the others8 ,they returned to their ordinary behavior1 lived to adult age1 and made profession of religion4 ,look at the case4 ,four guileless1 bright little sisters and brothers1 residing together under their father's watch1 in the twinkling of an eye1 flash upon the gaze of the town in which they lived1 seemingly as adroit and proficient tricksters as were ever known1 and all of them alike competent to their several parts4 ,they remain the town's wonder for months1 and then all return to their former behavior1 grow up and live ,christian lives among the witnesses of their strange doings1 and never make confession of fraud4 ,was there any fraud8 ,only the over-credulous in self-powers of divination backward will believe that there was4 ,in the process of watching these children1 and the annoyances and sufferings they endured1 it was discovered that when absent from home they were in great measure exempt from the special evils2 therefore arrangements were made for their abode elsewhere2 and probably not for all of them together in any one family4 ,we find that the girl ,martha became a resident in ,cotton ,mather's family not many weeks after the commencement of the great consternation4 ,and it is stated that for a time none of her extraordinary demeanor was manifested there2 yet subsequently the fits and antics revealed themselves abundantly1 even under the roof of the devil-fighting clergyman4 ,some sayings and doings while she was residing there1 manifested more frolicsome and quizzical motives than prompted the manifestations described by ,hutchinson4 ,turning to a much later historian1 we quote from ,upham as follows3-- ,one of the children seems to have had a genius scarcely inferior to that of ,master ,burke himself2 there was no part nor passion she could not enact4 ,she would complain that the old ,irish woman had tied an invisible noose round her neck1 and was choking her2 and her complexion and features would instantly assume the various hues and violent distortions natural to a person in such a predicament4 ,she would declare that an invisible chain was fastened to one of her limbs1 and would limp about precisely as though it were really the case4 ,she would say that she was in an oven2 the perspiration would drop from her face1 and she would produce every appearance of being roasted2 then she would cry out that cold water was being thrown upon her1 and her whole frame would shiver and shake4 ,she pretended that the evil spirit came to her in the shape of an invisible horse2 and she would canter1 gallop1 trot1 and amble round the rooms and entries in such admirable imitation1 that an observer could hardly believe that a horse was not beneath her1 and bearing her about4 ,she would go up stairs with exactly such a toss and bound as a person on horseback would exhibit4 ,such is a general summary of her feats as presented by this historian4 ,does he believe that such things were actually performed either by or through her8 ,does he believe that such were the literal facts even in appearance8 ,he nowhere1 so far as we notice1 till he sums up the case1 distinctly charges fraud on the one side1 or such credulity on the other1 as made witnesses falsify as to appearances4 ,he seems to admit the facts as appearances1 and charge them all to the girl's extra cunning and skillful acting4 ,she pretended that the evil 8 spirit came to her4 ,was it only her pretense8 ,who knows8 ,why say pretended8 ,was she so generous as to give credit to another1 and that other an evil spirit1 for help which she did not receive8 ,are expert tricksters accustomed to disown their own powers to astonish8 ,especially do they ever spontaneously avow that the devil or any evil spirit is helping them8 ,we think not4 ,and yet it is stated that ,martha ,goodwin's own lips declared that some invisible spirit was acting through her1 or was helping her perform her marvelous feats4 ,why call that a pretense1 and make her a liar8 ,why not put some confidence in the words of this religiously educated girl8 ,the historian says that while she was residing with ,mather1 the cunning and ingenious child--please mark the adjectives of the modern expounder1 applied by him to one whom the earlier records put among those who had been religiously educated and thought to be without guile--the cunning and ingenious child1 he says1 seems to have taken great delight in perplexing and playing off her tricks upon the learned man4 ,once he wished to say something in her presence to a third person1 which he did not intend she should understand4 ,she had penetration enough to conjecture 7why say conjecture87 what he had said4 ,he was amazed4 ,he then tried ,greek2 she was equally successful4 ,he next spoke in ,hebrew2 she instantly detected his meaning4 ,he resorted to the ,indian language1 and that she pretended not to know4 ,such are facts as deduced from ,mather's account by ,upham and put forth by the latter1 and which he attempts to account for by supposition that the girl's own conjectures enabled her to get at the meaning of sentences put forth in languages of which she had no knowledge4 ,no doubt she was bright1 but not competent to all that4 ,fancy and imagination ply their wings needlessly when they rise from the ground of fact and fly off to the lands of conjecture and pretense1 thinking to bring thence true solution of such a marvel4 ,the girl avowed the presence of a spirit with herself1 and that he helped her4 ,that explains the whole transaction4 ,upon full separation from the body1 each human mind loses all knowledge of earth language1 having no further use for it1 because the mind then enters conditions in which the thoughts of any other spirit1 whatsoever its native language1 may be read at a glance4 ,whatever language ,mather might have spoken in1 he would have been intelligible by any disembodied spirit4 ,for not words1 but the thought1 irrespective of its dress1 could be read4 ,the ,indian language she pretended not to know4 ,perhaps so2 but probably that was no pretense4 ,it is not probable that the girl herself1 as such1 had much acquaintance with any other language than ,english2 any departed spirit who controlled her would have no knowledge of any earth language whatsoever1 nor need he have1 for unclothed thought was perceptible by him4 ,a roguish mind behind the scenes--and such a one may have played many a trick at the parsonage--would be likely1 at his own pleasure1 to bother1 astonish1 or confound the ,rev4 ,polyglot by seeming either to comprehend or not1 just according to his own whims or varying moods as the play went on from step to step4 ,mather's attempt to conceal his meaning from the girl might very naturally be amusing to the thought-reading intellect then lurking in and controlling the girl's organs1 and quite as naturally would incite him to play the wag a while4 ,martha neither conjectured nor pretended at all2 she was then quiescent1 while other eyes looked through hers and saw what was inside the mill-stone4 ,we have stated essentially that each mortal upon departing from this life enters into conditions where human language is not only not needed1 but is unusable2 therefore we may be asked how returning spirits can possibly speak to us in our language1 which is no longer at their command4 ,they measurably rechange or change back their conditions when they reconnect themselves with a mortal form2 they then come back to where earth language is needful1 and where fitting instrumentality for revival of knowledge and use of such language exist4 ,they1 however1 do not reconnect themselves with their own former forms1 nor often with forms which they can use as well as they formerly did their own2 in many1 very many instances1 those who1 in their own forms1 were eminent for polished diction and fervid eloquence1 either get such slight control or get hold of such rickety or such rigid vocal apparatus1 that they can make no perceptible approximation to their former productions4 ,the reincarnated spirit is a somewhat mystical being1 half spirit1 half man1 and as a spirit can read the thoughts of man1 and as man can use human language4 ,flattery was sometimes poured over the minister through the lips of ,martha1 with a lavishness indicative of its flowing from some ensconsed waggish spirit1 amusing himself by tickling the vanity of the egotistical black coat1 much more than from a guileless miss speaking to her consequential minister4 ,a special scene is thus described by ,mather3-- ,there stood open the study of one belonging to the family1 into which entering1 she stood immediately on her feet1 and cried out1 ',they are gone6 ,they are gone6 ,they say they cannot4 ,god won't let 'em come here6' adding a reason for it which the owner of the study thought more kind than true2 and she presently and perfectly came to herself1 so that her whole discourse and carriage was altered into the greatest measure of sobriety4 ,very likely ,mather was then egregiously cajoled by some one4 ,observation1 together with information otherwise obtained1 renders it obvious that one essential condition of psychological control is1 that the magnetisms or auras of the controlling mind shall1 at the time1 be1 in the mass of its operative qualities and powers1 stronger than1 or positive to1 any other person's spheres1 auras1 or emanations amid which the control is either to be taken or held on to4 ,suppose1 then1 what would be necessary under the circumstances1 that the atmosphere1 walls1 and furniture of that study were highly charged with emanations from the vigorous minded ,mather1 who was then present1 and consequently his own halo was radiating there and keeping his surroundings fully charged with himself4 ,physical and also external mental and emotional effluvia from him might then be so repulsive to magnetisms pertaining to spirits of any moral quality whatsoever1 that no visitant from unseen realms would try to withstand the repulsion4 ,if such was the condition of things1 the parting exclamation of the last to remain1 might well be1 ,they are gone2 ,god won't let 'em come here6 ,such statement would be in full harmony with the most common use of language to-day by spirits1 for they are accustomed to say that ,god won't let them do this or that1 when1 according to their own oft-repeated explanation1 they mean only that the forces of nature oppose or control them4 ,god and natural forces with them generally mean one and the same all-dominating power--,god's forces as well as himself are called by his name by visitants who read his operations with more than mortal accuracy4 ,she presently and perfectly came to herself1 so that her whole discourse and carriage was altered into the greatest measure of sobriety4 ,yes1 naturally so2 for ,martha ,goodwin herself resumed control of her own body1 and re-exhibited the religiously educated and guileless girl which she in fact was1 just as soon as usurping visitants vacated her legitimate premises4 ,so long as her form was dominated by another's mind1 her existence was either a blank to herself1 or1 if conscious1 she was powerless4 ,upham teaches that once1 according to ,mather1 when people attempted to drag this girl up stairs1 the demons would pull her out of the people's hands1 and make her heavier than perhaps three times herself4 ,did the historian himself who quoted those words and let them appear to be accurately descriptive of facts1 believe that they were such8 ,did he believe that demons acted within her1 held her back1 and made her something like three times heavier than she normally was8 ,such things were adduced by him as being facts1 and it would be pleasant to know whether he believed that the girl herself was those demons1 and by her own action made her own body three times heavier than common gravitation would make it4 ,did such observable effects occur as ,mather described8 ,probably they did1 and the historian's process of accounting for them implies that by her own cunning1 ingenuity1 and histrionic skill1 the child made herself three times heavier than she actually was4 ,if the allegations were not in his estimation facts1 why did he let them stand unaccounted for in his summary of things accomplished by his cunning and ingenious child8 ,perhaps he presumed that readers to-day are generally as ignorant as himself of the vast many cases in which the present generation has tested and proved by the best of ,fairbanks's scales1 that spirits augment or diminish the weight of material substances at pleasure1 and to as great and sometimes greater extent than either demons or ,martha ,goodwin are alleged to have done in the case above cited4 ,he perhaps presumed that the reading world at large was as ignorant and prejudiced as himself on this subject1 and that the world's clearing and opening eyes will continue to see1 as his glamoured ones did1 only fibs in ,mather's facts4 ,this was a sad oversight4 ,light from ,spiritualism 7see ,dr4 ,hare1 ,dr4 ,luther ,v4 ,bell1 ,william ,crookes1 ,alfred ,r4 ,wallace1 and many others7 has already substantiated facts which prove that nature infolds forces by which agents unseen can at their pleasure produce either levitation or increase of the weight of material objects4 ,therefore such action may have been put forth upon the body of ,martha ,goodwin4 ,yes1 we now may rationally believe that there existed too much sagacity and truth among the men of witchcraft times1 and too little deviltry among the guileless children of that day1 to permit that fictions and rhetoric shall long be suffered to malign our forefathers because they recorded true accounts of what transpired among them4 ,mather states that this girl1 at times1 by whistling1 yelling1 and in other ways1 disturbed him when at family prayers4 ,upham says1 ,she would strike him1 ,mather1 with her fist and try to kick him--probably meaning1 try both to strike and kick him1 for he adds1 her hand or foot would always recoil when within an inch or two of his body2 thus giving the idea that there was an invisible coat of mail1 of heavenly temper1 and proof against the assaults of the devil around his sacred person4 ,that idea looks much more like a child born within the historian's own mind than a gift to him by ,mather4 ,a statement by the latter that her hand or foot would always recoil when within an inch or two of his body1 hardly justifies the slurring innuendo which seems to be appended to it4 ,but ignorance of many operating laws1 forces1 and agents pertaining to the subject discussed by the modern historian1 let him sometimes become as tempting a target for the shafts of ridicule as he found ,mather to be4 ,without presuming that ,mather perceived that natural laws generated repulsion between matter animated and moved by a disembodied spirit and matter in its normal conditions1 we can state that extensive observation has generated the conclusion that unless there exists rapport with1 or at least an absence of repulsion between1 the sphere of the spirit using the borrowed hand or foot1 and the sphere of the normal person aimed at1 natural law forbids their contact4 ,william ,morse made such observation as caused him to say in his deposition that the wedge and spade flying on his wife did not touch her4 ,forceful and rapid approximations of hands and feet under control of invisibles1 toward the bodies of surrounding witnesses1 and marvelous arrestings of those moving limbs so that no contact ensues1 are of very frequent occurrence4 ,very many parlor ornaments and household utensils1 hard and soft1 light and heavy1 are1 by spirits1 not unfrequently set in rapid motion back and forth1 and crosswise1 promiscuously over and amid a crowd of people in a room1 and yet but few persons are ever hit1 and the few sensitives in rapport with the performers1 and contributors to their apparatus1 if hit1 are never hurt4 ,the temper of ,mather's shielding coat of mail was just as heavenly as that of each other human being's coat which the ,master ,armorer in nature's boundless shop forges and furnishes for the protection of each human child who is sent forth to fight the battles of life in gross flesh and bones4 ,not his own holiness1 but either nature's antipathies or spirit forbearance saved ,mather from the blows1 and the historian wronged him perhaps when he intimated that the divine thought otherwise2 for that man1 halting as his steps were1 and small as his advance was1 made nearer approach toward a fair comprehension and exposition of our witchcraft than any other ,american who wrote upon that subject1 till since the publication of ,history of ,witchcraft4 ,many other pranks1 not less marvelous than the ones already presented1 are ascribed to this girl2 but notice of them may be omitted here1 because the general character of the operations around her are all that this work proposes to exhibit4 ,we must1 however1 give the reader opportunity to peruse the historian's concluding comments upon this case4 ,he says1-- ,there is nothing in the annals of the histrionic art more illustrative of the infinite versatility of the human faculties1 both physical and mental1 and of the amazing extent to which cunning1 ingenuity1 contrivance1 quickness of invention1 and presence of mind can be cultivated1 even in very young persons1 than such cases as just related4 ,it seems1 at first1 incredible that a mere child could carry on such a complex piece of fraud and imposture as that enacted by the little girl whose achievements have been immortalized by the famous author of the ',magnalia4' ,we are glad to note the author's frank and distinct confession that his own solution seems at first incredible4 ,why he put in the phrase at first needs explanation1 which he fails to furnish4 ,he makes no attempt to show why the first seeming should not be the permanent one4 ,it is permanent4 ,it will continue permanent to the end of time4 ,it is and forever will be incredible that the ,goodwin girl herself performed all the feats which the evidence proves were performed through her organism4 ,if her body was the organ of all the performances which are distinctly ascribed to her1 she was not the author of them all1 but only a channel for the occurrence of many of them4 ,can reflection find her competent to all that was ascribed to her8 ,incredible4 ,incredible not only at first1 but also on and on to the latest last4 ,ingenious fancy1 while weaving over this case a dazzling web of rhetoric1 may have deluded the eyes that overlooked the loom1 and caused them to discern other seemings than the first ones2 but such delusion will never become epidemic4 ,hutchinson1 usually a scornful handler of aught that emitted any odor of witchcraft1 we now requote where he said1 concerning the family which included this ,martha1 that they all had been religiously educated1 and were thought to be without guile2444 they returned to their ordinary behavior1 lived to adult age1 made profession of religion4444 ,one of them ,i knew many years after4 ,she had the character of a very sober1 virtuous woman1 and never made any acknowledgment of fraud in this transaction4 ,such is the testimony of one whose views and feelings obviously inclined him1 as far as possible1 to consider all witchcraft works the products of imposture and fraud2 and who1 therefore1 was not likely to assign to this family any good qualities which they were not widely and well known to possess4 ,he spoke of them as above1 and refrained from any direct imputation of fraud to them4 ,he hinted at fraud1 it is true1 but probably both lacked any historical or traditionary evidence of it1 and was conscious that if fraud were alleged1 and even proved1 it would fail to meet the case in all its parts--in those especially that seemed more than natural4 ,nonplussed in the way of solution1 he could only say it was a time of great credulity6 ,in one important respect he had better facilities for judging this case correctly than can be obtained to-day4 ,he had listened to conversations of many persons who were living at the time of its occurrence1 and yet refrained from direct charge of fraud or imposture4 ,also he intimated that such causes1 even if alleged1 would be inadequate1 because some of the transactions seemed more than natural4 ,the later historian1 unhampered by need to move in harmony with the knowledge and beliefs of any cotemporaries of those ,goodwins1 and abandoning historic grounds which furnish supermundane agencies for solving the occurrence of acts which filled the town and colony with consternation1 delved into the composition of man1 and fancied that he found therein enormous capabilities for credulity1 fraud1 imposture1 infatuation1 spontaneous out-flashings of highest1 and more than highest1 feats of histrionic art1 for self-generated triplication of personal weight1 for aviarial flittings1 for equine antics1 for self-induced roastings1 self-induced showerings1 for comprehension of languages never learned1 c42 fancied that he had found how one little girl1 religiously educated1 and thought to be without guile1 could execute to admiration each of those many things seeming to be more than natural1 and could mimic with admirable exactness most astounding feats1 and such as always before had been supposed to require the powers of disembodied intelligences4 ,that was an astounding discovery4 ,but the present are times of great credulity1 and in the infatuation of these days mental optics have been molded1 which1 looking back nearly two hundred years1 see the brightest1 most vigorous1 and keen-sighted men of ,boston--the solid men of ,boston--see them stolid and gullible1 and see1 too1 among the people there three or four little children1 bright and religiously educated1 and yet malignant and agile as the very devil4 ,what a contrast between the old and the young then6 ,was there ever a day when ,boston's wisest adults were prevailingly blockheads easily befooled1 and when those of her children who had great ingenuity of temper metamorphosed themselves into devil-like incendiaries1 and set the town ablaze with sulphurous fires8 ,alas6 one modern eye has penetration enough to convince its owner that such a day once was4 ,that eye1 by the aid of--something1 seems gifted with supernatural insight2 certainly with very uncommon back-sight4 ,grant to the ,goodwin children all the natural human endowments which imagination can conjure up and embody1 also grant to them skillful training and long-continued practice1 which there is no probability they had1 and even then it was impossible for them1 when in separate rooms1 to have voluntarily and designedly acted1 and seemingly suffered1 precisely and simultaneously alike1 as they are alleged to have done1 and as they would have naturally been made to do if all of them were under and controlled by the psychologic influence of the single mind of the resentful wild ,irish woman1 because then the same mental impulses would move them all like machines1 and simultaneously4 ,after their separation1 the girl at ,mr4 ,mather's house could never have accomplished single-handed what is ascribed to her4 ,the internal evidence of the narrative of events which transpired there combines with common sense in pronouncing it farcical--distinctly farcical--to regard that young girl as the contriver and performer of all the works and pranks which history says transpired through her physical organism1 and1 therefore1 to external eyes1 seemed to be products of her own volitions4 ,the nature1 quality1 and extent of those performances bespeak producing powers both different from and greater than such a girl possessed2 bespeak just such powers as departed spirits are now putting forth all around us through living human forms4 ,it is not only at first1 but permanently incredible1 that a mere child could carry on such a complex piece of fraud and imposture as that enacted through the little girl whose achievements have been immortalized by the famous author of the ,magnalia2 and therefore the world demands1 and will yet obtain1 a simpler1 more rational1 and more satisfactory solution of this and kindred cases2 solution that will admit all the amazing feats of witchcraft to be embraced within the scope of forces that finite human beings1 the seen and the unseen in conjunction1 could in the past and can now so apply as to execute all the world's marvels without aid from either the ,one ,great ,devil1 from fraud1 or from imposture4 ,neither of these need ever have any connection whatever with1 or complicity in1 such matters4 ,the records teach1 and man's recent experience divines1 that other1 more befitting1 and more competent actors than mere children were on hand and at work in ,cotton ,mather's presence4 ,though justice would have us assign to any ,great ,dull his honest dues1 it also permits us to pull off from his sable brows any unearned wreaths which ,cotton ,mather and others credulously placed upon them4 ,it also and especially requires us to tear off from the fair head of guileless ,martha ,goodwin that badge labeled ,fraud and ,imposture--that emblem of deviltry--which modern delusion has most cruelly1 and yet most artistically1 wreathed around temples that seem worthy of a pure martyr's honoring crown4 ,,retrospection4 ,from among the works of witchcraft that occurred from #afdh to #afhh1 we have now presented six cases1 which bring into view some phenomena that are very like many which are now called spirit manifestations4 ,the efficient touch of ,margaret ,jones1 of ,charlestown1 the extraordinary efficacy of her hands and simple medicines1 her prophetic powers1 the keenness of her hearing1 and the materialization of a spirit-child in her arms1 brought her to the gallows in #afdh4 ,ann ,hibbins1 of ,boston1 seemingly because of the wit-sharpening acuteness of her hearing1 was hanged in #afef4 ,ann ,cole1 of ,hartford1 ,conn41 in #affb1 had her vocal organs improved by some intelligence not her own for the utterance of thoughts which were never in her mind1 and some of the utterances through her contributed to the conviction and consequent execution of the two ,greensmiths1 husband and wife4 ,at ,groton1 a spirit controlling the form of ,elizabeth ,knap1 in #afga1 made avowal that he was a pretty black boy1 and not ,satan4 ,at ,newbury1 in #afgi1 the wild dance of pots1 kettles1 andirons1 and things in general1 came off on the premises of ,william ,morse4 ,and at ,boston1 in #afhh1 inflictions upon the ,goodwin children led to the execution of ,mrs4 ,glover1 one of the wild ,irish4 ,cases thus scattered in both time and space1 half of them limited each to a single actor or sufferer1 and each differing widely from any other in many of its prominent features1 cannot satisfactorily be ascribed to acquired skill in legerdemain1 histrionic art1 magic1 or necromancy1 unattended by help from the living dead4 ,the name of the wild ,irish woman1 whose harsh language was speedily followed by the distortions and sufferings of the ,goodwin children1 was ,glover4 ,calef calls her a despised1 crazy1 ill-conditioned old woman--an ,irish ,roman ,catholic4 ,the public believed that she put forth criminal action upon that family1 arrested her therefor1 received at her trial some indications that she had dealings with invisible beings1 pronounced her guilty of witchcraft1 and hanged her4 ,she doubtless forsensed retention of power to act either directly or through others upon the objects of her resentment1 even after the gallows should have done its utmost work upon herself4 ,for it is stated that at her execution she said the children would not be relieved by her death 444 and 444 the three children continued in their furnace as before1 and it grew rather seven times hotter than it was1 and their calamities went on till they barked at one another like dogs1 and then purred like so many cats2 would complain that they were in a red-hot oven1 and sweat and pant as if they had been really so4 ,anon they would say cold water was thrown on them1 at which they would shiver very much4 ,they would complain of being roasted on an invisible spit2 and then that their heads were nailed to the floor1 and it was beyond an ordinary strength to pull them from it4--,annals of ,witchcraft1 p4 #ahe4 ,such facts were gathered from ,cotton ,mather's account2 they come to us from one whose influences and writings are alleged to have been most strongly provocative of executions for witchcraft4 ,perhaps some of them became so4 ,but his presentation of both the momentous fact and its confirmation by observed experiences1 that the spirit of an executed psychologist could act back from beyond the gallows1 involved a crushing argument against the wisdom of suspending her or any one else with a view to stop bewitchment4 ,the liberation of one's spirit increases its powers for action upon surviving mortals4 ,mather's facts argued that4 ,,salem ,,witchcraft4 ,the world-renowned and momentous display of extraordinary manifestations1 known the world over as ,salem ,witchcraft1 originated and was mainly manifested in what was then called ,salem ,village--territory distinct from ,salem proper--embracing the present town of ,danvers1 together with parts of ,beverly1 ,wenham1 ,topsfield1 and ,middleton1 in the ,county of ,essex and ,state of ,massachusetts4 ,there1 in the family of the ,rev4 ,samuel ,parris1 minister at the ,village1 on the #bith of ,february1 #afib1 mysterious causes had wrought strange maladies upon two young girls during the six preceding weeks1 which excited great public alarm1 and produced such mental agitation that the civil authorities were called upon to give the matter official attention4 ,the true origin and the actual authors and enactors of that tragedy are among the prime objects of our present researches4 ,it is not our purpose to furnish a full history1 but to scrutinize and test the hypotheses of other writers2 and give a solution of the origin and specification of the actors and effects of that tragedy different--widely different--from the prevalent modern ones4 ,upham1 ,drake1 and ,fowler all agree in fundamentals4 ,all of them have assumed that the agents and forces which evolved those marvelous operations were scarcely1 if anything1 other than ten or twelve respectable girls1 from nine to twenty years of age1 together with a few married women and a few men1 voluntarily exercising and manifesting only their own wayward constitutional faculties and forces1 in the performance of tricks1 impositions1 and malignancies2 and with none other than lamentable results4 ,their positions we deem open to deserved attack1 and we expect to overthrow much that has been reared upon them1 by using facts abounding in the primitive records of testimony given in at trials for witchcraft as our chief instrumentalities4 ,the three expounders just named have rested much upon allegations that the girls and women alluded to above had1 just previous to the strange outburst of terrors at the ,village1 been accustomed to meet as a circle1 and at their meetings put themselves in training for the efficient and successful performance of what soon after transpired through them4 ,our readings of the records pertaining to ,salem witchcraft have1 as we know and freely confess1 fallen short of complete exhaustion2 and yet we have read much1 and also have failed to find any remembered allusion to such a circle prior to its mention in the present century4 ,upham states 7vol4 ii4 pp4 #b and #chf7 that for a period embracing about two months they 7certain girls and women7 had been in the habit of meeting together1 and spending the long winter evenings1 at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 practicing the arts of fortune-telling1 jugglery1 and magic4 ,drake says 7,annals of ,witchcraft1 p4 #ahi7 that these females instituted frequent meetings1 or got up1 as it would now be styled1 a club1 which was called a circle4 ,how frequent they had these meetings is not stated2 but it was soon ascertained that they met to try projects1 or to do or produce superhuman acts4 ,fowler remarks1 in ,woodward's ,series 7vol4 iii4 pp4 #bjd and #bje71 that ,mary ,warren1 one of the most violent of the accusing girls1 lived with ,john ,proctor1 who1 out of patience with the meetings of the girls composing this circle1 c4 ,it is at the meeting of this circle of eight girls1 for the purpose of practicing palmistry and fortune-telling1 that we discover the germ or the first origin of the delusion4 ,the position of each of these writers substantially is1 that the accusing girls1 at circle meetings which they held1 qualified themselves for the parts they subsequently performed1 wherein1 ,fowler says1 their whole course1 as seen by their depositions1 discloses much malignancy4 ,upham has told us that these meetings were held at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 and that they occurred within the space of about two months 444 during the winter of #afia and #afib4 ,drake found no statement as to how frequent they had these meetings1 and ,fowler finds in them the germ 444 of the delusion4 ,we have found no mention at all of this circle in the more ancient records and accounts1 and not one of the authors named makes mention of the source of his information4 ,those men1 two of whom are our personal acquaintances and friends1 would not state anything which they did not believe to be true4 ,we therefore shall not gainsay their allegations4 ,still1 we feel privileged to doubt whether their uncertain number of meetings during the short space of two winter months1 held at the minister's own house1 and under an eye as vigilant as that of ,mr4 ,parris1 could have furnished those girls with opportunity to learn very much in any arts whose practice would not receive the approbation of the ,rev4 ,master of the house--not much could they there of themselves learn1 at their few meetings in two months1 of the anti-,christian arts of palmistry 444 and fortune-telling2 not much could they then and there accomplish in the way of becoming1 by their voluntary efforts1 experts in the wonders of necromancy1 magic1 and ,spiritualism4 ,the general purpose of any stated meetings at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 naturally and almost necessarily had his approbation2 and the presumption from his general character is1 that he was neither the good-natured indolent man who let others take their own course1 however wayward1 nor the absent-minded one whom children or even bright adults could easily and repeatedly deceive and hoodwink4 ,the probability seems excessively small that such a one as he would permit repeated gatherings under his own roof for the special purpose of acquiring knowledge of and skill in practicing tabooed arts4 ,whatever their authority for it1 the writers referred to imply that the members of a circle of girls and misses1 meeting statedly at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 there very expeditiously qualified themselves to become not only most efficient actors of long-continued dissimulation1 imposture1 cunning1 devilish trickery1 and fiendish malice1 but also to be bona fide concoctors and successful executors of vastly complicated1 deep1 and broad schemes of hellish outrages upon parents1 neighbors1 and the country4 ,wiser heads and greater powers than those girls possessed were manifested by the acts they seemed to perform4 ,in a literary sense they were uncultured2 but they1 doubtless1 had been subject to as good domestic1 social1 moral1 and religious teachings and example as existed in any community4 ,the literary deficiencies of the girls are indicated in the following extracts3-- ,drake says1 ,they were generally very ignorant1 for out of the eight but two could write their names4 ,such were the characters which set in motion that stupendous tragedy which ended in blood and ruin4 ,in vol4 i4 p4 #dhf1 ,upham says1 ,how those young country girls1 some of them mere children1 most of them wholly illiterate1 could have become familiar with such fancies to such an extent1 is truly surprising4444 ,in the ,salem witchcraft proceedings1 the superstition of the middle ages was embodied in real action4 ,all its extravagances1 absurdities1 and monstrosities appear in their application to human experience4 ,such1 according to their own concessions1 was the feebleness of the agents whom the historians credited with performances which seem superhuman1 and required for their production intellect and forces above what any community has often witnessed4 ,notwithstanding the inherent and insuperable incompetency of such persons to voluntarily devise and perform what has been ascribed to them1 those females have been earnestly set forth as the actual and almost impromptu devisers and enactors of as intricate and effective a scheme for inflicting tortures and misery upon a vast multitude of human beings as has rarely been found in the annals of the race4 ,if it be admitted that they1 through frequent meetings at the parsonage1 became fitted to conjure up and control the devastating monster that had his lair and foraging-grounds at ,salem ,village1 the presumption amounts closely to certainty that those gatherings were ostensibly held for some laudable object4 ,meetings for some purpose may possibly have been held when and where the historians assume them to have occurred4 ,but if so1 it is our privilege to assume the possibility that the meetings were availed of by unseen intelligences of some grade1 for developing into facile mediums such members of the circle as were constitutionally impressible and controllable by spirits2 and1 if so1 the meetings may have become productive of results widely different from any contemplated by either the members themselves or the master of the house in which they met4 ,in his general history of ,salem ,village1 introductory to that of its witchcraft1 ,upham1 giving us the geographical positions of their several residences1 and also their relations and positions in domestic life1 furnishes ample grounds for very strong presumption that frequent attendance upon sportive meetings at the parsonage must have been so inconvenient and onerous to several of those girls1 that they would not have been present many times in the short space of two months4 ,ann ,putnam1 a sensitive girl only twelve years old1 and ,mercy ,lewis1 a servant girl1 or the maid1 in the family of ,ann's father1 two of the most efficient pupils in that necromantic school1 resided together in a home situated not less than two and a half miles distant1 in a north-westerly direction from the specified place of the meetings4 ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 an important member1 lived about the same distance off1 on a different road at the east4 ,on a still different road1 and equally as far away at the south-east1 resided ,sarah ,churchill2 and quite as remote1 at the south1 was the home of ,mary ,warren2 and the last two must take divergent roads when they had gone only a little more than half way home4 ,each one of these five was very conspicuous amid the ostensible accusers1 and the genuinely afflicted ones4 ,excepting ,ann ,putnam1 each was old enough to be an efficient helper in household labors1 and each1 unless we except ,elizabeth ,hubbard1--and such exception is hardly needful1 because1 though a niece of his wife1 she is mentioned as ,dr4 ,griggs's maid1 which probably implies that she was compensated for services she rendered1--excepting ,ann ,putnam1 each of them was out at service4 ,what1 therefore1 is the probability that these five girls1 with any great frequency or regularity1 went to and returned home from avowedly sportive or necromantic meetings at the parsonage8 ,each of them would have to travel1 in going and returning1 not less than five or six miles1 mostly along separate routes1 in winter's shortest days1 by lonely and crooked roads1 through miles of dark forests1 over winter's snows1 and amid its freezing airs4 ,what is the probability that such persons1 so circumstanced1 would either desire to go1 or be permitted by parents and employers to go1 frequently and regularly to such meetings8 ,slight--very slight--because both natural and domestic obstacles must have been great4 ,were horses1 vehicles1 and drivers1 or were even saddle-horses1 regularly at the command of such girls for conveyance to and from such meetings8 ,would such persons1 if physically strong and courageous enough to go on foot1 be often spared by their employers to spend long winter evenings1 and two hours more for travel1 in practicing fortune-telling1 necromancy1 and magic8 ,such questions of themselves put forth a negative answer4 ,frequent attendance by such members of the circle was next to an impossibility4 ,if they learned much upon any subject at the very few meetings which circumstances would permit them to attend in the short space of two months1 they were very apt pupils indeed4 ,that they became very considerably modified and unfolded in certain directions in consequence of meeting together occasionally is very credible4 ,we should concede its probable correctness1 were an historian to make the supposition that the two ,indian slaves in ,mr4 ,parris's kitchen1 ,john ,indian and his wife ,tituba1 often amused themselves and any young folks or other visitors1 who there basked in genial light and warmth from blazing logs in a huge ,new ,england fireplace on a cold winter's evening1 by rehearsing ghost stories and magic lore1 and performing any such feats in fortune-telling or other mystical doings as they might be able to exhibit1 or as might transpire through them4 ,that the little girls1 ,elizabeth1 daughter of ,mr4 ,parris1 and ,abigail ,williams1 his niece1 were accustomed to spend many cold winter evenings in the warm kitchen of their own home is very credible4 ,mary ,walcut and ,susanna ,sheldon1 who lived in the near neighborhood1 perhaps dropped in frequently4 ,but the majority of those whose astonishing proficiency in performing what ,drake said the circle met for1 viz41 to do or produce superhuman acts1 and for learning1 as ,upham would say1 how to manifest the superstition of the middle ages 444 embodied in real action1--the majority of those girls obviously must have had only very restricted opportunities for study and practice at the parsonage4 ,it is not at all improbable that each of them was present in that kitchen occasionally during two months of that winter2 nor that each of them was impregnated by the auras of that place and of its occupants both visible and invisible2 nor that the physical and psychic soils in each were there mellowed1 and also sown with some seed which produced unlooked-for fruits during the following spring and summer4 ,mediumistic capabilities are innate peculiarities1 measurably hereditary1 and nearly always amenable to special conditions and surroundings for conspicuous development4 ,king ,saul became a prophet1 i4 e41 a medium1 only when he met1 mingled with1 and imbibed emanations from prophets or mediums4 ,messengers whom he sent to the prophets succumbed to new and developing influences upon arriving at their destination1 and became suddenly prophets themselves4 ,latent germs of spiritualistic capabilities1 if permeated by quickening auras1 which often emanate from positive mediums1 frequently unfold into mediumship1 as naturally as specific elements1 reaching latent germs in many human systems1 expand those germs into measles1 or into whooping-cough2 or as naturally as listening to soul-stirring music energizes latent capabilities in many who are acted upon by its strains1 and helps such to become themselves better musicians than before4 ,the parsonage kitchen--that nestling-place of ,john ,indian and his wife ,tituba--may have been that winter a little ,delphos1 or a little ,mount ,horeb1 that is1 a spot where developing nourishments of mediumistic germs were collected in unusual abundance1 and were unwontedly operative4 ,we are not only ready to admit1 but deem it probable1 that any susceptible persons who came into the presence of ,john and ,tituba1 in their special room1 may have there imbibed properties unsought and unperceived which fostered the development of such visitors into tools or instruments1 by the use of which the genuine authors of ,salem witchcraft brought out their work upon a public stage1 and prosecuted its terrific enactment4 ,smothering our serious doubts whether any regular meetings at stated times were arranged for or held1 we are entirely ready to let the supposition stand that gatherings1 more or less extensive1 occasionally occurred1 at which fortune-telling1 necromancy1 magic1 or ,spiritualism1 was made the subject of either sportive or serious attention1 and we will let results indicate who managed the visible performers during the exercises or entertainments there4 ,upham's beautifully rhetorical and eloquent efforts to show that because they1 as he states1 held a number of meetings for learning and practicing mystic arts1 those rustic1 illiterate girls thereby and thereat qualified themselves to concoct and accomplish of their own accord1 and by their histrionic and malicious capabilities1 all that mighty scheme or plan which his predecessor and himself lay to their charge1 fail1 entirely fail1 to meet the fair demands of that common sense which rigidly requires forces and agents adequate in their nature and conditions to produce all effects which are ascribed to them4 ,fowler seems to have inferred from some statements ascribed to ,proctor1 that the latter threatened to go and force ,mary ,warren to leave the circle4 ,we do not so read the account4 ,the morning of ,march #be1--that is1 the next morning after the examination of ,rebecca ,nurse1--,john ,proctor said he was going to fetch home his jade 7,mary ,warren72 he left her there 7at the village7 last night1 and had rather given #dj;c than let her come up4 ,that is1 apparently1 he had rather have given that sum than to have had her be present at the examination of ,mrs4 ,nurse2 for1 continued he1 if they were let alone1 ,sr41 we should all be devils and witches quickly2 they should rather be had to the whipping post2 but he would fetch his jade home and thrust the devil out of her1 444 crying1 hang them--hang them4 ,and also added1 that when she was first taken with fits he kept her close to the wheel1 and threatened to thrash her1 and then she had no more fits till the next day 7when7 he was gone forth1 and then she must have her fits again forsooth1 c4--,woodward's ,series1 vol4 i4 p4 #fc4 ,it is obvious from the above that ,proctor's objection was to his jade's attendance upon the examination of the accused--to her attendance at court--and not at the circle1 which1 according to ,upham1 should have closed its meetings a month at least before the #beth of ,march4 ,and yet ,s4 ,p4 ,fowler says 7,woodward's ,series1 vol4 iii4 p4 #bjd71 that ,proctor1 out of all patience with the meetings of the girls composing this circle1 one day said he was going to the village to bring ,mary ,warren1 the jade1 home4 ,most readers will infer from such a statement that ,proctor proposed to take the girl away from the circle2 but the statement from which the annotator drew his information1 when taken in connection with its date1 clearly shows that the threats to bring home the jade and thrash her were subsequent to the assemblages of the circle1 and were made at a time when the girls were being used as witnesses before the examining magistrates4 ,that which tried the resolute man's patience1 was not the meetings of the circle1 but the testimony of the girls in court1 which threatened to make all the people devils and witches quickly4 ,proctor's stopping the fits1 by threats to thrash the girl1 intimates that the fits were measurably controllable by the will of some one4 ,that much may be true in relation to almost all diseases and maladies of the body1 but probably not as much so in most other kinds as in those which are imposed by a will that has no natural alliance with the agitated body4 ,under the influence of threats1 the girl would naturally struggle to get full possession of all her own powers and faculties1 and the effort would put her own elements in such commotion that for a time no foreign will could get control over her form4 ,threats1 medicines of certain kinds1 and many other applications1 may temporally render almost any medium's system uncontrollable by spirits4 ,calmness1 both of mind and body1 and darkness1 too1 which is less positive and disintegrating than light1 in action upon instruments made and used by spirits1 are very helpful to control of borrowed forms4 ,in some of his comments 7vol4 ii4 p4 #dcd7 ,upham wrote more wisely than himself seems to have known4 ,words from his pen state that one of the sources of the delusion of #afib1 was ignorance of many natural laws that have been revealed by modern science4 ,a vast amount of knowledge on these subjects has been attained since that time4 ,true1 true indeed4 ,and had the author of that statement been familiar with important portions of that vast amount of new knowledge1 he himself1 as readily as those who are better versed in a certain class of modern revealments1 would have seen and felt the perfect childishness of his attempt to make those rustic girls the conscious contrivers and perverse and malignant actors of the whole of the vast1 complicated1 and terrific tragedy of ,salem witchcraft4 ,he might have known when he wrote1 he ought to have known then1 that ,dr4 ,robert ,hare1 of ,philadelphia1 who was eminent1 distinctly and broadly eminent1 as a scientist1 had in #ahee published to the world a rigidly scientific demonstration that some unseen agent1 intelligent enough to understand and comply with verbal requests1 repeatedly moved the arms of scale-beams contrary to the normal action of gravitation4 ,science1 there and then1 revealed the existence of some natural law or laws which permit unseen and impalpable intelligences1 under some conditions1 to put forth action upon matter1 with force and to extent1 which man can measure in pounds avoirdupois4 ,that single achievement of modern science teaches the wisdom of exempting seemingly diabolized and mischievous children from charge of being devils incarnate1 until we have determined whether some beings of greater powers and different dispositions may not have usurped control of youthful and pliant human forms1 and through them manifested schemes and pranks that originated in supernal brains1 and were enacted by use of such forces as can be manipulated by none below disembodied intelligences4 ,obviously he who was cognizant that science had made recent discoveries1 suffered himself to remain in ignorance of what to him1 as witchcraft historian1 were the most pertinent and important parts of the knowledge recently gained2 ignorant of those parts which were most closely connected with philosophical solution of the mysteries which pervaded the history he was elaborating4 ,his blindness to what science--yes1 to what exact physical science--by her rigid processes of weighing and measuring had positively demonstrated1 bespeaks his short-comings1 and would bespeak the unphilosophical stand-point of any historian of1 or critic upon1 the world's marvels1 who1 since the day of ,hare1 ignores the light radiating from his demonstration1 and continues to grope on in darkness which use of that light would dispel4 ,take into the catalogue of natural agents and forces all those whose existence and action1 science1 as applied by ,dr4 ,hare twenty years ago1 and again by ,mr4 ,crookes and others in ,england more recently1 backed1 too1 by the observations and tests of thousands less erudite1 has demonstrated1 and then all occasion to look upon our fathers as numskulls1 and their daughters as proficient devils1 at once disappears4 ,new ,england soil1 two centuries ago1 was not populated mainly by jack-asses2 and even had it been1 their offspring would have been neither monkeys nor hyenas4 ,since the work by ,dr4 ,hare1 entitled ,spiritualism ,scientifically ,demonstrated1 may not be readily accessible by many readers1 his description of one demonstrative process is quoted from page #di1 as follows3-- ,a board1 being about four feet in length1 is supported by a rod1 as a fulcrum1 at about one foot from one end1 and1 of course1 three feet from the other1 which is suspended on a spring balance4 ,a glass vase1 about nine inches in diameter and five inches in hight1 having a knob to hold it by1 when inverted had this knob inserted in a hole made in the board six inches1 nearly1 from the fulcrum4 ,thus the vase rested on the board mouth upward4 ,a wire-gauze cage1 such as is used to keep flies from sugar1 was so arranged by a well-known means as to slide up or down on two iron rods1 one on each side of the trestle supporting the fulcrum4 ,by these arrangements it was so adjusted as to descend into the vase until within an inch and a half of the bottom1 while the inferiority of its dimensions prevented it from coming elsewhere within an inch of the parietes of the vase4 ,water was poured into the vase so as to rise into the cage till within about an inch and an half of the brim4 ,a well-known medium 7,gordon7 was induced to plunge his hands1 clasped together1 to the bottom of the cage1 holding them perfectly still4 ,as soon as those conditions were attained1 the apparatus being untouched by any one excepting the medium as described1 ,i invoked the aid of my spirit friends4 ,a downward force was repeatedly exerted upon the end of the board appended to the balance1 equal to three pounds' weight nearly2444 the distance of the hook of the balance from the fulcrum on which the board turned was six times as great as the cage in which the hands were situated4 ,consequently a force of #cx#fah pounds must have been exerted4 ,the above experiment was performed in ,dr4 ,hare's own laboratory1 in the presence and under the watchful scrutiny of ,john ,m4 ,kennedy1 ,esq41 and was made with extraordinary care1 because ,professor ,henry had just treated a similar result formerly obtained as incredible4 ,plate ,,iii4 in the book furnishes a diagram illustrating ,dr4 ,hare's apparatus4 ,this experimenter1 whom ,alfred ,r4 ,wallace calls ,america's foremost chemist1 had spent very many years in both constructing and in using1 as a scientist1 varied kinds of apparatus for testing the presence and action of subtile forces in nature1 and he was competent to know1 and did know as well as any other man whatsoever in the world's great body of scientists1 when results were obtained to positive certainty4 ,he proved that some invisible and intelligent power moved his scale-beam contrary to the action of gravitation4 ,the above demonstration1 accompanied by many other evidences of spirit-action upon matter through mediums1 had been published twelve years when ,upham put forth his work4 ,therefore he was either ignorant of or he ignored late discoveries of science which had revolutionizing applicability to the very theories which he was putting forth4 ,after having eloquently depicted the sad results of witchcraft1 that author says 7vol4 ii4 p4 #dbg71 ,let those results for ever stand conspicuous1 beacon-monuments1 warning us and coming generations against superstition in every form1 and all credulous and vain attempts to penetrate beyond the legitimate boundaries of human knowledge4 ,if there ever was a credulous and vain attempt to penetrate beyond the legitimate boundaries of human knowledge1 one was made by him who sought to find that the keen-eyed1 energetic1 common-sense1 virtuous1 religious men of ,massachusetts in the seventeenth century lacked common sagacity1 and that their little girls rivaled ,satan himself in malignity4 ,most seriously we ask whether forces which can be and have been measured by palpable scales1 are beyond the legitimate boundaries of human knowledge8 ,we ask whether1 anywhere in the universe1 there exist boundaries beyond which it is1 or can be1 illegitimate for man to go in search after agents and forces which either habitually or occasionally act legitimately upon him in this mortal life8 ,another question is suggested by the foregoing quotation4 ,would not positive knowledge that there are unseen agents and forces within the realms of nature that can legitimately exhibit the phenomena once deemed witchcrafts1 transfer such phenomena from the domain of either superstition or crime into that of science or that of beneficence8 ,surely it would4 ,and1 therefore1 how can one possibly work more efficiently for depopulating the domain of superstition1 than by bringing its inhabitants forth and colonizing them on the lands of knowledge and science8 ,shall we comply with the historian's advice1 and still continue to leave what ignorance denominates hobgoblins and ghosts to remain shrouded in appalling mists1 and thus aid them to continue to be to coming generations the same awful beings they were to the generations past8 ,or shall we1 on the other hand1 now1 while experience and science are showing that such work is practicable1 push discovery onward till we both find laws and learn conditions which permit closer access of disembodied beings to us1 and which also permit most beneficent reciprocal action between them and us1 just as soon as familiarity1 confidence1 calmness1 and mutual trust make their access easy8 ,which shall we do8 ,which is most scientific8 ,which is most dutiful to ,god and friendly to man8 ,which8 ,is ignorance of1 or is knowledge of1 nature's forces and inhabitants the greater blessing8 ,which8 ,away with ignorance where knowledge is attainable4 ,we choose to learn as much concerning the universe and its inhabitants as ,god gives us power and opportunities to acquire2 not fearing his censure1 but trusting to win his approbation1 by so doing4 ,when one learns that issuers from the vailed realms of spirit-land are only earth's emancipated children revisiting their former homes1 the cry that devils are coming lacks any startling power4 ,faith1 and even knowledge1 sometimes says1 ,it is my friends and loved ones and those who love me1 who are in the circumambient hosts1 and ,i will do what ,i may to facilitate their more sensible approach2 will extend toward them a friendly and helping hand4 ,only superstition and ignorance quail and skulk before visitants that come from unseen realms2 knowledge stands fast and meets them with welcome and joy4 ,the legitimate boundaries of knowledge6 ,where are they8 ,surely not within any domain where knowledge can supersede ignorance and its consequent superstitions4 ,perhaps only few persons who give credence to the substantial accuracy of the transmitted statements of witchcraft facts1 will dissent from ,hutchinson's obvious meaning when he said that some of them seem to be more than natural2 that is1 as we suppose him to have meant1 they seem to have required for their production something beyond the recognized powers of embodied human beings4 ,he1 however1 in spite of such seeming1 sought to lead other minds to fancy that fraud and malice acting upon credulity--in other words1 that cunning and malicious embodied human beings1 and none other--were concerned in their manifestation4 ,upham and ,drake have not only followed ,hutchinson's lead in excluding invisible agents1 but have omitted to admit that some of the facts seem to be more than natural4 ,they blindly fancy that they find resident in human minds and hearts of seeming brilliancy and goodness1 capabilities of artfulness1 malice1 and might which wrest from ,satan's brow all laurels which the world has meeded to him for his imputed prowess on witchcraft's battlefields4 ,as one of the human race1 we protest against such slander of our kindred humans while embodied1 none of whom1 while dwellers here below1 were ever smelted in fires hot enough to elicit from their own interiors some forces which were put in action through their forms--forces which1 in common parlance1 though not in absolute fact1 were more than natural4 ,events fearfully mysterious have long been1 and now often are1 spoken of as the productions of beings1 or at least of ,one ,special being1 lurking somewhere away off beyond the outmost limits of nature4 ,but each and every hiding-place of even ,old ,nick is somewhere within those limits1 and even he can never and nowhere act otherwise than in obedience to nature's laws4 ,how far up1 down1 around1 do natural forces and agents extend and operate8 ,if there be a fixed limit to nature's domain1 where is it8 ,when life departs from man's body1 are the forces which continue to act upon his invisible spirit1 whether that continues to be or ceases to be a conscious individuality1--are the forces which then act upon it and which bear it to its appropriate position in spirit spheres1 natural forces1 or are they other8 ,when man escapes from his gross and sluggish encasement1 and becomes--as the reappearance of many of the race teaches that he does--a freed spirit1 he does