The Wonders of the Invisible World E-Book

Cotton Mather

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 387

Beschreibung

The two very rare works reprinted in the present volume, written by two of the most celebrated of the early American divines, relate to one of the most extraordinary cases of popular delusion that modern times have witnessed. It was a delusion, moreover, to which men of learning and piety lent themselves, and thus became the means of increasing it. The scene of this affair was the puritanical colony of New England, since better known as Massachusetts, the colonists of which appear to have carried with them, in an exaggerated form, the superstitious feelings with regard to witchcraft which then prevailed in the mother country. In the spring of 1692 an alarm of witchcraft was raised in the family of the minister of Salem, and some black servants were charged with the supposed crime. Once started, the alarm spread rapidly, and in a very short time a great number of people fell under suspicion, and many were thrown into prison on very frivolous grounds, supported, as such charges usually were, by very unworthy witnesses. The new governor of the colony, Sir William Phipps, arrived from England in the middle of May, and he seems to have been carried away by the excitement, and authorized judicial prosecutions. The trials began at the commencement of June; and the first victim, a woman named Bridget Bishop, was hanged. Governor Phipps, embarrassed by this extraordinary state of things, called in the assistance of the clergy of Boston. There was at this time in Boston a distinguished family of puritanical ministers of the name of Mather. Richard Mather, an English non-conformist divine, had emigrated to America in 1636, and settled at Dorchester, where, in 1639, he had a son born, who was named, in accordance with the peculiar nomenclature of the puritans, Increase Mather...

Leseprobe

The Wonders of the Invisible World

The Wonders of the Invisible WorldINTRODUCTION.PrefaceTHE AUTHOR'S DEFENCE.ENCHANTMENTS ENCOUNTERED.AN ABSTRACT OF MR. PERKINS'S WAY FOR THE DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD.AN HORTATORY AND NECESSARY ADDRESS, TO A COUNTRY NOW EXTRAORDINARILY ALARUM'D BY THE WRATH OF THE DEVIL.A NARRATIVE OF AN APPARITION WHICH A GENTLEMAN IN BOSTON, HAD OF HIS BROTHER, JUST THEN MURTHERED IN LONDON.A MODERN INSTANCE OF WITCHES, DISCOVERED AND CONDEMNED IN A TRYAL,THE TRYAL OF G. B. AT A COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD IN SALEM, 1692. THE TRYAL OF BRIDGET BISHOP, ALIAS OLIVER, AT THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD AT SALEM, JUNE 2. 1692.THE TRYAL OF SUSANNA MARTIN, AT THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD BY ADJOURNMENT AT SALEM, JUNE 29. 1692.THE TRIAL OF MARTHA CARRIER, AT THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD BY ADJOURNMENT AT SALEM, AUGUST 2. 1692.THE DEVIL DISCOVERED.A True Narrative of some Remarkable Passages relating to sundry Persons afflicted by Witchcraft at Salem Village in New-England, which happened from the 19th. of March to the 5th. of April, 1692.A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF THE NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES, SENT IN A LETTER FROM THENCE, TO A GENTLEMAN IN LONDON.CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS.POSTSCRIPT.FOOTNOTES:Copyright

The Wonders of the Invisible World

Cotton Mather Increase Mather

INTRODUCTION.

