The Witchcraft Delusion In New England

PREFATORY.

iii HE Object in giving to the Public this new Edition of the Wonders of the Invisible World, is mainly to preserve an accurate Reprint of that wonderful Book. At the same Time it is intended to show that its Author has unjustly been singled out and held up to everlasting Scorn, as though he had been the Instigator of the whole Mischief; that from his high Standing socially he was more prominent than any other Man, and that this occasioned his being especially held responsible is clearly true. His ready Pen also largely contributed to place him in the front Rank of those whom that woeful Delusion led captive; he having iv written more largely upon the Subject than any other.

The first Edition of the Wonders of the Invisible World was published in Boston early in the Year 1693, at which Time Witches had begun to grow scarce; in other Words, Prosecutions had nearly ceased, and People were seriously looking about themselves, and anxiously inquiring what they had been about? The serious Inquirers were those (though few in Number) who had from the Beginning had Doubts as to the Reality of Witchcraft. When this Class began to reason, their Strength began to concentrate, and in due Time it put an End to the Horrors which had so strongly tended to the Ruin of the whole Community. Until this Reaction was brought about, no Person was for a Moment safe. Notwithstanding this frightful State of Things was thus brought to a Stand, a large Portion of the People retained all their Faith in the Reality of Witchcraft, and many of them exclaimed in Despair, that v "the Kingdom of Satan had prevailed," and that they were a "God-forsaken People." In this latter Class was the Author of the Wonders of the Invisible World. He never wavered in his Faith to the very End, because his Conviction that he had espoused the Truth was stronger than any Argument which could be brought against it. Some others of the Ministers, and one or two of the Judges were equally sanguine in their own Righteousness. And yet we find the following cautious Piece of Advice given by "several Ministers to his Excellency and the Honourable Council":—"We judge that in the Prosecution of these, and all such Witchcrafts, there is Need of a very critical and exquisite Caution, lest by too much Credulity for Things received only upon the Devil's Authority, there be a Door opened for a long Train of miserable Consequences, and Satan get an Advantage over us, for we should not be ignorant of his Devices." For all this it is not easy to discover the Practice of vi any of that "exquisite Caution" in the Proceedings against those accused.

No sooner was the Edition of the Wonders printed in Boston, than Copies were sent to London and reprinted there with all Dispatch, as will be seen by the "Imprimatur" in the Front of the Work. Mr. Deodat Lawson's "Brief and True Narrative" of the same Affair was printed in Boston in 1692, by Benj. Harris, and the next Year in London by John Dunton, in Connection with Dr. Increase Mather's "Further Account of the Tryals of the New England Witches." A second (in Fact, it was the third) Edition of Mr. Lawson's Work was issued in London in 1704, which, though he calls it a second Edition is quite a different Book from the first Edition. In the first he inserted the Names of the Parties, while in the last, Dashes stand in their Stead. It has two Dedications: one "To the Right Worshipful and truly Honourable, Sir Henry Ashhurst, Barr^t. and to His Truly Honourable and Religious Consort, Lady Diana vii Ashhurst, Barr^t:" signed Deodat Lawson. The other is "To the Worshipful and Worthily Honoured Bartholomew Gidney, John Hathorne, and Jonathan Corwin, Esqrs. Together with the Reverend Mr. John Higginson, Pastor, and Mr. Nicholas Noyes Teacher of the Church of Christ at Salem." Signed Deodat Lavson. It should be mentioned also that Dr. I. Mather's "Further Account," &c., contains Nothing beyond a Reprint of Lawson's Book, (first Edition) except a "Letter" containing "A further Account of the Tryals of the New England Witches," sent "to a Gentleman in London." This Letter was added at the End of the "Further Account." It was probably written by Mr. Mather to John Dunton, his Friend and Publisher, and occupies about three additional Pages.

In this Reprint of the Wonders I have followed the second Edition, presuming that to be the most accurate, as the Copy from which it was printed was doubtless furnished by the Author.

viii Very few Copies of the original Edition are known to be in Existence. I have never owned one, and am indebted to my Friend, George Brinley, Esq., for the Use of his (rather imperfect) Copy. While this Preface was in the Hands of the Printer, my Publisher, Mr. Woodward, has had the rare Fortune to obtain a very good one.

At this Period the Press literally swarmed with Works upon Witchcraft. Dunton printed in rapid Succession all the Works from New England, and other Publishers were equally busy. It would be a Matter of no little Curiosity if some one would collect the Titles of the Works on this Subject, and publish them in Book Form, with, or even without Abstracts of their Contents. In a unique Volume now before me, belonging to Harvard College Library—for the Loan of which I am indebted to the Kindness of Mr. Sibley, the Librarian—there are several Tracts, the Titles of which are quite as singular as any of the Mathers. ix One or two I will here extract. "The Lancashire Levite Rebuk'd: or, a Vindication of the Dissenters from Popery, Superstition, Ignorance, and Knavery, unjustly Charged on them by Mr. Zachary Taylor in his Book, entitled, "The Surry Impostor." Another runs thus: "The Devil turn'd Casuist or the Cheats of Rome laid open, in the Exorcism of a Despairing Devil, at the House of Thomas Pennington in Orrel in the Parish of Wigan in the County of Lancaster. By Zachary Taylor, M. A. Chaplin to the right reverend Father in God, Nicholas [Strafford] Lord Bishop of Chester, and Rector of Wigan."

Witch Books, as they were called, of the Father Land, must have been common among the People of New England, as will be seen by a Comparison of the Trials of Witches in both Countries. This Comparison shows that the accused in this Country were well acquainted with the ridiculous Nonsense of what had been and was passing at Witch Trials in x England. The same Cant and Incoherency are visible at every Step. Insomuch, that the Frivolity, Shallow-mindedness and Falsity were so apparent, that they remind one of the childish Nursery Tales of Youth, and excite the most profound Wonder how they could have ever been viewed as Matter for serious Consideration by any Persons having any Pretensions to common Sense.

The original Records of the Court Proceedings against those accused of Witchcraft were never fully given to the Public, until about two Years ago, Mr. W. Elliot Woodward, of Roxbury, caused a complete Transcript to be made of the whole, and printed them in two Volumes, small Quarto, uniform with this Undertaking. Those, with the present Volumes, will put the Student of New England History in Possession of nearly all the Materials existing upon this deeply interesting, though humiliating, and in some respects, revolting Subject.

INTRODUCTORY.

xi S a Belief in Witchcraft is not entirely exploded, it may be interesting to examine a few of the early Definitions of it.

One of the earliest Lexicographers, or Expounders of English Words, was Edward Phillips, the Nephew of John Milton. It is said that Phillips made up his Work from Milton's Preparation in the same Line. However that might be, it is quite clear that many of his Definitions have that Clearness and Precision for which Milton is so remarkable. Phillips's third (and I believe his last) Edition of "The New World of Words" was printed in 1671. In that we find Witchcraft thus defined: "A certain evill Art, whereby with the Assistance of the Devil, or evill Spirits, some Wonders may be xii wrought, which exceed the common Apprehension of Men: It cometh from the Dutch Word Wiechelen, that is, to divine, or guesse; it is called in Latin Veneficium, in Greek Pharmaceia, i.e. the Art of making Poisons."

In 1706, John Kersey published the sixth Edition of Philips's Work, greatly augmented; though the Definition of Witchcraft is cut down to a few Words, thus: "The Black Art, whereby with the Assistance of the Devil, or evil Spirits, some Wonders may be wrought, which exceed the common Apprehensions of Men."

Phillips does not define a Witch, but he says a "Wizard is a Witch, a cunning Man, one that telleth where things are that were lost. Some think it comes from the Saxon Word Witega, i.e. a Prophet."

Kersey defines a Witch, an old Hag, or Woman that deals with Familiar Spirits; and a Wizard "a Sorceror, or Inchanter; a Cunning Man," &c., as before.

In 1674, Thomas Blount published the fourth Edition of his "Glossographia, or Dictionary of hard Words." He says, "Witch is derived from the Dutch Witchelen, or Wiichelen, which properly signifies whinnyng and neighing like a Horse; xiii also to foretell or prophecy; and Wiichelen, signifies a Soothsayer; for that the Germans (from whom our Ancestors the Saxons usually descended) did principally (as Tacitus tells us) divine and foretel Things to come by the whinnying and neighing of their Horses; Hinitus and Trenitus are his Words."

Witchcraft is not defined by Blount himself; while under the Article Witch, he extracts from Master William Perkins: "Witchcraft is an Art serving for the working of Wonders by the Assistance of the Devil, so far as God will permit." To make the Definition of Witchcraft still more plain, Mr. Blount extracts thus from an old Author named Delrio,[1] who defines Witchcraft to be "An Art, which by the Power of a Contract, entred into with the Devil, some Wonders are wrought, which pass the common Understanding of Men."

As we approach a later Age, Lexicographers are pretty careful in their Definitions of Witchcraft. Bailey, in his folio Dictionary of 1730, says it is "the Art of bewitching, enchanting, divining, &c."

xiv Johnson, though a Believer in Witchcraft, shirks the Definition of it thus: "The Practice of Witches. Bacon. Power, more than natural. Sidney."

Noah Webster published a Dictionary of the English Language in 1806, in which he says a Witch is "a Woman accused of magical Arts, a Hag." Witchcraft, "the Practice of Witches, a Charm." The great Lexicographer must have marvelled at these Definitions in his later Years; if so, he fails to make due Atonement in his incomparable "Unabridged." But the learned Editor of the "Imperial Dictionary,"[2] Dr. Ogilvie, appears to have taken such Liberty with Dr. Webster's Work as to bring it up to the Standard of the Times, especially in that Class of Words in which Witchcraft is prominent. His Definition is so much to the Point, so clear, and so well expressed, that it is, though long, extracted entire: "Witchcraft, the Practice of Witches; Sorcery; Enchantments; Intercourse with the Devil; a supernatural Power, which Persons were formerly supposed to obtain Possession of by entering into Compact with the Devil. Indeed it was xv fully believed that they gave themselves up to him, Body and Soul, while he engaged that they should want for Nothing and be able to assume whatever Shape they pleased, to visit and torment their Enemies, and accomplish their infernal Purposes. As soon as the Bargain was concluded, the Devil was said to deliver to the Witch an Imp or familiar Spirit, to be ready at call, and to do whatever it was directed. By the Aid of this Imp and the Devil together, the Witch, who was almost always an old Woman, was enabled to transport herself through the Air on a Broom-stick or a Spit, and to transform herself into various Shapes, particularly those of Cats and Hares; to inflict Diseases on whomsoever she pleased, and to punish her Enemies in a Variety of Ways. The Belief of Witchcraft is very ancient. It was universally believed in Europe till the 16th Century, and even maintained its Ground with tolerable Firmness till the Middle of the 17th Century. Vast Numbers of reputed Witches were condemned to be burned every Year, so that in England alone it is computed that no fewer than 30,000 of them suffered at the Stake."

xvi Dr. Ogilvie closes his Definition with one Extract from Shakespeare:

It cannot be denied that the Existence of Witchcraft is as fully taught in the Bible as Slavery. The Light of Science has extinguished the one, while the other yet struggles against Fate.[3] To urge the Authority of the Bible, that Slavery is a divine Institution, and therefore should be sustained, is just as reasonable as it would be to urge the Existence of Witches; and were there as many Interests at Stake in keeping alive Witchcraft, it would find as many Advocates, doubtless, as Slavery.

At first, Voices against Witchcraft were faint and few. Such was the Bewilderment of the human Mind in early Ages that Men hardly dared to think in Opposition to the Superstitions of the Multitude. Yet there were always some who doubted the delegated Power of the Devil, though they were not often lavish enough of their own Safety to let their Disbelief be known. Still, there are, no Doubt, some "dark Corners xvii of the Earth" where it would not be entirely safe for one to declare publicly that there is no such Matter as Witchcraft. Nor is this so much to be wondered at, when, at the present Day, and in a Portion of our own Country, a Man cannot speak against Slavery, but at the Peril of his Life. This is no new Aspect growing out of the present Rebellion, but it has been thus many Years.

Few Men dared to speak boldly against the Existence of Witchcraft before the Year 1700. Though they disbelieved in it they were afraid to attack it. They began by endeavouring to show the Insufficiency of the Evidence relied upon in particular Cases. In this Way, Frauds were detected and exposed, and the Eyes of Judges were opened.

Among the early and successful Combatants of Witchcraft in England was Sir Robert Filmer. This Gentleman, though he out-went Machiavel himself in Arguments to uphold Despotism, yet he entered a pretty effectual Demurrer against the Prerogative of the Devil, as attempted to be manifested in the Persons of aged Matrons. Lancashire was distinguished above all other Counties in England in Sir Robert's Time for its Production of Witches; but when his native County, xviii Kent, was scourged by the imaginary Arts of Satan, he thought it Time to make a public Declaration of his Views in Regard to the Nature of the Evidence made Use of for the Conviction of Witches. He therefore prepared a Treatise which he entitled "An Advertisement to the Jury-men of England, touching Witches," printed in 1680, but whether it was ever printed before does not appear from this Impression. In this Work he criticises the Productions of some of the prominent Authors in Favor of Witchcraft with much Ability.

To the Assertion that Witches act under a Contract with the Devil, Mr. Filmer observes, "That the Agreement between the Witch and the Devil they call a Covenant, and yet neither of the Parties are any Way bound to perform their Part; and the Devil, without Doubt, notwithstanding all his Craft, hath far the worst Part of the Bargain. The Bargain runs thus in Master Perkins's Work: 'The Witch as a Slave binds herself by Vow to believe in the Devil, and to give him either Body, or Soul, or both, under his Hand-writing, or some Part of his Blood. The Devil promiseth to be ready at his Vassal's Command, to appear in the Likeness of any xix Creature, to consult and to aid him for the procuring of Pleasure, Honor, Wealth, or Preferment; to go for him, to carry him any whither, and to do any Command.' Whereby we see the Devil is not to have Benefit of his Bargain till the Death of the Witch. In the Meantime, he is to appear always at the Witche's Command, to go for him [or her], to carry him any whither, and to do any Command; which argues the Devil to be the Witche's Slave, and not the Witch the Devil's Slave. And though it be true which Delrio affirmeth, 'That the Devil is at Liberty to perform or break his Compact, for that no Man can compel him to keep his Promise;' yet on the other Side, it is as possible for the Witch to frustrate the Devil's Contract, if he or she have so much Grace as to repent; the which there may be good Cause to do, if the Devil be found not to perform his Promise. Besides, a Witch may many Times require that to be done by the Devil, which God permits not the Devil to do; thus against his Will the Devil may lose his Credit, and give Occasion of Repentance, though he endeavor to the utmost of his Power to bring to pass whatsoever he hath promised; and so fail of the Benefit of his Bargain, though he have the xx Hand-writing, or some Part of the Blood of the Witch for his Security, or the Solemnity before Witnesses, as Delrio imagineth."

Thus much is given to show in what Manner the Advocates of Witchcraft were combatted, without denying the actual Existence of it. It was as much as could be safely advanced in the seventeenth Century. To have come out boldly, and denied the Thing altogether, would have been to proclaim a Disbelief of the Teachings of the Bible; and this would have defeated the very Object sought to be attained. It has, beyond Question, occurred to all thinking Men in every Age, that Witches and Devils could not have a Being without God's Permission; that if they did or do exist, it is his Pleasure that they should; that, therefore, if God wished to destroy such Miscreants he would do it by making War on them himself, instead of compelling Mankind to fight them blindfolded for all Eternity, or during the World's Existence.

There are few Readers probably who have not heard of a Book upon Witchcraft by a royal Hand—a King of England. James I wrote a Book to which he gave the Title, Dæmonologie. xxi To those who have not studied the State of Society in England for a Century or so before the Emigration of our Fathers to New England, and consequently cannot comprehend the Kind and Degree of Knowledge and Intelligence possessed by the People; it will seem incredible how they were bound down by such childish and utterly puerile Stuff as was put forth by James in his Work on Witchcraft. Nursery Tales of a later Day are quite as easily believed to be realities as the Witch Stories of a former Age, and the Allegories of Bunyan are much easier transformed to Realities. That so weak and absurd a Production as the Dæmonologie reflects the Understanding and Literature of our Fathers, must be not a little humiliating to their Descendants to the latest Posterity. The Dæmonologie was printed at Edinburgh, in Quarto, six Years before James came to the Crown of England, namely, in 1593. His Work corresponded with the Times in which it was written. Here is a Specimen of its Contents: "The Devil teaches Witches how to make Pictures of Wax and Clay, that by the roasting thereof, the Persons that they bear the Name of, may be continually melted or dried away by continual Sickness ... not that any of these Means which he teacheth them (except Poisons, xxii which are composed of Things natural) can of themselves help any to these Turns they are imployed in.... That Witches can bewitch, and take the Life of Men or Women by roasting of the Pictures [Images] which is very possible to their Master to perform; for although that Instrument of Wax have no Virtue in the Turn doing, yet may he not very well, by that same Measure that his conjured Slave melts that Wax at the Fire, may he not, I say, at these same Times, subtilly as a Spirit, so weaken and scatter the Spirits of Life of the Patient, as may make him on the one Part for Faintness to sweat out the Humours of his Body; and on the other Part, for the not concurring of these Spirits which cause his Digestion, so debilitate his Stomach, that his Humour radical continually sweating out on the one Part, and no new good Suck being put in the Place thereof for Lack of Digestion on the other, he at last shall vanish away even as his Picture will do at the Fire."

The Reader will hardly desire any more from such a royal Source; but even royal Nonsense may sometimes be Necessary upon historical Points, and we must listen to their incoherent Jargon, however much we hold them in Contempt. It xxiii was during the Reign of this King that New England began to be settled, and the Settlers were his Subjects, and with them came the Superstitions common to the People of England.

In James's Book he lays down Rules for determining who were Witches, and great Numbers were executed in Pursuance of those Rules. No sooner was that benighted King seated upon the English Throne, but the following Statute was passed: "If any Person or Persons shall use, practice, or exercise any Invocation, or Conjuration of any evil and wicked Spirit, or shall consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed or reward any evil and wicked Spirit, to or for any Intent and Purpose: or take up any dead Man, Woman or Child, out of his, her or their Grave, or any other Place where the dead Body resteth, or the Skin, Bone or any Part of the dead Person, to be employed or used in any Manner of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Charm, or Inchantment; or shall use, practice or exercise any Witchcraft; or shall use, practice or exercise any Witchcraft, Inchantment, Charm or Sorcery, whereby any Person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined or lamed in his or her Body, or any Part thereof; that then every such Offender or Offenders, their xxiv Aiders, Abettors, and Counsellors, being of any the said Offenders duly and lawfully convicted and attainted, shall suffer Pains of Death as a Felon or Felons."

This Law does not materially differ from that enacted in the fifth Year of Elizabeth; yet there is a Clause in the older one, declaring that, "If any Person shall take upon him by Witchcraft, Inchantment, Charm or Sorcery, to tell or declare in what Place any Treasure of Gold or Silver should or might be found or hid in the Earth, or other secret Places, or where Goods, or Things lost or stolen should be found or be come: Or to the Intent to provoke any Person to unlawful Love, or whereby any Cattle or Goods of any Person shall be destroyed, wasted or impaired; or to destroy or hurt any Person in his, or her Body, though the same be not effected, &c. a Year's Imprisonment, and Pillory, &c. and the second Conviction, Death."

In the early Laws of Massachusetts, adopted in 1641, Witchcraft is thus briefly dealt with: "If any Man or Woman be a Witch (that is hath or consulteth with a familiar Spirit) they shall be put to Death." These Laws were called The Body of xxvLiberties, and were drawn up by the famous Minister of Boston, John Cotton. He made them conform to the Bible, and Passages of Scripture stand against each Law in the Margin. Against this is found, Deut. xiii, 6, 10—xvii, 2, 6. Ex. xxii, 20.

In Plymouth Colony as late as 1671, nearly the same Law was enacted. It differed only by saying, "If any Christian (so called) be a Witch," &c.

If Sir Robert Filmer had seen our Laws, he would, perhaps, have indulged in a few Observations upon them. The Plymouth People seem to have looked a little farther than the learned Minister of Boston, as appears by the Proviso thrown in, that a Christian could not be a Witch. Of course the Judges were to determine the Point of Christian or no Christian, assuming that a Christian Judge could not err or be mistaken.

One of the Advocates of Witchcraft having asserted that a Person cannot make the necessary Contract with the Devil to become a Witch, without renouncing God and Baptism, "it will follow," says Filmer, "that none can be Witches but such as have first been Christians. And what shall be said then of all those idolatrous Nations, of Lapland, Finland, and divers Parts of Africa, xxvi and many other heathenish Nations, which Travellers report to be full of Witches? And indeed, what Need or Benefit can the Devil gain by contracting with those Idolators, who are surer his own than any Covenant can make them?"

Witchcraft, as formerly believed in, was the Art of working Wonders or Miracles, and some of its Expounders asserted, that the Power of effecting Wonders does not flow from the Skill of the Witch, but is derived wholly from the Devil, whom the Witch has Command over, by Virtue of a Contract. Whereupon Sir Robert Filmer sensibly remarks, "that the Devil is really the Worker of the Wonder, and the Witch but the Counsellor, Persuader or Commander of it, and only accessory before the Fact, and the Devil only Principal. Now the Difficulty will be, how the Accessory can be duly and lawfully convicted and attainted according as the Statute requires, unless the Devil, who is the Principle, be first convicted, or at least, outlawed; which cannot be, because the Devil can never be lawfully summoned according to the Rules of our Common Law."

In this Manner Witchcraft was successfully assailed, because it was a Species of reasoning that did not directly interfere with the Superstitions xxvii and Prejudices of the People. But the March of Mind amongst the Masses was slow, and Trials for Witchcraft continued in England for twenty Years after Sir Robert Filmer wrote.

For one hundred Years, 1580 to 1680, in Germany alone, 1,000 Persons a Year, on an Average, were, upon good Authority, said to have suffered Death for the imaginary Crime of Witchcraft. Executions in that Country began to abate about 1694; the last Execution, being of a poor Nun, in 1749. And it may be remarked in this Connection, that immediately after the miserable James published his Work on Witchcraft, 600 Persons were put to a cruel Death for being Witches.

"Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live," is a Command, and it was once considered as much to be regarded as any other Command in the Bible. That there were Witches in the World was as plain, and as much to be believed, as that there were Spirits of any Kind whatever. Whoever believed in the Immortality of the Soul, believed in the Immortality of bad Souls as well as good. Soul is another Word for Spirit; hence good Spirits and bad Spirits. Witches were bad Spirits, but whether they originated in Mankind, or xxviii whether they were sent there to take Possession of the human Body, and to exclude a better Tenant, has not been satisfactorily settled by Psychologists and Metaphysicians. But one Thing seems to be well established, and that is, that quite as many bad Spirits find Habitations in the Sons and Daughters of these Days, as at any former Period. Fortunately it was found out, at length, that destroying the Tenement of a bad Spirit, did not destroy that Spirit. But this was not thought of until Thousands had been put to Death.

It will doubtless be said by many, that if ever there were Witches in the World, there are Witches now. This Point it is not intended to argue. There were always those who denied the Existence of Witches; or, what amounted to the same Thing, they would never allow that there was sufficient Evidence produced to prove that Craft against any who were accused of it. Persons who thus question all Court Proceedings, where Witchcraft was attempted to be detected, were regarded as unfit for good Society, and unworthy of its Protection.

Those who were for "ridding the Land" of Witches, thought those who questioned the Legality of their Proceedings, were, at least, Infidels, xxix in the most obnoxious Sense, and they were generally treated as such, and were to be shunned by Society. Thus it fared with Mr. Robert Calef, who, during the Prosecutions and Executions of the People accused in Massachusetts, as will be seen in the Progress of the present Work.

It is scarcely conceivable by even the partially enlightened of the present Age, that only one hundred and fifty Years ago our Ancestors were, in some respects, so slightly removed from Barbarity and heathen Darkness. Superstition will give Way only to mental Culture; but there may be considerable mental Culture, and also much Superstition; for Persons may be educated in many Things when those very Things are founded in Error. Certain Premises are taken for granted, because no Data exist, or at least insufficient Data, to investigate them and the Foundations on which they rest. This is still the Case, but it was more so in Times past.

Barbarous Nations, as the Aborigines of any Country, are Slaves to the same Kind of Superstition as that which caused the Executions for Witchcraft by the Governments of Old and New England. Even many of those who opposed the Prosecutions for that imaginary Crime, were not xxx free from the same Superstitions with the Advocates of it. They believed in Witchcraft, and only argued the Want of Evidence against it. This gave them a decided Disadvantage, because the Evidence was, in many Cases, apparently so overwhelming; insomuch, that "the learned Baxter" wrote to Dr. Increase Mather, declaring, "The Evidence is so convincing, that he must be a very obdurate Sadducee who will not believe it." Hence if there were some Persons who did not believe the strange and unnatural Things alleged to have been performed by Persons charged with Witchcraft they were treated as "obdurate Sadducees," whose Unbelief was only a Pretence. Times have so much changed, that it is not necessary to make the Admissions which the Opposers of Witchcraft formerly made. Then, to deny the Existence of it was precisely the same as to deny that the Bible was a Revelation from God. Therefore, as was before observed, those who opposed the Prosecutions for Witchcraft, labored under a great Disadvantage. The Belief in it being nearly universal, the solitary Individual who dared to stem so popular a Torrent, now looked upon clearly as a Delusion, had nothing to expect on all Hands, but Obloquy, Derision and Contempt.

xxxi From all which, Nothing is easier to be discerned than this—wherever Ignorance is the greatest, there Superstition prevails most; that therefore it follows of course, that Ignorance and Superstition are the Parents of Witchcraft.

It never occurred to Believers in Witchcraft, it would seem, that if Witches really existed, a Prosecution against them could no more reach them than it would the Air in a Bubble or the Breath which they breathed; for if they possessed the Power claimed for them, they also had the Power to abandon the Bodies they possessed the Moment it was decided to punish them in such Bodies; and thus disconcert all Attempts to obstruct their Craft.

The Advocates of Witchcraft affirm that it is by Virtue of a League with the Devil that the Witch is enabled to carry on her Operations; and that the Devil, God's great Enemy, is allowed to commission Witches, that they may also counteract his (God's) Purposes by ensnaring Souls, as though the Devil had not Power enough to do the whole Mischief himself; and thus in a sneakingly indirect Way make a Cats-paw of some demented old Woman, or other simple Person.

In the midst of the Proceedings against the xxxii People charged with being Witches, and while several Jails were crowded with those unfortunate Persons, a very serious Question arose, which, of itself, was calculated to cause the most violent of the Prosecutors to stay their bloody Hands, and to ask themselves, what they had been doing? and if, after all, there was not a Possibility that they had been guilty of shedding innocent Blood? The Question was a very simple and natural one, namely, Is it not possible for a Witch to appear in the Shape of an innocent Person? As soon as this Question was started, there was quite a Shock in the Community, and the Men accounted the wisest in the Land stood still for a Time, and looked inquiringly upon one another. As long as the afflicted Persons accused only the Poor and Friendless, Nothing appears to have been thought of the Possibility that such Persons could be innocent of the Charges preferred against them. But, when at length, Persons considered of unblemished Lives, standing among the first in the Community, came to be accused, then the Case wore a different Aspect; then it was that the before mentioned important Question came up. This Question divided the People, and from that Division Safety resulted. In this Instance, the xxxiii common Order of Things was reversed; Safety came from a Division, and not from Union. Hence a new Proverb is derived—In Union there may be Error, while Division may elicit the Truth.

The People, thus brought to a Stand, had a little Time for reflection. This, some improved to the Advantage of themselves, while others improved it for the Advantage of the Public. Some had been so strenuous in their Efforts to convict accused Persons, that it was now very difficult for them, even to suspend their Efforts without giving their Opponents an immediate Advantage over them; that even though the Judges of the Courts who tried the accused, had been guided mainly by "Mr. Perkins's Rules for the Discovery of Witches," on a careful Inspection of those Rules at this Day, it is difficult to see how Convictions were forced out of them.

Nevertheless, strong Ground having been taken that Witches existed, and Persons reputed Witches having been prosecuted with the utmost Rigor, and unrelenting Perseverance for a long Time, the chief Agents in these bloody Proceedings, firm in their Convictions that they had done righteously, deemed it incumbent upon themselves xxxiv to keep the People to the same Opinions. This was the Origin of this unfortunate Book, "The Wonders of the Invisible World;" the chief Part, or perhaps all of which, was composed while above one hundred poor People in and about Salem and Boston were suffering a wretched imprisonment in the filthy and barbarous Jails of those Days, to which Jails and Prisons of our Days are in Comparison, Palaces. It was doubtless no sooner determined that the Proceedings against the Witches should be given to the World, than the Person was designated who should perform that Service. And from the very opening of that Work it is at once discovered, that it was intended as a "Defence" of what had been already done, as well as to urge a Continuance of those Proceedings, "until the Land was fully purged of the Demons which infested it."

For a long Period, the Publication of Books detailing the Doings and Prosecutions of Witches seems to have extended rather than abridged the Belief in Witchcraft. This may be accounted for in Part from the Consideration that the Teachers of the People were themselves groveling in the xxxv Mire of Superstition. A more particular Reference to some of the Works best known somewhat more than two Centuries ago shall here follow.

One Thomas Cooper published in 1617, a Work of this Title, "The Mystery of Witchcraft. Discouering, the Truth, Nature, Occasions, Growth and Power thereof. Together with the Detection and Punishment of the same. As also, the Seuerall Stratagems of Sathan, ensnaring the poore Soule by this desperate Practize of annoying the Bodie: with the seueral Vses thereof to the Church of Christ. Very necessary for the redeeming of these atheisticall and secure Times."

This Author dedicated his Work to the "Maior and Corporation of the Ancient Citie of Chester," &c., in which Dedication we find the following, which, throwing some Light on the reverend Dealer in Darkness, is extracted. He commences, "Diuers, and verie weighty haue been the Motiues (right Worshipfull) to induce mee to the Dedication of these my Labors in this kinde vnto your Worships.

"The first is, because my first Calling from the Vniversitie, to employ my Ministrie for the Edification of the Saints, was by the Gouernors of your famous Citie, to succeed that painefull and xxxvi profitable Teacher, Maister Harrison, who was thence called by the King's most Excellent Maiestie, to be one of the sixe Teachers to those barren and needfull Places of the Country of Lancashire. And therefore, hauing both kind intertainment among you; and by some of you being furthered to a more settled Pastorall Charge in that Countie, I could not but leave some Memoriall of my Thankefulnesse vnto you herein.

"Secondly, my free Admission to that Pastorall Charge, together with the singular Providence of God, in directing my Ministrie for the informing and reforming of that ignorant People, who never before enioyed any constant Ministrie, as also his admirable Protection and Deliuerance of me from vnreasonable Men, that vsed all their Force and Cunning to hinder the Proceedings of the Gospel of Christ."

These Extracts are made because they give a Glimpse of the Life and Character of an Author, second only to King James as a Cultivator of Witchcraft. His Book is a small Duodecimo of 368 Pages, in the Close of which he says, "to the wise and humble Reader, I am not ashamed to acknowledge, that which thou canst not but discerne; that I have borrowed most of my Grounds xxxvii from his Maiesties Dæmonologie, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Gifford, and others." And this truly may be added, "the Blind were led by the Blind," in the fullest Sense of the Maxim. Master Cooper further remarks upon the Labors of his royal Predecessor and others in these Words, "they have waded before mee heerein, to confirme the Authoritie thereof, against the Atheisme of these evill Dayes: that so each might have the perfect Honour of their owne Paines."[4]

In his second Chapter he says, "it is proued that there haue beene, are, and shall be Witches to the World's End: both by sound Testimony, 1st, from the Word; 2d, from Antiquity; 3d, from pregnant Reasons, and so such Obiections answered, as seeme to contradict this Truth."

This most singularly superstitious Writer says there were good Witches as well as bad ones; that these good Witches are called the unbinding ones; because they undo what the bad Witch does, and yet is allowed to do good Offices with the Consent of the Devil.[5]

Good Witches performed wonderful Cures, according to the Belief of those Days. Even xxxviiiBurton[6] says, "they can effect such Cures, the maine Question is whether it be lawful in a desperate Case, to crave their Help, or ask a Wizard's Advice. 'Tis a common Practice of some Men to go first to a Witch, and then to a Physitian. If one cannot help the other shall." And Paracelsus declared, "that it mattered not whether a sick Person were helped by God or Devil, so that he were eased." Some, however, demurred to this, and affirmed that it was better to die than be cured by a Witch or a Sorcerer.

Further to illustrate the Subject, I shall have Recourse to Mr. Nathan Drake's Shakespeare, and his Times. That chief of Expounders of the "Immortal Bard," having had occasion to review the Subject of Witchcraft, and having made so clear and valuable an Analysis of it in his Examination of the Witches of Shakespeare, as is nowhere else to be found, I am, as will be the Readers of this Introduction, I apprehend, fortunate in being able to avail myself of the Labors of that eminent Scholar and able Antiquary.

The Play of Macbeth is founded on a Species of Superstition that, during the Life-time of Shakespeare, prevailed in England and Scotland, xxxix in a Degree until then unknown. In the 33d Year of Henry VIII, was enacted a Statute which adjudged all Witchcraft and Sorcery to be Felony without the Benefit of Clergy; but at the Commencement of the Reign of Elizabeth, the Evil seems to have been greatly on the Increase, for Bishop Jewel, preaching before the Queen, in 1558, tells her, "It may please your Grace to understand that Witches and Sorcerers within these few last Years are marvelously increased within your Grace's Realm. Your Grace's Subjects pine away, even unto the Death, their Colour fadeth, their Flesh rotteth, their Speech is benumbed, their Senses are bereft, I pray God they may never practice further then upon the Subject."[7] How prevalent the Delusion had become, in the Year 1584, we have the most ample Testimony in the ingenious Work of Reginald Scot, entitled "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," which was written as the sensible and humane Author has informed us, "in behalfe of the Poore, the Aged, and the Simple,"[8] and it reflects singular Discredit on the Age in which it was produced, that a Detection so complete, both with regard to Argument and Fact, should have failed in effecting its Purpose. xl But the Infatuation had seized all Ranks, with an Influence which rivaled that resulting from an Article of religious Faith, and Scot begins his Work with the Observation, that "the Fables of Witchcraft have taken so fast hold and deepe Root in the Heart of Man, that fewe or none can, now adaies, with Patience indure the Hand and Correction of God. For if any Adversitie, Greefe, Sicknesse, Losse of Children, Corne, Cattell, or Libertie happen unto them; by and by they exclaime uppon Witches;—insomuch as a Clap of Thunder, or a Gale of Wind is no sooner heard, but either they run to ring Bells, or crie out to burne Witches;"[9] and in his second Chapter, he declares, "I have heard to my greefe some of the Minesterie affirme, that they have had in their Parish at one Instant xvij or xviij Witches: meaning such as could work Miracles supernaturallie,"[10] a Declaration which, in a subsequent Part of his Book, he more particularly applies, when he informs us, that xvij or xviij were condemned at once at St. Osees in the County of Essex, being a whole Parish, though of no great Quantitie."[11]

The Mischief, however, was but in Progress, xliand received a rapid Acceleration from the Publication of the Dæmonologie of King James, at Edinburgh, in the Year 1597. The Origin of this very curious Treatise was probably laid in the royal Mind, in Consequence of the supposed Detection of a Conspiracy of 200 Witches with Dr. Fian, "Register to the Devil," at their Head, to bewitch and drown His Majesty, on his Return from Denmark, in 1590. James attended the Examination of these poor Wretches with the most eager Curiosity, and the most willing Credulity; and, when Agnis Tompson confessed, that she, with other Witches, to the Number just mentioned, went altogether by Sea, each one in her Riddle, or Sieve, with Flagons of Wine, making merry and drinking by the Way, to the Kirk of North Berwick, in Lothian, where, when they had landed, they took Hands and danced, singing all with one Voice:

And "that Geilis Duncane did go before them, playing said Reel on a Jew's Trump." James sent for Duncane, and listened with Delight to his Performance of the Witches' Reel on the Jews-harp!

xlii On Agnis, however, asserting, that the Devil had met them at the Kirk, His Majesty could not avoid expressing some Doubts; when, taking him aside, she "declared unto him the very Words which had passed between him and his Queen on the first Night of their Marriage, with their Answer each to other; whereat the King wondered greatly, and swore by the living God, that he believed all the Devils in Hell could not have discovered the same."[12]

That the Particulars elicited from the Confessions of these unfortunate Beings, which, it is said, "made the King in a wonderful Admiration," formed the Basis of the Dæmonologie, may be therefore readily admitted. It is also to be deplored, that, weak and absurd as this Production now appears to us, its Effect on the Age of its Birth, and a Century afterwards, were extensive and melancholy in the extreme. It contributed, indeed, more than any other Work on the Subject, to rivet the Fetters of Credulity; and scarcely had a twelve month elapsed from its Publication, before its Result was visible in the Destruction in xliiiScotland, of not less than 600 human Beings at once, for this imaginary Crime![13]

The Succession of James to the Throne of Elizabeth served but to propagate the Contagion; for no sooner had he reached this Country, than his Dæmonologie reappeared from an English Press, being printed in London, in 1603, in Quarto, and with a Preface to the Reader, which commences by informing him of the "fearfull abounding at this Time in this Country, of these detestable Slaves of the Devel, the Witches, or Enchanters;"[14] a Declaration which, during the Course of the same Year, was accompanied by a new Statute against Witches, one Clause of which enacts, that, "Any one that shall use, practice, or exercise any Invocation or Conjuration of any evill or wicked Spirit, or consult, covenant with, entertaine or employ, feede or reward, any evill or wicked Spirit, to or for any Intent or Purpose; or take up any dead Man, Woman or Child, out of his, her, or their Grave, or any other Place where the dead Body resteth, or the Skin, Bone, xlivor other Part of any dead Person, to be employed or used in any Manner of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Charme, or Enchantment; or shall use, practice, or exercise any Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charme, or Sorcery, whereby any Person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed, in his or her Body, or any Part thereof, such Offenders, duly and lawfully convicted and attainted, shall suffer Death."

This Act was not repealed until the Year 1736. (ix Geo. II.)

We cannot wonder if Measures such as those, which stamped the already existing Superstitions with the renewed Authority of the Law, and with the Influence of regal Argument and Authority, should render a Belief in the Existence of Witchcraft almost universal; Fashion and Interest on the one Hand, and Ignorance and Fear on the other, mutually contributing, by concealing and banishing Doubt, to disseminate Error, and preclude Detection.

Who those were who, at this Period, had the Misfortune to be branded with the Appellation of Witches; what Deeds were imputed to them, and what was the Nature of their supposed Compact with the Devil, are Questions which will be most satisfactorily answered in the Words ofxlv Reginald Scot, whose Book is not only extremely scarce, but highly curious and entertaining; and two or three Chapters from this copious Treasury of Superstition, with a very few Comments from other Sources, will exhaust this Part of the Subject.

"The Sort of such as are said to be Witches," writes Scot, "are Women which be commonly old, lame, bleare-eied, pale, fowle, and full of Wrinkles; poore, sullen, Superstitious, and Papists; or such as know no Religion; in whose drousie Minds the Divell hath gotten a fine Seat; so as, what Mischeefe, Mischance, Calamitie, or Slaughter is brought to passe, they are easilie persuaded the same is doone by themselves; imprinting in their Minds an earnest and constant Imagination thereof. They are leane and deformed, shewing Melancholie in their Faces, to the Horror of all that see them. They are doting, Scolds, mad, develish, and not much differing from them that are thought to be possessed with Spirits; so firme and stedfast in their Opinions, as whosoever shall onelie have respect to the Constancie of their Words uttered, would easilie beleeve they were true indeed.

"These miserable Wretches are so odious unto all their Neighbors, and so feared, as few dare xlvi offend them, or denie them anie Thing they aske: whereby they take upon them; yea, and some Times thinke, that they can doo such Things as are beyond the Abilitie of humane Nature. These go from House to House, and from Doore to Doore for a Pot full of Milke, Yest, Drinke, Pottage, or some such Reelefe; without the which they could hardlie live: neither obtaining for their Service and Paines, nor by their Art, nor yet at the Divels Hands (with whome they are said to make a perfect and visible Bargaine) either Beautie, Monie, Promotion, Welth, Worship, Pleasure, Honor, Knowledge, Learning, or any other Benefit whatsoever.

"It falleth out many Times, that neither their Necessities, nor their Expectation is answered or served, in those Places where they beg or borrowe; but ratheir Kindness is by their Neighbors reproved. And further, in Tract of Time the Witch weareth odious and tedious to her Neighbors; and they againe are despised and despited of hir; so as sometimes she curseth one, and sometimes another; and that from the Maister of the House, his Wife, Children, Cattell, &c. to the little Pig that lieth in the Stie. Thus in Processe of Time they have all displeased hir, and xlvii she hath wished evil Luck unto them all; perhaps with Curses and Imprecations made in Forme. Doubtless (at Length) some of hir Neighbors die, or falle sicke; or some of their Children are visited with Diseases that ver them strangelie: as Apoplexies, Epilepsies, Convulsions, hot Fevers, Wormes, &c. Which by ignorant Parents are supposed to be the Vengeance of Witches. Yea and their Opinions and Conceits are confirmed and maintained by unskilfull Physicians: according to the common Saieng; Inscitiæ Pallium Maleficium et Incantatio, Witchcraft and Inchantment is the Cloke of Ignorance: whereas indeed evill Humors, and not strange Words, Witches, or Spirits are the Causes of such Diseases. Also some of their Cattell perish, either by Disease or Mischance. Then they, upon whom such Adversities fall, weighing the Fame that goeth upon this Woman (hir Words, Displeasure, and Curses meeting so justly with their Misfortune) doo not onlie conceive, but are resolved, that all their Mishaps are brought to passe by hir onelie Means.

"The Witch on the other Side expecting hir Neighbors Mischances, and seeing Things sometimes come to passe according to hir Wishes, xlviii Curses, and Incantations (for Bodin himself confesseth, that not above two in a hundred of their Witchings or Wishings take effect) being called before a Justice, by due Examination of the Circumstances is driven to see hir Imprecations and Desires, and hir Neighbors Harmes and Losses to concurre, and as it were to take effect: and so confesseth that she (as a Goddes) hath brought such Things to passe. Wherein, not onelie she, but the Accuser, and also the Justice are fowlie deceived and abused; as being thorough hir Confession and other Circumstances persuaded (to the Injury of Gods Glorie) that she hath doone, or can doo that which is proper onelie to God himselfe.

"Another Sort of Witches there are, which be absolutelie Cooseners: These take upon them, either for Glorie, Fame, or Gaine, to doo any Thing, which God or the Divell can doo: either for fortelling Things to come, bewraieng of Secrets, curing of Maladies, or working of Miracles."[15]

To this Chapter from Scot, which we have given entire, may be added the admirable Description of the Abode of a Witch from the Pen xlixof Spenser, who as Warton hath observed, copied from living Objects, and had probably been struck with seeing such a Cottage, in which a Witch was supposed to live:

This very striking Picture forever fixed the Character of the Habitation allotted to a Witch; thus in a singularly curious Tract, entitled, "Round about our Coal-Fire," published about the Close of the seventeenth Century, and which details, in a pleasing Manner, the Tradition of the olden Time, as a Source of Christmas Amusement, it is said that "a Witch must be a hagged old Woman, living in a little rotten Cottage, under a Hill, by a Wood-side, and must be frequently spinning at the Door: she must have a black Cat, two or three Broom-sticks, an Imp lor two, and two or three diabolical Teats to suckle her Imps."

Of the wonderful Feats which the various Kinds of Witches were supposed capable of performing, Scott has favored us with the following succinct Enumeration. There are three Sorts of Witches he tells us, "one Sort can hurt and not helpe, the second can helpe and not hurt, the third can both helpe and hurt. Among the hurtfull Witches there is one Sort more beastlie than any Kind of Beasts, saving Wolves: for these usually devour and eate young Children and Infants of their owne Kind. These be they that raise Haile, Tempests, and hurtfull Weather; as Lightning, Thunder, &c. These be they that procure Barrennesse in Man, Woman and Beast. These can throwe Children in Waters, as they walk with their Mothers, and not be seene. These can make Horses kicke, till they cast their Riders. These can pass from Place to Place in the Aire invisible. These can so alter the Mind of Judges, that they can have no Power to hurt them. These can procure to themselves and to others, Taciturnitie and Insensibilitie in their Torments. These can bring trembling to the Hands, and strike Terror into the Minds of themli that apprehend them. These can manifest unto others, Things hidden and lost, and foreshow Things to come; and see them as though they were present. These can alter Men's Minds to inordinate Love or Hate. These can kill whom they list with Lightning and Thunder. These can take away Man's Courage. These can make a Woman miscarrie in Childbirth, and destroie the Child in the Mother's Wombe, without any sensible Means either inwardlie or outwardlie applied. These can with their Looks kill either Man or Beast.

"Others doo write, that they can pull downe the Moone and the Starres. Some write that with wishing they can send Needles into the Livers of their Enemies. Some that they can transferre Corne in the Blade from one Place to another. Some, that they can cure Diseases supernaturallie, flie in the Aire, and danse with Divels. Some write, that they can play the Part of Succubus, and contract themselves to Incubus. Some saie they can transubstantiate themselves and others, and take the Forms and Shapes of Asses, Woolves, Ferrets, Cowes, Asses, Horses, Hogs, &c. Some say they can keepe Divels and Spirits in the Likenesse of Todes and Cats.

lii They can raise Spirits (as others affirme), drie up Springs, turn the Course of running Waters, inhibit the same, and staie both Day and Night, changing the one into the other. They can go in and out at Awger Holes, and saile in an Egge Shell, a Cockle or Muscle Shell, through and under the tempestuous Seas. They can bring Soules out of the Graves. They can teare Snakes in Pieces. They can also bring to pass, that Churne as long as you list, your Butter will not come; especially, if either the Maids have eaten up the Cream; or the Good-wife have sold the Butter before in the Market."[17]

The only material Accession which the royal James has made to this curious Catalogue of the Deeds of Witchcraft, consists in informing us, that these aged and decrepid Slaves of Satan, "make Picture of Waxe and Clay, that by the roasting thereof, the Persons that they bear the Name of, may be continually melted or dried away by continuall Sicknesse;"[18] and his Mode of explaining how the Devil performs this Marvel, is a notable Instance both of his Ingenuity and his Eloquence. This Deed, he says, "is liiiverie possible to their Master to performe; for although that Instrument of Waxe have no Vertue in that Turne doing, yet may he not very well, even by the same Measure, that his conjured Slaves melt that Waxe at the Fire, may be not, I say, at these same Times, subtily, as a Spirit, so weaken and scatter the Spirits of Life of the Patient, as may make him on the one Part, for Faintnesse, to sweat out the Humour of his Bodie, and on the other Part, for the not Concurrence of these Spirits, which causes his Digestion, so debilitate his stomache that this Humour radicall continually, sweating out on the one Part, and no newe good sucke being put in the Place thereof, for Lacke of Digestion on the other, he at last shall vanish away, even as his Picture will doe at the Fire? And that knavish and cunning Workman, by troubling him onely at sometimes, makes a Proportion, so neere betwixt the working of the one and the other, that both shall end as it were at one Time."[19]

It remains to notice the Nature of the Compact or Bargain, which Witches were believed to enter into with their Seducer, and the Species of livHomage which they were compelled to pay him; and here again we must have Recourse to Scot, not only as the most compressed, but as the most authentic Detailer of this strange Credulity of his Times. "The Order of their Bargaine or profession," says he, "is double; the one solemne and publike; the other secret and private. That which is called solemne or publike, is where Witches come together at certaine Assemblies, at the Times prefixed, and doo not onelie see the Divell in visible Forme; but confer and talke familiarlie with him. In which Conference the Divell exhorteth them to observe their Fidelitie unto him, promising them long Life and Prosperitie. Then the Witches assembled, commanded a new Disciple (whom they call a Novice) unto him: and if the Divell find that young Witch apt and forward in the Renunciation of christian Faith, in despising anie of the seven Sacraments, in treading upon Crosses, in spetting at the Time of the Elevation, in breaking their Fast on fasting Daies, and fasting on Sundaies: then the Devill giveth foorth his Hand, and the Novice joining Hand in Hand with him, promiseth to observe and keepe all the Divels Commandments.

lv "This doone, the Divell beginneth to be more bold with hir, telling her plainlie, that all this will not serve his Turne: and therefore requireth Homage at hir Hands: yea he also telleth hir, that she must grant him both hir Bodie and Soule to be tormented in everlasting Fire; which she yeeldeth unto. Then he chargeth hir to procure as manie Men, Women and Children also, as she can, to enter into this Societie. Then he teacheth them to make Ointments of the Bowels and Members of Children, whereby they ride in the Aire, and accomplish all their Desires. So as if there be anie Children unbaptized, or not garded by the Signe of the Crosse, or Orisons; then the Witches may and do catche them from their Mother's Sides in the Night, or out of their Cradles, or otherwise kill them with their Ceremonies; and after Buriall steale them out of their Graves, and seeth them in a Caldron, until their Flesh be made potable. Of the thickest whereof they make Ointments, whereby they ride in the Aire; but the thinner Potion they put into Flaggons, whereof whosoever drinketh, observing certain Ceremonies, immediatelie becometh a Maister or rather a Mistresse in that Practice and Facultie.

lvi "Their Homage with their Oth and Bargaine is received for a certeine Terme of Yeares; sometimes forever. Sometimes it consisteth in the Deniall of the whole Faith, sometimes in Part. And this is doone either by Oth, Protestation of Words, or by Obligation in writing, sometimes sealed with Wax, sometimes signed with Blood, sometimes by kissing the Divel's bare Buttocks.

"You must also understand, that after they have delicatelie banketted with the Divell and the Ladie of the Fairies; and have eaten up a fat Oxe, and emptied a Butt of Malmesie, and a Binne of Bread at some noble Man's House, in the Dead of the Night, nothing is missed of all this in the Morning. For the Ladie Sibylla, Minerva, or Diana, with a golden Rod striketh the Vessel and the Binne, and they are fully replenished againe." After mentioning that the Bullock is restored in the same magical Manner, he states it as an "infallible Rule, that everie Fortnight, or at least everie Month, each Witch must kill one Child at the least for hir Part." He also relates from Bodin, that "at these magicall Assemblies, the Witches never faile to dance,lvii and whiles they sing and danse, everie one hath a broome in hir Hand, and holdeth it up aloft."[20]

To these Circumstances attending the Meetings of this unhallowed Sisterhood, King James adds, that Satan, in Order that "hee may the more vively counterfeit and scorne God, oft Times makes his Slaves to conveene in those very Places, which are destinate and ordained for the conveening of the Servants of God (I meane by Churches):—further, Witches oft times confesse, not only his conveening in the Church with them, but his occupying of the Pulpit."[21] For this Piece of Information James seems to have been indebted to the Confessions of Agnis Tompson; but he also relates, that the Devil, as soon as he has induced his Votaries to renounce their God and Baptism, "gives them his Marke upon some secret Place of their Bodie, which remaines soare unhealed, whilest his next Meeting with them, and thereafter ever insensible, however it be nipped or pricked by any;" a Seal of Destinction which, he tells us at the Close of his Treatise, is of great Use in detecting them on their Trial, as "the finding of their Marke, and lviiithe trying the Insensiblenes thereof," was considered as a positive Proof of their Craft. His Majesty, however, proceeds to mention another Mode of ascertaining their Guilt, terminating the Paragraph in a Manner not very flattering to his female Subjects, or very expressive of his own Gallantry. "The other is," he tells us, "their fleeting on the Water: for as in a secret Murther, if the dead Carkase bee at any Time thereafter handled by the Murtherer, it will gush out of Blood, as if the Blood were crying to the Heaven for Revenge of the Murtherer, God having appointed that secret supernaturall Signe, for Triall of that secret unnaturall Crime, so it appears that God hath appointed (for a supernaturall Signe of the monstrous Impietie of Witches) that the Water shall refuse to receive them in her Bosome, that have shaken off them the sacred Water of Baptisme, and wilfully refused the Benefite thereof: No, not so much as their Eyes are able to shed Teares (threaten and torture them as you please) while first they repent (God not permitting them to dissemble their Obstinacie in so horrible a Crime) albeit the Women-kind especially, be able otherwayes to shed Teares at every light Occasion when theylix will, yea, although it were dissembling like the Crocodiles."[22]

Such are the chief Features of this gross Superstition, as detailed by the Writers of the Period in which it most prevailed in this Country. Scot has taken infinite Pains in collecting, from every Writer on the Subject, the minutiæ of Witchcraft, and his Book is expanded to a thick Quarto, in Consequence of his commenting at large on the Particulars which he had given in his initiatory Chapters, for the Purpose of their complete Refutation and Exposure; a Work of great Labor, and which shows, at every Step, how deeply this Credulity had been impressed on the Subjects of Elizabeth. James, on the other Hand, though a Man of considerable Erudition, and, in some respects, of shrewd, good Sense, wrote in Defence of this Folly, and, unfortunately for Truth and Humanity, the Doctrine of the Monarch was preferred to that of the Sage.

