,,rachel ,,dyer3 ,a ,,north ,,american ,,story4 ,,by ,,john ,,neal4 ,,portland3 ,,published ,,by ,,shirley ,,and ,,hyde4 #ahbh4 ,,district ,,of ,,maine4444 ,,to ,,wit3 ,,district ,,clerk',s ,,office4 ,,be ,,it ,,remembered1 ,that on the eighth day of ,october1 ,a4,d4 #ahbh1 and in the fifty-third year of the ,independence of the ,united ,states of ,america1 ,shirley ,hyde of said ,district1 have deposited in this office1 the title of a book1 the right whereof they claim as proprietors1 in the words following1 to wit4 8,rachel ,dyer3 ,a ,north ,american ,story4 ,by ,john ,neal4 ,portland40 ,in conformity to the act of the ,congress of the ,united ,states1 entitled 8,an ,act for the encouragement of learning1 by securing the copies of maps1 charts and books1 to the authors and proprietors of such copies1 during the times therein mentioned20 and also1 to an act1 entitled 8,an ,act supplementary to an act1 entitled ,an ,art for the encouragement of learning1 by securing the copies of maps1 charts and books1 to the authors and proprietors of such copies1 during the times therein mentioned2 and for extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing1 engraving and etching historical and other prints40 ,j4 ,,mussey1 ,clerk of the ,district of ,maine4 ,a true copy as of record1 ,attest1 ,j4 ,,mussey1 ,clerk ,d4 ,c4 ,maine4 ,,preface4 ,i have long entertained a suspicion1 all that has been said by the novel-writers and dramatists and poets of our age to the contrary notwithstanding1 that personal beauty and intellectual beauty1 or personal beauty and moral beauty1 are not inseparably connected with1 nor apportioned to each other4 ,in ,,errata1 a work of which as a work1 ,i am heartily ashamed now1 ,i labored long and earnestly to prove this4 ,i made my dwarf a creature of great moral beauty and strength4 ,godwin1 the powerful energetic and philosophizing ,godwin1 saw a shadow of this truth2 but he saw nothing more--the substance escaped him4 ,he taught1 and he has been followed by others1 among whom are ,brown1 ,scott and ,byron1 7,i observe the chronological order7 that a towering intellect may inhabit a miserable body2 that heroes are not of necessity six feet high1 nor of a godlike shape1 and that we may be deceived1 if we venture to judge of the inward by the outward man4 ,but they stopped here4 ,they did not perceive1 or perceiving1 would not acknowledge the whole truth2 for if we consider a moment1 we find that all their great men are scoundrels4 ,without one exception ,i believe1 their heroes are hypocrites or misanthropes1 banditti or worse2 while their good men are altogether subordinate and pitiable destitute of energy and wholly without character4 ,now believing as ,i do1 in spite of such overwhelming authority1 that a man may have a club-foot1 or a hump-back1 or even red hair and yet be a good man--peradventure a great man2 that a dwarf with a distorted shape may be a giant in goodness of heart and greatness of temper2 and that moral beauty may exist where it appears not to have been suspected by the chief critics of our age1 and of past ages--namely1 in a deformed body 7like that of sop17 ,i have written this book4 ,let me add however that although such was my principal1 it was not my only object4 ,i would call the attention of our novel-writers and our novel-readers to what is undoubtedly native and peculiar1 in the early history of our ,fathers2 ,i would urge them to believe that though there is much to lament in that history1 there is nothing to conceal2 that if they went astray1 as they most assuredly did in their judgments1 they went astray conscientiously1 with what they understood to be the law of ,god in their right hands4 ,the 8,salem ,tragedie0 is in proof--that is the ground-work of my story2 and ,i pray the reader to have patience with the author1 if he should find this tale rather more serious in parts1 and rather more argumentative in parts1 than stories1 novels and romances generally are4 ,i do not pretend to say that the book ,i now offer to my countrymen1 is altogether such a book as ,i would write now1 if ,i had more leisure1 nor altogether such a book as ,i hope to write before ,i die2 but as ,i cannot afford to throw it entirely away1 and as ,i believe it to be much better1 because more evidently prepared for a healthy good purpose1 than any other ,i have written1 ,i have concluded to publish it--hoping it may be regarded by the wise and virtuous of our country as some sort of atonement for the folly and extravagance of my earlier writing4 ,the skeleton of this tale was originally prepared for ,blackwood1 as the first of a series of ,north-,american ,stories3 ,he accepted it1 paid for it1 printed it1 and sent me the proofs4 ,a misunderstanding however occurred between us1 about other matters1 and ,i withdrew the story and repaid him for it4 ,it was never published therefore2 but was put aside by me1 as the frame-work for a novel--which novel is now before the reader4 ,,john ,,neal4 ,portland1 ,october #a1 #ahbh4 ,p4,s4 ,after some consideration1 ,i have concluded to publish a preface1 originally intended for the ,,north ,,american ,,stories alluded to above4 ,it was never published1 nor has it ever been read by any body but myself4 ,among those who are interested for the encouragement of our native literature1 there may be some who will not be sorry to see what my ideas were on the subject of novel-writing1 as well as what they are4 ,changes have been foretold in my views--and ,i owe it to our people to acknowledge1 that in a good degree1 the prediction has been accomplished ,i do not feel now as ,i did1 when ,i wrote ,seventy-,six1 ,randolph1 and the rest of the works published in ,america2 nor even as ,i did1 when ,i wrote those that were published over seas4 ,the mere novel-reader had better skip the following pages and go directly to the story4 ,the introductory chapter in all human probability will be too much for him4 ,j4 ,n4 ,,unpublished ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,north-,,american ,,stories1 ,,alluded ,,to ,,in ,,page ,v4 ,the author of this work is now under the necessity of bidding the novel-readers of the day1 on both sides of the water1 farewell1 and in all probability1 forever4 ,by them it may be considered a trivial affair--a time for pleasantry1 or peradventure for a formal expression of what are called good wishes4 ,but by him1 who does not feel like other men--or does not understand their language1 when they talk in this way1 it will ever be regarded as a very serious thing4 ,he would neither conceal nor deny the truth--he would not so affront the feeling within him--and he says therefore without affectation or ceremony1 that it goes to his heart even to bid the novel-readers of the age1 the few that have read his novels1 it were better to say--farewell4 ,these volumes are the last of a series which even from his youth up1 he had been accustomed to meditate upon as a worthy and affectionate offering to his family and to those who have made many a long winter day in a dreary climate1 very cheerful and pleasant to him--the daughters of a dear friend--of one who1 if his eye should ever fall upon this page1 will understand immediately more than a chapter could tell1 of the deep wayward strange motives that have influenced the author to say thus much and no more1 while recurring for the last time to the bright vision of his youth4 ,and the little that he does say now1 is not said for the world2--for what care they about the humble and innocent creatures1 whose gentleness and sincerity about their own fire-side1 were for a long time all that kept a man1 who was weary and sick of the great world1 from leaving it in despair8 ,no1 it is not said for them2 but for any one of that large family who may happen to be alive now1 and in the way of remembering 8the stranger that was within their gates0--when to the world he may be as if he never had been4 ,let them not be amazed when they discover the truth2 nor afraid nor ashamed to see that the man whom they knew only as the stranger from a far country1 was also an author4 ,in other days1 angels were entertained in the shape of travellers and way-faring men2 but ye--had ye known every stranger that knocked at your door to be an angel1 or a messenger of the ,most ,high1 could not have treated him more like an immortal creature than ye did that unknown man1 who now bears witness to your simplicity and great goodness of heart4 ,with you it was enough that a fellow-creature was unhappy--you strove to make him happy2 and having done this1 you sent him away1 ignorant alike of his people1 his country and his name4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this work is the last of the sort ,i believe--the very last ,i shall ever write4 ,reader--stop6--lay down the book for a moment and answer me4 ,do you feel no emotion at the sight of that word8 ,you are surprised at the question4 ,why should you feel any1 you ask4 ,why should you8--let us reason together for a moment4 ,can it be that you are able to bear of the final consummation of a hope which had been the chief stay of a fellow-creature for many--many years8--,can it be that you feel no sort of emotion at hearing him say1 ,lo6 ,i have finished the work--it is the last--no sensation of inquietude8 ,perhaps you now begin to see differently2 perhaps you would now try to exculpate yourself4 ,you are willing to admit now that the affair is one of a graver aspect than you first imagined4 ,you are half ready to deny now that you ever considered it otherwise4 ,but mark me--out of your own mouth you are condemned4 ,twice have ,i said already--three times have ,i said already1 that this was the last work of the sort ,i should ever write1 and you have read the declaration as you would1 the passing motto of a title-page4 ,you neither cared for it1 nor thought of it2 and had ,i not alarmed you by my abruptness1 compelled you to stop and think1 and awed you by steadfastly rebuking your inhumanity1 you would not have known by to-morrow whether ,i had spoken of it as my last work or not4 ,consider what ,i say--is it not the truth8--can you deny it8 ,and yet you--you are one of the multitude who dare to sit in judgment upon the doings of your fellow men4 ,it is on what you and such as you say1 that authors are to depend for that which is of more value to them than the breath of life--character4 ,how dare you6--,you read without reflection1 and you hear without understanding4 ,yet upon the judgment of such as you--so made up1 it is that the patient and the profound1 the thoughtful and the gifted1 are to rely for immortality4 ,to return to what ,i was about saying--the work now before you1 reader1 is the last of a series1 meditated as ,i have already told you1 from my youth4 ,it was but a dream at first--a dream of my boyhood1 indefinite1 vague and shadowy2 but as ,i grew up1 it grew stronger and braver and more substantial4 ,for years it did not deserve the name of a plan--it was merely a breathing after ,i hardly knew what1 a hope that ,i should live to do something in a literary way worthy of my people--accompanied however with an inappeasable yearning for the time and opportunity to arrive4 ,but so it was1 that1 notwithstanding all my anxiety and resolution1 ,i could not bring myself to make the attempt--even the attempt--until it appeared no longer possible for me to do what for years ,i had been very anxious to do4 ,the engagement was of too sacred a nature to be trifled with--perhaps the more sacred in my view for being made only with myself1 and without a witness2 for engagements having no other authority than our moral sense of duty to ourselves1 would never be performed1 after they grew irksome or heavy1 unless we were scrupulous in proportion to the facility with which we might escape if we would4 ,this indeterminate1 haunting desire to do what ,i had so engaged to do1 at last however began to give way before the serious and necessary business of life1 and the continually augmenting pressure of duties too solemn to be slighted for any--,i had almost said for any earthly consideration4 ,yea more1 to confess the whole truth1 ,i had begun to regard the enterprise itself--so prone are we to self-deception1 so ready at finding excuses where we have a duty to perform--as hardly worthy of much power1 and as altogether beneath an exalted ambition4 ,but here ,i was greatly mistaken2 for ,i have an idea now1 that a great novel--such a novel as might be made--if all the powers that could be employed upon it were found in one man1 would be the greatest production of human genius4 ,it is a law and a history of itself--to every people--and throughout all time--in literature and morals--in character and passion--yea--in what may be called the fire-side biography of nations4 ,it would be1 if rightly managed1 a picture of the present for futurity--a picture of human nature1 not only here but every where--a portrait of man--a history of the human heart--a book therefore1 written not only in a universal1 but in what may be considered as an everlasting language--the language of immortal1 indistructable spirits4 ,such are the parables of ,him who spoke that language best4 ,again however1 the subject was revived4 ,sleeping and waking1 by night and by day1 it was before me2 and at last ,i began to perceive that if the attempt were ever to be made1 it must be made by one desperate1 convulsive1 instantaneous effort4 ,i determined to deliberate no longer--or rather to stand no longer1 shivering like a coward1 upon the brink of adventure1 under pretence of deliberation2 and therefore1 having first carefully stopped my ears and shut my eyes1 ,i threw myself headlong over the precipice4 ,behold the result6 ,if ,i have not brought up the pearls1 ,i can say at least that ,i have been to the bottom--and ,i might have added--of the human heart sometimes--but for the perverse and foolish insincerity of the world1 which if ,i had so finished the sentence1 would have set their faces forever against my book2 although that same world1 had ,i been wise enough--no1 not wise enough but cunning enough1 to hold my peace1 might have been ready to acknowledge that ,i had been sometimes1 even where ,i say--to the very bottom of the human heart4 ,i plunged4 ,but when ,i did1 it was rather to relieve my own soul from the intolerable weight of her own reproach1 than with any hope of living to complete the design1 except at a sacrifice next in degree to that of self-immolation4 ,would you know what more than any other thing--more than all other things determined me at last8 ,i was an ,american4 ,i had heard the insolent question of a ,scotch ,reviewer1 repeated on every side of me by native ,americans--8,who reads an ,american ,book80 ,i could not bear this--,i could neither eat nor sleep till my mind was made up4 ,i reasoned with myself--,i strove hard--but the spirit within me would not be rebuked4 ,shall ,i go forth said ,i1 in the solitude of my own thought1 and make war alone against the foe--for alone it must be made1 or there will be no hope of success4 ,there must be but one head1 one heart in the plan--the secret must not even be guessed at by another--it must be single and simple1 one that like the wedge in mechanics1 or in the ancient military art1 must have but one point1 and that point must be of adamant4 ,being so it may be turned aside3 ,a thousand more like itself1 may be blunted or shivered2 but if at last1 any one of the whole should make any impression whatever upon the foe1 or effect any entrance whatever into the sanctity and strength of his tremendous phalanx1 then1 from that moment1 the day is our own4 ,our literature will begin to wake up1 and our pride of country will wake up with it4 ,those who follow will have nothing to do but keep what the forlorn hope1 who goes to irretrievable martyrdom if he fail1 has gained4 ,moreover--who was there to stand by the native ,american that should go out1 haply with a sling and a stone1 against a tower of strength and the everlasting entrenchments of prejudice8 ,could he hope to find so much as one of his countrymen1 to go with him or even to bear his shield8 ,would the ,reviewers of ,america befriend him8 ,no--they have not courage enough to fight their own battles manfully4#a ,no--they would rather flatter than strike4 ,they negociate altogether too much--where blows are wanted1 they give words4 ,and the best of our literary champions1 would they8 ,no2 they would only bewail his temerity1 if he were the bold headlong creature he should be to accomplish the work2 and pity his folly and presumption1 if he were any thing else4 #a ,or had not before this was written4 ,look to the ,north-,american ,review before #ahbe1 for proof4 ,after all however1 why should they be reproached for this8 ,they have gained their little reputation hardly4 8,it were too much to spend that little0--so grudgingly acquiesced in by their beloved countrymen--8rashly40 ,no wonder they fight shy4 ,it is their duty--considering what they have at stake--their little all4 ,there is ,washington ,irving now2 he has obtained the reputation of being--what8--why at the best1 of being only the ,american ,addison1 in the view of ,englishmen4 ,and is this a title to care much for8 ,would such a name1 though ,addison stood far higher in the opinion of the ,english themselves1 than he now does1 or ever again will1 be enough to satisfy the ambition of a lofty minded1 original thinker8 ,would such a man falter and reef his plumage midway up the altitude of his blinding and brave ascent1 to be called the ,american ,addison1 or even what in my view were ten thousand times better1 the ,american ,goldsmith4#b ,no--up to the very key stone of the broad blue firmament6 he would say1 or back to the vile earth again3 ay1 lower than the earth first6 ,understand me however4 ,i do not say this lightly nor disparagingly4 ,i love and admire ,washington ,irving4 ,i wish him all the reputation he covets1 and of the very kind he covets4 ,our paths never did1 never will cross each other4 ,and so with ,mr4 ,cooper2 and a multitude more1 of whom we may rightfully be proud4 ,they have gained just enough popular favor to make them afraid of hazarding one jot or tittle of it1 by stepping aside into a new path4 ,no one of these could avail me in my design4 ,they would have everything to lose1 and nothing to gain by embarking in it4 ,while ,i--what had ,i to lose--nay what have ,i to lose8 ,i am not now1 ,i never have been1 ,i never shall be an author by trade4 ,the opinion of the public is not the breath of life to me2 for if the truth must be told1 ,i have to this hour very little respect for it--so long as it is indeed the opinion of the public--of the mere multitude1 the careless1 unthinking judgment of the mob1 unregulated by the wise and thoughtful4 #b ,i speak here of ,goldsmith's prose1 not of his poetry4 ,heaven forbid6 ,to succeed as ,i hoped1 ,i must put everything at hazard4 ,it would not do for me to imitate anybody4 ,nor would it do for my country4 ,who would care for the ,american ,addison where he could have the ,english by asking for it8 ,who would languish1 a twelvemonth after they appeared1 for ,mr4 ,cooper's imitations of ,sir ,walter ,scott1 or ,charles ,brockden ,brown's imitations of ,godwin8 ,those1 and those only1 who after having seen the transfiguration of ,raphael1 7or that of ,talma17 or ,dominichino's ,st4 ,jerome1 would walk away to a village painting room1 or a provincial theatre1 to pick their teeth and play the critic over an imitation of the one or a copy of the other4 ,at the best1 all such things are but imitations4 ,and what are imitations8 ,sheer mimicry--more or less exalted to be sure2 but still mimicry--wherever the copies of life are copied and not life itself3 a sort of high-handed1 noon-day plagiarism--nothing more4 ,people are never amazed1 nor carried away1 nor uplifted by imitations4 ,they are pleased with the ingenuity of the artist--they are delighted with the closeness of the imitation--but that is all4 ,the better the work is done1 the worse they think of the workman4 ,he who can paint a great picture1 cannot copy--,david ,teniers to the contrary notwithstanding2 for ,david never painted a great picture in his life1 though he has painted small ones1 not more than three feet square1 which would sell for twenty-five thousand dollars to day4 ,yes--to succeed1 ,i must imitate nobody--,i must resemble nobody2 for with your critic1 resemblance in the unknown to the known1 is never anything but adroit imitation4 ,to succeed therefore1 ,i must be unlike all that have gone before me4 ,that were no easy matter2 nor would be it so difficult as men are apt to believe4 ,nor is it necessary that ,i should do better than all who have gone before me4 ,i should be more likely to prosper1 in the long run1 by worse original productions--with a poor story told in poor language1 7if it were original in spirit and character7 than by a much better story told in much better language1 if after the transports of the public were over1 they should be able to trace a resemblance between it and ,walter ,scott1 or ,oliver ,goldsmith1 or ,mr4 ,addison4 ,so far so good4 ,there was1 beyond a doubt1 a fair chance in the great commonwealth of literature1 even though ,i should not achieve a miracle1 nor prove myself both wiser and better than all the authors who had gone before me4 ,and moreover1 might it not be possible--possible ,i say--for the mob are a jealous guardian of sepulchres and ashes1 and high-sounding names1 particularly where a name will save them the trouble of judging for themselves1 or do their arguments for them in the shape of a perpetual demonstration1 whatever may be the nature of the controversy in which they are involved--might it not be possible then1 ,i say1 that1 as the whole body of mankind have been growing wiser and wiser1 and better and better1 since the day when these great writers flourished1 who are now ruling 8our spirits from their urns10 that authors may have improved with them8--that they alone of the whole human race1 by some possibility1 may not have remained altogether stationary age after age--while the least enquiring and the most indolent of human beings--the very multitude--have been steadily advancing both in knowledge and power8 ,and if so1 might it not be possible for some improvements to be made1 some discoveries1 even yet in style and composition1 by lanching forth into space4 ,true1 we might not be certain of finding a new world1 like ,columbus1 nor a new heaven1 like ,tycho ,brahe2 but we should probably encounter some phenomena in the great unvisited moral sky and ocean2 we should at least find out1 after a while--which would of itself be the next greatest consolation for our trouble and anxiety1 after that of discovering a new world or a new system1--that there remained no new world nor system to be discovered2 that they who should adventure after us1 would have so much the less to do for all that we had done2 that they must follow in our steps2 that if our health and strength had been wasted in a prodigious dream1 it would have the good effect of preventing any future waste of health and strength on the part of others in any similar enterprize4 ,islands and planets may still be found1 we should say1 and they that find them1 are welcome to them2 but continents and systems cannot be beyond where we have been2 and if there be any within it1 why--they are neither continents nor systems4 ,but then1 after all1 there was one plain question to be asked1 which no honest man would like to evade1 however much a mere dreamer might wish to do so4 ,it was this4 ,after all my fine theory--what are my chances of success8 ,and if successful1 what have ,i to gain8 ,i chose to answer the last question first4 ,gain6--of a truth1 it were no easy matter to say4 ,nothing here1 nothing now--certainly nothing in ,america1 till my bones have been canonized2 for my countrymen are a thrifty1 calculating people--they give nothing for the reputation of a man1 till they are sure of selling it for more than they give4 ,were they visited by saints and prophets instead of gifted men1 they would never believe that they were either saints or prophets1 till they had been starved to death--or lived by a miracle--by no visible means2 or until their cast-off clothes1 bones1 hair and teeth1 or the furniture of the houses wherein they were starved1 or the trees under which they had been chilled to death1 carved into snuff-boxes or walking-sticks1 would sell for as much as that sympathy had cost them1 or as much as it would come to1 to build a monument over--,i do not say over their unsheltered remains1 for by that time there would be but little or no remains of them to be found1 unmingled with the sky and water1 earth and air about them1 save perhaps in here and there a museum or college where they might always be bought up1 however1 immortality and all--for something more than compound interest added to the original cost--but to build a monument or a shed over the unappropriated stock1 with certain privileges to the manufacturer of the walking-sticks and snuff-boxes aforesaid1 so long as any of the material remained2 taking care to provide with all due solemnity1 perhaps by an act of the legislature1 for securing the monopoly to the sovereign state itself4 ,thus much perhaps ,i might hope for from my own people4 ,but what from the ,british8 ,they were magnanimous1 or at least they would bear to be told so2 and telling them so in a simple1 off-hand1 ingenuous way1 with a great appearance of sincerity1 and as if one had been carried away by a sudden impulse1 to speak a forbidden truth1 or surprised into a prohibited expression of feeling by some spectacle of generosity1 in spite of his constitutional reserve and timidity and caution1 would be likely to pay well4 ,but ,i would do no such thing4 ,i would flatter nobody--no people--no nation4 ,i would be to nobody--neither to my own countrymen1 nor to the ,british--unless ,i were better paid for it1 than any of my countrymen were ever yet paid either at home or abroad4 ,no--,i choose to see for myself1 by putting the proof touch like a hot iron to their foreheads1 whether the ,british are indeed a magnanimous people4 ,but then1 if ,i do all this1 what are my chances of reward1 even with the ,british themselves8 ,that was a fearful question to be sure4 ,the ,british are a nation of writers4 ,their novel-writers are as a cloud4 ,true--true--but they still want something which they have not4 ,they want a real ,american writer--one with courage enough to write in his native tongue4 ,that they have not1 even at this day4 ,that they never had4 ,our best writers are ,english writers1 not ,american writers4 ,they are ,english in every thing they do1 and in every thing they say1 as authors--in the structure and moral of their stories1 in their dialogue1 speech and pronunciation1 yea in the very characters they draw4 ,not so much as one true ,yankee is to be found in any of our native books3 hardly so much as one true ,yankee phrase4 ,not so much as one true ,indian1 though you hardly take up a story on either side of the water now1 without finding a red-man stowed away in it2 and what sort of a red-man8 ,why one that uniformly talks the best ,english the author is capable of--more than half the time perhaps out-,ossianing ,ossian4 ,i have the modesty to believe that in some things ,i am unlike all the other writers of my country--both living and dead2 although there are not a few1 ,i dare say who would be glad to hear of my bearing a great resemblance to the latter4 ,for my own part ,i do not pretend to write ,english--that is1 ,i do not pretend to write what the ,english themselves call ,english--,i do not1 and ,i hope to ,god--,i say this reverently1 although one of their ,reviewers may be again puzzled to determine 8whether ,i am swearing or praying0 when ,i say so--that ,i never shall write what is now worshipped under the name of classical ,english4 ,it is no natural language--it never was--it never will be spoken alive on this earth3 and therefore1 ought never to be written4 ,we have dead languages enough now2 but the deadest language ,i ever met with or heard of1 was that in use among the writers of ,queen ,anne's day4 ,at last ,i came to the conclusion--that the chances were at least a thousand to one against me4 ,a thousand to one said ,i1 to myself1 that ,i perish outright in my headlong enterprise4 ,but then1 if ,i do not perish--if ,i triumph1 what a triumph it will be6 ,if ,i succeed1 ,i shall be rewarded well--if the ,british are what they are believed to be--in fair proportion to the toil and peril ,i have encountered4 ,at any rate1 whether ,i fail or not1 ,i shall be1 and am willing to be1 one of the first hundred to carry the war into the very camp1 yea among the very household gods of the enemy4 ,and if ,i die1 ,i will die with my right arm consuming in the blaze of their altars--like ,mutius ,scvola4 ,but enough on this head4 ,the plan took shape1 and you have the commencement now before you1 reader4 ,i have had several objects in view at the same time1 all subordinate however to that which ,i first mentioned1 in the prosecution of my wayward enterprise4 ,one was to show to my countrymen that there are abundant and hidden sources of fertility in their own beautiful brave earth1 waiting only to be broken up2 and barren places to all outward appearance1 in the northern1 as well as the southern ,americas--yet teeming below with bright sail--where the plough-share that is driven through them with a strong arm1 will come out laden with rich mineral and followed by running water3 places where--if you but lay your ear to the scented ground1 you may hear the perpetual gush of innumerable fountains pouring their subterranean melody night and day among the minerals and rocks1 the iron and the gold3 places where the way-faring man1 the pilgrim or the wanderer through what he may deem the very deserts of literature1 the barren-places of knowledge1 will find the very roots of the withered and blasted shrubbery1 which like the traveller in ,peru1 he may have accidentally uptorn in his weary and discouraging ascent1 and the very bowels of the earth into which he has torn his way1 heavy with a brightness that may be coined1 like the soil about the favorite hiding places of the sunny-haired ,apollo4 ,another1 was to teach my countrymen1 that these very ,englishmen1 to whom as the barbarians of ancient story did by their gods when they would conciliate them1 we are accustomed to offer up our own offspring1 with our own hands1 whenever we see the sky darkening over the water--the sky inhabited of them2 ay1 that these very ,englishmen1 to whom we are so in the habit of immolating all that is beautiful and grand among us--the first born of our youth--our creatures of immortality--our men of genius1 while in the fever and flush of their vanity1 innocence and passion--ere they have had time to put out their first plumage to the sky and the wind1 all above and about them--that they1 these very ,englishmen1 would not love us the less1 nor revere us the less1 if we loved and revered ourselves1 and the issue of our blood and breath1 and vitality and power1 a little more4 ,no--the men of ,england are men4 ,they love manhood4 ,they may smile at our national vanity1 but their smile would be one of compassionate benevolence and encouragement1 if we were wise enough to keep our young at home1 till their first molting season were well over--and then1 offer to pair them1 even though there would be a little presumption in it1 high up in the skies1 and the strong wind--with their bravest and best3 not1 as we do now1 upon the altars of the earth--upon the tables of our money-changers--half fledged and untrained--with their legs tied1 and wings clipped2 or1 peradventure1 with necks turned1 and heads all skewered under their tails--a heap of carrion and garbage that the braver birds1 even among their enemies1 would disdain to stoop at4 ,such would be their behavior1 if we dealt as we ought with our own2 there would be no pity nor disdain with them4 ,they would cheer us to the conflict--pour their red wine down our throats if we were beaten2 and if their birds were beaten1 they would bear it with temper--knowing that their reputation could well afford an occasional trumph1 to the young of their favorite brood4 ,the men of ,england are waiting to do us justice3 but there is a certain formality to be gone through with1 before they will do it4 ,we must claim it4 ,and why should we not8 ,i do not mean that we should claim it upon our knees as the condemned of their courts of justice are compelled to claim that mercy1 which the very law itself1 has predetermined to grant to him--but will not1 unless that idle and unworthy formality has been submitted to2 no--,i mean no such thing4 ,we do not want mercy3 and ,i would have my countrymen1 when they are arraigned before any mere ,english tribunal--not acting under the law of nations in the world of literature1 to go at once1 with a calm front and untroubled eye1 and plead to their jurisdiction1 with a loud clear voice1 and with their right hand upon the great book of ,english law1 and set them at defiance4 ,this1 they have the right1 and the power to do2 and why should they not1 when some of the inferior courts1 of mere ,english criticism1 have the audacity at every little interval1 to call upon a sovereign people1 to plead before them--without counsel--and be tried for some infringement of some paltry municipal provision of their statute book--some provincialism of language--or some heresy in politics--or some plagiarism of manner or style2 and abide the penalty of forgery--or of ecclesiastical censure--or the reward of petit-larceny2 re-transportation--or re-banishment to ,america4 ,it is high time now1 that we should begin to do each other justice4 ,let us profit by their good qualities2 and let them1 by ours4 ,and in time1 we shall assuredly come to feel like brothers of the same parentage--an elder and a younger--different in temper--but alike in family resemblance--and alike proud of our great ancestry1 the ,english giants of olden time4 ,we shall revere our brother2 and he will love his4 ,but when shall this be8--not1 ,i am sorely afraid--till we have called home all our children1 from the four corners of the earth2 from the east and from the west2 from the north and from the south--and held a congress of the dead--of their fathers1 and of our fathers--and published to the world1 and to posterity--appealing again to ,jehovah for the rectitude of our intentions--another ,,declaration ,,of ,,independence1 in the great ,,republic ,,of ,,letters4 ,and1 yet this may soon be4 ,the time is even now at hand4 ,our representatives are assembling3 the dead ,greek1 and the ,roman2 the ancient ,english1 and the fathers of literature1 from all the buried nations of all the earth1 and holding counsel together1 and choosing their delegates4 ,and the generation is already born1 that shall yet hear the heavens ringing with acclamations to their decree--that another state has been added to the everlasting confederacy of literature6 ,and now the author repeats to the people of ,america1 one and all1 farewell2 assuring them that there is very little probability of his ever appearing before them again as a novel-writer4 ,his object has been1 if not wholly1 at least in a great degree accomplished4 ,he has demonstrated that a bold and direct appeal to the manhood of any people will never be made in vain4 ,others may have been already1 or may hereafter be incited to a more intrepid movement2 and to a more confident reliance upon themselves and their resources1 by what he has now accomplished--where it is most difficult to accomplish any thing--among his own countrymen3 and most devoutly does he pray1 that if they should1 they may be more fortunate1 and far more generously rewarded1 than he has ever been2 and if they should not1 he advises them to go where he has been already--and trust to another people for that1 which his own have not the heart to give him1 however well he may deserve it4 ,abroad--if he do not get a chaplet of fire and greenness--he will1 at least1 get a cup of cold water1--and it may be1 a tear or two of compassion1 if nothing of encouragement--whatever he may do4 ,at home--he may wear himself out--like one ashamed of what he is doing1 in secrecy and darkness--exhaust his own heart of all its power and vitality1 by pouring himself into the hearts of others--with a certainty that he will be called a madman1 a beggar and a fool1 for his pains--unless he persevere1 in spite of a broken heart1 and a broken constitution1 till he shall have made his own countrymen ashamed of themselves1 and afraid of him4 ,it is a sad thing to say good by'e1 even for an author4 ,if you mean what you say--it is a prayer as well as a blessing1 an audible breathing of the heart4 ,and if you do not--it is a wicked profanation4 ,so far1 reader1 you have been the familiar companion of the author2 and you may be one of those1 who have journied with him before1 for many a weary day1 through much of his wandering and meditation3--that is1 you may be one of those who1 having been admitted before1 to touch his heart with a naked hand--have felt in one pulsation--in one single hour's fellowship with it1 all that he had felt and thought for many a weary year4 ,you have been with him to a more holy place than the fire-side2 to him1 more like the invisible creatures--for he hath never seen your face1 and peradventure never may1 though you have been looking into his very soul--that hover about the chamber of prayer--the solitude of the poet--or the haunted place under the shadow of great trees1 where the wearied man throws himself down1 to muse upon the face of his ,creator1 which he sees in the sky over him1 or beneath the vast blue water before him4 ,is it wonderful therefore that there should be a little seriousness about his brow--although ye are invisible to him--when he is about to say farewell to you--farewell forever--without having once heard the tone of your voice--nor one of the many tears1 that you may have dropped over him1 when you thought yourself altogether alone3-- ,nor can he look back1 without some emotion1 upon the labour that he has undergone1 even within that flowery wilderness1 where he hath been journeying with you1 or lying and ruminating all alone1 for so long a time2 and out of which1 he is now about to emerge--forever--with a strong tread1 to the broad blue sky and the solid earth2 nor without lamenting that he cannot go barefooted--and half-naked among men2--and that the colour and perfume--the dim enchantment1 and the sweet1 breathing1 solemn loneliness of the wild-wood path1 that he is about to abandon1 for the broad dusty highway of the world1 are so unpropitious to the substantial reputation of a man3 nor1 without grieving that the blossom-leaves1 and the golden flower-dust1 which now cover him1 from head to foot1 must be speedily brushed away2--and that the scent of the wilderness may not go with him--wherever he may go--wandering through the habitation of princes--the courts of the living ,god--or1 the dwelling places of ambition--yea1 even into the grave4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have but one other request to make4 ,let these words be engraven hereafter on my tomb-stone3 8,,who ,,reads ,,an ,,american ,,book80 ,,rachel ,,dyer4 ,the early history of ,new-,england1 or of ,massachusetts ,bay1 rather2 now one of the six ,new-,england ,states of ,north ,america1 and that on which the ,plymouth settlers1 or 8,fathers0 went ashore--the shipwrecked men of mighty age1 abounds with proof that witchcraft was a familiar study1 and that witches and wizards were believed in for a great while1 among the most enlightened part of a large and well-educated religious population4 ,the multitude of course had a like faith2 for such authority governs the multitude every where1 and at all times4 ,the belief was very general about a hundred years ago in every part of ,british ,america1 was very common fifty years ago1 when the revolutionary war broke out1 and prevails now1 even to this day in the wilder parts of the ,new-,england territory1 as well as in the new ,states which are springing up every where in the retreating shadow of the great western wilderness--a wood where half the men of ,europe might easily hide from each other--and every where along the shores of the solitude1 as if the new earth were full of the seed of empire1 as if dominion were like fresh flowers or magnificent herbage1 the spontaneous growth of a new soil wherever it is reached by the warm light or the cheerful rain of a new sky4 ,it is not confined however1 nor was it a hundred and thirty five years ago1 the particular period of our story1 to the uneducated and barbarous1 or to a portion of the white people of ,north-,america1 nor to the native ,indians1 a part of whose awful faith1 a part of whose inherited religion it is to believe in a bad power1 in witchcraft spells and sorcery4 ,it may be met with wherever the ,bible is much read in the spirit of the ,new-,england ,fathers4 ,it was rooted in the very nature of those who were quite remarkable in the history of their age1 for learning1 for wisdom1 for courage and for piety2 of men who fled away from their fire-sides in ,europe to the rocks of another world--where they buried themselves alive in search of truth4 ,we may smile now to hear witchcraft spoken seriously of2 but we forget perhaps that a belief in it is like a belief in the after appearance of the dead among the blue waters1 the green graves1 the still starry atmosphere and the great shadowy woods of our earth2 or like the beautiful deep instinct of our nature for worship1--older than the skies1 it may be1 universal as thought1 and sure as the steadfast hope of immortality4 ,we may turn away with a sneer now from the devout believer in witches1 wondering at the folly of them that have such faith1 and quite persuading ourselves in our great wisdom1 that all who have had it heretofore1 however they may have been regarded by ages that have gone by1 were not of a truth wise and great men2 but we forget perhaps that we are told in the ,book of ,books1 the ,scriptures of ,truth1 about witches with power to raise the dead1 about wizards and sorcerers that were able to strive with ,jehovah's anointed high priest before the misbelieving majesty of ,egypt1 with all his court and people gathered about his throne for proof1 and of others who could look into futurity with power1 interpret the vision of sleep1 read the stars1 bewitch and afflict whom they would1 cast out devils and prophesy--false prophets were they called1 not because that which they said was untrue1 but because that which they said1 whether true or untrue1 was not from above--because the origin of their preternatural power was bad or untrue4 ,and we forget moreover that laws were made about conjuration1 spells and witchcraft by a body of ,british lawgivers1 renowned for their sagacity1 deep research1 and grave thoughtful regard for truth1 but a few years ago--the other day as it were--and that a multitude of superior men have recorded their belief in witchcraft--men of prodigious power--such men as the great and good ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 who gave judgment of death upon several witches and wizards1 at a period when1 if we may believe a tithe of what we hear every day of our lives1 from the mouth of many a great lawyer1 there was no lack of wit or wisdom1 nor of knowledge or faithful enquiry2 and such men too as the celebrated author of the ,commentaries on the ,laws of ,england1 which are1 8as every body knows1 or should know1 and a man must be exceedingly ignorant not to know0 the pride of the ,british empire and a pillar of light for the sages of hereafter2 and that within the last one hundred and fifty or two hundred years1 a multitude of men and women have been tried and executed by authority of ,british law1 in the heart of ,england1 for having dealt in sorcery and witchcraft4 ,we may smile--we may sneer--but would such things have occurred in the ,british ,parliament1 or in the ,british courts of law1 without some proof--whatever1 it was--proof to the understandings of people1 who in other matters are looked up to by the chief men of this age with absolute awe--that creatures endowed with strange1 if not with preternatural power1 did inhabit our earth and were able to work mischief according to the popular ideas of witchcraft and sorcery8 ,we know little or nothing of the facts upon which their belief was founded4 ,all that we know is but hearsay1 tradition or conjecture4 ,they who believed were eye-witnesses and ear witnesses of what they believed2 we who disbelieve are neither4 ,they who believed knew all that we know of the matter and much more2 we who disbelieve are not only ignorant of the facts1 but we are living afar off1 in a remote age4 ,nevertheless1 they believed in witchcraft1 and we regard all who speak of it seriously1 with contempt4 ,how dare we6 ,what right have we to say that witches and witchcraft are no more1 that sorcery is done with forever1 that miracles are never to be wrought again1 or that ,prophecy shall never be heard again by the people of ,god1 uplifting her voice like a thousand echoes from the everlasting solitudes of the sea1 or like uninterrupted heavy thunder breaking over the terrible and haughty nations of our earth8 ,why should we not think as well of him who believes too much1 as of him who believes too little8 ,of him whose faith1 whatever it may be1 is too large1 as of him whose faith1 whatever it may be1 is too small8 ,of the good with a credulous temper1 as of the great with a suspicious temper8 ,of the pure in heart1 of the youthful1 of the untried in the ways of the world1 who put much faith in whatever they are told1 too much it may be1 as of them who being thoroughly tried in the ways of the world put no faith in what they hear1 and little in what they see8 ,of the humble in spirit who believe1 though they do not perfectly understand1 as of the haughty who will not believe because they do not perfectly understand8 ,of the poor child who thinks a juggler eats fire when he does not1 as of the grown-up sage who thinks a juggler does not swallow a sword when he does8 ,of the believer in ,crusoe1 who sits poring over the story under a hedge1 as of the unbeliever in ,bruce who would not believe1 so long as it was new1 in the ,tale of ,abyssinia8 ,of those in short who are led astray by self-distrust1 or innocence1 or humility1 as of them who are led astray by self-conceit1 or corruption1 or pride8 ,in other days1 the ,lion of the desert would not believe the horse when he came up out of the bleak north1 and told a story of waters and seas that grew solid1 quiet and smooth in the dead of winter4 ,his majesty had never heard of such a thing before1 and what his majesty had never heard of before could not be possible4 ,the mighty lord of the ,numedian desert could not believe--how could he8--in a cock-and-a-bull-story1 about ice and snow2 for to him they were both as a multitude of such things are to the philosophy of our age1 out of the course of nature4 ,a solid sea and a fluid earth are alike to such as have no belief in what is new or contrary to that course of nature with which they are acquainted--whatever that may be4 ,there is no such thing as proof to the over-wise or over mighty1 save where by reason of what they already know1 there is not much need of other proof4--,they would not believe1 though one should rise from the dead--they are too cautious by half2 they are not satisfied with any sort of testimony2 they dare not believe their own eyes--they do not indeed2 for spectres when they appear to the eye of the philosopher now1 are attributed altogether to a diseased organ4#c ,they care not for the cloud of witnesses--they withdraw from the ,bible1 they scoff at history1 and while they themselves reject every kind of proof1 whatever it may be1 such proof as they would be satisfied with in a case of murder1 were they to hear it as a jury--such proof as they would give judgment of death upon1 without fear1 proof under oath by men of high character and severe probity1 eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of what they swear to--they ridicule those who undertake to weigh it with care1 and pursue with scorn or pity those who shiver through all their arteries at a story of the preternatural4 #c ,as by the printer of ,berlin4 ,see also ,beasley's ,search after ,truth4 ,as if it were a mark of deplorable fatuity for a babe to believe now as a multitude of wise and great and gifted men have heretofore believed in every age of the world6 ,as if to think it possible for such to have been right in their belief1 were too absurd for excuse now--such men as the holy ,greek1 the upright immovable ,socrates1 who persuaded himself that he was watched over by a sort of household spirit2 such men too as the 8bald0 ,csar1 and the rock-hearted ,brutus1 both of whom spite of their imperial nature and high place among the warlike and mighty of their age1 believed in that1 and shook before that which whether deceitful or not1 substance or shadow1 the very cowards of our day are too brave to be scared with1 too full of courage to put their trust in--afraid as they are of that1 which the ,roman pair would have met with a stern smile and a free step2 such men too of a later age1 as the profound1 wise and pure ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 who put many to death for witchcraft--so clear was the proof1 and so clear the nature of the crime--while the nature of larceny1 the nature of common theft was forever a mystery to him1 if we may believe what we hear out of his own mouth2 such men too as the celebrated ,judge ,blackstone1 who after a thorough sifting of the law1 says--8,it seems to be most eligible to conclude that in general there has been such a thing as witchcraft1 though we cannot give credit to any particular modern instance of it20 such men too as ,doctor ,samuel ,johnson1 ,l4 ,l4 ,d4 who saw through all the hypocricy and subterfuge of our day1 when he said1 speaking of a superstitious belief1 that men who deny it by their words1 confess it by their fears--nothing was ever so true6 we who are most afraid1 want courage to own it2 such men too as the ,lord ,protector of ,england1 while she was a commonwealth2 and such as he1 the ,desolator-- 844444444444 ,from whose reluctant hand1 ,the thunder-bolt was wrung0-- for they were both believers in what the very rabble of our earth deride now2 such men1 too1 as the chief among poets--,byron--for he believed in the words of a poor old gypsey1 and shook with fear1 and faltered on the way to his bridal-chamber1 when he thought of the prophecy she had uttered years and years before1 in the morning of his haughty youth2 such men too as the head lawgiver of our day1 the ,high-,priest of ,legislation1 the great and good1 the benevolent1 the courageous ,bentham1 who to this hour is half afraid in the dark1 and only able to satisfy himself about the folly of such fear1 when his night-cap is off1 by resorting with suitable gravity to his old refuge1 the exhaustive mode of reasoning4 ,if a ghost appear at all1 argues he1 it must appear either clothed or not clothed4 ,but a ghost never appears not clothed1 or naked2 and if it appear clothed1 we shall have not only the ghost of a human creature--which is bad enough2 but the ghost of a particular kind of cloth of a particular fashion1 the ghost of a pocket-handkerchief1 or a night-cap--which is too bad4 ,thus much for authority3 and here1 but for one little circumstance we should take up our narrative1 and pursue it without turning to the right or the left1 until we came to the sorrowful issue2 but as we may have here and there a reader1 in this unbelieving age1 who has no regard for authority1 nor much respect for the wisdom of our ancestors1 what if we try to put the whole argument into a more conclusive shape8 ,it may require but a few pages1 and a few pages may go far to allay the wrath of modern philosophy4 ,if we throw aside the privilege of authorship1 and speak1 not as a multitude but as one of the true faith1 our argument would stand thus3 ,in a word1 whatever the philosophy of our age may say1 ,i cannot look upon witchcraft and sorcery as the unbeliever does4 ,i know enough what the fashion is now2 but ,i cannot believe1 ,i do not believe that we know much more of the matter than our great progenitors did2 or that we are much wiser than a multitude who have been for ages1 and are now1 renowned for their wisdom2 or that we are much more pious than our noble fathers were1 who died in their belief--died for their belief1 ,i should say1 and are a proverb to this hour on account of their piety4 ,nor can ,i persuade myself that such facts would be met with in grave undoubted history1 if they were untrue1 as are to be met with in every page of that which concerns the period of our story2 facts which go to prove not only that a fixed belief in witchcraft prevailed throughout ,europe as well as ,america1 and among those with whom there was no lack of probity or good sense1 or knowledge1 it would appear2 but that hundreds of poor creatures were tried for witchcraft under the authority of ,british law1 and put to death1 under the authority of ,british law1 7and several after confession7 for the practice of witchcraft and sorcery4 ,may it not be worth our while therefore1 to speak seriously and reverently of our mighty forefathers8 to bear in mind that the proof which they offer is affirmative and positive1 while that which we rely upon1 is negative--a matter of theory8 to keep in view1 moreover1 that if a body of witnesses of equal worth were equally divided1 one half saying that on such a day and hour1 at such a place1 when they were all together1 such or such a thing1 preternatural or not1 mysterious or not1 occurred2 while the other half say positively1 man for man1 that so far as they heard or saw1 or know or believe1 no such thing did occur1 at such a time or place1 or at any other time or place1 whatsoever--still1 even here1 though you may believe both parties1 though you may give entire credit to the words of each1 you may be justified1 in a variety of cases1 in acting upon the testimony of the former