TThe two very rare works reprinted in the present volume, written by two of the most celebrated of the early American divines, relate to one of the most extraordinary cases of popular delusion that modern times have witnessed. It was a delusion, moreover, to which men of learning and piety lent themselves, and thus became the means of increasing it. The scene of this affair was the puritanical colony of New England, since better known as Massachusetts, the colonists of which appear to have carried with them, in an exaggerated form, the superstitious feelings with regard to witchcraft which then prevailed in the mother country. In the spring of 1692 an alarm of witchcraft was raised in the family of the minister of Salem, and some black servants were charged with the supposed crime. Once started, the alarm spread rapidly, and in a very short time a great number of people fell under suspicion, and many were thrown into prison on very frivolous grounds, supported, as such charges usually were, by very unworthy witnesses. The new governor of the colony, Sir William Phipps, arrived from England in the middle of May, and he seems to have been carried away by the excitement, and authorized judicial prosecutions. The trials began at the commencement of June; and the first victim, a woman named Bridget Bishop, was hanged. Governor Phipps, embarrassed by this extraordinary state of things, called in the assistance of the clergy of Boston.There was at this time in Boston a distinguished family of puritanical ministers of the name of Mather. Richard Mather, an English non-conformist divine, had emigrated to America in 1636, and settled at Dorchester, where, in 1639, he had a son born, who was named, in accordance with the peculiar nomenclature of the puritans, Increase Mather. This son distinguished himself much by his acquirements as a scholar and a theologian, became established as a minister in Boston, and in 1685 was elected president of Harvard College. His son, born at Boston in 1663, and called from the name of his mother's family, Cotton Mather, became more remarkable than his father for his scholarship, gained also a distinguished position in Harvard College, and was also, at the time of which we are speaking, a minister of the gospel in Boston. Cotton Mather had adopted all the most extreme notions of the puritanical party with regard to witchcraft, and he had recently had an opportunity of displaying them. In the summer of the year 1688, the children of a mason of Boston named John Goodwin were suddenly seized with fits and strange afflictions, which were at once ascribed to witchcraft, and an Irish washerwoman named Glover, employed by the family, was suspected of being the witch. Cotton Mather was called in to witness the sufferings of Goodwin's children; and he took home with him one of them, a little girl, who had first displayed these symptoms, in order to examine her with more care. The result was, that the Irish woman was brought to a trial, found guilty, and hanged; and Cotton Mather published next year an account of the case, under the title of "Late Memorable Providences, relating to Witchcraft and Possession," which displays a very extraordinary amount of credulity, and an equally great want of anything like sound judgment. This work, no doubt, spread the alarm of witchcraft through the whole colony, and had some influence on the events which followed. It may be supposed that the panic which had now arisen in Salem was not likely to be appeased by the interference of Cotton Mather and his father.The execution of the washerwoman, Bridget Bishop, had greatly increased the excitement; and people in a more respectable position began to be accused. On the 19th of July five more persons were executed, and five more experienced the same fate on the 19th of August. Among the latter was Mr. George Borroughs, a minister of the gospel, whose principal crime appears to have been a disbelief in witchcraft itself. His fate excited considerable sympathy, which, however, was checked by Cotton Mather, who was present at the place of execution on horseback, and addressed the crowd, assuring them that Borroughs was an impostor. Many people, however, had now become alarmed at the proceedings of the prosecutors, and among those executed with Borroughs was a man named John Willard, who had been employed to arrest the persons charged by the accusers, and who had been accused himself, because, from conscientious motives, he refused to arrest any more. He attempted to save himself by flight; but he was pursued and overtaken. Eight more of the unfortunate victims of this delusion were hanged on the 22nd of September, making in all nineteen who had thus suffered, besides one who, in accordance with the old criminal law practice, had been pressed to death for refusing to plead. The excitement had indeed risen to such a pitch that two dogs accused of witchcraft were put to death.A certain degree of reaction, however, appeared to be taking place, and the magistrates who had conducted the proceedings began to be alarmed, and to have some doubts of the wisdom of their proceedings. Cotton Mather was called upon by the governor to employ his pen in justifying what had been done; and the result was, the book which stands first in the present volume, "The Wonders of the Invisible World;" in which the author gives an account of seven of the trials at Salem, compares the doings of the witches in New England with those in other parts of the world, and adds an elaborate dissertation on witchcraft in general. This book was published at Boston, Massachusetts, in the month of October, 1692. Other circumstances, however, contributed to throw discredit on the proceedings of the court, though the witch mania was at the same time spreading throughout the whole colony. In this same month of October, the wife of Mr. Hale, minister of Beverley, was accused, although no person of sense and respectability had the slightest doubt of her innocence; and her husband had been a zealous promoter of the prosecutions. This accusation brought a new light on the mind of Mr. Hale, who became convinced of the injustice in which he had been made an accomplice; but the