not escape from within the realm of nature1 nor pass to where natural substances and forces cease to sustain and act upon him4 ,the word supernatural as well as its equivalent phrase1 more than natural1 is often misleading2 it tends to generate supposition that nature terminates where man's external senses cease to take cognizance4 ,absolutely1 however1 as we believe1 all beings1 including even ,god1 and all things whatsoever1 are parts of nature2 so that the word supernatural can scarcely find place for rigid1 unqualified application4 ,no objection to its usual application is here intended1 provided it is not used to convey the idea that things to which it is applied are the work of intelligence above and beyond the control and restrictions of universal laws or forces2 provided it does not intimate that the works are what theology has called miracles1 i4 e41 acts contrary to the established course of things4 ,such works probably never did and never can occur4 ,higher and unrecognized laws are availed of whenever known laws are thwarted in their results1 as when the magnet takes the steel upward in spite of gravitation3 gravitation works on with as much steadiness and force as over1 while the magnet overpoweringly pulls against it4 ,the overbalancing magnetic force does not act contrary to the established course of things1 but simply performs its own functions in full harmony with that course2 so of all mysterious events in the vast universe4 ,all move on in obedience to law2 all events are outworkings of universal forces1 none of which are ever broken or suspended1 though sometimes some of them are restrained by other and counteracting forces from manifesting their usual results4 ,all the marvelous works of both ancient and modern ,spiritualism may have occurred1 and yet none of them have been1 in fact1 more than natural1 however much so some minds may be accustomed to deem them4 ,take psychic forces as natural instrumentalities1 take both embodied and disembodied intelligences who had skill and power for the control of such forces1 and with these take also others who had special susceptibilities for yielding to psychic action1 and you will then have in your conceptions ample natural means for the production of each and every marvel that was ever described in human history1 and all such may have been produced without any more help or hindrance in kind from either ,god or the devil1 than we all receive in the ordinary acts of daily life4 ,bring in what is meant by either magnetism1 or mesmerism1 or psychology1 or psychism1 or by any other term expressive of that action upon and within a human being1 which lets either his own spirit-senses or the forces of some outside intelligence get play therein independent of and superior to the owner's outer or physical senses1 and we then may have fitting and adequate instrumentality through which finite intelligence can legitimately produce all the marvels that human eyes have ever witnessed4 ,professor ,cromwell ,f4 ,varley1 one of ,england's most eminent electricians1 said1 when addressing a committee of the ,london ,dialectical ,society1 ,i believe the mesmeric trance and the spiritual trance are produced by similar means1 and ,i believe the mesmeric and the spiritual forces are the same4 ,they are both the action of a spirit1 and the difference between the spiritual trance and the mesmeric trance ,i believe is this3 in the mesmeric trance1 the will that overpowers or entrances the patient is in a human body2 in the spiritual trance1 that will which overpowers the patient is not in a human body4 ,the position taken by ,mr4 ,varley1 whose observations were made mostly within his own domestic circle1 and whose professional pursuits led him to be a constant and careful observer of the nature1 properties1 and actions of delicate forces1 is worthy of much regard4 ,his view is probably in harmony with the conclusion of most minds which have studied carefully the outworkings of mesmerism and ,spiritualism4 ,the two isms1 in some views of them1 are essentially one in nature1 the latter being the butterfly or moth that came from out the former4 ,the grub and its moth are the same being in different stages of development4 ,multitudes of human beings raised1 and to be raised1 from lower to higher development have their habitats along the line where the material and spiritual interblend1 and some are measurably amphibious there--can move and act in either of two auras4 ,the younger1 or less advanced1 flesh-clad mesmerists1 prevailingly abide in the material1 while spirits have their most congenial residence generally beyond where the palpably material extends2 but either class can at times bring under their control the physical systems of many human beings4 ,by means of this psychism1 or this outworking of soul power1 there may be kept up reciprocal action or intercommunion between what are usually called the material and spiritual worlds1 both of which absolutely are natural1 and are pervaded by interacting natural forces which are at the service of peculiarly endowed1 or constituted1 or unfolded persons1 who are1 or may become1 competent and disposed to use them4 ,a disembodied spirit no more needs special permission or aid from ,omnipotence for acting upon men and matter1 than the diver needs such for deep descents beneath the water's surface4 ,natural permission for spirits to reincase themselves in1 or to act upon1 palpable matter1 is as free and full as man's is to put on submarine armor4 ,this much we have said for the purpose of disclosing our stand-points of observations and reasonings pertaining to ,salem witchcraft1 and now come to more direct consideration of that special topic4 ,at ,salem ,village about a dozen people1 mostly the girls previously named1 were strangely and grievously tormented1 at short intervals1 during several months4 ,they often endured contortions1 convulsions1 and very acute sufferings4 ,at times many of them became deaf1 dumb1 blind1 c4 ,seemingly to beholders they personally performed most strange and incredible feats of strength and simulations1 and made astounding utterances4 ,because of these doings and sufferings they were1 after some weeks of observation1 deemed to be under an evil hand--were pronounced bewitched1 and were termed1 in the parlance of that day1 the afflicted4 ,according to the faith of those times1 no person could be bewitched in any other way than through some other embodied person who had entered into a covenant with the ,devil1 and voluntarily become his instrument or his agent4 ,it was then assumed1 also1 that the afflicted ones could perceive who the person or persons were through whom the devil tormented them4 ,consequently the sufferers were teased1 coaxed1 or driven to name some one or more who was causing their sufferings4 ,those named by the sufferers as producers of their maladies were called the accused1 or were said to be cried out upon4 ,belief in the ability of the afflicted to designate accurately their afflicters1 was then prevalent2 but though probably born of facts in human experience1 and in itself fundamentally correct1 it was indiscreetly and harmfully applied4 ,the mediumistic or psychologized condition often renders its subjects practically independent of time1 space1 and gross matter1 and makes them possessors of ability to feel1 or rather to sense1 contact with the properties of some peculiarly constituted mortals1 even though such persons at the time be physically many miles away4 ,the persons from whom such agitating emanations would proceed would generally themselves be highly mediumistic4 ,if the inner or spiritual perceptive organs of ,mr4 ,parris1 ,dr4 ,griggs1 ,thomas ,putnam1 and their consulting associates1 of whom we shall speak hereafter1 were inextricably interblended with their outer bodies1 so that they were1 par excellence1 non-mediumistic1 their presence near the bodies of persons infilled with abnormal properties by spirits might be imperceptible by the entranced1 while either the poor1 melancholy1 distracted 787 ,sarah ,good1 or bed-rid ,mrs4 ,osburn 7who will come into notice on a future page71 if highly mediumistic1 might1 though being then in their distant homes bodily1 be present as spirits1 and their emanations might be distinctly felt by the suffering girls1 and be by them visibly traced to their sources4 ,mediumistic states or entrancements1 however induced1 often bring their subjects into rapport with other mediumistic persons afar off1 while they as often shut off sensibility to the presence of the physically imprisoned or very slightly impressible ones who are near by4 ,the saying that birds of a feather flock together apparently has more constant application outside of gravitation's dominating reach than within it--more among relatively freed spirits than among rigidly body-hampered ones4 ,that there exist special occult forces1 whose action frequently enables mediumistic persons1 while under spirit manipulations1 to know assuredly that emanations from special human organisms act upon them to either their pleasure or their annoyance is very clearly indicated by the experiences of some modern mediums2 for these are often heard to speak of influences coming to their help or their harm from particular persons1 who1 at the time1 are known to be miles away4 ,mediumistic intuitions often very accurately trace influences to some definite mundane source2 that source frequently is where the disembodied operating spirit gets such an equivalent to a nervous fluid as is needful to give him or her contact with and control over matter4 ,some mediumistic systems may at times contain enough of such quasi nerve-producing elements to meet all the needs of the controlling spirit1 while others usually lack them to such extent that drafts to supply the deficiency are made from the systems of others more or less remote from the point of application4 ,if the harassed and tortured children in the family of ,mr4 ,parris were acted upon by spirits1 they might be1 at times1 able to sense the fact that forceful action upon them came perceptibly forth from the bodily forms of particular living persons4 ,broad human observation and experience through the ages had generated conclusion that bewitched persons could designate those from whom their inflictions came4 ,therefore our fathers would with conscious propriety ask any one whom they supposed to be under an evil hand1 ,who hurts you8 ,they would look for an answer1 and1 if one came1 would deem it correct4 ,it was1 then1 logically necessary for them to confide in the accuracy of any responses which might issue from the lips of the sufferers1 so long as their creed was made chief premise4 ,sneers at belief that psychologized persons know from whom the force comes which generates their condition1 may argue less knowledge in the sneerer's brain1 of forces and agents that sometimes act upon men1 than in the heads of those who in former days sought to learn from bewitched girls what particular persons afflicted them4 ,the world1 while learning much1 may have been forgetting some important knowledge4 ,the belief held by many of our forefathers1 that the afflicted would generally know that afflicting forces came to them from the persons whom they named1 though measurably correct in itself1 was rendered most woefully disastrous in its application1 because of its concomitant erroneous belief that such afflicting forces could go forth from none but such as were in covenant with witchcraft's awful devil4 ,the fact of one's being a channel through which occult wonder-working forces could flow1 was1 in those days1 proof positive that he or she had tendered allegiance to and made a compact with the ,evil ,one4 ,that was the specially great and disastrous error which engendered witchcraft4 ,susceptibilities which were in fact only nature's boons1 were looked upon as acquisitions obtained through a diabolical compact4 ,some laws of psychology partially revealed and comprehended now1 were then not dreamed of2 and deductions from false premises or from an erroneous belief1 being then applied by clear-headed and good men for noble ends1 yes1 for ,god's glory and man's protection1 caused out-workings of unspeakable woes4 ,the persons most afflicted at ,salem ,village were ,elizabeth1 daughter of ,mr4 ,parris1 nine years old2 ,abigail ,williams1 his niece1 eleven2 ,ann ,putnam1 twelve2 ,mercy ,lewis1 seventeen2 ,mary ,walcut1 seventeen2 ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 seventeen2 ,elizabeth ,booth1 eighteen2 ,sarah ,churchill1 twenty2 ,mary ,warren1 twenty3 to these girls may be added ,mrs4 ,ann ,putnam1 mother of the girl of the same name2 also a ,mrs4 ,pope and a ,mrs4 ,bibber4 ,nearly all of these occupied very good social positions1 and many of them were surrounded and cared for by as intelligent1 moral1 and religious people as that or any other parish in the neighborhood contained4 ,yes1 from amidst the very breath of prayer1 the light of intelligence1 the sway of strong authority1 and the restraining influences of religion1 these reputable1 and no doubt generally amiable1 conscientious1 and kind-hearted girls and women during all their previous years1 suddenly became utterers of what were then regarded most damning accusations against their neighbors and acquaintances first1 and subsequently against strangers living remote from them2 against the low and the high1 the vicious and the virtuous1 the feeble-minded and the strong in intellect alike4 ,and in their strange and desolating work these people1 of exemplary deportment previously1 moved on harmoniously1 encouraging and strengthening each other1 and without manifesting the slightest regret4 ,a marked and startling specimen this of what mortal tongues may be used to accomplish6 ,and yet those tongues generally may have only described what senses perceived4 ,history has said--no1 not history--but invalid supposition has said that sportiveness1 malice1 love of notoriety1 and the like1 inherent in the minds and hearts of those young girls and women1 were the chief incentives to and producers of the woeful1 the murderous accusations and statements which came forth from their youthful lips4 ,it was not so4 ,one may as well call a pencil or a pen a malicious accuser when it is made to record malicious accusations1 as to call those girls the contrivers and enactors of many scenes which were presented by use of their bodies4 ,we quote as follows from church records1 penned by the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,parris himself1 in whose house the great and awful commotion originated3-- ,it is altogether undeniable that our ,great and ,blessed ,god1 for wise and holy ends1 hath suffered many persons in several families of this little ,village to be grievously vexed and tortured in body1 and to be deeply tempted to the endangering of the destruction of their souls1 and all these amazing feats 7well known to many of us7 to be done by witchcraft and diabolical operations4 ,it is well known that when these calamities first began1 which was in my own family1 the affliction was 7had existed7 several weeks1 before such hellish operations as witchcraft was suspected2 ,nay1 it never broke forth to any considerable light1 until diabolical means was used1 by the making of a cake by my ,indian man1 who had his directions from our sister ,mary ,sibly4 ,since which time apparitions have been plenty1 and exceeding much mischief hath followed4 ,but by this means 7it seems7 the devil hath been raised amongst us1 and his rage is vehement and terrible1 and when he shall be silenced1 the ,lord only knows4 ,the statements just presented have come down from one whose position and whose mental powers qualified him to be as important a witness as any other person whatsoever could be2 they come from one of keen intellect and ready perceptions1 who saw the scenes of ,salem witchcraft in their first externally observable stages of development1 and also throughout most of their subsequent unfoldments and disastrous workings4 ,these statements were semi-private2 were made in the church and not the parish records2 were made to be read by those who should come after him1 rather than by those of his own times4 ,and in such records he states that amazing feats were performed by witchcraft and diabolical operations4 ,what were those feats8 ,it has been said generally concerning the whole ,salem circle of proficients in necromancy1 magic1 and ,spiritualism1 that they would creep into holes1 and under benches and chairs1 put themselves into odd and unnatural postures1 make wild and antic gestures1 and utter incoherent and unintelligible sounds4 ,they would be seized with spasms1 drop insensible to the floor1 or writhe in agony1 suffering dreadful tortures1 and uttering loud and fearful cries4--,history of ,witchcraft and ,salem ,village1 vol4 ii4 p4 #f4 ,an acute observer1 who was also a definite and methodical describer of a portion of the actions referred to1 says the sufferers were in vain treated medicinally2 that they were oftentimes very stupid in their fits1 and could neither hear nor understand1 in the apprehension of the standers-by2 that when they were discoursed with about ,god or ,christ 444 they were presently afflicted at a dreadful rate2 that they sometimes told at a considerable distance1 yea1 several miles off1 that such and such persons were afflicted1 which hath been found to be done according to the time and manner they related it2 and they said the specters of the suspected persons told them of it2 that they affirmed that they saw the ghosts of several departed persons2 that one1 in time of examination of a suspected person1 had a pin run through both her lower and her upper lip when she was called to speak1 yet no apparent festering followed thereupon after it was taken out2 that some of the afflicted 444 in open court 444 had their wrists bound fast together with a real cord by invisible means2 that some afflicted ones have been drawn under tables and beds by undiscerned force2 that when they were most grievously afflicted1 if they were brought to the accused1 and the suspected person's hand laid upon them1 they were immediately relieved out of their tortures2 that sometimes1 in their fits1 they have had their tongues drawn out of their mouths to a fearful length1 444 and had their arms and legs 444 wrested as if they were quite dislocated1 and the blood hath gushed plentifully out of their mouths for a considerable time together2 ,i saw several violently strained and bleeding1 444 certainly all considerate persons who beheld those things must needs be convinced that their motions in their fits were preternatural and involuntary1 444 they were much beyond the ordinary force of the same persons when they were in their right minds2 that their eyes were1 for the most part1 fast closed in their trance-fits1 and when they were asked a question1 they could give no answer2 and ,i do verily believe they did not hear at that time2 yet did they discourse with the specters as with real persons4--,deodat ,lawson4 ,they affirmed that they saw the ghosts of several departed persons1 and they did discourse with the specters as with real persons4 ,this looks like ,spiritualism4 ,the above extracts describe a part only of the amazing feats4 ,mr4 ,parris apprehended that this extensive diabolism was inaugurated through the making of a peculiar cake by his ,indian man ,john4 ,either a sneer or a smile will probably drape the reader's face when he perceives that a clergyman in a former age deemed it probable that a compound offensive to refined taste 7a cake made of meal mixed with urine from the suffering children7 was so appetizing to the devil that it drew him from his wonted distance into close affinity with mortal forms1 and increased his power to afflict them4 ,perhaps that clergyman had read what the reader may peruse by turning to the concluding portion of chap4 iv4 of ,ezekiel1 where preparation of food was prescribed for that prophet's use while he was in process of being trained for pliancy under manipulations by some unseen intelligence--such preparation of food as was not less offensive than such a cake as ,john ,indian furnished4 ,we do not find a great producing cause of the amazing feats where ,mr4 ,parris did1 and are not prepared to regard ,mary ,sibley's prescription as having been very efficacious4 ,still we might admit the possibility that the real author of the feats was present when ,john kneaded that cake1 leavened it with supermundane yeast1 and made use of it as an instrumentality for coming into closer contact than before with the human bodies from which part of the ingredients of the cake had been derived4 ,both spirits and unfolded mediums often either prescribe or apply--as ,jesus did when he treated a blind patient by application of a plaster composed of his own spittle and street dust--things which mankind at large would regard as either offensive or inert4 ,human mediums may be1 and the observations of thousands now living indicate that they often are1 made to prepare strange compounds1 and prescribe them for the sick1 the suffering1 and for unpliant mediums4 ,who was my ,indian man8 ,yes2 who that baker whose cake raised the devil1 and caused apparitions to become exceeding plenty8 ,mr4 ,parris1 prior to being a minister of the gospel1 had been a merchant in ,barbadoes1 and at the commencement of the strange feats alluded to1 had in his family some servants1 whom he called ,indians2 but they probably were natives either of some one of the ,west ,india islands or of the neighboring coast of ,south ,america1 whom he had brought thence1 and who were1 doubtless1 by nature less firm and self-reliant than our northern ,indians usually are4 ,two of these servants1 or slaves1 viz41 ,john ,indian1 the cake-baker1 and his wife1 ,tituba1 were among the first1 if they were not the very first1 persons there to succumb1 and yield subjection to the peculiar influences which developed the terrible events we are considering4 ,those two humble1 ignorant1 weak-minded slaves may have been1 and we regard them as having been1 though unintentionally and unconscious of it1 very efficient aids in the outward manifestation of what their master properly termed amazing feats4 ,john seems1 so far as records depict him1 to have been only about as much of a medium as ,king ,saul was2 that is1 one that could be made to tumble down and roll about in unseemly ways4 ,there may1 and there may not1 have been properties in his composition which were very helpful to spirits in gaining control over other persons4 ,however that may have been1 he was not perceptibly much of a medium1 and had but little connection with the events which so harassed his master and neighbors1 as far as can now be shown4 ,but his wife1 ,tituba1 deserves extended notice and careful study4 ,before the observable works were commenced1 she was clairvoyant and clairaudient1 and her aid in the amazing feats which transpired was solicited in advance by a nocturnal visitant needing no opened door for entrance4 ,she entered behind the scene1--behind the vail of flesh1--and her spirit eyes saw the chief manager4 ,she is the great eye-witness in the case4 ,she was a medium easy of control1 and1 ,agassiz-like1 retained her consciousness and her memory of experiences while her form was subjected to control by another's will4 ,obviously1 also1 she was an uncommonly good developing medium1 or1 in other words1 her constitutional properties were such as greatly aided spirits to develop the mediumistic susceptibilities of other persons4 ,this humble1 illiterate slave1 besides being apparently the chief focus or reservoir of supermundane forces that evolved the ,salem wonders1 was one among the first three persons who were arrested and brought before the civil tribunals under charges of practicing witchcraft4 ,her statements at her examination were recorded very fully by one of the two magistrates who conducted the proceedings4 ,and the transmitted words of this simple-minded creature1 whose intellect was incompetent to foresee the consequences of her answers and statements1 throw more light upon the origin and growth1 and upon the nature and true character1 of ,salem witchcraft1 than does all that came from other lips1 or any pens of her cotemporaries1 or than has come from subsequent historians4 ,her mediumistic susceptibilities gave her admittance where she was an actual observer of the real author of and actors in that memorable drama4 ,her knowledge was derived directly through one set of her own senses1 and therefore she was able to speak of1 and apparently did speak simply and truthfully of1 persons and scenes which her inner organs of sense had cognized4 ,she knew more than did all her prosecutors and judges combined concerning the matters under investigation at her trial2 and could those who then presided have been nobly humble enough to learn from such a witness1 and single-eyed enough to admit into their own minds the literal import of her simple statements1 the horrors which were subsequently experienced would never have transpired4 ,but the faith of those times forbade such elevation4 ,tituba's general1 if not uniform frankness1 and the extreme simplicity of her answers1 tend strongly to beget confidence in the intentional and substantial truthfulness of her statements4 ,we deem it unjust to doubt her truthfulness4 ,and the general accuracy of her testimony is now rendered credible by its harmony with a mass of facts pertaining to ,spiritualism4 ,if the truth and accuracy of her words be conceded1--and they ought to be1--we learn distinctly that during the several weeks through which ,mr4 ,parris's afflicted daughter and niece were treated by their physician and cared for by the family and friends without suspicion of witchcraft1 ,tituba was positively knowing that something like a man1 invisible to outward sense1 visited herself1 and sought and sometimes forced her co-operation in pinching the two little girls and in producing their seeming sicknesses4 ,her experience proved to her that the sufferings of the children were purposely inflicted by an intelligent being something like a man4 ,her statements prove the same to us4 ,such testimony as hers1 by such a lowly person as she was1 when given before a tribunal whose members were firm believers in such a devil and in such a creed as have been described in our ,appendix1 even if fairly comprehended by them1 would cause her judges to believe that she was virtually confessing that she had made a covenant with the ,evil ,one4 ,from their premises they could not logically draw any other conclusion4 ,perhaps1 unfortunately for her1 but not for us at this day1 her intellect was too feeble to perceive the inferences which would be drawn from her words4 ,fearing not consequences1 she could frankly tell her experiences and observations2 she let out the exact facts of the case1 and furnished for us a sound historic basis for the assertion that the strange maladies which came upon the little girls in ,mr4 ,parris's house were designedly and deliberately imposed by a disembodied spirit or a band of spirits4 ,the mouths of not only babes and sucklings1 but of adults of feeble intellect1 present facts1 sometimes1 better than those whose intellects are swayed by fears of dreaded consequences which might ensue from frank and full avowal of their knowledge4 ,from ,tituba came statements of facts to which we must give prolonged attention4 ,a perusal of the fullest minutes of her testimony may be wearisome1 but her account of what she saw1 heard1 and was made to do1 is so instructive that we shall present it without abridgment1 because it was first printed in full only a few years ago1 was probably never seen or known to exist by ,hutchinson1 was not availed of by ,upham1 and not very carefully analyzed by ,drake4 ,only a very limited portion of the reading public has ever had opportunity to learn more than a small fraction of the disclosures made by this important witness4 ,upham1 though he had perused the minutes of testimony to which we allude1 elected to use a briefer report of ,tituba's statements1 which was made by ,ezekiel ,cheever4 ,the more extended one he noticed thus3 ,another report of ,tituba's examination has been preserved in the second volume 7we find it in vol4 iii41 appendix1 p4 #ahe7 of the collection edited by ,samuel ,g4 ,drake1 entitled the ',witchcraft ,delusion in ,new ,england4' ,it is in the handwriting of ,jonathan ,corwin1 very full and minute4 ,it is full1 minute1 and abounding in facts which the faithful historian should adduce and comment upon4 ,it was written out by one of the magistrates before whom ,tituba was examined1 and therefore its authority is good4 ,it surprises us that the historian who noticed it as above failed to use much important matter contained in it which was lacking in the report that he preferred to this4 ,drake1 under whose supervision this ampler report was first printed1 says1 in ,woodward's ,historical ,series1 ,no4 ,i4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,appendix p4 #ahf1 that it is valuable on several accounts1 the chief of which is the light it throws on the commencement of the delusion4444 ,this examination1 more1 perhaps1 than any of the rest1 exhibits the atrocious method employed by the examinant of causing the poor ignorant accused to own and acknowledge things put into their mouths by a manner of questioning as much to be condemned as perjury itself1 inasmuch as it was sure to produce that crime4 ,in this case the examined was taken from jail and placed upon the stand1 and was soon so confused that she could scarcely know what to say4 ,while it is evident that all her answers were at first true1 because direct1 straightforward1 and reasonable4 ,the strangeness of the questions and the long persistence of the questioners could lead to no other result but confounding what little understanding the accused was at best possessed of4444 ,the examination was before ,messrs4 ,hathorne and ,corwin4 ,the former took down the result1 which is all in his peculiar chirography4 ,upham1 it will be noticed1 says the report was written by ,corwin1 while ,drake here ascribes it to ,hathorne4 ,but since those two men were both present as joint holders of the examining court1 the authority of either gives great value to the document2 we regard the record as having been made by ,corwin4 ,while ,drake says this record of the examination is valuable for the light it throws on the commencement of the delusion1 he also calls it a record of incoherent nonsense4 ,the public very narrowly escaped loss of opportunity to get at the important and luminous facts contained in this document4 ,drake1 in #ahff1 says1 ,the original 7now for the first time printed7 came into the editor's hands some five and twenty years since1 at which time1 on a first and cursory perusal of the examination of the ,indian woman belonging to ,mr4 ,parris's family1 it was concluded not to print it1 and only refer to it2 that is1 only refer to the extract from it contained in the ,,history ,,and ,,antiquities ,,of ,,boston4 ,but when editorial labors upon these volumes were nearly completed1 a re-perusal of that examination was made1 and the result determined the editor to give it a place in this ,appendix4 ,we are constrained to doubt whether this editor attained to anything like either fair comprehension of the value of this document even upon its re-perusal1 or that he perceived one half the import which facts fairly give to the following words from his pen3 ,the record of this examination throws light on the commencement of the delusion4 ,yes1 light upon the time1 place1 source1 and nature of that commencement1 and which also discloses who was the originating1 and probably the guiding agent of all that witchcraft's subsequent process up to its culmination--light which1 to great extent1 exculpates both the fathers and their children--light which reveals the true actors and exonerates their unconscious instruments4 ,that document1 read1 as it now can be1 with help from modern revealments1 proves that some spirit1 or a band of spirits1 was witchcraft's generator and enactor at ,salem1 and indicates that simple ,tituba comprehended the genuine source of the disturbance more clearly than did any other known person of that generation4 ,she furnished for transmission a key that now unlocks the door of the chamber of mystery1 in which she and her associates were made to enact thrilling and bloody scenes one hundred and eighty years ago4 ,that such as desire to do so may be enabled to peruse the whole of her testimony1 which probably can now be found printed only in ,woodward's very valuable ,series of original documents pertaining to witchcraft1--a work too voluminous and costly to obtain general circulation1--we shall do what we can to further public accessibility to ,tituba's statement1 ungarbled and unabridged4 ,still1 to both relieve and enlighten the reader1 we shall break up its continuity by interjecting comments upon many parts as we go on1 but do this in such form1 that1 if the reader chooses to peruse the whole unbiased by comment1 he can2 for this will require only an observance of our quotation marks4 ,by skipping our comments he can read in their original collocations all parts of what ,drake calls incoherent nonsense1 but which to us1 notwithstanding some perplexing incoherence of both questions and answers1 is rich in instructive facts4 ,prior to ,march #a1 the malady seems to have spread out beyond the parsonage and seized upon other persons1 for on that day several afflicted ones were convened as witnesses1 or accusers1 or both1 at the place where the magistrates then appeared for attending to the cases of three women who had been accused of witchcraft1 arrested1 and held for examination4 ,here was the commencement of reputed folly and barbarity so exercised as soon to redden that region with the blood of the innocent1 the manly1 the virtuous1 and the devout4 ,sarah ,good1 ,sarah ,osburn1 and ,tituba were brought into the meeting-house as suspected witches and as producers of the sufferings of the several afflicted ones1 to be examined in the presence of their accusers and the public4 ,what course the magistrates either elected or were constrained to pursue in order to educe such facts as would sustain a charge for witchcraft1 will reveal itself as we proceed1 through the questions which they put to the accused1 and the kinds of evidence which they admitted4 ,,tituba4 ,tituba1 the ,indian woman1 examined ,march #a1 #afib4 ,q4 ,why do you hurt these poor children8 ,what harm have they done unto you8 ,a4 ,they do no harm to me4 ,i no hurt them at all4 ,the first question by the magistrates implies the presence there of the afflicted children1 and of their then seeming to be invisibly hurt4 ,it also implies the magistrate's assumption that ,tituba was hurting them4 ,her denial that either they had harmed her or that she was hurting them was distinct4 ,but the magistrate seemingly doubted its truth or its sufficiency1 for he next asked1-- ,q4 ,why have you done it8 ,a4 ,i have done nothing4 ,i can't tell when the devil works4 ,q4 ,what8 ,doth the devil tell you that he hurts them8 ,a4 ,no4 ,he tells me nothing4 ,she conceded here that the ,devil might be1 and probably was1 at work upon the children2 but his doings were beyond the reach of her perceptive faculties4 ,he made no communication to her4 ,thus early her words indicate that her knowledge of spiritual matters caused her to draw and adhere to a distinction between ,the ,devil and either a ,spirit1 or bands of spirits1 which distinction she and other mediumistic ones of her times adhered to1 while the public lacked knowledge that facts required it1 and ignorantly called all visitants from spirit realms ,the ,devil4 ,when glancing at ,cotton ,mather's unpublished account of ,mercy ,short1 we copied from it the following statement3 ,as the bewitched in other parts of the world have commonly had no other style for their tormentors but only ,,they and ,,them1 so had ,mercy ,short4 ,clairvoyants and all who obtained knowledge of spirits through perceptions by their own interior organs seldom1 if ever1 have seriously spoken of either seeing1 hearing1 or feeling the ,devil4 ,possibly1 at times1 some may have done so by way of accommodation to the unillumined world's modes of speech4 ,but1 as ,mather says1 they have1 the world over1 generally called the personages perceived1 ,they and ,them4 ,such a fact demands regard4 ,the personal observers of spiritual beings have never been accustomed to designate them by bad names4 ,fair inference from this is1 that such beings have not generally worn forbidding aspects4 ,it has been the reporters1 and not the utterers1 of descriptive accounts of spiritual beings who have made use of the terms devil1 satan1 and the like4 ,mather perceived the common style of the bewitched1 and yet the warping habit of ,christendom made him preserve continuance of inaccurate reporting2 for he1 like most others in his day1 persistently wrote devil1 where that name was not announced1 and ought not to have been foisted in4 ,tituba saw no one whom she ever called ,the ,devil1 though history has taught that she did4 ,q4 ,do you never see something appear in some shape8 ,a4 ,no4 ,never see anything4 ,this answer is not true if construed literally in connection with its question4 ,she did1 as will soon appear1 sometimes see many things clairvoyantly1 but never ,the ,devil1 who had just before been mentioned4 ,q4 ,what familiarity have you with the devil1 or what is it that you converse withal8 ,tell the truth1 who it is that hurts them4 ,a4 ,the devil1 for aught ,i know4 ,she persistently admits that the devil may be then and there at work1 but asserts that she does not know anything about him4 ,q4 ,what appearance1 or how doth he appear when he hurts them8 ,she makes no reply when asked how the ,devil hurts4 ,she ignores him4 ,q4 ,with what shape1 or what is he like that hurts them8 ,a4 ,like a man1 ,i think4 ,yesterday1 ,i being in the lean-to chamber1 ,i saw a thing like a man1 that told me serve him4 ,i told him no1 ,i would not do such thing4 ,devil had now been dropped from the question1 and he substituted4 ,what is he like8 ,then she promptly mentioned an apparition not only visible1 but audible1 who1 if carefully scanned1 may prove to have been chief author and enactor of ,salem witchcraft4 ,she who saw and heard him says he was like a man1 ,i think1--was a thing like a man4 ,according to her perceptions he was not the devil4 ,she did not know the devil4 ,others at that time and ever since have called her visitant the devil4 ,but ,tituba1 who saw1 heard1 and thus knew him1 did not and would not4 ,next comes in1 parenthetically1 a summary of her sayings and doings1 as follows3-- 7,she charges ,goody ,osburn and ,sarah ,good1 as those that hurt them children1 and would have had her done it2 she saith she hath seen four1 two which she knew not2 she saw them last night as she was washing the room4 ,they told me hurt the children1 and would have had me gone to ,boston4 ,there was five of them with the man4 ,they told me if ,i would not go and hurt them1 they would do so to me4 ,at first ,i did agree with them1 but afterward1 ,i told them ,i would do so no more47 ,according to this summary1 apparitions multiplied2 for1 besides the man1 she saw four women around herself3 that company threatened to hurt her if she would not unite with them in hurting the children4 ,two of these were apparitions of her living neighbors1 ,good and ,osburn1 then under arrest2 the other three were strangers4 ,we shall soon see that she believed1 what is probably true1 that apparitions of particular persons can be not only presented by occult intelligences to the inner vision1 but put into apparent vigorous action1 while the genuine persons thus presented in counterfeit have no consciousness either of being present at the exhibition1 or of performing1 either then or at any other time1 the acts which they seem to put forth4 ,the conceptions which this simple mind held concerning the nature1 powers1 and purposes of those who came to her in manner strange to most mortals1 are pretty clearly indicated4 ,by her likening them to men and women1 and by her protests against their forcing her to act cruelly1 she justifies the inference that she failed to see in or about them anything very forbidding1 awful1 or satanic4 ,she admitted the possibility that the devil might have hurt the children1 but also asserted that1 if so1 his action was unbeknown to her4 ,the something like a man1 together with these women and herself under compulsion1 were the afflicting ones1 so far as her vision or other senses could determine4 ,she nowhere applies the term devil to her male apparition4 ,no hoofs1 horns1 or tail1 no sable hues or frightful form1 are brought to view by this clairvoyant's description of her occult companions4 ,they wore1 in her sight1 the semblances of a man and of women--not of devils4 ,how different would have been results had her simple words and instructive facts been credited and made the basis of judicial decisions6 ,could she have been calmly and rationally listened to by minds freed from a blinding and irritating faith that ,christendom's witchcraft devil was her companion and prompter1 her plain and definite exposition of the actors who generated troubles which were profound mysteries to her superiors in external knowledge and penetration1 would have brought all the marvels of that day within the domain of natural things1 and warded off the horrors which ensued4 ,q4 ,would they have had you hurt the children last night8 ,a4 ,yes1 but ,i was sorry1 and ,i said ,i would do so no more1 but told ,i would fear ,god4 ,q4 ,but why did not you do so before8 ,a4 ,why1 they tell me ,i had done so before1 and therefore ,i must go on4 7,these were the four women and the man1 but she knew none but ,osburn and ,good only2 the others were of ,boston47 ,if we get at what ,tituba meant by the words just quoted1 it was substantially this3 ,they wanted me1 and forced me against my will1 to join with them in hurting the children last night4 ,i was sorry that ,i was forced to act cruelly1 and told them that ,i would not be forced to it again1 but would serve ,god4 ,i did not take that stand before1 because they told me ,i had already worked with them1 and therefore must go on4 ,q4 ,at first beginning with them1 what then appeared to you8 ,what was it like that got you to do it8 ,a4 ,one like a man1 just as ,i was going to sleep1 came to me4 ,this was when the children was first hurt4 ,he said he would kill the children and she would never be well2 and he said if ,i would not serve him he would do so to me4 ,the witness was here apparently brought to describe her first interview with the author of ,salem witchcraft4 ,we see her now standing at the fountainhead of the devastating torrent which soon deluged the region far around with terror1 anguish1 and blood4 ,who first appeared to her8 ,who was the prime mover8 ,and when was he first seen8 ,subsequent statements are soon to show that on ,friday1 ,january #ae1 #afib1 six weeks and four days before the time when she gave in this testimony1 one like a man1 just as she was going to sleep1 came to her and demanded her aid in hurting the children4 ,the fact is clearly stated that five days before the ,wednesday evening when the children were first hurt by spirit appliances1 and supposed to be taken sick1 one like a man1 when ,tituba was about going to sleep1 came to her and avowed his purpose1 in advance1 to torture and even kill the children4 ,from that time forth she knew the source of the strange operations in her master's family4 ,q4 ,is that the same man that appeared before to you1 that appeared last night and told you this8 ,a4 ,yes4 ,her visitor was the same person on these two different occasions1 which were more than six weeks apart1 and in her various clairvoyant excursions and feats he was frequently1 if not always1 her attendant4 ,q4 ,what other likenesses besides a man hath appeared unto you8 ,a4 ,sometimes like a hog--sometimes like a great black dog--four times4 ,the man probably assumed or presented those brutish forms4 ,a frequent teaching of spirit visitants is1 that they can assume any form which the occasion requires2 they also have often given the impression that they cannot assume hues brighter than inherently pertain to their own intellectual and moral conditions1 but of this we have yet no conclusive information4 ,q4 ,but what did they say unto you8 ,a4 ,they told me serve him1 and that was a good way4 ,that was the black dog4 ,i told him ,i was afraid4 ,he told me he would be worse then to me4 ,her dog could talk4 ,she and the court obviously understood the dog to be the same being1 essentially1 as the one like a man4 ,for1-- ,q4 ,what did you say to him1 then1 after that8 ,a4 ,i answer ,i will serve you no longer4 ,he told me he would do me hurt then4 ,can any one doubt that she conceived herself to be speaking to the same being1 though in dog form1 that she had yielded to before in form like a man8 ,there is no indication that she had previously served a dog1 and yet she says to this one1 ,i will serve you no longer4 ,q4 ,what other creatures have you seen8 ,a4 ,a bird4 ,q4 ,what bird8 ,a4 ,a little yellow bird4 ,q4 ,where does it keep8 ,a4 ,with the man1 who hath pretty things more besides4 ,q4 ,what other pretty things8 ,a4 ,he hath not showed them unto me1 but he said he would show them to me to-morrow1 and told me if ,i would serve him1 ,i should have the bird4 ,q4 ,what other creatures did you see8 ,a4 ,i saw two cats1 one red1 another black1 as big as a little dog4 ,q4 ,what did these cats do8 ,a4 ,i don't know4 ,i have seen them two times4 ,q4 ,what did they say8 ,a4 ,they say serve them4 ,q4 ,when did you see them8 ,a4 ,i saw them last night4 ,q4 ,did they do any hurt to you or threaten you8 ,a4 ,they did scratch me4 ,q4 ,when8 ,a4 ,after prayer2 and scratched me because ,i would not serve her4 ,and when they went away ,i could not see1 but they stood by the fire4 ,q4 ,what service do they expect from you8 ,a4 ,they say more hurt to the children4 ,q4 ,how did you pinch them when you hurt them8 ,a4 ,the other pull me and haul me to pinch the child1 and ,i am very sorry for it4 ,the cats also as well as the dog spoke and commanded her obedience4 ,she saw these the night before her examination4 ,when they went away1 she says1 ,i could not see4 ,those words may admit of two distinct and different meanings4 ,first1 that the cats disappeared without her being able to notice their exit2 or1 second1 that before they went she became spiritually blind--could not longer see clairvoyantly4 ,in a subsequent statement she pleads a sudden obscuration of her internal vision4 ,all clairvoyants are subject to sudden interruptions of their spiritual power to see4 ,she was pulled and hauled by the other with a view to force her to pinch the child4 ,here again her obvious conviction was that the other was essentially more than mere brute4 ,she did not think a cat pulled and hauled her1 but meant that when the cats visited her1 the something like a man--the other--was also present1 and urged her on to mischief4 ,q4 ,what made you hold your arm when you were searched8 ,what had you there8 ,a4 ,i had nothing4 ,q4 ,do not those cats suck you8 ,a4 ,no1 never yet4 ,i would not let them4 ,but they had almost thrust me into the fire4 ,q4 ,how do you hurt those that you pinch8 ,do you get those cats1 or other things1 to do it for you8 ,tell us how it is done4 ,a4 ,the man sends the cats to me1 and bids me pinch them2 and ,i think ,i went once to ,mr4 ,griggs's1 and have pinched her this day in the morning4 ,the man brought ,mr4 ,griggs's maid to me1 and made me pinch her4 ,by the man she obviously meant her frequent spirit visitor4 ,he it was who brought the cats to her1 and made her pinch them1 and by so doing pinch the maid1 who physically was miles distant4 ,such is her statement4 ,an inference from it is1 that properties from ,elizabeth ,hubbard1--the maid in question1--who was among the afflicted ones1 and was a member of the circle1 were drawn out from her by the man1 and made component parts of apparitional cats formed by the man's thought and will powers1 which seeming cats1 being pinched by ,tituba's spirit fingers1 the ,hubbard girl1 some of whose properties were used for constructing those apparitional cats1 felt the pinchings1 first in her spirit1 and thence in her flesh1 though her body was two or three miles distant from the pincher4 ,in that mode the man commanded the use of some properties in ,tituba1 by which he produced torture in a mediumistic physical organism then being far away4 ,another mode of spirit operation is indicated4 ,tituba confessed to a dim consciousness that once1 by some process1 her spirit-self had been got over to ,dr4 ,griggs's1 and pinched the maid at her home4 ,again1 she believed that the same maid had been brought to her 7,tituba's7 abode and pinched there4 ,also it will be seen a little further on1 that1 ,tituba being charged with having been over at the maid's home on a specified day1 denied having been there at that particular time1 but admitted that her apparition might1 unconsciously to herself1 have been seen there then1 for she says1 may be send something like me4 ,we enter a distinct protest against stigmatizing such testimony as incoherent nonsense4 ,in response to a command to tell how the mysterious inflictions were brought about1 this untaught1 ignorant woman1 calmly and with much distinctness1 indicated four or five modes by which psychologic forces were brought to bear upon mediumistic subjects4 ,she had seen the processes1 and1 in her simple way1 told what she had learned by personal observation and experience2 and thus she helps us1 at this day1 to fathom and expound the mysteries of witchcraft more effectually than do all her cotemporaries4 ,notwithstanding her limited command of language1 her statements were about as distinct and instructive as any one then could have made upon such a topic2 but the devil-warped public mind of that day was unable to see the literal import of her testimony1 or to turn her knowledge to good account4 ,two other women1 ,sarah ,good and ,sarah ,osburn1 names previously mentioned1 were1 on the same ,march #a1 #afib1 under examination as co-operators with ,tituba in practicing witchcraft4 ,q4 ,did you ever go with these women8 ,a4 ,they are very strong1 and pull me1 and make me go with them4 ,q4 ,where did you go8 ,a4 ,up to ,mr4 ,putnam's1 and make me hurt the child4 ,q4 ,who did make you go8 ,a4 ,a man that is very strong1 and these two women1 ,good and ,osburn2 but ,i am sorry4 ,q4 ,how did you go8 ,what do you ride upon8 ,a4 ,i ride upon a stick or pole1 and ,good and ,osburn behind me2 we ride taking hold of one another2 don't know how we go1 for ,i saw no trees nor path1 but was presently there when we were up4 ,the child above referred to was ,ann ,putnam1 daughter1 twelve years old1 of ,thomas and ,ann ,putnam1 who resided from two to three miles north-west from the parsonage4 ,this girl1 ,ann1 was one of the excessively bewitched2 that is1 was one of the most impressible and mediumistic members of ,the ,circle4 ,tituba and her two fellow-prisoners had1 either all as spirits1 or she as a conscious spirit and the other two as apparitions1 visited that child at her home2 and1 according to her own apprehension1 the three women all mounted one pole1 rose up into the air1 and were forthwith at ,mr4 ,putnam's1 having noticed neither path nor trees on the way4 ,no reader will apprehend that ,tituba's physical body then left the house of ,mr4 ,parris and went off two miles or more1 on a winter's night1 to ,mr4 7,thomas7 ,putnam's house4 ,she says that they were presently instantly there4 ,it was only her spirit form--thought form--that went riding upon a pole above all woods and paths4 ,but why to ,thomas ,putnam's8 ,probably because his wife and his daughter1 as subsequent events showed1 were both intensely mediumistic or susceptible to influence by thought beings2 they were persons upon whom such beings could work efficiently2 and that was the special reason1 probably1 for a visit to them4 ,the man may well be presumed to have possessed perceptive powers that could determine with much accuracy what persons in all the region round about possessed the constitutional properties and the surroundings which would permit them to become pliable and serviceable implements in executing any scheme he had devised4 ,subsequent events proved that he selected and used such as enabled him1 through intense human agony and bloodshed1 to break in pieces and abolish a most cramping and enslaving creed devil-ward1 which1 like a horrid and disabling nightmare1 had for centuries been depressing and agonizing all ,christendom4 ,whatever was his design1 his selection of instrumentalities facilitated the out-working of a broad and happy emancipation from vast mental evil4 ,it abolished prosecutions for witchcraft throughout both ,america and ,europe4 ,the ostensible object of that mental journey was to hurt the child4 ,such was the man's apparent intention4 ,that man was very strong1 and he accomplished his purpose4 ,ann was hurt4 ,his will-power was such1 that1 having once got hold of the elements of three susceptible and ignorant women1 they were completely under his control4 ,tituba1 who seems to have been always a conscious medium1 yielded perforce to him4 ,her own selfhood fought against his cruelties1 and she felt sorry for what she was forced to do4 ,when under examination she made free confession of her involuntary participation in the tormenting invasions upon innocent girls1 thus unwittingly jeopardizing her own life4 ,she seems to have been frank and truthful4 ,q4 ,how long since you began to pinch ,mr4 ,parris's children8 ,a4 ,i did not pinch them at first1 but they made me afterward4 ,q4 ,have you seen ,good and ,osburn ride upon a pole8 ,a4 ,yes2 and have held fast by me2 ,i was not at ,mr4 ,griggs's but once2 but it may be send something like me2 neither would ,i have gone1 but they tell me they will hurt me4 ,her statement that it may be send something like me1 shows her belief1 and probably her knowledge1 that her very strong something like a man was able to produce the apparition of a mediumistic person even where such person had no consciousness of being present4 ,spirits1 in modern times1 often produce such effects1 and show thereby that ,tituba's comprehension of the case may have been in harmony with the nature of things1 and strictly correct4 ,she repeats again that her participation in the affairs was forced--that others made her pinch4 ,tituba4 ,last night they tell me ,i must kill somebody with a knife4 ,q4 ,who were they that told you so8 ,a4 ,sarah ,good and ,osburn1 and they would have had me kill ,thomas ,putnam's child last night4 7,the child also affirmed that at the same time they would have had her cut off her own head2 for if she would not1 they told her ,tituba would cut it off4 ,and then she complained at the same time of a knife cutting her4 ,when her master hath asked her 7,tituba87 about these things1 she saith they will not let her tell1 but tell her if she tells1 her head shall be cut off47 ,q4 ,who tells you so8 ,a4 ,the man1 ,good1 and ,osburn's wife4 7,goody ,good came to her last night when her master was at prayer1 and would not let her hear1 and she could not hear a good while47 ,good hath one of those birds1 the yellow-bird1 and would have given me it1 but ,i would not have it4 ,and in prayer-time she stopped my ears1 and would not let me hear4 ,q4 ,what should you have done with it8 ,a4 ,give it to the children1 which yellow-bird hath been several times seen by the children4 ,i saw ,sarah ,good have it on her hand when she came to her when ,mr4 ,parris was at prayer4 ,i saw the bird suck ,good between the fore-finger and long-finger upon the right hand4 ,those statements relating to the use of the knife1 apparently volunteered by ,tituba and confirmed by the child1 are quite suggestive4 ,assuming that there was present with them some powerful male spirit bent upon forceful action1 and who1 through ,tituba and other impressibles1 had obtained some palpable hold upon certain human forms and the affairs of external life1 it was in his power to excite in the minds of any and all who had then been brought into rapport with himself1 such ideas as those relating to the knife1 and also to make the psychologized girl experience the sensation of being actually cut by it4 ,such would now be deemed an easy feat by any fair psychologist1 either in the gross form or out of it1 provided he had a favorable subject on whom to operate4 ,the same spirit1 too1 drawing elements from ,mrs4 ,good1 and using them1 could make ,tituba feel as though ,mrs4 ,good was by her side and making her suddenly deaf in prayer-time1 even though it was the male spirit himself who then closed her ears4 ,evidences of mediumistic capabilities in either the afflicted or the afflicters are worthy of distinct observation1 and therefore we draw attention to the statement that the yellow-bird hath been several times seen by the children4 ,therefore the sufferers were clairvoyants1 as well as the accused4 ,q4 ,did you never practice witchcraft in your own country8 ,a4 ,no2 never before now4 ,that answer renders it probable that previous to the winter then passing she had never been conscious of the presence of spirits1 or of conversations with or subjection to them4 ,she1 perhaps1 reveals a lurking suspicion that her experiences of late might be witchcrafts4 ,but her notions as to what constituted that might well1 if not necessarily1 be very different from those existing in the more unfolded and logical minds of her master and her examiners1 who made the chief essence of it consist in a compact made with a ,majestic and ,malignant ,devil--such a devil as would differ very widely in appearance from ,tituba's man4 ,she freely described the unsought presence of a spirit-man with her on sundry occasions2 also her talks with him1 and forced service under him4 ,this essentially was only disclosure of the fact that her own organism and temperaments were such and so conditioned that disembodied intelligences could sometimes be seen and heard by her1 and could force her to be their tool4 ,her witchcraft was devoid of voluntary compact to serve an evil one2 devoid of evil intent in its practice4 ,if she confessed herself to be a witch1 it was only a kindly and loving one1 desiring to be truthful and good1 and inflicting hurt only when forced to it4 ,she confessed only to clairvoyance1 clairaudience1 and weakness of her own will-powers4 ,q4 ,did you see them do it now while you are examining 7being examined78 ,a4 ,no1 ,i did not see them4 ,but ,i saw them hurt at other times4 ,i saw ,good have a cat beside the yellow-bird which was with her4 ,obviously some contortions1 antics1 or sufferings which the afflicted girls1 who were present at the examination1 had just experienced or were then manifesting1 led to the question1 ,did you see them do it now8 ,here again appears the assumption of the court that ,tituba might be gifted with powers or faculties which would enable her to discern animate and designing workers who were invisible by external optics4 ,her inner sight was closed then1 but at some other times had been open4 ,q4 ,what hath ,osburn got to go with her8 ,a4 ,a thing2 ,i don't know what it is4 ,i can't name it4 ,i don't know how it looks4 ,she hath two of them4 ,one of them hath wings1 and two legs1 and a head like a woman4 ,the children saw the same but yesterday1 which afterward turned into a woman4 ,q4 ,what is the other thing that ,goody ,osburn hath8 ,a4 ,a thing all over hairy2 all the face hairy1 and a long nose1 and ,i don't know how to tell how the face looks2 with two legs2 it goeth upright1 and is about two or three foot high1 and goeth upright like a man2 and last night it stood before the fire1 in ,mr4 ,parris's hall4 ,the obscurity of this description is fully paralleled by the prophet ,ezekiel1 who1 in presenting the beings seen in the first of his visions of ,god1 uses the following language1 in chap4 i43 ,they had the likeness of a man1 and every one had four faces1 and every one had four wings2 and their feet were straight feet2 and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot2 and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass4 ,and they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides2 and they four had their faces and their wings2 and their wings were joined one to another2 and they turned not when they went2 they went every one straight forward2 as for the likeness of their faces1 they four had the face of a