in preference to that of the latter4 ,and why8 ,because the contradictory words of both may not be so contradictory as they appear--not so contradictory as to neutralize each other on every hypothesis2 but may be reconcilable to the supposition that such or such a fact1 however positively denied by one party1 and however mysterious it may seem1 really did occur3 and this while they are not reconcilable to the supposition that such or such a fact really did not occur4--,it being much more easy to overlook that which is1 than to see that which is not2 much more easy to not see a shadow that falls upon our pathway1 than to see a shadow where indeed there is no shadow2 much more easy to not hear a real voice1 than to hear no voice4 ,if the multitude of trustworthy and superior men1 therefore1 who testify to the facts which are embodied in the following narrative1 and which may appear incredible to the wise of our day1 or out of the course of nature to the philosophy of our day1 like ice or snow to the ,lord of the ,desert2 if they were positively contradicted step by step1 throughout1 by another like multitude of trustworthy and superior men--still1 though the two parties were alike numerous and alike worthy of credit1 and although you might believe the story of each1 and every word of it1 and give no preference to either3--,still ,i say1 you might be justified in supposing that after all1 the facts which the former testify to really did occur4 ,and why8 ,because though both speak true1 that hypothesis may still be supported2 while if both speak true1 the contrary hypothesis cannot be supported4 ,facts may occur without being heard or seen by the whole of a party who are together at the time they occur3 but how are they to be seen or heard1 if they do not occur at all8 ,i have put a much stronger case than that on which the truth of the following story is made to depend2 for no such contradiction occurs here1 no such positive testimony1 no such array of multitude against multitude of the same worth1 or the same age1 or the same people4 ,on the affirmative side are a host here--a host of respectable witnesses1 not a few of whom sealed their testimony with their blood2 on the negative1 hardly one either of a good or a bad character4 ,what appears on the negative side is not by facts1 but by theory4 ,it is not positive but conjectural4 ,the negative witnesses are of our age and of our people2 the affirmative were of another age and of another people4 ,the former too1 it should be remarked were not only not present1 but they were not born--they were not alive1 when the matters which they deny the truth of1 took place--if they ever took place at all4 ,now1 if oaths are to be answered by conjecture1 bloodshed by a sneer1 absolute martyrdom by hypothesis1 much grave testimony of the great and the pious1 by a speculative argument1 a brief syllogism1 or a joke--of what use are the rules by which our trust in what we hear is regulated8 our faith whatever it may be1 and whether it concern this world or the next1 and whether it be of the past1 the present or the future8 ,are we to believe only so far as we may touch and see for ourselves8 ,what is the groundwork of true knowledge8 where the spirit of true philosophy8 ,whither should we go for proof2 and of what avail is the truth which we are hoarding up1 the truth which we are extracting year after year by laborious investigation1 or fearful experiment8 ,if we do not believe those who go up to the altar and make oath before the ,everlasting ,god1 not as men do now1 one after another1 but nation by nation1 to that which is very new to us1 or wonderful1 why should posterity believe us when we testify to that which hereafter may be very new to them or very wonderful8 ,is every day to be like every other day1 every age like every other age in the ,diary of the ,universe8 ,earthquake1 war and revolution--the overthrow of ,states and of empires1 are they to be repeated forever1 lest men should not believe the stories that are told of them8 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,but enough4 ,it is quite impossible to doubt the sincerity of the ,plymouth settlers1 the ,pilgrims1 or ,fathers of ,new-,england1 who escaping over sea laid the foundations of a mighty empire on the perpetual rocks of ,new-,plymouth1 and along the desolate shores of a new world1 or their belief in witchcraft and sorcery1 whatever we may happen to believe now2 for1 at a period of sore and bitter perplexity for them and theirs1 while they were yet wrestling for life1 about four hundred of their hardy brave industrious population were either in prison for the alleged practice of witchcraft1 or under accusation for matters which were looked upon as fatal evidence thereof4 ,by referring to the sober and faithful records of that age1 it will be found that in the course of about fifteen months1 while the ,fathers of ,new-,england were beset on every side by the exasperated savages1 or by the more exasperated ,french1 who led the former through every part of the ,british-,american territory1 twenty-eight persons received sentence of death 7of which number nineteen were executed7 one died in jail1 to whom our narrative relates1 and one was deliberately crushed to death--according to ,british law1 because forsooth1 being a stout full-hearted man1 he would not make a plea1 nor open his mouth to the charge of sorcery1 before the twelve1 who up to that hour had permitted no one who did open his mouth to escape2 that a few more succeeded in getting away before they were capitally charged2 that one hundred and fifty were set free after the outcry was over2 and that full two hundred more of the accused who were in great peril without knowing it1 were never proceeded against1 after the death of the individual whose character we have attempted a sketch of1 in the following story4 ,of these four hundred poor creatures1 a large part of whom were people of good repute in the prime of life1 above two-score made confession of their guilt--and this although about one half1 being privately charged1 had no opportunity for confession4 ,the laws of nature1 it would seem were set aside--if not by ,jehovah1 at least by the judges acting under the high and holy sanction of ,british law1 in this day of sorrow2 for at the trial of a woman who appears to have been celebrated for beauty and held in great fear because of her temper1 both by the settlers and the savages1 three of her children stood up1 and children though they were1 in the presence of their mother1 avowed themselves to be witches1 and gave a particular account of their voyages through the air and over sea1 and of the cruel mischief they had perpetrated by her advice and direction2 for she was endowed1 say the records of the day1 with great power and prerogative1 and the ,father of lies had promised her1 at one of their church-yard gatherings that she should be 8,queen of ,hell40 ,but before we go further into the particulars of our narrative which relates to a period when the frightful superstition we speak of was raging with irresistible power1 a rapid review of so much of the earlier parts of the ,new-,england history1 as immediately concerns the breaking out1 and the growth of a belief in witchcraft among the settlers of our savage country1 may be of use to the reader1 who1 but for some such preparation1 would never be able to credit a fiftieth part of what is undoubtedly true in the following story4 ,the pilgrims or 8,fathers0 of ,new-,england1 as they are now called by the writers of ,america1 were but a ship-load of pious brave men1 who while they were in search of a spot of earth where they might worship their ,god without fear1 and build up a faith1 if so it pleased him1 without reproach1 went ashore partly of their own accord1 but more from necessity1 in the terrible winter of #afbj-ba1 upon a rock of ,massachusetts-,bay1 to which they gave the name of ,new-,plymouth1 after that of the port of ,england from which they embarked4 ,they left ,england forever4444 ,england their home and the home of their mighty fathers--turned their backs forever upon all that was dear to them in their beloved country1 their friends1 their houses1 their tombs and their churches1 their laws and their literature with all that other men cared for in that age2 and this merely to avoid persecution for a religious faith2 fled away as it were to the ends of the earth1 over a sea the very name of which was doubtful1 toward a shore that was like a shadow to the navigators of ,europe1 in search of a place where they might kneel down before their ,father1 and pray to him without molestation4 ,but1 alas for their faith6 ,no sooner had these pilgrims touched the shore of the new world1 no sooner were they established in comparative power and security1 than they fell upon the ,quakers1 who had followed them over the same sea1 with the same hope2 and scourged and banished them1 and imprisoned them1 and put some to death1 for not believing as the new church taught in the new world4 ,such is the nature of man6 ,the persecuted of to-day become the persecutors of to-morrow4 ,they flourish1 not because they are right1 but because they are persecuted2 and they persecute because they have the power1 not because they whom they persecute are wrong4 ,the quakers died in their belief1 and as the great always die--without a word or a tear2 praying for the misguided people to their last breath1 but prophecying heavy sorrow to them and to theirs--a sorrow without a name--a wo without a shape1 to their whole race forever2 with a mighty series of near and bitter affliction to the judges of the land1 who while they were uttering the words of death to an aged woman of the ,quakers1 7,mary ,dyer7 were commanded with a loud voice to set their houses in order1 to get ready the accounts of their stewardship1 and to prepare with the priesthood of all the earth1 to go before the ,judge of the quick and the dead4 ,it was the voice of ,elizabeth ,hutchinson1 the dear and familiar friend of ,mary ,dyer4 ,she spoke as one having authority from above1 so that all who heard her were afraid--all6 even the judges who were dealing out their judgment of death upon a fellow creature4 ,and lo6 after a few years1 the daughter of the chief judge1 before whom the prophecy had been uttered with such awful power1 was tried for witchcraft and put to death for witchcraft on the very spot 7so says the tradition of the people7 where she stayed to scoff at ,mary ,dyer1 who was on her way to the scaffold at the time1 with her little withered hands locked upon her bosom 444 her grey head lifted up 444 not bowed in her unspeakable distress 444 but lifted up1 as if in prayer to something visible above1 something whatever it was1 the shadow of which fell upon the path and walked by the side of the aged martyr2 something whatever it was1 that moved like a spirit over the green smooth turf 444 now at her elbow1 now high up and afar off 444 now in the blue1 bright air2 something whose holy guardianship was betrayed to the multitude by the devout slow motion of the eyes that were about to be extinguished forever4 ,not long after the death of the daughter of the chief judge1 another female was executed for witchcraft1 and other stories of a similar nature were spread over the whole country1 to prove that she too had gone out of her way to scoff at the poor quaker-woman4 ,this occurred in #afee1 only thirty-five years after the arrival of the ,fathers in ,america4 ,from this period1 until #afia1 there were but few trials for witchcraft among the ,plymouth settlers1 though the practice of the art was believed to be common throughout ,europe as well as ,america1 and a persuasion was rooted in the very hearts of the people1 that the prophecy of the quakers and of ,elizabeth ,hutchinson would assuredly be accomplished4 ,it was accomplished4 ,a shadow fell upon the earth at noon-day4 ,the waters grew dark as midnight4 ,every thing alive was quiet with fear--the trees1 the birds1 the cattle1 the very hearts of men who were gathered together in the houses of the ,lord1 every where1 throughout all the land1 for worship and for mutual succor4 ,it was indeed a 8,dark ,day0--a day never to be thought of by those who were alive at the time1 nor by their children's children1 without fear4 ,the shadow of the grave was abroad1 with a voice like the voice of the grave4 ,earthquake1 fire1 and a furious bright storm followed2 inundation1 war and strife in the church4 ,stars fell in a shower1 heavy cannon were heard in the deep of the wilderness1 low music from the sea--trumpets1 horses1 armies1 mustering for battle in the deep sea4 ,apparitions were met in the high way1 people whom nobody knew1 men of a most unearthly stature2 evil spirits going abroad on the sabbath day4 ,the print of huge feet and hoof-marks were continually discovered in the snow1 in the white sand of the sea-shore--nay1 in the solid rocks and along the steep side of high mountains1 where no mortal hoof could go2 and sometimes they could be traced from roof to roof on the house-tops1 though the buildings were very far apart2 and the shape of ,elizabeth ,hutchinson herself1 was said to have appeared to a traveller1 on the very spot where she and her large family1 after being driven forth out of ,new-,england by the power of the new church1 were put to death by the savages4 ,he that saw the shape knew it1 and was afraid for the people2 for the look of the woman was a look of wrath1 and her speech a speech of power4 ,elizabeth ,hutchinson was one of the most extraordinary women of the age--haughty1 ambitious and crafty2 and when it was told every where through the ,plymouth colony that she had appeared to one of the church that expelled her1 they knew that she had come back1 to be seen of the judges and elders1 according to her oath1 and were siezed with a deep fear4 ,they knew that she had been able to draw away from their peculiar mode of worship1 a tithe of their whole number when she was alive1 and a setter forth1 if not of strange gods1 at least of strange doctrines3 and who should say that her mischievous power had not been fearfully augmented by death8 ,meanwhile the men of ,new ,plymouth1 and of ,massachusetts ,bay1 had multiplied so that all the neighborhood was tributary to them1 and they were able to send forth large bodies of their young men to war1 six hundred1 seven hundred1 and a thousand at a time1 year after year1 to fight with ,philip of ,mount ,hope1 a royal barbarian1 who had wit enough to make war as the great men of ,europe would make war now1 and to persuade the white people that the prophecy of the ,quakers related to him4 ,it is true enough that he made war like a savage--and who would not1 if he were surrounded as ,philip of ,mount ,hope was1 by a foe whose hatred was a part of his religion1 a part of his very blood and being8 if his territory were ploughed up or laid waste by a superior foe8 if the very wilderness about him were fired while it was the burial-place and sanctuary of his mighty fathers8 if their form of worship were scouted1 and every grave and every secret place of prayer laid open to the light1 with all their treasures and all their mysteries8 every temple not made with hands1 every church built by the ,builder of the ,skies1 invaded by such a foe and polluted with the rites of a new faith1 or levelled without mercy--every church and every temple1 whether of rock or wood1 whether perpetual from the first1 or planted as the churches and temples of the solitude are1 with leave to perpetuate themselves forever1 to renew their strength and beauty every year and to multiply themselves on every side forever and ever1 in spite of deluge and fire1 storm1 strife and earthquake2 every church and every temple whether roofed as the skies are1 and floored as the mountains are1 with great clouds and with huge rocks1 or covered in with tree-branches and paved with fresh turf1 lighted with stars and purified with high winds8 ,would not the man of ,europe make war now like a savage1 and without mercy1 if he were beset by a foe--for such was the foe that ,philip of ,mount ,hope had to contend with in the fierce pale men of ,massachusetts ,bay1--a foe that no weapon of his could reach1 a foe coming up out of the sea with irresistible power1 and with a new shape8 ,what if armies were to spring up out of the solid earth before the man of ,europe--it would not be more wonderful to him than it was to the man of ,america to see armies issuing from the deep4 ,what if they were to approach in balloons--or in great ships of the air1 armed all over as the foe of the poor savage appeared to be1 when the ships of the water drew near1 charged with thunder and with lightning1 and with four-footed creatures1 and with sudden death8 ,would the man of ,europe make war in such a case according to what are now called the usages of war8 ,the struggle with this haughty savage was regarded for a time as the wo without a shape1 to which the prophecy referred1 the sorrow without a name2 for it occupied the whole force of the country1 long and long after the bow of the red-chief was broken forever1 his people scattered from the face of the earth1 and his royalty reduced to a shadow--a shadow it is true1 but still the shadow of a king2 for up to the last hour of his life1 when he died as no king had ever the courage to die1 he showed no sign of terror1 betrayed no wish to conciliate the foe1 and smote all that were near without mercy1 whenever they talked of submission2 though he had no hope left1 no path for escape1 and every shot of the enemy was fatal to some one of the few that stood near him4 ,it was a war1 which but for the accidental discovery of a league embracing all the chief tribes of the north1 before they were able to muster their strength for the meditated blow1 would have swept away the white men1 literally to the four winds of heaven1 and left that earth free which they had set up their dominion over by falsehood and by treachery4 ,by and by however1 just when the issue of that war was near1 and the fright of the pale men over1 just when the hearts of the church had begun to heave with a new hope1 and the prophecy of wrath and sorrow was no longer to be heard in the market-place1 and by the way-side1 or wherever the people were gathered together for business or worship1 with a look of awe and a subdued breath--just when it came to be no longer thought of nor cared for by the judges and the elders1 to whom week after week and year after year1 it had been a familiar proverb of death 7if bad news from the war had come over night1 or news of trouble to the church1 at home or abroad1 in ,europe or in ,america7 they saw it suddenly and wholly accomplished before their faces--every word of it and every letter4 ,the shadow of the destroyer went by 444 the type was no more4 ,but lo6 in the stead thereof1 while every mother was happy1 and every father in peace1 and every child asleep in security1 because the shadow and the type had gone by--lo6 the ,destroyer himself appeared6 ,the shadow of death gave way for the visage of death--filling every heart with terror1 and every house with lamentation4 ,the people cried out for fear1 as with one voice4 ,they prayed as with one prayer4 ,they had no hope2 for they saw the children of those who had offered outrage to the poor quaker-woman gathered up1 on every side1 from the rest of the people1 and after a few days and a brief inquiry1 afflicted in their turn with reproach and outcry1 with misery1 torture and cruel death2--and when they saw this1 they thought of the speech of ,elizabeth ,hutchinson before the priesthood of the land1 the judges and the people1 when they drove her out from among them1 because of her new faith1 and left her to perish for it in the depth of a howling wilderness2 her1 and her babes1 and her beautiful daughter1 and her two or three brave disciples1 away from hope and afar from succor2--and as they thought of this1 they were filled anew with unspeakable dread3 for ,mary ,dyer and ,elizabeth ,hutchinson1 were they not familiar1 and very dear friends8 were they not sisters in life1 and sisters in death8 gifted alike with a spirit of sure prophecy1 though of a different faith8 and martyrs alike to the church8 ,,chapter ,,iii4 8,a strange infatuation had already begun to produce misery in private families1 and disorder throughout the community10 says an old ,american writer1 in allusion to the period of our story1 #afia-b4 8,the imputation of witchcraft was accompanied with a prevalent belief of its reality2 and the lives of a considerable number of innocent people were sacrificed to blind zeal and superstitious credulity4 ,the mischief began at ,naumkeag1 7,salem7 but it soon extended into various parts of the colony4 ,the contagion however1 was principally within the county of ,essex4 ,the ra of ,english learning1 had scarcely commenced4 ,laws then existed in ,england against witches2 and the authority of ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 who was revered in ,new ,england1 not only for his knowledge in the law1 but for his gravity and piety1 had doubtless1 great influence4 ,the trial of the witches in ,suffolk1 in ,england1 was published in #afhd2 and there was so exact a resemblance between the ,old ,england dmons and the ,new1 that1 it can hardly be doubted the arts of the designing were borrowed1 and the credulity of the populace augmented from the parent country4 99 99 99 99 99 8,the gloomy state of ,new ,england probably facilitated the delusion1 for #8superstition flourishes in times of danger and dismay4' ,the distress of the colonist1 at this time1 was great4 ,the sea-coast was infested with privateers4 ,the inland frontiers1 east and west1 were continually harassed by the ,french and ,indians4 ,the abortive expedition to ,canada1 had exposed the country to the resentment of ,france1 the effects of which were perpetually dreaded4 ,the old charter was gone1 and what evils would be introduced by the new1 which was very reluctantly received by many1 time only could determine1 but fear might forbode4 99 99 ,how far these causes operating in a wilderness that was scarcely cleared up1 might have contributed toward the infatuation1 it is difficult to determine4 ,it were injurious however1 to consider ,new ,england as peculiar in this culpable credulity1 with its sanguinary effects2 for more persons have been put to death for witchcraft1 in a single county in ,england1 in a short space of time1 than have suffered for the same cause1 in all ,new-,england1 since its first settlement40 ,another ,american writer who was an eye witness of the facts which are embodied in the following narrative1 says1 8,as to the method which the ,salem justices do take in their examinations1 it is truly this3 ,a warrant being issued out to apprehend the persons that are charged and complained of by the afflicted children1 7,abigail ,paris and ,bridget ,pope7 said persons are brought before the justices1 the afflicted being present4 ,the justices ask the apprehended why they afflict these poor children2 to which the apprehended answer they do not afflict them4 ,the justices order the apprehended to look upon the said children1 which accordingly they do2 and at the time of that look 7,i dare not say by that look as1 the ,salem gentlemen do7 the afflicted are cast into a fit4 ,the apprehended are then blinded and ordered to touch the afflicted2 and at that touch1 though not by the touch 7as above7 the afflicted do ordinarily come out of their fits4 ,the afflicted persons then declare and affirm that the apprehended have afflicted them2 upon which the apprehended persons though of never so good repute are forthwith committed to prison on suspicion of witchcraft40 ,at this period1 the chief magistrate of the ,new-,plymouth colony1 a shrewd1 artful1 uneducated man1 was not only at the head of those who believed in witchcraft as a familiar thing1 but he was a head-ruler in the church4 ,he was a native ,new-,englander of low birth--so say the records of our country1--where birth is now1 and ever will be a matter of inquiry and solicitude1 of shame perhaps to the few and of pride to the few1 but of inquiry with all1 in spite of our ostentatious republicanism4 ,he was the head man over a body of men who may be regarded as the natural growth of a rugged soil in a time of religious warfare2 with hearts and with heads like the resolute unforgiving ,swiss-protestant of their age1 or the ,scotch-covenanter of an age that has hardly yet gone by4 ,they were the ,maccabees of the seventeenth century1 and he was their political chief4 ,they were the fathers of a new church in a new world1 where no church had ever been heard of before2 and he was ready to buckle a sword upon his thigh and go out against all the earth1 at the command of that new church4 ,they were ministers of the gospel1 who ministered with fire and sword unto the savages whom they strove to convert2 believers1 who being persecuted in ,europe1 hunted out of ,europe1 and cast away upon the shores of ,america1 set up a new war of persecution here--even here--in the untrodden--almost unapproachable domain of the ,great ,spirit of the ,universe2 pursued their brethren to death1 scourged1 fined1 imprisoned1 banished1 mutilated1 and where nothing else would do1 hung up their bodies between heaven and earth for the good of their souls2 drove mother after mother1 and babe after babe1 into the woods for not believing as their church taught2 made war upon the lords of the soil1 the savages who had been their stay and support while they were strangers1 and sick and poor1 and ready to perish1 and whom it was therefore a duty for them--after they had recovered their strength--to make happy with the edge of the sword2 such war as the savages would make upon the wild beast--way-laying them by night1 and shooting them to death1 as they lie asleep with their young1 without so much as a declaration of war2 destroying whithersoever they went1 whatsoever they saw1 in the shape of a dark man1 as if they had authority from above to unpeople the woods of ,america2 firing village after village1 in the dead of the night--in the dead of winter too--and going to prayer in the deep snow1 while their hands were smoking with slaughter1 and their garments stiffening with blood--the blood1 not of warriors overthrown by warriors in battle1 but of the decrepit1 or sick1 or helpless2 of the aged man1 or the woman or the babe--set fire to in their sleep4--,such were the men of ,massachusetts-,bay1 at the period of our story1 and he was their political chief4 ,he had acquired a large property and the title of ,sir2 a title which would go a great way at any time among the people of ,new-,england1 who whatever else they may be1 and whatever they may pretend1 are not now1 and were not during the governship of ,sir ,william ,phips1 at the period we refer to1 and we dare say1 never will be1 without a regard for titles and birth1 and ribbons1 and stars1 and garters1 and much more too1 than would ever be credited by those who only judge of them by what they are pleased to say of themselves in their fourth-of-,july orations4 ,his rank and wealth were acquired in rather a strange way--not by a course of rude mercantile adventure1 such as the native ,yankee is familiar with from his birth1 through every unheard-of sea1 and along every unheard-of shore2 but by fishing up ingots of gold1 and bars of silver1 from the wreck of a ,spanish hulk1 which had been cast away on the coast of ,la ,plata1 years and years before1 and which he had been told of by ,mr4 ,paris1 the minister of ,salem1--a worthy1 studious1 wayward man1 who had met with some account of the affair1 while rummaging into a heap of old newspapers and ragged books that fell in his way4 ,another would have paid no attention1 it is probable1 to the advice of the preacher--a man who had grown old in poring over books that nobody else in that country had ever met with or heard of2 but the hardy ,new-,englander was too poor and too anxious for wealth to throw a chance away2 and having satisfied himself in some degree about the truth of a newspaper-narrative which related to the ship1 he set sail for the mother country1 received the patronage of those1 who if they were not noblemen1 would be called partners in every such enterprise1 with more than the privilege of partners--for they generally contrive to take the praise and the profit1 while their plebeian associates have to put up with the loss and the reproach2 found the wreck1 and after a while succeeded in weighing a prodigious quantity of gold and silver4 ,he was knighted in 8consequence10 we are told2 but in consequence of what1 it would be no easy matter to say3 and after so short an absence that he was hardly missed1 returned to his native country with a new charter1 great wealth1 a great name1 the title of ,sir1 and the authority of a chief magistrate4 ,such are a few of the many facts which every body that knew him was acquainted with by report1 and which nobody thought of disbelieving in ,british-,america1 till the fury about witches and witchcraft took possession of the people2 after which they began to shake their heads at the story1 and getting more and more courage as they grew more and more clear-sighted1 they went on doubting first one part of the tale1 and then another1 till at last they did not scruple to say of their worthy ,governor himself1 and of the aged ,mr4 ,paris1 that one of the two--they did not like to say which--had got above their neighbors' heads1 after all1 in a very strange way--a very strange way indeed--they did not like to say how2 and that the sooner the other was done with old books1 the better it would be for him4 ,he had a ,bible of his own to study1 and what more would a preacher of the ,gospel have8 ,governor ,phips and ,matthew ,paris were what are called neighbors in ,america4 ,their habitations were not more than five leagues apart4 ,the ,governor lived at ,boston1 the chief town of ,massachusetts-,bay1 and the preacher at ,naumkeag1 in a solitary log-house1 completely surrounded by a thick wood1 in which were many graves2 and a rock held in great awe by the red men of the north1 and avoided with special care by the whites1 who had much reason to believe that in other days1 it had been a rock of sacrifice1 and that human creatures had been offered up there by the savages of old1 either to ,hobbamocko1 their evil deity1 or to ,rawtantoweet1 otherwise ,ritchtau1 their great ,invisible ,father4 ,matthew ,paris and ,sir ,william ,phips had each a faith of his own therefore1 in all that concerned witches and witchcraft4 ,both were believers--but their belief was modified1 intimate as they were1 by the circumstances and the society in which they lived4 ,with the aged1 poor and solitary man--a widower in his old age1 it was a dreadful superstition1 a faith mixed up with a mortal fear4 ,with the younger and richer man1 whose hope was not in the grave1 and whose thoughts were away from the death-bed2 who was never alone perhaps for an hour of the day2 who lived in the very whirl of society1 surrounded by the cheerful faces of them that he most loved on earth1 it wore a less harrowing shape--it was merely a faith to talk of1 and to teach on the ,sabbath day1 a curious faith suited to the bold inquisitive temper of the age4 ,both were believers1 and fixed believers2 and yet of the two1 perhaps1 the speculative man would have argued more powerfully--with fire and sword--as a teacher of what he believed4 ,about a twelvemonth before the enterprise to ,la ,plata1 whereby the 8uneducated man of low birth0 came to be a ruler and a chief in the land of his nativity1 ,matthew ,paris the preacher1 to whom he was indebted for a knowledge of the circumstances which led to the discovery1 had lost a young wife--a poor girl who had been brought up in his family1 and whom he married not because of her youth1 but in spite of her youth2 and every body knew as he stood by her grave1 and saw the fresh earth heaped upon her1 that he would never hold up his head again1 his white venerable head1 which met with a blessing wherever it appeared4 ,from that day forth1 he was a broken-hearted selfish man1 weary of life1 and sick with insupportable sorrow4 ,he began to be afraid with a strange fear1 to persuade himself that his ,father above had cast him off1 and that for the rest of his life he was to be a mark of the divine displeasure4 ,he avoided all that knew him1 and chiefly those he had been most intimate with while he was happy2 for their looks and their speech1 and every change of their breath reminded him of his poor ,margaret1 his meek beautiful wife4 ,he could not bear the very song of the birds--nor the sight of the green trees2 for she was buried in the summer-time1 while the trees were in flower1 and the birds singing in the branches that overshadowed her grave2 and so he withdrew from the world and shut himself up in a dreary solitude1 where neglecting his duty as a preacher of the gospel1 he gave up his whole time to the education of his little daughter--the child of his old age1 and the live miniature of its mother--who was like a child1 from the day of her birth to the day of her death4 ,his grief would have been despair1 but for this one hope4 ,it was the sorrow of old age--that insupportable sorrow--the sorrow of one who is ready to cry out with every sob1 and at every breath1 in the desolation of a widowed heart1 whenever he goes to the fireside or the table1 or sees the sun set1 or the sky change with the lustre of a new day1 or wakes in the dead of the night from a cheerful dream of his wife--his dear1 dear wife1 to the frightful truth2 finding the heavy solitude of the grave about him1 his bridal chamber dark with the atmosphere of death1 his marriage bed--his home--his very heart1 which had been occupied with a blessed and pure love a moment before1 uninhabited forever4 ,his family consisted now of this one child1 who was in her tenth year1 a niece in her twelfth year1 and two ,indians who did the drudgery of the house1 and were treated as members of the family1 eating at the same table and of the same food as the preacher4 ,one was a female who bore the name of ,tituba2 the other a praying warrior1 who had become a by-word among the tribes of the north1 and a show in the houses of the white men4 ,the preacher had always a belief in witchcraft1 and so had every body else that he knew2 but he had never been afraid of witches till after the death of his wife4 ,he had been a little too ready perhaps to put faith in every tale that he heard about apparition or shadow1 star-shooting or prophecy1 unearthly musick1 or spirits going abroad through the very streets of ,salem village1 and over the green fields1 and along by the sea shore1 the wilderness1 the rock and the hill-top1 and always at noon-day1 and always without a shadow--shapes of death1 who never spoke but with a voice like that of the wind afar off1 nor moved without making the air cold about them2 creatures from the deep sea1 who are known to the pious and the gifted by their slow smooth motion over the turf1 and by their quiet1 grave1 unchangeable eyes4 ,but though he had been too ready to believe in such things1 from his youth up1 he had never been much afraid of them1 till after he found himself widowed forever1 as he drew near1 arm in arm with an angel1 to the very threshold of eternity2 separated by death1 in his old age1 from a good and beautiful1 and young wife1 just when he had no other hope--no other joy--nothing but her and her sweet image1 the babe1 to care for underneath the sky4 ,are we to have no charity for such a man--weak though he appear--a man whose days were passed by the grave where his wife lay1 and whose nights were passed literally in her death-bed2 a man living away and apart from all that he knew1 on the very outskirts of the solitude1 among those who had no fear but of shadows and spirits1 and witchcraft and witches8 ,we should remember that his faith after all1 was the faith1 not so much of the man1 as of the age he lived in1 the race he came of1 and the life that he led4 ,hereafter1 when posterity shall be occupied with our doings1 they may wonder at our faith--perhaps at our credulity1 as we now wonder at his4 ,but the babe grew1 and a new hope flowered in his heart1 for she was the very image of her mother2 and there was her little cousin too1 ,bridget ,pope1 a child of singular beauty and very tall of her age--how could he be unhappy1 when he heard their sweet voices ringing together8 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,bridget ,pope was of a thoughtful serious turn--the little ,abby the veriest romp that ever breathed4 ,bridget was the elder1 by about a year and a half1 but she looked five years older than ,abby1 and was in every way a remarkable child4 ,her beauty was like her stature1 and both were above her age2 and her aptitude for learning was the talk of all that knew her4 ,she was a favorite every where and with every body--she had such a sweet way with her1 and was so unlike the other children of her age--so that when she appeared to merit reproof1 as who will not in the heyday of innocent youth1 it was quite impossible to reprove her1 except with a mild voice1 or a kind look1 or a very affectionate word or two4 ,she would keep away from her slate and book for whole days together1 and sit for half an hour at a time without moving her eyes off the page1 or turning away her head from the little window of their school-house1 7a log-hut plastered with blue clay in stripes and patches1 and lighted with horn1 oiled-paper and isinglass7 which commanded a view of ,naumkeag1 or ,salem village1 with a part of the original woods of ,north ,america--huge trees that were found there on the first arrival of the white man1 crowded together and covered with moss and dropping to pieces of old age2 a meeting-house with a short wooden spire1 and the figure of death on the top for a weather-cock1 a multitude of cottages that appeared to be lost in the landscape1 and a broad beautiful approach from the sea4 ,speak softly to ,bridget ,pope at such a time1 or look at her with a look of love1 and her quiet eyes would fill1 and her childish heart would run over--it would be impossible to say why4 ,but if you spoke sharply to her1 when her head was at the little window1 and her thoughts were away1 nobody knew where1 the poor little thing would grow pale and serious1 and look at you with such a look of sorrow--and then go away and do what she was bid with a gravity that would go to your heart4 ,and it would require a whole day after such a rebuke to restore the dye of her sweet lips1 or to persuade her that you were not half so angry as you might have appeared4 ,at every sound of your voice1 at every step that came near1 she would catch her breath1 and start and look up1 as if she expected something dreadful to happen4 ,but as for ,abigail ,paris1 the pretty little blue-eyed cousin of ,bridget ,pope1 there was no dealing with her in that way4 ,if you shook your finger at her1 she would laugh in your face2 and if you did it with a grave air1 ten to one but she made you laugh too4 ,if you scolded her1 she would scold you in return but always in such a way that you could not possibly be angry with her2 she would mimic your step with her little naked feet1 or the toss of your head1 or the very curb of your mouth perhaps1 while you were trying to terrify her4 ,the little wretch6--everybody was tired to death of her in half an hour1 and yet everybody was glad to see her again4 ,such was ,abigail ,paris1 before ,bridget ,pope came to live in the house with her1 but in the course of about half a year after that1 she was so altered that her very play-fellows twitted her with being 8afeard o' ,bridgee ,pope40 ,she began to be tidy in her dress1 to comb her bright hair1 to speak low1 to keep her shoes on her feet1 and her stockings from about her heels1 and before a twelvemonth was over1 she left off wading in the snow1 and grew very fond of her book4 ,they were always together now1 creeping about under the old beach-trees1 or hunting for hazle nuts1 or searching for sun-baked apples in the short thick grass1 or feeding the fish in the smooth clear sea--,bridget poring over a story that she had picked up1 nobody knows where1 and ,abigail1 whatever the story might be1 and although the water might stand in her eyes at the time1 always ready for a roll in the wet grass1 a dip in the salt wave1 or a slide from the very top of the haymow4 ,they rambled about in the great woods together on tip-toe1 holding their breath and saying their prayers at every step2 they lay down together and slept together on the very track of the wolf1 or the she-bear2 and if they heard a noise afar off1 a howl or a war-whoop1 they crept in among the flowers of the solitary spot and were safe1 or hid themselves in the shadow of trees that were spread out over the whole sky1 or of shrubbery that appeared to cover the whole earth-- ,where the wild grape hangs dropping in the shade1 ,o'er unfledged minstrels that beneath are laid2 ,where the scarlet barberry glittered among the sharp green leaves like threaded bunches of coral1--where at every step the more brilliant ivory-plumbs or clustered bunch-berries rattled among the withered herbage and rolled about their feet like a handful of beads1--where they delighted to go even while they were afraid to speak above a whisper1 and kept fast hold of each other's hands1 every step of the way4 ,such was their love1 such their companionship1 such their behaviour while oppressed with fear4 ,they were never apart for a day1 till the time of our story2 they were together all day and all night1 going to sleep together and waking up together1 feeding out of the same cup1 and sleeping in the same bed1 year after year4 ,but just when the preacher was ready to believe that his ,father above had not altogether deserted him--for he was ready to cry out with joy whenever he looked upon these dear children2 they were so good and so beautiful1 and they loved each other so entirely2 just when there appeared to be no evil in his path1 no shadow in his way to the grave1 a most alarming change took place in their behavior to each other4 ,he tried to find out the cause1 but they avoided all inquiry4 ,he talked with them together1 he talked with them apart1 he tried every means in his power to know the truth1 but all to no purpose4 ,they were afraid of each other1 and that was all that either would say4 ,both were full of mischief and appeared to be possessed with a new temper4 ,they were noisy and spiteful toward each other1 and toward every body else4 ,they were continually hiding away from each other in holes and corners1 and if they were pursued and plucked forth to the light1 they were always found occupied with mischief above their age4 ,instead of playing together as they were wont1 or sitting together in peace1 they would creep away under the tables and chairs and beds1 and behave as if they were hunted by something which nobody else could see2 and they would lie there by the hour1 snapping and snarling at each other1 and at everybody that passed near4 ,they had no longer the look of health1 or of childhood1 or of innocence4 ,they were meagre and pale1 and their eyes were fiery1 and their fingers were skinny and sharp1 and they delighted in devilish tricks and in outcries yet more devilish4 ,they would play by themselves in the dead of the night1 and shriek with a preternatural voice1 and wake everybody with strange laughter--a sort of smothered giggle1 which would appear to issue from the garret1 or from the top of the house1 while they were asleep1 or pretending to be dead asleep in the great room below4 ,they would break out all over in a fine sweat like the dew on a rose bush1 and fall down as if they were struck to the heart with a knife1 while they were on the way to meeting or school1 or when the elders of the church were talking to them and every eye was fixed on their faces with pity or terror4 ,they would grow pale as death in a moment1 and seem to hear voices in the wind1 and shake as with an ague while standing before a great fire1 and look about on every side with such a piteous look for children1 whenever it thundered or lightened1 or whenever the sea roared1 that the eyes of all who saw them would fill with tears4 ,they would creep away backwards from each other on their hands and feet1 or hide their faces in the lap of the female ,indian ,tituba1 and if the preacher spoke to them1 they would fall into a stupor1 and awake with fearful cries and appear instantly covered all over with marks and spots like those which are left by pinching or bruising the flesh4 ,they would be struck dumb while repeating the ,lord's prayer1 and all their features would be distorted with a savage and hateful expression4 ,the heads of the church were now called together1 and a day of general fasting1 humiliation and prayer was appointed1 and after that1 the best medical men of the whole country were consulted1 the pious and the gifted1 the interpreters of dreams1 the soothsayers1 and the prophets of the ,lord1 every man of power1 and every woman of power1--but no relief was had1 no cure1 no hope of cure4 ,matthew ,paris now began to be afraid of his own child4 ,she was no longer the hope of his heart1 the joy his old age1 the live miniature of his buried wife4 ,she was an evil thing--she was what he had no courage to think of1 as he covered his old face and tore his white hair with a grief that would not be rebuked nor appeased4 ,a new fear fell upon him1 and his knees smote together1 and the hair of his flesh rose1 and he saw a spirit1 and the spirit said to him look6 ,and he looked1 and lo6 the truth appeared to him2 for he saw neighbour after neighbour flying from his path1 and all the heads of the church keeping aloof and whispering together in a low voice4 ,then knew he that ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris were bewitched4 ,a week passed over1 a whole week1 and every day and every hour they grew worse and worse1 and the solitude in which he lived1 more dreadful to him2 but just when there appeared to be no hope left1 no chance for escape1 just when he and the few that were still courageous enough to speak with him1 were beginning to despair1 and to wish for the speedy death of the little sufferers1 dear as they had been but a few weeks before to everybody that knew them1 a discovery was made which threw the whole country into a new paroxysm of terror4 ,the savages who had been for a great while in the habit of going to the house of the preacher to eat and sleep 8without money and without price10 were now seen to keep aloof and to be more than usually grave2 and yet when they were told of the children's behaviour1 they showed no sort of surprise1 but shook their heads with a smile1 and went their way1 very much as if they were prepared for it4 ,when the preacher heard this1 he called up the two ,indians before him1 and spoke to ,tituba and prayed to know why her people who for years had been in the habit of lying before his hearth1 and eating at his table1 and coming in and going out of his habitation at all hours of the day and night1 were no longer seen to approach his door4 8,tituppa no say--,tituppa no know10 she replied4 ,but as she replied1 the preacher saw her make a sign to ,peter ,wawpee1 her ,sagamore1 who began to show his teeth as if he knew something more than he chose to tell2 but before the preacher could rebuke him as he deserved1 or pursue the inquiry with ,tituba1 his daughter screamed out and fell upon her face and lay for a long while as if she were death-struck4 ,the preacher now bethought him of a new course1 and after watching ,tituba and ,wawpee for several nights1 became satisfied from what he saw1 that she was a woman of diabolical power4 ,a part of what he saw1 he was afraid even to speak of2 but he declared on oath before the judges1 that he had seen sights1 and heard noises that took away his bodily strength1 his hearing and his breath for a time2 that for nearly five weeks no one of her tribe1 nor of ,wawpee's tribe had slept upon his hearth1 or eaten of his bread1 or lifted the latch of his door either by night or by day2 that notwithstanding this1 the very night before1 as he went by the grave-yard where his poor wife lay1 he heard the whispering of a multitude2 that having no fear in such a place1 he made a search2 and that after a long while he found his help ,tituba concealed in the bushes1 that he said nothing but went his way1 satisfied in his own soul however that the voices he heard were the voices of her tribe2 and that after the moon rose he saw her employed with a great black ,shadow on the rock of death1 where as every body knew1 sacrifices had been offered up in other days by another people to the god of the ,pagan--the deity of the savage--employed in a way that made him shiver with fright where he stood2 for between her and the huge black shadow there lay what he knew to be the dead body of his own dear child stretched out under the awful trees--her image rather1 for she was at home and abed and asleep at the time4 ,he would have spoken to it if he could--for he saw what he believed to be the shape of his wife2 he would have screamed for help if he could1 but he could not get his breath1 and that was the last he knew2 for when he came to himself he was lying in his own bed1 and ,tituba was sitting by his side with a cup of broth in her hand which he took care to throw away the moment her back was turned2 for she was a creature of extraordinary art1 and would have persuaded him that he had never been out of his bed for the whole day4 ,the judges immediately issued a warrant for ,tituba and ,wawpee1 both of whom were hurried off to jail1 and after a few days of proper inquiry1 by torture1 she was put upon trial for witchcraft4 ,being sorely pressed by the word of the preacher and by the testimony of ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris1 who with two more afflicted children 7for the mischief had spread now in every quarter7 charged her and ,sarah ,good with appearing to them at all hours1 and in all places1 by day and by night1 when they were awake and when they were asleep1 and with tormenting their flesh4 ,tituba pleaded guilty and confessed before the judges and the people that the poor children spoke true1 that she was indeed a witch1 and that1 with several of her sister witches of great power--among whom was mother ,good1 a miserable woman who lived a great way off1 nobody knew where--and passed the greater part of her time by the sea-side1 nobody knew how1 she had been persuaded by the black man to pursue and worry and vex them4 ,but the words were hardly out of her mouth before she herself was taken with a fit1 which lasted so long that the judges believed her to be dead4 ,she was lifted up and carried out into the air2 but though she recovered her speech and her strength in a little time1 she was altered in her looks from that day to the day of her death4 ,but as to mother ,good1 when they brought her up for trial1 she would neither confess to the charge nor pray the court for mercy2 but she stood up and mocked the jury and the people1 and reproved the judges for hearkening to a body of accusers who were collected from all parts of the country1 were of all ages1 and swore to facts1 which if they ever occurred at all1 had occurred years and years before--facts which it would have been impossible for her to contradict1 even though they had all been1 as a large part of them obviously were1 the growth of mistake or of superstitious dread4 ,her behavior was full of courage during the trial2 and after the trial was over1 and up to the last hour and last breath of her life1 it was the same4 ,you are a liar6 said she to a man who called her a witch to her teeth1 and would have persuaded her to confess and live4 ,you are a liar1 as ,god is my judge1 ,mike6 ,i am no more a witch than you are a wizard1 and you know it ,mike1 though you be so glib at prayer2 and if you take away my life1 ,i tell you now that you and yours1 and the people here1 and the judges and the elders who are now thirsting for my blood shall rue the work of this day1 forever and ever1 in sackcloth and ashes2 and ,i tell you further as ,elizabeth ,hutchinson told you1 ,ah ha6 444 how do you like the sound of that name1 ,judges8 ,you begin to be afraid ,i see2 you are all quiet enough now6444 ,but ,i say to you nevertheless1 and ,i say to you here1 even here1 with my last breath1 as ,mary ,dyer said to you with her last breath1 and as poor ,elizabeth ,hutchinson said to you with hers1 if you take away my life1 the wrath of ,god shall pursue you6--you and yours6--forever and ever6 ,ye are wise men that ,i see1 and mighty in faith1 and ye should be able with such faith to make the deep boil like a pot1 as they swore to you ,i did1 to remove mountains1 yea to shake the whole earth by a word--mighty in faith or how could you have swallowed the story of that knife-blade1 or the story of the sheet8 ,very wise are you1 and holy and fixed in your faith1 or how could you have borne with the speech of that bold man1 who appeared to you in court1 and stood face to face before you1 when you believed him to be afar off or lying at the bottom of the sea1 and would not suffer you to take away the life even of such a poor unhappy old creature as ,i am1 without reproving you as if he had authority from the ,judge of judges and the ,king of kings to stay you in your faith6 ,poor soul but ,i do pity thee6 whispered a man who stood near with a coiled rope in one hand and a drawn sword in the other4 ,it was the high-sheriff4 ,her eyes filled and her voice faltered for the first time1 when she heard this1 and she put forth her hand with a smile1 and assisted him in preparing the rope1 saying as the cart stopped under the large beam1 ,poor soul indeed6--,you are too soft-hearted for your office1 and of the two1 you are more to be pitied than the poor old woman you are a-going to choke4 ,mighty in faith she continued1 as the high-sheriff drew forth a watch and held it up for her to see that she had but a few moments to live4 ,i address myself to you1 ye ,judges of ,israel6 and to you ye teachers of truth6 ,believe ye that a mortal woman of my age1 with a rope about her neck1 hath power to prophesy8 ,if