other ministers who took the lead in the proceedings were less willing to believe in their own error; and equally convinced of the innocence of Mrs. Hale, they raised a question of conscience, whether the devil could not assume the shape of an innocent and pious person, as well as of a wicked person, for the purpose of afflicting his victims. The assistance of Increase Mather, the president or principal of Harvard College, was now called in, and he published the book which is also reprinted in the present volume: "A Further Account of the Tryals of the New England Witches.... To which is added Cases of Conscience concerning Witchcrafts and Evil Spirits personating Men." It will be seen that the greater part of the "Cases of Conscience" is given to the discussion of the question just alluded to, which Increase Mather unhesitatingly decides in the affirmative. The scene of agitation was now removed from Salem to Andover, where a great number of persons were accused of witchcraft and thrown into prison, until a justice of the peace named Bradstreet, to whom the accusers applied for warrants, refused to grant any more. Hereupon they cried out upon Bradstreet, and declared that he had killed nine persons by means of witchcraft; and he was so much alarmed that he fled from the place. The accusers aimed at people in higher positions in society, until at last they had the audacity to cry out upon the lady of governor Phipps himself, and thus lost whatever countenance he had given to their proceedings out of respect to the two Mathers. Other people of character, when they were attacked by the accusers, took energetic measures in self-defence. A gentleman of Boston, when "cried out upon," obtained a writ of arrest against his accusers on a charge of defamation, and laid the damages at a thousand pounds. The accusers themselves now took fright, and many who had made confessions retracted them, while the accusations themselves fell into discredit. When governor Phipps was recalled in April, 1693, and left for England, the witchcraft agitation had nearly subsided, and people in general had become convinced of their error and lamented it.But Cotton Mather and his father persisted obstinately in the opinions they had published, and looked upon the reactionary feeling as a triumph of Satan and his kingdom. In the course of the year they had an opportunity of reasserting their belief in the doings of the witches of Salem. A girl of Boston, named Margaret Rule, was seized with convulsions, in the course of which she pretended to see the "shapes" or spectres of people exactly as they were alleged to have been seen by the witch-accusers at Salem and Andover. This occurred on the 10th of September, 1693; and she was immediately visited by Cotton Mather, who examined her, and declared his conviction of the truth of her statements. Had it depended only upon him, a new and no doubt equally bitter persecution of witches would have been raised in Boston; but an influential merchant of that town, named Robert Calef, took the matter up in a different spirit, and also examined Margaret Rule, and satisfied himself that the whole was a delusion or imposture. Calef wrote a rational account of the events of these two years, 1692 and 1693, exposing the delusion, and controverting the opinions of the two Mathers on the subject of witchcraft, which was published under the title of "More Wonders of the Invisible World; or the Wonders of the Invisible world displayed in five parts. An Account of the Sufferings of Margaret Rule collected by Robert Calef, merchant of Boston in New England." The partisans of the Mathers displayed their hostility to this book by publicly burning it; and the Mathers themselves kept up the feeling so strongly that years afterwards, when Samuel Mather, the son of Cotton, wrote his father's life, he says sneeringly of Calef: "There was a certain disbeliever in Witchcraft who wrote against this book" (his father's 'Wonders of the Invisible World'), "but as the man is dead, his book died long before him." Calef died in 1720.The witchcraft delusion had, however, been sufficiently dispelled to prevent the recurrence of any other such persecutions; and those who still insisted on their truth were restrained to the comparatively harmless publication and defence of their opinions. The people of Salem were humbled and repentant. They deserted their minister, Mr. Paris, with whom the persecution had begun, and were not satisfied until they had driven him away from the place. Their remorse continued through several years, and most of the people concerned in the judicial proceedings proclaimed their regret. The jurors signed a paper expressing their repentance, and pleading that they had laboured under a delusion. What ought to have been considered still more conclusive, many of those who had confessed themselves witches, and had been instrumental in accusing others, retracted all they had said, and confessed that they had acted under the influence of terror. Yet the vanity of superior intelligence and knowledge was so great in the two Mathers that they resisted all conviction. In hisMagnalia, an ecclesiastical history of New England, published in 1700, Cotton Mather repeats his original view of the doings of Satan in Salem, showing no regret for the part he had taken in this affair, and making no retraction of any of his opinions. Still later, in 1723, he repeats them again in the same strain in the chapter of the "Remarkables" of his father entitled "Troubles from the Invisible World." His father, Increase Mather, had died in that same year at an advanced age, being in his eighty-fifth year. Cotton Mather died on the 13th of February, 1728.Whatever we may think of the credulity of these two ecclesiastics, there can be no ground for charging them with acting otherwise than conscientiously, and they had claims on the gratitude of their countrymen sufficient to overbalance their error of judgment on this occasion. Their books relating to the terrible witchcraft delusion at Salem have now become very rare in the original editions, and their interest, as remarkable monuments of the history of superstition, make them well worthy of a reprint.

