The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England WitchesMather, Cotton
History
The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches
Mather, Cotton
Witchcraft -- New England -- Early works to 1800
Here were in _Salem_, _June 10, 1692_, about 40 persons that were
afflicted with horrible torments by _Evil Spirits_, and the afflicted
have accused 60 or 70 as Witches, for that they have _Spectral
appearances_ of them, tho the Persons are absent when they are
tormented. When these Witches were Tryed, several of them confessed a
contract with the Devil, by signing his Book, and did express much
sorrow for the same, declaring also thir _Confederate Witches_, and said
the Tempters of them desired 'em to sign the _Devils Book_, who
tormented them till they did it. There were at the time of
_Examination_, before many hundreds of Witnesses, strange Pranks play'd;
such as the taking Pins out of the Clothes of the afflicted, and
thrusting them into their flesh, many of which were taken out again by
the _Judges_ own hands. Thorns also in like kind were thrust into their
flesh; the accusers were sometimes _struck dumb, deaf, blind_, and
sometimes lay as if they were dead for a while, and all foreseen and
declared by the afflicted just before it 'twas done. Of the afflicted
there were two Girls, about _12 or 13 years of age_, who saw all that
was done, and were therefore called the _Visionary Girls_; they would
say, _Now he, or she, or they, are going to bite or pinch the Indian_;
and all there present in Court saw the visible marks on the _Indians_
arms; they would also cry out, _Now look, look, they are going to bind
such an ones Legs_, and all present saw the same person spoken of, fall
with her Legs twisted in an extraordinary manner; Now say they, we shall
all fall, and immediately 7 or 8 of the afflicted fell down, with
_terrible shrieks and Out-crys_; at the time when one of the Witches was
_sentenc'd, and pinnion'd_ with a Cord, at the same time was the
afflicted _Indian_ Servant going home, (being about 2 or 3 miles out of
town,) and had both his Wrists at the same instant bound about with a
like Cord, in the same manner as she was when she was sentenc'd, but
with that violence, that the Cord entred into his flesh, not to be
untied, nor hardly cut----Many _Murders_ are suppos'd to be in this way
committed; for these Girls, and others of the afflicted, say, _they see
Coffins, and bodies in Shrowds_, rising up, and looking on the accused,
crying, _Vengeance, Vengeance on the Murderers_----Many other strange
things were transacted before the Court in the time of their
Examination; and especially one thing which I had like to have forgot,
which is this, One of the accus'd, whilst the rest were under
Examination, was drawn up by a Rope to the Roof of the house where he
was, and would have been choak'd in all probability, had not the Rope
been presently cut; the Rope hung at the Roof by some _invisible tye_,
for there was no hole where it went up; but after it was cut the
_remainder_ of it was found in the Chamber just above, lying by the very
place where it hung down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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