Fortunately the Time has arrived when the Belief of a King, or that of any other titled Personage, has very little Effect in fastening upon the World at large any peculiar Opinions he may have formed upon any Subject not within the Province of Reason.

lx Spiritualists and the Disciples of Mesmer have made the Discovery that Witchcraft is fully explained by one or the other of the Mysteries taught by them. How much Truth there may be in the Assertion I cannot undertake to determine. But from a very limited Acquaintance with Mysteries in general, my Opinion is that the Application of Mesmerism for the Explanation of Witchcraft, would partake very much of the Nature of applying one Absurdity to the Explanation of another.

For the "thousand and one" Examples of Witchcraft practiced by accused Persons in New England, an almost exact Parallel may be found in Cases which had previously occurred in Old England. And, in Proportion to the Number of Inhabitants in the respective Countries, there were as many in New as in Old England who raised their Voices against Prosecutions for the supposed Crime. Hence it is very obvious that mental Darkness was as dense in Old as in New England, at the Time of the Delusions of which we are speaking.

Superstition was then bounded only by the Limits of what was termed Civilization. The Light of Science for the last two hundred Yearslxi has considerably relieved Mankind from that deadly Incubus, and it is gratifying to believe that the March of Mind is onward and that a future of pure Light is before the World of Humanity. Like dark Spots on a Planet, some Superstitions seem almost as unaccountable, and their Removal appears about as difficult, so long have we been accustomed to tolerate them.

As late as 1668 it was asserted by an eminent English Writer, a Member of the Royal Society,[23] that "Atheism is begun in Saducism. And those that dare not bluntly say, There is NO GOD, content themselves, (for a fair Step, and Introduction) to deny there are SPIRITS, or WITCHES. Which Sort of Infidels, though they are not ordinary among the meer vulgar, yet are they numerous in a little higher Rank of Understandings. And those that know anything of the World, know, that most of the looser Gentry, and the small Pretenders to Philosophy and Wit, are generally Deriders of the Belief of Witches, and Apparitions."

Hence there were but two Horns to the Dilemma in which every one found himself—he must believe in Witchcraft and all the other lxiidegrading Attendants on that Belief, or he must be viewed and scorned as an Atheist, and as an Unbeliever in everything that was good!

It was difficult for People to distinguish between Miracles and Witchcraft, especially when the most learned Men,[24] in Order to make the Miracle of the Ascent of the Saviour appear reasonable, argued that "He went as far towards Heaven as he could on Foot, even to the Top of Mount Olivet." And when Elijah was to fast forty Days, "that there might be no Waste of miraculous Power, God would have him eat a double Meal before entering upon the Term of fasting!" With such wretched Absurdities were the Minds of People of that Time enslaved. The Superstitions of the Greeks and Romans were not greater. And although there is a steady Progress in intellectual Improvement, and a Time is believed to be approaching when the World will be as free from the Cheats and Impostures of the present Day, as some of the present Day are of those of previous Ages; yet it is in a Measure discouraging, when we see the Thousands ensnared by such transparent Jugglery lxiiias that which has peopled the Salt Lake Regions, and drawn other Thousands in our Midst to witness Feats that never did nor never will happen, except in the deluded Brains of those who desire to be thus deluded.

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

lxv OTTON Mather was born in Boston, February 12th, 1662-3. In his Youth he was remarkable for his Progress in Knowledge, and soon became extensively known for his varied Acquirements. At the Age of Twelve he entered Harvard College, and graduated in due Course. He was thrice married: 1st, when in his twenty-fourth Year, to Abigail, Daughter of Col. John Phillips, of Charlestown; 2d, to Widow Elizabeth Hubbard, Daughter of Dr. John Clark; and 3d, to Lydia, Widow of Mr. John George, Daughter of the Rev. Samuel Lee, sometime of Bristol in Rhode Island. By the last Wife he had no Children, but by the others he had fifteen, nine of which were by the first.

The Father of Mr. Mather was Dr. Increase Mather, Pastor of the North Church, of Boston, of whom the Biographer of the former remarks, that, "as President of Harvard College, by whose printed composures both Latin and English, and lxvi by whose Agency in the Courts of three Monarchs for his afflicted Country, have rendered him universally known."

His Mother was Maria, Daughter of Mr. John Cotton of Boston, a Name as intimately associated with the History of New England as any other. And judging from the Portraits of the Grandsire and Grandson, there was a very strong Resemblance of the one to the other.

Mr. Mather began to preach in 1680, and his first Sermon was delivered in Dorchester, on the 22d of August of that Year. In the following February he was invited to become an Assistant to his Father in the North Church in Boston, which Invitation he accepted. About two Years later he was unanimously chosen Pastor by the same Church, but was not ordained until May, 1684; his Ordination probably being deferred on Account of his Youth; being at the Time of his Ordination but twenty-one Years and three Months old. On that Occasion he received the Right Hand of Fellowship from the venerable Mr. John Eliot, of Roxbury.

At an early Age he began to keep a Diary, and from the Passages we have from it we are convinced that its Entries were dictated by an honest Mind, and that Duplicity and evil Intentions could never find an abiding Place therein; that his sole Aim was Goodness, and a strong Desire to lead a life of Purity, is manifest throughout.

lxvii Mr. Mather commenced Author at the Age of 23, and continued his Publications to the Year of his Decease; extending over a Period of about forty-two Years. In that Time he is said by his Biographer to have issued 383 Books; thus averaging about nine each Year. But many of his Books would in these Days be called Pamphlets, as they consisted of only a few Pages—a very few indeed containing Pages sufficient to give them the Character of a Book. A List of these 383 Works is given in his Life by his Son, but it is known to be incomplete. The List is very deficient in Respect to the Titles of the Works, also, insomuch that their Contents cannot be determined from them.

There are several Biographies of Dr. Cotton Mather, all drawn mainly from that by his Son, Dr. Samuel Mather. An Abridgment of this was published in England in 1744, in a small 12mo, by David Jennings. Mr. Jennings was instigated to undertake the Abridgment by Dr. Isaac Watts; the latter having consulted with Mr. Mather previously, and obtained his Consent to let his Work appear in an Abridgment. In giving his Consent for the abridged Edition, he thus apologizes for the original Undertaking: "The Life of my Father, as you have it in your Hands, was a youthful Attempt;[26] though I now plainly discern my Defects in it, and am sorry to lxviiisee such a Number of them, yet I can look on it with some Comfort; partly from a Consciousness of my honest Meaning in it, and partly because I find several worthy Persons approve of many Things in it, and have done me the Honour of expressing themselves favourable about it."

The Mode of writing Biography has very much changed since the Life of Dr. Mather was first written. Those written previous to, and at that Period, at least many of them, might be reduced in Bulk from five to seven-eighths, without omitting anything of Value. This Remark is applicable to other Performances of that Time, and to some in these as well.

It may be justly said of Cotton Mather, that he was one of the most remarkable Men of the Age in which he lived; not only remarkable on one, but on many Accounts; and for none, perhaps, more than for his wonderful Precociousness, or the early Intuitiveness of his Mind. His Memory was likewise very extraordinary. The Acquirement of Knowledge seems to have been with him accomplished almost without Effort; and his Writings show that they were generally drawn from the Storehouse of his Mind, where, from Reading and Observation, they had been from Time to Time deposited. Authors who write from this Source alone are generally diffuse, and wanting in those very essential and minute Particulars, which in these Days constitute so important a Part of everylxix Man's Writings. His Style is very peculiar; and no One who is acquainted with the Writings of "famous Thomas Fuller," can hardly doubt that Cotton Mather attempted to make that Writer's Composition a Model for his own. Still he falls considerably short of Fuller in his Attempts at witty Conceits; in them the latter is always happy, while the former often fails.

His Ability for acquiring Languages has probably been surpassed by but very few, and he is said to have been Master of more Languages than any other Person in New England in his Time. Those, especially the Latin, it must be confessed, he made a most unreasonable Use of, bringing in Passages from them at all Times, as though every Body understood them, as well as himself.

So far as we now remember, Dr. Douglass seems to have been the Author of the Fashion or Practice, so much of late Years in Vogue, of reviling Cotton Mather. It has been carried to such an Extent in some Quarters, that any One who presumes to mention his Name, does it at the Peril of coming in for a Share of Obloquy and Abuse himself. Some not only charge him with committing all Sorts of Errors and Blunders, but they bring against him the more serious Charge of misrepresenting Matters of Fact. Now it would be well for those who bring those Charges to scrutinize their own Works. It may be, if they cannot see anything pedantic, puerile or false in them themselves, others may come inlxx Contact with Errors even worse than those of Stupidity.

It is not to be denied that the Mind of Dr. Mather was singularly constituted; and whoever shall undertake an Analysis of it will find a more difficult Task, we apprehend, than those have found who content themselves with nothing further than vituperative Denunciations upon its Productions. We owe a vast Deal to Cotton Mather; especially for his historical and biographical Works. Were these alone to be struck out of Existence it would make a Void in these Departments of our Literature, that would probably confound any who affect to look upon them with Contempt. Even Dr. Douglass, although he has somewhere asserted, that, to point out all the Errors in the Magnalia, would be to copy the whole Book, is nevertheless, much indebted to him for Facts in many Parts of the very Work in which he has made that Statement; hence it would be very bad Logic that would not charge Dr. Douglass with copying Errors into his Work, knowing them to be Errors. It would be very easy for us to point to some Writers of our own Time equally obnoxious to the same plain Kind of Argument. And a late Writer of very good Standing has, with great apparent Deliberation said, that, "it is impossible to deny, that the Reputation of Cotton Mather has declined of late Years." This, of course, was his Belief; but it strikes us as very singular, that that same Author,lxxi should, at the same Time, make the largest Book on the Life of a Man, in such a State of Decline, that had hitherto appeared! But we are under no Concern for the Reputation of Cotton Mather, even in the Hands of his Enemies, and we have no Intention of setting up a special Defence of him or his Writings. We are willing the latter should pass for exactly what they are worth. All we design to do is to caution those a little who need Caution, and save them, if we may, from having the Windows in their own Houses broken, by the very Missiles they themselves have thrown.

But so far from the Reputation of Dr. Mather being in a Decline, his Writings have never been so much sought after as at the present Time! So much so that even Reprints of such of them as have been made are at once taken up, and at high Prices. Twenty Years ago, the Magnalia did not command above eight or ten Dollars, while Copies are at present rarely to be had for five Times their former Price. Reference is had to the original Edition, of course. This can hardly be taken as an Indication of a declining Reputation. The Style in all his Works, though peculiar to himself, is nevertheless attractive, and never tedious, although often upon tedious Subjects. In Point of Scholarship, he was not excelled by any in the Country, and would not suffer by a Comparison with the best of his Time in England.

lxxii The Charge of excessive Credulity has been brought against Dr. Mather, as though that Trait of Character were peculiar to him alone. There does not appear to be any Justice in singling him out as responsible for all the Credulity in the Country. That he was credulous no One will deny, nor will it be denied that he was surrounded by a credulous Community, the great Majority of which were equally credulous, and he was made to speak for them. Hence he has become conspicuous while others are nearly or quite forgotten. All Men are credulous in some Way and upon certain Things. Belief and Credulity are much the same. The Degree of Evidence required to convert the latter into the former has never been settled; nor can it be until all Minds are of the same Capacity. It requires a large Amount daily of Credulity to enable us to live in the tolerably good Opinion of our Companions in and out of Doors everywhere. Dismiss all of that liberal Sentiment from our Minds and we should be dismissed by the most of our Friends.

In the Reprints of some of the Works of Dr. Mather great Injustice has been done him, while, at the same Time, a Cheat has been put upon the Public. One Instance may be here given. In the Year 1815 there appeared a tolerably neat Edition of the Christian Philosopher,[27] in a Duodecimo of 324 Pages, printed at lxxiiiCharlestown, for which a Copyright appears to have been taken out. On a cursory Examination we can discover no Ground for copyrighting this Edition, except for making it unlike the Original in one Respect only, namely, Omission of Important Matter. As an Example of the Omissions the following may be taken: "We read of Heaven giving Snow like Wool. I have known it give a Snow of Wool. In a Town of New England, called Fairfield, in a bitter snowy Night, there fell a Quantity of Snow, which covered a large frozen Pond, but of such a woolen Consistence, that it can be called nothing but Wool. I have a Quantity of it, that has been these many Years lying by me."

Now, in the Edition of 1815, this important Passage is entirely omitted! If Dr. Mather was imposed upon by some ignorant and mischievous Wight, that has nothing to do in excusing a Deception on the Part of a Publisher, who contracts to reprint a Work without any Reservation. If an Editor or Publisher thinks to save the Credit of his Author by falsifying his Text, he can only be sure of one Thing, and that is, to bring discredit upon himself.

I must here dismiss the Christian Philosopher; but in another Work by our Author, of an earlier Date,[28] there is a singular Story of Snow which may be noticed here: "It was credibly lxxivaffirmed, that in the Winter of the Year 1688, there fell a Red Snow, which lay like Blood on a Spot of Ground, not many Miles from Boston; but the Dissolution of it by a Thaw, which within a few Hours melted it, made it not capable of lying under the Contemplation of so many Witnesses as it might be worthy of."

As the Red Snow did not come under the Doctor's immediate Observation, he has spoken of it with commendable Caution; insomuch that his Character for Credulity is not enhanced by the Relation of the Story. Moreover it is a well known Fact that Red Snow is often mentioned by reputable northern Travelers. But we have never heard that it snowed Wool at any other Time and Place, except as mentioned above.

In 1692, Dr. Mather published his Wonders of the Invisible World. This was the authorized Account of the Witchcraft Cases of that Time. In this he laid himself open to the Charge of Credulity, which, it cannot be denied, has been pretty well sustained ever since.

Many have reproached Dr. Mather, as though he was the Author of that dismal and awful Delusion. This is singularly unjust. He was himself one of the deluded; and this is the only Charge that can lie against him relative to it. All the World then believed in Witchcraft, and People entered into it according to their Temperament and Circumstances. The Delusion was not a Native of New England, but an Exoticlxxv from the Father Land; and it had been well if this had been the only one imported thence. Even when Prosecutions had ceased, there was not a Cessation of a Belief in the Reality of Witchcraft; its Progress was stayed from a very different Cause, as is now too well known to be entered into or explained. Even to the present Day there are Thousands who believe in its Reality; and that Belief can only be extirpated by the Progress of genuine Knowledge. Within our Remembrance we could ride from Boston in a single Day, with a very moderate Horse, into a New England Town where the Belief in Witchcraft was very general, and where many an old Horse-shoe could have been seen nailed to half the Bedsteads in the Town to keep away those imaginary Miscreants who came riding through the Air upon Broomsticks, or across the Lots upon the Back of some poor old Woman, who perhaps from some Malady had not left her House for Years. How much short of a Day's Ride by Steam or otherwise it would now be necessary to take to reach a Place where the Belief exists, we shall not undertake, but leave for others to determine.

Cotton Mather was undoubtedly the most prominent Author who wrote on Witchcraft, and in the full Belief of it, in his Time, in this Country; this Circumstance accounts for his being singled out by "one Robert Calef," who attacked him with some Success, evenlxxvi then, in his Book which he called More Wonders of the Invisible World, &c., which he published in London, in a quarto Volume, in the Year 1700. In his Book, Calef styles himself "Merchant, of Boston in New England." Now in the Absence of Proof to the contrary, it may not be unfair to presume, that Calef issued his Work quite as soon as he dared to, and quite as soon as public Opinion would tolerate a Work which had for its Aim a deadly Blow against a Belief in the imaginary Crime of Witchcraft. For we know that as soon as Calef's Book did appear, some of Dr. Mather's Friends came out with another Work against that Author, from the Title of which alone its Contents can pretty well be judged of. It is Some few Remarks upon a Scandalous Book written by one Robert Calef. But this Book and its Authors are alike almost unknown, while Calef occupies a conspicuous Place among the Benefactors of Mankind.

The foreign Correspondence of Dr. Mather was very extensive; "so that," says his Son, "I have known him at one Time to have above fifty beyond Sea." Among his Correspondents were many of the most learned and famous Men in Europe; as Sir Richard Blackmore, Mr. Whiston, Dr. Desaguliers, Mr. Pillionere, Dr. Franckius, Wm. Waller, Dr. Chamberlain, Dr. Woodward, Dr. Jurin, Dr. Watts, &c., &c. In a Letter which he wrote in 1743 Dr.lxxvii Watts says, "he had enjoyed a happy Correspondence with Dr. Cotton Mather, for nearly twenty Years before his Death, as well as with the Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, his Son, ever since."

In 1710 came out a Book from the Pen of our Author, which he entitled "Bonifacius: An Essay upon the Good to be devised by those who would answer the great End of Life." In this Work are many good Maxims and Reflections, but its Popularity has probably been very much enhanced by what Dr. Franklin has said of it. Dr. Mather was well acquainted with Franklin when the latter was a young Man; and when Franklin was an old Man, in the Year 1784, in writing to Samuel Mather, Son of our Subject, he thus alludes to it in his happy Style: "When I was a Boy, I met with a Book entitled, Essays to do Good, which I think was written by your Father. It had been so little regarded by a former Possessor, that several Leaves of it were torn out; but the Remainder gave me such a Turn of thinking, as to have an Influence on my Conduct through Life; for I have always set a greater Value on the Character of a Doer of Good than on any other Kind of Reputation." In the same Letter is to be found that often told anecdote of an Interview he once had with Dr. Mather. This too, that it may lose nothing at our Hands, we will give in the Author's own Words: "You mention being in your seventy-eighth Year; I am in my seventy-ninth; welxxviii are grown old together. It is now more than sixty Years since I left Boston, but I remember well both your Father and Grandfather; having heard them both in the Pulpit, and seen them in their Houses. The last Time I saw your Father was in the Beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first Trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his Library, and on my taking leave showed me a shorter Way out of the House through a narrow Passage, which was crossed by a Beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, 'stoop, stoop!' I did not understand him, till I felt my Head hit against the Beam. He was a Man that never missed any Occasion of giving Instruction, and upon this he said to me, 'You are young, and have the World before you; Stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard Thumps,' This Advice, thus beat into my Head, has frequently been of Use to me; and I often think of it, when I see Pride mortified, and Misfortunes brought upon People by their carrying their Heads too high." This Moral, so essentially good in itself, does not need the high Recommendation of a Franklin, though but for him it would not, probably, have been brought to the Knowledge of every Youth who has learned, or may yet learn to read.

The Essay to do Good has passed through lxxixmany Editions, but how many it would be difficult to determine. It was several Times reprinted in London, once as late as 1807, under the Supervision of the distinguished Dr. George Burder. In this Country its Issue has not been confined to the Press of one Denomination.

It may be too much a Custom for us to dwell on the Errors and Misfortunes of People while living; and to err, on the other Hand, by making their Characters appear too perfect after they have passed away; especially if they have been sufficiently conspicuous in Life to require a written Memorial of them after their Decease. Though Dr. Cotton Mather had Enemies while living, his Memory has been pursued with more Malignity since his Death, than has happened to that of most Men; and, as we conceive, without sufficient Reason, and which could only be warranted by the most undoubted Proofs, that he has purposely led us into Errors, and that he acted falsely on the most important Occasions; and that, finally, he was too bad a Man to make any Acknowledgment of all this, though conscious of it when he took his final Departure with the Messenger of his last Summons.

He had vituperative Enemies in his Lifetime, from some of whom he received abusive anonymous Letters. These Letters he carefully filed, and wrote upon them simply the Word "Libels," which was all the Notice he took of them. It was an invariable Rule with him, that if he was obliged to speak of the evil Ways of People tolxxx do so in Humility and Regret, and never in a Manner that could be offensive. In his Diary he speaks of Pride as a Sin, "which all are subject unto, and more especially Ministers," and still more especially was it "the besetting Sin of young Ministers." Had he lived in these latter Days that Annoyance might have been less on Account of its Universality.

Mr. Mather's Time was that of long Sermons, and we are told that he usually closed them with the fourteenth Division of his Discourses. Besides his Labors on Sundays, he sometimes preached eleven Sermons in one Week besides. He also constantly had Students with him whom he instructed in various Branches of Knowledge.

Of the Part Dr. Mather took in State Affairs, his Biographer says he was not at Liberty to omit an Account, although it was a difficult Section; and that he was "more at a Loss what to do about it than any one in the whole Book." The Author, however, concludes, as he could not omit the Subject, to treat it "in such a general Way as to give no One any Offence." And as it is a Section of the Doctor's Life of great Interest, it will here be given entire in the Language of his Biographer, who wrote so near the Time that his Account carries its Readers back to those stirring Scenes of the Revolution of 1688, and furnishes a Picture, life-like, of the every-day Manners of our Fathers on that memorable and novel Event.

lxxxi The Account follows: "My Country is very sensible that in the Year 1688 (when one of the most wicked Kings was on the British Throne) Andros and his Crew were very violent, illegal and arbitrary in their Proceedings. I need not give any Narrative of their Managements here, because there has been an Account of them already given to the World.[29]

"While these roaring Lions and ranging Bears were in the midst of their Ravages; it was in the Month of April when we had News by the Edges concerning a Descent made upon England by the Prince of Orange for the Rescue of the Nations from Slavery and Popery; then a strange Disposition entred into the Body of our People to assert our Liberties against the arbitrary Rulers that were fleecing them. But it was much feared by the more sensible Gentlemen at Boston, that an unruly Company of Soldiers, who had newly deserted the Service in which they had bin employed for the Eastern War, by the gathering of their Friends to them to protect them from the Governor, who, they tho't, intended Nothing but Ruine to them, would make a great Stir, and produce a bloody Revolution. And therefore the principal Gentlemen in Boston met with Mr. Mather to consult what was best to be done; and they all agreed, if possible, that they would extinguish all Essays in our People to an lxxxiiInsurrection; but that, if the country People to the Northward, by any violent Motions push'd on the Matter so far as to make a Revolution unavoidable, then to prevent the shedding of Blood by an ungoverned Multitude, some of the Gentlemen present would appear in the Head of what Action should be done; and a Declaration was prepared accordingly.

"On April 18, the People were so driving and furious, that unheaded they began to seize our public Oppressors: upon which the Gentlemen aforesaid found it necessary to appear that by their Authority among the People the unhappy Tumults might be a little regulated. And thro' the Goodness of God, although the whole Country were now in a most prodigious Ferment and Thousands of exasperated People in Arms were come into Boston, yet there was no Manner of Outrage committed; only the Public Robbers that had lorded it over Us were confined. 'Twas then Mr. Mather appeared—He was the Instrument of preventing the Excesses into which the Wrath of Man is too ready to run. He came, and like a Nestor or Ulisses reasoned down the Passions of the Populace. Had he lisped a Syllable for it, perhaps the People would, by a sudden Council of War, have try'd, judg'd and hang'd those ill Men who would have treated him otherwise. Nevertheless he set himself both publicly and privately to hinder the Peoples proceeding any further thanlxxxiii to reserve the Criminals for the Justice of the English Parliament.

"Now the Persecution which was intended for Mr. Mather was diverted; for on that very Day that he was to be committed to Half a Year's Imprisonment,[30] those that would have wrong'd him were justly taken into Custody: And yet so generous was he as not only to expose his Name, but even his Life unto the Rage of the Multitude for the saving of some that would have hurt him: Tho' he had no Thanks for his Ingenuity.

"The Spirit which acted him in these Matters is expressed in a Sermon he preached to the Convention of the Colony from 2 Chron. xv, 2. It was printed under the Title of, The Way to Prosperity.

"A few Days before this, the Inhabitants of Boston assembling together to chuse Representatives for that Convention, it was apprehended, that the different Persuasions of the People, about the next Steps to be taken for our Settlement, would have produced a Fury near to Bloodshed; and therefore Mr. Mather was desired to be at their Meeting. The Meeting began with dangerous and horrible Paroxysms, which when he saw, he upon it made an affectionate and moving Speech to them, at which many fell into Tears and the whole Body of the People present immediately lxxxiv united in the Methods of Peace Mr. Mather proposed unto them."

From what is here given it is not difficult to decide whether Mr. Mather was for or against Andros and his Government. It is a Pity the Author did not revise his Work in his mature Years, as well for his own Credit as a Writer as for his Father's Honor. It is the poorest of all his Performances.

The Convention before mentioned having ordered a Thanksgiving, for that "It having pleased the God of Heaven to mitigate his many Frowns upon us in the Summer past, with a Mixture of some very signal Favours, and in the midst of Wrath so far to remember Mercy; That our Indian Enemies have had a Check put upon their Designs of Blood and Spoil, ... and especially in the happy Accession of Their Majesties our Sovereigns, King William and Queen Mary to the Throne. It was therefore ordered that Thursday the 19th of December, 1689, be kept as a Day of Thanksgiving." This Order was dated Dec. 3d, 1689.

On this Thanksgiving Occasion Dr. Mather delivered one of his most elaborate Sermons, occupying, with a brief Appendix, sixty-two Pages, 16mo. In it he refers to the Revolution under various Heads; comparing it to an Earthquake, one having then but recently nearly destroyed Lima. And more terrible Pictures it would be difficult to conceive of, than he haslxxxv drawn, of what would have been the Condition of New England, had not the Revolution succeeded.

The next great Event in the Life of our Author was the Witchcraft Delusion. As his own Work upon that memorable Chapter in New England's Annals is to be given in Connection with this Biography, any Apology or Remarks upon his Participation in it from the Editor could be of but little Value or Interest, no more will be done here than to extract what his Biographer-Son has favored the World with. That, as will be seen, is apologetical, and is far better told than the Part he took in the Revolution. It is indeed about all that can be said in Extenuation of one thus circumstanced.

"The Summer of the Year 1692, was a very doleful Time unto the whole Country. The Devils, after a most præternatural Manner by the dreadful Judgements of Heaven took a bodily Possession of many People in our Salem, and Places adjacent; where the Houses of the poor People began to be filled with the Cries of Persons tormented by evil Spirits. There seemed to be an execrable Witchcraft in the Foundation of this wondrous Affliction; many Persons of divers Characters being accused, apprehended, prosecuted upon the Visions of the afflicted.

"Mr. Mather, for his Part, was always afraid of proceeding to convict and condemn any Person as a Confederate with afflicting Dæmons uponlxxxvi so feeble an Evidence as a spectral Representation. Accordingly he ever testified against it both publicly and privately, and particularly in his Letter to the Judges, he besought them that they would by no Means admit it; and where a considerable Assembly of Ministers gave in their Advice about the Matter, he not only concurred with the Advice but he drew it up.

"Nevertheless, on the other Side, he saw in most of the Judges a charming Instance of Prudence and Patience; and as he knew their exemplary Piety, so he observed the Agony of Soul with which they sought the Direction of Heaven, above most other of our People who were enchanted into a raging, railing and unreasonable Disposition. For this Cause, tho' Mr. Mather could not allow the Principles some of the Judges had espoused, he could not however but speak honorably of their Persons on all Occasions; and his Compassion upon the Sight of their Difficulties, which Compassion was raised by his Journeys to Salem the chief Seat of these diabolical Vexations, caused him still to go to the Place. And merely for this Reason, some mad People in the Country (from whom one or two credulous Foreigners have dared to publish the abusive Story) under a Fascination of their Spirits equal to what our Energumens had upon their Bodies, reviled Mr. Mather as if he had been the Doer of the hard Things that were done in the Prosecution of the Witchcraft.

lxxxvii "In this evil Time Mr. Mather offered at the Beginning, that if the possessed People might be scattered far asunder, he would singly provide for six of them; and he with some others would see whether without more bitter Methods, Prayer and Fasting would not put an End unto these heavy Trials: But his offer was not accepted.

"However for a great Part of the Summer he did almost every Week spend a Day by himself in the Exercise of a secret Fast before the Lord. On these Days he cried unto God, not only for his own Preservation from the Malice and Power of the evil Angels, but also for a good Issue of the Calamities in which he had permitted the evil Angels to ensnare the miserable Country. He also besought the Lord that he would enable him, prosper, direct, and accept him in publishing such Testimonies for Him as were proper, and would be serviceable unto his Interests on that Occasion.

"And that a right Use might be made of the prodigious Things which had been happening among us, he now composed and published his Book entituled, The Wonders of the Invisible World, which was reprinted several Times in London: In the Preface he speaks of, 'the heart-breaking Exercises', he went thro' in writing it. There was a certain Disbeliever of Witchcraft who wrote against this Book; but as the Man is dead, his Book died long before him.[31]

lxxxviii

"But having spoken eno' of the more publick Witchcraft, I think I will hale in here an Account of a Witchcraft happening in one private Family at Boston, two or three Years before the general one. 'Twas, I think, in the Year 1689, in the Winter, that several Children belonging to a pious Family at the South End of Boston were horribly bewitch'd and possessed.[32]

"Mr. Mather tho't it would be for the Glory of God, if he not only pray'd with as well as for the Children; but also took an Account of the extraordinary Symptoms which attended them, with sufficient Attestations to confound the Sadducism and Atheism of a debauched Age."

An Account of the Case of the Goodwin Family was separately published, and was noticed with Commendation by the "learned and pious Baxter," which has been often referred to as a Proof that other great Men, as well as Mr. Mather, were Believers in Witchcraft.

The Novelty and Singularity of a Thing was no Cause of its Rejection by Mr. Mather, and we next find him advocating Inoculation for the Small-pox; and, according to his Biographer he was the Cause of its Introduction into this lxxxixCountry. But in that, as in many other Things, too much is claimed for him. I have elsewhere given a History of its being put in Practice in Boston.[33]

In 1714 Dr. Mather was chosen a Member of the Royal Society of London; upon which Event his Biographer remarks: "The Respect which the Royal Society paid him, did also very much encourage him, and fortify him in his Essays to do Good, while it added to the superior Circumstances in which he was placed above the Contempt of Envious Men."

This last remark will apply to some of our own Times; who, if their Power were equal to their Envy, few besides themselves would be allowed to possess much in the Way of Honors without their Permission. It was probably on this Occasion, that some Individuals circulated the Report that the Doctor was not a Member of the Royal Society. Whereupon a Letter from the Secretary of that Society was produced, in which this Passage occurs: "As for your being chosen a Member of the Royal Society, that has been done, both by the Council and Body of the Society: only the Ceremony of Admission is wanting; which you being beyond Sea, cannot be performed." This having been promulgated, the envious Detractors were silenced in that Age, and it is rather surprising that Ignorance and Malice should attempt to revive it in this. As Mr. Mather never visited xcEngland, he of course never attended a Meeting of the Royal Society. But this did not affect his Membership. That this did not affect his Membership may be mentioned as pretty good Evidence, the Fact that some of his Works were soon after published in London, in the best Style of the Day, having appended to his Name in their Title-Pages, "D. D. and Fellow of the Royal Society." Now such an Assumption would have been an Offence of a serious Character, had it been merely an Assumption; and a Rebuke would have gone forth from the Royal Society, and would ever since have been a Matter of Record and Notoriety. But Nothing of the Kind is heard of, plainly because Dr. Mather stood right with the Records of the Royal Society.

Nobody will charge the Rev. Thomas Prince with Insincerity in what he has said of his Colaborers, and HE says, "Dr. Cotton Mather, though born and constantly residing in this remote corner of America, has yet for near these forty Years made so rising and great a Figure in the learned World, as has attracted to him while alive, the Eyes of many at the furthest Distance; and now deceased, can't but raise a very general Wish to see the Series, and more especially the domestic Part of so distinguished a Life exhibited. His printed Writings so full of Piety and various Erudition, his vast Correspondence, and the continual Reports of Travellers who had conversed with him, had spread his Reputation into other Countries. And when, about fourteen Years ago, Ixci travelled abroad, I could not but admire to what Extent his Fame had reached, and how inquisitive were Gentlemen of Letters to hear and know of the most particular and lively Manner, both of his private Conversation and public Performances among us."

Dr. Colman speaks in the highest Terms of Dr. Mather, in his Funeral Sermon. "His printed Works," he says, "will not convey to Posterity, nor give to Strangers a just Idea of the real Worth and great Learning of the Man." To this and a great deal more equally commendatory, Mr. Prince subscribes in these Words: "Every one who intimately knew the Doctor will readily assent to this Description."

It would be difficult, perhaps, to produce an Example of Industry equal to that of which we are speaking. In one Year, it is said he kept sixty Fasts and twenty vigils, and published fourteen Books—all this besides performing his ministerial Duties; which, in those Days, were Something more than nominal. He kept a Diary, which has been extensively used by some of his Biographers, but we have not sought after it, as it is said to be scattered in different Places! How this happened we have not been informed. Notwithstanding he published so many Works, he left nearly as much unpublished in Manuscript; the principal Part of which is entitled, Biblia Americana, or The Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Illustrated. For the Publication of this Workxcii Proposals were issued soon after its Author died, but Nothing further seems to have been done about it. Of the Biblia Americana, the Doctor's Son remarks, "That is a Work, the writing of which is enough constantly to employ a Man, unless he be a Miracle of Diligence, the Half of the three Score Years and ten, the Sum of Years allowed to us."

It remains now to mention the Book by which Dr. Mather is best known, and which will make his Name prominent through all coming Time—the Reader's Mind is already in Advance of the Pen—the MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA. This was printed in London, in 1702, in a moderate sized folio Volume, the Aggregate of its Pages being 794. It is chiefly a Collection of what the Author had before printed on historical and biographical Subjects. The Value of its Contents has been variously estimated. Some decrying it below any Value, while others pronounce it "the only Classic ever written in America." At the Hazard of incurring the Charge of Stupidity, we are of the decided Opinion that it has a Value between those Extremes. But we have sufficiently expressed our Mind on the Value of the Author's Works before.

Until about the Year 1853 there had been but two Editions of the Magnalia. The Work was then stereotyped and issued in two handsome octavo Volumes, by the late Mr. Silas Andrus, extensively known among the Publishers of thexciii Country. This was the third Edition of the Work, and possessed the Advantage of Translations of the Quotations from the dead Languages with which the Work abounds. About two Years later an Edition was issued from the same stereotype Plates, and was accompanied by an Index. This, tho' very incomplete, rendered the Work much more valuable. The Plates we are informed are now in the Hands of Mr. William Gowans of New York, who is preparing to bring out a sumptuous Edition of it with a new and complete Index. About thirty-two Years had elapsed between the second and third Editions, though they were by the same Publisher. The Date of the second was 1820.

Unfortunately, this Edition was printed from a Copy of that in Folio, which had not the Errata, and consequently abounds with all the Errors contained in the original Edition. To those who do not understand the Matter, this printing an Edition of the Magnalia without correcting its Errata, may seem to incur for the Publisher severe Reprehension. But the Truth appears to be, that the Copy used in printing the new Edition had not the complete Errata attached to it; and that in Fact, but very few Copies of the original Edition can be found to which it is attached. Now we account for its Rarity in this Way. Dr. Mather, living in Boston while his Work was printing in London, could make no Corrections while it was passing through the Press; but when he received hisxciv Copies afterwards, he found so many Errors that he was induced to print an extra Sheet of Corrections. This extra Sheet may not have been struck off until most of the Copies of the Magnalia which had been sent to New England were distributed. Thus we account for the rare Occurrence of Copies of the Magnalia containing the Errata; and hence we think the Publisher of the Edition of 1820 should not be too severely censured. That our Solution is correct, we would mention that out of a great many Copies of the folio Edition imported by ourself and others from England, not one of them contained the Errata in Question.

On the last Page of the Magnalia, the following are the last three Lines: "Errata. Reader, Carthagenia was of the Mind, that unto those three Things which the Ancients held impossible, there should be added this fourth, to find a Book printed without Erratas. It seems the Hands of Briareus, and the Eyes of Argus will not prevent them." And the additional Errata of which we have been speaking, the Author thus prefaces: "The Holy Bible it self, in some of its Editions, hath been affronted with scandalous Errors of the Press-work; and in one of them, they so printed those Words, Psalms cxix, 161, 'Printers have persecuted me,'" &c.

When the Magnalia was published, Dr. Mather's old Schoolmaster, among others, wrote commendatory Poetry upon it, which was, according to thexcv Fashion of the Day, inserted in its introductory Pages. The following brief Specimen by Tompson may not be thought inappropriate to be extracted here:

Few Ministers preached a greater Number of Funeral Sermons than Dr. Mather; and when he died his Cotemporaries seemed to have vied with each other in performing the same Office for him. Several of their Sermons were printed. Some of these with their quaint Titles are now before us. Foremost among them appears that of the excellent Mr. Prince; he entitled his, "The Departure of Elijah lamented.—A Sermon occasioned by the great and publick Loss in the Decease of the very Reverend and Learned COTTON MATHER, D.D., F.R.S., and Senior Pastor of the North Church in Boston. Who left this Life on Feb. 13th, 1727,8. The Morning after he finished the LXV. Year of his Age." From 2 Kings ii, 12, 13. The Imprint of this Sermonxcvi is, "Boston in New England: Printed for D. Henchman, near the Brick Meeting House in Cornhill. MDCCXXVIII."

The running Title of Dr. Colman's Sermon on the same Occasion is "The holy Walk and glorious Translation of blessed ENOCH." His Text was Gen. v. 24. It would be difficult to find anything of the Kind, either before or since, which, in our Judgment, is superior to this Discourse of Dr. Colman; but valuable as it is, we cannot introduce Extracts from it here. His Allusion, however, to the then past and present State of Things connected with his Subject, is so happy that we cannot overlook it.

"Dr. Mather's Brethren in the Ministry here," he says, "are bereaved and weak with him. God has taken their Father as well as his, from their Heads this Day. He was a Pastor in the Town when the eldest of the present Pastors were but Children, and long before most of them were born. They are weak indeed when he that is now speaking to them is the first in Years among them, in all respects else the least," &c.

The Rev. Joshua Gee, Colleague with Dr. Mather, also preached a Funeral Sermon on his departed Friend, entitled, "Israel's Mourning for Aaron's Death." In this Discourse there is the following important Note: "Within a few Months past, we have been called to lament the Deaths of two such aged Servants of the Lord. The Rev. Mr. Samuel Danforth of Taunton, who died Nov.xcvii 14. And my honored Father-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Peter Thatcher of Milton, who died Dec. 17, 1727: while the Days of mourning were scarce over in this Town for my dearly beloved Friend and Brother, the Rev. Mr. William Waldron, who died Sept. 11, 1727."

Dr. Mather's Son and Biographer, "Samuel Mather, M. A., and Chaplain at Castle William," also preached a Funeral Sermon on his Father's Death. "The Departure and Character of Elijah considered and improved," was its running Title. Only about five Years before, the deceased preached a Sermon on the Death of his Father; in the Title-page of which, when printed, instead of the Author's Name we read, "By one who, as a Son with a FATHER, served with him in the Gospel."

Dr. Mather died intestate, and the Order of the Judge of Probate for the Distribution of his Estate is as follows: "One third to his Widow, Lydia Mather; two single Shares or fourth Parts to Samuel Mather, Clerk, only surviving Son, and one Share each to the Rest of his Children, viz., Abigail Willard, deceased, Wife of Daniel Willard, also deceased, their Children and legal Representatives, and Hannah Mather, Spinster." Dated, 25th May, 1730.

The Portrait now in Circulation of Dr. Mather was engraved from a beautiful Mezzotinto, half Size, with the following Inscription underneath it:

xcviii "Cottonus Matherus S. Theologiæ Doctor Regiæ Societatis Londiniensis Socius, et Eccelsiæ apud Bostonum Nov˭Anglorum nuper Præpositus.

Ætatis Suæ LXV. MDCCXXVII.

P. Pelham ad vivum pinxit ab Origin Fecit."

Those desiring genealogical Information of the Mather Family, I must refer to the Pedigree printed in Connection with Dr. I. Mather's Brief History, &c.

The Wonders of the Invisible World.

OBSERVATIONS

As well Historical as Theological, upon the NATURE, the
NUMBER, and the OPERATIONS of the
DEVILS.

Accompany'd with

• I. Some Accounts of the Grievous Molestations, by DÆMONS and WITCHCRAFTS, which have lately annoy'd the Countrey; and the Trials of some eminent Malefactors Executed upon occasion thereof: with several Remarkable Curiosities therein occurring.
• II. Some Counsils, Directing a due Improvement of the terrible things, lately done, by the Unusual & Amazing Range of EVIL SPIRITS, in Our Neighbourhood: & the methods to prevent the Wrongs which those Evil Angels may intend against all sorts of people among us; especially in Accusations of the Innocent.
• III. Some Conjectures upon the great EVENTS, likely to befall, the WORLD in General, and NEW-ENGLAND in Particular; as also upon the Advances of the TIME, when we shall see BETTER DAYES.
• IV. A short Narrative of a late Outrage committed by a knot of WITCHES in Swedeland, very much Resembling, and so far Explaining, That under which our parts of America have laboured!
• V. THE DEVIL DISCOVERED: In a Brief Discourse upon those TEMPTATIONS, which are the more Ordinary Devices of the Wicked One.

By Cotton Mather.

Boston Printed, and Sold by Benjamin Harris, 1693.

PUblished by the Special
Command of His EXCELLENCY,
the Governour
of the Province of
the Massachusetts-Bay in
New-England.

THE
Author's Defence.

1 IS, as I remember, the Learned Scribonius,[35] who reports, that One of his Acquaintance, devoutly making his Prayers on the behalf of a Person molested by Evil Spirits, received from those Evil Spirits an horrible Blow over the Face: And I may my self expect not few or small Buffetings from Evil Spirits, for the Endeavours wherewith I am now going to encounter them. I am far from Insensible that at this extraordinary Time of the Devils coming down in great Wrath upon us, there are too many Tongues and Hearts thereby set on fire of Hell; that the various Opinions about the Witchcrafts which of later Time have troubled us, are maintained by some with so much cloudy Fury, as if they could never be sufficiently 2 stated, unless written in the Liquor wherewith Witches use to write their Covenants; and that he who becomes an Author at such a time, had need be fenced with Iron, and the Staff of a Spear. The unaccountable Frowardness, Asperity, Untreatableness, and Inconsistency of many Persons, every Day gives a visible Exposition of that passage, An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and Illustration of that Story, There met him two possessed with Devils, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. To send abroad a Book, among such Readers, were a very unadvised thing, if a Man had not such Reasons to give, as I can bring, for such an Undertaking. Briefly, I hope it cannot be said, They are all so; No, I hope the Body of this People, are yet in such a Temper, as to be capable of applying their Thoughts, to make a Right Use of the stupendous and prodigious Things that are happening among us: And because I was concern'd, when I saw that no abler Hand emitted any Essays to engage the Minds of this People, in such holy, pious, fruitful Improvements, as God would have to be made of his amazing Dispensations now upon us. THEREFORE it is, that One of the Least among the Children of New-England, has here done, what is done. None, but the Father, who sees in secret, knows the Heart-breaking Exercises, wherewith I have composed what is now [vi] going to be exposed, lest I should in any one thing miss of doing my designed Service for his Glory, and for his People; but I 3 am now somewhat comfortably assured of his favourable acceptance; and, I will not fear; what can a Satan do unto me![36]

Having performed something of what God required, in labouring to suit his Words unto his Works, at this Day among us, and therewithal handled a Theme that has been sometimes counted not unworthy the Pen, even of a King,[37] it will easily be perceived, that some subordinate Ends have been considered in these Endeavours.

I have indeed set myself to countermine the whole PLOT of the Devil, against New-England, in every Branch of it, as far as one of my darkness, can comprehend such a Work of Darkness. I may add, that I have herein also aimed at the Information and Satisfaction of Good Men in another Country, a thousand Leagues off, where I have, it may be, more, or however, more considerable Friends, than in My Own; And I do what I can to have that Country, now, as well as always, in the best Terms with My Own. But while I am doing these things, I have been driven a little to do something likewise for myself; I mean, by taking off the false Reports, and hard Censures about my Opinion in these Matters, the Parters Portion which my pursuit of Peace has procured me among the Keen. My hitherto unvaried Thoughts are here published; and I believe, 4 they will be owned by most of the Ministers of God in these Colonies; nor can amends be well made me, for the wrong done me, by other sorts of Representations.

In fine; For the Dogmatical[38] part of my Discourse, I want no Defence; for the Historical part of it, I have a very Great One; the Lievtenant-Governour of New-England[39] having perused it, has done me the Honour of giving me a Shield, under the Umbrage whereof I now dare to walk Abroad.

[vii] Reverend and Dear SIR,

OU very much gratify'd me, as well as put a kind Respect upon me, when you put into my hands, your elaborate and most seasonable Discourse, entituled, The Wonders of the Invisible World. And having now perused so fruitful and happy a Composure, upon such a Subject, at this Juncture of Time; and considering the place that I hold in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, still labouring and proceeding in the Trial of the Persons accused and convicted for Witchcraft, I find that I am more nearly and highly concerned than as a meer ordinary Reader, to express my Obligation and Thankfulness to you for so great Pains; and cannot but hold myself many ways bound, even to the utmost of what is proper for me, in my present publick Capacity, to declare my singular Approbation thereof. Such is your Design, most plainly expressed throughout the whole; such your Zeal for God, your Enmity to Satan and his Kingdom, your Faithfulness and Compassion to this poor People; such the Vigour, but yet great Temper of your Spirit; such your Instruction and Counsel, your Care of Truth, your Wisdom and Dexterity in allaying and moderating that among us, which needs it; such your clear discerning of Divine 6 Providences and Periods, now running on apace towards their Glorious Issues in the World; and finally, such your good News of The Shortness of the Devil's Time,[40] that all Good Men must needs desire, the making of this your Discourse publick to the World; and will greatly rejoyce, that the Spirit of the Lord has thus enabled you to lift up a Standard against the Infernal Enemy, that hath been coming in like a Flood upon us. I do therefore make it my particular and earnest Request unto you, that as soon as may be, you will commit the same unto the PRESS accordingly. I am,

Your assured Friend,

William Stoughton.[41]

7 [viii][42] I LIVE by Neighbours that force me to produce these undeserved Lines. But now, as when Mr. Wilson[43] beholding a great Muster of Souldiers, had it by a Gentleman then present, said unto him, Sir, I'll tell you a great Thing: Here is a mighty Body of People; and there is not Seven of them all, but what loves Mr. Wilson. That gracious Man presently and pleasantly reply'd: Sir, I'll tell you as good a thing as that; here is a mighty Body of People, and there is not so much as One among them all, but Mr. Wilson loves him. Somewhat so: 'Tis possible, that among this Body of People, there may be few that love the Writer of this Book; but give me leave to boast so far, there is not one among all this Body of People, whom this Mather would not study to serve, as well as to love. With such a Spirit of Love, is the Book now before us written: I appeal to all this World; and if this World will deny me the Right of acknowledging so much, I appeal to the other, that it is not written with an Evil Spirit: for which cause I shall not wonder, if Evil Spirits be exasperated by what is written, as the Sadduces doubtless were with what was discoursed in the Days of our Saviour. I only demand the Justice, that others read it, with the same Spirit wherewith I writ it.

[5] ENCHANTMENTS ENCOUNTER'D.

9 § I.

T was as long ago, as the Year 1637, that a Faithful Minister of the Church of England, whose Name was Mr. Edward Symons,[44] did in a Sermon afterwards Printed, thus express himself; 'At New-England now the Sun of Comfort begins to appear, and the glorious Day-Star to show it self;—Sed Venient Annis Sæculæ Seris, there will come Times in after Ages, when the Clouds will overshadow and darken the Sky there. Many now promise to themselves nothing but successive Happiness there, which for a time through God's 10 Mercy they may enjoy; and I pray God, they may a long time; but in this World there is no Happiness perpetual.' An Observation, or I had almost said, an Inspiration, very dismally now verify'd upon us! It has been affirm'd by some who best knew New-England, That the World will do New-England a great piece of Injustice, if it acknowledge not a measure of Religion, Loyalty, Honesty, and Industry, in the People there, beyond what is to be found with any other People for the Number of them.[45] When I did a few years ago, publish a Book, which mentioned a few memorable Witchcrafts, committed in this country; the excellent Baxter, graced the Second Edition of that Book, with a kind Preface, wherein he sees cause to say, If any are Scandalized, that New-England, a place of as serious Piety, as any I can hear of, under Heaven, should be troubled so much with Witches; I think, 'tis no wonder: Where will the Devil show most Malice, but where he is hated, and hateth most: And I hope, the Country will still deserve and answer the Charity so expressed by that Reverend Man of God.[46] Whosoever travels over this Wilderness, 11 will see it richly bespangled with Evangelical Churches, whose Pastors are holy, able, and painful Overseers of their Flocks, lively Preachers, and vertuous Livers; and such as in their several Neighbourly Associations, have had their Meetings whereat Ecclesiastical Matters of common Concernment are considered: Churches, whose Communicants have been seriously examined about their Experiences of Regeneration, as well as about their Knowledge, and Belief, and blameless Conversation, before their Admission to the Sacred Communion; although others of less but hopeful Attainments in Christianity are not ordinarily deny'd Baptism for themselves and theirs; Churches, which are shye of using any thing in the Worship of God, for which they cannot see a Warrant of God; but with whom yet the Names of Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Antipædobaptist, are swallowed up in that of Christian; Persons of all those Perswasions being taken into our [6] Fellowship, when visible Goodliness has recommended them:[47] Churches, which usually do within themselves manage their 12own Discipline, under the Conduct of their Elders; but yet call in the help of Synods upon Emergencies, or Aggrievances; Churches, Lastly, wherein Multitudes are growing ripe for Heaven every day; and as fast as these are taken off, others are daily rising up. And by the Presence and Power of the Divine Institutions thus maintained in the Country. We are still so happy, that I suppose there is no Land in the Universe more free from the debauching, and the debasing Vices of Ungodliness. The Body of the People are hitherto so disposed, that Swearing, Sabbath-breaking, Whoring, Drunkenness, and the like, do not make a Gentleman, but a Monster, or a Goblin, in the vulgar Estimation.[48] All this notwithstanding, we must humbly confess to our God, that we are miserably degenerated from the first Love of our Predecessors; however we boast our selves a little, when Men would go to trample upon us, and we venture to say, Wherein soever any is bold (we speak foolishly) we are bold also.[49] 13The first Planters of these Colonies were a chosen Generation of Men, who were first so pure, as to disrelish many things which they thought wanted Reformation elsewhere; and yet withal so peaceable, that they embraced a voluntary Exile in a squalid, horrid, American Desart,[50] rather than to live in Contentions with their Brethren. Those good Men imagined that they should leave their Posterity in a place, where they should never see the Inroads of Profanity, or Superstition: And a famous Person returning hence, could in a Sermon before the Parliament profess, I have been seven Years in a Country, where I never saw one Man drunk, or heard one Oath sworn, or beheld one Beggar in the Streets all the while.[51] Such great Persons as Budæus, and others, who mistook Sir Thomas Moor's Utopia, for a Country really existent, and stirr'd up some Divines charitably to 14undertake a Voyage thither, might now have certainly found a Truth in their Mistake; New-England was a true Utopia. But, alas, the Children and Servants of those old Planters must needs afford many degenerate Plants, and there is now risen up a Number of People, otherwise inclined than our Joshua's, and the Elders that out-liv'd them. Those two things our holy Progenitors, and our happy Advantages make Omissions of Duty, and such Spiritual Disorders as the whole World abroad is overwhelmed with, to be as provoking in us, as the most flagitious Wickednesses committed in other places; and the Ministers of God are accordingly severe in their Testimonies: But in short, those Interests of the Gospel, which were the Errand of our Fathers into these Ends of the Earth, have been too much neglected and postponed, and the Attainments of an handsome Education, have been too much undervalued, by Multitudes that have not fallen into Exorbitances of Wickedness; and some, especially of our young Ones, when they have got abroad from under the Restraints here laid upon them, have become extravagantly and abominably Vicious. Hence 'tis, that the Happiness of New-England has been but for a time, as it was foretold, and not for a long time, as has been desir'd for us. A Variety of Calamity has long follow'd this Plantation; and we have all the Reason imaginable to ascribe it unto the Rebuke of Heaven upon us for our manifold Apostasies; we15 make no right use of our Disasters: If we do not, Remember whence we are fallen, and repent, and do the first Works. But yet our Afflictions may come under a further Consideration with us: There is a further Cause of our Afflictions, whose due must be given him.

