Desborough was a landowner in Hartford, having received a grant of fifty acres for his services in the Pequot war. He owes his enrollment in the hall of fame to Cotton Mather, who was so self-satisfied with his efforts in "Relating the wonders of the invisible world in preternatural occurrences" that in his pedantic exuberance he put in a learned sub-title: "Miranda cano, sed sunt credenda" (The themes I sing are marvelous, yet true). Fourteen examples were chosen for the "Thaumatographia Pneumatica," as "remarkable histories" of molestations from evil spirits, and Mather said of them, "that no reasonable man in this whole country ever did question them." Desborough stands in place as the "fourth example." No case more clearly illustrates the credulity that neutralized common sense in strong men. It was a case of abstraction, or theft, or mistaken thrift. A "chest of cloaths" was missing. The owner, instead of going to law, found his remedy "in things beyond the course of nature," and he and his friends with "nimble hands" pelted Desborough's house, and himself when abroad, with stones, turves, and corncobs, and finally some of his property was burned by a fire "in an unknown way kindled." Is it not enough to note that Mather closes this wondrous tale of the spiritual molestations with the very human explanation that "upon the restoring of the cloaths, the trouble ceased"? ELIZABETH CLAWSON. Fairfield, 1692. Acquitted. Account in previous chapter. MARY and HANNAH HARVEY. Fairfield, 1692. Jury found no bill. GOODY MILLER. Fairfield, 1692. Acquitted. MARY STAPLIES. Fairfield, 1692. Jury found no bill. Account in previous chapter. MERCY DISBOROUGH. Fairfield, 1692. Convicted; reprieved. Account in previous chapter. HUGH CROTIA. Stratford, 1693. Jury found no bill. Account in previous chapter. _C. & D._ (Vol. I,185). WINIFRED BENHAM SENIOR and JUNIOR. Wallingford, 1697. Acquitted. They were mother and daughter (twelve or thirteen years old), tried at Hartford and acquitted in August, 1697; indicted on new complaints in October, 1697, but the jury returned on the bill, "Ignoramus." _Records Court of Assistants_ (1: 74, 77). SARAH SPENCER. Colchester, 1724. Accused. Damages 1s. Even a certificate of the minister as to her religion and virtue, could not free Sarah from a reputation as a witch. And when Elizabeth (and how many Connecticut witches bore that name) Ackley accused her of "riding and pinching," and James Ackley, her husband, made threats, Sarah sued them for a fortune in those days, £500 damages, and got judgment for £5, with costs. The Ackleys appealed, and at the trial the jury awarded Sarah damages of ls., and also stated that they found the Ackleys not insane--a clear demonstration that the mental condition of witchcraft accusers was taken account of in the later and saner times. NORTON. Bristol, 1768. Suspicioned. No record.