Preface

The history of western magic started about 4000 years ago. And since then it has been adding something to western magic. Originally, the Latin word magus nominated the followers of the spiritualist-priest class, and later originated to elect ‘clairvoyant, sorcerer’ and in a judgmental sense also ‘magician, trickster’. Thus, the initial meaning of the word ‘magic’ was the wisdoms of the Magi, that is the abilities of attaining supernatural powers and energy, while later it became practical critically to deceitful wizardry. The etymological descriptions specify three significant features in the expansion of the notion ‘magic’: 1) Magic as a discipline of celestial natural forces and in the course of formation 2) Magic as the exercise of such facts in divinations, visions and illusion 3) Fraudulent witchery. The latter belief played a significant part in the Christian demonization process. The growth of the western notion ‘magic’ directed to extensive assumptions in the demonological and astrophysical argument of the Neoplatonists. Their tactic was grounded on the philosophy of a hierarchically ordered outer space, where conferring to Plotinus (C205–C270 AD) a noetic ingredient was shaped as the outcome of eternal and countless radiation built on the ultimate opinion; this in its chance contributed to the rise of psychic constituent, which formed the basis of the factual world. Furthermore, these diverse phases of release came to be measured as convinced forces, which underneath the impact of innocent and evil views during late ancient times were embodied as humans. The hierarchical cosmos of Iamblichus simply demonstrates the legitimacy of this process. In his work, the Neoplatonic cosmology has initiated a channel through the syncretism distinctive of the late antiquity and in the essence of Greco-Oriental dualism. Superior productions are taken closer to inferior ones by various midway creatures. The higher the site of the mediators, the further they bear a resemblance to gods and whizzes; the minor they are, the nearer they stand to the psychic-spiritual part. The aforementioned group of intermediaries has been settled in order of series on the origin of cosmic gravity. Proclus (c410–485 AD) has described the system of magic origin conversed above in better aspect: in the hierarchical shackles of cosmic rudiments the power and nature of a firm star god disturbs everything mediocre, and with growing distance the impact slowly becomes weaker. The Humanists approached the Platonic notions from the outlook of the bequest of late antiquity, and were thus first familiarized to the Neoplatonic form of the doctrine. And since Ficino’s work has been inscribed in the spirit of emanation theory, and the author has been persuaded of the existence of the higher and lower spheres of magic and powers defined in Picatrix, he claims that planets and cosmic movements have much to do with power and magic spirit. Today’s occult marketplace also offers, in addition to books, multifarious paraphernalia for practicing magic: amulets, talismans, pendulums and magic rods. Though added with modern essentials and pseudoscientific advices to give some weight to the fundamentals, they are nothing but the leftovers of the western ethnicities of magic.

THE AUTHOR'S DEFENCE.

T'Tis, as I remember, the LearnedScribonius, who reports, That one of his Acquaintance, devoutly making his Prayers on the behalf of a Person molested byEvil Spirits, received from thoseEvil Spiritsan 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 theDevils coming down in great Wrath upon us, there are too many Tongues and Hearts therebyset 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 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 befenced 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 aRight Useof 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 ofNew-England, has here done, what is done. None, butthe Father, who sees in secret, knows the Heart-breaking Exercises, wherewith I have composed what is now 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 am now somewhat comfortably assured of his favourable acceptance; and,I will not fear; what can a Satan do unto me!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, 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, againstNew-England, in every Branch of it, as far as one of mydarkness, can comprehend such aWork 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, theParter's Portionswhich mypursuit of Peacehas procured me among theKeen. My hithertounvaried Thoughtsare here published; and I believe, 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 ofRepresentations.In fine: For the Dogmatical part of my Discourse, I want no Defence; for the Historical part of it, I have a Very Great One; the Lieutenant-Governour ofNew-Englandhaving perused it, has done me the Honour of giving me a Shield, under the Umbrage whereof I now dare to walk abroad.Reverend and Dear Sir,Decorative YYou 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 ofOyerandTerminer, 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 mysingular Approbationthereof. 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, yourCare of Truth, your Wisdom and Dexterity in allaying and moderating that among us, which needs it; such your clear discerning of Divine Providences and Periods, now running on apace towards their Glorious Issues in the World; and finally, such your good News ofThe Shortness of the Devil's Time, that all Good Men must needs desire, the making of this your Discourse publick to the World; and will greatly rejoyce, that theSpirit of the Lordhas thus enabled you tolift up a Standardagainst the Infernal Enemy, that hath beencoming 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 thePressaccordingly. I am,Your assured Friend,William Stoughton.IIlive byNeighboursthat force me to produce these undeserved Lines. But now, as when Mr.Wilsonbeholding 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 notSevenof 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 asOneamong them all, but Mr.Wilsonloves 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 thisMatherwould not study to serve, as well as to love. With such aSpirit of Love, is the Book now before us written: I appeal to allthis World; and ifthisWorld will deny me the Right of acknowledging so much, I appeal to theother, that it isnot written with an Evil Spirit: for which cause I shall not wonder, ifEvil Spiritsbe exasperated by what is written, as theSadducesdoubtless were with what was discoursed in the Days of our Saviour. I only demand theJustice, that othersreadit, with the same Spirit wherewith Iwritit.

