The Afflictions of MARGARET RULE.
WIthin these few years there died in the Southern Parts a Christian Indian, who notwithstanding some of his Indian Weakness, had something of a better Character of vertue and Goodness, than many of our People can allow to most of their Country-men, that profess the Christian Religion.[20] He had been a Zealous Preacher of the Gospel to his Neighbourhood, and a sort of Overseer, or Officer, to whose Conduct was owing very much of what good order was maintained among those Proselited Savages. This Man returning home from the Funeral of his Son, was complemented by an Englishman, expressing Sorrow for his Loss; now, tho' the Indians use upon the Death of Relations, to be the most Passionate and Outragious Creatures in the World, yet this Converted Indian Handsomly and Chearfully replid, Truly I am sorry, and I am not sorry; I am sorry that I have Buried a dear Son; but I am not sorry that the will of God is done. I know that without the will of God my son could not have died, and I know that the will [2] of God is always just and good, and so I am satisfied. Immediately upon this, even within a few hours, he fell himself Sick of a Disease that quickly kill'd him; in the time of which Disease he called his Folks about him, earnestly perswading them to be Sincere in their Praying unto God, and beware of the Drunkenness, the Idleness, the Lying, whereby so many of that Nation disgrac'd their Profession of Christianity; adding, that he was ashamed, when he thought how little Service he had hitherto done for God; and that if God would prolong his Life he would Labour to do better Service, but that he was fully sure he was now going to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had bought him with his own Precious Blood; and for his part, he long'd to Die that he might be with his Glorious Lord; and in the mid'st of such passages he gave up the Ghost, but in such repute, that the English People of good Fashion did not think much of Travelling a great way to his Interment. Lest my Reader do now wonder why I have related this piece of a Story, I will now hasten to abate that Wonder, by telling that whereto this was intended, but for an Introduction: know then, that this remarkable Indian being a little before he Died at work in the Wood making of Tarr, there appeared unto him a Black Man, of a Terrible aspect, and more than humane Dimensions, threatning bittterly to kill him if he would not promise to leave off Preaching as he did to his Countrey-Men, and promise particularly, that if he preached any more, he would say nothing of Jesus Christ unto them? The Indian amaz'd, yet had the courage to answer, I will in spite of you go on to preach Christ more than ever I did, and the God whom I serve will keep me that you shall never hurt me. Hereupon the Apparition abating somewhat of his fierceness, offered to the Indian a Book of a considerable thickness and a Pen and Ink, and said, that if he would now set his hand unto that Book, he would require nothing further of him; but the Man refused the motion with indignation, and fell down upon his knees into a Fervent and Pious Prayer unto God, for help against the Tempter, whereupon the Demon Vanish't.
This is a Story which I would never have tendered unto my Reader, if I had not Receiv'd it from an honest and useful English Man,[21] who is at this time a Preacher of the Gospel to the Indians; nor would the probable Truth of it have encouraged me to have tendered it, if this also had not been a fit introduction unto yet a further Narrative.
Sect. 2. 'Twas not much above a year or two, after this Accident (of which no manner of Noise has been made) that there was a Prodigious descent of Devils upon divers places near the Centre of this Province; wherein some scores of Miserable People were Troubled by horrible appearances of a Black-Man, accompanied with Spectres, wearing these and those Humane Shapes, who offer'd them a Book to be by them sign'd, in token of their being Listed for the Service of the Devil, and upon their [3] denying to do it, they were dragoon'd with a thousand Preternatural Torments, which gave no little terror to the beholders of these unhappy Energuments. There was one in the North part of Boston seized by the Evil Angels many Months after the General Storm of the late Inchantments was over, and when the Countrey had long lain pretty quiet, both as to Molestations and Accusations from the INVISIBLE WORLD, her Name was Margaret Rule, a Young Woman, She was born of sober and honest Parents, yet Living, but what her own Character was before her Visitation, I can speak with the less confidence of exactness, because I observe that wherever the Devils have been let loose to worry any Poor Creature amongst us, a great part of the Neighbourhood presently set themselves to inquire and relate all the little Vanities of their Childhood, with such unequal exaggerations, as to make them appear greater Sinners than any whom the Pilate of Hell has not yet Preyed upon: But it is affirm'd, that for about half a year before her Visitation, she was observably improved in the hopeful symptoms of a new Creature; She was become furiously concern'd for the everlasting Salvation of her Soul, and careful to avoid the snares of Evil Company. This Young Woman had never seen the affliction of Mercy Short,[22] whereof a Narrative has been already given, and yet about half a year after the glorious and signal deliverance of that poor Damsel, this Margaret fell into an affliction, marvellous, resembling hers in almost all the circumstances of it, indeed the Afflictions were so much alike, that the relation I have given of the one, would almost serve as the full History of the other, this was to that, little more than the second part to the same Tune; indeed Margarets case was in several points less remarkable than Mercies, and in some other things the Entertainment did a little vary.