[7] § II. The New-Englanders are a People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil's Territories; and it may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly disturbed, when he perceived such a People here accomplishing the Promise of old made unto our Blessed Jesus, That He should have the Utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession.[52] There was not a greater Uproar among the Ephesians, when the Gospel was first brought among them, than there was among, The Powers of the Air (after whom those Ephesians walked) when first the Silver Trumpets of the Gospel here made the Joyful Sound. The Devil thus Irritated, immediately try'd all sorts of Methods to overturn this poor Plantation: and so much of the Church, as was Fled into this Wilderness, immediately found, The Serpent cast out of his Mouth a Flood for the carrying of it away. I believe, that never were more Satanical Devices used for the Unsetling of any People under the 16 Sun, than what have been Employ'd for the Extirpation of the Vine which God has here Planted, Casting out the Heathen, and preparing a Room before it, and causing it to take deep Root, and fill the Land, so that it sent its Boughs unto the Atlantic Sea Eastward, and its Branches unto the Connecticut River Westward, and the Hills were covered with the shadow thereof. But, All those Attempts of Hell, have hitherto been Abortive, many an Ebenezer has been Erected unto the Praise of God, by his Poor People here; and, Having obtained Help from God, we continue to this Day. Wherefore the Devil is now making one Attempt more upon us; an Attempt more Difficult, more Surprizing, more snarl'd with unintelligible Circumstances than any that we have hitherto Encountred;[53] an Attempt so Critical, that if we get well through, we shall soon Enjoy Halcyon Days with all the Vultures of Hell Trodden under our Feet. He has wanted his Incarnate Legions to Persecute us, as the People of God have in the other Hemisphere been Persecuted: he has therefore drawn forth his more Spiritual ones to make an Attacque upon us. We have been advised by some Credible Christians yet alive, that a Malefactor, accused of Witchcraft as well as Murder, and Executed in this place more than Forty Years ago, did then give Notice of, An 17Horrible Plot against the Country by Witchcraft, and a Foundation of Witchcraft then laid, which if it were not seasonably discovered, would prbably Blow up, and pull down all the Churches in the Country.[54] And we have now with Horror seen the Discovery of such a Witchcraft! An Army of Devils is horribly broke in upon the place which is the Center, and after a sort, the First-born of our English Settlements: and the Houses of the Good People there are fill'd with the doleful Shrieks of their Children and Servants, Tormented by Invisible Hands, with Tortures altogether preternatural. After the Mischiefs there Endeavoured, and since in part Conquered, the terrible Plague, of Evil Angels, hath made its Progress into some other places, where other Persons have been in like manner Diabolically handled. These our poor Afflicted Neighbours, quickly after they become Infected and Infested with these Dæmons, arrive to a Capacity of Discerning those which they conceive the Shapes of their Troublers; and notwithstanding the Great and Just Suspicion, that the Dæmons might Impose the Shapes of Innocent Persons in their Spectral Exhibitions upon the Sufferers, (which may perhaps prove no small part of the Witch-Plot in the issue) yet many of the Persons thus Represented, being Examined, several of 18 them have been Convicted of a very Damnable Witchcraft: yea, more than One Twenty have Confessed, that they have Signed unto a Book, which the Devil show'd them, and Engaged in his Hellish Design of Bewitching, and Ruining our Land. We [8] know not, at least I know not, how far the Delusions of Satan may be Interwoven into some Circumstances of the Confessions; but one would think, all the Rules of Understanding Humane Affayrs are at an end, if after so many most Voluntary Harmonious Confessions, made by Intelligent Persons of all Ages, in sundry Towns, at several Times, we must not Believe the main strokes wherein those Confessions all agree: especially when we have a thousand preternatural Things every day before our eyes, wherein the Confessors do acknowledge their Concernment, and give Demonstration of their being so Concerned. If the Devils now can strike the minds of men with any Poisons of so fine a Composition and Operation, that Scores of Innocent People shall Unite, in Confessions of a Crime, which we see actually committed, it is a thing prodigious, beyond the Wonders of the former Ages, and it threatens no less than a sort of a Dissolution upon the World. Now, by these Confessions 'tis Agreed, That the Devil has made a dreadful Knot of Witches in the Country, and by the help of Witches has dreadfully increased that Knot: That these Witches have driven a Trade of Commissioning their Confederate Spirits, to do all sorts of Mischiefs to the19 Neighbours, whereupon there have ensued such Mischievous consequences upon the Bodies and Estates of the Neighbourhood, as could not otherwise be accounted for: yea, That at prodigious Witch-Meetings, the Wretches have proceeded so far, as to Concert and Consult the Methods of Rooting out the Christian Religion from this Country, and setting up instead of it, perhaps a more gross Diabolism, than ever the World saw before. And yet it will be a thing little short of Miracle, if in so spread a Business as this, the Devil should not get in some of his Juggles, to confound the Discovery of all the rest.[55]

§ III. Doubtless, the Thoughts of many will receive a great Scandal against New-England, from the Number of Persons that have been Accused, or Suspected, for Witchcraft, in this Country: But it were easie to offer many things, that may Answer and Abate the Scandal. If the Holy God should any where permit the Devils to hook two or three wicked Scholars into Witchcraft, and then by their Assistance to Range with their Poisonous Insinuations among Ignorant, Envious, Discontented People, till they have cunningly decoy'd them into some sudden Act, whereby the Toyls of Hell shall be perhaps inextricably cast 20over them: what Country in the World would not afford Witches, numerous to a Prodigy? Accordingly, The Kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, yea and England it self, as well as the Province of New-England,[56] have had their Storms of Witchcrafts breaking upon them, which have made most Lamentable Devastations: which also I wish, may be The Last. And it is not uneasie to be imagined, that God has not brought out all the Witchcrafts in many other Lands with such a speedy, dreadful, destroying Jealousie, as burns forth upon such High Treasons, committed here in A Land of Uprightness: Transgressors may more quickly here than elsewhere become a Prey to the Vengeance of Him, Who has Eyes like a Flame of Fire, and, who walks in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks. Moreover, There are many parts of the World, who if they do upon this Occasion insult over this People of God, need only to be told the Story of what happen'd at Loim, in the Duchy of Gulic, where a Popish Curate having ineffectually try'd many Charms to Eject the Devil out of a Damsel there possessed, he passionately bid the Devil come out of her into himself; but the Devil answered him, Quid mihi Opus, est eum tentare, quem Novissimo die, Jure Optimo, sum possessurus? That is, What need I meddle 21with one whom I am sure to have, and hold at the Last-day as my own for ever!

[9] But besides all this, give me leave to add, it is to be hoped, That among the Persons represented by the Spectres which now afflict our Neighbours, there will be found some that never explicitly contracted with any of the Evil Angels. The Witches have not only intimated, but some of them acknowledged, That they have plotted the Representations of Innocent Persons, to cover and shelter themselves in their Witchcrafts; now, altho' our good God has hitherto generally preserved us from the Abuse therein design'd by the Devils for us, yet who of us can exactly state, How far our God may for our Chastisement permit the Devil to proceed in such an Abuse? It was the Result of a Discourse, lately held at a Meeting of some very Pious and Learned Ministers among us, That the Devils may sometimes have a permission to Represent an Innocent Person, as Tormenting such as are under Diabolical Molestations: But that such things are Rare and Extraordinary; especially when such matters come before Civil Judicature.[57] The Opinion expressed with so much Caution and Judgment, seems to be the prevailing Sense of many others, who are men Eminently Cautious and Judicious; and have both Argument and History to Countenance them in it. It is Rare 22 and Extraordinary, for an Honest Naboth to have his Life it self Sworn away by two Children of Belial, and yet no Infringement hereby made on the Rectoral Righteousness of our Eternal Soveraign, whose Judgments are a Great Deep, and who gives none Account of His matters.[58] Thus, although the Appearance of Innocent Persons in Spectral Exhibitions afflicting the Neighbourhood, be a thing Rare and Extraordinary; yet who can be sure, that the great Belial of Hell must needs be always Yoked up from this piece of Mischief? The best man that ever lived has been called a Witch: and why may not this too usual and unhappy Symptom of A Witch, even a Spectral Representation, befall a person that shall be none of the worst? Is it not possible? The Laplanders will tell us 'tis possible: for Persons to be unwittingly attended with officious Dæmons, bequeathed unto them, and impos'd upon them, by Relations that have been Witches.[59] Quæry, 23also, Whether at a Time, when the Devil with his Witches are engag'd in a War upon a people, some certain steps of ours, in such a War, may not be follow'd with our appearing so and so for a while among them in the Visions of our afflicted Forlorns! And, Who can certainly say, what other Degrees or Methods of sinning, besides that of a Diabolical Compact, may give the Devils advantage to act in the Shape of them that have miscarried? Besides what may happen for a while, to try the Patience of the Vertuous. May not some that have been ready upon feeble grounds uncharitably to Censure and Reproach other people, be punished for it by Spectres for a while exposing them to Censure and Reproach? And furthermore, I pray, that it may be considered, Whether a World of Magical Tricks often used in the World, may not insensibly oblige Devils to wait upon the Superstitious Users of them. A Witty Writer against Sadducism has this Observation, That persons who never made any express Contract with Apostate Spirits, yet may Act strange Things by Diabolick Aids, which they procure by the use of those wicked Forms and Arts, that the Devil first imparted unto his Confederates. And he adds, We know not but the Laws of the Dark Kingdom may Enjoyn a particular Attendance upon all those that practice their Mysteries, whether they know them to be theirs or no. Some of them that have been cry'd out upon as Employing Evil Spirits to hurt our Land, have 24 been known to be most bloody Fortune-Tellers; and some of them have confessed, That when they told Fortunes, they would pretend the Rules of Chiromancy and the like Ignorant Sciences, but indeed they had no Rule (they said) [10] but this, The things were then Darted into their minds. Darted! Ye Wretches;[60] By whom, I pray? Surely by none but the Devils; who, tho' perhaps they did not exactly Foreknow all the thus Predicted Contingencies; yet having once Foretold them, they stood bound in Honour now to use their Interest, which alas, in This World, is very great, for the Accomplishment of their own Predictions. There are others, that have used most wicked Sorceries to gratifie their unlawful Curiosities, or to prevent Inconveniencies in Man and Beast; Sorceries, which I will not Name, lest I should by naming, Teach them.[61] Now, some Devil is evermore Invited into the Service of the Person that shall Practise these Witchcrafts; and if they have gone on Impenitently in these Communions with any Devil, the Devil may perhaps become at last a Familiar to them, and so assume their Livery, that they cannot shake him off in any way, but that One, which I would most heartily prescribe unto them, Namely, That of a 25deep and long Repentance. Should these Impieties have been committed in such a place as New-England, for my part I should not wonder, if when Devils are Exposing the Grosser Witches among us, God permit them to bring in these Lesser ones with the rest for their perpetual Humiliation. In the Issue therefore, may it not be found, that New-England is not so stock'd with Rattle Snakes, as was imagined.[62]

§ IV. But I do not believe, that the progress of Witchcraft among us, is all the Plot which the Devil is managing in the Witchcraft now upon us. It is judged, That the Devil rais'd the Storm, whereof we read in the Eighth Chapter of Matthew, on purpose to over-set the little Vessel wherein the Disciples of Our Lord were Embarqued with Him. And it may be fear'd, that in the Horrible Tempest which is now upon ourselves, the design of the Devil is to sink that Happy Settlement of Government, wherewith Almighty God has graciously enclined Their Majesties to favour us.[63] We are blessed with a Governour, than whom no man can be more willing to serve Their Majesties, or this their 26Province: He is continually venturing his All to do it: and were not the Interests of his Prince dearer to him than his own, he could not but soon be weary of the Helm, whereat he sits. We are under the Influence of a Lieutenant Governour,[64] who not only by being admirably accomplished both with Natural and Acquired Endowments, is fitted for the Service of Their Majesties, but also with an unspotted Fidelity applies himself to that Service. Our Councellours are some of our most Eminent Persons, and as Loyal Subjects to the Crown, as hearty lovers of their Country.[65] Our Constitution also is attended with singular Priviledges; All which Things are by the Devil exceedingly Envy'd unto us. And the Devil will doubtless take this occasion for the raising of such complaints and clamours, as may be of pernicious consequence unto some part of our present Settlement, if he can so far Impose. But that which most of all Threatens us, in our present Circumstances, is the Misunderstanding, 27 and so the Animosity, whereunto the Witchcraft now Raging, has Enchanted us. The Embroiling, first, of our Spirits, and then of our Affairs, is evidently as considerable a Branch of the Hellish Intrigue which now vexes us as any one Thing whatever. The Devil has made us like a Troubled Sea, and the Mire and Mud begins now also to heave up apace. Even Good and Wise Men suffer themselves to fall into their Paroxysms; and the Shake which the Devil is now giving us, fetches up the Dirt which before lay still at the bottom of our sinful Hearts. If we allow the Mad Dogs of Hell to poyson us by biting us, [11] we shall imagine that we see nothing but such things about us, and like such things fly upon all that we see. Were it not for what is IN US, for my part, I should not fear a thousand Legions of Devils: 'tis by our Quarrels that we spoil our Prayers; and if our humble, zealous, and united Prayers are once hindred: Alas, the Philistines of Hell have cut our Locks for us; they will then blind us, mock us, ruine us: In truth, I cannot altogether blame it, if People are a little transported, when they conceive all the secular Interests of themselves and their Families at the Stake; and yet at the sight of these Heartburnings, I cannot forbear the Exclamation of the Sweet-spirited Austin, in his Pacificatory Epistle to Jerom, on the Contest with Ruffin, O misera & miseranda Conditio! O Condition, truly miserable! But what shall be done to cure these Distractions? It 28 is wonderfully necessary, that some healing Attempts be made at this time: And I must needs confess (if I may speak so much) like a Nazianzen, I am so desirous of a share in them, that if, being thrown overboard, were needful to allay the Storm, I should think Dying, a Trifle to be undergone, for so great a Blessedness.[66]

§ V. I would most importunately in the first place, entreat every Man to maintain an holy Jealousie over his own Soul at this time, and think; May not the Devil make me, though ignorantly and unwillingly, to be an Instrument of doing something that he would have to be done? For my part, I freely own my Suspicion, lest something of Enchantment, have reach'd more Persons and Spirits among us, than we are well aware of. But then, let us more generally agree to maintain a kind Opinion one of another. That Charity without which, even our giving our Bodies to be burned would profit nothing, uses to proceed by this Rule; It is kind, it is not easily provok'd, it thinks no Evil, it believes all things, hopes all things. But if we disregard this Rule of Charity, we shall indeed give our Body Politick to be burned.[67] I have heard it affirmed, That in the 29 late great Flood upon Connecticut, those Creatures which could not but have quarrelled at another time, yet now being driven together very agreeably stood by one another.[68] I am sure we shall be worse than Bruitish if we fly upon one another at a time when the Floods of Belial make us afraid. On the one side; [Alas, my Pen, must thou write the word, Side in the Business?] There are very worthy Men, who, having been call'd by God, when and where this Witchcraft first appeared upon the Stage to encounter it, are earnestly desirous to have it sifted unto the bottom of it. And I pray, which of us all that should live under the continual Impressions of the Tortures, Outcries, and Havocks which Devils confessedly Commissioned by Witches make among their distressed Neighbours, would not have a Biass that way beyond other Men? Persons this way disposed have been Men eminent for Wisdom and Vertue, and Men acted by a noble Principle of Conscience. Had not Conscience (of Duty to God) prevailed above other Considerations with them, they would not for all they are worth in the World have medled in this Thorny business. Have there been any disputed Methods used in discovering the Works of Darkness? It may be none but what have had great Precedents in other parts of the World; which may, though not altogether justifie, yet much alleviate a Mistake in 30 us if there should happen to be found any such mistake in so dark a Matter.[69] They have done what they have done, with multiplied Addresses to God for his Guidance, and have not been insensible how [12] much they have exposed themselves in what they have done. Yea, they would gladly contrive and receive an expedient, how the shedding of Blood, might be spared, by the Recovery of Witches, not gone beyond the Reach of Pardon. And after all, they invite all good Men, in terms to this purpose, 'Being amazed at the Number and Quality of those accused of late, we do not know but Satan by his Wiles may have enwrapped some innocent Persons; and therefore should earnestly and humbly desire the most Critical Enquiry upon the place, to find out the Falacy; that there may be none of the Servants of the Lord, with the worshippers of Baal.' I may also add, That whereas, if once a Witch do ingeniously confess among us, no more Spectres do in their Shapes after this, trouble the Vicinage; if any guilty Creatures will accordingly to so good purpose confess their Crime to any Minister of God, and get out of the Snare of the Devil, as no Minister will discover such a Conscientious Confession, so I believe none in the Authority will press him to discover it; but rejoyc'd in a Soul sav'd from Death. On the other side [if I must 31 again use the word Side, which yet I hope to live to blot out] there are very worthy Men, who are not a little dissatisfied at the Proceedings in the Prosecution of this Witchcraft. And why? Not because they would have any such abominable thing, defended from the Strokes of Impartial Justice. No, those Reverend Persons who gave in this Advice unto the Honourable Council; 'That Presumptions, whereupon Persons may be Committed, and much more Convictions, whereupon Persons may be Condemned, as guilty of Witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more considerable than barely the Accused Persons being represented by a Spectre unto the Afflicted; Nor are Alterations made in the Sufferers, by a Look or Touch of the Accused, to be esteemed an infallible Evidence of Guilt; but frequently liable to be abused by the Devils Legerdemains:' I say, those very Men of God most conscientiously Subjoined this Article to that Advice,—'Nevertheless we cannot but humbly recommend unto unto the Government, the speedy and vigorous Prosecution of such as have rendred themselves Obnoxious; according to the best Directions given in the Laws of God, and the wholsome Statutes of the English Nation for the Detection of Witchcraft.' Only 'tis a most commendable Cautiousness, in those gracious Men, to be very shye lest the Devil get so far into our Faith, as that for the sake of many Truths which we find he tells us, we come at length to believe any 32 Lyes, wherewith he may abuse us: whereupon, what a Desolation of Names would soon ensue, besides a thousand other pernicious Consequences? and lest there should be any such Principles taken up, as when put into Practice must unavoidably cause the Righteous to perish with the Wicked; or procure the Bloodshed of any Persons, like the Gibeonites, whom some learned Men suppose to be under a false Notion of Witches, by Saul exterminated.

They would have all due steps taken for the Extinction of Witches; but they would fain have them to be sure ones; nor is it from any thing, but the real and hearty goodness of such Men, that they are loth to surmise ill of other Men, till there be the fullest Evidence for the surmises. As for the Honourable Judges that have been hitherto in the Commission, they are above my Consideration: wherefore I will only say thus much of them, That such of them as I have the Honour of a Personal Acquaintance with, are Men of an excellent Spirit; and as at first they went about the work for which they were Commission'd, with [13] a very great aversion, so they have still been under Heart-breaking Solicitudes, how they might therein best serve both God and Man? In fine, Have there been faults on any side fallen into? Surely, they have at worst been but the faults of a well-meaning Ignorance. On every side then, why should not we endeavour with amicable Correspondencies, to help one 33 another out of the Snares wherein the Devil would involve us? To wrangle the Devil out of the Country, will be truly a New Experiment: Alas! we are not aware of the Devil, if we do not think, that he aims at inflaming us one against another; and shall we suffer our selves to be Devil-ridden? or by any unadvisableness contribute unto the Widening of our Breaches?

To say no more, there is a published and credible Relation; which affirms, That very lately in a part of England, where some of the Neighbourhood were quarrelling, a Raven from the Top of a Tree very articulately and unaccountably cry'd out, Read the Third of Collossians and the Fifteenth! Were I my self to chuse what sort of Bird I would be transformed into, I would say, O that I had wings like a Dove! Nevertheless, I will for once do the Office, which as it seems, Heaven sent that Raven upon; even to beg, That the Peace of God may Rule in our Hearts.

§ VI. 'Tis necessary that we unite in every thing: but there are especially two Things wherein our Union must carry us along together. We are to unite in our Endeavours to deliver our distressed Neighbours, from the horrible Annoyances and Molestations with which a dreadful Witchcraft is now persecuting of them. To have an hand in any thing, that may stifle or obstruct a Regular Detection of that Witchcraft, 34 is what we may well with an holy fear avoid. Their Majesties good Subjects must not every day be torn to pieces by horrid Witches, and those bloody Felons, be left wholly unprosecuted. The Witchcraft is a business that will not be sham'd, without plunging us into sore Plagues, and of long continuance.[70] But then we are to unite in such Methods for this deliverance, as may be unquestionably safe, lest the latter end be worse than the beginning. And here, what shall I say? I will venture to say thus much, That we are safe, when we make just as much use of all Advice from the invisible World, as God sends it for. It is a safe Principle, That when God Almighty permits any Spirits from the unseen Regions, to visit us with surprizing Informations, there is then something to be enquired after; we are then to enquire of one another, What Cause there is for such things? The peculiar Government of God, over the unbodied Intelligences, is a sufficient Foundation for this Principle. When there has been a Murder committed, an Apparition of the slain Party accusing of any Man, altho' such Apparitions have oftner spoke true than false, is not enough to Convict the Man as guilty of that Murder; but yet it is a sufficient occasion for Magistrates to make a particular Enquiry, whether such a Man 35 have afforded any ground for such an Accusation. Even so a Spectre exactly resembling such or such a Person, when the Neighbourhood are tormented by such Spectres, may reasonably make Magistrates inquisitive whether the Person so represented have done or said any thing that may argue their confederacy with Evil Spirits, altho' it may be defective enough in point of Conviction; especially at a time, when 'tis possible, some over-powerful Conjurer may have got the skill of thus exhibiting the Shapes of all sorts of Persons, on purpose to stop the Prosecution of the Wretches, whom due Enquiries thus provoked, might have made obnoxious unto Justice.

[14] Quœre, Whether if God would have us to proceed any further than bare Enquiry, upon what Reports there may come against any Man, from the World of Spirits, he will not by his Providence at the same time have brought into our hands, these more evident and sensible things, whereupon a man is to be esteemed a Criminal. But I will venture to say this further, that it will be safe to account the Names as well as the Lives of our Neighbors; two considerable things to be brought under a Judicial Process, until it be found by Humane Observations that the Peace of Mankind is thereby disturbed. We are Humane Creatures, and we are safe while we say, they must be Humane Witnesses, who also have in the particular Act of Seeing, or Hearing, which enables them to be Witnesses, had no more than 36 Humane Assistances, that are to turn the Scale when Laws are to be executed. And upon this Head I will further add: A wise and a just Magistrate, may so far give way to a common Stream of Dissatisfaction, as to forbear acting up to the heighth of his own Perswasion, about what may be judged convictive of a Crime, whose Nature shall be so abstruse and obscure, as to raise much Disputation. Tho' he may not do what he should leave undone, yet he may leave undone something that else he could do, when the Publick Safety makes an Exigency.

§ VII. I was going to make one Venture more; that is, to offer some safe Rules, for the finding out of the Witches, which are at this day our accursed Troublers: but this were a Venture too Presumptuous and Icarian for me to make; I leave that unto those Excellent and Judicious Persons, with whom I am not worthy to be numbred: All that I shall do, shall be to lay before my Readers, a brief Synopsis of what has been written on that Subject, by a Triumvirate of as Eminent Persons as have ever handled it. I will begin with,

AN ABSTRACT OF MR. PERKINS'S[71]
WAY FOR THE DISCOVERY
OF WITCHES.

37 I. There are Presumptions, which do at least probably and conjecturally note one to be a Witch. 38 These give occasion to Examine, yet they are no sufficient Causes of Conviction.

39 II. If any Man or Woman be notoriously defamed for a Witch, this yields a strong Suspition. Yet the Judge ought carefully to look, that the Report be made by Men of Honesty and Credit.

III. If a Fellow-Witch, or Magician, give Testimony of any Person to be a Witch; this indeed is not sufficient for Condemnation; but it is a fit Presumption to cause a straight Examination.

IV. If after Cursing there follow Death, or at least some mischief: for Witches are wont to practise their mischievous Facts by Cursing and Banning: This also is a sufficient matter of Examination, tho' not of Conviction.

V. If after Enmity, Quarrelling, or Threatning, a present mischief does follow; that also is a great Presumption.

[15] VI. If the Party suspected be the Son or Daughter, the man-servant or maid-servant, the Familiar Friend, near Neighbor, or old Companion, of a known and convicted Witch; this may be likewise a Presumption; for Witchcraft is an Art that may be learned, and conveyed from man to man.

VII. Some add this for a Presumption: If the Party suspected be found to have the Devil's mark; for it is commonly thought, when the Devil makes 40 his Covenant with them, he alwaies leaves his mark behind them, whereby he knows them for his own:—a mark whereof no evident Reason in Nature can be given.

VIII. Lastly, If the party examined be Unconstant, or contrary to himself, in his deliberate Answers, it argueth a Guilty Conscience, which stops the freedom of Utterance. And yet there are causes of Astonishment, which may befal the Good, as well as the Bad.

IX. But then there is a Conviction, discovering the Witch, which must proceed from just and sufficient proofs, and not from bare presumptions.

X. Scratching of the suspected party, and Recovery thereupon, with several other such weak Proofs; as also, the fleeting of the suspected Party, thrown upon the Water; these Proofs are so far from being sufficient, that some of them are, after a sort, practices of Witchcraft.

XI. The Testimony of some Wizzard, tho' offering to shew the Witches Face in a Glass: This, I grant, may be a good Presumption, to cause a strait Examination; but a sufficient Proof of Conviction it cannot be. If the Devil tell the Grand Jury, that the person in question is a Witch, and offers withal to confirm the same by Oath, should the Inquest receive his Oath or Accusation to condemn the man? Assuredly no. And yet, that is as much as the Testimony of another Wizzard, who only by the Devil's help reveals the Witch.

XII. If a man, being dangerously sick, and like to 41 dy, upon Suspicion, will take it on his Death, that such an one hath bewitched him, it is an Allegation of the same nature, which may move the Judge to examine the Party, but it is of no moment for Conviction.

XIII. Among the sufficient means of Conviction, the first is, the free and voluntary Confession of the Crime, made by the party suspected and accused, after Examination. I say not, that a bare confession is sufficient, but a Confession after due Examination, taken upon pregnant presumptions. What needs now more witness or further Enquiry?

XIV. There is a second sufficient Conviction, by the Testimony of two Witnesses, of good and honest Report, avouching before the Magistrate, upon their own Knowledge, the two things: either that the party accused hath made a League with the Devil, or hath done some known practices of witchcraft. And, all Arguments that do necessarily prove either of these, being brought by two sufficient Witnesses, are of force fully to convince the party suspected.

XV. If it can be proved, that the party suspected hath called upon the Devil, or desired his Help, this is a pregnant proof of a League formerly made between them.

XVI. If it can be proved, that the party hath entertained a Familiar Spirit, and had Conference with it, in the likeness of some visible Creatures; here is Evidence of witchcraft.

XVII. If the witnesses affirm upon Oath, that the suspected person hath done any action or work which 42 necessarily infers a Covenant made, as, that he hath used En-[16]chantments, divined things before they come to pass, and that peremptorily, raised Tempests, caused the Form of a dead man to appear; it proveth sufficiently, that he or she is a Witch.[72] This is the Substance of Mr. Perkins.

'Take next the Sum of Mr. Gaules[73] Judgment about the Detection of Witches. 1. Some Tokens for the Trial of Witches are altogether unwarrantable. Suchare the old Paganish Sign, the Witches Long Eyes; the Tradition of Witches 43not weeping; the casting of the Witch into the Water, with Thumbs and Toes ty'd a-cross. And many more such Marks, which if they are to know a Witch by, certainly 'tis no other Witch, but the User of them. 2. There are some Tokens for the Trial of Witches, more probable, and yet not so certain as to afford Conviction. Such are strong and long Suspicion: Suspected Ancestors, some appearance of Fact, the Corps bleeding upon the Witches touch, the Testimony of the Party bewitched, the supposed Witches unusual Bodily marks, the Witches usual Cursing and Banning, the Witches lewd and naughty kind of Life. 3. Some Signs there are of a Witch, more certain and infallible. As, firstly, Declining of Judicature, or faultering, faulty, unconstant, and contrary Answers, upon judicial and deliberate examination. Secondly, When upon due Enquiry into a person's Faith and Manners, there are found all or most of the Causes which produce Witchcraft, namely, God forsaking, Satan invading, particular Sins disposing; and lastly, a compact compleating all. Thirdly, The Witches free Confession, together with full Evidence of the Fact. Confession without Fact may be a meer Delusion, and Fact without Confession may be a meer Accident. 4thly, The semblable Gestures and Actions of suspected Witches, with the comparable Expressions of Affections, which in all Witches have 44 been observ'd and found very much alike. Fifthly, The Testimony of the Party bewitched, whether pining or dying, together with the joynt Oaths of sufficient persons, that have seen certain prodigious Pranks or Feats, wrought by the Party accused. 4. Among the most unhappy circumstances to convict a Witch, one is, a maligning and oppugning the Word, Work, and Worship of God, and by any extraordinary sign seeking to seduce any from it. See Deut. 13. 1, 2, Mat. 24. 24. Act. 13. 8, 10. 2 Tim. 3. 8. Do but mark well the places, and for this very Property (of thus opposing and perverting) they are all there concluded arrant and absolute Witches. 5. It is not requisite, that so palpable Evidence of Conviction should here come in, as in other more sensible matters; 'tis enough, if there be but so much circumstantial Proof or Evidence, as the Substance, Matter, and Nature of such an abstruse Mystery of Iniquity will well admit. [I suppose he means, that whereas in other Crimes we look for more direct proofs, in this there is a greater use of consequential ones.] 'But I could heartily wish, that the Juries were empanell'd of the most eminent Physicians, Lawyers, and Divines that a Country could afford. In the mean time 'tis not to be called a Toleration, if Witches escape, where Conviction is wanting. To this purpose our Gaule.'

I will transcribe a little from one Author more, 45 'tis the Judicious Bernard of Batcomb,[74] who in his Guide to grand Jurymen, after he has mention'd several things that are shrewd Presumptions of a Witch, proceeds to such things as are the Convictions of such an one. And he says, 'A witch in league with the Devil is convicted by [1][75] these Evidences; I. By a witches Mark; which is on the Baser sort of Witches; and this, by the Devils either Sucking or Touching of them. Tertullian says, It is the Devils custome to mark his. And note, That this mark is Insensible, and being prick'd it will not Bleed. Sometimes, its like a Teate; sometimes but a Blewish Spot; sometimes a Red one; and sometimes the flesh Sunk: but the Witches do sometimes cover them. II. By the Witches Words. As when they have been heard calling on, speaking to, or Talking of their Familiars; or, when they have been heard Telling of Hurt they have done to man or beast: Or when they have been heard Threatning of such Hurt; Or if they have been heard 46 Relating their Transportations. III. By the Witches Deeds. As when they have been seen with their Spirits, or seen secretly Feeding any of their Imps. Or, when there can be found their Pictures, Poppets, and other Hellish Compositions. IV. By the Witches Extasies: With the Delight whereof, Witches are so taken, that they will hardly conceal the same: Or, however at some time or other, they may be found in them. V. By one or more Fellow-Witches, Confessing their own Witchcraft, and bearing Witness against others; if they can make good the Truth of their Witness, and give sufficient proof of it. As, that they have seen them with their Spirits or, that they have Received Spirits from them; or that they can tell, when they used Witchery-Tricks to Do Harm; or, that they told them what Harm they had done; or that they can show the mark upon them; or, that they have been together in their Meetings; and such like. VI. By some Witness of God Himself, happening upon the Execrable Curses of Witches upon themselves, Praying of God to show some Token, if they be Guilty. VII. By the Witches own Confession, of Giving their Souls to the Devil. It is no Rare thing, for Witches to Confess.'

They are Considerable Things, which I have thus Recited; and yet it must be with Open Eyes, kept upon Open Rules, that we are to follow these things.

47 S. 8. But Juries are not the only Instruments to be imploy'd in such a Work; all Christians are to be concerned with daily and fervent Prayers, for the assisting of it. In the Days of Athanasius, the Devils were found unable to stand before that Prayer, however then used perhaps with too much of Ceremony, Let God Arise, Let his Enemies be scattered. Let them also that Hate Him, flee before Him.

O that instead of letting our Hearts Rise against one another, our Prayers might Rise unto an high pitch of Importunity, for such a Rising of the Lord! Especially, Let them that are Suffering by Witchcraft, be sure to stay and pray, and Beseech the Lord thrice, even as much as ever they can, before they complain of any Neighbour for afflicting them. Let them also that are accused of Witchcraft, set themselves to Fast and Pray, and so shake off the Dæmons that would like Vipers fasten upon them; and get the Waters of Jealousie made profitable to them.

And Now, O Thou Hope of New-England, and the Saviour thereof in the Time of Trouble; Do thou look mercifully down upon us, & Rescue us, out of the Trouble which at this time do's threaten to swallow us up. Let Satan be shortly bruised under our Feet, and Let the Covenanted Vassals of Satan, which have Traiterously brought him in upon us, be Gloriously Conquered, by thy Powerful and Gracious Presence in the midst of us. Abhor us not, O God, but cleanse us, but heal us, but save us, 48 for the sake of thy Glory. Enwrapped in our Salvations. By thy Spirit, Lift up a standard against our infernal adversaries, Let us quickly find thee making of us glad, according to the Days wherein we have been afflicted. Accept of all our Endeavours to glorify thee, in the Fires that are upon us; and among the rest, Let these my poor and weak essays, composed with what Tears, what Cares, what Prayers, thou only knowest, not want the Acceptance of the Lord.

[2] A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS
OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD.[76]

UTTERED (IN PART) ON AUG. 4, 1692.

Ecclesiastical History has Reported it unto us, That a Renowned Martyr at the Stake, seeing the Book of the Revelation thrown by his no less Profane than Bloody Persecutors, to be Burn'd in the same Fire with himself, he cryed out, O Beata Apocalypsis; quam bene mecum agitur, qui tecum Comburar! Blessed Revelation! said he, How Blessed am I in this Fire, while I have Thee to bear me Company.[77] As for our selves this Day, 'tis a Fire of sore Affliction and Confusion, wherein we are Embroiled; but it is no inconsiderable Advantage 50unto us, that we have the Company of this Glorious and Sacred Book the Revelation to assist us in our Exercises. From that Book there is one Text, which I would single out at this time to lay before you; 'tis that in

Revel. xii. 12.

Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth, and of the Sea; for the Devil is come down unto you, having great Wrath; because he knoweth, that he hath but a short time.

HE Text is Like the Cloudy and Fiery Pillar, vouchsafed unto Israel, in the Wilderness of old; there is a very dark side of it in the Intimation, that, The Devil is come down having great Wrath; but it has also a bright side, when it assures us, that, He has but a short time; Unto the Contemplation of both, I do this Day Invite you.

We have in our Hands a Letter from our Ascended Lord in Heaven, to Advise us of his being still alive, and of his Purpose e're long, to give us a Visit, wherein we shall see our Living Redeemer, stand at the latter day upon the Earth. 'Tis the last Advice that we have had from Heaven, for now sixteen Hundred years; and the scope of it, is, to represent how the Lord Jesus Christ having begun to set up his Kingdom in 51 the World, by the preaching of the Gospel, he would from time to time utterly break to pieces all Powers that should make Head against it, until, The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdomes of our Lord, and of his [3] Christ, and he shall Reign for ever and ever. 'Tis a Commentary on what had been written by Daniel, about, The fourth Monarchy; with some Touches upon, The Fifth; wherein, The greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High: And altho' it have, as 'tis expressed by one of the Ancients, Tot Sacramenta quot verba, a Mystery in every Syllable, yet it is not altogether to be neglected with such a Despair, as that, I cannot read, for the Book is sealed. It is a Revelation, and a singular, and notable Blessing is pronounced upon them that humbly study it.

The Divine Oracles, have with a most admirable Artifice and Carefulness, drawn, as the very pious Beverley, has laboriously Evinced, an exact Line of Time, from the first Sabbath at the Creation of the World, unto the great Sabbatism at the Restitution of all Things. In that famous Line of Time, from the Decree for the Restoring of Jerusalem, after the Babylonish Captivity, there seem to remain a matter of Two Thousand and Three Hundred Years, unto that New Jerusalem, whereto the Church is to be advanced, when the Mystical Babylon shall be fallen. At the Resurrection of our Lord, there were seventeen or52 eighteen Hundred of those Years, yet upon the Line, to run unto, The rest which remains for the People of God; and this Remnant in the Line of Time, is here in our Apocalypse, variously Embossed, Adorned, and Signalized with such Distinguishing Events, if we mind them, will help us escape that Censure, Can ye not Discern the Signs of the Times?

The Apostle John, for the View of these Things, had laid before him, as I conceive, a Book, with leaves, or folds; which Volumn was written both on the Backside, and on the Inside, and Roll'd up in a Cylindriacal Form, under seven Labels, fastned with so many Seals. The first Seal being opened, and the first Label removed, under the first Label the Apostle saw what he saw, of a first Rider Pourtray'd, and so on, till the last Seal was broken up; each of the Sculptures being enlarged with agreeable Visions and Voices, to illustrate it. The Book being now Unrolled, there were Trumpets, with wonderful Concomitants, Exhibited successively on the Expanding Backside of it. Whereupon the Book was Eaten, as it were to be Hidden, from Interpretations; till afterwards, in the Inside of it, the Kingdom of Anti-christ came to be Exposed. Thus, the Judgments of God on the Roman Empire, first unto the Downfal of Paganism, and then, unto the Downfal of Popery, which is but Revived Paganism, are in these Displayes, with53 Lively Colours and Features made sensible unto us.

[4] Accordingly, in the Twelfth Chapter of this Book, we have an August Preface, to the Description of that Horrid Kingdom, which our Lord Christ refused, but Antichrist accepted, from the Devils Hands; a Kingdom, which for Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years together, was to be a continual oppression upon the People of God, and opposition unto his Interests; until the Arrival of that Illustrious Day, wherein, The Kingdom shall be the Lords, and he shall be Governour among the Nations. The Chapter is (as an Excellent Person calls it) an Extravasated Account of the Circumstances, which befell the Primitive Church, during the first Four or Five Hundred Years of Christianity: It shows us the Face of the Church, first in Rome Heathenish, and then in Rome Converted, before the Man of Sin was yet come to Mans Estate. Our Text contains the Acclamations made upon the most Glorious Revolution that ever yet happened upon the Roman Empire; namely, That wherein the Travailing Church brought forth a Christian Emperour. This was a most Eminent Victory over the Devil, and Resemblance of the State, wherein the World, ere long shall see, The Kingdom of our God, and the Power of his Christ. It is here noted,

First, As a matter of Triumph. 'Tis said, Rejoyce, ye Heavens, and ye that dwell in them. The54 Saints in both Worlds, took the Comfort of this Revolution; the Devout Ones that had outlived the late Persecutions, were filled with Transporting Joys, when they saw the Christian become the Imperial Religion, and when they saw Good Men come to give Law unto the rest of Mankind; the Deceased Ones also, whose Blood had been Sacrificed in the Ten Persecutions, doubtless made the Light Regions to ring with Hallelujahs unto God, when there were brought unto them, the Tidings of the Advances now given to the Christian Religion, for which they had suffered Martyrdom.

Secondly, As a matter of Horror. 'Tis said, Wo to the Inhabiters of the Earth and of the Sea. The Earth still means the False Church, the Sea means the Wide World, in Prophetical Phrasæology. There was yet left a vast party of Men, that were Enemies to the Christian Religion, in the power of it; a vast party left for the Devil to work upon: Unto these is a Wo denounced; and why so? 'Tis added, For the Devil is come down unto you, having great Wrath, because he knows, that he has but a short time. These were, it seems, to have some desperate and peculiar Attempts of the Devil made upon them. In the mean time, we may entertain this for our Doctrine.

Great Wo proceeds from the Great Wrath, with55 which [5] the Devil, towards the end of his Time, will make a Descent upon a miserable World.

I have now Published a most awful and solemn Warning for our selves at this day; which has four Propositions, comprehended in it.

Proposition I. That there is a Devil, is a thing Doubted by none but such as are under the Influence of the Devil. For any to deny the Being of a Devil must be from an Ignorance or Profaneness, worse than Diabolical. A Devil. What is that? We have a Definition of the Monster, in Eph. 6. 12. A Spiritual Wickedness, that is, A wicked Spirit. A Devil is a Fallen Angel, an Angel Fallen from the Fear and Love of God, and from all Celestial Glories; but Fallen to all manner of Wretchedness and Cursedness. He was once in that Order of Heavenly Creatures, which God in the Beginning made Ministering Spirits, for his own peculiar Service and Honour, in the management of the Universe; but we may now write that Epitaph upon him, How art thou fallen from Heaven! thou hast said in thine Heart, I will Exalt my Throne above the Stars of God; but thou art brought down to Hell! A Devil is a Spiritual and Rational Substance, by his Apostacy from God, inclined to all that is Vicious, and for that Apostacy confined unto the Atmosphere of this Earth, in Chains, under Darkness, unto the Judgment of the Great Day. This is a Devil; and the Experience of Mankind as well as the Testimony of Scripture,56 does abundantly prove the Existence of such a Devil.[78]

About this Devil, there are many things, whereof we may reasonably and profitably be Inquisitive; such things, I mean, as are in our Bibles Reveal'd unto us; according to which if we do not speak on so dark a Subject, but according to our own uncertain, and perhaps humoursome Conjectures, There is no Light in us. I will carry you with me, but unto one Paragraph of the Bible, to be informed of three Things, relating to the Devil; 'tis the Story of the Gadaren Energumen, in the fifth Chapter of Mark.

First, then, 'Tis to be granted; the Devils are so many, that some Thousands, can sometimes at once apply themselves to vex one Child of Man. It is said, in Mark 5. 15. He that was Possessed with the Devil, had the Legion. Dreadful to be spoken! A Legion consisted of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred People: And we see that in one Man or two, so many Devils can be spared for a Garrison. As the Prophet cryed out, 57Multitudes, Multitudes, in the Valley of Decision! So I say, There are multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of Destruction, where the Devils are! When [6] we speak of, The Devil, 'tis, A name of Multitude; it means not One Individual Devil, so Potent and Scient, as perhaps a Manichee would imagine; but it means a Kind, which a Multitude belongs unto. Alas, the Devils, they swarm about us, like the Frogs of Egypt, in the most Retired of our Chambers. Are we at our Boards? There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Sensuality: Are we in our Beds? There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Carnality; Are we in our Shops? There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Dishonesty. Yea, Tho' we get into the Church of God, there will be Devils to Haunt us in the very Temple it self, and there tempt us to manifold Misbehaviours. I am verily perswaded, That there are very few Humane Affairs whereinto some Devils are not Insinuated; There is not so much as a Journey intended, but Satan will have an hand in hindering or furthering of it.

Secondly, 'Tis to be supposed, That there is a sort of Arbitrary, even Military Government, among the Devils. This is intimated, when in Mar. 5. 9. The unclean Spirit said, My Name is Legion: they are under such a Discipline as Legions use to be. Hence we read about, The Prince of the power of the Air: Our Air has a power? or an Army of Devils in the High Places of it; and these Devils have a Prince over them, who is58 King over the Children of Pride. 'Tis probable, That the Devil, who was the Ringleader of that mutinous and rebellious Crew, which first shook off the Authority of God, is now the General of those Hellish Armies;[79] Our Lord, that Conquered him, has told us the Name of him; 'tis Belzebub; 'tis he that is the Devil, and the rest are his Angels, or his Souldiers. Think on vast Regiments of cruel and bloody French Dragoons, with an Intendant over them, overrunning a pillaged Neighbourhood, and you will think a little, what the Constitution among the Devils is.

Thirdly, 'tis to be supposed, that some Devils are more peculiarly Commission'd, and perhaps Qualify'd, for some Countries, while others are for others. This is intimated when in Mar. 5. 10. The Devils besought our Lord much, that he would not send them away out of the Countrey. Why was that? But in all probability, because these Devils were more able to do the works of the Devil, in such a Countrey, than in another. It is not likely that every Devil does know every Language; or that every Devil can do every Mischief.[80] 'Tis possible, that the Experience, or, if I may call it so, the Education of all Devils is not alike, and that there may be some difference in their Abilities. If one might make an Inference 59from what the Devils do, to what they are, One cannot [7] forbear dreaming, that there are degrees of Devils. Who can allow, that such Trifling Dæmons, as that of Mascon,[81] or those that once infested our New berry, are of so much Grandeur, as those Dæmons, whose Games are mighty Kingdoms? Yea, 'tis certain, that all Devils do not make a like Figure in the Invisible World. Nor does it look agreeably, That the Dæmons, which were the Familiars of such a Man as the old Apollonius, differ not from those baser Goblins that chuse to Nest in the filthy and loathsom Rags of a beastly Sorceress. Accordingly, why may not some Devils be more accomplished for what is to be done in such and such places, when others must be detach'd for other Territories? Each Devil, as he sees his advantage, cries out, Let me be in this Countrey, rather than another. But Enough, if not too much, of these things.[82]

Proposition II. There is a Devilish Wrath against Mankind, with which the Devil is for God's sake Inspired. The Devil is himself broiling under the intollerable and interminable Wrath of God; and a fiery Wrath at God, is, that which the Devil is for that cause Enflamed. Methinks I see the posture of the Devils in Isa. 8. 21. They fret themselves, and Curse their God, and look 60upward. The first and chief Wrath of the Devil, is at the Almighty God himself; he knows, The God that made him, will not have mercy on him, and the God that formed him, will shew him no favour; and so he can have no Kindness for that God, who has no Mercy, nor Favour for him. Hence 'tis, that he cannot bear the Name of God should be acknowledged in the World: Every Acknowledgement paid unto God, is a fresh drop of the burning Brimstone falling upon the Devil; he does make his Insolent, tho' Impotent Batteries, even upon the Throne of God himself: and foolishly affects to have himself exalted unto that Glorious High Throne, by all people, as he sometimes is, by Execrable Witches. This horrible Dragon does not only with his Tayl strike at the Stars of God, but at the God himself, who made the Stars, being desirous to outshine them all. God and the Devil are sworn Enemies to each other; the Terms between them, are those, in Zech. 11. 18. My Soul loathed them, and their Soul also abhorred me. And from this Furious wrath, or Displeasure and Prejudice at God, proceeds the Devils wrath at us, the poor Children of Men. Our doing the Service of God, is one thing that exposes us to the wrath of the Devil. We are the High Priests of the World; when all Creatures are called upon, Praise ye the Lord, they bring to us those demanded Praises of God, saying, do you offer them for us. Hence 'tis, that the Devil has a Quarrel with [8] us, as he had with61 the High-Priest in the Vision of Old. Our bearing the Image of God is another thing that brings the wrath of the Devil upon us. As a Tyger, thro' his Hatred at man will tear the very Picture of him, if it come in his way; such a Tyger the Devil is; because God said of old, Let us make Man in our Image, the Devil is ever saying, Let us pull this man to pieces. But the envious Pride of the Devil, is one thing more that gives an Edge unto his Furious Wrath against us. The Apostle has given us an hint, as if Pride had been the Condemnation of the Devil. 'Tis not unlikely, that the Devil's Affectation to be above that Condition which he might learn that Mankind was to be preferr'd unto, might be the occcasion of his taking up Arms against the Immortal King. However, the Devil now sees Man lying in the Bosom of God, but himself damned in the bottom of Hell; and this enrages him exceedingly; O, says he, I cannot bear it, that man should not be as miserable as my self.

Proposition III. The Devil, in the prosecution, and the execution of his wrath upon them, often gets a Liberty to make a Descent upon the Children of men. When the Devil does hurt unto us, he comes down unto us; for the Rendezvouze of the Infernal Troops, is indeed in the supernal parts of our Air.[83] But as 'tis said, A sparrow of the 62Air does not fall down without the will of God; so I may say, Not a Devil in the Air, can come down without the leave of God. Of this we have a famous Instance in that Arabian Prince, of whom the Devil was not able so much as to Touch any thing, till the most high God gave him a permission, to go down.[84] The Devil stands with all the Instruments of death, aiming at us, and begging of the Lord, as that King ask'd for the Hood-wink'd Syrians of old, Shall I smite 'em, shall I smite 'em? He cannot strike a blow, till the Lord say, Go down and smite, but sometimes he does obtain from the high possessor of Heaven and Earth, a License for the doing of it. The Devil sometimes does make most rueful Havock among us; but still we may say to him, as our Lord said unto a great Servant of his, Thou couldst have no power against me, except it were given thee from above.[85] The Devil is called in 1 Pet. 5. 8. Your Adversary. This is a Law-term; and it notes An Adversary at Law. The Devil cannot come at us, except in some sence according to Law; but sometimes 63he does procure sad things to be inflicted, according to the Law of the eternal King upon us. The Devil first goes up as an Accuser against us. He is therefore styled The Accuser; and it is on this account, that his proper Name does belong unto him. There is a Court somewhere kept; a Court of Spirits, where the Devil enters all sorts of Complaints [9] against us all; he charges us with manifold sins against the Lord our God: There he loads us with heavy Imputations of Hypocrysie, Iniquity, Disobedience; whereupon he urges, Lord, let 'em now have the death, which is their wages, paid unto 'em! If our Advocate in the Heavens do not now take off his Libel; the Devil, then, with a Concession of God, comes down, as a destroyer upon us. Having first been an Attorney, to bespeak that the Judgments of Heaven may be ordered for us, he then also pleads, that he may be the Executioner of those Judgments; and the God of Heaven sometimes after a sort, signs a Warrant, for this destroying Angel, to do what has been desired to be done for the destroying of men. But such a permission from God, for the Devil to come down, and break in upon mankind, oftentimes must be accompany'd with a Commission from some wretches of mankind it self. Every man is, as 'tis hinted in Gen. 4. 9. His brother's keeper. We are to keep one another from the Inroads of the Devil, by mutual and cordial Wishes of prosperity to one another. When ungodly people give their Consents in witchcrafts64 diabolically performed, for the Devil to annoy their Neighbours, he finds a breach made in the Hedge about us, whereat he Rushes in upon us, with grievous molestations. Yea, when the impious people, that never saw the Devil, do but utter their Curses against their Neighbours, those are so many watch words, whereby the Mastives of Hell are animated presently to fall upon us. Tis thus, that the Devil gets leave to worry us.

