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1884.] " INSTRUCTIONS " OF MALDEN, 1776. 335
DECEMBER MEETING, 1884.
The monthly meeting was held on Thursday, the 11th
instant. The President being absent, Dr. Ellis took his place,
and gave expression to the regret which was felt by all that
Mr. Winthrop was detained at home by illness.
The Secretary read his notes of the previous meeting.
The Librarian mentioned the books which had been given
to the Library.
The Corresponding Secretary announced that Messrs. Wil-
liam G. Russell and Edward J. Lowell had signified their
acceptance of Resident Membership.
The Hon. George S. Hale then offered the following
remarks : —
I ask leave to present to the Society, in behalf of Mrs. Mary
Pratt Cooke Nash, the daughter of the late Josiah Parsons
Cooke, long an honored and leading member of the Suffolk
Bar, this "Lithographic Print" of the Instructions of the Town
of Maiden to their Representative in the General Court of
Massachusetts in 1776, giving their assurance to that body
that, if America should be declared " a Free and Independent
Republic," they would " support and defend the measure to
the last drop of their blood and the last farthing of their
Treasure."
Chief Justice Marshall deemed this spirited paper of so
much interest and importance, that he quotes it, in describ-
ing the advance of the desire and purpose of the colonies to
separate from the mother country, in the first edition, pub-
lished in 1804, 1 of his " Life of George Washington," in con-
nection with like declarations by the city of Boston.
They deserve a prominent place as an early expression of
these sentiments, although the controversy as to the exact
order of the appearance of such declarations from different
parts of the country does not seem to me of very great
importance.
» Vol. ii. p. 407.
336 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
In the Massachusetts House of Representatives, on the 10th
of May, 1776, it was "Refolved, as the Opinion of this Houfe
that the Inhabitants of each Town in this Colony, ought in full
meeting warned for that Purpofe, to advife the Perfon or
Perfons who ihall be chofen to Reprefent them in the next
General Court, whether if the honorable Congrefs mould,
for the Safety of the faid Colonies, declare them Independent
of the Kingdom of Great-Britain, they the faid Inhabitants will
folemnly engage with their Lives and Fortunes to Support
the Congrefs in the Meafure."
These Instructions were adopted by the town of Maiden
on the 27th of May, 1776, and are quoted by Marshall from the
" Gazette." Mr. Frothingham, in " The Rise of the Republic
of the United States " (page 507), refers to these meetings, and
says : " The instructions of Maiden and Boston were the earliest
I have found in the newspapers." The former, I may add, were
adopted on the 27th, the latter on the 23d, of May, 1776. By
whom they were prepared does not appear of record ; but the
following letter from D. P. Corey, Esq., who is now engaged in
the preparation of a history of the town, gives some additional
particulars in regard to them, and his sketch of the town of
Maiden, in Drake's "History of Middlesex" (page 127),
attributes the authorship to Peter Thacher.
Maldex, Oct. 21, 1884.
Hon. Geo. S. Hale, Boston.
Dear Sir, — I have your note of Friday. I understand that the
lithograph of the " Instructions" was the result of a subscription ob-
tained by the efforts of the late Eev. Sylvanus Cobb. Copies may
now and then be found in the possession of old Maiden families, al-
though they are getting to be quite rare. One was recently presented
to the Maiden Public Library, and very appropriately hangs in its
reading-room. The following extracts will give you some information :
In a warrant for a town-meeting, May 27, 1776, Art. 1, —
" To see if the Town will Choos a Committee to Advise the Person
Chosen to Represent them in the next General Court whether that if
the Honorable Congress Should for the Safety of the Coloneys Declare
them Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain they the Said In-
habitants will Solemnly Engage with their lives and fortains to Support
them in the measure."
At the meeting : —
"The Town Resolved themselves into a Committee the Rev» Mr
1881.] THE REV. PETER THACHER, D.D. 337
"Willis was Choosen Chairman the Committee Proceeded to Consider
the matter and Prepared the following Instructions."
Ezra Sargeant was the representative to the General Court that
year. You will notice that the town resolved itself into a Committee.
Considering this, I suspect that the Instructions were already prepared,
and only awaited presentation and acceptance by the town. Mr. Willis,
the chairman, was the pastor of the South Church. I have no evidence
that he was possessed of the proper spirit or the ability required to pro-
duce the ringing sentences of the paper. There was only one other in
Maiden who could have written them, and he had both the ability and
the will. He had already done good work in the cause of freedom,
and his name stands high among the ablest ministers of the Revolution.
I think Peter Thacher, then pastor of the North Parish, and afterwards
of the Brattle Street Church, Boston, must have been the author. I
wish I could give you more definite information.
Yours very truly,
D. P. COEEY.
Mr. Thacher needs no introduction to the members of this
Society. Whitefield esteemed him the ablest preacher in
America, and his political influence and eloquence were not
inferior to those exercised and displayed in the pulpit.
He was chairman of the committee which reported the In-
structions of the Town to their Representative, adopted at
their meeting on the 23d of September, 1774, the vigorous
close of which resembles the Instructions of 1776. " We are,"
they said, " determined in the strength of our God that we will,
in spite of open force and private treachery, live and die as be-
comes the descendants of such ancestors as ours, who sacrificed
their all that they and their posterity might be free."
They are referred to in "An Historical Discourse delivered
at Maiden," Dec. 1, 1831, by S. Osgood Wright, and in an
oration, delivered May 23, 1849, on the two hundredth anni-
versary of its incorporation, by James D. Green.
At this celebration, Gilbert Haven, Jr. (the late Bishop
Gilbert Haven), delivered a poem, in which I find the follow-
ing passage, apparently referring to Mr. Thacher and to the
sentiments expressed in the Instructions of 1776 : —
" In the same green retreat another lies,
Who stripped, like him, all sin of its disguise ;
And, not through sermons only, was the truth
Announced by him, which roused both age and youth.
43
338 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
His ardent feelings may be yet discerned
In thoughts that through his brain their passage burned ;
Closing his bold recital of great wrongs
In words not ill-becoming martial songs,
That they would spend for Justice' sake, with pleasure,
' Their blood's last drop, — last farthing of their treasure.'
Honor to him who thus his flock inflamed
To win a cause, through earth's wide borders famed !
His name suggests the era when desire
For Independence wrapt their souls in fire."
In Mr. Haven's effort to keep the memory of Mr. Thacher
alive, he has buried him in the wrong place, since lie does not
lie in " the same green retreat " in Maiden, but in the burying-
ground or cemetery of the town of Milton, where, on the tablet
of Peter Oxenbridge Thacher's tomb is found the following
inscription : —
"On the 22 a February A D 1827 were deposited here the remains
of the Rev a Peter Thacher D D Pastor of the Church in Brattle Square
in Boston who died Dec r 16 1802 aet 51 & of Elizabeth his wife who
died Jan'y 26 181 6 aet 71 years." x
I am not aware that these Instructions have ever been
printed in full, (unless in the " Gazette," where I have not yet
found them,) except in Force's " American Archives," 2 and
in the " Bi-Centennial Book" of Maiden.
This copy comes from an old house, now standing in the
town of Everett, formerly the parsonage house of the Rev.
Mr. Eliakim Willis, for some fifty years a minister in the town
of Maiden, — a parsonage, which, during an unprosperous
period, he was obliged to take for the arrears of his unpaid
salary.