man1 and the face of a lion1 on the right side2 and they four had the face of an ox on the left side2 they four also had the face of an eagle4 ,this quotation from the ,bible hints with much distinctness that inherent difficulties may beset any clairvoyant who undertakes to set forth in our language1 which was formed for description of material objects1 some things which are occasionally perceived by the spiritual senses4 ,where the prophet was so vague and mystical we may pardon the ignorant slave if she failed to be very lucid1 and if one suspects her of attempting to put forth nothing but fiction1 because she was so obscure1 how can he consistently withhold similar suspicions in relation to the prophet8 ,we will pass to the children's credit the fact that they also saw ,osburn's ungainly and hairy attendant4 ,q4 ,who was that appeared to ,hubbard as she was going from ,proctor's8 ,a4 ,it was ,sarah ,good1 and ,i saw her send the wolf to her4 ,facts are transpiring in the present age which indicate with much distinctness that a spirit can present the semblance of a spirit-beast or other spirit-object to the vision of many clairvoyants at the same time1 and also that he can1 if he so elect1 psychologize simultaneously all clairvoyants with whom he is in rapport1 and cause them all to believe that they see any beast or object which his mind merely conceives of with distinctness4 ,therefore sight of a wolf by the mediumistic ,hubbard girl1 and ,tituba's perception of the same proceeding from mediumistic ,sarah ,good1 could all be produced by the mere volition of that something like a man1 provided only that he was then in rapport with all of those three sensitive ones4 ,q4 ,what clothes doth the man appear unto you in8 ,a4 ,black clothes sometimes2 sometimes serge coat of other color2 a tall man with white hair1 ,i think4 ,q4 ,what apparel do the women wear8 ,a4 ,i don't know what color4 ,q4 ,what kind of clothes hath she8 ,a4 ,black silk hood with white silk hood under it1 with top-knots2 which woman ,i know not1 but have seen her in ,boston when ,i lived there4 ,q4 ,what clothes the little woman8 ,a4 ,serge coat1 with a white cap1 as ,i think4 7,the children having fits at this very time1 she was asked who hurt them4 ,she answers1 ,goody ,good2 and the children affirmed the same4 ,but ,hubbard being taken in an extreme fit1 after ward she 7,tituba7 was asked who hurt her 7,hubbard71 and she said she could not tell1 but said they blinded her and would not let her see2 and after that was once or twice taken dumb herself47 ,that account of the clothes described the usual costumes of the time4 ,we are glad to hear her say1 ,a tall man1 with white hair1 ,i think4 ,that is her description of the something like a man1 and the man who has been so demonstrative4 ,a tall man with white hair1 need not be a very frightful object1 and we can readily conceive that such a mind as ,tituba's might be perfectly calm and self-possessed in his presence1 and never imagine that abler minds might confound such a one with the devil4 ,she never calls him the devil4 ,the fact that she was made dumb two or three times1 gives her case some resemblance to those of ,ezekiel and ,zacharias4 ,her ears1 as before stated1 had been stopped by ,good1 as she supposed1 one evening during prayer-time4 ,thus we find her organs of sense subject to just such control as invisible intelligent operators exercised over prophetic or mediumistic ones of old1 and such as spirits exercise over many mortal forms to-day4 ,her clairvoyance was obscured1 perhaps1 by the man when she was asked who was hurting the ,hubbard girl1 and replied that they blinded her now4 ,second ,examination1 ,march #b1 #afib4 ,q4 ,what covenant did you make with that man that came to you8 ,what did he tell you8 ,the first of those two questions was the crucial one at a trial for witchcraft4 ,had she made a covenant with the devil1 or any devotee of his8 ,that was the main point to be determined4 ,if she had1 she was a witch1 according to the prevalent creed2 if she had not1 she might be innocent of witchcraft4 ,but seemingly the court could not wait for an answer1 because1 in the same breath1 it asked1 ,what did your visitant tell you8 ,a4 ,he tell me he ,god1 and ,i must believe him and serve him six years1 and he would give me many fine things4 ,q4 ,how long ago was this8 ,a4 ,about six weeks and a little more2 ,friday night before ,abigail was ill4 ,that last answer is very instructive4 ,it fixes the exact time when one of the children in ,mr4 ,parris's family was first attacked4 ,for this second day's examination was held on ,wednesday1 ,march #b4 ,it will appear from the above and future answers that the specters first attacked the children on a ,wednesday evening1 just six weeks before this #b;d of ,march4 ,the man appeared to and talked with ,tituba on the ,friday evening before that ,wednesday in ,january4 ,the testimony1 therefore1 takes us back to ,january #bjth as the commencement of overt manifestation of spirit infliction of sufferings there4 ,five days further back1 i4 e41 the evening of ,january #ae1 is apparently the date of the man's first recognized appearance4 ,therefore1 until better information is obtained1 we shall regard that as the date of the primal advent of the genuine author of witchcraft at ,salem ,village1 whom we deem to have been also its regulator through its heart-rending unfoldings4 ,q4 ,what did he say you must do more8 ,did he say you must write anything8 ,did he offer you any paper8 ,a4 ,yes1 the next time he come to me2 and showed me some fine things1 something like creatures1 a little bird something like green and white4 ,q4 ,did you promise him this when he first spake to you8 ,then what did you answer him8 ,a4 ,i then said this3 ,i told him ,i could not believe him ,god4 ,i told him ,i ask my master1 and would have gone up1 but he stopt me and would not let me4 ,q4 ,what did you promise him8 ,a4 ,the first time ,i believe him ,god1 and then he was glad4 ,q4 ,what did he say to you then8 ,what did he say you must do8 ,a4 ,then he tell me they must meet together4 ,there is some obscurity in this quotation1 which raises the question whether the witness contradicts herself by stating that at her first interview she believed that her visitant was ,god himself 7as ,john the ,revelator did that a prophet returning from the spirit spheres and appearing to him was ,god71 and her stating again that at the first interview she told him she could not believe that he was ,god1 and proposed to go up and ask her master1 ,mr4 ,parris1 what he thought about it1 but was held back by her spirit-attendants from doing so4 ,there is1 we say1 obscurity as to whether the account makes her apply both of these opposing statements to her conceptions of her visitor at the first interview with him1 or whether it was not till a subsequent meeting that she doubted his ,godship4 ,as reported1 her examiners are made quite as hard to understand and track as she is in her answers4 ,but1 upon a careful reading1 we judge it fair and proper to conclude that her doubts concerning the character of her acquaintance were expressed as late as at the meeting on ,wednesday1 ,january #bj1 and not on the previous ,friday4 ,q4 ,when did he say you must meet together8 ,a4 ,he tell me ,wednesday next1 at my master's house2 and then we all did meet together1 and that night ,i saw them all stand in the corner--all four of them--and the man stand behind me1 and take hold of me1 and make me stand still in the hall4 ,we now must relinquish doubt as to the meetings at the parsonage1 for here we have distinct historical mention of a circle1 which met at ,mr4 ,parris's house for the purpose of practically manifesting the skill and powers1 not of learners1 but of an expert in the wonders of necromancy1 magic1 and especially of ,spiritualism4 ,this circle met1 at five days' notice1 on the evening of ,january #bj1 #afib4 ,a man1 or something like a man1 was at the head of it1 and five females1 three of them at least embodied ones1 were his assistants1 or rather were reservoirs from whence he drew forces with which to experiment upon two little mediumistic girls4 ,if a club of women and girls sometimes met for such purposes as are alleged in foregoing citations1--and perhaps it did in a loose1 irregular way1--we fancy that ,tituba's tutor was ever among them taking notes1 scrutinizing their several properties1 capabilities1 and circumstances1 and planning when and how to use them for most efficient accomplishment of his purposes4 ,the fact that he was present as author and master spirit when the first act of the ,salem ,village tragedy was visibly manifested through the twitchings and contortions of two little girls1 is distinctly shown by ,tituba's testimony4 ,therefore henceforth there can be neither historical nor philanthropic justice in imputing to the brains and wills of the little girls what a present and conscious clairvoyant witness imputes distinctly to one who looked something like a man4 ,give to him--whoever he was--give to him his just dues2 also bestow upon the girls neither censure nor praise for the help which their organisms and temperaments necessarily afforded him4 ,this meeting of apparitions1 be it noted and remembered1 took place immediately before the sickness of the children came on1 and during its session1 the children were pinched1 and thus first became afflicted ones4 ,on that ,wednesday night ,abigail first became ill4 ,q4 ,where was your master then8 ,a4 ,in the other room4 ,q4 ,what time of night8 ,a4 ,a little before prayer-time4 ,q4 ,what did this man say to you when he took hold of you8 ,a4 ,he say1 ,go into the other room and see the children1 and do hurt to them and pinch them4 ,and then ,i went in and would not hurt them a good while2 ,i would not hurt ,betty2 ,i loved ,betty2 but they haul me1 and make me pinch ,betty1 and the next ,abigail2 and then quickly went away altogether after ,i had pinch them4 ,q4 ,did you go into that room in your own person1 and all the rest8 ,a4 ,yes2 and my master did not see us1 for they would not let my master see4 ,mr4 ,parris and the children seem from the above to have been in the same apartment that evening1 for ,tituba states that he was in the other room1 and her dictator said to her1 ,go into the other room1 and hurt the children4 ,that the master of the house was present with his daughter and niece then1 may be indicated also in the statement that they would not let my master see2 for this implies that they were in his presence1 though invisible4 ,if she went to the room in her physical form--which is not stated1 and is not probable--though she did go there in her own person1 the others went only as spirits or as apparitions2 and they did not so enrobe or materialize themselves as to be visible by outward eyes1 and therefore did not become visible to ,mr4 ,parris--they would not let him see4 ,the first infliction upon the children1 therefore1 was made in his very presence1 but by invisible hands--spirit hands or apparitional hands--touching the spirit forms of the mediumistic little girls1 and through their own inner forms reaching1 paining1 and convulsing their physical bodies4 ,it is interesting to note that because ,tituba loved ,betty1 she was able to resist the pressure upon her a good while2 but her feeble powers were incompetent to oppose unyielding and effectual resistance to the strong will of the producer of painful experiences4 ,q4 ,did you go with the company8 ,a4 ,no4 ,i staid1 and the man staid with me4 ,q4 ,what did he then to you8 ,a4 ,he tell me my master go to prayer1 and he read in book1 and he ask me what ,i remember3 but don't you remember anything4 ,this account fails to furnish any very conclusive evidence that either of the four other women was on that occasion consciously present with ,tituba and the man2 it need only indicate the probability that he drew properties from each of them1 wherever located1 whether in the ,village1 in ,boston1 or elsewhere1 which enabled him to present their apparitions to ,tituba as helpers1 and to effect rapport with and get power over the children4 ,when his immediate purpose had been accomplished1 no one but the man could be seen by her4 ,he perhaps left the female apparitions to dissolve when his further need of their properties ceased4 ,there is no evidence that ,good and ,osburn were conscious of being present where ,tituba saw them1 and therefore the other two female forms may have been purely apparitional--mental fabrics of the man4 ,but important points are clear4 ,the man's controlling will1 and subjugated ,tituba's conscious self1 were there4 ,q4 ,did he ask you no more but the first time to serve him8 ,or the second time8 ,a4 ,yes1 he ask me again if ,i serve him six years2 and he come the next time and show me a book4 ,q4 ,and when would he come then8 ,a4 ,the next ,friday1 and showed me a book in the daytime1 betimes in the morning4 ,q4 ,and what book did he bring1 a great or little book8 ,a4 ,he did not show it me1 nor would not1 but had it in his pocket4 ,q4 ,did he not make you write your name8 ,a4 ,no1 not yet1 for my mistress called me into the other room4 ,q4 ,what did he say you must do in that book8 ,a4 ,he said write and put my name to it4 ,q4 ,did you write8 ,a4 ,yes1 once1 ,i made a mark in the book1 and made it with red like blood4 ,q4 ,did he get it out of your body8 ,a4 ,he said he must get it out4 ,the next time he come again1 he gave me a pin tied in a stick to do it with2 but he no let me blood with it as yet1 but intended another time when he came again4 ,q4 ,did you see any other marks in his book8 ,a4 ,yes1 a great many2 some marks red1 some yellow2 he opened his book1 and a great many marks in it4 ,q4 ,did he tell you the names of them8 ,a4 ,yes1 of two2 no more3 ,good and ,osburn2 and he say they made them marks in that book1 and he showed them me4 ,q4 ,how many marks do you think there was8 ,a4 ,nine4 ,q4 ,did they write their names8 ,a4 ,they made marks4 ,goody ,good said she made her mark1 but ,goody ,osburn would not tell4 ,she was cross to me4 ,q4 ,when did ,good tell you she set her hand to the book8 ,a4 ,the same day ,i came hither to prison4 ,q4 ,did you see the man that morning8 ,a4 ,yes1 a little in the morning1 and he tell me the magistrates come up to examine me4 ,q4 ,what did he say you must say8 ,a4 ,he tell me tell nothing2 if ,i did1 he would cut my head off4 ,the questions relating to the book and signatures were based on1 and made important by1 then prevalent belief that one's signature in the devil's book proved the signing of a covenant to be henceforth his servant4 ,tituba's statement that she had seen therein ,sarah ,good's signature in her own blood1 well might be then deemed strong evidence that ,mrs4 ,good was a witch1 and was guilty of witchcraft4 ,but we doubt whether the witness had any conception of the fatal import of her statement4 ,her testimony that ,goody ,osburn was cross to her1 while amusing1 is also suggestive of the deep question whether even an apparition1 produced by use of unconscious elements drawn from a human system1 could or would be so permeated with the existing mental and emotional moods of the person from whom they were drawn as to cause those moods to be perceived and felt by those who might see1 and receive influences from1 the apparition4 ,the man told her that the magistrates had come or were coming to examine her4 ,she might have known this already1 and might not4 ,be that as it may1 on the morning of her examination ,a ,,spirit spoke to her4 ,his counsel was1 that she should say nothing4 ,this advice seems wise4 ,but it was not very cunning in her to repeat it1 and make known its source in presence of ,authority4 ,willing or not she was there constrained to speak out4 ,robert ,calef1 in ,more ,wonders of the ,invisible ,world1 reports her as saying1 that her master did beat her and otherwise abuse her to make her confess and accuse 7such as he called7 her sister witches1 and that whatsoever she said by way of confessing1 or accusing others1 was the effect of such usage4 ,q4 ,tell us true2 how many women do you use to come when you ride abroad8 ,a4 ,four of them2 these two1 ,osburn and ,good1 and those two strangers4 ,q4 ,you say there was nine4 ,did he tell you who they were8 ,a4 ,no1 he no let me see1 but he tell me ,i should see them the next time4 ,q4 ,what sights did you see8 ,a4 ,i see a man1 a dog1 a hog1 and two cats1 a black and red1 and the strange monster was ,osburn's that ,i mentioned before2 this was the hairy imp4 ,the man would give it to me1 but ,i would not have it4 ,q4 ,did he show you in the book which was ,osburn's and which was ,good's mark8 ,a4 ,yes1 ,i see their marks4 ,q4 ,but did he tell you the names of the other8 ,a4 ,no1 sir4 ,q4 ,and what did he say to you when you made your mark8 ,a4 ,he said1 ,serve me2 and always serve me4 ,the man with the two women came from ,boston4 ,q4 ,how many times did you go to ,boston8 ,a4 ,i was going and then came back again4 ,i never was at ,boston4 ,q4 ,who came back with you again8 ,a4 ,the man came back with me1 and the women go away2 ,i was not willing to go4 ,q4 ,how far did you go--to what town8 ,a4 ,i never went to any town4 ,i see no trees1 no town4 ,q4 ,did he tell you where the nine lived8 ,a4 ,yes2 some in ,boston and some here in this town1 but he would not tell me who they were4 ,we have now presented the full text of ,tituba's testimony as recorded by ,corwin and printed by ,drake4 ,severed from the leading and jumbled questions which drew it forth1 and reduced to a simple narrative1 her statement would in substance be nearly as follows3-- ,something like a man came to me just as ,i was going to sleep the ,friday night before ,abigail was taken ill1 six weeks and a little more ago1 who then told me that he was ,god1 that ,i must believe him1 and that if ,i would serve him six years he would give me many fine things4 ,he said there must be a meeting at my master's house the next ,wednesday1 and on the evening of that day he and four women came there4 ,then ,i told him ,i could not believe that he was ,god1 and proposed to go and ask ,mr4 ,parris what he thought on that point2 but the man held me back4 ,they forced me against my will and my love for ,betty to pinch the children2 we did pinch them4 ,that was the first night that ,abigail was sick4 ,sometimes ,i saw the appearances of dogs1 cats1 birds1 hogs1 wolves1 and a nondescript animal1 some of whom spoke to me1 and talked like the man4 ,yesterday1 when ,i was in the lean-to chamber1 ,i saw a thing like a man1--the same that ,i had seen before1--who asked me to serve him2 and last night1 when ,i was washing the room1 the man and the four women all came again1 and wanted me to hurt the children2 and we all went up to ,mr4 ,thomas ,putnam's1 and hurt ,ann1 and cut her with a knife4 ,i went to the ,hubbard girl once1 and pinched her1 and once the man brought her over to me1 and ,i pinched her2 but ,i was not there when they say ,i was1 though it may be that the man sent my apparition over there then without my knowing it4 ,i once saw what looked like a wolf go out from ,mrs4 ,good and run to the ,hubbard girl4 ,how we travel ,i don't know2 we go up in the air1 and we are instantly at the place we intend to go to2 we see no trees1 no roads4 ,the man brings cats or other things to me1 and ,i pinch them2 and by doing so the girls are pinched4 ,sometimes ,i can see these things for a while1 and then instantly become blind to them4 ,this morning the man came and told me the magistrates had come to examine me4 ,such are the principal points in ,tituba's account of the origin and author of the disturbance or amazing feats at ,mr4 ,parris's house4 ,in the main1 they are plain1 direct1 and seemingly true4 ,they teach as clearly as words ever taught anything1 that something like a man--a tall man with white hair1 dressed in serge coat--came and forced ,tituba to pinch the children at the very time when one of them was first taken sick4 ,they teach also that the same man appeared to ,tituba several times1 and was with her on the day of her examination4 ,the spiritual source of the first physical manifestations which generated the great troubles at ,salem ,village is thus set forth with such clearness as will command credence in future ages1 even if it shall fail to do so in this ,sadducean generation4 ,as before stated1 another record of ,tituba's testimony was made by ,ezekiel ,cheever1 which is much less ample and particular than the one above presented4 ,it omits entirely several very instructive and important parts--especially those which make known ,tituba's earlier interviews with the man2 those which fix the exact time when he first came to her2 the exact time when ,abigail was taken ill2 and1 more important still1 those parts which describe the assemblage of spirits at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 and their deliberate inflictions of pains upon the children at the very time when their disordered conditions came upon them4 ,upham1 by using ,cheever's instead of the other account1 failed to adduce several vastly important historic facts2 the special facts which are essential to a fair presentation of the origin and nature of ,salem witchcraft4 ,he nowhere recognizes the probably acute intellect1 strong powers1 persistent action1 and inspiring presence of the tall man with white hair and in serge coat4 ,omitting these1 he has but given us ,hamlet with ,hamlet left out4 ,and this1 too1 not in ignorance1 for he had seen ,corwin's manuscript1 which made clearly manifest the presence and doings of one spirit-personage especially1 and taught many other facts that were not reconcilable with his theory4 ,the tall man with white hair who visited ,tituba on the evening of ,january #ae1 #afib1 has such obvious and important connection with1 and influence over1 all the ostensible actors in the scenes which former witchcraft historians have depicted1 as may revolutionize their theories1 and teach the world that those expounders never traced their subject down to its genuine base2 that they built1 partly at least1 upon the sands of either ignorance or misconception of the nature and actual source of what they discussed4 ,there are some important differences in the two records of ,tituba's testimony1 even where the words and facts must have been the same4 ,the following parallel passages present quite differing reports of what she said concerning her own knowledge of the devil3-- ,cheever4 ,corwin4 ,why do you hurt these ,why do you hurt these children8 ,i do not hurt poor children8 what harm them4 ,who is it then8 have they done unto you8 ,the devil1 for aught ,i ,they do no harm to me4 know4 ,did you ever ,i no hurt them at all4 see the devil8 ,the ,why have you done it8 devil come to me1 and bid ,i have done nothing4 ,i me serve him4 can't tell when the devil works4 ,what6 ,doth the devil tell you that he hurts them8 ,no1 he tells me nothing4 ,thus ,cheever makes her say that the devil came to her and bade her serve him1 while ,corwin1 reporting the same part of the examination makes her say that the devil never told her anything4 ,further on1 ,corwin makes her say1 ,a thing like a man told me serve him4 ,cheever says the devil told her thus4 ,tituba herself1 and all the clairvoyants of that age1 preserved a distinction between the devil and the personages they saw1 heard1 and talked with4 ,but the recorders of their testimony1 failing to observe this distinction1 often perverted the evidence4 ,a comparison of the two records throughout suggests the probability that ,corwin1 who is most minute1 gives the questions and answers in their original order and sequences much more nearly than does ,cheever1 whose record1 when compared with the other1 appears in some parts to be summings-up of several minutes' talks into a brief sentence or two1 and also gives evidence of his taking it as obvious fact1 that ,tituba's thing like a man was the veritable devil4 ,this is probable1 because his minutes make her say the devil come to me1 and bid me serve him1 at a point in the examination where1 according to ,corwin1 she said the devil tells me nothing4 ,thus the appearance is1 that ,cheever carried back in time words which she subsequently applied to her thing like a man1 and on his own authority--not hers--applied them to the devil4 ,in ,corwin's account1 her conception of the separate individualities of the devil and her thing like a man reveals itself clearly1 and is nowhere contravened4 ,but ,cheever1 almost at the commencement of his record1 and at a point where she1 according to ,corwin1 said the devil told her nothing1 reports her as then applying to the devil what she a few minutes or hours afterward applied to her thing like a man4 ,according to the more full and the more trustworthy record1 she at no time confessed to any interview with ,the ,devil1 though she did freely to many conversations with the man4 ,these facts are important1 very interesting1 and instructive4 ,as we interpret them now1 they indicate that ,tituba never confessed to any intercommunings with the devil1 never charged ,mrs4 ,good1 ,mrs4 ,osburn1 or any one else with being familiar with his ,sable ,majesty1 but only with a tall man1 with white hair1 wearing a serge coat4 ,the court before whom she was questioned1 and the people around1 generally1 no doubt1 deemed her thing like a man to be the veritable devil1 as ,cheever did4 ,but the more exact recorder of her words furnishes good grounds for belief that ,tituba herself conceived otherwise4 ,she who was gifted with faculties which let her see1 hear1 and feel the actors1 apprehended that one of them at least was a disembodied human spirit2 while the spiritually blind1 but physically and logically keen-eyed ones around her1 wrongfully inferred the presence of their ,malignant and ,mighty ,devil with her4 ,some dates fixed by this witness in ,corwin's account1 and entirely omitted in ,cheever's1 are interesting and somewhat important4 ,we learn what1 so far as we know1 escaped the notice of all former searchers1 that it was on ,friday1 ,january #ae1 just as she was going to sleep1 that one like a man came to her and appointed a meeting there at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 to take place on the next ,wednesday evening4 ,accordingly1 on ,wednesday evening1 ,january #bj1 the man and four women came1 and then designedly and deliberately pushed ,tituba on1 and made her pinch the daughter and niece of ,mr4 ,parris2 and on that very evening1 ,abigail1 at least1 if not ,betty also1 was first taken ill4 ,here is an important and significant coincidence4 ,just at the time when the illness was developed1 spirits1 in compliance with a previous arrangement1 were there present at work seeking to produce just such a result as was manifested4 ,did they1 or did other agencies1 produce the mysterious disorders which seemed to devil-dreading beholders like diabolical obsessions8 ,in view of all the facts1 it is plain that a spirit or spirits caused the children to suffer4 ,by failing to present the above points1 which1 though lacking in the account that he copied and followed1 yet came under his eye1 ,upham clearly failed to use some very important historic facts which are essential to a fair presentation of both the time at which1 and the agents through whom1 ,salem witchcraft had its origin1 and consequently to a fair presentation of its nature4 ,but those facts strenuously conflict with his theory that embodied girls and women were the designers and perpetrators of that great and terrific manifestation of destructive forces4 ,how strong the chains of a pet theory6 ,how blinding the cataracts of long-cherished conclusions6 ,if there exists in the world's annals more distinct testimony that a particular individual was the deliberate and intentional producer of acts which generated suffering1 than ,tituba gave that the thing like a man1 which came to her once when she was about going to sleep1 once in the lean-to chamber1 once when she was washing the room1 and who1 on ,friday night1 appointed a place for meeting the next ,wednesday night1 and1 with assistants1 kept his appointment1 and then and there1 as he had previously announced his purpose to do1 severely hurt the children--if there ever was recorded testimony which more distinctly designated a particular being as the principal in planning and enacting any scheme than is this from ,tituba1 by which she designates over and over again a tall man with white hair1 wearing black clothes sometimes1 and sometimes serge coat of other color1 as the chief executor of the strange and momentous development of illnesses in the family of ,mr4 ,parris1 ,i know not where that clearer testimony is recorded4 ,he who ignored several very significant parts of what ,tituba said1 rejected corner-stones which are essential to the foundation of a genuinely philosophical disclosure of the source and consequent nature of the mysteries he attempted to explain4 ,tituba has been described by ,upham as indicating1 in most respects1 a mind at the lowest level of general intelligence1 so that any one must be more rash than prudent who will impute to her ability to fabricate a series of facts1 all of which seem to be natural and probable in the province of psychology4 ,mr4 ,parris informs us that the strange sicknesses existed in his family during several weeks before he or others had any suspicion that they might be of diabolical origin4 ,tituba dates their commencement on the evening of ,january #bj1 just six weeks before her examination4 ,therefore ,mr4 ,parris's several weeks may have been five at least1 during which he and his wife and their physician and friends probably studied symptoms1 administered and watched the action of medicines1 and cared for the children in every way1 with as much freedom from delusion or bewildering excitement1 as they could have done in any other equal portion of their lives4 ,such medical skill as then existed there1 obviously had and used a very considerable period of time1 not less than four or five weeks1 in which to do its best1 and yet was baffled4 ,its best was unavailing4 ,we to-day perceive sufficient cause of its failure4 ,it was contending against a special spirit infliction1 the authors of which could either counteract1 intensify1 or nullify at their pleasure1 the normal action of any common medicines or nursings4 ,parents1 physician1 and nurses no doubt witnessed from day to day such anomalous and changeful manifestations1 sequent upon the administration of physic1 as confounded their judgments1 and made them at last suspect an evil hand4 ,tituba knew the cause of the illnesses1 but probably lacked power to see and appreciate the continuous connection of that cause with the long series of its effects4 ,had she divulged her knowledge1 what heed would have been given to the word of the ignorant slave8 ,what beatings might she not well fear if she confessed to any dealings with invisible beings8 ,no wonder that she kept her knowledge to herself1 till fear of her master's cane influenced her to disclose the facts to the magistrates4 ,small as ,tituba's mental capacities were1 she had some unusual susceptibilities1 which permitted1 or rather obliged1 her to possess more knowledge of the origin and progress1 and also of the nature and of the active producer1 of the distressing ailments and amazing feats in her master's family1 than did master1 mistress1 physician1 and magistrates combined4 ,they saw--if it can be said that they saw at all--they saw only through thick1 coarse1 and blurred glasses1 very dimly2 while she1 at times1 clearly saw living actors face to face4 ,from her we get the testimony of a witness who learned directly through her own senses what she stated2 her testimony gives forth the ring of unflawed truth1 and lifts a vail off from long-hidden mysteries4 ,hutchinson1 ,upham1 and ,drake each sought to make it apparent that mundane roguishness1 trickery1 and malice1 operating amid public credulity and infatuation1 prompted and enabled frail girls and women to produce the amazing feats1 marvelous convulsions1 and all the many other woeful outworkings of witchcraft4 ,having been either unobservant of1 or having ignored1 the plain historic fact seen over and over again in ,tituba's testimony1 that certain other intelligences than girls1 that minds which were freed more or less fully and permanently from the hamperings of flesh1 actually started the first display of witchcraft pinchings1 fits1 and convulsions at ,salem ,village1 those historians wrongfully charged girls and women1 whose bodies were then the subjects and tools of other intelligences1 with being the feigners of maladies and the producers of acts which an eye-witness and reluctant participator distinctly declares were manifested in obedience to a will or wills not their own4 ,such oversight1 or such discarding of facts1 whichever it may have been1 caused those writers to so restrict their stores of intelligent agents having more or less access to and power over man1 as to put outside of their own reach and vision the actual producers of witchcraft phenomena4 ,this self-imposed or self-retained restriction forced upon them necessity for efforts to show that mere children possessed gigantic physical and mental powers and brains which concocted and executed schemes that shook to their very foundations the strong fabrics of church and state--yes1 forced them to ascribe mighty public agitations to insignificant operators4 ,tituba1 on the other hand1 by a simple statement of what her own interior self saw1 heard1 felt1 and did1--by a statement of what she actually knew1--designated the genuine and the obviously competent authors of witchcraft marvels1 and explained their advent rationally4 ,she1 therefore1 by far--very far--outranks each and all of those historians as a competent and authoritative expounder of the authorship1 origin1 and nature of ,salem ,witchcraft4 ,her something like a man--her tall white-haired man in serge coat--was its author4 ,that man was a spirit1 and his works were ,spiritualism of some quality4 ,opposition revealed his possession of mighty force4 ,and1 whatever his motive1 the result of his scheme was the death of witchcraft throughout ,christendom1 and consequent wide emancipation from mental slavery4 ,some statements made and published by ,robert ,calef not long subsequent to #afib1 wear on their surface the semblance of impeachments1 or at least of questionings of the value of ,tituba's testimony4 ,he says1 ,the first complained of was the said ,indian woman named ,tituba2 she confessed the devil urged her to sign a book1 which he presented to her1 and also to work mischief to the children1 c4 ,we fail to find in ,corwin's report anything like a confession of any such things2 she there states distinctly that ,the ,devil tells her nothing1 and also that the book was offered to her1 and that the urgings to hurt the children were made to her by something like a man--by the man4 ,she had no idea that the devil was her visitant1 and never confessed that he tempted her4 ,calef goes on and says1 ,she was afterward committed to prison1 and lay there till sold for her fees4 ,the account she since gives of it is1 that her master did beat her and otherwise abuse her to make her confess and accuse 7such as he called7 her sister witches2 and that whatsoever she said by way of confessing1 or accusing others1 was the effect of such usage4 ,this is credible1 and is probably true4 ,such proceedings on the part of ,mr4 ,parris are not inconsistent with the character which he bears4 ,tituba's other master1 the white-haired man1 had charged her to say nothing2 she perhaps1 therefore1 was in fact induced to utter whatsoever she said by way of confessing or accusing others1 by beatings she received from her visible master4 ,but what did she say by way of confessing or accusing8 ,nothing1 really4 ,she merely stated facts known to her2 and such statement should not be misnamed either confession or accusation4 ,corwin's record of that slave's testimony excites an apprehension--yes1 generates belief--that ,calef unconsciously made misleading statement when he wrote that she confessed the devil urged her to sign a book4 ,we have met with no indication that she ever made what should be called confession4 ,we repeat1 that she quite fully narrated that she had seen1 held conversation with1 and been forced to obey1 a white-haired man1 and also that the women ,good and ,osburn were at times her companion operators when the ,man was present4 ,that frank statement of facts constituted her only confession1 so far as we perceive4 ,had this been made by an intelligent witness who comprehended how the public mind would interpret it1 there might be plausible reason for saying that she or he confessed4 ,but with ,tituba it was a simple statement of the truth4 ,we suspect that ,calef1 under the prevalent habit of his day1 unwittingly wrote devil where ,tituba1 according to ,corwin1 said the man4 ,if he followed ,cheever's report of the trial1 he seemed to have authority for doing so4 ,that ,tituba regarded the devil and the tall man as two distinct individuals is very obvious4 ,when questioned1 she admitted that the devil might hurt the children for aught she knew1 but she had never seen him1 nor had he ever told her anything4 ,she had no acquaintance with that personage4 ,while the questions related to his doings she could give no information2 but as soon as opportunity was given her to introduce her tall man she was ready to speak of him freely and instructively4 ,the people around her1 not interiorly illumined1 applied the name devil to any disembodied intelligence that acted upon1 or whose power became manifest to1 their external senses2 not so did either ,tituba or any of her clairvoyant sister sufferers or sister accusers either4 ,throughout the whole of her two days' rigid examination she persistently called her strange visitant the man4 ,and it is a significant fact that all the mediumistic ones then1 both accusers and accused1 escaped ever falling into the prevalent habit of accusing ,,the ,,devil4 ,other agents met their vision4 ,fear of ,mr4 ,parris may have forced ,tituba to tell her true tale1 which but for him she might have withheld4 ,but is there probability either that he dictated any part of her testimony1 or that she fabricated anything8 ,we see none4 ,the fair and just presumption is1 that though forced to speak1 she simply described what she had seen1 and narrated what she had experienced4 ,the apparent promptness1 directness1 and general consistency of her answers1 strongly favor that presumption4 ,in her judgment1 as in ours1 what she said was no confession of familiarity with the devil1 for she disclaimed any knowledge of him2 and therefore she made no confession of witchcraft as then defined1 and no accusation of it against the other women4 ,calef imputes to her a subsequent position which may be so construed as to indicate that she declined to stand by her previous statements4 ,he says1 her master refused to pay her jail fees1 and thus liberate her from prison1 unless she would stand to what she had said4 ,in that quotation is involved all that we find in the older records which wears even a semblance of impeaching her testimony1 or suggests any reason why we should distrust its intentional accuracy in any particular4 ,the master did not pay the fees4 ,she lay in jail thirteen months1 and was then sold to pay her prison charges4 7,drake4 ,annals1 #aij47 ,but what did her master require her to stand to8 ,calef says he beat her to make her confess1 and accuse such as he called her sister witches2 and that whatsoever she did by way of confessing or accusing others1 was the effect of such usage4 ,what she may have confessed to having done1 or what she may have accused others of doing1 at other times than when she was under examination1 we do not know4 ,her statements then1 as she then meant1 and as we now understand them1 fell far short of confessing familiarity with the devil1 or of laying that crime to any others2 therefore she neither made herself nor her companions witches4 ,still her master1 no doubt1 as did the recorder ,ezekiel ,cheever and the court1 understood her as meaning devil when she said the man1 though she herself did not so mean4 ,even ,corwin1 apparently1 as judge1 put the prevalent construction upon her words1 though his fidelity as a recorder caused him to write the man when she said the man4 ,this general habit of understanding devil1 when some other personage was both named and meant1 enables us to see that there may have been subsequent dispute between her and her master as to her real meaning1 and that he made it a condition for her liberation that she should put his construction upon what she had said1 rather than her own4 ,it is an open question whether she ever refused to stand by her own meaning1 or the true meaning of her own words4 ,perhaps she did refuse to stand by construction which the faith and habit of the day led most minds to put upon her words unjustifiably2 but we doubt whether she refused to stand by the literal and intended meaning of what she had said4 ,poor ,tituba6 ,because of your forced connection with a scheme and works which entirely baffled your comprehension1 because of your forced disclosure of things you had witnessed and experienced behind the vail of flesh1 your own body was imprisoned thirteen months1 and two innocent women were doomed to death4 ,guileless and innocent1 so far as connected with witchcraft1 you was borne on by mighty forces to seem to act voluntarily1 though in fact unwillingly and perforce1 a prominent part in one of the most fearful scenes in human history4 ,man's ignorance of spiritual agents and forces in your day1 together with the prevalent hallucination devil-ward1 made you a humble and pitiable martyr to simple truth-telling4 ,some seeds in your simple story now gathered from out the chaff that has covered them for nine-score years1 may soon be scattered over ,new ,england soil1 from which1 we trust1 you above1 and men below1 may gather wholesome fruits of justice and truth4 ,,sarah ,,good4 ,tituba's sister witch1 as that slave's master called ,sarah ,good1 may not have been regarded in her generation as possessor of any large amount of such qualities as her name is commonly used to designate4 ,still her neighbors doomed her to lasting fame by selecting her as the first person to be put under examination on suspicion of being a producer of ,salem witchcraft4 ,as a facile tool in supernal hands she may have been1 and probably was1 good in quality as well as name4 ,indications that her spirit-form was susceptible of either easy elimination or wide radiations from its material counterpart1 are contained in the facts that on ,january #bj1 #afib1 the inner eye of ,tituba saw this ,sarah2 on ,february #be1 ,ann ,putnam1 and on the #bhth1 ,elizabeth ,hubbard saw her apparition1 or her spirit-form4 ,man's natural or physical optics do not discern a spirit4 ,spirit1 when not materialized1 is discernible only by our inner or spirit-eyes2 spirit is spiritually discerned4 ,the spirit forms1 however1 of embodied1 living men and women1 are not all equally discernible by clairvoyants4 ,generally1 only such among flesh-clad spirits are readily seen by inner optics as are able to slip1 or are liable to be drawn1 or to radiate out1 from one's ordinary integuments of flesh1 or1 at least1 those only whose integuments are transparent of spirit-light4 ,only few1 relatively1 can either see or be seen readily and frequently by spiritual eyes4 ,eagles exist as well as owls and bats4 ,and clear perception of objects by the former amid light that blinds the latter1 is no proof either that the vision of eagles is perverted1 or that the objects they behold are but creatures of fancy4 ,mediumistic ,sarah ,good1 because she was highly mediumistic1 would naturally be a brilliant and attractive object in the field of vision which the inner eyes of other mediumistic ones might be able and attracted to survey4 ,distance is of little or no account in connection with vision by the inner eye4 ,persons and objects1 scores and hundreds of miles away1 are practically near to the inner optics4 ,spirit-forms are1 perhaps1 thought-forms1 and1 like thought1 can traverse oceans and continents in the twinkling of an eye4 ,it is not our purpose to multiply pages by largely quoting minute accounts of what transpired at the examinations and trials of those who were suspected of witchcraft2 and yet it may be well to present rather fully one sample of the proceedings of the courts4 ,this first case which the civil authorities gave attention to may serve that purpose as well as any other4 ,the arrest of ,sarah ,good was made ,february #bi1 and on the next day1 ,tuesday1 ,march #a1 #afib1 her examination was commenced1 and was continued1 in connection with that of ,sarah ,osburn and ,tituba1 through the remainder of that week4 ,on ,monday1 the #gth1 these three were sent to jail in ,boston4 ,on the #cjth of ,june ,mrs4 ,good was put upon trial1 which resulted in her conviction1 and on the #aith of ,july she1 together with others1 was executed4 ,we copy first ,ezekiel ,cheever's account of her examination4 ,cheever was temporary clerk or scribe employed by the examining magistrates to take minutes of the testimony4 ',sarah ,good1 what evil spirit have you familiarity with8' ,ans4 ',none4' ',have you made no contract with the devil8' ,good answered1 ',no4' ',why do you hurt these children8' ,ans4 ',i do not hurt them4 ,i scorn it4' ',who do you employ1 then1 to do it8' ,ans4 ',i employ nobody4' ,this question was doubtless based on belief then held1 that one who was in covenant with the devil had1 by the terms of the covenant1 received power to command the devil and his imps to execute any desired mischief4 ',what creature do you employ1 then8' ,ans4 ',no creature1 but ,i am falsely accused4' ,her statement that she employed nobody1 seems not to have covered all classes of possible servants in such business4 ,therefore she was asked what creature she employed4 ,this question suggests the probable supposition by the magistrate that such dogs1 cats1 birds1 and hairy nondescripts as ,tituba saw1 might be subservient to the commands of a witch4 ',why did you go away muttering from ,mr4 ,parris's house8' ,ans4 ',i did not mutter2 but ,i thanked him for what he gave my child4' ',have you made no contract with the devil8' ,ans4 ',no4' ,the magistrate then desired the children1 all of them1 to look upon her and see if this were the person that had hurt them2 and so they all did look upon her1 and said that this was one of the persons that did torment them4 ,presently they were all tormented4 ',sarah ,good1 do you not see now what you have done8 ,why do you not tell us the truth8 ,why do you thus torment these poor children8' ,ans4 ',i do not torment them4' ',who do you employ1 then8' ,ans4 ',i employ nobody4 ,i scorn it4' ',how came they thus tormented8' ,ans4 ',what do ,i know8 ,you bring others here1 and now you charge me with it4' ',why1 who was it8' ,ans4 ',i do not know but it was some you brought into the meeting-house with you4' ,response4 ',we brought you into the meeting-house4' ,reply4 ',but you brought in two more4' ',who was it1 then1 that tormented the children8' ,ans4 ',it was ,osburn4' ',what is it you say when you go muttering away from persons' houses8' ,ans4 ',if ,i must tell1 ,i will tell4' ',do tell us then4' ,reply4 ',if ,i must tell1 ,i will tell4 ,it is the commandments4 ,i may say my commandments1 ,i hope4' ',what commandment is it8' ,ans4 ',if ,i must tell1 ,i will4 ,it is a psalm4' ',what psalm8' ,statement by reporter4 ',after a long time she muttered over some part of a psalm4' ',who do you serve8' ,ans4 ',i serve ,god4' ',what ,god do you serve8' ,ans4 ',the ,god that made heaven and earth4' ,comments by the reporter4 ,she was not willing to mention the word ,god4 ,her answers were in a very wicked1 spiteful manner1 reflecting and retorting against the authority with base and abusing words1 and many lies she was taken in4 ,it was here said that her husband had said that he was afraid that she either was a witch or would be one very quickly4 ,the worshipful ,mr4 ,hathorne asked him his reason why he said so of her2 whether he had seen anything by her4 ,he answered1 no1 not in this nature2 but it was her bad carriage to him2 and indeed1 said he1 ,i may say with tears that she is an enemy to all good4 ,reason for asking the children to look upon the accused1 ,cheever says1 was1 that they might see if this was the person that hurt them4 ,that statement fails to cover the whole ground4 ,according to ,cotton ,mather1 belief then prevailed that when the party suspected looks on the parties supposed to be bewitched1 and they are thereupon struck down into a fit 444 it is a proof that the accused is a witch in covenant with the devil4 ,in many subsequent examinations and trials1 these magistrates required the accused to look upon the afflicted ones1 and special note was taken of the apparent action of the supposed evil eye upon the sensitive children4 ,belief was held and acted upon by these examiners1 that1 if the accused were guilty1 the guilt might be revealed by observable effects of emanations from the witch's eye upon those whom she had been bent upon tormenting4 ,possibly human experience and observation had gained knowledge of facts which furnished substantial foundation for such belief4 ,the eye of the powerful mesmerist is very potent in action upon those whom he has been accustomed to subdue to his will4 ,if the children quailed and suffered under the gaze of the accused1 inference might be drawn that they had previously been brought into servitude by imperceptible forces proceeding from that person4 ,forces of that nature probably go forth more profusely from the eye than any other part of man1 though that is not their only point of egress4 ,any part of the body may let them out4 ,this fact1 no doubt1 was assumed of old by would-be witch detectors1 for they often required the accused to touch their accusers1 or the reverse4 ,and generally the contact was attended by convulsions1 spasms1 pains1 or other distress1 or by cessation of annoyances4 ,such results are moderate evidence that forces pertaining to departed spirits were then operating upon the disturbed ones2 for emanations from such source are frequently more agitating and agonizing1 or more calming and pleasurable1 than any that come forth from the simple mesmerizer4 ,one reason for this augmented effect1 as given through mediumistic lips1 is1 that the greater remove of properties of freed spirits from homogeneousness with those of flesh-robed ones1 than exists between the properties of any two mortals1 naturally causes either greater commotion or greater calmness when the disembodied ones effect contact with those robed in flesh1 than ever occurs upon the confluence of streams exclusively mundane4 ,it should be remembered that spirits1 when in rapport with mortal forms1 have power not only to will agonies and motions therein1 but also to command and efficiently use appliances needful to produce them4 ,where ,tituba's tall man with white hair was controller of performances1 all such sufferings and antics as history describes may have occurred at trials for witchcraft1 and yet few of them may have been willed to come forth by any mortal4 ,vailed from external perceptions1 that powerful operator shaped the speech1 the actions1 and the sufferings of all the impressible ones1 whether accused or accusers1 at his sole pleasure4 ,what his object and his motives were are not matters for consideration at this stage of our investigations4 ,the examining magistrates1 ,john ,hathorne and ,jonathan ,corwin1 subscribed to the following account of this examination4 ,sarah ,good upon examination denieth the matter of fact1 viz41 that she ever used any witchcraft1 or hurt the above-said children1 or any of them4 ,the above-named children1 being all present1 positively accused her of hurting them sundry times within this two months1 and also this morning4 ,sarah ,good denied that she had been at their houses in the said time1 or near them1 or had done them any hurt4 ,all the above-said children then present accused her face to face1 upon which they were all tortured and tormented for a short space of time2 and the afflictions and tortures being over1 they charged said ,sarah ,good again that she had so tortured them1 and came to them and did it2 although she was then kept at a considerable distance from them4 ,sarah ,good being then asked1 if that she did not hurt them1 who did it8 ,and the children being again tortured1 she looked upon them and said that it was one of them we brought into the house with us4 ,we asked her who it was4 ,she then answered and said it was ,sarah ,osburn2 and ,sarah ,osburn was then under custody1 and not in the house4 ,and the children1 being quickly after recovered out of their fits1 said that it was ,sarah ,good and also ,sarah ,osburn that then did hurt and torment or afflict them1 although both of them at the same time at a distance or remote from them personally4 ,the ,italicized lines show that the magistrates attached importance to the children's statement that the two women had access to them and hurt them1 even while the outer forms of the women were remote from the girls4 ,precisely how ,hathorne and ,corwin viewed such facts we do not know4 ,perhaps they deemed them strong evidence that the women were helped by the devil4 ,the fact1 if it be a fact1--and it probably is1--that those girls actually received painful sensations from forces coming to them from out the forms of those two women whose bodies were at the time distant from their own1 was marvelous when it occurred1 and remains so now to all such as are unacquainted with some instructive things which modern ,spiritualism has been bringing into view4 ,to entranced persons1 to the spiritually illumined1 to the clairvoyant1 distance and material objects become nearly obliterated4 ,between such1 also between spirits and such1 when their inner powers are in the ascendant1 mind acts directly upon mind1 without aid from external senses and organs1 and whatever then is done to the mind or spirit of the incarnated1 whether it be painful or pleasing1 reaches and affects the body of the earth-clad one from within1 and thence works outwardly4 ,all sensation pertains to the mind or spirit4 ,the body1 when life leaves it1 at once becomes absolutely insensible4 ,all hurts of the body1 come whence and as they may1 are felt by the spirit only--never by the body4 ,therefore when the spirit from within is pinched by a spirit directly1 the hurt1 though the physical body has not been touched from without1 is felt precisely as it would be if fingers had nipped the flesh4 ,one's bruised spirit acting outwardly may discolor portions of the body precisely as would an external pinch1 grip1 or blow4 ,the accusing girls may have actually perceived and positively known that pain-producing forces issuing from the forms of the accused women1 were distorting and convulsing their own bodies and the bodies of other sensitive ones1 while yet the women's wills may not have sent the forces forth2 those accused ones may have been but the wearers of bodies1 or possessors of ,god-bestowed organisms and temperaments through which either ,tituba's tall man or some other spirit1 or even some impersonal natural force1 gained access to the spirits of the girls1 and1 through their spirits1 caused their bodies to manifest signs of intense sufferings4 ,spiritualism is inviting physiologists and psychologists into new and interesting fields for exploration4 ,the foregoing facts and views invite to very lenient judgments1 whether pertaining to the accused women or to their youthful accusers4 ,many things during the examination of ,sarah ,good were culled from ,tituba's statements1 and used with design to show that ,sarah ,good was a witch4 ,tituba charged that woman with hurting the children1 and of being one of five who urged her to do the same4 ,good rode on a pole with the latter to ,mr4 ,putnam's1 and then told the slave that she must kill somebody4 ,she came and made ,tituba deaf at prayers4 ,she had a yellow bird which sucked her between her fingers2 also she had a cat1 and she appeared like a wolf to ,hubbard4 ,tituba saw ,good's name in the book1 and the devil 7no1 the tall man71 told ,good made her mark4 ,even her own little daughter1 ,dorothy ,good1 testified that her mother had three birds1 one black1 one yellow1 and that these birds hurt the children and afflicted persons4 ,deliverance ,hobbs saw ,good at the witch's sacrament4 ,abigail ,hobbs was in company with1 and made deaf by her1 and knew her to be a witch4 ,mary ,warren had the book brought to her by ,sarah ,good4 ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 ,mary ,walcott1 ,ann ,putnam1 ,mercy ,lewis1 ,sarah ,vibber1 and ,abigail ,williams 7all of them members of the necromantic circle71 were afflicted by ,sarah ,good1 and saw her shape4 ,richard ,patch1 ,william ,allen1 ,john ,hughes1 had her appear to them apparitionally4 ,this long array of names of impressibles existing in the ,village at so early a time as the very first attempt to find a witchcraft-worker there1 indicates that ,tituba's visitant had been an expert selector of a spot for operation4 ,he began his work in the midst of abundant and fit materials with which to carry out a purpose to obtain close approach to1 and to put forth startling action upon and among embodied mortals4 ,it may be learned in the hereafter that he was suggester of the visible as well as of the invisible ,,circle which met at the parsonage2 and learned1 also1 that his forces magnetized the members of each4 ,that so many mediumistic ones1 a large proportion of them wonderfully facile and plastic1 were hunted up in the short space of two months1 among the five hundred scattered inhabitants of that ,village1 is surprising4 ,only keen eyes and active search could have found thus many in so short a time4 ,germs of prophets must have been abundant there1 and must have developed rapidly under the culture of the supernal gardener who discovered their abundance and quality1 and took them under his special watch and care4 ,while under examination1 ,sarah ,good said1 ,none here see the witches but the afflicted and themselves2 that is1 none but the afflicted and the accused2 none but the clairvoyant4 ,by witches she meant spirits and semblances of mortals and spirits2 and she said in substance none others but we who behold with our internal eyes see the hovering and operating intelligences and forms4 ,this unschooled woman then announced a great and instructive truth4 ,she taught that the two classes--the tortured accusers and the accused both--possessed powers of vision which other people did not2 that they possessed such clairvoyance and other fitful capabilities and susceptibilities as pertained to only a quite limited number of persons1 and that these physical peculiarities were the source of the existing mysteries4 ,it should be ever borne in mind that the powers which ,mrs4 ,good had reference to are generally very fitful in their operations4 ,those who sometimes see spirits and spirit scenes are seldom able to do it at will1 or with any very long continuance without interruption4 ,the most of them might1 every few minutes1 say with ,tituba1 ,i am blind now1 ,i cannot see4 ,having stated that the accusers and accused1 and only they and others constituted like them1 could see the hidden persons and forces which were there acting1 acted upon1 or being employed in putting forth mysterious inflictions upon the distressed girls1 ,sarah ,good forthwith charged her fellow-prisoner1 ,sarah ,osburn1 with then hurting the children4 ,the fair inference is1 that she saw the spirit or the apparition of her companion then seemingly at work upon the sufferers2 and ,mrs4 ,good may only have described what her inner optics were then beholding4 ,virtually she was confessing that she was herself clairvoyant1 and consequently very near kin to a witch1 if not actually one in that dreaded sisterhood4 ,but clairvoyance pertained to the accusers also1 and both sets of clear seers1 if their powers were a crime1 deserved like treatment4 ,looking upon them 7the afflicted children7 at the same time and not being afflicted1 must consequently be a witch4 ,the above is from the records of her examination4 ,apparently she was looking upon the children while alleging that the then absent ,sarah ,osburn was there present and was occasioning their sufferings1 while yet ,mrs4 ,good was not herself afflicted2 this was deemed proof that she was a witch4 ,what unstated premises led to that