Proposition IV. Most horrible woes come to be inflicted upon Mankind, when the Devil does in great wrath, make a descent upon them. The Devil is a Do-Evil, and wholly set upon mischief. When our Lord once was going to Muzzel him, that he might not mischief others, he cry'd out, Art thou come to torment me? He is, it seems, himself Tormented, if he be but Restrained from the tormenting of Men. If upon the sounding of the Three last Apocalyptical Angels, it was an outcry made in Heaven, Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the voice of the Trumpet. I am sure, a descent made by the Angel of death, would give cause for the like Exclamation: Wo to the world, by reason of the wrath of the Devil! what a woful plight, mankind would by the descent of the Devil be brought into, may be gathered from the woful pains, and wounds, and hideous desolations which the Devil brings upon them, with whom he has with a bodily Possession made a Seisure. You may both in Sacred and Profane History, read many a direful Account of65 the woes, which they that are possessed by the Devil, do undergo: And from thence conclude, What [10] must the Children of Men hope from such a Devil! Moreover, the Tyrannical Ceremonies, whereto the Devil uses to subjugate such Woful Nations or Orders of Men, as are more Entirely under his Dominion, do declare what woful Work the Devil would make where he comes. The very Devotions of those forlorn Pagans, to whom the Devil is a Leader, are most bloody Penances; and what Woes indeed must we expect from such a Devil of a Moloch, as relishes no Sacrifices like those of Humane Heart-blood, and unto whom there is no Musick like the bitter, dying, doleful Groans, ejaculated by the Roasting Children of Men.

Furthermore, the servile, abject, needy circumstances wherein the Devil keeps the Slaves, that are under his more sensible Vassalage, do suggest unto us, how woful the Devil would render all our Lives. We that live in a Province, which affords unto us all that may be necessary or comfortable for us, found the Province fill'd with vast Herds of Salvages, that never saw so much as a Knife, or a Nail, or a Board, or a Grain of Salt, in all their Days. No better would the Devil have the World provided for. Nor should we, or any else, have one convenient thing about us, but be as indigent as usually our most Ragged Witches are; if the Devil's Malice were not overruled by a compassionate God, who preserves Man 66 and Beast. Hence 'tis, that the Devil, even like a Dragon, keeping a Guard upon such Fruits as would refresh a languishing World, has hindred Mankind for many Ages, from hitting upon those useful Inventions, which yet were so obvious and facil, that it is every bodies wonder, they were no sooner hit upon. The bemisted World, must jog on for thousands of Years, without the knowledg of the Loadstone, till a Neapolitan stumbled upon it, about three hundred years ago. Nor must the World be blest with such a matchless Engine of Learning and Vertue, as that of Printing, till about the middle of the Fifteenth Century. Nor could One Old Man, all over the Face of the whole Earth, have the benefit of such a Little, tho' most needful thing, as a pair of Spectacles, till a Dutch-Man, a little while ago accommodated us.[86]

Indeed, as the Devil does begrutch us all manner of Good, so he does annoy us with all manner of Wo, as often as he finds himself capable of doing it. But shall we mention some of the special woes with which the Devil does usually infest the World! Briefly then; Plagues are some of those woes with which the Devil troubles us. It is said of the Israelites, in 1 Cor. 10. 10. They were destroyed of the destroyer. That is, they had the Plague among them. 'Tis the Destroyer, or the 67Devil, that scatters Plagues about the World. Pestilential and Contagious Diseases, 'tis the Devil who does oftentimes invade us with them. 'Tis no uneasy thing for the Devil to impreg[11]nate the Air about us, with such Malignant Salts, as meeting with the Salt of our Microcosm, shall immediately cast us into that Fermentation and Putrefaction, which will utterly dissolve all the Vital Tyes within us; Ev'n as an Aqua-Fortis, made with a conjunction of Nitre and Vitriol, Corrodes what it Seizes upon. And when the Devil has raised those Arsenical Fumes, which become Venemous Quivers full of Terrible Arrows, how easily can he shoot the deleterious Miasms into those Juices or Bowels of Mens Bodies, which will soon Enflame them with a Mortal Fire! Hence come such Plagues, as that Beesom of Destruction, which within our memory swept away such a Throng of People from one English City in one Visitation;[87] And hence those Infectious Fevers, which are but so many Disguised Plagues among us, causing Epidemical Desolations. Again, Wars are also some of those Woes, with which the Devil causes our Trouble. It is said in Rev. 12. 17. The Dragon was Wrath and he went to make War; and there is in truth scarce any War, but what is of the Dragon's kindling.[88] 68The Devil is that Vulcan, out of whose Forge come the instruments of our Wars, and it is he that finds us Employments for those Instruments. We read concerning Dæmoniacks, or People in whom the Devil was, that they would cut and wound themselves; and so, when the Devil is in Men, he puts 'em upon dealing in that barbarous fashion with one another. Wars do often furnish him with some Thousands of Souls in one Morning from one Acre of Ground; and for the sake of such Thyestæan Banquets, he will push us upon as many Wars as he can.

Once more, why may not Storms be reckoned among those Woes, with which the Devil does disturb us? It is not improbable that Natural Storms on the World are often of the Devils raising. We are told in Job 1. 11, 12, 19. that the Devil made a Storm, which hurricano'd the House of Job, upon the Heads of them that were Feasting in it. Paracelsus could have informed the Devil, if he had not been informed, as besure he was before, That if much Aluminious matter, with Salt Petre not throughly prepared, be mixed, they will send up a cloud of Smoke, which will come down in Rain. But undoubtedly the Devil understands as well the way to make a Tempest as to turn the Winds at the Solicitation of a Laplander;[89] whence perhaps it is, that Thunders are 69observed oftner to break upon Churches than upon any other Buildings; and besides many a Man, yea many a Ship, yea, many a Town has miscarried, when the Devil has been permitted from above to make an horrible Tempest.[90] However that the Devil has raised many Metaphorical Storms upon the Church, is a thing, than which there is nothing more notorious. It was said unto Believers in Rev. 2. 10. The Devil shall cast some of [12] you into Prison. The Devil was he that at first set Cain upon Abel to butcher him, as the Apostle seems to suggest, for his Faith in God, as a Rewarder. And in how many Persecutions, as well as Heresies has the Devil been ever since Engaging all the Children of Cain! That Serpent the Devil has acted his cursed Seed in unwearied endeavours to have them, Of whom the World is not worthy, treated as those who are not worthy to live in the World. By the impulse of the Devil, 'tis that first the old Heathens, and 70then the mad Arians were pricking Briars to the true Servants of God; and that the Papists that came after them, have out done them all for Slaughters, upon those that have been accounted as the Sheep for the Slaughters. The late French Persecution is perhaps the horriblest that ever was in the World:[91] And as the Devil of Mascon seems before to have meant it in his out-cries upon the Miseries preparing for the poor Hugonots! Thus it has been all acted by a singlar Fury of the old Dragon inspiring of his Emissaries.

But in reality, Spiritual Woes are the principal Woes among all those that the Devil would have us undone withal. Sins are the worst of Woes, and the Devil seeks nothing so much as to plunge us into Sins. When men do commit a Crime for which they are to be Indicted, they are usually mov'd by the Instigation of the Devil. The Devil will put ill men upon being worse. Was it not he that said in 1 King. 22. 22. I will go forth, and be a lying Spirit in the Mouth of all the Prophets? Even so the Devil becomes an Unclean Spirit, a Drinking Spirit, a Swearing Spirit, a Worldly Spirit, a Passionate Spirit, a Revengeful 71Spirit, and the like in the Hearts of those that are already too much of such a Spirit; and thus they become improv'd in Sinfulness. Yea, the Devil will put good men upon doing ill. Thus we read in 1 Chron. 21. 1. Satan provoked David to number Israel. And so the Devil provokes men that are Eminent in Holiness unto such things as may become eminently Pernicious; he provokes them especially unto Pride, and unto many unsuitable Emulations. There are likewise most lamentable Impressions which the Devil makes upon the Souls of Men by way of punishment upon them for their Sins. 'Tis thus when an Offended God puts the Souls of Men over into the Hands of that Officer who has the power of Death, that is, the Devil. It is the woful Misery of Unbelievers in 2 Cor. 4. 4. The god of this World has blinded their minds. And thus it may be said of those woful Wretches whom the Devil is a God unto, the Devil so muffles them that they cannot see the things of their peace. And the Devil so hardens them, that nothing will awaken their cares about their Souls: How come so many to be Seared in their Sins? 'Tis the Devil that with a red hot Iron fetcht from his Hell [13] does cauterise them. Thus 'tis, till perhaps at last they come to have a Wounded Conscience in them, and the Devil has often a share in their Torturing and confounded Anguishes. The Devil who Terrified Cain, and Saul, and Judas into Desperation, still becomes a King of Terrors to many Sinners,72 and frights them from laying hold on the Mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. In these regards, Wo unto us, when the Devil comes down upon us.[92]

Proposition V. Toward the End of his Time the Descent of the Devil in Wrath upon the World will produce more woful Effects, than what have been in former Ages. The dying Dragon, will bite more cruelly and sting more bloodily than ever he did before: The Death-pangs of the Devil will make him to be more of a Devil than ever he was; and the Furnace of this Nebuchadnezzar will be heated seven times hotter, just before its putting out.

We are in the first place to apprehend, that there is a time fixed and stated by God for the Devil to enjoy a dominion over our sinful and therefore woful World. The Devil once exclaimed in Mat. 8. 29. Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou come hither to Torment us before our Time? It is plain, that until the second coming of our Lord the Devil must have a time of plagueing the World, which he was afraid would have Expired at his first. The Devil is by the wrath of God the Prince of this World; and the time of his Reign is to continue until the time when our Lord himself shall take to himself his great Power and 73Reign. Then 'tis that the Devil shall hear the Son of God swearing with loud Thunders against him, Thy time shall now be no more! Then shall the Devil with his Angels receive their doom, which will be, depart into the everlasting Fire prepared for you.

We are also to apprehend, that in the mean time, the Devil can give a shrewd guess, when he draws near to the End of his Time. When he saw Christianity enthron'd among the Romans, it is here said, in our Rev. 12. 12. He knows he hath but a short time. And how does he know it? Why Reason will make the Devil to know that God won't suffer him to have the Everlasting Dominion; and that when God has once begun to rescue the World out of his hands, he'll go through with it, until the Captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. But the Devil will have Scripture also, to make him know, that when his Antichristian Vicar, the seven-headed Beast on the seven-hilled City,[93] shall have spent his determined years, he with his Vicar must unavoidably go down into the bottomless Pit. It is not improbable, that the Devil often hears the Scripture expounded in our Congregations; yea that we never assemble without a Satan among us. As there are some Divines, who do with more uncertainty conjecture, from a certain place in the Epistle to the Ephesians, That the Angels 74do sometimes come into our Churches, to gain some advantage from our Ministry. But be sure our Demonstrable Interpretations may give Repeated Notices to the Devil, That his time is almost out; and what the Preacher says unto the Young Man, Know thou, that God will bring thee into Judgment! That may our Sermons tell unto the Old Wretch, Know thou, that the time of thy Judgment is at hand.

But we must now, likewise, apprehend, that in such a time, the woes of the World will be heightened, beyond what they were at any time yet from the foundation of the World. Hence 'tis, that the Apostle has forewarned us, in 2 Tim. 3. 1. this know, that [14] in the last days, perillous times shall come. Truly, when the Devil knows, that he is got into his Last days, he will make perillous times for us; the times will grow more full of Devils, and therefore more full of Perils, than ever they were before. Of this, if we would know, what cause is to be assigned; It is not only, because the Devil grows more able, and more eager to vex the World; but also, and chiefly, because the World is more worthy to be vexed by the Devil, than ever heretofore. The Sins of Men in this Generation, will be more mighty Sins, than those of the former Ages; men will be more Accurate and Exquisite and Refined in the arts of Sinning, than they use to be. And besides, their own sins, the sins of all the former Ages will also lie upon the sinners of this generation. Do we ask why the mischievous powers of darkness are to75 prevail more in our days, than they did in those that are past and gone! 'Tis because that men by sinning over again the sins of the former days, have a Fellowship with all those unfruitful works of darkness. As 'twas said in Matth. 23. 36. All these things shall come upon this generation; so the men of the last Generation, will find themselves involved in the guilt of all that went before them. Of Sinners 'tis said, They heap up Wrath; and the sinners of the Last Generations do not only add unto the heap of sin that has been pileing up ever since the Fall of man, but they Interest themselves in every sin of that enormous heap. There has been a Cry of all former ages going up to God, That the Devil may come down! and the sinners of the Last Generations, do sharpen and louden that cry, till the thing do come to pass, as Destructively as Irremediably. From whence it follows, that the Thrice Holy God, with his Holy Angels, will now after a sort more abandon the World, than in the former ages. The roaring Impieties of the old World, at last gave mankind such a distast in the Heart of the Just God, that he came to say, It Repents me that I have made such a Creature! And however, it may be but a witty Fancy, in a late Learned Writer, that the Earth before the Flood was nearer to the Sun, than it is at this Day; and that Gods Hurling down the Earth to a further distance from the Sun, were the cause of that Flood;[94] yet we may fitly enough say, that men 76 perished by a Rejection from the God of Heaven. Thus the enhanc'd Impieties of this our World, will Exasperate the Displeasure of God, at such a rate, as that he will more cast us off, than heretofore; until at last, he do with a more than ordinary Indignation say, Go Devils; do you take them, and make them beyond all former measures miserable!

If Lastly, We are inquisitive after Instances of those aggravated woes, with which the Devil will towards the End of his Time assault us; let it be remembered, That all the Extremities which were foretold by the Trumpets and Vials in the Apocalyptick Schemes of these things, to come upon the World, were the woes to come from the wrath of the Devil, upon the shortning of his Time. The horrendous desolations that have come upon mankind, by the Irruptions of the old Barbarians upon the Roman World, and then of the Saracens, and since, of the Turks, were such woes as men had never seen before. The Infandous Blindness and Vileness which then came upon mankind, and the Monstrous Croisadoes which thereupon carried the Roman World by Millions together unto the Shambles; were also such woes as had never yet had a Parallel. And yet these were some of the things here intended, when it was said, Wo! For the Devil is come down in great Wrath, having but a short time.

77

But besides all these things, and besides the increase of Plagues and Wars, and Storms, and Internal Maladies now in our days, there are especially two most extraordinary Woes, one would fear, will in these days become very ordinary. One Woe that may be look'd for is, A frequent Repition of Earth-quakes, and this perhaps by the energy of the Devil in the Earth. The Devil will be clap't up, as a Prisoner in or near the Bowels of the earth, when once that Conflagration shall be dispatched, which will make, The New Earth wherein shall dwell Righteousness; and that Conflagration will doubtless be much promoted by the Subterraneous Fires, which are a cause of the Earthquakes in our Dayes. Accordingly, we read, Great Earthquakes in divers places, enumerated among the Tokens of the Time approaching, when the Devil shall have no longer Time. I suspect, That we shall now be visited with more Usual [15] and yet more Fatal Earthquakes than were our Ancestors; in asmuch as the Fires that are shortly to Burn unto the Lowest Hell, and set on Fire the Foundations of the Mountaions, will now get more Head than they use to do; and it is not impossible, that the Devil, who is ere long to be punished in those Fires, may aforehand augment his Desert of it, by having an hand in using some of those Fires, for our Detriment. Learned Men have made no scruple to charge the Devil with it; Deo permittente, Terræ motus causat. The Devil surely, was a party in78 the Earthquake,[95] whereby the Vengeance of God, in one black Night sunk Twelve considerable Cities of Asia, in the Reign of Tiberious.[96] But there will be more such Catastrophe's in our Dayes; Italy has lately been Shaking, till its Earthquakes have brought Ruines at once upon more than thirty Towns; but it will within a little while, shake again, and shake till the Fire of God have made an Entire Etna of it. And behold, This very Morning, when I was intending to utter among you such Things as these, we are cast into an Heartquake by Tidings of an Earthquake that has lately happened at Jamaica: an horrible Earthquake, whereby the Tyrus of the English America, was at once pull'd into the Jaws of the Gaping and Groaning Earth, and many Hundreds of the Inhabitants buried alive.[97] The Lord sanctifie so dismal a Dispensation of his Providence, unto all the American Plantations! But be assured, my Neighbours, the Earthquakes are not over yet! We have not yet seen the last. And then, Another Wo that may be Look'd for is, The Devils being now let Loose in preternatural 79Operations more than formerly; and perhaps in Possessions and Obsessions that shall be very marvellous. You are not Ignorant, That just before our Lords First Coming, there were most observable Outrages committed by the Devil upon the Children of Men: And I am suspicious, That there will again be an unusual Range of the Devil among us, a little before the Second Coming of our Lord, which will be, to give the last stroke, in Destroying the works of the Devil. The Evening Wolves will be much abroad, when we are near the Evening of the World. The Devil is going to be Dislodged of the Air, where his present Quarters are; God will with flashes of hot Lightning upon him, cause him to fall as Lightning from his Ancient Habitations: And the Raised Saints will there have a New Heaven, which We expect according to the Promise of God. Now a little before this thing, you be like to see the Devil more sensibly and visibly Busy upon Earth perhaps, than ever he was before. You shall oftner hear about Apparitions of the Devil, and about poor people strangely Bewitched, Possessed and Obsessed, by Infernal Fiends. When our Lord is going to set up His Kingdom, in the most sensible and visible manner, that ever was, and in a manner answering the Transfiguration in the Mount, it is a Thousand to One, but the Devil will in sundry parts of the world, assay the like for Himself, with a most Apish Imitation: and Men, 80 at least in some Corners of the World, and perhaps in such as God may have some special Designs upon, will to their Cost, be more Familiarized with the World of Spirits, than they had been formerly.

So that, in fine, if just before the End, when the times of the Jews were to be finished, a man then ran about every where, crying, Wo to the Nation! Wo to the City! Wo to the Temple! Wo! Wo! Wo! Much more may the descent of the Devil, just before his End, when also the times of the Gentiles will be finished, cause us to cry out, Wo! Wo! Wo! because of the black things that threaten us!

But it is now Time to make our Improvement of what has been said. And, first, we shall entertain our selves with a few Corollaries, deduced from what has been thus asserted.

Corollary I. What cause have we to bless God, for our preservation from the Devils wrath, in this which may too reasonably be called the Devils World! While we are in this present evil world, We are continually surrounded with swarms of those Devils, who make this present world, become so evil. What a wonder of Mercy is it, that no Devil could ever yet make a prey of us![98] We can set our foot no where but we shall tread in the midst of most Hellish Rattle-Snakes; and one of those Rattle-Snakes once thro' the mouth of a Man, on whom he had Seized, hissed out 81such a Truth as this, If God would let me loose upon you, I should find enough in the Best of you all, to make you all mine.[99] What shall I say? The Wilderness thro' which we are passing to the Pro-[16]mised Land, is all over fill'd with Fiery flying serpents. But, blessed be God; None of them have hitherto so fastned upon us, as to confound us utterly! All our way to Heaven, lies by the Dens of Lions, and the Mounts of Leopards; there are incredible Droves of Devils in our way. But have we safely got on our way thus far? O let us be thankful to our Eternal preserver for it. It is said in Psal. 76. 10. Surely the wrath of Man shall praise thee, and the Remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain; But surely it becomes to praise God, in that we have yet sustain'd no more Damage by the wrath of the Devil, and in that he has restrain'd that Overwhelming wrath. We are poor, Travellers in a World, which is as well the Devils Field, as the Devils Gaol;[100] a World in every Nook whereof the Devil is encamped with Bands of Robbers, to pester all that have their Face looking Zion-ward: And are we all this while preserved from the undoing Snares of the Devil? it is, Thou, O keeper of Israel, that hast hitherto been 82our Keeper! And therefore, Bless the Lord, O my soul, Bless his Holy Name, who has redeemed thy Life from the Destroyer!

Corollary II. We may see the rise of those multiply'd, magnify'd, and Singularly-stinged Afflictions, with which aged, or dying Saints frequently have their Death Prefaced, and their Age embittered. When the Saints of God are going to leave the World, it is usually a more Stormy World with them, than ever it was; and they find more Vanity, and more Vexation in the world than ever they did before. It is true, That many are the afflictions of the Righteous; but a little before they bid adieu to all those many Afflictions, they often have greater, harder, Sorer, Loads thereof laid upon them, than they had yet endured. It is true, That thro' much Tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God; but a little before our Entrance thereinto, our Tribulation may have some sharper accents of Sorrow, than ever were yet upon it. And what is the cause of this? It is indeed the Faithfulness of our God unto us, that we should find the Earth more full of Thorns and Briars than ever, just before he fetches us from Earth to Heaven; that so we may go away the more willingly, the more easily, and with less Convulsion, at his calling for us. O there are ugly Ties, by which we are fastned unto this world; but God will by Thorns and Briars tear those Ties asunder. But, is not the Hand of Joab here? Sure, There is the wrath of the Devil83 also in it. A little before we step into Heaven, the Devil thinks with himself, My time to abuse that Saint is now but short; what Mischief I am to do that Saint, must be done quickly, if at all; he'l shortly be out of my Reach for ever. And for this cause he will now fly upon us with the Fiercest Efforts and Furies of his Wrath. It was allowed unto the Serpent, in Gen. 2. 15. To Bruise the Heel. Why, at the Heel, or at the Close, of our Lives, the Serpent will be nibbling, more than ever in our Lives before: and it is Because now he has but a short time. He knows, That we shall very shortly be, Where the wicked cease from Troubling, and where the Weary are at Rest; wherefore that Wicked one will now Trouble us, more than ever he did, and we shall have so much Disrest, as will make us more weary than ever we were, of things here below.

Corollary III. What a Reasonable Thing then is it, that they whose Time is but short, should make as great Use of their Time, as ever they can! I pray, let us learn some good, even from the wicked One himself. It has been advised, Be wise as Serpents: why, there is a piece of Wisdom, whereto that old Serpent, the Devil himself, may be our Moniter. When the Devil perceives his Time is but short, it puts him upon Great Wrath. But how should it be with us, when we perceive that our Time is but short? why, it should put us upon Great Work. The motive which makes the Devil to be more full of wrath; should make84 us more full of warmth, more full of watch, and more full of All Diligence to make our Vocation, and Election sure. Our Pace in our Journey Heaven-ward, must be Quickened, if our space for that Journey be shortned, even as Israel went further the two last years of their Journey Canaan-ward, than they did in 38 years before. The Apostle brings this, as a spur to the Devotions of Christians, in 1 Cor. 7. 29. This I say, Brethren, the time is short. Even so, I say this; some things I lay before you, which I do only think, or guess, but here is a thing which I venture to say with all the [33] freedom imaginable. You have now a Time to Get good, even a Time to make sure of Grace and Glory, and every good thing, by true Repentance: But, This I say, the time is but short. You have now Time to Do good, even to serve out your generation, as by the Will, so for the Praise of God; but, This I say, the time is but short. And what I say thus to All People, I say to Old People, with a peculiar Vehemency: Sirs, It cannot be long before your Time is out; there are but a few sands left in the glass of your Time: And it is of all things the saddest, for a man to say, My time is done, but my work undone! O then, To work as fast as you can; and of Soul-work, and Church-work, dispatch as much as ever you can. Say to all Hindrances, as the gracious Jeremiah Burroughs[101] would sometimes to Visitants: You'll 85excuse me if I ask you to be short with me, for my work is great, and my time is but short. Methinks every time we hear a Clock, or see a Watch, we have an admonition given us, that our Time is upon the wing, and it will all be gone within a little while. I remember I have read of a famous man, who having a Clock-watch long lying by him, out of Kilture in his Trunk, it unaccountably struck Eleven just before he died. Why, there are many of you, for whom I am to do that office this day: I am to tell you You are come to your Eleventh hour; there is no more than a twelfth part at most, of your life yet behind. But if we neglect our business, till our short Time shall be reduced into none, then, woe to us, for the great wrath of God will send us down from whence there is no Redemption.

Corollary IV.

How welcome should a Death in the Lord be unto them that belong not unto the Devil, but unto the Lord! While we are sojourning in this World, we are in what may upon too many accounts be called The Devils Country: We are where the Devil may come upon us in great wrath continually. The day when God shall take us out of this World, will be, The day when the Lord will deliver us from the hand of all our Enemies, and from the hand of Satan. In such a day, why should not our song 86be that of the Psalmist, Blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my Salvation be exalted! While we are here, we are in the valley of the shadow of death; and what is it that makes it so? 'Tis because the wild Beasts of Hell are lurking on every side of us, and every minute ready to salley forth upon us. But our Death will fetch us out of that Valley, and carry us where we shall be for ever with the Lord. We are now under the daily Buffetings of the Devil, and he does molest us with such Fiery Darts, as cause us even to cry out, I am weary of my Life. Yea, but are we as willing to die, as, weary of Life? Our Death will then soon set us where we cannot be reach'd by the Fist of Wickedness; and where the Perfect cannot be shotten at. It is said in Rev. 14. 13. Blessed are the [34] Dead which die in the Lord, they rest from their labours. But we may say, Blessed are the Dead in the Lord, inasmuch as they rest from the Devils! Our dying will be but our taking wing: When attended with a Convoy of winged Angels, we shall be convey'd into that Heaven, from whence the Devil having been thrown he shall never more come thither after us. What if God should now say to us, as to Moses, Go up and die! As long as we go up, when we die, let us receive the Message with a joyful Soul; we shall soon be there, where the Devil can't come down upon us. If the God of our Life should now send that Order to us, which he gave to Hezekiah, Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not 87 live; we need not be cast into such deadly Agonies thereupon, as Hezekiah was: We are but going to that House, the Golden Doors whereof, cannot be entred by the Devil that here did use to persecute us. Methinks I see the Departed Spirit of a Believer, triumphantly carried thro' the Devils Territories, in such a stately and Fiery Chariot, as the Spiritualizing Body of Elias had; methink I see the Devil, with whole Flocks of Harpies, grinning at this Child of God, but unable to fasten any of their griping Talons upon him: And then, upon the utmost edge of our Atmosphœre, methinks I overhear the holy Soul, with a most heavenly Gallantry, deriding the defeated Fiend, and saying, Ah! Satan! Return to thy Dungeons again; I am going where thou canst not come for ever! O 'tis a brave thing so to die! and especially so to die, in our time. For, tho' when we call to mind, That the Devils time is now but short, it may almost make us wish to live unto the end of it; and to say with the Psalmist, Because the Lord will shortly appear in his Glory to build up Zion. O my God! Take me not away in the midst of my days. Yet when we bear in mind, that the Devils Wrath is now most great, it would make one willing to be out of the way. Inasmuch as now is the time for the doing of those things in the prospect whereof Balaam long ago cry'd out Who shall live when such things are done! We should not be inordinatly loth to die at such a time. In a word, the Times are so88 bad, that we may well count it, as good a time to die in, as ever we saw.

Corollary V.

Good News for the Israel of God, and particularly for his New-English Israel. If the Devils Time were above a thousand years ago, pronounced short, what may we suppose it now in our Time? Surely we are not a thousand years distant from those happy thousand years of rest and peace, and [which is better] Holiness reserved for the People of God in the latter days; and if we are not a thousand years yet short of that Golden Age, there is cause to think, that we are not an hundred. That the blessed Thousand years are not yet begun, is abundantly clear [35] from this, We do not see the Devil bound; No, the Devil was never more let loose than in our Days; and it is very much that any should imagine otherwise: But the same thing that proves the Thousand Years of prosperity for the Church of God, under the whole Heaven, to be not yet begun, does also prove, that it is not very far off; and that is the prodigious wrath with which the Devil does in our days Persecute, yea, desolate the World. Let us cast our Eyes almost where we will, and we shall see the Devils domineering at such a rate as may justly fill us with astonishment; it is questionable whether Iniquity ever were so rampant, or whether Calamity were ever so pungent, as in this Lamentable time; We may truly say, 'Tis the Hour and the Power of 89 Darkness. But, tho' the wrath be so great, the time is but short: when we are perplexed with the wrath of the Devil, the Word of our God at the same time unto us, is that in Rom. 16. 20. The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet Shortly. Shortly, didst thou say, dearest Lord! O gladsome word! Amen, Even so, come Lord! Lord Jesus, come quickly! We shall never be rid of this troublesome Devil, till thou do come to Chain him up!

But because the people of God, would willingly be told whereabouts we are, with reference to the wrath and the time of the Devil, you shall give me leave humbly to set before you a few Conjectures.

The first Conjecture.

The Devils Eldest Son seems to be towards the End of his last Half-time; and if it be so, the Devils Whole-time, cannot but be very near its End. It is a very scandalous thing that any Protestant, should be at a loss where to find the Anti-Christ. But, we have a sufficient assurance, that the Duration of Anti-Christ, is to be but for a Time, and for Times, and for Half a time; that is for Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years. And indeed, those Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years, were the very Spott of Time left for the Devil, and meant when 'tis here said, He has but a short time. Now, I should have an easie time of it, if I were never put upon an Harder Task, than to produce what90 might render it extreamly probable, that Anti-christ entred his last Half-time, or the last Hundred and Fourscore years of his Reign, at or soon after the celebrated Reformation which began at the year 1517 in the former Century.[102] Indeed, it is very agreeable to see how Antichrist then lost Half of his Empire; and how that half which then became Reformed, have been upon many accounts little more than Half-reformed. But by this computation, we must needs be within a very few years of such a Mortification to befal the See of Rome, as that Antichrist, who has lately been planting (what proves no more lasting than) a Tabernacle in the Glorious Holy Mountain between the Seas, must quickly, Come to his End and none shall help him. [36] So then, within a very little while, we shall see the Devil stript of the grand, yea, the last, Vehicle, wherein he will be capable to abuse our World. The Fires, with which, That Beast is to be consumed, will so singe the Wings of the Devil too, that he shall no more set the Affairs of this world on Fire. Yea, they shall both go into the same Fire, to be tormented for ever and ever.

The Second Conjecture.

That which is, perhaps, the greatest Effect of the Devils Wrath, seems to be in a manner at an 91end: and this would make one hope that the Devils time cannot be far from its end. It is in Persecution, that the wrath of the Devil uses to break forth, with its greatest fury. Now there want not probabilities, that the last Persecution intended for the Church of God, before the Advent of our Lord, has been upon it. When we see the second Woe passing away, we have a fair signal given unto us, That the last slaughter of our Lord's Witnesses is over; and then what Quickly follows? The next thing is, The Kingdoms of this World, are become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, and of His Christ: and then down goes the Kingdom of the Devil, so that he cannot any more come down upon us. Now, the Irrecoverable and Irretrievable Humiliations that have lately befallen the Turkish Power, are but so many Declarations of the second Woe passing away.[103] And the dealings of God with the European parts of the world, at this day do further strengthen this our expectation. We do see, at this hour a great Earth-quake all Europe over: and we shall see, that this great Earth-quake, and these great Commotions, will but contribute unto the advancement of our Lords hitherto depressed 92 Interests. 'Tis also to be remark'd that, a disposition to recognize the Empire of God over the Conscience of man, does now prevail more in the world than formerly; and God from on High more touches the Hearts of Princes and Rulers with an averseness to Persecution. 'Tis particularly the unspeakable happiness of the English Nation, to be under the Influences of that excellent Queen, who could say, In as much as a man cannot make himself believe what he will, why should we Persecute men for not believing as we do! I wish I could see all good men of one mind; but in the mean time I pray, let them however love one another.[104] Words worthy to be written in Letters of Gold! and by us the more to be considered, because to one of Ours did that royal Person express Her self so excellently, so obligingly. When the late King James published his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, a worthy Divine in the Church of England, then studying the Revelation, saw cause upon Revelational Grounds, to declare himself in such words as these, Whatsoever others may intend or design by this Liberty of Conscience, I cannot believe, that it will ever be recalled in England, as long as the World stands. And you know how miraculously [37] the Earth-quake[105] which then immediately came upon the Kingdom, has 93established that Liberty! But that which exceeds all the tendencies this way, is, the dispensation of God at this Day, towards the blessed Vaudois. Those renowned Waldenses, which were a sort of Root unto all Protestant Churches, were never dissipated, by all the Persecutions of many Ages, till within these few years, the French King and the Duke of Savoy leagued for their dissipation.[106] But just Three years and a half after the scattering of that holy people, to the surprise of all the World, Spirit of life from God is come into them; and having with a thousand Miracles repossessed themselves of their antient Seats, their hot Persecutor is become their great Protector. Whereupon the reflection of the worthy person, that writes the story is, The Churches of Piemont, being the Root of the Protestant Churches, they have been the first established; the Churches of other places, being but the Branches, shall be established in due time, God will deliver them speedily, He has already delivered the Mother, and He will not long leave the Daughter behind: He will finish what he has gloriously begun!

The Third Conjecture.

There is little room for hope, that the great wrath of the Devil, will not prove the present 94ruine of our poor New-England in particular. I believe, there never was a poor Plantation, more pursued by the wrath of the Devil, than our poor New-England; and that which makes our condition very much the more deplorable is, that the wrath of the great God Himself, at the same time also presses hard upon us. It was a rousing alarm to the Devil, when a great Company of English Protestants and Puritans, came to erect Evangelical Churches, in a corner of the World, where he had reign'd without any controul for many Ages; and it is a vexing Eye-sore to the Devil, that our Lord Christ should be known, and own'd and preached in this howling Wilderness. Wherefor he has left no Stone unturned, that so he might undermine his Plantation, and force us out of our Country.

First, The Indian Powawes, used all their Sorceries to molest the first Planters here;[107] but God said unto them, Touch them not! Then, Seducing Spirits came to root in this Vineyard, but God so rated them off, that they have not prevail'd much farther than the Edges of our Land.[108] After this, we have had a continual blast upon some of our principal Grain, annually diminishing a vast part of our ordinary Food. Herewithal, wasting Sicknesses, especially Burning and Mortal Agues, have Shot the Arrows of Death in at our 95Windows. Next, we have had many Adversaries of our own Language, who have been perpetually assaying to deprive us of those English Liberties, in the encouragement whereof these Territories have been settled.[109] As if this had not been [38] enough; The Tawnies among whom we came, have watered our Soil with the Blood of many Hundreds of our Inhabitants. Desolating Fires also have many times laid the chief Treasure of the whole Province in Ashes. As for Losses by Sea, they have been multiply'd upon us: and particularly in the present French War, the whole English Nation have observ'd that no part of the Nation has proportionably had so many Vessels taken, as our poor New-England. Besides all which, now at last the Devils are (if I may so speak) in Person come down upon us with such a Wrath, as is justly much, and will quickly be more, the Astonishment of the World. Alas, I may sigh over this Wilderness, as Moses did over his, in Psal. 90. 7. 9. We are consumed by thine Anger, and by thy Wrath we are troubled: All our days are passed away in thy Wrath. And I may add this unto it, The Wrath of the Devil too has been troubling and spending of us, all our days.

But what will become of this poor New-England after all? Shall we sink, expire, perish, before the short time of the Devil shall be finished?[110] I must confess, That when I consider 96the lamentable Unfruitfulness of men, among us, under as powerful and perspicuous Dispensations of the Gospel, as are in the World; and when I consider the declining state of the Power of Godliness in our Churches, with the most horrible Indisposition that perhaps ever was, to recover out of this declension; I cannot but Fear lest it comes to this, and lest an Asiatic Removal of Candlesticks come upon us. But upon some other Accounts, I would fain hope otherwise; and I will give you therefore the opportunity to try what Inferences may be drawn from these probable Prognostications.

I say, First, That surely, America's Fate must at the long run include New-Englands in it. What was the design of our God, in bringing over so many Europeans hither of late Years? Of what use or state will America be, when the Kingdom of God shall come? If it must all be the Devils propriety, while the saved Nations of the other Hæmisphere shall be Walking in the Light of the New Jerusalem, Our New-England has then, 'tis likely, done all that it was erected for. But if God have a purpose to make here a seat for any of those glorious things which are spoken of thee, O thou City of God; then even thou, O New-England, art within a very little while of better days than ever yet have dawn'd upon thee.

97

I say, Secondly, That tho' there be very Threatning Symptoms on America, yet there are some hopeful ones. I confess, when one thinks upon the crying Barbarities with which the most of those Europeans that have Peopled this New world, became the Masters of it; it looks but Ominously. When one also thinks how much the way of living in many parts of America, is utterly inconsistent with the very Essentials of Christianity; yea, how much Injury and Violence is there[39]in done to Humanity it self; it is enough to damp the Hopes of the most Sanguine Complexion. And the Frown of Heaven which has hitherto been upon Attempts of better Gospellizing the Plantations, considered, will but increase the Damp. Nevertheless, on the other side, what shall be said of all the Promises, That our Lord Jesus Christ shall have the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession? and of all the Prophecies, That All the ends of the Earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord? Or does it look agreeably, That such a rich quarter of the World, equal in some regards to all the rest, should never be out of the Devils hands, from the first Inhabitation unto the last Dissolution of it? No sure; why may not the last be the first? and the Sun of Righteousness come to shine brightest, in Climates which it rose latest upon!

I say, Thirdly, That as it fares with Old England, so it will be most likely to fare with New-England. For which cause, by the way, there98 may be more of the Divine Favour in the present Circumstances of our dependence on England, than we are well aware of. This is very sure, if matters go ill with our Mother, her poor American Daughter here, must feel it; nor could our former Happy Settlement have hindred our sympathy in that Unhappiness. But if matters go Well in the Three Kingdoms; as long as God shall bless the English Nation, with Rulers that shall encourage Piety, Honesty, Industry, in their Subjects, and that shall cast a Benign Aspect upon the Interests of our Glorious Gospel, Abroad as well as at Home; so long, New-England will at least keep its head above water: and so much the more, for our comfortable Settlement in such a Form as we are now cast into. Unless there should be any singular, destroying, Topical Plagues, whereby an offended God should at last make us Rise; But, Alas, O Lord, what other Hive hast thou provided for us!

I say, Fourthly, That the Elder England will certainly and speedily be Visited with the ancient loving kindness of God. When one sees, how strangely the Curse of our Joshua, has fallen upon the Persons and Houses of them that have attempted the Rebuilding of the Old Romish Jericho, which has there been so far demolished, they cannot but say, That the Reformation there, shall not only be maintained, but also pursued, proceeded, perfected; and that God will shortly there have a New Jerusalem. Or, Let a Man in99 his thoughts run over but the series of amazing Providences towards the English Nation for the last Thirty Years: Let him reflect, how many Plots for the ruine of the Nation have been strangely discovered? yea, how very unaccountably those very Persons, yea, I may also say, and those very Methods which were intended for the tools of that ruine, have become the instruments or occasions of Deliverances? A man cannot but say upon these Reflec[40]tions, as the Wife of Manoah once prudently expressed her self, If the Lord were pleased to have Destroyed us, He would not have shew'd us all these things. Indeed, It is not unlikely, that the Enemies of the English Nation, may yet provoke such a Shake unto it, as may perhaps exceed any that has hitherto been undergone: the Lord prevent the Machinations of his Adversaries! But that shake will usher in the most glorious Times that ever arose upon the English Horizon. As for the French Cloud which hangs over England, tho' it be like to Rain showers of Blood upon a Nation, where the Blood of the Blessed Jesus has been too much treated as an Unholy Thing; yet I believe God will shortly scatter it: and my belief is grounded upon a bottom that will bear it. If that overgrown French Leviathan[111] should accomplish any thing like a 100Conquest of England, what could there be to hinder him from the Universal Empire of the West? But the Visions of the Western World, in the Views both of Daniel and of John, do assure us, that whatever Monarch, shall while the Papacy continues go to swallow up the Ten Kings which received their Power upon the Fall of the Western Empire, he must miscarry in the Attempt. The French Phaetons Epitaph seems written in that, Sure Word of Prophecy.

[Since the making of this Conjecture, there are arriv'd unto us, the News of a Victory obtain'd by the English over the French, which further confirms our Conjecture; and causes us to sing, Pharaohs Chariots, and his Hosts, has the Lord cast down into the Sea; Thy right-hand has dashed in pieces the Enemy!][112]

Now, In the Salvation of England, the Plantations cannot but Rejoyce, and New-England also will be Glad.

But so much for our Corollaries, I hasten to the main thing designed for your entertainment. And that is,

101 AN HORTATORY AND NECESSARY ADDRESS,
TO A COUNTRY NOW EXTRAORDINARILY
ALARUM'D
BY THE WRATH OF THE
DEVIL. TIS THIS,

LET us now make a good and a right use of the prodigious descent which the Devil in Great Wrath is at this day making upon our Land. Upon the Death of a Great Man once, an Orator call'd the Town together, crying out, Concurrite Cives, Dilapsa sunt vestra Mœnia! that is, Come together, Neighbours, your Town-Walls are fallen down! But such is the descent of the Devil at this day upon our selves, that I may truly tell you, The Walls of the whole World are broken down! The usual Walls of defence about mankind have such a Gap made in them, that the very Devils are broke in upon us, to seduce the Souls, torment the Bodies, sully the Credits, and consume the Estates of our Neighbours, [41] with Impressions both as real and as furious, as if the Invisible World were becoming Incarnate, on purpose for the vexing of us. And what use ought now to be made of so tremendous a dispensation? We are engaged in a Fast this day;[113] but shall we try to fetch Meat out of the 102Eater, and make the Lion to afford some Hony for our Souls?

That the Devil is come down unto us with great Wrath, we find, we feel, we now deplore.[114] In many ways, for many years hath the Devil been assaying to Extirpate the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus here. New-England may complain of the Devil, as in Psal. 129. 1, 2. Many a time have they afflicted me, from my Youth, may New-England now say; many a time have they afflicted me from my Youth; yet they have not prevailed against me. But now there is a more than ordinary affliction, with which the Devil is Galling of us: and such an one as is indeed Unparallelable. The things confessed by Witches, and the things endured by Others, laid together, amount unto this account of our Affliction. The Devil, Exhibiting himself ordinarily as a small Black man, has decoy'd a fearful knot of proud, froward, ignorant, envious and malicious creatures, to lift themselves in his horrid Service, by entring their Names in a Book by him tendred unto them.[115] These Witches, 103whereof above a Score have now Confessed and shown their Deeds, and some are now tormented by the Devils, for Confessing, have met in Hellish Randezvouzes, wherein the Confessors do say, they have had their diabolical Sacraments, imitating the Baptism and the Supper of our Lord. In these hellish meetings, these Monsters have associated themselves to do no less a thing than, To destroy the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these parts of the World; and in order hereunto, First they each of them have their Spectres, or Devils, commission'd by them, & representing of them, to be the Engines of their Malice. By these wicked Spectres, they seize poor people about the Country, with various & bloudy Torments; and of those evidently Preternatural torments there are some have dy'd. They have bewitched some, even so far as to make Self-destroyers:[116] and others are in many Towns here and there languishing under their Evil hands. The people thus afflicted, are miserably scratched and bitten, so that the Marks are most visible to all the World, but the causes utterly invisible; and the same Invisible Furies do most visibly stick Pins into the bodies of the afflicted, and scald them, and hideously distort, and disjoint all their members, 104 besides a thousand other sorts of Plagues beyond these of any natural diseases which they give unto them. Yea, they sometimes drag the poor people out of their chambers, and carry them over Trees and Hills, for divers miles together. A large part of the persons tortured by these Diabolical Spectres, are horribly tempted by them, sometimes with fair [42] promises, and sometimes with hard threatnings, but always with felt miseries, to sign the Devils Laws in a Spectral Book laid before them; which two or three of these poor Sufferers, being by their tiresome sufferings overcome to do, they have immediately been released from all their miseries and they appear'd in Spectre then to Torture those that were before their Fellow-Sufferers. The Witches which by their covenant with the Devil, are become Owners of Spectres, are oftentimes by their own Spectres required and compelled to give their consent, for the molestation of some, which they had no mind otherwise to fall upon; and cruel Depredations are then made upon the Vicinage. In the Prosecution of these Witchcrafts, among a thousand other unaccountable things, the Spectres have an odd faculty of cloathing the most substantial and corporeal Instruments of Torture, with Invisibility, while the wounds thereby given have been the most palpable things in the World; so that the Sufferers assaulted with Instruments of Iron, wholly unseen to the standers by, though, to their cost, seen by themselves, have, upon snatching,105 wrested the Instruments out of the Spectres hands, and every one has then immediately not only beheld, but handled, an Iron Instrument taken by a Devil from a Neighbour. These wicked Spectres have proceeded so far, as to steal several quantities of Mony from divers people, part of which Money, has, before sufficient Spectators, been dropt out of the Air into the Hands of the Sufferers, while the Spectres have been urging them to subscribe their Covenant with Death.[117] In such extravagant ways have these Wretches propounded, the Dragooning of as many as they can, in their own Combination, and the Destroying of others, with lingring, spreading, deadly diseases; till our Countrey should at last become too hot for us. Among the Ghastly Instances of the success which those Bloody Witches have had, we have seen even some of their own Children, so dedicated unto the Devil, that in their Infancy, it is found, the Imps have sucked them, and rendred them Venemous to a Prodigy. We have also seen the Devils first batteries upon the Town, where the first Church of our Lord in this Colony was gathered, producing those distractions, which have almost ruin'd the Town.[118] We have seen likewise the Plague reaching afterwards into other Towns far and near, 106where the Houses of good Men have the Devils filling of them with terrible Vexations!

This is the Descent, which, it seems, the Devil has now made upon us. But that which makes this Descent the more formidable, is; the multitude and quality of Persons accused of an interest in this Witchcraft, by the Efficacy of the Spectres which take their Name and shape upon them; causing very many good and wise Men to fear, [43] That many innocent, yea, and some vertuous persons, are by the Devils in this matter, imposed upon; That the Devils have obtain'd the power, to take on them the likeness of harmless people, and in that likeness afflict other people, and be so abused by Præstigious Dæmons, that upon their look or touch, the afflicted shall be oddly affected. Arguments from the Providence of God, on the one side, and from our Charity towards Man on the other side, have made this now to become a most agitated Controversie among us. There is an Agony produced in the Minds of Men, lest the Devil should sham us with Devices, of perhaps a finer Thred, than was ever yet practised upon the World. The whole business is become hereupon so Snarled, and the determination of the Question one way or another, so dismal, that our Honourable Judges have a Room for Jehoshaphat's Exclamation, We know not what to do![119] They have 107used, as Judges have heretofore done, the Spectral Evidences, to introduce their further Enquiries into the Lives of the persons accused; and they have thereupon, by the wonderful Providence of God, been so strengthened with other evidences, that some of the Witch Gang have been fairly Executed. But what shall be done, as to those against whom the evidence is chiefly founded in the dark world? Here they do solemnly demand our Addresses to the Father of Lights, on their behalf. But in the mean time, the Devil improves the Darkness of this Affair, to push us into a Blind Mans Buffet, and we are even ready to be sinfully, yea, hotly, and madly, mauling one another in the dark.[120]

The consequence of these things, every considerate Man trembles at; and the more, because the frequent cheats of Passion, and Rumour, do precipitate so many, that I wish I could say, The most were considerate.

But that which carries on the formidableness of our Trials, unto that which may be called, A wrath unto the uttermost, is this: It is not without the wrath of the Almighty God himself, that the Devil is permitted thus to come down upon us in 108wrath. It was said, in Isa. 9. 19. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, the Land is darkned. Our Land is darkned indeed; since the Powers of Darkness are turned in upon us: 'tis a dark time, yea a black night indeed, now the Ty-dogs[121] of the Pit are abroad among us: but, It is through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts! Inasmuch as the Fire-brands of Hell it self are used for the scorching of us, with cause enough may we cry out, What means the heat of this Anger? Blessed Lord! Are all the other Instruments of thy Vengeance, too good for the chastisement of such transgressors as we are? Must the very Devils be sent out of Their own place, to be our Troublers: Must we be lash'd with Scorpions, fetch'd from the Place of [44] Torment? Must this Wilderness be made a Receptacle for the Dragons of the Wilderness? If a Lapland should nourish in it vast numbers, the successors of the old Biarmi,[122] who can with looks or words bewitch other people, or sell Winds to Mariners, and have their Familiar Spirits which they bequeath to their Children when they die, and by their Enchanted Kettle-Drums can learn things done a Thousand Leagues off; If a Swedeland should afford a Village, where some scores of Haggs, may not only have their Meetings with Familiar Spirits, but also by their Enchantments 109drag many scores of poor children out of their Bed-chambers, to be spoiled at those Meetings; This, were not altogether a matter of so much wonder! But that New-England should this way be harrassed! They are not Chaldeans, that Bitter and Hasty Nation, but they are, Bitter and Burning Devils; They are not Swarthy Indians, but they are Sooty Devils; that are let loose upon us. Ah, Poor New-England! Must the plague of Old Ægypt come upon thee? Whereof we read in Psal. 78. 49. He cast upon them the fierceness of his Anger, Wrath, and Indignation, and Trouble, by sending Evil Angels among them. What, O what must next be looked for? Must that which is there next mentioned, be next encountered? He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the Pestilence. For my part, when I consider what Melancthon says, in one of his Epistles, That these Diabolical Spectacles are often Prodigies; and when I consider, how often people have been by Spectres called upon, just before their Deaths; I am verily afraid, lest some wasting Mortality be among the things, which this Plague is the Fore-runner of. I pray God prevent it!

But now, What shall we do?