Mr. Willis had a niece, Sarah Willis, who is said to have
been a person of great beauty. She married the Rev. Nahum
Sargeant, a nephew of Ezra Sargeant, to whom the Instruc-
tions were addressed, by whom she had two daughters, Martha
Willis and Elizabeth Howse. Mrs. Sargeant inherited the
parsonage from her uncle Willis, and resided there, with her
daughters, until the time of her death. She married, for her
second husband, Colonel Popkin, 8 a widower, who had three
1 As Dr. Thacher was born March 21, 1762, he died in his fifty-first year
within but little more than three months of its completion.
a Vol. vi. p. 602.
» Ante, pp. 76, 250, 251. — Eds.
1884.] MANUSCRIPTS RELATING TO "WITCHCRAFT. S39
sons. By him she had one child, Ebenezer Willis Popkin, who
died in the parsonage, December, 1883, at a very advanced age.
One of the sons of Colonel Popkin by his first wife was the
Rev. John Snelling Popkin, who was graduated at Harvard
College in the class of 1792. He was appointed tutor in
Greek in the College in 1795, University Professor of Greek
in 1815, and Eliot Professor of Greek Literature in 1826.
This chair he held until 1833. He received from the College
the degree of S.T.D. in 1815. He was also a member of
this Society.
I trust it will not be inconsistent with the dignity of our
Proceedings to add that Colonel Popkin and his son Professor
Popkin were contempoi*aneous lovers of the beautiful Sarah
Willis Sargeant, and that the son never married.
The eager devotion of the citizens of Maiden to their own
freedom and independence was not thought inconsistent with
the existence of slavery in their midst, although, perhaps, it
was that feeling which, more or less unconsciously, elevated
the slave to the familiarity of a freedman. The story is told
of a worthy citizen, who pompously announced to an aged
slave of seventy years : " You have been a faithful servant
to me and my father before me. I have long been thinking
what I should do to reward you for your services. I give
you your freedom ! You are your own master ! You are
your own man ! " The prospective freeman, however, pre-
ferred to remain dependent, and not to sacrifice what was
now his all, simply that he might become free, — free to take
care of himself at his own expense. " No, no, massa ! " said
he, slyly ; " you eat de meat, and now you must pick de
bone."
Mr. Goodell presented the following communication : * —
I rise to offer for publication in our Proceedings transcripts
of certain manuscripts which have never to my knowledge
been printed in full. These have a bearing upon the contro-
versy between our accomplished Corresponding Member, Dr.
Moore, and myself, respecting some incidents of the witch-
trials of 1692, and the subsequent reversal of the attainders
of the condemned.
1 This paper was communicated by title at the October meeting, but its pub-
lication has been necessarily delayed. — Eds.
340 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
The first is a letter from Governor Phips to the Earl of Not-
tingham, copied for me from the archives of the Public Record
Office in London by Mr. Sainsbury. 1
The copious extracts from this letter, first given to the pub-
lic in Palfrey's " History of New England," 2 show that Phips
accused the Lieutenant-Governor (Stoughton) of causing " the
estates, goods and chattels of the executed to be seized and
disposed of" without his consent. This is a sufficiently dis-
tinct, authoritative, and contemporaneous averment that for-
feiture or escheat, or both, were not only supposed by the
highest judicial authority of the province to properly follow
attainder for witchcraft, but were actually enforced by legal
process. Another clause, not printed by Dr. Palfrey, shows
the Governor's commendable desire to have all proceedings
in the court of oyer and terminer here, stayed, until advice
could be obtained from the judges in England as to the practice
there in trials for witchcraft : —
Boston in New England Feb? 21st 169§.
May it please yoF Lords h . p
By the Cap" of yf Samuell & Henry I gave an account that att my
arrivall here I found yf Prisons full of people coraitted upon suspition
of witchcraft & that continuall complaints were made to me that many
persons were grievously tormented by witches & that they cryed out
upon severall persons by name, as yf cause of their torments yf number
of these complaints increasing every day, by advice of yf Lieut Govf &
y? Councill I gave a Comission of Oyer and Terminer to try yf sus-
pected witches & at that time the generality of yf People represented
yf matter to me as reall witchcraft & gave very strange instances of
the same The first in Comission was yf Lieut. Govf & yf rest persons
of yf best prudence & figure that could then be pitched upon & I de-
pended upon yf Court, for a right method of proceeding in cases of
witchcraft At that time I went to comand the army at yf Eastern part
of the Province for yf French and Indians had made an attack upon
some of our Fronteer Towns, I continued there for some time but
when I returned I found people much disatisfied at yf proceedings of y?
Court for about Twenty persons were condemned & executed of which
number some were thought by many persons to be innocent The
Court still proceeded in yf same method of trying them which was by
yf evidence of yf afflicted persons who when they were brought into
1 America and West Indies, No. 591 ; also in Colonial Entry's Book, No. 62,
p. 426.
