Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism Part 19

"They made signs, but could not speak. But Ann Putnam, (and) afterwards Betty Hubbard, cried out, 'Oh, Goody Easty, Goody Easty, you are the woman!'

"'Put up her head; for while her head is bound, the necks of these are broken.'

"'What do you say to this?'

"'Why, G.o.d will know.'

"'Nay, G.o.d knows now.'

"'I know he does.'

"'What did you think of the actions of others before your sisters came out? Did you think it was witchcraft?'

"'I cannot tell.'

"'Why, do you not think it is witchcraft?'

"'It is _an evil spirit_; but whether it be witchcraft I do not know.'

"Several said she brought them the book, and then they fell into fits.

"Salem Village, March 24, 169-1/2.

"Mr. Samuel Parris, being desired to take in writing the examination of Mary Estie, hath delivered it as aforesaid.

"'Upon hearing the aforesaid, and seeing what we did then see, together with the charge of the persons then present, we committed said Mary Easty to their Majesty's jail.

"JOHN HATHORNE, } "JONATHAN CORWIN, } _a.s.sists_.'"

Among the records of examinations and trials for witchcraft in 1692 we have met with none other more commendable in its apparent spirit on both sides, and in its continuous decorum, than the above; none other, also, which reveals more clearly extreme depth of public conviction that the prevalent witchcraft creed was sound to the core, and belief that spectral evidence alone might legally prove the crime charged. From aught that appears, there was something pertaining to Mrs. Easty, probably her whole general character and her intellect, which held back both court and spectators from rudeness in treatment of her, and even frequently tied up the tongues of the accusing girls. The spectacle presented by that examination was most rare and wonderful. We feel, when reading the records, that magistrates, populace, and the accusers, all--all longed for her acquittal; that none desired to, because none did accuse her of anything but having been seen as an apparition, and of being the cause of the fits which the girls were enduring. The girls named her as the cause of their fits, but seemingly with less alacrity than they did most others in like circ.u.mstances. But sympathy and respect must yield before belief; her fit-producing emanations at that day proved her to have covenanted to serve the devil. Having done that, she was _witch_, and therefore must die.

Her clear head perceived that the sufferings of the girls must owe their existence to some occult power outside of themselves, and ascribed it to "an evil spirit." Such an origin, however, did not prove to her satisfaction that the doings were witchcrafts, that is, acts performed either at the instigation or by aid of some mortal who was in covenant with the devil. She was enough in advance of her times to suspect that a spirit might work upon and among men without having formed such connection with a mortal ally as would prove one's operations to be witchcrafts. She perceived that the girls were wrought upon by some spirit, and she deemed it an evil one.

This n.o.ble woman was wife of Isaac Easty of Topsfield, fifty-eight years old, and mother of seven children. After her conviction and sentence, and when hope of escaping the dire penalty had fled, she addressed an admirable letter to those then in power. The same inborn susceptibilities which made her a victim may also have permitted a free influx of uplifting power which raised her above narrow, selfish, and domestic views, and prompted her, in moods generous and lofty, to appeal, in behalf of the whole people of the land, for a stop in the course which the civil authorities were pursuing. We judge the letter to be her own production, and deem it indicative of good mental powers and of elevated philanthropy.