I. Let the Devils coming down in great wrath upon us, cause us to come down in great grief before the Lord. We may truly and sadly say, We are brought very low! Low indeed, when the Serpents of the dust, are crawling and coyling about us, and Insulting over us. May we not say,110 We are in the very Belly of Hell, when Hell it self is feeding upon us? But how Low is that! O let us then most penitently lay our selves very Low before the God of Heaven, who has thus Abased us.[123] When a Truculent Nero a Devil of a Man, was turned in upon the World, it was said, in 1 Pet. 5. 6. Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God. How much more now ought we to humble our selves under that Mighty Hand of that God who indeed has the Devil in a Chain, but has horribly lengthened on the Chain![124] When the old people of God heard any Blasphemies, tearing of his Ever-Blessed Name to pieces, they were to Rend their Cloaths at what they heard. I am sure that we have cause to Rend our Hearts this Day, when we see [45] what an High Treason has been committed against the most high God, by the Witchcrafts in our Neighbourhood. We may say; and shall we not be humbled when we say it? We have seen an horrible thing done in our Land! O 'tis a most humbling thing, to think, that ever there should be such an abomination among us, as for a crue of humane race to renounce their Maker, and to unite with the Devil, for the troubling of mankind, and for People to 111be, (as is by some confess'd) Baptized by a Fiend using this form upon them, Thou art mine and I have a full power over thee! afterwards communicating in an Hellish Bread and Wine, by that Fiend administred unto them. It was said in Deut. 18. 10, 11, 12. There shall not be found among you an Inchanter, or a Witch, or a Charmer, or a Consulter with Familiar Spirits, or a Wizzard, or a Necromancer; For all that do these things are an Abomination to the Lord, and because of these Abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee. That New-England now should have these Abominations in it, yea, that some of no mean Profession, should be found guilty of them: Alas, what Humiliations are we all hereby oblig'd unto? O 'tis a Defiled Land, wherein we live; Let us be humbled for these Defiling Abominations, lest we be driven out of our Land. It's a very humbling thing to think, what reproaches will be cast upon us, for this matter, among The Daughters of the Philistines. Indeed, enough might easily be said for the vindication of this Country from the Singularity of this matter, by ripping up, what has been discovered in others. Great Britain alone, and this also in our days of Greatest Light, has had that in it, which may divert the Calumnies of an ill-natured World, from centring here. They are words of the Devout Bishop Hall,[125] 112Satans prevalency in this Age, is most clear in the marvellous Number of Witches abounding in all places. Now Hundreds are discovered in one Shire; and, if Fame Deceives us not, in a Village of Fourteen Houses in the North, are found so many of this Damned Brood. Yea, and those of both Sexes, who have Professed much Knowledge, Holiness, and Devotion, are drawn into this Damnable Practice. I suppose the Doctor in the first of those Passages, may refer to what happened in the Year 1645. When so many Vassals of the Devil were Detected, that there were Thirty try'd at one time, whereas about fourteen were Hang'd, and an Hundred more detained in the Prisons of Suffolk and Essex. Among other things which many of these Acknowledged, one was, That they were to undergo certain Punishments, if they did not such and such Hurts, as were appointed them. And, among the rest that were then Executed, there was an Old Parson, called Lowis, who confessed, That he had a couple of Imps, whereof one was always putting him upon the doing of Mischief; Once particularly, that Imp calling for his Consent so to do, went immediately and Sunk a Ship, then under Sail.[126] I pray, let not New-England 113 become of an Unsavoury and a Sulphurous Resentment in the Opinion of the World abroad, for the Doleful things which are now fallen out among us, while there are such Histories of other places abroad in the World.[127] Nevertheless, I am sure that we, the People of New-England, have cause enough to Humble our selves under our most Humbling Circumstances. We must no more be Haughty, because of the Lords Holy Mountain among us; No it becomes us rather to be, Humble, because we have been such an Habitation of Unholy Devils!

II. Since the Devil is come down in great wrath upon us, let not us in our great wrath against one another provide a Lodging for him. It was a most wholesome caution, in Eph. 4. 26, 27. Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the Devil. The Devil is come down to see what Quarter he shall find among us:[128] And if his coming down, do now fill us with wrath against one another, and if between the cause of the Sufferers on one hand, and the cause of the Suspected on t'other, we carry things to such extreams of Passion as are now gaining upon us, the 114Devil will Bless himself, to find such a convenient Lodging as we shall therein afford unto him.[129] And it may be that the wrath which we have had against one another has had more than a little influence upon the coming down of the Devil in that wrath which now amazes us. Have not many of us been Devils one unto another for Slanderings, for Backbitings, for Animosities? For this, among other causes, perhaps, God has permitted the Devils to be worrying, as they now are, among us. But it is high time to leave off all Devilism, when the Devil himself is falling upon us: And it is no time for us to be Censuring and Reviling one another, with a Devilish wrath, when the wrath of the Devil is annoying of us. The way for us to out-wit the Devil, in the Wiles with which he now Vexes [46] us, would be for us to joyn as one man in our cries to God, for the Directing, and Issuing of this Thorny Business; but if we do not Lift up our Hands to Heaven, without Wrath, we cannot then do it without Doubt, of speeding in it. I am ashamed when I read French Authors giving this Character of Englishmen [Ils se haissent Les uns les autres, et sont en Division Continuelle.] They hate one another, and are always Quarelling one with another.[130] And 115I shall be much more ashamed, if it become the Character of New-Englanders; which is indeed what the Devil would have. Satan would make us bruise one another, by breaking of the Peace among us; but O let us disappoint him. We read of a thing that sometimes happens to the Devil, when he is foaming with his Wrath, in Mat. 12. 43. The unclean Spirit seeks rest, and finds none. But we give rest unto the Devil, by wrath one against another. If we would lay aside all fierceness, and keenness, in the disputes which the Devil has raised among us; and if we would use to one another none but the soft Answers, which turn away wrath: I should hope that we might light upon such Counsels, as would quickly Extricate us out of our Labyrinths. But the old Incendiary of the world, is come from Hell, with Sparks of Hell-Fire flashing on every side of him; and we make ourselves Tynder to the Sparks. When the Emperour Henry III.[131] kept the Feast of Pentecost, at the City Mentz, there arose a dissension among some of the people there, which came from words to blows, and at last it passed on to the shedding of Blood. After the Tumult was over, when they came to that clause in their Devotions, Thou hast made this day Glorious; the Devil to the unexpressible Terrour of that vast Assembly, made the Temple Ring with that Outcry But I have made this Day Quarrelsome! We are truly come into a day, which by being 116well managed might be very Glorious, for the exterminating of those Accursed things, which have hitherto been the Clogs of our Prosperity; but if we make this day Quarrelsome, thro' any Raging Confidences, Alas, O Lord, my Flesh Trembles for Fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy Judgments. Erasmus, among other Historians, tells us, that at a Town in Germany, a Witch or Devil, appeared on the Top of a Chimney, Threatning to set the Town on Fire: And at length, Scattering a Pot of Ashes abroad, the Town was presently and horribly Burnt unto the Ground.[132] Methinks, I see the Spectres, from the Top of the Chimneys to the Northward, threatning to scatter Fire, about the Countrey; but let us quench that Fire, by the most amicable Correspondencies: Lest, as the Spectres, have, they say, already most Literally burnt some of our Dwellings there do come forth a further Fire from the Brambles of Hell, which may more terribly Devour us. Let us not be like a Troubled House, altho' we are so much haunted by the Devils. Let our Long suffering be a well-placed piece of Armour, about us, against the Fiery Darts of the wicked ones. History informs us, That so long ago, as the year, 858, a certain 117Pestilent and Malignant sort of Dæmon, molested Caumont in Germany with all sorts of methods to stir up strife among the Citizens. He uttered Prophecies, he detected Villanies, he branded people with all kind of Infamies. He incensed the Neighbourhood against one Man particularly, as the cause of all the mischiefs: who yet proved himself innocent. He threw stones at the Inhabitants, and at length burnt their Habitations, till the Commission of the Dæmon could go no further. I say, let us be well aware lest such Dæmons do Come hither also.

III. Inasmuch as the Devil is come down in Great Wrath, we had need Labour, with all the Care and Speed we can to Divert the Great Wrath of Heaven from coming at the same time upon us. The God of Heaven has with long and loud Admonitions, been calling us to a Reformation of our Provoking Evils, as the only way to avoid that Wrath of His, which does not only Threaten but Consume us. 'Tis because we have been Deaf to those Calls that we are now by a provoked God, laid open to the Wrath of the Devil himself. It is said in Pr. 16. 7. When a mans ways please the Lord, he maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with him. The Devil is our grand Enemy; and tho' we would not be at peace with him, yet we would be at peace from him, that is, we would have him unable to disquiet our peace. But inasmuch as the wrath which we endure from this Enemy, will allow us no peace, we may be sure,118 our ways have not pleased the Lord. It is because we have broken the hedge of Gods Precepts, that the hedge of Gods Providence is not so entire as it uses to be about us; but Serpents are biting of us. O let us then set [47] our selves to make our peace with our God, whom we have displeased by our iniquities: and let us not imagine that we can encounter the Wrath of the Devil, while there is the Wrath of God Almighty to set that Mastiff upon us. Reformation! Reformation! has been the repeated Cry of all the Judgments that have hitherto been upon us; because we have been as deaf Adders thereunto, the Adders of the Infernal Pit are now hissing about us. At length, as it was of old said, Luke 16. 30. If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent; even so, there are some come unto us from the Damned. The great God has loosed the Bars of the Pit, so that many damned Spirits are come in among us, to make us repent of our Misdemeanours. The means which the Lord had formerly employ'd for our awakening, were such, that he might well have said, What could I have done more? and yet after all, he has done more, in some regards, than was ever done for the awakening of any People in the World. The things now done to awaken our Enquiries after our provoking Evils, and our endeavours to Reform those evils, are most extraordinary things; for which cause I would freely speak it, if we now do not some extraordinary things in returning to God; we are the most incurable, and I wish it be not quickly said, the119 most miserable People under the Sun. Believe me, 'tis a time for all people to do something extraordinary, in searching and trying of their ways, and in turning to the Lord. It is at an extraordinary rate of Circumspection and Spiritual mindedness, that we should all now maintain a walk with God. At such a time as this ought Magistrates to do something extraordinary in promoting of what is laudable, and in restraining and chastising of Evil Doers. At such a time as this ought Ministers to do something extraordinary in pulling the Souls of Men out of the Snares of the Devil, not only by publick Preaching, but by personal Visits and Counsels, from house to house. At such a time as this ought Churches to do something extraordinary, in renewing of their Covenants, and in remembring, and reviving the Obligations of what they have renewed. Some admirable Designs about the Reformation of Manners, have lately been on foot in the English Nation, in pursuance of the most excellent Admonitions which have been given for it, by the Letters of Their Majesties.[133] Besides the vigorous Agreements of the Justices here and there in the Kingdom, assisted by godly Gentlemen and Informers, to execute the Laws upon prophane Offenders: there has been started a Proposal for the well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into orderly Societies, whereof every 120Member shall bind himself, not only to avoid Prophaneness in himself, but also according unto to their Place, to do their utmost in first Reproving; and, if it must be so, then Exposing, and so Punishing, as the Law directs, for others that shall be guilty. It has been observed, that the English Nation has had some of its greatest Successes, upon some special and signal Actions this way; and a discouragement given under Legal Proceedings of this kind, must needs be very exercising to the Wise that observe these things. But O why should not New-England be the most forward part of the English Nation in such Reformations? Methinks I hear the Lord from Heaven saying over us, O that my People had hearkened unto me; then I should soon have subdued the Devils, as well as their other Enemies! There have been some feeble Essays towards Reformation of late in our Churches; but, I pray what comes of them? Do we stay till the Storm of his Wrath be over? Nay, let us be doing what we can, as fast as we can, to divert the Storm. The Devils having broke in upon our World,[134] there is great asking, Who is it that has brought them in? And many do by Spectral Exhibitions come to be cry'd out upon. I hope in Gods time it will be found, that among those that are thus cry'd out upon, there are persons yet Clear from the great Trans121gression; but indeed, all the Unreformed among us, may justly be cry'd out upon, as having too much of an hand in letting of the Devils into our Borders; 'tis our Worldliness, our Formality, our Sensuality, and our Iniquity that has help'd this letting of the Devils in. O let us then at last, consider our ways. 'Tis a strange passage recorded by Mr. Clark[135] in the Life of his Father That the People of his Parish, refusing to be Reclaimed from their Sabbath breaking, by all the zealous Testimonies which that good Man bore against it; at last, on a night after the people had retired home from a Revelling Prophanation of the Lords Day, there was heard a great Noise, with rattling of Chains up and down the Town, and an horrid Scent of Brimstone fill'd the Neighbourhood. Upon which the guilty Consciences of the Wretches told [48] them, the Devil was come to fetch them away; and it so terrifi'd them, that an Eminent Reformation follow'd the Sermons which that Man of God Preached thereupon. Behold, Sinners, behold and wonder, lest you perish: the very Devils are walking about our Streets, with lengthened Chains, making a dreadful Noise in our Ears, 122and Brimstone even without a Metaphor, is making an hellish and horrid stench in our Nostrils.[136] I pray leave off all those things whereof your guilty Consciences may now accuse you, lest these Devils do yet more direfully fall upon you. Reformation is at this time our only Preservation.

IV. When the Devil is come down in great Wrath, let every great Vice which may have a more particular tendency to make us a Prey unto that Wrath, come into a due discredit with us. It is the general Concession of all men, who are not become too Unreasonable for common Conversation, that the Invitation of Witchcrafts is the thing that has now introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I say then, let not only all Witchcrafts be duly abominated with us, but also let us be duly watchful against all the Steps leading thereunto. There are lesser Sorceries which they say, are too frequent in our Land. As it was said in 2 King. 17. 9. The Children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right, against the Lord their God. So 'tis to be feared, the Children of New-England have secretly done many things that have been pleasing to the Devil. 123They say, that in some Towns it has been an usual thing for People to cure Hurts with Spells, or to use detestable Conjurations, with Sieves, Keys, and Pease, and Nails, and Horse-shoes, and I know not what other Implements, to learn the things for which they have a forbidden, and an impious Curiosity.[137] 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such things are done; and in Gods Name I do this day charge them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses 'tis, that People play upon The Hole of the Asp, till that cruelly venemous Asp has pull'd many of them into the deep Hole of Witchcraft it self. It has been acknowledged by some who have sunk the deepest into this horrible Pit, that they began at these little Witchcrafts; on which 'tis pity but the Laws of the English Nation, whereby the incorrigible repetition of those Tricks, is made Felony, were severally Executed. From the like sinful Curiosity it is, that the Prognostications of Judicial Astrology, are so injudiciously regarded by multitudes among us; and altho' the Jugling Astrologers do scarce ever hit right, except it be in such Weighty Judgments, forsooth, as that many Old Men will die such a 124year, and that there will be many Losses felt by some that venture to Sea, and that there will be much Lying and Cheating in the World; yet their foolish Admirers will not be perswaded but that the Innocent Stars have been concern'd in these Events. It is a disgrace to the English Nation, that the Pamphlets of such idle, futil, trifling Stargazers are so much considered; and the Countenance hereby given to a Study, wherin at last, all is done by Impulse, if any thing be done to any purpose at all, is not a little perillous to the Souls of Men. It is (a Science, I dare not call it, but) a Juggle, whereof the Learned Hall well says, It is presumptious and unwarrantable, and cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as that which lies in the mid-way between Magick and Imposture, and partakes not a little of both.[138] Men consult the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern motions receive denominations from a Cælestial Dragon, till the Infernal Dragon at length insinuate into them, with a Poison of Witchcraft that can't be cured. Has there not also been a world of discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that the fiery Serpents are so Stinging of us; We have been a Murmuring Generation. It is not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendious growth of Witches among us, partly to the bitter discontents, which Affliction and 125Poverty has fill'd us with: it is inconceivable, what advantage the Devil gains over men, by discontent. Moreover, the Sin of Unbelief may be reckoned as perhaps the chief Crime of our Land. We are told, God swears in wrath, against them that believe not; and what follows then but this, That the Devil comes unto them in wrath! Never were the offers of the Gospel, more freely tendered, or more basely despised, among any People under the whole Cope of Heaven, than in this N. E.[139] Seems it all marvellous unto us, that the Devil should get such a footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because the Saviour has been slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord Jesus Christ [49] has been profering to us, Grace, and Glory, and every good thing, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him, with such Terms as these, Undone Sinner, I am All; Art thou willing that I should be thy All? But, as a proof of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon these proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds above a Thousand People within these Walls; which of you all, O how few of you, can indeed say, Christ is mine, and I am his, and he is the Beloved of my Soul? I would only say thus much: When the precious and 126glorious Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive Him, in all His Offices, with all His Benifits; the Devil minds what Respect we pay unto that Heavenly Lord; if we Refuse Him that speaks from Heaven, then he that, Comes from Hell, does with a sort of claim set in, and cry out, Lord, since this Wretch is not willing that thou shouldst have him, I pray, let me have him. And thus, by the just vengeance of Heaven, the Devil becomes a Master, a Prince, a God, unto the miserable Unbelievers: but O what are many of them then hurried unto! All of these Evil Things, do I now set before you, as Branded with the Mark of the Devil upon them.

V. With Great Regard, with Great Pity, should we Lay to Heart the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the Great Wrath of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and some of them very particularly noted for Goodness and Vertue, of whom we may say, Lord, They are vexed with Devils. Their Tortures being primarily Inflicted on their Spirits, may indeed cause the Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less Durable, tho' rather the more Sensible: but they Endure Horrible Things, and many have been actually Murdered. Hard Censures now bestow'd upon these poor Sufferers, cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He said, about some that had been Butchered by a Pilate, in Luc. 13. 2, 3. Think ye that these were Sinners above others, because they suffered such Things? I tell you No, But except ye 127 Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish: Even so, he now says, Think ye that they who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater Sinners than their Neighbours? No, Do you Repent of your own Sins, Lest the Devil come to fall foul of you, as he has done to them. And if this be so, How Rash a thing would it be, if such of the poor Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be unjustly Censured; or have their very Calamity imputed unto them as a Crime? It is an easie thing, for us to fall into the Fault of, Adding Affliction to the Afflicted, and of, Talking to the Grief of those that are already wounded. Nor can it be wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault. In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not Compassionate the Distressed County of Essex, now crying to all these Colonies, Have pity on me, O ye my Friends, Have pity on me, for the Hand of the Lord has Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned upon me. But indeed, if an hearty pity be due to any, I am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable Judges, do demand no Inconsiderable share in that Pity. What a Difficult, what [50] an Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands? To carry the Knife so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no Innocent Blood Shed,[140] by too unseeing a Zeal 128for the Children of Israel; and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to those Diabolical Works of Darkness, without the Removal whereof we never shall have Peace; or to those Furies whereof several have kill'd more people perhaps than would serve to make a Village: Hic Labor, Hoc Opus est! O what need have we, to be concerned, that the Sins of our Israel, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his Davids, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproaching of such Faithful Men, after all, The Prayers and Supplications, with strong Crying and Tears, with which we are daily plying the Throne of Grace, that they may be kept, from what They Fear, is none of the way for our preventing of what We Fear. Nor all this while, ought our Pity to forget such Accused ones, as call for indeed our most Compassionate Pity, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less worthy of it.[141] If Satan have any where maliciously brought upon the Stage, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock of Reputation for their just and good Living, among us; If the Evil One have obtained a permission to Appear, in the Figure of such as we have cause to think, have 129hitherto Abstained, even from the Appearance of Evil: It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon Mankind, as may well Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations, of the Great Accuser! Who of us can say, what may be shewn in the Glasses of the Great Lying Spirit? Altho' the Usual Providence of God [we praise Him!] keeps us from such a Mishap; yet where have we an Absolute Promise, that we shall every one always be kept from it? As long as Charity is bound to Think no Evil, it will not Hurt us that are Private Persons, to forbear the Judgment which belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our Wish, May the Lord help them to Learn the Lessons, for which they are now put unto so hard a School.

VI. With a Great Zeal, we should lay hold on the Covenant of God, that we may secure Us and Ours, from the Great Wrath, with which the Devil Rages. Let us come into the Covenant of Grace, and then we shall not be hook'd into a Covenant with the Devil, nor be altogether unfurnished with Armour against the Wretches that are in that Covenant. The way to come under the Saving Influences of the New Covenant, is, to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the All-sufficient Mediator of it: Let us therefore do, that, by Resigning up our selves unto the Saving, Teaching, and Ruling Hands of this Blessed Mediator. Then we shall be, what we read in130 Jude 1. Preserved in Christ Jesus: That is, as the Destroying Angel, could not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by the Blood of the Passeover on their Houses: Thus the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Sprinkled on our Souls, will Preserve us from the Devil. The Birds of prey (and indeed the Devils [51] most literally in the shape of great Birds!) are flying about. Would we find a Covert from these Vultures? Let us then Hear our Lord Jesus from Heaven Clocquing[142] unto us, O that you would be gathered under my wings! Well; when this is done, Then let us own the Covenant, which we are now come into, by joining ourselves to a Particular Church, walking in the Order of the Gospel; at the doing whereof, according to that Covenant of God, We give up Our selves unto the Lord, and in Him unto One Another, While others have had their Names Entred in the Devils Book; let our Names be found in the Church Book, and let us be Written among the Living in Jerusalem. By no means let, Church work sink and fail in the midst of us; but let the Tragical Accidents which now happen, exceedingly Quicken that work. So many of the Rising Generation, utterly forgetting the Errand of our Fathers to build Churches in this Wilderness, and so many of our Cottages being allow'd to Live, where they do not, and perhaps 131cannot, wait upon God with the Churches of His People; 'tis as likely as any one thing to procure the swarmings of Witch crafts among us.[143] But it becomes us, with a like Ardour, to bring our poor Children with us, as we shall do, when we come our selves, into the Covenant of God. It would break an heart of Stone, to have seen, what I have lately seen; Even poor Children of several Ages, even from seven to twenty, more or less, Confessing their Familiarity with Devils; but at the same time, in Doleful bitter Lamentations, that made a little Pourtraiture of Hell it self, Expostulating with their execrable Parents, for Devoting them to the Devil in their Infancy, and so Entailing of Devillism upon them! Now, as the Psalmist could say, My Zeal hath consumed me, because my Enemies have forgotten thy words: Even so, let the Nefarious wickedness of those that have Explicitly dedicated their Children to the Devil, even with Devilish Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke our Zeal to have our Children, Sincerely, Signally, and openly Consecrated unto God; with an Education afterwards assuring and confirming that Consecration.

VII. Let our Prayer go up with great Faith, against the Devil, that comes down in great 132Wrath. Such is the Antipathy of the Devil to our Prayer, that he cannot bear to stay long where much of it is: Indeed it is Diaboli Flagellum, as well as Miseriæ Remedium; the Devil will soon be Scourg'd out of the Lord's Temple, by a Whip, made and used, with the effectual fervent Prayer of Righteous Men. When the Devil by Afflicting of us, drives us to our Prayers, he is The Fool making a Whip for his own Back. Our Lord said of the Devil in Matt. 17. 21. This Kind goes not out, but by Prayer and Fasting. But, Prayer and Fasting will soon make the Devil be gone. Here are Charms indeed! Sacred and blessed Charms, which the Devil cannot stand before. A Promise of God, being well managed in the Hands of them that are much upon their Knees, will so resist the Devil, that he will Flee from us. At every other Weapon the Devils will be too hard for us; the Spiritual Wickednesses in High Places, have manifestly the Upper hand of [52] us; that Old Serpent will be too old for us, too cunning, too subtil; they will soon out wit us, if we think to Encounter them with any Wit of our own. But when we come to Prayers, Incessant and Vehement Prayers before the Lord, there we shall be too hard for them. When well-directed Prayers, that great Artillery of Heaven, are brought into the Field, There methinks I see, There are these workers of Iniquity fallen, all of them! And who can tell, how much the most Obscure Christian among you all, may do towards 133the Deliverance of our Land from the Molestations which the Devil is now giving to us. I have Read, That on a day of Prayer kept by some good People for and with a Possessed Person, the Devil at last flew out of the Window, and referring to a Devout, plain, mean Woman then in the Room, he cry'd out, O the Woman behind the Door![144] 'Tis that Woman that forces me away! Thus the Devil that now troubles us, may be forced within a while to forsake us; and it shall be said, He was driven away by the Prayers of some Obscure and Retired Souls, which the World has taken but little notice of! The Great God is about a Great Work at this day among us: Now, there is extream Hazard, lest the Devil who by Compulsion must submit unto that Great Work, may also by Permission, come to Confound that Work; both in the Detections of some, and in the Confessions of others, whose Ungodly deeds may be brought forth, by a Great Work of God; there is Hazard lest the Devil intertwist some of his Delusions. 'Tis Prayer, I say, 'tis Prayer, that must carry us well through the strange things that are now upon us. Only that Prayer must then be the Prayer of Faith: O where is our Faith in him, Who hath spoiled these Principalities and Powers, on his Cross, Triumphing over them!

VIII. Lastly, Shake off, every Soul, shake off the hard Yoak of the Devil. Where 'tis said, The 134whole World lyes in Wickedness; 'tis by some of the Ancients rendred, The whole World lyes in the Devil. The Devil is a Prince, yea, the Devil is a God unto all the Unregenerate; and alas, there is A whole World of them.[145] Desolate Sinners, consider what an horrid Lord it is that you are Enslav'd unto; and Oh shake off your Slavery to such a Lord. Instead of him, now make your Choice of the Eternal God in Jesus Christ; Chuse him with a most unalterable Resolution, and unto him say, with Thomas, My Lord, and my God! Say with the Church, Lord, other Lords have had the Dominion over us, but now thou alone shalt be our Lord for ever. Then instead of your Perishing under the wrath of the Devils, God will fetch you to a place among those that fill up the Room of the Devils, left by their Fall from the Ethereal Regions. It was a most awful Speech made by the Devil, Possessing a young Woman, at a Village in Germany, By the command of God, I am come to Torment the Body of this young Woman, tho I cannot hurt her Soul; and it is that I may warn Men, to take heed of sinning against God. Indeed (said he) 'tis very sore against my will that I do it; but the command of God forces me to declare what I do; however I know that at the Last Day, I shall have more Souls than God himself. So spoke that horrible Devil! But O that none [53] of our Souls 135may be found among the Prizes of the Devil, in the Day of God! O that what the Devil has been forced to declare, of his Kingdom among us, may prejudice our Hearts against him for ever!

My Text says, The Devil is come down in great Wrath, for he has but a short time. Yea, but if you do not by a speedy and through Conversion to God, escape the Wrath of the Devil, you will your selves go down, where the Devil is to be, and you will there be sweltring under the Devils Wrath, not for a short Time, but World without end; not for a Short Time but for Infinite Millions of Ages. The smoke of your Torment under that Wrath, will Ascend for ever and ever! Indeed, the Devil's time for his Wrath upon you in this World, can be but short, but his time for you to do his Work, or, which is all one, to delay your turning to God, that is a Long Time. When the Devil was going to be Dispossessed of a Man, he Roar'd out, Am I to be Tormented before my time? You will Torment the Devil, if you Rescue your Souls out of his hands, by true Repentance: If once you begin to look that way, he'll Cry out, O this is before my Time, I must have more Time, yet in the Service of such a guilty Soul. But, I beseech you, let us join thus to torment the Devil, in an holy Revenge upon him, for all the Injuries which he has done unto us; let us tell him, Satan, thy time with me is but short, Nay, thy time with me shall be no more; I am unutterably 136 sorry that it has been so much; Depart from me thou Evil-Doer, that would'st have me an Evil-Doer like thy self; I will now for ever keep the Commandments of that God, in whom I Live and Move, and have my Being! The Devil has plaid a fine Game for himself indeed, if by his troubling of our Land, the Souls of many People should come to think upon their ways, till even they turn their Feet into the Testimonies of the Lord. Now that the Devil may be thus outshot in his own Bow, is the desire of all that love the Salvation of God among us, as well as of him, who has thus Addressed you. Amen.

HAVING thus discoursed on the Wonders of the Invisible World, I shall now, with God's help, go on to relate some Remarkable and Memorable Instances of Wonders which that World has given to ourselves. And altho the chief Entertainment which my Readers do expect, and shall receive, will be a true History of what has occurred, respecting the Witchcrafts wherewith we are at this day Persecuted; yet I shall choose to usher in the mention of those things, with

A Narrative of an Apparition which a Gentleman in Boston, had of his Brother, just then murthered in London.

IT was on the Second of May in the Year 1687, that a most ingenious, accomplished and well-disposed young Gentleman, Mr. Joseph Beacon, by137 about Five a Clock in the Morning, as he lay, whether Sleeping or [54] Waking he could not say, (but judged the latter of them) had a View of his Brother then at London, altho he was now himself at our Boston, distanced from him a thousand Leagues.[146] This his Brother appear'd unto him, in the Morning about Five a Clock at Boston, having on him a Bengal Gown, which he usually wore, with a Napkin tyed about his Head; his Countenance was very Pale, Gastly, Deadly, and he had a bloody Wound on one side of his Fore-head. Brother! says the Affrighted Joseph. Brother! Answered the Apparition. Said Joseph, What's the matter Brother? How came you here! The Apparition replied, Brother, I have been most barbarously and injuriously Butchered, by a Debauched Drunken Fellow, to whom I never did any wrong in my Life. Whereupon he gave a particular Description of the Murderer; adding, Brother, This Fellow changing his Name, is attempting to come over unto New-England, in Foy, or Wild; I would pray you on the first Arrival of either of these, to get an Order from the Governor, to Seize the Person, whom I have now described; and then do you Indict him for the Murder of me your Brother: I'll stand by you and prove the Indictment. And so he Vanished. Mr. Beacon was extreamly astonished at what he had seen and hear'd; and the 138People of the Family not only observed an extraordinary Alteration upon him, for the Week following, but have also given me under their Hands a full Testimony, that he then gave them an Account of this Apparition.

All this while, Mr. Beacon had no advice of any thing amiss attending his Brother then in England; but about the latter end of June following, he understood by the common ways of Communication, that the April before, his Brother going in haste by Night to call a Coach for a Lady, met a Fellow then in Drink, with his Doxy in his Hand: Some way or other the Fellow thought himself Affronted with the hasty passage of this Beacon, and immediately ran into the Fire-side of a Neighbouring Tavern, from whence he fetched out a Fire-fork, wherewith he grievously wounded Beacon in the Skull; even in that very part where the Apparition show'd his Wound. Of this Wound he Languished until he Dyed on the Second of May, about five of the Clock in the Morning at London. The Murderer it seems was endeavouring an Escape, as the Apparition affirm'd, but the Friends of the Deceased Beacon, Seized him; and Prosecuting him at Law, he found the help of such Friends as brought him off without the loss of his Life; since which, there has no more been heard of the Business.

This History I received of Mr. Joseph Beacon himself; who a little before his own Pious and hopeful Death, which follow'd not long after,139 gave me the Story written and signed with his own Hand, and attested with the Circumstances I have already mentioned.

BUT I shall no longer detain my Reader, from his expected Entertainment, in a brief account of the Tryals which have passed upon some of the Malefactors lately Executed at Salem, for the Witchcrafts whereof they stood Convicted. For my own part, I was not present at any of them; [55] nor ever had I any Personal prejudice at the Persons thus brought upon the Stage; much less at the Surviving Relations of those Persons, with and for whom I would be as hearty a Mourner as any Man living in the World: The Lord Comfort them! But having received a Command so to do, I can do no other than shortly relate the chief Matters of Fact, which occur'd in the Tryals of some that were Executed, in an Abridgment Collected out of the Court-Papers, on this occasion put into my hands. You are to take the Truth, just as it was; and the Truth will hurt no good Man. There might have been more of these, if my Book would not thereby have swollen too big; and if some other worthy hands did not perhaps intend something further in these Collections; for which cause I have only singled out Four or Five, which may serve to illustrate the way of Dealing, wherein Witchcrafts use to be concerned; and I report matters not as an Advocate, but as an Historian.

140 They were some of the Gracious Words inserted in the Advice, which many of the Neighbouring Ministers, did this Summer humbly lay before our Honorable Judges, We cannot but with all thankfulness, acknowledge the success which the Merciful God has given unto the Sedulous and Assiduous endeavours of Our Honourable Rulers, to detect the abominable Witchcrafts which have been committed in the Country; Humbly Praying, that the discovery of those mysterious and mischievous wickednesses, may be Perfected. If in the midst of the many Dissatisfactions among us, the Publication of these Tryals may promote such a Pious Thankfulness unto God, for Justice being so far executed among us, I shall Rejoice that God is Glorified; and pray, that no wrong steps of ours may ever sully any of his Glorious Works. But we will begin with,

A Modern Instance of Witches, Discovered and Condemned in a Tryal, before that celebrated Judge, Sir Matthew Hale.[147]

IT may cast some Light upon the Dark things now in America, if we just give a glance upon the like things lately happening in Europe. We 141may see the Witchcrafts here most exactly resemble the Witchcrafts there; and we may learn what sort of Devils do trouble the World.

The Venerable Baxter very truly says, Judge Hale was a Person, than whom, no Man was more Backward to Condemn a Witch, without full Evidence.

Now, one of the latest Printed Accounts about a Tryal of Witches, is of what was before him, and it ran on this wise. [Printed in the Year 1682.] And it is here the rather mentioned, because it was a Tryal, much considered by the Judges of New England.

142 I. Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, were severally Indicted, for Bewitching Elizabeth Durent, Ann Durent, Jane Bocking, Susan Chandler, William Durent, Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy. And the Evidence whereon they were Convicted, stood upon divers particular Circumstances.

[56] II. Ann Durent, Susan Chandler, and Elizabeth Pacy, when they came into the Hall, to give Instructions for the drawing the Bills of Indictments, they fell into strange and violent Fits, so that they were unable to give in their Depositions, not only then, but also during the whole Assizes. William Durent being an Infant, his Mother Swore, that Amy Duny looking after her Child one Day in her absence, did at her return confess, that she had given suck to the Child: (tho' she were an Old Woman:) Whereat, when Durent expressed her displeasure, Duny went away with Discontents and Menaces.

The Night after, the Child fell into strange and sad Fits, wherein it continued for Divers Weeks. One Doctor Jacob advised her to hang up the Childs Blanket, in the Chimney Corner all Day, and at Night when she went to put the Child into it, if she found any Thing in it then to throw it without fear into the Fire. Accordingly, at Night, there fell a great Toad out of the Blanket, which ran up and down the Hearth. A Boy catch't it, and held it in the Fire with the Tongs: where it made an horrible Noise, and Flash'd like to Gun-Powder, with a report143 like that of a Pistol: Whereupon the Toad was no more to be seen. The next Day a Kinswoman of Duny's, told the Deponent, that her Aunt was all grievously scorch'd with the Fire, and the Deponent going to her House, found her in such a Condition. Duny told her, she might thank her for it; but she should live to see some of her Children Dead, and herself upon Crutches. But after the Burning of the Toad, this Child Recovered.

This Deponent further Testifi'd, That Her Daughter Elizabeth, being about the Age of Ten Years, was taken in like manner, as her first Child was, and in her Fits complained much of Amy Duny, and said, that she did appear to Her, and afflict her in such a manner as the former. One Day she found Amy Duny in her House, and thrusting her out of Doors, Duny said, You need not be so Angry, your Child won't live long. And within three Days the Child died. The Deponent added, that she was Her self, not long after taken with such a Lameness in both her Legs, that she was forced to go upon Crutches; and she was now in Court upon them. [It was Remarkable, that immediately upon the Juries bringing in Duny Guilty, Durent was restored unto the use of her Limbs, and went home without her Crutches.]

III. As for Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy, one Aged Eleven Years, the other Nine; the elder, being in Court, was made utterly senseless, during144 all the time of the Trial: or at least speechless. By the direction of the Judge Duny was privately brought to Elizabeth Pacy, and she touched her Hand: whereupon the Child, without so much as seeing her, suddenly leap'd up and flew upon the Prisoner; the younger was too ill, to be brought unto the Assizes. But Samuel Pacy, their Father, testifi'd, that his Daughter Deborah was taken with a sudden Lameness; and upon the grumbling of Amy Duny, for being denied something, where this Child was then [57] sitting, the Child was taken with an extream pain in her stomach, like the pricking of Pins; and shrieking at a dreadful manner, like a Whelp, rather than a Rational Creature. The Physicians could not conjecture the cause of the Distemper; but Amy Duny being a Woman of ill Fame, and the Child in Fits crying out of Amy Duny, as affrighting her with the Apparition of her Person, the Deponent suspected her, and procured her to be set in the stocks. While she was there, she said in the hearing of Two Witnesses, Mr. Pacy keeps a great stir about his Child, but let him stay till he has done as much by his Children, as I have done by mine: And being Asked, What she had done to her Children, she Answered, She had been fain to open her Childs Mouth with a Tap to give it Victuals. The Deponent added, that within Two Days, the Fits of his Daughters were such, that they could not preserve either Life or Breath, without the help of a Tap. And that the Children Cry'd out145 of Amy Duny, and of Rose Cullender, as afflicting them with their Apparitions.

IV. The Fits of the Children were various. They would sometimes be Lame on one side; sometimes on t'other. Sometimes very sore; sometimes restored unto their Limbs, and then Deaf, or Blind, or Dumb, for a long while together. Upon the Recovery of their Speech, they would Cough extreamly; and with much Flegm, they would bring up Crooked Pins; and one time, a Two-penny Nail, with a very broad Head. Commonly at the end of every Fit, they would cast up a Pin. When the Children Read, they could not pronounce the Name of, Lord, or Jesus, or Christ, but would fall into Fits; and say, Amy Duny says, I must not use that Name. When they came to the Name of Satan, or Devil, they would clap their Fingers on the Book, crying out, This bites, but it makes me speak right well! The Children in their Fits would often Cry out, There stands Amy Duny, or Rose Cullender; and they would afterwards relate, That these Witches appearing before them, threatned them, that if they told what they saw or heard, they would Torment them ten times more than ever they did before.

V. Margaret Arnold, the Sister of Mr. Pacy, Testifi'd unto the like Sufferings being upon the Children, at her House, whither her Brother had Removed them. And that sometimes, the Children (only) would see things like Mice, run about146 the House; and one of them suddenly snap'd one with the Tongs, and threw it into the Fire, where it screeched out like a Rat. At another time, a thing like a Bee, flew at the Face of the younger Child; the Child fell into a Fit; and at last Vomited up a Two-penny Nail, with a Broad Head; affirming, That the Bee brought this Nail, and forced it into her Mouth. The Child would in like manner be assaulted with Flies, which brought Crooked Pins, unto her, and made her first swallow them, and then Vomit them. She one Day caught an Invisible Mouse, and throwing it into the Fire, it Flash'd like to Gun-Powder. None besides the Child saw the Mouse, but every one saw the Flash. She also de[58]clared, out of her Fits, that in them, Amy Duny much tempted her to destroy her self.

VI. As for Ann Durent, her Father Testified, That upon a Discontent of Rose Cullender, his Daughter was taken with much Illness in her Stomach and great and sore Pains, like the Pricking of Pins: and then Swooning Fits, from which Recovering, she declared, She had seen the Apparition of Rose Cullender, Threatning to Torment her. She likewise Vomited up diverse Pins. The Maid was Present at Court, but when Cullender look'd upon her, she fell into such Fits, as made her utterly unable to declare any thing.

Ann Baldwin deposed the same.

VII. Jane Bocking, was too weak to be at the Assizes. But her Mother Testifi'd, that her147 Daughter having formerly been Afflicted with Swooning Fits, and Recovered of them; was now taken with a great Pain in her Stomach; and New Swooning Fits. That she took little Food, but every Day Vomited Crooked Pins. In her first Fits, she would Extend her Arms, and use Postures, as if she catched at something, and when her Clutched Hands were forced open, they would find several Pins diversely Crooked, unaccountably lodged there. She would also maintain a Discourse with some that were Invisibly present, when casting abroad her Arms, she would often say, I will not have it! but at last say, Then I will have it! and closing her Hand, which when they presently after opened, a Lath-Nail was found in it. But her great Complaints were of being Visited by the shapes of Amy Duny, and Rose Cullender.

VIII. As for Susan Chandler, her Mother Testified, That being at the search of Rose Cullender, they found on her Belly a thing like a Teat, of an Inch long; which the said Rose ascribed to a strain. But near her Privy-parts, they found Three more, that were smaller than the former. At the end of the long Teat, there was a little Hole, which appeared, as if newly Sucked; and upon straining it, a white Milky matter issued out. The Deponent further said, That her Daughter being one Day concerned at Rose Cullenders taking her by the Hand, she fell very sick, and at Night cry'd out, That Rose Cullender would come to Bed unto her. Her Fits grew violent,148 and in the Intervals of them, she declared, That she saw Rose Cullender in them, and once having of a great Dog with her. She also Vomited up Crooked Pins; and when she was brought into Court, she fell into her Fits. She Recovered her self in some Time, and was asked by the Court, whether she was in a Condition to take an Oath, and give Evidence. She said, she could; but having been Sworn, she fell into her Fits again, and, Burn her! Burn her! were all the words that she could obtain power to speak. Her Father likewise gave the same Testimony with her Mother; as to all but the Search.

IX. Here was the Sum of the Evidence: Which Mr. Serjeant Keeling,[148] thought not sufficient to Convict the Prisoners. For admitting the Chil[59]dren were Bewitched, yet, said he, it can never be Apply'd unto the Prisoners, upon the Imagination only of the Parties Afflicted; inasmuch as no person whatsoever could then be in Safety.

Dr. Brown, a very Learned Person then present, gave his Opinion, that these Persons were Bewitched. He added, That in Denmark, there had been lately a great Discovery of Witches; who used the very same way of Afflicting people, by Conveying Pins and Nails into them. His Opinion was, that the Devil in Witchcrafts, did Work upon the Bodies of Men and Women, upon 149a Natural Foundation; and that he did Extraordinarily afflict them, with such Distempers as their Bodies were most subject unto.

X. The Experiment about the Usefulness, yea, or Lawfulness whereof Good Men have sometimes disputed, was divers Times made, That tho' the Afflicted were utterly deprived of all sense in their Fits, yet upon the Touch of the Accused, they would so screech out, and fly up, as not upon any other persons. And yet it was also found that once upon the touch of an innocent person, the like effect follow'd, which put the whole Court unto a stand: altho' a small Reason was at length attempted to be given for it.

XI. However, to strengthen the Credit of what had been already produced against the Prisoners, One John Soam Testifi'd, That bringing home his Hay in Three Carts, one of the Carts wrenched the Window of Rose Cullenders House, whereupon she flew out, with violent Threatenings against the Deponent. The other Two Carts, passed by Twice, Loaded, that Day afterwards; but the Cart which touched Cullenders House, was Twice or Thrice that Day overturned. Having again Loaded it, as they brought it thro' the Gate which Leads out of the Field, the Cart stuck so fast in the Gates Head, that they could not possibly get it thro', but were forced to cut down the Post of the Gate, to make the Cart pass thro', altho' they could not perceive that the Cart did of either side touch the Gate-Post. They afterwards, did with150 much Difficulty get it home to the Yard; but could not for their Lives get the Cart near the place, where they should unload. They were fain to unload at a great Distance; and when they were Tired, the Noses of them that came to Assist them, would burst forth a Bleeding; so they were fain to give over till next morning; and then they unloaded without any difficulty.

XII. Robert Sherringham also Testifi'd, That the Axle-Tree of his Cart, happening in passing, to break some part of Rose Cullenders House, in her Anger at it, she vehemently threatned him, His Horses should suffer for it. And within a short time, all his Four Horses dy'd; after which he sustained many other Losses in the sudden Dying of his Cattle. He was also taken with a Lameness in his Limbs; and so vexed with Lice of an extraordinary Number and Bigness, that no Art could hinder the Swarming of them, till he burnt up two Suits of Apparel.

[60] XIII. As for Amy Duny, 'twas Testifi'd by one Richard Spencer that he heard her say, The Devil would not let her Rest; until she were Revenged on the Wife of Cornelius Sandswel. And that Sandswel testifi'd, that her Poultry dy'd suddenly, upon Amy Dunys threatning of them; and that her Husbands Chimney fell, quickly after Duny had spoken of such a disaster. And a Firkin of Fish could not be kept from falling into the Water, upon suspicious words of Duny's.

XIV. The Judge told the Jury, they were to151 inquire now, first, whether these Children were Bewitched; and secondly, Whether the Prisoners at the Bar were guilty of it. He made no doubt, there were such Creatures as Witches; for the Scriptures affirmed it; and the Wisdom of all Nations had provided Laws against such persons. He pray'd the God of Heaven to direct their Hearts in the weighty thing they had in hand; for, To Condemn the Innocent, and let the Guilty go free, were both an Abomination to the Lord.

The Jury in half an hour brought them in Guilty upon their several Indictments, which were Nineteen in Number.

The next Morning, the Children with their Parents, came to the Lodgings of the Lord Chief Justice, and were in as good health as ever in their Lives; being Restored within half an Hour after the Witches were Convicted.

The Witches were Executed; and Confessed nothing; which indeed will not be wondred by them, who Consider and Entertain the Judgment of a Judicious Writer, That the Unpardonable Sin, is most usually Committed by Professors of the Christian Religion, falling into Witchcraft.

We will now proceed unto several of the like Tryals among ourselves.[149]

152 I.
THE TRYAL OF G. B.
At a Court of OYER and TERMINER,
Held in Salem, 1692.

GLAD should I have been, if I had never known the Name of this Man; or never had this occasion to mention so much as the first Letters of his Name. But the Government requiring some Account of his [61] Trial to be inserted in this Book, it becomes me with all Obedience to submit unto the Order.

I. This G. B.[150] was Indicted for Witch-craft, and in the prosecution of the Charge against him, he was Accused by five or six of the Bewitched, as the Author of their Miseries; he was Accused by Eight of the Confessing Witches, as being an head 153Actor at some of their Hellish Randezvouzes, and one who had the promise of being a King in Satan's Kingdom, now going to be Erected: He was accused by Nine Persons for extraordinary Lifting, and such feats of Strength, as could not be done without a Diabolical Assistance. And for other such things he was Accused, until about thirty Testimonies were brought in against him; nor were these judg'd the half of what might have been considered for his Conviction: However they were enough to fix the Character of a Witch upon him according to the Rules of Reasoning, by the Judicious Gaule, in that Case directed.

II. The Court being sensible, that the Testimonies of the Parties Bewitched, use to have a Room among the Suspicions or Presumptions, brought in against one Indicted for Witchcraft; there were now heard the Testimonies of several Persons, who were most notoriously Bewitched, and every day Tortured by Invisible Hands, and these now all charged the Spectres of G. B. to have a share in their Torments. At the Examination of this G. B. the Bewitched People were grievously harassed with Preternatural Mischiefs, which could not possibly be dissembled; and they still ascribed it unto the endeavours of G. B. to Kill them. And now upon his Tryal of one of the Bewitched Persons, testified, that in her Agonies, a little black Hair'd Man came to her, saying his Name was B. and bidding her set her hand unto a Book which he shewed unto her; and154 bragging that he was a Conjurer, above the ordinary Rank of Witches; That he often Persecuted her with the offer of that Book, saying, She should be well, and need fear nobody, if she would but Sign it; But he inflicted cruel Pains and Hurts upon her, because of her denying so to do. The Testimonies of the other Sufferers concurred with these; and it was remarkable, that whereas Biting was one of the ways which the Witches used for the vexing of the Sufferers; when they cry'd out of G. B. Biting them, the print of the Teeth would be seen on the Flesh of the Complainers, and just such a Set of Teeth as G. B's would then appear upon them, which could be distinguished from those of some other Mens. Others of them testified, That in their Torments, G. B. tempted them to go unto a Sacrament, unto which they perceived him with a Sound of Trumpet, Summoning of other Witches, who quickly after the Sound, would come from all Quarters unto the Rendezvouz. One of them falling into a kind of Trance, afterwards affirmed, that G. B. had carried her into a very high Mountain, where he shewed her mighty and glorious Kingdoms, and said, He would give them all to her, if she would [62] write in his Book; but she told him, They were none of his to give; and refused the Motions; enduring of much Misery for that refusal.

It cost the Court a wonderful deal of Trouble, to hear the Testimonies of the Sufferers; for when they were going to give in their Depositions, they155 would for a long time be taken with Fits, that made them uncapable of saying anything. The Chief Judg asked the Prisoner, who he thought hindred these Witnesses from giving their Testimonies? And he answered, He supposed it was the Devil. That Honourable Person, then repli'd, How comes the Devil so loathe to have any Testimony born against you? Which cast him into very great Confusion.[151]

III. It has been a frequent thing for the Bewitched People to be entertained with Apparitions of Ghosts of Murdered People, at the same time that the Spectres of the Witches trouble them. These Ghosts do always affright the Beholders more than all the other spectral Representations; and when they exhibit themselves, they cry out, of being Murdered by the Witchcrafts or other Violences of the Persons who are then in Spectre present. It is further considerable, that once or twice, these Apparitions have been seen by others, at the very same time that they have shewn themselves to the Bewitched; and seldom have there been these Apparitions, but when something unusual or suspected, have attended the Death of the Party thus Appearing. Some that have been accused by these Apparitions accosting of the Bewitched People, who had never heard a word of any such Persons ever being in the World, have upon a fair Examination, freely and fully 156confessed the Murthers of those very Persons, altho these also did not know how the Apparitions had complained of them. Accordingly several of the Bewitched, had given in their Testimony, that they had been troubled with the Apparitions of two Women, who said, that they were G. B's two Wives, and that he had been the Death of them; and that the Magistrates must be told of it, before whom if B. upon his Tryal denied it, they did not know but that they should appear again in the Court. Now, G. B. had been Infamous for the Barbarous usage of his two late Wifes, all the Country over. Moreover, it was testified, the Spectre of G. B. threatning of the Sufferers, told them, he had Killed (besides others) Mrs. Lawson and her Daughter Ann.[152] And it was noted, that these were the Vertuous Wife and Daughter of one at whom this G. B. might have a prejudice for his being serviceable at Salem Village, from whence himself had in ill Terms removed some Years before: And that when they 157dy'd, which was long since, there were some odd Circumstances about them, which made some of the Attendents there suspect something of Witchcraft, tho none Imagined from what Quarter it should come.

Well, G. B. being now upon his Tryal, one of the Bewitched Persons was cast into Horror at the Ghost of B's two Deceased Wives then appearing before him, and crying for Vengeance against him. Hereupon seve[63]ral of the Bewitched Persons were successively called in, who all not knowing what the former had seen and said, concurred in their Horror of the Apparition, which they affirmed that he had before him. But he, tho much appalled, utterly deny'd that he discerned any thing of it; nor was it any part of his Conviction.

IV. Iudicious Writers have assigned it a great place in the Conviction of Witches, when Persons are Impeached by other notorious Witches, to be as ill as themselves; especially, if the Persons have been much noted for neglecting the Worship of God. Now, as there might have been Testimonies enough of G. B's Antipathy to Prayer, and the other Ordinances of God, tho by his Profession, singularly Obliged thereunto; so, there now came in against the Prisoner, the Testimonies of several Persons, who confessed their own having been horrible Witches, and ever since their Confessions, had been themselves terribly Tortured by the Devils and other Witches, even like the other Sufferers; and158 therein undergone the Pains of many Deaths for their Confessions.

These now testified, that G. B. had been at Witch-meetings with them; and that he was the Person who had Seduc'd, and Compell'd them into the snares of Witchcraft: That he promised them Fine Cloaths, for doing it; that he brought Poppets to them, and Thorns to stick into those Poppets, for the Afflicting of other People; and that he exhorted them with the rest of the Crew, to Bewitch all Salem Village, but besure to do it Gradually; if they would prevail in what they did.

When the Lancashire Witches were Condemn'd I don't remember that there was any considerable further Evidence, than that of the Bewitched, and than that of some that confessed. We see so much already against G. B. But this being indeed not enough, there were other things to render what had already been produced credible.

V. A famous Divine recites this among the Convictions of a Witch; The Testimony of the party Bewitched, whether Pining or Dying; together with the joint Oaths of sufficient Persons that have seen certain Prodigious Pranks or Feats wrought by the Party Accused. Now, God had been pleased so to leave this G. B. that he had ensnared himself by several Instances, which he had formerly given of a Preternatural Strength, and which were now produced against him. He was a very Puny Man, yet he had often done things beyond159 the strength of a Giant. A Gun of about seven foot Barrel, and so heavy that strong Men could not steadily hold it out with both hands; there were several Testimonies, given in by Persons of Credit and Honor, that he made nothing of taking up such a Gun behind the Lock, with but one hand, and holding it out like a Pistol, at Arms-end. G. B. in his Vindication, was so foolish as to say, That an Indian was there, and held it out at the same time: Whereas none of the Spectators ever saw any such Indian; but they supposed the Black Man, (as the Witches call the Devil; and they generally say he resembles an Indian) might [64] give him that Assistance. There was Evidence likewise brought in, that he made nothing of taking up whole Barrels fill'd with Malasses or Cider, in very disadvantageous Postures, and Carrying of them through the difficultest Places out of a Canoo to the Shore.

[Yea, there were two Testimonies that G. B. with only putting the Fore Finger of his Right hand into the Muzzle of an heavy Gun, a Fowling-piece of about six or seven foot Barrel, did lift up the Gun, and hold it out at Arms-end; a Gun which the Deponents though strong Men could not with both hands lift up, and hold out at the But-end, as is usual. Indeed, one of these Witnesses was over-perswaded by some Persons to be out of the way upon G. B's Tryal; but he came afterwards with Sorrow for his withdraw, and gave in his Testimony: Nor were either of160 these Witnesses made use of as Evidences in the Trial.]

