A goodlie Sight to see,
When you shall hang these Brands of Fyre
Upon ye Gallows Tree.
NUMBER III.
Testimony of William Beale, of Marblehead, against Mr. Philip English of Salem, Given August 2d, 1692. Taken from the Original.
AS Philip English was a Man of a large Estate for those Days, and carried on an extensive Business, it may be thought singular that Mr. Calef should make no Mention of his Case in his Work. It may be that he had not sufficient Data for the Purpose; or, more probably, it may have been, that for certain Reasons he chose to leave the Matter in the Hands of the two Ministers of the Old South, who, or one of whom, had not the Independence to work openly with Mr. Calef, but who, clandestinely, took the Part of the Accused, and helped him to escape. However this may have been, so far as Mr. Willard was concerned, enough will have been seen in Mr. Calef's Work to cause an Agitation of the Question. And yet, it will appear, from what is to follow, that Mr. Moody (then with Mr. Willard in the Old South) was the principal Instrument in the Protection and final Escape of Mr. English and his Wife from the Jaws of a "blind Ferocity."
The Testimony of William Beale, which follows was probably contrived by certain Parties to recover Property owned or claimed by Mr. English. At the Time of his Arrest, he owned a Ship of 170 Tons, named the Porcupine, which was commanded by Robert Bartel, whose Son, William Bartel, was living in 1739, at the Age of 45.
Mr. English, it is said, was an Episcopalian. Whether his Sentiments had anything to do with his being proceeded against, does not appear. He stated that by the Prosecution he was damaged £1,500. A Petition of his to the Committee appointed by the General Court to compensate Sufferers may be seen in Mr. Woodward's Collections, ii, 233. It is curious to see now the Awards made to the Survivors of those whose Mothers and Fathers had been judicially murdered! A few Pounds seems to have settled the Account.
What follows, previous to William Beale's Testimony, although once printed, will be quite new, probably, to the Majority of Readers; and it is due to the Memory of a persecuted Family to perpetuate it in Connection with the wicked Attempt at their Ruin.
About the Year 1810, the Rev. Timothy Alden was engaged in preparing a Catalogue of Books for the Massachusetts Historical Society. While in this Employment he procured from the Rev. William Bentley, D.D., of Salem, the ensuing Account of Mr. English. What led to this Result was Mr. Alden's Endeavors to obtain Information concerning a Portsmouth Gentleman. Mr. Alden was then much interested in Portsmouth Affairs. Dr. Bently proceeds: "In the Times of the Witchcraft in Salem Village, no Person distinguished for Property, and known in the commercial World, was accused but Philip English.[181] He came young into America, from the Island of Jersey, lived in the Family of Mr. Hollingworth, a rich Inhabitant of Salem, and afterwards married his only Daughter and Child, Susanna. The Wife had received a better Education than is common even at this Day [1809], as Proofs I hold sufficiently discover.