"_The humble pet.i.tion of Mary Easty unto His Excellency Sir William Phips, and to the honored Judge and Bench now sitting in judicature in Salem, and the reverend Ministers, humbly showeth_, That, whereas your poor and humble pet.i.tioner, being condemned to die, do humbly beg of you to take it into your judicious and pious consideration, that your poor and humble pet.i.tioner, knowing my own innocency, blessed be the Lord for it! and seeing plainly the wiles and subtilty of my accusers by myself, cannot but judge charitably of others that are going the same way of myself if the Lord steps not mightily in. I was confined a whole month upon the same account that I am condemned now for, and then cleared by some of the afflicted persons, as some of Your Honors know. And in two days' time I was cried out upon (by) them, and have been confined, and now am condemned to die. The Lord above knows my innocency then, and likewise does now, as at the great day will be known to men and angels. I pet.i.tion Your Honors not for my own life, for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set; but, the Lord he knows it is, that if it be possible, no more _innocent blood_ may be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in. I question not but Your Honors do to the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of witchcraft and witches, and would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world. But _by my own innocency I know you are in the wrong way_. The Lord in his infinite mercy direct you in this great work, if it be his blessed will, that no more innocent blood be shed! I would humbly beg of you that Your Honors would be pleased to examine these afflicted persons strictly, and keep them apart some time, and likewise to try some of these confessing witches; I being confident there is several of them has belied themselves and others, as will appear, if not in this world, I am sure in the world to come, whither I am now agoing. I question not but you will see an alteration in these things. They say, myself and others having made a league with the devil, we cannot confess.... The Lord above, who is the searcher of all hearts, knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know not the least thing of witchcraft: therefore I cannot, I dare not belie my own soul. I beg Your Honors not to deny this my poor humble pet.i.tion from a poor, dying, innocent person. And I question not but the Lord will give a blessing to your endeavors."

Calef says, that, "when she took her last farewell of her husband, children, and friends," she "was, as is reported by them present, as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present." We can readily credit that account to its fullest possible import; for her deportment and language, throughout all the scenes in which she is presented, bespeak a strong, clear, discriminating intellect, a true and brave heart, elevated and generous sentiments, firm faith in G.o.d, and broad charity toward man.

A most welcome child found entrance to some bright home above when her tried spirit gained release from its mortal form.

SUSANNA MARTIN.

The person bearing the above name was a widow residing in Amesbury, who had been tried for witchcraft more than twenty years before, and therefore obviously in 1692 was well along in life. Her answers in court, however, bespeak a prompt, self-possessed, shrewd, and seemingly merry prisoner. A few of her replies, together with the questions which elicited them, are as follows:--

"Ann Putnam threw her glove at her in a fit. 'What do you laugh at?' said the court. _Ans._ 'Well I may at such folly.'

"'Is this folly to see these so hurt?' 'I never hurt man, woman, or child.'

"'What do you think ails them?' 'I do not desire to spend my judgment upon it.' 'Do you think they are bewitched?' 'No; I do not think they are.'

'Well, tell us your thoughts about them.' 'My thoughts are mine own when they are in; but when they are out they are another's.' 'Who do you think is their master?' 'If they be dealing in the black art, you may know as well as I.' 'How comes your appearance just now to hurt these?' 'How do I know?' 'Are you not willing to tell the truth?' 'He that appeared in Samuel's shape can appear in any one's shape.'"

One R. P., dated Salisbury, August 9, 1692, and forwarded to Jonathan Corwin, a doc.u.ment ranking among the ablest on record against the legal proceedings of that day, in which he says, "I suppose 'tis granted by all that the person of one that is dead cannot appear, because the soul and body are separated, and so the person is dissolved, and so ceaseth to be; and it is certain that the person of the living cannot be in two places at one time." That writer conceived that man's personality ceased at death; therefore he logically inferred that the personality of the prophet Samuel had gone out of existence, and said, "The witch of Endor raised the DEVIL, in the likeness of Samuel, to tell Saul his fortune." We find in many places the cropping out, in those days, of the same idea. Susanna Martin indicated her belief that it was the devil who appeared to the woman of Endor, and not the glorified Samuel. Premises deemed valid by some men in 1692, would, if applied in that direction, support the conclusion that the Moses and Elias who appeared to Jesus and others on the mount of transfiguration were nothing but the devil in the shapes of those old prophets. Belief that the devil personated Samuel is to us no more unphilosophical than is Upham's conclusion, that "by the immediate agency of the Almighty the spirit of Samuel really arose." Paul taught that there _is_--not that there is to be hereafter, that there is now--"a spiritual _body_." All clairvoyants to-day can see such a body belonging to a human form, and sometimes see it being far away from the form to which nature attached it. Each human being now possesses both a natural or physical and also a spiritual _form_. That position of R. P. and Susanna Martin was unsound which held that the physical body was essential to personality.