VI. There came in several Testimonies relating to the Domestick Affairs of G. B. which had a very hard Aspect upon him; and not only prov'd him a very ill Man; but also confirmed the belief of the Character, which had been already fastned on him.

'Twas testified, that keeping his two Successive Wives in a strange kind of Slavery, he would when he came home from abroad, pretend to tell the Talk which any had with them; That he has brought them to the point of Death, by his harsh Dealings with his Wives, and then made the People about him, to promise that in case Death should happen, they would say nothing of it; That he used all means to make his Wives Write, Sign, Seal, and Swear a Covenant, never to reveal any of his Secrets; That his Wives had privately complained unto the Neighbours about frightful Apparitions of Evil Spirits, with which their House was sometimes infested; and that many such things have been whispered among the Neighbourhood. There were also some other Testmonies relating to the Death of People whereby the Consciences of an Impartial Jury were convinced that G. B. had Bewitched the Persons mentioned in the Complaints. But I am forced to omit several passages, in this, as well as in all the succeeding Tryals, because the Scribes who took notice of them, have not supplyed me.

161 VII. One Mr. Ruck, Brother-in-Law to this G. B. testified, that G. B. and he himself, and his Sister, who was G. B's Wife, going out for two or three Miles to gather Straw-berries, Ruck with his Sister, the Wife of G. B. Rode home very Softly, with G. B. on Foot in their Company, G. B. stept aside a little into the Bushes; whereupon they halted and Halloo'd for him. He not answering, they went away homewards, with a quickened pace, without expectation of seeing him in a considerable while; and yet when they were got near home, to their Astonishment, they found him on foot with them, having a Basket of Straw-berries. G. B. immediately then fell to Chiding his Wife, on the account of what she had been speaking to her [65] Brother, of him, on the Road: which when they wondred at, he said, He knew their thoughts. Ruck being startled at that, made some Reply, intimating, that the Devil himself did not know so far; but G. B. answered, My God makes known your Thoughts unto me. The Prisoner now at the Bar had nothing to answer, unto what was thus witnessed against him, that was worth considering. Only he said, Ruck, and his Wife left a Man with him, when they left him. Which Ruck now affirm'd to be false; and when the Court asked G. B. What the Man's Name was? his Countenance was much altered; nor could he say, who 'twas. But the Court began to think, that he then step'd aside, only that by the assistance of the Black Man, he162 might put on his Invisibility, and in that Fascinating Mist, gratifie his own Jealous Humour, to hear what they said of him. Which trick of rendring themselves Invisible, our Witches do in their Confessions pretend, that they sometimes are Masters of; and it is the more credible, because there is Demonstration, that they often render many other things utterly Invisible.

VIII. Faltring, faulty, unconstant, and contrary Answers upon judicial and deliberate Examination, are counted some unlucky Symptoms of Guilt, in all Crimes, especially in Witchcrafts. Now there never was a Prisoner more eminent for them, than G. B. both at his Examination and on his Trial. His Tergiversations, Contradictions, and Falshoods, were very sensible: he had little to say, but that he had heard some things that he could not prove, Reflecting upon the Reputation of some of the Witnesses. Only he gave in a Paper to the Jury; wherein, altho' he had many times before, granted, not only that there are Witches, but also, that the present Sufferings of the Country are the effects of horrible Witchcrafts, yet he now goes to evince it, That there neither are, nor ever were Witches, that having made a Compact with the Devil, can send a Devil to Torment other people at a distance. This Paper was Transcribed out of Ady; which the Court presently knew, as soon as they heard it. But he said, he had taken none of it out of any Book; for which, his Evasion afterwards, was, That a163 Gentleman gave him the Discourse in a Manuscript, from whence he Transcribed it.

IX. The Jury brought him in Guilty: But when he came to Dy, he utterly deni'd the Fact, whereof he had been thus convicted.[153]

II. The Tryal of Bridget Bishop,[154] alias Oliver, at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, held at Salem, June 2. 1692.

I. SHE was Indicted for Bewitching of several Persons in the Neighbourhood, the Indictment being drawn up, according to the Form in [66] such Cases as usual. And pleading, Not Guilty, there were brought in several persons, who 164had long undergone many kinds of Miseries, which were preternaturally inflicted, and generally ascribed unto an horrible Witchcraft. There was little occasion to prove the Witchcraft, it being evident and notorious to all beholders. Now to fix the Witchcraft on the Prisoner at the Bar, the first thing used, was the Testimony of the Bewitched; whereof several testifi'd, That the Shape of the Prisoner did oftentimes very grivously Pinch them, Choak them, Bite them, and Afflict them; urging them to write their Names in a Book, which the said Spectre called, Ours. One of them did further testifie, that it was the Shape of this Prisoner, with another, which one day took her from her Wheel, and carrying her to the River-side, threatned there to Drown her, if she did not Sign to the Book mentioned: which yet she refused. Others of them did also testifie, that the said Shape did in her Threats brag to them that she had been the Death of sundry Persons, then by her named; that she had Ridden a Man then likewise named. Another testifi'd, the Apparition of Ghosts unto the Spectre of Bishop, crying out, You Murdered us! About the Truth whereof, there was in the Matter of Fact but too much suspicion.

II. It was testifi'd, That at the Examination of the Prisoner before the Magistrates, the Bewitched were extreamly tortured. If she did but cast her Eyes on them, they were presently struck down; and this in such a manner as there could165 be no Collusion in the Business. But upon the Touch of her Hand upon them, when they lay in their Swoons, they would immediately Revive; and not upon the Touch of any ones else. Moreover, Upon some Special Actions of her Body, as the shaking of her Head, or the turning of her Eyes, they presently and painfully fell into the like postures. And many of the like Accidents now fell out, while she was at the Bar. One at the same time testifying, That she said, She could not be troubled to see the afflicted thus tormented.

III. There was Testimony likewise brought in, that a Man striking once at the place, where a bewitched person said, the Shape of this Bishop stood, the bewitched cried out, That he had tore her Coat, in the place then particularly specifi'd; and the Woman's Coat was found to be Torn in that very place.

IV. One Deliverance Hobbs,[155] who had confessed her being a Witch, was now tormented by the Spectres, for her Confession. And she now testifi'd, That this Bishop tempted her to Sign the Book again, and to deny what she had confess'd. She affirm'd, That it was the Shape of this Prisoner, which whipped her with Iron Rods, to compel her thereunto. And she affirmed, that this Bishop was at a General Meeting of the 166Witches, in a Field at Salem-Village, and there partook of a Diabolical Sacrament in Bread and Wine then administred.

[67] V. To render it further unquestionable, that the Prisoner at the Bar, was the Person truly charged in this Witchcraft, there were produced many Evidences of OTHER Witchcrafts, by her perpetrated. For Instance, John Cook testifi'd, That about five or six Years ago, one Morning, about Sun-Rise, he was in his Chamber assaulted by the Shape of this Prisoner: which look'd on him, grinn'd at him, and very much hurt him with a Blow on the side of the Head: and that on the same day, about Noon, the same Shape walked in the Room where he was, and an Apple strangely flew out of his Hand, into the Lap of his Mother, six or eight Foot from him.

VI. Samuel Gray[156] testifi'd, That about fourteen Years ago, he wak'd on a Night, and saw the Room where he lay full of Light; and that he then saw plainly a Woman between the Cradle, and the Bed-side, which look'd upon him. He rose, and it vanished; tho' he found the Doors all fast. Looking out at the Entry-door, he saw the same Woman, in the same Garb again; and said, In God's Name, what do you come for? He went to Bed, and had the same Woman again assaulting 167him. The Child in the Cradle gave a great Screech, and the Woman disappeared. It was long before the Child could be quieted; and tho' it were a very likely thriving Child, yet from this time it pined away, and after divers Months, died in a sad Conditon. He knew not Bishop, nor her Name; but when he saw her after this, he knew by her Countenance, and Apparel, and all Circumstances, that it was the Apparition of this Bishop, which had thus troubled him.

VII. John Bly[157] and his Wife testifi'd, That he bought a Sow of Edward Bishop, the Husband of the Prisoner; and was to pay the Price agreed, unto another person. This Prisoner being angry that she was thus hindred from fingring the Mony, quarrell'd with Bly. Soon after which, the Sow was taken with strange Fits; Jumping, Leaping, and Knocking her Head against the Fence; she seem'd Blind and Deaf, and would neither Eat nor be Suck'd. Whereupon a Neighbour said, she believed the Creature was Over-looked; and sundry other Circumstances concurred, which made the Deponents believe that Bishop had bewitched it.

VIII. Richard Coman[158] testifi'd, That eight Years ago, as he lay awake in his Bed, with a 168Light burning in the Room, he was annoy'd with the Apparition of this Bishop, and of two more that were strangers to him, who came and oppressed him so, that he could neither stir himself, nor wake any one else, and that he was the Night after, molested again in the like manner; the said Bishop, taking him by the Throat, and pulling him almost out of the Bed. His Kinsman offered for this Cause to lodge with him; and that Night, as they were awake, discoursing together, this Coman was once more visited by the Guests which had formerly been so troublesom; his Kinsman being at the same time strook speechless, and unable to move Hand or [68] Foot. He had laid his Sword by him, which these unhappy Spectres did strive much to wrest from him; only he held too fast for them. He then grew able to call the People of his House; but altho' they heard him, yet they had not power to speak or stir; until at last, one of the People crying out, What's the matter? The Spectres all vanished.

IX. Samuel Shattock[159] testifi'd, That in the Year, 1680, this Bridget Bishop, often came to his House upon such frivolous and foolish Errands, that they suspected she came indeed with a purpose of mischief. Presently, whereupon, his eldest Child, which was of as promising Health 169and Sense, as any Child of its Age, began to droop exceedingly; and the oftner that Bishop came to the House, the worse grew the Child. As the Child would be standing at the Door, he would be thrown and bruised against the Stones, by an Invisible Hand, and in like sort knock his Face against the sides of the House, and bruise it after a miserable manner. After this Bishop would bring him things to Dy, whereof he could not imagin any use; and when she paid him a piece of Mony, the Purse and Mony were unaccountably conveyed out of a lock'd Box, and never seen more. The Child was immediately, hereupon, taken with terrible Fits, whereof his Friends thought he would have dyed: Indeed he did almost nothing but Cry and Sleep for several Months together; and at length his Understanding was utterly taken away. Among other Symptoms of an Inchantment upon him, one was, That there was a Board in the Garden, whereon he would walk; and all the Invitations in the World could never fetch him off. About 17 or 18 years after,[160] there came a Stranger to Shattock's House, who seeing the Child, said, This poor Child is Bewitched; and you have a Neighbour living not far off, who is a Witch. He added, Your Neighbour has had a falling out with your Wife; and she said, in her Heart, your Wife is a proud Woman, and she would bring down her Pride in this Child. He then 170remembred, that Bishop had parted from his Wife in muttering and menacing Terms, a little before the Child was taken Ill. The abovesaid Stranger would needs carry the bewitched Boy with him, to Bishop's House, on pretence of buying a Pot of Cyder. The Woman entertained him in a furious manner; and flew also upon the Boy, scratching his Face till the Blood came; and saying, Thou Rogue, what dost thou bring this Fellow here to plague me? Now it seems the Man had said, before he went, That he would fetch Blood of her. Ever after the Boy was follow'd with grievous Fits, which the Doctors themselves generally ascribed unto Witchcraft; and wherein he would be thrown still into the Fire or the Water, if he were not constantly look'd after; and it was verily believed that Bishop was the cause of it.

X. John Louder[161] testifi'd, That upon some little Controversy with Bishop about her Fowls, going well to Bed, he did awake in the Night by Moon[69]light, and did see clearly the likeness of this Woman grievously oppressing him; in which miserable condition she held him, unable to help himself, till near Day. He told Bishop of this; 171but she deny'd it, and threatned him very much. Quickly after this, being at home on a Lords day, with the doors shut about him, he saw a black Pig approach him; at which, he going to kick, it vanished away. Immediately after, sitting down, he saw a black Thing jump in at the Window, and come and stand before him. The Body was like that of a Monkey, the Feet like a Cocks, but the Face much like a Mans. He being so extreamly affrighted, that he could not speak; this Monster spoke to him, and said, I am a Messenger sent unto you, for I understand that you are in some Trouble of Mind, and if you will be ruled by me, you shall want for nothing in this World. Whereupon he endeavoured to clap his Hands upon it; but he could feel no substance; and it jumped out of the Window again; but immediately came in by the Porch, tho' the Doors were shut, and said, You had better take my Counsel! He then struck at it with a Stick, but struck only the Ground-sel, and broke the Stick: The Arm with which he struck was presently Disenabled, and it vanished away. He presently went out at the Back-door, and spied this Bishop, in her Orchard, going toward her House; but he had not power to set one foot forward unto her. Whereupon, returning into the House, he was immediately accosted by the Monster he had seen before; which Goblin was now going to fly at him; whereat he cry'd out, The whole Armour of God be between me and you! So it sprang back, and flew over the Apple-tree;172 shaking many Apples off the Tree, in its flying over. At its leap, it flung Dirt with its Feet against the Stomack of the Man; whereon he was then struck Dumb, and so continued for three Days together. Upon the producing of this Testimony, Bishop deny'd that she knew this Deponent: Yet their two Orchards joined; and they had often had their little Quarrels for some years together.

XI. William Stacy[162] testify'd, That receiving Mony of this Bishop, for work done by him; he was gone but a matter of three Rods from her, and looking for his Mony, found it unaccountably gone from him. Some time after, Bishop asked him, whether her Father would grind her Grist for her? He demanded why? She reply'd, Because Folks count me a Witch. He answered, No question but he will grind it for you. Being then gone about six Rods from her, with a small Load in his Cart, suddenly the Off-wheel slump't; and sunk down into an hole, upon plain Ground; so that the Deponent was forced to get help for the recovering of the Wheel: But stepping back to look for the hole, which might give him this Disaster, there was none at all to be found. Some time after, he was waked in the Night; but it seem'd as light as day; and he perfectly saw the 173shape of this Bishop [70] in the Room, troubling of him; but upon her going out, all was dark again. He charg'd Bishop afterwards with it, and she deny'd it not; but was very angry. Quickly after, this Deponent having been threatned by Bishop, as he was in a dark Night going to the Barn, he was very suddenly taken or lifted from the Ground, and thrown against a Stone-wall: After that, he was again hoisted up and thrown down a Bank, at the end of his House. After this again, passing by this Bishop, his Horse with a small Load, striving to draw, all his Gears flew to pieces, and the Cart fell down; and this Deponent going then to lift a Bag of Corn, of about two Bushels, could not budge it with all his Might.

Many other Pranks of this Bishop's this Deponent was ready to testify. He also testify'd, That he verily believ'd, the said Bishop was the Instrument of his Daughter Priscilla's Death; of which suspicion, pregnant Reasons were assigned.

XII. To crown all, John Bly and William Bly testify'd, That being employ'd by Bridget Bishop, to help take down the Cellar-wall of the old House wherein she formerly lived, they did in holes of the said old Wall, find several Poppets, made up of Rags and Hogs-brussels, with headless Pins in them, the Points being outward; whereof she could give no Account to the Court, that was reasonable or tolerable.[163]

174

XIII. One thing that made against the Prisoner was, her being evidently convicted of gross Lying in the Court, several times, while she was making her Plea; but besides this, a Jury of Women found a preternatural Teat upon her Body: But upon a second search, within 3 or 4 hours, there was no such thing to be seen. There was also an Account of other People whom this Woman had Afflicted; and there might have been many more, if they had been enquired for; but there was no need of them.

XIV. There was one very strange thing more, with which the Court was newly entertained. As this Woman was under a Guard, passing by the great and spacious Meeting-house of Salem, she gave a look towards the House: and immediately a Dæmon invisibly entring the Meeting-house, tore down a part of it; so that tho' there was no Person to be seen there, yet the People, at the noise, running in, found a Board, which was strongly fastned with several Nails, transported unto another quarter of the House.

175 III. The Tryal of Susanna Martin,[164] at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, held by Adjournment at Salem, June 29. 1692.

I. SUSANNA MARTIN, pleading Not Guilty to the Indictment of Witchcraft, brought in against her, there were produced the Evidences of ma[71]ny Persons very sensibly and grievously Bewitched; who all complained of the Prisoner at the Bar, as the Person whom they believed the cause of their Miseries. And now, as well as in the other Trials, there was an extraordinary Endeavour by Witchcrafts, with Cruel and frequent Fits, to hinder the poor Sufferers from giving in their Complaints, which the Court was forced with much Patience to obtain, by much waiting and watching for it.

II. There was now also an account given of what passed at he first Examination before the Magistrates. The Cast of her Eye, then striking the afflicted People to the Ground, whether they saw that Cast or no; there were these among other Passages between the Magistrates and the Examinate.

Magistrate. Pray, what ails these People?

Martin. I don't know.

176 Magistrate. But what do you think ails them?

Martin. I don't desire to spend my Judgment upon it.

Magistrate. Don't you think they are bewitch'd?

Martin. No, I do not think they are.

Magistrate. Tell us your Thoughts about them then.

Martin. No, my thoughts are my own, when they are in, but when they are out they are anothers. Their Master.——

Magistrate. Their Master? who do you think is their Master?

Martin. If they be dealing in the Black Art, you may know as well as I.

Magistrate. Well, what have you done towards this?

Martin. Nothing at all.

Magistrate. Why, 'tis you or your Appearance.

Martin. I cannot help it.

Magistrate. Is it not your Master? How comes your Appearance to hurt these?

Martin. How do I know? He that appeared in the Shape of Samuel, a glorified Saint, may appear in any ones Shape.

It was then also noted in her, as in others like her, that if the Afflicted went to approach her, they were flung down to the Ground. And, when she was asked the reason of it, she said, I cannot tell; it may be the Devil bears me more Malice than another.

177 III. The Court accounted themselves, alarum'd by these Things, to enquire further into the Conversation of the Prisoner; and see what there might occur, to render these Accusations further credible. Whereupon, John Allen of Salisbury, testify'd, That he refusing, because of the weakness of his Oxen, to Cart some Staves at the request of this Martin, she was displeased at it; and said, It had been as good that he had; for his Oxen should never do him much more Service. Whereupon this Deponent said, Dost thou threaten me, thou old Witch? I'l throw thee into the Brook: Which [72] to avoid, she flew over the Bridge, and escaped. But, as he was going home, one of his Oxen tired, so that he was forced to Unyoke him, that he might get him home. He then put his Oxen, with many more, upon Salisbury Beach, where Cattle did use to get Flesh. In a few days, all the Oxen upon the Beach were found by their Tracks, to have run unto the Mouth of Merrimack-River, and not returned; but the next day they were found come ashore upon Plum-Island. They that sought them, used all imaginable gentleness, but they would still run away with a violence, that seemed wholly Diabolical, till they came near the mouth of Merrimack-River; when they ran right into the Sea, swimming as far as they could be seen. One of them then swam back again, with a swiftness, amazing to the Beholders, who stood ready to receive him, and help up his tired Carcass: But178 the Beast ran furiously up into the Island, and from thence, through the Marshes, up into Newbury Town, and so up into the Woods; and there after a while found near Amesbury. So that, of fourteen good Oxen, there was only this saved: The rest were all cast up, some in one place, and some in another, Drowned.

IV. John Atkinson[165] testifi'd, That he exchanged a Cow with a Son of Susanna Martin's whereat she muttered, and was unwilling he should have it. Going to receive this Cow, tho' he Hamstring'd her, and Halter'd her, she, of a Tame Creature, grew so mad, that they could scarce get her along. She broke all the Ropes that were fastned unto her, and though she were ty'd fast unto a Tree, yet she made her escape, and gave them such further trouble, as they could ascribe to no cause but Witchcraft.

V. Bernard Peache[166] testifi'd, That being in Bed, on the Lord's-day Night, he heard a scrabbling at the Window, whereat he then saw Susanna Martin come in, and jump down upon the Floor. She took hold of this Deponent's Feet, and drawing his Body up into an Heap, she lay upon him near Two Hours; in all which time he could neither speak nor stir. At length, when he could begin to move, he laid hold on 179her Hand, and pulling it up to his Mouth, he bit three of her Fingers, as he judged, unto the Bone. Whereupon she went from the Chamber, down the Stairs, out at the Door. This Deponent thereupon called unto the People of the House, to advise them of what passed; and he himself did follow her. The People saw her not; but there being a Bucket at the Left-hand of the Door, there was a drop of Blood found upon it; and several more drops of Blood upon the Snow newly fallen abroad: There was likewise the print of her 2 Feet just without the Threshold; but no more sign of any Footing further off.

At another time this Deponent was desired by the Prisoner, to come unto an Husking of Corn, at her House; and she said, If he did not come, it were better that he did! He went not; but the Night following, Susanna [73] Martin, as he judged, and another came towards him. One of them said, Here he is! but he having a Quarter-staff, made a Blow at them. The Roof of the Barn, broke his Blow; but following them to the Window, he made another Blow at them, and struck them down; yet they got up, and got out, and he saw no more of them.

About this time, there was a Rumour about the Town, that Martin had a Broken Head; but the Deponent could say nothing to that.

The said Peache also testifi'd the Bewitching the Cattle to Death, upon Martin's Discontents.

180 VI. Robert Downer[167] testifi'd, That this Prisoner being some Years ago prosecuted at Court for a Witch, he then said unto her, He believed she was a Witch. Whereat she being dissatisfied, said, That some She-Devil would shortly fetch him away! Which words were heard by others, as well as himself. The Night following, as he lay in his Bed, there came in at the Window, the likeness of a Cat, which flew upon him, took fast hold of his Throat, lay on him a considerable while and almost killed him. At length he remembered what Susanna Martin had threatned the Day before; and with much striving he cried out, Avoid, thou She-Devil! In the Name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Avoid! Whereupon it left him, leap'd on the Floor, and flew out at the Window.

And there also came in several Testimonies, that before ever Downer spoke a word of this Accident, Susanna Martin and her Family had related, How this Downer had been handled!

VII. John Kembal[168] testified, that Susanna Martin, upon a Causeless Disgust, had threatned him, about a certain Cow of his, That she should never do him any more Good: and it came to pass accordingly. For soon after the Cow was found 181stark dead on the dry Ground, without any Distemper to be discerned upon her. Upon which he was followed with a strange Death upon more of his Cattle, whereof he lost in one Spring to the Value of Thirty Pounds. But the said John Kembal had a further Testimony to give in against the Prisoner which was truly admirable.

Being desirous to furnish himself with a Dog, he applied himself to buy one of this Martin, who had a Bitch with Whelps in her House. But she not letting him have his choice, he said, he would supply himself then at one Blezdels. Having mark'd a Puppy, which he lik'd at Blezdels, he met George Martin, the Husband of the Prisoner, going by, who asked him, Whether he would not have one of his Wife's Puppies? and he answered, No. The same Day, one Edmond Eliot, being at Martin's House, heard George Martin relate, where this Kembal had been, and what he had said. Whereupon Susanna Martin replied, If I live, I'll give him Puppies enough! Within a few days after, this Kembal, coming out of the Woods, there arose a little Black [74] Cloud in the N.W. and Kembal immediately felt a force upon him, which made him not able to avoid running upon the stumps of Trees, that were before him, albeit he had a broad, plain Cart-way, before him; but tho' he had his Ax also on his Shoulder, to endanger him in his Falls, he could not forbear going out of his way to tumble over them. When he came below the Meeting House, there182 appeared unto him, a little thing like a Puppy, of a Darkish Colour; and it shot backwards and forwards between his Legs. He had the Courage to use all possible Endeavours of Cutting it with his Ax; but he could not Hit it: the Puppy gave a jump from him, and went, as to him it seem'd to him into the Ground. Going a little further, there appeared unto him a Black Puppy, somewhat bigger than the first, but as Black as a Cole. Its Motions were quicker than those of his Ax; it flew at his Belly, and away; then at his Throat; so, over his Shoulder one way, and then over his Shoulder another way. His Heart now began to fail him, and he thought the Dog would have tore his Throat out. But he recovered himself, and called upon God in his Distress; and naming the Name of Jesus Christ, it vanished away at once. The Deponent spoke not one Word of these Accidents, for fear of affrighting his Wife. But the next Morning, Edmond Eliot, going into Martin's House, this Woman asked him where Kembal was? He replied, At home, a Bed, for ought he knew. She returned, They say, he was frighted last Night.. Eliot asked, With what? She answered, With Puppies. Eliot asked, Where she heard of it, for he had heard nothing of it? She rejoined, About the Town. Altho' Kembal had mentioned the Matter to no Creature living.

VIII. William Brown[169] testifi'd, That Heaven 183having blessed him with a most Pious and Prudent Wife, this Wife of his, one day met with Susanna Martin: but when she approach'd just unto her, Martin vanished out of sight, and left her extreamly affrighted. After which time, the said Martin often appear'd unto her, giving her no little trouble; and when she did come, she was visited with Birds, that sorely peck'd and prick'd her; and sometimes, a Bunch, like a Pullet's Egg, would rise in her Throat, ready to choak her, till she cry'd out, Witch, you shan't choak me! While this good Woman was in this extremity, the Church appointed a Day of Prayer, on her behalf; whereupon her Trouble ceas'd; and she saw not Martin as formerly; and the Church, instead of their Fast, gave Thanks for her Deliverance. But a considerable while after, she being Summoned to give in some Evidence at the Court, against this Martin, quickly thereupon this Martin came behind her, while she was milking her Cow, and said unto her, For thy defaming me at Court, I'll make thee the miserablest Creature in the World. Soon after which, she fell into a strange kind of distemper, and became horribly frantick, and uncapable of any reasonable Action; the Physicians de[75]claring, that her Distemper was preternatural, and that some Devil had certainly 184bewitched her; and in that condition she now remained.

IX. Sarah Atkinson[170] testify'd, That Susanna Martin came from Amesbury to their House at Newbury, in an extraordinary Season, when it was not fit for any to Travel. She came (as she said, unto Atkinson) all that long way on Foot. She brag'd and shew'd how dry she was; nor could it be perceived that so much as the Soles of her Shoes were wet. Atkinson was amazed at it; and professed, that she should her self have been wet up to the knees, if she had then came so far; but Martin reply'd, She scorn'd to be Drabbled! It was noted, that this Testimony upon her Trial, cast her in a very singular Confusion.

X. John Pressy[171] testify'd, That being one Evening very unaccountably Bewildred, near a Field of Martins, and several times, as one under an Enchantment, returning to the place he had left, at length he saw a marvellous Light, about the bigness of an Half-bushel, near two Rod out of the way. He went, and struck at it with a Stick, and laid it on with all his might. He gave it near forty blows; and felt it a palpable substance. But going from it, his Heels were 185struck up, and he was laid with his Back on the Ground, sliding, as he thought, into a Pit; from whence he recover'd by taking hold on the Bush; altho' afterwards he could find no such Pit in the place. Having, after his Recovery, gone five or six Rod, he saw Susanna Martin standing on his Left-hand, as the Light had done before; but they changed no words with one another. He could scarce find his House in his Return; but at length he got home extreamly affrighted. The next day, it was upon Enquiry understood, that Martin was in a miserable condition by pains and hurts that were upon her.

It was further testify'd by this Deponent, That after he had given in some Evidence against Susanna Martin, many years ago, she gave him foul words about it; and said, He should never prosper more; particularly, That he should never have more than two Cows; that tho' he was never so likely to have more, yet he should never have them. And that from that very day to this, namely for twenty years together, he could never exceed that number; but some strange thing or other still prevented his having of any more.

XI. Jervis Ring[172] testify'd, That about seven 186years ago, he was oftentimes and grievously oppressed in the Night, but saw not who troubled him; until at last he Lying perfectly Awake, plainly saw Susanna Martin approach him. She came to him, and forceably bit him by the Finger; so that the Print of the bite is now, so long after, to be seen upon him.

XII. But besides all of these Evidences, there was a most wonderful Account of one Joseph Ring, produced on this occasion.

[76] This Man has been strangely carried about by Dæmons, from one Witch-meeting to another, for near two years together; and for one quarter of this time, they have made him, and keep him Dumb, tho' he is now again able to speak. There was one T. H. who having, as 'tis judged, a design of engaging this Joseph Ring in a snare of Devillism, contrived a while, to bring this Ring two Shillings in Debt unto him.

Afterwards, this poor Man would be visited with unknown shapes, and this T. H. sometimes among them; which would force him away with them, unto unknown Places, where he saw Meetings, Feastings, Dancings; and after his return, wherein they hurried him along through the Air, 187he gave Demonstrations to the Neighbours, that he had indeed been so transported. When he was brought unto these hellish Meetings, one of the first Things they still did unto him, was to give him a knock on the Back, whereupon he was ever as if bound with Chains, uncapable of stirring out of the place, till they should release him. He related, that there often came to him a Man, who presented him a Book, whereto he would have him set his Hand; promising to him, that he should then have even what he would; and presenting him with all the delectable Things, Persons, and Places, that he could imagin. But he refusing to subscribe, the business would end with dreadful Shapes, Noises and Screeches, which almost scared him out of his Wits. Once with the Book, there was a Pen offered him, and an Ink-horn with Liquor in it, that seemed like Blood: but he never toucht it.

This Man did now affirm, That he saw the Prisoner at several of those hellish Randezvouzes.

Note, this Woman was one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked Creatures in the World; and she did now throughout her whole Tryal, discover herself to be such an one. Yet when she was asked, what she had to say for self? Her chief Plea was, That she had led a most virtuous and holy Life.

188 IV. The Tryal of Elizabeth How,[173] at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, held by Adjournment at Salem June 30, 1692.

I. ELIZABETH HOW pleading Not Guilty to the Indictment of Witchcrafts, then charged upon her; the Court, according to the usual Proceedings of the Courts in England, in such Cases, began with hearing the Depositions of several afflicted People, who were grievously tortured by sensible and evident Witchcrafts, and all complained of the Prisoner, as the cause of their Trouble. It was also found that the Sufferers were not able [77] to bear her Look, as likewise, that in their greatest Swoons, they distinguished her Touch from other Peoples, being thereby raised out of them.

And there was other Testimony of People to whom the shape of this How, gave trouble nine or ten years ago.

II. It has been a most usual thing for the bewitched Persons, at the same time that the Spectres, representing the Witches, troubled them, to be visited with Apparitions of Ghosts, pretending to have been Murdered by the Witches then represented. And sometimes the Confessions of the Witches afterwards acknowledged those very Murders, which these Apparitions charged upon 189them; altho' they had never heard what Informations had been given by the Sufferers.

There were such Apparitions of Ghosts testified by some of the present Sufferers; and the Ghosts affirmed, that this How had Murdered them: Which things were fear'd but not prov'd.

III. This How had made some Attempts of joyning to the Church at Ipswich, several years ago; but she was denyed an admission into that Holy Society, partly through a suspicion of Witchcraft, then urged against her. And there now came in Testimony, of preternatural Mischiefs, presently befalling some that had been Instrumental to debar her from the Communion whereupon she was intruding.

IV. There was a particular Deposition of Joseph Safford,[174] That his Wife had conceived an extream Aversion to this How, on the Reports of her Witchcrafts: But How one day, taking her by the Hand, and saying, I believe you are not ignorant of the great Scandal that I lye under, by an evil Report raised upon me. She immediately, unreasonably and unperswadeably, even like one Enchanted, began to take this Woman's part. How being soon after propounded, as desiring an Admission to the Table of the Lord, some of the pious Brethren were unsatisfy'd about her. The Elders appointed a Meeting to hear Matters objected against her; and no Arguments in the 190World could hinder this Goodwife Safford from going to the Lecture. She did indeed promise, with much ado, that she would not go to the Church-meeting, yet she could not refrain going thither also. How's Affairs there were so canvased, that she came off rather Guilty than Cleared; nevertheless Goodwife Safford could not forbear taking her by the Hand, and saying, Tho' you are Condemned before Men, you are justify'd before God. She was quickly taken in a very strange manner, Frantick, Raving, Raging and crying out, Goody How must come into the Church; she is a precious Saint; and tho' she be condemned before Men, she is Justify'd before God. So she continued [78] for the space of two or three Hours; and then fell into a Trance. But coming to her self, she cry'd out, Ha! I was mistaken; and afterwards again repeated, Ha! I was mistaken! Being asked by a stander by, Wherein? she replyed, I thought Goody How had been a precious Saint of God, but now I see she is a Witch: She has bewitched me, and my Child, and we shall never be well, till there be a Testimony for her, that she may be taken into the Church. And How said afterwards, that she was very sorry to see Safford at the Church-meeting mentioned. Safford, after this, declared herself to be afflicted by the Shape of How; and from that Shape she endured many Miseries.

V. John How, Brother to the Husband of the Prisoner testified, that he refusing to accompany the Prisoner unto her Examination, as was by her desired, immediately some of his Cattle were191 Bewitched to Death, leaping three or four foot high, turning about, speaking, falling, and dying at once; and going to cut off an Ear, for an use that might as well perhaps have been omitted, the Hand wherein he held his Knife was taken very numb, and so it remained, and full of Pain, for several Days, being not well at this very Time. And he suspected this Prisoner for the Author of it.

VI. Nehemiah Abbot[175] testify'd, that unusual and mischievous Accidents would befal his Cattle, whenever he had any Difference with this Prisoner. Once, particularly, she wished his Ox choaked; and within a little while that Ox was choaked with a Turnip in his Throat. At another Time, refusing to lend his Horse, at the Request of her Daughter, the Horse was in a preternatural manner abused. And several other odd things of that kind were testified.

VII. There came in Testimony, that one Goodwife Sherwin, upon some Difference with How, was Bewitched; and that she dyed, charging this How with having an Hand in her Death. And that other People had their Barrels of Drink unaccountably mischieved, spoil'd and spilt, upon their displeasing of her.

The things in themselves were trivial, but there 192being such a Course of them, it made them the more to be considered. Among others, Martha Wood, gave her Testimony, That a little after her Father had been employed in gathering an account of How's Conversation, they once and again lost great Quantities of Drink out of their Vessels, in such a manner, as they could ascribe to nothing but Witchcraft. As also, That How giving her some Apples, when she had eaten of them, she was taken with a very strange kind of Amaze, insomuch that she knew not what she said or did.

VIII. There was likewise a Cluster of Depositions, That one Isaac Cummings[176] refusing to lend his Mare unto the Husband of this How, the Mare was within a Day or two taken in a strange condition: The Beast [79] seemed much abused, being bruised as if she had been running over the Rocks, and marked where the Bridle went, as if burnt with a red hot Bridle. Moreover, one using a Pipe of Tobacco for the Cure of the Beast, a blew Flame issued out of her, took hold of her Hair, and not only spread and burnt on her, but it also flew upwards towards the Roof of the Barn, and had like to have set the Barn on Fire: And the Mare dyed very suddenly.

IX. Timothy Perley[177] and his Wife, testify'd, Not only unaccountable Mischiefs befel their 193Cattle, upon their having of Differences with this Prisoner: but also that they had a Daughter destroyed by Witchcrafts; which Daughter still charged How as the Cause of her Affliction. And it was noted, that she would be struck down whenever How were spoken of. She was often endeavoured to be thrown into the Fire, and into the Water, in her strange Fits: Tho' her Father had corrected her for charging How with bewitching her, yet (as was testified by others also) she said, She was sure of it, and must dye standing to it. Accordingly she charged How to the very Death; and said, Tho' How could afflict and torment her Body, yet she could not hurt her Soul: And, That the Truth of this matter would appear when she should be dead and gone.

X. Francis Lane[178] testified, That being hired by the Husband of this How to get him a parcel of Posts and Rails, this Lane hired John Pearly to assist him. This Prisoner then told Lane, That she believed the Posts and Rails would not do, because John Perly helped him; but that if he had got them alone, without John Pearlie's help, they might have done well enough. When James How came to receive his Posts and Rails of Lane, How taking them up by the Ends, they, tho' good and sound, yet unaccountably broke off, so that Lane was forced to get thirty 194or forty more. And this Prisoner being informed of it, she said, She told him so before, because Pearly helped about them.

XI. Afterwards there came in the Confessions of several other (penitent) Witches, which affirmed this How to be one of those, who with them had been baptized by the Devil in the River at Newbury-Falls: before which he made them there kneel down by the Brink of the River and worshiped him.

V. The Trial of Martha Carrier,[179] at the Court of Oyer and Terminer, held by Adjournment at Salem, August 2, 1692.

I. MARTHA CARRIER was Indicted for the bewitching of certain Persons, according to the Form usual in such Cases, pleading Not Guilty, [80] to her Indictment; there were first brought in a considerable number of the bewitched Persons; who not only made the Court sensible of an horrid Witchcraft committed upon them, but also deposed, That it was Martha Carrier, or her Shape, that grievously tormented them, by Biting, Pricking, Pinching and Choaking of them. It was further deposed, That while this Carrier was on her Examination, before the Magistrates, the Poor People were so tortured 195that every one expected their Death upon the very spot, but that upon the binding of Carrier they were eased. Moreover the Look of Carrier then laid the Afflicted People for dead; and her Touch, if her Eye at the same time were off them, raised them again: Which Things were also now seen upon her Tryal. And it was testified, That upon the mention of some having their Necks twisted almost round, by the Shape of this Carrier, she replyed, Its no matter though their Necks had been twisted quite off.

II. Before the Trial of this Prisoner, several of her own Children had frankly and fully confessed, not only that they were Witches themselves, but that this their Mother had made them so. This Confession they made with great Shews of Repentance, and with much Demonstration of Truth. They related Place, Time, Occasion; they gave an account of Journeys, Meetings and Mischiefs by them performed, and were very credible in what they said. Nevertheless, this Evidence was not produced against the Prisoner at the Bar, inasmuch as there was other Evidence enough to proceed upon.

III. Benjamin Abbot[180] gave in his Testimony, That last March was a twelvemonth, this Carrier was very angry with him, upon laying out some Land, near her Husband's: Her Expressions in 196this Anger, were, That she would stick as close to Abbot as the Bark stuck to the Tree; and that he should repent of it afore seven Years came to an End, so as Doctor Prescot[181] should never cure him. These Words were heard by others besides Abbot himself; who also heard her say, She would hold his Nose as close to the Grindstone as ever it was held since his Name was Abbot. Presently after this, he was taken with a Swelling in his Foot, and then with a Pain in his Side, and exceedingly tormented. It bred into a Sore, which was launced by Doctor Prescot, and several Gallons of Corruption ran out of it. For six Weeks it continued very bad, and then another Sore bred in the Groin, which was also lanced by Doctor Prescot. Another Sore then bred in his Groin, which was likewise cut, and put him to very great Misery: He was brought unto Death's Door, and so remained until Carrier was taken, and carried away by the Constable, from which very Day he began to mend, and so grew better every Day, and is well ever since.

Sarah Abbot also, his Wife, testified, That her Hus[41]band was not only all this while Afflicted in his Body, but also that strange extraordinary and unaccountable Calamities befel his Cattel; their Death being such as they could guess at no Natural Reason for.

IV. Allin Toothaker[182] testify'd, That Richard, 197the son of Martha Carrier, having some difference with him, pull'd him down by the Hair of the Head. When he Rose again, he was going to strike at Richard Carrier; but fell down flat on his Back to the ground, and had not power to stir hand or foot, until he told Carrier he yielded; and then he saw the shape of Martha Carrier, go off his breast.

This Toothaker, had Received a wound in the Wars; and he now testify'd, that Martha Carrier told him, He should never be Cured. Just afore the Apprehending of Carrier, he could thrust a knitting Needle into his wound, four inches deep; but presently after her being siezed, he was thoroughly healed.

He further testify'd, that when Carrier and he sometimes were at variance, she would clap her hands at him, and say, He should get nothing by it; whereupon he several times lost his Cattle, by strange Deaths, whereof no natural causes could be given.

V. John Rogger[183] also testifyed, That upon the threatning words of this malicious Carrier, his Cattle would be strangely bewitched; as was more particularly then described.

198

VI. Samuel Preston[184] testify'd, that about two years ago, having some difference with Martha Carrier, he lost a Cow in a strange Preternatural unusual manner; and about a month after this, the said Carrier, having again some difference with him, she told him; He had lately lost a Cow, and it should not be long before he lost another; which accordingly came to pass; for he had a thriving and well-kept Cow, which without any known cause quickly fell down and dy'd.

VII. Phebe Chandler[185] testify'd, that about a Fortnight before the apprehension of Martha Carrier, on a Lordsday, while the Psalm was singing in the Church, this Carrier then took her by the shoulder and shaking her, asked her, where she lived: she made her no Answer, although as Carrier, who lived next door to her Fathers House, could not in reason but know who she was. Quickly after this, as she was at several times crossing the Fields, she heard a voice, that she took to be Martha Carriers, and it seem'd as if it [42] was over her head. The voice told her, she should within two or three days be poisoned. Accordingly, within such a little time, one half of her right hand, became greatly swollen, and very painful; as also part of her Face; whereof 199she can give no account how it came. It continued very bad for some dayes; and several times since, she has had a great pain in her breast; and been so siezed on her leggs, that she has hardly been able to go. She added, that lately, going well to the House of God, Richard, the son of Martha Carrier, look'd very earnestly upon her, and immediately her hand, which had formerly been poisoned, as is abovesaid, began to pain her greatly, and she had a strange Burning at her stomach; but was then struck deaf, so that she could not hear any of the prayer, or singing, till the two or three last words of the Psalm.

VIII. One Foster,[186] who confessed her own share in the Witchcraft for which the Prisoner stood indicted, affirm'd, that she had seen the prisoner at some of their Witch-meetings, and that it was this Carrier, who perswaded her to be a Witch. She confessed, that the Devil carry'd them on a pole, to a Witch-meeting; but the pole broke, and she hanging about Carriers neck, they both fell down, and she then received an hurt by the Fall, whereof she was not at this very time recovered.

IX. One Lacy,[187] who likewise confessed her share in this Witchcraft, now testify'd, that she 200and the prisoner were once Bodily present at a Witch-meeting in Salem Village; and that she knew the prisoner to be a Witch, and to have been at a Diabolical sacrament, and that the prisoner was the undoing of her, and her Children, by enticing them into the snare of the Devil.

X. Another Lacy, who also confessed her share in this Witchcraft, now testify'd, that the prisoner was at the Witch-meeting, in Salem Village, where they had Bread and Wine Administred unto them.

XI. In the time of this prisoner's Trial, one Susanna Sheldon,[188] in open Court had her hands Unaccountably ty'd together with a Wheel-band, so fast that without cutting, it could not be loosed: It was done by a Spectre; and the Sufferer affirm'd, it was the Prisoners.

Memorandum. This Rampant Hag, Martha Carrier, was the [43] person, of whom the Confessions of the Witches, and of her own Children among the rest, agreed, That the Devil had promised her, she should be Queen of Hell.[189]

HAVING thus far done the Service imposed upon me; I will further pursue it, by relating 201 a few of those Matchless Curiosities, with which the Witchcraft now upon us, has entertained us. And I shall Report nothing but with Good Authority, and what I would invite all my Readers to examine, while 'tis yet Fresh and New, that if there be found any mistake, it may be as willingly Retracted, as it was unwillingly Committed.

The First Curiositie.

I. 'Tis very Remarkable to see what an Impious and Impudent imitation of Divine Things, is Apishly affected by the Devil, in several of those matters, whereof the Confessions of our Witches, and the Afflictions of our Sufferers have informed us.

That Reverend and Excellent Person, Mr. John Higginson, in my Conversation with him, Once invited me to this Reflection; that the Indians which came from far to settle about Mexico, were in their Progress to that Settlement, under a Conduct of the Devil, very strangely Emulating what the Blessed God gave to Israel in the Wilderness.

Acosta,[190] is our Author for it, that the Devil in 'their Idol Vitzlipultzli,[191] governed that mighty 202Nation. He commanded them to leave their Country, promising to make them Lords over all the Provinces possessed by Six other Nations of Indians, and give them a Land abounding with all precious things. They went forth, carrying their Idol with them, in a Coffer of Reeds, supported by Four of their Principal Priests; with whom he still Discoursed in secret, Revealing to them the Successes, and Accidents of their way. He advised them, when to March, and where to Stay, and without his Commandment they moved not. The first thing they did, wherever they came, was to Erect a Tabernacle, for their false god; which they set always in the midst of their Camp, and there placed the Ark upon an Alter. When they, Tired with pains, talked of, proceeding no further in their Journey, then a certain pleasant Stage, whereto they were arrived, this Devil in one night, horribly kill'd them that [44] had started this Talk, by pulling out their Hearts. And so they passed on till they came to Mexico.'

The Devil which then thus imitated what was in the Church of the Old Testament, now among Us would Imitate the Affairs of the Church in the New. The Witches do say, that they form themselves much after the manner of Congregational Churches; and that they have a Baptism 203and a Supper, and Officers among them, abominably Resembling those of our Lord.[192]

But there are many more of these Bloody Imitations, if the Confessions of the Witches are to be Received; which I confess, ought to be but with very much of Caution.

What is their stricking down with a fierce Look? What is their making of the Afflicted Rise, with a touch of their Hand? What is their Transportation thro' the Air? What is their Travelling in Spirit, while their Body is cast into a Trance? What is their causing of Cattle to run mad and perish? What is their Entring their Names in a Book? What is their coming together from all parts at the Sound of a Trumpet? What is their Appearing sometimes Cloathed with Light or Fire upon them? What is their Covering of themselves and their Instruments with Invisibility? But a Blasphemous Imitation of certain Things recorded about our Saviour or His Prophets, or the Saints in the Kingdom of God.[193]

204 A Second Curiositie.

II. In all the Witchcraft which now Grievously Vexes us, I know not whether anything be more Unaccountable, than the Trick which the Witches have to render themselves, and their Tools Invisible. Witchcraft seems to be the Skill of Applying the Plastic Spirit of the World, unto some unlawful purposes, by means of a Confederacy with Evil Spirits. Yet one would wonder how the Evil Spirits themselves can do some things: especially at Invisibilizing of the Grossest Bodies. I can tell the Name of an Ancient Author, who pretends to show the way, how a man may come to walk about Invisible, and I can tell the Name of another Ancient Author, who pretends to Explode that way. But I will not speak too plainly Lest I should unawares Poison some of my Readers, as the pious Hemingius[194] did one of his Pupils, when he only by way of Diversion recited a Spell, which, they had said, would cure Agues. This much I will say; The notion of procuring Invisibility, by any Natural Expedient, yet known, is, I Believe, a meer Plinyism;[195] How far it may be [45] obtained by a Magical Sacrament, is best known to the Dangerous 205 Knaves that have try'd it. But our Witches do seem to have got the knack: and this is one of the Things, that make me think, Witchcraft will not be fully understood, until the day when there shall not be one Witch in the World.

There are certain people very Dogmatical about these matters; but I'll give them only these three Bones to pick.

First, One of our bewitched people, was cruelly assaulted by a Spectre, that, she said, ran at her with a spindle: tho' no body else in the Room, could see either the Spectre or the spindle. At last, in her miseries, giving a snatch at the Spectre, she pull'd the spindle away, and it was no sooner got into her hand, but the other people then present, beheld, that it was indeed a Real, Proper, Iron spindle, belonging they knew to whom; which when they lock'd up very safe, it was nevertheless by Demons unaccountably stole away, to do further mischief.[196]

Secondly, Another of our bewitched people, was haunted with a most abusive Spectre, which came to her, she said, with a sheet about her. After she had undergone a deal of Teaze, from the Annoyance of the Spectre, she gave a violent snatch at the sheet that was upon it; wherefrom she tore a corner, which in her hand immediately became Visible to a Roomful of Spectators; a 206palpable Corner of a Sheet. Her Father, who was now holding her, catch'd that he might keep what his Daughter had so strangely seized, but the unseen Spectre had like to have pull'd his hand off, by endeavouring to wrest it from him; however he still held it, and I suppose has it still to show; it being but a few hours ago, namely about the beginning of this October, that this Accident happened; in the family of one Pitman,[197] at Manchester.

Thirdly, A young man, delaying to procure Testimonials, for his Parents, who being under confinement on suspicion of Witchcraft, required him to do that service for them, was quickly pursued with odd Inconveniences. But once above the Rest, an Officer going to put his Brand on the Horns of some Cows, belonging to these people, which tho' he had seiz'd for some of their debts, yet he was willing to leave in their possession, for the subsistance of the poor Family; this young man help'd in holding the Cows to be thus branded. The three first Cows he held well enough; but when the hot Brand was clap'd on the Fourth, he winc'd and shrunk at such a Rate, as that he could hold the Cow no longer. Being afterwards Examined about it, he confessed, that at that very instant when the Brand entered the Cow's Horn, exactly the like [46] burning Brand 207was clap'd upon his own Thigh; where he has exposed the lasting marks of it, unto such as asked to see them.

Unriddle these Things,—Et Eris mihi magnus Apollo.

A Third Curiositie.

III. If a Drop of Innocent Blood should be shed, in the Prosecution of the Witchcrafts among us, how unhappy are we! For which cause, I cannot express my self in better terms than those of a most Worthy Person, who lives near the present Center of these things.[198] The Mind of God in these matters, is to be carefully lookt into, with due Circumspection, that Satan deceive us not with his Devices, who transforms himself into an Angel of Light, and may pretend justice and yet intend mischief. But on the other side, if the storm of Justice do now fall only on the Heads of those guilty Witches and Wretches which have defiled our Land, How Happy!

The Execution of some that have lately Dyed, has been immediately attended, with a strange Deliverance of some, that had lain for many years, in a most sad Condition, under, they knew not whose evil hands. As I am abundantly satisfy'd, That many of the Self-Murders committed here, have been the effects of a Cruel and Bloody Witchcraft, letting fly Demons upon the miserable 208Seneca's; thus it has been admirable unto me to see, how a Devilish Witchcraft, sending Devils upon them, has driven many poor people to Despair, and persecuted their minds, with such Buzzes of Atheism and Blasphemy, as has made them even run distracted with Terrors: And some long Bow'd down under such a spirit of Infirmity, have been marvellously Recovered upon the death of the Witches.

One Whetford[199] particularly ten years ago, challenging of Bridget Bishop (whose Trial you have had) with steeling of a Spoon, Bishop threatned her very direfully: presently after this, was Whetford in the Night, and in her Bed, visited by Bishop, with one Parker, who making the Room light at their coming in, there discoursed of several mischiefs they would inflict upon her. At last they pull'd her out, and carried her unto the Sea-side, there to drown her; but she calling upon God, they left her, tho' not without Expressions of their Fury. From that very time, this poor Whetford was utterly spoilt, and grew a Tempted, Froward, Crazed sort of a Woman; a vexation to her self, and all about her; and many ways unreasonable. In this Distraction she lay, till those women were Apprehended by the Authority; then she be[47]gan to mend; and upon their Execution, was presently and perfectly Recovered, from the ten years madness that had been upon her.