2 Vol. iv. p. 112, note.
1884.] LETTEB FROM GOVEENOE PHIPS. 341
y? Court as soon as the suspected witches looked upon them instantly
fell to yf ground in strange agonies & grievous torments, but when
touched by them upon yf arme or some other part of their flesh they
imediately revived & came to themselves, upon l they made oath that
yf Prisoner at y° Bar did afflict them & that they saw their shape or
spectre come from their bodies which put them to such paines & tor-
ments : When I enquired into yf matter I was enformed by yf Judges
that they begun with this, but had humane testimony against such as
were condemned & undoubted proof of their being witches, but at
length I found that the Devill did take upon him y e shape of Innocent
persons & some were accused of whose innoceucy I was well assured
& many considerable persons of unblameable life & conversation were
cried out upon as witches & wizards The Deputy Gov 1 : notwithstand-
ing persisted vigorously in y e same method to y? great disatisfaction &
disturbance of y? people untill I put an end to y e Court & stopped y*
proceedings which I did because I saw many innocent persons might
otherwise perish & at that time I thought it my duty to give an account
thereof that their Ma*!* pleasure might be signifyed hoping that for the
better ordering thereof yf Judges learned in the law in England might
give such rules & directions as have been practized in England for
proceedings in so difficult & so nice a point ; When I put an end to
yf Court there were at least fifty persons in prison in great misery by
reason of the extream cold & their poverty most of them having only
spectre evidence against them & their mittimusses being defective I
caused some of them to be lett out upon bayle & put y° Judges upon
considering of a way to reliefe others & prevent them from perishing
in prison, upon which some of them were convinced & acknowledged
that their former proceedings were too violent & not grounded upon a
right foundation but that if they might sit againe, they would proceed
after another method & whereas M r Increase Mathew 2 & severall
other Divines did give it as their Judgment that yf Devill might afflict
in yf shape of an innocent person & that yf look & yf touch of yf sus-
pected persons was not sufficient proofe against them, these things had
not yf same stress layd upon them as before & upon this consideration
I permitted a spetiall Superior Court to be held at Salem in yf County
of Essex on yf third day of January yf Lieut Gov' being Chief Judge
their method of proceeding being altered, all that were brought to tryall
to y? number of fifety two, were cleared saving three & 1 was enformed
by the Kings Attorny Generall that some of yf cleared and yf con-
demned were under yf same circumstances or that there was yf same
reason to clear yf three condemned as yf rest acording to his Judgment
The Deputy Gov' signed a Warrant for their speedy execucon & also
1 Sic: " which " omitted ? 2 S{ c j n copy.
342 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
of five others who were condemned at yf former Court of Oyer &
terminer but considering how yf matter had been managed I sent a
reprieve whereby yf execucon was stopped untill their Maj. pleasure be
signified & declared the Lieut. Gov. upon this occasion was inraged &
filled with passionate auger & refused to sitt upon yf bench in a Supe-
rior Court then held at Charles Towne & indeed hath from the begin-
ning hurried on these matters with great precipitancy & by his warrant
hath caused the estates, goods & chatties of yf executed to be seized &
disposed of without my knowledge ■ or consent, the stop put to yf first
method of proceedings hath dissipated y? blak cloud that threatened this
Province with destruccon ; for whereas this delusion of yf Devill did
spread & its dismall effects touched yf lives & estates of many of their
Mat 8 Subjects & y e reputation of some of yf principall persons here &
indeed unhappily clogged and interrupted their Mat" affaires which
hath been a great vexation to me ! I have no new complaints but peo-
ples minds before divided and distracted by differing opinions concern-
ing this matter are now well composed
I am
Yof Lordships most faithfull
humble Servant
William Phips
[Addressed] To the Rt. Hon bte
the Earle of Nottingham
att Whitehall
London
[Indorsed] R [i. e., received] May 24, 93
ab'. Witches
The second paper has a less obvious but not less important
bearing upon the same subject. It is the petition of Elizabeth
Proctor to the General Court at the May session of 1696 : —
To the Honourable Generall Court Asembled at Boston may twenty
seventh 1696
the Humble petetion of Elizabeth procter widow and Relect of John
procter of Salem decesed Humbly Sheweth
that in the yere of our Lord 1692 when many persons in salem and in
other towns ther about were accused by som euill disposed or strangly
Influenced persons ; as being witches or for being guilty of acting witch-
craft my sd Husband John procter and my selfe were accused as such and
we both : my sd Husband and my selfe were soe farr proceded against
that we were Condemned but in that sad time of darknes before my said
husband was executed it is euident som body had Contriued awill and
brought it to him to signe wher in his wholl estat is disposed of not hauing
Regard to acontract in wrighting mad with me before mariag with him ;
1884.] PETITION OF ELIZABETH PKOCTOB. 343
but soe it pleased god to order by his providenc that although the sentanc
was executed on my dere husband yet through gods great goodnes to your
petetioner I am yet aliue ; sine my husbands death the sd will is proued
and aproued by the Judg of probate and by that kind of desposall the
wholl estat is disposed of; and although god hath Granted my life yet
those that Claime my sd husbands estate by that which thay Call awill
will not suffer me to haue one peny of the estat nither vpon the acount
of my husbands Contract with me before mariage nor yet vpon the
acount of the dowr which as I humbly Coceiue doth belong or ought to
belong to me by the law for thay say that I am dead in the law and ther
fore my humble Request and petetion to this Honoured Generall Court
is that by an act of this honoured Court as god hath Contenewed my
life and through gods goodnes without feare of being put to death vpon
that sentanc yow would be pleased to put me Into acapacity to mak
vse of the law to Recouer that which of Right by law I ought to have
for my nessesary suple and support that as I your petetioner am one of
his majestyes subjects I may haue the benifett of his laws soe Humbly
prayeng that god would direct your honnours in all things to doe that
which may be most pleasing to him I subscrib
your honnours humble petetioner
Elizabeth peoctek
widow
Read. 10 th June. 1696. in Council. 1
This petition was read in Council June 10, 1696, as appears
by the above memorandum thereon. On the 28th of Septem-
ber the following entries appear in the legislative records of
the Council : —
" Several Petitions were read and debated and Sent down to the
House of Representatives.
" The Report of a Committee Appointed by the Board at the former
Sessions of this Court upon Several petitions presented and lying under
Consideration was read and Sent down." ' 2
Unfortunately the Representatives did not begin to print
their journals until 1715. There is, however, no question that
such records were kept from colonial times ; but, not having
been duplicated for the use of the Privy Council, probably all
of them prior to 1715 perished irretrievably, with many other
most valuable memorials of our early history, in the fire which
destroyed the Court House in 1747. No clew, therefore, can
1 Mass. State Archives, vol. exxxv. p. 109.
2 Legislative Records of the Council, vol. vi. p. 447.
344 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
be obtained from that source to aid us in tracing to their end
the proceedings thus briefly minuted in the records of the
Council, or in ascertaining the purport of either of the peti-
tions which were thus recorded as having been sent down for
the consideration of the Representatives.
Some light, however, may be obtained from another quarter.
The will of John Proctor, the husband of the above petitioner,
had been admitted to probate in the Probate Court of Essex
County, March 22, 1694-5, upon the complaint of Thomas
Very and Elizabeth, his wife (who was a daughter of the tes-
tator), against the executors ; and a committee had reported
to the court, April 15, 1695, a division of the estate according
to the will. After this last proceeding, and before the execu-
tors had rendered their account, the widow made the above
application to the General Court.
Now, it is more reasonable to suppose that the devisees
under John Proctor's will had procured some legislative action
annulling the effect of his attainder, before they proceeded to
demand the probate of the will, than that the judge of pro-
bate should have admitted that instrument to probate, re-
gardless of the known attainder of the testator and the
consequent forfeiture and escheat of his lands.
This surmise is strongly corroborated by the circumstance
that the widow presented the above petition to the General
Court, as well as by the subsequent action of the judge of
probate. If the husband's disability had been removed, the
widow, upon her application for dower (which I will presently
consider), would have had it assigned to her, unless prevented
by some other cause. But it will be remembered that she too
had been attainted, and that therefore it was not enough that
her husband had been reinstated: it was also necessary for
her to apply to be similarly restored ; otherwise she was barred
by her own attainder, and was — as she complains the claim-
ants of her husband's estate charged her with being — "dead
in the law."
Keeping these facts in mind, let us now turn to the probate
records of Essex County, in search of a clew which the rec-
ords and files in the State Archives fail to furnish. Here we
find what certainly seems a probable solution of the mystery
which involves the doings of the legislature respecting the
above-named petitions after they had been sent down from the
1884.] PETITION OP ELIZABETH PROCTOE. 345
Council, and reasonably conclusive evidence that the prayer
of the widow's petition to the legislature was granted.
I cannot better show this than by giving, verbatim, as the
third paper of this series, the record of the decree or " advice "
of the judge of probate upon her petition for assignment of
dower; only premising that Bartholomew Gedney, at that
time Judge of Probate for Essex County, had been one of the
justices of the court of oyer and terminer for the trial of the
alleged witches, and that from the arrival of the charter until
1698 he was one of the Provincial Council, — the body which
had considered the widow's petition to the General Court, and
sent it down to the House for their action. In the absence of
the record, there could be no better evidence than his personal
knowledge, of the legislative proceedings of 1696. The pro-
bate record reads as follows : —
" April 19, 1697. Whereas Elizabeth Proctor, Relict, Widow of John
Proctor Late of Salem dec 1 ? praying that a citation might go forth to
the executors of the dec? to Render an accompt of their Executor-
ship &c* who appear this day & say that their is no more or other Estate
of the dec? 8 Come to their hands or possession more than what was
given in g Inventory : & the said Widow being restored to the benifit
of the law the Judge's advice to the Executo™ is that they Render the
s a Widow her Dowry in the said Estate." 1
Probably — it may be said, most likely — the legislature very
soon began to relieve the embarrassments of courts, and of
parties in judicial proceedings, and the distresses of heirs and
others, caused by the judgments of the court of oyer and ter-
miner. At all events, I think it will not be denied that the
above extracts not only fairly establish the fact that Elizabeth
Proctor had the relief she sought for, but furnish some reason
for supposing that her husband's will was probated under a
similar legislative proceeding, which, in the absence of more
direct evidence, we are warranted in presuming to have
taken place.
