Wonders of the Invisible World, and A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New England Witches — 37. Postscript

POSTSCRIPT.

The Design of the preceding _Dissertation_, is not to plead for Witchcrafts, or to appear as an Advocate for Witches: I have therefore written another Discourse, proving that there are such horrid Creatures as Witches in the World; and that they are to be extirpated and cut off from amongst the People of God, which I have Thoughts and Inclinations in due time to publish; and I am abundantly satisfied that there have been, and are still most cursed Witches in the Land.

More than one or two of those now in Prison, have freely and credibly acknowledged their Communion and Familiarity with the Spirits of Darkness; and have also declared unto me the Time and Occasion, with the particular Circumstances of their Hellish Obligations and Abominations.

Nor is there designed any Reflection on those worthy Persons who have been concerned in the late Proceedings at _Salem_: They are wise and good Men, and have acted with all Fidelity according to their Light, and have out of tenderness declined the doing of some things, which in our own Judgments they were satisfied about: Having therefore so arduous a Case before them, Pitty and Prayers rather than Censures are their due;

on which account I am glad that there is published to the World (by my Son) a _Breviate of the Tryals_ of some who were lately executed, whereby I hope the thinking part of Mankind will be satisfied, that there was more than that which is called _Spectre Evidence_ for the Conviction of the Persons condemned.

I was not myself present at any of the Tryals, excepting one, _viz.

_ that of _George Burroughs_; had I been one of his Judges, I could not have acquitted him: For several Persons did upon Oath testifie, that they saw him do such things as no Man that has not a Devil to be his Familiar could perform: And the Judges affirm, that they have not convicted any one meerly on the account of what _Spectres_ have said, or of what has been represented to the Eyes or Imaginations of the sick bewitched Persons.

If what is here exposed to publick view, may be a means to prevent it for the future, I shall not repent of my Labour in this Undertaking.

I have been prevailed with so far as I am able to discern the Truth in these dark Cases, to declare my Sentiments, with the Arguments which are of weight with me, hoping that what is written may be of some use to discover the _Depths of Satan_;

and to prevent innocent ones having their Lives endangered, or their Reputations ruined, by being through the Subtility and Power of the Devils, in consideration with the Ignorance and Weakness of Men, involved amongst the Guilty.

It becomes those of my Profession to be very tender in Cases of Blood, and to imitate our Lord and Master, _Who came not to destroy the Lives of Men, but to save them_.

I likewise design in what I have written, to give my testimony against these unjustifiable ways of discovering Witchcrafts, which some among us have practised.

I hear that of late there was a _Witch-cake_ made with the Urine of bewitched Creatures, as one Ingredient by several Persons in a place, which has suffered much by the Attack of Hell upon it: This I take to be not only wicked Superstition, but great Folly: For tho' the Devil does sometimes operate with the _Experiments_, yet not always, especially if a _Magical Faith_ be wanting.

I shall here take occasion to recite some Passages in a Letter, which I received from that Eminent pious and learned Man, Mr. _Samuel Cradock_; during my abode in _London_; the Letter bears date _Febr.

26. 1690_.

Then take it in his own Words, which are these; 'We have at this present one in our next Town, who has a Son who has strange Fits, and such as they impute to Witchcraft: He come to consult with me about it, but before he came, he had used a means which I should never had directed him unto, _viz.

_ He took the Nails of his Son's Hands and Feet, and some of his Hair, and mixed them in Rye-Paste with his Water, and so set it all by the Fire till it was consumed, and his Son (as he says) was well after, and free from his Fits for a whole Month, but then they came again, and _He tried that means a second time, and then it would not do;_ He removed his Son into _Cambridgeshire_ the next County, and then he was well, but as soon as he brought him home he was afflicted as before.

The Boy says, He saw a thing like a Mole following of him, which once spoke to him, and told him he came to do the Office he was to do: I advised his Father to make use of the Medicine prescribed by our Saviour, _viz.

_ Fasting and Prayer.

Here have been others in this Town, that though they were under _Ill-handling_ as they call it: One Family had their Milk so affected, that they could not possibly make any Cheese, but it hov'd and swelled, and was good for nothing: They are now rid of that trouble, but how they got rid of it I do not know': Thus my Letter.

