Massachusetts -- Periodicals; New England -- Periodicals
William Morse being asked what he had to say as to Powell being a
wizard, testified:--
"He come in, and seeing our spirit very low cause by our great
affliction, he said, 'Poore old man, and poor old woman, I eye ye boy,
who is ye occasion of all your greefe; and I draw neere ye with great
compassion.' Then sayd I, 'Powell, how can ye boy do them things?'
Then sayd he, 'This boy is a young rogue, a vile rogue!' Powell, he
also sayd, that he had understanding in Astrology and Astronomie,
and knew the working of spirits. Looking on ye boy, he said, 'You
young rogue!' And to me, Goodman Morse, if you be willing to lett me
have ye boy I will undertake that you shall be freed from any trouble
of this kind the while he is with me."
Other evidence was received for the prosecution. The defence put in by
Powell was that "on Monday night last, till Friday after the noone, I
had ye boy with me, and they had no trouble."
Mary Tucker deposed:--
"Powell said he come to Morse's and did not see fit to go in as the old
man was att prayer. He lookt in a window, and saw ye boy fling a shoe at
the old man's head while he prayed."
The verdict now stands on the court record, and reads as follows:--
"Upon hearing the complaint brought to this court against Caleb Powell
for suspicion of working by the devill to the molesting of ye family of
William Morse of Newbury, though this court cannot find any evident
ground of proceeding farther against ye sayd Powell, yett we determine
that he hath given such ground of suspicion of his so dealing that we
cannot so acquit him but that he justly deserves to bare his own shame
and the costs of prosecution of the complaint."
The bad boy seems to have had a grudge against Powell, and, anxious to
see that person punched, he resumed his pranks both at his grandfather's
and among the neighbors.
Strange things happened. Joseph Bayley's cows would stand still and not
move. Caleb Powell, having been discharged, no longer boasted of his
learning. Jonathan Haines' oxen would not work. A sheep belonging to
Caleb Moody was mysteriously dyed. Zachariah Davis' calves all died, as
did also a sheep belonging to Joshua Richardson. Mrs. John Wells said
that she saw the "imp of God in sayd Morse's hous."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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