Neither should these facts be disregarded in forming a
theory to explain why, after the disallowance of the " act
setting forth general privileges," 2 corruption of blood, and
escheats, as incidents to attainder for felony do not appear
1 Essex Co. Probate Records, book 305, p. 252, new numbers.
2 1692-93, chap. 11.
44
346 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
to have been enforced by the courts throughout the subse-
quent history of the province. It is possible that the pro-
visions of this act were revived and continued by a resolve,
of which there is no existing record. Indeed, this resolve
may have been a part of the legislation immediately following
the petition of the widow Proctor, and by a common misfor-
tune it may have shared the fate of the lost resolve which
restored her forfeited rights. By that time information had
been received from England of the disallowance of the " act
setting forth general privileges " ; and a prompt remedy may
have been applied by way of resolve, which the Lieutenant-
Governor, then acting as chief magistrate, would not be loath
to approve, and which, if it did not clearly appear in the
minutes of the Council, would escape the animadversions of
the law officers of the crown. If the provisions of this act
were not kept alive in some such way, it is difficult to account
for the opinion which seems to have been held by the old
lawyers of this State, that the act remained in force until it
was superseded by similar provisions in the Constitution. 1
The fourth paper offered is the following petition of John
and Joseph Parker, which gives an instructive glimpse of the
manner in which the sheriff proceeded against the " estates "
of the attainted. It does not appear that Mary Parker was
seized of any real estate at the time of her attainder ; and this
petition, therefore, may be of service to those who contend
that the word " estates " was not used in a technical sense in
any of the proceedings relative to witchcraft. To this point
it may be properly said in reply, that this was the petition of
persons evidently not skilled in the niceties of legal language,
and therefore is not a standard for determining the intended
significance of words used some fifteen years later in a formal
act of legislation.
The declaration that the petitioners " know not of any law
in force in this Province " by which the estate of their mother
should be forfeited upon her condemnation, is evidently
grounded npon the "act setting forth general privileges,"
which had become a law nearly one month before their peti-
tion was filed, and probably before some of the acts and de-
mands complained of against the sheriff had been made and
1 See Sullivan's History of Land Titles, p. 385 ; Ancient Laws and Charters
(by Dane, Prescott, and Story), p. 214.
1884. J PETITION OP THE PARKERS. 347
committed. By this act, as we have seen, all forfeitures and
escheats, and all corruption of blood, except in cases of treason,
had been abolished.
To his Excellency the Governo*, and Councill and Representatives, now
sitting in Boston
the humble Petition of John Parker, & Joseph Parker of Andover
Sheweth,
That whereas our mother Mary Parker of Andover, was apprehended
upon Suspicion of Witchcraft, and being brought to a tryall at Salem
Court, was condemned : Since her Death the Sherriff of Essex Sent
an officer to seise on her estate. The said officer required us in their
majestyes name to give him an Account of our mothers estate, pretend-
ing it was forfeited to y e King ; we told him that our mother left no
estate; (which we are able to make appear) notwithstanding which,
he seised upon our Cattell, Corn & hay, to a considerable value : and
ordered us to go down to Salem and make an agreement with y e Sher-
rife, otherwise the estate would be expos'd to Sale. We not knowing
what advantage the Law might give him against us, and fearing we
Should Sustain greater Dammage by y e loss of our estate, went to the
Sherriff accordingly, who told us he might take away all that was seis'd,
if he pleas'd but was willing to do us a kindness by giveing us an op-
pertunity to redeem it. He at first demanded ten pounds of us, but at
length was willing to take Six pounds, which he has oblig'd us by Bill
to pay him within a moneth. Now if our Mother had left any estate,
we know not of any Law in force in this Province, by which it Should
be forfeited upon her condemnation ; much less can we understand that
there is any Justice or reason, for y° Sherriff to Seise upon our
estate
And th6 it is true ou' own act has obliged us to pay him a Summ of
money, yet we declare that we were drawn to it partly by the officers
great pretences of Law for what hedid, partly to prevent y e loss of our
estate which we feard would be immediately Sold.
Now we humbly pi-ay this Hon'ed Court to consider our case, and if
it be judged that So much money ought not to have been demanded of
us, upon the forementioued account : we pray that we may be discharg'd
from that obligation, which the Sherriff, takeing advantage of our igno-
rance hath brought us under. And yo r Petition's as in duty bound
shall ever pray &c. —
John Parker.
Dated at Andov Joseph Parker.
7 th Novemb. 1692.1
1 Mass. State Archives, vol. cxxxv. p. 65.
348 MASSACHUSETTS HISTOEICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
Lastly, I offer the following transcript and translation of the
questions propounded by Joseph Dudley to the Dutch and
French clergymen of New York, in October, 1692, on the sub-
ject of witchcraft, in order to procure better direction in future
trials of the accused in Massachusetts. I have, in like man-
ner, added the answers of the clergy to whom these questions
were addressed. The Collections of the New York Historical
Society for 1869 contain an imperfect abstract of these ques-
tions and answers, found among the papers of the Rev. John
Miller, who was chaplain to the royal forces in New York
from 1692 to 1695 ; but I do not know that they have ever
been printed in full. These answers are important, as be-
ing, according to Cotton Mather, one of the causes which
led Phips to first reprieve, and then pardon, many, of the
condemned. 1
De veneficio qumstiones ReuerendiJJlmis e Belgio et gallia Theologis propositce.
Apud N. Ebor.
6° octob. 1692.
1. An concedatur quasdam per omnes setates a primo hominis lapsu
a Deo derelictas ita efse, vt fe Daemonis Seruitio (quo facilius mali-
tiam aduersus sodales perpetrent) penitus dedissent, vulgo veneficaj
appellator.
2. Vbi vera et formalis veneficii natura (qva data aut fubla) [sublata]
veneflcium denominatur vere confistit.
3. An ad veneficii conuictionem Diabolicis et prseternaturalibus in cru-
ciatos actionibus, malitia, inimicitia, et maledictio prseuia fit probanda,
an rationabiliter tan turn vt plurimum expectanda.
4. An phantasma Seu apparitio cujusdam cruciatis vim et Jnjuriam
Jnstanter ferentis absque malitia et minis praeuiis ipsum illud Spec-
trum afflictorum oculis aut Jmaginationi propositum, fit justa veneficje
conuictio.
5. An cum Sacrosancto Dei omnipotentis mundi regimine fistere possit
Diabolo veniam dare innocentium formas et figuras cruciatorum oculis
aut imagination! proponere veluti authores et Jnstrumenta passioiium.
6. an talis etiam exinde apparitio fit justa veneficii conuictio necne.