ye do1 give ear to my speech and remember my words4 ,for death1 ye shall have death6 ,for blood1 ye shall have blood--blood on the earth6 blood in the sky6 blood in the waters6 ,ye shall drink blood and breathe blood1 you and yours1 for the work of this day6 ,woman1 woman6 we pray thee to forbear6 cried a voice from afar off4 ,i shall not forbear1 ,cotton ,mather--it is your voice that ,i hear4 ,but for you and such as you1 miserable men that ye are1 we should now be happy and at peace one with another4 ,i shall not forbear--why should ,i8 ,what have ,i done that ,i may not speak to the few that love me before we are parted by death8 ,be prepared woman--if you will die1 for the clock is about to strike said another voice4 ,be prepared1 sayest thou8 ,william ,phips1 for ,i know the sound of thy voice too1 thou hard-hearted miserable man6 ,be prepared1 sayest thou8 ,behold----stretching forth her arms to the sky1 and lifting herself up and speaking so that she was heard of the people on the house-tops afar off1 ,lo6 ,i am ready6 ,be ye also ready1 for now6--now6--even while ,i speak to you1 he is preparing to reward both my accusers and my judges----4 ,he6--who6 ,who1 brother ,joseph8 said somebody in the crowd4 ,why the ,father of lies to be sure6 what a question for you to ask1 after having been of the jury6 ,thou scoffer6-- ,paul6 ,paul1 beware6-- ,hark--what's that6 ,lord have mercy upon us6 ,the ,lord have mercy upon us6 cried the people1 giving way on every side1 without knowing why1 and looking toward the high-sea1 and holding their breath4 ,pho1 pho1 said the scoffer1 a grey-haired man who stood leaning over his crutch with eyes full of pity and sorrow1 pho1 pho1 the noise that you hear is only the noise of the tide4 ,nay1 nay1 ,elder ,smith1 nay1 nay1 said an associate of the speaker4 ,if it is only the noise of the tide1 why have we not heard it before8 and why do we not hear it now8 just now1 when the witch is about to be-- ,true 444 true 444 it may not be the ,evil one1 after all4 ,the ,evil one1 ,joe ,libby6 ,no1 no6 it is ,god himself1 our ,father above6 cried the witch1 with a loud voice1 waving her arms upward1 and fixing her eye upon a group of two or three individuals who stood aloof1 decorated with the badges of authority4 ,our ,father above1 ,i say6 ,the ,governor of governors1 and the ,judge of judges6444 ,the cart began to move here4444 ,he will reward you for the work of this day6 ,he will refresh you with blood for it6 and you too ,jerry ,pope1 and you too ,micajah ,noyes1 and you too ,job ,smith1 and you 444 and you 444 and you4444 ,yea of a truth6 cried a woman who stood apart from the people with her hands locked and her eyes fixed upon the chief-judge4 ,it was ,rachel ,dyer1 the grandchild of ,mary ,dyer4 ,yea of a truth6 for the ,lord will not hold him guiltless that spilleth his brother's blood1 or taketh his sister's life by the law--and her speech was followed by a shriek from every hill-top and every house-top1 and from every tree and every rock within sight of the place1 and the cart moved away1 and the body of the poor old creature swung to and fro in the convulsions of death4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,it is not a little remarkable that within a few days after the death of ,sarah ,good1 a part of her pretended prophecy1 that which was directed by her to the man who called her a witch at the place of death1 was verified upon him1 letter by letter1 as it were4 ,he was way-laid by a party of the ,mohawks1 and carried off to answer to the tribe for having reported of them that they ate the flesh of their captives4--,it would appear that he had lived among them in his youth1 and that he was perfectly acquainted with their habits and opinions and with their mode of warfare2 that he had been well treated by their chief1 who let him go free at a time when he might lawfully have been put to death1 according to the usages of the tribe1 and that he could not possibly be mistaken about their eating the flesh of their prisoners4 ,it would appear too1 that he had been watched for1 a long while before he was carried off2 that his path had been beset hour after hour1 and week after week1 by three young warriors of the tribe1 who might have shot him down1 over and over again if they would1 on the step of his own door1 in the heart of a populous village1 but they would not2 for they had sworn to trap their prey alive1 and to bring it off with the hide and the hair on2 that after they had carried him to the territory of the ,mohawks1 they put him on trial for the charge face to face with a red accuser2 that they found him guilty1 and that1 with a bitter laugh1 they ordered him to eat of the flesh of a dead man that lay bleeding on the earth before him2 that he looked up and saw the old chief who had been his father when he belonged to the tribe1 and that hoping to appease the haughty savage1 he took some of the detestable food into his mouth1 and that instantly--instantly--before he could utter a prayer1 they fell upon him with clubs and beat him to death4 ,her prophecy therefore did appear to the people to be accomplished2 for had she not said to this very man1 that for the work of that day1 8,he should breathe blood and eat blood80 ,before a week had passed over1 the story of death1 and the speech of the prophetess took a new shape1 and a variety of circumstances which occurred at the trial1 and which were disregarded at the time1 were now thought of by the very judges of the land with a secret awe2 circumstances that are now to be detailed1 for they were the true cause of what will not be forgotten for ages in that part of the world 444 the catastrophe of our story4 ,at the trial of ,sarah ,good1 while her face was turned away from her accuser1 one of the afflicted gave a loud scream1 and gasping for breath1 fell upon the floor at the feet of the judges1 and lay there as if she had been struck down by the weight of no mortal arm2 and being lifted up1 she swore that she had been stabbed with a knife by the shape of ,sarah ,good1 while ,sarah ,good herself was pretending to be at prayer on the other side of the house2 and for proof1 she put her hand into her bosom and drew forth the blade of a penknife which was bloody1 and which upon her oath1 she declared to have been left sticking in her flesh a moment before1 by the shape of ,sarah ,good4 ,the ,judges were thunderstruck4 ,the people were mute with terror1 and the wretched woman herself covered her face with her hands2 for she knew that if she looked upon the sufferers1 they would shriek out1 and foam at the mouth1 and go into fits1 and lie as if they were dead for a while2 and that she would be commanded by the judges to go up to them and lay her hands upon their bodies without speaking or looking at them1 and that on her doing so1 they would be sure to revive1 and start up1 and speak of what they had seen or suffered while they were in what they called their agony4 ,the jury were already on their way out for consultation--they could not agree1 it appeared2 but when they saw this1 they stopped at the door1 and came back one by one to the jury box1 and stood looking at each other1 and at the judges1 and at the poor old woman1 as if they no longer thought it necessary to withdraw even for form sake1 afraid as they all were of doing that1 in a case of life and death1 for which they might one day or other be sorry4 ,a shadow was upon every visage of the twelve--the shadow of death2 a look in the eyes of everybody there1 a gravity and a paleness1 which when the poor prisoner saw1 she started up with a low cry--a cry of reproach--a cry of despair--and stood with her hands locked1 and her mouth quivering1 and her lips apart before ,god--lips white with fear1 though not with the fear of death2 and looked about her on every side1 as if she had no longer a hope left--no hope from the jury1 no hope from the multitude2 nay as if while she had no longer a hope1 she had no longer a desire to live4 ,there was a dead preternatural quiet in the house--not a breath could be heard now1 not a breath nor a murmur2 and lo6 the aged foreman of the jury stood forth and laid his hands upon the ,book of the ,law1 and lifted up his eyes and prepared to utter the verdict of death2 but before he could speak so as to be heard1 for his heart was over-charged with sorrow1 a tumult arose afar off like the noise of the wind in the great woods of ,america2 or a heavy swell on the sea-shore1 when a surge after surge rolls booming in from the secret reservoir of waters1 like the tide of a new deluge4 ,voices drew near with a portentous hoof-clatter from every side--east1 west1 north and south1 so that the people were mute with awe2 and as the dread clamor approached and grew louder and louder every moment1 they crowded together and held their breath1 they and the judges and the preachers and the magistrates1 every man persuaded in his own soul that a rescue was nigh4 ,at last a smothered war-whoop was heard1 and then a sweet cheerful noise like the laugh of a young child high up in the air--and then a few words in the accent of authority1 and a bustle outside of the door1 which gave way as if it were spurned with a powerful foot2 and a stranger appeared in the shadow of the huge trees that over-hung the door-way like a summer cloud--a low1 square-built swarthy man with a heavy tread1 and a bright fierce look1 tearing his way through the crowd like a giant of old1 and leading a beautiful boy by the hand4 ,what1 ho6 cried he to the chief judge1 walking up to him1 and standing before him1 and speaking to him with a loud clear voice4 ,what ho6 captain ,robert ,sewall6 why do ye this thing8 ,what ho1 there6 addressing himself to the foreman of the jury--why speed ye so to the work of death8 and you1 master ,bailey6 and you governor ,phips6 and you doctor ,mather1 what business have ye here8 ,and you ye judges1 who are about to become the judges of life and death1 how dare ye6 ,who gave you power to measure and weigh such mystery8 ,are ye gifted men--all of you--every man of you--specially gifted from above8 ,are you ,thomas ,fisk--with your white hair blowing about your agitated mouth and your dim eyes1 are you able to see your way clear1 that you have the courage to pronounce a verdict of death on your aged sister who stands there6 ,and you ,josh ,carter1 senior6 and you major ,zach ,trip6 and you ,job ,saltonstall6 ,who are ye and what are ye1 men of war1 that ye are able to see spirits1 or that ye should become what ye are--the judges of our afflicted people6 ,and who are we1 and what were our fathers1 ,i beseech you1 that we should be base enough to abide upon earth but by your leave6 ,the judges looked at each other in consternation4 ,who is it6 444 who is it6 cried the people as they rushed forward and gathered about him and tried to get a sight of his face4 ,who can it be6 ,burroughs--,bur--,bur--,burroughs1 ,i do believe6 whispered a man who stood at his elbow1 but he spoke as if he did not feel very sure of what he said4 ,not ,george ,burroughs1 hey8 ,i'd take my oath of it neighbour ,joe1 my ,bible-oath of it1 leaning forward as far as he could reach with safety1 and shading his eyes with his large bony hand-- ,well1 ,i do say6 whispered another4 ,i see the scar6--as ,i live1 ,i do6 cried another1 peering over the heads of the multitude1 as they rocked to the heavy pressure of the intruder4 ,but how altered he is6 444 and how old he looks6444--and shorter than ever6 muttered several more4 ,silence there6 cried the chief judge--a militia-captain1 it is to be observed1 and of course not altogether so lawyer-like as a judge of our day would be4 ,silence there6 echoed the ,high ,sheriff4 ,never see nobody so altered afore1 continued one of the crowd1 with his eye fixed on the judge--,i will say that much1 afore ,i stop1 ,mr4 ,sheriff ,berry1 an' 7dropping his voice7 if you don't like it1 you may lump it 444 who cares for you8 ,well--an' who cares for you1 if you come to that4 ,officer of the court1 how now6 cried the chief judge in a very loud sharp voice4 ,here ,i be mister judge--,i ain't deef4 ,take that man away4 ,i say 444 you6 cried the ,high-,sheriff1 getting up and fetching the man a rap over the head with his white-oak staff 444 do you hear that8 ,hear what8 ,what ,mr4 judge ,sewall says4 ,i don't care for ,mr4 judge ,sewall1 nor you nyther4 ,away with him ,sir6 out with him6 are we to suffer this outrage on the dignity of the court 444 in the ,house of the ,lord--away with him1 ,sir4 ,here's the devil to pay and no pitch hot--whispered a sailor-looking fellow1 in a red baize shirt4 ,an' there's thirteen-pence for you to pay1 ,mr4 ,outlandishman1 said a little neighbour1 whose duty it was to watch for offenders in a small way1 and fine them for swearing1 drinking1 or kissing their wives on the sabbath day4 ,what for8 ,why1 for that air oath o'yourn4 ,what oath8 ,why1 you said here's the devil to pay6 ,ha--ha--ha--and there's thirteen-pence for you to pay4 ,you be darned6 ,an' there's thirteen-pence more for you1 my lad--ha--ha--ha-- ,the officer now drew near the individual he was ordered to remove2 but he did so as if a little afraid of his man--who stood up face to face with the judge1 and planted his foot as if he knew of no power on earth able to move him1 declaring he would'nt budge a peg1 now they'd come to that2 for the house they were in had been paid for out of the people's money1 and he'd as much right there as they had2 but havin' said what he had to say on the subject1 and bein' pooty considr'ble easy on that score now1 if they'd mind their business he'd mind his2 and if they'd behave1 he would4 ,very well1 said the chief judge1 who knew the man to be a soldier of tried bravery4 ,very well6 you may stay where you are2 ,i thought we should bring you to your senses1 neighbour ,joe4 ,here the stranger broke away from the crowd and leaped upon the platform1 and setting his teeth and smiting the floor with a heavy iron-shod staff1 he asked the judges why they did not enforce the order8 why with courage to take away life1 they had no courage to defend their authority4 ,how dare ye forgive this man6 said he2 how dare you bandy words with such a fellow6 ,what if you have been to the war with him8 ,have ye not become the judges of the land8 ,with hardihood enough to undertake the awful representation of majesty1 have ye not enough to secure that majesty from outrage8 ,we know our own duty sir4 ,no such thing sir6 you do not--if you do1 it shall be the worse for you4 ,you are afraid of that man-- ,afraid sir6--,who are you6 ,yes--you are afraid of that man4 ,if you are not1 why allow him to disturb the gravity of such an hour as this8 ,know your own power--,bid the ,high-sheriff take him into custody4 ,a laugh here from the sturdy yeoman1 who having paid his quota for building the house1 and fought his share of the fight with the ,indians1 felt as free as the best of them4 ,speak but the word1 ,sirs1 and ,i will do what ,i see your officer hath not valor enough to do4 ,speak but the word1 ,sirs6 and ,i that know your power1 will obey it1 7uplifting the staff as he spoke1 while the fire flashed from his eyes1 and the crowd gave way on every side as if it were the tomahawk or the bow of a savage7--speak but the word ,i say6 and ,i will strike him to the earth6 ,george ,burroughs--,i pray thee6 said a female1 who sat in a dark part of the house with her head so muffled up that nobody could see her face--,i pray thee1 ,george6 do not strike thy brother in wrath4 ,speak but the word ,i say1 and lo6 ,i will stretch him at your feet1 if he refuse to obey me1 whatever may be the peril to me or mine4 ,i should like to see you do it1 said the man4 ,i care as little for you1 my boy1--throwing off his outer-garb as he spoke1 and preparing for a trial of strength on the spot--as little for you1 ,george ,burroughs1 if that is your name1 as ,i do for your master4 ,will you not speak6 ,you see how afraid of him they all are1 judges2 you know how long he has braved your authority--being a soldier forsooth4 ,speak1 if ye are wise2 for if ye do not-- ,george6 ,george6444 ,no1 no1 ,george6 said somebody at his elbow1 with a timid voice1 that appeared to belong to a child4 ,the uplifted staff dropped from his hand4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,here the venerable ,increase ,mather stood up1 and after a short speech to the people and a few words to the court1 he begged to know if the individual he saw before him was indeed the ,george ,burroughs who had formerly been a servant of ,god4 ,formerly1 sir6 ,i am so now1 ,i hope4 ,the other sat down1 with a look of inquietude4 ,you appear to be much perplexed about me4 ,you appear even to doubt the truth of what ,i say4 ,surely 444 surely 444 there are some here that know me4 ,i know you1 ,doctor ,mather1 and you1 ,sir ,william ,phips1 and you 444 and you 444 and you2 addressing himself to many that stood near--it is but the other day that we were associated together2 and some of us in the church1 and others in the ministry2 it is but the other day that-- ,here the ,judges began to whisper together4 --,that you knew me as well as ,i knew you4 ,can ,i be so changed in a few short years8 ,they have been years of sorrow to be sure1 of uninterrupted sorrow1 of trial and suffering1 warfare and wo2 but ,i did not suppose they had so changed me1 as to make it over-hard for my very brothers in the church to know me-- ,it is ,burroughs1 ,i do believe1 said another of the judges4--,but who is that boy with you1 and by what authority are you abroad again1 or alive1 ,i might say1 if you are the ,george ,burroughs that we knew8 ,by what authority1 ,judges of ,israel6 ,by authority of the ,strong ,man who broke loose when the spirit of the ,lord was upon him6 ,by authority of one that hath plucked me up out of the sea1 by the hair of my head1 breathed into my nostrils the breath of new life1 and endowed me with great power-- ,the people drew back4 ,you have betrayed me2 ,i will be a hostage for you no longer4 ,betrayed you6 ,yes6 and ye would have betrayed me to death1 if ,i had not been prepared for your treachery-- ,the man is mad1 brother ,sewall4 ,you have broken the treaty ,i stood pledged for2 you have not been at peace for a day4 ,you do not keep your faith4 ,we do keep ours4 ,you are churchmen 444 we are savages2 we ,i say1 for you made me ashamed years and years ago of my relationship to the white man2 years and years ago6 and you are now in a fair way to make me the mortal and perpetual foe of the white man4 ,the brave ,iroquois are now ready for battle with you4 ,war they find to be better than peace with such as you-- ,who is that boy8 ,ask him4 ,behold his beauty4 ,set him face to face1 if you dare1 with the girl that spoke to the knife just now4 ,and wherefore8 said one of the jury4 ,wherefore1 ,jacob ,elliot--wherefore6 ,stay you in that box1 and watch the boy1 and hear what he has to say1 and you shall be satisfied of the wherefore4 ,be quick ,sir4 ,we have no time to lose-- ,no time to lose--,how dare ye6 ,is there indeed such power with you2 such mighty power 444 and you not afraid in the exercise of it6 ,no time to lose6 ,hereafter1 when you are upon your death-bed1 when every moment of your life is numbered as every moment of her life is now 444 the poor creature that stands there1 what will you say if the words of that very speech ring in your ears8 ,believe me--there is no such hurry4 ,it will be time enough to-morrow1 judges1 a week hence or a whole year to shed the blood of a miserable woman for witchcraft4 ,for witchcraft6 alas for the credulity of man6 alas for the very nature of man6 ,master ,burroughs6 murmured a compassionate-looking old man1 reaching over to lay his hand on his arm1 as if to stop him1 and shaking his head as he spoke4 ,oh but ,i do pity you2 sages though you are--continued ,burroughs1 without regarding the interposition4--,for witchcraft6 ,i wonder how you are able to keep your countenances6 ,do you not perceive that mother ,good1 as they call her1 cannot be a witch8 ,how so8 asked the judge4 ,would she abide your search1 your trial1 your judgment1 if she had power to escape8 ,assuredly not brother1 answered a man1 who rose up as he spoke as if ready to dispute before the people1 if permitted by the judges 444 assuredly not1 brother1 if she had power to escape4 ,we agree with you there4 ,but we know that a period must arrive when the power that is paid for with the soul1 the power of witchcraft and sorcery shall be withdrawn4 ,we read of this and we believe it2 and ,i might say that we see the proof now before us-- ,brother1 ,i marvel at you-- --,if the woman be unexpectedly deserted by the ,father of lies1 and if we pursue our advantage now1 we may be able both to succeed with her and overthrow him1 and thereby 7lowering his voice and stooping toward ,burroughs7 and thereby deter a multitude more from entering into the league of death4 ,speak low 444 lower--much lower1 deacon ,darby1 or we shall be no match for the ,father of lies3 ,if he should happen to overhear you1 the game is up1 said another4 ,for shame1 ,elder ,smith-- ,for shame6 cried ,burroughs4 ,why rebuke his levity1 when if we are to put faith in what you say1 ye are preparing to over-reach the ,evil ,one himself8 ,you must play a sure game1 7for it is a game7 if you hope to convict him of treachery in a case1 where according to what you believe1 his character is at stake4 ,brother ,burroughs6 ,brother ,willard6 ,forbear1 ,i beseech you4 ,i shall not forbear4 ,if the woman is a witch1 how do you hope to surprise her8 444 to entrap her8 444 to convict her8 ,and if she is not a witch1 how can she hope to go free8 ,none but a witch could escape your toils4 ,ah ,sir4444 ,sir6 ,o1 ,mr4 ,burroughs6 cried the poor woman4 ,there you have spoken the truth sir2 there you have said just what ,i wanted to say4 ,i knew it4444 ,i felt it4444 ,i knew that if ,i was guilty it would be better for me1 than to be what you know me to be1 and what your dead wife knew me to be1 and both of your dead wives1 for ,i knew them both--a broken-hearted poor old woman4 ,god forever bless you ,sir6 whatever may become of me--however this may end1 ,god forever bless you1 ,sir6 ,be of good faith ,sarah4 ,he whom you serve will be nigh to you and deliver you4 ,oh ,sir--,sir--,do not talk so4 ,they misunderstand you--they are whispering together--it will be the death of me2 and hereafter1 it may perhaps be a trouble to you4 ,speak out1 ,i beseech you6 ,say to them whom it is that you mean1 whom it is that ,i serve1 and who it is that will be nigh to me and deliver me4 ,who it is1 poor heart6 why whom should it be but our ,father above6 our ,lord and our ,god1 ,sarah8 ,have thou courage1 and be of good cheer1 and put all thy trust in him1 for he hath power to deliver thee4 ,i have--,i do--,i am no longer afraid of death sir4 ,if they put me to death now--,i do not wish to live--,i am tired and sick of life1 and ,i have been so ever since dear boy and his poor father--,i told them how it would be if they went away when the moon was at the full--they were shipwrecked on the shore just underneath the window of my chamber--if they put me to death now1 ,i shall die satisfied1 for ,i shall not go to my grave now1 as ,i thought ,i should before you came1 without a word or a look of pity1 nor any thing to make me comfortable4 ,judges--may the boy speak8 ,speak8 speak8 to be sure he may1 muttered old ,mr4 ,wait ,winthrop1 addressing himself to a preacher who sat near with a large ,bible outspread upon his knees4 ,what say you8 what say you ,brother ,willard1 what says the ,book8--no harm there1 ,i hope2 what can he have to say though1 7wiping his eyes7 what can such a lad have to say8 ,what say you major ,gidney2 what say you--7half sobbing7 dreadful affair this1 dreadful affair2 what can he possibly have to say8 ,not much1 ,i am afraid1 replied ,burroughs1 not very much2 but enough ,i hope and believe1 to shake your trust in the chief accuser4 ,robert ,eveleth--here--this way--shall the boy be sworn1 ,sir8 ,sworn--sworn8--to be sure--why not8 very odd though--very--very--swear the boy--very odd1 ,i confess--never saw a likelier boy of his age--how old is he8 ,thirteen ,sir-- ,very--very--of his height1 ,i should say--what can he know of the matter though8 what can such a boy know of--of--however--we shall see--is the boy sworn8--there1 there-- ,the boy stepped forth as the kind-hearted old man--too kind-hearted for a judge--concluded his perplexing soliloquy1 one part of which was given out with a very decided air1 while another was uttered with a look of pitiable indecision--stepped forth and lifted up his right hand according to the law of that people1 with his large grey eyes lighted up and his fine yellow hair blowing about his head like a glory1 and swore by the ,everlasting ,god1 the ,searcher of ,hearts1 to speak the truth4 ,every eye was riveted upon him1 for he stood high upon a sort of stage1 in full view of everybody1 and face to face to all who had sworn to the spectre-knife1 and his beauty was terrible4 ,stand back1 stand back 444 what does that child do there8 said another of the judges1 pointing to a poor little creature with a pale anxious face and very black hair1 who had crept close up to the side of ,robert ,eveleth1 and sat there with her eyes lifted to his1 and her sweet lips apart1 as if she were holding her breath4 ,why1 what are you afeard of now1 ,bridgee ,pope8 said another voice4 ,get away from the boy's feet1 will you 444 why don't you move8 444 do you hear me8 ,no 444 ,i do not1 she replied4 ,you do not6 what did you answer me for1 if you didn't hear me8 ,why 444 why 444 don't you see the poor little thing's bewitched8 whispered a bystander4 ,very true 444 very true 444 let her be1 therefore1 let her stay where she is4 ,poor babe6 she don't hear a word you say4 ,o1 but she dooze1 though1 said the boy1 stooping down and smoothing her thick hair with both hands2 ,i know her of old1 ,i know her better than you do2 she hears every word you say 444 don't you be afeard1 ,bridgee ,pope2 ,i'm not a goin' to be afeard of the ,old ,boy himself4444 ,why ,robert ,eveleth6 was the reply4 ,well1 ,robert ,eveleth1 what have you to say8 asked the chief-judge4 ,the boy stood up in reply1 and threw back his head with a brave air1 and set his foot1 and fixed his eye on the judge1 and related what he knew of the knife4 ,he had broken it a few days before1 he said1 while he and the witness were playing together2 he threw away a part of the blade1 which he saw her pick up1 and when he asked her what she wanted of it1 she wouldn't say 444 but he knew her well1 and being jest outside o' the door when he heard her screech1 and saw her pull a piece of the broken blade out of her flesh and hold it up to the jury1 and say how the shape of old mother ,good1 who was over tother side o' the house at the time1 had stabbed her with it1 he guessed how the judge would like to see the tother part o' the knife1 and hear what he had to say for himself1 but he couldn't get near enough to speak to nobody1 and so he thought he'd run off to the school-house1 where he had left the handle o' the knife1 an' try to get a mouthful o' fresh air2 and so 444 and so 444 arter he'd got the handle1 sure enough1 who should he see but that are man there 7pointing to ,burroughs7 stavin' away on a great black horse with a club--that very club he had now4--8,whereupon10 added the boy1 8here's tother part o' the knife1 judge--,i say 444 you 444 ,mr4 judge 444 here's tother part o' the knife 444 an' so he stopped me an' axed me where the plague ,i was runnin to2 an' so ,i up an' tells him all ,i know about the knife1 an' so1 an' so1 an' so1 that air feller1 what dooze he do1 but he jounces me up on that air plaguy crupper and fetches me back here full split1 you see1 and rides over everything1 and makes everybody get out o' the way1 an' will make me tell the story whether or no 444 and as for the knife now1 if you put them are two pieces together1 you'll see how they match4444 ,o1 you needn't be makin' mouths at me1 ,anne ,putnam6 nor you nyther1 ,marey ,lewis6 you are no great shakes1 nyther on you1 and ,i ain't afeard o' nyther on you1 though the grown people be2 you wont make me out a witch in a hurry1 ,i guess4 ,boy 444 boy 444 how came you by that knife8 ,how came ,i by that knife8 ,ax ,bridgy ,pope2 she knows the knife well enough1 too--,i guess--don't you1 ,bridgy8 ,i guess ,i do1 ,robert ,eveleth1 whispered the child1 the tears running down her cheeks1 and every breath a sob4 ,you've seen it afore1 may be8 ,that ,i have1 ,robert ,eveleth2 but ,i never expected to see 444 to see 444 to see it again 444 alive 444 nor you neither4 ,and why not1 pray8 said one of the judges4 ,why not1 ,mr4 ,major6 why1 ye see 'tis a bit of a keep-sake she gin me1 jest afore we started off on that are vyage arter the goold4 ,the voyage when they were all cast away1 sir 444 after they'd fished up the gold1 sir4444 ,ah1 but the goold was safe then1 ,bridgy-- ,but ,i knew how 'twould be ,sir1 said the poor girl turning to the judge with a convulsive sob1 and pushing away the hair from her face and trying to get up1 ,i never expected to see ,robert ,eveleth again ,sir--,i said so too--nor the knife either--,i said so before they went away----4 ,so she did ,mr4 ,judge1 that's a fact2 she told me so down by the beach there1 just by that big tree that grows over the top o' the new school-house there--,you know the one ,i mean--that one what hangs over the edge o' the hill just as if 'twas a-goin' to fall into the water--she heard poor mother ,good say as much when her ,billy would go to sea whether or no1 at the full o' the moon----4 ,ah6 ,that she did1 long afore we got the ship off4 ,possible6 ,ay1 to be sure an' why not8--,she had a bit of a dream ye see--such a dream too6 such a beautiful dream you never heard--about the lumps of goold1 and the joes1 and the jewels1 and the women o' the sea1 and about a--,i say1 ,mr4 ,judge1 what1 if you ax her to tell it over now--,i dare say she would2 wouldn't you ,bridgy8 ,you know it all now1 don't you ,bridgy8 ,no1 no ,robert--no1 no2 it's all gone out o' my head now4 ,no matter for the dream1 boy1 said a judge who was comparing the parts of the blade together--no matter for the dream--these are undoubtedly--look here brother1 look--look--most undoubtedly parts of the same blade4 ,of a truth8 ,of a truth1 say you8 ,yea verily1 of a truth2 pass the knife there--pass the knife4 ,be of good cheer woman of sorrow----4 ,brother6 brother6----4 ,well brother1 what's to pay now8 ,perhaps it may be well brother--perhaps ,i say1 to have the judgment of the whole court before we bid the prisoner be of good cheer4 ,how wonderful are thy ways1 ,o ,lord6 whispered ,elder ,smith1 as they took the parts of the blade for him to look at4 ,very true brother--very true--but who knows how the affair may turn out after all8 ,pooh--pooh6--if you talk in that way the affair is all up2 for whatever should happen1 you would believe it a trick of the father of lies--,i dare say now--4 ,the knife speaks for itself1 said a judge4 ,very true brother--very true4 ,but he who had power to strive with ,aaron the ,high ,priest1 and power to raise the dead before ,saul1 and power to work prodigies of old1 may not lack power to do this--and more1 much more than this--for the help of them that serve him in our day1 and for the overthrow of the righteous----4 ,pooh1 pooh ,nathan1 pooh1 pooh--there's no escape for any body now2 your devil-at-a-pinch were enough to hang the best of us4 ,thirteen pence for you1 said the little man at the desk4 ,here a consultation was held by the judges and the elders which continued for half the day--the incredible issue may be told in few words4 ,the boy1 ,robert ,eveleth1 was treated with favor2 the witness being a large girl was rebuked for the lie instead of being whipped2 the preacher ,burroughs from that day forth was regarded with unspeakable terror1 and the poor old woman--she was put to death in due course of law4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,meanwhile other charges grew up1 and there was a dread everywhere throughout the whole country1 a deep fear in the hearts and a heavy mysterious fear in the blood of men4 ,the judges were in array against the people1 and the people against each other2 and the number of the afflicted increased every day and every hour1 and they were sent for from all parts of the ,colony4 ,fasting and prayer preceded their steps1 and whithersoever they went1 witches and wizards were sure to be discovered4 ,a native theologian1 a very pious and very learned writer of that day1 was employed by the authorities of ,new ,england to draw up a detailed account of what he himself was an eye witness of2 and he says of the unhappy creatures who appeared to be bewitched1 all of whom he knew1 and most of whom he saw every day of his life1 that when the fit was on1 they were distorted and convulsed in every limb1 that they were pinched black and blue by invisible fingers1 that pins were stuck into their flesh by invisible hands1 that they were scalded in their sleep as with boiling water and blistered as with fire1 that one of the afflicted was beset by a spectre with a spindle that nobody else could see1 till in her agony she snatched it away from the shape1 when it became instantly visible to everybody in the room with a quick flash1 that another was haunted by a shape clothed in a white sheet which none but the afflicted herself was able to see till she tore a piece of it away1 whereupon it grew visible to others about her1 7it was of this particular story that ,sarah ,good spoke just before she was turned off7 that they were pursued night and day by withered hands--little outstretched groping hands with no bodies nor arms to them1 that cups of blue fire and white smoke of a grateful smell1 were offered them to drink while they were in bed1 of which1 if they tasted ever so little1 as they would sometimes in their fright and hurry1 their bodies would swell up and their flesh would grow livid1 much as if they had been bit by a rattle snake1 that burning rags were forced into their mouths or under their armpits1 leaving sores that no medicine would cure1 that some were branded as with a hot iron1 so that very deep marks were left upon their foreheads for life1 that the spectres generally personated such as were known to the afflicted1 and that whenever they did so1 if the shape or spectre was hurt by the afflicted1 the person represented by the shape was sure to be hurt in the same way1 that1 for example1 one of the afflicted having charged a woman of ,beverly1 ,dorcas ,hoare1 with tormenting her1 and immediately afterwards1 pointing to a far part of the room1 cried out1 there6--there6 there she goes now6 a man who stood near1 drew his rapier and struck at the wall1 whereupon the accuser told the court he had given the shape a scratch over the right eye2 and that ,dorcas ,hoare being apprehended a few days thereafter1 it was found that she had a mark over the right eye1 which after a while she confessed had been given her by the rapier2 that if the accused threw a look at the witnesses1 the latter1 though their eyes were turned another way1 would know it1 and fall into a trance1 out of which they would recover only at the touch of the accused1 that oftentimes the flesh of the afflicted was bitten with a peculiar set of teeth corresponding precisely with the teeth of the accused1 whether few or many1 large or small1 broken or regular1 and that after a while1 the afflicted were often able to see the shapes that tormented them1 and among the rest a swarthy devil of a diminutive stature1 with fierce bright eyes1 who carried a book in which he kept urging them to write1 whereby they would have submitted themselves to the power and authority of another ,black ,shape1 with which1 if they were to be believed on their oaths1 two or three of their number had slept4 ,in reply to these reputed facts however1 which appear in the grave elaborate chronicles of the church1 and are fortified by other facts which were testified to about the same time1 in the mother country1 we have the word of ,george ,burroughs1 a minister of ,god1 who met the accusers at the time1 and stood up to them face to face1 and denied the truth of their charges1 and braved the whole power of them that others were so afraid of4 ,man6 man6 away with her to the place of death6 cried he to the chief judge1 on hearing a beautiful woman with a babe at her breast1 a wife and a mother acknowledge that she had lain with ,beelzebub4 ,away with her6 why do you let her live6 why permit her to profane the ,house of the ,lord1 where the righteous are now gathered together1 as ye believe8 why do ye spare the few that confess--would ye bribe them to live8 ,would ye teach them to swear away the lives and characters of all whom they are afraid of8 and thus to preserve their own8 ,look there6--that is her child--her only child--the babe that you see there in the lap of that aged woman--she has no other hope in this world1 nothing to love1 nothing to care for but that babe1 the man-child of her beauty4 ,ye are fathers6--look at her streaming eyes1 at her locked hands1 at her pale quivering mouth1 at her dishevelled hair--can you wonder now at anything she says to save her boy--for if she dies1 he dies8 ,a wife and a mother6 a broken-hearted wife and a young mother accused of what1 if she did not speak as you have now made her speak1 would separate her and her baby forever and ever6 ,would you have us put her to death8 asked one of the judges4 ,you appear to argue in a strange way4 ,what is your motive8--,what your hope8--,what would you have us do8 suffer them to escape who will not confess1 and put all to death who do8 ,even so4 ,why--if you were in league with the ,evil ,one yourself brother ,george1 ,i do not well see how you could hit upon a method more advantageous for him4 ,hear me--,i would rather die myself1 unfitted as ,i am for death1 die by the rope1 while striving to stay the mischief-makers in their headlong career1 than be the cause of death to such a woman as that1 pleading before you though she be1 with perjury2 because of a truth she is pleading1 not so much against life as for life1 not so much against the poor old creature whom she accuses of leading her astray1 as for the babe that you see there2 for that boy and for its mother who is quite sure that if she die1 the boy will die--,i say that which is true1 fathers6 and yet ,i swear to you by the-- ,thirteen-pence to you1 brother ,b4 for that6 --,by the ,god of ,abraham1 that if her life-- ,thirteen-pence more--faith6 ,the same to you--said the outlandishman4 ,sharp work1 hey8 ,fool--fool--if it depended upon me ,i say1 her life and that of her boy1 ,i would order them both to the scaffold6 ,ye are amazed at what you hear2 ye look at each other in dismay2 ye wonder how it is that a mortal man hath courage to speak as ,i speak4 ,and yet--hear me6 ,fathers of ,new-,england1 hear me6 beautiful as the boy is1 and beautiful as the mother is1 ,i would put the mark of death upon her forehead1 even though his death were certain to follow1 because if ,i did so1 ,i should be sure that a stop would be put forever to such horrible stories4 ,i thought so1 said major ,gidney--,i thought so1 by my troth1 leaning over the seat and speaking in a whisper to judge ,saltanstall1 who shook his head with a mysterious air1 and said--nothing4 ,ye would save by her death1 ,o1 ye know not how much of human life6 ,brother ,burroughs6 ,brother ,willard6--what is there to shock you in what ,i say8 ,these poor people who are driven by you to perjury1 made to confess by your absurd law1 will they stop with confession8 ,their lives are at stake--will they not be driven to accuse8 ,will they not endeavor to make all sure8--to fortify their stories by charging the innocent1 or those of whom they are afraid8 ,will they stop where you would have them stop8 ,will they not rather come to believe that which they hear1 and that of which they are afraid8--to believe each other1 even while they know that what they themselves do swear is untrue8--,may they not strive to anticipate each other1 to show their zeal or the sincerity of their faith8--,and may they not1 by and by--,i pray you to consider this--may they not hereafter charge the living and the mighty as they have hitherto charged the dead1 and the poor1 and the weak8 ,well-- ,well6 ,yes--well6--what more have you to say8 ,what more6 why1 if need be1 much more6 ,you drive people to confession1 ,i say--you drive them to it1 step by step1 as with a scourge of iron4 ,their lives are at stake1 ,i will say--yet more--,i mean to say much more now2 now that you will provoke me to it4 ,i say now that you--you--ye judges of the land6--you are the cause of all that we suffer6 ,the accused are obliged to accuse4 ,they have no other hope4 ,they lie--and you know it1 or should know it--and you know1 as well as ,i do1 that they have no other hope1 no other chance of escape4 ,all that have hitherto confessed are alive now4 ,all that have denied your charges1 all that have withstood your mighty temptation--they are all in the grave--all--all-- ,brother--we have read in the ,scriptures of ,truth1 or at least ,i have1 that of old1 a woman had power to raise the dead4 ,if she was upon her trial now1 would you not receive her confession8 ,i wait your reply4 ,receive it1 governor ,phips6 no--no--not without proof that she had such power4 ,proof--how8 ,how6 ,ye should command her to raise the dead for proof--to raise the dead in your presence4 ,you are consulting together2 ,i see that you pity me4 ,nevertheless1 ,i say again1 that if these people are what they say they are1 they should be made to prove it by such awful and irresistible proof--ah6--what are ye afraid of1 judges8 ,we are not afraid4 ,ye are afraid--ye are--and of that wretched old woman there6 ,what if we call for the proof now--will you endure it8 ,endure it6 ,yes--whatever it may be4 ,speak to her4 ,bid her do her worst--,i have no fear--you are quaking with fear4 ,i defy the ,power of ,darkness2 you would appear to tremble before it4 ,and here ,i set my foot--and here ,i call for the proof6 ,are they indeed witches8--what can be easier than to overthrow such an adversary as ,i am8 ,why do ye look at me as if ,i were mad--you are prepared to see me drop down perhaps1 or to cry out1 or to give up the ghost8 ,why do ye shake your heads at me8 ,what have ,i to fear8 ,and why is it ,i beseech you1 that you are not moved by the evil-eye of that poor woman8 ,why is it1 ,i pray you1 fathers and judges1 that they alone who bear witness against her are troubled by her look8 ,brother ,sewall1 said one of the judges who had been brought up to the law2 ,master ,burroughs1 ,i take it1 is not of counsel for the prisoner at the bar8 ,assuredly not1 brother4 ,nor is he himself under the charge8 ,the remark is proper1 said ,burroughs4 ,i am aware of all you would say4 ,i have no right perhaps to open my mouth-- ,no right1 perhaps8--no right brother ,b41 said ,winthrop--no right1 we believe8--but--if the prosecutors will suffer it8--why1 why--we have no objection1 ,i suppose--,i am sure--have we brother ,g48 ,none at all4 ,what say you ,mr4 ,attorney-general8 ,say ,sir6 ,what do ,i say ,sir6 why ,sir1 ,i say ,sir1 that such a thing was never heard of before6 and ,i say ,sir1 that it is against all rule ,sir6 ,if the accused require counsel1 the court have power to assign her suitable counsel--such counsel to be of the law1 ,sir6--and being of the law ,sir1 he would have no right ,sir1 you understand ,sir1--no right ,sir--to address the jury1 ,sir--as you did the other day ,sir--in ,rex versus ,good1 ,sir1--none at all ,sir6 ,indeed--what may such counsel do then8 ,do ,sir6 do6--why ,sir1 he may cross-examine the witnesses4 ,really6 ,to be sure he may ,sir6 and what is more1 he may argue points of law to the court if need be4 ,indeed6 ,yes--but only points of law4 ,the court have power to grant such leave1 hey8 ,yes1 that we have1 said a judge4 ,you may speak us a speech now1 if you will2 but ,i would have you confine yourself to the charge4-- ,here the prosecutor stood up1 and saying he had made out his case1 prayed the direction of the court-- ,no1 no1 excuse me1 said ,burroughs2 no1 no1 you have taught me how to proceed ,sir1 and ,i shall undertake for the wretched woman1 whatever may be thought or said by the man of the law4 ,proceed ,mr4 ,burroughs--you are at liberty to proceed4 ,well ,martha1 said ,burroughs--,i am to be your counsel now4 ,what have you to say for yourself8 ,the lawyers interchanged a sneer with each other4 ,me--nothin' at all1 ,sir4 ,have you nobody here to speak for you8 ,for me6--,lord bless you1 no6 ,nobody cares for poor ,martha4 ,no witnesses8 ,witnesses6--no indeed1 but if you want witnesses1 there's a power of witnesses4 ,where8-- ,there--there by the box there-- ,poor ,martha6 ,you do not understand me2 the witnesses you see there belong to the other side4 ,well1 what if they do8 ,have you no witnesses of your own1 pray8 ,of my own6 ,lord you--there now--don't be cross with me4 ,how should poor ,martha know--they never told me2--what are they good for8 ,but is there nobody here acquainted with you8 ,and if there was1 what would that prove8 said a man of the law4 ,my stars1 no6 them that know'd me know'd enough to keep away1 when they lugged me off to jail4 ,and so there's nobody here to say a kind word for you1 if your life depended on it8 ,no ,sir--nobody at all--nobody cares for ,martha4 ,gracious ,god--what unspeakable simplicity6 ,o1 ,i forgot ,sir1 ,i forgot6 cried ,martha1 leaning over the bar and clapping her hands with a cry of childish joy4 ,i did see neighbor ,joe ,trip1 t'other day1 and ,i told him he ought to stick by me-- ,well where is he--what did he say8 ,why he said he'd rather not1 if 'twas all the same to me4 ,he'd rather not--where does he live8 ,and ,i spoke to three more1 said a bystander1 but they wouldn't come so fur1 some was afeared1 and some wouldn't take the trouble4 ,ah6 is that you1 ,jeremiah8--how d'ye do1 how d'ye do8--all well ,i hope at your house8--an' so they wouldn't come1 would they8--,i wish they would though1 for ,i'm tired o' stayin' here2 ,i'd do as much for them-- ,hear you that judges6 ,they would not come to testify in a matter of life and death4 ,what are their names8--where do they live8--they shall be made to come4 ,you'll excuse me1 said the prosecutor4 ,you are the day after the fair2 it's too late now4 ,too late6 ,i appeal to the judges--too late6--would you persuade me ,sir1 that it is ever too late for mercy1 while there is yet room for mercy8 ,i speak to the judges--,i pray them to make use of their power1 and to have these people who keep away at such a time brought hither by force4 ,the court have no such power1 said the ,attorney-,general4 ,how ,sir6 have they not power to compel a witness to attend8 ,to be sure they have--on the part of the crown4 ,on the part of the crown6 ,yes4 ,and not on the part of a prisoner8 ,no4 ,no6 can this be the law8 ,even so1 said a judge4 ,well1 well--poor ,martha6 ,what's the matter now8--what ails you1 ,mr4 ,burroughs8 ,martha-- ,sir6 ,there's no hope ,martha4 ,hope8 ,no ,martha1 no2 there's no hope for you4 ,they will have you die4 ,die6--me6-- ,yes1 poor ,martha--you4 ,me6--what for8--what have ,i done8 ,o that your accusers were not rock1 ,martha6 ,rock6 ,o that your judges could feel6 or any that anybody who knows you would appear and speak to your piety and your simplicity6 ,law ,sir--how you talk6 ,why as for that now1 said ,jeremiah ,smith1 who stood by her1 wiping his eyes and breathing very hard2 here am ,i1 ,sir1 an' ready to say a good word for the poor soul1 if ,i die for it2 fact is1 you see1 ,mr4 ,judge ,sewall ,i've know'd poor ,martha ,cory--hai'nt ,i ,martha8-- ,so you have ,jerry ,smith4 --,ever since our ,jeptha warn't more'n so high1-- ,stop ,sir1 if you please1 you are not sworn yet1 said one of the judges4 ,very true--swear him1 added another4 ,you'll excuse me1 said the ,attorney-general4 ,i say1 you--what's your name8 ,jerry ,smith4 ,and you appear on the side of the prisoner at the bar1 ,i take it8 ,well1 what if ,i do8 ,why in that case1 you see1 you are not to be sworn1 that's all4 ,not sworn6 cried ,burroughs4 ,and why not ,sir8 ,why we never allow the witnesses that appear against the crown1 to take the oath4 ,against the crown ,sir6 what on earth has the crown to do here8--what have we to do with such absurdity8 ,have a care1 brother ,burroughs6 ,do you know ,sir--do you know that1 if this man be not allowed to say what he has to say on oath1 less credit will be given to what he says8 ,can't help that ,sir4--,such is the law4 ,judges--judges--do ye hear that8--can this be the law8 ,will you give the sanction of oaths to whatever may be said here against life8--and refuse their sanction to whatever may be said for life8 ,can such be the law8 ,the judges consulted together and agreed that such was the law1 the law of the mother-country and therefore the law of colonies4 ,of a truth1 said ,burroughs1 in reply2 of a truth1 ,i can perceive now why it is1 if a man appear to testify in favor of human life that he is regarded as a witness against the crown4--,god help such crowns1 ,i say6 ,brother6--dear brother6 ,god help such crowns1 ,i say6 ,what an idea of kingship it gives6 ,what a fearful commentary on the guardianship of monarchs6 ,how much it says in a word or two of their fatherly care6 ,he who is for the subject1 even though a life be at stake1 is therefore against the king6 ,beware of that ,sir4--,you are on the very threshold of treason4 ,be it so4--,if there is no other way1 ,i will step over that threshold--4 ,if you do ,sir1 it will be into your grave4-- ,sir6-- ,dear brother1 ,i beseech you6 ,enough--enough--,i have nothing more to do--nothing more to say1 ,sir--not another word1 ,sir--forgive me ,sir--,i--,i--,i--the tears of the aged ,i cannot bear2 the sorrow of such as are about to go before ,god1 ,i am not able1 ,i never was able to bear4 ,i beseech you1 however1 to look with pity upon the poor soul there--poor ,martha6--let her gray hairs plead with you1 as your gray hairs plead with me--,i--,i--proceed1 ,mr4 ,attorney-,general4 ,i have nothing more to say8 ,nothing more to say6 ,with submission to the court--nothing4 ,do you throw up the case then8 said a judge4 ,throw up the case6 no indeed--no6--,but if ,mr4 ,counsellor ,burroughs here1 who has contrived in my humble opinion1 to make the procedure of this court appear--that is to say--with all due submission--appear to be not much better than a laughing-stock to the--to the--to my brethren of the bar--if ,mr4 ,burroughs1 ,i say1 if he has nothing more to say--,i beg leave to say--that is to say--that ,i have nothing more to say--4 ,say--say--say--whispered one of his brethren of the bar--what say you to that ,mr4 ,burroughs8 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,what should ,i say8 replied ,burroughs4 ,what would you have me say8 standing up and growing very pale4 ,what would you have me say1 you that are of counsel for the prisoner1 you6 the judges of the court8 ,you that appear to rejoice when you see the last hope of the prisoner about to be made of no value to her1 by the trick and subterfuge of the law4 ,why do you not speak to her8--,why do you not advise me8 ,you know that ,i depend upon the reply--,you know that ,i have no other hope1 and that she has no other hope1 and yet you leave us both to be destroyed by the stratagem of an adversary4 ,how shall ,i proceed8 ,speak to me1 ,i entreat you6 ,speak to me judges6 ,do not leave me to grope out a path blind-folded over a precipice--a path which it would require great skill to tread--,o1 ,i beseech you6 do not leave me thus under the awful1 the tremendous accountability1 which1 in my ignorance of the law1 ,i have been desperate enough to undertake6--,here by my side are two men of the law--yet have you assigned her1 in a matter of life and death1 no counsel4 ,they are afraid ,i see--afraid not only to rise up and speak for the wretched woman1 but they are afraid even to whisper to me4 ,and you1 ye judges6 are you also on the side of the prosecutor and the witnesses--are you all for the king8--all6--all6--not so much as one to say a word for the poor creature1 who being pursued for the king1 is treated as if she were pursued by the king--pursued by him for sacrifice6 ,what6 no answer--not a word6 ,what am ,i to believe8 444 that you take pride in the exercise of your terrible power8 that you look upon it as a privilege8 444 that you regard me now with displeasure 444 that if you could have your own way1 you would permit no interference with your frightful prerogative8444 ,o that ,i knew in what way to approach the hearts of men6 ,o that ,i knew how to proceed in this affair6 ,will nobody advise me6 ,sir--,sir6--allow me1 said a man of the law who sat near1 allow me ,sir2 ,i can bear it no longer--it is a reproach to the very name of law--but--but 7lowering his voice7 if you will suffer me to suggest a step or two for your consideration--you have the courage and the power--,i have not--my brethren here have not--you have--and you may perhaps be able to--hush1 hush--to bring her off4 ,speak out1 ,sir--speak out1 ,i beseech you4 ,what am ,i to do8 ,lower if you please--lower--low----er--er--er--we must not be overheard--,brother ,trap's got a quick ear4 ,now my notion is--allow me--7whispering7 the jury are on the watch2 they have heard you with great anxiety--and great pleasure--if you can manage to keep the hold you have got for half an hour--hush--hush--no matter how--the poor soul may escape yet-- ,i'll address the jury-- ,by no manner of means6 ,that will not be suffered--you cannot address the jury-- ,good ,god6 what shall ,i do6 ,thirteen-pence more--carry five--paid to watchman4 ,i'll put you in the way 7with a waggish leer47 ,though you are not allowed to address the jury1 you are allowed to address the court--hey8--7chucking him with his elbow7--the court you see--hey--sh6--sh6--you understand it--hey8 ,no--how cool you are6 ,cool--you'd be cool too1 if you understood the law4 ,never--never--in a case of life and death4 ,life and death8 poh--everything is a case of life and death1 ,sir--to a man o' the law--everything--all cases are alike1 ,sir--hey--provided--a--a-- ,provided what1 ,sir8 ,where the quid is the same4 ,the quid8 ,the quid pro quo-- ,how can you1 ,sir8--your levity is a--,i begin to be afraid of your principles--what am ,i to do8 ,do--just keep the court in play2 keep the judges at work1 while ,i run over to the shop for an authority or two ,i have there which may be of use4--,you have the jury with you now--lay it on thick--you understand the play as well as ,i do now-- ,stop--stop--am ,i to say to the judges what ,i would say to the jury1 if ,i had leave8 ,pre--cisely6 but--but--a word in your ear--so as to be heard by the jury4--,tut--tut-- ,the head-prosecutor jumped up at these words1 and with a great show of zeal prayed the judges to put a stop to the consultation1 a part of which was of a character--of a character--that is to say1 of a character-- ,burroughs would have interrupted him1 but he was hindered by his crafty law-adviser1 who told him to let the worthy gentleman cut his own throat in his own way1 now he was in the humor for it4 ,burroughs obeyed1 and after his adversary had run himself out of breath1 arose in reply1 and with a gravity and a moderation that weighed prodigiously with the court1 called upon the chief-judge to put a stop to such gladiatorial controversy-- ,what would you have us do8 said the judge4 ,i would have you do nothing more than your duty-- ,here the coadjutor of ,burroughs1 after making a sign to him to face the jury1 slid away on tip-toe4 --,i would have you rebuke this temper4 ,ye are the judges of a great people4 ,i would have you act1 and ,i would have you teach others to act1 as if you and they were playing together1 in every such case--not for your own lives--that were too much to ask of mortal man2 but for another's life4 ,i would have you and your officers behave here as if the game that you play were what you all know it to be1 a game of life and death--a trial1 not of attorney with attorney1 nor of judge with judge1 in the warfare of skill1 or wit1 or trick1 or stratagem1 for fee or character--but a trial whereby the life here1 and the life hereafter it may be1 of a fellow-creature is in issue4 ,yea--more--,i would have you teach the king's ,attorney-,general1 the prosecutor himself1 that representative though he be of majesty1 it would be more dignified and more worthy of majesty1 if he could contrive to keep his temper1 when he is defeated or thwarted in his attack on human life4 ,we may deserve death all of us1 but we deserve not mockery2 and whether we deserve death or not1 ,i hope we deserve1 under our gracious ,lord and ,master1 to be put to death according to law-- ,that'll do6--that'll do6--whispered the lawyer1 who had returned with his huge folios--that'll do my boy6 looking up over his spectacles and turning a leaf--that'll do6 give it to 'em as hot as they can sup it--,i shall be ready for you in a crack--push on1 push on--what a capital figure you'd make at the bar--don't stop--don't stop4 ,why1 what on earth can ,i say6 ,talk--talk--talk--no matter what you say--don't give them time to breathe--pop a speech into 'em6 ,a speech6 ,ay1 or a sermon1 or a whar-whoop1 or a prayer--any thing--anything--if you do but keep the ball up--no matter-what1 if the jury can hear you--they are all agog now--they are pricking up their ears at you--now's your time6 ,very well----,judges6 ,proceed4 ,judges4 ,i am a traveller from my youth up4 ,i have journied over ,europe2 ,i have journied over ,america--,i am acquainted with every people of both hemispheres1 and yet1 whithersoever ,i go1 ,i am a stranger4 ,i have studied much--thought much--and am already a show among those who watched over my youth4 ,i am still young1 though ,i appear old1 much younger than you would suppose me to be1 did you not know me-- ,here he turned to the lawyer--,i never shall be able to get through this2 ,i don't know what ,i am saying4-- ,nor ,i--,so much the better--don't give up-- ----,a youth--a lad in comparison with you1 ye judges1 you that ,i now undertake to reprove----a spectacle and a show among men4 ,they follow me every where1 7,i hope you'll soon be ready7 they pursue me day after day--and week after week--and month after month-- --,and year after year--by jings1 that'll do6-- --,and year after year2 they and their wives1 and their little ones-- ,and their flocks and their herds1 and their man-servants and their maid-servants1 whispered the lawyer4 ,do be quiet1 will you4--,they pursue me however1 not because of their veneration or their love1 but only that they may study the perpetual changes of my countenance and hear the language of one to whom all changes and all languages are alike1 and all beneath regard4 ,they follow me too1 not because they are able to interpret the look of my eyes1 or to understand the meaning of my voice1 but chiefly because they hear that ,i have been abroad in the furthermost countries of all the earth1 because they are told by grave men1 who catch their breath when they speak of me1 though it be in the ,house of the ,lord1 as you have seen this very day1 that ,i have been familiar with mysterious trial and savage adventure1 up from the hour of my birth1 when ,i was dropped in the wilderness like the young of the wild-beast1 by my own mother-- ,i say--,brother ,b4--,i say though--whispered the lawyer1 in much perplexity--,i say though--what are you at now8 ,you are not on trial--are you8 ,yes--yes--let me alone1 ,i beseech you4444 ,fire away 444 fire away 444 you've got possession of the jury1 and that's half the battle 444 fire away4 ,peace 444 peace1 ,i pray you 444 ,judges6 whenever ,i go abroad 444 wherever ,i go 444 the first place into which ,i set my foot1 is the tribunal of death4 ,go where ,i may1 ,i go first in search of the courts 444 the courts of justice1 ,i should say1 to distinguish them from all other courts-- ,good6-- --,and ,i go thither because ,i have an idea that nations are to be compared with nations1 not in every thing--not altogether1 but only in a few things2 and because after much thought1 ,i have persuaded myself that matters of religion1 politics and morals1 are inadequate for the chief purposes of such comparison--the comparison of people with people1 though not for the comparison of individual with individual perhaps2 and that a variety of matters which regard the administration of law1 in cases affecting either life or liberty1 are in their very nature adequate1 and may be conclusive4 ,we may compare court with court and law with law2 but how shall we compare opinion with opinion1 where there is no unchangeable record of either8 goodness with goodness--where goodness itself may be but a thing of opinion or hearsay1 incapable of proof1 and therefore incapable of comparison8 ,very fair--very fair--but what on earth has it to do with our case8 ,wait and you shall see2 ,i begin to see my way clear now--wherefore judges1 ,i hold that the liberty of a people and therefore the greatness of a people may be safely estimated by the degree of seriousness with which a criminal is arraigned1 or tried1 or judged1 or punished--4 --,very true--and very well spun out1 brother ,b4444 but a non sequitur nevertheless4 ,that wherefore1 with which you began the period was a bit of a---- ,pray--pray--don't interrupt me2 you will be overheard--you will put me out4--,in a word1 ye ,judges of ,israel6 ,i have had a notion that arbitrary power would betray itself in every case1 and every-where on earth1 by its mode of dealing with liberty and life--being1 ,i persuade myself1 more and more summary and careless1 in proportion as it is more and more absolute of a truth1 not as it is more and more absolute by character4 ,you had for a time1 while the northern savages were at your door1 a downright military government4--,you know therefore that my words are true4 ,your government was called free--to have called it arbitrary1 would have offended you2 yet for a season you dealt with human life as the ,turk would4 ,you know1 for you have seen the proof1 that in proportion to the growth of power in those who bear sway among you1 the forms and ceremonies which fortify and hedge in1 as it were1 the life and liberty of the subject1 are either disregarded or trampled on4-- ,oh ho6--,i see what you are driving at now6 --,for my own part1 ,i love to see the foreheads of them who are appointed to sit in the high-places and give judgment forever upon the property or character1 life or liberty of their fellow man4-- ,property or character--life or liberty--of a fellow man6 ,very fair--very fair indeed4 --,expressive at least of decent sorrow1 if not of profound awe4 ,i would have them look as if they were afraid--as if they trembled under the weight of their tremendous authority2 as if they were deeply and clearly and reverentially sensible of what they have undertaken to do--which is1 to deal with the creatures of ,god1 as ,god himself professes to deal with them--according to their transgressions--to do a part of his duty with his own ,image--to shelter the oppressed and to stay the oppressor1 not only now and for a time1 but hereafter and forever-- ,don't stop to breathe now2 ,i shall be at your back in a jiffy-- ,i would that every man who has to do with the administration of law1 wherever that law is to touch the life or liberty of another2 and whoever he may be1 from the highest judge in the highest court of all the earth1 down to the humblest ministerial officer--,i would that he should feel1 or at least appear to feel1 that for a time he is the delegate of ,jehovah--,i do not stop to say how1 nor to ask why4 ,that is for others to say4--,i would have the judges remarkable for their gravity1 not for their austerity2 for their seriousness and for their severe simplicity1 not for a theatrical carriage4 ,i would have the bar1 as you call it1 above the trick and subterfuge of the law--incapable of doing what ,i see them do every day of my life2 and ,i would have the bench as you call it1 incapable of suffering what ,i see them not only suffer1 but take pleasure in1 every day of my life----are you ready8 ,persevere--persevere--you may say what you please now1 said the lawyer1 shuffling his papers about with both hands1 chuckling in his sleeve1 and whispering without appearing to whisper4--,have your own way now 444 they like to hear the lawyers and the judges1 and the law cut up2 it's a new thing to hear in such a place 444 fire away1 fire away 444 you see how they enjoy it 444 you've got us on the hip now 444 fire away4 ,if a criminal be arraigned on a charge that may affect his life or character1 limb or property1 or if a witness be to be sworn1 or the oath administered1 444 ,i care not how 444 ,i care not why 444 if you will have oaths 444 ye should order silence to be proclaimed by the sound of trumpet4 --,pho6 pho6 ,i would have a great bell1 one so large that it might be heard far and wide over the whole town--,i would have this tolled on the day of condemnation1 if that condemnation were to death4 ,and if it must be--if you will have it so--if you will that a man be put to death by the rope or the axe1 on the scaffold or over an open grave--as the poor soldier dies--,i would have him perish at night--in the dead of midnight--and all the town should wake up at the tolling of that heavy bell1 or at the roar of cannon1 with a knowledge that a fellow-creature had that instant passed away from the earth forever--just gone--that very instant--before the ,everlasting ,judge of the quick and the dead--that while they were holding their breath and before they could breathe again--he would receive the sentence from which there would be no appeal throughout all the countless ages of eternity4 ,very fair--very fair--,i see the foreman of the jury shudder--keep him to it-- ,i love theory1 but ,i love practice better-- ,zounds6 what a plunge6 --,bear with me1 ,i beseech you4 ,i had come to a conclusion years and years ago1 before ,i went away into the far parts of the earth1 ,judges and ,elders1 that where human life is thought much of1 there liberty is2 and that just in proportion to the value of human life are the number and variety1 the greatness and the strength of the safe-guards forms and ceremonies1 which go to make it secure1 if not altogether inaccessible4 ,very fair--stick to the foreman--keep your eye on his face--don't take it off1 and you'll be sure of the jury4 ,i can hardly see his face now-- ,so much the better--we'll have candles for them yet2 and if we do1 my boy1 the game is our own 444 fire away2 my authorities are almost ready now--fire away4 --,i journeyed the world over1 but ,i found little to prove that human life was of much value anywhere--anywhere ,i should say1 except among the barbarians and the savages4 ,my heart was troubled with fear4 ,i knew not whither to go1 nor where to look4 ,should ,i pursue my way further into the cities of ,europe1 or go back into the wilderness of ,america8--,at last ,i heard of a nation--bear with me judges--where all men were supposed by the law to be innocent1 until they were proved to be guilty1 where the very judges were said to be of counsel for the accused1 where the verdict of at least twelve1 and in some cases of twenty-four men--their unanimous verdict too1 was required for the condemnation of such accused2 where if a man were charged with a crime1 he was not even permitted to accuse himself or to acknowledge the truth1 till he had been put upon his guard by the judges--who would even allow him1 nay press him to withdraw an avowal1 though it were made by him with serious deliberation2 where the laws were so tender of human life to say all in a word1 and so remarkable for humanity as to be a perpetual theme for declamation4 ,i heard all this4444 ,i had much reason to believe it 444 for everybody that ,i knew believed it4444 ,i grew instantly weary of home4444 ,lights there6 lights4444 --,i could not sleep for the desire ,i had to see that country4 ,you'd better stop awhile1 ,mr4 ,burroughs1 whispered the lawyer4 --,and ,i lost no time in going to it4 ,pull up where you are 444 but keep your face toward the jury4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,well1 continued ,burroughs1 ,i departed for the shores of that other world1 where human life was guarded with such care and jealousy4 ,i inquired for the courts of justice and for the halls of legislation 444 ,i hurried thither2 444 ,i elbowed my way up to the sources of their law1 and ,i had the mortification to discover that in almost every case1 their courts were contrived1 not as ,i had hoped from the character of the people1 so as to give the public an opportunity of seeing the operation of power at work in the high-places of our earth1 for the detection of guilt and for the security of virtue1 but so as to hinder that operation1 whether evil or good1 from being viewed by the public4 ,everywhere the courts of justice were paltry 444 everywhere inconvenient4 ,seeing this ,i grew afraid for the people4 ,i found but one large enough to accommodate its own officers1 and but one which it was possible for a stranger to enter1 even by the aid of money1 without much delay1 difficulty and hazard4 ,ye do not believe me--ye cannot believe that such things are1 such courts or such men1 or that ever a price hath been fixed in a proud free country1 for which a few and but a few of a mighty and wise people may see1 now and then1 wherefore it is that some one of their number is to be swept away from the earth forever4 ,what ,i say is true4 ,to the ,halls of ,legislation ,i proceeded--to the place where that law is made of which ,i have had occasion to speak this day4 ,i went without my dinner2 ,i paid my last half-crown to see the makers of the law--and ,i came away1 after seeing--not the makers of the law1 but the door-keepers of their cage--it is true that while ,i was there1 ,i was happy enough to see a man1 who was looking at another man1 which other man declared that the wig of the ,speaker was distinctly visible-- ,are you mad8 ,be quiet ,sir-- ,you have broken the spell--the jury are beginning to laugh-- ,leave the jury to me--what ,i have to say ,sir1 may provoke a smile1 but if ,i do not much mistake1 a smile for the advantage of poor ,martha4 ,we have been too serious 444 we may do better by showing that we have no fear--if the lawgivers of that country are what ,i say they are--if the judges are what ,i say they are1 and what ,i shall prove them to be--and if the people of that country are what ,i am afraid they are1 under such law--why should we bow to its authority8 ,pho--pho--pho4444 ,you are all at sea now4 ,well ,judges 444 ,i enquired when there would be a trial to prove the truth of what ,i had been told1 and whither ,i should go in search of a ,temple of ,justice1 where ,i might see for myself how human life was regarded by the brave and the free4 ,i found such a temple1 and for the price of another dinner1 was carried up into a gallery and put behind a huge pile of masonry1 which as it stood for a pillar and happened to be neither perforated nor transparent1 gave me but a dreary prospect for my money4444 ,do not smile--do not1 ,i beseech you--,i never was more serious in my life4444 ,at last ,i heard a man called up1 heard ,i say1 for ,i could not see him1 called up and charged with ,i know not what fearful crime--,i caught my breath--are you ready ,sir8444 ,almost 444 almost--fire away--writing as fast as he could make the pen fly over the paper 444 fire away for a few minutes more4444 ,i caught my breath 444 ,i trembled with anxiety4444 ,now said ,i to myself1 7,to the lawyer2 ,i am afraid ,i shall drop47 ,no no1 don't drop yet 444 fire away6 ,now1 said ,i to myself1 ,i shall see one of the most awful and affecting sights in the world4 ,now shall ,i see the great humanity of the law 444 the law of this proud nation illustrated 444 the very judges becoming of counsel for the prisoner 444 and the whole affair carried through with unspeakable solemnity4 ,i addressed myself to a man who stood near me with a badge of authority in his hand 444 the very key wherewith he admitted people at so much a head1 to see the performance4 ,pray1 ,sir1 said ,i1 what is that poor fellow charged with8 ,he didn't know1 not he1 some case of murder though1 he thought1 7offering me a pinch of snuff as he spoke7 or of highway-robbery1 or something of the sort 444 he would enquire with great pleasure and let me know4 ,the case opened4 ,a speech was made by a prosecutor for the crown1 a ready and a powerful speaker4 ,the charge a capital one4 ,the accused 444 a poor emaciated miserable creature1 was on trial for having had in possession1 property which had been stolen out of a dwelling-house in the dead of night4 ,well1 prisoner at the bar1 what have you to say for yourself8 said the judge with a stern look1 after the case had been gone through with by the prosecutor4 ,now is your time 444 speak1 said the judge4 ,i have nothing to say for myself1 said the poor prisoner2 nothing more than what ,i have said four or five times already4 ,have you no witnesses8 ,no my lord---- ,soh soh1 ,mr4 ,burroughs6 ,we understand your parable now1 cried one of the judges with a look of dismay4 ,we all know what country that is where a judge is a lord 444 have a care ,sir2 have a care4444 ,be wary 444 you may rue this if you are not4 ,i shall endure the risk whatever it be 444 shall ,i proceed8 ,we have no power to stop you4444 ,no my lord1 was the reply of the prisoner4 ,i could not oblige them to appear2 and they would not appear4 ,how came you by the property8 said his lordship4 ,it was left with me by a man who stopped at my house2 he wanted a little money to carry him to see a sick wife 444 and as ,i did not know him1 he left this property in pledge4 ,who was that man8 ,i do not know my lord1 ,i never saw him before 444 but one of my neighbors in the same trade with me knew him1 and if you had him here1 he would say so4 ,judges1 you have now heard my story4 ,you know what ,i was prepared to see2 you know what ,i expected4 ,here was a man who1 for aught we know1 told the truth4 ,but he had no witnesses--he had no power to make them testify--he had no refuge--no hope--the law was a snare to him--the law of our mother-country4 ,how so pray8 ,property being found in his possession--property which had been stolen1 he was to suffer1 because--mark what ,i say1 ,i beseech you--because he could not prove his innocence6 ,tut--tut--tut--rigmarole6 said the prosecutor4 ,rigmarole ,sir--what ,i say is the simple truth4 ,hear me through4 ,the moment that poor fellow was found with the property in his possession1 he was concluded by the law and by the judges of the law to be guilty2 and they called upon him to prove that he was not guilty-- ,nature of things1 my good brother-- ,well--and if it is the nature of things1 why deny the existence of the fact8 ,why do you1 as all men of the law have done for ages and still do--why say over and over again every day of your lives1 that it is the characteristic of the law1 that law of which you are the expounders1 to regard every man as innocent1 until he be proved to be guilty8 ,why not say the truth8 ,why quibble with rhetoric8 ,why not say that where a man is charged with a crime1 you are1 in the very nature of things1 under the necessity of taking that for proof which is not proof8 ,look you ,sir--how came you by the coat you wear8 ,suppose ,i were to challenge that cloth and put you to the proof1 how could you prove that you purchased it fairly of a fair trader8 ,i would appeal to the trader-- ,appeal to the trader6 ,if he had not come honestly by it ,sir1 would he ever acknowledge that you had it of him8 or that he had ever seen your face before8 ,well then--,i would prove it by somebody else4 ,by somebody else1 would you6 ,are you so very cautious--do you never go abroad without having a witness at your heels8 do you never pick up anything in the street ,sir1 without first assuring yourself that you are observed by somebody of good character1 who will appear of his own accord in your behalf1 should you be arraigned for having stolen property in your possession8 ,what would you have to say for yourself8--your oath would not be received--and if it was1 there would only be oath against oath--your oath against that of the trader of whom you purchased1 or the individual of whom you received the property--and his oath against yours4--,how would you behave with no witnesses to help you out8--or with witnesses who would not appear and could not be made to appear on your side1 though your life were at stake8--nay1 for that very reason1 for if your property only were at stake1 they might be made to appear-- ,very well6 --,or with witnesses1 who having appeared on your side1 are not allowed to make oath to what they say--lest they may be believed--to the prejudice of our good king8 ,really1 cried one of the judges1 really1 gentlemen1 you appear to be going very wide of the mark4 ,what have we to do with your snip-snap and gossip8 ,are we to have nothing but speech after speech--about nobody knows what--now smacking of outrage--now of treason8 ,are we to stay here all night ,sirs of the bar1 while you are whispering together8 ,with submission to the court1 said the ,attorney-general--we have a case put here1 which would seem to require a word of reply4 ,we are asked what we should do if we were without witnesses--and the court will perceive that the sympathy of the jury is relied on--is relied on1 ,i say6--on the authority of a case--of a case which6--of a case which ,i never heard of before6 ,the court will please to observe--to observe ,i say6--that the prisoner at the bar--at the bar--has no witnesses--in which case1 ,i would ask1 where is the hardship--where we cannot prove our innocence--our innocence ,i say6--of a particular charge--we have only to prove our character4 ,here the ,attorney-general sat down with a smile and a bow1 and a magnificent shake of the head4 ,only to prove our character1 hey8 ,to be sure-- ,but how--if we have no witnesses-- ,very fair--very fair1 brother ,b4 ,what if you were a stranger8--what if you had no character8--or a bad one8 ,it would go hard with me1 ,i dare say--and--and 7raising his voice and appealing to the bar with a triumphant look7 and it should go hard with me4 ,why then ,sir--it would go hard with every stranger in a strange country1 for he has no character2 and it would go hard with every man who might be unable to produce proof1 though he had a good character2 and with every man who might be regarded as a profligate or a suspicious character--as a cheat1 or a jew1 or a misbeliever4 ,and what have such men to complain of8 ,judges--,fathers--,i appeal to you4 ,i have not much more to say1 and what ,i have to say shall be said with a view to the case before you4 ,i have always understood that if a man be charged with a crime here1 he is to be tried for that particular crime with which he is charged1 and for no other till that be disposed of4 ,i have always understood moreover1 not only in your courts of law and by your books of law1 but by the courts and by the books of which you are but a copy1 that character is not to be put in issue as a crime before you2 and that nobody is to be put to death or punished merely because he may happen to have no character at all--nor because he may have a bad one-- ,you have understood no more than is true1 said a judge4 ,if so 444 allow me to ask why you and other judges are in the habit of punishing people of a bad character 444 nay of putting such people to death 444 for doing that which1 if it were done by people of good character1 you would overlook or forgive8 ,how ,sir4444 ,do you pretend that we ever do such things8 ,i do4444 ,will you say that you do not8444 ,yes 444 and waive the authority of a judge1 and the irregularity of your procedure that you may reply4 ,then 444 if what ,i hear is true 444 if it is law ,i mean 444 the judges before me will not regard character8 ,why as to regarding character 444 that's another affair ,mr4 ,burroughs4444 ,i implore you 444 take one side or the other6 ,say whether you do or do not regard character4444 ,i care not for the degree1 nor do ,i care which side you take4 ,for if you say that you do1 then ,i say that you act in the teeth of all your professions2 for you declare in every shape1 every man of you1 every day of your lives1 that nobody shall be punished by law but for that which he has been charged with in due course of law 444 technically charged with and apprised of 444 and you never charge a man with having a bad character4444 ,well1 then 444 suppose we say that we do not regard character8 ,when character is not in issue1 brother1 added the chief-judge2 for it may be put in issue by the traverser--in which case we are bound to weigh the proof on both sides along with the jury4 ,if you say that1 in your character of judge 444 and if you are all agreed in saying that4444 ,lo1 ,i am prepared for you4 ,we are agreed--we perceive the truth now4 ,lo1 my answer6--,you have heard the whole of our case4 ,you have heard all the witnesses for the crown2 you have gathered all the proof4 ,now 444 bear with me1 judges 444 bear with me 444 what ,i say is a matter of life and death 444 we have no witnesses 444 we have not put the character of ,martha in issue 444 all that you know of her1 you know from your witnesses1 and they have not said a syllable touching her character4 ,now 444 fathers6 and judges6444 ,i ask you if that proof1 take it altogether1 would be enough in your estimation1 to prove 444 ,i beg you to hear me 444 would it be enough to convict any one of your number1 if he had no witness to speak for him8444 ,ye are astounded6 ,ye know not how to reply1 nor how to escape2 for ye know in your own souls that such proof 444 such proof and no more1 would not be enough to convict any one of you in the opinion of the other six4 ,well ,sir----what then8 ,why then ,sir 444 then ye ,judges--if that poor old woman before you--if she be not on trial for character--on trial for that which has not been charged to her 444 by what you have now said1 she is free4 ,stand up1 on your feet ,martha6 stand up and rejoice6 ,by what ye have now said1 ye judges1 that poor old woman hath leave to go free6 ,the judges were mute with surprise1 and the lawyer started upon his feet and clapped ,burroughs on the back1 and stood rubbing his hands at the ,attorney-general and making mouths at the jury--,capital6 444 ,capital6 444 never saw the like1 faith--never1 never 444 never thought of such a view myself 444 but ,i say though 7in a whisper7 you did begin to put her character in issue--tut--tut--yes you did1 you rogue you 444 say nothin'--tut--tut-- ,say nothing ,sir6--excuse me4 ,if ,i have said that which is not true1 ,i shall unsay it-- ,pooh1 pooh 444 your argument's all the same1 and besides1 you did not go far enough to make ,jerry ,smith your witness 444 pooh1 pooh--what a fool you are-- ,but the judges recovered their self-possession1 and laid their heads together and asked ,burroughs if he had anything more to say4 ,more to say--yes--much more--enough to keep you employed for the rest of your lives1 ye hard-hearted inaccessible men6 ,what--are ye so bent upon mischief6 ,will ye not suffer that aged woman to escape the snare6 ,ye carry me back all at once to the spot of which ,i spoke4 ,ye drive me to the parable again4 ,i saw the judges behave to their prisoner as ,i now see you behave to yours2 and ,i would have cried out there as ,i do here1 with a loud voice4444 ,are ye indeed the counsel for the prisoner6--,why do ye not behave as other counsel do8 ,but when ,i looked up and beheld their faces1 and about me1 and beheld the faces of the multitude1 my courage was gone--,i had no hope--my heart died away within me4 ,they were as mute as you are--and their look was your look--a look of death4 ,but where1 said ,i1 is the advocate for the prisoner8 why does he not appear8 ,he has none1 was the reply4 ,what1 no advocate1 no help--there is a provision of your law which enables the very pauper to sue4444 ,i have heard so1 and surely he is not so very poor1 the man ,i see at the bar2 why do not the counsel that ,i see there unoccupied--why do they not offer to help him8 ,they are not paid ,sir4 ,do they require pay before they will put forth a hand to save a fellow-creature from death8 ,of course4 ,but why do not the court assign counsel to him8--,the reply there was the reply that you have heard here this day4 ,the accused have no counsel in a matter of life and death 444 it is only by courtesy that counsel are permitted even to address the court on a point of law1 when they are employed by a prisoner4 ,but why do ,i urge all this8 ,are not we1 and were not they1 living in a land of mercy1 a land remarkable for the humanity of her laws8 ,do not mistake me1 fathers6 ,i would not that the guilty should escape4444 ,i have no such desire4 ,but ,i would have the innocent safe1 and ,i would have the guilty1 yea the guiltiest in every case and everywhere1 punished according to law4 ,to know that a man has committed murder is not enough to justify you in taking his life--to see him do the deed with your own eyes1 would not be enough to justify you in putting him to death--wherefore it is that however certain the guilt of the accused1 and however great his crime1 he should have counsel4444 ,absurd6-- ,yea--counsel1 judge--counsel6 ,you would allow the guilty every possible chance of escape4 ,even so1 judge6 every possible chance of escape4 ,for the guilty have some rights to guard--rights the more precious for being so few1 and for being in perpetual risk of outrage2 the more to be guarded ,sir1 because they are the rights and the privileges of the wicked1 who have nothing to hope from the public sympathy1 no hope of pity1 no hope of charity4 ,even so1 ,judge6 for the innocent are liable to appear otherwise4 ,even so--for till the trial be over1 how do we know who is guilty and who not8 ,how do we know--how is it possible for us to know1 till the accused have undergone their trial1 whether they are1 or are not unjustly charged8 ,for the innocent as well as for the guilty therefore1 would ,i have counsel for the accused--yea1 counsel1 whatever were the charge1 and however probable it might appear--nay the more1 in proportion both to the probability and to the magnitude of the charge4 ,a fine theory that ,sir4 ,you have been abroad to much purpose1 it would appear4 ,even so judge--even so4 ,such is my theory1 and ,i have been abroad1 ,i believe1 to much purpose2 for if men are to die by the law1 ,i would have them appear to die by the law4 ,by the law1 judge--not by popular caprice1 popular indignation or arbitrary power4 ,i would leave no ground for sorrow1 none for self-reproach1 none for misgiving1 either to the public or to that portion of the public who have participated more immediately in the awful business of death4 ,i would have no such case on record as that of ,mary ,dyer4444 ,i would have no ,elizabeth ,hutchinson offered up--no such trials1 no such graves1 no such names for the people to be afraid of and sorry for1 ages and ages after the death of a miserable infatuated woman--a prophetess or a witch1 forsooth-- ,george ,burroughs6 --,a prophetess or a witch ,i say6--after she has been put to death no man is able to say wherefore4 ,george ,burroughs6 ,who speaks8 ,george ,burroughs1 beware6 cried a female who stood in a dark part of the house1 with her head muffled up--a deep shadow was about her and a stillness like death4 ,i know that voice--be of good cheer--,i have nearly done1 though not being used to unprepared public-speaking1 ,i have said little that ,i meant to say1 and much that ,i did not mean to say2 hardly a word however even of that which ,i have said or meant to say1 as ,i would say it1 or as ,i could say it1 if ,i had a little more experience--or as ,i could say it now on paper4 ,and if ,i feel this--,i--who have grown up to a habit if not of speaking1 at least of reading before a multitude2 ,i1 who have been used from my youth up to arrange my thoughts for the public eye1 to argue and to persuade2 what must another1 taken by surprise1 wholly without such practice and power1 what must he--or she--or that poor woman at the bar feel1 were you to put her into my place1 and urge her to defend herself to a jury8 ,pity her 444 ,i implore you 444 consider what ,i say and have mercy upon her6-- ,before you sit down1 brother ,b4444 what if you give us a word or two of the parallel you begun8--,i see the drift of it now--a word or two1 you understand me--take a mouthful o' water--and if you could manage to slip in a remark or two about the nature of the proof required in witchcraft1 ,i'll be after you in a crack1 and we'll tire 'em out1 if we can't do anything better4 ,i will--be prepared though--for ,i shall say but a word or two--,i am weary2 sick and weary of this--my throat is parched1 and my very soul in a maze of perplexity4 ,so much the better--they can't follow you on t'other side4 ,well1 fathers6 ,i pursued the inquiry4 ,i found that even there1 no prisoner could have a compulsory process to bring a witness for him into court1 although such process could be had1 backed by the whole power of the country1 to bring a witness against him4 ,and ,i discovered also1 that if a witness for the accused were so obliging as to appear1 they would not suffer him to speak on oath4 ,i turned to the officer--,i take it1 ,sir1 said ,i1 that in such a case1 you have no punishment for untruth1 and of course1 that the witnesses for the wretched man at the bar are not so likely to be believed as the witnesses against him 444 the latter being on oath8444 ,precisely4 ,but is he a lawyer8 said ,i4444 ,who6 the prisoner at the bar4444 ,yes4444 ,a lawyer--no4 ,is he accustomed to public speaking8 ,he 444 no1 indeed6444 ,nor to close argument1 perhaps8 nor to a habit of arranging his ideas on paper8444 ,i dare say not1 was the reply4 ,it would be no easy matter for a man to preserve his selfpossession 444 so at least ,i should suppose1 however much he might be accustomed to public speaking 444 if he were on trial himself1 and obliged to defend himself8 ,there's an authority for you in the books1 brother ,b4--,the man who appeareth for himself1 7in a loud voice7 for himself1 saith my lord 444 ,coke1 hath a fool for his client4444 ,saith ,lord ,coke1 hey8 ,pooh1 pooh1 7in a whisper7 pooh1 pooh2 never mind who says it2 give it for his1 and let them show the contrary1 if they are able4 ,but if it be a case of life and death--where great coolness and great precision were needed at every step1 he would be yet more embarrassed8 ,no doubt4 ,and is not the prosecutor a very able man8 ,very1 ,sir--very4 ,chosen for that office1 out of a multitude of superior men altogether on account of his ability8 ,very true1 ,sir--very true--on account of his ability and experience at the bar4 ,and yet1 ,sir1 said ,i--if ,i understand you1 that poor fellow there1 who is now in such grevious trepidation1 so weak that he can hardly stand--his color coming and going with every breath1 his throat and mouth and lips dry with excessive anxiety1 his head inclined as if with a continual ringing in his ears--if ,i understand you1 said ,i1 he is now called up to defend himself1 to make speech for speech before a jury1 against one of your most able and eloquent speakers2 a man whose reputation is at stake on the issue--a man who--if he be thwarted in his way1 by a witness1 or a fact1 or a speech1 or a point of law1 will appear to regard the escape of the prisoner1 whatever he may be charged with1 and whether he be innocent or guilty1 as nothing better than a reproach to the law1 and high treason to the state--a man1 to say all in a word1 who dares to behave in a court of justice--in a matter of life and death too--as if the escape of a prisoner were disloyalty to the king--our father6 and a disgrace to the king's ,attorney-general-- ,will you have done1 ,sir8 ,no 444 no 444 no6444 ,you have no power to stop me4 ,the jury could not agree4 ,two of their number were unwilling to find the accused guilty4 ,they were sent back--it was in the dead of winter1 and they were allowed neither food1 nor fire--and so1 after a while they were starved and frozen into unanimity-- ,grant me patience6 what would you have1 ,sir8--you appear to be satisfied with nothing--,i believe in my soul1 ,george ,burroughs1 that you are no better than a ,reformer-- ,a shudder ran through the whole court4 ,here was a pretty illustration of what ,i had been told by you1 and by such as you1 and of what ,i believed before ,i went abroad1 about the humanity of the law--the humanity of ,british law6 of that very law that ye are now seeking to administer here1 in this remote corner of the earth4 ,ye are amazed--ye do not believe me--and yet every word ,i have spoken is true2 and that which is law there1 ye would make law here4 ,the judges1 we are told1 are of counsel for the prisoner--,god preserve me from such counsel1 ,i say6444 ,five and one are six--six-and-sixpence1 muttered a voice4 ,they never interfered while ,i was there1 in favor of the prisoner2 but they did interfere two or three times1 and with great acuteness too1 for it was a trial of wit among three1 to his disadvantage1 even as ye have this day4 ,the accused are held to be innocent there1 even as they are here1 till they are proved to be guilty--so say the lawyers there1 and so say the judges1 and so say all the writers on the law1 and so they believe1 ,i dare say4 ,and yet 444 there as here1 the man who happens to be suspected of a crime is held to be 444 not innocent of the charge1 but guilty1 and is called upon to prove his innocence2 which if he fail to do1 judgment follows1 and after two or three days1 it may be1 death4 ,he had no counsel permitted to him where his life was at stake1 though he might have had the best in the whole empire in a civil case affecting property to the value of a few pounds4 ,he had no power to bring witnesses 444 the law would not allow him witnesses therefore 444 and if they appeared in spite of the law1 that law put a disqualification upon whatever they said in favor of the prisoner4 ,and after all this4444 ,o the humanity of the law6 444 the jury1 a part of whom believed him to be innocent were starved into finding him guilty4 ,what was ,i to think of all this8 what of ,british law--that very law by authority whereof1 ye are now trying that woman for her life--what of the-- ,here ,burroughs dropped into a chair completely out of breath4 ,have you done ,sir8 said the chief judge4 ,he signified by a motion of the head that he must give up4 ,very well ,sir--,you cannot say that we have not heard you patiently2 nor that we have hurried the case of the prisoners at the bar1 whatever else you may think proper to say4 ,you have had such liberty as we never granted before1 as we shall never grant again2 you have had full swing ,sir--full swing1 and would have been stopped a good hour ago but for the deplorable situation of the accused4 ,to tell you the plain truth however--,i did hope--,i did hope ,i say1 that we should hear something--something to the purpose1 before you gave the matter up-- ,something to the purpose1 judge6--,have a care--you know me-- ,silence6 ,judge--judge--,i have said more than you six will ever be able to answer1 though you keep your heads together to all eternity--,how can you answer what ,i say8 ,how--in five words4444 ,in five words6 ,i ask no more to satisfy all that hear me--my brethren of the bench1 the bar1 and the people--but five words1 ,i tell you4 ,and what are they1 ,i do beseech you8444 ,the--wisdom--of--our--ancestors4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,here the lawyer started up1 and after prevailing upon ,burroughs to forbear and be still1 argued 7with his face to the jury7 five or six points of law1 as he called them1 every one of which had been argued over and over again at every trial of a serious charge that he had ever been occupied with in the whole course of a long life at the bar 444 four being about the propriety of capital punishments in general1 and two about the propriety of capital punishments in the particular case of the prisoner at the bar--whom he protested before ,god 7for which he had to pay thirteen-pence more7 he believed to be innocent of the charge--and what was that charge8--nothing more nor less than the charge of sorcery and witchcraft6--a crime1 the very possibility of which1 he proceeded to deny1 in the very language he had used about a twelvemonth before1 while arguing about the impossibility of marriage in a particular case4 ,brother--brother--we do not sit here to try the possibility of such a thing as witchcraft--please to consider where you are1 and what we are4 ,speech after speech followed2 and it was near midnight1 when the chief judge1 after consulting with his brethren1 proceeded to address the jury4 ,ye have heard much that in our opinion does not need a reply1 said he1 after taking a general view of the case1 with much that a brief reply may be sufficient for1 and a very little1 which1 as it may serve to perplex you1 if we pass it over without notice1 we shall say a few words upon1 though it has little or nothing to do with the case before you4 ,the law you have nothing to do with 444 right or wrong1 wise or foolish1 you have nothing to do with the law4 ,so too 444 whatever may be the practice abroad or in this country1 and whatever may be the hardship of that practice1 you have nothing to do with it4 ,one is the business of the legislature 444 of the law-makers2 the other the business of the courts1 and the judges 444 the law-expounders4 ,you are to try a particular case by a particular law2 to that1 your whole attention is to be directed4 ,if the law be a bad law1 that is neither your business nor our business4 ,we and you are to do our duty1 and leave theirs to the sovereign legislature4 ,i propose now to recapitulate the evidence1 which ,i have taken notes of--should ,i be wrong1 you will correct me4 ,after ,i have gone through with the evidence1 ,i shall offer a few brief remarks in reply to the arguments which have been crowded into the case--,i will not say for show--and which1 idle as they are1 would seem to have had weight with you4 ,the afflicted1 you observe1 do generally testify that the shape of the prisoner doth oftentimes pinch them1 choke them1 and otherwise afflict them1 urging them always to write in a book she bears about with her4 ,and you observe too1 that the accusers were struck down with a fit before you1 and could not rise up till she was ordered to touch them1 and that several of their number have had fits whenever she looked upon them4 ,but we are to be more particular1 and ,i shall now read my notes1 and ,i pray you to follow me4 #a4 ,deliverance ,hobbs1 who confessed herself a witch1 testified that the prisoner tempted her to sign the book again1 and to deny what she had confessed2 and that the shape of the prisoner whipped her with iron rods to force her to do so1 and that the prisoner was at a general meeting of witches at a field near ,salem village1 and there partook of the sacrament with them4 #b4 ,john ,cook testified that about five or six years ago1 he was assaulted with the shape of the prisoner in his chamber1 and so terrified that an apple he had in his hand flew strangely from him into his mother's lap1 six or eight feet distance4 #c4 ,samuel ,gray testified that about fourteen years ago1 he waked one night and saw his room full of light and a woman between the cradle and bed-side2 he got up but found the doors fast1 and the apparition vanished--however the child was so frighted1 that it pined away and in some time died4 ,he confessed that he had never seen the prisoner before1 but was now satisfied that it was her apparition4 #d4 ,john ,bly and his wife testified that he bought a sow of the prisoner's husband1 but being to pay the money to another1 she was so angry that she quarrelled with ,bly1 and soon after the sow was taken with strange fits1 jumping1 leaping and knocking her head against the fence which made the witnesses conclude the prisoner had bewitched it4 #e4 ,richard ,coman testified that eight years ago1 he was terrified with the spectre of the prisoner and others1 who so oppressed him in his bed that he could not stir hand nor foot1 but calling up somebody to come to his assistance1 as soon as the people of the house spoke1 the spectre vanished and all was quiet4 #f4 ,samuel ,shattock testified that in #afhj 7twelve years before the trial7 the prisoner often came to his house on frivolous errands1 soon after which his child was taken with strange fits1 and at last lost his understanding2 the fits were manifestly epileptic1 but the witness verily believed it was bewitched by the prisoner4 #g4 ,john ,londor testified that upon some little controversy with the prisoner about her fowls1 going well to bed1 he awoke in the night and saw the likeness of this woman greviously oppressing him4 ,another time he was troubled with a black pig1 but going to kick it1 it vanished4 ,another time as he was sitting in his room1 a black hobgobling jumped in the room1 which spoke to him these words--,i understand you are troubled in mind3 ,be ruled by me and you shall want nothing in this world4 ,but when he endeavored to strike it1 there was nothing4 ,after this he ran out of his house and saw the prisoner in her orchard1 but had no power to speak to her1 but concluded his trouble was all owing to her4 #h4 ,william ,stacy testified that the spectre of the prisoner had played him several pranks of the same nature as the former2 for example--having received some money of the prisoner for work1 he had not gone above three rods from her when it was gone from him2 some time after1 discoursing with the prisoner about grinding her grist1 he had not gone above six rods from her with a small load in his cart1 before the off-wheel sunk into a hole in plain ground1 so that the deponent was forced to get help for the recovery of it1 but stepping back to look for the hole1 there was none to be found4 ,another time1 as he was going home on a dark night1 he was lifted up from the ground and thrown against the stone wall1 and after that1 he was hoisted up1 and thrown down a bank at the end of his house4 #i4 ,john and ,william ,bly testified that being employed by the prisoner to take down her cellar-wall1 they found several poppets made of rags and hog's bristles1 with headless pins in them1 the points being outwards4 ,in addition to all this1 continued the chief-judge1 you have the testimony of ,mr4 ,park1 the magistrate1 who says that when her ,paris's daughter and two other children accused the prisoner at the bar of afflicting them1 by biting1 pricking1 strangling1 c4 saying that they saw her likeness in their fits1 coming toward them and bringing them a book to sign1 he asked her why she afflicted those poor children--to which she replied that she did not2 and that when he asked her who did then8 she answered she did not know-- ,burroughs groaned aloud4 --,you will observe her answer1 gentlemen of the jury 444 she did not know1 but thought they were poor distracted creatures1 whereupon the afflicted said that the ,black man was whispering in her ear and that a yellow-bird which used to suck between her fingers was now there2 and orders being given to see if there was any sign1 a girl said1 it is now too late for she has removed a pin and put it on her head2 and upon search there was found a pin sticking upright there4 ,he testifies too that when ,mrs4 ,cory had any motion of her body the afflicted would cry out1 when she bit her lip they would cry out of being bitten1 and if she grasped one hand with the other they would cry out of being pinched4 ,you will observe too that a jury of women who were empanelled to search her body1 testify one and all that they found a preternatural teat upon her body2 but upon a second search three or four hours after1 there was none to be found4 ,thus much for the evidence1 gentlemen of the jury2 ,i proceed now to remark on what has been urged for the--officer--officer 444 look to your prisoner6 ,o1 ,i am so tired and so sleepy6 said ,martha a getting up1 and trying to pass the sheriff1 who stood by her with a drawn sword4 ,let me go1 will you6--get out o' the way and let me go--what's the use o' keeping me here2 ,i've told you all 't ,i know o' the job4 ,do let poor ,martha go6 ,gracious ,god6--,father of ,love6 cried ,burroughs1 what an appeal to the executioners of the law6 ,did you not hear it1 ye judges8 ,do you not see her now1 tottering away 444 the poor bewildered creature4 ,have done ,sir4 ,dear brother--if we are wise we shall be not be strict with him here--let us give the world nothing to complain of1 our duty require it1 policy requires it--ah6 ,prisoner at the bar--go back to your seat3 ,officer--officer-- ,she don't hear a word you say1 ,mr4 ,judge4 ,martha ,cory--,martha6 ,well1 here ,i be1 ,mister ,capun ,sewall2 what d'ye want o' me8 ,go back to your seat1 ,martha4 ,back there8--,i shall not-- ,officer6 ,the officer took her by the arm to lead her back4 ,gently there--gently--gently4 ,there now6 cried ,martha1 in a peevish1 querulous tone--,there now2 dropping into the seat with her arms a-kimbo1 and poking out her chin at the officer4 ,there now2 ,i hope that'll satisfy you-- ,gentlemen of the jury1 pursued the judge2 ,you have now the evidence before you4 ,you have gone through the whole proof with me1 step by step--it is for you to say what is the value of that proof-- ,proof1 cried ,burroughs--proof6 taking away his hands from his pale face--and speaking through his shut teeth4 ,call you that proof which proves nothing8 that which relates to things that occurred1 if they ever occurred at all1 years and years ago8 that which is only a sort of guess-work8 that which relates to transactions which the poor soul does not appear to have had either voice or part in8 ,bravely said1 ,george ,burroughs--bravely put1 cried a female1 who stood in the dark part of the house4 ,such trivial matters too--so trivial that we should mock at them1 but for the life we lead here1 surrounded by savages1 and by death in every shape1 and by woods and waters that were never yet explored by man2 beset on every side by a foe that never sleeps2 afar and away from succor and liable to be surprised every hour of the day and every hour of the night1 and butchered among our babes and our household-gods2 ,proof1 say you8--can that be proof1 ,i appeal to you judges--that which1 however false it may be1 or however mistaken by the witnesses1 cannot1 in the very nature of things1 be explained away nor contradicted2 that which calls upon a poor creature worn out with age and misery--an idiot--for of a truth she is little better--,i pray you judges--,i pray you--on me let your displeasure fall2 not on her--,i will abide your wrath--,i see it in your eyes--but ,i pray you--,i beseech you--can that be proof1 that which calls upon a prisoner in such a case to go through the whole history of her life--hour by hour--step by step4 ,nay1 speak to me6--,by your oaths1 answer me6 ,by your oath here1 and by your hope hereafter1 may you call upon her1 in a matter of life and death1 to do this8 ,and not only to do this1 but to account for the epilepsy of a babe8 for the dreams1 the diseases1 the very night-mares of them that now accuse her8---- ,if you do not stop ,sir1 we shall have to commit you4 ,commit me if you dare6 ,you have made me counsel for the prisoner1 and whatever may be the courtesy of the bar1 whatever you may expect--and whatever may become of me--or of you--,i shall not throw a chance away4 ,he proceeded to review the whole of the evidence with a vigor and propriety which after a while rose up in judgment against him1 as if it were supernatural2 he then argued upon the nature of the crime--saying it was a charge easily made but hard to disprove1 and that it would require one to be a witch to prove that she was not guilty of witchcraft-- ,beware of that man1 said the chief judge1 with a mysterious look4 ,beware1 ,i tell you2 for whoever he may be1 and whatever he may be1 he will be sure to lead you astray1 if you are not upon your guard4 ,lo1 the counsel for the prisoner6 ,lo the humanity of the law6 cried ,burroughs4 ,who could do more8--,i appeal to you1 ye men of ,massachusetts-,bay--could the prosecutor himself--could anybody on earth--in aid of the prisoner at the bar8--,put upon your guard in that way1 against the power and art of another--if you are not men of a marvellous courage indeed--of heroic probity--it would be impossible for him to convince you1 however true were his argument1 however conclusive his facts4 ,very true1 whispered the foreman of the jury1 loud enough to be overheard by a judge1 who rebuked him with great asperity4 ,whatever ,i might say1 therefore--however true it might be1 and however wise1 after that speech1 you would not venture to heed me--you could not--such a thing were too much to hope for--unless you were indeed1 every man of you1 far1 far superior to the race of men that are about and above you---- ,talk of art1 said the chief judge1 in dismay4 ,talk of address after that6 who ever heard of such art--who ever heard of such address before8 ,what a compliment for your understandings6--,but ,i do not give up in despair--,i shall say the little that ,i now have to say1 and leave you to decide between us--if ,i prevail1 you may have courage enough perhaps to acquit the prisoner1 though you are sneered at by the judges4 ,he proceeded with fresh vigor1 and concluded the work of the day with a speech that appears to have been regarded by the court and the people as above the ability of man4 ,he spoke to the multitude1 to the judges1 to the bar1 to the jury--man by man--saying to each with a voice and a power that are spoken of still by the posterity of them that were there4444 ,you have heard the whole evidence--,you--you alone1 ,sir1 that ,i speak to now1 are to decide upon the life or death of the prisoner4 ,you alone1 ,sir6 and mark me if 444 though 444 you are but one of the twelve who are to decide 444 if you decide for death 444 observe what ,i say 444 if you so decide ,sir1 as one of the twelve 444 when1 if you knew that her life depended upon you alone1 you would have decided otherwise1 mark me 444 her blood shall be upon your head 444 her death at your door6 444 at yours--and yours--and yours--though each of you be but one of the twelve4 ,hear me4 ,i address myself to you1 ,john ,peabody4 ,are you prepared to say--would you say--guilty1 if her life depended upon you1 and upon you alone8--if you were her only judge8--,think of your death-bed--of the ,judge whom you are to meet hereafter1 you that have so much need of mercy hereafter--ask yourselves what harm would follow her acquittal1 even though she were guilty4 ,then ask yourself what would be your feelings if you should ever come to know that you have put her to death wrongfully4444 ,so say ,i to you1 ,andrew ,elliot4444 ,her life depends upon you--upon you alone6 ,you are in fact her only judge--for you--or you--or you--or either of you may save her1 and if you do not1 her blood will be required hereafter at your hands--at the hands of each of you----,i have done4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the chief judge would not reply--could not perhaps1 till after he and his brothers had prayed together2 and when he did speak1 he spoke with a subdued voice1 like one troubled with fear4 ,gentlemen of the jury1 said he2 ,i have but a few words to urge in reply4 #a4 ,you have been told that one should be a witch to prove that she is not guilty of witchcraft4 ,i admire the ingenuity of the speaker2 but my answer is1 that by the same rule1 a man should be a wizard to prove that he is not a manslayer--he being proved a manslayer4 ,and yet1 being proved a manslayer1 we put him to death4 ,so here--being proved a witch1 if you are satisfied by the proof1 we put the prisoner to death1 even though it would require the exertion of diabolical power to overthrow the proof4 #b4 ,you are told by one speaker that we are prone to believe in the marvellous2 and that1 therefore1 when a marvellous thing is related1 we ought to be on our guard against that proneness to belief1 and require more proof4 ,now it appears to me that if we are prone to a belief in the marvellous1 instead of requiring more proof to witchcraft1 we should require less4 ,for why require much1 if less will do8 #c4 ,but by another1 it has been said that we are not prone to belief in the marvellous2 that on the contrary1 so prone are we to disbelieve in what may appear marvellous1 that proof1 which we would be satisfied with in the ordinary affairs of life1 we should pay no regard to1 if it were adduced in favor of what we consider preternatural2 and that therefore in the case you are now to try1 you should require more proof than you would in support of a charge not marvellous4 ,to which we reply--that where you have the same number of witnesses1 of the same character1 in support of a marvellous charge1 you actually have more proof1 than you would have in the like testimony of the same witnesses1 to a charge not marvellous4 ,and why8--,because by the supposition of the speaker1 as they are prone to a disbelief in the marvellous1 they would have required much proof1 and would not have been persuaded to believe what they testify to1 but upon irresistable proof--more proof than would have satisfied them in the ordinary affairs of life4 #d4 ,it has been said moreover--that the greater the crime charged1 the more incredible it is2 that great crimes are perpetrated less frequently than small ones2 and that1 therefore1 more proof should be required of parricide than of theft4 ,our reply to which is1 that if a witness declare to a parricide on oath1 you have more proof than you would have to a theft sworn to by the very same witness2 that1 if the greater the crime1 the less credible it is1 you are bound to attach more value to his testimony where he testifies to parricide than where he testifies to theft4 ,and why8--,because1 the greater the crime charged1 the greater the crime of the witness if he charge falsely2 and therefore the less likely is it1 by the supposition1 that he does charge falsely4 ,but here ,i would have you observe that proof is proof1 and that after all1 the proof which at law or otherwise would be enough to establish one charge1 would be enough to establish any other4 ,in every case you are to be satisfied--you are to believe3 and in the case now before you1 perhaps it may be well for you to look upon the two improbabilities which ,i have now spoken of1 as neutralizing each other4 ,if witchcraft is incredible--it is incredible also that one should falsely charge another with witchcraft4 #e4 ,it has been said too that the witnesses contradict each other4 ,be it so4 ,i confess that ,i see no such contradiction--but if ,i did1 ,i might be called upon to say that perjured witnesses are remarkable for the plausibility and straight-forwardness of their stories2 and that such plausibility and straight-forwardness are now regarded1 like unanimity1 as a sign of bad-faith by judges of experience4 ,you are to be told moreover1 that where slight contradictions appear in what may be said by several witnesses to the same fact1 such contradictions are a sign of good-faith--showing that no preconcerted story has been told4 ,i might refer1 and ,i may venture to do so perhaps1 in a matter of such awful moment1 to the gospels in proof4 ,it is a mighty argument for their truth my friends1 that no two of them perfectly agree--no two of the whole as they could have agreed1 if1 as there have been people wicked enough to say 7though not to believe7 they had been prepared for deception by a body of conspirators---- ,brother--brother--put off thy shoes 444 the ground is holy--said ,governor ,phips4 ,i have4444 ,i have-- ,the people groaned aloud4 ----,if you were called upon1 each of you1 five years from to-day1 to give a particular account of what you now see and hear1 and if each of you depended upon himself1 your stories would be unlike2 but if you consulted together1 your stories would be sure to approximate4 ,so much for this head4 #f4 ,i have gone so far as to say that proof is proof1 whatever may be the case2 but ,i do not say that you are to require at any time1 in any case1 more proof than the nature of the case will admit of4 ,in other words1 you are not to insist upon the same sort and degree of proof in every case4 ,you are to be satisfied with such proof as you can get--if you suppose that none better is left behind4 ,so says the law-- ,nonsense--for if that rule is good1 you might prove any-thing--by any thing1 said ,burroughs4 ,be quiet ,sir 444 few people see spectres2 and witches will do their mischief1 not in the light of day1 and before a multitude1 but afar and apart from all but their associates4 ,you are to be satisfied with less proof therefore in such a case1 than it would be proper and reasonable for you to require in a case of property-- ,and if so--why not in murder8 444 murders being perpetrated afar and apart from the world-- ,peace ,i bid you4444 ,having-- ,how dare you6 --,having disposed of what has been urged respecting the proof1 gentlemen of the jury1 ,i should now leave the case with you1 but for a remark which fell from a neighbour a few minutes ago4 ,doctor ,mather will now touch upon what ,i would gladly pass over--the growth and origin of the evil wherewith we are afflicted4 ,here a man of majestic presence of about fifty years of age arose1 and laying aside his hat1 and smoothing away a large quantity of thick glossy hair1 which parting on his forehead1 fell in a rich heavy mass upon his broad shoulders1 prayed the jury and his brethren of the church to bear with him for a few moments2 he should try to be very brief4 ,brother ,george--he did not question his motive he said1 but brother ,george ,burroughs would have you believe that witches and wizards are no longer permitted upon our earth2 and that sorcery1 witchcraft1 and spells are done with4 ,whereto ,i reply4444 ,first--that there has been hitherto throughout all ages and among every people1 and is now a general1 if not a universal1 belief in witchcraft and so forth4 ,now if such universality of belief respecting the appearance of departed souls after death1 has been1 as it certainly has1 a great argument for the immortality of the soul with such as never heard of the ,scriptures of ,truth1 ,i would ask why a like universality of belief respecting witchcraft and sorcery should be thought of no value1 as an argument8 ,every where the multitude believe in witchcraft or in that which is of a piece with it4 ,spirits and fairies1 goblins and wizards1 prophets and witches1 astrologers and soothsayers are found mixed up with the traditionary love and the religious faith of every people on earth1 savage and civilized--7so far as we know1 ,i should say72--with that of people who inhabit the isles of the sea1 afar and apart from each other and from all the rest of the world4 ,i speak advisedly4 ,they believe in spirits1 and they believe in a future state--in sorcery and immortality4 ,the wild ,irish have what they call their banshees1 and the ,scotch their second-sight1 and the ,french their loup-garoux1 or men turned into wolves--and so also have the ,irish2 and a part of our jocular superstition is the posterity of that which existed among the terrible ,goths4 ,maria--a word that we hear from the lips of the idle and profane1 before they have got reconciled to the wholesome severity of our law1 was in old ,runic a goblin that seized upon the sleeper and took away all power of motion4 ,old ,nicka too--he that we are in the habit of alluding to1 in a grave way1 as ,old ,nick1 was a spright who used to strangle such as fell into the water4 ,bo--was a fierce ,gothic captain1 the warlike son of ,odin1 whose name was made use of in battle to scare a surprised enemy4 ,every where indeed1 and with every people1 earth sea and air have been crowded with specters1 and the overpeopled sky with mighty shadows--,i do not know a---- ,here the great black horse which ,burroughs had left underneath a tree1 trotted up to the very door1 and stood still1 with the reigns afloat upon his neck1 and thrust his head in over the heads of the people1 who gave way on every side1 as he struck his iron hoofs on the step1 and for a second or two there was a dead quiet over the whole house4 ,the speaker stopped and appeared astonished1 for the eyes of the animal in the strong light of the torches1 were like two balls of fire1 and his loose mane was blowing forward in the draught of the door1 so as actually to sound aloud4 ,why do you stop--what are you afraid of1 ,doctor ,mather8 ,not afraid of old ,pompey are you8 ,hadn't you better tie him up8 asked a judge4 ,no--,i have something else to do1 but ,i desire that somebody at the door will4 ,but nobody would go near the creature4 --,history abounds with proof1 ,i say1 respecting witchcraft and sorcery1 witches and wizards1 magic1 spells and wicked power4 ,if we put all trust in the records of history for one purpose1 why not for another8 ,if a witness is worthy of belief in one thing--why is he not another8 ,if we find no treachery nor falsehood in a writer2 if we meet with nothing but confirmation of what he says1 when we refer to other writers of the same people and age1 why disbelieve him when he speaks of that which1 being new to our experience1 we cannot be able to judge of8 ,able and pious men should be trusted1 whatever they may say1 so long as they are not contradicted by other able and pious men-- ,we are to believe not only in witches then1 but in fairies and loups-garoux-- ,be quiet ,sir-- ,softly judge4444 ,and we are to believe that he who in the course of a tale about the ordinary affairs of ordinary life-- ,have done ,sir4 --,testifies to a miracle1 should be credited as much for what he says of the miracle as for the rest of the-- ,be quiet ,sir4 --,as for the rest of the tale4444 ,you cannot escape me brother-- ,will you be quiet ,sir8 ,no4 --,the ,bible is crowded with proof1 continued the ,doctor4 ,sooth-sayers and sorcerers1 interpreters of dreams1 false-prophets1 and a witch with power to make the grave and the sea give up their dead2 men whose little rods became live serpents while they strove with ,aaron the ,high-priest1 multitudes who were clothed with a mischievous power 444 all these are spoken of in the ,bible4 ,it has been said here that credulity is a sign of ignorance4 ,it may be so1 my dear friends--but you must know as well as ,i do1 that incredulity is everywhere found among the ignorant4 ,able men believe much1 because they are able men4 ,the weak disbelieve much because they are weak4 ,who are they that laugh when they hear that our earth is a globe1 and that once in every twenty-four hours1 it turns completely round underneath our feet-- ,much whispering here1 and a look of surprise on every side of the speaker1 encouraged him to a more emphatic delivery4 ,who are they that refuse to believe much that the learned and the wise1 fortified in their wisdom by the beauty of holiness1 and the gravity of age1 are steadfastly assured of8 ,the truth is that extraordinary minds have a courage that ordinary minds have not--for they dare to believe what may expose them to ridicule4 ,the longer we live and the more we know1 the more assured we are that impossible things are possible-- ,to be sure ,doctor1 said a judge4 --,that nothing is impossible therefore4444 ,now1 my friends of the jury--it appears to me that if witchcraft had been a common thing with every people1 and in all ages1 we could not possibly have had more evidence of it1 than we have now4 ,we have the records of ,history1 sacred as well as profane4 ,we have a great body of laws1 made year after year1 among the most enlightened people that ever inhabited the earth1 about conjurations1 spells and witchcraft1 and this1 in all parts of the globe and especially in the land of our ,fathers2 judgment of death1 day after day1 and year after year1 under that law2 confessions without number by people charged with sorcery and witchcraft1 not only in various parts of ,england1 but by our very fire-sides and at our very doors4 ,added to all this1 we have the universal faith of which ,i spoke1 and altogether1 a body of proof1 which if it be false--would be more wonderful than witchcraft is---- ,true 444 true 444 fearfully and wonderfully true1 brother4 --,but if such things are elsewhere why may they not be here8 ,if they have been heretofore1 why may they not be now1 and forever8 ,we do not know1 worms that we are1 how the ,lord ,god of ,heaven and earth operates in ,his pavillion of thick darkness--we do not know whether he will or will not work in a given way4 ,we only know that he may do whatever he will 444 that for ,him there is no such law as the law of nature4 ,and if so1 why may not witches be employed as the wicked are1 as great warriors are1 for scourging the nations of our earth1 and for the glory of our ,father above4--,let us pray4 ,prayer followed1 and after the prayer1 the multitude sung a psalm together1 and the jury withdrew4 ,they were not gone long1 and when they came back there was but just light enough to see their faces4 ,not a breath could be heard 444 not a whisper--and the foreman stood up and was about to speak in the name of the twelve1 when ,burroughs1 who could bear it no longer1 leaped upon his feet1 and turned to the jury with tenfold power1 and gasping for breath1 called upon each man by name1 as he hoped for mercy hereafter1 to speak for himself4 ,brother ,burroughs6 ,brother ,moody-- ,be quiet ,master ,burroughs4 ,i will not be quiet1 ,master ,judge-- ,officer6 ,i will not be quiet ,i say6 ,and hereafter you will remember my words1 and if they prevail with you1 men of ,massachusetts-,bay1 ye will be ready to cry out for joy that ,i was not brow-beaten by your looks2 nor scared by your threats-- ,have done ,sir4--,do your duty ,master ,high-,sheriff4 --,begone ,sir4 ,touch me if you dare4--,you see this staff4--,you know something of me and of my ways4--,touch me if you dare4 ,what ,i have to say shall be said1 though ,i die for it4 ,by our ,sovereign ,lord and ,master and ,mary his ,queen1 ,i charge you to hear me6 ,you are shedding the blood of the innocent6 ,you are driving away the good and the brave by scores from the land6 ,you are saying to people of no courage1 as to that poor woman there--as ,i live she is fast asleep--asleep6 444 while that grey-headed man who stoops over her is about to pronounce the judgment of death upon her-- ,wake the prisoner 444 what1 ho1 there6 cried the chief judge4 ,the officer went up to poor ,martha and shook her2 but she did not appear to know where she was1 and fell asleep again with her little withered hands crossed in her lap4 ,you are saying to her and such as her4444 ,confess and you are safe4 ,deny1 and you perish-- ,to the point ,mr4 ,burroughs4444 ,we are tired of this2 we have put up with enough to-day-- ,i will4 ,i demand of you judges that you call upon every man there in that box to say1 each man for himself1 whether it be his opinion that ,martha ,cory should suffer death4 ,i will have it so4444 ,i will have it on record--,i will not permit a man of the twelve in such a case to hide himself under the cloak of the majority-- ,it cannot be master ,burroughs--it cannot be--such a thing was never heard of 444 gentlemen of the jury1 look upon the prisoner4 ,hear me but a word more6 ,i see death in the very eyes of the jury--,i see that we have no hope4 ,hear me nevertheless 444 hear me for a minute or two1 and ,i will go away from you forever-- ,let us hear him1 said another judge4 ,i proved to you the other day that an accuser had perjured herself in this court1 before your faces1 ye mighty and grave men4 ,what was my reward8 ,you gave judgment of death on the accused--,you let the accuser go free--,i see that accuser now4 ,what will be said of your justice at home1 if you permit her to escape8 ,will the judges of ,england forget you8 or the majesty of ,england forgive you8-- ,the horse at the door began to grow impatient--snorting and striking with his feet4 --,ye know that the knife was a forgery2 and the sheet which has made so much talk here1 why even that was a---- ,he stopped short1 and looking at a female who sat near him1 appeared to lose himself entirely1 and forget what he was going to say4 ,well ,sir---- ,excuse me 444 ,i 444 ,i 444 excuse me 444 although ,i have no doubt of the fact1 although as ,i hope to see the face of my ,redeemer1 ,i do believe the story of the sheet and the story of the spindle1 to be of a piece with the story of the knife2 a trick and a forgery1 yet--yet-- ,here he made a sign to the female1 as if to encourage her4 --,yet ,i dare not say now1 ,i dare not say here1 on what my belief is founded4 ,but hear me 444 they talk of teeth and of whole sets of teeth being discoverable by the prints which appear in their flesh4 ,how does it happen ,i pray you that all these marks turn out to be on parts of the body which might be bitten by the afflicted themselves8 ,and how does it happen1 ,i pray you1 that instead of corresponding teeth1 or sets of teeth being found in the accused1 ye have repeatedly found her as now1 without a tooth in her head8 ,nay 444 how does it happen that ,abigail ,paris and ,bridget ,pope1 who are indeed sufferers by a strange malady1 babes that are innocent as the dove1 ,i am sure 444 ,god forbid that ,i should lay the mischief at their door-- ,seven and seven pence--muttered the man1 who kept an account of the oaths4 ----,how does it happen ,i say1 that of all the accusers they and they alone have escaped the mark of the teeth8 ,how6 444 because they alone speak the truth2 because they are the deceived 444 we know not how1 judges1 but in a fearful way4 ,they are deceived 444 poor children1 but they do not seek to deceive others4 ,nor do they lie in wait for a---- ,he was interrupted by a loud furious neigh1 so loud and so furious from the great black stallion at the door1 that ,martha awoke and started up with a scream that thrilled the very blood of the judges1 and made the people hurry away from the bar4 ,burroughs now saw that he had no hope1 and that in a moment the poor soul before him would bear the sentence of death4 ,he caught up his iron-shod staff1 and breaking through the crowd which recoiled from his path as if he were something whose touch would be fatal to life1 sprang upon the back of the horse1 and gallopped away toward the sea-shore4 ,no language on earth1 no power on earth can describe the scene that followed his departure1 the confusion1 the outcry1 the terror of the people who saw the fire fly from his rocky path1 and heard leap after leap of the charger bounding toward the precipice2 nor the fright of the judges2 nor the pitiable distress and perplexity of the poor childish woman1 when she was made fully to understand1 after the tumult was over and the dread clamor and fire-flashing had passed away1 and everything was quiet as the grave--nothing to be heard but a heavy trample afar off and the dull roar of the sea--that she must be prepared for death4 ,she could not believe it 444 she would not believe it--she did not 444 such was her perfect simplicity1 till the chief judge came to her and assured her with tears in his eyes1 over and over again1 that it must be so4 ,ah me6 said poor ,martha1 looking out toward the quarter of the sky where the horseman had so hastily disappeared1 and where she had seen the last of the fire-light struck from his path2 ,ah me1 bending her head to listen1 and holding up her finger as if she could hear him on his way back4 ,ah me6--ah me 444 and that was all she said in reply to her judges1 and all she said when they drove her up to the place of her death1 decked out in all her tattered finery1 as if it were not so much for the grave1 as for a bridal that she was prepared4 ,ah me6 said poor ,martha when they put the rope about her neck4444 ,ah me6--and she died while she was playing with her little withered fingers1 and blowing the loose grey hair from about her mouth as it strayed away from her tawdry cap 444 saying over the words of a child in the voice of a child1 ,ah me--ah me--with her last breath-- ,god forgive her judges6 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,the work of that day was the death of ,george ,burroughs4 ,the unhappy allusion that he made to the knife1 just before he stopped so suddenly and fixed his eyes upon a young female who sat near him with her back to the light1 and her face muffled up so that nobody knew her till after she had gone away1 was now in every body's mouth4 ,she was the sister of ,rachel ,dyer1 and her name was ,mary ,elizabeth2 after ,mary ,dyer and ,elizabeth ,hutchinson4 ,it was now concluded that what he knew of the perjury of the witnesses1 of the sheet and of the knife1 he had been told by ,mary ,elizabeth or by ,rachel ,dyer1 who had been watching him all the livelong day1 from a part of the house1 where the shadow of a mighty tree fell so as to darken all the faces about her4 ,it was ,rachel ,dyer who spoke out with a voice of authority and reproved him for a part of his wild speech4 ,and it was ,rachel ,dyer who came up to his very side1 when he was in array against the judges and the elders and the people1 and stood there and spoke to him without fear2 while ,mary ,elizabeth sat by her side with her hands locked in her lap1 and her blue eyes fixed in despair upon the earth4 ,nor were the people mistaken2 for what he knew of the forgery1 he did know from ,rachel ,dyer1 and from ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer1 the two quaker women whose holy regard for truth1 young as they were1 made their simple asseveration of more value than the oath of most people4 ,to them was he indebted for the knowledge1 though he was not suffered to speak of it--for the times were not ripe enough1 that even as the knife-blade was1 the spindle and the sheet were1 a wicked forgery2 and the sign that he made to ,elizabeth ,dyer1 when he stopped in the middle of his speech1 and the look of sorrow and love which accompanied his endeavor to appease her frightful agitation1 as she sat there gasping for breath and clinging to ,rachel's garb1 were enough to betray the truth to everybody that saw them4 ,it was fatal to him1 that look of sorrow and love1 and ere long it was fatal to another1 to one who loved him with a love so pure and so high as to be without reproach1 even while it was without hope2 and it would have been fatal to another in spite of her loveliness1 but for the wonderful courage of her 444 the heroine of our story1 whose behavior throughout a course of sore and bitter trial which continued day after day1 and month after month1 and year after year1 deserves to be perpetuated in marble4 ,no hero ever endured so much--no man ever yet suffered as that woman suffered1 nor as a multitude of women do1 that we pass by every hour1 without so much as a look of pity or a word of kindness to cheer them onward in their path of sorrow and suffering4 ,if ,god ever made a heroine1 ,rachel ,dyer was a heroine--a heroine without youth or beauty1 with no shape to please1 with no color to charm the eye1 with no voice to delight the ear4 ,but enough--let us go to our story4 ,before the sun rose again after the trial of poor ,martha1 the conspirators of death were on the track of new prey1 and fear and mischief were abroad with a new shape4 ,and before the sun rose again1 the snare was laid for a preacher of the gospel1 and before a month was over1 they dragged him away to the scaffold of death1 scoffing at his piety and ridiculing his lofty composure1 and offered him up a sacrifice to the terrible infatuation of the multitude4 ,but before we take up the story of his death1 a word or two of his life4 ,it was full of wayward and strange adventure4 ,he appears to have been remarkable from his earliest youth for great moral courage1 great bodily power1 enthusiastic views1 and a something which broke forth afterwards in what the writers of the day allude to1 as an extraordinary gift of speech4 ,he was evidently a man of superior genius1 though of a distempered genius1 fitful1 haughty and rash4 8,he appeared on earth10 says an old writer of ,america1 8about a hundred years too soon4 ,what he was put to death for in #afib1 he may be renowned for 7if it please the ,lord7 in #agib1 should this globe 7of which there is now small hope1 on account of the wars and rumors of wars1 and star-shooting that we see7 hold together so long40 ,he was not a large man1 but his activity and strength were said to be unequalled4 ,he went about every where among the nations of the earth2 he grew up in the midst of peril and savage warfare2 and at one period of his life1 his daily adventures were so strange1 so altogether beyond what other men are likely to meet with1 even while they are abroad in search of adventure1 that if they were told in the simple language of truth1 and precisely as they occurred1 they would appear unworthy of belief4 ,the early part of his life1 he spent among a people who made war night and day for their lives1 and each man for himself--the men of ,massachusetts-,bay1 who did so1 for about a hundred and fifty years after they went ashore on the rocks of ,new-,plymouth--putting swords upon the thighs of their preachers1 and ,bibles into the hands of their soldiers1 whithersoever they went1 by day or by night1 for sleep1 for battle or for prayer4 ,on account of his birth1 he was brought up to the church1 with a view to the conversion of a tribe to which his father belonged3 ,constituted as he was1 he should have been a warrior4 ,he made poetry2 and he was a strong and beautiful writer3 ,he should have made war--he might have been a leader of armies--a legislator--a statesman--a deliverer4 ,had he appeared in the great struggle for ,north-,american liberty1 fourscore years later1 he probably would have been all this4 ,he never knew his father2 and he was dropped by his mother1 as he said1 in the heart of the wilderness1 like the young of the wild-beast2 but he escaped the bear and the wolf1 and the snake1 and was bred a savage1 among savages1 who while he was yet a child1 put him upon the track of his unnatural mother1 and bid him pursue her4 ,he did pursue her with the instinct of a blood-pup1 and found her1 and fell upon her neck and forgave her and kissed her1 and wept with her1 and stood by her in the day of her trouble4 ,on her death-bed she told him her story4 ,she had been carried away captive by the ,indians while she was yet a child4 ,she grew up to their customs and married a warrior who was descended from a white man4 ,of that marriage the boy about her neck was born4 ,she had no other child1 but she was very happy until she saw the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,elliot of ,plymouth1 a man who seeing others of the church occupied in warfare and cruel strife1 turned his back upon the white men that he loved1 and struck into the woods of the north1 and went about every where preaching the gospel to the savages and translating precious books for them1 such as 8,primers1 catechisms1 the practice of piety1 ,baxter's ,call to the ,unconverted1 several of ,mr4 ,shepard's composures1 and at length the ,bible itself1 which was printed the first time in their language in #affd1 and a second time1 not long after1 with the corrections of ,mr4 ,cotton1 minister of ,plymouth40 ,after meeting with ,mr4 ,elliot1 who soon added her to his ,indian church1 and filled her heart with fear about original sin1 faith1 free grace and a future life1 she grew melancholy2 and being assured that her brave wild husband1 a chief who hated the white man with a hatred passing that of the red men1 would never permit her to preach or pray if he knew it1 she forsook him and fled for refuge to ,new-,plymouth--her boy1 whom she could not bear to leave with his pagan father1 strapped to her back1 and her soul supported by the prayers of the true church4 ,for a time she doated on the boy1 for a time she was all that a mother could be2 but before a twelvemonth was over1 perceiving that she was regarded by the whites1 and by the women especially 7her sisterhood of the church7 as unworthy to associate with them because of the babe1 and because of the father1 whose lineage they said was that of ,anti-,christ and the scarlet-woman1 she took to prayer anew1 and bethought herself anew of the wrath of ,god--her ,father--and resolving to purify herself as with fire1 because of what she had been to the savages--a wife and a mother1 she strapped the boy on her back once more1 and set off a-foot and alone to seek the hut of his wild father2--and having found it she kissed her boy1 and laid him at his father's door in the dead of night1 and came away with a joyous heart and a free step1 as if now--now1 that the little heathen was in a fair way of being devoured by the wolf or the wild hog1 under the very tree which overhung the very spot of green earth where she had begun to love his father1 as he lay asleep in the shadow1 after a day of severe toil--she had nothing more to do to be saved4 ,the father died in battle before the boy had strength enough to draw a child's arrow to the head4 ,the boy went in pursuit of his mother at the age of twelve1 and by her he was taught the lessons of a new faith4 ,she persuaded him to leave the tribe of his father1 to forsake the wild men who were not of the true church1 and to come out from the shadow of the wilderness4 ,the whites aware of the value of such a youth and of the use he might be in their bold scheme for the overthrow of ,indian power throughout all ,north ,america--the spread of the ,gospel of truth and peace and charity1 as they called it--added their solicitation to hers4 ,but no--no--the brave boy withstood them all1 he would neither be bribed nor flattered1 nor trapped1 nor scared2 nor was he1 till he saw his poor mother just ready to die4 ,but then he gave up--he threw aside the bow and the arrow1 he tore off the rich beaver dress that he wore1 buried the tomahawk1 offered up the bright weapons of death along with the bright wages of death1 on the altar of a new faith--prayed his mother to look up and live and be happy1 and betook himself with such fervor and security to the ,bible1 that he came to be regarded1 while yet a youth1 as a new hope for the church that had sprung up from the blood of the martyrs4 ,he married while he was yet a boy4 ,at the age of twenty1 he was a widower4 ,at the age of twenty-four he was a widower again1 with a new love at his heart which he dared not avow--for how could he hope that another would be found to overlook his impure lineage2 now that two had died1 he believed in his own soul1 a sacrifice to the bitter though mute persecution they had to endure for marrying with one who was not altogether a white man8 a love which accelerated his death1 for till the name of ,elizabeth ,dyer came to be associated with his1 after the trial of ,martha ,cory1 the wretched women1 who had acquired such power by their pretended sufferings1 were able to forgive his reproof1 his enquiry1 and his ridicule of what they swore to1 whenever they opened their lips to charge anybody with witchcraft4 ,from the day of the trial it was not so4 ,they forgave him for nothing1 after they saw how much he loved ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer4 ,and yet1 he was no longer what he had been--he was neither handsome nor youthful now2 and they who reproached others for loving him when he was both1 why should they pursue him as they did1 when the day of his marvellous beauty and strength was over8 when his hair was already touched with snow1 and his high forehead and haughty lip with care8 ,merely because he appeared to love another4 ,he had been a preacher at ,salem till after the death of his first wife1 where he had a few praying ,indians and a few score of white people under his charge4 ,they were fond of him1 and very proud of him 7for he was the talk of the whole country7 till1 after her death1 being seized with a desire to go away--to escape for a time1 he cared not how nor whither1 from the place where he had been so very happy and for so short a period1 he left his flock2 and went eastward1 and married anew--and was a widower again--burying a second wife2 the second he had so loved1 and so parted from1 without a wish to outlive her--and then he crossed the sea1 and traversed the whole of ,europe1 and after much trial and a series of strange vicissitude1 came back--though not to the church he had left1 but to the guardianship of another a great way off4 ,he could bear to live--and that was all2 he could not bear to stay1 year after year1 by the grave where the women that he so loved were both asleep in their youth and beauty--and he forbidden to go near them4 ,but he prospered no more--so say the flock he deserted1 when he went away forever from the church he had built up1 and took refuge again among the people of ,casco ,bay1 at ,falmouth--a sweet place1 if one may judge by what it is now1 with its great green hill and smooth blue water1 and a scattered group of huge pine trees on the north side4 ,it was a time of war when he arrived at ,falmouth1 and the ,indians were out1 backed by a large body of the ,french and commanded by a ,french officer1 the ,sieur ,hertel1 a man of tried valor and great experience in the warfare of the woods4 ,at the village of ,casco ,bay1 there was a little fort1 or block house1 into which about a hundred men with their wives and little ones were gathered together1 waiting the attack of their formidable and crafty foe1 when the preacher appeared4 ,there was no time to throw away--they were but a handful to the foe1 afar from succor and beyond the reach of sympathy4 ,he saw this1 and he told them there was no hope1 save that which pious men feel1 however they may be situated1 and that nothing on earth could save them but their own courage and a prayerful assiduity4 ,they were amazed at his look1 for he shewed no sign of fear when he said this1 and they gathered about him and hailed him as their hope and refuge2 the servant of the ,lord1 their ,joshua1 and the captain of their salvation1 while he proceeded to speak as if he had been familiar with war from his boyhood4 ,for weeks before the affair came to issue1 he and they slept upon their arms4 ,they never had their clothes off by night nor by day1 nor did they move beyond the reach of their loaded guns4 ,if they prayed now1 it was not as it had been before his arrival in a large meeting-house and all together1 with their arms piled or stacked at the door1 and the bullet-pouch and powder-horn1 wherever it might please the ,lord1--but they prayed together1 a few at a time1 with sentries on the watch now1 with every gun loaded and every knife sharpened1 with every bullet-pouch and every powder-horn slung where it should be2 and they prayed now as they had never prayed before--as if they knew that when they rose up1 it would be to grapple man to man with the savages4 ,at last on a very still night in the month of ,may1 one of the two most beautiful months of the year in that country of rude weather1 a horseman who was out on the watch1 perceived a solitary canoe floating by in the deep shadow of the rocks1 which overhung the sea beneath his feet4 ,before he had time to speak1 or to recollect himself1 he heard a slight whizzing in the air1 and something which he took for a bird flew past him--it was immediately followed by another1 at which his horse reared--and the next moment a large arrow struck in a tree just over his head4 ,perceiving the truth now1 the horseman set off at full speed for the fort1 firing into the canoe as he darted away1 and wondering at his narrow escape after the flight of two such birds1 and the twang of a bowstring at his very ear4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,he had a narrow escape--for the shore was lined with canoes that had come in one by one with the tide1 stealing along in the shadow that lay upon the edge of the water1 and the woods were alive with wild men preparing to lay an ambuscade4 ,they were not quite ready for the attack however1 and so they lay still on both sides of the narrow path he took1 and suffered him to ride away in safety when he was within the reach1 not only of their balls and arrows but of their knives4 ,they knew with whom they had to deal1 and the issue proved their sagacity1 for when the poor fellow arrived at the fort and related what he had seen1 there was nobody to believe the story but ,burroughs1 and he would not put much faith in it1 although he had reason to think well of the man2 for how were the savages to get across the ,bay in such a clear still night--with a sea like the sky1 and a sky like the air that men breathe in their boyhood or when they are happy--without being discovered by the boats8 ,and how were they to approach from the woods1 without coming over a wide smooth level of water1 seldom deep enough to float a large canoe1 nor ever shoal enough to be forded without much risk on account of the mud8 ,no attack followed for three nights and for three days1 and already the garrison were beginning to be weary of the watch1 and to murmur at the restraint he had imposed4 ,it grieved him to the soul to see their fright passing off and their vigilance with it4 ,i beseech you said he1 on the afternoon of the fourth day1 toward night-fall1 as he saw them lying about under the trees1 and a full fourth of their number asleep in the rich warm grass1 with hardly a knife or a gun where it should be1 a pike or a powder-horn--,i do beseech you to hear me4 ,you are in jeopardy1 in great jeopardy--,i know it2 ,i am sure of it-- ,so you said a week ago1 answered one of the men1 stretching himself out1 with a rude laugh1 and resting his chin on both hands1 with his elbows fixed in the turf4 ,ah1 you may laugh1 ,mark ,smith1 but ,i am satisfied of what ,i say--the woods are much too still for the time o' the year-- ,fiddlestick1 parson ,burroughs6 what a queer fish you be1 to be sure1 added another4 ,you are skeered when there's nothin' at all to be skeered at-- ,so he is ,billy ,pray1 and yet he aint afeard o' the old ,one himself1 when other folks air4 ,skeered one day at a noise1 and another day at no noise at all--haw1 haw1 haw6 ,do you see how the birds fly8 ,what birds8 ,the birds that come up from the shore--they fly as if they were frightened-- ,well1 what if they do8 ,an' so ,i say1 ,mark ,smith--what if they do8 rolling over in the grass and preparing for another nap--,who cares how they fly8 if they're frightened1 haw1 haw1 haw1 that's their look out1 ,i spose--haw1 haw1 haw4 ,i beseech you to be serious1 men--we have heard no shot fired for several days in that quarter1 and yet you see the birds fly as if they were hunted4 ,now1 it is my opinion that they are struck with arrows1 and arrows you know are made use of by people who are afraid to make a noise when they kill their food-- ,ha1 ha1 ha2--haw1 haw1 haw6 gi' me you yit1 parson--haw1 haw1 haw6--what if they're under the shore--can't they kill fish without makin' a noise8 haw1 haw1 haw6 ,fish--fish--but no1 ,i will not be angry with you ,taber2 ,i dare not1 much as you deserve it1 for every thing we have in the world is now at stake--everything4 ,i entreat you therefore1 my friends--,i implore you1 instead of laying by your arms1 to double your guard this very night2 instead of sleeping1 to watch more than ever--,i feel afraid of this deep tranquility-- ,nonsense--double the watch now1 when every thing is quiet in the woods1 and down by the beach1 and not a breath o' noise to be heard anywhere8 ,yea--yea--for that very reason4 ,look you1 ,david ,fisher--,i know well what the ,indians are1 better than you do now1 and better than you ever will1 ,i hope4 ,i have now done my duty4 ,do you yours--,i have nothing more to say2 but ,i shall be prepared as ,i would have you prepare1 for the night which is now at hand4 ,our foes are not on the water1 ,smith1 nor nigh the water now1 or they might fish for their food without alarming us4 ,but whether you believe me or no1 ,i say again that they are not far from us1 and that we shall find it so1 to our sorrow1 if you do not keep a better look out for the----there--there--do you see how that partridge flies6--,i tell you again and again1 there's something alive in that very wood now4 ,i dare say there is--haw1 haw1 haw6 ,and so ,i say1 ,mark ,smith1 hee1 hee1 hee-- ,it may be one o' the dogs--ha1 ha1 ha6--,and they all sprang up together with a jovial outcry1 and began to caper about in the grass1 and call to a group that were at work a little way off1 to go with them and help scour the wood1 where the new ,joshua thought there was something alive4 ,you forget ,mark ,smith--dogs do not go into the woods--stay1 stay1 ,i beseech you--don't be so foolhardy--try to make one of the dogs go to the top of that hill before you--nay1 nay1 ,carver2 nay1 nay1 and you too1 ,clark--are you mad ,sir8--you a lieutenant of war1 and the first of our men to play the fool4 ,here you men1 said ,clark4 ,here you men1 ,i say6--,whose afeard among the whole boodle of you8 ,no answer4 ,nobody's afeard--so ,i thought4 ,hourra then--hourra for the king6 ,hourra6--hourra6--hourra for the king6 ,pooty well1 that--pooty fair too--now le'me see you hourra for the queen4 ,hourra then--hourra6--hourra for the queen6 ,that's you1 faith6 ,hourra--hourra--hou---- ,no1 no that's enough2 a belly full o' hurrah is as good's a feast now--hold up your heads4--,how many is there of you1 all told8--,soh--soh--steady there1 steady--turn out your heels-- ,turn out your toes you mean--haw1 haw1 hee6 ,no ,i don't--hee1 hee1 haw--give that up long ago4--,now then6 hold still there1 hol' still ,i say1 while ,i count you off--one--two--three--darn your hide ,matthew ,joy1 aint there no hold still to you8 ,stan' still1 ,i say2--four1 five--,out o' that snarl1 there--one1 two1 three1 four6--very well1 very well indeed1 never see the wrigglars do't half so well--clean as a whistle--soh1 soh--five an' five is ten1 and five is fifteen--there now2 you've put me out--hold your gab1 ,sargeant ,berry2--how am ,i goin' to count off the men if you keep a jabberin' so8 --twenty-five--eight--nine--thirty1 and two is thirty-four--now look me right in the eye every one o' you4 ,heads up--heels out--heels out ,i say--that's you ,jake ,berry1 you never stoop none1 ,i see--heels out there1 every man of you1 what are you afeard on8--,you there with the striped jacket on1 what's your under jaw out there for8 you want to tumble over it1 hey8--heads up there1 heads up--have your ears buttoned back1 head soaped and a bladder drawn over it hey8--,soh1 soh6--attention--very well--very well indeed--pooty fair--now ,i'm goin' to give the word for you-- ,wall 444 an' what's the word you're goin' to give 444 hey8 ,you be quiet our ,jake1 and you'll see4444 ,how shall we know what to do1 when you give the word1 if you don't tell us aforehand--,i should like to know that4444 ,shet your clam1 ,obadiah ,p4 ,joy--aint you ashamed o' yourself2 nice feller you for a sojer--aint he boys8 ,well1 fire away then4 ,now you see1 ,i'm goin' to say now or never1 three times 444 behave there6 behave ,i say6 444 and when ,i've said now or never the third time1 off ,i go1 you see6 right bang1 slap dash into that are wood there1 a top or that air hill1 and them that's good enough to carry guts to a bear1 they'll go with me4 ,soh 444 all ready now6 ,ay1 ay 444 ay1 ay1 ,sir 444 ruther guess we be4444 ,now 444 or 444 never6 said ,clark1 leaning forward with a preparatory step1 setting the breach of his heavy musket in the turf1 and driving home the ramrod1 to prove the weight of the charge4 ,now-or-never6 cocking it1 and shaking the powder into the pan1 with his eye on the troop1 all of whom stood with their left leg forward1 ready for the race 444 now-or-never6 and off he started before the words were fairly out of his mouth on the heels of two or three who had started before4 ,keep together1 keep together6 shouted ,burroughs4 ,whatever else you do1 keep together6 ,but no1 no 444 they would have their own way4 ,if the indians are there1 added he4444 ,if they are6 444 as he saw the whole thirty stretching away all out of breath for a wood which crowned the top of the hill--,if they are6 it is all up with us 444 and ,i am sorely afraid of that narrow green lane there1 with a brush-fence on the upper side of it4444 ,ha6----,god forgive them for their folly4444 ,did you see that8 ,see what4444 ,i saw nothing4444 ,look 444 look 444 there's a glitter and a confused motion there 444 can't you see it8 444 just where the sun strikes on the verge of the hill among the high grass1 where a----my ,god 444 ,i thought so6 ,i can't see nothin' 444 the sun hurts my eyes2 but as for you1 you can look right into the sun4444 ,hullow 444 where now8 ,to arms6 to arms6 cried the preacher1 in a voice that might have been heard a mile 444 away with you to your post4 ,away with you all1 cried ,burroughs4 ,what for8 ,to arms6 to arms1 ,i say1 continued the preacher4 ,what for8 ,to legs more like 444 what for8 ,away to the fort ,i beseech you 7lowering his voice7 away with you1 every man of you--you and your wives and your little ones--you haven't a breath to lose now 444 away with you4 ,nation seize the feller2 what for8 ,rattlesnakes an' toddy 444 what for6 ,what for--,god of our fathers6 ,o1 ye men of little faith6 ,hourra for you6 you're cracked ,i vow2 pooty representative o' ,joshua4 ,hear me 444 hear me4444 ,have ,i not more experience than you8 ,do ,i not know what ,i say8 444 can you not believe me8 what do you risk by doing as ,i desire2 444 ,o1 if you but knew as well as ,i do1 what is nigh to us6 ,wall what is nigh to us8 ,death4 ,death6 ,ay 444 death 444 death 444 death4444 ,boo6 ,my friends 444 my dear friends 444 do1 do be ruled by me 444 there 444 there--did you see that8 ,see what8 444 you air cracked1 ,i'll be darned if you aint4 ,my ,god6 my ,god6 cried the preacher1 looking about in despair1 and speaking as if he saw the savages already at the work of death1 hatchets and arrows on every side of his path1 and every clump of willow-trees near breaking out with fire and smoke4 ,will you not be persuaded 444 will you not give up8 444 see 444 see444 ,clark is getting the foolish men together1 and if we betake ourselves to the refuge1 there may be some hope of a-- ,what are they stoppin' for now1 ,i wonder--4 ,wait half a minute more young man1 said the preacher1 and you will be satisfied--now--now6 ,as he spoke1 the men halted and came together a few yards from the top of the hill4 ,out o' breath ,i guess8 ,out of courage ,i fear--4 ,hourra6--hourra6--shouted the men afar off1 and the shout came through the still air1 and passed off to the high sea1 like a shout of triumph4 ,hourra6--hourra6--answered all that were nigh ,burroughs1 and all that were in the fort4 ,hourra6--hourra6--hourra6--echoed the people1 and the shores and the rocks rung with their delirious outcry1 as the brave thirty dashed forward4 ,there they go--there they go--yelled a man from the top of a tree just over the head of the preacher4 ,there they go--they are up to the fence now4 ,are they indeed--are you sure--,god be praised if they are4 ,sure6--that ,i be--there they go--there they go--ha1 ha1 ha6--they're tumblin' over each other--ha1 ha1 ha--there they go--,i knowed there wasn't any thing there--ha1 ha--halloo6--hey--what-- ,well ,job1 what's to pay now8--they're t'other side o' the fence now1 arn't they8 ,t'other side o' the fence6--no1 indeed1 not within a--,lord ,god6--,mr4 ,burroughs6--,mr4 ,burroughs6 ,well--what's the matter now8 ,lord have mercy upon us6 ,lord have mercy upon us6 ,you'll break your neck ,job ,hardy1 if you're not careful4 ,o ,lord1 ,o lord6 what will become of my poor wife8 ,ah1 ha--now do you believe me8 ,out broke the tremendous war-whoop of the ,pequods1 with peal after peal of musketry1 and before the preacher could make himself heard in the uproar1 two or three white men appeared afar off1 running for their lives1 and pursued by a score of savages4 ,by and by1 another appeared--another and another--and after a while five more--and these were all that had survived the first discharge of the enemy4 ,you perceive now why the men tumbled about as they did1 when they got near the fence2 they were struck with a flight of level arrows that we couldn't see--ah6 you appear to have a-- ,o ,mr4 ,burroughs1 ,mr4 ,burroughs--what shall we do8 ,he made no answer-- ,o ,sir--,sir--take pity upon us6 ,he stood as if the fear that he felt a moment before was gone away forever1 and with it all concern1 all hope1 all care1 all pity for the wretched people about him4 ,o ,god of ,jacob--what shall we do6 ,promise to obey me-- ,we will--we will--we do4 ,so you did1 when ,i first came here--now you have begun to scoff at your ,joshua1 as you call me4 ,o ,sir--,sir--do not mock us1 we entreat you6--,here they come ,sir1 here they come6 ,o speak to us--do speak to us--what are we to do-- ,choose me to lead you-- ,we will--we will--we do6 ,and with power--mark me--do you see this gun--with leave to put a ball through the head of the first man that refuses to obey me8 ,yes--yes--any thing--any thing-- ,very well--that's enough4 ,and ,i swear to you before ,god ,i'll do it4 ,now--hear what ,i have to say--,silence6--not a word4 ,here ,bradish--here--take you twelve men out of these1 and away with you to the edge of the creek there1 so as to cover the retreat of your friends4 ,away with you4 ,hourra--hourra6 ,silence--off with you as if you were going1 every man to his own funeral--don't hurry--don't lose your breath2 you'll have occasion for it1 ,i promise you1 before the work of this day is over--away with you1 now2 and every man to a tree2 when you hear the bell1 make your way to the fort1 and if it please ,god1 we'll whip the enemy yet4 ,off sprang the twelve without another word4 ,here ,fitch1 here--,i know you--you are a married man--a father and a good father--take these eight who are all fathers2 and you ,hobby1 you take these--they are all unmarried1 and away with you to the willow-hedge yonder2 you to the right1 ,fitch2 and you to the left1 ,hobby--and let us see who are the braver men1 the married or the unmarried4--,stop--stop--don't hurry2 if you are to make a fair job of it1 you must go coolly to work-- ,off they started-- ,stand by each other6--stick to your trees6--and load and fire as fast as you can--that'll do--off with you-- ,you'll see to the