ENCHANTMENTS ENCOUNTERED.

Section I. IIt was as long ago as the Year 1637, that a Faithful Minister of the Church ofEngland, whose Name was Mr.Edward Symons, did in a Sermon afterwards Printed, thus express himself; 'AtNew-Englandnow 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 theClouds will over-shadow and darken the Sky there. Many now promise to themselves nothing but successive Happiness there, which for a time through God's Mercy they may enjoy; and I pray God, they may a long time; but in this World there is no Happiness perpetual.' AnObservation, or I had almost said, anInspiration, very dismally now verify'd upon us! It has been affirm'd by some who best knewNew-England, That the World will doNew-Englanda 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. When I did a few years ago, publish a Book, which mentioned a few memorable Witchcrafts, committed in this country; the excellentBaxter, graced the Second Edition of that Book, with a kind Preface, wherein he sees cause to say,If any are Scandalized, thatNew-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. Whosoever travels over this Wilderness, 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 ofCongregational,Presbyterian,Episcopalian, or Antipædobaptist, are swallowed up in that ofChristian; Persons of all those Perswasions being taken into our Fellowship, when visible Goodliness has recommended them: Churches, which usually do within themselves manage their own Discipline, under the Conduct of their Elders; but yet call in the help ofSynodsupon 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, thatSwearing,Sabbath-breaking,Whoring,Drunkenness, and the like, do not make a Gentleman, but a Monster, or a Goblin, in the vulgar Estimation. 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.The 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,AmericanDesart, 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 now 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.Such great Persons asBudæus, and others, who mistook SirThomas Moor'sUtopia, for a Country really existent, and stirr'd up some Divines charitably to undertake a Voyage thither, might now have certainly found a Truth in their Mistake;New-Englandwas a trueUtopia. 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 ourJoshua'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 ofNew-Englandhas 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 manifoldApostasies; we 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.§ II.TheNew-Englandersare a People of God settled in those, which were once theDevil'sTerritories; and it may easily be supposed that theDevilwas 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.There was not a greater Uproar among theEphesians, when the Gospel was first brought among them, than there was among,The Powers of the Air(after whom thoseEphesianswalked) when first theSilver Trumpetsof the Gospel here made theJoyful Sound. The Devil thus Irritated, immediately try'd all sorts of Methods to overturn this poor Plantation: and so much of the Church, as wasFled 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 moreSatanical Devicesused for the Unsetling of any People under the Sun, than what have been Employ'd for the Extirpation of theVinewhich God has herePlanted,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 theAtlanticSeaEastward, and its Branches unto theConnecticutRiverWestward, and the Hills were covered with the shadow thereof.But, All those Attempts of Hell, have hitherto been Abortive, many anEbenezerhas 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; an Attempt soCritical, that if we get well through, we shall soon EnjoyHalcyonDays with all theVulturesof HellTrodden under our Feet. He has wanted hisIncarnate Legionsto Persecute us, as the People of God have in the other Hemisphere been Persecuted: he has therefore drawn forth his moreSpiritualones to make an Attacque upon us. We have been advised by some Credible Christians yet alive, that a Malefactor, accused ofWitchcraftas well asMurder, and Executed in this place more than Forty Years ago, did then give Notice of,An HorriblePlotagainst the Country byWitchcraft, and a Foundation ofWitchcraftthen laid, which if it were not seasonally discovered, would probably Blow up, and pull down all the Churches in the Country.And we have now with Horror seen theDiscoveryof such aWitchcraft! An Army ofDevilsis horribly broke in upon the place which is theCenter, and after a sort, theFirst-bornof ourEnglishSettlements: 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, ofEvil 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 becomeInfectedandInfestedwith theseDæmons, arrive to a Capacity of Discerning those which they conceive theShapesof their Troublers; and notwithstanding the Great and Just Suspicion, that theDæmonsmight Impose theShapesof Innocent