7. Num contra longam Seriem just® christianse et eharitatis plense
vitae apud homines approbatam valeat grauis afflictorum criminatio venefl-
cium euincere, prassertim vbi nulla prasuia malitia innotescit.
8. An hujusmodi cruciati continua poena lacerati, convulfi et multis
miseriis pluribus menfibus contriti diluantur, minuantur, avt etiam mag-
i See Mather's Life of Phips, 1697, p. 79; and again in "The Magnalia," Hart>
ford edition, 1820, vol. i. bk. ii. p. 191.
1834.] ANSWERS CONCERNING 'WITCHCRAFT. 349
nam naturalium Spirituum turn corporis, turn animae confumptionem
luant necne. Finaliter grauem fuspicionis causam praebeat etiam afflictis
ignorantibus Dasrnonis illufionem Jnstare.
Ad prmcedentes qucesliones breuis responfio.
Respondetur ad primam quasstionem, plurimos, qvi negativam par-
tem amplexi funt, extitifse ; inter quos Plinius ille Mysteriorum natural
Jndagator, fed eximius mendax primum obtiuuit locum, fed qvid minim ?
cum fuerint et Sint adhuc Jmpii qvi Deum efse negent, etsi natura
rerum, omnium populorum confenfus, ipsa Jmproborum conscientia
et varie3 Divinae reuelationes aduersus Jmpium dogma Jnvictiffime
militent.
Verum maxima pars virorum doctorum Saniorem mentem liabentes
contrariam Jniere Sententiam. Et reuera qvi potest in dubium vocari
qvin fint, qvi cum Diabolo immediatum commercium habeant, nifi privs
lex et Evangelium Dei meras existimentur fabulas, omnium populorum
consensus vt pura puta Stultitia dejiciatur, et ratio humana prorfus
explodatur.
Nam Si Diabolum efse Supponas (quod nifi fieri velis Jmpius fup-
ponere debes) eumq creaturam fumme mifera, Jnvidam, astutam et
potentem, nullum lapidem ad explendam Jnvidiam, et miferiam propriam
qvodam modo miseroru confortio subleuandam mouere non debet, ten-
tabit homines et in castra Sva trahere conabitur, vt exinde in idem
Barathrum fecum protrudat. Jn hunc finem mendaciis, praestigiis, pro-
mifsionibus, voluptatibus aut fictis aut veris, honoribus, diuitiis aliisq
innumeris vtetur illecebris. qvid ! eruntne tot et tantas tentationes Sem-
per irritae? prsesertim in homines carnales et Sensuum voluptatibus
deditos! in eos Jmprimis, qvi nihil nisi praesentia curant. hoc verisi-
mile non est. igitur pro hominum moribus et astutia potentiaq Diaboli,
efse homines qvi cum Diabolo commercium immediatum habeant con-
cludere possumus. Astipulatur rationi confenfus omnium populorum.
qvid ? an verum non est qvod omnes gentes verum efse testantur. meri-
tiffimo jure credimvs efse Deum, quia nullus fuit Jnquam populus qui
Deum efse faffus non fuerit. verum praesumi debet, quod a Duobus vel
tribus dicitur efse verum, multo magis qvod vnanimi cousensu populorum
afseritur. Jam autem fi hoc non fuit populorum fententia inter homi-
nes efse quosdam qvi cum Diabolo immediate communicent, cur Singula?
gentes quaedam nomina propria et aptata ad tales homines Jndicandos
habuere? veluti SIX inter hebraeos, TlvOuiv, vel ^ap/xaKoywrj [sic] inter
graecos, Sage et venefica Jnter Romanos &c. eruntne mera nomina et
voces absque fundamento fictae? fed accedit qvod leges aduerfus tales
homines latas fuerint, vt ipse plinius refert de quodam Crefino, qvi
coactvs est vt fe veneficii crimine purgaret, coram Judicibus comparere.
Phn. lib. 18. 6.
350 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
Jn promptu efset multorum exempla narrare, qvi arte Diabolica fibi
famam. compararunt, vt mulieris illius, qvse vt ait Acron, carminibus
et herbis mala hominibus accessere vel pellere dicebatur, et ejus iterum,
quae Juxta Apul. poterat coelum deponere, terrara fufpendere, fontes
durare, montes diluere, manes Sublimare, Deos Jnfirmare; fed qvis
efset narrandi finis. Consensum populorum excipiunt lex et Euange-
lium. tempore Mofis veneflcos fuifse nemo uegauit, fiqvidem, Mofe ipso
referente, prsestigiatrices et Spiritum Pythonis habente[s] mandato Dei
morte plecti deberent; Exo. 22. Deu. 20 [sic], — Erant etiam certe
tempore Saulis, cum et ipse Pythoniffa confuluerit, Quid ! nonne patet
Scriptis Prophetarum .ZEgyptios, chananasos, Philistaaos, Sydonios, Ty-
rios, Moabitas, Ammonitas, Jdumaeos et ipsos Jsraelitas praestigiis et
prsestigiatoribus fuifse deditos ? certe illi praestigiatores et Spiritum
Pythonis habentes aut nihil erant prseter ficta nomina, aut commercium
Jmmediatu cum diabolo habebant. Jdem narraonibus Euangelicis euin-
citur. tempore christi et Apostolorum praestigiatores erant et Pythonis-
sae. hoc tam clare patet euangelistarum et Apostolorum acta et Scripta
legentibus, vt locis indicandis operam nauandam non existimen.
Possemus etiam, fi liberet seui nostri de fagis et prsestigiatoribus
historias rarrare, fed nullvs efset narrandi finis ; legantur hemmingivs
de Magia, et Danaeus de fortiariis.
ad 2 a ™ quaes'?
Respondetur rationem formalem venefici [sic] in confaederaone cum
Diabolo confistere. Jn eo Scilicet quod homo Jmperium Dei creatoris
nostri ac fupremi Regis, cui ratione dependentiae nostras in omnibus
obedire, et cujus gloriam pro virili aduerfvs ejus hostes tueri tenemur,
[deserit] in Jn \sic\ Castra Diaboli aduerfvs Deum militaturus tranfit,
vt Jmperium Diaboli quantum in fe est ampliet et Stabiliat. Jn cujus
defectionis compensationem, ad implendas libidines fvas opem Diabolus
illi vicissim promittit. Jtaq ex una parte homo Jugum Dei excutit
prasceptis ejus et promissionibus valedicens, vt totum fe Diabolo man-
cipet eumque Loco Dei habeat; et ex altera parte, unam hominis
libidinem aut plures aut omnes Se expleturum Diabolus Spondet.
ad 3 ttm quaesti.
Respondetur cum inimicitia aut malitia prasuia indicium certum ad
aliquem veneficii conuincendum minime praebeat ; fiqvidem et vir bonus
Jnimicitiam aduerfus proximum concipere possit, et nocendi Studium
fouere, et homo malus et Diabolicus artem pefsimam fub amicitia et
beneuolentia ficta occultare ; nihil efse inquirendum de malitia praevia in
eo, qvi arte Diabolica et actionibus praeternaturalibus hominibus mala
accessere legitime conuinci potest. Nam in tali homine nocendi Stu-
dium tanquam in mancipio Diaboli supponendum est, quibuscunq
1384.] ANSWERS CONCERNING WITCHCRAFT. 351
morlis prauitatem Suam occultare conetur. haec euim est ars DiabolL
et mancipiorum ejus vt quantum fieri potest animum et oculos perspi-
cacium fallant et omnem amoueant Suspicionem.
ad 4 am quaes.
