Page:Salem - a tale of the seventeenth century (IA taleseventeenth00derbrich).pdf/194

 slaves of Mr. Parris—until their brains are overset, and their sense of right and wrong is wholly perverted.

"I do not dare to say how far their sufferings and fits are real or assumed. How far they are acting a part I can not tell, of course; but I do believe that if they are not insane, they are themselves bedeviled.

"I can not understand why their testimony is so freely taken, while that of others is rejected; these insolent, artful girls, whose flippant and reviling tongues are dealing death so recklessly—who are boldly clamoring against lives worth far more than their own—why are they entitled to such credence? Tell me, my brother, do our laws condemn one without allowing him a chance to defend himself? and yet, it is well known, these unhappy prisoners are not allowed counsel; they are not allowed to speak for themselves, unless it is to confess, and all witnesses in their favor are set aside—is this right, is this impartial justice, is this English law?" and she paused.

"Tell me," she said, trying to speak more calmly, "do you get on any? do you see