The Witchcraft Delusion in New England: Its Rise, Progress, and Termination, (Vol. 1 of 3)Mather, Cotton
History
The Witchcraft Delusion in New England: Its Rise, Progress, and Termination, (Vol. 1 of 3)
Mather, Cotton
Witchcraft -- New England
[15] VI. _If the Party suspected be the Son or Daughter, the
man-servant or maid-servant, the Familiar Friend, near Neighbor, or
old Companion, of a known and convicted Witch; this may be likewise a
Presumption; for Witchcraft is an Art that may be learned, and conveyed
from man to man._
VII. _Some add this for a Presumption: If the Party suspected be found
to have the Devil's mark; for it is commonly thought, when the Devil
makes his Covenant with them, he alwaies leaves his mark behind them,
whereby he knows them for his own:--a mark whereof no evident Reason in
Nature can be given._
VIII. _Lastly, If the party examined be Unconstant, or contrary to
himself, in his deliberate Answers, it argueth a Guilty Conscience,
which stops the freedom of Utterance. And yet there are causes of
Astonishment, which may befal the Good, as well as the Bad._
IX. _But then there is a_ Conviction, _discovering the_ Witch, _which
must proceed from just and sufficient proofs, and not from bare
presumptions._
X. _Scratching of the suspected party, and Recovery thereupon,
with several other such weak Proofs; as also, the fleeting of the
suspected Party, thrown upon the Water; these Proofs are so far from
being sufficient, that some of them are, after a sort, practices of
Witchcraft._
XI. _The Testimony of some Wizzard, tho' offering to shew the Witches
Face in a Glass: This, I grant, may be a good Presumption, to cause
a strait Examination; but a sufficient Proof of Conviction it cannot
be. If the Devil tell the Grand Jury, that the person in question is
a Witch, and offers withal to confirm the same by Oath, should the
Inquest receive his Oath or Accusation to condemn the man? Assuredly
no. And yet, that is as much as the Testimony of another Wizzard, who
only by the Devil's help reveals the Witch._
XII. _If a man, being dangerously sick, and like to dy, upon
Suspicion, will take it on his Death, that such an one hath bewitched
him, it is an Allegation of the same nature, which may move the Judge
to examine the Party, but it is of no moment for Conviction._
XIII. _Among the sufficient means of Conviction, the first is, the free
and voluntary Confession of the Crime, made by the party suspected
and accused, after Examination. I say not, that a bare confession is
sufficient, but a Confession after due Examination, taken upon pregnant
presumptions. What needs now more witness or further Enquiry?_
XIV. _There is a second sufficient Conviction, by the Testimony of two
Witnesses, of good and honest Report, avouching before the Magistrate,
upon their own Knowledge, the two things: either that the party accused
hath made a League with the Devil, or hath done some known practices
of witchcraft. And,_ all Arguments that do necessarily prove either of
these, _being brought by two sufficient Witnesses, are of force fully
to convince the party suspected._
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