women-folks1 ,i hope-- ,off with you1 ,sir4 ,off we go--but ,i say6--7looking back over his shoulder and bawling as he ran7--what are we to do when we hear the bell8 ,dodge your way in--tree by tree--man by man-- ,hourra for you--hourra for ,josh--hourra for ,joshua6-- ,before five minutes were over1 the savages were in check1 the people reassured1 the remnant of poor ,clark's party safe1 and the whole force of the settlement so judiciously distributed1 that they were able to maintain the fight1 until their powder and ball were exhausted1 with more than treble their number2 and after it grew dark1 to retire into the fort with all their women1 their children1 their aged and their sick4 ,it was no such place of security however as they thought2 for the ,indians after they had fired the village and burnt every house in it1 finding the powder exhausted1 laid siege to the fort by undermining the walls and shooting lighted arrows into the wood-work4 ,from that moment there was nothing to hope for2 and the preacher who knew that if the place were carried by assault1 every living creature within the four walls would be put to death1 and that there would be no escape for the women or the babes1 the aged or the sick1 if they did not immediately surrender1 drew the principal man of the fort aside 7major ,davis7 and assuring him of what he foresaw would be the issue1 advised a capitulation4 ,a capitulation ,sir1 after the work of this day8 said the ,major4 ,what will become of you8 you have killed a chief and two or three warriors1 and how can you hope to be forgiven1 if they once get you in their power4 ,leave that to me--,i know their language--,i will try to pass for one of the tribe-- ,but how--how--impossible1 ,sir4 ,let me have my own way1 ,i beseech you--leave me to take care of myself4444 ,no1 ,sir 444 we know our duty better4 ,then1 ,sir1 as ,i hope to see my ,god1 ,i will go forth alone to meet the savages1 and offer myself up for the chief that ,i have slain4 ,perhaps they may receive me into their tribe 444 give me a blanket1 will you 444 and perhaps not 444 for the ,pequod warrior is a terrible foe4 ,here he shook his black hair loose1 and parted it on his forehead and twisted it into a club1 and bound it up hastily after the fashion of the tribe4 --,and the faith which a ,huron owes to the dead is never violated4444 ,i pray you therefore-- --,stooping down and searching for a bit of brick1 and grinding it to dust with his heel-- ,i pray you therefore to let me go forth-- --,bedaubing his whole visage with it1 before he lifted his head-- ,you cannot save me1 nor help me-- ,shouldering up his blanket and grasping a short rifle4 ,what say you6-- ,leaping to the turf parapet as he spoke1 and preparing to throw himself over4 ,god of our ,fathers--cried the ,major1 ,is it possible6 who are you8 ,a ,mohawk6 a ,mohawk6 shouted all that saw him on the parapet2 even those who beheld the transfiguration were aghast with awe2 they could hardly believe their own eyes4 ,what say you6--one word is enough 444 will you give up8 ,for the love of ,god1 ,mr4 ,burroughs6 cried the ,major1 putting forth his hand to catch at the blanket as it was blown out by a strong breeze4444 ,i do pray you---- ,he was too late2 for ,burroughs bounded over with a shout which appeared to be understood by the savages1 who received him with a tremendous war-whoop4 ,a shriek followed 444 a cry from the people within the fort of--treachery6--treachery6--and after a moment or two every-thing was quiet as the grave outside4 ,the garrison were still with fear--still as death4444 ,were they deserted or betrayed8 ,whither should they fly8--,what should they do8 ,their deliverer 444 where was he8 ,their ,joshua 444 what had become of him8 ,the attack was renewed after a few minutes with tenfold fury1 and the brave ,major was driven to capitulate1 which he did to the ,sieur ,hertel1 under a promise that the survivors of the garrison should be safely conducted to ,saco1 the next ,english fort and that they and their children1 their aged and their sick should be treated with humanity4 ,alas for the faith of the red men6 alas for the faith of their white leaders6 ,before they saw the light of another day1 the treaty was trampled under foot by the savages1 and hardly a creature found within the four walls of the fort was left alive4 ,the work of butchery--but no--no--,i dare not undertake to describe the horrible scene4 ,and ,burroughs4444 ,what of ,burroughs8--,did he escape or die8444 ,neither4 ,he was carried away captive to the great lakes1 and after much vicissitude1 trial and suffering which lasted for upwards of a year1 came to be an adopted ,iroquois1 and a voluntary hostage for the faith of the white men of ,massachusetts-,bay4 ,from this period we lose sight of him for a long while4 ,it would appear however that he grew fond of a savage life1 that his early affection for it sprang up anew1 as he approached the deep of the solitude1 where all that he saw and all that he heard1 above or about him1 or underneath his feet1 reminded him of his youth1 of his parentage and his bravery2 that he began after a time to cherish a hope--a magnificent hope1 for a future coalition of the red men of ,america2 that he grew to be a favorite with ,big ,bear1 the great northern chief1 who went so far as to offer him a daughter in marriage2 that he had already begun to reflect seriously on the offer1 when the whites for whom he stood in pledge1 were guilty of something which he regarded as a breach of trust--whereupon he bethought himself anew of a timid girl--a mere child when he left her1 and beautiful as the day1 who when the shadow of death was upon all that he cared for1 when he was a broken-hearted miserable man without a hope on earth1 pursued him with her look of pity and sorrow1 till1 turn which way he would1 her eyes were forever before him1 by night and by day4 ,it was not with a look of love that she pursued him--it was rather a look of strange fear4 ,and so1 having thought of ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer1 till he was ready to weep at the recollection of the days that were gone1 the days he had passed in prayer1 and the love he had met with among the white girls of the ,bay1 he arose1 and walked up to the ,great northern chief1 who but for the treachery of the whites would have been his father1 and stood in the circle of death1 and offered himself up a sacrifice for the white countrymen of the child that he knew--the lovely and the pure4 ,but no--the ,big ,bear would not have the blood of a brother4 ,you know the ,big ,bear1 said he to the young men of the ,iroquois that were gathered about him4 ,who is there alive to harm a cub of the ,big ,bear8 ,i am your chief--who is there alive to harm the child of your chief8 ,behold my daughter6--who is there alive to strike her sagamore8 ,warriors--look at him--,he is no longer a pale man--he is one of our tribe4 ,he is no longer the scourge of the ,iroquois4 ,the beloved of our daughter--who is there alive to touch him in wrath8 ,here all the warriors of the tribe and all the chief men of the tribe stood up2 and but one of the whole drew his arrow to the head--the signal of warfare4 ,white man--brother1 said the ,big ,bear4 ,behold these arrows6 they are many and sharp1 the arrows of him that would slay thee1 but few--but few brother--and lo6--they are no more4 ,saying this1 he struck down the arrow of death1 and lifted the hatchet and shook it over the head of the stubborn warrior1 who retreated backward step by step1 till he was beyond the reach of the ,big ,bear4 ,brother--would ye that we should have the boy stripped and scourged8 said the ,big ,bear1 with all the grave majesty for which he was remarkable4 ,white man--behold these arrows--they are dripping with blood--they are sharp enough to cleave the beach tree4 ,white man--whither would you go8 ,feel the edge of this knife4 ,that blood is the blood of our brave1 who would not obey the law--this knife is the weapon of death4 ,fear not--for the arrows and the knife are not for the pale man--fear not--beloved of her in whom we have put our hope4 ,the arrows and the knife are not for him--but for the dogs that pursue him4 ,speak6 ,i will1 said ,burroughs1 going up to the resolute young savage1 who stood afar off1 and setting his foot upon the bare earth before him with all his might--,i will4 ,big ,bear--father--,i must go away4 ,i found you in peace--,let me leave you in peace4 ,your people and my people are now at war4 ,i cannot strike a brother in battle4 ,the white men are my brothers4 ,big ,bear made no reply4 ,farewell4444 ,i must go away4 ,i cannot be on either side when ,big ,bear and ,long-knife are at war4 ,good4 ,i cannot have ,pawteeda now4 ,i have done4 ,speak4 ,wherefore8 ,speak4 ,why not have ,pawteeda now8 ,pawteeda should be wife to some warrior1 who1 when he goes forth to war1 will strike every foe of his tribe1 without asking1 as ,i should1 who is he--and what is he8 ,as a white man1 ,i will not war with white men4 ,as the adopted of the red men 444 with the blood of a red man boiling in my heart1 as the captive and nursling of the brave ,iroquois1 ,i will not be the foe of a red man4 ,good-- ,let ,pawteeda be wife to ,silver-heels4 ,he hath deserved ,pawteeda1 and but for me1 they would have been happy4 ,good4 ,here the youthful savage1 whose arrow had been struck aside by the ,big ,bear1 lifted his head in surprise1 but he did not speak4 ,i beseech you father6 let my beloved be his wife4 ,good4 ,the youthful savage dropped his bow1 threw off his quiver1 and plucking the ornamented hatchet from his war-belt1 after a tremendous though brief struggle1 offered the weapon of death to ,burroughs1 thereby acknowledging that in some way or other he had injured the pale man4 ,big ,bear breathed fiercely and felt for his knife1 but ,burroughs went up to the bold youth and gave him his hand after the fashion of the whites1 and called him brother4 ,it shall be so1 said the ,big ,bear4 ,and from that day the youth was indeed a brother to ,burroughs1 who being satisfied that ,pawteeda1 if she married one of her own people1 would be happier than with a white man1 left her and the savages and the ,big ,bear and the woods forever1 and got back among the white people again1 at a period of universal dismay1 just in time to see a poor melancholy creature1 whom his dear wife had loved years and years before1 on trial for witchcraft4 ,he could hardly believe his own ears4 ,nor could he persuade himself that the preachers and elders1 and grave authorities of the land were serious1 till he saw the wretched old woman put to death before their faces4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,from that hour he was another man4 ,his heart was alive with a new hope4 ,the dark desolate chambers thereof were lighted up with a new joy4 ,and what if there was no love1 nor beauty1 nor music sounding in them all the day through1 such as there had been a few brief years before1 in the spring-tide of his youthful courage2 they were no longer what they had been at another period1 neither very dark1 nor altogether uninhabited1 nor perplexed with apparitions that were enough to drive him distracted--the apparition of a child--the apparition of a dead hope--for with him1 after the death of a second wife1 hope itself was no more4 ,he was now a messenger of the ,most ,high1 with every faculty and every power of his mind at work to baffle and expose the treachery of those1 who pretending to be afflicted by witchcraft1 were wasting the heritage of the white man as with fire and sword4 ,he strove to entrap them2 he set spies about their path4 ,he prayed in the public highway1 and preached in the market place1 for they would not suffer him to appear in the ,house of the ,lord4 ,he besought his ,maker1 the ,searcher of ,hearts1 day after day1 when the people were about him1 to stay the destroyer1 to make plain the way of the judges1 to speak in the dead of the night with a voice of thunder to the doers of iniquity2 to comfort and support the souls of the accused however guilty they might appear1 and 7if consistant with his ,almighty pleasure7 to repeat as with the noise of a multitude of trumpets in the sky1 the terrible words1 ,,thou ,,shalt ,,not ,,bear ,,false ,,witness4 ,but the death of ,martha ,cory discouraged him4 ,his heart was heavy with a dreadful fear when he saw her die1 and before anybody knew that he was among the multitude1 he started up in the midst of them1 and broke forth into loud prayer--a prayer which had well nigh exposed him to the law for blasphemy2 and having made himself heard in spite of the rebuke of the preachers and magistrates1 who stood in his way at the foot of the gallows1 he uttered a prophecy and shook off the dust from his feet in testimony against the rulers of the land1 the churches and the people1 and departed for the habitation of ,mr4 ,paris1 where the frightful malady first broke out resolved in his own soul whatever should come of it--life or death--to ,bridget ,pope1 or to ,abigail ,paris--or to the preacher himself1 his old associate in grief1 straightway to look into every part of the fearful mystery1 to search into it as with fire1 and to bring every accuser with whom there should be found guile1 whether high or low1 or young or old1 a flower of hope1 or a blossom of pride1 before the ministers of the law1--every accuser in whom he should be able to see a sign of bad faith or a look of trepidation at his inquiry--though it were the aged servant of the ,lord himself2 and every visited and afflicted one1 whether male or female1 in whose language or behaviour he might see anything to justify his fear4 ,it was pitch dark when he arrived at the log-hut of ,matthew ,paris1 and his heart died within him1 as he walked up to the door and set his foot upon the broad step1 which rocked beneath his agitated and powerful tread2 for the windows were all shut and secured with new and heavy wooden bars--and what appeared very surprising at such an early hour1 there was neither light nor life1 neither sound nor motion1 so far as he could percieve in the whole house4 ,he knocked however1 and as he did so1 the shadow of something--or the shape of something just visible in the deep darkness through which he was beginning to see his way1 moved athwart his path and over the step1 as if it had pursued him up to the very door4 ,he was a brave man--but he caught his breath and stepped back1 and felt happy when a light flashed over the wet smooth turf1 and a voice like that of ,mr4 ,paris bid him walk in1 for he was expected and waited for1 and had nothing to fear4 ,nothing to fear1 brother ,paris4444 ,he stopped short and stood awhile in the door-way as if debating with himself whether to go forward or back4 ,why--how pale and tired you are--said ,mr4 ,paris1 lifting up the candle and holding it so that he could see the face of ,burroughs1 while his own was in deep shadow4 ,you appear to have a--the ,lord have pity on us and help us1 dear brother6 what can be the matter with you8--why do you hold back in that way8--why do you stand as if you haven't the power to move8 why do you look at me as if you no longer know me8-- ,true--true1 said ,burroughs--very true--talking to himself in a low voice and without appearing to observe that another was near4 ,no1 no 444 it is too late now 444 there's no going back now1 if ,i would 444 but of a truth1 it is very wonderful1 very 444 very 444 that ,i should not have recollected my rash vow 444 a vow like that of ,jeptha 444 very 444 very 444 till ,i had passed over that rocky threshold which five years ago this very night1 ,i took an oath never to pass again4 ,what if the day that ,i spoke of be near8444 ,what if ,i should be taken at my word6 ,our ,father who art in4444 ,sir--,mr4 ,burroughs--my dear friend-- ,well4 ,what is the matter with you8 ,with me8 444 nothing4444 ,oh 444 ah 444 ,i pray you1 brother1 do not regard my speech2 ,i am weary of this work1 and the sooner we give it up now1 the better4 ,i have done very little good1 ,i fear 444 two deaths to my charge1 where ,i had hoped a 444 ah1 forgive me1 brother2 pray forgive me4444 ,but how is this8444 ,what's the matter with you8 ,with me6 ,yes--with you4 ,what have ,i done1 that you should block up the door-way of your own house1 when you see me approach8 ,and what have ,i done that you should try to hide your face from me1 while you are searching mine with fire1 and looking at me with half-averted eyes8 ,with half-averted eyes-- ,matthew1 ,matthew--we are losing time--we should know each other better4 ,you are much less cordial to me than you were a few days ago1 and you know it4 ,speak out like a man 444 like a preacher of truth--what have ,i done8 ,what have you done1 brother ,george--how do ,i know8 ,matthew ,paris 444 are we never to meet again as we have met8 never while we two breathe the breath of life8 ,i hope 444 ,i do hope4444 ,i am not less glad to see you than ,i should be2 ,i do not mean to give you up1 whatever others may do1 but--but these are ticklish times brother1 and just now 7in a whisper7 situated as we are1 we cannot be too cautious4 ,to tell you the truth 444 ,i was not altogether prepared to see you1 after the-- ,not prepared to see me6 ,why you told me before you lifted the latch that ,i was expected1 and waited for-- ,so ,i did brother 444 so ,i did1 ,i confess-- ,and yet1 ,i told nobody of my intention2 how did you know ,i was to be with you8-- ,one of the children said so above a week ago1 in her sleep4 ,in--deed4 ,ah1 you may smile now1 brother ,george2 but you looked serious enough a moment ago1 when ,i opened the door1 and if what they say is true-- ,how did ,i look1 pray8 ,why--to tell you the truth1 you looked as if you saw something4 ,well 444 what if ,i did see something8 ,the ,lord help us brother--what did you see8 ,i do not say--,i am not sure 444 but ,i thought ,i saw something4 ,the ,lord have mercy on you1 brother--what was it8 ,a shadow--a short black shadow that sped swiftly by me1 but whether of man or beast1 ,i do not know4 ,all that ,i do know1 is-- ,lower 444 lower 444 speak lower1 ,i beseech you1 brother ,b4 ,no brother ,p4 ,i shall not speak lower4 ,do 444 do-- ,i shall not4 ,for ,i would have the shadow hear me1 and the body to know1 whether it be man or devil1 that if either cross my path again1 ,i will pursue the shadow till ,i discover the body1 or the body till ,i have made a shadow of that-- ,walk in brother 444 walk in1 ,i beseech you4 ,i'll not be startled again for nothing4 ,ah--what are you afraid of8 ,afraid--,i-- ,brother ,paris-- ,there now6 ,look you brother ,paris4 ,you have something to say to me1 and you have not the courage to say it4 ,you are sorry to see me here 444 you would have me go away4444 ,i do not know wherefore 444 ,i do not ask2 but ,i know by the tone of your voice1 by your look1 and by everything ,i hear and see1 that so it is4 ,in a word therefore 444 let us understand each other4 ,i shall not go away 444 here ,i am ,sir1 and here ,i shall abide ,sir1 until the mystery which brought me hither is cleared up4 ,indeed1 indeed ,mr4 ,burroughs1 you are mistaken4 ,i do not believe you4 ,sir6 ,i do not believe you1 ,i say2 and ,i shall put you to the proof4 ,george ,burroughs--,i will not be spoken to1 thus4 ,poh--poh-- ,i will not1 ,sir4 ,who am ,i1 ,sir--and who are you1 that ,i should suffer this of you8--,i1 a preacher of the gospel--you1 an outcast and a fugitive-- ,burroughs drew up with a smile4 ,he knew the temper of the aged man1 he foresaw that he should soon have the whole truth out of him1 and he was prepared for whatever might be the issue4 --,yea1 an outcast and a fugitive1 pursued by the law it may be1 while ,i speak2 ,i1 a man old enough to be your father--,by what authority am ,i waylaid here1 underneath my own roof--a roof that would have been a refuge for you1 if you were not a-- ,a what ,sir8 ,i have done-- ,so ,i perceive ,matthew4 ,i am satisfied now--,i see the cause now of what ,i charged you with4 ,i do not blame you--grievous though it be to the hope ,i had when ,i thought of you--my--my--brother4 ,i feel for you--,i pity you--,i am sorry now for what ,i said--,i pray you to forgive me--farewell-- ,hey--what-- ,farewell4 ,you saw me1 as you thought1 pursued by the law--flying to the shadow of your roof as to a refuge1 and so1 you stood at the door and rebuked me1 ,matthew4 ,you wrong me--,i love you--,i respect you--there is no treachery here1 and what ,i have said1 ,i said rashly1 and ,i know not why4 ,forgive me brother ,george 444 forgive the old man1 whose fear hath made him overlook what is due to them1 whoever they are1 that fly to his habitation for shelter4 ,i do forgive you 444 my brother4 ,let me also be forgiven4 ,be it so 444 there 444 there 444 be it so4 ,but before ,i take another step1 assure me that if ,i enter the door1 neither you nor yours will be put in jeopardy4 ,in jeopardy6 ,am ,i pursued by the law8 444 am ,i1 of a truth8 ,not pursued by the law1 ,george3 ,i did not say you were2 ,i do not know that you will be 444 but indeed1 indeed1 my poor unhappy friend1 here is my roof1 and here am ,i1 ready to share the peril with you1 whatever it may be1 and whatever the judges and elders and the people may say4 ,you are4 ,yes4 ,i am satisfied4 ,you have done your duty4444 ,i shall now do mine4 ,you are a true brother2 let me prove that ,i know how to value such truth4 ,i am not pursued by the law1 so far as ,i know or have reason to believe1 and if ,i was 444 ,i should not come hither you may be assured for safety 444 nay1 nay1 ,i do not mean a reproach4444 ,i have absolute faith in your word now2 ,i do believe that you would suffer with me and for me 444 but you shall not4 ,if ,i were hunted for my life1 why should ,i fly to you8444 ,you could be of no use to me 444 you could neither conceal me nor save me 444 and ,i might bring trouble upon you and yours forever4 ,what would become of you1 were ,i to be tracked by the blood-hounds up to your very door8 ,i pray you1 said the aged man1 ,i do pray you 444 looking about on every side1 shadowing the light with his meagre hand1 the whole inward structure whereof was thereby revealed1 and speaking in a low subdued whisper--as if he knew that they were overheard by invisible creatures4444 ,i pray you brother 444 dear brother 444 let us have done with such talk-- ,why so 444 what are you afraid of8 ,softly 444 softly 444 if they should overhear us-- ,they 444 who 444 what on earth are you shaking at8 ,no matter 444 hush 444 hush 444 you may have no such fear brother ,b4 444 you are a bold man brother ,b4 444 a very bold man 444 but as for me 444 hark6444 ,what's the matter with you8 444 ,what ails you8 ,hush6 444 hush 444 do you not hear people whispering outside the door8 ,no4 ,a noise like that of somebody breathing hard8-- ,yes-- ,you do 444 the ,lord help us4 ,i do man1 ,i do--but it is yourself--you it is1 that are breathing hard--what folly ,matthew--what impiety at your age6 ,at my age 444 ah my dear brother1 if you had seen what ,i have seen1 or heard what ,i have heard1 or suffered as ,i have1 young as you are1 and stout and powerful as you are1 you would not speak as you do now1 nor look as you do now4444 ,seen 444 heard 444 suffered4 ,have ,i not seen 444 have ,i not suffered6444 ,how little you know of me4444 ,here ,matthew ,paris1 after securing the door with a multitude of bars and bolts of oak1 led the way with a cautious and fearful step toward a little room1 through the gaping crevices of which1 a dim unsteady light1 like the light of a neglected fire could be seen4 ,death ,sir 444 death in every possible shape1 ,i might say 444 but who cares for death8 444 peril which1 whatever you may suppose ,matthew1 at your age--old as you are 444 why--what am ,i to understand by your behaviour6 444 you don't hear a word ,i am saying to you4 ,there1 there--not so loud ,i entreat you 444 not so loud--there's no knowing what may be near us4 ,near us--are you mad8--what can be near us8 ,there again--there1 there6 ,stop--,i go no further4 ,my dear friend-- ,not another step--if you are crazy1 ,i am not--,i will be satisfied before ,i go any further4 ,were ,i to judge by what ,i now see and hear--did ,i not believe what you said a few moments ago2 and were ,i not persuaded of your integrity1 ,matthew1 ,i should believe my foes were on the look out for me1 and that you had been employed to entrap me1 as the strong man of old was entrapped for the ,philistines1 with a show of great love-- ,brother6 --,nay1 nay1 it is not so2 ,i know that very well4 ,but were ,i to judge by your behavior now1 ,i say1 and by that alone1 ,i should prepare my fingers for the fight1 and this weapon for war4 ,and ,i--if ,i were to judge by your looks and behaviour at the door1 ,i should believe that you were flying for your life1 and that betaking yourself to my roof1 without regard for me or mine1 you were willing to betray us to the law4 ,man--man--how could you believe such a thing of me8 ,you were pale as death1 ,george-- ,speak louder-- ,pale as death1 and you did not answer me1 nor even appear to see me1 till after ,i had spoken to you two or three times4 ,of a truth8-- ,you appeared unwilling to trust yourself beneath my roof1 when you saw me-- ,did ,i-- --,so that ,i was driven to recall the transaction which drove us apart from each other-- ,did ,i1 ,matthew8--,i am sorry for it-- ,yes--and your behavior altogether was very strange--is very strange now2 it is in fact1 allow me to say so1 just what ,i should look for in a man who knew that his life was in jeopardy4 ,take a chair--you are evidently much disturbed1 you appear to have met with some----surely--surely--my brother1 something has happened to you4 --,did ,i-- ,you do not hear me-- ,true enough1 ,matthew--,i am very tired--please to give me a drop of water and allow me to rest myself here a few minutes--,i must be gone quickly--,i have no time to lose now1 ,i perceive4 ,you take a bed with me to night1 of course4 ,no4 ,you must--indeed you must1 my good brother--,i have much to ask--much to advise with you about4 ,we are in a dreadful way now1 and if we-- ,impossible ,matthew--,i cannot--,i dare not4 ,i have more to do than you have to say4 ,are the children a-bed yet8 ,ah brother1 brother--you have not forgotten the dear child1 ,i see4 ,which dear child8 ,which dear child6--why--oh--ah--,i thought you meant little ,abby--the very image of my departed wife4 ,is ,bridget ,pope with you now8 --,she often speaks of you1 the dear little babe 444 she wears the keep-sake you gave her1 and won't let any body sit in your place1 and if we desire to punish her1 we have only to say that uncle ,george won't love her4444 ,the dear child6 ,i saw her with ,bridget on the day of the trial1 but ,i had no time to speak to either4 ,i hope they are both well--,bridget has grown prodigiously1 ,i hear-- ,and so has ,abby-- ,indeed6 ,indeed--why--is it so very wonderful that ,abby should grow8 ,to be sure--certainly not--she was very fair when ,i saw her last--when ,i left this part of the world1 ,i mean4 ,very-- ,so upright1 and so graceful and free in her carriage4444 ,free in her carriage8 ,for a child1 ,i mean--so modest1 and so remarkable in every way--so attentive1 so quiet-- ,ah my dear friend--how happy you make me4 ,you never said half so much about her1 all the time you lived here2 and ,i1 who know your sincerity and worth and soberness--to tell you the truth ,george--,i have been a little sore4444 4444,so attentive1 so quiet and so assiduous4444 ,very true 444 very true 444 and to hear you say so1 is enough to make her father's heart leap for joy4 ,what--in the grave8444 ,in the grave8444 ,and after all1 ,i do not perceive that her eyes are too large4444 ,too large8 ,nor that her complexion is too pale4444 ,nor ,i4444 ,nor that her very black hair is either too4444 ,black hair 444 black 444 pray brother ,b4 do you know what you are saying just now8 black hair 444 why the child's hair is no more black than--large eyes too--why it is ,bridget ,pope that has the large eyes-- ,bridget ,pope--to be sure it is--and who else should it be8 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,so then--,it was ,bridget ,pope you were speaking of all the time1 hey1 continued the father4 ,to be sure it was--what's the matter now8 ,why----a----a----the fact is1 brother-- ,you are displeased1 ,i see4 ,not at all--not in the least--no business of mine1 brother ,george--none at all1 if you like ,bridget ,pope as much as ever--child though she is--no business of mine brother ,burroughs--,i am sure of that4 ,so am ,i-- ,you may laugh brother ,b41 you may laugh4 ,so ,i shall brother ,p4--so ,i shall4 ,o1 the sick and sore jealousy of a father6 ,why--do you not know ,matthew ,paris--have ,i not given you the proof--that your ,abigail is to me even as if she were my own child--the child of my own dear ,sarah8 ,and is not my feeling toward poor ,bridget ,pope that of one who foresees that her life is to be a life1 perhaps of uninterrupted trial and sorrow1 because of her extraordinary character4 ,i do acknowledge to you that my heart grows heavy when ,i think of what she will have to endure1 with her sensibility--poor child--she is not of the race about her-- ,there now ,george--there it is again6 ,that poor child has never been out of your head1 ,i do believe1 since you saw her jump into the sea after little ,robert ,eveleth2 and if she were but six or eight years older1 ,i am persuaded from what ,i now see1 and from what ,i have seen before---- ,matthew ,paris6 ,forgive me ,george--forgive me--,i have gone too far4 ,you have gone too far4 ,will you not forgive me8 ,i do--,i do--,i feel what you have said though2 ,i feel it sharply--it was like an arrow1 or a knife-- ,allow me to say-- ,no1 no--excuse me--,i know what you would say4 ,her great resemblance to your wife1 which everybody speaks of1 and her beauty-- ,no1 no1 ,matthew1 no1 no4444 ,i cannot bear such talk4 ,ah ,george6 ,both my wives were very dear to me2 but she of whom you speak1 she whom you saw upon the bed of death in all her beauty--she who died before you1 in all her beauty1 her glorious beauty6 but the other day as it were4444 ,the other day1 ,george8 --,died with her hand in yours but the other day1 while ,i was afar off--she whom neither piety nor truth could save1 nor faith nor prayer--she of whom you are already able to speak with a steady voice1 and with a look of terrible composure--to me it is terrible ,matthew she is too dear to me still1 and her death too near1 whatever you may suppose2 you1 her adopted father6--you1 the witness of her marriage vow--you1 the witness of her death--for me to endure it--,o my ,god1 my ,god--that such a woman should be no more in so short a time6 ,dear ,george---- --,no more on the earth 444 no more in the hearts of them that knew her4 ,have ,i not lost a wife too8 444 a wife as beautiful as the day1 ,george1 and as good as beautiful8 --,no more in the very heart of him1 her adopted father1 who sat by her and supported her when she drew her last breath---- ,dear ,george 444 would you break the old man's heart8 why should ,i not speak of them that are dead1 as freely as of-- ,the children 444 the children1 ,matthew--how are they8 ,the children8 ,i have work to do before ,i sleep4 ,it grows late 444 how are they8 ,no longer what they were1 when you saw them about my table five years ago4444 ,i dare say not--five years are an age to them4 ,but they are better now than they were at the time of the trial2 we begin to have some hope now-- ,have you1 indeed8 ,yes1 for they have begun to 444 she has begun1 ,i should say 444 ,bridget ,pope4444 ,i understand you--the father will out4444 --,she has begun to look cheerful and to go about the house in that quiet smooth way-- ,i know1 ,i know 444 it was enough to bring the water into my eyes to look at her-- ,robert ,eveleth is to be with us to-night1 and if we can persuade him to stay here a week or two1 ,i have great hope in the issue4444 ,what hope--how8-- ,that both will be cured of their melancholy ways--,bridget ,pope and my poor ,abby-- ,their melancholy ways--why1 what have they to do with ,robert ,eveleth8 ,why--don't you see they are always together when he is here-- ,who--,abigail and he8 ,no--,bridget ,pope-- ,well1 what if they are--what does that prove8 ,prove6 ,yes--prove--prove--you know the meaning of the word1 ,i hope8 ,don't be angry1 ,george4 ,angry--who's angry8--poh1 poh1 ,matthew1 poh1 poh1 poh2 talk about love in a girl of that age for a boy of that age-- ,love--who said anything about love8 ,poh1 poh1 poh--affection1 or love--or--whatever you please1 ,matthew--it isn't the word ,i quarrel with--it is the idea--,i wonder that you should put such things into their head-- ,i6 ,a man of your age1 ,matthew ,paris-- ,ah1 brother1 brother4 ,sir4 ,there you go again6--,but ,i see how it is1 and ,i shall say no more about ,bridgy ,pope or the boy1 ,robert ,eveleth1 till you are a---- ,for shame-- ,why so1 ,george8 ,all ,i wanted to say was1 that when ,robert is here1 the children are happy together and cheerful4 ,they go romping about in the woods together1 up all the mows in the neighbourhood1 or along by the sea-shore1 7between schools7 and spend half their play-time in the blackberry-swamp--you look very serious4444 ,i feel so 444 good by'e4 ,good by'e--,i thought you had come to see the children8 ,to see the children8--so ,i did--as ,i live1 ,matthew6 ,lead me to them-- ,follow me in here--they are just going to bed1 ,i see4 ,so ,i did--,i came for no other purpose-- ,really8 ,really-- ,a tip-toe1 brother1 if you please--the sight of you may do them good-- ,i hope so1 said ,burroughs--beginning to feel what he had never till that hour had the slightest idea of--jealousy--downright jealousy1 and of a nature too absurd for belief1 except with such as have been afraid in a like way1 of losing the chief regard of no matter what--anything for which they cared ever so little1 or ever so much--a bird or a kitten1 a dog or a horse1 a child or a woman4 ,i hope so1 he repeated1 as he followed the preacher on tip-toe and peeped into the little room to survey their faces before he entered1 that he might enjoy their surprise4 ,but he started back at the first view1 and caught by the arm of his aged brother--for there sat the poor children with their little naked feet buried half leg deep in the wood-ashes1 their uncombed hair flying loose in the draught of the chimney1 each with her wild eyes fixed upon the hearth1 and each as far from the other as she could well get in the huge fire-place2 and so pale were they1 and so meagre1 and their innocent faces were so full of care and so unlike what they should have been at their age--the age of untroubled hope and pure joy--that he was quite overcome4 ,they heard his approach1 either his step or his breathing1 and started away from their settles with a cry that pierced his heart4 ,i pray you6 said he4--,but ,abigail ran off and hid herself in a far corner of the room1 where a bed was turned up in a niche1 and waited there1 gasping for breath1 as if she expected to be eaten alive2 and ,bridget ,pope1 although she stood still and surveyed him with a steady look1 made no reply to what he said1 but grew very pale1 and caught by a chair when he spoke to her4 ,why how now1 said ,mr4 ,paris1 how now1 children8 what's the matter with you1 now8 ,father--father6 cried ,abigail1 peeping out with eyes full of terror1 and speaking with a voice which made her father look toward the door as if he expected ,burroughs to assume another shape1 or somebody else to appear from the darkness behind4 ,o father--father--,o my6--there1 there6--there he goes6 ,where--where--what is it1 my poor child8 ,why--,burroughs--,burroughs--there1 there6 there now1 there he goes again6--that's he--there1 there--don't you see him now1 father8 ,see whom1 dear8--see what8 ,why1 ,burroughs1 to be sure--,burroughs1 the bad man--there--there--there-- ,god help us6 ,i never saw him afore in that shape1 father1 never in all my days1 but ,i know him though1 ,i know him well enough by the scar on his forehead--there1 there--there he goes6--can't you see him now1 father8 ,see him--to be sure ,i do4 ,gracious ,god--,almighty ,father--what can be the matter with the poor child8 ,i begin to perceive the truth now1 said ,burroughs1 ,i do not wonder now at your faith1 nor at your dreadful terror4 ,there--there--didn't you hear that1 father8--it spoke then--,i heard it speak as plain as day--didn't you hear it1 father8 ,why--,abigail ,paris--don't you know me dear8 don't you know your uncle ,george8 ,there again--that's jest the way he speaks--help1 father1 help6 ,what is the matter with you1 child8 ,nothin' father2 nothin' at all now--it stops now--it was a comin' this way when you spoke--my stars6 anybody might know it1 father4 ,know what1 ,abby8 ,make me believe that aint ,george ,burroughs1 if you can1 father4 ,why1 to be sure it is1 cried ,burroughs1 going a step nearer to the place where the little creature lay1 cuddled up in a heap1 with a quantity of split-wood and pitch-knots gathered about her4 ,why do you tremble so1 dear8--what's the matter with you8--what are you afraid of8 ,father--father--shrieked the poor child1 stop it1 father6 ,why6--don't you know me ,abigail8--nor you neither ,bridget ,pope--don't you know me dear8 ,o ,sir--,sir--is it you8--is it you yourself1 ,mr4 ,burroughs8 cried the latter1 huddling up into the shadow1 and catching her breath1 and standing on tip-toe1 as if to get as far out of his reach as possible4 ,o ,sir--is it you8444 ,to be sure it is--look at me--speak to me--touch me-- ,o ,sir1 ,sir----no1 no1 ,mr4 ,burroughs--no1 no4 ,why what on earth can possess you ,bridget ,pope8--what on earth is the matter with you8--what are you afraid of8 ,o ,lord ,sir--,i hope it is you6 ,who else can it be8--don't you see me8--don't you hear me speak8--,o ,i'm ashamed of you1 such a great girl1 to be afraid of a---- ,who else8--how should ,i know ,sir8 and if ,i knew1 ,i should be afraid to say2 but ,i don't know ,sir1 ,i don't indeed ,sir--and how should ,i1 pray1 when ,i never saw you before to night-- ,never saw me before to night6 ,no ,sir1 never--never-- ,are you out of your head ,bridget ,pope8--never saw me before8 ,no ,sir--never1 never--,i wish ,i may die if ,i ever did1 though others have--your shape ,i mean ,sir--but ,i would never allow they told the truth about you when they--,o1 ,abigail1 ,abigail6 ,did you speak to me1 ,bridgy ,pope8 ,o my1 ,o my6--it is your uncle ,george6--it is indeed--,i see the ring he used to wear--that's the very ring6 ,you don't say so ,bridgy6--mother's pretty ring8 ,speak to it now ,abby--you aint afeard now--speak to it1 will you8 ,no1 no1 ,bridgy1 no1 no--you speak to it yourself--what are you cryin' about father8 ,i did speak to it ,abby--it's your turn now-- ,but you're the nearest-- ,but you're the furthest off-- ,ah--but you're the oldest6-- ,but you are the youngest4444 ,father--father--its lookin' at me now6 ,well1 what are you afeard on ,abby--,i don't believe he's one o' the crew--is he1 uncle ,matthew8 ,the preacher was afraid to open his mouth--his heart was too full4 ,it was the first time they had called each other ,abby and ,bridgy1 for months4 ,and so--and so--they may say what they like2 and ,i--,i--as for me ,abby1 ,i'm not afeard now1 one bit-- ,how you talk ,bridgy4 ,no--and ,i'll never be afeard again--so there6 ,why--,bridgy6 ,and so you'd better come out o' your cubby-house1 and go up to it and speak to it2 ,i'm not afeard now1 you see4 ,nor ,i4 ,yes you be1 or you wouldn't stay there4 ,what if you speak to it agin ,bridgy8 ,so ,i will4 ,how d'ye do ,sir1 how d'ye do8 ,my6--if #8taint a laughin' at you6 ,i hope you're satisfied now-- ,aint you railly afeard one bit though1 cousin ,bridgy8 ,no indeed1 not ,i4 ,see if ,i be now--look at me and see what ,i'm a goin' to do4 ,there ,sir6--there ,mr4 ,burroughs1 or whatever you be1 there's my hand ,sir--there---- ,laying it on the table before him and turning away her head just as if she were going to have some hateful operation performed4444 --,you may touch it if you like-- ,god bless you dear4 ,i'm not afeard of you now--am ,i ,sir8 ,no1 no--my brave girl4 ,and you are not ashamed of me now ,i hope--are you ,sir8 ,no--no--but ,i am proud of you-- ,he touched her hand as he spoke1 but released it immediately1 for he saw that he had a very cautious game to play4 ,by jingo ,abby6 ,by jingo--what for8 ,why the hand is warm after all2 it is ,mr4 ,burroughs himself--it is1 it is6--,i know him now as well as ,i know you----hourra6 ,o my6 ,as sure as you are alive ,abby4 ,why1 ,bridget ,pope1 said her uncle4 ,what on earth are you made of8 ,me--uncle ,matthew8 ,why 444 it appears that you did not know him just now1 when you spoke to him4 ,no ,sir--,i wasn't very sure--not so sure as ,i am now4 ,there's courage for you--true courage1 ,matthew ,paris2 a spirit worthy of all admiration4 ,very true--very true--but she is two years older than ,abby4 ,not so much1 ,matthew1 not so much--well dear8 ,may ,i go now--please4444 ,you are not afraid of me now1 dear8 ,no ,sir--if you please--not much-- ,and you never will be so again1 ,i hope8 ,so do ,i ,sir--so do ,i4444 ,i hope so too 444 for its an awful thing to be afeard of anybody4 ,poor child4 ,to be afeard in the dark ,sir--in the dead o' the night ,sir--when you're all livin' alone ,sir--,o1 it is dreadful4 ,so it is1 our ,bridgy4 ,but ,i never mean to be afeard again ,sir4 ,there's a good girl4 ,never1 never 7catching her breath7--if ,i can help it4 ,nor ,i nyther1 ,bridgy-- ,never 444 7lowering her voice and peeping under the bed7 never without ,i see the wicked ,shape as they do--right afore me in the path1 when ,i go after the cows1 or when ,i go to look for the pretty shells on the sea-shore-- ,what wicked ,shape8 ,your own ,sir--please4 ,ah4 ,and so ,sir--and so--and so uncle ,matthew--and so you'd better come out o' your hole1 ,abby dear4 ,after a deal of persuasion1 ,abby dear began to creep out of her hiding-place1 and by little and little to work her way along1 now by the split-wood1 now by the wall1 and now with her back toward the place where the ,shape sat holding his breath and afraid to move1 lest he should scare away the new-born courage of the little thing4 ,after a while she got near enough to speak2 and holding by her father's coat all the time1 she sidled up to ,burroughs1 who would not appear to see what she was about1 and lifting up her innocent face1 articulated just loud enough to reach him--,there now4 ,well dear-- ,off she started1 the moment he spoke4 ,but finding she was not pursued1 she stopped a yard or two from his chair1 and peeping over the flap of her father's coat--and seeing that the shape was looking another way--she came a little nearer--stopped--a little nearer still--inch by inch--stopped once more1 and looking up at him1 as if she knew not whether to run off or stay1 said--,you be ,mr4 ,burroughs--,i know8 ,he was afraid to speak yet1 and afraid to move4 ,uncle ,george--ee4 ,god bless the babe6 ,there now--,i told you so--you be uncle ,george1 baint you8 ,yes dear--but who are you--you little wayward imp1 with such a smutty face and such ragged hair 444 poh1 poh 444 poh 444 what are you afraid of8 ,o father1 father6 he's got me6 he's got me6 ,well--there1 there--if you don't like to stay with me1 go to your father4444 ,why 444 what a funny ,shape it is father--if it is a shape4 ,i don't believe your hair has been combed for a twelvemonth4 ,o but it has though4444 ,it is no fault of ours1 my friend1 said her father1 delighted to see her at the knee of ,burroughs4 ,we do all we can1 but the more we scrub1 the more we may2 the more we wash1 the dirtier and blacker she grows1 and the more we comb1 the rougher looks her beautiful hair 444 it was beautiful indeed a year ago-- ,it was like spun gold when ,i left you4 --,but she is no longer the same ,abigail ,paris that you knew-- ,why 444 father6444 ,be careful ,sir2 metaphors and poetry are not for babes and sucklings4444 ,you be a good man after all 444 baint you ,sir8 continued she1 getting more confidence at every breath1 now that she found the ,shape willing to let her go whenever she chose to go4 ,you be a good man after all ,sir 444 baint you ,sir8 ,i hope so dear4 ,you never torments the people1 do you8 ,leaning with her whole weight upon his knee1 letting go her father's coat1 and shaking her abundant hair loose4 ,i6 444 no indeed ,i hope not4444 ,i should be very sorry to torment the people4 ,would you though8 ,yes dear4444 ,uncle ,georgee6 said the child in a whisper that sounded like a whisper of joy 444 dear uncle ,george 444 and he drew her into his lap1 and she put her mouth close to his ear and repeated the words again1 so that they went into his heart--,o1 ,i do love you1 uncle ,georgee6 ,having passed a whole hour in examining the two little sufferers 7whom he left asleep in each other's arms7 he went away utterly confounded by their behaviour1 and with little hope of reaching the truth2 for if ,abigail ,paris and ,bridget ,pope were what they seemed to be 444 what they undoubtedly were indeed1--innocent as the dove--how could he say after all1 that they were not bewitched8 ,still however there was one hope4 ,that which he saw might proceed from disease or from fear1 the natural growth in that age and among that people1 of a solitary situation4 ,but if so1 what was he to think of others1 who had a like faith1 and yet lived in a populous neighborhood and were cheerful and happy8 ,anxious to arrive at the truth1 he set off immediately to see ,rachel and ,elizabeth ,dyer1 knowing that under their quiet roof1 he should be at peace1 though he failed to procure what he needed 444 further information about her who had abused the people and the judges with a tremendous forgery4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,he was not altogether disappointed4 ,rachel ,dyer knew much of the woman who had fabricated the story of the spindle and sheet1 and was only waiting for proof to impeach her for it1 face to face1 before the people and the judges4 ,her name was ,hubbard2 she was in the prime of life1 with a good share of beauty2 bold1 crafty and sly1 and very much feared by those who believed her story2 and ,rachel ,dyer1 though a woman of tried worth and remarkable courage1 was unwilling to appear against her1 till she could do so with a certainty of success1 for it would be a fearful stake to play for1 and she knew it--nothing less than life to life--her life against that of ,judith ,hubbard4 ,but though she knew this1 having been very familiar with the aspect of peril from her youth1 and being aware that she was looked up to with awe by the multitude--not so much with fear1 as with a sort of religious awe--great love mingled with a secret1 mysterious veneration1 as the chief hope of her grandmother1 ,mary ,dyer1 the prophetess and the martyr--she determined to play for that stake4 ,she knew well what a wager of death was1 and she knew well the worth of her own life4 ,but she knew what was expected of her1 and of what she was capable1 in a period of general and sore perplexity and sorrow2 for twice already in her short life she had approved her high relationship to the martyr1 and the sincerity of her faith as one of that people1 who1 when they were smitten of one cheek1 turned the other1 and who1 when they were reviled1 reviled not again1--by going forth into the great woods of ,north-,america1 while they were beset with exasperated savages and with untamed creatures of blood1 forever on the track of their prey1 to intercede for those who had been carried off into captivity by the red heathen 444 pursuing her fearful path by night and by day 444 in winter and in summer 444 and always alone 444 to prove her faith2 and prevailing in each case where there seemed to be no sort of hope1 and thereby preserving to the colony eight of her precious youth2 and among others1 one who had despitefully used her a little time before1 and whose grandfather was reputed to have been the real cause of her beloved grandmother's death4 ,when ,burroughs arrived at the door1 and laid his hand upon the rude latch1 he started1 for the door flew open of itself2 there was no lock on it1 no fastening1 neither bolt nor bar4 ,he found the two sisters with a large book open before them1 and ,rachel reading to ,elizabeth in a low voice1 with her arm about her neck4 ,how now8 said he4 ,they gave him a hearty cheerful shake of the hand2 but he observed1 or thought he observed a slight change of colour in the face of ,rachel1 as he turned his eye to the book and saw a paragraph with her name in it4 ,you were reading1 said he1 as he drew up a chair to the table4 ,go on1 if you please4 ,thank thee1 ,george2 we had nearly finished4444 ,what are you reading1 pray8 ,we were just reading the beautiful story of 444 why1 ,rachel ,dyer 444 if thee ain't a goin' to shet up the book afore we are half done with the chapter6 said ,elizabeth1 jumping up with a look of surprise 444 well1 ,i do think6 ,rachel turned away her head with a somewhat hasty motion1 pushed the book toward ,elizabeth1 and sat back as far as she could possibly get into her grandmother's huge arm-chair2 but she made no reply1 and ,elizabeth saw that something was the matter4 ,thee's not well1 ,i'm afeard1 sister 444 dear sister1 said she1 going up to her and throwing her arms about her neck1 and kissing her as a child would kiss a mother4 ,rachel burst into tears4 ,why6 exclaimed ,elizabeth 444 why6 444 what is the matter with thee1 ,rachel 444 thee turns away thy head 444 thee will not look at me 444 what have ,i done1 ,i beseech thee1 dear sister 444 what have ,i done to grieve thee8 ,speak to her1 ,george 444 do speak to her 444 ,i never saw her in this way before4 ,poor soul1 said he1 going up to her and speaking with visible emotion2 but as he drew near and would have put his hand upon hers1 like a brother1 she pulled it away2 and then as if suddenly recollecting herself1 she rose up1 and after a short struggle1 turned to him with a smile that affected him even more than her tears1 and spoke to him very kindly1 and put her hand into his1 and prepared to finish the chapter4 ,it was the story of the patriarch1 who1 after cheating his father in his old age1 and betraying his brother ,esau1 went away into the land of the people of the ,east1 where in due course of time he was overreached and betrayed by his mother's brother2 and the voice of the reader was firm and clear1 and her look steady1 till she came to these words-- 8,and ,laban had two daughters3 the name of the elder was ,lear1 and the name of the younger was ,rachel4 8,lear was tender-eyed1 but ,rachel4444 ,her voice quavered now1 and she proceeded with visible effort and hurry4 ----8,but ,rachel was beautiful and well favored4 ,and ,jacob loved ,rachel4 ,a moment more--and she recovered her voice entirely1 and finished the chapter without a sign of emotion1 as if she knew in her own soul that ,burroughs and ,elizabeth were watching her as they had never watched her before4 ,strange morality--said he1 as they laid the ,book aside4 ,this patriarch1 and others who happen to have been greatly favored in that age by the ,god of the patriarchs were guilty of more than we1 with our shortsighted notions of propriety1 should be very willing either to overlook or forgive-- ,george ,burroughs-- ,my dear friend--what ,i say is very true1 and to pass over ,david1 the man after ,god's own heart1 ,i would ask you whether he who cheated his father and his brother1 by the help of his mother1 while he was yet a youth1 and as he grew up laid before the stronger cattle the rods which he had peeled--as we have it in the ,book--and suffered the cattle that were weak--as we read there--to conceive in their own way1 so that 8the feebler were ,laban's cattle and the stronger ,jacob's 444 whether he1 ,i say4444 ,i see no advantage in this 444 we have a faith of our own1 said ,rachel1 interrupting him with a mild seriousness which he dared not contend with4 ,i pray thee to spare us1--and thyself ,george4444 ,are we not to bear witness to the truth1 ,rachel8 ,it may be the truth ,george1 but 444 glancing at ,elizabeth who sat as if she expected the roof to fall in1 or the earth to give way under their feet and swallow them up for their dreadful impiety 444 some truths we know are for the strong1 and some for the weak4 ,ah 444 what was that6 cried ,elizabeth catching at her sister's arm4 ,poor child 444 there ,george there 444 thee sees the effect of thy truth 444 why1 ,lizzy6 ,o ,i did hear something 444 ,i did1 ,i did6 continued ,elizabeth1 clinging to her sister and fixing her eyes upon the roof4 ,o ,i'm sure there's something up there4 ,well1 and what if there is1 pray8 ,what's thee afraid of8444 ,is the arm of our ,father shortened or his power shrunk1 that we are not safe8 ,nay nay ,rachel 444 no wonder she's afraid4 ,you are lying asleep as it were1 in the very path-way of the prowling savage and the beast of blood1 with no lock on your outer-door1 not so much as a wooden bolt1 with no sort of security for you1 by day or by night2 and all this in a time of war1 and you living on the outskirts of the wood 444 why it's no better than tempting ,providence1 ,rachel ,dyer4444 ,just what ,i say 444 said ,elizabeth4444 ,and ,i am sorry to hear thee say so4444 ,nay nay ,rachel 444 why so grave8 ,i confess to you that ,i should not like to live as you do4444 ,i dare say1 ,george4444 ,it would be impossible for me to sleep4444 ,no no 444 not impossible4 ,and ,i should expect a savage or a bear to drop in1 every hour of the day4444 ,thee wouldn't always be disappointed ,george4 ,and every hour of the night1 ,rachel1 without ceremony4 ,we disregard ceremony1 ,george4 ,why1 what are you made of ,rachel ,dyer4444 ,of earth1 ,george4 ,not of common earth4444 ,george ,burroughs6 ,but of a truth now1 are you not afraid of a call some one of these dark nights from a stray savage1 a ,pequod1 or a ,mohawk--or an ,iroquois8 ,she smiled4 ,are you not8 ,we are at open war now with half the tribes of the ,north4 ,no 444 and why should ,i be8 ,i know them all and they know that ,elizabeth and ,i are what they call poo-ka-kee4444 ,poor quakers1 hey8444 ,yes1 and thee may be very sure that we have not much to be in