Also, since the Almighty originally infused through nature, elements and forces which admit of the return of spirits by natural processes, it is as unphilosophical to hold that Samuel was raised by the immediate agency of the Almighty, or miraculously, as it would be to ascribe an American traveler's return home from Europe to the _immediate_ agency of the same Being. Natural laws and forces permitted, under possible conditions, the return of Samuel himself. Such conditions existed often in and around the hospitable and sympathetic woman of Endor, who was no _witch_, in the now common meaning of that word; who was not called such in the Bible,--but only a person who had a _familiar_ spirit, that is, a spirit so constantly present, and having such ability of communion with her, as made the spirit seem to her like one of her family--her familiar. A spirit thus attendant on a mortal may be either good, bad, or indifferent, and may be cognized by those persons whose const.i.tution and development are such that their inner senses can report to their external consciousness. The existing properties of that woman, which permitted some special spirit to frequently dwell and commune intelligibly with her, and be cognizable by her inner senses as a dweller in her household, as her familiar,--such properties would enable her to perceive the form and hear the voice of another spirit, who might be called to her presence for an urgent purpose, as naturally as the outer eye which sees one external form is competent to see another. Samuel, when wanted, came and was seen by the clairvoyant woman, but not by the external eyes of either Saul or his attendants. The case was very like what occurred at the first examination under an accusation for witchcraft at Salem Village. Sarah Good then said, "None here see the witches"--that is, none see spirits--"but the afflicted and themselves,"--that is, none but the afflicted and the accused, of which she was one. In other words, the actual doers of the marvelous works, the spirits, are seen only by the accusers and the accused--the clairvoyants here. It is true that in the more modern instance the spirits seen were often, though not always, those of living persons. But this does not affect the principles of explanation. Those persons who are so unfolded as to see spirit-forms can sometimes see them, whether they be still attached to the outer ones or be liberated. Spirits, both some who had been entirely liberated from the flesh, and other flesh-clad ones whose encas.e.m.e.nts were translucent, could be seen by members of the accusing "circle," and by some others of like combinations, even when the court and the ma.s.s of attendants upon it might fail to see anything of the kind. The horses and chariots of fire were as clearly seen by Elisha on the hills of Dothan, while his servant was blind to them, as they were after the young man's inner eyes were opened so that he too saw the helping and protecting hosts. The change was in the young man himself, and not up on the hills.

Departed spirits are where they feel our aspirations for their presence, and the opening of our inner sight, at any time or in any place, might render them visible.

Returning to Susanna Martin, we find that one William Brown, of Salisbury, made deposition in 1692, "that, about one or two and thirty years ago, his wife met Susanna in the road, who 'vanished away out of her sight,' ...

after which time the said Martin did many times appear to her at her house, and did much trouble her.... When she did come, it was as birds pecking her legs, or p.r.i.c.king her with the motion of their wings; and then it would rise up into her stomach with p.r.i.c.king pain, as nails and pins, of which she did bitterly complain.... After that it would up to her throat in a bunch like a pullet's egg; and then she would turn back her head and say, 'Witch, you shan't choke me.'"

Much more testimony was adduced to show that this woman's apparition was very frequently seen; and not only seen, but was a source of exceeding sufferings to many people. This argues nothing against her character, but plainly hints that the relation of her inner to her outer form was such that the former could be seen and felt by many persons who either const.i.tutionally or from sickness, or both, were very sensitive. Such persons often saw her spirit-form, and suffered from its psychological action. That peculiarity perhaps made her so luminous as to be observable, and therefore accused, by "the circle," and the accusation brought her to the gallows.

MARTHA CARRIER.

The faculties and manifestations which nearly two centuries ago were deemed to const.i.tute witchcraft, and the mode of eliciting proof of that crime then, stand forth very conspicuously in the history of the wife and children of Thomas Carrier of Andover.

_The Examination of Martha Carrier, May 31, 1692._

"_Q._ Abigail Williams, who hurts you? _A._ Goody Carrier of Andover.

"_Q._ Elizabeth Hubbard, who hurts you? _A._ Goody Carrier.

