Transcriber’s Note Italic text displayed as: _italic_ THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION OF 1692 BY GOV. THOMAS HUTCHINSON FROM AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT (AN EARLY DRAFT OF HIS HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS) IN THE MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES WITH NOTES BY WILLIAM FREDERICK POOLE BOSTON PRIVATELY PRINTED 1870 [Reprinted from the NEW-ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER for October, 1870.] DAVID CLAPP & SON, Printers, Boston. THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION OF 1692. INTRODUCTION. In May last I had occasion to consult the original manuscript of Gov. Hutchinson’s second volume of the _History of Massachusetts_, which, it is well known, is among the Hutchinson papers in the State archives in Boston. I had never before seen the manuscript, and did not readily find the passage of which I was in search. The first portion of the manuscript seemed to be missing, and its place was supplied by matter which belonged to the Appendix. My first impression was that the missing sheets were those which Gov. Hutchinson did not recover after the stamp-act riot of 1765. Finding the matter of the Appendix out of place, suggested that the volume might have been carelessly arranged for binding. On collating the manuscript the early portion was found in another part of the volume. This was the copy used by the printers. In my search I came to sheets which contained the subject matter of the printed text, but expressed in different language. I saw, on a closer examination, that this was an earlier draft, and the identical manuscript which had passed the ordeal of the riot of 1765; for portions of it were much defaced, and bore the marks of being trampled in the mud. The copy from which the volume was printed was evidently prepared at a later date. For the convenience of those who may hereafter consult this manuscript, I made in folio 7 (following the matter of the Appendix), the following memoranda:— “There has been an error in binding this manuscript. The matter which precedes this is Appendix No. 1 (printed pp. 449-481, edition 1767, and pp. 404-423, edition 1795). The first portion of the history proper, ending with manuscript page 28 (to printed p. 40, edition 1767, and p. 43, edition 1795), has been placed in folios 92-100. Page 29 is opposite. This is the manuscript from which the second volume was printed. “In folio 55 is the beginning of another manuscript, an earlier draft, from which the author prepared the narrative which appears in the printed volume. The earlier draft, ending in folio 91, carries the substance of the narrative to the word “Boston,” on p. 313, edition of 1767, and p. 284, edition of 1795. “These memoranda were made May 17, 1870 (with the approval of Mr. Secretary Warner), at which time the earlier draft was first identified.” [SIGNED.]