conclusion we do not know4 ,our fathers had many notions pertaining to witchcraft that are now buried in oblivion1 and it is often very difficult to find the reasons for their inferences4 ,we are baffled here1 and can say only that indication is furnished that under some circumstances a woman's failure to become bewitched was proof that she was herself a witch--because she did not catch a special disease1 she must already be having it4 ,constable ,braybrook1 who had charge of her during the night between the first two days of her examination1 deposed that he set three men as a guard to watch her at his own house2 and that in the morning the guard informed him that during the night ,sarah ,good was gone some time from them1 both barefoot and barelegged4 ,from another source he learned that on that same night1 ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 one of the afflicted persons1 complained that ,sarah ,good came and afflicted her1 being barefoot and barelegged1 and ,samuel ,sibley1 that was one that was attending 7courting7 of ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 struck ,sarah ,good on the arm1 as ,elizabeth ,hubbard said4--,woodward's ,historical ,series1 ,no4 ,i1 p4 #bg4 ,braybrook's statement presents a side incident at a time when none of the performers who had been trained in the historian's famous high school for girls were present--an incident which rivals in marvelousness anything in the main tragedy they are charged with enacting4 ,when the tricksy girls were all absent1 when men alone stood guard over and were with this prisoner1 she became invisible by them4 ,no one of the magic-working band of girls and women was then at hand4 ,testimony that she disappeared is distinct2 the guards reported in the morning that she was gone some time from them4 ,the constable so stated1 and the statement was supported by two assistant guards1 ,michael ,dunnell1 and ,jonathan ,baker4 ,we shall not stop to ask them how they knew that she was barefoot and barelegged when she was invisible4 ,they perhaps saw her stockings and shoes when she was not to be seen4 ,also she was without such garments when seen that night by ,elizabeth ,hubbard and her lover in that girl's distant home4 ,an intelligent1 sagacious1 and reliable man1 ,dr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,storer1 of ,boston1 whom we know and have long known personally1 and whom we respect as being distinctly high-minded1 honorable1 and adherent to facts and truths1 gave1 in the ,banner of ,light1 ,january #i1 #ahge1 an instructive account of his recent observations at the residence of ,mrs4 ,compton1 a medium1 at ,havana1 ,n4 ,y4 ,we extract the following from his statements4 ,he says that on ,monday morning1 ,december #bh1 #ahgd1-- ,by my request1 ,mrs4 ,compton acquiescing without a murmur1 my lady friends1 entering her bedroom1 saw her completely divested of clothing1 with the exception of two under garments1 and then had her draw on a pair of her husband's pantaloons4 ,the basque of her alpaca dress1 without the skirt1 was then put on1 after careful search to render it certain that no extra clothing could be secreted4 ,then1 in my presence1 the basque was sewed by its points on each side to the pantaloons1 and a ribbon1 which ,i tied with two knots closely around her neck1 was sewed through the knots1 and each end of the ribbon sewed to the collar of the basque4 ,so she had on a closely-fitting coat and pantaloons sewed together1 and so attached by a ribbon around the neck that the clothing could not be drawn up or down4 ,a pair of black gloves were then drawn upon the hands and sewed tightly around the wrists4 ,i then put around her waist a piece of cotton twine1 tying it in two hard knots behind1 and the same piece of twine was tied by double knots to the back of the chair in which she sat4 ,on ,saturday ,dr4 ,storer had seen come forth from the cabinet1 as ,dr4 ,f4 ,l4 ,h4 ,willis also had on a former occasion1 a weird phantom1 bearing the semblance of a woman1 and clothed in a flowing costume of white4 ,over her head was thrown a vail of delicate texture1 and in one hand she carried a handkerchief that looked like a bit of a fleecy cloud4 ,her dress was exceedingly white and lustrous1 without a wrinkle or a fold in it4 ,that description by ,willis is called by ,storer perfect1 and is adopted by him4 ,this weird personage was called ,katie4 ,dr4 ,storer1 after fixing the medium in the cabinet on ,monday1 as above described1 says1-- ,very slowly the door of the cabinet opened1 and soon her ,katie's entire form was seen dressed exactly as before--trailing skirts1 vail1 and mantle1 but with a belt which she gathered in her hands and rubbed together that we might hear its silken rustle4 ,standing by the door1 she addressed me1 saying that when she had walked entirely away from the cabinet1 she wished me to go in quickly1 and1 without moving the chair1 feel after the medium1 and all about the cabinet1 and see if ,i could find her4 ,she stepped out about five feet into the room1 and at once ,i sprang into the cabinet1 felt in the chair1 swept the floor and walls thoroughly with my hands--but--not a vestige of medium or anything remained4 ,the italicizing is ours4 ,we design to imitate the doctor in both frankness and wisdom--to restate and accept his facts--but make no attempt at explanation of them4 ,we adduce the case because it parallels in marvelousness the statements of ,braybrook4 ,what happens now may have had its like before to-day4 ,the modern case out-marvels1 perhaps1 the ancient one2 for we know not whether the guards felt for their prisoner or only failed to see her4 ,how they ascertained that she was gone is not told4 ,dr4 ,storer felt the chair into which he had bound ,mrs4 ,compton1 felt the floor and the ceiling all over1 and could find nobody in the little cabinet1 which was but a triangle partitioned off at the corner of the room1 whose inner sides were only five feet each in length1 so that a man1 without changing his position1 might touch any part of it1 unless the ceiling overhead was above the man's reach4 ,shortly afterward1 says ,dr4 ,storer1 the cabinet door was opened1 and in the chair1 tied as we had left her1 without the breaking of a thread1 or the apparent movement of her person1 or in any respect differing from her appearance when last seen1 sat the medium1 in that fearfully lifeless trance1 from which nearly a half hour was required to arouse her4 ,i will not give any speculations of my own upon this most marvelous exhibition4 ,i submit the facts and vouch for their entire accuracy4 ,were ,braybrook's statements true as to the main fact8 ,they may have been4 ,if they were1 we do not apprehend that the physical body of ,sarah ,good was either removed from the vicinity of her guards1 or seen by ,elizabeth ,hubbard that night4 ,invisibility may have been wrapped around her body1 and yet not around her shoes and stockings2 perhaps her spirit-form was the only one seen by the distant observer4 ,we hesitate to fix limits to possibilities4 ,spirits to-day frequently manage1 as they say1 and as results indicate1 to render particular material objects lying within the embrace of auras or emanations of some mediums1 invisible temporarily by the keenest of keen external eyes1 even when such eyes are surrounded by light sufficient for seeing other objects in the vicinity with distinctness4 ,that which is done now may have been done formerly4 ,and since such phenomena now seldom occur excepting in the near vicinity of persons susceptible to spirit influences1 the fair conclusion is1 that ,sarah ,good was a medium4 ,elizabeth ,hubbard saw the spirit-form of ,sarah ,good2 which fact argues that ,elizabeth was a clairvoyant1 unless ,sarah ,good's spirit was then materialized4 ,each and every one of the afflicted girls is so repeatedly reported to have described perception of what external sight could not see1 external ear hear1 nor external touch feel1 that the mediumistic susceptibilities of each and all of them are manifest4 ,the susceptibilities and endowments of both accusers and accused were exceptional and yet alike in kind4 ,the spiritual perceptive faculties and the receptive capabilities of both classes could be brought into such action as would out-work results perceptible by the external senses of common people4 ,also1 and especially1 each class could be made to serve as mere tools of invisible beings4 ,as such they were handled1 their users employing them severally as afflictor or as afflicted1 at their pleasure1 within the permissions of psychological laws4 ,the choice1 which selected certain ones to be implements by which to afflict1 and others to be the subjects of afflictions1 was made by dwellers in spirit spheres1 familiar with psychological laws1 and competent to determine in which capacity each impressible one could be most serviceable in advancing the ends of the supernal operators4 ,such a view1 when its correctness shall have been confirmed1 will work out vast amelioration in the world's judgment of that band of girls and women in ,salem ,village who have long borne its scorn and detestation1 and will thrill every kindly heart with joy4 ,when it shall become apparent that some inborn physical peculiarities involved the controlling reasons why certain persons rather than others were charged with being ,satan's devotees1 then none can fail to see that it was not roguery1 not artifice1 not malice1 not grudges1 not family or neighborhood or parochial quarrels1 not disputes about property1 nor any social1 moral1 or religious eminence or debasement1--no1 not any one of those base motives of the normal intellect and heart which lively fancy has pleased itself with conjuring up and imputing1--no1 it was not any one of those reprehensible and damning motives1 but was innate susceptibility of being easily controlled by psychological forces2 especially it was a constitutional liability to be more readily seen1 heard1 and felt by persons similarly endowed than was the great mass of people around them4 ,ann ,putnam1 ,jr41 the keen-sighted pioneer of the clairvoyant witch-detectors1 saw the apparition1 and felt the distressing influences of ,sarah ,good1 on the #beth of ,february4 ,her depositions were numerous2 there were but few of the accused whose apparitions had not met her vision1 but few who had not harmed her in ways and by forces unperceived by external senses4 ,the character and general purport of her testimony1 and also of most of the testimony from members of ,,the ,,circle1 is well presented by the first deposition we find on record2 which is as follows3-- ,the deposition of ,ann ,putnam1 ,jr41 who testifieth and saith1 that on the #beth of ,february1 #afia-ib1 ,i saw the apparition of ,sarah ,good1 which did torture me most grievously2 but ,i did not know her name till the #bgth of ,february1 and then she told me her name was ,sarah ,good4 ,and then she did pinch me most grievously2 and also since2 several times urging me vehemently to write in her book4 ,and also on the #ast of ,march1 being the day of her examination1 ,sarah ,good did most grievously torture me2 and also several times since4 ,and also on the first day of ,march1 #afib1 ,i saw the apparition of ,sarah ,good go and afflict and torture the bodies of ,elizabeth ,parris1 ,abigail ,williams1 and ,elizabeth ,hubbard4 ,also ,i have seen the apparition of ,sarah ,good afflicting the body of ,sarah ,vibber4 mark ,,ann ,,putnam4 ,that deposition furnishes a fair specimen of the kind of evidence sought for1 admitted1 and applied to prove probable compact with the devil4 ,all of the above pertains to the first examination made at ,salem1 and it reveals the opinions then prevalent relating to covenantings with the ,evil ,one1 to powers and dispositions thence derived1 and to then existing legal methods for proving such compacts4 ,there is little indication that experiences at ,salem1 during the spring and summer of #afib1 gave either the examining magistrates1 or the court1 much1 if any1 new light or any increase of wisdom or humaneness4 ,whatever modification of processes of procedure subsequently took place1 and whatever change of decisions as to the value and admissibility of spectral evidence occurred1 was for the worse rather than the better4 ,the creeds and laws conformed to then were not formed and adopted for that occasion1 but had prior existence1 and were here applied with strenuous vigor by firm hearts and clear heads4 ,amid all the excitement1 frenzy1 infatuation1 delusion1 and credulity then abounding1 logic retained its power and guidance1 and held courts and juries to the requirements of the wholesome statutes of the ,english ,parliament1 pertaining to witchcraft and to ,christendom's witchcraft creed4 ,old laws and faiths were here tested by strong men4 ,they held for a time1 and wrought woeful effects1 but finally were broken4 ,sarah ,good was wife of an inefficient husband1 ,william ,good1 laborer4 ,the family was very poor1 having at times no home excepting such as charity granted them temporarily4 ,she is spoken of by ,calef as having long been accounted a melancholy or distracted woman4 ,upham says that she was a forlorn1 friendless1 and forsaken creature1 broken down by wretchedness of condition and ill repute4 ,we find no reason for dissenting from that writer's statement when he says elsewhere1 that she was an unfortunate and miserable woman in her circumstances and condition2 but we doubt the fitness of calling her forlorn and broken down4 ,she may have been so2 but the spirit and energy generally manifested by her words and acts indicate the probability that she was rather a heedless1 bold woman1 free and harsh in the use of her tongue1 and not very sensitive to or regardful of public opinion1 but yet strong and not despondent4 ,that she may have long been deemed1 as ,calef says she was1 a distracted woman1 is very probable1 for many simply mediumistic persons1 and even more of us who at this day solely because we believe in the advent of spirits1 both good and less good1 have long been accounted crazy4 ,we have met with no indication that she was physically weak or mentally despondent4 ,she seems to have borne up well under long1 tedious horseback rides daily to and from ,ipswich jail1 nine or ten miles distant1 whither she was nightly sent ever after the time of her becoming invisible to her guards4 ,her keeper on the way says1 she leaped off her horse three times1 railed at the magistrates1 and endeavored to kill herself4 ,that attempt1 if she made one1 to take her own life1 was scarcely less likely to spring from the angry mental mood then prompting her to rail against the magistrates1 than from despondency or forlornness4 ,when under examination1 her answers were about as direct1 explicit1 and to the point1 as most other suspected ones were able to give to the perplexing questions which were put2 and some of hers have more snap than we usually find in words from lips of the forlorn and broken down4 ,it is not probable that her previous life had won much public favor2 yet no evidence has been met with that her neighbors generally cherished hostile feelings towards her1 or possessed sentiments which would prompt them to rejoice at her prosecution4 ,we1 as has already been made apparent1 ascribe her arrest to other causes than the lowness of her character and condition4 ,that was not the primal incentive to her being cried out upon4 ,her organization1 and the then existing condition of her faculties1 made her either a convenient channel through which to transmit1 or a fountain from which to draw1 forces into the systems of certain other sensitives1 which forces might act therein for either the annoyance and suffering1 or the pleasure and relief of the recipients1 according to either inherent properties of the forces themselves1 or to the purpose of some intelligence who should inflow and manipulate them4 ,the sensitive girls might1 and1 if well unfolded mediumistically1 would unerringly trace back such forces as acted upon themselves to their mundane point of emanation1 and in good conscience and good faith accuse the person from whom the forces issued of being their tormentor2 if clairvoyant they could see1 if clairaudient could hear1 and1 if not specially unfolded for seeing with the inner eye and hearing with the inner ear1 could sense the person from whom the foreign and disturbing influences came forth4 ,a bold spirit and prophetic glance pertained to this woman at the close of her mortal life4 ,when near the gallows1 and about to be executed1 ,mr4 ,noyes1 the clergyman at ,salem proper1 told her she was a witch1 and she knew that she was a witch4 ,she promptly retorted1 ,you are a liar4 ,i am no more a witch than you are a wizard2 and if you take away my life1 ,god will give you blood to drink4 ,subsequently that man died of an internal hemorage1 bleading profusely at the mouth4 7,hist4 of ,witchcraft1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bgj47 ,gleamings of what will be often meet internal or mediumistic eyes2 and such probably did those of ,sarah ,good at that instant1 and authorized her prophetic utterance4 ,,dorcas ,,good has already been presented in the reports of evidence against her mother2 but in those she was called ,dorothy1 and was reported as testifying that her mother had three birds1 one black1 one yellow1 and that these birds hurt the children1 and afflicted persons4 ,such testimony1 of course1 supported the side of the accusers4 ,the little one's words were damaging to her mother1 and helpful to the mother's oppressors4 ,but1 from some cause1 she soon fell under suspicion of belonging to the class of bewitchers4 ,as early as ,march #c1 ,ann ,putnam saw the apparition of this child2 and on the #bast of ,march1 ,mary ,walcott did the same4 ,this1 of course1 was regarded as evidence that she was a witch2 and on or near ,march #bc;d she was arrested1 examined1 and soon after sent to jail4 ,yes1 little ,dorcas1 daughter of mediumistic ,sarah ,good1 not five years old1 looking well and hale as other children1 was definitely1 in legal form1 accused of witchcraft2 was arrested1 and brought before the civil magistrates for examination4 ,in presence of the magistrates the exhibiting graduates from the school of necromancy1 magic1 and spiritualism--the afflicted girls--accused the little child of biting them then and there1 and also of pricking them with pins1 with pinching and almost choking them4 ,in proof of all this they exhibited marks upon their flesh1 just such in size and form as matched her little teeth ,also pins were found under their clothing precisely where they asserted that she pricked them4 ,such facts as imprints upon the arms of the girls1 corresponding precisely with such as the child's teeth might make1 and the invisible pinchings1 prickings1 c41 are not outside of nature's permissions1 and therefore were not impossible4 ,those girls1 at their circle meetings1 or elsewhere1 had obviously become very facile instruments in spiritualism1 had become usable by spirits as subjects for impressions1 and psychologically induced sensations4 ,from the mediumistic little daughter of a mediumistic mother1 forms and forces could be made to emanate which might act upon the plastic mediumistic sufferers in exact accordance with such experiences1 and producing such results as the girls described or others witnessed4 ,the senses of the annoyed ones could distinctly perceive that the agonizing forces issued from that little girl4 ,the accusers probably stated only facts which they knew as well as any witness ever knew his facts when describing what his own senses had brought him knowledge of4 ,whether things seen and felt by the spirit senses be deemed objective or only subjective1 they are alike real to the consciousness of the person that takes cognizance of them4 ,the statements of the girls were probably true4 ,the possibilities in heaven and earth1 and along where their border-lines come in contact1 are not recognized by some historians4 ,there are some persons at this day who hold even as contracting and misleading philosophies1 as ,cotton ,mather and the men of his generation did4 ,modern wisdom 787 prompts some to discredit any actual occurrence of any extra-marvelous facts--any facts seeming more than natural--and to impeach the accuracy or the truthfulness of any and all who attest to such1 rather than admit that the bases of their own philosophies can be improved by expansion4 ,such persons1 when attempting to account for many facts in human history1 are1 though it may be unconsciously to themselves1 like mill-horses tethered to an unchanging center1 and made to move within a fixed circumference4 ,habit soon brings loss of desire1 if not of courage1 to turn the eyes outward and look upon facts whose producers work from outside the beaten rounds in which some theorists travel4 ,this makes it bad for many facts1 such facts as are popping into view through avenues deemed anomalous4 ,there are writers who do their best to enforce upon such facts the ,mosaic command1 ,thou shalt not suffer a witch to live4 ,but facts are immortal2 buried ones often reappear1 and demonstrate their own former occurrence4 ,two centuries ago1 the claim of great marvels to be objective facts was generally conceded4 ,but at that time the hidden workers of wonders were woefully slandered as to parentage3 men deemed them all to be both imps of the malignant ruler of the darkest regions of realms unseen1 and his emissaries from pandemonium to the abodes of man4 ,faith in the genuineness of witchcraft facts1 though in ,dorcas ,good's day it hid a multitude of sins1 failed to make the arresting of a mere infant witch a desirable operation4 ,for some reason the officious marshal1 ,herrick1 sent forth constable ,braybrook to encounter and capture man's great enemy when that wily one had ensconced himself in an infant's form4 ,but the deputy scavengered up and sub-deputized somebody else to fight that battle for ,god and ,christ4 ,his menial went the needful two or three miles north through the woods to ,benjamin ,putnam's house1 and executed the daring feat of bringing on his back1 or in some other way1 a hale and well-looking girl of less than five years into court1 a culprit because of co-laboring with and being a covenanted servant of witchcraft's devil6 ,the darkness of delusion which such an arrest failed to illumine must have been thick indeed6 ,but the creed of the day1 devil-ward1 the creed of the fathers1 the creed of ,christendom1 so deluded the public judgment that it demanded the blood of a witch even though she were an infant4 ,the condition of the public mind only a very short time subsequent to the irrational1 unkindly1 barbarous arrest of that child has been depicted by ,upham1 vol4 ii4 p4 #aab1 in sentences more graphic1 spirited1 and eloquent than our own powers could possibly put forth1 and differing considerably from what we would essay to give were our rhetorical abilities equal to his4 ,he states that-- ,the proceedings of the #aath and #abth of ,april produced a great effect in driving on the general infatuation4444 ',twas awful to see how the afflicted persons were agitated4444 ,those girls1 by long practice in 'the circle1' and day by day before the astonished and wondering neighbors gathered to witness their distresses1 and especially on the more public occasions of the examinations1 had acquired consummate boldness and tact4 ,in simulations of passions1 sufferings1 and physical affections2 in sleight of hand1 and the management of voice and feature and attitude1 no necromancers have surpassed them4 ,there has seldom been better acting in a theater than they displayed in the presence of the astonished and horror-stricken rulers1 magistrates1 ministers1 judges1 jurors1 spectators1 and prisoners4 ,no one seems to have dreamed that their actings and sufferings could have been the result of cunning or imposture4 ,deodat ,lawson was a man of talents1 had seen much of the world1 and was by no means a simpleton1 recluse1 or novice2 but he was totally deluded by them4 ,the prisoners1 although conscious of their own innocence1 were utterly confounded by the acting of the girls4 ,the austere principles of that generation forbade with the utmost severity all theatrical shows and performances2 but at ,salem village and the old town1 in the respective meeting-houses1 and at ,deacon ,nathaniel ,ingersoll's1 some of the best playing ever got up in this country was practiced1 and patronized for weeks and months at the very centre and heart of ,puritanism1 by 'the most straitest sect' of that solemn order of men4 ,pastors1 deacons1 church-members1 doctors of divinity1 college professors1 officers of state1 crowded1 day after day1 to behold feats which have never been surpassed on the boards of any theater2 which rivaled the most memorable achievements of pantomimists1 thaumaturgists1 and stage-players1 and made considerable approaches toward the best performances of ancient sorcerers and magicians1 or modern jugglers and mesmerizers4 ,the brilliancy1 fervor1 and literary finish of that description of the public enthusiasm and bewilderment are truly worthy of admiration1 while the picture is not1 and probably could not be1 overwrought4 ,still we must doubt the competency of the alleged authors of the excitement to perform the bewildering and frenzying acts ascribed to them4 ,we have heard from of old1 and could quasi believe1 that mountains in labor brought forth mice4 ,but it is only rarely one has earnestly and fervently sought and striven to entice the reading public to admit conviction that a dozen enceinte mice could enwomb and give birth to a vast and terrific volcano4 ,one must needs look in wondering astonishment upon that keenness of vision which1 at the middle of the nineteenth century1 penetrating through mold and debris which have1 through a century and three fourths1 been gathering over momentous events1 sees clearly that they were the genuine offspring of youthful cunning and imposture1 even while the owner of such vision himself perceived that neither the learned1 talented1 and keen ,deodat ,lawson1 nor any other one of all the many able and sagacious men who were lookers-on at the amazing feats while they were transpiring1 dreamed that the actings and sufferings could have been the results of cunning and imposture4 ,the day of ,lawson and his companion observers was too near the facts for any dreams about them4 ,it required a peculiarly plastic modern brain1 and the intervening lapse of eightscore years1 for the generation and birth of such a dream4 ,the reason of its non-appearance in #afib is very plain4 ,known facts then left no vacancy in the brains of that day for storage of the fictions of dreamland4 ,we return to little ,dorcas ,good4 ,the creed devil-ward had hoodwinked all eyes4 ,all things were in a terrific and bewildering whirl4 ,calm reflection and deliberate reasoning upon anything new were impossible4 ,if perchance a mind asked itself whether an infant was competent to bargain with the devil and thence become a witch1 it had no time to respond to its own inquiry4 ,in open court1 mysterious bitings were perpetrated by the teeth of this little girl1 because the marks fitted her set and none other4 ,the marks were made by the accused girl's teeth4 ,ocular demonstration1 therefore1 was proving her to be the devil's instrument2 for otherwise she could not invisibly bite1 nor could her teeth be made to bite1 those who were off beyond her reach4 ,standing upon what we said in the last chapter relating to the passing of hurts through the spirit to its outer body1 we hold that spirits may have so applied the spirit teeth of little ,dorcas to the spirit limbs of the afflicted girls1 as to have left the marks of her teeth upon their flesh4 ,woefully did the creed of that time not only permit1 but call for the arrest of that infantile girl1 solely because1 under the operation of natural laws of generation1 she inherited properties or capabilities which rendered her1 from the time when she was conceived1 ever onward1 very susceptible to psychological influences4 ,the judges1 observing what were but legitimate and necessary outworkings of her inborn properties1 being ignorant of their true source and nature1 deemed them such a crime that the court sent her to ,boston jail a prisoner1 there to keep company with the mother from whom her peculiar properties had been derived1 by whose milk they had been nourished1 and in whose magnetisms they had unfolded4 ,the present century is learning facts which teach that inborn properties and susceptibilities1 and not compacts with the devil1 constitute witches--some of whom are very lovely4 ,an infantile witch is no great marvel now4 ,such can be found in many a family1 through whose lips angels speak to-day1 as they did through ,emanuel ,swedenborg's when but a child1 and who1 born in ,january1 #afhh1 was precisely a contemporary of ,dorcas ,good4 ,,sarah ,,osburn was companion prisoner of ,sarah ,good and ,tituba on the memorable first week in ,march1 #afib4 ,thirty years before1 she had been married to ,thomas ,prince1 and at the time of her arrest was wife of ,alexander ,osburn2 consequently she was well advanced in years4 ,she also had long been an invalid1 confined during long periods to her bed4 ,her worldly circumstances were comfortable--she and her family were neither poor nor rich--were neither very low nor very high on the social scale4 ,but she had heard words coming forth from unseen lips4 ,and on ,february #be1 her apparition appeared to and annoyed ,ann ,putnam4 ,nothing has been noticed in the records which indicates that ,ann ever spoke of any perceptions by her inner senses prior to that date1 or that any member of the circle1 excepting ,tituba1 preceded ,ann in having opened vision4 ,the latter saw the tall man1 with white hair and serge coat1 as early as ,january #ae4 ,but ,tituba's voice1 had she have spoken1 would have been powerless4 ,ann's position in society was high2 she belonged to a family of wealth1 culture1 influence1 and high respectability4 ,her mystical words were potent4 ,in four days subsequent to her first reported vision of apparitions1 three women were under arrest for witchcraft1 and ,ann's father was one of the very efficient advocates of prosecutions for that crime4 ,feeble1 bed-ridden ,sarah ,osburn1 of whom ,upham speaks as one whose broken and disordered mind was essentially truthful and innocent1 and whose residence was at least a mile and a half north from ,mr4 ,parris's home1 and quite distant east from ,ann's1 on a road not likely to be often traveled by her1 was among the marked and blasted three4 ,why8 ,none now1 perhaps1 can tell with certainty4 ,probabilities alone can be adduced4 ,our supposition is1 that at the moment when ,ann's keen and far-sweeping inner sight was opened1 and spirit substance1 instead of material light1 became her medium of vision1 the most brilliant objects to meet her gaze1 in all the region far around1 would be one or more of the mediumistically unfolded persons dwelling there4 ,from those among that class whose systems were fountains of emanations which at the time impinged upon her sensibilities1 and did not harmoniously coalesce with her elements1 and therefore acted as quasi acids upon her alkalies1 or as alkalies upon her acids1 produced painful effervescences which might ensue naturally1 apart from the aid of any manipulating intelligence2 or1 if some intelligent being were observant of the currents and conditions of spirit magnetisms or forces then1 and disposed to either intensify1 abate1 or modify their natural action1 he might do so1 and also could manipulate them to furtherance of his own ends1 whether beneficent or malignant4 ,then and there1 even high benevolence in one whose vision swept the far future1 might take such primal steps as short-sighted mortals must look upon as necessarily altogether harmful in both immediate and remote results4 ,such natural laws as reign supreme in spirit-realms may have led to the selection of secluded1 inoffensive1 essentially truthful1 and innocent ,sarah ,osburn1 as one of the tormentors of the girls1 who were either schooled in magic by their own elected study and practice of it1 or were constitutionally fitted for fitful enfranchisement of their inner perceptive organs while yet dwellers in their mortal forms1 and whose bodies could become tools for other minds to use4 ,if she was simply the voluntary actor out of her own cunning or imposture1 little ,ann ,putnam1 twelve years old1 brightest among the bright1 and member of one of the most intelligent and religious families of the ,village1 she also must have been herself a devil1 and so devilishly a devil1 that even ,cloven-foot might feel it a duty to pass his scepter into her hands4 ,but grant that she was a medium through whose form other minds and wills could act1 as she in fact was1 and then we can regard her physical form as simply an instrument through which an intelligence other than herself manifested action to human senses2 and thus we can deem her guiltless1 whatever shall be our judgment of the intruding performer upon her harp of a thousand strings4 ,parts of the testimony in the case of ,mrs4 ,osburn reveal her possession of mediumistic susceptibilities4 ,as with ,joan of ,arc and many others1 so with this woman2 the inner ear could hear voices from some source impalpable by external senses4 7,it was said by some in the meeting-house that she had said that she would never be tied to that lying spirit any more47 ,q4 ',what lying spirit is this8 ,hath the devil ever deceived you and been false to you8' ,a4 ',i do not know the devil4 ,i never did see him4' ,q4 ',what lying spirit was it1 then8' ,a4 ',it was a voice that ,i thought ,i heard4' ,q4 ',what did it propound to you8' ,a4 ',that ,i should go no more to meeting4 ,but ,i said ,i would2 and did go the next ,sabbath day4'--,woodward's ,hist4 ,series1 ,no4 ,i4 p4 #cg4 ,although the timid prisoner said only that she thought she heard a voice1 the reader will notice that she made no denial that she had previously said that she would never be tied to that lying spirit any more2 therefore by fair implication she conceded that she had once1 if not many times1 heard a voice which she had openly spoken of as having been that of a lying spirit2 and also that she had more or less been instructed by and followed his1 her1 or its advice4 ,the fact that she was enjoined not to go to meeting any more1 argues nothing either against the spiritual source of the advice1 or the good intent of whoever gave it4 ,she had long been a sickly1 bed-ridden woman2 therefore such advice might have been given by any wise ,christian physician4 ,we are not concerned with either the moral or religious states of invisible actors and speakers1 but are looking specially for some of the more distinct evidences that invisible intelligences of some quality enacted ,salem witchcraft1 and1 therefore1 looking for the peculiar properties of both the embodied persons through and those upon whom they directly acted4 ,sarah ,osburn1 though a secluded1 respectable1 inoffensive woman well advanced in years1 was an early victim before the sweeping blast that rushed over the ,village4 ,too feeble to endure the hardship of prison life1 she died in jail before the day for her trial4 ,she who heard voices from out the realm of silence1 possessed inner faculties in fit condition to permit effluxes that reached and annoyed the mediumistic children1 who traced them back to her1 and made statements which brought her under suspicion of being a covenanter with the devil4 ,such capabilities constituted her crime--her witchcraft--and incited a devil-fighting people to persecution which hastened her exit to the realm from which the advisory voices had come upon her ears4 ,,martha ,,corey4 ,soon after the commencement of prosecutions1 suspicion alighted on one of more refinement1 intelligence1 efficiency1 godliness1 and respectability than the females first arrested4 ,martha1 wife of ,giles ,corey1--aged1 prayerful1 but bright2 disbelieving in any witchcraft2 doubting the existence of any witches2 discountenancing searches for any1--said that the eyes of the magistrates were blinded1 and that she could open them4 ,she possessed spiritual and theological knowledge uncommon in her day and vicinity1 and must have held beliefs and convictions derived from other sources than those at which her neighbors obtained their supplies4 ,she was aloof from the prevalent delusion devil-ward4 ,though a church member1 a woman of prayer1 of reputed1 and doubtless of genuine1 piety1 ,martha ,corey was very early sensed by the ,anns ,putnam1 mother and daughter1 as the source of emanations which tortured them4 ,therefore she must be a witch4 ,grounds for such conclusion were not necessarily fanciful and fallacious4 ,when and where natural outworkings from mediumistic properties and conditions were mistaken for symptoms of witchcraft1 ,martha ,corey might easily be convicted of diabolism4 ,we credit the allegation of ,ann ,putnam the younger that she was annoyed and afflicted by ,mrs4 ,corey even while the two were miles apart4 ,but we decline to admit that ,mrs4 ,corey necessarily or probably had any voluntary connection with the girl's sufferings4 ,either unintelligent natural forces attracted the woman's effluvia to ,ann1 or else ,tituba's tall man1 or some other hidden intelligent being1 formed connections and applied processes which brought elements of these two persons into conjunction1 and thus produced in the girl intense physical disturbances and sufferings1 and attendant liberation of her inner perceptive faculties4 ,ann's uncle1 ,edward ,putnam1 together with ,ezekiel ,cheever1 because of the girl's repeated outcries upon ,mrs4 ,corey1 only just one week after the sending of ,tituba1 ,sarah ,good1 and ,sarah ,osburn to jail1 concluded to make a call upon sister ,corey1 who was in church covenant with them1 and learn from her own lips what she would say relative to the suspicions that had been raised concerning her4 ,these just and considerate men1--for they were such1--probably seeing the possibility that the child might be mistaken as to the person who was causing her to suffer1 very properly called upon ,ann when they were about to start on their way to the woman's residence1 and asked the suffering girl to describe the dress ,mrs4 ,corey was then wearing4 ,their obvious design was to test the accuracy of the child's perceptions4 ,but that purpose was not accomplished4 ,the child pleaded inability to see1 and stated that blindness was put upon her just then by the accused woman herself4 ,the sequel indicates that ,mrs4 ,corey foresensed the visit she was about to receive1 imbibed knowledge of the intended test1 and of action to thwart its success4 ,though dwelling and being miles apart as physical persons1 those two females may have then been practically together as spirits1 and have mutually sensed the thoughts1 acts1 and conditions of each other as far as each avoided intentional concealment4 ,all of ,ann's statements may have been in strict accordance with facts actually witnessed and experienced by her inner self4 ,there is no need to assume that she feigned or falsified at all1 even if no invisible personal operators were concerned in what then transpired2 and certainly not1 if ,tituba's tall man and his associates were then present and acting1 as they may have been4 ,perhaps invisible actors1 holding both of these impressible subjects under psychological control1 either imparted to1 or withheld from either of them1 just such knowledge and perceptions as would further the purposes of the operators--which may have been either simply a manifestation of their own powers1 or an intimation to the adroit men that they were undertaking to deal with something which it would not be easy to outwit or thwart4 ,also other and very different purposes may have actuated them4 ,some spirits1 at some times1 have ability1 through some mortal lips1 to express their thoughts to the embodied1 and to wreathe their own emotions over faces they borrow1 even while the spirit1 the selfhood1 of the mortal form usurped is conscious of what is being done through it4 ,remember that the form of the conscious ,agassiz was1 against his own will1 made to obey ,townshend's mind4 ,perhaps ,madam ,corey's expressions of thoughts and emotions were sometimes prompted1 and at other times modified by an unseen intelligence temporarily cohabiting with her own4 ,when the two brethren of the church1 going forth on their solemn1 self-imposed mission1 had arrived at her home1 ,madam ,corey welcomed them with a smile2 notwithstanding she possessed and expressed very exact knowledge of the ominous nature and the purpose of their call4 ,her saluting words were1 ,i know what you are come for4 ,you are come to talk with me about being a witch2 but ,i am none4 ,i cannot help other people's talking of me4 ,this probably had reference to ,ann ,putnam's saying that she was afflicted by this speaker4 ,she soon asked the men whether ,ann1 whose accusations had prompted their call1 had described the clothes she then wore4 ,learning that her dress had not been described1 a smile came over her face4 ,somebody's consciousness of power1 issuing from her form1 to obscure the child's vision1 probably expressed itself in that smile2 and the reflection that the child was operated upon by forces within or action through ,mrs4 ,corey's own form1 and therefore not necessarily by the devil1 and inference thence that the girl was not necessarily bewitched1 was followed by her saying1 she did not think there were any witches4 ,she knew enough of spiritual things to enable her to observe the broad distinction1 overlooked by her cotemporaries1 that may exist between some spirits and the devil2 and also between persons whose inner senses were cognizant of spirit presence and action as naturally as the outer eye was of the sunlight1 between these and such other human beings1 could there be any such1 and she thought there could not1 who made a covenant with the devil1 which covenant was a necessary preliminary to being a witch4 ,she1 very reasonably1 did not think there were any such witches2 and only such were sought for by her visitors and the startled public4 ,this woman was intelligent1 courteous1 and devout--was capable of understanding that witch1 as then defined1 necessarily meant a person who had voluntarily entered into a distinct compact with a factitious devil4 ,her sensings in spirit spheres found no native-born monstrosity there1 and she could say in good conscience that she did not believe there existed any such witches as her visitors and fellow church members were on the hunt for4 ,at the same time she may have known1 probably did know1 that her own spirit and the spirit of little ,ann ,putnam could come into such communings as would give them accurate and conscious mutual perception of many unspoken thoughts and experiences in each other4 ,mrs4 ,corey1 as we view her1 was very mediumistic1 and was also a woman whose habitual aspirations were after things true1 pure1 and excellent4 ,but no amount of good or bad moral and religious qualities either constitutes or nullifies ability for mutual visibility and rapport between mediumistic persons4 ,all such are impressible more by virtue of their organisms and native properties1 external and internal1 than by any intellectual and moral acquisitions1 whether good or bad4 ,properties issuing from ,mrs4 ,corey's system probably pinched and otherwise tortured ,ann ,putnam2 the girl knew their special mundane issuance1 and innocently gave utterance to the knowledge4 ,she did so innocently and in good faith4 ,but the divulgence of facts often brings fearful sequences4 ,when clear-headed logicians1 being also conscientious and true men1 as well as holders of undoubting faith that none but covenanted devotees to a wily devil could obtain knowledge and work harm by mysterious processes1--when such men took this case into careful consideration1 the facts stated by the girl were to them proof that ,mrs4 ,corey was the devil's minion1 and therefore must be consigned to a witch's doom--death4 ,edward ,putnam and one other complained of her4 ,the warrant for her arrest was dated ,march #ai1 just one week after the visit of ,putnam and ,cheever4 ,she was examined on the #bast2 sentenced1 ,september #i2 executed1 ,september #bb4 ,the questioning at the examination was discursive and protracted1 spreading beyond inquiries as to who hurt the children1 and how they were tormented1 because of the prisoner's alleged disbelief in witchcraft2 disapprobation of efforts to detect it2 declarations that the magistrates1 ministers1 and others were blinded1 and that she could open their eyes4 ,she denied all knowledge as to who hurt the children1 all knowledge of the devil1 and repeatedly asked permission to go to prayer2 but this privilege was denied her4 ,she behaved like one conscious of innocence of the things laid to her charge1 and manifested much intelligence1 self-possession1 and tact4 ,while on trial1 one feature in her demeanor1 already indicated on a previous occasion1 strongly attracts notice4 ,notwithstanding the terrible fate that was standing before her1 and the unflagging persistency of the magistrates and all others present in assuming her guilt1 she was several times accused of laughing4 ,those laughs may have been simply hysterical1 but possibly they were widely different from such4 ,why did you say the magistrates' and ministers' eyes were blinded1 and you would open them8 ,she laughed1 and denied it4 ,were you to serve the devil ten years8 ,she laughed4 ,why did you say you would show us8 ,she laughed again4 ,as previously stated1 when ,edward ,putnam and ,ezekiel ,cheever made their call1 although she knew the solemn object of the visit1 they report that in a smiling manner she said1 ',i know what you are come for4' ,with 'eagerness of mind' she asked them1 ',does she tell you what clothes ,i have on8' ,and when they replied that ,ann had said1 ',you came and blinded her1 and told her that she should see you no more before it was night1 that so she might not tell us what clothes you had on1' she seemed to smile at it as if she had showed us a pretty trick4 ,these men obviously were prettily tricked4 ,but who was genuine author of playful proceedings at a time when the business was so grave and solemn8 ,and whose emotions mantled her face with smiles in the stern and frowning presence of authority8 ,her calm and pleasant deportment1 while others were agitated or solemnly stern1 was very like what is often manifested through some human forms by intelligences whose condition places them beyond the reach of man's frowns1 laws1 prisons1 and scaffolds1 and who1 dwelling aloof from storms of human passion1 can smile amid scenes that make humanity shudder4 ,calef states1 that ,martha ,corey1 wife to ,giles ,corey1 protesting her innocency1 concluded her life with an eminent prayer upon the ladder4 ,upham 7vol4 ii4 #deh7 sums up her character thus3 ,martha ,corey was an aged ,christian professor of eminently devout habits and principles4 ,it is indeed a strange fact1 that1 in her humble home1 surrounded1 as it then was1 by a wilderness1 this husbandman's wife should have reached a height so above and beyond her age4 ,the strangeness of the fact argues strongly in favor of our position1 that she was so unfolded as to receive instruction directly from supernal teachers1 or sense it in amid supernal auras4 ,but1 continues the historian1 it is proved conclusively by the depositions adduced against her1 that her mind was wholly disinthralled from the errors of that period4 ,she utterly repudiated the doctrines of witchcraft1 and expressed herself strongly and fearlessly against them4 ,the prayer which this woman made 'upon the ladder1' and which produced such an impression upon those who heard it1 was undoubtedly expressive of enlightened piety1 worthy of being characterized as 'eminent' in its sentiments1 and in its demonstration of an innocent1 heart and life4 ,all her history suggests that this worthy woman1 whose ways and powers were somewhat peculiar1 was one of those rare individuals whose interior perceptives become so unfolded while in the body as to sense in knowledge by processes1 and in some directions to extent1 beyond the possible reach of man's outward intellect4 ,because of such blissful unfoldings her age condemned her1 hastened her exit from among a creed-bound people1 and her entrance to the home of freed spirits4 ,,giles ,,corey4 ,as renowned as any one among all sufferers under persecutions for witchcraft--a hero in the band--was ,giles ,corey1 husband of ,martha1 more than fourscore years old1 but still strong and resolute4 ,he may have been wild and rough in youth and early manhood1 but was efficient in business1 and before the close of life was possessor of a very handsome estate for those times in that region4 ,when the witchcraft prosecutions commenced1 he sided with the multitude for a time2 was vexed that his wife would not do the same1 and1 in his excitement1 perhaps gave free vent to such hard epithets as his tongue had been allowed to put forth freely in his earlier years2 some of which were soon brought to bear against his good dame1 while she was subjected to examination4 ,from some cause his sympathy with the prosecutors subsided when he saw his good wife maligned by them1 and soon the witch detectors were after him also4 ,he was arrested and imprisoned4 ,his keen penetration perceived that acquittal1 as things were going1 was impossible1 unless the accused pleaded guilty2 which plea truth1 honor1 and manhood forbade him to make4 ,to be tried and condemned would involve a forfeiture of his property1 and take it from his children4 ,but no trial could be had1 and of course no condemnation1 unless he should plead either guilty or not guilty to the indictment4 ,his decision was soon formed4 ,taken into court1 he closed his lips1 and no power there could open them4 ,neither guilty nor not guilty could be wrung from them4 ,the large1 strong1 old man stood in calm majesty before the court1 his silence challenging the whole civil power of the province to shake his purpose4 ,english custom in such cases--and he probably knew it--was to subject the recusant to lingering torture1 trusting that pain or prostration would wring out a plea of either guilty or not guilty4 ,order was given by the court to lay this old man prostrate1 pile over him heavy weights1 and put him upon starvation diet for the purpose of bringing his stubborn will to subjection4 ,but neither oppressing weights1 the pangs of hunger1 nor both combined1 weakened the hold of that strong will upon its purpose4 ,his only utterances then were1 ,more weight1 more weight6 ,corey himself testified at his preliminary examination1 and the court tried to make it evidence of diabolism1 that1 twice at least1 when attempting to pray1 there was more or less stoppage of his utterance4 ,whether this was caused by the action of some outside intelligence bringing spirit forces to bear upon him is not apparent4 ,the case as stated will hardly justify the presumption1 though it suggests the possibility that it was4 ,the dumbness that was formerly imposed upon the prophet ,ezekiel and priest ,zacharias1 and that which frequently befalls mediums in our own age1 teach that unseen intelligences sometimes can and do temporarily prevent the use of vocal organs by their legitimate owners4 ,the conclusive evidences which led to his commitment were spectral4 ,his apparition had been seen by many1 and had harmed them4 ,ann ,putnam's sharp eyes were first in this case1 as in most others1 to see the witch4 ,she saw this old man's apparition ,april #ac2 ,mercy ,lewis did on the #adth2 and subsequently he was seen as a specter by1 and gave annoyances to1 eight other females and two males1 who severally gave in depositions to that effect4 ,was their perception of him nothing more than the product of the imagination of the witnesses8 ,were all the declarations false8 ,possibly--but not probably2 for both imagination and perjury are often charged with doing what clairvoyance legitimately sees and authorizes4 ,he was examined ,april #ai1 five days after his apparition was first seen4 ,calef states that ,sept4 #afth ,giles ,corey was prest to death4 ,in a foot-note1 p4 #bfj of ,salem ,witchcraft1 we read that ,giles ,corey was executed ,sept4 #ai1 #afib1 about noon4 ,perhaps these statements permit the conclusion that he was subjected to pressure from some hour of the #afth1 ,calef's date1 till noon of the #aith1 or about three days1 when1 according to ,fowler1 he died4 ,in pressing1 ,calef says1 his tongue being prest out of his mouth1 the sheriff1 with his cane1 forced it in again when he was dying4 ,corey's endurance and call for more weight1 says ,upham1 ii4 #cdj1 for a person of more than eighty-one years of age1 must be allowed to have been a marvelous exhibition of prowess1 illustrating1 as strongly as anything in human history1 the power of a resolute will over the utmost pain and agony of body1 and demonstrating that ,giles ,corey was a man of heroic nerve1 and of a spirit that could not be subdued4 ,hutchinson closes his account of this case with the remark that1 in all ages of the world1 superstitious credulity has produced greater cruelty than is practiced among ,hottentots1 or other nations1 whose belief of a deity is called in question4 ,and why greater cruelty8 ,nowhere outside of ,christendom was so cruel a devil conceived of as within it4 ,and therefore greater incitements to cruelty were called up in those fighting against his minions than in any other men anywhere at any time4 ,the creed devil-ward1 and not general superstitious credulity1 evoked in strong1 good men1 true to their ancestral and the ,christian world's faith1 more than ,,savage ,,cruelty4 ,,rebecca ,,nurse4 ,the deluding and heart-steeling power of false conceptions of the devil1 combined with clear faith that he could get access to external things only through human covenanters with himself1 and also with belief that it was an imperative duty of ,christian men to slay such persons as even spectral evidence or statements of clairvoyants pointed to as being in league with him1 is perhaps manifested as strikingly and sadly in the case of ,rebecca ,nurse1 as in that of any other person tried and executed at ,salem--or indeed anywhere1 in any age4 ,the spirit-form or apparition of this venerable lady--venerable not only for years then bordering upon fourscore1 but for a long life of active beneficence2 for strong good sense2 for ,christian graces2 for being the good wife of one and mother and mother-in-law of several as good1 respectable1 and useful men as the ,village contained4 ,character and domestic connections so shielded her that nothing short of mighty power could fix upon her a blasting crime4 ,her spirit-form or apparition had been seen by several members of the circle1 and charged with having tempted them to evil and tormented them prior to the #bc;d of ,march2 on the #bdth she was brought before the magistrates and subjected to examination4 ,the occasion was well fitted to put to severe test existing fealty to a fearful creed4 ,well might the magistrate then say to the prisoner1 as he did1 ,what a sad thing it is that a church member 444 should be thus accused and charged4 ,especially sad it must have been in this case1 because the accused had long been1 and well deserved to be1 regarded as one of the most venerable and esteemed of all the mothers in ,israel residing in the region there and round about4 ,some sympathy was on her side1 for when she said1 ,i can say before my ,eternal ,father ,i am innocent1 and ,god will clear my innocency1 the magistrate responded1 ,there is never a one in the assembly but desires it4 ,this venerable matron was then1 and for scores of years had been1 beloved and respected wherever known for her beautiful domestic1 social1 and religious course4 ,even such a one1 however1 was drawn in and crushed by the fierce and whirling zeal that was impelling community into headlong and frenzied fight for ,god and ,christ against the ,devil4 ,age and virtue were insufficient to arrest or divert the rushing storm which hallucination devil-ward then generated and propelled4 ,a benighting creed1 like a huge nightmare1 lay down upon1 and held down1 both reason and all the kindlier sentiments1 while it evoked and allowed free play to harsh and murderous propensities4 ,whither either natural brilliancy or natural attraction drew clairvoyant eyes most intently1 thither were the accusing girls swayed to lead the whelming force4 ,why should they lead to1 or rather why fix upon1 the beloved and venerated ,mrs4 ,nurse8 ,we may not find in the old records as full and distinct evidence that she was constitutionally impressible by either mesmeric or spirit force1 as many others are now seen to have been--we may miss conclusive proof that she was a magnet either drawing to or emitting from itself psychological forces unconsciously1 and thence either becoming herself psychologized or yielding out substances from her own system which might cause1 or be made instrumental in causing1 marked changes in other human organisms4 ,still1 several facts indicate that she may be assigned a place among the sensitives4 ,mrs4 ,nurse1 ,mrs4 ,easty1 and ,mrs4 ,cloyse--three sisters--whose maiden name was ,towne1 were eminently intelligent1 efficient1 respectable1 and respected matrons1 and yet were all accused1 tried1 and the elder two were executed because their spirit-forms or apparitions had been seen by clairvoyants4 ,the records contain a statement made at the time1 in these words3 ,it was no wonder they were witches1 for their mother was so before them4 ,often blood will out whatever its quality4 ,three noble daughters bespeak a good mother1 and yet1 for some reason1 ,mrs4 ,towne had been called a witch4 ,the properties of the parent reappeared in her children1 and rendered them visible by the inner or clairvoyant sight of others4 ,perception of their spirit-forms and of influences thence emanating caused the accusing girls to name these good women as their tormentors4 ,visibility as spirits or apparitions1 and effluxes from their systems1 were their crimes4 ,though members of the accusing circle had been demonstrative for several weeks1 and probably had attracted to their bedsides or homes nearly every person in the town who could move abroad1 yet1 at the time of her examination1 ,mrs4 ,nurse had not been to see any of them4 ,her age and infirmities alone might well have excused her4 ,but when asked why she had not visited the sufferers1 she added to a statement of her years and debility1 that by reason of fits that she formerly used to have1 she had not been to see them4 ,remembrance of her own past fits--not recent--not impending fits--but fits which she formerly used to have1 deterred her from going to the presence of the fit-afflicted4 ,the question was repeated thus3 ,why did you never visit these afflicted persons8 ,ans4 ,because ,i was afraid ,i should have fits1 too4 ,why afraid of such result8 ,obviously she felt a secret apprehension that her coming in contact with emanations from these mysteriously fit-afflicted ones1 or into close sympathy with them1 would bring upon herself again such fits as she formerly used to have4 ,from this comes forth spontaneously the inference that she suspected that the nature and source of her own former fits1 and of those then transpiring in youthful forms1 were so nearly allied1 that under the general law which makes like produce its like1 she was liable to have again generated within herself1 in her old age1 such sufferings as she had experienced some time in previous years4 ,in our view she was correct in her supposition that she herself was constitutionally liable to just such handlings as the jumping-jack girls were receiving4 ,her own fears bespeak the probability that ,mrs4 ,nurse was very impressible by mind not her own--that she was highly mediumistic2 and we ascribe her persecution to her impressibility4 ,natural law led to designation of both this woman and her sisters as the devil's covenanted servants4 ,their creed blinded her persecutors to moral perceptions in certain emergencies1 and made them reason falsely concerning the source and purport of spectral data4 ,the presumed mediumistic properties of her mother1 together with her own apprehension that presence with the girls might bring renewal of her own old fits1 indicate that she probably was quite mediumistic4 ,there is1 however1 no clear indication that she was at any time so far developed as to see or hear spirits or specters1 nor that her own selfhood ever