Persons in theirSpectral Exhibitionsupon the Sufferers, (which may perhaps prove no small part of theWitch-Plotin the issue) yet many of the Persons thus Represented, being Examined, several of them have been Convicted of a very DamnableWitchcraft: yea, more than OneTwentyhaveConfessed, that they have Signed unto aBook, which the Devil show'd them, and Engaged in his Hellish Design ofBewitching, andRuiningour Land.Weknow not, at leastIknow not, how far theDelusionsof Satan may be Interwoven into some Circumstances of theConfessions; but one would think, all the Rules of Understanding Humane Affairs are at an end, if after so many most Voluntary HarmoniousConfessions, made by Intelligent Persons of all Ages, in sundry Towns, at several Times, we must not Believe themain strokeswherein thoseConfessionsall agree: especially when we have a thousand preternatural Things every day before our eyes, wherein theConfessorsdo acknowledge their Concernment, and give Demonstration of their being so Concerned. If the Devils now can strike the minds of men with anyPoisonsof so fine a Composition and Operation, that Scores of Innocent People shall Unite, inConfessionsof 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 theseConfessions'tis Agreed,Thatthe Devil has made a dreadful Knot ofWitchesin the Country, and by the help ofWitcheshas dreadfully increased that Knot:ThattheseWitcheshave driven a Trade of Commissioning theirConfederate Spirits, to do all sorts of Mischiefs to the Neighbours, whereupon there have ensued such Mischievous consequences upon the Bodies and Estates of the Neighbourhood, as could not otherwise be accounted for: yea,Thatat prodigiousWitch-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 grossDiabolesm, than ever the World saw before. And yet it will be a thing little short ofMiracle, if in sospreada Business as this, the Devil should not get in some of his Juggles, to confound the Discovery of all the rest.§ III.Doubtless, the Thoughts of many will receive a great Scandal againstNew-England, from the Number of Persons that have been Accused, or Suspected, forWitchcraft, 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 wickedScholarsintoWitchcraft, and then by their Assistance to Range with theirPoisonous Insinuationsamong Ignorant, Envious, Discontented People, till they have cunningly decoy'd them into some suddenAct, whereby the Toyls of Hell shall be perhaps inextricably cast over them: what Country in the World would not affordWitches, numerous to a Prodigy? Accordingly, The Kingdoms ofSweden,Denmark,Scotland, yea andEnglandit self, as well as the Province ofNew-England, have had their Storms ofWitchcraftsbreaking upon them, which have made most Lamentable Devastations: which also I wish, may beThe Last. And it is not uneasie to be imagined, That God has not brought out all theWitchcraftsin many other Lands with such a speedy, dreadful, destroyingJealousie, as burns forth upon suchHigh Treasons, committed here inA 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 atLoim, in the Dutchy ofGulic, 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 with one whom I am sure to have, and hold at the Last-day as my own for ever!But besides all this, give me leave to add, it is to be hoped, That among the Persons represented by theSpectreswhich now afflict our Neighbours, there will be foundsomethat never explicitly contracted with any of theEvil Angels. The Witches have not only intimated, but some of them acknowledged, That they have plotted the Representations ofInnocent 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.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 bothArgumentandHistoryto Countenance them in it. It isRare and Extraordinary, for an HonestNabothto have his Life it self Sworn away by twoChildren of Belial, and yet no Infringement hereby made on the Rectoral Righteousness of our Eternal Soveraign, whoseJudgments are a Great Deep, and whogives none Account of His matters. Thus, although the Appearance of Innocent Persons inSpectral Exhibitionsafflicting the Neighbour-hood, be a thingRare and Extraordinary; yet who can be sure, that the greatBelialof Hell must needs be alwaysYokedup from this piece of Mischief? The best man that ever lived has been called aWitch: and why may not this too usual and unhappy Symptom of AWitch, even a Spectral Representation, befall a person that shall be none of the worst? Is it not possible? TheLaplanderswill tell us 'tis possible: for Persons to be unwittingly attended with officiousDæmons, bequeathed unto them, and impos'd upon them, by Relations that have beenWitches.Quæry, also, 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 afflictedForlorns! And, Who can certainly say, what other Degrees or Methods of sinning, besides that of aDiabolical 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 thePatienceof the