By which it is evident that Towns in _England_ as well as _New-England_ are molested with _Daemons_, only I wish that the Superstitions practiced in other places to get rid of such troublesome Guests had never been known, much less used amongst us or them.

Some I hear have taken up a Notion, that the Book newly published by my Son, is contradictory to this of mine: 'Tis strange that such Imaginations should enter into the Minds of Men: I perused and approved of that Book before it was printed; and nothing but my Relation to him hindred me from recommending it to the World: But my self and Son agreed unto the humble Advice which twelve Ministers concurringly presented before his Excellency and Council, respecting the present Difficulties, which let the World judge, whether there be anything in it dissentany from what is attested by either of us.

It was in the Words following:-- The Return of several Ministers consulted by his Excellency, and the Honourable Council, upon the present Witchcrafts in _Salem_ Village.

Boston, _June 15, 1692_.

I.

_The afflicted State of our poor Neighbours, that are now suffering by Molestations from the Invisible World, we apprehend so deplorable, that we think their Condition calls for the utmost help of all Persons in their several Capacities.

_ II.

_We cannot but with all Thankfulness acknowledge, the Success which the merciful God has given unto the sedulous and assiduous Endeavors of our honourable Rulers, to detect the abominable Witchcrafts which have been committed in the Country; humbly praying that the discovery of these mysterious and mischievous Wickednesses, may be perfected.

_ III.

_We judge that in the prosecution of these, and all such Witchcrafts, there is need of a very critical and exquisite Caution, lest by too much Credulity for things received only upon the Devil's Authority, there be a Door opened for a long Train of miserable Consequences, and Satan get an advantage over us, for we should not be ignorant of his Devices.

_ IV.

_As in Complaints upon Witchcrafts, there may be Matters of Enquiry, which do not amount unto Matters of Presumption, and there may be Matters of Presumption which yet may not be reckoned Matters of +Conviction+; so 'tis necessary that all Proceedings thereabout be managed with an exceeding tenderness towards those that may be complained of; especially if they have been Persons formerly of an unblemished Reputation.

_ V.

_When the first Enquiry is made into the Circumstances of such as may lie under any just Suspicion of Witchcrafts, we could wish that there may be admitted as little as is possible, of such Noise, Company, and Openness, as may too hastily expose them that are examined: and that there may nothing be used as a Test, for the Trial of the suspected, the Lawfulness whereof may be doubted among the People of God; but that the Directions given by such judicious Writers as +Perkins+ and +Bernard+, be consulted in such a Case.

_ VI.

_Presumptions whereupon Persons may be committed, and much more Convictions, whereupon Persons may be condemned as guilty of Witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more considerable, than barely the accused Person being represented by a Spectre unto the Afflicted;

inasmuch as 'tis an undoubted and a notorious thing, that a Daemon may, by God's Permission, appear even to ill purposes, in the Shape of an innocent, yea, and a vertuous Man: Nor can we esteem Alterations made in the Sufferers, by a Look or Touch of the Accused to be an infallible Evidence of Guilt; but frequently liable to be abused by the Devil's Legerdemains.

_ VII.

_We know not, whether some remarkable Affronts given to the Devils, by our disbelieving of those Testimonies, whose whole force and strength is from them alone, may not put a Period, unto the Progress of the dreadful Calamity begun upon us, in the Accusation of so many Persons, whereof we hope, some are yet clear from the great Transgression laid unto their Charge.

_ VIII.

_Nevertheless, We cannot but humbly recommend unto the Government, the speedy and vigorous Prosecution of such as have rendered themselves obnoxious, according to the Direction given in the Laws of God, and the wholesome Statutes of the +English+ Nation, for the Detection of Witchcrafts.

_ FOOTNOTES:

[1] R.

Sactias.

R.

Eleazer Athias.

Lyranus.

_Sic &_ Josephus.

[2] Ambrose, Hierom, Basil, Nazianzen.

[3] Thomas, Tostatus, Suarez.

_Cajetan_, _In Ecclesia_, _Chap.

46. 22, 23_.

[4] _In Locum.

_ [5] _In 2 Cor.

11, 14, Pag.

555. _ [6] _De Spectris_, _Cap.