yielded up to another's use her physical organs of speech or action4 ,mr4 ,parris1 who1 by request from the magistrates1 took minutes of the questions and responses at the trial of ,mrs4 ,nurse1 states that the tumult in court was very disturbing1 and intimates that it was difficult to furnish a very reliable account of the transactions4 ,also ,mrs4 ,nurse was quite deaf and otherwise infirm1 so that it is doubtful whether she always correctly understood the questions put to her1 or that she held her mental faculties under such control as enabled her to give pertinent answers at all times4 ,she is reported as expressing belief that the accusing girls were not acting against their wills4 ,therein1 if she was correctly understood1 she differed from the court and most beholders of the children4 ,then the court remarked1 ,if you think it is not unwillingly1 but by design1 you must look upon them as murderers4 ,probably all others made that inference1 and yet the accused did not4 ,she distinctly denied that she looked upon them as murderers1 and only called them distracted4 ,crazy1 and yet voluntary1 seems to have been the view she took of the girls2 they were voluntary1 but not responsible actors4 ,their own wills1 guided by their own intellects in disordered condition1 produced the fearful allegations4 ,this was her charitable view4 ,the power of human will to resist fits like those which the afflicted endured is brought up for consideration when we find enfeebled ,mrs4 ,nurse afraid that visiting the suffering girls might induce recurrence of such fits as she formerly used to have4 ,she seems to have surmised the probable existence of such contagion in the air surrounding the sufferers as in her weak state she might be unable to ward off2 and it is possible that memories of her own success when she was strong1 in baffling fit-producers may have persuaded her that young persons possess power to withstand such operators1 whether intelligent or merely physical1 even though the old may not4 ,what human wills can do deserves most careful notice1 and was well illustrated in the case of little ,elizabeth ,parris4 ,she was only nine years old1 and was one of the first1 if not the very first1 to be distressed by fits and pinchings at the ,village1--was the one whom ,tituba loved1 and was specially unwilling1 and yet was forced1 to pinch4 ,upham says1 ,she seems to have performed a leading part in the first stages of the affair1 and must have been a child of remarkable precocity4 ,drake1 in vol4 iii41 ,appendix1 says1 ,parris appears to have been very desirous of preventing his daughter ,elizabeth from participating in the excitement at the village4 ,she was sent by her father1 at the commencement of the delusion1 to reside at ,salem1 with ,captain ,stephen ,sewall4 ,while there1 the captain and his wife were much discouraged in effecting a cure1 as she continued to have sore fits4 ,elizabeth said that the great ,black-man came to her and told her1 that if she would be ruled by him1 she should have whatsoever she desired1 and go to a golden city4 ,she related this to ,mrs4 ,sewall1 who immediately told the child it was the devil1 and he was a liar1 and bade her tell him so if he came again2 which she did accordingly4444 ,the devil 444 unaccustomed in those days to experience such resistance 444 never troubled her afterwards4 ,it is generally true1 that if one strenuously resist the visitings of any spirit1 whether it be ,gabriel or ,beelzebub1 the spirit cannot long maintain close access4 ,if the account just given1 relating to ,elizabeth ,parris1 be correct1 she both saw and heard what she1 the actual and unsophisticated observer of his form and features1 called the black man1--who1 as ,mather states clairvoyants generally say1 resembles an ,indian4 ,but ,mrs4 ,sewall1 adopting the usage of the time1 ignorantly called this semblance of an ,indian ,,the ,,devil4 ,yes1 the little girl1 after her removal from home and ,the ,circle1 and no doubt without young confederates1 continued to have sore fits1 and also to see and to hear with her inner organs of sense during quite a long time4 ,the captain and his wife were much discouraged in effecting a cure4 ,the discouragement shows that the process of cure was slow and prolonged2 eventually1 however1 the desired result was reached4 ,the remedy is indicated4 ,will-power wrought out the cure4 ,the patient's own will was aroused and armed with a resolute purpose to close up1 and to keep constantly and firmly closed1 her own spirit loopholes through which only could she see or hear the black man1 or be influenced by him4 ,a strong will1 steadily set against the entrance of a disembodied spirit1 or against perception of such1 generally1 though not always1 effects its purpose4 ,the wills of companions and advisers1 if working in harmony with the resisting one1 greatly increase its resisting power4 ,mrs4 ,sewall1 and the captain too1 no doubt kept their wills set against the visiting black man1 till will-force generated an aura whose outgoing waves he could not breast1 and by which the girl's inner perceptives were firmly bandaged and made dormant4 ,were the fits and visions which the isolated child continued to have for a time after she was sent from home nothing other than her own voluntary pranks and feignings8 ,she was not author of them4 ,the black man1 or ,indian1 then acted through and upon her till it was no longer in his power to perform mighty works there because of unbelief1 which had grown up and hardened into an impervious wall of seclusion4 ,knowledge1 gained by our personal observation in #aheg1 enables us to state distinctly that the late ,professor ,agassiz1 a man strong in body1 mind1 and will1 7while arrangements were being made for himself and several associate professors for an investigation of spirit manifestations at the ,albion in ,boston17 demanded for himself at the very outset1 and was granted1 exemption from obligation to sit in a circle4 ,through all the sessions which followed he kept most of the time on his feet1 walking vigorously back and forth1 and manifesting symptoms of great uneasiness4 ,we then had heard that he formerly had been mesmerized1 and therefore suspected that he feared that if he sat quietly down in the presence of mediums1 he should have fits too4 ,his own account of his experiences under the hands of ,rev4 ,chauncy ,hare ,townshend we have given at length in a recent work1 published by ,colby ,rich1 ,boston1 entitled ,agassiz and ,spiritualism4 ,we now gladly use what seems fitting occasion to state our own belief1 that his demand for personal exemption from compliance with a rule which it was customary1 fair1 and important to enforce upon every person present at a seance1 and that his restlessness and disturbing movements all sprung from a motive much more in harmony with the high character and principles of that illustrious man1 than are disparaging ones which have often been ascribed to him4 ,in our judgment1 self-protection was his motive1 and not design to disturb harmony1 and thus frustrate manifestations4 ,his former experience had taught him that even over his firm mental resistance another's mind had entered his body and taken it out from under his own control2 therefore he well might apprehend that1 if not very cautious1 he again might have fits1 or might become a ,saul among prophets4 ,we have already substantially said that the blinding1 infuriating1 and bloodthirsty beliefs of former days are perhaps in no case more distinctly and deplorably manifested than in the lawless1 barbarous treatment to which good ,rebecca ,nurse was subjected by a court and people who sought to do1 and believed that they were doing1 acceptable service to ,god1 or1 at least1 offensive service to the devil4 ,spectral evidence against her1 and that alone1 was allowed to outweigh the merits of a long and beneficent life4 ,the jury first brought her in not guilty4 ,this verdict1 surprising the court1 induced it to express apprehension that the jurors had not given due weight to certain expressions which the prisoner had uttered2 whereupon the jury itself requested permission to retire and hold further deliberation2 and even such a privilege was granted them6 ,they retired1 reversed their verdict1 pronounced her guilty1 and she was sentenced to be hanged4 ,afterward the governor of the province granted her reprieve2 and yet he soon revoked his own clement act4 ,probably neither jury1 nor the governor1 was convinced that she was guilty of the crime charged2 nevertheless1 both were forced by popular demand to let the reputation and life of this eminently good woman fall a sacrifice before infatuation and frenzy which the erroneous creed of the times engendered4 ,,mary ,,easty1 a woman of strong character1 good common sense1 and capable of comprehending both the dangers besetting any one then accused of witchcraft1 and also the purport and bearings of such questions as the court was accustomed to ask1 is presented in the following account4 ,the examination of ,mary ,easty1 at a court held at ,salem ,village1 ,april #bb1 #afib1 by the ,wop4 ,john ,hathorne and ,jonathan ,corwin4 ,at the bringing in of the accused1 several fell into fits4 ',doth this woman hurt you8' ,many mouths were stopt1 and several other fits seized them4 ,abigail ,williams said it was ,goody ,easty1 and she had hurt her2 the like said ,mary ,walcot and ,ann ,putnam4 ,john ,jackson said he saw her with ,goody ,hobbs4 ',what do you say2 are you guilty8' ,ans4 ',i can say before ,jesus ,christ ,i am free4' ,response4 ',you see these accuse you4' ,ans4 ',there is a ,god4' ',hath she brought the book to you 7the accusing girls78' ,their months were stopt4 ',what have you done to these children8' ,ans4 ',i know nothing4' ',how can you say you know nothing1 when you see these tormented and accuse you8' ,ans4 ',would you have me accuse myself8' ',yes1 if you be guilty4 ,how far have you complied with ,satan whereby he takes this advantage of you8' ',sir1 ,i never complied3 but prayed against him all my days4 ,i have no compliance with ,satan in this4 ,what would you have me do8' ',confess1 if you be guilty4' ',i will say it1 if it was my last time3 ,i am clear of this sin4' ',of what sin8' ',of witchcraft4' 7,to the children47 ',are you certain this is the woman8' ,never a one could speak for fits4 ,by and by1 ,ann ,putnam said that was the woman3 it was like her2 'and she told me her name4' 7,the court47 ',it is marvelous to me that you should sometimes think they are bewitched and sometimes not1 when several confess that they have been guilty of bewitching them4' ',well1 sir1 would you have me confess what ,i never knew8' ,her hands were clenched together1 and then the hands of ,mercy ,lewis were clenched4 ',look3 now your hands are open1 her hands are open4 ,is this the woman8' ,they made signs1 but could not speak4 ,but ,ann ,putnam1 7and7 afterwards ,betty ,hubbard1 cried out1 ',oh1 ,goody ,easty1 ,goody ,easty1 you are the woman6' ',put up her head2 for while her head is bound1 the necks of these are broken4' ',what do you say to this8' ',why1 ,god will know4' ',nay1 ,god knows now4' ',i know he does4' ',what did you think of the actions of others before your sisters came out8 ,did you think it was witchcraft8' ',i cannot tell4' ',why1 do you not think it is witchcraft8' ',it is an evil spirit2 but whether it be witchcraft ,i do not know4' ,several said she brought them the book1 and then they fell into fits4 ,salem ,village1 ,march #bd1 #afi-a_/b4 ,mr4 ,samuel ,parris1 being desired to take in writing the examination of ,mary ,estie1 hath delivered it as aforesaid4 ',upon hearing the aforesaid1 and seeing what we did then see1 together with the charge of the persons then present1 we committed said ,mary ,easty to their ,majesty's jail4 ,,john ,,hathorne1 ,,jonathan ,,corwin1 ,assists4' ,among the records of examinations and trials for witchcraft in #afib we have met with none other more commendable in its apparent spirit on both sides1 and in its continuous decorum1 than the above2 none other1 also1 which reveals more clearly extreme depth of public conviction that the prevalent witchcraft creed was sound to the core1 and belief that spectral evidence alone might legally prove the crime charged4 ,from aught that appears1 there was something pertaining to ,mrs4 ,easty1 probably her whole general character and her intellect1 which held back both court and spectators from rudeness in treatment of her1 and even frequently tied up the tongues of the accusing girls4 ,the spectacle presented by that examination was most rare and wonderful4 ,we feel1 when reading the records1 that magistrates1 populace1 and the accusers1 all--all longed for her acquittal2 that none desired to1 because none did accuse her of anything but having been seen as an apparition1 and of being the cause of the fits which the girls were enduring4 ,the girls named her as the cause of their fits1 but seemingly with less alacrity than they did most others in like circumstances4 ,but sympathy and respect must yield before belief2 her fit-producing emanations at that day proved her to have covenanted to serve the devil4 ,having done that1 she was witch1 and therefore must die4 ,her clear head perceived that the sufferings of the girls must owe their existence to some occult power outside of themselves1 and ascribed it to an evil spirit4 ,such an origin1 however1 did not prove to her satisfaction that the doings were witchcrafts1 that is1 acts performed either at the instigation or by aid of some mortal who was in covenant with the devil4 ,she was enough in advance of her times to suspect that a spirit might work upon and among men without having formed such connection with a mortal ally as would prove one's operations to be witchcrafts4 ,she perceived that the girls were wrought upon by some spirit1 and she deemed it an evil one4 ,this noble woman was wife of ,isaac ,easty of ,topsfield1 fifty-eight years old1 and mother of seven children4 ,after her conviction and sentence1 and when hope of escaping the dire penalty had fled1 she addressed an admirable letter to those then in power4 ,the same inborn susceptibilities which made her a victim may also have permitted a free influx of uplifting power which raised her above narrow1 selfish1 and domestic views1 and prompted her1 in moods generous and lofty1 to appeal1 in behalf of the whole people of the land1 for a stop in the course which the civil authorities were pursuing4 ,we judge the letter to be her own production1 and deem it indicative of good mental powers and of elevated philanthropy4 ,the humble petition of ,mary ,easty unto ,his ,excellency ,sir ,william ,phips1 and to the honored ,judge and ,bench now sitting in judicature in ,salem1 and the reverend ,ministers1 humbly showeth1 ,that1 whereas your poor and humble petitioner1 being condemned to die1 do humbly beg of you to take it into your judicious and pious consideration1 that your poor and humble petitioner1 knowing my own innocency1 blessed be the ,lord for it6 and seeing plainly the wiles and subtilty of my accusers by myself1 cannot but judge charitably of others that are going the same way of myself if the ,lord steps not mightily in4 ,i was confined a whole month upon the same account that ,i am condemned now for1 and then cleared by some of the afflicted persons1 as some of ,your ,honors know4 ,and in two days' time ,i was cried out upon 7by7 them1 and have been confined1 and now am condemned to die4 ,the ,lord above knows my innocency then1 and likewise does now1 as at the great day will be known to men and angels4 ,i petition ,your ,honors not for my own life1 for ,i know ,i must die1 and my appointed time is set2 but1 the ,lord he knows it is1 that if it be possible1 no more innocent blood may be shed1 which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in4 ,i question not but ,your ,honors do to the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of witchcraft and witches1 and would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world4 ,but by my own innocency ,i know you are in the wrong way4 ,the ,lord in his infinite mercy direct you in this great work1 if it be his blessed will1 that no more innocent blood be shed6 ,i would humbly beg of you that ,your ,honors would be pleased to examine these afflicted persons strictly1 and keep them apart some time1 and likewise to try some of these confessing witches2 ,i being confident there is several of them has belied themselves and others1 as will appear1 if not in this world1 ,i am sure in the world to come1 whither ,i am now agoing4 ,i question not but you will see an alteration in these things4 ,they say1 myself and others having made a league with the devil1 we cannot confess4444 ,the ,lord above1 who is the searcher of all hearts1 knows1 as ,i shall answer it at the tribunal seat1 that ,i know not the least thing of witchcraft3 therefore ,i cannot1 ,i dare not belie my own soul4 ,i beg ,your ,honors not to deny this my poor humble petition from a poor1 dying1 innocent person4 ,and ,i question not but the ,lord will give a blessing to your endeavors4 ,calef says1 that1 when she took her last farewell of her husband1 children1 and friends1 she was1 as is reported by them present1 as serious1 religious1 distinct1 and affectionate as could well be expressed1 drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present4 ,we can readily credit that account to its fullest possible import2 for her deportment and language1 throughout all the scenes in which she is presented1 bespeak a strong1 clear1 discriminating intellect1 a true and brave heart1 elevated and generous sentiments1 firm faith in ,god1 and broad charity toward man4 ,a most welcome child found entrance to some bright home above when her tried spirit gained release from its mortal form4 ,,susanna ,,martin4 ,the person bearing the above name was a widow residing in ,amesbury1 who had been tried for witchcraft more than twenty years before1 and therefore obviously in #afib was well along in life4 ,her answers in court1 however1 bespeak a prompt1 self-possessed1 shrewd1 and seemingly merry prisoner4 ,a few of her replies1 together with the questions which elicited them1 are as follows3-- ,ann ,putnam threw her glove at her in a fit4 ',what do you laugh at8' said the court4 ,ans4 ',well ,i may at such folly4' ',is this folly to see these so hurt8' ',i never hurt man1 woman1 or child4' ',what do you think ails them8' ',i do not desire to spend my judgment upon it4' ',do you think they are bewitched8' ',no2 ,i do not think they are4' ',well1 tell us your thoughts about them4' ',my thoughts are mine own when they are in2 but when they are out they are another's4' ',who do you think is their master8' ',if they be dealing in the black art1 you may know as well as ,i4' ',how comes your appearance just now to hurt these8' ',how do ,i know8' ',are you not willing to tell the truth8' ',he that appeared in ,samuel's shape can appear in any one's shape4' ,one ,r4 ,p41 dated ,salisbury1 ,august #i1 #afib1 and forwarded to ,jonathan ,corwin1 a document ranking among the ablest on record against the legal proceedings of that day1 in which he says1 ,i suppose 'tis granted by all that the person of one that is dead cannot appear1 because the soul and body are separated1 and so the person is dissolved1 and so ceaseth to be2 and it is certain that the person of the living cannot be in two places at one time4 ,that writer conceived that man's personality ceased at death2 therefore he logically inferred that the personality of the prophet ,samuel had gone out of existence1 and said1 ,the witch of ,endor raised the ,,devil1 in the likeness of ,samuel1 to tell ,saul his fortune4 ,we find in many places the cropping out1 in those days1 of the same idea4 ,susanna ,martin indicated her belief that it was the devil who appeared to the woman of ,endor1 and not the glorified ,samuel4 ,premises deemed valid by some men in #afib1 would1 if applied in that direction1 support the conclusion that the ,moses and ,elias who appeared to ,jesus and others on the mount of transfiguration were nothing but the devil in the shapes of those old prophets4 ,belief that the devil personated ,samuel is to us no more unphilosophical than is ,upham's conclusion1 that by the immediate agency of the ,almighty the spirit of ,samuel really arose4 ,paul taught that there is--not that there is to be hereafter1 that there is now--a spiritual body4 ,all clairvoyants to-day can see such a body belonging to a human form1 and sometimes see it being far away from the form to which nature attached it4 ,each human being now possesses both a natural or physical and also a spiritual form4 ,that position of ,r4 ,p4 and ,susanna ,martin was unsound which held that the physical body was essential to personality4 ,also1 since the ,almighty originally infused through nature1 elements and forces which admit of the return of spirits by natural processes1 it is as unphilosophical to hold that ,samuel was raised by the immediate agency of the ,almighty1 or miraculously1 as it would be to ascribe an ,american traveler's return home from ,europe to the immediate agency of the same ,being4 ,natural laws and forces permitted1 under possible conditions1 the return of ,samuel himself4 ,such conditions existed often in and around the hospitable and sympathetic woman of ,endor1 who was no witch1 in the now common meaning of that word2 who was not called such in the ,bible1--but only a person who had a familiar spirit1 that is1 a spirit so constantly present1 and having such ability of communion with her1 as made the spirit seem to her like one of her family--her familiar4 ,a spirit thus attendant on a mortal may be either good1 bad1 or indifferent1 and may be cognized by those persons whose constitution and development are such that their inner senses can report to their external consciousness4 ,the existing properties of that woman1 which permitted some special spirit to frequently dwell and commune intelligibly with her1 and be cognizable by her inner senses as a dweller in her household1 as her familiar1--such properties would enable her to perceive the form and hear the voice of another spirit1 who might be called to her presence for an urgent purpose1 as naturally as the outer eye which sees one external form is competent to see another4 ,samuel1 when wanted1 came and was seen by the clairvoyant woman1 but not by the external eyes of either ,saul or his attendants4 ,the case was very like what occurred at the first examination under an accusation for witchcraft at ,salem ,village4 ,sarah ,good then said1 ,none here see the witches--that is1 none see spirits--but the afflicted and themselves1--that is1 none but the afflicted and the accused1 of which she was one4 ,in other words1 the actual doers of the marvelous works1 the spirits1 are seen only by the accusers and the accused--the clairvoyants here4 ,it is true that in the more modern instance the spirits seen were often1 though not always1 those of living persons4 ,but this does not affect the principles of explanation4 ,those persons who are so unfolded as to see spirit-forms can sometimes see them1 whether they be still attached to the outer ones or be liberated4 ,spirits1 both some who had been entirely liberated from the flesh1 and other flesh-clad ones whose encasements were translucent1 could be seen by members of the accusing circle1 and by some others of like combinations1 even when the court and the mass of attendants upon it might fail to see anything of the kind4 ,the horses and chariots of fire were as clearly seen by ,elisha on the hills of ,dothan1 while his servant was blind to them1 as they were after the young man's inner eyes were opened so that he too saw the helping and protecting hosts4 ,the change was in the young man himself1 and not up on the hills4 ,departed spirits are where they feel our aspirations for their presence1 and the opening of our inner sight1 at any time or in any place1 might render them visible4 ,returning to ,susanna ,martin1 we find that one ,william ,brown1 of ,salisbury1 made deposition in #afib1 that1 about one or two and thirty years ago1 his wife met ,susanna in the road1 who 'vanished away out of her sight1' 444 after which time the said ,martin did many times appear to her at her house1 and did much trouble her4444 ,when she did come1 it was as birds pecking her legs1 or pricking her with the motion of their wings2 and then it would rise up into her stomach with pricking pain1 as nails and pins1 of which she did bitterly complain4444 ,after that it would up to her throat in a bunch like a pullet's egg2 and then she would turn back her head and say1 ',witch1 you shan't choke me4' ,much more testimony was adduced to show that this woman's apparition was very frequently seen2 and not only seen1 but was a source of exceeding sufferings to many people4 ,this argues nothing against her character1 but plainly hints that the relation of her inner to her outer form was such that the former could be seen and felt by many persons who either constitutionally or from sickness1 or both1 were very sensitive4 ,such persons often saw her spirit-form1 and suffered from its psychological action4 ,that peculiarity perhaps made her so luminous as to be observable1 and therefore accused1 by the circle1 and the accusation brought her to the gallows4 ,,martha ,,carrier4 ,the faculties and manifestations which nearly two centuries ago were deemed to constitute witchcraft1 and the mode of eliciting proof of that crime then1 stand forth very conspicuously in the history of the wife and children of ,thomas ,carrier of ,andover4 ,the ,examination of ,martha ,carrier1 ,may #ca1 #afib4 ,q4 ,abigail ,williams1 who hurts you8 ,a4 ,goody ,carrier of ,andover4 ,q4 ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 who hurts you8 ,a4 ,goody ,carrier4 ,q4 ,susan ,sheldon1 who hurts you8 ,a4 ,goody ,carrier2 she bites me1 pinches me1 and tells me she would cut my throat if ,i did not sign her book4 ,mary ,walcott said she afflicted her1 and brought the book to her4 ,q4 ,what do you say to this you are charged with8 ,a4 ,i have not done it4 ,susan ,sheldon cried1 she looks upon the black man4 ,ann ,putnam complained of a pin stuck in her4 ,q4 ,what black man is that8 ,a4 ,i know none4 ,mary ,warren cried out she was pricked4 ,q4 ,what black man did you see8 ,a4 ,i saw no black man but your own presence4 ,q4 ,can you look upon these and not knock them down8 ,a4 ,they will dissemble if ,i look upon them4 ,you see you look upon them and they fall down4 ,a4 ,it is false2 the devil is a liar4 ,i looked upon none since ,i came into the room4 ,susan ,sheldon cried out in a trance1 ,i wonder what could you murder thirteen persons6 ,mary ,walcott testified the same3 that there lay thirteen ghosts6 ,all the afflicted fell into intolerable outcries and agonies4 ,elizabeth ,hubbard and ,ann ,putnam testified the same3 that she had killed thirteen at ,andover4 ,a4 ,it is a shameful thing that you should mind these folks1 who are out of their wits4 ,q4 ,do not you see them8 ,a4 ,if ,i do speak you will not believe me4 ,you do see them1 said the accusers4 ,a4 ,you lie2 ,i am wronged4 ,there is a black man whispering in her ear1 said many of the afflicted4 ,mercy ,lewis in a violent fit1 was well1 upon the examinant's grasping her arm4 ,the tortures of the afflicted were so great that there was no enduring of it1 so that she was ordered away1 and to be bound hand and foot with all expedition2 the afflicted in the mean while almost killed1 to the great trouble of all spectators1 magistrates1 and others4 ,note4 ,as soon as she was well bound they all had strange and sudden ease4 ,mary ,walcott told the magistrates1 that this woman told her1 she had been a witch this forty years4 ,the foregoing record shows the fearful ordeal to which any one might be subjected upon whom an accusation of witchcraft fell1 and the hopelessness of escape where spectral evidence was admitted and held to be reliable4 ,here was a woman who1 it seems1 had been conscious of spirit presence with her for forty years1 and her constitutional properties which permitted this were so luminous in the spiritual atmosphere1 or medium of vision by inner eyes1 that the clairvoyant girls readily caught sight of her1 readily felt influences from her1 and therefore accused her of tormenting them4 ,the general character and deportment of this woman prior to her arrest may not have won public approbation4 ,when in presence of the magistrates she was self-possessed and not lacking in boldness2 for otherwise she would not have told the judge that his own presence was the only black man she had seen there4 ,she told her examiners that it was shameful for them to mind these folks1 who are out of their wits4 ,she said to the girls1 ,you lie2 ,i am wronged4 ,her presence permitted extraordinary visions1 contortions1 sufferings1 and outcries1 and probably emanations from her were special helps to the unwonted outflow4 ,in trance1 one saw thirteen dead bodies1 and charged the accused with having murdered them4 ,it was in trance that this was seen and said4 ,if entranced1 was the girl1 then1 a voluntary seer and speaker8 ,no4 ,supermundane force was in action there4 ,entrancements and obsessions came upon all those youthful accusers fitfully--and the forms of the girls generally were tools operated by wills entering from outside4 ,the tongue of that entranced accuser1 like ,ann ,cole's1 probably was improved to utter thoughts that never were in her own mind4 ,four of ,mrs4 ,carrier's children were brought into court in company with herself1 either as accused ones or as witnesses against some members of the family4 ,before the trial1 says ,drake1 several of her own children had frankly and fully confessed not only that they were witches themselves1 but that their mother had made them so4 ,the artlessness and simplicity of their confessions render them not simply entertaining1 but more instructive than almost any other statements made at the examinations and trials4 ,little ,sarah was asked1-- ,how long have you been a witch8 ,a4 ,ever since ,i was six years old4 ,how old are you now8 ,a4 ,near eight years old2 brother ,richard says ,i shall be eight years old in ,november next4 ,who made you a witch8 ,a4 ,my mother2 she made me set my hand to a book4 ,how did you set your hand to it8 ,a4 ,i touched it with my fingers2 and the book was red2 the paper of it was white4 ,she said she never had seen the black man 444 that her mother had baptized her1 and the devil or black man was not there1 as she saw4 ,her mother said1 when she baptized her1 ',thou art mine for ever and ever4 ,amen4' ,how did you afflict folks8 ,a4 ,i pinched them4 ,she said she went to those whom she afflicted--went1 not in body1 but in her spirit4 ,she would not own that she had ever been at the witch-meeting at the ,village4 ,the confessions 787 are beautiful and precious2 they are robed in all the appropriate naivete of any school-girl's confession that herself was a--pupil4 ,not a tinge of shame1 sorrow1 or humiliation is visible anywhere about them4 ,not a sign appears1 that1 in little ,sarah's comprehension1 there was anything more censurable1 as in fact there was not1 in her being a witch1 than there is in the child of to-day being a ,sunday school scholar4 ,disclosure of common occurrences at her home1 which inborn faculties there as naturally brought into view1 as other faculties there and elsewhere cause the limbs of childhood to expand and its intellect to unfold1 constituted her confession of the witchcraft that pertained to her mother and herself4 ,the common mind1 if not cautioned1 will almost perforce attach meanings to the testimonies of ,martha ,carrier's children which never belonged to them4 ,the detailings of facts and experiences not rare in that mediumistic family1 were no confession of anything like what the public in any age has been accustomed to designate by the term witchcraft4 ,in biblical times the occurrences might have been called prophecies--true or false--and to-day they would be regarded as spirit manifestations1 or near kindred to such4 ,the little girl's confessions are precious as well as beautiful2 they are instructive comments upon the creed held by the adults of her day2 they give some support to the position that compact with some spirit was an element in preparation for working marvels4 ,her mother baptized her1 and made her virtually sign a book1 and then claimed her own child as hers for ever and ever1 ,amen4 ,the little child herself seems to have regarded this ratification of her mother's spirit claims upon her spirit as having made herself a witch2 but such a witch as she was not ashamed to be1 and saw no harm in being4 ,indeed1 how can any other than perverted vision see harm in the girl's filial compact8 ,her clairvoyant and other mediumistic faculties had become so unfolded when she was about six years old1 that she and her mother1 as freed spirits1 could1 in conscious companionship1 roam in spirit realms2 and she1 no doubt1 felt that forces emanating from the mother aided in her unfoldment1 and continued to have much sway over her in her mental journeyings and operations4 ,she might with much propriety say that her mother made her a witch4 ,and her case shows that the process for producing a witch might be much simpler and much less horrifying than the public in her day had any conception of4 ,indeed1 witchification was then1 and now is1 a growth or unfoldment from ,god's plantings much more than a manufacture by the devil's or any mother's hands4 ,she saw no devil1 no black man--but only her own mother was concerned in making her a witch2 and the mother probably made her a witch by processes as natural and legitimate as those by which she had previously made her a child4 ,the girl's power for afflicting was mental2 her journeyings and pinchings were mental2 and yet1 no doubt1 her grip was as sensibly felt by the nerves of those whom she pinched as would have been firm graspings of their flesh by her fingers of bones and muscles4 ,it is the spirit only which feels hurts of the body1 and a pinched spirit imprints the hurt on the flesh it is animating4 ,this little girl's statements confirm ,tituba's1 and give credibility to the many declarations of the accusing girls that they were pinched1 bitten1 and tortured by persons whose outer forms were remote from them at the time4 ,we live amid mysteries which one by one are getting revealed as time rolls on4 ,an instructive instance of the warping force of these prevalent beliefs in shaping the diction of the most erudite describers of witchcraft facts1 is found in ,lawson's summary of events1 where1 when commenting upon testimony like that given by little ,sarah1 he says1 ,several have confessed against their own mother1 that they were instruments to bring them into the devil's covenant4 ,but the girl's testimony mentioned a covenant with her mother alone1 saying that the devil was not there1 as she saw4 ,it was ,lawson1 and not the girl1 who brought the devil into this case4 ,the same writer further says1 ,some girls of eight or nine years of age did declare that after they were so betrayed by their mothers to the power of ,satan1 they saw the devil go in their own shapes to afflict others4 ,but the statement of ,sarah is1 that she herself went forth and afflicted in her spirit-form1 and not that the devil went in her shape4 ,the cultured of that generation had devil on the brain so severely1 that they persistently brought him in even where the facts as presented by the witnesses plainly excluded him4 ,richard ,carrier1 eighteen years old1 son of ,thomas and ,martha1 was examined4 ,have you been in the devil's snare8--,yes4 ,is your brother ,andrew insnared by the devil's snare8--,yes4 ,how long has your brother been a witch8--,near a month4 ,how long have you been a witch8--,not long4 ,have you joined in afflicting the afflicted persons8--,yes4 ,you helped to hurt ,timothy ,swan1 did you8--,yes4 ,how long have you been a witch8--,about five weeks4 ,who was in company when you covenanted with the devil8--,mrs4 ,bradbury4 ,did she help you afflict8--,yes4 ,who was at the ,village ,meeting when you were there8--,goodwife ,how1 ,goodwife ,nurse1 ,goodwife ,wildes1 ,proctor and his wife1 ,mrs4 ,bradbury1 and ,corey's wife4 ,what did they do there8--,eat1 and drank wine4 ,was there a minister there8--,no1 not as ,i know of4 ,from whence had you your wine8--,from ,salem1 ,i think it was4 ,goodwife ,oliver there8--,yes2 ,i knew her4 ,statements by this witness1 and also his probable circumstances and condition1 seem worthy of special note4 ,frankness glows on all that he said4 ,he was stating facts1 which1 in his apprehension1 were harmless1 and why should he not let them out8 ,he knew1 probably1 that his mother had all through his life been accustomed to see and act through other than her physical organs1 and was conscious that during the last five weeks at least himself had been doing the same4 ,the abilities came unsought into action--were outgrowths from the natures of his mother and himself1 and were not crimes4 ,his long familiarity with the ostensible workings of such powers through his mother had shown him that they were neither diabolical nor censurable2 and why not admit possession of them1 and the acts they produced1 whether through himself1 his mother1 or any one else8 ,neither the mother nor children in that family were afraid of ghostly beings1 because able to confer with them intelligibly and sympathetically2 and the ready admission by ,richard that he had aided in hurting ,timothy ,swan1 and been at a great witch-meeting1 where they ate1 and also drank wine1 was no confession of any crime1 but simple statement of facts4 ,he was a medium1 and also a frank and truthful witness4 ,he granted that he had been in the devil's snare4 ,how much did this import8 ,he and his brother ,andrew both had been caught in it--one about four1 and the other five1 weeks prior to his statement4 ,as certain atmospheric and other physical conditions often produce epidemic or wide-spread physical health or disease either1 and certain public mental and moral states often act powerfully upon many minds1 the great public excitement engendered by the arrest and prosecution of witches may well be deemed adequate to have unfolded latent mediumistic susceptibilities very widely2 and it is not surprising that the children of a ,martha ,carrier should have such susceptibilities suddenly brought to their own cognizance1 nor that they should as suddenly become well-fledged clairvoyants competent to wing their way widely and rapidly in the airs of a world in which spirits dwell2 nor that they should be psychologized by spirit beings1 and made to take part in any work1 malignant or benevolent1 which their controllers were bent upon executing4 ,by being caught in the devil's snare1 they probably meant neither more nor less than that they became mediums4 ,all conditions like theirs the public was charging the devil with producing1 and the young ,carriers assented to that being done in their own case4 ,most things not of the earth1 earthy1 were then charged to the devil2 and the mental powers of these children were not competent to show that their slippings out from their hampering bodies were effected without his aid4 ,frequent mention occurs of witch-meetings at ,salem ,village1 on the ,green1 or the minister's pasture1 near ,deacon ,ingersoll's4 ,if any accused one had been seen in the company of assembled witches there1 the fact was excessively damaging4 ,richard ,carrier acknowledged having been there1 and freely mentioned what persons were in the assemblage--but did not see a minister4 ,the records have not led us to suppose that ,mrs4 ,carrier ever stood very high in public estimation4 ,it is not improbable that influences from outside of her had often1 during the forty years through which she had experienced them1 made her life eccentric1 and many of her actions mysterious4 ,even the aged and charitable ,francis ,dane said1 ,that there was a suspicion of goodwife ,carrier among some of us before she was apprehended1 ,i know2 as for any other persons1 ,i had no suspicion of them4 ,we must infer from that statement that she was noted for some peculiarities which were not universally regarded with favor2 suspicions hung around her4 ,she was accused by one of causing grievous sores in himself1 of sickening his cattle1 and working many injuries2 by others also of hurting and bewitching them1 and of having attended a witch-meeting4 ,the accusing girls1 as seen above1 were most excessively agonized when in court with her4 ,she may justly be regarded1 we think1 as being socially among the lower class of persons then accused2 and yet we have met with nothing which will justify an inference that she was altogether unworthy of esteem1 or even that she was emphatically bad in any respect4 ,mather called her rampant hag1 and hence much of ,christendom has been influenced to contemplate her with aversion4 ,but whatever may have been her character1 the sufferings of herself and family draw forth our sympathies4 ,if she said she had been a witch forty years1 she meant only that for forty years she had been conscious of the ongoing of occult processes within and around herself4 ,we doubt whether she applied the word witch to herself1 but can readily believe that she confessed to such experiences and performances as were in her day often called witchcrafts4 ,that she detailed some experiences to ,mary ,walcott1 which the latter termed witchcrafts1 is highly probable4 ,neither the accused nor the accusers were accustomed to speak of seeing the devil2 but it was the black man1 or some other defined spirit1--not the devil1--according to their own statements4 ,yet when recorders and reporters undertook to give us either the substance of what was said1 or a nearly verbatim report1 they generally substituted devil for black man1 or for any other unseen occult operator1 whatever his1 her1 or its moral purpose or character4 ,so1 too1 all specially marvelous works were called witchcrafts4 ,the little ,carrier children were very instructive witnesses4 ,too young and inexperienced to do otherwise than answer simple questions directly in such language as was common1 they show us of to-day1 better than do older witnesses1 what was probably common application of some terms of very frequent use in descriptions of things marvelous4 ,when by implication charged with being themselves witches1 their answers conceded the truth of the charge4 ,one of them1 eight years old1 said she had been a witch ever since she was six4 ,another1 eighteen years old1 had been a witch about five weeks1 and said that brother ,andrew had been such near a month4 ,little did these frank and no doubt truthful young confessors of family and personal experiences deem that they were exposing themselves1 and their mother also1 to punishment by death4 ,what they confessed to were frequent sights and sounds in their home1 which came as naturally and innocently before them as the visits and words of friends and neighbors4 ,community called such matters witchcrafts1 and why should not these children do the same8 ,their mental powers were not expanded enough to even entertain the slightest apprehension that what they were saying could imply that they had made a compact with the devil1 or that a simple1 true statement of their unsought experiences could bring harm to themselves or any one else4 ,equally incompetent were such little ones to comprehend the nature of that devil who existed in the conception of the magistrate when he asked whether the devil had insnared the witness and brother ,andrew4 ,they1 no doubt1 held the common notion that any worker whatsoever from realms unseen by the external eye was the devil2 and having had experience--at least one of them had--that her own spirit had gone forth from her body and pinched certain persons1 she understood that she had performed a part in works which were imputed to the devil4 ,still neither of these children confessed1 or could be insnared to own1 that they had seen the devil4 ,they1 obviously1 and their mother1 we do not doubt1 often as naturally and innocently beheld spirit forms and scenes1 and just as innocently held converse with spirits1 as they surveyed the scenes and forms of the outer world1 or went in company with embodied people to their congregations in the meeting-house or elsewhere4 ,the words of babes and sucklings1 at a witchcraft trial1 revealed the existence of finer natural laws and forces1 and their operation also1 upon and through some human beings1 than science then dreamed of1 or is yet quite ready to recognize4 ,very much in witchcraft times was charged to the devil which should have been credited to ,god4 ,the erroneous entry of many heavy items on the great account-books1 in the days of the fathers1 calls for immense labor and study for their proper and equitable adjustment now4 ,martha ,carrier and her children were probably posted on the wrong side of the moral ,ledger when ,cotton ,mather labeled her ,rampant ,hag2 and there they have stood ever since4 ,,rev4 ,,george ,,burroughs4 ,having come to the last of the accused whose case our leading purpose induces us to notice at much length1 we present here a specimen of indictment for the crime of witchcraft4 ,,the ,,indictment ,,of ,,george ,,burroughs4 ,essex ,anno ,regni ,regis et ,reginae ,willielmi et ss4 ,mariae4 ,nunc ,angliae1 c41 quarto4 ,the jurors of our sovereign lord and lady1 the king and queen1 present--,that ,george ,burroughs1 late of ,falmouth1 in the province of ,massachusetts ,bay1 in ,new ,england1 clerk1 the #ith day of ,may1 in the fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lord and lady1 ,william and ,mary1 by the grace of ,god1 of ,england1 ,scotland1 ,france and ,ireland king and queen1 defenders of the faith1 c41 and divers other days and times1 as well before as after1 certain detestable arts1 called witchcrafts and sorceries1 wickedly and feloniously hath used1 practiced1 and exercised1 at and within the township of ,salem1 in the county of ,essex aforesaid1 in1 upon1 and against one ,mary ,walcutt1 of ,salem ,village1 in the county of ,essex1 single woman2 by which said wicked arts the said ,mary ,walcutt1 the #ith day of ,may1 in the fourth year abovesaid1 and divers other days and times1 as well before as after1 was and is tortured1 afflicted1 pined1 consumed1 wasted1 and tormented1 against the peace of our sovereign lord and lady1 the king and queen1 and against the form of the statute in that case made and provided4 ,witnesses3 ,,mary ,,walcott1 ,,sarah ,,vibber1 ,,mercy ,,lewis1 ,,ann ,,putnam1 ,,eliz4 ,,hubbard4 ,indorsed by the grand jury1 ,billa vera4 ,three other similar indictments accompanied the above1 for witchcrafts practiced by ,burroughs upon ,elizabeth ,hubbard1 ,mercy ,lewis1 and ,ann ,putnam severally4 ,s4 ,p4 ,fowler1 in the edition of ,salem ,witchcraft edited by him1 says1 on page #bgh1-- ,the trial of ,rev4 ,geo4 ,burroughs appears to have attracted general notice from the circumstance of his being a former clergyman in ,salem ,village1 and supposed to be a leader amongst witches4 ,fowler adds1 that-- ,dr4 ,cotton ,mather says he was not present at any of the trials for witchcraft2 how he could keep away from that of ,burroughs we cannot imagine4 ,his father1 ,dr4 ,increase ,mather1 informs us that he attended this single trial1 and says1 ',had ,i been one of ,george ,burroughs's judges1 ,i could not have acquitted him1 for several persons did upon oath testify that they saw him do such things as no man that had not a devil to be his familiar could perform4' ,burroughs was apprehended in ,wells1 in ,maine2 so say his children4 ,they also inform us that he was buried by his friends1 after the inhuman treatment of his body from the hands of his executioners at ,gallows ,hill1 in ,salem4 ,he is represented as being a small1 black-haired dark-complexioned man1 of quick passions and great strength4 ,his power of muscle1 which discovered itself early when ,burroughs was a member of ,cambridge ,college1 and which we notice in the slight rebutting evidence offered by his friends at his trial1 convinces us that he lifted the gun1 and the barrel of molasses1 by the power of his own well-strung muscles1 and not by any help from the devil1 as was supposed by the ,mathers1 both father and son4 ,alas1 that a man's own strong arm should prove his ruin6 ,we shall show shortly that this commentator here overlooked an important point4 ,burroughs himself made statement1 in his own defense1 that an ,indian stood by and lifted the gun2 therefore the chief question is not whether ,burroughs was himself strong enough to lift it as alleged1 but whether he told the truth when he said that he had help4 ,the chief question bears upon his veracity1 not upon his strength4 ,the ,mathers believed him on that point4 ,the allegations in the indictment were for witchcrafts invisibly practiced upon members of the famous ,,circle1 and not for visible feats of strength4 ,all the girls testified to seeing and suffering from his apparition4 ,also some who confessed to having been witches themselves 7for some accused ones were over-persuaded to speak of their own clairvoyant observations and experiences as witchcrafts1 and therefore of themselves as witches71--some such testified thus1 as ,mather says 7p4 #bgi1 ,salem ,witchcraft74 ,he was accused by eight of the confessing witches as being head actor at some of their hellish rendezvous1 and who had promise of being a king in ,satan's kingdom now going to be erected2 he was accused by nine persons for extraordinary liftings1 444 and for other things1 444 until about thirty testimonies were brought in against him4 ,mather's account of the witchcraft at ,salem was drawn up at the request of ,william ,phips1 then governor of the province2 and two prominent judges at the trials indorsed it as follows3-- ,the reverend and worthy author having1 at the direction of his ,excellency the governor1 so far obliged the public as to give some account of the sufferings brought upon the country by witchcrafts1 and of the trials which have passed upon several executed for the same3 ,upon perusal thereof1 we find the matters of fact and evidence truly reported1 and a prospect given of the methods of conviction used in the proceedings of the court at ,salem4 ,boston1 ,oct4 #aa1 #afib4 ,,william ,,stoughton1 ,,samuel ,,sewall4 ,manifestation of one class of phenomena presented at those trials has not been noticed in the preceding pages2 viz41 the appearance of the spirits of particular departed ones to many of the accusing girls4 ,it is obviously true that those clairvoyants were very much oftener beholders of the spirits of those still dwelling in mortal forms than of those who had escaped from thralldom to the flesh4 ,still there were then some cases in which the spirits of some who had been known in that vicinity1 and whose bodies were moldering beneath its soil1 were both seen and heard4 ,among others1 two former wives of ,burroughs were named4 ,mather says 7p4 #bhb71 ,several of the bewitched had given in their testimony that they had been troubled with the apparitions of two women1 who said they were ,g4 ,b4's two wives2 and that he had been the death of them4444 ,now1 ,g4 ,b4 had been infamous for the barbarous usage of his two successive wives1 all the country over4 7p4 #bhf47 444 ',twas testified1 that1 keeping his two successive wives in a strange kind of slavery1 he would1 when he came home from abroad1 pretend to tell the talk which any had with them2 that he has brought them to the point of death by his harsh dealings with his wives1 and then made people promise that1 in case death should happen1 they would say nothing of it2 that he used all means to make his wives write1 sign1 seal1 and swear to a covenant never to reveal any of his secrets2 that his wives had privately complained unto the neighbors about frightly apparitions of evil spirits1 with which their house was sometimes infested1 c4 ,some of these allegations probably rested on firmer bases of facts than have generally been perceived4 ,though we regard ,burroughs as having been one of the kindest and best of men1 we do not entirely withhold credence from the general import of such allegations regarding him4 ,they point both to extraordinary unfoldments within him1 and to probable handlings and control of his outer form at times by some intelligence not his own4 ,strange kind of slavery would naturally result1 in those days1 from a husband's telling his wife1 on returning to his home1 what conversation she had held with others during his absence1 if his statements were true2 but if not true1 the wife would only laugh at his pretensions1 and make no complaints to neighbors4 ,if both true and oft repeated1 such mysterious utterances might well enslave1 worry1 and bring close to death's door a sensitive wife2 and the husband1 however affectionate and kind1 may at times have been as powerless to shape his course of procedure as is the dried leaf when whirled onward by strong autumnal breezes4 ,acts not his own the world would hold him responsible for2 and no wonder that1 in his age1 a spiritualistically unfolded1 an illumined man1 and one also whose form might be moved1 as was that of ,agassiz1 by will not his own1 should strive in all possible ways to prevent wives1 and any other people who knew them1 from revealing any of his peculiar and marvelous secrets2 no wonder that he sought to make his wives write1 sign1 seal1 and swear never to do it2 because the noising abroad of such powers as he possessed1 and such performances as were attendant upon him1 if publicly known1 would be profaned1 would destroy his usefulness1 and endanger1 if not take1 his life4 ,thanks that1 in our day1 danger of a hangman's rope does not threaten one because of his high spiritual illumination4 ,george ,burroughs was graduated at ,harvard ,college in #afgj2 had been a preacher for many years prior to #afib1 and1 during some of them1 ministered to the people at ,salem ,village4 ,but before the outburst of witchcraft there1 he had found a home far off to the north-east1 on the shores of ,casco ,bay1 in the ,province of ,maine1 where he was then humbly and quietly laboring in his profession1 but not in impenetrable seclusion4 ,clairvoyants are masters of both seclusion and space to a marvelous extent4 ,throughout a region far1 far around1 wherever the special light pertaining to the mediumistic or illuminated condition revealed its possessor and put forth its attractions1 there the opened inner vision of the accusing girls might make them practically present4 ,emanations from one residing at ,falmouth or at ,wells might readily meet and blend with those from sensitives at their home in ,salem4 ,thought flies fast and far4 ,with equal speed1 and quite as far1 can the unswathed inner perceptives of an entranced or illumined mortal be attracted4 ,old memories and undissolved psychological attachments may have operated in this case4 ,one of the accusing girls had lived for a time in the family of ,burroughs while he resided at the ,village4 ,chains of association are never broken and rendered forever unusable1 though they often become exceedingly attenuated1 and cease to retain recognition in our ordinary conditions4 ,several of the accusing girls alleged that ,burroughs was one1 and a leading and authoritative one1 in the band of apparitional beings from whom their torments came4 ,he was cried out upon1 arrested1 tried1 condemned1 and executed4 ,the opinions of different writers as to the real character and worth of this man have been very diverse4 ,while some have accounted him an hypocritical wizard1 others have deemed him a man of beautiful and beneficent life4 ,mather regarded him with aversion1 and says1 ,glad should ,i have been if ,i had never known the name of this man4 ,afterward the same author charged ,burroughs with tergiversations1 contradictions1 and falsehoods4 ,sullivan1 in his ,history of ,maine1 says1 that he was a man of bad character1 and of a cruel disposition4 ,hutchinson asserted1 on insufficient grounds1 that when under examination1 he was confounded1 and used many twistings and turnings4 ,but ,fowler says1 ,all the weight of character enlisted against him fails to counteract the favorable impression made by his ,christian conduct during his imprisonment1 and at the time of his execution4 ,calef says1 that1 the day before execution1 ,margaret ,jacobs1 who had testified against him1 came to the prisoner1 acknowledging that she had belied him1 and asking his forgiveness2 who not only forgave her1 but also prayed with and for her4 ,the same adducer of ,facts states that1 when upon the ladder1 he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency1 with such solemn and serious expressions as were to the admiration of all present2 his prayer 7which he concluded by repeating the ,lord's prayer7 was so well worded1 and uttered with such composedness and such 7at least seeming7 fervency of spirit1 as was very affecting1 and drew tears from many1 so that it seemed to some that the spectators would hinder the execution4 ,the accusers said the black man stood and dictated to him4 ,as soon as he was turned off1 ,mr4 ,cotton ,mather1 being mounted upon a horse1 addressed himself to the people1 partly to declare that he 7,burroughs7 was no ordained minister1 and partly to possess the people of his guilt1 saying that the devil has often been transformed into an angel of light2 and this somewhat appeased the people1 and the executions went on4 ,his prayers1 and his whole deportment and spirit during these last trying scenes1 indicate his possession of a calm1 strong soul1 which bore him1 on the wings of innocence and piety1 into a region of serenity which his traducers and murderers were unfited to enter and knew not of4 ,the brief account which ,upham's researches enabled him to furnish of this man's life prior to the witchcraft mania presents still further evidences of his sterling worth4 ,that author says1 ,papers on file in the ,state ,house prove that in the ,district of ,maine1 where he lived and preached before and after his settlement at the ,village1 he was regarded with confidence by his neighbors1 and looked up to as a friend and counselor4444 ,he was self-denying1 generous1 and public-spirited1 laboring in humility and with zeal in the midst of great privations4 ,land had been granted to him1 and when the town asked him to exchange a part of it for other lands1 he freely gave it back1 not desiring any land anywhere else1 nor anything else in consideration thereof4 ,scanning ,burroughs as well as accessible knowledge of him now permits1 we judge that he was a quiet1 peaceful1 persistent laborer for the good of his fellow-men1--a humble1 trustful1 sincere servant of ,god1--a rare embodiment of the prevailing perceptions1 sentiments1 virtues1 and graces which haloed the form of the ,nazarene4 ,why did the people of his time take his life8 ,what were the accusations against him8 ,in addition to the testimony that he was felt by many of the girls as a tormenting specter1 he was accused of putting forth superhuman physical strength4 ,cotton ,mather says1-- ,he was a very puny man1 yet he had often done things beyond the strength of a giant4 ,a gun of about seven feet barrel1 and so heavy that strong men could not steadily hold it out with both hands1 there were several testimonies given in by persons of credit and honor1 that he made nothing of taking up such a gun behind the lock with one hand1 and holding it out like a pistol1 at arm's end4 ,in his vindication he was foolish enough to say that an ,indian was there1 and held it out at the same time2 whereas1 none of the spectators ever saw any such ,indian2 but they supposed the black man 7as the witches call the devil1 and they generally say he resembles an ,indian7 might have given him that assistance4 ,that paragraph is very instructive4 ,all subsequent historians1 beginning back with ,calef1 have mentioned1 what is no doubt true1 that ,burroughs was a small man1 and yet was constitutionally very strong--was remarkable for physical powers even in his college days2 and they have fancied that on that ground they have satisfactorily accounted for his marvelous exploits2 they seemingly overlook the fact that it was ,burroughs himself1 and not other people1 who said that an ,indian1 invisible to others1 stood by and held the gun out4 ,historians have explained the good and true man's seeming physical feats at the expense of his veracity4 ,heaven help the innocent when in the hands of such traducing commentators4 ,the question is not what ,burroughs could have done unaided1 but it is whether he told truth when he said