Respondetur ad conuictionem venefici aut veneficae nullo modo Suffi-
cere Fhautasma feu apparitionem cujusdam vim et Jnjuriam cruciatis
instanter facientis, etiam fi Jnimicitia et minae praecefserint. ratio est
qvia Diabolus viri boni Speciem potest Jnduere et illam cruciatorum
oculis tanquam principium afflictionum, quas patiuntur, intentare. fi enim
ocvlis Saulis viri Dei demortui Samuelis objicere potuit, qvidni viri Dei
viuentis figuram oculis eorum, quos Jmmediate vexat intentare poterit,
vt odium, maerorem, vincula, et etiam mortem accersat illis ; nee ad
inimicitiam prseviam vel minas attendendum est, qvia haec pariter in
virum probum et improbum cadere possunt.
ad 5™ quaes.
Respondetur minime aduersari Sanctifsimo Dei regimini qvod vexare
aliquein induta viri cujusdam boni imagine Diabolo permittat. vt Deus
est Supremus mundi Monarcha et fummum jus habet in creaturas,
hsec pariter illi licent et creaturam affligere, et ad id quibuslibet Jn-
strumentis vti, prsesertim cum malum in bonum mutandi calleat artem
peritiffime. et qvidqvid agit propter bonos fines agat. Jobum virum
fanctum mirum in modum vexandi Diabolo licentiam dedit, et per
tentationis euentum gloriam suam illustrauit, patientiam et virtutem
ferui Sui manifestauit, et Satanam confudit. cum Diabolus Dominum
nostrum I. C. in deferto tentauit oculis ejus Jdeam et imaginem totius
mundi Jmperioru ostentauit. hoc nullam aspersit labem regimini Dei,
qvi paflus est vt inimievs Jnfensissimus in dilectum fuum imagine
mundi abuteretur, cur igitur aduersaretur ejus Jmperio Sanctissimo fi
viri boni imagine diabolu abuti patiatur? Verum dices, Deo ita per-
mittente, virum bonum in odium et vitae discrimen immerito venturum;
qvid ! turn post ea ? an non licebit Deo virum peccatorem etfi fidelem
et pium in hoc calamitosum vita? genvs detrudere, ad tentendam ejus
pietatem et virtutem ? nonne Job vir Sanctifsimus ab amicis Suis prop-
ter calamitosam conditionem Suam et contemptus et Lacefsitus fuit?
Certe talem tantam calamitatem vir pivs et Sanctus nullo modo merue-
rat. Jtaque fi Semel Deum posse creaturam immerentem affligere
concefseris, vt illi liceat qvibvsuis instrumentis vti illico concedas opor-
tet. hie autem creaturam immerentem voco, non qvae ab omni labe
prorsus Sit immunis ; nulla enim talis est inter homines, fed qvae patitur
ob injusta et falsam accufationem, talem autem creaturam affligi Deus
pati potest pro Summo Suo Jure etfi talem afflictionis speciem, habito
liominum respectu non fit commerita.
352 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
ad 6 am qvfesti.
Respondetur quum nihil impediat qvin Diabolus Jmpostor et praesti-
giator oculos et phantafiam hominum fascinare valeat, et imaginem viri
boni iis quos ipse immediate vexat, intentare, vt fupra obferuatum est ;
maxime Jmprudentife foret talem hominem vt veneficum condemnare
propter hanc raonem, qvod ejus imago cruciatis, dum patiuntur, obuer-
setur. Jn boc cafu Judices perspicaces et cauti efse debent, ne confilio
et astutife Dasmonis Jmprudentes faueant ; nam dvo fimul Jntendere
potest, Scilicet vnum vexare ad alterius imaginis prefentiam, et ilium
cujus imaginem protendit in malam famam et vitae discrimen conjicere,
est enim et mendax, et tortor, et homicida.
ad 7"!"
Respondetur longuam [sic] vitaa probas et charitatis plenas feriem et
modum vivendi omnibus probatum a veneficii accufatis cruciatorum testi-
monio, criminis Jntentati fuspicionem probabiliter amouere ; vix enim fieri
potest vt qvi in Diaboli castris militat, Speciem militis christi diu valeat
effingere. verum tamen hoc indicium certum et indubitatum falsa? cri-
minationis efse non existimem ; qvia non video, cur homo astutus artes
Diabolicas fub bona? vitas Specie, vt fufpicionem et justam condemna-
tionem effugiat occultare non possit. ipse Diabolus verum aliqvando
dicit, et bonum morale concionatur vt facilius et cautius fallat.
ad 8™ qvasst.
Respondetur fieri posse vt qvi reuera a Diabolo cruciantur, convel-
luntur et multis miferiis per plures menses affliguntur nullam corporis
diminutionem, nullamque Spirituum debilitatem patiantur. ratio est quia
Stomacha nullam tesionem patiente nutritio potest efse perfecta ; Jmo
Diabolo Sic procurante Stomachus cruciatorum validior factus majorem
alimentorum copiam appetet et deglutiet qvam antea Solebat, et ea
perfecte deqvoquendo et digerendo omne damnum per cruciatus illatum
facili negotio refarciet. Deinde dubitandum non est quin Diabolus, Deo
ita permittente, Spirituum naturalium dissipationem Jmpedire valeat.
Ego alias me hominem mania affectum vidifse testor, qvi Singulis
menfibus cir[c]a plenilunium per octo dies per montes et campos vaga-
batur nullum alimentum per id tempus deglutiens praeter aquam, qvi
tamen nee corporis, nee roboris, nee faciei coloris diminutionem aut
mutationem patiabatur. Spiritus naturales non folum inedia non fran-
gebantur, fed vi morbi in Statu et conditione nativa retinebantur. qvod
autem caufa qvodam modo naturalis prasstat, Diabolu prasstare posse non
dubito, cum et actiuis pafsiva et pafsivis activa adaptare bene novit.
finis
1884.] QUESTIONS CONCERNING WITCHCRAFT. 353
has praecedentes Solutiones ad qusestiones propofitas vt veras no" Jnfra
Scripti approbamus.
in nostro Hknricub Selijns ) Mmiftri Neo . Eborenfe8 .
congressu Petrus Peiretus )
ecclesiasti[c]o Godefridus Dellitjs
11 Octob. 1692. Belg. Ecclae. Neo Alb" Min:
EUDOLPHBS VARICH
Min in Midwoort
Questions concerning Witchcraft, laid before the most reverend clergy from
Belgium and France.
At New York
Oct. 5, 1692.
1. Whether it is indisputable that in all ages, since the first fall of
man, some women, commonly called witches, have been so abandoned by
God, that they have given themselves wholly to the service of the
Devil, in order the more easily to exercise their malice against their
fellow-men ?
2. Where[in] does the exact and formal nature of "Witchcraft (that
which, whether given or tendered, is called witchcraft) truly consist ?
3. Whether in order to convict of Witchcraft by Diabolical and
preternatural acts towards the tormented, it is necessary to prove pre-
vious malice enmity and cursing, or whether these are to be reasonably
presumed, [as] in most cases ?
4. Whether the spectre or apparition of one who has previously
neither shown malice nor made threats, put before the eye or imagina-
tion of the afflicted, as immediately exercising force and injury upon
them, is sufficient for a just conviction of a witch ?
