Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/181

 was apprehended and put on trial, and though it seems almost certain that she was more than half crazy or silly, yet the physicians having certified her sanity she was condemned and executed. Cotton Mather took the eldest girl home to his house, where she continued to act in the same extraordinary manner. The credulous divine set himself seriously to study this subject, and then put forth a sermon and narrative under the title of "Memorable Providences relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions."' "There are multitudes of Sadducees, in our days," says the recommendatory preface, signed by the other four ministers of Boston, "and we shall come, in the opinion of these mighty acute philosophers, to credit nothing but what we can see and feel. How much this fond opinion hath got- ten ground in this debauched age is awfully observable. God is therefore pleased, besides his witness borne to this truth in sacred writ, to suffer devils to do such things in the world, as shall stop the mouths of gainsayers and extort a confession from them." The book was republished in England and Richard Baxter even was led to preface it and give in his adhesion to the truth of these wonderful stories. The girl who had given rise to all this does not seem to have attracted attention for any length of time, and, so far as appears, became soon after very much like other perverse and troublesome children of her age.

But the matter was by no means to end here. The seed had been sown and the fruit was not long in coming to maturity. Nearly four years after the case noted above, three young girls in the family of Mr. Parris. minister of Salem—now Danvers—began to act in a way which, the doctors declared, showed that they were bewitched. Tituba, an old Indian servant, who had used some superstitious rites to discover the witch, was herself accused by the children, and being well scourged by her master, confessed herself the guilty agent. A fast day was appointed by the neighboring ministers, among whom appeared Cotton Mather, glorying in the confirmation of his previous statements. The excitement rapidly spread—the girls accused others—the ministers implicitly received their statements. The divisions among the people of Farm's congregation, if indeed they did not prompt to accusations wilfully false, at least facilitated the belief of them. Parris selected for his Sunday's text the words, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" At this a sister of one of the accused, being offended, rose up and left the place, and was herself immediately denounced and sent to prison as an accomplice.

Matters began to look very serious. So much importance was attached to what had taken place, that in April the deputy governor—this was before Phipps's arrival—proceeded to Salem, and with five other magistrates held a court in the meeting-house. Parris, acting as both clerk and accuser, was very diligent in hunting out witches and suggesting fresh accusations. The afflicted were placed on one hand, and the accused on the other, the latter being held by the arms lest they should