Sect. 3. 'twas upon the Lords Day the 10th of September, in the Year 1693. that Margaret Rule, after some hours of previous disturbance in the Publick Assembly, fell into odd Fits, which caused her Friends to carry her home, where her Fits in a few hours grew into a Figure that satisfied the Spectators of their being preternatural; some of the Neighbours were forward enough to suspect the rise of this Mischief in an House hard-by, where lived a Miserable Woman, who had been formerly Imprisoned on the suspicion of Witchcraft, and who had frequently Cured very painfull Hurts by muttering over them certain Charms, which I shall not indanger the Poysoning of my Reader by repeating. This Woman had the Evening before Margaret fell into her Calamities, very bitterly treated her, and threatn'd her; but the hazard of hurting a poor Woman that might be innocent, notwithstanding Surmizes that might have been more strongly grounded than those, caus'd the pious People in the Vicinity to try rather whether incessant Supplication to God [4] alone, might not procure a quicker and safer Ease to the Afflicted, than hasty Prosecution of any suppos'd Criminal, and accordingly that unexceptionable course was all that was ever followed; yea, which I look'd on as a token for good, the Afflicted Family was as averse as any of us all to entertain thoughts of any other course.
Sect. 4. The Young Woman was assaulted by Eight cruel spectres, whereof she imagin'd that she knew three or four, but the rest came still with their Faces cover'd, so that she could never have a distinguishing view of the countenance of those whom she thought she knew; she was very careful of my reitterated charges to forbear blazing the names, lest any good Person should come to suffer any blast of Reputation thro' the cunning Malice of the great Accuser; nevertheless having since privately named them to myself, I will venture to say this of them, that they are a sort of Wretches, who for these many years have gone under as Violent Presumptions of Witchcraft, as perhaps any creatures yet living upon earth; altho' I am farr from thinking that the Visions of this Young Woman were Evidence enough to prove them so. These cursed Spectres now brought unto her a Book about a Cubet long, a Book Red and thick, but not very broad, and they demanded of her that she would set her Hand to that Book, or touch it at least with her Hand, as a Sign of her becoming a Servant of the Devil, upon her peremptory refusal to do what they asked, they did not after renew the profers of the Book unto her, but instead thereof, they fell to Tormenting of her in a manner too Hellish to be sufficiently described, in those Torments confining her to her Bed, for just Six weeks together.
Sect. 5. Sometimes, but not always together with the Spectres, there looke't in upon the Young Woman (according to her account) a short and a Black Man, whom they call'd their Master—a Wight exactly of the same Dimensions and Complexion and voice, with the Divel that has exhibited himself unto other infested People, not only in other parts of this Country but also in other Countrys, even of the European World, as the relation of the Enchantments there inform us, they all profest themselves Vassals of this Devil, and in obedience unto him they address themselves unto various ways of Torturing her; accordingly she was cruelly pinch'd with Invisible hands, very often in a Day, and the black and blew marks of the pinches became immediately visible unto the standers by. Besides this, when her attendants had left her without so much as one pin about her, that so they might prevent some fear'd inconveniencies; yet she would ever now and then be miserably hurt with Pins which were found stuck into her Neck, Back and Arms, however the Wounds made by the Pins would in a few minutes ordinarily be cured; she would also be strangely distorted in her Joynts, and thrown into such exorbitant Convulsions as [5] were astonishing unto the Spectators in General; They that could behold the doleful condition of the poor Family without sensible compassions, might have Intrals indeed, but I am sure they could have no true Bowels in them.
Sect. 6. It were a most Unchristian and uncivil, yea a most unreasonable thing to imagine that the Fitt's of the Young Woman were but meer Impostures: And I believe scarce any, but People of a particular Dirtiness, will harbour such an Uncharitable Censure,[23] however, because I know not how far the Devil may drive the Imagination of poor Creatures when he has possession of them, that at another time when they are themselves would scorn to Dissemble any thing. I shall now confine my Narrative unto passages, wherein there could be no room left for any Dissimulation. Of these the first that I'll mention shall be this; From the time that Margaret Rule first found herself to be formally besieged by the Spectres untill the Ninth Day following, namely from the Tenth of September to the Eighteenth, she kept an entire Fast, and yet she was unto all appearance as Fresh, as Lively, as Hearty, at the Nine Days End, as before they began; in all this time, tho' she had a very eager Hunger upon her Stomach, yet if any refreshment were brought unto her, her Teeth would be set, and she would be thrown into many Miseries, Indeed once or twice or so in all this time, her Tormentors permitted her to swallow a Mouthful of somewhat that might increase her Miseries, whereof a Spoonful of Rum was the most considerable; but otherwise, as I said, her Fast unto the Ninth day was very extream and rigid: However, afterwards there scarce passed a day wherein she had not liberty to take something or other for her Susttentation, And I must add this further, that this business of her Fast was carried so, that it was impossible to be dissembled without a Combination of Multitudes of People unacquainted with one another to support the Juggle, but he that can imagine such a thing of a Neighbourhood, so fill'd with Vertuous People is a base man, I cannot call him any other.