an ,indian helped him4 ,his whole character and life argue that he would not have spoken as he is alleged to have done1 unless he had been conscious of the presence of an ,indian within or by himself1 putting forth1 in part at least1 the strength which raised and supported that heavy gun4 ,he said that such was the fact4 ,what though all spectators failed to see the ,indian8 ,it was a disembodied ,indian--a spirit ,indian--and therefore necessarily invisible by external eyes4 ,the non-perception of him by other men standing by is no evidence that the spirit ,indian was not there2 for spiritual beings are discernible by the inner or spirit optics alone1 and not by the outer2 so taught ,paul4 ,the fact that bystanders supposed the devil helped ,burroughs1 or performed the lifting feat through him1 implies that they1 as well as he1 believed that something more was done than mere human strength accomplished4 ,in the present day1 when spirits are very often putting forth strength through forms of flesh which executes performances quite as marvelous as any which were alleged to have been enacted through ,burroughs1 his assertion that a foreign1 hidden intelligence worked within and through his form1 conjoined with the belief of beholders that some spiritual being was operating therein1 any array of facts now1 proving1 even to perfect demonstration1 that the little man was enormously strong1 though it may indicate that he did not require foreign aid to lift and hold out the gun1 does nothing toward impeaching his own veracity when he said he had help4 ,surely one can have help in the performance of what he could do alone4 ,if any man says he had help in a particular case1 his ability to have performed the special feat alone affords no indication that his statement is untrue2 and yet the spirit of witchcraft history implies that it does4 ,prove ,burroughs to have been constitutionally as strong as the strongest mortal that ever lived1--yes1 as strong as the strongest of all created beings1--ay1 as strong as the ,omnipotent ,one himself1 and even then you have done nothing which shows or tends to show that another intelligent worker may not have co-operated with him in the performance of marvelous feats4 ,we say again that the question raised by his statement is not whether he1 in and of himself1 was competent to his seeming feats1 but it is whether an ,indian spirit did or did not help him4 ,burroughs says he had help from such a one4 ,bystanders supposed that the devil helped him2 but he who sensed the helper's presence called him an ,indian2 and he was a much more trustworthy testifier as to that helper's proper classification in the scale of being1 than a combined world of men devoid of spirit-vision1 putting forth only their inferences regarding an unseen personage4 ,imputation of this man's liftings to his constitutional strength solely is an imputation of false testimony to the truthful man himself1 and historic arguments1 if valid1 make him a liar4 ,who helped the little clergyman lift and hold the heavy gun8 ,he says it was an ,indian4 ,but ,mather says1 none of the spectators ever saw any such ,indian2 but they supposed the black man 7as the witches call the devil1 and they generally say he resembles an ,indian7 might have given him that assistance4 ,that sentence illumines many a dark spot in our ancient witchcraft4 ,the witches1 or clairvoyants1 whether accusers or accused1 were not accustomed to speak of seeing the devil4 ,it is fairly questionable whether any one among them ever spoke of seeing the devil1 or of having any interview with him1 or knowledge of him obtained by personal observation4 ,it was man whom they saw4 ,they spoke of the black man4 ,mather says that was their name for the devil4 ,we doubt it4 ,what they saw failed to present a semblance of ,cloven-foot1 with horns1 tail1 and hoofs1 and did not suggest to them an idea of the devil4 ,the substitution of devil for black man1 or the regarding the two as synonymous1 was ,mather's work1 and not that of the clairvoyants4 ,and who was the black man8 ,mather informs us that those whose optics could see him generally say he resembles an ,indian4 ,if he resembled an ,indian1 is not the inference very fair that he was an ,indian8 ,yes4 ,black man obviously was applied by clairvoyants to designate any ,indian spirit1 and spirits of human beings probably were the only spirits whom their inner vision ever beheld4 ,thanks to you1 ,mather1 for recording that explanatory sentence4 ,the devil you fought against was your brother man--was earth-born--and when seen and conferred with not very formidable4 ,your clairvoyants1 or witches1 saw and heard occult men1 women1 children1 beasts1 and birds1 but never spoke of seeing your ecclesiastical devil4 ,the human beings whom they beheld varied in size from little children to tall men1 and in complexion from black to white--even up to glorious brightness4 ,your informants never used the word devil in their descriptions4 ,you misreported them1 as ,cheever did ,tituba2 ,calef followed your lead1 and subsequent historians have copied from both you and him4 ,you also state that ,burroughs was foolish enough to say that an ,indian helped him4 ,was it foolish in him to state the truth8 ,your own witnesses en masse say his helper resembled an ,indian--he said the assistant was an ,indian4 ,why didn't you take the words of your own witnesses as corroborative of the man's statement8 ,they surely were so1 and they give us a true presentation of the case4 ,the reason of your course is obvious2 the creed of your times deemed any spirit visitant or helper to be the devil himself4 ,a subsequent charge against ,g4 ,b4 7,george ,burroughs7 was1 that when they 7the accusing girls7 cried out of ,g4 ,b4 biting them1 the print of his teeth would be seen on the flesh of the complainers2 and just such a set of teeth as ,g4 ,b4's would then appear upon them4 ,as in the case of little ,dorcas ,good1 here we have it charged that indentations on the flesh of complainants corresponded to the size and shape of the teeth belonging to the person who was accused of biting4 ,if ,g4 ,b4's spirit-form or apparition was made to approach and bite the accusers1--and it probably was1--his spirit-teeth would naturally1 and1 as we apprehend1 necessarily have the exact size and form of his external ones4 ,another charge is embraced in the following quotation3-- ,his wives 7he had buried two7 had privately complained unto the neighbors about frightly apparitions of evil spirits with which their house was sometimes infested2 and many such things had been whispered among the neighborhood4 ,we have previously quoted but did not comment upon the above which relates to the appearance of apparitions4 ,that statement may as well indicate that the wives themselves1 or any other persons resident in his house1 were the attracting or helping instrumentalities for producing the frightly sights1 as that ,burroughs himself was1 provided only that some one or more of them were mediumistic4 ,but the probabilities are1 that the elements emanated from him which rendered such presentations practicable4 ,his telling the purport of talks held in the house during his absence indicates that his inner ears were opened to catch either the spirit of mundane sounds1 or sounds made by spirits1 as could those of ,margaret ,jones1 ,ann ,hibbins1 ,joan of ,arc1 and many others4 ,the same power in him is indicated in the following extract3-- ,one ,mr4 ,ruck1 brother-in-law to this ,g4 ,b41 testified that ,g4 ,b41 and he himself1 and his sister1 ,g4 ,b4's wife1 going out for two or three miles to gather strawberries1 ,ruck1 with his sister1 the wife of ,g4 ,b41 rode home very softly 7slowly7 with ,g4 ,b4 on foot in their company4 ,g4 ,b4 stepped aside a little into the bushes4 ,whereupon they halted and hollowed for him4 ,he not answering1 they went homewards with a quickened pace without any expectation of seeing him in a considerable while4 ,and yet1 when they were got near home1 to their astonishment they found him on foot with them1 having a basket of strawberries4 7,philip was found at ,azotus47 ,g4 ,b4 immediately then fell to chiding his wife on account of what she had been speaking to her brother of him on the road4 ,which when they wondered at1 he said he knew their thoughts4 ,ruck1 being startled at that1 made some reply1 intimating that the devil himself did not know so far2 but ,g4 ,b4 answered1 ,my ,god makes known your thoughts unto me4 ,true and luminous fact6 ,the humble1 pious1 intelligent1 illumined ,burroughs1 far-looker into the realm of causes--an observer of things behind the vail which bounds the reach of mortal senses and pure reason--stated that ,god--not the devil--made known to him the thoughts of other and absent people4 ,in other words1 his intended meaning probably was1 that ,god's worlds and laws provide for legitimate inflowings1 to some minds1 of knowledge of the thoughts and purposes of other minds1 even though far distant in space4 ,the character1 or rather the actual qualities of this man1 if we read him correctly1 were truthfulness1 humility1 and piety4 ,when such a one deliberately said to a brother-in-law1 under such circumstances as stated above1 ,my ,god makes known your thoughts unto me1 he indicated his consciousness of possessing self-experienced knowledge of the existence of an instructive and momentous fact pertaining to human capabilities4 ,only few persons1 relatively1 have had proof by personal experience of the extent to which the inner perceptives of embodied mortals may reach forth and imbibe knowledge by processes common to freed spirits1 and in the realms of their abode4 ,what the unfoldings of ,burroughs permitted him to do and know is possible with many others while resident in mortal forms4 ,if he could1 some others may1 come into that condition in which thought itself shall be heard speaking itself out to them1 in which they shall be listeners to cogitatio loquens--self-speaking thought--which ,swedenborg says abounds in spirit spheres2 in which thought from supernal fonts shall make itself known to the consciousness of an embodied man1 and become matter of knowledge with him4 ,others1 and more in number1 may have the inner ear opened and hear the words of spirits4 ,with ears competently attuned1 the meek and truth-loving ,burroughs was occasionally able to receive not only knowledge of the thoughts of mortals in ways unusual1 but also1 as we judge1 to receive spiritual truths copiously from purer fountains than his cotemporaries generally could get access to2 and he thence obtained such truths as relaxed in him many credal bonds which firmly held most of his cotemporary preachers to the creeds1 forms1 ordinances1 and customs common in the churches then4 ,many questions put to him at his trial were1 obviously1 designed to draw forth evidence of his lax regard for and inattention to the accepted ordinances of religion4 ,he admitted both that it was long since he had sat at the communion table1 and that some of his own children had not been baptized4 ,we presume that he was inwardly1 wisely1 and beneficently prompted to walk somewhat astray from the narrow and soul-cramping paths then trod by most ,new ,england clergymen4 ,the spirit of the ,lord was giving him more liberty than most of his cotemporaries felt privileged to exercise4 ,using his greater facilities than theirs for instruction in heavenly things1 he probably advanced far beyond his brethren generally in sinking the letter1 that is1 sinking the forms1 and ceremonies1 and ordinances of religion beneath its divine spirit1 and his less illumined brethren suspected him of an abandonment of religion itself1 and of alliance with the great enemy of all goodness4 ,some among them apparently looked upon him as a combined heretic and wizard1 withheld all sympathy from1 and exulted over the doom of1 this double culprit4 ,but this victim may have been1 and probably was1 as high above most of his crucifiers as freedom is above bondage1 as the spirit above the letter1 as light above darkness1 as sincerity above hypocrisy4 ,the blood of such as ,martha ,corey1 ,rebecca ,nurse1 ,mary ,easty1 ,,george ,,burroughs1 and probably many others who in company with these took their exit from life shrouded in witchcraft's blackening mists1 may go far toward making ,gallows ,hill a ,mount ,calvary--a spot on which zeal urged on the worse to crucify their betters in true godliness--betters in all that fits immortal souls for gladdening welcome into realms above4 ,,summary4 #afdh4 ,,margaret ,,jones manifested startling efficacy of hands and medicines1 consternating keenness of perceptives1 predictions subsequently verified1 and the presence of a vanishing child4 ,such was her witchcraft2 and for this she was executed4 #afef4 ,,ann ,,hibbins comprehended conversation between persons too distant from her to be heard normally1 444 and was hanged4 #affb4 ,,ann ,,cole had her form possessed and spoken through by either the devil or other disembodied ones1 and by them made both to express thoughts that never were in her mind1 and to further the conviction and execution of the ,greensmiths4 #afga-b4 ,,elizabeth ,,knap',s external form was strangely convulsed and agonized by an old man1 and also spoken through by one who called himself a pretty black boy4 #afhj4 ,,william ,,morse1 in his home1 where lived his good wife1 who had been called a witch1 saw pots1 andirons1 tools1 and household furniture generally1 seem to take on wills of their own1 and rudely play many a lively gymnastic game4 #afhh4 ,,john ,,goodwin saw four of his children subjected and tortured immediately subsequent to the scolding of one of them by a wild ,irish woman2 and the same one afterward was made to play the deuce in ,cotton ,mather's own house4 ,mrs4 ,glover was hanged for bewitching2 and also she continued to torture the same children after her spirit had left its outer form4 ,the above cases occurred prior to the holding of ,the ,circle at ,salem1 before the establishment of a school at which the arts of necromancy1 magic1 and spiritualism might be learned4 ,generally the performers named thus far had no visible confederates4 ,if sole actors1 their geniuses were vast1 and the fonts of malice or of benevolence in some of them were both very capacious and copiously overflowing4 #afib4 ,,tituba1 the slave1 avowed having been forced by something like a man1 and his four female spectral aids1 to pinch the two little girls in her master's family at the very time when they were first mysteriously afflicted4 ,she furnished strong evidence that a tall man with white hair and serge coat1 invisibly to others1 frequently visited her1 compelled her aid1 and kindled and long kept adding fuel to the fires of witchcraft at ,salem ,village4 ,for this she was imprisoned thirteen months1 and then sold to pay her jail fees4 ,,sarah ,,good was seen as a specter1 was accused of hurting by occult organs and processes2 became invisible by those standing guard over her2 announced to the magistrates the great explanatory fact that none but the accusers and the accused1 that is1 none but clairvoyants1 could see the actual inflictors of the pains endured4 ,also she fore-sensed a fact that occurred when ,mr4 ,noyes died in an after year4 ,she was hanged4 ,,dorcas ,,good1 not five years old1 was big enough to have her specter seen1 to have her spirit-teeth bite1 and also to see clairvoyantly4 ,the little witch was sent to jail4 ,,sarah ,,osburn was sighted by the inner optics of the accused1 and she heard voices from out the unseen4 ,this feeble one was sent to jail1 and soon died there4 ,,martha ,,corey was charged with afflicting2 also she avowed heresy pertaining to witchcraft4 ,though interiorly illumined far beyond her accusers and judges1 and enabled to smile amid their frowns1 she was executed4 ,,giles ,,corey1 seen as a specter1 and accused of harming many1 would make no plea to his indictment4 ,pressure1 applied for forcing out a plea1 extorted only his call for ,more weight1 more weight1--and his life went out4 ,,rebecca ,,nurse1 venerable matron1 daughter of a mother who had been called a witch1 and conscious of personal liability to then prevalent fits1 was seen by1 and accused of hurting1 members of ,the ,circle4 ,therefore she must be hanged--though jury first acquitted1 and then1 under rebuke1 called her guilty2 and though governor pardoned1 and then revoked his clement act4 ,fealty to witchcraft creed in that case triumphed1 though nearly defeated twice4 ,,mary ,,easty1 noble woman1 sister of the above1 and daughter of the same witch-blooded mother1 once arrested and discharged1 and then re-arrested1 because seen by inner eyes and accused of bewitching1 rose sublimely above thoughts of self and dread of death1 and appealed to the magistrates1 in clear1 strong1 and forceful language1 to change their course of procedure1 to spare the innocent1 and become wisely humane4 ,,susanna ,,martin1 spectrally seen1 and a reputed witch during more than a score of years1 bravely faced the dangers besetting an accused one1 was self-possessed before the magistrates1 was spicy1 shrewd1 and keen in her answers to their questions1 but failed to descend to confession1 and died on ,gallows ,hill4 ,,martha ,,carrier1 having been a clear seer for forty years1 and long visible by others similarly unfolded1 was brave1 self-possessed1 and ready with pointed retort4 ,because hard to subdue1 accusations came thick and heavy upon her from ,the ,circle almost en masse1 and she too was doomed to mount the ladder4 ,,sarah ,,carrier1 daughter of the above1 eight years old1 stated instructive facts in her experience as a clairvoyant1 and notably said that her own spirit could go forth to others and hurt them2 also that her mother's was the only spirit with which she entered into the compact that made her a witch4 ,,rev4 ,,george ,,burroughs1 sometimes supernally strong physically1 because1 as himself asserted1 an ,indian1 invisible by others1 helped him2 able1 by ,god's help as he claimed1 to read his brother's thoughts2 ,a freer and less formal religionist than most clergymen of his day1 because of his high spiritual illumination2 a humble but beneficent ,christian--was1 like his exemplar1 made to yield up life at the call of such as cried1 ,crucify him6 crucify him6 ,if he was luminous1 and spoke like an angel of light in the hour of his departure1 he was not ,satan transformed1 but ,george ,burroughs unvailing his genuine self4 #afic4 ,,margaret ,,rule1 the first of afflicted ones noticed in our pages1 endured her strange experiences last4 ,the evening before her fits came on she had been bitterly treated and threatened by an old woman whose curings of hurts had put her under suspicions of witchcrafts4 ,margaret was not a graduate from the ,salem school1 but was self-taught1 if taught at all2 and yet she saw many specters--saw1 in the night1 a young man in danger of drowning who was miles away from her2 was lifted from her bed to the ceiling above in horizontal position by invisible beings2 fasted nine days without pining2 and saw and heard one bright and glorious visitant who comforted and heartened her much4 ,she under the special watch and care of ,cotton ,mather1 was held back1 mainly perhaps by his advice1 from any divulgences which should endanger the lives of others4 ,no blood was shed because of her afflictions4 ,twenty persons were put to death in ,essex ,county1 by the direct action of government officials1 between ,june #i and ,september #bc1 #afib4 ,nearly or quite two hundred were accused1 arrested1 imprisoned1 and many more than the executed twenty were convicted4 ,numerous arrested ones perished under the hardships of prison life and gnawings of mental anxieties4 ,others had health1 spirits1 domestic ties1 and worldly possessions shattered to pieces1 and the condition of their subsequent lives made most forlorn and wretched4 ,neither tongue nor pen can possibly tell their tale in its fullness of horrors4 ,most excessively frenzying and woeful must have been the privations1 sufferings1 heart-wrenchings1 agonies of nearly all the scattered residents of the then wooded region at and round about ,salem ,village1 when ,christendom's mighty and malignant witchcraft devil was believed to be prowling and fiercely slaughtering in their midst4 ,no blood1 nor any other mark1 on the door-posts would effectually warn the fell destroyer to pass by and leave the occupants within unscathed4 ,mysterious and fearful dangers flocked above1 below1 around1 before1 and behind3 they lurked here1 there1 and everywhere continually1 so that none could ever be at ease4 ,and now we ask1 whether common sense admits that such credulity and infatuation ever pervaded any hardy1 energetic1 and intelligent community1 in any county of ,massachusetts or ,new ,england1 in any age1 as that girls and old women1 aided by a very few insignificant men1 however bright1 cunning1 roguish1 playful1 self-conceited1 greedy of notice1 or resentful and malicious the leaders might be1 could possibly so perform as to induce ,rev4 ,mr4 ,whiting1 ,samuel ,willard1 ,william ,morse1 ,cotton ,mather1 ,deodat ,lawson1 ,samuel ,parris1 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,hale1 and scores upon scores of other intelligent1 sagacious1 and leading men1 to present to the public1 in writing1 such narratives as they did1 and to essentially vouch for their own belief in the positive occurrence of such amazing feats as they described8 ,we ask also1 whether such frail enactors as a band of mere girls and a few women must have been1 could possibly devise and manifest such tricks1 and put forth such accusations1 from any motives whatsoever1 as would cause the leading minds throughout a large section of the state to regard the accused ones as allies of beings rising up from regions of darkness1 and making malignant and most baneful onslaught upon the children of ,god and ,christ1 and upon the families and possessions of men1 in such numbers and with such force1 that the civil power of the land was urged and helped to put the gallows in use upon every one whose specter was said to be seen and to torment8 ,the amazing feats are well attested4 ,the more amazing deviltries both of the accusers and of courts and executives1 no one can doubt1 if all the feats were offspring of mere juvenile and senile cunning1 fraud1 and malice4 ,in the cases of ,margaret ,jones1 ,ann ,cole1 ,elizabeth ,knap1 ,john ,stiles1 and ,martha ,goodwin each1 there is distinct mention of the presence1 the speech1 or the action of some spirit4 ,we found ,tituba distinctly stating that she saw1 heard1 and was made to help a nocturnal visitant whose doings indicate that he was the originator of the vast ,salem ,tragedy3 that visitant was a spirit4 ,mr4 ,burroughs said1 in explanation of his feats of strength1 that an ,indian1 invisible by others1 was his helper4 ,margaret ,rule1 as had ,mercy ,lewis the year before1 saw1 and each was infilled with bliss by1 a most glorious bright spirit4 ,in our own day1 in every city1 town1 and hamlet of our land1 as well as on the opposite shore of the ,atlantic1 spirits are widely recognized as the authors of performances alike strange and amazing in themselves1 as those described in the seventeenth century1 which are there called witchcrafts4 ,the primitive records of ,american witchcrafts show that portions of it1 and especially that ,salem witchcraft feats1 were devised in supermundane brains1 and enacted under their supervision4 ,,the ,,confessors4 ,when persons arraigned for specific offences plead guilty1 their pleas generally are deemed conclusive evidence that the accused have performed the special deeds set forth in the allegations4 ,many of the accused in witchcraft times made statements which have ever since been called confessions4 ,inference from that has long been general and wide-spread1 that nearly such witchcraft as the creed of our fathers specified had positive manifestation in their day4 ,but we seriously doubt whether any record of statements made by an accused one exhibits distinct admission that he or she had entered into covenant with that devil which one must have been in league with to become such a witch or wizard as the laws against witchcraft were intended to arrest4 ,such confessions as were recorded may have been true in the main1 but they fall short of confessions of the special crime alleged2 they amount to little1 if anything1 more than admissions and statements that the confessors had seen1 been influenced by1 and had acted in company with apparitions or spirits all of whom were of earthly origin1 and were members of the human family2 they confessed only to being1 or to having been at times1 clairvoyants4 ,the circumstances under which even such confessions were generally made1 need to be carefully viewed before just estimate can be placed upon the worth and significance of the recorded statements4 ,hutchinson supposed that those who were condemned and not executed1 all confessed their guilt1 444 and that the most effectual way to prevent an accusation 7of one's self7 was to become an accuser4 ,strange--strange--and yet obviously true4 ,an accused one1 then1 could look for escape from death--the legal penalty of witchcraft--only by pleading guilty to the charge4 ,confession of guilt1 and nothing else1 then1 purchased exemption from capital punishment4 ,this becoming obvious1 all natural instincts for preservation of one's life1 and all possible entreaties1 urgings1 and commands of friends and relatives1 forcibly tended to extort confession even from the innocent4 ,husband or wife1 children1 parents1 brothers1 sisters1 and trusted advisers1 often all conspired in urging an accused one to plead guilty--yes1 even a condemned one1 for that plea was as efficacious after conviction and sentence as before4 ,it is said that many did confess4 ,confessed to what8 ,never to having made a covenant with the great witchcraft devil nor any formidable imp of his1 but generally to clairvoyant visions1 to mental meetings with the specters of friends1 neighbors1 and other embodied mortals1 and to some compacts and co-operative labors with such personages1--never with the devil4 ,they did not confess to witchcraft itself as then defined4 ,the clear-headed ,mary ,easty besought the magistrates to try some of the confessing witches1 ,i being confident there is several of them has belied themselves and others4 ,her clear and calm brain perceived the broad distinction existing between clairvoyance and witchcraft4 ,so1 too1 did ,martha and ,giles ,corey1 ,jacobs1 ,proctor1 ,susanna ,martin1 ,george ,burroughs1 and others2 these1 and such as these1 did not confess1 while many weaker and more ignorant ones did4 ,little ,sarah ,carrier1 only eight years old1 whose testimony we adduced in part1 when presenting the case of her mother1 throws much light upon some confessions of that day4 ,simon ,willard1 who wrote out and attested to the substance of her statements1 heads his record1 ,sarah ,carrier's ,confession1 ,august #aath4 ,the girl's confession8 ,no2 it was simply a frank statement of facts in her own experience1 which lets us know that when she was about six years old her own mother made her a witch1 and baptized her4 ,but the devil1 or black man1 was not there1 as she saw1 when she was made a witch4 ,she afflicted folks by pinching them2 went to those whom she afflicted2 but went only in her spirit4 ,her mother was the only devil who bewitched her1 and the only being whom her baptism bound her to serve4 ,such was her witchcraft4 ,that plain statement is refreshing and valuable4 ,it shows that when about six years old this mediumistic girl had become so developed that her spirit could commune with her mother's1 independently of their bodies4 ,she then became a conscious clairvoyant1 and could trace felt influences1 issuing from her mother1 back to their source4 ,thenceforth mother and daughter could conjointly place themselves on the green at ,salem ,village1 ten miles off1 or in any pasture or any house whither thought might lead them4 ,the mother's stronger mind had but to wish1 and the child must go with her and do her bidding2 and when the two were in rapport1 any stronger spirit controlling the mother could make the child co-operative in pinchings or any other inflictions of pains4 ,because the little girl had set her hand to a red book presented by her own mother1 and thus1 by implication1 bound herself to be obedient to that mother1 her statement of the fact was labeled a confession of witchcraft1 and deemed damaging to her mother4 ,three or four other children of ,mrs4 ,carrier were able to sense spirit scenes4 ,her home was a domestic school of prophets1 and her own children were apt pupils in it4 ,her moral character and influence do not here concern us4 ,abigail ,faulkner was condemned1 and two of her children1 ,dorothy ten1 and ,abigail eight years old1 testified that their mother appeared and made them witches4 ,that mother was daughter of ,rev4 ,francis ,dane of ,andover1 some of whose other children and grandchildren were accused1 which suggests1 though it fails to prove1 that much medianimic susceptibility was imparted through either him or his wife1 or both1 to their offspring4 ,his descendants attracted the notice of clairvoyants4 ,hutchinson states that ,mr4 ,dane himself is tenderly touched in several of the examinations1 which 7the tenderness87 might be owing to a fair character2 and he may be one of the persons accused who 7the accusation of whom7 caused a discouragement to further prosecutions4 ,he1 being then near fourscore1 seems to have been in danger4 ,internal luminosity and copious radiations from their interior forms probably rendered ,rev4 ,mr4 ,dane1 ,rev4 ,samuel ,willard1 ,mrs4 ,hale1 wife of the minister at ,beverly1 ,mrs4 ,phips1 wife of the governor1 and many others of high character or standing1 visible by mediumistic optics1 and presentible apparitionally where spirits were wont to congregate1 consult and manipulate instruments for acting out--not for learning--the wonders of necromancy1 magic1 and ,spiritualism4 ,witch meetings1 as they were called1 or congregated spirits or apparitions on the green1 or in the pasture of the minister at ,salem ,village1 are mentioned more frequently and with more particularity and concordant specifications1 than would naturally be looked for if they had no basis on fact4 ,that ,spirits in vast crowds have more than once been seen in modern times by a seer looking up from ,high ,rock in ,lynn1 can be learned by perusal of ,a4 ,j4 ,davis's visions there4 ,but he was the observer of departed ones only1 while the apparent personages at witch meetings of old were partly either the spirits of embodied persons or their apparitions4 ,the fact of apparitions being present thereat in those days proved the persons themselves apparitionally seen to be the devil's allies4 ,some confessors of witchcraft intended to verify the truth of their statements by describing whom they had seen1 and what they had observed at such meetings4 ,and it is not without interest that some people now read confessions like the following from ,ann ,foster of ,andover1 viz43 ,that she was at the meeting of the witches at ,salem ,village when about twenty-five were present2 that ,goody ,carrier came and told her of the meeting and would have her go1 and so they got upon sticks and went the said journey1 and being there did see ,mr4 ,burroughs the minister1 who spake to them all2444 that they were presently at the ,village1 when they rode on the stick or pole2 and that she heard some of the witches say that there were three hundred and five in the whole country1 and that they would ruin that place--the ,village4 ,also that there was present at that meeting two men besides ,mr4 ,burroughs1 the minister1 and one of them had gray hair4 ,not without interest are such things read1 because they prompt to fancyings of things possible in an unseen sphere which hangs over and enfolds all mortals4 ,could ,ann ,foster's gray-haired man have been ,tituba's white-haired visitant--the originator and enactor of ,salem witchcraft8 ,who knows8 ,could not he and such as he have searched out and numbered many persons in the land who were adapted to be facile instruments for his use1 and found three hundred and five in all8 ,had not his will power to call instantly together1 that is1 to arrest and concentrate the attention of as many of them as were at the moment impressible by him1 either directly or through other plastic mortals1 from any part of the region between the ,penobscot and the ,hudson1 or even further1 and thus collect a band1 that is1 arrest and fix the attention1 of twenty-five of them1 more or less1 to whom inklings of his plans for the future might be given1 and whose relative rank1 efficiency1 or importance could be foreshadowed8 ,through either unconscious apparitions or conscious spirits of mortals1 or of both classes commingled1 might he not enact scenes which it pleased him to have certain witnesses behold1 and to proclaim1 so far as he judged best1 his purposes1 his doctrines1 or aught else it should be his pleasure to divulge or enforce8 ,possibly4 ,those witch meetings may have been much more than mere fictions4 ,we will look now at other and quite different confessions1 or rather at what reputed confessors afterward said in explanation and defense of their own admissions4 ,six well-esteemed women of ,andover conjointly subscribed to the following account3-- ,we were all seized1 as prisoners1 by a warrant from the justice of the peace1 and forthwith carried to ,salem4 ,and1 by reason of that sudden surprisal1 we1 knowing ourselves innocent of the crime1 were all exceedingly astonished and amazed1 and consternated and affrighted even out of our reason4 ,and our nearest and dearest relations1 seeing us in that dreadful condition1 and knowing our great danger1 apprehended there was no other way to save our lives1 as the case was then circumstanced1 but by our confessing ourselves to be such and such persons as the afflicted represented us to be3 they 7our friends71 out of tenderness and pity1 persuaded us to confess what we did confess4 ,and indeed that confession1 that it is said we made1 was no other than what was suggested to us by gentlemen1 they telling us that we were witches1 and they knew it and we knew it1 which made us think that it was so2 and our understandings1 our reason1 our faculties almost gone1 we were not capable of judging of our condition2 as also the hard measures they took with us rendered us incapable of making our defense2 but said anything and everything which they desired1 and most of what we said was but1 in effect1 a consenting to what they said4 ,some time after1 when we were better composed1 they telling us what we had confessed1 we did profess that we were innocent and ignorant of such things4444 ,,mary ,,osgood1 ,,abigail ,,barker1 ,,mary ,,tiler1 ,,sarah ,,wilson1 ,,deliverance ,,dane1 ,,hannah ,,tiler4 ,that document no doubt describes very accurately the mental condition and pressing circumstances under which a very large number of the confessions were made4 ,there existed some cases1 however1 which differed from the above4 ,samuel ,wardwell1 represented in some accounts as insane1 confessed1 and afterward recalled his confession1 and was executed4 ,margaret ,jacobs1 perhaps under pressure and bewilderment as great as those attendant upon the ,andover women1 made confession1 in which she accused both her grandfather and ,mr4 ,burroughs2 but compunctions of conscience forthwith came over her1 and she most fully and humbly recalled her confession1 choosing rather to die on the gallows than not to confess and repent before the ,god of truth4 ,,the ,,accusing ,,girls4 ,one more case--not of an accused one1 but of a chief accuser1 ,ann ,putnam1 the younger--merits careful attention4 ,she was only twelve years old in #afib2 but was the eldest child in a family of at least nine children1 both of whose parents died while they were all young2 and this eldest continued to live at the homestead1 caring for the younger ones1 during many years4 ,in ,august1 #agjf1 fourteen years subsequent to the scenes in which she was eminently conspicuous1 she made the following confession before the church1 and thereupon was admitted to membership in it4 ,the confession of ,anne ,putnam1 when she was received to communion1 #agjf4 ,i desire to be humble before ,god for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father's family in the year about '#ib2 that ,i1 then being in my childhood1 should by such a providence of ,god be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime1 whereby their lives were taken away from them1 whom now ,i have just grounds and good reason to believe were innocent persons2 and that it was a great delusion of ,satan that deceived me in that sad time2 whereby ,i justly fear ,i have been instrumental1 with others1 though ignorantly and unwillingly1 to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood4 ,though what was said or done by me against any person ,i can truly and uprightly say1 before ,god and man1 ,i did it not out of any anger1 malice1 or ill-will to any person1 for ,i had no such thing against one of them2 but what ,i did was ignorantly1 being deluded by ,satan4 ,and particularly as ,i was a chief instrument of accusing ,goodwife ,nurse and her two sisters1 ,i desire to lie in the dust1 and to be humbled for it1 in that ,i was a cause1 with others1 of so sad a calamity to them and their families2 for which cause ,i desire to lie in the dust1 and earnestly beg forgiveness of ,god1 and from all those unto whom ,i have given just cause of sorrow and offense1 whose relations were taken away or accused4 7,signed7 ,,anne ,,putnam4 ,this confession was read before the congregation1 together with her relation1 ,august #be1 #agjf2 and she acknowledged it4 ,j4 ,,green1 ,pastor4 ,in that confession she speaks very pointedly of herself as having been used as an instrument4 ,any mortal may perhaps properly do so in relation to each and every act performed4 ,but her history induces inquiry whether ,ann was not very strictly an instrument2 whether her own will1 or whether some other intelligent being's will1 used her lips when they put forth accusations of witchcraft4 ,the latter may have been possible2 for once1 while we were in conversation with a lady who applied disparaging remarks to particular gentleman who was a prominent medium1 we1 in reply1 expressed our belief that the doings which annoyed her were not the man's voluntary acts1 and also that his consciousness that such deeds were alleged by truthful and trustworthy persons to have actually been performed through his physical organism made the acts even more grievous to him than to any one of his acquaintances4 ,she doubted1 while we maintained1 the possibility of one's mortal form being thus subjected to a will outside of itself4 ,not many minutes had elapsed--not much argument having been presented on either side--before her own lips were set in use for putting forth a warm defense of ,victoria ,c4 ,woodhull1 a person upon whom our colloquist looked1 and of whom she was accustomed to speak1 with very decided disapprobation4 ,she was a conscious listener to the words that rolled from her own lips1 and experience taught her that our defense of the censured man might be admissible2 for1 in spite of herself1 her own lips were made to bless whom her sentiments were inclining her to curse4 ,baalam could not curse whom his ,lord did not4 ,that lady is a conscious medium--conscious that her physical organs1 without her consent1 and in spite of her resistance1 are sometimes temporarily borrowed and used by an intelligence outside of herself4 ,as such she is representative of many others4 ,of course1 in these days1 she is so informed as to see that actions and words of spirits are imputed to her as being her own because performed by use of her organs1 while they are1 in fact1 no more hers than are the acts and utterances of her neighbors4 ,but we doubt much whether any one in #afib or #agjf had attained to knowledge that some human forms could be thus filchable and usable2 no ground had then been discovered on which one could stand and credibly say1 ,though my own lips spake thus and so1 another's will put forth the utterances in spite of me4 ,firm ground for that has now been found2 it is not a new formation1 but existed1 though then unknown1 in #afib4 ,ann ,putnam's form may have been used by another's will in each and all of her imputed accusations for witchcraft1 and she1 as far as then concerned1 have been absolutely a will-less instrument4 ,there are other classes of mediums4 ,we call to mind at this instant four ladies1 all of them respectable and excellent1 whom we know and have known for years1 whose lips often give utterance to facts1 opinions1 and beliefs while the ladies are absolutely unconscious2 and sayings then which seem to be theirs are often wide at variance with what either their knowledge or their sense of right and truth would permit their own wills to announce4 ,these are unconscious mediums2 not responsible for1 because absolutely ignorant of1 what their physical forms are being made to say and do4 ,these persons are representatives of a large class of good mediums4 ,one phrase in ,ann ,putnam's confession indicates to us that she probably belonged to the mediumistic class here presented4 ,she had been1 years before1 as she says1 an instrument not only ignorant1 but unwitting4 ,in childhood1 ,ann was brightest among the bright2 and1 in the absence of evidence to the contrary1 it is fair to presume that when reaching the age of twenty-six she was an intelligent woman1 capable of knowing the fair import of any statements to which she gave deliberate and solemn assent4 ,we apprehend that her confession was drawn up very carefully1 and in consultation with her intelligent and excellent pastor1 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,green2 also that every word of it was carefully weighed4 ,she seems then to have been stretching forth a hand soliciting acceptance and friendly grasp by representatives of some whose blood had been shed because of accusations from her lips2 and we feel forced to presume that then she was in mental and affectional moods which would make it her duty and her choice to take upon herself all the blame for her share in the witchcraft transactions which facts and truth could possibly permit4 ,her confession is special4 ,it all pertains to her instrumental share in accusing innocent persons of what was then deemed grievous crime1 and thus in bringing them to death upon the gallows4 ,her declaration is as distinct as words can make it1 that the doings through her were not out of any anger1 malice1 or ill-will to any person on her part2 and this renders ,upham's supposition1 that family1 neighborhood1 and sectional quarrels1 disputes1 rivalries1 c41 were motives in her1 very improbable4 ,also her statement is very distinct1 that whatever she did in that respect was done1 so far as she was concerned1 both ignorantly and unwittingly4 ,we are aware that those two words are sometimes used synonymously1 or very nearly so4 ,but when the first occurs in a carefully constructed sentence1 the other1 if added1 should be deemed to have been inserted for the special purpose of expressing something beyond what the first usually imports4 ,the whole had not been told when she had said she acted ignorantly4 ,to express the remainder1 she added--unwittingly4 ,when that word was thus applied1 she cannot fairly be supposed to have meant less than that she acted unknowingly--that is1 without either knowledge or consciousness that she did thus act4 ,an unwitting instrument--an instrument not knowing that it was being used--enfolds within itself a silent but most potent plea for the world's lenient regards4 ,when consciousness has taken no cognizance of acts performed by the tongue or the hand1--when memory can find no record of them1 compunction cannot gnaw deeply1 nor conscience be a stern accuser4 ,often conscience may be at peace1 and ,god may approve1 where man blames4 ,testimony from without may force mental conviction that one's lips and limbs must have been used in doing excessive harm1 though consciousness of the fact be entirely wanting4 ,conviction even thus generated will naturally and almost necessarily create apprehension that the world is regarding the owner of those lips and limbs as having been guilty of very great crimes4 ,that apprehension may create sadness over all one's subsequent days4 ,public opinion bridles the tongue then2 for a denial of guilt1 however honest and true1 can receive no credence where external senses have perceived knowledge to the contrary4 ,ann's relations to society may necessarily have been saddening during many years1 even though she of herself had done nothing offensive either to her own conscience or to ,god4 ,imagination can scarcely picture the sadness which must have come upon the accusing girls when1 a year or two later1 public opinion and favor1 which at first buoyed them up and favored such use of their organisms as has been depicted1 began to turn against them and to brand them as murderers of the innocent and good4 ,we have no means to trace many of them through their subsequent years4 ,could we do it1 we should expect to find them weighed down1 depressed1 and made forlorn by the great change of estimation in which the doings were afterward held1 in which they had appeared to be prominent and most disastrous actors4 ,few of them probably had inherent stamina enough to enable them to stand erect1 and move about firmly poised1 under the burdens of obloquy1 pity1 hatred1 resentment1 c41 which the wounded hearts of the families of murdered ones would lay upon these seeming authors of their losses4 ,it is pleasant to find that the sensitive and bright ,ann ,putnam1 as prominent as any one in the band of accusers1 survived such pressure1 continued long to care for her orphaned little brothers and sisters1 and1 after the first and most crushing effects of the change in public opinion had been endured for a dozen years or more1 held out her hand in friendly beckoning to those who had most seeming cause to blame her1 and who perhaps in turn had imposed her heaviest burdens1 and seeking to thus open the way for her unopposed admission to the church1 and to fellowship with the kindred and friends of those whom her tongue had been used to defame and bring to ignominious death4 ,her life experiences were hard1 but perhaps fruitful of good to man beyond what words can express4 ,possibly it is her blessed privilege now to see that her form was used as an instrument for effecting ,christendom's emancipation from monstrous error1 and putting an effectual stop to executions for witchcraft everywhere4 ,,the ,,prosecutors4 ,the first warrants for arrest for witchcraft at ,salem were issued on ,february #bi1 #afib1 on complaint preferred by ,joseph ,hutchinson1 ,thomas ,putnam1 ,edward ,putnam1 and ,thomas ,preston1 that ,sarah ,good1 ,sarah ,osburn1 and ,tituba had by witchcraft1 within the last two months1 done harm to ,elizabeth ,parris1 ,abigail ,williams1 ,anne ,putnam1 and ,elizabeth ,hubbard4 ,complaint of ,martha ,corey was made by ,edward ,putnam and ,henry ,keney1 ,march #ai4 ,edward ,putnam and ,jonathan ,putnam complained of ,rebecca ,nurse2 and ,jonathan ,walcott and ,nathaniel ,ingersoll1 against ,elizabeth ,proctor4 ,perusal of the records shows that very many of the most intelligent1 influential1 highly respected1 and trusted men of the ,village were complainants2 and shows also that1 as early as ,february #bi1 when the first complaint was entered1 there were four afflicted ones3 two in the family of ,mr4 ,parris2 one in that of ,thomas ,putnam1 living more than two miles north from the parsonage2 and one in that of ,dr4 ,griggs1 dwelling more than two miles east from the same4 ,thus much had the trouble spread before the law was invoked to aid in its suppression4 ,the homes of the minister1 the doctor1 and the parish clerk--a capable and good-one1 too--were the first invaded4 ,not mean abodes housed1 nor low-lived people cared for the first afflicted ones4 ,men of the highest standing there were leaders off in the impending conflict with the devil4 ,two were most prominently and persistently active1 viz41 ,thomas ,putnam and ,mr4 ,parris4 ,and why8 ,if any people then and there knew what the emergency required1 these two would be among them3 none were more competent than they to perceive and perform the duties of such an hour4 ,they1 too1 and theirs were the chief sufferers4 ,no other active men there had motives pressing as theirs to work for prompt relief in their households2 and we will notice these two as representatives of the prosecutors4 ,thomas ,putnam deservedly held high position among the inhabitants there1 and possessed the esteem1 respect1 and confidence of the whole community around him4 ,how came it that this very intelligent1 influential1 and useful citizen1 then a little more than forty years old and in the full vigor of manhood1 was prominent among the foremost and most pertinacious prosecutors8 ,why was such a one an enterer of complaints against neighbors1 whether high or low1 good or bad8 ,our response is1 that in his home a loved and loving wife1 cultured1 refined1 and of acute sensibilities1--a daughter1 twelve years old1 bright and charming1--and also ,mercy ,lewis1 a young domestic1 were all so mysteriously tortured at times1 that no doubt existed in a mind which comprehended the creed of that day1 that the devil was author of the abnormal torments4 ,that enemy must be getting access to these innocent and loved ones1 the creed said1 through some neighbors--at least some living mortals--who had made covenants with the ,evil ,one1 and thus become his agents4 ,imbued and bound by the creed of his day1 this husband and father could cherish no expectation that his wife and child could be shielded1 or that comfort1 tranquillity1 and peace could come to him and his dear ones1 so long as such covenanters were allowed to live4 ,his creed--the general creed of the times--called upon him to invoke the law's aid1 since by help from no other source could he hope to reclaim wife1 child1 and domestic from the clutches of hell's sovereign1 and save his own fireside from continuing on indefinitely a frenzied pandemonium4 ,the higher his manhood1 and the deeper his love for wife and children1 the more vigilant1 resolute1 and untiring would be his purpose and his efforts to use any and every available means for delivering his family from the hell which had been thrust in under his roof4 ,the sufferings of his dear ones1 then necessarily operative upon his mind and affections1 we presume were the chief prompters of his course and incentives to his perseverance in it4 ,defense and protection of wife1 children1 and all within his household are incumbent on any one worthy to be called a man4 ,think not the worse of ,thomas ,putnam because of his resolute purposes and speedy as well as prolonged efforts to rescue from sufferings and perdition wife1 child1 and domestic4 ,because a prominent sufferer1 he became a prominent prosecutor--yes1 the most prominent4 ,though that fact stands boldly out on the pages of history1 no one in his time or since1 so far as we have noticed1 ever imputed to him an unworthy motive1 or annexed a disparaging epithet to his name4 ,perhaps he1 as well as ,mr4 ,dane of ,andover1 was tenderly touched because of a fair character4 ,in part the same can be said in defense of ,rev4 ,samuel ,parris as we have adduced in defense of his co-sufferer and co-laborer for relief4 ,during the weeks from ,january #bj to the end of ,february1 both his little daughter and niece1 under his own roof1 were so strangely and sorely tormented that he and his whole household must have been wearied1 agitated1 and rendered miserable4 ,when medical aid and kind nursing had proved abortive1 and medical authority announced the working of an ,evil ,hand there1 who can wonder1 knowing the creed of the day and place1 that ,mr4 ,parris sought the law's aid for bringing relief to the little sufferers and to all beneath his roof8 ,samuel ,parris and ,thomas ,putnam1 the minister and the clerk of the parish1 were both the first and the greatest sufferers affectionally at the oncoming of invasion by mysterious tormentors1 and both have fair claims to be judged of tenderly in their connection with witchcraft prosecutions4 ,the chief apparent action of the minister was as scribe or reporter for the courts1 and this because he was more competent to that work than any other person obtainable there4 ,such action is surely not censurable4 ,his position and abilities1 however1 were such that it was quite as much within his power to have stopped the whole proceedings as in that of any man then living2 and they1 no doubt1 had his sanction and efficient support4 ,and yet we find no ground from which inference either must or can fairly be drawn that the motives of the minister's actions pertaining to that special matter1 both at its commencement and in its subsequent progress1 were other than those common to the most enlightened and best members of the community4 ,still we have not learned to like the man4 ,selfishness1 and disposition to rule harshly over his parish and individuals1 if not resentfully and even maliciously1 are made too manifest in the records for us to hold him in high esteem4 ,as servants of ,god and ,christ1 which they professed and believed themselves to be1 the prosecutors entered upon and long followed up war1 bloody war1--not against neighbors and men1 but against the ,devil--the great enemy of ,god1 ,christ1 and all good ,christians4 ,they were true1 earnest1 resolute1 strong1 fearless men1 waging their fight in good conscience4 ,the community at large1 in which those men lived and held prominent position1 was not below most1 if below any other of equal numbers on the continent4 ,intellect there was keen1 and morality high4 ,upham's ,history of ,salem ,village1 admirable for its research1 its thoroughness1 its prevailing accuracy1 and its extensive charms1 clearly shows that the five hundred people1 more or less1 residing there in #afib1 could scarcely be surpassed by the residents of any other locality in intelligence1 mental keenness1 moral strength1 personal courage1 and firmness of purpose and resolve to live up to their convictions of truth1 right1 and duty4 ,salem witchcraft was born in the homes of intelligent1 brave1 honored men1--who1 in co-operation with their wives1 children1 and domestics1 contributed to its growth1 and elicited its vast and awful power to startle1 frenzy1 and desolate the region round about4 ,the world at large has never been kept well instructed as to the circumstances amid which that great delusion made its entrance on the field of human vision1 nor as to the high standing1 intelligence1 and character of its first escorts and sponsors4 ,its victims1 too1 as a whole1 were very respectable4 ,some of them1 it is true1 were not high on the social scale1 but the most of them were well up1 and quite a number ranked high among the intelligent1 virtuous1 and saintly4 ,the wide-spread and long prevalent notion that the dark doings there were little else than outgrowths from tricks played by a few artful and mischievous girls upon some low-lived and bed-ridden old women1 has no foundation on the facts in the case4 ,this most monstrous child of ,christendom's creed had begetting and birth1 in #afib1 amid as reputable circumstances and people1 and as religious opponents of ,satan1 as any marked revival of religion which has anywhere transpired since that memorable day when the leading men of ,salem ,village1 being challenged to defense of their homes1 armed themselves with civil law1 and bravely1 long1 and forcefully fought for ,god and ,his against the ,devil4 ,,witchcraft',s ,,author4 ,what personality or persons1 and of what rank in the scale of being1 was or were primal and chief in originating and enacting the famous ,salem ,tragedy8 ,if1 as the generation then living believed1 it was a specially great controller and commander of all invisible foes to ,god1 ,christ1 and ,christians everywhere1 and who1 having been effectually baffled in ,europe1 resolved to keep ,america from passing into the control of his enemies1 ,god and ,christ1 and to thoroughly banish the hated intruders from these his more exclusive and prized domains2 if it was that being1 his strategy seemingly was to beard the lion in his den1 to make bold and fierce attack on one of the strongest fortresses of ,christians1 presuming that capture of such a post would lead to easy expulsion of all trespassers from the whole of his broad lands on this side the ,atlantic4 ,his apparent policy1 judged of by the place and circumstances of attack1 was to subdue the strongest first1 and thus so intimidate as to frighten all others back to their former homes or the homes of their fathers4 ,but such a devil was not there4 ,many beliefs prevalent two centuries ago are now obsolete4 ,such a devil as witchcraft was imputed to1 and who was believed to put forth greater power over all ,indian and heathen lands than ,god exercised there1 receives cognition in few brains to-day4 ,nevertheless1 faith in the presence1 power1 and malignity of such a being1 present and at work among them1 was the main force that enabled his contestants to unwittingly put an end to faith in the existence of any one special foe to all goodness1 whose power and dominion over the earth and its inhabitants very nearly rivaled those of the ,omnipotent ,one1 and whose malice was a near counterpoise to complete supernal benevolence4 ,reason demands that the creature shall be inferior to its creator1 that devil shall be less than ,god2 and she in most persons refers all things and all events1 in the ultimate analysis of causes and agents1 back to ,one ,great ,over-,soul--one ,god4 ,if an all-wise and omnipotent ,one1 being full of mercy too1 proposed to subject an erroneous and enslaving human creed to a strain which should shatter it past restoration to strength1 and thus to set its subjected holders free1 highest wisdom may have seen that bright intellect1 true courage1 firm nerves1 unfaltering devotion to sense of duty1 and strong faith heavenward1 were needful instrumentalities for best accomplishment of the design4 ,the abode of people than whom none elsewhere were better prepared1 more able1 or more willing to fight the devil himself promptly1 unfalteringly1 and persistently1 may have been a spot where supernal prescience saw that men1 as blinded instruments1 could best be made to effect their own and the world's emancipation from a time-hardened and disastrous public error4 ,the mental and moral strength1 and other good fighting qualities of its occupants generally1 may have caused the ,village to be fixed upon as the most favorable battle-ground available for the projected struggle4 ,neither ,god nor the devil1 however1 was author in any sense pertinent to the present inquiry4 ,our ifs1 and the sentences which follow them1 cannot meet the demands nor the needs of modern readers4 ,faith1 in direct personal action upon either individual human beings or communities and nations by any incomprehensibly vast and ubiquitous intelligent being either malignant or benevolent1 is not as prevalent now as it was in many generations past4 ,god1 or a mighty devil either1 as constant1 immediate1 and personal performer on humanity's stage of operations1 is not extensively recognized by the deep thinkers of our age4 ,indeed1 modern thought has come very low down in its search for witchcraft's author4 ,turning from ,god and the devil1 the reputed workers of great marvels in ages long past1 our interpreters of ,america's earlier wonders have fancied that they find the former existence of little girls whose powers to sway the human mind and agitate a land1 so approximated those of omnipotence1 and whose malignities so perceptibly equaled his of ,cloven ,hoof1 that they of their own wills concocted and enacted scenes of simulated pains1 distortions1 losses of sight1 hearing1 and speech2 and also mimicked the movements of birds and beasts1 and performed such impositions and tricks innumerable as made their homes and neighborhood a horrid pandemonium2 in doing which they manifested such prodigious power1 skill1 and perfect acting1 that these little untaught and untrained ones outled in skill1 all the world's most expert tricksters1 and1 in malignity1 the most devilish human monsters our world ever contained1 in any age or land4 ,somewhere between the extremes of strength and weakness1 of benevolence and malignity1 we perhaps can find beings more likely