209 A Fourth Curiositie.

IV. 'Tis a thousand pitties, that we should permit our Eyes to be so Blood-shot with passions, as to loose the sight of many wonderful things, wherein the Wisdom and Justice of God, would be Glorify'd. Some of those things, are the frequent Apparitions of Ghosts, whereby many Old Murders among us, come to be considered. And, among many Instances of this kind, I will single out one, which concerned a poor man, lately Prest unto Death, because of his Refusing to Plead for his Life.[200] I shall make an Extract of a Letter, which was written to my Honourable Friend, Samuel Sewal, Esq.; by Mr. Putman, to this purpose;

'The Last Night my Daughter Ann, was grievously Tormented by Witches, Threatning that she should be Pressed to Death, before Giles Cory. But thro' the Goodness of a Gracious God, she had at last a little Respite. Whereupon there appeared unto her (she said) a man in a Winding Sheet, who told her that Giles Cory had Murdered him, by Pressing him to Death with his Feet; but that the Devil there 210appeared unto him, and Covenanted with him, and promised him, He should not be Hanged. The Apparition said, God Hardned his heart; that he should not hearken to the Advice of the Court, and so Dy an easy Death; because as it said, It must be done to him as he has done to me. The Apparition also said, That Giles Cory, was carry'd to the Court for this, and that the Jury had found the Murder, and that her Father knew the man, and the thing was done before she was born. Now Sir, This is not a little strange to us; that no body should Remember these things, all the while that Giles Cory was in Prison, and so often before the Court. For all people now Remember very well, (and the Records of the Court also mention it,) That about Seventeen Years ago, Giles Cory kept a man in his House, that was almost a Natural Fool: which Man Dy'd suddenly. A Jury was impannel'd upon him, among whom was Dr. Zerobbabel Endicot;[201] who found the man bruised to Death, and having clodders of Blood about his Heart. The Jury whereof several are yet alive brought in the man Murdered; but as if some Enchantment had hindred the Prosecution of the Matter, the Court Proceeded not against [48] Giles Cory, tho' it cost him a great deal of Mony to get off. Thus the Story,'

THE Reverend and Worthy Author, having at 211 the Direction of His Excellency the Governour, so far Obliged the Publick, as to give some Account of the Sufferings brought upon the Countrey by Witchcraft; and of the Tryals which have passed upon several Executed for the Same:

Upon Perusal thereof, We find the Matters of Fact and Evidence, Truly reported. And a Prospect given, of the Methods of Conviction, used in the Proceedings of the Court at Salem.

Boston Octob. 11. 1692.

William Stoughton

Samuel Sewall.

BUT is New-England, the only Christian Countrey, that hath undergone such Diabolical Molestations? No, there are other Good people, that have in this way been harassed; but none in circumstances more like to Ours, than the people of God, in Sweedland. The story is a very Famous one; and it comes to Speak English by the Acute Pen of the Excellent and Renowned Dr. Horneck.[202] I shall only single out a few of the more Memorable passages therein Occurring; and where it agrees with what happened among ourselves, my Reader shall understand, by my inserting a Word of every such thing in Black Letter.

I. It was in the Year 1669. and 1670. That at 212Mohra in Sweedland, the Devils by the help of Witches, committed a most horrible outrage. Among other Instances of Hellish Tyranny there exercised, one was, that Hundreds of their Children, were usually in the Night fetcht from their Lodgings, to a Diabolical Rendezvouz, at a place they called, Blockula, where the Monsters that so Spirited them, Tempted them all manner of Ways to Associate with them. Yea, such was the perillous Growth of this Witchcraft, that Persons of Quality began to send their Children into other Countries to avoid it.

II. The Inhabitants had earnestly sought God by Prayer; and Yet their Affliction Continued. Whereupon Judges had a Special Commission to find and root out the Hellish Crew; and the rather, because another County in the Kingdom, which had been so molested, was delivered upon the Execution of the Witches.

III. The Examination, was begun with a Day of Humiliation; appointed by Authority.[203] Whereupon the Commissioners Consulting, how they might resist such a Dangerous Flood, the Suffering Children, were first Examined; and tho' they were [49] Questioned One by One apart, yet their Declarations All Agreed. The Witches Accus'd 213in these Declarations, were then Examined; and tho' at first they obstinately Denied, yet at length many of them ingenuously Confessed the Truth of what the children had said; owning with Tears, that the Devil, whom they call'd Loeyta, had stopt their Mouths; but he being now Gone from them, they could No Longer Conceal the Business. The things by them Acknowledged, most wonderfully Agreed with what other Witches, in other places had confessed.

IV. They confessed, that they did use to Call upon the Devil, who thereupon would Carry them away, over the Tops of Houses, to a Green Meadow, where they gave themselves unto him. Only one of them said, That sometimes the Devil only took away her Strength, leaving her Body on the ground; but she went at other times in Body too.

V. Their manner was to come into the Chambers of people, and fetch away their children upon Beasts, of the Devils providing: promising Fine Clothes and other Fine Things unto them, to inveagle them. They said, they never had power to do thus, till of late; but now the Devil did Plague and Beat them, if they did not gratifie him, in this piece of Mischief. They said, they made use of all sorts of Instruments in their Journeys! Of Men, of Beasts, of Posts; the Men they commonly laid asleep at the place, whereto they rode them; and if the children mentioned the Names of them that stole them away, they214 were miserably Scourged for it, until some of them were killed. The Judges found the marks of the Lashes on some of them; but the Witches said, They would Quickly vanish. Moreover the Children would be in Strange Fits, after they were brought Home from these Transportations.

VI. The First Thing, they said, they were to do at Blockula, was to give themselves unto the Devil, and Vow that they would serve him. Hereupon, they cut their Fingers, and with Blood writ their Names in his Book. And he also caused them to be Baptised by such Priests, as he had, in this Horrid company. In some of them, the Mark of the cut Finger was to be found; they said, that the Devil gave Meat and Drink, as to Them, so to the Children they brought with them: that afterwards their Custom was to Dance before him; and swear and curse most horribly; they said, that the Devil show'd them a great Frightful, Cruel Dragon, telling them, If they confessed any Thing, he would let loose that Great Devil upon them; they added, that the Devil had a Church, and that when the Judges were coming, he told them he would [50] kill them all; and that some of them had Attempted to Murder the Judges but could not.

VII. Some of the Children, talked much of a White Angel, which did use to Forbid them, what the Devil had bid them to do, and Assured them that these doings would Not last long; but that 215 what had been done was permitted for the wickedness of the People. This White Angel, would sometimes rescue the Children, from Going in, with the Witches.

VIII. The Witches confessed many mischiefs done by them, declaring with what kind of Enchanted Tools, they did their Mischiefs. They sought especially to kill the Minister of Elfdale, but could not. But some of them said, that such as they wounded, would Be recovered, upon or before their Execution.

IX. The Judges would fain have seen them show some of their Tricks; but they Unanimously declared, that, Since they had confessed, all, they found all their Witchcraft gone; and the Devil then Appeared very Terrible unto them, threatning with an Iron Fork, to thrust them into a Burning Pit, if they persisted in their Confession.

X. They were discovered no less than three-score and ten Witches in One Village, three and twenty of which freely confessing their Crimes, were condemned to dy. The rest, (One pretending she was with Child) were sent to Fahluna, where most of them were afterwards executed. Fifteen Children, which confessed themselves engaged in this Witchery, dyed as the rest. Six and Thirty of them between nine and sixteen years of Age, who had been less guilty, were forced to run the Gantlet, and be lashed on their hands once a Week, for a year together; twenty more who had less inclination to these Infernal enterprises, were lashed with Rods upon their Hands for216 three Sundays together, at the Church door; the number of the seduced Children, was about three hundred. This course, together with Prayers in all the Churches thro' the Kingdom, issued in the deliverance of the Country.[204]

XI. The most Accomplished Dr. Horneck inserts a most wise caution, in his preface to this Narrative, saies he, there is no Public Calamity, but some ill people, will serve themselves of the sad providence and make use of it for their own ends; as Thieves when an house or town is on Fire, will steal what they can. And he mentions a Remarkable Story of a young Woman, at Stockholm, in the year 1676, Who accused her own Mother of being a Witch; and swore positively, that she had carried her away in the Night; the poor Woman was burnt upon it: professing her innocency to the last. But tho' she had been an Ill Woman, yet it afterwards prov'd that she was not such an one; for her Daughter came to the Judges [51] with hideous Lamentations, Confessing, That she 217had wronged her Mother, out of a wicked spite against her; whereupon the Judges gave order for her Execution too.

But, so much of these things; and, now, Lord, make these Labours of thy Servant, Profitable to thy People!

[205]Matter Omitted in the Trials.

Nineteen Witches have been Executed at New-England, one of them was a Minister, and two Ministers more are Accus'd. There is a hundred Witches more in Prison, which broke Prison, and about two Hundred more are Accus'd, some Men of great Estates in Boston, have been accus'd for Witchcraft. Those Hundred now in Prison accus'd for Witches, were Committed by fifty of themselves being Witches, some of Boston, but most about Salem, and the Towns Adjacent. Mr. Increase Mather has published a Book[206] about Witchcraft, occasioned by the late Trials of Witches, which will be speedily printed in London by John Dunton.

THE DEVIL DISCOVERED.

2 Cor. II. ii. We are not Ignorant of His Devices.

OUR Blessed Saviour has blessed us, with a counsil, as Wholsome and as Needful as any that can be given us, in Math. 26. 41. Watch and Pray, that yee Enter not into Temptation. As there is a Tempting Flesh, and a Tempting World, which would seduce us from Our Obedience to the Laws of God, so there is a Busy Devil, who 218is by way of Eminency called, The Tempter; because by him, the Temptations of the Flesh and the World are managed.

It is not One Devil alone, that has Cunning or Power enough to apply the Multitudes of Temptations, whereby Mankind is daily diverted from the Service of God; No, the High Places of Our Air, are Swarming full of those Wicked Spirits, whose Temptations trouble us; they are so many, that it seems no less than a Legion, or more than twelve thousands may be spared, for the Vexation of one miserable man. But because those Apostate Angels, are all United under one Infernal Monarch, in the Designs of Mischief, 'tis in the Singular Number, that they are spoken of. Now, the Devil whose Malice and Envy, prompts him to do what he can, that we may be as unhappy as himself, do's ordinarily use more Fraud than Force, in his assaulting of us; he that assail'd our First Parents, in a Serpent, will still Act Like a Serpent, rather than a Lion, in prosecuting of his wicked purposes upon us, and for us to guard against the Wiles of the Wicked One, is one of the greatest cares, with which our God ha's charged us.

We are all of us liable to various Temptations every day, whereby if we are carried aside from the strait Paths of Righteousness, we get all sorts of wounds unto our selves. Of Temptations, I may say, as the Wise Man said, of Mortality; there is no discharge from that war. The Devils 219 fell hard upon both Adams, nor may [52] any among the Children of both, imagine to be excused. The Son of God Himself, had this Dog of Hell, barking at Him; and much more may the Children of Men, look to be thus Visited; indeed, there is hardly any Temptation, but what is, Common to Man. When I was considering, how to spend one Hour in Raising a most Effectual and Profitable Breastwork, against the inroads of this Enemy, I perceived it would be done, by a short answer to this

Case.

What are those Usual Methods of Temptation, with which the Powers of Darkness do assault the Children of Men?

The Corinthians, having upon the Apostles Direction, Excommunicated one of their Society, who had married his Mother-in-law, & this, as it is thought, while his own Father was Living too; the Apostle encourages them to Re-admit that man, upon his very deep and sharp Repentance. He gives divers Reasons of his propounding this unto them; whereof one is, Lest Satan should get advantage of them; for, had the man miscarried, under any Rigour of the Sentence continued upon him, after his Repentance, 'tis well if the Church itself had not quickly fallen to pieces thereupon; besure, the Success of the Gospel had been more than a little Incommoded. 220 The Apostle upon this Occasion, intimates, That Satan has his Devices; by which word are meant, Artifices or Contrivances used for the Deceiving of those that are Treated with them well, But what shall we do that we may come to this Corinthian Attainment, We are not Ignorant of Satan's Devices? [Non cuivis homini Contingit!]

Truly, the Devil has Mille Nocendi Artes; and it will be impossible for us, to run over all the Stratagems and Policies of our Adversary. I shall only attempt a few Observations upon the Temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ: who was Tempted in all things like unto us, except in our Sins. When we read the Temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Fourth Chapter of Matthew There, Thence, you will understand, what was once counted so difficult; Even, The way of a Serpent upon the Rock. There are certain Ancient and Famous Methods which the Devil in his Temptations, does mostly accustome himself unto; which is not so much from any Barrenness, or Sluggishness in the Devil, but because he has had the Encouragement of a, Probatum est, upon those horrid Methods. How did the Devil assault the First Adam? It was with Temptations drawn from Pleasure, and Profit, and Honour, which, as the Apostle notes, in 1 Joh. 2, 16. are, All that is in the World. [53] With the very same temptations it was, that he fell upon the Second Adam too. Now, in those Temptations, you will see the more Usual Methods, whereby the Devil would221 be Ensnaring of us; and I beseech you to attend unto the following Admonitions, as those Warnings of God, which the Lives of your souls depend upon your taking of.

There were especially Three Remarkable Assaults of Temptations, which the Devil it seems, visibly made upon our Lord; after he had been more invisibly for Forty dayes together Tempting of that Holy One; and we may make a few distinct Remarks upon them all.

§ The first of our Lords three Temptations is thus related, in Mat. 4, 3. He was an Hungry; and when the Tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, Command that these Stones be made Bread.

From whence, take these Remarks.

I. The Devil will ordinarily make our Conditions, to be the Advantages of his Temptations. When our Lord was Hungry, then Bread! Bread! shall be all the Cry of his Temptation; the Devil puts him upon a wrong step, for the getting of Bread. There is no Condition, but what has indeed some Hunger accompanying of it; and the Devil marks what it is, that we are Hungry for. One mans Condition makes him Hunger for Preferments, or Employments, another mans makes him Hunger for Cash or Land, or Trade; another mans makes him Hunger for Merriments, or Diversions: And the Condition of every Afflicted Man, makes him Hunger with Impatience for Deliverance. Now the Devil will be sure to suit222 his Perswasions with our Conditions. When he has our Condition to speak with him, & for him, then thinks he, I am sure this man will now hearken to my Proposals! Hence, if men are in Prosperity, the Devil will tempt them to Forgetfulness of God; if they are in Adversity, he will tempt them to Murmuring at God; in all the expressions of those impieties. Wise Agur was aware of this; in Prov. 30, 9. says he, if a man be Full, he shall be tempted, to deny God, and say who is the Lord? if a man be Poor, he shall be tempted, to steal, and take the Name of God in vain. The Devil will talk suitably; if you ponder your Conditions, you may expect you shall be tempted agreeably thereunto.

II. The Devil does often manage his temptations, by urging of our Necessities. Our Lord, was thus by the Devil bawl'd upon; You want Bread, and you'll starve, if in my way you get it not. The Devil will show some forbidden thing unto us, and plead concerning it, as of Bread we use to say, it must be had. Necessity has a wonderful compulsion in it. You may see what Necessity will do, if you read in Deut. 28. 56. the tender and the delicate Woman among you, her eye shall be evil towards the Children that she shall bear, for she shall eat them for want of all things. The Devil will perswade us that there is a Necessity of our doing what he does propound unto us; and then tho' the Laws of God about us were so many Walls of Stone, yet we shall break [54] through them223 all. That little inconvenience, of our coming to beg our Bread, O what a fearful Representation does the Devil make of it! and when once the Devil scares us to think of a sinful thing, it must be done, we soon come to think, it may be done. When the Devil has frighted us into an Apprehension, that it is a Needful thing which we are prompted unto, he presently Engages all the Faculties of our Souls, to prove, that it may be a Lawful one; the Devil told Esau, You'll dye if you don't sell your Birthright; the Devil told Aaron, You'll pull all the people about your ears, if you do not countenance their superstitions; and then they comply'd immediately. Yea, sometimes if the Devil do but Feign a Necessity, he does thereby Gain the Hearts of Men; he did but feign a Need, when he told Saul, the Cattel must be spared, and the sacrifice must be precipitated, and he does but feign a Need, when he tells many a man, if you do no servile work on the Sabbath-day, and if you don't Rob God of his evening,[207] you'll never subsist in the world. All the denials of God, in the world, use to be from this Fallacy impos'd upon us. It never can be necessary for us to violate any Negative Commandment in the Law of our God; where God says, thou shalt not, we cannot upon any pretence reply, I must. But the 224Devil will put a most formidable and astonishing face of necessity upon many of those Abominable things, which are hateful to the soul of God. He'll say nothing to us about, the one thing needful; but the petite and the sorry Need-nots of this world, he'll set off with most bloody Colours of Necessity. He will not say, 'tis necessary for you to maintain the Favour of your God, and secure the welfare of your Soul; but he'll say, 'tis necessary for you to keep in with your Neighbours; and that you and yours may have a good Living among them.

III. The Devil does insinuate his most Horrible Temptations, with pretence, of much Friendship and Kindness for us. He seemed very unwilling that our Lord should want any thing that might be comfortable for him; but, he was a Devil still! The Devil flatters our Mother Eve, as if he was desirous to make her more Happy than her Maker did; but there was the Devil in that flattery. Sub Amici fallere Nomen,——to Salute men with profers to do all manner of Service for them; and at the same time to Stab them as Joab did Abner of old; this is just like the Devil, and the Devil truly has many Children that Imitate him in it. Some very Affectionate Things were spoken once unto our Lord; Lord, be it far from thee, that thou shouldest suffer any Trouble! But our Lords Answer was, in Mat. 16. 23. Get thee behind me Satan. The Devil will say to a man, I would have thee to Consult thy own Interest, and I would have Trouble to be far from thee. He225 speaks these Fair Things, by the Mouths of our professed Friends unto us, as he did by the Tongue of a Speckled Snake unto our Deluded Parents at the first. But all this while, 'tis a Direction that has been wisely given us; When he speaks fair, Believe him not, for there are seven Abominations in his Heart.

IV. Things in themselves Allowable and Convenient, are oftentimes turned into sore Temptations by the Devil. He press'd our Lord unto the mak[55]ing of Bread; Why, that very thing was afterwards done by our Lord, in the Miracles of the Loaves; and yet it is now a motion of the Devil, Pray, make thy self a little Bread. The Devil will frequently put men by, from the doing of a seasonable Duty; but how? Truly by putting us upon another Duty, which may be at that juncture a most Unseasonable Thing. It is said in Eccl. 8. 5. A Wise Mans heart discerns both Time and Judgment. The Ill-Timing of good Things, is One of the chief Intregues, which the Devil has to Prosecute. The Devil himself, will Egg us on to many a Duty; and why so? But because at that very Time a more proper and Useful Duty, will have a Supersedeas given thereunto. And, thus there are many Things, whereof we can say, though no more than this, yet so much as this, They are Lawful ones, by which Lawful Things——Perimus Omnes. Where shall we find that the Devil has laid our most fatal Snares? Truly, our Snares are on the Bed, where it is226 Lawful for us to Sleep; at the Board, where it is Lawful for us to Sit; in the Cup, where 'tis Lawful to Drink; and in the Shops, where we have Lawful Business to do. The Devil will decoy us, unto the utmost Edge of the Liberty that is Lawful for us; and then one Little push, hurries us into a Transgression against the Lord. And the Devil by Inviting us to a Lawful thing, at a wrong time for it, Layes us under further Entanglement of Guilt before God. 'Tis Lawful for People to use Recreations; but in the Evening of the Lords Day, or the Morning of any Day, how Ensnaring are they! The Devil then too commonly bears part in the Sport. If Promiscuous Dancing were Lawful; though almost all the Christian Churches in the World, have made a Scandal of it; yet for Persons to go presently from a Sermon to a Dance, is to do a thing, which Doubtless the Devil makes good Earnings of.

V. To distrust Gods Providence and Protection, is one of the worst things, into which the Devil by his Temptations would be hurrying of us. He would fain have driven our Lord unto a Suspicion of Gods care about Him, said the Devil, You may dy for lack of Bread, if you do not look better after your self, than God is like to do for you. It is an usual thing for Persons to dispair of Gods Fatherly Care Concerning them; they torture themselves with distracting and amazing Fears, that they shall come to want before they dy; Yea, they even say with Jonas, in Chap. 2. 4. I am cast out227 of the sight of God; He wont look after me! But it is the Devil that is the Author of all such Melancholly Suggestions in the minds of men. It is a thought that often raises a Feaver in the Hearts of Married Persons, when Charges grow upon them; God will never be able in the way of my calling, to feed and cloath all my Little Folks. It is a Thought with which Aged persons are often tormented, Tho' God has all my dayes hitherto supplied me, yet I shall be pinched with Straits before I come to my Journeys end. 'Tis a malicious Devil that raises these Evil surmisings in the hearts of Men. And sometimes a distemper of Body affords a Lodg[56]ing for the Devil, from whence he shoots the cruel Bombs of such Fiery Thoughts into the minds of many other persons. With such thoughts does the Devil choose to persecute us; because thereby we come to Forfeit what we Question. We Question the Care of God, and so we Forfeit it, until perhaps the Devil do utterly drown us in Perdition. Our God says, Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed. But the Devil says, don't you trust in God; be afraid that you shall not be fed; and thus he hinders men from the doing of Good.

VI. There is nothing more Frequent in the Temptations of the Devil, then for our Adoption to be doubted, because of our Affliction. When our Lord was in his Penury, then says the Devil, If thou be the Son of God; he now makes an If, of it; What? the Son of God, and yet not be able to 228 Command a Bit of Bread! Thus, when we are in very Afflictive Circumstances, this will be the Devils Inference, Thou art not a Child of God. The Bible says in Heb. 12. 7. If you are Chastened, it is a shrow'd sign that you can't be Children. Since he can't Rob us of our Grace, he would Rob us of our Joy; and therefore having Accused us unto God, he then Accuses God unto us. When Israel was weak and faint in the Wilderness, then did Amalek set upon them; just so does the Devil set upon the people of God, when their Losses, their Crosses, their Exercises have Enfeebled their Souls within them; and what says the Devil? E'en the same that was mutter'd in the Ear of the Afflicted Job, Is not this the Uprightness of thy Ways? Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being Innocent? If thou wert a Child of God, He would never follow thee, with such Testimonies of his Indignation. This is the Logic of the Devil; and he thus interrupts that patience and that Chearfulness wherewith we should suffer the will of God.

VII. To dispute the Divine Original and Authority of Gods Word, is not the least of those Temptations with which the Devil troubles us. God from Heaven, had newly said unto our Lord, this is my Beloved Son; but now the Devil would have him to make a dispute of it, If thou be the son of God. The Devil durst not be so Impudent, and Brasen fac'd, as to bid men use Pharaohs Language, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his229 voice? But he will whisper into our Ears, what he did unto our Mother Eve of old, It is not the Lord that hath spoken what you call his Word. The Devil would have men say unto the Scripture, what they said unto the Prophet, in Jer. 43. 2. Thou speakest falsely; the Lord our God hath not sent thee to speak what thou sayest unto us; & he would fain have secret & cursed Misgivings in our hearts, that things are not altogether so as the Scripture has represented them. The Devil would with all his heart make one huge Bonefire of all the Bibles in the world; & he has got Millions of persecutors to assist him in the suppression of that miraculous book. It was the devil once in the tongue of a Papist, that cry'd out, A plague on this bible; this 'tis that [89] does all our mischief. But because he can't Suppress this Book, he sets himself, to Disgrace it all that he can. Altho' the Scripture carries its own Evidence with it, and be all over, so pure, so great, so true, and so powerful, that it is impossible it should proceed from any but God alone; yet the Devil would gladly bring some Discredit upon it, as if it were but some Humane Contrivance; Of nothing, is the Devil more desirous, than this; That we should not count, Christ so precious, Heaven so Glorious, Hell so Dreadful, and Sin so odious, as the Scripture has declared it.

§. The Second of our Lords Three Temptations, is related after this manner, in Mat. 4. 5, 6. Then the Devil taketh him up, into the Holy City, 230 and setteth him upon a Pinacle of the Temple; and saith unto him, if thou be the Son of God, cast thy self down; for it is written, He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in their Hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy Foot against a Stone.

From whence take these Remarks.

I. The places of the greatest Holiness will not secure us from Annoyance by the Temptations of the Devil, to the greatest wickedness. When our Lord was in the Holy City, the Devil fell upon him there. Indeed, there is now no proper Holiness of Places in our Days; the Signs and Means of Gods more special Presence are not under the Gospel, ty'd unto any certain places: Nevertheless there are places, where we use to enjoy much of God; and where, altho' God visit not the Persons for the sake of the Places, yet he visits the Places for the sake of the Persons. But, I am to tell you that the Devil will visit those Places and best Persons there. No Place, that I know of, has got such a Spell upon it, as will always keep the Devil out. The Meeting-House wherein we Assemble for the Worship of God, is fill'd with many Holy People, and many Holy Concerns continually; but if our Eyes were so refined as the Servant of the Prophet had his of old, I suppose we should now see a Throng of Devils in this very place. The Apostle has intimated, that Angels come in among us; there are Angels it seems that hark, how I Preach, and how you231 Hear, at this Hour. And our own sad Experience is enough to intimate, That the Devils are likewise Rendevouzing here. It is Reported, in Job 1. 5. When the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them. When we are in our Church-Assemblies, O how many Devils, do you imagine, [90] croud in among us! There is a Devil that rocques one to Sleep, there is a Devil that makes another to be thinking of, he scarce knows what himself; and there is a Devil, that makes another, to be pleasing himself with wanton and wicked Speculations. It is also possible, that we have our Closets, or our Studies, gloriously perfumed with Devotions every day; but alas, can we shut the Devil out of them? No, Let us go where we will, we shall still find a Devil nigh unto us. Onely, when we come to Heaven, we shall be out of his reach for ever; O thou foul Devil; we are going where thou canst not come! He was hissed out of Paradese, and shall never enter it any more. Yea, more than so, when the New Jerusalem comes down into the High Places of our Air, from whence the Devil shall then be banished, there shall be no Devil within the Walls of that Holy City. Amen. Even so Lord Jesus, Come quickly.

II. Any other acknowledgments of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be permitted by the Temptations of the Devil, provided those Acknowledgments of him, which are True and Full, may be thereby prevented. What was it, that the Devil hurried232 our Lord Jesus Christ unto the Top of the Temple for? Surely it could not meerly be to find Precipices; any part of the Wilderness would have afforded Them. No, it was rather to have Spectators. And why so, Why, the carnal Jews had an Expectation among them; that Elias was to fly from Heaven to the Temple; and the Devil seems willing, that our Lord should be cry'd up for Elias, among the giddy multitude; or any thing in the World, tho never so considerable otherwise, rather than to be received as the Christ of God. The Devil will allow his Followers to think very highly of the Lord Jesus Christ; O but he is very lothe to have them think, All. We read in Col. 1. 19. It has pleased the Father, that in him there should all Fullness dwell. But it is pleasing to the Devil that we deny something of the Immense Fullness, which is in our Lord. The Devil would confess to our Lord, Thou art the Holy one of God! but then he claps in, Thou art Jesus of Nazareth; which was to conceal our Lords being Jesus of Bethlehem, and so his being, The True Messiah. All the Heresies, and all the Persecutions, that ever plagued the Church of God, have still been, to strike at some Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Christ Entirely Acknowledged, will save the Souls of them that so Acknowledge Him; but, says the Devil, Whatever I must not give way to that. As they say, the Devil [91] makes Witches unable to utter all the Lords Prayer, or some such System of233 Religion, without some Deprevations of it; thus the Devil will consent that we may make a very large Confession of the Lord Jesus Christ; only he will have us to deprave it, at least in some one Important Article. Some one Honour, some one Office, and some one Ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ, must be always left unacknowledged, by those that will do as the Devil would have them.

III. High Stations in the Church of God, lay men open to violent and peculiar Temptations of the Devil. When our Lord was upon the Pinacle, that is not the Fane, or Spire, but the Battlements of the Temple, there did the Devil pester him, with singular Molestations, and he therein seems to intend an Entanglement for the Jews, as well as for our Lord. Believe me they that stand High, cannot stand safe. The Devil is a Nimrod, a mighty Hunter; and common or little Game, will not serve his Turn: he is a Leviathan, of whom we may say, as in Job. 41. 34. He beholds all high things. Men of high Attainments, and Men of high Employments, in the Church of God, must look, like Peter to be more Sifted, and like Paul, to be more Buffeted than other Men. Feriunt Summos Fulmina Montes.——The Devil can raise a Storm, when God permitteth it, but as for those Men that stand near Heaven, the Devil will attack them with his most cruel storms of Thunder and Lightening. It was said, let him that stands take heed; but we may say, They that stand most high, have cause to take most heed. The234 Devil is a Goliah; and when he finds a Champion, he'l be sure most fiercely to Combate such a Man. He is for, Killing many Birds with one stone; and he knows that he shall hinder a world of Good, and produce a world of Ill, if once he can bring a Man Eminently Stationed into his Toyls. Hence 'tis that the Ministers of God, are more dogg'd by the Devil, than other persons are. Especially such Ministers, as move in the highest Orb of Serviceableness; and most of all such Ministers as have spent many years in Laudable Endeavours to be serviceable; Those Ministers are the Stars of Heaven, at which the Tayl of the Dragon, will give the most sweeping and most stinging strokes; the Devil will find that for them, that shall make them Walk softly all their Days. These are the Men, that have creepled, and vexed the Devil more than other Men; for which the Devil has an old Quarrel with them. O Neighbours, little do you think, what black Days of Mourning, and Fasting, and Praying before the Lord, a Raging Devil does fill the lives of such Men of God withall.

[92] IV. The Devil will make a deceitful and unfaithful use of the Scriptures to make his Temptations forceable. When the Devil Solicited our Lord, unto an evil thing, he quoted the Ninty First Psalm unto him, tho' indeed he fallaciously clip'd it, and maim'd it, of one clause very material in it. O never does the Devil make such dangerous Passes at us, as when he does wrest our235 own Sword out of our Hands, and push That upon us. We have to defend us, that Weapon in Eph. 6. 16. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; but when the Devil has that very Weapon to fight us with, he makes terrible work of it. When the Devil would poyson men with false Doctrines, he'l quote Scriptures for them; a Quaker himself, will have the First Chapter of John always in his mouth. When the Devil would perswade men to vile Actions, he'l quote Scriptures for them; he'l encourage men to go on in Sin, by showing them, where 'tis said, The Lord is ready to Pardon. I say this, The one story of Davids Fall, in the Scripture, has been made by the Devil an Engine for the Damnation of many Millions. The Devil will fright men from doing those things, that are, the Things of their Peace; but How? He'l turn a Scripture into a Scarecrow for them. The Devil will fright them from all constant Prayer to God, by quoting that Scripture, The Sacrifice of the Wicked, is an Abomination to the Lord; the Devil will fright them from the Holy Supper of God, by quoting that Scripture, He that Eats and Drinks unworthily, Eats and Drinks damnation to himself. And thus the Devil will by some abused Scripture, Terrifie the Children of God; the Scripture is written as we are told, For our Comfort; but it is quoted by the Devil, for our terror. How many Godly Souls have been cast into sinful Doubts and Fears, by the Devils foolish glosses upon that Scripture, He 236 that doubts is damned; and that, the fearful shall have their portion in the burning Lake: The Devil sometimes has play'd the Preacher, but I say, Beware all silly Souls when such a Fool is Preaching.

V. Grievous and Pulling Hurries to Self-Murder are none of the smallest outrages, which the Devil in his Temptations commits upon us. Why, did the Devil say to our Lord, Cast thy self down, but in hopes that our Lord would have broke his Bones, in the fall? The Devil is an Old Murtherer; and he loves to Murder men; but no Murder gives him so much satisfaction, as that which at his instigation, men perpetrate upon themselves. We [93] see that such as are Bewitched and Possessed by the Devil, do quickly lay violent hands upon themselves, if they be not watched continually, and we see that when persons have begun that Unnatural business of killing themselves, there is a Preternatural Stupendious Prodigious Assistance, by the Devil given thereunto. When people are going to Harm themselves, we call upon them, like those to the Jailor, in Acts 16. 28. Do thy self no harm! And we have this Argument for it, It is the Devil that is dragging of you to this mischief; but will you believe, will you obey such an one as the Devil is? What was it that made Judas to strangle himself? We read it was when the Devil was in him. I suppose there are few self-murderers, but what are first very strangely fallen into the Devils hands; 237 and possibly, 'tis by some Extraordinary Discontent, against God, or back-sliding from him, that the Devil first entred into those disturbed Souls. Indeed, some very great Saints of God, have sometimes had hideous Royls raised by the Devil in their minds; untill they have e'en cry'd out with Job, I choose strangling rather than life; and sometimes the ill Humours or Vapours in the Bodies of such Good Men, do so harbour the Devil that they have this woful motion every day thence made unto them; You must kill your self! you must! you must! But it is rarely any other than a Saul, an Abimelek, an Achitophel, or a Judas; rarely any other, than a very Reprobate, whom the Devil can drive, while the man is Compos Mentis, to Consummate such a Villany. Yea, no Child of God, in his Right Senses can go so far in this impiety, as to be left without all Time and Room for true Repentance of the Crime; 'tis thus done, by none but those that go to the Devil. A self-murder, acted by one that is upon other accounts a Reasonable man, is but such an attempt of Revenge upon the God that made him, as none but one full of the Devil can be guilty of. If any of you are Dragoon'd by the Devil, unto the murdering of your selves, my Advice to you is, Disclose it, Reveal it, make it known immediately. One that Cut his own Throat among us, Expired crying out, O that I had told! O that I had told. You may spoil the Devil, if you'l Tell what he is a doing of.

VI. Presumptuous and Unwarrantable Trials of238 the Blessed God, are some of those things whereinto the Devil would fain hook us with his Temptations. This was that which the Devil would have brought our Lord unto, even, A tempting of the Lord our God. It is the charge of our God upon us, in Deut. 6. 16. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. But that which the Devil Tries, is, to put us upon Trying in a sinful way whether God be such a God as indeed he is. [94] 'Tis true as to the ways of Obedience, our God says unto us, Prove me, in those ways; Try, whether I won't be as good as my Word. But then there are ways of Presumption, wherein the Devil would have us to trie, what a God it is, With whom we have to do. The Devil would have us to trie the Purpose of God, about our selves or others; but how? By going to the Devil himself; by Consulting Astrologers, or Fortune Tellers; or perhaps by letting the Bible fall open, to see what is the first Sentence we light upon. The Devil would have us trie the Mercy of God, but how? By running into Dangers, which we have no call unto. He would have us trie the Power of God; but how? By looking for good things, without the use of Means for the getting of them. He would have us trie the Justice of God; but how? By venturing upon Sin in a Corner, with an Imagination that God will never bring us out. He would have us trie the Promise of God; but how? By Limiting the Lord, unto such or such a way 239 of manifesting Himself, or else believing of nothing at all. He would have us trie the Threatning of God; but how? By going on impenitently in those things, for which the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience. Thus would the Devil have us to affront the Majesty of Heaven every day.

VII. The Temptations of the Devil, aim at puffing and bloating of us up, with Pride; as much perhaps as any one iniquity. The Devil would have had Our Lord make a Vain glorious Discovery of himself unto the World, by Flying in the air, so as no mortal can. Hoc Ithacus velit—the Devil would have us to soar aloft, and not only to be above other men, but also to know that we are so, Pride is the Devils own sin; and he affects especially to be, The King over the Children of Pride, it is a caution in 1 Tim. 3. 6. A Pastor must not be A Novice; Lest being lifted up with Pride, He fall into the condemnation of the Devil. (Summo ac Pio cum Tremore Hunc Textum Legamus nos Ministri Juvenes!) Accordingly, the Devil would have us to be inordinately taken and moved with what Excellencies our God has bestowed upon us. If our Estates rise, he would have us rise in our Spirits too. If we have been blessed with Beauty, with Breeding, with Honour, with Success, with Attire, with Spiritual Priviledges, or with Praise-worthy Performances; Now says the Devil, Think thy self better than other Men. Yea, the Devil would have us arrogate unto our selves, those Excellencies which really240 we never were owners of; and Boast of a false Gift. He would have us moreover to Thirst after Applause among others that may see Our Excellencies! and be impatient if we are not accounted some-body. He would have us further[95]more, to aspire after such a Figure, as God has never yet seen fitting for us; and croud into some High Chair that becomes us not. Thus would the Devil Elevate us into the Air, above our Neighbours; and why so? 'Tis that we may be punished with such Falls, as may make us cry out with David, O my Bones are broken with my Falls! The Devil can't endure to see men lying in the Dust; because there is no falling thence. He is a Fallen Spirit himself, and it pleases him to see the Falls of men.

§. The Third of our Lords Three Temptations, is related in such Terms as these. Matth. 4. 8, 9. Again the Devil taketh him up, into an exceeding High Mountain, and sheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and Worship me. From whence take these Remarks.

I. The Devil in his Temptations will set the Delight of this world before us; but he'll set a fair, and a false Varnish upon those Delights. They were some unknown Perspectives, which the Devil had, both for the Refracting of the Medium, and for the Magnifying of the Object, whereby he gave our Lord at once a prospect of241 the whole Roman Empire; but what was it? It was the World, and the Glory of it; he says not a word of the World, and the Trouble of it. No sure; not a word of that; the Devil will not have his Hook so barely expos'd unto us. The Devil sets off the Delights of Sin, which he offers unto us, with a stretched and raised Rhetorick; but he will not own, That in the midst of our Laughter, our Heart shall be sorrowful; and That the end of our Mirth shall be Heaviness. There is but one Glass in the Spectacles, with which the Devil would have us to read, those passages in Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young Man in thy youth, and let thy Heart chear thee in the Dayes of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy Heart, and in the sight of thine Eyes. Thus far the Devil would have us to Read; and he'll make many a fine Comment upon it; he'll tell us, That if we'll follow the Courses of the World, we shall swim in all the Delights of the World. But he is not willing you should Read out the next words; But know thou, that for all these things God shall bring thee into judgment. O he's loth we should be aware of the dreadful Issues, and Reckonings that our Worldly Delights will be attended with. He sets before us, the Pleasures of Sin; but he will not say, These are but for a Season. He sets before us, The Sweet Waters of Stealth? but he will not say, There is Death in the Pot. He is a 242 Mountebank, that will bestow nothing but Romantic Praises upon all that he makes us the Offers of.

[96] II. There are most Hellish Blasphemies often buzz'd by the Temptations of the Devil, into the minds of the best Men alive. What a most Execrable Thing was here laid before our Lord Himself: Even, To own the Devil as God! a thing that can't be uttered, without unutterable Horror of Soul. The best man on earth, may have such Fiery Darts from Hell shot into his mind. One that was acted by the Devil, had the impudence to propound this unto such a good man as Job, Curse God. And the Devil pleases himself, by chasing the Hearts of good men, with his base Injections, That there is no God, or, That God is not a Righteous God; and a thousand more such things, too Devilish to be mentioned. A good man is extreamly grieved at it, when he hears a Blasphemy from the mouth of another man; said the Psalmist, in Psal. 44. 15, 16. My Confusion is continually before me, for the voice of him that Blasphemeth. But much more when a good man finds a Blasphemy in his own Heart; O it throws him into most Fevourish Agonies of Soul. For this cause, a mischievous Devil will Flie blow the Heart of such a man, with such Blasphemous Thoughts, as make him crie out, Lord I am e'n weary of my life. Yea, the Devil serves the man just as the Mistress of Joseph dealt with him; he importunes the man to think 243 wickedly from Day to Day; and if the man refuse, he cries out at last, Behold what wicked thoughts this man has lodging in him. Sayst thou so? Satan! No, they are Brats of thy own; and at thy Door alone shall they be laid for ever.

III. There is a sort of Witchcrafts in those things, whereto the Temptations of the Devil would inveigle us. To worship the Devil is Witchcraft, and under that notion was our Lord urged unto sin. We are told in 1 Sam. 15. 23. Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft: When the Devil would have us to sin, he would have us to do the things which the forlorn Witches use to do. Perhaps there are few persons, ever allured by the Devil unto an Explicit Covenant with himself. If any among ourselves be so, my councel is, that you hunt the Devil from you, with such words as the Psalmist had, Be gone, Depart from me, ye evil Doers, for I will keep the Commandments of my God. But alas, the most of men, are by the Devil put upon doing the things that are Analagous to the worst usages of Witches. The Devil says to the sinner, Despise thy Baptism, and all the Bond of it, and all the Good of it. The Devil says to the sinner, Come, cast off the Authority of God, and, and refuse the Salvation of Christ for ever. Yea, the Devil who is called, The God of this World, would have us to take Him for our God, and rather Hear Him, Trust Him, Serve Him, than the God that formed us.

[97] IV. The Temptations of the Devil do Tug and Pull for nothing more, than that the Rulers 244 of the World may yield Homage unto him. Our Lord has had this by his Father Engag'd unto him, That he shall one day be Governour of the Nations. The Devil doe's extreamly dread the approach of that Illustrious time, when The Kingdom of God shall come and his Will be done, as in Heaven, and on Earth. For this cause it was that he was desirous, Our Lord should rather have accepted of him, that Kingdom, which Antichrist afterwards accepted of him, for the Establishment of Devil-worship, in the World. I may tell you, The Devil is mighty unwilling, that there should be one Godly Magistrate upon the face of the Earth. Such is the influence of Government, that the Devil will every where stickle mightily, to have that siding with him. What Rulers would the Devil have, to command all mankind, if he might have his will? Even, such as are called in Psal. 94. 20. The throne of iniquity, which frames mischief by a Law; such as will promote Vice, by both Connivance and Example; and such as will oppress all that shall be Holy, and Just, and Good. All men have cause therefore to be jealous, what Use the Devil may make of them, with reference to the Affairs of Government; but Rulers may most of all think, that the Lord Jesus from Heaven calls upon them, Satan has desired that he might Sift you, and have you; O Look to it, what side you take.

Thus have you in the Temptations of our Lord, seen the principal of those Devices, which the 245 Devil has to Entrap our Souls. But what shall we now do, that we may be fortified against those Devices? O that we might be well furnished with the Whole Armour of God! But me thinks, there were some things attending the Temptations of our Lord, which, would especially Recommend those few Hints unto us for our Guard.

First, If you are not fond of Temptation, be not fond of Needless, or Too much Retirement. Where was it, that the Devil fell upon our Lord? it was when he was Alone in the Wilderness. We should all have our Times to be Alone every Day; and if the Devil go to scare us out of our Chambers, with such a Bugbear, as that he'll appear to us, yet stay in spite of his teeth, stay to finish your Devotions; he Lyes, he dare not shew his head. But on the other-side by being too solitary, we may lay our selves too much open to the Devil; You know who says, Wo to him that is alone.

[98] Secondly, Let an Oracle of God be your defence against a Temptation of Hell. How did our Lord silence the Devil? It was with an, It is written! And all his Three Citations were from that one Book of Deuteronomy. What a full Armoury then have we, in all the sacred Pages that lie before us? Whatever the Words of the Devil are, drown them with the words of the Great God. Say, It is Written The Belshazzar of Hell will Tremble and Withdraw, if you show these Hand-Writings of the Lord.

246 Lastly, Since the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered all the Temptations of the Devil, Flie to that Lord, Crie to that Lord, that He would give you a share in his Happy Victory. It was for Us that our Lord overcome the Devil: and when he did but say, Satan, Get hence, away presently the Tygre flew: Does the Devil molest Us? Then let us Repair to our Lord, who says, I know how to succour the Tempted. Said the Psalmist, Psal. 61. 2. Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. A Woman in this Land being under the Possession of Devils, the Devils within her, audibly spoke of diverse Harms they would inflict upon her; but still they made this answer, Ah! She Runs to the Rock! She Runs to the Rock! and that hindered all. O this Running to the Rock; 'tis the best Preservation in the World; the Vultures of Hell cannot prey upon the Doves in the Clefts of that Rock. May our God now lead us thereunto. [208]

247 [End of the Wonders of the Invisible World and of the First Volume.]

INDEX.

NOTE.—As the small Roman Numerals in this Index denote both the Volumes and the Pages of the Introductions, those who consult it may observe, that when the Introductory Pages are referred to, the Reference to the Volume is in large or Roman Capitals:—For Example, I, xx, refer to the first Volume, and to Page 20 of the Introduction to the same Volume; II, xxii, refer to Volume second, and Page 22 of that Volume.