7_.

[7] _Praestig.

Daemon.

_ Lib.

1. C.

16. [8] De C. D.

l.

18. [9] _De Appar.

Spirituum_, Lib.

2. Cap.

7. [10] _Misq.

Magicar.

_ Lib.

2. C.

12. [11] _De Confes.

Sag.

_ pag.

191. [12] _De secretis mag.

_ p. 31. see also _Lavater de Spect.

_ Lib.

2. Cap.

18. [13] _Dr.

Casaubon_: of Spirits.

[14] _Sulpitius Severus in vita Martini.

_ [15] _Guaccius_, _compend.

malefic.

_ p. 342. [16] _Binsfield_, _de Confess.

Sag.

_ p. 187. [17] Examples, Vol. 1. p. 510. [18] _Socrate's_ Hist.

p. 7. C.

38. [19] _Lege Villalpond de Magia_, &c. L.

2. Cap.

27. [20] Part 1. Chap.

19. Pag.

8. [21] _Epistol.

_ 2. [22] In Disput.

_de Magia_.

P.

575. [23] In Mr. _Couper's_ Mystery of Witchcraft, Pag.

174, 175. [24] _Acta Eruditorum Anno 1690. _ Pag.

113. [25] In Mr. _Glanvil's_ Philosophical Considerations.

[26] _De subtilitate.

_ Lib.

29. [27] P.

75, 76. [28] In his Sadducism Triumph.

Collection, p. 201. [29] P.

215. (Disa.

Magic.

) l. 1. c.

3. p. 22. [30] Vairus de Fascino.

Lib.

2. [31] P.

131. [32] V.

Germ.

Ephemer.

Anno 16. p. 379. [33] Henkelius de obsessis, pag.

86. [34] Camerar.

cent.

I.

c.

73. Cardan de rerum varietate, Lib.

16. cap.

93. [35] In his _Britannia_, p. 609. [36] See the Hist.

of _Lapland_, and Mr. _Burton's_ Hist.

of _Daemons_.

[37] _Schotten_, Physic.

curios, lib.

1. c.

16. [38] See _Wanly_ of the Wonders of the World, p. 215. [39] Ubi Supra.

[40] _De Spectris_, p. 86, 87. [41] _Disput.

Select.

_ Vol. 1. pag.

1008. [42] P.

944. [43] _Thyraeus de Apparitionibus_, Lib.

2. Cap.

14. [44] _Binsfield de confessionibus sagarum_, p. 183. 191. [45] _Disquis.

Magic.

_ Lib.

2. Q.

12. p. 143. [46] Printed at _Frankfort_, _Anno 1681_.

[47] Discourse of Witchcraft, _Ch.

7. _ _Sect.

2. _ p. 644. [48] In his Witchcraft discovered, p. 277. [49] _Webster's_ displaying of supposed Witchcraft, p. 298. 308. [50] _Ubi supra_, p. 207, 208. [51] Ch. 15. p. 14, &c. [52] Pag.

121, 122. [53] _In vita Hilarion.

_ [54] _Anastasius_, Qu.

23. [55] In Disput.

de _Daemoniacis_, part 1. chap.

16. p. 30. [56] _Thuanus_, lib.

130. p. 1136. [57] _Thyraeus_, _ubi supra_, p. 16. [58] _Henkel_, _ubi supra_, p. 47. 50. [59] _Brockmand_, _Theol.

_ p. 265. [60] _Melancthon_, Epist.

[61] _Tostatus_, in Mat.

8. Q.

114. [62] _Baldwin_, Case of Cons.

l.

3. c.

3. p. 621. [63] Lib.

7. Cap.

2. [64] _5 Sympos.

_ Cap.

7. [65] _Med.

Precl.

_ lib.

6. pars 9. cap.

1. [66] Lib.

2. cap.

2. _Wierus_, l. 6. c.

9. p. 683. [67] See the Tryal, p. 40. 43. 45. [68] In _Daemonomania_.

See Mr. _Bromhal's_ History of Apparitions, p. 136. [69] See the Printed Relation, p. 30, 31. [70] Ubi supra, p. 121. [71] Remarkable Providences, p. 267. [72] See Mr. _Burton's_ History of Daemons, p. 136. and Mr. _Robert's_ Nar.

of the Witches in _Suffolk_.