to have directly produced the marvels in question than either ,god1 devil1 or little girls4 ,consciousness and experience indicate to most persons that an all-dominating power exists1 and bounds and hedges in the spheres of freedom and ability which are occupied by finite beings4 ,something above and beyond all finites says to each of them1 ,thus far1 but no farther1 canst thou go4 ,within spheres thus limited there abide many grades of intelligent and affectional beings1 ranging in differences of powers and dispositions as widely as any mortal's thoughts can conceive4 ,vast1 countless hosts of intelligences1 though vailed from our outer vision1 may be1 and evidences are very strong that such ever are abiding dwellers above1 below1 around1 and in the midst of earth's corporeal inhabitants4 ,within their unperceived abodes such ones may actuate the forces which evolve many less marked events1 as well as all special providences1 special judgments--miracles so called1 and such marvels generally as were formerly imputed to either ,god or the devil as immediate author4 ,we have no faith that either of the two had any closer or more special connection with witchcraft matters than with the ordinary doings of man4 ,the undefinable source of all things which are contained in the vast creation1 emitted all forth subject to laws1 and surrounded and infiltrated by forces which enable the world's progressing inhabitants1 visible and invisible1 to purchase1 through study1 toil1 absorptions from enfolding auras1 and other furnished helps1 both knowledge and powers just as fast and great as their advancements and growing needs from time to time call for more light and for augmented powers4 ,finite beings naturally gravitate to where every instrumentality needful to their highest well-being can be obtained by the co-operative efforts and aspirations of finites1 seen and unseen1 for learning laws and manipulating forces which pervade their places of residence4 ,generations upon generations1 whose mortal forms long centuries ago moldered away1 may still be active laborers in and about the men of to-day1 and may be1 and may always have been1 the immediate manifesters of all supernal intelligence and marvelous force issuing from regions which the eye of flesh lacks power to scan4 ,one of the old prophets of a prior generation made known to ,john the ,revelator what he recorded2 and agents of like nature1 that is1 departed human spirits1 may have been the only revealers of supernal truths1 facts1 and visions to man1 and the only workers of the signs or extra-marvelous manifestations of force and knowledge which have been deemed credentials from the ,omniscient and ,omnipotent4 ,we believe in ,god and in the issuance of knowledge and force from him to man1 but have not faith in his immediate personal putting forth of either1 in accomplishment of such events as are often called special providences4 ,such events occur--they often come both uncalled for and in response to prayer--to yearnings uttered or unexpressed2 but the prayers and yearnings reach1 stimulate1 and help both ambient forces and ascended spirits to let in or to confer the needed protection or restoration4 ,the air all around us is alive with hearers of prayer1 and no humble and fervent aspiration for help to come forth from the mystic abodes of spiritual beings and occult forces ever fails to bring aid and elevation4 ,the purer and humbler the aspiration1 the nearer does it penetrate toward the ,great ,source of being1 life1 and bliss1 and the more powerful and beneficent are those whose responses and emanations can reach and aid the petitioner4 ,the same forces and laws which permit the sensible action of good spirits among men1 just as freely and extensively permit the presence and action of malicious ones4 ,god aids the good and restrains the wicked just as much and no more on the other side of the grave than on this4 ,freedom1 whether to comply with or to contend against either natural or moral law1 is as great in spirit spheres as in our midst on earth4 ,any spirit1 either benevolent or malignant1 is as free to use the forces and laws which permit spirit manifestations1 as any navigator is1 be he morally good or bad1 to avail himself of winds1 currents1 tides1 and the like1 for passing over seas to a land not his own1 and acting out his characteristic purposes there4 ,our position1 fortified by the facts and reasonings in the preceding pages1 is1 that spirits--departed human beings--generated and outwrought ,salem witchcraft4 ,that is our answer to the question of its authorship4 ,,the ,,motive4 ,thus far questions pertaining to the character of the main motives operating in the authors of acts called witchcraft1 have purposely been avoided4 ,the actors and their doings have been sought for1 irrespective of morality4 ,but the cui bono1 the what good8 must have been asked over and over again by the reader4 ,why did any intelligent being1 whether mortal or spirit1 thus woefully invade and disturb the homes of able1 honored1 worthy ,christian men8 and especially why perpetrate such agonizing cruelties upon bright1 lovely1 and promising children8 ,the spirit-world1 as well as ours1 holds inhabitants differing widely one from another in character1 tastes1 propensities1 and occupations--it contains yearners to recommune with surviving kindred at the old material home--contains its rovers1 its explorers1 its scientists1 its seekers after novelties1 facts1 and principles2 after new places1 scenes1 and peoples to visit2 after new routes and appliances for travel1 and after new applications of known powers and forces4 ,the motives for acting upon and through mortal forms may vary from worst to best1 from best to worst4 ,the moral character of motives can neither invalidate nor confirm what has been adduced4 ,the motives1 having been either good or bad1 may be ascribed to spirits as well as mortals1 and to mortals as well as spirits1 for both good and bad beings dwell in mortal forms now1 and both classes have left their outer forms behind1 and passed into the abiding-place of spirits--have become spirits1 and that1 too1 without necessary alteration of their moral states4 ,motives in different cases and with different operators were doubtless quite varied4 ,correct presentation of their qualities in connection with the several cases adduced in the preceding pages is obviously beyond our power4 ,though conscious that we must probably be mistaken in some instances1 we yet are willing to state some of the thoughts which facts and appearances have suggested4 ,perhaps no unseen intelligences aided or acted through either ,margaret ,jones or ,ann ,hibbins2 and1 if any did1 their performances in and of themselves were never perceptibly harmful to the public4 ,we apprehend1 however1 that if the whole truth were known1 man would now see that kind physicians1 who had bid farewell to earth1 continued to practice the healing art through the brain and hands of ,margaret ,jones4 ,the users of ,ann ,cole's vocal organs furnished no distinct indication that they were either specially benevolent or the reverse4 ,we are constrained to regard them as having been low1 ignorant1 willing to excite consternation among men1 and very willing to help the lewd ,greensmiths on1 by the halter's use1 to speedy entrance into conditions in which themselves could confer with these debased ones more familiarly than was possible while they remained encased in flesh4 ,such a view need not imply that they were malicious4 ,desire to hold closer connection with one's affinities is natural1 and not necessarily bad4 ,communicators from the other side of death's portals generally decline to call any spirits bad2 they speak of many as being low1 ignorant1 benighted1 undeveloped1 c41 but seldom call any one bad4 ,they seem to regard many much as we do green fruits4 ,one omits to call the half-grown apple bad1 however sour or crabbed1 and says only that it is immature1 unripe1 c41 implying that1 though in its present condition not good to eat1 time may come when it will be palatable and nutritious4 ,elizabeth ,knap's visitant--the one to whom she said1 ,what cheer1 old man8--who presumably was the chief operator through and upon her form1 and lingered about her for at least three years1 we regard as a sort of recluse spirit1 who kept mainly aloof from other disembodied ones1 and found his chief enjoyment in retaining or resuming as close alliances as possible with the outer or material world1 and from a selfish desire to secure permanent possession of this instrument1 strove through torturings to reduce her to subjection2 and this1 perhaps1 without desire to injure her1 but mainly with a view to gratify his own selfishness4 ,the other one--the pretty black boy--of a more lively disposition1 found pleasure in playfully bantering the grave clergyman1 and probably strove1 in playful mood1 to teach the honest and good man some lessons in charity and demonology4 ,we see no reason why he may not be regarded as a genial good fellow1 desiring to make some gloomy portion of mankind more cheerful and happy4 ,at ,newbury there possibly was nothing more than a playful and self-gratifying exercise of constitutional powers by a band of spirit gymnasts--not malicious1 but playful and rude2 curious also1 it may be1 to see how far they might be able to frighten mortals and arouse consternating wonder1 while they should be pleasurably exercising their own faculties4 ,we view them as neither specially good or bad1 but as heedless and rude in their frolic4 ,appearances are different when we look at the ,goodwin family4 ,there an embodied old wild ,irish woman's spirit was the first to put forth psychologizing power over the children4 ,she was moved by anger1 or resentment1 or both2 her guardian or kindred spirits no doubt helped her1 and from motives like her own4 ,perhaps we may properly call both her and her aids bad4 ,yet we hear no call to apply that word emphatically4 ,little ,martha had just charged the old woman's daughter with having stolen some of the clothes which the latter was employed to wash2 and1 if that charge was false1 or even presumed by the old woman to be false1 she1 who was obviously fiery and ignorant1 may not have been excessively diabolical in using any process of mental or emotional retaliation which was at her command4 ,perhaps ignorance and instinctive retaliation were quite as operative in her as malice4 ,martha's form1 subsequently1 when she was residing with ,cotton ,mather1 was often used by one or more spirits who seem to have been bent upon showing the learned man that sport might exist and be enjoyable beyond the confines of mortal life1 and that denizens there were disposed to make some at his expense4 ,they soon showed him that linguists unseen could comprehend his meaning1 whatever the language he might use for expression of his thought2 and also thumped the sectarian by disdaining to read books which he approved1 and by reading with ecstatic delight such as he condemned4 ,nor was this all2 they exhibited in his presence feats of strength and agility1 and many marvelous antics1 which were suited to cause a thinker and scholar to hold on to his belief that others than the guileless miss took part in the performance of such marvels4 ,while amusing themselves1 they were exhibiters of instructive facts4 ,nothing bad in their purposes becomes apparent4 ,the case of most special interest and chief importance pertains to ,salem4 ,upham1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dbi1 says1 ,if there was anything supernatural in the witchcraft of #afib1 if any other than human spirits were concerned at all1 one thing is beyond a doubt2 they were shockingly wicked spirits4 ,beyond a doubt8 ,perhaps not in some minds4 ,but if any disembodied spirits whatsoever1 even shockingly wicked ones1 were mainly performers of the convulsing operations at ,salem1 the historian's theory of explanation is not only baseless1 but is lamentably cruel and unjust toward the human instruments through whom the spirits acted4 ,if specific doings prove their authors1 if spirits1 to have been shockingly wicked1 the same having mortal authors1 would prove the latter to have been just as shockingly wicked4 ,we do not like to apply that defamatory phrase to all those girls and women who are set forth as the chief accusers4 ,were all those youthful females shockingly wicked8 ,we hope not1 and think not4 ,god rules alike in the invisible and visible world1 and often moves in mysterious ways for executing benevolent designs4 ,the motive of ,tituba's tall man with white hair1 whom we regard as prime mover in the most momentous witchcraft scene the world has ever witnessed1 is difficult to comprehend satisfactorily4 ,the deliberateness indicated both by his visit to ,tituba five days in advance of practical operation1 and by his then appointing a special time and place for entering upon his intended processes1 bespeaks a definite and abiding motive of some marked quality4 ,judging from the earlier and more perceptible effects of his doings1 the world must almost necessarily regard him as a deliberate tormentor of innocent children2 as a disturber of domestic1 social1 religious1 and civil peace2 as an immolator of the innocent and the virtuous2 as hell's sovereign acting out his fiendish pleasure upon the inmates of a ,christian fold4 ,infernal malignity1 at the first glance1 seems to have actuated this intruder at the parsonage4 ,world-wide experience1 however1 has learned that many things are not as they seem4 ,we have been taught to recognize ,one being1 and there may be many others in spheres unseen1 in whose sight a thousand years are as one day4 ,teachings of history and observation show that the overruling power is attended and guided by far--very far--reaching prescience2 and also that many of man's greatest blessings are educed from temporal evils of vast magnitude4 ,the malice of man nailed ,jesus to the cross4 ,what wears every appearance of wicked motive is often used as helpful1 if not needed1 instrumentality in procuring man's deliverance and redemption from debasement and oppression4 ,when ,john ,brown made his raid across the border line of freedom1 not only the invaded ,south1 but a large portion of the ,north regarded him as a ruthless and malicious invader of the rights of our fellow-countrymen1 and therefore worthy of a felon's doom4 ,a cannon soon sent to ,fort ,sumter the comments of the ,south upon what ,brown had done1 and war1 carnage1 and horrors of varied forms and vast dimensions soon spread over the broad nation1 from the ,st4 ,john to the southern gulf1 and from the ,atlantic to the ,pacific4 ,john ,brown was no felon1 no malicious invader1 but a philanthropic planner to strip the chains of slavery from four millions of his brother men2 and his step1 though a seeming evil then1 led directly on to the emancipation of all for whose good he went forth in seeming malice4 ,when plagues of various kinds were invoked and brought upon the ,egyptians by and through the mediumistic ,moses and ,aaron1 what ,egyptian would have deemed that the motives of the unseen intelligence who counseled and controlled them could be benevolent8 ,plague1 pestilences1 and sore afflictions for a long time1 and finally death of the first born1 were imposed upon each ,egyptian household4 ,the motive to those inflictions is deemed to have been deliverance of the children of ,israel from bondage4 ,egyptians being judges1 it must have been a shockingly wicked spirit who acted upon them through ,moses and ,aaron4 ,history1 on most of its pages1 shows that war--war1--that ruthless trampler upon the innocent scarcely less than upon the offending1 has ever been a very common1 if not the chief1 instrument by which oppressed people have gained deliverance1 and through use of which the depressed have come up to higher stand-points4 ,if our world has1 through all its past ages1 been wisely and beneficently managed by some intelligence higher than man1 then far-reaching wisdom--supernal wisdom--has often seen that the good of the many--nay1 the good of all--required the coming of suffering1 sacrifice1 and anguish upon the few4 ,has the ,great ,permitter of the many sufferings which war has engendered been shockingly wicked8 ,the chains of old enslaving errors often become invisible and unfelt by those on whom they were early placed by a mother's kindly hand1 and the like to which all associates wear as supposed helps1 and never as suspected hindrances1 to expansion and health of mind and heart4 ,nothing short of a most strenuous conflict--nothing short of a struggle for life and all that makes life valuable and dear--is competent in some cases to awaken perception that such chains are and ever have been cramping their wearers1 and holding them back from such expansion and freedom as their ,maker fitted men to attain to and enjoy4 ,we regard the witchcraft creed as having been such a chain4 ,looking carefully at the methods by which the power that overrules all terrestrial affairs has almost invariably led man to break away from thralldom and oppression1 can one reasonably entertain belief that any purely peaceful measures1 any preachings1 arguments1 appeals to the reason of men1 could have brought ,christendom1 at any time after the twelfth or thirteenth century1 to perceive that its witchcraft creed was enslaving its mind1 and thwarting its proper expansion heavenward8 ,we apprehend not2 and also we surmise that in #afjb supernal intelligence saw that opportunity and power existed1 which1 if then availed of1 could put mortals into a conflict which would reveal to them the inherent falsity and barbarity of the witchcraft creed1 and thus let such light into their minds as1 in time1 would lead them to cast off the chains in which they were bound1 attain to clearer and more accurate views of their relations to ,god and the spirit-world1 and rise to higher and freer manhood4 ,if such were the case1 we can readily conceive that supernal wisdom and benevolence might permit and foster the oncoming of an appalling and terrific struggle which should bring into vigorous action man's every latent energy1 sweep away in its course many erroneous beliefs1 hampering customs1 and ruts of thought1 and thoroughly overturn much which had long been deemed immovable truth4 ,such a course might be the most beneficent possible1 even though it involved destruction of the comfort1 peace1 and lives of many innocent and most estimable inhabitants at the place and vicinity where the battle should be waged1 and that1 too1 whether the war itself should be the ostensible offspring of revenge and malice1 or a brave conflict for preservation of one's altars and fireside in peace4 ,some amusement1 and little else perhaps1 may be furnished by presentation of what a spiritualist's fancy1 prior to careful study of facts narrated by ,tituba1 had become accustomed to deem not only possible1 but probable4 ,she was a slave dwelling among oppressors of her kindred and race--oppressors of the negro1 the ,indian1 and of those generally who were guilty of a skin not colored like their own1 and of worshiping gods different from their own4 ,what more natural than that departed ones1 whom the whites had defrauded1 injured1 and oppressed while dwellers here1 and whose surviving kindred were still being treated in like manner1 should embrace an opportunity which the mediumistic qualities and the abode of ,tituba furnished1 for perpetrating retaliation whence woes had been received8 ,true ,christian morality may denounce such action as being shockingly wicked1 but the more prevalent morality in the world--in the more resolute portions of it at least1 and especially in the less enlightened--may be as ready to commend as to condemn it1 and to applaud as to censure those whose fire and pluck induced and enabled them to pay over upon their oppressors wrong for wrong1 even augmented with interest at the highest rates which their altered circumstances allowed4 ,it having been discovered that ,tituba's form was a portal for spirit return1 fancy saw the spirits of her ancestral race1 and hosts of ascended aborigines of ,massachusetts soil1 eagerly coming back through her helping properties1 disposed and eager to cast their impalpable arrows and tomahawks at any members of the wronging race who might be vulnerable by such weapons4 ,scouts swiftly and widely spread over the spirit hunting-grounds knowledge of the glorious opportunity for retaliation and revenge which had come1 and hosts of volunteers rushed thence with lightning speed to the alluring scene4 ,quick havoc ensued1 and the great consternation1 bewilderment1 devastation1 slaughter1 disturbance of peace1 and agonizings of terror and awe1 which the invasion produced1 gave keenest pleasure1 satisfaction1 and joy to the assailants4 ,possibly ,indian spirits might then begin to cherish hopes of expelling all whites from the land of their fathers1 and of re-acquiring and leaving the whole a legacy to red men's heirs4 ,but the whites1 not less than the darker-skinned1 were under the supervision of spirit guardians1 friends1 and helpers1 who1 though probably taken by surprise and at disadvantage1 were by no means disposed to leave their wards1 kindred1 and loved ones to be long thus harassed and abused4 ,invisible hosts soon mustered1 and warred against other invisible hosts over and around the ,village2 and when the struggle had been waged far enough to sever witchcraft's chains1 the laws of the ,highest permitted the guardians of the ,christians to conquer a lasting peace whose balm would heal the wounds inflicted1 and whose fruits would be emancipation from cramping errors1 and consequent expansion and elevation of mental powers4 ,as1 perhaps1 appropriate sequent to our fanciful views1 we next present something which was not born in our own brain1 and which may or may not be statement of ancient facts4 ,we have devoted but little time to directly seeking information from spirits relating to the subject upon which we are writing1 and yet have seldom entered into conversation with any good clairvoyant1 at any time during the last year or two1 without receiving description of one or more spirits then in attendance1 and manifesting desire to have us recognize them4 ,in most cases they have shown their names4 ,in this manner ,cotton ,mather1 more than any other one1 signifies that interest in our present work draws him near to us4 ,mather's mother1 also ,martha ,goodwin1 ,rebecca ,nurse1 and others1 have presented their cards through persons ignorant that individuals bearing such names ever lived4 ,but ,mather has done more4 ,on two or three occasions1 using a medium's organs of speech1 he has entered into conversation with us upon his connection with witchcraft4 ,he is not now well pleased with his blindness when in his physical form1 and urges us to be more severe in our criticisms upon his course than historic facts permit us to be4 ,february #i1 #ahge1 he was in control of a medium1 and we inquired as to his present views of ,george ,burroughs4 ,at once and cordially he described ,burroughs as one of the brightest of all spirits whom he had seen1 and as illumining whatever sphere he enters4 ,we asked ,mather if he had ever learned who the spirit was that came to ,tituba and started ,salem witchcraft4 ,he had not4 ,had he met ,tituba8 ,yes4 ,can you not1 we asked1 find him through her8 ,probably1 was his response2 and will try1 if you wish it4 ,well1 then1 we said1 two weeks from this day and hour we will meet you at this place4 ,this was arranged through an unconscious medium1 who never receives into her consciousness any knowledge of what her lips utter while she is entranced1 and she was on that occasion4 ,we did not inform her1 nor did any other mortal than ourself know1 that we arranged for a subsequent meeting with ,mather4 ,we called upon the medium ,february #bc1 when forthwith1 in her normal and conscious state1 she said that she was then seeing at our side two spirits of very strange aspect1 and of race or races unknown to her4 ,one of them she described as a male1 uncouth in aspect1 having large piercing eyes1 a very wild look1 and as being clothed in a sort of blouse1 beneath and below which were short pants tucked into the shoes2 also his teeth were very large4 ,the other was a female of unknown race1 and of a race different from that to which the male belonged2 her complexion was dark1 but she was neither negro nor ,indian1 and exhibited the letter ,t4 ,this medium may have known1 and probably did1 that we were engaged in writing upon witchcraft2 but she is not conversant with its history1 nor did she know the names of individuals concerned in it1 nor the parts any had severally performed4 ,very shortly after having given the above description1 the medium was entranced2 soon ,cotton ,mather1 speaking through her1 signified that he had brought with him both ,tituba and her nocturnal visitant when she was slave of ,mr4 ,parris2 also1 he stated1 that1 since they were not accustomed to giving utterance through borrowed lips1 he proposed to speak for and of them4 ,the statement relating to the man was substantially as follows3-- ,his name was ,zachahara2 he was of ,egyptian descent1 but a ,ninevite1 or dweller in ,nineveh4 ,his time on earth was somewhat before that of ,moses4 ,not long after his death1 he1 a spirit1 observed that a spirit by the name of ,jehocah--not ,jehovah--was working strange marvels1 and enacting cruelties among the race from which himself had sprung1 through one ,moses1 and was thereby acting out a spirit's purposes toward man through a mortal's form4 ,at once he1 ,zachahara1 felt strong inclination and desire to exercise his own powers in the same mode4 ,the desire clung to him tenaciously1 and ever kept him alert1 to find a mortal whom he could use with efficiency rivaling that which ,jehocah manifested through ,moses4 ,no one of his many trials1 however1 was very successful until he put forth his skill and power upon and through ,tituba4 ,his ruling motive was desire to ascertain how far he1 being a spirit1 could get and keep control of a mortal form1 and what amount and kinds of wonders he could perform with such an instrument4 ,the motive was devoid of either malice or benevolence2 it essentially was that of the scientist seeking new knowledge of nature's permissions4 ,to keep ,tituba in good humor with himself1 he freely made promises to bestow upon her many fine things2 and1 to please her1 he would say and do anything he thought might add to his power over her1 and1 through her1 over other mortals4 ,such was the account2 and1 while it was coming upon our ears1 it carried us back to familiar accounts of marvels of old1 and we felt that the acts of ,jehocah through ,moses1 and those of ,zachahara through ,tituba1 bespoke motives so much alike in apparent barbarity1 that1 if either actor was blameworthy1 it might be difficult to see why equal blame should not be meted out upon the other4 ,mather1 speaking of and for ,tituba1 said1 that when the man first came to her and sought her service and aid1 he was very bright and pleasant2 but that1 when she declined to comply with his wishes and demands1 he became awfully dark and terrible4 ,briefly1 ,tituba herself managed the medium's vocal organs1 furnished a simpering confirmation of ,mather's statement1 and said1 with a shrug and shiver1 he was awful6 awful6 ,subsequent conversation at the same seance elicited from spirits their belief1 that1 as soon as a door of access to men through ,tituba was discovered1 numerous ,indian spirits were able and eager to rush through and lend a helping hand to the old ,ninevite1 and were devoid of any strong desire to help gently2 indeed1 they were very willing to molest the whites on their own responsibility4 ,soon1 when unimpassioned search for knowledge of what ability spirits possessed or might acquire to revisit and again act amid terrestrial scenes was too much attended by agents willing to enact1 and actually enacting1 havoc too severe to be longer tolerated1 wise and compassionate spirits brought power to bear which soon put a stop to what was producing most agonizing consequences4 ,spirits claim that they did much in the way of changing the views of mortals1 and preventing a renewal of prosecutions at the next term of court4 ,perceiving that enough cruelty had been enacted to make mortals ready to ask whether both humanity and ,god were not belied by the creed ,christians were enforcing1 they turned the minds of men to more rational and humane views4 ,some time during the winter of #ahgd-e1 ,rev4 ,g4 ,burroughs having poured out1 through a medium's lips1 a few sentences redolent with charity and heavenly grace1 we asked him what he now deemed the motive which primarily induced some spirit to inaugurate the operations which brought himself and many others to untimely end8 ,his response was1 ,i suppose it was the natural and proper desire of some spirit to resume communion with its dear ones on earth4 ,no spirit has ever indicated to us a suspicion even that the spirits whose acts evolved witchcraft were either malevolent1 censurable1 or in any sense shockingly wicked4 ,did supernal prescience select and post agents peculiarly fitted to perform the witchcraft tragedy8 ,perhaps so3 and possibly ,sir ,william ,phips was not governor by mere chance4 ,some statements by ,calef indicate that ,sir ,william when young1 perhaps while but a learner of ship-carpentry in ,maine1 received a written communication which led him to go to ,europe and obtain means whereby to seek for a wreck1 the finding of which brought him fortune and title4 ,he long and carefully preserved the prophetic paper1 and1 when flush in means1 paid the writer of it more than two hundred pounds4 ,from the same or a similar source he fore-learned his becoming a commander1 governor of ,new ,england1 and other events of his life4 ,information of that kind usually comes to such as are mediumistic enough to be susceptible of guidance1 or at least of swayings1 by the intelligence from whom the prophecy issues4 ,sir ,phips may have been himself mediumistic4 ,the probable fact that the accusing girls named the governor's wife as one from whom they received annoyance bespeaks probability that she too had place in the class of impressibles4 ,therefore1 one inclined to prosecute such speculations is here furnished with a basis on which to argue that the ,infinite ,prescience which permitted the advent of ,salem witchcraft1 also embraced fit instruments in fit position for controlling its course1 and also for putting a stop to it as soon as it should have outwrought enough of seeming evil to beget the good which ,infinite ,benevolence purposed to bestow upon mortals4 ,spirits take to themselves much credit for the part they performed in changing the opinions and course of the authorities and people here in the autumn of #afib1 and the early months of the following year4 ,the adjournment of the court1 and no law permitting another session for months1 gave opportunity for reflection4 ,also the actual and contemplated arrests of many of high standing and most estimable character were matters of sobering influence1 so that reason resumed its sway2 no more were tried for witchcraft1 and all prisoners were set free4 ,this may have occurred either with or without special action of spirits upon the public mind4 ,we now regard the primal motive as nearly or quite devoid of moral quality4 ,it probably was either a natural and proper desire to get access to dear ones left on earth1 or some experimental or some scientific impulse to test the power which a spirit could exercise over those encased in mortal forms4 ,when1 before the days of ether1 good ,dr4 ,flag had fixed his forceps firmly on our raging tooth1 and given a long1 strong pull till out of breath1 our pains1 our agony1 our heavy blows upon his hand and arms1 failed to make him let go4 ,he was shockingly wicked at that moment1 for he not only held on and kept us in torture1 but pulled again without success2 and even then he would not let go1 but pulled yet once more1 and the tooth came out4 ,spirits1 getting access to mortals1 may have judged that only through transient evils and sufferings could man get relief from severe chronic maladies1 and that1 when opportunity occurred1 their kindest possible treatment of men was homoeopathic--was the curing like with like--curing evil by inflicting evil4 ,they may have been so shockingly wicked as to do that4 ,spirits may often1 and generally explore and operate from motives not perceptibly different from such as actuate their human counterparts4 ,the devoted vivisectionist seldom shrinks from entering upon1 or gives up pursuit of1 knowledge because the scalpel agonizes his living subject4 ,so1 too1 a spirit in pursuit of knowledge--if1 either casually or by intended experiment1 finding himself controlling the will and organs of ,tituba or some other impressible mortal1 and thus opening up a new field for exploration--might be strongly inclined to see how far and efficiently he could wield forces of nature so as himself to sway the forms and affairs of embodied men4 ,each gain in power or skill for acting amid terrestrial beings1 scenes1 and objects1 would naturally thrill him with pleasure1 and incite him to follow up researches in the spirit of science4 ,that spirit is prone to look upon sufferings which its own processes occasion1 as but temporary incidents1 and of little account in comparison with the beneficent results which its triumphs will procure4 ,extension of their own fields of knowledge and influence was perhaps among the chief motives which prompted spirits to perform the wonders that startled1 frenzied1 and agonized the subjects and observers of their operations in #afib4 ,another may have been self-gratification by revisiting well-known scenes2 and yet another1 beneficence to man by opening for his use a new source of knowledge and wisdom4 ,realms unseen are the abodes of sympathetic as well as of scientific beings2 and as soon as a false creed had been forced to disclose its falsity1 the former may have seen occasion to dissuade the latter from acting further upon benighted dwellers in mortal forms1 until time should bring man to calm reflection and retrospection1 and to possession of such mental freedom as would embolden him to meet unawed1 strange visitants from unseen realms1 and extend to even such a friendly hand4 ,the lapse of a hundred and fifty years brought such mental freedom to us1 purchased by the sufferings of our fathers1 that1 undeterred by fears of the halter1 we now can invite to our earthly homes the loved and saintly ones who have passed on to realms above1 hold blissful and uplifting communings with them1 and learn their justification of the wonderful ways of ,god both to and through the children of men and in all nature4 ,whatever the ruling motive of the chief direct producer of ,salem ,witchcraft may have been1 the resistless power which moves all things1 including malignant motives1 onward toward the production of ultimate good1 caused the fierce conflict we are considering to soon put an effectual stop to prosecutions for witchcraft throughout all ,christian lands1 and shattered to fragments a pernicious creed which had long enslaved the ,christian mind4 ,costly as that struggle was in pains1 sicknesses1 tortures1 anguish1 physical exhaustions1 domestic distresses1 social alienations1 church discords1 languishments in prison1 fears1 frenzies1 and even life1 the price may not have been high for the wide-spread and abiding blessings of mental freedom which it obtained4 ,,local ,,and ,,personal4 ,members of the ,first ,parish in ,danvers1 and all residents on the soil of ,salem ,village3-- ,about three years since it was my privilege to speak briefly concerning the marvels of #afib1 on the spot where they transpired4 ,courtesy then required brevity1 and some vagueness of statement resulted3 my remarks on that occasion are embraced among the addresses appended to ,rev4 ,charles ,b4 ,rice's admirable ,history of the ,first ,parish in ,danvers1 #afgb-ahgb--;a production of much more than ordinary merit4 ,the present occasion is embraced to point out a misprint4 ,on pages #ahf and #ahg of those bi-centennial offerings1 ,i am made to say that the little resolute band of devil-fighters here in the wilderness became1 though all unwillingly1 yet became most efficient helpers in gaining liberty for the freer action of nobler things than any creed1 c4--,i never cherished a thought so derogatory to them as that they unwillingly became efficient helpers in gaining liberty4 ,my spoken words were1 that they unwittingly1 that is1 without knowing it1 were being made instrumental in gaining mental freedom1 or deliverance from the chains of error2 and ,i believe that a large part of the preceding pages tends to make the truth of my actual statement apparent1 while it shows the falsity of the one imputed to me4 ,the soil beneath you long has been and long will be either consecrated or damned to fame2 damned1 hereafter1 if prevalent modern views of former actors there be correct2 consecrated1 if the ostensible actors be viewed as chosen combatants and instruments on witchcraft's last and most widely renowned battle-field4 ,many of you know that ,i first drew breath and also received my earlier training and unfoldment on the soil of your town4 ,my relations to witchcraft soil were not of my own choosing1 and ,i feel no responsibility for them--feel no sense of gratulation1 and none of shame1 because of them4 ,still1 no doubt1 they increase my desire to set forth the merits of former dwellers at the ,village as having been as great and noble1 and their faults as few and small1 as authenticated facts fairly demand2 and this not because of anything done or suffered by any one of my personal ancestors1 no one of whom1 so far as ,i have learned1 was either accuser1 accused1 or witness in any witchcraft case4 ,there1 however1 has been transmitted orally from sire to son what possibly indicates that one of them was exposed to arrest4 ,immediately after the prosecutions ceased1 ,joseph ,putnam1 father of ,general ,israel1 was a firm and efficient opponent to ,mr4 ,parris's retaining position as minister at the ,village4 ,tradition says that when rage for arrestings was high1 he1 being then only twenty-two years old1 and his still younger wife1 kept themselves and their family armed1 their horses saddled and fed by the door1 day and night for six months4 ,this was preparation for either resistance or flight1 as circumstances might render expedient in case an arrest should be attempted there4 ,opposition to prevalent beliefs1 therefore1 may not be a new feature in the family history4 ,the heretic to the notions of many to-day1 may have had an ancestor heretical to the witchcraft creed in #afib4 ,but if heresy has come by inheritance1 charity combines with it2 for my heart is gladdened by each newly discovered indication that ,joseph's elder half-brother1 ,thomas ,putnam1 the great and impartial prosecutor1 and ,ann1 daughter of ,thomas the great witch-finder1--also that ,mr4 ,parris and many other former villagers1--never1 any one of them1 acted any part in relation to witchcraft that was not prompted by devotion to the relief and good of their families and neighbors1 or forced upon them by unseen and irresistible agents4 ,your trusted teachers upon the subject--,upham1 ,fowler1 ,hanson1 and ,rice1 all well informed in most directions1 and well-intentioned--have severally favored the view that neither supermundane nor submundane agents were at all concerned in producing your witchcraft scenes4 ,their course throws tremendous and most fearful responsibilities upon both the fathers and daughters of a former age2 and not responsibilities alone1 but also accusations of deviltry upon the children1 and of stupidity and barbarity upon the fathers1 which make them all objects of aversion1 and a stock from which any one may well blush to find that he has descended4 ,no one of these teachers went back to the commencement of the strange doings1 and scanned the testimony of ,tituba1 that personal participator in them1 and the best possible witness4 ,no one of them used1 and probably none but ,upham had at command1 her simple but plain statements1 that a spirit came to her and forced her to help him and others pinch the two little girls in ,mr4 ,parris's family1 at the very time when their mysterious ailments were first manifested4 ,the keen and exact ,deodat ,lawson states that the afflicted ones talked with the specters as with living persons4 ,mention of spirits as being seen attendant upon the startling works is of frequent occurrence in the primitive records4 ,therefore1 facts well presented and authoritative have been left unadduced by your teachers4 ,they1 however1 are a part1 and a very important part1 of things to be accounted for4 ,any theory of explanation that fails to embrace such is essentially faulty1 misleading1 and not worthy of adoption4 ,fair respect for historic facts1 and especially for the reputation of those men and young women who were prominently concerned in its scenes1 very properly and forcefully demands a widely different and less humiliating and aspersory solution of your witchcraft than such as has been proffered in the present century4 ,my reading in preparation for this work failed to meet with either distinct mention of any meeting of a circle at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 or with any statement which had seeming reference to the existence of such a one1 till ,i got down to ,upham1 who dwells much upon it and its influences1 but omits mention of the source of his information4 ,since the publication of his ,lectures upon ,witchcraft1 many writers have followed his lead4 ,knowledge of the locality and of the relative positions of the homes of those girls1 and of their positions in those homes1 is perhaps kept more steadily in view by a writer whose young days1 and parts of his manhood1 were passed there1 than by others not so long familiar with the region2 and perhaps he holds firmer conviction that gatherings1 with the frequency and to the extent which are claimed1 for the purpose of learning the arts of necromancy1 magic1 and spiritualism1 under the roof of such a man as ,mr4 ,parris1 were very much nearer to an impossibility1 than most others do who have of late had occasion to consider who enacted ,salem witchcraft4 ,if current assumptions1 that the accusing girls1 by study and practice1 rendered themselves able to concoct and enact the vast and bloody tragedy imputed to them1 and if their own minds and wills were properly authors there1--if the prevalent explanation of witchcraft be much other than fanciful1--then the magical skill and powers1 and the brutal acts there manifested1 loudly call for admission that wolfish fathers had begotten foxes1 and were beguiled and spurred on by their own wily vulpines to commit such horrid havoc as must fix unfading and ineffaceable stain of infamy upon the spot where they prowled4 ,the blackest smooch on the pages of your history was dropped from the pen which virtually made the ,village daughters incarnate devils1 and their fathers gullible1 stupid1 and brutal mistakers of what their own girls performed for the marvelous doings of agents possessing more than mortal powers4 ,god save the parish soil from the stain which modern fancy's course tends to impress upon it6 ,its men were never beguiled and aroused to perpetration of monstrous barbarities by the self-willed actings and words of their daughters4 ,but genuine and mysterious afflictions of their children found the sires ready to fight manfully and unflaggingly for ,god and the deliverance of their families from mundane hells1 and that1 too1 with such force and persistency as never before was equaled in witchcraft's long history1 and with such success that no extension of that sad volume has since been possible4 ,that was most emphatically a time that tried men's souls2 and the souls then there proved to be brave enough to wage conflict against the mightiest and most formidable of possible enemies1 and strong and persistent enough to force him to such struggle as strained his vitals1 and paralyzed his power to molest grievously in any future age4 ,the ,unique ,devil of ,witchcraft left that field of fight a ,samson shorn of his locks2 the source of his strength was there cut off1 for the intensely indurated encasement of the delusion which centuries before had begotten him1 and had ever since been feeding him abundantly1 was then so thoroughly cracked1 that its contents went the way of water spilled upon the ground1 and he famished4 ,blush not for the fathers4 ,they were heroes1 true to their creed1 their families1 and their neighbors2 true servants of their ,god--true foes to their devil4 ,and their fight purchased the freedom which lets me now speak in their defense1 devoid of any fears of the hangman's rope2 and purchased1 too1 your no less valuable freedom to let me now speak without molestation1--which would be impossible were the creed of the fathers now prevalent1 and if you equaled them in devotion to ,faith1--because then my methods and processes for gaining knowledge would require you to hang either me or those through whom loved and wise ones speak back from beyond the grave1 impart their hallowing lessons of experience in bright abodes1 and their instructions in righteousness4 ,thank ,god yourselves that you hold no creed calling you to perpetrate such barbarity6 ,hutchinson's statement1 that our witch-prosecutors were more barbarous than ,hottentots and nations scarcely knowing a ,god ever were known to be1 involves a very significant comment upon the witchcraft creed4 ,that creed made our fathers more barbarous than any tribe of men outside the ,christian pale2 and were that creed yours to-day1 and were you true to it1 you would be equally barbarous as they4 ,their struggle purchased for you and all ,christendom exemption from their direful condition4 ,adopt the view--and we believe it correct--that the accusing girls were constitutionally endowed with fine sensibilities and special organisms and temperaments which rendered their bodies facile instruments through which unseen intelligences acted upon visible matter and human beings1 the supposition that ,god made them capable of being good mediums--good instruments for use by other minds and wills than their own1 and that their bodies1 either apart from or against their own minds and wills1 were concerned in the enactment of witchcraft1 and then you may look upon each and all of them as having been as pure1 innocent1 harmless1 sympathetic1 and benevolent as any females in that or in this generation2 and no descendant from them need fear the cropping out of specially bad and disreputable blood thence inherited1 and each may regard his or her native spot as deserving to be consecrated rather than damned to fame1 because there true1 conscientious men fought manfully and legitimately for rescue of both their own homes and the community from direst of all conceivable foes1 while living instruments of rare efficiency existed there1 by use of which the ,christian world was delivered from dwarfing and hampering slavery to a monk-made devil4 ,what other battle1 of any nature1 ever fought on ,american soil1 purchased choicer freedom1 or effected mental emancipation more widely over ,christendom1 than did your fathers' conflict with their devil8 ,may the year #ahib deem the spot worthy of a commemorative monument6 ,your last historian poetically says1 that your witchcraft darkness is a cloud conspicuous chiefly by the widening radiance itself of the morning on whose brow it hung4 ,shining traits1 qualities1 and deeds of ,new ,englanders in the seventeenth century1 including the dwellers at the ,village1 no doubt gave widening radiance to the morning of our nation's day2 and the abiding brilliancy of that morning may be what makes your witchcraft darkness far more conspicuous than any in other lands4 ,but it surely required far other than begulled fathers and begulling daughters to emit the rays of a morning of such widening radiance as would make darkness more conspicuous there than elsewhere4 ,that morning owed its brightness to far other traits than beguiled and beguiling ones4 ,clear perceptions of the demands of a creed1 of duty to ,god1 of duty to one's family2 prompt1 vigorous action in obedience to ,god's direction and the king's law when the devil invaded one's home2 fearless and untiring conflict with man's most powerful and malignant foe2--these1 and other powers1 qualities1 and acts kindred to these1 emitted the radiance which made the blackness of witchcraft more conspicuous at ,danvers than elsewhere in the broad world4 ,no4 ,witchcraft did not rage with most marvelous fierceness1 end enact its death-struggle1 on your soil because of the weakness1 but because of the strength of your fathers2 not because of their cowardice1 but of their courage2 not because of their heartlessness and barbarity1 but of tenderness toward their agonized families2 not because of lack of faith in ,god1 but because of faith in him so strong that it could put humaneness down1 and keep it down till ,god's call to put a witch to death could be obeyed4 ,such properties gave to the morning of the ,village an inherent brightness which first extinguished witchcraft's dismal day1 and now harbingers a brighter one1 in which1 no civil law molesting1 spirits hold mutually helpful communings with mortals4 ,that momentous and most valuable privilege was essentially won on your soil in #afib4 ,nation after nation1 taught by results at the ,village1 has repealed its obnoxious statutes1 and broad ,christendom is the freer and more elevated because of light widely radiating forth from your witchcraft darkness4 ,,methods ,,of ,,providence4 ,our planet1 ,earth1 is yet crude4 ,its soil1 products1 emanations1 and auras are coarse and harsh4 ,though meliorated much since it first gave birth to man1 it is not now fitted to nurture beings as refined as it will be centuries hence4 ,it is being constantly softened1 and is ever progressing toward the present ripened condition of older planets1 whose embodied inhabitants easily and constantly commune with wise departed kindred1 from whom they receive such instructions and aids as cause them to live in close harmony with the laws of animal health1 and therefore nearly free from sickness and pains1 and1 when ripened for release1 to pass painlessly out from their grosser integuments4 ,from the days of remotest history1 and our world over1 spirits have often been transiently visible and palpable by some mortals4 ,but the atmosphere in which humans live is measurably uncongenial and oppressive to most1 and especially to purer and more advanced spirits2 still it becomes less so from century to century1 is ever gaining such conditions as lift a little higher its incarnate inhabitants1 and is less oppressive to those disrobed of flesh4 ,its modifications prophesy that time will be when mortals and spirits may here more comfortably than now intercommune constantly and with mutual benefit4 ,terrific mental conflicts--moral tornadoes1 agitations to the depths of society1 are used as instruments in advancing earth and its inhabitants to states which will permit spirits to be our constantly recognized attendants1 and our helpful advisers and guides along the paths of spiritual progression4 ,progress is hastened through intense tribulations4 ,great changes and advances of either a material1 mental1 political1 social1 or spiritual world are1 like births1 generally outwrought through anguish and sufferings4 ,even the entrance of spirits into mortal forms is usually painful to both parties4 ,first and earlier reincarnations are almost necessarily attended by psychological action which forces spirits severally to manifest1 and1 moderatedly1 to undergo1 again their special sufferings during their last hours of earth-life4 ,mortals1 too1 shrink from1 and are agitated by1 and afraid of their nearest friends1 if disrobed of flesh4 ,such fears are repulsive forces1 making spirit approach arduous and often impossible4 ,the boon of return1 in most cases1 is at the cost of suffering--but of suffering which pays well--suffering which purchases joy for both those who come and those who welcome them4 ,our earth and all who are born upon it receive or earn many of their greatest blessings through the sweats of convulsive throes or severe toil4 ,the abolition of a wide-spread obnoxious creed was terrific in #afib4 ,in civilized lands extensively1 and especially in ,protestant ,christendom1 possibility of the return of departed good souls from their invisible abodes has for centuries been doubted4 ,therefore a most copious source of valuable instruction and help has been unused4 ,resort to it has1 or had1 become horrific2 it has been deemed by men the devil's pool exclusively4 ,but not so by spirits4 ,wise and friendly ones1 unseen1 have long and often sought and labored for such recognition and welcome1 by survivors on earth1 as would render demonstration of spirit presence widely practicable4 ,spirits have sought this because they have been seeing that free and extensive intercommunings between dwellers in flesh and enfranchised ones might greatly facilitate the advance of both classes in beneficence and happiness4 ,the immense aid which the earth-embodied living1 and only they1 can give to many unhappy ones whom they call dead1 is not yet dreamed of by the public4 ,knowledge that many departed ones are obliged to get aid from earth ere they can make an efficient start up the ladder heavenward1 opens a wide and interesting field of labor to those who have carefully sought to learn the mutual dependences of the seen and unseen worlds4 ,the possible advent of instruction from unseen realms is now for the first time receiving practical demonstration among a people1 who1 as a whole1 are able and disposed to scan carefully the nature and qualities of the intelligences who impart it4 ,prior to #afib1 the ,christian world had long been shrinking from conferences with unseen colloquists1 deeming all such diabolical in purpose and influence4 ,ignorance was mother of its fears4 ,the present age1 more enlightened1 more disposed to investigation1 more prone to believe in the reign of law always and everywhere1 asks the hidden teachers who they are1 and whence and why and how they gain access to our homes4 ,their responses affirm1 and each lapsing year of non-refutation confirms the allegation1 that they are spirits now1 but once were mortals robed in flesh2 and that they come1 some from this motive1 some from that1--some for fun1 frolic1 and even revenge and wrong2 but more of them to give and to receive the pleasure and happiness which visits to their former homes and friends will generate1 and especially to make known to their loved ones here the course of life which will best fit them for joy and happiness in the mansions and scenes of the world to which they all must come4 ,the methods of ,providence have ever been homogeneous2 and now that they have brought peoples to the dawn of a day when human hospitality is entertaining angels1 not always unawares1 but often consciously and joyfully1 the beneficence of the witchcraft scenes at ,salem ,village1 whereby ,christendom's thralldom to a factitious devil was effectually broken up1 becomes conspicuous4 ,lapsed time reveals probability that the barbarisms of that day were availed of as instruments for procuring the freedom which now permits instructive1 helpful1 and gladdening intercourse between millions of devout and truth-seeking mortals and bright1 beneficent spirits4 ,what though the agitation of ,christendom brings its latent iniquities and impurities to the surface8 ,what though the counterparts of publicans1 sinners1 and harlots float numerously into view8 ,ascent of dross and scum to the surface is usually the first product in processes of clarification4 ,inexperienced observers are very liable to regard the unsightly stuff as a sample of all that underlies it4 ,others1 who better comprehend the cause and object of bringing impurities into view1 observe such first results complacently1 knowing that subsequent effects will be most beneficent--will present purified1 and therefore more precious views of the divine methods of bringing men to righteousness1 and will furnish more efficient helps to man's upward progression than have been generally applicable heretofore4 ,great reformatory truths have seldom been first offered to or received by the worldly-wise and prudent4 ,not rulers and ,pharisees1 but common people1 fishermen1 humble women1 publicans1 sinners1 and harlots were numerous among the first followers of ,jesus2 and these were the ones who heard him gladly4 ,like causes which made it thus of old1 operate to-day1 and the supplemental revelations and revealers of our time meet with like reception as did those centuries ago4 ,it is well4 ,wide popularity and affectionate fondling might sap an infant ism of its best health-giving and reformatory powers4 ,comprehensive wisdom lets it harden and strengthen through buffetings with the leaders of prevalent theological and scientific decisions1 opinions1 and fashions4 ,the boundless intelligence1 which ever acts for good1 is patient and long forbearing4 ,it waits for seeds of reforms to take deep root in the masses1 and thence1 in time1 pushes onward the force which overturns dynasties1 hierarchies1 and all effete institutions1 creeds1 and customs which are no longer fruitful of food suited to cultured man's existing needs4 ,savage and barbarous nations1 everywhere and always1 attain to more or less faith in the presence and help of ancestral spirits2 they seek instruction from the departed4 ,broad and perpetual belief in a particular fact is far from weak evidence of its positive existence4 ,uncultured minds admit witnessed facts to be positive occurrences1 and affect no need to comprehend how they are produced before giving assent to their verity4 ,but the cultured are prone to deny the manifestation of any events whose transpiration is not referable to the permission of some law whose operations are familiar4 ,they cannot account for a fact1 and therefore it does not exist1 or1 as ,agassiz said1 it is not in nature4 ,the greatest of human scientists1 however1 falls far short of acquaintance with all the forces and permissions enfolded within boundless1 unfathomable1 incomprehensible nature4 ,it is dogmatism--not science--which says that facts observed by the senses of man continuously from the birth of his race down to now1 have had no positive existence4 ,law reigns2 and we know no law which permits return from beyond the grave2 therefore departed spirits cannot revisit their survivors on earth4 ,such is often the position and argument of theology1 science1 and culture4 ,but our question to them is1 ,are you sure that you are acquainted with all the laws1 forces1 agents1 and permissions in the broad storehouses of nature8 ,have you explored all realms in the universe1 and qualified yourselves to maintain that you have definitely learned that no forces anywhere exist by which things anomalous to human science can be manifested to human senses8 ,practically you say1 ,yes4 ,and doing thus1 you foster and fast extend belief in non-immortality4 ,are the results of your course to be lamented8 ,perhaps not4 ,the oozing out and disappearance of an old belief1 and a consequent state of non-belief1 may be arranged for in the methods of ,providence1 because the latter state may be the best possible for the induction of belief founded on demonstration1 where one previously lived which rested upon dogmatic authority4 ,the skepticism of our generation pertaining to a future life is an offspring of general and advanced education which asks for proofs as the only proper foundation for belief4 ,that education has fitted the thinking masses to demand that teachers shall grapple with and either refute or adopt sensible facts widely witnessed4 ,millions upon millions of ,christendom's inhabitants are having sensible demonstration1 day by day and hour by hour1 that the spirits of departed mortals make known their veritable presence among their survivors in mortal forms4 ,they say to the world's leading minds1--spirit return is a fact in nature3 it is made manifest to our physical senses2 we know it to be true4 ,therefore1 ye sticklers for law and scientific methods1 prove to us our mistake if we are dupes4 ,during more than five and twenty years we have been putting forth that call1 and you have thus long omitted to give any other response than dogmatic assertion that the appearances we witness are the productions of fraud1 fancy1 delusion1 