fear of when ,i tell thee 444 prepare thyself ,george 444 that hardly a day goes over without my seeing some one or two of thy tribe1 or of the ,iroquois4 ,what6 cried the preacher1 leaping out of the chair and looking up at the roof 444 there may be somebody there now4 ,not up there ,george4444 ,where then8 ,it would be no easy matter for me to say3 for whoever it is1 he will not appear till thee is gone 444 why1 what's thee afraid of8 444 and then he will open the door as thee did1 and walk in4 ,thee may put up thy knife ,george1 and lay down thy staff 444 they'll never cross thy path1 nor harm a hair of thy head4444 ,how can ,i be sure of that8 ,by believing what ,i say to thee4 ,i know the savages better than you do1 my dear friend4 ,i have my doubts1 ,george4 ,they never harmed a visiter of mine yet1 neither going or coming2 and ,i have had not a few of their mortal foes under my roof while they were lying within bow-shot of the door4 ,be assured of what ,i say 444 thee has nothing to fear4444 ,would we let thee come1 ,george1 if it wasn't very safe8 asked ,elizabeth4 ,forgive me1 said he1 forgive me2 and his eyes flashed fire1 and ,elizabeth hid her face1 and ,rachel turned away her head4 ,why1 how now8 said he1 looking at both in astonishment1 you appear to have a---- ,he stopped short 444 he had an idea that he knew the character of both sisters well2 he had been acquainted with ,mary ,elizabeth from her childhood up1 and with her grave sister from her youth up1 and he had always perceived that there was a something in the nature of both1 but especially in that of ,rachel ,dyer1 unlike the nature of anybody else that he ever knew2 but he had never been so puzzled by either as he was now---- ,i hope ,i have not offended you8 said he1 at last4 ,do thee feel safe ,george8 ,yes 444 but you are not safe 444 ah1 you may smile and shake your head1 but you are not safe4 ,how do you think the authorities of the land will endure to be told that you are on such familiar terms with the foe8 ,have a care 444 you will get yourself into trouble1 if you don't4 ,make thyself easy ,george4 ,we are quite safe2 we belong to neither side in the war1 and both sides know it4 ,by abiding here1 ,i am able to do much good4444 ,as how1 pray8 ,by showing that ,i am not afraid to trust to the good-faith of savages2 by showing them that they are safe in trusting to my good-faith1 and above all1 that weapons of war1 whatever thee may say1 ,george1 are not necessary to them who put their trust in the ,lord4444 ,what if we were to entrap some of your visiters without your knowledge8 ,it would be no easy matter4 ,they guard every path ,i do believe1 that leads to my door4444 ,every path4444 ,yes 444 and let me tell thee now1 that if it should ever happen to thee to go astray in these woods1 thee will have nothing to fear so long as thee pursues a path which leads to my door 444 if thee should miss thy way1 inquire aloud1 and thee will be safe4444 ,how so8 ,thee will be overheard4444 ,you astonish me4 ,and guarded1 if it be necessary4444 ,guarded6444 ,up to my very door 444 thee can hardly put faith in what ,i say4 ,do thee know ,george1 that to be a poo-ka-kee1 is to bear a charmed life1 as thee would say1 not only here1 but in the great wilderness8 ,do thee know too1 that among the tribes of the north1 it is a common thing to charge a captive with cruelty to the quakers4 ,i do 444 and ,i have heard every cry of a pale man at the stake answered by 444 ,ah ha6 what for you farver 'im choke-a poo-ka-kee-ooman8 ,poor soul4444 ,they alluded ,i suppose to your grandmother4 ,how you like em dat8 said a ,mohawk chief1 putting his belt round the neck of another1 and pulling it just hard enough to choke him a little4 ,ah ha6 444 what for you do so8444 ,you choke-a poo-ka-kee-ooman1 hey8 444 you kill um 'gin8 ah ha4444 ,no1 no ,george 444 no1 no4444 ,i can't bear to hear thee 444 it reminds me of the poor youth ,i saved4 ,they frightened him almost to death before they would give him up1 only because they had a tradition in their tribe that his grandfather was in some way1 the cause of my grandmother's death2 and ,i am quite sure that he would not have been given up to anybody but me 444 well4444 ,hark 444 hark6 said ,elizabeth1 interrupting her sister4 ,well1 what now8 ,i heard a voice4444 ,a voice 444 where 444 when 444 what was it like8 ,like the voice of a woman1 a great way off-- ,a female panther ,i dare say 444 it's high time to look to the door4 ,there 444 there 444 oh1 it's close to the door now6 ,a low sweet voice could be distinctly heard now1 but whether on the roof or up the chimney1 or at the window or the door1 it was quite impossible to say4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,the preacher drew forth a knife1 and went up to the door4 ,sir 444 sir 444 you are wanted ,sir 444 right away ,sir1 said a low voice at his elbow4444 ,who are you8 444 where are you8 cried he 444 but the blood curdled about his heart1 and he recoiled from the sound as he spoke4 ,here ,i be 444 here 444 here4 ,elizabeth dropped on her knees and hid her face in the lap of her sister2 and ,rachel1 who was not of a temper to be easily frightened1 gathered her up and folded her arms about her1 as if struck to the heart with a mortal fear4 ,but ,burroughs1 after fetching a breath or two1 went back to the door and stood waiting for the voice to be heard again4 ,what are you8--speak--where are you8 ,here ,i be1 said the invisible creature4 ,and who are you--what are you8 cried ,burroughs running up to the door1 and then to the window1 and then to the fire-place1 and then back to the window1 and preparing to push the slide away-- ,here ,i be sir--here--here-- ,well--if ever6--cried ,rachel4 ,why don't thee go to the door ,george--starting up and leaving poor ,elizabeth on her knees4 ,why6 thee may be sure there's something the matter--going to the door a-tip-toe4 ,no no ,rachel--no no2 it may be a stratagem-- ,a stratagem for what pray8--what have we to fear8 ,the door flew open as she spoke1 and a boy entered all out of breath1 his neck open1 his hat gone1 his jacket off1 and his hair flying loose-- ,why1 ,robert ,eveleth-- ,o ,sir--sir6 said he1 as soon as he could speak--,o sir ,i've come to tell you--didn't you never see a ,belzebub8-- ,a what8-- ,if you never did1 now's your time2 just look out o'the door there1 and you'll see a plenty on 'em4 ,why1 ,robert--,robert--what ails the boy8 ,no matter now1 aunt ,rachel--you're wanted ,sir--they're all on the look-out for you now--you're a goin' to be tried to-morrow for your life--,i come here half an hour ago to tell you so--but ,i saw one o' the ,shapes here right by the winder4444 ,a what8-- --,a ,shape--an' so d'ye see1 ,i cleared out 444 and so1 and so--the sooner you're off1 the better2 they're a goin' to swear your life away1 now-- ,his life1 murmured ,elizabeth4 ,my life--mine--how do you know this1 boy8 ,how do ,i know it ,sir8--well enough 444 they've been over and waked ,bridgy ,pope1 and want her to say so too--and she and ,abby--they sent me off here to tell you to get away as fast as ever you can1 all three of you1 if you don't want to swing for it1 afore you know where you be---- ,robert ,eveleth6-- ,o1 it's all very true ,sir1 an' you may look as black as a thunder-cloud1 if you please1 but if you don't get away1 and you--and you--every chip of you1 afore day-light1 you'll never eat another huckleberry-puddin' in this world1 and you may swear to that1 all hands of you1 as we say aboard ship4444 ,robert ,eveleth1 from what ,i saw of you the other day---- ,can't help that ,sir 444 you've no time to lose now1 either of you2 you do as ,i say now1 an' ,i'll hear you preach whenever you like1 arter you're all safe--no1 no1 you needn't trouble yourself to take a chair--if you stop to set down1 it's fifty to five an' a chaw o' tobacco1 't you never git up agin 444 why6 444 there's ,mary ,wa'cote and that air ,judith ,hubbard you see 444 7lowering his voice7 an' ,i don't know how many more o' the ,shapes out there in the wood waitin' for you4444 ,poh4 ,lord1 what a power o' faces ,i did see6 when the moon came out1 as ,i was crackin' away over the path by the edge o' the wood4444 ,i've brought you father's grey stallion1 he that carried off old ,ci ,carter when the ,mohawks were out 444 are you all ready8 ,all ready8 ,yes1 all--all--you're in for't too1 ,lizzy ,dyer1 and so are you1 aunt ,rachel--an' so--and so--shall ,i bring up the horse8 ,no-- ,no--yes1 but ,i will though1 by faith6 ,robert6 ,why ,robert1 thee makes my blood run cold-- ,never you mind for that1 ,lizzy ,dyer4 ,robert ,eveleth1 ,i am afraid thy going to sea a trip or two1 hath made thee a naughty boy1 as ,i told thy mother it would4 ,no no1 aunt ,rachel1 no no1 don't say so2 we never swear a mouthful when we're out to sea1 we never ketch no fish if we do--but here am ,i2 all out o' breath now1 and you wont stir a peg1 for all ,i can say or do and be--gulp to you6 ,here ,burroughs interrupted the boy1 and after informing the sisters of what had occurred while he was with ,mr4 ,paris and the poor children1 he made the boy go over the whole story anew1 and having done so1 he became satisfied in his own soul1 that if the conspirators were at work to destroy the poor girl before him1 there would be no escape after she was once in their power4 ,be of good cheer1 ,elizabeth1 said he1 and as he spoke1 he stooped down to set his lips to her forehead4 ,george--,george--we have no time to lose--what are we to do8 said ,rachel1 putting forth her hand eagerly so as to stay him before he had reached the brow of ,elizabeth2 and then as quickly withdrawing it1 and faltering out a word or two of self-reproach4 ,if you think as ,i do1 dear ,rachel1 the sooner she is away the better4 ,i do think as thee does--,i do1 ,george 444 7in this matter47 ,go for the black mare1 as fast as thee can move1 ,robert ,eveleth4 ,where shall ,i find her 444 it's plaguy dark now1 where there's no light4 ,on thy left hand as the door slips away2 thee'll find a cloth and a side-saddle over the crib1 with a--stop1 stop--will the grey horse bear a pillion8 ,yes--forty4 ,if he will not1 however1 the mare will 444 so be quick1 ,robert1 be quick4444 ,away bounded the boy4 ,she has carried both of us before to-day1 and safely too1 when each had a heavier load upon her back than we both have now4 ,get thee ready sister--for my own part--,i--well ,george1 ,i have been looking for sorrow and am pretty well prepared for it1 thee sees4 ,i knew four months ago that ,i had wagered my life against ,judith ,hubbard's life--,i am sorry for ,judith--,i should be sorry to bring her to such great shame1 to say nothing of death1 and were it not for others1 and especially for that poor child1 7pointing to ,elizabeth7 ,i would rather lay down my own life--much rather1 if thee'll believe me ,george1 than do her the great mischief that ,i now fear must be done to her1 if our ,elizabeth is to escape the snare4 ,i do believe you--are you ready8-- ,quite ready2 but why do thee stand there1 as if thee was not going too8--or as if thee had not made up thy mind8 ,ah--,i thought ,i saw a face-- ,i dare say thee did2 but thee's not afraid of a face1 ,i hope8 ,i hear the sound of horses' feet-- ,how now8--it is not for such as thee to be slow of resolve4 ,he drew a long breath-- ,george--thee is going with us8 ,no1 ,rachel--,i'd better stay here4 ,here6 shrieked ,elizabeth4 ,here6--what do thee mean1 ,george8 asked her sister4 ,i mean what ,i say--just what ,i say--it is for me to abide here4 ,for thee to abide here8 ,if it is the duty of one1 it is the duty of another1 said ,elizabeth in a low1 but very decided voice4 ,no1 ,elizabeth ,dyer1 no--,i am able to bear that which ought never to be expected of you4 ,do thee mean death1 ,george8--we are not very much afraid of death1 said ,rachel--are we ,elizabeth8 ,no--not very much-- ,you know not what you say4 ,i am a preacher of the gospel--what may be very proper for me to do1 may be very improper for a young beautiful---- ,george ,burroughs-- ,forgive me ,rachel-- ,i do 444 prepare thyself1 my dear ,elizabeth1 gird up thy loins2 for the day of travail and bitter sorrow is nigh to thee4 ,here am ,i sister6 ,and ready to obey thee at the risk of my life4 ,what am ,i to do8 ,i advise thee to fly1 for if they seek thy death1 it is for my sake--,i shall go too4 ,dear sister-- ,well8-- ,stoop thy head1 ,i pray thee1 continued ,elizabeth--,i--,i--7in a whisper7--,i hope he'll go with thee4 ,with me8-- ,with us1 ,i mean-- ,why not say so8 ,how could ,i8 ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer6 ,nay nay--we should be safer with him-- ,our safety is not in ,george ,burroughs1 maiden4 ,but we should find our way in the dark better4 ,rachel made no reply1 but she stood looking at her sister1 with her lips apart and her head up1 as if she were going to speak1 till her eyes ran over1 and then she fell upon her neck and wept aloud for a single moment1 and then arose and1 with a violent effort1 broke away from ,elizabeth1 and hurried into their little bedroom1 where she staid so long that ,elizabeth followed her--and the preacher soon heard their voices and their sobs die away1 and saw the linked shadows of both in prayer1 projected along the white roof4 ,a moment more and they came out together1 ,rachel with a steady look and a firm step1 and her sister with a show of courage that awed him4 ,thee will go with us now1 ,i hope1 said ,rachel4 ,he shook his head4 ,i pray thee ,george--do not thou abide here--by going with us thee may have it in thy power to help a----in short1 we have need of thee ,george1 and thee had better go1 even if thee should resolve to come back and outface whatever may be said of thee-- ,what if ,i see an angel in my path8 ,do that which to thee seemeth good--,i have no more to say--the greater will be thy courage1 the stronger the presumption of thy innocence1 however1 should thee come back1 after they see thee in safety--what do thee say ,elizabeth8-- ,i didn't speak1 ,rachel--but--but--,o ,i do wish he would go4 ,i shall come back if ,i live1 said ,burroughs4 ,nay nay ,george--thee may not see thy way clear to do so-- ,hourra there1 hourra6 cried ,robert ,eveleth1 popping his head in at the door4 ,here we be all three of us--what are you at now8--why aint you ready8--what are you waitin' for8 ,george--it has just occurred to me that if ,i stay here1 ,i may do ,elizabeth more good than if ,i go with you--having it in my power to escape1 it may be of weight in her favor-- ,fiddle-de-dee for your proof cried ,robert ,eveleth--that1 for all your proof6 snapping his fingers--that for all the good you can do ,elizabeth--,i say1 ,mr4 ,burroughs--a word with you-- ,burroughs followed him to a far part of the room4 ,if you know when you are well off1 said the boy--make her go--you may both stay1 you and ,elizabeth too1 without half the risk2 but as for aunt ,rachel1 why as sure as you're a breathin' the breath o' life now1 if you don't get her away1 they'll have her up with a short turn2 and if you know'd all1 you'd say so--,i said 'twas you when ,i fuss come1 for ,i didn't like to frighten her--but the fact is you are only one out o' the three1 and ,i'd rather have your chance now1 than either o' their'n-- ,why8 ,robert-- ,hush--hush--you stoop down your head here1 an' ,i'll satisfy you o' the truth o' what ,i say4444 ,barbara ,snow1 and ,judy ,hubbard have been to make oath1 and they wanted ,bridgy ,pope to make oath too--they'd do as much for her they said--how 't you come to their bed-side about a week ago1 along with a witch that maybe you've heerd of--a freckled witch with red hair and a big hump on her back-- ,no no--cried the preacher1 clapping his hand over the boy's mouth and hastily interchanging a look with ,elizabeth1 whose eyes filled with a gush of sorrow1 when she thought of her brave good sister1 and of what she would feel at the remark of the boy 444 a remark1 the bitter truth of which was made fifty times more bitter by his age1 and by the very anxiety he showed to keep it away from her quick sensitive ear4 ,but ,rachel was not like ,elizabeth2 for though she heard the remark1 she did not even change color1 but went up to the boy1 and put both arms about his neck with a smile1 and gave him a hearty kiss 444 and bid him be a good boy1 and a prop for his widowed mother4 ,a moment more and they were all on their way4 ,it was very dark for a time1 and the great wilderness through which their path lay1 appeared to overshadow the whole earth1 and here and there to shoot up a multitude of branches--up--up--into the very sky--where the stars and the moon appeared to be adrift1 and wallowing on their way through a sea of shadow4 ,me go too8 said a voice1 apparently a few feet off1 as they were feeling for a path in the thickest part of the wood4 ,the preacher drew up as if an arrow had missed him4 ,who are you8 said he-- ,no no1 ,george 444 let me speak-- ,do you know the voice8 ,no--but ,i'm sure 'tis one that ,i have heard before4 ,me go too--high6 ,no4 ,where you go8--high6 ,rachel pointed with her hand4 ,are you afraid to tell8 asked the preacher1 looking about in vain for somebody to appear4 ,i have told him--,i pointed with my hand-- ,but how could he see thy hand such a dark night8 said ,elizabeth4 ,as you would see it in the light of day1 said the preacher4 ,high--high--me better go too--poo-ka-kee4 ,no1 no--,i'd rather not1 whoever thee is--we are quite safe-- ,no--no1 said the voice1 and here the conversation dropped1 and they pursued their way for above an hour1 at a brisk trot1 and were already in sight of a path which led to the ,providence ,plantations1 their city of refuge-- ,high--high--me hear um people1 cried the same voice4 ,you no safe much4 ,and so do ,i1 cried ,burroughs4 ,i hear the tread of people afar off--no1 no1 'tis a troop of horse--who are you--come out and speak to us--what are we to do8--the moon is out now4 ,high1 poo-ka-kee1 high6 ,yes--come here if thee will1 and say what we are to do4 ,before the words were well out of her mouth1 a young savage appeared in the path1 a few feet from the head of her horse1 and after explaining to her that she was pursued by a troop1 and that he and six more of the tribe were waiting to know whether she wanted their help1 he threw aside his blanket and showed her1 that although he was in the garb of a swift-runner1 he did not lack for weapons of war4 ,no1 no1 not for the world poor youth6 cried the woman of peace1 when her eye caught the glitter of the knife1 the tomahawk and the short gun--,i pray thee to leave us 444 do leave us--do1 do6--speak to him ,george 444 he does not appear to understand what ,i say--entreat him to leave us4 ,high--high6 said the young warrior1 and off he bounded for the sea-shore1 leaving them to pursue their opposite path in quietness4 ,rachel and ,elizabeth were upon a creature that knew1 or appeared to know every step of the way2 but the young high-spirited horse the preacher rode1 had become quite unmanageable1 now that the moon was up1 the sky clear1 and the shadows darting hither and thither about her path4 ,at last they had come to the high road--their peril was over--and they were just beginning to speak above their breath1 when ,burroughs heard a shot fired afar off-- ,hush--hush--don't move2 don't speak for your lives1 cried he1 as the animal reared and started away from the path 444 soh1 soh--,i shall subdue him in a moment--hark--that is the tread of a horse--another--and another1 by my life--woa6--woa6-- ,my heart misgives me1 ,george--that youth-- ,ah--another shot--we are pursued by a troop1 and that boy is picking them off-- ,o ,father of mercies6 ,i hope not4 ,stay you here--,i'll be back in a moment--woa--woa6-- ,george----,george-- ,don't be alarmed--stay where you are--keep in the shadow1 and if ,i do not come back immediately1 or if you see me pursued1 or if--woa1 woa--or if you see the mare prick up her ears1 don't wait for me1 but make the best of your way over that hill yonder--woa6--keep out o' the high road and you are safe4 ,saying this1 he rode off without waiting for a reply1 intending to follow in the rear of the troop1 and to lead them astray at the risk of his life1 should they appear to be in pursuit of the fugitives4 ,he had not gone far1 when his horse1 hearing the tread of other horses--a heavy tramp1 like that of a troop of cavalry on the charge1 sounding through the still midnight air1 gave a loud long neigh4 ,it was immediately answered by four or five horses afar off1 and by that on which the poor girls were mounted4 ,the preacher saw that there was but one hope now1 and he set off at full speed therefore1 intending to cross the head of the troop and provoke them to a chase2 the manuvre succeeded until they saw that he was alone1 after which they divided their number1 and while one party pursued him1 another took its way to the very spot where the poor girls were abiding the issue4 ,he and they both were captured--they were all three taken1 alive--though man after man of the troop fell from his horse1 by shot after shot from a foe that no one of the troop could see1 as they galloped after the fugitives4 ,they were all three carried back to ,salem1 ,burroughs prepared for the worst1 ,rachel afraid only for ,elizabeth1 and ,elizabeth more dead than alive4 ,but why seek to delay the catastrophe8 ,why pause upon that1 the result of which every body can foresee8 ,they put him upon trial on the memorable fifth day of ,august 7#afib7 in the midst of the great thunder-storm4 ,having no proper court of justice in the ,plymouth-colony at this period1 they made use of a ,meeting-,house for the procedure1 which lasted all one day and a part of the following night--a night never to be forgotten by the posterity of them that were alive at the time4 ,he was pale and sick and weary1 but his bearing was that of a good man--that of a brave man too1 and yet he shook as with an ague1 when he saw arrayed against him1 no less than eight confessing witches1 five or six distempered creatures who believed him to be the cause of their malady1 ,judith ,hubbard1 a woman whose character had been at his mercy for a long while 7,he knew that of her1 which if he had revealed it before she accused him1 would have been fatal to her7 ,john ,ruck his own brother-in-law1 two or three of his early and very dear friends of the church1 in whom he thought he could put all trust1 and a score of neighbors on whom he would have called at any other time to speak in his favor4 ,what was he to believe now8--what could he believe8 ,these witnesses were not like ,judith ,hubbard2 they had not wronged him1 as she had--they were neither hostile to him1 nor afraid of him in the way she was afraid of him4 ,they were about to take away his life under a deep sense of duty to their ,father above4 ,his heart swelled with agony1 and shook--and stopped1 when he saw this--and a shadow fell1 or appeared to fall on the very earth about him4 ,it was the shadow of another world4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,a brief and faithful account of the issue 444 a few words more1 and the tale of sorrow is done4 8,the confessing witches testified10 to give the language of a writer who was an eye-witness of the 8trial that the prisoner had been at witch-meetings with them1 and had seduced and compelled them to the snares of witchcraft2 that he promised them fine clothes for obeying him2 that he brought poppets to them and thorns to stick into the poppets for afflicting other people1 and that he exhorted them to bewitch all ,salem-,village1 but to do it gradually40 ,among the bewitched1 all of whom swore that ,burroughs had pursued them for a long while under one shape or another1 were three who swore that of him which they swore of no other individual against whom they appeared4 ,their story was that he had the power of becoming invisible1 that he had appeared to them under a variety of shapes in a single day1 that he would appear and disappear while they were talking together--actually vanish away while their eyes were upon him1 so that sometimes they could hear his voice in the air1 in the earth1 or in the sea1 long and long after he himself had gone out of their sight4 ,they were evidently afraid of him1 for they turned pale when he stood up1 and covered their faces when he looked at them1 and stopped their ears when he spoke to them4 ,and when the judges and the elders of the land saw this1 they were satisfied of his evil power1 and grew mute with terror4 ,one of the three chief accusers1 a girl1 testified that in her agony1 a little black man appeared to her1 saying that his name was ,george ,burroughs1 and bid her set her name to a book which he had with him1 bragging at the time that he was a conjuror high above the ordinary rank of witches4 ,another swore that in her agony1 he persuaded her to go to a sacrament1 where they saw him blowing a trumpet and summoning other witches therewith from the four corners of the earth4 ,and a third swore1 on recovering from a sort of trance before the people1 that he had just carried her away into the top of a high mountain1 where he showed her mighty and glorious kingdoms which he offered to give her1 if she would write in the book4 ,but she refused4 ,nor did they stop here4 ,they charged him with practices too terrible for language to describe4 ,and what were the rulers to say8 ,here was much to strengthen a part of the charge4 ,his abrupt appearance at the trial of ,sarah ,good1 his behaviour1 his look of premature age--that look whereof the people never spoke but with a whisper1 as if they were afraid of being overheard--that extraordinary voice--that swarthy complexion--that bold haughty carriage--that wonderful power of words--what were they to believe8 ,where had he gathered so much wisdom8 ,where had he been to acquire that--whatever it was1 with which he was able to overawe and outbrave and subdue everything and everybody8 ,all hearts were in fear--all tongues mute before him4 ,death--even death he was not afraid of4 ,he mocked at death--he threw himself as it were1 in the very chariot-way of the king of ,terrors2 and what cared he for the law8 ,his behavior to the boy1 his critical reproduction of the knife-blade1 whereby their faith in a tried accuser was actually shaken1 his bright fierce look when the people gave way at his approach 444 his undaunted smile when the great black horse appeared looking in over the heads of the people1 who crowded together and hurried away with a more than mortal fear 444 and his remarkable words when the judge demanded to know by what authority he was abroad 444 all these were facts and circumstances within the knowledge of the court4 ,by the authority of the ,,strong ,,man1 said he2 who was that ,strong ,man8 ,by authority of one who hath endowed me with great power2 who was that ,,one8 ,yet more4 ,it was proved by a great number of respectable and worthy witnesses1 who appeared to pity the prisoner1 that he1 though a small man1 had lifted a gun of seven feet barrel with one hand behind the lock and held it forth1 at arm's length2 nay1 that with only his fore-finger in the barrel he did so1 and that in the same party appeared a savage whom nobody knew1 that did the same4 ,this being proved1 the court consulted together1 and for so much gave judgment before they proceeded any further in the trial1 that 8,george ,burroughs had been aided and assisted then and there by the ,black ,man1 who was near in a bodily shape40 ,and it being proved that he 8made nothing0 of other facts1 requiring a bodily strength such as they had never seen nor heard of1 it was adjudged further by the same court1 after a serious consultation1 that 8,george ,burroughs had a devil40 ,and after this1 it being proved that one day when he lived at ,casco1 he and his wife and his brother-in-law1 ,john ,ruck1 went after strawberries together to a place about three miles off1 on the way to ,sacarappa--8,burroughs on foot and they on horseback1 ,burroughs left them and stepped aside into the bushes2 whereupon they halted and hallowed for him1 but he not making them any reply1 they went homeward with a quick pace1 not expecting to see him for a considerable time2 but when they had got near1 whom should they see but ,burroughs himself with a basket of strawberries newly gathered1 waiting for his wife1 whom he chid for what she had been saying to her brother on the road2 which when they marvelled at1 he told them he knew their very thoughts2 and ,ruck saying that was more than the devil himself could know1 he answered with heat1 saying ,brother and wife1 my ,god makes known your thoughts to me3 all this being proved to the court1 they consulted together as before and gave judgment that 8,burroughs had stepped aside only that by the assistance of the ,black ,man he might put on his invisibility and in that fascinating mist1 gratify his own jealous humor to hear what they said of him40 ,well prisoner at the bar1 said the chief judge1 after the witnesses for the crown had finished their testimony--what have you to say for yourself8 ,nothing4 ,have you no witnesses8 ,not one4 ,and why not8 ,of what use could they be8 ,you needn't be so stiff though2 a lowlier carriage in your awful situation might be more becoming4 ,you are at liberty to cross-examine the witness1 if you are so disposed-- ,i am not so disposed4 ,and you may address the jury now1 it being your own case4 ,i have nothing to say 444 it being my own case4 ,ah6 sighed the judge1 looking about him with a portentous gravity--,you see the end of your tether now 444 you see now that ,he whom you serve is not to be trusted4 ,it is but the other day you were clad with power as with a garment4 ,you were able to make a speech whereby1 but for the mercy of ,god---- ,i was not on trial for my life when ,i made that speech4 ,i have something else to think of now4444 ,let me die in peace4 ,ah1 sighed the chief judge1 and all his brethren shook their heads with a look of pity and sorrow4 ,but as if this were not enough--as if they were afraid he might escape after all 7for it had begun to grow very dark over-head7 though the meshes of death were about him on every side like a net of iron2 as if the very judges were screwed up to the expectation of a terrible issue1 and prepared to deal with a creature of tremendous power1 whom it would be lawful to destroy any how1 no matter how1 they introduced another troop of witnesses1 who swore that they had frequently heard the two wives of the prisoner say that their house which stood in a very cheerful path of the town was haunted by evil spirits2 and after they had finished their testimony ,judith ,hubbard swore that the two wives of the prisoner had appeared to her1 since their death1 and charged him with murder4444 ,repeat the story that you told brother ,winthrop and me1 said ,judge ,sewall4 ,whereupon she stood forth and repeated the story she had sworn to before the committal of ,burroughs--repeated it in the very presence of ,god1 and of his angels--repeated it while it thundered and lightened in her face1 and the big sweat rolled off the forehead of a man1 for whose love1 but a few years before1 she would have laid down her life-- ,that man was ,george ,burroughs4 ,he appeared as if his heart were broken by her speech1 though about his mouth was a patient proud smile--for near him were ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer and ,rachel ,dyer1 with their eyes fixed upon him and waiting to be called up in their turn to abide the trial of death2 but so waiting before their judges and their accusers that1 women though they were1 he felt supported by their presence1 trebly fortified by their brave bearing--,elizabeth pale--very pale1 and watching his look as if she had no hope on earth but in him1 no fear but for him--,rachel standing up as it were with a new stature--up1 with her forehead flashing to the sky and her coarse red hair shining and shivering about her huge head with a frightful fixed gleam1--her cap off1 her cloak thrown aside and her distorted shape1 for the first time1 in full view of the awe-struck multitude4 ,every eye was upon her--every thought--her youthful and exceedingly fair sister1 the pride of the neighborhood was overlooked now1 and so was the prisoner at the bar1 and so were the judges and the jury1 and the witnesses and the paraphernalia of death4 ,it was ,rachel ,dyer--the red-haired witch--the freckled witch--the hump-backed witch they saw now--but they saw not her ugliness1 they saw not that she was either unshapely or unfair4 ,they saw only that she was brave4 ,they saw that although she was a woman upon the very threshold of eternity1 she was not afraid of the aspect of death4 ,and the story that ,judith ,hubbard repeated under such circumstances and at such a time was--that the two wives of the prisoner at the bar1 who were buried years and years before1 with a show of unutterable sorrow1 had appeared to her1 face to face1 and charged him with having been the true cause of their death2 partly promising if he denied the charge1 to reappear in full court4 ,nor should ,i wonder if they did1 whispered the chief judge throwing a hurried look toward the graves which lay in full view of the judgment seat1 as if he almost expected to see the earth open4 ,the multitude who saw the look of the judge1 and who were so eager but a few minutes before to get nigh the prisoner1 though it were only to hear him breathe1 now recoiled from the bar1 and left a free path-way from the graveyard up to the witness-box1 and a visible quick shudder ran throughout the assembly as they saw the judges consult together1 and prepare to address the immoveable man1 who stood up--whatever were the true cause1 whether he felt assured of that protection which the good pray for night and day1 or of that which the evil and the mighty among the evil have prepared for1 when they enter into a league of death--up--as if he knew well that they had no power to harm either him or his4 ,what say you to that8 said major ,saltonstall4 ,you have heard the story of ,judith ,hubbard4 ,what say you to a charge like that1 ,sir8 ,ay1 ay--no evasion will serve you now1 added the ,lieutenant ,governor4 ,evasion6 ,you are afraid1 ,i see-- ,afraid of what8 ,man--man--it is you and your fellows that are afraid4 ,ye are men of a terrible faith--,i am not4 ,you have only to say yes or no1 said ,judge ,sewall4 ,what mockery6 ,ye that have buried them that were precious to you--very precious-- ,you are not obliged to answer that question1 whispered the lawyer1 who had been at his elbow during the trial of ,martha ,cory--nor any other--unless you like-- ,ah--and are you of them that believe the story8 ,are you afraid of their keeping their promise8--you that have a-- ,what say you to the charge8 ,i ask again6 ,how dare you6--ye that are husbands--you that are a widower like me1 how dare you put such a question as that to a bereaved man1 before the ,everlasting ,god8 ,what say you to the charge8 ,we ask you for the third time4 ,father of love6 cried ,burroughs1 and he tottered away and snatched at the bare wall1 and shook as if he were in the agony of death1 and all that saw him were aghast with fear4 ,men--men--what would ye have me say8--what would ye have me do8 ,whatever the ,lord prompteth1 said a low voice near him4 ,hark--hark--who was that8 said a judge4 ,i thought ,i heard somebody speak4 ,it was ,i--,i1 ,rachel ,dyer6 answered the courageous woman4 ,it was ,i4 ,ye are all in array there against a fellow-creature's life4 ,ye have beset him on every side by the snares of the law4444 ,ye are pressing him to death-- ,silence6-- ,no judge1 no6 ,i marvel that ye dare to rebuke me in such a cause1 when ye know that ere long ,i shall be heard by the ,son of ,man1 coming in clouds with great glory to judge the quick and the dead-- ,peace 444 peace1 woman of mischief--look to yourself4 ,beware ,peter6 and thou too ,elias6 ,ye know not how nigh we may all be to the great ,bar--looking up to the sky1 which was now so preternaturally dark with the heavy clouds of an approaching thunder-storm1 that torches were ordered4 ,lo6 the pavillion of the ,judge of ,judges6 ,how know ye that these things are not the sign of his hot and sore displeasure8 ,mark that1 brother2 mark that1 said a judge4 ,they must know that help is nigh1 or they could never brave it thus4 ,whatever they may know brother1 and whatever their help may be1 our duty is plain4 ,very true brother 444 ah 444 how now6 ,he was interrupted by the entrance of a haggard old man of a majestic stature1 who made his way up to the witness-box1 and stood there1 as if waiting for the judge to speak4 ,ah1 ,matthew ,paris 444 thou art come1 hey8 said ,rachel4 ,where is ,bridget ,pope8 ,at the point of death4 ,and thy daughter1 ,abigail ,paris8 ,dead4 ,george 444 ,george 444 we have indeed little to hope now4444 ,where is ,robert ,eveleth8 ,here 444 here ,i be1 cried the boy1 starting up at the sound of her voice1 and hurrying forward with a feeble step4 ,go up there to that box1 ,robert ,eveleth1 and say to the judges1 my poor sick boy1 what thee said to me of ,judith ,hubbard and of ,mary ,walcott1 and of their wicked conspiracy to prevail with ,bridget ,pope and ,abby ,paris1 to make oath4444 ,how now 444 how now 444 stop there6 cried the chief-judge4 ,what is the meaning of this8 ,tell what thee heard them say1 ,robert-- ,heard who say8 asked the judge 444 who 444 who8 ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris4 ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris--why what have we to do with ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris8 ,i pray thee judge 444 the maiden ,bridget ,pope is no more2 the child of that aged man there is at the point of death4 ,if the boy ,robert ,eveleth speak true1 they told him before the charge was made---- ,they--who8 ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris told him-- ,no matter what they told him 444 that is but hearsay-- ,well1 and if it be hear say8-- ,we cannot receive it2 we take no notice of what may occur in this way-- ,how6--,if we can prove that the witnesses have conspired together to make this charge2 is it contrary to law for you to receive our proof8 asked ,burroughs4 ,pho1 pho--you mistake the matter-- ,no judge no 444 will thee hear the father himself8--said ,rachel4 ,not in the way that you desire 444 there would be no end to this1 if we did-- ,what are we to do then judge8 ,we have it in our power to prove that ,judith ,hubbard and ,mary ,walcott proposed to the two children1 ,bridget ,pope and ,abigail ,paris1 to swear away the life-- ,pho1 pho1 pho--pho1 pho1 pho--a very stale trick that4 ,one of the witnesses dead1 the other you are told at the point of death-- ,it is no trick judge2 but if 444 if 444 supposing it to be true1 that ,judith ,hubbard and her colleague did this1 how should we prove it8 ,how should you prove it8 ,why1 by producing the persons to whom1 or before whom1 the proposal you speak of was made4 ,but if they are at the point of death1 judge8 ,in that case there would be no help for you-- ,such is the humanity of the law4 ,no help for us6 ,not if we could prove that they who are dead1 or at the point of death1 acknowledged what we say to a dear father8--can this be the law8 ,stop--stop--thou noble-hearted1 brave woman6 cried ,burroughs4 ,they do not speak true4 ,they are afraid of thee ,rachel ,dyer4 ,matthew ,paris-- ,here am ,i1 ,lord6-- ,why1 ,matthew--look at me4444 ,do you not--know me8 ,no--no--who are you8 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,enough--enough--cried ,burroughs1 on finding ,matthew ,paris so disturbed in his intellect--enough--there is no hope now1 ,rachel4 ,the father himself would be no witness now1 though he had been told by our witnesses upon their death-bed1 while they expected to die1 just what1 if it could be shown here1 would be a matter of life and death to us4 ,but still1 before ,i give up1 ,i should like to know the meaning of that rule of evidence you spoke of the other day1 which would appear to make it necessary for me to produce only the best evidence which the nature of the case admits of4 ,we have done that here 444 a rule which being interpreted by the men of the law is said to be this 444 that we are to give such evidence only1 as that none better may appear to be left behind--we have done that now-- ,we are weary of this--what have you to say to the charge made against you by the apparition of your wife8 ,before you reply however1 it is our duty to apprise you1 that whatever you may happen to say in your own favor will go for nothing-- ,nevertheless ,i am ready to reply4 --,we do not seek to entrap you-- ,so ,i perceive4 ,repeat the charge4 ,you are charged with having--what ho1 there6--lights--lights--more lights-- ,lights--more lights6 cried the people1 what1 ho there6 ,how dark it grows-- ,and how chill the air is-- ,ay 444 and quiet as the grave4 --,you are charged ,i say1 with having caused the death of your two wives 444 who have partly promised1 if you deny the charge1 to confront you here4 ,the people began to press backward from each other1 and to gasp for breath4 ,you have only to say yes or no1 and abide the proof4 ,indeed--is that all8 ,yes--all-- ,then 444 behold me4 ,as he spoke1 he threw up his arms1 and walked forth into a broad clear space before the bench1 where every body could hear and see him1 and was about to address the jury1 when he was interrupted by a crash of thunder that shook the whole house1 and appeared to shake the whole earth4 ,a dreadful outcry ensued1 with flash after flash of lightning and peal after peal of thunder1 and the people dropped upon their knees half blinded with light and half crazy with terror2 and covered their faces and shrieked with consternation4 ,why1 what are ye afraid of judges8 ,and you1 ye people--cried the prisoner1 that ye cover your faces1 and fall down with fear 444 so that if ,i would1 ,i might escape4 ,look to the prisoner there 444 look to the prisoner4 --,ye do all this1 ye that have power to judge me1 while ,i 444 ,i the accused man 444 ,i neither skulk nor cower4 ,i stand up 444 ,i alone of all this great multitude who are gathered together to see me perish for my sins 444 the ,jonah of this their day of trouble and heavy sorrow4 ,not alone1 said ,rachel ,dyer1 moving up to the bar4 ,if not altogether alone1 alone but for thee1 thou most heroic woman4444 ,o1 that they knew thy worth6444 ,and yet these people who are quaking with terror on every side of us1 bowed down with mortal fear at the voice of the ,lord in the ,sky1 it is they that presume to deal with us1 who are not afraid of our ,father1 nor scared by the flashing of his countenance1 for life and for death-- ,yea ,george-- ,be it so-- ,prisoner at the bar--you are trifling with the court4444 ,you have not answered the charge4 ,have ,i not6--well then--,i prepare to answer it now4 ,i swear that ,i loved them that ,i have buried there--there6--loved them with a love passing all that ,i ever heard of1 or read of4 ,i swear too that ,i nourished and comforted and ministered to the dear creatures1 who1 ye are told1 have come out of the earth to destroy me--even me--me1 their husband1 their lover1 and the father of their children6 ,i swear too--but why continue the terrible outrage8 ,let my accusers appear6 ,let them walk up1 if they will1 out of their graves6--their graves are before me4 ,i am not afraid--,i shall not be afraid--so long as they wear the blessed shape1 or the blessed features of them that have disappeared from their bridal chamber1 with a---- ,he was interrupted by great noises and shrieks that were enough to raise the dead--noises from every part of the grave-yard--shrieks from people afar off in the wood1 shrieks from the multitude on the outside of the house--and shrieks from the sea-shore2 and immediately certain of the accusers fell down as if they saw something approach2 and several that were on the outside of the meeting-house came rushing in with a fearful outcry1 saying that a shed which had been built up over a part of the burial-ground was crowded with strange faces1 and with awful shapes1 and that among them were the two dead wives of the prisoner4 ,there they go--there they go6 screamed other voices outside the door2 and immediately the cry was repeated by the accusers who were within the house--all shrieking together4 8,here they come6--here they come6--here they come60--,and ,judith ,hubbard looking up and uncovering her face1 about which her cloak had been gathered in the first hurry of her distraction1 declared that the last wife of ,burroughs1 on whom her eyes were fixed at the time1 was then actually standing before him and looking him in the face1 8,o1 with such a look--so calm1 so piteous and so terrible60 ,after the uproar had abated in some degree1 the judges who were huddled together1 as far as they could possibly get from the crowd below1 ordered up three more of the witnesses1 and were about to speak to them1 when ,burroughs happening to turn that way also1 they cried out as if they were stabbed with a knife1 and fell upon the floor at their whole length and were speechless4 ,whereupon the chief judge1 turning toward him1 asked him what hindered these poor people from giving their testimony4 ,i do not know said ,burroughs1 who began to give way himself now1 with a convulsion of the heart1 before the tremendous array of testimony and weight of delusion2 to fear that of a truth preternatural shapes were about him1 and that the witnesses were over-persuaded by irresistible power1 though he knew himself to be no party in the exercise of such power4 ,i do not know1 said he3 ,i am utterly confounded by their behaviour4 ,it may be the devil4 ,ah--and why is the devil so loath to have testimony borne against you8 8,which query10 says a writer who was there at the time1 and saw the look of triumph which appeared in the faces of the whole bench1 8did cast ,burroughs into very great confusion40 ,and well it might1 for he was weighed to the earth1 and he knew that whatever he said1 and whatever he did2 and whether he spoke with promptitude or with hesitation2 whether he showed or did not show a sign of dismay1 everything would be1 and was regarded by the judges1 and the jury1 and the people1 as further corroboration of his turpitude4 ,here the trial ended4 ,here the minds of the jury were made up2 and although he grew collected at last1 and arose and spoke in a way that made everybody about him weep and very bitterly too1 for what they called the overthrow of a mind of great wisdom and beauty and power2 and although he gave up to the judges a written argument of amazing ingenuity and vigor which is yet preserved in the records of that people1 wherein he mocked at their faith in witchcraft1 and foretold the grief and the shame1 the trouble and the reproach that were to follow to them that were so busy in the work of death2 yet--yet--so impressed were the twelve1 by the scene that had occurred before their faces1 that they found him guilty2 and as if the judges were afraid of a rescue from the powers of the air1 they gave judgment of death upon him before they left the bench1 and contrary to their established practice1 ordered him to be executed on the morrow4 ,on the morrow8 said he1 with a firm steady eye and a clear tone1 though his lip quivered as he spoke4 ,will ye afford me no time to prepare8 ,we would not that the body and soul both perish2 and we therefore urge you to be diligent in the work brother1 very diligent for the little time that is now left to make your calling and election sure4 ,be ready for the afternoon of the morrow4 ,hitherto the prisoner at the bar had shown little or no emotion2 hitherto he had argued and looked as if he did not believe the jury nor the judges capable of doing what they had now done1 nor the multitude that knew him1 capable of enduring it4 ,hitherto he had been as it were a spectator of the terrible farce1 with no concern for the issue2 but now 444 now 444 all eyes were rivetted upon him with fear1 all thoughts with alarm2 for though he stood up as before1 and made no sort of reply to the judges1 and bore the wracking of the heavy irons with which they were preparing to load him1 as if he neither felt nor saw them2 yet was there a something in his look which made the officers of the court unsheathe their swords1 and lift up their axes1 and the people who were occupied about him1 keep as far out of his reach as they possibly could4 ,yet he neither moved nor spoke1 till he saw the women crowding up to a part of the house where he had seen ,elizabeth ,dyer1 and stoop as if she that had been kneeling there a few moments before1 lay very low1 and lift her up as if she had no life in her1 and carry her away1 guarded by men with pikes1 and with swords and with huge firelocks4 ,then he was moved--and his chains were felt for the first time1 and he would have called out for a breath of air--prayed for a drop of water to save a life more precious by far than his--but before he could open his mouth so as to make himself heard1 he saw ,rachel ,dyer pressing up to the bar of death1 and heard the judges call out to the high-sheriff and his man to guard the door1 and look to the prisoner4 ,he will get away if you turn your head1 ,mr4 sheriff1 said one of the judges4 ,that he will1 added a witness1 that he will6 if you don't look sharp1 as sure as my name is ,peter ,p4 ,watch and pray--watch and pray--added another4 ,burroughs looked up to the bench with surprise1 then at the people1 who were watching every motion of his body as if they expected him to tear away the ponderous fetters and walk forth as free as the wind of the desert1 and then at the blacksmith who stood near with his hammer uplifted in the air2 and then his chest heaved and his chains shook1 and the people hurried away from his path1 and tumbled over each other in their eagerness to escape1 and the chief-judge cried out again to the officer to look to the door and be prepared for a rescue4 ,let me be tried now6 ,i entreat thee1 said ,rachel ,dyer1 throwing up her locked-hands before ,judge ,winthrop1 and speaking as if she was about to plead not for death but for life4 ,let me be tried now1 ,i beseech thee4 ,now4-- ,yea--now6--before the maiden is brought back to life4 ,o let her be at peace1 ye men of power1 till ,i have a--have a-- ,she gathered herself up now with a strong effort1 and spoke with deliberate firmness4444 ----,till ,i have gone through the work which is appointed for me by the twelve that ,i see there-- ,be it so4--,i say1 ,mr4 high-sheriff6 ,well1 ,mr4 judge ,winthrop8 ,this way1 this way2 you'll be so good as to remove a--a--a--7,looking at ,burroughs who stood leaning against the wall7--you are to be a--a--7in a whisper of authority7--you are to be careful of what you do--a very hard case1 very--very-- ,yes judge-- ,well1 well--well1 well--why don't ye do as ,i bid you8 ,what am ,i to do8 ,what are you to do 444 remove the prisoner--poor soul4 ,which prisoner8 ,why that are 444 poh poh1 poh--7pointing to ,burroughs47 ,where to8 ,where to ,sir8--,take him away2 away with him--pretty chap you are to be sure1 not to know where to take a man to1 after its all over with him--poh1 poh1 poh4 ,i say1 ,mr4 ,judge1 none o' that now-- ,take the man away ,sir4 ,do as you are bid4 ,who--me--cried ,burroughs1 waking up from his fit of apathy and looking about on every side4 ,away with him4 ,judges--judges--hear me4 ,let me remain1 ,i pray you1 cried he1 setting his back to the wall and lifting his loaded arms high up in the air--suffer me to stay here till the jury have said whether or no this heroic woman is worthy of death--,i do beseech you6 ,take him away1 ,i tell you--what are ye afraid of8 ,judges--men--,i would that ye would have mercy1 not on me1 but on the people about me4 ,i would that ye would suffer me to tarry here--in fetters--till the jury have given their verdict on ,rachel ,dyer4 ,suffer me to do so1 ,i beseech you1 and ,i will go away then1 ,i swear to you1 whithersoever it may please you1 like a lamb to the slaughter4 ,i swear this to you before ,god6--but1 so help me ,god1 ,i will not be carried away alive before4 ,i will not stir1 nor be stirred while ,i have power to lift my arms1 or to do what you now see me do---- ,as he spoke1 he lifted up his arms in the air--up--up1 as high as he could reach1 standing on tip-toe the while2 and brought them down with such force1 loaded as they were1 that he doubled the iron guard which kept him in the box1 and shattered the heavy door from the top to the bottom4 --,behold--shorn though ,i be of my youth1 betrayed though ,i have been1 while ,i forgot where ,i was1 ,i do not lack power4 ,now bid your people tear me away if you have courage6 ,for lo1 my feet are upon the foundations of your strength 444 and by ,jehovah--the ,god of the strong man of other days6--,i'll not be dragged off till ,i know the fate of the giantess before you4 ,we shall see--cut him down officer--cut him down6 ,very well4 ,come thou near enough to cut me down1 officer1 and ,i'll undertake for thee4 ,judges--how little ye know of that man's power--why not suffer him to stay8 cried ,rachel ,dyer4 ,why will ye provoke it8 ,on your heads be the issue1 if ye drive your ministers to the toil6 on yours their blood1 if they approach him6 ,the sheriff hung back--and the judges1 after consulting together1 told ,burroughs he might stay1 and ordered the trial of the women to proceed4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,already were they about to give judgment of death upon ,rachel ,dyer1 when two or three of her accusers1 who began to fear that she might escape1 had another fit4 ,why are these poor women troubled8 asked a judge4 ,i do not know1 was her unstudied reply4 ,but according to your belief8 ,i do not desire to say what my belief is4 ,it can do no good1 and it may do harm2 for who shall assure me that ,i do not err8 ,don't you think they are bewitched8 ,no4 ,give us your thoughts on their behavior4 ,no1 ,ichabod1 no2 my thoughts can be of no worth to thee or such as thee4 ,if ,i had more proof1 proof that ye would receive in law1 ,i might be willing to speak at large both of them and of their master---- ,their master6 cried a little man1 with a sharp inquisitive eye1 who had not opened his mouth before4 ,who is their