5. Whether giving the Devil permission to place before the eyes or
the imagination of the afflicted the forms and figures of innocent per-
sons, as the authors and instruments of their sufferings, is consistent
with the holy government of the world by Almighty God ?
6. Further, whether or not such an apparition is of itself sufficient
for a just conviction of witchcraft ?
7. Whether a serious accusation by the afflicted is sufficient to prove
witchcraft, against a long continued consistent, just, Christian life, full
of charity, and approved by mankind, where no previous malice is
made known ?
8. Whether or not those who are, in such manner, tortured by con-
tinual pains, wounded, convulsed and threatened with many miseries,
through several months, are worn out, wasted or suffer even a great loss
of their natural spirits, bodily, as well as mental ? Finally, whether this
does not furnish grave cause for suspicion that the Devil has exhibited
an illusion, without the knowledge of the afflicted ?
45
354 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [DEC.
A Short Answer to the foregoing Questions.
It is replied to the first question, that there have been many who
have maintained the negative, among whom Pliny, the famous inves-
tigator of the mysteries of nature (although an extremely menda-
cious one), stands first. This is not to be wondered at, since there have
been, and still are, impious men who even deny the existence of a
God, although nature, the consent of all nations, the very consciences
of the wicked, and various divine revelations, militate most trium-
phantly against this impious dogma. But the majority of the learned,
possessing sounder minds, have adopted the contrary opinion. And,
indeed, how can it be doubted that there are persons who have imme-
diate commerce with the Devil, unless the divine law and gospel be
considered as mere fables, the concurrent opinion of all nations be
rejected as pure stupidity, and human reason totally exploded ? For,
if you suppose the existence of a Devil (which must be supposed unless
you intend to become impious), and that he is a most miserable, envi-
ous, cunning and powerful creature, he is one who will leave no stone
unturned to gratify his envy, and alleviate his own misery in some man-
ner, by consorting with other wretches ; he will tempt men, and try to
drag them into his camp, in order that thereafter he may thrust them
into his own abyss. To this end, he makes use of lies, miracles, prom-
ises, fictitious or real sensual indulgences, honors, riches, and other
innumerable allurements. Can it be supposed that so many and great
temptations will be ineffectual, especially with carnal men, given to sen-
sual pleasures ? and, above all, with those who care for nothing but the
present ? This is not probable ; therefore, in view of the common
conduct of mankind, and the cunning and power of the Devil, we may
conclude that there are people who have immediate commerce with the
Devil.
To this reasonable conclusion all nations consent ; and can it be sup-
posed that that is not true, to the truth of which all nations testify ?
We have the best right to believe that there is a God, because, I affirm,
there never was a nation which has not acknowledged his existence.
What is affirmed by two or three is presumed to be true ; how much
more certain is that which is unanimously asserted by all nations ! But
even if it had not been the judgment of all nations that there are those
among men who associate immediately with the Devil, why has every
nation had certain peculiar and fitting names to denote such people ? —
as, for instance, ^^ with the Hebrews, Hv6a>v or ^apfmKoyvvrf with
the Greeks, saga and venejica with the Romans, etc. Are these mere
names, made up without any real foundation? But it must be added
that laws have been made against such people ; as Pliny himself re-
ports of a certain Cresinus, who was compelled to appear before the
1884.] ANSWERS CONCERNING WITCHCRAFT. 855
judges, in order to clear himself from the charge of witchcraft : Plin.
18. 6. It would be easy to relate many instances of persons who have
acquired a reputation for devilish arts, as the woman mentioned by
Acron, who was said to inflict upon people, or expel from them, evils
by means of incantations and herbs ; and, again, of her, in Apulia,
who could call down the sky, suspend the earth, render the springs
solid, and the rocks liquid, raise the spirits of the dead, and deprive the
gods of their power: but where shall this narrative end?
After the consensus of all nations, come the law and the gospel.
That witches existed in the time of Moses, no one has denied. Moses
himself declares that witches, and those that had the spirit of a python,
were, by commandment of God, to be punished with death : Exod. 22 ;
Deut. 20 [18]. Moreover, there were such in the time of Saul, since he
himself consulted a pythoness. And is it not plain from the writings
of the prophets, that the Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, Sidonians,
Tyrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, and the Israelites them-
selves, were given to miracles and miracle-working? Assuredly, those
wizards, and persons having the spirit of a python, were either noth-
ing but fictitious names, or they had immediate intercourse with the
Devil.
The Gospel narratives also prove the same thing. In the days of
Christ and the Apostles there were miracle-workers, and women who
were soothsayers. This is so clearly evident to every reader of the
Acts, and the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles that I do not
think it worth while to quote the passages.
We might also, if we chose, recount the history of witches and wiz-
ards in our own age ; but there would be no end of narrating. Let
those who desire this information, read Hemming, " De Magia," and
Daneau, " De Sortiariis." *
To the second question it is replied, that the formal essence of witch-
craft consists in an alliance with the Devil ; that is to say, in that men
[desert] the realm of God our Creator and Supreme King — whom all
are bound to obey in everything by reason of our dependence upon
him, and whose glory every one, to the extent of his ability, is bound
to maintain against his enemies — and go over to the camp of the
Devil, in order to fight against God, so as to increase and strengthen, as
1 I gratefully acknowledge the service done me by Professor Henry W.
Haynes, not only in carefully collating the above copy with the original manu-
script, and in critically revising the translation, but in ascertaining for me
the full titles of the works here referred to, and the names of their obscure
autbors, as follows : —
Hemming, Nicolas : Admonitio de superstitionibus magicis vitandis. Hafn.,
1578. 8vo.
Daneau, Lambert: De veneficio, quos olim sortilegos, nunc autem vulgo sortiarios
vocant, dialogus. Genev., 1573. 8vo.
856 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
much as they can, the kingdom of the Devil. In return for this defec-
tion, the Devil, on his part, promises them his aid to gratify their lusts.
Thus man, on the one part, throws off the yoke of God, bidding farewell
to His precepts and promises, in order to belong wholly to the Devil,
whom he holds in the place of God ; and, on the other part, the Devil
engages to satisfy one or all or most of the lusts of the man.
To the third question it is replied, that — since previous enmity or
malice by no means offers certain evidence for conviction of witchcraft
(it being possible for even a good man to conceive enmity against his
neighbor, and to foster a desire to injure him ; and for a bad and devilish
man to be able to conceal the very worst practices under the appear-
ance of friendship and benevolence) — no inquiry concerning previous
malice is necessary, in the case of one whom it is possible lawfully to
convict of having afflicted others with evils' by devilish arts, and super-
natural actions ; for the desire to do harm must be presumed in such a
man, (as being a slave of the Devil) though he may attempt to cover
his wickedness by what means soever. For such is the cunning of the
Devil, and his servants, that they deceive, as much as possible, the eyes
and minds of the discerning, and remove all suspicion.
To the fourth question it is replied, that the spectre or apparition of
one who immediately works violence and injury upon the afflicted, is by
no means sufficient to convict a wizard or a witch, although preceded
by enmity and threats. The reason is, because the Devil can assume
the shape of a good man, and present this shape before the eyes of the
afflicted, as the source of the afflictions which they suffer. For, if he
was able to place the shape ot the dead man of God, Samuel, before
the eyes of Saul, why can he not be able to exhibit the shape of a liv-
ing man of God to the eyes of those whom he presently afflicts, in order
that he may bring hatred, afflictions, fetters, and even death upon them ?