and the like4 ,that is not satisfactory4 ,our claim is1 that departed spirits of men are working marvels on the earth4 ,that claim is good till it be shown that the marvelous events witnessed are the productions of other agents4 ,each lapsing year strengthens that claim4 ,and if a check to such materialism as argues that man is devoid of any property which will consciously survive the death of his body1 and if a positive demonstration of man's survival beyond the tomb1 be matters which the methods of ,providence are employed to advance1 then the unwonted numbers of returning spirits recently and now1 and the frequency of their advent1 together with the consequent daily and palpable demonstration of a life beyond the present1 come to man most opportunely--come to him both when vast masses of mortals are prepared so meet and welcome them as friends and kindred1 and also1 and significantly1 when their presence impairs the power of bright and leading minds to cause the thinkers of our age to anticipate annihilation of themselves1 their kindred1 and their race1 and to suffer loss of the incentives and joys which attend anticipations of a heaven in advance4 ,so welcome1 efficient1 and salutary an advent of invisible actors and teachers as we witness to-day1 seemingly would have been impossible1 had the witchcraft creed of our fathers retained abiding hold upon their descendants4 ,the methods of ,providence seem to have embraced both the abolition of that creed1 and a sufficient lapse of time for the nurture and culture of a people up to such elevation that a large portion of it would be fitted and disposed to welcome back departed ones just when their proved presence would be the great fact at man's command which would effectually deter advancing and beneficent physical scientists from inferring and teaching that life's emigrants all take a plunge into the rayless abyss of nonentity4 ,a continuous thread of the methods of ,providence seems traceable through many of the darkest and most shocking scenes of human history4 ,many of man's greatest advances have been outwrought through anguish and tortures whose inflictors we reprobate4 ,is it too much to say that such a thread ropes in1 as instruments of good1 ,pharaoh1 ,pontius ,pilate1 ,witchcraft1 and many other notable personages and scenes1 which have been made to further the deliverances of oppressed and suffering mortals8 ,permission of sins1 sufferings1 and wrongs comes from the ,infinitely ,benevolent4 ,fit instrumentality existed at ,salem ,village for demolishing that special creed of ,christendom which closed and barred the gates that nature hinged for furnishing a way of egress back from beyond the grave2 and wisest and kindest dwellers above were in mood then to let suffering and anguish enough come upon mortals there to awaken them out of their deep delusion1 and sway them to set those special gates ajar4 ,they broke the bars2 but dust and rubbish long made a wide opening difficult and arduous4 ,a century and a half was needed for such liberation of mortals from the crampings of delusion1 and for such exercise of free thought in a land of free schools1 as would educate a nation up to courage which could calmly ask any mysterious visitant whatsoever1 who he was1 whence he came1 and what he wanted4 ,in the fullness of time1 this could be and was done4 ,when culture and science were broadly producing conviction that there is no hereafter for man1 one came forth from the land of the departed1 knocked on cottage walls1 gained the ear of common people1 allured hosts of other spirits to follow him to human abodes2 and the numerous band of returning ones is now the only host which can effectually stop the hope-crushing advance of materialism1 and furnish the world palpable demonstration of an hereafter for the souls of men4 ,in #afib1 an unprecedented strain in its application effectually broke up ,christendom's long cherished and indurated delusion that devils unfleshed and devils incarnate are the only beings who can act and commune across the line dividing this from the life beyond4 ,that rupture set ,christians free to learn that duty called them to try the spirits4 ,in time a generation came who met that duty4 ,spirits of ,god--good spirits--as well as others visit human abodes1 and their presence itself is proof positive of man's survival beyond the grave4 ,their widely conceded advent seems divinely opportune1 for it occurs when their presence tends forcefully to check1 and promises to stop the prevalent strong tendency of science and culture to divine that man's doom is drear annihilation4 ,the beneficent intensity of a special strain upon a specific delusion1 nine score years ago1 is due to the strength of faith1 character1 and action1 and to the unwonted extent and excellency of medianimic instrumentality then existing at ,salem ,village1 whose conspicuous action and use there made that spot lastingly memorable2 and we deem it just to regard it as a point from which influences emanated whose fruits to-day are eminent blessings to the ,christian world4 ,the methods of ,providence often educe choicest good from most direful evils4 ,,appendix4 ,,christendom',s ,,witchcraft ,,devil4 ,christians1 when ,new ,england witchcraft occurred1 generally believed that it originated with1 emanated from1 and was controlled by one vast malignant personality1 possessing frightful powers1 aspects1 and efficiency4 ,a fair comprehension of what that being was then conceived to be is needful to anything like accurate knowledge of the origin1 growth1 sway1 exit1 and genuine character of occurrences which outwrought as dire strifes1 horrors1 bloodshed1 and heart-wrenchings1 as any courageous1 intelligent1 and conscientious people ever sided forward or suffered under4 ,christendom1 in the day of our ,puritan forefathers1 believed in a devil peculiar to a few centuries--in one who was of more modern birth than the ,bible or other ancient histories--who was very different from any being characterized in either ,jewish or heathen records of antiquity1 and has no parallel1 we trust1 in any creed to-day4 ,probably many malicious1 as well as benevolent1 unseen personages exist1 who may often act upon men and their affairs4 ,there may be powerful evil ones1 in realms unseen1 who there rule over hosts of like dispositions with themselves4 ,neither the existence of many devils1 nor intermeddling by them with man's peace and welfare1 is called in question4 ,authors of the ,bible1 when using the terms devil1 ,satan1 and others of similar import1 generally designated1 as our own age extensively does1 beings very unlike such a devil as was conceived of and dreaded by ,christendom from two to five hundred years ago4 ,prior to and during the days of ,jesus and his apostles1 such terms were often applied to whatever1 in either the visible or the unseen world1 tempted or forced men to wrong-doing1 or hindered their progress in goodness4 ,jesus said to a disciple1 ,get thee behind me1 ,satan2 and this1 simply because ,peter was giving him advice more carnal than spiritual1 and which was designed to dissuade ,jesus from following the course which his conscience was prompting him to pursue4 ,the mere giving of unwise advice made ,peter a ,satan4 ,turning to #b ,sam4 xxiv4 #a1 you may read that the ,,lord1 being angry1 moved ,david to number the people4 ,turning again to #a ,chron4 xxi4 #a1 you will find a description of the same transaction1 in which it is said that ,satan 444 provoked ,david to number ,israel4 ,therefore1 in biblical language1 even the ,,lord1 when angry1 was equivalent to ,satan4 ,any accuser1 in a court of justice or equity1 might properly have been called a ,satan1 in the days of the prophets1 for then that term was applicable to any adversary or opponent1 of whatever grade or nature4 ,very much later than ,david's day the word devil frequently had a much softer meaning than it usually bears now4 ,jesus said 7,john vi4 #gj71 ,have not ,i chosen you twelve1 and one of you is a devil8 ,having previously called ,peter ,satan1 ,jesus here called ,judas a devil4 ,thus highest ,christian authority spoke of unwise and treacherous men as being ,satans and devils1 and thereby showed that those words anciently were sometimes applied1 by the pure and wise1 to other beings than one special great malignant spirit4 ,the devil of modern witchcraft was unknown by ,jesus and by all biblical authors4 ,whence1 then1 since not from the ,bible1--whence did ,christians of the seventeenth and some earlier centuries obtain those peculiar conceptions of him1 which made the devil almost counterbalance1 in malignity and monstrosity1 the benignity and beauty of the ,infinite ,god8 ,where did they find him8 ,so far as we perceive and believe1 his like was never recognized1 either outside of ,christendom1 or prior to the dark ages4 ,no being verily like him was ever dreaded as an enemy by any other people than ,christians1 and not by them till within the last thousand years4 ,about all that we know is1 that he had become huge and frightful at the time of the ,reformation2 and our belief is1 that morbid fancy1 in the cloisters and monasteries of ,europe1 through several centuries plied her limnistic verbal skill1 and thereby outlined and blackened piecemeal her most outre conceptions possible of the lineaments and expressions of a being as monstrous in shape1 as powerful1 wily1 and malicious1 as imagination could fabricate1 and thus gave the ,christian world a monk-made devil--a hideous personification of evil4 ,lapsing time eventually caused this cloister-born scarecrow to be looked upon as vitalized malignity incarnate--as an immortal1 ubiquitous personality--as a living fiend of awful sway and force1 who should be watched1 feared1 and fought by every ,god-serving man4 ,we look upon him as a production of human fancy4 ,but not so did our predecessors4 ,they assigned to their devil of horrid form and huge dimensions a very different origin and nature4 ,where born1 and what his nature1 according to the belief of those who imported him to ,new ,england shores1 are important questions the appropriate answers to which must be comprehended before one can obtain just appreciation of the position in which their creed placed our forefathers1 and the direction and force it gave to their action whenever seeming diabolism not only fearfully disturbed private firesides and social relations1 but threatened tenure of lands1 and continued existence of church and state throughout the colonies4 ,their ,author of witchcraft was conceived of1 believed in1 and set forth in language1 as having been heaven-born--a glorious angel once1 but apostate and banished from his native skies2--as one mighty1 malignant personality1 almost ubiquitous1 almost omniscient1 second in power to ,almighty ,god alone1 and nearly ,his equal4 ,as quoted by ,upham1 vol4 i4 p4 #cij1 ,wierius1 a learned ,german physician1 described the devil as being one who possesses great courage1 incredible cunning1 superhuman wisdom1 the most acute penetration1 consummate prudence1 an incomparable skill in vailing the most pernicious artifices under a specious disguise1 and a malicious and infinite hatred toward the human race1 implacable and incurable4--,he was1 says ,appleton's ,n4 ,a4 ,cyc41 often represented on the stage1 with black complexion1 flaming eyes1 sulphuric odor1 horns1 tail1 hooked nails1 and cloven hoof4 ,many of us now living have seen him pictured nearly thus in some old illustrated editions of the ,bible4 ,but the gifted ,milton's comprehensive fancy and lofty diction1 exempted1 under poetic license1 from adherence to fact or creed1 or other enfeebling restraint1 put forth1 in masterly and acceptable manner1 lineaments and features appropriate to an embodiment of his highest possible conceptions of combined majesty1 might1 and malignity1 and thus allured his own and future ages to bow in awe before a devil who in grandeur far surpassed any which monkish powers had been able to fabricate and describe4 ,he imputed to ,satan eyes that sparkling blaz'd2 his other parts1 besides prone on the flood1 extended long and large lay floating many a rood1 444 unconquerable will1 and study of revenge1 immortal hate1 and courage never to submit or yield1 444 resolve to wage by force or guile eternal war1 irreconcilable to our grand foe1 444 ever to do ill our sole delight1 as being the contrary to his high will whom we resist2 ,if then his providence out of our evil seek to bring forth good1 our labor must be to prevent that end1 and out of good still to find means of evil4 ,such was the great poet's ,archangel ruined2 nearly such was the prevalent perception of him by the general mind of ,christendom4 ,he was one mighty ,evil ,spirit--monarch of all fiends1 and an untiring operator for harm to both the body and soul of man4 ,such conceptions were general alike in ,europe and ,america4 ,but still another view1 quite as appalling as any of the foregoing1 and appealing more directly to the temporal interests of men1 operated in ,america1 and made it specially needful for all property holders here to contest the devil's advances4 ,cotton ,mather called the arch mischief-worker a great landholder2 and he was spoken of as though conceived to be temporal as well as spiritual ruler over all ,indian tribes and their lands1 and also as being a contester against ,god and ,christ for empire over each and every part of the ,american continent where ,christians encroached upon his sable majesty's domains4 ,god and devil--each was a vast and powerful spirit1 exercising sway and dominion widely1 as the other would let him2 and these two mighty spiritual ,rulers were often struggling in sharp conflict of doubtful issue for empire over particular portions of the earth4 ,the ,devil--and such a devil too--occupied much space not only in the theology and philosophy of the learned1 but also in the daily and worldly thoughts of the common colonists4 ,upham has forcefully and truthfully said 7vol4 i4 p4 #cic71 that our fathers were under an impression that the devil1 having failed to prevent progress of knowledge in ,europe1 had abandoned his efforts to obstruct it effectually there2 had withdrawn into the ,american wilderness1 intending here to make a final stand2 and had resolved to retain an undiminished empire over the whole continent and his pagan allies1 the native inhabitants4 ,our fathers accounted for the extraordinary descent1 and incursions of the ,evil ,one among them1 in #afib1 on the supposition that it was a desperate effort to prevent them from bringing civilization and ,christianity within his favorite retreat2 and their souls were fired with the glorious thought1 that1 by carrying on the war with vigor against him and his confederates1 the witches1 they would become chosen and honored instruments in the hands of ,god for breaking down and abolishing the last stronghold on the earth of the kingdom of darkness4 ,this mighty ,devil1 commander-in-chief of the countless hosts of all the devils1 demons1 satans1 ,indians1 heathen1 sinners in1 above1 upon1 or around earth1--this mighty contester for dominion with ,god and ,christ and all good ,christians1 was conceived to be author of all works called witchcrafts1 producing them through human beings who had voluntarily made a covenant to serve him1 and who resided in the midst of the people whom he molested2 for we shall soon see that the philosophy of those times permitted him no other possible access to man than through persons who were in covenant with himself4 ,any covenanter with such a devil1 that is1 any wizard or witch1 could be regarded by the public as nothing less formidable than a voracious wolf burrowing within the ,christian sheepfold1 who1 if not at once unearthed and slain1 would either actually devour1 or frighten away from their pasturing grounds1 all those with their descendants who had crossed the ocean to feed on the hills and vales of ,america4 ,our fathers felt that the possession and value of their homes and lands1 as well as the temporal peace and prosperity of the community1 its religious privileges1 and the salvation of human souls1 were at stake in a witchcraft conflict4 ,their faith1 their interests temporal and spiritual1 their manhood1 and all that was brave1 strong1 and good in them1 called upon them to face boldly even such a devil as has been described above1 and to fight him by any processes which had been tried and approved in ,europe2 the chief of which was1 to seize his covenanted servants--his guns--and silence them promptly and permanently4 ,witches must die6 ,,limitations ,,of ,,the ,,devil',s ,,powers4 ,creed-makers before the ,reformation conceived1 what is probably true1 that natural barriers at all times have effectually debarred even the mightiest devil1 as well as each and all of his disembodied imps1 from coming directly into such close contact with a human body1 or any other material object1 as enabled them to produce effects perceptible by man's physical senses4 ,being themselves spirits1 whether primarily earth-born or foreign1 devils could effect direct access to1 and could harm the minds and souls of men1 and1 unaided by mortals1 could incite human beings to evil actions and self-debasement1 while yet1 so long as they were unaided by voluntary human alliance1 they were absolutely unable to act upon matter--unable to subject human forms to fits1 twitchings1 tumblings1 transformations1 sicknesses1 pains1 c41 such as the bewitched of old experienced1 and such as await many mediumistic persons to-day4 ,devils1 formerly1 and spirits now1 to make the effects of their powers observable1 or to make themselves felt by men's external senses1 usually must act first and directly upon the equivalent to such nervous fluid or aura as enables man's mind to actuate his own body4 ,any disembodied spirit1 of whatsoever grade or character1 may be1 and probably is1 seldom able to command that intermediate aura--or that something--excepting when in or near an animal organism which possesses those properties or conditions1 whatever they are1 which render a person mediumistic4 ,constructors of the witchcraft creed probably had learned that nature always and everywhere makes matter intangible by spirit directly1 and they thence inferred that the devil could never get into close contact with human bodies without the aid of some spirit1 or of appendages to some spirit1 who holds living alliance with matter1 and consequently has in or around itself nervous fluid1 or its equivalent1 which is usable by mind not its own--is loanable1 or at least liable to be abstracted4 ,transpiring observation now quite distinctly perceives that control of human organisms by disembodied spirits is usually attended by conditions fundamentally analogous to an antecedent covenant4 ,the old creed-makers may have reasoned from facts of experience and observation much more generally and logically than the present age imagines4 ,no special desire is felt1 and we do not see that any special obligation rests upon us1 to palliate the doings of those monastics who in dark ages both fabricated and shackled the devil of witchcraft4 ,still we do not begrudge them such justification as may flow out that passing facts4 ,we have already stated the probability that nature makes physical man intangible by spirits directly4 ,because of protracted observations of their doings1 we assume that spirits are able to read at a glance the properties of each form to which they give special attention1 and are at no loss to determine what organisms are controllable by them when conditions are all favorable4 ,one and an important condition is1 absence of resistance to control by the mind to which the susceptible organism pertains4 ,the genuine owner generally can withhold his or her nervous fluids1 or auras1 or those properties1 of whatever kind or name1 which a spirit must use in the controlling process2 and1 consequently1 a quasi agreement1 amounting at least to acquiescence on the part of the medium1 is generally a necessary preliminary to any modern spirit-manifestation1 especially with mediums not much accustomed to be controlled4 ,when and where belief prevailed that all disembodied spirits who ever actuated human forms were the devil or his imps1 the inference that those whom he and his controlled had entered into an agreement with him1 was natural and almost necessary4 ,for an agreement or consensus between a controlling spirit and the will of the person controlled is very common now1 and1 no doubt1 has been in all past ages4 ,the assumption1 however1 which seems to have been prevalent formerly1 that such consensus involved eternal reciprocal obligation between the devil and a human soul1 or the sale of that soul to the ,evil ,one1 could not be required or suggested by any facts perceivable by modern observation4 ,no doubt each successive use of properties of a particular body by an intelligence from outside itself1 generally enables the foreign spirit subsequently to manage that body with increasing ease to itself1 and with more satisfaction probably to both parties2 and the practice1 if mutually pleasurable1 renders prolonged co-operation probable2 but co-operation for a time imposes no obligation or necessity that the parties shall remain forever conjoined4 ,common use of the same magnetism1 nervous elements1 or whatever they use in common1 may tend to make a spirit and a mortal assimilate in their tastes1 emotions1 motives1 and characters4 ,this co-operation may evoke such sympathy between them1 that each may often be drawn to the of other's aid1 and conjointly they may manifest both physical and mental powers which neither could put forth alone4 ,and it is possible that a liberated spirit may be so linked in sympathy with numerous other spirits1 that the joint powers of many are at his service1 so that through a single human form there may be manifested to the outer world the effects of the combined forces of legions of ascended spirits1 either good or bad1 in one accordant band4 ,obviously1 spiritual beings1 of whatever quality1 are generally dependent1 for any manifestation to the outer world1 on one or more of a class of mortals possessing special properties or susceptibilities4 ,nature seems to impose such necessity4 ,she does not let even man's own spirit act upon his stable body directly1 but through something evanescent before microscope and scalpel4 ,,covenant ,,with ,,the ,,devil ,perhaps1 and probably1 the direst and most disastrous of all deluding misconceptions by our forefathers--the one which engendered1 nurtured1 and intensified the greatest evils of witchcraft--was1 that neither their huge devil1 nor any subordinate fiendish spirit1 could get access to external nature and human bodies through any other avenue than some man1 woman1 or child1 who had already voluntarily made an explicit agreement with him or his to be his obedient and faithful servant1 in consideration of helps and favors which the devil promised to bestow in requital4 ,when such a covenant had been ratified by signature in the devil's book1 written with the blood of the mortal party1 then forthwith the devil and his hosts thereby became subject to his new servant's call1 and the servant to the devil's summons1 so that either could command the powers of both for co-operation in the execution of any malice or deviltry whatsoever1 and upon any designated individual4 ,the assumed fact that the devil could use the faculties and properties of no human being who had not expressly covenanted with him1 conjoined with belief that he must have the voluntary help of some human being whenever he molested men1 was the specially murderous ingredient of faith which impelled good and humane men on to copious shedding of innocent blood4 ,the making of that covenant1 and thereby opening an aperture for the devil's entrance through nature's barrier1 and thus admitting a wolf into the ,christian fold1 who otherwise could not possibly have entered1 constituted the essence of the crime of witchcraft4 ,that covenanting act made the covenanting man or woman a wizard or a witch2 and ,god had said1 ,thou shalt not suffer a witch to live4 ,,the ,,devil',s ,,defense4 ,the custom is humane and equitable which permits the accused to be heard in their own behalf4 ,it is a common saying1 that even the prisoner now at our bar is always entitled to his due and we cheerfully grant him opportunity to defend himself4 ,under his alias1 ,satan1 and using a cultured ,englishman as his amanuensis1 he has recently favored the world with his autobiography2 in which he says1-- ,i am a power4 ,i am a power under ,god1 and as such ,i perform a task which1 however unlovely and however painful1 is destined to put forward ,god's wise and benignant purposes for the good of man4444 ,i am an image of the evil that is in man1 arising from his divinely-given liberty of moral choice4 ,that evil ,i discipline and correct1 as well as represent2 and so ,i am also a divine school-master to bring the world to ,god4 ,my origin is human1 my sphere of action earthly1 my final end dissolution4 ,evil must cease when good is universal4 ,while1 then1 ,i cannot boast of a heavenly birth1 ,i disown fiendish dispositions4 ,worse than the worst man ,i cannot be4 ,i am indeed a sort of mongrel1 born1 bred1 reared1 and nurtured of human fancy1 folly1 and fraud4 ,as such ,i possess a sort of quasi omnipresence and a quasi omniscience1 for ,i exist wherever man exists1 and1 dwelling in human hearts1 know all that men think1 feel1 and do4 ,hence ,i have power to tempt and mislead2 and that power1 when in my worst moods1 ,i am pleased to exercise4444 ,i am a personification of the dark side of humanity and the universe4444 ,i exist in every land1 and occupy a corner in every human heart4444 ,i am the child of human speculation3 ,i came into existence on the first day that man asked himself1 ',whence this world in which ,i live and of which ,i am a part8'#a #a ,the ,autobiography of ,satan1 edited by ,john ,r4 ,beard1 ,d4 ,d41 ,london1 #ahgb4 ,the frankness1 perspicuity1 definiteness1 and point1 taken in connection with the calm1 earnest tone1 and gentle1 candid spirit in which his then placid ,majesty dictated that account of himself to his ,reverend scribe1 win our credence1 and induce us to believe he utters only the simple truth when he describes himself as a personification of the dark side of humanity and the universe1--as one who cannot boast of a heavenly birth1 but was born1 bred1 and nurtured of human fancy1 folly1 and fraud1--as possessing a sort of quasi omnipresence and a quasi omniscience1 existing wherever man exists1 444 dwelling in human hearts1 knowing all that men think1 feel1 and do1 having power to tempt and mislead1 and1 in his worst moods1 is pleased to exercise that power4 ,such a ,satan1 or devil1 no doubt exists4 ,but1 though we admit that he was a mighty impersonal power in the midst of witchcraft scenes1 he was vastly different from the heaven-born ,archangel fallen1 whom the good people of ,new ,england believed in1 feared1 and supposed themselves to be fighting against4 ,a personification of the principle of evil1 or of the dark side of humanity and the universe1 is the only devil who is simultaneously present with the whole human race4 ,but hosts of unseen personalities--earth-born1 expanded1 wily1 malignant1 and powerful--may act upon man1 and bands of such may be subservient to some abler ones of their kind1 who reign over them as princes of the dark powers of the air4 ,malignant departed mortals are the only disembodied personal devils who molest mankind4 ,we believe in many devils1 but not in ,christendom's witchcraft chief ,one4 ,the devil of our fathers1 though but a fiction1 was chief cause of witchcraft's woes1 and therefore merits attention first1 in any attempt to subject that matter to new analysis4 ,,demonology ,,and ,,necromancy4 ,demonology--intercourse with demons--implies dealings with spiritual personalities2 but these may be either good or bad1 and may consist wholly1 or only in part1 of departed human beings1 provided there be any other grade of spirits residing in1 or able to enter1 earth's spirit spheres3 probably there are not4 ,in earlier ages1 these demons were often deemed to be intermediate messengers and links facilitating intercourse between mortals on earth and most eminent gods above4 ,that idea1 somewhat qualified1 is having revival now in the minds of those who are receiving from their departed friends instructions and influences which allure humans heavenward4 ,in the olden faith1 demon was used to designate a spirit who might be good2 and demonology1 then1 far from being branded as ,,diabolism1 or dealings with one great ,devil and his special devotees1 was generally deemed not only innocent1 but helpful2--as much so as man's communings to-day with either his disembodied kindred and friends1 or with benighted1 forlorn1 and anguished souls who seek needed encouragement and solace1 which they can obtain from none other than an earthly source1 are deemed helpful by those loving and philanthropic men and women who take active part in similar demonological interviews now4 ,bad as demonology seems at this day1 when the word has come to suggest dealings with bad and demoralizing spirits alone1 time was1 when both it and necromancy1 or intercourse with the dead1 could be legitimately applied to such interviews as ,jesus had with ,moses and ,elias on the ,mount of ,transfiguration2 and therefore then might have imported communings that would spiritualize and elevate whoever experienced its operations4 ,strictly1 there are no dead4 ,moses and ,elias were living personages when seen by ,jesus4 ,socrates1 and many another ancient and wise teacher1 drew much profound wisdom and inspiration from out the vailed recesses of demonology and necromancy1 and the example of such wise and good men of old has practical imitation by the spiritually-minded and philanthropic disciples of modern communicators living in supernal spheres4 ,,biblical ,,witch ,,and ,,witchcraft4 ,very great difference existed between the witchcraft of ,bible times and that of ,christendom fifteen hundred years after ,john recorded the ,revelation4 ,the difference was almost as marked as that between the devils of those two periods4 ,the word witch seems primarily to mean1 a knowing one1 and perhaps has always hinted at knowledge or power acquired by some mysterious method4 ,witch has generally meant1 not only a knowing one1 but also any person who gets knowledge or help by processes which are mysterious4 ,witchcraft has been the utterance of knowledge1 or the application of power1 thus obtained4 ,but neither all such utterance1 nor all such application of force1 was1 in biblical times1 called witchcraft4 ,far1 very far different from that4 ,daniel1 ,ezekiel1 and ,john the ,revelator1 all obtained knowledge mysteriously from the lips of departed men2 their promulgation of it1 however1 was not called witchcraft1 but the word of ,god4 ,neither do the ,scriptures speak of the woman of ,endor as a witch or practicer of witchcraft1 though she had both a familiar spirit1 and such clairvoyant powers that at her call ,samuel rendered himself visible by her2 and he either used her organs of speech1 or impressed her to use them1 in utterance of rebukes to ,saul and prediction of his coming fate4 ,this was not biblical witchcraft2 though1 departing from biblical precedent1 the modern world has fallen into the habit of calling the woman of ,endor a witch1 while that epithet is not applied to her in the ,bible4 ,his lawgiver said to ,moses1 ,thou shalt not suffer a witch to live2 but if that teacher furnished any very clear definition of either witch or witchcraft1 it has not come down to us4 ,tempting to spiritual whoredom1 so far as we can determine1 constituted the crime of witchcraft among the ,jews4 ,the people of ,israel were regarded as being wedded to the ,god of ,abraham2 therefore persons who by signs1 by marvelous utterances and acts1 tempted ,jews to be false to their marriage relations with their ,god1 were witches4 ,the crime of witchcraft was not involved in simply putting forth knowledge1 signs1 and wonders by the help of familiar spirits1 because prophets and apostles often did that when they put forth the word of ,god4 ,witchcraft was application of supernal knowledge and powers for the special purpose of seducing and tempting people to worship ,moloch1 or some other god of the heathen4 7,see ,lev4 xx4 #e1 #f47 ,bible witchcraft was use of mysterious acquisitions in teaching ,,heresy4 ,,protestant ,,christendom',s ,,witch ,,and ,,witchcraft4 ,in the seventeenth century1 much of the biblical import of witch and witchcraft1 as well as of demon1 had been either perverted or dropped1 and belief was prevalent1 especially outside of the ,catholic ,church1 that none but evil spirits could come to men2 and also that the days of miracles1 or special manifestation directly from the ,almighty1 had ceased4 ,then1 too1 a personal devil1 heaven-born but apostate1 and perhaps also myriads of other heaven-born but rebellious and banished angels1 could1 and only such base spirits could1 get access to our external world2 and they could effect entrance only through human beings who voluntarily consented and agreed to co-operate with them4 ,it will be apparent on future pages1 that any spirit then seen by clairvoyant eyes1 whatever the sex1 form1 features1 complexion1 or aspect1 was either the devil himself1 or some apparition formed and presented by him or his1 and he was held responsible for its presentation4 ,our fathers attained to and held firm conviction that all channels for inspirations and mighty works1 available since the days of ,jesus and his apostles1 were avenues for the influx of none but poisonous waters4 ,this was a sad mistake2 for1 could they have perceived the groundlessness of their faith that supernal springs of truth1 purity1 and benevolence had been dammed against the emission of good waters earthward1--groundlessness of their belief that the possibility and feasibility of such works and inspirations as they called miracles had ever been restricted by anything but natural conditions1--that perception would have rendered it apparent to themselves that they ought to make wizards of ,abraham and ,lot1 of ,moses and ,samuel1 of ,daniel1 ,ezekiel1 and ,john the ,revelator1 since each one of those communed with spirits4 ,our ,american predecessors in the seventeenth century believed it impossible that good spirits could come to man from bright abodes1--doubted perhaps1 perhaps disbelieved1 that departed men and women ever did return to earth1 excepting by the immediate agency of the ,almighty2 and their writings and actions justify us in saying1 that with them1 witchcraft was injection of occult forces and teachings upon man1 through consenting mortals1 for malicious purposes solely1 and by invisible intelligences4 ,,spirit1 ,,soul1 ,,and ,,mental ,,powers4 ,perplexing diversity prevails among users of ,english language in their application of the terms spirit and soul4 ,some regard spirit as only a fine1 invisible robe of the essential man2 while others speak of soul as the robe and spirit as the man who wears it4 ,our own custom has been to regard soul as the man1 and spirit as his under-garment during earth-life1 and his outer one1 if he shall have more than one1 when he shall put off his present outer4 ,this view is not novel4 ,the sometimes clairvoyant ,paul stated that there is a natural or outer1 and a spiritual or inner body--yes1 body4 ,opened inner eyes to-day often see spirit-forms pervading the outer forms of people around them4 ,their observations are in harmony with the apostle's declaration4 ,the essential nature of spirit is all unknown by us4 ,whether matter1 spirit1 and soul are but different combinations and conditions of like primal elements1 we are utterly incompetent to determine4 ,practically we accept1 what is probably a common notion1 that matter and soul differ fundamentally2 and1 having done that1 we are unable to identify spirit with either of them elementally4 ,therefore1 without any definite conceptions as to its inherent alliances1 we speak of it as possibly something between the other two--a tertium quid4 ,thought regards it as the substance of worlds unspeakably finer than material planets4 ,spirit1 in mass1 is not a living1 conscious entity1 any more than matter is2 but is a finer than gossamer substance1 capable1 like matter1 of becoming organized1 and growing into a living enrobement of the soul--enrobement of that which constitutes the on-living man through all changes of vestiture4 ,such is our present conjecture4 ,we apprehend that a world whose elemental substance is spirit both pervades and surrounds this material one--a world1 we will say for the purpose of indicating our thought1 composed of spirit matter4 ,the invisibility and impalpability of such spirit substance are no conclusive refutation of its existence in and around us perpetually4 ,who sees electricity1 magnetism1 gravitation1 attraction1 cohesion1 repulsion8 ,who sees either mind1 or the force by which an aching toe reports to the brain and excites the sympathy of the whole organism8 ,many things are about us1 and yet known only in their perceptible phenomena4 ,spirit substance may be all about us2 the spirit world may be in1 through1 upon1 and around the material one4 ,many manifestations hint at the existence of an all-permeating something1 which--since the word is shorter than atmosphere1 and not so liable perhaps to be suggestive of palpable matter--we will call aura1 that contains and furnishes the elements out of which spirit bodies are formed1 elements of the solid globe on which spirits live1 and also is the medium of sight1 sound1 touch1 and all sensation to man's spiritual or inner organism even now and here4 ,a soul1 encased within a body elaborated from and within that aura1 may1 when and where conditions favor1 live1 move freely1 and be happy1 whether near the fireside of its former earthly mansion1 in earth's atmosphere above and around us1 in the earth below our feet1 under and in the waters of ocean1 in the heavens over us1 or wherever thought can go4 ,it gives body to thought itself4 ,brick walls and granite mountains may be no hindrances to its movements1 or its freedom and power to see1 act1 and enjoy4 ,all such powers and privileges probably pertain to us as spirits1 even while residents in these outer forms1 provided only we can effect temporary disentanglements from the outer1 as is often done by or for the highly mediumistic4 ,and yet1 so long as the two bodies of a human being retain their ordinary conjunction1 something not yet well understood1 generally either keeps the spirit senses from cognizable contact with what is conceived to be their native aura1 and therefore holds them seemingly embryonic1 or it keeps the exterior consciousness of most persons from perceptions of many things which inner senses may be latently experiencing4 ,a broad survey of mediumistic phenomena raises the question1 whether the inner powers of mediums--now in this life1 and daily--see1 hear1 and learn any more of spiritual things than do the inner powers of others1 or whether the chief difference between the mediumistic and others is that the inner faculties of mediums are enabled1 in consequence of some peculiarity in relative strength between the outer and inner or in the attachments between the two sets of organs1 to report to the outer consciousness1 and thus let their outer faculties perceive and report what the inner have cognized1 while in the mass of mankind such process is not cognized4 ,the young servant of ,elisha 7#b ,kings vi4 #ag7 was unable to see spirit hosts upon the hills about ,dothan1 which were visible to his master2 but ,elisha prayed1 and said1 ,,lord1 ,i pray thee1 open his eyes that he may see4 ,and the ,,lord opened the eyes of the young man1 and he saw2 and1 behold1 the mountain was full of horses1 and chariots of fire round about ,elisha4 ,the prophet did not ask that his young man should be endowed with any new organs of vision1 but only for the opening of such as he already possessed4 ,as soon as those visual organs in him1 which could be reached and illumined by spirit aura1 came into action of which he became conscious1 the young man beheld spiritual beings2 which beings1 since the prophet had been seeing them all the time1 were obviously as near and as visible before as after the prayer4 ,some spirit perhaps ejected spirit force upon the young man in such way as helped internal perceptions to impress themselves on his external consciousness4 ,spirits frequently throw some invisible aura with perceptible force upon the external eyes of modern mediums1 when these sensitives are being brought into condition for conscious discernment of spirits4 ,whether the object be to awaken new vision1 or simply to impress existing internal vision upon the outer consciousness1 is yet an unanswered question4 ,perhaps each in different cases4 ,possibly an actual discernment of earth-emancipated intelligences by our inner organs1 especially in our hours of sleep1 occurs frequently with most human beings2 that is1 the inward man1 or inner consciousness1 of each mortal may be well acquainted now with many spirits and spirit scenes1 so that1 upon liberation from the flesh1 emerging spirits may find themselves among acquaintances and at home4 ,with some individuals--especially with prophetic and otherwise mediumistic ones--their knowledge1 gained through sensations experienced by the inner faculties1 is sometimes brought to and impresses itself upon the outer consciousness1 and becomes to palpably operative that those individuals are deemed inspired1 for they speak as never man--that is1 as the outward man--spake4 ,either physical peculiarities1 or peculiar relations between the outer or natural and the inner or spiritual bodies1 more than the quantum of either mental or moral developments1 seem to be the requisites for facile mediumship4 ,that view is often set forth in statements made by spirits1 and is rendered probable by observation of many facts4 ,mediumistic proclivities run much in families1 about as much as musical ones do2 and the capabilities for either mediumistic or musical performances are measurably constitutional and transmissible4 ,moses1 ,aaron1 and their sister ,miriam1 all prophesied1 or were mediums of communications from the realm of spirits4 ,in our antecedent pages it appears that four children of ,john ,goodwin1--that three noble1 adult1 and married sisters1 ,nurse1 ,easty1 and ,cloyse1 living apart from each other1 whose mother had been called a witch1--that ,sarah ,good and her little daughter ,dorcas1 five years old1--that ,mrs4 ,ann ,putnam and her daughter ,ann1 and that ,martha ,carrier and four of her children1 were mediumistic4 ,we can add to the list seven sons of ,seva1 and four daughters of ,philip1 in apostolic times4 ,constitutional properties1 combinations1 or endowments1 differing from such as are most common in the make-up of man1 pertain to such persons as are or can be the most plastic mediums4 ,in many people1 the organized properties of their physical or mental structures1 or of both these1 and the relations of such properties to each other1 and their mutual action1 become1 at times1 so modified by severe sickness1 proximate drownings1 protracted fastings1 sudden frights1 intense griefs1 by use of anaesthetics1 narcotics1 and stimulants1 and from many other causes1 that those to whom the properties belong become temporarily mediumistic1 though they be not observably or consciously such in their more normal states4 ,the most common1 and the more mildly acting agents or instrumentalities of such change1 and those which produce the more abiding effects1 are magnetic emanations and psychological influences from the positively mediumistic acting upon relatively negative systems4 ,such emanations may be seed originating new1 or fertilizers quickening and expanding existing1 inward growths4 ,emanuel ,swedenborg was1 prior to and independently of his marked spiritual illumination late in life1 one of the most erudite and illustrious scientists of the last century1 and1 being a truthful1 conscientious1 devout man1 trained to accuracy of observation and statement1 he was admirably fitted for a reporter to the external world1 of facts which came under his observation as an observer in spirit realms2 and we take from his works the following short extracts1 which have some bearing upon the topic just presented4 ,man loses nothing by death1 but is still a man in all respects4444 ,many are bewildered after death by finding themselves in a body1 in garments1 and in houses1 444 some had believed that men after death would be as ghosts1 specters of which they had heard4 ,the will and understanding 444 are two organic forms1 444 forms organized from the purest substances4 ,it is no objection that their organization is not manifest to the eye1 being interior to sight4444 ,how can love and wisdom act upon what is not a substantial existence8 ,how else can thought inhere8 ,,two ,,sets ,,of ,,mental ,,powers4 ,teachers unseen1 speaking back to the world they have gone from1 often say that1 when here1 they possessed two bodies--one of which is entombed below1 while in the other they went forth and still abide2 they say also that they possessed two mental systems and a double consciousness1 one only of which survives4 ,quite recently1 science1 pressing forward in explorations1 obtained perceptions of this latter fact4 ,in his eighth lecture on the ,method of ,creation1 given ,may #a1 #ahgc1 and reported in the ,new ,york ,tribune1 the eminent ,agassiz spoke as follows3-- ,are all mental faculties one8 ,is there only one kind of mental power throughout the whole animal kingdom1 differing only in intensity and range of manifestation8 ,in a series of admirable lectures1 given recently in ,boston by ,dr4 ,brown-,sequard1 he laid before his audience a new philosophy of mental powers4 ,through physiological experiments1 combined with a careful study and comparison of pathological cases1 he has come to the conclusion that there are two sets1 or a double set1 of mental powers in the human organism1 or acting through the human organism1 essentially different from each other4 ,the one may be designated as our ordinary conscious intelligence2 the other as a superior power which controls our better nature1 solves1 sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly1 nay1 even in sleep1 our problems and perplexities1 suggests the right thing at the right time1 acting through us without conscious action of our own1 though susceptible of training and elevation4 ,or perhaps ,i should rather say1 our own organism may be trained to be a more plastic instrument through which this power acts in us4 ,i do not see why this view should not be accepted4 ,it is in harmony with facts as far as we know them4 ,the experiments through which my friend ,dr4 ,brown-,sequard has satisfied himself that the subtle mechanism of the human frame1 about which we know so little in its connection with mental processes1 is sometimes acted upon by a power outside of us as familiar with that organization as we are ignorant of it1 are no less acute than they are curious and interesting4 ,many persons1 including the author of these pages1 more than twenty years ago found among phenomena called spiritual1 many which seemed imperatively to demand a broadening of the base of any mental philosophy which the world at large had presented to their notice1 and apprehended that light was dawning amid the dark work of spirits1 which might reveal to man more knowledge than he had ever obtained both of his own mysterious structure1 and of his relations to and possible intercourse with his predecessors on earth4 ,many1 perceiving this1 have held on prosecuting such observations1 and drawing such conclusions as their opportunities and powers permitted1 undeterred by sneers and cold shoulders2 and such now spontaneously hail with joy the arrival of the world's most advanced scientists at a new philosophy of mental powers2 such a philosophy1 too1 as manifestations well scrutinized have long been indicating would some day be based on the firm foundation of proved facts1 and become a blessing to our race4 ,both spiritualism and science1 by distinct routes1 have reached a common point1 and each testifies to the other's discovery of a new world in man4 ,the subtle mechanism of the human frame1 about which we know so little in its connection with mental processes1 is sometimes acted upon by a power outside of us as familiar with that organism as we are ignorant of it1 444 acting through us without conscious action of our own1 though susceptible of training or elevation4 ,such is the conclusion of ,dr4 ,brown-,sequard1 which is indorsed by ,agassiz4 ,backed by such authority1 one may very courageously move forward in efforts to show that the very structure of man through all ages may have permitted certain human forms to have been controlled and used by intelligent powers outside of themselves1 and without conscious action of their own1 that is1 without consciousness on the part of the individual minds to which those bodies naturally pertained4 ,such facts are guide-boards designating pathways along which producers of prophetic1 witchcraft1 and spiritualistic phenomena can reach standing-points for speech and action perceptible by men's external senses2 these facts are keys1 too1 that will unlock many chambers of mystery1 and we have used them in searches among the records of witchcraft4 ,those eminent savants do not state1 and therefore we shall not maintain1 that the outside power they refer to is spirits of former occupants of human bodies2 but since that power is as familiar with the human organism as we are ignorant of it1 the language surely implies reference to some intelligent power1 for its familiarity with the organism is that of knowledge1 the acquisition of which is contrasted with our ignorance4 ,to whom can they refer1 if not to spirits of some grade8 ,the nature of things contains provision for temporary reincarnations of some departed spirits in the physical forms of some peculiarly organized and endowed human beings4 ,this fact is important1 and should be borne in mind during a perusal of the present work4 ,,marvel ,,and ,,spiritualism4 ,we are reluctant to use the word miracle because of its liability to be construed as designating not only an act performed directly by an ,almighty ,one1 but also that1 in performing it1 ,he acts contrary to the established constitution and course of things2 which course we believe was never adopted4 ,therefore we shall use marvel1 to designate all works which have seemed to require more than human power1 and have been understood to be more than natural4 ,such ,a ,,marvel is a result from application of powerful occult forces which man neither comprehends nor can manage4 ,,spiritualism is phenomena resulting from use of occult forces and processes by invisible1 departed human spirits4 ,most genuine spiritual phenomena are marvels2 but there may be1 and may have been in witchcraft-scenes1 marvels which spirits did not produce4 ,we left out from the definition of marvel1 necessity for an intelligent operator4 ,impersonal influxes to many mediums may at times produce many things which are often ascribed to personal spirits4 ,our broad definition lets the word marvel cover all supernal revelations and inspirations from any god1 spirit1 or the impersonal spirit realms1--all angel or spirit presence ever perceived by man1--all mighty works1 signs1 and wonders ever wrought through prophets1 apostles1 magicians1 sorcerers1 and the like1--all promptings1 helps1 and works by spirits called familiar1--all necromancies1 witchcrafts1 c41 c4 ,as a natural philosophy1 our subject embraces all these4 ,its moral or religious aspects do not come under special consideration in the course of inquiry which is pursued by us4 ,spiritualism--as evolvements by finite unseen intelligences1 using none other than natural forces1 however occult1 acting in subserviency to natural laws and nice conditions--has its rightful place with whatever has come forth from action of intra-mundane or supra-mundane forces and agents4 ,hidden intelligences in all ages and lands have had credit for performing in man's presence many mighty works1 and for making revelations from the world unseen4 ,over the whole earth formerly1 and over the larger part of it now1 such intelligences have been and are deemed to be of all characters and grades1 from very unfolded1 pure1 and benevolent beings1 down to the ignorant1 corrupt1 and malignant4 ,but our ,puritan ancestry on this continent had inherited and brought hither with them a firm1 unqualified belief that no other spirits but evil ones could1 or at least that none but such would1 operate among the ,christian dwellers on ,new ,england soil4 ,the mysterious workers and their doings were here excessively diabolized by the monstrous creed previously described1 which prevailed all through ,christendom during the seventeenth and some prior centuries1 so that signs1 wonders1 and mighty works among our ancestors assumed forms1 characters1 and horrors which were never known among ,jews1 ,christians1 or heathen of old1 and do not revive in our own times4 ,there was then lacking here any conjecture that the same laws which in ,job's time permitted ,satan to mingle in company with the sons of ,god1 might permit a son of ,god--a good spirit--to traverse the paths along which the sons of the devil--bad spirits--made approaches to the children of men4 ,moses1 ,elias1 ,samuel1 and ,john's brother prophet were forgotten4 ,we apprehend that facts of history teach beyond all successful refutation that spirits of some quality acted upon and through many persons in the ,american colonies during the latter half of the seventeenth century4 ,our fathers were not mistaken as to that fact2 but their inhospitable and fierce slamming of doors in the faces of these visitants provoked terrible retaliations4 ,one leading object of this work is to refute the position of intervening historians1 that no disembodied spirits whatsoever had any hand in producing ,american witchcraft4 ,,indian ,,worship4 ,the historian ,hutchinson said1 the ,indians were supposed to be worshipers of the devil1 and their powows to be wizards4 ,such supposition by the mind of ,christendom intensified fears and ruthless acts on ,american soil more than elsewhere1 whenever suspicion of witchcraft was engendered4 ,america was then understood to be peculiarly the domain of the ,evil ,one1 and all its pagan inhabitants were regarded as his devoted adherents4 ,thence his followers here were deemed to be more numerous and formidable than elsewhere1 and therefore his invasion was more to be dreaded on this than on the other side of the ,atlantic4 ,we must impute a considerable portion of witchcraft horrors to such narrow and cramping religious views and feelings among our fathers1 as made all men everywhere seem to them not only outcasts from ,god1 but also associates with ,satan1 who did not possess their special creed1 and worship by their processes4 ,they practically forgot that all men1 of all nations and tribes1 are the offspring of the ,unknown ,god1 whom ,paul declared to the ,athenians2 and also that his paternal beneficence extends to his children everywhere1 and draws them toward him by methods suited to their circumstances1 capacities1 and needs1 and consequently that all religious creeds and all modes and forms of worship may be helpful to those who possess and use them4 ,history1 literature1 and public belief1 pertaining to the religious practices of ,north ,american ,indians1 so far as we remember1 have very uniformly ascribed to them something closely resembling communings and consultations with invisible intelligences4 ,such religious services are1 and ever have been1 rendered in all those primitive tribes the world over concerning whom we have attained to anything like accurate knowledge4 7,see ,primitive ,culture1 by ,edward ,b4 ,tylor47 ,ethnology proves that belief in the presence of spirits--and1 generally1 belief in the access of ancestral spirits--exists among man everywhere in the nations lowest of all in culture1 and survives in them as they rise in development4 ,dr4 ,bentley declared that the agency of invisible beings1 if not a part of every religion1 is not contrary to any one4 ,hutchinson1 as quoted above1 says1 ,the ,indians were supposed to be worshipers of ,the ,devil1 and their powows to be wizards4 ,no question is raised that such a supposition pertaining to ,indian worship was prevalent in the ,new ,england mind down to the close of the seventeenth century4 ,nor can we doubt that untruthfully the ,puritans charged the aborigines with worshiping the one great ,devil of ,puritan ,diabolism1 because of our conviction that the red men were in fact communing with their ancestral and numerous other friendly spirits4 ,the white man's erroneous conception that his devil was the red man's god1 had no small influence upon public action in witchcraft times4 ,the idea that their devil had for backers all the aborigines of the continent1 made him a more formidable foe than he otherwise would have been1 and intensified the ruthlessness of the whites in their persecutions of those of their own complexion and households who were believed to have made a compact to serve the ,evil ,one4 ,perhaps a modern instance may exhibit with much clearness the real nature of ,indian worship in former ages4 ,we quote from the ,washington ,chronicle1 early in the year #ahgc1 what is there ascribed to ,general ,o4 ,o4 ,howard1 who is often called the ,christian ,soldier4 ,he1 as commissioner from the ,american government1 had1 unarmed and with but two attendants1 penetrated the fastnesses of the mountains1 made his way to the home of the ,appache ,indians and to the presence of their fierce chief1 ,cochise4 ,after council with the ,appaches1 they had1 as ,general ,howard writes1 an ,appache prayer-meeting1 444 one ,indian after another would pray or speak4444 ,cochise's talks were apparently the most authoritative2444 ,i could hear him name ,stagalito1 meaning ,red ,beard4 ,i knew from this that our whole case was being considered in their way in the ,divine ,presence either of the ,god of the earth1 or of ,his spirits2 and surely these were solemn moments1 444 fortunately the spirits were on our side4 ,these words indicate very clearly the nature of that devil whom modern ,indian powows worship3 they make him on one occasion neither more nor less than the ascended chief ,stagalito1 associated with other spirits of the same nature4 ,can there be a doubt that ,hutchinson misrepresented the fact1 if he meant to call the ,indian communings with spirits a worshiping of that monstrous being whom the word ,devil1 uttered through clerical lips1 or recorded by intelligent pens1 in early colonial times1 was intended and understood to describe8 ,we think not4 ,there was neither truth nor justice in the supposition that the red men were devil-worshipers at the times when they were consulting departed spirits2 nor in the presumption that their mediums--their powows--were wizards4 ,false epithets do not convert any sincere worship1 performed even by the rudest of the rude1 into a bad act4 ,those ,indians of two centuries ago1 as judged by us now1 had truer conceptions and better knowledge of spirit intercourse with mortals1 and of the fit methods of obtaining useful incentives and help from spirit realms1 than had their ,christian neighbors1 who misunderstood and blindly maligned the devotions offered to the ,great ,spirit by his children in the forests4 ,the ,indians1 to the best of their ability1 worshiped ,him who is the common ,father of all men of every hue and condition4 ,they sought access to the ,great ,spirit1 our ,god as well as theirs1 through communings with their ancestral and other spirits4 ,but the supposition that they worshiped such a being as the devil of ,christendom1 is obviously incorrect4 ,cotton ,mather said that the ,indians generally acknowledged and worshiped many ,,gods2 therefore greatly esteemed and reveres their priests1 powows or wizards1 who were esteemed as having immediate converse with the gods4 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,higginson1 of ,salem1 said the ,indians in that vicinity do worship two gods--a good and an evil4 ,mather and ,higginson are better authority on this point than ,hutchinson4 ,those denizens of the impressive forests were nature-taught spiritualists communing with their ancestral spirits1 and through them were lured and helped on to worship the ,great ,spirit of ,nature--the ,omnipresent ,god4