• ABBOT, Benjamin, 195, iii, 116, 117.
• Abbot, Nehemiah, 191.
• Abbot, Sarah, 196, iii, 117.
• Acosta, Joseph, 201.
• Addington, Isaac, 26, iii, 15, 133.
• Ady, ——, a Writer against Witchcraft, iii, 74.
• Alcot, Job, appointed Counsellor, 26.
• Alden, John, Jr., II, xxiv; tried and imprisoned, iii, 26; his Narrative, 26-8; Bail refused, 30; escapes, ib.; cleared by Proclamation, 128.
• Alden, Timothy, iii, 177, 178.
• Allen, James, 108, 151, iii, 40.
• Allen, John, sees one of the Accused fly in the Air, i, 177; his Oxen bewitched, iii, 93.
• Allen, William, cited, 7.
• Ambrose, Isaac, on the Devil, 56.
• America, a squallid, horid Desart, 13; of what Use is it, 46; some hopeful Symptoms of, 97; ever to be in the Devil's Hands? ib.; Spirits common to be seen Day and Night in, ii, 116.
• Andover, People of, bewitched, iii, 117, 120, 121, 125, 126.
• Andrew, Daniel, ii, 159, iii, 44; Joseph, 105; Sarah, ib.
• Andrews, Thomas, iii, 107.
• Andros, Edmund, Sir, I, lxxxi.
• Andrus, Silas, I, xcii.
• Angels, evil ones, ii, 32, 43, 75; Notions concerning, 187-8.
• Apparition, of those Murdered, 34; of the Devil, 79; of Mr. Beacon, 136-7; Accusers at Trials, 155; their Charges confessed, 188-9; Witnesses, iii, 106.
• Appleton, Samuel, 26, iii, 15.
• Arnold, John, Jailor of Boston, iii, 20, 179.
• Arnold, Margaret, 145.
• Ashurst, Henry, Sir, I, vi; Agent for Massachusetts, iii, 148-9.
• Astrology, injudiciously regarded, 122, 238.
• Atkinson, John, Witness against Martin, 178; Sarah, 184; John's Cow bewitched, iii, 94; Sarah, is amazed, at nothing, 100.
• Attaballipa, his Fate, iii, 138-9.
• Austin, sweet spirited, 27.
• Aves, Samuel, ii, 68.
• Ayer, John, Jr., iii, 196.
• BACHELOR, John, Apology of, iii, 135.
• Bailey, John, iii, 40; Constable, 113.
• Bailey, N., his Definition of Witchcraft, I, xiii.
• Baker, ——, Sister to Ann Putnam, iii, 11.
• Balch, Benj. Jr., Wife Elizabeth, swears against Mrs. Bishop, iii, 78.
• Ballantine, John, II, xxii.
• Ballard, Joseph, iii, 51; Brother John, ib., 113; Operations to discover Witches, 55; Witnesses, 126.
• Baptism by the Devil, Ceremony of, iii, 113.
• Bare, John, Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Barker, Abigail, signed a Recantation, iii, 57.
• Barnard, John, II, xxi; prays at Witch Examinations, iii, 56.
• Barnes, Benjamin, iii, 221.
• Bartel, Robert, Capt., iii, 178.
• Barton, James, II, xxiii.
• Bates, William, Extract from, ii, 113-14.
• Baxter, Richard, I, xx; on Memorable Providences, 10, 141; thanks C. Mather, ii, 43; quoted, 45; his ungainsayable Book, 86; cure of Church Divisions, 111; commends I. Mather, 113; his Ideas of a Devil and Witch, &c., 113-119; his Work the Effect of aged Imbecility, 119.
• Bayley, Mrs., Sister to Ann Putnam, iii, 11.
• Beacon, Joseph, 136, 137.
• Beale, William, swears against Mr. English, iii, 177-86; Son dies, 182, 183.
• Belknap, Jeremy, referred to, ii, 85.
• Belzebub, Works ascribed to, iii, 163.
• Bent, Peter, of Sudbury, iii, 221.
• Benom, Mistress, accused, iii, 130.
• Bent, Mr., ——, iii, 100.
• Bentley, William, D. D., on P. English, iii, 179-81.
• Bereans, reference to, ii, 3.
• Bernard, Richard, on detecting Witches, 45-6; Remarks on, ii, 12; Calef on, 56; how did the Jews manage without him, iii, 165.
• Bibber, John, Witness against Giles Cory, iii, 172.
• Bibber, Sarah, iii, 8; swears against Mrs. Nurse, 11; against Mr. Burroughs, 62; against Cory, 170.
• Billerica, People of, bewitched, iii, 118.
• Bishop, Bridget, Trial of, 163; what her Shape did, 164; her Coat torn while Invisible, 165; her Poppets discovered, 173; Teats found upon her, 174; accused ten Years before, 208; long reputed a Witch, iii, 31; Executed, ib.; Copy of her Indictment, 74; others, 75-6; Trial of, 77-80; why called Oliver, 78; has a preternatural Teat, which vanished, 88.
• Bishop, Edward, iii, 11; and Wife Sarah, committed, 16; why cried out on, 17; escape from Prison, 49; his Sow bewitched, 81-2.
• Bishop, Samuel, iii, 49; had married a Putnam, ib.
• Black-art taught by the Devil, I, xii.
• Black, Mary, arrested, iii, 16.
• Blackmore, Richard, Sir, I, lxxvi.
• Black Pig, one appears to John Louder, iii, 85-6.
• Blazdel, [Henry?] 181, iii, 97.
• Bligh, (Bly,) John, swears against Mrs. Bishop, 167, iii, 81-2, 88.
• Bligh, William, 173, iii, 76, 78, 82, 88.
• Blount, Thomas, Definition of Witchcraft, I, xii-xiii.
• Bocking, Jane, 142.
• Bodin, John, Writer on Demonology, ii, 6, 117.
• Bohun, Edmund, Licencer, I, cii.
• Booth, Elizabeth, iii, 16, 204.
• Boxford, Witchcraft in, iii, 126.
• Boynton, Joseph, ii, 151.
• Bradbury, Mary, condemned, iii, 44.
• Bradford, William, 26.
• Bradley, Samuel, II, xxvii.
• Bradstreet, John, accused, iii, 52; makes his escape, 53.
• Bradstreet, Simon, 26, ii, 85, iii, 52, 145-6; Dudley commits accused, iii, 52.
• Brattle, Thomas, Letter to, ii, 85-92; William, 108.
• Braybrook, Samuel, iii, 7; accuses Giles Cory, 170.
• Bridges, James, iii, 126.
• Bridgham, Joseph, ii, 151.
• Bridgman, Orlando, Sir, 141.
• Brimstone, horrid Scent of, 121; without a Metaphor, 122; a Flood of, ii, 4; used in tormenting, ii, 33; scalded with, 47; smelt in Margaret Rule's Case, 53.
• Brinley, George, I, viii.
• Brown, Hopestill, iii, 221.
• Brown, William, Witness, 182; his Wife sees Susannah Martin vanish, iii, 99; some Devil bewitches her, ib.
• Bunyan, John, I, xxi.
• Burder, George, I, lxxix.
• Burnet, Bishop, 140.
• Burroughs, George, 151; Charges against, 153; childish Accusations against, 154; alleged Confusion, 155; accused of Murders, 156; Ghosts of his Wives, 157; his Promises to induce People to become Witches, 158; had the Strength of a Giant, 159; Treatment of his Wives, 160; puts on Invisibility, 161-2; denies the Existence of Witches, 162; Executed, 163; his great Strength from the Devil, ii, 9; further Account of his Execution, iii, 38-9; Confession of one of his Accusers, 43; Indictment, 61; Trial, 63; Brother-in-Law to Mr. Ruck, 72-3; denies that there are Witches, 74; about his putting on Invisibility, 123; Cause of his being prosecuted, 210.
• Burrows, [Burroughs] Jeremiah, 84.
• Burton, Robert, I, xxxviii.
• Buxton, John, afflicted, iii, 17.
• CALEF, Robert, I, xxix, lxxv; his More Wonders, &c., lxxvi; a singular Judgment upon, lxxxvii; little known of him, II, xii; a Sir John, xiii; his More Wonders burnt, xxi; Will of, xxiii; before Authority to defend himself, ii, 8; Visit to Margaret Rule, 49; threatened with Arrest for Slander, 54; proposes an Interview with Mr. C. Mather, 55; Letter to Mr. C. M., 56-59; prosecuted, 55; explains his Belief of Witchcraft, 56; on the Power of the Devil, 58; complains of Mr. M.'s bad Faith, 60; not appeared against at Court, ib.; another Letter to C. M., 70-74; the Case of Rule further examined, 72, &c.; another Letter to C. M., 79-85; his Endeavors to clear the Accused, 78; expects Enemies, 84; will do his Duty, 85; Letter to Mr. B., 85-92; Letter to the Ministers, 92-102; charges C. M. with being a Cause of the Witch Troubles, 92; his Answer, 93; his More Wonders denounced, 96; Letter to S. Willard, 102-105; another to C. M., 113; describes the Perils to an Opposer of Witchcraft, 122; Letter to the Ministers, 124-34; rebukes the Ministers, 132-3; Letter to Wadsworth, 134-40; Exposure of C. M.'s bad Logic, 136; Answer to Stuart, 186-198; on Angels, 187; accused of Blasphemy, 202; another in Answer to Stuart, 207-212; Strictures on I. Mather's Agency, iii, 18 or 19.
• Camerarius, living Library, ii, 6.
• Carlton, William, II, vii.
• Carrier, Martha, Indictment and Trial of, 194, iii, 113-121; horribly tortures poor People, 115; her Children swear against her, ib.; causes Sores, 116; pulls one by his Hair, 117; kills Cattle, 118; shakes Phebe Chandler, 119; makes Noises in the Air, ib.; seen at Witch-meetings, 120; goes through the Air on a Pole, ib.; at a diabolical Sacrament, ib.; a rampant Hag, 121; to be Queen of Hell, ib.
• Carrier, Richard, 197, 199, iii, 117; afflicts one, 118.
• Carrier, Thomas, 194.
• Cary, Mrs., accused, iii, 11; sent to Prison, 20; Barbarity towards, 20-25; escapes to New York, ib.
• Cary, Jonathan, [Nathaniel,] iii, 25.
• Cat-rope, described, ii, 7.
• Chamberlain, Edward, I, lxxvi.
• Chandler, Bridget, swears against Mrs. Carrier, iii, 119.
• Chandler, Phebe, 198; shaken by a Witch, iii, 118; her Legs seized on, 119.
• Chandler, Susan, 142.
• Chandler, Thomas, Evidence, iii, 126.
• Chapman, Simon, and Wife, iii, 107.
• Charity, recommended, 28.
• Charles, Second, iii, 143.
• Charlestown, Witchcraft Trials at, iii, 126.
• Charms, by whom practiced, ii, 28.
• Chase, G. W., History of Haverhill, iii, 128, 196-7.
• Checkley, Samuel, ii, 151.
• Cheever, Ezekiel, Scribe, iii, 31.
• Chester, Bishop of, I, ix.
• Chips in Wort, defined, iii, 126.
• Choate, Thomas, II, xxvi.
• Christian, Philosopher, I, lxxii-iii.
• Churches, why often struck by Thunder, 68-9; prevent Witchcraft, 130-1.
• Churchill, Sarah, iii, 204.
• Circles.—See Witch-Circles.
• Clark, Mary, Examination of, iii, 195-7.
• Clark, Samuel, his Story of the Devil's Appearance, 121.
• Clavigero, [Francis Xavier,] 202.
• Cloyce, Peter, protests against Mr. Parris, ii, 143.
• Cloyce, Sarah, iii, 7, 53; Sister Nurse, 11, 13; goes out of Meeting, 14; an excellent Woman, 211.
• Colman, Benjamin, I, xci, xcvi.
• Coman, Richard, 167; swears against Mrs. Bishop, iii, 82.
• Comings.—See Cummings.
• Connecticut, Witchcraft in, iii, 130, 131.
• Cook, Elisha, Judge, ii, 157; Agent to England, iii, 148, 221.
• Cook, John, a Witness, i, 166, iii, 78, 80-1.
• Cooper, Thomas, on Witchcraft, xxxv.
• Corwin, Jonathan, I, vii, 26, iii, 6, 10, 15; examines Giles Cory, 169.
• Corwin, George, Sheriff, iii, 49, 50; buried, 79, 187, 202.
• Cory, Giles, pressed to Death, 209, II, vii, iii, 7, 44-5, 79; his Examination, 169-173; Site of his Residence, 174.
• Cory, Martha, accused, ii, 7, 9; sent to Prison, 10; sentenced to Death, iii, 44; executed, 45; Ballad on her and her Husband's Fate, 174-77.
• Cotton, John, I, xxv, lxvi.
• Cox, Mary, Irons for, iii, 20.
• Crosby, [Anthony?] a Doctor, declares Hysterics a Case of Witchcraft, iii, 100.
• Cullender, Rose, 142.
• Cumbey, Robert, II, xxi.
• Cummings, Josiah, iii, 107.
• Cummings, Isaac, Witness, 192, iii, 105; his Mare dies, 111.
• Curiosities, matchless, 201-210.
• Cushing, John D., II, vii.
• DAGGET, William, iii, 183.
• Dane, Deliverance, signs a Recantation, iii, 57.
• Dane, Francis, iii, 121; John, his Apology, 135.
• Danforth, Samuel, I, xcvi; Thomas, ii, 109; iii, 15; Judge, 125; Services, 126; admonishes Mrs. Daston, 128.
• Daniel, Samuel, 26.
• Dastin, Goodwife, iii, 126; cleared, 127; but dies in Prison, 128.
• Davis, Silvanus, 26.
• Dean, John Ward, 13.
• Dee, John, Astrologer, 124.
• Defoe, D., on the Devil, 102.
• Delrio, on Witchcraft, I, xiii, xx.
• Demonology, by King James, I, xx; its Character, xxi, xli-xliii.
• Demons, prestigious ones, iii, 160.
• Denmark, great Discovery of Witches in, 148.
• Desaguliers, J. T., I, lxxvi.
• Devil, I, xi; teaches the Black Art, xii; how he creates Witches, xv; Nature of his Covenant with, xviii-xix; exists by God's Permission, xx; the Principal in Witchcraft, but cannot be tried, xxvi; assents to good Offices, xxxvii; appears personally to Witches, liv; what he requires of them, lv; coming down in great Wrath, I, 50, 54, 76, 95, 101, 117, 122, 135; owned N. England, 15; an Army of Devils, 17; many sign his Book, 18; has made a dreadful Knot of Witches, ib.; his Juggles feared, 19; bid come out of a Damsel, 20; Speech of, 20-1; may represent an innocent Person, 21; darting Operations, 24; raises Storms and Tempests, 25; envies the Prospects of the Country, 26; made us a troubled Sea, 27; gives us Shakes, ib.; commissioned by Witches, 29; tells many Truths, 31; Devil-ridden, 33; always leaves the Mark of his Covenant, 40; League with, 41; his Existence not doubted, 55-6; Government among, 57; swarm about us like the Frogs of Egypt, ib.; Prince of the Power of the Air, ib.; Belzebub, 58; knows every Language, ib.; Degrees of Devils, 59; horrible Dragon, 60; a Tyger, 61; gets Liberty to make a Descent upon Men, ib.; Rendezvous of his Troops, ib.; his long Journey, 62; a Do-evil, 64; a Moloch, 65; prevents Discoveries and Inventions, 66; sends Plagues, and Pestilence, and Wars, 67; a Vulcan, 68; makes a horrible Tempest, 69; uses a hot Iron, 71; his Wrath increases, is Prince of this World, 72; God swears at, 73; his Time almost out, 74; God's Command to, 76; makes Earthquakes, 77; his present Quarters, 79; his World, 80; incredible Droves of, 81; nibbles at the Heels of Saints, 83; the World his Country, 85; his Time nearly out, 88-91; his eldest Son, 89; alarmed at the Settlement of N. England, 94; an Eyesore to, ib.; an antagonistic Force, 96; appears as a black Man, 102; his Law Book, 104; takes on the Likeness of harmless People, 106; permitted by God, 107; burning and sooty, 109; in God's Chain, 110; baptises, 111; administers the Sacrament, ib.; how influenced to come down, 114; the Way to out-wit him, ib.; we give Rest to, 115; Sparks of Hell Fire flashing from every Side of, 115; on a Chimney in Germany, 116; throwing Stones there, and other Mischief, 117; set on by the Wrath of God, 118; rattling of his Chains heard, 121; an Asp, 122; infernal Dragon, 124; flies about as a Bird, 130; Children dedicated to, 131; a Whip for his Back, 132; forced to fly by a Woman behind the Door, 133; a Prince, a God, 134; afflicts with Distempers, 148-9; a black Man, 159; described, 171; one in a Meeting-house, 174; performs Baptisms at Newbury Falls, 194; carries some to a Witch-meeting on a Pole, 199; appoints a Queen of Hell, 200; apishly affects divine Things, 201; his Proceedings among the Swedes, 216; discovered by the Author, 217; his Power, 218; Dog of Hell, 219; Serpent upon a Rock, 220; tempts with Friendship, 224; a speckled Snake when he tempted Eve, 225; shoots cruel Bombs, 227; would burn all the Bibles, 229; a Throng of in the Author's Meeting-house, 230; he rocks Persons to sleep there, 231; hurried Jesus to the Top of the Temple, 232; prevents Witches from uttering all the Lord's Prayer, ib.; a Nimrod, 233; can attack with Thunder and Lightning; raise Storms, ib.; a Goliah; dogs Ministers, bad at quoting Scripture, 234; quotes it for our Terror, 235; plays the Preacher, 236; consulting Astrologers is going to the Devil, 238; a Mountebank, 241; to worship him is Witchcraft, 243; with lengthened Chains, ii, 4; commissioned by Witches questioned, 7; further discussed, ib., 8; his Power to create Strength? 9; origin of the Belief in such a Character, 11; a damnable Doctrine, 12; appears to an Indian, 25; prodigious Descent of, 26; his Size, Complexion and Voice, 29-30; his Power, 41; very uncertain, 42; "horrendous Operations," 46; got a Scourge for his Back, 47; not commissioned by a Witch, 58; denied, 76; can work Miracles, 74; his Bounds set, 76; causes Plagues, 79; does not know every Language, 80; his Testimony not to be regarded, 82; the oldest Sinner, 90; more about his Powers, 94-5; vast Numbers of, ib.; a Free-willer, 118; commissioned by Contract, 128; only commissioned by God, 130-1; no Father of Bastards, 196; an independent Power, 201; resembles an Indian, iii, 70; described, 85; flies over an Apple-tree, 86; Depredation in a Meeting-house, 89; performs Baptism, 112; his Manner of Baptising, 113; vanquished by Sir W. Phips, 158; commissioned by Witches, 162; meets with Astonishment, 209.
• Douglass, William, I, lxix, lxx, iii, 125, 159.
• Downer, Robert, Witness against Mrs. Martin, 180; tormented by her in the Shape of a Cat, iii, 96.
• Dragon, makes Wars, 67; insinuates Witchcraft, 124; a great Devil, 216; hard after Ministers, 234; keeping Guard, ii, 79.
• Drake, Nathan, Extracts from, I, xxxiii.
• Dudley, Joseph, iii, 145; presides at the Trial of Glover, 153.
• Dummer, Jeremiah, ii, 151.
• Dunton, John, I, vi, viii, 217, ii, 109.
• Durent, Ann, 142; William, ib.
• Dustin, Hannah.—See Dastin.
• EAMES, Rebecca, condemned and executed, iii, 45.
• Earl, Robert, on Margaret Rule, ii, 69.
• Earth, recedes from the Sun, 75; filled with firey-flying Serpents, 81.
• Earthquakes, the Work of the Devil, 77, 78; happening all over Europe, 91, 92.
• Easty, Isaac, committed for Witchcraft, iii, 16.
• Easty, Mary, sentenced, iii, 44; her Execution, 46; dies protesting her Innocence, 46-48; an excellent Woman, 211.
• Elimas, Sorceries of, ii, 171.
• Eliot, Edmund, 181, 182, iii, 97-8.
• Eliot, John I, lxvi.
• Elizabeth, Queen, Witchcraft in her Time, I, xxxix.
• Elliott, Andrew, Apology of, iii, 135.
• Ember-weeks, what they are, ii, 116.
• Enchantments encountered, 9-48.
• Endicott, Zerobbabel, 210.
• English, Mary, committed, iii, 16; escapes, 50, 79; Testimony against, 126-7.
• English, Philip, indicted, iii, 16; escapes from Prison, 50; Account of, 177; an Episcopalian, 178; dies, 181.
• Ethnics, Gentiles, ii, 119, iii, 164.
• Evelith, Joseph, Apology of, iii, 135.
• FALKNER, condemned to Death, iii, 45.
• Familiar Spirit, who hath it, iii, 166.
• Farnam, John, iii, 126.
• Farnum, [Varnum?] Ralph, 195.
• Farrare, Thomas, iii, 185.
• Fast, appointed in Reference to Witchcraft, iii, 132.
• Felt, Joseph B., cited, ii, 109, iii, 20, 181.
• Filmer, Robert, Sir, on Witchcraft, I, xvii-xx, xxv.
• Firmin, Giles, 13.
• Fisk, Thomas, Apology of, iii, 36, 135.
• Fisk, William, iii, 135.
• Fletcher, Benjamin, Gov., iii, 25; his Kindness to Fugitives from Witchcraft Prosecutions, 180.
• Flint, Thomas, a Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Flood, a great one in the Connecticut, 29.
• Fogg, John S. H., ii, 75.
• Fools, made able Fortune-tellers, iii, 142.
• Foster, Ann, executed, iii, 45; her Confession, 119-20; Remark upon, 208.
• Foster, Ephraim, Evidence in Wardwell's Case, iii, 126.
• Foster, Hannah, confesses being carried on a Pole to a Witch-meeting, 199.
• Foster, Jacob, iii, 107.
• Foster, John, first Printer in Boston, 26.
• Fowler, Joseph, iii, 8.
• Fowler, Samuel P., ii, 6; his Life of Parris, iii, 198.
• Foy, [John?] Captain, 137.
• Franckius, [Peter?] I, lxxvi.
• Franklin, Benjamin, I, lxxvi-vii.
• Freemen, and Non-freemen, iii, 143.
• Fuller, Goodman, is killed by Witchcraft, iii, 64.
• Fuller, [Jacob?] a Doctor, decides a Case of Hysterics to be Witchcraft, iii, 100.
• Fuller, John, iii, 11.
• Fuller, Thomas, D. D., I, lxxvi-vii, II, 196.
• Fuller, Thomas, iii, 199.
• GALLOWS-HILL, where reputed Witches were executed, iii, 45.
• Gallows-Tree, iii, 177.
• Gaul, John, on Detection of Witches, 42-4; his Rules observed, 153; Remarks upon, ii, 12; Calef on, 56, 70, 178, 197; Mather on, iii, 64.
• Gedney, Bartholomew, I, vii, 26; Judge, iii, 26; Conduct at Capt. Alden's Trial, 28, 30, 172.
• Gee, Joshua, I, xcvi.
• Germany, the Devil on a Chimney there, 116, 117; Witchcraft in, ii, 197.
• Ghosts of murdered People appear, 155, 156-7, 209, iii, 106.
• Gibbs, Barnabas, II, xxv.
• Gidney, Bartholomew.—See Gedney.
• Gill, Obadiah, II, xxi; William, a Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Glanville, Joseph, describes Unbelievers in Witchcraft, I, lxi.
• Glover, Goody, executed, iii, 153.
• Goblin, one described, iii, 85-6.—See Hobgoblin.
• God, swears in loud Thunders at the Devil, 73; more abandons the World than formerly, 75; bids the Devil make all miserable, 76; permits the Devil to come upon us, 107; has the Devil in a Chain, 110; his Wrath sets on the Devil, 118; would have subdued the Devil if called upon, 120; swears in Wrath, 125; clucks to us, 130; a Dog of Hell barking at him, 219; the Devil superior to, ii, 9; whether he commissions the Devil, 70; the Mother of, 82; leaves the Devil at free-will, 118; commissions the Devil, 130-1.
• Godfrey, John, iii, 52.
• Gold, Sam., at Mrs. Bishop's Trial, iii, 78; at Giles Cory's, 170.
• Good, Sarah, accused of being a Witch, iii, 6, 7; her Child also, 11; Chains for, 20; executed, 33; Horrors attending, 34, 187.
• Good, William, iii, 7.
• Goodall, Goodwife, iii, 8.
• Goodwin, John, Children bewitched, I, lxxxviii; testifies to a Miracle, II, xxi; Baxter on the Story, 45; farther Note on, iii, 153.
• Gould, William, II, xxiii.
• Gowans, William, I, xciii.
• Gray, Samuel, swears against Mrs. Bishop, 166, iii, 31.
• Green Lane, iii, 115.
• Green, Mary, imprisoned and escapes, iii, 53.
• Green, Thomas, II, xxv.
• Greenslett, John, iii, 64.
• Greenslett, Thomas, swears against Mr. Burroughs, iii, 64.
• Griggs, Dr., iii, 8, 190, 205-6.
• HADLEY, Deborah, iii, 107.
• Hale, John, prays at Witch Trials, iii, 10; attends Examinations, 22; his Wife accused, 48; on Mr. Parris's Conduct, 207.
• Hall, Bishop, on the Devil's Prevalency, 112; on Astrology and Magic, 124.
• Hanvoord, Goodman, iii, 11.
• Happy Family, Origin of, 29.
• Hardy, Thomas, his Snare of Devilism, iii, 102.
• Harris, Benjamin, I, vii, II, 55.
• Harrod, John, iii, 11.
• Hathorne, John, I, vii, 26, iii, 6, 9, 15; Inhumanity of, 23; Examinant of Giles Cory, 169; of Tituba, 187; of Mary Clark, 195.
• Hathorne, Susanna, iii, 195.
• Haverhill, Witchcraft in, iii, 128, 195, 197.
• Hell, Toyls of, 19; Belial of, 22; Mad Dogs of, 27; Philistines of, 27; Mastives of, 64; lowest Depths of, 77; hellish Rattlesnakes, 80; wild Beasts of, 86; Ty-dogs of, 108; Adders of, 118; a little Portraiture of, 131; a Queen appointed for, 200; the Pilate of, ii, 27; Lions and Bears of, 43; lively Demonstrations of, 47; Covenant with, 136; great Officers of, iii, 113.
• Hemmingius, Nicholas, 204.
• Herrick, George, ii, 109; Marshal, iii, 11, 17; testifies against Giles Cory, 172.
• Herrick, Henry, iii, 135.
• Heyman, Samuel, 26.
• Hiacoomes, a Christian Indian, ii, 23.
• Higginson, John, I, vii, 201, 207; Examiner, iii, 126.
• Hill, John, Capt., ii, 75; at Salem, iii, 27.
• Hill, Zeb., a Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Hinckley, Thomas, 26.
• Hoar, Dorcas, condemned, iii, 44; Estate seized, 50.
• Hobs, William, committed, iii, 16.
• Hobbes, Thomas, ii, 201.
• Hobbs, Abigail, condemned and executed, iii, 45.
• Hobbs, Deliverance, Witness against Bishop, 165; committed as a Witch, iii, 16; tormented, 80.
• Hobgoblin, Witchcraft, iii, 137.—See Goblin.
• Holland, Joseph, II, xxii.
• Hollingworth, Richard, iii, 179, 182; William, ib.
• Holton, Benjamin, iii, 11; Sarah, Witness against Mrs. Nurse, ib.—See Houlton.
• Hopkins, Matthew, 30.
• Horneck, Anthony, 19, 69, 221.
• Horse-shoes, used by Conjurors, iii, 142.
• Houlton, Joseph, iii, 113, 203.—See Holton.
• How, Elizabeth, 188, iii, 33; Indictment of, 104; Trial of, 105-113; Wife of James, ib., 107; baptised by the Devil, 112.
• How, John, 190; Witness against his Sister, iii, 109.
• Howe, John, Mr., iii, 139.
• Howell, James, on Witchcraft, ii, 127.
• Hubbard, Elizabeth, iii, 7, 62; swears against Mrs. Bishop, 75-6; against Carrier, 114; against Giles Cory, 170; has Fits, 192.
• Hudibras, on A. Ross, ii, 126.
• Hudson, William, sees Margaret Rule go up without Hands, ii, 70.
• Hughes, John, iii, 7.
• Huguenots, Note on the, 70.
• Hunnewell, Richard, Lt., iii, 64.
• Hunt, Ephraim, ii, 151.
• Hutchinson, Benj., Complainant, iii, 26.
• Hutchinson, Elisha, 26.
• IMPS, Employment of, 112; one sinks a Ship, ib.; one appears like a Rat, ii, 35.
• Indians, vast Herds of, 65; Efforts of Powawes against the Settlers, 94-5; one of great Strength, 159; under Conduct of the Devil, 207; Christian, ii, 23; one tempted by the Devil, 25; Witches among, 75; Reason for, 117-18; Notions of Religion, 125; Covenant to adore the Devil, 136; practice Witchcraft, iii, 5; resemble the Devil, 70; in Witchcraft, 185-95; two at Salem, 204.
• Ingersol, John, 163; Nathaniel, ii, 143, iii, 11; Witness, 15, 17, 199.
• Inventions, hindered by the Devil, 66.
• Invisibility of Witches, 204; Mist of, iii, 160.
• JACOBS, George, Executed, iii, 38; further noticed, 43, 50, 204.
• Jacobs, Margaret, confesses, iii, 43-4; escapes Death, ib.
• Jacobs, Mary, one of the Afflicted, iii, 8.
• Jacobs, Thomas, Evidence against Bibber, iii, 8.
• Jackson, Doctor, iii, 183.
• Jamaica, Earthquake at, 78.
• James First, his Demonology, I, xx; his Royal Nonsense, xxii; his Rules for detecting Witches, ib.; followed by Cooper, xxxvii; Effect of James's Book, xli; describes what Witches can do, lii, liii.
• James Second, 10, 92, iii, 131; Knights Sir William Phips, 137, 143.
• Jennings, David, I, lxvii.
• Jesus, on the Top of the Temple, 232; on the Battlements, 233.
• Jewel, Bishop, [John,] I, xxxix.
• Jewett, Nehemiah, ii, 151.
• John, Indian, iii, 3; bewitched, 15; accuses E. Bishop, 17; his Wife Tituba, 22.
• Johnson, Eliza, iii, 126.
• Johnson, Samuel, defines Witchcraft, xiv.
• Jolliffe, John, Counsellor, 26.
• Judges, remarkably blind, 107; pitiable, 127; defer to Hale's Decisions, 141; their Reason departed, 174.
• Jurin, James, I, lxxvi.
• Jurors, some acknowledge their Errors, iii, 134-5.
• Justin, Martyr, ii, 10.
• KEELING, Judge, a wise Decision of, disregarded, 148.
• Kembal, John, Witness against Martin, 180; she bewitches his Cattle, iii, 96-7; sees a black Cloud, and runs upon Stumps, ib.; Puppies appear to him, 98.
• Keney, Henry, testifies against Mrs. Cory, iii, 7.
• Kersey, John, his Definition of Witchcraft, I, xii.
• Keys, used by Conjurors, iii, 142.
• Keysar, ——, Daughter distracted, iii, 16.
• Kimball.—See Kemble.
• King, D. P., owned the Site of Giles Cory's House, iii, 74.
• Knowlton, Joseph, and Wife, iii, 107.
• LACY, Lawrence, Wife bewitched, iii, 120.
• Lacy, Mary, 199; another, 200; Condemned and Executed, iii, 45; her Confession, 120.
• Lancashire Witches, 158.
• Lane, Francis, Witness, 193, iii, 105; his Rails bewitched, 112.
• Laplanders, Witchcraft among, 22, 108.
• Lawrence, Robert, of Casco, iii, 64.
• Laws, against Witchcraft, remark on, iii, 125; repealed, ib.
• Lawson, Dedot, his History, I, iv, vii, 156, 186; endorses the Story of the Iron Spindle, 205; defends the Proceedings against Witchcraft, ii, 154-5; at Salem, iii, 7, 12; on Mr. Burroughs, 39; his Wife and Children killed, 64; Chaplain to Andros's Expedition, ib.; more about the Murder of his Family, 68; on the Devil's Baptism, 113.
• Le Clerc, [Jean,] cited, ii, 212.
• Legion, definition of, 56; of Devils, 218, ii, 95.
• Leverett, John, Gov., ii, 108.
• Lewis, Mary, [Mercy,] iii, 26, 75.
• Lewis, Mercy, iii, 8; sees a Man in White, 13; Witness against Mr. Burroughs, 62, 64; against Mrs. Bishop, 75; against Philip English, 126; against Giles Cory, 170; Account of, 204; why she accused Mr. Burroughs, 210.
• Leyton, [Thomas,] Mr., of Lynn, iii, 185.
• Loader, [Louder?] John, Evidence against Mrs. Bishop, iii, 76.
• Locker, George, Constable, iii, 187.
• Lothrop, Barnabas, Counsellor, 26.
• Louder, John, 170; sees the Devil, 171; sees a Black Pig, iii, 85.
• Louis, Fourteenth, 93.
• Lynd, Joseph, Counsellor, 26.
• MANCHESTER, a Spectre worsted there, 206.
• Maniche, an Arabian God, ii, 125, 128.
• Manning, Jacob, Dep. Marshal, arrests Mr. English, iii, 181.
• Marshall, John, II, xxviii.
• Martin, George, iii, 97.
• Martin, Susanna, Trial of, 175; Execution, iii, 33; Indictment against, 89-103; cast into a very singular Confusion, 100; appears to John Pressy, 101.
• Martyr, Justin, ii, 10.
• Mary, Queen of William Third, 92; Death of, iii, 131.
• Mascon, the Devil of, 59, 70.
• Mason, Stephen, Counsellor, 26.
• Mather, Cotton, why charged with an undue Share of the Persections, I, iii, lxxiv, lxxxv; his Faith in Witchcraft, v; his unfortunate Book, xxxiv; Memoirs of, lxv-xcviii; his Defence, 1-4; further Defence of the Prosecutions, iii, 59-61; Countermines the Plot of the Devil, i, 3; bedeviled, 80; condemns Astrology, 123-4; Pity for the Judges, 127-8; not present at the Witch Trials, 139; Rejoices at the Justice of the Work against Witches, 140; Horror at the Name of Mr. Burroughs, 152; believes in the Ability of Witches to put on Invisibility, 162, 204; gives Unbelievers three Bones to pick, 205; some Misgivings about shedding Blood, 207; Argument against Calef, II, xiii-xviii; Story of Margaret Rule, ii, 21-36; read many Books of Physic, 34; relieves M. Rule by three Fasts, 39; pains to rescue the Miserable from Lions and Bears of Hell, 42; thanked by Venerable Baxter, 43; tries to prevent excessive Credit of spectral Evidence, 44; his own Estimate of his Labors, 46-7; Complaints, 48; Letters to, 48-62; threatens Calef, 54; has him arrested, 55; fails to meet him, 60; Whittier on, 61; Letter to Calef, 62-8; brings heavy Charges against him, 64; People believe smutty Things of him, 65; Defends his Father, 66; offers Mr. Calef the Use of his Books, 67; Charges of Hellish Witchcraft, 80; does not understand the Wiles of the Devil, 83; Thunder breaks into his House, 86; defines a Witch, 90; a Cause of the Convictions, 92; his Answer, 93; Denial of Statements made by Calef, 96; does not distinguish between Miracles and Works of the Devil, 97; Arraigned by R. C. in Argument, 135-6; Messenger, 151; heavy Charges against Calef, iii, 32; Acquainted with the Wiles of the Devil, ib.; Conduct at Mr. Burroughs's Execution, 38; Defence of the Prosecutions, 59-61; Omissions, iii, 106, 109, 111; an Advocate, 122; his Account of Trials as faithful as others, 123; his Life of Phips anonymous, and why, 136; Defends it, 137-8, 140; strenuous for a Reassumption of the Charter, 146; compares Mr. Calef to Satan, 151; the most Active of any in prosecuting Witches, 154; his contradictory Statements pointed out, 157-8; his Ambidexterity, 154, 159; his Relatives accused, ib.; sincere and credulous, 161.
• Mather, Increase, I, vi, xxx; ii, 12; prays with Margaret Rule, 51; Proceedings against Mr. Calef, 55; cited, 60; defended by his Son, C., 66; on the Devil, 90, 95; Remarkable Providences, 106-7; Messenger, 151; Defence about the Charter, iii, 18; Proctor's Appeal to, 40; Cases of Conscience, 58; Angelographia, 131; his Acts retold by his Son, 136, 141; his Ideas undergo a Change, 142; troubled by Fobb-actions, appears to King James, 145; his Reason for accepting a new Charter, 149; the bewitched Eye, 160; Moderater of Mr. Parris's Council, 216.
• Mather, Nathaniel, iii, 139.
• Mather, Samuel, Life of his Father, I, lxvii; Funeral Sermon on, xcvii.
• Mead, Matthew, Mr., iii, 139.
• Meeting House, the Devil in one, iii, 89.
• Memorable Providences, approved by Baxter, 10; a Work by I. Mather, ii, 12, 106-7.
• Merlin, Ambrose, ii, 196.
• Mexico, Indians of, 201-2.
• Middlecot, Richard, 26, ii, 151.
• Millenium, near at Hand, 90-1.
• Milton, John, I, xi.
• Ministers, why dogged more by the Devil than others, 234; Stars of Heaven, in danger of the Dragon's Tail, ib.
• Miracles, one witnessed, ii, 74; wrought by Men, 128.
• Mist of Invisibility, iii, 160.
• Moody, Joshua, iii, 40; aids Philip English to escape from Jail, 179-180.
• More Wonders, a vile Book, 96.
• Morgan, Samuel, Searcher for Witch teats, iii, 39.
• Mormons, reference to, ii, 81.
• Morton, Charles, ii, 108.
• NAZIANZEN, the Author like a, 28.
• Newbury-Falls, Baptisms there by the Devil, 194, iii, 112, 197.
• New England, Loyalty and Religion in, 10; no Land so free from Vices, 12; once the Devil's Territory, 15, 120; broken in upon by an Army of Devils, 17; a Scandal feared from Witchcraft, 19; Province of, 20; stocked with Rattle-snakes, 25; little Hope of, from the Wrath of the Devil, 93-4; a howling Wilderness, 94; its Losses by Indians and by Sea, 95; Decline of Godliness in, 96; poor N. England, 109; People in the Belly of Hell, 110; pleases the Devil, 122; no People so basely despise the Gospel, 125; hast destroyed thyself, ii, 6; a Charter obtained, iii, 142; why Quo Warrantoed, 143; worse circumstanced than any Corporation in England, ib.; Revolution in, 144-153; Prodigies in, not a tenth Part related, 161.
• Necromancy, who are guilty of it, iii, 166.
• Noyes, Nicholas, I, vii, iii, 7, 9; at Alden's Trial, 28; Conduct at Executions, 34; his Firebrands of Hell, 48; at the Examination of Mary Clark, 196.
• Nurse, Francis, iii, 7, 198.
• Nurse, Rebecca, iii, 7, 10; Sister Cloyce, 13; executed, 33; her Explanation, 36, 37; Sister Easty, 46; why accused, 210.
• Nurse, Samuel, ii, 143, 159, 211.
• OAKES, Thomas, Agent to England, iii, 148.
• Ogilvie, John, Definition of Witchcraft, I, xiv-xvi.
• Old South Church, Boston, iii, 133; Ministers of, in Witchcraft Times, 177.
• Oliver, alias Bishop.—See Bishop, Bridget.
• Orton, Job, on W. Perkins, 38.
• Osborn, Sarah, accused, iii, 6, 7; Iron Chains prepared for, 20; accused by Tituba, 188.
• Osgood, Mary, Recantation of, iii, 57.
• PACY, Deborah, afflicted, 142.
• Pacy, Elizabeth, afflicted, 142.
• Paganism, Popery, 52.
• Palmer, John, his Book on N. England, iii, 144.
• Paracelsus, [Auroleus,] I, xxxviii, 68.
• Parker, Alice, a Witch, 208; Sentence to die, iii, 44.
• Parker, Mary, condemned and executed, iii, 45.
• Parris, Elizabeth, iii, 8, 209.
• Parris, Noyes, iii, 221.
• Parris, Samuel, Protest against, ii, 141-3; long and humble Acknowledgment, 143-8; Ministers and Elders of the Churches recommend his Acknowledgment be accepted, 149-51; further Protest against, 152-3; the Elders' Plea for, 155-6; accused of swearing falsely, 158; his Account of the Beginning of the Troubles, iii, 3-4; swears against Rebecca Nurse, 11; preaches, 14; appointed Scribe at the Examinations, 15; Examinations at his House, 22; swears against Mrs. Bishop, 75; Scribe at How's Trial, 105; at other Times, 127; at Cory's Examination, 173; Account of, 198-222; Family of, 203-4, 209; not an Enemy to Mr. Burroughs, 210; not a swift Witness, ib.; how his Name comes to be frequent in the Trials, 211; cleared by a Council, 217; but dismissed, 218; Epitaph on his Wife, 221; his Death, ib.
• Parris, Samuel, Deacon, iii, 221.
• Parris, Thomas, iii, 198, 222.
• Payne, Robert, Juror, iii, 127, 185.
• Payson, Edward, ii, 151; pleads for Mrs. How, iii, 106.
• Peabody, John, Apology of, iii, 135.
• Peach, Bernard, a Witness against Mrs. Martin, 178-9; bites a Witch, iii, 94, 95.
• Peasley, Joseph, Constable, iii, 196.
• Pemberton, Ebenezer, ii, 15.
• Pennington, Thomas, I, ix.
• Perd, Margaret, ii, 50, 51; smells Brimstone, 53.
• Perkins, Thomas, Apology of, iii, 135.
• Perkins, William, defines Witchcraft, I, xiii; his Rules questioned, xxxiii; Notice of, 37; his Doctrine of Witchcraft, ii, 12; Mr. Calef on, 56, iii, 165.
• Perley, John, 193-4; Fence Rails bewitched by, iii, 111; Apology of, 135; Samuel and Wife, 105, 106.
• Perley, Timothy, Witness, 192.
• Pharaoh, Old, accused of Witchcraft, iii, 126-7.
• Philistines of Hell, 27.
• Phillips, Edward, I, xi; John, 26; Samuel, ii, 151; Evidence for Mrs. How, iii, 106.
• Phips, William, arrives, 25, iii, 18; orders Irons for the Accused, 20; orders the Trials for Witchcraft published, 58; called Home, 130; how became Governor, 137; finished his Life and Government together, ib.; a Pizarro, 138; harsh Temper, 141; had his Fortune told, 154; vanquishes the Devil, 158; his Relatives accused, 159.
• Pike, Robert, 26, iii, 103.
• Pithagoras, Doctrine of, ii, 118.
• Pitman, Thomas, 206.
• Pizarro, Sir W. Phips compared to, iii, 138.
• Plagues, caused by the Devil, ii, 79.
• Plastic Spirit of Witches, 204, ii, 88; a Nonentity hooked in, 90; Mischief to the Devil, 96.
• Plynyism, what it is, 204.
• Pope, Joseph, and Wife, iii, 8, 203.
• Popery, revived Paganism, 52.
• Poppets, used by Spectres, ii, 40, iii, 82; some found and described, 88; Remark upon, 124.
• Porter, Benjamin, iii, 11.
• Post, Mary, Evidence against Mary Clark, iii, 197.
• Prayers, the great Artillery of Heaven, 132; a Whip for the Devil's Back, ib.
• Prescot, Peter, Dr., 196, iii, 116.
• Pressy, John, Witness against Martin, 184; sees a great Light, iii, 100; his Heels are struck up, 101; Loss of Cows, ib.
• Preston, Samuel, 198; his Cow bewitched, iii, 118.
• Preston, Thomas, iii, 203.
• Prince, Thomas, I, xc, xci, xcv.
• Printing, not sooner discovered owing to the Devil, 66.
• Procter, Elizabeth, iii, 7; John, ib.; Mrs., cried out on, 15; John, executed, 38; Barbarity to his Family, 40; his Letter to Ministers, 40-2; his Course to prevent Witchcraft, 204.
• Procter, William, made to confess by Torture, iii, 41.
• Prodigies, in N. England, not a tenth Part related, iii, 161.
• Pudeater, Ann, sentenced to be executed, iii, 44.
• Pulsifer, David, 13, II, vii, III, 169.
• Putnam, Ann, iii, 7, 8, 9; Witness against Mrs. Nurse, 11; against Mr. Burroughs, 39, 62, 63; against Mrs. Bishop, 75; against Giles Cory, 170; against Mary Clark, 197; why she became an Accuser, 210.
• Putnam, Edward, ii, 143, iii, 7.
• Putnam, John, Witness against Mrs. Nurse, iii, 11; Mrs. Dastin, 128; of Parris's Society, 198.
• Putnam, Joseph, ii, 159.
• Putnam, Thomas, iii, 7; swears against Mrs. Nurse, 11; Mrs. Bishop, 75; Mrs. Daston, 128.
• QUINCY, Josiah, on "Certain Proposals," ii, 106; one-sided and dogmatical, iii, 19; on I. Mather's Diary, 136.
• RAVEN, Story of one speaking, 33.
• Rawson, Edward, iii, 16, 52, 197.
• Rea, Joshua, iii, 198.
• Redd, Willmet, condemned to die, iii, 45.
• Reed, Richard, iii, 184.
• Rice, Nicholas, iii, 29.
• Rice, Sarah, sent to Prison, iii, 29.
• Richards, John, 26, iii, 30; Judge, 125, 128.
• Ring, Jervis, 185; suffers from Nightmare, iii, 103.
• Ring, Joseph, 186; carried about by Demons, iii, 102; in a Snare of Devilism, ib.; hurried through the Air, ib.; taken to Hellish Meetings, 102-3.
• Ring, Robert, an Error, 186.
• Robie, William, II, xxi.
• Robinson, George, II, xxvii.
• Roggers, John, Witnesses against Martha Carrier, 197; of Billerica, iii, 118; killed by Indians, ib.
• Ross, Alexander, Hudibras on, ii, 126.
• Ruck, John, Foreman of Jury, 161, iii, 35, 72-3.
• Russell, James, 26, iii, 15.
• Rule, Margaret, Story of, ii, 21; seized by evil Angels, 26; fell into odd Fits, 28; assaulted by eight cruel Spectres, ib.; bring her a red Book to sign, 29; her Tortures described, 30; fasts nine Days, 31; stuck full of Pins, 32; Liquor poured down her Throat "as of scalding Brimstone," 33; her Hurts soon cured, 34; taken up to the Ceiling and held there, 35; her Minister interferes, 38; gets the better of the Devil, 40; visited by Mr. Calef, 49; his Report of her Case, 49-54; a Sweetheart in it, 51-2; Aves's Testimony concerning, 68; others, 69-70.
• Rum, used in a Case of Witchcraft, ii, 51.
• SABBATH, begins at Sunset, Saturday, 223.
• Sadducees, unbelievers in Witchcraft, 32; Baxter on, ii, 45; Mischievous, 46; Witlings, 60, 61; Atheists, 108; Infidels, iii, 162, 163.
• Safford, Joseph, Witness, 189, iii, 105, 108-9.
• Salem Village, Church Difficulties, ii, 140-3.
• Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 26, ii, 109, iii, 30.
• Sanderson, Robert, Deacon, iii, 207.
• Sargent, Peter, 26.
• Satan.—See Devil.
• Sayer, Samuel, Apology of, iii, 135.
• Scotland, Witchcraft in, ii, 7, 197.
• Scott, Margaret, condemned to Death, iii, 44.
• Scott, Reginald, writes against Witchcraft, I, xxxix; Extracts from, xlv-vii; has taken great Pains, lix.
• Scottow, Joshua, iii, 64.
• Scribonius, Note upon, 1.
• Sergeant, Mr. [Peter,] iii, 31.
• Sewall, Samuel, 26, 209; subscribes to the Truth and Accuracy of Mather's Wonders, 211, iii, 59; Judge, II, xxiv, 157, iii, 15, 31; Appointment of Judge, 125; Services, 126, 128; in Sorrow for the Part he took those accused of Witchcraft, 133; a Referee in Mr. Parris's Case, 221.
• Sewall, Stephen, Captain, iii, 209.
• Sharp, [James,] D. D., iii, 151.
• Shattock, Samuel, 168; swore against Mrs. Bishop, iii, 76; Wife Sarah, also, ib., 83-4; Remarks on his Evidence, 123.
• Sheldon, Susanna, 200; swears against Mr. Burroughs, iii, 66-7; against Mrs. Bishop, 78; against Mrs. Carrier, 120; against Mary Clark, 196; Account of, 204.
• Shepard, John, iii, 53; Rev. Mr., 185.
• Sheppard, Rebekah, iii, 11.
• Sherrin, John, iii, 105.
• Sherringham, Robert, 150.
• Sherwin, Goodwife, 191.
• Short, Mercy, ii, 27, 37, 51.
• Sibley, John L., I, viii; Mary, iii, 3, 206.
• Sieves, used to conjure with, iii, 142.
• Sikes, Victory, Corporal, iii, 219.
• Simpkins, Thomas, II, xxv.
• Slavery, a Divine Institution, xvi; Effect of its Denunciation, 12-13.
• Smith, James, II, xxiii, III, 203.
• Snow, falls as Wool, I, lxxiii; some red, lxxiv.
• Soam, John, his Cart bewitched, 149.
• Sobieski, John, King, 91.
• Some Few Remarks, an Answer to Calef, II, xxi.
• Sorceries, 122, 123; little ones, iii, 142; how known, 165.
• Sow, one bewitched, iii, 109.
• Spectacles invented, 66.
• Spectral Sight, Pretenders to, iii, 166.
• Spectres, how allayed, 30, 31, 35, 103-4; take the Name and Shape of Accused, 106; call upon People before Death, 109; pranks with an Iron Spindle, 205; severe Scuffle with one, 206; "Eight Cruel ones" assault Margaret Rule, ii, 28; "Cursed ones" bring a Book to sign, 29; Threats of, 34; they steal a Will, ib.; heard to clap their Hands, 35; Caution about, 44; one cruelly assaults a Person, [Margaret Rule,] iii, 160.
• Spencer, Edmund, a Witch described by. I, xlix.
• Spencer, Richard, Witness, 150.
• Spindle, Story of one, 205, iii, 160.
• Spirits, white ones, ii, 37; one appears to Margaret Rule, 39.
• Sprague, Martha, bewitched, iii, 126.
• Stacy, William, 172, iii, 86-7, 76.
• Star, Margaret, II, xxv.
• Stephens, Lieutenant, iii, 53; Sister of, 54.
• Stoughton, William, commends the Wonders, &c., 5-6; of unspotted Fidelity, 26; declares Mather's Wonders true, 211; commissions Judges, iii, 30; attests to the Truth of Mather's Wonders, 59; signs the Death Warrant of Mrs. Bishop, 80; his Appointment, 125; Services, 126.
• Stuart, one, Letter in Defence of Witchcraft, ii, 160-186; another, 198-207; on Blasphemy, 202.
• Swan, Timothy, afflicted, iii, 196.
• Swedeland, Witchcraft in, 108, 211.
• Swinnerten, John, II, xxv.
• Sydney, Henry, Lord, iii, 149.
• Symons, Edward, 9.
• TALBOT, Lord, causes the Repeal of Witchcraft Laws, iii, 125.
• Tarbell, John, ii, 143, 159, iii, 199, 211, 215.
• Taylor, Zachary, A. M., I, ix.
• Teats, on Witches, ii, 57.—See Witchteats.
• Thacher, Peter, I, xcvii.
• Thompson, Agnes, Confession of, I, xli-ii.
• Thornton, Thomas, testifies to the Performances of Margaret Rule, ii, 69-70.
• Thyaneus, Appolonius, ii, 70.
• Tillotson, Archbishop, 56; aids Dr. Mather, iii, 149.
• Tituba, practices Witchcraft, iii, 6; Note on her Examination, 22; Examination in full, 178-95; a South American Indian, 200.
• Tockinosh, John, ii, 23.
• Tompson, Benjamin, I, xcv.
• Toothaker, Allin, 196; Family of, 197; abused by a Witch, iii, 117.
• Torry, Samuel, ii, 151; William, ib.
• Transubstantiation, as old as the Devil, ii, 200-1.
• Trask, John, his Wife killed by Witchcraft, iii, 79.
• Trithemius, Fancies of, iii, 164.
• Tupper, Samuel, ii, 26; Thomas, ib.
• Tyler, Hannah, Recantation of, iii, 57.
• Tyler, Jobe, Deposition concerning Witchcraft, iii, 52.
• Tyler, John, II, xxiv.
• Tyler, Mary, signs a Recantation, iii, 57, 197.
• Tyng, Eleazer, II, xxvii.
• USHER, Hezekiah, accused, iii, 196.
• VAN Helmont, Jean, Baptist, ii, 41.
• Varnum, [Farnum,] Ralph, 195.
• Vibber.—See Bibber.
• Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ii, 82.
• Vitzlipultzli, an Indian Idol, 201.
• WADSWORTH, Benjamin, Letter to, ii, 134, 135; Timothy, xxi.
• Walcutt, John, Witness, iii, 113.
• Walcutt, Jonathan, iii, 15; Mary, ii, 158, iii, 8, 26, 62, 170, 195, 205.
• Waldron, Abigail, iii, 79.
• Waldron, Nathaniel, iii, 79.
• Waldron, William, I, xcvii.
• Waller, Edmund, I, lxxxi.
• Walley, John, i, 26, ii, 151.
• Walter, Nehemiah, ii, 108.
• Ward, Nathaniel, i, 13.
• Wardwell, Samuel, condemned, iii, 45; Scene at his Execution, 46, 57; his Wife executed, 125; he covenants with the Devil, 126.
• Warner, Daniel, testifies in Favor of Mrs. How, iii, 107.
• Warren, Mercy, an Accuser, iii, 16, 26, 62, 204.
• Watkins, Mary, had been a Servant, iii, 128; sold into Slavery, 129.
• Watts, Isaac, I, lxvii, lxxvi.
• Way, Aaron, ii, 143; William, ib.
• Webber, Samuel, swears in Mr. Burroughs's Case, ii, 9, iii, 63.
• Webster, Noah, Definition of Witchcraft, I, xiv.
• Welch, Edward, a Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Wendell, Edward, II, xxvii.
• Wentworth, Samuel, II, xxiv.
• West, Abigail, II, xxv.
• West, Thomas, Searcher for Witchteats, iii, 39.
• Wheeler, Thomas, II, xxiii.
• Whetford, ——, 208.
• Whiston, William, I, lxxvi.
• Whittier, J. G., on C. Mather, ii, 61, 160, iii, 163, 167, 174.
• Wigglesworth, M., his Day of Doom, ii, 4.
• Wild, John, iii, 16; his Wife Sarah, ib.; executed, iii, 33.
• Wild, ——, Captain, i, 137.
• Wilds, Ephraim, Constable, iii, 105.
• Wilkins, John, on Margaret Rule, ii, 69.
• Wilkins, Richard, ii, 55, 56.
• Wilkins, Thomas, ii, 143, iii, 216.
• Willard, John, executed, iii, 38, 39; Escape and Capture, 40.
• Willard, Samuel, Letter to, ii, 102, 151; cried out of, iii, 37; appeal to by Procter, 40; his Agency in the Escape of Mr. English, 177-8.
• Willard, Simon, testifies in Mr. Burroughs's Case, iii, 64.
• William and Mary, I, lxxxiv, 25; Death of Mary, iii, 131.
• Williams, Abigail, ii, 156, 158, iii, 7, 8, 9; at the Devil's Sacrament, 13; cries out on Capt. Alden, 26; of Mrs. Bishop, 75; Mr. Cory, 170, 179; Account of, 204; one of the Originators of the Witchcraft Delusion, 209.
• Williams, Daniel, on Margaret Rule, ii, 69.
• Williams, Nathaniel, a Committee on Salem Affairs, ii, 151.
• Williams, Thomas, opposes Mr. Parris, iii, 212.
• Wilson, John, of Boston, 7.
• Wilson, Sarah, accused, iii, 57.
• Winchell, David, Sergent, iii, 219.
• Winsor, Hannah, iii, 26.
• Winthrop, Adam, Counsellor, 26.
• Winthrop, Wait, 26, ii, 157, iii, 30; Judge, 125, 221.
• Witchcraft, Cause of its Decline, I, iv; Works upon, v-x; Definitions of, xi-xvi; taught in the Bible, xvi; how People's Eyes were opened, xvii; how carried on, xxii; Practiced through Images or Pictures, ib.; Laws respecting, xxiv-v; the Bible upon, xvi, xxvii; Ideas respecting, xxviii; opposed only by Infidels, xxix; Origin of, xxxi; the Question which stayed its Progress, xxxii; Works upon, xxxiv-viii; Law against, xxxix, xliii; not Spiritualism, lx; at the present Day, lxxv; came near blowing up all the Churches, 17; Storms of, 20; thorny Business, 29; will not be shammed, 34; disposed of, 42; in Lapland, 68-9; flourishes where are no Churches, 130-1; to worship the Devil, 243; a Relict of Heathen Learning, ii, 11; a principal ecclesiastical Engine, 12; further defined, 56-7; how Prosecutions were eventually checked, 110-11; sensible and evident, 105; Laws made against, iii, 124; repealed in England, 125; a Hobgoblin Monster, 137.
• Witchteats, for the Devil to suck, ii, 57, 100; a horrid Barbarity to search for, 132; Excrescences, iii, 124.
• Witches, how made, I, xv; Nature of their Covenant with the Devil, xxiii; the Devil a Slave to, xix; exist by God's Permission, xx; how to detect, xxiii; vast Numbers executed, xv, xxvii; Punishment impossible, xxxi; good Witches, xxxvii; one described by Spencer, xlix; different Kinds, l, lii; how they contract with the Devil, liv-v; Manner of living, lvi-viii; the Devil has made a dreadful Knot of, 18; prodigious Meetings of, 19; commission the Devil, 29; Way of discovering, 37; Confessions and Practices, 103; fairly executed, 107; Executions of, in Suffolk and Essex, 112; thorny Business, 114; firey Serpents, 124; in Denmark, 148; Witches impeach Witches, 157; Symptoms of Guilt, 162; Conduct after the Manner of Congregational Churches, 202-3; by applying the Plastic Spirit, render themselves and Tools invisible, 204; Cause of Suicides, 207; nineteen executed, 217; can't say the Lord's Prayer, 232; their Power to commission Devils Questioned, ii, 7; Scriptures do not describe it, ib., 8; commission Devils? 76; drive a Trade of commissioning, 80-1; let fly Demons, 81; turn into Cats, Dogs, and Cattle, 127; a Witch not known to Reason, 138; can commission Devils, 139; of Lancashire, reference to, iii, 69; steal Liquor, 110; some goe on a Pole to a Witch-meeting, 120.
• Witch-Circles, held by young Girls, iii, 208; Origin of the Salem Troubles, ib., 209-10.
• Witch-Hill, where the Execution of those accused of Witchcraft were executed, iii, 45.
• Wizard, a Witch, I, xii, xxxviii; reveals the Witch by the Devil's Help, 40; the Soul that goeth a whoring after, ii, 154.
• Wood, Martha, Witness, 192, iii, 110.
• Woodbury, Abigail, iii, 79.
• Woodward, John, I, lxxvi.
• Woodward, W. E., I, viii, x-xvi.
• Wolcott.—See Walcutt.
• Wool, Pall of, as Snow, I, lxxiii.
• Wyllys, Edward, II, xii.