[73] _Ames.

_ _Cas.

Consc.

_ L.

4. C.

23. [74] _Delrio.

_ _Disquiss.

Magic.

_ pag.

642. [75] _Malderus de Magia_, cap.

10. _dub.

_ 11. [76] _De Doctr.

Christiana_, Lib.

2. Cap.

20. 22. [77] _Delrio & Malderus.

_ [78] _In malleo malleficarum_, p. 421. [79] _Menna_, _de purgatione vulgari_, cap.

_ult.

_ [80] _Caesarius_, Lib.

9. [81] _De Lamiis_, L. 3. C.

4. [82] _Dubravius_, Hist.

_Cohim.

_ Lib.

8. [83] In his Cases about Witchcraft, p. 181. [84] So Dr. _Willet_, conjectures on _1 Sam.

21. 1. _ [85] _V.

Bodin_, _Daemonomania_, L. 4. [86] Mr. _Sinclare_, Invisible World, p. 45. and _Burton_, Hist.

of Daemons, p. 122. [87] Boisard in vita Apollonii.

[88] Mr. _Merden_ in his Geogra.

Phy.

p. 577. [89] Voetius, Biblioth, l. 2. Lecus, in Compend.

Histor.

THE END.

CHISWICK PRESS:--PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS,

TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber's Note, continued.

-- The format of all biblical citations has been regularized.

Footnote markers in the original were sometimes placed before the word they refer to, and sometimes after--this has been retained.

For this ASCII version, all AE/ae-ligatures have been changed to Ae/ae.

The section sign has been changed to S. The following changes were also made: --p. viii: slighest to slightest --p. ix: Mrs. Hales to Mrs. Hale --p. xvii: Original title page used two large, ornate "U"s instead of a "W" in Witches.

--p. 10: oe to ae (Antipaedobaptist) --p. 11: .

to , (thus maintained in the Country,) --p. 19: a to as (cry'd out upon as imploying) --p. 22: Omisera to O misera --p. 54: singlar to singular --p. 61: Catastrophe's to Catastrophes (there will be more such _Catastrophes_) --p. 62: _times of the_ Jews to _times of the Jews_ --pp. 63-69: Corollary I. to Corollary V. formatted as headers.

In the original, IV.

and V. were out-of-line headers and I. , II.

and III.

were in-line.

--p. 80: Moenia had oe-ligature in original (Dilapsa sunt vestra Moenia!

) --p. 97: oe to ae (Caelestial) --p. 100: We _Fear_ to _We Fear_ --p. 138: II.

to III.

(Incorrect numbering of header corrected) --p. 135: Ground-sel to Ground (but struck only the Ground) It appears that the "-sel" was mistakenly introduced during printing, as the word "Counsel" in the previous sentence was split over two lines and hyphenated ("Coun-sel".

) However, this mistake is not unique to this reprint.

--p. 170: Berecovered to Be recovered --p. 184: on to one (that rocks one to Sleep) --p. 193: The Sweet Waters of Stealth?

to The Sweet Waters of Stealth;

--p. 245: viz.

to _viz.

_ (_viz.

_ That in an Orchard) --p. 247: missing period added after Lonicer --pp. 267-268: Although listed in the Table of Contents, Point 6 ("Bewitched Persons have sometimes been struck down with the Look of Dogs") was not numbered in the original, causing points 7 through 9 to be numbered incorrectly.

This was corrected.

--p. 267: Brochmand to Brockmand --p. 273: extra "the" removed (so was the _Vulgar Probation_) Two other problems were noted but left unchanged: --p. 99: The biblical citation _Luc.

13. 2, 3. _ refers to Luke 13. 2, 3. --p. 268: Mather cites Deut.

35. 30, but Deuteronomy only has 34 Chapters.

The context suggests he may have meant Numbers 35. 30. --Footnote [77]: _Delri.

& Malderus.

_ to _Delrio & Malderus.

_ Also note that spelling--other than the corrections noted above--has been left as it appeared in the original copy of this book.

This includes many archaic spellings that appear only once, such as thir (p. 214), doe's (p. 195), and ha's (p. 173).

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