Vertuous. May not some that have been ready upon feeble grounds uncharitably to Censure and Reproach other people, be punished for it bySpectresfor 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 obligeDevilsto wait upon the Superstitious Users of them. A Witty Writer againstSadducismhas this Observation, That persons who never made any express Contract withApostate Spirits, yet may Act strange Things byDiabolick Aids, which they procure by the use of those wickedFormsandArts, 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 imployingEvil Spiritsto hurt our Land, have been known to be most bloodyFortune-Tellers; and some of them have confessed, That when they toldFortunes, they would pretend the Rules ofChiromancyand the like Ignorant Sciences, but indeed they had no Rule (they said) but this,The things were then Darted into their minds. Darted!Ye Wretches; By whom, I pray? Surely by none but theDevils; who, tho' perhaps they did not exactlyForeknowall the thus Predicted Contingencies; yet having onceForetoldthem, they stood bound in Honour now to use their Interest, which alas, inThis World, is very great, for the Accomplishment of their own Predictions. There are others, that have used most wickedSorceriesto gratifie their unlawful Curiosities, or to prevent Inconveniencies in Man and Beast;Sorceries, which I will notName, lest I should by Naming,Teachthem. Now, someDevilis evermore Invited into the Service of the Person that shall Practise theseWitchcrafts; and if they have gone on Impenitently in these Communions with anyDevil, theDevilmay perhaps become at last aFamiliarto them, and so assume theirLivery, that they cannot shake him off in any way, but that One, which I would most heartily prescribe unto them, Namely, That of a deep and longRepentance. Should theseImpietieshave been committed in such a place asNew-England, for my part I should not wonder, if whenDevilsare Exposing theGrosserWitches among us, God permit them to bring in theseLesserones with the rest for their perpetual Humiliation. In the Issue therefore, may it not be found, thatNew-Englandis not so stock'd withRattle Snakes, as was imagined.§ IV.But I do not believe, that the progress ofWitchcraftamong us, is all the Plot which the Devil is managing in theWitchcraftnow upon us. It is judged, That the Devil rais'd the Storm, whereof we read in the Eighth Chapter ofMatthew, 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 theHorrible Tempestwhich 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. We are blessed with a Governour, than whom no man can be more willing to serve Their Majesties, or this their Province: He is continually venturing hisAllto do it: and were not the Interests of his Prince dearer to him than his own, he could not but soon be weary of theHelm, whereat he sits. We are under the Influence of a Lieutenant Governour, 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. Our Constitution also is attended with singular Priviledges; All which Things are by the Devil exceedinglyEnvy'dunto 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 farImpose. But that which most of all Threatens us, in our present Circumstances, is theMisunderstanding, and so theAnimosity, whereinto theWitchcraftnow Raging, has Enchanted us. The Embroiling, first, of ourSpirits, and then of ourAffairs, is evidently as considerable a Branch of the Hellish Intrigue which now vexes us as any one Thing whatsoever. The Devil has made us like aTroubled Sea, and theMireandMudbegins now also to heave up apace. Even Good and Wise Men suffer themselves to fall into theirParoxysms; and the Shake which the Devil is now giving us, fetches up theDirtwhich before lay still at the bottom of our sinful Hearts. If we allow the Mad Dogs of Hell to poyson us by biting us, 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, thePhilistinesof 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-spiritedAustin, in his Pacificatory Epistle toJerom, on the Contest withRuffin, O misera& miseranda Conditio!O Condition, truly miserable! But what shall be done to cure these Distractions? It is wonderfully necessary, that some healing Attempts be made at this time: And I must needs confess (if I may speak so much) like aNazianzen, I am so desirous of a share in them, that if, being thrown overboard, were needful to allay theStorm, I should think Dying, a Trifle to be undergone, for so great a Blessedness.§ V.I would most importunately in the first place, entreat every Man to maintain an holy Jealousie over his 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. I have heard it affirmed, That in the late great Flood uponConnecticut, those Creatures which could not but have quarrelled at another time, yet now being driven together very agreeably stood by one another. I am sure we shall be worse thanBrutesif 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