Nor is any attention to be paid to previous enmity or threats ; because
such may befall a just man equally with a wicked man.
To the fifth question it is replied, that it is by no means repugnant
to God's most holy government, that he permits the Devil in the shape
of a good man, to annoy any one. As God is the supreme monarch of
the world, and has a sovereign right over his creatures he is at liberty
equally to afflict his creatures and to make use of any instrument he
may choose for this end, — especially as he is most skilful in turning
evil into good. Whatever he does he may do for a good purpose. He
permitted the Devil to marvellously vex the holy man, Job, and by
the event of the temptation, illustrated his own glory, manifested the
patience and virtue of his servant, and confounded Satan. When the
Devil tempted our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness, he spread before
his eyes the idea and image of the empires of the whole world. It did
not affix a stain on the government of God, to suffer his most malig-
1884.] ANSWERS CONCERNING WITCHCRAFT. 357
nant enemy to abuse the image of the world against his Beloved One ;
why, therefore, should it be deemed repugnant to his most sacred
authority, for him to allow the Devil to abuse the spectre of a good
man ?
But you will say, If God thus permits, a good man will incur unde-
served hatred, and stand trial for life or death. What then ? Shall
not God be allowed to thrust a sinful, though faithful and pious man
into such calamitous experience in order to try his piety and virtue ?
"Was not the most holy man, Job, despised as well as reviled by his
friends because of his miserable condition ? That pious and holy man
had certainly in no way merited his calamities. If, therefore, you once
concede that God can afflict an innocent creature, you must further
admit that he is at liberty to make use of whatever instruments he
pleases. By " an innocent creature " however, I mean here, not one
who is entirely spotless (for such an one does not exist among men),
but one who suffers by reason of an unjust and false accusation. But
God, in accordance with his supreme right, can suffer such a creature
to be afflicted although, from a human standpoint, it has not deserved
such a kind of affliction.
To the sixth question it is replied : although nothing hinders the
Devil, as an impostor and juggler, from exercising the power to be-
witch the eyes and fancy of men, and to present the spectre of a good
man to those whom he himself is vexing, as is above observed, still to
condemn such a man as a wizard, for the reason that his spectre is
presented to the afflicted while they are suffering, would be the great-
est imprudence. In such case, the judges must be astute and cautious
lest they rashly favor the purpose and cunning of the Devil ; for he
may intend two things at once ; namely, to vex the one, while he ex-
hibits the spectre of the other, and so to bring the latter, whose image
he is simulating, into bad repute and danger of his life — for he is a
liar as well as a tormentor and murderer.
To the seventh question it is replied, that an honest and charitable
life and conduct, of long continuance, such as meets with universal
approbation, probably removes «the suspicion of criminal intent from
those who are accused of witchcraft by the testimony of the afflicted ;
for it can hardly be that he who fights in the camp of the Devil should
have the power, for a great while, to put on the appearance of a soldier
of Christ. Nevertheless, I should not believe this to be sure and indu-
bitable evidence of false accusation, because I do not see why a cunning
man may not conceal his devilish practices under the semblance of a
good life, in order to escape suspicion and righteous condemnation.
The Devil himself sometimes tells the truth, and proclaims good morals,
in order the more easily and insidiously to deceive.
To the eighth question it is replied, that it is possible for those who
358 MASSACHUSETTS HISTOKICAL SOCIETY. [Dec.
are really tortured, convulsed and afflicted by the Devil with many mis-
eries, during several months, to suffer no wasting of the body, and no
weakening of their spirits. The reason is, that nutrition is perfect —
the stomach suffering no injury. On the contrary, if the Devil so pro-
cure it, the stomach of the tortured, having become stronger, will crave
and swallow greater quantities of nourishment than before, and will
easily repair all the injury caused by the tortures, by perfectly digesting
and assimilating its supply of food. Hence it is not to be doubted that
the Devil (God permitting it), has power to prevent the impairment of
the natural spirits. I testify that I have seen elsewhere, a man affected
with mania who every month about the time of the full moon wan-
dered in the mountains and through the fields, for eight days, taking
no nourishment but water during that time, who, nevertheless, suffered
no diminution or change either of body, vigor, or color. His natural
spirits were not only not broken by his fasting, but were preserved in
their normal state and condition by the power of his malady. That the
Devil can produce that which is produced by a kind of natural cause
I do not doubt, since he well knows how to balance liabilities with assets
and assets with liabilities 1
The End.
We the undersigned affirm the above-written solutions of the ques-
tions propounded, to be true.
^ on l Henry Selijns } Ministers of New York,
church Peter Peiretus. )
congress, Godfrey Dellius, Minister of the Dutch
Church at New Albany.
II October, 1692. Rudolph Varich,
Minister at Flatbush.
Mr. Young presented to the Society, from Mr. T. Fales
Gray, of Boston, a book of manuscript sermons of the Rev. Dr.
Samuel Stillman, who, born in Philadelphia in 1737, was for
more than forty years pastor of the First Baptist Church in
this city, and was a most eloquent and popular preacher. He
was one of the founders of Brown University, and he belonged
1 From two or three conjectural translations of this passage, neither of which
was very certain, I have adopted the above upon the authority of a friend whose
long familiarity with Latin authors, ancient and modern, had conclusive weight
with me on a point of such difficulty that the learned gentleman for whose care-
ful revision of these pages I have above acknowledged my obligation would not
attempt to decide what was the precise idea intended to be conveyed by this
phrase.
1884.] TEUMBULL PAPERS. 359
also to the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Aboli-
tion of Slavery, the Relief of Free Negroes unlawfully held in
Bondage, and for improving the Condition of the African
Race ; and his certificate of membership in that Society was
also presented.
Edward Channing, Ph.D., of Cambridge, was elected a
Resident Member of the Society.
Mr. Deane, from the Committee on the Trumbull Papers,
reported that a volume of them would shortly be ready for
distribution. This volume will consist of papers relating to
the Narragansett country, and of letters of Dr. William
Samuel Johnson to the governors of Connecticut, from 1767 to
1771. He was sent to London as the agent of that State to
look after the celebrated Mohegan case before the Privy
Council. While there, he attended the sittings of Parliament
during the interesting period which followed the repeal of the
Stamp Act, and in his letters he reported many speeches and
detailed the gossip of the time. These letters are written with
great freedom and elegance ; and it was proposed to publish
them soon after they were obtained by this Society in 1795,
but the consent of the writer, who was then President of
Columbia College, could not be obtained.
Dr. Ellis expressed great satisfaction that a volume from
the Trumbull Papers, which had been long in possession of the
Society, was to be printed ; and he hoped that other volumes
from this large collection of historical material would soon
follow.
Dr. E. E. Hale remarked that the report of one of the most
brilliant of Chatham's speeches was due to the pen of Dr.
Johnson. He said, also, that the official account of the battle
of Bunker Hill was written by the Rev. Peter Thacher, when
he was twenty-three years of age, and as he saw it from the
Maiden side of the river, and that the variations in the British
account are to be explained by the fact that it was written
from the opposite side.
Many interesting anecdotes and personal reminiscences were
given by various members at this meeting.
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