Sect. 7. But if the Sufferings of this Young Woman were not Imposture, yet might they not be pure Distemper? I will not here inquire of our Saducees what sort of Distemper 'tis shall stick the Body full of Pins, without any Hand that could be seen to stick them; or whether all the Pin-makers in the World would be willing to be Evaporated into certain ill habits of Body producing a Distemper, but of the Distemper my Reader shall be Judge when I have told him something further of those unusual Sufferings. I do believe that the Evil Angels do often take Advantage from Natural Distempers in the Children of Men to annoy them with such further Mischiefs as we call preternatural. The Malignant Vapours and Humours of our Diseased Bodies may be used by Devils thereinto insinu[6]ating as engine of the Execution of their Malice upon those Bodies; and perhaps for this reason one Sex may suffer more Troubles of some kinds from the Invisible World than the other, as well as for that reason for which the Old Serpent made where he did his first Adddress. But I Pray what will you say to this, Margaret Rule would sometimes have her Jaws forcibly pulled open; whereupon something Invisible would be poured down her throat; we all saw her swallow, and yet we saw her try all she could by Spitting, Coughing and Shriking, that she might not swalow, but one time the standers by plainly saw something of that odd Liquor itself on the outside of her Neck; She cried out of it as of Scalding Brimstone poured into her, and the whole House would Immediately scent so hot of Brimstone that we were scarce able to endure it, whereof there are scores of Witnesses; but the Young Woman herself would be so monstrously Inflam'd that it would have broke a Heart of Stone to have seen her Agonies, this was a thing that several times happen'd and several times when her Mouth was thus pull'd open, the standers by clapping their Hands close thereupon the distresses that otherwise followed would be diverted. Moreover there was a whitish powder to us Invisible somtimes cast upon the Eyes of this Young Woman, whereby her Eyes would be extreamly incommoded, but one time some of this Powder was fallen actually Visible upon her Cheek, from whence the People in the Room wiped it with their Handkerchiefs, and somtimes the Young Woman would also be so bitterly scorched with the unseen Sulphur thrown upon her, that very sensible Blisters would be raised upon her Skin, whereto her Friends found it necessary to apply the Oyl's proper for common Burning, but the most of these Hurts would be cured in two or three days at farthest: I think I may without Vanity pretend to have read not a few of the best System's of Physick[24] that have been yet seen in these American Regions, but I must confess that I have never yet learned the Name of the Natural Distemper, whereto these odd symptoms do belong: However I might suggest perhaps many a Natural Medicine, which would be of singular use against many of them.
Sect. 8. But there fell out some other matters far beyond the reach of Natural Distemper: This Margaret Rule once in the middle of the Night Lamented sadly that the Spectres threat'ned the Drowning of a Young Man in the Neighbourhood, whom she named unto the Company: well it was afterwards found that at that very time this Young Man, having been prest on Board a Man of War then in the Harbour, was out of some dissatisfaction attempting to swim ashoar, and he had been Drowned in the attempt, if a Boat had not seasonably taken him up; it was by computation a minute or two after the Young Womans discourse of the Drowning, that the Young Man took the Water; At another time she told us that [7] the Spectres bragg'd and laughed in her hearing about an exploit they had lately done, by stealing from a Gentleman his Will soon after he had written it; and within a few hours after she had spoken this there came to me a Gentleman with a private complaint, that having written his Will, it was unaccountably gone out of the way, how or where he could not Imagine; and besides all this, there were wonderful Noises every now and then made about the Room, which our People could Ascribe to no other Authors but the Spectres, yea, the Watchers affirm that they heard those fiends clapping of their hands together with an Audibleness, wherein they could not be Imposed upon: And once her Tormentors pull'd her up to the Cieling of the Chamber, and held her there before a very Numerous Company of Spectators, who found it as much as they could all do to pull her down again.[25] There was also another very surprising circumstance about her, agreeable to what we have not only read in several Histories concerning the Imps that have been Imployed in Witchcraft; but also known in some of our own afflicted: We once thought we perceived something stir upon her pillow at a little distance from her, whereupon one present laying his hand there, he to his horror apprehended that he felt, tho' none could see it, a living Creature, not altogether unlike a Rat, which nimbly escap'd from him: and there were diverse other Persons who were thrown into a great consternation by feeling, as they Judg'd, at other times the same Invisible Animal.