"_Q._ Susan Sheldon, who hurts you? _A._ Goody Carrier; she bites me, pinches me, and tells me she would cut my throat if I did not sign her book. Mary Walcott said she afflicted her, and brought the book to her.

"_Q._ What do you say to this you are charged with? _A._ I have not done it. Susan Sheldon cried, she looks upon the black man. Ann Putnam complained of a pin stuck in her. _Q._ What black man is that? _A._ I know none. Mary Warren cried out she was p.r.i.c.ked. _Q._ What black man did you see? _A._ I saw no black man but _your own presence_. _Q._ Can you look upon these and not knock them down? _A._ They will dissemble if I look upon them. You see you look upon them and they fall down. _A._ It is false; the _devil is a liar_. I looked upon none since I came into the room. Susan Sheldon cried out _in a trance_, I wonder what could you murder thirteen persons! Mary Walcott testified the same: that there lay thirteen ghosts! All the afflicted fell into intolerable outcries and agonies. Elizabeth Hubbard and Ann Putnam testified the same: that she had killed thirteen at Andover. _A._ It is a shameful thing that you should mind these folks, who are out of their wits. _Q._ Do not you see them? _A._ If I do speak you will not believe me. You do see them, said the accusers. _A._ You lie; I am wronged. There is a black man whispering in her ear, said many of the afflicted. Mercy Lewis in a violent fit, was well, upon the examinant's grasping her arm. The tortures of the afflicted were so great that there was no enduring of it, so that she was ordered away, and to be bound hand and foot with all expedition; the afflicted in the mean while almost killed, to the great trouble of all spectators, magistrates, and others.

"_Note._ As soon as she was well bound they all had strange and sudden ease. Mary Walcott told the magistrates, that this woman told her, she had been a witch this forty years."

The foregoing record shows the fearful ordeal to which any one might be subjected upon whom an accusation of witchcraft fell, and the hopelessness of escape where spectral evidence was admitted and held to be reliable. Here was a woman who, it seems, had been conscious of spirit presence with her for "forty years," and her const.i.tutional properties which permitted this were so luminous in the spiritual atmosphere, or medium of vision by inner eyes, that the clairvoyant girls readily caught sight of her, readily felt influences from her, and therefore accused her of tormenting them.

The general character and deportment of this woman prior to her arrest may not have won public approbation. When in presence of the magistrates she was self-possessed and not lacking in boldness; for otherwise she would not have told the judge that his own presence was the only black man she had seen there. She told her examiners that it was shameful for them to mind "these folks, who are out of their wits." She said to the girls, "You lie; I am wronged." Her presence permitted extraordinary visions, contortions, sufferings, and outcries, and probably emanations from her were special helps to the unwonted outflow.

_In trance_, one saw thirteen dead bodies, and charged the accused with having murdered them. It was _in trance_ that this was seen and said. If _entranced_, was the girl, then, a voluntary seer and speaker? No.

Supermundane force was in action there. Entrancements and obsessions came upon all those youthful accusers fitfully--and the forms of the girls generally were tools operated by wills entering from outside. The tongue of that entranced accuser, like Ann Cole's, probably was "improved to utter thoughts that never were in her own mind."

Four of Mrs. Carrier's children were brought into court in company with herself, either as accused ones or as witnesses against some members of the family. "Before the trial," says Drake, "several of her own children had frankly and fully confessed not only that they were witches themselves, but that their mother had made them so." The artlessness and simplicity of their _confessions_ render them not simply entertaining, but more instructive than almost any other statements made at the examinations and trials. Little Sarah was asked,--

"How long have you been a witch? _A._ Ever since I was six years old. How old are you now? _A._ Near eight years old; brother Richard says I shall be eight years old in November next.

"Who made you a witch? _A._ My mother; she made me set my hand to a book.

How did you set your hand to it? _A._ I touched it with my fingers; and the book was red; the paper of it was white. She said she never had seen the black man ... that her mother had baptized her, and the devil or black man was not there, as she saw. Her mother said, when she baptized her, 'Thou art mine for ever and ever. Amen.'