CHAPTER VII Mercy Disborough--Cases at Fairfield, 1692--The special court--The indictment--Testimonies--Jesop--Barlow--Dunning--Halliberch--Benit-- Grey--Godfree--Search for witch marks--Ordeal by water--Cateran Branch's accusation--Jury disagree--Later verdict of guilty--The governor's sentence--Reference to General Court--Afterthought--John Hale's conclusion--Courts call on the ministers--Their answer--General advice--Reasons for reprieve--Notable papers--Eliot and Woodbridge--Willis--Pitkin--Stanly--The pardon CHAPTER VIII Hawthorne--Latimer--Additional cases--Curious and vulgar testimony--All illustrative of opinion--Make it understandable--Elizabeth Seager--Witnesses--What they swore to--Garretts--Sterne--Hart--Willard-- Pratt--Migat--"Staggerings" of the jury--Contradictions--Verdict-- Elizabeth Godman--Governor Goodyear's dilemma--Strange doings--Ball's information--Imprisonment--Discharge--Nathaniel and Rebecca Greensmith-- Character, Accusation--Rebecca's confession--Conviction--Double execution at Hartford CHAPTER IX Elizabeth Clawson--The indictment--Witnesses--"Kateran" Branch--Garney-- Kecham--Abigail and Nathaniel Cross--Bates--Sargent Wescot and Abigail-- Finch--Bishop--Holly--Penoir--Slawson--Kateran's Antics--Acquittal. Hugh Crotia--The court--Grand jury--Indictment--Testimony--Confession-- Acquittal--Gaol delivery--Elizabeth Garlick--A sick woman's fancies--"A black thing at the bed's featte"--Burning herbs--The sick child--The ox' broken leg--The dead ram and sow--The Tale burning CHAPTER X Goodwife Knapp--Her character--A notable case--Imprisonment--Harsh treatment--The inquisitors--Their urgency--Knapp's appeal--The postmortem desecration--Prominent people involved--Davenport and Ludlow--Staplies vs. Ludlow--The court--Confidential gossip--Cause of the suit--Testimony-- Davenport--Sherwood--Tomson--Gould--Ward--Pell--Brewster--Lockwood--Hull-- Brundish--Whitlock--Barlow--Lyon--Mistress Staplies--Her doings aforetime-- Tashs' night ride--"A light woman"--Her character--Reparation suit--Her later indictment--Power of the delusion--Pertinent inquiry CHAPTER XI Present opinions--J. Hammond Trumbull--Annie Eliot Trumbull--Review--Authenticity--Record evidence--Controversialists--Actual cases--Suspicions--Accusations--Acquittals--Flights--Executions--First complete roll--Changes in belief--Contrast--Edwards--Carter--"The Rogerenes"--Conclusion--Hathorne--Mather THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION IN COLONIAL CONNECTICUT CHAPTER I "First, because Witchcraft is a rife and common sinne in these our daies, and very many are intangled with it, beeing either practitioners thereof in their owne persons, or at the least, yielding to seeke for helpe and counsell of such as practise it." _A Discovrse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft_, PERKINS, 1610.