master8 ,if they deal in witchcraft or in the black art1 ,joseph ,piper1 thee may know as well as ,i do4 ,woman4444are you not afraid of death8 ,no444444444not much1 though ,i should like to be spared for a few days longer4 ,not afraid of death6-- ,no--not much1 ,i say4 ,and why should ,i be afraid of death8 why should ,i desire to live8--what is there to attach a thing of my shape to life1 a wretched1 miserable1 weary4444 ,ah1 ha--now we shall have it--she is going to confess now--she is beginning to weep1 said a judge4 ,but he was overheard by the woman herself1 who turning to the jury with a look that awed them in spite of their prejudice1 told them to proceed4 ,they'll proceed fast enough1 by and by1 said another judge4 ,what have you done to disturb the faculties of that woman there8 ,what woman8 ,judith ,hubbard4 ,much4 ,for ,i know her1 and she knows that ,i know her2 and we have both known for a great while that we cannot both live4 ,this world is not large enough4 ,what have ,i done to disturb her faculties8 ,much4 ,for that woman hath wronged me2 and she cannot forgive me4 ,she hath pursued me and mine to death2 all that are very near and dear to me1 my poor sister and my--and the beloved friend of my sister--to death2 and how would it be possible for ,judith ,hubbard to forgive us8 ,but your apparition pursues her4 ,if so1 ,i cannot help it4 ,but why is it your apparition8 ,how do ,i know8 ,he that appeared in the shape of ,samuel1 why should he not appear in the shape of another8 ,but enough--,rachel ,dyer was ordered for execution also4 ,and a part of the charge proved against her was1 that she had been spirited away by the powers of the air1 who communicated with her and guarded her at the cost of much human life1 on the night when she fled into the deep of the wilderness in company with ,george ,burroughs and ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer2 each of whom had a like body-guard of invisible creatures1 who shot with arrows of certain death on the night of their escape4 ,and ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer was now brought up for trial2 but being half dead with fear1 and very ill1 so that she was reported by a jury empannelled for the purpose1 to be mute by the visitation of ,god1 they adjourned the court for the morrow1 and gave her permission to abide with her sister till the day after the morrow4 ,and so ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer and ,rachel ,dyer met again--met in the depth of a dungeon like the grave2 and ,elizabeth being near the brave ,rachel once more1 grew ashamed of her past weakness4 ,i pray thee dear sister1 said ,mary ,elizabeth1 after they had been together for a long while without speaking a word1 ,rachel with her arm about ,elizabeth's neck1 and ,elizabeth leaning her face upon the shoulder of ,rachel1 ,i pray thee to forgive me4 ,forgive thee 444 for what pray8 ,do1 do forgive me1 ,rachel4 ,why1 what on earth is the matter with thee1 child8 ,here we sit for a whole hour in the deep darkness of the night-season1 without so much as a sob or a tear1 looking death in the face with a steady smile1 and comforting our hearts1 weary and sick as they are1 with a pleasant hope--the hope of seeing our beloved brother ,jacob1 our dear good mother1 and our pious grandmother2 and now1 all of a sudden thee breaks out in this way1 as if thee would not be comforted1 and as if thee had never thought of death before-- ,o1 ,i'm not afraid of death sister1 now--,i'm prepared for death now--,i'm very willingly to die now--it isn't that ,i mean4 ,why now8--why do thee say so much of now8 ,is it only now that thee is prepared for death8 ,no1 no1 dear sister1 but some how or other ,i do not even desire to live now1 and yet---- ,and yet what8--why does thee turn away thy head8 why does thee behave so to me 444 why break out into such bitter--bitter lamentation8--what is the matter ,i say8--what ails thee8-- ,oh dear6 ,why--,elizabeth6--what am ,i to believe8--what has thee been doin'8 ,why do thee cling to me so8--why do thee hide thy face8-- ,o ,rachel1 ,rachel--do not go away1--do not abandon me--do not cast me off6 ,child--why-- ,no1 no6-- ,look me in the face1 ,i beseech thee4 ,no no--,i dare not--,i cannot4 ,dare not--cannot-- ,no no4-- ,dare not look thy sister in the face8 ,oh no-- ,lift up thy head this minute1 ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer6--let go of my neck--let go of my neck1 ,i say--leave clinging to me so1 and let me see thy face4 ,no no dear ,rachel1 no no1 ,i dare not--,i am afraid of thee now1 for now thee calls me ,mary ,elizabeth-- ,afraid of me--of me--,o ,elizabeth1 what has thee done8 ,oh dear6 ,and what have ,i done to deserve this8 ,thee--thee6--,o nothing dear sister1 nothing at all2 it is ,i--,i that have been so very foolish and wicked after-- ,wicked1 say thee8 ,o very--very--very wicked-- ,but how--in what way--thee'll frighten me to death4 ,shall ,i--,o ,i am very sorry--but--but--thee knows ,i cannot help it-- ,cannot help it1 ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer--cannot help what8 ,speak 444 speak 444 whatever it is1 ,i forgive thee 444 we have no time to lose now2 we may never meet again4 ,speak out1 ,i beseech thee4 ,speak out1 for the day is near1 the day of sorrow---- ,i will1 ,i will--cried ,elizabeth1 sobbing as if her heart would break1 and falling upon her knees and burying her head in the lap of her sister--,i will--,i will1 but--pushing aside a heap of hair from her face1 and smothering the low sweet whisper of a pure heart1 as if she knew that every throb had a voice--,i will1 ,i will1 ,i say1 but ,i am so afraid of thee--putting both arms about her sister's neck and pulling her face down that she might whisper what she had to say--,i will--,i will--,i'm a goin' to tell thee now--as soon as ever ,i can get my breath--nay1 nay1 don't look at me so--,i cannot bear it---- ,look at thee--my poor bewildered sister--how can thee tell whether ,i am looking at thee or not1 while thy head is there8--,get up--get up1 ,i say--,i do not like that posture2 it betokens too much fear--the fear not of death1 but of shame--too much humility1 too much lowliness1 a lowliness the cause whereof ,i tremble to ask thee4 ,get up1 ,elizabeth1 get up1 if thee do not mean to raise a grief and a trouble in my heart which ,i wouldn't have there now for the whole world2 get up1 ,i beseech thee1 ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer4 ,elizabeth got up1 and after standing for a moment or two1 without being able to utter a word1 though her lips moved1 fell once more upon her sister's neck2 and laying her mouth close to her ear1 while her innocent face glowed with shame and her whole body shook with fear1 whispered--,i pray thee ,rachel1 dear ,rachel 444 do 444 do let me see him for a minute or two before they put him to death4 ,rachel ,dyer made no reply4 ,she could not speak--she had no voice for speech1 but gathering up the sweet girl into her bosom with a convulsive sob1 she wept for a long while upon her neck4 ,they were interrupted by the jailor1 who came to say that ,george ,burroughs1 the wizard1 having desired much to see ,rachel ,dyer and ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer1 the confederate witches1 before his and their death1 he had been permitted by the honorable and merciful judges to do so--on condition that he should be doubly-ironed at the wrist2 wherefore he1 the jailor had now come to fetch her the said ,rachel to him the said ,george4 ,i am to go too1 said ,elizabeth1 pressing up to the side of her sister1 and clinging to her with a look of dismay4 ,no1 no--said he1 no1 no1 you are to stay here4 ,nay1 nay1 sister--dear sister--do let me go with thee6 ,it is not for me to speak1 dear1 dear ,elizabeth1 or thee should go now instead of me4 ,however---- ,come1 come--,i pity you both1 but there's no help for you now--never cry for spilt milk--you're not so bad as they say1 ,i'm sure--so make yourself easy and stay where you be1 if you know when you're well off4 ,do let me go6 ,nonsense--you're but a child however1 and so ,i forgive you1 and the more's the pity2 must obey orders if we break owners--poh1 poh1--poh1 poh1 poh4 ,a separation like that of death followed4 ,no hope had the two sisters of meeting again alive4 ,they were afraid each for the other--and ,elizabeth sat unable to speak1 with her large clear eyes turned up to the eyes of ,rachel as if to implore1 with a last look1 a devout consideration of a dying prayer4 ,if it may be1 said ,rachel turning her head at the door if it may be dear maiden1 it shall be4 ,have courage-- ,i have1 ,i have6 ,be prepared though2 be prepared ,elizabeth1 my beautiful sister4 ,we shall not see each other again 444 that is4444 ,o ,i pray thee1 ,i do pray thee1 my dear sister to be comforted4 ,elizabeth got up1 and staggered away to the door and fell upon her sister's neck and prayed her not to leave her4 ,i must leave thee 444 ,i must1 ,i must 444 would thee have me forsake ,george ,burroughs at the point of death8 ,o no--no--no6 ,we never shall meet again ,i do fear--,i do hope1 ,i might say1 for of what avail is it in the extremity of our sorrow2 but others may--he and thee may ,elizabeth--and who knows but after the first shock of this thy approaching bereavement is over1 thee may come to regard this very trial with joy1 though we are torn by it1 as by the agony of death now--let us pray4 ,the sisters now prayed together for a little time1 each with her arm about the other's neck1 interchanged a farewell kiss and parted---parted forever4 ,and ,rachel was then led to the dungeons below1 where she saw him that her sister loved1 and that a score of other women had loved as it were in spite of their very natures--for they were bred up in fear of the dark ,savage4 ,he sat with his hands locked in his lap1 and chained and rivetted with iron1 his brow gathered1 his teeth set1 and his keen eyes fixed upon the door4 ,there is yet one hope my dear friend1 whispered he after they had been together a good while without speaking a word or daring to look at each other--one hope--laying his pinioned arm lightly upon her shoulder1 and pressing up to her side with all the affectionate seriousness of a brother--one hope1 dear ,rachel-- ,she shut her eyes and large drops ran down her cheeks4 --,one hope--and but one-- ,have a care ,george ,burroughs4 ,i would not have thee betray thyself anew--there is no hope4 ,it is not for myself ,i speak4 ,there is no hope for me4 ,i know that--,i feel that--,i am sure of it2 nor1 to tell you the truth1 am ,i sorry-- ,not sorry ,george-- ,no--for even as you are1 so am ,i--weary of this world--sick and weary of life4 ,her head sunk upon his shoulder1 and her breathing was that of one who struggles with deep emotion4 ,no--no--it is not for myself that ,i speak4 ,it is for you-- ,for me-- ,for you and for ,elizabeth-- ,for me and for ,elizabeth8--well-- ,and if ,i could bring you to do what ,i am persuaded you both may do without reproach1 there would be hope still for--for ,elizabeth--and for you-- ,for ,elizabeth--and for me8--,o ,george1 ,george6 what hope is there now for me8 ,what have ,i to do on earth1 now that we are a----she stopped with a shudder--,i too am tired of life4 ,she withdrew the hand which till now he had been holding to his heart with a strong terrible pressure4 ,hear me1 thou high-hearted1 glorious woman4 ,i have little or no hope for thee--,i confess that4 ,i know thee too well to suppose that ,i could prevail with thee2 but 444 but 444 whatever may become of us1 why not save ,elizabeth1 if we may-- ,if we may ,george--but how8 ,why 444 draw nearer to me ,i pray thee2 we have not much time to be together now1 and ,i would have thee look upon me1 as one having a right to comfort thee and to be comforted by thee-- ,a right 444 how ,george8 ,as thy brother-- ,as my brother4444 ,o1 certainly---- ,nay1 nay 444 do not forbear to lean thy head upon thy brother 444 do not1 ,i beseech thee4 ,what have we to do here 444 what have we to do now with that reserve which keeps the living apart 444 our ashes1 are they to be hindered of communion hereafter by the unworthy law of--ah 444 sobbing 444 ,rachel ,dyer6 444 can it be that ,i hear you--you6 the unperturbable1 the steadfast and the brave 444 can it be that ,i hear you sobbing at my side1 as if your very heart would break4444 ,no no4444 ,there is to be a great change here1 after we are out of the way4444 ,where--how8 ,among the people4 ,the accusers are going too far2 they are beginning to overstep the mark--they are flying too high4 ,speak plainly1 if thee would have me understand thy speech--why do thee cleave to me so8--why so eager--why do thee speak in parables8 ,my heart misgives me when ,i hear a man like thee1 at an hour like this1 weighing every word that is about to escape from his mouth4 ,i deserve the rebuke4 ,what ,i would say is1 that the prisons of our land are over-crowded with people of high repute4 ,already they have begun to whisper the charge against our chief men4 ,this very day they have hinted at two or three individuals1 who1 a week before they overthrew me1 would have been thought altogether beyond the reach of their audacity4 ,who are they8 ,they speak of ,matthew ,paris4 ,the poor bewildered man 444 how dare they8 ,and of the ,governor1 and of two or three more in authority2 and of all that participated in the voyage whereby he and they were made wealthy and wise and powerful---- ,i thought so 444 ,i feared as much4 ,poor man 444 his riches are now indeed a snare to him1 his liberal heart1 a mark for the arrows of death4444 ,now hear me 444 the accusers being about to go up to the high places and to the seats of power1 a change1 there must and there will be1 and so---- ,and so 444 why do thee stop8 ,why do ,i stop 444 did ,i stop8 ,yea 444 and thy visage too 444 why does it alter8 ,my visage6 ,yea 444 thy look1 thy tone of voice1 the very color of thy lips4 ,of a truth1 ,rachel8 ,of a truth1 ,george4 ,why then it must be 444 it is1 ,i am sure 444 on account of the 444 that is to say 444 ,i'm afraid ,i do not make myself understood-- ,speak out4 ,well then 444 may ,i not persuade you1 my dear1 dear sister 444 to 444 to 444 in a word1 ,rachel4444 ,to what pray 444 persuade me to what8444 ,speak to me as ,i speak to thee2 what would thee persuade me to1 ,george8 ,to 444 to 444 to confess 444 there6 ,to confess what1 pray8 ,that's all4444 ,george4444 ,nay1 nay 444 the fact is my dear friend1 as ,i said before3 ,i 444 ,i 444 if there be a change here1 it will be a speedy one4 ,well-- ,and if--and if--a few weeks more1 a few days more1 it may be1 and our accusers1 they who are now dealing death to us1 may be brought up in their turn to hear the words of death--in short ,rachel1 if you could be persuaded just to--not to acknowledge--but just to suffer them to believe you to be a 444 to be a 444 ,i forget what ,i was going to say---- ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,a long silence followed--a silence like that of death--at last ,rachel ,dyer spoke3 ,george ,burroughs--,i understand thee now1 said she1 ,i understand it all4 ,thee would have me confess that ,i deserve death--only that ,i may live4 ,thee would have me acknowledge 7for nothing else would do7 that ,i am a liar and a witch1 and that ,i deserve to die--and all this for what8--only that ,i may escape death for a few days4 ,o ,george6 ,no1 no--you mistake the matter4 ,i would not have you confess that you deserve death--,i would only have you speak to them--,god of the faithful6--,i cannot--,i cannot urge this woman to betray her faith4 ,i understand thee1 ,george4 ,but if ,i were to do so1 what should ,i gain by it8 ,gain by it1 ,rachel ,dyer8 ,why do thee drop my hand8 why recoil at my touch now8 ,gain by it6 siezing both her hands with all his might1 and speaking as if he began to fear--not to hope--no1 but to fear that she might be over-persuaded-- ,yea--what have ,i to gain by it8 ,life4 ,you escape death--a cruel ignominious death--a death1 which it is not for a woman to look at1 but with horror4 ,well ,george-- ,by death1 you lose the opportunity of doing much good1 of bringing the wicked to justice1 of aiding them that are now ready to die with terror1 of shielding the oppressed-- ,well-- ,well--and what more would you have8 ,is not this enough8 ,no1 ,george4 ,hear me out ,rachel4 ,do not reprove me1 do not turn away1 till you have heard me through4 ,my duty is before me1 a duty which must and shall be done1 though it break my heart4 ,i am commanded to argue with you1 and to persuade you to live4 ,commanded8-- ,what if you were to confess that you deserve death8 ,what if you were to own yourself a witch8 ,i take your own view of the case4--,i put the query to you in a shape the least favorable to my purpose4 ,what if you were to do this2 you would be guilty at the most but of a--of a-- ,of untruth ,george4 ,and you would save your own life by such untruth1 and the lives1 it may be1 of a multitude more1 and the life you know1 of one that is very dear to you4 ,well---- ,no no--do not leave me in this way6 ,do not go till ,i--,i beseech you to hear me through-- ,i will--it grieves me1 but ,i will4 ,which is the greater sin--to die when you have it in your power to escape death1 if you will1 by a word8 or to speak a word of untruth to save your life-- ,george ,burroughs--,i pray thee--suffer me to bid thee farewell4 ,no no1 not yet4 ,hear me through--hear all ,i have to say4 ,by this word of untruth1 you save your own life1 and perhaps many other lives4 ,you punish the guilty4 ,you have leisure to repent in this world of that very untruth--if such untruth be sinful4 ,you have an opportunity of showing to the world and to them that you love1 that you were innocent of that wherewith you were charged4 ,you may root up the error that prevails now1 and overthrow the destroyer1 and hereafter obtain praise for that very untruth1 whereby you hinder the shedding of more innocent blood2 praise from every quarter of the earth1 praise from every body2 from the people1 the preachers1 the jury1 the elders--yea from the very judges for having stayed them in their headlong career of guilt-- ,o ,george-- ,but if you die1 and your death be sinful--and would it not be so1 if you were to die1 where you might escape death8--you would have no time to repent here1 no opportunity1 no leisure--you die in the very perpetration of your guilt-- ,if it is guilt1 ,i do-- ,and however innocent you may be of the crimes that are charged to you1 you have no opportunity of showing on this earth to them that love you1 that you are so4 ,yet more--the guilt of your death1 if it be not charged hereafter to you1 will be charged1 you may be sure1 to the wretched women that pursue you2 and all who might be saved by you1 will have reason to lay their death at your door-- ,well-- ,about life or death1 you may not much care2 but after death to be regarded with scorn1 or hatred or terror1 by all that go by your grave1 my sister--how could you bear the idea of that8 ,what say you--you shudder--and yet if you die now1 you must leave behind you a character which cannot be cleared up1 or which is not likely to be cleared up on earth1 however innocent you may be 7as ,i have said before7--the character of one1 who being charged with witchcraft was convicted of witchcraft and executed for a witchcraft4 ,in a word--if you live1 you may live to wipe away the aspersion4 ,if you die1 it may adhere to you and to yours--forever and ever4 ,if you live1 you may do much good on earth1 much to yourself and much to others1 much even to the few that are now thirsting for your life--you may make lighter the load of crime which otherwise will weigh them down--you may do this and all this1 if you speak3 ,but if you do not speak1 you are guilty of your own death1 and of the deaths it may be of a multitude1 here and hereafter4 ,now hear me4 ,i do not know whether all this is done to try my truth or my courage1 but this ,i know--,i will not leave thee in doubt concerning either4 ,look at me ,there---- ,thee would have me confess8 ,i would4 ,thee would have ,elizabeth confess8 ,i would4 ,do thee mean to confess4 ,i--,i6-- ,ah ,george-- ,i cannot ,rachel--,i dare not--,i am a preacher of the word of truth4 ,but you may--what is there to hinder you8 ,thee will not8 ,no4 ,nor will ,i4 ,just what ,i expected--give me your hand--what ,i have said to you1 ,i have been constrained to say1 for it is a part of my faith ,rachel1 that as we believe1 so are we to be judged3 and that therefore1 had you believed it to be right for you to confess and live1 it would have been right1 before the ,lord4--,but whether you do or do not1 ,elizabeth may4 ,true--if she can be persuaded to think as thee would have her think1 she may4 ,i shall not seek to dissuade her--but as for me1 ,i have put my life into the hands of our ,father4 ,i shall obey him1 and trust to the inward prompting of that which upholds me and cheers me now--even now1 ,george1 when1 but for ,his ,holy ,spirit1 ,i should feel as ,i never felt before1 since ,i came into the world--altogether alone4 ,will you advise with her1 and seek to persuade her8 ,no4 ,cruel woman6 ,cruel--no no ,george1 no no4 ,would that be doing as ,i would be done by8 ,is it for me to urge a beloved sister to do what ,i would not do--even to save my life8 ,i feel the rebuke-- ,george1 ,i must leave thee--,i hear footsteps4 ,farewell-- ,so soon--so very soon6 ,say to her1 ,i beseech you--say to her as you have said to me1 that she may confess if she will2 that we have been together1 and that we have both agreed in the opinion that she had better confess and throw herself on the mercy of her judges1 till the fury of the storm hath passed over4--,it will soon have passed over1 ,i am sure now-- ,no ,george1 no2 but ,i will say this4 ,i will say to her-- ,go on--go on1 ,i beseech you-- --,i will say to her--,elizabeth1 my dear ,sister2 go down upon thy knees and pray to the ,lord to be nigh to thee1 and give thee strength1 and to lead thee in the path which is best for his glory2 and after that1 if thee should feel free to preserve thy life by such means--being on the guard against the love of life1 and the fear of death--the ,tempter of souls1 and the weapons of the flesh--it will be thy duty so to preserve it4 ,burroughs groaned aloud--but he could prevail no further4 ,enough1 said he1 at last3 write as much on this paper1 and let me carry it with me4 ,carry it with thee--what do thee mean8 ,i hardly know what ,i mean2 ,i would see her and urge her to live1 but when ,i consider what must follow1 though ,i have permission to see her1 my heart fails me4 ,thee is to meet her with me1 ,i suppose8 ,no1 ,i believe not-- ,how--alone8-- ,no no--not alone1 said the jailor1 whom they supposed to be outside of the door1 till he spoke4 ,more of the tender mercies of the law6 ,they would entrap thee ,george-- ,and you too ,rachel1 if it lay in their power-- ,give me that book--it is the ,bible that ,i gave thee1 is it not8 ,it is-- ,it belonged to my mother4 ,i will write what ,i have to say in the blank leaf4 ,she did so2 and giving it into the hands of the ,jailor she said to him--,i would have her abide on earth--my dear1 dear sister6--,i would pray to her to live and be happy1 if she can2 for she--,o she will have much to make life dear to her1 even though she be left alone by the way-side for a little time--what disturbs thee ,george8---- ,i am afraid of this man4 ,he will betray us-- ,no--no--we have nothing to fear-- ,nothing to fear1 when he must have been at our elbow and overheard everything we have whispered to each other4 ,look at him ,george1 and thee will be satisfied4 ,burroughs looked up1 and saw by the vacant gravity of his hard visage1 that the man had not understood a syllable to their prejudice4 ,but ,elizabeth--,i would have her continue on earth1 ,i say--,i would--if so it may please our ,father above2 but ,i am in great fear1 and ,i would have thee tell her so1 after she has read what ,i have written there in that book4 ,she will have sympathy1 whatever may occur to us--true sympathy1 unmixed with fear2 but as for me1 ,i have no such hope--and why should ,i wrestle with my duty--,i--who have no desire to see the light of another day8 ,none ,rachel8 ,none--but for the sake of ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer--and so--and so ,george1 we are to part now--and there--therefore--the sooner we part1 the better4 ,her voice died away in a low deeply-drawn heavy breathing4 ,even so dear--even so1 my beloved sister-- ,george-- ,nay1 nay--why leave me at all8--why not abide here8 ,why may we not die together8 ,george1 ,i say-- ,well--what-say8 ,suffer me to kiss thee--my brother--before we part4444 ,he made no reply1 but he gasped for breath and shook all over1 and stretched out his arms with a giddy convulsive motion toward her4 --,before we part forever ,george--dear ,george1 putting her hand affectionately upon his shoulder and looking him steadily in the face4 ,we are now very near to the threshold of death1 and ,i do believe--,i do--though ,i would not have said as much an hour ago1 for the wealth of all this world 444 nay1 not even to save my life 444 no 444 nor my sister's life 444 nor thy life 444 that ,i shall die the happier and the better for having kissed thee 444 my brother4 ,still he spoke not 444 he had no tongue for speech4 ,the dreadful truth broke upon him all at once now1 a truth which penetrated his heart like an arrow 444 and he strove to throw his arms about her2 to draw her up to his bosom--but the chains that he wore prevented him1 and so he leaned his head upon her shoulder 444 and kissed her cheek1 and then lifted himself up1 and held her with one arm to his heart1 and kissed her forehead and her eyes and her mouth1 in a holy transport of affection4 ,dear ,george 444 ,i am happy now 444 very1 very happy now1 said the poor girl1 shutting her eyes and letting two or three large tears fall upon his locked hands1 which were held by her as if 444 as if 444 while her mouth was pressed to them with a dreadful earnestness1 her power to let them drop was no more4 ,and then she appeared to recollect herself1 and her strength appeared to come back to her1 and she rose up and set her lips to his forehead with a smile1 that was remembered by the rough jailor to his dying day1 so piteous and so death-like was it1 and said to ,burroughs1 in her mild quiet way--her mouth trembling and her large tears dropping at every word--very1 very happy now1 and all ready for death4 ,i would say more 444 much more if ,i might1 for ,i have not said the half ,i had to say4 ,thee will see her 444 ,i shall not see her again4444 ,how-- ,not if thee should prevail with her to stay1 ,george4 ,it would be of no use--it would only grieve her1 and it might unsettle us both-- ,what can ,i say to you8 ,nothing--,thee will see her2 and thee will take her to thy heart as thee did me1 and she will be happy--very happy--even as ,i am now4 ,father--,father6 ,o1 why was ,i not prepared for this6 ,do thou stay me--do thou support me--it is more than ,i can bear6 cried ,burroughs1 turning away from the admirable creature who stood before him trying to bear up without his aid1 though she shook from head to foot with uncontrollable emotion4 ,thee's very near and very dear to ,mary ,elizabeth ,dyer2 and she--she will be happy--she cannot be otherwise1 alive or dead--for all that know her1 pity her and love her---- ,and so do all that know you-- ,no1 no1 ,george1 love and pity are not for such as ,i--such pity ,i mean1 or such love as we need here--need ,i say1 whatever we may pretend1 whatever the multitude may suppose1 and however ill we may be fitted for inspiring it--,i--,i-- ,her voice faltered1 she grew very pale1 and caught by the frame of the door-- --,there may be love1 ,george1 there may be pity1 there may be some hope on earth for a beautiful witch 444 with golden hair 444 with large blue eyes 444 and a sweet mouth 444 but for a 444 for a 444 for a freckled witch 444 with red hair and a hump on her back--what hope is there1 what hope on this side of the grave8 ,she tried to smile when she said this 444 but she could not1 and the preacher saw and the jailor saw that her heart was broken4 ,before the former could reply1 and before the latter could stay her1 she was gone4 ,the rest of the story is soon told4 ,the preacher saw ,elizabeth and tried to prevail with her1 but he could not4 ,she had all the courage of her sister1 and would not live by untruth4 ,and yet she escaped1 for she was very ill1 and before she recovered1 the fearful infatuation was over1 the people had waked up1 the judges and the preachers of the ,lord2 and the chief-judge1 ,sewall had publicly read a recantation for the part he had played in the terrible drama4 ,but she saw her brave sister no more2 she saw ,burroughs no more--he was put to death on the afternoon of the morrow1 behaving with high and steady courage to the last--praying for all and forgiving all1 and predicting in a voice like that of one crying in the wilderness1 a speedy overthrow to the belief in witchcraft--a prophecy that came to be fulfilled before the season had gone by1 and his last words were--8,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do60 ,being dead1 a messenger of the court was ordered away to apprise ,rachel ,dyer that on the morrow at the same hour1 and at the same place1 her life would be required of her4 ,she was reading the ,bible when he appeared1 and when he delivered the message1 the book fell out of her lap and she sat as if stupified for a minute or more2 but she did not speak1 and so he withdrew1 saying to her as he went away1 that he should be with her early in the morning4 ,so on the morrow1 when the people had gathered together before the jail1 and prepared for the coming forth of ,rachel ,dyer1 the ,high-,sheriff was called upon to wake her1 that she might be ready for death2 she being asleep the man said4 ,so the ,high-,sheriff went up and spoke to her as she lay upon the bed2 with a smile about her mouth and her arm over a large book 444 but she made no reply4 ,the bed was drawn forth to the light--the book removed 7it was the ,bible7 and she was lifted up and carried out into the cool morning air4 ,she was dead4 ,,historical ,,facts4 ,that the reader may not be led to suppose the book he has just gone through with1 a sheer fabrication1 the author has thought it adviseable to give a few of the many facts upon which the tale is founded1 in the very language of history4 ,the true name of ,mr4 ,paris was ,samuel1 instead of ,matthew1 and he spelt it with two r's2 that of his child was ,elizabeth and that of her cousin1 ,abigail ,williams4 ,with these corrections to prepare the reader for what is to follow1 we may now go to the historical records alluded to4 ,and first--,of the manner in which the accused were treated on their examination1 and of the methods employed to make them confess4 ,john ,proctor1 who was executed for witchcraft1 gives the following account of the procedure had with his family1 in a letter to ,mr4 ,cotton ,mather1 ,mr4 ,moody1 ,mr4 ,willard1 and others4 8,reverend ,gentlemen1--,the innocency of our case1 with the enmity of our accusers and our judges and jury1 whom nothing but our innocent blood will serve1 having condemned us already before our trials1 being so much incensed and enraged against us by the devil1 makes us bold to beg and implore your favourable assistance of this our humble petition to his excellency1 that if it be possible our innocent blood may be spared1 which undoubtedly otherwise will be shed1 if the ,lord doth not mercifully step in2 the magistrates1 ministers1 juries1 and all the people in general1 being so much enraged and incensed against us by the delusion of the devil1 which we can term no other1 by reason we know in our own consciences we are all innocent persons4 ,here are five persons who have lately confessed themselves to be witches1 and do accuse some of us of being along with them at a sacrament1 since we were committed into close prison1 which we know to be lies4 ,two of the five are 7,carrier's sons7 young men1 who would not confess any thing till they tied them neck and heels1 till the blood was ready to come out of their noses2 and it is credibly believed and reported this was the occasion of making them confess what they never did1 by reason they said one had been a witch a month1 and another five weeks1 and that their mother had made them so1 who has been confined here this nine weeks4 ,my son ,william ,proctor1 when he was examined1 because he would not confess that he was guilty1 when he was innocent1 they tied him neck and heels till the blood gushed out at his nose1 and would have kept him so twenty-four hours1 if one1 more merciful than the rest1 had not taken pity on him1 and caused him to be unbound4 ,these actions are very like the popish cruelties4 ,they have already undone us in our estates1 and that will not serve their turns without our innocent blood4 ,if it cannot be granted that we have our trials at ,boston1 we humbly beg that you would endeavor to have these magistrates changed1 and others in their rooms2 begging also and beseeching you would be pleased to be here1 if not all1 some of you1 at our trials1 hoping thereby you may be the means of saving the shedding of innocent blood4 ,desiring your prayers to the ,lord in our behalf1 we rest your poor afflicted servants1 ,,john ,,proctor1 c4 ,jonathan ,cary1 whose wife was under the charge1 but escaped1 has left a very affecting narrative of her trial1 and of the behavior of the judges4 8,being brought before the justices1 her chief accusers were two girls4 ,my wife declared to the justices1 that she never had any knowledge of them before that day4 ,she was forced to stand with her arms stretched out4 ,i requested that ,i might hold one of her hands1 but it was denied me2 then she desired me to wipe the tears from her eyes1 and the sweat from her face1 which ,i did2 then she desired that she might lean herself on me1 saying she should faint4 ,justice ,hathorn replied1 she had strength enough to torment those persons1 and she should have strength enough to stand4 ,i speaking something against their cruel proceedings1 they commanded me to be silent1 or else ,i should be turned out of the room4 ,the ,indian before mentioned was also brought in1 to be one of her accusers3 being come in1 he now 7when before the justices7 fell down and tumbled about like a hog1 but said nothing4 ,the justices asked the girls who afflicted the ,indian2 they answered she1 7meaning my wife7 and that she now lay upon him2 the justices ordered her to touch him1 in order to his cure1 but her head must be turned another way1 lest1 instead of curing1 she should make him worse1 by her looking on him1 her hand being guided to take hold of his2 but the ,indian took hold of her hand1 and pulled her down on the floor1 in a barbarous manner2 then his hand was taken off1 and her hand put on his1 and the cure was quickly wrought4 ,i1 being extremely troubled at their inhuman dealings1 uttered a hasty speech1 ,that ,god would take vengeance on them1 and desired that ,god would deliver us out of the hands of unmerciful men4 ,then her mittimus was writ4 ,i did with difficulty and chagrin obtain the liberty of a room1 but no beds in it2 if there had been1 could have taken but little rest that night4 ,she was committed to ,boston prison2 but ,i obtained a habeas corpus to remove her to ,cambridge prison1 which is in our county of ,middlesex4 ,having been there one night1 next morning the jailer put irons on her legs 7having received such a command27 the weight of them was about eight pounds2 these irons and her other afflictions soon brought her into convulsion fits1 so that ,i thought she would have died that night4 ,i sent to entreat that the irons might be taken off2 but all entreaties were in vain1 if it would have saved her life1 so that in this condition she must continue4 ,the trials at ,salem coming on1 ,i went thither1 to see how things were managed2 and finding that the spectre evidence was there received1 together with idle1 if not malicious stories1 against people's lives1 ,i did easily perceive which way the rest would go2 for the same evidence that served for one1 would serve for all the rest4 ,i acquainted her with her danger2 and that if she were carried to ,salem to be tried1 ,i feared she would never return4 ,i did my utmost that she might have her trial in our own county1 ,i with several others petitioning the judge for it1 and were put in hopes for it2 but ,i soon saw so much1 that ,i understood thereby it was not intended1 which put me upon consulting the means of her escape2 which through the goodness of ,god was effected1 and she got to ,rhode-,island1 but soon found herself not safe when there1 by reason of the pursuit after her2 from thence she went to ,new-,york1 along with some others that had escaped their cruel hands4 ,of the trial of 8good-wife ,proctor10 the following interpretation was had4 8,about this time1 besides the experiment of the afflicted falling at the sight1 c4 they put the accused upon saying the ,lord's prayer1 which one among them performed1 except in that petition1 deliver us from evil1 she expressed it thus1 deliver us from all evil3 this was looked upon as if she prayed against what she was now justly under1 and being put upon it again1 and repeating those words1 hallowed be thy name1 she expressed it1 hollowed be thy name3 this was counted a depraving the words1 as signifying to make void1 and so a curse rather than a prayer3 upon the whole it was concluded that she also could not say it1 c4 ,proceeding in this work of examination and commitment1 many were sent to prison4 8,in ,august1 #afig1 the superior court sat at ,hartford1 in the colony of ,connecticut1 where one mistress ,benom was tried for witchcraft4 ,she had been accused by some children that pretended to the spectral sight3 they searched her several times for teats2 they tried the experiment of casting her into the water1 and after this she was excommunicated by the minister of ,wallinsford4 ,upon her trial nothing material appeared against her1 save spectre evidence4 ,she was acquitted1 as also her daughter1 a girl of twelve or thirteen years old1 who had been likewise accused2 but upon renewed complaints against them1 they both flew into ,new-,york government4 ,second--,of the ,confessions4--,the following is a letter written by six of the confessing witches1 by which it may be understood in some degree how they came to accuse themselves4 8,we1 whose names are under written1 inhabitants of ,andover1 when as that horrible and tremendous judgment beginning at ,salem ,village1 in the year #afib1 7by some called witchcraft7 first breaking forth at ,mr4 ,parris's house1 several young persons being seemingly afflicted1 did accuse several persons for afflicting them1 and many there believing it so to be2 we being informed that if a person were sick1 the afflicted person could tell what or who was the cause of that sickness3 ,joseph ,ballard of ,andover 7his wife being sick at the same time7 he either from himself1 or by the advice of others1 fetched two of the persons1 called the afflicted persons1 from ,salem ,village to ,andover3 which was the beginning of that dreadful calamity that befel us in ,andover4 ,and the authority in ,andover1 believing the said accusations to be true1 sent for the said persons to come together to the meeting-house in ,andover 7the afflicted persons being there47 ,after ,mr4 ,barnard had been at prayer1 we were blindfolded1 and our hands were laid upon the afflicted persons1 they being in their fits1 and falling into their fits at our coming into their presence as they said and some led us and laid our hands upon them1 and then they said they were well1 and that we were guilty of afflicting of them whereupon we were all seized as prisoners1 by a warrant from a justice of the peace1 and forthwith carried to ,salem4 ,and by reason of that sudden surprisal1 we knowing ourselves altogether innocent of that crime1 we were all exceedingly astonished and amazed1 and affrighted even out of our reason2 and our nearest and dearest relations1 seeing us in that dreadful condition1 and knowing our great danger1 apprehending that 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 persons1 as the afflicted represented us to be1 they out of tender love and pity 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 some gentlemen2 they telling us1 that we were witches1 and they knew it1 and we knew it1 and they knew that we knew it1 which made us think that it was so2 and our understanding1 our reason and our faculties almost gone1 we were not capable of judging our condition2 as also the hard measures they used with us rendered us uncapable of making our defence2 but said anything which they desired3 and most of what we said was but in effect a consenting to what they said4 ,sometime after1 when we were better composed1 they telling of us what we had confessed1 we did profess that we were innocent1 and ignorant of such things4 ,and we hearing that ,samuel ,wardwell had renounced his confession1 and quickly after was condemned and executed1 some of us were told that we were going after ,wardwell4 ,,mary ,,osgood1 ,,mary ,,tiler1 ,,deliv4 ,,dane1 ,,abigail ,,barker1 ,,sarah ,,wilson1 ,,hannah ,,tiler40 8,it may here be further added1 concerning those that did confess1 that besides that powerful argument1 of life 7and freedom from hardships1 not only promised1 but also performed to all that owned their guilt7 there are numerous instances1 too many to be here inserted1 of the tedious examinations before private persons1 many hours together2 they all that time urging them to confess 7and taking turns to persuade them7 till the accused were wearied out by being forced to stand so long or for want of sleep1 c4 and so brought to give an assent to what they said2 they then asking them1 ,were you at such a witch meeting8 or1 ,have you signed the devil's book8 c4 ,upon their replying1 ,yes1 the whole was drawn into form1 as their confession4 8,but that which did mightily further such confessions was1 their nearest relations urging them to it4 ,these1 seeing no other way of escape for them1 thought it the best advice that could be given2 hence it was that the husbands of some1 by counsel often urging1 and utmost earnestness1 and children upon their knees intreating1 have at length prevailed with them to say they were guilty4 ,third--,of the character of ,burroughs2--about which there has been from that day to this1 a great difference of opinion4 ,his readiness to forgive4 8,margaret ,jacobs being one that had confessed her own guilt1 and testified against her grandfather ,jacobs1 ,mr4 ,burroughs and ,john ,willard1 she the day before execution came to ,mr4 ,burroughs1 acknowledging that she had belied them1 and begged ,mr4 ,burroughs's forgiveness2 who not only forgave her1 but also prayed with and for her4 ,apparitions at the trial4-- 8,accordingly several of the bewitched had given in their testimony1 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 them2 and that the magistrates must be told of it1 before whom1 if ,b4 upon his trial denied it1 they did not know but that they should appear again in the court4 ,now ,g4 ,b4 had been infamous1 for the barbarous usage of his two successive wives1 all the country over4 ,moreover1 it was testified the spectre of ,g4 ,b4 threatening the sufferers1 told them he had killed besides others ,mrs4 ,lawson and her daughter ,ann4 ,and it was noted1 that these were the virtuous wife and daughter of one1 at whom this ,g4 ,b4 might have a prejudice1 for being serviceable at ,salem ,village1 from whence himself had in ill terms removed some years before2 and that when they died1 which was long since1 there were some odd circumstances about them1 which made some of the attendants there suspect something of witchcraft1 though none imagined from what quarter it should come4 8,well1 ,g4 ,b4 being now upon his trial1 one of the bewitched persons was cast into horror at the ghosts of ,b4's two deceased wives1 then appearing before him1 and crying for vengeance against him4 ,hereupon several of the bewitched persons were successively called in1 who all1 not knowing what the former had seen and said1 concurred in their horror of the apparition1 which they affirmed that he had before4 ,but he1 though much appalled1 utterly denied that he discerned any thing of it1 nor was it any part of his conviction4 ,his bodily strength4-- 8,a famous divine recites this among the convictions of a witch2 the testimony of the party bewitched1 whether pining or dying2 together with the joint oaths of sufficient persons1 that have seen certain prodigious pranks1 or feats1 wrought by the party accused4 ,now ,god had been pleased so to leave ,g4 ,b4 that he had ensnared himself1 by several instances1 which he had formerly given1 of a preternatural strength2 and which were now produced against him4 ,he was a very puny man 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 out1 with both hands2 there were several testimonies given in by persons of credit and honour1 that he made nothing of taking up such a gun behind the lock with but one hand1 and holding it out1 like a pistol1 at arm's end4 ,g4 ,b4 in his vindication was so foolish as to say1 that an ,indian was there1 and held it out1 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 give him that assistance4 ,there was evidence likewise brought in1 that he made nothing of taking up whole barrels filled with molasses1 or cider1 in very disadvantageous postures1 and carrying them off1 through the most difficult places1 out of a canoe to the shore4 8,yea1 there were two testimonies1 that ,g4 ,b4 with only putting the fore-finger of his right hand into the muzzle of a heavy gun1 a fowling piece of about six or seven feet barrel1 lifted up the gun1 and held it out at arm's end2 a gun which the deponents1 though strong men1 could not with both hands lift up1 and hold out at the butt-end1 as is usual4 ,indeed one of these witnesses was over-persuaded by some persons to be out of the way upon ,g4 ,b4's trial2 but he came afterwards1 with sorrow for his withdrawing1 and gave in his testimony4 ,his death4-- 8,mr4 ,burroughs was carried in a cart with the others1 through the streets of ,salem to execution4 ,when he was upon the ladder1 he made a speech for the clearing of his innocency1 with such solemn and serious expressions1 as were to the admiration of all present3 his prayer which he concluded by repeating the ,lord's prayer was so well worded1 and uttered with such composedness1 and such at least seeming 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 ,burroughs 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 ,fourth--,a trial at length4 ,indictment of ,elizabeth ,how4 ,,essex ss4 ,anno ,regni ,regis ,regin ,willielmi ,mari1 nunc ,angli1 c1 quarto---- ,the jurors for our sovereign lord and lady the king and queen present1 that ,elizabeth ,how1 wife of ,james ,how1 of ,ipswich1 in the county of ,essex1 the thirty-first day of ,may1 in the fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lord and lady ,william and ,mary1 by the grace of ,god1 of ,england1 ,scotland1 ,france and ,ireland1 king and queen1 defenders of the faith1 c4 and divers other days and times1 as well before as after1 certain destestable arts1 called witchcrafts and sorceries1 wickedly and feloniously hath used1 practised and exercised1 at and within the township of ,salem1 in1 upon and against one ,mary ,wolcott1 of ,salem ,village1 in the county aforesaid1 single woman2 by which said wicked arts the said ,mary ,wolcott1 the said thirty-first day of ,may1 in the fourth year above-said1 and divers other days and times1 as well before as after1 was and is tortured1 afflicted1 pined1 consumed1 wasted and tormented2 and also for sundry other acts of witchcrafts1 by said ,elizabeth ,how committed and done before and since that time1 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 ,witnesses--,mary ,wolcott1 ,ann ,putman1 ,abigail ,williams1 ,samuel ,pearly1 and his wife ,ruth1 ,joseph ,andrews1 and wife ,sarah1 ,john ,sherrin1 ,joseph ,safford1 ,francis ,lane1 ,lydia ,foster1 ,isaac ,cummins1 jr ,fifth--,recantation of the chief judge and the jurors4--,a general fast was appointed by the following proclamation1 after the accusers had become so bold as to accuse even the wife of ,gov4 ,phips4-- ,by the honourable the lieutenant governor1 council and assembly of his majesty's province of the ,massachusetts-,bay1 in general court assembled4 ,whereas the anger of ,god is not yet turned away1 but his hand is still stretched out against his people in manifold judgments1 particularly in drawing out to such a length the troubles of ,europe1 by a perplexing war2 and more especially respecting ourselves in this province1 in that ,god is pleased still to go on in diminishing our substance1 cutting short our harvest1 blasting our most promising undertakings more ways than one1 unsettling us1 and by his more immediate hand snatching away many out of our embraces by sudden and violent deaths1 even at this time when the sword is devouring so many both at home and abroad1 and that after many days of public and solemn addressing him3 and although1 considering the many sins prevailing in the midst of us1 we cannot but wonder at the patience and mercy moderating these rebukes1 yet we cannot but also fear that there is something still wanting to accompany our supplications2 and doubtless there are some particular sins1 which ,god is angry with our ,israel for1 that have not been duly seen and repented by us1 about which ,god expects to be sought1 if ever he turn again our captivity3 ,wherefore it is commanded and appointed1 that ,thursday1 the fourteenth of ,january next1 be observed as a day of prayer1 with fasting1 throughout this province2 strictly forbidding all servile labour thereon2 that so all ,god's people may offer up fervent supplications unto him1 for the preservation and prosperity of his majesty's royal person and government1 and success to attend his affairs both at home and abroad2 that all iniquity may be put away1 which hath stirred ,god's holy jealousy against this land2 that he would shew us what we know not1 and help us wherein we have done amiss to do so no more2 and especially that whatever mistakes on either hand have been fallen into1 either by the body of this people1 or any orders of men1 referring to the late tragedy1 raised among us by ,satan and his instruments1 through the awful judgment of ,god1 he would humble us therefor1 and pardon all the errors of his servants and people1 that desire to love his name2 that he would remove the rod of the wicked from off the lot of the righteous2 that he would bring in the ,american heathen1 and cause them to hear and obey his voice4 ,given at ,boston1 ,december #ab1 #afif1 in the eighth year of his ,majesty's reign4 ,,isaac ,,addington1 ,secretary4 8,upon the day of the fast1 in the full assembly at the south meeting-house in ,boston1 one of the honorable judges1 the chief justice ,sewall who had sat in judicature in ,salem1 delivered in a paper1 and while it was in reading stood up2 but the copy being not to be obtained at present1 it can only be reported by memory to this effect1 viz4 ,it was to desire the prayers of ,god's people for him and his2 and that ,god having visited his family1 c1 he was apprehensive that he might have fallen into some errors in the matters at ,salem1 and pray that the guilt of such miscarriages may not be imputed either to the country in general1 or to him or his family in particular4 8,some1 that had been of several juries1 have given forth a paper1 signed with their own hands1 in these words3 8,we1 whose names are under written1 being in the year #afib called to serve as jurors in court at ,salem on trial of many1 who were by some suspected guilty of doing acts of witchcraft upon the bodies of sundry persons3 8,we confess that we ourselves were not capable to understand1 nor able to withstand1 the mysterious delusions of the powers of darkness1 and prince of the air2 but were1 for want of knowledge in ourselves1 and better information from others1 prevailed with to take up with such evidence against the accused1 as1 on further consideration and better information1 we justly fear was insufficient for the touching the lives of any1 7,deut4 xvii4 #h7 whereby we fear we have been instrumental with others1 though ignorantly and unwittingly1 to bring upon ourselves and this people of the ,lord the guilt of innocent blood2 which sin the ,lord saith1 in scripture1 he would not pardon1 7#b ,kings1 xxiv4 #d7 that is1 we suppose1 in regard of his temporal judgments4 ,we do therefore hereby signify to all in general 7and to the surviving sufferers in special7 our deep sense of1 and sorrow for1 our errors1 in acting on such evidence to the condemning of any person2 and do hereby declare1 that we justly fear that we were sadly deluded and mistaken2 for which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds2 and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness1 first of ,god for ,christ's sake1 for this our error2 and pray that ,god would not impute the guilt of it to ourselves1 nor others2 and we also pray that we may be considered candidly and aright1 by the living sufferers1 as being then under the power of a strong and general delusion1 utterly unacquainted with1 and not experienced in matters of that nature4 8,we do heartily ask forgiveness of you all1 whom we have justly offended2 and do declare1 according to our present minds1 we would none of us do such things again on such grounds for the whole world2 praying you to accept of this in way of satisfaction for our offence1 and that you would bless the inheritance of the ,lord1 that he may be entreated for the land4 ,foreman1 ,thomas ,fisk1 ,william ,fisk1 ,john ,bacheler1 ,thomas ,fisk1 jr1 ,john ,dane1 ,joseph ,evelith1 ,th4 ,pearly1 sen1 ,john ,peabody1 ,thomas ,perkins1 ,samuel ,sayer1 ,andrew ,eliot1 ,h4 ,herrick1 sen40 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,italics are shown thus3 sloping4 ,variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained4 ,perceived typographical errors have been changed4